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Un des symboles suivants apparattra sur la dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbole — ^ signifi^ "A SUIVRE ", le symbols V signifie "FIN", Les cartes, planches, table&ux, etc., peuvent fitre film6s 6 des taux de reduction diff^rents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour §tre reproduit en un seul cliche, il est film^ 6 partir de I'angle sup6rieur gauche, de gauche 6 droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images ndces;saire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. 32 X 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 %1:''" J' .C»"VWI03HC- PRICE SIX-PENCE. siSi^SU: ■'«?'• ■"^ir ..<' « # ^l?**!^ :-«;■ t Sit , " i. UsMi2L, % ..1* J % V\ . I Mi K I #'• ^ V\. protp:stant alliance lkctt^es. THE PAPACY: m i THE IDOLATKY OF EOME. SECOND LECTURE, DELIVERED BEFORE THE TROTESTANT ALLIANCE, OF NOVA SCOTIA. AT TEMPEKANCB HALTi, HALIFAX. ON WEDNESDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 20th, 1853. ja-^ REV. HOBX. SBDCJ-WIOK, MUSQUODOBOIT, N. S. t HALIFAX, N. S.: PBINTED AT TUB WESLEVAN CONFERENCE STEAM PRESS. 1851). cfh A cf fr^ THE IDOLATRY OF EOME. BY REV. R. 8EDGEWICK. " God is a spirit, and they that worship Him mnst worship Him in spirit and in truth." What be the elements of spiritual worship, it is not necessary now to inquire, any farther than to declare that, they must chiefly consist of the various devout exercises of what Paul designates " the hidden man of the heart." In the worship of a spiritual being it would seem that the intellectual and chiefly the emotional department of man's nature be brought into play, and that whatever is merely ceremonial or sensuous should occupy a very subordinate place indeed. And yet mankind have still to learn this lesson. It has been long taught them. When, and from the period in the history of the race that the knowledgf of God was lost, and when " not liking to retain God in their knowledge, men changed the glory of the incomiptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and into four footed beasts and creeping things, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is over all, God, blessed for evermore."— God himself interposed with afresh revelation of His will, and instituted the Mosaic economy ; which is fairly to be regarded as a Divine protest against the idolatry of the race at large, and which imbodies a grand lesson in the nature and obligations of the spiritual worship of Himself. There is, it must be admitted, much of the sensuous and ritualistic in the Mosaic institute, and eoni- S,5^6>?0 'ii pared with Cliristianity, whether in its letter or spirit, it is but an elementary system, and intended to serve the spiritual interests of mankind while in a state of nonage ; but what an advance on the older religions as they are now known alike respecting the knowledge of God and the manner in which he behoved to be worshipped ; principally what an advance on the forms and spirit which should characterize his worship. The charge which IMoses gave to the people, as recorded in the 4th cliapter of Deuteronomy, is an eternal witness to tho superiority of Judaism over all previous modes of faith in Mpirituality and form, and proves that idolatry in all its phases is abhorrent to the nature and tho worship of the true God. " Take ye, therefore, good heed unto yourselves, for ye saw no manner of similitude on tho day that the Lord spoke unto you in Horcb, out trf tlio midst of tho fire, lest ye conrup* yourselves and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female, the likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in tho air, the likeness of anything that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in tho waters beneath the earth ; and lest thou lift up thine eyes to heaven and when thou seest tho sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be drawn to worship them and serve tliem, which the Lord thy God hath revealed unto all nations under the whole heaven. But tlio Lord hath taken you and brought you forth out of tho iroa furnace, eveu out of Egypt, to be unto Him a people of inheritance as ye are this day. Take ye heed lest ye forget the covenant of the Lord your God which He made with you> and make you a graven image> or the likeness of anything which the Lord thy God hath forbidden thee, for the Lord thy God is a consuming fixe, even a zealous God." And so in like manner when Judaism had served its end» and having decayed and waxed old vanished away — when the fulness of the times had come ; when the shiulowy wa» fiupersedea by tlio substantial, and the carnal by tho spiritual ; when the emancipated Church was no longer held in bondage to the elements of the world, but intro, of another rollowed by m surplices, 1 they were large — with sn in Rome, e other day. the ancient iit he knows md Fratras et him but iests among 11 the heathens, who used to travel from house to house with .sacks on their back, and, from an opinion of their sanctity, raised large contributions of money, bread, wine, and all s(,rts ot victuals, for the supjiort of their fraternities, with modern monkery, and he cannot but see and acknowledge that all this linds Its counterpart in Ilome and her votaries, that one, in short, IS but the complement of the other. Ere this particular view is disposed of it is natural to en- rjuire whence this corresjKjnding. How is it to be accounted tor . Of the corresponding there is no doubt. Is there any principle on which it rests V There is ; and it is easily found. Ivome could not afford to wait till the truth as it is in Jesus should enlighten the understanding, and purify the heart of man. This was not convenient. It was rather the object to convert man according to Romish notions-by wholesale ; and that this might be done the more speedily and satisfactorily tibo principle of compensation was broached and accepted The teachings of history demonstrate that such is the fact. Iho proposal which Rome offered to the heathen natives, and which is as plausible as it is iwlite, was in effect this: Itenounce the worship of the images of Jupiter and Vonus of Bacchus and Minerva, and we will allow you to worshii) those of Peter and Mary, of Paul and Ursuline ; renounce your right to the temples for the worship of the gods and wo will consecrate them for the worship of the saints. Rear altars and offer offerings to the saints in the calendar, instead of doing so to the gods of the Pantheon, and the change will ten on your eternal well being, while it rill leave you very much where yon are with regard to this world. The language of liomo to heathenism was— We have no intention and no power to change your religious rites and ceremonies, as to their form— wo only wish to change them as to their object, and thus they wUl remain to instruct and to please as powerfully and as constantly as they did of old. This was 12 the principle, and it is astonishing the rapidity with which it sj)rcad, and tlie extent to which it was adopted, so that, to employ the language of two eminent theologians, "this addition of external rites was also designed to remove the opprobiums and calumnies which the Jewish and Pagan priests cast upon the Christians, on account of the simplicity of their worship ; esteeming them little bettor than Atheists, because they had no temples, altars, vestries, priests, nor anything of that external pomp in which the vulgar are so proud to place the essence of religion. " The rulers of the Church adopted, there- fore, certain external ceremonies that thus they might captivate the senses of the vulgar, and be able to refute the reproaches of their adversaries, thus obscuring the native lustre of the Gospel in order to extend its influence, and making it lose in point of real excellence what it gained in popular esteem. And, says another historian, "the copious transfusion of lieathen ceremonies into Christian worihip which had taken place before the end of tlio fourth century had, to a certain extent, if we may express it, paganized the outward form and aspect of religion, and their ceremonies became more general and more numerous, and, so far as the calamities of the times would permit, more splendid in the age which followed. To console the convert for the loss of his festival, others, of a different name but of a similar description, were introduced, and the simple and serious occupation of devotion was beginning to degenerate into a worship of parade and demonstration, or a mere scene of riotous festivity." Such is the parallel which may fairly be drawn between Popery and Paganism, and such the foundation on which the resemblance rests. It is no libel to describe Popery as Paganized Christianity ; and when there is such an agreement between their temples and their priesthood, and their ritual, to what other conclusion is it possible to come than that the chaige be laid against the Cliuich of Kome of changing the 1 with which it I, so that, to 'this addition opprobiunis ;ts cast upon icir worship ; ISO they had ling of that to place tho [opted, thcre- tliey might to refute the I the native ifluence, and it gained in "the copious rorihip which itury had, to the outward became more calamities of > age which his festival, ription, were a of devotion parade and r." awn between on which tho J Popery as m agreement their ritual, han that tho changing tho truth of God into a lie, and of worsliipping and serving tiio creature more than the Creator, who is God over all, blessed for ever. The subject niiglit end uerc, but it cannot. Tho threshold has only been crossed, and to comprehend it fully there must be entered the hidden recesses, the penotralia of tho temple, if the abominations done therein are to be disclosed. Idolatry, then, is charged on tho Church of Rome, becauise of the lio- niage she pays to tlio priesthood. She raises the priesthood to an equality with God. It is the prerogative of God to Impart saving knowledge, i)ardoning mercy and sanctifying grace to the souls of men, but in these several respects the priesthood of Homo claims and iuvades the prerogative of God. It may be proper to be somewhat particular here. The scriptures even liomc lersclf allows are the fountain of saving knowledge. In ,hem God has spoken to man, and imparted a full and clear revelation of all that is necessary to be known in order to the salvation of his soul. Now what is their own testimony as to their use. The following passages will answer this question. " And these words which I command thee this day, thou shalt diligently teach to thy children, and thou shalt speak of them when thou sittest in tho house, and when thou walkcst in tho way, when thou licst down, and when thou risest up." " To the law and to the tcstiraony,'if they walk not accordin"- to this rule there is no light in them. ' ' ' ' Search the scriptm-es for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they thai testify of me. " " These were more noble than those of Thesa- lonica, for they searched tho scriptures daily, whether these things were so." " Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom." " All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, and for reproof, and for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, that tho man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished to every I.'i h ill 14 good work." The,sc several imsagos teach that tho ..cnuturcs are the standard of doctrine, that they are to be universally used, and that the use of them issues in tho perfection of those who so employ them. But what is the doetrino of Rome on th,s point. Her own decree is, that it is tho prerc gativo of the Church alone to judgo of the true sense and interpretation of tho several Scriptures, and that no one may dare to interpret Scripture contrary to that sense which tho Church hath held and does hold, or oven contrary to tho unammous consent of the Fathers, oven thour^h such nutho- nsed mterpretations may never have been brought into Unht • addmg that whosevor shall contravene this decree, shall bo denounced by the ordinaries, and punished with statutory penalties; and thus it is with this decree in force that tho I nest IS tho Papists Biblo. It cannot be otherwise, he is in virtue of the office ho holds, tho Interpreter between God and man. He comes between the soul and the shining of the beams of tho Sun of righteousness, and eclipses the glory of the one. so that the other is left, it may bo in outer darkness. And to employ the words of a powerful and eloquent defender of truth, "just as the moon when it interposes between us and he sun, not only has its own light quenched, but sheds a disastrous twilight over the astonished earth, so the priest who thrusts himself between the creature and that blessed word of revelation which his Creator has sot in tho moral Iirmament to lighten every man that cometh into the world not merely deprives him of the desired illumination of heaven' but by the nnpiety of the action the priest's own soul is in danger of being cursed with darkness ; and when the blind lead the blind, wo know their danger and their doom. " Bible readers and bible believers know that the law of the Lord IS perfect, converting the soul, and the testimony of the Lord w sure, making wise the simple. They know that it is a light to their feet, and a lamp to their path, that it is the 15 sure word of prophecy to which they do well to take hoed, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawn and the day-star arise in their hearts. David but gave utterance to the universal language of every ingenuous reader of the Scriptures, when he says — This Word of Thine my comfort is In mine afiliotion ; For in my straits I am revived By this Tliy Word alone. Jeremiah's declaration is but the exponent of the experience of all who are capable of deciding. " The word was found of me, and I did eat it, and it was the joy and rejoicing of my soul." But conceive of a people thus shut out from the free use of the Bible, ir deep spiritual trouble, anxiously en- quiring as many of them do, what must I do to be saved, but finding no rest in the ceremonies and services which the Church enjoins. were it permitted to him to search the Scriptures, and in the spirit of faith and prayer to surrender himself to their guidance. He would soon hear the blessed Saviour saying to him— Look to me. Come unto mo all ye that are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. But no ! This he dare not do. The church tells him that the Bible is not a book that can meet his case, the reading of It IS not for the unlearned— they may wield it to their own destruction. His priest is his only refuge, and to him he must resort in the time of trouble, and thus you may sec how the prerogative of God is usurped by his spiritual guide. He IS required to render an humbh> and blind obedience " to the confessor or director of his soul without examination of reasons or arguments, and this remedy is of such necessity that no other will avail. " Well may it be asked, to what height can priestly assumption rise, what lower can mental abjectness smk; no roo-n for communication, much less for doubt; no m ir, liberty to think over matters, or to ascertain wl.cthor fi.e counsel be suitable in itself or suitable in the cireun.stanees there ,s nothing for it hut blind obedience, an.I an unreason- ing unphcit (letcrniination to folh.w his Instructor. So does not Cod act by any of his creatures who come unto llim under a sense of guilt, and drea.ling the infliction of If is cur«e lie deals with them as ration.! heings. He treats them as after all mvested with the dignity of man. " Come now," is His language to every anxious soul, "and let us reason together though your sins bo as scarlet they shall be white a.? snow', though they bo red as crimson they shall be as wool." liut the pnest raising himself higher than the jjosition which the Most High God has been pleased to assume in His conduct with the children of ignorance and crime, and tramplin- the pmileges and the rights of conscience in the dust, telfs his lellow sinner that his only province is blindly to obey Before I leave this topic I may be pennitted to remark that It ftirnishes us with the secret of liome's chariness of, and hostility to the Bible. If the Priest l>e the mterpreter between God and man. if the Priest be the Papist's Bible he has no need of one himself, and so he is taught, and taught too that the indiscruninate use of it does more harm than good, even if he had one. It was to be expected from this prennse that the Bible would bo a scarce book where Catholicism prevails, a reprobated book where Popery Mmmates, and a forbidden book where Popery executes. Hence in the city of Rome, at this present moment, it is scarcely found in a booksellers shop, and only in the most expensive styles. Hence, it is the mrest object on the shelf ot the Italian or the Spanish peasant. The poor Irish Papist knows not to read it in his own loved and flowing vernacular and I venture to assert that among the two thousand Catholic tamihea living in the city of Halifax, you will not find five per cent, of the whole number who possess a copy of the 17 vIictluT the 'umstanccs, 1 unroason- So (loos unto llim ' Ilis curse. its them as )W,"isIIis 1 together, as snow, 3l." 13ut whicli the is conduct npling the t, tells his mark that ss of, and aterpreter Uible, ho fid taught arm than from this 'k where Popery oxecutes. 3nt, it is he most ihe shelf h Papist nacular. Catholic ind five • of the Scriptures according to the version in use, for, true to herself, Home has no authorised version of the Bible by the Koman Church— no fifteen-poiuiy liibles, no seven-pence half-penny Testaments, for the votaries of Home ; tliat even the iMx.rest of them may read in his own tongue the wumlorful works of (Jod, and that by its doctrines they might bo instructed, and by its precepts guided, and by its promises animated, and by its tln-eatonings awed, that by its sweet and copious and divine consolations their troubles might be lessened or assuaged, as they press onward to the eternal state. Am I wrong on such a review as tins to ai)ply the words of the Great" Teacher which lie uttered, to the confusion and astonishment of the JVlesthood in his day, to the Priesthood of Home : " Woe unto you ye Lawyers, for ye have taken away the key of knowledge, for ye will neither ente? in yourselves, and they who are entering in ye hinder." 2. It is the prerogative of God to bestow pardoning mercy. God's name and memorial, to all generations is " The Lord God, merciful and gracious, long suffering, abundant in goodness and in truth, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin." " It is God that justifieth." " Who can forgive sins but God only. " " If we confess our sins, God is taiSif ul an. I just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all iniquity. " Such is the teaching of the Bible on the prime leading benefits of the covenant of grace, conferring the bestowal of it to God alone, save through the mediation of the Ga-eat Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus. But this Divine prerogative is invaded and usurped by the Catholic Priesthood. And let it be remarked and remem- bered, too, that they assert, in the exercise of this prerogative, to do a vast dfeal more than declare to- poor sinners that there is forgiveness with God that he may be feared. They affect to dispense forgiveness de facto—as really to pardon a crimi- nal condemned ])y the law of God, as our Sovereign Lady the IN Queen pardons a crin.inal contlcmneil hy the law of the lantf And tins power they claim in virtue of tlie solemn word* which the haviour addressed to the Apostles imn.ediately before he ascended into heaven, and which, in their n.odesty. hoy assume are in like n.anner si>oken to then.selves : llt^-eive ye the Holy Ghost. Whosoever sins yo shall forgive they are forgiven, and whosoever sins ye shall retair- hey are retained." I need not, as it does not ecme withir. the scope of tins lecture, to prove that these words h«d an exclusive reference to the Apostles, or if bearing at all on the standing ministry of the Church, that they only involve a declaratory ministerial authority. But this is by no means the sense in which the Papacy understand and interpret this prerogative. Let us take the authorised canons of the Council of Trent. Says the Gtli can., XIV. sec. : '< It i, not a naked nnnisterial act of either announcing the Gospel, or declaring that sms are pardoned, but it is equivalent to a judicial ac^ wherein by himself as judge, sentence (of forgiveness) is pronounced." And again, in the 9th canon of the sami> session: "If any man shall say that the sacramental absolu- tion ot the Priest is not a judicial act. but a naked ministerial one, m deelarmg or announcing the forgiveness of sins to the person confessing, let him be accursed." All this is surely plain enovi^h. and is sufficient for my purpose-to demonstrate, that this Church raises men to an equality with God Ijut the wuole matter is not unfolded yet. In order to Priestly pardon there must be confession to the Priest, and no ma^er what be the nature of the sin conmiitted, secret as are the thouglits and intents of the sinner's own heart, hidden to all but the inward eye of conscience, and the all-seein^ eye of the Lord of the conscience. No matter how sincerely and deeply soiTowful the criminal may be in the presence of the merciful God, if it be possible to find a Priest, confession is the condition of pardon. I would foin d K-lino giving an ftholamf. omn words- uiiodiately niodosty, eniselves : yo shair ball retail!' no within- I had an all on the nvolve a 10 means rpret tliis 3 Council ; a naked leclariug licial act ness) is he same' absolu- inisterial IS to the I surely onstrato- I. liufc Priestly I matter are the n to all eye of ty and of the sion is ng an 10 exposure of the Roniinh confession, but justice to the subject, the demands of the times, and compassion to the souls of mcn[ urge mo to do so now. I assert that in this part of the discipline of the llomish Church, her Priests usurp the place of God, and daro to perform the woi-k of (Jod. The I'riest in the confessional presumes to search the heart and try the reins of the children of men. Confession to obtain pardon must be minute and circumstancial, embracing not only all words and acts, but all thoughts and desires bearing upon pride, ami covetoiisness, and lust, and anger, and gluttony, and envy, and sloth, in short upon all mortal sin ; and this confession, without resei-vation and without concealment, must be made at least once a year. Besides, as I have just hinted, the confessor is not at all to rest content with barely hearing the sad tale of the penitent. Ho is required to probe, to search the heart. He is required to cross-question the criminal, thus bearing witness against himself, and since in llomish l)ooks of direction regarding the confessional, rules are presc-ribed to the Priest how he shall deal with these whose lips modesty and fear, and shame, may at any time be found to seal.— What think you of such language as the following, found m the directions of the Council of Trent, when treating of this point. " Still more pernicious is the conduct of those who, yielding to a foolish bashfulness cannot endure themselves to confess their sins." Such persons are to bo encoura 1)0 more vvliioli the woii»en, I ves. It is your fancy a the b(tx, his own f the tale )f the coy 11 the lijjH and sol)- fall. It and 1)0 a in a fault recital of hedience, bi-each of fraud, of less and n.^Iitovvn, roui'«-"',s K-i'iiblo as this V ting, not lessness, thing be all the id in a ey were 21 to be (lisrlosod would sovor many a fair reputation, blot many n gnud character, make a wreck (.f the jM-ace of every family, f<'t soci.'y together by the ears, and change earth into an epitome of hell, a scene of " weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth." Is it right that man, that any jnan, should have the means of ac(piiring such power? Is not a confession (langerous to the state V And then if a man cannot take firo m his bosom and remain unburncd, is it likely that the recipient of so much filth will himself remain clean V or, may it not be, or is it not so, alas ! alas ! to what extent God only knows. Is it not so, that " evil communications corrujjt good manners?" Let the Catholic priest be as chaste as ice, as pure as snow, ho is yet a man, though my object in all this is to shew that he is reputed as a God, and because he is a man it cannot but bo that such closo contact with the wretchedness of man will pollute himself ; and what an opinion can he hold of human society ! A hypocrite, and ho must Hcom it ; a sincere man, ho must scorn it still more. It is impossible for such a man to live and act among his fellows with the manly confidence and the confiding love which are essential to good citizenship and free intercommunication. Oh ! how unlike all this to that confessional to which the piti- ful Saviour bids the guilty and contrite repair when ho utt«red these won:3 : " And thou, when thou praycst enter into thy closet, and shut thy doors about thee, and pray to thy Father, who seoth in secret, and thy Father who seeth in secret will reward thee openlyl " On confession being made, the priestly pardon is pronounced —the guilt is removed— the past is forgotten, and the future —the future is open to the beginning of a fresh course of crime, to be confessed in the same style, and forgiven by the same power ; and thus onward and still on, till the end is reached, wh^n confessor and devotee shall alike stand in the presence of the Great God and the Saviour. «pi 22 AHis IS trie uniform iloetr np nf flm p:i j i h"""^- Fovo this *t„„,c„t: .. ft^ a™ 1„J „ 'J'""™'*: I»««™ - Help : h z r„: . -^c: Hr, r 't" ^-^ not necessary tbal the meanina of the fc™ {' " lodge aad pardoning me„iy, the Cha„>h of CeTnd P^rT 2^ agree generally as to the sen« i„ which "I hi St ifyin^ grace, ocially of the ing passages flanks alway e (jlod hath nation of the }oklly to the d find grace !ss have all i God is a nd no good tly." It is 3 be settled *^ing know- tid Protest- leld. The thing, that le doctrine ent to the stly office, idate with he bread, power to 3ll for the horized to ves, how- ;h session shall say the New cursed." r ruinous lority, as depends canon of 23 the Council of Trent, and first session, "If anyone shall say that the intention to do what the Church does is not requisite in the priests when they make or confer the sacra- ments; let him be accursed," so that after all, as shall after- wards be shewn, everything rests with the priest. It hangs on his mtention whether there be a sacrament at all, and that, if his will is not in perfect agreement with the act. Baptism is no Uaptism, and the Eucharist is no Eucharist, and so with all the seven sacraments. They are, wanting this intention, unmeamng and useless rites, while yet grace is "conferred by the sacraments by the very act performed." I leave it with any candid unprejudiced person to say if it bo possible to adopt any other conclusion from these premises than this, that all that the Bible declares to be necessary to prepare for lieaven, apart from saving knowledge and pardoning mercy, and which It as reaUy declares none but God can bestow is ni the power of the priest. By Baptism he takes a man into the Church on earth; by Extreme Unction he sends a man away to the Church in heaven, according to rescripts of tho Church, as if God had nought to do with the salvation of tho soul— as if there was neither an atoning sacrifice nor a puri- fying and perfecting spirit— as if, in a word, he could shut and no man may open ; as if he could open and no man may shut. '' I hold I have substantiated my charge that Rome raises her priesthood to an equality with God, and thus is guilty of the vilest and grossest idolatry— man worship is her practice A priest in his canonicals, and in the acts of service, is to a papist "quasi Deus," invested with all the attributes, to his inmd, of the Great I AM, and doing works which none but God can perform ; and whether he hear him as the divine interpreter, he cries it is the voice of a gn settle this point. It may be useful to quote one or two in addition. "He removed the high places, brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brazen serpent which Moses had made, for in their days the children of Israe did burn mcense to it; andhe called it Nehushtan." I am the Lord thy God. that is my name, and my glory I will not give to another, neithermypraises to gravenimages." Such IS the teaching of the Word of God on this point f and . one would tluak that scarce any degree of sph-itudity ;ouId lislmcss, and the christian may receive, ed. In the id; and ho example of 3 wears tlio on his bald n the dupes ation as the f-gloriation, !, he stands he cloud of mercy-seat and in this thousands, — tb.e jjoor shews that i all that is because of erstood, is The very ifficicnt to or two iu le images, le brazen 2 children mshtan." T glory I images." 'int; and • iy would 25 overbear, and scarce any degi-ce of ecclesiastical rashness would contravene such teaching. Yet has Rome in her blmdness and pride done both the one and the other Hero i« the 9th article of Pope Pius IV. ; a creed to which every Papist priest swears at his consecration : "I most firmly assert that the images of Christ, and of the mother of God —ever Virgin, and also of the other saints, arc to bo had and retained, and that due honor and veneration are to bo given them." The practice in this case is in perfect conformity with the creed. Teaching, as she does, in this authoritative style she sets up images representing almost all the saints in the calendar, together with those of Mary and Christ. And her people fall down before them, burn incense to them, pray to them, undertake pilgrimages to their shrines, andespoct from these acts of devotion the greatest benefit. You find all this done every day, with but a slight exception, in Halifax ; and there is not a Catholic Church in the world, where such homage is not offered to these dmiib images more or less perpetually. It is needless to expatiate further on this point tor a.s to the simple practice there is no question, and no dispute. Now, with the passages from the Bible above cited on the one hand, and this admitted practice on the other «anet.oned by an article of her own creed, the controversy nuglit here close and determine— either the Word of God is wrong and the creed and the ritual right, or these are right and the Word is in error. Both cannot be true. Let Homo choose the alternative. It is not the design of this Lecture to meet and expose the reasons which are adduced to sustain these Idolatries It may be as well however to examine the chief of these briefly ni order that all occasion may be cut off for fh^ charge of par tiahty. It is alleged in the first place ihat these Images are not God. an.l therefore, that they are not houom-ed and i «ll 26 venerated as God It is allodged in the second place, tl. ho luatona of w ueh those images are made, cannot hear inayers, and that the image of itself cannot bestow the bles- sings supplicated, and as a necessary result of these two state- paid to the image, but to the person whom the image repre- sonts lloman Catholics have often said to myself, MVc do not pray to but through the image." Such I belie;e to be a statement of the case, such as no Papist will object to. Now in aiiswer to these allegations, it may be natur 1 that if the ac,u. Rome of Idolatry, there never was such a thh.g 1 Idolatry m existence, and there never was an idolater i.^ the Woild. It was precisely in this way that the old pagans rea- xr; w 1 1 '" r^ ^' ^^^-^ ^^ --^ «^ '■- j^-^ yitwcll. The apologists of paganism maintained that the ^"'age was just an image, and but the symbol of a hidden upenor power, and this it was which nevertheless of its plau- Zv ^'f "T^'"*^ '''''y' ^"^^ '' *''« »>-king of those I ords nany and Gods many, which by myriads presided over the u worship of the one living and true God, wo charge her r^ h were77T"j ^'^^ "^ ^"^'"^^ *^'« ^^ masons whch were followed and held, by the woi-shippers of lielus and Jupaer of Venus and Diana. But still fai-ther at It ism rely through them that the worship is carried tu mimediate object. We deny on Rome's own showing that hey are the media of worship. The imago itself ^/wor- ahipped and IS commanded to be worshipped by the authority of the church. The article of the creed above cited proves «ns,a^dtl. council of Trent declares, that images are'to be had and retained especially in churches, and due honour and . veueration paid to them ; probably some of you were curious ■»i«!(9»lti-..(!^. *?*«**»•.'■ *wii..if, J 27 onou^h to v.s,t St. Mnry's on Chn.stmas Eve, prol.aJ.ly son,, lioman Catholic may bo l.ere who was there at that time. 1 ^hall not wait to describe the ceremonial tlien ob.serve.l, thouHi I am well able, but I appeal to you, if from all you saw ami loan and read on that night, whether it wa.s not the image of the liabe who was born in the stable and cradled in the man- ger, because there was not room in the Inn, rather than Im- nianuel, God in our nature him.self, that was the object of worship; and whether too if all the paraphernalia had been absent, and the histrionic semblances removed, and the wor- shippers engaged in merely spiritual exercise, a vastly differ- ent view would have been presented ; and why is it if the allegations be true, that one image of the same object is so largely preferred to another ? Why is our I^dy of Loretto so vast.y honoured above our Lady of Halifax ? Why is it that the artistic excellencies and defects of images of the same object IS made a reason for preferring one before another, so much so, that a priest in E/)me positively stated to M., Sey- mour, author of those two admirable work's which should bo m every Eoman Catholic's hand, as well as in every body's else, and especially in the Library ot the Young Men's Chris- tian As.sociation-"The Pilgrimage to Home," and "Morn- ing s among the Jesuits" " That he never prayed to the virgin of Augustines, that it was not a sightly image, that it was really an ugly image, and had never excited his devotion, and m fact he had never prayed before it. " Why is it that some, that many of these images are believed to be possessed of mira- culous powers and worshipped accordingly V ]iut a few years ago the picture of 3Iary in the church of St. Mury Mag^iore in J?ome, was carried through the streets of the city with all inmginable pomp and circumstance to suppress the cholera, the 1 oiHi Inmsoif going barefooted in the procession. If these facts do not prove that direct and immediate, and not indirect and mediate worship is paid to injages, then the laws of indue- I ji '2s tion arc mere logical fallacies, and no practice is capable of being established. But in the third place, even though this distinction existed in practice, and that it could be shown that image worshippers were so much more capable of mental abstraction than other men, it would be uiiefcss as a defence, and the church of Rome knows this. She knows that the practice of image worship is uniformly condemned in the Bible, and who will venture to deny that this is one of the main reasons why, to all intents and purposes she has forbiddea the use of it to the people. But she knows more— *hat the coftdcnmation and the prohibition of this practice form the subject of the second commandment of God's holy just and good law. " Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, nor any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath— thou shalt not bow thyself to them nor serve them, for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God." She knows that this command stands in frowning contrariety to her own canon, and to all the casu- istry by which she tries to supjiost it, and witli a rashness unequalled, awl an ungodliness unexampled in the history of mutilating authentic documents, she has blotted from the de- calogue the second precept of the Law. It may not be known to many of you, but you ought to know it. I believe it is not known to the thousands of Catholics in this city, and I uow tell them, that the second commandment is kept out of the catechism which is taught to their children, at least I can prove it is kept out of several such manuals, and to preserve the entire number, they have erjually rashly, and ungodlily split the tenth mto two. Well may one exclaim— Horribilo dictu. Oh, what will this avail her, so long as this precept stands unrepealed in the eternal law of God,— and to employ the words of a protcstant champion—" till these words are revoked as plainly and solemnly as they were promulgated till thQ same mighty voice shall proclaim in the hearing of the 20 i capable of n existed in wor.sliipjiers I than otlicr •eh of Rome & worship is venture to iatcnts and Dple. But ohibition of mdment of make unto ;that is in I shalt not hy God am stands in 1 the casu- i rasluiess I history of )m the de- t be known ilieve it is iity, and I 2\)t out of cast I can preserve ungodlily -Horribilo is precept to employ words are iilgated — •ing of the nations that the second precept of the decalogue has l)ecn abrogated — the practice of Home must stand condemned as Idolatrous. May God have morcyupon her poor benighted people whom she leads blindfold into idolatry, and may lie remember this extenuation of their guilt, when he arises to execute judgment upon those who knowing that they who do such things are worthy of death, not only do them but teach others to do the same." III. Idolatry is charged upon the dmrch of Rome because of saint worship. It is necassaiy to state at the very outset here, that by saints, in the language of tlie Church of Rome, arc meant dead men and women, who, by a process of what the Church calls canonization, which I have not time to describe, have been invested with this title, and who, in virtue of j^ossessin^ tJiis title, are entitled to be worshipped. A few passages may be quoted from the Seriptui-es to show tJiat such worship is forbidden, and consequently idolatrous. " And as IVter was coming in Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet and worshipped him ; but Peter took him up, saying. Stand-up, I myself also am a man." "And when the people saw what Paul had done (in curing the cripple, who had never walked, at Lystra) they lifted up their voices, saying, in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are eome down to us in the likeness of men ; and they called Barnabas Jupiter, and Paul Mercurius, because he was tho chief speaker. Then the priest of Jupiter which was before their city brought oxen and garlands unto the gates, and would have done sacrifice with tho people ; which, when Paul and Barnaba: lieard of, they rent their clothes and ran in among the people, crying out and saying, Sirs, why do ye these things ? we are men of like passions with you, and preach \into you that ye should turn from these vanities tq 1 1 If I ■■ ! I' 11 li I liO the living God which made heaven, the earth, the .ea and a 1 th.ngs therein." « And I Ml at his feet to worsh ;'h ^ and ho said unto n,e, See thou do it not for I am thv J most dl,.e„. ,e™,, „g„;„„ „,,, ,^^ TlJol." *! "..ght bo fo«M I,y „,he. .,,icl, „tter the same .oZZ I will sot in juxtaposition to tl,is eondomnalion of tho Biblo bo common,lat,on of the Church. Tho seventh sect „„ of the eree,! of Pi„, ly ,h„, ,,^^, ^Lifce^ „T™,"5 pnts r.>i„g together with Christ are t'tlnont a„ nvocated, a„k the cup, when he had supped saying,— This cup is the 40 Now Testament in my blood, this do yo, as oft as ye drink it m remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread and dnnk this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till be come " iNow as a set-off to these, as one would think, plain and un- mysterious declarations and appointments of Christ and Paul let us hoar what be the teachings and decrees of the Papal Church. - I profess " says the creed of Pius IV, " that in the .nass there is offere.1 to God a true, proper, and propitiatory sacuface for the bvmg and the dead. That in the most holy htaitially the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ, and that there is a con- version of the whole substance of the bread intx) the body, and of the whole substance of the wine into the blood, which con- version the Catholic church calls transubstantiation. I also confess that under either kind alone, Christ is received whole and entire, and there is a true sacrament." That article is based on this decree of the Holy Council of Tren^ chapter iv. J' Since Christ our Kedeemer truly said ha that which he offered under the appearance of bread, was Ins body, therefore the Church of Christ has ever been per- suaded-^and this holy synod declares it anew, that by the consecration of the bread and wine, a couversion takes place of the whole substance of the bread into the body of Christ our Lord, and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of his blood, which conversion the Holy Catholic Church properly calls transubstantiation." And then the first canon of the same council on the Eucharist denounces, " That rf any man shall deny that in the Sacrament of the most holy Eucharist, there is contained ti-uly, really, and substantidly, the oody and blood, together with the soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ-and so a whde Christ-but shall say that he ,s^ only in it in .ign, or figure, or power-let him be accui-sed. The sixth canon however, is the one wliich 'oars 41 3ara directly on the sulyoct of this Lecture. It is as follows :— " If any shall say that in the holy sacrament of the Eucha- rist, the only begotten Son of Godjs not to be adored, and that outwardly with the worship 'of latria— and therefore, that he ought neither to be venerated by any special venera- tion, nor carried solemnly about in procession according to the laudable and universal practice of the church, or that he ought not to be exhibited to the people, and that the worshippers of him are Idolaters, let him be accursed." Such is the doctrine and practice of the Church of Kome according to herself, and if any unbiassed witness can discover any analogy between these two sets of authorities, he may well be regarded as gifted with what our Highland and Irish gi-andmothers were accustomed to call, the second sight. On these decrees and canons, however, the church has con- structed the drama of the Mass, and for the right and proper celebration of this sen'ice, almost every conceivable device has been called into requisition. " The Church," as one has it, " has a fine historic genius;" and in the service of the Mas.s she ajipears to play over again the drama of which the uni- verse is the stage, and eternity the development. In the constTOction of her temples she has, as far as is possible, the most solemn regard to scenic efteet, and whatever means and appliances, optics and acoustics, and light and sound, and shade and colour can furnish are cunningly seized, and as cunningly adapted, by the skill and hands of the cunning workman to answer her end. The furniture of the altar has its symbolical meaning an well as its ceremonial use. The altar-cloth, often of the richest material, represents the cloth that shrouded the body of the Saviour. The cup, the sepulchre in which he was laid, and the paten or plate that holds the cake, the stone that was rolled to the door of the sepulchre. On the altar there is a lighted candle— the emblem of Christ the light of the worl^, who abolished death, and brought lif^ 42 ^ the pnest are equally symbolical with the implements of lu service On h.s head he places an amul, which represents ho vad the Jews put on Christ; and over his dress an aJb the ^blem of purity. He swaddles himself with a gird L sigmfymg the cord that bound our Lord in the garden and puts a stole about his neck, ap emblem of the co^ whe/ew^h ^ was led to execufon. Over all a rich vestment Tthrow ' «>metimos heavy and d^uzling ^ith orient p^arl and gold, and a cross v^ought behind and before, re^-escnting^the pur- pie robe j,.th ^hich the Je.,. clothed the £viour. ' AndZ acts of the pnest are as significant as his garments. He crosses h.mself and retreats with thr^ Jions. to shew Christ 8 agony m the garden. He beats himself on his breast usmg the words "Mea culpa, mea culpa," to express S prophet s meaning, «' He was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our iniquities/' He reads the Z^Tll the north end or left side of the altar, to signify tha^ the devU has chosen the north for tb^seat of his Jice^and t at enterTh .T t ""'^ '^ ''" '''''' ^^ ^^us we eater the sacred temple. The eye is regaled wifh an imposing ^^d gorgeous ceremonial~the ear is ravished with sweetesi like that of paradise-miagination revels in euclianting sensu- tical and the voluptuous. Silence reigns-every sound of earth seems hushed-a mysterious gloom, chequered titl gorgeous colourmg and wandering beams of dim religious hght fil the place, h,lf revealing, half concealing tl^ brfath' fi^n, he gojden shnnes. Anon the organ lifts its voice ; at first low and soft and brol,p„, like a breeze on the water;.- now swelling higher and hierher. till it Deals in lofW thunder , .„ ° ° — ^ "'g"u»', mi it peals in or thrills in deep and awful ch9i.ds, ^bat fathom lotly the very soul. 48 The pageant begin^the 8loW priest enten, «ilh attendant dea<»n, and .eoljtes, and with ,„,.l,es and „i,h incenratl riowly advan^g to the My »hri„e, where on a 8hadowy!:i rr bangs the shadow of a Saviour, p,«l,a.es himself StZ «Bcd to heaven .n name of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost Headvaneesupthe step, and kisses the altar, singing "I Ci P> to the altar of my God," while a thrilling awe ffllsZ sanetua^ and penet^tes every heart, and bows tlem 1 1 one senl,„ent of prostrate adoration : and now look T " For see, with dim association TJie tapers bum, the odorous incense feeds A greedy flame. The pompous mass proceeds. The pnest bestows the appointed consecration • An.1 whde the host is mised. its elevation An awe and supernatural horror breeds • And all the people bow their heads like reeds lo a soft breeze, in lowly adoration." taotiated, the service, of which what has been said i. h„f Z most general outline, must be analyzed; andTo'd r 'o / ^e mu t ,,^ , tothreethingsatleL-ThecrangXedt fice of he host, and the communion of the host. «,«r r '^'''^^ ^'"'^ '^' *^«g™«« «nd decrees which Z whf "T° *''^ ^'^''^•^- ^-' '^^ Church dect s that whde m the service of the mass, the priest pronoune s these, words, and mark it, he does so in a whisper so Tsho required, and the analogy is most striking l^tr^ Thi ac and some of those of the Pagan priesthood-for ' This my body " the change described is effected. And Wu!Jo ^nnnot describe a change more accurately. It decllTtW e .Iteration is complete, is thprough ; so'that thetblt of the bread and the wine is .]estn>yed. and the yeryZy /■^« 44 and blood which was born of the virgin, and whi-hnow sits at tlie right hand of God— that very body it is, which, by this unique power, is called into being, and is situate on the altar. We have read in our youth of the seven wonders of the world, and we have read in our age of seven times seven greater wonders still, but this wonder is wondrous, all won- derful beyond In reading of it, and writing of it, I am always reminded of what the laddie said to his mother when she was, as he thought, drawing too largely on his credulity, " Laddie, do you no believe that ? " " No, mither, it will no believe for me." And so transubstantiation will not believe for us. It will not believe fur the votaries of Rome them- selves. She knows this right well ; and hence she requires that thoy renounce the judgment of their understanding and the evidence of their senses, in order to receive any benefit from this sacred mystery. Were it necessary for compassing the object of this lecture to examine the doctrine as propounded by the Church, and compare it minutely and carefully with the passages quoted, it might be shewn th.-:', like Pelion on Ossa, it is one mass of contradiction piled on another. The Saviour and the twelve were, at the period of the institution of the supper, sitting around the paschal board, eating. the Passover. Of his own personal identity and presence at that time there is no dispute. But, according to the doctrine in question, no sooner had the words of consecration been uttered than the bread and the wine were changed into himself; not into bis humanity only, but into his divinity also : and thus there were two real presences at the paschal supper— that is contradic- tion the first. And then the Saviour took himself into his own hands, body, soul, and divinity, and gave himself to the disciples, while he himself remained whole and entire before them— contradiction the second. And the discipks ate and drank the second real presence in the presence of the first real 46 presence, at tl,e very time when their ears were charmed with he gracous words which proc-eeded out of his mouth ; and unspeakable condescension-contradiction tiie third. And then when th.s act was done, he tells them he would hence- forth dnnk no more of the fruit of the vine with them, which le had ju. changed into his body, and blood, and so;i, and dmMy tdl he would drink it new in his Father's kin^d^m- contradiction the fourth. *• All this appears on the face of the narrative when examined by the Tndentme decree ; and I challenge any Roman casuist to shew, whether all the.se contradictions are not necessarily and logically involved in the transaction. It is. however, when ^ doctrmeoftransubstantiation is looked at in connection With the dady worship of the Church, that its absurdity is most manifest. Had this been an act never again to be repeated, an act peculiar to the Saviour himself, and for the serv-g of some high end connected with his great enterprise, done only by himself and in favor of the twelve, there migh; probably have been occasion to pause, and remember that Uoti s ways are not as our ways ; that " God works in a mysterious way, his wonders to perform ! " But w^ere it is allowed even by Catholics themselves that the Mcharist IS a standing ordinance in the Church, and for the Church s edification, it is not to be thought of that such an in- terpretation can be put on the ordinance. That a man showing hunself. however, that he is God. should have the power o°f contravening law, not moral and spiritual, but physical law and that too by a mere act of his will ; that a man should have the power of making void what is established in eveiy other case, and of doing this repeatedly, is so monstrous that the reception of it. to so great an extent, and for so long a tune. IS almost us great a wonder as the thing alleged to be done. 4G It is not easy to curb the working of in.propcr feelings, and thmk and write with sufficient coolness and propriety wlien treating on sucli a theme. How can a n.an be comocsed when he contemplates the violence which this dogma docs alike to sense, reason, scripture, grammar, and even to those great ethnological canons on which the framework of human Ian- guage rests. What violence does this doctrine do to our Ecnses To receive it a man must resist the evidence of his senses, and so the Church says he must. After consecration as before, the bread tastes as brei""^ and the nerves, the body and th uld th? 7 ^"'' divinity of our Lord Jesus ChrTs undeJ tt '"^ *^° the wheaten wafer Ah r L] ? I ^^ appearance of would do if it were univowlly dCd I "" jf T""" '' ka» led to a rojocion of Chrd^Z^lJ^Vf'' " .bing but b, tbo evidouc of ::; ^ZrZ '"7 1°"^ him&elf stake the nroof of TT;« r •. ^ ""' ^^rist «n., a. «u«eie„Cfo r ™lnd:,;^^^^^^^^^ '^, me and see. Beach },;*>,«. *i. u T ''""v • Handle *, a„d be ..tlrltt SeX""'..tlVrGT lee, why stand ve fi-n7in„ „« .v* l ^" *^*^ ^ali- "w„ ;ebavo7eerje:/ir.^r;b:,rir ■'"'"' » come a. y„ h.™ ^,„ „„ into b C „ " H """"^ word, do we know tbere a a 0™i .. .1 u ! ■' ""^ '" » diurn ? The invisible th„«fp/ "' ""°"«'" *" "«• ■re witbout eM„„ Godbead, so that men of Christ, and yet not anytbin^of th°T T ™^"'°°° of Christ, neither the n,aCl the f '^""''-^I.ing -.tbesa:j'i-tr.eirdtto"?;5; 48 ai..l yet Cluist .shouhl n..t be nothing. Th-t the sanio thins just ut the .same time should have its ju.st di.nonsions and ju.st distance ot its parts from one anotlior, and at the same time not have it, but all its parts together in one and tlio self-samo point That the body of Christ which is muoh greater, should bo contained wholly and in its full dimensions without any alteration, in that which is lesser, and that not once only but as many thnes over, as there are several jxjints in the broad and wine-all these and many other of the like nature are the unavoidable, and most of them the acknowled-ed con- sequences of your doctrine of transubstantiation by your schooling." Thus dogma violates scripture. It is a sound scriptural canon to explain one passage by another, when both manifestly refer to the same subject. The followin.^ passage examined and judged by this rule invalidates this dogma. " The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ, and the bread of blessin.r which we break, is it not the communion of the body o°f Christ, for we behig many are one body, for we are all par- takers of that one blood." Now let it be noticed, that this passage bears on the ordinance as instituted, and as it was celebrated in the Corinthian Church. It supposes that tho act of consecration had been performed by Paul, and that it IS one of the Sacrament^unless this be admitt* d there is no meaning and no point in the words. But marl, it, Paul says of the bread after consecration. '« The bread of blcssinjr which we break." and of the wine " the cup of blessing which wo bless," and " we are all partakers of that on^ Dlood. It IS impossible that Paul could have used such lan- guage of the Eucharist on the Roman Catholic Theory He would have written the flesh of blessing which we bless, tho blood of blessing which we blcss-we are all partakers of that one body and blood, and soul nnd divinity. This is sufficient, and therefore no more need be advanced. 4I» o.l.orL.J"A7: l:l°""^"°'''■^'■"«"""f™". VIM versa. This i«„ora„c„ „f I, T '»"g"»go, an,l ««.h into our „„ Jg^ liV" '™f°''T °' ''"™> Je«ibo°„ad Sanll r"'""'-"'" ^ '" "* "«■ wore duno into Fronoh very oztonZlv J I • *^ "°™'' ono of Ho.» ooor frllo„. ™™'J' »"'• V various hands ; W«». IndSbtiLT """""''■'''« Scotch what this means. The Zt u •"'^t'""''"'""""""' a »-toSW minister and '.''"'', ''" '"'*'• '«<' "nJcreil it ".a' acre ^L suchTthi """f;^"*""™- 1% forgo, lilcssed Savi urTvod a „1" "''°'"- '''"^ f^'^' "■'" 'ic vernacular of his Z ,1 'T, ."""""S """-'''a. he used the over spolo L .„ W „•,,'"' "°™"^' °f "» «°>''-.ta.he l-ave Td cou d av Z^^^X ■'" ^ '"*' »-" when he said to them ° Z! „f ,f ^.'" "»''™'» «-id, " But Jet!Z, 1 r .""f«*^»'^'»S Paul when ho -other of ust?" '"^ ""^'^ '' ^^^^ ^ fr<^«> which i. th. 5 50 ^ In spite of all this however, the dogma of transubstan- tian was confirmed. Sense and reason, and scripture, and style were all overborne ; and if I had time, or if the de- mands of this Lecture required, I might shew from the his- tory of the doctrine, that Kome was determined to stand or fall by it. She felt that it was the foundation of her power. She felt that— invalidate this doctrine, and her priesthood was gone, and thus her all was gone, and hence the least deviation even in appearance from the terms in which it was couched, branded a man with heresy, and subjugated him to the en- durance of cruelties and deaths, such as Rome alone could devise and inflict. The next act in this drama is the Adoration of the Host. Having, as we have seen, changed the whole substance of the bread, and the whole substance of the wine, into the body, and blood, and soul, and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ, it is but a natural sequence that the divinity be adored. To whom can a people go but to their God. But tliis the Church requires under pain of anathema. This is her authoritative canon already quoted : " To this most holy sacrament, that worship must be given, which is due to the true God, and if any one shall deny this, or shall assert that the worshippers of it are idolaters, let him be accursed." Having consecrated the host, the ofliciating priest kneels and adores it, and then he elevates it in the sight of the people, who, in like manner, kneel and adore it. It is at this point of the service that the surpliced-boy rings the hand- bell, that all the worshippers may be duly aware of the precise time to worship, and govern themselves accordingly. It may be right also to state that, according to Rome's ritual, this is the chief part of the service of the mass. The adoration of the host is to the mass what the denouement of the plot is to the play ; around this act, therefore, all possible pomp and circumstance is thrown. In cathedral service, »m^iMmmmmmsi.. 61 ntit, ai ranged to preserve orAor ru^ a »m.ll apartmeat, a„d we^ ,he„ w ,lf I '" """"^ oha^be. tin w„ we,e pCa i:":itu ^ m" .ITf Mgb a„ar were sple„„Ul, iLlf TW , «' "f ""^ ^W^fcrlj I T"'''' ''"'•' "■" College A p4^„J; l,.,j . ^ \ ^-nuieli. They were clolhcd cnlirelv fmn. the. hamb. These caadle, ,ve,-e abeut Ave feet hZ Z not Im than five o,- A i„„|,„, ,„ eireumfere « ™dt .V »..ll and n,„t,o.le., a» ^..uile *.ue», and a. tt p'S 62 qevated the host, they all gracefully dropped their heads and slow^ leaned forward their kneeling bodies, till they almost touched the ground, and bent their large candles all at the same mstant, and with the most practised regularity, till every candle seemed to bow in unison, like things of life, in devout adoration to the present and visible divinity. "As the eye wandered at this moment from our little gallery whence we could view the whole space of the Church • as It ranged from the splendid illumination of the high altar' and rested on the officiating priest in robes of white silk damask with the richest foliage of gold, and then fell upon the twelve youths in scarlet leaning gracefully to the earth with their gigantic candles, and then fell upon the aged pont,ff_the claimant as Vicar of Christ and anointed head of the Church upon earth-and then looked on the long array o^ Cardinals -these anointed princes of the Church, robed m scarlet-and then strayed along the congregation, of which the ladies were clothed in black and veUed, and the men were mostly ,n the same colour, while the Swiss guards were arranged among them, relieving the mass of black costume wi h the brdhant scarlet and yellow of their peculiar and antique uniform-as our eye wandered over all this scene in this magnificent and noble church, with its antique marbles and costly decorations, and its vaulted roof, filled with the sweetest and most beauteous music, we felt we had never witnessed anything at Rome in the way of a religious fete sa perfect in its arrangements, so picturesque in its appearance, and m such good taste and perfect keeping in all its accom^ exhibited the good taste and worldly wisdom of \he order of the Jesuits. ' Sometimes arrogance and presumption out-wit themselves. By over domg a thing it often happens that it is as rood as. wot done at all. An Impostor is often his own detector. He m lets dip „ word or t™, ho mate an adrnfeion or two which ere over he is aware iramaslis his roal cliarnntn, „ . ..™ stand out i„ ,he Hack and ^^1^72^';^ dehboraloly pract.sed, but I charge the system <,f u|,lrr^ »re .he exponent., and upholders, with so oCott '„T There i, „„ P,li,i„„ „f „,„ „„,„;.,, ,_,,_^^^, _ onlj- orthe use of the pries,h,K„), and which i, is p" aUe fi-- of the people, whether rich or ^,r over saw or e'™" 1 are son,ecur,ous things in .his book, and among I' . t tl ere ,s a c.h„.,c, „r ,ee,i„n cmi.led " De detectihus „ o; aSc^ W,,e:i rnSr' ->■'?" -' """ -"■-'^ ever, h,,., „ugh. ,„ be .,„,i»aed ; as he of 5, la^i^ i! ally n, controversy with l!„me, is least to ■«, sus^Z „f takmg anytlnng en t™.st he can help. Acoonli„i,o „ , ook as quoted by Dr. Gumming -. unless a pries, be a pr here rs no sacrament a, all." Unless the dividual pri s.-,y» Mr.H,ggmb„„„,„, be able actually to prove that he «i c«.ed .„ his *. byaBishop, Jo c„,!,d p J^^ftlt , I..shop who consecra.ed him was a true ]ii.,hop all .h J ' ■ '""* '",f <','• -'f. '1-e » no sacran,cnt-sucl, i „ 'e have been made of sour ffraiw.« H.« . • *^ V • . , . g''>lX''*', tJie Nacranieiit is not ma.Jp Nowis nottlnsa.stonishin'-v ,voT.!,l it n f .i , ,"'^^®- *i i 1. .1 "^'""n • "OUJU it nut rather be thomrlif that when the pawoiful words were in - " ^ form and with d lie 54 place and ot that the presence of a few grains of buckwheat or a few degrees of acidity would resist the powe^ of omni potonce Philosophers ten us of disturbing 'cics Tro are disturbing causes with a vangea^ce. And I hold on these most wonderful statements that no priest is safe; nay h t every priest is himself in danger of being guilty ;f Sol rv s^n unless he in every instance before he celebrate mass, send ;r 71'; ''' 'f r '' ''''^''''' todeterminet quality of the flour and the mnrK of the wine. Nor is thi. li'Jdt? r ';/" ''' ^''^^^ ''''"^ '"^^ ^« damaged by : of a tooth or the want of a toe. But what .s^K^ms most of all ^ t.mshing IS. that a defect in the toilette is as damagin. as a defect in the person, so that if the alb should In a hui^y b hrown on backside foremost, or if the girdle be uot fa enod m d^ precise spot, or with the precise degree of teij who e process may be fruitless, and the whole service of no ava. N^ cor anything be imagined more puerile and un- e the solemn dignity of a religious rite. I^ it not .solem" t^ tT;;;t ^'"^ "" '"" "°^ '''^^''' '^ -«^ P-'"ties te^ to tluow suspicion over the whole, and tempt to adopt the. e..dusion, that it is neither more or less than! piece of'w ■ It would perhaps do good to not a few now hearing me -I am sure it would do immense good all round, if tllpriest hood wore to receive a hint from a few of t lie lon.-he de^ wor^hnftI""'''";"-V'""'"^''^'^^° ^'"^''> '« -i--"y worthy of notice; and with the mentioning of it I can clo^e the argument of the Lecture. It is this • S„n. thina else worn ^,«f ... v.. I' *^'« —^^PPosmg every He wore jn.st as the rubric direct,^ -.suppose the bread 66 of the rigk sort, and the wine pure, and sweet, and of a per- feet vmtage-nay, ,n addition, snpp„.e that the person „f fc pjt .s perf«. and his dre.ss as precise as his ^:^n is ' . eternally, all the eondtons neeessary to prodnee the required sacrameni; there « no saerament; and both he and the wor. Appors ™ ,n the whole, po„,p«,„s ritnai, waking in a 2 .PI, ^™ f"""'^ l""'-"^ *= ""'I'oritative la,,.nia« of M.e Chureh on the point ; hut it n,ay he as well to dolt afain Canon 6, on the Saerament, " If any one saith that in n^nt lers, when they em.ct and confer the Saerament, there TZt equned the .Mention, at least, of doing what the ciu^h A-es let nn, he anathema." But how ctn I be sure of any ™s ,n,ent,„„, how is any poor papist to know what the .iten„„n „f the priest is V Before he can know this he wouM d to do what Ged only can d^«areh the heart and t he thoughts of any and eve,y priest that stands before Z i^,l ! n, «>''«' '"""oraner of sacred things in i..s hear^. Chanty ami profession may demand an assen o pnestly mtegrity ; hut profession has b;en falsiUcd. ZZ «y abused, and the., is netl.i.,g more wo.,derfi.l i„ a"afl.„ „ p. est bemg other than he ^„.s, than that a p,otesta.,t m nt ter should d.sgraec his eallin». hertjf a*! Jol' f """ "f '■ "" ""'""">■ «™" '" ^o™ nersclt, and on her own shewi..g, that even the Sacrament whe., celebrated is a reality. It is i„p„,,iUe to 72 «rta,„ y whether transubstantiation ever lakes place • orZ after a 1 a smgle Catholic in Halifax, or a singlf ehi d of the Church any where ever at this time of day cats of the feb or dr,„ks of the bl„,d of the Son of God Vouch g a ^ io for the aecuraey of ,he» statements, the string of eon, n- m gencios is so long that it is next to impossible to get to the end of It; but no sooner is one disposed of tlian another meets the poor devotee, as unfortunate and doprossino- as tlie former, till, if he would follow them to their conseuuences one by one. tlicy would land him in universal scepticism, or into a dull, a deadening, a hopeless dci^pondency. I have thus, as I hope, fastened the charge of Idolatry on the Church of Rome. I have proved to you that she begins with worshipping a poor, sinful man, and ends by worshinnin^ a piece of bread. * " On a review of tlio whole theme I am reminded of the mournful words ot xAIary Magdalene to Our Saviour Himself on the mornmg of His resurrection, " They have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. " Christ the Alpha and Omega, the all in all of Christianity, islndde.i from the eye of the faith of saint and sinjiei alike; or if seen at all It is m a series of mirrors which, by their peculiar con- struction, distort the objects which they reflect. ]Jut the evil does not end here. As the subject has been served not only IS Christ hidden, he is robbe.l. His Prophetical crown has been placed on the head of a self-appohitc.l interpreter; His Priestly crown is attempted to be worn by a presumptuous pretender to the sacerdotal functions; His Kingly crown by a spiritual despot, who would have it that, morhil tliou-h ho be, he wears the title on his vesture and on his thi-h, Kino- of Kings, and Lord of Lords. ° ' ° Besides, on a review of this theme we see the main cause of the mental and moral depression of lloman Catholic coun- tries, or, as I would rather put it, the mental and moral depression of the Koman Catholic mind. ^\'ater cannot unless by uncommon pressure, rise higher than its level • and so It IS but right to state that, as are the Gods of a people «o will be a people itself It is not to be imagined that cntinual contact with the puerilities, and vanities, and shews, and ser- 67 ether as an intell octual or a moral leing. All He probabili- ^ the fact I challenge co„pari«„ ta„ee„ pVopfe who worsh^ Gods many, and Lo* many, and people who wor! ship the one living and tnio God. Ea this «ryico snggcst, „a„,io„ „„d care on the part of hose who have escaped the thraldon,. or wen, never undo na toal to „,„. },„, while aU due regard shonld he had m the ordenng of the worship of God, and the style of eeole- whoh that worship is eelebrated. tho most zealots care othl to le e^emaed lest symbolism and eeicmony should usurn the place of the worship which springs ihm the 'heart. Z! U. BaeChnshan danger of the day and the connhy, i„ this part of the emp„^,wi.h all its glories, ,„ which we belong. Sj™bobs,n and ceremony are creeping into the choice hani of fte whjlome most rigid Puritanism ; and so a« they lifting thcr head, m a land where the echoes of Jam K»ox's.voice afer a lapse of three hundred yea« has scarce died ZTj r»s, and they have rai«»i their heads and uttered their voices and are occupying the threnes of that vast Episconal estabhshment which glories in being ..garded ^ .he buSk «f the Kefomation, and whose articles constitute one of tho -^»gua* of Protestant Christianity. Within .hat 4 y febno therejs a contest at .his moment raging, which fa «t™ng the hearts of Englishmen .„ their lowe^ ! p.hs. Id wh,h however i. may have ari^n, must bo,„elledbv.h™ of & law, or .ssuo m the dismanffing, and it may 'be in the ove«h„w,ng, of the enti« venerable pUe. These'aro thi gl to g,vo us pam-signs of the times which no v-ischeartea h\n m 58 man shouU ignore, and which sliould be marked and used by the evangelical Christians of tliis Province of every order, that we may not only escape the evils wliich are elsewherJ felt, but afford an example of spiritual freedom and spiritual independence, which other churches will be compelled to follow. ^ And should not this review warn the inhabitants of this city, who ought to know the nature and the value of Protest, int privileges and institutions, against giving any indirect coun- tenance to this idolatrous system. But such countenance is given when the educational* institutions of Popeiy are supported and encouraged by Protestant patronage. Though there were no other evils connected with sending our daughters to Popish nunneries; what danger in the fact that they are in continual contact with Popish symbolism ? Wherever they turn they are met with these symbols ; and then they are so plausibly interwoven with the whole system, that ere ever the young ingenuous susceptible girlis aware, she is completely enamored with the idolatrous atmosphere, and the idolatrous images, and the air of sanctity, which are around her as if she were for the time being entraneed^no easier victims as a prey to Eome— no surer way t» play into her hands. I would appeal to Christian parents moreover, who or on the first blink of thecase there is not something unnatural, in committing their daughters at an ago when then: whole being is most pliable and most easily moulded, to the teachings of persons who, professionally at least, regard it as the highest style of happiness t^ forswear all con- nection with the family institute, and crush out of the human heart the purest and loftiest of human sympathies. One word more and I have done. Popery is doomed. I have shewn that Popery is Idolatry. But Idolatry shall perish from this earth, and from under these heavens. " The Ullfe^'w 69 loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be laid low, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day ; and the idols he shall utterly abolish, and they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the clo.ts of the rag- ged rocks, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariscth to shake terribly the earth."