On this page
-
Text (1)
-
Untitled Article
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
whose talents aud erudition might have thrown . an increasing Uvstre aroutvd that Church , and saved her from the fanaticism of which her more sober sons complain , and by which some parts of the Church are nearly
overrun . As far as I know , the Church of Scotland , though she did exert herself in changing her Confession , ( the one now in common use * being not that which was drawn up by John Knox O yet has made no vigorous
attempt for the removal of subscription . f It remains the crying sin of both our national Churches , and I have no hesitation in affirming , that much of the infidelity and profligacy which pious men deplore is indirectly attributable to its continuance .
It reflects honour on the University of Cambridge , where , indeed , it was not till the , 17 th century that subscription upon taking degrees was imposed , to have attempted a
reformation of this grievance . At the sister University no generous effort has yet been made for liberty . Even at matriculation , the young men still subscribe to the Thirty-nine Articles , and have not the shelter of a bon& fide
subscription . J By the Oxford Statutes , whoever go to be matriculated , if they have attained their 16 th year , must subscribe the Thirty-nine Articles , take the Oath of Allegiance and Supremacy , and of Obedience to the University Statutes . If within their
15 th year , and above their 12 th , they must then only subscribe to the Articles . If they have not passed their I 2 th year , they may be matriculated ; but when of proper age , must go
through all the forms . All degrees in the English Colleges , in arts , laws , physic , music and divinity , are guarded by subscription . The Scottish Universities present in this respect a fine
* Which , it is well koowu , was compiled by the Assembly of Presbyterian Divines from Scotland and England , meeting at Wehtminster ; and this had been preceded by two others . + It would not , I believe , be correct to say that no attempt has been made in that Church . Dr . Hardy and Dr . Dalryrupie ware advocates of the measure .
Z "I , A . 3 ., do declare , that I am , boo& fide , a member of the Church of England . "
Untitled Article
example of liberality to the sister institutions in South Britain . R > r > though it is conjectured that the practice of matriculation by subscri ption was once the same there as in the South—and I am unable to mark the steps which Jed to this important change—no student has for a number
of years been called upon for subscription , as necessary to his proceeding through the various classes of languages , philosophy , mathematics , law , medicine , or even of divinity , nor till he presents himself as a candi * date for admission into the Church , which has expressed her creed in the Westminster Confession of Faith .
It has been chiefly owing to this circumstance that two , at least , of the Scottish Universities have received a regular succession of English students , unable from the illiberal terms proposed at their own native institutions , to accept of the education which they furnish , and , therefore , gladly embracing * , as their Alma Mater , a collegiate establishment , venerable for the intelligence and experience of its Academical Senate , and for the spirit
of liberality towards all classes of students , which has long distinguished them . Stilly however , it is , I believe , the practice for the Presbyteries to require subscription from ail the parish schoolmasters of the landj ( though some effort is about to be made for
their relief , ) as well as from all the Professors in the four Colleges , however remote their branch of tuition may be from the subject of religion ; and , lastly , though with different degress of strictness by different Presbyteries , from all candidates for
admission into the Church . Thus , those who enter into " holy orders / ' in the present advanced state of mental cultivation , must declare their unfeigned satisfaction with , and their thorough belief of , all the doctrinal positions which were expressed by their
ancestors two centuries ago , though their own advantages for the discovery of truth are vastly greater than could have been enjoyed by the former . I said , with different degrees of
strictness by different Presbyteries , for I have heard of some ministers allowing subscription to the Confession of Faith to be accompanied with the declaration , So far as it is agreeable to Scripture : " and one young man , who
Untitled Article
134 The Nonconformist . No . XXIX .
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1826, page 134, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2546/page/6/
-