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Gloucester , Sir , June 20 , 1820 . PERM IT me to make your admired work the vehicle of information to such of the ministers and other gentlemen of different societies , as have applied for assistance from the Fellowship Fund lately instituted by the Unitarian Christians in this city , It would have afforded me very lively and
sincere pleasure to have been able to answer their several applications in a manner perfectly satisfactory to them $ but our means are unfortunatel y exceeded by our necessities , ana we should be doing an act of injustice to ourselves by giving to others what we stand in absolute need of at home .
Our place of worshi p is nn ancient pile , and requires frequent repair . Two new large windows haite been just put in on either side of the pulpit , the frames of the old ones having become so much decayed , a $ to be m danger of letting the glass slip out by K * own
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weight . The roof wants a new covering , which it is designed to have in the course of the summer , heavy rain hav ing for some time beaten through it and damaged the ceiling , as well as other parts of the interior structure
We should be very happy if we had supplies sufficient to erect a new room for the children of the Sunday-School , our present Vestry being very confined , and considerable confusion occasionally taking place for want of more space . Some or our friends , too , have wished
to see the brick-wall , which fronts the street , replaced with a new one of stone , with a neat arch over the entrance into the court , bearing the insciption , ** Unitarian Chapel , " or " The Chapel for the sole worship of the Eternal Father . " On these
accounts we have really much more reason to beg or borrow than to give or lend , at least at present , but I trust we shall not be backward to do the latter when our wants are supplied
and our finances improved . A spirit ( I hope I may truly call it so ) of generous independence precludes our having recourse to the former , and inclines us to do all we can , though it be but little , for ourselves .
I would beg leave to throw out a hint to those whom it may concern , in the form of asking , whether it would not be good policy to purchase now and then a few shares or tickets in the State Lottery , and if at any time a prize of a hundred or two be gained , to lay the money out in the relief of such as want help . Should ten or twenty
thousand crown the adventure , what extensive good might be done by it ! Another question I would ask , Whether it would not be a commendable speculation , if some one or more of tne learned U Unitarian bodv would comthe learned nitarian bodwould
comy pose a popular work , lively , interesting and strictly moral , and let the Unitarian Fund , incurring the expense of printing , have at their disposal all the profits that might arise from it . With the same view , ingenious gentlemen might endeavour to invent some
curious and useful improvement in art or science , the advantages of which should be assigned to the Fund , upon condition of their indemnifying the inventor from all expenses incurred , Once more , let me suggest the eligibility of purchasing a few shores in a canal , a tram road , &e ., which might he « old
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3 ^ 2 Gloucester Congregation and Fellowship Fund .
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sign his name to the answers , and ev ^ ry ans we r mus t be satisfactory to the Bishop . If there be a failure in any of these points , his Lordship warns the candidates that "it may tend to their exclusion from the sacred off ice / 9
The party above-named have already denounced this dangerous innovation , designed , they say , to introduce a new system of faith , and they' call upon the clergy in general to come forward and protest against it . The following questions ( Q . 3 ahd 4 , of Ch . ii . ) will shew one of the grounds of this alarm :
— €€ Has not the frequent repetition of the doctrine ( of man ' s total corruption ) a tendency to destroy all sense of virtue and moral goodness V " Is it possible that a doctrine which tends to destroy all sense of virtue , or moral goodness , should be a doctrine which comes from God V *
The " Christian Guardian , " a monthly publication which is the organ of tne complaining party , says that " if bishops make new articles for candidates , they make a new church ; " that " if the Ghurch stand , she must stand as she is , or not at
all , " and that " if the bishops take away the Church , the country will Soon take away the bishops , and epis ~ copacy and monarchy will be over * thrown together . * ¦ * - _
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1820, page 392, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2490/page/12/
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