whenever
and wherever brought up. They are the infidels who are untrue to the
light they have; who deny the plenary inspiration of that elder
Scripture written by the finger of God upon the human heart; who overlay
their reason with heaps of antiquated traditions; who bid their
conscience stand dumb before appalling iniquities in obedience to the
ill-read letter of an ancient record; who, in the interest of power,
wealth, worldliness, not seldom of unrighteousness and inhumanity, plead
for a Tract society, a Bible, or a church; who compass sea and land to
make a proselyte, and when he is made, are quite indifferent as to his
being a practical Christian; who collect vast sums of money annually for
the ostensible purpose of saving men's souls, practically to the effect
of keeping their souls in subjection and blindness. As I read the New
Testament, I find that Jesus charged infidelity upon none but such as
these; the people who made religion a cloak for pride, selfishness, and
cruelty; the conspicuously saintly people, who could spare an hour to
pray at a street corner, but had not a minute for a dying fellow-man
lying in his blood in a lonely pass. In the judgment of these, Jesus was
the prince of unbelievers. Punctilious adherence to the letter,
practical disbelief in the spirit--this is infidelity."[264]

The most important event in the history of the American Unitarian Church
was the National Convention which met in New York, April 5th, 1865, and
was presided over by Governor Andrew, of Massachusetts. Six hundred
ministers and laymen, representatives of one hundred and ninety
churches, were in attendance. The debates indicated wide diversity of
sentiment, but there was no open rupture. The sessions were pervaded by
a spirit of devoted loyalty to the civil government, liberality toward
all Christian bodies, and zeal in organizing educational and missionary
agencies throughout the country. An annual National Conference of
Unitarian Churches was appointed for the future. The Convention was
unable to arrive at a common system of belief. The following declaration
of faith was presented by A. A. Low, Esq.:

"_Whereas_, Associate and efficient action can only be expected of those
who agree in certain leading doctrinal statements or positions,
_Resolved_, That without intending any intolerance of individual
opinion, it is the right and duty of this convention to claim of all who
take part in its proceedings, an assent to the