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aJl persuasiotts;— -acefitral point , round whtch the ftiends o £ religious freedom in every part of Britain rally , and from which even recently a spirit has gone forth , by which the bigots and ; persecutors of another country are abashed at least , if not finally overcome *
Having thus laid before you a short accoun t of the objects which Dr . Williams contemplated , in a scheme so wisely planned , so nobly endowed , — permit me to say , ( and from the smalt share of merit that I can claim in the
management , I trust I may be exempted from the imputation of vanity , when I do say confidently , > that no trust was ever discharged with more care , or applied with more disinterested fidelity to fulfil the intentions of the founder . If that founder could have
foreseen that men . who were to be the ornaments of science as well as of religion ,- —the Chandlers and Kippises , —the Prices and Priestleys , — the Reeses and Belshams of the coming age;—the future champions of that learning and freedom which he loved : >—if he could have foreseen that such
men would have given their time and labour to promote the objects of his piety , it would have added one delightful feeling more to those which must ; have passed through his mind , in contemplating the probable effects of his own
beneficence-It is difficult indeed to conceive a . more exquisite satisfaction to a pious and good heart , than that which our founder must have enjoyed at the close of a life devoted to virtue , and the approach of a death , after which he was to become , under God , a powerful and constant agent in promoting the kingdom of his Son . It is a
satisfaction compared with which all the pleasures of selfishness are less than nothing and vanity ; a satisfaction which every man who is conscious of having a soul to exalt and save , should covet as-his richest treasure . We may tiot , indeed , p ossess the means of that e xtensive usefulness which has digni-M the name of Dr . Williams : — -but of
^ 'ery one us , by being a , n advocate jor truth and freedom in jfois own age ; ° y speaking , acting and giving for trie ^ pport of those institutions by which knowled g e is diffused arid liberty pro-. jJKJ&Ij !} * nay jform , apd is , bcnwid to ¦ $$ * one Jink in tjiaj chain upon JBfflWjy * $ P future destinj / pf social man ffepeaas * , - Despicable artftiie breteittea
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by which so many excuse themselves from taking any active part in those public labours which are essential to the improvement of the world . Xh ey ^ forsooth , are aot bublic men . It &
enough for them to attend to their private concerns . They leave the civil and religious affeirs of their country to princes and statesmen , arid wondep that private individuals should be oflj ^ cious enough to meddle in such matters . It is a language too common ; sometimes heard even in the mouth of
Dissenters . But from whatever quar ter it may proceed , I can never near it without indignation . True , * We must mind our- private concerns ; but have we not likewise a duty to
discharge to that social state of wl > ich >> w ^ are members ? Are we not bound to watch over that liberty wbich' we ln herit ; from our fathers , and to see that this inheritance is not tarnished or
diminished in passing down to pur ; posterity ? And is it not by the combination of individual exertion that all great effects must be produced ? JJo man who h ^ as enjoyed t lje advantage of education is so insignificant , byt that by uniting his own efforts with
those of others , he may withstand tho inroads of civil and ecclesiastial power * and extend the limits of that religious knowledge and civil freedom wnicti must ultimately enlighten and ble $ s mankind . A Priestley in his closet communicates those ideas of liberty which a Smith * carries with him into
the senate , and renders triumphant * at last , over narrow views arid impolitic laws . And a Woocl / f under the like influence of education ajid principle , goes into t ^ ie magistracy , an ^ I trust will one day go into the legislature , with the determined purpose' pf
becoming the advocate of popular rights and of the reform and improvement of popular institutions . Thus the student co-operates with the man of active life , arid from this co-operation no
individual can justly plead an exemption . He who wilf pot lend his afiri to the work of purification , because , forsoQth , he has not the arm of a Hercules , * h a selfish dastard , wKlq , und ^ r tl > e > cover of weakn , ess , hides cprrufph tion , and deserves , to aufifer the w 6 rst
, » Wip , Smith , E » q , M . P V ' for Noxwicb ' ^ present . ,,.. ; .. * ? * rf ^ XP ° fc ^ »* Wl&i the Lot $ Mayor , present .
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on the Cen&ermrg qfSr ^ Williams ' s&ehth . ^ IS
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1816, page 313, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2453/page/5/
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