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    throw © the Church of England into contempt "»—Froni the Birmingham Journal , Saturday , October 10 , 1829 . When the acute and sagacious Franklin recommended the careful Parisians to economize , not by using ; lamps instead

    of candles , but by enjoying the clear light of day instead of either , and gravely announced his discovery , that for six month 3 in the year the sun actually rose at or before sice o ' clock in the morning ; his drift was clear , and his admirable satire on the foolish waste of the hours

    of day-light was instantly understood . Bnt here is a case in which a discovery , almost similar , is made in sober sadness , and is , with philanthropic earnestness , promulgated . Oh , that all would consent to expatiate in the free radiance of reason and revelation , instead of perversely groping their way by the blinking glimmer of human creeds and articles !

    The ' * Birmingham Journal " be it premised , is a newspaper conducted on what are technically called High Church and King principles ; its editor delights to follow the " Standard'" in its vituperation of all that is liberal , and was , as may be imagined , especially opposed to the progress of Catholic Emancipation * Like the Standard , too , it is , I am free to allow , conducted with considerable talent .

    From such a quarter , then , we have the following points voluntarily , deliberately , and distinctly stated aud admitted : First , that-on the subject of the Unitarian faith , the mass of mankind are singularly and grossly ignorant . Secondlv , that Unitarians differ , essentially and totally , from Socinians .

    Thirdly , that Unitarianism , as exhibited in the form of worship offered to public notice , approaches what was the original * and what the writer evidently considers the true orthodoxy of the Church of England . Foukthlv , that Unitarians do by no means reject or deny the Saviour ; but that they do actually address their prayers and supplications to their heavenly Father through him .

    Fifthly , that the Umtarian doctrine is , by all rational Christians , to be preferred to that of a certain class of persons forming a large proportion of the Established sect itself . These positions 1 consider ( with one exception ) of prime importance , and shall briefly discuss them seriatim * First , as to the lgnot < mce avowed by the Joqrnalist—f sincerely believe th-at

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    such was the benighted state of his own mind , until enlightened by the perusal of the Old Meeting Liturgy ; and with equal fervency [ hold that similar confusion prevails in the minds of the majority of those of other sects and parties , nor least in those who are loudest in

    their revilings of Unitarianism . When Lord Eldon asked , in the House of Lords , " What is a Unitarian ?* ' I am convinced that he put the question in its simplest meaning , and that the first law officer in the land was really and truly as ignorant of the Unitarian faith as he was of the Rosicrucian Mvsteries ! This

    perverse absence of information is extremely annoyiug ; but how shall the " Egyptian darkness" be removed ? Unitarians may declare and explain their doctrines from the pulpit , they may avow them in their public prayers , but these modes present nothing permanently tangible . A solitary Calvinist may enter one of our places of worship , and at the close of the service exclaim , " I had no idea till now , that you believed in Jesus

    Christ ! * But the conviction goes uo further . Books of controversy , too , may be published , but they are little read by the opponent party . To me all this is a main and valid argument for the general use of a liturgy . The pages of such a work are open to and legible by all , and would be seen by many not of our communion . To these records we may point and irresistibly appeal from the bigotry and iguorauce of those who charge us with want of belief in divine revelation .

    It is the second of my divisions which I consider of minor importance ; it is , iu fact , only a part of , and consequent on > the first . I shall not occupy a line in elucidating the Sociuiau Creed . Suffice , it to assert that the persons correctly

    designated by that title are Christians ; and could our worthy Journalist see a Socinian liturgy , 1 will venture to say , ( though 1 myself never saw one , ) that he would be equally surprised at the soundness of that sect , whose very uarne has been artfully made a

    «« Word of fear , Unpleasing to a Churchman ' s ear . " The third point again is more important ; Unitarian worship , we are told , approaches most nearly to the elder orthodoxy of the Church of England , that is , to the orthodoxy of the simple formula called < s the Apostles' Creed , " which is the working creed of the Church . Aud here is well illustrated the evil effect

    ? This is simple matter of fact .

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    & 82 Miscellaneous Correspondence .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1829, page 882, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2579/page/66/