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    triumphant . We can only make room for two extracts : " But leaving those figurative expressions , which hare been so charitably applied to A nanism , what is the real , the substantial , danger which you dread from the Belfast Institution ? Orthov ^ b ^ v ^ r hv wv Qr ^^¦ i ^ v iv * v r v ^ r ^ v w ^^^ v k 4 W ^ h

    ^ ^^^^*^^ ^^^ ^™ ^^^^ ^^^^^^ ^ * ^^ ^^^ ^^ " ^*^ ^ p ^^^^ ^ ^ ^^ doxy must be a Very tender plant if it must be do sheltered , and shaded , and . pampered . The religion which was first promulgated by a few poor fishermen , and went forth conquering and to conquer , required no such adventitious aids ; aiid when an Inspired writer has said , '• Try all things , prove all things ; poor , indeed , is the compliment you pay to

    your opinions , when you say , that if any others are thrown in the way of the inquiring mind , your tenets will be for ** saken . I never would condemn a system of belief for the practice of those who profess it ; but' there are cases in wbich we may judge of the opiniou by the practice . Wha $ , I ask , has been the practice of the loudest shouters among those who have denounced the

    Institution as a den of Ariafis ? Have they hot sent their own sons to repose under the Upas tree-i-breathe the infected air—to drink of the waters of Sodom , and to eat of the dead-sea fruits ? Can the world believe men to be in earnest , when their practice is so opposed to their profession ? And what credit is doe to this overweening anxiety for the

    spiritual welfare of the rising generation , when the very men who express it expose those who are nearest and dearest to the danger which they warn others to avoid ? Why do not the enemies of the Institution lay aside their metaphors * and speak plainly at once ? They Say , we will have * no chaff ; ' we must hare the solid corn . Go oh , then , if you wish to follow where they lead . Heap where

    you have not sown , and gather where you have not strewed—mate -the Institution your own ;—drive out every man , m * matter how high tnay be his literary attainments , if he will not bow to your mandate . But this you cannot do . There are men who have the manage- ' mei > t"Of the Institution , who would rather see it levelled with the ground than made a citadel of sectarian 'bitterness .

    You ra * y injure—you may destroy it;—you may inin a seminary which promises to be a blessing to the country ^—where the rising generation may meet and drink from the pore fountain of knowledge , and , wtthey look on each other ' s faces , imbibe principle * of forbearance and affection and kindness , before the unfortunate political and religious dissensions

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    which exist in the country have estranged them from each other . You may ruin the Belfast Institution , but the infamy Of the deed will descend upon the heads and brand the memory , of those who made a waste where tney could not es .

    tablish their usurpation . 1 speak warmly— -but I cannot help it , I am in ; health ; but , though I should lie down when I have done , upon the bed from which I was never to rise , I must give vent to the feelings of ray heart . " * # * «

    * ' An attack has been made upon Mr . Ferric because he is stated to be a rational preacher . It appears extraordinary that the truths of the gospel sliould not be considered rational ; and one would almost suspect that this had been intended as a side stroke at his own party . There was one part of the attack with which I was greatly distressed . Not

    content with laying charges against Mr . Ferrie as a preacher , he ( Mr . C . ) turns round to misrepresent the New Light preachers of this country , alleging that they never refer in their public services to heaveu or hell , to sin or punishment , to eternity Or judgment . I need scarcely wonder at this , for Mr . Carlile has published a chapter in his book , nearly as charitable

    as this . Now , I say , wherever such statements are made , whether in a printed book or in an unpremeditated speech , they must proceed either from inconceivable ignorance or from wilful misrepresentation . It there be auy ministers more likely than others to inculcate these doctrines , they are unquestionably those denominated New Light . Our

    own people , who know om- ministry , and who are acquainted with our private walk and conversation , know the falsehood of such charges ; but , iii this age of party rancour and strong prejudice , siich groundless assertions are greedily grasped at . Reports , however vague , are readily taken up to the Injury of those whose doctrines and conduct are

    misrepresented ; but I do beseech aud charge you , unless you wish to blast our reputation , to sow dissension in our congregations , and leave our families without support , not to malign us by unworthy and undeserved aspersions . If I were to judge of Calvinism from What I heard

    yesterday ift this house , and from what 1 have frequently heard elsewhere , I might be ready to charge against it as much unchristian virus as coold be ascribed to any other system ; but I feel that it would be unjust to charge against a system what is only the : fault of tlie iudividuals . I blame not the system > 1

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    MS& Intelligence ^ S ynjod vf Ulster .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1829, page 596, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2575/page/78/