man's nature, these are the things which must retard, with an oppressive weight, the approach of that time, when, in the words of the sublime declaration of Jesus to the woman of Samaria, mankind "shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth."

It has not been my object, on this occasion, to set forth the arguments from reason and Scripture against the distinguishing doctrines of the Catholic faith. The unanswerable evidence of this sort has been adduced so often, and in so many forms, that the repetition of it now seems unnecessary. I have sought to fix your attention on the fact, that Popery, in all its forms, by its very constitution of doctrine, worship, and practice, and likewise all principles which agree with it in spirit, however different in name, are unfriendly to man's advancement; that they bring a counteracting influence to bear against the great law of human progress. If this be true, it is sufficient to show that they are a wide departure from that religion, which is the power of God for elevating and carrying forward the soul of man. There are doubtless institutions and forms of government, to which these errors are congenial, and to the support of which they lend strong aid.* But wherever the general mind is emancipated, and brought to feel its obligation to stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, it must seek those forms of the religious sentiment, which will encourage and provide for its growth and its self-action. No one can suppose, for instance, that the Catholic faith and worship are suited to the habits of thought among a people like ours. A member of the British House of Commons, in a speech on American affairs at the beginning of the revolution, described the religious profession of the colonies as "the Protestantism of the Protestant religion"; and if this were truly said then, it might much more truly be said now. It is too late to ask whether the minds of men ought to be liberated from restraint; that question has been already settled here; it is approaching to a similar decision in other parts of the world; and we must not leave out of sight the fact, that in order to meet this state of things, Christianity must be permitted to stand forth in the energy of its native freedom, unshackled and unembarrassed.

* Montesquieu, De l'Esprit des Loix, liv. xxiv. chap. 5.

There have been periods, in the various transitions of Christendom, when the better forms of Papal authority and worship have probably done good, by filling a place which nothing else could have filled so well at the time; as certain imperfect systems of astronomy, which had their origin in the obvious impressions of sense, were necessary steps in the progress of science, till the true theory of the heavens was established. But there is a manhood of the mind in religion, as well as in natural philosophy; and when that comes, the forms of thought or of ceremony, which were once useful because nothing better could be received, will either be abandoned or fade into powerless shadows.

Whoever reads aright the present indications of the world, must, I think, come to the conclusion, that Popery, whatever might once be claimed for its usefulness, has had its day, and must yield to the new influences that are dawning and brightening over the earth. It is not adapted to the wants of an enlightened age. A state of things is on the way, in which the fundamental principles of Protestantism must lie at the foundation of the forms which religion will take; I say the fundamental principles of Protestantism, for these are very different from the actual state in which Protestantism appears in many parts of the world, and as much better as they are different. Doubtless there will always be some, to whom religion will best recommend itself when it comes surrounded with pomp and show, connected with misty but imposing associations, and requiring of reason nothing but unconditional submission. There will be those, whose minds are too imaginative, superstitious, or idle, to have an affinity for Christianity except in the form of an excitement, like that of strong sensation, or when it merely stirs up inexplicable emotions of undefined awe, or relieves them from the obligation of personal inquiry, and from the task of forming opinions for themselves on subjects for which their mental habits have given them no predilection. It must move before their vision as a splendid pageant, or stand apart from all other things as that, before which the soul has only to bow with blind reverence. religious taste like this, formed by the unexamined impressions of education, or by peculiar habits of thought and turns of feeling, is sometimes found in men, who, on other subjects, are even distinguished by mental power and vigor

VOL. XIV.

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ous conceptions. Dr. Johnson expressed a sentiment sufficiently in accordance with the character of a mind constituted like his, when he said, "A good man of a timorous disposition, in great doubt of his acceptance with God, and pretty credulous, may be glad of a church where there are so many helps to get to heaven. I would be a Papist if I could. I have fear enough; but an obstinate rationality prevents me." * We cease to wonder at the conversion of Frederick Leopold Count Stolberg, which excited some stir in Germany, when we find that this was but an extension to religion of his habitual taste on other subjects, and that "his temperament was of a nature to crave for sensuous and external excitement, such as the ceremonies of the church of Rome supplied him withal." From Gibbon's account of his temporary adhesion to the Catholic faith, we may readily infer, that his youthful imagination was at least as much beguiled by tales of wonder, as his reason was convinced by the writings of the Bishop of Meaux. But though there are and will be minds so constituted as to be attracted towards religion only when it is made to appear dimly great by being kept in a mist, or when it is attended by the official pomp of ecclesiastical authority, yet Scripture and true philosophy alike testify, that not in this form can Christianity be expected to exercise that high moral tuition over the human race, which shall bear them ever onward in nearer and more quickening acquaintance with the pure and simple manifestations of spiritual truth.

To those who, in this our beloved and honored University, enjoy the advantages of academical education, and es

*Boswell's Life of Johnson, Vol. III. p. 381.

Foreign Review, Vol. V. p. 145. The conversion of Frederick Leopold is ascribed to family connexions and calculations of interest, in Taylor's Historic Survey of German Poetry, Vol. II. p. 103. If this be true, it may perhaps confirm the remark which has been made, that skepticism, or indifference to the whole subject of religion, in some cases prepares the way for the nominal reception of the Catholic faith. Burnet, in taking notice of the state of religion in France, under Louis the Fourteenth, says, "The method that carried over the men of the finest parts among them (i. e. the Protestants) to Popery, was this; they brought themselves to doubt of the whole Christian religion: when that was once done, it seemed a more indifferent thing of what side or form they continued to be outwardly."— History of his Own Time, year 1683.

pecially to those who are engaged in the studies preparatory to the clerical office, the views which have now been presented will not, I trust, appear unimportant. Amidst the conflict of opinions, by which our community, in its unrestrained freedom, is agitated, there is full opportunity for every form of religious thought or imagination to have its course without check or hindrance. While we prize this liberty as we ought, and consider it as founded on the only true theory of man's intellectual and moral rights, we may not forget the evils for which it leaves open room, when ignorance, fanaticism, or levity tamper with the high interests of religion. For these evils the efficient remedy must be sought, under God's providence, in the just direction and moral activity given to public sentiment by the educated and enlightened friends of truth. Here then is an obligation, which should be felt in all its power by those who pass their early years amidst the studies which open and liberalize the mind. If you would meet well and honorably the claims of the community, to whom you are to go forth, let the great cause of religion engage your best thoughts, your deepest, most permanent and generous affections; and let the spirit gathered from philosophy and classical learning be illumined and sanctified by the spirit of the Gospel. Take Christianity to your own hearts, and carry it forth into society wherever your lots shall be cast, not as the servile subjection of the mind to authority, not as the official business of the ecclesiastic, not as a code of observances, of forms, or of rites, but as the principle, the vital principle, of the intellectual and moral growth of man's nature, the sanctifying power of his spiritual being, the source of that expansion of the soul, which is the bright and beautiful dawn of endless improvement in a better world.

ART. VIII. — A Statement of Reasons for not believing the Doctrines of Trinitarians, concerning the Nature of God, and the Person of Christ. By ANDREWS NORTON. 12mo. pp. XL. and 332. Cambridge. Brown, Shattuck, & Co. 1833.

THE germ of this treatise is contained in an article, which was originally published in "The Christian Disciple" for 1819, and which was called forth by Professor Stuart's "Letters to Dr. Channing," to which, however, the Professor, it seems, did not consider it as an "answer"; for, writing to a correspondent in Scotland, under date of 8th September, 1830, he says, "In regard to the Letters themselves, they remain unanswered in my country to the present hour"! We know not precisely what Professor Stuart's ideas of an answer are; but, for ourselves, we thought the article in question, though not confined to the arguments and illustrations introduced in the Letters, contained a pretty thorough refutation of the doctrine which it was their purpose to establish. "Unitarians," continues the Professor, "build not here on the Bible!" This, we know, is the old reproach, uttered against us from the pulpit and the press, by those who think it criminal to read and hear what we preach and write, and who are satisfied to receive and propagate the vulgar accounts in which our sentiments are caricatured. But Professor Stuart ought to have known better. Such a man is entitled, we conceive, to no indulgence on the score of ignorance. If he is not informed, he knows at least where information is to be had; and he is bound, according to our old-fashioned notions of propriety, to seek it, before he writes, bound to do so, from a regard to the public, and respect for truth and charity, if not for his own reputation, and this, whether he indite theological epistles to Mr. Adam of Dundee, or engage in the perilous task of classical exegesis.

The present work of Mr. Norton, we think, will satisfy any candid mind, that Unitarians here do make some little pretensions to "build on the Bible;" that it is quite possible, at least, for a person to bring to the examination of it a mind of singular purity, deeply imbued with a love of truth, trained to habits of accurate thought, and possessing all the assistance derived from a familiar acquaintance with the writings of Christian