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    istcntly profess them from the felloiV-*?? aB ( j eVea tbe worship of other denominations of Christians , —that part of the Preamble of this Society which respects its fundamental principles , do stand as « That there is but Oiie God , the Maker And Preserver of Heaven and of Earth and of all things therein , Jehovah , the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ , and onr God a « d Father ;—that Jehovah is Oae , in substance undivided , in glory unrivalled ,

    supremely great , infinitely powerful , wise , and good 9 the Only Proper Object of Religious Worship , the Sole Original Source of every blessiftg * both temporal and spiritaa \ . and that Jesus Christ was the most distinguished of the Messengers of Bis wisdom and mercy to the human race *

    authorized and empowered by Him to declare and execute the Gospel-scheme of salmtion , or deliverance of mankind from sin and misery ; hut in every respect , and afevery period , now and for ever , subordinate to and dependant upon Him , so that God may be all in all . *

    " That by the proposed alteration in the Preamble , it is not intended to make any chang-e whatever in the practice of the Society respecting its chief object , the distribution of books , — -agreeably to which , the selection of books Is regulated by wliat are regarded as the sentiments of the # r £ at bulk of its Members , while each individual

    is left to choose for himself vvhat he pleases for his own employment , and is not regarded as responsible for the sentiments advocated or avowed rn others . '' At the meeting for business , much

    lime had been occupied , with considering various alterations proposed by the Committee in the Rules ; and we came to the main point respecting the Preamble , too late to allow of that

    species of discussion which I had hoped for . Before the opportunity was afforded me of proposing the above resolutions , &c , the respected individual to whom , I presume , Mr . Belsham alludes , ( as having by his

    good sense and solid arguments wade a deep impression on all who n « ard him , ) in the commencement of his address , made a pointed declara * "Oft . tvhich I conceive must have J » a « e a deeper impression than even * " * argumen ts , and which at least Prevented the simple effect of these

    nmt I P , f ^ it yould he easy to hn-£ * * J ** hi * 1 ion , butt have tiot felt iiT it ! at Ubert * * ° ** » y atttotiofc

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    from being ascertain able , —vie . that if the alteration was made , several ( I think ) of the oldest Metibm of thfe Society would withdraw from it . It is * my earnest hope , that when any

    discussion on questions connected with the interests of Christian truth , occur among Unitarians , this mode of biassing- a meeting may not be regarded as a precedent * If those Members were resolved to pursue such a

    measure , in case the disposition of thfe meeting favoured the alteration , perhaps ( in the present case ) it was desirable that their resolution should be made known before the final decision , but not at the beginning of a dis-f

    . When my resolutions were read , it seemed doubtful whether they wofcld be seconded : but this was done by a Member from Bristol , with Whom I had had no communication on the

    subject ; and this ( as far as I can recollect ) was the caste with respect to all the other Members present , ex * cept those in the Committee , at the meetings of which the subject had been brought forwards more than

    once . In the course of my remark ' s to the general meeting , 1 advefrted to the opinion , ( which for the reasons already given 1 believe to be wellfounded , ) that , if they were otherwise

    disposed to join us , our Preamble would keep from us two distinguished advocates for Unitarian Christianity ; and I conceived that this might be reg-arded as a specimen of its natural effect : I knew that it had had such

    an effect in other cases . It was stated in reply , that those individuals had for sometime been Members of the London Unitarian Society ; and this , the Parent Society , lays down , in more explicit yet more scriptural

    terms , the doctrine of the Simpte Humanity as its exclusive basis . The principle on which mainly I advocated the change remained the same ; but the practical desirableness of it was greatly lessened .

    When as much had bepn said , on both sides , as the circumstances of the case allowed , understanding that the disposition of the -tweeting was against the change , and that it tvould be painful to some of those piresewt to press a division , with the odn ^ nt of the friend who had seconded my proposed reso-

    Untitled Article

    J ) Y . Carpenter ort Proceedings in the Western ZTnitaHan Society * 74 f

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1819, page 747, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1779/page/31/