IRISH UNITARIAN SOCIETY FOR THE DIFFUSION OF CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE. In connexion with the preceding article of intelligence we may notice the anniversary of this Society, established in the North of Ireland, as the Irish Unitarian Society is confined in its action principally to the Southern part of the Island. "The principal view with which it was established was the sale and distribution of Unitarian works, and such other publications as might tend to promote the diffusion of an enlightened and liberal knowledge of Gospel truth." The last annual meeting was held at Belfast, December 2, 1842. The sermons which were preached on the occasion by Rev. Dr. Drummond have been noticed in a previous number of the Miscellany (Vol. vii. p.) Among the resolutions which were passed were two which should be re-published in this country, viz.—

"That we tender to our brethren of the Unitarian faith in Great Britain and America the expression of our sincere admiration and gratitude for the exertions they have made, and are still making, for the promotion of those great principles which we hold in common, and for the cause of human improvement in knowledge and virtue; and especially for those important publications which have issued from the pens of their gifted scholars and divines,-by which our hearts have been cheered and established, and by which we trust that, in many instances, prejudice has been dispelled, error shaken from her seat, and the way prepared for the reception of the holy doctrines of the Gospel Faith, in their primitive simplicity and purity."

"That we cannot separate without expressing our heartfelt sympathy with our Unitarian brethren in America and throughout the world, on the death of the illustrious Dr. Channing. In no place were his writings more extensively circulated than in Belfast-his lofty genius more admired, and his pure and catholic philanthropy more revered. Although America may glory in him as her son, universal liberty, civilization and religion, unite in hailing him as one of their most eloquent and illustrious advocates in the present age; and that we mourn his loss, as that of a great and good Christian Philanthropist and divine, whose writings are eminently calculated to promote the true principles of genuine Christianity."

ASCENT OF VESUVIUS.-We have been permitted to copy part of a letter written by Rev. A. B. Muzzey to a friend, under date of Naples, July 21, 1843. Our readers will be glad to hear of his welfare, as well as to have a page from his travels, which he may himself be surprised, but we hope not offended, to see in print.

Yesterday it was my precious privilege to visit that sublime work of God, Vesuvius. A party of six, we left our hotel at 1 1-2 o'clock in

the morning, in a carriage. At 3 we reached the house where we exchanged our vehicle for ponies. Starting with them at 4 1-2, we rode through a lovely scene, where flowers and fruits regaled our senses, as we gently ascended the mountain for five miles. We came now to a hermitage, where the monks of a certain convent entertain all who ascend Vesuvius. From this point we rode until we were within half a mile of the summit. Ata quarter of 6 our feet stood on the crater of that majestic work.

The first impression produced by it was, to my mind, perfectly overwhelming. The detonations of the volcano broke on the ear with a deep and solemn uniformity. Far down as the eye could reach, we saw two mighty apertures, through which issued, with alternate eruptions, volumes of dense smoke and detached portions of burning lava. The beauty of the curling clouds, as they rose and formed one broad canopy above, was truly surpassing. My companions remained on the edge of the crater; but I felt irresistibly disposed myself to descend within it as far as any previous traveller had ventured. Accordingly, taking a guide, I commenced my downward walk. And yet it could scarcely be called a walk, for I was compelled at first to use my hands, and leap from crag to crag down the precipitous steeps. I soon came to a spot where smoke and a sulphurous vapor were poured gushingly forth. And now each step brought me nearer and nearer to the yawning chasm. The rocks on which I stood were first warm, then hot, until at length I could employ my hands no longer, except to guide a staff among the ledges and crevices, that promised me a slight assis

tance.

Meantime the sulphur increased so rapidly, that I found it difficult to inhale the atmosphere. At one time I supposed this circumstance would compel me to return instantly; but recovering my breath, I went slowly forwards. Now the sound of the successive eruptions became almost deafening. The discharge of artillery does not compare with it; nor yet does the roll of the distant thunder. The reverberations seemed constantly to increase-around, above, below, peal upon peal. I went onward, until I reached a spot where fresh lava had fallen at my side; and this seemed as far as safety would permit me to go. My guide went to the very borders of the bursting crater, but I induced him to remain only a moment. No words can portray my sensations, as I looked up from this point. To feel myself so far below the earth's surface was impressive, but to consider also that I was in the very bosom of that tremendous agent, which had rushed forth in former ages, and might even at this moment, to lay waste fields, gardens, and cities in its awful march, was completely overwhelming. If terror be an element of the sublime, then I enjoyed a truly sublime prospect; for

nothing could add to the effect of that moment. By an arduous path I retraced my steps, and was reluctantly, I confess, soon obliged to forego the intense interest of standing within the mountain-high walls of the far-renowned Vesuvius.

Our descent afforded several magnificent views below. There lay the celebrated Torre del Greco, which has been three times deluged by the eruptions of this volcano. There also was Resina, built actually upon the city-top of the deeply buried Herculaneum. And, richer than all, the Bay, the exquisitely beautiful Bay of Naples. Vesuvius on its summit is craggy, sullen and barren; ere long, as you descend, you come to a few stinted vines; then follows a better growth of the mulberry, the luxuriant vine, and the golden apricot. Flowers of a thousand hues, and laden with perfumes, accompany the traveller down to its very base.

After leaving Vesuvius, we visited the far known ruins of Pompeii, and then Herculaneum-but I must forbear to describe them at this time.

MEMOIRS OF THE SOCINI.-The last Christian Reformer contains a letter to the editor from Dr. Thomas Rees of London respecting a work which he has long had in contemplation, and for which he has collected large materials. It will supply a deficiency in religious literature, which no one is better able to fill than Dr. Rees. We shall await its appearance with some impatience, though we fear that it may be some time before its publication. Meanwhile our readers will be gratified with his own account of his plan.

"It may not be uninteresting to your readers to be furnished with some account of the work to which your reviewer has adverted. The title under which it may hereafter appear is not yet definitively fixed. "Memoirs of the Lives and Times of the Socini," is, however, a designation which will convey a general idea of its object and contents. My original intention was, to write a life of Lælius Socinus, and to incorporate with it brief memoirs of other eminent Italians who, at the same period, quitted the communion of the Church of Rome, embraced similar theological opinions, exposed themselves to the same dangers, and, in like manner, sought safety from the agents of the Inquisition in a voluntary exile from their native country. *** I at once determined to enlarge my plan, and to embrace in it, though in a compendious form, the whole subject of the attempts at the Reformation of Religion in Italy in the sixteenth century.

The "Memoirs of the Lives and Times of the Socini" will then comprise, 1. A Memoir of Lælius Socinus, preceded by brief notices of the earlier members of his family, who long maintained an eminent rank in their native country as Jurists.

2. Memoirs of several other Italians, the contemporaries of Lælius, who embraced similar religious opinions.

In this part of the work, which embraces the subject of the Unitarian Reformation, will be given an account of the "College," or religious association, at Vincenza, in which the representation given of that society by the earlier Unitarian historians, and strongly controverted by Mosheim and Dr. M'Cree, will be proved by ample and decisive evidence to be in every material particular strictly correct.

3. A Compendious Account of the attempts to promote the Reformation of Religion in several districts of Italy on the part of eminent persons who, while they dissented from the tenets and worship of the Church of Rome, concurred, in their general views of religious doctrine, with the German or the Swiss Reformers.

4. The Memoirs of Lælius Socinus and the other Unitarian Reformers will carry the history into Switzerland. In this fourth division, then, an account will be given of the impediments thrown by the Swiss Reformers in the way of the Italian Unitarian fugitives to profess and propagate their opinions. This will furnish occasion to review the conduct of Calvin at Geneva in his treatment of Servetus, Lælius Socinus and others, whose theological speculations he disapproved; and also to consider the strenuous, and, in some cases, the fatal opposition encountered by the Italian exiles from the leading Reformers in other cities and churches of Switzerland, whenever their sentiments were brought prominently forward to public view. In this portion of the History some notice will be taken of the Anabaptists of Switzerland, many of whom held liberal opinions, which subjected them to severe persecutions.

From this statement it will be seen, that the portion of my work which relates to the Life and Times of Lælius Socinus will comprehend the whole subject of the Italian Reformation in the sixteenth century. But in order fully to understand the principal bearings of this Reformation, it is of importance to look back at the state of religious opinions in Italy for some centuries antecedently to this period. For this reason I purpose prefixing to the History an introductory chapter, to be devoted to an account of the various Dissenting or "heretical" sects which arose and multiplied in Italy from the tenth to the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and which, notwithstanding their apparent suppression by the Inquisition, left a general and indelible impression on the public mind, adverse to the doctrines and worship of the Church of Rome, that contributed in no slight measure to the production and success of the great religious movement of the sixteenth century.

A second general division of my subject is intended to comprise a Memoir of the Life and Times of Faustus Socinus, and to embrace the subsequent history of Unitarianism in Poland, Transylvania, &c., and of the fate of those Unitarian confessors who were driven into exile on the dissolution of the Polish churches in the seventeenth century. But of this branch of my design it would be premature to say any thing more at present.

Your reviewer will see, from this rapid sketch of my plan, that I have undertaken no light or easy task. There is, however, no part of it for which I have not collected valuable materials; and I can assure him that I am not a little anxious to proceed to the accomplishment of it as expeditiously as circumstances will permit."

THIS celebrated Council, which once filled the Christian world with expectation of the great things it should accomplish for truth and morals, had well-nigh died out of men's memories, until recalled by certain recent movements in the domains of theology. A new, it may be a temporary, interest has been excited in the doings and decrees of the venerable fathers who sat in that Council. To meet in part the demands of this interest, and to show what degree of reverence should be exhibited towards those decrees, we have undertaken to present a brief sketch of the reasons for calling the Council and of the manner in which its business was conducted. Several volumes, of the size which this degenerate age allows, would be necessary to give even an outline of the debates that preceded the decisions, and of the intrigues that were employed to prevent the calling and delay the action of the Council. Whoever wishes to read the particulars may find them recorded in the ponderous tomes of Du Pin and Sarpi, and the Dictionary of Moreri.

From an early period in ecclesiastical history the opinion has extensively prevailed, that differences in belief and discipline might be reconciled by Councils. Experience has exposed the fallacy of this opinion and men have come to believe what St. Gregory Nazi

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