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immediately , put my paper into m $ ? pQckQt > and desired that n *> t one word more should be said — that no one ought to give in charity of this { kind what is ' wanted for necessary purposes ; I have also with pleasure addedv " I do not doubt that we shall get all we recfuire , and would by no means take it from those
who cannot conveniently tfpare it ; ' * and we have parted q « ite as good friends- as if we had stood in the relation of giver and receiver to oae another . I have iti many , very many , instances been gratified by the respectful and kind reception I have met with iti the applications I have made . The Unitarian public at large are
liberal , very liberal , often where they are not wealthy . I have seen much of this iti many instances . They are zealous , too , when put to their energies , and kiiid when sympathy moves them . In the formation of the Fellowship Funds they hare adopted a noble institution ; they have created an engine of great power , and it is effective of great good ; but , in general / not to the extent that it might
be ; while it furnishes an excuse for not giving what , if these Funds did not exist , could not well be refused . It is not always considered , as it ought to be , that this Fund is designed , not to receive the whole gratuity which rich men have it in thfcir power to afford to dbjects of charity
or benevolence , to the cause of Christ and of God ; bit rather to receive the small sums which the middling and lower classes in our societies are willing to contribute , and which are better collected in this way than in boxes held at the doors of the chapels . If the rich intend to make these Funds the medium of all that
benevolence which is connected with their TeHgious opinions , it becomes them to look back into former years , to recollect how much they have contributed on an average of one year with another , to consider the increasing spread of the principles they highly value , and the increasing calls that will , in all probability , be made on them for their support , and furnish the Fund with a sum sufficient to
supply these demands . If this were done and fairly done , there would indeed be no need of any personal applications being made to them in any case of need : there would be store to furnish liberally in every want . Our small funds need not then dole out their charities in twos and threes , nor our larger ones in fives and tens of pounds , nor need any of us travel abroad to ask assistance in
building our chapels or in repairing them . The lich will of course insert their names aa subscribers to the Funds ,
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but if they avail themselves of this pretence to withhold all other gid , our dear and excellent friend 0 r . Thomson would lament , did he know it , that ever he had afforded them so plausible a pretext for lessening the amount of their charity .
Yet , Sir , it has occurred to me in several instances to be told by rich men that the Fellowship Fund was formed for the express purpose of obviating the necessity of personal applications ; and , When their support of that Fund extended only to one or at most two pounds , they have pleaded it as a reason why they declined giving . I state this fact with sorrow : but let me subjoin an antidote to the pain it will Inflict on your readers . In one of the towns of
Devonshire , I was advised to call on some Trinitarian Calvinists and make known my want of money to build a Unitarian Chapel ; and expressing my surprise at the proposal , my friend replied , " They are often coming to us for money ; I don ' t see why we should not go to them . ** Accordingly , I did obtain money in that town from zealous Calvinists . Having
stated t 6 one of them why I had called on him , he at once flatly refused to give any assistance in building chapels ; but when I added it was for a Unitarian Meeting-house , " Oh ! a Unitarian Meeting-house ; well , then * I'll give you something . Now if you had been asking for a Triuitariaii Chapel , I would not have given a sixpence ; they are always
teazing us for money ; but the Unitarians are good people ; they do a deal of good , and often help us ; so I'll give you something . " This gentleman sent for me again and doubled the sum . ' * Sir , " said I , "I thank you : I value this more than any other sum I have received : it is an offering to liberality and Christian love . "
Allow me to suggest , that publishing Reports of our Funds from time to time is an object much to be desired , since it keeps the attention of the subscribers awake , shews them the value of their exertions , and gives even the poorest
among them the pleasure of knowing that his mite is not despised . I have been ' gratified by that which was lately issued by the Committee of the Sheffield Society , in which the subject I have particularly alluded to is set forth in a proper light .
ISRAEL WORSLEY . P . S . I should add , that the walls of the Devonport Chapel are up and the roof is on ; the interior of the work , the flooring and the pews , are preparing by
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Mhcellafteoits Ctrrretpondence . _ 65
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VOL . III . F
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1829, page 65, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2568/page/65/
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