On this page
-
Text (1)
-
Untitled Article
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
Ite says ( p . 12 ) , that the voice or scripture , as well as of atttitillity , commands the people of Ekigfend at this day to submit to < % thte bishops as the superior guides , the priests as the inferior , together with the deacons , their assistants . ** As the evil of schism is
great , so , according to Mr . Jackson , is the good of conformity ; and yet he confesses , ( p . 10 , ) that the established religion is assailed from within , by unwitting , perhaps , but effective enemies : Hvhy then this eagerness for outward uniformity , under which may lurk
fatal dissensions ? The vicar is surely entitled to his own opinions ; but we cannot help thinking that serious meditation upon the principles laid down in various parts of his discourse , some of which a high-church man would
pronounce heretical , and which are really schfematical with regard to each other , would lead him to the conclusion , which he reprobates , ( p . 6 , ) that the Established Church is " merely © tie of the many sects into which the Christian world is divided . "
Mr . Hill , who is , we understand , a respectable merchant of Wisbech , attacks the Vicar ' s Visitation Sermon with the generous zeal of one who entertains a jealousy of the least encroachment upon religious liberty .
He is well-grounded in the true principles of Nonconformity , and asserts them with considerable ability and great boldness . He contends that schism , separation of dissent cannot be \ ti itself an offence :
** Dissent may be divided into two kinds , a dissent from that which is right , and a dissent from that which is wrong , and surely it can only be in the former case that it constitutes an offence ; for
since Christianity , in its early stage , was a dissent from Judaism , if schism be in every case an offence , Jesus Christ and his apostles mtist have been heinous offenders . "—Pp . 6 , 7 .
In reference to the Vicar * s complaint of internal foes , Mr * Hill smartly remarks , " Our author next bewails the difference of opinion which is found to exist
even amongst clergymen of the Established Church . Yes , notwithstanding when moved by the Holy Ghost to become priests , they swore that they believed Thirtynine Articles , Including three creeds , not excepting St . AthanasuUs ' , yet is there
Untitled Article
difference © f opfoaion * nor Is this difference £ onfined to the priests and deacons , it extends itself to the dignitaries of th 6 Church , and those very qualifications in a candidate for holy orders , which would ensure him acceptance with the Bishops of Gloucester and Norwich , would be the grounds of objection with
the Bishops of Exeter and Peterborough . Surely this might teach the advocates for Uniformity of sentiment that their object is unattainable . The last-named Bishop has introduced to the clergy in his diocese eighty-seven new articles , but were he to extend the number to eighty-seven times eighty-seven , in vain would he look for agreement in opinion . "—Pp . 16 , 17 .
To rebut the charge of dissent or schism dissolving , as the Vicar alleges , the golden chain that binds society together , our layman asks , with becoming warmth ,
" When any plans have been set on foot for ameliorating the condition of mankind , mentally or corporeally , have Dissenters refused to assist them ? The lists of contributors , and active operators in every charitable institution , will answer in the negative , and prove that they have not , like too lnany of their brethren , who are members of the Established
Church , confined their good offices to those of the same sentiments . Have Dissenters been backward in visiting the sick , in relieving the destitute , or instructing the ignorant ? Let the names
of Howard and Fry decide the point . What dissolves the golden chain which binds society together , so much as the iron hand of war , whether between nations or individuals ? And who is it that
detests war in every shape ? The Dissenter . Of whom is the majority in the Peace Society composed ? Of Dissenters . Who are the duelists and the pugilists ? Not the Dissenters . Slavery debases and
degrades man below the level of his nature , and rends every tie . Arid are not the Dissenters sworn enemies to slavery ? Fain would they toot it from the earth , and see liberty substituted amongst their brethren of every Galoot * . "* " -Pp . 19 , 20 .
There is a slight anachronism m placing the height of fclerfcal dominion iu the fifteenth century , ( p . 28 , ) when it was in fact crumbling to pieces in every country of Europe . The author shews little reverence © t the authority df the Fathers , but his printer robs no less than three ctf them ( pp . 31 , 32 ) of their true names .
Untitled Article
68 ( 1 $ iW ) teu > i ~ Jmck 80 n m Stftim m& iMPs Mepty *
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1821, page 686, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2506/page/54/
-