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tfron sent and the Bishop had prdained , they most alone seek their spiritual supply . In that one edifice , whoever be the minister , aa # whatever be his talents or his morals , they , if consistent Churchmen , should only worship . The limitation of their exemption to their own parishes ,
therefore was correct . But has every denomination of Dissenters in every parish , also its , house of worship ? Their principles teach them to attend , where kindred spirits assemble , on the minister they choose , aud where most religious profit will ensue . To restrain the exemption from toll , as to Dissenters , to the
parishes where they reside , was mockery —a very shadow orliberality and of relief . Nor had the legislature left the interests of any tollman so unprotected as the writer had supposed . On those subjects , clerks , commissioners , mortgagees , contractors , and county members , were all astute . Each exemption clause imposed
the proof of the right to exemption on the claimant of the right , and appended a penalty of 5 / . or 10 / . on any detected fraud . Amid such provisions folly alone could meditate an evasion of a shilling toll , aud the interests of the toll-bar and the tabernacle might be alike secure . The objections thus removed , it might be sufficient to add : as a reason for
tenacity on such subjects , that a payment of these tolls would impose a new yearly burden on some congregations of tifty pounds , and on Dissenters generally , throughout England and Wales , a new special annual tax of at least twenty thousand pounds .
But great as was that amount , there tvere other and higher feelings which on that subject excited diligence and zeal . Since the Revolution aud the introduction of turnpike acts , and in those reigns when Dissenters were treated with
respect by monarch * and their courts , the turnpike exemptions were equally extended to Dissenters as to Churchmen , and the clerical and ministerial office was deemed alike entitled to respect . The restriction on these exemptions was an
as it was a wrong . It was an assumption of a right of precedence before unclaimed . Honour , therefore , demanded the firm maintenance of the ancient privilege ; and honour , especially as connected with principle , Dissenters highly prized . If glory , with but the branch of
wild olive , the parsley wreath , or some laurel crown , at ancient games , induced mighty labours ; if an honorary medal and a courtly star inspired the bravest to transcendent deeds—the same regard to honour must induce Dissenters not to retrograde in their pretensions , nor sub * n » it to any new despoilment . They might
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not yet regain the equal rights they surrendered formerly , front JtaJfcWy muj ^ regard to the ^ potestalit ftriftf *; imt to be pushed yet nnjre backward they c <> uld hot endure . Therefore on this subject they felt as the Reviewer did not feel , and not interest only , but honour forbade them to recede .
The same sentiment applied to the remarks of the Reviewer , oh tbte assessment of the Meeting houses to pamc&fa ? rates He says , Whfcth ^ r nwraey be mad e or not by it , must be left to the examination of those magistrates * yho iJecWe small civil questions ; they may be ra < $ b $ g « tit ~ or rude in this examination . This must
depend on accident , but the law surely is not unfair . " Without re-elating , that founders of places for public worship found the best charities— -that charities are exempt from assessment—tnat erery patriotic and Christian principle should induce the freedom of such buildings from
such claims , —he affirmed , that Dissenters mainly objected to them , on account of the degradation and dishonour connected with the proceedings and tribunal that must grant redress . C ©« £ d they pleasantly endure that at the sessions in a corporate town-, some worshipful
tallow-chandlers and butterinen * pledged by the Holy Sacrament to fealty to the Established Church , —or at the Quarter Sessions , a bench of clergy justices , who thronged it on those occasions—should examine the Meeting-house accounts ,
discuss the expenditure , guage the merit of a minister , and determine what remuneration in collections and pew rents the love of his grateful pepple should subscribe ? Patiently and without complaining , these things were not to be borne . The honour of their ministers was
iuvolved : and they were their ornament and boast . Though their comforts were often too much neglected—they were knowu , admired , beloved . In the records of history , their learning , fervour and sacrifices were inscribed * Neither Ifi
numbers nor in worth di $ they d e cline . Mitres , robes , titles , they needed not . Their labours brought them reverence ; they were adorned with grace . He looked around , and as he beheld a multitude venerable for years and wisdoni , great in knowledge , by humility exalted , beaming with holy light , patient , self-depying , in
beneficence unwearied , the * ' very salt of earth ; " he saw the only true successors of prophets and apostles . He saw men who had apostolic faith , disinterestedness and love ; and f pr whom was laid up in heayen an apostolic crown ! * Itudeness " toward such men was no light bttencetheir exposure to rudeness' no light calamity ; and zeal ought not to abate , till
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$ 8 S rntellurenc * . * - ~ Prt > testant Society : Mr . Wilke * Speech .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1822, page 582, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2516/page/62/
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