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Untitled Article
defenders of the church , the language of Sallust may be well used—Neque id quibus modis assequeretur , dum sibi regnum pararet , quidquam pensi hahebat . They are reckless of the means , provided they can obtain their ends—the elevation of their own party yn the ruin of the character of persons at least equally sincere as themselves . In ancient times there was a law which subjected the false accuser to the same punishment which he sought to bring on the object of his aversion , and if such a regulation was now in force , men of like spirit with Zelotes might , by suffering the obloquy
and injustice they bring upon others , be taught to speak the truth , and eventually , perhaps , to speak the truth in love . Though we have said in the commencement of this article , that the spirit manifested towards Unitarians is improving , there is enough of misrepresentation and intolerance still abroad to occasion our grief , and to require our exertions . The instances now adduced prove this assertion , and they are but a sample of what have lately presented themselves to " The Watchman" as he went his rounds . Still we labour in hope , and imagine that we see amidst the darkness signs , though they be afar off , of better days .
BlackwoodVs Magazine , for May , contains an article on the Irish Church Establishment , which may not , perhaps , be altogether unworthy the attention of our readers . The writer is , or from the tone of his production ought to be , some great one ; albeit the magnificent "We" and saucy bearing of periodical literature are often nothing but gaudy coverings of the scantiest pretensions . The writer , whoever he may be , informs us , and we have heard the report without dropping even a single tear , that the tide has set in against the clergy and the establishment of the Irish Churchy
( in obedience to Parliamentary authority he should have yclept it * ' the English Church in Ireland , " ) and the barriers by which they might have been protected have been broken down . The Church must now stand , if it stand at all , by its moral worth . By its connexion with the State little has it gained , we are informed , for the last hundred years . " During that period it seems to have been forgotten as the handmaid of religion , and used only as the tool of political convenience . " Habeo confitentem reum , to use the vigorous phrase of the Roman orator . A Churchman has confessed to the fact , that his Church is a tool of the State . But further : " Its
revenues were the treasury from which bribes were dispensed , and parliamentary interests purchased by the minister of the day . " The consequence is , " there is a loathing occasioned by the foul prostitution of what has been designed for holy uses , which will cause even bad men to revolt against a system which is based upon such profanation ; and religion , which has been thus outraged by the political traders in human rottenness , will
avenge herself by reappearing under some form of Dissent . " After other confessions of a similar character the writer remarks , " Even still , if justice were done to the Church of Ireland , all would be well . " But the writer is indignant at the idea of suggestion from others . Let justice be done , but it must be done in my way . To all Church Reformers , save and except a favoured few , he exclaims , Procul abeste profani . His own medicine is the only application he will allow .
" — the sovereigust thing on earth Was parmaceti for au inward bruise . " But he may rest assured that if the tug of war should come , the Hotspurs of the day will not long endure td hear him
Untitled Article
The Watchman . 653
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1829, page 653, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2576/page/53/
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