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Untitled Article
tic& }^ The Report furnishes , m the aqcount it gives of lh < 2 labours an $ sildte ^ oFMn Wri ght at Alnwick , a striking teGommendation of the suggestions we have maae . We urge this raode of exertion on all who have ipfltienc ^ er eind wish to use it fot the good of th # p fellow-men . You will
fiiitil ministers in general glad to fell in with your views , and thankful for yo \* T co-operation . Their inertness in thei ? sacred calling is not of their own chopsing , but forced on them by circumstances ; and iiot without many a bitter pang , and many a painful renunciation of youthful and holy purpose ? , have they tlius been brought to rest from their labours . Gladly would fliejr extend t | ie sphere of their exertion and injluence to say nothing of augmenting their means of subsistence . Gladly would they sink the school-r rnjasfer or the petty farmer in the devoted minister of Christ . Gladly would they realize the dreams of their young enthusiasm in turning Baeii to truth s to 6 fqd and duty , and living each in the midst of a numerous and zcialous flcfclft < ¦
The iqstitutjfons that exist amongst us for the promotion of the great ^ ptirposeS ^ religion are few in number , and languishing for the most part in-tJ ^ prafiqn . The Book and Tract Societies have in several instances reSlst ^ red . a decreasing circulation . The Fellowship Funds enrol but a mittute pbrtiop of the body in their lists of subscribers , and « erve too often sofeljr ] as ' an apology for declining to co-operate in any work bf religious
beneMence . In them , literally and unhappily , the rich and the poor meet ^ to ^ tnfer ? ujroii . a footing of equality , but it is an equality , not of . rights but of ' tftfti ^ , trie possessor of one and the possessor of fifty talents subscribing the s ^ tibei Oth er institutions there are which , in respect of moral energy andf usefulness , are as though they were not . The members meet together at statfed seasons , hear a sermon , read the minutes of the last meeting * ( whicn , occupies no long time , } eat a dinner , and retire home . Quarter by ;
quarter , and year by year , the same scene is re-enacted , varied onlyl > y a qiiostfon being sothetimes mooted if a station for missionary exertions tttight not l > e found . We have heard , indeed , of plaps , being in embryo in somfe parts of the country to convert dumb shows and good fare into-something havirig life , and vigour , and usefulness , and we have heard also of tb ^ e im p&-ditnents encountered , the tardiness of their progress and the doubtful signs betvpee ' n life and death , which they still exhibit . Even thie British andj Foreign Unitarian Association itself , though so catholic in its objects , so judicious in its exertions , and inheriting from its predecessor , the Fund 3 so :
honourable and well-merited a reputation , has by no means met with the general and hearty co-operation that it deserves . Yet its Conductors are men of character , tried men , men who have borne the heat and burden of the day , who have not shrunk in the hour of trial , nor spared health or strength in their effprts for the common cause . Suqh men have earned our confidence and merit our support , and he must have a timid heart or a fertile imagination who sees in their delegated influence the elements of future domination .
But what in this part of our subject we most regret is , that ; the work , for which tnese observations are intended is allowed to remain in difficulties , and to linger out a comparatively feeble existence . The discontinuance of the depository cannot be thought of without sorro w by every well-wisher to the interests of truth , and yet ,, unless its sale be extended so as to enable it to command and remunerate the services of able writers * this is . a consummation which is more within the limits of probability than ; many may imagine . On this important point thp Report , rerAar ^ s , Your Committee
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7 J 5 & Institutions for the Spread $ f VnU ^ fianhpt .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1829, page 766, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2578/page/22/
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