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Untitled Article
vidence for ,- having raised him up , and U ) venerate those virtues which have given him a namc . b y rendering him a benefactor to mankind . These are the peaceful claims of a private man , # hich , in the eye o £ the thoughtless and the proud , are destitute of interest . But they are , in fact , and I hope and believe in your estimation ^ above all Greek- —above all Roman praise .
It may he expected , perhaps , that I should enter into some details relative to the life of Dr . Williams 5 but this would not be consistent with the brevity of such an address : besides , the necessity is precluded by a short memoir , * written , with his usual
perspicuity and information , by our excellent friend and librarian .-f I shall therefore merely observe , that , judging from his writings , our founder was evidently a man of strong natural p owers , of considerable learning and
acuteness ; and , what is still more to his credit , whilst he steadily defends what he conceived to be important truth , he discovers that spirit of candour which ought ever to distinguish , though it too seldom has distinguished , the Christian controversialist . His
religious sentiments were orthodox , according to the common acceptation of that word , though not orthodox enough to satisfy the bigots of his time , by whom he was accused of the horrid crime pf Socinianisra . Had he lived till now amidst increasing light , there is reason to believe that he would have
imbibed what we think more rational ajitf enlarged views of the Christian doctrine : and from the candour which he exhibited , when candour was not very common ,, we rnay pronounce with assurance , that , wnatever might have been his religious opinions , he would have yielded to none of us in liberality towards those who might have held a different creed . In
character he stood high , not only in his vyn immediate connexion , but among Dissenters in every part of the British dominions . And no wonder . For ** k labours were abundant and
disinterested . He very properly insisted , indeed , upon his aunuaj salary from *>*? congregation , who could | well afford l i but ^ none ojC it went tp increase his own fortune- jt was wholly demoted
. * Commufticatecl to flfvn . Kepos , arid ^ wfe ? v $ - $ t »» $ q * —3 ° ^ & , * ft « * f V , Tboibb Morgan .
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to purposes of charity , and he showed them at the end of tne year how it had been expended ;—an example of generosity which , whilst it enhances his honour , should put to the blush those miserable creatures who * with coffers
running over , are deaf to every call , either of public benefit or private distress . His politics were those of freedom . Fearful lest the machinations of the High Church party should defeat the Protestant succession , he r # t monstrated boldly on that subject with Lord Oxford , to whom he was well
known , and incurred h » resentment because he communicated his fears to others . But his principles were to him more dear than the favour of the great ; and his adherence to rectitude on this occasion received an
appropriate reward . For the displeasure of a tory minister was soon compensated b y the approbation of a constitutional king , to whom , at the head of the dissenting body of ministers , he delivered a congratulatory address on his accession to the throne . He had
formerly been consulted by William III ., one of the few princes who have had the wisdom and the manly condescension of mind to advise with such a character . His counsels were congenial to the private opinions of that truly great man , who , had he been permitted to follow his own inclinations .
would have extended the limits of religious freedom much further than the prevailing tory ism of the country would permit . But Dr . Williams ' s solid claim to fame rests upon the favour or displeasure pf the great , onl y as these were indications of his unshaken and
disinterested integrity . With us he stands upon higher ground . Though dead , he yet speaketh . His best monument is that charity which for a century has been communicating
instruction to' youth , administering the consolations of religion to _ age , and giving relief to indigence and deprivation . This charity embraces various objects ; but these so wisely combined , that they all concur in .
promoting one great end- —the spread of religious know ledjge , in connexion with that liberty which alone can r . en ~ der it efficient as the meanla of promoting rational piety and social happiness . His first object was to establish , schools in the different parts , qf jj js , country where his different properties lay 5 and in these schools mam IJljkll *
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cn the Centenary qf Dr * Williams * s Death . 311
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1816, page 311, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2453/page/3/
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