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the Church , and our Socinians will be enabled to join regularly in the established worship , and be saved the expense of supporting teachers of their own . Let a Baptist have the privilege of walking into a Vestry , and saying , S ( Baptize my child , passing' over all the ceremony except the entry in your register ^ ' and he will obtain the benefit of a more secure and public record of the birth and h gitimacy of his offspring . In the same spirit you may
go through every page . < $ f the Ritual ; and alter or add , Gmit or modify , according to the infinite caprices of mankind ; till Jews , Turks , Heretics and Infidels , feel an equal delight in the dogmas , and take an equal share in the worship , of your truly Catholic communion . If Parliament consents to alter the Prayer Book for one
scruple , it ought to alter it for every scruple ;—and this Bill , which aspires to the character of a liberal measure , is an act of maimed and imperfect justice , unworthy of the support of its friends , unworthy of the equity and impartiality of
the House of Commons , upsetting ancient landmarks , irritating ancient and holy feelings , mixing profane and sacred in one undistiuguishable mass , all for the purpose of giving a very little relief to a very little scruple of a very little portion of his Majesty ' s subjects . If the Unitarian Dissenters are desirous not of trampling upon the Church , but of marrying after their own fashion , and the House should be disposed to indulge
them in this fancy , I have no objection to consider any plan which they may suggest . They have , I admit , one strong plea ; viz . that similar indulgence has been already shewn to the Quaker and the Jew . Parliament was satisfied when it passed the Marriage-Act , t \ , » t
clandestine marriages would not be encouraged by excepting these small and very peculiar bodies of people from the general operation of the law ; and the boon which they earnestly sought was granted . Let the Dissenters come forward en masse , and petition for a similar exemption ; and if they can shew that such a measure will not lead to the very inconvenience which the Marriage-Act was designed to remove , they will have a fair claim to our
attention . Do not deal with the question , as if it were to be determined by the pertinacity of its advocates ; do not shew the greatest favour to those who evidently deserve the least ; do not pretend to interfere with the Kites and Ceremonies of the Church . But call upon the Dissenters to accommodate their wishes to the spirit of your marriage laws ; and then inquire whether those wishes are reasonable and
can be complied with . That I may not be accused of recommending impossibilities , I will shew how
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the important objects just alluded to may be reconciled . Let the Banns of marriage between Dissenters be published in their parish-church , let a certificate of such publication be given by the minister let the parties be married , on the strength of such certificate , by their own teacher
and let them bring a certificate of their marriage to the parish-register . firis would provide against clandestine marriages , and would give sufficient facility of recording and proving them . Dissenters would not complain of being deprived of the privilege of marrying by licence ; since
licences proceed from Episcopal authority , which they do not admit or respect . I am not aware of any material objection to this plan : of its infinite superiority to that which is now before the House ^ I cannot think that one individual win doubt . 1 throw it out for the
consideration of those whom it more particularl y concerns ; confident that we should not be justified in granting more , and that the petitioners themselves cannot expect us to require less . But at the same time , it is better that things should remain as they are . I need not recapitulate my arguments in order
to shew the merits of this opinion ; but the principle upon which it rests la incontrovertible . The present outcry against the Marriage-Act arises from a groundless scruple . If that scruple is not attended to , it will gradually be forgotten , and the voice that issues from it will be heard no more . Experience is in favour of this view of the question . The
very Rite now complained of by Unitarians , was once the bitter grievance of Presbyterian and Puritan . While some persons were intent upon beheading the king , and establishing the covenant , and some dealt in a smaller way—revolted aguinst the surplice , protested against black puddings , and rejected the Sign of the Cross , and clothes made of
liuseyvvolsey" Others were for abolishing That tool of matrimony , a ring , With which the unsanctifyed bridegroom Is marry'd only to a thumb . " These follies have had their day ; the legislature stood firm ; common sense came to its assistance : and the
descendants of those very men who are described by our great satirist , retain their peculiar views of the Christian dispensation , while their consciences are too seared to flinch at " Cross or king * ° * wedding ring . " The substantial aim important differences between Churchman and Dissenterreiriain . But there
, was nothing on which the latter was once so scrupulous as forms ; and he h&
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358 cc The Christian Remembrancer * on the Unitarian Marriatre-BilL
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1822, page 358, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2513/page/38/
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