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UNITARIAN CHRONICLE . 207
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every view" of it , be as great a blessing to the rich , as to the poor . It may do more than any legislation can accomplish for checking the progress of pauperism and crime . It
may bind the employed to the employer by stronger ties than any pecuniary compensation could form . And in various ways , which will readily occur to any one who will reflect upon the subject , it may be made one at least of the strongest bonds of moral connexion , which
can be formed between the great classes of the rich and the poor . And on what other , I ask , thanmoral bonds , is any reliance to be placed in the great exigencies of human society ? Above all , under a government like ours , what may not be feared from an extent of pauperism , like that which exists in the old world 7 "What may not be feared
from a division and hostility among us of the classes of society , analogous to that which the pride , and extravagance , and licentiousness ofwealth , not less than of titles and rank , have produced there ? And where , or in what is our security against these evils , but in a prevalence among all classes of the principles and spirit of the gospel of Christ ? .
I could not satisfy myself with saying less of the objects of this ministry . But I feel no small diffidence in coming to the question , of the modes of action in it . I have my own modes of action in this service , and others have theirs ; and I devoutly hope that others will still arise , and come after us , who will better comprehend its interests , and more skilfully teach , as well as
discharge its duties , than can even the most zealous , intelligent , and devoted of those who are now engaged in it . But as there are few favours for which I am more grateful than for any hint which , will aid me in seeking the improvement and happiness of those with whom I am or may be
connected in this work , I hope that I shall notr be thought to have exposed myself to the imputation of arrogance , if I shall give some of the results of my own observations in it . There is * indeed , no topic of this subject on which so much is y-st to
be learned , or I may even say to be discovered , as on this . Nor is this a circumstance to excite any surprise . For why is it , that in all the other departments of the administration of our religion , so little , compared with what might have been expected , is accomplished , but that
so much is yet to be learned in them all , of the . most effectual methods of bringing divine truth to its just and proper bearings on the human mind ? Why is the most solicitous domestic instruction , and why is the most vigilant parental care so often unavailing ? And why , also , are our pulpits , the pastoral visits of our clergy , our
schools , and our books of Christian piety and morals exerting no more salutary and life-g-iving . innuenees ,-but that they are yet far short of what they should be , and of what a better knowledge of the true means of recommending religion , and of bringing it home to the human soul , would make them ? I repeat , therer fore , that I do not here assume the
office of a teacher . On the contrary , I will gratefully sit at the feet of any one who can give me any new lesson of which I may avail myself in this service . There are ,-however , two or three general questions respecting modes of operation in it , upon which I am willing to offer an opinion . I refer to the inquiries which have repeatedly been proposed to me , how may the greatest
number of that part of the population of a large city , for which this ministry is intended , be most efficiently brought within the influence of its instruction and care ? Is it desirable to have chapels or churches built for the poor 1 And should this ministry be made an . instrument , through the
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 1, 1832, page 207, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1821/page/31/
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