assigned by the seer for not cursing Israel: "If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the commandment of the Lord, to do either good or bad of my own mind." We must keep to "the simplicity that is in Christ." We would not shun "to declare all the counsel of God;" but we dare not "teach, for doctrines, the commandments of men." We endeavour to follow the scriptures in all things, and the true and only reason why, as Christians, we do not go any further, is our solemn, firm, and deliberate conviction, that the scriptures do not go any further. This I shall show to be the principle, on which Unitarians proceed in forming the views they entertain of the person and authority of Jesus Christ, and of the honour due him, and of the reconcili ation or atonement he has effected.

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1. We believe in Jesus Christ as a Divine Messenger; that his power and authority are divine, and that his words are to be regarded as the words of God. We believe him to be the "only begotten Son" of God; and, when he says, (John x. 30,) “I and my Father are one," we also believe him; understanding this language as it is explained by himself in another passage, where, interceding with the Father for his disciples, he prays, (John xvii. 22,)" that they may be one, even as we are one”one in purpose, counsel, and cooperation. But we cannot go any further, because we think that the scriptures do not; nay, that they expressly forbid it.

The plain and obvious sense of the sacred writings will not permit us to regard Jesus Christ, as the omnipotent, omniscient, and self-existent God. For an apostle has said, (1 Cor. viii. 6,) “to us there is but one God, the

Father;" and to the same purpose, also, our Lord himself, in a prayer addressed expressly to the Father, (John, xvii. 3,) "This is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God." In another place, also, he declares, in so many words, his own inferiority, (John, xiv. 28,) "For my Father is greater than I;" and he is so far from pretending to omniscience, that he expressly disclaims it in more than one instance: (Mark, xiii. 32,) "But of that day, and that hour, knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father." Again, it is the uniform doctrine of scripture, that Jesus Christ is a dependent being. His own words are, (John, v. 30,) "I can of mine own self do nothing." And in another place, (John xii. 49,) "For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak." So, likewise, at the resurrection of Lazarus, (John xi. 41, 42,)“ Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me ; and I know that thou hearest me always :" plainly intimating that he derived the power by which he wrought, not only this, but all his other wonderful works, from above. Nay, take the passage that asserts our Lord's power and authority more strongly than any other in God's word: (Matthew, xxviii. 18,) “ And Jesus came and spake unto them saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth." To maintain, in the face of this scripture, that his power was not "given" him, that it was not a delegated power, that he was not dependent for it on another being, seems to us an open and palpable contempt of revelation.

2. We believe that Jesus Christ should be revered an obeyed, by all men, as their teacher and Lord, the hea of the church, and the saviour of the world. We believe also, that "all men should honour the Son, even as the honour the Father;" because the Son is the representativ of the Father, and the dignity of every government is al ways supposed to reside in its accredited representatives We hold, moreover, that, in gratitude for the inestimable benefits resulting from his mediation, and for the suffer ings voluntarily undergone by him in procuring and dis pensing these benefits, and for the relation which he stil sustains towards us, as our advocate and intercessor with the Father, every devout believer must be drawn to him by a love, that knows no measure nor intermission. But we cannot go any further, being convinced that the scriptures do not, and that they expressly forbid it.

We cannot, we dare not worship Christ as the Supreme Being. In a form of prayer given by our Lord to his disciples, (Matthew, vi. 9—13,) with the express direction that they should pray “after this manner," there is not the remotest allusion to any other person, as an object of worship, but our Father which art in heaven." In another place, referring to what should be after his resurrection, he says, in express terms, that day, ye shall ask me nothing.

(John, xvi. 23,) “ In Verily, verily, I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you." It is true, the gospels mention a single instance of prayer offered to Jesus as an ultimate object of regard-the prayer of the mother of Zebedee's children, that they might sit, one on his right hand, and the other on the left, in his kingdom; but the answer he

gave on that occasion convinces us, not only that such prayers are improper, but that he has no power to grant them. (Matthew, xx. 23,) "To sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give; but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father." Nay, he appears anxious to multiply guards against this well known propensity in man to stop at second causes, and pay those honours to the visible agent or dispenser of any good, which are due only to the invisible First Cause. When one kneeled to him in the eastern manner of salutation, and addressed him by the common appellation, good master, he rebuked him: (Mark, x. 18,) "Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, GOD."

3. We look upon the sufferings of Christ, and especially his cruel and ignominious death, as the means by which he was made perfect, (Hebrews, ii. 10;) as affording a signal attestation to his sincerity, and consequently to his whole history; and as important and necessary for other moral uses. "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends ;" and it is the consciousness of the power of this love, which makes the stricken and penitent soul turn to the cross of Christ with an intense and absorbing interest, which none but those who have felt it can comprehend. We also believe that this voluntary sacrifice of himself may have had a direct influence on God in favour of mankind, similar to that which we ascribe to his intercessions: or, at least, that this, and every such act of obedience and submission, must make his intercessions for us more availing. The proper meaning of the word atonement, is reconciliation; and no Unitarian, of whom I have any knowledge, denies

the christian doctrine of reconciliation: to wit, that all obstacles to man's salvation are now so far removed, that every one, who is so disposed, may inherit eternal life by repentance and obedience. On this topic, we can go to this extent, but no further; being met at every point by plain passages of scripture, which we are not at liberty to disregard.

We cannot refer our salvation to the death of Christ, or to any thing which Christ has done or suffered on our account, as its first cause, since the scriptures expressly refer it to the antecedent love of the Father. (John, iii. 16,)" For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." We do regard the sufferings of Christ as part of the means of reconciling us to God, but not of reconciling God to us; for this, or the necessity of this, is not taught in the New Testament. (Rom. v. 10,) "When we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son," says an Apostle, making us to be the only party requiring a new motive to reconciliation. Above all, we presume not to say, that God cannot forgive sin without a satisfaction for sin made by another person; nor that such a satisfaction has been actually made, so that now the sinner has a right to claim forgiveness, not on the ground of mercy, but of justice. We believe that God can and does forgive sin for his own sake. (Isaiah, xliii. 25,) “I, even I, am he, saith the Lord, that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins." It is offensive to us to hear men talk of merit in this connexion, real or imputed, believing as we do, that the best of men are to

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