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itself : an interpretation which conveyed an impressiou altogether false , and likely to lead Mr . Montgomery into important
error . But the truth is , that Mr . Montgomery never dreamed that this letter was any other than a letter from the Presbytery of Bangor . As such he shewed it to his friendvS , and as such he quoted it in his proclamations affixed to the door of the meeting-house . The writers continue : " Mr . Cochrane
was an orthodox minister , and so was the congregation . " It would be no easy matter to tell how they have been able to ascertain this fact . Persons who ought to know something of the matter have expressly denied it . " Of the intermediate ministers we need not speak . * Does not this imply that they were known to be what these gentlemen call orthodox ? Now the iutermediate ministers of Greyabbey were two—Doctor Stevenson and the Rev . James Porter . Doctor
Stevenson is still living , and is , we believe , a regular atteudant at the Rev . Dr . Bruce ' s congregation in Belfast ; consequently , in the phraseology of the letter-writers , not orthodox . The unfortunate Mr . Porter perished by sentence of a courtmartial for an alleged participation in the attempt to revolutionize Ireland in
1798 ; but his son , now Attorney-General to the State of New York , and many friends , both lay and clerical , who still survive , can testify that he was decidedly and zealously anti-calvinistic , both in his private conversations and public preaching . So much for the intermediate ministers of whom Messrs . Cooke
and Morgan did not think it necessary to speak . " But as Mr . Watson , a licentiate of the Presbytery of Dromore , must have signed the Westminster Confession of Faith , there can be no question that he entered the congregation as an orthodox minister . " We have here a specimen of logical reasoning equal to the foregoing instance of historical accuracy . Mr . Watson , when he first commenced
preaching , was orthodox ; therefore there can be no doubt that he entered Greyabbey congregation as an orthodox minister ! What , can a man never change hi « opinions then ? According to their own shewing , Mr . Wat « on has done so Mince his ordination . What prevented him from doing so previoutly ? To take a parallel case—Mr . Belsham was orthodox ( we must use this jargon ) when he first came out as a preacher , therefore there can be no doubt that he entered
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Essex Street as an orthodox minister ! How convenient a mode of coming to any conclusion that may be desirable is this ! Or , if we may remind these reverend reasoners of an instauce nearer home , the Rev , David Watson , the minister of dough , was , like his brother , licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Drornore , and , therefore , he too must have siened the Westminster Confession
of Faith ; and , therefore , ( argal again , ) he must have entered the congregation of Clough as an orthodox minister . If this testimony to his religious character be of any use to that gentleman , lie ought to feel greatly obliged to the authors of this letter , —his brother's bitter persecutors , and , in some measure , his own , —who have so kindly accorded it and authenticated it under their hands .
If their argument be good for any thing , their pertinacious and unlawful opposition to his settlement in the congregation of Clough was a piece of the most gratuitous malignity . But , after all , what is this signature to the Westminster Confession of Faith , which so wonderfully proves the
orthodoxy of ministers , not ouly at the time of signing , but for years afterwards ?—No person can exactly tell . Different formulas prevailed at different times , aud in different Presbyteries ; but we happen to know that the one which was long employed in the Presbytery of Dromore was to this effect : " / believe and
subscribe the doctrines contained in the Westminster Confession of Faith , so far as they are agreeable to the Word of God , interpreted by right reason . ' Let any person read these expressions over again and see whether any form can be more vague and unmeaning . A man might , without any breach of veracity , subscribe this declaration , and the next moment declare that he did not believe a single doctrine in the whole creed . There
does not exist a book so silly , so impious , so irreligious , which might not safely be subscribed , according to the same formula . Nay , we are bold to affirm , that one of the gentlemen at least , whose names adorn the letter on which we are commenting , is perfectly cognizant both of the fact and the inference we have
mentioned . Mr . Cooke has long been a member of the Dromore Presbytery , and has been heard to complain of its mode of subscription , both in the Presbytery and at meetings of Synod ; and in exposing the inefficacy of such a teat , has employed language much stronger than ours . ThU was indeed one of the main
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282 intelligence . — The Rev . John Watson and Congregation of Greyuhbey .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1830, page 282, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2583/page/66/
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