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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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of 4 » ese nM ?« voran < ia into business , opening a shop au Battle for drug 3 , t > ookse ) ltHg and stationery . "This bias * t » es& he carried on until he resaoved to London ; though it is doubted whether it were not upon the whole a ^ loss rather tha « a profit . He was not
inattentive to trade , bat early education Bad not given him the . habits of a shopkeeper , and he was novt sufficiently sensible of the value of . money tp be on the alert . to seize small profits , either in buying or in selling ; besides that hjb mind was diverted from the . pursuit
of gain by his religious inquiries and studies , and that his growing popularity in his denomination frequently called him from home . . / In the villages around .. Battle * where be cojmnenced his public labours , he continued to preach , and , many persons in them were attracted by this
means to the congregation at Battle , which was considered as the motherefeurch . Some of these villages are SW&I preaching stations for the Unitalian' rnmister at Battle - > the individuals who compose the small congrefi&tions which assemble in them plions which assemble in them
feting undergone the same changes Af Orpin ion as the original congregation . M 1 K Vidler extended his village-preachfhtg , in 1788 , to Northiam , at the invitation of Mr . Samuel Luff , whose Jiard was the first place of worship ^ ftk ich he occupied In this town . His
v > $ ris were repeated every other week , apd were so- successful that a dissenting dburch was formed which continues t $ ihe present time , its religions history l *» ing much the same as that of the « M * er congregations connected with the pore ? it society at Battle .
Mr . \ idler now saw himself raised hj the blessing of Providence-upon his labours to he the head of a large body of closely-united , affectionate abd zealous Christians . Between him awci his iiock there was a warm and
growing attachment . They were nfosfly , in a religious sense , his children ; they looked up to him with rgspectand confidence , and he watched over their spiritual prosperity with parental assiduity and tenderness . fjis house was ever open to his ftfeuch whom he received with
Christian hospitality . ; and whatever might be his secret uneasiness or apprehension , with regard to his worldly aft ' airs , the smile of cheerfulness was always seen in his habitation . His domestic circle was , « i * largc 4 andt enlivened by
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hU " takiog U > his ^ Um hdMW'V * fg wife ' s mother who V * £ 5 ^ le& b ^ , % er husband iu a totally destitute « # > - d it ion . The old lady wa $ coss ^ tej ^ d as one of the family and treated fc > y tlie head of it with respectful and $$ jjkA affection : if she were sad , be wog | i direct his conversation to her , j&it cease till he had raised h « r spirits ;
and if she expressed her apprehen&tons of being burdeusome ^ he > vo » Id dispel the unpleasant thought by l $ J %£ utf $ and magnifying her services and ^ pointing out the various ways in which God had made her a blessing
to the house . She was reijaov ^ a w «* l the family to London and closed bkf eyes under Mr . Vi 41 er ' & roeC , siM having been a part of his ho » iscboJ 4 for more than twenty years .
Until the year 1791 , ^ ^ W ? r gation at Battle had met in the P ^ C of worship which they occupiea p& tjxeir being first gathered together but it had been for some tifne fopno to be too small for the increasing number of hearers and to * be otherwise
incommodious . In that year , therefore , they took into consideration the propriety of erecting a meeting * bouse more adequate to their wants au $ prospects . Their own pecuniary re ? sources were small , but tbcyr nopes * were lafge . It was the custom in their denomination , the Calvinistie
Baptists , that poor churches sh ou !^ in such cases , draw upon tfoe Ii--berality of the mpre wealthy . ^ o reason appeared why they should ^ iot adopt a measure which had beeo sanctioned by general usage apd haii in cases lesa promising than tfoeir own been crowned with success ^
They confided in the z ^ al theijr pastor , and reckoned that if he should ^; o forth soliciting the a ^ l of . ttldyr brethren , his character aiid talents would procure him ready access to % kyp principal pulpits in the eotmec ^ to ^ and his a , ble discourses and po |> u % manner of preaching wouW ^ j-p tiho hearts of individuals and bespeak j $
hearty welcome to t ^ cir nre-ai ^ s , where they knew h y experience p ^ t his conversation , judicious , ify&Xjcj ^ tfy&y various , cheerful and good hufnoii ^ j , would he effectual to the utmost , ^
of their wiahes . "thu ^ calculating they resolved upon U ^ e propQW $ f ** eesure , and Mr . vidler agreed to imvel t as their representative and 3 # JjfcCil ^ r * o the churches . *' \ To be continued *]
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1817, page 72, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2461/page/8/
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