honour which belongs to him, we stamp our conduct with the elemental character of irreligion. But if the Deity of Christ be clearly evidenced in the Bible, as we believe it is—and if, notwithstanding, we withhold the adoration due to Deity alone, ours is the delinquency and guilt that characterises the defiance and the daring heedlessness of Atheism Knowing that Christ is God, we are most shamefully at fault if we do not think divinely of his person. If a man of elevated rank had saved your family from wretchedness and danger, would there be nothing culpable in refusing him the tribute of spontaneous gratitude? and what can be more flagrantly ungrateful than that, raised to the hopes and happiness of heaven by the blessed Jesus, we should refuse to render him the homage that his character and dignity demand? It is a monstrous enormity thus to degrade the name of our exalted Saviour; and be assured, that he who thinks thus meanly of a personage so glorious, is by no means capable of joining in that tributary anthem sung by the united voices of the redeemed,-"Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb, for ever and ever." Some may be disposed to think that these are harsh asseverations. We can assure them it is not in Dr. Chalmers to be harsh, though he speaks thus resolutely. He sees, however, that there are great and griev ous heresies afloat among that portion of the world denominated Christian; and, as an intrepid advocate for truth, and an appointed guide to others in the way that leads to it, he uses every lawful method of resistance to the progress and the tendency of error. He manifests no sympathy. with those by whom it is maintained and propagated, and he exhibits no desire to be identified with them. mourns over the necessity which has compelled the church in every age to have had recourse to controversy; and it is very uncongenial to his taste indeed to prosecute this mode of intellectual warfare. Still, in the present state of things, he feels it be a necessary evil-a means of forward. ing religion which the hostility and arrogance of gain-sayers forbid to be abandoned. In his own words, "it is but a temporary obstruction to the spread of truth-a din of earthly noises that will at last be overborne. There is a brilliant perspective opening up before the view, and already do we see the coming of a better day-the betckening symptoms of a brighter and a blander period.—

He

When the era of millenial glory shall arrive, controversy will have ceased to rage, its technology will not be heard of-the heresies wherewith we are now beset, will be contemptibly strangled-the spirit of good-will will be diffused in all its freshness-and the jarring discords of our present disputatious combating shall have died away."

But we must conclude this article: and happy shall we be if aught that we have said of Dr. Chalmers shall have any tendency to enhance those feelings of estimation and regard that prevail in all the churches for his name. He is worth all the eulogy that we can bestow,-for never have we seen in any man a happier combination of what is great and commanding in Christian character, with what is kind, and gentle, and endearing. Never has there been in academic chair a finer exemplification of wisdom, and the meekness of wisdom, in beautiful and harmonious junction. Piety, as it has been said of death, is indeed the greatest of all levellers. It brings down the loftiness of haughty and unhumbled nature, and it sets the man of most exalted genius and attainment by the side of his less favoured brethren. Its predominating influence we have every reason to believe has effected this with Dr. Chalmers; and the woful tendency of human genius to plume itself -on its own fancied greatness, has been repressed in his case by the counteracting principle of evangelical humility. Well, therefore, may the Church of Scotland place unbounded confidence in him—and well may she commit to him the training of a portion of her sons. Under his tuition they will learn to feel aright, as well as think aright, and the spirit of the olden time shall thus descend upon them; even the Spirit of "power, and of love, and of a sound mind." May a tone of deeper fervour and devotedness pervade the Presbyterian Church; and while we mourn over her degeneracy among ourselves, let us endeavour to promote her restoration, rejoicing in the contemplation of the hopeful prospect that now lies before ber. May she be the means of reclaiming many of the moral wastes of Ireland, and of exalting many of the sons and daughters of our native isle to glory, and honour, and immortality! Truly the harvest is great, but the la bourers are few; let it be ours to supplicate the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers to his harvest." Then shall the earth yield her increase; and God, even our God, shall bless us. God shall bless us, and all the ends of the earth shall fear him.”

420

UNITARIAN CANONS.

THAT modesty and humility are not only the attendants of true religion, but also of sound philosophy, is a truth which the most ample experience has established. The candid inquirer after truth readily perceives, that know- ledge, and the means of acquiring it, have certain limits, beyond which the circumscribed faculties of man vainly endeavour to penetrate. There are many things, both in religion and philosophy, far beyond the reach of the human mind. The system of the universe exhibits facts for which we can give no reason; and the sacred oracles declare truths too sublime to be scanned by any created intelligence. Must we then deny the one, and disbelieve the other, because we cannot unravel every thing connected with them? Must we deny the fact, because we cannot discover the cause? Must we disbelieve a revealed truth, because it is too high for human reason? Surely not. For if we have sufficient evidence that the one happened, and that the other was a revelation from heaven, by every legitimate principle of reasoning, we are called upon to believe them, although we cannot explain all the causes and circumstances with which they may be connected. If, on the other hand, we should deny our assent to every truth, except those which reason has satisfactorily traced to their remotest relations, the sum of human knowledge would be exceedingly small. Reason is, no doubt, the glory of man,-a blessing of inestimable value,-but, like every other blessing, it may be abused. This is always the case when it degenerates into what may be called intellectual pride; when, like a despotic tyrant, it disdains to be controlled by those fixed laws which should direct our judgments, and regulate our decisions; when it be comes so nice and fastidious that it requires evidence which the subject will not admit of, it then becomes the greatest enemy of truth, and renders the acquisition of knowledge almost impossible.

If these remarks are well-founded, there is no class of men in the present day whose quantity of information, and probable progress in knowledge, are more problematical than that of the Unitarians. Their want of modesty has become proverbial; but with this we suppose they are rather pleased than otherwise; for, upon all occasions,

they take care to glory in their shame; and we imagine that it would be difficult to point out any of their works which has not VANITY stamped upon it in very legible characters. They proclaim loudly that "they are the men, and wisdom will die with them;" that is, if the world be foolish enough to reject the incalculable benefits to be derived from their learning and sublime speculations. They alone, if we believe them, have escaped the trammels of education and authority-they alone have obtained, or at least use, the privilege of thinking,-they alone are rational. With the latter epithet they seem particularly delighted. They love to be called rational preachers, rational Christians, rational believers, &c. What they precisely mean by the term is not easily understood; for, being exceedingly averse to Creeds and Confessions, they are very unwilling to give any explanations, lest it might be considered as a practical refutation of their theory. We suppose they have some meaning attached to the word; but should any one ask what that meaning is, he would, no doubt, be branded as a persecutor, an invader of their Christian liberty. There is one thing, however, pretty evident, that it is one of those general terms which are exceedingly convenient for those who are either ashamed or afraid to confess the particular doctrines which they believe. It is also equally evident, that it is used like the term Unitarian,, for the purpose of deception. They have assumed to themselves the title of Unitarians, (by this word we understand all who deny the doctrine of the Trinity,) as if they only believed in the Unity of God: but this is not true. And, in like manner, they call themselves rational, as if all others believed doctrines contrary to reason, which is equally unfounded, and only originated in their own distempered imaginations. We believe, however, that we shall not be far from the truth, when we state, that their rational preaching exhibits little else ex cept a system of natural religion. Take away from it one fact, and some circumstances connected with it, namely, that a man or an angel rose from the dead, and the Deist will immediately recognize it as that religion which he professes to believe. Every system of religion, except Christianity, can contain such doctrines only as are discoverable by human reason, and by this standard alone they must be tried. If, by the application of this standard, any truth is found to form a part of the system of natural

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religion, it ought to be received; but should any doctrine be proposed to which this standard could not be applied, it would be termed irrational, and of course must be rejected. This method which is pursued by the natural Theologist and Deist is perfectly correct; for, without the assistance of revelation, he has no other way to proceed: but, if we attempt to form a system of religion from the sacred oracles upon the same plan, there is an absolute certainty that it will be erroneous. It is by following this very plan, we presume, that the Unitarians have been led to reject all the distinguishing doctrines of Christianity. They take up the Bible with a great deal of parade and ostentation, and with many professions of reverence; but, from the manner in which they treat it, there is great reason to doubt their sincerity. Instead of receiving with humility and gratitude the doctrines and facts which it makes known, as the dictates of the unerring voice of inspiration, they bring it to the bar of human reason to try what part is inspired, and what not. Instead of taking the Scriptures as a guide to direct their erring reason, they impiously set up reason as the standard by which revealed truths are to be measured. When they meet with any doctrine discoverable by the light of nature, this they willingly re. ceive as part of their rational system; and they conclude that it is true, not because it forms a part of revelation, but because it was previously known. When, however, they meet with any of those sublime truths which cannot be measured by their intellectual standard, and which peculiarly exhibits the wisdom of God, and the foolishness of man, they reject them, because they are beyond the reach of their limited faculties. The wisdom of God proclaims the doctrine to be true; the arrogance and folly of man rejects it, because he finds it too high for his comprehension. Revelation states the truth as a fact, without explaining the causes and circumstances connected with it; man rejects the fact, because he cannot discover them by any intellectual process. Thus the Unitarian draws from the Bible a system of religion consisting chiefly of natural theology, with a few Scripture truths of minor importance, and this, he foolishly imagines, contains the Gospel. When we examine it, however, we find none of those doctrines which form the distinguishing features of Christianity. It exhibits no traces of that amazing plan of redemption, by which the justice of God is satisfied,