INVITATION TO WARRINGTON 



77 



overtures from other societies, and considered himself bound 

 to Stand for five years ; but that term was drawing to a close. 

 Just at this time, his friend the Rev. T. Hincks was moving to 

 Exeter from Warrington, and the congregation there renewed 

 an invitation which they had made on a previous vacancy. 

 The three Rossendale congregations were very anxious that 

 he should divide his time among them ; he was also asked 

 to become the secretary of a Town's Improvement Company — 

 to carry out sanitary reforms : in these he was now engaged with 

 Mr. P. H. Holland, going in three or four days a week to 

 Manchester, often lecturing at night, and walking home after 

 it. He wrote to his mother, giving all the pros and cons for 

 these various plans, on which he had consulted a great many 

 friends. Before deciding, however, he thought it best to 

 inform Mr. Mark Philips of the Warrington invitation, who, 

 in his friendly reply, candidly said, "Your views on many 

 subjects are much more enthusiastic than ours at Stand, and 

 I really believe you will find at Warrington a wider field than 

 here for the propagation of your own ideas, very sincerely 

 maintained by yourself, but not perhaps equally cherished by 

 some amongst us." 



It certainly was an attraction to Warrington that the 

 invitation was unanimous, although the congregation there was 

 well acquainted with his " enthusiastic views." He wrote, 

 however, to his friend, Mr. R. Allen : " I perceive that your 

 congregation calls itself by the name of ' Unitarian Christian/ 

 When I was invited to become the minister of the Stand 

 congregation, they called themselves 6 Presbyterians,' and my 

 principles are entirely those of the English Presbyterian 

 Dissenters ; although I had rather that all distinctive names 

 were given up, and that we were content to be known simply 

 as the disciples of Christ. There may appear to you very little 

 difference between the two names — 6 Unitarian ' and 6 Pres- 

 byterian ; ' but to my mind these terms embody a great principle : 

 the former implying the belief in a certain system of religions 

 opinions, as necessary to Church fellowship ; the latter asserting 

 the right of any member of the Church to search freely after the 



