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    cations , which we must often do with an achiug heart . This mode of couductitig controversy , on religious subjects especially , is not new . It has been usual , when passion becomes much excited , and is a common refuge , when argument fails . But we had flattered ourselves , that tliere had been an improvement in this respect , that men had learned to differ without

    denouncing each other , that although they could not see " eye to eye" on all subjects , they were not blinded to each other's merits , atid could regard each other's rights . We have seen controversies on religious subjects conducted with great spirit and ability , pushing the

    argument to the utmost extent , without questioning the sincerity or impeaching the character of opponents . But this is a hazardous mode of conducting the defence of a bad cause ; mere argument will not do ; what is denounced as fatal error is gaining ground , and a new mode of attack must be resorted to . A

    lamentable change has taken place ; individual character is no longer held sacred , and attacks have been made on some of the purest and best men—men of unspotted lives , whom we have beeu accustomed to venerate , whom we have beeu taught to respect , and have held up as models to our children . There seems to be an attempt making , by a brisk movement , in this way to effect what other and better means have failed to

    accomplish . Nor are these personalities confined to the living . The dead have not been suffered to rest in peace , nor their children to enjoy in quiet that good name which they have cherished as their most precious inheritance . Mr . S . referred to some instances of

    personalities 9 but said he should not attempt on this occasion to defend the reputation of the persons accused . The late beloved and highly-respected President of Harvard University had been cruelly attacked , and this under circumstances which we should suppose could excite only sympathy , when he was suffering under infirmities , and was absent from the country . The late Treasurer of the College has also been the subject of these libellous insinuations . Nor has

    the venerable Professor of Divinity escaped . These personalities have been confined to no class or profession . A distinguished member of this Association , an eminent jurist , who has always honoured us by his presence , and sometimes by hia addresses , has been the subject of severe remarks . Clergymen , who have grown grey in the discharge of their sacred du-

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    ties , are not exempt ; their flocks are told that their beloved and venerated pastors have never preached a gospel sermon , that they have always preached another gospel , and this from worldly motives . The conduct and motives of whole bodies of men have been impeached . The highest judicial tribunal of the State ,

    to which we have all looked as the ark of our safety—men who have been considered as the ornaments and blessings of the community—Parsons , Sedgwick , Sew all , and other departed and living judges , have been accused of perverting their official authority for party purposes , of making a series of decisions merely for the sake of promoting their particular religious opinions .

    To such an extent has this been carried , that even some of the framers of the Constitution have been pursued , and it has been intimated , that the late learned chief-justice a and a few others , procured by intrigue the adoption of the third article in the Convention , and by the people too , —and with admirable foresight ; for the purpose , he supposed , of making particular decisions some thirty years afterwards , when he should be chief- justice !

    And these insinuations against the purity of our judges are occasioned by a series of decisions which have been acquiesced in many years ; acquiesced in ? —which the people regard as next in importance to the Constitution itself ; which are the great security of our religious rights $ which protect the many from the controul of the few .

    Nor has the executive department of government escaped reproach . Unitarians are said to have had the address to nil all the chief offices of the State with their friends 3 while they were denying that there was any such thing as Unitarianism here ; a charge of falsehood , as well as hypocrisy and intrigue , against

    us . To such extravagant length are these suspicions and insinuations carried , that even the popular branch of the Legislature , consisting of several hundred persons , has been said to be under the influence of the mighty magicians behind the scenes .

    Should not such a course , asked Mr . S ., be discountenanced and reprobated ? What good can come from this mode of couductitig controversy ? None . It is no test of truth , and has no tendency to elicit it . Suppose all these personalities true , they furnish no argument against the truth of the doctrines we profess . Alas for Christianity itself , were it other-

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    Intelligence . —American Unitarian Association ; 739 *

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1829, page 739, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2577/page/67/