account for what would otherwise appear anomalous in our conduct, viz. retaining satisfactorily the doctrine associated with it; for, strange as it may appear, we still looked upon the Unitarians, in rejecting this point, as destitute of the main source of religious enjoyment and vitality; although we entertained feelings of respect towards them as an intelligent but a mistaken class of professing believers; but having thus simplified our creed by paring it down to a more intelligible form, as we thought, we contented ourselves with having removed almost every difficulty in the way of plain Christianity. To be stationary, however, is not the character of a searcher for truth, and therefore I have to record one step more of our progress while we remained locally united. The commonly-received notion of the intermediate state of the soul after death came under our review, and a strict examination of all the passages which had any bearing upon the point, convinced us of its incorrectness, together with that of hereditary depravity.

I now come to a crisis which requires me again to confine the account to myself, a crisis which, though at first it seemed to be adverse to my spiritual advancement, ultimately proved a negative means of stimulating my pursuit in the course of further inquiry. It pleased Divine Providence to assign to most of my brethren with whom I had been so happily in union, situations of considerable distance from myself and each other, and, consequently, I was left solus. Thus deprived of my friends, it might be supposed that I had a discouraging prospect before me in the want of their co-operating aid, and that, under such circumstances, I should be induced to return to the popular ranks. But this was not the case; for as I fully persuaded in my own mind," and had taken the apostle's exhortation of proving my own work, (Gal. vi. 4,) in this respect I could bear my own burden, and find the satisfaction from my own resources which he there describes as the result. I had seen the necessity and importance of thinking for myself in religion, and could therefore stand without human assistance, as one for whom none could be accountable to God but myself. With these feelings I took a contemplative survey of the religious world, with the diversified distinctions by which a variety of opinions had classified it. With mixed emotions of soul

was

I reflected on this state of things, and was at last brought to conclude, that under all the multiplicity of creeds and systems, the staminal parts of real Christianity must have their place and influence amongst all denominations, though more or less concealed by the briars and thorns of sectarian differences; and that, as the greater part of those who are interested in its blessings (being the unlearned) are incapable of estimating or forming a proper opinion of those disputations by which theological chicanery has so much taken the place of practical piety and Christian charity, the essentials of religion must be of so simple a nature as to be comprised in a very narrow compass, and adapted to the lowest capacity. With this conclusion in my mind I began to take a higher view of those moral virtues which it is the genius of the Christian religion so much to incul cate, and to attach so much the less importance to doctrinal opinions; and this led me to question the propriety of laying so much stress on the doctrine of atonement as the orthodox were accustomed to do; and considering the declaration of the apostle (Rom. x. 9), "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead," &c., I was quite convinced that, even if scriptural, the doctrine was not essential to salvation as an article of faith. Under this persuasion I ventured to do what before I was, through fear, deterred from, which was, (in common-place language,) to look this doctrine in the face, or in other words, to employ my thoughts in earnest on it, and ascertain whether it consisted of sound or sense; and I am confident if every one of its advocates were to do this, they would find ample reason to question its validity. By this method I found, that, as a piece of theatrical scenery which fascinates the eye at a distance, on close inspection is discovered to be only the daubings of a bungling artist, so what I had contemplated remotely, through the dazzling medium of a plausible phraseology, on minute examination I perceived was only a confused jumble of highly-coloured absurdities, too disproportioned in its parts and indistinct in its combinations to exhibit either the beauty of logical consistency or the symmetry of truth. The more I exercised my understanding in the investigation, and applied the legitimate rules of fair and analogous reasoning, the more I detected its preposterous nature; and the more I

compared one part of scripture with another, and understood what was really revealed concerning the character of JEHOVAH, the more I discovered the fallacies into the belief of which the use of imposing language had beguiled me; till a decided conviction was produced in my mind that the doctrine of satisfaction for sin was both unscriptural and unreasonable; and that the object of the Messiah's mission was to accomplish designs of mercy more consonant with the wisdom and justice of God, and which, through this predominant error, I had entirely overlooked. I am now fully satisfied with the result of my inquiries, and can read the Sacred Volume free from those involuntary and unpleasant misgivings to which a difficult system had often subjected me; and I fearlessly and heartily avow myself a UNITARIAN, with a sincere and ardent desire to honour the name by a practical regard to the distinguished moral principles and philanthropic dispositions with which it is connected.

In the process by which I have arrived at my present state of mind, let it be observed, I have regarded the Scriptures - not as a revelation which requires another revelation to make it understood, nor yet as a book which, by providing a salvo for mental imbecility and accommodating our literary deficiencies, indulges intellectual sloth and supersedes a thoughtful application-but as a revelation which, while it contains every thing with regard to doctrine and practice in as lucid, explicit, and unequivocal a way as the nature and fluctuating circumstances of human language will reasonably admit, at the same time presupposes us, as rational beings, qualified for its use by certain common preparatives, the improvement and studious employment of which are highly necessary to our proper understanding it as a connected whole, or of discerning the distinct and combined purposes for which its different parts were written. In fact, I consider that a person who cannot read, may as well expect to understand the Bible by looking into it, as one who reads it without THINKING. On this consideration, as far as my slender talent would enable me, I have acted, with an earnest concern to ascertain the import and meaning of the inspired writings; and if I am still going astray, and not in a fair way of discovering the path of truth, then I am utterly at a loss to conceive for what beneficial purpose the Scriptures are given

me, or for what end, worthy of my existence, I possess the common characteristics of a reasonable being.

With respect to the charge of being a changling which some might be disposed to bring against me, I regard it as frivolous; for on this plea the Papist is justified in remaining in that superstition and error by which the Protestants consider him deluded; and yet, if he exercises his own judgment to that effect which will convert him to Protestantism, he is received with open arms, without the least reproach for his versatility; and were I again to return to the belief of orthodoxy, the allegation would be strictly applicable; and then, perhaps, by the same party who would now bring this charge, I should be deemed as acting a laudable and consistent part. But in point of fact, I have not changed my opinions so much as I have disencumbered my mind of a load of unintelligible and contradictory theories, still retaining what of simple Christianity such a mass of perplexities had almost extinguished the light of. I have rejected sentiments which I consider human authority only warrants me to believe; but I am not aware that I have, in the strict sense, laid down one set of opinions to take up another.

It was my intention to have accompanied this account with the argumentative grounds on which I rest my convictions respecting the doctrine of atonement; but as I have protracted my communication to a considerable length, I must reserve them for another paper. At the same time, I would just refer to certain questions on this subject, inserted in the Repository for May, to which an answer was desired. These questions are expressive of some difficulties which, in the early stage of my inquiries, occurred to me as rather against the view which I have now adopted on the doctrine; but as I have since well weighed every argument and objection urged in support of the popular side, and found them considerably wanting, as well as attended with more formidable difficulties than those alluded to, I am quite satisfied in my present conclusions, though I might not meet with a solution to my questions at all; for by subsequent consideration they do not appear to affect the point at issue in any important degree. R. MILLS.

THE BIRDS OF PASSAGE.

[From "Records of Woman: with other Poems. HEMANS."]

BY FELICIA

BIRDS, joyous birds of the wandering wing!
Whence is it ye come with the flowers of Spring?
"We come from the shores of the Green Old Nile,
From the land where the roses of Sharon smile,
From the palms that wave thro' the Indian sky,
From the myrrh-trees of glowing Araby.

"We have swept o'er cities in song renowned;
Silent they lie with the deserts round!

We have crossed proud rivers whose tide hath rolled
All dark with the warrior blood of old;
And each worn wing hath regained its home
Under peasant's roof-tree or monarch's dome."
And what have ye found in the monarch's dome
Since last ye traversed the blue sea's foam?
"We have found a change, we have found a pall,
And a gloom o'ershadowing the banquet's hall,
And a mark on the floor as of life-drops spilt-
Nought looks the same save the nest we built!"
Oh! joyous birds, it hath still been so;
Thro' the halls of kings doth the tempest go
But the huts of the hamlet lie still and deep,
And the hills o'er their quiet a vigil keep.
Say, what have ye found in the peasant's cot,
Since last ye parted from that sweet spot?

!

"A change we have found there, and many a change!
Faces and footsteps, and all things strange :
Gone are the heads of the silvery hair,

And the young that were, have a brow of care,
And the place is hushed where the children played—
Nought looks the same save the nest we made.'

Sad is your tale of the beautiful earth,
Birds that o'ersweep it in power and mirth!
Yet thro' the wastes of the trackless air,
Ye have a Guide, and shall we despair?
Ye over desert and deep have passed-
So may we reach our bright home at last!