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Untitled Article
kind it is well fpr us to feel that we do not so . much aim to make converts tOi Our peculiarities , as * * to ¦ f bear our p $£ t ; in & ; way which our consciences approve , in the common exertions of the whole Christian body ; in opposing the powers of darkness ^ and
extending the kingdom of light . Much of this is to be done at home , but the great battle 4 is abroad . On us the light has arisen , and we enjoy its beams ; but how melancholy , how afflicting is that darkness which still overshadows t > y far the larger part of our fellow-men I In these Christian
lands * if any one is destitute of the blessings which true religion imparts , it must in great measure be the result of his own neglect and wickedness ; but throughout the wide dominions of Heathenism , the belief of cruel and debasing superstitions is the lot to which man is born . There is no
escape ; no ray of light has penetrated the gloom , no instructor is at hand , no gospel is read or heard of ; the strongest minds are led captive , human weakness struggles with a daemon that is too strong for him , and his feeble resistance ends in a subjection final and hopeless . These superstitions are
not merely the gloomy reveries of the enthusiast ; their dreadful activity is every where displayed in crushing the emotions of humanity , and rending asunder the dearest , ties of nature ; so that we can hardly regard the condition of those who are their victims , without judging that it were better for them not to have been born . The dark
picture of the poet is fully realized : Humana ante oeulos foede cum vita jaceret In terris , oppressa gravi sub religione ; Quce caput & cosli regionibus ostendebat , Horribili super aspectu mortalibus
irv-. Does Christian philanthropy weep over thi 3 picture ? Nay , let her do more than weep , let her rouse herself to action 1 It is our happy lot to live id a day when these great subjects
receive the attention which they deserve . The Christian world is now awake , 5 they are no longer passive spectator ^ of tftjis sad state of things $ t& ^ tr messengers are already in every part of the earth , manfully contending with the inveterate evil Great am
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the exertions , and jg&MMtfMl *; sj ^ cess , as those who wilt be at $ he trouble to inform themselves up £$ & subject will readily see * That tfce success ivfj ^ at no very distant period , )> e glorious and universal , both the sigas of the
times and the assuraiaces of prophecy give us great reason to believe . Let me , then , with the freedom and affection of a Christian brother , remonstrate . Shall net Unitarian Christians take any part in the labour , the glory , the everlasting reward of these
exertions ? I trust in God there shall not long be occasion ,, for such a remonstrance . I hope that the Unitarian Fund , encouraged and supported by the whole Unitarian body , will very speedily make a beginning in this truly good and generous work . Some fields of labour there are which do in a most
especial manner belong to them : the Mohammedans , the Jews , the Indian Refora < ie * rs , seem reserved jfor tt $ r work . The missionary accounts abound with the objections of these half-enlightened classes to the strange doctrine of the Trinity , What an opening has William Roberts made for us near
Madras ! How reasonably may we hope for coadjutors in the disciples of Rammohun Roy ! What attention would our primitive and sublimely simple doctrine be likely to gain from the inquiring philosophers of Shiraz I How tempting a field for exertion is Greece and Turkey , and the yet unattempted field of Aby&sinia !
Now as to the means of enabling the Unitarian Fund to undertake foreign missions , I would make one simple proposal which would , I think , be fully equal to the end . Let every
'Unitarian congregation form , QT nt least connect itself with , a Fellowship Fund ; and let it be a principle with every Fellowship Fund to remit a regular proportion of Us receipts , at least one-third 9 to the Unitarian Fund
in London * in consideration of Us effitemwe operations in the common causev This would be » grand movement , and give union and strength to the whole body . On the Other hand , that
as a minor matter , it is suggested much interest may be gained for ft society by punctuality in transmitting the printed reports and lists of mv + scribers to the * members- J hw& observed some failure ia this jtesfmU but I go no farther than to drdplw ^
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£ 16 Foreign Branch of the Unitarian JFttnd .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1821, page 216, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2499/page/24/
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