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ther mote nor l £ ss than an attempt to bring back the various classes of Seceders into the bosom of the National Church , % detailing the mischiefs of Dissent , and enlarging on the benefits of Conformity . This end he proposes to accomplish , without changing any of the creeds of his church ; for the Catholicism of his spirit
extends only to those who subscribe to the truth of her doctrines * ( P . 9 . ) " The safe exercise of their religion , " he informs us , ( p . 17 , ) " is the utmost which they can reasonably expect , " who dissent from the Church , which " enjoys the honours , stations , and emoluments disposable by the State . "
The writer sets out with observing , that " the Established National Church must be admitted to be the rule ; the Dissenting communities the exception : " hence «« it will be the most logical , as well as the most orderly and impartial
proceeding , to examine the circumstances of the exception , before the value of the rule , as a rule , is inquired into . " The very reverse of this appears to us to be the case ; since the nature and uecessity of the exception can only be estimated in reference to the character of the rule .
In this order of inquiry , he proceeds to shew that Dissent , in itself considered , is an evil ; a position in which we are very well disposed to agree with Mr . Merewether , though the admission of it would lead us to a widely different conclusion . These evils he arrays under eight formidable heads : —Dissent is , 1 st , Auarchical ; 2 dly , Anti-social ; . 3 dly , Unpeaceable ; 4 thly , Unpatriotic ; 5 thly , Uneconomical ; 6 thly , Unseemly ; 7 thly , Unlearned ; 8 thly , Unscriptural .
The guilt . of Dissent being thus satisfactorily proved , another important ques tion occurs : — " At whose door does the guilt of Dissent lie ? At the Dissenters ' , who separate because they cannot comply with the prescribed terms , or be involved in the offendaut consequences of communion ? Or at the Church ' s , who impose these terms , and give occasion to these consequences ? " This point is next
resolved by inquiring into the nature of the consequences complained of : these are etiuin € r 4 ll 3 L . under the following heads : —1 st , Worship ; 2 < llyj Discipline ( including Governmeht ) ; 3 dly , Character of Clergy ; 4 thly , Imposition of Ceremonies ; 5 thly , Subscription to Articles ; 6 thly , Doctrine ( including Catechism and Creeds ) . It is not a little singular that from thin enumeration is excluded the
article of alliance between Church and State—a consideration , of all others , the most important in the eyes of a thorough
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Dissenter , as pointing to the radical evil from iwhicli all the great err 6 vs and cov .-ruptions of established religions arise . With what , success and ability these several objections to conformity are repelled by Mr . Merewether , some notion may be gathered from what is said undelthe head of " Subscription to Articles . ' The sum of the argument is , that without
a prescribed creed there can . be no uihformity of faith ; that the chief sects of Dissenters require from their candidates for ordination some declaration of faith ; and that the church haM the advantage of prescribing a general form , " framed by collective wisdom and competent
authority" for universal signature , instead of allowing each individual , as among the Dissenters , to make a confession of faith in his own words ; and that this plan presents a clear , unequivocal , and intelligible test to the clergy and others ; and , above all , to those whom the clergy are to teach . ( Pp . 88 , 89 . ) -
With this " short defence of subscription" our author contents himself ; and with arguments equally conclusive against the other objections alleged , it is not surprising if he turns the scale against Dissenters , and proves the whole enormity of schism to be with them . ' y The best part of the book is that in which the writer considers the evil
tendencies and the advantages either of established religions generally , or of the Church of England particularly ; though we must frankly confess , we have seldom met with a book written so little in the spirit of the present day , or so little calculated to . accomplish the end which it proposes . It is evidently called forth by a strong feeling that the interests of the church are on the decline , and discovers
a willingness to make concessions for the saHe of peace and comprehension , which shews how deeply the inroads of Dissent , in its various forms , upon the integrity of the church are acknowledged and deplored . The grave proposal to the gOr vernors of the church for " shaping ** the Methodist meeting houses " into decent ecclesiastical structures , " cannot be read without a smile . ( P . 152 . )
Amidst a somewhat ostentatious display of candour and good feeling towards Dissenters , the author still maintains that tone of conscious superiority , that confident assumption of the learning of his own church , and of the trauscendant excellence of her institutions , which so naturally results from possessing a monopoly of the national honours and endowments . Of those high classical and mathematical attainments , and of the general
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126 Critical Notices
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1828, page 120, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2557/page/48/
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