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Untitled Article
tbek opinions ; we would merely observe , m passing , that the present application of it by Dr . Marsh is inconsistent with his foregoing assertion in jk 6 , that tJ * e clergy have « o wish 4 o exclude the Catholics from civil offices merely in consequence * af their reHgious belief Tbe \® ry terms of exclusion are -expressly levelled at the fsse-Btial articles of their tareed , and Plough
this is < k > ae for the ostensible purpose of obviating other dangers imagined to arise out of that ^ reed , yet the Catholic is sabjeeted < to the gross injustice of being disbelieved in tine assurance , which he is willing to give in common with « very other good subject , of allegiance to the rightful Sovereign of these realms , aodof being compelled to seek the enjoyment of his civil rights by a renunciation of opinion , which , if he corald once be induced to make k , would render hkn utterly unworthy of credit on every other
occasion If this be not religious persecution , we know not what is . In page 10 of the Charge , we find another remarkable distinction insisted on between the enjoy merit of religious liberty and the exercise of political power , and a lira of argument pursued , founded on assumptions , which we are surprised the learned author should have ventured to obtrude on the public ia the present day . "Let the right—every man to worship God according to'liis conscience—be classed among the natural rights of man , and let it be granted that he should be allowed to do so as long as lie abstains from disturbing the peace of Ms
neighbours . But if he sets up a similar claim to the exercise Of political or civd ' power , he sets up a claim that cannot be sustained . A claim to civil poiver must be / bunded on civil relations ; and we cannot aiimm judge of civil relations without knowing the religion of the party concerned . If , then , after due consideration , it should appear that persons of one description are better qualified for offices of trust and power than those of another description , there is neither injustice nor intolerance in bestowing * those employments on the former aad withholding them from the latter . And if the clergy in particular have reason to apprehend that additional power conferred on tflie Roman Catholics would endanger their own church , they are surely entitled ,
without being branded as bigots , to petition the legislature against measures injurious to themselves . " We must be allowed to observe , that the word power is insidiously used in this passage . ; it is calculated to mislead the unwary reader ami blind him to the real state of the question . The object of the claims of the Roman Catholics is not power , but a restitution to that rank and position in the
body politic of which they are unjustly deprived ; nor do we see that their political influence would be materially increased by an admission to equality of Tight and privilege with their fellow-citizens . The moral strength of the Catholics would certainly be diminished by emancipation . The question does not relate to the preponderance of power , but to the enjoyment of civil privileges , which as much deserves to be ranked among the natural rights of man , till forfeited by crime , as liberty of conscience . What is meant by the insinuation , that a claim to civil power must be founded on civil relations ? Is it intended , or , if intended , is it expected to be admitted
m the present day , that a long monopoly of power constitutes a right to power ; that the fact of one particular sect having been constantly in alliance with the state , places it m precisely those civil relations upon which it is asserted that a claim to civil power must be founded ; and that these artificial—these accidental distinctions ( for ^ in fact , they are only accidental ) , can abrogate the eternal principles of natural right and justice—can render it no
Untitled Article
Review . —Bishvp ef Peler&orwugWs C&arge . 845
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1828, page 245, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2559/page/29/
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