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    unfavourable to the proposed improveatenjs , to oppose such a stream of authorities , or with sufficient reason to plead against what has been urged with so jmicfa evidence . To their candid aud Unprejudiced judgment this collection of testimonies is submitted , in the coniideuce that they will at least ackuowledge that Dissent is not so entirely unreasonable as it has been sometimes represented to be . "—Pref . pp . iii . iv .

    The pamphlet itself consists of an arranged series of extracts on the following topics : " Absolution , Alterations , Articles , Authority , human ; Baptism , Bishops r * ud Presbyters , Burial Service , Christ ,

    sole lawgiver ; Creeds , Dissenters , Establishments , Free Inquiry , Liturgy , Magistrate , Civil ; Ordination , Original Sin , Schism , Sufficiency of Scripture , New Translation , Tithes , Toleration , Uniformity , Unitarianism , Worship . " - ^ P . v .

    Among the writers quoted are the following Archbishops : " Bramhall , Cranmer , Laud , Newcome , Sutton , Tenison , Tillotson , Usher , Wake , " about thirty Bishops , and more than that number of other clergymen . We give a few specimens from the authors quoted under the heads of " Alterations" and " Articles .

    " Dr . Jortin . —There are propositions contained in the liturgy and articles which no man of common sense among us believes . No one believes that all the members of the Greek church are damned because they admit not the procession of the Holy Ghost from the Son ; yet the Athanasian Creed , according to the usual and obvious sense of the

    words , teaches this . No one believes himself obliged to keep the Sabbath-day ; yet the liturgy , strictly interpreted , requires it . ' Subscriptions and * tests are supposed to be admirable methods to keep out the heterodox . ... .. TJre next step towards the increase of Christ ' s kingdom must be further improvement

    ef Christianity , and of those who reserve and profess * it . The Church of-Rome- is not " the only church that wants amendment . Other Christian societies which nave separated themselves from her , and from her grosser defeats ^ are departed , more or less , from the original simplicity of the Gospel , and have mixed some of the doctrines of men with , the word

    ef God , and so stand in need of some improvement . It is therefore hoped a time will come when religion will have a fairer and a more alluring aspect , when Christians will be united , not in

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    opinions on theological subjects , for . that is impossible while men are men , but that they will be united * iti benevolence and charity , in intercommunion , and in one common and simple profession of faith . —Rein , on Beet . Mist , v . 3 , p . 445 . "

    " Archbishop Wake , —And now , my lords , let any impartial person consider , how cotrid our excellent liturgy have been the worse if a few more doubtful expressions had been changed for plainer and clearer , and a passage or two , which , however capable of a just defence , yet in many cases seem harsh . to some even

    of our own cbmmutkion , had been wholly left at liberty in such cases to be omitted altogether , or been so qualified as to remove all exception against them . What was there in . such a design that could be justly esteemed prejudicial to the church ?—Speech at the Trial of Sacheverell . *'— Pp . 4 * 5 ,

    " Bishop Hoadley . —Our liturgical forma ought to be revised and amended fdr otir sakes , though there were no Dissenters in the land . "—P . 9 . " Archbishop Bramhall . —The transforming of indifferent opinions into necessary articles of faith hath been the insana laurus , or cursed bay-tree , the cause of all our brawling and contention . Vindication of himself and the Episcopal Clergy , p . 241 . "—P . 21 .

    " Bishop Sherlock . —No church has , nor all the churches , any authority to make articles of faith . Jesus Christ was the author and finisher of the faith , to which nothing can be added , and from which nothing can be taken away . —12 th Sermon . "—P . 21 . " Bishop Morley . —Bishop Morley told Mr . Sprint , a Nonconformist minister , that Be" must not philosophize upon the au

    word § ^ V sseut " Consent , nor suppose thar the Parliament did by absent mean an ac £ of the understanding , and by consent an a& pf tbe ivill ; for no more was intended * ( &An that the person \ s © 'declaring intended to read the book ; adding , if he ( Sprint ) would make the declaration in the words of the Act of Uuiformity , and then say that he thereby meant no more tfhan that he would read

    the Common Prayer , he would admit him into a living ,. — -Calamy ' s Abridgement of Baxter , v . 2 * p . " 341 . *"*—P . 22 . Our readers may judge of the manner in which the . lamented author has executed his design . His selection , which is unaccompanied by a single word of comment , is well adapted to impress the minds of serious and reflective Churchmen .

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    782 € ritical Notwes ^' nietklvgicaL

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1831, page 782, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2603/page/58/