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522 Df . J . Pye Smith in Reply to Professor Cheneviire ,
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quarto pages , dated August 18 , 1817-It is elegantly drawn up , and devoted almost solely to the inculcating of tolerance , charity and good temper towards persons who differ in religious opinions . Il is an absolute
misrepresentation to say that it is " against the pastors / 3 It is against no one : it is merely a pleading- against the principle of persecution , and in defence of universal religious freedom : and it is throughout in the most
respectful style of address . I venture to say that , were the whole of it to be inserted , it would give universal pleasure to your readers , and would do honour to the pages of the Monthly Repository : but I will request admittance for only a few paragraphs .
testing against ^] —encroachments of any kind committed against liberty of conscience , the right of judging for one ' s self of the truths contained in the word of God , the right of expressing to others the sincere opinions which we form , The oppression which aims to shut the mouth of an
" To write or speak against differing opinions is not hostility . Such contests , when conducted with honour and integrity , are innocent : yea , more ^ they are noble and highly to be commended ; and their issue , sooner or later , must be the triumph of truth . —I would expose myself to be smitten by both parties , —[ in
proadversary , in order to get a cheap and worthless victory , ia nothing else thaa tyranny ; it is a criminal war against both God and man ; it is the very ravaging of the church of Christ ; it is the greatest obstacle that can
possibly be opposed to the progress of Christians towards those days of knowledge , peace and prosperity , which shall certainly be at last enjoyed . — Each party ought to say to its opposite , We want not to be your judges , any more than we admit you to be ours : preach your doctrine ; we will
preach that which is agreeable to our judgment and conscience ; and God will prosper what he approves . —You are divided in opinion , but be united in charity . —This harmony of heartswill bring on happy times . " \/
< y TU ^ a- M ] T Tfc M cc " ~ ~~~~ r * —^ 12 . That . . has gone from place to place doing mischief , " Such general charges certainly are out of the reach of reply . Let M . C . say what he means , and I have no doubt
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but that M . M . will meet him in & manly and candid manner . 3 . That * ' he was condemned , some months ago , to fine and imprisonment
by a French tribunal , for having m various places set parishioners against their pastors , and turned them to Methodism . " Any of your readers , Sir , from Cornwall to Caithness , will in a moment see how to translate this
into plain English . But it might appear a disregard to impartiality * if I were to withhold the facts alluded to . Few need to be informed that the enjoyment of religious freedom by Protestants in France is , in practice , far inferior to the toleration of our
country . My esteemed friend M 6 janel is pious , amiable , upright , well-informed , and an engaging preacher , and he is not habitually imprudent : but I do not believe that he regards extreme caution , which , perhaps , some of the best of men would call worldly wisdom , as a cardinal virtue . In the
spring of 1823 , at a village in the department of the Aisne , he conducted some religious services without observing the restrictions of the law as to place and the number of hearers . In so doing he gave offence to a neighbouring Protestant pastor . For this he was prosecuted , and condemned by the first tribunal to three
months'imprisonment and a fine of 200 francs . He appealed to the next higher court , which was held at Laon ; and this repealed the sentence of imprisonment , but confirmed the fine . The barristers , almost if not quite unanimously , maintained that the lotver court was in
eVror , and that the law had not been violated : and the Judges and * the King ' s Attorney treated M . M . with marked respect . The whole proceedings made a remarkably favourable
impression , through a very extensive and populous district ; and the Protestant minister who had taken a part in the prosecution , very shortly after manifested a friendly disposition .
Now , I request the reader to judge of the integrity and candour of M . Chenevifcre ' s insinuations . IX . The New Church , as it is called ; or the Society formed in 1817 ?
upon the simple principle of the New Testament , a voluntary and congregational union for celebrating the ordinances of Christian worship and instruction . M . C . admits that these
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1824, page 522, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2528/page/10/
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