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    doubtedly m long as these « 6 ets preserve exactly their present character , it would seem linptacticabk to comprehend them In any national Christian church ; the epithet national , ' excluding the two former , and the epithet ' Christian' rendering alike impossible the admissioa of the latter . ' From the latter part of this passage the natural inference is , that , in your opinion , Unitarians are-not-Ghrist-ians ^^

    authorized by your language , would be in agreement with your conviction , for either you kfloW that at least some Unitarians are Christians , or you are guilty of inconsistency , seeing that in page 36 you say , The Unitarian body in England consists of elements the most dissimilar ; including many who merel y call themselves Unitarians , because the name of unbeliever is not yet thought creditable * and some also tvho are disgusted with their unchristian

    associates , but who cannot join a church which retains the Athanasian creed . Every means should be taken to separate these from their unworthy society , that they who are really Ch p ^ kms M I do not stop to an inaadvert on the rashness of assertion which , even when bringing what I must call a ' railing accusation' against your brethren , led you within the space of a few pages to say and unsay the same thing ; I pass on to offer you somfe considerations which ia 0 the ol to le

    may ^ eryjj _ . sjtablish : c | a | m Unitarians the tit of Christians ; and in so doing , I shall consider that you have denied us the name , because , while your meaning is in itself obscure , the bigot and the ignorant will unite in quoting your respectable authority against us . I wish also to premise * that I write this not because you have excluded Unitarians from your scheme of comprehension * about which 1 , for one , am in no way anxious * nor because the charge involved in your refusal is new , but because

    it comes from one whose principles are liberal , whose station is influential , whose knowledge is profound . It is the assailant not the weapon I regard . In maintaining that Unitarians are Christians , 1 wish to be % Rde ^ terms , You have asserted that many who are so called are in reality unbelievers : of which assertion the grounds may be known to you

    better than to me ; for I neither have , nor wish to possess any power of inquisition into men ' s opinions as contradistinguished from their professions ; and it remains for you to determine wMther you have not been hasty in deducing a general charge against others , from 3 vhat . vyoti . knew , to exist in ^ your . own coiwrnunion . Whether or not , however ^ common report be true or false in

    respect of the unbelief said to be sheltering itself under the ample wing of the established church , and being quite satisted that nothing could be more unfair than to refuse to Episcopalians the Christian name , on account of the alleged infidelity of many who ' merel y call themselves Episcopalians ) * because the wame of uubelievtars is not yet thought creditable , ' I challenge for ,

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• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 1, 1833, page 99, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2611/page/3/