Without any ceremony whatever, without ever informing me of your intention, and without the least suspicion, on my part, that such a course was to be pursued, you were pleased to erase my name from the communion roll. Now, even supposing that I had acted improperly, suppose that I had violated some of the Christian laws, what would have been your duty? If you are at all acquainted with the spirit, or the principles of the New Testament, you must be aware, that a brother is not to be rejected, until you have used every means to bring him to the knowledge and the practice of the truth. What makes your conduct to me the more glaring, is, that you acted upon quite a different principle with one of your late members, who was well known to be of the Unitarian persuasion; you called frequently upon him; you also brought him before your Session, and you endeavoured to reason with him, in the best manner you could, in order to reclaim him from, what you considered, his heretical opinions. So far you acted right. But perhaps you had other motives, than the spirit of the Gospel, to lead you to pursue such a course with him. And the probability is, that had he been placed in equal circumstances with myself, you would have left him to wander on, in what you deem the dangerous road, and would have contented yourself with an act of excommunication! Perhaps you will plead, as your excuse, that I was irregular in my attendance on your ministry, for some time previous to your erasing my name from the list of communicants; still, it was your duty to call on me, and ascertain the cause of my absence. Had you done so, then I should have considered you a man interested in the welfare of your fellow-creatures. But, when I perceive that you are deeply interested in securing the countenance and support of the wealthy, and that you can overlook the poor man, and eject him from your society, without any uneasiness, I cannot help concluding, that you have more of the spirit of the world than the spirit of Christ. I assure you, that my absenting myself from your meeting-house, arose from no disrespect to the ordinances of public worship, but because I could feel no pleasure or profit in listening to discourses that appeared to me composed of a series of contradictions. I now leave you to reflect upon your conduct. Compare it with the character of that Master whom you profess to serve; and if your own conscience acquit you, I shall not condemn you. I am still, I trust, deeply influenced with the spirit of the Gospel. I am anxious to worship as Jesus Christ taught his disciples; and from the judgment of erring man, I can appeal to that of my Heavenly Father. The doctrines which you teach, and the principles on which you seem to act, appear to me, to have no connection with the religion of Jesus. If this letter should awaken you to a sense of your duty, I shall be very happy to have a visit from you; or, if you should please to reply in writing to what I have said, I have no objections to state and defend the sentiments which I now entertain, respecting the Gospel of the ever-blessed God. I remain, REV. SIR, ANDREW PROCTOR. P. S.-If the same indifference is shown to this letter that was displayed respecting my spiritual concerns, in the course of two weeks I shall take such measures as will exhibit, in a pre-eminently conspicuous manner, the pious care that a Burgher Minister has for the less wealthy of his flock. A. P. Every one who reads this case, must acknowledge, we think, the improper and unchristian conduct of the clergyman towards his hearer. No notice, whatever, has been taken of the complaining letter. Had Mr. Proctor entertained opinions on the mercy of the God of Love, dia metrically opposed to the statements of Confessions and Covenants, this heresy would have been overlooked, even by Mr. Inglis and his Elders, had he kept his sentiments within his own breast. But, to be supposed capable of believing that God is One, as well as Good, this was an unpardonable sin; and the pure flock could only be preserved from this double contamination, by cutting off the suspected misbeliever. Surely, however, it would but have been kind, to say nothing of just, had the pastor visited his old and heretofore regular attendant, previously to depriving him of his church privileges. Could any charge of immorality have been produced against him, doubtless, it would long ere this have been forthcoming. Nothing of the kind is even insinuated. The individual appears to have been debarred from celebrating the memorial of the love of the Saviour, not because he had avowed Unitarianism, (for, then, in our judgment, he would have had no ground of complaint, and, indeed, we should, in such a case, have been the first to reprobate him for his want of moral honesty, in sitting beside a Trinitarian altar,) but, simply, because he was inquiring, and preferred reading his Bible to find the truth, instead of implicitly receiving as gospel, the dictates of fallible mortals. We do think, therefore, that there has been in Mr. Proctor's case, a violation of justice, a setting at nought of the principles of Christian charity. It affords another lesson, of the tyrannical tendency of creed religion; it is an additional proof, that when any thing is substituted in place of the Scriptures, intolerance and bigotry will bear sway. Mr. Proctor has been treated even worse than a condemned criminal. Had one of the Rev. David Inglis' flock been sentenced by the Justiciary of his country, can there be a doubt, that the Pastor would have visited him to his last hour, worked upon the unfortunate's mind by terror, forced upon him miscalled repentance; assured him, if faith in the all-atoning merits had been his profession, of pardon and acceptance; and sent, in the eyes of the multitude, the criminal from the gallows to glory? Yet, for a man who had attended the same place of worship twentytwo years, against whose moral conduct, humble though his station, no charge could be made; on mere suspicion that he had departed from the faith of his forefathers, and would be proved to be too honest, to believe one thing and profess another, this Minister of the Gospel, strikes out the man's name from the communion roll, exposing him still more to the fearful and damning dangers of heresy; and when remonstrated with, by the presumed victim of his fanaticism, gives no sign either of justice or benevolence! But the wrath of man, even in this instance, is made the instrument of Jehovah's praise. Out of this evil, good has arisen, and the persecuted individual, led in mercy to the light of scriptural knowledge, and the open profession of despised and unpopular truth. May he, indeed, find peace to his soul, in the reception and practice of pure and undefiled religion; and may this example of religious integrity, stimulate others to be like minded, and induce those who deem themselves the possessors of pure and benevolent and ennobling principles of Christianity, to put forth their most strenuous efforts in the diffusion of knowledge, and the dissemination and upholding of the worship of the Father in spirit and in truth.-Edit. Sonnet. 'Tis eve, and twilight over land and sea, Of Him, the Lord of tempest and of calm, THE CHRISTIAN PIONEER. GLASGOW, February 28, 1829. T. M. WE have read, with feelings of sorrow and compassion, the accounts of what are called "Revivals," which, during the last few months, have disgraced certain portions of Wales. Our sorrow has been called forth, that such outrages on the Christian religion should still be exhibited. Our compassion has been excited, that any beings gifted with reason, and blessed with Revelation, should thus unman their natures, and, regardless of the privileges which they possess, should debase themselves by fanaticism so truly appalling. We regard such scenes as a powerful call on every one who would support the dignity of human nature, and promote the happiness of his fellowcreatures, and disseminate the pure knowledge of God our Father, to exert all his powers to uproot opinions which lead to such excesses. The man who does not feel himself "zealously affected" in such a cause, or who can sit by idle and indifferent, whilst his fellow men are thus demoralizing themselves, must be deaf to the pleadings of humanity, and insensible to the claims of Christianity; nor would he "cry aloud and spare not" religious error, and point the way to truth and righteousness, though one should rise from the dead. An eye-witness thus describes the circumstances which occurred at Neath, in Glamorganshire: "On Christmas-day, a considerable body of both sexes entered the town, singing vociferously as they marched along, hand in hand, and using divers rather portentous gesticulations in their progress. On inquiry, I was told that this party consisted of Revivalists' from Lansamlet, and they were come to assist at the opening of a newly-erected chapel, belonging to the Welsh Calvinistic Methodists. I visited this chapel both before and after morning service at church: the first time, I heard some startling bursts of exclamation from the congregation, under a sermon which was delivering with great energy; but on my return, the place was become a perfect Babel, and I retreated in haste from the confusion. It was in the evening, however, that I witnessed the greatest excesses, and indulged myself, with painful curiosity, in a minute and protracted observation. When I arrived, the regular service was over, and the preachers had withdrawn, leaving their flock in a condition certainly very unlike meek and docile sheep who had been feeding in the green pastures of sound doctrine; a herd of cattle, stung by hornets, and flinging and bellowing in their agony, was the only pastoral similitude I could think of. I found myself in the midst of an uproar, which filled me with amazement and pain of mind. Clusters of men and women, boys and girls, were leaping about the chapel, shouting, screaming, and singing; throwing their arms aloft like maniacs, and frequently embracing each other. I observed several elderly men busied in walking about amongst these poor over-excited creatures, in a sort of minuet step, chanting to them portions of hymns, in a peculiar kind of recitative, which seemed to aid in keeping alive this unnatural fervour: others, particularly the females in the galleries, cheered them on with clapping of hands, waving of shawls, hats, and handkerchiefs; some in the front seats leaned forward and slapped their hands on the pannels, and all raised loud cries, which may, not without reason, be called yells. By degrees, the most obstreperous jumpers concentrated themselves in the middle of the chapel, which was illuminated by a large circle of lights suspended from the ceiling; this was soon set twirling round like a whirligig, by their extravagant flourishes, till I thought the candles in peril of extinction. At this moment, indeed, there was an irresistible touch of the ludicrous in the scene-it seemed as though the vertigo in the people's brains had communicated itself to the very candles; and there was such a whimsical unison in their aerial dance, with the wild movements on the floor and benches below, that I could not severely blame those among the numerous spectators who showed signs of merriment: but my own comic emotions speedily subsided into an inexpressible melancholy, which had previously taken full possession.of me. Crowds of visitors continued coming in and going out, as long as this pitiable exhibition lasted, and it did not close till about midnight; when some of the infatuated poor souls were |