commonly entertained, that there are many points of our religion, as it is taught in the Scriptures, which, surpassing human comprehension, are to be received with implicit belief; and that the example of the ancients is a sufficient authority for the modern interpretation of those passages, in which such doctrines are thought to be inculcated. To the fathers, therefore, next in order to the writers of the New Testament, I submitted my own judgment upon all such points; and, in deference to an authority, which I had yet seen no reason to impugn, became a zealous follower of the established religion, both in doctrine and worship. But, however impressed with respect for the established church, it occurred to me frequently and forcibly, during my attendance upon it's worship, that the language of its service differed in many im portant particulars from that of the Scriptures. The more I reflected I felt the more convinced, both upon that head, and that many of it's prominent doctrines are liable to the same objection. At last I found myself reluctantly compelled to withdraw from it's communion, in order that I might no longer be compelled to join in forms of worship, which appeared totally unauthorized, and to give my assent to the principles of a theology, of the soundness of which I had begun to entertain the most serious doubts.

It now became an important object with me, to be united to a congregation of Christians, if such I might be so fortunate as to find, whose public worship should be free from like objections. Under

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such circumstances, and actuated by a disinterested regard for the interests of religion, I offered myself to become a member of the church at Tonbridge Chapel. I hoped, that in a congregation which had no established form of worship, and which professed in all things a strict adherence to Scripture, the most scrupulous Christian would find nothing to give him uneasiness. But I had not long taken my seat among you, before the same feelings of distrust and suspicion were awakened, which I had before experienced in the church, but from a widely different cause. I did not fail to discern, amidst the figurative language in which the preachers of evangelical religion are accustomed to express themselves, that the value of a virtuous and moral life was depreciated, in a degree which I little expected to find in a Christian society: or, in plain terms, that it was a fundamental principle of the gospel preached at Tonbridge Chapel, that the most virtuous life, however it may promote the happiness of mankind in this world, has no influence in securing their happiness in a future state. Taught, by the past, the necessity of a more deliberate and measured conduct in my public profession of religion, I determined to suspend my judgment upon this momentous question until I should be better able to view it in all it's bearings, and to acquaint myself with the arguments for and against it. In the meantime, an opportunity of promoting a cause, which I had very much at heart, presented itself, in the proposal made about this time for forming a

Sunday school, under the protection of our church, for instructing children of the poor of all denominations of Christianity in a knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, in which the views of no sect or party should form any part of the scheme of instruction. I need not say how zealously I entered upon this work, nor how steadily I pursued it, as long as the pledge given to the public at it's commencement was adhered to. The pleasure I derived from a close attention to the infant establishment, could only be equalled by that I felt in witnessing it's rapid growth. But the introduction of the Assembly's Catechism into the school (a decidedly sectarian work, and the class-book of the Calvinistic dissenters), in opposition to the strong remonstrances both of my respectable associate in the superintendence and myself, having left no doubt in my mind, that the truly liberal plan upon which the school was formed would no longer be adhered to, I found myself compelled to resign a charge, which I was debarred from executing with satisfaction to myself, or in conformity to the pledge I had given to the parents of the children and the public. I am, however, indebted to this disappointment for having impelled me to resume an employment, which this and other avocations had interrupted, of tracing the origin and connection of the several doctrines commonly received under the name of the gospel, which seemed most repugnant to general principles, and to the common sense of mankind; an inquiry that has convinced me, that they have, for the most part, one and the same origin. I at length dis

covered, that I had changed my church more in name than in reality; that the articles prescribed by the church of England, as the measure and test of a Christian's faith, are even more scrupulously adhered to by the generality of dissenting churches; that every troublesome and revolting opinion of the former is, in the latter, studiously selected and ostentatiously displayed, under the idea of reviving the decaying influence of piety and religion; and that, so far from having given to God and my fellow Christians a pledge to support, for the future, no religious dogmas, but to leave opinions to stand or fall by their own merit, I had unconsciously subscribed, in the one article of the church of Tonbridge Chapel, to the whole body of theology which I so much disapproved.

I shall have an opportunity in the course of these Letters to elucidate these observations, as I propose to consider some of the chief points of the religion. commonly professed by Christians of the present day. But there is a preliminary position, which it seems absolutely necessary to establish, I mean, the sufficiency of the human understanding, when not under the influence of any undue bias, to investigate such subjects for itself; and, with no greater chance of failure or mistake than is incidental to inquiries into other branches of knowledge, to arrive at some clear and satisfactory conclusions. It is possible, that there may be a great mistake in regard to the common persuasion of the hopelessness of such inquiries, which, if it could be done away, not only would

the study of religion become more easy and agreeable, but much of the reluctance and dislike, which is felt by persons, who are otherwise inquisitive and well informed, to the very mention of it, would cease. It is possible, that it never was the intention of the Creator that his revelations, given solely for our benefit and improvement, should have the effect of damping the curiosity, or paralyzing the mental energies of his rational creatures; much less of filling the minds of the conscientious and upright with doubt, perplexity, and apprehension.

The Christian revelation, at least, is described as a LIGHT given to enlighten nations heretofore strangers to genuine religion; and it is certain, that those points, the belief of which is necessary to the salvation of all ranks and conditions of men, must be very few and very plain. "A highway shall be there, it shall be called the way of holiness; the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein." (Isaiah, xxxv, 8.) But the Christian of the present day is not only deterred from inquiring into the grounds of his belief, by a notion that such a freedom bears a character of impiety, but is taught, that he must even believe contrary to the evidences of his own reason. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned, is the language in which the absolute surrender of the understanding is demanded, and the yoke of authority imposed, by too many persons, whose qualifications should enable them, and whose office demands of them rather to throw light upon the subjects they professionall▾