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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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tj ^ e X $ tfta >] 9 ^ b $ ^ Mlm \ i ^> vBfc iig ^ ife < q ^ 9 i $ i * il ^ 4 ? reHgious liberty * and he looked v ^ itji conjfrdeuce to his support "VVtiei ^ ; j&ef great question con cerning the T £ e § £ &n < l Corporation Acts should be ^ x'on ^; , before the British Senate . He kne > y $ ie value of conscience—he felt tfeat liberty was indeed the most invaluable possession—that liberty gave the flower ^ fleeting life its Lustre and perfume ; hence that the cause of God can never
require the petty bulwarks of man for its siippovtr- ^ or human efforts retard the growth of ( hat kingdom which is not of this world . He mentioned that the Bishop of St « David's lately cajled on Dr . Boothroyd , an author and Dissenting minister in the North of England , con *
versed with him of literary subjects , and walked with him to his carriage at the inn ; observing , when complimented on his condescension , There is no aristocracy in the republic of letters ! He wished the sentiment to be applied to the Christian world—he would not undervalue the
splendour of rank—he would not pmck a laurel from the braw dignified with the wreath or the coronet—but when he entered the church of God , he then felt that there should be no aristocracy , that they had one Master , even Christ , and that here all men were brethren .
After several other gentlemen had addressed the meeting-, Dr . Brown said he must ever maintain , that the mere right to worship God according to the dictates of his conscience , no man daring to make him afraid , was not all that could be desired or deserved—he could
not think that liberty which imposed any disabilities for matters of faith . He never looked to the word toleration without a feeling of degradation . He regretted that an unaccouutable backwardness pervaded the minds of Dissenters in the assertion of their rights , and in the vindication of their characters . He contended that for
talent—for wealth- —for independent and patriotic principles , the Dissenters were not a whit behind their brethren of the Church * He remembered that Howard ^ with whose character he was intimately
acquainted , was exposed to all the penalties , of the Corporation Act . He was liable to a penalty of < £ 500 for taking on himself the office of Sheriff , yet he did take it , and it was the acceptance of this office ,, with all its penalties , that led to all his subsequent and philanthropic and godlike enterprises . He then adverted to the difficulty winch existed as to the Register of Births . The only effectual remedy which , as far as his experience went , was , that the father or a family should insert in his will the date of the birtlj of his children—that could be pro-
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dsacfed ? in a court of jfcstibe j atr ^ tejioted that it would fttadctyfedi ; till * pui& Wfaf mode could be derfeed . He niotcd ifa resolution with great satisfaction . He had seen men of legal eminence and higft rank
occupy that Chair , and he was glad that now some of their legislators came to hear what it was they required ; and he doubted not but that the Honourable Chairman would when the impprtant time arrived > stand forward to advocate their cause ,
The Rev . Mr . Dwight , from America , assured the meeting , that till then he knew not that any occasion for such a Society existed . He had once , when travelling in Switzerland , been mistaken for an Englishman—and having at Lausanne met with one who had been banished from his country for his attach merit to
the cause of God—he said , as an Englishman , " Give me the liberty of a British monarchy , and not the liberty of Switzerland oppression . "—He told them that in England no man could suffer on , account of religion , every man could preach any where what he believed to be
the word of God ; and when he heard the statement that day made , he remembered that conversation , and could not but think , Where was he ? Surely not in England ! Theve could not be such things in tire country from which he was descended . In America there was no
persecution for religion ; all there was free , but with one exception , the African Slavery . But he must in her defence say , that she was bound not to interfere in that for a period as yet incomplete . In America there could be no refusals to marry ; if the minister of one sect
refused , you had but to go to that of another , or to the magistrate , let him be Jew , Mahometan or Heathen , it mattered not : churches were open to all—and every American possessed an equalization of right , and a community of privilege .
The resolution of thanks to the Chairman , proposed by Dr . Brown and the Rev . Mr . Dwight , was received with repeated acclamations , and the whole of the vast assembly rose to express tfieir ' approbation in a most distinguished ' iftatYner .
The Ciiaiuman assured tfte nic ^ trrtg that his feelings could not be L ^|) i ^^ d On ordinary occasions he might titicr fluently his acknowledgments , or receive approval with some consciousness . of dcserty but that praise from ah asseirtjbly so numerous , respectable , intellectual , and well principled , afforded hiin ' a pleasure he con Id not describe . r l * hc
Interest excited by the information coitfni'flnicutud and the vast eloquence displayed , had ntivtr been surpassed ; aiM hii should
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7 fl $ Protwttmt iSfactefyi Speeches qf Dr * iBr 6 wn + 4 hfrChmrtnm , fyc .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1825, page 702, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2542/page/62/
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