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jnan , who had the misfortiinie to hare ]> een born a princess , was selected / from family-connexionp as the devoted victim of court polity ; which proposed , by $ n ill-starred and heartless rnarriage , and at the charge of a burdened people , to retrieve the dissipated fortunes of a
prince . Driven from England , by the rude denial of attentions , cotnmon to he ? station , she had lately returned , painfully bereaved , as a iaother , to be cruelly persecuted , as a wife , by one who , under any supposable circumstances , could have no moral claim to a reprisal . But the Court of Queen Caroline was tiot
held at St . James's , and , as you correctly say , " the Body was lethargic . ' * They have , however , resumed their vigilance , and continue to be " very attentive to the royal family , and loyally observant of all great events in its history . ' Thus , while complimenting the 6 C known disposition" of the prince in possession , always " the best of fcings , " they express •« sincere condolence" on
the demise of his majesty ' s " royal brother , " recollecting his *< auspicious sway , " as of another pater patrio et decus humani generis ; a compliment to his worthy distant predecessor Charles II ., which I have read on the pedestal of the Stuart ' s statue ; inscribed there , not by his ecclesiastics , who , in the established Liturgy , had already constituted him their " most religious king , " but by those e < children of this world , " his
majesty ' s " Royal College of Physicians . " George III ., in 1820 , ( M . R . XV . 316 , ) had been described by the Body , when addressing his successor , as their " late venerable and beloved sovereign . " That prince was ill-accomplished , as a civil governor , to direct the power and policy , or to advance the great interests
of an extended empire , especially in eventful times . But , excepting his favourite royal marriage act , a fruitful source of princely irregularities , and an indelible opprobrium on his name , George IIf . had uniformly recommended , in his personal and relative deportment , the moral decencies of life ; an observance , which not even the *< Charity" that
hopeth all things" could ever ascribe to his immediate successor . Yet " there ' s a divinity doth hedge a king :, " from unseasonable exposure , and thus the Body could only discover , in George IV ., another <* revered" and " beloved sovereign . " What nation , humbly ¦ , could enjoy his reign ! If lost , wfuit patience nould the loss sustain f
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as , sang , in a farmer age , a priest of thfc Episcopal Body / addressing flattery to a royal ear , even while describing the solemn retributions of * ' the Last Day /' But " flattery" cannot sooth " the dull cold ear of death , " nor for ever silence the testimony of truth . The actions of the late king , as a monarch and
a man , are passing to the tribunal of history , where , unless power or prejudice interfere , ' * names of awe and distance , " a Charles II ., or a George IV ., " must rank- ' with common men , * and be judged , as in a more awfal presence , according to their " life , character , and behaviour , " whatever may have been their " birth , parentage , and education /*
But there are circumstances connected with the late presentation to the King , more worthy of notice than the repetition of courtly common- places , on the demise or accession of royalty ; such as might have been conveniently stereotyped for the use of addressers , through all generations , while " sun ami moon" and monarchy " endure . "
It appears , that two irietnbefs of the Body , well fitted for the offices they sustained , were appointed to take the lead , on this occasion . Adopting , or , pet-haps , excusing the complimentary phraseology of the address , they scruple not to approach the throne of a <{ most gracious ** Athanasian Sovereign at the head of their Christian brethren , though regarding many of them as erroneous
Christians , however sincere in purpose and exemplary in character ; while they had been ever unreserved in the profession of their own Unitarian opinions . Such opinions , other members of the Body had , no doubt , conscientiously denounced from the pulpit and the press , as little more than disguised deism . Otherwise " the fine gold" of orthodoxy has " become dim , " and the mantles of her Bragges and Bradburys have fallen wide of their
remote successors . The Body have always professed to associate , not for any theological purpose , but merely to secuve and extend their common toleration- Yet they have frequently employed , iu this address , no doubt , according to invariable usage , the
solemn , scriptural language of a common Christianity ; and they must have appeared to the Sovereign and his court , as religious persons , uniting , indeed , to promote their civil interests , yet acknowledging each other as approved Christian ministers . This riew of the
subject , the editor of " the Record " ( p . 642 ) had a right to assume , and admitting his justly disputed premises that
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Miscellaneous Correspondence . 719
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1830, page 719, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2589/page/63/
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