sacrifices they have made for conscience' sake, do not secure them from obloquy and reproach; so that we are truly a sect every where spoken against; the spirit of persecution still prevails, and shews itself in various forms. The most unfounded charges are alleged against the whole body. Those, Sir, in your letter are of this character. You say,' As I daily read a portion of the Sacred Scriptures to my family, I cannot admit one into my household that denies the divinity of Christ, on whom all my hopes of salvation rest. This language would seem to imply, that Unitarians do not read the Holy Scriptures; and it asserts, that we deny the divinity of Christ. Sir, we read the Scriptures daily in our families, to find therein, as we hope, the mind and will of the Lord, and to discover the truth as it is in Jesus. Sir, Unitarians do not deny the divinity of Christ; they only deny his deity; and this, in accordance with his own declarations, as well as with the whole tenor of the Scriptures, which declare God to be one, and that there is none other but he; and that Jesus is the Mediator between that one God and men. We believe in the divinity of Christ, inasmuch as he was the messenger from God to sinful man, the Messiah foretold by the prophets.

"You add,

Although I am an entire stranger to you, I will, as a friend and well-wisher, in a Christian spirit, implore your most serious attention to the awful situation you are in as a denier of Christ being the Son of God'which you take for granted is the case with this young woman, because she was educated a Unitarian.-Sir, you are entirely mistaken. The whole system of the Unitarian faith is built upon this great fact, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.' It would exceed the limits of a letter to enter into a full explanation and scriptural statement of this title of the Lord Jesus; I recommend you to consult some of the many able Unitarian publications upon this subject. Excuse me if I say that I deem it your duty to obtain accurate information upon these important subjects, in order that you may not again misrepresent the sentiments of any of your fellow-christians.

"We bless the God and Father of our Lord, that if we be the consistent disciples of Christ, we also are entitled, in a secondary sense, to the high distinction and privilege of being sons of God; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ.'

"You go on to add,' If you have been bred up in such a fatal error, it is not too late to seek the truth in the words of our blessed Saviour, as recorded in the Bible used in our, the Protestant, Church.' This, Sir, is the Bible constantly used by the society to which A. belongs. It is that which all Protestants use, and from which they profess to derive their religious principles.

"The Bible, and the Bible only, is the book on which the Unitarians found their faith and hope of eternal life, which is the gift of God through Jesus Christ. Nor is there any sect who so exclusively derive their religion from the inspired word; in fact, we express our faith in the words of Scripture. For we have no formularies or creeds of man's invention to shackle our minds, or in any wise to require a prostration of our understanding at the shrine of our religion. And in this we obey the Scriptures; for our Lord says, 'Why judge ye not for yourselves?' The Apostle says, I speak as unto wise men, judge ye what I say. The Bereans also were commended for searching the Scriptures daily, in order that they might ascertain if the things which they heard were true. Holding ourselves to be responsible to our Creator for the talents entrusted to us, we feel it right, while devoting ourselves to the study of the divine word, and by prayer and supplication imploring divine aid, to call into exercise the noblest faculties we possess, that we may understand his will, and obtain grace to obey his commands. How far we fulfil the duties incumbent on us as men and as Christians, can be known only to Him, to whose all-discerning eye the secret springs of human actions are apparent.

"The Unitarians profess to worship One God in one person, the Father, conformably to his own command, ‘Thou shalt have no other God but me.' I am, and there is no other God.'I, the Lord, fill heaven and earth.' And again, To whom will ye liken me? saith the Lord.' In these passages there is no intimation of three persons in one, but all are unequivocally expressed in the singular number. I might go on to fill my paper with quotations from the Old Testament to this effect; but I will bring forward corroborating proofs in our Saviour's own words. To the Scribe's question, Which is the first commandment of all?' our Lord's answer is, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord; and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy strength. This is the first com

mandment. And the second is like, namely, this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. And the Scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth; for there is one God, and there is none other but he; and to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices.'

"How much piety, how much charity, is contained in these few words! They are an epitome of all God's requirements. Oh that the Christian world were ever under the influence of these maxims ! We should hear no more anathemas pouring out by one sect upon another for differences of opinion, but all would be candour, love and peace.

"As to the proper object of worship, our Lord determines this by his reply to the woman of Samaria: 'Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, and now is, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth; for the Father seeketh such to worship him.'

"The perfect UNITY of GOD is the leading article of our belief. On this account we are designated Unitarians, and the term is appropriate. We are sanctioned in the belief of the simple unity of God by Christ's example as well as precepts. God, the all-perfect Being, whose glory fills the heavens and the earth, and whose essence pervades the universe, was the constant object of his adoration. On all occasions he prayed to him, and acknowledged that he could do nothing of himself. He addressed this great Being in prayer, at the grave of Lazarus, in the garden of Gethsemane, and in his last moments, on the cross, whereon, in mental anguish, he exclaimed, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me!' To his disciples, after his resurrection, he said, 'I go to my Father and your Father, God and to your God.'

to my

"Christ is acknowledged by us as our Lord and Master; him we honour as the appointed messenger of God. We regard him as the way, the truth, and the life. We rejoice in him as the best gift of God. We are initiated into his

church by the ordinance of baptism, and we commemoraté his death in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper.

"I observe you say, 'If the information given me be strictly correct, your situation on a death-bed will be most appalling.' Death-bed scenes, Sir, are very uncertain criteria by which to judge of a man's future state. Life is the time to serve the Lord, the time to manifest the sincerity of our religious profession. A tree is known by its fruits. If there be any truth in Scripture, we shall be judged according to the deeds done in the body. We cannot, indeed, merit salvation by our good works; but we shall be miserably deceived if we live in the neglect of the duties required of us, expecting to be saved by the merits of another. The gift of God is eternal life to the good and faithful servant, who, though unprofitable, will be approved, through God's mercy, and crowned by his Lord, at the day of judgment.

"Before I close this long letter, I will take the liberty to add, that I wonder much that, with your views, you had not extended your compassion to the young woman whom you consider in so deplorable a state, by rescuing her at once from what you deem to be a baneful atmosphere, and transplanting her into a situation where you might have furnished her with abundant antidotes to counteract what you doubtless consider the moral poison she had imbibed. Had it been my case-did I believe as you do, I should have felt it my bounden duty to have taken her into my house; but, as it is, your refusal to receive her into your family for the reasons you allege, seems like the infliction of a penalty upon one holding religious opinions that you condemn as erroneous. Sir, it was the same spirit, wrought up into a little more fervour, and countenanced by the secular power, which in days of yore kindled the fires of Smithfield to purify the world of heresy.

"Let us, Sir, unite in prayer to Almighty God, the giver of wisdom, to guide our inquiries after truth, and to bring our hearts under its influence.

"Believe me to be,

OBITUARY.

1828. June 24, died suddenly, of an apoplectic fit, at Cranbrook, aged 49 years, PENINNAH, wife of Samuel HUGHES. She had been a member of the General Baptist Church near twenty years, and though destined to move in a humble sphere of life, where the Christian's character is often hidden, her memory will be ever dear to her eight surviving children, seven of whom she had lived to see placed out in life and it is sincerely hoped that the example and precepts of her latter years will be long remembered by them. She was a firm believer in one God, and the Saviour as the messenger of divine grace to guilty man, and hoped in the promise of eternal life through him-looking to him as the author and finisher of the Christian's faith. She was constant in her attendance on public worship, and in commemorating her Saviour's death. Her funeral sermon was preached by the Rev. T. Payne, of Rolvenden, from 2 Tim. iv. 7, 8.

Cranbrook, July 14, 1828.

July 13, at Lewes, Mrs. BROWNE, widow of the late Mr. Henry Browne, who for many years was a respectable and influential member of the General Baptist congregation, Southover. Mrs. B. was interred in the family burial-ground, at Ditchling, on Sunday, the 20th, on which occasion Mr. Valentine, of Lewes, preached a sermon, and delivered an address at the grave.

INTELLIGENCE.

METHODIST UNITARIANS.

ON Thursday, May 29, was held at Rawtenstall, the Annual Association of the Methodist Unitarians, so called from their having been formerly in connexion with the Methodists, and retaining some of their forms and plans. In consequence of the illness of Mr. Allard, of Bury, Mr. Stewart, of Todmorden, a native of Scotland, and one trained up in the doctrines peculiar to that highly orthodox country, preached in the morning, from Heb. vi. 11, 12. After the morning services the Friends retired to the Wheat-Sheaf Inn, when upwards of one hundred, male and female, partook of an excellent dinner; the price was eighteen pence, including every expense, which enabled many of the poorer individuals to join in the repast. After dinner the