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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.
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Untitled Article
Mr . Christie , the alleged author Of Discourses on the Divine Unity , was invited in 1807 to make the experiment of reviving- Unitarian worship ; but a difference having arisen
on the subject of an article in . the constitution of the church , his connexion with it soon terjftiinafed ^ and Mr . EddowisT ^ - Baylor , andTTrT Vaughan came forward to conduct the services themselves . Their
success was much greater than they had hoped ; in 1811 they ventured on the erection of a place of worships which , in 1828 , was pulled down to be rebuilt on a larger scale . Such was the origin of the first Congregational Unitarian Society of Philadelphia . From the time when Mr . Kddowes took a part in its public services , the studies connected with
ins preparation for them formed the most interesting of all his occupations ; and the volume which he published in 1817 is an abundant progf that , both as a moral and a controversial preacher , he - had no cause to fear comparison with those whose lives have been devoted to composition for the pulpit .
With the exception of lameness , the consequence of an accident about twenty years since , Mr . Eddowes felt little of the painful infirmities of age , and his mental power remained in unimpaired vigour to the last . The
following , * extract from a letter ad * dressed in his seventieth year to his excellent daughter , Mrs . Peter Boult of Liverpool , will show in what spirit he reflected on his past life , and looked forwards to its close . * I have
no reason to say that length of days has been denied me , and that the great majority of them have been truly happy days , I most devputly and gratefully acknowledge . In the important relations of husband and
father , it does not fall to the lot of many to be so highly favoured . The interruptions to my health have been very few , and none of them seriously alarming ; and now , at a period when many are sinking under mental and
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bodily infirmities , and which many who came into life after rne have not been permitted to attain , my Faculties are but little impaired , and I am yet able to do something for the benefit of those whose interests are so nearly connected with my own / After mentioning some indications that his
death , whenever it happened , would be sudden , he continues : ¦ * And if I knew that such is the divine appoint-* nent , I should bow to it with humble acquiescence and satisfaction ; should it be otherwise ordered , it is my daily prayer to Him in whose hands my breath is , that I may have a tranquil and peaceful dismissal , and be able in my latest hour to bear testimony to the supports , consolations , and
hopes of that precious gospel , which , has bf 6 u ght life arid irmrioftality to light , softening the pains of separation by the prospect of a blissful and eternal reunion . ' His anticipation of sudden death proved well founded ; but having- 'long lived as . one who might at any moment be called away it is a subject of unmixed rejoicing that he was spared the sufferings of a lingering decay .
The public character of Mr . Eddo wes may be easily gathered from the events of his life ; he was animated by a warm and enlightened zeal for civil and religious liberty , and had he lived in the times when it was necessary to sacrifice life and personal freedom . in . their defence , he would have been among the first to offer them for the good of his country and mankind . To those
who saw him only in casual intercourse , or when his thoughts were engrossed by some great purpose , his manner appeared cold and p erhaps even stern ; but his temper was generous and kind , and no man was ever the object of steadier
friendships , or more devoted filial love . His integrity was the result of high moral and religious princip le , and was , therefore , without a stain or a suspicion . Mr . Eddowes married , in 1777 ,
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218 Sf tT&fcXAGSftttiS ' A&t >
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 1, 1833, page 218, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2617/page/26/
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