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find in his city and canton : and / tahe upon me to tell him that the poor-boxes at St . Peter ' s and the
other churches have not been omitted in these acts of passing" charity . But , if any one ever imagined that money has been , in any w ^ y whatsoever , employed to win proselytes , that person may assure himself that he has fallen into one of the grossest delusions that could occur to a human mind . The absurd calumny was , however , w ^ jth many other stories equally within the bounds of reason and truth , circulated at Geneva six years ago . In the Address which I have quoted , it € t
is noticed thus : We are accused of having formed our religious assemblies from the base thirst of gain , and of having employed both this method and that of compulsion to draw persons among us . But God is our witness , that no such motive has led us to our union as a Church , and that it is altogether untrue that we are paid ; that we have never employed this method , nor that of compulsion , nor any thing of the kind , to draw aside any person ; and that the poor among- us receive no other aid than that ( small indeed it is ) which our own resources enable us to
give them . Let those who , with such assurance , thus reproach us , bring forward one single fact to confirm their accusation , and we will willingly submit to condemnation . It is true , that our supreme desire is to make disciples to our Divine Master : but we know that he will have none but
free and sincere disciples , and that all Lis are a willing people ( un peuple de fi ancke volontk ) . " Such is my reply to the loose and general charge : but , as to the taunt upon M . Malan , I must profess my conviction that , if M . C . had taken
any fair pains to become acquainted with the facts , he must have quenched the last spark of honour and generosity in his breast , before he could bring himself to advance it . He and Ins confederates did all in their power to plunge that good man with his
wife and numerous young" family into the deepest penury , into absolute destitution : and they left melancholy reason for the inference that , had the Caivinian ( not Calvinistic ) argument of the dungeon and the fagot been within their power , Servetus would
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not have been the last martyr at Ger neva . At this critical moment , a few friends , chiefly English and Wurtembergers , stepped forwards ; and , partly by a loan and partly by a respectful present in which the givers felt
themselves the most obliged , they saved this oppressed and faithful servant of Christ from sinking into the extremity of distress . On him , in the eye of reason and religion , this circumstance reflects nothing but honour : but , shame on M . Chenevifere for
compelling the disclosure ! From that time , M . Malan has laboured to support himself and his large family by taking pupils , seldom more than seven or eight ; for the conduct of whose education , his own attainments
eminently qualify him . When finally ejected from the pulpits of the Establishment , he nobly determined to pursue his ministry in whatever path should be open to him . He fitted up a small building in his garden for the celebration of public worship . But this was insufficient to receive his
congregation . In 1820 , having obtained the permission of the Government , he erected , on the same ground of his own , without the walls , a meetinghouse which would contain about 900 persons , and in which I am told that he has usually 500 or 600 fellowworshipers . Not to give the smallest avoidable occasion to those who so
eagerly sought offence , he modestly called it a house of prayer . The cost of the building was 21 , 365 French francs , ( about ^ 850 , ) of which . 8445 was subscribed in England , 4841 in Scotland , 1176 in Wurtemberg , 680
in Paris , 946 in Holland , some smaller sums in Ireland and in Russia , 1640 from different parts of Switzerland , and the remaining 3495 was from Geneva . Knowing the general poverty of his hearers , I have little doubt that the latter sum was , in ho
considerable degree , from M . Malan ' s own hard-earned resources . In this place of worship , notwithstanding the efforts of the clergy to get it shut up by the supreme authority , he continues to conduct religious service . His hearers are chiefly very poor ; and if they had the ability , the existence of an exclusive State-Church has
prevented their acquiring the notion and habit of supporting a minister by voluntary subscriptions . With health
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on the late Theological Controversies at Gfneva . 407
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1824, page 407, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2526/page/23/
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