consent appears to have branded the mark of Unitarian heresy, the compiler is not conscious of having taken any extracts. With respect to the manner in which he has treated the authors from whom he has borrowed, the compiler would assure his readers, that he has not wilfully mistranslated or perverted any passage. It cannot, however, be doubted that many of the authors referred to have sometimes, with perfect sincerity, endeavoured by means of strong" orthodox" opinions afterwards propounded in the same passage, or in other places of the same work—to efface the impression made by an admission; but, as it is the province of error to be inconsistent with itself, he does not conceive himself amenable to the charge of misrepresentation, because he does not superadd every sentence and syllable that may have been penned by an author in opposition to the criticism or interpretation which he has conceded to his opponents. Yet not unfrequently, where a real or an apparent qualification is made, the writer of this work has pointed it out, either by breaking off the extracts with the conjunction "but" or "however," or by expressly stating the nature and extent of the qualification. These observations of his own he was desirous of augmenting, and of introducing others, in order to show the bearing of such concessions as were almost entirely enveloped in the clouds of scholasticism; but was, in a considerable number of instances, restrained by the necessity he felt to introduce into his treatise as large a portion of the collections he had made as could well be brought within the compass of a single volume. It would be the greatest presumption to assert, that a work of this kind is free from serious errors; but of this the reader may be assured, that, amid circumstances of considerable difficulty, every thing has been attempted in the power of the author to render his performance subservient to the interests of truth, and also to avoid doing injustice to the opinions of those from whom he quotes, whether as individuals, or as the representatives of a class: indeed, for many of them he entertains the highest respect, as men who would do honour to whatever Christian sect they might ally themselves. To conclude his prefatory remarks, the writer begs to acknowledge the unsolicited kindness of his friend, the Rev. BENJAMIN MARDON, M.A. of London, who examined the proof-sheets of the work in its progress through the press. He also tenders his grateful acknowledgments to his pastor, the Rev. Dr. BEARD, of Manchester, for the unrestricted use of his valuable library; to the Rev. Wм. JOHNS, of the same place; the Rev. JAMES MARTINEAU, of Liverpool; the Rev. JOHN HARRISON, of Chowbent; the Rev. J. R. M'KEE, of Tavistock, and other gentlemen, for the loan of several books; and to the Committee of Manchester New College, for the privilege of obtaining books from the Library attached to that excellent institution. He would at the same time pay the tribute of his gratitude to the memory of HUMPHRY CHETHAM, the benevolent founder of the Chetham Library, from works in which the compiler extracted a great portion of his materials. To the subscribers his special thanks are due; as, without their patronage, the "Concessions of Trinitarians," at least from his pen and press, would in all probability have never met the public eye. As a token of gratitude, he would have gladly printed their names; but, from a fear of inaccuracies in respect to titles and places, and from a desire to introduce into the work as many extracts as possible, he has been reluctantly obliged to omit the list. Riding's Court, St. Mary's Gate, Manchester, July, 1842. GENERAL CONTENTS. ERRAT A. Page 68, line 17 from bottom, for or read on. - Page 251, line 11 from bottom, for pronown read pronoun. Page 388, line 8 from bottom, for vivaros read Tμaros. — Page 416, line 14, for pevsμα read жvivua.- Page 433, line 26, transpose the words God and Christ. Page 523, line 14, for similarly read similar. - Page 554, line 20, for denialship read denial. - Page 579, lines 13 and 14, in a few copies, for "Rev. 9-13 and 2 Pet. iii. 8," read "Rev. v. 9-13 and 2 Pet. iii. 18.- Page 582, line 19, insert one after only. THE SPIRIT OF SECTARIANISM INCONSISTENT WITH THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTIANITY. SECT. I.-WISE AND GOOD MEN IN ALL DENOMINATIONS. What is a Church? - Let Truth and Reason speak, Men may differ from each other in many religious opinions, and yet all may retain the essentials of Christianity; men may sometimes eagerly dispute, and yet not differ much from one another: the rigorous persecutors of error should, therefore, enlighten their zeal with knowledge, and temper their orthodoxy with charity;-that charity without which orthodoxy is vain; charity that "thinketh no evil," but "hopeth all things," and "endureth all things."-DR. S. JOHNSON: Life of Browne; Works, vol. ix. p. 298. A catholic spirit is not an indifference to all opinions, nor an indifference as to public worship, nor an indifference to all congregations. ... Catholic love is a catholic spirit. But if we take this word in the strictest sense, a man of a catholic spirit is one who, in the manner above mentioned, gives his hand to all whose hearts are right with his heart, one who loves his friends as brethren in the Lord, as members of Christ, and children of God; as joint partakers now of the present kingdom of God, and fellow-heirs of his eternal kingdom; .... .... B |