labour to make men dishonest: and to avoid being a witness of the deplorable havock of conscience which I knew was about to take place at Strabane, I avowed myself to be an Arian, and then obtained permission to retire from the Synod-House during the call of the Roll. In this request I was joined by the late Robert Orr, of Killead, F. Blakely, and S. C. Nelson. Mr. Blakely well remembers, that he and I walked along the street, with the tears streaming from our eyes, as we mourned over the degradation of our once Free Church, and thought of the deplorable scenes which were at that moment passing within the walls of a Meeting-house, in which the most able and most excellent William Dunlop had, for twenty-five years, delivered eloquent lessons of Christian truth and Christian liberty.

Eight Ministers, avowedly Arians, remained in the house, but refused to make any declaration, on the just ground that the Synod had no right to demand it, and that the whole affair was an act of usurpation and tyranny. Their names were, I believe, John Mitchell, Robt. Campbell, Ephriam Stevenson, Samuel Watson, Alex. Orr, William Finlay, Thos. Alexander, and Arthur Neilson. The two Ministers who distinctly voted "Not," were N. Alexander and William Porter. Five honored Elders did the same, viz. Leonard Dobbin, Armagh, Walter Roberts, Dunmurry, William Orr, Strabane, Wm. Moody, Nt.Limavady, and D. M. Blow, Templepatrick of whom, the first four have long since departed from this transitory scene.

The melancholy exhibition closed at five o'clock on the Saturday evening-the crowd rapidly melted away-and the Ministers of the Synod, victors and vanquished, came out "in mingled tide," hagard, depressed, and evidently dissatisfied with the deplorable work in which they had been engaged. About two hours afterwards, one of the professed believers came into my private room, wrung my hand, and burst into an agony of tears. He was an early and most valued friend; and were it not that farther particulars might cause the individual to be recognised, and inflict pain upon honest living hearts, I could tell a tale of what he said about himself, and others, both actors and sufferers, as affecting as it would be instructive. Some day, it may be told; but I must now forbear.

The week of excitement, anxiety, and sorrows, was followed by a Sunday morning, calm, bright, and refreshing. Human passions had not been able to cast a veil over the glorious sun, or to de

tor.

spoil the fair earth of its sweetness and its beauty. "The very air was balm”—the beasts, the birds, the insects-all were happy, as I journeyed two miles through a delightful country, to worship in the meeting-house of Urney, of which congregation my clear-headed and warm-hearted young friend, James Purss, was then the pasHe had invited me to preach; but knowing the hateful spirit which had been awakened in the country, I declined, on his account, and he had engaged, in my place, one of the Believers, of the preceding day, whom, until that moment, I had considered to be as great a heretic as I was myself. Arriving at the meetinghouse, before any of my friends had reached it, I turned into "the green," where I saw a considerable crowd, evidently very much on the alert. I soon learned the object of the party; for a rude young farmer instantly advanced and exclaimed-" No man will preach here that denies his Saviour: we thought you were coming, and the pulpit stairs are lined with men to prevent you from getting up." To this courteous salutation, I quietly replied, that he and his friends had given themselves unnecessary trouble, as I had no desire to cast pearls before swine." At that moment, my co-presbyter, the Rev. John Orr, of Portaferry, came forward and announced that he was to preach; but he was instantly informed that "he also had denied Christ." In vain did he repeatedly assert his orthodoxy: the young farmer was inexorable; and although Mr. Purss, who now arrived, confirmed Mr. Orr's statement, John Brown could not be moved-declaring that "he had been himself in Strabane, and knew better." The Rev. Robt. Winning joined his testimony in support of Mr. Orr's orthodoxy ; but all was in vain: the crowd would not believe the united evidence of three orthodox Ministers; and hinted pretty plainly, that such company rather cast some doubt upon Mr. Purss himself. In the end, Mr. Winning preached two very rational sermons; and thus had the leaven begun to work in the whole mass of society. One week earlier, and I could have preached at Urney, with perfect acceptance: now, the people gave the lie direct to their own Minister and two of his friends.

The result of this adventure is at once amusing and instructive. When the Synod assembled on the following day, Mr. Orr, being anxious for his reputation, requested the Clerk to state, whether or no, he had expressed his belief in the Doctrine of the Trinity. There could be no doubt of the fact he had: but, lest he should be too proud of his faith, Dr. Cooke looked across the alley, and

addressed him in these pleasant and memorable words—“ You did say, you believed, Mr. Orr, and I suppose, you are orthodox in your own way; but your orthodoxy is not my orthodoxy!" How instructive a commentary was this, upon the proceedings of the previous week! Two learned Divines, having only one Creed, had nevertheless two Orthodoxies—and that, I firmly believe. Thus it is, that Creeds delude the people, by "holding up a uniform testimony to the world," whilst all sorts of opinions quietly nestle under their sheltering wings! This is notoriously true, in relation to every creed-bound Church in Christendom: and, at this moment, there is far more actual uniformity of belief, in the Remonstrant Synod of Ulster, without any creed save the Bible, than exists in the Irish General Assembly, with its stringent Confession and Catechisms. Creeds, in fact, are of no use, except as cloaks for timeservers and hypocrites: for, honest men will candidly state their real opinions, and consequently do not require them.

The Calvinistic party calculated, not unnaturally, that their triumph at Strabane had crushed the spirit and annihilated the hopes of Unitarianism. I say, not unnaturally, because all sects and parties deceive themselves by supposing that the views and feelings which actuate the ardent supporters by whom they are almost exclusively surrouuded, also pervade the entire mass of society. The clamour of the multitude therefore, in Strabane, they mistook for the voice of all Ulster. They saw how easily many unfortunate ministers had been crushed by the terror of the multitude -and they confidently believed, that the few fool-hardy heretics, who had refused, like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, to worship the image which Henry Cooke had set up, would be speedily consumed in the fiery furnace of popular indignation. Some of them, consequently, in the kindliness of their natures, which were less rigid than their iron creeds, looked upon us with unaffected compassion. As a fair sample of this amiable class of practical intolerants with generous hearts, I may adduce the case of my early, esteemed, and still living friend, Richard Dill, of Ballykelly, near Newtonlimavady, as sincere and honest a man, I believe, as ever existed. On their return from Synod, he cordially invited my worthy elder, Walter Roberts, to accept the hospitalities of his pleasant home; and after much agreeable conversation, he expressed himself in the most gratifying terms with regard to myself-deeply lamenting the unfortunate course which I had pursued, and taking it for granted, that I would not be permitted again to enter the

pulpit of Dunmurry. On this point, he was speedily, and, in spite of his Calvinism, I am persuaded, agreeably undeceived. My venerable friend truly informed him, that I ran no risk, although an opposite course might have exposed me to danger-inasmuch as I was the fifth Minister under whom he had sat in Dunmurry, and that, without a single exception, they had preached the doctrines of Unitarianism! As the Head of my Session, in years, in worth, in public esteem, in every generous and excellent quality of head and heart, that good and honoured man, in whose house I first broke bread, when I entered Dunmurry as a stranger and comparative boy, only did justice to the worshipping Society, whose sentiments and interests he so appropriately represented in Strabane. In good truth, I was in no danger: from the highest to the humblest, my people were instructed, liberal, and determined; and I had not the merit of most of my Brethren, in resisting the tyranny of the Synod of Ulster.

So far were subsequent facts from realizing the sanguine hopes and confident expectations of our Calvinistic opponents, as to the extinction of Unitarian Christianity, that the proceedings at Strabane gave a sudden impulse to the great principles of truth and liberty, as gratifying as it was important. The Press carried our debates into every house-tracts and pamphlets expository of our opinions were widely circulated-our pulpits awoke from their quiet slumbers of neutrality—and "New-Light" literally penetrated the darkest regions of the land. Instead of being annihilated, we were merely aroused; and the sudden irruption of our enemies only proved that we had a latent strength in ourselves and a hold upon the public sympathies, upon neither of which we could at all have calculated.

[As the Unitarian Magazine is about to be discontinued, Dr. Montgomery, at the request of many friends, will continue these Outlines in a separate publication; including the History of the Remonstrant Secession and the Dissenters' Chapels Bill, with various interesting Documents and details. The extent and price of this Supplement will be duly advertised:]

INTELLIGENCE.