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address , it is purely out of regard to the interest of < Jhrist and the gospel ; and the great value and affection I have for you , and therefore hope you will pardon my freedom .
** I hear with concern from persons of undoubted credit , that you are wavering , if not quite gone off from some of the peculiar and important doctrines of Christianity , particularly
the proper Deity of Christ and his equality with the Father . I say , wavering , for I still hope that you are not so far gone as to be irreclaimable , or unwilling of a reconsideration .
" When I first entered upon the ministry , my lot was providentially cast among this people , with whom I have now continued above fifty yeaors . 1 found some among those Who attended at our meeting who
denied tiie doctrines of the Trinity arid the Deity of Christ . Their sentiments they imbibed from an ejected minister * in the neighbourhood , a professed SociniaB * and a gentleman of considerable parts , learning and sobriety , under whose care and
instructions they had been for some years , but he had then wholly laid aside tbe ministry , being deprived in a great measure of his hearing , which I suppose was the occasion of some of them attending at our place of worship .
• ' Coming immediately from the academy , and not having studied the controversy , I was so greatly dis * couraged on that account , and the shattered condition I found the church
and congregation hi , that I soon determined to return to my native country ; but being over-persuaded to make triaJ for a time , I at last settled ajoaong tlveiaa , and with great solicitude and seriousness set myself assiduously and impartially to inquire
iato and study the controversy , not without ! mportuuate prayer to God that Jbe would lead me into the knowledge . pf the truth 39 ft is in Jesus , by hie spirit , without whose gracious initaeoces 1 knew all my endeavours would nothing avail .
* Mr . C . mentiotw not the name of M&ncungy but he doubtless referred to him . Jj ffv * JML lived In the neighbourhood of Walpote ^ and was contemporary with Mr . C at least seven or eight years . Mr . C . toyftut-ihereprfdr to Augnftst , 1704 , and Mr / M . ' *?» £ & mrtttry , 1711 . '
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" I not only examined the Scrip * ture , but read authors on both sides the question ; had Mr . Etnlyn ' tracts put into my hands , and those of other Unitarians ; had frequent con * ferences with some of them that were
with whom I had a great intimacy , who , when I argued in their favour the plausible profession they made of religion , replied ( he being acquainted with them ) that what good was in them they received before they imbibed those notions , which in themselves , he said , had no tendency that
most strenuous for their opinions , and very zealous and industrious to propagate them . I consulted several divines , among others Mr . ( afterwards Dr . ) Calamy , of London , and the Rev . Mr . Parkharst f in the . neighbourhood , an eminently pious divine of the Church of England ,
way . ** The result of my inquiry was a confirmation of my faith in the ferementioned doctrines ( lor which X hope I shall eternally bless God ); and it pleased God to make my ministry
instrumental to bring off some from the Socinian scheme , who joiaed with our church , and declared ** they never had any peace and comforjt in their former sentiments . " Otiaers indeed there were that retained tfeeir
notions to their dying day , but 1 £ pleased God tiiey died with then * , and spread no further . " I have given you this long narrative , Sir , to acquaint you ( am # i ) g othef things ) how my faith wfes ehafcen , as I suppose , yours may be *
that I may offer to your serious consideration a few things that were of use to me , and which I hope , with the blessing of God * may be of some . service to you in settling you in that , which I apprehend to be tbe truth .
" Though the doctrine of the Trinity is so nearly connected with tbe proper Deity of Christ , that one cannot be believed without believing the other , yet I shall , in what I have to < tfft * r * confine myself to the . latter . " " JNL B , I know the Umtariaw ( ap
f Of Yoxforld . At my Arsl cotahjg-to Ffiunlitrghttin ^ he was' spek * fa of fail 4 rifate of h 4 g-h c ^ ttim ^ ottotion by iMita e of wy aged friend * , tttid some single eermbafe printed byjhta fwpm pwt iato v ^ f faa ^ di :
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Some Account affttr . William Manning . 379
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1817, page 379, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2466/page/3/
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