Southwood Smith) under which they suffer, and the great source of every other, is, ignorance. Those only whom philanthropy or piety has induced to mix with them, in order to ascertain their state, and to improve it, have any adequate conception of its extent. These benevolent persons know, and these alone really know, that, to unexercised minds, the whole creation, and all its wonders and beauties, are a blank; that of these unhappy people, it is literally true, that they have eyes, but they see not, and understanding, but they perceive not; that the most magnificent appearances in nature, produce on them no impression; that events the most momentous, affecting for ages the destiny of their whole race, excites in them no emotion; that subjects the most important, involving their own highest happiness for life, and for immortality, create in them no interest; that the vacuity of their minds is all but absolute; that this absence of any thing that approximates to an intellectual conception, regards alike the most common circumstances, out of the routine of their ordinary occupations, and the truths which it concerns them most to knew. Yet there is abundant evidence, that the minds of those in the lowest station might be awakened, their noblest faculties developed, and their highest improvement secured." BARNABAS..

(To be Continned.)

***** THE CHRISTIAN PIONEER.

GLASGOW, July 1, 1829, to bodome bed

THE Anniversary of the British & Foreign Unitarian Association was held in London, on the 10th of June. The Rev. Dr. Drummond of Dublin, preached the sermon, at Finsbury Chapel in the morning. In the afternoon, about three hundred gentlemen sat down to dinner at the London Tavern, John Wood, Esq. M. P. Chairman. It appears to have been a highly interesting meeting. Many excellent remarks were made by various highly respected individuals, but our limits will only allow of the insertion of the following On the health of Dr. Drummond being proposed, with thanks to him for his forcible, convincing, and eloquent discourse, the Doctor observed, zopardi zew gilids That no o expressions of his is could do justice to the sentiments which had been inspired by the very kind manner in which his

health had been drank. He had come a

but he had found himself at home, in the midst of ongst them; brethren, so that this formed one of the happiest days of his life, and one to which he should always recur with feelings of the most pleasing description. He was proud of the honour which had been done to him, not on his own account, but for reasons of a more serious and important nature. He considered the invitation which he had received from the Unitarians of England, as an expression of their desire to secure a more enlarged intercourse with the Unitarians of Ireland. He felt assured, that the chain of love which they had now formed, would become strong and indissoluble; and that they would unite their energies to emancipate the minds of men, and thus secure their real liberties. Dr. Drummond then adverted to the advantages which the Unitarians of Ireland must derive from an intercourse with those in this country, and who were so far advanced beyond them in intellectual character. It was only of late years, he remarked, that Unitarians had been recognised in Ireland; the greatest prejudices had been excited against them, from the episcopal throne down to the reading desk. Hence they were exposed to the contumely and insults of every description of fanatics and enthusiasts. There were others, again, whose connexions prevented them from avowing principles, of the truth of which they were partly convinced; and some few, who, from higher motives, had abstained from prefessing them. He felt happy, however, that prejudices were giving way, and that a brighter prospect was opening before the Unitarians of Ireland. It had been asserted, that it would be beneficial for all men to stand on common ground: it might be so; but he would urge it upon Unitarians, to bend all their efforts to the establishment of their grand fundamental principles; if that were effected, every thing else would follow. The cause of truth in Ireland, was Some

members of the Synod or U to the ef

of

effen anxiousnose the

to

rusty iron yoke of Calvinism; and their exertions to effect this, had awakened others from their slumbers, to the defence of their liberties. The thunders of orthodoxy and bigotry had been rocking long and loud, and they had raised a spirit of resistance, which it would be found impossible to lay. Their spell was now brokentheir charm was dissolved, and the black clouds in which they were enveloped, were rapidly rolling away. He trusted, they would soon witness the commencement of a new, a bright, and a glorious day of knowledge and religion.bh roit maně

The Chairman rose and said, that their obligations were very great to the ministers of the denomination, but there were some laymen to whom their thanks were due. They were honoured with the presence of a gentleman who had been the first to acknowledge the Unitarians in Parliament, and whose uniform consistency of conduct, both in public and private life, had conferred a distinction on their cause which they would long have wanted, but for him. True it was, that their only real respectability was founded on the truth of their principles, yet it was of consequence that truth should have an eloquent, consistent, and

firm supporter in a place where it was but little known. After taking a very able review of his public life, in which he referred particularly to his exertions in obtaining the repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts, he proposed, "The health of William Smith, Esq. M. P. our distinguished guest.'

Mr. W. Smith, M. P. said, that, in rising to thank the meeting for the manner in which they had been pleased to drink his health, he could not say that he was placed in a situation to which he was unaccustomed, having been honoured more than once by presiding over similar meetings to the present, but on no occasion did he enjoy more satisfaction in receiving the tokens of their approba tion; as to gratitude, he must declare with the most unfeigned humility, that they owed him none. It was his happiness to have been brought up among Unitarian Dissenters. Whether he had supported the Unitarian cause with more or less success, it was always done in accordance with the dictates of his judgment, and he was therefore serving his own cause, while promoting that of his Unitarian friends. If any thing remained to be done in which he could be of service, those services were always at the command of his friends. While he continued to hold the same opinion, be should pursue the same line of conduct. He considered himself as being peculiarly fortunate in those days in which Providence had cast his lot. He commenced public life when unquestionably the temper of the times was very different from what it was at the present day. For a time, he had to pass through evil and through good report, though he had to experience a great deal more of the former than of the latter. He possessed courage enough to stem the evil, and he had now the happiness to receive the good. He could not refrain from recalling to the meeting, what he had witnessed in the course of the last fifty years. He remembered the period when it devolved upon him to march through the streets of London with a musket on his shoulder, in order to support his fellow-citizens, the Roman Catholics, against the pulling down of their dwellings, and the burning of their furniture, by an infuriated Protestant (so calling itself) mob. About thirty years after that period, and within a quarter of a mile of this place, he witnessed the consecration of a Roman Catholic Chapel, the ceremony of which, was attended by the magistrates of the city of London, and several peers of the realm, both Protestant and Catholic. In conjunction with several gentlemen, whom he was then addressing, he adjourned from that scene to a neighouring tavern, where they celebrated their good cause, and paid the tribute due to those that ministered to their instruction in the morning, separated only by one door from their Roman -8Catholic friends, who had just arrived to rejoice in the opening of bathe chapel. He had lived to see Dissenters restored in one year, to the enjoyment of those privileges of which they had been de-sprived $150 years before. He had lived to see Protestant Dis-senters acknowledged among the loyal subjects of the realm, and Trestored to that station which, for forty years, he had argued their right to seccupy. He now had the additional satisfaction of witnessing the triumph of civil and religious liberty, and almost every

person put in possession of its enjoyment. That was a consumconsum mation, which, however devoutly he might wish for, he never expected to see realised. He agreed with the sentiment uttered® that evening, that this event would confer more honour upon George the Fourth, than all the victories which had been obtained over surrounding nations, He hoped that Protestant Dissenters would now consider themselves so far upon a level, as not to break in upon the good fellowship in which they ought to regard their neighbours. With respect to the marriage bill, he sincerely trusted that measure would be carried unanimously during the next Session of Parliament. From the Prime Minister an assurance had been given, that whatever interval was allowed him before the next Session, should be employed in removing those scruples that remained in the minds of others; so that there might be removed from Unitarians, the last badge of degradation under which they laboured. He understood that one of the brethren from the new Continent was present that evening-a country to which England was bound not merely by the ties of language, but of government, and in the enjoyment of all the blessings of Civil and Religious Liberty.

The healths of the Rev. Robert Aspland and the other Secretaries of the Association, having been received with loud plaudits, Mr. Aspland said

The present were extraordinary times, and he must advert to the topic to which all the previous speakers had alluded, namely, the march of religious liberty. He could do so in character, be cause if one sect had understood and acted upon the principles of civil and religious liberty more than another, that sect, even by the confession of their enemies, were Unitarians. That sect had always maintained the great principle, that no man had a right to dictate to the conscience of another, or to make his temporal privileges the less on account of his religious opinions. Members of Parliament had never meditated an act for the relief of oppressed consciences, without looking to the Unitarians for support. There 'must be a cause for such a procedure, and he humbly suggested "that it arose from the fact, that the Unitarians had caught the 'true spirit of religious liberty. It might be, that Unitarians had always been anxious to imitate the conduct of the good Samaritan towards the Jew. It would be presumption for him to say, that 'the late measures for the relief of the Protestant Dissenters, and the Roman Catholics, had been owing to the Unitarian Association; but he would say, that according to their strength and opportunity, their sickles had not been idle in the harvest. With a serious determination they had entered the field early and late, “and had cheered on their fellow-labourers in the cause. Unitarians felt the sincerest joy at recollecting, that in all they had done they had not been actuated by a sectarian regard to themselves, but a regard to the welfare of all men. Why had Unitarians always been selected by certain individuals in both Houses "of Parliament, as the subjects of reproach? Because they were the first persons to raise their voices in the sacred cause of liberty. kombas. 47dfi eron is” bús in › dgandu ul zarezon

Why had the Roman Catholics always looked to Unitarians, to whose principles they were so diametrically opposed? However much Catholics doubted the support of other bodies of Dissenters, they always counted upon the votes of Unitarians, as a matter

of course. There were persons from whose hearts "the black drop" of bigotry had never been extracted; who learned nothing, whilst the rest of the world were improving; who do not belong to this age, but seem "born out of due time." A pamphlet had been written by a popular minister in London, against the Unitarians, warning the religious world against them, and calling upon those who professed orthodoxy to come out from amongst them, they having signalised themselves as the friends of the Catholics. He once heard a minister gravely assert, that the friends of the Catholic relief bill, were giving their strength to the beast! One word more, and he spoke it with sorrow; the successful efforts which the Unitarians had made for the relief of the Catholics, had given rise to an attempt to divide them from the three great bodies of Dissenters in London, in order that the vile might be separated from the holy, and the chaff from the wheat! A meeting of the Baptist ministers was held to discuss the question, "Whether they should not separate from the general body, on account of that body being contaminated by Unitarians?" The motion was made and seconded, and he (Mr. Aspland) was glad to say, upon the authority of a respectable Baptist minister, that aftér a warm debate, which continued for upwards of two hours, the mover and seconder begged to withdraw the motion. That leave was given, and bigotry in the denomination was consigned to oblivion. Within a few days of the present period, a similar question was to be agitated among the Independents. Regular notice had been given, and the discussion must consequently come on. Some of the leading ministers in that denomination, than whom truer friends to the cause of liberty never breathed, had told him with great concern, that they never expected to witness such a proceeding; and that if the object was carried into effect, they, at least, would never separate themselves from the body, These were clouds returning after the rain-a few passing showers. They might for a moment obscure the day of liberty, but it was only that it might shine forth with the greater splendour. From the spirit and temper evinced by the Chairman that day, he trusted that his assistance would be received by the Unitarians, until they had gained complete success. From the statements made that evening, he sincerely hoped that the marriage bill would be carried during the ensuing session of Parliament. Mr. Peel had devoted himself to the cause of civil and religious liberty-Wellington, who had been accustomed to cut his way through with a sword, had expressed his horror of a civil war another of the ministers, also a great Captain, "had read a lecture to the clergy on religious peace and charity; all which circumstances, assured him that the marriage bill would be passed into a law. He was sure that when the measure was again discussed, it would be seen that the Church of England was dishonoured by the violence done to the consciences of the Unitarians. Mr. Aspland, after