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    thought of any value . I would not , therefore , make the exchange proposed . I would give Mr . Montgomery ' s people what 1 believe to be wholesome spiritual bread ; but [ would not circulate among my people what I believe to be poison . ( Hear , hear , from Messrs . Porter and Morell . ) Mr . S . —Yes , you may call hear , hear , and you may make any use

    of it you please ; but I repeat it ,. I would not willingly , be instrumental in giving what I believe to be poison to any human beings nor do I think that my learned friend could consistently do it . Indeed I have a much better opinion of him than to think he would propose it , did he believe that tjie doctrines of orthodoxy were spiritual poison . He is too conscientious and benevolent to

    become a spiritual assassin ; and did he believe of orthodox doctrines as the orthodox do of the Arian system , he would be the last man in the world to propose circulating them among his people . In all kinds of food , whether animal or vegetable , there is a portion that is poison . Taken as a whole , it is nutricious ; but decompose it , and you

    will get a part of it totally "unfit for the support of animal life . Even the commonest , the peculiar vegetable of our country , the potatoe , if deprived of its farina , becomes useless , if not deleterious . Now , in the judgment of the orthodox , their own system is the entire , the wholesome vegetable , but when deprived of its peculiar doctrines , it becomes like the useless residue ; and orthodox ministers could not , therefore ,

    in consequence , feed God ' s people with what they consider husks in place of the sweeter food of the Word . My learned friend charges the orthodox with claiming to themselves infallibility ; but I deny the charge . We only exercise our right of private judgment . It appears to us , on full and candid examination , that such is the nature of the Gospel of Christ , and we know of no authority that Arians have to interfere with our

    right of private judgment . We doom them to neither temporal nor eternal penalties . They may establish congregations where they can , assemble with whom they choose , and teach what they please to those who believe in their doctrines , but we cannot join with them , nor circulate their works . My learned friend says , that in adopting a creed we identify ourselves with the Romish Church . This also I deny . The Komish creed makes additions to the wor 4 of God ; ours only states what they beli eve that word to contain . The Romish

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    creed supersedes the word of God , ours leads us to it ; and the Romish creed asserts its infallibility , and curses all who will not believe it ; ours says , all human compositions are fallible and imperfect , and is proposed as a guide only to those who think it agreeable to the divine word . My learned friend has laid great weight upon the learned , the noble , and the rich , so many of whom belong to his communion ; and he seems to assume that the orthodox cannot be the true

    faith , because it is generally acceptable to the illiterate and the poor . Here again I differ widely with him . I do not deny that men of learning , intelligence , and wealth , may be rich in faith ; but I deny that there is a presumption in their favour . The apostles of our Lord were illiterate and poor . When John the Baptist sent to inquire of our Lord if he

    were the Christ , he gave , among other signs of his being the Messiah , that the poor had the gospel preached unto them . In 1 Cor . i . 21 , we are told , that after the world by wisdom knew not God , it pleased him , by the foolishness of preaching , to save them that believe ; and in verse 26 , he says , " Ye see your calling , brethren , how that not many wise men ,

    after the flesh * not many mighty , not many noble , are called ; but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise , and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty , and base things of the world , and things which are despised , hath God chosen , yea , and things which are not , to bring 1

    to nought the things that are / Although , therefore , Mr . Montgomery says , he would consult a Locke or a Newton , and although he seems to think that , in their intelligence and learning , there would be a presumption of their having arrived at the truth , I consider it safer to follow the inspired Apostle , and seek

    truth only from the Spirit of God , believing that the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God , neither knoweth them , because they are spiritually discerned . It has been argued by some of our opponents , that the doctrine of the Trinity cannot be true , because some dignitaries of the Church and learned men have uttered

    absurdities m fruitless attempts to explain it . But as well might it be argued that the material world has no existence , because Bishop Berkeley has published many absurdities concerning it . The subject is too high for human thought , and the Scriptures have not attempted to explain it . It is , therefore , useless , if not im

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    Intelligence . ^ -Synod of Ulster . J 25

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1828, page 725, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2565/page/69/