BY CONGREGATIONAL CHURCHES. 403 



in one who has been selected, placed in the office of a 

 pastor, and is paid for the purpose of teaching and uphold 

 ing one set of doctrines to a trusting congregation, to 

 take advantage of his position in order to inculcate other 

 doctrines, and thus gradually to lead his congregation 

 astray. An honourable man, when his opinions had 

 undergone a change, would abandon his appointment. 

 A church in which discipline existed would expel him 

 from his office. 



The reader is not to suppose, however, that this reli 

 gious progression has anything to do with the democra 

 tic institutions of the United States. The same thing is 

 frequent among ourselves. At a recent meeting of the 

 Congregational Union in London, it was resolved, that 

 the Christian Witness should no longer be recognised 

 as the official organ of the Congregational Union of 

 England ; because the editor, Dr Campbell, and others, 

 were endeavouring, in various ways, to &quot; advance the 

 principles of religion around them.&quot; Dr Campbell in 

 his reply said &quot; It were preposterous in me to pretend 

 to represent the opinions of any two of you. No two of 

 you are agreed. You take widely different views from 

 each other on the subjects of inspiration, doctrine, ordi 

 nances, polity, education, and much besides. Such a 

 piece of mosaic, I am sure, you seldom cast your eye upon.&quot; 



The state of the Church of England, also, at the pre 

 sent time, exhibits a melancholy illustration of such reli 

 gious progression only in this case it is backwards 

 and of the evil consequences to which laxity of discipline 

 leads. The tendency is here as direct towards Popery, 

 and at least as frequent, in the English Episcopal Church, 

 as it is towards Unitarianism in the American Congre 

 gational one. Presbyterian Churches are far from being 

 perfect, as the inaction of some of those in America upon 

 the slavery question abundantly testifies ; yet it is only 

 fair to this denomination to state, as the result of 



