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profession of adherence to our opinions , or by the spread of those just principles and the increase of those generous sentiments which we deem far more important than any sectarian peculiarities , and which we believe may be held in union with various forms of doctrine , whether one or the other or all of these
circumstances be regarded , we have occasion for gratitude and rejoicing . Chauges iu opinion are silently effected , aud will be revealed only in their completion . In the history of religion it will appear , that in certain periods of
progress more may be attributed to the gradual decline of error , a decline so gentle that even the minds in which it is going on are unconscious of it , than to the direct inculcation of truth . Men become the recipients of good by ceasing to hold that which is evil . It is therefore with satisfaction that the Committee notice the new shapes assumed by the spirit of religious error , since they prove
to us , that those who have been its admirers begin to understand its character . The features of Calvinism have been so softened and its oracles so interpreted within a short time , that he who first proclaimed its instructions , could he have seen this day , would have dismissed the hope of propagating a system of faith by creeds and denunciations . Orthodoxy , if it mean the popular religion , is , as it appears in different
places , strangely inconsistent with itself ; and if it mean the truth , Christians seem to be inquiring in themselves , whether it may not be the common property of many sects , no one of which has a right to claim its exclusive possession . We rejoice in these signs of the times . They augur , they-contaiu good . They indicate the action of causes that will eventually produce the establishment of those purposes for which we are associated .
Still it is painful to witness the efforts made to hinder the reformation that we desire to see perfected . Tlliberality and religious sectarianism are struggling to obtain the ascendancy , and in the prosecution of their ends weigh with little discrimination the means they adopt . We have confidence , in the good sense , the just feeling , and the free spirit of
the people . We never have believed that these barriers could be prostrated by the assaults or the artifices of men , who presume to trample on the rights of human conscience , and to remodel the laws of Christian charity . We have little reason now for fear of such success , when talent , industry , zeal , and wealth , have been called into service , and anathemas and persuasions , things sacred
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and things profane , argument and misrepresentation , personal , abuse and social agency , have been summoned to lend their assistance , and yet , so far as the overthrow of Unitarian ism , or the diminution of its resources , either spiritual or secular , or the character of its friends is concerned , all have teen used in vain . The name Unitarian was never held in
higher esteem than now ; the body of Christians so designated never , in this country , deserved more regard ; while the faith which they embrace was never before in such a state of effectual dissemination . It has been shewn to be incapable of destruction . Like the oak , it grows alike by the sunshine and the storm . In the days of peace and near the still waters it flourishes , while controversy but exhibits and increases its strength .
The Committee , as they deprecate , cannot forbear to call the attention of the members of this Association to the manner in which religious sects have attempted to thwart or embarrass each other . Believing that discussion and effort are necessary to the triumph of truth , and that every Christian should be earnest in defence of the gospel
which he has received through the ministry of the Scriptures , they are unwilling that these instruments should be perverted . Candour , justice , and meekness , are virtues that should be sacrificed on no altar , and , least of all , on the altar of religious truth . If there is any sin against which the community may be implored , nay , required , to utter the
voice of indignant rebuke , it is when , under the pretence of a zeal kindled by Christian faith , kindness and decorum are violated , individual character is assailed , domestic peace broken , and the bonds of social harmony are dissolved . We insist on an obedience to the apostle ' s precept , that " the truth be spoken in love .
If the Committee thought it , necessary to designate particular circumstances that marked the spread of Uuitariamsm , they might notice the prosperous state of several new societies . In Concord and Dover , N . H ., and in Providence , R . I ,, ministers have been ordained within the
last year , under circumstances that promised fruit to their labours , and thus far experience has realized niore than was promised . The churches in New York are augmenting their numbers ; that in Philadelphia has been blessed with remarkable enlargement of its resources . In Baltimore and Charleston the brethren continue steadfast in their purpose to sustain their Master ' s cause . The con-
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742 Intelligence . — American Unitarian Association .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1829, page 742, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2577/page/70/
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