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peuter , and the other ministers present /* The Rev . Mr . Fox spoke nearly as follows : " I have been sitting , Sir , at this table , not only without any intention to take any part in the business of this evening , but with a fixed purpose not to do so ; not from any feeling of
indifference to the person or cause which has called us together , but because my state of health , and the fatigue which 1 have had occasion this day to undergo , leave me little ability for so doing . The manner , however , in which you , Sir , have introduced , and this company received , the mention of my name , has left me no option . ( sfppfause ) Most certainly
indifference either towards the person or the cause can find no place in my heart ; for what could more deeply interest me , and I presume all those who are now here , than an opportunity of paying this well -merited tribute of respect to a , man wlio , in bis own country , has in the best nianuer fought one of the best of battles in one of the "best of causes ? ( Cheers . )
And who , by argument the most clear , and eloquence the most over-powering , has defended the cause of religious liberty at a time when principles were opposed to principles in the most naked , opeir , aud uncompromising manner . ( Cheers . ) When a contest was arrayed forth to ascertain whether men were allowed to form and express their own
opinions , and act as independent members of the Christian Church , or whether they were to be placed under the yoke , crushed into submission , and trampled upon by a spirit so intolerant and fierce that , if utterly unchecked , we might almost expect that it would revive all the worst scenes that have taken place
in that unhappy country , and conduct by easy gradations from penalties and excommunications , once more to the pitch cap , the triangle , and the scaffold . ( Applause ) I therefore feel grateful , in common with you all , to a man who so well , so ably , and so admirably resisted this state of things on an occasion which embraced the dearest of causes — for
what can be more dear to us than the defence of Religious Liberty , which carries with it the defence of Civil Liberty , and the defence of all on earth that is conducive to human happiness ? ( Applause . ) I trust that the influence of this meeting on his mind , and on yours also , will be that of encouraging increased devotion to that cause with
which our best interests , and the best interests of all mankind , are bouud up . ( Applause ) In supporting this , we shall
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be led to exercise our minds vigorously on important subjects , teaching ourselves to rise into the true dignity of human beings , and be attentive , not only to our rights , but our duties , by asserting the one and discharging the other — In the same proportion that we obtain or extend Religious Liberty , do we advance the safety , prosperity , and happiness of our country ; and I , therefore , trust , that we shall be devoted to it in all its ramifications . —
Sir , we must assert these principles , not only for ourselves , but for others , however they may differ from us , either minutely or remotely , in their religious creeds . We have gained the Repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts , but we still have to demand , in the face of the Legislature and the country , that freedom for others also . ( Cheers ) We , Dissenters—we , Unitarians , did we not shew ourselves most earnest and
determined as to that particular case into which the general question of Religious Liberty may now be considered as resolving itself ; did we not identify ourselves with the cause of Catholic Emancipation ( loud cheers ); did we not enter heart and soul into the great attempt
that is now making to strike the final blow at bigotry and intolerance , we should shew ourselves the most selfish , the most despicable , the most vile , and the most degraded beings that ever crawled on the face of the earth . ( Great Cheering ) In our own success , which we have been so fortunate as to obtain , and in their conflict which they still have to maintain , and in which we must summon every energy to co-operate with tliem , we still have the same star to guide us ; we are still sailing in the
same vessel ; and whether we bear our course triumphantly , or , on the contrary , are battered or driven about , and seemingly overpowered , our duty will still be the same ; we shall still have to see that , in-the hour of victory , our flag be not sullied by exclusiveness or selfishness ; and in that of defeat , if defeat must unhappily be again experienced , we must copy that brave American captain , of whom his monument iecords , that after his masts were gone overboard , his cannon disabled , and himself mortally wounded , he exclaimed with his expiring breath , * Don't give up the ship . ' ( Great Cheering . ) Let us then hold on ; every thing seems to augur an ultimate triumph ; but whether it be gained or not , still our duty is plain . ( Hear , hear ) The wise man says , * There is a time to be silent , and a time to speak . ' On this
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146 Intelligence . —Dm ' rier to the Rev . H . Montgomery .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1829, page 146, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2569/page/74/
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