feelings, and at the same time convince them how important it is on our part to persevere in every laudable attempt to enlighten the ignorance, which is so prone to misrepresent the objects of our faith, to depreciate our characters, and mistake our motives. The following extracts are from a periodical work, published in the sity of Washington.

"The atheist, the deist, and the unitarian, are all enemies of the universal church, contending for the subversion of the essential articles of the creed of all other denominations."

"An enemy that can live only upon the vitals of christianity, and can flourish but amidst the ruins of her churches, is now endeavouring with a resolute and noisy struggle, to erect her daring front; and by collecting to her ranks a motley group of infidels of every degree and kind, who care not by what name they go, so that they oppose the religion of the Bible, is threatening, in her vaunting menaces, to plant her standard upon the very citadel of orthodoxy, and erect a statue to her name in every temple of christendom. Her name is unitarianism."

"Of so little consequence does it seem to the members of this sect, whether they believe one thing or another, after acknowledging those first principles, which the light of nature teaches, so that they only reject the doctrine of the trinity, and those other truths of the gospel, which make u the great distinctive character of the christian religion, that, in reading the Abstract of Unitarian Belief, we have no security for its reception by a single unitarian besides its author; and in grounding an argument upon it in opposition to unitarianism, we may find, that we are doing little more in reality, than contending wiu. the editor of the Miscellany."

"It (unitarianism) is a system, which aucient heretics would have made, could their infidelity have been unshackled by the clear investigations of apostolic ages, and unarrested at every step by a clear memento of something that an apostle spoke. It is a system, which a man ought to make in obedience to the conclusions of reason, when once he has laid aside the doctrine of our Saviour's divinity, but which the ancient heretics, born in times so near the days of Christ, and surrounded by traditions in support of what the Scriptures related of Christ, had not the hardihood to maintain, or the daring to invent."

Intelligence from Ohio.

We have spoken of the excitement to which some persons have allowed themselves to be aroused by the choice of a Chaplain in Congress. To show the kind of sympathy, which exists on this subject among a certain class, we publish the following extract from a letter. lately written by a gentleman in Ohio.

"The election of Mr. Sparks to the place he now occupies has been a circumstance highly propitious to the cause of unitarianism. The orthodox, on hearing of the appointment, took the alarm, and the pulpits have since continued to ring with the most rancorous declamation against what are called the pernicious doctrines of unitarianism, while the whole body of congress have been bitterly aspersed for filling an office at their disposal with a person, holding to these doctrines, and whose situation affords so much facility to the wide dissemination of his opinions. These anathematizing and vituperative discourses have an effect upon the audience quite contrary to that intended by the preachers. Instead of exciting aversion to those reprobated tenets, they have the effect to stimulate the curiosity of the hearers to inquire for themselves, and to know with more certainty the real sentiments of unitarians, and the evidence by which they were supported."

A Letter from a Gentleman in Virginia, and an article on the Testimony of Scripture concerning our Lord, will appear hereafter.

If the experience of an obscure individual can be deemed worthy of a place in your little work, it is cheerfully offered. I give it also with the hope, that some one of the multitude, whose minds are warped by the misrepresentations of the bigot, or devotee, may, like me, be led to reflection, and instead of receiving the prejudices of any sect for gospel truths, may judge for himself concerning "the one thing needful."

I was educated in the doctrines of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and my mother, a truly pious christian, spared no pains to inculcate those particular tenets, which she so zealously believed. I had the misfortune to lose her at an early age, but her kind admonitions were already deeply impressed upon my heart. Having attained the age of manhood, I began to weigh more deliberately the religion I professed. My Bible was not only read, but studied. Left now to judge for myself, not only the form of worship, but many of the creeds and doctrines of our church, appeared to me unwarranted by scripture, irrational, and inconsistent. But of all

others, that of the trinity most puzzled and confounded me. That there should be three persons, yet only one God; three minds, three wills, three distinct beings, yet one great I AM; this I could not comprehend, much less believe.

Did I ask an explanation of these difficulties from the heads of the church, or those whom I thought best capable of satisfying my inquiries, I was answered, that these things were a great mystery, not intended to be understood, that I ought not to pry too closely into those things, which God did not see fit to reveal, and that enough was sufficiently plain for salvation. By such replies as these, you will readily acknowledge I was left as much in the dark as before. Tossed upon a sea of doubt and perplexity, often was I driven to the very brink of infidelity and absolute skepticism. But at this result my mind always ultimately revolted. Finding no relief from the church in which I was educated, I resolved to inquire into the creeds of other The calvinistic views I was compelled utterly to reject, as likewise all others, which maintained the trinity. The tenets of the New Jerusalem church for a time arrested my attention, but did not convince.

sects.

In this unsettled, doubting, half-believing state, I continued, until a few weeks past I accidentally met with the third number of your Miscellany. I must here digress to observe, that it was only about two years since, soon after the erection of the First Independent church of Baltimore, while on a visit to that city, that I first heard the unitarians spoken of; but in such a manner, as served to prejudice me very strongly against the whole sect. I was informed, that unitarian and deist were only different words of the same meaning; that anitarians and deists both acknowledged one God, and

both "denied the Lord that bought them;" and that they ascribed not half the sanctity to our Saviour, which a Turk ascribes to his prophet; and a hundred other absurdities, which I shall not take the trouble to repeat. To return, therefore, when I first cast my eye on your little pamphlet, it was the title, which more particularly attracted my attention. "The Unitarian Miscellany and Christian Monitor." Strange, thought I, that the name of him, whom they utterly deny, should be adopted as a title. Impelled by curiosity, perhaps, more than any other motive, I was induced to read it; and that day I shall ever consider as the most important of my life. I shall not occupy your time by descanting on the pleasure I took in the perusal of it. I soon after had the good fortune to meet with the two first numbers, as also a Sermon preached at the Ordination of the Rev. Jared Sparks. These have entirely dispelled my doubts, the stumbling block of trinitarianism is removed, and a new light has burst upon my mind. I have now a more clear and rational view of christianity, than was ever before presented to me. No longer am I forbidden to search into the mysteries of God, but taught to exercise my reason, cultivate the "talent" that is given me, and apply at the fountain head for a solution of all difficulties. The doctrines of the trinity, original sin, and predestination, to me the most revolting of all, alike dwindle into insignificance. A just and rational belief is substituted for that, which was crude and unintelligible.

I will cheerfully assist in the circulation of your truly valuable "Christian Monitor," in gratitude for the benefit I have derived from it, and through zeal for the cause; "for if some stop be not put to the absurdities of calvinism, and those doctrines of the dark ages are still