ORGANIZATION OF A UNITARIAN ASSO

"Resolved-That we feel the impor tance of uniting the great body of liberal Christians of every name in the bands of a common cause; that we owe to all Christians, who reject human creeds and the Trinitarian and Calvinistic dogmas, an expression of our hearty sympathy and co-operation."

We understand that efforts will be made to establish a newspaper in New

CIATION IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK. The strength of liberal Christianity in New York is visibly growing. During the week commencing May 10, 1846, the Unitarians from all parts of the state came together in the city of New York, and with earnest deliberation and enlightened discussion, organised themselves into an Association--a body that promises to have a vigorous and efficient vitality.-York, devoted to the spread of UniMeetings were held in the course of the week in the "Church of the Divine Unity," (Mr. Bellows',) at which Zebedee Cook, Esq. presided. Mr. Cook was chosen President of the Association, and James S. Cleveland, Esq. Secretary.

Sermons were preached by Rev. Dr. Dewey of New York, and Rev. Mr. Osgood of Providence, R.I. In the course of the discussions, remarks were offered by Rev. Dr. Dewey, Rev. Mr. Bellows, Rev. Mr. Farley of Brooklyn, Rev. Mr. Hosmer of Buffalo, Rev. Mr. Holland of Rochester, Rev. Mr. Buckingham of Trenton, Rev. Mr. Pierpont formerly of Boston, Father Taylor of Boston, Rev. Mr. Conant of Geneva, Illinois, and Hon. Mr. Jenkyns of Oneida County.

The following resolutions were adopted :

"Resolved-That Unitarian Christianity seeks not primarily the diffusion of a creed, but the development and regeneration of man; and that it looks to the preaching of the life and spirit of Jesus, as the great means for the redemption of the world."

"Resolved-That we recognise our obligations as Unitarians to diffuse the distinguishing tenets of our denomination, because they are true, and because they are deeply needed in the present state of religious opinion and of morals in the community."

"Resolved-That the progress of liberal Christianity in this State has been commensurate with the efforts made to advance it, and that there are no limits to its diffusion but those which the fewness of the labourers

tarian Christianity, and also that Rev. Mr. Pierpont is in that city, with the hope of gathering a new Unitarian Society. The Unitarians of Massachusetts and New England extend a cordial fellowship and a fraternal "God speed" to their friends in the Empire State.

It is understood, we believe, that the immediate object held most in view by the Association is the appointment of a missionary, or travelling preacher, to seek out, through the State, those who are wishing for a more liberal and just administration of Christianity, according to the recommendation in the fourth of the above resolutions.

CHURCH OF THE SAVIOUR.

The corner-stone of this edifice was laid, with appropriate ceremonies, at six o'clock on the morning of May 27, 1846. The introductory prayer was offered by Rev. Mr. Hosmer, of Buffalo, N.Y.; Selections from Scripture were read by Rev. Mr. Cordner, of Montreal, L.C.; the Address was delivered by Rev. Mr. Waterston, the Pastor of the Church; Prayer was offered by Rev. Dr. Gannett, of Boston; an original Hymn was sung; concluding Prayer was offered by Rev. Mr. Farley, of Brooklyn, N.Y. In the tin box encased in the cornerstone were deposited sermons by Rev. Drs. Channing, Dewey, Walker, Gannett, Lamson, Noyes, and Rev. Messrs. Waterston and Robbins; also a copy of the Christian Register, the Christian World, the Bible Christian, Reports of the Cambridge and Meadville Theological Schools, Report of the Ministry at Large, and of the SundaySchool Society; also, a copy of the Service-Book of the Church; of the History of the Sunday School, by W. R. Sumner, Esq.; of the Account of this Church, by H. B. Rogers, Esq.; and of the Order of Exercises at this ceremonial.-Monthly Religious Mag.

OBITUARY.

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

THE Paper referring to the proceedings of the General Assembly, at the July meeting would now be out of time for publication. We are, nevertheless, obliged to our correspondent.

It is requested that all communications intended for insertion in the Irish Unitarian Magazine will be forwarded not later than the 10th of the preceding month (if by post, prepaid), to 28, Rosemary-street, Belfast.

OUR views respecting the Holy Scriptures, as far as such views require to be stated in a confession of faith, are sufficiently developed, when we admit the direct and positive inspiration of the Bible, and receive as authentic the miracles it records and the prophecies it contains. We have arrived at this point in the statement we are giving of the principles of Modern Orthodoxy. We proceed to the next truth contained in the Outline prefixed to this statement, viz. "We believe that man is unable to justify himself before God, and by himself to merit salvation." We challenge the most rigid Orthodoxy, of whatever age, to add a word to this statement. The incontestible right of the Creator to require from his creatures perfect obedience to his laws, undivided love and entire devotement;-the impossibility of man's paying this debt, which the very gift of life imposes, and which is therefore due from every living creature-an impossibility which a review of the history of humanity stamps as an established fact;-the indignation with which conscience repels the idea of having merited, either the blessings of God in this world, or his favours in another;-all these sad and important truths are expressed in the words, "Man is unable to justify himself before God, and of himself to merit salvation." If man unaided could justify himself, if he could succeed in repairing the errors he has committed, if he could re-clothe himself with the virtues he has neglected, if he could conceal his moral deficiencies by casting around him a robe fallen from some glorified Elijah whom he had adopted as his instructor-then man might hope to merit salvation. Though he had been a slothful servant, yet, coming at the eleventh hour, he might fulfil his task, regain the time he had before lost, repair the evil he had before committed, and earn the wages of a faithful workman.

TT

God would be his debtor, and the blessings of Providence and Grace -a peaceful death and a happy immortality-would be simply the returns due to the expiation he had made, and the labour he had performed. Such a supposition as this precludes the necessity of a Saviour altogether. If man can save himself, there can be no reason why God should offer salvation. If we can dispense with the salvation it offers, we can also dispense with Christianity entirely. But we cannot believe that man can thus merit pardon and Heaven, we cannot believe that he can thus instantaneously convert his injustice into justice, his sinfulness into purity, and deserve eternal happiness, at the moment he surrenders a life which has been one unshaken scene of folly and crime.

There is no occasion, either amid the terrors of remorse or the enthusiasm of gratitude, to exaggerate the moral state of man. To exaggerate it is in fact to weaken our cause. No language can enhance the enormity of sin, and when we say "I do not merit anything, I cannot merit anything of God," what can I say more? The verbiage of fanaticism attempts to exaggerate our sinfulness, but it fails to increase its enormity, and the humility which a sense of our unworthiness inspires will be the more valuable as it is founded upon calm conviction, rather than rapturous emotion.

The evil of exaggeration is seen in one circumstance which here suggests itself to our recollection. We have said that all men are undeserving of God's favour, that no man can merit anything; from this it has been concluded by some, that all men are equally guilty before God! Such is the folly to which a blind, unreasoning dogmatism will sometimes lead. What enlightened conscience can believe that the shade of doubt which crossed the mind of Moses when he struck Mount Horeb-the passing bigotry which prompted St. John to desire fire from Heaven to destroy a Samaritan village-the timidity which drew from St. Peter a denial of his Master in the hall of Pilate—are to be placed in the same rank with the cowardice of a Caiaphas who delivered up the holy one and the just, and the treachery of a Judas who betrayed him! Yet to this excess of absurd injustice, in which all law and all conscience is set at naught, are they led who represent the whole human race, of all ages and of all races, as plunged into one motionless abyss of equal guilt, who see not in the lower deep a deeper still, nor hear, according to the sublime image of the sacred penman, "deep calling to deep at the noise of his waterspouts." Yes, unworthiness is equal, because nowhere is there merit, but iniquity is not equal and cannot be so. It must vary in every man by shades, alone perceptible to the eye of God,-shades that are infinite; because to the growth of sin, as to the progress of virtue, no limits have been placed.

Ancient Orthodoxy, instead of avoiding this exaggerated representation of man's moral condition, prided itself upon it, as something improving and edifying. This wretched error led to the greatest mistakes in the interpretation of some passages of Holy Writ. Overlooking the fact that these are infinite degrees in corruption, and regarding all as equally guilty because all are equally unworthy, every text which speaks of crime or condemns it, has, with them, an equal value, and is applied without modification to all generations, and to all states of society. Sodom and Gomorrah, whose iniquities "cried unto heaven," is with them a picture of the world as at present constituted. The hyperboles of Job's friends, necessary to bear out their absurd theory that our misfortunes are all sent in anger and none in love, all chastisements for sin and none trials of our fidelity-these exaggerations are referred to, as correct descriptions of men's ordinary failings and God's uniform providence! When David, after his conscience had been roused by the rebuke of Nathan, laments his atrocious wickedness towards Bathsheba and Uriah, the terrible remorse of this adulterous murderer is regarded as the ordinary expression of the Christian's repentance! And finally, when the later prophets, and especially Jeremiah, pour forth the thunders of their rebuke against the cupidity, the injustice, the licentiousness, and idolatry, which overran the Jewish court and capital, even when besieged by the armies of Nebuchadnezzar a state of national depravity which has never been equalled but during the decline of the Roman Empire-these indignant remonstrances are received as applicable to the manners and habits of a Christian people! The certain result of such exaggerations is to cast a reproach upon the book of God as unjust in its rebukes, and to encourage sinners to console themselves with the thought that their faults cannot deserve such severe censures, and may perhaps entirely escape reproof. Modern Orthodoxy avoids this error. She does not range

She believes that

every sin in the same rank and on the same level. every man is a sinner, and therefore no man merits God's favour, but she adds, "Every man shall bear his own burden."

The prevalence of moral evil and the universality of sin, are the very foundations of Christianism, for without sin there had been no necessity for redemption. But this statement seems to us sufficient, without our adding to it a reception of the doctrine of Original Sin, and the damnation of infants. As to the doctrine of Original Sin, if by it is meant merely that sin commenced with the commencement of the human race, and hung around the very cradle of humanity, this is not so much a doctrine as a fact, an event, upon which the record in Genesis is found in agreement with a crowd of vague traditions floating amid the legends of almost every nation. We believe, with St. Paul, "that by the first man, Adam, sin entered into the world."