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    For these and other reasons , the speaker concluded with expressing his'firm persuasion that the time for carrying the Unitarian doctrine to all sects and classes of society was now arrived ; and ( putting himself

    and his humble exertions out of the question , but if that could not be done , risking the imputation of personal vanity by jtfce remark , ) that so great was the utility of the Unitarian Fund , so increasing

    were its benefits , so likely was it to effect a great change in the religious opinions and feelings of the empire , that the names of all those that contributed to its success

    -would be enrolled in a list of ho . nor and glory . Mr . Aspland begged leave to propose the health of a gehtleman

    present , who had distinguished himself by his services in the cause of religious liberty ; who had recently laboured successfully to frustrate a measure hostile to

    Dissenters , and who had laid us under obligations to him by his ability and zeal in defence of Mr . Gisburne , whom he had delivered from the hands of his prosecutors ;—Mr . Willis ^ our Solicitor at Cambridge .

    Mn . Wilks regretted that he was unprepared adequately to acknowledge thai unexpected ho-Hour :- —bat he would not therefore

    hesitate to return his thanks ; as he trusted gratitude would suggest language , to express the sentiments it inspired . —He was not ashamed to confess that selfish motives did

    operate on his mind—that he did aspire to the praise of the wise and good—and that he therefore received their approbation with unaffected delight . His gratitude was increased because as he did

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    not accord in many of their opinions—their attentions were disinterested ; and their liberality was more conspicuous , since they were not eulogizing exclusively their

    own party nor casting on an individual a ray of glory which , as he was connected with them * would be reflected on themselves .

    His exertions to resist the persecution of Mr . Gisburne and his recent efforts in the cause of xeli * gious liberty they had condescended to applaud *—As to that persecution , the proceedings had been so frequently communicated to

    them and had been so admirably detailed by their respected Secreta * ry , in a publication deserving their universal petusal * that any state ., ment from him would be superflu ^ ous . He would therefore onlyremark that on account of an

    alteration in the religious opinions of Mr . Gisburne—proceedings worthy of the darkest ages were adopted against him ; and were supported by men who professing to be Protestant Dissenters , ought to have been better taught—and ought to have , disdained to Tecur for assistance to penal statutes which all liberal men must abhor .

    Yet that unworthy design would have been accomplished but for the existence of their society * Their committee wisely and liberally interposed . They invited his professional assistance , which he was most happy to afford . Their united exertions extricated

    the victim from the grasp of hi , $ oppressors , —The accusers becafae the culprits—and victory attended on the righteous cause : and if similar persecutions should ever he t& newed * he trusted their society would exist to renew protection aud

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    Intelligence *—Unitarian Fun d * $ 6 f

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1811, page 367, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2417/page/47/