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Untitled Article
population would thus be pretty well equalised . The remuneration ( if it were necessary to pay for praying ) of the leaders of the devotions , that df organists or singers , and any costly ceremonies , should be provided for by each class of worshippers separately .
Thus far , then , the way is clear . The zeal of our ancestors enables the government to guarantee ( subject to the cost of repairs only ) to the people the use of appropriate buildings , in which each may worship according to the dictates of his conscience ; leaving him untaxed if his conscience or his convenience require an exclusive consecration for his place of worship .
Beyond this point , the present state of opinion prevents the application of the national funds for spiritual culture to the purposes of religious ceremony , because beyond this point the sects diverge so rapidly and widely that comprehension is impossible ,
and selection would be a mischievous partiality . Let them alone , then ; the episcopal church as well as the other churches . They will best settle all the rest for themselves , and by themselves ; and as they should only be allowed to tax themselves , the Government would have no further concern about them but to make
them keep the peace with one another . But much more than this would the nation have a right to expect at the hands of an enlightened government , possessing immense funds , independent of taxation , devoted to the spiritual culture of the community .
All claims of individuals upon those funds should be honourably and liberally discharged . There should be no turning adrift to starve those whose prospects in life rested upon an implied compact with the State . To be as useful as they were able to be , in a new system , might be fairly required , and ought to be
required , of those who have hitherto been the State clergy . The public has a right to their services ; it has also , under existing circumstances , the obligation of their support . On this account it is necessary , as on many accounts it is desirable , that the reformation should be gradual .
The apparatus for that universal spiritual culture which should be the object of a new reformation would consist of the following particulars : — - 1 . Buildings to be freely used for public worship by all according to the dictates of their consciences . 2 . Schools for the moral training of infants , from two to seven years of age .
3 . Schools for boys and girls , from seven to fourteen years of age . These , as well as the infant schools , should be in sufficient number , and properly distributed , for the accommodation of the whole juvenile population . The latter should include schools of industry . Attendance , as in Prussia , compulsory , unless it could
Untitled Article
Church Reform * 811
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1833, page 811, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2628/page/7/
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