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received and attentively heard . In Colchester he was almost an entire stranger , and his report to us on his return was , that he had not been able to meet in that place with a single individual inclined to UnitarianistTi ,
and much less with anyplace in which an Unitarian missionary could be permitted to preach . We have reason , therefore , t& rejoice , that in the course of a few years we see the worshipers of the one God united and associated in Colchester , and that we
are enabled here to assemble our society . It is a source of additional satisfaction to us also to see , as the minister of this congregation , one of
cur own members , and one who was led to the adoption of his present views of Christian truth , from the preaching and conversation of our respected friend .
The number of Tracts distributed this year has been two hundred and fifty-six , and the stock on hand , previous to the last order of the Committee , was six hundred and ninety . One of the tracts ( the Unitarian ' s Appeal ) has excited a controversy on the subjects in dispute between us and our Trinitarian brethren , and has
especially attracted attention in this county . Excepting by the letters of Mr , Fry , formerly of Billericay , we believe the question has not been much agitated in Essex . The
publication of Mr . Newton , of Witham , from the rank which he holds among our orthodox brethren , and from the well-known respectability of his character , has excited considerable
attention . 1 hat such a champion could make no better defence of Trinitarianism , is rathier to be ? , imputed to the weakness of the system , than to any want of ability in i { s defender . That it has disappointed and dissatisfied m ^ ny of his friends we have ^ reason
to know , and we trust the Controversy will be productive of good , and finally issue in the promotion of Christian truth . The very , fact that these local discussions , respecting the truth and
scriptural evidence of our opinions , are increasing , is a certain proof of the interest and alarm which they excite . A few years since , and Unitarian publications were t 4 few and far between , " they were confined to the metropolis and one or two towns .
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Now , our opponents in every part o ( the kingdom , from the mitred prelate downwards , are calling upon the Unitarians to gird on their armour , and in no instance , within our knowledge , have we been without zealous and able defenders . This perpetual cob * flict of opinion must necessarily be
beneficial to the cause of truth , and that it has aided ' the spread of our views of Christianity , is virtually admitted by > our Trinitarian brethren , notwithstanding the affected contempt in which they hold our exertions . Nor is it by their writings alone that the Calvinistic Dissenters have at *
tacked us * They are not content with branding us as blasphemers from the pulpit and the press , but they are endeavouring , in spite of the declaration of the Legislature in our favour , to deprive us of the rights and the endowments we possess * They are
striving to make the decisions of oar courts of law breathe their own intolerant and persecuting ' spirit . By the exertions which the Calvinistic body are making , in order to obtain a decision in their favour respecting
the Meeting at Wolverhampton , they have clearly shewn their design arid end . Disgraceful in every way as their conduct has been , both as men and as Protestant Dissenters , it is not sufficient for us , and for our own
safety * to treat it with indifference or contempt . As an attempt is making to deprive us of our rights and pur possessions , it must be resolutely met , and they most be legally maintained and defended . To this end we have
seen , with much satisfaction , the establishment of a society for the defence and protection of our civil rights . Situated as we now are , such a measure is one of absolute necessity . We are no longer an obscure and almost unknown religious sect . Our opinions are not now confined to the closets of
the learned , and preached with hesitation and dread . They no longer lurk in an ambiguous and guarded phraseology , but are proclaimed , as our Master and his apostles proclaimed
them , upon the house-top , and promulgated with a zeal and earnestness becoming their high importance . Having entered the field , we must be prepared and armed at all points for the combat . We must oppose active
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Intelligence . — -Eastern Unitarian Society * 387
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1819, page 387, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1773/page/43/
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