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    will be seen that this distinguished foreigner by the acuteness of his reasoning , and the accuracy and even elegance of his style , is no mean opponent . On the other hand , the inherent and inextricable absurdity of the Calvinistic ¦

    scheme has seldom been more strikingly apparent than on this occasion , when an emineat Christian Missionary who has all his life been familiar with such questions , has , in several of the inost material points , so evidently the worst of the argument . We axe not

    indeed prepared to say , that Ram jVfohun Roy ( like some in our own country who are , nevertheless , sincere Christians ) does not understate the importance and necessity of the

    doctrinal parts of the New Testament : but this is ( in both cases ) the very natural result of the false and irrational views which have been given of them , and the undue heat and animosity with which those views have been defended .

    It was stated by the late lamented Dr . Thomson of Halifax , who first directed the attention of our readers to Ram Mohun Roy , that he was instituting an inquiry to ascertain whether the Doctrine of the Trinitv is the

    Doctrine of the New Testament . The inquiry , it will be seen , has not terminated in favour of that doctrine . He is plainly a firm and zealous Unitarian . May we be allowed to add , the cognomen of Christian ? To this very interesting question we should be most

    happy if any one , personally acquainted with Ram Mehun Roy , would afford more satisfactory information than is at present before us . He appears eminently possessed of the spirit and temper of Christianity : does he partake in its hopes ? Is he expecting the

    return of the great Saviour of mankind , to fulfil his promises ? If it should be found , that he has wanted a proper statement of the principles of Unitarianisrn to complete his conviction of the truth of Christianity , we apprehend that the Unitarians will blame

    themselves for not having taken a more active share in missionary labours H . . T . Art . II . —Views of Society and

    Manners in America ; in a Series of Letters from that Country y to a Fnend in England , during the * W , 1818 , 1819 , 1820 . By an Englishwoman . 8 vo . pp . 534 . Longman and Co . 1821 .

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    f ^ HIS is a very spirited and well-JL written book . It may be recommended as an antidote t ® some recent poisonous misrepresentations of the people of the United States of America . The " Englishwoman" is

    partial to our Trans-atlantic brethren ; but if rumour assign the work to the right person , her character is a voucher for the truth of her pictures , which bear indeed internal evidence of substantial accuracy . She has collected many interesting anecdotes of the Americans ,

    and she relates tjiem with great vivacity . With all her prepossessions in favour of that people , she is not blind to their failings : her love of liberty leads her to view the slavery that prevails in the southern states with becoming

    impatience ^ and she concludes her volume with wishing that the Americans may realize the conviction lately expressed to her by their venerable Presidentthat " the day is not veiy far distant when a slave will not be found in

    America . " We copy one entire letter , ( the xxivth , ) entitled , ' ¦* Religion—Temper of the different Sects—Anecdotes . " " New York , March , 1820 , "My dear Friend , " Yes , it is somewhat curious to see how travellers contradict each other .

    One says , things are white , and another , that they are black ; some write , that the Americans have no religion , and others , that they are a race of fanatics . One traveller tells us , that they are so immersed in the affairs of the Republic as not to have a word to throw at a stranger ;

    and another , that they never think about politics at all , and talk nonsense eternally . ***** may well ask , what he is to believe ; but lie flatters me too much if he be willing to refer the matter to my decision . He niay argue thus however for himself . If the Americans had no

    religion , it is to be presumed that they would have no churches : and if they were a race of fanatics , it is equally to be presumed , that they would force people to go into them . We know that they have churches , and do not force people to go into them , nor force people to pay for them , and yet they are paid for , and filled .

    " It is impossible to apply any general rule to so wide-spread a community as this . Perhaps Selden's were the best : ' Religion is like the fashion . One man wears his doublet slashed , another laced , another plain , bat every man has a doublet . So every man has his religion

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    Review . —Viewi of Society and Manners in America . 485

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1821, page 485, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2503/page/45/