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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.
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AH the other Bishops of the Church of KiH ^ md ^ xttnrined as weti as he , ( the B&&&fcriPVtetiWtto ^ j ) and his questions con !* M $ o itifrrt * i * ej cfttliM tests than tllefrfc . tn doit * £ * &a % lii this instance was the ihiUJeet of * conipl ^ iJti he had jont y perfbrtiied a very im | K > rta ; iltrpait of-M $ dtity ,
ito the best mannetf he could . * Tms brought hint to state simply ih& facts of the case , on which n charge of harshness and severity had $ > een founded . Last autumn the petitioner applied to liitn ( the Itevereiid Prelate ) to license a curate for a parish of which he i $ Rector . He required tihat , before license , the proposed curate should be examined as to the
Articles ; and as he resided in the bishopric of Norwich , he ( the Bishop of Peterborough ) transmitted him a list of questions : to which he requested answers . If a bishop was n 6 t allowed to proceed thus
far orifhis own discretion , it would be belter fo abolish Episcopacy at once , and , instead of the Episcopal order appointed , to establish another Assembly of Divines at Westminster . What did this curate
do in cv > nseqtience of his receiving these questions ? He returned answers not [ tlaiu , short , and direct as he ought , but intricate , controversial and unintelligible . When he was expected to be most explicit , he was most obscure , and one of his dissertations occupied ten folio pages
closely written , where a few words would have best suited the purpose . Siich a paper was no answer to his questionsit was an attempt rather to evade their object , and to insult their author , than to state the opiuions of the writer , or to satisfy the mind of the examiner . If he
( the Bishop of Peterborough ) had a right to put any questions at all , he had a right to see that their purpose was not defeated by the use of evasive terms , or by wrapping the answers in a mass of controversial matter , which rendered them unintelligible . Finding that the object of this
person was to conceal and disguise his opinions rather than to express them , he ( the Bishop of Peterborough ) sent him another set of questions . ( A laugh . ) To therie'he sent no distinct answer , but referred to hfe former dissertations , saying , ihdi he had already answered them , in these circumstances he could - not do
otherwise than refuse to license him . He could > no € certify the soundness of his doctrines . without knowing what they were ; and he could n 6 t know w ! tet they were when he would not give intelligible
answers to the questions which were intended to ascertain them . He ( the Revereiid Prelate ) came now to another point of the noble Lord ' s speech , in which he Btattid a circumstance that , without
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explanation , would place him in aa 3 nvidioud light with respect to bis brethrenhe irieant that in Which it was said that he paid no attention to testimonials from Mother diocese / This was not correct :
he paid ail the attention to testimonials which could be required of him . These testimonials merely purported that * he who signed them believed the person to whom they referred to possess a good character , and to entertain orthodox opinions . But there were so many different ideas about orthodoxy , ( hear , hear , ) that
a bishop would not do his duty if he did not satisfy himself of the doctrines of those who applied to him for license . He therefore had resolved to judge for himself in this matter , through a direct exa- ^ mi nation by question and answer . He ( the Bishop of Peterborough ) caine now to consider the allegations in the petition , on the truth or falsehood of which the
application must stand or fall . The first allegation was , that he ( the Bishop of Peterborough ) had introduced hew tests into the Church , and refused liceifees or ordinations till he was satisfied that they were complied with . Now this he had no hesitation to say was false . He
examined by question and answer . He had a right to do so , and when he put an intelligible question , he was entitled toan intelligible answer . If he examined with undue severity—if he made his own opinion the standard of truth—and allowed no difference even in matters on .
which the Articles did not decide , then he might justly incur the charge brought against him in the petitiou . But he ' denied that he had examined with severity :
he only put questions &nd required intelligible answers , and he never rejected any application where the answers were intelligible , and tlie doctrine , statetl in them conformable to the Articles . The peti * tioner ' had said that he had added
thirtysix new articles to the former eightyseven . The fact was , that the thirty-six questions were a substitute for the eightyseven , instead of being an addition to them . The Reverend and learned PJ-elate said , that the . best answer he could give to the charget of severity was , that in the
course , of five year ^ In an extensive du >» cese only three applications , h $ di b $ en rejected . He then , went over all the other 'allegations of the , petition , . either denying theSr truth or explaining ; JtoffLJ their force . The pdint at issue wa ^ ^ m-
ply this—whether a bishQp ^ W ^; light to examine on the'Ar ^ d ey ; kft | hi $ . ; q , ym diocese . If this was admitted , | hen the mode of examm ^ tion mjist be left toj ^ he examiner himself / ^ h ^ t \ si > cli ; a ^ fth t existed \ vals plain frX > m the fbrty-ei (| Efll
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lMellig £ i&e . ^ rParlwfnentary Peterborough Question * : 651
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1822, page 651, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2517/page/67/
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