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    ' requested by a . large number pf his best people and principal supporters . Not only so , but his church has altered the form of jnvitation to communion , in such a way as to

    exclude Unitarians , who before were admitted . The consequence already is , that about a third of his parishioners have resolved to have regular Unitarian preaching some evening in the week , and have applied to some clergymen for that purpose ; and I trust their application will not be in vain . For whenever Christians are

    thus deprived of their equal rights and dearest privileges , excluded even from the Table of their Lord , to which he has invited and commanded them to come , excluded too by those whom they have long helped to support , they ought to be aided by their

    brethren and all friends of religious freedom . Liberal ministers ought , in my opinion , not only to be willing but to take pains and make great exertions to carry to them those privileges -from" whichthey are so un ^ justly debarred .

    In two other important towns in that county , votes have been passed in town meetings , expressive of marked disapprobation of the extravagances of the Orthodox , and a determination to have liberal preaching occasionally at least . Although the subject has now been called up

    for the first time publicly , it is found that the liberal voices were many more tlian had been ; supposed" by either side , and their power sufficient to change completely the existing state of things . And this they will soon do , unless they are allowed to share the privileges which belong

    equally to all . It is remarkable how different is the course taken Jby- the . two parties in these circumstances . The one , however strong- they may be , able often to do anything they wish , legally and fairly , yet remain quiet under a most unequal dispensation , relinquishing for the sake of peace half or the whole of their rights , and suffering encroachment

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    v and abuse until their forbearance is made a crime , and they are actually driven to choose between resistance and destruction . The other party , however small and feeble , are never easy till they have not only some but all power and privilege in their own hands , refusing to make any

    accommodation , even appearing to regard disorganization , dis-frnjon , the breaking up of friendships and neighbourhood , as a cheap price , with which to purchase and secure their own entire dominion . And when all is done , the inference they draw from these opposite courses , is , that the former are wholly indifferent to religion , while the latter value it more than

    all things else . What logic ! What religion ! * Blessed are the peacemakers , for they shall inherit the kingdom of God . ' There are several towns in Middlesex county , in which movements have recently been made by the liberal-minded , similar to ™ those I have mentioned . In Hopkinton , public - measures have been taken and made

    known through the papers of the day . A particular account of their proceedings was given in a late number of the Christian Register . I will only add to that , that according to the votes there recorded , they have had a third service several weeks on

    Sunday evening conducted by Unitarian clergymen , and attended , I am happy to say , by the aged senior pastor of the society , who expresses feelings which would prevent all difficulty , if they were generally

    cherished and exercised by his brethren toward those who differ . The junior pastor is to leave the society in March , but the act of dismission does not extend ,, as I understand it , to his elder colleague .

    The town of B—— , m Middlesex , affords a striking illustration of the truth of what I just said about the yielding temper and its opposite . In this town , 1 believe , two-thirds of the voters are liberal—a majority certainly , A short time ago , they

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    UNITARIAN CHRONICLE . 159

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 1, 1832, page 159, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1819/page/15/