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and greetings ; they became acquainted with each other ' s persons ; they united their prayers and sympathies , and he * came intensely interested in each other ' s happiness . The boundary of a town was then a circle of affection , and to be a fellow townsman was to be a friend —• so numerous and strong were the social and religious ties which bound mat ) to man in these communities .
And to preserve these social blessings , the bounds of congregational parishes were , till lately , held sacred . A minister who should break over them , and preach within the limits of a brother clergyman , without his consent , would have been regarded as disorderly . But this beautiful harmony has been disturbed—chiefly hy tne influence of men from another
State—men who did not understand , or did not regard , the principles and feel - ings of our citizens . They have Jooked over the peaceful and happy parishes of Massachusetts , where the social virtues flourished and piety was a principle of holy living , and have declared them all missionary ground . Their emissaries have been sent to divide and conquer .
We are not called upon , said Mr . S ., to judge the motived of these men , but we deplore and condemn their practice ; we will not promote our cause by imitating their example . Where division already exists , and the religious harmony of a people is incurably broken , there we
will gladly go with the truth and consolation of a purer theology . In large towns , where several sects can afford to worship apart from each other , we would encourage every effort to promote the establishment of Christian worship on liberal and rational principles .
He then * noticed the inevitable evils of freaking up harmonious parishes . Among these are the general prevalence o £ unkind , ungenerous , and uncharitable feelings , and a bitter and denouncing spirit , unfriendly to the peaceful and benevolent spirit of our religion . A comr muiuty is divided into two or more parr ties , hostile to each other , and disposed to thwart each other , even iu plans for
the public good . So much of a persecuting temper prevails , that men cannot enjoy their religious opinions without being injured in their civil interests and relations . The charities of social life are destroyed , and the offices of mutual kindness are interrupted ; friends ber come enemies , and the rancorous spirit of sectarianism carries discord and bitterness even into the circles of domestic affection . Families , which have long
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lived in blessed union , and with one heart worshiped the same God at the same sacred altar , now moodily disperse to seek spiritual light and instruction in apposite directions . Our Saviour ' s mournful prophecy is fulfilled ; " a man is set at variance against his father , the daughter against her mother , a man's foes are
they of his own household . " We deprecate the spirit which produces this state of things .. With the far-reaching vision of God ' s prophet , our Saviour declared , that <* offences must come" -r-the unholy passions of man will inevitably bring them ; but we remember too that he solemnly denounced " wo to that man by whom lie offence cometh . "
The last evil which be should notice , Mr . S . said , in breaking up parishes , was a pecuniary one . The resources of religious societies are crippled by division ; and if we look forward to another generation , we shall find this a most alarming evil . A parish which has harmoniously united in the support of one is rent asunder taxed
minister , severely to provide another house of worship , and still more severely to support an additional clecgyman . This nray be borne , and will be borne , while the excitement which caused the . division remains . But it cannot always continue ; in this generation , or the next at farthest , men will think soberly of the weight of an evil which every year presses hardly upon their interest . They will feel that they ,
or their fathers for thena , have paid too dearly for their will , by taking up a burden so oppressive . And they will relieve themselves by falling away , and throwing a still severer load on others , till it can be no longer sustained . The numerous ephemeral churches which have sprung up in the midst of exciter ment , must languish for a time without a ministry , and fall into premature decrepitude— -the objects of pity or
deii-. Coming generations will exhibit the deplorable effects of this system . The young will grow up without public worship , in habits pf irrgligion and vice . Those sacred institutions which w # inherited from pur fathers , which have preserved social order and wound principles , and practical piety among us , will lose their hold Qn the public regard ; and the light of heaven will rapidly disappear from our sanctuaries .
We will not then , said Mr . S ., endeavour to hasten the progress of Christian truth by measures which we deplore as ruinous , and condemn as wrong . We
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730 Intelligence . —American Unitarian Association .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1829, page 730, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2577/page/58/
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