  (Abbreviated) We assemble a sample composed of 243 nearby Seyfert galaxies
with redshifts $z\le 0.05$ to test the unification scheme. The sample contains
94 BLS1s, 44 NLS1s, 36 X-ray absorbed HBLR S2s, 42 X-ray absorbed non-HBLR S2s
and 27 X-ray unabsorbed Seyfert 2s (unabsorbed non-HBLR S2s and HBLR S2s). We
find that: 1) NLS1s have less massive black hole masses than BLS1s; 2) HBLRS2s
have the same mass distribution of the black holes with BLS1s; 3) the absorbed
non-HBLR S2s have less massive black holes than HBLR S2s; 4) unabsorbed
non-HBLR S2s have the most massive black holes. We thus have a queue of black
hole masses from small to large: narrow to broad line Seyfert galaxies,
providing new evidence for the evolutionary sequence of Seyfert galaxies. We
find that the opening angles of the torus in NLS1s and absorbed non-HBLR S2s
are significantly smaller than that in BLS1s and HBLR S2s. The growth of the
black holes and increases of the opening angles of the tori determine the
various appearances of Seyfert galaxies. We also find that the unabsorbed
Seyfert 2 galaxies could be caused by low gas-to-dust ratios in the present
sample. This indicates that the star formation histories could be different in
the unabsorbed from in absorbed Seyfert 2 galaxies, showing evidence for
suppressed star formation by black hole activities. We outline a new
unification scheme based on the orientation hypothesis: Seyfert galaxies can be
unified by including growth of black holes, Eddington ratios, changing opening
angles of tori and gas-to-dust ratios in the tori. Seyfert galaxies are tending
to finally evolve to unabsorbed non-HBLR Seyfert 2 galaxies, in which the black
holes are accreting with low accretion rates and both the broad line region and
dusty torus disappear.
