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Untitled Article
vourable to the propagation of new opinions . The whole popul&tftm of all the towns do ^ s not exceed 250 , 000 persons , Stockholm containing upwards of 70 > 000 . Thus the few sects which havfe started up , have existed
but ^ a short time ; and the Hess the government has interfered with them , the less time have they lasted . It is also very remarkable , that although the Swedes are s 6 generally phlegmatid in disposition ; they are rein arkefely dive to ridicule ; thus the professor of a new creed which is exposed to the slightest' contempt ,, has no
chance of making ph > $ elytes < , And , indeed , an instance may be adduced of a sect , which already was composed of several followers , and which was entirely destroyed by a theatrical farce . Only two sects are knotvn to exist in Sweden ; the Swedenborgiaris " ( or the adherents of the Church of the
New Jerusalem ) and the Moravians or Hernhuthians . These , however , differ not materially from the High Church , and even take part in its public services and rites . The Swedenborgians have no separate church nor public meetings ; there are but
few of them , and they are not united by any secret agreements . The Hernhuthians have separate chapels in some of the larger towns , such as Stockholm , Gothenburg and Norkdping . They are not , however , distinguished from the Lutheran Church ,
except that they look upon the ordinary ceremonies of worship as insufficient to their devotion . They meet tivo or three times in the week , and on the Sunday evening their chapel is open to all who shall please to attend it . On these occasions some person , who is separately paid , reads a short
discourse ; at intervals , portions of the common book of Psalms are sung ; and occasionally hymns of their own are employed . Their congregations are connected with each other , and their present patron or bishop is said to be the Counsellor of State , Count Kosenblad , although he does not publicly acknowledge this to be the case .
The number of these Dissenters amounts to several thousands . They ar ^ in general very industrious and laborious ; but they seldom possess superior or intellectual minds . It is assorted , that they consider themselves
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fcs delusively elect , and all others rejected : they do not , however * in society evince any intolerance ; indeed , the dread of public opinion would prevent their doing so .
Although the toleration of opinion was great , the liberty of the press was very much restricted , until the year 1809 ; every writing of a theological nature being submitted to the superintendence and censure of the
Consistorial Courts . * By the constitution of 1809 , all censorship was abolished ,, and the publication of opinions permitted . ' * This toleration had but a short existence ; and it was not long ere doctrines themselves were scrutinized .
At the meeting of the States-General in 1812 , at CErebro , the liberty of the press was in a great measure aestroyed . The Consistorial Courts even entertained the idea of preventing- the publication of religious opinions altogether . This meditated intolerance
was defeated by its being ordained in 1815 , that a jury should decide in ' all cases touching the liberty of the press ; for in consequence of this proceeding , every prosecution for publications denounced by the Consistorial Courts
was dismissed . It must , at the same time , be acknowledged that , with the exception of one pamphlet in defence of Predestination , no work has appeared which has not stated its opinions with moderation and candour .
The Sunday is certainly not so strictly observed in Sweden as in England - but - public worship is every where well attended , provided the priest possess but a moderate portion of talent . Religion is so generally held in veneration , that no individual dare offend against it : public opinion in such a case needs not the assistance
of the law . But it must be remembered that , in Sweden , the word religion embraces only the principal truths of Christianity , and not the doctrines of any particular sect : even to the tatter a respect is paid by all
* In every bishopric there is a Consistorial Court , the bishop acting as president , and , in case of his absence , the dean . There are also Consistorial Courts at Stockholm and Carlscrona . These courts have the management of church regulations and of lh ^ public schools .
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fUMnoonfirmisiJ No . XXVlIf . 195
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1824, page 195, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2523/page/3/
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