On this page
-
Text (1)
-
Untitled Article
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.
-
-
Transcript
-
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.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
Presbyterian as he was nainiually ^ ( Mr . -A . continued , ) he had no great liking , for synod *; all ecclesiastical bodies having power were prone to into ^ lerance , and an lutoleraot synod was in his view much the . same as a Brunswick Club . The Brunswick Clubs cry out " Protestant ascendancy , " meaning the
domination of a faction ; synodical clubs cry out ct Orthodox ascendancy , " meaning precisely the same thing . Let them succeed and grow in power , and ; both would trust in the end to no argument so much as the argumentum baciUinum , which is in mother English , club-law , the favourite law of all clobs , however named , which , have beeo formed for the purpose of interfering with conscience *
It would seenv ( said the speaker ) that as far as regards bigots the great men of every age and country have lived in vain . Would those that are so intent upon orthodoxy but consult the master-minds of our race , they would learn that important as faith is , there is one thing still more important , and that is charity . Upon this subject he would refresh , the
memory of the company with the words of John Mil ton-, ope of the truly noble of the earth , who stood forward ages before his contemporaries , and of whose greatness there was this proof s that it grew with the succession of time- , la his own peculiar language , rising to the
level of his exalted thought * , this writer for posterity had said , } hat " ¦ Charity is the high governess of our-belief ; " that " the true way of knowledge is to hold that for truth which accords most with charity j" and that " God hath put aH things under th& feet of his Son * but his commandments he hath left all under
the feet of charity , " ( Cheers , ) If , however , the intolerant \ v 4 ll not take lessons from the great masters in the school of moral and divine wisdom , let us abandon them ( said Mr . A . ) to the lash of satire . Their tests will ceas ^ e to be formidable when they become ridiculous ; and there was not a . more biting satire upon the shibboleths of religious party , than in one of the homely tales of
the Spectator , full of Addison ' s sly and quiet humour . On the taking of Nainur by King William , a loyal justice of the peace , of Coleshill , in Warwickshire , resolved to celebrate the victory by rustic games and sports . One of the entertainments was a grinning match , aud a gold ring the prize . The candidates shewed themselves in succession upon a table , aud after several had trj * td their powers , up rose one who was in those times a majcpittent , a great uia ^^ er in
Untitled Article
the art of - grinning ^ but excelling parti - cularly in the angry grin , insomuch that he was said to have made half a dozen women miscarry . He no sooner began his feativtfyanth ^ -gold ring was adjudged by common consent to * be bis . In this crisis , it was whispered in the ear of his worship * tha * the fellow who was gr
inning in his face was a Jacobite ; upon which the Justice , unwilling that a disaffected person should carry away , the prize and obtain the reputation of being the best grinuer in the county , ordered the oaths to be administered to him , which the grinner refusing to take , he \ yas set aside as UTiquctiified , ( Loud laughter . ) There fe a moral in this mirth . The
application of it to the case of parties in Ireland is unhappily too natural * and just . Oppression , abetted , if not carried on , by tV& Presbyterian as well as Episcopalian Qrangeniec o ^ the North , makes the mass of the Irish people look sour and complain , and this very sourness and these very complaints are alleged by their oppressors as proofs that they are not
qualified for the enjoyment of civil rights . The state of Ireland at the present moment ( concluded the speaker ) is fearful and appalling . A heavy responsibility is upon our rulers . Their policy \\\ this matter will probably affect the condition of the whole kingdom for generations . They may wish for an
oblivion of lrisb claims , hut the thing is impossible , and every day's experience shews that to attempt to forget Ireland is to neglect the dearest interests of England . It is bigotry that divides the two countries , and us long as this is cherished by the government , or suffered to live , there can be no cordial or real union
between them . An old tradition runs , that there was once a contention , betweeu Scotland and Ireland for an inland lying contiguous to both , aud that at length the dispute was ended by this singular agreement , that a snake should be put upon the island , and that if it lived , Scotland was to be the possessor , if it died , Ireland . The story is a warning . A contest there is between Ireland and a
faction , a faction subsisting partly here and partly there . The serpent of religious bigotry is thrown by the faction int *> $ he quarrel . If the snake lives , ( which Heaven foibidl ) Ineland dies \ if the snake dies , ( and die it must , for do venomous reptile can long live in ~~ the land of St , Patrick , ) Ireland lives , and in her life Eaglaud will refresh and prolong her own . ( Continued c / teering , ) The Chairman then proposed the healths of the u Htv . Mr , Fox , Dr . Car-
Untitled Article
fntejligence . — 'tjpinnvr to the R # v , ff * Mbntgomfixfr . HH 5
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1829, page 145, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2569/page/73/
-