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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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To one expression alone shall I refer , vfo . " my ingenious manufacture of small votes . " When the subscribers came to the vote in 1826 , we had a majority of 29 to 4 . ( In the church 43 out of 51 adhered to us . ) Now , Sir , of these 29 the collecting-book will prove there was not one who did not subscribe to the
former minister , uor one of whom Alpha , personally or by proxy , had uot cheerfully taken their money up to the previous quarter-day . I defy him to disprove it . At last a green spot appears in this Oasis of misrepresentation— " Calvinism obtained a complete ascendancy . " This is true .
We now come to the trustee ( Alpha ) who held the deeds ; which was the fact . The invariable usage of nearly a century has been for the trustees to sign an order appointing a person to keep them . Alpha is the only individual , for a century , who has kept them in violation of that usage . They were never committed to him by the body , o > r with the consent of the body . He obtained possession of them by accident . At Christmas , 1827 , the oldest trustee desired to see them .
They were brought . It was afterwards resolved , " that the oldest trustee do keep them for the future . " I do not here impugn Alpha ' s motives ; but I state facts which I defy him to disprove . " Subscriptions returned . " I have lately paid the Rev . Mr . Brown his salary ; a note written by him can be produced declining to receive the trifling
contributions of the Unitarians , viz . one twelfth part of what they gave their former minister . They were at the time negociating for another place of worship , and avowed their only object in paying any thiog was to retain possession and a title to vote . They were told their present subscriptions would be returned , yet they sent them . The Rev . Mr ,
Brown would not receive the mouey , and accordingly it wfcs sent back . On the same principle they might have subscribed ( id . per ami ., and complained if it had been refused . Their right to their seats , be it remembered , was not affected by the return of their money . They could only have been forfeited by a
twelvemonth ' s absence , on statedly belonging to another congregation . Mr . C . says he had these facts chiefly from me . Now , Mr . Editor , let any one read his description of my conduct , and judge whether a man in his senses ( especially such a deep intriguing one as he makes me ) is likely to give such a representation of himself . That t told hhn I conceived any
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means sanctified by the end ! That I " covertly advanced , " and at length avowed , purposes which <( at first were not suspected" 1 With all due gravity I deny it . I deny what he says of the majority in paragraph three , I deny the statement about Mr . Thomas ' s
sentiments . To paragraph four , for form ' s sake , I plead guilty . I deny that I ever gave the statement in paragraph five , and the truth of all of it , save the middle clause . None will suspect that he had paragraph six from me . As for paragraph seven , it refers to facts that have occurred si « ce I last saw Mr . Cooke ; yet he had his information chiefly from me 1
Now for a word or two spoken by Mr , C . to the " young man . " . He said on this occasion , " I do not dispute your right to act as you have acted ; I do not question your honesty ; I am aware interest would hare dictated the opposite course : but is it kind in you ? " 1 asked him what he would have said to me had I done as much for Unitariamsm as for
Calvinism . He smiled and replied , ' * Perhaps that would alter the case . " The sense of these words I solemnly depose to . He speaks of me as conscious of guilt . Sir , I repel the insinuation with scorn . As a man , I claim no exemption from imperfection ; but as a Congregationalist , I hare a consciousness that I would not part with for worlds . It has
cost me the loss of friends , a large measure of social comfort , the sacrifice of interest , and the misrepresentation of foes . I retain , however , what is infinitely dearer , the " mens conscia recti . " I would pay the same price again for it , and solemnly declare that i would , in the main , act as I have done , if again placed in similar circumstances .
With this , my correspondence with Mr . Cooke , through the medium of your journal , closes . For the sake of others onty , I regret that this affair is brought before the public . Personally , I fear no inquiry , will shrink from no investigation ; and here , once for all , I fearlessly challenge the Wareham Unitarians , who have been eye-witnesses to my congregational conduct for nearly fourteen years—I challenge them to substantiate Mr . Cooke ' s assertions . To no other
persons will I reply , nor even to them , if they write anonymously . I will meet them front to front , if they choose , before the next Unitarian Association in Dorsetshire , and my * ' enemies themselves being judges . " All I demand is , " a clear stage and no favour . " 1 ain accused . 1 am innocent . I have a
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Miscellaneous Correspondence . 347
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1829, page 347, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2572/page/51/
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