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In our church we have ' seventy pews , of which forty-four are let ; and we hope ere long to let the remainderthese are exclusive of the galleries , in which , for the present , our benches are put . In your Repository the ex pense estimated was put at 5 , 000
dollars ; it should have been £ 5 , 000 . Like all estimates , it has fallen short of the actual cost ; though we have not yet fully ascertained this . You may form some idea of the high rate of lands and of house-rent with us
when I tell you that for the ground on which our church stands and adjoining thereto , viz . 74 feet front by 94 feet in depth , we must pay about £ 1900 Bricks cost per M . £ \ \ 6 s . and for laying them 12 s . per M .
Our usual attendance now is from two to three hundred persons in the morning and afternoon ; but , in the evening , the place is nearly full , sometimes quite full . —It will accommodate about six hundred persons . It seems to me that we have already done something in removing prejudices : several
persons lately hostile have become friendly to us . One gentleman in particular , who was almost dragged to hear the opening sermon , was so much pleased with it , that when the collection was made , he put all his loose cash in the plate , near three guineas in value .
Our plan is this . — -We openly bring forward our sentiments , though without always dwelling on them ; for variety is necessary—while we defend them to the utmost of our power , we say nothing in disparagement of those who differ from us : much less do we
judge and condemn them . The success which we have met with exceeds our most sanguine expectations ; for six years and a half ago , as you will recollect , we began under very discouraging circumstances . —No society can be at a lower ebb than we were . —Let then
no sincere Unitarians hesitate to asscmble for religious worship , although they are few in number , and can only have printed discourses read to them , for at i . he time referred to , this was our condition . When 1 undertook to
officiate as a reader , the bare suggestion that a written discourse of my own would sometimes be expected , would have completely discouraged ixie—3-et , for more than three years past I have contrived always to prepare a sermon or lecture . We have yet much to * accomplish , ' and have
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much need of prudence and circuit spection . In what manner can we most effectually attach our hearers to us , so as to make them Unitarians and Christians from conviction , and to keep alive their zeal . This is aft important inquiry . — Something more than
preaching seems requisite , and yet I do not like what are called conferencesthey lead often to much indiscretion / Unitarians are called Socinians . Might we not with equal propriety be called Calvinists ? for we believe as
Calvin expresses it , that the Trinity is the popish God—ergo , we are Calvinists , and Trinitarians are Papists , How easy is it to call names ! We certainly differ very materially from Socinus . However I trust we have
no ambition to bear the name of a murderer . The Trinity is said to be the very foundation of Christianity . — Give up this , say the good folks , and you give up every thing . Calvin and we agree in giving it up . We cannot speak more disparagingly of it than he has done " . Philadelphia , Oct . 22 , 1813 . " -On the other hand we
are as a mark to be shot at . Even Bishop White has recently published some harsh things of the Improved Version , and of * the system which it is intended to support . ' In consequence of this , Mr . Eddowes lately delivered a discourse for the purpose of disproving the charge of a tendency to infidelity in the sentiments of
Unitarian Christians . Notice of this discourse having been given in tlie papers , although the weather was then extremely hot , ( 19 th Sept . ) the church was full before service began , and the crowd was so great that many persons were unable to get in . Many listened At the outside of the windows .
MrE . very properly avoided any direct reference to the Bishop or his work , confining his remarks to the aforesaid topic—this was a masterly performance and has operated favourably to the
cause . Dr . Wilson was so indiscreet as to say iu the pulpit a few weeks ago , that persons who denied the divinity or deity of Christ , must necessarily blaspheme in their acts of worship . 1 quote from himself , for having the report from various quarters , it occurred to me that the shortest way to ascertain the fact , was to go to the fountainhead . I told him that as he appeared to hold this opiuion , it was not for u «
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658 Intelligence *—Unitarians in America .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1815, page 658, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1765/page/58/
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