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    war greatly enlarged the year following , which was spent in Holland iii assisting Dr . Gilbert Gerard * the boo of the professor , in his pulpit duties in Amsterdam . It was no part

    of the son ' s feeling , nor of his policy , to conceal his . Christian principles . * He * without scruple , always avowed himself a Unitarian , spoke of his father as without doubt a Unitarian in the

    strictest sense , and expressed his belief that a large portion of the clergy of the north of Scotland were of the same opinions . At that time there were eight Scotch Churches paid by the Dutch Government , with a view to encourage the Scotch factories , and

    most of the gentlemen who did the duty of those churches , were thought to be Unitarians . Of one of those gentlemen * who has since distinguished himself by his treatise on the Government of Providence , and the Love of God , and by carrying off the rich

    prize at Aberdeen , I am clear in my recollection that he was regarded as anenlightened and a decided Unitarian . A very particular intimacy which subsisted between him and my friend , makes it , I think , impossible that I should lie here under a mistake . I

    * There are more ways of dispatchingit dog besides hanging- him 5 " and my friend Dr . G . Gerard employed an ingenious hut novel way of teaching * the'doctrines of the Dutch Catechism to his

    congregation . This Catechism is divided into fifty-two sections , each section containing 1 two or more questions , with texts of Scripture under each answer , to support the doctrines they teach , which are highly Calvinistic . It is expected that in every cliurch of the Dutch Establishment one

    of those texts shall he preached from in tlic afternoon of the appointed day ; thus providing' a sure means of the peculiar doctrines of their church being- steadily and systematically taught . The Doctor comtinued to teach them , agreeably to his instructions . But how ? After having

    done ample justice to the orthodox : view of the subject , he added , ( C But there are parties in the Christian Church , who give a different interpretation to these words , " Sec . and then proceeded to the other side of the question , leaving- his hearers to make

    iheir own inferences . How far this wm an honest plan of proceeding , your readers will , judge- He did , perhaps , all he could to enlighten the people , as fits father had long 4 one to enlighten the clergy of the laud of c * kes .

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    cannot tell whnt are that learned Professor ' s views of Christianity at the present time . Mr . William Frend , i » his Letters addressed to the Bishop of Lincoln , very ingeniously describes the manner in which a special pleader may be led by the powerful influence

    of gold to change his views on a sub * ject of legal debate ; how a deceitful hypocrite may go , from sighing and groaning at the Tabernacle , with a view to carnal profit , to sigh and sob at the conviction of her own infamy ; and how Archbishop Seeker might have been conducted to a

    conscientious belief of all that is necessary for the discharge of the high duties of Lambeth * Palace . I admire the ingenuity of his apology , and readily sabscribe to his conclusion , that , " when the whole turn of the mind has been

    bent one way , it is not irrational to suppose that the united powers of fees , of rank and of credit , led him at last to believe that every thing he uttered was the truth and nothing but

    the truth . ' * In a similar manner , the learned Professor at Aberdeen may have been brought to think somewhat differently now from what he thought twenty years ago *

    At the period to which 1 refer , the Church of Scotland was nearly in the same state as the Church of England is now . The greater part of the clergy studiously avoided all subjects of controversy , and preached sound moral discourses . What is the present state

    of their clergy it is not in my power to assert ; but , I apprehend , it might easily be learned froui our Unitarian brethren now in Scotland , or from others who have recently studied in their Universities . Some intellige nce ^ of a later date than what it is in my

    power to give , would , I think , be acceptable to your readers , as to the present state of the Scotch Church * I cannot suppose they have gone back : it is probable that truth still spreads ; though , under the influence of a strong preventive check , it is not so bold as it should be . I . W .

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    346 Inquiry respecting Cappisril *

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    KM ^^ paax Sir , March 22 , 1818 , UPON perusing the Ecclesiastical History , one cannot but be struck by the infinite variety of opinions and shades of opinions , that have sprung up in the Christian church . I was

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1818, page 326, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2476/page/38/