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is to be received as a duty , on human authority , merely , however respectable ; but where there is unanimity of opinion concerning the utility of any habit of this kind , among those
whose business it is to study and to labour incessantly for the improvement of mankind in Christian principles and conduct , this circumstance surely has some demand on the serious consideration of those to whose
benefit their time and exertions are devoted , and should obtain for the claims of any practice so recommended , the most impartial , candid and deliberate investigation . When no difference
ot opinion exists among physicians , on the best means of restoring the health of the body , their advice is followed in the most critical cases , without the least hesitation . Is then the
unanimous advice of those , the object of whose constant study is the welfare and improvement of the mind , concerning the means adapted to this end , deserving of no regard ? The numerous Forms of Family
Prayers , that have been presented at different times to the public , shew the importance which ministers have attached to this practice ; and among these , the publications of Dr . Priestley , Dr . Efineld , the late Rev . T . Kenrick , and Mr . John Palmer evince that
Unitarians are not less satisfied of its usefulness and value , than their Trinitarian brethren . Our ancestors , it is true , carried this practice to excess . But will any sensible and reflecting person allow himself to be deprived of the benefit of any custom whatever , merely because a conviction of its excellence has induced others to
overrate and abuse it ? We are well persuaded that public worship , and public religious instruction , lose at least half their efficacy through the neglect , which , it is to be feared , is partly ' at least the effect of this excess : for
where is the good seed of the word © f God to be expected to take deep root , and bring forth fruit abundantly , but in good soil ; and w here is that soil so likely to be found as in-those families in which domestic devotion is
made an habitual and daily practice ? We are convinced there is scatcely ny method which Unitarian Christians can adopt , to second the efforts of their ministers more effectually than the practice we are recommending . An apology , we hope , i * not
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necessary for the length and earnestness of these remarks . Certainly , no apology is required for the publication of this small volume of Family Prayers . If any were required , the author has one that is sufficient . They were composed at 4 (
the request of A Society formed to promote Christian Knowledge and the Practice of Virtue , by the distribution of Books , " in the West of England , with which he has been connected more than twenty years . Nor could their choice have fallen on a fitter
person , than on one who has devoted the whole of a long life to the cause of pure unostentatious religion ; who has borne so many testimonies in its favour ; has discovered in his various publications sa much of its genuine spirit , and recommended it so
frequently and affectionately , especially to the rising generation * The most experienced in devotional exercises may find such helps as these useful , when the mind is harrassed by a multiplicity of cares , and the spirits are exhausted . Variety also is not only necessarv to suit the tastes of different
individuals , but will be found useful to the same persons on different occasions . Variety , in such compositions , is , moreover , not so easy as persons unaccustomed to them may imagine . The union of unaffected devotion
with philanthropy truly Christian , expressed in style suited to the purpose , will not fail to recommend these Forms of Family Prayer to the candid and the serious *
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£ 46 Review . ' ' —Fosters Narrative .
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Art , IV- —A Narrative of the Proceedings of the Society called Quakers , within the Quarterly Meeting of London and Middlesex , against Thomas JFo&ter , for openly professing their Primitive Doctrines concerning the Unity of God . 8 vo . pp . 372 . Prrfpp . xl . Index pp . 16 . Johnson and Co , 1813 .
AMONGST the different sects into which the Christian church \ s divided , there are few , if any , who have acquired such a general good character as the Society of Friends commonly called Quakers * T heir
distinguishing opinions , may appea * onscriptural and enthusiastic to some , awd others may regard their peculiarities in dress , conversation and B * ** tiers as puerile or ridiculous ; *> a ^ agree in admiring their meekne ss
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1815, page 246, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1759/page/46/
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