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fhe question , —the able Preacher of the year , and my present highlyrespected Colleague , ( both of whom had Been among the earJiest supporters of the Society , and to the latter of whom it was under constant obligations for his judicious * and zealous attention to its concerns , )—1 found it met , so decidedly and unhesitatingly * with their disapprobation , that the question was not publicly agitated : and there the matter dropped .
Near the close of the year 1813 , my friend Mr . Worsley , of Plymouth , communicated to me his conviction , that as the seat of the W . U . S . was so remote from the western part of Devon , and from Cornwall , it would promote the local interests of Unitarianism , if an Association for Devon
and Cornwall was formed , upon a plan similar to that of the W . U . S ., and which might be open to those who were not disposed to contribute so much as the subscription of the parent Soc * iet \ . I agreed with him on the desirableness of the plan , provided
we adopted as the basis , that *« God , even the Father \ is the . Only True God , the Primary Source of all the blessings we enjoy through Christ Jesus , and the Only Proper Object of Religious Worship" This was agreed to . The first meeting of the Devon and Cornwall Unitarian Association , was held
at Plymouth , in 1814 , when 134 joined us , chiefly from those who had not before been connected with any other Unitarian Society j * and our venerable and pious advocate , Dr . Toulmiu , preached before the new Association , the sermon which he afterwards delivered before the W . U . S . at Yeovil The two Societies had
a common and most harmonious meetiSr at Exeter > iri the ye ^ r IB 17 , when Mr . John Kenrick delivered that masterly discourse , entitled Unitariantism the Essence of Vital Christianity , with which most of your readers must be well acquainted—At a previous meet-*» g of the W . U , S . at Bristol ,, 1815 , when Mr . Fox delivered his eloquent and interesting Reply to Popular
Ob-. X U ex P licitly laid d ° wn as a prin-Vkn- jflmt ' t *** ° * *> Hh this Association nau tn no ^ ay imphj approbation of aU cL ? s ™ hich may I" admitted into the
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jections againsf Unitariarii $ mf some allusion was made , in the Report of the Cominittee , to a diminution of numbers caused by the establishment of the Devon and Cornwall
Association 5 and it was stated in reply , that for every one that was lost , several were gained to the open avowal of the great principles of Unitarianism , and active exertions for the drssemi « nation of them . The conversation at that time , respecting the basis of the
Association , led Mr . Fox to say ( to the best of my recollection ) that he was not aware he had been preaching before a Society which made the doctrine of Simple Humanity an essential point of Unitarianism $ and that he could not be a member of any Society which made it an exclusive bond of
union . * I do not recollect any thing more connected with the subject , till the spring of 1818 , when Mr . Rowe received information from Mr . Fawcett ,
of Yeovil , that it was wished by some 16 propose at the ensuing meeting of the W . U * S . at Urninster , an alteration in the Preamble of the Society , in order to open the door for the admission of those Unitarians who
were now excluded . We could neither of us conveniently attend the meeting ; but seeing in Exeter a friend who proposed going , I requested him to suggest to the meeting * that , as the
subject was an important one , and few comparatively would be present , if it were moved at all , it should merely be to resolve that the question should be discussed at the next
annual meeting . This suggestion was adopted . At the Ilminster meeting Mr . Yates of Birmingham was present ; and the Members urged him to undertake the office of Preacher for the ensuing year : but he declined ; and he was understood to state , that he could not be the Preacher of a
Society which , from the then somewhat unsettled state of his mind on - . — . . ¦ * v * I trust that Mr . Fox and another of our ablest advocates , whom I shall soon have to mention , will excuse my adverting
to their opinions . These assisted in deciding * my mind , as to the course I shoalfl pursue on the question . They may have seen good reason to change them ; and I am sure they ought to change them , if they have seen such reason .
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j ) r . Carpenter on Proceedings in the Western Unitarian Society . ? 4 &
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1819, page 745, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1779/page/29/
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