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
and would eit reading their books , as if in contempt of Mr . Arnold . The ministers who came to preach to them , when remonstrated with , said they would go wherever the people wished , for that they were indemnified by the people . I think it was pvudent for them to get such security . When a man is indemnified * he will readily go much farther with his acts .
than if he were left to his own responsibility . Such , Sir , is the state of affairs in the congregation at Narrow-water . Iu other places , such as Greyabbey and Bailycarry , the evil came on at once ; ' but here there was a slow , piece-meal system of attack followed up . And , Sir , when our Presbytery went there , we were assailed with the names of Arians and
Infidels ; and met with so much disturbance , that we were forced to retire to the inn , for the purpose of finishing our business . On the 2 d of May Mr * Arnold went to his Meeting-house , aud found a Probationer there , officiating to the people . The Probationer , indeed , said he had been forced into the house by the
people . Well 3 Sir , perhaps he had . Two or three men may force any person into a house—they might carry in the strongest man in this Synod ; but I think they would not find it easy to compel him to preach , contrary to his inclination . 1 went there on the next Sunday , and found that the lock of the house had been
broken off , and thrown into the seat belonging to Mr . Arnold . These people were there ; there was a complete silence in the house , and I began to think we were to have a Quaker meeting . At length , one of the men got up , and read a Psalm . Another afterwards took up his book , and said he would read them the best serraou they had ever heard ; and he read to them Christ ' s sermon on the mount .
Mr . Smith , the exporter , got up to pray ; and , as 1 was not , at that time , in the most devotional mood ; I took up my hat and walked out . This is the system of annoyance that is carried on ; and it is very difficult to get forward with the services of the house of God . In the
statement which I hare made to you , I may possibly have committed errors as to dates ; but I have narrated the facts with as close a regard to truth as if I were on my oath , for I think I am as much bound to tell the truth as if I were sworn . We are harassed and assailed by abusive names . I was , myself , at Mr- Arnold's door , told I denied the Lord Jesus Christ . The person who said it was not one of Mr . Arnold ' s hearers , but he seemed to have come to ausist in the good cause .
Untitled Article
Before the Synod , In May , 1828 * there was not a more peaceable neighbourhood in the province ; iiow it is rent into hos- ^ tile parties ; and I believe , as nrtnly an I do in my own existence , that , but for the Presbytery of Drotnore , peace and hair * mony would still exist among us . Mr . Donnan , who appeared as a Commissioner from Narrow-water ^ corroborated the statements of Mr . Lunn .
The Rev . Mr . Arnold gave a lengthened account of the disagreeable state in which his congregation was placed ; but almost all he said went merely to confirm , by more minute details ,, what had been mentioned by Mr . Lunti and Mr , Mitchel .
The Rev . Mr . Glendy would ( letam the house for a short time , before submitting a motion which he was about to bring forward . It was amazing to contemplate the similarity of the attacks which had been made in different parts of the country . The plans , and the very language employed at Warrenpoint , had been employed in other districts of the country to produce disunion in congregations ; so that there appeared to be &
regular , organized system of agitation . Mr . Arnold was an old man ; he had become grey in the profession of the ministry , and he must feel deeply under these difficulties , tie must feel acutely that he is forced to encounter such things , after spending so many years iu a profession , in which calumny could not fix a stain upon his reputation . They had all to encounter difficulties . It was
possible , that , under provocation , they might not at times , have comported themselves with that meekness of tern * per which they ought to bave observed . He had himself both spoken and written warmly . —But if any persons Were dis- * posed to blame them , it would be fair , in extenuation of their error , to consider the provocations they had met with .
Perhaps , when smitten on the one cheek , they had not turned the other to thef smiter ; and when cursed , they may not have blessed , in return ; but they could at least say to their enemies ^ " Father , forgive them , for they know not what they do . " He had referred to the similarity of the proceedings in different
places . In Down , they had been charged with denying the Lord who bought them ; papers had been handed rontid , headed , Believers and Unbelievers . In his ( Mr . Glendy ' s ) and other congregations , precisely the same had been done , and the same plan of going into houses had been practised . In the congrcga-
Untitled Article
intelligence . —Remonstrant Synod of UUier . 6 B \
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1830, page 651, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2588/page/67/
-