their minds "to put down Arianism, or it would put them down," they eventually framed the following motion, which, with the state of the votes upon it, I copy verbatim from their minutes of the year 1827.

"Moved, that whereas some Members of the Synod have made open profession of Arian sentiments; and whereas Mr. Porter, in his evidence before the Commissioners of Education Inquiry, has declared, "that, in his opinion, there are more real than professed Ariaus in this body;" and whereas Mr. Cooke, in his evidence before the Commissioners, has declared his opinion, "that there are, to the best of his knowledge, thirty-five Arians amongst us, and that very few of them would be willing to acknowledge it;" and whereas Dr. Hanna, on a similar examination, has declared his opinion," that he presumes there are Arians amongst us," we do hold it absolutely incumbent on us, for the purpose of affording a public testimony to the truth, as well as of vindicating our religious character as individuals, to declare, that we do most firmly hold and believe the doctrine concerning the nature of God, contained in the words of the Westminster Shorter Catechism, “that there are three persons in the Godhead, the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost and these three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory;" and that the Members now absent be, and are hereby, directed to attend the next meeting of Synod, to express their belief concerning the foregoing doctrines; and that such of them as do not attend, shall send to said meeting an explicit declaration of their sentiments on this important point, which declaration shall be addressed to the Clerk.

"It was carried, that the question on this motion should be put in the following form-"Believe the doctrine or not;" and it was directed, that each Member shonld stand up when giving his vote. Before the sense of

the house was taken, four Ministers obtained leave to withdraw; the roll was then called-117 Ministers and 18 Elders voted "Believe," two Ministers voted "Not," and eight Ministers declined voting.

Against the proceedings in this matter, Mr. Mitchel and others protested; and, at a subsequent period of the meeting, gave in the following reasons, which were ordered to be inserted in the Minutes :

"WE PROTEST,

1st-"Because we regard the procedure in question as being in its introtroduction and progress a direct violation of the law of Synod, which requires that "all matters originating before the Synod, shall first be subted to the Committee of Overtures, and stand on the Synod's books for at least one year"-(See Code of Discipline, page 54.)

2d-"Because it is obvious, and has been admitted by the friends of the measure, that it cannot assure the Synod of the sentiments of individuals, even for a single day; and therefore that it is nugatory.

3d-"Because we cannot sanction a proceeding, which, more especially under the influence of the popular odium now so generally excited, evidently creates a temptation to insincerity.

4th-" Because we do not approve of the practice of bearing solemn tes timony to a mysterious doctrine of pure Revelation, in the words of man. 5th-"Because this measure, as it has been put and carried, operates as a test of individual faith, is strictly inquisitorial in its nature, and such an infringement on Christian liberty, as is without a precedent amongst us, and utterly inconsistent with the fundamental principles of our Church."

The entire circumstances connected with the Synod at Strabane were burned into my memory, at the time; and there they must remain indelible, until the frail tablet which contains the record shall be destroyed. Some of those circumstances, as illustrative of principles and characteristic of men and parties, appear to be worthy of preservation; and I shall specially note down a few which could not have become known, even to the most accurate Newspaper reporter.

The popular excitement was very great, even from the commencement; for, by some means, an expectation of great events had been awakened "in all the region round about." The Synodhouse, therefore, which was unusually filled upon the first day of meeting, came to be frequently crowded, almost to suffocation, as the debates proceeded; and the audience unequivocally manifested by their looks, their gestnres, and their tumultuous applause, that they deeply sympathised with the Calvinistic orators. It was evident too, that in this excitement, there was something more than mere sectarian enthusiasm; for the High Church and Orange parties lent all their strength to swell the cry against religious liberty. In fact, the cause of Catholic emancipation was, at that time, making rapid progress; and, as the Unitarians were well known to be, without exception, the steady advocates of Catholic enfranchisement, the opportunity was dexterously seized to awaken political hostility throughout all the regions of Calvinism, by identifying orangism with orthodoxy, and political liberalism with heresy. The design was completely successful, not in Strabane alone, but over the entire Province; and Dr. Cooke speedily became quite an idol with the supporters of Protestant Ascendancy, by converting the stiffnecked Presbyterians of Ulster, from the Volunteer enthusiasm of the year 1782, and the less justifiable patriotism of 1798.

The excitement at Strabane produced another effect, which had, no doubt, been clearly foreseen. In the absence of subscription to the Westminster Confession of Faith, and during the slumber of the church for the preceding sixty years, religious opinions had not been investigated, and the great mass of the people were entirely ignorant of doctrinal distinctions. In many cases, this arose from

the neglect of the ministers and the indifference of their flocks; but, to a considerable extent, it was attributable to the fact that many of the clergy, as educated men, had out-grown the nominal creed and catechism of their church; and not wishing to alarm the prejudices or disturb the harmony of their congregations, they had gone quietly on, preaching neutral doctrines and good morality, without ever entering upon the thorny field of controversial theology. A few reading and thinking men in such congregations, with whom their ministers held friendly private intercourse, knew their opinions upon points of controversy and generally participated in their doctrinal sentiments; but the great body of the laity, except in some fifteen or twenty congregations where the clergy had spoken plainly, still held a kind of traditionary orthodoxy, and were greatly prejudiced against "New-Light." In a very large number of congregations, therefore, there were two parties—a small Unitarian party, from conviction; and a numerous Calvinistic party, from hereditary feeling and prejudice. I could name Presbyteries in which this condition of affairs existed, almost without a single exception; and, I believe, there was scarcely one Presbytery of the General Synod, in which it did not exist to a considerable extent-or, at least, to some extent. It is evident, therefore, that amongst a population thus circumstanced, nothing could be easier than to create a general excitement, by declaiming about "glorious old John Knox who rebuked a Popish Queen, and pulled down the nests of the Popish rooks, in Edinburgh"-about "our martyred ancestors that crimsoned the deep glens and mountain heather of Scotland with their precious blood, in defence of orthodoxy"-about certain monsters who, " though called ministers of the Gospel, deserved no more love, and were entitled to no milder appellation, than robbers-for they robbed the Saviour of his eternal crown of glory"--about "the awful destruction of priceless souls from the foul leprosy of Arianism"-and, finally, about "the blue banner of Ulster which would soon wave over the worthy descendants of the glorious Scottish martyrs, and marshall them on to victory over all the enemies of the Truth"! Under the exciting influence of such harangues, and amidst fearful denunciations of all who should dare to exercise the right of individual judgment in the concerns of religion, the General Synod of Ulster resolved, like their worthy brethren of the older Inquisition, to demand from each member his assent to, or dissent from, a Declaration of Faith, couched in human phraseology, at which several

of them had previously cavilled, and to which, I sincerely believe, not ten individuals attached precisely the same meaning!

To me, and to many others, the scene was awful. I have looked upon the wreck of earthly hopes-I have followed the remains of loved ones to the tomb-I have myself stood, as I believed, upon the very brink of the grave: but, I solemnly declare, that, before or since, I never experienced such an utter crushing and desolation of the heart, as I felt in the Synod-house of Strabane, at three o'clock, on the 30th of June, 1827. I had taken my stand, immediately in front of the pulpit: the whole House lay distinctly before me the galleries, the alleys, the very window-seats were densely crowded by an eager and angry multitude. With one or two exceptions, I could discern no marks of triumph on the conntenances of the majority-many of whom were comparative boys. They had no doubt gained a victory over Christian liberty, amidst popular excitement, and by unscrupulous appeals to unworthy prejudices and passions, because to have opposed them either by speech or vote, would have brought down upon many, sudden and irremediable ruin: and, yet, they did not seem to be quite satisfied with their work; they seemed to shrink from sacrificing the victims whom they had taken unawares, without notice or preparation. But, if the very victors appeared to be thus disconcerted, how did it fare with the vanquished? Some ten or twelve, who had firmly resolved to keep a conscience at all hazards, manifested that tranquillity of countenance and demeanour which ever attends upon an honest purpose. My venerated master, Nathaniel Alexander, stood erect, like "an Israelite, indeed, in whom there was no guile" the true-hearted Robert Campbell, although clearly foreseeing the tempest which afterwards so relentlessly burst upon him, continued calm and unmoved: the noble brow of William Porter remained unruffled: John Mitchell, the Melancthon of our church, "looked more in pity than in anger," upon his opponents: and Fletcher Blakely, the early champion of truth and freedom, maintained a bearing worthy of his character and cause. But, there were others of the vanquished there-less firm, less sustained, deeply miserable. Some of them too were hoary-headed men-"to dig unable, and to beg ashamed" and some were middle-aged, but wanting popular talents to give them any hope of successfully supporting an uupopular cause: and some were young, with human hopes and affections, too strong for nobler purposes, clinging around their hearts. I knew them all: I knew their opinions and

their feelings: "I saw the iron enter into their souls." Some of them looked down, in shame: others looked up, in agony: but only two alternatives presented themselves to view-closed pulpits, starving children, and destitute old age-or, all those appalling evils avoided, by uttering a solemn falsehood, before God and the world! Like Peter, they fell, they sinned; and like him, some of them, I know, "repented bitterly, with tears"! I do not justify their conduct: I do not deny their weakness, their guilt. But, were they the only, or even the principal sinners, in this deplorable affair? They wanted moral courage-they were deficient in Christian integrity--they sacrificed truth to the yearning affections of the human heart: but those who, for ambition, for the love of power, under the plea of promoting a visionary and unattainable uniformity of belief, wilfully and deliberately laid snares for their unwary feet, were unquestionably steeped in tenfold guilt. The seducer is always more criminal than his victim-the suborner of perjury is deeper dyed in sin, than the low wretch who commits it-and the solemn falsehoods uttered in Strabane lie heaviest on the souls of those who tempted frail and erring brethren to pronounce them. And what was the compensative gain, for all this sacrifice of decency and truth? Was any man's opinion altered? No but several persons changed their profession, and duly received the right hand of orthodox fellowship, who would have been spurned, and persecuted, and reduced to beggary, had they been bold and honest enough to speak the truth! And this was lauded to the skies, as "a glorious purifying of the Church!" In other words, the Church was purified, by doing an act which drove out honest men, and allowed false professors and selfish knaves to remain in her bosom as favoured children. Such, indeed, ever has been and

ever must be the effect of Creeds. They are strong enough to exclude honest men; but knaves "cut boldly" and cut through them. A man's Unitarian opinions may be certainly known by his refusing to enter a Trinitarian Church; but the simple fact of his subscribing a Creed which is essential to his obtaining honors and emoluments, is, in itself, no proof that he believes it. Professor Leslie, of Edinburgh, ostentatiously subscribed the Westminster Confession, although he was avowedly a Sceptic; and a late leading member of the General Synod freely took the Trinitarian test at Strabane, although I once saw it declared under the hand of one of his orthodox brethren, that "he must be an Atheist." These melancholy things too fully show how effectually Churches