bling influence of a pure and scriptural faith, because the path of free and independent inquiry is hedged about with danger; because the moment they incur the imputation of heresy, they are subjected to contempt, reproach, and dread of desertion and want, evils involving themselves, their wives, and their children.

Such, as thousands, we repeat, are ready to testify, is the spirit of Orthodoxy, as it has of late years, manifested itself in this country. And will Prof. Stuart say, that this is not essentially a persecuting spirit? Will he undertake to say, that the representations we have made, are wholly fanciful? that they have no correspondence with reality? If so, we should despair of convincing him by the strongest array of facts.

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But, he affirms, we [Orthodox christians] are abused and slandered!' I know of nothing in any recent Orthodox publications, which can well compare with the reiterated charges against us, by Unitarians, from the pulpit and the press!' We are truly sorry for the Professor's memory, and must beg leave to refresh it by two or three quotations and references. We know not whether publications bearing date eight or nine years back, come within his description of 'recent.' If not, we ask his pardon for introducing the following extracts. The first is from the farewell Sermon of the celebrated Dr Mason, to his people, on leaving New York, and is not of very old date. He speaks of Unitarians as belonging to that "rank of traitors, who miscal themselves liberal Christians.""

'Against these men,' says he, 'I have ever warned you, as the enemies of our Lord Jesus Christ, and all that is valuable in his religion, and peculiar in his salvation. I know well that this congregation is considered by them as the very focus of what they

term bigotry; and I do rejoice that thus far I and you have been counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. Long may it continue so! Long may it be thought a hopeless case to attempt to bring you over to the fellowship of devils. Though I would uot slander the devil; he promotes his work as the destroyer, not by tempting men to his belief, but by porsuading them to embrace what he does not believe; what is too coarse and abominable for hell itself, and what the philosophical christians shall find to be so, when they get to their own place. The pretences of these men toi kindness, and candor, and love, are all hollow, They mean to "make proselytes of you, and two-fold more the children of hell than themselves. O keep at a distance from them! Furthest from them, and their charity, is best. Come not near their ice, never to be melted, but in that fire which shall not be quenched.'

The following is from Dr. Miller's 'Letters on Uni tarianism.'

You are prepared, I hope, to decide promptly, and without wavering, that they [Unitarians] are by no means to be considered as christians, in any scriptural sense of the word; that their preaching is to be avoided as blasphemy; their publications to be abhorred as pestiferous; their ordinances to be held unworthy of regard as christian institutions; and their persons to be in all respects treated as decent and sober deists in disguise. Their congregations, evidently, ought not to be called churches, nor their ordinances considered as valid; and these things being so, you ought to regard a proposition to go and hear them preach, or to read their publications, as you would a proposition to hear a preacher of open infidelity, or to read an artful publication of a follower of Herbert, or of Hume,'

But we will come down nearer to the present time. We suppose that the Professor knows of a certain 'Orthodox publication,' called the Spirit of the Pilgrims.' Report makes him one of the contributors. And what is the language of this publication? We will not pollute our pages with formal extracts. We will simply refer to a few classes of offences charged on Unitarians in that bold, bad,' work. And first, we would

*

call the Professor's attention to the attempt pertinaciously made to fasten on them the stale charge of universalism.' Is he ready to say that no injustice is done us, by this imputation? Yet he must know that the charge has, for some time back, been reiterated, in the work alluded to, as often at least as once every two or three months, for the gratification of the lovers of scandal. But this is not enough. We are infidels,' say they. We 'fall clearly on the side of the infidel.' We are laboring to subvert christianity, and substitute in its place a sort of 'German Naturalism.' We give up the bible.' This continues to be a constant theme of abuse, on which the conductors of the Spirit of the Pilgrims' have, of late, contrived, in defiance of all decency, to serve up an article in almost every number.† And is there no injustice in this? No injustice in classing Unitarians of the present age with the Tindals, the Morgans, and the Bolingbrokes, of former days? Yet this, as the Professor must be aware, is done. Not satisfied with abusing the living, they have slandered the dead; and Wakefield, and Priestley, and Whiston, and Chillingworth, and other departed worthies, must descend to take their place in the herd of infidels. Not only has Unitarianism been denounced, but the character of its advocates has been assailed. They are charged with disingenuous artifice and hypocrisy, with 'a disposition to conceal their

* See a long article on this subject, in the number for April, 1830. + See particularly the numbers for Oct. 1629, and January, February, and August, 1380.

Spirit of the Pilgrims, January, 1830. § lb. Dec. 1829.

sentiments, to equivocate, to evade, and even to deny them when questioned.*AN

2

These and similar charges, form, in truth, the very staple of the work referred to. The indecency and grossness of its attacks on Unitarians, as a body, are proverbial. Nor has it spared individual character. In proof its wantonness, we had almost said its malignity and profligacy, read, if you have patience, the long string of cold, and heartless sarcasms contained in a Review of an article on Associations, in the Christian Examiner, for Sept. 1829.♪† La Bad zomoɔ Yet all this, it seems, goes with Prof. Stuart for nothing. We are slandered we are slandered!' says he. We allege before the world that we have been slandered and abused!' I know of nothing in any recent Orthodox publications, which can well compare with the reiterated charges against us by Unitarians! Could Prof. Stuart write this without a blush? Such hardihood of assertion is really astonishing.

C

1

L

There is much more that is objectionable in the Letter before us. For instance, speaking of religious liberty in the name of the Orthodox generally, Prof. Stuart expresses an opinion, that there are two classes of persons, who should be subjected to civil disabilities, to an abridgement of the rights of citizens,' on the ground of religious opinions, and they are Atheists, and Universalists, neither of whom, it seems, can, in the view of the Orthodox, feel the obligation of an Malam 10 ting- all go zabit proginal si al * Spirit of the Pilgrims, March, 1830. grims, March, 1830. p. 124.

t Ib. March, 1830.

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path, and to whom, therefore, it is mere mockery' to administer it, either as a witness, or as a magistrate.' But we cannot at present, extend our remarks.

The

Letter is full of complaint, and abounds in rash and unfounded assertions.

Th

The Professor's sensitiveness on the subject of the rapid diffusion of liberal sentiments, betrays him into some observations of rather an amusing character. He cannot talk of the efforts of Unitarians, to propagate their views, with any sort of patience. He becomes heated on his very approach to the subject. What seems to distress him as much as any thing else, is, that these horrid Unitarians,' have dared to ⚫ traverse the regions of the West and South, in our own land, and forestall the efforts of the Orthodox there.' Forestall the efforts of the Orthodox!" Really, we were not before aware that the South and West' had been given in promise, to the Orthodox,' and that we are encroaching on their rightful domains, every time we, or any of our friends traverse those beautiful and fertile regions. But we suppose we should have waited till the Orthodox' had first planted their dogmas there, and all along the valley of the Mississippi, and beyond the rocky mountains, have rivetted on the human mind, the chains of a gloomy and debasing theology. We might then, perhaps, have been permitted, now and then, to show our heads there, on condition that we should not attempt to disturb the existing order of things.

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In the foregoing remarks on the spirit of modern Orthodoxy, we have not meant to be severe.

We are

not conscious of having spoken in a tone of harshness.