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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), November 1817, Edition 1 of 1, Page unpag, Untitled Article

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    • HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
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      Untitled Article

      Mr . Manning ' s History of the Exeter Assembly . Sir , Exeter , Oct . 2 , 1817 . IN a late Number of the Repository , ( p . 386 , ) a wish was expressed

      that some one would send an account of the Assembly of Ministers held in the county of Devon . I very readily transmit to you what information I can collect of the formation and

      conduct of the Assembly . Most of your readers will recollect , that in the year 1653 , Mr . Baxter and his brethren in Worcestershire formed an association of ministers . Their example was followed in Devonshire , and I have in my possession the minutes

      of their proceedings . The first meeting in this county was held Oct . 18 , 1655 . Thirty rules were laid down for the government of the Assembly , some of which breathe a very liberal spirit . At the Restoration this association was dissolved ; but the good

      effects it produced led the Dissenters , iu 1691 , to form an Assembly , the minutes of which , from the year 1721 to the present time , are now before me . Mr . Saundera , M . A ., ejected from Kentisbeer , presided as Moderator at the first meeting , and Mr .

      Caryl , another ejected minister who was then settled at Crediton , preached . In these Assemblies ^ and the custom is still continued ) , a Moderator was chosen , who opened the service with praj er , after which there was a public

      morning service , in which two or three ministers took a part . They met again in the afternoon to consult about the affairs of their respective societies , examine the testimonials , of those who offered themselves as candidates for the

      ministry , and appoint the Ordainers . But as every human institution partakes of the imperfection of its origin , * k > this association being formed at a period when religious liberty was very imperfectly understood , it is no wonder

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      that some of its rules should have breathed the contracted spirit of its pious but misjudging founders . I have just observed , that the Assembly took upon itself to examine the testimonials of those who offered themselves for the ministry . In doing this , its members too often insisted on such

      qualifications as the Scriptures did pot require . It was , therefore , chargeable with assuming an unlawful jurisdiction over the consciences of men . About the middle of the last century many members of the Assembly considered it in this light . They perceived that

      admitting one unscriptural test to be proposed by an order of the Assembly , as a necessary term of admission to the Christian ministry , was a matter of very serious moment , and " drew

      after it consequences extremely important . For , one being admitted , two , ten , or thirty-nine , might , with equal right , be hereafter added , the consequences of which were too obvious not to be observed , and too formidable

      not to be the object of dread . It being , therefore , proposed to the Assembly , which met in May , 1753 , to take into consideration , whether the Assembly will recommend any candidates tvho

      refuse to declare their faith in the Deity of the Son and the Holy Spirit , it was debated whether the question should be put , and deckled by a majority in the negative . In consequence of this vote , it has since been ieft with

      the respective congregations to satisfy themselves of the qualifications of the persons they choose for their ministers . Since this question has been decided , nothing has occurred to destroy the peace and harmony of these meetings .

      During more thun forty y ears in which I have resided in this county , I do not remember having been ouc . e absent , and am therefore a competent witness , and have no hesitation in declaring , that these meetings have always beeu

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      THE gHt ^ iy ir i ^ iyii ^ si&ii ' jp iPjp iPwP Jv j ^ fyc .

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      , _ - ¦ ¦ ¦ '; ¦ ¦ ¦ -f ¦ - — - - , *¦ _ _ No . CXLIII . ] NOVEMBER , 1817 . [ Vol . XII . -- ¦ ¦ - ^ JM—— . ¦_ _ - ¦ , ——m , ¦¦ ¦¦ 1 ¦¦ ¦ _—^—__ J ^_^__ ,

      History And Biography.

      HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY .

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      Vol . xii . 4 O

  • Citation
    • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1817, page unpag, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2470/page/1/