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design , when the Trinitarian controversy arose . It is owned indeed , that it examined the testimonials of candidates for the ministry antl appointed ordaiBers * . This was I conceive , arrogating to themselves power and authority , which , if innocently used at first , iii after-times and for a succession of
years , "was much abused . At the as * sembly in 1718 , it was put to the vote , ** Whether the members of it should make any declaration in that assembly , concerning the errors relating- to the doctrine of the holy Trinity !'* This 'was resolved in the affirmative . Some
of the ministers indeed , who were against impositions and determining matters by mere authority , thought the making of a « kclaratio » neither necessary nor expedient , and desired that the expediency of it might be calmly and fairly debated , as they had several reasons to offer against ifc » But it happened then , as it
commonly happens in such meetings : for tlrowgh these judicious members struggled hard to obtain this point , which they observed , was not only reasonable in kself , but agreeable to their method « £ proceeding in all their former assemblies , yet they were borne down by moBse and numbers . They could not by
aM their importunity , obtain leave to offer their reasons ; their proposals were dSsgfoted and their voices drowned . Some « £ them were rudely interrupted , others reflected en and menaced . Finding therefore that they could not be allowed
se * raruch as to propose their reasons for not making such a declaration , they remonstrated against these violent , arbitrary and irregular proceedings , as ^ cvell as against the cabals and intrigues ¦ w fcicb some had used to obtain a
majority and to compass their endsf . In . a subsequent assembly , May /; , 1719 s ( f «> r the controversy and attempts to > carry their impositions , were kept up § or a succession of years , by these divines , ) the first article of the church of
England , either as a more explicit avowal of their sentiments , or as deriving weight and authority from its being the dogma © fettle national and established religion , was . adopted as a declaration of their faith : concerning the doctrine of the Trinity , and to avoid the charge of having
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departed from the commonly received faith . But these gentlemen , not satisfied with making a < volutitnry declaration , as it was called , of their own faith , passed also a resolution , " That they could not
in conscience give their approbation of any person ' s being admitted to preach as a candidate , or to be ordained or recommended by them to any congregation , unless he professed his assent Jo the above article , or to the answers of the fifth and sixth questions of the Assent * bly ' s Shorter Catechism . ^
It is to be observed , that when at the assembly in 1718 , the moderator and several others desired that this question , viz . 4 C Shall a declaration in words of scripture be accepted as orthodox , ' * should be put f . o the vote , it could by no means be obtained § . The consequences of these syiaodical proceedings and of the feuds created at Exeter in
particular , by setting up an inquisition into the faith of particular ministers , were lamentable divisions and animosities excited through the country , by emissaries sent either to insinuate suspicions , of the orthodoxy of ministers , or to spread aspersions of their character . For many years a claim to judge
and determine of the qualifications of candidates for the ministry * by the aforesaid test , was asserted and maintained ; but the force of the resolution of 1719 , appears to have gradually died away , till an attempt to revive the efficiency of it at the assembly in May 1753 , failing , this assumed authority has never reared its head again .
The question then put was r 6 e Whether the assembly shall recommend any candidate to ordination , who will not declare his faith in ' the deity of the Son and Holy Ghost ? ' * And it was debated , wBether the above question should be put or not ?
Yes , said Mr , Waldron * Exeter . Mr . Giles , Mr . JLavington , Exeter . Mr . Pitts , Topsham . Mr . Orchard , Chudleigh . Mr . Weeler , Axminster . Mr . Waldron , Jun . Barnstspl * . Mr . Walters , , Mr . Batter , Barnstapie .
* Manning's Life of Towgood , p . 11 . f Peirce * s " Western Inquisition , " p . 84 , 85 . . * % Account of what was transacted in the assembly of the united ministers of Devon and Cornwall , Exon , May 5 and 6 * 1719 . § Peirce ' s " Western Inquisition . "
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252 A Supplement to the Memoirs of the Rev . Hubert Stogdon ,
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1809, page 252, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1736/page/6/
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