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    The Committee Of The Unitarian Fund Wish...

    _conversion from _Idolatry to _tij _^^ a _^ an _ooism Las _roodwed , Fi All these cc _^ _smeyations _coax _bfned , seem imperiously to call on English _Unitarians to _exegt _& enj _£ elyes _^ o ' _jrdinjj J _# ; _tUei _£ ability , in _spreading th _$ gogpel in this country , _| hope i _^ _sugges ting the _^ 0 % i _lsjiajl , _npk be consJ _^ _e _^ ed _presumptuous * or as _casting a _reflection upon your zeal . W _& can never be the worse of b << _ang tpW _PUfj < < _ty _{ _{ j , _* 94 e _V _cowagjsdflo d _?\ t , . , [ f On _fJie . s « _«|[| pjp _^ tip _^^ Uat something like _vyliat I I have _suggested may be _practicable * I _. _^^^^ '' fi _^ _. ypi _^^^^ _genf ie in tl _^ e i _; eanaining _jmrt of this or . as _casting a _reflection upon _ypuf z _$ _ai- yve can never _oe cue worse of bmg tpW _PUfj _tyj , _» _od _fencoufagf _^ _Jo do jt , ; : * On _fJie . s _|[| pjp _^ tip _^^ Uat something like vyliat have _suggested may be practica _$ _il _. _^^^^ fi _^ _. ypi _^^^^ _genf ie in tl _^ e i _; eanaining _jmrt of this lej _^ er _, while I att _^ j up _^ to poii _^ t out some errors into _wW _^ h it appears to me J _^ _issionary _^ _pci _^ tie _^ _. pave in general falle n , and to suggest , in some particulaiis _. _whaj has oecu _|| red to _npe a _$ _raogt _advisable tOf . be done _^ _J have no _wiSjj to dictate , and if 1 had I _knojw that I have no righir to _expert to be listei _^ cf p > . Ypu vviljl , _therefore , co _^ 9 i _4 _^ _r me as expressing my _vpmiom with frep _^ ppi _^ becajUse I know you \ vifl exercise the s _^ ine free 4 oixi jba _judging of tifeni . I . With re 3 pect to t _^ _qsie wh _( t > s _^ _iaH be _employed _# § _Missionaries , they should not only be pious , which i _$# f co _^ ir _^ e _indispensably bixty _, if possible , well versed in literature , boitli sacred and profane . It has -p & Q _^ _ife _^ ijBntly . happened , that person _^ h _^ ve com _6 _j to this country as _Minionarfea , wh _® have

    no other _recommeadati m * or qualification _, but th _^ eir piety _^ _^ ndftpe injury _whicli is thus done to the Christian cause is _incalculable * _, _flo _^ . _^ reat . must the injury be , when _instead _oif teacliing others , they need tbeip _^ _elves to be taught tke first principles of the oracles q _£ God , and when instead _Qf being superior , or at least e _^ ual , they ate far inferior in a _knowledge of the p rinciples of reasoning and in a general _acquittance with science , _tq most ol those

    amongst whom they are called _tpjahour I 2 . . My next _remark _respects the salary of Missionaries . That _whicji they _receive seldom _enables tb _^ e _tq to do _tqore than barely subsist , and they are In _general left in th _^ _greatest uncertainty respecting a provision for _thp _future > _vuats of their w _|^ e _^ and fam i lies . This is productive of the very w _^ rst _^ _nsequenqes _., itles _^^ _isjt _^ oir _respecta _* bility , harasses their minds , and in _^ th _ways impedes their _ifsefif _ikiesa . This is not all . From a laudable _desirp to _support them » _ielve _^( and provide for

    their families , they open _sfyninaries of education , or engage in other secular pursuits which take up a great portion of their time and strength , already sufficiently exhausted by the frature and effects of the . _cjimate . ; _, By this means also , they coine at last to be considered as no better than all others who come to this country in search of wealth and worldly comfort , and not as those who make the spiritual concerns of men , and the propagation of the true religion , the principal objects of , their attention . As a Missionary is _expectedT to relinquish every means of personal and famil y aggrandizement , so both the present and future wants or himself and family should be , not

    splendidly , but decentl y and respectabl y provided for . H _& s salary should enable hXnx to support his family and educate his children , and by gradual savings to lay up a sum which may assist his widow and orphans when he is dead , I proceed on the supposition that he is married ,, _because it is on many accounts desirable that he should be so ; but whether _married or unmarried , his salary should be such as to enable him to promote his studies in

    theology and in the _languages , literature and religion of thi _» t country , by purchasing * books _^ and _eioploying learned Natives , and also ta _promote in a pecuniary way those schemes of benevolence which ai _^ _jjeysryi where aflo _^ . Two Missionaries _thus supported will be more efficient than ten in jthe ordi _* nary way , ana it \& my kno \ _yle _^ e _trf the gr eat evils that b ave resulted from a _contrary course , that has led me on this subject to be so _particular . 3 . What relation should subsist t _^ ettVpen a _Mie _^ ionary abroad and tl _j _^ who support hi _?*! _^ _^ Newly th « s _saipe a » _betweep a _tawteter at bome _w A _^ Q _W _^ _WflVfr it to ti _& iuaeiveB to _labour Where and wnen ana now flbwilliiftk wow . " 4 .

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• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 1, 1823, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/smrp_01061823/page/4/