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    been to ours . The cause is . obvious : for although it is " after the manner they call heresy that we worship the God of our fathers , " yet , it has hitherto been but little of our concern whether others worshiped him so or in another

    way , while importance seems in them to have attached itself to systems , in proportion as they verged from the straight road of truth . 1 flatter myself that our benevolence will , by means of the auxiliary funds , not only be methodised , but also that it will , with

    inconceivable ease , be made efficient of every useful purpose . There are four institutions which ought to be allowed to have a permanent claim upon these congregational funds , the Institution of York , for the education

    of our young ministers , under Mr . Wellbeloved ; that under Mr . Aspland at Durham House , Hackney ; the Unitarian Fund and the Widows' Fund in London . The collections in the four quarters of the year may be made answerable , each in its turn , to one of

    these great objects , the amount sent to each proportionate to the amount collected , leaving all minor claims to be answered by the surplus . Our congregations would surely find an obligation lying upon them to exertions of this kind , if they were to consider the language of their Lord to

    bis apostle Peter , and through him , as I conceive , to his disciples in all after ages—When thou art converted strengthen thy brethren . It is not in small matters that the point of similarity arises between the state of things in Peter ' s days and that of our da-ys There are strong marks of similarity between the errors of ancient and

    those of modern times : and there can be no reason assigned why the faithful disci ple of the Lord Jesus , who sees the errors in which his brethren lie , and their evil influence on society , should not now also exert himself with

    a virtuous activity to remove them . A will forbear taking up your readers * time with a statement of these errors , wishing rather to make a few remarks Ol the . duty itself , and the objects which it embraces .

    The great duty of strengthening our brethren , in the faith which was delivere d to the saints , both in Peter and ln , arises from these considerations * r the importance of the subjects of divine revelation , the immediate in-

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    fluence they have on the public mind , and the fatal consequences which must follow from these subjects being misunderstood . These three considerations will

    furnish much reflection , which I will leave to your readers , and will proceed with observing , that the all-important question with us is , how shall the great end of the gospel , the present welfare and the final salvation of

    mankind be best brought about ? Now , the solution of this question must depend upon what we conceive to be productive of the greatest present good , and best corresponding with the instructions and the purposes of the

    Messiah . It is impossible for us to see the proper consequences of some of those opinions which are called the doctrines of the gospel , without deprecating their spread in society ; while of others . we can only say , that they becloud rather than enlighten the mind , and instead of rendering the

    understanding efficient of the best purposes of life , they besot and stupify it , and forbid it ever to rise to grand and enlivening views of nature and of God . If thus we view the systems of religious truth which now prevail in the world , it is scarcely to be conceived how we can remain unmoved when

    we see the zeal and animation of those who entertain , as we believe , false views of Christian truth . They are eager to promote those views . They spare not their time , their diligence nor their wealth , to make converts to

    error by sea and by land . So did the corrupt Jews in the Saviours time and moved by this consideration , it was the command given by his great Master to the apostle Peter , " when thou art converted , strengthen thy brethren . ' Be not satisfied with the

    pleasure that springs in your own breast , when you see at a distance from you the error you have escaped , and the danger you have avoided . Act upon the great principle of social virtue . Shew yourself worthy of the

    privileges which , as an intelligent being , you possess . Communicate your happiness to others : drive the phantom of superstition from their breasts , pluck up the root of error and of vice out of their heart , tear the

    bandage of mystery and of darkness from their eyes , free their thoughts from error , their lives from vice , their

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    On Congregational Unitarian Funds . 671

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1817, page 671, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2470/page/31/