NOTE U.-SWEDENBORGIANS.

Believers in the doctrines of Swedenborg are found in many of the States in the Union. In Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and Ohio, are 8 ordaining ministers, 10 priests and teaching ministers, fifteen licentiates, and 27 societies. There are 117 towns or places in the United States, where the doctrines of the New Jerusalem Church are received by some portion of the people.

The number of Swedenborgians in the United States, is about 5000. There are some societies of this class of Christians in England. In Sweden they are quite numerous.

The New Jerusalem Magazine is issued monthly, at Boston, Ms.

Emanuel Swedenborg, the father of this sect, was the son of a bishop of West Gothnia, in the kingdom of Sweden, whose name was Swedberg, a man of considerable learning and celebrity in his time. The son was born at Stockholm, January 29, 1688; and died in London, 1772. He enjoyed early the advantages of a liberal education, and being naturally endowed with uncommon talents for the acquirement of learning, his progress in the sciences was rapid and extensive; and he soon distinguished himself by several publications in the Latin language, which gave proof of equal genius and erudition. It may reasonably be supposed that under the care of his pious and reverend father, our author's religious instruction was not neglected. This, indeed, appears plain from the general tenor of his life and writings, which are marked with strong and lively characters of a mind deeply impressed with a sense of the divine Being, and of all the relative duties thence resulting. was ennobled in the year 1719, by queen Ulrica Eleonora, and named Swedenborg, from which time he took his seat with the nobles of the equestrian order, in the triennial assembly of the States. Baron Swedenborg had many eccentricities; but perhaps the most remarkable circumstance respecting him, was his asserting, that, during the uninterrupted period of twenty-seven years, he enjoyed open intercourse with the world of departed spirits, and during that time was instructed in the internal sense of the sacred Scriptures, hitherto undiscovered.

He

The General Convention was held in Boston, June, 1836. It was very fully attended, not only by ministers and licentiates, and delegates from societies, but also by other receivers from various parts of the country. All matters of a business nature were very harmoniously disposed of; and every thing else connected with the meetings appeared to be conducted in such a manner as to give general satisfaction. As the amount of business to be transacted by the Convention increases, it was observed with pleasure, that there was a growing disposition to leave mere speculations and theories of a general and abstract nature, and to come down into more simple and practical views.

NOTE V.-UNITARIANS.

The number of Unitarian Congregational Ministers in the United States is as follows, viz: In Maine, 10; New Hampshire, 15; Massachusetts, 122; Rhode Island, 3; New York, 10; Pennsylvania, 4; Georgia, 2; and one in each of the States of Connecticut, Maryland, Virginia, South Carolina, Kentucky, Ohio, and Missouri. Also, one in the District of Columbia-Total, 174. There are about thirty more congregations and churches, than stated ministers.

There are other large bodies of Christians in the United States, who adopt the sentiments of the Unitarians, without their distinctive name. The whole Unitarian population in the United States, cannot, at present, be given with any precision.

The Christian Examiner and the Christian Register, Boston; the Unitarian Monitor, Concord, N. H.; and the Unitarian Essayist, at Meadville, Pa., announce the sentiments of this denomination.

Most of the Unitarians in England, it is stated, adopt the sentiments of Mr. Belsham and Mr. Lindsey, two distinguished Unitarian theologians, of that country. Mr. Lindsey's creed is as follows:

"There is ONE GOD, one single person who is God, the sole Creator and Sovereign Lord of all things.

"The holy Jesus was a man of the Jewish nation, the servant of this God, highly honored and distinguished by him.

"The Spirit, or Holy Spirit, was not a person or intelligent being, but only the extraordinary power or gift of God, first to our Lord Jesus Christ himself in his life time, and afterwards to the apostles and many of the first Christians, to empower them to preach and propagate the gospel with success.'

Mr. Belsham, in his creed, says, "God has commissioned his faithful and holy servant, Jesus of Nazareth, to teach the universal resurrection of the dead, and by his own resurrection to confirm and exemplify his doctrine."

"Jesus is indeed now alive. But as we are totally ignorant of the place where he resides, and of the occupations in which he is engaged, there can be no proper foundation for religious addresses to him, nor of gratitude for favors now received, nor yet of confidence in his future interposition in our behalf."

(See Socinians and Humanitarians.)

NOTE W.-UNIVERSALISTS.

The foregoing article was politely furnished the editor by the Rev. Thomas Whittemore, of Boston, and the Rev. L. R. Paige, of Cambridgeport, Mass., two distinguished clergymen of this denom

ination.

The following TABLE exhibits the statistics of the Universalists.

There are one or two societies in Virginia, N. Carolina, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, Upper Canada, and Nova Scotia. The population of this denomination in the United States is about 500,000.

The government and discipline of the Universalist denomination, so far as it has yet been established on general principles, are republican and fraternal; in accordance with the mild, equalizing and affectionate principles of Christianity.

The smallest associations are those called churches and societies. These are formed by any number of believers in a vicinity, according to the laws of the State or Territory, or to the customs of the community, where there are no legal regulations on the subject. Brother, is the common and equal title of all the male members, as sister is that of the females. Where discipline is instituted among societies only, it is, as it should be, a church discipline, and conducted according to the rules laid down in the New Testament: particularly as recommended in Matt. 5: 23, 24.-7: 12.-18: 15 -23; and the parallel passages.

The societies are sovereign and independent; competent to govern themselves, select and discharge their own officers and preachers. But for social purposes, and to promote unity and harmony among and with each other, in certain districts they unite themselves into associations and conventions.

Universalist Weekly Journals.-The Christian Intelligencer and Eastern Chronicle, Gardner, Me.; Gospel Banner and Universalist Family Monitor, Augusta, Me.; Trumpet and Universalist Maga

zine, Boston, Mass.; Universalist Watchman, Repository and Chronicle, Montpelier, Vt.; Christian Messenger and Philadelphia Universalist, New York and Philadelphia, (simultaneously ;) Southern Pioneer and Philadelphia Liberalist, Baltimore and Philadelphia, (simultaneously;) Sentinel and Star in the West, Philomath, Ind. A semi-monthly paper, called the Christian Visitant, is published at Utica, N. Y.

We copy the following from the Trumpet and Universalist Magazine, of June 4, 1836. It is by the Rev. HOSEA BALLOU, of Boston, in answer to the question,

Who are Universalists?

There seems to be an evident propriety in calling all who believe in the final holiness and happiness of all mankind, Universalists. There appears no good reason why those who believe in a limited punishment, in the future state, should have a less or a greater claim to be called Universalists, than those who entertain a hope, that all sin and misery end when the functions of life cease in the mortal body. As they both agree in the belief that God is the Saviour of all men, if this belief entitle one to the name of Universalist, of course it gives the other the same title. The Rev. John Murray was called a Universalist, and he called himself by this name, although he admitted there might be suffering hereafter, in consequence of blindness or unbelief. It is true, he did not allow that the sinner was punished for sin either here or in the future world, in his own person, because he maintained that the whole penalty of the divine law, for the sin of the whole world, was suffered by the Lord Jesus, as the head of every man. He allowed, notwithstanding, that the natural consequences of sin would inevitably follow transgression, as we see is the case by every day's observation. So likewise was the Rev. Elhanan Winchester called a Universalist, and he called himself so, although his views respecting a state of retribution, and the sufferings to which the wicked in the world to come will be subjected, were widely different from those entertained by Mr. Murray. Mr. Winchester believed in a place of material fire and brimstone, where the wicked would endure a torment as intense as has been represented by those Christians, who believe in endless misery. But as he believed, that all . these sufferings will end, though they might continue for many thousand years, and that those miserable wretches will at last be subdued and reconciled to the divine government, and be happy, he was denominated a Universalist.

The Rev. Dr. Huntington is ranked a Universalist, equally with those who have been named; but he believed in no punishment hereafter, being Calvinistic in his views of the demerit of sin, and of the atonement made by Christ.

From the commencement of the denomination of Universalists in this country, there has been a difference of opinion respecting the doctrine of rewards and punishments, among both the clergy and the laity belonging to the connexion. But this difference was not

considered, in those times, a good reason for a distinction of either name, denomination, or fellowship. All united in the cheering hope, that in the fulness of the dispensation of times, sin will be finished, transgression ended, and all moral intelligences reconciled to God, in true holiness and everlasting happiness. A view so grand and glorious, so full of comfort, of joy, and of peace, and so triumphant, was sufficiently powerful to draw together all who enjoyed it, and to hold them together as a denomination distinct from all those who hold the unmerciful doctrine of endless punishment. When the general Convention of the New England States, professing the doctrine of Universal Salvation, appointed a committee to draft articles of faith and a constitution, by which it might be known and distinguished from other religious sects, care was taken to appoint on that Committee, brethren whose views differed respecting the subject of a future state of rewards and punishments. The worthy and fondly remembered brother Walter Ferriss, who penned that instrument, was a believer in future rewards and punishments; but he so wrote that confession of faith as to comprehend the full belief of Universal salvation, without making any distinction between the belief of future punishment, or no future punishment. And it is well remembered, that this circumstance was, at the time of accepting the report of the Committee, viewed as one of its excellencies.

It seems improper to give so much weight to different opinions, which differ not in principle, but in circumstances only, as to constitute them walls of separation and disfellowship. If one believe that all misery ends with this mortal state, and another believe that it may continue twenty years after, and then come to an end, is there any real difference as to principle? All believe that our heavenly Father holds all times and seasons, and all events in his own power; and that he worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. And moreover all believe that God will have all men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. This constitutes us all Universalists; and calls on us to keep the unity of the spirit, and to walk in the bonds of peace. H. B.

BIBLE SOCIETIES.

The American Bible Society was formed in Boston in 1816. The seat of its operations, is in the City of New York. It has a Board of thirty-six Managers, all laymen, belonging to several religious denominations. The printing and binding establishment is on an extensive scale, and on the most economical principles. Auxiliary Societies are established in every part of the country. The funds of this Society are derived from the sale of the Scriptures, donations, subscriptions, life-memberships, legacies, &c. The receipts of the Society, from its commencement to May 1, 1835, amounted to $1,404,009. Since the organization of the Society, to May, 1835, 1,767,936 copies of Bibles and Testaments, in various languages have been issued, and circulated in various parts of the globe, WITHOUT NOTE OR COMMENT.

The British and Foreign Bible Society was formed in London, in 1804. Its receipts in thirty years, amounted to $9,844,589. During that period, it issued 8,549,356 Bibles and Testaments, in one hundred and fifty-eight languages.