Boros György (szerk.): Értesítő a Nemzetközi Unitárius Conferencziáról (Kolozsvár, 1897)
A Nemzetközi Unitárius Konferenczián tartott beszédek és felolvasások - Beszédek és felolvasások
156 hard things were faithful to truth and duty, leading men in their various communities. Chief lights among their fellows of liberty and progress and education, leading fighters for civil and religious liberty. Mayors of their towns, members of Parliament, pillars indeed of their Churches. Well, we lament very much their departure; they are not all gone, thank Cod, but many are. They used to live in town, often in the house by the mill. Now they are far away from the smoke in country mansions; the manager lives by the mill And alas! often in the country the old allegiance to their father’s faith is lost; society is all church; and there is nowhere else to go. So places like Cross Str. Chapel, Manchester, now see no more their long line of carriages. It is a great loss to us of power and influence. Moreover we do not make these men often now. The millionaire of modern production is with us a rara avis in terris. It is, indeed, a happy fact that wealth in England is more evenly distributed than of old. In and around a city like Manchester there are far more houses inhabited by men with £ 500 a year or so; there are fewer palaces of the rich. And we still have in our churches the newly risen leaders in our various towns, the men of bright intelligence and practical ability; we still have in the ranks of these self-made men, the banguard of progress and liberty and education. But these men are not so select as of old; they are more democratic by far. Now, here is a point in which our loss is not all a loss. In many of our chapels some one or two men used to have so commanding an influence, that it destroyed self-reliant energy and interest in the other members. Indeed in some cases it almost warned others off this ground. The great men managed every thing and almost paid for every thing. I have known congregations practically killed by this. This is no more ; and in
