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missions io Bengal , differ in some material points from those of other missionaries , and therefore the missionaries themselves and their numerous and active friends endeavour to excite against me the prejudices of the religious world , and to depreciate the value of my
testimony , although without venturing to call in question the general , and , except in one or two unimportant instances , even the particular , accuracy of my statements . Under these circumstances , I have very strong inducements to say nothing , either respecting others or myself , which will not stand the strictest
examination . ' But in order to meet the objections that lie against my testimony in all their force ) and to secure the full confidence of the Christian public , it seems necessary that it should be corroborated by the testimony of persons who are not missionaries , who are not interested in the success or failure of missionary designs ,
except on the general principles of philanthropy , and who by the opportunities which they have possessed and employed of personal observation and inquiry , have been rendered competent to deliver their evidence on the subject . I have therefore to state , that the letters which I shall prepare will be submitted to the scrutiny of the Calcutta Unitarian
Committee , and that none of them will be addressed to you , or published to the world , without their previous sanction and entire approbation . In responsibility , then , for the contents of all my official letters as Secretary to the Committee , I am joined by gentlemen , both European and Native , of fortune and respectability , who have no personal interests to promote in passing a
misrepresentation upon the public , and who are known to be too honourable to give countenance to such an attempt if made by another ; While their intimate experience of the native character , their familiar acquaintance with the native languages , and their disinterested endeavours to promote native improvement , entitle the statements they authorize , and the opinions they sanction , on these subjects at least , to respectful consideration .
The Calcutta Unitarian Committee is the only public body in this country professing Unitarian Christianity , and I propose , therefore , in the present letter to give some account of it , as an appropriate introduction to the details which will follow .
The Committee was formed in September , 1821 , and at first constated of only two or three individuals , who , al-
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though they assumed this name , did not thereby intend to describe themselves as the representatives of a larger body . They were constituted a Committee by their own voluntary act , without reference ^ to a higher authority , and they received others into their number , according as persons were found disposed to associate with them . Of these , some have ceased to take au active interest in the objects of the Committee ; others have returned
to their native country , where they continue to prosecute the same or similar objects without being unmindful of the strong claims of British India upon their philanthropic exertions ; and others have been removed by death , of whom I may particularly mention the name of Mr . John Cumming , whose loss the Committee have been called to lament , but who still lives in their affectionate
remembrance of his Christian virtues . Notwithstanding all these untoward circumstances , yet by the continued accession of new members , their number is greater at the present time than it has ever before been ; and I am happy to add , that the internal organization of the Committee is also more complete , and its proceedings are in consequence conducted with a degree of regularity , zeal , and energy , which promise the most beneficial results . While the
Committee thus acquires increasing strength within the immediate sphere of its exertions , it also receives encouraging assurances of co - operation and support from the most distinguished members of the Unitarian denomination in England and America , with whom a constant correspondence is maintained , and from whom important pecuniary assistance has already been derived . It is not , however , private individuals only that have come forward to our aid . It is
unnecessary for your information , although it may be necessary for the information of others , to add , that the Associations with which you are respectively connected , have , through you , pledged themselves to be our coadjutors , and it is upon their generous and prompt assistance that we principally depend , next to our
own exertions , to give permanence and efficiency to our plans . The recent formation of these Associations , and the liberal support which they receive , as far as they have hitherto made their wishes ana objects known to the Unitarian public , have afforded us the most unfeigned satisfaction ; and when it is considered that these are the first indications of attention in the Unitarian denomination , as a body , to the claims
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150 Intelligence . —Foreign .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1827, page 150, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1793/page/70/
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