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    ciated themselves together , in giving and receiving aid towards the noblest purposes . " This is a task , " he says , ** beyond the ordinary powers of man . It requires courage , perseverance , a self-denying spirit , and patient endurance of the calumnious interpretations of ignorance and malice ; a , task which

    would never have been undertaken but by men so penetrated with the principles of the gospel as to devote their lives to this grand work , trusting to time for ultimate success . The symbol of our Society must be the Streamlet of water , which falling upon the hardest rock wears it away at last . The regulations of this Society have been framed with a view to preserve that harmony which is necessary to its proceedings . We avoid all discussions , both political and religious , which have a tendency to inflame the passions .

    The Duke of La Rochefoucauld Liancourt then tenders his resignation , on account of his distant residence , which renders him unable to perform the duties of President . I believe it is well known to your readers how short a time he lived after this retirement , and how deeply his loss was lamented . The Duke of Broglie was appointed in his stead , and we find him , in his opening speech of the following year , occupied in rebutting the calumnies which had been circulated with a view to prepossess the people against a Society formed on too wide and liberal a basis to find favour in

    the sight of bigotry . Perhaps there may be some difficulty in finding an answer to the concluding sentences of the noble Duke ' s address : * ' Though jt be true , that being born and bred members of different religious communions , we are divided upon some subjects , of vast importance certainly , but evidently beyond our reach , is this a reason for refusing to unite upon grounds which are common , to us all ? This diversity of creed is a real misfortune , if it separates us on all great subjects , and brings us together only for what is trifling and profane . But why must this be so ?"

    'That this Society is not secretly plotting against the state , the most timid may be convinced by the patronage and support afforded to it by the Duke of Orleans . At the annual meeting of the year 1826 , the noble President congratulates the assembly on the increasing success of their labours , in these words : - " Last year , at this time , I was obliged to undertake the defence of our Society against injurious imputations . To-day I have the gratifying task of announcing to you that such attacks have entirely ceased . The simplicity

    of our conduct appears to have corrected error and triumphed over malice . We have met with friends and supporters on every side ; even on the steps of the throne we have found assistance and encouragement : to speak plainly , we -have received from the Princes who surround his Majesty , such testimonials of esteem for our Society , as we may well be proud of , because , however we may value them , we should have scorned to obtain them by any other means than by the public avowal of our sentiments , our hopes , and our exertions . "

    The Report of the Society ' s labours during the years 1825 , 1826 , embraces a great variety of topics . It was delivered by Mon . Paxtarrieu-La fosse , one of the secretaries . After shewing that this association of individuals for particular ends , which is a striking feature of the present age * has no tendency to produce disaffection to the institutions of their country , he goes on to demonstrate how little progress has ever been made in any thing good without it .

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    3 ? 2 Society of Christian Moraiitg .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1828, page 372, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2561/page/12/