The Report having been read, HON. JAMES SAVAGE, of Boston, moved that it be accepted, and in support of his motion addressed the meeting :*. Mr President, I move the acceptance of the Report just read. I heard it with pleasure. The statements it contained are gratifying and encouraging; they correspond with the results of my own observation. I have noticed for some years the progress of religious sentiment in Boston, and have known something of it in other parts of the United States. It is not twenty years since the name Unitarian was unknown in this region, or, if uttered, was intended for a reproach, and heard with alarm. That time, Sir, has gone by. Many in this house can remember when the question was asked, are you of the Boston religion, or of the Christian religion? The time for that question has gone by.

This country presents the best field for Christianity, because it is free-in its institutions, in the principles

*The very imperfect manner, in which the addresses are here reported, is an occasion of regret, and will cause disappointment to the readers. An explanation is also required in justice to the gentlemen who spoke. After waiting some days in the hope that they would furnish what might be published, which, however, their multiplied duties did not allow them (with one or two exceptions) to do, a farther delay was occasioned by other engagements of the person on whom it fell to report them; and when, after some time, an attempt was made to prepare the speeches for publication from the very brief notes taken at the time, it was found to be impossible to give anything more than an outline of the remarks, with an occasional expression, the force or beauty of which had caused it to be remembered. It should, therefore, be kept in mind, while reading the pages that follow, that only a general idea can be obtained from their perusal, of the means of gratification enjoyed by those who were present on this evening.

of its government, in the wants and habits of the people, and I doubt not that the time will come when it will be shown that the United States have given more support to Christianity than any other land. Here truth has opportunity and advantage. Difference of opinion and fair discussion bring it out. Let Christians think and speak freely, and they will find the truth. I do not profess to cherish the expectation which many persons found on the mysterious language of prophecy; but I hope for a brighter period; and I believe that the millenial age will be introduced and will be distinguished by free investigation.

In this country we are saved from that great barrier to the progress of religious sentiment, a union of Church and State. We do not labor under the evils by which Europe is oppressed, and to which the Report alluded. A connexion between the Church and the State is always bad, injurious to the character, and fatal to the improvement of the former; for it converts the minister into a dependant on an Establishment, it bestows ecclesiastical offices on unsound principles, and it fastens a creed on the priests and on the people.

An Establishment cannot be erected in the United States. It is contrary to the theory on which our political existence depends. It would be opposed by the feelings of the people. No sect can gain such an ascendancy over all other sects as must precede this result. They will watch and restrain one another, and prevent any one from augmenting its numbers to the requisite degree. Alarm has been expressed of late at the increase of the Catholic Church; but I apprehend no evil from this source. It may have an aptitude to ally itself

to civil power; but other divisions of the Christian Church have shown a readiness to become the slave or the director of government. The Catholic religion will be modified by the spirit of our institutions, or it cannot prevail. Some persons are troubled at the number of sects in the land. But sects are useful. They are at once checks and incitements to each other. Our safety lies in their number. Truth will finally be discovered, and freedom be secured.

But, Sir, while we find so much to encourage us in this part of the country, we may not forget those at a distance. Our sympathy should embrace our brethren in other parts of the republic. The Report spoke of the Western States. Unitarians there look to the East for sympathy and instruction. Light has always proceeded from the East.

No

The Report alluded to the Theological School. institution yields to this in importance, and its wants increase with its opportunities of usefulness. From its establishment it has ever been dear to my heart. - But I will not enlarge on this topic.

The motion of Mr Savage was then put, and the Re-port was accepted.

After a few words from REV. DR BANCROFT, in which he adverted to the evidence furnished in the Report of the faithfulness of the Executive Committee, and of the claims which they had to the support of their friends,

HON. RICHARD SULLIVAN, of Brookline, rose.

Mr President, the Report having mentioned the Theological Institution at Cambridge as among the means relied upon, to diffuse correct and animating

views of Christianity, I am happy, as one of the Directors of that Institution, to bear testimony to the fact, that professedly, and by the express terms of its constitution, a liberal plan of study, such as must meet entirely the views of this Association, is there established and pursued. In other theological seminaries in most perhaps, if not all, besides, in the United States, a creed embracing speculative points of doctrine, not fundamental in their nature, is made the test of christian character and worthiness; and notwithstanding that such points have divided serious and professing Christians for ages, they are upheld and inculcated as essential. A scheme, so narrow and exclusive, cannot be in harmony with the spirit of the Gospel. It cannot much longer stand against the growing intelligence of mankind.

It is the aim of those who conduct the theological seminary at Cambridge, to free the great truths of religion from such associations and connexions as tend only to degrade them; and to call the attention much more to what is unquestionable, and of infinite consequence for its practical bearing :- insisting only negatively that things mysterious and far above human comprehension, should not be holden to have a meaning at variance with the benevolence of the Deity.

The term, Unitarian, though strictly designating a class of persons who are contending for a single point of doctrine, is in fact applied to those who are upholding other religious views also against another class of persons, with whom they have been for some time in unwilling contention. Unitarians believe that the unfettered exercise of the mind upon opinions and duties is a means, under Providence, of bringing upon the world

the full light of christian knowledge; and that the notion that what is old, and has been long established, is for that reason, as a matter of policy, not to be questioned, is a manifest error, at least in our time, and in the happy position in which a considerable part of christendom now is, a position so favorable not only for the acquisition of truth, but for giving to it its due value, and for making the best use of it. They regard religion as a divine rule of conduct; and instead of appealing to the weakness and the fears of men, as the proper mode of approach to obtain a religious influence, they dare address the reason and the conscience, and trust that deep and effectual impressions may be thus made of God, and of their relations to Him, and to the Saviour, and that an ardent piety and the strongest sense of religious obligation may be the fruit of this course.

It is not however to be concealed, that if, according to the christian dispensation, men are to be educated for eternity or, in other words, if they are to be led on by progressive steps in their religious as in their moral attainments, there is no view of the christian course which demands such high qualifications in those who are to exercise the regular calling of the ministry. Without undertaking to state what are the accomplishments at which the student should aim, it is quite apparent that no one excellence in character and temper, no amount and variety of sound learning, and no degree of devotedness and zeal in the performance of duty, will be useless. Human nature in all its aspects, and men in all conditions, are to be the subjects of unceasing efforts in the way of instruction, admonition, and encouragement; and certainly no office in society, the duties