On this page
-
Text (1)
-
Untitled Article
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.
-
-
Transcript
-
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.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
deprived within the last year—I mean the Rev , Mr , Hall , of Bristol—speaking of this country with respect to civil liberty , calls it the Thermopylae of the universe * and I would apply this term to Poland in respect of religious truth at the period of the Reformation ; for , when the advocates of the Divine Unity and the Messiahship of Christ were persecuted , they
took refuse iu that country , — there they made their stand , there they found patronage and support , and there they have been ever distinguished for rank , learning , and piety . I believe that we are honoured on this occasion with the presence of some Transylvanian gentlemen , who conae accredited to us , and are
extremely desirous of further union and co-operation with us . A letter has been received , from a gentleman recently elected to fill the Chiiir of Theological Professor at Clausenberg , and who , iu order to qualify himself more completely for it , is at present studying in Germany , stating that there are 110 churches and 50 , 000 souls devoted to the cause of
Unitarianism in Transylvania ; that Unitarians are elevated to high stations in the civil department of that country ; and that he himself is extremely anxious to come here to cultivate a better acquaintance with the Unitarians of this country . The motion also calls on us to take notice of America—a country in which we must always feel a vital iuterest—a country where our cause is adorned by the eloquence of a Channing , the philanthropic exertions of a Tuckerman , and the
amiable and holy piety of a Ware—a country that gives a striking proof that where our cause has free course it will run and be glorified . Having taken this survey of the interests of Unitarianism , I will now conclude . I know that there is business of high interest and importance to come before the meeting , and I trust I shall be forgiven for having occupied so long a portion of its time . I beg leave to
move , " That this Meeting contemplates with satisfaction and delight the manifestation , in various countries , of a spirit of religious inquiry aud of Christian zeal ; and that our respectful and affectionate greetiugs are due to our brethren from Transylvania aud America , who have shewn their sympathy with us by their presence on this occasion . " Dr . Rises . —1 rise with great pleasure to second the motion which has been so
ably introduced . The motion embraces persons and subjects that must be interesting to every one iu this room : but I must confess—and you , Sir , will know why—that some of those subjects to me
Untitled Article
possess peculiar attraction . After having paid a due tribute of respect to our illustrious friend—illustrious not alone for his rank , but for his profound erudition , the splendour of his talents , and the ^ cx tensiveness of his services—it will now be well if we turn our attention to other realms * and other people that are deeply
interesting , as shewing the advantage of free inquiry and ttie progress of Christian zeal where perhaps we had least right to expect to see them . When this Association was formed , and when it was made one of its objects to look to the promotion and encouragement of Unitariauism abroad , there was not one—not even the
most sanguine among us—who could have expected to see what it has been our fortune this day to witness . No one could have expected to enjoy the satisfaction of seeing England—nay , of seeing this very chapel , the central point for bringing together the most distant quarters of the globe . Little did I expect to see Asia and America join , and Transylvania
sending her sous , as if raised from the dead , to behold the triumphs of Unitarian ism in the nineteenth century . The age in which we are living is a remarkable one it is distinguished by the freedom with which men prosecute their inquiries in religious matters—it is distinguished by the courage with which they abandon long-cherished recollections , when
contrary to the dictates of truth—it is distinguished by the fortitude with which they pursue their newly-attained convictious in spite of dangers imminent and threatenings manifold . In the Report a rather disheartening prospect is held out with respect to France ; but still I cannot help thinking that that country presents an interesting and even an encouraging
spectacle . Who would ever have thought that the religion connected with that country would be , by one stroke of the pen , annihilated forever ? Many , too , who had been driveu by Catholicism to Atheism are now seeking a restingplace in the doctrines of Unitariauism . In Spain—even in Spain , where each man was in a mauner chained to his
priest , the Association had the satisfaction of seeing some who had strength enough to burst their bonds asunder , aud who were employing the first hours of their liberty in the emancipation of their fellow-countrymen . In America the prospect of Unitarian affairs is very interesting . A few years ago there were not in that country above one or two ministers who would avow themselves Unitarians ; and I can remember an excellent minister demurring as to whe-
Untitled Article
Intelligence . — Unitarian Association * 421
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1831, page 421, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2598/page/61/
-