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exemplary character . If Mr . H- is awed into silence as to the scriptural claims of Episcopacy , by the learning and piety of those who conceive it a divine appointment , wilVJie , as he ought iri consistency , allow transubstantiation to remain unasgailed , or sheathe the sword and bid it permanently rest , heretofore drawn against Unitarianism ? But so enraptured is this Nonconformist divine with the vision of piety and learning which has passed
before him , that he . exclaims , " Long" may they adorn their present spheres . *' Again we affirm , with men we war riot , hut with systems , and the system , of an established church is to us an abomination . Otherwise } s it regarded , it should seern , by Mr . H . But what would the Nonconformists of other and better days have said to such a wish ? Surely , an c ' esto perpetua" sounds oddly on the lips of a Dissenter . If dissent be justifiable , it is only on important principles ; and if important principles authorize dissent , we
cannot , as [ Nonconformists , w ish the perpetuation of the established church We frankly confess that we see pot how Mr . H . can be acquitted of having , in this wish of his , forfeited his principles . Nor do we believe that such conduct can recommend Jiim to the judicious among Churchmen . Consistency , even in what we deem a vvrong course , is sure to secure the respect of opponents ; but adulation , or a forfeiture , though it be only by implication , or a relaxation of principle , are discommendations both with those \ vho are on our , and those who are on the opposite ,, side .
We would fain hope that the tipae is not very distant when the principles of Nonconformity will receive again at the hands of Dissenters the attention which they merit . This npust be done if we wish to retain the ground we have gained ; for the tendency in the mass pf the people is not to the roeeting-hoxise but to the church ; and so it ajw # y $ wjl } be , while honour and emolument and fashion stand at the church doors ,, and offer their attract
tjons and rewards . Nor should we forget that we have been invaded and weakened in €# | r strong hold ; that the J $ etbodist £ . h , aye taken thousands from the poorer and middling classes of society , and , to say the very leasf , neutralized them . Let us then set forth the principles of dissent—a full conviction of their importance alone can effectually counteract the many and powerful interests which oppose us . But for ourselves , we confess , we are not content to rest satisfied with the ground already gained . More remains
to be done than has been effected—abuses innumerable require exposure , and must be removed . The same neglect of their interests is not manifested by the church . They have thrown down the gauntlet , and , armed at all points , appeared in the arena . Amongst other champions , Bishop Burgess merits especial notice . He has lately published three catechisms , which have already reached the fourth edition , " on the Principles of our profession as Christians , as Members of the Church of England , and as
Protestants . " Two positions which he maintains are truly amusing ; these are , that tlie British churches were Protestant before they were Catholic * { A . truly fair specimen of the vg-e ^ ov % port ? Qvf or in humbler phrase , " the cart before the horse . " ) The other , that " the Reformation ( is ) not a separation from the Church of Rome . " This last position is in a note thus
illustrated , with a gravity truly episcopal : —* ' A JPapist once asked a Protestant , * Where was the Church of England before the Reformation ? ' To which the Protestant replied , * Where yours never was- —in the New Testament , ' Another Protestant being asked the same question , answered it by another question . * Where was your face before it was washed V " The catechist is thus instructed in this knotty matter :
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266 Hie Watchmm .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1829, page 266, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2571/page/42/
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