I shall not trust myself with language to characterise this charge. Call me, if you will, an heir of hell; but full of all malice and wickedness, damn not those I love. God is my witness, that for twenty-five years, my constant, unceasing endeavours have been to lead men to God, through his beloved Son, to teach, "that no man cometh unto the Father, but through him," to proclaim, "that this is eternal life, to know the Father, as the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he has sent ;" and if this be leading men to hell, it is the Bible, not I, for these are the truths of the Bible.

Mr. Carter, you are, by profession, a Minister of the Gospel. You mix, I trust, freely, familiarly, affectionately, with your flock. You enter the cabin of the poor, as well as the more splendid habitation of the rich. And when you are welcomed into the abode of poverty, where the poor listen to your counsel, and join in your prayers, for a blessing upon themselves and their offspring, how would you characterise the man, who should say, in all this, you were only leading the confiding and uneducated to hell! You are a husband. What would you think of the man, who would say, you employ the influence you possess, over the wife of your bosom to lead her to hell! Go to, poor, unfortunate, uncharitable man; may the sentence of God's blessed word never be fulfilled in you-" with what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again."

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any

Another topic, which, though not of much moment, I cannot pass unnoticed. Glendy's pews," you have said, " are empty; his people have all left him, and gone to the other man." Now let me suggest, when conversation takes place, about the number of any religious sect, in this country, the members of the established church, if they have either shame or decency, will be silent. And, suppose my pews were empty, I think you know pretty well, the Congregation of my young friend, Mr. Malcom, though yet in its infancy, is not much on the decline since his settlement. The true answer, however, is very short, but very plain. It is not true The attendance is not so large certainly, as it was previous to 1829; but still the congregation is more numerous than any minister can efficiently attend to; and, what you will no doubt hear with some regret, that even my heresy has not been able to make any of the three orthodox congregations in my neighbourhood,

better attended than it. Let us take the amount of weekly collections made for the poor, during the past year, as a proof of the average rate of attendance, and mine will be found the larger audience. I dare you to the proof; but it is easier to make assertions than meet evidence.

But after all, what is the meaning of this wretched sophistry? Is it that numbers are the test of truth? What then shall v we say for Protestantism; or rather, for the argument which proves the Pagan to be a better religion than the Christian ? But, had you known any thing of the state of religion in this neighbourhood before the year 1829, you would have been very cautious in making such an observation. Previous to that period, we were living in religious amity and peace. Neither the trinitarian discussion, nor the unhallowed attempts which have since been made, to bind the consciences of men by decrees of synods, were thought of; and when afterwards, these were urged with an unholy zeal and violence, do you reflect, that there was not a minister from Belfast to Larne, and from Islandmagee to Templepatrick, who ventured openly to oppose these except myself. Contrast with this state of things, the open honest opposition which you every where meet, against these unscriptural dogmas, and even you must admit, that the cause has been wonderfully successful in such a short space of time. Do I attribute all this to my own unaided exertions ? Certainly not, but my enemies, if I have such, must admit, I have laboured with some little diligence, and "that my labours have not been in vain in the Lord."

I have lived in the neighbourhood with the Episcopalian congregation of Carrickfergus, for nearly twentyfive years; and, in all that time, I have never received an unkind word or deed, from either minister or layman belonging to it; and what my manner of life among them has been, I appeal unhesitatingly to them as judges. You are the first to kindle the torch of discord; but I am confident, that upon a cool review of your conduct, you will pronounce it uncalled for, ungentlemanly, and unchristian; and you can be at no loss to decide what you owe both to yourself and to me. do demand as a matter of right a retractation, as ample as the charges were unqualified, as public as they were publicly made. Let me hope, however, for the sake of

I

our common Christianity, and even our common nature, that I have been misinformed, a circumstance at which I shall greatly rejoice. In the mean time, expecting a prompt reply,

I remain, &c. &c.

WILLIAM GLENDY.

REVIEW.

A Discourse, concerning Creeds, their origin, and effects. By the Rev. J. SCOTT PORTER, of Belfast, 1836. pp. 32, 8vo.

WE cordially recommend this eloquent and argumentative discourse, to all the lovers of gospel truth and religious freedom. It has already reached a second edition, and we are persuaded that a third impression will yet be required. We are inclined to insert the whole of this much admired sermon in our pages, but our readers will perceive, that this would be doing great injustice to its author, who has, no doubt, incurred much expence in its publication. We have, for some time, delayed our notice of this well timed and powerful production, in expectation that some of our semi-protestant contemporaries would call in question its merits; but they have hitherto, so far as we know, thought it prudent to be silent. Praise they dare not give, and blame they are ashamed to pronounce.

Mr. Porter takes his text from ROMANS, xiv. 4. Who art thou that judgest another man's servant ? To his own master he standeth or falleth; yea, he shall be holden up, for God is able to make him stand.

After some judicious explanatory remarks, he thus proceeds to interrogate the advocates and authors of creeds.

"I speak, therefore, in the very spirit of my text when I ask, who are these men, these fabricators and abettors of creeds,-that we should be obliged to bend our necks to the yoke which it may please them to impose ? Who are they,-these priests and legislators, who have taken upon them to enact laws and canons for binding the consciences of their brethren ;-who, and what are they, or what commission can they produce,-that we should be required to submit our souls to their authority in religious concerns, to receive their interpretation of every passage, on which it may please them to comment,-and to embrace their opinion in every article of faith which it may please them to define? Who are they,-these

self-constituted guardians of Orthodoxy, who propound their dogmas to us, in this arrogant style,—these dealers in excommunications, curses and anathemas,-in pains, penalties, and disqualifications; who tell us that unless we think as they think, and profess as they profess, we shall be subjected to numerous ills and inconveniences in the present life, and to exclusion from the mercy of our Heavenly Father in that which is to come ;-who are they, and what commission can they produce that we should be compelled to acknowledge their arrogant pretensions, and humbly to how before the throne of their insolent authority? Where do we find in the New Testament, that Christ has given them a commission to exercise this unlimited control? Is there any passage in which our divine master has either commanded or empowered any of his uninspired followers, whether priests or legislators, to lay down their own opi nions as the measure of other men's minds; to exact from their Christian brethren an undeviating conformity to their standard, and a rigorous adherence to their decisions? Can they produce a single

text in which adherence to their human creeds and confessions is either required, enjoined, or commended? Not one! There is no such passage to be found. They have received no such commission; they are invested with no such authority. Indeed as the compilers of creeds are by no means agreed among themselves, it would have been most strange and suspicious if our Lord had given any such authority. It would necessarily imply that he had commissioned one set of men to establish as articles of faith, doctrines which he had authorised another to condemn as pernicious and damnable heresies. Such an admission would do more to undermine the credibility of the Christian religion, than all the efforts of all the sceptics who have assailed it since the time when it was first preached."

INTELLIGENCE.

INSTALLATION OF THE REV. JAS. MULLIGAN.

ON Thursday Dec. 1, the Remonstrant Presbytery of Bangor met to install the Rev. J. Mulligan, whom, on the death of his father their late pastor, the Remonstrant Congregation of Moira bad unanimously called to be their minister.

The services of the day were conducted by the Rev. F. Blakely and the Rev. H. Montgomery, L. L. D. The former gentleman preached an excellent sermon from 2 Cor. x. 7, in which he power fully advocated the principles of Christian Truth, Liberty, and Love, that distinguish the Remonstrant Body. Dr. Montgomery, whose place it was to deliver the usual charge, first called on the Congregation to know whether they still adhered to the call which they had presented to Mr. Mulligan. On their signifying that they did, he next called on Mr. Mulligan to say, whether he adhered to his acceptance of the call which he had received, and to make any statement that he might wish with respect to his views and feelings in coming to minister in holy things to this people. Mr. Mulligan expressed his acceptance of the call, and spoke nearly as follows

Sir,-Though I rise in obedience to your call, and though I have been anxious to state my views in accepting the charge of this congregation, yet I feel much reluctance and pain in speaking on the present occasion. I feel that I am far from being able to state my thoughts clearly and dis tinctly, and that I have more need of indulgence than at any previous time when I addressed a religious assembly, moved as I am by a crowd of conflicting emotions. The situation of any person appointed to be the minister of a christian con gregation is an affecting one-but it is far more affecting when the scene of his labours is to be the home of his youth, and he is sur rounded by familiar and early friends. My agitation is increased when I look around me, and see those who are present, and think of those who are gone. When I look to the place which you now occupy, I cannot but resort to the days when it was occupied by another. I cannot but recollect that the last time I saw you in this house, you stood there pronouncing my father's funeral discourse. Every time that I saw this congregation assembled during the last few years, it has presented melancholy traces of the ravages of death. And when I behold the assembly of this day, and compare it with the congregation of Moira, as it was not long ago, I feel the full force of the sacred writer's appeal,-" Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live for ever?"

Neither can I avoid feeling considerable emotion when I reflect, that I am to be placed in a field of labour different from that which I have occupied for the last three years. Towards those from whom I have parted I shall ever entertain a warm attachment and a lively anxiety for their well-being. When I consider that they were not merely persons for whose religious improvement I was labouring; but persons also from whom as friends I received much personal kindness-when I consider that in that congregation there are so many valuable and intelligent members in proportion to the whole number-so much interested in the spread of our principles, and possessed of so clear and stedfast views of scriptural truth; if I forget them, surely my right hand shall have forgot her cunningsurely my tongue will cleave to the roof of my mouth. At the same time, however, that I feel myself thus attached to the people of Cairncastle, it were vain to say that I am indifferent to the interests of the congregation of Moira. To the place which was the scene of my childhood-to the house of prayer where I was first taught in public to worship my God, by parents whose mortal remains are now mouldering beside its walls-to the congregation who, many of them, were the intimate companions of my early days, I do, I must feel deeply attached; and it will not be thought strange that in my anxiety to see my father's congregation preserved from the distrac tions that too often arise from a lengthened vacancy, and speedily provided with a new pastor, I was ready to undergo much personal inconvenience, and to forget pecuniary advantages, in yielding to their unanimous and unsolicited call. I trust that under the blessing of God, the change that I have made will tend to promote the cause of pure and undefiled religion among those to whom I am now appointed a minister of Christ.

In the present day, when there is much clamorous disputation, "about questions and strifes of words," a minister entering on his