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could I come, than that Christ Jesus was a being perfectly distinct and separate from God the Father, and consequently was not God? I rose from the examination convinced that, had I not previously been informed of the doctrines of the Trinity, and the deity of Christ, it would never have occurred to me from a simple perusal of the Bible. I did meet with a few passages in some of the apostolic writings, and particularly in the Revelation, the meaning of which, I could not precisely understand; but it surely was not reasonable that I should make thousands of plain passages, which could be understood only in one sense, yield to three or four, whose meaning I could not comprehend. And even those few mysterious passages, which are so frequently adduced by those who maintain the supreme deity of Christ, whatever they may affirm concerning the exalted nature of Christ, and the great honours he receives, evidently cannot mean that Christ is the supreme God, for these very passages always speak of another being who has made Christ so glorious, and given him all his power.

Previous to this time, I had not read a single page of a Unitarian publication. I had, in common with those with whom I conversed, a peculiar abhorrence of that sect. I and my friends, wishing to be reckoned amongst the more liberal sort of Christians, charitably believed it possible, that a Seceder, a Baptist, a Methodist, even members of the Church of England, yea, sincere Roman Catholics, might enjoy the favour of God, and be partakers of the benefits of Christ's redemption; but that a Unitarian, who denied that Jesus Christ was the eternal God, that he might possibly, if a sincere though erroneous follower of Christ, be saved, never once entered our minds. I have heard it gravely asserted by a female, distinguished by all the mild affection of her sex, and displaying in her conduct, the benignant influence of the religion of him who went about continually doing good, that she believed, all sects might be saved but Universalists and Unitarians. I mention these things, not supposing that I am communicating any new information regarding the prejudice, which so generally exists in this quarter, against those who maintain the strict unity and the matchless goodness of the Ruler of the Universe; that such a prejudice exists in enormous strength, even at the present day, so vaunted for its liberality, cannot be denied; I state them, merely

to show, that, as I partook of the general prejudice, at the time I made the examination, and had read no works tending to remove that prejudice, or bias my mind in favour of the Unitarian creed, the conclusion to which I came, I humbly think, affords a presumption, that the Bible, when read with a mind free from the pre-conceived notions of a system, clearly teaches the Unitarian doctrine -that God the Father is the supreme and only God, and that Jesus Christ is not this supreme God. After this, I procured Mr. Yates's answer to Dr. Wardlaw; and in that work I found my own conclusions supported with such a host of evidence, and the scanty and far-fetched proofs which Dr. Wardlaw had marshalled in support of the Trinity, so admirably exposed, that I could not but wonder how I had been so long in seeing the light which burns so bright in every page of Scripture; and could not avoid despising myself, for the admiration with which, in common with my orthodox friends, I had formerly read Dr. Wardlaw's work, considering it a most unrefutable defence of gospel truth, and such a demonstration of the doctrine of the Trinity, that it was considered a work of the merest supererogation, to take the trouble of reading what Mr. Yates had to say in reply.

Before conclusion, I beg leave to advert shortly to another topic connected with orthodoxy: the views which it gives of practical religion. The strictly evangelical class of orthodox writers and preachers, uniformly represent religion as something opposed to all that men naturally admire and love-as quite the opposite of what they account beautiful, and strive to obtain. Instead of according with all the higher aspirations of our nature—with those pantings of the soul after a beauty and an excellence which our present life affords not-a longing for a state of existence higher and nobler than the present, it is represented as something which checks every generous emotion -pronounces all those aspiring desires which are the redeeming points in our nature, and prove us children of the skies, to be carnal imaginings, the wanton pride of the old man. God it represents as a Being so stern and inflexible, that the slightest deviation from his laws must be punished by the everlasting tortures of the offender, or by the atoning sufferings of the second person of the Godhead as a Being, who, to promote his own glory, leaves millions to perish for ever, although his wisdom and love

has devised a plan by which a few will be received into favour, and by which all might have been restored, but for his own good pleasure; and this favoured few are asserted to be, not the best and noblest portion of our race, but the basest and most abject; and the service which this Being exacts is a punctilious and trembling observance of all his injunctions, an utter prostration of soul, a surrender of reason and of all natural affections. Unless accompanied by some mysterious exercise of the mind, called Faith, all the charities of life, and all the exertions of benevolent virtue are of no avail: the love of parents for their offspring-the solicitous watching of the fond mother, for many a sleepless night, over her sick child-the love of brother for brother-the love, stronger than death, which swells in woman's breast, and which the worthlessness and faithlessness of its object cannot subdue the stern love of the patriot, who nobly offers himself a sacrifice in humanity's cause-all are worthless, are filthy rags, are an abomination in the sight of God! Such a view of religion withers the very soul; the generous heart revolts at it, and all nature proclaims it to be false. The God who hath stretched out the heavens in wisdom, and clothed the earth with beauty, and spread luxuriance around our smiling earthand the God of orthodoxy, are evidently different beings. I always felt this; I could never acquiesce in the views which I frequently met with, regarding God and religion. I found the Bible breathing throughout, a spirit of the loftiest excellence; it appeared to depict and inculcate a moral grandeur and magnanimity, which the soul in its loftiest moods, had only dreamed of and longed after; it revealed God as a being in whom the perfection of beauty dwells-a being whose power and wisdom are boundless, but whose most distinguishing glory is his moral excellence-his goodness, to which all his other attributes are subservient, and under the direction of which, they act; this glorious Being, the Bible represented, as offering himself to his creatures, as their eternal portion-calling upon the famished soul which had long and fruitlessly sought for an object adequate to its longing desires, to contemplate him as a being altogether fitted to fill the most expanded mind-presenting himself as a pattern for their imitation-appealing to his creatures in the language of fatherly benignity, "my son, give me thy heart." I found the precepts of the Bible so full of excellence, as

seemed satisfactorily to prove that they were the product of wisdom greater than man's. I found a mode of conduct of the noblest description, every where inculcated; the ignoble spirit of selfishness and intolerance reprobated in the strongest terms, and the Christian directed to consider himself a member of the great family of mankind, and to have a heartfelt concern for the welfare of all his brethren, whatever might be the colour of their skin, or the creed they professed. The divine principle of universal benevolence was visible throughout. I found the whole of man's duty, both towards his Creator and his fellow men, contained in these two commandments, which are the sum and substance of the Law and of the Prophets -of wisdom and of excellence: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and thy neighbour as thyself."

In some volumes of the Pioneer, which at this time fell into my hands, I found several Articles by Dr. Channing, on the subject of practical religion. The powerful and original manner in which he pointed out the grandeur and sublimity of Christianity, as held by Unitarians, opened my eyes fully to the misrepresentations which had been given of religion, and made me admire, more and more, the beauty and the adaptation of Christianity to the state of man.

Since I have been emancipated from the gloomy and degrading notions, in which I was educated, regarding the character of God, and the nature of religion, I feel as if transported to a happier world. All nature now ministers to my devotion. I can contemplate the greatness and the goodness of the Almighty Father, in the varied scenes, replete with proofs of love and wisdom, which our beautiful world affords; the wide-rolling sea, and the boundless sky studded with living fires, the mansions of beings greater and more wonderful, perhaps, than man can imagine, proclaim that the mind which fashioned them is almighty and all-wise; while the flowers and fruits, formed to delight the eye and gratify the taste of man-the waters, earth, and air, filled with all-joyous and delighted creatures, so full of life and beauty, corroborate the declaration of Scripture, that this Almighty mind is Love-diffusive love, delighting in multiplying happiness throughout all nature. I can perceive a portion of this all-pervading mind, in the smiling, happy looks of children; in the contemplative, musing aspect of the man of high

thoughts and firm resolve; in woman, with her depth of love, and tenderness of affection; in all this, I see evidence that our race is not the accursed thing which orthodoxy represents it; I see, in all this, proofs of a nobleness and a goodness, which belongs to man, and pledges of that height of excellence to which he is destined by his Maker's decree to advance. And, to use the eloquent language of Dr. Channing, "even in evil, that dark cloud which hangs over the creation, I discern rays of light and hope, and gradually come to see in suffering and temptation, proofs and instruments of the sublimest purposes of wisdom and love."

I am, SIR,

Your most obedient Servant,

A CONVERT FROM CALVINISM.

GLASGOW, 23d Oct. 1830.

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REVIEW.

The Course of Time, a Poem: by Robert Pollock, A. M.

(Concluded from page 130.)

WE are glad to find our poet so much opposed to that unholy alliance-Church and State. And we know not, how it can be defended by any one, consistently with the declaration of Jesus Christ, "My kingdom is not of this world." But we will give the writer's own words:

"I pass their lewd example by, that led
So many wrong, for courtly fashion lost,
And prove them guilty of one crime alone.
Of
every wicked ruler, prince supreme,
Or magistrate below, the one intent,
Purpose, desire, struggle, day and night,
Was evermore to wrest the crown from off
Messiah's head, and put it on his own;
And in His place give spiritual laws to men;
To bind religion, free by birth, by God
And nature free, and made accountable
To none but God, behind the wheels of state;
To make the holy altar, where the Prince
Of Life, incarnate, bled to ransom man,
A footstool to the throne. For this they met,
Assembled, counselled, meditated, planned;
Devised in open and secret; and for this
Enacted creeds of wondrous texture-creeds
The Bible never owned, unsanctioned too,
And reprobate in heaven; but by the power
That made,-exerted now in gentler form,
Monopolizing rights and privileges,

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