PREFACE.

THE following Letters constitute the author's part of a real and amicable correspondence, which took place between himself and his friend, to whom they were addressed, in consequence of a remark accidentally made in conversation, that the words of our Saviour (John x. 30), "I and my Father are one," prove the trinitarian doctrine of his equality with the Father, which the author denied, and maintained that the whole of the dialogue between our blessed Lord, and the Jews, of which this text forms a part, taken together, proves the contrary. They were written without any intention of publishing them; but having been shewn to another friend of the author,—of whose judgment he has a very high opinion, and to

whom the world is indebted for several most valuable theological works, for him to see, whether the author, who has not been accustomed to controversies of this description, had made any material mistake, or mistatement, which ought to be candidly acknowledged, and retracted, he recommended their being made public, as likely to promote the interests of religious truth. If it be probable that this effect will result from their publication, in however small a degree, the author knows it to be his duty, to lay them before the public; and has therefore determined to commit them to the press, trusting that reasonable allowance will be made for his not being a theologian by profession.

He has designated himself only by the profession to which he belongs, his arguments, and not his name, being all that the public are concerned with: and he has called himself, another Barrister, merely to distinguish himself from an ingenious member of the same profession, who some years since published many valuable letters on various religious subjects.

Having occasionally made use of the word sect, in the course of the following letters, he

begs leave to disclaim having ever adopted it in the confined, and illiberal, sense of it, which renders it a term of reproach. He well knows, that in this sense, all the members of every church, of which the Christian world is composed, may be considered by turns to be sectarians by the narrow-minded and bigoted individuals of other churches. In this sense a member of the Church of England will be deemed a sectarian the moment he sets his foot on the north bank of the Tweed, as will any member of the Church of Scotland, whom he may bring back with him, as soon as he reaches the opposite bank of the same river and should they chance to travel further together, and cross the Channel, on landing upon its southern shore, they would both be denominated sectarians by our Roman Catholic neighbours. Here if they were to associate to themselves some honest Frenchman, and take a longer journey to the north, inclining somewhat to the east, they would arrive in a Christian country, in which they might travel seven thousand miles, and be all three considered sectarians,

during the whole of their progress. The author has therefore invariably used the word in its more enlarged, and as he conceives, correct,

sense, in which all the Churches of Christendom, whether differing in doctrine, or form of church government, whether national, or otherwise, are sects, or divisions, constituting altogether, the truly catholic, or universal church of Christ.

He wishes it also to be understood, that he considers Unitarianism, as such, to have nothing to do with any particular form of church govern ment. Different nations, and individuals, always have, and perhaps ever will, entertain different opinions upon this subject, and the Unitarian, like the rest of his fellow Christians, will of course determine for himself.

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