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gpO poor children receive annually that kind of education which is suited to their circumstances : whilst the
endowment for this purpose , forms an important addition to the little stipend pf those dissenting ministers to whose care our schools are committed . His next aim was to furnish a few young men seriously disposed to embrace tKe profession of religious teachers among Protestant Dissenters , with
tKose advantages . jfirom which they are ex cluded by the universities of this country . With this view he estar Wished exhibitions at the college of Glasgow ; and , owing to the increased value of his estates , and the care and
fidelity with which the produce of them is husbanded and applied by this tfust , we are now enabled ' to assist eight ypung men annually at that college ,, besides giving occasional aid to several more at other institutions . Thus numerous students derive from our funds the means of that liberal education
-whic h qualifies them for being ho-r lidurable and useful ministers of Christ , anrong Protestant IJissenters in Engtand ajid Wales . It was the intention of bur founder in this bequest to provide a succession of men who , sub ^ jeqtecl to no test , and acknowledging nV ecclesiastical jurisdiction , might be nursed' in the very bosom of freedom $
might be encouraged to think without bias or constraint , and to speak con-3 Ci eiitiousl y and boldly what they tfaipk . This is the inestimable advtintage of Qur dissent . It was seen arid appreciated by our founder , and that
fy £ was ajixious tq do his p ^ rt it might be tendered p erpetual : nor liave Kijs eflbr ^ s bee n vain . JVJany of those w&cL for . almost a century , h ^ ve distir ^ u ishejd themselves amongst us as tKe * . advbcates of a simple worship , a rational : belief , a / id a truly gospel liberty * have been indebted to nis
fuipdf ? for that learning wrpch enabled tKcm in their day tp uphold the cause o ^ trtrth and p * £ ty . Tnese ! are considferatidns which * cannot but speak to tfre Judgment of any impartial man ¦ jvhb looks Intb our histqry . For there Me Wilt see , how iryicih freedom ,, and . the consequent prosperity of the king-. < l $ n > ft ^ ve been oW jng ^ to the barrier d-efcted by Dissenters against those ^ cYO ^ rmieritB'bnitHe rights of conV sfcHfocW u ? wiiicli eferi th ? h » o $ t xnc ^ e , ^• WUliAMw ' have a . statoU '
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fully then should such considerations Seak to the heart of that Protestant issenter , who regards religious freedom as the best foundation of all that is truly excellent and dignified in the moral nature of man ? If we set any value upon our own principles , if we believe what some of our adversaries
hare been forced to confess , that to these principles , asserted by our forefathers at tne expense of persecution , and blood , our country itseff is chiefly indebted for that share of civil and religious privileges which it enjoys ; if we are persuaded that the same principles , more generally understood and
more widely diffused , would extend and perfect this liberty with all the rational views of truth and piety that are connected with it;—then what respect , what gratitude do we npt owe tp the memory of a man wh <> has done so much , living and dying , to encourage and propagate tfeese principle ^ and to render them efficient for the
great purposes of godliness and virtue ? ^) ne thing more was necessary to complete the beneficent design of our pious founder . There was no public library in this great metropolis , to
which IMssenters , as Dissenters , might have easy access . The sagacity of Dr . Williams perceived , and his munificent love of learning supplied , the defect . He purchased the curious books of Dr . Bates , and adding ; them to his
own , formed a valuable collection , which , t > y the donations of Dissenters , and even of liberal' Churchmen , and recently b y an annual * sum of 50 / . from our funds , has been greatly
increased . Every lay Trustee gives a donation of ten guineas when he enters upon the trust ; and if other wealthy individuals amongst us , who have the honour of pur institution at heart , would remember it as they ought , we might soon have td boast one of the most valuable and magnificent collections ii ^ -this capital . This is not all . The house in which we are now assembled , built in cpm p liance with our founder ' s will , has become , through the liberality of the / trustees , the p lace of public business to the collective liqdy o ^ EHsscriters hi ijhis great city ; * place ; in which noble stands have qften beer ^ ma ^ against ecclesiastical usurpation ; rrf wmcn generous efforts have original ip pro&ote tfie extension of relig&ui p < M 1 ^ $ t < J $ to W
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3 % ^ Dr . Lindsay ' s Ordfionrat the RefcCross-sfceet Library ,
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1816, page 312, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2453/page/4/
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