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of the parties , whether they retain or are excluded from immediate influence in their general concerns , * I would ask , what can be more hostile to the p rinciples of dissent ? What is it but another version of the mode in which
clerical appointments in the Established Church are filled ? In the latter , indeed , the power is often lodged in the hands of individuals , or of bodies , who have no other connexion with the people immediately interested ; and perhaps some cases as extravagant niay be found amongst ourselves ; but as far as relates to those members of
the congregation , be their numbers greater or less , who have no voice in the election of their minister , the principle is one and the same . To them it can make no difference by
whom the appointment was madethey had no share in it ; and if they deem it a duty to attend public worship , they are subject to precisely the same inconvenience as the unpretending followers of the hierarchy .
But it is contended that this system is necessary to secure the property in the chapel for the use of Unitarian worshipers and from the invasion of interlopers of every description . If
no other means can be pointed out by which this object may be fully accomplished , and which are at the same time altogether free from the objections which so decidedly apply to these , it may be admitted that there
is something in the argument . But if it can be shewn that other means are within our reach , and Only require to be called into operation , it must , on
the other hand , be acknowledged , that among Dissenters , rational Dissenters , who , claiming for themselves the utmost freedom and independence of judgment , owe it to their own
consistency neither to withhold nor to interfere with the right of others to exercise the like freedom and independence , —it must , 1 say , be acknowled ged , that every restraint on the
individual rights of the members of a congregation , and more especially on that most important right , a voice in the election of the pastor , ought instantl y to be removed .
J ^ et us then proceed in our inquiry Have already said that the constitution of the Society and the tenure in the chapel ought not to be confounde ( * - In fact , the occupation of the
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chapel should be a matter of separate agreement between the heads or delegates of the congregation on the oue hand , and the trustees or proprietors of the building on the other . Where the building is private property , the
terms will require an annual rent for the chapel entire , or for pews separately ; where it is held in trust for a particular class of worshipers , it may be lent to people of that class in consideration of their keeping the premises in repair , or of their paying a
sum equivalent to the repairs ; and in either case , other conditions may be prescribed as to the duration of the occupancy ;—it may be for a year , for two vears , or while certain doctrines
are taught therein . In short , this species of arrangement is susceptible of every security that can be obtained by any other - I , and am not aware of any disadvantage which can possibly result from it .
It is true , difficulties may in some cases present themselves in the terms in which certain clauses of old Trust Deeds are expressed : but I suspect
that , the spirit being willing , other difficulties of the same nature , and quite equal in magnitude , have in many instances been surmounted ; and I am confident that a willing spirit would not fail to remove such as we now
contemplate the possible or probable existence of . But be this as it may ; the argument has no force in relation to those chapels which are now building , or which may hereafter be built . I am fully aware , Sir , that the principle which I contend for will meet
with objectors ; for old habits and old prejudices do not like to be disturbed ; but I do not think it necessary to anticipate what may hereafter be advanced ; I am satisfied with this endeavour to place the subject in a clear point of view , in the hope of leading to a further discussion . J . B .
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ip vwinp *' ' Booh-lVorm . No . XXVIII . Sir , June 8 , 1822 . WHEN I proposed , ten years ago , to become your occasional correspondent , I took the precaution of claiming for my lucubrations , the liberty which , I acknowledge , you have always allowed me , to polos free-
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Book-Worm . No . XXVIH . 411
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1822, page 411, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2514/page/19/
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