TRUTH AND LIBERTY: J^ HiEOTUIE^E BY T. W. FYLES (RECTOR OF NELSONVILLE). Kal }v(on£oee -t)v a'ltfiELav, ml y (i}./jdeta E'AEvflepuaec vudg. PUBLISHED BY REQUEST. PRINTED AT THE "GAZETTE" PRINTING HOUSE, J877. \ • TRUTH AND LIBERTY ^ LEiCTUK/El KY T. W. FYLES RECTOR OF NELSONVILLE). Knl )i'(jfftfff^f 77/1' a'/./jf)tiai'j kciI // a/./fietn e'/.tvOt^uatt inat;. PUBLISHED BY REQUEST. PRINTED AT THE "GAZETTE" PRINTING HOUSE. Id77. '• Jl is tiii-oiigh His \V()rr Persian Governor; Amos, a herdsman; Matthew, a eollettor of customs; Lnke, a physician ; Pt'ter and John were ianorant lisher- men ; Paul was a learned PharisiM'.^ r)Ut thouuh the Word was written by dillerent persons at dillerent times, we must not forget that one inllucnco pervades it. ''All S('ri[)ture is given by insjuration of •• God, and is prolitable for doctrine, for r«^ proof, for cor- •• rection, for instrutuivs and nlso learned men quaUli«'d to transhite it into Greek. Eleazar sent him a copy, written in letters of gold, and also 72 learned Jews ((3 for every tribe) to make the translation. This was hai^pily accomplished in the space of 72 days ; and the work from the number of men engaged in the trans- lation w;is called the l^ephiagint. '^ Thus, vou perceive, three diti'erent races or kinds of people became interested in the preservation of the kScriptures. The Jews themselves, th(> Samaritans who had no dealinu's with the Jews, and thi' Grreeks, i.e., those speaking the Crreek language. ( )n a comparison, the Samaritan Pentateuch, the Greek Septuagint, and our own English Bible are found sub- stantially to agree. Willi regar'l to (he New TesUnnent. Til'- Book of the Revelation brings us down lo A. D. 9(>. The Gospel of S. John (the last written of all the books of ih*' New Testament) wtis probably pc^nned a y2, Tindal and his associates finished tin* whole Bible and printed it. 1586, Tindal was straniiled at the instigation of Henry YIII.,' and his body was burned to ashes. The first Bible printed hy anthoritij. in England, was Cranmcr's, or the Great Bible. It was Tindal's version, revised by Miles Coverdale, and examined and approved by Cranmer, then Archbish<»p of Canterbury. It was published in L')40. and a copy of it was oi'dered to be placed in every parish church. After two years it was suppressed by Henry YIII. It was restored under Edward VI., again suppressed by Mary, and again restored by Elizabeth. It only remains for me in this part of my lecture briefly to sketch the history of the admirable version now in use. At a conference held at Hampton Court, in 1G08, before King James I., Dr. Reynolds requested the King that a new translation of the Bible miiiht })e made. The request was granted. Fifty-four of the most learned men of the 12 country were called to the work proposed, and fori seven responded to the call. These were ranged und six divisions, to each of which a portion of the Scrii)tur' was assinrned. ^ The plan they went upon was this : ^ « Every one of the company was to translate the whole puree! ; then tl^ were ea.h to compare their translations togetlier. And wheji any comp,] had tinishe.1 their i.art,they wre to .-..mmunieate it t.. the other (•..mpani, that so nothing might pass without general consent. If any company, up the review of the book so sent, doubted or diilered upon any place, they J to note the place, and send back the reasons for their disagreement. If tL^ happened to ditT. rabout the amendments, the difference was to be referrcil a general committee, consisting of the chief persons of each company, at t^ end of the work. When any passage was found remarkably obscure, lett. were to be directed by authority to any learned persons fur their judgni.* thereupon." 3 (Jeneral Introduction— I )'()y|y and Manfs Bible. ' The work was begun in 1G07, and took three years i;v its accomplishment. Th(» utmost pains were taken li those engaged in it. All existing translations ])eing l\ them compared together and with the original. t ^ Good cause have we to thank God Ibr our Engli> Ihble, and to prize it for the simplicity, the beauty^ tbi fidelity of it^s language. It is indeed " a well of Englisl undeiiled," as well as the "pure word of truth.' ^ i That we may see what good cause we have for thaiilfi fulness, k't us consider — v t] The Freer/om the Truth has v^ori for ns. s' And to say that freedom has l)een won is to convey tli^ idea that boiulage before existed. ^ I shall direct your attention to {(t) The bondage of Heathenism ; \, {l>) The bondage of the Dark Ages ; ^, from which the Uible has delivered men. c (a) When Christianity dawned upon the world, wh; I was the state, political and religious, of mankind ? ';The Emperor of Home held tlio world in subjection at \ let^t. Tiberius, Caliiruia, Claudius, Nero, monsters of ^^^pravity, ruled in succession over prostrate millions. rom the Island of Caprte, whither he retired to lead a fe of luxury, Tiberius, unseen, save l)y the ministers to !ais pleasure, issued his mandates, and doomed monarchs lir deposition and senators to death. His successor, 'i aligula was wont to nod with his head towards any who ',ad°oirended him, and the attendant executioner knew aie sin-n.* Claudius, dull and brutalized was even worse •lan his predecessors. Unspeakable iniquity was carried ' n at his court. Yet this man was worshipped—" a glut- Dnous emperor idiot.'' But worst of all the bad Ciesars was Nero. It was he i;vho set iire to Rome that he miirht enjoy the specta<-le of Ihe conilaii-ration. It was he who charged the Christians !,vith the guilt of his own crime. It was his ingenuity hat devised the horrors of their doom. . In the Imperial Gardens on the Vatican Hill, hundreds i)f stakes were driven into the ground, at intervals along Ihe drives. To each of these a Christian, dressed in ayers of coarse cloth saturated with pitch, was tied, and ifagots \verc heaped around him. At once, on a signal, when darkness had settled down, torches were applied to these combustibles, and the lurid llames burst forth, and shrieks of agony went up to God, whilst alonu' the illuminated roads, the lilmperor, in self-complacency, 'exhibited his skill as a charioteer. It was no uncommon thing in those days for the Emperor to create himself, by a decree of the S(»nate, a rich man's nearest relation. In a few days a funeral would be necessary, and the Emperor would mourn dis- creetly for his departed friend, and then enter into possession of his property. t • W/.ite's Eighteen Christian Contnries. Tape 11. t II. d. Page 21. 14 Manual labor was carried on by slaves who not unfr, < quent iy when they grew old were allowed to die , < starvation. It j., told, however, of one of their possessor. 1 V.di„s 1 olho, that he east his worn-ot,t s,.rvitors into hi : fish-ponds to fatten his lampreys for the market. ! Xhe i)nb he amusements of the time were suited to th people, Ihere still rise in Rome the vast walls of th, Coliseum, m which many a brav,. defender of hiseountr' was east to the wild beasts, or loreed to fight, ,vith ' tndont and a net, against the trained and °ve l-arme, murderers of the circus.* Such tlien u as the state of things at Kome, the capit. " Humanity itself seemed to bo sunk l.ojnud the possibility of restortiti , l.ut we see now how neeess.ry it was that our natur shou d Li i 0" ■ point of depression t<, give full force to the great reaction vb 1 •. "■■■ «o,.. »„, ,,.„., ,„„•.;;;:„„ ;'-,;^:i -';;;-- -to „., „„ ,e «.,„ {W/iite's Eighteen Christian Centuries, p. 27.) Br!t..rftH '"'"'"',"' I" ■'■'""'^" ^* '^' ''^'' «ft'""?'^ '" itain a this penod, Britain was inhabited by variou. tribes o barbarians whose religion was that of Druidism ---a^«u1his at the ( hunoring of her cntin,v fainted away. Out of evil, evil flourishes ; out of tyranny, tyranny buds ; Ran the land with Roman slaughter, multitudinous agonies. Perished many a maid and matron, many a valorous legionary ; Fell the colony, city, and citadel, i.ondon, Verulam, (.'amulodunc."' (h) And now we will make in imagination a long stride through the Dark Ages when the Bible was a sealed book, down to the period when printed Bibles began to be circulated. Instead of the Emperor of Rome, it was now the Pope of Home who held the world in su])jeetion. Said Jewel, alluding to the power of the Pontiff: '• What is he at this day, which alloweth the mightiest kings and monarchy of the world to kiss his blessed feet? What is he that commandeth ^he Emperor to go l)y him at his horse's bridle, and the French king to hold his stirrup ? Who hurled under his table Francis Dandalus the Duke of Venice, King of Crete and Cyprus, fast bound with chains, to feed of bones among his dogs? Who set the imperial crown upon the Emi)eror Henry the Sixth's head, not with his hand, but with his foot : and with the same foot again cast the same crown oft", saying withal, ' lie had power to make emperors, and tv unmake them again at his pleasure?' Who put in arms Henry the son against liis father Henry the Fourth, and wrought so, that the father was taken prisoner of his own son, and being shorn and shamefully handled, was thrust into a monastery, where with hunger and sorrow he pined away to death ? Who so ill-favouredly and monstrously put the Emperor Frederic's neck under his feet, and, as though that were not sufficient, adtlcd further this text out of the I'salms, 'Thou shalt go upon the adder and cockatrice, and shalt tread the lion and dragon under thy feet' Such p,n example of scorning and contemning a prince's majesty, as never before tha^, was heard tell of in any remembrance ; except, I ween, either of T.amerlane's the king of Scythia, a wildandbarbarons; creature, or else of Sapor, King of the Persians.'' — Jewel's Apo/o;/y of the Church of England, page 66. Just before Jewel's day died Roderic Borgia (Pope Alexander VI.) of poison, which he had prepared for another. This Poi)e, Mosheim, the historian, describes as a "Papal Nero — a fiend," # =^ ^ "regardless of decency and hardened against the very feeling of shame." To load his illegitimate children with riches and honours " he trampled with contempt upon every obstacle which 31 17 { the demands of justice, the dictates of reason, and the remonstrances of Reliirion laid in his way."* Pius III., the next Pope, governed for two or three weeks only, and v^as succeeded by Julius II., who led armies, and stormed cities, and exulted in the battle-field. Julius was followed by Leo X., the man who commis- sioned Tetzel to sell indulgences,^ and so aroused the indiirnation of Luther, the crreat German Reformer. The same historian, whose words I have just quoted, describes the conduct, at this period, of the Romish clerg^'' generally, as follows : ' The licentious examples of the Pontiffs were zealously imitated in the lives and manners of the stibordinate rulers and ministers of the Church, The ;.:roatest part of the bi.shops and ( anous passed their days in dissolute mirth and lu-^ury, and squandered away, in the gratifleatiuu of their lusts and passions, the wealth that had been set apart for religious and eharitalile purposes. Nor were they less tyrannical than voluptuous ; for the most despotic princes Tiever treated their vassals with more rigour and severity tiian these ghostly rulers employed towards all such as were under their jurisdiction." — (Mosheim\s Ecc. Hist., Bk. IV. Sec. I, cap. X) It is not to be wondered at that protestants increased when light dawned in upon mankind. ]*^or is it to be wondered at that the rulers of the period, badly educated as they had been, resorted to foul measures to coerce enquirers after truth into submission. The l(3th century was the century of religious persecu- tion. In Spain, the Inquisition plied the thumb-screw and the rack, and led the hideous Auto-da-fe. In the Netherlands, the ferocious Duke of Alva boasted that in 5 years he had put 18,000 Hollanders to death. In England, during the short reign of bloody Mary, 290 * Mosheim's Ecclesiastical History. Part I., page 387. t'< Pour in your money," cried Tetzel, " and whatever crimes you have com- mitted or may commit are forgiven ! Pour in your coin, and the souls of your friends and relations will fly out of purgatory the moment they hear the chink of your dollars in the bottom of the box." 2 18 persons perished at the stake— amoniyst whom wore Arch bishop Cranmer and Bishops Hooper, Ridley and Latimer But the most horrible event of the century was thir known as the " massacre of St. Bartholomew." Tho leading Protestants of France {Huguenots, as they wer. called) had been invited to Paris to witness the marriaffo of their leader, Henry of Navarre, with the Princess Margaret de Valois. They were deceived by protestiv tions of friendship and assurances of security, but thr King, Charles IX, and his mother Catharine de Medecis, had planned their destruction. Two hours after midnight, on Sunday, August 24th, ir)72, the great bell of ^ St. G-ermains tolled forth the signal agreed upon, and the murderers were let loose all over the town. The streets ran with blood, and the river was choked with mutilated bodies. One wretch boasted that he had killed 40 persecutors, wearied with carnage, dropped their blunted swords." It is said that 70,000 persons perished in this time. And when the news of these horrible transactions reached Rome, what elfect had it upon the self-styled " servant of the servants of Jesus Christ," and upon his courtiers— upon the so called " Vicar " and chief ministers of the meek and lowly Jesus— of Him who told his quick- tempered disciples, who would have called down fire from heaven upon those who had treated them with dis- respect, that they knew not ' what manner of spirit ' they were of? This was the effect :— « The Pope and his cardinals proceeded immediately to St. Peters to offer thanks before the altar for the great mercy which had been vouchsafed to Christendom ; salvoes of artillery thundered at night-fall from the ramparts of St. Angelo ; the streets were illuminated ; and a medal was struck to com- 19 mcmorattf the glorious event. The r'ardinnl of Lorraine in theetfttacy of Lis heart, ])ri'Hi:ntt(l the messenpor with a thousand pieces of gold, and decliircd that iio lii'lievtd ' tl>e King's hiiart must havo lieon filled with a sudden inspimtion from God.' " — History of France — S.P.C.K. Vol. 1., pages 411-412. Truly, my friends, we may well thank Grod for our Christian liberty ! What a spirit of indignation — what a determination to obtain religious liberty at any cost — must atrocities such as T have recorded have aroused in the breasts of all true men. Let me tell you what the gallant Prince of Orange did in his young days to secure the religious freedom of his people. And I must remind you that a large part of Holland (of which country he was chief ruler) is below the level of the sea. Huge dykes or banks have been cast up along the coast, at immense labour, as barriers to the tide. In 1672. the King of France invaded Holland with an army of 182.000 men. He demanded that the Dutch should surrender all their territories on the Wahal and the Rhine, " that France should have control of their groat roads and canals ; that they should pay twenty million.s for the expenses of the invasion ; re-establish the Catiiolic religion, and send every year an ambassador-extraordinary to the French Court, to present the King with a gold medal on which should be giaven the acknowledgment that the Seven United Provinces owed their existence and their liberty to his clemency." — Uistory of France — S.F.C.K.; Vol. II., page 93. "William, in concert with the magistrates of Amsterdam, caused the dykes to be cut, and flooded the country. "Better the sea," said he, "than the French.'" G-ardens and farms, vountry-houses and villages, the towns of Delft and Ley don, were all over-flowed — the country -people cheerfully submitting. They knew the value of their new-won religious freedom. They knew what French clemency and I^'rench law w^ere. They knew^ that at the will of the French nobles, men could be imprisoned and never brcught to trial. They knew^ that a French Seigneur 20 could order his serfs to stay in his frrouuds all nioht to (luiet the froos lost his sleep should be disturbed. They knew that he could harness men like cattle to draw his goods. They knew what tortures French law could inflict. Read Dickens's " Tale of Two Cities" if you wish to know what thinus ^ould then be done in France. Why, my friends, it is only \20 years af^-o (in the lile-time of the father of a man whom most of us knew very well — of old Mr. Truax) that Damiens, a i)()or half-crazed man, was put to death for wounding Louis XV. And I will tell you in what way he was put to death. First his hand was burnt oft before his eyes. Then he was tjfashed with knives, and boilino- oil and melted lead were poured into the wounds. Then he was tied by the arms and legs to four strong horses, and rent asunder as they were urged ^ difterent ways in the public street Thank Grod for English liberty — for Magna Charta — and trial by jury — and the Habeas Corjms Act — and the Bill of Rights ! Thank God for England's open Bible, the source and safeguard of her freedom — the foundation of her power and prosperity ! I was going to add — Thank G-od that under the British flag, " begirt with friends or foes, a man may speak the thing he will.'' But, alas ! there is one part, at least, of the British Dominions where this may not be said, as we unhappily know. It may be as a punishment for the indifference of so many of our people to the cause of truth, or for their love of ease, or lust of worldly gain, that Grod has withheld from us apart of the measure of British freedom. Certain it is that in French- dominated, priest-cowed Canada, these grand words — this proud boast of England's laureate may not be uttered. I will not point to Oka — I will not remind you of the G-avazzi riots- i will not speak of Chiniquy, to convince you that what I say is true. But I invoke the shades of Scott and Hackett to testify that, in Canada, though the British flag waves ovei it, a man may not at all times 81 safoly spofik thf thiiiij h«' will, or give token of holding opinionH contrary to those of th«' majoriiv. I have said that th(^ British llii'4- waves over Canada But would it wave there loni^ if the murderers of Scott and Haeket had their will ? — if the cause their brutal etlbrts have been eiilistt»d in were to triumph ? A few weeks ago, on Canadian waters, in a vessel owned by a company of ProU'stanls, an eilbrt was made by pai)al emissaries to pluck down the Union Jack, and to hoist an alien Hag in its stead. And this would have been done but for the courage and loyalty of one man. Remembering what I have told you concerning Wil- liam, Prince of Orange, you will not wonder that, when James the Second, the (lensioner of the King of France, endeavoured to over-ride the laws of the land, and to impose Ivomanism upon his unwilling subjects, British Protestants turned to William for counsel and assistance, and that, when he took the reins of government, an Orange Association was formed to support his measures. And when you I'all to mind the sutl'erings and triumphs of the OrangH'men of those (Uiys — when you remember the Battle of the Boyne and the Siege ol' Derry — when you. think of Walker and Browning, and of other brave men who strun-gled and bled in the cause of British free- dom, you will not wonder that their descendants have perpetuatt'd the Orange Association. And whilst Orangemen are law-abiding people, I see no reason why they should not enjoy the J fill protection of the laws they honour. I look upon it that it is the duty of every true citizen, of every member of a commonwealth, to do what in him lies to secure an even measure of justice for every man. And, surely, in a city that at one time witnesses the " pomps aiid vanities " of the lete-Dieu — of the feast of (the manufactured) God, — and at another a torch-light 22 procession of a political party, in which caricatures and taunts of their opponents are borne aloft, amidst shouting and music, surely, in such a city, one would think a pro- cession of Orangemen might be tolerated, whether such a procession be regarded as a religious or a political procession ? The Orangemen of this parish paraded our streets on the 12th ; and what resulted ? They enjoyed themselves, and their neighbours were pleased to see them doing so. Could such a procession as we witnessed have passed safely through the streets of Montreal ? I trow not ! And why could it not ? To use the words of the grave men, the heads of the different organizations in the city who drew up the appeal to the Orangemen which was pub- lished in the newspapers : " It would excite the worst passions of our nature ;" i. e., of course, human nature under Romish influences ; for it would be absurd to sup- pose that Protestants would fall foul of Orangemen on their way to church. The thought is too ridiculous to be entertained for a moment. " It would excite the WORST PASSIONS OF OUR NATURE." What an admission from a meeting mainly composed of Romanists ! What a confession of failure to accomplish Christ's work of bring- ing about peace and good-will amongst men ! Members of the Roman Association — that ancient Association — that t«?ea///i// Association which, in its self-sufficiency, arrogates the title of " The Church," and stigmatizes as " here- tics " all who differ from it — members of that cannot witness an Orange procession without having the worst passions of human nature excited within them — cannot see a man (or woman !) bearing an Orange badge without being excited to violence and blood-shedding. Truly, if this be so, the sooner the ties of Romanism give place to those of Christianity the better it will be for mankind ! I imagine that the Orangemen of Montreal would have 28 iaken as great pleasure in their procession as the Roman- ists take in their procession of Corpus Christi, — as much satisfaction as the Conservatives took in their triumphant torch-light procession in honour of Sir John A. Macdonald. It was an act of christian forbearance on their part — a noble instance of self-denial to wave their rights. And how were they rewarded ? Did their considerate conduct insure safety to their members ? No. A woman on her way from church wears an Orange favour, and this excites *' the worst passions " of Romish human nature ; and she is assaulted. A gentleman remonstrates, and is attacked. An infuriate mob of Romanists gathers round him ; and his life is in danger. A brave young man, a worthy member of society, sees the peril of a friend, and comes to his assistance ; is knocked down, and shot when down, and kicked when dead. Protestant human nature shud- ders at the cowardly brutality of his murd rers. "Foully murdered," says the notice of his death. :\nd well may we speak of the deed of those who slew him in the words of the great poet — " Murder most foul, a.>< in the bist it is ; F>ut this most foul, strange and unuatural." Unnatural — for human nature has degenerated into the nature of the fiend, who was a •' murderer from the begin- ning," when it can be guilty of so execrable a crime. And this word crime reminds me of a sermon preached in Montreal by Father Leclair, This worthy is reported, in The G-azette of Monday, July 16th, to have said, " If a crime had been committed, they repudiated it." If a crime had been committed ! G-ood God, what if this man's notion of a crime ? One would imagine fro /u his after remarks that it was far more criminal for a street gamin to utter a sneering remark at the grotesque dress and pompous air of a Romish priest, than for Romish ruffians to shoot down a man, and kick his lifeless remains 24 along- the pavement. " They repudiated it'' Yes, and " Pilate took water and washed his hands before the multitude, and said, ' I am innocent of the blood of this just person ; see ye to it.' " And now what shall spring from the blood of brave young Hackett ? Shall his blood have been poured out in vain ? ?" ely Protestants, of every class, the land over, will now vit'mand that Orangemen shall be treated as freemen, and not chased and shot down as if they were noxious beasts. Surely the deed of these Komanists will be a warning to our people to see to it that they be not again entangled in the yoke of bondage. Let them not say, "Rome has ceased to persecute." Kome has altered her policy in some respects of late years , and yet w^e can hardly say she has altered her policy. She is but mindful of Bellarmine's teaching: '' Heretics, ivken strono:, are lo be committed to God ; token iveak, to the executioner.''' " Heretics" are strong in many places now, and in those places the executioner stands in the back-ground, but he stands there simply from lack of opportunity to ply his deadly trade. He is recruiting his strength for future blows. This is what Rome teaches her own adherents : " Unbelievers who have been baptized, such as heretics generally, and also baptized schismatics, can be compelled by corporal punishment to return to the Catholic faith and the unity of the Church. " Heretics that are known to be such are infamous for that very cause itself and are to be deprived of Christian l)urial, their temporal goods are for that very cause confiscated, and, as forgers of the faith, and disturlitrs of the state, they are to be put to death,''— Z>e/i'« Theology. Vol. II. And yet how the vampire lulls her victims into security ! Too many men in Low^er Canada are in that dangerous state of indiiierence and false security which precedes a deeper fall. Who give land to Romanists, and help build churches for them, and make speeches on their public occasions, 25 and receive the insolence of public praise for what they do ? Protestants ! (Save the mark : where are their protests ^) Such "Protestants" would do well to lay to heart the words of the late Canon Stowell, in his sermon preached on the 5th of November, 1846, in commemoration of the providential exposure— only a few hours before it was to have been put in execution— of that diabolical desiir-n of the Romanists, the Gunpowder Plot— a plot by which they intended to blow up, with 36 barrels of gunpowder, the King, the Prince of Wales, the Peers and leading Commoners of the Realm, in Parliament assembled. Says Stowell : " There is no stopping on the inclined jilane of error. First, men become secure, then indifferent to the truth, then open to error ; tliey are then gradu- ally drawn to thoose it, and to love it, and are at last led blindfold at its will." Trust not, my friends, to Rome's asseverations. She makes solemn affirmations of loyalty to the powders that be ; but remember she calls all who follow not her lead, " heretics:' And this is what she teaches in her college at Maynooth, with reference to such : "They are freed from the debt of iidelity and of all obedience to man ; whosoever remain bound by any sort of covenant, though fortified by any kind of affirmation whatsoever, to those who are manifestly lapsed into heresy." — Corpus Juris Canonice, quoted by Reiffenstuelin iJecret. ; B. F., tit. 7. Believe her not when she talks of the "errors '^ of your English Bible. Shamed by Protestants into issuing a version herself, she has put forth that of Douay and Rheims, a translation so obscure that {in the words of Fuller) it " needs to be translated." And it is a tact well worth rememberino- : " That there is not an edition of the Bible which does not lie under the ban of one or of all the Popes, most of them being in the Index Expurgatorius.— Hookas Church Dictionary. Page 108. Hold fast your freedom ! " Buy the truth and sell ii 26 not !" Bestow mot your substance to undo the work of the Reformation ! G-ive not your necks to the yoke, and your Bible to be burned ! In regard to all these things, let your motto be NO SURRENDER. /