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 RENUNCIATION 
 
 OF 
 
 POPERY. 
 
 BY 
 
 SAMUEL B. SMITH, 
 
 LATE A PEIEST IN THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 
 
 " Magna est Veritas, et praevalebit." 
 
 " The truth 13 powerful, and will prevail " 
 
 PHILADELPHIA : 
 STEREOTYPED BY L. JOHNSON, 
 
 FOR THE AUTHOR. 
 
 1833. 
 

 ; RENUNCIATION OF POPERY. 
 
 (third edition.) 
 
 We apprehend this pamphlet will secure for itself an extended circulation. 
 We design to express our opinion of it in full at a future time. 
 
 Ezra Stiles Ely, D.D. 
 Editor of the Philadelphian, and Factor of the 3d Presbyterian Church. 
 
 We have read within a few days, a pamphlet entitled " Renunciation 
 OP Popery," with no ordinary interest. The author, Rev. Samuel B. Smith, 
 has been for a number of years an officiating Roman Priest, and he seems 
 to be thoroughly acquainted with the whole system of Romanism. He has 
 presented to the public many things in his '■^ Benunciation of Popery " which, 
 unless they can be ably answered, it seems to us must, and ought to ruin their 
 cause. He writes well — expresses himself in a Christian manner, and seems 
 to feel deeply for those of his friends who are left behind, in darkness and 
 in ignorance, in that church. 
 
 Unless we are greatly deceived, this pamphlet will be read with much 
 interest by the public. 
 
 James Patterson, 
 Pastor of the 1st Presbyterian Church, Northern Libertiu* 
 
 G. T. Bedell, D.D. 
 Hector jof St. Andrew'' s Church. 
 
 G. R. Livingston, D.D. 
 Pastor of the R. D. Church in Crown street. 
 Ashbel Green, D.D. 
 John M'Dowall, D.D. 
 Pastor of the Central Presbyterian Church. 
 
 G. B. Perry, 
 Pastor of the \st Baptist Church, 
 
 Wm. E. Ashton, 
 Pastor of the 3d Baptist Church, 
 
 Albert Judson, 
 Pastor of the 2d Presbyterian Church, SouthwarJc, 
 
 Robert Piggot, 
 Rector of the Protestant Episcopal Church of ** Ml Soub,''^ 
 
 Entered, according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1833, by Samuel 
 B. Smith, in the Clerk's OflBice of the District Court of the Eastern District 
 of Pennsylvania. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 " One thing is needfuV^ (said our blessed Lord), and that is, 
 the salvation of the soul. " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God 
 with all thy heart, and tvith all thy soul, and with all thy 
 mind. — This is the first and great commandment. — And the 
 second is like unto if; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy- 
 self." It is this love of my neighbour which I trust, if I know 
 my heart, urges me to oppose the encroachments of popery 
 on this hitherto happy country. The great Ruler of events, in 
 the wisdom of his counsels, has thought proper to permit me to 
 be initiated into the mysteries of the Mystery of that WICKED, 
 " who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called 
 God," for purposes which I* hope will, by the influence of his 
 Holy Spirit, and the power of his grace, redound to his honour 
 and glory. That mystery of iniquity which had already begun 
 to work in the very days of the apostles, has, during a long 
 series of ages, been augmenting under the influence of popery, 
 till, at length, he now appears sitting " in the temple of God, 
 showing himself that he is God." ^^ Even he, whose coming 
 is after the working of Satan, ivith all power, and signs, and 
 lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of tcnrighteous- 
 ness in them, that perish ; because they received not the love 
 of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause 
 God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe 
 a lie." 2 Thess, ii. 
 
 Who is there in all Christendom who now claims this ALL 
 POWER but the POPE and his infallible priests? The power 
 of forgiving sins: the power of locking and unlocking the 
 doors of heaven : the power of praying the damned out of 
 purgatory when paid for it fifty cents or more for a mass : the 
 power of prohibiting the bible, as was done in the Council 
 of Tolosa ? Who is there, among Christians, that claims the 
 
 3 
 
4 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 POWER of performing miracles, those lying signs and won- 
 ders, but the pope and his vassals? There is none that even 
 PRETEND to have this power ; therefore this text can apply to 
 NONE but papists, for they alone pretend to have the 
 
 POWER. 
 
 If the " Scripture be hid/' it is hid " to them that are lost," 
 to them on whom " God shall send strong delusion, because 
 they received not the love of the truth, that they might be 
 saved.'' 
 
 ! if I were to paint all " the abominations of desolation,'* 
 time would fail me. — I do not undertake to reclaim that church 
 which Bossuet himself, a champion of Romanism, declared 
 " stood in need of reformation both in her head and members :" 
 that church " through whose whole body (their own St. Ber- 
 nard has said) the putrid contagion of iniquity had crept:" 
 that church, whose "clergy (the same great saint affirms) 
 
 WERE plunderers, UNSATISFIED WITH THE FLEECE, AND 
 
 thirsting for the blood of the flock." (Works of St. 
 Bernard, in folio P. 1727, Philadelphia Library, and Bossuet in 
 the preface of his Variations.) No, I do not expect to reclaim 
 that WICKED whom the Lord has said that "he shall con- 
 sume toith the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the 
 brightness of his coming." 2 Thess. ii. 8. But to her members, 
 at least to those of good will, I am constrained to repeat the 
 pressing invitation of St. John, " Come out of her, my people, 
 that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of 
 her plagues.'" Rev. xviii. 4. 
 
 ! you who have not yet been caught in her wiles ; let me 
 beseech you, in the name and for the sake of Jesus Christ, to fly 
 from before the face of the Dragon. Take the ivings of the 
 great eagle and fly into the ivilderness, for the Lord has pro- 
 mised that he himself will nourish you. He will nourish you 
 "without money." His Sacred Word is ever open to us as a 
 rich repast. His Holy Spirit will anoint us with gladness, and 
 fill our heart with peace and joy. Thanks be to his holy name, 
 I feel that peace. 
 
RENUNCIATION OF POPERY. 
 
 It will, perhaps, be gratifying to my readers, to know some- 
 thing of the tenor of my life, and the reasons which influenced 
 me to leave the Roman catholic church. I was born and edu- 
 cated in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. My father was of the 
 society of friends. My mother was attached to no religious 
 denomination. It was my father's constant care, from our 
 earliest infancy, to instil into his childrens' minds the fear and 
 love of God. It was his practice, every evening, previous to 
 retiring to rest, to read and explain to us the Sacred Scriptures. 
 His solicitude for our spiritual advancement was such, that he 
 watched over all our actions, as if the whole accountability 
 Uiereof rested on him alone. Under the direction of so good a 
 tutor, and having constantly before me the animating example 
 of fervent devotion, my heart soon began to receive the impres- 
 sions which my father so assiduously endeavoured to make 
 upon it. Happy had it been for us his children, had he still 
 lived to extend his watchful eye over the aberrations of our 
 future life. But God ordered it otherwise — he was taken 
 from us. 
 
 After his death, leaving my native home, with a small pa- 
 trimony of two thousand dollars, I directed my course to the 
 west, and arrived at St. Louis on the Mississippi. I was, at this 
 time, twenty-one years of age. Here, falling a prey to the un- 
 healthfulness of the climate, and labouring under the paroxysms 
 of a violent fever, I was prevailed upon to enter into partner- 
 ship in the fur-trade. Twelve months from this unlucky step, 
 I found myself penniless in a land remote from home and 
 friends. We were unsuccessful in our enterprise among the 
 Indians, and of the remnant of my shattered fortune, I was de- 
 frauded b}'^ the intrigues of my partners. In this calamitous 
 
 5 
 
6 RENUNCIATION OF POPERY. 
 
 situation I knew not what course to take. Urged on, however, 
 by necessity, I laid open my situation to a gentleman with 
 whom I had formed an acquaintance, and on whose benevolence 
 I thought I might depend. He and his wife dropped the tear 
 of sympathy over my misfortunes, and endeavoured to alleviate 
 them. Having a tract of land near St. Louis, he offered it to 
 me on a lease of ten years ; and agreed to furnish me with the 
 stock ind utensils necessary for cultivating it, and to procure a 
 hand to assist me. I thankfully and willingly accepted his 
 proposal, ommenced the undertaking, but was, again, soon 
 baffled In my prospects by the fatal effects of the unhealthfulness 
 of the ;limate. My health was so impaired by frequent attacks 
 of bilious fever and ague, that I found myself entirely incapable 
 of conducting the farm. The early impressions of piety which 
 had been instilled into me during juvenile years still animated 
 my bojom. Their salutary effects, in my intercourse with man, 
 on the busy theatre of life, had been suspended. However, I 
 never ceased to be conscious that there is no real consolation in 
 this life, 3xcept in religion. 
 
 My friend, to whose hospitality I was much indebted, and 
 his pious consort, were Roman catholics. Seeing that I was not 
 united to any religious denomination, they urged upon me the 
 necessity of making an open profession of religion ; and after a 
 long and obstinate resistance, arguing much against them, I 
 yielded to their solicitations, and joined the Roman catholic 
 church. Having a natural predilection for retirement, I resolved 
 to pass the remainder of my life in seclusion from the world. 
 For this end I obtained of my friend a little spot of land, on 
 which I erected myself a small cottage. He, with his family, 
 at the same time removed from town and established himself 
 on his farm. The few necessaries of life, which I needed, were 
 supplied by a little garden which I cultivated, and the stock 
 which I raised. Some leisure hours I also devoted, daily, to 
 educating the children of my friend. Happy would it have 
 been for me had I not been enticed away from this secluded 
 spot, by an invitation from the bishop of St. Louis : he (being 
 apprized of my mode of life, and of my application to study) 
 thought I would be a useful subject to assist him in a college 
 which he had recently established ; and, therefore, sends for me, 
 
RENUNCIATION OF POPERY. 7 
 
 and by his persuasions, he finally prevailed on me to leave my 
 solitude and come to his house. 
 
 Having, now, in a few words, traced out the circumstances 
 attending my conversion to the Roman catholic church, I will 
 proceed to state my reasons for leaving her. 
 
 Having wasted fourteen years of my life among the Roman 
 catholic clergy ; and having passed through the various routines 
 of promotion to that of priesthood, I have acquired ample 
 information on the subject of which I am now about to treat, 
 and which, to me, has been the source of many a tear. 
 
 I begin from my first entrance into the Roman catholic clergy 
 This, as I have stated, was by the invitation of a Roman catho- 
 lic bishop in St. Louis, Missouri. Knowing my fondness for 
 study, he offers me an asylum in his house, testifying at the 
 same time, with apparent sincerity, how much he esteemed me, 
 and how highly he appreciated the zeal and devotion with 
 which I was attached to religion. What a pity, he observed, 
 that you should pass your life in so obscure a manner and bury 
 talents, (which God, no doubt, has destined to be exercised for 
 public good,) in the depths of solitude ! There was a certain 
 suavity in his address, the efiects of which I was unable to resist. 
 Come, continued he, you will always find in me a friend and a 
 father. In the retired life which you have chosen, who will 
 take care of you in the time of sickness ? You wish to devote 
 your life to prayer and contemplation, you are pleased with 
 study ; here, under my roof you shall have all these advantages, 
 without being subjected, as you now are, to all the accidents to 
 which a life, such as you now lead, must be exposed. The only 
 requital I ask for the offer I make you, is, that you will be 
 willing daily to teach one class in the college, of an hour, or at 
 most, of an hour and a half's duration. I acceded : sold my 
 little stock, and bidding farewell to my friends, entered in the 
 college. For a while all seemed well : I complied with the 
 engagement I had made. Soon, however, I found that to the 
 teaching of one class there was added the teaching of another ; 
 to these, after the lapse of a few" months, a third class was added, 
 and finally a fourth. 
 
 In the mean time, being in the fervour of zeal, the bishop pro- 
 posed my studying for the clergy. Fatal proposition ! to which 
 
8 RENUNCIATION OF POPERY. 
 
 I unwarily yielded my assent. To the excessive fatigue of 
 teaching, daily, four classes in the college was added that of the 
 studies necessary for the ministry. My health was now rapidly 
 declining, worn out by the heavy exactions demanded of me. 
 As my health was diminishing, so did the feigned friendship of 
 my pretended benefactor diminish with it ; and I soon had the 
 mortification of seeing that all this outward show of friendship 
 and benevolence was but sordid interest and deceit. I was 
 shocked at so much insincerity in a character, whom I was 
 ^f taught to look upon with the most profound veneration, as the 
 ambassador of Christ, and of course, as a person, who would 
 exhibit, in his conduct, at least, some of the more essential cha- 
 racteristics of the Christian, hospitality and sincerity. " Let 
 love (says the apostle) he without dissimulation f^ " a bishop 
 given to hospitality, not greedy of filthy lucreJ' Under the 
 shelter, therefore, of a person professing to be the pastor of the 
 fold of Christ, I thought myself in safety ; nor had I the least 
 suspicion that the avidity oi filthy lucre could ever prompt him 
 to betray the confidence reposed in the integrity of his profes- 
 sions. If my ability to serve him was less than it was when I 
 first entered under his ro»jf, it was to be attributed, not to any 
 fault of mine, but to the excessive fatigues to which I was sub- 
 jected in obedience to his commands ; fatigues, too, which I had 
 to undergo unjustly, and in violation of the conditions upon 
 which I entered. 
 
 Thus bereft of my health, and without a friend to sympathize 
 in my sufierings, I was under the painful necessity of seeking a 
 more hospitable shelter. I left his house ; and trusting to Divine 
 Providence, pushed out again on to the stormy sea of life. The 
 bishop, at this time, being on a visit to Baltimore, I told his 
 vicar, who managed his afiairs in his absence, that I was desirous 
 of going to France, to see whether my health could not be re- 
 established by a sea-voyage, and by a residence in a more 
 healthful climate. I procured of him a letter of recommendation 
 to a clergyman in Paris, the superior of a college, in whom, he 
 told me, I would find a friend and protector. Notwithstanding 
 the treatment I had already received, I could not prevail upon 
 myself to believe that friendship was but a name, nor that the 
 misfortunes of a fellow being could not make impression on the 
 
RENUNCIATION OF POPERY. 9 
 
 heart of any. Taught from my childhood to feel for others' 
 woes, I thought that they would feel for me. 
 
 On my arrival in Paris I was received again, ostensibly at 
 least, with open arms : and welcomed, because they expected 
 that the change of climate would benefit my health in such a 
 manner as to enable me, in a short time, to be of important ser- 
 vice to them in teaching the English language. My health, 
 however, remained the same, so that, after the space of four 
 months, I found my room would be preferable to my company. 
 Such treatment towards a person who had sacrificed himself to 
 a blind and Implicit obedience, and who, by the religion he 
 had embraced, had incurred the displeasure of his friends and 
 relations, was, surely, to say the least of it, a most ungenerous 
 requital for the sacrifices he had made and for the services he 
 had so willingly rendered. How unlike is this to what St. 
 Peter exhorts, saying, " To godliness add brotherly kindness, 
 and to brotherly kindness, charity." It was in the service of 
 the Roman catholic clergy my health was ruined : it was there- 
 fore doubly ungenerous, and unchristian, to abandon me when 
 I was the most in need of their assistance, and to cast me out 
 on to the world penniless, helpless, and friendless. The god- 
 liness of which the apostle speaks, as characterized by brother- 
 ly kindness and charity, w^as a stranger to the breasts of per- 
 sons who could be capable of treating the afflicted in the man- 
 ner I was treated. Persons such as these may, indeed, profess 
 " the form of godliness,''^ but, by their works, it is evident they 
 " deny the power thereof'^ There can be no godliness where 
 there is no brotherly love, there can be no brotherly love 
 where there is no sympathy, and there can be no sympathy 
 where the bosom is unmoved at what a brother suffers, and 
 where the hand is shortened to succour or relieve him, " My 
 little children, (said the beloved disciple Juhn) let lis not 
 love in word, neither in to)igue ; but in deed and in truth." 
 — 1 John, iii. 18. After having passed a summer in France, 
 I returned to my native country, and continued my studies 
 until I was sent forth to preach. 
 
 During the whole exercise of the ministry, I can and do truly 
 say that my heart was grieved and distressed at the conduct of 
 the generality of the Roman catholic clergy. Had I known, 
 
 B 
 
10 RENUNCIATION OF POPERY. 
 
 previous to my ordination, the mysteries of priestcraft, as I 
 knew them afterwards, never should a Roman bishop have 
 placed the hands of ordination over my devoted head — But 
 alas ! these things are concealed from those v/ho are in minor 
 orders, as they call it : priesthood is the door which unfolds 
 the ABOMINATIONS to oue's view, and infallibility closes and 
 locks the victim in. I am fully convinced that the desire of 
 emolument is the main-spring of action in the Roman catholic 
 clergy. Hence we see them constantly accumulating the 
 perishable treasure of riches ; buying lands ; building houses 
 (in Europe palaces); seminaries ; nunneries, &c., and living like 
 lords on their vast domains. 
 
 The colleges, which the Roman catholic clergy are establish- 
 ing through these happy States, are a copious means of accumu- 
 lating wealth : that at Bardstown, Kentucky, while I was there, 
 was receiving an annual income of nearly twenty thousand 
 dollars. For the glory of God, they say ! If this be the 
 object, why do they not educate the poor gratuitously ? They 
 have not, to my knowledge, one institution of the kind. Let 
 the truth appear — It is for the glory of themselves, for the 
 exaltation of Holt Mother Church. It is to add more 
 precious stones and pearls, more power and splendour to the 
 " woman that sitteth upon the Beast .'" I repeat it again, I 
 know not of one disinterested act of benevolence done by 
 Roman catholic priests. If, in some few of their nunneries, 
 SOME orphan children are admitted, we shall find that the chil- 
 dren more than pay the expenses of their board and clothing 
 by their work. They are compelled to rise very early in the 
 morning ; in winter, long before day, and, after having, in the 
 course of the day, received a few hours instruction, all the rest 
 of their time is employed for the advantage of the institution. 
 I know of no establishments among the Roman catholic priests, 
 where orphan children are received, except those, where a pub- 
 lic boarding school is also kept. The pupils in these houses 
 are generally numerous ; and pay, for their board and tuition, 
 from one hundred and twenty-five to two hundred dollars per 
 annum. The orphans are admitted into these asylums, so 
 called, when they are old enough to work: those who are sick- 
 ly, and who, of course, are, and ought to be, greater objects of 
 
RENUNCIATION OF POPERY. 
 
 U 
 
 charity, arc not admitted. The others are received upon con- 
 dition of their remaining until eighteen years of age, that they 
 may reap their lahour ; and the work of these poor children 
 supersedes the necessity of hiring many servants. This is a 
 correct view of tlieir asylums for orphans, or at least, of all 
 tJiat I have seen, and I have seen many. These are the insti- 
 tutions, respecting which, they hoast so much of their bene- 
 volence. That interest is the basis upon which these institu- 
 tions are founded, I presume, from what has been related, will 
 appear evident to every one. The real objects of benevolence, 
 the infirm, the lame, the blind, find no admission into their 
 asylums, while those who can promote their interest are re- 
 ceived with open arms. 
 
 I will now give the public a sketch of the manner in 
 which some of the females in these pious establishments 
 pass their time. Rise at half past-four in the morning ; attend 
 mass ; after mass breakfast ; from the table to work. Some 
 take the spade, and toil for days and for weeks digging the 
 earth, exposed to the heat of the sun, and without any inter- 
 mission, save about an hour at dinner, and three quarters of an 
 hour in the afternoon for reciting beads. Others are 
 employed, in hauling dung or earth in carts or wheelbarrows ; 
 some are seen making fences, gates, chopping wood, &c. And 
 to put the climax to their suffering, the rule, in some houses, 
 requires them to go barefoot from April till the first No- 
 vember, snow or no snow on the ground. This was the rule at 
 Loretto, in Kentucky; at which place transpired the facts I have 
 described, of which I had occular demonstration. Many of these 
 \ deluded devotees fell victims to the austerity of the rule, 
 which, owing to this circumstance, was eventually mitigated. 
 The ostensible object of these corporal austerities, as held forth 
 to the nuns, is the atoning for their sins. If this were the 
 real object, I would ask, why do not their superiors the 
 priests, atone for their own sins in the same manner ? Have 
 they no sin ? Never yet have I seen them go barefoot, nor 
 haul dirt, nor spade. On the contrary, while these poor devo- 
 tees were dragging a miserable existence through a slavish 
 life, I have seen their priest passing his time in hunting, fishing, 
 trapping partridges, playing the bagpipe, chess, checkers, &c., 
 
12 RENUiVCIATION OF POPERY. 
 
 and much of his time in frivolous conversation on worldly and 
 political subjects. Truly, these are they, whom our Divine 
 Lord has said, shall " Bind heavy burdens, and grievous to be 
 borne, and lay them on men's shoulders ; but they themselves 
 ivillnot move them with one of their finger s.^^ Matt, xxiii. 4. 
 The observation made by a deaf and dumb child, in the asylum 
 of this city, will afford a good instruction to Roman priests. The 
 child, speaking of a sermon, at which she was present in the 
 chapel, writes to her father, thus, "All of the pupils always 
 attentive to examples about religion in the chapel, every morn- 
 ing and evening." — Example seems to have been the only 
 sermon that could make an impression on the mind of this 
 dear child of nature, and surely, without example precept is 
 preposterous. Now, what is the example these poor nuns 
 have from their priests .'* 
 
 The Jesuits, and other Roman catholic priests are endeavour- 
 ing every where through this country, to ingratiate themselves 
 into public estimation by every means they can devise. Hence 
 their readiness to expose the lives of tlieir female devotees. 
 What is it to the priests if they, i. e. the nuns, fall victims to 
 their exertions ? What was it to Bonaparte that thousands of 
 his men were sacrificed to his ambition, provided he could 
 achieve the object which he sought ; and crown himself with 
 glory ? If Holy Mother Church can be established, and papal 
 influence and papal gold prepare the way for papal despotism 
 on our free and happy shores, what is the blood of a few 
 infatuated devotees to the conquest she would gain ? 
 
 Europe, for a series of ages, having been devastated by the 
 ravages of popery, at length ^egins, like a phoenix, to emerge 
 from her ashes, and bid defiance to the Monster. The Genius 
 of Freedom is abroad : the slaves of imperial Rome begin to 
 feel the weight of their fetters : the Gospel Herald sounds the 
 trumpet of alarm ; and great Babylon trembles to her centre. 
 This is no poetic reverie of imagination. That Italy herself, the 
 Seat of the Man of Sin, is now in the spirit of insurrection, and 
 her subjects ready for an explosion, is a matter of sober fact not 
 long since declared in the public gazettes of Europe. It is an 
 historical fact, that, but a few centuries ago, Romanism bore 
 the sway in Europe : emperors were the vassals of the pope's 
 
 % V 
 
RENUNCIATION OF POPERY. 18 
 
 imperial holiness, and the allegiance due from their subjects could 
 be dissolved by his arbitrary mandate. His power is now no 
 longer felt : his authority is spurned even in his own dominions. 
 
 Our own peaceful shores have not yet been stained by papal 
 persecution : the fagots of bigotry have not yet been heaped 
 around our freeborn sons, nor the smoke of expiring victims 
 enveloped them in the shades of death. Our soil has not yet 
 been stained, thanks to the Lord above. May precaution direct 
 our counsels : and casting an eye on the blood-stained shores 
 of Europe, may we guard our own. — Let the banners of liberty 
 still wave over our prosperous land, but let them not be touched 
 by the wand of papal influence. 
 
 Cast an eye on the pages of history, and we will see what 
 would be the consequences if Romanism should ever subjugate 
 our country. History is unanimous in her portrait of the de- 
 generacy, vice, and abomination of the papal communion, clergy 
 and laity. During the six hundred years that preceded the 
 Reformation, they were sunk into the lowest depths of degra- 
 dation. In appealing to history, I will adduce the testimony of 
 none but those whose authority is unquestionable. That of their 
 own historians and canonized saints, it is presumable, cannot 
 be rejected. 
 
 The tenth century has been portrayed by the pencil of 
 Sabellicus, Stella, Baronius, Giannon, and Du Pin. "Stupor, 
 insanity, and forgetfulness of morals invaded the minds of 
 men. All virtue fled from the pontiff and the people. This 
 whole period was characterized by obduracy and deformity, 
 and an inundation of overflowing wickedness. The Roman 
 church was filthy and deformed, and the " abomination of de- 
 solation^^ was erected in the Temple of God. Holiness escaped 
 from the world, and God seemed to have forgot his church.'* 
 Sabellicus, ii. ; Spon. 908, iii. ; Baron, 900, i. ; Giannon, vii. 5 ; 
 Du Pin, ii. 156 ; Bruy, ii. 208. 
 
 The eleventh century has been described by Gulielmus, 
 Paris, Glaber, and Baronius. Gulielmus portrays the scene 
 in frightful colours. " Faith (says he) was not found on earth. 
 All flesh had corrupted their way. Justice, equity, virtue, so- 
 briety, and the fear of God, perished, and were succeeded by 
 violence, fraud, stratagem, malevolence, circumvention, luxury, 
 
14 RENUNCIATION OF POPERY. 
 
 drunkenness, and debauchery. All kinds of abomination and 
 incest were committed without shame or punishment." " The 
 nobility (says Paris) were the slaves of gluttony, appetite, and 
 sensuality." "Piety and holiness (as Glaber and Baronius 
 confess) had fled from the earth, whilst irregularity and iniquity 
 among all, and, in an especial manner, among the clergy, 
 every where reigned. The few men of piety thought the 
 reign of Antichrist had commenced, and that the world was 
 hastening to an end." Bell. Sacr., i. 8 ; Paris, v. ; Glab. ii. 5 ; 
 Spon. 1001, ii. ; Bruy, ii. 316. 
 
 The twelfth and thirteenth ages were similar in their morals, 
 and have been described by Morlaix, Honorius, and Bernard. 
 According to the two former, " Piety and religion seemed to 
 bid adieu to man ; and for these, were substituted treachery, 
 fraud, impurity, rapine, schism, quarrels, war, and assassination. 
 The throne of the Beast seemed to be fixed among the clergy, 
 who neglected God, stained the priesthood with impurity, de- 
 moralized the people with their hypocrisy, denied the Lord by 
 their works and rejected Revelation, which God gave for the 
 salvation of man." 
 
 But Bernard's sketch of this period is the fullest and most 
 hideous. The saint, addressing the clergy, and witnessing what 
 he saw, loads the canvass with the darkest colours. " The 
 clergy, (said the monk of Clairvaux,) are called pastors, 
 but, in reality, are plunderers, who, unsatisfied with the fleece, 
 thirst for the blood of the flock ; and merit the appellation, not 
 of shepherds, but of traitors, who do not feed, but slay, 
 and devour the sheep. The Saviour's reproach, scourges, 
 nails, spear, cross, all these, his ministers, who serve An- 
 tichrist, melt in the furnace of covetousness, and expend on 
 the acquisition of filthy gain, differing from Judas only 
 in the magnitude of the sum for which they sell their Master. 
 The degenerate ecclesiastics, prompted by avarice, dare 
 for gain, even to barter assassination, adultery, incest, fornica- 
 tion, sacrilege, and perjury. Their extortions they lavish on 
 show, pomp, and folly. These patrons of humility appear 
 at home, amid royal furniture, and exhibit abroad, in mere- 
 tricious finery and theatrical dress. Sumptuous food, splendid 
 cups, overflowing cellars, drunken banquets, accompanied with 
 
RENUNCIATION OP POPERY. 15 
 
 the harp, the lyre, and the violin, are the means by which 
 these ministers of the cross evince their self-denial, morti- 
 fication, and indifference to the world. The putrid contagion 
 has cr^ept through the whole body of the church, and the 
 malady is inward and cannot be healed. What is perpetrated 
 by the Prelacy in secret is too gross to be express- 
 ed.* Quae enim in occulto fiunt ab episcopis, turpe est 
 dicere." Bernard, 1725. Morlaix, in Bruy, ii. 547. Honor, 
 in Bruy, ii. 547. Bernard, 1725 — 172S. 
 
 The moral traits of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries have 
 been delineated by the faithful pens of Alliaco, Petrarch, Ma- 
 riana, ^gidius, and Mirandula. " The Church (said the Car- 
 dinal Alliaco) is come to such a state, that she is worthy of be- 
 ing governed only by reprobates." Petrarch calls, " Rome 
 Babylon, the Great Whore, the school op error', and 
 the temple of heresy." The court of Avignon, he pronounced 
 " the sink and sewer of all vice, and the house of hardship 
 and misery ;" while he lamented, in general, " the dereliction 
 of all piety, charity, faith, shame, sanctity, integrity, justice, 
 honesty, candour, humanity, and fear of God." 
 
 "Every enormity (according to Mariana) had passed into 
 a custom and law, and was committed without fear. Shame 
 and modesty were banished, while, by a monstrous irregularity, 
 the dreadfullest outrages, perfidy, and treason were better re- 
 commended than the brightest virtue. The wickedness of the 
 pontiff descended to the people." 
 
 The account of ^Egidius is equally shocking. "All kinds of 
 atrocity (says he), like an impetuous torrent, inundated the 
 Church. Irregularity, ignorance, ambition, unchastity, liber- 
 tinism, and impurity triumphed ; while the plains of Italy- 
 were drenched in blood, and strewed with the dead. Violence, 
 rapine, adultery, incest, and all the pestilence of villany, con- 
 founded all things, sacred and profane." 
 
 Mirandula's picture is equally hideous. " Men (says he) 
 
 * Lest this most shocking description of the Roman catholic cliurch and clergy, 
 drawn by their own saint, should, by the advocates of Romanism, be said to be 
 false, I refer our Philadelpliian readers to the city library, where they can find the 
 works of the saint, in folio, published at Antwerp, A. D. 1616 — vide page 1725. 
 Sermo ad clerum in Concilio Rhemensi congregatum. 
 
V 
 
 16 RENUNCIATION OF POPERY. 
 
 abandoned religion, shame, modesty, and justice. Piety de- 
 generated into superstition. The sacred temples were govern- 
 ed by pimps and Ganymedes stained with the sin of Sodom. 
 Parents encouraged their sons in the vile pollution. The re- 
 treats, formerly sacred to unspotted virgins, were converted 
 into brothels, and the haunts of obscenity and abomination. 
 Money intended for sacred purposes was lavished on the fil- 
 thiest pleasures, while the perpetrators of the defilement, in- 
 stead of being ashamed, gloried in the profanation." 
 
 Antonius, in his address to the Fathers and Senators assem- 
 bled at Trent, observed, " that no age had ever seen more tribu- 
 nals, and less justice ; more senators, and less care of the com- 
 monwealth ; or greater riches, and fewer alms. Women dis- 
 played lasciviousness and eSrontery ; youth, disorder and in- 
 subordination ; and age, impiety and folly. The pastor was 
 without vigilance ; the preacher, without works ; the law, 
 without subjection ; the people, without obedience ; the monk, 
 without devotion ; the rich, without humility ; the female, 
 without compassion ; the young, without discipline ; and every 
 Christian, without religion." Alliaco, in Hard, i. 424. Len- 
 fan, ii. 276. Petrarcha, in Bruy, iii. 470. Mariana, v. 718. 
 Labb, xviiii. 670. Bruy, iv. 365. Mariana, v. 770. Mirandu- 
 la, in Roscoe, vi. 68. Mirand. in Bruy, iv. 397. Labb, xx. 
 1217 — 1219— 1223.— Edgar. 
 
 I have had to stain my paper, my fellow citizens, with such 
 foul scenes, that neither you nor your children may become 
 the dupes of artifice, and that you may see the horrors that 
 await us if Romanism gains the sway, as once she did in Europe. 
 ! let me entreat you, my unsuspecting brethren ; let me en- 
 treat you, by the knowledge I have gained since my initiation 
 into that mystery of iniquity ; let me entreat you, not to ex- 
 pose yourselves, nor your children, to the blasting influence of 
 priestly insinuation. The honey of persuasion distils from 
 their lips to allure and beguile you. To them from whom the 
 Scriptures are hid, there is a loay that seemeth right, but 
 the end thereof is death. Their nuns, some of whom, and 
 I would fain hope, many of whom, deserve thanks for their 
 officious kindness, but pity for their credulity ; their nuns, at 
 least, many of them, to ray certain knowledge, are in a state of 
 
RENUNCIATION OF POPERY. I7 
 
 vassalage, the most abject ; and of ignorance, the most pro- 
 found. But some, who are destined for teachers, receive an edu- 
 cation which qualifies them for that task. The whole of them, 
 however, are ignorant of the ecclesiastical history of the church 
 to wMch they belong, and of most of her doctrines : they 
 still believe, or profess to believe, whatever Holy Mother 
 Church teaches, though the ten thousandth part of what she 
 teaches, they know nothing of. In fact, it is a task even for 
 their ablest divines, to follow all the ramifications of her doc- 
 trine. They are at variance amongst themselves upon the 
 subject ; how can it be expected, then, that the laity can have 
 much knowledge of it ? 
 
 During the long period of six hundred years, the mere 
 outlines of which have been exhibited to view, can it be 
 supposed that the Roman Catholic Church was the true 
 AND ONLY Church ! that Church, which, as St. Paul describes 
 it, is " WITHOUT SPOT OR BLEMISH !" Is it to be supposed that 
 ALL THE WORLD were damned who were not of that com- 
 munion ! Damned, for not submitting to Pastors, who 
 (as their own St. Bernard declared) " were plunderers, un- 
 satisfied with the fleece, and thirsting for the blood op 
 THE flock!" Damned, for not following " shepherds who were 
 traitors, who did not feed, but slay and devour the flock !" 
 The slaughter spoken of by the Saint was not the slaugh- 
 ter of their bodies, but of their immortal souls. The putrid 
 CONTAGION, continues the Saint, had crept through the whole 
 BODY of the Church ; the malady was inward, and could 
 NOT BE HEALED. Instead of being damned for leaving such 
 a Church as this, humanity, reason, and religion, must have 
 united in the cry of '■''Come out of her, my people, that ye 
 be not partakers of her sins." Rev. xviii. 4. Has she yet 
 repented of her abominations ? Has she washed her robes 
 white in the blood of the Lamb ? No. She has the audacity 
 still to proclaim herself " the Dove, the fairest among ten 
 
 THOUSAND, THE SAME YESTERDAY, TO DAY AND FOB EVER." 
 
 Her bloody liands still deal death, destruction, and damnation 
 all around. The thunders of her anathema roll from pole to 
 pole, and all who dissent from her are stigmatized as heretics, 
 and CONSIGNED TO HELL. That the world should tolerate such 
 
 C 
 
18 RENUNCIATION OF POPERY. 
 
 a monster, whose heels are swift to destruction, and whose paths 
 are marked with blood, is a mystery which cannot be solved. 
 He, however, who rules the destiny of nations, permits it for 
 some wise and glorious end. When the " last sealis opened''^ 
 we shall read the reason why. When the angel shall proclaim 
 "// is doneP^ when ^^ great Babylon shall come in remem- 
 brance before God f^ when the isles shall flee away, and the 
 mountains be no more, then shall the counsels of the almighty 
 Alpha and Omega be manifested to his saints. 
 
 I shall now, after having dropped a few words on the subject 
 of the people Over whom I was placed as pastor, proceed to enter 
 upon the investigation of the Roman catholic doctrine, not, in- 
 deed, of the whole, but of some of the points which I consider 
 the most necessary to be brought into view. 
 
 Shortly after my ordination, I went, on the pressing invitation 
 of a friend, to Detroit. Soon after my arrival the bishop located 
 me at Monroe, on the river Raisin. On my arrival in this place, 
 I found the people, who were French, destitute, at least, prac- 
 tically, of even the ybrwz of godliness. Few of them could even 
 read. So debased were they in their manners, and so destitute 
 of religion, that I blushed to be recognised as their pastor. The 
 Americans were at this time settling the country. At Monroe, 
 they constituted about one half of the population. I felt the 
 poignancy of their reproaches in regard to the wretched flock 
 that were under my care, and used every effort in my power to 
 reclaim them. It was afflicting, indeed, to see the manner in 
 which they profaned the Holy Sabbath. Horse-racing, fishing, 
 or hunting was, on that sacred day, their favourite diversion ; 
 fiddling and singing was the pastime of the evening. In the 
 winter, the nights were passed in dancing and carousing, in 
 drinking and card-playing. Some exceptions, of course, there 
 must have been to all these abominations ; but they were few. 
 All were Roman catholics, and gloried in the name. These 
 were they, too, who, at the approach of Easter, would prepare 
 themselves for receiving the sacrament of the Lord's supper. 
 
 The reformation of these people, under such circumstances, 
 was a frightful task. I was determined, with the help of God, 
 to effect it even at the risk of my life. I began, therefore, to ad- 
 dress them in their native tongue ; and although it was the first 
 
RENUNCIATION OF POPERY. I9 
 
 of my public speaking in the French language, I represented to 
 them the impropriety of thoir conduct in terms sufficiently clear 
 to show them how guilty tiiey were in the sight of God, and 
 what a» scandal they brought upon the sacred name of religion. 
 I laboured amongst, them about two years. Some were re- 
 claimed ; but the muliitude still remained baffling all my efforts, 
 deaf to entreaty, and obstinately bent on resisting the grace of 
 God, and opposing me in all my efforts. Their fury, at one 
 time, was so violent, that they threatened to pull down the 
 house in which I lived. Bent on pursuing their ordinary 
 course of life, and mortified at my continual reproofs, they were 
 determined to have me removed: not satisfied with reproaching 
 me of being too rigid, too severe, inflexible, &c. &c. &c., they 
 conspired together, and fabricated for -my destruction the black- 
 est calumnies. With these diabolical weapons they, at length, 
 succeeded. My character being torn by them as it was, the 
 bishop thought proper to remove me. Previous, however, to 
 my removal, he publicly reproved them for their wicked con- 
 duct, and VINDICATED MY INNOCENCE. He then offered me a 
 situation in Ohio, where, he told me, I would find a people 
 among whom I would be happy, I refused to go, for I began 
 to be thoroughly disgusted with the Roman catholic laity, and 
 fully acquainted with the character of the priesthood. 
 
 I now retired from the exercise of the ministry, and sought 
 a shelter in the domestic circle of my mother and sisters at 
 Wellsville, a small village on the bank of the Ohio. My mind 
 was not yet at rest ; for although I had been initiated into many 
 of the mysteries of poper)'', still, the overwhelming doctrine of 
 infallibility, that this church must be right, had so subverted 
 my judgment (for I felt as though I must be damned if I 
 left her), that reason and conscience sunk under the pressure. 
 Although the corruption of the Roman catholic church, and of 
 her ministry, shocked my better judgment, and lacerated every 
 faculty of my soul, the chains of infallibility held me its captive. 
 I had recourse to prayer ; darkness, however, still hovered over 
 my determinations, and I resolved to resume the ministry. 
 I wrote my intentions to a clergyman, bewailing, as I thought, 
 my rashness in leaving what I had been taught to believe was 
 the ONLY ARK OF SAFETY, the Roman catholic church. Having 
 
20 RENUNCIATION OF POPERY. 
 
 written the letter expressive of my resolution to return into the 
 ministry, I again began to hesitate — again did my conscience . 
 smite me : and in the agitation of my feelings, groping along, 
 as it were, in more than Egyptian darkness, I once more had 
 recourse to prayer. I prayed, not as I had heretofore prayed, 
 according to the formality prescribed by councils or by popes, 
 of repeating paters, aves, credos, confiteors, &c. &c. &c., 
 but from the emotions of my feelings. It was my heart that 
 now prayed, and the great Searcher of hearts,! think, vouchsafed 
 to incline his ear unto me. " ! give thanks unto the Lordf 
 for he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever. Let the re- 
 deemed of the Lord say so, whom he hath redeemed from the 
 hand of the enemy. They wandered in the wilderness, in a 
 solitary way ; they found no city to dwell in. Hungry and 
 thirsty their soul fainted in them. Then they cried unto the 
 Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their dis- 
 tresses." Yes, he delivered me, thanks be to his holy name ! 
 
 1. During the seventeen years that I was under the tram- 
 mels of popery, my way, indeed, was solitary, and my path a 
 wilderness. The heart, which is made for God alone, when left 
 to the genial influence of the Divine Spirit, spontaneously 
 ascends to the object of her love and rests in him. In popery 
 there are so many barriers to prevent the soul's ascent, such an 
 endless succession of ceremonies to rivet the attention, and, for 
 her clergy, such protracted offices and reiteration of formal vocal 
 prayers, responses, antiphones, &c. that the soul, like a bird 
 clipped of her wings, must flutter in the cage of her confinement, 
 and for ever be debarred from that liberty of spirit which alone 
 can raise her. to her God. The reciting of the breviary, which 
 every priest is daily bound to, requires, unless precipitancy 
 curtails the time, at least two hours. It always occupied me 
 two hours, and more frequently two hours and a half ; others, 
 however, I saw, could get through the business generally in an 
 hour. What kind of praying that could have been, must be 
 left to him who sees and knows the heart ! When repeating a 
 multitude of intricate vocal prayers (mixed up with psalms, 
 versicles, antiphones, &c. &c. &c. according to the perplexing 
 formality and fluctuating order of the Kubricks) is made obliga- 
 tory under penalty of sin, what can be expected but precipita- 
 
RENUNCIATION OF POPERY. 21 
 
 lion, and vexation? God, instead of being glorified thereby, is 
 provoked and insulted. What is called the General Kubricks 
 contains directions for the mode, time, and order of reciting. 
 The chaiges of the order of reciting is so multifarious and so 
 fluctuating, so many circumstances are to be taken into con- 
 sideration in order to adapt the ceremony to what the church 
 requires, that it is morally impossible to perform it without 
 perpetual distractions of mind, and breach of the law. The 
 eye of the soul, instead of being fixed on God, as it ought to be, 
 in prayer, must be fixed attentively on the book to prevent mis- 
 takes, and watch the changes of the order which so constantly 
 occur. Let any one examine the Kubricks for the truth of my 
 assertion. 
 
 There are several orders of nuns who are equally bound with 
 the priests to recite the breviary. It must be recited in Latin ; 
 the nuns are unacquainted with the language, and, of course, 
 recite the prayers without knowing what they say. Now, 
 prayer, as it is defined by the Roman catholic church herself, 
 is a raising up of the mind to God, &c. The church requires 
 that these prayers should be recited " digne, attente, ac de- 
 vote," WORTHILY, ATTENTIVELY, AND DEVOUTLY. If DOt rCcitcd 
 
 in this manner, sin is the consequence. This being the case, 
 there must inevitably follow this dilemma : either the church 
 lays those who recite the breviary under the necessity of sinning 
 (for instead of raising the mind to God, it must be fixed upon 
 the book), or else, prayer consists in repeating a multitude of 
 words without understanding what they mean. I hope it will 
 hardly be urged that the mind can be raised to God and fixed 
 upon the book at the same time, and not only fixed upon the 
 book, but the attention at its utmost stretch to recite according 
 to the rules and variations of the Kubricks. 
 
 That it may be seen what is meant by reciting prayer attent't, 
 ATTENTIVELY, I will quote the following, from the angelical 
 Doctor Thomas Aquinas, " Ad hunc eflectum (viz. mereri) non 
 ex necessitate requiritur quod attentio adsit orationi per totam : 
 sed vis primae intentionis, qua aliquis ad orandum accedit, reddit 
 totam orationem meritoriam, sicut in aliis meritoriis actibus 
 accidit." Thorn. Aquinas, ii. 2, q. 83, art. 13. "Attention 
 IS not necessary all the while during prayer, but the virtue 
 
22 RENUNCIATION OF POPERY. 
 
 of the FIRST INTENTION, with which one commences prayer, 
 renders the whole prayer meritorious, as it also does in our 
 other meritorious actions." The theology of this celebrated 
 Roman Doctor is held, by the Roman catholic church, to be 
 sound and orthodox : consequently, (as a certain writer has ob- 
 served) " a man who goes to church with a previous intention 
 of worshipping God, and there falls asleep, serves him effectually, 
 and is attentive enough by virtue of the former intention, 
 
 ALTHOUGH HE SHOULD SLEEP THE WHOLE TIME. The strum- 
 
 pets of Rome pay the pope, weekly, a julio each, for the liberty 
 he gives them of prostitution : now, if instead of payment they 
 should allege their intention op paying, and declare that this 
 is all they are obliged to, and that they ought to be acquitted 
 though they never pay it, would he think himself paid thereby ? 
 Certainly he would consider himself scorned and insulted. 
 This, however, is the manner in which the Roman catholic 
 church is satisfied that God should be served." This is the 
 attention with which they consider that prayer is recited 
 " digne, attente ac devote," worthily, attentively, and 
 
 DEVOUTLY. 
 
 How shocking to think that the intention which is suffi- 
 cient in THE adoration OF THE LoRD of lieavcn and earth, is 
 insufficient in regard to the pope of Rome ! If this is 
 not placing the Imperial Majesty op Rome above the Mo- 
 narch of the universe, what is ? If this is not the seven-headed 
 Monster, " upon ivhose head is impressed the name of blas- 
 phemy," where can we trace him out? If this is not that 
 " WICKED, ivho opposeth and exalteth himself above all 
 that is called God, or that is worshipped ; so that he, as God, 
 sifteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is 
 God," 2 Thess. ii., when or where may we expect to find him ? 
 
 If prayer is the raising of the mind to God, why not give him 
 the whole heart, the whole intention ? Is he not worthy of it ? 
 Can prayer be too ardent or too perfect? Alas, alas ! were the 
 soul thus suffered to ascend to the source of light and life, her 
 faculties would be so expanded that she would soon burst asun- 
 der the chains of her slavery, and vindicate her freedom, the 
 glorious freedom with which Christ would make her free. 
 
 2. It is to the efficacy of fervent prayer, I trust, that I can 
 
RENUNCIATION OF POPERY. 23 
 
 now exult in God my Saviour. May " my mouth he filled 
 unth thy jn'aise, and with thy honour all the day?' ! my 
 bowels yearn with compassion when I consider how many of 
 my fellow-citizens are still left behind under the delusions 
 of popcsy, wandering in the labyrinths of error, and feeding 
 on husks ; while, in our Father's house, there is such a rich 
 repast the Sacred Scriptures, which every one may read in 
 
 HIS OWN TONGUE. 
 
 May the great God, who had compassion on me in my lost 
 €state, cast an eye of pity on those whom I have left still im- 
 merged in darkness ! May he direct my pen in such a manner, 
 that many of my still grossly benighted brethren may be con- 
 vinced of the errors of popery, and have recourse to Jesus, Jesus 
 alone for salvation ; for they may be assured that " there is 
 none other name tinder heaven given among 7nen, whereby 
 we must be saved.'' Acts. iv. 12. lie alone is all sufficient. 
 " There is one Mediator between God and men, the man 
 Christ Jesus." 1 Tim. ii. 5. 
 
 This dissertation on the corruptions, and fatal tendency of 
 popery, will, I trust in God, be a complete refutation of the 
 sophisms upon which this tottering fabric of superstition rests. 
 I maintain, and in the course of this discussion, will prove to an 
 enlightened public, that the boasted infallibility of the Roman 
 catholic church is a sacrilegious falsehood ; that what they 
 call the sacrament of penance, or confession, is the same : 
 and I hope it will be evident to any candid man, that they 
 fall under the force of truth. " Magna est Veritas, et praevale- 
 bit." Truth is powerful, and will prevail. 
 
 3. A sacrament, according to the doctrine of the Roman 
 catholic church, is not to be administered to any one who is 
 not in a state of sanctifying grace. This is correct. Accord- 
 ing to the doctrine of the same church, every member of her 
 communion, after having made what is called the first commu- 
 nion, that is, after having once received the eucharist, is bound to 
 receive the sacrament of the Lord's body, at least, once a year, 
 and that about ]ilastcr, as long as he lives ; and if it be cul- 
 pably neglected, a mortal sin is incurred. This compulsory law 
 is productive of tlie worst of consequences. Hence it is, that 
 on the approach of this day, Roman, catholics generally con- 
 
24 RENUNCIATION OF POPERY. 
 
 sider themselves bound to partake of the sacrament, and set 
 about preparing thejnselves, by more frequent confessions of 
 their sins to the clergyman. After having received the sacer- 
 dotal absolution, they are regarded as being in a state of sancti- 
 fying grace. If they are in this state, happy for them. But is 
 it not unreasonable to suppose that men can be in this holy state, 
 whose lives, previous to the approach of this eventful day, are 
 marked with iniquity ; and whose conversation is worldly, 
 trifling, vain ! How many there are, — let it not be dissembled, 
 many there are, — who actuated by no better motive than human 
 respect, refrain for a while from some of the more conspicuous 
 sins, in order to comply with the obligation of an annual com- 
 munion ! This duty performed, they again mingle with the 
 giddy throng, fall under the dominion of their former habits, 
 and thus remain until the obligation of their law urges them to 
 communicate again. 
 
 That what I here state is true, no one will deny. That there 
 are many unworthy receivers is not to be disguised. We shall 
 be told, perhaps, that Judas was a traitor, yet Judas received ; 
 that the apostle admonishes the faithful to be prepared, say- 
 ing, " For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily , eateth 
 and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the 
 Lord^s hodyP 1 Cor. xi. 29. I do not pretend to say there 
 will not be scandals among Christians, but that the system, 
 which necessarily engenders them cannot be divine. 
 
 The evils which have just been portrayed result from the 
 nature of the laws ; that of confession, and that of the annual 
 compulsory coijimunion. Confession, as the Roman catholic 
 church will have it, is a sacrament, in which a sinner accuses 
 himself of his sins to a priest lawfully ordained, and having full 
 power to pardon him or to hold him bound. 
 
 4. We read, and we know that God alone is the searcher of 
 hearts. " / the Lord search the heart. ^' Jer. xvii. 10. It 
 is acknowledged by Roman catholics themselves that there is 
 no individual on earth infallible. This prerogative, they say, 
 belongs to the church alone. Hence it follows, necessarily, that 
 the priest, in the tribunal of confession, may err. If he may err, 
 then it will be, " If the blind lead the blind both shall fall 
 into the ditch." Matt. xv. 14. This authority then, so 
 
RENUNCIATION OF POPERY. 25 
 
 much vaunted, and in support of which, the Sacred Scriptures 
 are wrenched from their true meaning, is nugatory. One of 
 the texts in support of oricular confession, is the words of our 
 divine Xord to the apostles, " He that heareth yoxL heareth 
 me." Luke, X. 16. A priest, according to the Roman catholic 
 doctrine, may err ; therefore, in hearing Christ, and in obeying 
 Christ, the penitent may err, and fall into the pit of everlasting 
 death. That the priests often err in pronouncing sinners par- 
 doned, when God has not pardoned them, they cannot, and 
 do not pretend to deny. " If the trumpet give an uncer- 
 tain sound (says the apostle), who shall prej}are himself to 
 the battle .?" 1 Cor. xiv. 8. 
 
 If priests, in the tribunal of confession, are the oracles of the 
 Holy Ghost, as they would have us believe, the advice and in- 
 structions they give, and the prohibitions they enjoin, should be 
 the same. One priest should not declare unto his penitent that 
 such or such an action is sinful, while another priest declares 
 unto the same penitent that it is not sinful. Every one who 
 has been accustomed to confess to a variety of different priests, 
 knows full well the discrepancy of the advice and instructions 
 he receives. The judgments even of virtuous priests are not, 
 and cannot be the same : nor can it be expected that the judg- 
 ments of ignorant or wicked ones will be the same. Moreover, 
 be the judgments what they may, if the heart is corrupt, inter- 
 est, and not the glory of God, will dictate what advice and in- 
 struction will best promote their own personal advantage. That 
 they are all holy, or that even a majority are holy, I presume 
 will hardly be asserted, especially as it is a well substantiated 
 historical fact, that the very heads of the church have been pol- 
 luted with the most abominable crimes, such as drunkenness, 
 whoredom, concubinage, &c. 
 
 In Michigan it is a mortal sin to frequent balls and danc- 
 ing ; but if the dancer wishes to dance without incurring the 
 censures of the church, it can be done by merely passing the 
 Detroit river, and setting his foot on the Canadian shore. In 
 the latter place, dancing and fiddling is a favourite pastime of 
 the people. Is it therefore, because the people are so infatuated 
 with this trifling, vain, and demoralizing custom, that the 
 priests are intimidated from discountenancing it ? Is it be- 
 
 D 
 
gg RENUNCIATION OF POPERY. 
 
 cause they will meet with opposition from the phrensy of 
 these sportive devotees, and thereby be deprived of the tithes 
 of their land ? Is it because they, the priests themselves must 
 live, be the consequences to their flock what they may ? That 
 this dancing and carousing away the time that was given to 
 ^^ work out our salvation with fear and trembling,'' is en- 
 tirely unbecoming that gravity and decency which should cha- 
 racterize the meek and humble followers of a crucified Saviour, 
 no one, it is presumed, will pretend to doubt The Roman catho- 
 lic church, however, countenances such a course of conduct ; 
 therefore, instead of gathering the flock of Christ and leading 
 them to green pastures, she scatters and leaves them a prey 
 to wolves. 
 
 In those countries where the Roman catholic church has the 
 ascendency, and in several parts of our own happy land, hunt- 
 ing and fishing are allowed by the Roman catholic church on 
 Sundays. Be it understood, however, that this sport does not 
 universally prevail, at least, not in this country. This privilege 
 seems to be restrained to those who live in remote situations, 
 where the noise of their guns will seldom be heard, or where 
 the fish may nibble unobserved by any but the all-seeing eye of 
 God. If such sports are not a violation of the law which 
 commands us to sanctify the Sabbath and keep it holy, why 
 are they permitted only in this clandestine manner ? are the 
 moral laws of the great Jehovah less binding in solitary 
 and remote situations, where the transgression is not seen, 
 than in the crowded walks of life ? Is it because none but 
 God can see us, that authority can stamp the guilt of our actions 
 with impunity, and pronounce us guiltless ? Is not this legisla- 
 ting with " all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that 
 perish .?" 2 Thess. ii. 2. • 
 
 6. By another regulation of said church, all the children of her 
 community are to be sedulously prepared by their respective 
 parish priests for making their first communion, that is, for 
 receiving the body and blood of Christ in the sacrament of the 
 eucharist This is generally done when they attain the age of 
 ten or twelve years. Hence it is, in every parish, that yearly, 
 this first communion of children is made. I have been pre- 
 sent at many of their first communions, and know that few of 
 
RENUNCIATION OF POPERY. 27 
 
 the children who arrive at the prcscrihed age, are rejected from 
 a participation of the sacrament. In some instances I have seen 
 the wliole of the chil(h-en in the parish, when of the proper age, 
 receive^the first communion. I knew a priest who received 
 three young men to their first communion, one of whom was 
 intoxicated on the preceding eve, the other, on the very day 
 after having received, and the whole three, on the same day, 
 being Sunday, were publicly seen galloping a-horseback from 
 tavern to tavern, and whooping, more like wild savages than 
 civilized beings. Now, I would ask this question : Since a 
 sacrament ought to be conferred on none but those who are in 
 a state of sanctifying grace ; since the absence of this grace in- 
 volves the receiver in the guilt of sacrilege, and implicates the 
 priest in the same sin, unless he be prudently assured of the 
 worthy disposition of his penitent ; I ask the question : is it 
 not morally certain that this multitude of children are not in a 
 state of sanctifying grace ? The fact is, can any one be in 
 this holy state, unless (as our Divine Lord says) he be " born 
 again^^ unless " his affections are set on things above, not 
 on things on earth .^" Christ declares, that " many are call- 
 ed, but few are chosen.^' Here, on the contrary, all are called 
 and all are chosen. 
 
 That many of the children who make their first communion 
 are not in a state of sanctifying grace, is more than evident 
 from the whole tenor of their lives, both before and after 
 their communion. Now, is it even supposable that every child, 
 on arriving at the age of twelve, is born again ? Hence it is, 
 that scandals must necessarily arise, from laws so compulsory 
 as these. Should it be objccte-d that thcro is no compulsion in 
 the law, I would answer, that there is indeed, no physical 
 compulsion, but most assuredly there is a moral one. No com- 
 pulsion ! when those who neglect to make their annual com- 
 munion are subject to excommunication " ex sententia lata ?" 
 
 Will not the anathematizing thunders of the church strike 
 her devotees with consternation ? Will they not prefer to 
 bend their knees to a confessor, to feign repentance for their 
 sins, rather than lose their reputation or be stigmatized as here- 
 tics ? rather than forfeit the temporal advantages which, as 
 brethren of the flock, they would enjoy ? 
 
28 RENUNCIATION OF POPERY. 
 
 7. Marriage, another sacrament of the Roman catholic church. 
 Let it be borne in mind that a sacrament is not to be conferred 
 on any but those who are in a state of sanctifying grace ; and 
 that the priest who dares to administer it without a moral assur- 
 ance of his penitent's being in this holy state, commits a sacri- 
 lege. No Roman catholic, however, is prohibited from marriage, 
 except the clergy, and some in the religious orders. All the 
 rest, therefore, marry who have the desire to marry ; therefore 
 every Roman catholic, except some few, whose lives are most 
 notoriously scandalous, are supposed to be in a state of grace. 
 I say they are supposed to be in this state ; because, we see the 
 priests unite them in the sacrament ; and we know the condi- 
 tions required for the reception of a sacrament. Therefore this 
 tribunal of confession has a direct and fatal tendency to lull the 
 conscience of the sinner into a delusive security ; for if, unre- 
 generated as he is, his priest pronounces him innocent before 
 God, that is, in a state of grace, it can hardly be supposed that 
 he will attempt an amendment of his life. Man, in his unre- 
 generate state, is prone to indolence, and iniquity is wont to 
 lie unto herself. Having received a sacrament being equiva- 
 lent to being in grace, and the physician of his soul having 
 pronounced him in a state of spiritual health, it is hardly to be 
 presumed that he will recognise the real state of his soul, or 
 seek the remedy that would heal him. The case of this poor 
 sin-sick soul is the more desperate, because he is taught to yield 
 a blind and implicit obedience to the authority and judgment 
 of the ghostly father who directs him ; wresting or perverting 
 that Scripture, ^^ He that hearethyou, heareth Twe." 
 
 That these poor lepers are not cleansed from their sins, 
 especially if their spiritual physician be diseased himself, 
 WONDERFUL TO RELATE, is Corroborated by their late pope 
 Leo XII. in his circular letter on the Jubilee, A. D. 1825. " A 
 hand that is defiled (says he, quoting from St. Gregorj?^ the great) 
 CANNOT CLEANSE another, and an eye full of dust does not 
 PERCEIVE A BLEMISH ; SO that he who desires to correct the 
 FAULTS of others should himself be spotless." Verily, verily, 
 we all say amen to this. 
 
 8. That the august Sacrament of the Lord's supper is con- 
 verted into a simonaical traffic in the Roman catholic church, 
 
RENUNCIATION OF POPERY. 39 
 
 is a fact too glaring to be screened by the flimsy arguments 
 which avarice fabricates to conceal it. Masses are daily offered 
 up on their altars for the living or the dead. These masses are 
 distinguished into high or low. The low ones are unaccompa- 
 nied with singing or music, and are performed with less osten- 
 tation and ceremony. The high are sung, the ceremonies are 
 multiplied, and the altar and church more sumptuously orna- 
 mented. The price of a low mass is generally fifty cents, that 
 of a high one varies from two dollars to one hundred, accord- 
 ing to the wealth and liberality of the person for whom it is 
 offered, and to the music and splendour which accompany the 
 ceremony. In some places, and I believe generally, the income 
 arising from this traffic belongs exclusively to the priest. In Ca- 
 nada, however, the proceeds of the high masses are appropriated 
 partly to the priest, and partly to the church. The money 
 received for low masses belongs exclusively to tlie priest. 
 Besides the influx of wealth which is accumulated by this 
 means, the clergy either receive a fixed salary or the tithes. 
 They, moreover, receive considerable sums for the burial of the 
 dead, for the celebration of marriages, &c. 
 
 I can feel the horrors of all this, my fellow citizens, and my 
 deluded brethren of the Roman catholic church, far more sensi- 
 bly than I can paint it to your view ! How, or in what manner 
 shall I begin to express my indignation at this " ahomination 
 of desolation ?" Shall I begin by telling you, that while I 
 exercised the priestly functions, my heart bled at the obligation 
 I was under of receiving pay for the masses I had to offer ! of 
 receiving pay, too, from the poor and needy, many of whom, 
 for the sake of relieving the departed soul of a fond parent or 
 darling child from the flames of purgatory, would, in blind zeal, 
 take the last farthing from a suffering family ! Such scenes as 
 these, I proclaim it to the world, such scenes as these occur. 
 Thanks be to God, however, my heart revolted at such robbery 
 as this ; and, although a certain bishop forbade me to offer up 
 any mass gratuitously, I took the liberty of conscience to 
 disobey his orders. temporal mores! If this cruel doc- 
 trine does not constitute simony, where can its guilt be found ? 
 Many are so poor and destitute, so remote from church or parish 
 priest, that their departed friends must writhe in purgatory till 
 
30 RENUNCIATION OF POPERY". 
 
 they themselves have paid the utmost farthing. Their friends 
 have not the money nor the means to pay the priest for praying ; 
 therefore they must suffer in their flames. 
 
 9. In order to appease the twitches of conscience wounded by 
 this traffic in " inert' s souls," at the expense of the widow's tears 
 and orphan's cries, the money thus given, is represented as an 
 ALMS-DEED. " If it takes the widow's last farthing, it is better 
 for her to suffer the miseries of penury, than for a poor soul the 
 torments of purgatory. If, of her little, she gives her all, God, 
 seeing the liberality of the heart, will be more inclined to grant 
 her favours." Such an argument as this may pacify the con- 
 science of a priest. It is, to be sure, a weighty argument, 
 but its weight is that or gold. Simon, who thought to pur- 
 chase the gift of God with money, received this salutary check ; 
 " Thy money ]jerish with thee, because thou hast thought 
 that the gift of God may be purchased luith money." Acts 
 viii. 20. Let me now ask : Is not the pardon of our sins, and 
 of the penalty due unto them, a gift, a free and gracious 
 GIFT of the mercy of God ? Then, to attempt the purchase of 
 this gift with money, is simony. Let your money, therefore, 
 perish with you, "/or thy heart is not right in the sight of 
 God." Acts viii. 21. 
 
 The judgment that can twist the signification of the word 
 alms-deed into the giving of money to a wealthy priest 
 OR BISHOP, must be much more ductile than the common judg- 
 ment of mankind. What we understand by ahns-deed, is a 
 GIVING TO THE POOR AND NEEDY ; not the poor and needy giving 
 to the rich. 
 
 Our divine Lord and his blessed apostles set us a better ex- 
 ample than this. He, the Sovereign of heaven and earth, had 
 not whereon to lay his sacred head ; not a cent to pay the tribute 
 due to Caesar : nor did they, his humble followers, lay up for 
 themselves treasures upon earth ; their treasure was in heaven : 
 not a cent had they when the poor lame man raised up his eyes 
 to implore their succour. " Silver and gold have I none, but 
 such as I have give I unto thee. In the name of Jesus Christ 
 of Nazareth rise up and walk." Acts iii. 6. Yes, my Roman 
 catholic brethren, it is in the name of Jesus Christ of Naza- 
 reth that we must rise and walk ; in tliat sacred name alone the 
 
RENUNCIATION OF POPERY. 31 
 
 dead must rise; there is none other name under heaven 
 given among men, whereby xve must be saved." Acts iv. 12. 
 No other means but the free and eflicacious grace of divine love. 
 Thy rnoney perish with thee. 
 
 The day is at hand, when this traffic in the "souls of men'* 
 must cease. John, with his eagle eye, foresaw this mystery of 
 iniquity, this " Woman decked ivith gold and precious stones, 
 having a golden cup (or chalice) in her hand full of abomi- 
 nations, and flit hiness of her fornication." Rev. xvii. 4. 
 
 After these things I saw another angel come down from, 
 heaven, having great power, and the earth ivas lighted loith 
 his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, say- 
 ing Babylon the great is fallen, and is become the habitation 
 of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of 
 every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk 
 of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. And I heard 
 another voice from heaven (which voice, I now repeat), say- 
 ing. Come out of her, my j)eople, that ye be not partakers of 
 her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues : For her 
 sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered 
 her iniquities. Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, 
 and she shall be utterly burnt with fire ; for strong is the 
 Lord God who judgeth her. 
 
 " And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn 
 over her ; for no man buyeth their merchandize any more : 
 the merchandize of gold and silver, and precious stones, and 
 of pearls and slaves, and SOULS OF MEN." Rev. xviii. 
 
 I have made this long quotation, because every word and 
 every line of the whole chapter is applicable to the modern Ba- 
 bylon of Rome. It is under that authorit}' alone, as I have 
 shown, that the " souls of men" is made a common traffic ; that 
 it is through the "cup (or chalice)" of the mass that this traffic 
 is cffi2Cted ; consequently the modern church of Rome is the 
 great Babylon, against which the prophet denounces the ven- 
 geance of the Lord. 
 
 10. The infallibility of the church. If such a prerogative 
 was ever granted to men, or any body of men, the Roman catho- 
 lic church, of all bodies, has the least claim to it. This is 
 evident from what has been already shown. 
 
33 RENUNCIATION OF POPERY. 
 
 After having given a correct notion of the word Church, I 
 shall proceed to examine the grounds upon which the Roman 
 catholic church raises her mighty superstructure of infallibility. 
 
 The word Church, in its strict and Scriptural point of view, 
 bears but one signification. It signifies those who are regene- 
 rated by the operations of the Holy Ghost, and thereby " be- 
 come children and heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ. ^^ 
 Many, however, are said, in a vague sense, to be members in 
 the church, who are not regenerated, that is, they are nominally 
 members of Christ, profess his doctrine, and rally themselves 
 under the banners of the cross. In the sight of God, however, 
 who knows their heart, they are members, not of Christ, but of 
 the confraternity of their father the devil, who is wont to trans- 
 form both himself and his children into angels of light, and thus 
 deceive the world. That the word Church, in its strict sense, 
 bears, and can only bear, the signification above stated, is evi- 
 dent from the whole tenor of the Sacred Scriptures wherever 
 this word is used, or alluded to, in relation to the Church of 
 God. The word Church, in a material sense, is also used to de- 
 signate the place, or building, in which the faithful assemble to 
 worship God. 
 
 That the word Church, in its strict sense, signifies none but 
 the true and faithful servants of Jesus Christ, it behooves me now 
 to prove. Christ, in his prayer to his Father for the members 
 of his body, which he styles his Church, most emphatically de- 
 clares that " they are not of this world ;^' that is, that they are 
 regenerated, by the operations of the Holy Ghost, from the cor- 
 ruptions of the world. 
 
 His prayer is as follows : "I have manifested thy name unto 
 the men whom thou gavest me out of the world : thine they 
 were, and thou gavest them me ; and they have kept thy 
 WORD. Now they have known that all things, whatsoever thou 
 hast given me, are of thee; For I have given unto them the 
 words which thou gavest me ; and they have received them, and 
 have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have 
 believed that thou didst send me. I pray for them: I pray 
 not for the world ; but for them whom thou hast given me ; for 
 they are thine. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine j 
 and I am glorified in them. And now I am no more in the 
 
RENUNCIATION OF POPERY. 33 
 
 world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine 
 own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be 
 ONE AS WE ARE. While I was with them in the world, I kept 
 them in thy name: those thou gavest me I hav.e kept, and none 
 of them is lost, but the son of perdition ; that the Scripture 
 might be fulfilled. And now come I to thee ; and these things 
 I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in 
 themselves. I have given them thy Word, and the world hath 
 hated them, because they are not op the world, even as I 
 am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth ; thy ' 
 word is truth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them 
 also who shall believe on me through their word ; ! right- 
 eous Father, the world hath not known thee : but I have known 
 thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. And I 
 have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it; that 
 the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I 
 in them." John xvii. I pray (says the blessed Saviour), " I 
 pray for them, I pray not for the world ; but for them whom 
 thou hast given me ; for they are thine." 
 
 Christ, in this prayer, prays for his whole Church, and his 
 Church exclusively, or he does not. If he prays for his Church 
 exclusively, those for whom he prays must be his true and 
 faithful servants ; for he declares that those for whom he prays 
 have kept his Father's word, that they are his. His true 
 AND FAITHFUL SERVANTS, therefore, must be his Church, and 
 EXCLUSIVELY HIS Church. That he does pray for his Church 
 exclusively, is expressly declared by the very text itself. " I 
 PRAY NOT," says he, " for the world :" consequently, he 
 prays not for the son of perdition. I have observed, in defining 
 the Church, that many are said, in a vague sense, to be members 
 in the Church who are not regenerated, that is, they are mere 
 nominal members ; not members in the sight of God, not mem- 
 bers in the strict sense. Of this number may be found the son 
 of perdition : of this number was Judas. The unity, of which 
 our divine Lord speaks in this admiral)le prayer, is the unity 
 of love ; " That the love (says he) wherewith thou hast loved 
 me may he in them, and I in them.'' 
 
 St. Paul, in his epistle to the Hebrews, speaking of the Church, 
 exclaims ; ^^ But ye are come unto moiint Sion, and unto the 
 
 E 
 
34 BENUNCIATION OF POPERY. 
 
 city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an 
 innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly 
 and Church of the first-born, zf'Ao are written in heaven, 
 and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men 
 MADE perfect ; and to Jesus, the mediator of the new cove- 
 nant.'''' Heb. xii. 22,23. " To ihe,general assembly and Church 
 of the first-born'^ Who compose this general assembly, this 
 Church of the first-born ? The " spirits of just men made 
 perfect." Who is the mediator, by whom these spirits of just 
 men are made perfect? Christ, the Lord. Who is the judge in 
 this great assembly ? God, the Father of all. Who the invisi- 
 ble company with whom these happy spirits, in heart, unite ? 
 The angels of the Lord most high. — The Church is compared 
 to a mountain ; because those who enter the Church of Christ 
 must ascend from the depths of sin towards the summit of per- 
 fection, towards those purer regions where the mists and fogs 
 of a contaminated moral atmosphere never reach ; where the 
 eye may take her flight over the stormy passions which agitate 
 th© world, and fix it on the splendours of the Deity. She is 
 compared to the city of the living God, and the heavenly Jeru- 
 salem, because none but the saints form this glorious community; 
 none but those whose hearts are cemented by the blood of 
 Christ, forming one holocaust of love. 
 
 St. Paul, in his first epistle to the Corinthians, declares, in the 
 most unequivocal terms, that the Church consists of the saints. 
 " Paul, unto the Church of Gob which is at Corinth, to 
 them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be 
 saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of 
 Jesus Christ our Lord, grace be unto you, and peace from 
 God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Cor. i. 
 Paul, in the subsequent part of the text, admonishes them to 
 beware of contentions. It is in general wrong to contend. 
 However, it is not in every degree of contention, that the bonds 
 of Christian unity of love is broken. It is certainly desirable 
 that all should be of the same mind and of the same judgment ; 
 and if we were as perfect in every respect, as we ought to be, 
 vye would be of the same mind and same judgment : hence, 
 we should constantly endeavour to arrive at that state of per- 
 fection which would lead to it. We know that the apostles 
 
RENUNCIATION OF POPERY. 35 
 
 were true and faitliful servants of Jesus Christ, nevertheless, 
 although they were replenished with grace, and inspired by the 
 Holy Ghost, still the imperfections of human nature were, at 
 times,* exhibitvid in their conduct. Of this we have a striking 
 instance in the altercation which took place betv/een Paul and 
 Barnabas : " And the contention tvas so sharj) between theniy 
 that they departed asunder one from the othe'r.^^ Actsxv. 39. 
 The same discrepancy also occurred between Paul and Peter : 
 " When Peter was come to Antioch, I loithstood him to the 
 face, because he was to be blamed.^' Gal. ii. II. It is unne- 
 cessary to multiply proofs from the Scriptures, to show that the 
 Christian Church, in the strict sense of the word, consists of the 
 saints alone ; for, as I have already observed, the Sacred Scrip- 
 tures universally exhibit it under this point of view. 
 
 11. Having now a true notion of what is meant by the Chris- 
 tian Church, we shall examine upon what grounds Roman catho- 
 lics claim to themselves the prerogative of being the true and 
 only Church of Jesus Christ. The marks of the true Church, 
 as expressed in what is called the Apostles' Creed, negatively 
 mark, indeed, the Roman catholic church, but mark her not as 
 the Church of Christ : one, holy, catholic, and apostolical. 
 That the doctrine of the Roman catholic church is not one, 
 and holy, is evident from many considerations. First, that 
 doctrine is not essentially one, nor holy, whose practical con- 
 sequences are multifariously productive of discrepancy and 
 immorality. Such are the consequences that result from the 
 Roman catholic doctrine ; therefore her doctrine is not essen- 
 tially one nor holy. Now, if the doctrine of auricular confes- 
 sion, and that of the infallibility of the Roman catholic church, 
 in their effects, destroy the truth of each other, it will follow 
 that these doctrines are neither one, nor holy. They cannot 
 be one, as it regards the truth, because if the truth of both be 
 destroyed, the truth of neither can remain. It cannot be holy, 
 because, a system that annihilates itself is inefficient for the 
 production of good, and leaves a chasm in which the unwary 
 must inevitably perish. I say that the doctrine of auricular con- 
 fession, and infallibility, in their effects, destroy the truth of 
 each other, because their practical consequences are multifa- 
 riously productive of discrepancy and immorality : this has 
 
3(J RENUNCIATION OF POPERY. 
 
 been clearly proved in paragraphs 4, 5, 6 ; to which, in or- 
 der to avoid repetition, I refer the reader ; therefore, the Ro- 
 man catholic doctrine is neither one, nor holy. Secondly, 
 that doctrine is not holy, which teaches a system oS prayer, that, 
 instead of elevating the soul to God, depresses and draws it 
 from him ; such is the system of the Roman catholic church in 
 regard to the breviary, as has been clearly shown in paragraph 
 1. Thirdly, that system is not holy which sanctions simony ; 
 this system is upheld by the Roman catholic church, as is evi- 
 dent from paragraph 8. Fourthly, that system is not holy, 
 which is so repugnant to the Word of God, that all the world 
 can see its repugnance except the advocates thereof. 
 
 12. The doctrine of the Roman catholic church has no claims 
 to catholicity except the vociferations of her own clamorous 
 partisans. It is hard for any but a Jesuit to conceive how a 
 doctrine can be catholic or universal, which is not the same in 
 all places and at all times. Now, as I have shown, in regard to 
 dancing, and the profanation of the Lord's-day, the Roman 
 catholic doctrine varies, and is not the same in regard to time or 
 in regard to place ; therefore her doctrine is not catholic. 
 
 13. Her doctrine is not apostolical — this follows of necessity ; 
 for if it is not catholic in regard to time, it is impossible that it 
 can be apostolical ; neither can it be apostolical, if, in its effects, 
 it be demoralizing ; for, certainly, the effects of the apostolic 
 doctrine is to convert, to moralize, to sanctify the world. 
 Therefore, the Roman catholic church has not one mark by 
 which we can recognise her as the Church of Christ 
 
 Her doctrine, too, in regard to the Church of Christ, to the 
 true import of the word, is most mischievously erroneous. 
 She contends that the Church of Christ, in its strict sense, con- 
 sists of saints, sinners, and reprobates. She pretends to prove 
 this position by those texts of Scripture which speak para- 
 bolically of the different effects the Word of life produces on 
 those who hear it. She interprets, by the infallibility of her 
 judgments, that the wheat and tares, the good and the bad fish 
 represent the worthy and the unworthy members of the 
 Church. We, however, fallible as we are, reject this interpre- 
 tation, and prove from the everlasting Truth itself, from the 
 express declaration of our Divine Lord, that the field here 
 
RENUNCIATION OF POPERY. 37 
 
 spoken of is the toorld, that the good seed are the children 
 of the kingdom (the members of the Church), and that the 
 tares are the children of the wicked one. In the text, the 
 world is»spoken of in a general way as appertaining to the king- 
 dom of heaven ; for he who is Lord of lords and King of kings, 
 is King and Lord of the whole world ; " Wherefore God also 
 hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is 
 above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee 
 should bow of things in heaven, and things in earth and 
 things under the earth. Philip, ii. 9, 10. 
 
 How insufferable then, and truly ridiculous, is the arrogance 
 of Roman catholics, to proclaim their church infallible ! In 
 support of this claim they argue thus : Christ, when on earth, 
 established a Church, which was styled the ^^ pillar and 
 ground of the truth,^' 1 Tim. iii. 15, and against which, he 
 promised the ^' gates of hell shall not prevail.'''' Matt. xvi. 
 18. They maintain that the Roman catholic church is this 
 pillar and ground of the truth, against which the gates of hell 
 were never to prevail. This they pretend to prove, by con- 
 tending that she alone has had the -apostolic doctrine transmit- 
 ted pure and unadulterated through the uninterrupted succes- 
 sion of her bishops from the time of Christ down to the pre- 
 sent ; that their church has always been a visible body, holy and 
 invariable in the doctrine which she has taught. They ask, 
 *' Would Christ, in the great Republic of his Church, have been 
 less prudent than our political legislators in their system of 
 civil government ? Where is the legislator who ever wrote a 
 code of laws without appointing an authority to interpret 
 those laws ?" 
 
 We cheerfully grant that Christ, previous to his ascension, 
 established his Church as the ^^ pillar and ground of t lie truth,'^ 
 and that the gates of hell will never prevail against her. It is 
 for this very reason, that it is now self-evident that the Roman 
 catholic church is not the Church of Clu'ist. Her doctrine, as 
 has been clearly proved, is impious, devastating, and simonaical ; 
 and, in its effects, is like a " house divided against itself," 
 which, as the Scripture says, ^^ must fall.'' ^ That her doctrine 
 is a sanguinary one is confirmed by every page of history, by 
 the bulls of her popes, and the decrees of her councils. For 
 
38 RENUNCIATION OF POPERY. 
 
 brevity sak'e, I shall adduce only the decree of the General 
 Council of Lateran, held by Pope Innocent III., A. D. 1215. 
 As this is an authority recognised as infallible, its testimony is 
 suJGBcient. " We excommunicate and anathematize every here- 
 sy that raises itself against this Holy Orthodox Catholic faith, 
 which we have already expounded, condemning all heretics, by 
 whatsoever name they may be called. And, being condemned, 
 let them be left to the secular power, or to their bailiffs, to 
 be PUNISHED BY DUE ANIMADVERSION. And let the secular pow- 
 ers be warned and induced, and if necessary, be compelled 
 by ecclesiastical censure, that, as they desire to be reputed 
 and considered believers, they take an oath for the defence of 
 the faith, that they will endeavour, in good earnest, to exter- 
 minate, TO their utmost power, from the lands subject to 
 their jurisdiction, all heretics denoted by the Church ; so 
 that henceforth, every one who is taken into any power, either 
 spiritual or temporal, shall be bound to confirm this chapter by 
 his oath." " But if the temporal lord, required and warned by 
 the Church, shall neglect to purge his territory op 
 THIS HERETICAL FILTH, let him, by Metropolitan and com- 
 provincial bishops, be tied by the bond of excommunication ; 
 and if he scorn to satisfy within a year, let that be signified to 
 the pope, that he may denounce his vassals thenceforth ab- 
 solved from his fidelity (or allegiance), and may expose his 
 country to be seized on by catholics, who, exterminating 
 THE heretics, may possess it without any contradiction, and 
 may keep it in the purity of faith, saving the right of the prin- 
 cipal lord, provided he put no obstacles hereunto, nor oppose 
 any impediment ; the same law, however, being observed in 
 regard to those who have no principal lords." "And the Catho- 
 lics, that taking the badge of the cross, shall gird themselves 
 for the exterminating of heretics, shall enjoy that indul- 
 gence, and be fortified with that holy privilege which is grant- 
 ed to them that go to the help of the holy land." 
 
 This, truly is the woman with " the golden cup^^ whom St. 
 John describes as " drunken with the blood of the saints^ 
 and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus ; and upon her 
 forehead tvas a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON 
 THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND 
 
RENUNCIATION OF POPERY. 39 
 
 ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. And when I saw 
 her I ivondered with great admiration.''^ Rev. xvii. Who 
 will not wonder ! Alas ! the whole world now wonders at 
 this Mystery of iniquity , at this pretended Christian Church 
 typified under the figure of " a woman arrayed inpurple and 
 scarlet colour, and decked ivith gold, and precious stones, 
 and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abomi- 
 nations andflthiness of her fornication, sitting upon a scar- 
 let coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having 
 seven heads and ten hor?is.'^ Rev. xvii. 
 
 Who can refrain from wondering, to see a Church called 
 Christian riding the round of ages on a beast tinged with the 
 blood of saints ! To see this Christian Church, in all her 
 bloody splendour, proclaiming herself the spouse of Christ, 
 that meek and humble Lamb ! 
 
 I think I hear this beastly woman exclaim : It is not the 
 blood of saints that stain my garments, but the blood of here- 
 tics like you. Ah ! my Roman catholic brethren, such a sub- 
 terfuge as this but ill becomes the Christian cause. You un- 
 sheath the sword to slay your fellow man, whom, regarding as 
 a heretic, you think to destroy, both as to soul and body. Can 
 any thing, can any doctrine be imagined more diabolical than 
 this ? to plunge a fellow being, without resource, into the flames 
 of hell, into that burning lake " where their worm dieth not and 
 the fire is not quenched V^ Is this to ^^ put on (as St. Paul 
 exhorts) the bowels of mercies, kindness, and long-suffering, 
 forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, even as 
 Christ forgave you!" 1 Col. iii. 12, 13. My brethren, re- 
 flect a moment, and consider what it is that Christ has forgiven 
 you. He has forgiven you, (if perchance you be found in 
 Christ) he has forgiven you the penalty due unto your sins j 
 this penalty is hell. Your pardon has been purchased at the 
 price of his most precious blood. When you were an alien 
 and a rebel to your God, did he unshcath the sword and strike 
 you to the dust ? Did he consign your soul to the dreary 
 regions of the damned ? No, my brother ! instead of taking 
 your blood, he gave you his own, even the last drop ; and when 
 expiring on the cross, prayed for the pardon of his relentless 
 persecutors. 
 
40 RENUNCIATION OF POPERY. 
 
 As to the transmission of the apostolic doctrine pure and un- 
 defiled through the popes, bishops, and priests, or through the 
 Roman catholic church, the facts that I have stated in regard to 
 prayer, to confession, to simony, and to her bloody edicts will 
 show how pure and apostolical her doctrine is. To these I shall 
 briefly add the apostasy of her popes, and the profligacy, cor- 
 ruption, and wickedness of her General Councils, as they are 
 drawn by the pencils of her own historians and canonized saints 
 themselves. That pope Liberius gave the apostolic doctrine a 
 complete overthrow, in the Roman catholic church, " all anti- 
 quity (says Du Pin) with one consent maintain." Du Pin, 347. 
 This statement of Du Pin has been attested by Liberius, Hilary, 
 Athanasius, Jerom, Philostorgius, Damasus, Anastasius, and 
 Sozomen. Hilary, addressing Liberius, thus exclaims: "Hoc 
 est perfidia Ariana. Anathema tibi a me dictum, Liberi, et 
 sociis tuis. Iterum tibi anathema, et tertio prsevaricator, Li- 
 beri." " This is the Arian perfidy. I pronounce anathema 
 against thee, ! Liberius, against thee and thy companions." 
 Again, " anathema be unto thee, thou prevaricator." Hilary, 
 in Fragm. 426, 427. Maimb. 104. "Fifty others of these pre- 
 tended successors of the apostles, for 150 years, degenerated 
 from the integrity of their ancestors," and according to Gene- 
 brard, " were apostatical rather than apostolical." Genebrard, 
 Platina, Stella, and even Baronius, call them " monsters, thieves, 
 robbers, and assassins." Gregory of Nazianzen, who is a Ro- 
 man catholic saint, speaking of General Councils, says, " I never 
 saw one of them have a happy termination. These conventions, 
 instead of diminishing, uniformly augment the evil which 
 they were intended to remedy. Passion, jealousy, envy, pre- 
 possession, and the ambition of victory prevail, and surpass all 
 description. He compares the strife, dissension, and wrangling 
 exhibited in the councils to the quarrels of geese and cranes, 
 gabbling and contending in confusion ; and represerits such dis- 
 putation and jangling as calculated to demoralize the spectator, 
 rather than to correct or reform." x^™i/ » ytpavcu «xpiT« A«'«i>v<!i«£i'«», euS' 
 ipij ev9» jcofios. Greg. ii. 82. Carm. x. Ep. 56. Edgar. 
 
 The Constantian council is described to us by Baptiza, one 
 of its own members, as follows; " The clergy (he declares) 
 were nearly all under the power of the devil, and 
 
RENUNCIATION OF POPERY. 41 
 
 mocked all religion by external (levotion and Pharisean hypo- 
 crisy. The prelacy, actuated only by malice, iniquity, pride, 
 ignorance, lasciviousness, avarice, pomp, simony, and dissimu- 
 lation, HAD EXTERMINATED CATHOLICISM AND EXTINGUISHED 
 
 PIETY." Baptiza, in Lenfan. ii. 95. 
 
 That the Roman catholic cliurch has always been a visible 
 body, at least in her present shape and form, is more than can 
 be proved. From Scripture the proof v^ ill hardly be attempted. 
 The light of that bright torch displays the vii/s/erT/ stamTped on 
 her forehead, " The mystery OF BABYLON THE GREAT, 
 THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS, AND ABOMINATIONS 
 OF THE EARTH." A mystery, at which the world now 
 stands astonished. A mark, which, were she to behold in the 
 mirror of the inspired page, would strike dismay and horror 
 through her frame. The early Fathers of the Church were 
 strangers to her. Jesus, the Lamb of meekness, and his holy 
 apostles, knew her not. He, when on earth, though always 
 persecuted, retaliated not. His prayers, on the contrary, were 
 wafted to heaven to implore the pardon of his enemies. His 
 blessed apostles, messengers of peace, in submission to their 
 master's precept, returned good for evil. 
 
 The Fathers, for ages, followed their bright example. "Chris- 
 tians (says Origen) should not use the sword." " Religion (says 
 Tertullian) does not compel religion." According to Cyprian, 
 "the King of Zion alone has authority to break the earthen 
 vessels ; nor can any claim the power which the Father hath 
 given to the Son." Lactantius is still more full and explicit : 
 " Coercion (he says) and injury are unnecessary ; for religion 
 cannot be forced. Barbarity and piety are far different ; nor 
 can truth be conjoined with violence, nor justice with cruelty. 
 Religion is to be defended, not by killing, but by dying : not by 
 inhumanity, but by patience." '' Faith (says Bernard) is con- 
 veyed by persuasioM, not by constraint. The patrons of heresy 
 are to be assailed, not by arms, but by arguments. Attack 
 them but with the word, not with the sword." These same 
 sentiments, as Du Pin has shown, were entertained by Gregory, 
 Athanasius, Chrysostom, Augustin, Damian, and Anselm. 
 Origen, in Matt. xxvi. 25 ; Tertul. ad Scap. G9 ; Cyprian 100 ; 
 Ep. 54 ; Lactan. v. 19 ; Bernard, 7G6, S85 ; Serm. G4. The 
 
 F 
 
42 RENUNCIATION OF POPERY. 
 
 council of Tolosa, in 1229, strictly forbade the laity to 
 possess the books of the Old and New Testament in the ver- 
 nacular idiom. " This, Velly admits, was the first prohibition 
 of the kind. Twelve successive ages, from the commencement 
 of Christianity, had rolled around, and no assembly of men had 
 dared to interdict the Word of God. But a synod, in a commu- 
 nity boasting of infallibility, arrogated, at length, the authority 
 of suppressing the Scriptures, which had been sanctioned for 
 twelve hundred years. This provincial synod was approved by 
 General Councils, which, therefore, was blessed with infalli- 
 bility. These were the four of Lateran, and those of Constance, 
 and Sienna." Edgar. 
 
 It is impossible, in this short essay, to show the thousandth 
 part of the opposition between the Roman catholic doctrine and 
 that of the Christian Church in her pristine purity. My proofs 
 and arguments, few as they are, are more than sufficient to con- 
 vince any sincere inquirer after truth, that Romanism and 
 Christianity are extremes the most remote. 
 
 Christ, in the great Republic of his Church, would certainly 
 have been less prudent than our political legislators in their 
 system of civil government, had he appointed an authority such 
 as the Roman catholic church. He, in whose all-seeing eye, 
 past, present, and to come are one, never could have appointed 
 an authority which would be subversive of the great ends for 
 which he bled and died. '' Though we (as St. Paul writes to the 
 Galatians), or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel 
 unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him 
 be accursed.'^ Gal. i. 8. By a bare juxta-position of the Ro- 
 man catholic doctrine with that of the gospel, who is there so 
 blind as not to see the vast discrepancy! Could the forgiving 
 breath of our expiring Saviour blow up the flames that have tor- 
 tured so many thousands in the Roman catholic church ? Did 
 not his Sacred Word, which is always "yea, yea, or nay, nay, 
 Christ, the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever:" did not 
 that Sacred Word command the disciple, saying, " Put up 
 again thy sword into his place : for all they that take the 
 sword shall perish with the sioord.'^ Matt. xxvi. 52. And 
 when Peter asked him, saying, " Lord, how oft shall my bro- 
 ther sin against me, and I forgive him ? till seven times ? 
 
RENUNCIATION OF POrERY. 43 
 
 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, until seven times, 
 but until seventy times seven.^' Matt, xviii. 21. ^^ The Son 
 of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them." 
 Luke ixj 56. 
 
 In the administration of civil law, our judges pass a decision 
 according to the true import of the law. The law being founded 
 upon general principles of equity, and being of human institu- 
 tion, may, in its application, be left, with comparative safety, to 
 be construed by a human and fallible judge. If he err, the con- 
 sequences will be but of a temporary nature. In the important 
 affair, however, of our eternal salvation, the case is altogether 
 VICE VERSA. An error here might be our eternal ruin. " The 
 things oj" the Spirit of God (says the apostle) are spiritually 
 discerned: But the natural man recciveth not the things 
 of the Spirit of God : for they are foolishness unto him ; 
 neither can he knoiu them, because they are spiritually dis- 
 cerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he 
 himself is judged of no man.'' 1 Cor. ii. 14, 15. " i/" any 
 man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is rione of his," says 
 the same apostle to the Romans, ch. viii. 9. Romanists will have 
 it, that their priests alone, either in the tribunal of confession, 
 or elsewhere, are the sole judges of the spirit of the divine 
 law. Romanists, it is presumable, will hardly maintain that all 
 their clergy have the Spirit of Christ ; however, if they have 
 not, if they be still unregenerated sinners, still the " natural 
 man," then they " receive not the things of the Spirit of 
 God ; they are foolishness unto them ; neither can they know 
 them, because they are spiritually discerned." 1 Cor. ii. 
 14. If they know not the thi ngs of the Spirit of Christ, if they 
 are ignorant of his divine law, how can they sit as judges of that 
 law ? "7/* any man have not the Spirit of Christ (says the 
 apostle), he is none of his." Rom. viii. 9. To these, there- 
 fore, are applicable the v/ords of the Lord, by the mouth of his 
 prophet Ezekiel, saying, " They have seen vanity and, lying 
 divination, saying, The Lord saith ; and the Lord hath 
 not sent them, * * loith lies ye have made the heart of the 
 righteous sad; whom I have not made sad ; and strength- 
 ened the hands of the wicked, that he should 7wt return from 
 his wicked way by promising him life." Ezek. xiii. 6. 22. 
 
44 RENUNCIATION OF POPERY. 
 
 The words of the eternal Truth, in the text, expressly declares, 
 that " he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself 
 is judged of no m«?i." It is repugnant, not only to Scripture, 
 but to common sense, to see the natural and carnal man, that 
 man who, the Scripture assures us, is none of Christ's, sitting 
 in the tribunal of judgment over a man who is " sealed with 
 that holy Spirit of promise,'^ and become one of " the sons of 
 God, ivhereby tve cry Jihba, Father.'^ Eph. i. 13. Rom. viii. 
 14, 15. 
 
 Therefore, let it be again repeated, Christ would have been 
 less prudent than our civil legislators, had he appointed the 
 Roman catholic clergy as our infallible and only guide to 
 heaven. 
 
 " Where is the legislator (says the Romanist) who ever 
 wrote a code of laws, without appointing an authority to inter- 
 pret those laws ?" I answer, first, that our divine legislator 
 Jesus Christ has appointed an authority to interpret his law, an 
 authority, too, that is infallible. Where this authority is to be 
 found, I pledge myself to show before I close this discussion. 
 We shall now prosecute the inquiry, upon what grounds the 
 Roman catholic church claims to be the infallible authority ? 
 This infallibility, according to her own doctrine, resides in an 
 oecumenical or General Council, with the pope at its head. 
 She does not pretend that any individual priest or bishop 
 is infallible. These two doctrines of the general or oecumeni- 
 cal infallibility, and the particular or individual fallibility of the 
 Roman catholic church will afford an argument to every candid 
 mind, that her claims to infallibility are preposterously absurd. 
 The prophet Isaiah, speaking of the Church says, " 7%y gates 
 shall be open continually, they shall not be shut, day nor 
 night.'' Ch. Ix. 2. Our Lord, " Tell it unto theChurch, but 
 if he neglect to hear the Church, let him be unto thee as a 
 heathen man and a puhlican." Matt, xviii. 17. This last 
 text is the one the Roman catholic church uses to prove that 
 we are bound to listen to her. 
 
 The obvious, and the only deduction that can be drawn from 
 these texts is, tliat as the gates of the Church are open continu- 
 ally, and as we are bound to listen to her, under the penalty 
 of being regarded as heathens and publicans, she must always 
 
RENUNCIATION OF POPERY. 45 
 
 be a guide to whom we can intrust ourselves with safety, and 
 a judge at all times ready and prepared to examine the spiritual 
 affairs that may be submitted unto her, and to pass a judgment 
 authoritatively conclusive, infallibly certain, and altogether just 
 and equitable. Now, as it is not an article of faith amongst Ro- 
 man catholics, that any, but a General Council with the pope at its 
 head, is infallible, and as several centuries frequently intervene 
 between the convocation of these assemblies, it must follow that 
 they are uncertain whether they have any infallible guide to 
 direct them when a General Council is not in session. Moreover, 
 be their doctrine on this subject what it may, it is admitted by 
 their church that no individual bishop or priest is infallible. I 
 speak not here of the pope, in regard to whose infallibility they 
 are at variance amongst themselves. Now, if their bishops 
 and priests, who sit in the tribunal of confession, are fallible in 
 their judgment, their decisions may be erroneous : consequent- 
 ly their instructions to the poor souls under their direction, 
 may, instead of tending to the ^^ perfecting of the saints," and to 
 the " edifying of the body of Christ," Eph. iv. 12, may, I say, 
 tend to the subversion of the one, and the destruction of the 
 other. If the doctrine of the Roman catholic church were 
 correct, Christ our Lord would put us under the necessity of 
 sinning, because he commands us to hear the Church, under 
 the penalty of our salvation. 
 
 Seeing what would be the practical consequences of tliis 
 doctrine, the Roman catholic church has declared, that if a 
 bishop or priest should teach any doctrine evidently contra- 
 ry TO THE XAW OF GoD, their subjects would not be bound to 
 listen to him. 
 
 This EVIDENTLY CONTRARY TO THE LAW OF GOD That IS 
 
 the question. This admission of the legality, and even of the 
 necessity of appeal from the decisions of the constituted au- 
 thorities, at once demonstrates that the authority may be liable 
 to abuses productive of consequences the most fatal to the eter- 
 nal welfare of the people — They may appeal — This liberty of 
 appealing opens the door to anarchy and confusion, and at once 
 destroys that confidence which is essential to the authority of 
 the judge, and to the security and firm conviction of the sub- 
 ject. Evidently contrary — A thing may appear evidently 
 
40 RENUNCIATION OF POPERY. 
 
 contrary to one, which does not appear so to another. There- 
 fore, if that which is really contrary to the law of God does 
 NOT APPEAR so to the latter, he is bound, by the doctrine of 
 his church, to act contrary to the law of God. 
 
 Sin, in all its ramifications, in its different shades and com- 
 plexions, in its ten thousand various circumstances, is of such 
 a nature, that even the ablest divines in the Roman catholic 
 church, after writing volumes on the subject, never have drawn, 
 and never can draw the definitive line between what constitutes 
 sin and what constitutes virtue. What many of the Roman 
 catholic divines have defined to be sin, many others of them 
 have defined to be sinless. If the Doctors disagree, how can 
 the poor patient know what his disease may be. If the guides 
 mistake the path, how can it be supposed that the blind can 
 see it ? Now, " Tell it to the Church,''^ under circumstances 
 such as these, is a command that cannot possibly be obeyed; or, 
 if obeyed, will inevitably lead into sin, for if the blind lead the 
 blind both fall into the ditch. 
 
 Sin is an evil, a disease of the soul, which we cannot pru- 
 dently and safely suffer to be festering in the heart until the 
 meeting; of a General Council. Nor does the duration of a 
 life of threescore and ten admit the possibility of it ; therefore, 
 common sense and common safety must draw the conclusion 
 that since the Roman catholic church is not the infallible physi- 
 cian which she pretends to be, we must seek another who will, 
 at all times, be ready and be able to heal our soul of all her 
 spiritual infirmities. This Physician /thanks be unto the 
 Lord) is always with us, " The Spirit itself beareth tvitness 
 with our spirits, that we are the children of God.'' Rom. 
 viii. 16. It is by the influence of this Holy Spirit anointing 
 our hearts with the unction of divine love, that we can exclaim 
 with filial confidence, Abba, Father. 
 
 Thus we see that the Roman catholic system of infallibility 
 is a system which, when properly exposed, destroys itself. It 
 seems almost to have been like a loss of time, to examine the 
 grounds upon which the Roman catholic church pretends to 
 prove this self-destroying system of infallibility. I have done 
 it, however, for the sake of that number in her communion, 
 whose adherence to false principles is more attributable to want 
 
RENUNCIATION OF POPERY. 47 
 
 of correct information than to perversity of heart. For of 
 such is to be found in her communion. " God^ who willeth not 
 the death of the sinner^'* endeavours, by various means, to 
 withdnaw the wanderer from the error of his way. He does it 
 by the beacon of evangelical truth placed in the highway of life 
 to direct the traveller which path to pursue : by the instrumen- 
 tality of his servants, who admonish him to fix his eye on this 
 unerring Monitor, and ^^ press toward the mark, for the prize 
 of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus :" he does it by 
 the influence of his " Iloli/ Spirit shed abroad in our hearts." 
 Blessed be his everlasting name ; when my soul was without 
 form and void, when darkness hovered over the face of its 
 mighty depths, his genial spirit, moving upon these troubled 
 waters, vouchsafed, at length, to say, " Let there be light, and 
 there was light." For you, my brethren, who are still in the land 
 of Egypt and in the house of bondage, I offer my daily prayers 
 that God may send to your rescue another Moses, and that with 
 the outstretched arms of love, and the wonders of his grace, he 
 may lead you forth from the tyranny of cruel masters to serve 
 the true and living God ; that, instead of burning bricks with 
 straw, to build the edifice of superstition, you may enter into a 
 land flowing with milk and honey, and build a temple to your 
 God; a temple vv^herein he may be worshipped "z/i spirit and in 
 truth." Believe me, my brethren, you are following " cun- 
 ninglj/ devised fables," those false teachers of whom the apos- 
 tle Peter spoke, when he said, " Through covetousness shall 
 they, with feigned tvords, make m,erchandize of you, ivhose 
 judgment 7ioio of a long time li)igereth not, and their 
 damnation slufnbereth not." 2 Peter, ii. 3. 
 
 I have said that our divine legislator Jesus Christ has ap- 
 pointed an authority to interpret his law, an authority, too, that 
 is infallible. This authority is not the Roman pope, nor a 
 Roman catholic council. It is the Sph-it of God, " That Spirit 
 who searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God." 
 1 Cor. ii. 10. " Even so the things of God knoweth no man, 
 but the Spirit of God." Idem, ii. U. That the Spirit of 
 God is infallible no one denies. Now, if it be proved that 
 the Spirit of God is the interpreter of his law, of his Holy 
 Word that is revealed to us in the Sacred Scriptures, my point 
 
48 RENUNCIATION OP POPERY. 
 
 will be gained ; for when we find one infallible interpreter, it 
 is unnecessary to seek anothei'. — Hence, I argue, that that 
 *' Spirit toko searcheth all things, even the deep things of 
 God," " ivho knoweth the things of God," is intimatel}'" ac- 
 quainted with his holy law, and with all that appertains to it. 
 We shall now examine whether the Spirit of God manifests 
 this knowledge to all those who seek him in spirit and in 
 truth. The apostle expressly declares that " ive (that is him- 
 self and all the true followers of Christ), have received, not the 
 spirit of the ivorld, but the Spirit ivhich is of God ; that we 
 might know the things that are freely given to us of God." 
 Idem V. 12. " He that is spiritual judgeth all things." v. 15. 
 Now the law of God, his Divine Word revealed in the Sacred 
 Scriptures, is '^freely given to us of God ;" therefore, we, by 
 the Spirit of God, know his divine law, and holy Word ; be- 
 cause, the Holy Spirit, being infallible, can never lead those 
 whom he directs into error. 
 
 If it should be asked, " how are we to know whether it is 
 the Spirit of God that does direct us ?" I will answer with St. 
 Paul, " That the Spirit itself beareth ivitness with our spirit j 
 that we are the children of God." Rom. viii. 16. " That 
 he that is spiritual judgeth all things." 1 Cor. ii. 15. St. 
 John, indeed, says, " Believe not every spirit, but try the 
 spirits whether they are of God." 1 John, iv. 1. Christ, 
 the Redeemer, says '■Hhat ye shall know them by their fruits.^* 
 Matt. vii. 16. Paul tells us that " The fruit of the Spirit is 
 love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faithy 
 tneekness, temperance ; against such there is no laiv.^' Gal. v, 22. 
 He that beareth fruits such as these, he it is that is directed by 
 the Spirit of Christ : of them the Saviour has said, "lam the vine, 
 ye are the branches." John, xv. 5. It may be objected again, 
 " That a man may be deceived, and take that for the Spirit of 
 Christ which is not the Spirit of Christ, but a mere delusion of 
 his imagination." This is altogether possible. But is it a just 
 conclusion to say, because one man mistakes his way, every 
 man must mistake his way ? Because one man, who has not, 
 thinks he has the Spirit of Christ, therefore another, who has 
 the Spirit of Christ, cannot know "it? My argument relates to 
 those WHO HAVE the Spirit of Christ, not to those who merely 
 
RENUNCIATION OF POPERY. 49 
 
 THINK THEY HAVE. Tliose that HAVE IT, KNOW IT ; thosc that 
 
 MERELY THINK THEY HAVE IT, KNOW IT NOT. "BlcSSecl are yOUT 
 
 eyes (says our divine Lord to his disciples), for they see." 
 Matt, i^iii. 16. Yea, verily, all the true disciples of Christ the 
 Lord, both see, and feel, and know. " Let ijour light so shine 
 before men that they may see your good irorls, and ghinfy your 
 father who is in heaven." Matt. v. 16. But where is the light 
 of the pretended luminaries of infallibility ? Perchance it is in 
 the torch that glimmers in the bloody Inquisition. Where are 
 the " blessed ears irhich hear?" Perhaps they may be found 
 where the widow's sighs, robbed of her last farthing, drop on 
 the callous ears of a frozen-hearted confessor. " By this shall all 
 men Imoio that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." 
 John, xiii. 35. 
 
 " Love worketh no ill to his neighbour" says the apostle, Rom. 
 xiii. 10. To consume a fellow being in the flames, dressed in 
 robes upon which hideous devils are represented dragging the 
 poor victim into hell, symbolical of the misery to which they 
 now consign him, is, instead of working no ill to one's neigh- 
 bour, working the most diabolical and irreparable evil that 
 man or demon could devise. What ! no ill, to writhe in the 
 fiery floods of God's eternal vengeance ! Ey this do men know 
 
 THAT YOU ARE NOT IIIS DISCIPLES, for " /oiJg Uwlceth HO HI tO 
 
 his neighbour." "0/ that my head were icaters, and mine eyes a 
 fountain of tears, that I might iveep day and night for the slainofthe 
 daughter of my people?" ^'0 that I had {and I hope in God that I 
 have) in the wilderness a lodging-place of wayfaring men; that I may 
 leave my people, and go from them ! for they be all adulterers, an 
 assembly of treacherous men." Jer. ix. 1. Lord ! thou hast 
 said " / desired mercy and not saa'ifice." Hos. vi. 6. But those 
 who proclaim themselves priests of the most high God delight 
 in sacrifice, and not in mercy. Not the sacrifice of an '^humble 
 amd contrite heart," to which they are strangers ; but they de- 
 light to sacrifice the soul and body of a fellow being (a poor 
 defenceless heretic, as they call him) on the bloody alt;-rs of su- 
 perstition. His soul they consign to hell, his body to the 
 dogs, his ashes to the winds, and his memory to infamy. 
 
 Having now shown that the Roman catholic church is desti- 
 tute of every mark of being a Christian Church, and that her 
 
 G 
 
50 RENUNCIATION OF POPERY. 
 
 boasted prerogative of infallibility is a blasphemous false- 
 hood, I shall proceed to exhibit, in their true light, some of 
 those texts of Scripture, which she wrenches from the true 
 meaning in support of her erroneous doctrine. 
 
 After the resurrection of our divine Lord, he appears unto 
 his disciples, and commissions them, sayingj" ^//^o?^er is given 
 unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all 
 nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, 
 and of the Holy Ghost ; teaching them to observe all things 
 whatsoever I have commanded you : and h, I am with you always, 
 even unto the end of the world." Matt, xxviii. 18. Romanist 
 argument on said text — " Here, Christ, with the plenary powers 
 of the Deity, invests the apostles with the' same plenitude of 
 power, and commissions them to teach all nations unto the end 
 of the world, promising to be with them, that is, promising to 
 direct them, with the infallibility of truth, in all their instruc- 
 tions to mankind, over whom he places them with supreme 
 authority. The apostles are long since dead, consequently 
 his promises must be extended to their lawful successors in the 
 hierarchy." 
 
 Protestant exposition of said text : — The apostles, morally 
 speaking, did teach all nations in their day, either by word of 
 mouth, or by their epistles inspired by the Holy Ghost. Al- 
 though their bodies have, long since, been consigned to their 
 mother e^rth, they still instruct mankind by their inspired 
 Word, left, and transmitted to us, by the overruling provi- 
 dence of him who is able to preserve his Word for our instruc- 
 tion and perfection through the longest series of ages, till time 
 shall be no more. Thus it is that our divine Lord fulfils his pro- 
 mise of being with his apostles always, even to the end of time. 
 "*^/Z Scripture (says the apostle) is given by inspiration of God, 
 and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for connection, for in- 
 struction IN RIGHTEOUSNESS ; that the man of God may be 
 perfect, thoroughlv furnished unto all good works." 
 2 Tim. iii. 16. This clear and express testimony of the apos- 
 tle, that the Scripture is amply sufficient for our in- 
 struction in righteousness, and that, with it, we are 
 thoroughly furnished unto all good works, supersedes 
 the necessity of any other argument in confirmation of the as- 
 
RENUNCIATION OF POPERY. 51 
 
 sertion, that the Scriptures alone are sufFicient for our instruc- 
 tion, and that, in them, the apostles teach, and will teach man- 
 kind, " even unto the end of the vorld" This sacred Oracle is 
 " the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever.''- Its pure and reviving 
 streams, flowing from the bosom of divine Love, irrigates the 
 barren soil of the human heart, mollifies its stubborn nature, and 
 by the genial influence of God's invigorating Spirit, causes it 
 to bring forth fruits of holiness unto everlasting life. Such is 
 our Guide, the Herald of unfading Truth ; not the pretended 
 successors, whose lives are a stigma of reproach, and whose 
 morals, a sink of corruptions. The Sacred Oracles were in- 
 spired by the Holy Ghost, and can be understood by none but 
 those who are moved by the Holy Ghost. Little wonder 
 then, that the Infallible Guides know nothing of them. Scrip- 
 ture is invariably the same, and bright as the sun. Romanism 
 has as many phases as the moon, but not a glimmering of truth 
 to direct the traveller on his way. 
 
 Christ has promised that i\\G " gates of hell shall not prevail 
 against his Church." Matt. xvi. IS. But from what has been 
 already shown, and from ten thousand times as much, which 
 might be shown, the gates of hell have prevailed against the 
 Roman catholic church ; therefore that church is not the Church 
 of Christ. 
 
 ^^ And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and somCf 
 evangelists , and some, pastors and teachers ; for the ■perfecting 
 of the saints ; for the icork of the jninistry ; for the edifying of the 
 body of Christ,^^^'C. Eph. iv. 11. Roman catholics contend 
 that their popes, bishops, and priests are those apostles, pro- 
 phets, and evangelists. Our divine Lord, however, declares the 
 contrary, — He says'that " the things of God knoweth no man, but 
 the spirit of God." 1 Cor. ii. 11. The apostle Paul informs us, 
 saying, "[fe have 7'eceived, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit 
 which is of God, that ice might know the things that are freely: 
 given to us of God : He that is spiritual judgeth all things." 1 Cor. 
 ii. 12. 15. Now when Roman catholics can prove that all 
 their popes, bishops, and priests are spiritual men, in the sense 
 alluded to by the apostle, then we will recognise them as our 
 evangelical doctors. The apostles, and teachers, spoken of in the 
 text, w^ere ''for the perfecting of the saints, for the edifying of the 
 
53 RENUNCIATION OF POPERY. 
 
 body of Christ :" consequently their lives must have been pure and 
 holy ; not like those of many of the Roman pontiffs, stained 
 with, every vice that the depravity of human nature was suscep- 
 tible of. 
 
 That the offices spoken of in the text under consideration 
 terminated with the apostolic age, and were never resumed, is 
 evident, because if the functions of the ministry spoken of in the 
 text were intended to be transmitted through an uninterrupted 
 succession of men to the consummation of ages ; I would ask, 
 where are now tlie prophets and evangelists ? Those prophets 
 in the text spoke and prophesied, and their prophecies have 
 been fulfilled, and are still fulfilling ; especially those of St. 
 John, in regard to the Beast, and to Babylon the Great. 
 
 The epistles, the gospels, the prophecies, the instructions of 
 the above-named apostles, evangelists, prophets, and teachers, 
 we now, by the grace of God, possess in the Sacred Scriptures, 
 and for the ends for which they were proposed ; and it is the 
 Spiritual man alone, who is the competent j'^tZge of the Spirit of 
 the Laio. 
 
 If man were a perfect being, there would be a universal simi- 
 larity of judgment. Hence the Scriptures, being an expression 
 of God's perfect will, must necessarily enjoin that which is ab- 
 solutely perfect, although man never will attain, in his fallen 
 state, that absolute perfection which the law exhibits. Christ 
 is the only one, born of a woman, who ever possessed all 
 the evangelical perfections ; to say that any mere man ever 
 possessed them all, would be saying that man is as perfect as 
 Christ, (his divinity and man's original sin excepted.) This, 
 it is presumable, not even a Jesuit would affirm. The Scrip- 
 tures, when made the rule of our life, and studied under the in- 
 fluence of the Holy Spirit, will assuredly prevent our being 
 tossed about by every wind of doctrine ; because he who 
 anchors his hopes in" Jesus Christ, and obeys his Word, will 
 never be moved. If a man holds the fundamental doctrine of 
 salvation, his speculative opinions will never break the cords 
 of love which bind him to his God. 
 
 If it should be asked ; "What are the fundamental doctrines ?'' 
 I will couch them in the words of the apostle Paul : " Lave is 
 (he fulfilling of the law." Rom. xiii. 10. He that loves God will 
 
RENUNCIATION OF POPERY. 5« 
 
 never believe a doctrine that will separate him from the object 
 of his love." " lie that is spiritual judgeth all things;" all things 
 necessary for his salvation. This must be the meaning of the 
 text, f*r there are things that no man knovveth : " 0/ that day 
 and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, hut my 
 father only.'' Matt. xxiv. 36. Therefore to be " thoroughly fur- 
 nished unto all good icorhs," let the sincere inquirer have recourse 
 to the Word of God, revealed in the Sacred Scriptures, and he 
 will find them all-sufficient "for instruction in righteousness.'^ 
 2 Tim. iii. 16. 
 
 The erroneousness of a man's judgment, provided that error 
 of judgment is not calculated to separate him from the love of 
 God, will never be a subject of condemnation to him. There 
 are no two men on earth whose judgment, in every thing, natu- 
 ral and supernatural, certain and uncertain, is precisely the 
 same. From the very constitution of our nature it is impossible 
 that it can be the same. Therefore, provided our judgment is 
 not calculated, as I have said before, to separate us from the love 
 of God, it will never be, and cannot be, a subject of condemna- 
 tion to us. If I love God, let my judgment be what it will, I 
 am safe. Do you love God, and let your judgment be what it 
 may, and you will be safe. Let our neighbour love God, and let 
 his judgment be what it may, and he will be safe. Our judg- 
 ments may all be different, but provided we love God, we all 
 will be safe. To love God is the fundamental point; this the 
 Scriptures positively assure us. " Thou shalt love the Lord thy 
 God icith all thy heart, and idth all thy soul, and icith all thy mind. 
 This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like 
 unto it, thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two 
 
 COMMANDMENTS HANG ALL THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS." 
 
 Matt. xxii. 37, 38, 39. " Love (says the apostle) is the fulfilling 
 of the law." Rom. xiii. 10. "And this (says our blessed Re- 
 deemer) is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true 
 God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." John xvii. 3. 
 Those that love God will keep his commandments ; and in 
 keeping his commandments they will have the evidence that 
 they love him: "For this is the love of God, that ve keep his com- 
 mandments." 1 John v. 3. And in keeping them, " The Spirit 
 itself heareth witness with, our spirit, that we are the children of 
 
54 RENUNCIATION OF POPERY. 
 
 Gof/." Rom. viii. 16. He that loveth God, having the witness 
 of the Spirit within himself, will have no fear, no uneasiness in 
 regard to fundamentals and non-fundamentals; because, as the 
 apostle says, " Perfect love casteih out fear." I John iv. 18. 
 This preaching of the cross to the vain curiosity of speculative 
 divines, ^^ Is to them that perish, foolishness ; hut unto us who are 
 saved, it is the power of God, and the wisdom ofGod^ 1 Cor. i. 18. 24. 
 I shall now proceed to show that the same powers which 
 were granted to the apostles and disciples of Christ, were not to 
 continue longer than the natural life of the apostles themselves. 
 Our divine Lord, after his resurrection, commissioning the 
 apostles to preach the gospel, says, " Go ye into all the world, 
 and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth, 
 and is baptized, shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall 
 be damned. Jind these signs shall follow them that believe : 
 In my name shall they cast out devils ; they shall speak 
 with new tongues ; they shall take up serpents ; and if they 
 drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them ; they shall 
 lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.'^ Mark xvi. 15. 
 Such was the power of grace in the apostolic days. These 
 effects of converting grace have long since ceased. Christ, when 
 he sent his apostles to preach, gave them power " To heal the 
 sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils; freely 
 ye have received, freely give.'^ Matt. x. 8. These powers have 
 also ceased: the dead are never raised, nor will they be, till the 
 last trumpet shall call them forth to judgment. That the expres- 
 sions of the text in question are to betaken in their natural and 
 obvious sense, we prove from the circumstance of the apostles' 
 actually performing what they had the power to do. For bre- 
 vity sake, I will adduce but a few of the miracles performed by 
 the apostles. First, that of Peter, who cured a certain man, 
 lame from his mother's womb. Acts iii. 2. Of Paul, who raised 
 the man to life who had fallen from the third story. Acts xx. 9. 
 " There came also a multitude out of the cities round about 
 Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them that were vexed 
 with unclean spirits, and they were healed every one." Acts 
 V. 16. 
 
 In like manner the power of discerning spirits, and forgiving 
 sins, was also imparted to the apostles : this power also has 
 
RENUNCIATION OF POPERY. 55 
 
 ceased. These powers and many others were given to the 
 apostles, and were promised to them alone. They alone, as 
 Roman catholics themselves are forced to admit, were inspired. 
 Consequently, the Holy Spirit directing their operations, there 
 was no danger of their ahusing the powers with which they 
 were invested. The pretended apostles of the present day, 
 (as St, Bernard observed, speaking of the profligate pre- 
 lacy in his time) " who all wished to be the successors of the 
 apostles, but few, to be their imitators ;" these pretended 
 apostles, I say, uninspired as they are, have the audacity, and 
 are sacrilegious enough to claim the same powers with which 
 the apostles were invested. I say they have the audacity, be- 
 cause there is not a shadow of authority to support the claim ; 
 and being uninspired, and many of them wallowing in sin, 
 it is a blasphemy to pretend they can forgive the sins of others. 
 " Physician, heal thyself," says the Scripture. And again, " Thou 
 hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye ; and then 
 shalt thou see clearly to cast 07it the mote out of thy brother''s eyeP 
 Matt. vii. 5. Your priests make " merchandize'''' of you, and 
 of the souls of your departed brethren ; who, as I have shown 
 unto you, must remain in the torments of purgatory for want 
 of money to pay the priest for their release. ! my friends, 
 you cannot be healed, and never will be, till you apply to the 
 Great Physician for yourself, and not through those who are 
 spiritually dead themselves, nor through any others. Hearken 
 to this Great and Good Physician :' " Ho^ (says he,) every one 
 that thirsieth, come yc to the waters, and he that hath no 
 MONEY : come ye, buy and eat ; yea, come, buy tvine and 
 milk WITHOUT MONEY." Isa. Iv. 1. Pay no more "money 
 therefore to your priests for masses. Money can never deliver 
 the souls of your departed friends from hell or purgatory. Let 
 their money perish with them, for their " heart is not right 
 before God," because they " have thought that the gift 
 of God may be purchased with money." Acts, viii. 20, 21. 
 Whereas, " None of them can by any means redeem his bro- 
 ther, nor give to God a ransom for him." Ps. xlix. 7. Jesus 
 invites you to " co7ne without money." Why will you not 
 come ? 
 
 " Peter, feed my lambs, * * feed my sheep." John, xxi. 
 
56 RENUNCIATION OF POPERY. 
 
 This is the text which Roman catholics adduce to prove that 
 Peter was constituted the head of the Church. The injunction 
 of our divine Lord was thrice repeated. This threefold repeti- 
 tion was made in relation to Peter's having thrice denied his 
 Lord. His divine Master, therefore, now requires of him 
 a threefold avowal of his firm attachment, and by thrice enjoin- 
 ing to feed his flock, he seems to admonish him, in a gentle 
 and tender manner, of his past presumption. If Peter's be- 
 ing merely told to feed the flock were a proof of his being con- 
 stituted head of the Church, we have the same proof to de- 
 monstrate that all the apostles were constituted the head of the 
 Church ; for we read, in the Acts, that the elders of the Church 
 were commanded to " take heed to all the flock, over which 
 the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the Church 
 of God.^' Acts, XX. 28. "A fortiori," the rest of the apostles 
 had equal power. 
 
 " Thou art Peter, and on this rock I will build my 
 Church.^^ * * '■^And I will give unto thee the keys of the king- 
 dom ofheavenP Matt. xvi. 18. The text does not say that Christ 
 will build his Church upon Peter alone ; therefore Roman 
 catholics beg the question when they affirm that the Church is 
 built upon Peter alone. However, to put all cavilling out of 
 the case, we will bring the testimony of St. Paul upon the sub- 
 ject : Addressing the Church of Ephesus, he says, " Now, 
 therefore, ye are no more strangers, and foreigners, but fel- 
 low-citizens with the saints, and of the Household of God ; 
 and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and 
 PROPHETS, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone. 
 In lohom, all the building fitly framed together, groweth to- 
 gether unto a HOLY Temple in the LordP Eph. ii. 20. 
 Christ, moreover, did not say unto Peter, I do build my Church 
 upon this rock, but I will build my Church : also of the 
 keys, he does not say I do give thee the keys, but I will give. 
 Roman catholics themselves acknowledge that it was not until 
 the day of Pentecost that the apostles received their plenary 
 powers ; therefore, we must examine, whether, upon that day, 
 any distinction of power was conferred by our Lord Jesus 
 Christ on the apostles. Now to the law, and to the testimony 
 Our Lord, previous to his ascension, commands his apostles, 
 
KENUNCIATION OF POPERY. 57 
 
 saying, " Tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until ye he en- 
 dued withpower from on high.'''' Luke, xxiv : and in Acts 
 we read, " when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were 
 all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came 
 a sound from heaven, as of i rushing mighty loind, and it 
 filled all the house where they were sitting. Jlnd there ap- 
 peared unto them, cloxicn tongues, like as of fire, and it sat 
 upon each of them. Jlnd they were all filled ivith the 
 Holy Ghost." Acts, ii. From these texts it is evident that 
 grace and power were conferred equally upon all the apostles. 
 This was the time when they were endued with power to con- 
 duct the Church, and being fdled with the Holy Ghost, to go 
 forth and preach the gospel. Here, then, was the time, if there 
 was any distinctive power to be conferred on Peter, that it cer- 
 tainly would have been manifested. However, no such dis- 
 tinction was made ; because all were considered equally as the 
 foundations upon which the Church was built. Christ, there- 
 fore, here fulfils what he had said to Peter. He builds his 
 Church upon him as he does also on all the rest of the apostles. 
 Thus, St. John, speaking of the Church, under the epithet of 
 the " new Jerusalem" expressly declares that " the wall of the 
 city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of 
 the twelve apostles f^ and that " the wall had twelve gates.^^ 
 Rev. xxi. 
 
 Thus we see that the Church was built upon the twelve 
 
 APOSTLES COLLECTIVELY, and NOT UPON PetER ALONE, aS St. 
 
 Paul has also expressly declared in his epistle to the Ephesians, 
 which I have already quoted, ch. ii. 20. The opponents of the 
 truth may object that this text relates to the Church tri- 
 umphant, I answer, that it has a relation both to the Church tri- 
 umphant, and to the Church militant. That it has a relation to 
 the Church militant, when it speaks of the tvvelve founda- 
 tions, I prove from the declaration of St. Paul, who says express- 
 ly that the Church is" built upon the foundation of the apostles" 
 Eph. ii. 20. And in his epistle to the Hebrews, ch. xii. 22, 
 he even calls the Church militant " the city of the living God, 
 the heavenly Jerusalem." Therefore, either the apostles must 
 be wrong in telling us that the Church is built upon the founda- 
 tion of the twelve apostles, or else the Roman catholic church 
 
 H 
 
58 RENUNCIATION OF POPERY. 
 
 must be wrong in affirming that the Church of Christ is built 
 upon the foundation of Peter alone. 
 
 " Jind I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of 
 heaven.^' By this is signified the power of pardoning or re- 
 mitting sin, inasmuch as it is sin that closes the door of heaven 
 against us. Christ, again, does not say that Peter alone shall 
 retain the keys ; that is, that he alonk shall have the power 
 of pardoning or remitting sin. On the contrary, Christ assures us 
 that he had delegated to all the apostles the same power as 
 TO Peter. For having " breathed on them, he saith unto them.j 
 receive ye the Holy Ghost : Whose soever sins ye remit, they 
 are remitted unto them ; and whose soever sins ye retain, 
 
 THEY ARE RETAINED." John XX. 22, 23. 
 
 When Roman catholics are accused of worshipping creatures 
 with supreme adoration, they deny it. Their church, however, 
 declares that creatures ought to be worshipped with supreme 
 adoration. To prove my assertion, it will be sufficient if I make 
 it manifest that it is the doctrine of the Roman catholic church 
 that creatures ought to be worshipped with supreme adoration. 
 Thomas Aquinas, otherwise styled the angelical Doctor, ex- 
 pressly teaches that " The cross of Christ is to be worshipped 
 with the SAME adoration with Christ, that is, with the 
 adoration op latri^ (supreme worship) ; and for this reason 
 (says he) we also address the cross, and pray to it, as if it were he 
 who was crucified himself. For the church sings : 'Hail,0! Cross, 
 our only hope in this time of sufiering, increase the righteous- 
 ness of the pious, and pardon the guilty.' Crux Christi adora- 
 tur, adoratione latrise." Thorn. Aquin. iii. Q. 25. Art. 4.* 
 
 The theology of this celebrated divine is admitted by the 
 Roman catholic church to be sound and orthodox, and is taught 
 in her schools. Consequently, the Roman catholic church 
 teaches that the cross of Christ is to be worshipped with su- 
 preme adoration ; therefore, Roman catholics, if they are not 
 idolaters, must be heretics. Take it either way ; if they re- 
 main in the doctrine they now hold, they must be lost, because 
 idolatry and heresy are both damnable sins. If they reject the 
 
 * See his works in the Philadelphia Library, in folio, No. 248, page 53 of the 
 3d part 
 
RENUNCIATION OF POPERY. 59 
 
 doctrine of their own cluircli, Ili(>y arc heretics; if they believe 
 it, they are idolaters. How applicable are the words of St. 
 Paul on this occasion. " Professing themselves to be wise, they 
 became fools, and changed the glory of the inco7'7'iijitible 
 God into an image made like to corruptible man. Who 
 changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and 
 served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for 
 ever." Rom. i. 22, 23. 25. 
 
 As protestants, we maintain that the pompous ceremonies, 
 the extravagant profusion of decorations, and the multitude of 
 statues and paintings with which the churches in Roman catho- 
 lic countries are encumbered, instead of tending to elevate the 
 soul to God, and fixing the attention on him, has a tendency 
 altogether the reverse. Hence it was, that in the days of Ber- 
 nard, when these gorgeous exhibitions had reached their climax, 
 under the sanction of Holy Mother Church, the saint with in- 
 dignation exclaimed (speaking of the church), " There is so 
 great and such an astonishing variety of different figures pre- 
 sented, on all sides, to the view, that the people prefer reading 
 upon the marble stones, than reading in books, and to spend the 
 whole day in wondering at these things, rather than in meditat- 
 ing upon the law of God. The stones of the church are clothed 
 in gold, while her children are left destitute and naked.^' Ber- 
 nard, Apol. p. 992. 
 
 If these are the effects that result from the authority of the 
 Infallible Guide, and the practices of her clergy, we prefer, and 
 think it safer to remain fallible as we are, and to take the Scrip- 
 tures for our guide ; we shall not then clothe our walls in gold, 
 and leave our poor to nakedness and want. Were such our 
 folly, or had we such hearts of stone, this unerring and disin- 
 terested GUIDE would soon check us in the words of the 
 apostle John, " Whoso hath this ivorld''s good, and seeth his 
 brother have need, and shut teth up his bowels of compassion 
 from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him ?" 1 John 
 iii. 17. 
 
 As an appendix to the above, we shall quote a few more 
 words from the Saint, that the reader may have a clearer view 
 of the degradation into which the human mind was sunk in 
 those days when Romanism was at her highest pitch of exalta- 
 
QO RENUNCIATION OF POPERY. 
 
 tion: speaking of the bishops of the church he exclaims, "For 
 we know that since the}^ (the ])ishops) are become debtors to the 
 wise and to the unwise, they excite the devotion of a carnal 
 MINDED PEOPLE BY CORPORAL ORNAMENTS, bccausc tliey Can- 
 not do it by spiritual. They show them the beautiful figure of 
 some saint, who is thought to be the holier in proportion to the 
 brilliancy of its colours. Men rush to kiss it, and are invited 
 to BESTOW A GIFT, 'invitantur ad donandum,' while they ad- 
 mire its beauty rather than venerate what is holy." Bernard, 
 Apol. 992. 
 
 They excite the devotion of a carnal minded people (says the 
 Saint). He does not mean by this, that their devotion is ex- 
 cited by such shows, for just before he said that these carnal 
 minded people " preferred spending the whole day in wonder- 
 ing at these things, rather than to be meditating on the law of 
 God." He could have meant nothing else, therefore, than that 
 these splendid images were placed in the churches under the 
 PRETENCE of exciting devotion, while the real object was, that 
 the " foolish people" (as he calls them) might " bestow a 
 GIFT," " invitantur ad donandum." " To he carnally minded 
 (says the apostle) is death." Rom. viii. 6. Therefore it must 
 follow that the multitude of " carnal minded people" of whom 
 the Saint was speaking, were in a state of death and condemna- 
 tion: these were the multitudes too, whom the Infallible Guides 
 thought fit to excite in their devotions by "corporal ornaments," 
 and they are " invited to bestow a gift." We protestants, 
 with the Bible alone for our guide, never have been, and never 
 can be duped in such a manner as this! Having the Lord and 
 maker of heaven and earth to worship, we shall never cry out; 
 " 0! crux ave, spes unica!" " Hail! 0! cross, our only hope !" 
 
 It is sufficiently evident, from the tenor of St. Bernard's dis- 
 course, that the abominations which he deprecates were uni- 
 versal ; that they were so, however, is put beyond a doubt by 
 the Saint himself, when he expressly tells us that " The putrid 
 contagion has crept through the whole body of the church, 
 and the malady is inward, and cannot be healed." Bernard, 
 1727. 
 
 I have now shown, in a short, concise, clear, and demonstra- 
 tive manner, how Roman catholics have been obliged to mangle 
 
RENUNCIATION OF POPERY. 61 
 
 the word of God, in order to prop up the tottering edifice of 
 their Infallible Church, the pillar and ground of truth. 
 
 The Church of Christ, in its strict sense, I once more repeat 
 it, cormists of the saints alone ; not of the heterogeneous and 
 polluted mass which Roman catholics pretend ; not of the cha- 
 racters which their champion Bossuet himself declared stood in 
 need of reformation both in the head and members. " Christ 
 gave himself for his Church, that he might sanctify and 
 cleanse it ivith the ivashing of water by the loord. That he 
 might present it to himself a glorious Church, not having 
 spot or ivrinkle, or any such thing ; but that it should be holy 
 and ivithout blemish.'^ Eph. v. 2(i. 
 
 It is astonishing to see to what lengths the perversity of the 
 human mind can stretch itself in the support of error. When 
 we press the Roman catholics to prove that their church is holy, 
 forgetting, or laying aside, their own definition which they have 
 given of the church, they gravely tell us that their church is 
 holy, QUOAD DOCTRiNAM ; that is, that her doctrine is holy, 
 and that she is holy in regard to many of her members : of 
 her HEADS, they lisp not a word. Christ, however, did not give 
 himself for the doctrine op his " Church that he might 
 
 SANCTIFV IT and cleanse it with the washing of WATER 
 
 BY the Word." His doctrine was always holy and always 
 clean. The Holy Ghost, speaking of the Church, exclaims, 
 " My dove, my undefiled is one ; fair as the moon, clear as 
 the suji." Solomon's Song, vi. 9, 10. If the Church be com- 
 posed of reprobates, as well as of saints, it would be repugnant 
 to the idea of One, and to innocence, typified by the dove. If 
 sin and sanctity can be considered as One, or a wolf and a lamb 
 as a dove, then we will grant to Roman catholics that their 
 church has the title which they claim. 
 
 As the present discussion is now about to be closed in the 
 number of sixty-four pages, I shall avail myself of the short 
 space which the limits I have affixed to this publication will 
 allow me, in making a few desultory reflections. 
 
 A system of religion, the influence of which tends to the sub- 
 version of morality, and the peace and prosperity of the civil 
 government, cannot be good, much less divine. That such is 
 the tendency of Romanism has been clearly shown. Let any 
 
62 RENUNCIATION OF POPERY. 
 
 impartial observer take a view of the state of society at the pre- 
 sent day ; let him make a tour through those parts of the world 
 where Romanism is in her most flourishing condition, and he 
 will see that the Holy Day of the Lord presents, of all days, a 
 spectacle of almost universal licentiousness. I have been in 
 New Orleans and in Europe, therefore I know : others have 
 travelled, and they know, that on that Sacred Day markets are 
 thronged ; stores almost universally opened ; factories, where 
 hundreds are employed, are busily occupied in spinning and 
 weav^ing ; houses are building ; men are seen gambling publicly 
 in the streets and squares, and theatres are thronged. In Spanish 
 countries this is the day for bull-fights and cock-fights, in which 
 the clergy are amongst the foremost of the rabble. With what 
 indignation do we read the Bull of the Infallible Hjead of 
 the church, who, no later than the year 1815, sanctions some 
 of these horrid profanations! The 24th article of the Bull 
 to which I refer runs thus : " Every ecclesiastic, deacon, sub- 
 deacon, &c. is forbidden to appear at any play-house in his reli- 
 gious habits. The play-houses are to remain shut every 
 Friday throughout the year. No ecclesiastic is to go into a 
 play-house, in whatever habit, on Wednesdays and Saturdays, 
 but HE MAY ON SuNDAYs! ! !" Bull of Pope Pius VII. January 1, 
 1815. Contrast this, the influence of popery, with protestant- 
 ism. Walk through the streets of this our own city of bro- 
 therly love on the Lord's Sacred Day. All doors are closed, 
 except those of its numerous churches, which are crowded with 
 her pious citizens. No sound of hammer to be heard, no buying 
 and selling, no weaving nor house building, no promiscuous 
 multitude of priests and plebeians thronging to bull-baits and 
 cock-fights, to gambling-houses or theatres; but those who are 
 seen in public move, as by simultaneous impulse, towards the 
 house of God, to hear the word of life, and offer up their prayers. 
 Let me once more repeat it ; the Bible is a safer and a better 
 rule of conduct than the bulls of popes, the decrees of councils, 
 or the maxims of the casuist. The Bible will never sanction the 
 profanation of the Sabbath ; never publish a bloody edict for the 
 exterminating of our fellow beings, for " Christ came not to 
 destroy meri's lives but to save themf^ never pervert the 
 signification of an alms-deed, to that of the taking from the 
 
RENUNCIATION OF POPERY. 63 
 
 poor to give to the rich ; never authorize us to cast pearls before 
 swine, that is, to confer a sacrament on those whose lives is a 
 scandal to humanity ; the Bibie forbids all simonaical exactions, 
 '■'■ freely you have 7'eceivcd, freely give.'^ No prayers for the 
 dead are offered there, '■'' for where the tree falleth there shall 
 it he ;" no adoration oi lignum cruets the wood of the cross is 
 permitted by that sacred law, ''/or the Lord thy God shalt 
 thou worship, and him only shall thou serve:'" no intercession 
 of the saints in glory is intimated there, because ^Hf arty man 
 sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the 
 righteous ; for there is one God, and one mediator between 
 God and man, the man Christ Jesus." 
 
 I shall now close the discussion, I entered upon it, prompt- 
 ed by an irresistible impulse. My only motive is the glory of 
 God, and the good of my fellow beings. My bosom, swelled 
 with emotions of gratitude to the Divine Being for having 
 liberated me from the land of Egypt and the house of bondage, 
 glows with an ardent desire of leading forth the captives of Is- 
 rael, from the power of their oppressors, to a land which flows 
 with milk and honey. 
 
 May the picture I have drawn, and the arguments I have 
 used, be viewed with impartiality, and weighed in the scales of 
 the sanctuary. May Reason, with her discriminating eye, 
 penetrate the importance of the subject I have treated, and pass 
 her sentence on it. I have written according to the dictates of 
 my feelings, and the convictions of my mind, not to wound the 
 heart of any, nor to bias the judgment in the favour of truth. 
 Freedom of conscience, and tlie liberty of the press is guaran- 
 tied unto us by the constitution of our country. Her free-born 
 sons, I hope, never will be slaves, never sanction an authority 
 which proscribes the liberty of the press, nor bend the knee to 
 any but the God of heaven. The triple crown of spiritual roy- 
 alty but ill befits the genius of our land. If our citizens are to 
 fall, may it be in the defence of liberty, and not as victims of 
 superstitious irvtolerance and bigotry under the Man of Sin. 
 May their hearts be consumed with fraternal love, and never 
 burn with the fires of religious phrensy. May their " light so 
 shine before men," that, seeing their good works, they may 
 glorify our Father who is in heaven : but never shine in the 
 
54 RENUNCIATION OF POPERY. 
 
 gloomy horrors of the Inquisition, as a torch to kindle the 
 fagots that superstition piles around her devoted victims. May 
 the thundering anathema, with its bloody edicts, never resound 
 in our halls, nor pollute our shores with Christian blood. The 
 King of Death has terrors enough, without the galling chain of 
 papal dungeons ; without her wheels, and racks, and dislocating 
 screws ; without her fire and fagots. There are devils enough 
 on earth, and in the hearts cf men, without insulting suiTering 
 humanity by painting them on the caps of devoted victims, as 
 is done at the Auto da fe's of the inquisition. We are still free: 
 let us guard our happy institutions, and beware of a rival. May 
 the great Sovereign of nations keep us under his protecting 
 care, and screen us from the danger that surrounds us. My 
 fellow citizens and Christian brethren, may the Gospel of truth 
 direct us through the path of life, the glory of God be the polar 
 star and the only motive of our actions, and the welfare of 
 mankind the struggle of our lives. May liberty, conscience, 
 and love cement our hearts together ; and, hand in hand, may 
 we journey on towards that happy country, where the wicked 
 shall cease to trouble, and the weary are at restc 
 
 PLUS ULTRA. 
 
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