insult the Remonstrant Synod, and annoy Doctor Montgomery, in revenge for the disappointment which he and Mr. Nixon Porter had sustained in the matter of the Assistant Clerkship. The Synod thought fit to eleet the Rev. Thomas Smyth to that office, as being the senior candidate, one of our most respectable ministers; during the last twelve years officiating minister of Glenarm, without Royal Bounty, with a wife and six children to provide for, whilst both Mr. Porter and Mr. MaEver ginnis were in possession of the entire Royal Bounty, and without families. since that election, a tendency has been observed on the part of the two disappointed candidates to sneer at and under-value the religious body by whom their services were declined, to praise the Presbytery of Antrim above the Remonstrant Synod, and to direct, on every possible opportunity, public and private, a series of feeble, but spiteful and ill-natured attacks against Doctor Montgomery, to whom they attributed their disappointment in the matter. Now, I can inform these young Gentlemen, that the spirit which they manifest, is observed and commented on, by the intelligent laity, as well as by the Ministers of their Church, and that it is strongly and universally condemned as presumptuous and improper; indecorous upon their part, and grossly unjust to Doctor Moutgomery, to whom, and to whom alone, we owe the very existence of the Remonstrant Synod, its extraordinary increase, its present honourable, influential, and stable position, all the endowments we have obtained from Government, and all the recent The invidious praises of glorious, and almost miraculous triumphs of our cause. the Presbytery of Antrim are unworthy of notice, because, with all due respect for the members of that body, I believe that every intelligent man, of every party, must admit that Doctor Montgomery, alone, has done more for the advancement of our cause, the cause of Unitarian truth and the emancipation of conscience, and more for the establishment of new societies advocating these principles, than all the ministers of the Presbytery of Antrim have been able to do during the last hundred years. I feel humiliated by the thought that our Synod should contain any individual capable of forgetting, for one moment, the mighty, the infinite debt of gratitude which we owe, and which we never can discharge, to Doctor Montgomery, for the self-sacrifising devotedness with which he has applied all the powers of his mind, and all the energies of his soul, during a long, laborious, and active life, to the sole object of establishing the principles of liberty and truth. I deemed it necessary to say these things before taking up, and I trust putting at rest for ever, the offensive charges against our young men, as I know that in doing so, I am only giving utterance to the calm and deliberate opinion of every minister and intelligent layman in our communion, with the exception, doubtless, of Rev. David Maginnis and Rev. J. Nixon Porter. With respect to the tabular view which Mr. Maginnis has invented and published in his last article enumerating the examinations which the Presbytery of Bangor have held, as contradistinguished from those which he alleges they ought to have held, I remark that it is manifestly absurd and deceptive. 1st, It is absurd, because it represents the number of examinations that ought to have been held in five years as one hundred, that is, twenty per year, a number so preposterously absurd, that Such a system of examinations never was at any time it requires no comment. proposed, much less practised, by any Presbytery in the world; and attendance upon such a number of examinations would be altogether incompatible with the faithful discharge of the duties of the Ministry in all Country Congregations. But, 2d, Mr. Maginnis in his "table," is deceptive, as well as absurd. The Presbytery of Bangor never adopted any such ridiculous and impracticable rule as that mentioned by Mr. Maginnis, nor did the Non-Subscribing Association, at any time, adopt the system of examination which he asserts "eight years ago was regarded as the minimum for the qualification of students for the Ministry." Of this whole matter respecting the " improved course," as he calls it, Mr. Maginnis appears to be profoundly ignorant. It is, therefore, necessary to lay before the public a correct view of the whole matter. 1st. The Association never assumed the power of dictating to the Presbyteries on the subject of educating or licensing candidates for the Ministry, but on the contrary, all such power is expressly disclaimed in the very constitution of that body. By a distinct resolution passed at its formation, in 1835, an express guarantee was given to the three independent bodies united in the Association, that all their previous rights should remain as before their union. One of these rights is that of examining their own students on whatever subjects, and at whatever times they may please to appoint, and giving a license to preach the Gospel to all and every of those students that they may approve of. Nothing, therefore, but extreme ignorance, or unworthy design, could induce any member of the Association to assert that the Remonstrant Presbytery of Bangor is bound, in the slightest degree, by any resolution of the Non-Subscribing Association with respect to how, or when they may please to examine and license their own students. Mr. Maginnis represents us as acting in direct opposition to one of the laws of our Church. I most distinctly deny the existence of any such law; and I say, 1st, the Non-Subscribing Association never passed any resolution enforcing the course of study only recommended by a small committee, which, I believe, never met in quorum. 2d. The Remonstrant Synod never even recommended this course, simply because, "the Code of Discipline" adopted by the late General Synod of Ulster before its unfortunate disunion, is still the law of our Church, and requires but one examination in each year, of each student, for the purpose, merely, of ascertaining whether or no he has made progress during his previous year at college. And 3d, I now ask Mr. Maginnis to produce any single resolution of our Presbytery in which his "minimum course of study" is either directly or indirectly sanctioned by us, or even alluded to, as being in existence. But the most effectual way of settling this question is, obviously, for Mr. Maginnis to point out and clearly mention by name, the Licentiates that the Presbytery of Bangor has sent forth in a half educated 'state, more ignorant than a mechanic, "an ordinary mechanic," as he has stated, with increased injustice, in his last paper. He has cruelly and unjustly defamed a whole class, and I now publicly and solemnly call upon him, in the name of the Presbytery which he calumniated, in my own name, as having been an active member of that Presbytery during the last thirteen years, and on almost every occasion, one of the examiners appointed to ascertain the amount of knowledge acquired by our students, and on behalf of the well-informed and excellent young men whom he has villified as half educated and grossly ignorant persons, to come forward and designate openly the person or persons to whom he alludes. As Mr. Maginnis is at present the very youngest member of our Presbytery, he is, in all probability, utterly unacquainted with the names of the young Ministers and Licentiates whom he has had the rashness to libel as half-educated and grossly ignorant, I will now proceed to furnish him with a correct and faithful list of all the candidates for the office of the Ministry that the Remonstrant Presbytery of Bangor has licensed to preach the Gospel, from its first formation in 1830, till' the present day, and I fearlessly affirm, that no Presbytery in any Church, could produce a list of such able and highly educated inen licensed by it consecutively. The following is a correct list of the Licentiates of the Remonstrant Presbytery of Bangor, from its formation in 1830 till 1847 : 1. Rev. William Smyth, for several years a distinguished Assistant in the Belfast Institution; afterwards the eloquent and esteemed minister of Stockport, from which he voluntarily retired, to accept the situation which he now holds as pastor of the respectable congregation of Wareham.-2. Rev. James Orr, minister of the Unitarian Congregation of Clonmel, highly distinguished as a scholar and controversialist, and the author of many valuable and very popular works in defence of our cause.-3. Rev. James Watson, formerly minister of Greyabbey, deceased.4. Rev. George Hill, minister of the Remonstrant Congregation of Crumlin.5. Rev. Charles James M'Alester, minister of Holywood; highly distinguished at College; Editor, for many years, of the "Bible Christian," the periodical of our party, and at present eminently distinguished by his ability in the pulpit, and his unwearying exertions as a faithful Pastor of a flock which he has doubled in numbers, and advanced in prosperity, and who have often acknowledged their sense of his merits, by pleasing and complimentary gifts.-6. Rev. Joseph M'Fadden, minister of the Remonstrant Congregation of Ballymoney, a young minister of great learning and ability, and the master of one of the most respectable classical seminaries in the North of Ireland.-7. Rev. Maxwell Davidson, formerly sole assistant to the late Rev. N. Alexander, of Crumlin, afterwards an assistant in the Royal Belfast Institution, and now, I believe, placed minister of Billingshurst, England. -8. Rev. William Joseph Blakely, formerly minister of the Unitarian Congregation of Billingshurst, in England, and latterly the esteemed, and now deeply lamented, predecessor of Mr. Maginnis, in York-street, Belfast. He obtained many high honours in his college course, and his early death, whilst it inflicted the deepest injury on the infant congregation of which he was pastor, is still deeply regretted by all friends of taste, science, and literature.-9. Rev. William Orr Magowan, now minister of the old and most respectable congregation of Greyabby; a young minister of popular address and respectable attainments, whom I had the pleasure of examining, on the completion of his college studies, in an extensive course of Logic, Moral Philosophy, and Mathematics; and whose answering was highly creditable to himself, and perfectly satisfactory to our Presbytery.—10. Rev. John Boucher, formerly Unitarian Minister of Glasgow, and now advanced to the important situation of minister of the distinguished congregation of Hackney, London, who has already become one of the most popular of the ministers of our party in the metropolis of the Empire.-11. Rev. John Shannon, formerly a distinguished student under the care of the Seceding Synod, who joined the Remonstrant Body from conviction, and is now the stated pastor of Hull, England. -12. Rev. David Gordon, son of the excellent Doctor Gordon, of Saintfield, a popular public speaker, a very respectable scholar, and a most faithful and efficient labourer in his present difficult, but most honorable position, as Remonstrant Minister in Strabane.-13. Mr. Andrew Wylie, long principal Assistant in the Rev. J. Scott Porter's school, in Belfast. He has since relinquished his prospects as a minister of our Church, and has been chosen, on account of his eminent attainments in Mathematical Science and in Natural Philosophy, by Sir Henry De la Beche, as one of his assistants in the Geological Survey of Ireland, conducted under the direction of Government.-14. Rev. Porter Orr, eldest son of the Rev. Alex. Orr, Ballyhemlin, a young man of very high attainments, who distinguished himself during his collegiate course, and in all his examinations before our Presbytery. He is now the stated Pastor of the Unitarian Congregation of Ringwood, England.-15. Rev. John Fisher, formerly tutor in the family of the late Samuel Bruce, Esq., Belfast, and now a stated minister in England.-16. Rev. William Hall, a young gentleman eminently distsnguished throughout the whole of his college course, and now the stated Pastor of the Unitarian Congregation of Southampton.-17. Rev. John Orr, of Ballyhemlin, our latest Licentiate, a young man of very high attainments, distinguished ability in the pulpit, and excellent character. 18. To these names I have pleasure in adding that of the Rev. John Cordner, Unitarian Minister of Montreal, in Canada; a man who would be an honor to any Church, and who, although "born out of due time," does the greatest credit to the discernment of our Presbytery, and is become, in fact, the honoured missionary and apostle of our cause in that part of the world in which he is placed. Now, the above is a correct and perfect list of all the young men who have been licensed to preach the Gospel by the maligned Remonstrant Presbytery of Bangor, since its separation from the Calvinistic Church, and I call upon Mr. Maginnis to point out any single individual among them, whom even he, or his abettor in this calumnious charge, would dare to say was deficient in learning, or unprepared for the office of the Christian Ministry in any Church in our land. I say deliberately, and with the sanction of all the senior members of our body with whom I have conversed upon this subject, that not one of the young ministers mentioned above is inferior, in the least degree, to Mr. Maginnis; whilst it is well known that more than nine-tenths of them are immeasurably superior to him in every species of learning and accomplishment that can adorn and dignify the character of a Christian Minister. Mr. Maginnis labours to convey the idea, that the examinations of Presbyteries constitute the education of students; whilst in point of fact, Presbyteries never undertook to do more than merely to ascertain the extent and soundness of their knowledge. Presbyteries cannot act the part either of schoolmasters or of professors, but they examine the young men under their care regularly, and, as far as the Presbytery of Bangor is concerned, I say faithfully, to know whether the various schoolmasters and professors, who are the only real instructors, and the only res ponsible parties in the matter, have or have not done their duty. All the eighteen young ministers and licentiates above named (with the exceptiou of the Rev. J. Cordner, who was not licensed, but ordained to a special mission in Canada), have passed regularly, and with credit, through every one of the classes in the Royal Belfast College mentioned below; they have each spent five years, at the very least, in attendance upon their College Course of instruction; they have, during all that time, been examined every day, by responsible paid Professors men of eminent learning and high character; and they have in every single instance produced, for the inspection of their Presbytery, at the close of each college session, satisfactory tickets from the respective Professors, vouching for their regular attendance, good conduct, and respectable improvement. The following is the Course of study recommended by the Code of Discipline, and never departed from, in any instance, by the Remonstrant Presbytery of Bangor :1st. A good English and classical preparatory education at some respectable school. This point is now ensured by subjecting all our students to a very strict examination, conducted by a numerous committee of the best and most practised teachers and eminent ministers in the Association, who reject without scruple all who are unprepared for entering college. 2d. During their first session at the Royal Belfast College, the students attend the Latin (optional), Greek and Logic classes (imperative); in all of which classes there are daily examinations by the professors. Satisfactory tickets vouching for their regular attendance and a respectable progress must, in every case, be submitted to the Presbytery at its first meeting after the close of the session, else the session will not be sustained. 3d. During the second session at college, a regular attendance is required upon the Moral Philosophy and Mathematical classes. Tickets of a satisfactory nature to be submitted, as before, to the Presbytery. 4th. During the third session of their college course, all our students are required to attend the lectures, experiments and examinations in Natural Philosophy; to learn the principles of mechanics, optics, &c.; to attend an Elocution class, and the senior class of Mathematics (optional). At the close of this third year of study, a general examination is held, in public, by all the various professors on the whole business of the undergraduate course, and a General Certificate, equivalent to a degree of Master of Arts in any of the Scotch Universities, is given to all who deserve it, under the seal of the Royal Belfast College, and authenticated by the signatures of all the professors in that Institution. This General Certificate, or Degree in Arts, has never been in any case dispensed with by the Presbytery of Bangor, except in the single instance of Mr. Cordner, who was specially and urgently called to Canada. We never licensed a candidate for the office of the Christian ministry without ascertaining by an actual inspection of his General Certificate, that he had fully and honourably completed his entire undergraduate course, and received the approval of all the learned and distinguished professors of the college. Is it not strange, then, that any man should have the reckless hardihood to publish to the world that we send out ignorant and half educated men to the ministry of the Gospel? 5th. The fourth year of this college course is devoted by all our students, without exception, to the study of Hebrew, under the regular professor of the Institution; and of Church History, Pastoral Theology and Divinity, under the care of our own professors, Doctor Montgomery and Rev. J. Scott Porter. 6th. During the fifth session, all our students are required to continue and extend their Theological and Historical studies, and to practise, as in the former session, the careful composition and delivery of lectures and sermons; a second year's application to the study of Hebrew, is also recommended. Now, if the Presbytery held no examinations at all, but acted upon the solemn written testimony of the Professors in their General Certificate and tickets, there would even in that case be no truth in the assertion, that we send out halfeducated men, more ignorant than an ordinary mechanic, as the people's instruc |