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Untitled Article
The episcopalian church is one amongst the numerous sects to which the principles of the Reformation have given birth . The ground of its selection to be established in this country is no other than the will of a sovereign in a past age , and it possesses all its wealth and dignities , which once belonged to the Roman Catholic
churchy solely by the authority of an Act of Parliament . The justice or reasonableness of any government making a religion for its subjects cannot now be maintained . There is injustice in making any man pay for another man ' s religion , and in setting the religion of any set of men above that of their neighbours .
The founder of Christianity expressly disclaims all connexion of his religion with civil polity . It made its first successful progress in the world without any such aid , and the cases of the Dissenters of this country , and of the Americans , afford incontrovertible proofs that it can not only maintain its ground , but extend its influences , with no other resources than the voluntary patronage of
its friends . The established church does not , it is supposed , now include a majority of the population even of England only , and that counting among its members all those who are not known to have any other religion . What then is the pretence for upholding this establishment . The current of public opinion now sets strongly
against it , and we confidently look forward to the time , when the Episcopalian will enjoy no civil or social advantage over the members of any other religious sect , or over those who reject all religion . We cannot , however , desire that this great and important change should be made suddenly and by one effort ; we
cannot expect that it will be made as rapidly as we might consider safe and useful ; but we do expect , that by judicious exertion , something important may be immediately gained . Dissenters are no longer subject to civil disabilities , they must no longer be taxed for the support of the church . Tithes and church lands are a
portion of national property , which were originally given for religious purposes , and have hitherto been always appropriated to those purposes . Let the tithes be converted , by sale or composition , into an unexceptionable form of property , and so altered , we do not expect that the church should be immediately deprived of them , though the time may not be very far distant when they
will be rendered available for the exigencies of the state ; but church rates and Easter offerings are a tax on the community at large , for purposes in which the members of the establishment alone are interested , and of these the Dissenters have a right to demand , and expect the immediate abolition . Let them not lose sight of this point . Let them hold meetings , and pass resolutions ,
and send petitions , so as not to leave a doubt as to their feeling on the subject . If they will not make this exertion , they deserve to bear the burden , and , what is worse , the insult of these exactions ; if they will put forth their strength , they need not much
Untitled Article
208 Church Reform .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1833, page 208, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2610/page/64/
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