We insert an instrument o...
The Times, 1824-12-17T00:00:00

Ve insert an instrument of conaideraile length, sigued by some of tlle chiefs of the sect of' "Freethinking Chris. tiaens," ini reply to some observations we made on a vrotcst offeretl by "a couple" of tlhat seet, at their mar- qiago according to the forms of the Chuiel of England. If the law of the land, or tile ceremonies of the Church, werP to be it$red to plcase the fantasy of every innovator irz plitiCe or- sceptic in aeligion, nothing pesrandnt or qoivprfhenukve 4n1, be istbsie d. The ritatl of the: chiurch of Zt1giin'd was made to coirespoad, by the Iseie', the moot dlcaetqnd. ndtnq u me. that e3eived, with the elicf of the xmiajority, It rceadnot be -itXde .to adapt atacitselt th&e'4 :t o 'thousand-. different secte, or perhaps to the pecu a-tenetsgof every individutal nian; 'for Wc very duhch do6bty. *hether aciy, two members, even of this sect .-of - freethinking- Christians, think .alike upon' al1xedJioug topics. Indeed, what use is there in-: freethinking, if. they cannot- be free enouglh to thinlk diffeFently from. every body else, and from each other? The fOlloWerSofJeJsASM SOUTHCOTT, WhO, we believe, are at-this momhentt.nlore numerousethan the Freethink-ing Christians, would not be content with any marriage-ceremony in whichthe name of their saint, and an allusion to-her miraculous conception, should be omitted. This scruple must be indulged also, no doubt ! It is remarkable that the authors and attesters of the document whichwepublish to-day, though the very leaders of the sect of Freethinking Christians, know so little of that eremony against which they protest, that they suppose that thecoupleto be married have to repeat the names of the persons in the Trinity. The document says that the Free- thinking Chtistian " has in some instances positively and "successfully refused to kneel before the altar, and to re- " peat the names of the persors in the Trinity." If this is the chiefrelief they want, then,-to be excused from repeat- ing " thenamesof the persons in 'theTrinity,"-we are sure that there is not a clergyman of the Cburch of England who will not readily grant it-to them. He will -excuse them from repeating those names, if they. will allow him to repeat them', and if they will not.so allow him, it rust be a pretty spirit of toleration by which they are actuated ! If, also, they will not pray themselves, they may surely kneel while he prays, (wc,would not ldse an irreverent illustration, but) as men who have no appetite sit at table for the sake of courtesy with those that eat. But farther: If the- Freethinking Christians believe marriage to be: orily. a civil contract, why do they not contract 'it ainong themselves by civil forms? Why do -they obttude their remonstrances on the Church? It may-be-said; because the children of such marriages would, in the -eye of the law, be. illegitimate, and incapable of succeeding. And- how many entailed estates do all the members of the sect. of- Freethinking Christians possess ? I-low much property that they cannot bequeath by will? Let replies to these. questions -be inserted in their next peti- tion to the Legislature. And it is under this form, in truth, that relief should be granted to them-that after a civil contract with penalties, the sexes may cohabit, and that the offspring of .sucb unions shall inherit, if there is any patrimony, as if the parties had solemnly plighted their faith at the altar.