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6 f perplexity and embarrassment , or by the supply-of some want which is very painfully felt in sickness , we may rescue from dangers of a very threatening character , and obtain a strong hold upon the mind for higher and better objects . There is , indeed , no service so small , and no office so lrambley-4 h at—it— does—not—pr-ope r 4 ycome within the official duties of a
minister at large . He will more gladly bow himself to wash the feet of the chief of sinners , than of the greatest of saints , if he can thus win the sinner ' s heart . He is to be , emphatically , and in all things , the poor man ' s friend , as well as minister ; and to acquaint himself not only with the mind and heart of the poor , but with all the circumstances which
are exerting , an influence on their hearts and characters . These circumstances may be , and often are , wholly beyond the control of the individuals who suffer from them ; and may yet be within the power of one who is dispOsed-to act as their benefactor and friend . These
circumstances have , therefore , very strong claims upon the regard of a minister of the poor ; and if they should be overlooked by him , or thought unworthy of attention , I should not be very sanguine in my expectations of good from all the other services which he could render .
To the third class of the duties of a minister at large belong all those ofliceKS , in which lie may eng&gv as a medium of communication , and of connexion , between the classes of society . He goes to the poor , and to the poorest , primarily indeed , as a minister of Christ , and for the
purpose of preaching to them ' the . unsearchable riches of Christ . " But he goes to them from among those who are not poor . Nor is it understood merely that he is , and unless he shall have sufficient property , that he must be , supported in his office by the rich . It is known , too , that as far as he is enabled to relieve the poor under the pressing wants of their
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poverty , it is through the sympathy of the rich , who have made him their almoner . He has , therefore , daily opportunities , and if he be wise he will not fail to improve them , of calling forth the kindly affections of the poor towards the rich ; of giving to them Christian views of the
connex-ion ~ which-. God-hasanstituted ^ . be ^ tween all humaninterests , and human duties ; and of inculcating the principles which will secure fidelity in duty , even in the poorest and lowest of all the employments of life . And he has frequent opportunities in his daily intercourse , and occasional ones
m the Reports which he may make of his services , of giving to the rich a knowledge of poverty and of the poor , which is not otherwise to be obtained . It is , however ^ jand it must not be forgotten that it is , a very partial trial which has yet been made of this ministry . It has ,
indeed , conduced , and it is conducing , to very great good . But I not only feel deeplyrthat \ ve kave much to learn of the best modes of operation in it , in view of the two first classes which I have named of its duties ; but equally of those of the third class . Let this ministry be continued , and be wisely appointed , and
wisely conducted , and it will do more , I believe , than can be done by any other agency , for making the rich and the poor advantageously known to each other ; and , throug h the knowledge and feeling which it may extend of their intimate relation to each other as God ' s children , and of the inseparable connexion which exists between all their
various interests , for the excitement and maintenance of a mutual Christian , sympathy , and feeling of bnotherhood , between them , I have often , indeed , felt a strong doubt whether
this ministry , if it shall be committed to fit instruments , and maintained at once on the part of those who engage in it , and of those who support it , with a spirit worthy of its importance and its claims , would not * in
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^ SUO UNITARIAN CHRONICLE ,
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 1, 1832, page 206, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1821/page/30/
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