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    gland , from taking the Sacrament , as a means of obtaining any official situ--atiofi . Far be it from me to entertain or to encourage in others a feeling of uncharitableness ; I claim a brotherhood tvith all men . Bui is there no

    difference between being- charitable and being lax in your opinions ? I am charitable , because upon it depends my happiness , and the Christian religion tells me it is my duty . But I resign not , therefore , those opinions which I deem to be of importance ; I sacrifice not them on the altar of

    worldly interest . I look upon the errors of others , whether in opinion or conduct , with an eye of charity , but I hold steadfastly those which to the best of my judgment I believe to be right , whatever be the consequence .

    With some of the general observations of W . H . I agree , but there are others to which I should be very unwilling to give my assent . I agree with him in thinking that all Christian communities may adopt with

    equal propriety their own form of celebration ^ but I differ from him in opinion , that any sincere Christian can joia any other denomination of the Christian community in their accustomed form of the administration of

    this rite . Does participating with a Calvinist , asks W . H ., make me a disciple of Calvin , or with the Church of England , make me a Trinitarian ? Certainly not . The participation in the Lord ' s Supper cannot alter iuy

    opinions . It cannot make me , who am an Unitarian , really a Trinitarian . But it may make the world think that my opinions on the subject are altered , and that I , who was an Unitarian , ha ^ e become a Trinitarian , or that I

    am a hypocrite , and that , my opinions remaining the same , I have chosen to conform because conformity is my interest . I agree with W . H . in thinking that its requisites are

    brotherhood , benevolence and peace , and that it should make us disposed to embrace not only all Christians , but all men of every religion and of every country with the most heartfelt kindness . But I also think it should lead

    us to consider with the greatest seriousness , and to value to the utmost of their worth , the truths of that religion of which we thus make a public profession . " We have often had , " says W . JhL , " to deplora the taunt and re *

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    viliag manifested when gentlemen of true Dissenting principles and education have found it necessary , as a qua , lification for magisterial or other public duties , to submit to this test of Christianity . " The questions that W . H . asks at the end of his letter shew that he does not disapprove of gentlemen taking this test of Christianity as a means of getting into office . Here W . H . and I must differ .

    If Christianity be true , of which there can be no doubt , it not only must be most important to have a right understanding of its precepts and doctrines , but it must be most injurious to our characters and highly offensive to our Maker , that those precepts and doctrines should not have their utmost influence on our

    lives and conduct . Consequently , if Unitarianism be that which we consider to be , the true doctrine of the gospel , we should adhere to that belief though it may subject us to many inconveniences and be a bar to our

    entering upon offices which would afford us profit , and by which we fancy our sphere of usefulness might be extended . We should not by our conduct throw a discredit upon our

    religion , and give the world reason to believe that , though Unitarians from conviction in principle , we are no religionists , but at all times ready to abandon our faith , whenever it

    interferes with our interest . Whether partaking of the Lord's Supper according to the rites of the Church of England does not imply even more than a tacit acknowledgement of the doctrine of the Trinity in Unity and Unity in Trinity , I will

    leave to any unprejudiced person to determine merely on referring to those parts of the Common Prayer Book relating to this subject . Where do the gentlemen , whom W . H . sympathizes with , of true

    Dissenting principles and education , find the necessity of submitting to this test of Christianity ( as he terms it ) as a qualification for magisterial or other public duties ? Does imperious necessity , which has no law , command them to take office ? But if it does ,

    is not an act passed every year to indemnify magistrates and other officers from the legal penalties of tlieir discharging the duties of their station without qualifying ? The same neces-

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    154 On the Moral and Christian Use of the Lord's Supper .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1826, page 154, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2546/page/26/