INTELLIGENCE.

DOMESTIC INTELLIGENCE.-As we have this month neither Ordination nor Dedication to record, and no domestic intelligence that need fill our columns, we shall give our space under this head to articles of foreign origin. In religious matters, as in affairs of worldly business, the summer is a season of less activity than the winter. Our congre`gations in the city are very thin, nearly one half of our people, as it seems to us, being out of Boston.—We grieve to mention the increased illness of Rev. Dr. Ware, jr.-Rev. Dr. Dewey has returned from Europe, and will resume his ministerial duties in September.-Rev. Mr. Muzzey at the date of his last letters was in Rome, and had as yet derived only partial benefit from his foreign tour. The Commencement exercises at Cambridge, on the 23d of August, are said to have been unusually good. The Oration before the Phi Beta Kappa Society, by George S. Hillard, Esq., on the relation of the Poet to his age, was one of singular richness of thought and beauty of language, and was delivered with a freedom and grace of manner altogether remarkable among us. -Circumstances of recent occurrence have drawn attention to the divided state of the Episcopal Church in this country, as well as in England. Puseyism-whatever it be—has found disciples and apologists among the clergy of that Communion in the United States. Bishop Doane of New Jersey says "Puseyism" is "No Popery." At present it is only, we presume, a retrograde Protestantism. What it will be, if the movement should continue in its present direction, it is easy to conjecture, though perhaps not safe to predict. To us the great evil of this movement lies in its starting principle—the assumption of mystery as the key of revelation; a contradiction in terms, yet a doctrine which underlies a vast amount alike of Catholic and Protestant errors. As a compensation for the evil which may arise, this great good must grow out of the spread of the "Tractarian" theology, whether here or in England, that it will open the eyes of multitudes to the absurdity of a pretension which the Episcopal Church has put forth in the face of a host of facts-that its Articles and its Liturgy are a protection against schism and heresy. Episcopalianism may secure a semblance of unity, but at the expense of honesty. Where men use free and true speech, there must be differences of interpretation, and diversities of utterance.—But we must stop this introduction, (as we meant it to be,) to our intelligence from abroad; and first we give place, as is due, to an article sent to us from Dublin.

ADDRESS OF IRISH UNITARIANS TO THEIR AMERICAN BRETHREN.— The last steamship from Liverpool brought us a letter from Rev. Dr. Drummond, the venerable minister of Strand Street Chapel in Dublin, enclosing a paper of which he speaks in these terms:-" At the request of the Irish Unitarian Christian Society I enclose an Address from them to their American brethren on the great question of Slavery, in the hope that you will give it publicity in any form you may deem eligible. Many of our Unitarian brethren, (and particularly Mr. James Haughton, a zealous supporter of every cause which he thinks favorable to the improvement and happiness of mankind,) are anxious to express their opinion on the subject of Slavery, and to lend whatever influences they possess to assist in its abolition." In compliance with the wish conveyed in this letter, we have communicated the following Address to the Christian Register and the Christian World, for insertion in those journals, as well as in our own; though we cannot withhold the expression of our dissent from some of the language which our Irish friends have used, and we must doubt whether they are sufficiently acquainted with the political and practical relations of Slavery in this country to enable them to give the best advice on the subject.

ADDRESS OF THE IRISH UNITARIAN CHRISTIAN SOCIETY TO THEIR BRETHREN IN AMERICA.

Dear Christian Friends,-At our annual meeting held this year in Dublin, on the 2nd of May, among other important and interesting matters which engaged our attention, our hearts and affections were drawn towards you, our fellow-laborers in the cause of truth at the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, in your happy and glorious land, the United States of America; a land, many of whose institutions are favorable to the expansion and freedom of the human mind, and in which the course of Christian truth and Christian freedom should consequently be right onward and steadily progressive. This we hope and believe is your happy experience. We trust there are thousands of our Unitarian Christian brethren in America who are nobly sustaining the cause of truth, and who labor zealously with us in the promotion of man's improvement, and in upholding his right to equal liberty, civil and religious. Brethren, we offer you our hearts' best wishes, we desire to interchange friendly sentiments with you. The loss sustained by the Christian world, and particularly by our Denomination, in the death of the gifted and noble-minded Channing, called forth our sympathy with those friends who have been deprived of the pleasure of personal intercourse with him, and of sorrow that it did not please God to spare him a little longer to enlighten and to bless mankind; but, “though dead, he

yet speaketh" in his writings, and, in this way, his spirit will continue to shed its elevating and humanizing influences over the hearts of men.

In connexion with our reflections on the life and death of Dr. Channing, the question of Slavery in your land came like a dark cloud across our minds. His Address at Lenox on this subject, delivered so short a time before his death, is a noble denunciation of that wicked system, which is a plague spot on your country-a cancer which must be boldly cut away and entirely rooted out, if you would save America from utter ruin and merited degradation. This fine Address should doubly endear the memory of Channing in the affectious of every Unitarian, and make us all more and more zealous in our determination to banish Slavery from the earth. It is a complication of the greatest crimes against God and man. Other crimes sink into insignificance when compared with the iniquity of making a chattel, a thing of merchandize, of the image of the living God. We have heard with sorrow, mingled with feelings of indignation, that men in America claiming to be Unitarians, to be Christians, are guilty of this wickedness; we hope that in this respect none such are held in estimation among you, and we shall be happy to hear from you that this report is but one of the vile calumnies uttered against Unitarians in this country and in England. To us it seems that virtue and vice are not more opposite to each other in their nature, than Christianity (or Unitarianisın, which is but another name for Christianity) and slave-holding. We have heard of some sad doings by professing Unitarians in your slave-holding States. We allude to the vile treatment of Rev. Mr. Simmons in Mobile, and Rev. Mr. Motte in Savannah, with which you are no doubt familiar. Are the persecutors of these men Christians at all? and do good men among you hold fellowship with such as these? Let us, wherever on earth we may be located, be ever found the honest and true-hearted friends of liberty, civil and religious; liberty for all, the black man as well as the white man. We desire to unite with you in the promotion of this glorious principle; any thing short of its universal acknowledgement we deem degrading to our high nature, and not to be for a moment tolerated by any who either love God, or would improve their fellow-man.

Not being in direct communication with any Unitarian Society in your land, we do not send this Address to any particular association of our Denomination. We address it to all. We hope it will meet a ready response in the hearts of all, and that you will make its sentiments extensively known throughout all our churches in America.

Signed by order, and on behalf of

The Irish Unitarian Christian Society,

Dublin, 25th July, 1843.

W. H. DRUMMOND, D. D.

J. C. LEDLIE, D. D.

JAMES HAUGHTON, Merchant.

BRITISH AND FOREIGN UNITARIAN ASSOCIATION.-The eighteenth anniversary of this institution was celebrated on Wednesday and Thursday, June 7 and 8, 1843, by a meeting for business, a religious service, and a "breakfast," in London. The meeting for transacting the annual business of the Association was held at the Essex Street Chapel on the former of these days, when the chair was taken by J. B. Estlin Esq. of Bristol. Prayer was offered by Rev. Mr. Aspland, of Hackney. After some remarks by the Chairman, the Reports of the Treasurer and the Committee were read and accepted, on motions by John Watson and James Young, Esqrs. The Officers for the year were chosen, not, as among us, by ballot, but by a resolution requesting "the following gentlemen to undertake the duties of the undermentioned offices for the year ensuing, viz. Thomas Hornby, Esq. Treasurer; Rev. E. Tagart, Hon. Secretary; Rev. R. Aspland, Mr. J. T. Hart, Mr. H. J. Preston, Mr. J. H. Ball, Rev. Dr. Hutton, Rev. Dr. Rees, Mr. T. F. Gibson, Rev. Thomas Madge, Mr. Richard Taylor, Committee; Edmund Esdaile Esq., John Watson Esq., Henry Towgood Esq., Auditors." It will be seen that all these are business officers, the Association having no President nor Vice-Presidents. A resolution was then offered, with remarks, by Rev. Mr. Madge of London, expressing "sympathy with the ministers and members of the Remonstrant and Non-subscribing Churches in Ireland, in their efforts to maintain the great principles of civil and religious liberty, and to promote the sacred cause of rational and scriptural Christianity," and welcoming Rev. Dr. Montgomery of Dunmurry, and Rev. G. Armstrong of Dubliu, as "the honored champions of consistent Protestantism, and the friends and advocates of vital and practical religion." Dr. Montgomery and Mr. Armstrong replied. Rev. Mr. Crompton of Norwich presented, and Rev. Dr. Hutton of London seconded the following resolution, each of them speaking in its support :

"That we tender our cordial welcome to Rev. A. B. Muzzey, as the representative of the American Unitarian Association; that we rejoice in all the evidence afforded by our brethren in the United States, of the connexion of the views of Christianity commonly designated Unitarian with high intelligence and social culture, and that we trust the same gracious Providence which has raised up powerful defenders and distinguished ornaments of the Christian Faith in that land of our brethren, will enable them to manifest all the benign influences of freedom, civil and religious, upon the character and happiness of man."

Mr. Muzzey rose to reply, and "was received with enthusiasm." He returned his thanks for the kind reception he had met, and referring to his native land, spoke particularly of the labors and influence of Dr. Channing. Rev. Mr. Aspland, on behalf of the Committee, presented a series of resolutions "in relation to the Bill now before Parliament,

called the Factories Education Bill;" in which was expressed disapprobation of the Bill, for various reasons, the first of which is, that it 66 recognizes the right of the Church of England to rule and dictate in the province of public education, although a large proportion of the persons to be benefitted by it are not in communion with that Church." A lively conversation ensued, in which several gentlemen took part, after which the resolutions were "unanimously carried." Rev. W. Hincks of London, on behalf of the Committee, offered the following resolution, which, seconded by Rev. E. Tagart of London, was unanimously adopted. "That amidst many discouragements within our Denomination, and much opposition from without, we feel a growing confidence in the truth and efficacy of those views of Divine Revelation which distinguish us as a Christian Denomination, and that we pledge ourselves one to another, in reliance upon the blessing of Heaven, to assert them temperately but unflinchingly, to proclaim them publicly, through evil report and good report, and above all, to endeavor to show by our temper and deportment as individuals their sustaining power, and their charitable, holy and pious influence on our understanding, affections, and lives."

On Thursday the Association "assembled in full congregation, for divine service" at Essex Street Chapel. Rev. E. Talbot of Tenterden read the Scriptures and offered prayer, and Rev. Dr. Montgomery of Dunmurry, (near Belfast, Ireland,) preached from Proverbs iv. 7-on the principles of Divine Truth, the rights of Conscience, and the supreme value of Religious and Christian Liberty. "The sermon fixed and rewarded the deep attention of the audience for an hour and a half." After this service "the members and friends of the Association, ladies and gentlemen, to the number of about four hundred, adjourned to the breakfast at the Crown and Anchor Tavern." Rev. Dr. Montgomery presided. After the cloth was cleared, the Chairman proposed as the first toast, "The Queen;" next, "The charter sentiment of the Association, 'Civil and Religious Liberty all the world over;"" prefacing each of these "toasts" with a short speech. The next toast was, "The British and Foreign Unitarian Association," to which Mr. Hornby, the Treasurer, and Rev. Mr. Tagart, the Secretary, responded; the latter of whom called up the Chairınan, who spoke at some length upon the arrogant claims, the persecuting spirit, and the unscriptural doctrines of the Protestant bodies by which they were surrounded. The next sentiment, "The surviving founders of the British and Foreign Unitarian Association,"-in proposing which the Chairman paid an eloquent tribute to the labors and character of Rev. Robert Aspland,— was replied to by him in “a long and animated address," in which he dwelt principally upon the recent attempts to deprive the English Unitarians of the property which they had long held, and "the inconsistency, the profligacy," of many who advocate subscription to Confessions