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believe in order to salvation . My friends , by whatsoever name they may call themselves , —in whatsoever place they may address you ; whether they occupy the chair of the professor or the pulpit of the divine ; whether they speak to you from this pulpit , or from any other ; be their reputation for talent , integrity , and soundness in the faith , high or low;—trust them not . Receive not , on their bare assertion ,
anything that they may say of Christ or of his law ; but go at once to the fountain-head ; and inquire of Christ himself . Seareh the Scriptures , and ascertain , to the best of your ability , from them , what are the articles—not of the Catholic Christianity of the present day , which it is of small importance for you to know—but of that Christianity which Jesus himself taught , —which deserves therefore to be , —and in the final result of all things certainly will be , —Catholic . The fictions of opinion , says a wise heathen , time blots out ; the just but
slowlymatured decisions of truth and reason it confirms . Be it your sole aim to understand aright the lessons of the master , as they proceed from his own lips , and those of his inspired followers . Trouble not yourselves to determine whether your interpretation of his words be , or be not , that which is commonly adopted . If it be the true one , you may rest assured that it will become popular in due time ; and if it be not true , no popularity can sanction it , or prevent its ultimate rejection . '—Hutton s Discourse , pp . 20 , 21 .
The letter to the Rev . R . W . Hamilton , which Dr . Hutton has appended to this discourse , is admirably written . It is to be hoped that the orthodox orator has grace enough to be ashamed of himself , for he evidently has great occasion . The following is the first passage on which Dr . H . animadverts : — The author has not referred to the
self-styled Unitarian Academies . He confines himself to Christianity . Such could , therefore , have no more claim to a place in this catalogue than a school of Confucius in China , or the college of Dervishes in Ispahan . The venom of this passage is harmless ; the toad itself may be worth preserving and exhibiting as a curiosity to those of our readers who are not familiar with Calvinistic rhetoric . In
addition to Dr . Hutton ' s pertinent inquiry , c Why Unitarians should not so style themselves ? ' It may be asked by what term , which is not condemnatory and calumnious , they would be allowed to call themselves , without animadversion ? The term ' Humanitarian' has been most frequently suggested by opponents . But besides that this designation belongs to a subordinate doctrine , and is totally inapplicable to
the Arian portion of our body , it is open to the very same cavil as the term Unitarian . Once upon a time two or three of our number took a fancy to it , and what was the result ? We heard a minister of some repute in Mr . Hamilton ' s connexion exclaim , * They call themselves Humanitarians , forsooth ! as if every Trinitarian did not also believe in the true and proper humanity of Jesus Christ ! ' No name but a
nickname will satisfy such opponents ; and of them a succession must be devised , or the opprobrium would wear out . Dr . Hutton next adverts to Mr . Hamilton ' s sweeping charges against Unitarian trus- ^ tees . We have despoiled their treasures and usurped their sanctuaries ! The pretty innocent wolves , who have been so cruelly injured by the lambs of their grandfathers ! It would be decent and prudent ij » them to hold their tongues < m this matter till the result is seen of
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52 Critical Notices . —Single Sermdris *
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1832, page 52, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1804/page/52/
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