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life : when T went to service , instead of a scanty audience , I found it so crowded that I was obliged to stand during the whole time : they were all united too in the worship of the one God : they have a creed indeed , but it is the Apostles '—the most harmless one , and not one sentiment did I hear which did not find a
response in my heart . It has been said in the course of the evening , that France is more in a condition to give us aid than we her . I cannot concur in that sentiment ; and I must say , that I was disappointed that theTC was no mention in the Report of the establishment in Paris , not of a mere Reformed chapel , but of one distinctly Unitarian . Caution as to what we undertake abroad has b £ en
recommended . In that I entirely agree , and I am sure that I may also say that it eutirely concurs with the views of the Committee . With respect to France , it is true that a great deal of infidelity prevails there , but a , t the same time there is a spirit of calmness , and we see none of that bigotry which is here generated by an extensive church establishment . In
fact , there is no one thing which the Continentaiists a , re less able to comprehend than that spirit of bigotry which is generated among us by the number of sects that exist . In France how many sects are there ? None but the Catholic church ( which cannot now be called national , but appears to be dominant merely because the Royal Family is of that
persuasion ) and the € glise Reformde , or Protestant churcb , with a single division of this latter . These are the only sects that exist there , and it is a happy condition of things that it is so , because the mind , when it h ^ ars of a new sect , does not revolt from it as in England , where the mischief of so ma . ny is known . Let a man here speafe out , and proclaim
himself a Unitarian , and he is stared at ; people start from him as a being with which they must not associate . But I am able to bear testimony that in France I have never met with any of that abominable spirit which is so prevalent here . I may here mention , another circumstance which has come to my knowledge . It is the opinion of many in France that
if Napoleon had sat on the throne eight or ten years longer , Protestantism would have become the religion of the country . I do not intend to enter into the question of whether this would really have been the case ; it is enough for me to refer with joy to the spirit in which the thing was mentioned to me , and the expression which beamed on the faces of those who told me of it . And t ^ veti with re-
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gard to Italy , however dark it may appear as a whole , being the very throne , as it were , of Popery , even there are to be found glorious embers , which one day may burst forth into a brilliant flame and make that country the i ust rum en l of sending forth the light of religion to the whole world , as in former days was the case as to literature and the arts- I
rejoice at these things , not so much in reference to the progress of our own particular doctrines , but because they shew that there is a spirit at work by which truth must finally be ascertained and promoted . Rev . Dr . Rees . It will perhaps be thought arrogance in me when I announce that I have risen to advert to
what my resolution declares to be " the least encouraging and the most embarrassing" topic connected with our affairs for the year . It certainly cannot be denied that we have met with a great , disappointment at Calcutta . I agree with the gentleman who has preceded me , that we ought to give our first attention to home objects ; and we know from the Committee that their first and principal attention has always been directed thither- But the constitution of this
Association is essentially a British and Foreign Association , and foreign objects may be legitimately pursued by it to such an extent as may seem right . Besides which , I wish to bring the fact to your recollection , that the funds for the Calcutta object were derived , in a very small degree , from this Association ; they were raised for that specific object , and
only placed in our hands as trustees ; and these funds , with the exception of a small portion , are still in existence ready to be applied either to the object originally contemplated , or , if that be not practicable , to be recalled and applied in any other way that may seem best to the subscribers . But although the Committee have been disappointed ,
they do not despair . I will confess , that on this question I always entertained a certain degree of heresy ; and my heresy was this . At an early period , indeed sooner than the Committee , I had misgivings with respect to the proceedings of Mr . Adam . I do not mean to cast any reflections on that gentleman , but from his letters I was induced to think that he
would not embark in that way which the Committee were at first led to expect . But though Mr . Adam has resigned his office , 1 cannot doubt but that we shall find some person of equal zeal and knowledge ready to undertake it . It is certainly an object of high importance ,
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486 Intelligence ,+ ~ Unitarian Association
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1830, page 486, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2586/page/54/
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