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American Bible Society.

4th. On motion of the Rev. Dr. M'Leod, of N: Y. and seconded by the Rev. Joshua L. Wilson, of Cincinnati, Ohio,

RESOLVED, That the thanks of this Meeting be presented to the Board of Managers, for their exertions in conducting the business of the Society.

5th. On motion of William Jay, Esq. of Bedford, West Chester County, seconded by Mr. Thomas Eddy, of the Society of Friends, RESOLVSD, That the thanks of this Society be presented to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, for their early and decided approbation of the Institution of this Society, expressed in their narrative of the state of Religion within their bounds.

6. On motion of Jeremiah Evarts, Esq. of Boston, seconded by the Rev. Mr. Felthus of N. Y.

RESOLVED, that the thanks of this Society be presented to the numerous Auxiliary Bible Societies, for their exertions to promote the object, and augment the funds of this Institution.

7th. On motion of Samuel Bayard, Esq. of Princeton, and seconded by Hon. A. Kirkpatrick, Chief Justice of the State of NewJersey,

RESOLVED, that the thanks of the Meeting be given to those congregations and individuals who have constituted their Pastors members for life of this Society.

8th. On motion of Joshua M. Wallace, Esq. of Burlington, NewJersey, and seconded by the Rev. Mr. Hart, of Stonington, Con. RESOLVED, That the thanks of this Meeting be presented to all those individuals and Societies who have contributed to the funds of this Institution.

Several of the gentlemen, who moved and seconded the above resolutions, supported them by highly animating and appropriate addresses; which, while they evinced the deep interest felt by the speakers in the grand object which had, on this occasion, convened persons of opposite political sentiments, and of almost every religious denomination, from different and distant parts of the country, were also calculated to inspire their hearers with the most delightful sensations, in the view of the prosperity that, under the smiles of a gracious Providence, had already attended the exertions made to promote this great and beneficent undertaking, and of the bright prospects of its future usefulness. We shall endeavour to procure for insertion extracts from some of the speeches delivered on this occasion.

We cannot omit to notice a letter from the President of the Society, which was read after the vote of thanks to that worthy and munificent benefactor of the institution, and which breathed the .glowing feelings of his benevolent soul, in a language worthy of the first and best supporter of this noble fabric of christian philanthropy. We expect to insert it in some future Number.

"The Bible Society of Berkely County," Virginia, became aux liary to the American Bible Society on the 5th of April last.

Also, "The Female Bible Society of Geneva," Ontario County, N. Y. in the same month.

THE CHRISTIAN HERALD.

VOL. III.]

Saturday, May 17, 1817.

[No. 8.

CONVERSION of Dr. STOCK, of BRISTOL.

We have lately received a letter from England informing us that Dr. J. E. STOCK, a physician formerly well known in America, where he resided seven years, had, in November last, sent in his resignation as a manager in the Unitarian connexion, and his renun ciation of their tenets; having become a convert from a full conviction that those tenets are not conformable to the oracles of God, after having sturdily combated every argument on the subject, and after having critically studied the sacred writings in the original languages, for the purpose of better ascertaining the meaning of those passages which have a special bearing on the subject.

It appears that the Rev. Mr. Vernon,* a worthy Baptist minister settled in the vicinity of Bristol, was providentially the chief instrument in exciting the attention of Dr. S. to a particular inquiry into the nature of his belief, and in leading him to an earnest and prayerful searching of the scriptures of truth, which finally resulted in his abandonment of his former opinions, and in his embracing the Trinitarian faith.

The case of Dr. S. is, in our opinion, a very interesting one. It has been the subject of much conversation in England, and has awakened considerable interest also in this country. Shortly after he had made up his mind to leave the Unitarian communion, he wrote a letter on the subject to his friend, the Rev. John Rowe, a minister in that connexion. This letter was not intended nor

expected by the writer to have a circulation beyond a very li mited circle. As its scope had been much misunderstood, or misrepresented, and some detached passages had found their way in various directions, (without, however, attaching any blame to his friend, in whose possession it was,) Dr. S. at the solicitation of some pious and valuable friends, and with a view to do justice to himself and to the truths which he had embraced, ordered a few

* Mr. Vernon was about the same time the means of leading two daughters of a Socinian minister in that neighbourhood to an inquiry into the foundation of their creed, which ended in their abandonment of it, as contradicting the word of God, and in embracing, it is hoped, the truth as it is in Jesus. A more recent communication informs us of the happy death of Mr. Vernon. Rb.

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Letter from Dr. Stock of Bristol

copies of his letter to be printed for the use of those friends. One of them has recently been transmitted to the Editor of the Christian Herald for publication. He cheerfully complies with the desire of his worthy correspondent, in the hope that it may tend to the edification of those who build all their hopes of eternal life upon the atonement and perfect work of an Almighty Saviour, "God manifested in the flesh;" and may be useful, by the Divine blessing, in inducing others to use the means pursued by the writer of it, in order to come to a knowledge of the truth, as revealed in "the holy scriptures, which are able to make wise unto salvation, THROUGH FAITH WHICH IS IN CHRIST JESUS."

The following is the letter above alluded to.

Clifton, (England) Wednesday, 6th November, 1816.

MY DEAR SIR,

I scarcely know in what terms to begin this letter, or how to communicate to you the object of it. Yet I am anxious to be the first to convey to you the intelligence; because I am unwilling that it should reach you, unattended by those expressions of personal regard and respect by which I could wish that it should be accompanied. It will surprise you to be told, that it is become with me a matter of absolute duty to withdraw myself henceforth from the Lewin's Mead Society.

:

Yes! my dear Sir, such is the fact. In the month of July last, my professional attendance was required for the Rev. John Vernon, the Baptist minister of Downend, who was then on a visit to a friend in Bristol. I found him very ill so much so, that his other medical attendant and myself have since judged it necessary that he should suspend all his public labours. After attending him here for two or three days, he removed to Downend, where I have since continued to see him about once a week. He felt it a duty to endeavour to lead me to re-consider my religious opinions; and at length, with much delicacy and timidity, led to the subject. I felt fully confident of their truth, and did not on my part shun the investigation. For some weeks his efforts did not produce the smallest effect; and it required all the affectionate patience of his character to induce me to look upon the arguments on his side, as even worth examining. This spirit of levity, however, was at length subdued, and restrained by the affectionate earnestness of his manner. Now and then he produced a passage of scripture, which puzzled me exceedingly; but, as I was always distrustful, I scarcely ever allowed any weight to it, till after I had coolly examined it at home. I began, however, sometimes, to consider, whether it was not possible that his observations might contain some truth; and of course was led to examine them with more care and impartiality.

It is necessary here to state, that my letter to Dr. Carpenter, though drawn up some little time before, was dispatched about this period. I advert to this circumstance, because it marks a cu

to Rev. J. Rowe, a Unitarian Minister.

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xious, though, I fear, not an uncommon feature in the human mind. I must however make the avowal, that it was precisely about the interval that occurred between the preparation and the dispatch of the letter alluded to, and of that to you and the second to Dr. Estlin, that the doubts above stated, now and then, at rare intervals, would force themselves upon my mind. Such however was my hostility to the sentiments to which these doubts pointed, that I resisted every suspicion of this kind. I treated it as a mere delusion of the imagination: I felt ashamed even to have yielded to such suggestions for a moment; and when Mr. Bright pointed. out to me a strong passage in the address to Dr. Carpenter, as if he thought that it might be softened a little, I persisted in retaining it. In fact, I seemed to seek, in the strength of the terms that I made use of, to deepen my own convictions of my previous opinions.*

The letters were sent, and the respective answers received. Still my weekly visits to Mr. Vernon were continued: I still investigated the subject with constantly increasing earnestness; yet I was unaltered; and even when Mr. Bright read the history of the proceedings to the congregation, I felt no regret at my share in them, but, on the contrary, rejoiced in anticipating the future triumphs of Unitarianism."

Here, however, my triumph ceased. Almost immediately afterwards, my doubts returned with tenfold force. I read : I was perplexed. Often, very often, I wished that I had not begun the inquiry. I prayed for illumination; but I found my mind daily becoming more and more unsettled. I have now lying before me a sheet of paper on which I wrote down some of the thoughts. of this period, while under their more immediate pressure, as if to relieve my. mind by thus divulging them; for they were disclosed to no human ear. I copy from them this passage:-"If the attainment of truth be not the result, I am sure that the state of mind in which I have been for some time past is not to be envied."

I think that it was about this time that you returned home. When I advanced to shake hands with you, after the close of the service, you may remember that you observed to me, "Why, Doctor, you look pale." Pale I was, I have no doubt; for my mind was full of thoughts that chafed each other like a troubled sea; and your return, and the vivid recollection of the letters which it excited, had not tended to calm the agitation. In addition to this, I had been in the habit of pursuing the inquiry, night after night, to a very late hour.

*To elucidate this paragraph, it may, perhaps, be proper to state, that Dr. Estlin, the senior minister of Lewin's Mead, having announced his intention to resign that office, the congregation met, and voted an address of thanks to him for his services. Some time afterwards, they met for the purpose of electing a successor. Their choice fell upon Dr. Carpenter of Exeter, and an invitation was accordingly sent him, which was accepted, and his acceptance was officially announced in another address to each of their ministers. The writer of the above letter was requested to be the organ of expressing the sentiments of the Society upon these several occasions; a request with which he cheerfully complied.

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Letter of Dr. Stock, of Bristol

Such continued to be the state of my mind during the latter end of September and the whole of October. Towards the end of this latter month, the evidence for the doctrines which I had hitherto so strenuously opposed, seemed progressively to increase. But it was not till this very week that conviction came; and that my mind, unhesitatingly and thankfully, accepted the doctrines of the Supreme Divinity of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, of Atonement, or Reconciliation by his precious blood, and of the Divinity and Personality of the Holy Spirit.

I do not, my dear Sir, say it by way of commending my earnestness in the inquiry, but I say it in justice to the opinions that I have embraced, that, since this investigation began, I have regularly gone through the New Testament as far as the Epistle to the Hebrews; (the Gospel of John I have read through twice ;) that not only every text which has been differently interpreted, occuring in this large portion of the New Testament, but also all those referred to in the controversial volumes mentioned below, were carefully compared with the Original, with the Improved Version, with Mr. Belsham's explanation in his Calm Inquiry, and frequently with Dr. Carpenter's Unitarianism the Doctrine of the Gospel; and that the references to the Psalms and the Prophetical Scriptures, which occurred in the New Testament, or the other writings alluded to, were also examined in Dr. Priestley's Notes on the Scriptures. For I am not possessed of, nor have I seen, one orthodox Commentary on the Scriptures, (with, I think, one exception, in which Dr. Campbell's Annotations on Matthew xxii. 41. et seq. were shewn me.) The Controversial Books, on that side, which I have used in this inquiry, are Mr. Wardlaw's two books,* Simpson's Plea for the Divinity of Jesus, (of which at this very moment not even a third part is cut open,) Dr. Lawrence's Critical Reflections, &c. on the Unitarian Version, (on which I will pause to observe, that they first settled my mind as to the authenticity of the introductory chapters of St. Matthew and St. Luke,) a Sermon on the Atonement by Mr. Hull, Six Letters by Dr. Pye Smith to Mr. Belsham, and Notes taken down from two Sermons preached by Mr. (I believe now Dr.) Chalmers, of Glasgow, upon the following Texts-Psalm. lxxxv. 10. and Romans viii. 7. Yet these few helps to the better understanding of the Holy Scriptures, though counteracted by the volumes above cited, by long association, by frequent references to other Unitarian volumes in my collection, and by the various arguments on that side which memory was constantly suggesting, have ultimately led me to the conclusions above stated. But I should grossly belie my own heart, and should think myself guilty of odious ingratitude to the Father of Lights, from whom cometh down every good and perfect gift, if I did not avow my conviction, that, to these means, the teaching of his Holy Spirit has been superadded ; for I can, in his presence, affirm, that during the latter part of the

* Discourses on the Principal Points of Socinian Controversy, and Unitarianism incapable of Vindication.