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its institution , the Committee early directed their endeavours to effect the introduction of Unitarianism into the principal towns in the north of Devon . From correspondence , both personal and written , with individuals in those parts , there
appears good reason to believe that a respectable Unitarian missionary would there be likely to meet with a favourable hearing . The Committee had actually voted a certain portion of the funds of the Society to be appropriated to this purpose , and had engaged , for six months , the services of a gentleman well known
to the Unitarian public as an efficient and successful missionary . But , unfortunately , ( owing to circumstances which , as they have no connexion with the business of the Society , it will not be necessary or proper to mention here , ) the gentleman alluded to felt himself obliged
to decline the engagement . The Committee regret that , since this disappointment of their sanguine hopes , they have not yet been able to find a person at once willing and competent to undertake this important work . The design , however , is on no account to be abandoned , and their successors , the Committee for the
next year , may pursue the object with a well-grounded hope of success . Soon after the formation of this Society , Mr . Martin , who was already engaged in missionary labours in Cornwall , came entirely under the direction of the Committee . This arrangement was made at the request of Mr . Wright , to whom
the superintendence of Mr . Martin ' s mission had been entrusted by the Committee of the Unitarian Fund ;—and the expenses arising from Mr . Martin ' s labours during the year , have been defrayed by a grant of , £ 20 from the Unitarian Fund , by an equal giant from the Bristol Fellowship Fund , and by the Funds of this Society .
In the account which Mr . Martin has delivered to the Committee of the result of his labours , he says , <« When I returned to Flushing , in March , 1824 , I found the society there gomg on well , as , through the exertions of Mr . Odgers and Mr . Stuart , worship
had been regularly conducted , twice on Sundays , and once in the week . On my arrival 1 immediately set about forming the people into a church , in order to promote a bond of union . I also set on foot a tract system , on the plan of the
Methodists , by lending them about from house to house . Our congregation here is numerous , considering the smallncss of the population , and the prospect is ve ry piling . Many persons , once much prejudiced against us , now regularly at-
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tend * We have service three " . -times- - . .. oft Sundays , a sermon on Tuesday eveningsy and a- meeting for prayer and religious conversation on Thursdays . Every three months we celebrate the Lord ' s Supper . In Flushing , since April last , i have preached 130 times .
Penryn . " this place we hare succeeded in obtaining a small place originally fitted " up as a chapel hy the Union Methodists ^ and it was opened for Unitarian worship , September 12 , 1824 . In addition to the morning and afternoon services of that day , Mr . Philp , of Falmouth , preacbed
in the evening , when numbers went away unable to gain admittance . Since then the congregations have kept up , and notwithstanding many discouraging circumstances , we have prospered in this place , and still continue to prosper . Had we a more commodious place of meeting , we should go on better , as the place we have is small and obscure . We have only
26 enclosed sittings , and these are all taken . We have lately established a Fellowship Fund here , and the state of- things is encouraging . We have service on Sunday afternoons and evenings , and on Wednesday evenings , and we celebrate the Lord ' s Supper every three months-A tract system has also been set on foot in this place . At Penryn I have preached 64 times .
*> Redruth . " Having obtained the use of the markethouse , I have visited this place frequently during the last summer , and latterl y about
once a fortnight . Sometimes after morning service at Flushing or Penryn , I have preached on Sunday afternoons at Redruth , and returned to either of the above places for service in the evening . At such times there has been manifested a
great readiness to hear , and frequently the place has been crowded . Some here have been brought , I trust , clearly to see the truth , several of whom have lately gone on a mining expedition to Mexico , and we have severely felt their loss ; but we trust that they are gone to sow the
seeds of Unitarianism in that interesting country . Could regular worship be carried on at Redruth , a society might soon be established here , and 1 am not without hopes of this being shortly the case . We are at present seeking ' to obtain a room to be fitted up as a small chapel . The population is very large , and the sway of Methodism very great .
Stilly Islands . " Thinking a short voyage to the . se islands might improve my health , which haj * bet n far from good , and finding a vessel ready to sail from Penzance , ( went in it i
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244 ; Intelligence . —Detfon and Cornwall Unitarian Missionary Society .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1825, page 244, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2535/page/52/
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