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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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larly ia the Hebrew , containing equal Biblical knowledge without such a perpetual tax on letters and particles ia favour of antMcriptural doctrines . H .
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Bridport , Sir , JprilS , 1820 . " fT ^ O admonish one another , " is an JL apostolic precept to professing Christians , and if this be done in the spirit of meekness and friendship , it needs no apology . Upon this principle I rely on the candour of my brethren in the ministry , ( for whom none
can entertain greater respect or more affectionate regard than the present writer , ) not to take offence at the following observations . I have often attended meetings of ministers , and the public religious services usual on these occasions- Sometimes those who were
appointed to officiate , have been prevented by unavoidable circumstances from joining their brethren . In cases of this kind , application has been , of course , made to some of the members of the Association , or other ministers
present , to take the parts which had been assigned to the absentees . Thi $ I have frequently noticed to be declined by one and another with the excuse , " As I had no expectation of being applied to on this occasion , I am not prepared /*
An anecdote , which I shall take the liberty to relate , will administer a ' more effectual reproof for excuses of this kind , than the most forcible arguments or serious remonstrances . At a stated half-yearly assembly of ministers , chiefly of the Presbyterian
denomination in the West of England , upwards of thirty years ago , the time for commencing the service was nearly come , but the appointed preacher did not make his appearance . What was to
be done ? Each minister present was asked if he had a sermon with him , suitable to the occasioA , but replied in the negative * A well-meaning orthodox tradesman of the place , who > by "is general attendance at the
Association , was well known to most of the ministers , observing that there was some subject of anxious consultation ** n * ongthem , inquired the cause . He was told , that the preacher was not come " Weil I then one of you , ^ entlenfiea , must supply his place /' vol
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cc we would , but none of us * $ * prepared . " Upon this , repl y * lifting up his : hands and eyes he exclaimed , * ' Surely it may be said of you , what
the prophet Isaiah said of the watch * men of his days , they are aH dumb dogs , they cannot hark . " This reproof was not , indeed , couched in the polite style of my Lord Chesterfield , but those to whom it' was directed had too much good sense to be offended at it . This ebullition of
honest zeal , and the unexpected mattjer of the rebuke , with the solemn manner in which it was given , jtended to difihturb their gravity , and certainly excited feelings very different from those
of resentment . I hope they s ^ lso learned from it a useful lesson . If , indeed , it produced the same effect on them , as on the present writer , when he was told of this anecdote , it led them to a resolution never more to be
liable to such a charge . On these public occasions , each minister present should be both prepared and willing * to engage in a duty , which he might not previously have expected ,
but which peculiar circumstances may render it expedient for hixn to perform . For everjr good word and work , let this be his motto , Nunquam non p&-ratus . T . HOWE .
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Sir , Clapham . SOME late disputes in the Repository about the titles and principles of certain Unitarian societies , induce me to offer you the few following remarks . I know they are not such as will agree with the sentiments of most
of your readers , nor with those of any other religious party : yet I propose them as not only true and just , but as of capital importance ; and I shall be satisfied , if I gain from a few of your readers a more particular attention than they may have paid them before * . I will be very brief in my statement . What ground or standard of union may best be adopted , by tl } os , e who , conscientiously disapproving , the established and existing religious , communions , wish to form together a nejv on e * more congenial to their own views of truth and habits of mind ? FSjst , shall it be : an exyresw > u o £ tfrfrt interpretation of Scripture in which they
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Plat ~/ term qfa Chrhtian Church . 289
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. xv . 2 o
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1820, page 281, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2488/page/25/
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