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said on that occasion "was , either that fie did not know , or he would not tell . The Nol ) le and Learned Lord treated the question in a very cavalier manner , and declared , that whatever the state of the law might be * it would make no difference as
to the vote he should give on that BUI ; and that if the law gave Napoleon any advantage inconsistent with national security , it was no reason why the Bill should not pass . Such was the indifference of the Noble and Learned Lord as to the state of the law on questions
involving points of great constitutional importance . But how was this indifference consistent with the line which the Noble and Learned Lord had taken to-night ? When they were discussing laws of coercion , restriction and severitv , the Noble
and Learned Lord had not the slightest anxiety to ascertain the state of the existing law 3 but when they were called upon to pass this little act of miserable and extorted indulgence , then the Noble and Learned Lord felt the greatest anxiety and alarm as to the state of the law .
Singularly indifferent as the Noble and . Learned Lord had shewn himself about the state of the law when they were called upon to coerce , all his legal partialities and anxieties revived when they
were called upon to extend a little indulgence ; and not a step must they stir in the work of charity , till men , nursed in doubt , and cherishing the sinews of their understandings by such doubts , were satisfied , and had resolved all their
difficulties . Like the Right Reverend Prelate , the Honourable and Learned Lord had declared , that if a single stooe were touched , there was no sayiag what would become of the whole fabric of the Church * " Coerce and restrain / ' argued the Noble and Learned Lord , " to what extent yoa
please , if coercion and restriction be prudent , and I care not what the state of the law is ; but I will grant nothing in the way of concession—I will concede nothing on the score of liberality—I will not stir a single step in the path of indulgence , until every doubt is removed , every
scruple satisfied , and all the possible bearings and consequences of the law are distinctly ascertained , " And , after all , what was this concession , what was this great amount of indulgence , which had excited so much anxiety and alarm in the mind of the Noble and Learned Lord ?
He had heard it said by a Right Reverend Prelate , that this concession would be galling to the dignity and high character of the Church . He ( Lord H . ) was an unlearned man , but if he understood any yiing of the character of the Christian Church , or rather , of the character of Ch ristianity , it was lowliaess awl charity ,
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And not dignity and lofty pride . Did the Right Reverend Prelate mean to say * that it would be an iasult to the Church of England if persons out of the j > ; Ue of that Church were admitted to the civil advan ~
tages of marriage ? This was all the Unitarians asked ; and he ( Lord H . ) must say , if he might be allowed to give aa opinion as an unlearned man , that it would he much more in conformity to the spirit and principles of the gospel to extend than to deny this relief . In his
opinion , the Bill was calculated t © afford as much ! relief to the clergy of the Church of England as to Dissenters ; for , deeply impressed us the clergy must be with the importance of their religious © pinions on the subject of the Trinity , they could ifcdt but feed it—he would not say degrading , for
there could be no degradation in discharging a duty—but t hey could not fail to feel at a most painful and irksome duty to iiear the name which they never invoked without the greatest awe and solemnity , pronounced by persons who felt far differently . He could not but think , therefore , that
the sentiments expressed by the Learned Metropolitan were most consistent both "with those feelings of liberality and of true Christian piety , which should distinguish a great Cfo rist iaa ch u rch . Where was the pleasure which it seemed to be supposed was to be derived from the haughty and
intolerant language of those dignitaries of the Church , who were opposed to this slight concession ? Where was the deligiat of being able to say to the Dissea ters , " Youptietend to have conscientious opinions of your own , but what is the value of your opinions ? We hold the only
infallible opinions—opinions approved by Parliament , and lauded by princes and kings ; you are degraded individuals , who are allowed to pick up the crunabs from our table , and we , in all our lordly and priestly pride , will compel you to use equivocating language , and pay at least
an outward homage to doctrines winch we know that m your hearts you revile and despise . ** This was not true diprity ; this was not high character ; but it was that encroaching spirit of ecclesiastical
intolerance , it was that haughty , uncharitable overflow of Pharisaical pride , which every man who loved the Church Estahlishment fr every man who really tnwder * - stood the nature of religious duties * must wish to see banished from the
Church of Ettglaud . The Noble and Learned Lord professed an ardent awd anxiaue love for the Church , and was at liberty to do so ; but really to talk of such a Bill as this as aiming blows against her interests and dignities , was rather too much . He had just beeri reading an eloqtient invective agaiusfc
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Intelligence , —ParVmmefiUirys Unitarians * Marriage BitL 311
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1824, page 311, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2524/page/55/
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