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this Society as a brother and one of your fellow-labourers . I am not sensible that I hare done any thing to deserve being called a promoter of this cause ; but with respect to your faith I may observe , that I too believe in the one God , and that I believe in almost all the doctrines that
you do : but I do this for my own salvation and for my own peace . For the objects of your Society I must confess that I have done very little to entitle me to your gratitude or such admiration of my conduct . What have I done ?—I do not kuow what I have doue !—If I have
ever rendered you any services , they must be very trifling—very trifling I am sure . I laboured under many disadvantages . Iu the first instance , the Hiudoos and the Brahmins to whom I am related are all hostile to the cause ; and even many Christians there are more hostile to our common cause than the Hiudoos
and the Brahmins . I have honour for the appellation of Christian ; but they always tried to throw difficulties and obstacles in the way of the principles of Unitarian Christianity . I have found some of these here ; but more there . They abhor the notion of simple precepts . They always lay a stress on mystery and mystical points , which serve to
delude their followers ; aud the consequence is , that we meet with such opposition in India that our progress is very slight ; and I feel ashamed on my side that I have not made any progress that might have placed me on a footing with my fellow-labourers in this part of the globe . However , if this is the true system of Christianity , it will prevail ,
notwithstanding ail the opposition that may be made to it . Scripture seconds your system of religion , common sense is always on your side ; while power aud prejudice are on the side of your opponents . There is a battle going on between reason , scripture , and common sense ; and wealth , power , and
prejudice . These three have been struggling with the other three ; but I am convinced that your success , sooner or later , is certain . I feel over-exhausted , aud therefore conclude with an expression of my heartfelt thanks for the honour that , from time to time , you have conferred on me , and which I shall never forget to the last moment of my existence .
The Chairman . —The Rajah will now allow me , as the representative of this assembly , to take him once more by the hand , and to repeat in your name our deep aud heartfelt thanks for his presence on this occasion . Rev . Edward Tagart . —I rise to submit a resolution v % tch 1 have uo doubt
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you will bear with the greatest appfoba * tion , but which 1 have no claim to introduce , unless as a sort of prelude to the duties on which' I am about to enter . 1 am now by my office called upon , indeed , to look abroad , and take that wide survey which this Association requires" in the pursuit of its foreign objects . The resolution which 1 have to propose relates to these foreign objects . To India our attention has already been directed , aud our connexion with India has led to the
presence of our illustrious friend whom we have just heard . And what a noble , what a sublime lesson of human modesty and virtue does it teach us , when we hear a man who has done so much for himself aud his fellow-creatures in India —who has , as has been already well expressed , worked himself from heathenism and idolatry to Christianity — to hear snch a man declare that he reallv does
not know what he has done to entitle him to the strong expression of approbation which this assembly has conferred upon him ! It is a great advantage arising from the existence of this Association , that it leads us into an acquaintance with the religious condition of our
fellow-creatures in all parts of the world : and thougii we see much to lament , and know that religious ignorance and moral degradation exist in many countries of the globe , still how much is there to delight us in becoming acquainted with those illustrious individuals who are
introduced to our notice by the agency and operation of this Society ! When we confine our views to our own country , the Unitarian is apt to be amazed , astonished , and overborne , by the extent to which prejudice prevails against what he deems to be scripture truth . Were we to confine our views solely to our own country —were we to listen to the shameless
calumnies promulgated against us by those who should know better , the tide of our sympathy would be , as it were , rolled back on ourselves . It is , therefore , wise to direct our views to other countries , aud there to find those virtuous and enlightened individuals who are ready to sympathize and co-operate with us iu the cause of religious truth . The Report calls our attention to the state of
religious opinion in Buenos Ay res in South America , Canada and the United States in North America , aud Spain , France , and Transylvania , Europe—thus comprehending three quarters of the globe . My motion bears specific reference to the Unitarians of Transylvania and America . To the Unitarians who exist in Transylvania who can be indifferent ? A great orator , of whose eloquence the world has been
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426 fht&figence . —Unitarian Association .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1831, page 420, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2598/page/60/
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