Reverend Mr. Fletcher. "The undersigned being Protestant Dissenters, present to you the following Protest against the Marriage Ceremony, to which, according to the law of the land, they are compelled to subscribe. They disclaim all intention of acting disrespectfully, either to the Legislature, or to its civil officer before whom they stand. They lament that they are placed in a situation so unnatural, as, that even forbearance to what they consider as established error, would be a formal recantation of opinions which they received on conviction, and which they will only renounce on similar grounds. "Against the Marriage Ceremony, they can but most solemnly protest. "Because it makes marriage a religious instead of a civil act. "Because, as Unitarian and Protestant Dissenters, it is impossible we can allow of the interference of any human institution, with matters which concern our faith and consciences. exclusive of a variety of other Unitarian "To Mr. Fletcher, commonly called the publications consigned to the same bookseller from other quarters. The Edinburgh Report also mentioned that the fund for the erection of a chapel in Edinburgh is steadily improving; and that, with the assistance of the friends of Unitarianism in the South, the society hope that, at no distant period, this very desirable object may be accomplished. Letters were received from Glasgow, Paisley, Neilston, Dalry, Greenock, Falkirk, Blackford, Til licoultry, Newburgh and Dundee. From the Greenock letter it appeared that some of the tracts distributed by the Association had been found useful: the writer expresses, confidently, his persuasion that Unitarian principles had been gaining ground through the medium of these tracts; but gave no information with regard to the money subscribed in England for the Greenock chapel, nor with regard to the intentions of the friends in Greenock, of appropriating that money to its object. The following paragraph is extracted from the letter of Mr. Millar of Dundee: "It is my decided opinion, that a resident minister, combining with other essential requisites a judicious and well-directed zeal, would soon form a pretty numerous congregation here. We have long struggled. in the hope of procuring that assistance to which we still look forward, and which we think would be attended with the happiest effects, in relation to what we consider the interests of true religion, but which neither the present number nor circumstances of the joined members of the society, can enable us to procure, without aid from the friends of the common cause elsewhere." At the meeting on Monday, the Association entered into a resolution, expressive of their cordial approbation and hearty concurrence with the objects contemplated by the Association, lately instituted in London, for the Protection of the Civil Rights of Unitarians. At the annual dinner of the Association thirty-six persons were present-Dr. Gairdner in the chair. Several interesting speeches were delivered, and all seemed animated with that zeal for the spread of the pure doctrines of Christianity, which it is the object of such meetings to excite. T. G. Protest against the Marriage Service. ON Thursday, May 13, a marriage took place at Kettering, in Northamptonshire, between Mr. Fisher of St. Ives, in the county of Huntingdon, Attorney at Law, and Miss Child of the former place. Previous to the performance of the ceremony a Protest was put into the hands of the minister, of which the following is a copy: "Because parts of the Ceremony are highly indelicate, and must be to every correctly-constituted mind, extremely of fensive. "Because the man is required to wor ship the woman, though the Founder of Christianity has declared that God is the only object for a Christian to worship. "THO. ESC. FISHER. "ANN CHILD. "May 13, 1819." "And I further protest against the Mar riage Ceremony, because, after several years' careful and impartial examination of the arguments for and against the doctrine of Three Persons in one God, I have been led to embrace the doctrine of the Divine Unity, as held by Unitarians; and it is therefore impossible I should willingly join in a ceremony performed in the name of the Trinity, thereby recognizing a doctrine which I disbelieve and abominate. "THO. ESC. FISHER." The minister, on this occasion, omitted, at Mr. Fisher's request--part of the introduction to the service-dispensed with the kneeling at the altar-placing the ring ou the book; and he omitted also, all the prayers and the blessings which follow the words, "I pronounce that they be man and wife together, in the name, &c. (except the first short prayer immediately fol lowing). He particularly begged to go through the service, and to receive the Protest in the vestry, and not at the altar, both of which were objected to. His couduct altogether was most liberal, candid and gentlemanly. Mr. Fisher had previously written to the bishop of the diocese on the subject, THE Rev. W. Harrison, of Manchester, is engaged in selecting and preparing a Volume of Sermons, for the use of families. The volume will contain fifty-two sermons, which are intended to be plain, practical, and of moderate length. Mr. H. wishing to introduce a portion of original matter, solicits from his brethren in the ministry, the presentation of suitable manuscripts SIR, LITERARY. Clapton, May 24, 1819. I BEG leave to inform any of your readers who may interest themselves on the subject of my edition of Dr. Priestley's Works, that the subscription for the 250 copies, to which I have reluctantly limited the impression, is now closed. I take this opportunity to renew my request for any communications, from the friends to the design, with which they can promptly favour me. The Twelfth Volume, containing Notes on the Bible, will be ready for delivery on Wednesday, June 30th, at Mr. Eaton's, 187, High Holborn. SIR, J. T. RUTT. York, May 17, 1819. I BEG leave, through the medium of the Monthly Repository, to inform the subscribers to the "New Edition of the Bible, designed for the Use of Families," that the first Part, containing the Book of Genesis, will be published as early as possible in the month of July. I will not needlessly Occupy your pages in detailing the circumstances which have so long retarded the appearance of the work, though I doubt not, that if fully known, they would satisfy every considerate person. If the Part, which will soon be presented to the public, be thought not unworthy of the patronage which has been promised to it, the succeeding parts will be prepared and published with all the expedition that the extreme difficulty of the undertaking, and the other, at present, unavoidable, occupations of the Editor will allow. C. WELLBELOVED. P. S. The names of Subscribers are still received either by the Editor, at York, or by Mr. Eaton, No. 187, High Holborn, London. The price will be raised to non subscribers. THE beginning of June, the Rev. J. Evans, of Islington, will have his Memoirs of the Rev. William Richards ready for publication. NOTICES. Manchester College, York-The Annual Examination will take place at the close of the Session, on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, the 22d, 23d and 24th of June, 1819. The York Annual Meeting of Trustees will be held at Etridge's Hotel, on the Evening of Wednesday the 23d, when the Vacancies on the foundation for the next Session, will be filled up. Applications for admission on the foundation must be made immediately to one of the Secre taries. FOREIGN. GERMANY. IT is asserted in the public journals, that the greatest part of the German newspapers have Jews as their proprietors and principal editors; for instance, the "Gazette of the Free Town of Frankfort," the "German Minerva," the "Journal of Germany," the "Mélanges of Foreign Literature," the "Free Speaker," the "Hammonia," the "Ethnographic Archives," the "Gazette of Cassel," and some others. Freedom of the Press. Wurtemberg, March 14. The political situation of our country is at present of such a nature, that it may, perhaps, lead to a more favourable result for the rights of citizens, than will be the case in the German States. By our disputes respecting the Constitution since 1815, and by the freedom of the press, which for the last year has been constantly protected by the King, a mass of information on public affairs has been spread among all ranks of people, which can be no more suppressed, but will shew itself with the more energy in the next Assembly of the States, as we have become sensible what it is that is necessary. Only a few days ago, the King himself suppressed a new ebullition of military despotism. The Editor of the new Stuttgard Gazette (Captain Saybold) had expressed himself with much freedom respecting the military system. This incensed many individuals in the army, and several generals took the lead. In an address to the King they demanded no less than a censorship for the journals, at least with respect to articles concerning the military; and that the Editor of the New Stuttgard Gazette should be deprived of his rank as captain. To this the King replied, that in his king dom Liberty of the Press was established; that if remarks were made upon any class of persons in the State, they must, if they were false, have the courage to overlook or to despise them; and if they were true, have the justice to profit by them; but his tribunals only took cognizance of defamation of individuals. This truly royal answer disarmed the enemies of the Liberty of the Press. .PRUSSIA. Much dissatisfaction prevails in this country, owing to the King's neglect of his promises to give the people a free constitution. A strong rumour was afloat for some time of his Majesty having been beset by an unruly assemblage of petitioners, and obliged to call in the military to extricate himself from them. The report may have been wholly false; but it is by such straws being thrown up that we learn which way the wind blows. Ecclesiastical Reforms.Within the last two years the Prussian government has established a society at Berlin, composed of learned theologians, appointed to propose some plan for the amelioration of the forms of worship and of the liturgy. Although this society has not yet presented its plan, it is said that to its counsels are owing the re-union of the two Protestant Confessions, the introduction of a new form of worship into the military charch of Potsdam, and the ecclesiastical seminary at Wittemberg, &c. To ensure the reverence due to religion and morality, it proposes the re-establishment of public penance; which measure is strongly sup ported by Dr. Schleiermacher, Theological Professor at the University of Berlin, and President of this Society; the same who so strenuously maintained the advantages resulting from the re-union of the two Confessions, in opposition to the opinion of Dr. Ammon, Superintendant at Dresden. Under what form will this public penance re-appear? This point is not yet decided, but it is thought that the plan will have to encounter powerful adversaries, especially amongst the rich and great, amongst whom the application of it should commence.— M. Krichhof, a Doctor of Divinity, has published a pamphlet, which has produced a great sensation. In it he maintains that the Protestant Church cannot subsist unless it accede to auricular confession, the celibacy of the priests, and a supreme ecclesiastical power as the centre of unity. (Chronique Religieuse.) In consequence of the regulations made by his Royal Highness the Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar, respecting foreigners studying at the University of Jena, the King of Prussia has, by a cabinet order, dated Berlin, April 10, recalled the youth belonging to his dominions who were pursuing their studies there: they are to continue their studies in some Prussian University. Disobedience to this order will be visited with incapacity of office. HOLLAND AND Netherlands. THE people of the Continent are scrutinizing the Duke of Wellington's conduct as a statesman. They are surprised (as the following paragraph manifests) that an Irishman should set himself against the claims of the Irish Catholics. But, says the Dublin Weekly Register, of Feb. 27, "his Grace, perhaps, will appear less inconsistent in their eyes, when we inform them that he happens to acknowledge very little love for Ireland, and that he never did one gratuitous or disinterested act in his life to advance her interests or repu tation." Brussels, Feb. 10.-The intention of the Duke of Wellington to oppose the emancipation of the Irish Catholics, makes the Mercury of Antwerp suppose that his Grace, not satisfied with all the fine titles which he already possesses, desires that of Defender of the Protestant Faith; and it takes occasion, from the petition which the noble Lord has just presented to the House of Lords, from the merchants of Dublin, to address to his Grace the following apostrophe:-WELLINGTON ! remember that you are an Irishman, that those whom this shameful law oppresses, are your countrymen; remember that this iniquitous law, in favour of which you have taken on yourself to present a petition, originated in those unhappy times when anarchy reigned, and that it would cover the whole English nation with eternal opprobrium, to maintain it in spite of the enlightened spirit of the nineteenth century!" (Journal de la Belgique.) ITALY. A new fragment of the Fasti Consulares has been discovered at Rome, in the neigh bourhood of the Temple of Castor and Pollux. It is composed of seventeen lines, and relates to the second Punic War, which, it is expected, will be much illustrated by it. The first volume of a collection of these fragments has been published at Milan. Signor Bartolomeo Borghesi, the Editor, proposes to illustrate and arrange the whole of them, and the work is expected to form three volumes, 4to. Rome, March 12. The Prince Regent of England has requested the Holy Father and Cardinal Gonsalvi to permit the English painter, Sir T. Lawrence, to take their portraits for the Gallery at Carlton House. This artist is soon expected here. According to a recent estimate made at Naples, the population of the continental domains of that State, which, at the end of 1817, was 4,971,726 inhabitants, is at present 5,006,883. The population of the city of Naples is 329,438. brated Abbé de l' Epee, brought to perfection by M. l'Abbé Sicard. An article, upon this subject in the American Monthly Magazine, informs us that the average number of Deaf and Dumb in the United States, amounts to three thousand three hundred and thirty-three, in a whole generation calculated at thirty years. The calculation is, we suspect, fanciful: the repetition of the favourite orthodox figure three, displays imagination rather than reason. SOUTH AMERICA. The Press is at work in the new Republics of this vast continent, and the effects are daily appearing. The government of Santa-Fé have sent back a bishop, who went over with all necessary Papal credentials, because he refused to acknowledge American Independence. His dismissal was agreed upon in the National Convention of Cundinamara. A memoir in justification of this measure has been published in Spanish, priuted at Santa-Fé-de-Bogota. The republicans here contend that they have a right to reject a prelate, notwithstanding the appointment of the Pope, when he is notoriously an enemy to the Commonwealth. Two ecclesiastics of high rank in Guaiana having addressed a proclamation to the clergy and faithful of that diocese, in which they praise the conduct of the generals of Venezuela, and the republican troops, give the lie to all the calumnies invented by the Spaniards against the Patriots, and address their supplications to the God of armies, that he would bless the defenders of their country, and protect their enterprises. In conclusion, they intreat and enjoin the clergy and people to obey the constituted authorities, to cherish union, so necessary to render them formidable, and above all to cultivate the fear of God, the beginning of all wisdom, This proclamation is "given at Guaiana, Sept. 2, 1817, the seventh year of the Republic." EAST INDIES. The A Hindoo College has been established at Calcutta by the natives, to be governed, as it was instituted, entirely by them. Its primary object is the tuition of the sons of respectable Hindoos in the English and Indian languages, and in the literature and science of Europe and Asia. The improved system of instruction is adopted. Pundits have testified great satisfaction in this establishment, saying, that they hope it will promote the general diffusion of knowledge. A learned native has predicted, in the oriental style, that the Hindoo College will resemble the Bur, the largest of trees, which yet is at first but a small seedling. CHINA. His Imperial Majesty has lately displaced and degraded Sung Ta-jin, his prime minister, because he presumed to advise him not to visit certain tombs of his ancestors; and had intimated that a great drought then prevailing, was occasioned by the Emperor's inattention. This was deemed such glaring disobedience to the commands of His Holy Majesty, that it was impossible not to punish it. It was, therefore, ordered that he should be deprived of his office, and be reduced to wear a button of the sixth rank, and be sent to the eight standards of wandering shepherds at Cha, ha, urh. His name is to be retained on the books; and, if for eight years he commit no error, he may again be eligible to his former situation.We smile at the symbol of Chinese honour, a button, forgetting our own stars, garters and grand crosses. The Gazette of Genoa announces that the persecution against the Catholics of China, has not extended to the missions of the Dominican Fathers of Fokien and of Chan-Chew; their mission of Tonkin enjoys tranquillity under the protection of the King Gia-L'aous, who is well-disposed towards the Christian religion. Christianity has made progress, not only in this country, but also in a part of the Philippine Isles entrusted to the care of this mission. The only complaint is of a want of mis. sionaries, of whom they have prayed their brethren in Spain to send out some to them. The number of Christians in the missions carried on by the Dominicans, amounts in China and Tonquin to 351,007, of whom 157,753 for Tonquin, are dispersed in 795 villages. PERSIA. THE Prince Royal of Persia, with a design to protect the Christians in that country, has lately assembled a Divan at the populous city of Tauris, and proposed to them the following questions:-1. Was Jesus Christ a true prophet sent from God? -2. Are the laws contained in the gospel just?-3. Is it lawful to blaspheme these laws? The first two questions were an swered in the affirmative; the last in the negative. These decisions have received a legal form; in consequence of which the Prince punished one of his domestics. for insulting a Christian. We may, there fore, hope that Christianity will be fully. tolerated in Persia. EGYPT. A FRENCH traveller, now in Egypt, has discovered, at a distance of about nine hours' journey from the Red Sea, an ancient city built in the mountains, between the 24 and 25 degrees of latitude. There are still eight hundred houses in existence. Among the ruins are found temples dedicated to various divinities. There are eleven statues, and various ruins of others. He has also discovered the ancient stations that were appointed on the route throngh the Desert, going from the Red Sea to the Valley of the Nile: these stations are at regular distances of nine hours between each. This route is undoubtedly one of those traversed by the commerce of India, a commerce which was so flourishing at the time of the Lagides, and under the first emperors. The situation is now as certained of the emerald mine, of which no certain knowledge was had for several ages. CORRESPONDENCE. Communications have been received from Mrs. Cappe; Messrs. T. F. Barham; L. I. Jardine; J. Fullagar; B. Treleaven; R. W. Wallace; T. C. Holland; J. Hancock; and Dr. Philipps: also, from B.; Euelpis; B. Y.; W.; R. F.; and N. D. E. By an oversight, the promised extracts from Joseph Lancaster's letter are omitted in the present Number. Dr. T. S. Smith's account of the Meeting at Bridgewater, arrived too late for insertion. We received Mr. H. Davies's communication relating to the Taunton Fellowship Fund, but have mislaid it, and must therefore beg of him to furnish a copy Some Obituary Articles are reserved for the ensuing Number. Not having been able to introduce any Parliamentary Intelligence, in its proper place, we take this opportunity of informing our readers, that the Fire-Act Clergy Bill has been withdrawn, and that the Parish Clerks' Bill has been thrown out by the Committee to whom it was referred, on an informality detected by Mr. Wilks. The Catholic Claims have been debated in both Houses, and in both have been refused, but in the Commons by a majority of only two. |