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Las diagrammes suivants illustrant la mithode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 % fr: L fi T t K R S r" .; TO *■■ Vv^ RT. REV. JOHN HUGHp, I EOIAN CATnailC BISHOP OP NEW^YOBS,. 4 SElCOMfS SBSIBli. <*» ' "y .', \ KIRwA i Ml ' /• f • •" 'r' ' i "i' i y - » II J TBE UFPEK dv. POi T O R O N T O*"^ ' ' PRINTED FOtt ^N ADA TRACT SOCIETY: iToay, 47, YoNue Strkst. . V ."y* LE'&TSRS a /. TO TBI RT. REV. JOHN HUGHES, BOIAH GITIOIIC BISHOP OF NSW-IOtl. 1^^ m iiMM**** ■ _»u_nrnrr ■-■*■■ ■ i—iwp *»mi^.«'«'n»*i>. > SECOND SERIES. KIRWAN. ^j i Swnr m t^ M 't' t ^' " *■*■—■* fi^*^^^^^»i^^^^>^^»^*^'*^^^ TORONTO: PRINTED FOR THE UPPER CANADA TRACT SOCIETY; Depositobt, 47, YoNOE Street. ^ 1849. >* k, i i m i 10654 7 f ; 1 CONTENTS. J^.^'^W- limODOCTION TO THB Seco.'IO SbRIU, « LETTER I. Reaions for this Second Series— Why addrosssed to Bishop Hughei —Evil days have come upon Popery, g LETTER ir. Extreme Unction— Its monniiig— The way of administering it— Jamea v. 14, 15.— It onriclies the Churches— Au Incident IS LETTER III. Penance— The prett'nded Sacrament described— No Scripture warrant for it— Its absurdities— A personal inquiry, 33 LETTER IV. Miracles-Milner'svindication— Many exfimples— Legends of the Saints— A miracle of my own worltiiig-Wliy so few miracles ■ioce the Reformation, 31 LETTER V. Marks of the Papal being the true Church considered-Unity— Sanctity— Catliolicity—Apostolicity— Infallibility, 43 LETTER VI. Relics— Relics the parent of miracles— The importance of relics— Specimens of relics-Tlie abuses of relics— Indulgences— To whom and by whom granted-Their fearful effects 64 LETTER VII. Unmeanishnoss of Romish Doctrines and Ceremonies:-Baptism— The Mass-Pcnance-Extreme Unctiou-Holy Water— Proyert to the Sainis— WuhiiolUiug liie Scriptures, 94 4 Contents^ LETTER VHI. TIm dMriny I tlifl Pkpacjr— Ita growth— Its history not yet wrilt- Ifln— The Reformation— Reuons for the extinction of Popery— 1. Incapable of rerormation— % Iti reformatiou impouible— 3. Oppotedby the intelligence of the world— 4. By ita piety— S. The cauaes which gave it origin passing away— 8. Ila eitine- tton ordained— 7. Bow it is to be done, T* LETTER IX. T«i> {• tt ftri'r M^W>ftMnn -/if itlri* 'cmtHnntn \n -vtMcUl tht; a%t: Introduction to the Second Seriet, former series wad held, and of the public desire that Kirwan would resume hid pen : — To the author of the Letters on Bomanism, lately ad' dressed to Bishop Hughes through the New York Observer^ over the signature of Kirwan : Sir, — Though you have chosen hitherto to keep in the shade in reference to the authorship of these let- ters, I suppose you ore not buried in so deep obscurity as not to have some knowledge of what is passing in the world around you. But lest you should chance to be less knowing than might be presumed, I beg to state to you through your own channel of communi- cation, that the letters to which I refer have been read by the religious community at large, with a degree of interest that has rarely been felt in reference to any similar publication. If I mistake not, tho judgment of the world is that they are characterized by a sim- plicity and perspicuity that bring them fairly within the scope of any comprehension ; by a force of bought and expression which no reflecting and impartial mind will find it easy to resist ; by an amount of good nature and christian charity which must prevent any reasonable opponent from taking oiTence ; and last, though not least, by an unWonted pungency, which is likely, ere this, to have vibroted in a note of terror to the innermost heart of Rome. I believe, in com- mon with a multitude of wiser and better men, that these letters have, as yet. only begun to fulfil their mission ; and that those who live at the ends of the earth, and who are destined to live in coming yeara, will look upon them as having had much to do in lift- ing from the 'vorld one of its heaviest curses. But my object in addressing you is something more than to inform you of thnt of which, I dare say, you need no information. You are awf re that it is only a portion of the ground of the Romish controversy which your letters have occupied. There are many points of equal moment with those already discussed, which you have left untouched. Allow me to say, yours is the baud to sweep throu&hthis whole domain Introduction to the Second Series, of error. It would be an occasion of deep regret if you should not carry forward to its completion a work which yoa nave so happily be&;un. Th<. chris- tian pubJic expect, may I not say, demond ft of you. The multitude who are yet in the same spiritual thraldom from which you hare escaped, demand it. Your country, whose pohtical as well as religious interests are threatened with deadly invasion, demands it. The cause of nn enlightened Christianity, of a sound and evangelical Protestantism, demand it. There is a requisition upon you, Kikwan, which 1 am sure you cannot resist without offending against the mercy that has taken your own feet out of the miry clay, and established your goings. May the Head of the church enable you suitably to appreciate your obligutions and responsibilities. Keep in the dark if you will : only lead others into the Hght of life and into the liberty wherewith Christ makes his disciples free. Be assured that in making these sug- gestions, I am One or Many. Obedient to these calls, and impelled by a sense of duty to his kinsmen according to the flesh, his coun- trymen and brethren, hj has prepared this second series, in the same courteoui and conciliatory style of the former: breathing the same nationa! symathy with Irishmen, «ind full of the humour that betrays the author's nativity, while it secures the attention of the reader. Placed in the hands of those yet in the faith of Bishop Hughes, these letters will be read without prejudice, and followed, as I trust they will be, with the enlightening and convincing Spirit, they will work mightly in opening the eyes of those now wandering in error, and leading them to the knowledge of tht truth. SAMUEL IRENiEUS PRIME. n I LETTERS TO THE EIGHT REV. JOHN HUGJJDS. BISHOP OF NEW-VPRKf LETTER L BcMoni for this Second Series— Wh, .ddresaed to BMiop Ha|^M» —Evil days have come upon Popery. My dear SiR,— When I closed the lettere I had the honour of addressing to you during the last spring, 1 fondly hoped that my part in the thick- ening controversy on Romanisna in our country, had closed also. As these letters formed my first, I designed that they should also form my last appearance before the public on that topic. So I expressed myself to you in my closing letter. But the unexpected " ripple" has been " excited on the current of my feelings," and wliether wise or otherwise, I have concluded again to ad- dress you. My reasons for so doing, and thus departing from" my original resolution, are brieOy tiieB«i The public, who have so kindly received, and so widely circulated my " Letters," have called for another series, embracing the reasons which I ..^S^p**..-*^' ' 10 KirwaiCs Letters hare otnilted to state ; and which, together with thoise stated, forbid ray return to ycur church. At leaat one of the papers devoted to the inter- ests of Popery in this country, calls upon rae, in a semi-ser:ous manner, to give my views on cer- tain points which it raises, individuals of your communion, who have given my letti rs a candid perusal, have asked what Kirwanhad to say up- on this and that point not considered by me ; and last, though not least, is a desire to put into the hands of every inquiring Roman Catholic, a com- plete manual of my objections to your church, candidly and kindly considered. These, Rev. Sir, are the reasons and motives, and not a love of controversy for its own sake, which induce me again to address you. While yielding to these reasons and motives, I yet confess to you that I deem the present se- ries of letters, which will be brief, a work of su- pererogation. If you have never performed such a work, you know what it means. My convic- tion is that the reasons given in my former letters £»r' refusing to return to your church, are suffi- cient ; sufficient to induce any sane mind to with- hold its faitn from your teachings, and every sane man to abandon your church. This, you will say, is a partial decision ; it may be so. But as a tree may be held in its place by a few weak roots after the main ligaments that bound it to the earth are cat, and when the weakest wind To Bishop Hughes. 11 tliat blows may cause it to totter; so a mind,when the power of an ancient superstition over it is broken, may yet retain a connexion with it, in- fluenced by reasons which seem unworthy of consideration. I know this to be the case. The belief in " witches and warls" was early impress- ed on the mind of Hume ; and it is said of him, that, after he reasoned matter and mind out of existence, he could not hear the rustling of a leaf, after dark, without starting as if a witch wero upon him. The taste and smell of a sour liquid remain long in the emptied cask. And if any mind, rejecting the great outlines of your system, is yet held to it by some reasons which I have not considered, and whc a absurdity I may be able to expose, I feel anxious to relieve it. I must not withhold from you my deep convic- tion that Popery is an evil tree ; that its fruits are only evil. I believe it to be a falling tree. Its branches are withering in the air, and the axe, wielded by an Almighty hand, is cutting its roots. And if I can assist in cutting a few more of its roots, and thus hastening its fall, I feel that I will be conferring a benefit upon ourrace, and contri- buting to the emancipation of millions of men from a slavery, in comparison with which that of the Pharoahs was freedom. Hence these addi- tional letters. And all 1 intend doing, is to state to you some further reasons which forbid mj return to your church. .j 3 -t ..1 "S^Nil', -— «e of my reasons I have already given you. I believe yoa to be a man of sense, of learning, and of fair char- Bcter, which cannot be said of all papal priests. You are put forth, now that Bishop England, also one of our countrymen, is no more, as the Achilles of your party in these United States. If any man in the country can refut« my reasoii- ing and obviate my objections, you can do it. And as my sole object and aim is the truth; I nave selected the ma?i, in my opinion, bestfittedr to correct me when in error ; when false, to show, wie the fallacy of my reasoning,— and if he should jreply. Who would reply as a scholar and a gen- tleman. If you cannot confute me, no man of youp church in these United States can. Nor will I consent to notice what may be said in the way of reply to, or abuse of these letters by any roan, save yourself. I have, as they say, a drawing towards vtJU as an Irishman— I respect youJ open and manly bearing, and, sadJy as, in my opinion, you prostitute your talents, 1 have a high respect for them. Henoe I pass through ^a ranks of soldiers, and by inferior officers, and go up to Achilles himself. 1 1 1 1 * To Bkhop ffvgJl^. n Bu^ you, b?iv© not answered my former tetters i I confess to yoq, sir, that I bad no expectation io writing them, that you would answer them, and for these reasons : First, because they are anonymous. And as 1 like not myself to con* tend with a masked opponent, so I judged of you. Tl^ text is capable of wide application, " as fac6 answereth to face in water, so the heart of mau to man." I prefer, for the present, to stand be^ lt>ind the curtain ; and for this, among other rea- sons, that you and all men may decide upon what I say, simply upon the merits of my statc- % mentaand arguments^ and for the additional reason, to prevent a ^tT50w«Z controversy. It is «n old trick of your church to leave the argument for the man. And, secondly, because of theit matter. I speak to you of what my eyes have seen ; of what my ears have heard ; of what my heart, has felt. Facts are stubborn things. How can you make a man believe that to be sweet, which from actual taste he knows to be sour % U is hard to reason agaiust a man's experience. Oa these grounds I expected from you no reply. And although, unless 1 mistake you, not one of the little mcu who seek to put the more abun- dant honoi: on the part Ihatlacketh by a mock dignity, by an assumed superiority, yet you; Jsnow when to be wisely silent. If, sir, without .compromising your crosier,— if, during soma lioura of leisure from your varied and mwiifoUi VNi 'rr„ '**>>«f < ■»<( "-»'-••. %• -«i5»^'~*- 14 KirwarCs Letters duties, you v/ould consent to answer some of the reasons and considerations \yhich I have stated, and will state in the following letters, which for- bid my return to your church, there is one, at least, that will read your reply with great plea- sure. I am not, sir, among those who impute your silence to your inability to reply to my statements ; but if I can only gain access to the public ear, if I can only obtain from candid Ro- man Catholics a careful consideration of what I «ay» your silence will give but little trouble. My object will be attained. Permit me to make one other remark before closing this letter. Evil days have come upon the system of which you are so able an advocate. Once you could silence inquiry by church au- thority ; but, in this country especially, that day has passed away. It is passing away even under the shadow of the dome of St. Peter's There are those, yet, in this country and in the old countries of Europe, who, like that useless bird of sable wing, called the jack-daw, which you and I have seen in our youth, love the narrow window, and the toppling tower, and the mant- ling ivy, who hover about whatever is ancient, however worthless or truthless ; but their num- ber is small, and is daily diminishing. The great inquiry now is after the true, the scriptural, the reasonable. The day for the trial of all things r I ■* 1 ■%^^ 7b Bishop HugTUi, n ir S morals, in religion, is valueless. When man ap- peals from the Church to the Scriptues, it is of no avail to say to him, " believe the Church." No appeal is admitted from the Scriptures to the Fathers— from the teachings of Paul to the de- cisions of Councils. Old things, if absurd, are passing away ; and their wrinkles only hasten their burial. Nor is there in the physical or moral sciences, nor in the science of government, nor in the theory of religion, a single principle that is not trieti and sifted as if never tried be- fore. At this treatment, hoary error may lift up its hands in holy horror, and fall back aghast aa did Saul before the ghost of Samuel ; but it can- not be helped. There may be, and doubtless is, a reckless speculation — a profane tampering with sacred things ; but nothing will eventually Buffer but the truthless. And what will become of Popery when proof and Scripture supplant authority and credulity % It becomes you, then, sir, to buckle on the harness. The battle has but begun between truth and error^ In your soul and in mine there should not be a desire but for the triumph of the truth. Let any opinion that I hold be proved unscriptural and unreasonable, and I will cheer- fully give it to the hottest furnace you can heat to consume it. Let the truth of God triumph, whatever human systems perish. Will you join me in this aspiration % In my next I shall proceed with my statement of some of the additional reasons which prevent me from returning to your church. With great respect yours, KiRWAN. ► •*/r>^-«*»>.»J».,-.V* -V* • Umm ^.ii' !& Kirv(m*» LftUr^ LETTER II. Estreme fJnctkm— Its cleaning— The way of administerinf »— . Jftmes r. J4, 15.— It enrkJiea the Church— An Tncutent. t Mt dear Sir, — Agreeably to the promise made to you in closing my last letter, I now prcK- ceed to a statement of the additional reasons which yet preyent my return to the pale of your church, in which I was born, baptized, and con- firmed. I shall begin with your sacrament of Extreme Unction. As but few of your own people, and yet fewer Protestants, understand it, I hope you and my readers will bear with me even if I should occupy this letter with its consideration, Whea rightly understood it is a terrible sacra- ment. I will strive so to explain it as to bring it to the level of every mind, and from your owi|* standard authors which lie before me. The name of the sacrament explains it; it is anointing by holy oil of a sick person when re- covery is extremely doubtful. This, and the fact that it is supposed to be the last act of religion,, give it its name. The object of this anointing is thus explained- by the doctors of Trent :; ** The deyil i^ alwaya Vusy in seeking to destroy the souls of i»e»; yet it is at the hour of death that he most vehement- ly exerts all his power ; and the object of this anointing by holy oil is to fortify the soul in the dvhli* hrtiir niminttl: tliA virilan*- atfa/«ba t\f \ta at\\r- 't ■** ! ■1,>^- '(■ :i To Biskop Hu^Jies, Yt itual enemies, and to enable it to make a holj death, and to secure a happy eternity." The only person who can administei this sa- crament is a bishop or priest. You admit a mid- wife, or a layman, to baptize ; but a priest only can administer Extreme Unction. The reasons for this will appear in the sequel. The oil used in this sacrament must not be common oil. That the effects intended may be produced, it must be oil of olives, " solemnly blessed by the bishop every year on Maunday- Thursday." I quote from Challoner ; the sen- tence leaves it doubtful whether the efficacy of the bishop's blessing continues only a year, or whether the oil used must be blessed on that day. It has what is called in rhetoric, a squinting con- struction. As the bishop is paid for blessing it, it is probable he blesses but little at once, and tliat he gives it efficacy but for a limited time. The effijcts and fruits of tliis anointing are these: H remits sins, at least such as are venial ; it heala the soul of its infirmity and weakness ; and helps Xo remove the debt of punishment due to past sins ; it strengthens the soul to bear the illness of the body, and to repel its spiritual enemies ; and "ifit be expedient Jbr the good of the soid, it often restores the health of the body .** I wish you, Sir, and my readers, to ponder the sentence in italics. Its meaning is this : if the person is re-> if 141 o ki«>o aI £^ VKfft*,#%f i ifj T*ir/-» ■■pr^* To Bishop Jffughes, 19 f priests of the Church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith shall save the sick man, and the Lord will lift him up : and if he b« in sin, his sins will be forgiven him." Such is your Extreme Unction, as described by the Council of Tient, Challoner, and the Poor Man's Catechism. Although abridged, you, at least, will say that it is a perfectly fair abri :ge- ment. Let us now examine it in tlie ligiit of Scripture and reason. I ask you to look at your Greek Testament, and then to answer me on what authority you thus translate a portion of the 14th verse of James V. ; " let him bring in the priests of the Church"! Ah ! the priests, the priests ; this sacrament is for their benefit ; nnd by amis-translation, the power ofanointing and praying must be confined to them! But does the text afford the shadow of a sup- port to the sacramont 1 No, not even the sha- dow. You utterly pervert the meaning of the apostle. The anointing and prayer of James is for the life of the sick ; your anointing is for their death, and is never administered whilst there is any hope of li f e. The anointing of James is for the cure of the body ; — yours is for the cjre of the soul, in reference to which the text gives no direction. The saving of the sick, and the forgiveness of sins, are in consequencf; of the nrflVAr nf faith. Can nnne bu^- a nripnt nflfer thni ■fA-' la wwt^ i tw iiito ':f^si^^r-<*riT»"'-iS.vj,i^~ --^ ^ KirumtCs Letter^ •prayer 1 Tie anointing of James aiij the pray* •era to be o*SeFeJ were to be fifl lowed with m\v» ■t6«lous I'ecovery ; youi . are to be followeU with '»peedy death. The cures wrought by the an- •ointing of James, were for the establisliment of the claims of the Gospel ; — yours, for the pur- pose of establishing the ghostly authority of your priesthood, l^iat text above quoted is confess- •edly the on'y one on which you build your sa- ^nd hands, and feet, to secure tl>e remL^.,.* o4 their sins; and to heal the maladies of their souls, and to enable them to repel their spiritual <, 'imissi If this oil can do it, what need is I he. the blood of Christ 1 if the blood of »>v1 I ?e presence of his Spirit can do it, tl# i)^d Ki' %^i& olivfi ojJ 1. i ■ *i \ .>**,.-,.,ft— ^^-■-'W.. ■■» A.' V*"**!**- ■^T ..:.r ^'^K'lf^ t ttiL^f -^^Mii^-i. To Bishop Hughes, n i But again ; you require in the receiver of thii tacrament, the dispositions «tat< d tbove.— i- Those are truly Christian disj 'sitioDS, bating a few things m your manner of stating them. If th(643 <.li£[- ositions are possesscJ, "will not the soul of the person be saved without your olive oil 1 If rot possessed, will your olive oil save them I Again ; among the effects of this sacrament, as stated in the Poor Man's Catechism, p. 329, is this : *• it brings him (the sick man) in safety to the port of eternal happiness/' Now, Sir, ^oes extreme unction save from purgatory t This you will not say. If not, then it only takes liim to the port of eternal happiness. From the port he is turned into purgatory. And you» priests get paid for the olive oil by which he tlips safely to the port of eternal happiness — and then they get paid for the masses by vi^liich they get him out of purgatorial fires into heaven ! So that extreme unction is simply a device to in- 92 'Kirwan's Letters The priest appears in his robes. If the sick man is able, he confesses. If not able, the anointing commences, and proceeds in the way already etated. He is crossed and anointed on his eyes, his nose, his tongue, his ears, his hands, and feet, and the prescribed prayers are said. The man now dies in peace, feeling that his sins are re- muted— that his soul is healed of its infirmities —that his spiritual enemies are all subdued through the efficacy of olive oil, blessed on Maunday-Thursday ! Not a thought of the dy- ing man is directed to the cross of Jesus Christ, or to the efficacy of his atonement ! So that ex- treme unction is a papal incantation, by which the priest makes a deluded people to believe that the keys of heaven and hell hang by his girdle- that by his olive oil he can procure for them all that the Bible suspends on faith in Jesus Christ I Esteem me not harsh, Rev. Sir, when 1 declare It as my deep conviction, that by your sacrament of extreme unction, your church is deluding and damning multitudes of souls, and from year to year. It is a wicked substitution of olive oil for the blood of Christ at the dying hour, and sim- ply and only for the benefit of your priests. And what a tremendous use your church has made of it. Gaining access to the dying beds of kings, princes, and barons, in past days, with your olive oil, you have extorted millions of mo- neV ffnm \)nr\ar% ».U» 1 TT i . . . .--J ^.,...^.v TTiju- LJUiiuvea in your ghost iy « ly declare •mine what science— ta 3t^to be ad- ide on the T were not,, or similar I, would bo s also the dy quoted. 1 sense, the ;e on which ower, that 'ed nations^ jf Peter— of absolu* before the yet turned the world \ ome of the retations of ly startling. "Tli-duliit Pteter ; and upon this rock I build tny church." So thyit your church is bailt upon ih9 persdn of Pietei" ; om's is built upon the imth declared by, P^ter. Is, Sir, your rock as our rock I" Is your church built upon Peter I Now tun* iCrrtm ihe t9th verse of the I8th of Matthew,, which we have been considering, to the 22d ancV !83d verses of the same chapter. Peter is repra- •sented as rebuking his Lord^for the intimations. fee had given- of his approaching death. But the Master, turning upon Peter, thus addressed him :: « Cret thee behind me, Satan." So that, on your principles of interpretation, your church must hft l»ailt upon Satan! What your priests, however profane of wick* *^d, bind or loose upon earth, is bound op loosed in heaven. Now, here is a wicked man absolved by a priest; does he go to heaven ? Here is a good man bound by a priest; does he go to belli! It ttiust be so, on your principles. But you say he rnilst be a sincere penitent, to gain any bene- fit from absolution. But if truly contrite, he ca» get to heaven without your absolution. Take another case r the man bound by th«^ cMrate may be loosed by the parish priest. 1 take the following illustration from a book befoTo ilWe I A penitent is enjoined to abstain from breakfast every morning, until his next confes- jji6n. Christmas day intervenes, and he eats l»f iE^akfast ; not thinking that day could be iu> 30 Kirwan*8 "^Mtert eluded. On confessing this at his next confes- sion, the curate drove him from his knee, declar- ing that he would have no more to do with a person that so trifled with his commands. On the borders of despair, he went to the parish priest, telling him the whole story. " Do not mind it, my child," said the kind hearted father, "I will confess you." He did so, and absolved him. Here one priest binds sin on his soul, and another unbinds it. He dies in this state. What becomes of him 1 Does the binding of the cu- rate send him to hell, or does the loosing of the parish priest send him so heaven 1 What be- comes of him ? Is he suspended somewhere between heaven and hell ? But let us look at the satisfaction, which is a part of the sacrament of penance. " It consists in a faithful performance of the penance enjoin- ed by the priest to whom we confess, whether as to restitution, or prayers, or alms-deeds, or fast- ing, to make some reparation, by these eminent good works, for the injury done to God." The penance enjoined by the priest is an "exchange which God makes of eternal punishment which we have deserved by sin, into these small peni- tential works." I quote from Chaloner. And without satisfaction like this, the sinner cannot be saved. Now, Sir, will you tell me \vhere this is taught ill the Scriptures Wheye are we told that the To Bishop Hughes, jn blood of Christ is not sufficient to cleanse from all sin 1 Where is authority given to rainisten or priests to exchange "eternal punishment for •mall penitential works]" Where does the Bible make a difference between ante-baptism and post-baptism sins 1 Take another view of this thing. Penantfe means punishment. And « prayers, fasting, and alms," are enjoined by the priests as penance ; that is, as punishment. So that your church makes prayers a punishment. to atone for sinst What the Bible makes a privilege, you make a punishment ! The fasting which is beneficial, IS that to which we are led by a sense of our Bins : you enjoin it as a punishment ! And cao alms-giving be a punishment, save to the worship- pers of money 1 What are the prayers or alma worth that are offered or given as a punishment! The penance enjoined, and the austerities vol- untarily practised, are sometimes very singular, when considered in the light of making atone- i ment for sins. Sometimes they consist in a set number of " Our Fathers" and " Hail Marys,'' counted on the beads or fingers, once or oftener a day, for so many days ; sometimes in fasting for a given time, on given days, from meat, eggs. &c.; sometimes in a short pilgrimage to Sl John's well, or St. Patrick's ; sometimes, in Ire- land, in going to the Seven Stations, and walking pn bare knees on the ground from one station to Kirwan*s LeUert ftnother. The p^nanices enjoined by the priest •re optional and multiform, and are modified ac- eording to his own prejudices and the dignity of the confessing penitent. Some of the voluntary •usterities are curious enough. St. Dominick, when a child, would lea'.e his ciadle and lie up- on the cold ground. I have seen many an urchin do this whose name is not yet, and is not likely to be, in the calendar. St. Francis used to call bis body Brother Ass, and whip it as badly m Balaam did his. St. Francis Loyola put Oii 5ro6 chains and a hairshirt, and flogged himself thrice a day. He deserved it all. St. Macarius went naked six months in a desert, suffering himself to be stung with flies, to atone for the sin of hav- ing killed a flea. Now, is it not a wicked bur- lesque upon the religion of Goti, to make ignor- ant people believe that in these and similar ways they secure an exchange of eternal punishment 1 Language supplies no words in which I can ex- press to you my deep abhorrence of your saaa* ment of penance. ^ Picture to yourself, Rev. Sir, this whole thing. There is a papist who has sinned grievously af- ter baptism. How can he get to heaven? Through the sacram ^t of penance. It is not sufficient that he repent of it ; no, he must confess to you ; then he must perform all the austerities that you enjoin ; then you absolve him; and then, taking up the key that hangs by your girdle, tlie pntnt odiBed &e> dignity of voluntary DominiGk, md lie up- f an irrchin not likely sed to call IS badly rxB tut crci 5ro6 iself thrice iriua went >g himself sin of hav*- icked bur« ake ignor- nilar ways lishm'jnt I I can ex- 'our sacra> hole thing, vously af- > heaven? It is not ist confess austerities and then, (ur girdle, To Bishop Hughes. who shall not enter heaven. Wha. blasphemous -sump, „,,„ ,^ ,,^. _^ g^^. _^^ P "-» and procl„ms to all men, .hat •■ he that believeth on the Son hath lifo " c. i "t i-eiie^eiii worthv nf ?;, ' "^^""Ptions are only worthy ot tire world's scorn. It is asiMing how men, pretending to be reli- g.ou3. could contrive such a s. rament iTJ «moz,ng how rational men can beHeve it. Bu « 13 not amazing bow men believing it, and in ^.e power .i,b .hich it clothes y"^, 3I ot d fawn at your feet as spaniels. It is „o wonder that they pour their treasures into your coffera as Water. ■' =0Herg . I believe in repentance, and hope I am not a .tranger to it. I reject penance, as a priestly devce to rob the people of their money and'uX "be sacrament before 1 return to her embrace, you behove that none go to heaven from New \oA but those to whom you and your priestr With great respect, yours, KiRWAN. u Kirwan't Lctterp W 3 ? LETTER IV. Miracles— Mitiier's vindicatioii'-Maiiy examples— Legends of tbd Sainis— A mirncle of my owa woriiing— Wliy so few miracles cincc the Reformation. My Dear Sir : — Another reason which pre- vents my retntn to the bosom of your church, I draw from the miraculous power c\^\xx\ei\ for your eaints and clergy. I have felt disposed to sajp nothing on this subject, because of the extrava- gance of the claim itself; and because of my re- luctance to state the absuidilics which crowd iho legends of your saints, and which your churcU has palmed, and yet palms on the world as mir- acles. I feel afraid that some candid papist will cotjclude that I have at last commenced drawing on my imagination, and that the influence of my former reasoning with him will be weakened, by the utter, the intense absurdity of the miraclea claimed for your saints, which Ishall quote. But, pledging myself to fairness of statement, I will risk the consequences. Milner, as you know, devotes his 23d letter to- vindicate the possession of this power by your church. He says, " The Catholic Church being always the beloved spouse of Christ, and contin- uing at all times to bring forth children of heroic sanctity, God fails not in this, any more than in nnsf. nOPfl. fn l11llAti-nf^ )ior nn<1 tVicm \r\xr iirmiiAc- ' ^inTiii'H^liTiilliifei^i'ii yrtrnir' iwrimMiiBr'nigpipii To Bishop Hughes, tronable miracles ; accordingly, in those process- es which are constantly going on at iho apostoli- cal see, for the canonization of new saints, fresh miracles of a recent dale continue to be proved, %vith the highest degree of evidence, as I can testify, from having perused, on i!,e spot, the official printed account of some of ti>em." And miracwh.us power is claimed by all your writers, and ig put fcrtli as an evidence of yours bciTi-%««,M>*.;^... 3> Bishop Httgh€9. ^ was born in a foreign land. St. Mochua had to call the stags from the forest to feed the multi- tude of his followers. He o.-dered their picked bones to be placed in their skins, and by an in- oantation over the skins and bones the stags were brought to life, jumped up, and ran back to the woods. St. Euchadius did the same with an old favorite crow, that he had to kill to provide meat for h.s guests. The pfety of St. Fechin was so fervent, that when he bathed himself in cold water the water became almost boiling hot. Wnen St. Mochua wanted a fire in his cell, he called down a fire from heaven to liaht it St Goar of Treves, wanting a beam to'hang uphis* cape, hungit on a sunbeam, where it remained untd he took It down. St. Columbanus miracu- lously kept the grubs from his cabbage. When bt Mael was m want of fishes, he caught them on dry ground ; and St. Berach, when in want of fruit, made willows to bear apples. St. Fechin when hungry, turned acorns into pork. In tra- velling he was stopped by a large tree which fell across his road : he commanded it to make way and It instantly rose to its place. He built a milj on a hill top : being asked about the water he went to a lake, a mile distant, imo which he threw his stick; the stick followed him on hi^ return and the water after it, and the mill work- ed finely. Some thievish rrn„.o .„„..:. ^ .ome oflhe thatch of St. Cuthbert's hut to build 38 I i II Kirwaa', Letteri their nests : at his rebulce thev n„, , •Pology. but they hroul J m T ' "'"'' "" J"d to make amends for I e i„i ""'"" t '"'^'' ™i.acle Bede testifies. A Lve?,^, ,^° ""' eye of an ass of St. Ja t^ f T " ."^ ""' ""' saint made a hasty invoc^fo? V?""^'' ""' mediately returned a ,d p "L!" l"'' ';''^<'" "»• «i'>.out .1.0 ,east injury to .'L? 's"?'"'' ^^ne was treated wi/h insults n a c'ert^;^^"" England-t),e fishmontrers hi '^"""•"""' '" tive in the bad work, hf; n^'Z'.rS'f "• on h,s garments and thosfof b 1 f 'n ""''"P' generations afterwards ii^^^ZT, f"' were born with tails. "f that place Your legends narrate miracies Hlr« ,1, any amount: and thev »r» „ "'*'° '" the French nd 2g fsh " "rVT''''"'' '""^ encouraqing the fald „f ^ • "'" ''"'T""« "f aa these°are: t ey tt '"'"'" '^'""'^'■'■"' as many oth;rs!Lt th^^' ""^°'" "' ''""'''"•'■'" of Sr " It' Fe7 '' '^™"^'" ^ P™'--- at them. St. Frandst: "" " ""'"'''"■"• '«""' himself. ChrLrrtlsfilCdb "" '^'■■''" Francis more than twen:;^res "s^T-''- and his disciples restored morrtl^n ^'\^''^''"' blind to sight-and more ".a a J,' ^7"' totheuseoftheirlim}.« i '"^"^'^n^ lame and dead to life! """^ """' "'="' " ">»"»• To Bishop Hughes. 19 to ♦ Now, sir, whilst these things are gravely nar- rated in your legends, and are read by your com- mon people from your own books wiih the most pious belief in their truth, it is more than pro- bable that this state. nent of them will be de- nounced as a bundle of Protestant lies ! When a boy I read a life of St. Francis Xavier, which narrated miracles wrought by him far surpassing any here cited. But why go to the miracles of the legends ; you are daily performing miracles which come up to any of them. Your daily changing of a wafer into the real body of Christ, and then eat- ing him, beats any thing St. Fechin ever did. Your preparing an old sinner for heaven by rub- bing him with olive oil, and then opening its gates to him by the keys which are only in your pos- session, far surpasses Fechin's turning acorns to pork. We believe the swine themselves are constantly doing this in our western woods. And in Ireland your priests are constantly per- forming miraculous cures on men and cattle. Even your common people there work miracles. When a thunder storm is raging, they kindle a fire, and heat the tongs red hot. This pre- eerves their cattle from the lightning. If they are killed notwithstanding, it is m chastisement fur some sins not confessed, or some penances not rightly performed. Perhaps^ Sir, it may as- tonish you when I tell yoQ that I myself wbilil • *-j:»jU4.1K^„'*». 40 P. H' Kirwan's Letters yet in your faitfe, wrouph* f«,« I'i'ed. His ghost w„, ,!„ , , " """^ ""» ooce" "ere.- passed fh "ha Toid'^'r" "■'- "»"'• I "ever saw the ghost. After dutk i„ ,?"'' '''"' ^ 'he year, I wa, sent on an 0"™'^! "" 'P''°8 "f house, which was sep"ra"edT " "^'shbour's. three fields. As I ran^ll r ' """ ^y two or ^^'fy.». tw.ght wl:::: x:2';-ih ■i-.g- Mopped suddenly, and the ,». ? ^ "'' ^P"'«- I Natu^lly of a fjsolute ,1? iT"^""'' """""g- 'M back he can catch .„c ^ i „ , ' """"'''^ • i" »'ch n,e. So „fter ,^^ ^ g„^™"-'> he can but •-g myself, I „ent forward w^h '^' "'"'"■<'''- A^I advanced .he horns X fij ' " """"'"'^ "^p. obvious. Ateost dead w^h r """""" P^^Mly ""'I caught hold of them A „^ ' ''"'"'' ^'"'"''i •hose fiendish horns "^reo'^rr"™"" ■""■™'o. h»"dles of a plough ! Now r /^ ■ """='' '«° 'he Whether these miracles ^Z ul ' '' "• y""' »'•■. peat as Ihose wrougt brsT t I '"'''"• "'" ■">' " b-nu.. And yet I fe^ . Z^l] ^'"K"''' •"■ St. Coin™, exceedingly sma„. "^ '''""" '^f canonization i, 'o-'^thTci^^^Vy^r 1 ^-^r "'^ o^s "^'"'- -^v:::rdir;c- •: M.^r;:f;:;'if;„7„;;;';' '.he ""'-'""^ucedby « miracles of witch stories on H ""'■'"""«'•»- «"<« 'f 've deny .he one we ^ T "T" ''"'"• ""« -ieny that the fervoToTtt "^ '^ °"'^^' '^ I -ost made the co d 1 .' tb'T^ ''^«'- ^""i" al- most I also deny tharCh -^ '" '*'""' ''« ''"'■'d, g^ve ? Will y™ 2 '■'""''' I'"»™» from the chu«=h of Go ^s !' ,h ,7' '"■ '"' " ""'""' '" '"» by evidence eoLa iTdn! '" "■"•««'«» "« 'Stained ">- ? ThisTwij, ;"':;::"':" "' '"^ "■='"'■ Compare the ol.i»„, V """^ ^''"' »»y «»• •cles. The one Id" '"'P'"™' «"'» W^h mir- the other. .1" u^J Z °""'""™'' *« ""» '™''; fe«„t th^e ot;" ' '"If; :r"' «'""•<="• Ho^ dif! ent than the miracles And " ""' "" """'^ '^"^"- dence. Milner's mtZJ '" T"" "' f-"« «nd e,i- ^f your church dos«pc«„ ^:„_ \ . •o sparing of its use since"the"i?r''"'*: ^'T'' ^^^ ' •re not oli impostures whl ' '"''*^"" ' ^^ 'hey 1 es, why so many in Ireland, whiiii 42 Kii-warCa Letters whilst there are none in Scotland ; why so many la France and Spain, and so few in New York ? Come out in the open view of some intelligent Protestanta, and cure a mau that was born blind, or raise one from the grave thnt lay there until putrefaction commenc- ed, and, then, we will ask you to excuse the utter scorn with which, until then, we must treat your im- postures. My dear Sir, the world will not forget the history of Hohenlohe, the modern St. Fechin. H« was forbidden to work his miracles save in the pre- sence of some commissioners and physic ns ; he ap- pteakd to the Pope. The holy father enjoined him to conform. From that ho«r his miracles have ceased. "Ghosts prudently withdraw at peep of day." Miracles were vouchsafed by God divinely to attest the truth of the Gospel. This power was vouchsafed to the Apostles, and was continued in the church un- til the tvuth of the Gospel was established. Then it was withdrawn. Since the rise of popery there has been no miracles wrought. The nearest approach to one, that I now remember, for fourteen hundred years, is the fact that your church could gain such a general credence for Us absurdities, and make men believe that she could work miracles. You must give up your lying legends and your claim to miraculous power, before I can return to your fold. I feel as did our fellow-countryman with the bad asthma, who exclaimed, " If once I can get this troublesome breath out of my body, I'll take good care it shall never get in again." TT SISS ^. i 7 if KiRWAR. ■■: * ' ■ J ./•"*' To Buhop Hug/ia. 43 LETTER V. claims wh,"^,, if tr" *™' "^^"^ ''--*- or to submit to its authority. T ,a! ttt T"''' are put forth, you „i„ not'deny You !, ' ">!,«.» 1 'P'®^^ the common m nr| aav, those who submit nnt f„ .u , """ '. says, thorlty of the Cl n ?• " ''""""^ ""'' »»- J.^«vs, beretTcsZ', I '"^'"'* ■"«''«'^. T«.ks. , '^'*^"cs and scliismatirs '♦ ail . Holy Catholic Church Tl . u ^^ "'" '-hose head is the pope T, ' i*"" ''""'='' Pjicit. Sothati^vT' ^'"^ " sufficiently ex- your church tlp^°'"'^'"'""'°"- ""^ '" 'hat of -"P'e., the people .it ZT^Z' oT''''' - ...^ .a., excnent Milnor. .. Spring, Kn"™! # ■- •»*»?i*.\s^^;,r>. JSirwQrCs Letters Bangs. Williams, Wainright, Skinner, your co- temporaries, and equals, and fellow citizens, are no belter than Hume, Voltaire, Gibbon ; or at least than Jewish Rabbles, Turkish Mufties, or Hindoo Priests, who mingle their blood M^ith their sacrifices. That such is your belief is ap- parent in your conduct. You and your priesis so treat them. The belief of your people is. that all beyond the pale of your church are devoted to destruction. I remember the day when I had no more doubt of it than of my own existence. It there are papists who believe otherwise, and , who exercise a charitable hope as to the salvauon of Protestants, as I believe there are many, so , far forth they are not papists. The process by which you reach this terrible dogma is a very short one. There is rto salva- tion out of the true church. The Roman Ca- tholic IS the true Church-therefoie, there is . no salvation oqt of the Roman Catholic Church. Here is your logical and theological guillotine, by which you sever the hopes which bind mil- lions of your race to God and heaven ; who serve the one, and deserve the other, at least, as well as you do. And, then, the marks of yours being the true church, you parade before us with as much confidence as if they were true: and witli as much assurance as if they were never instead of being a thousand times, refuted! Permit nie, m the briefest manner, to consider each of these marks. They are Unity, Sanctity, i^athohcity, Apostc^licity, and Infallibility, To Bishcp Hughes. «6 Your first mark is Undy. Has your churdi .-.>g.es.ed. You have laid the Jl ^J,::! green and fruitful branch; and the lid stumj and vvuhcred branches remain, a „„i,y j And what >s your unity worth ? If I return to your church., " „,ust believe whatever the Holy Catholic Church believes and teaches." This I must do without knowing, and without ever he- ing able to know, all that she believes and teach- es. I must put myself into your hands, and give you power to think for me, and to beheve fo, me; and then I must believe, and swear to what you thus think and believe for me, at the' peril of being cut off and cast into the fire. Sir this .3 horrible slavery. Do you think men wiji long submit to it ? Your boasted unity is a fablc-your apparent unity, I, slavery. You present a united f„.nt in your opposition to Protestants ; but never were the bowelaofthe victim of the Asiatic choler. M V/ll To Bishop Hughes. «7 more terribly convulsed* than is the bosom of your church by distracting controversies. Your priests and bishops and people may fight as they may, but they are a unity as long as they remain within the same organization. If one of them secedes, if you cannot kill him, you damn him, for the sake of unity. Your next mark is Sanctity. I admit that sanctity, or holiness, is a mark of a tr^e disci- ple,and of a true church. The people and church of Clirist should be holy in all manner of con- versation. Sanctity you claim for your church «i3 one of its distinguishing marks. But in what is it ma ufested ? You reply, first, in l>er doc- trines. But what doctrine of the Bible has not your church corrupted? What institution has it not perverted ? And so conscious is your ■church of this that it withholds the unadulterated word fioin the people. You reply, again, in the means of holiness. By these you mean Ike socra- tnents. But you have grieviously |3erverted the only two sacranf>ents instituted by Christ; aiKl you havendded to them five which have no di- vine authority, and whose only object is to give you power, and to obtain for you " the alms and the suffrages of the faithful. You reply Bgain, in her fruits of holiness. By tliese you mean the virtues practised by papists. I could not, for a moment, deny the true piety of many papists, the exalted piety of some; but will you, Sir, m- *- '■Knvan; Letta-t. • "^""'''tl'epio.y ami virtues of v„ ■ <"> much more resplendent T "7"'"' '""P'^ ""* »" o-her people. ltZ^^\ "'"'•' "' ""X. or •««« U,a. .r.,pU,, surpass "he 1„ '°" """''' 'he contrary are „„ '„"T: ""^"''"' '» <=«»« ".an in ,I,e „„„"'"'" "f "*"' i" ihe one «nd what were tl.eir fruit oM , ^'°'"' '^""'^- "•vn historians bcin. ' " '"''' ^ ^"n, «•"■■«» of you, „.,:i7,^";^:^-'' "'"' "''' "■" ■"onks, and your ,nhorZ/eT T'^T'''' '""' "o Pmteatants to unveil the "" ""-"" "-^'^ are „„. the fruits rfvl' ti"'"'"'''''^' ' ^ha, "fSouth America t Zl "'"" " "" '"'"'* mo„y of Mr. Thomnson ^"V^"" "'« '<^M^ M-ico, as to the p?p7;, ""■■ '»/« ""■■'■^'" '" A3 to the fruitsof ho i^e ■•■■^' "'^ "'=" ^""""y? '^i'H Scotland oS-^^Xr^^ «-• ministry of NefvV „ wT.r ""' "'•'"''- """SfcgatioB of St. Patricll V P^P^'-'he «*»»">, Protestant corill"' ^Y '-.?" -d '» "-e fruits of holiness Cfv""'" '=''^' «" .""""Jailed at the dire.^^!!'' ^"^ f --If «ill be ", that purely papal coumV; S^"^"-"! rule •^i.^ ar. th. .<«. iuj t rd^^J~ conn. To Bishop Hvghcs. ^ WOT in every iroocl work. The tenth century, the noonday tf popery, was the midni-ht of oiirroco. Nor does the histcry of the world present auch evidences of unhridlcd, overgrown depravity, as docs the history of your church. Your next mark is Catholicity. You claim this title for your church as to time, persons, and places As to time, your church rose upon the ruins of that founded by Cljrist and his apur.!ies, and centuries after their death. The peculiar doctrines and ceremonies of popery are derived from the heathen, and were engrafted on Chris- tianity. Instead of your church, as you claim, bemg identical with .hat of Christ and his apos- ties, there is not an essential particular, in which it is not in opposition to it. I admit, as to per^ sons, that yours is a very numerous chuich j but k never formed a third „an; of Christendom. !» the standard of truia the numbers that profess it? Then Christianity was a lie whilst in the Jninority ;— and soil is a lie yet, because, taking our whole rae together, vastly in the iiiiaority. So I admit, as to pljKes, that popery Is very widely Effused. But is »ot Protestantism also* Where- has a papist gained foothold where there ib not a Protestant \ So that your claim to this mark » as absurd as it is groundless. Your catholicity M a vain and empty boast. There is a Catholiw- Church, but it is not yours. Your next mark is Aj>ostolicitij~^that is, a re-. f -o„d the power •""»' -o veceive « ' L!"": ■ '' -'"Wished, jjo-'ing to „s in ,he .e. aTli!""'?'' "'''' ««» *»''f"y? '»".ucce.,sirn !","■"'*'" "'•"Po- "''v.ou.V doctrines. Ti";,,"'^ •'"«'■"'«»? Most ?"". and bring „ot tin. Z, . '^""^ '"J "nt, '"'o yo,„. house, ne I^r T; '^'^"-^ '"•'» ■'<>« f -'ciin. np,„ ;„,; ' 7, -' '"•" G.HI .speed." """■f; ''o-" my doo,. even ha ,,""'"''' '"™ y" preached , heir d.,ct,neVwu'"'"f' ""'"" ?<>» S"ase of Pa„, ^„„,j /;• ^Hy, .,„ ,^^ ?"•;. -min. to „,e ^i^^J^T"" '"« 'o c„„e -'"'7' apostohca, do , ■ „T T t^"^<=«--. *«'"'' Gospe, unto v,':u !, 7' '"*«'='' ""J P'-eached, Jet l,i„ /^' , "'"' '^« have' yo- succession b^ yolT?."' " «''•' '^ ^ 'ry ---ion. I eouii ^on ir"^' ""' "•- 'est i "h" 3aid thevwere an , ^"'' """"S 'ho«, ^■•- -f.at Apostl sT: ?/"" '^^•■^ "-"- •'e-ded, who are cry n" ol "f"'' """^ «••« de- ^'"S out, Apostohcal succe,- To Bishop Hughes. SI es in the cKai> "» is put forth «"rs, and on )urs. I now . and Syriao *e the Gospel » •Ion, Apostolical succession ! I cannot conceive. Your next mark is IrtfalUhility. Under all the circumstances of the case, this claim is truly lu- dicrous. Where is the seat of infallibility !— Some say it resides in the pope. But how is ho made infallible ? The pope dies ; an election for a new one is ordered. Ho is to be elected from the cardinals— all fallible men, if no worse. After endless intiigue, and Loundless corruption, and numerous ballotings, the lot falls upon a fallible cardinal. Will you tell me how such an election makes him infalliblel iJut others say, that the pope is not infallible, and ihit he may be deposed for heiesy. So that here you are divided. Some say the seat of infallibility is a general council. Hut how is this 1 Here are three hun- dred fallible men assembled in general council ; how do they become infallible ? Will you tell me the process ? How do finites make an in- finite 1 Heap them up as you may, are they not a heap ol finites ? And crowd together as many fallible men as you may, are they any thing else than a crowd of fallibles 1 But by what chemical or alchemical process can you deduce the infalli- ble from the fallible] Nor is this the worst. We find one general council denouncing another — the church of on© age contradicting the church of another. The seat of infallibility is thus undetermined by you j whilst the proofs cf your church's fallibility fiU cr fCtnaan's teller, **e World It ' . >. » '*"■'<='« is ftJMbJ ''^^y '^"•in thai jroar fem.„,„e J '•«' .n the masculine a„d ^-' »r.osto,iea,, a^d ;^° ,^ : « »-. ,,o,,, ,,;^^ '*« m^l ofsin f„„„ J°''' ""'' "-e fari,e, of kJ claims ri' "''*' *''™'"o« sense r • ^-^ - goodness; ^1";:^) !'- ^^her of „, J J">" convert G„d into a tt "'' '" ''^^P«'>, and 7';'"« ■•' .o caJ ^J" ='■*"•«'' 'o bo. r „ou,d .^"'' y«' « claim, the end'""'' "^ ^^h "W •"ff 'o i.eave, al, .,,; 3™'"^ """"POy of ca^t ' ^^ir^-»-;i»»»i»ft- T9 - \ ^«n chafc your ^'^1 you c/aim ^^'-y-ifs sani^ masculine and '*• writers, in, ' ^^^b, catho- '^^^otildcaH 'f*»erofJiea. ejects your ^^ni, an<| -asa of irt- yontl your -^oin ali J^ •'^'icked. ^ o/*«s aJ| ^at Were I woulej ^h river, f carry- f it, and an see, belief- STo Bishop Hughes, ik tt\\ in tae Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved. — The sincere believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, whether in your church or other churches, or in no church, form a part of that church which Christ will pi^sent to the Father, without spot or wrin- kle or any such thing. By setting up its claim to be the only tme church— by denying salvation to a)l but your own members, with ihe exception of the invincibly ignorant, you deny the doctrine of the Bible and of my faith — you lay down a principle, unsustained by sense or Scripture, from which the ' lind of the world revolts, and £rora which - soul turns away, as from a thing the most of issive. lour exclusive claims must be proved, or abandoned, from their Alpha to their Omega, before I can return to your church. With great respect, yours, KmwAN. cr -s^ ^^««'' Letter, BETTER yr ''"cause „f „, . "" '«'sed from ,1, , ^'•''' ''e- •^•"^ "'ev e! ' ""■'■''^'"ous nl '"''•«'' '• 3<»y, .""'"ch (bat of iMii,,. ' '"^'^ount of ,.,„ ■* ne man T» Bishop Hughes. fift Who performed miracles, when living, should be, I after death, highly honored ; his bones may pei^ form them after death; and, as in many cases they do perform them, their relics should be honored with an inferior and relative, but not with a divine honor. Here is the link which connects your doctrine of relics with your mi- Relics are matters of immense importance to Rome. They are to your churches what the ark of the covenant, and the pot of manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, were to the Jewish temple. Hence the prodigious eflfcits of past a^es lo obtain relics, and the enormous pnces plid for them, in cnler to place them in churches, and the sleepless vigilance with which they have been guarded, lest they should be stoler. for the adorning of new churches by their v.rtnes. Tb-^y have been more than mines of wealth to Holy Mother, as they have brought her the gold and the silver, without the trouble of mining, smelt- ing, or coining it. If a bone or a relic of a saint could be securea for a new church, the church was called by his name, and placed under his guardianship. Thia is the origin of calling churches after the names of saints. And thus nations were placed under the guardianship of saints-as Ireland under that of St. Patrick-Scotland under that of St. An. ^ , 1 i_„ .u-» «r Si fJporere. oo ^"'^ their. 7- ^^^*^®^ under fl '■^''e brou4f i, "*■ •'''V has „„ "^ P'^^ent ► ■■' "'■•^"''t -° t7 "T ''°'^ ''oi ofT '• ="" "^^ "■^'•''«-" 4„ I " ""^ «'-■='.{ of ,*"»'"'. that "" ''""bt tJT, """^'-^ ""able ,„ '° '">-^«"'; bu, ^^ere fs ^ j ^^^^ care .^''"•ous boot V"^r "»--,■, r''""?^ your Pan.-... . «^ the rei/cs j^ren.j J '*'^«^ogUe Pan- '""■of '^''« arms li ' ""^ ^^aders, «„,, "*''' o«« "^i-e are i„ .^. '^'^" cannon, ^;^eadhoci>of '' j^eo desired ^'^^'te from ' *^^ P'udent ^:f "s, and ive '^« and bu]. ^'^ I'nder a ;>'se?f; but '• ^ have ^ad care * ^r your e a Very ted by i-acJes. d» out « are 'Urn* Church of Lateran, the ark made by Moses in the wildeincss, the rod of Moses, and the table on which the Jast supper was instituted by the Sa- viour. The table is entirely at Rome ; but there are many pieces of it in other places. On the altar of the Latemn are the heads of Peter and Paul entire; but there are pieces of them in Bil- boa, greatly honored by the monks. St. Peter's Church is blessed with the cross of the penitent thief; with the lantern of Judas; with the dice used by the soldiers in casting lots for the Sa- vir3ur's garments; with the tail of Balaam's ass; and with the axe, saw, and hammer of St. Joseph. Different churches are enriched with pieces of the wood of tho cross ; and were the pieces all brought together, they would make a hundred crosses. In one church is some of the manna in the wilderness ; in another some blossoms from Aaron's rod; in another an arm of St. Simon ; in another the picture of the Virgin, painted by Luke— m another one of her combs ; in another the combs of the apostles, but little used ; in an- other a part of the body of St. Lazarus, that smells; in another a part of the Gospel of Mark, in his own handwriting; in another a finger of St. Ann, the Virgin's sister; in another st Pa- trick's stick, with which he drove venomous rep- tiles from Ireland ; in another some of St Joseph's breath, caught by an angel in a vial ; in another « piece of the rope with which Judes hun.^him. ea Kinmn', Letter, •elf; in another some of tl,» v • . •"Other aome of her milk A 7'?'"' '■'"*'-'» •ho-ved among .helTJ ,.; ,f "'' ""' '""'""one, *"!' which Michael .„ ''P*" "•■•' '^ieW from the ,vi„gof .^rHl, T?"''''''"'"^"''" ^P^'^n, - o„ the mi' 'r^" "'"'" C'"'""' « wf ^'';^-evanous,a„';:^:!''^""^''-"- I Will nnt T ^ numerous. •^-sof":;:.~;'-'';ve of 0" kinJs of g,.a J ;' p^';'":'-' o" 'he robbe.y »eilmgof old wood suffi ''"' "» "'9 '-■" 'h^ugh the win e, aT' '° ""™ " ""«" O" ".e selling of J,a" T"""' °''""' ""^H f-o.ed on,, had si' 7 r "'"--« of the « "-y feet 03 the "2m '^ "' «"•--»». <«"ede. J turn ft-^Th':", ""'™ -« <=»" 'he Now, Si,, where k^'!,".''".^" T ">« •'°«"ne. °f '••^iica ? Can you I? ?"°"' '"^^°'"- ''""rine Testament ? Will v! A ""' "'" '" ^""^ New «'■» sham miracles wrought'' ! T""""'' """P"« of >our saints with Z f. . '^ """•« "f »ome « P'ophet of r.. f ^'wm?'"''^ •'- hone, of «■« -ing of asore throa bv": ,''? '" '"^ "'« » to be placed on the T ' *"'' "'"'» hand, -uious cures oT.tr.f-'^;'''". hen,.-: L uwes f I venerate tb« 'Jrgin's hair- J the monks onc^f 'ea*- and shiewl ' the dragon ofl 31' had a feather r 't. when taking J Christ at his| lit by the reh'cs j ^'^i^y dwelt.-E. ous. ipon the awfoJ n the robbeiy »nd the hawk- '•«Pe; on the varm a small 0^' the cross ; 'f particular' - some ofthe "a»eus, and we call the he doctrine, ur doctrine in theNevr -, compare hs of some e bones of » say that an's hand, ^h the mi- lerate tb^ 2V JBw/iop Hughet, 5f names, I would even decorate the tombs of the good ; but what virtue is tliere in a bone from the body of Paul or Peter ? or in a slip of wood from the cross ? or in a strand from the rope with which Judas hung himself? or in some hairs from the tail ofthe beast which Balaam whipped. If relics ever performed miracles, wl.y do ihey 4iot perform some now 1 Is the virtue of all your old bones exhausted ? Where is the holy coat of Treves ? Where now are ihe pilgrims to the l>ones of Becket ? Where is your shop in New York for the sale of holy teeth, and holy fingers, and holy bones, taken fiom the graves of the saints ? Sir, the whole matter is one of the vilest impositions ever practiced upon the credulity of "man. I do not charge you with believing a word of it. I could almost as soon believe in the vir- tue ofthe paring ofthe toe-nails of some of your saints, as admit that a man of your high sense can believe in these things. But I must Irasten to a brief consideration of your doctrine of indulgence. And how shall I characterize it ? Your church teaches that sins of a certain cha- lacter deserve temporal and eternal punishment- Penance secures the remission of the latter; in- dulgence releases from the foimer. So that indulgences secure a release from the debt of temporal punishment. No person but a lineal descendant of St. Peter ^ •»>»««•« Letter r /t "" grant an indulffence a a i "- f-' .1.0. L Sav,^ "";r,f "'^ P™ved, b, ""1 'Old him ,l„t whri^v , f ^"^^ '"P""' «" earth should be bound >'' '"'"'"' "^ '°o«d •'"^e. l^y penance, secureuf "'"^. '" "•"'» "'"' ->p«»isin„e„t,;;,Th;' :"~°""''^'"- vay „ wh , °; 'r.f "^' "'"'». ^■"~ "'i^aion oft|,e ,e„,no , ?''°P ^^^"''e^ ti.e re- - ed ""e,-ho dra^T p f r"'""'"" "^ "- ■'"Jolg- ""d offers tbo d,.„ft („ q" '^='^'"o of the church," •he punishment due to ,h ' v^- "" ^-'3""'«Ie-.t for ' .->' 3o™e heated CO ,0::: ':•''"?' •' ^ ''" 'hiok ""^ ''octrine of your 0,^ f ''"'^ '"^""•'e'l "^ 'i-at this is a d s, r, '1; T^"" "'■"»''' "ost literally, from C n " ^' '^ '"^e". al- The iJlust^tionof^tf. """»'• '""^ ^"''^•■■ f "">.g. is a curios- y?:::- '" '" v-^''-^ »f fom 3 Sam., isth ch.n,'" r^ "y- ^' '» ^'awn «*- of Uriah, and b! IduL ^ •"' '^ "'<' """- ««'-red both eternal and 1 '^ """" '"'' ^'^-- '"■ an '-»vy for copy of ,he BiSe, IT,; XX^'''°'T' ' his soul ; strong in the Lord ,„ '"""' '""' ' 0-^ ocl. With the .a^^fUfe in ir:r.";/;7 '•'• nintion fo lows Anri f«.. .u ' "^ Refor- - wiaedn^ ;:u?:,'trr 'LI r™-"- monk ,0 a place where the efficacy of . '^'" ™n.s-„f all n,asses-of „„ Mullc Lirnr"'" reach him. «"'toences— cao nev«r 4- To Bishop Ilvghcs. ^ 9? And It ichcg wer« thnt indul- ^t inflicted liemntter? can send a >y punish- tlie peni- ou see fit. Iinmber io t refaction, ?ver seen, zenlously E?d I point ' popes — of vnga- uropc nt IS good a e monks ' a poor ^ princo e world eavy for vered a ind and ■om bit Refer- fraudt t poor sacra- never But you will say nil this wns the abuse of the thing. My dear Sir, your doctruies of relics nnd indul- gences have no use — they are all ubu&e. Guard then* •8 you may in your Catechisms nnd books, practically they arc all abuse. Millions have prayed nt the tombs of your saints, who never oflTered an iutellifjcnt prayer to God through his Son. Millions hnve worshipped your relics, who never worshir ; ■ ' God in s[)irit and in truth. And millions have sougin. deliverance fron» tin by your penances, and xireme i ictions, and in- dulgences, who never sought '' thrc gh the blood of Jesus Christ. And at thif> Jour many of your churches in Rome nre nothing but spiritual shops for the sale of indulgences. The frauds which your chnrch has practised on tht world, by her relics nnd indulgences nre enormous. If practised by the merchnnts of New-York, in their commerciiil transiictions, they would send every man of them to State Prison, By your doctrine of relics you lend the people into Idolatry on the one hand — by your doctrine of indul- gence you give them a hcense to commit sin on the other. At least this is their prncticnl effect. It it taid of the holy Sturme, the disciple of St. W liitVid, that in passing a horde of unconverted Germans, at they were bathing in a stream, he wns so overpower- ed by the intolerable stench of sin that arose fron> them, he nearly fainted away. Similar is the effect of the odor of your relics and indulgences upon me. Your church must abandon them utterly before I cao return to her communion. With great respect, yours. 94 Kirwan*s Lcttcn LETTER Vlt vnmeaningness of Romish n«„. • The Ma.-Pc„,„t-E "» r,","'' ^"-""'^-B^P.!™.- Rer. AND Dear S>c Scriptures, I nev Ve i,!'."? TT""'' "' '.V tench. Its „„3t mys'e ' : ;i ' '^ """''" posed to mv reason • ,1 "'''' "<" "P" there enjoined, they al7 ee „ t„ ^-emonie, simple and e..pressive And ^ ""^ '""''"'-' 7h Bishop Hughes. '^5 ness, do they deviate from the apoBtolia£« oou and a title to heaven. AH 3 % .-t t?S*MSB hi: $6 m KirwOn's letters this I can understand j but how vm,r r • three times in water an do alT tCui ^^^'"® Wi.t the Bible att.i.ntes to ;i^X^^ to the exercise of true faith, you claim 2 T sacrament of baptism ! ' ^*'® If ymu- doctrine of baptismal rccre„eratfnn ' in .he Jives of your people ! Whir «i..„ i manifestations of the habits'of clivitl ^L'XT yo-.- bapti^n, i„f„3e., into the sou), yo°u 1 d„i among y„„r pe..p,e., J „„,, w n'de . Xt '' facts m the case have not In ,«• • yo..octH„eana,ea;:ir;;::3r;s ofthesacran,e„t as tanglu in the Bible^ Xb! apostles acm.niatered baptism to those who co„ fessed fauh in Jesus Christ; and th.oulh .t sacrament we obtait. a pkce Ld „ .,? /' visible chufch. Tbisrnl:l~a„d« but how you, o. any mortal man, by th anllLj he o, g,„al and actual sins of the sinner -inZ - o b,s soul the habits of grace, and g ^ 7! «le to heaveu. I cannot comprehen/ If 1" baptism could ..aW do this it wr „i i 7 ^ »^end the habits "of many Ty^ltT:^''''^ save some of tbe-criminai'colrof ^t V"" world ctf I rouble ! ew-York a And the power you claim for it is no more i.n. -;..mg than the ceremonies you connecTj- h T H« sacran.ont. ordinarily, must be admioisterej I Ifc II 'i"*" ^*mM». - r«t?*!!i**l»f' your dipping "is, I sue not. 'b Spirit, and :laim for the generation is ve have of it hat singular g^ace which ou see daily Jer that the ^e exploded e simplicity ib^e I The le who con- '^'■ough this ame in the nderstand; '»e applica- I'ash away ''',— infuse :ive him a If your JiiderfuIIy opie, and v-York a more un- ct with h. Jnistered To Bis/wp Hughes. §7 in churches with fonts, whose water must be blessed - on the vigils of Easter and VVhitaun- day." There must be godfathers and godmo- thers. The priest blows in the face of the sub- ject of baptism thrice, to drive Satan out of him ! Then blessed salt is put in 1 mouth! Then exorcism is perf>jrmed to drive the dcvii out of him ! This is all done in the porch of the church. Then he is introduced into the church, where prayers are said. Then the priest puts his spittle on his ears and nose Then he is anointed with holy oil, "blessed on Maunday-Thursday "— And then he is baptized. Then he is anointed on the top of the head with holy chrism . Then a white linen cloth is placed on hio head. Then a lighted candle is put in hU hand ! Then the ceremony is ended, and the person h dismissed his sins all washed away~the habits of gracJ infused into his soul, and his title to heaveh in his pocket ! Now, Sir, excite my wits as T may, I cannot understand all this. It is addresaed to my ijr. norance. ° The wliole ceremony of your Mass is yet more unmeaning to me. Often as I have m 'tnessed It, I never gleaned one intelligent idea from it— nor does one out of one million of your people I have just read through the laboured explanation of It by Bishop England ; and it is truly painful to see no noble a mind expending its powers in 68 Kirwan*s Letters f «[■ ^1 ! the vam attempt to give meiin.Dg to every thread of auch a-gowamer web, -to give sense and aignificance to what is so utterly nonsensical. "In the Mass," says Dr. England, "Christ is the victim; he is produced by the consecration, which, by the power of God, and the institution of the Redeemer, and the act of the pri.st, place the body and blood of Christ, under the appear- ance of bread and wine, upon the altar j then the pnest makes an oblation of ihis Victim to the Eternal Father on behalf of the people, and the victim undergoes a destructive change, showing fonh the death of the Redeemer, and making commemoration thereof, by the exhibition of the apparent separator of the body from the blood • the fo.mer being under the appearance of bread' aud the latter under the appearance of wine, and by the consumption of both bv the priest." This .3, on the whole, the clearest account of the mas, that I have ever seen from the pen of a priest • and yet what mind can understand it 1 Sir do you understand it ? Christ produced from s^n.e bread and wine by a priest-thls produced Christ .s laid upon the altar by the priest-an oblation of th.s produced Christ is made to .he Eternal " Father by the priest-the produced Christ un- dergoes a destructive change in the act of obla- t.on-tlns oblation of the produced Christ is of- !r t'nu*'" ''""?'*-'=""> ">«" "'i« produced, offered Chnst, and after ho has undergone . ti.--ef.5rr*ri.':-: ..»., To BUhop Hughti. 6$ destructive chnnge, is eaten by the priest ! Sir, all this is as unmeaning to me as the leaves which the fabled sybil scattered on the winds. Atid thij unmeaning Mass, a greater mass of ab- surdity than ever heathen ingenuity or depravity invented, is the chief source of edification to the nint-tenihs of the papal world ! If it were merely unmeaning, without being blasphemous and wicked, I could extend to it some toleration. And the absurdity of the whole thing is in- creased to intensity by the fact that the panto- mime is performed in Latin ! Pray, Sir, how many of your worshippers at St. Patrick's under- stand English, not to say Latin ? Why use a language, now no longer spoken by any nation * or people, which is now simply a medium of in- tercourse among scholars ? The answer given " to this question by Challoner, is one of the most ' cool insults that I have ever known offered to the common sense of the world. Here it is : 1. Because it is her ancient language . . . antl the church, which hates novelty, desires to cele* " brate her liturgy in the same language;— 2. Fot a greater uniformity in public worship ; that a papist, wherever he wanders, may witnesn the ceremonies of the mass in the same language ,— 3. To avoid the changes to which all vulgar lati- guages are exposed. He also tells us that it is unnecessary to understand what we are saying, ' if our hearts are only sincere 1 Sin I see not p-- h fev 'f I n Kirwan's Lexers how men uho offer, or receive such statemejjls as reasons, can have 'he faculty of understan.ilrg a reason. Because Urn ritual of the ^lass *va« first formed in Latin j becai^se Masn was dm said in Latin at Rome, thehatie.l of your church to novelty forbids her to change the language of her ritual, when there is not a con^rre, itiou on earth that am understand ii ! And it h rot ne^ cessary t-. undersiand the language in which we aodreBS rarselves to God, if we only intend to woi'ship him I And ^ach is the excuse you make for the man vao may be worshipping a false relic for a uao om.i. if he only means to honour the true relic, it makes no difference ! If he mis- takes the thigh of Barabbas for that of Barnabas • or the finger of Pilate for that of Peter; or ti)e hair of Jezebel for that of Mary ; or the head of Balaam's ass for that of Paul, it is all the same, ^f he only means to worship the true relic ! And I suppose the difference, Sir, is very little. These things may be very clear to you and to your priests, and people ; but to me they are utterly without meaning, save a meaning that in- sults my common sense. And such is the fact as to your doctrince of Penance, and Extreme Unction, which I have already examined. I am a sinner. To obf\i/i forgiveness, you tell me that I must confesi you— that I must perform the penance yr-er. .^ —that I must sec absolution from y^ ...d To SuAop Hughe,, ««. N»w I MDDOt unde«i«„d how thU pi-oce.* » how, ,fl confess my sin, to Gsd, „nd fo„a|,, ,h,_ sivtr " t :'": '"'"■ "" '"' '""• ' -" »''»i» "' M rhey are contrary to the Bible. ^ing state. The sands in my glass are almost inn Olive oil, blessed on Maunday-Thui-sdav ir.Z yoor thumb in the box. yon orLand Inl't m^ ^ "/ »y nose, my tongne, my ears, my hands rnvW y when the crossing and ^noin'^^in; " ';,:^ (2 P pared for " ,1« port of eternalhuppl.ssT Now S r, after every effort, I cannot nndemand how oZ 1 prodnces those effects, if robbed on wi,h bo.l^ JZl thumbs, and with all your fini...r,, r . ? ^ W the blood of Chrfs. "a'p i^: m^TuS Z" 2 ho".- y the Holy Spirit, fits it for its l,nu/e' but how oh.e oil. «. „ny other oil. rubbed on by you,' thumb, or poured upon me in a deluge, can effemhis And to whichsoever of your peculiar doctrii^, „, ce_esIturn.I«ndth.samo„nmea„in;:::L:: I go into your church, St. Patricfs. Ig„ „ah the 2 Iftude to the stone basin containing the '0!™!; ^nddipp„ „y«„^,„ ■»'-'• I"os,'myself „'ir;; rh:pr-^::r.';'ri?».'^.''^-^'"-«orcised ^ I cross »y..irwi.h ulhitTt m:;^^^^^^^^^ 7«. Kirwan*s Lettert I I from the powerof the detil ! Now, Sir, all thi. I cati. not ui^eritand. The deril is cast out of the waters then the water is sajted-then it is conseci-ated-and then I am required to sprinkle mys.lf with it in order to keep off the devil. I can readily see how salt will keep the water from becoming putrid, but how you get Satan out of the water, and how tde water can keep Satan away from me, is beyond my comprehen- ^ •ion. And where do you get this rite of holy water? I remember, when a boy, seeing the priest on Sunaay pacsmg throqgh a densely crowded chapel, with two boys carrying a tub of holy water before him, and he apnnkhng it upon the people with something which I then thought was a cow's tail. And if that water drove Uie devil out of some of them that I well re- member, I would like to know how they acted when he was in them. If holy water would only produce the effects which you attribute to it, I would wish you sprrunr"^ **^ **"'' *''*"°''^"*''* ° P^««3^ thorough I find the same difficulty in your doctrine w^ ich teaches me to pray to the Saints. How Paul or Peter can hear me in New- York, and.another in Cork, praymg to them at the same time, passes my comprehen8.on. I am sure poor Mary must have her hands full If she attends to all who supplicate her fa vour. I have no doubt that, in the papal world, ten pray to her, where one prays to God. Nor can I comprehend why, or for what purpose, you withhold from me the free use of the Scripture! They are a revelation from God to man-not to priests only but to the race. They are the chart of the way to hfe, and all men «i-« «« j. j . '3*^:: 7h Bishop Hughet, 73 . . /"« snipp'og merchant furnishe. hi. ^..^ tains with char., of all the seas over XX .t ^ to sail, and enjoin, a constant n,.,f ^.e™ 1„T '" r^tt-ar fhe^an^'olt- r ^^^^^^^^ My dear Sir, God has given roe a mln^ ♦ ^ stand hiQT»:ii j • * * "*'"" *<> under- srana lus will , and in revealine his will fn «,« i J ::^i"ntrnrrr:i:::;r'"''''''™'"'^''^ testimony of my senses t ' '' "^ '" ^""^ «''• sions of ,„y reason-to Im *° "'"™'^ *" ">' *■«'■ Which common reason pro'rneZatZnd^r: mt to ceremonies which wonld seem »lemn we™ rt^ey not so ludicrous and farcical. I belirveU^ With great respect, yours, KiRWAN. bti ecitrcii 74 Kinoan's LeOtrw I K> ii M LiiTTER VIII. «i by "»i««.iU8^^«:,,l ';„*""»'""' -""'i-io-a. oppo. whKJi nave it orl.i,, „„..? "■ '"' ''-' The jiiuK. Mv Dear S.b !_!„ „y ,„( ,^„^^ j ^^ « c.,se .he chief objections which prevent ,ny that they are .nsnrmountable. If I have misstated «ny of your doc.rines-if I have magnifie,! any of .he,r r.bs„rditle,-I - avc done it !g„oran../ And If I have mtered a sentence that could ha/e I.een av.oc .d m the discu. ion, and that can he interpreted as personally ofiTensive or disrespect- ful to yourself, 1 regret it. I feel proud of you ^ a-countryman ; I s'.cerely respect your cha- racter; and the only feeling , „y ,oul i„ refer- ence to you .s, „e oi deep, . ™ight .l„,ost say, agonizing regret, that you should lend you^ alents character a.d influent to the s.»,aini.,g ol such a sysu=m of delusion as is r,o,,ery, which I deem equally at war with tbt Jible and with the common sense and he interests of me, - However much or little V, ,e , u place on this avowal, u ,s made in sincerity. X„ the pres..,t setter, which will close those addressed to you ■-»r- To Bishop Ilughca. «^^«r^/S. ^ "" "^""""c d,Hiny of your <'">ved tho world, io'i '"■''"=''^» "vorsha. dc-potio unity. Corr„n.i;,n '^' '° P"*"^"' "» gradually „, .^ creaL ^ '"'"' '""'"''""'J »" «'' «>"'""» or men. as ,o ako 7 ? '''"' "■« '™- '^«h, and as ,., rfvet ut„ ^ "' '"'^" '"'"■e 'he "'hole system was r 1 T' "'«<"''• "-"J ^■^ " ini 'arbaious all ?"'" "'"^ ^"''S' P™« ''cins an 2 or2t ^T'- "'''''' »""-• veinment of the sta'te r, ' " '■™° '" "•« ffo- •"•-v". and then of reli„ 'f.'-r^' ""'" "«' '■Sto. by the silent and gvJlT A ^ """'"'■ ^"d -<' power, vour 5^" .„!?"" °'' ^"""P'-n complicated, of . uperstLl " ''"' '^™ «nd -'"•tting out the lighTof h": "™;' ""' 'y""">y. •'"^ 'He hope of hefv „ fi. ::^" '^7 '^^ «.ni' •••eWorld with the glo.,1 «" \ """' "" ' "'""» - --'" to the -eve^enrce^if;,": T6 Kirwan's Letten unwritteo. Much has been revealed, but the one-half has not been told us. Nor will man over know, until the day of final revealing, a tithe of the mibtjries and woes which it has in- flicted on our race. When the pall of darkness ■which now conceafe them will be drawn aside, and when in all their crimson hues they will be exposed to the gaze of a collected universe — when the martyrs from the " Alpine Mountains cold"—and from the vales of riemont— and from the dungeons of the Inquisitions— -when the Hu- guenots of France, and slaughtered Protestants of the isles and the continents shall all rise up and testify against her, where can popes, pre- lates, and priests then find a hiding place ] The TjJtci and mountains, disregarding their cries, will not fall upon them, nor hide them from the face of an angry God. The world bore the burden of the despotism of your church until it could be borne no longer. The Reformaiion ensued ; and because God was in it, the combined efforts of popes, emperors, kings, and prelates failed to arrest it. All the elements of superstition, and depravity, and sel- fishness, and cupidity, and of civil and ecclesiasti- cal power, were moved to their deep founda- tions, and were combined with unsurpassed skill to suppress it, but in vain. The nations broke luQ hcuVj J J ,0 upon their necks, and indignantly cast it away. To BUhon Hughes, 77 tit ''Tu""" '"''' ""'" "•'»■ "«' '"""ice J,„ continued bet«reen Protestan.ism and Poperv- between thn law of Christian liberty and of Papal ^« do™-betwee„ the principle, of an open B,ble and the free access of the «,ul to God hrough a Mediator, and of . closed Bible, arj »he rehgion of sacraments, and ceremonies and pnest y interferences without meaning, measu". or end. It must bo confessed, that in this con- flict your church has retained iu ground with great art and sk.ll, and that after thL hundred years of hard fighting it yet iai„, He neld,td V. I, a fearful array. But what is her destiny ? Is she to r..,e again to her former power, and to t ead out the liberty of the world, and to send us all to school again to muttering monks, and to open hell to all who decline her authority, and to admit to heaven .,nly those whose great faith or great ignorance receives all that she teaches? Sir, 1 have no fear of this. I am most firmly persuaded that your church is destined to total extinction. And permit me, in the briefest man- ner, to state to you a few of the reasons which sustain me in this belief. 1. Your church is incapable of reformation. What may be reformed may be preserved : but the diseased body that al!o.^s no purgatives to rem^ove its fev.r, and no s-imulants t^ quicken ~ >.;.ci.yi„g organs, must die. And yourchurch la just such a body. Because iufallibU,, it ba. "•'S'^ST"'™ ■" "^iSitSSsta- 78 Kirwan*s Letters ' 'I I' ^n iff I I I never fallen into error in doctrine or in practice. So that what it once believes and commands is always true, and is always binding. Infallibility forbids refoimation. Here, then, is the position which it holds before the world — an infallible church — its sense and nonsense equally true and important — and because infallible, incapable of reformation ! And, in my opinion, it is well It is so. This very position will hasten its overthrow. How soon were the waters of the see made the winding-sheet of the Pharaoh that, amid the wonders which were wrought around him, re- fused to lessen the burdens of Jacob and to let Israel go ! Old Baxter was in the habit of say- insr, " What will not bend must be broken," 2. Even if the doctrine of your church permit- ted reformation, any reformation is impossible, save that which ends in its extinction. I refer, of course, to a reformation of your system, and not to that of individuals. How can your doc- trine as to the pope's supremacy be reformed, save by its utter abandonment 1 Huw reform your trcnsubstantiation— your purgatory — your penance — your extreme unction— your praying to dead men and women— your relic worship] No reformation of these things is possible. How can they be reformed 1 If they cannot be, they must be abandoned ; and if abandoned, where is «>r«i<«i #1i 1 CXrxw^tx y\\r£x tVio t'oKi'ir* t\T a vismn which leaves not a wreck behind. And again, 1 Tb Bishop Rugkea. 79 say, it is well that it is ao; these things will hasten its overthrow. 3. The intelligence of th« world is in opposi- tion to your church. The mind of man, wherever enlighter rd, and permitted to act fi^eely, is op- posed to it. The most enlightened, the most commerciiil nations, ai*e anti-papal. The litera- ture of the world is against it. The genius of history is revealing its past wickedness ; the ge- nius of romance is holding it up to ridicule by its magic creations ; the genius of poetry is rehears- ing its cruelties in undying song. Nor do I now iv?!member a living apologi«t for popery out of the ranks of your priesthood, worth naming, save Chateaubriand, whose eloquent work, " Genie du Ckristianisme^" is much moit? of a romance than a serious apology for your system. And all th^s whilst the historian — the poet— the novelist — -ihe essayist — the penny-a-lin^r — the grave «inar«;erly— the lighter monthly — the laughing weekly, are out in opposition to it. 4. The prayers and the piety of the wond are against it. I assert this as a rule which has its exceptions — exceptions within the pale of your own church, where, 1 believe, in spite of your system, there ai'e some of whom the world is not worihy. But from tens of thousands of hearts, in every land upon which the sun shines, the prayer is daily ascending to heaven that popish superstition may come to a perpetaal end. And Uod is a praycr-heariug God. ■1.. .- "3r"' ?i! li Kirwan*s Letters 6. The causes which gave rise to your chui-cfe are rapidly passing away. Popery, you know, for the most part, rose in times of great ignor- ance. As the art of printing was unknown, the- Bible was but little circulated. It required al- most a lifetime to transciibe it, and a large for- tune to purchase it. Hence your priests could teach almost any thing for divine truth, because the people had no Bible by which to test their teaching. And having enormously multiplied, for doctrines, the commandments of men, it be- came your settled policy, as far as possible, to suppress the free use of the Bible. This is all over with you ; and the Bible will be soon in every living language and among all people. And the ignorance of those ages in which the foundations of your church were laid is passing away. The schoolmaster is going into all the earth; and, with an instructed mind and an open Bible, the priest will not be long endured as a substitute for the preacher, nor the saying of mass for the proclamation of the glorious gospel of salvation. Despotic governments, too, which lent the power of the state to the priest, to assist him in riveting the chains of bondage on the peo- pie, are becoming more free. In many nations they have passed, in many more they are passing, away. The old feudal system and popery form- ed the upper and the nether millstone, in the mill io whioh the people were ground down to the ir To JBighop Hughes. 81 jBtate refjuisite to suit your purposes. One of these stones, the feudal system, is broken. It will require all your wits to go on grinding wiih the other. In addition to all this, intercoui-sp among the nations is rapidly increasing. By the power of steam the most distant people are made neigh- bours ; and by the application of magnetism the tboughts of men are made travel round the earth, with a velocity far surpassing that of the sun. That stagnation of mind, and of the mass, which is the true element of popery, as of all supersti- tion, is broken up ; and at the prospect of a steam engine whistling through Italy on a railway, the papal world is alarmed. And thus the causes which gave rise to your church, and whose con- tinuance for so many agfs enabled it to maintain its fearful pre-eminence, are rapidly passing away. It would seem as if, for the last four hundred years, evety thing wna operating against her. The sacking of Constantinople— the dis- covery of the art of printing, and of the mai-iner's compass, and of this new world — tl.e Reforma- tion by Luther — the firmness and the weakness of princes — the periods of war and peace — the passing away of old and the rise of new dynasties — the virtues and the vices of popes, prelates, and priests — their learning and their ignorance -r— bloody and bloodless revolutions — tho prag- El 1 I t-i^ •«•>»* S^vn i-kF C^]rta*Ai\a \T 1 T its.-^ X^l l«r««V^-k^M««# «^^ 82 KiTKon'^ Lettcrt «f the Edict of Nanh, X, t ■ ''S'"". al/, alJ have t;' , 'T""" ''^•"«' «■ «H «o as to Jaken^, T''^ '' "» '"""i of '"«'on that aod hns „r,,„ , . ^ "'■°"? ^O"" P'«-'cies bearing o,/ th H *""" "f »" "'« P".- «"'de from my lu"^ f "'-*ia would be «- m Pa-mo'. ii'msi'TC'rhTP' '" ^'■■ '"" I'e partake..^ of )«,,. ,,^ ' "'" ""^y ""ght J''ag«es. And Paul ' '„ '"' ,'""■ ••<'^»<' of her --«me "that "cle!r" :'"!"'« ^"■••^ »•»•" -<=fe-V'I,«,i<,,,,^^„,^;^y;'.'' and "that papal church. It has 1 > , " "'^""^ "'« O-e could she let ;„ iT^ '"'' "' "^" P'^'ver. J'O's from their all ^^'' ""'' "•'^"'ve sub- "f vie.. ti,ris :"=""'' ^ «'a-ofthecH : ':;;f::f"-^ J-'-y f.om the snccemr ofT ^""« "■" '*='^' "- ^« — the ir- ^firuere- e hand of and as to II. ^ong con- xtinction Sir, nor the pro- 'ould be pt in vi- » "shall n God's r might of her d shall of his ness of '* that ins the 5ower. e sub- point earth. to the 1st in- reat I lany, [?ves, y^oke To Bishop Hughes. 8S of yoorcliurch; nnd all that his Holiness car do is, to bear it. Even io tVie eity of New- York, the reso- lute Germans are ffbck'ng out from the care of Holy Mother ; and all that you can do is, to flourish your crook, your keys, and your crosier around the altar of St. Patrick's, without the least power to stop one of the wandering sheep. The temporal power of your church is gone ; the spiritual is fast going after it. And the time will soon be here, when the pen of the historian will write, The Church of Rome was, BUT IS NOT. How this is to be done, is a qfuestion of some im- portance, and upon which I have my own opiniorrs. A careful looking at past providences may cnst som« light upon the future, and inspire hope or fear, ac- cording to the relation we sustain to God and hia church. You know. Sir, the way in which uod treated Pharaoh, and the Canaanites, and how l»e blotted out the nations that opposed the progress of his |)eople. You know the way and manner in which he broke up the Jewish church and state, for their op- position to Christ and his church! You know how the Reformation progressed, from smnll beginnings, until it opened a new epoch in the world'* history — from what was considered a little ecclesiastical galdia- torship, until kingdoms were shaken — until thrones, cemented by ages, were convulsed and tottered to their base — until hostile armies met in deadly combat, and fattened the earth with the bbod of the Papist and the Protestant. God has the control of all agencie* to accomplish his will. Much will be done for the extinction of your church by education— much by the fgeuerai influence of leur„,h 7 convcieion to ■Hj. ict both became ext net, save as m ean«m has been „erpet„„:„i bv y„„ ' T m can any „g„„e„t be drawn f,.„m t'he "cLTon:, coo" Vo r T" "'""""""»' "h-h are now occurrZ i^on linow (hat n ares nast snm. r-h ■ .■ °.""'"8- ■•ehpsed into idola.r;, and Zrf'? T'^^" 13 , . ^ ♦ """ '""t during the Frpn*.K K volutin some of your ..shops, and ^any of Tour PMests, went over into infidelity. You m,L flattering unction to your soul L.. "^ ""* these Ynn..M i "* arguments Jike tnese 1 out churcli is opposed to the truth of God -to ,^^,e peopJe of God-to the wiH of God Th. «hed o,, o, ,, --yrs is crying to heaven agal' ;t. Itsexuncfon is certain; and may God hai„T in h»s own time and way. ^ ^" '^' With the most sincere nravoxr, *• iTou, feilow-countryoiau and fdlow-sinner. KiRWAIf. '5»» it"! ■p Mi I i gm ii Mw i M" To Bishop Hughes. 85 Ky the gim* > the mnsses, ct ngeiicy of drop in the rn, UQtil He s for believ. extinction. oDti nuance, people bad igaus r !• in- timt in the itinued for Jversion to save as pa- >ple. Nor ionnl con- occurring. ministers e French y of your JSt lay no lents Jike h of God >d. The a against hasten it, temporal r>ect, fjer, LETTER IX. To all, and especially to Americans, Roman Catholica. ' My Dear Friends :— Having addressed a se- ries of letters to one of your most celebrated and excellent bishops in this country, the Right Rev. John Hughes, of New-York, candidly staling the reasons which induced me to abandon the Roman Catholic Church, and which prevent my retorn to it, I desire, before 1 lay aside my pen, perhaps never to be resumed on this subject, to address myself to you. And I turn from the bishop to you, for various reasons, some of which I desire in the briefest manner to state. 1. Whilst entirely honest, I believe you to be a people deluded by your priests. They have taken from you the Bible -they forbid you to reason on the subject of religion™ they have fill- ed your minds with prejudices against all who resist or question their authority- they have im- posed upon you for doctrines the commandments of men— and they have impressed upon you the \)elief that with them is t'le power to admit or to exclude you from heaven. In staling these things I say what I do know, and what you know. With me it is no theory, for I have felt it all. 2. I believe you to be a people impoverished - . . ._ ,_ — ^*- and degraaeti i>^ ^uui i^ncois i in; CSO^-T — — — T?" 5 S6 Kirwan*s Letters ^y opinion on this subiect ir^ «.nf j • , cedincr letter. T„n , ^'^^ '" ^^« P^^' o eiters. Ignorance beinrr the nnr^nf c papa devotion tUr. • . ° parent of vice, and vice is the navemnt ^""""""^ ''^S^'^ '■"-nee bego,s not Wc ; t'T"'^" , '''• ''■=■ -'-,. supe.,itio„ a..23 ,ri:tr';f ■" growth. And .,,ie„ „„,, deraLs ',':?' principles of hu..r L/e tbi d""''' ^"'' "■" (ain the idea ir / '' "^ '" ^ntef" in».a„ces in ;„ S:/'--"' .^"f. '''^ between, the "> -«eve the burden of 'el;:;,':;;'"-*'"-'' ''";MLL::hali:t,l;r;'"e':"r^^-- >vul. tyrants, and rivers of bZ, ' "'""""' of Jesus if tTTl N°"" "'-'Jvent ■•" Moses' st,' a J, h "' "f "'^'" ^'■'«^' """«« m-ssion of .be hid, orii' ,T ""' ""^ '<""- " i '' '--- i-vrsecuic the dis« *« ■'-~'. " ""~ tw. ' - >,i w^ nm ■""'" ' af ' t . T« BUliop Hughet. 87 in the pre- > parent of It out from ice begets ik soil in agnificent a people, ? wbiJe to e to be a T loofe for )rraation, ry of the and the to enter- een, the Jlers, of tiditurea r yield. )erty of the na- coniest \cd the advent hat sat nailed ' com- e dig. •enters at Damascus fro" the order established at Jerusalem, that Saul oi Tarsus earned in his pocket, when he was arrested by heaven. Tho RefornHjrs of the sixteenth century, whom youF priests delight to <3ishouor, but yet who have given civil and religious liberty to the world, were huiated, as by bloodhounds, by the high ecclesiastics of tli«ir day. Every religious re- form -of permanent utility, and in every land upon which the sun shines, has been in conse- quence of the united action of the people. There occurs not to me now an instance to the contrary. It is not in human nature to surrender power once possessed — \ioi' to give up a gainful traffic —nor, for the sake of benefiting or enricliing th« mass, to yield up privileges. Grace leads to many sacrifices to -do good to men ; but nature holds on to the privileges of order, station, cast, however they may bear upon the people ; and if ever the people are freed fiora them, it must be by their own acts. Roman Catholics ! you have nothing to expect from your priests, but the per- jjeluation of their bad dominion over your mind and conscience ; and their vigilant and united efforts to crush every man, and every influence, that would weaken it. The principles of your church forbid its reformation — a Hue reformation would be the end of it — there is no alteruativo ftw you but to abandon it. .1,.. F .Ujf V I s1Xi^ii\C't^i»J» ' as KirwatCs Lettera I u « to you and why I would impWe you. by «II that „ to be desired in a mind free to think, —n a soul free to love and to act,-free in its access to God without priestly taxes and inter- ferences ;-by all that is to be desired in the so- cial and rel.gious elevation of your children, and in he moral regeneration of y„„r race, to rise, and to fling from around you the chains forged 'n the dark ages, and with which priests would bmd you to their footstools in this age of light. _ You must remember that your position in these Unued State, ,s very dilTerent from what is that of those yet hving i„ the papal countries of Eu- rope. H,. : , you are free to think, and act for you..elvc. In Ireland you might be afiaid of the pr,e.; , ,.,!.,p, or of his cursing you from the altar. I have seen myself a priest whip a man ■n the street , and I have heard the same priest curse .he same man from the altar. But. here, his wlnp has no terror, and his curses are harmless. And. then, as to those of you from Ireland you are m a very different position, as to the Protest- ant community, from what you were at home, i rotestants here are your friends. You are not taxed to support a religion you hate. Your cow or your p,g are not driven from your door to pay your tuhes. There is nothing here to chafe your m,nd, or to irritate your feelings, or to give cause U. your pr.ests for fiety appeals to your passions. r5*>>- ■" r " w To Bishop Hughes. 89 towards you, there is not a pioiis Protestant in the land that would not do you good, and that would not interp.ose to protect you from wrong, So that the hostile feelings towards Protestants which had an excuse in Ireland, have p xcuse here. If you wish to think for yoursci . ^ai tliewj are thousands fo defend you ; — and if, on exami- nation, you think as I do about popery, and qiut the church, you have nothing to feat from priest- ly anathemas hurled at you, or after you, from the altar ; nor from an ignorant rabble that would persecute you as an apostate. There is one point, my friends, to which I would direct your special attention. From your cradle you have been taught to regard your priests as possessing peculiar spiritual powers which you resist at you peril. And in every way and form they seek to impress you with the belief that they possess such powers, and that their communication with heaven is beyond that of ordinary mortals. Now this is an old device, and one that is practiced very widely for ftie pur- pose of awing the common and vulgar mind. Thus did the ancient priests of Egypt, who taught the people to worship the sun, the cow, the cat, and the snake. Thus do the priests of Brahma at the present day. Some of them, by their pretended intercourse with heaven, have be- CGiiis SO iiOiy tuat tiic pcGpic coriSictcr tiic Water in which they wash their feet holy, and .seek to 4'^" < <">, "iu ^%. # %^^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) m. // k{o £^! *',. % :/. C/j 1.0 I.I 1.25 JfrlM 2.5 2.2 2.0 14 III 1.6 ¥^''^ Lfy^ Hiotographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 iV iV n>^ :\ \ ^^. ^ V o"^ ^ V % '^ 90 Kirwan's Letters.- U be spmkWcl with it mth intense earnestness, i he Calmucs believe in a priesthood, all of which » united in Lama, who is absorbed in deity. The old Romans haid their priests, and their ora. cles, that were regarded as knowing and declar- ing the mind of the gods. Their po w er over the people was immense. And when pagan Rome beca.ne papal it was a point greatly desired to retain the power of the pagan priest over the people IB the liands of the papal. It was at- tamed ; and it has beeih retained. And the power claimed by your priests for the better subjecting you to their yoke, is the power claimed by all the priests of heathenism and Mahometanism and for the very same purpose. It is the claim oHanatics and impostors in all climes and among all people. And whether set up on the banks of the Ganges, or of the Tiber ;~on the shores of the Bosphorus, or on the banks of the Hudson, US object is to exalt the priest that he may go- vern, the people. Your priests have no more power with God than- any good man in the land -nor as much, unless they are equally piou*! If not pious and sincere, they are simply impos- tors, who make a living by their traffic in your Once secure a just and scriptural view of the character of a true minister of Christ, and of the great end of a gospel ministry, and the whr.l« frame- work of popery vanishes. The end ofth^i To BiiJiep Hughes. «1 rnestness;. 1 of which in deity^ their otbp id declav- rover the an Rome esired to over the [t was at- !>e power, objecting ed by all e ton ism, le claim d among banks of bores of Sudson^ may go- JO more ie land, f piou». inipos- n your of the I of the whole i of th0 gospel ministry is, to hold up a crucified Christ as Ood's great remedy for the sins, and guilt, and woes of our race, and so to expound the moral state of the sinner, and the adaptedness of the work of Christ to that state, as to lead him to see that his only hope of life is in the cross, and then to beseech him, in Christ's stead, to be re- conciled to God. This being the end of the ministry, a true minister is one, who, with the love of God and of the salvation of men filling his soul, goes out into all the ways which provi- dence opens before him, preaching every where, as did Peter and Paul, " repentance towards God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Chnst." He has only one object— «;ractice the precepts of his word, are reconciled to God. They are adopted into the family of God— they are the sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty. A connexion of such with any branch of the visible church does not interfere with their connexion with t!: family of G od. No good man is lost, and no bad man is saved, because of their conneidon with any church. As a man may be a true Papist and be a Jesuit, or a Jansenist, or a monk of La Trappe, or a shorn friar, so he may be a true Christian, and a member both of the visible and invisible church, and be a Protestant or a Papist, and a member of any of the sects into which they are both divided, which hold to the true atone- ment of Jesiis Christ. But you will ask, Have T«««* ^vw..^ L^a.»...^l. — £* . I. To Bifkop Hughet. I of comme- ' comes the ion. Such the rise of uinisters of mpositions [ would di- s one upon 1 : 1 mean at forth by to deceive believe in >pts of his re adopted ; sons and connexion le church n wilh t!; and no bad ?xion with rue Papist lonk of La be a true isible and r a Papist, /hich they rue atoiie- isk, Have io church above aoother? Ihav. Yo« ask agnl.. What branch i» It ? That ID winch the most truth and the least r^r. the most simplicity and the .east pompousne would be the papal; and in the Protestant church the very last branch I would select is. rhat wh ch t most l.ke the papal. The true unity of theclu ch unity in truth, and union in C'lrist chuich of Chnst. ,n one hour, blow the whole fabric of popery into the air. In this appeal to you. Roman Catholics, I am no interested party. It would not be a cent in my packet If every man of you were to abandon the pope to mor row ; nor will it be a cent out of it if eve'y man oi you continue to believe that your priests can turn a ' sToot^h"^"/""^""'' -—dgayou admis. sion to heaven, by rubbing you with olive oil, when dying. Can Bishop Hughes, or your priests s^y this" Why, then, you ask, this solicitude about us l Or these accounts : I know you to be deceived, and I de' sn-e you to be undeceived. I know that you are led to place dependence on rites and ceremonies, for a preparation for the life to come, which give no such preparation. I know that you are robbed of vour mo ney, for services that only tend to degrade you-that you are deprived of the dearest rights of man, an open B ible, and free access to God, for yourselves, without any samtly or priestly attorneys to plead for vou 1 see you hampered and fettered on every hand. *By elhng the pnest every thing you do. you put your ,..-«.. U.U n^.r,y inio ms hands. You cannot read 94 Kirwan^s Letters' 1 1 tbe Bible without his Kcense, and be ft good Catholic. You cannot retain your stutiding, and read acy book which he prohibits, or fail in any duty which he en- joins. You cannot bow your knee before God, with a Protestant, around his family altar, without the ter- ror of a severe penance when you next go to confes- eion. I see you freemen, in a land of freedom, and yet the veriest slave that tread the soil, because your minds and souls are in fetters. I see you a noble peo- ple, yielding a degrading homage to men that deceive you, and sustaining, even in your poverty, with u princely liberallity, institutions that degrade you. And I desire, with an irrepressible desire, to see you the subjects of the perfect law of liberty with which Christ makes his people free. These, my frieuds, are tJie reasons of my soUcitude about you. However I feel towards the system of popery, or towards the priests of the system, there is but one feeling and one desire in my heart towards you : that feeling is one of affection and interest"- and that desire is, that you may be emancipated from a system of su- perstition and spintual despotism, as degrading and grinding as any that God has ever permitted to exist. With great respect, yours, KfRWAN, I J l - 'ii' ^i y t » .»^i n || !f Hi|, good Catholic, read any book r which he en- fore God, with Mthout the ter- go to confes- freedom, and I because your Ml a noble peo- 'u that deceive )V€rty, with a ndeyou. And :o see you the I which Christ ends, are tlia of popery, or ere is but one rdsyou: that md that desire system of su- legradifjg and itted to exist, ^ours, KiRWAW, To Bishop Hug7i€9. g^ LETTER X. My Dear F«,enbs .-But a few years since a Christian mmister in India, in the pursuit of the objects of his holy mission, met with a Hindoo devotee A noonday sun was pouring its burn. i"g rays fioTi a burning sky, upon the burning sands on which the meeting took place. From. Its heat the devotee had no proiec tion save the piece of clotl which hung around his k.fns He wore a pair of sandals pierced with iron nails which, at every step, pen secure the forgiveness of those sins he wor« ^^ I 9S Kirwan'M Lettert Filled with compassion for the deluded man. the m,„,ster of God told him ,ha, he could s W h.,n a way ,n which he could secure the forgive ne of h,s great sins without those sandals, and w. hout subjecting himself to such tembb suf- ri'tTex"/'- "r.""" " ^^'' "'«' -^ - -i .meiest. I here is such a. way," replied e m,ss,onary,. and taking his Bible.'^^.e r^^L nm and expounded the following passage:- For God so loved the world that he gave his only bego^en Son, that whosoever believeth i^ h.ra should not perish, but have everlasting"! " John ....16. He told the poor deluded m„;f the s.„s of me.._of the love of God ingivbghU bonto d.e for the sins of tnose whosh'old'b I.e,e on h.m-of the birth, and suffering and death, of Jesus Christ-and he especially dwelt upon th.s one, great, glorious, and script^™ .dea. that he that believes on the Lord Jesus Chr.st shall be saved. The devotee heard wh amazcnent. He believed. He reie<-t.J . alse religion of his fathers. tlf;hi:r.ntd by a thousand ages. He renounced subjection to h.s pnests and their traditions. He &S^^ h.m h.s nailed and bloody sandals, by wa"S wh.ch he supposed he was saving his sou hvfh tonuresofhisbpdy. He receive! SriSj! « 1 ted to aU his eluded man, could show the forgive- andals, and terrible suf- if so, what he most in- y." replied he read to Jassage ; — e gave his elieveth in sting life." ed man of giving his hould bc- 'Jngs, and ally dwelt scriptural 3rd Jesus 2ard with cted the inctioned objection i»ngfrom alking in ul by the •ian bap- To Bishop ■ Hughes, t^em at .be hand, of .he man of God that taught nm .he more excellen. way, a„d ji^ed .„d dfed >n the fa«l, and hope of the Gospel. In many respects your circumstances, Eoman Ca ho cs vv, e,y differ from what wera'.hrof th,s Hmdoo devotee. You Hve in a land, and in an age of hght. You form parts of a greltcom! m"n..y. which is penetrated in every^d ctio^ many respects your circumstances are Iil,e \n.a h-s. You are deluded by priests-you believe >■■ '•.e.rghostty power, and y'our soul' ^bmi.^ o .t-you are lo„l<,„g ,o your confessions, and pea- ances and austerities, for salva.ion^you are ex- c nded from .he light of ,he Bible- wi.h allsim- ^.cuyan bo,.e,yyoupraytosai„.s,and.oI vngin , and perform all that is laid upon you bv your father confessor, and in this way. throLh the rehg,on of .he priest, and no. through the .^. H.on of the Gospel, you hope to get .f h aven. But you are deceived. Your hopes are hon^ is"not r T- '"'" """" " '^'•<'"= '-"''"ior T; « not by doi«g, or oufcrmg, but by belieting. that .J,^>>, f "'^^ """■^ ^"•■'l Jesus Christ shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned- .- He that believeth on the Son ha* i^e. Roman Catholics ! my brethren and ki^. men aec^,.d,„g to ,he flesh, follow, then, the e,- ample ol the H nd,.,, [ee. wive up your M Kirwan's Letters bea(Js, and ^our Agnus Dei— yoof penances and ritual observances— your crosses, your confess sions to men, and your holy water j and go to ■your Bibles and to the Saviour of the Bible. "What all your rites and observances can never accomplish, simple faith in Jesus Christ accom- plishes» and in the ^Tioment faith fixes itself upon a crucified Christ. That you may see this clearly, permit me to state to you another incident. When our Lord tvas put to death, the wicked Jews, the more deeply to degrade him, caused him to be cruci- fied between two thieves. One of these saw, in the convulsions of nature around him, the evi- dences of the divinity of Him who was hanging by his side on the cross j and whilst his compa- nion in wickedness derided and blasphemed, he cried out from the depths of a convicted and be- lieving soul unto Jesus, « Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom." The fol- lowing is the reply of the Saviour: "To-day Shalt thou be with me in paradise.'* Here, you see, my friends, are no penances — no prayers to. saints— no holy water—no olive oil, blessed on Maunday-Thursday— no purgatory j it is simpty faith in Jesus Christ, then death, and then para- dise, which is only another name for heavett ! "What was it that opened heaven to this dying thief, and gave him admission to its happy man- sions, as one of the redeemed of the Lord % It I -Tf.— — il^'. aiices and »r confes-' and go to he Bible, can never St accom- :se]f upon tnit me to our Lord the more be cruci- le saw, in I, the evi- } hanging s compa* jmed, he I and be- mber me The fol- " To-day [ere, you rayers to essed on is simpty len para- heaven ! bis dying )py man- ord 1 ll To BisJiop Hughes. Q9 was simply faith in Jesus Christ. " He that bf. l.eveth m the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved » And the faith which opened heaven to the dying thief, will open it to you. Faith is the key which opens heaven to your souls, and not baptism, nor the eucharjst, nor penance, nor extreme unction, ^ive up, then, your crosses and your pictures, and your dependence upon saints and sacraments, and go to Jesus Christ for yourselves^ with trua beam say "Lord, I believe, help thou my un- belief,'' and life, eternal life is yours That you may see this clearly, permit me to fitate yet another incident. The Apostle Peter never said a mass in his life-he never changed a wafer mo the body and blood of Christ-he never sent a poor sinner to pray to a saint or vir- ifin^he never went into a little box, or a dark room, to hear confession. He was a simple, warm-hearted preacher, and, in his day, labored to impress upon the minds of men these two truths-that Jesus Christ was the promised Mes- «ah, and that all that believed in \..r would be aaved. Now we learn from the second chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, that Peter preached to the multitudes assembled at Jerusalem to keep the feast of Pentecost, with great power. He m.ghtily convinced them, from the Scriptures, that God had made the Jesus whom they cruci, fied both Lord and Christ. Convicted of their 4eep sinfulness, bv hia r>ni«.^«r.,i i • . 100 Kirwan's Lei ten by the Holy Spirit, multitudes crowd around him. ask.ng " What shall ne do to bo saved ?" What does he say in reply ? Does he tell them to go to confession-or to do penance-or tofust on Lent, or on Fridays ? Does he send them to the smnts, to ask their intercession? Nothing hketh.s^ What, then, docs he say? "Repent: and be baptized, every one of you. in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye Bhall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.'' They obeyed; that is, they forsook their sins-they believed in Jesus Christ-they were baptized in his name-and on that occasion three housand souls were added to the church. My dear Roman Catholic friends, I once suf. |ered just as you now do, because of my utter ignorance as to the way of forgiveness with God. I was taught all about confession, and confirma- tion, and penance, and saints' days, and fasting., and holy water, and saying "Hail Mary » I looked upon the priest as the door-keeper of hea- ven, without whose permission there was no ad- mmance. T^ut I knew nothing nbout the Bible and was taught nothing about the work of Christ for the fi.nner, nor about the wor: of the Spirit in him. In great mercy, and in the way stated m my letters to Bishop Hughes, I became a reader of the Biole ,- and to my utter amazement, ? found there taught, with perfect plainness, the way of salvation, which the priest had wrapped wd around 3e saved ?" e tell them —or to fust nd them to Noihinir " Repent, the name ns, and ye It.'' They iins — they aptized in housand once suf- my utter vith God. :onfirma- fastingn, ary." I ;r of hea- ls no ad- le Bible, )f Christ e Spirit y stated :.'came a zement, ess, the TapDecf 2^0 Bis/ioj) HitgJieit. 101 lip in mystery inextricnble. The wnyfaring man, though a fool, may understand the way in which n soul may be saved, as tnufiht in. the Bible-it isbevondthe comprehension of Gabriel, as taught by your'priestt. Jo any of you ask, as did the heathen jailer of Philip- pi, when tenified by the e/fecfs of the crashing earth- quake. " What shall I do to be saved ?" Permit me ns a fnlnd, who has no object in view but your tempo-* ral and eternal good, to place before you what I regard as the scriptural answer to this momentous question, 1. You must feel that you are a sinner, exceeding- ly, .n the sight of God. The Bible teaches us that we are smners by nature and by practice. It is one thing to beheve this-it is another to feel it. You must feel It. No man ever sends for a physican until he feels that he is sick. The people to whom Peter preached never asked what they should do to be sa-ed, until " they were pricked in their hearts." 2. You must feel and know that there is no way of securmg the pardon of your sins, but through the re- demption there is in Christ Jesus. We are expressly taught, " there is no ot^ name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved." Acts iv. 13. This IS an idea that your mind must grasp with all its powers ; and which you are in danger of letting slip, • because of the way and manner in which you have beeo mstructed, as to the efficacy of sacraments, and priestly manipulations, and ritual observances. 3. You must believe in the I ord Jesus Christ.-^ This ,s the end and the sum of all the instructions of the Nev. Testament to sinners. This is the command- ment^ of God, that ye believe in the name of his Son. tajt^ uiings you into a living union with Christ. ^^^ . Kirwan's Letter m you are n Bin no-. j *ou must feej that cordially "eceTe hi,„' . "" '°'' "•"' J""" ">"« people ioL o'nZZ:!^: ^ "f '^V'" " "" for sin A n^ k r . ^' '^ ^'^^ s remedy .helmed, ^Tff- "". '''•™' " "'» "PP'-"-- ^f .he V .7'^;. ho' """«? '='■""• '"oaldyoudi. .i/:e »,/r wh.;- r^'"« ''"■ ■"""''' *•■»• yo«vdeli,er: pro.M«! And after all, there i, no telline th. rjtif t" ""^"' " ** ^•"•■^«'- - *"»«•- w t^e priests, vijl a^^on^^ „ j.,, - ^ ' . *i » ii> » ... ._i.„ *«*#»»» and saved, 2 question, St fee] that none but you must God wis- I. and re^ 5 ieek for ins of his I remedy cation of d you die insed by oblj and - ia coni- i'ith tb« It strike ik what you t9 ints— to ogo to this is Qointed Nor >ryi to ag. un- ges of eli?er- ensivK g th« lasse* To BisJiop Hughes, 103 % purgatorial fires ! What a dark and fearful process ! In the face of all this, the gospel declares to you that the blood of Christ cleanses from all sin ; and that whosoever believes in the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved. It offers you a free, a full, a perfect salvation, and without any priestly interferences, and " without money and without price." Can you hesitate a moment between the plan of the priest and the plan of the gospel ? The one debases you as a man— makes you the slave of the priest, and cheats you of heaven: the other addresses i as a moral and intellectual being— sends you to the cross for yourselves— gives you free access to God, and se- sures for you eternal life. Irish Roman Catholics ! would that I could induce you to look at this great subject in the light of the Bible. It is intimately connected with your temporal and eternal interests, and with the interests of unborn generations. When a boy, I often beard, and never but with burning indignation, of the magistrate, the tool of British power, entering the houses of the Irish suspected of disaffection, and tearing from its frame the speech of Emmet, made in reply to the question of the blood-thirsty judge that tried him, "What he had to say, why ihe sentence of death should not be passed against him according to law ? The British ministry felt that that speech fostered the spirit of freedom in the Irish bosom, and made every man that read it to resolve, at whatever expense, to be free; and they destroyed every copy of it that could be found, and forbad its publication, As my kindred were among the disaffected ones, I felt it to the quick, and 80 feel it yet. And what, think you, must be my feel- 41 104 KinL'a?i's Letters* W ings now, in the vigor of my manhood, when I see, in this free huitl, the descendants of those who fought at Vinegar Hill, and at Tara, permitting individuals call- ing themselves the priests of the religion of God, to enter their houses and take away their Bibles, and to forbid them, by the terrors of eternity, to think for themselves, on tlie most important of all subjects con- nected with their being ! It is the very feeli.ig that prompted the British spies to destroy the speech of Emmet, that now prompts your priests to destroy your Bibles. The one fostered the spirit of civil, the other of religious freedom. The British ministry wished to suppress the breathing of your fathers after civil liberty : your priests wish to suppress the breath- ings of you, their children, after religious freedom. And will you, the sons of noble sires, submit, in a land of freedom, to wear the galling chains of spirituol bondage ? Will you submit to have these chains clanking around you to the grave— and when you die to have them bound upon your children, and for no earthly purpose but to sustain a priesthood and a hier- archy, for whose utter overthrow the civil and religi- ous interests of the nations, and the temporal and eter- nal interests of our race, are calling aloud to heaven ? If so, with a slight variation, mine will be the lan- guage of the pious Jeremiah, who had the civil and the relig'rous welfare of his people equally at heart: O that my head were waters, and mine eyes n fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the blindness and folly of my people. My letters are ended. I commit them to you, Ro- man Catholics, and to the blessing o$ Almighty God With great respect, yours, X N KlKvvA:f« Printed at the Examiner Office, Toronto.