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Tous les autres exemplaires origiriaux sont filmds en commenpant par la premidre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impresFion ou d'illustration et en terminant pRr la dernidrr page qui comporte une telle empreinte. Un des symboles „uivants apparattra sur la dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbole — ^ signifie "A SUIVRE ", le symbole V signifie "FIN". Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre filmds d des taux de reduction diffdrents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul cliche, il est filmd d partir de "angle supdrieur gauche, de gauche d droite. et de haut en biiS, en prenant le nombre d'images n^cessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la m^thode. 3:x 1 2 3 4 5 6 '\^ LETTERS, DESCRIBING ROMANISM IN ITS ORIGIN, CHARACTER AND END; ADDRESSED TO mv, t G, FABRE, ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP OP MONTRKAL, BY MARCUS. ■TEKKL: thou AUT WKIGHEl. IX THE BALANCKS, ANM) ART FOLM) WANTING." The Holy Spirit hij the lY.phet Daniel. ( MONTREAL: AVm. Drysdale k Co., Booksellers axd Station St. Jamk.s Stkekt. 1887. ERS, l-:nteri'(l iicaunlinH to Act. of I'm liuiiciit ut tlic lioiiiiiiioii of I'tiiiiulu, in the yciii- of onr Lonl ISil;-, l.j VV. ;)l;^sl>^l.|• \ Co. in th. dilicc if tlic MiiiiKti'i of .\;.iifii!hirr at, (ittawn. .au^o J f TO THE READER. The olyect of the writer of tliose Jotters is to awak.,, attention, particularly that of Ronian Catholics, Mhich may lead to a proper understanding of that system of rehgion to which they are giving an unreasoning devo- tion and obedience. Misapprehending its character and oblivious or blind to Its influence as a powerful agency of evil, they up- hold It with such .ealous earnestness as to enable its abettors to compass many of those evils in this country which have worked most perniciously in every part of the world where they have been allowed to operate History as in ol'.er instances it has done, will repenc Itself in this country with terrible effect if the present course of events is not turned or checked But it is in the effects of this system on the spiritual condition its followers, on the cause of olivine trutli and the author of that truth, that concern is especially telt. The highest and dearest interests of men of .11 classes and countries, are involved in that which affects the teachings of revelation and through such the kin.^- domof our Lord Jesus Christ ; and that Komanism does this in the most serious and signal manner these letters will s]»ow to be the deep conviction of the wnter. It will not be surprising, therefore, that he feels solicitous that the reader should give them a careful and impartial consideration. Mat, 1887. f COXTENTS. l'A(it ^^^regared as Catholic, ,...rr„iv..,..,, ,,,,„,, «li"wn to be u.,fo,nul«] WkkIV The Clnu.ch of Ro„:.., ,:.,., :,,^;^„^^^^. •cal nithor th.-u. Apo.stolical J^kt™< V.-.-Li,ht thrown upon the,„e.Ho„.; Who are heTn.oCWhofCh,.i..a„dto.„on..,o:; ' '" '^t. I nter apply ' l™^,, T„„P„p„„ ,..„.,,...,.„„,,;,„,„, ^in, the hon of Perdition LKT.KK VIII.-.The M... .h...n to i.. Absurd. Blas- phemous and Idolatrous . Lettkij IX — TlipP^„f ■,*'■■ • 86-100 ^. -Ine Confessional continued: and itsinalign 2-nce-.nd tendencies further attested and con. Lettku Vr _Ti,^ n c ■ ' ' ' ' 11^-125 '• ^'"' <^""f---'''l : its n,ali.n character ;ui«J influences (continued) Lktter XII. — The Pn,,.i n ■ • 125-140 of P, . "^ *'"'"' "^ i"'l"lsences and of Purgatory examined and refuted 141-154 ;«-47 47 58 58-70 70-85 86-100 u. CONTEXTS. FiETTKR XTII. The t'liital Dogmas of InduljfencPH ami of riirgiitory exainiiicd and rt-futcd (continued) . 1,'>4-irifl Lettku XIV.- The l)o{,'nias of Indulgences and Purga- tory further considered and their true character exposed 170 18.'! Lkttku XV — KeasoiiH for writing these Letters: The Church of Rome is drifting to destruction— The perilous assumptions and acts of the Papacy . . 1H:\ L'OO LiCTTEK XVI.— Practical denial of God and of Chiist by the IJoman Catholic Ciiurch - . . . '201-214 LkI'TKK X\'1I. — Striking uncertainties and marvellous certainties of the Koman Catholic Church . . 2\i't-22'> Lkttku XVIII. — The oiigin, character, and doom of the Roman Catholic Church, as declared by Holy Scrip- ture and impartial history . , .... 220-240 ^ ^,^^ LKTTIiRS I)I-:S('kli;|\(; RomaxISM. LKTTKK I. THE CLAIM 01.' THE CllUnCII OF HOME TO HE HEOAHOFD AS CATHOLIC, OR UNIVEHSAL, HEKLTEU. Ml/ Dear Sir,~miymg satislie.l myself, after Ioik^ nii.l patient investi-ation, tl.at tlie Iiij^Ii and far-reacir. Hig assumptions of the Konian Catlu.lic fhurch do not rest upon a safe and solid 1)asis, 1 have rcs.dved to put my reasons for such a conclusion before you and through you hefoiv the puhlic g.'nerally. I thus act rom a deep conviction that such is a duty I owe to interests of tlie most sacred character, atlectiixr the Kedeemers Kingdom, an.l r.f every meinl)er of the community of whatever creed or ix.siti,,,, in life The very practical api^lication which your church is givin-r to her assumptions, especially now, in "iLv- Canada ot_ ours, presses heme this sense of dutv upon mv mind, to refuse attention to wliich would 1 believe be censurable in the highest degree. ' In a series of letters to your a.ldress, Keverend Sir, 1 intend to state my views, and therefore, without any apology or further preface on the subject, I enter upon my task. ^ For the Roman Catholic Church, it is claimed, that she IS the mother and mistress of all churches; that, indexed she is the only true church ; and being such, is the Catholic and Universal Christian Church. That bv divine appointment, the Apostle Peter was the head 6 I'Al'AI, I'Kol'osrriDNS OaiE(JTKI) TO. ami f(.nii(l;iti(»u of tlu! clutrcli, its Pope, or PontifT, mid Christ's vicar, or visihli; r('i)n!S(;ntiitiv(! on the oartli. That hi!, St. Pctur, Uvt-d in Koiiks for thi; hist twonty- live years of Iii.s life, (hiriiij,' which tiiii(3, as the jjo's- scssor of tlic keys coiiiiiiittcd to him l)y the Saviour, ho hound or loosed, opened or shut, in Heaven, Earth' Iloll, and Piir^'atory, as seemed ri^dit in his .si<,'ht. That each Pope; since th(!n is the true successor of"st. I'eter, invested with (^pial authority and power; and that to he suhject to him, and in full and hearty con- nection with the church, he pinsonaliy, or through the autliority he deh'gates to l.isho].s, priests, itc", &c., rules, is nocos.sary in tlie higliest degree to Salvation. Now, R'_venind Sir, to ('acli of these propositions, I olfer a strong and eiiii)hatic protest ; assured, that neitlK'r ])y th(! Holy Scripture, nor hy reliable Church history can your th(;ologians .sustain any one of them. Indeed I look over them with no small measure of surprise, asking myself the question, how any jierson could lie so Ix.ld as to assert them in any l)lace where the Word of (iod circulated, or, that acces.? was had to the relati<.nng a great part of this century all the e:;;r ;S ':"'""""^ '^ '"^' "^^ -^^ ^'-t, indeplle t o each other, or were connected by „„ ass( ciutions or cnnfedera ..a.s. Each ..hurch was a kind of li tie tate governed by its own laws. whic.). w.-re ena' e or at hjas^ .uujt.oned l>y the people. l..t in proc;:s^of 1^ a he CImst.an Churches within the same province MM ed and lornu.d a sort of larger society or stL and' m the manner of confederat.;^! repul,! cs el 'tS ->nvent.ons at stated tin.es. and deliberiued he ein W t Iu3 conunon advantage of the whole body." In a footnote iti.ssaid: " IJy ancient custom peculia e- pec was pa.d to the churches founded an 1 go v^ned l.ythe .apostles then.selves; and such churche were appeaedto m controversies on points of dootr ne as '!<«t like ly to know wliat the apostles tau-^ht " t4 distinguished names of Irenan.s and Terh, llian arp gn;en .n support of this statement. '"'"''^''"' ^'^ of iTT'i ""'' ^" "'' ^^"^ Testament, the statements of the historian are seen to be fully sustained To the lurch at Jerusalem, (and if any 'church co dd be iu died in claiming to l>e the Mother, and, for a time at least, he Mistress of all churches, tins chui4 could do so.) the apostle Peter went up to justify 1 act of having carried to the Gentiles the WoiV of ToH winch he had done, when, by divine direcUon he went to Corne nis ni Cesarea. and having ministered to Idn an. his household the word of tlfe gospe and tl "? chancer '^'''' ^'"^^^ ^^ '- ctptance by God, he baptized and received them into 8 ST. PETERS DEFENCE BEFORE THE CHURCH. the Kingdom, or churcli of the Saviour. l>ut all tliis Avas so inconsistent with the views, and so repug- nant to the prejudices of the church at Jerusalem, that St. Peter felt it necessary to appear before it to ex- plain and defend his conduct in this instance. An act, to say the least of i*-, singularly iit variance with your church's ideas of his supremacy. Xor is it easy to explain why he should he travelling about Joppa, \ihere he was when summoned to go to Samaria, then to Samaria, and from thence to Jerusalem, when his office, according to your assumptions, bound him to the See and City of Rome. Xext, as marking the dominant influence of the church at Jerusalem in those days, when they had heard the success of certain evangelists in Phonice, Cyprus, and in Antioch, they sent down Jiarnabas that he might confirm and establish the recent converts of those places. In reading the Acts of the Apostles and their Knistles to the several churches whose names they bear, we are impressed with the fact, and the more so that we keep in mind your church's claim of Rome's dominant authority, the entire absence of even the most distant allusion to such, a fact not to be ac- counted for on any other supposition than the one which all Protestants unite in maintaining, viz.: that the assumption of the Church of Rome here is without any, even the slightest justification. The historian Mosheim's description of the order of the primitive cliurches already given, is the oidy rational and consist- ent solution of these otherwise inexplicable inconsist- encies. Another case I call your attention to is given in the first three chapters of the book of Revelation. In this portion of the Xew Testannnit are several very strikiu'^ facts I shall use further on in my remarks j in the present instance, I confine myself to one or two. ;rch. CONSTITLTION OK TlIK ( IILRCII KCIiTllEH STATED. Jut .all this so ropug- salem, that 3 it to ex- ,iince. An ■iiince ■with V is it easy out Joppa, naria, then , when liis him to the ice of the they had 1 Plioiiice, 'nahas that jonverts of postles and ose names t, and the .'s claim of ice of even )t to he ac- iii the one , viz.: that is without ! historian ! primitive lul consist- ! inconsist- iven in the 1. In this ry striking ks; in the le or two. First, that the Apostle John is directed to address himself "to the sn-ni churches which are in Asia." Secondly, that these churches ar(>, each one, repre- sented by a golden candlestick or lamp, separate and distinct the one from the dtlier, and not as one lamp, Avhich would have been the case doubtless, were there then, as you claim, but one church. Thirdly, that each church, wliile collective in its bishop and nu- bership, is separate and distinct from any other ,a its standing and charai'ter ; and, as a consequence, is com- mended or censured, ailinonislied or encouraged, as in the eyes of the Saviour it needed to be so dealt with ; and further, let it be remarked, that each ej-iistle closes with the admonitory M'ords : " He that hath an ear, let him hear what the the Spirit .saitli," (not to the chinrli, but,) " to the churches." On the constitution of the primitiv(.' churches, Moslieiiii's remarks are worthy of note. He says : "^Vs to the e.Kternal form of the church and the mode of governing it, neither Christ himself nor his apostles gave any express precepts. We are therefore to uniler- stand that this matter is left chiefly to be regulated Ijy circumstances, and by the discretion of civil and ecch;- siastical rulers. If, however, what no Chri.stian can doubt, the apostles of Jesus Cliiist acted liy divine com- mand and guidance, then that form of the primitive churches which was derived from the church at Jeru- salem, created and organized l)y the apostles themselves, must be accounted duiuc ; yet it will not follow that this form of the church was to be perpetual and unal- terable. In those jirimitive times, each Christian churcli Avas composed of the iwople the prexiiliinj offhrx, and the ciKsisiants or deacons. These must be the component parts of every society. The highest authority was in the people, or wliole body of Chri.s- tians, for even the apostles themselves inculcated by 10 BISHOPS, rHESBVTfiRs OH KLDKHS. their example thr.t nothing of any moment was to be doneordetenmnea on, but with the knowledge and con sent of the brotherhood, see Acts i. 15-16 : 3°15 • i-n • 22, and this mode of proceeding, botli prudence 'md necessity re.|uire.l in those early days " ^ << t,^ nilers of the church were denominated sometimes presbyters or elders, a designation borrowed from the Jews and indicative rather of the wisdom than tlie age of the persons, and sometimes, also, In./u^p,; for it manifest that both terms are pro.ui.scuousl/ ,se 1 in he xNew Testament for one and the san.e dL oi Z sons. These were men of gravity, and distinguished for their reputation in influence and sanctity " -Referring to the condition of things iiUhe third <'en- tury, Mosheim remarks: "The forni of ecclesiastic I government which had been introduced M-as nion! a d more conhrmed and strengthened, both in respect to . ividmil churches and tlie whole society of Chris- tians. He inust be ignorant of the history and the novements of this ag... who can deny that a person bearing the title of bishop presided oJer eacli clulrc the larger cities and managed its public concerns vith son,e degree of authority, yet having the presby- ters for his counsel, and caking the voice of the who e P ople on subjects of moment. It is equally certain hat one bishop m each province was pre-eminent over he rest mrank and authority. This was necessaiy 01 maintaining that association of churches which had been introduced in the preceding century, and for lioldmg counsels more conveniently and reulily mhcllrr' " "^'^"' '^''' '^" P-'-ogitives of theJe Js S ^^^">I'^.Y''r r^ '''''y ''^''"' '-i^^^m-ately avceitamed ; nor did the bishop of the chief city in a pioyince always hold the rank of the tirst Inshoi, It IS also beyond controversy tlmt the bishops of Rome Antioch, and Alexandria, as presiding over the pdn i i ; was to be ,'e and con- 15; 4-21; denco and . "The sometimes from the than tlie >ps; for it y used in iss of per- lislu'd for third (.'on- Icsiastical iiion; and espeot to of Chris- aud tlie a i^erson 1 church concerns i ]iresby- le whole Y certain ent over ecessary s wliich iry, and readily. )f these uurately ity in a op. It Konie, i prirai- i A SPIRIT OF WORLDLY POMP SEEN' RISING. 11 tive and Apostolic churches in tlie greater divisions of the empire, liad precedence of all others, and were not only often consulted on weighty affairs, but likewise enjoyed certain prerogatives peculiar to themselves." ..." But the fatliers strenuously contended for the eipiality of all bishops in respect to dignity and authority; nd disregarding the judgment of the bishop of Rome vlienever it appeared to them incor- rect, had no hesitation in following their own iud"- ment." '' ° On another point, the remarks of tlie liistorian are important. He says : "Although the ancient mode of church government seemed in general to remain unal- tered, yet there was a gradual deflection from its rules and an approximation towards the form of monarchy ; for the ])ishops claimed much higher authority and power than before, and overreaclied more and more upon tlie rights not only of tlie Christian people, but also of the jn-esbyters. And to give plausibility to these usurpations, they advanced new doctrines con- cerning the church and the episcopal oflfice, which, however, were for the most part so o])scure that it would seem tliey did not themselves understand them, rius change in the form of ecclesiastical government was followed by a corrupt state of the clergv ; for although examples of primitive \ncty and virtue\vere not want- ing, yet many were addicted to dissii)ation, arrogance, voluptuousness, contention, and other vices. Many bishops now affected the state of princes, and especially those who had charge of the more populous and wealthy congregations; for they sat on thrones sur- rounded by their ministers and other ensigns of their sjuritual i)ower, and perhaps also dazzled the eyes and the minds of the populace with their si)lendid attire." A spirit of rivalry, not alwavs Christian in character, was frequently manifested by the bishops of the priii- 12 GKKGORY S RKMOXSTHAXCE. cipal citioR, whicli were those of Koine, Aiitioch, and Alexandria. In sul)soqnont years another See was created in Constantinople, Avhose l)ishop added nuuh to tlie bickering of the times by iiis wayward conduct. The city of Con8tantino])Ie had been chosen by tlie Emperor Constantine as his residence ; and he tlierc- fore increased its importance in many ways, so that it became a rival to Koine, and, indeed, was l)y many designated, " New Koine." O^nstantine, having em- braced Christianity, at least in name, lieapeirmaiiy favors upon the ])ishop of the new metropolis as he did upon the eity ; the consequence of whicli was that it quite turned his head ; insomuch so that he assumed the title of suprenimy over all the churclies. This was resented with mucli warmth by Cregory, the bishop of Kome ; since styled " the rircat," and known, as you are aware, as one of the popes of your churcli ill the succession, as you affirm, from St. Peter. I will give some extracts from his letters to John, of Constanlinoplc, who committ(Ml the grave offence of whicli he complains, and as well from one to the Em- peror .Mauritius and the Empress on the same subject. Among other things these letters show most conclu- sively, that no such thing as universality of tlio Konian Church, nor that of suitremacy of its bishop was then known or professed. Addressing himself to his brother of Constantinople, (iregory says : " Let your Holiness acknowledge that our Lord says to his disciples, ' lie not ye called Kab1)i, for one is your master, and all ye are brethren.' What, therefore, most dear brother are t/ot/, in tin; terril)le examination of the coming Judge, to say who desire to be called, not father only, but the general father of the world?" "L.ewai'e of the sinful suggestions of the wicked. Otiences must indeed come, but woe to tiiat man by whom the otlence cometli. Behold the church is rent GHEOORYS IlKMOXSTUANCK CONTINUED. 13 itioch, and See was (led much d conduct, en by the lie thero- so that it by many iviiig eiii- ped many as he dill as that it 3 assumed Tliis was le Ijishop 1 known, ur church Peter. I John, of offence of ) the Em- e subject, it conclu- ' of tiie ts bishop limself to : " Let ys to his is your ore, most on of tlie lied, not world 1 " wicked. man liy h is rent by this wicked workl of pride, the licarts of the brtithren are ofiended. . . For it is written, ' Charity seekoth not lier own.' JJeliold you, our brotlier, arro- gate to yourself the tilings of otlicrs. Again it is \vrit- ten, 'preferring one another in iKinor,' and you en- deavour to take it away from all, and usurp it wliolly to yourself against reason and right. I beg, 1 (sntroat, and I ijeseech with all possibh; suavity, that your brotherhood resist all these flatterers who (.ffer you this 7ia)i>j' of emu; and that you refuse to l)e designated by .so foolish and so pruiid an appeUatioii. For 1 indeed say it with tears, and from the inward anguish of my bowels, that to my sins I attriljute it, that niy In-other cannot to this day be brought to humility who was made bishop for this end that he might lead the minds of others to humility. It is written, ' God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble,' and again it is said, 'He is unclean before God who exalteth his heart, hence it is written against the proud man, i/nid superbis, hrm ct ciitia ? ' ' earth and aslies, why art thou proud?' And truth itself suith, 'every one that exalteth himself shall be huml»led;' who, that lie might by humility bring to the way of life, has vouch- safed to point out unto us what he taught, saying, ' Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly of lieart.' For this, the only begotten Son of God took ui)on himself the form of our intirmities ; for this, the lnvisil)le be- came iiot only visible, but despised ; fin- this he bore the insults of reproaches, shameful mockings, and grievous suflerings, that an hmidjle God might teach man not to l)e proud." "... What then do we l)isliops say, who take tlie place of honor from the humility of our Redeemer, and yet imitate the pride of his enemy 1 ' " PiqM'mIc, roi/o, quia in Itac preftumptiojie pax totius turbatar ccdmai;'' &c. "Consider, I entreat 14 (iUEGORV TO TIIK KMPEROK, you that by this rash presumption is the peace of the whole churcli chsturhed, an.l the grace poured out iu common upon all contradicted, in which you can i ! crease only .n proportion as you carefully decrease in self-esteen,, and become the greater the more you re! strain yourself from this name of proud an.l fooli4 usurpation. . . Whoni, pray, do youVropose to imUat by this perverse name, not him who, despising the legions o angels, his companions, endeavonrc:;! t' break forth and ascend to an elevation peculiar to him- self, that he might seem to be subject to none and to oe above all of them ? For what L all yo r h" her bishops the Universal Church, but t^ie stlirs of heaven, whose lives and preaching give light amonc^ the sins an. errors of men in the darkness of night?" ... And that I may sum up all in one word : the saints before the law, the saints un.ler the law, an.l the saints under grace the gospel-all these making nfen bp,r Z'; ^"pf '\ °"^' ^'''^ '''' ^«"«tituted but members of the Church ; none of them would ever have ca led himsel Umrcr.aL Let your holiness thc'n acknowledge how he must swell with pride who covets to be called by this name, which no true saint would presume to accept." To the Emperor I\rauritius and the Empress, he ^^]^7V''T'' '' '^^" «^ ConstaLino'ple JSow this brother by a presumption never before known, contrary to the preaching of the Gospel and to the decrees of the canons, usurping' a new nam,', glorying m new and profane tWes which f^Ia^p/^enri; be far from elr, Chr^an ^mr^ would be called Universal hishnp ; but i }l^ A P";'' ""^'''^ ^^^^ ^'' ^"<^ '^^^«^^ that the time .>f ^w^^-CZ/ns;? approaches, because he imitates him who despising his brother angels, would rise to a height peculiar to himself, that he might be subject to none AGAINST INKALI.IIill.nv. 15 leiice of tlie iireil out in ■oil can in- decrea.«e in ore you re- nd foolish 3 to imitate 'pising the voured to iai' to liim- 'iie, and to nr brotlier B stars of ;ht among )f night ? " vord : tlie ■ law, and :e making tuted but Duld ever ness then ■ho covets int would press, lie titinople : er before i Gospel irping a ie tWeSy Christian but in i time of ini wlio, I height to noiie. When he who is called Univer^nl folN /; 7 , , it was at ince -^a roud n. . T. '" "''^•^"•"Pt'"'^ «„ 1 I'lUUCl rUKi lOOjlsh USIirri'ifinn ." perpetrator as "in lea-n.e w ] ^ ^^^'"tified its church' Hm- f 1 '"' ^'"^ «"athema of your absolutely iai lucli'?; '^'"f;^"ff ^^^' ^''^^ory, but for your none (hi' , T''\ "''^^ ""^ supremacy moriatl^nn,i^^:l;rJr^"^^^^^^^^"^^-" I remain Rev. Sir, Yours very sincerly, Marcus. l.KTTKR II. PAl'AI, SriMiEMACY ICX AM INHI) AND DISPUOVKl), Ml/I)>'ar Sir, — In my forini'i' letter I have shown that tlie chiini of yotu' Church to Ciitlmlicity, or Universal- ity, is, as your authiiritics (Icjine it, without any reliable foundation. Suflicient also is L,'iven in the letter to destroy all coniidence in the do.ifuia of your pope's supremacy, and that, even 1)y a quotation from a pope, which, without atirmiuL;- him U> Im; infallible, is sulhcient to settle this (juestion for ever. Lut, as this latter suliject is of freijuent use and of great influence, I propose to consider it with greater particularity and fulness. And in doing this we will see whetlier or not our Lord designed for I'eter, as your Church aU'ects He did, the position of si.ipremacy over His Church in all the earth ; yes, that In.' should through- out the world be His vicar, or representative ; and as such be the Church's head and foundation ; with power to l)ind or loose; to open or shut; in heaven, in earth, in hell and in purgatory, if such a place there be. That his seat was to be in Kome ; and there he wou them ; but it shall not Ije so among you, but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister : and whosoever will bo chief among you, let him be your servant." Here our Lord inculcates the opposite of the principles and practices of your papal court, both in its pageantry and in its i)olicy, while not a word is dropped of any- designed supremacy for Peter or any other disciple. P)Ut you may reply by asking : Did not our Lord say to Peter after Peter's memorable confession of his divinity, and in that explicitly declare his contemplated supremacy; "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church ; and the gates of hell shall not VIZ., Chri sins. m THK I'ATlIKIi.S lillKKIi. ccasion there 8 as to who rcavoii ; aiul •^ ho had (h;- sayin^' that iiu! as little Jviii;4(Iom of i .Scribes and asts, and the Lin<,^s in the not yo called . ; and all yo ler upon tlie in Heaven." Anjj; to your ny. Again, mother of lat her sons I the other suppress the this re([uest J the j)rinces ni, and they lem ; but it \'ill be great I whosoever iir servant." le principles :s pageantry ipt'd of any discii)le. t our Lord 3siou of liis )nteniplated this rock I ill shall not 19 prevnilaguist it, and I will give unto thee the keys of the Kingdom .d lleavn, and whatsoever th(Mi shalt bini so 3. St. Paul all things •ad over all the fulness But speak- Hini in all roll! whom iiipaoted by Tiiic rnL!': iimii.kh ok ini; keys. 21 * '-^n tliat which every jomt suppjieth, acconliiig to the ellectn.d wurkui, in the nieasMr,. of .-verv part niaketh [Mcreu.. of the body unto the e.lifyini of i,';:;'^; Lord acts, as de.. arod by the b..loved disc-iplo doln in his book..! the K.velation. In the first chapter tl,! baviouris repre.sented to .John in His Hi-l, ivi.-st's garments, and moving in the mid.st of "th,. seven <■ n.rches in Asia, over whi..). .b,],,. had a spoHal .har-^e km,wle.lge of oach church ; as din-cting with iiever- ^••■a.sii.g vigilance every interest of each ; and with -idenee clear and full that he wouM al^avs lo «o ho |dea tha he Inid vacated h^ ^ in Ills chmches as their head to .ny one on the ..arth Another fact disch.sed in these scrii.tures is tir.f Uie keys of hell .„.d death are in the iJnds of Ch" lom the effects up.m him of this astonishing vision of us Lord, he says : " Fear not, 1 am the fir.:t ami tl o ast : 1 am He that liveth and was dead : an,l behol.M strofi:™'''^'^^'"^"^^ Th- assumed po.sssession of these keys by y„nr pope' n,y, lear sir, Jias led them to many acts ^a, 1 ven tricks, that have excited towards the relioio, I "" w'll't T'r^ '^v'-^^ «f ->'t-npt ;;;,; dc krownth tt l'' ^'""' ^y' ''''^' l'^'-'^^"'- to have kllo^vn that these keys were in wiser and holier han.Is han any pope of Rome ever could boast of, and tl t 2;-reataIl times used ui the interest; of ', aiul ngliteousiiess. Another reference to the autliority as in.licated in the possession of the keys is given b/ our Lord in the ••)•) OI-R T,Oi:i).S SriMiEMACV. M[)istlo to the Cliurcli in Philailelpliia as follows : " Thoso things saith lie that is holy, he tliat is true, he that hath the key of David, he that opcneth, and no man shutteth," (no not even a pope,) "and sliut- teth and no man openoth. I know thy works ; he- hold I have set ])efore thee an open door, and no man can shnt it ; for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and liast not denied my name. J'e- liold I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews and are not, bnt do li(-' ; he- hold I will make tliem to come and worship before tliy feet, and to know that I have loved thee, because; thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation which shall • uiiie npon all the earth. J5ehold 1 come quickly; liold tliat fast wliicii thou hast, that no man take tliy ci'own." Now here, my dear sir, is a supervision over this church, and such is Init a sample of the supervision by the Saviour over all others, — which could not be e(iualled, by any mere man. And while it is superior to that which any man could exercise, it utterly pre- cludes any necessity of such from any person on earth, and quite sets aside the pretension that a pope as St. ]'eter's successor, or because of any other consideration, should or can ))e, our l^ord's vicar, or visible repre- sentative in the world. Tlie whole thing is outrage- ously absured from any standiioint, but especially ■when looked at cn'er a list of popes who were of the vilest character, and whose rule was marked l)y villainies of the darkest sluule. lUit, methinks I hear some simple minded Ronnuiist asking, "were not the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven committed to St. Peter, so that whatsoever lie ])(Uind therein, was bound ; and what he loosed in it, was loosed?" Yes, this is ad- mitted ; but we should notice, it was the keys of the tl le HOW PETER USED THE KICVH. 23 as follows : that is ti'uc, :)pcnetli, and " and shut- works ; hc- and no man th, and hast name. I'xi- e of Satan, t do lie ; hc- rship hcforo lieci, ])ecause , r also will which shall ni(! quickly ; lau take thy )n over this supervision )uld not ho it is superior utterly i)re- on on earth, pope as vSt. ^nsideration, isihle reprc- ; is outrage- .t especially wei'e of the marked l)y links I hear wevQ not the to St. Peter, hound ; and , this is ad- keys of the Kingdom of TFeaven, as that phrase is known to mean ma numlH-r of ])hices in the Xew Testament. In oilier words It refers t(j tlie Kingdom of Grace on the earth, and things appertaining to this life, and not to things iiivisil)le and heyond the grave. Hence the import of giving to Peter the keys'of the King.lo'm of Heaven was made clear in the fact that he 'had the Singular lion.,r of opening the Gospel dispemsation. ilie Kingdom of Heaven, proper,— to the Jews first on the day of Penteco.st, and to the Gentiles suhse- .|uently, when to Cn-nelius and household, he went by divnie direction to do so at Cesarea. For, let it be ob- served, that in each instance he received into the Kingdom of Heaven, the Gospel Church, per.sons who iiad accepted not only the gospel in its liJessin-, hut in 1 he terms or conditions, on wliich the reception"of these blessings was made to .lepend, as see Matt xviii. 3, .'ohn m. 5, etc., etc. Thus the loosing and biiulin-' power was used, and its reality attested, and so, also" was seen what our Lord meant when to his disciples he said: ' AMiosoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto theni ; and wluxsoever sins yc retain, they are re- amed iM.rther-The meaning is shown bv our Lord himself, m the f(,llowing words: "He tliat believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him." These are the terms-])elief or un- hehef-on which life or death is bound or loose.l ; sins are remitted or retained ; and he that proclaims them o us fellow-man, is, in the sense of the Saviour, a Innder or a looser; one who remits or retains the sins of the person to whom he makes the proclamation, and, m this ease, as in that of the apostle or of any one •■Ise, God will bind in Lleaven, that which, in strict accordance with his eomman.ls, has been bound on the earth, iius is put beyond any one's question by the 24 PETERS riUMACY UNSCRIPTLIJAI,. course uniformly pursued by the apostles, and by every real gospel minister to tlie present day ; as liy thousands upon thousands, then and since to the present hour, were, and are witnesses who have fully realized the fact and testified to it in a consistent experience. The next question in the list of assumptions of your church, and to which I now call attention, is that which makes the apostle Peter, by divine; apiH)iutment the bishop of Rome, and the Primate of the world. This dogma is held by others, as you know, besides your church. They with your canonists and clergy, consider it essential, according to Cardinal Baronius and other Roman Catholic theologians, that the Apostle Peter was twenty- live years in Rome, and that there he was put to death at the instance of Xero ; that the time of his coming to Rome was in the second year of the reign of Claudius, that is the forty-second of the Christian era. Tliere are certain considerations, which, ere we come to dates, we should look at. First, that while there is no reference in the Xew Testament to any such ap- pointment as Peter to Rome, there is clearly one for him in another direction, see (ial. ii. 7-8. " Wlien they saw that the gospel of the unciicumcision was comnnttcd unto me (Paul), as the gospel of the circumcision was un- to Peter J for he that wrought etfectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me to the Gentiles." This shows that the commission of these distinguished apostles was in each of them to a different class of peojile. Our conclusion therefore must be, if Paul's called him to Rome, as we know it did, then n)ust Peter's have directed him to some other tiehl of labor, and this we shall find to be exactly the case. The First ICpistle which the apostle wrote he addresses from P)abylon, a city tlieu in existence in Asia, and on Peter's field of labor. 9r. ;tles, and liy (lay; as l>y ^iiice to tlio have fully a coiLsisteiit tioiis of your tion, is that a))i)()iiitiuent f tlie world, now, besides and cler^'y, lal liaronius t the Apostle that there he ■0 ; that the cond year of cond of the ere we come diile there is ny such ap- 1 one fur hiui len they saw s committed isiou was un- Peter to the was mighty ! commission of them to a erefore must ;iiow it did, ic other Held tly the case, he addresses fisia, and on the bank of the Euphrates and the centre of a large Je\yisli popidation, and to other cities in Asia which he designates: "Pontus, Galatia, Capadocia, and Bithynia." We have a remarkable statement by St. Luke tliat IS worthy of notice. He says : " Xo\v wlien they (Paul and Sdas) had gene throughout Phrygia and the ir^gion of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach tin.' word in Asia, after they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Pithynia ; but the - nnit suffered them not." The reason for this prohuMtion is a mystery until we learn the fact that the Ju'Id they were forbidden to enter was the one in whieli the Apostle Peter was laboring, and where lar^iy prayers ; making r(?quest if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you. For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be establislied." Put if the statement of Paronius and others be true, Peter was at this time m Rome ; then what need for Paul being so anxious to "impart unto them some spiritual gift? Our conclusion must be either that Paul de- signed to belittle the ministry of Peter,— which can- not bo admitted for a moment,— or, that Peter was not there', nor had he been in Rome, and yet this epistle is dated in the year 60, only a few years before the martyidom of these distinguished men. \\'itli great respect, yours, etc. .AIarcus. f !! LETTER III. THE ASSUMPTION THAT THE APOSTLK PETER WAS THE UISHOP OR POPE OF HOME EXAMINED AND SHOWN TO BE UNFOUNDED. Mij Dear Sir, — As it is quito clear tliat no satisfac- tory evidence can be given either for tlie catliolicity of your church, or for the supremacy of your Pope, wliile, as I have shown, there is niucli tliat is incon- trovertible from Scripture and history against Ijoth, I might now leave these subjects for (others I intend to dwell upon ; for there are many things in the creed and polity of your church that cliallenge and provoke criticism. I will, however, devote another letter to the subject of Peter's supremacy and residence in Home, to show that ])y a comparison of dates and facts the prolial)ilities are, nay, the positive certainty is, that the Apostle Peter never was in Rome. "Witli such a showing the huge faliric which your theologians have built, known in specialty as the Roman Catholic Church, must fall to the ground in utter and irretriev- able collapse. For however skilfully the parts of a building may be put together, and the appearance of strength be given to each part of it, yet if once the foundation is destroyed the whole building erected on it must come down. To the structure of your church, showing as it does the work of many minds, the labor of many ages, and the expenditure of vast wealth, the primacy of Peter in Rome is, as a fact, fundamental to its existence ; and, therefore, in the disproof of this, as a fact, is the destruction of all that is peculiar to the Church of Rome. ?if ER AVAS THE U AND t 1)0 satisfac- e nutliolicit}' ■ your Pope, lat is iucon- ^niinst both, irs I intend in tlie creed and provoke ler letter to •esidence in f dates and ive certainty 3ine. Witli ' theoloffians lan Catliolic id irretriev- 1 parts of a i])earance of if once the J, erected on 'oiir church, Is, the labor wealth, the undainental roof of this, peculiar to Peter's commissiox to the jews. 27 ^ In my former letter I pointed to the statement of Paul, that while to him was committed the <,'ospel of tlie nncimuvcidon, to Peter was committed that of tlie cirmmcisinn. Therefore, if Paul's field took in Rome, Peter's must be in another direction. And such a conclusion is sustained by Peter's own epistle, addressed as it is from a place far away from Rome and known as the centre of a lar-e .Jewish population. iMU-tlier, that m Paul's epistle to Rome is tlie expres- sion of a strong desire from the ai)ostIe to go to Rome thatjie might "impart" unto them "some spiritual gitt, a tiling that sounds strangelv indeed in the sup- I'osition that Peter was not only then there, l)ut had tieen there for several years previouslv. Nor is the circumstance of little moment in this connection, that 1 aul was forbidden of the Holy Spirit to go into Asia (as see Acts 16, G-7) as at one time he designed to do in company with Silas, knowing as we do from Peter's own epistle that Asia was his field of Ia])or. Eut for greater certainty in this matter, let us look over the j>^ in J„ppa icifh one Simon a tanner: I:!ut where does he go after this? To Home 1 ^o i^or, .seemthe same book, the Acts of the Apostles! we are told tliat a ter this "many day.," a certain man ot Ce.sarea, Cornelius, i.s directed by an angel to send inen to .Joppa to call for one Simon, whose surname is J eter. Tim summons Peter obeys, and repairs to Cesarea. The conversion of Cornelius and his house- hold IS the result of this visit ; and, as was very £r '' ^''""^'''^ ^° ^'"■'•^ "'''^""' '^''^' ""'^^' After this he goes, not to Rome, but to Jerusalem, to meet the objections to his conduct in the Corneliu.s ailair, which "they that were of the circumcision" had raised about it. Thus we .see that the statement which your authorities have made, that Peter came to Kome in the forty-second year of the vulgar ev is like many others of theirs, altogether without a found- ation. .Nor should we fail to note the following : That Avhi e Luke, in the Acts of the Apostles, lias .so par- ticularly described Peter's movements tlms far, nit a M-ord IS said here or subsequently about his going to frV' f) '"T '^ "" ^^'^' and a very important one It must be, to your church at least, then this 30 I'ETKU IN JL-DKA, ETC., ETC. silence on your assiiniptioii is at once extraordinary and inexplicable. Indeed \vc are told that a certain Franciscan Friar saw tliis, and therefore said tliat tin; supposition of Peter's cuininj,f to Rome in the second year of the reign of Claudius, Avhich was the forty- second of the vul,L;ar era, is in contradiction to Iloiy AVu'it. Others have fullowed in the conclusions of this friar, so that the Dominicans declare in the Biblidtheca Sacra of 1822, that it was only during tluj reign of Nero that Peter came to Rome. Ihit, it might Ijc asked, if he came not in the forty- second year of the Christian era, might he not have come the year after? Well, let us juciuire into this. It is undoubted that Ilerod Agrippa, the grandson of Herod the Great, died in the year forty-tive. Put it is said in the Acts of the Apostles, that Kerod, not long before his death, " stretched forth his hands to afTlict some of the church. And he killed .lames the brotlier of John, with the sword. And seeing it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to take Peter also. And when he had ai)preliended him, he put liiiu iu prison." Here he was ke[)t luitil miraculously delivered by au angel. And after visiting his friends, who were engaged in prayer for him, he departed and went to another place. The next reliable reference we have of Peter's whereabouts is in Galatians 2, and Acts 15. They both refer to the one event. " And some coming down from Judea taught the brethren, and said, Fx- cept ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved." At this council Pet(n' was present — it was at Jerusalem — " and when there had been much disputing, I'eter rose up, and said unto them. Men and brethren, ye know, how a good while ago, God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the Gospel and believe, PETKlt JJISTAXT FliOM IU)Mi:. 31 jxtraordinary lat a certain said tliat tlie 11 tlie second 'as the forty- i.ion to Holy iiclusioiis of ilaru in thi; y during tin,' in the forty- le not have ire into this. grandson of five. But it t Herod, Udt his liands to d James the d seeing it Peter also. put him ill ily delivered Is, wlio Averi! and went to of Peter's 15. They )ine coming I said, Px- )f Moses, ye was present e had been unto them, 1 while ago, iles by my and believe, and God, which knoweth tlu; hearts bare thom wit- ness, giving them the Holy (Uiost, even as he did unto us ; aiK put no dilll.rence b.aweon us and them, puri- fying their hearts by faith. And all the multitude hel.l tlieir peace, and gave audienc will of (lo.l to conie unto you. lor I long to see you that 1 may impart unto you some spiritual gift-so, as much as in me 1.S, 1 am ready to preach the (b)spel to you also that are at Koine." IJut what need of all tliis concern on the part ot Paul if Peter was in Koine, all this time ? Such surely would be altogether uncalled for and deeply reliecting upon a fellow apostle— a thino- St lau was uicapable of. And the less likely was Paul to desire to visit Rome if Peter were there, and he must have known it had it been so, for he says in his epistle to this very people: "Yea, so have I strived to preach the Gospel, not where Christ was 32 PAUL VI81TS HOMK. imniL'd, It'r^t I should build uixui iiuollior nuin's fuun- (latioii. lint, as it is written. To -A-lioni lie was not spokcu of tiicy sliall sfc. And they that havi; not heard shall umh'rstand." This is lanj,'ua','c, ([uitc in the region of the dece|)lionaI, on the supposition that Peter was in Konie, much uunv. so had he lieen there for years, as declared by Cardinal liaronius and others, ])Ut understood most clearly as we accept tlu^ fact that Kome was in Paul's Held of labour, and not in Peter's, Put if anterior to the year 58, Peter had not been in Rome, could he have gone there subsequently and just before his martyrdom 1 Well, let us consider this supposition. In the year Gl Paul arrived in Kome in person, and was met by the bretliren, as stated in Acts 28 : 14. 8t. Paul liad liad a .stormy and eventful passage, but lie says, on meeting the brethren, " he thanked God, and took courage." He was mfit l)y the bretliren, but there Avas no mention of Pet 'i among them. Arriving in Rome he was so far treaceil with kindness by the Captain of the guard, that he was permitted, with the simple guard of one soldier, to dwell by himself and there to be visited by his friends and others whom he desired to see. "After the third day he called together the chief of the Jews, and when they were come together, he said unto them : Men and brethren, though I have commit. od nothing against the people or customs of our fatliers, yet was I delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans, who, when they had examined nie, would have let me go, because there was no cause of death in me. But when the Jews spake against it, I was constrained to appeal to Caesar ; not that I had aught to accuse my nation of. For this cause, there- fore, have I called for you, to see you and to si)eak with you, because for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain. And they said unto him, We neither PAUL AGAIN' AT HOME. man's fouii- i lie was not at have not f,'t', ([uito in position that Hi Ijuen thiii'c! s and others, the fact tlmt »t in Peter's, latl not been 3qu(!ntly and consiiUu" tliis I in Rome in tated in Acts ind eventful rethren, " he s met l)y the Pel 'I aiuoiig treated with that he was 10 soldier, to y his friends tor the third i Jews, and unto them : iL,.od nothing fatliers, yet m into the ad examined was no cause [e against it, 3t that I had cause, there- and to speak . I am bound , We neither X] m m received letters out of Judea conci'rninLC thee, neither of any of tlie brethren that came showed or spake any iiarmofthee. Hut wi'. desire to h.-ar of thee what t lou thinkest ; for as coMcerniiig this sect, we know tliat everywhere it is spokim a,^ainst." Now is it likely, it may be "asked, that sueh a state oi things e.)uld be in Konie as recorded above had I'eter been there, and that even for a number of years ? I say such was next to impossible. iMuther how account for it that IheApostles had not met in Kome ere this ? Ilrre were Jews to whom I'eter liad a special commission, and yet they knew nothin- evidently, of either Peter or the (lospel of the Son of (.od, other than that certain in-ofessors of this faith were everywliere spoken against was known by tliem. Infurlber proof of their undisturbiHl Jewish condition, they sai.l simply," We desire to hear of thee M-hat thou thinkest." And yet this is twenty years alter tlie date fixed for Peter's first in.luction into the bee of K(.ine ! Well, and what after this ? Why M Paul passed two years in Kome in his own hired lodging, and received all that came to him, "preachinrr the Kingdom of O.xl, ami teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him." It is admitted that while in Rome ho wrote his epistles to Philemon and to the Colossians, in which he mentions a number of per.sons who were or had l)een wth him ; but no mention is made of Peter in either of them ! Then, again, in G6, Paul was in Rome a second time, and shortly before he suffered martyr- dom he wrote, in his second epistle to Timothy, in the following touching strain : "]Jo thy diligence to come unto me ; for Demas hath forsaken me, havinrr loved tins present world, and is departed unto The.s.salonica. Crescens to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. Only Luke c 34 DOUBTrUI. TESTIMONV. is witli nil". At my lir.st answer no nmii stooil with lilt', but all iiimi forsook me;" — Could this have Iiimmi the case had Peter l)eeii in Koine? — " I pray (lod that it may not lie laid to their cliar<,'e." It is eonelnsively evi then, the testimony of your church upon this, to you, pre-eminently important subject- resolves itself into the truth or falsehood of a prattlinj,' P^ipias, who told everybody that somebody told him that Peter was Pope of Kome ! — testimony which appears to have had very little wei^^ht with (Irej^'ory, or any other bishop at the close of the sixth century. Verily, sir, your clergy and people are easily gulleil, and nsadily swal- low anything that seems to be necessary to give cur- rency and influence to the extravagant dogmas and pretensions which your designing authorities have given existence to. 1 have other points for discussion equally important, on which I shall enter in my next. Yours sincerely, Marcus. stood with s liiive Ik'cii :iy (lud Ihiit i',oii('lii.sivi',ly 11(1 not Ikh'ii which it is iw sti'iin^'iily T ill Kniiio ! his (r.-tev) loiiii', " Th(! t upon this (I with tho I. ChMiit'iis, say not a •lose of tlui Liaditiou ro- d hy your L thcrti are 1 1 EusohiiKs 1)11." Here, liis, to yoti, elf into the !, who told Peter was. to have had ther bisliop y, sir, your iadily swal- to i,nve cur- ogiiias and rities have important, I.v, Maucus. LETTKIi iV. THE CHLUCII OK HOME SFIOWN TO IIK ArOSTATICAL HATUEH THAN AI-OSIUMCAI.. Ml/ Drar Sir,~(){t, to ivpress a d..iiht anion- vonr people, or to repel ,in insinuation from i,ny dutsid.- your coniniunion, all'eetin^r tlu- divine authority an.l mvulneralnhty of your chureh, yoii rpiot.' the w.'.rds of our Lord to his apostle iVter : "And I say also unto hoe that thou art I'eter, and upon this rock I will Inuld my church, and the j^ates of hell shall not nre- vail against it." To j,dve the words the point ami aj.- phcatiun you wi.sh, you reduce th..m to a syllo-istie lorm, .something like the following : The Cliuivh of U.nst IS built upon the rock, Peter; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. But as the Roman Latho he Church is thus built upon P.'ter, and is tlie true church of Christ, therefore the Koman Catholic Church can never fail. Having p|;„'ed this portion of Scripture lieforo their opponents, and in the form of argument to suit their purpo.se, your theologians look up with an air of triumph which .seems to say : Look at tins and be convince.!, for t<. ,loubt now is at once heretical and wicked, and deserves the severest anathema. And yet, allow me t.j .say, tliere are tlio.se who are not in the least afiected by this denunciation, iiie feeling they are conscious of is ,uie rather of surprise-surprise that any really intelligent person coul.l be held by ,so gossamer a tie. The rea.^.m for this IS, (hey have a .\vllogism con.structed fnun tho.se v-ords of our Lonl widely diflerent fn.n v.Mirs ; ami at the same time much more consonant with truth an.l 50 THE GATES (W HELL HAVE PnEVAILED. reality. They say tliat tlui true chureli is ])uilt upon the rock, Christ .lesus ; and the j^ates of liell can never ])revail atfainst it. ]>ut the f^ates of hell liave prevailed a,L(aiiist the Roman Catholic Church ; therefore, the Roman Catholic Church is not the true church of Chri.st. And now, sir, lot us look at the evidence sup- ])ortin,ates of hell liave prevailed against the Roman Catholic Church ; and see how fully, or otherwise, it sustains it. Not lontf aft(n' these woi'ds were addressed to Peter hy our Lord, the / tra7isi/rcsKio?i" frll from Iris apostleship ; and are we to suppose that He might transgress and yet not fall 1 That he fell is sufficiently evident from the words of the angel to the holy women who had gone to the sepulchre the morning after the crucifixion. He, noting their fear at seeing him, said : "Be not alfriglited ; ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified : he is risen, he is not here. But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you." " Tell his disciples and Peter." Mark these words. Does not the conjunction "and " indi- cate that the angel did not then regard Peter as a dis- ciple ? And if not a disciple, certainly not an apo.stle. If not in an equal degree with Judas Peter transgressed, ,ED. Iniilt upon 1 can aever e prevailed ■refore, tlie cliiirch of idence sup- fiites of hell lie Church ; it. d to Peter re vail for a )erty to re- 5 and death and said : ffence unto be of God, idence this, lity 1 But 1 more con- 'earing and elf tells us, ijwstteship; isgress and ident from :n who had crucifixion. : "Be not vhich was it go your jeth before as he said r." ]\Iark and " indi- er as a dis- an apostle, msgressed, J'ETKlj'.S FUAILTY. 37 yet, that he transgressed, and that greatlv, and fearfully, none can deny. II,.,-,, Uwu, ^vr, see that by transgression Peter fell from his ajK-stleship ; v^t iii view of h.s deep repentance, he i.s not cast oft; but a way IS laid open f..r his restoration. And this restora- tion took place, evidently, wh.n h," was thrice interrogated and made to avow his devotion to his Lord, as thrice he had denied hi,n, an.l in ea.^h in- s ance was commissioned to feed the lambs and the slieep of Christ's flock. But it may b..- said, that while the fact of Peter's fall may be admitted, yet his restoration is de- clared; and, therefore, the assumption of his being the first bishop of K„me is not here invalidate.!. But m replying, let us remark, that much more than this must be proved, which, as I have shown, cannot be proved, VIZ., that Peter ever was in R„n,e, and n.ore, that he was the Bishop, the Pope or PontitKnf K.)m.l and of Christendom ; yea, all tliis ore the position <,f your church is helped. J!ut, assuredlv, th., claim that he was designed by our Lord to be l,„tli the head and foundation of his church lace, if they rrave way to unhelief. The Kphesiim Ciiurch was threatened with a removal from its place of light and influence, because it had left its first love. The judgment, it is true, was sus])ended, waiting their repentance and the doing of their Hrst work. The Laodicean Churcii IS threateiHMl with utter ejectment from the Lord ; because it had sunk, not into a state of heaven-darin<' and earth-corrupting wickediie,s.s, but to one of lukc" warmue.ss in (;od's cause, simplv. And can any judicKms tliiidver imagine that a Church, which, like that of Rome, has a history dark as perdition, and through a period of centuries, could have retained a gracious and honored position in Cod's estimate and treatment 1 JJefore me is a work entitled: "The A'ariations of Popery, by Rev. Samuel Eiigar, ]),!). of Ireland" and dedicated to " His Crace the Lord Ardibisliop of Armagh." It is an elaborate work and goes fully into the subject. In support of his statements he gives the names of over two hundred person.s, nearly ;U1 of whom are Roman Catholics, and .several of them of highest positions, such as cardinal.s, professors, his- torians, etc., etc. In describing the schisms occasioned l)y Popes and their creatures, he draws a dark and revolting picture. But this is especially the case in his sketches of Popes, and many of the contemporaries from the sixth to the sixteenth century. I will give some extracts from his work that you ujay not suppose I am drawing on my imagination. Indeed none may suppose this; and as the authorities Avhom Dr. Edgar (luotes are nearly all of the Roman Catholic Church, you cannot be una(;- quainted with many of them ; for instance such nanu's as Piniu.s, Ih'uy.s, (Jodeau, Rellarmine, :Maiinbourg, Platiiia, iJuPin, etc., etc., and many others. He say.s"; i 42 PAl'AI. m.^TOUIANS Ti'^STlKV. moral, iis well iis historical, ckMitonil, and doctrinal variations, diversitliMl and (listij^urcil the Popedom. Sanctity characteriscul the early Roman Hishojis and de- ^'eiieracy their successors. Linii.s, Annacletas, Clemens, and many of a later ])eriod wens distinji;uishe(l hy ])iety, henevolence, holine.ss an^l Innnility. SonM! deviations and defects nii^dit appear, inarknii^f the intinnity and imperfection of the man. The Roman pastor however, who, durin,i( the earlier days of Christianity, did not, in moral character, aspire to excellence, aimed at decency ; and few for a long series of years sunk below mediocrity. " Rut the Roman hierarchs of the Middle and suc- ceeding ages exhibited a melancholy change. Their lives displayed all the variations of impiety, malevo- lence, iidmmanity, ambition, del)auchery, gluttony, sensuality, deism, and atheism. The llood-gates of moral pollution appear in the tenth c(!ntury to have been set wide open, and inundations of all impurity poured on the Christian world through the channel of the Roman hierarchy. Awful and melancholy indeed is the picture of the pojjedom at this era, drawn as it has been by its warnu'st friends, such as Platin i, Petavius, Luitprand, Genel)rard, ISaronius, Hermann, J5a;-clay, Binius, Giannone,Vignier, Lal)l)e ami JJuPin. Platina ■calls these pontill's monsters. Fifty popes, says (lenebrard, in 150 years, from John the J'lighth till Leo the ISlnth, entirely degenerated from the sanctity of their ancestors and were apostatical rather than apostolical. Thirty pontifts resigned in the tenth cen- tury, and the successor in eacli instance .seemed de- moralized even beyond his predecessor. I^aronius, in his Annals of the Tenth Century, seems to labour for language to express the l)a.se degeneracy of the popes and the frightful deformity of the popedom. Many shocking monsters, says the annalist, intruded into I % histohk; testimony. 43 and iloctriiial li(j Popedom. islio])s and dc- Litas, Clemens, in^'uislied by iiility. Home niarkin,Lf the The Roman lier days of -er, aspire to iv for a long Idle ami suc- ianj,'e. Their iety, lualevo- •y, i^duttony, lood-gate.s of iitnry to have all impurity lie channel of loly indeed is awn as it has na, Petavius, inn, J5ai'clay, .^in. Piatina popes, says le Eighth till . the sanctity rather than le tenth cen- 3 .seemed de- r>aronius, in to laljour for of tiie popes lorn. Many itnided into the poutitical chair, who were guilty of rol)bery, assassination, simony, di8sipati(jn, tyranny, sacrilege' perjury, and all kinds of miscreancy. Candidates^, destitute of every re({uisite (lualiOcation, were pro- motwl to the papal chair ; while all the canons and traditions of anti(|uity were cont(nnned and outraged. Tlie church, says Giannone, was then in shocking dis- order, in a chaos of ini(piity. Some, says Parclay, crept into the Popedom by stealth ; while others broke in by violence and defiled the holy chair with the filthiest immorality. " The electors and the elected, during this ])eriod, ap- pear, as might be expected, to have been kindred spirits. The electors were neither the cleigy nor ])eo- ple, but two courtezans, Theotlora and Marosia, mother and daughter, women distinguished by their beauty and at the sam(! time, though of senatorial family, notorious for their prostituticju." " These polluted patrons of licentiousness, according to their pleasure, passion, whim, or caprice, elected popes, collated bishops, dispo.sed of dioceses, and indeed assumed, in a great manner, the whole administration of the church. The Koman See, become the i)rey of avarice and ambition, was given to the highest bidder." "The.se vile harlots, according to folly or fancy, obtruded their filthy gallants or spurious offspring on the pontifical throne. Theodora, having conceived a violent but base passion for John the Tenth, raised her gallant to the papacy. The pontiff, like his patron, was an example of sensuality, and was afterwards, in 92'i, at the instigation of Marosia, deposed, and, in all probability, strangled by Wido, Llaniuis of Tuscany. Marosia was mistress to Serguis the Third, who treated the dep.d body of Formosios with such indignity. She brought her pontifical paramour a son ; and this hope- ful scion of illegitimacy and the popedom was, by his 44 CHEAT MORAL IMPURITY. precious mother, promotod to the vice-regency of heaven. lIis coiuhict was worthy of his geiiealocrv He was: thrown into prison In' Allioric, Marosia's ^on by Ailulhart, where lie died of grief, or some say bv assassination." '' •^ " A muss of moral impurity mi<,'ht bo collected " says ]Jr Edgar, " from the Koman hierarchy, sufficieiit to crowd the jiages of folios and glut all the demons of pollution and malevolence." A few siiecimcns are necessary and shall be selected : "John tlity. That li,: rinos „f Christian! ;7e^ . 2^ h'^'"^ ^''^ ^'>« t |o soul, the resuH'ecUo,, of 1 1 f ""mortality of Jim fe'"iity of siuH),n i,,.tv't' /•'" *^''"''^^'^ ^"""'J der, perjury, fonu'cat o, , .j. 'r'"'"' ''"bbery, mur- tion, sodomy." " Tlie tr^ 1 /• ^l """'^' coustupra- tainou all ,nJrtal sins' uTrSy,^'-' " -"" The author ;.oes into ful l- ^ ''''""""''^'ons." jJoc-liuetofoirou-hin r innl^^^^^^^ ''^'^^ ^^''ich I Jicentiousness." « T .. r "'^ ''iH-illiug victims to his ^^i« yilo n.an from tl^!' ^^ ;:^^,J^^i-^tauco depose!; ^art.n, raise,! him to he d ,'.,,>. '/ «i>e<'es8or, Pop. treated liini Mith the sa. ' hT^ "^ /' '^''^'''^^> ^nd «acred College." Sixtu tl. I'""V""' '"'^'^'^^ oi the wliose annal^are ^^uf'^T^' ^'^ ^'^ "-^'t Pop<. fical chair in H71 .nd ."ii , f "' ^° ^he po„ i- predecessors Ore ory Bo i f '" ^^ ^''''''i^' of In" ;^f ^--1 on the ^ ^m^ y'S P.:;" v"'""" ^^ ^"- "that lie was -uiltvof 3? ^ ^^,' ^'''-^ '"^"^ iVforeri tlut he establish J^iLtSf In' p'^^'^^'f"^'- ^-'-^1 fo^'« alike h -ad of the Pom u. T'' T^ ''"' ^J'<^re- fnms of the Pou.an cit J " < ' rr ^^!"'V'' ''^"^^ ^^ ^lio opS;:^;;:;^"-^';- ,^;;e^tl, "^^^o in common imzarins, it is «.„•,] oh-eved not the u rV'' t'']'' '^« ^^«""K.d ""r'f(hteousness." T ' b ,' '"* ,^\^"' Pleasure in TlIK UKAfiT KliM.M TUK m:.\. 49 tlmt the sa,yi..« of Esaias (1„. i„npl„.t midit l.c fiillillr.l winch he spake, L..ni, \vl,„ halh I,eliev..l cur lepnri ? lecii revealed '! L'eaii.se tliat I'lsaia.s And to whom hath the urin of thr Lord 1 Therefore they could iicpt believe I said i their nor :aiii. lie hath l.li iided their eyes, and hardened hearts ; that they should not see with tl understand with their lieart> and I should heal tl leir eyes, and he eonverted. leni. The Apocalyptic seer in the tw.dfth and thirteenth chapters of his liook dissolving' public observation, and i,n wnai 1 shall ea vi(!W of the true Cluu'eh passin-,' away f 'Al John I hideous or; roiii jca 4," rising' up out of th aiiization styled sea to tuke its place, hoav !iys : "And there appeared a < 're at wond en ; a woman clothed with tl I'r in under her feet H' sun, and the inoou stars : and she beii , and upon her head a crown of twelv birth, and IK with child cried, travail pained to be delivered." Tl to represent the Church of Christ, and tl when Constantino professed th(! Chri because of which he was opposed liy the .it C.TPsars who sought to destroy 1 in- m lis is understood !ie period iristian faith, ;iii.l Rom til refers in the f olldwiiiH; words : "Am liin. To this John another wonder in heaven : and l)ehold dragon, (the end Uiric appeareil 'reat red a ' , . , "^''" <'i li'o pagan power,) havin- seven Jieads and ten horns, and sev-n crowns upon his neails. (lius description shows that the pagan ijower here IS that of the Eoman Im-.-rial.) And the dragon stood before the woman . u delivered, for to devour her child was ready to be IS soon as it was born And she brought forth a man child, wlio w to rule all nations with a rod of as was caught up to Cod, and to His tl he, Constanti iron. And her child th irone." That e, was caugiit up by (Jod to overtl e pagan opposition to His cause ... . Empire. And this he did ; but not by 1 irow in all the Koman his own iiii'dit. m TIIK WOMAN- AN-n UKn FLIGHT. pile's/'''' "'' '^ ''"^'^^•'«"- «^ God's own Hut the woman ; what became of lier ? "An,] f].» ^vo.nan lied nUo the wildernos-s, wlu- re slie nth ' • • ■ An, points in this remarkahle in'ophecy tl>« «on^f all tha IS called God, or that is worshipped. So that By St. John, further, we are told, of "the crveat kino" ^^r'^'^T' ""^^ '''''''' -^1^ -^-- t"e icings of the earth have committed fornicatioii and Mth the wine of her fornication." Another and betSff- T ''''' ^^"^\°^ I'-^^-T, but now IniS^ e called his ory, is: "And the woman was arrayed n purple and scarlet color, and decked in gold mid I'lecious stones and pearls, having a golden cup n ler 52 THE TESTIMONY OF THE PROPHETS. S. r"" ""^ f>o>"i"^itions and filthiness of her fon cation: an.l upon her forelR-a,! was a name vm en, M,.teni, BalnjJon the G'reaf, the mtC^^ Jlattoh and Ahnnnnafinus of the Earth. An,l I saw he wojnan drunken with tlie blood of the saints an saw lier I wondered with great a.ln.iration." .^ow, my dear sir, let me say I have not -fven ese passages of Seripture with a design to pl'o , then. n>ean,ng at this mon>ent-I reserve ^sudif r ie ,vVT"n'?T/^"'' -"P'y to ven>ark tha h -y efei not at all to the true Church of Christ accordi .i. to apostohc teaching-but entirely to '« the b t ^' which arose in the place from which it had fled The fact supplyn.g an unmistakable suggestion viz ■ tint jnar^of the things of which you^^uthoHU;:^ n^ ke t\llT ""'rT^ ^^'' ^'^'"■'^'^ ^^'^tholic Church to hat she IS bu the Heast of Dani.d and <,f Jolin the J ah, Ion, of the Revelatio... On all these points [ Sin on another occasion enlai^e. In the nu ui Sie I ^^.ll follow tl.e woman, the true Church of Chri :\''ir"'V'" ^T' ^^"^ ^"^*' '^^' wilderness. An I n w! 'r " '^-f ^''^ ^"^ '^>' ^•'^i'"' q'Pouitmen ad M.lh divme aid, to a place prcpare.l for her. Tl t o bscnat on-for such must bo implied in goin-- info the wilderness-yct, nevertheless, she was , urs and persecuted even unto the deatli of ma , ' oThc children, am f inf. I». fi.„ „.. . ,, .,„ , ^ °^ "^ ^ children, and that by the power; "The i.east " th.t had risen, and taken her place in the ,n : i ^y boTstUoTnk"^ "^'"•/, ''r' ^'^''^ -•^^ '^^ tlfe ucast; to make war with the s'iiiif« .„„] f^ .,. thojn " \,„i r . '"' "i"^ S'Unts, and to overcome tJicm. And, I contend, that the more tiiese facts arP pondered the more shall we see the value of the THE W,xMAN— THE TliUE CHURCH. 53 Saviour's prophecy and promise to His Cliurcl, • " An.} tl.ega OS of l.oll sl.all „ot prevail agains it'" E "ow thus true Church, whore shail wc^in.l it ? Here n.;.h less destroy, the .Sso;ti!;:\t^:^^ \au(lois, or DeonC of tlio v..H„.. , 1 t - -^"<-»e iHKUlle aws. The 1 . 325,) had been flourishing as ?d t n^t connnunion for more than seventy years al over he emp.ro; n.a.ntaining, by the aclu.m led 'emen ever 1 true faith; together with the purit • of di n ,1 and the power of good-fellowship which had .iiSlv disapreared from tlie Catholic Churches" t'.^^ 1 untans being exposed to severe and san.n.i mv •oisccutions for dissent, from age to age we^ —f od to shelter themselves fronf the d^strovin ' torm ''' ^•''^''•^^'"^^''^ and when at intervals they i-eaj;;. , on 54 THE C CRSE OF THE CIRKCII TRACED. the page of contemporary liistory, and their principles are propagated with new boldness and success, they are sty ed a new sect, and receive a new name, though in reality they are the same people. The same %eat principles of attachment to the Word of God and determined adherence to the simj-licity of its doctrine, discipline, institutions, and worship, in opposition to the innovations of a secular spirit and poliey on the one hand, and of false pliilosophy or of moUnvh'd aimtohr traditions on the other. ' They'ivappear ii, the I auhcians, who, from the middle of the seventh to the end of the ninth century, wortliily sustained by their preaching, tlieir lives, and their martyrdoms their claiin of being the genuine descendants of the pumitiye Churches. From Asia lAIinor they spread themselves over Europe ; and al)out the beginnimv of the eleventh century, tliey entered into France. The hrst discovery of a congregation of this kind in that country was at Orleans, a.d. 1017. A Catholic Council was immediately convened, and the Paul- ician missionaries, with their converts, amon- whom were many respectable citizens and several" of the regular clergy, were all burnt alive." " Their principles were powerfully advocated and extended among the most intelligent classes in Lan- guedoc and Provence, from 1110 to 1168, by the cele- brated Peter de Ih'uys, and Henry his successor. Many 0. them made their residence in the valleys of the Alps and of the Pyrenees, where, age after age, they found an asylum from the tyranny of the Church of Kome. Tlieir enemies confirm their great antiquity. Keinerius Saceho, the in(piisitor, admits that the Wai- denses flourished five hundred years before Peter Waldo. Indeed tliere is not wanting evidence to show that churcJies of the Puritan faith existed in the We^t as well as in the East." UEMARKABLE TESTIMONY. 55 Dr. Allix, a learned liistorian, says : " That fur three hundred years or more the bishop of Rome at- tempted to subjugate the Church of Mihui under his jurisdiction ; and at last, the interest of Home grew so potent that the Church of Mihui, its bishop and peo- ple, rather than own their jurisdiction, retired to the valleys of Lucerne and Auvergne, and thence were called Vallenses, or the people of the Valleys. Reinerius, the inquisitor, writes as follows concern- ing them: " Of all the sects which have been, or now exist, none is more injurious to the Church, (i. e, of Rome,) for three reasons: 1. l^ccause it is more ancient. Some aver their existence from the time of Sylvester ; others from the time of t^^e Apostles. 2. Because it is so universal. There is scarcely any coun- try into which this sect has not crept. And 3. Be- cause all other heretics excite horror by the greatness of their blasphemies against God ; but these have a great appearance of piety, so they live justly before men, believe rightly all things concerning (!od, and confess all the articles which are contained in the creed ; only they hate and revile the Church of Rome, and in their accusations are ejisily believed by the peo- ple." May we not say of them, it is added, " Here; is the patience of saints : Here are they that keep the Commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." Rev. 14:12'? In their principles the Waldenses were dis- tinguished by their love of the Scriptures. They hold that the Holy Scriptures are, independently of the fathers and tradition, the only source of faith and religion. Reinerius siiys : " Whatever a doctor of the Church teaches which he does not prove from the New Testament, they consider it as entirely fabulous." And, he adds, as marking their love of the Word of God : "I have heard and sum a certain unlearned rustic, who recited the book of Job, woid i I I I 56 AX IXQLI.SITOR TESTIFIES. "lent. Thev avoM th. ■! "^'Jiavior and deport- ^.ean^.uul '4" "V !"^,i'^ ^'"^>^' "-■/^^•« they tiicn Jnclihood by manual indusfrv Ti. "^ ^ .«:; coa^:' ?,IS •■ ■;;;;;; t,::°r"'Ti;n' T1 ''"^' tliis iiLiuisitor • " rh7,t i'"" ,"'»' "i-rar, '», says J ■",,0UI1 1111,1, „i|J tl,.,t 3,,^ |_,j^ ^^,^^^_j j^^^^^ ^^^ IMPORTANT ClfARACTEHISTICS. 57 ing the true Church from the time of Pope Sylvester, at the time the i)oisou of temporal advantaj^'es was cast into the Church." " They rejected imaj,a's, crosses, relics, legends, traditions, auricular confessions, indul- gences, absolutions, clerical celibacy, orders, titles, tithes, vestments, monkery, )uasses, and prayers for the dead, purgatury, invocation of saints, and of the A'irgin Mary, holy vater, festivals, processions, pil- grimages, vigils. Lent, pretended miracles, exorcisms, consecrations, contirmations, extreme unction, canon- ization, and the like." '' They athrm," says the inquisitor, " that no man ought to be forcibly com- pelled in nuttters of faith." Their just ideas of the nature and character of a cliurcl- is thus expressed ; " That is the true Church of Christ Avhich hears the pure doctrine of Christ, and observes the ordinances instituted by him, in what- ever place it exists. The Sacraments of the Church they held were but two. Baptism and the Lord's Sup- per ; and in the latter Christ has instituted the re- ceiving of both kinds, both for priests and people. They regartled sacraments as signs of holy things, as emblems of invisible blessings. Seisselius remarks : " They say that they alone observe the evangelic and apostolic doctrine, on which account, by an intolerable impudence, they usurp the name of the Roman Catho- lic Church. " Their church officers," says Reinerius, "are bishops, elders, and deacons; but the distinction between their bishops and other elders seems to have been only that the former were the official pastors of the churches." It is now generally acknowledged that the Wal- denses were the witnesses of the truth in the dark ages, and that they gave the first impulse to a reform of the whole Christian Church, so called. The Ency- clopedist observes : " For bearing their noble testi- 58 HOW THE TftUE CIIUnCH COMES UP. tiiry the Pope instit, ^^I !' ^''*' ""--toenth cen- tant,, will. „I,„,„ tWv w ''''°"7' f"°""' '"« P'olcs- about fifteen thou, ncl trishel in the n'' °^ ^'^>^^'^^' we see tl,e inapiZ^^^^^^^^ remarkable people put with pecu'lLr ^flijX t^ZT^i" tT'T certain Papists to ProtestantV Wi ^'^''^'"^ '*.>' before Ln her ?" To .mO ' 'T' ''''''' >'°"»" c^i"''^b be put in isform W ^'''""' ^^''^ ^^"^«"°'^ "^^gl't tbe^ppeaiC S tU ,^i:rLr r^.:t???f^^^ Yours very sincerely, Marcus. LETTER VI iii INSPIRED SERVANTS OF GOD THE FAITH COMMITTED. 5{> ciitions wliich the P.ipal Church from time to lime raised a^'ainst her, wo see tliat in tliis is a remarkalih;- verification of (lod's promise in Our Lord's words to Peter : " And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." The promise was needed, and important to en- courage a persecuted and wasted people ; but it is not a little striking that the very power that labored sa diabolically to defeat ( lod's purposes, and to bring to naught his promise, should be so infatuated as to claim that promise for herself. Another thing whicli this remarkable Providence of God to his Church demands a notice of is pointed to in the Apostle Jnde's Epistle. He .says : " P.eloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the Common Salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith once (or, once for all,) delivered unto the saints." The thing to which I allude is that th' faiHe of God's Salvation was committed to tli't Saints, not to- sinners ; and further, that the Apostle does not say to any one particular church, as to such was the faith com- mitted, but " to the Sahits." Persons made saints, not as your church makes them; but as the Holy Spirit makes every true believer when he renews and sancti- fies them ; and all such he thus renews and sanctities who in the true and gospel sense of that Avord, really believe in Him. Had the faith been committed to the Church of the Pope, as he vainly declares it was, then woidd it have been ^- ^wof\hep4.;i;^i^,^--^g^;^ MASSACRKS IN KUANC'K. G3 to Puria under a solomii oiith of safoty, upDU tliti occa- sion of tlu; niarriago of tin; King of Navarro witli tlio Frencli Kin<,''.s sister. Tho t^uoen dowager of Xavarri; Avas poisoned before the marriage. She was kn(jwn to be a zealous Protestant. Coligny, Admiral of France, was basely murdered in his house, and then thrown (nit of his Avindow. After this, the tiuirderers rav .,'» .i the whole city of Paris, and butcluMed in threr day.-' above ten thousand people of all ranks. Kroi i the city of I'aris the massacre spread throughout the v, bdib kingdom. In tlie city of Meaux they threw above 1 ■> hundred into gaol ; and after they had ravished aiid killed a great numl)er of women, and plundered tlie houses of the Protestants, they executed their fury on those they had imjirisoned. In Orleans they mur- dered above tive hundred, men, women and children, and enriched themselves Avith the spoiL The same cruelties were practised at Anglers, Troyes, JJourges, La Charite, and especially at Lyons, whore they in- humanly destroyed above eight hundred Protestants ; children lianging on their parents' necks ; parents em- bracing their children ; putting ropes about the necks of some, dragging them through the streets, and throwing them, mangled, torn and half-dead, into tlie river, (Some contend that as many as a hundred thousand persons were put to death upon tliat fearful occasion. But a crowning part to all this was the maimer in Avliich the news of this horrible massacre was received at Rome. "We are told tliat when the letters of the Pope's Legate in Kome were read in the assembly of the Cardinals, it was immediately decreed that the J 'ope should march with the Cardinals to the Church of St. Mark, and in the most solemn manner give thanks to God for so great a Ijlessiiig conferred on the See of Rome and the Christian world ; and that on the Monday after, solemn mass should be celebrated 64: REJOICING AT HOME OVEH THE MASSACRE. in tlie Church of .AI.„,, ,. Xlir and tlie Cardinal inorve. jubil at M-liich the Pope, Grerro, s were present; and that ■y Christian world/and ete 'i' it '\r' ''' T'"''^ return thanks tJ Go, for the ex til ""^.f ^' ^'' ^° of the Truth and Church " FrtnL " In t ^ '"""■" the rnnnn.i r,t i^^ ^ /" '^ i'i"Lc. In tlie evenin" tortures i asCi cK-.r?"'", "'"' "'"'''""' '» listen fn At t . "">■ 'lumnno mind i„ f^t,:f^:^'i-h;=iH¥nr= the Papal Chnn-h Ti, • ^"i. , "^ ^''^'^^ from cruelties. ^' *^''^ '''''' "^"^'« ^'i'^tims by her But this was only one form of v ,, ' Fleming with dissentLus frSn her fSh y"r" "' pass within the avails of the InnuTs i^ t. ""l' ^"^ ment and varietv i,,,! t ,^'"^/;'" *« see a refine- goto.,, a.,a"i:,o.tr!U',rprtr ""^'' "'^^''"" A FnENCII colonel's ACCOUNT, 65 How exciting an inst;iiice wo luive in the relation of a Frencli colonel who, m 1809, coniniaiuled a re<,'i- ment under ^Marshal Soult, in ]\Ia(lrid, in .Spain. He had been accustomed to speak strongly against the Inquisition, and as a conseciuence lie became a marked man ; insomuch so, that an attempt to take his life one night in the city was made, and but for the timely appearance of a patrol, the object of his assailants would have been accomplished. In the scuHle, he satisfied himself tliat his assaihuits were soldiers of the Inquisition, and he therefore went the next day to the Marshal to have the decree of Xapoleon carried out in Madrid, which was that all such houses should be suppressed. Having got the order, and tlie means to carry it out, he made the necessary attack, which, al- though the place was determinedly defended by the priests and their soldiers, he carried, and an entrance effected. For some time they were batlled in trying to find a way to the secret chambers of Inquisitorial operations; but at length they were successful. At the foot of the stairs, M'hich they (lescendi;d, was a large square room called the hall of judgment. In the centre of this was a large block, and a chain fastened to it. On this the accused was made to sit, chained to his seat. On one side of the room was an elevated seat, called the throne of judgment. This tlie Inquisi- tor occupied, and on each side were seats lev^s eL vated, for the holy fathers v.'hen engaged in the solemn busi- ness of the holy Inquisition. "From this room we proceeded," says the colonel, "to the right, and ob- tained access to small cells, extending the entire length of the edifice ; and here si'ch sights were presented as we hope never to see again. "These cells were places of solitary confinement, where the wretched objects of Inquisitorial hate were confined year after year till death released them from E 66 Till! C0I.<).Vli|.'3 ACCOCST. born into tlic ,v„ria i „„,! al/h! cl,,i tI"' m ""' iinnioi iatelv ivoiit t„ u-n,.l .' , -f""! wWiers «..o,., ... :;, lu.^;!^i,rr;i-wr„s: •hi, r ' "''^ti'»'"ents of torture, of every S Lands, arms' a„ ■!:,"' , ^ S !;;:?' P?'"' '" "'= "fter anollier, mitil tho v • L oj T "™, """ a box, in ,vhicl, tl,. l.cJa, , ck of « "w^r '"" ™ the niacliinc witli a onnl th, » '' f'^' ' '"t by turning, »urpa.ssoa tho other, in «„ndi,h in.Ct;'. LTJ^or A MAnVELr.OUS RESUHRECTION. 67 was a beautiful woman, or large doll, richly ilraperl, with arms extended ready to embrace its victim. Around her feet a semi-circle was drawn. The victim who passed over this fatal mark, touched a spring, which caused the engine to open, its arms clasped him and a thousand knives cut him into as many pieces in the deadly embrace. The sight of these engines of infernal cruelty, we are told, kindled the rage of the soldiers to fury. They declared that every iiKiuisitor and soldier of the place should be put to the torture. Their rage was un- governal>le, and their work was soon done. They began witli the holy fatliers, and the co!;nol waited until four of these were put to death, when he left heart-sickened by the scene. In the meantime, it was reported through ^Madrid that this prison was broken open, and multitudes hastened to the fatal spot. And oh ! what a meeting was there ! It was like a resurrection ! Al)out a hundred who had been buried for many years were now restored to life. There were fathers who found tlKur long lost daughters ; wives were restored to their husbands ; sisters to their brothers, and parents to their cliildren ; and there were sonu^ who could recog- nize no friend among the multitude. The scene was such as no tongue c;in describe. After removing the library, paintings and furniture, a M-aggon load of powder was deposited in the vaults l)eneath the building, and, by a slow match, was ex- ploded ; and soon after a tremendous explosion, the whole was a heap of ruins. Similar discoveries were made in Rome, when, in 1848, the Pope and his min- ions had Hed from it. These show some of the ways in which your Church "made war with the saints," and that she was actually "drunk with the blood of saints and of the martyrs of Jesus," and they demon- 68 THE SPIRIT OF PAPALISM UNCHANGED. strateafc the s.rne time how consistent is the annlic., Chnret """"' '""^*""^ '^ ^'^^ ""^^^ -'^ ~ ^t a very left-han.h.l con.i:ite,r S Z uZm^ Church whose motto is ^^ sJj.,- .adem^^^Z^^ and the scenes of former days, however repulsive to rea ly humane minds, would be all repeaU IT! o in^jcWor blood is still felt, an,I the hlcT f'op^" s:::^r::f:r;^i::r:ti::;;l^'^"^^^^^^---p^^^ cdona :-^ ''•' ^'''"^'"" ^"'^"^''^ '" «- City of Baz" " UN AUTO DE FK. herenS'JS-Ji;:, ^Ued'^?, ^'^^^^^^^ *'- tin.es when these who propagated them we I ^'^'^y ^'\""ld be. and when in.ni.s[„ne„t; lA.it „atel the ..^^^^ punished with exemplary scandal,,nsco,,ducT;ew r'omthei,ei/'''^'P''!'''" n''"^ has found an echo in the tS ' cien Ji f "^ i'" «'"l'^ Catholics ate, have now listone to tie v ice f'^'T''"'"' .^^''">' '•^'tho'-frh faction to good Catholcsbviu-l . duty, g.vmg f„ll ^atis- burnins. of^i number riS.^eswT'^ "PPortune order for the per. ^s were intrXc /into h"^ books, which evil disposed lance of sincere CatlS *'»^ *^"""try m spite of the vigi- Ba^sSi.gftarS'^S^.?^;^''';"^?"^ «'• l^"l-na, and of Auto de F; in t l?e last T3^Tl'''^oT*' "^ ^^*tnessing an aSth inst., the fe tiva o he \.^fi ^t"" '=™'"''>'- ^^» the House yaAlof tldscitv o e of f^hl'f ^"/'"/"^?' '» the Custom the Catholic religion ,^a8 car led o,7l* t''T' tV«'^diti""s of Stdl!'-^«- ^^-'-^-^-^lil^aj^'K.1,^;^ J^Ug^nlti^^-ii^g^---^^^^^^ SPAIN REJOICING I.V HOrE. 69 of a glorious era, of a new epoch, in which the brightness of the sun of rigliteousiiess, with its jmrest light, will (iiMi)el the dark- iiess of ignorance and eiidr. There i.s but a .steii between this event which we now record, and the setting up of the Holy Inquisition. " Onwards, then, good and sincere Catholics !— the happy day of our social and religious regeneration is not far off. The Auto de Fe, with which we are now occupied, is a clear and evident pKJof of th-.i certainty of our indications. The re-estal)li.shment of the Holy Tribunal of the Inquisition nnist soon take place. its reign v.ill be more glorious and fruitful in its results than in the i)ast. Our Catholic hearts overHow with faith and en- thusiasm and the immense joy wliich we experience as we begin to reap the fruit of our jircsent cami)aign exceeds all imagina- tion. What a day of pleasure will that be for us wlien we see Freemasons, Spiritualists, Fieethinkers, and Anti-Clericals, writhing in the Hames of the Inquisition." The following i.s given in another column of the same paper and nnmljer : — " We judge our esteemed sub.scribers will read with great I)leasure the statistics respecting those who suffered under the Holy Tribunal from the year 1481 to 1808, when this so vener- able institution was abolished. As our readers will see, it refers to Spain only ; we are unable to give the lunnbers who suffered in other countries. We have believ(>d it right also to jjublish the names of those holy men under whose hands so many sinners suffered, that good Catholics may venerate their memory : — " By T(jrqaemada— Men and women burnt a'ive 10,220 liurnt in effigy (1,840 Condemned to other punishments ,... 97,:)71 By Diega Deza — Men and women burnt alive ...... . . 2, .592 Burnt in effigy 829 Condemned to other punishments 32,952 By Cardiiuil .J imene/, de Cisneros — Men and women burnt alive ',iJ>CA Burnt in effigy 2,232 Condemned to other punishments i8 0.59 By Adrian de Florencia — Men and women burnt alive 1,G20 Burnt in effigy »(J0 Condenmed to other punishments . 21,835 " This inquisitor established the holy office in America ; and during hi:: lime there he btu'nt 324 persons, and condemned to various punisliinents short of death 4,081 others. The total 70 number of men and women burnt ili holy inquiHitor-generals, in . . '^^' ve under the ministry of 45 534 Isurnt in effigy Condemned to other punWml^nis General total beast;" and that whi]. r.> f ? ^''^^^'^'^''^^ '''^ "« that beecnos n,ore:;;a^'.:::^C n ' n r"^^^°•^ becomes more and mo,. , « "'"*"^^n^ J"st as it principles, yet, i - n .. " ' -^ ^^ evangelical Even U3 1^ vSf ^d^ ' T ^7 ^^^ '\ ^^'^^ ^as^een. from the wolf at L^^^^^^^ ""'^ "' his chain for rapine and v 2c o f°"'^^^'' t"^^ '^'^ "'^«»^'t« Jianner, of Spain and bvf. / ''"' ^^ ^^^' ^^^^'^^^■« tions, is the ChurcT of ^the P '" "^"T ""'"^^ ^'»'^^<^- b'oodof "hereti^^'a^'si;^:^;^;^ """^^ '^^ ^'^^ Vours sincerely, ^Iarcus. LETTER VII. THE POPE SHOWN TO BE ST. Paul's M.v o.PEKDmor '"''^^'™"«°^^ Of ^.cl^u ^S^el^nKr "'^^ T"^ ^'^ "- P-n of the false and nlle. d'n ° '"''' '^^^'"^^"^« "'^^^J« Church; especially rrtirSenrwr''^"" °' ^'°"^ been done to honor you hvlZr '"^ '" ^"'"'^' ^'"'^ and yourself, in the pecuHr • '''^^ ^^ ^i^^^bec Pope has raised you tt/;" ^ g^'^^^^^, -^^^eh your -^"^ >et, the sense of A PAINFUL EXPERIENCE MAY LEAD TO GOOD. 71 mortification which you now feel is justly merited, be- cause of your preference for, and deference to, the traditions of your Cliurch to the clear and easily appre- hended Ftatemi^nts of God's Word. Because of the terror yoav Church excites of what she calls lieresy, yo)ir peo|.>le consider, next to never meddling with malt'.rs of faith in any way, the safer course to pursue is, the study of the traditions of the Church rather than the Word of God ; conser(Uently to walk in dark- ness when they might have tlie suidiglit of Divine Revelation, is their decided preference. Out of this rut, made by many examples and precepts, even Arch- bishops, as others, seldom, if ever, lift themselves ; hence we have both a condition and an experience common to all classes of your people, clergy and laity alike. But I no more rejoice in your present pain of mind than does the oculist, Avho, in operating for the re- moval of a cataract inflicts pain upon his patient. For if through these letters you are led to turn your mind truly to the Gospel of tlie Son of God, you would, as will the oculist's patient, make the very much im- proved condition into which you wouhl rise your sub- ject of thought rather than the painful ordeal through which you had passed. Humiliating and painful as the bringing home to your Poi)e and his Church tlie prophet's designation (if " a beast " must be, there are other Scriptures whieli I will now proceed to consider, that very much exceed in impressive interest those I have just called your attention to. You often draw assurance from the wide-spread influence of your Church in the world ; and point to this in a spirit of triumph and confident boasting. But let me show you how this fact tells, not for you, but against you with most telHng effect. The following Scriptures declare thij ; St. John, in his 72 «T. .urns ox THE SUCCESS OF VAVALmu l"")k of Revolation, sav^ « n,„] „ „ ~*o i«..,t tiut ,,,L "n't „ ' ,rr ":i;'r",,'":"' ■■ wr)rld wondoiv.l after fl„. i } \ , ^^"^^ ^^^ the ti.e boast, -say I / V mi- "'"'*' ^ '".'^ *''^'^' worslupped ;^;'o- unto thoe the „ -I o It of";,:'""" -"/'^""^ fti,.e .art, L. ..zs^.;.^::::^;^! '^^ ^^?^^ hath put in thoir hurt, to f, i li ^'''" ^"^^ -^^r//.. their lnnX:::t^t ::J^^^^^^ aaree o.t God shall U falpll,.,j rn,1i ^^"^ ""'"^'^^^ ^^awnst is that rn.ar\TL ^'"' "''T' "^'''^' ^^'«^* of the. earth." xTo 1 i^v;''"" • "'''''' '''' ^"V/« tluit yc. have T.ot n up), T^,' ^T ''*'^^"'" ^'''^ ^^ove. your church ha to .1 "'1 "'"' "^ *^^^ ^'"'^ "^'^ earth? Of course n.V "1^ ^"*'"<^ ''^ ™J« "^ the influence, th^^ 'c, , r^tl J"'^ ^"^' ,"^ ^^^^^^^^ Pi'efer association wi I ?„' ■ v ^^'^^"^'^.^^^ greatly intolerant and cruel pirsec'utor^ connection with her -rliest inception el'oU^fX:;^^?""" '''^' ''' tlie Thessalonians h welt,;;'! '""'"'• ^° iniquity doth already wor"l-tlnri,;'i ''"^'^''^ °^ which issued in Pamlis, . \. if '' ^''^ Pi^inciples for the inuseiit, a S a irr "" ^^'^''^^i^^.-but, posed tJ be the pa'a Ro u. ?''' "'^f ^'r**^^'' ^^^p' --ed,the.ako;,:^r;^^ritf^;!^ ST. PAULS PROPHECIES : HOW TIIEY POINT. (3 sioii of that spirit of unholy ambition, once expressed by our Lord's immediate disciples, and seen in the question : " who shall be greatest in the kingdom of heaven 1" In his epistle to Timothy, St. Paul says : " Now the Spirit speakoth expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. Speaking lies in hypocrisy ; having their conscience seared with a hot iron ; forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to Ije received with thaidcsgiving of them which believe and know the truth." There is no need of a word to show to whom this Scripture applies. You know who it is that forbids people to marry and who have assumed the right to proscribe the use of meats. The Church of Rome is widely known to answer this description, and from her we need look no farther. The fallinj,; away, as I have shown, came many cen- turies ago, and we know that "the man of sin," " the son of perdition," has been "revealed." Of him it is said : " Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped ; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God." The apostle adds : " AVhose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of un- righteousness in them tlsat perish." And now, my dear sir, allow me to ask you if you know of any power from the days of the apostles to the present hour, to whom these Scriptures apply, but to your Pope and his church 1 Think now, and look in all directions for information ; and, after you have done so, you will be compelled to the conclusion, which is that of all sol)or commentators, that the Pope of Rome is tliis " man <>f sin," " the son of perdition ;" 74 HAN'IEL ASU PAUL CONCUR. ttaii'tlllJdTr-" v"' ""f"" '"""-If above »ll a ml ho shal] speak great words ngainst the Most iS • and .shall wear oat the Saints of the MostluX ti shall ,,haiige tnuos and laws, and thev ^l...ll i. • against y„,„. el.mj, T„ i«5 1'"' t!",''"''? " " lii.s Jiible to tl uvorvoiR! to (lolivor Clement XJIi tlueatLMiod <-' |>i'K'st, tu be Inirneii Iiy ] wlio sJiouKI read the I people !ihl every one will, th Ulll. e I'll lley; « in tlie laii^'uarfe "f th i."ih,ii.,„ of ti,» f it '^' ' ;, ,,;?";;,"»'. ■■'"■"■i-ting yourselves to awaken a hu y ] ormr o) "^- ^'''^'' reading." ^ ^"^^ "^ '^"^'^ poist)noiis the children fron th Churclf'f/frf T '"Y"^° all is lost v,.f T ^""if^", and if she loses them gale otVm.nb Zl' «■'■'"''■ '■ "'""'"' "'"* "«•■ from .i„ and fl ,. sX he to;'bvT "••.•'«"«--'' ^» lui iieaveji by the instrumentality Mi SAI-VATIONS CONTIUHTED. 77 of the priests, V)cgiiii in liaplism aiul cniiiplotiMl in this life iti tho rito of oxtrcnio miction ; and siibsoiiuently, in the other world, throuji^'h ii Iniij,' period of sutreriiiL( in purj^'iitory. The kno\vletlL,'e of this salvation hy the snbjeet, is derived frojn the priest wlio assures him that, lieeause of authority (h'rived from his bishop — to eommunii.'ate wiiieh the liishop olitained authority from the Pope, the I'ope from the apostle Peter, and he from the Lord Jesus Christ — he has attending him the indiKuices of the Holy .Spirit, whieh ever aeeom- plishes the end designed in each service he performs. Plaiting, therefore, implicit contidenee in his Church the person believes that the priest's acts have fully met the end intended, and therefore reposes peacefully in the assurance tliat he is freed from sin, and will without doul)t, pass safely to heaven ; and speedily as well, if he be but ri(;h enough to meet the Church's deiuiUiil f(jr the Afasses necessary to expedite his passage through purgatory. If, unfortunately, he be poor, then there is no f)ne who can say — or at least no one who iriJl say, when salvation from purgatorial tires shall V)e effected. J>ut the salvation which the Holy ►Scriptures descril)e, and of which many thousands of true believers have a satisfactory experience, is, a de- liverance from the guilt, power and pollution of sin : and an admission at onc(> into the family of God — the household of faith — the kingdom of heaven. This is attested to tlu; heart of the individual l)y the Holy Spirit, producing such a consciousness of the fact as not only to remove all doubt and fear, but to fill the soul with peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost ; begetting, as well, a hope of heaven of the most animating character. And further, that salvation according to the Divine plan, is, as to its process, confined to this ii+'e ; as that after this life naught remains but a heaven for the saved, and a hell for the unsaved. — 78 .scniPTcnA. tkst.moxv op- chhistuk KxPKnrKxcK. now supply : " Therefore, bo. iiave peace witli God, throinr] Koja 5 : 1. « ].„, „,,,^ ^;^. ana become servants to God justified by fuitii, we our Lord Jesus CJirist " ;,' made free from sin ye have your fruit unto U"- 'Ir •f.'^'r '^°^^ "° condenu.ation which are in Clirist J put alter the spirit. For tl to them m Clirist Jesus ],atli made me fr, esus; who walk not after the flesh ior the aw of ih.. o,.;..;. ,■ . .„ and deatl }w of the Si)irit of Life of bo e from the law of oi; ye have not received the s 'Klage again to fear; but ye 1 sin spirit Spirit of ^.i,,;-,.!,,,, „,;:;,;, ;':j,« '■^-■Tlr"' .'1'° Hi;.. ; fo,. « ,:/; «. ra'^'XT""'^, t"„ S° ';^^ Spirit." 2 Cor 5 • 15 " >? ,^'f '^'"'^•'* ^^ the 3-^ather of our Lord Jesus Ch^ ^ -1 "'' ^^"^'^ '-^"^^ His abundant nie cy Inth W h ''^"''^' "'""^'^''"^ *« lively ]ioj,e by the resur cH^^ .''V "' "^''^"^ "'^^^ ^ the dead to an in !p';!" °^ '^''''"^ Christ from an.i thai foV h ot :;r;;"""'?'''^i'' •-'"'» -'^^^fiieS 1 Peter 1 : 34 «< P ,'^' '"'•^^'^'^^^^ "^ ^^^'-^ven for you." tliemgave He newer n )"' "'"'^,''' ''''^^^^'^ ^im, to miEXCE. ove r will fill til, wo s Christ." from sin, 'rnit auto 1. G : 22. to tlieiu tlie flesh, t of Life t\v of sill lie spirit ivoti tJie hor, tlio t we are s; heirs 1-2-15- Father led the )f God, hut we be like 3 : 1-2. ! taber- house "Now ling is of the d and ing to into a from 3filed, you." m, to even born, CONTRASTS WORTH CONSIOERING. 79 not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." John 1 : 12-13. Here we see that the points of difrerenco in salva- tion as taught in your Church and those set forth in the Bible are great and striking. With you it is a conviction that because of a connection with the Koraau Catholic Church you have receiveil, and still are receiv- ing, the appointed offices of its priests in l)aptisni, con- firmation, absolution, the mass, and that ultimately you will have extreme unction — the last rites of the Church — while you, on your part, are regular in attendance on the confessional — and sufficiently full and particular in confession when there — and that you do not lack in performing appointed penances, etc., etc., etc., you are a subject of salvation, and of this you must not allow a doubt to rest in your mind. For all this you have the word of the priest ; he is to you the voice of the Church, and the voice of the Church is the voice of God ; and this is, or should be, fully satisfying. lint in tin; lUblical salvation we see that by the agency of the Holy Spirit, a state of fear and bondage is followed by one of deliverance ; in which the human spirit has a distinct and satisfying consciousness of peace with God ; freedom from the guilt and power of sin ; yea, .'tud of being a child of God — -an heir of God and a joint luiv with Jesus Christ; and coincident with this is an assurance of a house, or home, in heaven. And that all this is by the Holy Spirit's agency ; through belief of the truth on the part of the individ.al ; and in which no priest with any official •authority is seen from the l)eginning to the end. In- deed, so far is the absence of all human agency to be noted, that the evangelist John states most positively that the work of this grace is wrought, " not by blood, nor of the will of the Hesh, 7io)' of the will of man, hut of God." This looks as if the Divine Spirit had 80 CONDITIONS OF SALVATION DIFFER. s'SSrlS;--''"- -. ■- —I -w. that passeth understanding, uml w], chTs SnuH T ! in some such Jangua-e as the ion 1 t ' , '^^''""'^ nt"' "ir.,r.^™r' ""^' -" -'■ "- co^flas blessing of salvation L?}' ' "^'''''' "'"" "'« Jesus Cln-isrl In-f ', 'n^ "'"^'^"^'^^ ^^^^'^ Lord appro ve ] ^"'' ^"' ^"^''^^^^ reason can ai'piuvt. j>ut Hot SO, accorduif to vnnv ri,„, i Your Popes Jiave from time to time" passed-or ],.v. THE DILEMMA OF A TAI'lhiT. 81 Twelve new articles were added to the creed of the Church by the Council of Trent, and to each is aji- pended an anathema. Hence, if any uue has read these articles, and docs not fully receive them, the anathema stands in his way, and bars his attainment of salvation. Look for a moment or two at some of these articles. The second one .-ays I ah o admit the Ifoly Scriptures accordinjjf to the sense which holy Mother Church, whose riyht it is to jud,ije of the true meaning and interiuetation of the sacred Scriptures, hath lield, and doth hold : nor will I ever receive an( I interpret it but according to the inKutiinoii:^ rovscttt of Now to refuse assent to this article the lidlji fathi is to fall under the Pope's anathema. lUit you know, sir, that thei'- is no important dogma of your Church on which the unanimous consent of the holy fathers has ever been given. What then is to be done 1 Why tills anathema blocks up the way; and salvation is utterly impo.ssible. Just look at one instance of many: that of Matthew 16, "Thou art Peter, anil upon this rook I will build my Church," etc. Xow, it is known that there are no less than live iiatristic in- terpretations of this passage. The rock is by sixteen fathev.s, including Augustine, referred to Christ him- self; ])y forty-four, including Chrysostom, Ambrose, Hilary, Jerome and Augustine again, to the faith and confession of Peter ; to Peter as confessing the faith, by seventeen ; and to all the apostles Miiom Peter represent(!d, by eight. Here then, if th(>re is any vir- tue in a Papal anathema, tli(> flunking world is in a pitiable condition. To go it blind, if I may use such a phrase, is tin; only way allbrding lio[)e of success. No. f). Is the sacriiice of the mass, — on this I will res(!rve my remarks for the present. Put look at the sixth : " I al.so confess that under one kind only is taken a whole and entire Christ, and a true sacra- 82 TliK DILEMMAS OF A PAPIST INCREASE. 1 .«..I, .■..iJ tl,„,.,£oro, 1,„„. can a„r .L pr™m„ „ -a..., I,e now. l|,„ order „f tl, ' S ! 1 ' , I^Th '^mco thoii, the Icate Pope Pius TV Imo o i i i ^ Ui tho hr.st of these, T will onlv s',v fl,.,f \t ?' their iiieniorubo lueotiuo- • « Ar,r '' J-'i^'i'xiu on the lonl o„i "^'^^"'8- ^^Y soul doth maj-nifv "-1I he „„(, serrously question, nay ,vill |,e „ot uMy DOGMAS INCREASE AND DIFFICULTIES WITH THEM. 83 reject, tliis dogma of yonr late Pope 1 Eut what then 1 Wliy lie would then fall under a curse that effectually debars him of salvation ! But has God authorized this 1 Assuredly he has not. Who then is he tliat presumes to deal thus with this most sacred of all things, God's method or way in man's salvation'? "Who, but the man of sin, who here again opposes God by opposing his method of mercy. The ther dogma of Pius IX, and which will make his name memorable to the end of time, is that of Papal Infalliljility, and l)y it he thinks he has settled also tlie long debated question of Papal supremacy. Xot that supremacy which I have already adverted to, as you know, viz., that which applies to all other bishops of whatever kind or degree. ]5ut supremacy over all Councils is what is meant here. So that now, and forever hereafter, no Council need be held. But if the I'ope were infallil)Ie, how is it, we may ask, that he was so late in making tlie discovery 1 How was it that the discovery was made by falliljle men and not by the infalliljle I'ope 1 And if IVipe Pius the Nintli was infallible, were not all preceding Popes iiifallil)le 1 Of course they were ; for this is involved in the dogma. What men 1 AVhy such men as Lil)(;rius and Felix, who were Arians, were infallible. Then Silverius and A'igilius, who obtained the Popedom by simony, M'ere infallible. These Popes, whose acts were denounced and condemned by subsequ(!nt Popes, for perjury, for schism, and for simony, were all infallible. Then Popes, coevals, one dwelling in Kome and the other in Avignon, who anathematized each other with holy scorn and vehemence, wore both infallible. Then were men such as a John, a Benedi(;t, and an Alex- ander, men Avhose moral character was as much below the level of Judas' as his was below that of the apostles Nathaniel, James, and John. But these were 84 CAHDiNAL Newman's case. Its ennclun,. ..ulowinents of Divine influo,;. whic onal,]e, t umu not only to J.oid while tl.ey 1 " ' In ta ^.Hu,^ to tl„.u. successors, when they ^li,..l a I ^ no J3 of inerrancy, but of so controlling a mitue a. hat heaven, eartli, and }u..ll-(and of course, , ' toiy, which nui«t not be forgotton in the enuni zS> -were ever subject to tlieir word and wish ""'''''°"> And do you believe all this, niv d.-ar sir ? \ot 1 wnr,l it f ? ' It " '^^ ""^h'T' •>■""' '""""' '^^'^^r the sadden- nf P r ? x^'" »>"m'nful and moving is the lan-nia-e of Cardinal >sewnian over this act of the Pope" >I P^t sio^..n ;''' lun.ceforth almost that th^ tl.? ""I^;^^f W*^' <'t anotlier tempted to believe all the worst which a book like Janus s lys : others doub "^pbout the capacity possessed by bisho^^r;, f ^ ; al corners of the earth to judge what is ii i , . ? ■ ^0 r^Hstenh ^'/^"^^''T' ^'"'^'"' '^"^'^ -^'^ t'- n' y ^ec 101 Jistening to the flattery of a clique of Jesuits Eedemptorists, and converts. Then a-ain thi^d 7f the store of Pontifical scandals," (aye ay th ' tW rub here J' ^"^ ^"«t"''y of eighteen centuries, which have pa^Iy been poured forth, and partly are 'still to e" solv s v'i^;^;,: r to an who have acquainted them- in elio f''^'°^ ^'"'^ "°t^'^ council, that the law.' J»^'gme"t, and the conscien e, of aU that Mas worth counting or weighing of those a HOW TO EXTRICATE HIMSELF. 85 I>nrga- li ■semljlocl, were against the dogma. Yet it was passed; nud now, if your position is sound, neither you, sir, nor any otlier dou])ter of papal infallibility is ever likely to get even as far on the road to heaven as jjui'gatory 'itself. Let us suppose that you have got along through life toleraldy well until you come to die. Now you must make a clean hreast of your condition to your confessor. If you say nothing at all about your con- viction that the dogma of the Pope's infalliliility was not only unsupported by Scripture and facts but is fear, iu Jmn-an W "' Ho^':'""T' 7 ^^I'" -"1 in ■^ • ff'^*^' you stand as before the JiigliAltarofGodtooff that is to avail fen- all to w ? ■' l'^-?I".^'"t«ry sacrifice to extend. It is , o 1 t i f ^T ^''"'"■' ''' '^^'"^^ts representation of wh L , ' '" ^'' 'r^'"^^^ ^^ a more -ather, as a veritn 1 , '^'""^ "' ^^i^'-iry ; but theofleri^^lS ^^t^.t'rS^"""^ ^ ""'^ ^^^'fi- ^ every resi.eet wiH. ^ "'""' '"'"^''oiu-; and, in resuUs. ^ .rV ^-^-'- atoning and pn >itiat'h" understand tl at^ist wlnfr "' .T J'^'I^'"' '^''-'^'' his sufferings a u ■ t 1> i" "'•■'^" ''^"^^^'^^ ^V snbstantiatJcl w Lr C . °" ^ll^T^^' ^''^'^ the tran- otfers, accomplishes for 'f f^ ^■°'"' J^"^^^* »«^^- presented. l^.'kT'f „"' ^^'^'"'n the ollering i. your people tl '^u ^ , e p.St "' T'' *''° '"''"'■^ «^' the Pope the source fn." t^;::^;:]':^^'^/y ^"-''^ power j.roceeds, is very o,,., 7 .authority and the desire to or ate tli\ i ,H " "'''• '^ '' ^^"^posed, ployed for the a^, di^n m ." ^"" '' '"'^''^ ^'^ ^"'- cle.»'-M.as a lo.uH " t^ 1^^ -."^^f^"''^: ^i"n-h-the service; of which ho™, / ^ '""'^' ^''^ ^^''^^i^^ knewnothin- ' ^'^"'^'-^'' the pnn.itive Church l>ut do we en(|uire wint t),.*. , i"^ is ? and we ie ^,1 . / '' '""'^ ''''''' '^ul offer- truly, really and ub t .t. I^ ' '^-''T^' ^" ^^''''^^^ i'^ «oa-.an,bodyam/tSoorteX^^^^ TJIE MASS NOT SfUII'TURAL. 87 divinity, iindor the species or appearance of broad and wine." The proof for this is said to be in the words of our Saviour : " This is my body," wliich yoiu' Theoloi^'ians say, " clearly demonstrate that the same body whicli Avas born of the Virgin, and is now in heaven, is in the sacrament." Further, " tliat upon consecration there is a conversion of the Avhole substance of the bread into the substance of Christ's body ; and of the wliole substance of the wine into the substance of Christ's blood ; which conversion is usually called transubstantiation." This explanatory statement you will recoj^iiize as coming from a catechism of the canons of the Council of Trent; therefore quite autlunitative. I would remark, that to strengthen the position taken from the words of our I.ortl already (pioted, others from St. dnhn's (!ospel are added; as when our Lord says : "Verily, verily, I say unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the Son of ^Man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you." But, my dear sir, aviII not every sensible and candid reader be led very naturally to ask : " Is this all the Scriptiuv that tlus Konian Catholic Church can oiler in support of so important an assumption as thiit they make in this service T And if this be all, may they not properly say : " The foundation is very inade(piate for so towering a structure to stand upon." >s'in- will they be surprised to be told that a similar feeling possessed the minds of some of your Church's most prominent and influential authorities ; as, for instance. Cardinal Cajetan, wlu) said: "It is nowhere said in the Gospel tliat tlie bread is changed into the body of Christ ; Init they have it from the authority of the Chm-ch." And Cardinal ISellarmine, who says : " For Scotus, whom Camaracensis follows, says three things : 88 «L'U!l'TLIiAL TKACUIXCl. the .lojlan.tionotho a. ^dr''t?;r ''""'■' ^^^^ ""i"'"l'"''Io ; for LIumM 1 ^^"'/'"« ^-"^ ""t whoJJy «cotus, ihiHic ,];';»'' !;::""-«'^''t'^'l '"on, such a. 'irnution, trulv T •. , ';'^ ^^J '^ '■'^■'mrkal>lo con- '>M'.'ov ,1 to"t It; ,.^^'"T' ""'"^'•t'^"^<'. ''nnuot Wsi^htodtSi,,;; t'ltL'n'r^-''^''''^^^ "fixture of error," can ■— o, '",,,?/'"' "'^'^''.'^'^ «"y «^rvico, tl.at tun, Scripiur. 4"^^^' a ,1... inue, or against tl„ elear..st ^1m u-Ss o?'T?'"r','"'^ ^" I'easo,,. That {1.11,]..!;,/^ = ' J^ Jwiou-Jedye and anoifshontof your; .'. : ' f ^''"'iu^-ntly ari.se as ^ > b^^" 90 CARNAL CONCEPTIONS. himself tol/tho 7. ? 'tt ^"tl':""'''" ■",, '^"'' 1-°"' winch you, even as flipv i,.„ ^";^^ <''e jne. A fact Our Lord'.s a w r o Ih if^'^^^ '? mr.lu..^. fro,u mm that He was t tir^r ' ']'''}^'''^'^^ ^ ^^m tins temple, and -^ h ee !• ^7 w-n '''•' ''~" ^^^^^■°^^- their bh-idness they overlo l-o 1 7^ '"•'•" '^ "P"" I" in these words m,l?ofi.^'\^^' 'I^^"^"'-^' "^^anino- temple whicrivul-'l?'^-^^'""' ^" ^^'^ "^'-^terin^ woman of 8 u • H/n/^'^" ^[^'-^^'^^ '^ '^"i^<'- The true meani,°r ^Clnd r-?r';'"''"" '^^ «"'' I^«i''l'« tl^e gift of God and who ; °n n'' '•? ^^^°^^ '^"^^^est n- todrink; thou w L, ^u, '''"i''. fr ^^"^' ^''^'^^ would have given i^^t':^^..t"'^'^^^' truly papal literature, she l-plLl » Si. H ''i' "^ nothing to draw with and ll ' n ', "'°" ^'""^^ -'.once then hast thou\hrU^::^^r^^ endurethuntoe^:^^^^ V.-' aI^ .^T ''''''' you not that bread hm. ul ' i ^ ^ ^^^^^^ S'^ve you the tn.o lZw,:„ t;u"en "'r^^ GodisHewlu-clM.onftl ovMfvn" ." ^'^'^ '^^^■'^^^ «f life unto the world T , n • IT '''"'■'"' '"'^' -'^^'^th evennore giv; s hi^t ^a"' %""^^' ^''-' ^^^d, bread similar to tin of ,;' i }''''^'l^^^^> meaning a eaten. The d ci k! t if' ^^'7^'''^ '' ''^^^^^'tlv MILLIONS OF WAFER CHRISTS. 91 I meat, and now they urged him to partake of what they had broiight. To tliis he rephed by saying : " I liavo meat to eat tliat ye know not of. Tliereforo, said the disciples one to another, hath any man biought him ouglit to oat 1 Jesus sa'd unto them my meat is to do the will of Him that sent me and to tinisli His work." Another elfovt our Lord made to lead them to a proper and spiritual apprehension of His meaning is given in the following instance : " I am the bread of life ; he that Cometh to me shall never hunger ; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst." Still failing to apprehend our Lord's true meaning they murmured at Him, and strove among themselves, saying : " How can this man give us his flesh U, eat 1" Had they a+tendeii as fully to our Lord's teaching as they should havo done, which, but for a wilfrl blindness they might have done, tliey would have seei' that He put eating His flesh and drinking llis blood as the e([uivalent to conung u> Him and believing on Him ; with the special reference to the sacrificial offering of His body and blood, or life — for the sin of the world. Tlicse two things : be- lieving in Christ, and oatiiig the Hesh of Christ, each resulting in eternal life, must be of similar import the one to the other ; even as in mathematica' science it is understood ihat when two things are each eipial to a third, they must be equal to one another. r.ut now let us look at your representation of the sul)ject, and tue consequences which necessarily flow from it. One priest consecrated, say, a dozen wafers ; and what one has done tliousands have done all on the same day, and in different parts of the world. ]>ut, if each one of tliese waf u's is veritably a whole Christ, God-man, body and blood, bones and nerves, then have we thousands, if iiot millions, of Christs, all over the world at one and the same moment ! So far as I D2 COXTRADICTIOXS INVOLVED. Jn.manity into L f^ 1 ', " " '"""°' ■=''•■"«« «>« attributes, nveu tho f ". "^ ^^'"''^^ ^^'^^'^ ^^^^^"6 our Lord said • " S ^ ' ^'''^ ^^-'^^ Testament, Avl.en ..you, but n t In n'f f°'' ''> "''^'"•^ '^'^ '''^^'^ ^^'itU Magdalene and l' ot u r a7'^''' ^^"'^ "'^^^^^ ^^^'"T «eek the Lord tS w! ,u TL'""" '" V" ^°'"^ ^° to tlien, : " Fear not far J ^ f," '"-'^^' ^^'^^« '^^^ as He said." "It t exn d,^"f f ^^''' ' ^?'^^' '' '^^'^^ for if I go not awav h r 7 f °" ^^'''**^ ^ "« ^^'^y "And ivl.m, Tr 1 V^ , ^ ^^"' ^^'-'"'^1 ^fiiii unto von " hath .p„ko„T;u,r „'rf,i' ',S"'f ;■'"■"'' p"'' since the M-oi-1,1 I,.,,,,,, » ' "" "'^ ''"'j' I'wpliets ill all olliei- l,i,„,„„ I ■ '^"."■''s ''""inn nature, as t"-I as it does tliat ivl.idl'iri, ,4 f'' " ""^""P" tlie various M-ays vour Chumh ^ '^^^■!; ''"^^'> for use in -^J } our tliurch prescribes. Theie I^ave WHAT BECOMES OF THE WAFER CHHISTS '? 93 this is pos- se nee, it is au inliabit 3liailgL' tllG 11 can the le assump- n^1Ues the ithi)ivine niscience; 'lily pres- ent, wlien ave M-ith on Mary '■ tomb to 'Vlio said k Jesus, is risen, ,'0 away, ^t come to you." ile they lim out receive cli God rophets itations iteness ure, as dogma nscrip- 3vor a use in ! have heen millions upon millions made, or created, in the years past. AVhat has Itecome of them ? Each wafei- was as separate and distinct from the other as was and is each one of them separate and distinct from Christ in the heavens, — at the right hand of the Father. These wafers have each had a different history ; some were made from flour grown in one country, and some from flour grown in another ; different parties made- them; and water from diiterenL places moistened the flour. 15ut at a certain point, or period, they all cease- to be what they once were, and each is iijw a real Christ. Jlut as a million cannot be one, and one a millif-n, in one luul the same sense and at the same time, what is the inference 1 Why, instead of there being but one Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world, we have millions ! L^'t us not lose sight of the fact that each wafer is- after consecration, a real Christ, (Jod-man, soul and body, and there are therefore a million true and living Christs on the earth; while millions have passed away. Further, allow n.ie to ask, iiave we any fact or Scripture of any kind to warrant the idea that a soul, or even a body that has once had existence, can siidc away into a state of non-existence, or of annihilation 1 Assured' v not. "What then 'I Why, that we have millions of Christs to be disposed of : how can this be done 1 rapalism alone is responsible for this absurd state of things. Another question demanding an answer, is ; what is the condition of the wafers held by thousands- of priests wdio retain them for their use after conver- sion through consecration 1 They are now so many Christs — each one a God-man, body and soul, bones and blood and ncu'vcs, and therefore should be sup- posed to think and feel ; aye, to think and feel with more than even superhuman energy and intelligence. How is it then that not one of them evince any 94 THE ENnAXGERED ESCURI/l. casion a rat run a v.v J h '^ ^'1'' tl.at on one oc «"d yet tI.ore i no L o .^"' '"-^ ''°"'''^^-^« ■^t'^ it ) to protect itself. A ca o „ "• ? /" ''"'^' °"« «f tl.on finch is an articJe o, /in ^"'l'"^"' '^iaguzine in Spain, known a^t^E^.^r^^'^^^^^in, in been as noted for its many '' L, .!• ''''i''^''^^'^ to J,ave '/.'btenin,. eartl^^uake/a V 1^ "'^'^ i^''^^^'i'J^'"^<^s by ^'""on (,.uevodo. ino of ,,' J '/iw ' ''''^''''^ '^'' y a serious fire by IZTf, ^"^^orians, in describ- destroyed, informs us tJ.i l T"' ''"''""^'^^ «"tire]y "oblo dome is t]fe ro n \^a' c .T'' '' "^"'^^^ ^^o d'liiger, rt/;,? //,e jr, ,' " " '^"'' ^("ntre Avas in -a-eat ;noraJi.es upon the r^^j '0'^; "^ " ^^"^^ tln.s ]ie 'Tlie presence of Ain H ^ r „f " ■^•'^"'•'^^^ ^^'"f-' :- f«w monks, and illuniin.rted b,' J' /^^^'"If "i^'^ by a f'lMous conflarrration fl.nfli ^ splendour of tlie "olyTabernac ' \'t^,^^'!i':'\-I to destroy I -"Itipiicd the terr^: o ft^lScf^^'^O '''''' ' ^^^^'^ i-Jr It seemed as if i„ fi,;. ! '. '^^^ ^^''^^'^ i'l tears • fugitive from peri ■ , ''"''S°^ ^^'"I Himself as a aM-ay." ^''''^' '»" ^^^P^ of rescue ,vas taken |-^bibS tl";Lr • 1^0^ i"« Creator, his Prirver Id b P ^?^^ ^'' ''^^'^^ «« «uch a relation as this c' no n , ' •^''^''^'"'^'' ^'-^^ ^'^^d tbo most intense emotioirev . T^'^^/'/yithout having, a system that can l)rim/t) ! A i '."^ '''^^"" ^^i'" ^-ainst A BLASPHEMOUS ASSUMPTION. 95 ■•I'iest may tJiey move iiiid even 311 one oc- ss ate it I) * of tlieni me under i'iizine in ildiiig in to liave ences by iiig olso. (lescrib- eiitirely lich the 11 great tlnis he afer : — •^l hy a of tlie oy His (-'h'gion tears ; If as a taken ', M-lio I'tls as 1 read avijifr irainst ciejit to be CO of have perished by fire as did a siniihir AVafer-God perish by a rat ! "Whatever you, sir, may think of this matter, I in the name of the God so dishonoured and bUxs- l)hemed ; of the Christianity so misrepresented and defamed : and of our common liuinanity so misled and degraded by your wafer-godism, prote.-selves vi h b , ?' '• "" ''"l ^'^avenly things Christ is not ^nd ' i^ 0"^^ ,m"^ f'"'^- ^^^ with hands, M-hielnret„.<^ ^''^^'oly places made l^eaven itse f, u) - to • , e .f •■'\?^ ""' '"^'^ ^ ''"^ into for us : nor .'et t L 1. ."-' ^''''""^'^ '^^ ^od with blooti of otluMv^ ■ fn fi ^ ^"'"^ •'^'^i'.>' year suffered since tl^';;,JLn:"en once to t't .ft"; .T- ^l/'^ J"dgn>ent; so Christ was once offered to !" '"' '^^' ot many ; and imtn fl,n.„ +1 *. , 7 . "^ ' "^ar the sins appear \hes::^cr^"t^'^So:;°'\^"' '^'"^''^^^ K^ For thelaw,havin<'ishn 1 '"'', ""''' salvation, and not the' ^y St^^^^f ^1^ those sacrifices wl "thev fl i"^'' '^V''''' ''^'^' ONCE OFFERED AND FOHEVEH. 97 It IS would they not have coasod to be offered ? because that the worship]), /s once purged should have had no more conscience of si:is. lUit in those sacrifices tliore is a remenibrance again made of sins every year. For it is not possibi(! that tl e l)lood of l)ulls au\l of goats should take away sins. Wherefore when He cometh into the world, He saith, sacrifice and offering Tlion wouldest not, but a body hast Thou prepared ]\Ie. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin Thou hast had no pleas- ure. Then said I, Lo, 1 come (in the volume of the ]!ook it is written of n;e,) to do Thy will, () God. Above when He said, sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings, and offering for sin Tliou wouldest not, neither liadst pleasure therein : which are offered by tiie laAV ; then said He, I.o, I come to do Thy will, oV'.od. He taketh away the first that lie may establish the second. V>y the Avhich will we are sanctified, through the offering of the body of -lesus Clu'ist one- for all. And every priest standcth daily ministering and offering often- times the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins : But this man, after He had offn-cd oiu' sacrifice fur sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God, from henceforth expecting till His enemies be made ]fis footstool. For by one oferiny lie hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified." Very little attention or intelligence is necessary to see that the perfection of Christ's .sacrifice over those of the law and over every other is shown by the apostle in its being once offered, ami ncedin;; not a repdition. But the papal sacrifices destroy tiiis idea of Christ's superior sacrifice liy making it even a more frequent occurrence than those of the law. " Nor yet that He should offer Himself often." " And as it' is appointed unto men once to die. . . So Christ n-as once offered to bear the sins of many." " He took away the first" or ceremonial order of sacrifices, " that G i rf 98 He of .1 •'IIIUSt's IH-MAN- NATL-IIIC not OMMI'UKSKNT. mi-ht ostabli.sh tim si.'con.l," l)y which "th,! hn] csus Wiis () ir.nx'd after JIl- luiil uH'un.'d o// ^' •lowu oil tliG ri^Lfht iiuiid of (lod." " Ko,. 'i in^' llcliatli li(Tfo(;t('d for ever thum tl Whereof tliu ll,j]y (Jhost al t'irr V man, sat presence of these Scriptures your Cliurcl In the sumption and action are seen to Ix/asl impertinence, and intinitelv \vors(> even. '>!/ one otl'or- lat are sanctified." so IS a witiu'ss to us." Ii's as- lam and an llie fact bein-.,' estal)lished and cle in His iliviiie nature Christ i ixi' that wliilt as a man, He is only on a level witl o-e(iual with the Father, sucii as was Adam liefore he sinned. Jlei 1 a siidess man, ice, as God cannot chan<,re the finite into the infinite, so CI cannot in His luii irist nan nature be invested with th infinite ; th(irefore, not possessiii" in His h the attribute of omni umauity more i'lesence Ho cannot be present places tlian one at a time. JJut He is in 1 at the ri,^■ht hand of (Jod, tl presence of (lod for us :" cor H 111 leavon lere ' to ap[ . jear in the secpieiitly the idea that e is present in any one, much less in tl of those instances iu whicl le million the ceremony of the mass, is a del 1 a j)riest is o-oin-r throuLrh A usionand a folly th 11, in a sacrifice for sin to l)e at all availin-r ere must be mfritir,, sh,',1,Uw, nf hi,,,,], and ,h'ai}T- and yet not any one of these characteriz(^ the services „f von.. AI... " Xor yet," says St. Paul, "that He your ]\Ia shoukl offer Himself oft havH siifftm-d since the foundation of tl en . . for then iniiHt II,; ofbin Hj world." And igain : " And almost all things are by the law i)urtj for all " on the cross to the d. rin,j of the, hod ij of Jesus Clirist, IS no remis- once and culminating point in tl 'eath, was the crowniiK ., . -Ae sacrifice of Calvary. i>ut nothing of the kind is found in the service of Mass. What then shall the we say of a service that has t tilis iiiiiii, fur r/vv, sat 'V/ one (^fl'ur- sanctifiod." i<'>;s to us." -.'luu'cli'.s as- :iiii and an that wliilo tli(! Fatlier, iilcss niun, ice, as r}o(l , so Christ d with tho hmnanit}' present in in lieaven 'ill' in tlie idea tliat !io million '^ through I lolly. iivailing, nd dmtli ; e services nhat He //'' offtm Id." And Av purged 7iu reinis- ')'id, once crowning Calvary, ce of the that has PIUMITIVK CIIUIU'H COMMUMOX. 99 not only no Scripture to support it ])ut is actually confronted and disproved by such ; as not having iii it one thing declared to be e.ssential to a propitiatory sacrifice ? Is not the whole thing of your .Mass, sir, a luostshanu'ful parody of the most solejun .scene of our holy Christianity? And further; is it not a fearful act of ulolatry 1 for the worship due to God, tlie Al- mighty, tli(! Infinite, you give to this your wafer-god ! A thing M'ithout any sj)iritual or raticuial evidence of being any more than a wafer of ilour and water, after as before yoiu- con.secrating act! Paganism has nothing to equal this; and its blasphemy and lu'ofanity are only equalled by its absurdity and the audacity of its actors. But what a contrast to all this is the communion .service of the [)rimitiv(i Church, and, as well, of all the Churches which adhere to the teaching and ex- amples of the Scriptures. (Jathered together as a body of Christians to commemorate the death of their Lord, with accompanying services of praise, thanks- giving and prayer, they fir.-,t partake of the broken l)read, representing to them the broken body of their Saviour, and then of the wine in the cup, conveying to them in this figure, the l)lood shed, or life given'^ for their redemption, and thus they feed spirit°ually' and in their souls on Christ, whose spiritual presence they by faith apprelieud, as in the joyousness of their souls, they deliglitfully prove. Here evcrytl'iing is clear, Scriptural and rational. They say with the psalmist : " O taste and see that the Lord is good," and realize Isaiah's prediction : " And in this mountain shall the Lord of Hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines o.i the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined." And at times "cry out and shout," as they prove that " great is the Holy One of Israel in their midst." 100 THE confessional: it« influence. Looking' iit tlio action and assumptions of your Cliurch in her iMa.^s olIerinKs in all its aspects and lH!aiin<,'s, surprise, and even astonishniunt, is a natural fcolin^'. That men of culture, of thought and of intcllii^'cncc, can bo l)rou<,dit to believe in a wafer- {,'od, and even to worship it as their Creator and Ko- deenier, is an amazing fact ; and only to be account- ed for l)y what certain inspired servants of God have said. St. John when Ik; declares : "And the inhabit- ants of the earth have been made drunk with tlu; whie of her fornication." And St. I'aul saying : " JJecause they received not the love of the truth, that they miglit be saved. And for this cause; (iod shall send theni strong delusion, that they should believe a lie." "When people become drunk they often reason and act in an otherwise unaccountable manner ; and when men so provoke God as to be left to tluMiiselvos, then a spirit of error takes jiossession of them ; and revolting tilings can be done by them. Witness the conduct of the Jews towards our Lord. yours very sincerely, ^Iarcl's. LETTER IX. the confessional and its malign influences. My Dear Sir, — Having shown, or as I should say, demonstrated, that your doctrines of transuljstantia- tion, and of your wafer-god service, which you call Mass, are not only unscriptural, irrational and absurd, but positively blasphemous and idolatrous in the high- est degree ; 1 might now lay down my pen and leave the question of your cliurch's claim for consideration to your people, and the public generally. But there coxFESSiox or SIX : now 1 101 aro other tiling's that should receive somo attention, and wliich I will i)rocced to give them. Tho stil)ject I now propose to treat is that of your confessional. That men should eonf(!ss their sins is as scriptural a duty as it is a rational one. JUit that they siionld confess tlieni to a jiriest, as yonr church enjoins, is, I maintain, as unscriptural as it is irrational. To (lod th(! fact of sin should he confessed, with a particularity of instances and circumstances, and with an humlde, lowly, coidriti; heart, with an apprehension of the meniy of (Jod thi(iu,i;h Christ Jesus for the for- giveness of sin, to all who renouncing sin fully trust in Christ alone, is clearly taught and enjoined in Holy Scripture. Ihit this is a matter between (lod and the penitent, and carried, necessarily, to a tiiird person duly when that third person has been offended or in- jiired by the sins eonuuitted. Our Lord's direction here, is eviir and universally obligatory : " If thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother has aught against thee : leavi; there thy gift before tlu; aicar, and go thy way ; lirst l)e recon- ciled to thy brother, and [\nni come and otl'er thy gift." St. John says : " If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins. He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." The plain and simple instruction here, is, that we con- fess our sins to God, and " He," not a priest — "will forgive us our sins." This is comforting truth, as it is clear and convincing. St. James .says : " Confess your faults one to another, that ye may be healed." Your priests use this passage to prove the duty, as they say, of confession to a priest ; but this, like most other ])riestly assumptions, is without any authority in fact. The case is simply as follows : one Christian has of- fended or injured a brother Christian, and now he is 102 SLI'HKMACY TIIK AIM nV TllK CIILHCH. required o .^o to tl.at l.rotl.or an.l i„ a proporly con- tnte sp.nt i.iake a snitablo acknowlo.lomel.t of 1. s ac 1 h.« ,o.„g done tl.ey pray one with and for anotho ,' and thus the ovd oe.'as.oued is healecl ; ,uid they, as ne.nbers of t u> sauu. fan.ily of faith and ho„s,.I,oid of .od, are luu ed ni love to each other and to God yhom the o k-n.hn.^ one had grieved Here all is ra- tiona as well as scriptural ; but not so in tlie least tlie monstrous doctrine you have built upon it in your confessional, as perhaps in no other place are Uie words of 8t. J>aul to your clergy applicable - A^ opposeth and exalteth hin.sdf above all that sgS" Anl "V" °^ 'r^' -^'""'"^^ '■'"'■^''If that he IS God And as the prophet 1 )aniel remarks :-"And a niouth speaking groat things." The confessional, as you" kimw, sir, is the nhee where above all others the principles ual b tj of your church are brought out and enfore.Ml. It^ ere you expound an.l apply them with a vigorous earnes'- r^and ellect that surpasses ordiuarfapprei:;;::^ . Heie 30U keep before your people th« objects at whic]» yonr church is ever aiming : here you proi-ound m go e ned : here you apply i],e penalties, announce the A;huh voa claim you have all authority and power to confer or iiiihct, and here you institute or en plov a mquis, orial process to effl-ct your ut so tenaciously do you guard this anti-chiistian claim, that to even doubt it is to contract the taint of heresy, and heresy is your greatest sin and crime. But let us look at some of the laws you propouml in the confessional, and by wduch, as jirinciples, you regu- late your action to your ])ostulants and theirs to you. One of the first with you in point of importance is given by Liguore, or, iis you c;dl him, 8t. Ali)honsus, is as follows : " Let liim that desires to grow in godli- ness give himself up to a learned confessor, and be obedient to him as to God. He that thus acts is safe from having any account to render of all his actions. 104 liOMK OOXTRADICTS ST. PAir.. The Lord will sec to it that 1 not astrav. li.s confessor leads ] 11 ni It would not he easy t o convoy to you liow suriirised a devout reader of God's word M'ould 1 8ucl 1 a the aliovo. does not Liguore, when 1 is safe from havinc •pri.< on readin one would ask, ami very naturally^ he say^ : "][e who thus acts any account to render of all h ictions," contradict St. Paul, who distinctlv d'ecl that God. ' every one (jf us shall o-ive account of 1 IS arcs iiimself tc And " 1 „i- we must all appear before the judo-, ment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done lu his body, accor.ling to that he hath done, whether it l,e goo.l or bad ?" Of course he does And when he tells his dupe to " be obe.lient to liis confessor as "to Go.l," lie includes idolatry most a.ssur(Mlly. Cods injunction to man is: "My .son give ;.,. thy heart," which means, give me thy love' til}' tru.st thy obedience ■ and cautions all by say in- • Gurs.Hl l)e the man that trusteth in man, and maketh llesli Ins arm. Then as to the laws and principles M'hieh your learned confcs-sors" In-ing to bear upon your people. It will sufhce to say, they are compiled by vour theo- logians, Liguore especially, from the Jesuit fathers as any one may see who compares them with such rmo- t^tio.is fron. those fathers. Pascal in his provincial letters, supplies. Ihe .same niav l)e .said of such com- pilations as are givn by 1 )en.s, Paillv and l)eIaho it of all activity whatever — of its houses, schools, colleges, hospitals, lauds, and, in sliort, cf every place whatsoever in whatever kingdom or province they may l)e situated. We abrog^.te and annul its statutes, rules, customs, decrees and constitu- 108 TESTIMONY OF QUARTERLY REVIEW. tious, even thou,^'h confinned by oatli and approved by the Holy See or otlierwise. We declare all and all kind of authority, the general, the provincials, the visitors and other superiors of the said society, to be for ever annulled and extinguished, of whatever nature soever the authority may be, as well in things spiritual as temporal." The extracts I hero give are not by any means as full an exposition of the principles of the Jesuit order as might be given— as any one who has read Pascal's Provincial Letters will fully admit. P.ut assuredly their uuportance must be enhanced in the judgment of every one who knows that this order of "persons has been, up to the year 18G0, expelled no less than seventy times from countries in which they had been living and applying their principles ; and that these Avere almost all Roman Catholic countries : and durin<^ that period from France seven times. The Qnarterhj licvim observes : " Xo country could ever yet tolerate Jesuits m its bosom without certain destruction. Even Komanism itself, again and again, by the mouth of Komish l)ishops, and Romish sovereigns, and the wisest and best of Romish philosophei^ and Romish universities, and Popes themselves, has warned us of the fact." And in unison with this is your great Prench IJisliop, Bossuet, who, in 1770, obtained a°sen- tence from an assembly of the clergy of Prance against the Jesuits, in which is the declaration tliat""tlie morals of the Jesuits, as exhibited in their monstrous maxims, had long been the .scandal of the Church and of Europe." Anil yet what do we see to-day? Why, that this order is restored, and that by a brief from the late Pope, and one with more extensive privileges by the present Pope. Xor is this the most remarkable part of Papal action in this extraordinary atlair. The reason which Pius the 9th assigns for restoring the POPES RESTORE THE ORDER. 109 )prov(3(I by 11 ami all iicials, tho iety, to be ver nature :.s spiritual ■ means as ■suit order 1 Pascal's assuredly 1 lament of rsons has less than had been liat these id during Qnavterhj ;t tolerate n. Even mouth of and the . Romish ed us of 3ur great ed a sen- ;e against Kit "the lonstrous urch and ! Why, from the i leges by narkable ir. The ring the order not only conflicts with tho claim of infallibility in himself or his predecessor, Clement the 1-lth, and it matters not in which, but it places Pope Clement and a host of authorities in your church as enemies of the Church, being opposed to "the Company of Jesus" and Avith " special hatred," because they were most opposed to their evil "designs." l]ut let us attend to what the Pope says in his brief of restoration : " The enemies of the Church, therefore, have persecuted these religious orders most of all, and from among them have singled out the Society of Jesus as the object of their special hatred, uiasmuch as it is the most diftlcult to deal with, and, therefore, the most dangerous enemy of their designs. To our gi'ief we see that this is again taking place, while the invaders of our temporal dominions eager for their i)rey seem to long to liegiu the suppression of all religious societies, along with that of tlie Company of Jesus." " Of a truth we do often make use of the fathers of the Society of Jesus, and trust many things to their supervision, and more especially matters concerning the sacred ministry. They, on their part, in performing these duties, show us more and more that affection and zeal, for which they have earned frequent and high ])raises from our predecessors. Put this, our most just love and esteem for the society, irliich has a/irai/x deserved well of the Church of Christ, and of this Uulij See, and of Chris- tcndom, is a very diflerent thing from that slavish obsequiousness which our detractors lay to our charge^ and we indignantly repudiate this calumny as regards ourselves and the humble devotion of the Fathers." This, you will admit, is a remarkable deliverance- from a man who, from his entrance on the ofHce of Pope up to a few weeks of his writing this brief, was in mortal dread of being poisoned by the Jesuits be- cause they knew he wished to reform C(?rtaiu abuses 110 THE OUDEUS OP nOMB SWARMING. which_ woul.l consulembly uffoct the.n. Furtlier the bnef i,s roinarkahle because it is from a .nan ho was u hcontly conversant with facts to know ^ 1 / V Je to principles and history of the Jesuit order ; and tint he order had been suppressed, totally and fu em by a I ope, and tha because, as he said, their princ n£ were destrut-^.vely bad, and threatened the ve y exil? ence of his Church." ■^ '^'^" I5ut, sir, lune we have this Jesuit order restoivd ■md now more numerous, active and influential ha ^^^ i^S^'-thet'l '»'«;•'•t-^-■'I---"the Adorel^^f JLSU.N the Ke.lemptorists," "the lirothers of Chris ilh 'v '^'•\'^'-~^]]'y «^varni all lands, but espec- ially those where relioious and politica libertr^s 1 asked ? Why, sir as you know, the object is noth Hig less than to bring the world in all it., power interests and policies to the feet of the Po o -^ days of t^lie past, could excommunicate a ki..^ htc^; Ii t a kingdom, free its subjects from their alle-'^ia ce and declare to a contumacious ruler or i.eopk. hat y'Z.U^T^''^ ""'^"^''^ *'^^"^^ insul.ordi. on d and rule° " ''°""" ' "^^'^ '^^ ''' ^^^^''-^y %^1 ^--l To the intelligent student of history and of tlie word of God, and as an observer of the present n ovem nt in the world this purpose of your Church will be con sidered an absurd chimera, and properly so bu IfZ or any one will conclude from Ihil that si/chw^ln not be aimed at, and with all the means the Jesu ier and theirnumerous auxiliaries-now your whol cle ' v -can bring tp bear upon their object not be cont nded for, then he is as fully mistaken as on any one £„ he could possibly be. And here will arise the "o S CAN THE ROMAN HE A CHLKCII 01' CHRIST? Ill and turmoil ; iov we uie told l>y Ciirdiiial ]M;uuiii),L,% that whateVL'i' the cost in blood and treasure, the Po\Hi is to have restored to him his temporal estate. And while this means in one sense his lost kingdom in Italy, it extends to fullest empire held in the palmiest days of Papalism. But my more immediate purpos(! now is to remark that, by a numerous and vigorous agency, in schools and colleges, and especially in the confessional, prin- ciples are propoundcnl and enforced, which, according to a pope, promote "dangerous seditions, tumults, dis- cords, dissensions and scandals, which weaken or entirely break the bonds of Christian charity, exciting the faithful to all rage and party hatreds and enmities." And, according to others, equally well qualitied with any Pope to pronounce upon the subject, " which ren- der murder innocent, which sanctify falsehood, author- ize perjury, deprive laws of their power, destroy .submission of subjects, allow individuals the liberty of calumniating, killing, lying, and forswearing as tlieir consciences may dictate," and that " tlieconse(|uence of these doctrines " (those of the Jesuits) " would destroy the natural law, and as a natural result break all the bonds of civil society." But, sir, can a church that inculcates principles which produce such fruit be called in any sense Chris- tian 1 It were an insult to counuon sense to say so. And yet you claim to be not only a church of Christ, but the only Church of Christ, really ! Your condition reminds one of the Laodicean Church, to whom the Lord speaks as follows : " Be- cause thou sayest, I am rich, and increased in goods, and have need of nothing ; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked." 112 rese TIIK nUEHT ALL TIII.VGS TO ALL MEN. I havo imi.'li more to say ..u tliis sul.i,.ot, but will ici've such lur my lu^xt. 1 am, yours sincerely, iNlAHCL'S. LKTTI'K X. THE CONFESSIONAL CONTINUED: AND ITS MVLKiN IN FLUENCES AND TENDENCIES KUKTIIEIl ATTESTED AND CONI'IHMED. . ect of tlu. Confessional ; and I h.ve .liflicuitv in selectmgwi.a 1 should say, aud the order of present- ing It 1 will bogin, however, with an extract from iAIacanlay's History of England. Tt will be seen ixn-fect unison with what I have sai.l in mv f.n-nier etter. He observes : "Throughout Catholic^ Europe the secrets of every government, and almost of every Januly of note, were in their (the Jesuits') keepin- o^r^^oi^u'V'n '\''-T ^^^'-^M^eople of all ranks and especially of the highest ranks, crowded to the Con- fessiouals in the Jesuit temples; and from those Lontessionals none went discontented away There the priest was all things to all men. He sli'owed just so much rigour as might not drive those who knelt at his spiritual tribunal to the Dominican or the Francis- devon 'Y /^ '" '''^ '' ^^^'-^^ ^"^^^ ^ """^l truly fXv ' 1 7 V !'" ''"""y ^'''''' "f the primitive who h il ," • '-""^ '^"'\ ''"'^^ ^'''"^' ^'''' °f "^'"'kind Avho have religion enough to make them uneasy when they do wrong, and not religion enough to ke.-p them W doing wrong, he followed in a different iystem bince he could not reclaim them from gnilt, it was his business to save them from remorse. He had at his JESUITISM SEEX IN IRELAND. 113 command an immense dispensary of anodynes for wounded consciences. In tlus Itooks of ciisuistry, wliieh liad been written by liis Ijrethren, and printed with the approbation of his superiors, were to be found doctrines consolatory to transgressors of every chass. There the l)ankrupt was taught how he miglit, without sin, secrete his goods from his creditors. The servant was tauglit liow he miglit, without sin, run oil" with his master's plate. The pandor was assured that a Chris- tian man might innocently earn his living by carrying letters and messages between married women and their gallants. The high-spirited and punctilious gentlemen of Franco Avere gratified l)y a decisiut wliat modesty, in a young lady, or any other person, is in danger of being offended, if the priest's conduct is directed by God's word 1 For then he would think of and practice naught but " whatsoever things are true, whatsoever tilings are honest, whatso- ever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, what- soever things are lovely and Avhatsoever things are of good report." It is, however, because of the op- posite of those things, especially in things that are jmre, that the modesty of the most hardened sinner, must be, at time.<, shocked in the confessional, and therefore we need not be surprised that a young latly can be oifended there. Indeed, in looking over a pamphlet containing lengtiiy extracts from tlieological works used in ^Slay- nooth College, Ireland, on the Confessional, having reference particidarly to females — hi single life, in the marriage state, and in widowhood — it is impossible to conceive of any thing more vile, more outrageously offensive and aljoininal)le to any mind not steeped in the lowest depths of sensualized life. 120 WHAT "MODERN AVERNUS » SAYS. How husbands can allow thoir wives to go to con- fession, fathers their daughters, brothers their istTr or how an intelligent anroofs in his own handwriting) at ^t'he very moment when, as a brother priest satisHed me lie be done ! I have known a priest received and honored at a pnnce-bishop's table, when the host knew him to have just seduced a member of his own family. Bu? nothing could be done ! 1 bave been mocked wi 1 folse promises by dean ami bishop in denouncinc. a young priest in whose bed-room-aiid before there had been time for hnu to dress himself-in broad day in England, under a convent roof, I bad myself found a young nun, apparently as much at home as her confes «or was himself. I bave been forced to let pass wi^^^ . mit even oeeiesmstical rebuke, a priest's attimpt up n the chastity of my own wife, the mother of my lev n7''t;'" '" '"' "''^ •""^' "'^^^^"^•^' ">-.nstaken ^nl^sintr'"""^^^^^^^^ " I have seen priests of mean abilities, of coarse natures, and gross breeding, practice upon pure and inmauied, the teachings ot their treacherous and upure casuistry, and with a success that seemed mo e n ; TT'r ^ ^'^"' ''''' '^'""'^ P''i-^t« ""P"«e their pi^tended y divine authority, and sustain it by mock nm-acles, for ends that were simply devilish. V ave luid poured into my ears what can never be uttered and what oug'it not to be believed, but wa o n^ too MISS MOHTON S CORUESPONDENCE. 123 and worse \) practice of M'icked- just as he ;o, -without • I have ;ossfu]ly, a ^iig) at the ied nie, lie liiig could d honored iw him to ily. But ked with >uncing a there had d day, in ' found a iv confes- iss, with- ipt upon ■ of my taken to niiar at- f coarse ure and ied and us and 3d more se their y mock I have ittered, nly too plainly true. And I have seen that all that is most deplorable is not an accident, but a result, and an inevitable result, and a confesscdhj inevitable result of the working practical system of the Church of Rome, with all its stupendous machinery of mischief. And the system is irrevocable and irremediable." " Yet this is not all. It is even not the Avorst. In the lowest depth there is a deeper still. The injury inflicted on society by the Confessional does not end with the licentiousness, which, reduced to a system and practised with impunity, spreads its leprous con- tamination more widely every day. * Man is what woman makes him;' but the ju'iest unmakes the woman, and subverts the social edifice by the ruin of the foundation. No count in the indictment against popery is blacker than that which Coleridge justly describes as its woful influences on the innocence and sanctity of the female mind ; on the faith and happi- ness, the gentle fragrance and unnoticed everpresent verdure of domestic life.' Thousands of pure minded English girls are dragged to the Confessional every year, to be robbed of that priceless purity of imagina- tion, which, once gone, returns no more. They go in, first with their native purity, the sweet innocence that belongs to their sex. They come out with a shudder- ing horror, a burning shame, for the loss of a purity which never can be tlieirs again, for they have been stretched on the rack of the inquisitor ; they have writhed in the grasp of IJguori ; they have been humbled at the feet (jf the priest ; the iron has entered their soul." (.Miss Elizabeth Morton's correspondence with i\Ir. Huntington may be cited as an illustration of the serious physical results consequent on the shock of a first confession). " And it was meamt to enter. Tlie humiliation of the woman was intended before it was achieved. The 124 MISS RICHARDSON'S TESTIMONY. person than a thhvr She .hi ^ ^'T''' ^''' » confession is only a lK-i„„i,r t?7 ^^•,,.^'" ^''^ ni'ty fly to l.or .lovocoto , " ' tre'nblin- dove ^viU plant ] is IkVi ami t In?- i^'' "°-'^'"' ''"^^^ ""'^•^ Henr^notl.3rwit s vr U %? 'f ^"^^'^""^ ^^^"'^•'^'^t. snare of the foX an .n I Vf ' '"'"P'^ ^^«'" the she snys : ' '^ '^'''''"S °^ l^*^^' ^^st confession be:;; nnSl::f ,;:;;t;::;Lt^^^T "^ t^^^'^ ^ ^^^^ Tlw. /• • I'l* P'^ed me for such an ordpil "And n-ain, after she had experienced tho fo i mercies of a still harder task-mast.r ' Pnf -f f, f "/'"' confession had lacerated n y Sin^s w . '^^'^^ this one ? Words Invo ,i -, i. "^^ '"»''' ^^ '''^t was it to pression, to chanctoW o f T ^ ''f'- ^""""'^-^^ ^^' »« «-^- ^ , lo cnaiacteu/e the emotions that marked H- !-' oa u,;a,;i" ; s''-rkS rs, "-'»"*"'■' me„t,,1lv.» ' *'" "'°' '*"'' I'liy-'icallj and indignation, lZluCtlCT''T, °' '""P'-o^^'We of a svstem\vl,ic tl I ™ , ''S^'I'itn-e siippreMion the «r,i,tie. i^^'^^^:!sz:^ia^ f ■■ ii^ MORE TO COME. 125 litent into )nies less a thrall, and Tlie first •lin^ dove Jtl by this and again »g breast. i from tlie 'onfession ^ch I had m ordeal, and the ' such an ■ burning "'■oiu tho liolicism, e tender ;hat first 'as it to ■s no ox- rked it. ully the a short -rushed lly and ractical ft from , until 'essible I'ession otions, uispar- ing scalpel of a ruthless practitioner, who inflicts while lie pretends to cure. But that is not my object now. I here confine myself strictly within limits of the question in its social aspcjcts. And — putting aside for tho moment all consideration of its bomulless de- l)ravity, and remembering only the profound truth underlying the popular proverb which attests the in- fluence of woman with tho voice of universal experi- ence — I ask, Is it safe for the State to tolerate an institution which builds up its empire on the ruins of all that is fairest, noblest, jjurest, in tho heart and life of woman 1 A kind of fallen and crushed thing." ' ' O men ! with sisters dear, O men ! with niotliers and wives," Think of that ! Although I have given much more on the Confes- sional than will be quite agreeable to your f(>elings, I have yet more to add which, in my judgment, should be put before the eyes of the public. This I ivill reserve for my next letter. I am, yours very sincerely, Marcus. LETTER XI. THE CONFESSIONAL ; ITS MALIGN CHARACTER AND IN- FLUENCES. — (Continued.) My Dear Sir, — A deep sense of the great evils which attend and grow out of the confessional of your Church, constrains me to extend my remarks yet fur- ther upon it. With persons of a refined and delicate taste, and knowing nothing of the subject in its prac- tical evils, an impatience may be felt in its being 126 BUT NOTHING CAN BE DONE. proposed to (l(3taiu their attention at ^rpiitor length upon a subject so revolting. I5ut their impatience must be curljcd in tlio interests of humanity and re- ligion ; and as more should Im said to thorou'ddy expose so dire an agency for evil, extensively apidied and energetically worked, so that more must ])e said, that the action necessary to sweep such an abomina- tion from the earth for ever may be tak(!n, and that speedily. Tender and delicate feelings are not allowed to control an.l guide the surg(,.on that has a serious oiieration on a patient, endangering life, to perform. He sees the disease with an eye that detects .langcn-, and although to extend the operation may l)e objected to by minds governed by uninformed sensilnlity, yet he proceeds, satisfied that to go further than he yet has done is indisi)ensable to the preservation of life. He proceeds in the interests of his patient, satisfied that duty, not seutimontalism, must direct his course. AVith such a principle before me, I ask your atten- tion : — First, to what Mr. Connolly has stated as shown m my last letter. ^^ He tells us, you will recollect, that to the narrative 'of such enormities of lust in his fellow priests around him," the reading of which to "the pure and simple- minded Cardinal Prefect of the Propaganda" "took away his breath," the only answer he received was, "Caro mio, I knoiv it, I know it all, and more, and worse than all; but nothing can be done." TJiat he had " known a priest practise Liguori on his clientele, as an amateur of Avickedness ;" that he knew him "successfully get up a miracle," "experimenting in seduction," and yet " nothing could be done." That he knew "a priest received and honored at a Prince- bishop's table, when the host knew him to have just seduced a member of his own family. But nothing THE SOLICITANTS. 127 coiilfl he done." Tliis and iiKirc, yea, much more, and tlieu the declaration : — "And I have seen that all that is most deplorahle is not an accident, hut a result of the working' practical system of the Church of Rome, with all its stupendous machinery of niisclaef. And the system is iirevocahle and irremediahle." What a testimony. l»ut is this a solitary one to the vile char- acter of many of your priests, and of the terriljly cor- rupting consequences of your system, your confessional especially 1 You know, sir, it is not. The Rev. Mr. Ch J.iquy, in Canada, Mr. Ilogan and several others in t^iQ States, with many in France and other parts of tiie world, with historians of standing who lived and died in your Church, all give a uniform testimony on this revolting suhjcct. The author of "Avernus" calls attention to the "solicitants," and the Canons by which they were denounced. Looking into Dr. Edgar's great book for this subject I Hnd that he describes them as follows : — " The measureless intemperance of the Spanish clergy aj)peard in the history of sacerdotal and monkish solicitation in that kingdom. These solicitors were Spanish monks and priests, who, abusing the privacy of sacramental confession, tempted women, married and unmarried, to a violation of chastity, and, in the language of Pope Gregory, ' administered poison instead of medicine,' This kind of solicitation became so prevalent as to demand pontifical interposition. Its notoriety, accordingly, challenged the interference of Pius, Clement, Gregory, Alexander and Benedict, who issued their bulls against this kind of seduction." '• The publication of the Papal enactments showed the extent of the evil. The execution of the Roman mandates was consigned to the inquisitors, who sum- moned the attendance, at the holy office, of all that could inform against the guilty. The terror of the 128 THE CAPUCHIN AND THE DEOUINES. in.[uisition connnandod obodionce. Maids and ma- trons of the nobility and pousuntry, of every rank and selection, crowded to the in,,ui,sition, nio.lesty and .shame mdnced nmny to go veile.l. The alarm awak- ened jealousy ,n the mind of many h.isban.ls. The fair inf..rmersof Seville alone w.-r.., according to Gon- saivus and Lorente, so numerous, that all the ii„,„i,si- tors and twenty notaries were insullicieiit in thirty days o take their depositions. Thirty a.Iditional days had, three several times, to be appointed for the recep- tion of mfor.i::-^.ons JJut the multitude of criminals, the jealousy of husbands, and the odium which he discovery threw on auricular confession ami the Popish priesthood, caused the sacred tribunal to quash the prosecution, an,l to consign the depositions to oblivion » A similar picture of licentiousness is given of France Germany and Lngland which shows how prevalent is coi;f::s!i '"^ ""'"•" "^« ^'•^•^^ °^ ^^-^ ^^^'i-^-tic U Miclielet, a distinguished French writer, as doubtless you know, gives a case of this nature f om Loren e whom he calls unexceptionable authorit^ t^m'' ' p'fn 1 '^''" ^' ''f ^''''''''y «^ the Inquisl ti n, a Capuchin was brought before that tribunal, who neirlv^nn'of'T'"""/'^ "^ ^'''"''"''' '"^'^ ^^^^^ ^^^"^"^d ne.u y all of them, by persuading them, that they were not leaving the road to perfection. He told each of them in the confessional that he had received from God a singular favour: " Our Lord," he said, "hasdei-med to « -V himself to me in the Sacramen't, aiij tsa d to me, almost all the souls that thou dost direct liere are pleasing to me, but especially such a one. (The Capuchin named her to whom he spoke.) She is already so perfect, that she has conquered every pas! ^on except carnal desire, which torments her^vS^ much. Therefore, wishing virtue to have its reward AMEniGA TKSTIFIES. 129 anil that slie should sorvii iik; traiKiuilly, 1 cliarj^o tlico to j,''v' tke Here, if our Lord Z^ /^ , ?'^ "'* °^ '-^^'"^tcry. your church y^ jSs do ^ '"n'1 '^^ ''^« ^^"^' «f aside, and lai^I it ^! fh r 's d "vt '"" '^^"" ^^-• considerations of fiitm-P tl /' •^, *'^*^ "^°^t moving to him every ptn/oTl?"^ '^^^^ led her to it^v tlf. ho,n hi " f' '^ ^^" ^^ ^^^»^t had he a married^oT h^d pe,t ;" ;;;h ^^^^'-^-li -as t-iarswhichaprurie,!t-n:i:ttZd^^^^^^^ PAPAL ABSOLUTION UNAUTHORISED. 137 But no, sir, the Saviour did nothing of the kin.l. Aith benignity and condescension of grace he turned to the woman, after he had discomfited and driven off her mahgnant accusers, wlio, in their consciences knew they wer3 every whit as guilty before God as they declared this woman to he, and said to her, " Woman where are these thine accusers? hath no man con- demned thee? She said, no man, Lord. And Jesus no mo "^^ ' "'''""'' ''" ''" ''•'"'^^""^ thee : go, and sin But you assume to grant absolution, or pardon for sin ; who gave you this riglit, sir? You reply by say- mg Christ gave this authority to his apostles, cleclar- ing: ^\hosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted retahied ™ ' ^^^losesoever sins ye retain, they are Of course these words were addressed by Our Lord to his disciples; but did they understand them as your Church aftects to do ? If they did we should have instances of such especially in the Acts of the Apostles. jMit we have not one. You cannot find a solitary instance of an apostle or any of their imme- diate successors for more than a century, that ever did more than proclaim the Gospel, with the terms or conditions on which God will have mercy on a sinner and pardon his sins. Further, if to the apostles was given the power to pardon as Christ pardoned— by an act of his sovereignty as the Son of God— and we deny that such a power was ever given them, by what autliority do you assume to act thus ? You say it is a power given the priest in ordination transmitted through the Bishop from the Pope, whom you regard as the head of the Church on earth, and the source of all spiritual power ami authority to tlie Church. J5ut this we deny m toto. The Pope is not, and never was the head of Christ's Church on earth. To suppose 138 A CASE SUPPOSED. im i: what you assume to be true is to believe that the Holy Spirit abides with men, and even acts through them, though they be monsters in wickedness ! And, as I have said in a former letter, that men would be permitted to hold an office, from which Judas by transgression fell, while they in the line of moral character, were, the greater number of them at least, as much below Judas in moral standing as he was below James and John. And that the persons on whom the power IS said to be conferred are many of them, as these pages show, just on a par in character with the head whom they acknowledge. In ^ other words, while a person may, according to the Bible, lose his Christian standing by even unfruit- fulness in Christian graces, as taught by Our Lord in the figure of the vine and its branches, a Church may be put from its position by losing its first love— as see Rev. 2 : 5, and even be spewed from the mouth of Christ as an offensive thing for having become but lukewarm— see Rev. 3:16. Yet you and your Church are to be considered so truly and securely in your position as the Church of Christ, that no proved and oft repeated villainies and wickedness, such as form the darkest pages in all history, can destroy or even weaken your claims as ministers of Christ ! Nor is this all that is monstrous in your dark and repelling system, We have another touch that is necessary to complete the dark picture ; it is your doctrine of intention. A penitent may confess his or lier every sin ; she may have gone through all the questionings by which your priest may have tortured her ; and she may leave to do every penance that has been imposed, and in the midst of her deep depression of soul she may take some comfort from the thought : " well I have had absolution ; the priest pronounced it on my head, and I heard the words." But, if after lllai.: DOCTRINE OF INTENTION. 139 all, the priest did not intend the al)solution really, of which his words were but the. form, then this poor creature remains as truly und-n- the weight of God's condemnation, and will ever so remain in that state as though she had never confessed, and never had had pronounced ui)on her her priest's fcn-mula of absolu- tion ! And, sir, were your system true, the record of unpardoned sin would for ever remain against this poor soul. For although afterwards she W(;re to go through a similar service, and all was done as it .should be done, yet the back score remains, and will be a record of damning influence to be met in the judgment day ; and all because of a lack of intention in the priest ! There is no one point in your whole system that when opened up in the light of reason and revelation, but is seen to be big with absurdity and blasphemy ; therefore, to call the Church of Rome a Church of Christ, — much less the Church of Christ, — in any proper sense, is so great a violation of truth and con- sistency that it is hoped the imjjropriety of doing so will ere long be discovered by your peoi)le, and that they will act accordingly. Ere I close this letter I will put the case of one who has obtained absolution — the pardon of sin — in a truly Gospel sense. The contrast of the Gospel mode with that of your Church is a striking one ; as the serious and intelligent reader Avill readily perceive. Here, say, we have a person properly impressed by the fact that he is a sinner. He asks of some Chris- tian, man or woman, what he should do to be saved ; and to be delivered from the burden of sin which bears him down, and, as he fears, will sink him to helH He is told that jufit for such as he is Christ came into the world, suflered, and died. That believing this, he should go jus'i as he is, as a sinner, to the throne of grace — a throne everywhere and always accessible — 140 A SINNER 8AVKD. m .1 thoro coufe.s.s,ng his sms to God, pleading the fact that for hnn l,e Saviour died, wliile morcy is"promised to limi and to all pemtont sinners in his name As- sure, that ;' ,f we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins ; and to -;. anse us from all unrighteousness." He goes as directed ; he pleads the great fact of re- deeming grace by the blood of Christ; he offers him- self to God on the altar Christ Jesus, to be his for ever. God hears his prayer; accepts his faith in lus Son and sends the Holy Ghost, the Comforter into his hear . And now he rises from his knees rejoioin- in God his Saviour ; and saying in the words of the prophet, or in others of similar import; "0 Lord I will praise thee : for though thou wast an ,'ry with nie Sifm: '?"i:r;r 1. ""'' "•' ^^^^ ^^^^^^ ^°'^^-^- Very possibly, sir, from your training in the doc- trines of your Church, you may be led to doubt this But your doubting does not alter the fact. And Jet nie say, also, that there are thousands this hour_ belonging to the true Church of Christ wh. are rejoicing in this divine and comforting grace. A face they are as assured of u: they are of their very existence But look now from this bright and Gosp/l pictureof assured salvation by the Spirit of God to your pru'stly absolution, known only by the word of a man. The word of a man which may, after all, be spoken heedlessly or in insincerity. I liope you, sir, and many of your people, will seriously think over these weighty truths. Yours, veiy sincerely, Marcus. LETTER XII. THE PAPAL DOGMAS uP INDULGENCES AND OF PUUQATORT EXAMINED AND IJEFUTED. My Dear Sir, — It is natuval to suppose that God, who gave us our being, and who designed us to live as moral agents, accountable for our conduct, and that under consequences of the gravest nature, would give us such a revelation of his will as would be, in some good and sufficient measure, a rule of life for each one to go by. To insist tlu't no such rule of life were given \is, or, that being given, was fovnd to be of such a nature that few could understand it, that it was even sure to exert an injurious influence upon those who would seek guidance from it, and, therefore, we were under the necessity of accepting from a certain class of men, many of them of highly objectionable char- acter, any knowledge of it, both as to the conduct we should pursue, or the motives by which we should be influenced, would as a fact, excite in every truly re- fleeting mind thoughts not at all honouring to the character of oui Creator for either wisdom or goodness. Nor would such reflections be moderated — but the con- trary, rather — as we day by day saw, that the persons into whose hands we were left, had so framed their interpretations of the divii\e will as to get almost everything desirable into their own hands ; while we, their dupes, were reduced to the most abject condition of submission and dependance. This applies to your Church, the clergy on one side and the laity on tlie other. The "Word of God, given to be a lamp unto our feet, and a light unto our path, 142 INDULGENCES. m any .Icsirn for it l,i . '■■ i ' ''"''■"•"X timn fro,,, people. Im.ow, Mb. Lr' ^'"''^'r'"^'"". •'^•hI yo„r foisted i.jiou them "'o'^^o'). ^^o., &c., luive been appear. "»ivtntss is not allowed to resting. iuuiui.uion this dogma is The dogma is as follows- "Th.,f nil i the saints, over and abovp flU " ^'^"^^ '"'^^^^'^ "f towards their own n. « % ^ ''^""^' ''"''' necessary ;vith the .XiHS'^^^S^^Sir' *°^^^^^^'^ liaustible treasury. The kevs of t ' '''" "'^'-'■■ to St. Peter in,l tn l7; ^ *'!•« ^vere committed X i.i,ui ,' Dean of Ripon, England, entitled "Rome's Tactics," we have an account of a Bull of Pope Paul the Third which contained the following : " Whereas we find the heretics now concord in the administration of the Sacrament of the body of Jesus, we grant full remis- sion of sins to those our sons of our Mother-Church that shall stop or hinder their union amongst heretics." Again, Dr. Goode says: "Among Cecil's (Lonl Burghley) papers was a letter from a confidential agent of Queen Elizabeih, dated Venice, April 13, 1564,°en- closing an account of several consultations amongst Cardinals, Bishops and others of the several orders °of Rome, now contriving and conspiring against Her Gracious Majesty and the Established Church of Eng- land, from which I give tlie following extracts : Pius Imving consulted witli the clergy of Italy, and assem- bling them together, it was by general consent voted, that the immunity of the Romish Church and her jurisdiction is required to be defended by all her princes, as the principal Church of God. And to en- courage the same, the council hath voted that T lUS should bestow Her Grace's realm (England) on that Prince who should attempt to conquer it." And to dispose of the Queen (Elizabeth) the following in- dulgence was offered :— " It was granted not "only indulgence and pardon to the party that should assault Her Grace, either private or in public ; or to any cook, brewer, baker, physician, vintner, grocer, chirurgeon or any other calling whatsoever, that should or did take her out of this world, a pardon, but an absolute remission of sins to the heirs of that party's family sprung from him, and a perpetual annuity to them for IS and Milner Reasons for now supply. y Dr. Goo(l(!, le's Tactics," ul the Thinl 5 wc timl the ition of the t full remis- ther-Church jst heretics." ecil's (Lord lential agent 3, 1564, en- ns amongst •al orders of igainst Her rch of Eiig- acts : — Pius and assem- isent voted, ch and her by all her And to en- l that Pius id) on that it." And llowing in- l not only )uld assault 3 any cook, chirurgeon uld or did xn absolute ty's family .0 them for INDULGENCES EXTRAORDINARY. I47 the fathers for pardon, l)e they of what order soever unless It pleased himself, and to be one of those privy councd, whosoever reigned successively » ^ This It will be admitte.1 is much wider in its reach than those expositions of indulgences which Dei s and Mdner have given. The factls while a d efinit on may ])e very good under certain circumstances, it does not serve as a limit when action is called for tint seems to require a Pope or a I5ishop to go beyom if He : vs "tT"/^ "*•" ''''''''' ^^^-- byMr. Wley lie says . That a man may truly merit hell we -rant although he can never merit heaven, '" :,t if he does ment hell yet, according to the ch :. in. of tlK3 OiS of Rome, he need never go there.' « the Church " as they aver, has power to gran., ium an indul4nc; whic-^i renuts botli the fault and the punishment '"' , bome of these indulgences are to be obtained bv going pilgrimages, by reciting certain p.ayerror- which IS abundantly the most common way) by pay- ng the stated price for it." " The Popes Paul III and Ju lus III. -granted to nich of the fraternity of t e holy altar as visited the Church of St. HilaJ of Chartres during the six weeks of Lent, seven hundred and seyenty-Hve thousand seven hundred yelr of ^n ^s " 'tf ^« Tf"'^^ " ,"^^'' ^^^^"^^^ ^•^^^- Cardiml IV '„ ^ ''^' indulgence," according to Cardinal Lellarmme, as yon well know, sir, " takes away all the punishment due to sin." Acc^rdii ' to Cardinal Baronius, " Those who took up arms fo "tl e Pope against the Albigenses "-a class of ChSiu s who on conscientious grounds refused submiss o to the Popes, "had indulgences granted them" It IS stated that a gentleman not long since bein- in the office where indulgences were sold, and for tw o 148 INDULGENCES : HOW PROCURED. miii m sequins, (about ."our dollars and a lialf) i)urchased a plenary remission of all sins for himself, and any two other persons of his friends or relatives, whose names he was empowered to insert. The Rev. ])r. Jenkins in his " Protestant's Appeal " says that in travellincr through Sicily, having to remain for a few hours in a town in the interior, his attention was directed to three monks who were moving through the streets followed by a crowd of the people. They were dispensing indulgences, and, wishful to procure a copy, he purchased on-^ through the hotel-keeper for a small silver coin. " Taat Indulgence," he said " I now hold m my hand." It states " For the benefit of the holy places and the sanctity of the faith, our Lord Pope Benedict XIV. conceded a plenary indulgence in the article of death, and remission of all siifs to the offici-Js and benefactors of the Holy Land," etc " Peter Dens," says Dr. Jenkins, " complains of the strong language which is employed in the Bulls of the Popes, as ascribing too much to their indulo-ences • and no marvel while Pope JJonaface IX. granted indul- gences from punishmeat from all guilt a pmm ft a culpa ■ and Clement VIII. whom ]]ellarmine magni- fies for his care in reforming indulgences, grants a inost plenary remission of sins ; no marvel while Clement VL 111 his bull, not only gives a plenary absolution to all persons who died, in the way to Rome, but also demands the Angels of Paradise to carry' the soul immedia ely to heaven." But why should we go further away than to our own days. Have not you yourself, sir, and very recently, offered an indulgence for services to a rosary affair which you pointed to a few months a<'o ? Then we have the indulgence of Dr. Conroy, Roinan Catholic Bishop of Ardagli, Ireland, which I cave m a former letter. "The pardon offered," he s^s WHAT THEY IMPLY. 149 Jim„g tlie Jul.iloe is a pardon absolutely witlioufc nu s or restnctions. It includes the re nislion of the dreadful <;uilt of mortal sin It inchuk Z Z nuss.0.1 of theetornul puni.lunent w S' t'^ ^ mortal s.n It i„ehulos the remission one., Iral pumslunent due for sin whotlier mortal or venia ' It iniplies : First, Tl,at the authority of the Cler-v of he Church of Konu. extends to h aven ove iZ such so far a8 tlie balvation of human l,ein-s is con cemed, is practically supreme and unlin.itedr cle? '" "r T^^''' '^ this authority the min V l>v fl '" ^f''^' ^'""'^'^ ■"'' influenced, ma nl,v, by the consideration of services rendered them m ^nlts ot money, or of other valuables : and to objec s which they patronize and encoura-^e. J>ut these propositions must be rejected bec-uise hoy not only have no Scriptural sup .^ ', . t ^c ac ually opposed to Scripture ; and are minif^stl/s ^ ^ve of the dominion of Christ in his Kingdom^ .um,mf'fl?';i ''^V'"'''"'^^"'"° ^^'' ^'^^'^ °f Scriptural suppoit for the doctrine of Indulgences, are freely y S; \ eiy itde can be afhrme.l with any certainty con- cerning indulgences, because neither the scriptur . .eS. expressly of them, and the Fathers Auibil^; hK'/ 150 WHEN AND HOW THEY ORIGINATED. Augustine and Jerome, speak not at all of them." Cardinal Cajetan makes a singular confession for hira, in the following strain : — " If we could name any cer- tainty concerning the origin of Indulgences it would help us much in the disquisition of the truth of purgatory." That scripture should give no support to Indulgences, such as the Church of Rome miikes use of, and that the early fathers, even, are found to be silent in reference to them, is fully accounted for in the fact I have already given, viz., that they were first invented by Urban the Second in the eleventh century, and were by him employed to encourage the hiring of soldiers for a crusade to the Holy Land. The thing was found to be profitable, and could be applied for important ends in other ways ; and, tiierefore, soon became a popular expedient for raising money and stimulating zeal in other objects of interest to the See of Rome. Further, Indulgences are not only destitute of all scriptural sui)port, but they are actually opposed to scripture ; and are manifestly subversive of the do- minion of Christ in his Kingdom of Grace. If there be one truth above another on which the word of God lays stress, and gives line upon line, it is on the freeness by which grace is dispensed ; and that the rich can have no advantage over the poor in securing the blessings of Salvation. But this is by no means the case in the policy of the Roman Church and especially in their use of Indulgences. ^Money ; money ; money ; is the all-important thing everywhere in your Church ; either as marking the valiie of a mass ; the promptness of securing a dispensation ; the relief of a soul from purgatory ; (if indee'd it be not the most potent means for escaping the slightest taste of it) ; or, in procuring an indulgence of any kind, and to any extent. " Ho, every one that thirsteth ; come ye to MONEY VASTLY IMPORTANT. 151 the waters ; come, buy wine and milk without money and ivUhout price" (Lsa. 55 : 1) is the gospel invitation. But not so that of your Churcli, my dear sir, the poor with you have but a poor chance, while the rich can secure things either for this world, or for the next, as they have means to pay for them. This may be, and is, in fullest accord with tlie genius and policy of papalisni; but not so ; a thotisaiul times, not so ! with tlie genius and spirit of the Gospel of Christ. The whole thing involves the following horribly blasphemous conclusion : That God, after having shown the most extraordinary interest in man's redemption, had, after he had secured all the means necessary for effecting such, pi.iced the whole apjjlication of those means in the hands of the Pope and his clergj, men remarkable for nothing so much as for making all this influence contribute to their own vile and lustful ends, and that they might apply those moans ns they deemed best ; — to save whom tliey pleased, and to damn whom they pleased ; and that in all these things they were the only, and all-efficient rulers and judges. Further, that God, if He now looked on, and jiaid any attention to the dearest interests of his creatures, and that which affected His own glory in the highest degree, was constrained to let things to go on ; for, having com- mitted all power in heaven and on earth, not to his Son but to the Pope, he, therefore, teas quite poiverless to interf're ! It may be to the glory of your Church, my dear sir, to act on this line, and to work for a continuance of this order of things; but as sure as God exists, and that he is, as he ever has been, jealous for his own glory, there will be a reckoning day for all this. It is coming ; and cannot now be far away. I am quite aware, as indeed who is not ? how you ring the clianges on the words of our Lord to Peter ; on his command to his disciples, and the assurance 102 TIIEY TESTIFY AGAINST PAPALISM. therewith, that whose sins tliey remitted they would be so remitted, etc., etc., but to .say uothiiij,' now of the ample refutations given to all the applications you make of thcsi; for your cause I point to the fact, strangely overlooked by you,— (and perhaps we need not marvel at that seeing your Church has .so little to do with the lUblo) that your position in reference to Christ and his Church, or Kingdom, is graphically described by the Holy Spirit through Paul in his Epistle to the Thessalonian.s, and ])y John in his book of Revelation, the Apocalypse. Here we see not how authoiizod you are to rule in heaven, earth and hell ; but, how fully you nu'et the terrible delinea- tions of character and history as by them given of your Church. " Who opposeth anil exalteth liimself above all that is called (]od, or that is worshipped ; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showiu" him- self that lie is God." 2 Thes. 2:4. ° That this Scripture api)lies to your Church, — your pope and his clergy I should .say^ rather, 1 have in a former instance shown. And here again the finger of inspiration is seen to i)oiut to you in a remarkable manner. That (!od, wiio is the author of Salvation, should prescribe the conditions of its application, is perfectly consistent, aiul should be sacredly regarded as a divine prerogative by every intelligent creature. Ihit in your use of iiidu]genc(!s as in .several other things, — you per- fectly ignore the conditions which God has i)r(!scribed, and you otfer full and complete jjardon of all sins that have been committed, or, that will yet be committed ; and give a guarantee of admittance to heaven, on the' simple payment of a sum of money ; the rendering a particular service ; or, even the commi.ssiou of murder, as in the crusade against the Albigenses, and that of taking the life of England's Queen, 'Elizabeth I PRIEST DURIvE S BLASPHEMY. 153 You may see in this how completely your Church, in its licentious cruelty, iuiswer.s the upocalyptical figure of the " bi;ad winch rusf oat of tlw nea." And how iu all these acts she is seen to rave and act as a drunken man, as represented by St. .fohn. (See Rev. 17 : 2.) Who but a drunken, raving maniac, would or could talk such horril)le blaspluuny, as Priest Ihirke is represented as uttering in Cork l)ut a few years ago. " I don't care," said this ranting blasphemer, " how great the sinner is, or how great ins sin ; give me that sinner with live minutes tinui, and, if he is willing to accept my ministry, I will engage to save his soul and send him to lieaven. Let him Ix; a minxlerer, refusing to repent, refusing to see a priest until the ro[)e is about his neck and the black cap going to be pulled over his face — I only ask the tiuK; the liangman takes to go into the room to pull the bolt — I ask no more. Only let him say, I am guilty of this crime, of every sin, impurity, intidelity, yes, make your act or contri- tion, I give him al)solution — he is launched into eternity — his soul is saved." And, as showing the kind of instruction that is given in Ireland, — and, doul)tless, everywhere els(j where priests are trained for your Chuch, — I feel impelled to add the following — though given in a fornuir letter, an extract of Priest Burke's address to the Young Men's Society in retreat. "A man goes into the confessional with as much sin ui)on his soul as would damn a million of souls forever, and he remains in tiie confessional per- haps ten or hfteen minutes. lie comes out, where is his sin 1 Where is that awful load of crime that render- ed his soul as black as hell in the sight of God '? Not a vestige of it remains — the man comes forth pure as an angel. . . No eye in '-eaven shall ever behold it again upon that man's soul — no devil in hell will ever be able to acciise him of that sin." Ui A CONVENIENT DOCTRINE. And do not.sucI, teachings as this show that your Jult "lf7^"\ '^" confessional is but a .ysten. of In- dulgence? Indulgence to sin ! What man would feel any res.stancy to sin who knew he had in a priest so ready and so easy a way of being relieved from all consequences of such ? Apologists for Indulgences may complam, as Dens has done, of the sUom'lan! ^uage which popes liave used in their bulls in gr^ntin.. ndulgences ; but judging from Priest Burked uttor° a ces, and from the uses of the confessional, and the authority assumed there by your priests ' " t' <»\vn no i)ur<'atorv fir<, • wo have receuxM no such fbi..,r ,„.,. i ' ""'^'^''V "•« . Church confers it " A^ f "' ''''' M^' ""i' J'^astern ^y, tni\ .Hid, iMji- these causes the doctrine nroii. ,.,1 of hedil.-ent, and which hinders them fro ,1;? ouu, .Hid, 'that the first who caused flu..,, f. i apixiinted l,y the Churcii of Rome wl^ oiu ^ IbW of Lhv^uy, m the year 1000 " ' ^ St. Patrick writes : " Three abodes there are under the government of AlmiVhty Ood • the HrJil) the second, hell; the tidrd^his';oh'';L^;;:;:; are good, .n heaven none are bad, and both 'a i Tup! I'M SHOWN OF MODEllN DATE. 157 ienta, and to ^vas tlio boliL.f Jessaiy in tho iia iiicii wcm '»qiiir<'(l after on fosses pur- '11 nor n(.'ces- 3 confession, tlie Greeks r <'ipoIo<,'y to r^'atory fire ; our Kastern same apolo- ne prop()seut, as might be supposed, this is an impos- sible thing, and the attem])t is lost upon all who have not }^iven their reason and judgment, in religious things at least, to the kee))ing and control of their ])riestly guides. Several Scriptures are tenaciously held, and presenteil in defence of the doctrine, with all the auda- city of persons who had nothing to fear, even from the admissions and declarations of nniny of their own theologians, whose verdict is explicitly agiunst them — some of which, among niany, 1 have given above. We will look at the Scriptures which your Church em])loys to give some coloring to your pretensions for a purgatory. Your theological doctors present Matt. 12: 32, for this purpose : *' And whosoever shall s})eak a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him ; but whosoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, nor in that which is to come." The argument on this is, that in the world to come, i. n., in purgatory, as you assume the world to come to mean, there are sins Avhich can be forgiven. Idut Cardinal Eellarmine confesses that : " Purgatory cannot, by any rule of logic, be proved from the 12th of Matthew, as the sin there mentioned Avas never purged, being (lamnal)le." And that the passage is misa])plied in referring it to a supposed pur- gatory, is seen in the fact that it was the Jewish strongest method of declaring any thing unpardonable 'Tvmnaittm 158 THE TRUE PUROATORy. which they considered to be such. According to their idioni It meant a thing whicli could noi he pardoruul, either in that age or the one to come, meaning tiiat of the Messiali's reign. And that tliis is the true mean- ing of the words is seen from St. Mark's version of our Lord's statement. He gives it in the following form : " -But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, bu L is in danger of eternal dam- nation." But what, it may be asked, has purgatory to do with forgiveness 1 Is it not paying the uttermost farthing that you inculcate as to purgatorial suffering ? Another passage is that of 1 Cor. 3 : 13, 15. Every man's work made manifest, and every man's work tried as by fire, are the subjects. IJut here, it should be observed, the fire spoken of is not parc/ainrial at all but prohafortj. The fire is to trif, not to punfif, men's works. Therefore it is not surprising that maiiy Roman Catholic authorities are as strongly opposed to the appli- cation of this passage to i^urgatory as any Protestant can be. Cardinal Bellarinine eiuuuerates the difficul- ties of the passage, and thou the differences of the fathers on its interpretation, and next he gives quite a number of authorities who oppose each other in their views on this Scripture. Therefore, as you are bound on oath "never to take or interpret the Scriptures otherwise than by the unaiUmous consetit of the fathers," you must give this passage the go-by for any aid it can give you in your doctrine of purgatory. Desperately driven, you lay hold of 1 Peter 3:19. The apostle says, " Christ died for our sins being put to death in the flesh, but quickened in the spirit, in which aXm he went and preached unto the spirits in prison," etc. But this gives no help to your cause for the antediluvians, to whom the apostle refers ; all died in " mortal, sin" and therefore, on your own showing, could have no interest in nnything done in purgatory. PAPALISM IN STRAITS. 159 In great straits on the subject, you are led to take up a passage in the Apocrypha, and, contrary to all authority of any value, you drag these books into your canon of Holy Scriptures. Were it material to the question, I might show that anything from the Apocry- pha in support of a doctrine tn' matter of faith, is alto- gether inadmissible. ]iut when it is understood that those to whom reference is made, and in whose behalf gifts and prayers were offered, died in a state of idol- atrij, which is a mortal sin, it is evident that neither purgatory nor prayers could help them in any way. The argument used as to the nature of venial sins, in behalf of purgatory, is wasted paper, and shows among other things a lamentable ignorance of Holy Scripture. The distinction you make in sins, calling some mortal and others venial, is quite unauthorized. How venial the sin of Adam, for instance, in your scale of trying sins, must appear, for he but ate an apple ; yet how dire the conse(piences of that sin. Your theologians make a great mistake, I will take the liberty to say, on this .vhole subject, and my rea- son for making so strong a statement may be seen in the following remarks : Salvation, according to the Gospel, is, first, the pardon of sin ; and second, the renewal of the heart in righteousness. Tliis, however, is in the order of thinking only, for these acts of mercy take place at one and the same moment. For whom tlie Lord pardons, he also renews in the spirit of their mind, or in their nature. This renewal, which our Lord calls "being born again, is not a nominal, but a real thiiig, and is as a seed of grace in the heart, or as, according to one of our Lord's figures, as leaven hid in three measures of meal, works in and through the obedient believer's soul until all is so thoroughly imbued, as that he loves the Lord his God with all his heart, pting it. We should not neglect this opportunity, for how shall we escape from the miseries of our present sinful condition, and with it the aggra- vated condemnation of having allowed our opportunity to pass unimproved— if we obey not the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ 1 Such neglect is a mortal sin in the fi.uest sense in which that word can be used ; whether that neglect be in the worldly consistent moral man, or in the outbreaking and wretched vagrant, that spends his time eitlier in preying upon his fellow man, or in the prison reformatory. Instances of the neglect such as I refer to, we have in the following Scriptures. In Matthew 7 : 21 — Here is a person who had professed discipleship to the NEflLECTERS OF SALVATION. 163 ying upon Saviour ; who liad prophesieil in his name ; in his name had cast out devils, and done many wonderful works ; yet because, as tlie Lord says, he did not do "the will of my Father which is in heaven,"— who did many things but left undone the one essential thing, the will of God— therefore, he is cast down into irretrievable ruin. The figure representing this is of a house a man liad built upon the sand, which, v/hen the storms of the winter beat upon it, fell, and was utterly destroyed. In Matthew 22 : 11. -We have the case of a man who, being invited to the marriage feast of his King's son, appeared there " not having on a weddiu" "ar- ment." A venial sin, doubtless your theologians would say, and therefore needing a purgatorial treatment. But not so, according to a higher judgment, for at the King's instance he is taken for his offence of neglect of an important order, and bound hand and foot, is " cast into outer darkness ; where there is weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth." Then in IMatthew 25 : 1— is a narrative of ten vir- gins, who all went forth to a wedding feast. Five of them wisely provided for the needs of the occasion, and, as a con.sequence, secured an admission to the feast. The other five, unwisely neglected to make the provision important to the occasion, and therefore were doomed to disaster and misery. The context of this parable shows that our Lord was pointing in it to scenes which would be witnessed in the judgment of the great day. He would therefore warn us of the importance of a full preparation tc meet it; showing that then many previously in his kingdom, or church upon earth, would fail of obtaining an en- trance to heaven because due preparation had not been ma-^e for it, and that from culpable neglect. These ■ ise virgins illustrate this fact. They might have 164 FACTS VS. PURGATORY. done, ought to have done, what, the other virgins had done. But they did not; and conseque!,tly were shut out of heaven ; wliich means falhng into liell. One more case we have in his chaiiter. It is tluit of a servant who, as other servants liad ijeen, wa-i entrusted by his lord with a portion of liis substance which h'i was to employ in his herd's interesl. This he neglecti'^l to do. It is not said that he was a great sinner; hut it is made clear ho was not a faithful servant. He nejilectci bis opportiuuty of profiting l)y the means his fellow ser-afits had employ -d, therefore when the reckoning day piitnc he iippcaivd with what lie had received but Jiot W}i,r what might have been its legitimate increase. Jof^-neut passes upon this fact, and his doom is a.; an •'• unprofitalile servant," to be " bound hand and foot" and to be '-cast into outer darkness where is weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teetli." Your ideas of purgatory rest, in a great measure u^.on a supposition, which is fully destroyed by facts, inninaerable facts, of which any person can form a judgiii'Mit. You assume that sufferings, of themselves, can purify and reform our nature. But let us go any- where, to uny country and among any people, and do we not find, all but uniformly, that to he a great sinner is to be a great sufferer 1 And yet does the fact of sufiering cure any of their sinning 1 2sot in hii SALVATION OUR PRESENT WORK. 169 self is clear, for he says ; " the night conieth ivhen na man can work." The work which each man has to do, is, pre-emin- ently, the work of his own salvation. Hence, St. J'uiil exhorts him to " work it out witli fear and with trem- bling," inasmuch as " God worketli in " us " to will and to do of his own yood i»leasurp." And Avhile this is the work we have to do, 8t. Paul confirms my inter- pretation of our Lord's meaning by saying, *' while it is day," as referring to our life here, for hu adds: "behold, now is the accepted tiiiK! ; behold, 7ww is the day of salvation." 2 Ccr. 6 : 2. Here then let me review the case as I have just gone ovi.-r it. First, your doctrine of purgatory, like that of indulgences, is a novel one— of comparatively recent date— of which the primitive Church knew nothing, and which the rirc, :. Church has alwuvs rejected and cast out as of an injurious influence. Secondly, that the St ,.tures you rpiote to justify your belief u; purgatory ar^ altogether inapplicable; and even tend to destro'' ..iiher than to help your cause. This may be said also of -our distinctions of sin, as t-, some being mortal, aii'' hers venial, and, thirdly, that the great work of sah .u both as to its nature and conditions, declare [)urgalory to be a delu- sion, as its existence and use would be in direct con- travention in the Gospel in its principles and objects. As I have yet more to say on this su])ject than I can compress into this letter, I will reserve such for my next. T . , i am, yours smcerely, Marcus. ili (■'■ '- ti - LETTER XIV. THE DOGMAS OF INDULGENCES AND PUUGATORY FUIt ER CONSIDERED AND THEIR TRUE CHARACTER EXPOSED. My Dear Sir, — The subjects I have discussed in my two preceding letters are exceedingly suggestive. It is very clear that volumes might ho written upon th.; errors and scandals wliicli have arisen from thorn. 1 will restrain my hand, however, and in order to approach an end to my observations on this line, a thing I dare say you will not object to, 1 shall direct my remarks to a few propositions, which I will discuss with as much brevity as practicable. The first is : That to the Holy Scriptures, and to those only, are we indebted for any information about man's condition in the life beyond the present one. The ^second is, that on a subject so important to nian's interests as a i)urgatory is supposed to be, the information which a God of infinite wisdom and good- ness would be supposed to make to us, would be suffi- ciently clear and convincing as to leave no reasonable doubt on the mind of any truly devout person. But, as I have shown, and as any one can easily see for him- self, and as Roman Catholics themselves have fully admitted, there are no Scriptures that clearly and satis- faftorily assert the existence of such a place as purga- tory, much less of the end for which you contend it is used. Eurther, while there are no Scriptures which clearly reveal such a place as i)urgatory, neither are there any which by a fair criticism can be interpreted as even to allude to it ; therefore, so far as the Scriptures are con- cerned, the doctrine of a purgatory for souls after death, must be rejected. NO SUPPORT FROM SCRIPTURE. 171 DRY FUR KB I EXPOSED. icussed in my festive. It is en upon tin; thoiu. 1 will to approach thill <,' I dare my rejnarks niss with as tures, and to nation about present one. niportant to d to be, tlie ni and good- luld be suffi- reasonable arson. But, see for him- have fully :ly and satis- ice as jjurga- ;ontend it is Inch clearly re there any 1 as even to ires are con- souls after Again : While there are no Scriptures, which reveal a purgatory to us, such as the Church of Kome con- tends for, there are many which, as I have shown in my former letters, condemn such a supposition ; while they, and the spirit and process of remedial grace and mercy which the Scriptures describe, exhibit the whole thing as a misleading and degrading iujposition. lint were I to admit for a moment the existence of such a place as a Roman Catholic purgatory, I must contend tliat the suH'orings said to be endured there could never effect the entl proposed, of either exhaust- ing the penalty due to sin, or to purify the soul, and make it meet for heavc^n. It is said l^y the advocates of a purgatory that the guilt of mortal sin is taken away Ijy the rites of the Church, and that in purgatory tlie soul only endures for the guilt of venial sins, and the punishment due to mortal sins which was not removed by the absolution of the priest. To all this I siiy, as I have shown in a previous let- ter, that priestly absolution is of no value because not authorized, for that Christ alone " is exalted a Prince and a Saviour to grant repentance and the forgiveness of sins." Acts 5 : 31. This he holds as his own, and jealously guarded, prerogative ; and the assumption by any man, priest or otherwise, to perform such an act, or to do more than inform his fellow man of the gospel conditions of pardon and salvation, is impious in the highest degree ; and therefore of no avail upon whom pronounced. Then, as to your distinction of mortal from venial sin, such is entirely without any Scriptural authority, which is the only authority of any moment on such a subject. But were I to concede to you, for the sake of a thor- ough investigation of each part of your dogma, that 172 THE WAGES OP SIN IS DEATH. there is a purgatory, and that sufferings are en(lure(! there by souls, as you say, yet there are considerations which show your dogma to be in direct conflict witl» ( ivine truth, and therefore must of necessity be destructive of it. "^ For, first, when God pardons a sinnor he pardons lulJy aU us sins, for such is the uniform statement of ills \\ ord ; and altliongli certain consequences of sin may follow him through this life, even as a ruined phy- sical constitution often does the ineljriate, yet we have no justification for asserting that this entail is carried' by the sinner into the state h.jyond death. David's case IS remarkably in point, lie had sinned, and its bitter entail in this life he was never freed from ■ yet on the death of his child h,. could comfort himself b^: the assurance that he would go to it, though it could not return to him. 2Saml. 12:23. Xor is there any- tliiDg in the condition of a sufferer here from the Iruit of sin, to prevent him when dying, of " dyii," iu the Lord, ' " and " as a consequence, of at once " Test- nig from US" sufferings as "from his labor.s," as stated oy ht. John. Then, as to exhausting the penalty due to sin, venial or otherwise, by the amount or jieriod of sulFeriiKr the Idea IS a preposterous one. "The soul that sinneth sha 1 die IS the solemn declaration of the Word of bod. The wages of sin-ycii, of one sin, as Adam's case fully proves,— is death-death in the fullest an.l most absolute sense of that word. ^\'hat, then, is tliere in the endurance of this penalty that can imply a cessation of its infliction by exhaustin- it t We can not go beyond eternal death, and say eiidin" here life must, as an act either of justice or mercy, be restored or given back to the sinner. Much less can we show that having exhausted a penalty of eternal duration, and the soul now Iiaving become pure and holy, even THE ABSURDITY INVOLVED. 173 if such were possible, must be rewarded by a place in heaven. That sulferings, however intense, should necessarily and independent of any other means, beget purity in the suilerer, is contradicted by facts innumeraljle, many of which we have recorded in tlie Scriptures, and any number can be seen in the every day occurrences of life, and, as I have in a former letter shown, the idea is contrary to the economy and ])riiiciples of the Gospel of the Son of God. Again, I contend that the means which your Church i)roposes to employ, and does employ, to help souls while in purgatory, and to shorten their retention there, are highly unscriptural and irrational. Take the idea of masses being used for this end, and that they are certain to avail, if only enough of them are made use of. Just lo(jk for a nxoment at this idea, my dear sir. Suppose you were to go to a market to purchase anything tliere, and you were told the thing is worth ten, or twenty dollars. That means that nine, or nineteen dollars, would not sufHce, and the additiontd one is indispensable. Here you compare the worth of the two things : the thing in the market and the money in your hand. That is worth ten of the dollars you have or you cannot purclu^se it. I have to pay, say, ten masses to buy a soul from purgatory. iS'ine are not enough — not value for the object I wish to secure ; hence, I must give or get another. But is this really your estimate of the mass, sir? I will quote from the third canon of the Council of Trent, and then you will more clearly see the point of my question. He that " shall affirm that the sacri- fice of the niass is only a service of praise and thanks- uiviny, or a bare commemoration of the sacrifice made on the cross, and ni)t a pvopitiatdfij ojjcnng^ etc., etc., " let him be anathema.'' Am I asked of what is this propitiatory oft'ering composed 1 And you know my 174 TRADING IN MASSES. divinity of the /"vSf ! SiTv^l' ''" '"f "^'^ to agree with you on thi^ p^n C tu/; 1^'" ^ ''''" cur with you in ^avincr fhaf ^''' "'^ ^o^i" i"g should be subiecSl o I J ' "^""^-"'^^^^^y offer- t>;on as the ent£ra\tn*'o " "n^Tnf ^'^r"^'^" object, for any object n. vn,? ^ ^ ?.'''' ^°'' ^" m It, or could be crowded into it ''* ^''^'^ ^"^^ And yet liow immeasurably more absurd or, i 1.7 phemous is this whole subiect seen in f ^^^'^ hundreds of naSmay'b^d'r^f "^°'^'y' ^'^'^^ ^'^«"'« - you teach hi^rXw f S^'-^^5J/^--^ these masses would involve much h1 f f f"^' ^^ more than the narticnlnv .1 "''' '"""'^ labour— for them Weforiu t^lf ^ "' ''' ^^7'' ^^^" «P-^^'« Pope can be moved /«'.■? ''" ^' ^'«"^- The costly one) to . ve .i ; '^"fr^'^''^'^^^"^ (t^oubtless a the iorm^^l th^of tfe 1 ,""i "1'"'^ ""'^"^ *^"^^ condensed intohve or fiv 1 1 '^'''"'^ '""^^'^'^^^ '^I'-^J he the duty i:z^::c^^:^^^^f^^^o^ compass. Or whif np,.l,o^ P^cucaJ, or a convenient THE CHURCH A PLACE OF MERCHANDISE. 175 he appearance J, the soul and "ppose I were then:,' ,re con- itiatory offer- s of computa- iiasses for an ^ Pope, may 'our mass is a 'ation to God viniiy of the \ ^yvo. up for fct a sou*] out it were ever fd and bias- way you are ', frightened lati brains — 'dge in them y, that some 3 of his sml, ).e saying of d labour — t can spare lone. TJie doubtless a means that ^es may be , therefore, convenient "se it can iiid cost, a i there are e places — ■ five cents each,) to perform the whole number of masses. This answers several important ends : and is preferable to the other plan, because it is an easy way of getting through an onerous duty ; and at the same time of lielping a number of poor brethren who are on the mar- ket for a job. Our Lord once drove out of the temple those who bought and sold in it, saying ihey had made it a den of thieves ; and why he has not long ere this visited the churches of Rome for a similar offence, nay, I should say, hundreds of times more aggravating and objectionable, is a question for many of us to wonder over. But how scandalous this whole thing ; and how repulsive is its look when seen in proper light. But then, you know, sir, I have entered my solemn and strong protest against your mass altogether. That I have shown it to be a mere wafer-god service ; yea, a blasphemous travesty on the most sacred and affect- ing scene enacted in the great work of human redemp- tion. First, by implication in investing the human nature of our Lord witli the attributes of omnipresence, etc., attril)utes which are peculiar to deity alone ; and that while his own words and actions in many instances show the contrary. As when he said : " TJio poor ye have always with you ; hut me ye have not always." Mark 14:7. " Nevertheless it is needful for you that I go away ; for if / go not away, the Comforter will not come to you." John 16:7. That while he spoke, and acted, and thus taught us the necessary limitations of his humanity, as tliat by which any and every created thing is and must be limited, you in your wafer-god operations insist that his body can be in ten thousand places at one and the same moment, and that the same thing can be ten thousand same things, at the same time, and each in a different place ! ! A thing, my dear sir, which even God himself could not do ! And I make this statement, I trust, with all due reverence. 176 IDOLATRY OF THE MASS. Furtlier, and as {;xuro^ain* yom- Caitlinah, power lie w , rtn "'°'«'" "' "'« woiijrou. U- true :.!" W , 7, r^ '^ ''"l""''' "' '"'' ""..-cl. to -atei.i„.;„„ai.e,,at^,„:i\;,fT;v;;«r,7-;,:; inlier mass— Jicr wifpv r i . ^o'»e proclaims "ot oive eiUioi truth 0,?" '' operations,-but that does fore^sse ti^ \^ , ^^'^■'^^' ^'' f^^^- I there- or any of ,0^^^^^;^^^ '"'" ^'"" innnen e ha "totve,^ ' ?^ •^' ^' "' ^"^^"J'^ted to do PURGATORY MONEY MAKING. 177 absurdity and ely,— that the tter, a created ;e God ! For ive, under tlie and of Aua- ■Jt-pus viPimi," tilihdantialJii, ' a?id (fiinnitji Hir CardiuciLs, tlie Avondrous •t, — and well lis Cliurcli to ke tliis ? He nie power to imde by niy ne mixed by and become so that now olierent and le proclaims ut that does g. I there- )n from you a mass ser- in behalf of lated to do to do with the highest ive to God he faitliful ted beliov- ulered, ac- and are to be duly attended to, with the performance of the mass, or masses, in order to the repose of souls in purgatory, or their deliverance out of it. And a signihcant hint is given of what the Cliurch ever keeps her eye upon, viz., "And whatever services are due to the dead through the endowmejits of deceased persons, or in any other way, let them not be performed slightly," which means, that if surviving friends wish their departed loved ones o be brought out of purgatory they must pay up handsomely, and fully, all th'at had been be- queathed to the Church in the way of alms, endow- ments, or otherwise for that end. For it would be vain to expect success to attend even the oifering of masses, if the endowments of deceased persons " were held back, and not paid to the Church." But to whom are these alms to be applied 1 and the answer is, as from all the past, and the present we gather information on the subject, they are all for the Church. She is the maelstrom that swallows up every- thing in this shape, or indeed in any other, that can add to her possessions in any form. And all coming in this way is " piously and religiously rendered," in the estimation of your Church. Your method now of getting alms, as you call them, is quite an improved one, to that pursued by Pope Leo the Tenth. He, ostensibly to beautify St. Peter's in Rome, but really to meet the demands which voluptuous living occa- sioned, had recourse to the sale of Indulgences, alms for the Church, which is another name for them. His agent, Tetzel, with more zeal than prudence, pushed the matter so indiscreetly, yea, shamelessly it should he said, that he provoked an opposition which resulted in the great Lutheran reformation. Admonished by that, to jour Church, sad event, your clerc^y drive their bar- gainings for alms now more cautiously, and generally through the confessional, and beyond a question araaz- 178 AN INTERESTING CASE. ing success attends their labours Tn fK„ . • they can enlarge ad liljitZ Z^. hi confessional tory, and of the po ve o L P ' °'/°'^' "^ P"''^'''^" from them, if only a Iidtah . l , "'°^' ^° ^'^^ «»yo^'« Responses 'are il^ and «:;;?!"'"" '^ ''''''''^- adro.tness with whiil the\S fs S" ^'^^ "^^ f er^s a!;si;;:S;i.!:i;;;^^^ r -""^^' dence of this. Montreal co 1, S i ' "'''^ ^''"''^ ^^i" of it. It ^vould be Tn h, w . "• ""^ illustrations I have no doub if"no of v'^' '''/'" ^"■^'"'^«^'<^«to^y. it. how a certain\feaU fylr who S Tft ^/^ °-- who made his great weal ^ t i , "*^ ^''^'^^' ^'"^ honorablewayinthewor '] ''''^^ ';»"«* the most the very la J <4ft ^^ S' ..^"[^'T '^^•'"^""' ^^ Roman Catholic Church o^f IL city Z7f^ I'''' timely act of confession c^ot hln^'I\ ^'^^ ^'^' ^y ^ way, is to be believed .ndf,;,""'?;^ 'T ""^ of the considerable bill a- Ih'ist hin"',*^'^'' ^'' ^^^^^led the purgatory, for the Cnce of 'l 7? >", ' •'^'^""^'^ "^ cancelled by the first absolnh- .'^f ''''' ^^^^ un- sins, if he ever w.rtroubS 'V'"'^ ^'' ^"'^'^ ^^"i'^1 that were held aSst h , , '' . f ^,'^ ^^''' '^^''~■ all this was accCi si e ' S.r ''"^•*'^^^- ^^^^^ tale, and would doubtw\r^ °™ '"'^ interesting might fail of bein^^s tofitable'ar"", fr",^^^""^"^ ^^ There is another w.vnv '°"^'^ ^^ ^^^ired. one now refe^rSlTf^^.X'bXr.f ^T^ ^^'^'^ *'^'^ not generally apprehend. n^S i '" ""'"'^ Purgatory by helping tl.e W^t 't^:^ T^^ oT "^'^f ^ ^^^^ troublesome enemies Jf ?. t ?^ ^"^ °^ ^er very oome up in the^'aTego^ o ''Sms'i^o^l/^";, -"^^^ Such a case as that of tLr , ^^'^ ^he Church. a former letSr It was to anlf""/ ^'^'^"'^^ '^ -^ away with Elizabeth, Queen of ClJ ^ "tT^*^- T'^^'^^ -e in this case statW^l J ^f^^L^^t dirike h^" NOTABLE INSTANCES. 179 r n :;sr;!';'"'-v' !"-«<• f.in.tif, t'lt ^ y. T1.1., i,i,po.,mg ami attractive induh^mrehZlZ Jie might be, assnnung ,t to bo very probable thitT! S'S'hi:VeT"t,tTt^r^™''''°"-"^^^^^ The same may be sai.l of Guy Fawkcs and hi^ f»n„, surc^MCalV '"" "" "!° I^'8'«> ftrhan'' t'°"°o ;';v£;:.^JJ:r;:isfs:r;;ltX^r^t^^^^^^^ of instipp " tf o,.„ • Tr » -^ ^'^"^> "le execution "o. earth » be "?"■""■ '''"■°"«' »" ">»rtvr»." uii eaith he says, " Urey wore the garb of felons ■ And what does all this declare? " These nerson. nl though convicted of the foul atten.pt o bio w im in 1' horrible manner the whole P-irliamPnVnf t,^ , F ! God in white garments and a cro^vn on fcl^L held All because what they did was for -inrl Jn H 7 of the Pino I PK„..i f TT '^"" "^ "1*^ interests the 1 apal Church ! Hence we see very clearly that 180 A WIDE REACHING INDULGENCE. If Iff: murder, no matter how atrocious, if but for your Church, is one of the most direct roads from earth to heaven, and quite over and away from tiie region of purgatory. This beats all that your wafer-god mass operations can effect, and everything else you boast of as a means of salvation. How soon your people may be told that the time has come to strike down all heretics, and to rid the world and your Church of all such offensive obstructions to her aspirations and interests, and therefore orders be issued to that end, none can say. It may be proper to remark that not a few minds have had for some time past forebodings on this subject; knowing well that the spirit which animated the Gunpowder Plot and Phoenix Park assassins is by no means a slumbering one, but on the contrary is wide awake and far spread in many lands. There is very little reason for doubting that motives such as nerved the Gunpowder Plot assassins were those ■which actuated the Phoenix Park villains — who so vilely murdered Lord Cavendish and Mr. Burke there. The principal actors in that dark scene were known to have been for a number of years active and honored mem- bers of Jesuit churches in Dublin and Liverpool, and that for one of them at least a public mass Avas said in Liverpool, when its worshippers were clad in mourn- ing. And if for service to their Church the gunpowder plot felons were rewarded with a short and speedy road to heaven, even to the side of the throne of God, as Cardinal Manning tells us— although he has not given us any credible evidence as to how he knows this— then may we not infer from this that the felons of the Phoenix Park affair would have bestowed upon them by their Church a similarly high and attractive reward for their deed of devilish cruelty and horribleness. There are many Roman Catholics, I am glad to believe, to PARISIAN ARCHBISHOPS MURDKRED. 181 ou boast of whom such principles are as offensive as to anyone out- side of their Church, and who woukl readily renounce all responsibility for them if such were required. With these, I have no hesitancy in saying,', I place you, honored sir. ]'>ut you, and others like you, are held by your system, now worked with tremendous energy by the Jesuit order, that has been revivo e>. ^■^ ¥^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) 1.0 2.2 I.I 1^ ^ ti& mil 2.0 [1^ i u 1.6 riiuujgicipiuL; Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 7 A {./ .

^9) m \^ <*>. w1j~" wL*' fl? 184 A FEARFUL rvj) BEFORE THE PAPALIST. fll \ r"" '*•• ^^^ *° ^'^^^^ *^he attempt, in a timely and becoming manner, would lay me open to a censure from both God and man, and prove me to have ah^. f1l P7"^Pt'"f of an instinct common to almost the very lowest kind of animal life lo apply diis simple and easily apprehended prin- ciple I w,]! say that from the views and conviotL>s cJhTV '' "^'f ""'^^ ''^"^ "^•''S'-^^ «f the Roman day I am fully of the opinion that those who follow sucli, as you and your people are ever impelled to do are moving to a fearful end ; and that, believing this to be the case, I should be guilty before God ancf man of a serious neglect of duty were I not to employ this to me, nost available method, of so seeking to arouse you (.V as many of your people as I may possibly influence, so as to turn you out of your r resent course and into one offering, with other things, that successful issue to the life eternal .vhich we all most ardently desire and pray for. -^ If yoii have read what I have already written and addressed to you, you will not be induced to believe tJiat 1 have ventured to write upon a subject of which 1 know nothing, and therefore was not competent to treat; much less will you conclude that the points I have marked against your Church are few and incon- siderable, lou must admit, as every impartial thinker will, I venture to say, that if my reasonings are logi- cal and my conclusions legitimate, your Church lias tinted into an alarming condition truly; yea, amon- rocks and quicksands, and that your only chance of saving your life is by abandoning the ship and makino- for the shore by any meitus within your reach or at al! possible. Jou must excuse me for saying that your conditio i and as well that of every other consistent Roman attempt, in a me open to a ve me to have ; common to 'e. hended prin- i convictions f the Roman f the present ! who follow pelled to do, eheving this rod and man employ this, ing to arouse nay possibly esent course at successful ost ardently written and I to believe ict of which 3mpetent to ;he points I and incon- 'tial thinker gs are logi- IJhurch has yea, among ■ chance of md making ch or at all : conditio 1, snt Roman AN EFFMCT OF EARLY TRAINING. 185 Catholic, is a very serious one — that it is such as should excite for you the sympathy of every well-informed Christian mind. Trained as you are, from the earliest action of your reasoning powers, to receive what your Church says as the Word of God ; to believe that as there is but one God, so is the. 3 but one faith and one Church, and that your Church is that one Church, and her faith the one faiih, which all must receive, or fall into the state and doom of a heretic, the worst conceivable and the most to be dreaded ; it is easily understood how you could sink into dangerous e.'ror. Then, as against the possibility of error, your Church, you are taught to believe, is fully and sufficiently guarded by our Lord's promise to Peter : that on him he would build his Church, and that against it the gates of hell should never prevail; while, in order to prevent the least exercise of the mind to examine into or test these averments, you were told that while heresy is tiie greatest of sins, its taint is contracted when a doubt of your Church's authority is allowed to rest in your mind. Your safety, therefore, you believe, requires that you should refuse even to thiuii upon anything your Church had condemned, and as this action soon takes the form of a habit, which becomes stronger as life advances, so is made the attainment of a truly intel- ligent conviction of the reason of your faivb. an utter impossibility. The Holy Spirit, by St. Paul, says : " Prove all things, hold fast that which is good." 1 Thess. 5:21. By St. John, he says : " Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God ; because many false prophets are gone out into the world." 1 John 4:1. By St. Peter, the Spirit ad- monishes, saying : " That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, Ciid of the commandment of us, the apostles of the 186 PAPAL LAW OP OBEDIENCE. Lord and Saviour." 1 Peter S • 9 p„. • P etv that nnv nn ' ^■'■''"^'''^ 1^°^°^ "^^ ^^is^!om and St . fl,!^ ? '-''' «^'" ^^' to listen only to his Sirs :x.:zr " *"- -- - „!,„«'""''.';""''• ""="='<"«. 'o sticli aat', ., as Lov conlu^, tat Utfcl.^™ "'"' ^■°""- "?""= "■»'<". Ell ::Ji" "-^™ "°- c,LS So ;;:t'i„"s{ ln°of >i r" "rr"' •™'' P'"™-" "> y™ an exl tear;„a\'„';i:i;;;s;Lt;!n;:i^:i:^ it. Looking from the stern to the bowsprit, sin^ply he REMAHKABLB ASSUMPTIONS. 187 " in opposition oil counsel your wul, instead of ^ propliets and 5f wis. lorn and sn only to his blind or impli- " Though we, ^r gospel unto unto you, let af this, as he ' Galatians, — !uit the gospel lie exercise of you, such an >le, and would oyola, one of says : " The ie, if in our 'chat is coin- '5 as Loy- ihe apostles eople make, liought that ity, as in all u an expres- 'fcellence of to all she it or wrong, to move as to lift itself >ii on board •Jy navigate ects Avithin , simply he steers his barque, and, unmindful of the effect of drifting, currents and winds, he goes on until her thumping upon the rocks of an iron-bound coast has aroused him to a sense of his very serious and foolish mistake. Let me explain my views here mora fully. I do so by observing that, while your Church holds every great truth cf the Bible, which constitutes the Christian's faith, s le liolds by the side of each such truth an error, which neutralizes any saving influence from it, and destroys its efficacy for the end designed. For instance, you Ijelieve in God — in God as revealed in His Avorks and in His Word ; but this great truth you neutralize by putting your Cliurch in G this is my remembrance ;ook the cup, he ^'ew Tes- as ye drink s ye eat this Lord's death 1 an author- r as even to ^ially in the assumption forcilily the -I'l'ed to, as sin," "the ith himself 3od sitteth that he is Facts, confirmatory and as well illustrative of this charge, are so many and so various that no serious- minded member of your Church will attempt to deny, however he may endeavor to defend and justify it. In order to open the way, and to enforce obedience to Papal authority, even while it is made to supersede that of God Himself, such statements as the following, from the Jesuit paper called the Civilta, and published in Rome, are freely circulated. After asserting that all the treasures of Divine revelation, of truth, righteous- ness and the gifts of God, are in the Pope's band, who is their sole dispenser and guardian, comes to the con- clusion that the Pope carries on Christ's work on earth, and is in relation to us what Christ would be if He were still visibly present to rule His Church. And Cardinal Manning, speaking in the name of the Pope, makes for him the following claim : " I acknow- ledge no civil power ; I am the subject of no prince ; and I claim to he the supreme judge and diredor of the consciences of men — of the peasant that tills the fields and of the prince that sits upon the throne. / am the sole, last, supreme judge of ichat is right and wrong." All this sounds sufficiently bold and assuming to those who know, and are fully assured as it is possible to be on any subject, that the position claimed here was never by Christ assigned to any man ; and that the foundation on which it stands is but the flighty imagi- nation of vainly ambitious and misguided men. But waving a further consideration of this fact for the pres- ent, although enough has already been stated to dis- prove it, I remark how strikingly unlike your Pope's assumption of lordliness Avas the Saviour's spirit and conduct when he acknowledged himself a subject of an earthly power by paying tribute for himself and Peter, and by directing that as a duty all should render to 190 PAPAL OBJECTS OP WORSHIP. liff Sgs ^iJ!"^!^ -« CWs, and to God the and obedience inon ill TH ^'"''' '" ^^orship, trust «" your PopJs ^0 e' oJ or'^'"^^^- • ^^"^ ^his with upon tlie earthf ho ev de ntlv n '''' ^" ^^"''''' ^^^^k course from that whic Chr^.t^T"'' ', ^^^^ '^^^^^^^t earth, and that whirLwm,^"^'-^'^^'* ''^'^« °" the v,sib]y present as formerly He w.^r ^"T"- ^^^^« '^^ ;vill not be questioned bv an v on ' , "l^^^'^^^ion which teaching ani life then werf an w'^^'t'^' ''^''' "''^ mnt no,v inculcate withTnvarvinl ^ ^'' ''''^ ^"'^^ ~ ^r S-:,;^ ^^vein God-the God shipped and served as HomuT u^l '^^^"^'^ ^« ^^o^- •-vnd yet with this profession i"'''^^ ^f commanded ; offers to saints, to imat'S roH '""f''^ ''^'^'^' ^^J »ng or beneficial infl eCe W / '/ ^^^^roys any sav- and so vitiates the "'hole '7 i''^'^^' ^^"^^^ ^o God, idolatry than of acrep^ab" s^^];:'^ '' ''''''' ^'^ ^^ ^' tute Tel;::;t: woLht J;^^ t""^"°- ^- -«ti- which you render to?a-t Cf. "" \' ^°^^ '-^"^^ ^^at distinction is alto<^ether mn^ ° """"^ ''^^''- ^"^^ a a moment offered" o^'y^rvrir'/ir.?' its being for such distinction in the ^n^d It ^^''1^^ ^''^^ «°"^« Hupatient at the absencVo^M ^s V" f" '''''''''''''' God, they came to Aaron and snH f , ' "'°"'^t with us gods which shall go b fore u 'I *" ^"'"' " ^p. niake the man that broughf x'sln out'of /' ^T '^"^ ^^''''' what is become of him " Vn^ ^^ %ypt, we wot not • ^'"^ ^^hen they got from PAPAL DISTINCTIONS FUTILE. 191 Aaron the golden calf he had made for them, and had recognized the fact that " to-morrow is a feast of the Lord, we are told, they worshipped on this very day this golden calf, are we to imagine that they had so completely forgotten the Lord that tliey really put this image in llis place in the worship they offered ? Not for a moment. They wanted a substitute for Moses, and as they thought they had such in the calf, thev worshipped it as such. ^ We have a similar instance recorded in the second Book of Kings, 17 ch., 29 : <' Howbeit every nation madego(lsof their own, and put them in the houses ot the high places which the Samaritans had made every nation in their cities wherein they dwelt So they feared the Lord and served their own gods after the manner of the natives whom they carried away from thence." "^ The distinctions which your Church makes in tue worship you offer to God and to the saints and images may be yours lu name, but in that only, for beyond a question the idolaters of olden times had just such a distinction in their minds when they feared the Lord, and at the same time worshipped or served their own gods. But let it be borne in mind they were estimated and treated by God as idolaters ; and so is your Church ray dear sir, for in the graphic description given of it in the seventeenth of Kevelation, she i,^ charged with " fornication," which is a Scriptural synonym for idol- atry. But is there a real, or even an apparent difference in the terms you apply to the Virgin Mary and those which the Scriptures apply to God, or in the worship you offer her 1 You call the Virgin Mary " the refuse of sinners;" while David declares that "God is our refuge. You say of Mary that " she is the gate of heaven ; but Christ says : " I am the door. By me, if 192 THE VIRGIN MARY WORSHIPPED. any man enter in, he shall be saved." You call the Most Holy Mary," " Q,,,,™ „f Angela » " Oii„„n „t Hoav™, .. s™t of Wisdo,,,," " Mirror 'juslS'^nl m a 1 «a tor of th. DlMsod Virfjin you are ,,vLr„ wo^u,. her i„ the following ,tr,d„ o'f wo"rds and'l:" «";iL"tt: o'vrvfyi;° *r' « bother of cod; th:ete"„a;r:"tl*;''°" """'™™ "'«°'"- '■■"-"f '' To thee Angels and Archangels; to thee throne, and principalities humbly bow t' emsdves To thee all Choirs; to the. Cherubim and Sera- phim exulting worship around (thee) . " To tliee all Angelic Creatures sing praises with incessant voice. ° pi'iises witli "Holy holy holy Mary, Mother of God both lo\v n"Xo "T"-' ,^-i - ^1- -- book i:1:hetK lowmg also . The heavens declare the glorv of the virgin, and the firmament showeth fortlfheT hand" In a work entitled " Le Pouvoir de Marie" is a prayer very generally used by your Church In t is the lowing : «' Mary, my refuge, how ofte lave hdl YoX^^'V''' '^"'">"'^ '"^^"-' t^- ^J-eo n e Horn the hands of my herce enemies ; but I tremble from fear of again falling into their po^^;r, for I kuS w that their rage has no repose, and tl4t they expect ml £ nd'rvT/"^^P"^-. Holy Virgin! b'emrbUk- ler and my defence ; with your aid I am sure to con quer ; but grant that I may i^ver forget to invoke vou m my conflicts, and especially in this last C S expire while pronouncing this name to the end, that THE WORSHIP OP MART FORniDDEX. 193 praises with I may find myself at your feet in heaven. Amen " Many examples of a similar (character could lu- -'jven each showing that worshij) of tlu; higiiest order is'^'iven to the Vn-gm Mary, and that not onlv to the exclusion of any reference to God, l)ut in a way that exalts her above deity itself. That this is especially forbidden is well known to every reader of his IJible. The words of our Lord to batan are of themselves a rel)uke of your worsliip of the Virgin Mary, as of any other saint : " And ,](>sus answered and said unto him, (let thee behind me, Satan for It IS written. Thou shalt worship the Lord thv Cod and Htm jr is valueless. The worship you render your wafer-god is commented upon by an Arabian philosopher in the following humiliating style : "I have travelled," he says, " over the world, and have found divers sects ; but so sottish a sect or low I never found as is the sect of the Chris- tians ; because with their own mouth they devour their God whom they worship." There is a remarkable variety of opinions among your learned doctors, and even your Councils, on the kind of worship to be paid to images, etc. The second Council of Nice represented images as holy, and com- municated holiness, and were entitled to the same veu- 196 PRAYER TO THE CROSS ENJOINED. eration as the Gospel ; and condemned those who used pictures only or the assistance of n.emory, aZnoTilv adorat.on. The Council of Trent, while ^profssn^t follow the Nicene one in this view, yet departed from gethei void of any virtue; yet learned theolo-ians are found ranged on both sides. But all agree thatl rem^ worship should be paid to the Cross. ' The 1 ^ iZ.'^t ^°^^-'/\l--- on this subject TstVl ows. rie cross is to be worshipped with /«/;,•«, which IS also to be addressed to Jesus and His image^' And XTn r " ^'''^ \'''^' y"''' ^'oph to pray- Hail, O Cross our only hope ; increase righteousness the pious, and l^estow pardon on the guilty Save the present assembly met this day for thy ^nle.'' saiVlntPlf '"?^''' '? ''^'^'''' W<^^ ^"d praise to a saved, inelhgent creature; but to exalt a piece of vood, an inanimate thing, to be an object of Worship to praise 't as being the hope, the only hope o7a rational creature, a means for increasing lihterusness :n such, and a power to bestow pardon for S s ns IS such an act o the ridiculous in blasphemy and of he absurd in idolatry, as the world has raref; if eve seen a^iywhere but in the Church of Kome M i bS whi e God prohibits all such things in the clearest and mos forcible manner, and has visited upon viciators of His law, m many and various ways, the severest expres sions of His anger, your Church enjoins them and pro nounces upon all her anathemas who refuse obedience" to her will or even question her authority for express- ing and enforcing it. ^ t-xpress Another instance in which your Church virtuallv Ignores God is by putting herself in His place and bv s^mnnng his authority, as seen in her treaVmentTf th^ divine law and of those who violate it. THE LAW OF GOD TO BK HONOURED. 197 In no government will any one but an unprincipled despot trample upon law, or even trifle with its sanc- tions ; and if there be one person above another, who should respect the divine law and maintain its sanc- tions it IS he who professes to be a Christian, and therefore a subject of the kingdom of Christ To uphold law in all its sanctions the Son of God became incarnate. In the maintenance of the claims of crood government, and therefore regard for its laws, God required the enforcement of its pev :'-,y upon man, who had broken His law and insultou His government iiut as this would blot out or destroy the human race, God gave His only begotten Son to bear the penalty by His death, as by His life Ho had shed honor on the divine law and government. In anvheu they rightly sustain their office. They know tliat tliey are responsible for worthily sustainiiur the honor and the interests of the throne and country they act lor. Were they to go beyond their instructions their actions would be disallowed. Acting in full and strict accord with their instructions they are sustained by all the power and authority of the country they represent -But what if, asserting that all power to do as they pleased was theirs ; that they could alter the terras upon which submission Avas demanded, and so treat and net n.s to make it an entirely personal thing of their own, promoting solely their own interests, and only made use of the name and power of their government so as to exalt and enrich themselves, would we not under these circumstances, conclude that they had com- pletely lost sight of the nature; and objects of their mission and of their responsibilities alike to their sov- ereign and the persons with whom they were sent to treat ? Forgetting the fact that if really you are ministers ot Christ your office is that simply of an ambassador, Avhoas such should faithfully represent your Sovereic^n and implicitly carry out his instructions, you have dared to I3UC the crown upon your own head— a triple crown designed to denote dominion over heaven, earth and hell • you assume that you hold the k^.ys of each ; and that you can, and therijfore do, make new laws, alter old ones make new conditions of salvation, even to the expunging of those which God had promulgated and ratified, and al together suiting your acti-ns to your assumed authority you declare that if such and such things are not done- things which every precept of God's ^Vord opposes, the person refusing you obedience is accursed ; or, on tlie SEXTUS V. AGAINST QUEEN ELIZABETH. 199 an important ' carry out his s, so is it with !. They know sustaining the country they ructions their full and strict stained by all icy represent, to do as they er tlie terms and so treat tiling of their iits, and only ■ government add we not, hey had com- iects of their to their sov- vere sent to re ministers ambassador, ur Sovereign u have dared triple crown rth and hell; h ; and that Iter old ones, e expunging ified, and al- id authority, not done — opposes, the ; or, on the other hand, if such and such things are done, which you enjoin, even though contrary to God's Word, then heaven shall be the reward of such actions, or, if not heaven, at least the sufferings of purgatory sliall be greatly modified. In confirmation of the above, let me quote from the bull of Sextus V. against Queen Elizabeth of England. In it is the following : " He who reigneth on liiidi, tn Wlioiii all power is given in heaven and earth, huth eouuuitU'd to the one, holy, catho- lic and apostolic Cliurch, out of which there is no sal- vation, to be governed with plenitude of power, hij one only on earth. This one he hath constituted a prince over all nations, and all kingdoms, to pluck up, waste, destroy, plant and build. Supported by this Authority, who hath seen fit to place me, however unequal to such a charge, in this supreme throne of justice, I pronounce and declare in the plenitude of my apostolic authority, the said Elizabeth laid under a sentence of anathema ; deprived of all right and title to her kingdom, her sub- jects absolved from all oaths of allegiance to her ; and those who obey her in the like sentence of anathema." This shows supreme and unlimited authority over all the earth. But the indulgence and pardon offered for those who should murder the Queen shows an author- ity over earth and heaven, such as even God himself does not exercise. The indulgence is not only pardon in the absolute remission of sins to the individual who should destroy her life, but even to the heirs of this per- son ! To these, for this act of murder by an ancestor was secured, no matter what might be their subsequent life, a pardon and absolute remission of their sins for ever. The power claimed by Priest Burke, and referred to in a former letter, is one claimed by every member of your clergy, as you will not deny, from the Pope down to the simplest parish priest that knows to do little more than to chant a mass and denounce a heretic. 200 god's government misrepresented. raniii"p;Lt'""rti;t "'%™"fe--°''i." ^ys this aevii in hell will ever be able to accuse him of that sin " those indulgences still made use of, and wit coSei able frequency in your Church, 'as you well ktow" say ^ ""y >.oi.l, al.s„ a„tag„,,':t'i; e i t ' ttu^ J f T'"' t" ence — and tlnf w),;i,. r ;vjhlh noiiiivilizo its mflu- tiplied mediators as tn L.il I." ' ' -'^'^ '''''^ «» ^ul- my name, and my rrioj-u will T ,./f '• ^^^^'^<' ^^ niy praise to ,nu.mi,.^e;'isa/9^^^^^^ '? '^"°^'^<^^' "-" 'is an admonition to faif unon ill Jl 7' '''^'"'"° '"'^^^ him to the M-orsh p o \ nv ' ^""^ *^"^'"*^^' ^'^"^ conf lor it a mosf ^L^r ur^i:7.1rt;'' "'^ Lord in one of hfq m^.f . ""'"o to supersede our great schen.e „°/ ht.ar^ar^tir' H^'offl'" t the nppoiMtment of the Fatlior 7t ' , ■",',*«, by act of idolatry nn,] in/ni f . , ' ^^ '-"^ ^<^ <^a^isproStoLZ^? 'Z'"'*'''^^^ «^ being own diyines saM of W lZ"''"^^'"^-^"^ !°"^« ^^ her own divines said of her yeafs ago. Our Lord during HOR. catetl this hi,<,fh >ver to you t?io '6 had received Cluirch (which uments aro in- le find the other for that tlioy w to act in any XHit wliich lies 'A the triitli she I'alize its infl,,- yetliat "there iotl and men, 10 has so mul- ^' influence of eachiug. Por 3 Lord, 'that is :> another, nor lesigning such I turned from so should M'e ipersede our ffices in the ^is office, by ■ Intercessor ession. Hcb. tion of other it equally an st as the mie lediators, be ;h has done, tig the faith d of being orae of her lOrd during CIIKJST TilE ONE AND ONLY MEDIATOR. 207 his personal ministry declared that he " was the way. the tru h and the hfe," and that "no man co.neth nl\ the lather but by me." John 14:6. And St. Paul says: Jmt this man becau.se he continueth ever "—and not as the Jewish High Priests who pn.sse.l away by dea b -nor as your Church by her action supposes, 4., tba becau.se of us death on the cro.ss hetooh'adpu away-but " because he continueth ever, hath , n un- changeable pr,esthood,»-c„M,se.juently lias no succe.s- sor, and all your priestly arrangements as implying such arc uncalled for -" Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermo.st that come unto (Jo.l by Inm, seeing he ever liveth to make intercessio.i tor them. Heb. 7 : 24 25. With such facts before us must we not believe to bo singularly provoking of the divine displeasure the ads ot your Church in the many intercessors she has „lacod before her people; thus virtually superseding our L.ml m one of the highest and most sacred offices he holds to us ? _ To say that he shouhl not be the one onh, Me- diator, IS to say virtually that he cannot he one at all For he will be ^Ae o^^V o«« to each indicidual, ox to each individual he will be none. Of the Virgin iAIary, as now the intercessor most frequent y looked to and trusted in, you speak and act as hough 1,1 her you had found one in every way more suitable for the Church and the world than Cluift him- self could or wouhl be. th<: father hut by me," hnt yoxx say yivin^\\y this is a mistake, and to prove it such you institute other medi- ators, as if to show that by such an addition the way to the Father is much improved, and made more assur- ing. Here is a great and startling fact, my dear sir • let me ask you to look at it with becoming care and at- tention. It is that while God, the infinitely wise and 208 Tills oouNv • iiri m i OF TRK.VT COMMANDS IDOLATHV. tain principle., of a' • io '^ ' ""' "' '/ '"''^ 'ho »o,d ler how great Hoover your crimes rnay l.e e no and s-tlvl'r^l "'?"'"^'' *" ^'"^ ^'^^'^<^ ««»^'^rns of your Mlvat.on tl.ougli unfortunately proof against tlie most engagnig invitations of tlie Holv Gho<,t H !,, V, at the feet of this powerful aZelle ' "'"' ''""'' Hail Mary, lady and mistress of the world to whom all power has been given both in heaven 'and " You are the great mediatrix between God and mnn coiicihatio 3,j,j,icate than to dictate" rnnH"""'r^''^^'''''' '''^"^' Called Germain praved "O cession is life your protecfion is security : if you do adore God in spirit. most Holy Virgin none J^n W the knowledge of God but by yS oyirZ Mother, none can be delivered from dangers bul^; recTlv'toT' V- ''^P'T''' "^ "^'-^"y P^'-^y-^r^ offered di- rectly to the \irgin Mary, as a hearer and answerer of 210 A PRAYER TO JOSEPH. J'rayer, and others refrar,i;,ur l,nr. ^0(1 and tl,e sinnei C "? T '" "^"^'^^^'^^ between the conniKuuhnents of rU "\ Pf'^^^^^ ^^^^^tion of which are cles ^ to i^:!rT'\^?'^'''y ^^^^ "f those being the one^, y M«' 't.r of ?/"t "^%bono«r of futson^e addresses to £ '.f, "if ^^^^^^ Testament, bimself. TJ)is is evpres ed . ^^ven above God Catliolie chapel in Wi^^'aT 1 I ?''^'''' i'^ a Roman Jenkins telJs us, « Godle F^t ' "' '''^'«''' ''' J>- fie, and God the So on hJV' P"'"^^^^ «" «"« Mary, enthroned betw e^th L'o "5;"^ "^^ ^"•«'- her /lead." Prayers to t1 ^ ' ?^^' "* ^"'■^'^ ?<7^«« J;-^?uage, rogarl>" h .'^^^^^^^^^^^ cast Ll Garden of the Soul you k u h tn "'^'^^'f ''°^- ^^ ^he goriousdescendantS h k i^fJut^^ " '' tbe virtues of all the Patriar .],f i t ? J"beritor of Joseph! Z/.S7... /« , ™"^^^^^^^^^ J"; -^'l bappy St. prayer is offered in this foim '" J'^J^'^'T' '' ^""'^''^ of «t. Thomas, which ho .'.f . "'""' '^>' "^"^ blood "^ay ascend whitli r L .sc <1 ''' T Fr^' '^''' ^^'^ gan idolaters, from whnn.l • , '^"''' ^''^'^ the pa- number of lekC i,: r;r ;t-,"' ^/-^r ^'^^^^' ^ tron saints, as they had nf/vn ,'"'"' ^^''^^ ^^<^r Pa- againstfire anoE St A i T^'' ^^- ^'^^^"lony I^arbara, in timc^ of t^ u,^ f S '°"^ ^?"""^«"' «^ diseases of the throat S Polo T"' ^*- ^^'''' ^^r nm.ga, for fevers ; and St Rn,T"'/°' f"'^^'^ ' ^^- ^o- J^ut the confitur W eh everv'd '^' ^^f^^'^' ^t«- your Church uses, lea imh fo f , '' ^^«^'«bipper of and his Christ daily! *^"' '"^ ''-^''''^ God b]e;s^dli^"etl^i;:^^;""S^^^ God, to the Archangel ; to blessed Kn . ° t ''''^^ ^^^^^^'^^^^ tbe apostles^P^r audit l°a^l t H^r' ^' '° *^" ^^«^^ have sinneci exceedin-IvTfi . '' ''''^^^'' *bat I OUR lord's teaching a contrast. 91 1 SS"jkL'erE\^^ir jri "r; r« ->^i". list, th» holy apotc fttffa^d p™ °'"^"'M''•^'•- «am^ to p,.„y to'tho Lord ol G„a fo'i""" •'■" "'» I will, loll '• "fiy';"""-* "i*"'." '■» "V NA.M. that labour ««,; „r t„ , (■•""' '"'to me 0P« <■( elusion that a tldn^ nf t i ^'''^ "^^^^^'^•^ t^^« ^on- ape.o„.l.a;et;";:rrerart- 212 THE PRIEST ASSUMES AN IMPOSSIBILITY. only existed then and had a personal experience of pain, sorrow and deatli, but has had since and now consciousne^^s of power, majesty and glory in heaven which none but an infinite being could participate in or exist under. A service that implies that an act has been performed which even God himself could not effect, VIZ., of turning a finite thing— a wafer— into the inhnite God— for such is Jesus Christ in his divine nature : and that invests the human nature of our Lord, which is finite, and as such is and must be limited, as all human beings are, with the attributes of Omnipresence and Omniscience. And that while a number of proofs have been given that the thing— the wafer— called by you a God and worshipped as such— has not the power to protect Itself from being eaten by a rat, or from destruction by any one of a thousand ways to which it IS frequently exposed ! That God never attempted to make wluat he knew he could not make, and what everyone not drunk with the wine of your Church's fornication, will at once admit— ^. e. turn a bit of paste, however shaped or manufactured, into Deity— into the Godman Christ Jesus, therefore your Church in insisting on this do'^- ma, inculcates that which is idolatrous ! blasphemous I and absurd! But in instituting this service your Uiurch has ignored God— the Infinite God of the Holy Bible, and while professing to believe in him she has changed, as St. Paul says, the glory of the incorruptible God into an image— a wafer, a "corruptible " thincr— and has " changed the truth of God into a lie," (callin '-tied as that you cannot speak or In-eathe under this questioning, for I am going much farther in my interrogations. Do you know, sir, or can anybody help you to find out, wliether or not, from the Pope in the Vatican to the humblest peasant in his cottage, there is i Roman Catholic on the face of the eartli 1 Now, don't think me mad or crazy until you have read what I have to .say on this subject. My deliberate conviction is that there is not, nor has there been for many centuries, a Roman Catholic on toe face of the earth ! And if ever there was a work for the Pope to do to save his Church from going to pieces, and to show the real value of his attri- 216 COUNCIL OF TRENT ON INTENTION. bute Of infallibility, it is now to answer this question and thus settle the doubts which must a,ntatVevery mind professing your faith, and that properly appre- hends the condition in which you all are ^ i'i'*' myleH. "l win^do'so. '"^'^ "°^' '^'^^ ' '''''''' ^'^P^^^ You are aware sir, that in your church, originally designed, I doubt not, to exalt your priesti; character and to impress the minds of your people with a sense was framed. The Council of Trent declares itself on this subject as ollows : Sep. 7, Can. II. «' Si quis dixerit in ministris, dum sacramenta conficient et confreunt, non requiri intentionem, saltern faciendi quod ecclesia facit Anathema sit," "If anyone shall say that it is i o necessary for ministers, when they consecrate the sacra- cZtl^VTTl T-*'"'^''''' ""^ '^""'"'S^^ least what the Lhurch doth, let him be accursed " oJ\ T!'"' r ^^.^^"^^ ^"y P"^^*^ "ot intend to conse- crate but to deceive, there is no sacrament, because tntenhon is necessary." Missale Rom. D. 53. On this Cardinal Biel says : No priest that celehrateth can know emdently whether he be a priest ; for he cannot know evrdentlyu-hether he be baptized o/ whether he be latvfully ordained." Vnd Cardinal Eellarmine declares : ^^ No man can be CERTAIN, with the CERTAINTY OF FAITH, that he receives a true sacrament, because it depends on the min- IntenJio?"""^ '"^ co7i.-ecm^e, and none can see another's ,■ T^' ?r"l°f '^'^''^ ^"'^^^'' ^^^^"-ks upon this sub- ject : Ihe defects on the part of the minister may occur m these things required in him; these are first and especially intention, after that disposition of soul, of body of vestments aud disposition in the service ttseif, as to those matters which can occur in it. NO INTENTION NO CONNECTION. 217 " If any one intend not to consecrate, hut to counter- feit ; aha, ifanif wafers remain forgotten on the altar, or if any part of the wine, or a7iy' wafer lie hidden, when he did not intend to consecrate hut what he saw ; also, if he shall have hefore him eleven wafers, and inte7ided to consecrate hut ten only not determining what ten he meant ; in all these cases there is no conse- cration, hecause intention is required." Now, sir, I think you begin to see the point of my interrogations. And I dare say the point is a little too sharp for your comfort. You don't know " with the certainty of faith," as Cardinal Bellarmine calls it, that you were ever baptized, or ordained, or that anything else was ever done for you which your Church proposed to do, because intention being indispensal)le, might have been or might 7iot have been in it. Nor is this all ; you have to go back to the one that baptized or ordained you, to know whether he or they were quali- fied ; and yet farther back still you must go, even to the very starting point of your Church's being, and come from that point all along the line ; for if there be but one link of this connection missing, the connection was broken there, and all priestly authority ceased then, and from that moment your authority as a Church, even according to your own showing, passed away from it. We have a fitting illustration of this to a certain extent in our telegraph wires. Here is one starting from Europe ; it passes under the si and, coming to Amer- ica, opens to us a communication to that far-off land. All at once the communication has ceased. We look about and see that all is right and in perfect order here ; where, then, can the difficulty be, we may ask. Why, if there be a break even on the other side of the sea, and but a few miles from the European shore, the whole thing is explained. There can be no more cor respondence until the break is remedied and the con- 218 THE FLOOD GATES OF MORAL POLLUTION. nection once more established. But here the analotry stops; It can go no further. They can repair the break m the wire wherever it may be, and then tilings go on as before ; but thoy cannot ever repair the break in the long line of communication and transmission in your Church, no matter when it occurred or with whom. Once broken, and that for a generation, and the thin<^ IS broken forever ! That such was considered possible by your own authorities, is clearly put in the following words : " // any intend not to consecrate, hut to coun- terfeit, also," etc. But that the Clergy of Rome, through long periods of their history, intended anything in the services of their Church but what tended to the gratification of the lowest passions of human nature is clearly stated and abundantly contirmed by her own authorities. Dr Edgar in his great work remarks : " The flood gates of moral pollution appear in the tenth century to have been set wide open, and inundations of all impurity poured on the Christian world through the channel of the Roman hierarchy. Awful and melancholy indeed IS the picture of the Poi)edoin at this era, drawn, as it has been, by its warmest friends, such as Platina, Peta- vius, Luitpraud, Genebrard, Baronius, Hermann, Bar- clay, Bmius, Giannone, Vegnier, Labb6 and l)u Pin. Platina calls these Pontifls monsters. Fifty Popes' says Genebrard, in 150 years, from John the Eighth till Leo the JS^inth, entirely degenerated from the sanctity of their ancestors, and were apostatieal rather than apos- tolical" p. 108. And as it is well known that the inferior clergy from the bishops downwards were no l^etter than their pontifls, what intention were these vile men likely to have of anything pious or good in anything in the Church or out of it which they were called upon to do 1 How could such a Pope as Boniface the Eighth transmit any divine virtue, by intention or othervvise IT IS A MONSTER. 219 when according to Nogarct and I)ii Plesis, who accused liim before the estates of the French nation, as a set off to his bulls of deposition ho had issued against their monarch, — among other things of holding : " Les hommes out les inemes anies que les betes. L'Evau'nle enseigne plusieurs veritds, et plusieurs niensonges. La doctrine de la Trinite est fausse, I'enfantement d'une vierge est impossible, rincarnation du tils de Dieu ridi- cule aussi bien (pie la transubstantiation. Je ne crois pas plus en elle qu'en une anesse ; ou a son tils plus (pi'au poulain d'une anesse." Druyore 3, 346, etc. JJr. Edgar's Variations, p. 114. "These accusations were not mere hearsay, ])ut supported on authentic and unquestionable evidence. Fourteen witnesses, men of credibility, deposed to their truth. Nogaret and Du Plesis offered to prove all these allegations before a general council." "Cardinal Perron," says iJrelincourt, " being asked by some of his friends in his last sickness what he thought of transubstantiation, he answered, ' It is a monster.' They asked why then had he written so largely and learnedly upon it ? lie replied that he had done the utmost which his wit and parts had enabled him to colour over this abuse, and render it plausible, like those who employ all their force to defend an ill cause." Nor is this Cardinal the only one who has made a similar confession. Therefore, sir, I am per- suaded, as I think many otliers will be as well, that the intention on the part of the priest to do in many of the most important services of your Church in which he was engaged, has been altogether wanting. There- fore all such services have been destitute of any saving influence to anyone partaking of them. Xor is this all : for see how far-reaching tliis fact extends. A couple come to a priest to be married. They are married; that is, the form has been gone through. But the priest did not intend the grace ; or, though intend- 220 DELUSION AND DISAPPOINTMENT. mg it, he had no authority to communicate such, in- teniion boing wanting in some near or remote instance essential to the validity of his ofHco as a priest. The marriage has been one of form, and of that only. Therefore, tlie couple were never married, and their union was unhiwful ; which means, they will live in a state of fornication all their lives, although thei/ inten- tions were pure and honorable throughout. This applies, of course, to every service ir. your Church ; and how pitiable is the condition of overyono of you, supposing (Jod to be such a being as you repre- sent him ; or his service that which you say it is _ Again, the hour of death has come to one whose en- tire dependence is in his priest ; and therefore has g(jt him to come to give him the last rites of his Church ere he dies. He makes his confessio.. ,vith all due contri- tion of soul ; receives the Sacraiiicnt, and abrolution, as the priest affects to give it to him ; and he dies i But what now may he discover, assuming what you teach to be true ? Wliy, that the priest had no au- thority to do what he did ; and, being without any authority he could impart no grace ; that the whole service was destitute of any ber^efit or blessing , yea that all was a delusion, and now is a disappointment t And here, sir, I ask you in all honesty and serious- ness, to give to your people one solid argument that can aflord the least assurance that like the priest I have just referred to, such is not the condition of every ecclesias- tic in your Church this very hour, from your Pope down to the lowest parish priest in the land. You do not any one of you know what you are ; certainly you do not any one of you know with "the certainty of faith that you were ever baptized ; that those living together in the marriage state were ever married ; the priest that he was ever ordained ; and no one who has died m your Church that he ever received the rites of THINGS THAT ARE CERTAIN. 001 the Cliurch in the solemn hour of liis death. All is mist and fog most dense and chilling ; and such its niiture that the more the siil)j(!ct is investigat(>d the more the conviction must prevail that your whole Church is like a chain whose links are broken in a thousand places; and that in reference to all connected with it nothinu is so ecrtaiii as that evcn/f/ii/o/ in if is in a state of absolute unceutaintv ! Tlies" heiiKi some of the man// uncektainties of i/onr Charrh, Id '„s now look at some, of the certainties ronnertcd with it. And, first, It is certain that its claim, to ANTiiiuiTY, SuPREMAcv and Catholicity is quite unfmnded and contradicted by facts. That it is not and never was the mother and mistress of all Chnrchos ; and that it is highly absurd to say so 111 the face of so many facts which show that if 'any Church could with any consistency ever make such a claim, it would be that which until the ovei'throw of Jerusalem was established in that city, and that since the removal of the Christians from Jerusalem, which took place a little before its destruction by the Roman Emperor, Titus, the parent Church was to be found, if anywliere, with the Waldensian people ; whit:li, as the true Church, was the woman driven away into the wil- derness—into a place prepared for her of the Lord : as see Rev. 12 — and where, though fearfully perse- cuted for many years by the Church of Rome, she has continued to maintain a noble testimony for Christ. And further, that from her enterprising missionaries the great work of the Reformation in England, Bo- hemia, France, and Germany arose, and has gout; on and will, with increasing power and splendour, to liU the whole earth with the glory of the Lord, hi this is remarkably fulfilled our Lord's promise to Peter con- cerning his Church, that the gates of hell should not prevail against it. But this application of the promise 222 CLAIMS OP ANTIQUITY, KTC, INVALID. of our Lord is .shockingly at variance with that which you give It. A.s.siircMliy it is, for it implios (all of which IS true) that a very .lillcnMit Church tiian that of Iho Pope inherited the promise; ; aiid that the gates of hell are represented l)y the powers of the Roman Church which cxcated her (ivery energy to .lestroy the Cluireli of Uie Waldenses, the Church of Christ, hut all in vain. The antiijiiifn of the Church of Rome dates not from the time of the ai)ostles, as you as.sume, hut from tlio hegiiiniiig of the fourth century, as seeR(!v. 13 :— And the figure of " a l)east " rising from " the sea " is the one used by the divine .spirit to describe her character. And if ever there Avas a true and striking Jigurc by whicli to describe a jierson or a system, then thi.s is true of tins figure to the Church of Rome, which for cruelty and sensuality lias been without an equal since the world began ; and in reference to which therefore ail animal, whose instincts are especially such, is most truthfully appropriate to represent it. Siqm'Niac// is another claim made for the Church of Rorne ; and it is as certain as any unadulterated fact of history and declaration or leacliing of Holy Scrip- ture can make a thing, that the foundation on which this assumption is based is one of sand, which wastes and disappears wlien the proper test is applied to it. It is said that our Lord designed Peter to be supreme over all his fellow apostles, and over the Church at large. But I have shown in these letters that .scrip- tural statements of teaching and of facts entirely dis- prove this ; that Peter never assumed such a position and the apostles never recognized or imagined such for him ; that instead of his being the first pontiff of Rome, he never was in Rome ; and that the first au- thentic reference to the idea of supremacy for any bishop of the Christian Church, was in a strong protest against the bishop of Constantinople who was the first NOT THE TIIUE CHURCH ; NO SALVATION. 223 to assume it, aiul from (Jrof,'ory, tlio tlion bi.sliop of Romo, who wna the first to lift his voioo ii','ainst it. Cntholicitii is unothi-r cliiiiu put forth for your Church, but with as Httle roayon as any otlior claim offered by lier or for her. There is au "effroutery in luakiug these claims that is clitlieult to uuderstaud iu persons of any projjcr sensibility, or information. It is known that a feoliiigory had denounced John of Constantin()i>Ie as l)eing Antichrist for claiming to l)e tin; sui)reine liishop of tlu; whole Christian Uhuich, that in a few years subseipiently, Loniface, his successor, himself a.ssumed that very title, and to this day each l>oi)e presumes to hold it? And the answer is, l,e< ause Phucas, th.e Komau Em- peror, authorized him to do so. Phocas had r.'ached the throne by the murder of its previous occupant. J.oiiiface was among the first to acknowledge him as the Liwful Ein])eior, and he therefore paid' the Pope for this favour liy authorizing him to use the title liere referred to. And they worshipped the J)w/on, tiie Koman Emperor, who gave power— this i)ower— unto the Ijcast ! And who was it that gave the three kingdoms or States to the Church, since which time called' in lying and blasphemous language and spirit, the patrimony o1 St. Peter? Who? but the temporal rulers in the kingdom of France. " And he opened his mouth in blasi)hemy against God, to blaspheme his name," in assuming his titles, and worshii) ""^1 service ; " and his tabernacle, and THE SCARLET WOMAN. 231 them that dwell in Leaven," by denying to ( iod's true Churcli and people their proper name — ealling them heretics, and treating them as such; and ]mrsuing to the death and l)eyoiid ii saints of (idd ; and, as in "Wickliir's ease, having liis remains dug up from tln.'ir grave, eonsumed to aslu's and then scattered over the earth. As in the ease of Daniel's description, so St. John asserts: "And it was given unto him to make war with the saints and to overcome them," A mysterious providence ! A marvellous fact ! And, as i)ointing to Rome, a striking [)redietion ! " And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh tire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, and deceiveth them tluit dwell on the earth l)y many of these miracles," etc. liome, you know Sir, is great in the manufacture of miracles. She owes many of her triumphs, and much of her success in many Avays, to her miracle working ])o\ver ; anil by them, as tlie apostle says : " Deceiveth them that dwell on the earth." I (juestidn, however, if ihey have ever become the eipials. in miracle woi'king, to the magici- ans who with iheir enchantments withstood Moses be- fore Pharaoh in Egypt long years ago. In the seventeenth chapter of the K(!velation of St. John, in the ligure of " the great whore," gives another view of the Pope and his Church. " And there came," he says, " one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, anil talked with me, saying unto me, come hither; I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters ; with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the in- habitants of the earth have committed fornication. So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness ; and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. 232 THE HARLOT OF ST. JOHN. And tlio woiiiau was arrayed in piu-plo and scarlet colour and_ decked with gold and ptecious stones an pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abon loitJiea I was a name written, Mystery IWhvLn tl.o eai And I saw the woman drunken with the bloo.l TPsn ' i '/'"^^'^"^ ^^'' ^'^"«'l of tlie martyrs o Jesus ; and when I saw her I wondered with tlestrn// if unto th' end." St Paul says : ^^Then shall that wielded he revealed, when the Lord. hall e,nwnn mth the spirit of his mouth, and shall dedroii with the hriyhtness of his coming:' St John says: -And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having qreat power ; andtlte earth was lightened with uis ,,lnri,, and he crird nughtdg xcith a strong voice saging, Bah/lon the qreat i^ fallen, and IS become the hahitatiou of devils', and ttieholdof every jo'd spirit, and a cage of even, nn- clean and hateful bird. For all nations have dnmk ofthewineof the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth hare committed fornication with her and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich throuqh the abundance of her ddicacies. And I heard another mice from heaven saging, Gome out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers (f her sins, and that ye readm TKUIIIHLV C'OMl'LKTE. 23; not III')- })/ni/iii'.-^. For hn- dm liar>' rmrl„'>l nnti> h'aven, and Hod liatk /•I'liinidirrrd Inr iuii/iiifi''n . Thrrc/oro shall hn- plaijum comr in a daij, dralh, and mnurnhi;/, an(f fami/i,- ,■ and x/ic slinll he idt>rlii hiirwd wifhjirr ; forsfrum/ is //ir Lord (lod irhu jadijcth her. And the Idwin of the earth, trhn mmmitted farnieation and liiyd. d,'lici(>n.^/;/ with h<-r, shall hrirait 'hrr, and la- ment her, irhen thrij sliall ncr the .-oiiiike i,f her Imrniju/, atandinij afar off fur fear of Iwr torment's saijimi, Alas, a/as, that ureal riti/ Iiah>il<,n, that niiiihtij citij, fur in one hunr is thij Jadiimeid come. ..." Rejoice 'over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and' prophets ; fol- God hath aeenijed yon on her. And a vtiyhty ant/el took np a stone, Hke a yreat millstone, and east it into the sea, sayiwj .- Thns with violence .-^hall that . should, that truth and honesty are intini'tely prefera])le to deception and knavery, urge vour brethren, clergy and laity alike, to look ui) to God through Christ only, for the divine blessing upon all occasions, and for every event to come, and such a reformation will follow as 240 A FERVKNT WISH. may make your Church— what it never lias been— a tlioroughly New Testament one. And in this way you will get to yourself a name, which, in time and eternity, will shine among the saints of the Most High God as a true minister of the gospel of Christ Jesus the Loi'd. Hoping you will give a full and timely heed to the solemn truths I have, in these letters, put before you, I remain yours very sincerely, Marcus. as been — a L this way I time and Most High lirist Jesus ly heed to put before Marcus.