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    be erected . The premises were therefore purchased , the whole vested in trustees , and the present chapel was completed in less than four years from the time , that Mr . Lindsey first officiated as a Unitarian minister . On the

    29 th of March , 1778 , it was opened for the first time , a numerous congregation attending , and divine service is now

    conducted in the same place , according to his liturgy , with those alterations , which time and experience suggested , and which met entirely with his approbation .

    The obstacles in the way of such an undertaking may easily be imagined : but the singular prudence of Mr . Lindsey overcame them all . Occasional ? interruptions from bigotry and superstition would occur : but as the work

    advanced , they became less frequent , and nothing could be laid hold of by those , who were sent to watch the words of the preacheY , for which he could be brought into trouble . Here , then

    Mr . Lindsey was settled , in the heart we may say of the Metropolis , bearing his daily testimony to the great command of God : thou slialt worship no other gods but me—a command most

    solemnly confirmed b y the authority of our Saviour , who declared , that the two great commands of bis religion were ; the one , to worship one god alone , namely his

    God and our God ; the other , to love our neighbour as ourselves . In this testimony many bore their part , but few in proportion to the number of inhabitants in this

    great town , so that the case in Elijah ' s time was nearly verified in this country .

    Untitled Article

    The sermon preached at the opening of the chapel , was published , and in it are full y explained the motives for its establishment am * the views of the

    preacher . The whole claims the attention of every Unitarian , and is an admirable memento to tfye present and future frequenters df the chapel . " It was not" he says ei erected by a contentious innovating spirit , but for the relief o £

    conscientipus persons in the worship of the true God . Your minister claims not any spiritual powers more than belong to every one of you . He considers himself only as * one , whom you have chosen for your instructor in the

    gospel , on the good opinion of his diligence and probity ; but to whom you arc tied no longer than , he shall discharge his office witii fidelity , and to your approbation .

    His province will be not to speak any thing of himself or dictate aught to you by his own authority ; but to lay before you the words of Christ , and the mind of God , as revealed in the sacred

    writings , with such interpretation as may seem to throw light on that inestimable book , and afford the most powerful motives to a holy life , which is the prime end of all instruction . " V Here indeed

    according to the text , God was worshipped in a true spirit . After such disputes in the Christian world on the nature of divine worship , and the office of its

    ministers , here the object of the former way clearly ascertained , and the proud pretensions , on which the ministers of public worship had established a degrading dominion over their flock , were entirely cast away . * ?

    Untitled Article

    Memoir of the late Rev . Theophilvs Lindsey r A . M . 3

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1809, page 3, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1732/page/3/