murder, as they did; but, they could do no more. Volumes of creeds, and anathemas without number, would not induce a man to believe what every principle in his nature revolted at. Using force would rouse his indignation, and make him burn with hatred and revenge; or, perhaps, it might drive him to be a hypocrite and deceiver. In either case he would be more wicked for his adopted creed. Take away restraint, command every one to think for himself, assure him of his freedom and personal responsibility, tell him to be guided by the Gospel, and his faith will then be sincere, he will believe and act like a christian.

These remarks prepare us for entering on the main subject of the present letter, which is to inquire into the occasion of religious differences among Protestants, and to ascertain the comparative agency, which orthodoxy and Unitarian sentiments have had in causing these differences, and in promoting the religious antipathy and dissensions, which have prevailed even from the time of Luther, and which are greatly to be lamented at the present day. The merits of the general inquiry on which we have entered hang with no inconsiderable weight on this point. Certain causes have had very extensive effects. To which system are these to be ascribed? Some of the leading principles, on which christian communities have been organized, and churches instituted, and discipline established, have tended to produce divisions, to create aversions, to clothe some men with a factitious authority, and to oppress and

irritate others. The party, which has embraced these principles, and put them in practice, is accountable for the consequences. By principles here, I do not mean any peculiar doctrines of religious faith, but the grounds assumed, and the steps taken, to promulgate these doctrines. In this respect, have the sentiments of Unitarians, or of the orthodox, been productive of the greatest degree of evil?

A few brief hints on the course pursued by the first Reformers and their immediate followers, or the motives by which they were influenced, and the objects at which they aimed, will place this subject in its proper light, and prove, if I mistake not, that the divisions and party violence, occasioned by differences of opinion, owe their origin to the very same causes since, as before the Reformation. They will be found to have originated in building up systems of faith distinct from the Bible, and claiming authority to establish them as standards of sound doctrine, and tests of orthodoxy. This was a foible with which the world seems to have been so much in love, that christians could not prevail on themselves to part with it, even while rebelling against its power, and deprecating its baleful tendency. In yielding to this weakness, they violated the fundamental principles of the Reformation, and created the elements of future disorder; and just in proportion as they ran to this extreme, they were opposed to the principles of Unitarianism. This will appear as we proceed.

The Reformation was started on the foundation of truth and reason, Two grand axioms were laid

down, as a basis on which the entire superstructi ire was to be erected, namely, the right of private judg ment in all the concerns of religion, and the sufficiency of the Scriptures in qualifying believers for the attainment of salvation. It was justly asserted, that the rights of human nature give every man liberty, nay, require it of him as a duty, to use his best powers freely and independently in determining the manner in which he is to serve his Maker. And, again, it was maintained with equal cogency, that the Scriptures, which contain a revelation from God expressly designed for the moral improvement and final salvation of men, must in themselves be adequate to every purpose of instruction, concerning the principles of faith and the rules of action.

These axioms form the ground-work of a true scriptural theology. Let them be rigidly observed, and it will be impossible to fasten dangerous and entailed error on the mind, or to foment the elements of discord, or to multiply the tokens of perpetual altercation. Quarrels, and persecutions, and resentments, merely on account of differences in religious opinions, will cease, when you take away the charters for the defence of which the armour of sacred warfare is put on. Send all men to the Bible as the only charter of their faith, and you will place them on common ground, and bring them into a bond of union. They will not see every part of the Scriptures alike, but this variety of mental vision will be no obstruction to harmony, since it is allowed by the first laws of union, that every one shall judge of the

Scriptures according to the light and knowledge, which he possesses. It is the spirit of these axioms to permit Christians to differ in opinion, and yet bind them together as brethren.

Had the first Reformers been faithful to the principles, which they embraced at the outset with so much wisdom and intrepidity, the history of the Protestant church would wear an aspect very different from the one, which it now exhibits. But the trial was too much for their experience, if not for their firmness. They stumbled almost at the first step, and never recovered themselves afterwards. It was a notion of the Catholics, that a perfect unanimity of faith was absolutely necessary to constitute a true church; and an objection, which they urged with great warmth against the Protestants, was, that the liberty assumed by them would open a door to an infinite variety of opinions, and terminate in a dismemberment of the church, and the overthrow of Christianity itself.

Alarmed at these threatened consequences, and anxious to fortify themselves against the attacks of their opponents on this point, they gradually deserted their position, and became themselves deluded with the dream of a uniformity of faith. They were next driven to the severe task of devising some mode of establishing this uniformity, without destroying the fundamental axiom, which proclaimed it to be the

duty of every Christian to think and judge for him

self. This project was not more absurd, than im

possible, and the attempt to put it in execution could only end in oppression, folly, and mischief.

The evil originated in false views of the thing called unity of faith. It was imagined to consist in a perfect uniformity of opinion, and the first effort was to make all persons yield assent to the same interpretation of the Scriptures. Luther, and his followers, maintained, that the Scriptures were the only rule of faith. This was consistent with the first principles of the Reformation. But they further contended, that there could be no true church without a perfect coincidence of opinion. This proposition was directly opposed to the other. To make the two hang together, it was discovered that the Scriptures had but one sense, and it was of course affirmed, that no one could be a true believer, who did not interpret them according to this sense. It soon came to pass, indeed, that they, who studied the Scriptures and believed them as their understanding and conscience required, were set down as heretics and ungodly men, not to be countenanced nor tolerated by the faithful.

Now, that there is such a thing as a unity of faith in the true christian church, no one, whether protestant or Catholic, can possibly doubt. But what is it? Not a unity of belief in human interpretations of Scripture, in articles constructed by wise men, or imposed by designing ones, or sanctioned by councils and convocations. What better would the world be, what would morality and religion gain, if all men should unite in believing the contradictions of the