the Rev. W. Turner , Jun. , MA., Lives of the eminent Unitarians

[12] of gross violence; outrages alike on the natural rights of man, and on that liberty wherein Christ hath made him free. Nevertheless, there can be little doubt that these cruel excesses of persecuting bigotry, endured, as by the testimony of unfriendly historians they seem to have been, with a constancy and fortitude worthy of martyrs, who not only were convinced of the truth, but experienced the value and excellence of their principles, were not without the effect which scenes like these commonly produce on the public mind. Compassion for unmerited suffering passes into admiration when it is met with the spirit of a martyr, and naturally leads to the suspicion that the principles which excited and maintained such a spirit were not unworthy of it. We find accordingly that the records of religious intolerance continue to present occasional instances of individuals who were called to account before the authorities of the day for the alleged crime of having professed Antitrinitarian sentiments. Of these, some were visited with various forms and degrees of punishment, while others gave way before the storm, and read a recantation, the sincerity of which may well be doubted. There are other indications that the denial of the deity of Christ was a growing opinion, though it might not as yet be openly expressed and avowed, there not being at this time a single society of worshiping Christians in England, assembling professedly on Unitarian principles. Of these indications, perhaps, the most unequivocal is seen in the alarm manifested on the subject by the patrons of the prevailing opinions, and particularly in the iniquitous ordinance against heresy