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ing the Word of God. And 2ndly, that so far from making war on the Lamb," or being of " one mind" with those whom Knox terms infidels, the Unitarian reverences Christ Jesus as his Master and Teacher, his Saviour, his Sovereign and his Judge: he believes, with undoubting faith, that he was sanctified and sent into the world, on the most important message of grace, by his God and Father; that he was the beloved Son of God; that he spake the words of the Father who sent him; that he hath the words of eternal life; that God gave him the spirit beyond measure; that he is the Christian's sole foundation of faith, hope and duty; that he was sent to be the Saviour of lost men, and set forth as a mercy-seat for the sinner; that in him we have redemption, through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins; that for his obedience unto death God highly exalted him, and made him Lord of the dead and the living; that at his voice all that are in the grave will come forth to life or condemnation; that he is appointed to execute judgment, and will award our dooth; and that he must reign till all enemies are put under his feet.

As stated in the reports of the late debates on the Repeal of the Test Acts, the Earl of Winchelsea declared, in the House of Lords, that "the Unitarian, the Socinian and the Infidel, hold no doctrine in common with the real Christian." Does his Lordship's "real Christian" hold none of the foregoing doctrines?-But further, Unitarians believe, and with earnest thankfulness, that it was through the tender mercy of our God that the day-spring from on high hath visited us; that it was because God first loved us, that he sent his Son to be the Saviour of the world; that he is ever ready to receive the humble and contrite, and abundantly to pardon him who forsaketh the way of wickedness; that he is the Father of spirits, and gives his gracious aids to those who seek them faithfully; though all-holy, he is "Love;" that though the righteous Judge of the earth, he is the Father of mercies and of all consolation. These doctrines must surely be held by every real Christian; and wherever they are really held, the Unitarian is " of one mind" with the believer; but whatever doctrines are inconsistent with these, he rejects as not taught by the Christian's Lord and sole authority. Many, he believes, receive in terms such opposing doctrines (and perhaps may have their minds perplexed with them), who yet in no way desert those to which his own hope clings,

that

as a dying sinner; and sitting, as they do, at the feet of Jesus, their practical belief respecting the essential love and mercy of their Saviour's God and Father is the same as his own; and the stream of living water refreshes their souls alike, though to outward appearance it may seem lost in the marsh of human systems.

Again, with respect to the worship of the Christian, the Unitarian holds, that to worship the Father in spirit and in truth is true worship; that his Master taught him, by precept and by example, to pray to the Father, and said, "In that day ye shall ask me nothing;" that the Apostles taught us in every thing to make known our wants, and for all things to give thanks unto God, even the Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; that Jehovah enjoined that we should worship no other God than himself: and that both the law and the gospel require that we should love Jehovah our God with the supreme affection of the heart, and worship him alone. And therefore, though he gladly owns it to be his duty to honour the Son with reverential obedience, and knows not how any one, with the gospel in his heart, can think on him without grateful, venerating love; though he has learnt of the apostles that he is to pray in the name of Christ, and to do every thing in his name, yet he views it as an imperative duty to confine his worship of prayer and supplication to him to whom Christ prayed, addressing HIM as the only true God, who was and is the God as well as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. On this important point, the Unitarian Dissenter leaves his fellow-christians, since he believes that they leave the Scriptures. It is a source of grateful joy to him to perceive, that where the worship is not regulated by established forms, it is gradually becoming, among all denominations, more scriptural in its direction: it is on this point that, in his judgment, the Church of England most needs reformation: and when the time comes, and come it will, when its solemn, simple and generally scriptural ritual is purified from all prayers and doxologies which do not follow the direction of Christ and the model of his prayer, then will multitudes of such as now leave it, join in its solemn services, and in its time-hallowed temples, "with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Believing with his fellow-christians "in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth;" the Unita

rian also believes, on the authority of prophets, that beside him there is no God, and that ALONE and BY HIMSELF he created the heavens and the earth; on the authority of apostles, that he is the blessed and only Potentate, the only wise God, who alone hath immortality; and on the authority of Christ himself, that he is "the only true God," and (as Moses also taught) that "the Lord our God is one Lord."-Believing not only, as all Christians in terms declare, that there is only one God, but also that GOD IS ONE, supreme, self-existent, alone eternal and unchangeable, he employs the term Unitarian as distinctly expressing this distinguishing fundamental article. In so far as another virtually holds the same doctrine, (as very many do, who hold doctrines inconsistent in terms,) he gladly recognizes him as a fellow-unitarian. Where, under the influence of erroneous modes of intepreting scripture, this capital doctrine is virtually abandoned, still he gladly offers the right-hand of Christian fellowship to every one who owns Jesus Christ as the Son of God; and he well knows that multitudes who now appear to lose sight of the declarations of Christ respecting the unity of Jehovah, and the direction of worship to the Father alone, will, not for their erroneous doctrines, but for their Christian lives, be owned by him at the last great day.

On the necessity of holiness, the holiness of the heart and life; on the all-comprehensive requirements of Christian righteousness; on the daily need of humbling penitence, of mercy to pardon and grace to help; on the sanctifying efficacy of vital, practical faith in Christ; on the universal obligation of that charity which is the end of the law of social duty, and on many other points of moment-the Unitarian rejoices to feel a full accordance with those who think him in a lost state; and he rejoices, too, in the conviction, that he is not to be judged by man's judgment, but by the word of him whose judgment must be just, because he seeketh the will of the Father. Most Unitarians of the present day receive, in the simple meaning, the declaration of Christ, when he spoke of himself as a "Man who taught the truth which he had heard of God;" and those of his apostles who spoke of him as a Man approved of God, as the Man who gave himself a ransom for all, as the Man through whom the gift by grace hath abounded to many, as the Man by whom cometh the resurrection of the dead, and as the Man whom God hath appointed to judge

the world in righteousness. And they fix on the words of the Apostle Paul, for the exact expression of their doctrine, as Unitarians believing in the proper humanity of Christ: "There is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus." Other Unitarians, however, especially among the brethren in Ireland, the United States and Calcutta, believe that, before his human birth, Christ Jesus existed in a state of great glory and happiness. All believe that he was declared to be the Son of God, not only by the express words of God himself, but also by his resurrection from the dead; all believe that he was the image of the invisible God; all believe that God hath given him a name above every name, and made him head over all things to his church; and (though they know that he declared that of himself he could do nothing, and therefore was not of himself omnipotent, and that he did not know the time when his own prophecies would be accomplished, and therefore was not of himself omniscient) all believe that He who is greater than all, was, and ever will be, with him and in him; and that, supported by his might and guided by his wisdom, the Lord Jesus Christ is possessed of all power to execute the purposes of his heavenly Father, as the Saviour, the King, and the Judge, of all mankind.

As to the fundamental and universally acknowledged principles of Protestanism-the right of private judgment, and the sufficiency of the Scriptures as the rule of faith and duty, few will dissent from the opinion of Knox, (if, indeed, he refer to these,) that they "constitute a test which will detect the presence of anti-christian sentiment, in whatever shape it exists." Whatever interferes with these, whether in the shape of exclusion from worldly advantages for departure from established doctrines, or of additions of human origin to the simplicity that is in Christ, is part of the hay and stubble which must one day be burnt up. These principles are fearlessly and fully maintained by the Unitarian. I will not enter here into the consideration of the best mode of extending them among our Catholic fellow-subjects, but will simply add, that our first duty to them is to do them justice, and then their hearts may be open to our reasonings. Give them their rights as men and citizens, and the cause of religious reformation and general improvement will advance rapidly among them. At any rate, "Be just and fear not."

When your readers have deliberately weighed the state

ments in this letter, they can scarcely be indisposed to allow the claims of the Unitarian to the appellation which will one day be the only one among the disciples of Jesus; and I hope, therefore, for their accordance and yours, when I sign myself

A CHRISTIAN.

ON THE PREACHING OF UNIVERSAL RESTORATION.

SIR, Northiam, September 1, 1828. IN reading over the Christian Reformer for 1827, I find an account of the Universalists, and their rapid progress in America, but am surprised that no mention is made of our beloved Elhanan Winchester, who, according to the statement in the preface of his second edition of Dialogues on the Universal Restoration, was almost the first preacher of that glorious doctrine in the United States. It was from hearing in my youthful days the doctrine he preached at Parliament-Court Chapel, the happiness his Dialogues gave me, and also on hearing Mr. Vidler preach his second sermon on the Universal Restoration, at Northiam, in Sussex, that I became a Dissenter, and joined the Universalist church. All who, in this country, then believed in the Universal Restoration, were denominated Universalists; but since that time they have embraced the Unitarian doctrine; so that the name in England is lost, but I wish from my heart their manner of preaching was not. When Messrs. Vidler, Wright, Bennett, and Thrussell, travelled these parts and preached up the love of God, our chapels had overflowing congregations, and I firmly believe it would have so continued if the love of God was preached up in the same manner as in those days. I know of only one who preaches on the system of Winchester and Vidler, and that is the Rev. W. J. Fox. When I hear him, which is but seldom, it brings my youthful days to remembrance, when I rejoiced to hear the love of God interwoven in all discourses; and I am well convinced if the same system is not again adopted, the churches will fade away. Thinking our American friends will be pleased to hear of the Universalists in England induces me to throw out these hints.

In the first volume of the Universalists' Miscellany, by Mr. Vidler, every one was pleased to find the names of those that had written on that doctrine, for which, and its advocates, my warmth is the same as when the first volume