"The Civil Magistrate may not assume to himself the administration of the word and sacraments, or the power of the keys of the kingdom of heaven: yet he hath authority, and it is his duty, to take order, that unity and peace be preserved in the church, that the truth of God be kept pure and entire, that all blasphemies and heresies be suppressed, all corruptions and abuses in worship and discipline prevented or reformed, and all the ordinances of God duly settled, administered, and observed. For the better effecting whereof, he hath power to call Synods, to be present at them, and to provide that whatsoever is transacted in them be according to the mind of God.” The Prince, or Ruler, may be a Roman Catholic, an Episcopalian Protestant, or an Infidel: and yet, Presbyterians declare that he has "a right to suppress all heresies-to call Synods, to preside in them, to take care that whatsoever shall be transacted therein shall be according to the mind of God-and to preserve unity and peace in the Church!” Were our excellent Queen as tyrannical as her Calvinistic subjects avow themselves to be slavish, she would speedily suppress their Calvinistic heresies, annihilate their Presbyterian Discipline, and reduce the Church to "peace and unity," under the dignified sway of Prelacy. To this, on their own principles, they could not object; neither could they complain, if she were "to use the civil sword" for the accomplishment of her designs; for, in a preceding paragraph, they say that she "is armed with the power of the sword" for such purposes. And is this merely a theory-a harmless, dead-letter chapter of the Confession? By no means. The Queen's Commissioner sits upon an elevated Throne, at every meeting of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, reads her Majesty's letter permitting the Assembly to be held, and receives, as the representative of Royalty, the obeisance of every Minister who, during the sittings, may have occasion to retire from the house! At this condition, the Irish Presbyterians have not yet arrived; but, the generosity and toleration of the Sovereign, rather than their own slavish principles, have prevented such a consummation. To-morrow, on their own showing, she might "call a Synod, preside at it, and regulate all its proceedings, according to the mind of God"—that is, according to her own views of Discipline and Doctrine! Here I leave the Westminster Confession, as it was originally imposed upon Irish Presbyterians in the year 1705, and re-imposed in the year 1840. I believe, that its contents have been little understood by any party in Ireland; and I feel persuaded, that thousands, when they see the real nature of the galling yoke imposed upon them by the Clergy, for the perpetuation of priestly power, will, ere many years shall have elapsed, "break their bonds asunder!" In this cheering persuasion, I leave the subject, in order to proceed with my Historical Details. (To be continued.) GREAT UNITARIAN CONVENTION AT PHILADELPHIA, UNITED STATES. We have received, only a few days since, the copy of the Boston Christian Register, which contains a report of this important Meeting, held in the month of October last, at Philadelphia. The report of the proceedings occupies not less than eleven columns of the Register, and embraces a variety of topics connected with the position and prospects of our denomination, of a highly interesting nature. convention commenced its sittings on Tuesday, the 20th of October, and was continued, by adjournments, until Thursday evening, the 22d ultimo. The The Rev. Dr. Parkman of Boston, was appointed President, and the meeting was addressed by several distinguished Unitarian ministers of the United States. Among the principal speakers were the Rev. Dr. Gannett, Boston; the Rev. William Furness, well known in this country as the author of a delightfully instructive tract, entitled "The Genius of Christianity;" the Rev. Mr. Osgood of Providence; the Rev. J. F. Clarke of Boston; the Rev. Mr. Farley of Brooklyn; the Rev. Mr. Muzzey of Cambridge; the Rev. Mr. Bellows of New York; the Rev. Alonzo Hill of Worcester; the Rev. S. K. Lothrop, the Rev. Thomas Hill of Waltham; the Rev. Mr. Burnap, &c. &c. These names are already well known to our readers-they are distinguished in the literature of their own country, and are familiar among us as household words." 66 The following resolutions were proposed and adopted by the Convention : 66 Resolved, That in holding our first convention in the city of William Penn, we would express our respect for his Christian character and services, our sympathy with his humane and spiritual views, and our earnest hope that they may have increasing power over the minds of Christian people, and the policy of Christian nations. 66 Resolved, That the state of morals in our country, the condition of the Christian church at large, and of that portion of it within our own field, are such as to give us deep solicitude for the future-to move us to thorough examination of our hearts and ways, and call us to a solemn consideration alike of our spiritual wants, and the means of promoting, more faithfully, the cause of Christ. "Resolved, That we insist now, as heretofore, upon the duty of all Christians to extend the Gospel and its influences throughout the world; and that, whilst we rejoice in what has been done among ourselves for the distant places of our land, and especially among the destitute of our towns and cities, we lament that so much apathy exists upon the whole subject, and would regard all that has been accomplished but as the beginning of a great work, to which we are called of God and our own consciences. "Resolved, That the members of this Convention, viewing with deep interest our fellow-labourers for the truth, the Christian Connexion, throughout our land, and now more especially in this city and state, reciprocate fully and heartily the spirit of union and sympathy expressed by them with our religious body, and desire now and always to be regarded as ready to co-operate with them in what we feel to be a cominon cause." A collation was provided for the Association, on Wednesday, in the Assembly Buildings, at which not less than five hundred persons attended. The large and beautiful room was brilliantly lighted, the tables richly loaded with luxuries, and crowned with flowers. Mr. Scholfield of Philadelphia presided; and the Rev. Wm. Furness rose, and, in behalf of the chair, welcomed the company to this large family meeting. Many spirited and eloquent addresses were delivered by ministers and others. At the conclusion of the business of the Convention, Mr. Furness, on the part of his church, thanked them all for coming, and for what they had done. He said, he felt proud of his denomination-proud of the manly freedom that had been shown-proud of the confidence that had been reposed in human nature. He bade them farewell, and prayed that God's blessing might rest upon them. A novel feature in the Convention was, that a lady was encouraged and permitted to address the meeting. This lady's name is Lucretia Mott; she is a Unitarian Quaker, or Friend, and is well known for her unwearied efforts in behalf of the slave, and in the cause of temperance. We had once the privilege of hearing this lady in Glasgow, and we shall not soon forget her clear, practical expositions of gospel truth. We are sure our readers will be gratified to peruse the following address : "LUCRETIA MOTT said, it was most unexpected to her to be permitted to speak on this occasion. I am gratified in having an invitation to speak out the truth, without clothing it in set theological language. I liked the observation of the last speaker (Mr. Hedge), especially in reference to this point. We make the cross of Christ of no effect, by the ambiguous and deceiving phraseology we throw around his precepts and doctrines. It goes to perpetuate the erroneous views which prevail in Christendom, of the divinity of Christ, and the vicarious atonement. If we could disabuse Christianity of the errors of theology, we should do much towards advancing so great and glorious a system, if it can be called such. But when preachers, for fear of losing their reputation in the religious world, speak of their faith in the divinity of Christ, and the vicarious atonement, they are retarding Christian progress, by their want of simplicity and frankness. Nothing is more fitted to impede this progress than the popular theology, the generally received systems of faith. A speaker (Mr. Clarke) has said, that we E ought not unwillingly to allow ourselves to be cut off from the body of the church. But, however vital that body may be, and she would not deny it much earnestness and worth, yet we must be willing to be separated from it, in respect to the important doctrines. But who is there of you glorying so much in that spirit of heresy in which St. Paul boastedheresy after the manner of men-who of you stands so fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, as to acknowledge the extent of their secret suspicions of views ordinarily professed? Who is ready to hold up the purity of human nature in place of its depravity? Who will speak of Christ's divinity without mystery?— who will speak of the importance of becoming Christ-like, by following his example, of that which is meant when he is called 'the Son of God, with power according the spirit of holiness,' and not of that greatness of his which is inexplicable, or involves mystery and miracle. We are too prone to take our views of Christianity from some of the credulous followers of Christ, lest any departure from the early disciples should fasten upon us the suspicions of unbelief in the Bible. But should we not feel free to speak of the narratives of those who hand down the account of Christ's mission in their true character? The importance of free thinking and honest speech cannot be over-estimated. Be not afraid of the reputation of infidelity, or the opprobrium of the religious world. We must be willing to be severed from it, if necessary; and our fruits, and not our opinions, will finally judge us. There is but one criterion of judgment, and every body knows what love, truth, mercy are! If we seek to bring forth righteousness exceeding the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, then we need fear little, though brother deliver up brother to death. It may become a small thing to be judged of man's judgment. We ought to rejoice that we are permitted to offer a pattern of Christianity exceeding the common one. We need saviours that shall be as Saviours on our own Mount Zion. How great is the mischief those false doctrines are doing, which make men depraved, and then point to the vicarious suffering of Christ! We are too prone to begin with the spirit, and then seek to be made perfect in the flesh. We clothe our thought in expressions that deceive. There is too much image-worship still practised by Christians! We are apt to proselytize to sect rather than to Christianity. It has been well said, our fathers made graven images, but we make verbal ones. God has made man after his image, and man has made God after his image. If you have had Channing and Worcester to lead you on, why are you not prepared to carry the work forward, even beyond them? My heart was made humble and tender when I came into the Convention, and saw in the chair the son of an old friend of my father-Samuel Parkman of Boston. Looking at Calvinistic Boston as it then was, and considering how Channing rose and bore his testimony, and what results followed, we may be encouraged. But let the work advance. Lo! the field is white to the harvest. There are some circumstances now tending to break the connexion between religion and death, and to substitute a connexion between religion and life. The graveyard and the church, religion and death, are not now, as they were, so closely and inseparably connected. Rural cemetries have helped to bring religion into view as belonging more to our present state than our future condition! This divine gift of religion has been bestowed rather to govern our lives than to gratify our curiosity! We are fast settling down into satisfaction with the general ignorance in relation to the future, and are no longer content to weave together a few texts about the nature of the future state, and play upon the superstitious feelings and hopes of the people, without moving them to good works. Religion is fast getting to be mingled with every day life with common goodness. The minister is ashamed to make such a use of the Bible, as shall make it a store-house of arguments against the most sacred causes of humanity: to quote from the sensualist Solomon texts in defence of intemperance, or to place obstacles in the way of those who are seeking to break the fetters of the slave, by quoting texts of Scripture to prove that slavery was a patriarchal institution! Look, too, at a woman's place in society here among ourselves. There is great zeal for the relief of Hindoo woman; but let us look at home, and behold worse than the funeral pile, the immolation of woman at the shrine of priestcraft. Has she leave to speak out the gushings of her soul? "Ah! have you, brethren, unfettered yourselves from a prejudice that is tending to immolate one half the whole human family? Some of us have not so read the Scriptures as to find warrant for the exclusive appropriation of the pulpit by one sex! I know, where I stand, I should speak with all delicacy; but shall not the time come when you will consider if a great deal too much of church machinery and ecclesiastical formality, does not mingle with your Christianity. Are you not worse than your teachers in keeping up ordinances which they would suffer to decline, and will you not soon be able to see how much more affectionate Christian institutions might be if they were not cumbered with a salaried class-how much less expensive and more efficient. I hear you speak of missionaries-I always like better that name which the excellent Joseph Tuckerman chose for himself, a minister at large. I desire to see Christianity stripped of all names and things that make it technical, of the gloomy appendage of a sect. Let it be a kingdom of God in the soul, let the inward voice speak out, and it will find a repose. I care not for the superstition of the Quaker language. I feel myself to be one of you. Let me urge you, by all that is glorious in your principles, to be faithful to them. Do not reach to build up a demure piety, but a true useful practical life. I wish there were more extempore speeches among you. Then men who work with their own hands, and labour from day to day, will pour out the gushings of their hearts upon you. If the ministry were stripped of its peculiar and special support, there would be many preachers for one, and a greater enlargement of heart in all. Brethren, hearken to the spirit. He dwelleth with you, though you know it not. It is he that walketh with you by the way. Are not the aspirations for truth, proof that we have a present God with us?" THE ANTI-SLAVERY LEAGUE. OUR readers, generally, may not be aware of the existence of this very important association. Several interesting meetings were held, not long since, in London, and the result has been the formation of a society bearing the above name. The principal speakers at these meetings were the celebrated William Lloyd Garrison, together with H. C. Wright, and Frederick Douglass, the fugitive slave from America; also, Messrs. George Thompson, London; James Haughton, Dublin; Dr. Hutton, Unitarian minister, London; Dr. Massie, Manchester; Henry Solly, Unitarian minister, Shepton-Mallet; Francis Bishop, Unitarian minister, Exeter; William Logan, Rochdale; Sidney Morse, editor of the New-York Observer; Henry Vincent, Wm. Shaen, &c. &c. The following are the principles and rules of the society, as adopted at the last preliminary meeting, at the Crown and Anchor, in the Strand: "Whereas, there are in the United States of America, three millions of the human race, held in chains and slavery, by a power which sacrilegiously usurps the proprietary right of the Creator; and whereas, these three millions of slaves, in their utter helplessness and degradation, make their appeal to the friends of humanity throughout the world; and whereas, the cause of humanity is not bounded by country or clime, nor moral obligations and duties circumscribed by geographical limitations or governmental restrictions; and whereas, the God of the oppressed, who hath never left Himself without a witness, hath raised up for the slave population of the United States friends who are nobly struggling to obtain liberty for the captive, by the prosecution of moral and peaceful measures: "Therefore, we, the undersigned, desirous of showing our 'remembrance of those that are in bonds, as bound with them;' and believing that we can essentially serve the cause of those in bondage, by acting with the uncompro mising abolitionists who compose the American Anti-Slavery Society,' do form ourselves into an association, to be called the Anti-Slavery League,' and based upon the following principles : "Art. 1. That slave-holding is, under all circumstances, a sin of the deepest dye, and ought immediately to be abandoned. "Art. 2. That members of this League shall consist of all persons subscribing to the foregoing principles, without respect of country, complexion, or religious or political creeds. Art. 3. That the sole object of this League shall be the overthrow, by means exclusively moral and peaceful, of slavery in every land, but with special reference to the system existing in the United States.'" |