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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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No. Iii.—Sumrhwy Recount Of Mr. &Av€Tikg...
Jou rney , I feel _gvsnt pleasure in _beings able to bear testimony to the _ifcmN _^ e _exertions _roafciagr by oar _Crieisids , for tbe promotion of _lfce great cause of tritf & . and _* _rigph-Igol _^ ness , in . almost _ef _^ _ry-plae © 1 _risited _oa this occasion . BIy labours . durings ttoe _winter were principally confined to the _Wfjaftl of Kent , and I
have tbe h % h gratification of _announcing that Unitarian ism has obtained admission into no _lesa than six new places , m each of which I have preached several times , and circulated _^ a _la _»* _# e numbe r of Tracte . Hfttch inquiry , reading-, and conversation , hap been the result , with no small portion of calumny and misrepresentation ; but , _nottvithstan / _Ung .-the efforts _oflthe reputedly _Orfiiodox _, ( and they are by no means idle , ) the prospect of _durable good and permanent usefulness is truly animating-.
I am under the greatest _obligation to the venerable Pastor of the Unitarian Church atTenterden for the countenance , support , and _encouragement . be has given ,. and _atill continues , to give , to the Missionary exertions in Kent and Sussex . " The spring * was taken up in . travelling through East Kent . I nth is , journey I visited Tanbridge Wells a second time , and I have reason to believe a permanent cause might be established there , could a better place for preaching ia be procured , and more attention _^ pa . id to it , than is compatible with the multifarious duties of a
Missionary - I have likewise visited Besset ' s Green , M _^ _idtstone _, Chatham , and Stieerne & _s . la the latter place I had the pleasure of finding-the society in a prosperous state , an d * their number increased . Could they through the liberality of their wealthier Unitarian brethren build a place in a more eligible part of the town , it would be much _better and more respectably attended _; and thus , in the t conrs _, e of time ,, they would _beadle , to make some provision for a resident minister . Mr . Chapman , the
worthy minister of Chatham , visits them onpe a fortnight , on a _^ week evening _^ After preaejiing' several times at Sheer-ness , 1 proceeded to Sitting Bo urn . and preached th _* re a second tiwe to about sixty persons , w _^&>; _WidV tfie exc _^ ptidri of one . ( aad he , as it afterwards appeared , possessed mucK more Orthodoxy than common morality , ) listened with tbe greatest attention , nnij seemed much pleased with the tracts given them . On this occasion , a considerable number _oPboys and _thoughtless young " men assembled in the street , for the avowed purpose of insulting- and disturbing- usbut were happily prevented by the activity of a friend , who stood at thje door , aha would not suffer one of them to enter . They contented themselves , therefore , witft
discharging a few volleys of pease at the window-shutters , and then suffered ns to proceed unmolestedly . In justice to th <> liberality of the times , I feel called' upon to declare , ( and _f do it with pleasure , ) thut this is the only obstruction ( if ? t , indeed , may fee caTfea _*? o ) _'T have met with during my Missionary labours . From whatl have been able to _observe , it _appears , that , if a proper place cotiltf h _$ procured in _Sittirigbourn , and preaching- kept up reg _^ _llfirly , were it only once _^ _fortnig-ht , a society might be very soon established . But , though the _harvest is truly
plenteous , the labourers are tew . * , From Sittingbourn , I travelled to Canterbury and Dover , in each of which I spent one Sunday , and preached to respectable congregations . _C'then visited DcaJ _, spent two Sundays with them , and had the pleasure of wi to _gsfring- the rap id * progress oj Divine truth ia that town . The congregations * are . _generally l _^ rge , and the cause prospering even beyond my expectation . Indeed _, ' there is every reason to hope the time is not very distant when a permanent and flourishing _interest will be established there . ' .
Much credit is due to the few fttendrat Deal foT their indefatigable exertions iii the great cause , and to the worthy ministers , Messrs . _Mtyrteq and Pdund of _Ddver-* nd Ashdo _, _wny of Canterbury , who htkve laboured t h _^ re' d ' uripg the late _^ win , te _, r _^ _ano who , I _trusty will still continue their valuable labours in that important n _^ ig _^ _lil _> 6 u * _raTOA _r By way of conclusion , I would state one fuct , illustrating ; at once the _mts _4 iWfig | L' 6 f _Orthod oxy , _falsely so called , and . the power of Diviae truth . A silort _Jittie ; only before my arrival at Deal , one of tber friends' wrote to me as follows : u _Ofie _^ _llifetfito of the _Caivinistic _pulnit has said in _private , _thit be is _realty to , _uieet us . in- £ _tp field of
controversy , ove « _i in the _market-pkice . No notice has bej _^ n taken , of this * a * f ' _TCt _, but _if you can name a time to be with ns , and _think discu _«» ion would be i _|& fti $ _^ t $ _& c \ x _^ . llenge may . even noW » be _rtt _^ _oepfed-. _^ IV vrbreh I _tapHet _^ _Rafter _stating" the time I should be there , ) that the market-place was entirely a tit or the question , _ttot 1 Was r e _* dy to m « et _HUn _sk _tfny tfme _^ © klierin _^ _s owq chapel or aurs . BMI « were immed _^ el boul tbe tow
_^ y _po « ie < i t _^ _o , _sri */ 9 g n _« tiip 0 _< nf ib © nuniber _» f se _^ u > o _, na _la be _jw-eap be _^ ¥ _*< t the _tin _»^ u _^ n _» _tfe _^ y _^ _ouW _> l _» _cWiveml _^ add ing > Qn this occasion , our Chriti _& _W brethren who entertain opinions at varjattce witbUtiitaria _^ i _atd _, vrii ) ha _^ _aan opport _^ _itt of _toting ib _^ _ftrwnd of tli _^ ir _dfcwSnfi bjr _eogwfiiig _^ ft ; _prtblic coii _^ _enccaf _^ _Ae one woaM _upppne an invitation like ttrti _' _lrttirtstible 5 I am rare it would b « so to
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 3, 1823, page 23, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/smrp_03061823/page/7/
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