for justice; there was a
new expansion of tenderness and love; and out of these, characterized
by these, having these in one sense for its very soul and body, came
Unitarianism.

Now another point. It is commonly assumed by those who have not studied
the matter that, because Unitarians have no printed and published
creed, they are all abroad in their thinking. They take this for
granted; and so it is assumed by people who speak to me on the subject.
They think that there must be just as many views of things as there are
individuals.

If there are any persons here having this idea, perhaps I shall
astonish them by the statement I am going to make. After more than
twenty years of experience as a Unitarian minister, I have come to the
conviction that there is not a body of Christians in the world to-day,
not Catholic or Presbyterian or Methodist or Congregational or any
other, that is so united in its purposes, not only, but in its beliefs,
as these very Unitarians.

And the fact is perfectly natural. Take the scientific men of the
world. They do not expect a policeman after them if they do not hold
certain scientific opinions. There is no authority to try them for
heresy or to turn them out of your society unless they hold certain
scientific ideas. They have no sense of compulsion except to find and
accept that which they discover to be true. The one aim of science is
the truth. There is no motive for anything else.

And truth being one, mark you, and they being free to seek for it, and
all of them caring simply for that, they naturally come together,
inevitably come together. So that, without any external power or
orthodox compulsion, the scientific men of the world are substantially
at one as to all the great principles. They discuss minor matters; but,
when they discuss, they are simply hunting for a deeper truth, not
trying to conquer each other.

Now Unitarians are precisely in this position. The only thing any of us
desire is the truth. We are perfectly free to seek for the truth; and,
the truth being one, we naturally tend towards it, and, tending towards
it, we come together. So there is, as I said, greater unanimity of
opinion in regard to the great essential points among Unitarians than
among any other body in Christendom.

Now, as briefly as I can, I want to analyze what I regard as the
fundamental principles of Unitarianism. I am not going to give you a
creed, I am not going to give you my creed: I am