to be best, under all the circumstances of the case; and therefore it cannot be said of me, that knowing whatǝds good, and doing it not, I am chargeable with sin, because I do it. P. I should be exceedingly sorry, to bring any such charge against you, or against any body else. Nevertheless, it might be well, if all would seriously examine themselves by the principle which the Apostle here lays down. If I were to urge it with some degrees of earnest-ness, 3, upon the whole Unitarian body, in reference to this subject, perhaps it would appear, that all had not been one so well as it ought to have been; and, probably, there would be found much cause for self-reproach. be L. But you are not, I hope, going to sit in judgment Yon a whole denomination.This would indeed be an assumption of power, which belongs not to man; and the individual who might be guilty of it, would justly merit the reproof of our Saviour, Judge not, that ye be not judged." P. Don't be too hasty in your conclusions, lest you should judge. I do not intend to do any thing of the kind. But I would remind you of a few facts, which you appear to have forgotten, and which may assist y you and others to judge yourselves. sd fris grob to genitoob iftiw beguedo or (To be Continued.) od; bez of adw

sive ng at lavs 2010l. 18 Teilt armus jeg op I A 09THE CHRISTIAN PIONEER.dona vm of viggs 108065 Eb707 zaltzog oft moqu bebauoł Om embal or GLASGOW, October 1, 1829.

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Christian peace, and

by

THE special Meeting of the Synod of Ulster, was held at Cookstown, on Tuesday, August 18. The Assembly was not so numerous as usual; most of the individuals who object to the inquisitorial overtures of the Synod, being, by general agreement, absent. The motives which induced the friends liberty not to appear at C Cookstown, were, their love of the desire that the spirit of benevolence might not be personal bickerings. And peace we we value, and volent temper of the gospel would we ever cherish: but there are better things even than peace, particularly than peace with error, truce with corruption; there is Christian freedom and Christian truth just views of the character of the Almighty Father heartcheering sentiments of human nature. If these can be held, can be disseminated, at the same time peace with our brethren be maintained, it well; but held they s should be, spread abroad they ought to be at any risk, at every hazard. It is a strange ǝ and inconsistent idea to suppose, that the glad tidings of salrivation, mentak emancipation, and the claims of a Father to the avgusć Lukw bymuita a b99a87b6 sved I

love and adoration of his creatures, cannot be advocated, excepting with personalities, odious and disgusting Surely we may q hate the error though we love the man who embraces it, and may/ earnestly contend against doctrines, whilst we respect and esteemu the individual who holds them. "The intelligent inquirer" ad~9 mirably observes Dr. Southwood Smith, in his invaluable treatise on the "Divine Government,” “will have made but little progress + in his religious investigations, before he learns the necessity of distinguishing between rectitude of character and excellence off system, between the malignant tendency of a creed and the beab nignity of the heart which embraces it. Neither justice nord charity can exist, unless this distinction be constantly kept up, and it is because it is so seldom made, that justice and charity are, among theologians, scarcely any thing but a name." And surely justice and charity might have been evidenced in the lan guage and actions of those who uphold the Bible in preference to the Westminster Confession, even though their opponents, whether){ in words or conduct, violated them both. In that spirit of freedom? for which our friends contend, we must, therefore, express our o convictions, that in absenting themselves from the meeting at t Cookstown, they did wrong. They missed the opportunity, whiche to them, probably, may never again occur, not indeed of converting * the Synod from its errors-we expect not grapes from the bramble bush nor figs from thistles but of vindicating in that Assembly! the sacred principles of Christian truth and freedom of rendering bigotry odious, if not ashamed of enlightening the public mindof allaying, if not removing public prejudice and in spreadingTMTM abroad, by means of the Press, those sacred principles which they deem worthy of all-acceptation. Now, motives will be imputed to their conduct, which could not, in that case, have been assigned. A minority they would still have been, but it would have been a minority to whom public sympathy would more generally andu strongly have attached. Whilst separated by intolerance from scenes in which they had once delighted, and from friendships which they had formerly enjoyed, they would have had this for their consolation and encouragement, that the testimony which they uplifted in the hour of separation, was for charity, justice, liberty, and truth; that testimony would have made thousands think; the progress of liberality and kindly feeling would thereby have been advanced, and it would have consecrated their motives and objects in the minds of all who wish well to the purification and enlightenment of humanity. no tro 1001

As the case of Mr. Ferrie mainly occupied the attention of the Synod when met at Lurgan, and as it was fully reported in our b third volume, p. 430-452, we notice the resumed (proceedings. respecting it first. *) Dik

1

The Committee appointed at Lurgan, to inquire into Mr. Feriş rie's religious opinions, gave a report of their proceedings. Several letters were read from certain Ministers and Professors in Scot-{ land, in reply to applications from the Committee, but none off them contained any positive information. Letters were also readto from Mr. Ferrie, in which he stated that he was most anxiousUP

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to give everybexplanation, and vás he had never knowingly®! preached any things contrary to the doctrines" contained in the Westminster Confession of Faith, he was ready, as the most likelyd method of giving general satisfaction, “again to subscribe it, as an evidence that he still believes it to contain the doctrines of ours holy religion." In consequence of this, the Committee resolved, that “the proposal now made by him, solemnly to renew his subscriptions to the Westminster Confession of Faith appears so reasonable, that we recommend it to be accepted, provided it bef done in a satisfactory manner, in presence of Committees from both Synods," (the Synod of Ulster, and the Reformed Presby terian Synod.) ****

"

We feel impelled to place in juxta position with this voluntary offer, as John Milton has it, to "subscribe slave, and take an oath withal, which unless he took with a conscience that would retch, she must either strait perjure or split his faith," the fol lowing language and act of the Rev. William Porter, the Clerk of the Synod. Mr. Porter rose, but it was some time before he could! obtain a hearing. The Moderator and many of the members at tempted to persuade him from addressing the house, anticipating what he was about to say; and begged him not to come hastily to any determination, but to let the Synod judge. It is now, said Mr. Porter, rendered necessary, by what has fallen from some gentlemen, that I should state to you clearly my own determination." The present is not a convenient time for you to choose a succes-" sor to me in office, and I'am anxious to prevent any embarrass- " ment on my account. In shall, therefore, during the ensuing year, discharge the duties peculiar to my situation, with as much zeal and attention as I ever did. I shall attend your "next" meeting, and reads yours Minutes. I shall give every facility in'' my power to the man whom you may appoint to succeed me; and I shall them retire from my situation as your Clerk." "To me the emoluments of my office are a matter of some consideral? tion; but, under existing circumstances, I must endeavour to live without them. The God in whom I trust will support me through the difficulties of life. Confiding in him, therefore, I shall thankfully resigns my situation into your hands; for it is not possible that I should continue from year to year, hearing those principles abused, which I most conscientiously hold, and those opinions, which I believe to be founded on the Word of God, characterised by the worst of epithets.

"Look on this picture, and on this." We confess we do look on them, with mingled feelings of melancholy and exultation. The dispute respecting Mr. Ferrie, has been repugnant in all its aspects; the attack and the defence we have alike disapproved, with the exception of the admirable, manly, and Christian reply of one of the Managers of the Belfast Institution Dr. Thomson. That was worthy of the spirit and views of one of its earliest advocates,↓the plated Dr. Drennan Even Mr. Montgomery, we presume, from being unduly moved by the "cunningly devised fables"? of Mr. Cooke and others, lost sight of the true grounds of defence, {* and odeviated into personalities, sin which he should have been

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aware he had no chance with election of Mr. Ferrie; not alone on might he have e vindicated the nents. How triumphantly

the grounds of superior qualification and testimonial, but on the laws of the Institution, which require from the Professors a pledge, that they will not inculcate their peculiar theological views on the minds of the students. How might he have appealed to that liberality, whose latent flame may be lighted up in every human breast, and have protested with all the force of his manly and indignant eloquence, against the Presbyterian inquisition, that would attempt to "probe the breast" of any individual. What a glorious opportunity was it, of vindicating rational and scriptural views of man and God, and of showing that an anti-Trinitarian, was, above all others, from the very nature of his faith, the best qualified to teach rational, clear, and enlightened views of mental and moral Philosophy. But instead of this, we had ass assertions as to the impropriety and injustice of supposing a man to be heterodox, who had once signed an orthodox creed, and had been Chaplain to a Scottish University, although, if Mr. Montgomery's former Synodical speeches were correct as to the facts he stated, there was in the supposition neither impropriety nor injustice. And if newspaper reports speak true, we had also the strange assertion, given, too, as an appeal for orthodox forbearance, that if Mr. Ferrie were proved to be a Socinian, it would injure his reputation, and blight his prospects for life! We marvel much that Mr. Montgomery did not recollect," t, that though Scotland and Ireland should so far set their faces against any conscientious inquirer, as to cast him out of their synagogues for imputed Socinianism (we should have named it Unitarianism, for Socinianism has no existence), yet still England and Wales were open for an honest man, and the broad continent of America spreading forth her ample bosom, a refuge for oppressed and persecuted conscience. We know, too, that Scotland, and, perchance, even calumniated and ill-used Ireland, would afford a livelihood to so fearful a heretic; and, at any rate, conscience must be obeyed and truth advocated. The consequences may safely be left to a higher and better power than man; and Mr. Montgomery himself, in the conclusion of his address to the Synod at Lurgan, never more truly re-echoed the voice of fact and of Christianity, than in saying, "He that catereth for the sparrow, will not let the children of the sufferer for conscience' sake come to want.

We are not acquainted, personally, with Mr. Ferrie's theological sentiments. If his views on the comparative wisdom of Solomon and Adam, and on the principles on which man is accountable for his belief, be in accordance with the Westminster Assembly's Catechism, and be such as to satisfy the Professor of Divinity in the University of this City-if he "never knowingly preached any thing contrary to the doctrines" of the Confession of Faith, then may he, if so he choose, in good faith and honesty, offer again to subscribe it. But if, like a ff" there be much virtue" in that word "contains"if like an individual of whom we have heard, who, on being asked if the Assembly's Catechism contained his belief, replied, "Yes, and a great deal more," the word be not 91 94sim on edano 979d1e9lqisang evolgilst bas lexom eid

used in a similar sense-if Paley's equivocating chapter on conformity and subscription have been the instructor, and the man who could "not afford to keep a conscience" has been imitated, then are we furnished with another instance of the baneful effects of Church Establishments-of creed imposition; and our pity is excited, that a man of talent and benevolence should have degraded himself by the unholy sacrifice. How much more manly, how much more consistent with the principles of the Belfast Institution, to say nothing of the spirit of Christianity, would it have been in Mr. Ferrie, to have replied to the arrogant and inquisitorial inquiries of the Committee of the Synod of Ulster, "I have been elected to the Chair of Moral Philosophy, by the votes of the proprietors of the Institution—that Institution is open to all denominations—it is not sectarian, it is not bound down by creeds-the Professors are not required to be of one faith, but they are required not to teach their peculiar religious sentiments-I will strive earnestly and indefatigably to fulfil my peculiar duties-those duties relate to Moral Philosophy, not to Divinity-to the Bible, I willingly and cheerfully declare, that I adhere; but at the dictation of any body of men, and particularly at the command of that which has not elected me to the place I am called to occupy, I owe no allegiance, and cannot give up my individual judgment.'

The present result of Mr. Ferrie's offer, was such as he might naturally have anticipated from the parties. He might have seen, that nothing but his absolute prostration, his giving himself up, bound hand and foot, soul and body, would satisfy such persons as Messrs. Cooke, Dill, and Carlile. There was evidently a bitter personal feeling, strong and exasperated disappointment, at the bottom of the whole matter. Though the Committee appear to have been willing to go through with this affair of subscription, yet not so the Synod. After a lengthened discussion, their decision was, "That the doubts of this Synod, concerning the orthodoxy of Mr. Ferrie, being still unremoved, our Committee be directed to continue their correspondence with that gentleman, and take such other steps as they may deem most effectual, in order to ascertain his religious sentiments and fitness for the office of Professor; that our Committee be empowered to act in conjunction with the Committee of the Reformed Synod; and that, in the event of the doubts of our Committee being still unremoved, they be empowered, in conjunction with the Committee of Theological Examination, to adopt such measures as to them shall seem meet, in order to provide instructions in Moral Philosophy, during the ensuing session, for the students of this body." The whole matter brings more forcibly to our minds, that Scripture, which cannot be too thoroughly learned, nor be too steadfastly adhered to, especially in religious profession and practice, "He who walketh uprightly, walketh surely.'

We gladly turn from this melancholy exhibition of unholy passions, to the truly noble and disinterested conduct of Mr. Porter. Here is a sacrifice worthy of the purity of his faith, speaking volumes as to the integrity of his heart, the genuine soundness of his moral and religious principles. There can be no mistake here.