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. * and adherents of each sect , instead of zealously endeavouring to propagate what they believe to be truth , should turn aside to refute the supposed errors of their fcllow-christians . While , therefore , the friends and agents of the Unitarian mission , as they have already had occasion to shew , will not hesitate to vindicate the
plans which they may adopt , by pointing out the imperfections of those which have been hitherto pursued , to explain their principles when they have been misunderstood or misrepresented , and to defend their characters when they have been attacked and calumniated , they will , with still greater pleasure , reciprocate every indication of a conciliatory spirit received from the members of other
Christian denominations , and , as far as they can with justice to the cause they have espoused , limit themselves to the simple and direct propagation of what they regard as the pure and uncorrupted gospel of Christ . Such a course , if steadily pursued by the various missionary bodies in India , while it fully accords
with the spirit of the religion they profess , would in no small degree conduce to the attainment of their main object , and would be the best proof they could give that that object is not the extension of the mere doctrinal belief or profession of Christianity , but of its practical aud salutary influences .
It is more difficult to convey to you a correct idea of the different classes of professing Christians , who are in a greater or less degree well affected towards Unitarianfom . Of these , the first place is due to those who , notwithstanding all the odium which has been cast upon Unitarianism , have given their public countenance and support to its
principles . Nor must it be supposed that the members of the Committee are the only individuals of this description . There are others also , although their number is not great , who either move in too retired or too humble a sphere to be known as Unitarians except to their immediate connexions , but who , in proportion to their means and opportunities , are not less zealous in the promotion of
Unitarian Christianity . The next class that requires to be mentioned , consists of those who , although known to be opposed in their sentiments to the popular modes of Christian belief , have hitherto not identified themselves with the public professors of Unitarianism . Their number is considerable , and they hold respectable places in society ; but it is difficult in most cases to ascertain the motives by which they are influenced .
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Some may have been discouraged by the tardiness of foreign Unitarians in affording us their assistance , joined with the improbability , without such assistance , of succeeding in our plans , which would naturally produce an unwillingness on their part to pledge themselves to the support of a scheme , the eventual failure
of which seemed almost unavoidable . Others may have been prevented from attaching themselves to a proscribed sect from a dread of notoriety , or from a regard to the peace of their Orthodox relatives ; feelings in themselves amiable , but in their effects injurious to the cause of truth . And there may also have been others , who , although Unitarian
Christians by education and profession , have acquired a practical indifference to the interests of the sect to which they nominally belong , from the waut of that religious culture , for which unhappily there has hitherto been no public provision on behalf of Unitarians residing in this country . Whatever may be their motives , we are not much disposed to
condemn their conduct , when we consider the circumstances in which Unitarians have been aud still are placed . We rejoice that although not with us , neither are they against us , and hope that the causes now in operation will gradually lead to a more general and decided profession of Unitarianism , by those who sincerely approve of its principles . There is another and still more numerous class composed of those who ,
without reference to sect or party , whether Trinitarian or Unitarian , — -distinctions to which they attach little if any importance , —will cheerfully give their aid for the general diffusion of education , useful knowledge , and rational religion . Most of those , however , who belong to this class , would leave religion , under any form , out of the question , and would limit their support to those other means I have mentioned , for improving the character and condition of their
fellow-creatures . The existence of such a class bears a decidedly favourable aspect upon our exertions ; for although the spread of education is not the exclusive object of our attention , it is an essential part of our plans , which it is therefore believed will , at least to this extent , receive their countenance . I have already attempted to estimate the extent to which other Protestant
denominations are hostile to our views , and have shewn that the Calvinistic party in the Church of England , may be regarded as uniformly opposed to them . I have now to add , that the Arminluu
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Intelligence . —foreign . 153
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1827, page 153, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1793/page/73/
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