ad been already divided; but the decision
was general. The principle of the right of private judgment admitted of
no exceptions.

Second. Long before this decision, the minds of the ministers had been
ripening to the conviction, that creeds and subscriptions could do no
good, and often did harm, indeed, the terms employed by some of them are
everything that we now desire. For example, Joseph Hunter, on the eve of
the decision, wrote thus: "We have always thought that such human
declarations of faith were far from being eligible on their own account,
since they tend to narrow the foundations of Christianity and to
restrain that latitude of expression in which our great Legislator has
seen fit to deliver His Will to us".

Third. Most remarkable is it to witness the consequences of this great
act of emancipation. A hundred and sixty-five years have elapsed--a
sufficient time for judging of the experiment. The Presbyterian body at
the time were made up partly of Arians, partly of Trinitarians, who held
each other in mutual tolerance; the ministers freely exchanging pulpits.
No bad consequence followed. We do not hear of individual ministers
going to extravagant lengths in either direction. A large body
gravitated, in the course of time, to the modern Unitarian position;
but, considering the start, the stride was not great. In such a century
as the eighteenth, there might well have been greater modifications of
the creeds than actually occurred. Evidently, in the absence of any
compulsory adherence to settled articles, there was an abundant tendency
to conservatism. Commencing with Baxter, Howe, and Calamy, we find, in
the course of the century, such names as Lardner, Price, Priestley,
Belsham, Kippis, James Lindsay, Lant Carpenter--men of liberal and
enlightened views on all political questions, and earnest in their good
works. These men's testimony to what is truth in religion, is of more
value to us than the opinions of the creed-bound clergy. Reason is still
reason, but the weight of authority is with the free enquirers.

Fourth. The history of the Presbyterians answers a question that may be
properly asked of the creed-abolitionist; namely, What bond is left to
hold a religious community together? The bond, in their case, simply was
voluntary adhesion and custom. A religious community may hold together,
like a political party, with only a vague tacit understanding. When a
body is once formed, it has an outward cohesio