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Untitled Article
and with delight , so long as the powers of memory lasted . He then proceeded to mention that , on that day thirty-five years ago , he nr ^ t
took upon himself the duties of that office , which gave him a fixed resideuce in their town ; and brought him into near connexion with many , then present , as fellow-worshipers in the same temple , and with all of them as fellow-townsmen :
—and your presence here , " said he , " encourages me to add , not as fellowtownsmen only , but also as kind friends and well-wishers . " Noticing the long course of his services—though he could not natter himself that they were valuable
or important , in proportion to the length of their continuance ; yet some part of the praise they had so kindly bestowed upon him in the address of his excellent friend , and in the inscription , just read , he did venture to take to himself—the
praise of his fidelity to his trust—the praise of sincere intention and earnest exertion , in the discharge of his official duties . " Yes ! " said he , " looking back through the course of the thirty-five
departed years , I hope I may venture to say , that if I have not laboured so effectually as I could wish , yet that my labours have been sincerely and earnestly directed to the great object of promoting the sacred cause of religious and moral truth V
Speaking next of the changes which had taken place in the state of his own religious society , he remarked , that of all who belonged to it when he first took the charge of it , there were not more than three or four individuals now
remaining ! Of the rest , he said , some had been removed from this place by the changes of life , and many had been removed from this world by the great change of deaih . After pathetically lamenting the loss of almost all those who lirst invited him to Warwick , he went on
to say , that though he had lost many kind and affectionate friends , many steady and zealous supporters , who , if they had been living , would have rejoiced to witness the honours , and to share with him in the happiness of that day—yet that he had abundant cause for gratitude in
iindmg so many other friends rising up in their plajpe , no less kind and affectionate than they ; no less steady and zealous in their support than they , " Of this , " said the speaker , (< could 1 desire a greater or a more decisive proof , than this large assembly , crowding round me , or that noble present lying before me ?"
One of the most pleasing circumstances , he next observed , of their present meeting , was , that so many persons , not members of his congregation , had united with them , in promoting the ob-
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ject of it ; some by hands 6 mely granting the use of the large and commodious room in which they were assembled - others by generously contributing their pecuniary aid ; others by their declared good wishes ; and many , he was proud to see , by their actual presence . This he
dwelt upon , as a testimony to what little merit he might have , most of all gratif ying to him , because it could only procee d from some strong feeling in his favour . He then expressed , very fervently , his thanks to those friends , not of his congregation , for the great favour they had
done him , by their presence in that assembly , and by their concurrence in that gift , which would for ever signalize this day , said he , as one of the happiest days in the " short and simple annals of his
life . " Such kind support , lie should ever remember as an indulgent act of respectful regard to him ; and whilst , most honourable to his own character , he considered it as no less honourable to the candour of theirs .
The times we now live in , the speaker next , with much animation , exclaimed , are glorious times ! times of increasing knowledge , improving morals , and more enlarged , more enlightened , if not more ardent and active , benevolence ! But hi
no respect did he consider the times as more glorious than in this—that the spirit of religious bigotry was every where either dying fast , or quite dead and gone ; and instead of it , is springing up , every where , into full life and active vigour , a noble spirit of religious candour and
charity . All men , m almost every country , of almost every religious sect , are learning-, and learning very fast too , this important lesson—not merely to endure those who are honestly of a different opinion , but to love and respect them , just as much as if they held the same opinions with themselves . This , said
he , is a grand improvement in human character . It tears up , by the root , some of the most painful feelings , some of the most pitiful prejudices , that have ever planted themselves in the human mind . It must increase greatly the pleasures of social intercourse , and contribute much to promote the order , the harmony ,
happiness of social life . Alluding to one of his own publications , the speaker observed , he had already said it in print , and he would say it there again , that in the liberal spirit oi the times , few places have more largely he
participated than the town in w hich had lived so long . This he ascribed , in no small degree , to the happy influence or known liberality of sentiment , and knerjn benevolence of spirit , which a great-divine , ( Dr . Parr , ) whom they had lately
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430 Intelligence . —Presentation of a Piece of Plate to the Rev . } F Field
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1825, page 430, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2538/page/46/
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