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YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

LECTURES

THE POINTS IN CONTROVERSY

BETWEEN

ROMANISTS AND PROTESTANTS.

HON. AND REV. B. W. NOEL,
REV. CHARLES JERRAM, REV. J. H. STEWART,

REV. W. F. VANCE,
REV. HUGH M'NEILE,
HON. AND REV. G. T. NOEL.

REV. W. MARSH,
REV. J. W. CUNNINGHAM,
REV. R. W. SIBTHORP.

PHILADELPHIA:
PBESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PtJBLICATION.
JAMES BDSSELI., PUBLISHINO AGENT.
1840.

PHILADELPHIA:
JOSK C. CLARK, PBIITTEB.

THE

RIGHT OF PRIVATE JUDGMENT.

HON. AND REV. BAPTIST W. NOEL, M.A.
1 Peter iii. 15. — Be ready always to give an answer to every man
that asketli you a reason of the hope that is in you, with meekness
and fear.
The religious hope of a Christian requires him in many
things to separate himself from irreligious persons, while
he invites them to believe humiliating truths, and to
adopt self-denying habits, with the additional assurance,
that an eternal condemnation will be the reward of un
belief. He should, therefore, be able to justify a hope
which involves so many offensive peculiarities. Now,
as he must justify it to those who oppose him, he should
do it with meekness; and as it regards his own personal
salvation, he may well do it with fear.
His hope includes his own personal salvation; and he
should be able to show grounds for this. But he must
do more: for his individual salvation depending upon
the existence and power of the Saviour, in whom he
trusts, he should be able to establish these. In other
words, he must, before he can convince others or obtain
well-grounded peace for himself, be able to prove the
truth of the Christian doctrines. Now, as a strong per
suasion of these truths, however satisfactory to the person
himself, affords no proof of them to another, this will not
satisfy the direction of the text: a proof of them is still
to be rendered. That our fathers have believed them ;
that they are received by the common consent of Chris
tians; that we have been taught so from childhood; —
though some evidence for them, is not sufficient; because

4 THE RIGHT OP PEIVATB JUDGMENT.
the Jiindoo and the Mussulman can plead antiquity and
the consent of numbers for their belief, as well as we.
Two methods alone of proving them occur; either,
I. The Bible being proved to be divine, we may re
ceive these truths from it; or,
II. We may receive them from a living church which
we know to be infallible.
The Christian doctrines being true, one of these ways
of proving them must hold good, because God cannot
have called us to believe them without proof, and no
other method of proving them is pretended. If the
second be the right method, the first must be super
fluous. If the second be improbable, the first becomes
in the same degree probable. And if the second be
proved false, the first is demonstrated to be true, because
one must hold good.
I. Is there, then, an infallible church, upon whose
authority I may safely receive the Christian doctrines?
If there be such, it mu,st be the Church of Rome, for
no other particular church claims to be so; and the
question is, therefore, whether the Roman Catholic
Church be so indeed. Now, before any examination of
evidence, her claims at once appear suspicious, because
the pretence of infallible wisdom, if successful, would
gratify the pride, avarice, and ambition of her clergy.
By erecting an absolute despotism over their consciences,
it would enable them to give or hold back religious truth
from the laity; to wrest it at their pleasure; and to mix
up with it any profitable fables which might suit their
views. — Again: if this wisdom were not real, but pre
tended, the decisions of the church would occasionally
contradict the decisions of Scripture, and this must be
concealed. To this end the clergy must debar men tlie
right of judging Scripture. But men cannot read with
out in some measure judging: reading, therefore, must
be likewise discouraged. And lest, even in the absence
of scriptural knowledge, some suspicions of her falli
bility should force themselves into the minds of her
disciples, they must inculcate that doubt is sin. All
this would naturally take place on the supposition that
the infallibility were an invention, because then discre-

THE RIGHT OF PKIVATE JUDGMENT. 5
pancies must ensue; but if the infallibility were real,
there would be no discrepancies, and therefore those pre
cautions would not be used. But they have been used
by the clergy of Rome, and its claims are thereby ren
dered suspicious.
At all events, the strong temptation which the Roman
clergy were under to invent the doctrine, and the sus
picious precautions which they have taken to support it,
should make reasonable persons ask for more than ordi
nary proofs that the doctrine is not an invention. With
such proofs they must surely be prepared; for without
them, a doctrine so questionable must fall by its own
improbability. They bring proof from unwritten tradition. But the
proof is as suspicious as the claim, because they alone
have had the custody of it: still they are witnesses in
their own cause; and since ecclesiastics may be worldly
as well as other men, they might falsify the tradition, or
misconstrue it, when orally handed down through so
many centuries, several of which are confessed to have
been ages of imposture, venality, priestly despotism, and
universal ignorance. Written tradition they cannot ad
duce, since "there is not one Father, for five hundred
years after Christ, that says in plain terms that the
Church of Rome is infallible."* Much less can they
adduce the tradition which alone could establish the
claim, — the written,apostolic, universal tradition; which
is not the consent of two Fathers, or of ten, but of the
universal church in all times and places. They supply
this deficiency by alleging that the church was infallible
in the time of the Apostles, and therefore may be sup
posed to remain so now. But so to the same degree
were the Apostles individually; and why not, then, their
successors now? If the infallibility of the Roman Church
may be inferred from the infallibility of the Apostles in
council, the infallibility of individual priests may be
equally inferred from the infallibility of individual Apos
tles; — an idea so extravagant, that, although the language
* Chillingworth's Works, p. 71. London, 1727.
A 2

6 THE EIGHT OF PRIVATE JUDGMENT.
of some Catholic apologists seems to go this length, it re
quires not further notice here.
Tradition being silent, the doctrine is reduced to its
last entrenchments, the testimony of Scripture. The
passages most frequently brought forward by modern
disputants are, a passage in Deuteronomy, and two in the
Gospel of Matthew.
That in Deuteronomy xvii. is as follows: — "If there
arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment, between
blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between
stroke and stroke, being matters of controversy within
thy gates: then shalt thou arise, and get thee up into the
place which the Lord thy God shall choose; and thou
shalt come unto the priests the Levites, and unto the
judge that shall be in those days, and inquire, and they
shall show thee the sentence of judgment: and thou
shalt do according to the sentence which they of that
place which the Lord shall choose shall show thee; and
thou shalt observe to do according to all that they inform
thee: according to the sentence of the law which they
shall teach thee, and according to the judgment which
they shall tell thee, thou shalt do; thou shalt not decline
from the sentence which they shall show thee, to the
right hand nor to the left. And the man that will do
presumptuously, and will not hearken unto the priest
that standeth to minister there before the Lord thy God,
or unto the judge, even that man shall die, and thou shalt
put away the evil from Israel."
By this statute, certain Levitical priests and a lay as
sessor were made judges, with a promise of Divine
superintendence, in all civil and criminal cases, not de
terminable in lower courts: the penalty of disobedience
to their decisions, death. Before this statute can apply
to the present question, the identity must be made out
between the Levites and lay judge on the one side, and
the Roman Catholic clergy on the other. This being
shown, the text proves, first, That the Roman Catholic
clergy form a court of appeal from our highest courts of
common law and equity, in all civil and criminal cases:
secondly, That this power is committed to several cler-

THE EIGHT OF PRIVATE JUDGMENT. 7
gymen, with one lay judge: thirdly, That they may sen
tence all refractory persons to death.
Another favourite decree is in the xviiith chapter of
Matthew. It runs thus: — "But if thy brother shall
offend against thee, go, and rebuke him between thee
and him alone. If he shall hear thee, thou shalt gain
thy brother. And if he will not hear thee, take with
thee one or two more: that in the mouth of two or
three witnesses every word may stand. And if he will
not hear them, tell the church. And if he will not hear
the church, let him be to thee as the heathen and publi
can."* Now, what use may a Catholic of London, Paris, or
Vienna make of this direction? Injured by his compa
nion, who refuses to make reparation upon being asked
in private, he is to ask it again in presence of two or
three witnesses: and if satisfaction for the injury be still
refused, he is to tell it to the church; not surely to all
legates, cardinals, bishops, and generals of orders, in
council assembled, with the Pope at their head — to give
the poor man such advice, only were to mock his mis
fortune. He may tell it to his priest: but his priest is
not the church. He may tell it, perhaps, to his bishop:
but his bishop is not the church. Our Lord has bid him
tell it to the church: to what church can he tell it? To
one only, that I know of; that is, to the Christians of
the congregation with which he worships: and they do
form the church to which he is in this text referred.
But suppose it granted, that he is referred by this de
cree, not to the Christians of a congregation, but to a
general council; what has he to tell? An injury he has
received from his neighbour: a matter, not of faith — in
which alone the Roman clergy claim infallibility — nor
even of discipline, for which councils may be assem
bled; but a matter of common sense, which any plain
Christian mechanics might determine. When, there
fore, the Roman council shall have come to their deci
sion of this common matter, by the use of their common
• All quotations from the New Testament are given in the words
of the Douay version.

8 THE EIGHT OP PRIVATE JUDGMENT.
sense, how can the justice of their decision prove their
infallibility — not in such common matters, for in them
it is disclaimed, but— in all controverted mysteries of
faith, to which the matter decided had no reference
whatsoever? I shall only refer you to one passage more, contain
ing the grand charter of clerical infallibility. In Mat
thew xvith there are these words: — "And I say to
thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will
build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail
against it."
This, as we are told, giyes to the church its autho
rity, " The gates of hell shall not prevail against it;"
and limits this authority to the successors of Peter in
the Roman Church, " Thou art Peter, and on this rock
will I build my church." To the second of these con
clusions, that the Roman Church is intended, a man of
plain sense might demur on these considerations: — First,
That the rock may be not Peter, but that doctrine which
Peter had just before professed, — the divinity of the Lord
Jesus, on which the universal church is unquestion
ably built. — Secondly, That if the church is built on
Peter, it is equally built on the other inspired writers.
" Ye are built," says Paul, " on the foundation of the
Apostles and the Prophets." Eph. ii. 20. — Thirdly,
That, in point of fact, several churches, as those of
Greece and Macedonia, were built on Paul; having no
more connection (that we know of) with Peter than
with any other of the twelve Apostles. — Fourthly, That
it is very improbable that Peter was ever bishop of
Rome, the prevalent tradition being that he was bishop
of Antioch. — Fifthly, That though Peter be allowed
(which he cannot) to have been the great founder of the
universal church, there is no mention here of his succes
sors at Rome; and the promise, therefore, (if it belong
to any particular visible church) maj'- belong to his
Greek successors, rather than to the Church of Rome.
And now, what is the promise itself, whether it be
long to the Greek or Roman Catholic Church? Where is
a word of infallibility ? If any visible Christian church,
with a pure faith and wholesome discipline, with faith-

THE EIGHT OF PEIVATE JUDGMENT. 9
ful pastors and pious congregations, maintains its ground
against the devil and the world; even though it does not
grow in numbers, or send the Gospel to the heathen;
though it want infallibility, and err in matters of subor
dinate importance; yet surely it has not yielded to the
gates of hell.
But, lastly, though the Greek and Roman Churches,
and all the visible churches of nominal Christians, with
the greater number of ecclesiastics v^^ho preside over
them, should degenerate into a corrupt practice and a
false belief, still, if there be found amongst them some
faithful pastors, through whose ministry a few real
Christians are preserved unharmed by the plague of su
perstition, to maintain the doctrines of the Gospel and
exhibit its morality, there is the church of Christ still
subsisting; and the promise still holds good; for the
gates of hell have not prevailed against it: and this is
the real meaning of the promise.
From these three texts the Roman Catholic apologist
must frame his argument thus: It appears from the first.
That the Levitical priests, with a lay judge, might sen
tence to death any Israelite who refused to comply with
their decision in civil and criminal cases: Therefore the
Roman Catholic Church is infallible. From the second.
That a Christian should, as a last resource, seek satisfac
tion for an injury done him by another Christian, by
communicating it to the Christians with whom he wor
ships; and that if the offender, being required by them,
refuses to make satisfaction, they should expel him from
their society: Therefore the Roman Catholic Church is
infallible. And from the third. That there never shall
be a period to the end of time in which Christ shall not
have some disciples upon earth, who believe, love, and
obey him: Therefore the Roman Catholic Church is in
fallible. Now, if a Roman Catholic teacher were to maintain
the doctrine of infallibility from these texts, and these
alone* (texts that do not touch the point at issue, much
* Another text much insisted on, is Matt, xxviii. 19, 20 : " Going
therefore teach ye all nations; baptizing them in the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to ob-

10 THE EIGHT OF PEIVATE JUDGMENT.
less conclude it), might not any layman, however free
from arrogance, question whether a claim which rests on
such manifest perversions of Scripture be not a mere pre
tence? It is in vain to tell him that the clergy have at-
fixed that interpretation. The very question in debate
is, whether they interpret rightly. Their power of in
terpretation must not surely be assumed, when the very
thing which they invite him to discuss is, whether they
possess any such power. By the confession of Catho
lic controversialists themselves, the claim rests on Scrip
ture proof: and for that proof— a proof addressed to his
common understanding; a plain, positive, unquestion
able Scripture proof — every man is not only entitled,
but bound to call. The doctrine once proved shall hush
our doubts for ever. Though it seem to contradict one
text, and wrest another, and impair the force of many;
though it shut us from the sacred Scripture altogether,
and force upon us tenets that were otherwise incredible;
still, if it be proved, we should unhesitatingly submit.
But it must be proved. To take on trust a doctrine
serve all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and behold I am
with you all days, even to the consummation of the world."
Before this text be alleged in proof of the doctrine in question, the
following questions should be answered: —
1. How can it be proved that this promise belongs to those who are
priests, &c. by external ordination, rather than to those who are min
isters of Christ in piety and love.' to the whole ecclesiastical body in
a visible church, containing many priests who are worldly and wick
ed, rather than to the whole body of truly pious pastors? 1 believe
that it is m.ide to the latter only.
2. If it belong to ecclesiastics by external ordination, may it not
belong to the Greek and Syrian clergy, who are as ancient as the
Roman Catholic .'
3. May it not belong to individual teachers, rather than to any as
sembly, since it extends to " all the world," and is effective at " all
times.''" Now no assembly can be in " all the world," at " all times;"
but individual Christian teachers may be so. This promise was ful
filled to Paul individually : Acts xviii. 9, 10 ; 2 Tim, iv. 7. And a
promise of equal extent is given to every individual Christian, John
xiv. 23. Are, then, individual teachers infallible ?
4. May not this promise be lost by individual teachers before ex
communication ; e, g. by Wickliffe or Luther .' If by two priests, why
not by an hundred .' why not by an hundred and fii^ly ? i. e. by a ma
jority of the Roman Council of Trent.
5. May not this promise be abundantly fulfilled in a church, al
though that church errs in minor points, or, in other words, is not in
fallible .'

THE EIGHT OP PEIVATE JUDGMENT. 11
which consigns our judgment to other keeping than our
own, and compels us to adopt without examination a
creed of other men's devising, is not only weak but
wicked. One act of freedom we must insist on, before
we yield up our understanding forever. All other doc
trines we will afterwards take on trust; but this we
must investigate. Authority will not do: tradition is
silent: we must have plain and positive Scriptural
proof. Do the texts which I have examined amount to
that proof ? Yet these are the texts adduced. Archbi
shops, bishops, and priests have brought these: arch
bishops, bishops and priests, ancient and modern, acute
disputants, and learned controversialists, who have
searched through the sacred writings for expressions
which might defend their cause, have placed these in
the forefront of their battle; the very Goliaths of the
controversy, which are to annihilate the entire host of
arguments opposed to them: with what effect, let your
common understanding, your own unshackled sense,
determine. Have these texts convinced you? or would twenty
more as irrelevant as these? Yet there are not twenty
to be found, which have even this little degree of plau
sibility. What is more; search through the whole book
of God, and you will not find one which unequivocally
maintains this doctrine: nay, not one, which has not a
more probable meaning than that by which it is made to
support it. If there be one, ask for it; your authorized
teachers can produce it. By their own confession, the
doctrine rests upon- this proof: by self-evident considera
tions, your common sense must be the judge of it. Your
duty to your friends, whom you may otherwise confirm
in error; to your children, whose religious interests are
committed to your care; to j'our own souls, which may
be ruined by the error; and to God, who requires to be
worshipped according to his own revealed will; your
duty in every relation, requires you to exercise your
understanding on this point. Never cease, therefore, to
ask for plain and positive proof from Scripture, that a
Roman Catholic council, composed of a small part of the
Roman Catholic clergy, themselyes a small part of the

12 THE EIGHT OF PEIVATE JUDGMENT.
Roman Catholic body, the pious persons among whom
are a small part of Christ's universal church: that this
small fraction of fractions in the church, distinguished
neither for piety nor learning, is gifted with infalli
bility.* Here the question might rest; for a doctrine so very
questionable, if without probable proof, must fall of
itself. But although proof is wanting, an argument has
been drawn from expediency. Scripture, it has been
said, being in parts obscure, and Christian teachers indi
vidually fallible, unless there be some infallible judge of
controversies, the church will be rent into factions with
out number, if it do not, indeed, fall into universal scep
ticism: for, as the authenticity and genuineness of the
sacred books can only be known from the church, deny
its infallibility, and thenceforth no one can have a divine
faith in a single doctrine of Scripture, because he cannot
know that Scripture itself is divine. If church infalli
bility cannot be shown to be true, it may be proved to
be expedient; and should, therefore, be admitted.
If expediency is to determine the question, and not
evidence, we must admit something beyond what is
claimed. For surely it were more expedient that the
Pope should be infallible, than that a council only should
be so; because the infallible decision would be then so
much more promptly and easily procured. For the
same reason, it would be much more expedient that
every bishop should possess infallibility; still more, that
it should be possessed by every priest; and most of all,
that every man, woman, and child should have it: for
* Respecting the Council of Trent, Robertson writes thus : "Which
ever of these authors" (Father Paul, the Jesuit Pallavicini or Var
gas) "an intelligent person takes for his guide, in forming a iudg-
raent concerning the spirit of the council, he must discover so much
ambition, as well as artifice, among some of the members • so much
ignorance and corruption among others ; he must observe such a large
infusion of human policy and passions, mingled with such a scanty
portion of that simplicity of heart, sanctity of manners, and love o{
truth, which alone qualify men to determine what doctrines are wor
thy of God, and what worship is acceptable to him; that he will find
it no easy matter to believe that any extraordinary infiuence of the
Holy Ghost hovered over this assembly, and dictated its decrees." 
Robertson's History of Charles V. Book 10.

THE BIGHT or PEIVATE JUDGMENT. 13
this would not only determine controversies, but pre
vent them. If a Roman Catholic council is infallible,
because it is expedient for the church that it should be
so; then, it being more expedient that every individual
should be so, it follows, according to this reasoning, that
every individual is. Besides, many other things would
seem in the highest degree expedient; as, that there
should be no obscurity in the Bible, and no sin in the
world: therefore, upon this principle, there are none;
every mystery in the Bible vanishes, and all men are
immaculate. Our notions of expediency cannot deter
mine truth.
But because this idea, that the doctrine is requisite for
the integrity of the church, weighs much with some per
sons, let us examine it more minutely.
1. It is said that without the belief ofa living infalli
ble judge of controversies, the church will be rent into
numberless factions. — Suppose this granted, it remains
to be shown that the church will not be so rent with this
belief: for while there remain, and must remain, many
points of faith undetermined clearly by authority of
general councils, these will become the occasion of con
troversies, whose fierceness must be determined, not by
the importance of the subject, but by the temper of the
disputants. Most of you have heard of the controversy
between Fenelon and Bossuet, on the subject of Quiet
ism, which held all France mute with suspense, and was
hushed only by the thunders of the Vatican. Between
the Jansenists and Jesuits there have been precisely such
disputes as have occupied Calvinistic and Arminian con
troversialists among Protestants. Why should not such
as these recur? Or why should not such a controversy
as that which embroiled the Franciscans and Dominicans
in Spain, respecting the immaculate nature of the Virgin
Mary again set theologian against theologian, party
against party, mob against mob, and embitter half Catho
lic Christendom?, It may be said that this last, indeed,
is no point of faith, but an historical tradition, in which
the church claims no infallible knowledge. Be it so:
then there are uncertain historical traditions beyond the

14 THE EIGHT OF PEIVATB JUDGMENT.
reach of church infallibility, which may again tear the
bosom of the church unchecked.
Nor are these the only uncontrollable sources of con
fusion. With respect to discipline, the Roman clergy
claim no infallibility: should the laity, then, insist on
rejecting the regulations of Trent with respect to reading
Scripture, as the French church is said to have done;*
should they determine to send their children to Bible
schools, as thousands of parents do in Ireland ;t and
should they insist on discussions upon the points of dif
ference between the churches, as multitudes do, and all
should ; would not these claims on their part, all of them
uncontrollable by a general council, spread wider and
wider dissensions among the Catholic clergy and laity
of these realms, than now separate any sects of Protes
tants? The assumed infallibility is not extended enough to
answer its purpose. But suppose it could extend to dis
cipline as well as doctrine. Let some infallible decree
issue forth against a sturdy innovator: the decree may
be infallible, but the meaning is still open to discussion;
of this each man must ultimately judge for himself: by
which means a determined innovator may maintain his
ground against infallibility itself; which, after all that
can be said for it, must leave decrees to be wrested by
persons so disposed, as the doctrine of private judgment
leaves Scripture to be so wrested. Submission to de
crees would make all men harmonious; but so would
submission to Scripture. And if men may wrest Scrip-
* " Where the people (the French nation before the Revolution)
did not read them (the Scriptures), the fault was in themselves. The
translations of the sacred Scriplures were common in France, as they
are in England ; and as tho prohibitory decrees of the Council of
Trent in regard of them were not admitted in France, there was no
painful restriction which rendered the reading of them infrequent, or
in the eyes of the people improper " — Reflections on the Spirit of
ReUgious Controversy, by Rev. Dr. Fletcher. ]2mo. Ed. of Covne,
Dublin, 1823, p. 120. •'
t By the Sixteenth Report of the Sunday School Society for Ire
land, it appears that there were in \6-i6, 152,000 children in the
schools of that society alone, the greater number Catholics.  By the
London Hibernian Report' for 1826, they have 62,000 day^scholars
the greater part Catholics. '

THE EIGHT OF PRIV.VTB JUDGMENT. 15
ture to their own views, so they may wrest decrees.
Nor is any thing gained by the supposition, except that
the ground of debate is changed from the text of Scrip-
lure to the canons of the latest council.*
To all this it may be replied that there must be a fal
lacy somewhere in the reasoning, because, in point of
fact. Catholics have not been so disunited as Protestants.
Perhaps hitherto in speculation they have not. The
concession, however, will not aid the doctrine in ques
tion, because this unity in sentiment may be less owing
to a faith in clerical infallibility, than to the excommu
nications which had in past ages, and in some places
still have, the force of civil outlawry. Catholics may be
united, not because all within the Roman pale hold the
same doctrines, but because all who venture to differ
beyond a certain point must look for expulsion. This,
while it seems to preserve the integrity of the Roman
Church, must, in reality, accelerate its ruin. It may
excommunicate those who doubt and question; but this
will only increase the suspicions of the remainder, that
there was some ground of doubting. It may excommu
nicate; but then what becomes of its integrity, if, like
some diseased body, it can only be preserved from cor
ruption by successive amputations of its limbs, till
nothing remains but a worn and miserable trunk, with
out beauty, and almost "without life? It may excommu
nicate its subjects till it has excommunicated itself, and
may retain its rule by sacrificing its existence.
But, allowing the sedative power of this belief if once
established, of what advantage is it to the Church, unless
there be some grounds to induce thinking men to be
lieve? The attempt to enforce such a belief by insuffi-
* On this subject, the following excellent remarks of Fenelon are
worth consideration : —
" Le meilleur aliment se tourne en poison dans les estomacs cor-
rompus. Quiconque cherche le scandale jusque dans la parole de
Dieu merite de I'y trouver pour sa perte. Dieu a tellement temper^
la lumi^re et les ombres dans sa parole que ceux qui sont humbles et
dociles n'y trouvent que verite et consolation, et que ceux qui sont
indociles et presomtueux, n'y trouvent qu'erreur et increduhte,-—
Toutes les difiicultes s'evanouissent sans peine des qu'on a I'esprit
guferi de la prfeoraption." — Fenelon CEuvres Spirituelles. Tome
iL p. 70.

16 THE EIGHT OF PEIVATE JUDGMENT.
cient evidence will lead to far more dissensions than
those which the belief itself is to cure. Of what avail,
may an inquirer say, is it to tell me the usefulness of
the doctrine, unless you can bring me some evidence of
its truth? Since the decrees imagined to be infallible
seem obviously to contradict what is really infallible,
God's Holy Word, I am tempted, beyond all self-con
trol, to throw aside your imaginations, and to cling to
what I know. Experience proves that inquiring men
have reasoned so: and therefore, however useful the
doctrine might be, if established, the doctrine as it now
stands cannot prevent any controversy whatever on
religious questions among thoughtful men. If it can,
why have such controversies actually risen in the Catho
lic Church. Why does that Church at this day scarcely
number half the kingdoms which once formed her splen
did empire ? Could this doctrine check the doubts which
silently grew up in the breasts of some thoughtful priests
of her own communion? Could it hush them when
they became mature? And when they broke forth in
thunders, which rolled along from tbe mountains of
Norway to the Alps, could it rebuke them back to the
clouds from which they issued? Bear witness all the
kingdoms of Europe, throughout which that irresistible
storm has strewed the shivered fragments of her great
ness. The whole of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark,
rejecting her authority, proclaim the might of contro
versy : it is proclaimed by half of Germany, of Switzer
land, and of the kingdom of the Netherlands: it is
heralded along the banks of the Rhine: the capital of
France, and all her frontiers, publish it abroad: and,
louder than them all do Scotland and England echo
back to the Continent, and to the World, the uncon
trollable might of controversy. It is vain to allege the
perverseness of tho.se who fslew up tliis storm. Let
calumny fasten upon Wickliffe and Luther: let Zuin-
glius and Calviq be anathematized: but are all their fol
lowers to be condemned too? Can you believe that all
the theological and devotional writers, both lay and
clerical, in the French and German, the American,
Scotch, and English Protestant Churches, are hypocri-

THE EIGHT OF PRIVATE JUDGMENT. 17
tical sophists; when there have been hundreds whose
writings breathe the very spirit of piety, and thousands
whose lives were.those of evangelists; — when the atten
tion to religious literature is so much greater among
Protestants than Catholics, that for one Catholic work of
divinity which issues from the press, there are probably
more than ten Protestant; — and when the difference
between their missionary zeal is such, that while Catho
lic France, and Catholic Austria, and Catholic Spain,
and Catholic Ital}^, tired of the efforts of tiieir Jesuits,
have seen their South American Missions swept away,
and their Indian and Chinese now languishing near ex
tinction, Protestant zeal is carrying the G-ospel round
the world; to the ice of Greenland; to the swamps- of
the West Indies; to the wilderness of the North Ameri
can savage; to the destructive coast of Guinea; to the
islands of the South Pacific; to the fierce natives of Nevy.
Zealand; to the stupid Hottentot; to the Hindoo; to the
Burman; and to the scarcely accessible Chinese? Is all'
this the work of faction? Can the sole disciples of truth
let Christian missions languish, while faction is making
such unparalleled exertions? Believe it not. These are
not the symptoms of insincerity. There are hundreds
and thousands of sincere and thoughtful men, who, after
full examination, with all the reverential submission to
God which the most devout Catholic could display, have
come to the firm conviction that the Roman Catholic
clergy in council are not infallible. But if so, the doc
trine of infallibility, as it now stands, is more calculated
to stir up dissensions than to cure them.
Still, if we abandon the doctrine, as its tendency to
stir up dissensions might lead us, how, it may be asked,
can we obtain a divine faith in a single doctrine of Scrip
ture, because faith in each doctrine, if not built on the
decision of an infallible churph, is founded on human
testimony? — And on what better foundation can any
belief rest? Is Our belief that there is such a city as
Calcutta, or such mountains as the Andes, in the least
uncertain, because we have never seen them ? We have
the testimony of multitudes that have. And this is the
very evidence we have for the truth of the Gospel his-
b2

18 THE EIGHT OF PEIVATE JUDftMENT.
tories: an evidence which, when the circumstances ua-
der which it was given are considered, is so conclusive,
that Lord Bacon said, " He would rather believe all the
fables of the Koran or Talmud, than doubt the Gospel."
But if the Scripture histories were true, then the seal of
miracles was set to the divine commission of the Apos
tles, and therefore the doctrines were Divine.
But how, it may be asked, shall an illiterate man avail
himself of all this evidence, which it would require years
of leisure fully to survey? — An illiterate man does not
require to survey it: he has, in common with the Ca
tholic, the Catechism of his Church; the consent of his
neighbourhood; the statements of his pastor; and the
authority of one or two books, to which be may have
acce'ss. But he has more than all together in the word
of God itself, in which, from the evident honesty of the
narrative, from the particularity and publicity of the
facts both natural and miraculous, and from the unde
signed coincidence between the different books, he may
gather the truth of the history: while, from the new
and wonderful doctrines, so contrary to his prejudices,
yet so suited to his wants; from the perfect character of
Christ; from the sublime views of God; the holiness of
the precepts; and the agreement of Scripture truth with
his own experience, he may know certainly that the
whole religion is Divine. Some, or all, of these rea
sons, brought to a man's heart by the Holy Spirit, give
him such a reasonable, complete, and transforming faith
in the Gospel, that all the sophistries of infidels could
not even shake it.
If any Catholic teacher should allege that these are
not sufficient grounds of faith, what are the grounds
which he would substitute? He will say, the autho
rity of an infallible church. But how shall the poor
man ascertain the infallibility? And then, how shall
he determine which church possesses it? And then,
how shall he know in what part of the church the in
fallibility resides? And then, how shall he interpret
the infallible decrees? We have already seen that
there is no proof of church infallibility producible.
But if he should be satisfied without proof, then how

The eight of peivate judgment. 19
shall , he determine the church? The church, they
tell him, is one, holy, catholic, and apostolic — i. e.
the Roman Church. But how shall he know that the
Roman Church is one with itself, when he sees around
him symptoms of growing dissension; hundreds pro
testing (against the will of their clergy) that they have
a right to read the Scriptures; thousands more sending
their children to Bible schools, against the express in
junction of their priest; ten thousands more pressing td
hear prohibited discussions; multitudes reprimanded for
these offences; many cursed from the altar, and some
even severely persecuted? Or how should he know his
church's holiness, if its ministers round him be, as they
may be, remarkably unholy? Or how shall he tell its
catholicity, unless he have correspondents in the four
quarters of the globe? And how shall he discover that
it is apostolic, when he is debarred the use of the Bible,
by a comparison with which alone he can determine
whether its doctrines are apostolic or corrupt? — When
he has, however, toiled himself breathless to find the
church, how shall he determine where the infallibility
resides? The French Bishops must be matched with
the Italian, folio compared with folio, and authority
weighed with authority, before he can know whether it
be the prevalent opinion among Catholics themselves,
that the Pope is infallible, or a general council only.
That opinion being ascertained, its correctness is still to
be examined; for the infallibility, instead of belonging
to general councils, may belong to national synods of
the universal church in all countries. Should his belief,
at last, settle in the infallibility of general councils,
where shall he find a council that deserves that name?
Not, surely, at Trent; where there were only two
German bishops, three Irish, and one English; and
the whole assembly was notoriously under Italian in
fluence.* If, however, he be at length satisfied with the
* At this council there were three Irish bishops, two German, one
English, and one hundred and eighty-seven Italian Bishops, of whom,
vsrith their coadjutors from other countries, Father Paul says, that they
" depended Absolutely" on the Pope. " Paul se couvroit du nom de
ces P^res, qui dependoient absolument de lui, comme de leur premier

20 THE EIGHT or PEIVATE JUDGMENT.
attributes of the Tridentine fathers, so that he verily be-
lieves their decrees to have the force of infallibility, is
the English version of those decrees rendered to him by
his priest, who may mistake or (if not a good man) de
ceive, infallible too? Unless it be, he has, after all, only
the word of his fallible priest for his creed, as the Pro
testant has the word of his fallible pastor; while the
Protestant has the immense advantage of comparing all
that his pastor advances with the declarations of a book
which all Christians— that is, -almost all the,- civilized
world — allow to be infallible, the word of God.
And now, lastly, with what plausibility can it be said,
that while the right of private judgment leads to univer
sal scepticism, the doctrine of churcli infallibility alone
can protect the faith? This latter doctrine leaves a man,
as we have seen, with less certain evidences for his faith
than the right of private judgment; exposes the church
to fiercer controversies; and has not been able to retain
in allegiance to Rome thousands and millions of sincere
religionists: how, then, should it bridle the impetuosity
of the infidel? Protestant dissensions do lead to infi
delity, but far less directly than the violent establish
ment by authority of tenets for which there is no evi
dence.'** Some, infidels, broilght up among Protestants,
may catch at the excuse of our dissensions to justify a
disbelief in the Bible, which an upright examination of
evidence would in all cases remove. The infidel among
Catholics examines the doctrine of church infallibility,
and exults amidst his arguments and evidences of eccle
siastical craft and lay prostration. Both infidels are un
reasonable, for both should see that the truth of Chris
tianity is consistent with the faults and impositions of
professed Christians; but the Catholic infidel has more
excuse than tbe Protestant, because that church had
mobile." — Histoire du Concile de Trente, de Sarpi. Amsterdam
4to. 1683. p. 259. '
* There is much truth in the sentiment put by Rousseau into the
mouth of his sceptical Savoyard vicar.
" That which increased my perplexity was, that, being born in a
church which decides every thing, and allows not any doubt, the re
jection ofa single point made me reject all the rest; for, utterly un
able to admit so many decisions which were absurd, I was thus drawn

THE EIGHT OF PEIVATB JUDGMENT. 21
helped to blind him, by turning his attention from the
evidences for Scripture, which are satisfactory, to those
for church infallibility, which are illusive.*
Hitherto I have argued on the supposition that there
were manifest advantages to result from a belief in this
doctrine. But what if the deficiency of evidence for its
truth lead us to question its utility? Upon examination
we shall find, that its direct tendency is to lead away
the minds of the people from the interesting biography,
the affecting parables, the beautiful hymns, and the fa
miliar epistles of the word of God, to dry creeds, which,
even if they inform the understanding, were not framed
off also from those which were reasonable ; and by being urged to
believe every thing, was driven to believe nothing, and knew not
when to stop." — " Ce qui redoubloit mon embarras, etoit, que, Mant
n6 dans une Eglise qui decide tout, qui ne permet aucun doute, un
seul point rejettfe me faisoit rejetter tout le reste ; et que I'impossi-
bilite d'admettre tant de decisions absurdes, me detachoit aussi de
cellos que ne I'fetoient pas. En me disant, croyez tout, on m'erap^
choit de rien croire, et je ne savois plus oCi m'arrdter." — Emile, 12mo.
Francfort, I7ti2, tom. ii. p. II.
* See this remarkably illustrated in the first letter in Blanco White's
Evidences against Catholicism, in which he accounts for his passing
from a state of sincere faitli to a scepticism bordering on atheism itself,
in the following manner: —
" I revered the Scriptures as the word of God, but was also per
suaded, that without a living infallible interpreter the Bible was a
dead letter, which could not convey its meaning with any certainty.
1 grounded, therefore, my Christian faith upon the infallibility of the
church. No Roman Catholic pretends to a better foundation. ' I
believe whatever the holy mother church holds and believes,' is the
compendious creed of every member of the Roman communion. Had
my doubts affected any particular doctrine, I should have clung to the
decisions ofa church which claims exemption from error; but my first
doubts attacked the very basis of Catholicism. I thought within my
self, that the certainty of the Roman Catholic faith had no better
ground than a fallacy of that kind which is called reasoning in a circle;
for I believed the infallibility of the church because the Scriptures
said she was infallible, while I had no better proof that the Scripture
said so than the assertion of the church that she could not mistake
the Scripture. In vain did I endeavour to evade the force of this
argument: indeed [ still believe it unanswerable. Was, then, Chris
tianity nothing but a groundless fabric— the world supported by the
elephant, the elephant standing on the tortoise .' Such was the con
clusion to which I was led by a system which impresses the mind with
the obscurity and insufficiency of the written word of God." — White's
Evidences against Catholicism, p, 9.
" The history of my own mind is, with little variation, that of a great
portion of the Spanish clergy." — lb. p. 8.

22 THE EIGHT OF PEIVATE JUDGMENT.
to reach the heart; from pathetic appeals, to dogmatical
canons; and from blessings to anathemas.*
By forbidding discussions on religion, it tends to pre
vent multitudes from thinking at all about it; to make
them surrender their consciences to the care of their in-
structers; to believe that they can absolve from sin,
open the gates of heaven, and release from penal torture
after death. It tends to render whole kingdoms, includ
ing the authorized teachers of religion, destitute of the
Bible; to make the ignorance and vice of the clergy
keep pace with the credulity of the people; and to con
sign the souls of thousands, without resource or effectual
appeal, to the keeping of drunken, dissolute, and illite
rate instructers.t Finally, it tends to enslave the timid;
to goad the thoughtful into an irritable and revengeful
scepticism ; and, as if Satan would overthrow the pro
mise mj^de to the church, it tends to build that church,
* It is remarkable, that all the dogmatical canons of the Council of
Trent are conceived, not in the form of blessings, as the opening of
our Lord's Sermon on the Mount, Matt, v., " jBlessed are the poor in
spirit,"- &c. ; but in the form of curses, " Si quis dixerit, &c. anathema
sit." And the conclusion of the proceedings has in it something
quite revolting: " Dicebat cardinalis : Anathema cunctis hereticis.
Respondebant patres : Anathema, anathema," The last sounds which
died away along the walls of the Roman council chamber, were,
"Anathema, anathema I" "Curse on them! curse on them!" were
the last feelings of these bitter and presumptuous men : a, bitter
curse winding up a system which seems composed in the very spirit
of malevolence.
t This is so melancholy a fact, and so necessarily painful to the feel
ings of a devout Catholic, that I would gladly have omitted it, but
thatitsoloudly condemns that mischievous doctrine which I earnestly
wish my Catholic readers to renounce. The manners of the Clergy,
before the Council of Trent, were too bad to be here described ; and
the following extract might have many parallels placed by its side, if
such statements were not painful in the extreme. Truth has required
from me one :
Santiago (Chili) " is full of Priests ; the people are, consequently,
indolent and immoral ; and I certainly never saw more sad examples
of the effects of bad education, or a state of society more deplorable.
The streets are crowded with a set of lazy, indolent, bloated monks
and priests. The men all touch their hats to these drones ; who are
also to be seen in the houses, leaning over the backs of their chairs,
and talking to women, who are evidently of the most abandoned
class in society  They have almost all families, and lead most
disreputable lives. Tet the common people send their wives and
daughters to confess to them." — Head's Journey across the Pamnas.
p. 190. ^ '

THE EIGHT OF PEIVATE JUDGMENT. 23
not upon the rock, but on the sand; to enfeeble the
energies and fetter the limbs of the garrison who should
defend it; and to summon from the gates of hell such
armies of doubts and malignant passions as would in the
end level its battlements with the ground.
" If its direct tendency .may make us abhor the doc
trine as mischievous, its bold contradiction of experience
may make us reject it as false. Upon better authority
than my own, I allege against it, that ' there are Popes
against Popes; councils against councils; some Fathers
against others; the same Fathers against themselves; a
consent- of Fathers of one age, against a consent of Fa
thers of another age; the Church of one age against the
Cburch of another age;' "* and therefore as little founda
tion for the doctrine in fact as in argument.
We have now seen that this doctrine is at the first
sight suspicious, because extremely liable to abuse, and
defended by suspicious precautions: that it is sustained
by no proof from tradition, and none from Scripture;
that it leads to more dissensions than it cures; is calcu
lated to introduce scepticism of opinions, and dissolute
ness in morals; and finally, that it is directly in the face
of facts: it is therefore false, and we must consequently
seek a reason for our Christian hope by the only other
method possible — by an examination of Scripture for
ourselves. Here let a former remark be recalled, that, Chris
tianity being true, either there must be aij infallible
church, or the method of determining truth by our own
judgment must be allowed; because we are required to
give a reason for our faith, and that reason can only be
given by one of these methods. Since I have shown
that there is no living visible church possessing infalli
bility, it follows, that the method of private judgment is
the right method. This negative proof seems sufficient
to determine the question, had we no other. To any
one, however, still in doubt, it may be satisfactory to
survey also the proofs for this method which are posi
tive. * Chillingworth's Works, fol. London. 1727, p. 271.

24 THE RIGHT OF PEIVATE JUDGMENT.
We have already intimated that the Scriptures are
proved, independently of a living infallible interpreter,
by the evidence of certain testimony from friends and
foes, with various internal evidences, to be true, and
therefore divine. Whether illiterate persons can judge
of the meaning of this Divine Book must, however, de
pend upon the plainness of the book itself. The efforts
which have been made to show that no writing can be
plain enough fof this purpose are puerile; because a man
can write what he can speak. If he cannot be under
stood when he speaks, then oral instructions are useless;
if he can be understood, then he can also when he
writes, especially when directed by the Holy Spiritj
who could foresee and obviate all the mistakes or objec
tions of' future readers. But whether it has pleased the
Holy Spirit to make this book so plain, hiust be es
tablished or disproved bj^ examination. The contrary
cannot be inferred from the fact that many who read it
become heretics; for if the heresy of some Bible readers
prove that the Bible is obscure, the infidelity of some
learned men must prove that the evidences for Chris
tianity are insufficient, and the -Protestantism of nearly
half the civilized world must prove that the Roman
Catholic Church is fallible. This argument, therefore,
whatever become of it, cannot serve its authors. It is
not less opposed to Roman infallibility than to the plain
ness of Scripture. Nor has it in truth any soundness;
for Bible readers may become heretics, just as some
scholars have become infidels, not because the Bible is
obscure, or the evidences insufficient, but because .the
truths of the Bible in the one case, and the evidences
for Christianity in the other, are opposed to men's pre
vious prejudices or their present habits. As men "love
darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil,"
they may become heretics or infidels from inclination,
not mistake.
The heresy, then, of multitudes being consistent with
the fact that the Gospel is plain, we must learn whether
it be actually plain from examination. . Now if but a few
here shall be induced to read through the New Testa
ment once, with such patient attention and humble de-

THE EIGHT OF PEIVATE JUDGMENT. 25
sire of knowing truth as is requisite to make the plainest
and best sermon profitable to you, the result will be a
strong conviction on your mind that enough is plainly
revealed in that book to guide you to eternal happiness,
if you obey it. You will feel sure, that, men being by
nature corrupt and under God's curse, God the Son be
came incarnate in the person of Jesus Christ, by his
obedience to atone for our disobedience, and by his death
to merit for ns eternal life. You will see, too, that peni
tent sinners, whatever the magnitude of their crimes,
shall be completely justified — that is, freed from the
imputation of guilt — for his sake, by faith only, without
works. But that faith, if genuine, will in all cases lead,
through the influences of the Holy Spirit, to holiness;
without which no man, whatever be his creed, can enter
heaven. Whatever mistakes you may make on minor
points, hold these truths fast, and you know enough to
guide you to heaven: experience them, and you shall
be led as rejoicing spirits to the throne of your redeem
ing God.
It were extravagant to assert that all who read Scrip
ture are thus blessed. It is enough to show that they
may be so. The evils, indeed, which are found in some
Catholic countries — infidelity among the laity, immo
rality and ignorance in some of the instructers— may in
their measure disgrace our own. They cannot, how
ever, prevail to an equal extent where the Scriptures are
diffused: for if these books be holy and plain, it must
happen, that, while some cavil at them altogether, and
many wrest them to their own destruction, not a few
will be converted, and multitudes improved. They be
come the standard to which religious opinions are re
ferred, and by which religious teachers are tried'. These,
if they would not be condemned and deserted by the
more thoughtful of their flocks, must study Scripture,
that their instructions may accord with its statements.
And such study could not but be advantageous to their
flocks and to themselves: for, imbued with those sacred
writings, many will not only administer pure doctrine,
but will feel the necessity of a holy life. Their people,
also, would expect it of them. Instead of the blind awe
c

26 THE EIGHT OF PRIVATE JUDGMENT.
which can tremble at the curse of a drunken man,* or
believe in the miraculous powers of a lunatic,t only be
cause either happens to be a priest, they will love those
pastors who are evangelists in doctrine and in life, and
will reserve for the others such courtesy alone as belongs
to their moral worth, and their station in society. This
trial of religious teachers, by lessening what is evil and
refining what is good in them, must reflexively improve
the whole population. Nor does it seem to me too
much to assert, that, when combined with the direct
effects of Scripture reading, where that reading is gene
ral, it will give a tone to conversation; influence our
institutions; impress, in some degree, our periodical
publications; impregnate our graver literature; be felt in
our legislation and diplomacy; form to a considerable
extent the character of the whole people; and, as a means
under the agency of the Holy Spirit, mould the largest
possible number into real disciples of Christ and heirs
of immortality.
Here I shall forego the advantage of a comparison
between those states which are most Protestant — such
as Scotland or Wales — with those which are most
Catholic — such as Italy or Spain; because a fair and ex
tended comparison would reqqire more accurate know
ledge on the subject than I possess, and would besides
be invidious: were it, however, fully pursued, it would,
I feel convinced, abundantly confirm the conclusion to
which I have endeavoured to bring^ you without its aid.
I will not, however, rest the right of the laity, to ex
amine and judge of Scripture, upon jts expediency,
however great that expediency may be. The last
argument which I have in reserve may render that, and
all the rest upon this subject, superfluous. Of universal
application, it need not be mistaken by any persons
* For this melancholy fact, see p. 718 of Appendix to First Report
of the Commissioners of Irish Education.
.1 Father Carrol's trial is fresh in the memory of most of my readers.
It is not surprising that a priest, afterwards confined for lunacy, should
murder a child by attempting to expel a devil from it ; but it is sur
prising, and most melancholy, that multitudes of Irish Catholics were
so far the victims of superstition, as to have believed devoutly that
he could effect it.

THE RIGHT OF PRIVATE JUDGMENT. 27
among whom the Scriptures are diffused: of irresistible
force, it has alone decided the question for thousands of
humble men, who have neither leisure nor capacity for
controversy: plain and decisive, it must, as I believe,
retain a Protestant population for ever Protestant, whilst,
wherever it gains access, it threatens the Catholic rule
with entire subversion. Pass it not over lightly. Take
it not on my word alone: receive not the glosses of your
mistaken guides; but Weigh it for yourselves; and, not
till you have well weighed, decide. I shall no longer
contend, that to examine and weigh Scripture for your
selves is the most rational method by which to deter
mine the grounds of your Christian hope: I no longer
debate its expediency : I have done with entreaty: but,
as the Jast great, plain, aTithoritative, and conclusive
argument, I solemnly announce to you, that you are
bound to read and judge of them by God's express, re
peated, and unalterable command.
If any one should say, " My church is infallible, and
therefore Scripture shall not deny it; my church for
bids me to read Scripture, and therefore God cannot
command it;" he at once blocks up the avenues of truth
with prejudice, and disqualifies himself for examination.
Scripture may utter a thousand voices to convince him,
but he has made himself deaf. Scripture rnay hold forth
a thousand demonstrations, but he has become blind.
Truth rather asks for the temper of investigation. If
any one, possessed of this temper, should reason to him
self thus: "This matter depending on Scripture testi
mony alone, our clergy may be wrong in their view:
htindreds and thousands of thoughtful, learned, and
apparently pious persons have thought them so; and
the most civilized parts of the civilized world think
them so still: L will see how Scripture decides;" his
pathway to truth is open ; and I earnestly recommend
him to weigh well the following -passages, which I have
referred to twelve different heads, included in two
larger divisions; the first regarding principally the Old
Testament; the second more directly referring" to the
New.
I. 1. There is a very numerous class of texts in the

28 THE RIGHT OF PEIVATE JUDGMENT.
New Testament, in which the Old is referred to, as if
those addressed were fafniliar with it. " Now all this
was done that it might be fulfilled which the Lord spoke
by the prophets.'' (Matt. i. 22.) "They carried him
to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord, as it is written
in the law of the Lord," &c. (Luke ii. 23, 23.) In
some of these places, the reference is general, without
even mention of the particular book from which the pas-
.sage is taken: in some, as in 1 Cor. xv. 27, the, passage
itself is not quoted, but supposed to be known.* This
is a method of writing which could only be adapted
towards those who were familiar with Scripture. We
find it not in modern Catholic authors, since Scripture
reading has been discouraged in that church. If the
primitive Christians were familiar with the Old Testa
ment, wh}!^ should not Christians now be acquainted with
the New ?t
2. There is a large class of texts in the Old Testa
ment which prove'that those books were intended to be
read by the people at large. For example: "Therefore
shall ye lay up these rny words in your heart and in
your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, that
they may be as frontlets between your eyes: and ye
shall teach them your children, speaking of t-hem when
thou sitte'st in thine house, and when thou walkest by
the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest
up: and thou shalt write them upon the door-posts of
thine house and upon thy gates." (Deut. xi. 18.) "Bless
ed is the man whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and in his law doth he meditate day and night." (Psalm
i. 2.)% 3. There is 'another class of texts in the New Testa
ment, urging the Jews generally to read the Scriptures.
For example:— Matt. xxii. 29: "Jesus said unto them"
(the heretical SadduCees), " ye do err, not knowing the
Scriptures." Luke xvi. 29: "Abraham saith unto him.
They" (some Jewish sinners) "have Moses and the
*The allusion here is obviously to Psalm viii. 1. See Heb. ii. 8.
t Matt. xxvi. 24 ; Rom. iii. 4 ; vii ; xvi. 26; 1 Cor. x. 6, 7 ; 1 Cor.
XV. 27; 2 Cor. vii. 16; 1 Pet, i, 16, &c. &c.
\ Psalm x:ix. 7; cxix. 9; Isaiah viii. 20; xxix. 18; Isaiah xxxiv. 16.

THE EIGHT OF PRIVATE JUDGMENT. 29
Prophets: let them hear them;" and John v. 39, (to the
Jews), " Search the Scriptures."*
4. There is another class, which makes it the duty of
Christians in particular to be acquainted with the Old
Testament. For example: — Rom. xv. 4, " For what things
were written were written for our learning, that, through
patience and the comfort of the Scriptures, we might
have hope;" and, 2 Tim. iii. 15 — 17, "And because
from thy infancy thou hast known the holy Scriptures,
which can instruct thee to salvation, by the faith which
is in- Christ Jesus. All Scripture inspired of God, is
profitable to teach, to reprove, to correct, to instruct in
justice, that the man of God may be perfect, furnished
to every good work." — Of all these texts it must be re
marked, that if they allow or command the reading of
the Old Testament, they allow also and, command the
reading of the New; for, the New being a later, plainer,
and more complete revelation of God's will, all the rea
sons which lead any one to read the former, much more
forcibly apply to the reading of the latter.
II. The same duty is as unequivocally inculcated by
the second division of texts, referring chiefly to the New
Testament 1. Let it be observed, that nearly all the Epistles were
addressed either to whole churches, including the laity,
or tp Christians generally throughout the world. The
early Christians, therefore, migh| certainly read the Epis
tles addressed to themselves. But they possessed no
advantages of education beyond us: surely, therefore,
Christians may now read them as well as they.
2. John expressly states, that the object with which
he wrote his Gospel was, that his readers " might believe
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that, be
lieving, they might have life through his name" (John
XX. 31); and his Epistle, addressed to believers general
ly, was written to confirm their faith and hope .( 1 John
V. 13): if so, he surely meant theni to read it: and if be
lievers generally may read his Gospel and Epistles, why
not the other Gospels and Epistles?
» Mark xii. 10; John v. 46, 47 ; Acts xvii. 11 ; Rom. iu. 2.
c 3

30 THE EIGHT OF PEIVATE JUDGMENT.
3. The same general truth may be inferred from
Paul's express commands to whole churches to read
particular Epistles addressed either to themselves or
their neighbours. Cob iv. 16: " And when this Epistle
shall have been read with you,- cause that it be read also
in the church of the Laodiceans, and that you read that
which is of the Laodiceans." 1 Thess. v. 27; "I charge
•you by the Lord, that this Epistle be read to all the
holy brethren."
4. Even the obscurest book in the Bible, the Revela
tions, opens with an express benediction upon him who
shall read it with a view to observe its directions. Rev.
i. 3: " Blessed is he that readeth, and heareth the words
of this prophecy, and keepeth those things which are
written in it."
5. Besides these particular intimations, there are some
texts which enforce on Christians the duty of reading
the Scriptures generally. James i. 21: "With meek
ness receive the engrafted word" (engrafted on tbe af
fections), " which is able to save your souls." 1 Pet. ii.
2: "As new-born babes desire the rational milk without
guile, that thereby ye may grow unto salvation." Even
the youngest and feeblest Christian is to be nourished in
piety by the word of God, without mixture of human
comments or traditions. Eph. vi. 17: " Take the sword
of the Spirit, which is the word of God." If Chris
tians would successfully struggle against sin, it must be
by use of Scripture. Col. iii. 16: "Let the word of
Christ dwell in you abundantly, in all wisdom." It is
to be read, thought over, understood, and frequently re
called to recollection.
6. Further: Paul would have Christians not merely
read his views of their duty, but exercise their own
judgment on them. 1 Cor. x. 15: "I speak as to wise
men, judge ye yourselves what I say."
7. He gives the same advice to the Thessalonians,
with this addition, that they should hold fast what they
found to be true and good. 1 Thess. v. 21 : " Prove all
things, hold fast that which is good."
S. And lastly, lest the confessed obscurity of some
parts of the Bible should discourage any one from read-

THE RIGHT OF PEIVATE JUDGMENT. 31
ing it, there are many passages which ascertain, to every
honest and humble inquirer, such a measure of Divine
assistance as shall lead them into all essential truth. Jer.
xxxi. 33, 34: "This shall be the covenant that I will
make with the bouse of Israel" (i. e. all believers — see
Heb. X. 14 — 18) "after those days" (the coming of
Christ), " saith the Lord, I will put my law in their in
ward parts, and write it in their hearts ; and will be their
God, and they shall be my people: and they shall teach
no more every man his neighbour, and every man his
brother, saying. Know the Lord; for they shall all know
me, from the least of them Tinto the greatest of them."
1 John ii. 27: "LiCt the unction which you have re
ceived from Him abide in you, and you have no need
that any man teach you, but as His unction teacheth you
of all things, and is truth, and is no lie; and as it hath
taught you, abide in him." James i. 5: " If any of you
want wisdom, let bim ask of God, who giveth to all men
abundantly, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given
him." Matt. xi. 25: "I confess to thee, 0 Father, Lord
of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things
from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to
little ones."
From these texts we gather : —
1. That the whole structure of the New Testament
shows the primitive Christians to- have been familiar
with tfie Old.
2. That the books of the Old Testament generally,
were constructed for the use of the people at large.
3. That the Jews in our Saviour's time were directed
to read the Old Testament.
4. That the primitive Christians were also directed to
read it
5. That the books of the New Testament were gene
rally constructed for the use of the people at large.
6. That the Gospels and Epistles are sufficiently plain
and copious to guide men to faith in Christ, and eternal
life. 7. That Paul's Epistles should be read by the laity.
8. That the book of Revelation should be generally
read.

82 THE RIGHT OF PRIVATE JUDGMENT.
9. That the whole Bible should be read andthought
upon. 10. That we should compare Scripture with expe
rience. 11. That we should prove the truth of all the doctrines
we receive, and hold fast the good.
And 12. That we may expect such Divine aid, in
reading Scripture, as shall preserve us from material
error. Why should we wish to avoid the conclusion to which
these texts so strongly lead us, — that all inen should
read the Scriptures for themselyes; and that those who
read, may understand all that is necessary for their hap
piness?* To recapitulate what has been advanced. ¦>
It has appeared, that, unless we can ground our belief
of Christian doctrine on the decisions of the church
which we know to be infallible, we must derive that be
lief from an examination both of the truth and sense of

• It is of consequence to remark, that, by the acknowledgment of
learned Catholics, the early Christians acted on these plain authori
ties, and were generally recommended to read the Scriptures. Arch
bishop Fenelon has these remarks : — " Much unnecessary trouble has
been lately taken to prove, what is incontestable, that in the iirst ages
of the church, the laity read the Scriptures. — It is quite clear, that
the whole people had, in their own language, the Bible and Liturgy,
which children, for their better education, were made to read ; that
the pastors explained, in succession, all the books of Scripture; that
the sacred text was most familiarly known by the people ; that they
were exhorted to read it continually; that they were blamed for
neglecting to read it; and /that such negligence was esteemed the
source of heresy in opinion, and of relaxation in morals. All this
needs no proof, because it is plain from the records of antiquity."
" Je crois qu'on s'est donnfe en nos jours une peine inutile pour
prouver ce qui est incontestable, savoir, que les lalques lisaient les
saintes 6critures dans les premiers siecles de I'^glise. — II est plus clair
que le jour, que tout le peuple avait dans sa langue naturelle la Bible
et la liturgie, qu'on faisait lire aux enfans, pour les bien Clever; que
les saints paste urs leur expliquoient de suite dans leurs sermons les
livres entiers de I'^criture ; que ce texte fetoit tres-familier aux peu-
ples ; qu'on les exhortait k le lire continuellement ; qu'on les bl&moit
d'en negliger la lecture; enfin, qu'on regardoit cette negligence
comme la source des h6r6sies, et du relSchment des moeurs. Voilace
qu'on n'avait aucun besoin de prouver parce qu' il est clair dans le»
monumens de I'antiquitfe." — (Euvres Spirituelles de Fenelon, tome ii.
pp. 53, 55.

THE EIGHT OF PRIVATE JUDGMENT. 33
Scripture for ourselves. The only particular church
which claims infallibility is the Church of Rome. This
claim being suspicious, on account of the temptations
which the Roman clergy were under to invent it, and of
the suspicious precautions by which they have defended
it, has appeared to be destitute of proof from written,
apostolic, universal tradition; and must therefore de
pend for prooT on Scripture testimony alone. That testi
mony cannot be adduced. The argunient from expe
diency, which is substituted in its place, has failed ;
because the belief, if established, could not prevent dis
cussion: and, there being no evidence to sustain it, the
attemprt to establish it without evidence has both created
discussion and introduced infidelity. Further, could the
belief be established, it would be mischievous ; while
the doctrine itself is opposed to facts. Destitute, there
fore, of all proof, inexpedient, mischievous, and opposed
to facts, the doctrine falls altogether, and the right of
private judgment therefore remains. To make this ne
gative argument still stronger, it appears, that wherever
this right is exercised the pastors and their people
must be improved by it; and that there are unanswera
ble texts of Scripture, which bind all men, who can, to
exercise it, by the express, repeated, and unalterable
commands of God.
Allow me, in conclusion, to offer one word of advice
to those who may be convinced by the foregoing argu
ment. As Scripture may certainly be read in vain, or
even wrested to our destruction, let us remember that a
simple love of truth, and an entire submission to God's
revealed will, are requisite to preserve us from error.
If, with these previous dispositions, we read in a spirit
of prayer, and with patient meditation, not to gratify the
pride of intellect, but to nourish spiritual affections, we
shall overlook the difficulties at which many stumble,
and shall penetrate deeply into the sense of the great
doctrines of the Cross. The infinite love of God, "hid
den from the wise and prudent," will be revealed to us,
though " little ones," and his word will prove to us the

34 THE RIGHT OF PEIVATE JUDGMENT.
sword of the Spirit,* the means of sanctification,t our
wisdom,^ and our consolation.§
/^Some, however, unconvinced by the foregoing argu-
Wnt, will still trust implicitly to their spiritual teachers.
My earnest prayer for you is, that God may bless you
even in your error. But, as you wish to be happy when
you die, seek earnestly, by prayer and meditation, to
^ain a deep conviction of your moral ruin. By nature
corrupt, and under the curse of God, reject all false me
diators, all deceitful trusts, and look only to the merits
of the Lord Jesus Christ for justification, through faith
sin his blood. Mingle not up your miserable doings with
his perfect righteousfiess : but, resting on his atonement,
grateful for his love, and in dependence on his Spirit,
aim henceforth in all you do at a perfect conformity to
his will; that be may own you, whether in the Roman
pale or out of it, as his true disciples at the judgment of
the last day.
* Matt. xi. 25. t John xvii. 17.
t Eph. vi. 17. § Psal. cxix. 99; Rom. xv. 4.

PRAYING IN AN UNKNOWN TONGUE.

REV. CHARLES JERRAM, A.M.

1 CoR. xiv. 14 — 17, — If I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit pray-
eth, but my understanding is unfruitful. What ia it then ? I will
pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also :
I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding
also. Else, when thou shalt bless with the spirit, how shall he that
occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of
thanks, seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest ? For thoU
verily givest thanks well, but the other is not edified.*
The Church of Rome performs the public service of
God in Latin — a language which is unintelligible to the
common people; and which, of course, precludes them
from joining in the prayers which are offered up.
The practice of thus praying in an unknown tongue
is required by the Council of Trent, and is vindicated by
Roman Catholic writers. In the twenty-second session
of that celebrated Synod it was decreed, that, " though
the Mass contain great instruction for the faithful people,
yet it has npt seemed expedient to the Fathers that it
should be celebrated every where in the vulgar tongue :"t
and it is' further added, "If any one shall say that the
Mass ought to be celebrated in the vulgar tongue alone,
* Vulgate. — "-Nam si orem lingu&, spiritus mens orat, mens autem
mea sine fructu est. Quid erg6 est .' Orabo spiritu, orabo et mente:
psallam spiritu, psallam et mente. CeterCim si benedixeris spiritu,
qui supplet locum idiotse, quomodo dicet Amen, super tuam benedic-
tionem, quoniam quid dicas, nescit .¦¦ Nam tu quidem bene gratias
agis; sed alter non cedificatur."
t " Etsi Missa magnam contineat populi fidelis eruditionem ; non
tamen ex'pedire visum est Patribus, ut vulgari passim lingua celebra-
retur." Conc-r Trident, sess. 22. cap. 8.

36 ON PEAYING IN AN UNKNOWN TONGUE.
let him be accursed."* The custom is thus justified by
modern Roman Catholic writers:— Dr. Challoner, in an
swer to the question proposed to the catechist, " Why
does the church celebrate the Mass in the Latin, which
the people for the most part do not understand?" re
plies, " First, because it is the ancient language of the
church, used in the public liturgy in all ages in the wes
tern parts of the world; Secondly, for a greater uni
formity in the public worship: that so a Christian, in
whatsoever country he chances to be, may still find the
liturgy performed in the same manner, and in the same
langtiage, to which he is accustomed at home; Thirdly,
to avoid the changes which all vulgar languages are
daily. exposed, to; Fourthly, because the Mass being a
sacrifice, which the priest, as minister of Christ, is to
offer, and the prayers- of the Mass being mostly fitted
for this end, it is enough that they be in a language
which he understands: nor is this any ways injurious to
the people, who are instructed to accompany him in
every part of this sacrifice by prayers accommodated
to their devotion, which they have in their ordinary
prayer-books. "t And Dr. Baines says, "The reasons
why, in the celebration of the Mass, the Latin language
is used, are simply these: First, the Latin and Greek
were the languages most-generally used, and almost the
only written languages, in the principal countries where
the Christian religion was first promulgated. In these
languages,, therefore, the liturgy of the church was ori
ginally composed, nearly in its present form. When,
several centuries afterward, the languages of modern
Europe began to be formed, the church did not think
proper to alter the languages she has ever used in the
celebration of the sacrifice: for if, on the one hand, these
languages, by becpming dead, ceased to be understood
by the unlearned; on the other, they .became,' like a
body raised from death, immortal, unchangeable; and
on this account the better adapted for preserving unal
tered the awful , doctrines and mysteries committed to
* " Si quis dixerit, lingua tantum vulgari Missam celebrari debere ;
anathema sit." Ibid. Can. 9.
t " The Grounds of the Catholic Doctrine," &c. p. 45,

ON PEAYING IN AN UNKNOWN TONGUE. 37
their care. Would prudence have justified the setting
aside the pure, the dignified, the immutable languages of
the primitive church — languages which, though no long
er spoken by the unlettered, were still, as they are to
this day, the universal languages of the learned in every
country — and the adoption, in their stead, of the num
berless barbarous, half-formed, and daily changing lan
guages of modern Europe ? Would it have been respect
ful, would it have been secure, would it have been prac
ticable, to commit to these rude and uncertain vehicles
the sacred deposit of the faith and hope of Christians ?
For the use of the people, translations have been made,
and abound in every Christian country; but at the altar
the priest continues to commune with God in the origi
nal languages, reciting the more sacred parts of the sa
crificial rite in a low voice, which breaks not the awful
silence, nor disturbs the deep recollections of the sur
rounding adorers."*
It is against this practice, of using a liturgy in a lan
guage unknown to the common people, that I now ad
dress myself; and I will endeavour to show that it
stands opposed to the holy scriptures, to the cus
tom OF THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH, AND TO COMMON SENSE.
That the offering up of public prayers in an unknown
tongue is. contrary
I. To 'Phe Holy Scriptures, is, I think, abundantly
evident from my text, and the whole tenor and scope of
the Apostle's reasoning throughout the chapter. In
deed, to a common reader it would seem almost as if
Paul had written this part of his Epistle for the express
purpose of discountenancing this custom of the Roman
Church: and I doubt not that many of you, on hearing
the text recited, wondered what could be said in support
of a practice so plainly unscriptural, and what arguments
it could be thought necessary to adduce against it, after
so evident a condemnation of it by an inspired Apostle,
And though I am far from maintaining that every pas
sage of Scripture is to be taken literally, and exactly in
* " The Substance of a Sermon preached at the Dedication of the
Catholic Chapel at Bradford," p. 10.
D

38 ON PRAYING IN AN UNKNOWN TONGUE.
the sense in which- the first reading of it would strike a
common understanding, yet I do contend, that, before
that obvious interpretation should be set aside, some
clear and- decisive reasons should be assigned for a dif
ferent construction. The Scriptures were written, for
the most part, by plain men, and for the use of persons
of common capacity; and though they must' necessarily
contain, from their antiquity, from local customs and
allusions, from the subjects on which they treat, and
various other causes, 'f some things hard to be under
stood;" yet, in nine cases perhaps in ten, where almost
every reader would, at the first reading, take a passage
in the same sense, that is the true and genuine sense.
And this canon of interpretation is strongly in our fa-
v^our in the present instance. I will not, however, rest
my argument upon this, but show that the reasoning of
the Apostle bears directly against the custom in discus
sion. It is obvious that Paul is speaking of the manner in
which the Corinthians conducted their public assemblies
for religious worship. This is the subject of which he
treats in several successive chapters; and he censures
them for various improper practices on these occasions;
so that he tells them, their " coming together was not
for the better, but for the worse."* He points out many
things that were reprehensible in their prayers; their
prophesyings; their celebration of the Lord's Supper;
their abuse- of spiritual gifts; and — after his beautiful
eulogium on the pre-eminent gift of cliarity — the im
proper use they made of the gift of tongues.t And this
is the immediate subject of the chapter before us. He
lays it down as a general principle, that " all things," in
an assembly collected together for religious worship,
should " be done unto edifying;":!: and says, " Seek that
ye may excel to the edifying of the church."§ He in
forms them, that their practice of speaking in unknown
* Chap. xi. 17.
t Chaps, xi. xii. xiii.
t Chap. xiv. 26. See also ver. 3—6, 17.
§ Verse 12: "ad aedificationem ecclesise quserite ut abundetis "—
Vulg.

ON PEAYING IN AN UNKNOWN TONGUE. 39
languages, without an interpreter, was a violation of this
rule; and the unprofitableness of such a practice he first
illustrates and then applies: '•' Even things without life,"
says he, " whether pipe or harp, except they give a dis
tinction in the sounds, how shall it be known what is
piped or harped ? For if the trumpet give an uncertain
sound, who .shall prepare himself to battle? So likewise
ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be un
derstood, how shall it be known what is spoken ? for he
shall speak .into the air."* This, then, is a general prin
ciple, applicable in all cases: What is unintelligible in
the church is unprofitable, and for that reason ought to
be discarded; it is as useless as spending the breath in
the open air. Had the Apostle proceeded no farther,
we must have concluded against the Roman Catholic
custom of putting up the prayers of a congregation in a
language which the people do not understand: they " do
not know what is spoken;" and as far as respects them,
it is "spoken into the air." But he proceeds, and ap
plies the principle to the very case before us: "For,"
says he, " if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit
prayeth" (as the priest is said to do, in a low voice, be
fore the altar,) " but my understanding is unfruitfuP't —
that is. My understanding what I say is indeed profitable
lo myself,J but it is unfruitful and unedifying to others;
and thus I defeat the great purpose of edification, for
which the church is assembled. What, then, he asks,
is the result of the whole ? What practical application
shall we make of what- has been said? It is this: "I
will pray with the spirit," as I am inwardly excited by
the Holy Ghost; and " I will pray with the understand
ing also," so tbat my mind may accompany my feel
ings, and my meaning may be intelligible to all that
hear me: and "I will sing with the spirit, and I will
sing with the understanding also." And he shows that
this is the only way in which a Christian congregation
* Verses 7 — 9: " Ita et vos, per linguam, niaimanifestum sermo-
nem dederitis, quomodo scietur id quod dicitur .' Eritis enim in aSra
loquentes. ' ' — Vulg.
1 Ver. 14 : o Je ^3! ftnu oiKctfTri; 'utti : " sine fructu est." Vulg.
i Verse 4.

40 ON PEAYING IN AN UNKNOWN TONGUE.
could be profited: "Otherwise," he asks, "when thou
shalt bless with the spirit," without any such expression
of thanks as the rest of the church can understand, " how
shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned," or
private Christian, " say Amen at thy giving of thanks,
seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest? for thou
verily givest thanks well, but the other is not edified."
Now, without entering into a minute criticism of the
various parts of this important chapter, might we not
venture the decision of this point of controversy between
Romanists and Protestants, so far as respects the scrip
tural authority on which it rests, on the opinion of any
indifferent and candid arbitrator between the- parties?
Let it be asked. What is the great principle which the
Apostle wishes to establish, in the conducting of reli
gious assemblies? and the only answer is, public edifi
cation. This he alludes to many times in the course
of the chapter, and refers to it again and again, as the
great object always to be kept in mind. What is it, it
may be again asked, which the Apostle considers as ab
solutely and indispensably necessary to this general edi
fication? and the only answer that can be given is, in
telligibility; for how can they be edified by what
they do not understand ? If this, then, be the sum and
substance of the whole argument, what becomes of the
question of offering up the prayers and thanksgivings of
a congregation in a language which is unknown to the
people? There can be, one should suppose, but one
opinion on the subject, — that it is in direct opposition to
the authority of an inspired Apostle. Paul forbids what'
the Council of Trent enjoins: he censures the very prac
tice in the Corinthian Church, which the Romanists vin- '
dicate as most becoming in every church.
This^obvious construction of the text is confirmed by
the interpretations of those of the ancient Fathers who
have written comments upon this Epistle. St. Ambrose
explains the second verse, which says, " h'e that speaketh
in an unknown tongue, speaketh not unto men, but unto
God," by observing, that " God knoweth all things; but
men do not, and therefore they derive no profit from this
unknown tongue." And that part of my text which

ON PEAYING IN AN UNKNOWN TONGUE. 41
asks, " Else, when thou shalt bless with the spirit, how
shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say
Amen at thy giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth
not what thou sayest?" he expounds, " That is, if thou
speak the praise of God in a language unknown to the
hearers. For the unlearned, hearing that which he does
not understand, does not understand the object of the
prayer, and therefore does not answer Amen." Upon
the 26th verse, " Let all things be done to edifying," he
says; " This is the conclusion, that nothing should be
done in tbe church in vain; and that this should be
chiefly, aimed at, that the unlearned also might profit,
lest any part of the body should be dark through igno
rance." Again, upon the words, " If there be no inter
preter, let him keep silence in the church," he says,
" That is, let him pray secretly, or speak to God witbin
himself; for in the church he ought to speak who may
profit all men."*
St. Jerome, commenting on the passage " How shall
he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen
at thy giving of thanks?" sajj^s, "It is the layman whom
Paul here supposes to stand in the place of the unlearned;
the man who holds' no ecclesiastical office. How shall
he answer Amen to the prayer which he does not under
stand?" And he gives the same construction to the
passage, "If I pray in an unknown tongue .... my under
standing is unfruitful," as I have just stated, and which
indeed is his own translation of it in the Vulgate.t
"This," says he, "is Paul's meaning; 'If any man
speak in strange and unknown tongues, his mind is
made unfruitful, not to himself, but to the hearer; for he
knows not what is spoken.' "f
I might add, that even Cardinal Cajetan, who lived in
the time of Luther, and who was a very zealous sup
porter of the Church of Rome against the Reformers, in
reference to this chapter, says: "From this doctrine of
Paul, it is concluded, that it is better, for the edification
* "In ecclesid enim ille debet loqui, qui omnibus prosit."— Ambr,
in Epist. prim, ad Cor, cap. 14.
t " Sine fructu'" — Vulg.
i Hieron. in loc.
d2

42 ON PEAYING IN AN UNKNOWN TONGUE.
of the church, that public addresses which are delivered
in the hearing of the people should be said in a language
common to the clergy and the people, than that they be
said in Latin."* And Erasmu.s, when commenting on
this chapter, exclaims, " In this respect, it is wonderful
how the custom of the church is changed. "t Nay, even
Father Paul, who has given a history of the Council of
Trent, says, in that part of it which relates to Mass be
ing performed in an unknown language, " He thfit would
know what language is to be used in the church, needeth
only, without any more discourse, to read the xivth
chapter of Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians, which
will sufficiently inform him,- though his mind be ever so
much prepossessed with the. contrary opinion.''^
But it is unnecessary to quote authorities on a subject
which carries its own evidence on the face of it. It is
utterly impossible to justify the practice of presenting
the prayers of a congregation to the throne of the Divine
Majesty, in a language which the people do not under
stand, so long as the authority of an inspired Apostle is
permitted to outweigh the decree of a Roman council.
And in this respect, if in no other, we have an abundant
refutation of the lofty claims. of this church to infallibili
ty: for either they have fallen into an error, or the
Apostle has ; and if decency forbid us to doubt the in
spiration of the latter, we bave no alternative but an
open denial, that the Church of Rome is infallible.
I bave dwelt the longer on this contrariety between
the practice of the Roman Church and the direction of
Paul, because it is clear and palpable, and supersedes the
necessity of appealing to tbe Scriptures for evidence of
the practice of all ages, down to the time of the Apostles,
of the prayers of religious congregations being offered in
a language understood by the people. It is impossible

*- " Ex hac Pauli doctrini habetur, quod melius est ad a?difica-
tionem ecclesis, orationes publioas, quaa, audiente populo, dicuntur,
dici hngud communi clericis et populo, qaum dici Latin^." — Cajet. in
1 Cor. xiv.
t "Hac in re mirum, quam mutata sit ecclesise consuetudol" —
Eras, in loc.
t Father Paul, 540. Courayer, ii. 294.

ON PEAYING IN AN UNKNOWN TONGUE. 43
to produce a single instance of any religious worship re
corded in the Scripture, from the creation of man down
to the times of Paul, when be censured this practice in
the church at Corinth, being performed in an unknown
tongue. In every case, the people were enabled to say
Amen, to their prayers and praises^to express their
hearty assent to the whole, and their earnest desires that
their services might be accepted. If, therefore, our con
troversy were with persons who acknowledge the Scrip
tures to be an authority from which there is no appeal,
the question would be finally settled, as it is unsupported
by a single authorized example, and is directly, and in
so many words, condemned by Paul. But the Church
of Rome refuses to abide by such a decision. Her tra
ditions, and the decrees of her church, are of co-ordinate
authority with the Scriptures themselves; and as she
claims to herself the exclusive privilege of fixing her
own meaning upon them, she can, with the greatest ease,
extricate herself out of any difficulty, with which their
plain and obvious sense might seem to embarrass her.
She has only to oppose her own authority against that
of the sacred book, and her victory is complete. Let us,
then, endeavour to ascertain, whether she may not be
vulnerable in the part over which she throws her ada
mantine shield ; and whether the practice she has adopt
ed, of praying in her assemblies in an unknown language,
be not opposed also
II. To THE ONE HOLT CATHOLIC AND APOSTOLIC
CHURCH, as it existed in the earliest period, and which
she arrogantly identifies with herself.
The Council of Trent, we have already seen, has de
nounced a curse on " any that shall say that the Mass
ought to be celebrated in the vulgar tongue alone;" and
states, that " it did not seem expedient to the Fathers
that it should be every where performed in the verna
cular language." It is here assumed, that stated forms,
essentially resembling, if not formally the same as, those
with which the Church of Rome now celebrates Mass,
were in use in the first ages of the Christian Church;
and it is asserted, that the Fathers did not think it pro-

44 ON PEAYING IN AN UNKNOWN TONGUE.
per that they should always be in the language under
stood by the people. It is not my immediate province
to inquire into the evidence on which this assumption
rests (though I am persuaded it would be difficult, if not
impossible, to produce it); but I should be doing an in
justice to the subject with which I am entrusted, if I
were not to demand who those early Fathers are, who
disapproved of the prayers (whether at all correspond
ing with those now in use in the Roman Catholic
Church or not) being every where offered up in a lan
guage understood by the common people. I have taken
some pains to find them out, but have been altogether
unsuccessful. The search, however, has furnished me
with numerous examples of Fathers who, when giving
an account of the manner in which religious worship
was conducted, and the sacrament of the Lord's Supper
administer-ed, write in such a way as utterly to preclude
the supposition that all the congregation did not under
stand the language in which their prayers and thanksgiv
ings were offered. We have seen already, that the in
terpretation which two of the Fathers have given of the
passage on which my discourse is founded, is altogether
irreconcilable with the practice we are considering; and
to these, several others might be added. But we have
direct testimony on the subject. Origen, in his 8th
Book against Celsus, has these remarkable words, evi
dently relating to public worship : " The Greeks (pray)
in the Greek language, the Latins in the Latin; and
thus each in his own dialect prays to God, and cele
brates in hymns his praises, according to the best of
his power. And the Lord of every dialect hears them
praying in every dialect, as (if I may so speak) being
of one voice, in significancy, though expressed in va
rious tongues. For God over all is not of those to
whom has been allotted one dialect, be it Greek or
barbarian, and who have no knowledge of the rest, and
care not for those who speak in other tongues."*

KUTCt .
Lib. 8,

Ot 1^11 '-i-KMiK 'EhMIMoi;, 0/ fi '-Pcefiumi 'Vca/u.a.i!co7!, KM ouTac, atas-oi
; T»v 'iMTou hnKin'rov 6[/;t6Tst/ tm ©ea. «,, t. x. — Orig, contra Celsum,
8.

ON PEAYING IN AN UNKNOWN TONGUE. 45
Cyprian informs us, that " the priest, having made a
preface before prayer, prepares the minds of the brethren,
by saying, 'Lift up your hearts,' and the people answer,
'We lift them up unto the Lord.' "* But this supposes
that the prayers were offered up in a language they un
derstood. In another place he says, " Let us pour forth
our fervent prayers with tears, and cries, and groans :"t
and this he says in reference to the prayers accompany
ing the Lord's Supper; and the exhortation necessarily
implies that they were in the vernacular tongue.
Justin, Martyr has handed down to us a very minute
account of the manner in which the sacrament of the
Lord's Supper was administered in his time; and it is
impossible to doubt that it was always in the vulgar
tongue; every part of it affords the strongest evidence
of this fact. He says, in his Second Apology, after a
statement of several particulars intheir public worship,
that bread and a cup of water and wine are presented to
the president or bishop; -and that he, having received
them, returns ^praise and glory to the Universal Father,
in the name of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and at
great length offers thanks to. God for having deigned to
bestow such benefits upon them; and that "when he has
finished his prayers and thanksgivings, all the persons
present proclaim their assent by saying Amen. "J
This account of the manner of conducting Divine
Service, and the administration of the Lord's Supper, is
in perfect accordance with those of other Fathers, who
represent the people as joining in the prayers and praises
of the church, and giving their cordial assent to the
whole by pronouncing, with a loud voice their hearty
Amen.§

* " Sacerdos ante orationem, prcefatione praemissa, parat fratrum
mentes dicendo, Sursum corda; et respondet plebs, Habemus ad
Dominum." — Cyprian, de Orat. Dominic. § 22.
+ " Enfxis precibus, lacrymis, ingemiscamus.— Epist. 8.
tf»i«87 Mym, hfj-m. — Apol. Secunda. ,
§ St. Jerome speaks thus of tho custom of the people pronouncing
Amen: " Ad simiUtudinem coDlestis tonitru, Amen, populus reboat,"
in 2 ProEem. Com. in Galat. — and he expressly says, " Populus cum
sacerdote loquitur in precibus." — Supra.

46 ON PEAYING IN AN UNKNOWN TONGUE.
And who can help connecting this extraordinary
coincidence of expression with that of Paul in my text:
"Else, when thou shalt bless with the spirit, how shall
he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen
to thy giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth not
what thou sayest?" — with the idea that the churches
derived this custom from Apostobcal institution; and
that the prayers and thanksgivings of the primitive
congregations were universally in a language which the
people understood, and that, if for no other reason, in
order that the people might confirm them by their loud
Amen? But the Roman Catholic Church have deprived
their congregations of this Apostolical institution, and
this invaluable privilege of the universal church. They
have locked up the prayers and praises whicb accom
pany the sacred services of religion, and the administra
tion of the Lord's Supper, in a dead language, and cut
off tbe.whole congregation of unlearned Christians from
the privilege of saying Amen, to prayers and thanks
givings in which they have as deep an interest as the
priests themselves, and in which they have an equal
right to join. With what show of justice a church like
this lays claim to be the one and exclusive Catholic and
Apostolical church, it would be difficult to conceive.
One thing is certain, that in the first six centuries no
such unchristian prohibition existed.* The Fathers,

* The probability is, that the custom of performing Divine Service
in an unknown tongue grew up at Rome gradually, and whilst the
people, in this metropolis of the world, were by slow degrees losing
their own language, or corrupting it with that bf the foreign nations
which overran the western world. And this is the way in which
Archbishop Tillotson accounts for it: — " It grew up," says he, " by
degrees; for as by the inundation of barbarous nations upon the Roman
Empire, the Romans lost their tongue by degrees ; so the governors of
that church still kept up the Scriptures and the Service of God in
the Latin tongue, which at last was wholly unknown to the common
people. And about the ninth and tenth centuries, when, by the
general consent of all their historians, gross darkness and ignorance
covered this part of the world, the Pope and the priests tooli away
th^key of knowledge, and did, as I may say, put it under the door
for several ages, till the Reformation fetched it out again, and rubbed
off the rust of it." — Tillotson's Sermons, vol. II. pp. 323, 324.
Whilst, however, at Rome, the Scriptures and the Liturgy con
tinued in the, Latin language, it is not improbable that the other

ON PEAYING IN AN UNKNOWN TONGUE. 47
with one consent, declare the contrary, and reprobate
in the strongest terms any such exclusion. St. Cyprian
says, "To pray otherwise than as Christ has taught, is
not only ignorance, but a crime, since he himself has
said, 'Ye reject the, command of God, that ye may
establish your tradition.' "* — " If you come together,"
says St. Ambrose, "to instruct the church, those things
ought to be spoken which the hearers understand; for
what does he profit the people who speaks in an un
known tongue to them ?"t — " We ought to understand,"
says St. Augustine, "in order tbat we may sing unto
God with human reason, and not, as it were, with the
chattering of birds. Parrots and pies, and birds of this
kind, are often taught by men to utter sounds which
they understand not."J
I will conclude these testimonies by referring to one
of the Constitutions of the Emperor Justinian, who lived
in the sixth century, and which, I think, shows that the
innovation we are considering had not yet commenced,
as it is here evidently supposed that all understood the
language of the prayers, and the only evil complained
of is the manner of presenting them. "We command,"
says he, "tbat all bishops and priests do celebrate the
holy oblation, and the prayers used in holy baptism, not
speaking low" (as the Romanists now do, and pronounce
an anathema on those who condemn the practice,§) " but
with a clear and loud voice, which may be heard by the
churches of Western Europe, subject to that of Rome, had their
religious services performed in the languages of their respective
countries ; and this will account for the fact of the Council of Lateran,
as hereafter noticed, in the thirteenth century, giving directions to
the Bishops to provide that the individuals of the Roman faith, but
of different rites and tongues, when meeting in any city or diocese,
should have the means of worshipping God, each in their own
language, and according to the rites of tneir own church.
* " Alitor orare quara ut Christus docuit, non ignorantia sola est,
sed et -culpa," &c, — Cypr. de Orat. Dom.
t " Si utique ad dificandum convenitis," &o. — In Epist. 1 ad Cor.
cap. xiv.
t " Intelligere debemus, ut humanSl ratione, non quasi avium voce
cantemus. Psittaci," &c. — August, in Ps. xviii.
§ " Si quis dixerit, Ecclesiae Romanse ritum, quo submiss^ voce pars
Canonis, et verba consecrationis proferuntur, damnandum esse 
Anathema sit." — Cone. Trident, sess. 22. can. 9.

48 ON PEAYING IN AN UNKNOWN TONGUE.
people, in order, that the minds of the hearers may be
stirred up with greater devotion in uttering tbe praises
of the Lord God. For thus the holy Apostle teaches in
his First Epistle to the Corinthians, saying, ' If thou
only bless or give thanks with the Spirit, how shall he.
that occupieth the room of tbe unlearned say Amen at
thy giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth not what
thou sayest? Thou verily givest thanks well, but the
other is not edified.' And again, in the Epistle to the
Romans, he saith, ' With the heart a man believeth unto
righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation.' Therefore, for these reasons it is proper,
that, amongst other prayers, those things also which are
spoken in the holy oblation be uttered by the most reli
gious bishops and priests unto our Lord Jesus Christ our
God, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, with a loud
voice. And let the most religious priests know this,
that if they neglect any of these things, neither the
dreadful judgment of the great God and our Saviour
Jesus Christ, nor will we, when we know it, rest and
leave it unrevenged."*
Thus it appears that the practice of the Roman Catho
lic Church, in performing her religious rites and offering
up the prayers of the people in a language not under
stood by the unlearned, is at equal variance with the
holy Scriptures and the example of the purest ages of
the Christian church. Nay, further, that it is not only
not consonant with these high authorities, but it is
directly opposed to them. Paul forbids this practice;
but, notwithstanding this prohibition, the Roman Catho
lic Church persists in it. The Fathers not only adopted
the Apostle's rule, but joined with him in censuring and
condemning the Corinthians who had violated it: but
Popes and Councils have decided against that rule, and
pronounced a curse on all that should question their
authority for so doing. In what light, then, are we to
view this church? Certainly not as built upon Prophets
and Apostles; for she disregards their authority when it
frustrates her own designs. For it will be observed that
* " Jubemus omnes Episcopos," &c.— Constit. 23.

ON PEAYING IN AN UNKNOWN TONGUE. 49
this practice of the church is not one which might arise
out of a combination of circumstances, for which neither
the first Apostles nor the primitive church had made any
provision, and which might naturally be resolved into
the general principle of doing " all things decently, and
in order:" it does not relate to a particular ceremony,
which in itself may be perfectly innocent, and which
every Christian community may have a right to adopt,
though eventually it may lead to inconvenience, or
engender superstition: it is not the countenancing of an
exempt order of men for special religious purposes,
which, however laudable as to-its object, may be perni
cious to tbe community. It is nothing of tbe kind. It
is an open and direct avowal of the Church of Rome, that
she has authority to adopt customs in opposition, not
only to the spirit of the Gospel, but to its recorded
injurictions. It is .an assumption, not only of an inde
pendent authority to make regulations for the church,
equally with the first Apostles, but also of a power to
contravene their decisions, and to set up its own as
paramount, and beyond appeal: for it denounces its
anathema against the individual who dares to impugn
or even question its decrees.
Here, then, is a singular state of things: the Church
of Rome in open hostility with an Apostle of Christ and
the primitive churches, and yet claiming an exclusive
right to be the one holy apostolical church! Acknow
ledging Paul to be infallible, on the ground of his being
under the constant guidanCe'and inspiration of the Holy
Spirit; and appropriating the same attribute to herself, in
the very act of setting aside his deliberate opinion and
decision! Insisting that the customs and decrees of the
church are binding on all Christians; and yet by her
contrary decrees and customs rendering such obedience
impossible! Who, that reflects but for a moment, can
help seeing these contradictions, and perceiving the real
cause of her Unwillingness to allow a free circulation of
the holy Scriptures? She cannot help seeing that the
two authorities cannot exist together. The light of the
one must disperse the darkness of the other; the intrin
sic weight and authority of the former must bear down
E

50 ON PEAYING IN AN UNKNOWN TONGUE.
the usurped and unsupported dominion of the latter:
and therefore, gi'('ing this church ample credit for being
wise in her generation, we shall feel no surprise at the
advice said to have been given by certain bishops, as
sembled at Bononia, during the sitting of the Council of
Trent, to Pope Julius III.; where, among other things,
they gave this as their last advice; and the greatest and
weightiest of all: "That, by all means, as little of the
Gospel as might be, especially in the vulgar tongue,
should be read to the people; and that tbat little wh.ich
was in the Mass ought to be sufficient; neither should
it be permitted to any mortal to read more: for so long,
say they, as men were contented with that little, all
things went well with them; but quite -otherwise since
more was commonly read. That, in short, the Scrip
ture was that which, above all others, hath raised those
tempests and whirlwinds, with which we were almost
carried away. And, in truth, if any one diligently con
siders it, and compares it with what is done in our
church, he will find them very contrary to each other,
and our doctrine not only to be very different from it,
but repugnant to it."*
The time, however, is at hand when tbe restraint will
be unavailing. The present is not the age for paying
an implicit homage to authority: every man asserts his
claim to see and think for hjmself; and whether, the
Church of Rome approves of it or not, they will exer
cise the right of private judgment, and form their own
conclusions from facts and reasonings which are brought
before them. And, among the first discoveries such men
will make of the corruptions and errors which have
crept iato and disfigured the Church of Rome, will be
the absurdity, as well as the anti-scriptural practice, of
that church, in presenting their prayers to the Supreme
Being in a language which the people do not understand;
for the custom is not more contrary to the authority of
* I have copied this .statement from one of Archbishop Tillotson's
Sermons, vol. II. p. 329, not having, within reach, the means of veri-
fying it. The character of the Archbishop is a sufficient guarantee
for its correctness. '

ON PEAYING IN AN UNKNOWN TONGUE. 51
the Scripture, and the usage of the primitive church,
than it is opposed,
III. To COMMON SENSE AND THE PLAINEST SUGGES
TIONS or reason: and it is in this balance that I now
proceed to weigh it. There is, however, some difficulty
in this part of the subject, and it consists in this, to find
out in what way reason is to meet a subject which car
ries on the face of it a total defiance of all the principles
on which disputed points are usually decided. If the
question related to the comparative advantages of writ
ten forms of prayer, or the immediate effusions of the
heart; — if it regarded the Object of prayer — whether
we should address the Father only, in the name of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit; or conjointly, as one God;
or severally, as we might feel the need of those blessjngs
which each Person in the Godhead officially imparts; —
if the question related to matters of this and a similar
kind, reason would have its legitimate province, and
evidence might be adduced on which it might safely
decide. But when the subject of discussion is. Is it ra
tional to pray to God in words which we do not under
stand ? it seems as if reason were called upon to decide
whether it is right to pray without prayer; to approach
God without knowing'for what; to utter sounds without
sense; to bow the knee, without having any favour to
ask, or any blessing to acknowledge. To ask the deci
sion of reason on questions like these, seems as prepos
terous as the propositions themselves on which she is
called to determine. View the subject in what way we
please, it brings us to the same -absurdity. Is God a
Spirit? and does he seek such to worship him who wor
ship in spirit and in truth? Is it not, then, a solemn
mockery to offer words only — words to which it is not
possible for the people to attach one spiritual idea, and
which must necessarily come up before him without
conveying one solitary thought ? Is prayer addressed
to a Being who is every where present, and knows all
things ?. It supposes, then, that his eye is fixed upon
our heart, and is noticing the correspondence between
the words that are uttered and the desires that accom-

52 ON PEAYING IN AN UNKNOWN TONGUE.
pany them: now, if he see that there is no relation
between them, is it not absurd to suppose thathe will
regard such services with approbation, and confer a
blessing on those who offer them ? Do we view prayer
as the laying of our wants before God, and as expressing
an earnest desire that he would relieve them ?— -that we
are guilty, and need pardon? unholy, and need grace?
weak, and need strength? ignorant, and need instruc
tion? tempted, and need succour? afflicted, and need
comfort? — and do we desire that God, who alone jcan
confer these blessings, would graciously satisfy our
desires? Is it, not, then, infinitely preposterous to draw
near to him with unmeaning words; with sounds to
which we attach no ideas; with homage which ex
presses no feeling; and with iinportunity which knows
not what it urges? And yet this is the real character
of the public prayers of the Roman Catholic Church, as
presented to God in a language which the people do not,
understand. Her members are called together from
time to time to appear before God, and to unite in
prayer and praise. They are invited to -partake of the
most holy mysteries; they are taught. to believe, that, in
virtue of the prayers of their priests and the congrfega-
tion, the elements of bread and wine undergo a miracu
lous transformation of substance, and become tbe very
body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, such as he was
born of the Virgin Mary, and suffered upon the cross;
and that, in piartaking of this transubstantiated body of
the Saviour, they derive benefits of immeasurable ex
tent, both spiritual and eternal: and when we should
expect to find both priest and people united as the heart
of one man, and with intense desire putting meaning
into every word, and concentrating all their energies,
and giving the wings of faith and hope to every dis
tinct petition, we find, on the contrary, the priest alone,
in a language which he alone understands — and some
times, not even the priest himself— in a low voice be
fore the altar, offering up his own prayers and those of
his flock, in such a way a? utterly to preclude every
unlearned individual — that is, in most cases, every one
but himself — from sharing in the prayers, or of even

ON PEAYING IN AN UNKNOWN TONGUE. 53
pronouncing his rational Amen to the prayers offered
by his priest; for " how," as the Apostle asks, " shall
he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen
at the giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth not
what is said ?"
Such appears to me to be the extreme absurdity
stamped on the very face of the Roman Catholic custom
of offering up their public prayers in a language not un
derstood by the people. I am aware, indeed, that Ro
manists deny that this practice is chargeable with these
inconsistencies, and that they assign reasons for it ; and
these it will be proper for us now to examine: but I
thought it right to place the subject before you, as it
presented itself to my own mind previously to exam
ining the arguments by which they support and vindi
cate it. You will readily suppose, that considerable
ingenuity must be necessary to give even a colouring to
a practice which stands equally opposed to the plain de
clarations of Scripture, the united voice and universal
usage of the ancient Fathers, and the clearest dictates of
common sense. What those reasons are, I will now lay
before you; and I think they will leave you in no little
astonishment that an affair of such magnitude could ever
have been placed on so sandy a foundation. .
The Council of Trent, indeed, assigns no other reason
for the custom than this, tbat thus "it seemed, good to
the Fathers" (expedire visum est Patribus) ; and de
nounces its usual curse against those who shall say that
their conduct in this respect is wrong: " Si quis dixe
rit.... lingua tantum vulgari Missam celebrari debere....
anathema sit." To what decree or opinion of the Fa
thers the Council here alludes, I have not been able to
discover ; and I believe it will be impossible to "produce
any such authority during the first six centuries, and
probably many succeeding ones. The primitive Litur
gies were all in the language of the people for whose
use they were intended: and so late as Pope Innocent
IIL, in the year 1215, the Council of Lateran (Can. 9),
under the Pope's auspices, expressly decreed, "that,
because in many parts, within tbe same city and diocese,
there are many people of different manners and rites
E 2

54 ON PEAYING IN AN UNKNOWN TONGUE.
mixed together, but of one faith, the bishops of such
cities or dioceses should provide fit men for celebrating
Divine offices according to the diversity of tongues and
rites, and for administering the sacraments." Two things
here are particularly worthy of observation: the first is,
that if any such opinion or decree of the Fathers, as is
pretended by the Council of Trent, had been in exist
ence, the Council of Lateran, with the Pope at its head,
either knew nothing of it, or, knowing it, they decreed
against it. The other is, that the Council of Trent, in
1564, decreed against the Council of Lateran in 1215.
And in either case, what becomes of the unity of coun
cils, and their infallibility, so much boasted of by Roman
Catholics? In the absence, then, of express authority from the
primitive Fathers for this custom, we must have recourse
to other authorities, if we would learn what can be
alleged in support of it; and I will bring forward the
arguments of two of tbe most recent and accredited
Roman Catholic writers on this subject. Dr. Challoner
and Dr. Baines. The former of these, as was noticed
before, in answer to the question, " Why does the
Church celebrate the Mass in the Latin, which tbe peo
ple for the most part do not understand ?" gives several
reasons. The first is, " Because it is the ancient lan
guage of the church, used in the public liturgy, in all
3ges, in the Western church." And Dr. Baines assigns
a nearly similar reason, and says, "The Latin and Greek
were the languages most generally used, and almost the
only written languages, in the principal countries where
the Christian religion was first promulgated. In these
languages, therefore, the liturgy of the church was .origin
ally composed, nearly in its present form." This reason
for praying in an unknown tongue rests, on the-assu'mp-
tion, that the liturgy now in use among the Roman
Catholics- is the same, or nearly the same, as was used
among the primitive Christians ; and on the historical
fact, that in the Western church it was alwajj^s in Latin,
and in the Eastern always in Greek. But we can admit
neither the assumption nor the fact ; and must therefore
deny the force of the argument founded upon them. It

ON PEAYING IN AN UNKNOWN TONGUE. 55
is not true that the Roman Catholic liturgy is the same,
or nearly tbe same, as that supposed to be used in primi
tive times, and authorized by the Fathers ; for the ob
vious-reason, that no one liturgy was used by all these
churches. Their liturgies were almost as numerous as
the churches themselves ; and whilst, of course, they
had some things in common, in many respects they
widely differed frorh each other. Who will contend
that those which are ascribed (whether justly or not, I
do not inquire) to Peter, James, Mark, John, Chrysos
tom, &c. were the same ? or that those of the Maronites
and the Copts, the Ambrosian, the Galilean, the Spanish,
the African, &c. were alike? And we have just seen,
that, in the thirteenth century, churches professing the
same faith had such a variety of religious rites and ways
of administering the sacraments, that when individuals
from them met in the same city and diocese, they could
neither unite in the same liturgy, nor -pray in the same
language; and, to remedy the inconvenience arisirvg
from this diversity of forms and tongues, the bishops
were required to find fit men for celebrating Divine
offices according to the respective customs and languages
of each. It is most evident, therefore, that there was
nothing like a uniformity of liturgy or language in the
different Westerri churches down to the thirteenth cen
tury : and the argument founded upon the supposition
that there was, and that the only language in the Western
cburch was Latin, and in the Eastern, Greek, and that,
therefore, these ought still to be continued, falls to the
ground. But, irrespective of the facts of the case, as handed
down in ecclesiastical history, the suppo.sition that the
primitive liturgies were chiefly, if not entirely, in the
two languages predominant in the two hemispheres into
which the Christian world was divided, is contrary to
every idea we must necessarily form, both of the inten
tion of the gift of tongues, and the nature of the Chris
tian religion. Why were the disciples of our Lord, and
the first ministers of the Gospel, miraculously enabled
to spfeak in languages which they never learned ? For
what purpose was it that " Parthians, and Medes, and

56 ON PEAYING IN AN UNKNOWN TONGUE.
Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judea
and Cappadocia, in Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pam-
phylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cy-rene,
and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and
Arabians, heard the Apostles speak in their own tongue
the wonderful works of God ?" * Surely, not for a vain.
ostentation of miraculous gifts, but for the purpose of
preaching the Gospel all over the world, and bringing
men of all climes and languages into the way of peace
and salvation. What success attended the preaching of
the Apostles and their successors, I need not now remind
you : " Their line went through all the earth, and their
words to the end of the world ."t Within the first three
centuries the greater part of the known world had re
ceived tbe faith of the Gospel ? In. what language, then,
was the Gospel preached to each nation? Doubtless in
that which they understood, which was their own, and
not in Greek and Latin. What would be the first step
which these successful preachers would take, after they
bad obtained a few converts? LTnquestionably to unite
them in one Christian body, for the purpose of worship
ping and serving God: they would pray with them, and
teach them to pray. But in what language would they
pray? In Greek and Latin, say Roman Catholics^hat
is, in laiiguages of which they had no knowledge! Is
this likely? is it possible? Common sense declares
against the supposition. Beyond all doubt, the prayers
of the Apostles would be in the same language as their
sermons; and if they gave them litut-gies, they would
be in the vulgar tongue. If Paul and his coadjutors
preached the Gospel, not only throughout alb Asia, but
Europe also; iftbey introduced it to the Germans, to
the Gau'ls, to the Helvetians, to the two Spa ins, to the
Northern nations, to England, would it not be in the lan
guage understood by each? and if they gave them litur
gies, would they not do it in the same? It is impossible
to conceive any thing more absurd, than that the first
ministers of the Gospel should call the world froth their
idolatrous worship to serve the living and true God, and
* Acta ii. 9—12. t "Psal. xix. 4.

ON PEAYING IN AN UNKNOWN TONGUE. 57
then leave them in perfect ignorance of the way in
which they were to present their prayers to bim ; or,
what is the same thing, put these prayers into a language
whicb they did not understand.
"But," says Bishop Baines, "the Latin and Greek
were the languages most generally used, and almost the
only written languages in the principal countries where
tbe Christian religion was first promulgated." Suppose
we were to grant this, yet there worfld still remain,
according to the Bishop, some languages beside the
Greek and Latin, and some other countries in which
there were written languages: and what reason can be
assigned why liturgies should not be given in these
languages as well as in Greek and Latin? But the
Roman Catholics confine, their liturgy to one language
alone; and what is more singular and unaccountable still,
to a language which no nation now speaks; and denies
it to all those who have a written language! But, adds
Dr. Baines, "When, several centuries afterwards, the
languages of modern Europe began to. be forrned, the
Church did not think proper to alter the languages she
has ever used in the celebration of the holy sacrifice.''
If it be, then, a fact, that the Roman Church has from
its beginning used its present Mass, then we need no
other evidence that she is not the true apostolical church;
for it is most certain, that that cburch, as handed down
from the Apostles, did not use the Mass as it is now
celebrated by the Romanists: and this church may call
itself any thing, rather than the Apostolical. However,
admitting,-for the sake of argument, that the church had
good reason for not suffering " the holy sacrifice" to be
offered in the incipient languages of modern Europe,
can this be a valid reason for refusing the privilege of
having it in their own language to her churches now,
when those languages are perfected, and are the only
languages which are now spoken? "Would prudence,"
he again asks, "have justified the setting aside the pure,
the dignified, the immutable languages of the primitive
church; languages which, though no longer spoken by
the unlettered," (that is, by the vast mass of Christians
for whom Christ died, and of whom our Lord says, ' I

58 ON- PEAYING IN AN UNKNOWN TONGUE.
thank thee, 0 Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that
thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent,
and hast revealed them unto-babes,'*) " were still as they
are to this day, the universal languages of the learned
in every country; and the adoption, in their stead,
of the numberless barbarous, half-formed and daily
changing languages of modern Europe? Would it have
been respectful, would it have been secure, would it
have been practicable, to commit to these rude and
uncertain vehicles the sacred deposit of the faith and
hope of Christians ?"t Now, were we to allow that
these considerations deserved any attention under the
circumstances alluded to, what connexion, have they
with the present state of things? Are the languages of
Europe now rude, barbarous, half-formed, ever-changing
and unfit to be the deposit and vehicles of the faith and
hope of Christians? But the Roman Catholic Church
now refuses to have her solemn prayers and sacred rites
celebrated in the vulgar tongue; and it is of the present
prohibition that we compfain. So that, if we allow all
that the Bishop claims in behalf of bis church for with
holding the liturgy from the common people in former
times; his plea is utterly unavailing as it regards the
present state of Europe. Many centuries ago, "-it
would have been respectful, it would have been secure,
it would have been practicable, to commit to" the lan
guages of modern Europe " the sacred deposit of the
faith and hope of Christians;" and their not baving done
so is equally unscriptural, antichristian, and irrational.
The very assumption on Which' this reasoning is founded
is, that "from the beginning it was not so;" for when
Greek and Latin were the spoken and predominant
languages, then the liturgy was in the vulgar tongue;
and the decree of the Council of Trent is in direct con
tradiction to the practice'of the primitive church.
We are,however, informed that it is enough, for all
the purposes of religion, if the priest understands the
languageof the prayers. Dr. Challoner says, that "the
Mass being a sacrifice which tbe priest, as the minister
* Luke X. 27. t Substance of a Sermon, &c., p. 10.

ON PEAYING IN AN UNKNOWN TONGUE. 59
of Christ, is to offer, and the prayers of the Mass being
mostly fitted for this end, it is enough that they be in
the language which he understands." Admitting that
the faet is as here stated, the conclusion does not follow
that it is enough for the priest to understand the pray
ers; for iftbey be only "mostly fitted" for this end, there
are some of them not so fitted; and these, at least, ought
to be in a language which the people understand; nor
ought the Church of Rome tp anathematize those who
say this. But, should we allow that the whole ceremon}'
is ofa priestly character, and that .the people have no
interest in understanding or taking a share in the
prayers, then we are obliged to conclude that the
Roman Mass is an innovation, and bas not the least
countenance from tbe practice of the church in primi
tive times; for in these we have the most undoubted
testimony that the people took a conspicuous and
essential part of the service, along with the priest; and
that they both understood the language of their litur
gies, and accompanied them with their lOud and hearty
Amen: and if they cannot do so now, it must be because
the Church of Rome has apostatized frpm the Apostoli
cal church, and has cruelly robbed the large body of her
members, not only of their'most distinguished privilege,
but of the very bread which should sustain their spi
ritual life. But this is not all. If it be " enough that
they be in the language which be (the priest) under
stands," why then' .are people called together on such
occasions? They can take no part in the service; and
it seems that it is not necessary they should: for what
purpose, then, i^ it that they are assembled ? Is it to
witness a dumb show? to be present at an idle pageant?
to give effect lo a solemn ceremony ? But the absui-dity
does not end here. " It is enough that they be in a
language which he understands." Then why translate
these prayers, and put them into the hands of the pedple?
Is this for their mere amusement, and without any in
tention that they should join in them? Then, to say
the least of it, this is a most unprofitable and unseason
able way-of diverting the minds of the congregation.
But if it be said, that it is with the intention of their

60 ON PEAYING IN AN UNKNOWN TONGUE.
joining in the service, then it is not "enough" that
the priest understands and offers the prayers; and it is
preposterous that the people should be praying in one
language and the priest in another. So that, viewing
the argument of Dr. Challoner in whatever way we
choose, we are brought to the same conclusion, thatthe
practice be attempts to justify by it, is at variance with
common sense and Christian edification.
But we are told that there are many advantages in
thus having the prayers of the public locked up in a
dead language: it serves "for a greater uniformity in
the public worship," says Dr. Challoner; "that so a
Christian, in whatsoever country he chances to be, may
still find the liturgy performed in the same manner and
in the same language to which he is accustomed at
home."* That is, the tens of thousands of Christians
who never stir a step from home, may, reasonably con
sole themselves for th&want of a known language in
which to offer up their public prayers to their Heavenly
Father, by reflecting that the solitary traveller, who
traverses the countries of Christendom, still finds, that
whatever realms he visits, he has still the privilege, if
he understand neither Latin nor Greek, of being every
where excluded from paying his public homage to God
in a language that be understands!
Bishop Baines conceives that another advantage is
connected with this usage. " If, on the one band,"
says he, " these languages, by becoming dead, ceased to
be understood by the unlearned;" i. e. if it be admitted
that some disadvantage may arise from nearly the whole
body of Christians being utterly precluded from all jiar-
ticipation in the public prayers of their liturgy, and from
saying "Amen to the giving of thanks," because they
are in an unknown language — a disadvantage, my Pro
testant fellow Christians, which you will be able in some
measure to appreciate, who daily enjoy the unspeakable
comfort and edification of joining in solemn praver and
praise with " the multitude of those who keep holy-
fiay;" — "If," says the bishop, "on the one hand, these
* The Grounds, &c., p. 45.

ON PEAYING IN AN UNKNOWN TONGUE. 61
languages, by becoming dead, ceased to be understood
by the unlearned; — there is more than an equivalent to
counterbalance this evil, (for this his reasoning sup
poses) — "on the other," says he, "they became, like a
body raised from death, immortal, unchangeable, and on
this account the better adapted for preserving unaltered
the awful doctrines and mysteries committed to their
care."* Just a§ if he had said. " if the millions of.living
Christians in all succeeding ages experience a spiritual
death, as it regards the public worship of Almighty God,
the two dead languages, Greek and Latin, experience a
resuscitation, and become immortal and unchangeable!"
And if this afford no great consolation to the millions of
"unlettered" Christians who are thus debarred from
worshipping God in publicj it gives great security to
the sacred mysteries) as'these "" immortal arid unchange
able" languages are " adapted for preserving unaltered
the awful doctrines and mysteries committed to their
care." They do, indeed, effectually conceal them from
vulgar gaze, and render it impossible for the "unlet
tered" to dive into their meaning! It is, moreover, a
further advantage, that, though tbe languages in which
their prayers are written " are no longer spoken by the
unlettered," they are " still the universal languages of
the learned iri every country." — My brethren, the sub
ject is too serious to be any longer viewed in the ridicu
lous light in which these reasonings of Roman Catholics
place it. My heart fails me in contemplating this cold
and heartless treatment of the poor, and wretched, and
afflicted, and miserable mass of mankind, for whom
Christ died! For the sake, it should seem, of permit
ting the few learned men in the world, who, alas! after
all, care very littTe or nothing about these things, to con
template the mysteries of the Roman Catholic faith in
" the pure, the dighified, the immutable languages of the
primitive church," aa Dr. Baines speaks, all the rest of
the church, who are famishing for want of knowledge,
who are fainting with thirst for the- wells of salvation,
must be utterly excluded- from all approach to God in
* Sermon, &c, p. 10.

62 ON PEAYING IN AN UNKNOWN TONGUE.
the public and most solemn parts of Divine worship!
Does this prohibitioh savour of the blessed Gk)spel,
which was preached "to the poor?" Has this cruel
mockery of human woes and wants, by Popes and
Councils, any thing in common with the compassionate
Friend of sinners, who said, " The SpiHt of the Lord is
upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the
Gospel to the poor: be hath sent me to heal the broken
hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and re
covering of sight to the blind; to set at liberty them
that are bruised; to preach the acceptable year of the
Lord."* Surely, if Antichrist have any marks by
which it may be designated and known, this must be
one. The image of the Apocalyptic Beast is imprinted
on its forehead.
I know, indeed, that both these vsrriters, and Roman
Catholics in general, endeavour to obviate the objections
to which this custom of their church is exposed, by tell
ing us tbat these prayers are explained for tbe use of the
common people: nay, that they are translated, so that
they may read them at Mass, and thus join in the pub
lic worsbip: and Bishop Baines furnishes us with some
thing like a sublime representation of tbe service of the
Mass, where be represerits the priest at tbe altar " com
muning with God in the original languages, reciting the
mpre sacred parts of the sacrificial rites in a low voice,
which breaks not the awful silence, nor disturbs the
deep recollections of the surrounding adorers."t But,
alas! this is poetry, and borrows its sublimity from the
force of imagination, which invests a very plain and
every-day matter of fact with a fictitious grandeur.
Take from it all which fancy has thrown around it, and
we have these naked facts remaining: The priest, in one
place, saying something which the people cannot hear,
and could not understand if they did bear; and the peo
ple, that few of them who ean read, with their transla
tions,- some reading one part of the prayers, and others
reading another; and thus, for want of a simultaneous
pouring out of all hearts together before God in prayer
* Luke iv. , t Substance of Sermon,' p. 10.

ON PEAYING IN AN UNKNOWN TONGUE. 63
and praise, destroying tbe very nature of public wor
ship, and converting it into private devotion: while the
great body — y^s, I say the great -body; for the Roman
Catholic religion is an enemy to education; it designedly
and systematically discourages the teaching of the poor —
whilst tbe great body of every Roman Catholic congre
gation, from their inability to read, Eire totally debarred
from all participation in the worship, and can view it
only as an empty pageant! These are cut off from all
intercourse with God in their public liturgy; and the
guilt of this excision, whilst it inflicts a curse upon its
wretched members more real and terrible than its bitter
est anathemas pronounced, against Protestants, lies upon
this church with the weight ofa millstone; and if there
were no other to sink it, mast eventually overwhelm it
with ruin.*

* I feel exceedingly pained at the necessity, which a sense of duty
imposes upon me, of speaking with apparent harshness on t{ie treat
ment which the poor and unlearned of the Papal community meet
with from their superiors in the church ; and I cannot but think, that
the Discourse of Bishop Baines, of which I have made so much men
tion, under the semblance* of peculiar mildness, contains as much re
fined cruelty and antichristian feeling, in the short compass ofa single
page, as is-jiny where else to be found iu a whole volume. The " un
lettered," be it remembered, are the great body of the Roman commu
nity : the really learned are a very minute part of any community.
But, for the imaginary object (for imaginary it really is, as the learned
¦\*ould as willingly see these mysteries in the vulgar tongue as in
Latin and Greek ; and when they read these languages, it is for other
objects than searching into " the awful do'ctrines and mysteries" of
th^ Roman Mass) of gratifying the taste of tiicsesolitary individuals,
it is thought quite reasonable that the mill^,ons of the unlearned should
be excluded from all participation in the public wqrship* and service
of Almighty God ! and th>t, while the priest, and perchance a single
layman or two, are repeating prayers in Latin, and those who can
read translations may be reading different parts of these translations,
the greait body of the poor and wretched, who know not a letter of
these books, should be left, without the least attempt fo giv.e them a
share in the public services, and'without 'any other employment than
crossing themselves, or any oth^r consolation than thinking that their
presence at this dumb show (for be it observed that the priest is " at
the altar, communing with his God in the original languages, reciting
the most sacred parts of the sacrificial rites in a low voice, which dis
turbs not the deep recollections of the surrounding adorers") will, in
some' mysterious way, bring down the blessing of the Saints and holy
Virgin upon them ! What construction can we put oh such an apolo
gy for praying ih an unknown tongue, but that ofa total disregard of

64 ON PEAYING IN AN UNKNOWN TONGUE.,
My Roman Catholic readers, you have a deep interest
in public worsbip. Every part of it ought to bring'you
near to God. The prayers offered up are, or ought to
be, presented to God only, and for benefits of wbich you
stand in the greatest need : the praises and thanksgivings
are for blessings you have received, and for which your
heart ought to overflow with gratitude and thankfulness:
the holy rites which are performed, if scriptural, are
intended to communicate to you some needful grace or
strength: and the whole is designed to comfort and sup
port you, as you pass through a world of sorrow and
difficulty; to fit- you for a better world; and to give you
a foretaste of the joys and blessedness of which those
partake who are ever before tbe Throne. Have you not
then a right to expect from, your church that they should
furnish you with the most efficient means of accomplish
ing these great objects?- that they should assist your
infirmities, instruct your ignorance, stir up your desires,
help your devotions, and encourage' you to draw nigh
unto God? All this is their bounden duty, their reason-
the feelings and wants of the most necessitous, and for that reason
the most interesting, part of every Christian congregation.? But this
is, in fact, a characteristic feature of the Papal system. The poor are
nurtured in ignorance. Every thing which could convey even a ray
of mental light is cautiously removed out of their way. The Bible,
God's light to enlighten the world, is locked up, either in a dead lan--
guage, or, if in a living one, in the houses of the jftiests: and lest
they should obtain even a glimmering of the Sun of KighteousnesI,
or derive the least warmth from a single ray proceeding from it, they
are shut out from that small portioij of scriptural truth which is em
bodied in their liturgy, and not permitted to know a word of what ig
presented to God in prayer.. " "To keep the people," says Archbishop
Tillotson, " in ignorance of that which is necessary to save them, is
to judge them unworthy of eternal life. To lock up the Scriptures
and the service of God from the people in an urfknowri tongue, what
is it but, in effect, to forbid men to know God and to serve him; to
render them incapable of knowing ' 'what is the good and acceptable
will of God;' or joining in his worship, or performing any part of it,
or receiving a,ny benefit or edification from it? And what is, if this
be not, to shut the kingdom of heaven against men ? This is so out
rageous a cruelty upon the souls of men, that it is not to be exercised
upon any pretence whatever. 'This is to take the surest and most ef
fectual way in the world of destroying those for whom Christ died,
and directly to thwart the, great design of the Saviour, who ' would
have all men tojje saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth.'
Men may miscarry with their knowledge, but they are sure to perish
for want of it." Vol. ii. pp. 321, 322.

ON PEAYING IN AN UNKNOWN TONGUE. 65
able service; and you may justly clainj it from their
hands. But do theY perform this? Is your exclusion
from the public prayers of your Mass a proof of this
consideration and care? Alas! you m'ust feel that this is
not tbe case. You cannot but perceive, that, " when you
ask for bread, they give you a stone; when you ask for
fish, they give you a serpent."
I give you the greatest credit for sincerity in your
attachment to your church, and for the devotion and
zeal by which, I am sure, many of you are actuated. It
is not, therefore, against you as individuals, that my re
marks are levelled. It is 'against the system of tyranny
over your consciences; against the superstition which
tbat system en genders and nourisbfes; against the igno
rance from which that system derives its chief sup
port, and which it has, of course the deepest in_tere,st in
pierpetuating, that I lift up mj- voice. From my heart
I pity the spiritual bondage in which' you are held, and
your exclusion from the rights and privileges to which
you are entitled, in common with tbe universal church,
of which Jesus Christ alone is the Head and Governor.
When I reflect on the condescension of Jesus Christ to
the poor; the plainness and affection with which he
taught the multitude; the encouragement he gave to the
afflicted to come, with all their cares and burdens, to
him; the kindness with which he listened to all their
complaints, and tbe benefits be conferred upon all who
placed themselves under his direction; I cannot but
grieve that you should be prevented from reading and
bearing all his blessed words contained in .the Holy
Scriptures, and that you should be excluded ih your
public services of religion from worshipping him in a
language you understand, in spirit and in truth. You
are thus cut off from the two greatest blessings whicb a
mortal can enjoy, — the means of knowing the will of
God, and the opportunity of offering him a reasonable
service. Instead of being fed with the bread of life, you
are amused with superstitious observances, splendid cere
monies, pretended miracles, vain traditions, false legends.
When you should be taught that " other foundation can
no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ," you
F 2

66 ON PEAYING IN AN UNKNOWN TONGUE.
are instructed to trust to the intercessions of the Virgin
and of Saints, and to the supposed merit of certain reli
gious performances, and the absolution of your priests.
My earnest desire is, not -that you would take these
things upon my authority, or that of any other man; no,
not even of Popes and Councils; but that you would
exajnine for yourselves, with the boly Book lying open
before you, and with earnest and humble prayer tbat
the Holy Spirit may enlighten your minds to under
stand it, and incline your hearts to follow its doctrines.
In doing this, I cannot doubt but you will be led into
all necessary truth, and be finally brougbt to everlasting
life and blessedness.

INVOCATION OF ANGELS AND SAINTS.
TWO SERMONS.
BT THE
REV. WILLIAM FORD VANCE, A.M.
SERMON I. •

GoLoss. ii. IS. (Rhem. Test.) — Let no man seduce you, willing in
humility, and religion of angels.
Mr Brethren, — The subject to which I propose with
the Diviije assistance, to solicit your attention is, the
worship of Angels, the' Virgin Mary, and Saints in
general, by whatever name you please to designate that
worship, whether veneration, prayer, invocation, dulia,
or any other appellation. And, in discussing this very
important subject, my first and most earnest desire is,
tbat I may be aided and enlightened by that " Spirit of
truth," without whose help the words of man are but a
" sounding brass and tinkling cymbal:" my second is,
that I may not lose sight of- Christian charity; and that
nothing, which escapes me in tbe heat of argument,.may
be construed into aa intentional affront offered to any
conscientious Roman Catholic — much less to that vast
body of my fellow-creatures who are members of the
Church of Rome; many of whom, I doubt not, not
withstanding their manifold errors and delusions, are
sincere meriibers of tbat one, holy, spiritual, and elect
church, which is " built upon the foundation of the
Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ himselfi being the
chief corner-stoae."

68 qN THE INVOCATION OF ANGELS AND SAINTS.
Previously, however, to entering upon the immediate
discussion of our subject, it will be proper clearly to
ascertain what is the precise doctrine which tbe Roman
Catholic Church holds respecting the worship of these
angelic beings. Accordingly, on referring to her ac
knowledged standard of orthodoxy, the Council of
Trent, we find it asserted -in the 35th sess., that " the
saints reigning with Christ, offer their prayers to God
for men:"* from which is drawn the conclusion, "that
it is right and profitable humbly to supplicate them,
and flge for refuge to their prayers and assistance."
Conformable to which is the twentieth article of that
confession of faith, commonly called the Creed of Pope
Pius IV.: "I do believe that the saints reigning with
Christ are to be worshipped and prayed unto, and that"
they do offer prayers unto God for us, and that their
relics are tp be held in veneration."
And, tbat this is tbe very doctrine held by Roman
Catholics at tbe present day, is proved by the following
quotations from the little work entitled " An Abridg
ment of Christian Doctrine." — " Q. What is meant
by the communion of the saints? ^d. A mutual com
munication of such good things as relate to our salvation.
Q. What good can-we communicate to the saints? ,d.
The pleasure of seeing us praise and glorify God on
their account, and of putting it in their power to con
tribute to our salvation. — Q. What good do they com
municate to us? ,/3. They obtain for us, by their prayers,
help and grace from God, to enable us to secure the great
work of our salvation. — Q. Is it lawful to desire the
saints to pray for us? ,/l. We have seen above, that one
of their employme,rits is to pray for us, and to present
our prayers to God : consequently, it is certainly lawful
for us to desire them to do so. — Q. How ought we to
* " Mandat sancta synodus omnibus Episcopis et ceteris, docendi
inunus curamque sustinentibus, &c. (uf) fideles diligenter instruant,
docentes cos, Sanctos una cum Christo regnantes orationes suas pro
hominibus Deo offerre, bonum atque utile esse suppliciter eos invocare
et ob. beneficia impetranda a Deo per Filium ejus JesUm Christum
Dominum nostrum, .qui solus noster Redemptor et Salvator est, ad
eorum orationes opem auxiliumque confugere, illos ver6 qui negant
sanctos invocandos esse, &c. impie sentire."

ON THE INVOCATION OF ANGELS AND SAINTS. 69
behave to our angel guardian? A. 1. With reverence
to his person, not daring to do any evil ; ' For he will
not forgive us when we sin.' 2. With devotion for his
charity, studying to please him by doing good: 'Take
notice of him, and bear his voice.' 3. With confidence
in his protection, by frequently recommending ourselves
to hishelp. — Q. What is the true devotion to the blessed
Virgin? «/?. It consists in these particulars: 1. To
endeavour to secure our salvation by the imitation of
her virtues. 2. Often to meditate on her exalted glory
in heaven, &c. 3. Often to thank and praise God for
all the graces and glories bestowed on her, &c. 4. Fre
quently to recommend ourselves to her intercession, to
obtain for us grace effectually to love and serve our God,
and save our souls." — From all this we learn that the
doctrine of the Church of Rome, respecting the worship
of Angels, the Virgin Mary, and Saints in general, is,
that they are to be regarded as our guardians, benefac
tors, and intercessors with God — that their happiness is
increased by the veneration we pay to them — that they
are able and desirous to assist in the great work of our
salvation — ^^and that it, is proper and needful for us to
pray to them so to do.
Now there are, as I hope to convince you, brethren,
five reasons why we, who belong to the Reformed
Church, protest against this worship of angels and saints,
and call upon you to join us in protesting against it. —
First, because Paul commands us to " refrain from
all appearance of evil,"* and the worship of these angelic
beings, aS practised by Roriian Catholics, has, to say the
least of it, the appearance of idolatry, which is the
greatest of all evils. Second, because, though it were
not idolatrous, still it is absurd, being founded upon a
superstitious and fanciful hypothesis, utterly incapable
of proof Third, because, even though it were not
absurd, it is, however, unnecessary; forasmuch as our
Lord Jesus Christ is repeatedly set forth ia Scripture as
our all-sufficient Saviour, Advocate, and Intercessor with
bis Father. Fourth, because, ev^ri supposing we thought
« 1 Thess. V. 22.

70 ON THE INVOCATION OF ANGELS AND SAINTS.
it necessary to invoke the intercession of- angels and
saints, still it is unscriptural: it has no precedent — no
sanctiori in the word of God either of precept or exam
ple, as Bellarmjne* himself acknowledges; and must,
therefore, be regarded as an innovation — a dangerous
departure from the simplicity of the primitive church.
Fifth, because it is not only wn-scriptural, but also an^«-
scriptural: it is not merely unsanctioned, but even ex
pressly forbidden by the word of God, which Paul
informs us "is able to instruct us to salvation ;"t and
must therefore be condemned, by every one who derives
his religion from tbat sacred source, as highly criminal
in its practice and highly dangerous in its tendency ;
leading the Roman Catholics, as we shall find it does,
to the idolatrous worship of a^multitude of finite, created
beings; and thus robbing the Alniighty of that glory
which is due to himself alonej as he declares: " I am
the Lord; that is my name; and mj'' glory will I not
give to another, neither my praise to graven images."t
1. The first reason I have assigned'for objecting to
the worship of angels and saints is, because it has the
appearance of idolatry, and Paul commands us to refrain
not only from evil itself, but from the appearance of it.
I am aware that the Church of Rome disclaims any ido
latrous intention in the veneration which she renders to
inferior spirits-; and vindicates herself on tbe ground of
its not being adoration in the proper sense of the word,
but only an inferior sort of worship, called duli^ and
hyperdulia, that she offers to them. Without adverting,
at present, to the propriety of this distinction between
tbe adoration due to God and the worship paid to in
ferior spirits (which we shall have occasion to notice
more particularly in our next Lecture), let it suffice to
observe, that, whatever the nature -of this worship, may
be, it greatly resembles idolatry : it has, on the very
first or prima facie view of it, the appearance of being
borrowed from the Pagan mythology, improved upon
and intermixed with the Platonic philosophy.
*¦ Bellarmine de Sanct. Beat. lib. i. cap. 19.
t 2 Tim. iii. 15. t Isaiah xiii. 8.

ON THE INVOCATION OF ANGELS AND .SAINTS. 71
The Pagans, we know, had, as Paul says, " their
gods many, and their lords many."* They built tem
ples, and raised altars, and addressed prayers, and made
vows, and offered sacrifices, to a multitude of dead men
and women, under the names of heroes and demigods,
whom they regarded as mediators betwixt the Supreme
Deity and themselves, and whose images they worship
ped with every appearance of adoration. t And one of
the distinguishing tenets of the speculative Platonists
was, that-the air is filled with myriads of angelic spirits,
of a middle order between God and man, ¦whose office
it is to carry our prayers to the Deityj and to be instru
ments of communicating blessings to us from him. | Now
the doctrine of the Church of Rome, respecting angels
and saints, is so very similar to this fanciful and super
stitious theory of the Platonists, that we cannot doubt
that it was originally borrowed from it. Saint-wor
ship, as practised by the Roman Catholics at the pre
sent day, so nearly corresponds with that " religion of
angels," which prevailed amongst the heathens of old,
and against whicb the AposUe in our text so. solemnly
warns us, that we dare not allow of it. " Let no man,"
says the Apostle, "seduce you, willing in humility, and
religion of angels."
* Cor. V. iii. 5.
t AuTdp iTTH f^iv TKTo ysvo; Kcira. ya.tA ii.!fKv.^iv,
To/ //sv S-dLt^oyic ital A(o? fAsyaha Sl'Ji jSaXctf,
E!r6\0/ i^t^Jio-flOt ^UAiiXSC 3-V»TA)V StvQjiCeTriJOV.
oi pel ^vXAao-aa-t t6 tf/Kstf x*/ o-^grx/ct ifya,
Verum postquam hoc genus (aureum) terra abscondit,
Ii sane divi facti sunt, jovis magni consilio,
Boni in terris versantes custodes mortalium hominum.
Qui quidem observant et justaet prava opera,
Aerem induti passim euntes per terram, ''
Opum datores atque hoc munus regale consecuti sunt.
Hesiod. Op. et Di. lib. 1.
\ Km ya.f 5r«,v to Sa.ijjLOvni fxe^n^u e<m S-ssts x«t/ S-mTi^ — ©sot <fs ayBfitarct
a f/.tyyvTcti axKa ^la. t«ts 'Ttttc-cL v^tt-t » o/ui\tA Kctt n ^tnKtuTO; 3-go/f Trpo^
av6/Jat?roi?,  E/J^Muvfiyov jcat ^tetTrcpBfjuvov S-goif to. Trctfi^ av^peeTruVt amt avBpcc-
TTOt; TO. TTSLpa. S-6ft)V, Tfttv f.liV TCtS ^iticrttg Kttt flytrwc, T»V iSi Tot? iTrnd^us Texotf
a/^otCaig Tfflv ,&u5-rMV. — Plat. Sympos.

7? ON THE INVOCATION OF ANGELS AND SAINTS.
I am not now, be it observed, asserting that the Church
of Rome actually sanctions such an idolatrous worship of
inferior spirits as called forth this solemn warning from
the Apostle in our text: all that I say at present is, that
the invocation of saints and angels, as practised by ber,
so nearly resembles it, as to justify us in regarding it
with suspicion and aversion.
And tbe grounds of our objection to it will appear
still more valid from the consideration that some of the
most learned divines of the Roman Catholic Church have
themselves acknowledged the striking similarity be
tween saint-worship and paganism. In the Articles of
Controversial Theologj^, drawn up by the Doctors of
the Faculty at Paris, we find it assigned as a' reason for
the worship of angelic spirits, that all the Pagans had
inferior gods for their intercessors, and it is not reason
able- that Christians should have less privilege than Pa-
,gans!!*" And so early was this superstitious practice
introduced into the cburch, tbat Eusebius himself ac
knowledges, the remarkable coincidence between the
manner in which saint-worship was conducted in his
days, and the religion of angels as practised by the Pa
gans and Platonists..t
Hence we learn, that the invocation of these angelic
spirits is, in fact, a revival, or rather continuation, of the "
old heathen superstition in a new shape. The names of
* Secunda probatio — Quod omnes pagani semper habuerint minoj-es
decs pro suis intercessoribus ; non est autem rationabile quod Chris-
tiani habeant minus privilegii quam Gentiles." — Art. a Faoultat. Sac.
Theol. Par.
t " Credemus igftur Hesiodo (vide supra) postquam aurei generis
homines mortui sunt a multis homines augustiis semideos factos libCT
rare, mortaliumque omnium esse custodes ac in posterura quasi Decs
colemus eorumque adofabimus monumenta. Similiter etiam omnes qui
prseclare vixerunt quoijuo mode mortui sunt honorabiinus. Hsec nos
quotidie factitamus, qui verse pietatis et Dei amicos honorantes ad
monumenta quoque illorum acxiedimus votaque ipsis facimus tanquam
viris Sanctis quorum intercessione ad Deum non parum juvari profite-
mur. Ha?c a Platone coUegimus ut ostenderemus Hebraicd ilium phi-
losophia munitura nostris consentanea scripsisse."— Euseb. de pree-
parat Evangel, lib. xiii. ctip. 7.
Plato's words are : hiyii sv Kdhan Kai aVoc, jtai axro.i Troimm ¦rroXKti int
Myis<riv it eTTiiJ-uy T/taj-afloc a>v n-Muriin [tvya-Km ntlfcty lutt Tium tya Kiti
yiHTM JMftaiv: — Plat. Crat.

ON THE INVOCATION OF ANGELS AND SAINTS. 73
angels have, it is true, been substituted for gods, saints
fordemigods, martyrs for heroes, and churches for tem
ples. The daily sacrifice of the Mass has taken place of
the multiplied sacrifices of sheep and oxen; and the
ancient method of deifying by an apotheosis, has given
way to that of canonization by the pope and cardinals.
But the leading features of Popery and Paganism are
exactly the same: the same doctrine is taught respecting
the mediation of angels; the same notions held about
angel guardians and patrons; the same worship rendered
to dead men and women; the same titles of " Mother of
God" and " Queen of Heaven" given to the Virgin
Mary, that were of old applied to Cybele and Ashtarotb.
We find, moreover, tbe same dedication of temples and
altars to inferior spirits; the same invocation ofa multi
tude of intercessors between God and man; the same
bowing down before images and pictures with all the
outward marks of adoration, practised by the Roman
Catholic Church at the present day, as by tbe heathens
of old.
If, then, there were no other reason, for our protesting
against the worship of angels and saints, this, its exact
and acknowledged similarity to paganism, would itself
be a sufficient one; for it leads us to suspect, in the first
instance, that it had an idolatrous origin — that it was a
corruption introduced into tbe cburch of Christ, by way
of more easily captivating the heathens to the Christian
faith; and wbich, like many other similar corruptions,
antiquity has now rendered venerable in the eyes of
Roman Catholics.
But the antiquity of- a practice is no good reason for
our continuing it, if it has the appearance of so great an
evil. And since it cannot be denied that tbe worship of
angels and saints has the appearanpe of"idolatr)r, which
is called in Scripture "the abominable thing that God
hates," and which drew down his severest vengeance
upon the Canaanites, as well as upon the Jews them
selves, we, for this reason, think it our duty to enter our
protest against it, and call upon Roman Catholics, to
unite with us in condemning and rejecting it.
G

74 ON THE INVOCATION OF ANGELS AND SAINTS.
But perhaps it may be urged, that it is not. fair to
charge the Cburch of Rome eVen with the appearance of
idolatry, when she so positively denies that she offers
adoration, properly so called, to any being except the
Almighty himself.
To this we again reply, that, whether the worship
rendered to angels and saints by the Roman Catholic
Church be adoration properly so called or not, it cer
tainly has all the outward marks and tokens of it, which
is sufficient for our present purpose. Litanies are com
posed to the honour of these inferior spirits, vows are
made to them, prayers addressed to tbem, as I shall
show more at larg^ in my next lecture, in the very same
language, and with the same forms and ceremonies that
are used in the worship of Jehovah. They are repeatedly
invoked, not only as intercessors, but also as guardians,
as protectors, as comforters, as deliverers, as saviours,
not merely from present and temporal danger, but also
from sin and its eternal punishment. The merits of the
saints are pleaded as a means of the sinner's reconcilia
tion with God. Glory, praise and thanksgiving are
ascribed to them, in the same voice, and with the same
prostration of body, as to tbe adorable Trinity! In a
word, there appears so little difference between the wor
ship paid to these angelic beings and that rendered to
the Almighty, that many of tbe prayers addressed to
the former iu Roman Catholic manuals might with
equal propriety be addressed to the latter, only substi
tuting the name of God for that of the saint: and so
notoriously is this the case in the instance of the Virgin
Mary, tbat the Psalms of David, as it is well known,
have been (I must say) blasphemously perverted in this
very way, in a little publication entitled tbe " Psalter of
the Virgin," which, from prudential reasons, is not as
much circulated in this country as it is in those that are
purely Roman Catholic.
Thus, wherever the name of Jehovah, or God, occurs
in the original, that of our Lady, or the Virgin, has been
substituted in the Psalter. Where David says, " Bless
the Lord, 0 my soul," the Psalter of the Virgin says,

ON THE INVOCATION OF ANGELS AND SAINTS. 75
" Bless the Mother of Jesus Christ, 0 my soul."* Where
David says, " In thee, 0 Lord, have I hoped," the
Psalter of the Virgin says, "In thee, 0 Lady, have I
hoped." Where David prays for deliverance to God, the
Psalter teaches us to pray for deliverance to tbe Virgin!
Do you pretend to say that this is not adoration? At
least you must acknowledge that it is rendering the
same worship to the Virgin Mary, that David, in the
Book of Psalms, renders to the Almighty himself.
But there is- also another form of devotion, wbich
tradition informs us was revealed by an angel to St.
Bernard, in which adoration is expressly offered to
every member of the Virgin's body! Some parts of
this prayer are really too scandalous to be repeated
before a promiscuous congregation; but it is to this
effect: "I adore and bless your most noble heart! I
adore and bless your most blessed feet! I adore and
bless your polished hands !"t and so forth. What shall
we say of such expressions as these? Will it be denied
that this is idolatry? Will it be affirmed that this is not
offering adoration, in tbe strictest sense of tbe word, to
a finite, created woman, as Epiphanius calls the Virgin
Mary ?J Whatever you may assert, or however unwill
ing we may be to wound your feelings, as long as we
find such prayers as these in your books of devotion, so
long we feel ourselveg justified in charging your church
with an idolatrous corruption of the Gospel of Jesus
Christ, by grafting upon it the superstitions of Paganism,
And as idolatry is pronounced in Scripture to be
spiritual adultery, or the rendering to the creature that
'' '¦' Benedic anima mea, Matrem Jesus Christi, et omnia corda
mea glorificate nomen ejus — O Domina, in te speravi — De inimicis
meis libera animam meam !"
1 " Adoro et benedico beatissimos pedes tuos quibus antiqui serpeu-
tiscum omnibus monstris ejus caput calcasti, &c. Adoro et benedico
castissimum uterum tuum acervo tritici liliis candidissimis vallate
coraparatum, &c. Adoro et benedico nobilissimum cor tuum. Adoro
et benedico foecundissima ubera tua botris assimilata, &c. Adoro et
benedico manus tuas tomatiles plenas hyacinthis," &c.
t "Et propterea Evangelium munit hoc dicens quod ipse Dominus
dixerit, ' quid raihi et tibi curae est, mulier, nondum venit hora mea'
quo nonputarent aliqui magis eximiam esse sanctam virginera, mulie-
rem eam appellavit. — Epiph. con Hsres. ch. 79.

76 ON THE INVOCATION OF ANGELS AND SAINTS.
glory which is due to the Creator alone, we must confess
that those interpreters of Scripture have too much truth
on their side, who apply the prophecy of John, iff the
Apocalypse,* respecting " the great harlot that sitteth
upon many waters," to that corrupt church which sanc
tions such gross abominations as these.
I have myself, in those countries where tbe Roman
Catholic religion is not ashamed to show itself without
disguise, seen the image of the Virgin Mary dressed up
in such tawdry decorations as more to rfesemble a harlot
than a saint — (as if silks, and jewels, and embroidery,
and gaudy colours, were incentives to spiritual devo
tion!) — and when I beheld hundreds of poor deluded
creatures bowing down on their knees before the painted
idol, and with uplifted bands and eyes humbly suppli
cating for mercy, I own this prophecy of John's carrfe
strongly into my mind: nor could I help feeling indig
nation at that degenerate church, which authorizes and
teaches so scandalous a departure from pure and undefiled
religion, as well as pity for those misguided creatures,
who, in their ignorance of the word of God, make the
principal part of their religion to consist in the violation
of his own commandment, which says, "Thou shalt not
make to thyself any graven image; thou shalt not bow
down and worship it."
2. A second reason for objecting to the invocation of
angels and saints, is, because, even if it bad not the
appearance of idolatry, still the practice is absurd, being
founded upon a superstitious- and fanciful hypothesis,
utterly incapable of proof — the supposition, namely, that
these blessed spirits are able, by their prayers, to com
municate good, to us; and ]tbat we, by our invocations,
communicate happiness to them. — Now where, let me
ask, has the Church of Rome learned (what she so confi
dently asserts) tbat these angelic beings are thus capable
of communicating benefits to us, or of receiving benefits
from us? Does she refer us to tbe word of God for
proof? The word of God is totally silent on tbe subject:
and the consciousness of this is one of the many reasons
* Rev. xvii. 5.

ON THE INVOCATION OF ANGELS AND SAINTS. 77
why the church of Rome betrays such trembling vigi
lance in preventing ber people. frorr\ reading and exer
cising their own judgment upon that sacred volume, lest
peradventure they should tbereby discover the rotten
ness of that foundation on which this absurd, supersti
tious and seemingly idolatrous fabric of saint-worship
has been erected.
In no part of the Scriptures do we find the least inti
mation tbat the spirits of the blessed in heavea either
pray for us, or, if they did, could assist us by so doing.
The employment of those happy beings, as Athanasius
acknowledges, is not prayer, but praise. " They rest not
day nor night, crying Holy, holy, holy. Lord God of
hosts."* Yea, " they are before the throne of God,"
saith John, " and serve him day and night in bis tem-
ple."t Now, if these blessed spirits are continually
before the throne of God, occupied night and day in
chanting forth his praise without intermission, it seems
impossible that they can be employed in attending to
our prayers, or assisting us by their intercessions.
Besides, the invocation of angels and saints necessarily
supposes that they hear our prayers, and know our
wants. This they can only do in two ways, — either by
their own intuitive knowledge, or by information con
veyed to them from' without.
Shall we say that they hear our prayers, and are ac
quainted with our wants, by their own intuitive know
ledge? This implies that they are omniscient and omni
present: this is to exalt them into deities, and dignify
them with the attributes of the Almighty himself; of
whom David speaks with such devout admiration in the
cxxxixth Psalm: " Such knowledge is too excellent and
wonderful for me; I cannot attain unto it. Whither
* Isaiah vi. 3.
" Illi (angeli) non ohtuentur hanc majestatem (Dei) aut in pedibus
erectos se tenenti imo ne faciem quidem nudam relinqunt sed ea.
obvelata gloriam majestatemque Dei labiis nunquam cessantibus
extollunt."— Athan. Op. p. 104, Par. ed. 1577.
Angelorum idioma est quod affectibus passionum carent, et sunt
immortales, quod sine intermissione laudibus Deum concelebrant." —
Idem, p. 798.
t Apocalypse vii. 15.
g3

78 ON THE INVOCATION OF ANGELS AND SAINTS.
shall I go from thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from
thy presence?. If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there:
if I make my bed in hell, thou art there: if I take
the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost
parts of the sea, even there shall thy hand lead me, and
thy right hand shall hold me." Such is the sublime and
beautiful language in which the holy David expresses his
admiration, when contemplating the omniscience and om
nipresence of the infinite Jehovah.
But with what reason could David express himself in
this manner, if he himself was destined, when he left
this world, to be endued with these very, attributes?
What wag there- to fill bim with such amazement and
awe at the thought of the Almighty's knowing all
things, and being in all places, if tbe meanest angel and
saint that treads the heavenly courts is equally omni
scient and omnipresent with the Creator himself? wbich
they mustbe, if we suppose them capable of hearing and
answering the prayers that are offered up to them from
England, Ireland, America, the East Indies, and all parts
of the world, at tbe same moment.
My brethren, it is inanifest that if you thus attribute
universal knowledge and ubiquity to these inferior spi
rits, you make gods of them at once. These inconceiv
able attributes are every where in Scripture ascribed
exclusively to Jehovah. Solomon expressly says to
Him, "Thou, even Thou only, 0 God, knowest the
hearts of all the children of men."* If, thenj you ad
dress your prayers to angels and saints, as knowing your
hearts, and being every where present to hear your peti
tions, your idolatry is not apparent only, but real: you
ascribe to creatures those glorious attributes which be
long to the Almighty alone, and may justly be charged
with worshipping as many gods and goddesses as there
are names in the Roman Calendar.
If from Scripture we turn to reason, I would ask,
what foundation does philosophy afford for supposing,
that, though as long as a saint continues in the body he
is a finite, being, incapable of being in more than one
* 1 Kings viii. 39.

ON THE INVOCATION OF ANGELS AND SAINTS. 79
place at the same moment, or of hearing petitions that
are made to him at a distance, from the instant his spirit
quits its fleshly tabernacle its finiteness is changed into
infinity, its partial knowledge into universal, and he is
thenceforth capable of being present in all places at all
times, and of hearing the invocations and honours that
are offered up to bini from all parts of the earth at one
and the same instant? Does reason, I ask, furnish us
with any ground for such a supposition as this? Atha
nasius, whose authority no Roman Catholic will dispute,
denies that it does: for he affirms, that "angels, being
inferior spirits to God, are circumscribed in place, and
only go whithersoever they are Sent."* It follows,
therefore, tbat they can neither be omniscient nor omni
present; for infinite knowledge cannot reside in a finite
being. But, reply the Roman Catholics, our blessed Lord in
forms us, in tbe xvth of Luke, that " there shall be joy
in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner
doing penance." Paul, also,, in 1 Cor. xiii. declared,
that in heaven " he should know even as he was known."
From wbich they conclude, that the saints in glory are
acquainted with what passes on earth.
Now, that there is "joy in the presence of the angels
-of God over one repenting sinner," is a blessed truth
that no Protestant entertains the least doubt of. Also,
that tbe knowledge and capacities of those pure spiritual
beings are vastly more enlarged than ours, is as conso
nant to reason as it is to Scripture. But, before the
Roman Catholics can use this. as an argument for ad
dressing prayer to them, they must first show in what
manner they arrive at this knowledge. Do they be
come acquainted with the sinner's repentance by their
own intuitive perception of it ? If so^ it follows, as I
said, tbat they are omniscient, and possess tbe attributes
of Deity. The Roman Catholic is aware of this objec
tion, and prepared with an answer to it. These blessed
spirits, say they, are not intuitively omniscient, but
* " Angeli autem quia minores sunt loco circumscribuntur, et quo
mittuntur e6 se couferunt." — Athan. Op. p. 708, Par. edit, 1572.

80 ON THE INVOCATION OP ANGELS AND SAINTS.
" they see all things that happen on the earth by a re
flected light, wbich they derive from tbe irradiation of
God:"* that is, in otb.er words, though they cannot of
themselves hear our prayers, or know our wants, yet the
knowledge of these is communicated to them from God
'
himself, in whose presence they stand.
Now, however true this may be in a limited sense,
yet, -so far as the worship of these angelic beings is con
cerned, instead of being an argument in favour of it, it
is,, on the contrary, one of our strongest arguments
against it. For, observe the conclusion to which it
leads: it leads us to pray to the angels, through God, as
a mediator! — 0 brethren, what absurd sophistry, what
profane trifling, is this! What! instead of addressing
our prayers to the great God alone, through our Lord
Jesus Christ, are we then to pray to saints and angels,
through the mediation of God? Instead of making the
Lord Jehovah the one great object of our worship, ac
cording to his own command, " Thou shalt worship
the Lord thy God, and hirri only shalt thou_ serve," are
we to make him the vehicle, the channel, through which
our prayers and praises are communicated to the attend
ant spirits that surround his throne? Yet there is no al
ternative. If we'^address prayers to tbe angels at all,
we must either pray to them as gods, endued with om
niscience and omnipresence, ¦which is idolatry; or else
we must pray to them through God himself, as a media
tor between them and us, whicb is too absurd and im
pious a proposition to need refutation.
But, further; the Roman Catholic Church teaches that
one part of the communion of saints consists in the hap
piness we communicate to them by our praises and invo
cations. Now, this is very different from what Scripture
informs us respecting the blessedness of the saints in
heaven.. Hear what David says, in Psalm xxxvi. touch
ing the happiness of the just in the other world: " Tbiey
shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of tht
house, and thou shalt make them drink of the river of

-* " (Sancti) vident quffi aguntur in mundo per lumen reflexum quod
hahent-ex irradiatione Dei. — Art, a Facultat. Par.

ON THE INVOCATION OF ANGELS AND SAINTS. 81
THY pleasures; for with thee is the fountain of life, and
in thy light shall we see light." Surely, then, if these
glorified spirits are abundantly satisfied with those hea
venly pleasures out of which their God causes them to
drink, they do not require our feeble prayers and praises
to increase their satisfaction.
Hear, again, what he says to God in the xvith Psalm:
" In thy presence is fulness of joy, and at thy right hand
are pleasures for evermore." — Is there fulnesss of joy,
brethren, in the presence of God? Surely, then, tbose
blessed spirits, who are privileged to draw without ceas
ing out of that inexhaustible fulness, do not stand in
need of our help to add to it.
Hear, once more, what the Psalmist says of himself,
in the xviitb Psalm : , " As for me, I shall behold thy
face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied when I awake
with thy likeness." David's anticipations of future hap
piness, we find, were not built on the prayers and praises
that should be offered to him after his death. No, the
highest happiness which he hopes and longs after is, to
be raised incorruptible, in tbe image and likeness of his
redeeming God. " I shall be satisfied," he says, " when
I awake with thy likeness." Which is in exact and
beautiful accordance with what John says in the third
chapter of his First Epistle, ver. 2: "Dearly beloved,
we are now the sons of God; and it bath not yet ap
peared what we shall be; but we know that when Pie
shall appear, we shall be like him, because we shall see
him as he is. And every one that hath this hope in
him, sanctifieth himself, as He also is holy."
Seeing then, that the word of God unites with our
own reason in testifying that the angels and saints in
glory are already blessed with 4he fullest satisfaction,
the highest degree of happiness, that their several capa
cities admit of, in the enjoyment of God's presence, and
conformity to bis Divine likeness ; is it not absurd to
affirm, tbat we can, by oilr feeble prayers and praises,
increase their felicity? Can we fill up that measure of
blessedness which is already full? Can we add to that
happiness which is already as perfect as God and Jieaven
can make it? If not, it is absurd to say, as the Church

82 ON THE INVOCATION OF ANGELS AND SAINTS.
of Rome asserts, that we can by our prayers and praises
communicate happiness to the glorified spirits in heaven.
But the Roman Catholic will again reply, " Though
it may not be possible for us to increase the already
perfect happiness of angels and saints, still it is certain
that they can, and do, communicate benefits to us, be
cause we are expressly informed that God has appointed
them to be our guardians and protectors. David says,
in the xcist Psalm, tbat ' He has given his angels
charge over us, to keep us in all our ways:' and, again,
Paul, in Heb. i., declares that ' they are all ministering
spirits, sent to minister for them who shall receive tbe
inheritance of salvation."' — To' this we answer, tbat
the words of David in the xcist Psalm are understood
by the Jews themselves as prophetical of the Redeemer,
to whom they are applied by the tempter, in the ivth
chapter of Matthew, with our Lord's own concurrence.
But even admitting, what I am not inclined to deny,
that these words are capable of a more extensive applica
tion; granting that the angels are indeed appointed by
God to watch over and protect his children during their
pilgrimage through this world of sorrow and danger;
still this supposition does not furnish us with tbe least
reason for, addressing either prayer or praise to these our
benevolent but invisible guardians.
It is true, indeed, that Scripture represents the angels
as ministering spirits, appointed to minister to those who
are heirs of .salvation. It is true also, that many things
connected with the people of God — as, for instance, the
communication of his wMl to the Patriarchs, the giving
of the Law, the deliverance of the Israelites, the an
nouncement of the Saviour's birth, &c. — were performed
by their instrumentality. But, admitting, as every well-
informed Protestant will readily admit, that these pure
and blessed spirits have, and probably still do, in many
respects minister to the wants and necessities of the
people of God ; granting that, as our Lord says, if we
be his children, " our angels do always see the face of
his Father which is in heaven," and stand-ready to exe
cute his commands respecting us : what, after all, does
this prove? — that they are fit objects of religious wor-

ON THE INVOCATION OF ANGELS AND SAINTS. 83
ship? Nay, it proves the very contrary: it establishes
the fact, that they are merely the servants, the humble
instruments, with which it pleases the Almighty to ac
complish his designs respecting his human creatures.
And are we to render the same honour to the servants
as to the Master? Are we to pay the same, or similar,
worship to the instrument, as to the Power that wields
it? Angels are the servants, God is the Master: to the
Master, not the servants, should all our religious worship
be addressed. Angels are the instruments, but it is the
almighty power of Jehovah .alone that employs those
instruments; and He says to us, "Call upon Me in the
time of trouble : I will deliver thee, and thou shalt
glorify Me."* Angels, it is probable, are' our guardians
and protectors — so far at least as they are the agents by
which the Lord communicates his blessings to us in this
world; — but they dwell in heaven: their office, as our
Lord informs us, is to " stand continually before the face
of God," waiting to, receive his commands. They are
utter strangers to us ; we can neither see them nor know
them. We are as ignorant of tbe person, form, capa
city, and employment of our guardian angels, if we
haVe any, as we are respecting the inhabitants of the
moon, or any other planet. We have not, as I ba-ve
already proved, tbe least reason to believe that they can
hear our prayers or know our wants, further than as God
himself is pleased to inform them; and there is not, as
I hope to prove in my next lecture, any precedent or
authority in tbe word of God for addressing prayer to
them. Therefore we protest against the worship of these
angelic spirits. We affirm, that, if it is not idolatrous,
it is at least the height of absurdity, to cfffer prayers, or
religious worship, of any kind, to finite invisible beings,
of whom we are in such utter ignorance. Were they,
indeed, to appear on earth in a visible form as they did
to the Patriarchs an^ Prophets of old, we should feel
warranted in paying them those marks of honorary
worship and reverence which Scripture informs us was
* Psalm 1. 15

84 ON THE INVOCATION OF ANGELS AND SAINTS.
paid to them on such occasions ; but being in heaven,
and invisible to us, we assert that it is absurd to worship
them, and choose rather to follow Paul's direction in
the text, " not to let any man seduce us, willing in
humility, and religion of angels." As for the saints
who once lived on earth, but are now removed to para
dise, Solomon expressly informs us " that they know
not any thing of what passes on earth, neither have they
any more a portion or interest in any thing that is done
beneath the sun."*
3. The third reason we assigned for protesting against
the worsbip of angels and saints is, because it is unne
cessary. Even supposing- it possible tbat those glorified
spirits can hear our prayers,.and assist in the great work
of -our salvation, still tbeir assistance is not heeded by
us, because, if we are true believers in the Lord Jesus
Christ, we bave in Him an all-mighty and all-sufficient
Saviour; of whom Paul informs us, that He is "able
to save for ever them that come to God by him, always
living to make intercession for them."t
Now, if, as Paul here assures us, we have, or may
have, tbe Lord Jesus Christ himself for our Saviour and
Intercessor, what need have we for the intercession of
saints and angels? If, as we are here told, the adorable
Son of God is " able to save for ever those who come
unto God by him;" and if he is also as willing as he is
able ; seeing that be " ever liveth to make intercession
for them," what necessity is •there for having recourse
to the prayers and mediation of any other beings, how
ever excellent they may be? Is not an almighty Sa
viour sufficient for us? Is it not enough to know that the
Son of God-acts tbe part of our great High Priest and
Advocate with his Father? as John says: " If any
man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus
Christ the righteous, and he is tbe propitiation for our
sins."t May we not rest satisfied with the assurance,
that •" all the fulness" of Divine power, grace, and God
head dwelleth in our adorable Redeemer ? and that, as

* Eccles. ix. 5, 6. t He}), vii. 25.
1 1 John ii. 1.

ON THE INVOCATION OF ANGELS AND SAINTS. 85
Paul affirms, in Col. ii. 10, "We are filled (or com
plete) in him, who is the Head of all principality and
power?" Observe, the Apostle tells us we are alread}^ " filled,"
or complete, in Christ. Can the intercession of saints
or angels, then, render us " fuller,'' or more complete,
than the grace of Jesus Christ bas rendered us ? Can
the merits of any created being render God more pro
pitious to us, or our way of access to bim more plain
and easy, than' the merits and sufferings of his own be
loved Son have already rendered it ? The very sup
position is grossly derogatory to the blessed Jesus, who
is, as the Church of Rome herself acknowledges, the
only and all-sufficient Saviour and Redeemer of his be
lieving people.
Our Lord, moreover, says of himself, " I am the way,
tbe truth, and the life: no man cometh to the Father but
by me," (John xiv. 6): arid again, " I am the door: by
me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go
in and out, and find pasture." (John x. 9.) If then, our
Lord Jesus Christ be the only way of coming to the
Father, what is the use of attempting- to approach him
through the mediation of saints and angels? why not
take the plain straight-forward way at once, by coming
to him through faith in his beloved Son? If Jesus be
the door of heaven, and this door be always open for
tbe repenting sinner, why not enter in by it at once?
why seek to gain admission by " clambering over a
wall" of imaginary intercessors, instead of making at
once for that blessed door, which is always open for the
salvation of every one that desires to enter in by it?
But, say the Roman Catholics, " St. James informs us
that the 'continual prayer of a just man availeth much,'
from whicb we conclude, that the prayers of the saints in
glory are effectual to our salvation." And as Christians
are commanded to intercede for one another on earth,
they argue from this, that it is right and profitable to
desire the intercessions of the spirits in heaven.
To, this we reply, that though it is said the prayer of
a just man, in this world availeth much; yet it is no
where said, that the prayers of just spirits in the other
H

86 ON THE INVOCATION OF ANGELS AND SAINTS.
world, are of any avail to us. Nay, we have no reason
to believe that they ever pray for us at all; for it is ex
pressly declared, as I have already shown, that their em
ployment is not prayer, but praise. And though it is
true that Christians are repeatedly commanded to inter
cede for one another on earth, and Paul himself sets
us the example of doing so; yet we are no where com
manded to pray to departed saints in glory, or to beg
an interest in their intercessions; nor have we tbe least
reason to suppose that the Apostles or first Christians
ever did so, as I hope to show more at large in my next
lecture. The difference, then, between Roman Catholics and
Protestants, respecting intercessory prayer, is briefly
this: Roman Catholics invocate the intercession of an
gels and saints in the other world, without baving either
the command or example of the Apostles to produce in
vindication of the practice: Protestants can produce both
tbe command and example of the Apostles for desiring
the prayers of their fellow-Christians in this world. Pro
testants, in obedience to the word of God, pray for one
another, as a token of mutual charity, and as a principal
part of the communion of saints: Roman Catholics pray
for tbe assistance and mediation of glorified saints, as
needful to their salvation, in direct contradiction to the
words of Paul, " There is one God, and one Mediator of
God and man, the Man Christ Jesus."* Protestants,
when they desire .their fellow-Christians on earth to-pray
for them, know that their desire is beard and granted:
Roman Catholics, when they desire the saints in heaven
to pray for them, have nO reason, as I have shown, to
know that their requests are either heard or granted. I
appeal to your own common sense, whether Protestants
have not more reason, as well as Scripture, on their side,
than Roman Catholics.
The last argument adduced by Romanists in support
of saint-worship, to which I shall call your attention, is,
that it is an act of humility which renders us acceptable
* 1 Tim. ii. 5.

ON THE INVOCATION OF ANGELS AND SAINTS. 87
to God.* " It is presumptuous," they assert, " in such
sinful polluted creatures as we are, to praj' to God, or
to his Son, in the first instance: we are not worthy to
come directly to so pure and holy a Being, and can only
hope that our prayers will be heard, and our persons
accepted through the merits and intercession of the Vir
gin Mary and Saints, who are already admitted into his
glorious presence."
What a monstrous, what a fatal departure from Gos
pel simplicity is this! I would say that it was a calumny
upon any church too gross to be credited, were it not
tbat I have repeatedly both heard and read such argu
ments as these adduced in support of the invocation of
angels and saints. This is indeed tbe spirit of Anti
christ! This is indeed a striking at the root of the Gos
pel of the Son of God, whose all-perfect merits and
sufferings are declared to be alone sufficient for the salva
tion of every sinner who trusts in them! This is indeed
that "willing -hnmility and religion of angels," which
Paul, in our text, so solemnly cautions us " not to be
seduced unto!" Justly, may I address you in tbe lan
guage of our Lord to. the Sadducees of old, " Do ye not
therefore err, because ye know not the Scriptures, nor
the. power of God?"
What! afraid to come to the Saviour! ashamed to hope
for acceptance with God through the merits and inter
cession of his own beloved Son! Why, if you were
allowed to read your Testaments, you would find tbat
our Lord Jesus Christ himself declares, that he came into
the world for the express purpose of " seeking and saving
such guilty, polluted, lost sinners" as you and I are.
His design in coming was, " Not to call the righteous,
*" Besides, as humility iS one of the most necessary conditions of
prayer, and the Scripture assures us that God has regard to the prayer
of the humble, and despises, not their petition," &c.— " for this rea
son, by begging the saints to' join their prayers with ours, we make
an act of profound humility, acknowledging the unworthiness of our
own prayers, (and it would seem of the Saviour's also,) and hoping
that God will graiit, through the prayers of his holy saints, what he
may justly deny to us^ undeserving sinners ; as he accepted the pray
ers of Job for his three friends, though he refused to accept their
own!" — Treatise on the Litanies of the Church of Rome.

88 ON THE INVOCATION OF ANGELS AND SAINTS.
but sinners to repentance." Hear his own blessed
words, in Matt. xi. 28:, " Come to me all ye that labour
and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you." Are you
and I, then, heavy laden with our sins? here we have
an invitation proceeding from the lips of Jesus Christ
himself, to come unto him for comfort and forgiveness.
I know, that in the Psalter of the Virgin these words
are impiously perverted into an invitation to come to
her for refreshment;* but our Lord expressly says,
" Comeunto me, and I will refresh you." As if he had
said. Go not to any other being, whether angel, saint, or
virgin, for they can give you no assistance: but apply to
me; make your address to me, your Saviour, your all-
sufficient Mediator and Advocate with the Father, who
gave my life as a propitiation for your sins, and a ran
som for your souls: come to me in faith and prayer, and
I will save you from your sins.
Hear, again, what he says in John vi. 37: "All that
the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that
cometh to me, I will not cast out" What a blessed,
what a comfortable assurance is this, my fellow-sinners,
which we have from the lips of the Son of God, " that
he will not cast out," or reject, any sinner that sincerely
comes to bim, no matter how guilty and unworthy of
his favour he may be ! Surely it is a groundless fear
which prevents us coming at once to so gracious and
loving a Saviour. Surely it must be called a false and
unchristian sort of humility, which hinders us from
immediately accepting so condescending and merciful
an invitation, proceeding from the lips of our incarnate
and reconciled God himself. Rather let us say to him,
as the disciples of old did, " Lord, to whom shall we go?
Thou hast the words of eternal life."
" Come unto me," says the blessed Jesus, " all ye
weary and heavy laden sinners." " No," replies the
Roman Catholic; "my church teaches me that it would
be presumptuous to go to you: I must first apply to
your mother and the saints to, intercede for me!!" —
* " Venite ad eam omnes qui laboratis et tribulati estis, et dabit re-
frigerium." Come unto her all- ye that labour and are heavy laden,
and she will refresh you ! ! — Psalter of the Virgin.

ON THE INVOCATION OF ANGELS AND SAINTS. 89
"Come to me," saith the Saviour: "bim that cometh
to me-I will not cast out." " I am fearful that you will
cast me out," replies the Roman Catholic: " I cannot
trust to your own promise; I must first invocate tbe
merits and intercessions of saints and angels to render
you propitious to me!!" — "Whatsoever ye ask the
Father in my name," saith our Lord, " he will give it
you."* " I am too humble," replies the Roman Catho
lic, " to ask the Father for mercy in your name alone; I
must join the names of your mother and the saints along
with it, before I can dare to hope that God will" hear
me!!" — I appeal to your own judgments, to decide,
whether the Roman Catholic doctrine, that the merits
and intercession of the saints are necessary to our salva
tion, is not thus subversive of Gospel truth, and in direct
contradiction to our Lord's own words.
And it is equally contradictory to the words of his
inspired apostles. Paul assures us that " the blood of
Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin;" and that his
merits are, through '' faith, imputed to us for righteous
ness." He declares, that "God was in Christ reconciling
the world unto himself, not imputing our trespasses unto
us;" and that " Christ is made unto us of God wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption." He says,
that we " have not received the spirit of bondage, again
to fear, but the spirit of adoption, whereby we say to
God, Abba, Father." He tells us, tbat the Lord Jesus
Christ bath opened unto us " a new and living way of
approaching to God by his own blood:" and having this
new and living way opened through the blood of Christ,
and having " in him a merciful and faithful High Priest
continually making intercession for us," he exhorts us
to " come boldly, without fear, to the Throne of Grace,
that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in
time of need."
With these blessed words of Paul, therefore, I shall
conclude my Lecture. Having now, as I hope, satisfac
torily answered Some of the principal arguments which
the church of Rome advances in support of saint-wor-
* John XV. 16.
H 2

so ON THE INVOCATION OF ANGELS AND SAINTS.
ship, and proved the practice to be superstitious, absurd,
and unnecessary; it only remains to show, that it is not
merely unsanctioned and unprecedented in the word of
God, but expressly forbidden by it, and in opposition ta
the practice of the primitive cburch in the purest ages.
This I hope, with the Divine blessing, to prove in our
next Lecture.
In the mean time, J now dismiss you, brethren, with
the language of Paul, " Let no man seduce you, willing
in humility, and religion of angels." I exhort you, as
you value your immortal souls, not to waste your time in
praying to angels and saints; but come,' as the Apostle
says, " boldly" to the Throne of God at once, trusting
in the merits and intercession of his own dear Son, as
sufficient to ensure you a gracious reception. This is
that true humility, which consists in "repentance to
ward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ;" this
is that true humility, which places no dependence on its
own merits, but rests with confidence on a crucified
Saviour's love. In him, saith Paul, "we have boldness
and access with confidence, by the faith of him." And
again, John saith, " If any man sin, we have an Advocate
with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is
the propitiation for our sins." Amen.

SERMON IL
Apocaltse xix. 10. (Rhem. Ver.) And I fell down before his feet
to adore him. And he saith to me. See thou do it not ; I am thy
fellow-servant, and of thy brethren who have the testimony of
Jesus : Adore God !
In our former lecture we assigned five reasons for pro
testing against the worsbip of angels and saints: first,
because Paul commands us to "refrain from all appear
ance of evil," and the worship of these inferior spirits
has greatly the appearance of idolatry, which is the
worst of all evils ; — Secondly, because, even if it were
not idolatrous, it is, however, absurd, being founded on
a superstitious and fanciful hypothesis utterly incapable
of proof; — Thirdly, because, even if it were not absurd,
still it is unnecessary, forasmuch as our Lord Jesus Christ
is declared to be the only and all-sufficient Saviour,
Mediator, and Intercessor of all that put their trust
in Him — (These three reasons formed the subject of
our last discourse. -We now proceed, with tbe Divine
assistance, to consider the two remaining ones, viz.) —
Fourthly, because, even supposing that we thought it
necessary to invoke the intercession of angels and saints,
still the practice is unscriptural: it has no precedent, no
authority, either of precept or example, in the word of
God ; and Fifthly, becausd it is not only unscriptural,
but antiscriptural ; it is not merely unsanctioned, but
even expressly forbidden, by the word of God; and
therefore must be condemned, by every one who draws
his religion from that sacred source, as highly criminal
in its nature, and highly dangerous in its tendency;
leading, as we shall find it does, to the idolatrous wor
ship of a multitude of inferior spirits, and thus robbing
the Almighty of that glory wbich is due to Himself
alone, according to his own declaration: " I am the Lord;
that is my name; and my glory will I not give to
another, neither my praise to graven images."*
* Isa. xiii. 8.

92 ON THE INVOCATION OF ANGELS AND SAINTS.
4. First, the invocation of angels and saints, as taught
and practised by tbe Roman Catholic Church, is unscrip
tural: it has no precedent, no authority, either of precept
or example, in the word of God. That there was an
honorary worship, or reverence, paid to these angelic
beings when they appeared to mortals in a visible form,
is a truth which no attentive reader of his Bible can
deny; but we may safely challenge the Roman Catholics
to produce ei single text, in any part of tbe word of God,
in which tbe invocation of angels or saints in glory is
either'directly or indirectly alluded to. And surely it
must appear strange, if the assistance of -these happy
spirits be so needful to us, and if the worship of them
form so important a part of true religion, as the Church
of Rome teaches it does, that no example, no command,
no direction, nay, not so much as a hint respecting it,
can be found in any part of that blessed Book, which
was "written for our learning," and of wbich we bave
the authority of an inspired Apostle in asserting that it
is of itself alone " able to instruct (or make us wise)
unto salvation."
Now, if, as Paul affirms, "whatsoever things were
written in tbe sacred Scriptures, were written for our
learning;"* and if, as be says again, "they are of them
selves alone able to instruct us to salvation,"t we cannot
but conclude, that whatsoever is not learnt from tbe word
of God, " Whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be
proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, tbat
it should be believed as an article of faith, or be thought
requisite or necessary to salvation."}
Where, then, let us ask, where do we " learn" that
tbe worship of angels and saints formed any part of the
religion of the people of God, either under the Old or
New Testament dispensation? To' what part of the
Scriptures of truth does the Church of Rome direct us
for those "instructions," respecting the invocation of
these angelic beings, for which the rhan, who seeks to
* Rom. XV. 4. t 2 Tim. iii. 15.
t Sixth Article of the Church of England.

ON THE INVOCATION OF ANGELS AND SAINTS. 93
be made scripturally " wi.se unto salvation," will natu
rally inquire? Does she direct us to those passages in
which mention is made of veneration being rendered to
them when they appeared on earth in a visible form?
She might, with equal propriety, direct us to those pas
sages in which mention is made of similar veneration
paid to kings and persons in authority, as proving that
they too are proper objects of religious worship.
The instances that are recorded of Abraham, and Lot,
and Joshua, and Daniel, and other Patriarchs and Pro
phets, bowing down with their faces to the ground before
the angels that appeared to them, are no arguments what
ever in favour of the invocation of invisible spirits.
These were merely tbe natural and customary marks of
veneration, which the presence of those heavenly visit
ants called forth, and which was, we a,dmit, due to their
celestial dignity.
The prostration of the body, we know, was, and still
is, in many countries, the usual mark of veneration paid
to persons of royal and magisterial dignity. When the
sons, of Jacob were' brought before Joseph, in his capa
city of governor of the land of Egypt, we are informed
" that they bowed themselves with their faces to the
ground."* It is related, in Ruth ii. 10, that when that
pious young woman found favour with her kinsman
Boaz, " she fell on ber face at his feet, and bowed herself
to the ground." And, again, we are informed, in 1 Sam.
XX. 4, that David " fell on his face to tbe ground, and
bowed himself three times" before bis kind friend
Jonathan. Now, surely it will not be pretended that
any of the individuals here mentioned intended to offer
religious worship to the persons before whom they pros
trated themselves. In like manner, then, we affirm, the
instances, so much dwelt upon by Roman Catholics, of
similar veneration ' paid to the angels that appeared to
the Patriarchs and Prophets, or of Saul's bowing down
before Samuel, cannot be regarded as examples of reli
gious worship offered to them ; but only as tokens of
that profound reverence and awe, with which the pre-
* Gen. ilii. 6.

94 ON THE INVOCATION OP ANGELS AND SAINTS.
sence of these heavenly messengers inspired the minds
of those holy men to whom they were sent.
But, is there not a manifest difference between bow
ing d,own out of respect, or falling prostrate on the earth
with awe, before a supernatural being immediately pre
sent to our senses ; and offering worship and invocations
to angelic spirits, when absent and invisible? There is,
probably, no Christian, whether Protestant or Romanist,
who would refuse to imitate Abraham's example, in
bowing down with reverence before a messenger from
the world of spirits. But, as there is no instance on re
cord of worsbip rendered to invisible angels, we, for
this reason, protest against tbe practice, as unscriptural,
as well as superstitious.
But the Roman Catholic, I know, will reply to this,
that Jacob furnishes us with an example of prayer ad
dressed to an invisible angel; for we are informed, in
Gen. xlviii. 15, 16, that the aged Patriarch, when he was
dying, expressed his good wishes for his grandsons,
Ephraim and Manasses, in these words, " The God
whicb fed me all my life long unto this day, the Angel
which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads."
Now, the weakness of this argument, and of the doc
trine which rests upon it, is obvious from two considera
tions: First, from the words of Jacob not being in the
form of a prayer, but simply the expression of a bene
volent wish, that the Angel might afford the same pro
tection to his grandson which he had to himself : Se
condly, from the still more important fact, that the Angel
here spoken of was (as the words imply) no created
being, but Jehovah himself, the visible representative of
that God who had, as the Patriarch gratefully acknow
ledges, " fed him all his life long." He was the same
of whom Jacob speaks, when, after wrestling with an
Angel, he says, with adoring admiration, " I have seen
God face to face, and my life is preserved!"* and of
whom the Prophet Hosea also speaks, when, alluding to
this memorable event in Jacob's history, -he says, "By
his strength he had power over God ; yea, he had power
over the Angel, and prevailed."!
» Gen. xxxii. 30. t Hos. xii. 3, 4.

ON THE INVOCATION OP ANGELS AND SAINTS. 95
If, then, the words of the Patriarch can be properly
interpreted as a prayer at all, it was a prayer addressed
to Almighty God himself; who frequently condescend
ed to manifest himself to his servants in the Old Testa
ment church in the form of an angel, as he afterwards
did, under the Gospel dispensation, in the person of our
adorable Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ ; who was, as
Paul affirms," God in Christ, reconciling the world
unto himself, not imputing tbeir trespasses unto them."
Another text, which is adduced in support of angel
worship, is Exod. xxiii. 20, in wbich the Lord is repre
sented as saying" to Moses, " Behold, I send an Angel
before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee
to the place whicb I have prepared. Beware of bim,
and obey his voice ; provoke him not ; for he will not
pardon thy transgressions : for My Name is in him."
Now, these last words of the passage render it totally
inadmissible as an argument for angel worship. For the
expression, " My Name is in bim," signifies, according
to Hebrew phraseology, that the Angel here spoken of,
came in the name, and invested with the authority of
God himself. Therefore we conclude, tbat the obedi
ence which the Israelites were enjoined to pay to this
angel was due to him on account of that name and autho
rity of God with which be was invested; and cannot
be regarded as an argument for the worsbip of angels in
general, unless it can be proved tbat tbe name and autho
rity of the Almighty resides in every angelic being as
much as it did in this, who is called, ip Isaiah Ixiii. 9,
by way of distinction, "the Angel of His presence."
And as there is no instance on record, either in the
Old or New Testament, of prayer being addressed lo
any invisible angel; neither is there any example of in
vocation being offered to any of the saints in glory. As
for tbe facts, so triumphantly adduced by the Roman
Catholics, of Samuel's praying for the Israelites, and of
Job's being directed- to make intercession for his three
friends, they only show the weakness of. tbe cause that
has recourse to them for support. Samuel and Job were
men alive on earth : and we have already admitted, that
intercessory prayer is a token of mutual charity which

96 ON THE INVOCATION OF ANGELS AND SAINTS.
all God's people in this world are enjoined to render one
another, and for which we can produce numerous autho
rities, both of precept and example, in the word of God.
But where do we find any such authority for invoking,
the intercession of saints in tbe other world ? We shall
search in vain for it in any part of the Scriptures.
We all know in what high veneration the Jews held
the memory of their deceased patriarchs and prophets.
We all' know, that the names, of Abraham, and Moses,
and David, and Daniel, were never proneunced but with
a feeling as nearly approaching to religious worship as
it was possible without idolatry ; yet where do we find
any instance of the Old Testament church addressing
prayer or invocation to these sainted worthies? Where
do we find an example of such addresses to them, as
those which abound in Roman Catholic manuals — " 0
Abraham, pray for us! 0 Mose.s, pray forus ! 0 David,
pray for us ! 0 Daniel, pray for us ! " Bellarmine him
self is constrained to confess that no such addresses as
these can be found in any part of the Bible;* and the
reason he assigns for this is as curious as it is contradic
tory to Scripture : " Because," he says, " the saints who
departed before the coming of Christ were not admitted
into the presence of God," but were detained, as we are
to conclude, in that imaginary place called Limbus Par
trum!! We should be glad to know what was Cardinal
Bellarmine's authority for this extraordinary assertion.
We should like to hear how it can be reconciled with
the fact, that both Enoch t and the prophet Elijah % were,
most certainly admitted into the Divine presence, im
mediately on their removal from this earth. If, then,
any of the Old Testament saints had been thought wor
thy of religious worship, surely we might have supposed
that these most eminent and holy of them all, who were
translated into the immediate presence of Jehovah with-
* " Notandum est quia ante Christi adventum sancti qui morieban-
tur non intrabant in ccelum. Nee Deum videbant, nee cognoscere
poterant ordinarie preces supplicantium — ideo non fuisse consuetum
in Testamento veteri ut diceretur, ' Sanote Abraham, ora pro me,'
sed solum orabant homines ejus temporis Deum." — Bellarm.de Sanct.
Beat. lib. i. c. 19.
t Genesis v, 24. t 2 Kings ii. 11.

ON THE INVOCATION OF ANGELS AND SAINTS. 07
out suffering the pains of death, would bave held the
highest place in the estimation of the Jews; yet no
where do we find such prayers as these in any part of
the Old Testament: " 0 Enoch, pray for us!" "0 Elijah,
pray for us!"
Nay, what is still more remarkable, and to which I
beg your particular attention, we are informed, in 2
Kings ii. 9, that when the Prophet Elijah was about to
be taken up alive into heaven, he desired his friend
Elisba, if he had any favour to askof him, to "ask it
before he was taken away from bim;" plainly inti
mating, that, after he was removed to heaven, he should
no longer possess the power either to hear or grant his
requests. This is, I conceive, an incontrovertible argument
against the invocation of saints; for surely, if Elijah,
the greatest of the Jewish prophets, the immediate pro
totype of the Lord Jesus Christ himself, who was so
highly beloved of God as to be taken up alive into hea
ven — if even this most illustrious of the Old Testament
saints, of whom Bellarmine himself could not deny that
he was immediately admitted into the Divine presence,
forbad bis affectionate friend Elisha making any request
of him after he was removed from earth, much less can
we suppose tbat the motley multitude of saints, whose
names are inserted in the Roman calendar, are proper
objects of religious worsbip and invocation.
It is unnecessary to detain your attention-on this part
of tbe subject. There are only two observations more,
which I think it requisite to make in proof of the un-
scripturality of saint-worship, as far as the Old Testa
ment is concerned.
First, although it was declared of Jael, the wife of
Heber the Kenite, that she should be blessed above wo
men, oa account of the important service she rendered
the Israelites, in cutting off their enemy Sisera — " Bless
ed above women shall Jael, the wife of Heber. tbe Ken
ite, be,"* — almost the very words that are addressed to
the Virgin Mary — yet no instance do we discover of
* Judges V. 24.

98 ON THE INVOCATION OP ANGELS AND SAINTS.
any kind of religious worship being paid to this " bless
ed above women" in the Old Testament church.
Second, though the prophecies of Isaiah and the
Psalms of David abound with prayers, praises, and de
vout ejaculations, uttered too in all the pomp of East
ern diction and poetic imagery; yet no where do we
find a single instance, in either of tHose sublime compo-'
sitions, of prayer, praise, or invocation, addressed, di
rectly or indirectly, to angel, saint, or any being, except
the Lord Jehovah bimself; which, surely, is remarkable,
if indeed the invocation of these angelic spirits consti
tutes an essential part of true religion. ^
The Psalms of David, as banded down in the Bible,
are as different from tbat blasphemous production of St.
Bernard, called " Tbe Psalter of the Virgin," as light is
from darkness. It is to the Lord of hosts alone that all
David's prayers and praises are directed: and though,
in one or two instances, we find the Royal Psalmist so
far indulging in poetic license as to call upon the angels
of heaven to join bim in the delightful employment of
praising their common Lord; yet, as we find him in
the same Psalms calling upon the sun, moon, sea, moun
tains, dragons, and all created things, to unite with bim
in lauding their Creator and Benefactor, we cannot ad
mit his words as an argument for the invocation of
angels; unless we receive them as authorizing the wor
ship of the sun, moon, sea, rnountains, dragons, and all
the works of nature along with them; and, indeed, the
one seems as reasonable and scriptural as the other.
Thus have we ascertained that no authority can be
found in the Old Testament, either of precept or exam
ple, for the-invocation of angelic spirits.
If, from tbe Old Testament we turn to the New, we
shall be equally at a loss to discover any argument in
support of saint-worship. It is unnecessary to enume
rate the many valuable instructions which our blessed
Lord ^"ives his disciples, respecting the matter and form
of their prayers: suffice it to observe, that in all bis in
structions, be uniformly sets forth God alone as the ob
ject of their worship, and never so much as insinuates

ON THE INVOCATION OF ANGELS AND SAINTS. 99
the necessity or expediency of addressing prayer to any
Other being.
He directs us " to enter into our closets, and, when
we have shut the door, to pray" — to whom? to the Vir
gin? Oh no! — "to our Father, which is in secret; and
our Father, who seeth in secret, will reward us openly."
He instructs us, " when we pray, to say" — what? Hail,
Mary? Ob no! — "Our Father which art in heaven;
hallowed be Thy name." How different are these di
rections of our blessed Lord from those to be found in
the Rosary of the Virgin, .which- directs us to " pray
ten times to ber, for once that we pray to the Fa
ther!"* With respect to our Lord's behaviour. to his mother,
it is remarkable tbat he seems purposely to avoid every
thing likely to excite a feeling of undue veneration for
her in the minds of his disciples. He usually addresses
her, as Epiphanius says, by the name of Woman; as a
proof that she was nothing more than a human being,
born of the stock of fallen Adam, and deriving from bim
a mortal and sinful nature.t On one occasion, as the
same father observes, our Lord seems even to rebuke
his mother, as assuming too much authority over him:
"Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is
not yet come.f" Tbe Roman Catholics say that this is
a wrong translation of the passage, and that it should be
rendered, " Woman, what is that to you and me?" But
what proves tbat this is the correct translation is the
fact, that they are tbe very same words, in the original
Greek, which tbe devils addressed to our Lord, when
they said, " What have we to-do with thee, Jesus-, thou
Son of God?" (Matt. viii. 29.) How awkward would
it be to render these words of the devils, "What is that
to you and us, Jesus, thou Son of God?" This, then,
* After the first meditation on the mystery of the Annunciation, the
Rosary of the Virgin directs us to say, " Our Father," &c. once, and
" Hail, Mary," &c. ten times.
t " Non tamen aliter genita es praeter hominum naturam, sed sicut
omnes ex semine viri et utero mulieris." — Epiph. con. Hseres, 79.
t John ii. 4.

100 ON THE INVOCATION OF ANGELS AND SAINTS.
is a conclusive argument in favour of our translation of
our Lord's words in this passage.
On another occasion, when some one said to our
blessed Saviour, " Behold, thy mother and thy brethren
stand without, desiring to see thee," be replied, " Who
is my mother, and who are my brethren?"* then,
stretching' forth his hands toward his disciples, he said,
"Behold my mother and my brethren; for whosoever
shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the
same is my brother, and sister, and mother."
And, to adduce but one instance more from our
Lord's words: when a certain person cried out to him,
in a rapture of admiration, "Blessed is the womb that
bare thee, and the paps wbich thou hast sueked,"t what
was his reply ? " Yea, rather blessed are they who hear
the word of God and keep it." Roman Catholics are
fond of quoting the former part of this passage, which
speaks of the blessedness of our Lord's mother; but
they are not so fond of quoting the latter part, which
speaks of the greater blessedness of those who bear and
obey the word of God. Why ? the reason is obvious, —
because their church restrains them from the'free use of
the word of God, and commands them to worsbip the
Virgin Mary. Now, we, who belong to the Reformed
Church, choose rather to hear and obey the word of
God; and though we honour the memory of the Vir
gin; and though, according to her own words, we say
that she was " a blessed woman," and " highly favour
ed," in being chosen to be the mother of our adorable
Redeemer; yet, in obedience to our Lord's commands,
we address no prayers or invocations to her; but, when
we pray, address ourselves to our "Father which is in
heaven." Let us next pass to the Acts of the Apostles. To
which part of them does the Church of Rome direct us
for examples of the primitive Christians invoking the
intercessions of angels or saints? Many are the in
stances recorded therein of the Apostles and first disci
ples assembling together for the purpose of prayer to
* Matt. xii. 47. t Luke xi. 27.

ON THE INVOCATION OF ANGELS AND SAINTS. 101
jrod and to the Lord Jesus Christ; but we confidently
;hallenge her to produce a single instance of prayer or
jraise addressed, either directly or indirectly, to Angels,
I'^irgin, Saints, or any other created being.
In the short and affecting account that is recorded of
be death of the first martyr, Stephen,* it is related, that
n his dying moments he lifted up his eyes to heaven,
ind cried, " Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Mark, I
)eseech you, how different this blessed martyr's beha
viour in his last moments was, from that of Roman
Catholics who are accustomed to recommend, their de
parting souls into the hands of their guardian angel and
latron saint! How different were bis dying words,
'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit," from the prayer sanc-
ioned by Pope Pius VII. in 1807, in which Romanists
ire instructed to say, " Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, assist
ne in my last agony!!" How different from those
Litanies for the dying, in wbich they exclaim, " Holy
mgels! holy archangels! holy Abel! holy Abraham!
loly Paul! holy Peter! holy Benedict! holy Francis!
loly monks and friars! holy virgins and widows! and
0 forth, pray for us! !"
What an awful departure from Christian simplicity
nd the practice of tbe primitive cburch, is this! Where
lo you find any example or authority in the word of
Tod for this kind of prayers ? Where do you discover
n instance of the Ap'ostles and first Christians invoking
he assistance of either of those two first and most emi-
lent of martyrs, Stephen or James, in this manner?
fou charge us with being heretics: we have a graver
nd a juster charge against you, — we chafge you with
etting at nought tbe adorable Son of God; we accuse
ou of derogating from his merits, and distrusting his
vill and power to save you. Stephen was contented in
is dying moments to recommend bis departing spirit
ito the hands of the blessed Jesus, as alone able to save
im. We, whom you denounce as heretics, are content
) follow the example of this holy martyr: we are satis-
ed to call upon our adorable Saviour for help; and we
¦" Acts vii. 59.
I2

102 ON THE INVOCATION OP ANGELS AND SAINTS.
trust our souls to his keeping alone, knowing that " he
is able and willing to save for ever those who come unto
God by him." But you, who call yourselves the true
church — you are not contented with trusting for help to
the Lord Jesus Christ alone, but think it necessary also
to invoke tbe assistance of bis mother and Josepb, and
the holy angels, and patriarchs, and apostles, and mar
tyrs, and an immense list of monks and friars and vir
gins and hermits; not one of whom, as I proved in my
last Lecture, is there any reason to believe, can hear your
prayers, or, if they did, could render you tbe least as
sistances for it is written, that " No man can redeem his
brother, or give to God a ransom for him; for the, re
demption of their soul is precious, and they must let
that alone for ever."*
Once more. Let us pass from the Acts of the Apos
tles to the Epistles which they addressed to the several
churches — for in those days the Church of Rome had
not usurped the high-sounding title of the " only true
Catholic and apostolic church," but was content to be
ranked on an equality with the churches of Corinth, and
Galatia, and Ephesus, and so forth. To each of these
churches Paul and his fellow apostles addressed letters,
whicb abound in doctrinal and practical instruction.
There is no subject connected with Christian faith or
Christian duty which we do not find explained, en
forced, and enlarged upon in their several Epistles. On
prayer, particularly, Paul is very copious and impres
sive. In various passages, too numerous to specify, he
instructs us to "pray always;" to "pray without ceas-
sing;" to "continue instant in prayer," both for our
selves and for one another. In 1 Tim. ii. 1, be desires
that " supplications, prayers, and intercessions, be made
for all men." Yea, he bimself sets us the example of
praying for "grace, mercy, and peace" to the three
Persons .of the sacred Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy
Ghost; and in entreating tbe prayers of his fellow Chris
tians for himself. From which we learn, as I before ob
served, that the intercessory jwayers of Christians for
* Psalm xlix. 7.

ON THE INVOCATION OF ANGELS AND SAINTS. 103
one another form a principal part of the communion of
saints in this world. But no one instance can we dis
cover, in any part of his writings, either of his address
ing prayer bimself, or instructing Christians to pray, to
angel, saint, or virgin, in the world of spirits: which,
surely, must be considered strange and unaccountable, if
tbe intercessions of these angelic beings are so needful
and important as the Church of Rome would have us
believe. Nay, so far from this, he positively enjoins us to
"pray to God the Father, through Christ" alone. In
Cot. iii. 17, he says, "All whatsoever ye do, in word or
work, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus." Now
you are instructed to disobey this direction of the
Apostle. Whatsoever ye do, in word at least, your
church teaches }'ou to do in tbe name of the Virgin
Mary, or of some other saint, together with Christ.
Surely, then, you must confess that we, who pray in
the name of Jesus Christ alone, are more conformable to
Paul, in this respect, than you, who pray in the name of
so many other beings.
Again: The same Apostle teaches us, in 1 Tim. ii. 5,
that as there is but one God, so there is but " one Me
diator of God and man, the man Christ Jesus." But
you multiply your mediators ad infinitum; for you in
voke as many intercessors in your prayers as there are
angels in heaven and saints in the calendar. Where
have you learned this heresy? Certainly not from Paul;
nor yet from James, for be directs us, " If any man
want wisdom, let bim ask of God, who giveth to all
men abundantly, - and upbraideth not, and it shall be
given him."* Now if, as James assures us, God giveth
abundantly to all who ask him; so tbat, as our Lord
says, " Ask, and it shall be given you ; seek, and ye
shall find,"t why should you think it necessary to ask
of any one else? particularly since John informs, that
" if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father,
Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the propitiation for
our sins. "I
* James i. 5. t Matt. vii. 7. tl John ii, 1.

104 ON THE INVOCATION OP ANGELS AND SAINTS.
If, then, the blessed Jesus, the adorable Son of God,
himself, be our Advocate with the Father, away with
all other ad-votates! If He be the propitiation for our
sins, away -with all other intercessors! We want no
angel, saint, or virgin to plead our case, or make our
heavenly Father propitious to us, since He who died for
us on Mount Calvary undertakes to do it. If the well-
beloved Son of God condescends to stand advocate for
us, unworthy sinners as we are, at the throne of grace,
we are sure his advocacy must be successful. And since
we find neither command nor instruction nor exhorta
tion, no, not so much as a hint, coming either from our
Lord or his Apostles, respecting the necessity or expe
diency of invoking tbe assistance of invisible spirits, we
therefore protest against such invocation, as both unne
cessary and unscriptural. We deny that the worship of
these glorified beings forms any part of the Christian
religion. We accuse the Church of Rome of a daring
innovation, an impious corruption of the Gospel of Je.sus
Christ, by the introduction of such a practice. We affirm
that sbe has no right to tbat name, which she bas so
arrogantly -usurped to hei-, of " the holy apostolical
church," becatise she has forsaken the pure and undefiled
religion of the Apostles, for the worship of saints and
angel§. We affirm that it is sbe that propagates heresy
and schism, and not we;, for we strive to keep close to
the doctrines and practice of the Church of Christ, as
established by our Lord and bis inspired servants; but
the Church of Rome has heretically departed from both.
We follow the exarnples which Paul and the first Chris
tians have set before us, of praying to God alone, through
the Lord Jesus Christ, (according to the Apostle's own
direction, " Be ye followers of me, as I also am of
Christ;''*) but Romanists are not satisfied with follow
ing their example in this matter.
Do you ask us, then, where our church was before the
times of Henry the Eighth or Martin Luther? We will
tell you where it was: it was in the Bible, where it still
is, and ever will be to the end of time. The word of
* 1 Cor. iv, 16.

ON THE INVOCATION OF ANGELS AND SAINTS. 105
God is the rock on which the Protestant Church is
founded ; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against
it. Luther did nothing more than help to clear away
the immense rhass of superstitious rubbish by which it
had so long been obscured and corrupted. The Pro
testant Church is the church of the Bible; the Roman
Catholic Church is the church of Popes and Councils.
The Protestant Church is Apostolical, for she follows the
commands and examples of Christ and his Apostles: the
Roman Catholic Church is not Apostolical, for she
chooses rather to follow the legends of a corrupt tradi
tion. If, then, the church established, by our Lord Jesus
Christ and his inspired Apostles be the true church, it
follows tbat you, who bave so widely .departed from it,
are tbe real heretics; and that we, who endeavour to
conform our doctrines and practice as nearly as possible
to those of tbe first Christians, are the truly orthodox.
I speak not this by way of taunt or insult — God
knoweth I have no desire to wound the feelings even of
the poorest and weakest Roman Catholic amongst you:
I desire not to " break the bruised reed, nor quench the
smoking flax;" but since your church affects to brand us
with the names of heretics and schismatics, simply be
cause we choose to follow the example of Christ and his
Apostles in worshipping one God, through one Mediator,
surely you cannot blame us if we retort the charge, and
vindicate ourselves by proving that it is the Roman
Catholic, and not the Protestant church, that bas really
departed from the faith delivered to the first Christians.
For truly may that worship of angels and saints be called
a departure from the primitive faith, which has no sanc
tion, no authority, either of precept or example, in any
part of the word of God — as I think I have now satis
factorily demonstrated.
But it may naturally be inquired, if the Church of Rome
has (as has been proved) no Scriptural foundation for the
worsbip of angels and saints, on what foundation has she
erected this most absurd and heathenish superstructure?
The reply to this, is Tradition. A corrupt tradition is the
only, but suitable, foundation for this and all the other
corrupt doctrines and practices of the Roman Catholic

106 ON THE INVOCATION OF ANGELS AND SAINTS.
church. Justly may we apply to them the words of our
Lord to the Pharisees, in the viith chapter of Mark:
"Now do ye (Roman Catholics) make void the word of
God by your traditions;". for the word of God says,
" Thou shalt adore the LoM thy God, and him only
shalt thou serve;" and again, "thou shalt not make to
thyself any graven image; thou shalt not bow down and
worship it."
As the worship of images, however, is proposed for
the subject of a separate Lecture, it is not my intention
to enlarge upon it: I would only ask if the veneration of
images, as practised by the Church of Rome, be not a
violation of the Second Commandment — or,, according
to her division, of the latter clause of the First, what is
the reason that she omits this latter clause, forbidding
the worship of graven images, in so many of ber devo
tional and catechetical manuals? I do not say she omits
it in all: I only ask, why does she leave it out of any?
What authority has the Church of Rome thus to muti
late one of the least of God's Commandments, of wbich
our Lord declares that " one jot or tittle shall in no wise
pass away till all be fulfilled ?'-' Authority sbe has none.
But tbe reason of ber doing so is obvious enough —
because she is conscious, that by inserting the Second
Commandment, she, as it were, signs ber own con
demnation! But, to return to our subject. The foundation on
which tbe Cburch of Rome has erected the superstructure
of saint-worship, is Tradition. All the Fathers, she
asserts, from the second century downwards, sanction
and encourage the invocation of these angelic spirits:
and so " full well sharejects tbe Commandments of God,
that she may keep the tradition of the Fathers!" My
Protestant brethren, this very fact, that the Church of
Rome is obliged to appeal from Scripture to the writings
of the Fathers, in support of saint-worship and similar
corruptions, while it clearly proves tbat the practice is
a novelty — a human invention, introduced into the
church since the days of the Apostles — is also a cause
for unspeakable gratitude and joy to us, who have sepa
rated from her communion. It calls upon us to rejoice

ON THE INVOCATION OF ANGELS AND SAINTS. 107
in our liberty to walk according to the precepts of God's
holy word, as David says: "I will walk at liberty, be
cause I seek thy precepts."* It calls upon us to glory
in our freedom from the trammels of a corrupt and
superstitious tradition. It calls upon us to thank God
that we have escaped from that unholy and servile bon
dage to human authority, under wbich the poor deluded
Roman Catholics are still groaning, like the Israelites
under the Egyptian taskmasters.
Yes, my brethren, blessed be God, the traditions of
Fathers, and the bulls of popes and councils, are no rules
for our consciences ! Our Lord commands us to call no
man, in this sense, our Father, or our Master, upon earth.
"Call no man," he says, "your father upon earth; for
one is your Father, which is in heaven. "t By which
he means, that we should allow no man to dictate to us,
or lord it over our consciences, in religious matters; and
tbat, in those things wbich concern the salvation of our
souls, we should not implicitly obey tbe mere assertion
of any man, or body of men, bowever venerable and
learned they may be, further than as the Word of God
authorizes us to do so.
' In this respect, tberefore, I repeat, we, who belong to
the Reformed Church may glory in obeying God rather
than men. We deny that tbe traditions of the Fathers
are any rule for a Christian's conscience, either in mat
ters of faith or practice. As far as the accounts that
have been banded down to us prove tbat they were holy
men, we bold their memories in honour, and desire to
imitate their examples; but further than this our venera
tion for them does not extend. Tbeir writings furnish
us with abundant evidence that they were frail, sinful
men, equally liable to error and infirmity as we are our
selves: therefore we refuse to take them implicitly as
our guides; and protest against following the Fathers
further than as they followed Christ.
With reference, then, to the argument for saint-wor
ship drawn from the writings of the Fathers, we would
first of all say to you, as Peter said to the chief priests
* Psalm cxix. 45. t Matt, xxiii. 19.

108 ON THE INVOCATION OP ANGELS AND SAINTS.
and Pharisees, " Whether it be just in the sight of God,
to obey man rather than God, judge ye."* Even if it
were true that all the Fathers, from the days of the
Apostles downward, concurred in approving of saint-
worship, still, as long as we find it forbidden and con
demned hy the word of God, so long it is criminal to
practise it. But it is far from true that the first Fathers
of the Christian cburch concurred in sanctioning this
most unscriptural practice.
We find no traces whatever of tbe invocation of saints
and angels in ecclesiastical history, till nearly three hun
dred years after the coming of our Saviour. One obscure
and solitary passage, indeed, there is in the writings of
Irenaeus, in which the term " advocate"t is applied to
the Virgin Mary — and this may be called the founda
tion-stone of the fabric of saint- worship; for, as Bellar-
minef himself admits, it is tbe earliest symptom of an
approach to that superstitious practice that is extant in
the Fathers. But it was not till nearly the close of tbe
third century that the undue veneration which Chris
tians began to pay to the memory of tbe martyrs,§ and
which led them to assemble at their tombs for the pur
pose of commemorating the day of tbeir martyrdom,
paved the way for the introduction of saint-worship.
For this custom of meeting togqtber for devotional
purposes at the graves of the martyrs, by degrees led to
the superstitious practice of praying for tbem : the prac
tice of praying for them gradually degenerated into tbat
of praying to them: and so at length, about the latter
end of the fourth century, or nearly four hundred years
after the advent of our Lord, an infamous sect sprung
*Actsiv. 19. ^
t " Et sicut ilia (Eva) seductaest ut effngeret Deum, sic haec (virgo
Maria) suasa est obedire Deo, Uti virginis Evae, virgo Maria fieret
advjDcata!" — Iren. Adver. H^ret. lib.^v. cap. 16.
t Bellarm. de Euch. lib. ii. cap. 8.
§ In the Epistles which Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, wrote to his
flock during the time of his concealment on account of the Decian
persecution, that holy and venerable prelate notices with marked dis
approbation the manifold abuses to'which this superstitious veneration
for the martyrs had given rise. The English reader who wishes in.
formation on the subject, will find an interesting account of it in Mil-
ner's Ec. Hist. Third Century.

ON THE INVOCATION OF ANGELS AND SAINTS. 109
up, called Collyridians, composed chiefly of females,
who worshipped the Virgin Mary as a goddess; and
from that time to the Reformation, tbe invocation of in
ferior spirits, but particularly of the Virgin, has been,
more or less, practised by the greater part of professing
Christians. But we have many valuable testimonies, in the writ
ings of the most ancient Fathers, how greatly they dis
approved of this most unscriptural and superstitious
practice. Eusebius has recorded a memorable letter,
written by the Christians of Smyrna on the occasion of
the martyrdom of their beloved bishop Polycarp, in the
second century, in which they vindicate- themselves
from the charge which their enemies brought against
them, of worshipping the martyrs; asserting that they
loved their memories, as disciples and followers of the
Lord, but they worshipped the Son of God.*
The same testimony is borne to the first Christians in
Pliny's celebrated letter to the Emperor Trajan, in
wbich it is related that they were accustomed to " meet
together before day, to sing a hymn to Christ as God;"
but without any mention whatever of saint-worship;
wbich seems strange, if indeed it was practised at that
early period.
It is very remarkable, also, tbat all the first Apolo
gists for Cbristianity directed tbeir efforts principally to
clear themselves from the charge of worshipping angels.
Epiphanius, who lived in the fourth century, as I before
observed, strongly reprobates the worship of the Virgin
Mary, calling her a woman, and saying she ought to be
held in honour, but by no means adored.
But tbe writings of the pious Augustin, in the fifth
century, are worthy of particular notice.
'In the fifty-fifth chapter of his Book de Vera Reli-
gione, he says, " Let not our religion consist in the wor-
*"rtLOM enim qui veri DeiFiliusestadoramus,Martyres autem ut
discipulos et imitatores Domini, propter incredibilem eorum benevo-
lentiam quam in proprium regem et magistrum declaraverunt, merito
amplexamur ; quorum nos cuhi in pietate discipulos, tum consortes in
gloria fore optamus." — Euseb. Hist., Eccles. lib. iv. cap. 14.
K

110 ON THE INVOCATION OF ANGELS AND SAINTS.
ship of dead men; for if they were pious when alive,
they would not desire such honour."*
In the twenty-second book of his Treatise de Civitate
Dei, tenth chapter, we find bim opposing the customs of
the Christians of his day to tbose of tbe heathen idola
ters, in these words: " We do not erect altars on which
to sacrifice to martyrs; but to one God only do we offer
sacrifice, even to the God of martyrs and our own God:
at which sacrifice they are mentioned, in their place and
order as men of God, who, in confessing him, have over
come tbe world; but they are not invocated by tbe priest
tbat sacrifices" — " Non tamen a sacerdote qui sacrificat
invocantur."t And, to quote but one passage more from tbe writings
of this most' excellent of tbe Fathers, in the tenth book
of his Confessions, forty-second chapter, we find these
words: " Whom shall I -find to reconcile me to thee, 0
God? Shall I apply to an angel? With what prayer
or sacrifices am I to address him? Many, desiring to
return to thee, and finding themselves unable, have, as
I hear, tried this method; and so have deser'vedly been
the sport of tbeir own illusions. But a mediator be
tween God and man should bave a nature similar to
both." And in the forty-third chapter, " The true Me
diator, whom thy mercy hath sent to tbe humble, is
the man Jesus Christ,"^ &c. How different these senti-
* " Non sit nobis religio cultus hominum mortuorum quia si pi^
vixerunt non sic habenlur ut tales quadrant honores ; sed illum a no
bis coli volunt, QUO illuminante Isetantur meriti sui nos consortes.
Honofandi ergo sunt propter imitationem, non adorandi propter reli-
gionem." t " Nee ibi erigimus altaria in quibus sacrificemus martyribus ; sed
uni Deo, et martyrum, et nostro, sacrificium immolamus," &c 
" Non tamen a sacerdote qui sacrificat invocantur." — Aug. de Civ.
Dei. lib. xxii. cap. 10.
i " Quem invenirem qui me reconciliaret tibi ? An obeundum mihi
fuit ab angelo .' Qu4 prece ? Quibus sacramentis .' Multi conantes
ad te reriiie neque per seipsos valentes, sicut audio tentaverunt hsec,
et inciderunt in desidecium cariosarum visionunij et digni habiti sunt
illusionibus — Mediator aiitem inter Deum et homines oportebat ut
haberet aliquid simile Deo, aliquid simile hominibus, ne in utrove
hominibus similis longe esset a Deb, aut in utrove Deo similis longe
esset hominibus. ' Aug. Confess, lib. x. cap. 42.

ON THE INVOCATION OF ANGELS AND SAINTS. Ill
ments of Augustine, from those expressed in Roman
Catholic manuals, I leave to yourselves to judge.
5. And now, to return once more to that blessed
Book, which is the foan tain-head of pure and undefiled
religion, and from wbich every soul that thirsts for the
favour of God loves lo drink, in preference to those
muddy streams that flow from it through the channels
of human tradition, all of which are more or less defiled
by human error — just as the water of a river is dis
coloured by the soil through which it flows, and grows
more and more impure the further it runs from its first
source. To return, I say, once more before we con
clude, to the word of God, which is the sole fountain
and source of pure and undefiled religion; it only re
mains to show that the worship of angels and saints is
not merely unauthorized, but also expressly forbidden
and condemned, by that word; for thus it is written,
" Thou shalt adore the Lord thy God, and Him alone
shalt thou serve."*
I said, at the commencement of my first lecture, that
one reason for our protesting against the worship of an
gelic beings was, because it bad the appearance of ido
latry ; and T'aul commands Christians to refrain, not
only from evil itself, but even from all appearance of it.
I now assign, as tbe last and weightiest reason of all for
protesting against the worship of angels and saints, that
it not only has the appearance of, but that it actually is
Idolatry: yea, that it is a direct violation of God's own
commandment, inasmuch as it is giving that glory to
others which is due to Himself alone.
It is in vain for the Church of Rome to attempt evad
ing this argument, by affirming tbat she makes a distinc
tion between the worship rendered to God and that paid
to inferior spirits. This pretended distinction of religi
ous worship is as unscriptural as it is unintelligible. It
is sufficient to read Cardinal Bellarmine's elaborate trea
tise upon it, to perceive, that, if there is any meaning in
it at all, it is far beyond the capacity of an ignorant per
son to understand. And, as some Roman Catholic wri
ters have candidly acknowledged, that the difference
• Matt. iv. 10.

112 ON THE INVOCATION OP ANGELS AND SAINTS.
between the latria due to God, and the hyperdulia and
dulia paid to the Virgin Mary and other created beings,
was not understood by the illiterate multitude, it follows,
thatthe worship rendered to angels and saints, and es
pecially to the Virgin, is really rendered to them as
Divine. But, without dwelling more upon the principle of saint-
worship, we need appeal to facts alone, in proof of its
being idolatrous:, we need only open your own prayer-
books and manuals of devotion, in order to be convinced
that the worship you render to these inferior spirits is
actual adoration.
You address tbe Virgin Mary on your knees, " as the
Mother of God," and tbe " Queen of heaven." You
apply to her those names which tbe Lord Jesus Christ
applied to himself exclusively: you call ber the "Re
fuge of sinners," the "Ark of the covenant," the
"Gate of heaven," the "Health of the weak," the
« Comfort of the afflicted," the " Throne of the Trini
ty!" You are instructed in the Rosary of the Virgin,
as I before observed, to offer ten prayers to her for one
that you address to God. One of your most favourite
doxologies is, " Glory be to God and to the Virgin."
You " fly to her for protection and deliverance." You
entreat her to exercise her influence and authority over
God, as a mother over her son, that he may save your
souls: "Jure matris, impera Redemptori :" By the
right of a mother, command the Redeemer!!! In that
scandalous form of devotion, which, as it is pretended,
was revealed by an angel to St. Bernard, and in which
adoration is offered to every member of her body, there
is the following prayer: "Hail, Mary! handmaid of tbe
holy Trinity! Health and Consolation both of the liv
ing and of the dead! be \Vith me in all my temptations,
tribulations, necessities, distresses, and infirmities; obtain
for me pardon of all my faults; and, chiefly, in the hour
of death do not fail to succour me, 0 most pious Virgin
Mary."* Then follows, " I adore and bless your most
* "Ave Maria, Ancilla Sanclse Trinitatis ! Ave Maria, Salus et
Consolatrix vivorum et mortuorum! mecum sis in omnibus tribula-

ON THE INVOCATION OF ANGELS AND SAINTS. 113
blessed feet," and so forth. And, to adduce but one
more instance, out of that blasphemous perversion of the
Psalms of David entitled " the Psalter of the Virgin,"
we find the last two Psalms thus paraphrased therein:
" Sing to our Lady a new song; let her praise be in tbe
congregation of the just,t &c. Praise our Lady in her
holiness, praise her in her virtues and miracles: praise
her, ye assembly of Apostles ; praise ber, ye choirs of
patriarchs and prophets; praise her, ye army of martyrs ;
praise ber, ye crowds of doctors and confessors ; praise
her, ye company of virgins and chaste ones ; praise ber,
ye orders of monks and anchorites; let every thing that
bath breath praise our Lady ! ! ! "
Can any thing be conceived more idolatrous than these
addresses to the Virgin? whicb are but a very small part
of what might be quoted, if time allowed. Can it be
denied that this is ascribing to ber all the attributes of
Deity? that it is worshipping ber as an omniscient,
omnipresent, and almighty being, possessing authority
even over God himself; and, consequently, rendering
to her that praise, glory, and adoration, which he ex
pressly claims for. bimself alone, when he says, " I am
the Lord; that is my name; and my glory will I not
give to another, neither my praise to graven images !"
0 ye poor, ignorant, deluded men, into what an abyss
of error and superstition bave you fallen ! How has
the fear of man, and ignorance of the word of God,
misled you thus to " worship and serve the creature
more than the Creator !" For well you know, that many
tionibus, necessi.tatibus, et angustiis, et infirmitatibus meis; et impe-
tra mihi veniam omnium delictorum meorum, et maxime in hora exi-
tus mei non desis mihi, O piissima Virgo Maria! Adoro et benedico
beatissimos pedes tuos," &c.
t " Cantate Dominae nostra canticulura novum, laus ejus in con-
gregatione justorum. LiBtentur coell de gloria ejus, insute maris et
lotus orbis ; aqua et ignis laudent eam ; frigus et sestus splendor et
orbis. Laudato Dominam in Sanctis ejus; laudato eam in virtutibus
et miraculis ejus; laudato eam cajtus Apostolorum; laudate eam
chori Patriarcharumet Prophetarum; laudate eam exercitus marty
rum; laudate eam turma; doctorum et confessorum ; laudate earn
collegia virginum et continentium; laudate eam ordines anachorita-
rum et monachorum ; laudate eam conventus omnium religiosorum ;
laudate eam omnes animfe civium supernorum ; omnis spiritus laudet
Dominam nostram!"
k2

114 ON THE INVOCATION OF ANGELS AND SAINTS.
of you worship and honour the Virgin far more than
you do j'our Maker! God grant tbat you may be soon
emancipated from the bondage of spiritual tyranny and
superstition, into the " glorious liberty of the children
of God!" God grant that you may soon be delivered
from tbe darkness of ignorance and error, ino the full
day-light of Scripture truth ! You may call this worship
of the Virgin Mary "hyperdulia," or any thing else
you please; but we, who are taught by the word of
God to call things by their right names, call it the very
height of idolatry-; that abominable thing which God
hates, and whicb drew down his severest vengeance
lipon the Canaanites and Jews of old, who " bowed down
before Baalim and Ashtarotb," and " made cakes to the
queen of heaven."*
And we say the same of the worship you render to
the other angelic spirits: we affirm, tbtrt it is nothing
but idolatry to pray to them, as you do, in the same
breath, and with the same external marks of devotion,
as to the holy Trinity. At one moment, as we learn from
your prayer books, you address yourselves to " Father,
Son, and Holy Ghost;" and the very next call upon all
the boly angels, saints, and martyrs, to help you. In
many of your prayers, too numerous to specify, you
petition them for deliverance from sin, from temptation,
from tbe pains of death, and from .eternal perdition.
And in your address to your guardian angel, particularly,
you use thes6 words, " 0 holy angel, beloved of God', I
reverence thee as my patron ; I submit to thy direction,
and wholly deliver myself to be governed by thee.
Wherefore I humbly beseech thee, for Christ's sake, not
to leave me, though by my ingratitude and disobedience
to your holy admonitions I have rendered myself un
worthy of your care; but still vouchsafe graciously to
direct me when I err, to instruct me when I am ignorant,
to lift me up when I fall, to comfort me in my afflictions,
and to deliver me when in danger ; till at length thou
bringest me to heaven; where, with thee, I shall enjoy
everlasting felicity!— 0 angel guardian of my soul, to
* Jer.xliv. 19.

ON THE INVOCATION OF ANGELS AND SAINTS. 115
whose holy care I am committed, by thy supernal piety
illuminate, defend, and protect me this day from all sin
and danger. Amen."
What is this but idolatry? What is this but worship
ping your guardian angel, as if he was a God? Could
you address the Almighty himself in more humble, sup
plicatory, adoring language than this? Where do you
find any thing like this in tbe sacred Scriptures, or the
prayers of the first Christians? You cannot deny that
this is in direct opposition to the examples and precepts
of the inspired Apostles.
When Cornelius fell down at Peter's feet to worship
him the Apostle instantly forbad bim, sayjng, " Arise: I
myself also am a man."* When tbe men of Lystra, in
like manner, mistook Paul and Barnabas for Divine Be
ings, and were preparing to offer sacrifice unto them,
those holy Apostles rejected their idolatrous honours
with all the marks of indignation;! and so would they
now, if alive on earth, reject with abhorrence that idola
trous homage which is paid them by the Church of
Rome. Paul too, as we have seen, exhorts Christians to "let
no man seduce themj willing in humility, and religion
of angels."J And, lastly, our text informs us, that
when John fell down to adore the angel that was talking
with bim, that pure and blessed spirit solemnly warned
him not to be guilty of so great a sin: "See thou do
IT not," said he, " for I am thy fellow-servant, and of
thy brethren tbe prophets, and of them that keep the
words of the prophecy of this book: adore God."
-Now, brethren, if even so holy a man as John was
thus tempted to idolatry by the undue veneration which
he felt for one angel, bow much more, I beseech you,
must that veneration, that dulia, that hyperdulia, that
adoration, wbich your -church teaches yoiito pay, not to
one, but a whole multitude of angels, tempt you to idola
try? Surely you are not so presumptuous as to assert
that you are less likely to fall into this sin, than Joh'n
the Evangelist.
» Acts X. 25. t Acts xiv. 13, 14. i Coloss. ii. 18.

116 ON the invocation or angels and saints.
Universal experience has proved that human natufe
is in every age prone to idolatry, prone to forsake the
Creator for the creature. The very comfort which many
Roman Catholics say they feel in invoking the assist
ance and intercession of angelic spirits, so far from being
an argument in favour of tbe practice, is, on the con
trary, a powerful argument against it; for it shows what
a strong tendency our fallen and depraved nature has to
take comfort and pleasure in every thing except God
himself. There are many unlawful things in this world
which afford us comfort and delight; yea, there is not a
sin we commit that does not, more or less, gratify us —
for if not, why should we commit it? — but surely tbe
pleasure we derive from things unlawful is no argument
for the propriety of indulging in them: neither, then, I
assert, is the comfort, which many Roman Catholics say
they derive from tbe invocation of angels and saints, any
argument in favour of the practice, seeing that Scripture
unites with reason in condemning it as idolatry.
The examples we have in the Old Testament, of the
Israelites worshipping the golden c^lf and the brazen
serpent, and of the dreadful curse which they thereby
drew down upon themselves, should make us fearful of
offending this great and terrible God, who is so jealous
of his own honour. And, above all, tbe example in our
text, of the Apostle John, being so easily led away from
the adoration of Jehovah to that of the angel, should
serve, for what he intended it, an awful warning to us;
and ought to make us extremely jealous and fearful of
every thing whereby our corrupt hearts and affections
may be weaned from God, lest, peradventure, instead>of
seeking comfort from' bim alone, through bis dear Son
Jesus Christ, we should be led to seek comfort from
created beings, and so "worship and serve the creature
more than tbe Creator."
With the words of the Angel, therefore, in the text, I
now conclude my argument. Are any of you still ad
dicted to the worship of angels and saints? " See thou
DO it not." " Let no man seduce you, willing in hu
mility, and religion of angels." " Thou shalt worship
the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." —

ON THE INVOCATION OF ANGELS AND SAINTS. 117
3o you want a mediator between you and God? come
D tbe Lord Jesus Christ at once: he is the one appoint
ed Mediator. — Do you feel yourselves vile, unworthy
sinners, in need of an Advocate to intercede for you,
and plead your cause at the Throne of Grace? Come,
then, to tbe Lord Jesus Christ: he is " your Advocate
with the Father;" the great High Priest, who bas made
propitiation for your sins with His own blood, and who
stands continually at the Throne of Grace, making inter
cession for you and me. — Do you feel your want of an
almighty Saviour; one who is able and willing to save
you to the uttermost, both from sin and its curse? Come,
then, to the Lord-Jesus Christ: for he gave himself for
you; he died for you; he made himself a curse for you;
he bare your sins in his own body; and " he is now able
to save for ever all that come to God by him." — Or,
once more, do you want a Friend? do you want a Coun
sellor? do you want a Comforter? do you want a Re
fuge to flee unto from sin, sorrow, and suffering? Come,
then, my dear brethren, come to the blessed Jesus, the
adorable Son of God, at once: it is himself invites you,
not I: come unto Him, all ye weary and heavy laden
sinners, whether Protestant or Catholic, who bear me
this night: come unto the blessed Jesus, as your only
and all-sufficient Saviour. Cease from saints and angels!
we need not their assistance. It is Christ, the adorable
Son of God, who bled for us, that invites us to come to
him: away with every thing that keeps us from coming
at once to so loving and condescending a Saviour! He
who died for us says. He will not reject us, unworthy
sinners as we are. He is our Friend, He is our Refuge,
He is our Counsellor, He is our Comforter: come unto
him boldly, come unto him freely. " Him that cometh
unto me," he says, " I will not cast out."
Now, to God the Father, God the Son, and God the
Holy Ghost, be ascribed all glory, praise, might, ma
jesty, and dominion, henceforth and forever. Amen.

PAPAL RESTRICTIONS ON THE READING
OF THE SCRIPTURES.
BY THE REV. HUGH M'NEILE, A. M.

Romans iii. 1,2. What advantage, then, hath the Jew.? or what
profit is there of circumcision ?
Much every way ; chiefly, because that unto them were committed
the Oracles of God.

My Dear Brethren,^ — To any man who knows what
Christianity is, and who bas taken the trouble carefully
to examine what Romanism is, it cannot be matter of
surprise that a controversy should still subsist between
the two systems. They bave been, are, and must con
tinue at enmity so long as they both shall live. Their
hostility may vary its aspect in different ages, countries,
and circumstances of society ; and may be carried on
with different degrees of activity and aggression. Indi
vidual cases also may be found on either side, tending to
embarrass the clear perception of the enmity. But, so
long as the two systems continue true to themselves;
so long as Romanism- continues genuine Romanism, and
Cbristianity genuine Christianity, enemies they must
be, and enemies of the most inveterate description; one
leading and persevering object of each being tbe destruc
tion of the other. There is, indeed, a nominal Roman
ism, and there is a nominal Christianity. These may
coalesce. And individuals who are supposed to belong
to the different systems, may be of one mind, and live
together as worldly friends in all sincerity. The one
may despise the Mass Book; the other may neglect the
Bible; and both may bave too much liberality, as it is
called, (infidelity it ought to be called,) to allow the
concerns of eternity to be a matter of interest, or to
become, for one moment, a matter of discussion between
them. This, it is to be feared, is too common ; and lies

PAPAL restrictions, &c. 119
at the root of some of those anomalous coalitions which
we bave seen, and still see among us. This, however,
does not in the least interfere with the state of the case,
as it respects the two systems. For, take a Romanist
and a Christian, each a fair specimen of his system: the
one, a man who conscientiously believes the divine
authority of tbe enactments of the Council of Trent, and
is thereupon practically influenced to live and speak
accordingly; tbe other, a man who conscientiously be
lieves that the Holy Scriptures contain the whole of the
revealed will of God, and is thereupon practically influ
enced to live and* speak accordingly; and you have
elements which no human alchymy can eause to amal
gamate. As fellow-men, indeed, and fellow-citizens,
they may, and ought to be, obliging and kind one to
another; but, as candidates for eternal happiness, let
them speak faithfully their convictions, and act consist
ently with their professions, and controversy is inevita
ble and interminable; for fire and water are not more
opposed than they are, upon every important principle
of religion.*'
I am w.ell aware of the narrow-minded, bigoted, and
* To explain the grounds upon which I make this assertion, I need
only quote these following additions to the Apostle's Creed, which
form a part of the profession of faith of Pope Pius IV. — " I most sted-
fastly admit and embrace Apostolical and Ecclesiastical Traditions,
and all other observances and constitutions of the same (the Roman)
Church. I also profess, that there are truly and properly seven
sacraments of .the New Law, instituted by Jesus Christ our Lord ;
thatin the mass, there is offered to God, a true, proper and propitia
tory sacrifice for the living and the dead — that there is a purgatory —
that the saints are to be invocated, and that their relics are lo be had
in veneration — that images of the Mother of God, and of other saints,
ought to be duly honoured. — I acknowledge the Holy, Catholic, Apos
tolic, Roman Church, for the mother and mistress of all churches:
and I promise true obedience to the Bishop of Rome, successor to
Peter, Prince of the Apostles, and Vicar of Jesus Christ. And I
freely profess, and sincerely hold this true Catholic Faitb, without
WHICH no man can BE SAVED." Here the war-note is sounded, and,
I repeat, that while Popery continues true to this confession, and
Christianity true to the Holy Scriptures, it is impossible there can be
peace between them ; no, not a truce for an hour. If Popery be true,
then the Bible is not only defective, but delusive. If the Bible con
tain all the revealed will of God, then Popery is, what our forefathers
did not scruple to call it, and what no false delicacy, or fear of giving
offence, should deter us from calling it— idolatrous and damnable.

120 PAPAL restrictions on the
uncharitable aspect, which such sentiments as these must
wear in this age, when that chameleon thing, called libe
rality, is deified; ranking among her votaries a motley
crowd from the professed disciples of his infallible and
intolerant Holiness, down to. the friends and patrons of
what one of our bishops has excellently called the God-
denying apostasy.* But I am also aware that liberality,
falsely so called, is- not the first idol which could boast
a multitude of noisy worshippers, wise in their own eyes,
and elated in the fancied dignity conferred by the wor
ship, but really destitute of sound argument to support
tbeir system; and I trust, my brethren, that you have
not so learned Christ, as to be deluded by the cry per
petually sounded in our ears, in praise of this great
modern Diana.t The Sadducees may here object, that
in saying this, we condemn tbem also. We do so. I
shrink not from the charge. I, and my Reverend
Brethren, who in succession occupy this pulpit on these
occasions, profess to be, and it is our earnest prayer to
God that we may, by the Holy Ghost given unto us, be
enabled really and truly to be, faithful ambassadors for
Christ, of wliom it is on authentic record, tbat he con
demned both the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Lord help us, we pray Thee, so to wield thy two-
edged spiritual sword, that while tbe men who make
void thy word, through superstitious traditions, sink
beneath it on the one side; the men who deny the in
spiration of thy word, through a vain philosophy, may
give way before it on the other; J that so thy Bible, thy
• Bishop Burgess against Socinianism.
1 Acts xix, 23, to the end. Verses 32 and 34 deserve particular
attention in the application. Some, therefore, cried one thing, and
some another; for the assembly 'was confused; and the more part
knew not wherefore they were come together. And when an attempt
was made at argument by a Jew, named Alexander, they would not
hear, but all, with one voice, about the space of two hours, cried out,
Great is Diana of the Ephesians. However discordant and confused
on other points, they were of one voice in praise of their idol.
t Our position in so speaking, is similar to that of the translators of
our Bible, who, in their epistle dedicatory to King James I , express
the very uncharitable suppositions, that they would, "on the ono
side, be traduced by Popish persons a;t home or abroad, who therefore
will malign us, because we arc poor instruments to make God's holy

reading OP the holy scriptures. 121
most glorious Bible, maj- bave the victory and triumph
over all its enemies.
Tbe branch of this great controversy wbich it now
becomes my duty to agitate amongst you, respects the
reading of the Holy Scriptures.
I. We bring this charge against Romanism: That she
lays restrictions upon the free, unfettered reading of the
Bible by ber people. This we substantiate by an appeal
to authentic documents and historical facts.
II. For these restrictions we arraign Romanism at the
bar of God, as an offender against his revealed will. This
we justify by an appeal to the Word of God.
III. For these restrictions we arraign Romanism at
the bar of conscience, as an offender against tbe plain
dictates of our common reason. And we call upon rea
sonable men to separate from her, as from a deceiver
who shuns the light.
I. First, then, we advance this charge: Romanism or
Popery, (for these are convertible terms, aiid I desire to
be understood, as using them not for the purpose of
giving any of that extra offence, which it seems many
persons, inconsistently enough, it must be confessed,
take at these words; but simply for tbe purpose of being
unequivocally intelligible, and because the more com
mon expressions, Roman Catholic and Roman Catholi
cism, are, as has been frequently remarked, contradictory
in terms,) the system by wbatever name it may be
designated, lays restrictions upon the free,, unfettered
reading of the Bible by ber people.
What do we mean by restrictions? or in other words,
to what extent do we carry this charge ? It is absolutely
necessary that this should be distinctly understood. I
reply then, tbat we do not charge Popery with having
directly and absolutely prohibited tbe reading of tbe
Scriptures by ber people. Although we perceive clearly,
tbat in point of fact, ber embargo, connected with cer-
truth to be yet more and more known unto the people, whom they
desire still to keep in ignorance and darkness:" and that "on the
other side, they would be maligned by self-conceited brethren, who
run their own ways, and give liking unto nothing but what is framed
by themselves, and hammered on their anvil."
I.

132 • PAPAL restrictions ON THE
tain other of ber proceedings, amounts to little less than
an absolute prohibition. This will not appear strange to
those who know how the amount of an importation duty,
the enactment of which implies in words a permission
to import ; may operate as an effectual prohibition of
that which the statute would thus jesUitically seem to
sanction. And, if this be so, as it respects those com
modities after which man lusts with all the intensity of
natural desire; hOw much more readily does a restric
tion become a prohibition in the article of scriptural in-
strJction, which man by nature hates with a perfect
hatred, to whicb he cannot be driven but by unwearied
discipline, and which he cannot love but by divine grace?
To what extent then do we carry our accusation ? Tbe
answer is, we charge Romanism with requiring certain
mental qualifications in ber people, as conditions of ber
permission to them to read the Bible ; and of making
her clergy the judges, as to where and in whom these
qualifications are found. And farther, we charge her
with such general silence upon the subject of the Bible,
in aU, her ministrations, public and private, that it is
possible for her people to be in regular attendance at her
altars and confessionals for years, without ever bearing
whether there be any Bible.* And we allege, that by
these means she makes ber clergy the sole interpreters
of the Bible, and imposes upon her people the unexa
mined dicta of ber priests, whether in conformity virith,
in addition to, or in contradiction of the Holy Scrip
tures. This is the burden of our accusation on this head.t

* If it be objected to this, that the Romish clergy are bound to the
daily recital of a canonical office, which comprises a large portion of
the sacred volume, and to read and expound to the faithful; in the
vernacular tongue, on Sundays, the Epistle or Gospel of the day, or
some other portion of the divine law — [see Declaration of the Catho
lic Bishops, Vicars Apostolic, and their Coadjutors, in Great Britain.
London, Keating and Brown, 1826] — I answer; True, but still the
reference of the priest is to the Mass Book, not the Bible; and the
attention of the people is thereby kept down to the authority of the
church as the ultimatum, without any direct appeal to the higher
authority of God, to which the church also herself is amenable, and at
the bar of which, even her instructions should be arraigned.
t Instances might be adduced, on unquestionable authority, in which
the prohibition was made absolute ; but 1 am willing to restrain rather

READING OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 123
Is then our charge well founded, or is it not? In the
trial of every litigated question, there ought to be cer
tain general principles of jurisprudence, to whicb, as to
an acknowledged umpire, mutual reference can be made.
This is tbe case in all our Courts of Justice; but I ap
prehend, that in the question now before us, much of the
difficulty and obscurity whicb bave been experienced,
has arisen from the want of such general principles ;
that sort of evidence whicb appears satisfactory to some
persons, not being at all convincing to others. I would,
therefore, put and examine this inquiry: What kind,
and what degree of evidence would be considered con
clusive in establishing our present charge against Popery?
Would the decrees of ancient councils be sufficient?
No, answers the Romanist: in matters of faith, indeed,
the decrees of the oecumenical councils are infallible and
unalterable.* There, Romanism is semper eadem; but
in matters of discipline and regulation, we are at liberty
to avail ourselves of the growing light of Christian com
munities ; and it is unfair and ungenerous to charge us
with all those regulations, which, bowever wise and ne
cessary at the time of their enactment, have now ceased
to be binding upon us.t Evidence on this point, there
fore, drawn from the decrees of councils, will not decide
the question.
Would the testimony of modern Romanist writers of
celebrity be sufficient? No, answers the Romanist again,
because they are mere individual assertions of opinion,
in no wise binding upon the whole body.J What theii
than exaggerate the terms of the indictment, and to advance nothing
which cannot be fairly proved against the system as such.
* " When a dogmatical point is to be determined, the Catholic
Church speaks but once, and her decree is irrevocable."— Bishop
Walmesley, Gen. Hist. p. 224.—" The religious opinions of Roman
Catholics being unchangeable, are applicable to all times."— Dr.
Troy, Pastoral Letter, Dublin, 1793.
t Mr. Charles Butler complains of Mr. Southey, for " estimating
the writings or actions of our ancestors in the dark ages, by the no
tions and manners of the present age."— Book of the Roman Catholic
t This is another of Mr. Butler's complaints against Mr. Southey,
" that he imputes to the general body, what is only chargeable oj> in-
diviiJuals."-^Ibid,

124 PAPAL RESTRICTIONS ON THE
would be satisfactory evidence in this case ? The decrees
of councils, though general, are loo old : and the opinions
of celebrated writers of our own times, though modern
enough, are of too individual a character to justify a
charge against the general system. Would instances of
the fact, whether ancient or modern, or both, be suffi
cient? No, once more answers tbe Romanist, because
such instances, even if true, may be the exceptions, ra
ther than the rule ; and, of course, a general charge
founded upon them would in that case be erroneous.
Observe then, brethren, tbe ground on wbich the
Romish disputant stands for his defence against our
charge. Though it should be shown, that ancient popish
councils decreed restrictions on the reading of the Scrip
tures by tbe people, under pain of an anathema: and
though it Should be shown, that modern popish writers
of great celebrity, justify and defend such restrictions :
and though it should be further shown, that historical
facts, both in ancient and modern times, exhibit the prac
tical operations of these, restrictions among papists ; yet
still it remains to be proved, that Popery lays restric
tions upon the reading of the Scriptures. Why, how
can any thing be proved? Suppose' an action were
brought in one of our Courts of Justice against one of
the Joint Stock Companies in this city : and suppose the
indictment to set forth a charge against the directors, of
a conspiracy to defraud the shareholders, by keeping
back a part of tbeir lawful dues. Tbe directors plead
not guilty, and the plaintiff is put upon bis proofs. He
calls in evidence, first, a document signed by the original
directors, in whicb they enter into a compact, tbat the
shareholders shall have only a part of their just dues,
and reserve to themselves a right of disposing of the
remainder. This document is authenticated beyond the
possibility of denial. In answer to this document, the
present directors argue, that it is not signed by tbem —
that the only original documents by whicb they are
bound, are those which incorporated the company, and
remain unchanged ; but that other and more private re
gulations are not binding upon tbem — that such regula
tions may have been wise and necessary at the time their

EEADINB OP THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 125
predecessors signed the paper ; but they are of opinion,
that the agreement so signed should not now be acted
upon ; and it would, tberefore, be manifestly unjust to
charge them, now that they have more light, with what
had been done by their predecessors while they were
comparatively in the dark upon the subject of such re
gulations in detail. The plaintiff then produces a paper
signed by one of tbe present directors, agreeing in sen
timent with tbe old paper, though somewhat differently
and more cautiously worded. In answer to this, the
directors say, that it is merely an individual opinion,
not implicating them as the managers of the Company,
and cfertainly no fair ground for a verdict against them
in tbeir official capacity. The plaintiff farther produces
a number of instances in which the practice of accredit
ed members of the direction bad been precisely what it
would have been, bad the papers already submitted to
tbe court contained the true sentiments of the directors.
These facts, taken in conn'fexion with the papers, make
an impression on tbe jury. The directors, however,
reply, that these facts are exceptions to their general
conduct, and cannot fairly be received as the basis of a
general rule against them. Suppose, then, that the judge,
in summing up the evidence, were to direct the attention
of the jury to these two points; 1. That although the
directors admitted, that one of their present body had
written the paper produced in evidence, yet they had
quietly continued him as one of their body, instead of
calling a generaU meeting of tbe shareholders, to expose
his conduct, and depose him from his office: and, 2.
That the plea of the directors against the facts stated in
evidence, to wit, tbat they were tbe exceptions to the
general rule of their proceedings, did in truth admit
their occurrence: — what man in his senses can doubt for
a moment the verdict of any intelligent jury !
How stands the case before us? Let the Council of
Trent be the first witness. That celebrated assembly
has decreed largely on this subject. It has defined,
and as Romanists contend, infallibly defined, what is
Scripture; what versions of Scripture may be used; by
what descriptions of persons these versions may be used;
l2

126 PAPAL RESTRICTIONS ON THE
how such persons are to be discriminated from the mul
titude; and on what conditions they may be permitted
to read the Holy Scriptures. It has also defined the re
strictions under whicb interpreters and expositors of
Scripture must proceed in tbeir work.
The Council of Trent reckons apocryphal books
among the canonical books of holy Scripture. (Sess. 4.)
On this point it should be observed, that a former coun
cil, (that of Laodicea,) equally oecumenical, and, as every
consistent Romanist riiust maintain, equally infallible
with the Council of Trent, decreed that-the canonical
books alone compose the holy Scriptures.* So tbat on
this fundamental question, what is Scripture, we find
one infallible tribunal contradicting another infallible
tribunal; and we naturally ask, where is the ultra infal
lible umpire to settle this dispute between tbe infallible
combatants? Tbe Council of Trent bas decreed that
tradition is to be received with sentiments of equal piety
and reverence with tbe Scripture (pari pietatis affectu
ac reverentia). The Scripture of the Romanist, there
fore, according to the Council of Trent, consists of these
three things — the Bible, the Apocrypha, and Tradition.
In describing the versions of the Bible in .the vulgar
tongue, which ma}'' be used, the Council of Trent bas
decreed, tbat they must be those only which have been
approved by tbe Holy See, or edited with notes taken
from tbe boly fathers, or from learned and catholic men.t
It is worthy of remark, that Romanism has, at this mo
ment, no Bible which she can use or circulate, without
incurring a sentence of excommunication from one of
-her Popes. Her standard is tbe Latin Vulgate, as it is
called; from this her last modern translations bave been
made, and not from the Greek or Hebrew, which her
councils bave not sanctioned or recognised at all. But

* Can. 59, 60, apud Lardner, vol. iv. pp. 308, 309.
t " Quod si hujusmodi Bibliorum versiones vulgari lingu& fuerint
ab ApostolicS Sede approbatse, aut editae cum annotationibus sumptis
ex Sanctis patribus, vel ex doctis catholicisque viris, conceduntur."
This rule extends to books of controversy " Libri de controversiis
.... non passim permittuntur, sed idem de iis servetur, quod de Bi-
bliis vulgari lingiid scriptis statutum est."

READING OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 127
what is this Vulgate? Tbe two principal editions of the
Vulgate are tbose of Pope Sixtus V. and Pope Clement
VIII. The former was printed in 1590, after Pope Six
tus had collected the most ancient manuscripts and best
printed copies, summoned the most learned men out of
all tbe nations of the Christian world, and presided over
the whole himself. This edition was declared to be
corrected in the very best manner possible, and pub
lished with an authoritative excommunication of every
person who should presume ever afterwards to alter the
least particle of tbe edition thus authentically promul
gated by his Holiness, sitting in tbat chair, " in qua Pe
tri vivit potestas, et excellit auctoritas." Tbe other
edition was published in 1592, by Pope Clement VIII.
It was so different from that of Sixtus, as to contain two
thousand variations, some of whole verses, and many
others clearly and designedly contradictory in sense:
and yet this edition aiso is pronounced authentic, and
enforced with the same sentence of excommunication as
the former.* Where then is the Bible approved of by
the Holy See? The Sixtine is condemned by the Holy
See in 1592. Any version differing in the smallest par
ticular from the Sixtine (and therefore of course the
Clementine among the rest) is condemned by the Holy
See in 1590. I repeat, therefore, that Romanism has no
Bible wbich she can use, without incurring a sentence
of excommunication from one of her Popes. In defiance
of tbe sentence- of Pope Sixtus V., however, the Ro
manists bave made translations from the Clementine
edition of the Vulgate; and the Council of Trent has
determined to what descriptions of persons these trans
lations may be entrusted, as well as by what authority
these persons are to be discriminated. Tbe persons are
those who shall not sustain any injury, but rather shall
have their faith and piety increased by the reading of
the Scriptures; and the power of discriminating such
* Kennicott. State of the printed Hebrew Text, &c. vol. ii. p.
198, &c.
For specimens of the difference between these two editions, the
reader is referred to Home's Introduction to the Critical Study and
Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, vol. ii. pp. 201, 202, edit. v.

128 PAPAL RESTRICTIONS ON THE
persons is vested in the parish priests and confessors.*
Should any Romanist, therefore, be desirous to read the
Bible, he must first satisfy his priest or confessor that
he has a mind of that particular class whicb shall not
sustain injury from so doing, but rather shall acquire
aq increase of faith and piety. And when he has so
satisfied his spiritual guide, he must procure from bim
a license in writing,t before it shall be lawful for him to
peruse th§ word of God. This is the condition required
by the Council of Trent. The restrictions laid upon in
terpreters and expositors of Scripture generall}'', are, that
they shall not dare to fnake the sacred text speak a dif
ferent language concerning faitb and morals, from that
of the church and the ancient doctors. And as if tbe
Council bad been afraid of some posthumous publica
tion by some secretly refractory son of tbe church,
they carried this prohibition so far«as to condemn sucb
interpretations, even though not designed for the public
view. J
Such is the testimony given- on this important subject
by the Council of Trent: and if, in the aggregate, it
amount not to a proof that Romanism throws impedi
ments in the way of the people exercising their just
right of reading the word of God, then new dictionaries
should' be composed, for language bas no definite mean
ing. Agaibst all tbis, however, the ipodern Romanist
defends himself, by pleading that these decrees of the
Council are not now enforced, but that, together with
many other enactments of darker times, they are dis-

* " Eis concedere possint, quos parochi vel confessarii intellexerint
ex hujusmodi lectione, non damnum, sed fidei atque pietatis augmen-
tum capere posse." — Regula IVta P. Pii IV.
t " Quam facultatem in scriptis habeant." — Regula IVta P. Pii IV.
i " Preeterea ad coercenda petulantia ingenia, Decernit, ut nemo
suaa prudentiae innixus in rebus fidei et morum, ad cedificationem doc-
trinsB Christianje pertinentium, Sacram Scripturam ad suos sensus
contorquens contra eum sensum quem tenuit et tenet Sancta Mater
Ecclesia, Cujus est judicare de vero sensu et interpretatione Scrip-
turarum Sanctarura, aut etiam contra unanimum consensum Patrum,
ipsam Scripturam Sacram interpretari audeat : etiamsi hujusmodi
interpretationes nuUo unquam tempore in lucem ' edendse forent —
qui contravenient, per ordinaries declarentur, et pcenis a jure statutis
puniantur."

READING OP THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 129
claimed in the present age; and he complains bitterly
of tbe pertinacity with which we press upon him, what
he no longer maintains. Unhappily, however, for the
profession of improvement thus made by some Roman
ists, and the anxious desire which they evince to smooth
down tbe ruggedness of tbeir most objectionable dogmas,
there are persons, and those of the highest celebrity
among them as writers and divines; persons whom the
general body extol as cbampioils, instead of disclaiming
them as maintainers of ancient corruptions, which it
ought to do, if it have ceased to agree with them; per
sons who give a tone, an uncontradicted tone to the
generally received impression of what Romanism con
tinues to be to this day: there are such persons who
justify, and (modernizing the expressions only) reiterate
the sentiments of tbe ancient Councils.*
Dr. Milner, late Vicar Apostolic in the midland dis
trict in England, speaks thus in his Pastoral Letter of
1803. " This study, indeed, (of the Holy Scriptures,)
is not required of all the faithful indiscriminately, as the
Cburch has declared, because there are in this myste
rious code things bard to be understood, whicb tbe un
learned and unstable wrest to their own destruction, and
are to receive the word of God broken and prepared for
their digestion at tbe hand of their pastors."
Dr. Doyle, the well known modern champion of Ro
manism, both ecclesiastical and civil, writes thus, in a
letter addressed to Dr. Elrington, tbe Lord Bishop of
Ferns, and published in the Dublin newspapers of De
cember last.t ¦ " There is not the slightest contradiction
between J. K. L. and J. K. L., or between bim and me,
*" Why do you, in your profession of faith, make a declaration of
receiving in particular the doctrine of the Council of Trent.'
" Because this was the last general Council called in opposition to
the new doctrine of Luther and Calvin ; and therefore we partipu-
larly declare our assent to the decrees of this Council, as being
levelled against those heresies which have been most prevalent m
these two last ages."— Grounds of Catholic Doctrine, &c, by the Ven.
and R. R. Richard Challoner, D.D.. &c. page 74. Keating and Brown,
London, 1823. t\ irf
1 1 quote from the Supplement to the Warder of Saturday, Dec. 15,
1827.

130 PAPAL RESTRICTIONS ON THE
or between him and- the Irish Bishops, who published
instructions in 1824, addressed to their flocks, and an
nexed to the Encyclical Letter of Pope Leo XII. They
are all and each of them agreed in opinion tbat, in this
country, no -particular permission is required by the
faithful to read the sacred Scriptures in an approved-
translation, whether tbe approbation be by the whole
church, as is the case with regard to the Vulgate, or by
the prelates of any particular country or province, as
may justly be said of tbe Douay, by the Catholic Bi
shops in this country, so far as the reading of it.being
lawful. They are all and each in like manner satisfied,
that to them the Bishops, appointed by tbe Holy Ghost
to rule the churches committed to tbem, and to feed tbe
flocks of God within those churches, belongs tbe full,
free, and incontestable right of regulating the reading of
the Sacred Scriptures." Let this language be observed
carefully. First, it is not here pretended that the faith
ful are exhorted and with episcopal authority command
ed to read the Scriptures as a duty; but only no particu
lar permission or license is required by them in tbis
country so to do (whatever may be the case in other
countries). Secondly, the translation of tbe Scriptures,
which it is permitted to the faithful to read, must be ap
proved either by the whole Church, as tbe Vulgate is,
or by the prelates of some particular country or pro
vince, as the' Douay is. This necessary precaution to
secure a faithful translation being taken, it might be an
ticipated tbat no further impediments would be thrown
in the way of an unfettered perusal of tbe true and lively
word of God. But this anticipation would lead us into
error, it seems; for Dr. Doyle informs us, that J. K. L.,
he, and all the Irish Bishops, are agreed in opinion, tbat
even after an approved translation has been secured, the
reading of it shall be permitted to the faithful, only so
far as the' reading of it is lawful: and further, he informs
us that the authority to determine what degree of read
ing is lawful, and to regulate such reading, is vested in
the' bishops of the church, as a full, free, and incontest
able right. In the next sentence of his letter. Dr. Doyle
says, that " men possessed of this right, may, without in-

READING OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 131
consistency declare, that in this country, agreeably to
tbe discipline prevailing, each person may read an ap
proved translation of the Scriptures."* No doubt, if
these men be possessed of tbis full, free, and incontest
able right, they may exercise it as they will, either to
prohibit, or to permit; and, in the existing circumstances
of tbis country, they may judge it to be their wisdom to
permit, at least avowedly, or at all events not directly to
prohibit, seeing the storm which such a prohibition
would inevitably raise. But does not the acknow
ledged fact of such a rightt being arrogated to them
selves, or claimed as a divine inheritance by mortal un
inspired men, fully justify the whole force of our accu
sation against Romanism?
Pope Leo XII., in bis Encyclical Letter, addressed to
his venerable brethren, the Patriarchs, Primates, Arch
bishops, and Bishops of the Catholic Church, and dated
at Rome, the 3d day of May, 1824; writes thus, "You
are aware, venerable Brethren, that a certain Society,
commonly called the Bible Society, -strolls with effrontery
throughout the world: which Society, contemning the
* This sentence is rather paraphrased than quoted. I have not
transcribed it as it stands in the letter, because it is there mingled
with a sneering personality altogether unbecoming in a grave con
troversialist, whose object is not ephemeral victory, but everlasting
truth. t Had the Romish Bishops contented themselves with determining
on what appeared to them to be a true translation of the Sacred Scrip.
tures, and decreed in council assembled that they would not print by
authority any other, they would have gone as far on this point as un
inspired watchmen can go, without presumption. But when, in ad
dition to this, they take upon themselves to prohibit the reading of
any other translation by their people, and assume the right of permit
ting (as an ecclesiastical favour under peculiar circumstances) the
reading of even that approved translation, they then become intole
rant, and the exercise of such authority becomes vexatious.
The Bishops of the Church of England have observed this distinc
tion. They have determined on what appears to them a true trans
lation, and decreed that they will not by authority print any other.
This is well. But if, in addition to this, they took upon themselves
to prohibit their lay members from reading any other translations,
(thus proscribing Lowth's translation of Isaiah, Horseley's of Hosea,
Fry's of the Canticles, &c. &c.) and if they assumed the right of
giving special permission to their people to read the authorized ver
sion, then undoubtedly, whatever other qualities such a right might
have, it would not be incontestable, nor uncontested.

1 32 PAPAL RESTRICTIONS ON THE
traditions of the Holy Fathers, and contrary to the well-
known decree of the Council of Trent, labours with all
itsmight, and by every means, to translate, or rather to
pervert, the Holy Bible into the vulgar languages of
every nation; from which proceeding it is greatly to be
feared, that what is ascertained to have happened as to
some passages, may also occur with regard to others: to
wit, that by a perverse interpretation, tbe Gospel of
Cbrist be turned into a human Gospel, or, what is still
worse, into tbe Gospel of the Devil. To avert tbis
plague, our predecessors published many ordinances;
and in bis latter days, Pius VII. of blessed memory,
sent two Briefs, one to Ignatius, Archbishop of Gnesen,
the other to Stanislaus, Archbishop of Mohilow; in
whicb are many proofs, accurately and wisely collected
from the Sacred Scriptures, and from tradition, to show
how noxious this most wicked novelty is botb to faitb
and morals. We also, venerable Brethren, in con
formity with our Apostolic duty, exhort j-ou to turn
away your flock, by all means, from these poisonous
pastures. Reprove, beseech, be instant in season and
out of season, in all patience and doctrine, tbat tbe faith
ful intrusted to you, adhering strictly to the rules of our
congregation of the Index, be persuaded, that if the Sa
cred Scriptures be every where indiscriminately pub
lished, more evil than advantage will arise thence, on
account of the rashness of men:" or, as tbe Romish Bi
shops in Ireland quote it, in their pastoral instructions to
tbeir clergy and people, " on account of tbe malice or in
firmity of men."*
* Non vos latet VV. FF,, Societatem quamdam dictam vulg6 Bibli-
cam per totum orbera audacter vagari, quee spretis S. S. Patrum Tra-
ditionibus, et contra notissimum Tridentini Consilii Decretum, in id
collatis viribus, ac modis omnibus intendit, ut in vulgares linguas
Nationum omnium. Sacra vertantur, vel potius pervertantur Biblia.
Ex quo valde pertimescendum est, ne sicut in aliquibus jam notis, ita
et in coeteris, interpretatione perversa de Evangelio Christi hominis
fiat Evangelium, aut quod pejus est Diaboli. Ad quam pestem aver-
tendam, Prtedecessores nostri, plures ediderunt Constitutiones, et
extremis diebus Sanctae Recordationis Pius VII, duo dedit Brevia,
alterum Ignatio Archiepiscopo Gnesnensi, alterum Stanislao Archi-
episcopo Mohiloriensi, in quibus multa ex divinis Litteris et ex Tra-
ditione accurate, ac sapieuter excerpta inveniuntur, ut ostendatur

READING OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 183
This language requires little comment. It is perfectly
consistent with the pretensions of the Bishop of Rome.
The spirit of it would seem to he acted on, without much
difficulty, by the Archbishops and Bishops of Castile
and Arragon ; and had it been effectually enforced in
this country from- the days of Wyckliffe, it is possible
that at this day England miglit be as Spain is. Our forefa
thers, however, thanks be unto God, were men ofa differ
ent spirit. They would read, they would translate, they
would circulate tbe Bible in the vulgar tongue among
their countrymen. Could they have done so, without
offending their superiors in the church, doubtless they
would have rejoiced; but this was a work in which they
felt tbat they had no choice: it must be done: and let
who would be offended, they would and did persevere.
In this work they ^Vere supported by a strength not
tbeir own. 0, come, my brethren, let us sing unto the
Lord,-let us heartily rejoice in the strength of our salva
tion. Let us come before his presence with thanks
giving, and show ourselves glad in. him with psalms:
for we have heard with our ears, and oxir fathers have
declared unto us, the noble works which He did in tbeir
days, when He defended the translators of our Bible
from all tbose evils whicb the craft and subtilty of the
devil or man wrought against them, and strengthened

quantopere Fidei et moribus vafeirimum hoc invehtum noxium sit
Nos quoque pro Apostolico Nostro munere hortamur vos VV. FF., ut
Gregem Vestrum a lethiferis hisce pascuis amovere omnimodo sata-
gatis. Arguite, obsecrate, instate opportune, importune in omni pa-
tientia et doctrina, ut Fideles Vestri Regulis nostra Indicis Congre-
gationis ad amussim inha3rentes sibi persuadeant " si Sacra Biblia vul
gari lingua passim sine discrimine permittantur, plus inde ob homi
num temerltatem detrimenti, quam utilitatis oriri."
For an explanation of the Rules of the Congregation of the Index,
here alluded to by the Pope, see page 54 of the Pastoral Instructions
of the Romish Bishops in Ireland, annexed to the Pope's Letter;
where they say, " Our Holy Father recommends to the observance of
the faithful, a Rule of the Congregation of the Index, which prohibits
the perusal of the Sacred Scriptures in the vulgar tongue, without
the sanction of .ihe competent authorities." We have already seen
who these authorities are; and we may no.w form some adequate con
ception of the bondage in which Popery would keep the Bible ; but,
we may say with the Apostle Paul, "the Word of God is not bound."
2 Tim. ii. 9.
M

134 ipAPAL RESTRICTIONS ON THE
them to the accomplishment of their glorious work; a
work, by means of which he has been making joyful the
hearts of his chosen people in these islands, from that
day even until now.
But to return. Our evidence against Romanism is not
confined to these expressions of opinion, however au
thoritative and decisive. Facts speak loudly, and on
this point many most eloquent facts might be adduced.
Not insulated exceptions, as Is pretended, to the gene
ral conduct, disowned and protested against by the
general body of Romanists. Such facts would bring no
evidence, and should never be quoted as the grounds of
any accusation against any aggregate body. But here,
facts are on record implicating the whole system; 'facts
so remarkably in accordance with the above mentioned
opinions, as to excite suspicions in the first place; facts,
the performers, aiders and abettors of whicb, so far from
being disowned or protested against by the general body
of Romanists, have been, and still are, extolled as cham
pions of the church; the leading themes in their eulo
gium being those very facts which we chaVge upon them
as their disgrace.
For such facts we need not reVert tp former and less
enlightened ages of the world. We need not relate the
rnartyrdom of Tindall, whose capital crime was the
translation of the Scriptures into our native language.
We need not dwell upon the prosecution unto death of
Lord Cobham, whose activity in causing Wyckliffe's
translation of the Bible, and other works, to be trans
cribed and circulated among the people, exposed him to
the fury of the Romish prelates; and whose bold scrip
tural declaration against the Pope deprived him of the
- protection of the King.* We need not detail the mani-
* Lord Cobham said to the 'King, in answer to his Majesty's expos
tulations concerning heresy — " You, I am always most ready to obey,
because you are the appointed Minister of God, and bear the sword
for the punishment of evil doers; but as to the Pope and his spiritual
dominion, I owe them no obedience, nor will I pay them any; for as
sure as God's word is true, to me it is fully evident that the Pope of
Rome is the great Antichrist foretold in Holy Writ, the son of per
dition, the open adversary of God, and the abomination standing in
the holy place,"

READING OP THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 135
fold instances of the active hostility of the Romish clergy
on the continent to the circulation of Luther's translation
of the Bible. Our own country and our own times sup
ply us with more than sufficient evidence on this head.
Let the first Report of the Commissioners of Irish
Education Inquiry, with its reluctant* Appendix, be
fairly examined; and we venture to assert that no un
prejudiced examiner of this document can entertain a
doubt of the continued and unabated hostility of the
Romish priesthood, to the circulation of the Holy Scrip
tures among the people. The evidence supplied by this
document is the more unexceptionable, because it is
evidently extorted by stubborn facts; the bias and mani
fest aim of the Commissioners being to make the best of
Popery, daubing her deformities with the untempered
mortar of false charity.
Scarcely a witness was examined before the Commis-
- sioners, who did not d irectly or indirectly bear testimony
to a general want of information among the popish pea
santry of Ireland, as to even the existence of the Bible.
Mr. Donelan, himself a Romanist, was asked, " Do you
find throughout the country a prevailing ignorance of
botb versions of the Scriptures?" He answered. Yes.
" Do the children not know that the Testament is the
word of God?" He answered, No. "Do you think the
peasantry could, in most instances, distinguish between
a Testament' and any other book of the same size upon,
a religious subject put into their hands?" He answered.
Upon my word, I think they could scarcely do it,
except where the exertions of the Bible Society have
-succeeded; but in many parts of Connaught, the peasant
does not know what a Bible or Testament is.t Mr.
Griffiths, another witness examined by the Commis
sioners, deposed, that " all the measures he has heard of,
* The Appendix was withheld, or was not ready, for half a year
after the publication of the Report. This circumstance gave rise to
suspicions, which were not abated, when it was discovered, that
whereas the Appendix contains the evidence on which the Report
professes to be grounded, the aggregate of that evidence tends rather
to refute. than to confirm the insinuations of the Report.
t Appendix to First Report, pp. 488, 489.

136 PAPAL RESTRICTIONS ON THE
are of extreme violence, denouncing tbe people, and
stating from the altar, that if they read the Bible, or
took it into their houses, they should be damned, that
the devil was in the Bible."*
To these might be added, from the Appendix to tbe
Report, the evidences of His Grace the Archbishop of
Dublin, of Captain Pringle,t of Mr. Gordon, and others;
but enough has been quoted to justify the comments of
the author of a pamphlet upon this subject, entitled
" Practical Observations upon the Views and Tendency
of the First Report of the Commissioners of Irish Edu
cation Inquiry," where be says, " Experience has thus
registered against a professedly Christian priesthood the
almost inconceivable fact, that the Scriptures are un
known, even by name, to a great part of the body which
they profess to instruct in a knowledge of their contents.
But we are prepared to carry this accusation beyond the
criminality of simple neglect. It is not merely true, that
the people are. left by wbole provinces with scarcely any
knowledge of the greatest boon that heaven has confer
red upon man: it is moreover true, that there exists a
banded -conspiracy against the book. From tbe Bishop,
who publicly lauded the bigotry which thrust the Bible
under the earth, with a tongS, down to the meanest
priest who mutters the mysteries of tbe craft, "there is
but one feeling and one sentiment upon the subject. The
malady of spiritual hydrophobia has seized upon the
order, and the very appearance of the water of- life is,
* Ibid, p, 510.
t See particularly pp. 694 and 717. Captain Pringle was asked,
" Do you think that the denunciations of the priests have the effect
of making the parents afraid of the Scriptures as a bad book, a book
that may do them mischief? He answered, I, think till they see the
hook, and are acquainted with it, they are afraid of it, but that is very
quickly removed when they read it.
" Have you known of any instances of adult peasantry, upon first
seeing the Scriptures, declining to look further at it, or examine it, or
take it in, their hands P^Yes, 1 have.
" What hai-m do you conceive they think it might do them? — In
the first place, they are afraid of disobeying the priest's injunctions,
and doing a thing they must declare upon confession, which is con
trary to his direction, and having penance imposed upon them : one
lad of nineteen told me, ' if we read that black book, the priest tells
us we shall be visited by thunder and lightning.' "

READING OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 137
intolerable to their diseased and revolting senses. Are
we to be told, that those are tbe sweeping asseverations
ofa libellous intolerance? We appeal to the facts of the
case." The author goes on to state, that while the use
of the Bible has been opposed, the history of profligate
and treasonable adventure has been tolerated: and then
gives a list of some school books, which were returned
to the commissioners, the titles even of which I shrink
from uttering in this holy place.
Now, my dear brethren, what think ye? The Coun
cil of Trent has spoken: Dr. Milner bas spoken: Dr.
Doyle has spoken: Pope Leo XII. has spoken: an echo
bas been beard from tbe page of history: and the Ap
pendix to the Commissioners' Report has spoken. With
such evidence ready to produce in Court, say, bave I
exaggerated the accusation in 'the indictment? Nay,
rather, might I not, with strict truth, bave stated it in
much stronger terms than I did?
Such evidence would be sufficient against any other
system, but it fails to fasten conviction upon Romanism.
The construction of that system is so ordered in all
points, and complete for deception ; that it contains in it
elements for tbe defence of any thing wbich bas been
said or done at any time by any of its members, if it be
convenient now to defend it: and elements for the denial
or evasion of what has been a thousand times said and
done by its most distinguished members, if it be conve
nient now to deny or evade it. But though uncon
vinced, she may be, and by all unprejudiced inquirers
she must be, convicted of this offence, to wit, that she
lays restrictions on the free unfettered reading of the
Bible by ber people.
II. For these restrictions, we now secondly arraign
Romanism at the bar of God, as an offender against his
revealed will.
The Scripture, in sundry places, declares the duty,
commends the practice, and expatiates upon the benefits
of reading.the word of the Lord. Connected with the
first writing of the word, there are plain and positive
commands to tbe people to read it. Moses said, " Hear
ken, 0 Israel  what nation is there so great,
M 2

138 PAPAL RESTRICTIONS ON THE
that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this
law, which I set before you this day? Only take heed
to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget
the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they
depart from thy heart all the days of thy life-; but teach
tbem, thy sons and thy sons' sons  And
thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and
shalt talk of them when thou sittest in tbine house, and
when thou -walkest by the way, and when thou liest
down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind
tbem for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as
frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them
upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates." Here
is no reservation of authority in the hands bf Moses, to
regulate, at his discretion, or according to the state of
mind of the people, what measure of reading might be
lawful for them. No', the obvious stress of the exhorta
tion is to engage the people to give personal, private,
dom.estic attention to the words of the Lord ; and the
command to write them on the posts of the houses, and
on the gates, enjoined the most unrestricted publication
among the lowest and poorest of the congregation, that
can be imagined.
David, the King, was not a priest, neither of the tribe
of the priesthood, yet it is evident that he was in the
habit of reading and meditating "in the word of the
Lord, and that such reading and meditation were the
food and fuel of his exalted piety. In his communion
with God, he -exclaims, "0, bow I love thy law! it is
my meditation all the day. Unless thy law had been
my delights, I should then have perished in mine afflic
tion. The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth
understanding unto the simple. I rejoice at thy word,
as one that findeth great spoil." And to make it quite
manifest, that his proficiency in the word of the Lord
was not confined to what he learned from tbe priests,
he says, " I have more understanding than all my teach
ers: for thy testimonies are my meditation. I under
stand more than the ancients ; because I keep thy pre
cepts." Will it be said, tbat David was a king, and that
Romanism has no objection to kings reading the Bible?

READING OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 139
She must be told, that the God of the Bible is no re
specter of persons; and tbat if any layman, though a
king, have a right to read the Bible, any other layman,
though a beggar, bas the same right, and for the same
reason. Daniel was neither priest nor king, yet we find him
reading tbe words of the Lord by tbe prophet Jeremiah,
and calculating the predicted time of the captivity: and
we know by his prayer which follows, that be was well
acquainted with tbe books of Moses. This prayer of
bis, grounded on his personal attention to the writings
of the prophet, mex with most signal acceptance ; and
the divine messenger, who was commissioned to reveal
to bim an outline of Jehovah's purposes to the end of
the world, proclaimed him a man greatly beloved.
When a certain lawyer stood up and tempted our Lord
Jesus Christ, sajdng, Master, what shall I do, to inherit
eternal life? Our Lord did not refer bim to the autho
rity of the church, but to the written word. " He said
unto bim, what is written in the law? How readest
thou?". When the Sadducees proposed a question, tbe
practical difficulty of whicb seemed to them to refute
the doctrine of tbe resurrection: Jesus answered, and
said unto them. Ye do err, and then be assigns the rea
son of their error: not because they had neglected the
authority of the church, or were ignorant of her infalli
ble decision; but because they had neglected the writ
ten word of the Lord, "Ye do err, not knowing the
Scriptures, nor tbe power of God ; but as touching the
resurrection of the dead, have ye not read tbat which
was spoken "unto you by God ?" When tbe Scribes and
Pharisees complained to Jesus, that bis disciples " trans
gressed tbe tradition of the elders," that is, that they
offended against the authority of the church: did he ad
mit their plea, and command bis disciples to yield? No;
He appealed to the written word, saying unto them,
Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God
by your traditions? He then gives an instance of their
proceeding in the case of the fifth commandment. The
Bible said, "Honour thy father and thy mother." The
church bad exculpated children from the maintenance or

140 PAPAL KESTEICTIONS ON THE
relief (the practical honouring) of their parents, upon
the plea that they had consecrated all their spare sub
stance as a gift, or religious offering, to God. Tbis
seemed very pious in the eyes of man: the Pharisees
perhaps insinuated, that there was something of super
erogation in it; but what ?aid the reproof of tbe Lord?
" Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none
effect by your tradition. Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias
prophesy of you, saying, this people draweth nigh unto
me with tbeir moutb,and bonoureth me with tbeir lips;
but tbeir heart is far from me. But in vain they do
worsbip me, teaching for doctrines the commandments
of men."*
Tbis brings us to the subject discussed in our text. It
was one of tbe great privileges of the Jewish nation,
that unto them had been committed the oracles of God.
It was the damning sin of the bulk of tbeir professed
teachers, that they had made' void those oracles through
tbeir traditions. Their oral law withdrew their atten
tion from God's written law. For this our Lord con
demns them, as we bave just seen; and in consequence
of this, their nation and religion were destroyed. They
began by despising the written word of the Most High;
then followed, as a matter of course, disobedience to its
precepts ; then idolatry; tbeir lies, or idols, caused tbem
to err. Their fathers, for many generations, had thus
gone astray; but antiquity is no excuse for idolatry,
Mark the language of the prophet Amos — " Thus saith
the Lord, For tbree transgressions of Judah, and for
four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; be
cause they have despised the law of the Lord, and bave
not kept his commandments, and their lies caused^ them
to err, after the which their fathers walked." And
what follows? " But I will send a fire upon Judah, and
it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem. "t In the time
of our Lord, the sinful nation bad neglected both the
law and the prophets, and were ignorant of the divine
judgments ready to burst upon their heads. It was in
•Deut. iv. 8, 9; vi. 7, 8, 9; Psalm cxix. passim; Daniel ix. 2 —
15, and x. 18, 19; Luke x. 25, 26; Matt. xxii. 23—31, and xv. 1—9.
i Araosii. 4,5.

READING OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 141
the compassionate contemplation of this their deplorable
condition, that Jesus said, " If thou badst known, even
thou, in this thy day, the things wbich belong unto thy
peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes." In the
midst of tbis general defection, however, there was a
faithful remnant attending to the word of the Lord, and
waiting for the consolation of Israel. These were pre
served. For what if some, what if most did not.believe,
would their unbelief make the faith of God of none eflect?
Surely not.
These things were types. It is the distinguishing
privilege of Cliristendom, tbat unto- her are now com
mitted the-oracles of God. It is the damning sin of the
bulk of ber professeid teachers, that they have made void
those oracles through their traditions. Their oral gos-
. . . ^
pel has withdrawn their attention from the written gos
pel of the grace of God. They began by neglecting the
Scriptures: then followed disobedience; then idolatry.
Tbis is now of long standing, but antiquity is no excuse.
There are as clear and distinct prophecies in Scripture
against them, as there were against Judah of old. They
neglect both gospel and prophecy, and are ignorant of
the divine judgments ready to, burst on their heads.
Popery is infatuated. The Lord is taking the cup of
his anger Out of the band of Judah, and putting it into
the hand of Babylon, and she will not see. She still
says, " Behold I sit as a queen — I am, and none else be
side me: I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know
the loss of children."" Tberefore, thus saith the Lord
God — " These two things shall come to thee in a mo
ment, in one day, the loss of children and widowhood:
they shall come upon thee in their perfection, for the
multitude of thy sorceries, and for the great abundance
of thine enchantments  Thou art wearied in the
multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the
star-gazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up and
save thee from these things that shall come upon thee.
Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn
tbem  Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced,
0 ye destroyers of mine heritage; because ye are grown
fat as tbe heifer at grass, and bellow as bulls: your mo-

142 P.4.PAL RESTRKJTIONS ON THE
ther shall be sore confounded; she that bare you shall
be ashamed  I will do judgment on the graven
images of Babylon: and her whole land shall be con
founded, and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her.
As Babylon hath caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at
Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth. And I will
make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her cap
tains and her rulers, and her mighty men: and they
shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not awake, saith tbe
King, whose name is the Lord -of Hosts."* In the
midst of this general defection, there is a faithful rem
nant in Christendom, as there was in Judah, in the day
of ber calamity: and they shall escape. They have
escaped from tbe idolatry which is inseparably connect
ed with human traditions. They read, and refer every
difference of opinion to the written word of God, the
unadulterated record of the divine will. Some of tbem
examine also the prophetic language, and calculate the
prophetic periods therein revealed, so that the' day of
the destruction of the Apostasy shall not come upon
thern unawares. They expostulate with the disciples
of tradition, and endeavour to win their attention to the
oracles of God: but as the Baptist, the Saviour, and the
Apostles, were despised by reprobate Judah; so is this
Warning remnant despised by the apostasy of Christen
dom. Nevertheless, as tbe preaching and writing of
the apostles were made instrumental to the calling unto
Jesus of many individuals out of the devoted nation; so
we hope that the preaching and writing of the apostles'
doctrine may now be made instrumental in causing
many individuals to hearken to the cry, Cojne out of
Babylon, my people: before the sword, which is even
now unsheathed, shall receive its final commission to
slay utterly. And as the testimony of the Baptist, tbe
Saviotir, and the Apostles, rendered Judah inexcusable,
and manifested it to h6 a righteous thing in God to over
whelm tbe city and people in a tremenclous ruin; so
now, the testimony of the faithful ministers and watch-

* Isaiah xlvii. and Jeremiah 1. and li. throughout. Compare also
Revelations xviii.

READING OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 143
men in the Gentile Churches, is rendering the mystical
Babylon inexcusable, and will manifest it to.be a right
eous thing in God to execute his despised threat, and
pour upon her "the cup of the wine of the fierceness of
his wrath."
I know well tbat Romanists affect to laugh at the en
thusiastic absurdity of calling popery Babylon, and
threatening her with Babylon'splagues. It is possible,
however, to laugh, either in the idiocy of self-decep
tion, or even while the heart bleeds under the lash of
conscience. It would be more satisfactory, more rea
sonable, more in accordance with tbeir professed love of
free discussion in these days, to give their attention to
tbe Apocalypse, and defend themselves against the his
torical illustrations, the close reasonings, and the legiti
mate conclusions of Mr. Mede, Sir Isaac Newton, Bishop
Newton, and others, who have declared to the world,
that the Babylon of the visions of the beloved disciple,
the woman drunk with tbe blood of the saints, the great
harlot with whom the kings of tbe earth bave commit
ted fornication for twelve hundred and sixty j^ears, is
popery. The very existence of such a controversy, so
maintained, should drive them to the Scriptures, if they
loved the light. It is too late for tbem now to screen
themselves in the affected dignity of silence, behind tbe
folds of the mantle of infallibility. Tbat covering may
suffocate tbose who wear it, but it can no longer deceive
'the world.
The arguments in favour of an unrestricted reading of
the Holy Scriptures, whicb are derived from the history
of the Ethioj^ian eunuch, on whose behalf the Holy
Ghost interfered, sending unto him Philip, while he
was reading for himself the book of tbe prophet Isaiah
— from the high commendation of the Bereans, who
subjected the teaching of even an inspired apostle to tbe
touchstone of the written word, not receiving implicitly
what Paul taught, as from the authority of the church,
but searching the Scriptures daily, whether those things
were so — from the exhortations of the apostles to the
people to prove all things, not to believe all the spirits,
but to try the spirits whether they be of God — from tbe

144 PAPAL RESTRICTIONS ON THE
celebrated appeal of Paul to the Corinthians, " I speak
as to wise men, judge te what i sat" — and other
similar passages of holy writ, are well known. It is
not therefore without scriptural authority that we ar
raign and condemn Romanism at the bar of God, as an
offender against his revealed will; in that she throjvs
impediments, to say no more, in the way of the people
reading the Bible.
III. We now, in the third place, arraign Romanism
at the bar of conscience, as an offender against tbe plain
dictates of our common reason.
It is difficult to demonstrate a self-evident proposition.
If any man were to undertake to prove that all men
bave a common right to the air we breathe in, he would
find some difficulty in stating the premises of his argu
ment, owing to the obviousness of bis conclusion. Some
such difficulty we experience in attempting to prove that
all men have a right to the Bible. We must divest our
selves of our Christian instinct, and get entangled in the
subtleties of Romish metaphysics, in support of Romish
pretension, before we can find any thing to fight against
in establishing this plain position. For who, that had
no sinister object in view, no sin to palliate, no worldly
ambition to foster, no avarice to gratify; who would bave
ever, thought of charging God's word (admitting it all
the while to be God's word) with either uselessness or
danger, or botb? And yet these are the charges brought
by Romanism against tbe Bible. It may not be indiscri-*
minately read, because it is so difficult that men in
general cannot understand it — that is, it is.generally use
less. It may not be indiscriminately read, because men
wrest it from its true meaning to their own destruction
. — that- is, it is dangerous. The Holy Ghost saith, every
word of God is. good. Reason and conscience respond.
It is, it must be so. But popery says. No: tbe Bible is
useless to some, and dangerous to others; and it must
not be circulated without human helps and human guards.
How could this opposition have originated ? Mr. Faber
shrewdly remarks, that "if the Bible be against any' set
of men, those men are very apt to be against the Bible."
If the Bible, then, be plainly against Romanism, we can

READING OP THE HOLV SCRIPTURES. 145
understand why tbe Romanists should object to its free
circulation, untrammelled by tbeir church authority, or
unscriptural annotations.
We have seen that on the all-important subject of
reading the Bible, the Bible is most obviously and
pointedly against Romanism. And the contrariety is
not less decisive on tbe other vital questions, involving
the whole scope of what is revealed in tbe Bible, as to
its application for the recovery and safety of fallen man.
It would be foreign to our present purpose to enlarge
upon, or even to specify in detail, tbe particulars of this
contrariety; I would avail myself, however, of the oppor
tunity which it affords me, to proclaim among you, my
brethren, though it be briefly, the substance of that glo
rious message with which I am entrusted, not merely
as a Controversialist against Popery, but in the nobler
office of an Ambassador for Christ.
The foundation on which we stand before God, is tbe
one only all-sufficient sacrifice for sin, once offered by our
Lord Jesus, God and Man in one Cbrist. If this be in
deed sufficient, as the Bible states it to be; and if, when
any man sins, we bave an Advocate with the Father,
Jesus Christ the Righteous, who is the propitiation for
our sins; then may tbe trembling penitent, believing the
glad tidings, enter into peace with God, and love and
serve Him with a willing heart. This is the glory of
the Gospel — free and complete salvation in Christ Jesus,
in and through whom the Father justifies the ungodly,
and the Holy Ghost renews the corrupted, according to
tbe everlasting purpose, and to the everlasting praise of
the glory^of Jehovah's grace. Short of tbis, there can
be nothing that deserves the name of Gospel, to helpless
wretches fallen as we are.
Now, mark, my brethren, how Romanism seeks to
undermine tbis sure foundation. The Creed of Pius IV.
declares, tbat " in the mass is offered- to God a true^ pro
per, and propitiatory sacrifice for the quick and dead."
And the Council of Trent has decreed, that "if any one
say, that in the mass there is not a true and proper sacri
fice offered unto God; or that to be offered, is nothing
else but for Christ to be given to us to eat, let him be

146 PAPAL RESTRICTIONS ON THE
anathema." Is then the sacrifice of Christ once offei'ed
not sufficient? And must a propitiatory sacrifice be re
peated in the mass; the performance of which mass is at
the discretion of the Priest, or Bishop, or Pope? And
is the expiation of this, needed for the dead also ? Then
farewell peace with God, farewell , love, farewell the
cheerful, willing obedience of the child, crying Abba,
Father. Either the conscience of the Romanist must
remain callous to the touch of sin, or its wounds must
be palliated, not healed, by the quackeries of supersti
tion ; or the awakened sinner must be driven to despair.
Is it wonderful, then, that Popery, the very life of whicb
centres in these continued sacrifices of- tbe mass, should
resist, and, when she dares, prohibit the circulation of
the Bible, wbich proclaims, so that be who runs may
read it, tbat the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from
all sin, that there is now no condemnation to tbem that
are in Cbrist Jesus, and that they shall not come into
condemnation, but are passed from death unto life ?*
We see abundant reason, therefore, why Popery
should oppose tbe unrestricted reading of tbe Bible. But,
by what arguments does she attempt to justify this
opposition? To these we have already adverted. She
accuses the Bible of being obscure and ambiguous, so
that the unlearned derive no benefit, and the unstable
incur much danger by the perusal of it. That the Scrip
ture is, in many parts, extremely difficult; and that men
in general require belp thoroughly to understand it, we
freely admit: but that the Scripture is therefore dan
gerous, and should not be given to men in general, we
strenuously deny. When Romanists say, that tbe teach
ing of a pastor' is useful, and even necessary, for the full
explanation of the Bible to the people, we agree; but
when they say that therefore the Bible ghould not be
given without the living teacher, we disagree: and when
they add,, that even where there is a living teacher, the
Bible should not be freely given, we loudly protest.
Here are two good things, the written word and the
teaching pastor. Both are ordinances of God. Is it
* 1 John i. 7; Rom. viii. 1; John t. 24.

READING OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 147
reasonable to withhold either from the people? Surely
not. Shall bread be withheld from a starving multitude,
till wine can be procured to give along with it? (not to
say instead of it.) Surely not. Give tbe bread: if you
can add thereunto tbe wine, well; but give the bread.
Shall tbe Bible be withheld from the people till faithful
teachers can be procured to send with it? Surely not.
Give tbe Bible: if you can add the teacher, well; but
give the Bible. To have botb teacher and Bible in full
and free exercise, is the perfection ofa church. Willingly
to have one without me other, is to pretend to know
better than God knows, what is useful for men. To have
neither in tbeir purity, but to substitute for them tbe
traditions of men, is tbe characteristic of an apostasy.
In vain, therefore, does the Romanist expatiate on the
difficulties of Scripture; and quote, as Dr. Doyle has
done, tbe authority of Locke, Burke, and Paley, to
support his assertion. In vain also does be urge the
attention and deference to pastoral instruction, wbich
are so frequently and plainly inculcated in Scripture.
All this is admitted, and in the admission, completely
neutralized as it respects the question now at issue.
It is not pretended, even by the Romanists, that every
part of the Bible is unintelligible: all they venture to
advance, is what Peter says concerning the things dis
cussed in Paul's Epistles, that among them there are
some things hard to be understood. By fair inference,
then, there are-some other things which are not hard to
be understood ; and these, at least, should be given to
the people.
If it be said, make a selection of these, and circulate
it: the answer is, who is to be tbe judge of what por
tions shall be selected? for what calibre of intellect shall
the selection be made? or must we have a gradation of
selections suited to the different degrees of intelligence
to be found among the people? And then again, who
is to be the judge of what persons may be safely trusted
with selection number one, and what persons must be
confined to selection number ten?
But all this reasoning proceeds upon the supposition
that men cannot eventually derive benefit from the study

148

PAPAL RESTRICTIONS ON THE

of what they do not, at the time, comprehend. This is
indeed asserted, not by Romanists only, but by many
who bave avowedly protested against Romanism : but is
it true? May not many materials of knowledge be de
posited in tbe memory of a man or of a child, wbich,
though not understood at the time, shall prove eventually
most valuable? Nay, is not all education thus conducted
from its very origin? and most it not be so from the
nature of the case? What child understands the use to
be made of the alphabet when if is first taught? It is
merely a set of unmeaning sounds. The same may be
said of the rules of grammar, the laws of syntax, the
axioms of mathematics. All are at first empty sounds;
but, being deposited in the memory of the learner, they
become the vehicles of all knowledge.
Let us admit, then, that a child of. fourteen years old
may repeat twenty-six verses of the Bible, with as little
intelligence as a child of four years old repeats the
twenty-six letters of the alphabet; does it therefore
follow tbat those verses can never be of use to that child?
The very reverse is obvious from the comparison. And
this is strengthened, when we consider, that in the case
of the words of Scripture laid up in the memory, we
have every reason to expect the promised teaching of
the Holy Spirit, to render them influential upon the heart
and character. It is on this principle that we vindicate
the practice of teaching children the fertile language of
creeds and catechisms, not that they fully understand
tbem at the time, but that we are laying up in them a
deposit for future usefulness, of which they have at the
time little or no idea. Has not God himself, in bis typi
cal dealings with his typical nation, as they are revealed
in his word, proceeded upon this principle? "When tbe
children of Israel, on the eve of their exodus, were de
sired to borrow from the Egyptians, jewels of silver and
jewels of gold, and to spoil the Egyptians, they could
not have understood the use of ,SuQh directions. But
mark the sequel. By this proceeding a stock of valua
ble materials was laid up in the camp: and, when Moses
received instructions afterwards, to make the tabernacle,
with all its furniture and ornaments, and Gad gave wis-

READING OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 149
dom and understanding for the superintendence of the
work to Bezaleel and Aholiab ; then they discovered the
use of the Egyptian spoils, and devoted them to the
service of the Lord. A similar remark might be made
concerning the types of the tabernacle worship, which
were not thoroughly understood at tbe time wben they
were instituted: and also concerning the glorious events
connected with the first and second coming of our Lord,
which the Prophets were instructed to deliver in words,
though tb^y sought in vain to comprehend what, or what
manner of time those words did signify.* Let the
mind, then, be stored with scriptural materials, whicb
are more precious than the treasures of Egypt; though
the full value of such materials be not appreciated or
perceived at the moment: a field is prepared for the
spiritual pastor to labour in, and the" Lord, in bis good
time, may mercifully give wisdom and' spiritual under
standing, to devote to bis service and glory tbe valuable
deposit thus laid up.
My dear brethren, how fearful must be the reckoning,
and how tremendous the final ruin of those who, arro
gating to themselves to stand in the place of God to the
people, bave led the people away from God and from
Christ, and from salvation ; to risk their eternal happi
ness on the propitiation of a sacrifice of man's invention;
or on tbe merit ex congruo or ex condigno of man's
miserable doings, which, in their best estate, are but
splendida peccata. 0! ye teachers of the decrees of
the Council of Trent, take heed to yourselves, and to
your doctrine. Have you more confidence in tradition
than in Scripture ? You profess to esteem them both
with equal piety and reverence; then let the Scripture
have its fair proportion at least of your study and medi
tation. You require a certain state of mind in your
people, as a necessary preliminary to their reading the
Bible ; then labour to produce tbat state of mind, with
the avowed object of qualifying tbem to receive the
Bible. "Your responsibility, in keeping your people
from the book of God, and making yourselves the judges
* Exod. XXXV. xxxvi. ; Heb. ix. and x. ; and 1 Pet. i. 10, 11.
n2

ISO PAPAL RESTRICTIONS ON THE
of how much they may bear and learn of its contents,
is, great and appalling. The position you stand in is
peculiarly awful: you are leaders of multitudes, whose
ignorance will not be an excuse for them, while it will
be an aggravation of woe upon you. You will resem
ble the self-willed " unskilful pilot, who driving his
vessel upon a rock, is denied the privilege of perishing
alone." And, 0! ye people, who are taught the decrees of the
Council" of Trent, as thou-gh they were divine command
ments, I beseech you, by the mercies of God in Cbrist
Jesus, to try your teachers as the Bereans tried Paul;
search the Scriptures daily whether those things be so.
You will find, that most of the lessons whicb Romanism
teaches are not only 'in addition to, but in contradiction
of the holy Bible, and you should, therefore, feel your
selves called upon as reasonable, accountable, immortal
creatures, to come out and be separate from, and protest
against, a system whicb would thus keep you in igno
rance of what God has revealed, and betray you into a
disobedience of what God has commanded. Permit me
to reiterate to you the affectionate entreaty, search tbe
Scriptures ; and be persuaded, that " whatsoever is not
read therein, nor may be proved tbereby, is not required
of any man, that it should be believed as an article of
the faith or be thought requisite pr necessary to salva
tion." To tbose among you, dear brethren, who have avow
edly protested against Romanism, and whose boast it is
that you bave amongst you a freely circulated Bible, I
would address this solemn, yet beautifully polished lan
guage of a modern writer : — "Never, perhaps, were the
sacred Scriptures more largely disseminated than at the
present day. But the question may be asked more
readily, than it can be answered satisfactorily, whether
the study of the divine volume keeps pace with its dif
fusion; whether any considerable number of its posses
sors so apprehend, so feel, so apply, and so reduce to
practice, its most holy principles, that this age is mate
rially better than the last, and the present generation an
improvement upon generations that are past and gone."
 " When we survey the world at large,

READING OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 151
when we examine even that portion of it which is term
ed the religious world, we must lament, that profession
too commonly outruns performance; that multitudes
look abroad with eagerness, who are unable or unwilling,
to concentrate their views at home ; that, in zealous
efforts for the improvement of others, too many neglect
the improvement of themselves; that the Bible is more
praised than read, more circulated than consulted ; that
in all ranks of the community, men are to be found,
more solicitous to waft the sacred volume from the
Ganges to the Mississippi, than to make it their com
panion, their guide, and their own familiar friend ; and
that in few periods bave declared promoters and advo
cates of Christianity seemed less- inclined to commune
with their own hearts, and be still ; to enter into tbeir
closet and shut the door, and pray unto their Father
which seeth in secret, with a calm and peaceful confi
dence, that tbeir Father which seeth in secret will re
ward them openly. These are truths not to be mali
ciously proclaimed, but seriously deplored."* And, bre
thren, I connect these truths with tbis discourse, in order
tbat while you feel a well deserved abhorrence of the
Romish system, you may not be deluded intp an unde
served self-complacency.
And now I cannot bring, tbis discourse to a conclusion
more suitably than by addressing to you all, a few pas
sages from a well-known discourse on the reading of the
Scriptures. " I say. not nay, but a man may profit with
only hearing; but he may much more profit with both
hearing and reading. This have I said as touching the
fear to read through ignorance of the person. And con
cerning the hardness of Scripture, he tbat is so weak
tbat he is not able to brook strong meat, yet he may
seek the sweet and tender milk, and defer the rest until
he wax stronger, and come to more knowledge. ¦ For
God receiveth the learned and unlearned, and casteth
away none; but is indifferent unto all. And the Scripture
is full as well of low valleys, plain ways, and easy for
every man to use and to walk in; as also of high bills
and mountains, which few men can climb unto." —
* Jebb's Sermons.

152 PAPAL RESTRICTIONS, &C.
"Aiid as drink is pleasant to them that be dry, and
meat to them that be hungry; so is the reading, hearing,
searching, and studying of holy Scripture, to them that
be desirous to know God, or themselves, or tg> do his
will. And their stomachs only do loathe and abhor the
heavenly, knowledge and food of God's word, that be
so drowned in worldly vanities, that they neither savour
God nor any godliness: for that is the cause why they
desire such vanities, rather than the true knowledge of
God. As they that are sick of an ague, whatsoever they
eat and drink, though it be never so pleasant, yet it is
as bitter to them as wormwood; not for tbe bitterness
of the meat, but for the corrupt and bitter humour tbat
is in their own tongue and mouth: even so is the sweet
ness of God's word bitter not of itself, but only unto
them that have their minds corrupted with long custom
of sin and love of this world. Therefore, forsaking the
corrupt judgments of fleshly men, which care not but
for their carcase, let us reverently bear and read boly
Scripture, which is the food of the soul. Let us dili
gently search for the well of life in the books of tbe
New and Old Testament, and not run to the stinking
puddles of men's traditions, devised by men's imagina
tion, for our justification and salvation. For in boly
Scripture is fully contained, what we ought to do, and
what to eschew, what to believe, what to love, and
what to look for at God's hands at last."^"The words
of holy Scripture be called words of everlasting life: for
they be God's instruments, ordained for the same pur
pose. And as the great clerk and godly preacher, John
Chrysostom, saith, . . . . man's human and worldly wis
dom or science is not needful to the understanding of
Scripture, but the revelation of the Holy Ghost, who
inspireth the true meaning unto'them that with humility
and diligence do search for it."* ;
Search, therefore, the Scriptures, brethren, and flee
ye out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man
his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the
time of the Lord's vengeance: he will render unto her
a recompense. (Jer. li. 6.)
* Homily on Reading the Scriptures.

ON THE MERIT OF WORKS,
&c. &c.
BY THE HON. AND RJEV. GERARD T. NOEL, M.A.
Luke xvii. 10. — So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those
things which are commanded you, say. We are unprofitable ser
vants; we have done, that which was our duty to do.
It is a solemn thing to examine the foundations of hu
man hope, or to measure tbe value of human actions. As
a mere theory, indeed, or-controversy between man and
man, such an effort is either vain or impious. If, igno
rant of revelation, we bring the principles of an insuffi
cient philosophy to bear upon our relations with God,
our labour is vain: the opinion of one man is here as
valuable as tbe opinion of another, because the just con
nection of philosophy with the decisions of God, in
either case, is alike incapable of proof. If, recognising
the authority of revelation, we bring tbe principles of
philosophy to modifj^ its decisions, we then substitute
the suggestions of pride for the submission of faitb; and
thus render our very religion the source of impiety.
Hence the value of controversy, in the church of Christ,
to him who adopts it, will depend altogether upon the
mode in which it is conducted. If human reason be the
judge; and victory, not truth, be the object; a collateral
advantage may, indeed, accrue to others from the dis
cussion, but a direct injury will accrue to bim who con
ducts it. " If any man will do the will of God, he shall
know of the doctrine whether it be of God." ¦ Tbis
caution is of immeasurable worth, in tbe commencement
of any examination into the decisions of revealed truth.
Controversy, to a Christian, is a trial of sincerity: if he
cannot stand this trial, he may expect evil, not good, as

154 ON THE MERIT OF WORKS.
the result of his scrutiny; he may expect to make a fear
ful progress in delusion; he may expect a deeper shade
of error to obscure bis judgment, and a deadlier taint of
pride to pollute bis heart; he may expect bis conscience
to contract its range, and to diminish its sensibility to
good and evil; he may expect the light of heaven to
withdraw its beams, and the authority of God to let go
its grasp upon his mind; he may expect to feel irritation
towards an opponent, if overpowered in argument, and
contempt if successful. He is anxious to win a prize,
and not to please God, and religion is ashamed of the
pretence! But if the will of God be dear to him, and
his anxiety to ascertain it be operative; in this case he
will pursue his inquiries with reverence, and he will
break no tie of charity in tbe discussion. He will bring
to the scrutiny a conviction of inherent weakness, a con
viction of prejudices too readily acquired, and of natural
repugnance to truth, too easily manifested. He will
Supplicate God's assistance, while be examines God's
evidence. Prayer and humility are thus the only safe
guards of controversy.
I desire to impress this truth deeply on my own mind,
in the conduct of my address to you this evening. I
would speak as in tbe presence of God. I would re
member the object and aim of all legitimate discussion
to be, the detection of error and the establishment of
truth. I would think of the value of eternal salvation,
and of the stupendous cost at whicb it has been procured
for man. I would approve myself to Christ; and would
beseech you, for his sake, to receive with candour, that
which I shall labour to speak in love.
If there be any adherents to the Roman Church witbin
these sacred walls, I entreat them to listen with atten
tion and kindness, and to pray for the ascendency of
truth. I entreat them not to predetermine that their
views are right, but to cornpare my statements with the
"only rule of right — at least in our judgment — the writ
ten word of God. If Protestants alOne be my auditors,
I would still make the same request. And, my brethren,
there is one mental quality which an unconverted Pro
testant shares, alas! eqifally with an unconverted Ro-

ON THE MERIT OF WORKS. 155
inist, — I mean, a practical neglect of Divine grace,
d a proud confidence in bis own merits. No out-
ird church can repeal this inward law; it speaks with
;islative authority in every human heart. A higher
)wer alone can eject its supremacy from the soul.
To the question of the Merit of Human Actions I am
w to address myself: and may the Eternal Spirit lead
3 into all truth!
The error of a Protestant, in respect to human merit,
s less in bis theory than in his practice: the error of a-
smanist lies in his theory equally as in his practice.
rery Reformed Church, in her formularies, leads her
embers to the merits of Christ exclusively, and not to
orks as auxiliary, in order to acceptance with God. .To
is the Roman Church objects; and while it lays the
st foundation of merit in Christ, builds the superstruc-
re of merit in the works of the individual.
Anxious to bring no false allegation, the accurate
lurin bas thus guardedly stated the question of human
erit, in reference to the Church of Rome: — "In or-
;r," he observes,. " to understand tbis controversy
early, we must observe, tbat the members of the
lurch of Rome are divided into two classes on this
tide. In tbe first class we place tbose divines who,
ithout any restrictions or qualifications, maintain tbis
iwarrantable thesis. Good works merit heaven, as bad
orks merit hell. The second class of divines affirm,
at good works do, indeed, merit heaven, but in virtue
" the mercy of God, and of the new covenant whicb he
IS made with mankind. Wben we dispute against tbe
rors of the Church of Rome, we should carefully dis-
iguish these opinions. It must be granted. Protest-
its have not always done so: we speak as if the Cburch
' Rome, as a body, held this thesis, ' Good works merit
iaven, as bad ones deserve bell.' This is an opinion,
Dwever, peculiar only to some of their divines: it has
;en censured and condemned by Pope Pius V. and by
regory XIII. But tbe second opinion is professedly
lat of the whole Church of Rome.* This canon, which
* Vide Saurin's Sermons, by Robertson, vol. IIL Ser. 8.

156 ON THE MERIT OF WORKS.
I am going to repeat to you, is the decision of the Coun
cil of Trent:—' Eternal life,' says that Council, ' Eternal
life is to be proposed to the children of God, botb as a
gift mercifully offered to them through Jesus Christ, and
as a promised reward equitably rendered to their merits
and good works, in virtue of this promise.' "*
A similar statement of the doctrine of human merit is
made by the Roman Catholic Bishop Jansenius, in bis
commentary on tbe 25th of Matthew. He observes:
"Thus rriuch is diligently .to be observed, tbat Cbrist in
this place deputes this kingdom to the righteous for tbeir
works' sake: by which the righteous merit eternal life,
as the wicked by their evil works merit everlasting pun
ishment." In accordance, however, with the distinction ,
mentioned by Saurin, Jansenius immediately adds; " Let
no man think that everlasting life isso bestowed upon
our merits as that all may not be given to the mercy of
God, from which we have our good works or merits.
For the salvation of the righteous depends upon God's
blessing and predestination: upon which likewise our
good works depend, lest any should glory in himself; a
sin forbidden by God's prophet.t (Jer. ix. 53.)"
The best judgment which I can form of tbe opinion
oi tbe Roman Cburch upon this point, is the follow
ing:— First, Tbat the foundation of merit, or the first
grace, is to be ascribed to the mercy of God in Cbrist
Jesus: Secondly, Tbat, after this first grace is infused, the
USE of it depends on human free will; and the good
use of it merits continually a farther increase of grace:
and. Thirdly, That even eternal life is tbe ultimate re
ward, due in equity, to those %yho have merited tbis
blessing by their good use of original grace imparted in
Christ Jesua.
* " Proponenda est vita eterna et tanquam gratiee filiis Dei per
Christum Jesum misericorditer promissa, et tanquam merces ex ip-
sitfs Dei promissione bonis ipsorum operibus et meritis fideliter red-
denda." — Concil Trid. sess. vi. c. 6.
i 'Vide Jackson's Works, vol. III. p. 594.

ON THE MERIT OF WORKS. 157
Anxious not to mistake the doctrine upon this point as
held by the Church of Rome, I have thus endeavoured,
however briefly, to delineate it with accuracy. In re
ference to this view of human works, the Church of
England opposes ber 12th> I.3th, and I'lth Articles.
Art. xii. " Albeit that good works, which are the fruits
of faith, and follow after justification, cannot put away
sins, and endure the severity of God's judgment; yet
are they pleasing and acceptable to God in Christ, and
do spring out necessarily ofa true and lively faith; in
somuch that by them a lively faith may be as evidently
known, as a tree discovered by the fruit. .
Art. xiii. "Works done before the grace of Christ,
and the inspiration of bis Spirit, are not pleasant to God,
forasmuch as they spring not of faith in Jesus Christ;
neither do they make men meet to receive grace, or (as
the school authors say) deserve grace of congruity: yea
rather, for that they are not done as God hath willed and
commanded them to be done, we doubt not but they
have the nature of sin.
Art. xiv. " Voluntary works besides, -over and above
God's commandments, which they call Works of Super
erogation, cannot be taught without arrogancy and im
piety; for by tbem men do declare, that they do not
only render unto God as much as they are bound to do,
but that they do more for his sake than of bounden duty
is required: whereas Christ saith plainly, 'When ye
have done all that are commanded to you, say. We are
unprofitable servants.' "*
Thus stands tbe question between the Roman- and,
Protestant churches. Were it, bowever, a question
simply between contending communities, it were of
comparatively little moment; nor would tbe proof of
error on one side, be of necessity tbe establishment of
truth on the other. But it is a question between man
and his God; a question entering into the very life and
soul of revealed truth; and as such it claims a calm and
solemn reference to the text of Scripture. Against tbe

P See chap. xvi. of Presbyterian Confession of Faith, " Of good
works."] Am. Ed.
O

158 ON THE MERIT OF WORKS.
doctrine as held by the Church of Rome, and as held
practically, I fear, by the large majority of nominal
Protestants, I am compelled on this occasion to lift up
my voice, as alike contradictory to the clearest
DICTATES OF REASON, and HOSTILE TO THE WHOLE
SCOPE AND DECLARATION OP REVEALED RELIGION.
With seriousness of heart, and with prayer for Divine
assistance, I proceed to give evidence in proof of this
two-fold assertion.
I. In the first place, tbe doctrine of the merit of good
works, whether as held theoretically and practically by
-the Church of Rome, or as practically held by nominal
Protestants, is contkadictort to the clearest dic
tates OF REASON.
The word " merit," implies a return made in equity
for some service performed. It is derived from notions
of hire; when a work performed on one side, is repaid
by a consideration due upon the other. In this sense,
reward is given in equity: the recompense is earned,
and cannot be withheld without injustice.
I have found a definition of merit which tends to throw
much light upon tbis subject, in a sermon of Dr. South.
With his general views of the Gospel I can by no
means accord, but to this delineation of merit I feel
much indebted. " The conditions," he observes, "neces
sary to render an action meritorious, are these four: —
" 1. That an action be not due — that is to say, it must
not be such as a man stands obliged to the doing of, but
such as he is free either to do or not to do, without being
chargeable with the guilt of any sinful omission in case
he does it not. For if that which is due may merit, then,
by paying what I owe, I may make my creditors my
debtors; and every payment would not only clear, but
also transfer, the debt.
"2. Thatthe action should really add to and better
the state of the person of whom it is to merit. The
reason of which is, because all merit consists properly
in a right to receive some benefit on account of some
benefit first imparted.
" 3. The third condition required to render an action

ON THE MERIT OP WORKS. 159
meritorious is, that there be an equal proportion of value
between the action and tbe reward. This is evident
from the foundation alreadj' laid, that the nature of merit
consists propei'ly in exchange.
" 4. The last condition is, that he who does a work
whereby he would merit of another, do it solely by his
own strength, and not by the strength or power of him
from whom he is to merit. Tbe reason is, that otherwise
the work would not be entirely bis own; and where
there is no property, there can be no exchange.
" These four are the essential ingredients and indis
pensable conditions of merit."*
Now, in the first place, the application of tbis defini
tion will forbid the use of the term " merit," even to
innocent and angelic beings: it will restrict it to the
intercourse of equals; and will accord with the just
delineation of humility manifested in the worship of
higher beings to Jehovah of hosts. I may instance
Isaiah vi. 1 : "I saw," says the Prophet, " the Lord sitting
upon a throne, high and lifted up, and bis train filled
the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one bad
six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with
twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly."
The highest created intelligences can claim nothing,
but from the Divine goodness. Every emotion of love,
every service of gratitude, every act of obedience, is but
the fair and proportionate exercise of faculties originally
received as a gratuitous bounty from tbe creative power
of God. The utmost use of those faculties is duty; the
neglect of those faculties would be sin. Under a sense
of this bounty, and conscious' of continued dependence
upon its unfettered exercise, no voice is heard, among
innocent and happy spirits, but the voice of humility,
gratitude, and praise. While active in duty, they cover
their feet; while filled with joy, they cover their face.
" In God, alone, they^ live and move and have tbeir,
being." How much more, then, is the application of this defi-
* Vide South's Sermons, vol. iii. Ser. 1.

160 ON THE MERIT OP WORKS.
nition to tbe lapsed, tbe criminal, the depraved, destruc
tive of every claim to merit! If an angel cannot merit,
what shall a sinner claim from God ? " Not one of these
aforesaid conditions," observes the aforesaid writer,
"agrees to the very best bf human actions, with respect
to God. Nevertheless, in despite of all these deplorable
impotencies, we see what a' towering principle of pride
works in the hearts of men; and how mightily it makes
them affect to be their own saviours, and, even while
they live upon God, to depend upon themselves. To be
poor and proud, is the true character of man, ever since
the pride of our first parents threw us into our forlorn
condition." In reference to God, if tbe perfect performance of a
good action can only fulfil a duty, what must be the real
value of an imperfect act, which cannot escape even the
imputation of sin? And can the action of any human being
bear a character higher than tbis, that it is an imperfect
act, and therefore stained with sin? It has not been too
strongly said by tbe good Hooker, " It may seem some
what extreme which I will speak; therefore let every
one judge of it, even as his own heart shall tell him, and
no otherwise. I will only make a demand: If God
should j'ield unto us — not, as unto Abraham, if fifty,
forty, tbirty, yea, even ten good persons could be found
in a city, for tbeir sakes the city should not be destroyed;
but and if be should make us an offer thus large, —
Search all the generations of men since the fall of our
father Adam, and find one man, that b^th done one
action, which hath passed from him pure, without any
stain or blemish at all, and for that one man's only ac
tion neither man nor angel shall feel the torments which
are prepared for both: do you think that tliis ransom,
to deliver men and angels, could be foundto be among
the sons of men?"* ,- '
Upon what possible ground of reason, then, can any
human being speak of merit in the sight ofa holy God?
If an innocent being, with all his lofty endowments,
* "V^ide Hooker's Works, vol. iii. p. 440.

ON THE MERIT OF WORKS. 161
shrinks abashed before the blaze of Uncreated Excel
lence, and seeks repose behind the shadow of his two
fold wing of humility and dependence, what ought to be
the sensations of one whose actions purity condemns,
and for whose transgressions justice demands satis
faction ?
And if the question of human merit be rested upon
the wise use of imparted grace, can any thing be more
contradictory to reason, than to say that tbe good use of
one gratuitous benefit can absolutely merit the acquisi
tion of a second ? Is there any thing more unreasonable
than grace deserved, as it is called, of congruity ? " If we
do well, and employ our talents aright, this is God's
work, and not ours, or not so ours as that we may chal
lenge any reward due unto us. No man can do well
except he be enabled first by God; and the more be be
enabled, the more he is bound to God." Tbe least
increase of grace, after the first grace, surely exceeds
the greatest measure of our service and thankfulness: so
tbat, tbe more grace we receive from God, or, wbich is
the same thing, the better our works are, the more still
are we indebted to Him, who thus enables to work; and
as our debt to him increases, so our title to merit any
thing at his hands most unquestionably decreases. Can
we, then, deny the truth of this syllogism:
That whicb creates a debt to God from us, cannot
possibly be tbe ground of merits:
But grace, not the first grace only, but all increase
of grace, still creates a new debt:
Therefore, neither the first grace, nor any increase
of grace, can be any foundation of merit in the sight
ofa holy God.
Rather, seeing merits imply a debt due from God to
us, be that most abounds in grace, which is the free gift
of God, ought to be the most ready to disclaim all
merits. The manner of the Apostle's interrogation,
" Who bath first given to him, and it shall be recom
pensed unto him again?" surely includes an universal
negation: No man hath given ought to God; no man can
give ought to him: and if no man can give ought to him,
o 2

162 ON THE MERIT OF WORKS.
then no man can receive any thing from him by way of
merit, but of mere mercy and free bounty."*
" Thus it appear!;, upon the principles of reason, that
the doctrine of meritis absurd, inasmuch as it is contra
dictory to the-nature and relation of things.
II. I proceed to show its utter repugnance to
THE whole scope AND DECLARATIONS OP REVEALED
RELIGION. 1. In the first place, the religion of the Bible is not
merely a system of Divine goodness, but of Divine
mercy; and under such a system, merit can find no
place. The Christian revelation addresses man as a
sinner, and, as such, it proclaims mercy to him. This
distinction, between a dispensation of bounty and a dis
pensation of mercy, is broad and palpable. Tbe innocent
regions of the universe are under a government of
bounty; but this guilty world is under a government of
clemency, as well as bounty. The birth of the Redeemed
was announced to manlsind as conveying glad tidings of
great joy; and this joy was connected with salvation —
with a deliverance from a curse — with pardon of sin —
with the substitution of Christ in the place of the
offender: " God was in Christ, reconciling the world
unto himself, and not imputing their trespasses unto
them." Tbe Gospel is a proclamation of mercy — a pro
clamation of free, full, gratuitous mercy — through tbe
sacrifice of Christ. All its announcements bear the stamp
and impress of this unmerited clemency. The applica
tion of its remedies is ever marked out under images of
relief from great and painful calamities: it is rest to the
weary, ease to the heavy-laden, liberty to tbe captive, a
heritage to the bankrupt, pardon to the guilty, peace to
the perturbed, light to the blind, yea, life to the dead!
It comes to our earth as the messenger of good, but of
utterly undeserved tidings: it comes the- herald of gra
tuitous blessings, in order to illustrate the riches of the
grace of Jehovah under circumstances which, while they
exclude all claim of desert, yet leave no stain upon tbe
purity of the moral government which God exercises in
* Dr. Jackson's Works, vol.' III. p. 597.

ON THE MERIT OF WORKS. 163
the world. The great victim of propitiation is tbe Son of
the Most High, and "in his obedience unto death,"
every single command of the violated law has been
answered and fulfilled. In the language of his own
word, " God can now be just, while yet the justifier of
him who believeth in Jesus;" "a just God, and yet a
Saviour." In this plaai of eternal ' clemency, while the benefit
accrues to man, the glory and the praise belong to God.
Through the whole of this dispensation, man is the re
cipient and God the giver. No personal claim is allowed
to mingle with this munificence of God; it stands utterly
apart from such claimants. The language of this system
is, plain and unequivocal: "By grace are ye saved,
through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift
of God." "Because thou art poor, and naked, and
blind, and miserable, I counsel thee to buy of me gold
tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich, and white rai
ment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame
of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes
with eye-salve, that thou mayest see." And if it be
asked, in what manner these blessings are to be pur
chased? the answer is as ready as it is generous; "He
that bath no monet, come; buy, without money and
without price!" To bring, then, the idea of merit into
a system of mercy thus unequivocally free and gratui
tous, is at once to forget its whole character, and to
transmute the clemency of an offended monarch into the
barter of good offices between equals, who are qualified
to covenant the one with tbe other. In elucidation of
this subject, I may remark, that it would be difficult to
imagine ,an- insult of a more marked and fearful kind,
than to bring terms of claim and of self-importance into
a history of pardon and remission of attainder between
a sovereign and his rebellious subjects.
A monarch, justly offended at the progress of rebel
lion, but anxious to display alike bis character of mercy,
as well as of justice, proclaims a free pardon, and invites
the offenders to confess their guilt and to return to their
allegiance- He has reasons which justify his forbear
ance; their lives are' forfeited, but be voluntarily remits

164

ON THE MERIT OP WORKS.

the penalty. His subjects receive his message: they
scrutinize its terms; they approve his proceedings; they
admire his compassion; they slowly abandon their
schemes of revolt, and resolve to throw- down their
¦ arms. Having done this, they retrace the history of
the tran.sactions of the past: they quickly throw into
the shade the crimes which they had committed, the
authority which they had insulted, the vengeance wbich
they had provoked, the penalty wbich they had in
curred, the clemency which they had received; and,
fixing their self-complacent regard upon tbe manner in
which they had received the proclamation of their sove
reign's mercy, they begin to inflate the magnitude of
their own forbearance in evil: they admire the alacrity
with which they pretend to have quitted the standard of
rebellion; they multiply to their distorted view tbe acts
of their fardy service; they now boast of homage paid,
and of desert acquired; tbey chase into darkness and
oblivion the remembrance of guilt; they blazon forth
the splendour of their new allegiance; they consecrate
its worth at the shrine of self-esteem; they allege its
value as the fruitful source of a new or second justifica
tion in the monarch's eyes; they assert a new, but valid,
right to honour, dignity, wealth and felicity, even be
neath the sceptre so recently despised. And thus, ill
at ease before the humiliating train of thoughts and
feelings connected with crime, repentance, clemency,
pardon and mercy, they break from the shackles of
past associations, and deliberately cherish the more
exhilarating sensations of integrity, merit, rectitude,
and truth.
I ask the judgment which a monarch, placed under
such circumstances, would form of tbe manner in whicb
his revolted subjects had met the dispensation of bis cle
mency and grace. If their conduct were not the offspring
of direct insanity, would it not be deemed a refinement
of contempt, an. atrocity of insult, which tbe audacity of
overt treason had failed to exhibit? But this illustra
tion of inconsistency is as a spark to the noon-day
blaze, before the real character of that claim which a

ON THE MERIT OF WORKS. 165
sinner advances, who speaks of merit before the God of
Revelation !
2. But, secondljs if tbe merit of works be thus gene
rally opposed to a dispensation of mercy, it is likewise
specially derogatory to the dignity of Jesus Christ, as
the only Mediator between God and man.
Tbe Gospel reveals a system of clemency different, in
its actual character, from any illustration of mercy which
can grow out of the history of human transactions. Tbe
relation between a monarch and his subjects, is, after all,
a relation of imperfect right and of mutual covenant: the
authority of the ruler is often exaggerated, and tbe rec
titude of bis claim is often perverted by capricious and
arbitrary enactments. Hence, in fact, nominal mercy
is sometimes substantial justice, and remission of penalty
is rather the payment of a debt than an act of grace.
But in the tran.sactions of God with man, imperfection
bas no place. His authority is supreme and unlimited;
his claim.s are clear and unembarrassed ; bis law is
right; his regulations "holy, just, and good." Wisdom,
equity, goodness, and power, adorn his stainless do
minion ; and the breath of rebellion can sully no purity
but its own: it cannot reach the unapproachable majesty
of God. The mercy of God to man, is therefore, in
every sense, unmerited and free. In his sight, sin wears
a character of revolt, deadly and implacable. It com
bines in itself the breach of every possible claim. The
claims of allegiance, filial obligation, friendship, affec
tion, gratitude, veneration; all are united here, and all
by sin are madly violated. The band of a- sinner up
lifted against his God is "a right band of iniquity,"
atrocious, parricidal! Against this rebellion, the immu
table penalties of law are revealed. I call them immu
table, because they cannot change without a compromise
of the honour and veracity of God. The attributes of
God cannot clash with each other: the rights of each
are perfect; and the exercise of one in the presence of
the other is beautiful, exact, harmonious. Were justice
to lower tbe tone of a single demand, it would not be
the justice of God; and were mercy to deal forth one
act of pity at the expense of truth, it would not- be the

166

ON THE MERIT OF WORKS.

mercy of God. Undisturbed holiness is the pure, ethe
real, and necessary element wbich the perfections of
God inhabit. — Behold, then, the dispensation of the
Gospel! Man is to be saved, but the Law is immu
table! If pardon be his, expiation must also be bis.
How -can the conflicting effort be laid to rest? A Sub
stitute is found, in whose claims justice acquiesces: the
Deity bimself becomes incarnate; the Word of God
assumes human flesh, and stands in tbe sinner's place.
The sword of authority strikes, and the Victim dies: but
he breaks from the grasp of the grave, and proclaims
bimself the Saviour. He claims as his title, " The Lord
our Peace and Righteousness." He has fulfilled the
Law, and he has suffered its penalties. He has exhibited
the charity of God, and he bas satisfied the truth of God.
He has m-erited life eternal " for those whom God has
given him." Judge ye of his claim to merit. Apply
to his actions tbe definition of merit which we have
already laid down. His obedience was not due: " I have
power to lay' down my life, and I bave power to take it
again." His actions augmented the glory of God: "I
have, glorified thee on earth; I have finished the work
thou gavest me to do." Tbe proportion is equal be
tween his actions and their reward: " He became obe
dient unto death, even the death of the cross; wherefore
God hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name
which is above every name." And, lastly, He accom
plished the work in his own strength: "I and my
Father are one .... destroy this temple, and I will raise
it in three days."
His Infinite Nature thus gives a dignity to his work
which human conceptions cannot reach. He wears, in
deed, the human form; he stands as the human substi
tute; but the splendors of Divinity encircle him. Merit
is bis; merit, real, infinite, eternal: and hence, in the
sight of adoring angels and of baffled fiends, under tbe
calm retrospect of his accomplished work, did this
death-doomed Sufferer record his righteous claim: " Fa
ther, I will that they whom thou hast given me be
with me where I am, that they may behold my glory."
What, then, is the ground of acceptance on, which a

ON THE MERIT OP WORKS. 167
ransomed sin«er now stands? I answer, tbe very ground
on which Jesus Christ himself stood. By faith the sin
ner is one with Cbrist, and the merits of Christ are [by
imputation] the merits of the sinner: "Ye are complete
in bim:" " I am tbe Vine; ye are the Branches." The
justification of Christ is, in fact, the justification of tbe
sinner:* they are one in law and one in act. When the
slandered Redeemer inquired, " 'Which of you con
vinceth me of sin?" he implied the question, '"Who
shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect?" That
which Christ is in the sight of God, that are his people?
If He be spotless, can tbey have any stain? He is their
Head; and the purity of the bead is tbe purity of the
mystical body.
And did be merit glory? Then in Him, not in them
selves, they merit glory also. If he be tbeir peace, so
is he tbeir righteousness. Glory is a transcendent
grace to them, but a debt due to Christ. Hence God " is
faithful and just to forgive them their sins:" and hence
the crown which God will place upon their heads, while
it is a crown of grace to tbem, is a crown of righteous
ness to Christ; a crown which the righteous Judge will
confer in him, and through him, upon all " who love his
appearing and his kingdom."
In the presence, then, of this mysterious Sufferer, and
this perfect Law-fulfiller, say, who shall venture to open
bis lips in boast of human merit? Who shall vaunt of ac
tions meritorious of grace; of actions meritorious of eter
nal life? Who shall assert his claim in the presence of
Him, who Himself alone bas fought this terrific battle,
and who "wondered tbat there was none to uphold,"
and " tberefore his own arm brougbt salvation?"
To mingle human merit with the perfect and finished
work of this Almighty Surety, is to forget the character
and the perfection of his mediation; is to associate to
gether that whicb, in the nature of things, must ever be
separate, — the co-existent exercise of mercy and of jus
tice; is to degrade tbe dignity of the Redeemer's satis
faction; to impute deficiency to his interposition; to rob
' Rom. iv. 25. 2 Cor. v. 19, 21.

168 ON THE MERIT OP WORKS.
him of tbe glory due to his name; and for the generous
solvency of the Mediator to substitute the penury of the
criminal and the bankrupt!
3. But, in the third place, to ascribe either increase of
grace, or eternal salvation, to the merit of human works,
is, in fact, to betray a mournful ignorance of the real na
ture of good works, and of the place wbich they occupy
in the plan of human salvation. — It is, I think, a fearful
mistake, to separate character and spiritual condition
from the enjoyment of eternal life, or the endurance of
eternal misery. It is a fearful error to look upon hea
ven and hell as states of happiness and misery, altogether
disconnected with the characters to which they apply.
They are not separate and distinct inflictions of pain, or
gifts. of pleasure, to be suffered 'or enjoyed independently
of the previous conditions of mind to which tbey are
adapted. The terms "heaven and hell," express, in
truth, the results of certain principles, at the moment in
which they have reached maturity and active strength.
They express the harvests which terminate the culture
of the different seeds from which they bave sprung;
and the harvest cannot be separated from the sowing.
Wherein, I may ask, lies tbe difference between poison
and nutritious food? Is it not in the quality of the plants
from which they are extracted? And wherein lies tbe
difference between heaven and hell, but in the whole
moral quality of the beings who occupy their separate
mansions? Is not the moral character of tbe inhabitants
the basis of their condition, whether of joy or sorrow?
Is it not, then, evident, that good works, so far from
being a cause of salvation, or bad works a cause of con
demnation, are, in fact, component parts both of salva
tion and of condemnation? Is not holiness in its result
heaven, and ungodliness in its result bell?
" Is not the mind its own place.'"
And are not works illustrative of character, rather than
the origin of character? In truth, good works do not
make a good man, neither do bad works make a bad
man : in either case, the works only manifest the pre
vious disposition. Is it the fruit whicb makes the tree.

ON THE MERIT OP WORKS. 169
or the tree which makes the fruit? If the fruit be salu
tary, it is because the tree is good; if the fruit be nox
ious, it is because the tree is noxious: the fruit is the
evidence, not the cause, of tbe qualities of the tree. In
each case tbe result is consistent and natural, not arbi
trary and capricious. The good tree must bring forth
the good fruit, and tbe corrupt tree must bring forth the
corrupt fruit. The uncontrollable law of nature ensures
this result. Can I, then, hesitate to say, that human
works simply attest human character, and that before
God they can have no merit? Demerit, indeed, have
bad works, because they are tbe deadly fruit of a dis
eased heart; but merit good works cannot have, because,
in whatever instance tbey are good, tbey are the evi
dence ofa previous gift of spiritual power; and that pre
vious spiritual power is the free grace of God ; and the
good actions which follow, are only, the results of the
bounty already bestowed. The blessing, I repeat, lies
at last in the tree, not in the fruit. The great gift is the
quality of the tree: the fruit is but the evidence of the
quality. Thus salvation is not properly the rescue from
eternal woe, or deliverance from tbe active infliction of
corporeal or incorporeal sufferings, but is a gratuitous
rescue from the grasp of evil principles: it is conversion
from one state of heart to another state. Good works
are, in reality, a part of salvation; for salvation is happi
ness, and happiness is the accordance of the will with
the will of God. To say, then, that good works can
merit heaven, is to say that good fruit merits that the
tree be good; is to say, that human faculties merit to be
human; tbat angel virtues merit to be angelic. To af
firm this congruity to be suitable, harmonious, beautiful,
is just; but to say tbat the one is tbe meritorious cause
of the other, is absurd. The fruit is good, because tbe
tree is good: it does not make tbe tree good. The fa
culties are human, because the man is man: they do not
make him man. The virtues are angelic, because the
angel has an angel's capacity: they do not impart to the
angel that capacity. And heaven is heaven, because the
mind is heavenly; and hell is hell, because tbe mind is
partaker of evil.

170 ON THE MERIT OF WORKS.
Separate good actions from heaven, and what is there
left in heaven? Separate bad actions from hell, and what
is there left in hell ? Wherein does tbe bliss of angels
consist? Is it not in good works? Have they heaven
becatise of their works, or have tbey heaven in their
works? Say, can a higher notion of bliss be formed
than the unbroken service of God? than fellowship with
God? than obedience to God? than sympathy with God?
In the exercise of all the faculties for God; in the dis
position and the power to do goodworks, lies the true
and proper felicity of heaven : and this disposition, in
the very degree in which it exists on earth, is the ante
dated enjoyment of heaven. To assert, therefore, that
works merit salvation, is to say that the activity of life
merits life. Christ already is our life; and if we do
good works, we owe the pOwer and tbe act alike to
Christ. The power to feel for God, to love for God, to
toil for God, to delight in God, to imitate God, to deny
ourselves for God, to benefit others for God ; all tbis
power, whatever be its measure, we have from God;
and heavenly happiness will only be the perfect maturity
of this power, and its certain security from the future
assaults of evil. Heaven is mental health, in all its holy
rigour ; and bell is mental disease, in all its demoniac
strength. Salvation, then, comprises good works, as
much as recovery from sickness comprises the free exer
cise of the functions of life. These cannot be separated.
And herein has Christ all tbe glory. He merits life,
and the Holy Ghost imparts and maintains life. He gives
a new nature, and enables that nature to manifest its no
ble qualities in the fervours of faith, in the kindlings of
hope, and in tbe actings of charity. It is in the produc
tion of these sacred works thatthe excellence of spirit
ual life consists.' Hence, to affirm that good work*
merit salvation, is to forget the very nature of salvation,
and to overlook the moral character of good and evil.
The highest blessing, in fact, which "God can confer, of
his richest grace, upon a polluted criminal, is to restore
him to a capacity for good works ; is to heal the spirit
ual disorder under which he labours, and to confer on
him, first the disposition, and then the opportunity, to

ON THE MERIT OF WORKS. 171
serve Him in the activity of obedience. Every fresh
opportunity of new obedience, and every fresh impulse
of new affection is in the Holy Ghost, and adds to tbe
deep and unutterable obligation under whicb tbe sinner
is already placed. And this obligation will reach its
highest elevation in that world where service will be
unbroken, and gratitude uninterrupted ; where allegiance
will exhibit n'o trace of inconstancy, and where self-
sufficiency will' be absorbed in God: where the only
chaunt of victory will be the song of praise; and that
song will derive its firmest accents from tbe contrast
between pollution pardoned and purity acquired : " Unto
him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his
own blood, unto him be glory and dominion for ever and
ever. Amen."
It may, bowever, be needful to offer a single remark
upon the nature of the language used by the Scriptures
in reference to tbe character of that great judgment
which is to pass upon all men. It is asserted by the Son
of God himself, that the tenants of the grave shall one
day hear his voice, and shall come forth ; they that bave
done good, unto the resurrection of life ; and they tbat
have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. In
the xxvth of Matthew, likewise, tbe felicity imparted
to the righteous is connected with tbe works which they
have fulfilled: " Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit
the kingdoni prepared for you; for I was hungry, and yc
gave me meat; thirsty, and ye gave me drink." The
doom allotted to the wicked, is connected with the deeds
which thej^ omitted to perform: " I was hungry, and ye
gave me no meat ; thirsty, and ye gave me no drink."
It is perfectly true, tbat the approbation of God, atid
his award iri judgment, is according to works. But the
works are not the cause, they are the evidence, of his
favour. The judgment expresses the order, not the ori
gin, of godliness. God elects^ calls, converts, justifies,
sanctifies, glorifies. This is the order of his almighty
providence; but sanctification is as unmerited a blessing
as justification : it is equally God's work, and equally
he challenges the praise of it to himself. In a similar
manner, the causal particle for, in the xxvth of Matthew,

172

ON THE MERIT OF WORKS.

is evidential of the blessing which the children of God
receive; but by no means does it mark out the merito
rious origin of the benefit bestowed. " Come, ye blessed
of my Father." " Wherefore are we blessed? " You
evidenced the possession of a Father's blessing, by your
fraternal love to me. This is the evidence of your beiirg
among the favoured, tbe pardoned, the blessed children
of the Lord." On the other hand, " Go, ye cursed, for
ye omitted to shew me attachment; and the absence of
this attachment has marked out your concealed enmity.
Your omissions of love have manifested tbe strength of
j^our impenitence and unbelief: tbe evidence of your
moral condition is found in your practical contempt for
my cause, and in your wilful neglect of my brethren."
In both cases, the works were the evidence of charac
ter, not the cause or origin of that character. Tbe actual
condition of the two classes of mankind lies in the quality
of their moral affections: their works only give a tangi
ble expression to that condition, but neither constitute
the religion of the one, nor originate the impiety of tbe
other. To recur to tbe illustration of the tree. The
quality of the plant lies in its entire texture: tbe fruit
expresses tbat quality, but does not cause it. A farther
illustration of this point may be derived from the decla
ration of Cbrist to the Pharisee, in connexion with tbe
weeping penitent who mourned ber pollutions at bis
feet: "I say unto thee. Her sins, whicb are many, are
forgiven, for she loved much." Here, ber love was
not the cause of her forgiveness, but the proof that she
had received forgiveness.
It may likewise be remarked, that our Saviour, wben
on earth, by his ovvn lips condemned the complacency
of self-esteem. Why did tbe Pharisee meet his prompt
condemnation? He -had much whereby to make out a
good case. He thanked God that he was not as other
men; and thus, while he. enumerated bis A'irtues, he in
great measure ascribed tbeir exercise to God. Can tbe
abettors of the doctrine of human merit ask for an illus
tration more favourable to their views than tbis? Tbe
man is virtuous, and he ascribes his virtues to God. But
yet be went down to his house condemned of God,

ON THE MERIT OF WORKS. 173
though applauded of his own mind. And why? He
boasted, where he ought to have hung his head in shame.
Practically, he took the credit of his virtues to himself,
and despised the self-renunciation of his humble asso
ciate in the temple, who, conscious of all his guilt, smote
upon his anguished breast, and exclaimed, " God, be
merciful to me, a sinner !"
And if these things be thus, in what language, or with
what emotions, shall I refer to the tenet held by the
Roman Church, that a saint of God can acquire by in
tense sanctity such a surplusage of merit, as to impart
that merit to the church in satisfaction for the deficien
cies of others ?
Great God! is it possible, that, in the view of those
hope-withering enactments, " Thou shalt love the Lord
thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and
with all thy mind, and with all thy strfepgth ; and; Thou
shalt love thy neighbour as thyself:" is it possible, that,
in the sight of that mysterious conflict in which thy Son
bowed down bis bead, forsaken and bereft, on account
of sin : is it possible, that, under tbe accumulated evi
dence of guilt wbich the history of each heart can fur
nish to itself: is it possible, that a human being within
the instructions of thy revealed word should yet be
found to lift up his head, and to say, " I have more merit
than I need! tbe remainder I impart to others!" Oh!
should sucb a tenet find harbour witbin tbe breast of any
one amongst tbose assembled here, forgive tbe sin, and
convert tbe heart whicb it now pollutes! And grant to
all, who have now listened to tbis imperfect exposition
of thy will, sucb a discovery of thy stupendous love in
Christ Jesus, tbat, faithful in the strength of life, and
sustained in the weakness and through -the agony of
death, we may peacefully descend into the sanctuary of
the grave ; and in the bright morning of tbe resurrec
tion may stand in thy presence, arrayed in the robes of
thy free salvation!

,p 2

ON PROTESTANT UNITY
IN FUNDAMENTAL DOCTRINES.

HON. AND REV. BAPTIST W. NOEL, M.A.
Ephes. iv. 5. One Lord, one faithj one baptism.
r a former occasion I endeavoured, by various consi-
rations, to illustrate and defend tbe doctrine, that all
sn are, if able, required to examine Scripture, and
termine its sense for themselves. Among other objec-
ns to it, I examined its alleged tendency to create
isensions, as compared with a similar tendency in the
proved doctrine of church infallibility. One of my
iverend Brethren has gone further than this, and, in
amining the marks of a true church, bas shown, tbat,
all the essential matters of faith, unity is to be found
the great Protestant churches no less than in the
itbolic. To this statement — though highly satisfactory,
should hope, to most even of the Roman Catholics wbo
ard it — it may be replied by some, — That the illusory
stinction between essential and indifferent truths, is
bat Protestants are driven to by the unsoundness of
eir system ; being itself as unsound as any other part;
-That it is absurd, because, truth being one, and inca-
ible of mutilation, to deny a part is to renounce tbe
hole ; — Tbat it is inconsistent, because Protestants
ake tbe Bible tbe only foundation of religious doc-
ine, and the Bible says nothing about tbe doctrine of
ndamentals; — Tbat it is even unchristian, because it
;ts reason above revelation; — And, in short, that it
Bgets an absolute indifference to all truth. For, the
ible being the "only authority in matters of faith, the
ecrees of councils and doctrines of fathers become use-
:ss, human testimony is valueless, and each man must
irm his own religion by tbe exercise of his reason. But

ON PROTESTANT UNITY, &C. 175
as Scripture is mute, and each man independent of
others, he may affix his own interpretation without fear
of reproof; for no man has a right to assume that his
reason is superior to another's, and that, by consequence,
the other's conclusion is wrong. Upon this principle,
therefore, each must tolerate the opinions of the rest,
and absolute uncertainty descends by entail on successive
generations. It is vain to allege that they agree still in
essentials: what is to distinguish tbe essential from the
indifferent? Is the Divinity of the Son of God essen
tial ? The Socinian Protestant denies it. You proscribe
tbat sect;— but by what right? May not they fix the
line between tbe essential and indifferent, as vyell as you?
Upon your own principle, tbey, being independent
judges of tbe sense of Scripture, may set tbat doctrine
down among the indifferent. Meanwhile, they still
maintain tbe truth of Revelation. But on wbat ground?
The Deist claims the same privilege respecting Revela
tion, whicb they have exercised respecting Christ's pro
per Divinity; and be sets down Revelation as among
the things which seem to him indifferent. Protestants
must allow this too. Nay, more, the very Atheist can
extort from them tbe protection of their principle: he
believes all that seems to him essential to be believed :
tbe knowledge of God seems not essentiab And so this
fatal fallacy conducts Protestants at last to absolute
Atheism, in belief and worship; and Protestantism
thrives by the desolation of the world.
It is strange, very strange, my Catholic countrymen,
if these charges — advanced by some even in stronger
terms than I have used* — are just, that the most moral
countries are Protestant. North America may well bear
comparison witb its southern neighbours; tbe Protestant
cantons of Switzerland are not. inferior to the Catholic:
there are parts of Protestant Germany which decidedly
surpass in civilization, comfort, decency, religious know
ledge, and good conduct, any parts of Catholic Germany.
Perhaps it may be deemed partial to compare England
with' France, or Scotland with Ireland; and yet it is
See Note at the end of the Sermon, p. 193.

176 ON PROTESTANT UNITY
strange, if Protestantism do tend to such evils, that it
is in fact, found in connexion with comparative wealth,
liberty, social stability, good morals, and religious feel
ing. Let me beg any one of my Catholic bearers to
weigh on tbis subject the testimony of impartial writers,
and to consider too, whether, as any country becomes
free and intelligent, it does not become less Catholic. Is
not France less so, than Catholic Germany ? Germany,
than Italy? and Italy itself, notwithstanding its peculiar
inducements to remain true to the Papacy, less so than
tbe Spanish provinces of South America were before
they obtained their political freedom ? On the other
hand, I doubt whether Scotland or England were ever
more Protestant than now — that is, whether there ever
was a greater proportion of the inhabitants of both coun
tries intelligently professing the doctrines contained in
the Bible, and summed up in Protestant confessions. If
so, this looks like a strong argument in fact, against all
those arguments of the study, which speculative men
may so plausibly weave against any doctrine which tbey
dislike. Morality and religion do, in fact, grow with tbe
growth of Protestantism. Even Catholic advocates admit
they are not extirpated. And why are they not? Only,
as they tell us, because men are happily inconsistent :
the good feeling whicb remains in tbem counteracts the
bad principles they have adopted, and politic legislation
comes in aid of an enfeebled religion. Against this most
unsatisfactory, because inadequate, reason, I hope to
establish to your conviction, if God's blessing rest in tbis
work upon you and me, That the doctrine of fun
damentals IS CALCULATED TO ESTABLISH THE FAITH
OF A COUNTRY ON ITS SUREST BASIS; and That THE
RESULT IN FACT, IS THE RESULT IN THE NATURE OF
THE CASE.
I might pass by the allegation that Protestantism
must, in consistency', tolerate Atheists — that is, allow
the reasonableness of their doctrine — because, by show
ing that Protestants do not set Reason above Revelation,
I should destroy the only foundation upon which the
allegation rests: but because I have heard it brought
against us not unfrequently, it may be satisfactory, to

IN FUNDAMENTAL DOCTRINES. 177
those who have been at all misled by it, more particu
larly to show its fallacy. Should it be granted that Pro
testants set Reason above Revelation — that is, admit
those doctrines only which seem to them reasonable,
while they reject all others, however plainly revealed —
it would not follow that they must allow either tbe in
tegrity or reasonableness of Atheistic speculations. If
there is sucb a thing as right Reason, tbe belief in the
production of this beautiful world of vegetable, animal,
and rational life, by a chance meeting of independent
atoms — far more difficult to be imagined than tbat
Newton's philosophy or Milton's poetry was a chance
assemblage of letters shuffled together — is contrary to
reason; and he who should contend that Reason is the
sovereign judge of truth, ought in consistency to con
demn, not approve, the credulous Atheist who swallows
such abs"urdities.
Tbe Deist, who denies Revelation while he admits the
being of God, is not less certainly, though less obviously,
opposed to right reason; since the grounds for the belief
of Christianity are more complete than for the belief of
any historical fact with which we are acquainted; and
though his principle were admitted, tbat reason must be
tbe supreme judge of truth, yet, as right reason cannot
be inconsistent, it must guide us, through the belief of
tbe historical facts of Cbristianity, to the belief of every
thing therein implied. Right , reason, therefore, must
be admitted to condemn tbe Deist as well as tbe Athe
ist, by all those who would not maintain that there is as
much evidence against tbe historical facts of Christianity
as for tbem. I hope no Catholic would be betrayed by
his dislike of Protestantism into sucb an extravagance:
unless he be, he will admit tbat our opponents betray
indecent zeal in their inference-s. This might, however,
be overlooked, if it were the result of a fierce tempera
ment in two or-three, controversialists alone; but as it is
echoed from one part of Catholic Christendom to an
other, whenever the Catholic tenets come into conflict
with tbose of Protestantism, I beg those at least of my
Catholic countrymen who may happen to read this, not
too rashly to make, against those who profess the name

17.8 ¦ ON PROTESTANT UNITY
of Christ in sincerity, charges by which they are con
signed to a position among those who deny their Maker
and blaspheme their Saviour. Witb equal earnestness
will I beg, what I might also demand, that we be not
classed with those who deny our blessed Lord's Divi
nity. It is, to a pious mind, manifestly less rational to
believe that the Divine Being can overlook sin, than
that he must severely punish it; to expect salvation
without an atonement, than witb it; to believe that any
man can atone for himself, than to believe that God has,
in the person of Jesus Christ, atoned for him. This is
not the occasion to prove these things: my purpose is
answered if the serious Catholics who hear me, recog
nize their truth: for if the rejection of the Atonement be,
to a serious mind, manifestly less reasonable than a
grateful reception of it, as of tbat which is worthy the
perfect holiness and benevolence of God, then right
reason must condemn those who reject it.
This, observe, is established upon supposition that
Protestants have set Reason above Revelation. But the
fact is, they abhor such profanity. Before they can be
lieve Cbristianity, they must, it is true, have grounds
fol- belief; as Catholics must, for the belief of their
church's infallibility; unless it is maintained that God
has called meij to believe Divine truth, without giving
any means to distinguish that truth from human inven
tions. Reason must judge of the evidences of Revela
tion; and, blessed be God, he bas made them so satis
factory, tbat our belief in Christianity may reasonably
become as strong as our belief in any natural or moral
truth whatsoever. From tbe moment, however, such
belief is formed. Reason becomes subservient to Reve
lation : henceforth it may examine the sense of Scrip
ture, but must not question its propriety. Established
by satisfactory evidences, it becomes an authority, to
dispute which is to quarrel with God. Does a doctrine,
then, appear' to any serious member of the Reformed
Church to contradict reason? He will refer again and
again to Scripture, to see whether he bas affixed the
true interpretation to the text on which tbe doctrine is
said to be founded: he will observe the natural force of

IN FUNDAMENTAL DOCTRINES. 179
the words; compare the passage with other passages of
the same writer, and then that writer with the rest of
the inspired authors; and if the doctrine appear still
plainly set down in Scripture, but still opposed to rea
son, reason would submit, and Revelation triumph. He
would believe, because it is written. Our faith is not,
bowever, put to such trial; for in every case, I believe,
each truth of Revelation may, as far as we can trace it,
be shown to be consistent with reason; and if so, con
versely, each interpretation which cannot be reconciled
with reason will appear on investigation not to be the
true one. The doctrine of Transubstantiation, for in
stance, appears to contradict reason ; and yet tbe Saviour,
when he broke bread with bis disciples, said, " This is
my^ body, wbich is given for you." Shall the Protes
tant reject what is written, because it is unreasonable?
No: he will look to Scripture agffin; and if that text
appears fairly to bear no other meaning than tbat tbe
bread is really changed into flesh, and if this meaning be
confirmed by texts equally explicit, he will believe,-
though it contradicts his senses': but if both this text,
and others more decisive, point to another meaning
which does not contradict his senses, and is thereby in
harmony with all the other doctrines of Scripture (by
none of whicb are the senses contradicted,) he will come
to tbe conclusion that the Lord Jesus Christ intended
tbis latter meaning — viz. that the sacramental bread is
the emblem and memorial of his crucified body, not the
body itself. From tbis time he disbelieves transubstan
tiation, not because, being found in Scripture, it contra
dicts reason; but because, being unreasonable, it is like
wise not contained in Scripture. Now, bas he set rea
son above Revelation? Why, there is not a doctrine,
however much above reason, which can be shown to be
in Scripture, to which be does not gladly subscribe.
Doctrines or precepts, from the moment that they re
ceive the stamp of God's authority, are in his estimation
sacred, so that "he delights in them after the inward
man." If you have the happiness to know a pious Pro
testant, observe whether his habits do not intimate as
much. In his examination of Scripture, he refuses not

180 ON PROTESTANT UNITY
the aid of commentaries, consults his pastor, and gathers
the opinion of his friends, not to supersede, but aid, bis
researches, which are conducted with scrutinizing dili
gence, and applied by solemn meditation. Thus in
formed, he willingly acknowledges all wbich he can
see to be revealed, and delights in all that be acknow
ledges. The blessed doctrine of the Incarnation is
beyond his reason, but dear to bis heart. Upon the
influences of tbe Holy Spirit, though be cannot com
prehend tbe mode of their working,' he depends with
grateful adoration. Prejudices, natural dispositions, and
earthly affections, all give way before the Revelation, to
which he bows, not bis understanding only, but his
whole soul; and yet, because be admits nothing as re
vealed whicb he cannot see in the Bible, he is said to
set his reason above Revelation ! His rules of conduct
are drawn from Revelation. There he finds bis highest
motives to action; upon it alone depends his most sub
stantial treasure; yet he is said to set reason above
Revelation, and to open tbe flood-gates to Socinianism,
Deism, and Atheism ! Yes, if simplicity of design and
docility of spirit; if a hearty love of all truth, however
humbling,' and a diligent pursuit of it, however difficult;
if an humble dependence on the Spirit's teaching, and
frequent prayers for it; will lead to this ruinous pro
fanity, then, and not till then, will it be effected by this
great doctrine I rejoice to defend — That each religious
truth should be valued according to tbe certainty with
which it is laid down in Scripture, and the prominence
therein assigned to it.
If this be the |;rue statement of tbe Protestant doc
trine, whicb cannot well be denied by any one who at
all knows Protestantism, you will easily grant, that he
who rejects any truth clearly contained in Scripture be
cause it seems to him unreasonable, has not adopted the
Protestant principle, but overturned both it and Revela
tion together.
But may not any one retain tbe Protestant principle,
and still reject what is essential to be believed^for in
stance, the Deity of the Saviour — on the same ground
that Protestants reject transubstantiation; namely, that

IN FUNDAMENTAL DOCTRINES. 181
the doctrine, appearing unreasonable, is not plainly re
vealed? — If it is not plainly. revealed, be may. No man
can be ealled to believe what is not revealed with suffi
cient plainness to convince him, supposing him to be
pious. But is not tbat doctrine plainly revealed? My
question is not here with the Socinian, who might an
swer No; but with the Catholic. Is there a serious
Catholic here, who (having read through the Bible once)
can doubt whether God has made that doctrine, beyond
almost any other, plain and prominent? I do not be
lieve there is one in these kingdoms. Then there is not
one serious and well-informed Catholic wbo can object
that the principle which urges us to hold fast whatever
is plain and prominent, could leave us indifferent to the
doctrine of our Lord's Divinity. The same may be
alleged of several other great truths, no less plain and
prominent than this. If any doctrine be plainly and
prominently set forth in Scripture, the use of tbeir com
mon understanding must lead all pious persons to unity
on that point; and tbeir unity becomes a further con
firmation of tbeir belief: they will feel that discrepancy
on this point must come from the abuse of reason, not
its exercise; from a perversion of Scripture, not its in
terpretation; from a want of religious principle, not a
deficiency of intellect. By this doctrine, each man is
bound to interpret rightly, what is revealed plainly; and
contracts guilt, whenever levity, worldliness, pride, or
self-dependence, lead him into error. If the doctrine
were in itself obscure, error might be pitied and for
given; but if it were plain, then error, as tbe result of
an improper state of mind, must be condemned.
So far, then, is a Protestant, who founds his creed
upon the Bible, from tolerating — that is, allowing — the
reasonableness of a heresy, that he must condemn it with
uncompromising severity. On great points he can feel
no hesitation: doubtfulness does not embarrass his deci
sion, nor charity check bis zeal. It is fidelity to Christ,
and mercy to men, that the fatal lie should be detected
and condemned. " If there come any upto' you, and
bring not this doctrine" (of Christ), " receive him not

182 ON PROTESTANT UNITY
into your house, neither bid him God speed."* " If
any man love not. the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be
anathema."t " If any man preach any other Gospel
unto you than that ye- have received, let him be ac
cursed."! ^
Does this severe and undoubting condemnation imply
that the Protestant values his natural powers of discrimi
nation beyond that of all other men, more learned and
profound than be? It involves no such thing. In in
vestigating truth, he bas depended less on his own intel
lect than on the promised aid of the Holy Spirit; and
he has looked to God, not so much to sharpen bis un
derstanding, as to change bis heart. It seems to bim
natural, that while the heart is unrenewed it should
domineer over tbe mind, and give a false bias to tbe
reasonings of tbe most acute. If he unhesitatingly con
demn the conclusions of men more keen in argument
than himself, it is because he perceives that they have
little of that character of " babes," to which a revelation
of truth is promised; but rather belong to that class, of
the " wise and prudent," from whom, by reason of their
self-^sufficiency, these truths are concealed. The only
result of such a conviction is, not self-congratulation for
his own superior sagacity, but gratitude to God for his
distinguishing grace. Were it, however, a question of
mere intellect, he might come to tbe same conclusion,
with as little arrogance as a Catholic child, wbo, refuted,
but not convinced, by some Protestant of superior ability
and research, still answers, "I believe what the Church
believes." The Protestant wbo maintains this doctrine
is aided by the authority, not only of all the Catholic
church, but by all tbe modern divines distinguished
for devotedness or success in their calling as Christian
pastors. Am I asked, of what avail is authority to a Protestant,
who disclaims it? Let me answer by advising the in
quirer to be on his guard against those sophistries which
we cannot but perpetually observe in tbis controversy;
in which-the doubtful signification of words is made to
* 2 John 10. t 1 Cor. xvi. 22. tGal. i. 9.

IN FUNDAMENTAL DOCTRINES. 183
fasten upon Protestants tenets which they disclaim. Be
lieve me, we are not enthusiastic enough to reject tbe
legitimate use of honest testimony or grave opinion.
Why may not a Protestant, who rejects any doctrine
founded on Church authority, which is unproved, cor
rect or sustain his view of a doctrine contained in the
Bible by the opinions of the wisest and most pious com
mentators? Is there any thing inconsistent in using the
aid of wiser men than ourselves to ascertain the sense of
Scripture, at the same time that we reject the authority
of any man wbo would teach for doctrines wbat is ob
viously not in Scripture? The latter practice would
subvert tbe authority of Scripture; the former, leaving
its authority untouched, only enables us to ascertain
what it inculcates. The former seems to me but a rea
sonable modesty; the latter, unchristian servitude.
Thus the plainness of Scripture, further enforced by
the consent of the church of Christ, guarding every se
rious Protestant against laxity in doctrine, will make
him earnestly contend for the faith, and with unhesitat
ing severity pronounce accursed what Paul bas so pro
nounced. The same principle will be equally service
able in all lesser points of doctrine; because, teaching
him to measure the importance of truths generally by
the degree of evidence whicb they have received from
Scripture, and by the prominence therein assigned to
tbem, be will not contend with unbecoming vehemence
for what is doubtful, nor dogmatize, when be should at
the most discuss. A patience in doubting, and sucb a
modest conviction of our own weakness of understand
ing as leads us to a deliberate examination and candid
construction of sentiments opposed to our own, is only
second in value to a bold and unhesitating maintenance of
truths which are plain and fundamental. Each temper
aids the other: for be who is decided in his condemna
tion of beresy, will not be suspected of indifference to
truth if he is tolerant pf lesser errors; while he who
doubts in things/ doubtful,' or is modest when he ceases
to doubt, may dogmatize in things certain, -with the less
appearance of arrogance, and with the surer prospect of
success.

184 ON PROTESTANT UNITY
May I hope that even these simple remarks may con
vince some of my Catholic hearers, tbat pious Protest
ants may be unitedly zealous for essential truths, wbich
are plainly, and prominently revealed, while on those
which are not so they may doubt and differ? Even if
our princijile be wrong — that truths should be estimated
according to their plainness and prominence — still tbat
principle must make every pious person hold fast what
is prominent and plain.
I have thus met these charges, 1st, tbat we set Reason
above Revelation; 2dly, that we become indifferent to
all truth. Let me now endeavour to neutralize the at
tack upon our consistejicy.
" We hold that tbe Bible is the supreme authority for
all religious doctrine; but the doctrine of fundamentals,
so far from being found therein, contradicts (they allege)
its plain injunctions;^ for in Matt, xxviii. 20, we are
charged to obey all that Christ has commanded — not the
essentials only, but all — nothing, then, is in His view
indifferent, nothing even secondary."
Undoubtedly the Apostles must transmit to the church
all the commands which they received from Christ, and
the church must obey all which they knew to be so
transmitted. But does this imply that all religious
truths are equally essential- to be believed? If so, all
are equally essential to be known; for bow can we be
lieve what we do not know. But will any one venture
to say tbat there is a single Catholic here who knows all
revealed truths? If not, does he violate the command
by his ignorance of some truths?' No, it will be an
swered, because be believes them implicitly — that is, in
other words, he has the disposition to believe them,
were they made known to him. But so has every se
rious Protestant, with respect to every truth which he
may doubt of, or deny ; and wbatever degree of inno
cence belongs to tbe Catholic who is ignorant Of some
tenets of bis church, belongs also to the Protestant who
is to the same extent ignorant of some revealed truths of
tbe Bible: if this text does not condemn the one, it ac
quits the other, and does not prove that all revealed
truths are equally essential to be believed.

IN FUNDAMENTAL DOCTRINES. 185
I know not that any passage more cogent than this
has been broilght to sustain this charge, " that our doc
trine is opposed to Scripture.*" And here I cannot but
remark, that the random and playful thrusts which Ca
tholic writers make against us with their texts,, so unlike
tbe grave attack of tbose who believe that life and death
depend upon tbe strife, seem to intiinate that they con
sider it less a charitable war than a proud tournament, in
which (the desire to rescue truth from thraldom being
unfelt) the grave wish to crush a rival, and the light to
exhibit the brilliancy of tbeir armour or their skill in
arms. If such be the texts which are brougbt against
our doctrine, I am entitled to assert that it does not op
pose Scripture.
But is Scripture silent on the subject ? " If any man
love not tbe Lord Jesus Christ, let bim be anathema."
It is essential, then, to love tbe Lord ; and he wbo loves
him not, must be accursed; 'But is it the same with him
who refuses to fast through Lent, or to keep the holidays
of the church ? " One believeth that he may eat all
things; another, who is weak, eateth herb's. Let not
him that eateth, de'Spise him tliat eateth not ; and let not
him which eateth not, judge him tbat eateth ; for God
hath received bim  One man esteemeth one day above
another ; another esteemeth every day alike. Let every
man be fully persuaded in his ownmind. He that re-
gardeth the day, regardeth it unto tbe Lord ; and he that
regardeth not the day, to tbe Lord he dotb not. regard
it. He tbat eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth
God thanks ; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eat^
eth not, and giveth God thanks."*
Our doctrine is, however, still more clearly implied
than expressed in Scripture; as will appear, I trust, by
our answers to the remaining objection made to our doc
trine. That " it is absurd in itself, inasmuch as truth is
one, incapable of mutilation ; and that to deny a part, is
to give up the whole."
The expression, "truth is one," so often alleged
against us, cannot here mean, that the same thing is not
* Rom. xiv. 2, 3, 5, 6. ,
q2

186

ON PROTESTANT UNITY

both true and false; for this, though certain, does not
affect the present question. Tbe unity of trutb-^that
is, its distinction from error — proves nothing at all, as to
the importance of individual truths. Tbe expression,
then, must mean, Tbat all truths are so linked together,
that we cannot deny one without denyfng all. This may
be the case, if all religious truths are so connected in
reason, that be wbo denies one - must be conscious that
the next, which depends upon that one denied, falls witb
it ; and so on of the rest, till- all be denied : or, if each
is so plainly founded on the same authority, that be who
denies one must deny tbe authority on which it is built
— that is, the authority on which all are built, that is, the
whole of Revelation.
The first of these suppositions is not true ; for all reli
gious doctrines are not obviously and inseparably linked
together. What obvious and inseparable connexion is
there bet'ween tbe doctrine of the Atonement, and tbe
Catholic tenets respecting priestly absolution, extreme
unction, and purgatory ; so that either it must be false,
or they true; or so that any one wbo denies them, must
likewise, to be consistent witb bimself, deny it ? Several
of my Reverend brethren have shown tbat there is no
real connexion between tbem ; but even if there were,
still, unless tbat connection be obvious — and no man can
honestly assert tbat it is, — a serious Protestant may, con
sistently with himself, believe the one doctrine and reject
the rest.
The second supposition, then, contains the real inter-
pret;ation of the Catholic argument : " Since all truths
are linked together, by being all founded on the same
authority, deny one that is plainly revealed, and all the
rest must fall witb it." I most fully admit it : in this
sense, no truth is comparatively gre^t or small : the very
least is venerable, because it bears tbe seal of tbe Supreme
Lawgiver. But, then, this only relates to those which
are plainly revealed. If I deny a truth which is plainly
revealed, I must, in consistency, deny the wbole of re
velation. But if I deny a truth,because it is not plainly
revealed, I uphold, instead of insulting, the authority
which establishes the rest. Show that any doctrine is

IN FUNDAMENTAL DOCTRINES. 187
revealed, and I will believe it, for the very reason that I
deny what is not revealed^-viz. that the authority of
God must be the foundation of all the Christian doc
trines. Unless, then, all doctrines be revealed in the
Bible with equal clearness— which is not true, and is
especially denied by Catholics — then-Protestants do not
reject tbe authority of God, when tbey reject certain
doctrines which they cannot see to be therein contained.
They may be wrong, perhaps, in their view of a doc
trine — as I believe the Baptists, for instance, to be, in
generally deferring baptism to years of maturity; — but
of tbis I am sure, that their -view, right or wrong, is
compatible with a most humble deference to the autho
rity of the Christian Lawgiver, and a most thorough
persuasion of the doctrines whicb be has most clearly
revealed. Tbe same holds good of -all the doubts of
serious Protestants. We deriy the peculiarities of Ro
manism, less because they shock our understanding, than
because tbey are satisfactorily, proved to be opposed to
Scripture. Do we thereby undermine Revelation ? —
Why, the very reason why we reject them is our defer
ence to Revelgtion. Thus our very rejection, instead
of a symptom of our indifference t;o revealed truths, is
the surest guarantee for our zealous fidelity to it. It is
this same principle which makes us reject from the jium-
ber of believers those who, perhaps more learned and
more argumentative than ourselves, bave perverted their
learning to a denial of tbe Deity of- our Saviour God. —
It is this whicb makes us argue'against those heresies in
tbe Protestant church — which we would fain conceal,
but wbich, in faithfulness, we must expose — whereby
works are made the condition of justification ; and par
don is a gift to be acquired at the end of a life of piety,
not a free gift from God at its beginning, from whicb
every pious act must take its rise.
I am not much concerned to maintain the unity of the
external Protestant Church. All worldly persons, of
every communion, will fall more or less into heresy. —
I hate the Rationalism of Protestant Germany more than
the superstitions of Rome. I acknowledge and deplore
the important distinctions in doctrine between worldly

188 ON PROTESTANT UNITY
and neligious Protestants in England. But the visible
Protestant body is no more Christ's cburch than the visi
ble Catholic body. We are not Christians by the mere
fact that we are Protestant^ ; but we have chosen Pro
testantism because we would act as Christians ; because
the confessions of Protestants generally agree witb the
principles of the Bible, and tend most directly, under
God's holy influence, to form the greatest number into
that true spiritual church, of whom, after all their dis
crepancies, it may-be most truly said, they have " one
Lord, one Faith, one Baptism." That Lord is Jesus
Christ, once crucified, but now tbe, Heir of all things.
The principal article of their'Faith is, that they are jus
tified freely for his sake: and their Baptism in the name
of the Trinity is. the seal of their covenant blessings,
through the crosson whicb he suffered. To tbat Cross,
which has honoured the Law of God, illustrated bis
Justice, and confirmed his Truth, while it has raised still
higher in the sight of the universe his attribute of Love ;
to that Cross, which has attached to itself the believing
regards of the l^est and holiest of rnen, since it was plant
ed in tbe Jewish* soil at Golgotha ; to ' the Cfoss of our
beneficent and loving Sa-viour, the Lord Jesus Christ,
incarnate God, do, our souls look for salvation, with as
much assurance as we expect any effect to" follow any
cause. Nothing seems to us more palpably plain,jio-
thing more inviolably certain, than that every soul,
without exception, who dies ip faith of tbat Saviour, will,
for His sake, be welcomed at once to the rights and
blessedness of the heavenly world. At the foot of that
Cross, not painted to our eyes, but impressed upon our
hearts, we learn, what we never knew before, our own
guilt, and God's unparalleled compassion. It excludes
boasting ; it lifts above despondency. What fear, and
duty, and the love of virtue, never did, never could do,
it effects daily in the hearts of many, who befiome,
through its influence, pure, beneficent, devotional ; and
are acquiring the character of heaven's citizens, as they
have already been admitted to their rights',
Did not your unbrotherJy and most unjust suspicions
shut you out from their society ; did you not brand as

IN FUNDAMENTAL DOCTRINES. 189
heretics, those who will hereafter be owned by the Lord
Jesus Christ; you might find in this very city — yea,
even among Protestants— those to whom the Lord Jesus
Christ is " wisdom, righteousness, and sanctification."
He is guiding them to- that glory, of which be has al
ready given them a liA'ely hope. His word has formed
all their religious opinions, and bis precepts govern all
their habits. Wben -indolent, faith animates them to
activity; when- troubled, faith lulls them to repose. To
Him tbey look for strength in temptation, and for sup
plies in need. He consoles them under losses; he will
guide them through the valley of the shadow of death.
His people are their people; his promises are their in
heritance; and his love is tbeir supreme and everlasting
happiness. Would tbey part, then, with that invaluable
doctrine of the Atonement, which forms at once their
virtue, their peace, and their security? No; not all tbat
is mysterious in nature, or subtle in infidelity, or se
ducing in sin, or oppressive in sorrow, shall detach them
from its consolations: yea, when tbe shadows of death
gather thickly aroundithem, on this, on tbis alone, will
they fix their dying thoughts. Remembered virtues
may then seem 3II defiled; remembered sins, black
with such aggravations as must weigh the soul unsus
tained below the grave: but tbe atonement of Christ,
even in those moments, which may well appal even the
bravest, can impart to the most timid a hope full of
immortality: the dyin^ sufferer retreats from the ago
nies of nature to the consolations of grace; and passes
from time, like Stephen, peacefully contented, if not,
like Elijah, triumphantly victorious. Would tbey part
with that doctrine? No; (I speak the deliberate and
reasonable Sentiment of every pious Protestant) they
would rather shrivel into idiocy, nay, melt into nothing
ness, and drag down witb tbem into the abyss of anni
hilation all the rational beings who walk earth's peopled
cities, or meditate in ber seclusions, or navigate her
waters, or work upon "her plains, than see that single
truth of Christ's atonement — the only ocean which can
extinguish for sinners tbe flames of hell, the only sun
which can for them illuminate eternity — disproved.

190

ON PROTESTANT UNITY

With respect to some, I indulge tbe hope tbat you
will from this time believe our profession to be no hy
pocrisy, as you see our principles to be not incongruous.
You will admit, that, whatever else can be allege"d against
Protestants, tbis charge, at leasts in all its parts, is feeble;
— rtbat our doctrine neither allows the reasonableness of
infidelity, nor sets' up Reason above Revelation, nor is
inconsistent with our own principles, nor violates the
unity of truth. Yet is this charge repeated: in private
and -public it is the theme of conversation: it is thun
dered forth in orations; it is spread round the land by
the press; it is prominent in tracts for tbe public eye;
it finds a place even in the most elaborate writings of
Catholic apologists. Those who know least of Protes
tantism, hazard the charge without proof; and those
who know Protestantism, will maintain it against proof.
But the charge, as you bave seen, is altogether ground
less: what, then, must you think of their motives who
urge it so pertinaciously? Were it true, I should uot
blame them for advancing it: but, since it is fals^; since
every sensible man must see it to' be false; since it
denounces those whb love the Gospel in sincerity, as
making alliance with its enemies, and tolerating its sub
version; since without knowledge, or against it; they
term this holy doctrine absurd, inconsistent, pnti-Cbrii-
tian, and -infidel, what must I tbipk of those who employ
it? I hope I am wrong, but I can hardly help con
cluding, that there is little sincerity when such weapons
are employed. More than most other symptoms, this
seems to me to indicate a falling cause and a corrupt
church. It bas been upheld through ages of ignorance;
but, now that the Bible threatens it every where, on
every point — its tenets, its practice, its relaxed morality,
and its bold usurpations — nothing but unhesitating mis
representation can shut out from the minds of its disci
ples the dreaded truth. But the dreaded truth, where
there is otherwise free access to it, cannot long be thus
shut out; and if it be once discovered; all the previous
misrepresentation will only serve more forcibly to de
tach you from that church, ancient and extended as it is,
which needed such support. Even now, perhaps, its

IN FUNDAMENTAL DOCTRINES. 191
antiquity and extent would not defend it from your sus
picions,- were it not armed witb the additional plea, that
it is sorrowfyl and sinking. In other countries, its hie
rarchy still exclaims, " I sit as a queen, and shall see no
sorrow," though dismemberment and desolation, exter
nal shocks and internal languor, have made themselves
felt even to the Roman throne. But here she is in her
weeds; a bereaved aiid despondent widow. " Is it meet
that her children forsake her now? If conscience arrest
not the deserter, let honour still bind him to the stand
ard round which his fathers rallied, and which never
needed able defenders more than now." Conscierfce
and honour! Abuse not these sacred names. Shall
they be enlisted to uphold a rebgious lie? If there be
no truth in religion, then let each man be true to his
party; let religious integrity be given up; and let sucb
a fidelity as holds robbers together in crime, usurp its
place. But if religion be true  -Brethren, my con
clusion will not wait for due approaches and nice rea
sonings. If Protestantism be not of God, by all legiti
mate weapons oppose it: let your priests preach against
it; let your people pray against it: priests and people
live it down by superior integrity; overwhelm it by the
irresistible eloquence of apostolic devotedness to God.
But if it be of God, as it is, call it not honour to oppose
it. Gall it not honour, to stand out against conviction,
to maintain fatal superstitions, to dishonour Christ, to
bring up your children to probable destruction, to ex
pose your dependants to probable ruin, to convert friend
ship and family ties into the means of hoodwinking
those whom you might enlighten. No: you owe to all
connected witb you, no less than to God and to your
selves, a prompt departure from a corrupted church.
It may wound their feelings, only perhaps to save tbeir
souls: it may destroy your present unity, only to bind
you to them in a Christian friendship for ever. At all
events, whether the Church of Rome be true or false, it
is an insult to God's Majesty to profess adherence to it
as a point of honour: as if a creed were some immemo
rial heir-loom, some antique tapestry, the more vene
rated because the* colours have faded and the subject is

192 ON PROTESTANT UNITY, &C.
unintelligible. No; "he that believeth shall be saved :
he that believ-etb not, stiall be damned." Religion is too
awful to be trifled with; and though ancestral honours,
and remembered family sacrifices, and the urgency of
some friends, and tbe flattery, perhaps, of others, tempt
you to an unexamining adherence to it, prefer, to all the
honour wbich is of men, that wbich cometh of God only.
And if the Papal system be, as I solemnly believe, that
denounced in the Apocalypse as the ''mother of abomi
nations,"* accursed of Almighty God, come out of her:
come out of her, my countrymen, " that you be not par
takers in ber sins, and that you receive not of her
plagues.''t * Rev. xvii. 5.' t Rev. xviii. 4.

NOTE.— (&ejo. 175.)
To Catholics, the arguments wbich I have endea
voured to answer in this Sermon are too familiar; but
for those Protestants who may happen to read this Ser
mon, I bave subjoined some extracts from Catholic
writings and speeches, to show the effects which they
usually attribute to our doctrine of the Right of Private
Judgment.

" Encore qu'il semble que les novateurs aient voulu retenir les es-
prits en les renfermant dans les limites de I'Ecriture sainte, comme
ce n'a Me qu'i condition que chaque fiddle en deviendroit I'inter-
prdte, et croiroit que le Saint Esprit lui en dicte I'explication, il n'y
a point de particulier qui ne se voie authorise par cette doctrine k
adorer ses inventions, k consacrer ses erreurs, a appeler Dieu tout ce
qu'il pense." — Oraison funebre de la Rein^ d'Angleterre.
And so tbe right of private judgment, according to
Bossuet, leads men to " adore their inventions, conse
crate their errors, and call their own fancies God."
DE LA MESHAIS.
" La Reforme,apres avoir 6puise The Reformation, after having
tous les autres moyens de defense, exhausted all its means of defence,
fut contrainte, par sa nature m^- was constrained, by its very na
me, de se refugier dans le systfeme ture, to take refuge in the system
des points fondamentaux — une of fundamentals — a doctrine not
doctrine, non seulement absurde Only absurd 'in itself, but likewise
en soi, mais de plus incompatible incompatible with their maxims ;
avecleurs maximes; unedoctrine, which cannot be true unless Chris-
enfin, qui ne pent ^tre vraie k tianity he, false, and which neces-
moins que le Christianisme ne sarily issues in the toleration of
soit faux, et qui aboutit inevita- Atheism — Essay on Indifference,
blement ii la tolferance de I'Athe- vol. I. p. 205.
isme." — Essai sur I'Indifference.
Paris, 1821. .
"'Un systfeme qui consacre la A system which consecrates the
liberty de tout croire, meme les liberty to believe every thing, in-
erreurs les plus execrables; etla eluding even the most execrable
liberty de tout nier, mfeme Dieu." errors ; and to deny every thing,
including even God. — lb. p. 191.
" Ce systeme et le Christianis- That system and Christianity
me tel que I'enseignoient les Ap6- as taught.by the Apostles, cannot
tres, ne sauroiBnt subsister ensem- subsist together. — lb. p. 209.
ble."

194

ON PROTESTANT UNITY

" Ce systeme est plus deraison- It is more unreasonable, more
nable, plus inconsequent, plus in- inconsistent, more injurious to the
jurieuse k la Divinitfe, et plus Deity, and more destructive to
dfeespferant pour I'homme que- le the hope of man, than Deism. —
Deisme!!" Ibid, p, 212.
" L'Atheisme n'est que la der- i^theism is but the last conse-
nifere consequence du systeme des quence of the Reformed system,
Rfeformees, son complement ne-- and that which is needed to ren-
cessaire." > der it complete. — lb. p. 235.
" Ainsi la E^forme, egalement Thus the Reformation, equally
foible centre le vic(3 et centre I'er- feeble against vice and against
reur, sacrifice I'Ecriture meme error, sacrifices even Scripture to
aux passions, et se Soul^ve de sa the passions, and moves off" its
base, pour leur ouvrier un plus own foundations, to open for them
libre et plus vaste champ." a more free and more unbounded
course. — lb. p. 241.
" Le Protestantisme, ou le sys- Protestantism, or the system of
t^me des points fondamentaux, fundamental tenets, which is its
qui en est la base, conduit in6vi-' basis, inevitably leads to universal
tablement a la tolerance univer- tolerance, orrather to absolute in-
selle, ou a I'indiffference absolue difference to all religions. Doc-
des religions. Doctrine, Culte, mo- trine, worship, morals, all crumble
rale, tout s'ecroule et I'AthMsme to, pieces, and Atheism remains
reste seul au milieu de I'entende- alone, in the midst of the ruins of
ment en mine." the understanding. — lb. p. 240.
REV. TK, MILNEK.
" The unbounded license of explaining Scripture, each one in hia
own way, which Protestants claim, has not been confined to mere
errors and dissensions: it has also caused mutual persecution and
bloodshed; it has produced tuiijults, rebellions and anarchy beyond
recounting." — End of Religious Controversy, Letter VIII. p. 55.
" The poisonous plant of infidelity was produced, nourished, and
increased to its enormous growth, by that principle of private judg
ment in matters of religion, which is the foundation of the Reforma
tion." — lb. p. 56.
It has conducted to " endless errors and impieties." — lb. p. 57.
It opens " the floodgates to all the impiety and immorality of the
age." — lb. p. 64.
It has actually led numbers into " endless errors and shocking im
pieties." — lb. Letter XI. p. 115.
Accordingly, Dr. M. sustains these charges by thtts
describing the leaders of the Reformation:
" I have shown that Patriarch Luther was the sport of his unbridled
passions, pride, resentment, envy, and lust; that he was turbuleiit,
abusive and sacrilegious in the highest degree ; that he was the
trumpeter of sedition, civil war, rebellion, and desolation; and finally,
that, by his own account, he was the scholar of Satan, in the mpst
important article of his pretended Reformation. I have made out
nearly as heavy a chawe against his chief followers, Carlostad, Zuin-
¦glius, Ochin, Calvin, Beza, and Cranmer. With respect to the last
named, who, under Edward 'VI. and his fratricide uncle the Duke of
Somerset, was the chief artificer of the Anglican Church, I have

IN FUNDAMENTAL DOCTRINES. 195
shown, that, from his youthful life in a college till his death at the
stake, he exhibited such a continued scene of libertinism, perjury,
hypocrisy, barbarity, (in burning his fellow-Protestants.) profligacy,
ingratitude, and rebellion, as is, perhaps, not to be matched in
history." — Letter XXI. p. 65.
, Letters of J. K. L. Dublin, 1824.
" These Societies are embarked in propagating an intolerable error,
by seeking to introduce the indiscriminate perusal of the sacred Scrip
tures without note or comment; and their labours, so far from being
in accordance with the spirit of the Christian religion, are calculated
to subvert it, and to plant in its room fanaticism and infidelity." —
Page 40. t
Catholic Report of a Meeting of the Carlow Bible Society.
JVoB. 18, 1824.
Rev. Mr.M'Sweeneysaid, "With no other standard than the Scrip
ture to estimate truth or falsehood, piety or impiefy, the Socinian,
denying the Divinity of Christ, should be acknowledged to stand on
as firm a ground as the most confident Trinitarian." — P. 10.
Clonakilty Bible Meeting. June 8, 1824.
Resolutions proposed by Mr. Sheahan : —
" 1. That, tliough we do piously believe in all those statements of
the Old Testament, we do still conceive that many of those statements
deserve to be admired rather as the genuine records of a sensual
people, than' as the daily lessons of a Christian and spiritual gene
ration." " 3. That the indiscriminate use of either the New or the Old Tes
tament, without reference to age or sex, note or comment, may but
lead to fanaticiSsn and infidelity."
" 4. That in England, the centre of Biblical operations and the test
of its utility, fanaticism and infidelity have increased with the indis
criminate use of the Scriptures  that fanaticism has found the
Bible there for its prop, and infidelity for its parent,"
A resolution to the same effect was passed at an aggre
gate Catholic meeting at Cork, Oct. 1824.— (See Lime-
ric Chronicle, Oct. 30, 1824.) And similar sentiments
were expressed by the Rev. Messrs; M'Keon and Brown,
at a meeting for discussion, at Carrick-on-Shannon. —
(See Dublin Evening Post, Nov. 1824.)

JESUS CHRIST THE ONE MEDIATOR.
BY THE REV. JAMES H. STEWART, M.A.
1 Timothy ii. 5. — There is one God, and one Mediator between God
and men, the Man Christ Jesus.
We are assembled, my Christian friends, this evening,
upon one of those interesting occasions to which tbis
eventful age gives rise: not, as we generally are, either
for the instruction of nominal Christians, or for the edi
fication of true believers; we meet to-night on behalf of
those who are at present members of the Church of
Rome. To whatever church we externally belong, this
should lead us to meet in the spirit of brotherly kindness
and affectionate .sympathy, — that, bowever varied tbe ar
ticles of our faith may be, there are bonds of concord
which very closely unite us. We are all, not only fel-
low-men, but fellow-sinners; we all partake pf the fallen
nature of our first parents; and all, like them, are subject
to that fearful sentence, "Dust thou art, and unto dust
thou shalt return." We meet, therefore, the sons and
daughters of aflEtiction, not to aggravate each other's woes
by strife and contention, but to administer comfort in our
common sorrows: to inquire, as those who feel the dis
ease of sin, " Is there no balm in'Gilead? Is there, no
Physician there?" or, rather, as shipwrecked mariners,
desirous not only to be saved ourselves, but to save our
brethren also.
It is in this spirit I would wish to speak: as one who
earnestly desires your salvation; as one, whose heart
would rejoice, and whose lips would sw6ll with grateful
Hallelujahs, should he be privileged to be in any wise
instrumental to your happiness; especially to leading
you to that blessed inheritance, where no discord will
be heard, but where the universal anthem will be,
" Worthy is the Lamb that was glain." ¦ ¦
Let me entreat your prayers, my beloved Christian

JESUS CHRIST THE ONE MEDIATOR. 197
brethren, tbat God the Holy Ghost may especially as
sist us. I need not say, that it is His Divine influence
alone that can make the word effectual: "Paul may
plant, aad Apollos may water; but God only giveth the
increase." Let me, tberefore, particularly request your
silent but fervent prayers, tbat tbat gracious Lord, wbo
opened tbe heart of Lydia to attend to the things which
were spoken by Paul, -may open the hearts of all pre
sent, and that he may guide us into all truth.
Tbe subject, which we are to consider, is that truly
blessed one mentioned in my text, the Mediatorial Office
of tbe Lord Jesus Christ: " There is one God, and one
Mediator between God and men, tbe Man Christ Jesus."
Upon that part of tbe sentence, " There is one God," I
do not enter, because we are all agreed upon tbis: that
Jehovah — tbe Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost,
three Persons in one undivided Trinity — is tbe Lord,
the one true and only God. I shall proceed, tberefore,
at once to the consideration of the subject, " Jesus Christ
tbe one Mediator."
First: Let me remind you of what the Mediator be
tween God and man is required to do.
This office of a Mediator has arisen from the circum
stances in which man by his disobedience placed himself.
When our first parents were formed in the likeness of
God, and placed by him in Paradise, there was no, need
of a Mediator; for God and man were in perfect amity:
the Lord looked upon the work of his hands, and, be
hold, it was very good. He, notwithstanding his glo
rious Majesty, conversed with man as a friend con-
verseth with a friend; and Adam rejoiced in this com
munion. There was no dread of God, but such filial
confidence, that, when tbe Lord brought Adam every
beast of tbe field and every fowl of the air, to see what
be would call them, he was so self-possessed that be could
discern their different kinds, and.give appropriate names
to each. God was then pleased with his creature, and
man rejoiced in his Creator. There was perfect peace
between God and man. — But, my friends, a most melan
choly change occurred by man's disobedience: imme
diately tbat. he ate of the forbidden fruit, his eyes were
a 2

198 JESUS CHRIST THE ONE iflEDIATOR.
opened; he knew thfit he was naked; he felt that the
righteousness in which God bad created him was de
parted, and that be was a transgressor; he beard "the
voice of God in the garden; he was afraid, because he
was naked, and he hid himself." — Thus a separation
took place between God and man. The Lord Jehovah,
remaining unchangeably the same, could no longer be
hold our first parents w.ith complacency: be saw them
as those who had leagued with his enemy against him,
preferring the falsehood of Satan to his eternal truth;
and bis Divine mind was necessarily estranged from
tbem. Whilst Adam, no longer beholding God as bis
Friend and bountiful Benefactor, but as bis indignant
Lawgiver and powerful Avenger, felt hatred against his
Maker: " For the carnal mind is enmity against God; is
not subject to his law, neither indeed can be." Whilst
God is beheld only as a just and holy God,- holding in
his hand tbe curse of a broken law with full power to
execute that curse, dismay, and consequently hatred, are
the only feelings the transgressor can have.
The Mediator, therefore, between God"a"nd mSn thus
circumstanced, had these two difficult offices to perform:
He bad to reconcile God to man, by placing bim before
tbe Lord with his sins all atoned for, and vvith a right
eousness which the Divine eye could with complacency
regard ; that, wben tbe Lord looked upon his creature,
be might see him, as he' first beheld him., righteous in
his sight; and might be able to say again, " Behold, he
is very good." This was one part of his task as Media
tor. I'be other was, to reconcile man to God; to re
move from bis'^beart that fear, and consequent hatred,
which his sin had produced. For this purpose he had
to place him in circumstances in which his Maker would
appear in a far different light: not as tbe avenger of
transgression,' but as "the God. of all grace;" who,'in
bis alDundant love and mercy, had provided a way of re
conciliation; who, also, had seeured for the reconciled a
greater state of blessedness than they had lost by the
fall. This, my friends, was the task of-the Mediator — a
task most difficult to be accompUsbed. Divine Wisdcftn

JESUS CHRIST THE ONE MEDIATOR. 199
alone could contrive the plan, and Divine Love and
Power alone execute it.
Pause for a moment and behold the difficulty! See,
on the one band, a just and boly God sitting Upon bis
throne, the universal Lawgiver; his love, his goodness,
his wisdom, his faithfuliiess, bis almighty power, all set
at nought: and behold, on the other, a creature so alien
ated from God, that, when the Lord comes to bim, in
stead of humbling himself before him, he charges him
with his sin: " The woman whOm thou gavest to be witb
me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat." Who shall
reconcile these two, and bring them again to fellowship?
My friends, we forget the difficulty in the way of re
conciliation. Hence it is that we apply to otber me
diators. Did we but bear in^mind what was to be done,
we should say, with the Apostle, "There is" but "one
Mediator between God and me'n, the Man Christ Jesus.'-'
I now proceed, secondly, to show that the Lord Jesus
Christ has accomplished this work.
Here I would remind you, that his Divine Person fit
ted him for the office; for, being the Son -of God, and
also the Son of man, he united in himself the natures of
botb the parties^ When the Lord Jehovah looked upon
the Man Christ Jesus, he saw him of whom he said,
" Tbis is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased:"
and when man beheld Him who, " being in 'the form of
God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God," be
saw him who is at- the same time God — Immanuel, or
God with us— God in our nature, and bone of oiir bone,
and flesh of our flesh; who " is not ashamed to call his
peo_ple Brethren," but is one with tbem: " For the Word
was made. flesh, and dwelt among us; and we beheld his
glory," tbe glory as of the only begotten of the Father,
full of grace and truth." Man, therefore,, beholds God,
in the person of the Lord Jesus, in a new character: he
sees him, not as his lawgiver only, but as his brother.
Oh, my friends, it js a thought that should fill the mind
with wonder and delight, that He who sits at the right
hand of the Majesty on high, sits there clothed in our
nature! that we have One in heaven, who, while perfect
God-T^" God over all, blessed for ever" — is as much a

200 JESUS CHRIST THE ONE MEDIATOR.
man, sin only excepted, as any one now in the house of
God; " the Man Christ Jesus."
Having this essential qualification to fit him for the
office of a Mediator — and let it be remembered, that
there is no one but the Lord Jesus Christ who has this
qualification: among all the ranlsS of angels who fill the
heavenly courts, there is not one who is either God or
man; neither is there one of the saints, whose departed
spirits have joined the be.avenly company, who are more
than redeemed sinners, " the spirits of just men made
perfect:" not one of them is "God's Fellow;" Jesus
alone is God and Man — Thus qualified, I say, to act as
Mediator, he commenced his work of. reconciling God
to man. This he did by satisfying Divine Justice; for
he fulfilled all the demands that justice bad upon man,
by bearing the curse of Sin: " for he was made a curse
for us :" " He was wounded for our transgressions ; he
was bruised for biir iniquities:" " He bore our sins in
his own body on the tree." So that Divine justice could
have no reason to irefuse its sanction : on the contrary,
it would favour such a reconciliation. " I," Justice might
say, " have been -satisfied, not by the sufferings of a poor,
weak, sinful worm of the earth, but by the precious
blood of the Son of God; this has been shed forth&sin
of man." Next, he satisfied the Holiness of God, by
presenting himself before the Throne the holy, harm
less, undefiled Jesus; having fulfilled all righteousness,
magnified the law, and made it honourable: so that,
when admission was demanded for the Man Christ Jesus
into the portals of heaven. Divine Holiness was pleased
to admit him, beholding in the human nature tbe Law
personified, or perfect love to God and love to man, irr
Jesus the Saviour.^-Thus tbe just and holy and ftiithful
God was reconciled to man.
It now remains to reconcile man taGod. For this
purpose the Lord Jesus, as Mediator, " obtained gifts for
men, even for the rebellious." He bas the residue of
the Spirit. The Comforter, in consequence of his me
diation, enters into the soul, and, renewing the sinner
with a Divine nature, opens his eyes to see the glory of
God in the face of Jesus ; causes him, through the me-

JESUS CHRIST THE OrtE MEDIATOR. 201
dium of the Holy Scriptures, as in a glass, to behold his
reconciled God; and, whilst he thus beholds him with
the eyes of his understanding, sheds abroad the love of
God in bisheart; taking away the stony heart, and giv
ing bim a new heart, even a heart of flesh. So that
now the very sinner who looked upon Gad with dismay
a'nd enmity, approacheshim witb the language of contrite
love: " Father, I have sinned against heaven and before
thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son:"
"God be merciful to me, a sinner;" " Behold, we come
unto thee, for thou art the Lord our God."
This is that wbich the Lord Jesus Christ has done in
his mediatorial office ; he has " finished transgrfession,
made an end of sin, and brought in everlasting right
eousness." He now sits as a King and a Priest, having
in him " all the fulness of the Godhead," that out of
bis fulness we may all receive grace for grace: may in
him, at the same time, be adopted into the family of
God as his dear children; and may also "receive the
Spirit of adoption, whereby we may cry Abba, Father."
We have in bim that " Days-man" whom the Patriarch
Job so much desired, who can put bis hands on both
parties ; or, as Paul expresses, a Mediator, by whom we
may " comewith boldness to a Throne of Grace, to ob
tain mercy, and "find grace to belp us in every time of
need." Further: as tbe one Mediator between God and man,
he has not only united the two natures, fulfilled tbe Law,
and borne tbe ourse, having also in him all communica
tive grase, but " he ever lives to make intercession for
us." Far difierent from the legal high priest, who only
once a year entered into the typical holy place; he, as
the great High Priest, has " entered into beaven itself,
there to appear in the presence of God for us." He
there lives continually to exercise his mediatorial office
— continually to plead the merits of bis blood — continu
ally to be our Advocate — continually to receive gifts for
men: so that in bim, as Mediator, tbe chief of sinners
has a constant friend in the very prespnce-chamber of
Jehovah, even at the right hand of the Majesty on high;
a constant, unchangeable Advocate ; one with whom the

202 JESUS CHRIST THE ONE MEDIATOR.
Father is always well pleased, and who ever bas his own
merits to plead for our acceptance and blessing. Time
would fail to enter very minutely into his priestly office:
nor is it necessary; Paul sums it up in the xth chapter
of Hebrews; where he says, " Every priest standeth
daily ministering, and offering oftentiines the same sa
crifices, which can never take away sins : but this man,
after he had offered one sacrifice for sins, for ever sat
down on the right hand of God; from henceforth ex-,
pecting till his enemies be made his footstool. For by
one offering be bath perfected for ever tbem that are
sanctified. Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness
to us : for, after that he had said before, Tbis is the co
venant that I will make with them after those days^ saith
the Lord, I will put my laws into tbeir hearts, and in
their minds will I write them, and tbeir sins and iniqui
ties will I remember no more. Now where remission
of these is, there is no more offering for sin. Having
therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by
the blood of Jesus,, by a new and living way, which he
hath consecrated for us through the vail, tbat is to say,
bis flesh; and having an High Priest over the bouse of
God; let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance
of faitb, having our hearts sprinkled from- an evil con
science, and our bodies washed with pure water."
Here you see, that, in contrast to tbose priests who
stood daily ministering in the temple, He by his one
offering hath perfected for ever them who are sanctified.
We-are directed, therefore, to enter by faith into the
very presence of God, his blood authorizing, and his
introduction as our high priest assuring us of a gracious
reception. Such, my friends, is " the one Mediator between God
and men, the Man Christ Jesus;" and such being the
case, it necessarily follows that we need no other. For,
if we have one who has all the properties requisite for
the discharge of his office; and if JDy his one offering
he has reconciled God unto us, and, ever living to make
intercession for us and to impart the Holy Spirit to us,
is ready to give us assurance of tbis reconciliation, and
to fill our hearts with love- to God ; what more can we

JESUS CHRIST THE ONE MEDIATOR. 203
need? Should we not, by turning to any otber merit,
or looking to any other mediator, be like those who,
when a fountain of living waters was set before tbem,
turned aside to some broken cistern that eould hold no
water ? And should we not by such an act greatly dis
honour God ? Assuredly vre should. After He witb
such amazing love an'd superabundant goodness has pro
vided an all-sufficient 'Mediator, even his own Son, it
becomes us to look to HJm alone; to say, with tbe dying
martyr, "None but Jesus, none but Jesus!" "My
Lord, and my God!"
How jealous the Lord is of bis honour in this respect
very strikingly appears by this charge to tbe Israelites.
" If," says the Lord, " thou make me an altar of stone,
thou shalt not build it of hewn stone, for if thou lift up
thy tool upon it, thou hast defiled it." As much as to
say. If you think to add any thing of your own to the
altar I have provided, so far from its being pleasing, you
annul, or rather you totally corrupt and destroy it: the
altar must be tbis rock alone, even the Rock of Ages,
Christ Jesus the Lord, the only Altar, High-Priest, and
Mediator that God approves. So jealous is the Lord
upon tbis point. If this be so, and that it is, the wbole
inspired book of God testifies, is there not, my friends
of the Church of Rome, a. most dangerous error incul
cated by your spiritual guides? I know well, that
nominally tbey . declare, equally witb us, that Jesus
Christ the Son of God is the one Mediator: but we are
not to judge by words, but by facts. If they believed
that Jesus had " by his one offering perfected for ever
them that are sanctified," why should they day after
day, offer the sacrifice of the Mass, for this express pur
pose, as your Catechism declares, '" for obtaining pardon
of God?" Thes'e are the words of the " Abridgment of
Christian Doctrine, revised for tbe use of the Faithful in
the four Districts of England:" — " Q. What is the Mass?
Ans. It is the unbloody sacrifice of the body and blood
of Christ. — Q. What are tbe ends for wbich we are to
offer up this sacrifice? Ans. 1st, For God's honour and
glory: 2d,, In thanksgiving for all his benefits, and as a
perpetual memorial of the passion and death of his Son :

204 JESUS CHRIST THE ONE MEDIATOR.
3d, For -obtaining pardon of all our crimes: and 4th,
For obtaining all. graces and blessings through Jesus
Cbrist." You observe tbe expression, " For obtaining pardon of
all our sins, and for obtaining all graces and blessings
through Jesus Cbrist." Is not tbis putting "your own
tool to the altar?" For if the Lord Jesus Cbrist bas by
his one offering reconciled God to us, wbat need can,
there be for a priest to make a daily offering for sin? Is
it not to take off your confidence in the sacrifice of our
Lord Jesus, and to lead you to trust to your priest's
daily offering? So, if they believed that Jesus was the
One Mediator between God and man, why should tbey
seek for other intercessors ? TJiey say, " Holy Mary,
Mother of God^ pray for us;" and make a like supplica
tion to the several, Evangelists and Apostles, and a
crowd of other saints, found only in the calendar of their
church. Now it is impossible for the soul to exercise
confidence at the same moment on two different objects:
if a man simply rely upon the Lord Jesus, he will 'be
looking alone to his intercession; but. if he entreat- tbe
prayers of the Virgin Mary, or St. Francis, or any other
saint, be must,-for the time at least, have 'ceased to exer
cise unshaken confidence i-n the Loi'd. And can it be
judged a trivial error, thus to fall off from Christ?
"Cursed be the man," it is said, "that trusteth in man,
and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth
from the Lord." When, in the fervency of your de
votion, you are imploring St. Francis, a mere man, to
pray for you, you must, in heart, at least, be " departing
from the Lord." You say. It is only to make tbe Lord
Je^Sus more propitious that you use these intercessors:
but if the only son of a king had offered himself as me
diator between his father and his offending subjects,
would he not deem it a great dishonour, did they ima
gine, that, after be had undertaken the office, he woirld
not fulfil it, at least not without the entreaty of his cour
tiers? Would it "not be saying, there was more of truth,
and kindness, and sympathy iri tbe courtier than in tbe
prince ?
This is what the novel Church of Rome, in fact, does,

JESUS CHRIST THE ONE MEDIATOR. 20S
to the great dishonour of the Son of the Eternal King.
I call it the novel Church of Rome; for I beseech you to
bear this in mind, that the church that sanctioned tbe
Creed of Pius IV. — and this is the creed to which your
pope, your^ cardinals, your prelates, your priests, your
advocates, all now refer as the standard by which your
church is to be tried — I say that this church is but a
novel church; for it is essentially diflerent from that an
cient Church of Rome to which Paul wrote his Epistle,
and to which the Christians of the first tbree centuries
belonged. Judge for yourselves, my friends. Here is
the Creed of Pope Pius IV. —
" I believe in one God, tbe Father Almighty, Maker
of beaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisi
ble: And in one Lord Jesus Cbrist, the only begotten
Son of God: Light of light; true God of true God; be
gotten, not made; consubstantiate to the Father; by
whom all things were made: who for us men and for
our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate
by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made
man; was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate; suffered,
and was buried; and rose again tbe third day, according
to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven; sits at the
right hand of tbe Father,,and will come again witb glory
to judge tbe living and the dead; of whose kingdom
there will be no end: And in tbe Holy Ghost, the Lord
and Life-giver; who proceeds from the Father and the
Son; is adored and glorified; wbo spake by the prophets:
And one holy, catholic, apostolic church. I confess one
baptism for the remission of sins; And I expect tbe re
surrection of the body, and the life of the world to come.
Amen. "I most firmly admit and embrace apostolical and ec
clesiastical traditions, and all other constitutions and ob
servances of"tbe same church. I also admit the sacred
Scriptures, according to the sense wbich the holy mother
church bas held, and does bold; to whom it belongs to
judge of the true sense and interpretation of the holy
Scriptures; nor will I ever take or interpret them other
wise than according to the unanimous consent of the
fathers.

206 JESUS CHRIST THE ONE MEDIATOR.
"T profess'Eilso, that tbere are truly and properly seven
sacraments of' the new law, instituted by Jesus Christ
our Lord, and for the -salvation of mankind, though all
are not necessary for every one — viz. Baptisn;, Confisrm-
ation, Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction, Order,
and Matrimony- — and that they confer grace; and of
these. Baptism, Confirmation, and Order, cannot be re
iterated without sacrilege. I also receive and admit the
ceremonies of the Catholic Church, received and ap
proved in tbe solemn administration of .all the above-
said sacraments.
" I receive and embrace all and every one of tbe things
whicb bave been defined and declared in the Council of
Trent concerhing original sin and justification. I pro
fess also, that in ihe Mass is offered to God a true, pro
per, and propitiatory sacrifice for the living and tbe
dead ; and that in the most holy sacrifice of the Eucha
rist tbere is truly, really, -and substantially tbe body
and blood, together with the soul and divinity of our
Lord Jesus Christ; and tbat there is made a conversion'
of tbe whole substance of tbe wine into the blood,
which conversion the Catholic Church calls Transub
stantiation. I confess, also, that under either kind
alone, whole and entire Cbrist and a true sacrament is
received. " I constantly bold that tbere is a Purgatory, and that
the souls detained therein are helped by tbe suffrages of
the faithful. Likewise, that the saints, reigning together
witb Christ, are to be honoured and invocated; tbat they
offer prayers to God for us; and that their relics are to
be venerated.
" I most firmly assert, tbat the images of Christ, and
of the Mother of God ever virgin, and also of the other
saints, are to be had and retained; and that due honour
and veneration are to be given them.
" I also affirm, that the power of indulgences was left
by Cbrist in the church, and that tbe use of them is most
wholesome to Christian people.
" I acknowledge the holy, catholic, and apostolic Ro
man Cburch the mother and mistress of all churches;
and I promise and swear true obedience to the Romaa

JESUS CHRIST THE ONE MEDIATOR. 207
bishop, the successor of St. Peter the prince of the Apos
tles, and vicar of Jesus Christ.
" I_ also profess and undoubtedly receive all other
things delivered, defined, and declared by the sacred
canons and general councils, and particularly by tbe
holy Council of Trent: and, likewise, I also condemn,
reject and anathematize all things contrary thereto, and
all heresies wbatever, condemned, rejected, and anathe
matized by the church.
"^Tbis true .catholic faith, out of which none can be
saved, wbich I now freely profess and truly hold, I (N.)
promise, vow, affd swear most .constantly to hold and
profess the same, wbole and entire, with God's assist
ance, to the end of my life. Amen."
Such is tbe creed of tbe Cburch of Rome at this day.
Let me ask, if, after tbe words, "resurrection of tbe
body, and the life of the world to come," any of these
latter articles are to be found, in the Apostle's Creed?
Tbey are all mere novel additions, made in compara
tively modern times. ]\Jy friends, you are deceived
when you suppose that a cburch having sucb a creed is
the cburch of Christ. It renounced its allegiance to
Christ when it declared a faith which neither be nor bis
Apostles ever declared; and denounced curses which
be or they never denounced,
Think not that I speak these things in anger, or in a
spirit of acrimony, as if I had any pleasure in railing
against others. No; it is witb a mournful spirit that I
make these charges. Would to God that tbey wbo call
themselves the successors of tbe Apostles would abide
by the creed of tbe Apostles; and tbat be, who surnames
himself the Vicar of Cbrist, would honour Him in whose
place be says be stands!
But, whilst they declare tbis to be their faith, and are
leading you into these unscriptural errors; especially
whilst tbey are taking you off from Christ, " tbe one
Mediator between God and man," and tempting you to
trust in other merits or in other intercessors; I must, as
a servant of the Lord, and in love to your souls, protest
against these novel heresies, and warn you, witb the
affection of a brother, of your imminent danger. I would

208 JESUS CHRIST THE ONE MEDIATOR.
deal by you as the Apostles did by the Jewish Church,
when that church, though expressly of Divine appoint
ment, had made "void the word of God by their tradi
tions," — they plainly tqld their countrymen the errors
of the Jewish- priests, and with the' greatest boldness
exhorted them to " save themselves from an untoward
generation." Thus would I affectionately exhort you.
I would say to you, in the language of Jloly Scripture,
" Come out of ber, my people, that ye be not partakers
of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues."*
And I would do this, remembering your accountableness
to God. The Lord Jehovah has given you, in his writ
ten word, a revelation of hisTioly will; and in the inter
pretation of that word, no one can so come between God
and your soul, as to be responsible for your faith and for
your conduct. For God has never commanded you to
trust implicitly to the sayings of a priest, but to abide
by bis word: "To the law," he says, "and to the testi
mony: if tbey speak not according to this word, it is
because there is no ligbt,i9Jth^:"t ^qdwigain, " Heaven
and earth shall pass away;'bbt*rny word sball never pass
awayJ' Wben your priest brings you, the Creed of
Pius IV., and says, " This is the creed of the cburch,
the creed the pope commands you to believe; and,
unless you believe it, I will neither admit you to the
Mass, nor give you absolution now or Extreme Unction
at death;" wben your priest thus comes to you, you
may ask, " Should this creed of Pope Pius be contrary
to tbe word of God, can you give me pardon at the Day
of Judgment? can you pass me through the gates of
heaven ? or can you pluck me from bell, if I should fall
into the bottomless pit by your errors? Unless you can
do this, I must obey God rather than man: I must look
only to the one Mediator between God and men, the
Man Christ Jesus: I must renounce the Mass, the wor
shipping of the Virgin Mary arid of other departed"
saints, and worship God by Cbrist his Son."
May God give you boldness thus to act! You would
not be the first of -your brethren who, witb mine own
* Rev. xix. 4. t Isa. viii 20.

JESUS CHRIST THE ONE MEDIATOR. 209
eyes, I have seen doing this in the face of the congrega
tion. It is only a few months since I bad the privilege
of seeing tbis sight, jn a parish church in the county of
Wicklow. Oh that the God of all grace might, if it be
his will, honour the discourses of bis servants, by making
this church the scene of sucb another spectacle! tbat
many might " flee out of tbe midst of Babylon, and
deliver every man his soul!" Recollect that when
God has addressed you by his Ministers, you stand
no longer as you stood before. You leave not this
bouse as you entered it. After you have heard
the errors of tbe Church of Rome plainly declared,
if you still remain members of that communion, against
whicb God bas denounced such ¦ terrible judgments,
you will do it at your own peril; your -blood will
be upon your own beads. Oh, then, take heed to what
I say. God, who knows the hearts of all, knows that
it is your salvatioa only that I seek. I speak not in an
angry and contentious spirit, but with a heart full of love
and good will towards you. Oh that the Spirit of God
may bring the word with power to your souls!
My beloved Christian brethren, let me entreat you to
pause for a moment; and, in tbe silent chamber of your
hearts, beseech the Lord to grant the special aid of his
Spirit to accompany this warning. Who can tell, speak
ing after the manner of men, but tbe eternal welfare of
some one, or more, of our poor deluded brethren may
depend upon this moment? "Now," we are told, "is tbe
accepted time; now is the day of salvation." Oh, then,
my Christian friends, you who are in tbe habit of reali
zing the presence of God, and audently pouring out your
hearts before him, let me entreat your prayers. Beseech
the''Lord to put an honour upon bis word, and grant tbat
many may know it as the power of God unto salvation.

82

JUDICIAL BLINDNESS
THE PUNISHMENT OF REJECTED TRUTH.
BY THE
REV. WILLIAM MARSH, M.A.
3 Thess. ii. 10, 11. Th'ey received not the love of truth, that they
mi.ght be saved: and for this cause God shall send them strong
delusion, that they should believe a lie.
Of all the fatal effects of sin, none is calculated to strike
more horror into considering minds than this — that
every sinful action a man commits naturally disposes
him to another; and that it is scarcely possible for him
to do any thing so ill, but that it proves a preparative
and an introduction to something worse. The indul
gence of sinful affections has also a remarkable tendency
so to blind tbe minds of men, as to lead tbem to call
evil good and good evil;, and even to think tbey are
doipg God service wben tbey are directly opposing his
will. - ' '
We have, in the text before us, a particular class of
rnpn; first casting off the truth, then passing into a state
of delusion, and finally settling in a fixed belief of a lie.
So also, when pne generation of men becomes indiffer
ent to the truth, another will reject it and despise it, and
become the patrons of opposing errors ; till the cbmmu-
nity, as a visible body, be under the judgment of spiritual
blindness. By such miserable gradations it is tbat sin
commonly arrives, at its full maturity.
I would that such remarks were only applicable to
the more profligate part of mankind, and to such as bad
altogether renounced the authority of religion; but the
Apostle, in the context, refers to a great apostasy from
the Christian faith, and to the consequences of a corrup-
tionof Christian truth, among those who would yet assume
and retain the Christian profession, and deceive man-

JUnlOIAI. BLINDNESS, &C. 211
kind under the Christian name. The Apostle had so fre
quently referred, in his First Epi'stle, to the coming of
the Lord, that the Thessalonians imagined the great day
was near at hand. To correct this mistake, he informs
them, that there would be " first a falling away, or apos
tasy from the true faith and worsb'ip; and the man of
sin be revealed;" — that this apostasy, thus embodied,
would "oppose, and exalt itself a^bove all that is called
God, or that is worshipped;" or, in other words, would
assume authority over all kings and magistrates, and
above all power, civil and religious; so thathe would sit
in tbe temple, or church of God, as if he were the proper
representative of God, and had a right to exercise his
prerogatives. Paul then declares, tbat this tyrannical
Spirit of pride was, even in bis day, working in tbe
Christian church; but that it could not manifest itself
fully till heathen Rome should become Christian. And
then that lawless power would increase by degrees, at
length come to maturity, and would continue to act, till
the Lord should " consume it by the spirit of his mouth,
and destroy it by the brightness of his coming." In the
mean time the apostate would maintain bis ground, not
only by tyrannical acts, but by lying signs and wonders,
and by the energy of Satan, and unrighteous deceit. He
then declares, that this tremendous corruption of Chris
tianity would be .visited with awful punishment; that
they who received not " the love of the truth, but
had pleasure in unrighteousness," would be given up to
strong delusion,, tbe energy of error, and would*be satis
fied with their own lie; and thus they would come into
condemnation. From these words I shall consider
I. The sin with which thet are char&ed.
II. The punishment denounced against it.
I. There are certain truths which men might know,
even without the Holy Scriptures. " For the invisible
things of God, from tbeiireation of tbe world, are clearly
seen, being understood by the things that are made, even
his eternal power and Godhead." (Rom. i. 20.) And
there are other truths whicb men may easily learn, where
revelation is afforded : e. g. " That God is the rewarder

212 JUDICIAL BLINDNESS
of them that diligently seek him ; that he commandeth
all men every where to repent ; and that he has appoint
ed a day, in whicb he will judge the world in righteous
ness, by that Man whom he hath ordained ; whereof he
hath given assurance unto all men, in thathe bath raised
him from the dead." • (Heb. xi. 4; Acts xvii. 30, 31.)
But truth and a lie, as contrasted in the text, refer to the
true way of salvation by Christ, and to errors in faith
as undermining it^ and also to tbe acceptable way of
worshipping God ; and to false worship, as corrupting it.
Hence, real Christianity is called " tbe truth as if is
in Jesus;" " the truth according to godliness;" "tbe
great mystery of godliness." And corrupt Christianity
is termed " the mystery of iniquity ; the mother of abo
minations; tbe strong delusion; the deceiving lie." Now,
as a regard for truth, as truth, implies a right disposition
of mind ; and the love of it, when discovered, a proper
state of beart ; so indifference to it, and much more a
rejection of it, argues a depraved state of .soul, and is
highly criminal before God. The siii, therefore, with
whicb these persons are charged is,
I. An utter disregard for truth.
Whereyer tbe Gospel of Christ comes, which discloses
the holy and gracious character of God ; wherever the
oracles of God are, which contain all truth, and nothing
but truth ; wherever real Christianity has an opportunity
of being beard, as proclaiming glory .to God in the high
est, on earth peace and good-will towards men, there men
are bound to embrace the truth. It ought to be enthroned
in their judgment and affections. They should hail it
with as much delight as the inhabitants of tbe Northern
Pole the return of the sun, after the dreary months of
darkness. That we may highly esteem it, revelation
sets it forth in the most alluring forms. It shows the
necessity, the suitableness, and the excellency of the
salvation which is in Cbrist; how adapted it is to our
present state, as guilty and polluted ; and wbat present
peace and future glory it bestows. It thus commends
itself to our understandings and our conscience. Ought
not then a rational nature highly to esteem it ? and is
not a want of regard for it a heinous iniquity ? For,

THE PUNISHMENT OP REJECTED TRUTH. 213
consider, whence does this disregard for truth arise, but
from a perverse judgment and vitiated affections? Unless
the mind and heart were thus depraved, as soon as tbe
judgment discovered something of the excellency of
truth, the affections would tbereby be set upon it ; and
the beart, being thus affected towards it,: would mate
rially aid the judgment in further discovering its value;
but it is the union of these two, ofa perverse judgment
and vitiated affections, that renders mankind so indiffer
ent to the truth ; indifferent to the salvation freely be
stowed tbi'ough the redemption which is in Christ Jesus,
and to the renewal of the powers of tbcsoul by the Holy
Spirit. And is not this disregard to the Only reinedy
for all tbe moral diseases of our nature, a heinous fault?
" For how shall we escape, if we neglect so great salva
tion." (Heb. ii, 3.)
The characters before us, however, are not charged
merely with this fault; but a heavier chai"go-is brougbt
against them, — namely,
2. A determined rejection of truth.
When truth is set before us, we should say, " Let tbis
be written on the imagination of the thoughts of my
heart for ever." Every description of our own sinful
ness should call forth tbe prayer, " God be merciful to
me, a sinner." And every view of tbe mediatorial work
of Christ should lead us to exclaim, " God forbid that I
should glory save in- the cross of our Lord Jesus Cbrist."
And 'every declaration of tbe love of God should excite
in us love to God. And every promise of Divine influ
ence, earnest breathings for that influence. And every
command to follow- Christ, an effort, in dependence on
the Holy Spirit, to imitate him, and be conformed to
him. This would manifest the love of the truth : but
the same perverse judgment and vitiated affections,^ that
cause men to disregard the truth, operate oftentimes more
strongly, and lead to a determined rejection of it. Wben
the ignorance of- the natural man is stated, they reject
the statement with indignation, and like the Pharisees,
say, " Are we blind also ?" Wben the guilt of our state
by nature is depicted, they reply with the Jews to Jere
miah, " Thou speakest falsely." When Christ is set

214

JUDICIAL BLINDNESS

forth, as " the end of the law for righteousness to every
one that believeth," they are offended at that, saying,
and will ",not submit to the righteousness of God, which
is by faith of Jesus Christ, but are determined to go about
to establish their own righteousness." Wben required
to turn from their iniquities, and not to be conformed to
this world, tbey obstinately resolve, " we bave loved
strangers, and after them we- will go." And observe,
this is a perverse and vicious rejection of tbe truth. It
does not arise merely from ignorance, or from early im
pressions in favour of some erroneous system, or from
custom and the practice of our forefathers, or from the
authority and example of the great and of the many ;
but from tbat state of heart which would rather live and
die in its own opinions and errors^ than submit to the
truth brought before it by the Scriptures. That truth,
being opposed in, its doctrines to human pride, and in its
precepts to the love and practice of sin, calls forth the
enmity of tbe mind, and there ensues tbi^ determined
rejection of it. " Tbey received not the love of the
truth," says the Apostle ; " they had pleasure ' in un
righteousness." Now this is no small 'degree of rebel
lion ; it calls forth the admonitions, and reproofs, and
warnings, of inspired men; and it will bring down, the
righteous judgment of Almighty God.
Let us tberefore consider,-
II. The PUNISHMENT DENOUNCED AGAINST IT.
All sin deserves punishment. Every species of infi
delity as levelled at the prophetic office of Christ; every
system of self-righteousness, as opposed to the sacerdo
tal office of Cbrist ; and all kinds of profaneness, as dis
obedience to the regal office of Cbrist, merit a righteous
recompense of reward. Yet all may be. blotted out. —
" All manner of sin and blasphemy may be forgiven."
The infidel may become a believer ; the self-righteous,
a humble Christian ; and the profane, a holy and devoted
servant of the Lord : but my text describes one wbo has
so little regard for truth, and is so determined to reject
it, that no hope is left. Tbe Righteous Governor of the
World will afford no further evidence, but will visit the
sin,

THE PUNISHMENT OF REJECTED TRUTH. 215
I. With judicial blindness.
" God shall send them strong delusion." Hebrew
words in Scripture, denoting action, are used to express
tbe permitting of that action. God is not the author of
sin; but, as a punishment, he suffers men to fall into
greater sins. Thus the determined rejection of his truth
is visited by the righteous judgment of leaving men to
be hardened in error. The Lord's prophets are despised;
therefore false apostles shall be their teachers. , His truth,
confirmed by real miracles, is hated ; therefore false
miracles shall lead them astray: tbey will not have the
King of Zion to reign over tbem ; therefore an impos
tor and a tyrant shall be tbeir ruler. The Scriptures of
truth they are determined to close ; tberefore tbe tradi
tions of men shall be their fallacious guide. As their
presumption knows no bounds, so for their persevering
impiety, tbey are gfven over to final impenitence and
delusion; they confide -in falsehood, they believe a lie.
And bow great is this judgment! If God were to visit
a man with extreme poverty, so that he became as poor
as Job, or as wretched as Lazarus, yet would he be a
happy man, if he had light in his understanding and love
in his heart. For, bowever, he may be tried now, " God
has from the beginning chosen him to salvation, through
sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth." —
But let him be exalted as Pharaoh, or raised to a throne
like Saul ; yet if be be under strong delusion and believe
a lie, be is a miserable man, because be is on tbe verge
of destruction. Ignorance and deception become the
incurable disease of his mind. He passes by realities,
and takes appearances for truth: he is pleased and ena
moured with his error, and goes down to tbe grave'with
" a lie in his right hand." This sin then, is visited
2. Witb inevitable judgment.
We must place no bounds to the power or grace of
the Most High; nor hastily condemn any individual;
but when man has pertinaciously rejected truth, and
filled up the measure of bis iniquities, the Scriptures
afford no hope. There are- also errors whicb are pecu
liarly destructive in their nature, and sins " which drown
men in perdition." If such be persisted in,. eternal judg-

216 JUDICIAL BLINDNESS
ment follows. "After his hardness and impenitent heart,
he treasures up unto bimself wrath against the day of
wrath, and revelation of the righteous judgment of God."
Observe thc degrees of hardness here mentioned ; they
received not the love of the truth, they believed a lie,
they had pleasure in unrighteousness, and their doom is
sealed. Such is tbe punishment denounced against the
final rejection of the truth.
In applying my subject, I must address myself,
1. To the members of the Roman Catholic Church.
• So far from considering you as necessarily under judi
cial blindness, I now preach and often earnestly pray
tbat you may never be finally left to yourselves, or ex
perience so great misery. No, bowever I may differ
from you as to many important points, I can make sorrie
allowance for educational prepossessions and long habits,
and tbe influence of circumstances; and God, who search-
eth the heart, can make more. I assure you I delight in
the thought, that many a member of the Church of Rome,
even perhaps at a late period, practically acknowledges,
with your dying Bellarmine, that " it is safer to trust in
Jesus." When the Jewish nation had departed from the
faith delivered to Abraham and renewed to Moses, God
could discover wbat a Prophet could not see, that there
were "seven thousand who bad not bowed the knee to
the image Of Baal." And ih all the dark ages of the Chris
tian church, and under all tbe disadvantages of imperfect
instruction, who shall say how many thousands clean es
cape in heart from what an Apostle would call " damna
ble heresies?" I entreat you, tberefore, not to consider
me as denouncing judgment on any individual when I
deliver my opinion faithfully as to the church to wbich
you adhere.
With respect to tbe Church of Rome, as it is now
constituted, and has been constituted and administered
for ages, as a believer in the Scriptures, I can have no
hope. She is there so graphically described, tbat it is
scarcely possible to be wejl acquainted with her history,
and to have any clear understanding of holy writ, and
not perceive that ber errors were foreseen, and ber doom
denounced. The apostasy mentioned in the chapter

THE PUNISHMENT OF REJECTED TRUTH. 217
before us exactly describes the pride of her pontiffs and
the imposition of ber priests. She arose out of a worldly
and corrupt state of the church, and arrived at power
when the einpire was divided by the invasions from the
north. She has aimed at supreme and universal domi
nion, and has deposed at her will magistrates and kings.
She has arrogated to herself the right of changing times
and laws, and of dispensing pardons and indulgences,
and of shutting heaven or opening hell. If I proceed
to another description of thf apostasy, as given by the
Apostle in 1 Tim. iv. 1 — 3, still I find her particular
features described. "Now tbe Spirit speaketh expressly,
that in tbe latter times some sball depart from the faith,
giving heed to seducing spirits;" that is, teachers who
falsely pretend to be inspired, and " doctrines of devils;"
that is, doctrines concerning demons, or the power of
angels and departed saints^ whereby the worship and
confidence due to Christ, as Governor and sole Mediator,
are obscured or neglected: "Speaking lies in hypo
crisy," or inventing innumerable falsehoods to recom
mend their erroneous doctrine and corrupt worship to
the uninstructed multitude: "Forbidding to marry,"
recommending, under the false ' prfetence of holiness, a
single life to the Monks, and Friars, and Nuns, and en
joining it on the clergy ; and, under tbe equally false pre
tence of devotion, commanding "to abstain from meats,"
enjoining abstinence from meats to some men at all times,
and to all men at some times. Now if the character and
principles of an apostasy be thus particularized, and
there be but one church to which they will apply, and
that church will still adhere to them, does not this look
like judicial blipdness; and is not that church in danger
of inevitable judgment ?
Again, if the open and avowed tenets of any church
calling itself Christian, be contrary to the Holy Scrip
tures, and its worship and customs be unauthorized by
tbose Scriptures, is it not to be ascribed to judicial
blindness, tbat, Ln spite of remonstrance, and argument,
and reason, tbey will yet follow that mode of worship,
and retain those tenets ? Let, then, the dogmas of the
Council of Trent be considered, and where, in the ora-
T

218 JUDICIAL BLINDNESS
cles of truth, shall we find a counterpart ? We read in
Scripture, that Christ is the " way, tbe truth, and the
life, and that no man cometh to the Father but by bim,"
and tbat there is but one Mediator between God and
men;* but where do we read of the blessed Virgin Mary
as a mediatrix of intercession, or of any of tbe departed
saints as mediators or intercessors in any sense? We
read of God as being worshipped "in spirit and in
truth;" but where do we find images used as a help to
devotion? We read, of "Christ being once offered- to
bear tbe sins of many," of Jews and Gentiles ; but
where are the texts wbich speak of the daily sacrifice of
the mass ? We read of the impossibility of being justiv
fied " by the Works bf the law;" and tbat, after we have
done all, we are unprofitable servants ;t but where do we
find the justifying merit of works, or any countenance
given to works of supererogation ? We read of a volun
tary humility and worshipping of_angels as condemnedjf
but where do we read that they are the objects of invo
cation and trust? We read of future punishment; but
where is it asserted that masses and prayers of priests
can deliver any who bave fallen short of happiness?
We are assured that, " if we confess our sins, God is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness."§ And we also are directed
to confess our faults one to another, that we may be
reconciled when at variance;|| and doubtless we may
profitably consult our fellow Christians on our expe
rience and our difficulties; but where are we directed to
unbosom the secrets of our hearts to a prfest? We are
further indeec^ informed, tbat, in the primitive ages, if
the elders of the church prayed over and anointed the
sick in tbe name of the Lord, that- should be the means
of saving him from ternporal death; but where are we
told that the absolution of the priest is necessary to save
from eternal death? or, that extreme unction is essential
to out everlasting salvation? But, where shall I end
witb the sad delusions which the Church of Rome has

- John xiv. 6 ; 1 Tim. ii. 5. t Col. ii. 18. || James v. 16.
t Luke xvii. 10. § John i. 7.

THE PUNISHMENT OF REJECTED TRUTH. 219
imposed on tbe people? Has she not devised seven
sacraments, when there are but two? And has she not
denied the cup to the laity, wben the Corinthian church
was directed both to eat the bread and drink the cup?*
And has she not invented traditions as contrary to Christ
in tbe Gospel, as more direct idolatry is to the honour
of God in the Law? and does ^she not virtually teach
that, in the sacred Scriptures, God has given a defective
rule, and will be pleased with that which he has not
commanded ? If such a system as this be not a lie, there
is no truth in our world. And yetf you are taught to
believe that there is no -salvation except within the pale
of that cburch; thus substituting the belonging to that
cburch for the belonging to Christ. All we ask of our
Roman Catholic friends, is diligently to search the Scrip
tures, and then judge of their own cburch by tbat re
markable passage witb which they close: "If any man
shall add unto these things, God shall add unto bim the
plagues that are written in this book: and if any man
shall take away from the words of the book of tbis pro
phecy, God shall take away his part out of tbe book of
life."t Wonder not, then, but give us credit for our
Christian love, and best wishes for your happiness, when
we say, " Come out of her, my people, that ye be not
partakers of ber sins, and that ye, receiye not of her
plagues."J May it please thee, 0 Lord, to grant unto
them whicb be in error tbp light of thy truth, and to
hasten its final victory over every delusion.
2. To tbe professors of the Protestant faith.
Whilst I congratulate you in being rescued from tyran
nic power, false doctrines, and delusive hopes ; in being
possessed of the right of private judgment, and liberty
of conscience; in baving the consolatory doctrines of
Revelation perpetually before your eyes;§ and in thus
being provided with every thing essential to peace of
mind, purity of conduct, and'victory over the last enemy;
let me exhort you to take warning by tbe Church of Rome.
* 1 Cor. xi. 25—28. t Rgv. xxii. 18, 19. t Rev. xviii. 4
§ John iii. 14—17 ; Acts xiii. 38, 39; Rom. iii. 24—26; Rom. v. ;
Titus iii. 4 — 7.

220 JUDICIAL BLINDNESS
" Then standest by faith ; be not high minded, but fear:
behold therefore tbe goodness and severity of God : to
ward tbem which fell severity, but toward thee good
ness, if thou fcontinue in his goodness ; otherwise thou
also shalt be cut off." If witb all your peculiar advan
tages there be a disregard for truth; and much more, if
tbere be a determined rejectfon of it, " take heed, lest
he also spare not thee." Alas! how many are there,
who, while boasting of thgir freedom from priestly do
minion, are still the slaves of error, and trust in their
own righteousness! How many are there who indulge
an antipathy to.holiness, in which, so much of the crim
inality of error lies! And/ how many have even rev
nounced the authority of revealed truth, and believe^
the lie of infidelity! Whilst there- are others wbo are
satisfied to be ignorant, and seek tbeir happiness in the
things of time and sense, and regard tbis world as a sub
stance, rather than as a fleeting shadow, and so believe
that lie. The father of lies has many, methods of de
luding the human race: beware tberefore, ye professors
of the Protestant faith, with the Bible in your hands,
lest ye "neglect so great salvation," and perish with
aggravated guilt. Be it known unto you also, tbat it is
a principle of the Divine.government to punish a neglect
of truth, and a rejection of truth, with that delivering
up, 'that desertion, that judicial permission of circum
stances and events, .by whicb men come under strong
delusion, and actually believe a lie.
In addressing those Protestants who have "received
the love of the truth," and who rejoice in the holy and
gracious cbaracter of God as exhibited in Christ Jesus
our Lord : I would say, out of love impart the know
ledge of it, and in the same spirit endeavour to propa
gate it. Let others see your regard for it by your zeal
to promote it. But let them see that- it is love, and love
alone, which actuates you. Yo,u have " beliteved tbe
love tbat God hath to you;" then show that love to
others. You have experienced the patience of God to
wards you ; then exercise .patience towards others. You
have found how kindly he has borne with your infirmi
ties ; then bear with the infirmities of your neighbours.

THE PUNISHMENT OP REJECTED TRUTH. 221
Attempt to convince them of their errors, and faithfully
to reprove their sins, but do it in love ; and sooner or
later tbey shall bless you.
God grant to all wbo profess and call themselves
Christians an earnest desire to know the truth ; a hearty
reception of it in love ; a growing experience of its suit
ableness and power ; and a final enjoyment of tt in the
kingdom of our Lord. And may his word have free
course and be glorified, till He who was the Truth, and
bare witness to the truth of his salvation and kingdom,
shall come to destroy the man, of sin, and establish his
rule of righteousness among the children of men.

PRACTICAL TENDENCY OF POPERY.
BT THE
REV. J. W. CUNNINGHAM, M.A.
Matt. xii. 33. — The tree is knovi^n by its fruit.
Some of those who are fully prepared to admit tbe doc
trinal errors of Popery, are disposed, nevertheless, to
consider the disputes of Papists and Protestants as not of
vital importance. And tbe ground of this Opinion is,
that, whateverbe the theoretical difference, the practical
result of these and of all otber systems of religion, is, in
their estimation, much the same. Let either Popery or
Protestantism have its free course, and it is conceived
that the civil, political, and perhaps even moral conse
quences, will not be' materially different. Now, Chris
tian brethren, suppose the point, for the sake of argument,
conceded (which, however, never can be conceded), that
error is not to be resisted as error, whatever be its ap
parent or real results ; and* that Popery is to be tried only
by its practical consequences ; can its influence be con
sidered as of a merely negative or harmless character?
Is it to be regarded merely as the meteor, flashing its
threatening light over the landscape for a moment, and
then vanishing away ; or, as really " shaking pestilence"
and ruin upon every spot wbich it visits? Is it a libel
upon Popery to say, that no reasonable hope can be en
tertained of the welfare of any country, or individual,
where its tenets are fully and cordially embraced ?
The object of the present discourse is to' endeavour,
in dependence upon the Divine blessing, to reply to
these questions. But it is impossible to enter upon
this undertaking without a deep sense of its diffi
culty. In the first place, who has not felt the almost
insuperable difficulty of so tracing events to tbeir real

ON THE PRACTICAL TENDENCY OF POPERY. 223
causes, as to assign to each wbat properly belongs to it?
Who, also, has not found, tbat events, which appear to
us to rise in the natural order of cause and effect, are
often the mere result of what may be termed accident?
Who, again, has not discovered, that, where tbe practical
tendency of any principle or system is to be ascertained
by its influenca upon human beings, tbe irregularities of
the mind are such, as to produce in different individuals
the most opposite results from the same causes? Such
being the jierplexities of the question before us, bow
earnestly ought we to labour, in the conduct of the argu
ment, to " maintain a conscience void of offence ;" and
to cultivate a spirit of candour a-nd integrity ! How
earnestly, above allj should we implore the assistance of
tliat blessed Spirit who can alone " guide us into all
truth ;" that so we may neither extenuate what is wrong,
nor asperse what is right; that we may not give to pre
judice the authority of truth, nor imagine those evils
whicb we do not find; and, finally, that we may judge
a system by which the destiny of so many millions is to
be decided, as we believe it will be judged at the great
day of account.
In thus estimating tbe practical tendencies of
Popery, it will be my wish to notice its influence,
I. Upon Liberty.
II. Upon Literature.
III. Upon Happinjiss.
IV. Upon Religion.
I. In tbe first place, we are to consider its influence
UPON liberty.
Nor let this question be considered as foreign to the
place in which I stand, or tbe office which I am, called to
discharge. By- the term liberty, I do not here mean
simply freedom, civil and political, precious as these
possessions must be considered; but that species of li
berty which may exist even amidst the severest bodily
or political bondage. I mean, liberty of mind, of heart,
of conscience; freedom to canvass, to judge, to decide,
to act, upon all tbe great subjects of thought, feeling, and
practice, connected with time and eternity. As to this

224 ON THE PRACTICAL TENDENCY OF POPERY.
point, it may be wqll to consider both the tendency of
Popery, and its' actual effects.
What, then, must be the influence upon liberty, of a
system which brings even tbe word of God to the bar of
burrtan judgment? which begins by denying its authen
ticity, till the Pope has affirmed it? which goes oh to
refer to him, exclusively, the right of deciding what the
sacred volume mea*is, and who shall read it? which
places on the same foundation the doctrines of the Trin
ity, of the Unity of the Godhead, 'or tbe Divinity of
Christ, with the doctrine tbat the bread becomes flesh
and the wine blood in the Sacrament of the Mass? Nor
is this terrible despotism confined to tbe subject of reli
gion.. The Index Expurgatorius of the Cburch of Rome
forbids, under the severest penalties, the reading many
of the fundamental -works upon tbe highest subjects of
thought and practice. The prescription of ages, tbe
general estimation of other European communities, the
intrinsic value of a work, are not suffered to oppose the
smallest barrier to the ipse dixit, the mere affirmation, of
the Church. Good and evil, right and wrong, truth and
falsehood, are, in fact, reduced to so many mere names
conferred .exclusively at the font of Papal baptism.
Such being the spirit and regulations of Popery, can
we wonder, that, wherever it rules, liberty of mind is al
most an unknown quality? 'I say, " wlierever itrules;"
because Popery is not to be judged by its influence in
countries where its power is checked by tbe countervail
ing influence of a purer iaith, or tbe spirit of political
independence. In France, and parts of Germany, for
example, various circumstances have contributed to
counteract its absolute dominion. But let it be contem
plated as it now exists and operates in Spain or Italy,
and how heavy is the yoke it has there imposed upon
the mind ! How deep is the degradation of those coun
tries! How great is tbe'disparity between them and the
other members of the European commonwealth ! And
the same thing is true of all ages. Pure Popery and real
liberty cannot breathe in tbe same atmosphere. Kings,
as well as subjects, bave groaned'under the insolence of
this usurpation.- Henry IV. of Germany, for instance.

ON THE PRACTICAL TENDENCY OF POPERY. 225
was ordered by tbe Pope to remain three days, with
bare head and feet, ip the open air, and obeyed tbe man
date. Frederic L was constrained to hold tbe Pope's
stirrup. Henry II. of England submitted to be scourged
at tbe tomb of Becket. — The Council of Troyes decreed
that tbe powers of the world were not, until desired, to
seat themselves in the presence of the bishops; and tho
powers of the world for a time obeyed. — Neither has
philosophy escaped tbe grasp of this absolute dominion.
The Pope, having determined that the sun did, or ought
to, move round the earth, Galileo was imprisoned for
maintaining tbe true but oprposite system* And the
learned authors of tbe Jesuits' edition of Newton, hav
ing established, by incontrovertible proof, the theory of
Galileo and Newton, proceed, in dutiful submission to
the will of the Church, to usher their volumes into the
world, by tbe cowardly declaration of the falsity of the
theory they have established. Can bondage be more
complete and sordid than this? How wide the differ
ence, my Christian brethren, between tbe bondage of
such kings and philosophers, and the independence of an
English ploughman! , And how tremendous are the con
sequences of such mental bondage! Can it be hoped
tbat truth should establish herself in countries thus en
thralled? — Other slavery is comparatively tolerable, be
cause, as bas been already stated, in the midst of it the
mind may be free; but here the source of freedom is de
filed, and all the streams run foul: here, the main spring
of independence is broken, and the whole machine goes
to ruin : here, the heart is dead, and no 'pulse can be ex
pected in the extremities.
II. But, secondly, consider, the iNFLtrENCE of pope
ry UPON LITERATURE.
It is, of course, by no means my intention to ascribe
the sudden efflux of all that may be ranged under the
term Literature, at the period of the Reformation, to
that great moral change in the history of mankind. It
is probable tbat knowledge would then, or soon after,
have forced her way to public attention, without the as
sistance of Religion; but Religion, without doubt, ma
terially assi.sted and accelerated her movements. The

226 ON THE PRACTICAL TENDENCY OF POPERY.
Reformation both cast down thousands of the old bar
riers which Popery had already erected against ber pro
gress, and left no space for the new ones she was sure to
have added. And, that I may not be* considered as guilty
of calumny in thus speaking of Popery, let us consider
some of the facts connected witb its history.
In Rome, for example, the censorship of books, one
of tbe mo'st powerful of all instruments for the extinc
tion of knowledge— was first modelled and established.
In Rome, that favourite child of science and charnpion
of letters among the Roman Catholics, Leo X. prohi
bited, chiefly with a view to keep the sacred Scriptures
out of the hands of the great mass of the people, every
work translated from the Greek and Hebrew. The
same Pope forbad the reading of any one book written
by Luther or his brother Reformers. In the bull called
'In coena Domini^' all persons were excommunicated
who read any single heretical work. The celebrated
author of the History of the Council of Trent states tbat
the Roman Inquisitors prohibited every book published
by sixty-two different printers, and all books published
by any one printer, who had ever published any one
heretical book. — Nor let it be thought that the Index
Expurgatorius is the work -only of a barbarous age: it is
still in existence and operation, and at the moment when
I am speaking probibits-many of the noblest productions
of human genius. And suppose tbis prohibition removed
from all other books, it is still to be recollected that the
Book of- God — tbe Book of life — the book which the
Lamb died to unseal — the book wbich is the rule of our
actions, the deposit of our hopes, the charter of our joys
— this book is still, unless by the fiat of his priest, a
sealed volume to the Roman Catholic layman. Any
vulgar, half-educated, tyrannical churchman, is at liberty
to close it to the prince or the scholar; and, what is
worse, to the poor, "the mourner, and the devout servant
of a crucified Lord.
Are we asked, what have been the actual effects -of
such a system upon literature? I beg the inquirer to
turn over the pages of history, and look at the state of
tbose ages in wbich Popery swayed without a rival the

ON THE PRACTICAL TENDENCY OF POPERY. 227
sceptre of civilized Europe. The bishops in some in
stances, and the clergy, in many, were not able even to
sign their own names; a^id schools for tbe poor were
unknown. The lamentation of a Churchman is on re
cord, that a new language, called Greek, had been dis
covered, which threatened the most serious calamities to
the Cburch! 'And af tlie present moment, look at the
circumstances of Spain and Italy: the nobles and pea
sants sunk into almost the same state of ignorance, dissi
pation and sensuality. Thug also in the Valais, a popish
canton of Switzerland, amongst a population of, 100,000
persons, not one bookseller, -and only one printer, and
he a mere creature of the Jesuits, is to be found. The
deniand would create the supply. If there were au
thors, there would of necessity be printers and book
sellers. It will, indeed, be contended, that tbe classical manu
scripts were, in the barbarous ages, preserved chiefly by
the instrumentality of the Church. But then, those
alone wbo were possessors of these manuscripts could be
the preservers of them ; and the monasteries were the na
tural deposits of every thing ancient and curious. Cer
tain it is, that, when Melancthon and many other of the
Reformers, called literature to the aid of the " new reli
gion," the professors of the old faitb discovered, as a
body, tbe grossest ignorance on all subjects of human
learning. It must be admitted, that occasionally, some rare ge
nius in the regions of Popery hasoverleapt the intel
lectual boundaries pre.scribed by this spiritual despotism.
But these instances are far from being a fair specimen of
the whole. And it should also be observed, that these
efforts of' genius in Popish countries bave been, for tbe
most part, confined to the fields of ornamental literature.
And this is easily explained. It is truth, and not taste,
which is formidable to Popery; and therefore a latitude
is granted to poets and painters, which is denied to all
other classes of the community. But for one real phi
losopher, or moral writer, who can be detected in the
ranks of Popery, what a multitude might be summoned
from those of Protestantism! Neither our time nor our

228 ON THE PRACTICAL TENDENCY OF POPERY.
circumstances, however, allow us to dwell on tbis topic.
Nor is it necessary: let a man simply pass from any one
of the Catholic to any one of tbe Protestant states of
Germany or Switzerland, or from Popish Ireland to
Protestant Scotland, and he will see at once that Popery
is not less the enemy of real knowledge than of real
religion. The effects of the Reformation were very
striking as to this point. When Luther lifted- aloft the
torch of tbe Reformation, it seemed to shed as much
light upon the college as upon the temple. Scholars
started from every corner of the awakened world. The
interpreters of the newly opened Scriptures ransacked
all the treasures of ancient literature to illustrate and
enforce them. Controversy soon sharpened the' intpl-
lectual faculties. In a short time a flame was' lighted
up whicb has never been extinguished; which at length
penetrated even to the gloomy recesses of Popery itself;
and tbe result has been, that education is almost general
— that science has left scarcely any of the mysteries of
nature unexplained— that learning has exhausted all the
stores with which antiquity had furnished ber — and that
the multiplication of books in Protestant countries is
such as to outrun the industry of the most indefatigable
student. III. But I come, thirdly, to examine the influence
OP POPERY UPON human HAPPINESS.
And here, as on every otber topic connected witb this
subject, tbe accumulation of matter is sucb as to make
the difficulty of selection exceedingly great.
There are two points, however, to whicb I would
mainly direct your attention.
1. In the first place, consider the sum of misery in
flicted upon mankind by the number of individuals who
bave been immured in monasteries. I am not about to
discuss the question of the advantage or disadvantage bf
celibacy to the church of God: it is sufficient to state
tbat monasticism is. not inculcated in Scripture; that
many of the injunctions of Sacred Writ proceed upon
the assumption that tbe saints and servants of the Lord
will be the rejoicing fathers and mothers of affectionate
children; that in no sphere have the milder graces of

ON THE PRACTICAL TENDENCY OF POPERY. 229
religion been cultivated with more success than in the
pleasant circle of domestic enjoyments. The one object
I have at present in view, is to show the misery neces
sarily resulting from this species of incarceration. Con
sider, for example, the conflict of-mind in a child at once
detesting the monastic life, and yet anxious to fulfil the
superstitious wishes of a tender parent. Consider, more
especially, the anguish of such a child, condemned, after
once making the sacrifice, to drag for life the chain thus
rashly put on. Papists, indeed, speak of the delights
of the monastic life; but let' us look at facts. The
Council of Trent enjoins all bishpps to guard against the
possible escape of a nun — to employ the secular armto
secure them. It calls even upon sovereigns to assist in
the same devout object, and excommunicates all who
refuse to obey. " Let no professed nun," it says, " pass
from her nunnery, under any possible pretext." " If
any of the regulars put off their frocks, they are to be
forced back to the convent, and punished as apostates."
Now, if the ipdividuals dwelling in a monastery have
any taste for its solitary joys, why these compulsory
measures? When were laws necessary to constrain
men to be happy? When w-ere injunctions such as
these promulgated, except for the purposes of tyranny
and cruelty? It is, of course, difficult to measure the
wretchedness of institutions, one use of whose massive
walls was to confine the groans of the miserable inmates:
but the slightest acquaintance with the laws of our na
ture; with our social tendencies; with the mutual sym
pathies of the sexes; with the shrinking of the soul
from compelled solitude; with the cravings of the heart
after fresh scenes, fresh. society, fresh occupations; with
the natural loathing which is felt to constrained exer
cises of devotion, to forced abstinence, and songs, and
prayer; at once assures us of the horrors entailed upon
society by monasticism. Every now and,then, a heart
rending picture has been sketched from nature of some
such moral prisoner: some poor exile from society
wearing out life in wishing for death, and exhausting
the energies which might have shed happiness over a
neighbourhood, ia mournful musings, or in peevish
u

230 OK THE PRACTICAL TENDENCY OF POPERY.
wranglings, or in austerities detestable to God and to
every feeling mind. For what. a sum of misery is
Popery responsible, as to tbis one point? The scourge
and the fires of persecution — even though in Spain
alone, between the years 148 1 and I'SSO, .340,921 victim's
suffered to glut the longings of " our holy mother the
church," — have not inflicted so deep a wound on human
nature, as these institutions. I never take my stand on
any one of the areas wbich tbey once occupied, with
out regarding the vacant space as a field on .which
humanity has triumphed; and thanking the righteous
and compassionate Father, wbo bas swept from the
earth one edifice consecrated to imposture, despotism,
and the slow consumption of human happiness.
2. But I bave yet to'speak of another injury inflicted
b}^ Popery upon the happiness of mankind. Of aH the
individuals whose happiness ought to be precious to the
followers of Him who would not " break the bruised
reed nor quench the smoking flax," none may more con
fidently be named than those wbo are anxiously seeting
the way tp present peace and future joy, without any
power to find it; persons described^ by the Prophet as
"walking in darkness, and seeing no light." To them,
tbe voice of Inspiration says, Let them " trust in the
Lord, and stay themselves upon their God." But
Popery adopts a very different language. Suppose a
person brought, hythe power of the Holy Spirit, to a
deep sense of his personal guilt, and trembling on the
brink of an awful eternity: the grand question forced
upon the conscience of sucb a man is, '" How can man
be just with God?' bow 'can I escape ' the damnation of
bell?' bow may I'pass the golden gate, and enter into
the glories of my Father's kingdom? ' Sin no more,' "
replies the Church of Rome, " and seek to deserve the
favour you have forfeited; fast, do penance; mortify
your flesh; repeat certain prayers; perform certain cere
monies; conquer the pride, worldliness, passion, irrita
bility, ambition, over- wbich you now mourn; good
works, done for the love of Christ, will atone for sin,
and save your soul." The sufferer makes the effort;
but in vain: he finds himself still- offending; ambition,

ON THE PRACTICAL TENDENCY OF POPERY. 231
irritabilityj passion, wage perpetual war in tbe soul
against his better feelings. Can bis present life, then,
be made tbe atonement for his past? Still he mourns,
and trembles; whilst the thunders of eternal wrath ap
pear to deepen around him. A powerful delineation of
tbe protracted anguish of such a sufferer bas been pre
sented to the wtirld by a modern writer; and the picture
is as just as it is powerful. Deeper distress it is difficult
to conceive, than that of a mind thus convicted of sin,
and denied free access to the Saviour of sinners. The
language of Scripture is, " He that hath tbe Son hath
life," and bath it everlastingly: "Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved:" "The blood
of Jesus Christ cleansetb from all sin:" "By grace
ye are saved, through faith." But this language is
a dead letter to the conscientious Papist. If be sees
the cross, it is only as the bystanders at the crucifixion
beheld it, surrounded with clouds and obscurity. Either
he must be his own saviour, or be lost: works usurp
the office of' grace; ceremonies, of faith in tbe pure
mercy of God; and the man, thus cheated of the birth
right of the contrite and lowly, lives and dies without
the consolation of tbe Gospel. — Such is tbe injury in
flicted by Popery upon this most interesting portion .of
mankind. It dams up tbe stream of the Divine com
passion: it conceals the Throne of Mercy, and surrounds
with artificial horrors the Seat of Justice: it throws into
deep and impenetrable shade the brightest jewel in the
diadem of God.
IV. But, brethren, I must now turn to a topic to
wbich every otber must be considered as subordinate: I
mean, the practical influence op popery upon re
ligion. In order to contract this almost immeasurable topic
within necessary limits, I must direct your consideration
only to two points : the tendency of Popery to produce
superstition in some minds, and infidelity in others.
By "superstition," I here mean all that is generally
included in the widest application of this term, — the
multiplication of uncommanded rites and services in re
ligion; unnecessary scruples; the train of horrors which

232 ON THE PRACTICAL TENDENCY OF POPERY.
usually haunt the mind, in whicb fear predominates over
hope and love. And by tbe term " infidelity" I mean,
not merely the explicit rejection of the evidences of re
ligion, but that practical infidelity which acknowledges
God witb the lips, but denies bim in the life and
practice. Consider, then, in estimating the practical influence
of Popery as to these two points, that it has assumed to
itself a right to prescribe the fundamentals and essentials
of religion; that, in the exercise of this right, it has
called into existence traditions, canons, decretals,- to
whicb it attributes the same authority with the 'book of
God, and from which, as from an inexhaustible mine, it
draws up whatever commands Or observances are favour
able to the authority of the Pope or the interests of the
priesthood. And consider, moreover, the species of
visible religion to .which she has given ber sanction — to
services in an unknown tongue; to the worsh-ip of saints;
the adoration of the mother of Jesus as the " queen of
heaven;" the substitution of many mediators between
God and his creatures, for the "one Mediator between
God and men, the Man Christ Jesus;" the sacrifice of
the Mass, scourgings, lacerations, Extreme Unction,
indulgences, confessions, the doctrine of purgatory, pil
grimages, processions, shows, and all the endless mum
meries, pageants and absurdities which crowd the public
and private services of the religion of the Church of
Rome. To what state must the authoritative prescrip
tion of observances such as these almost inevitably con
duct the mass of the disciples, except to one of those I
have named, — to superstition or to infidelity? Search
the annals of Popery, my Christian brethren, and see
whether its professors must not, in the main, be ranged
under one of these two classes.
On tbe o'ne hand, you find tbe Monks of La Trappe,'or
other of the severer orders, in many instances honest,
devout, self-denying; but, in too many cases, credulous,
austere, bigoted, unrelenting; equally prepared to light
-the lamps of the altar or the fires of persecution, to pro
pitiate their God or to destroy his creatures; approach
ing tbe Father of the world with terror; multiplying

ON THE PRACTICAL TENDENCY OP POPERY. 233
the most extravagant ceremonies; rejecting, with almost
one accord, the system of grace, — the doctrine of salva
tion by faith; the free, full, and perfect redemption pur
chased by the blood of Cbrist, and applied to the soul
by his Spirit. Nor is this spirit qf superstition confined
to monasteries; it prevails to a large extent among tbe
uneducated, the timid, the weak, the more sensitive
members of that church. Their worship is no doubt
sincere, but it is in the highest degree superstitious.
They adore indiscriminately the image of the saint, or
of the Saviour. They believe alike in the truths of
Scripture, and, the absurdities of the Breviary. They
attach equal authority to tbe miracles of the saints and
of the Son of God. They cross and prostrate themselves;
tbey crave, with insatiable eagerness, the rites'and bless
ings and immunities of the church; but they are igno
rant of Christ, of salvation by bis blood, of sanctification
by his Spirit, of the hoj)es and joys of the hearty, con
trite, affectionate believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.
They know nothing of the lowly, simple, pure, unos
tentatious, confiding worsbip of that Father wbo so
loved tbe world as to give his only Son to die for it.
But, brethren, if this is a just picture of a portion of
every Popish community, there is another portion of
which the just portrait is the most opposite to tbis. As
to this subject, let an individual of real piety, honesty,
and talent give tbe history of bis own course in religion
and tbe statement of bis own convictions. Having de
scribed the first rising of doubt in his own mind, wben
a Roman Catholic priest, as to the evidences of the Gos
pel, he goes on to say, " In this distress I brougbt to
remembrance all the arguments for the truth of the
Christian religion which I had studied in the French
Apologists; I read otber works of the same kind, and
having to preach, in the execution of my office, to the
royal brigade of Carabineers, who came to worship the
body of St. Ferdinand, reserved in tbe king's chapel, I
chose tbe subject of infidelity, on which I delivered an
elaborate discourse. But the fatal crisis was at hand: at
tbe end of a year from the preaching of this sermon —
the confession is painful, indeed, yet due to religion
u2

234 ON THE PRACTICAL TENDENCY OF POPERY.
itself — I was bordering on Atheism. If my case were
singular, if my -knowledge of the most enlightened
classes of Spain did not famish m'e with a multitude of
sudden transitions from sincere faitb and pie'ty to tbe
most outrageous infidelity, I would submit to tbe hum
bling conviction, that either weakness of judgment or
fickleness of character had been the only source of my
errors. But, though I am not at liberty to mention in
dividual cases, I do attest, from the most certain know
ledge, that the history of my own mind is, with little
variation, that of tbe great portion of the Spanish clergy.
Every one who comes within this geperal description
may still wear the mask, which no Spaniard can thr6w
off, without bidding an eternal farewell lo his country."*
The author of this passage proceeds to give the history
of all the various movements and conflicts and changes
in his own mind, but the account is too long for quota
tion. The rationale of a change sucb as this, may be
given in a few words. The Papist believes in the au
thority of Scripture, and therefore of every doctrine of
Scripture, simply and altogether at the mandate of the
Cburch. Let any circumstances lead him to doubt for
a moment the authority of the Cburch, and the whole
fabric of his faitb falls to the ground. There is no place
for such a slave to authority, between Popery and Athe
ism. And how can the thinking and honest mind,
unless under the dominion of the grossest superstition,
long continue to respect Popery? By what does she
come recommended to him? By the bloody sacrifices
of past ages? by the murder of Huss, and Jerome, and
the Waldenses? by, the dungeons and horrors of the In
quisition ? But perhaps she has other recommendations:
the private and public purity and moderation and sim
plicity of her popes and cardinals and priests; the de
tected impostures upon tbe credulity gf the mob; the
impious denial to the laity of the only Book by which
her pretensions can be tried; by a Breviary full of follies
and falsehoods. Thus commended to his regard, — or,
rather, thus branded to his eye and hearts — will not the
* Evidences against Catholicism, by the Rev. Blanco 'White.

ON THE PRACTICAL TENDENCY OP POPERY. 235
conscientious, or, indeed, the merely i'ntelligent mind, if
it allow itself to examine, soon be tempted to distrust
the pretensions and authority of Po.pery, and tberefore
of all that he-has received on her authority? Hence tbe
multitude of unbelievers in Popigh countries; hence the
division of her territories between the superstitious and
the sceptical; hence the renewal of the Inquisition in
Spain on the one hand, and the Atheism of Republican
France on the other; hence the absence, in Roman Ca
tholic countries, of the simple, (quiet, pure and affectionate
spirit of devotion, witb whicb especially the poor of our
country approach, their Redeemer, lay hold of the hem
of his garment, and find virtue go out of him to heal
their diseases and to cheer their hearts.
But, my brethren, it is more than time tbat I should
bring these observations to a close. All, therefore, on
which I must now venture, is to call your attention to a
few practical inferences from the foregoing statements.
l.'In the first place, if .such are tbe practical conse
quences of Popery ; if these effects are produced where-
ever tbat sj^stem in its purity prevails; if they abound
in exact propoVtion to tbe authority whicb it possesses ;
then, " the tree is known by its fruit," and the plant
from which such fruits 'are gathered cannot belong to
"the tree whose leaves are for thebealingof the nations."
"The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffer
ing, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance."
Judging by the rule Of the text, what must be the place
and character assigned to Popery ? Let me, then, en
treat any conscientious Catholic whom I may have the
happiness of addressing this evening; let me earnestly
and affectionately beseech him to consider tbe bearing
of this subject upon his own case. I know many of you
to be sincere, to be devout, to be prepared for every duty
and sacrifice which religion demands. But my heart
yearns over you. I see you shut out from joys to which
your God invites you: I see you manacled and hood
winked by a system of the grossest delusions :' I see you
shut out from the common birthright of a citizen of the
world — from the privilege of seeing with your own eyes,
and hearing with your awn ears: I see you robbed of

236 ON THE PRACTICAL TENDENCY OF POPERY.
the only volume which can guijle you: and I call upon
you, to bring Popery to the standard of our text — -judge
it by its fruits : is this tree, or is it not, the planting of
the Lord?
2. But, in the next place, it may be said, tbat if the
religion of any community is to be judged by the con
duct of a large proportion of its professors, an equally
strong argument may be raised against Protestantism. — I
answer. No. There is this grand distinction :, if tbe
Protestant sins, he sins, not in conformity with his prin
ciples, but in opposition to them: tbe one sins in spite
of his religion, and the otber in obedience to it. Self-
justification, superstition, unbelief, tbe depreciation of
tbe sacrifice of the cross, tbe substitution of outward for
inward religion, are the legitimate offspring of the prin
ciples and ritual we have had to describe. On the con
trary, though they may be grafted upon Protestantism,
they are no part of its natural produce.
3. But finally, brethren, if sucb, in addition to the
doctrinal errors of Popery, be its practical evils, then
let us guard against its obtaining, under any form or mo
dification, the smallest -lodgment in our own souls. —
There is much danger, as it seems to me, of mistake upon
this point. Popery is often regarded as a system so
pregnant with follies and extravagancies as to be likely
at once to startle the reasonable mind, and to release us
from all risk of entanglement in its errors. But, bre
thren, it is to be remembered, that, as to the great mass
of tbe extravagancies attached to that system of religion,
they are the very counterpart. of an older system of delu
sion — of the Paganism of ancient Rome ; — that a com
petent examiner in fact, bas traced a, large portion of
these mummeries to a, Heathen source; and has shown,
that, could tbe high priest of antiquity be raised from
the dead, he would find bimself at home at the altar of
Popery. So tbat even these absurdities appear to possess
something of congeniality to the beart in its fallen state.
But, in addition, to this, I am free to proclaim tbat Popery
appears to me, in its main principles, to be so far from
uncongenial to the mind, that it is rather to be consider
ed as nothing more or less than the religion of human

ON THE PRACTICAL TENDENCY OF POPERY. 237
nature — the religion natural, congenial, and delightful to
fallen man. One of the most profligate sovereigns that
ever disgraced a throne where so much virtue has been
seated, is said to have called Popery " the only religion
fit for a gentleman ;" and for such gentlemen it certainly
is. Let this consideration weigh with ourselves. Popery,
instead of baving to contend in tbe heart with any natural
unsuitableness, finds- there its appropriate soil. There,
if left to itself, it will not fail spontaneously to vegetate ;
to strike root downwards and bear fruit upwards. We,
also, may soon learn to prefer the decisions of men to
the oracles of God ; the purchased virtues of the saints,
to those of self-denial and holiness; justification by our
own supposed merits, to justification by the merits of
the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ ; the absolution of the
church, to the iicquittal of our consciences; confession
to the Priest, to confession to God ; the sprinkling of
holy water, to the sprinkling of the Blood of Atone
ment; outward to inward purification; anointing with
oil, to the anointing, transforming, sanctifying influence
of the Spirit of the living God. Brethren, I call upon
you, as you value the interests of religion, the honour
of your chiKrch, the glory of God, the welfare of your
souls, to resist, by prayer, by watchfulness, by living
close to the cross of Christ, by an uncompromising ad
herence to all the great principles of the Reformation,
the progress of this natural Popery in your own soul, in
the cburch, in your country, in the heart and practice of
every human being. After all, brethren. Popery is not
dead, but sleepeth, even in our own land ; and although
it is next to impossible that a country like our own should
ever return to all the absurdities of a Popish ritual, there is
a perpetual tendency in every country and every heart
to acquiesce in its fundamental corruptions, — to under
value the word of God, the sacrifics of Christ, the in
fluences of the Spirit, the power of faith, the demands
of holiness ; to worship God with the lips, while the
"heart is far from bim.

THE CHARACTER OF THE PAPACY.

REV. R. WALDO SIBTHORP, B.D.
2 Thessalojjians ii. 4. — He, as God, sitteth in the temple of God,
sho-wing himself that he Is God.
The passage of St. Paul's writings, from which these
words are selected, is understood by the best commen
tators and divines to refer to the -Papacy. Tbat this
interpretation is correct, it will be the object of this
discourse to show, though the remarks will chiefly be
limited to the elucidation of the text.
It is of no material consequence whether by tbe te'rm
Papacy we understand the succession of Popes (or .Bi
shops of Rome), or tbe government of the Romish
Cburch, -either as vested in the Popes alone, or in these
at the head of the college of Cardinals, -or supported by
General Councils. It is the Papal supremacy and dig
nity — that peculiar power claimed and exercised by the
Bishops of Ronie' in tbe Christian church, with its cha
racteristic results — which, wherever it may be precisely
defined to reside, we have here to do with, and to prove
to be described in tbe spirit of prophecy, by tbe Apos
tle, in the words before us. The Church of Rome,
strictly speaking, may exist separate from the Papacy,
as it did for a considerable period after its first establish
ment; and, as such, is no more than the Greek, or the
Oriental churches, or any other portion of the universal
visible cburch of Christ. It is its connexion with the
Papacy, its being tbe chief seat of the power of the
Beast, wbich stamps its peculiar character in prophecy,
as it is the cause of its singular corruptions; and it is thg.
downfall of this power whicb is the subject of prophetic
denunciation. Yet it may be observed, that as the serpent

THE CHARACTER OF THE PAPACY. 239
which Satan entered into when he tempted Eve, though
bu,t the instrument of evil, shared in the curse of God;
so the Church of Rome, in tbis its original and simple
signification — yea, even the city of Rome itself — shall
partake in the judgments of that corrupt and monstrous
power which has used tbem for its own establishment
in tbe earth.
In directing your notice to the awful character of the
Papacy, as set before us in the above passage of Scrip
ture, I pray that I may be under the influence of the
meek spirit of our boly religion. Tbe servant of tbe
Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all men, apt to
teach, patient, in meekness instructing tbose tbat oppose
themselves. While it fully accords with tbe ministerial
calling, and strictly witb what tbe Apostle says of tbe
overtbrow of the' Papacy, to expose, contend against, and
seek to pull it down with tbe consecrated weapon of the
preached word (for the Lord, he says, shall consume
him witb tbe spirit of bis mouth); yet must this weapon
be ever handled in love, and not in anger, nor with rail
ing accusation: for tbe wrath of man worketh not the
righteousness of God.
The extraordinary and antichristian power spoken "of
in the text and context, is personified, and designated by
the masculine pronoun He, which refers to the awfully
emphatic appellation given it in the third verse: That
man of sin, the son of perdition: but in this discourse I
shall drop the figurative style.
There are three points which will deserve our atten
tion. I. The SEAT, RESyjENCE, OR LOCAL' POSITION OF THIS
power: He sitteth in tbe temple of God.
Of the various significations of the word temple in
Scripture, there are only two which can be applicable to
the passage before us — namely, tbe second temple of
Jerusalem, or the church on earth. As to the second
temple of Jerusalem, which was standing when tbe
Apostle wrote to tbe Thessalonians, it would not be ne
cessary to consider whether he here refers to it, but tbat
tbis interpretation has the sanction of a very distinguished
name, the learned GrotLus, who supposes Paul to in-

240 THE CHARACTER OF THE PAPACY.
tend tbe Roman emperor Caligula, and his impious de
sign of placing his statue within the temple, as recorded
by Josephus and Philo. He thinks, that, by endeavour
ing to erect a visible representation of himself in the
temple, and to exact from the Jews Divine honours,
Caligula might be said, as God to sit in the temple of
God, showing himself that he is God. But this opinion
is sufficiently refuted by the simpl'e. fact; that, .whatever
Caligula might intend or attempt, be never actually
placed bis image within the temple: for the Jews ex
hibited such indignation at the proposed measure, that
Petronius, then governor of Syria, postponed the execu
tion of it; and the emperor's death occurring soon after,
it was altogether abandoned. It would be veVy forced
and unnatural, and in fact incorrect, for the Apostle to
describe Caligula as doing what he only minded to do;
or as sitting there, where, at the most, he but designed
by the Ijands of another to place bis statue. And there
seems no just reason why be should make so important
a matter of communication to the church of Thessalonica,
a city of Macedonia in Europe, an event -whi.cb waste
take place at Jerusalem, and would affect but Kttle the
Christians of that city, or any but the Jewish nation; or
tbat he should represent so open an ihnpiety as a mystery
of iniquity, already working when be wrote. This in
terpretation, tberefore, may be dismissed as an hypothe
sis contrary to all reason and probability.
We are left to the only remaining meaning of the
term temple — namely, the visible church on earth; —
and this is so designated by Paul to the Ephesians
(chap. ii. 20, 21): Ye are built upon the foundation of
the apostles and prophets, Jesus Cbrist himself being the
chief corner stone;, in whom all the building, fitly framed
together, groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord.
See also 1 Cor. iii. 16, 17; and 2 Cor. vi. 16. The most
eminent expositors have adopted this, the only admissi
ble application of the term. The power designated in
the text, has tberefore immediate connection witb the -
temple, or visible church of Christ on earth. And it
SITTETH IN that church: not without, or near, or by,
but IN or WITHIN the church; and therein, therefore.

the CHARACTER OF THE PAPACY. 241
we must look for it. This is of much importance; for,
consequently, no Pagan antichristian power can answer
the prophetic description of the Apostle. Neither can
the Mohammedan Antichrist; for, though it arose in a
part of the world to which the visible church extended,
yet it never was at any period in the church; but, on
the contrary, has ever used its utmost, endeavour against
it; labouring, and with violence, to pall down the tem
ple, just as it acquired strength and authority. Modern
infidelity (that especially which prevails to a great ex
tent on the continent of Europe under the cover of the
name and profession of Christianity) is thought by some
to be intended by Paul. But this, however widely
diffused, has certainly never borne tbe characteristic
marks of the power here predicted. Infidelity has
never been dominant in the church, except for a very
little season, in one country, where indeed it might per
haps be said to be in the temple or churches.* But it
has never so risen out of its usual character of a latent
evil, as to justify the application of the. text to it. It has
never presided over the ministrations of the sanctuary,
nor governed in the church of Christ, or, in other words,
it has never sat tbere.
For the power predicted in the text sitteth in tbe
temple of God, orvisible cburch. This word sitteth
is expressive both of authority a-nd security. The ori
ginal word (KaS/o-Ei) is used absolutely to denote tbe
former, in I Cor. vi. 4: If ye bave judgment of things
pertaining to this life. Set tbem to judge (tstou? xafli^ere)
who are least esteemed in the church — i. e. place them
in the office and authority of judges. It is frequently
used in a connection which declares authority: "Christ
sitteth at the right hand of God — tbe Scribes and Phari
sees sit in Moses' seat." To sit in judgment, to sit on
the throne, to sit in the gate, are frequent expressions in
Scripture, denoting possession and exercise of temporal
power and authority. So, to sit in tbe temple or church

* During the height of the French Revolution , when a prostitute
was enthroned in one of the churches of Paris, as the Goddess of
Reason.

242 the character of the papacy.
of God, is peculiariy expressive of spiritual power and
authority; tbe possession and exercise of dignity and
supremacy in matters pertaining to God, and bis wor
sbip. That passage of Isaiah is illustrative of tbe text:
" I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up,
and his train filled tbe temple."
Security, at least supposed security, is also signified
by the word sitteth : They shall sit every man under
his vine — Shall brethren go to war, and ye sit here?
Eglon was sitting in a summer parlour, when Ehud
struck the fatal blow: and the captains of the host were
sitting with Jehu, wben summoned to raise bim to the
throne of Israel. Both these significations of the word
sitteth are sufficiently plain to all our apprehensions,
from the common usages and circumstances of life, to
render more references needless. And indeed the exer
cise of authority, and the notion of security, are implied
by tbe wbole text, nor can be separated from a correct
and straightforward view. of it. They guide us forward
to a sure application of the prophecy.
" I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sor
row." Thus saith in her heart the mystic Babylon of the
Apocalypse, speaking to herself as one in authority and
security, while she glorified, herself, and lived deli-
ciously. Elsewhere it is said of her, " I Saw a woman sit
upon a scarlet-coloured beast, full of names of blasphe
my, having seven heads and ten horns, and drunken
with the blood of tbe saints." Tbe seven heads are de
clared to mean (in one of 'their two-fold applications)
seven mountains, on whicb the woman sitteth. The
ten horns are ten kings, whicb are said to give their
power and strength unto the beast. She is also described
as sitting upon many waters, which are, or signify, peo
ples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues: and, fur
ther, as being that great city, which reigneth- over the
kings of the earth.
Rome is here portrayed: Rome on her seven hills:
Rome .in the plenitude of her power, and the security of
strength: Rome in all the intoxication of her pride. But
not Pagan and Imperial Rome, though blasphemous, and
persecuting, and pompous, and abominable, and domi-

the character of the papacy. 243
neering, and once throughout the civilized world su
preme. A slight study of the Apocalypse must show
the anachronism and palpable inconsistency in many
respects of an interpretation which would apply this
fearful description to ancient Rome. Rome has been
blasphemous since she was Pagan; and persecuting after
she invoked the meek and compassionate Saviour of
mankind; and pompous long after ber imperial splen
dour had faded away; and abominable while all her
many temples were Christian; and domineering while
her ruler called himself " servant of the servants of
God;" and supreme throughout the civilized world,
wben the terror of her arms had become but a record in
the pages of history. And when and how has Rome
accorded with the portraiture of her given by tbe in
spired pen of blessed John? Since sbe became the seat
of the Papal supremacy, and since the Papacy sat in the
temple of God: in other words,- since ber bishops as
sumed that authority in the Christian church, which, in
the main tbey still claim, though moderated in some
respects by capacity to resist in others, and by inability
to enforce in themselves. It matters not as to the pre
cise era when this became the case: it is sufficient that
it has been, and still is so, and tbat once it was not. For
during tbe first four centuries, though the progressive
rise of the Papacy may be traced, yet it was not then
seen seated in the temple, and showing itself as God.
" The mystery of iniquity doth already work (says tbe
Apostle,) only be who now lettetb Will let, until be be
taken out of tbe way, and then shall that wicked b^ re
vealed."* That during the last twelve hundred years the Bishops
of Rome — styling themselves Universal Bishops, Suc
cessors of Peter prince of the Apostles, and Vicars of
Jesus Christ — have claimed, and in a great degree exer
cised supreme power in and over tbe whole church, is
an historical fact. It is the declaration put forth by the
* Referring to the Roman Empire, which was, in its western branch,
while that existed, a let or hindrance to the usurpations of the Bishops
of Rome. The extinction of the Western Empire took place, A.D. 476,
or 479.

244 THE character of the papacy.
Papacy itself, that- it governs by right, and that it shall
ever do so, in the house of God' on earth: and I state
this in substance as a Roman Catholic would, and what
all conscientious Roman Catholics believe and maintain.
Whether they hold the Bishop of Rome officially to
comprehend in his own person all that supremacy to
which he lays claim, or to be only the executive or or
gan of a legislative authority vested elsewhere, still, (fof
this is a point not at all affecting the present argument)
they connect with the Papal office and dignity, as such,
a spiritual supremacy, a supreme dominion, and in many
respects an absolute rule in the cburch. On their own
showing, the Papacy sitteth in the temple of God; and
they apply to it, with con'fident exultation, that promise
of Christ to Peter, Tbe gates of bell shall not prevail
against it.
In assuming the power described by Paul to be the
same witb that spoken of by John, I follow very great
authority. The coincidences are too strong, in fact, to
allow of any other view being taken. Two inspired
writers are exhibiting the same thing under different
figures. Paul designates it personally, as He; John
figuratively, as a woman seated on a beast. Paul says,
there shall come a falling away first — i. e. ere this power
be fully revealed. — Nothing can be clearer, from the
Apocalypse, than tbat such .falling away bad taken place
when the vision of tbe woman, &c. was seen by John.
" The man of sin" of Paul, — and " the woman having a
golden cUp in her hand, full of abominations and filthi-
ness of her fornications," of John, are one and tbe same.
Paul calls him the son of perdition. — The beast that
thou sawest (writes John) sball ascend out of the bot
tomless pit, and go into perdition. Who opposeth and
exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is
worshipped; so that he, as God, sitteth in the temple of
God, &c. : thus Paul. — The woman was, according to
John, full of names of blasphemy, drunken with the
blood of saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of
Jesus. Tbe mystery of iniquity (writes Paul) doth
already work. — On ber forehead was a name written
(says John); Mystery, Babylon the great, the mother

THE CHARACTER OF THE PAPACY. 245
of harlots, and of abominations of the earth. Whose
coming (writes Paul) is after tbe working of Satan, with
all power and signs, and lying wonders, and with all
deceivableness of unrighteousness in tbem that perish. —
The inhabitants of the earth (says John) have been
made drunk with the wine of her fornication; and they
tbat dwell on the earth sball wonder, whose names
were not written in the book of life from the founda
tion of the world, when they behold the beast. Whom
tbe Lord shall consume (predicts the former Apostle)
witb the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with tbe
brightness of his coming. In the Apocalypse, the fall
of the woman and tbe beast is followed by the trium
phant chant. Alleluia, for the Lord God Omnipotent
reigneth. There has never been, as, yet, any power so seated
and so ruling in the visible church of Christ, and cor
responding with the closely concurring predictions of
the two Apostles, except the Papacy. Let Roman
Catholics, if tbey can, point out another. But in the
Papacy we do find a power, occupying the very spot
assigned to it by John, ruling with tbe^fullest confidence
of security -in the church, as declared by Paul; and
agreeing in all' respects, as might without difficulty be
shown more at length, with the predictions of botb these
Apostles. But, keeping witbin the limits assigned by the text, I
sball only point out some parts of this agreement. I call
therefore, your attention to
II. The claims or assumptions of this power re
specting ITSELF ; — As God.
Let us advert to, first. The titles borne by the Popes.
Vicar of Christ, and vicegerent of God upon earth,
though highly arrogant claims, yet would hardly corre
spond with the strong language of the text, except that
in the filling of these offices tbe Popes have assumed
powers proper only to God. The time bas been, when,
in the interpretation of these titles, they claimed little
(if any) less consideration than Christ bimself might
have, had he presided in person in his cburch. By their
own simple and absolute authority to order every thing
x3

246 THE character of the papacy.
in that church, and to dispose at their will of kingdoms
and empires, and thus constitute themselves the fountain
of all honour on earth, and to be infallible in tbeir de
crees and decisions : this was claiming little short of
omnipotence and omniscience, as it respected this part
of the universe : it was to be as God upon earth.
But to what excess will not pride and ambition lead
man ! The following extract from Bishop Newton will
probably astonish some : " Like another Salmoneus, he
is proud to imitate the state and thunder of the Almighty,
and is styled, and pleased to be styled. Our Lord God
the Pope ; Another God upon earth ; King of kings and
Lord of lords. The same is the dominion of God and
the Pope. To believe that our Lord God tbe Pope might
not decree, as he decreed, it were a matter of heresy. —
The power of tbe Pope is greater than all created power,
and extends itself to things celestial, terrestrial, and in
fernal. The Pope dotb whatsoever he listeth, even things
unlawfully ; and is more than God. — Such blasphemies
are not only the extravagances of private writers, but are
tbe language even of public decretals, and acts of coun
cils." So far Bishop Newton, referring to Bishop Jewel,
who says, " I devise not this: his own books, his own
doctors, his own decrees and decretals, speak it, and set
it down ;" and that pious and learned Bishop quotes from
accredited documents.* I allow that at this day such
blasphemous language is disclaimed, and I would hope
abhorred, by the Popes themselves, and all considerate
Roman Catholics; but it is sufficient to establish the ap
plication of the text, that it has been used and sanctioned
by them, and that deliberately, and for a considerable
era in the cburch. ' Truly," he as God sitteth in the tem
ple of God.
Secondly;. It is a question among Romanists, where
resides tbat infallibility which constitutes the grand bul
wark of the pretensions of tbe Papacy. The commonly
received opinion of the centuries preceding the Reforma-
* Cardinal Bellarmine says, " If the Pope could or should so far
err as to command the practice of vice, and to forbid virtuous actions,
the church were bound to believe vices to be good, and virtues to be
had."

THE CHARACTER OF THE PAPACY. 247
tion was, that it was attached to the Popes officially; so
that they could not, as Popes, be wrong, bowever as men
they might err both in faith and practice. In a darker
tige they carried the notion of Papal infallibility much
higher, even to exemption as men, individually and per
sonally, from all error. And in the present day, many
of reputation among them hold, that wben tbe Pope
pronounces, ea; cathedrd (as they say) — i. e. in his office,
as Divinely appointed bead of the church, declaring the
faith of the church and the will of God^be is infallible.
And all their divines, I believe, connect infallibility in
some measure with tbe powers of the supremacy. For
man to attach to himself infallibility, or allow it to be
attributed to him ; and for a succession of men to do tbis ;
what is this but to assume a Divine prerogative, and as
God to sit in the temple of God ?
Thirdly., Tbe doctrine of supererogation, and the
practice of indulgences, as connected with it, must be
noticed as a part of the extraordinary claims and assump
tions of the Papacy. The merits of Christ and of the
saints being superabundant, and over and above wbat
was absolutely requisite for the satisfaction of Divine
justice, and consequently for salvation, are held to form
a kind of stock, or deposit, of which tbe Popes are by
Divine appointment tbe official treasurers, to unlock and
dispense of it at their will. Let a Bishop of Rome speak
for himself on tbis subject; and that not one in the darker
centuries, but in the present day* — even the reigning
pontiff. Pope Leo XII. In his Bull for the observance
of the Jubilee he says: ^' We have resolved, by virtue
of the authority given to us from Heaven, fully to unlock
that sacred treasure, composed of the merits, sufferings,
and virtues of Christ our Lord, and of his Virgin Mother,
and 'of all the saints wbich the Author of human salva
tion has entrusted to our dispensation." From this stock
the Pope furnishes indulgences, as tbey are called, whicb
liberate tbe receiver or purchaser from sucb temporal
penance as he may have incurred from the church, from
such temporal punishment as is due to his past sins from
* A.D. 1828.

248

THE CHARACTER OF THE PAPACY.

Divine Justice, and moreover, from the pains of purga
tory ;* which, in fact, put hihi at the very door of heaven.
The benefit of these indulgences is obtained (besides the
payment of certain prices) by pilgrimages, different pen
ances, repetition of certain prayers, and various external
acts of devotion. Tbe abuses of such a system are ob
vious, and have excited the loud complaints of many
Roman Catholics in diflerent ages. Indulgences for the
commission of sin, ' would be a proper description of
them. But I advert to them to prove the blasphemous
assumptions of the Papal power. To hand over by a
written act the merits of tbe Saviour, and (as if these
were not, sufficient), the merits of tbe saints (as if there
could be such,) to bis fellow-sinners, and thus by his own
absolute authority absolve them from all sin, what is this
but a monstrous assumption of the Divine prerogative, a
stepping into the Throne of Grace, a setting himself
forth as a god, or a demi-god at least, on earth ? As
God he sitteth, &c.
Fourthly. Some of tbe ceremonies observed on the
election of a new Pope are so singularly illustrative of
the text, that I cannot but briefly mention them. Imme
diately after he is chosen, the supreme Pontiff receives
the adoration of the sacred College of Cardinals on their
knees; 'and again, towards the close of tbe day, while
seated upon the altar of the Sixtine chapel. Finally,
while his Holiness is elevated in the same manner on the
great altar of St. Peter's, the cardingls, foreign ambassa
dors, and dignitaries adore him once more. There, he,
as God, sitteth in the temple of God ; while spiritual and
temporal powers bow down and worship before bim, a
creature mortal and corrupt as themselves. The anthems
chanted by the choir seem most properly applicable to
Christ. It was the observation of Pope Innocent III.,
" That the church, the spouse of the vicar of Jesus

* That it is the doctrine of the Church of Rome, that the benefit
of indulgence's extends beyond this world, is evident from many
facts. Pope Alexan4er VI. granted an indulgence of 30,000 years to
those who recited a particular prayer. And nothing was more fre
quent than to grant them for a length of time which must, if there
was any sense in language, extend into futurity.

THE CHARACTER OF THE PAPACY. 249
Christ, has brought him in marriage a full power over
botb spirituals and temporals; that the papal mitre de
notes the former, as the crown does the latter ; and tbat
botb declare, to the whole Christian world, that tbe
wearer of tbem is vicar of Him who has on his vest
ment and on his thigh written. King of kings, and Lord
of lords." After so much actual food to the pride of
corrupt nature, one can scarcely forbear a smile at the
puerile admonition against it, contained in the burning,
before the crowned and mifred High Priest, a few little
palaces of paper or flax, while tbe master of tbe cere
monies repeats, " See, Holy Father, how the glory of
tbis world passes away !"
But let us consider,
III. Some of the acts or measures by which
THE PAPACY MAINTAINS THE CLAIM OR ASSUMPTION
ALREADY NOTICED AND ILLUSTRATED; AS THE TEXT
STATES, showing him,self that he is God.
1. The Popes, in virtue of their assumed authority
and supremacy, have dispensed with the laws of God as
revealed in his written word. They claim tbe power to
absolve from the obligation of all vows and oath.s, bow
ever sacred and lawful tbeir object, or solemn their
nature and the circumstances in which they were taken:
wbich is directly contrary to the injunctions of the
Scriptures, and to wbat themselves teach to be included
under the Third, (or, as they commonly place it, the
Second) Commandment of tbe decalogue. It is in their
power to allow of marriage within tbe scripturally pro
hibited degreesjjf kindred. They seal with the sanction
of tbeir authority the prohibition of marriage, where
Scripture has not prohibited it, and under circumstances
where it enjoins it. They have done the same with
respect to depriving the laity of the use of the cup, in
the sacrament of the Lord's Supper; respecting which
Christ emphatically said. Drink ye all of it; and this on
the plea of expediency, making tbe observance of the
express injunctions of Scripture dependent on human
judgment. All relative duties, however urged in the
word of God, tbe Papacy has suspended, when tbe inte
rests of the church, or, in other words, her own, appeared

250 THE CHARACTER OP THE PAPACY.
to require it; making that word of none effect in many
such instances as Christ refers to in his condemnation
of the Scribes and Pharisees on tbe same account. The
Papacy has claimed the right of absolving subjects from
their allegiance to their governing powers: yea, it has
authorized and encouraged tbem to resist and rebel
against them, contrary to the positive precepts and
whole tenor of God's word. In the dark ages, it exer
cised the power of dispe"hsing with the most weighty
moral precepts, sanctioning by its spiritual authority the
violation of the express commandments of God. — 'I am
not stating what the Papacy is at present, or what Popes
in later times bave done; but I am showing the, charac
ter of the Papacy in the abstract, and proving it to accord
witb tbe prediction of the text. It is by no means
necessary that all the different parts of that character
should be visible together at the same time. Tbere is
personal identity, though, the features of individuals
may be greatly altered by lapse of years and change of
circumstances: and thus the Papacy, though not equally
powerful, is the same power in old age and decrepitude
as in the vigour of youth, though its eye be dimmed, its
speech indistinct, and its natural force abated, To dis
pense with any of bis own laws and injunctions, is the
prerogative of the Divine Lawgiver himself; and the
law of God, in every case where a latitude is not ex
pressed or reasonably implied, is binding upon all men:
in exercising its dispensing power, therefore, the Papacy
"showeth itself that it is God."
2. The Papacy has added to tbe written law of God,
which is another, invasion of the Divine prerogative. It
has heightened into the guilt of mortal sin the violation
of what are called " the commandments of the church;"
which include the observance of holidays, fast-days, and
annual confession of sins to a priest, &c. &c. To break
one of these commandments — as, for instance, to eat flesh
in Lent without license — is accounted a sin of equal
heinousness with swearing, drunkenness and unclean-
ness; thus teaching for doctrines the commandments of
men. But is the revelation of the will of God imperfect?
Where has he informed us that other things are to be

THE CHARACTER OP THE PAPACY. 251
observed, and doctrines believed, as necessary for salva
tion, than those written down in holy Scripture? That
blessed volume is a complete discovery of the mind of
God, as it respects the Christian life and eternal salvation
of man: it is neither to be added to nor diminished from,
but by tbe same authority that promulgated it. He that
does the former, and so lays upon men burdens to be
borne, on pain of damnation, whicb God never laid on
them, shows or sets himself forth as God, by exercising
a right proper to God. t need not refer to tradition, by
which the Papacy as much deducts from the authority
as it adds to tbe injunctions of Scripture. It clings with
tenacity to the admission of tradition, as being, together
with Scripture, the rule of faith and practice, because it
tbereby opens a way for tbe maintenance of all the pecu
liarities of Romanism.
3. The Holy Scriptures are a gift of God to mankind,
and one which he bas never recalled, nor abridged, nor
suspended the use of. They contain truth needful for
all, designed to profit all, and commanded to be read of
all. The same authority which , gave, can alone revoke
or keep back tbe gift. He that does this, interferes be
tween God and man ; steps between the bountiful Giver
and the objects of his bounty; and claiming equal, if not
superior wisdom, to the too liberal Distributor, presumes
to withhold or abridge bis charity, doling it out only in
such degrees, and to such persons, as his own penetra
tion and judgment see fitting, and to an equal portion
of which qualities, be must, to justify such interference,
lay claim. It is well known to be a favourite point with
the Papal power, to withhold the Scriptures from the
mass of its subjects, and give them only at its own
discretion: it acts, therefore, virtually with the preten
sion of the text, showing itself that it is God.
4. But earth is not sufficient dominion to satisfy the
ambition of Papal Rome. To dispose at pleasure of
temporal honours, and of the kingdoms of this world,
was once a right boldly claimed and stiffly maintained
by many successive occupants of the (so called) chair of
St. Peter; and only yielded now, it may be suspected,
because the progress of light and knowledge forbids the

252 THE CHARACTER OF THE PAPACY.
attempt to defend,such an usurpation. Tbe Roman pontiffs
extend their dominion even into heaven, and claim the
power of recruiting from time to time, as occasion shall
require and opportunity be given, tbe hosts of patrons
and intercessors in tbe court of tbe Supreme Mediator, on
whose advocacy tbey and their subjects rely far more
than on his. I allude to tbe Canonization of Saints; a
process, or ceremony, by which the Pope, by enrolling
one and another of the faithful departed among the saints
above, and definitively pronouncing them to be in such
favour witb God as to have a special interest with him,
holds them forth to tbe church on earth as objects of
worship, to whom prayer may be addressed from all
parts of tbe world, at all times, and with a certainty of
success. Should tbere occur by any means a mistake as
to the grounds on which the canonization is founded —
and that there should not, is to require infallibility, either
in tbe evidence on wbich the claims of the candidate to
this honour rest, or in tbe judges of that evidence — then
the Pope involves the whole Roman Catholic Church in
an absurdity, namely, of praying to one who is not (it
may be) even in heaven. Tbere is much reason to believe
that not a few are found in the list of Romish Saints who
never bad any existence on earth, and are as fabulous
beings as tbe heathen deities. It may give a slight idea
of tbe extravagance of this act of the Papacy, if I. refer
briefly to a process of canonization which took place in
the year 1712, under tbe pontificate of Clement XI.
Four new saints, namely, Pope Pius the Fifth, Andrew
Avelline, Felix de Catholico, and Catherine of Bologna,
were thus enrolled in tbe saintly list witb the utmost
pomp and solemnity. The Pope declared his reason for
this procedure to be, " That the calamities of war, and
the dread of a peace prejudicial to the interests of reli
gion, had determined bim to procure for the afflicted
church some new patrons of credit and weight with
God: in the hope that they would exert themselves to
appease tbe anger of God, and that their aid might be
effectual to propitiate the Divine anger." The votes
of the Cardinals were then talieh, whether tbe above
were to be saints or not. On the day of the ceremony,

THE CHARACTER OF THE PAPACY. 253
the Pope proceeded to St. Peter's, to open the gates of
heaven to the newsaints; and tbere, amid infinite pomp,
published his decree, to exalt to sanctity {i. e. to tbe
rank of advocates, and intercessors with God) the four
claimants, that' their names might be invoked by all
future generations. While Te Deum was chaunting,
salvoes of artillery announced throughout Rome "this
triumph of the church militant, under the command of
the Lieutenant Genefal of Jesus Christ on earth!"
Prayer was immediately offered up, tbat God would
favourably regard tbem, for the sake of the virtues and
merits gf these four new saints: to whom, as well as to
God, the pope, cardinals, and wbole congregation made
a public confession of sin: and indulgences were granted
to all wbo should, with certain devotional acts, visit their
altars, and venerate their relics. — It may be added, that
canonization is always preceded by beatification, as a
sort of preliminary step ; and that fifty years must elapse
after the death of the individual, before be can be beati
fied. So that after this long interval, when in all human
probability most of tbe witnesses of the lives and mira
cles of the new saints are dead, the Pope undertakes to
determine that whicb, if tbe doctrines of his church are
true, is the most solemn decision he can make — namely,
that a creature is to be worshipped and prayed to as a
sort of demi-god by tbe faithful on earth ; — a decision
which, if erroneous, involves all in idolatry.
And what an act is this! for a creature to take upon
bim to pronounce absolutely a fellow-creature to be not
only in beaven, but in sucb favour there that his patron
age may be obtained, by that which Scripture and rea
son restrain to be rendered only to an omnipotent, om
niscient, and omnipresent Being, namely, prayer!
By this extraordinary measure, as well as by vybat
has been before observed under this head, the power
spoken of in the text — that is to say, the Papacy —
maintains its claim and assumption to be, as God, sitting
in the temple of God, shqwing itself that it is God.
I have thus endeavoured to show the correspondency
of tbe Papapy with the prediction of the' Apo.stle in
my text. The conclusions which result from such cor-
T

2t>4 THE CHARACTER OP THE PAPACY.
respondency are truly to be'seriously pondered, for they
are solemn and weighty. For if the Papacy answers
to the -description of the text, then is it that power
spoken of by the Apostle in the whole passage of which
tbe text is a part. Then is it " that man of sin, the son
of perdition, wbo opposeth and exalteth himself above
all that is called God, or worshipped^ — tbe mystery of
iniquity — that wicked, whom tbe Lord shall consume
witb the spirit of his mouth, and destroy with tbe bright
ness of bis coming — whose coming is after the working
of Satan, with all power, and signs, and lying wonders,
and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness of them
that perish, because they received not the love of the
truth, that they might be saved."'
And if this be so, then, brethren, are we bound to give
hearty thanks, that from tbe dominion and delusions of
tbe Papacy, the Lord has set bs free. Our feeling of
this great mercy has become blunted by the continuance
of it, as dangers distant and long past are wont to be-for-
gotten. But the favour of the deliverance is not lessened
by being remote, if we value the love of God, the at
tainment of heaven, and our own immortal souls, we
should make it a frequent matter of thanksgiving that
we are not rnembers of the Church of Rome. And that
this our land is not one of those that give their strength
unto tbe Beast, ought often to excite our hearty praise
to Him who orders all things both in heaven and in
earth. That she enjo}'s, widely diffused throughouther
borders, the heavenly wisdom of the word of God; his
soul-reviving precepts, comforting promises, holy doc
trines, salutary admonitions; that the ordinances of a
pure worship are found in her; and that tbe genuine
influence of the blessed Gospel is not restrained, nor its
truths adulterated, by the intervention of a foreign eccle
siastical authority; is a blessing for which we cannot be
sufficiently grateful to our God. May these mercies not
be lost upon us! May we be carefully diligent, that
they may become not, like all abused privileges, a cause
of heavier condemnation! for to whomsoever much is
given, of them will much be required. May the word
of the Lord have free course in our hearts, as well as

THE CHARACTER OP THE PAPACY. 2^5
in our land; and be glorified by the obedience of our
wills and by the allegiance of our affections to all its
instructions! May each of our hearts,,and our land, be
a temple of the Lord ; in which Christ"; as God, sitteth
in undisturbed and supreme dominion; showing himself
that he is God, by the casting out of all that opposes,
and by the manifestation of the power of his grace!
And may every thought and disposition of our souls,
and every voice in our land, concur to magnify and
laud Him who is alone worthy to be exalted, the only
supreme and infallible Head of t,he church; and to pro
claim Him, as is his due, King of kings, and Lord of
lords! It would be a false charity to conceal the truth. The
Papacy is the enemy of God, bis cause and people; and
it is to be destroyed with signal marks of his wrath.- The
warning voice of tbe Apocalypse proclaims. Come out of
her, my people, that ye be not partakers of ber sins, and
that ye receive not of her plagues.
It is the duty of Christians (as humble and feeble in
struments in God's hands) to carry the intention of this
alarming proclamation into effect. It is theirs to teach,
to warn, to advise, to entreat, to admonish, to pray, for
all those who are under the Papal yoke, and particularly
for their fellow-countrymen, and sucb as are locally
their neighbours. That there is salvation in the Romish
Church I do not deny: tbat many bave been, and are
saved, who live and die in its communion, I believe:
God forbid that the door of charity should be so strait
that none are to be considered to get within the fold
who have the cumbersomeness of Romish superstition
about them! Yea, I doubt not but that (as Hooker
says) "God was merciful to save thousands of our fa
thers, who," in the times of darkness, " did erroneously
practise that which tbe guide heretically taught." But
that the curse of God rests on the Papacy, may not be
doubted, seeing it is so clearly denounced in his word.
And the danger as to eternity is proportionate to the
means of safety and escape granted in time. Unques
tionably great, then, and imminent, is the danger of
those who, in an age of scriptural light and rebgious

256 THl! CHARACTER OF THE PAPACY.
knowledge, live_and die in subjection to a power, and
in the communion ofa church, which God has declared
he will judge, and visit with his wrath, even unto utter
destruction; and whose judgments, and visitations, and
destruction may be now near, even at the doors.

CONx^EXION
BETWEEN POPERY AND INFIDELITY.
HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS

REV. JAMES GIBSON,
OP THE COLLEGE CHURCH, GLASGOW.
There are two things in this title wbich most Papists,
and many Protestants, may think offensive. 1st. Tbe
application of tbe term Popery to the system which we
oppose; and 2dly, the implication that Popery and infi
delity are closely allied.
In regard to the first supposed cause of offence, I beg
to give the following apology for it — using the term
apology in its ancient meaning of a defence. Every
one acquainted with Popery knows that not only the
vulgar, but the learned among the Papists, and their
Church herself lay exclusive claim tothe term " Catho
lic," or " Universal," and found upon it a right to con
sider all others as heretics and schismatics, without any
title to rank as members of tbe church of Christ* By
conceding tbis name to them, we do manifest injury to
our cause. For as the French revolutionists affirmed,
"Names are things;" and none understand tbis better
than the adherents of the Papacy. And as we must
have some appellation by which to designate the sys
tem, and the adherents of the system, which we oppose,
I have deliberately chosen tbe terms Popery and Papist,
as being both fair and correct — fair, because it ¦were un
reasonable, if we are at all allowed the right, which to
be sure. Popery denies to mankind, to canvass her
claims, to ask us to concede the name that implies her
* Milner's End of Controversy. Letter-jxiy.
r2

258 CONNEXION between
exclusive truth and supremacy, and denies to ourselves
any communion witb the universal church of the Re
deemer. It is correct — -and the reason why I think so
I sball give in the words of Dr. Whately, archbishop 'of
"Dublin, who will not be accused of undue hatred of
Popery. " That the term Papist," says he, " is a term
of reproach (^though I do not insist on its being em
ployed) I do not admit. A 'term of reproach' is one
whicb implies something disgraceful in the opinion of
the party to whom it is applied. Thus, heretic implies
the holding of some erroneous tenet; it is, consequently,
a reproachful term. But Papist implies simply one who
acknowledges the authority of the Pope: and those to
whom it is applied do openly acknowledge his author
ity."* I would earnestly recommend the perusal of
this book — guarding, however, against a danger which
it appears to me may result from it, viz., that of diminish
ing our dislike, not to Papists, but to Popery. I would
add here, that this system is called by themselves, in the
oath prescribed to all bisbops, tbe Papacy {Komanum
papatum,) and to this name I would seriously urge all
Protestants to confine themselves.
With regard to the second supposed cause of offence
implied in the title to this lecture, I observe', that Pa
pists, at least, should scarcely complain of hard names,
when, in every article of' their creed denied by us, we
are pronounced " accursed," in tbeir Church's mosLso-
lemn and awful manner. But I would hold it nO justi
fication of "reviling again," that she has thus intole
rantly and arrogantly dealt "with us; and therefore, if I
fell in the proofs that Popery and infidelity are allied, I
must incur the reproach of rashness, though I shall deny
the charge of wilful misrepresentation; because of nothing
am I more convinced than of tbe very close connexion,
I had almost said identity, of Popery and infidelity. I
entreat, therefore, the patient attention of all, and espe
cially of Papists; and though your church claims '-'abso
lute, unconditional submission to her teaching,"! yet her

* 'Whately's Errors of Romanism, p. 330.'
t 'Wiseman's Lectures, p. 17.

POPERY AND INFIDELITY. 259
champions, by condescending to enter the lists of con
troversy with Protestants, show you that they trust not
in ber supposed infallible authority to effect ber ends;
and they set you- tbe example, which I trust you will
candidly follow-, and moreover, that you will carefully
weigh our reasons — the more especially, as Dr. Wise
man, with no small inconsistency, tells us, that " sup
posing any difficulty to arise regarding any doctrine,"
and " the Church thought it prudent and necessary to
examine into tbis point," &c., " it is-conducted in every
instance as a matter of historical inquiry, and all human
prudence is used to arrive at a judicious decision."
It bas long b^en my fixed opinion, that the Papacy,
viewed in its claims, principles, and doctrines, and in its
actings to the word and people of God, was an infidel
power,. under the veil of Christianity. And if Protes
tants admit that the passages of Scripture in which they
believe tbe Papacy to be described are justly applicable
to her, they, at least, cannot think my opinion presump
tuous. The following are the most striking of these
passages: — Dan. vii.. 25, "He shall speak great words
against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of
the Most High, and shall think to change times and
laws." Again, xi. 36 — 37, " And the king shall do ac
cording to his will; and he, shall exalt himself above
every god, and shall speak marvellous things against tbe
God of gods, and shall prosper till tbe indignation be
accomplished: for that tbat isdeteririined shall be done.
Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor tbe
desire of wbmen, nor regard any God: for he shall mag
nify himself above all.", 1 Tim. iv. I — 3, " Now the
Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some
shall depart from the faith, giving- heed to seducing
spirits and doctrines of devils, speaking lies in hypocri
sy" (or through the hj'pocrisy of liars); "baving tbeir
conscience seared with a hot iron: forbidding to marry,
and commanding to abstain from meats," &c.— 2 Thess.
ii. 3, "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that
day" (the coming of the Lord to judgment) "sball not
come, except there be a falling away first, and that Man
OP Sin be revealed, the son of perdition : who opposeth

260

CONNEXION BETWEEN

and exalteth himself above, all that is called God, or that
is worshipped; so tbat he, as God, sitteth in the temple
of God, showing himself that be is God;" verse 9,
" Even him, whose coming is after the working of Sa
tan, with all power and signs, and lying wonders, and
with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that
perish; because tbey 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: tbat tbey all hiight be damned who believed not
the truth, but had pleasure iri unrighteousness." In
Rev. xiii. 1, it is said of the beast, by whicb Protestants
understand is signified the Papacy, that the "beast"
has " Upon his heads the names of blasphemy;" verse 5,
"And there was given to him a mouth speaking great
things and blasphemies;" 6, " And he opened his mouth
in blasphemy against God ;" v. 7, '' And it was given
unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome
tbem." It is not my business to prove that these passages de
scribe tbe Roman antichrist.' But granting that they
are applicable to the Papacy, then, in my view, it is
scripturally proved an infidel power. For what is an
infidel? An unbeliever — one who receives not tbe
truth — denies the faith— 7hateS the word and people of
God; and, tberefore, would destroy them. Can there- be
more heinous unbelief than that which would " change
God's laws," " blaspheme against God," " depart from
the faith," "sit in the temple of God showing bimself
that he is God," " speaking lies in hypocrisy," practising
"lying wonders,", "wearing out the saints of tbe Most
High," and such like? On tbe principle, that we must
either be for Qod or against him, believers or infidels, I
bave never contemplated the awful principles of the
Papacy in points of faitb, its fearful morals, or its mur
derous persecutions, and the horrors of its Inquisition,
tbe only institution of which I bave ever read or heard,
constituted with fixed laws, and by a power called reli
gious, with all the horrid apparatus of exquisite torture
and death, without asking. Can this be any thing but in
fidelity in its most deceitful and hideous form — set up

POPERY AND INFIDELITY. 261
by the autjior of all evil, to mock, and deride, and cari
cature God, and his gospel, and his church ?
But I must come more closely and systematically to
my argument; arid though I shall not hold myself pre
cluded froni understanding infidelity in its widest sense,
as including all the systems that are opposed to the true
God and to his word, such as Atheistn, Paganism, Ma-
bometanism, and Deism, or even Socinianism, yet it is
my intention to view it principally as opposed to Chris
tianity, in its great general character, as a peculiar, ex
clusive, divine revelation — and under this vievV, to show
its connexion' with Popery. And it will be perceived
that tbis connection, if proved to exist, will be twofold
arid mutual. I propose, therefore, to consider my sub
ject under these two views: — •
I. Popery, as leading to, and, in many respects, iden
tical vvith, infidelity; and,
¦ II. Infidelity as in many respects identical with, and
preparing the mind for the easy reception of Popery.
1. Popery, as leading to, and, in many respects, iden
tical with, infidelity.
We are now to consider infidelity, in its connexion
witb Popery, under tbe great general character of an
opposition to Christianity; as a peculiar, exclusive, divine
revelation. And here it is necessary to state, that when
we charge Popery as being blasphemy against God, set
ting itself in tbe place of, and, consequently, were it
possible, subverting tbe throne of God, being antichrist,
denying the Father and the Son, departing from, and
denying the faith, we do not charge her with being and
doing all ,this avow^edly or openly, and in so many
words, but as doing it in "hypocrisy," with "all de
ceivableness of unrighteousness ;",and witb far more suc
cess effecting the designs of Satan, who transforms himself
into an angel of light, to accomplish what he could not
effect as an avowed angel of darkness, than she could do
by open denial of God, of the Trinity, of the Scriptures,
or of the moral law. It is in our view, a main character
istic of the system that it is a "delusion." We shall not
be inconsistent, then, in admitting that Papists profess
edly, and' very many of them sincerely (that is so far as

262 CONNEXION BETV^EEN
sincerity is consistent with tbe cbaracter of sinful and
erring man, for men rn£iy " believe a lie") believe Cbris
tianity to.be a divine revelation; and yet, that the sys
tem is most intimately connected vyith infidelity, destruc
tive of the truth of Christianity, and ruinous^to souls. —
The system may be the invention, 9f Satan, while its
votary may believe it the perfection bf truth — ^the off
spring of heaven.
1. The first proof which I propose of the connexion
of Popery and infidelity, is their treatment of Scripture,
the written word of God. What, then, is tbe doctrine
of Popery in refereniie to the Scriptures as the rule, of
faith? It is as.follows: — Tbe so-called " Sacred CEcu-
menical Council of Trent, Sess. iv. Decret. de canonicis
Scripturis, following the examples of tbe orthodox fa
thers," (this by the by is not true,) decrees thus : the
Council " receives and venerates, with equal piety and
reverence, all the books as well of the Old as of the, New
Testament, since one God is the author of both; like
wise those traditions pertaining both to faith and man
ners, as dictated orally by Cbrist, or by the Holy Spirit,
and preserved by continual succession in the Catholic
Church." The decree then names the books of sacred
Scripture, in which it includes tbe apocryphal books.
But not content vv^rth this, it decrees that not the origi
nal Scriptures, but the Latin Vulgate, mustbe received;
thus — " If any one shall not receive these entire books,"
i. e. Apocrypha and all, " with a/Z their parts asthey are
accustomed to be read in the Catholic Church, and are
contained in the ancient Vulgate Latin edition, for saered
and canonical, and shall knowingly and deliberately
despise the -foresaid traditions, let him be accursed."
Tbe first article of tbe creed of Pope Pius IV-, which
was published in 1564, long after the Reformation was
begun, and four years after Popery was abolished in
Scotland by act of Parliament, (showing the absurdity
of tbe Popish pretence to superior antiquity,) is, "I
most firmly admit and embrace the apostolical and eccle
siastical traditions and the other observances and consti
tutions of the same Church." 2. " I admit also the
sacred Scriptures according to that sense which holy

POPERY AND INFIDELITY. 263
mother Church hath held and doth hold, to whom it
dotb belong to judge of the true meaning and interpre
tation of the sacred Scriptures; nor will 1 ever receive
it (the interpretation) except according to the unanimous
consent of the fathers?' The Council of Trent, Sess. iv.
de editione et usy sacrorum librorum, has, in addition to
the above, that no one shall dare to interpret them con
trary to this sense, " even though such interpretations
should never be published." " Whoever shall contra
vene this decree, are to be denounced by tbe ordinaries
and punished by the penalties decreed by law." In the
4th rule of the Index of prohibited books, published by
the same Council, it is declared, "Since it is manifest
by experience, that if the Holy Bible in the vulgar
tongue be any where permitted without distinction,
more harm than good, on account of the temerity of
men, will arise from it;" a written permission must be
obtained from the priest to read it, and whoever shall
presume to read it without sucb permission, unless he
bas "first given 'up the books to the ordinary, cannot
obtain absolution for his sins. This doctrine has been
repeated by successive Popes down to the present time.
Pius VII., in 1816, calls Bible Societies "-a most crafty
device," "a pestilence," "this defilement of the faith,
most dangerous to souls." Leo XII., who died in 1829,
m an encyclical letter, published in IS24, speaks in like
terms of the Bible Society, refers to the Council of
Trent already quoted, and exhorts the clergy to " turn
away their flock from these poisonous pastures," (the
translated Bible.)
Of course every true son and daughter of the Church
must respect these decisions, and every writer of any
note, from Bellarmine down to a much inferior man. Dr.
Wiseman, repeats them. " All saving truth," saith the
former, " is not contained in tbe holy Scriptures, but
partly in the Scriptures and partly in unwritten tradi
tions." " Atqui ex tunc (primis seculis) creditum fuit
existere divinas et apostolicas traditiones quibus eadem
fides debetur ac ipsis scripturis." " In principiis pro-
tes.tantium qui' traditiones divinas et apostolicas non

264

CONNEXION BETWEEN

agnoscant, haec duo sunt admittenda, Scripturas et neces-
sarias esse, et sufficere ad complendum fidem : atque hsec
duo falsissima sunt."* In this Latin extract from the
Maynooth class-book, it is affirmed, thatthe same faith
is due to tradition, as to Scripture ; and that to affirm
tbat Scripture is either necessary or sufficient to complete
faith, is most false. In his preface. Dr. Wiseman says,
p. vii., " I need not say, that in this publication, as in
every other that proceeds from my pen, I completely
subject myself to the teacbingjjf the Church, and mean
to preserve the strictest adherence to every thing that
she teaches." It is needless, tberefore, to quote him to
prove that he coincides with the decisions I have already
brought before you. This, shall appear when I quote
him for another purpose. It is unnecessary for me to
argue the point of the rule of faith, or the authority of
the Church as sole interpreter of the mind of God — it
has been admirably and conclusively done by other
and abler hands. Neither shall I attemjjt to show
directly, from the principles involved in the doctrines
of the Papacy as now laid down on these points, that
they lead to infidelity ; in other words to the overthrow
of divine revelation, on the principle that its authority
may be subverted as completely by raising to a level
with it what is merely human .and liable to error, as by
directly denying its divine origin ; and in as much as
tbe Church of Rome demands for " tradition," for apo
cryphal books, and (with strange infatuation and most
unnecessary and gratuitous disparagement of the Hebrew
and Greek originals, unless to confound the rule of faith,
and bolster up the Church's claim' to its own exclusive
interpretation) also for the very imperfect Latin transla
tion called the Vulgate. So far was this extravagant
attachment to the Vulgate, or translation of Jerome,
carried, that in tbe preface to the Complutensian Bible,
Cardinal Ximenes says, " We have put tbe version of
St. Jerome between the Hebrew and the Septuagint, as
between the synagogue and eastern Church, which are
* Traetatus de Ecclesia. Dubl. Coyne, 1829. Autore Lud. iEgid.
Delahogue, pp. 412 — 414.

POPERY AND INFIDELITY. 265
like the two thieves, tbe one on the right and the other
on the left hand, and Jesus, that is tbe Roman Church,
in tbe middle." * And moreover, as the creed of Pius
absolutely gives priority, in order^ to tradition' over
Scripture, and does nothing more in -its second article
than to limit Scripture in its meaning and authority to
the sense, of the fathers ; and in fact, as tradition is said
to be not only of equal authority, but to be the rule for
the interpretation of Scripture, it is actually in practice
made paramount to it ; and in truth, in searching amid
the mass and rubbish of contradictory fathers, and coun
cils, and popes, tbe Scriptures are overlooked and lost.
In opposition to all tbis, our Church, in her Confes
sion of Faith, declares, ch. i. that God bath committed
his revelation "wholly unto writing;" that in holy
Scripture are included only the books of the Old Testa
ment and the New, received as canonical by Protestant
Churches, to the exclusion of the books called apocry
phal.; that " the authority of Scripture depends not upon
any man, nor upon any Cburch, but on God himself, as
the author thereof; and therefore it is to be received be
cause it is the word of God ;" and " that tbe infallible
rule of interpretation of Scripture is the Scripture itself"
In like manner, the Church of England saith, article 6tb,
" Holy Scripture containetb all things necessary to salva
tion, so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be
proved tbereby, is not to be required of any man that it
should be believed as an article of faith, or be thought
requisite or necessary to salvation." This is the doctrine
of all the Reformed Confessions of Faith, in which there
is as much unity as in the opposite Popish doctrine. t —
This rule of faith has been established on other occa
sions, by the most unanswerable arguments. Tbis,
therefore, is not my business — but I request your care
ful attention to the manner in which Romish controver
sialists endeavour to overthrow it. You have already
heard tbeir general authorized doctrine — hear now how
they attempt to justify it, and overturn ours. I sball begin
witb Dr. Wiseman. In bis preface he says, " Christian-
* M'.Crie's Spain, p. 69. t Sylloge Confessionum.
Z

266 CONNEXION BETWEEN
ity might have existed without tbe New Testament's
having been written. It would not have existed in its
present constitution without the Church." After wish
ing to show most untruly (for it is belied by every
controversialist of any note, and certainly by these lec
tures), that Protestants attack Popery in detail, rather
than at once grapple with tbe rule of faith, any of which
we conceive they may fairly do, as suits them best, he
says,* "For whether or no it is a cdrruptron to admit
tradition, or to pronounce the Bible ill calculated to
form a rule of faith to each individual, depends upon, or
rather is identical with, the question, whether God in
tended the Scriptures to be the only rule of faith. This
the Protestant asserts, and the (Roman) Catholic denies."
He therefore affirms tbe Bible to be " ill-calculated to
form a rule of faith." " Nowhere have we the record
of any of these (New Testa'ment) writers having asserted
their own inspiration." This is an assertion as daring
as it is untrue. After this, all tbe difficulties of disco
vering the inspiration of the Bible are enumerated. —
'^ Among the Jews," he says, " there was a train of
sacred tradition, containing within itself more vital dog
mas than are written in the inspired volume."t He
affirms tbat it is difficult to see any connexion between
the conclusion and tbe premises, when our Saviour proves
tbe resurrection, from God's calling himself tbe God of
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob ; tbat there is no authority
for believing that our Lord's sufferings and death, or the
doctrine of the regeneration, or of the Trinity, were
foretold or made known in Old Testament Scripture.;
that they were mere traditions; and yet he affirms else
where that tbe Church might have done without the
New Testament. So that, in his view, to prove these
doctrines. Scripture is useless. He has even recourse to
the modern Jews to support his notions of tradition.
He goes on, "I have merely shown that the difficul
ties of receiving tbe Bible as the word of God are nume
rous and complicated," &c. " If after all these," (viz.
" a long and painful course of learned disquisitions,")
•P. 3. t Pp. 70, 71.

POPERY AND INFIDELITY. 267
"have been encountered, he (the individual) cannot
eome to a satisfactory demonstration of the most impor
tant point of inspiration, I ask you, can the rule, in the
approach to whicb you must pass through such a laby
rinth of difficulties, be that which God has given as a
guide to the poorest, the most illiterate, and simplest of
his creatures?" I do not stay to answer this — I must
remind you that "it has been already done: but I call
upon you only to remember that the end, for which all
these difficulties are summoned up, is to establish the
necessity of the authority of the Church to determine
tbe rule of faitb. Now, to point out the weakness of
the Popish cause, carry along with you this fact, that tbe
Church herself bases her authority on Scripture, and
arrives at it just as we do. He says, " It is conducted
in every instance as a matter of historical inquiry, and
all human prudence is used to arrive at a judicious
decision."'* Now, if you take the Church for your
guide, must you not, first ascertain if the inquiry has
been rightly conducted? No; you must take the tradi
tions of tbe Church, say the Papists, the " unanimous
consent of the fathers." Is it an easier process to dis
cover this consent ? But this is not what is meant —
you must take them without discovery — bel ieve and then
inquire. But to proceed. He goes on — "II. Such, then, is
merely the difficulty of obtaining possession of the rule;
but wben it bas been obtained is it not surrounded witb
equal or even greater difficulties than these?" "He
(God) gives us a large volume written in two languages,
the cbief piortion in one known to a small and limited
country of the world. He allows tbat speech to become
a dead language, so that countless difficulties and obscu
rities should spring up regarding the meaning of innu
merable passages." He next descends to the difficulties
of getting translations, then of diffusing the Bible, and
refers back to the era before the invention of printing,
and use of steam, when millions of Bibles could not be
produced as now, and affirms, " God could not mean
* See also p. 63.

268 CONNEXION BETWEEN
that for 1400 years man was tQ be without a guide." I
do not stay to prove that this method of reasoning sets
aside Bible, Church, and Christianity itself, as being
more limited than man's wants. Could the Church,
more than the Bible, have been universally diffused be
fore tbe. discovery of the mariner's, compass and of
America by Columbus? But the third difficulty he
urges under tbis bead, is the alleged impossibility of un
derstanding the rule to the " greater portion of mankind."
Nay, tbat there are " serious difficulties" attending " even
the easier parts. of Scripture."
III. A third general objection which be urges to the
Scriptures as the rule of faith, is their alleged unfitness
to attain their end, which he affirms is, " tbat all should
be brougbt to entertain tbe same faith." And then he
asks, "And has this rule proved equal to thait only end?
Most assuredly not."'** We might ask in reply, have
the Church, and tradition, and Scripture combined, pro
duced tbat end? No, assuredly; else we should not be
here this evening. And if this be the only end, then
decidedly Cbristianity has failed of it. Nay, he eVen
affirms that, if Scripture be the rule, Islamism shall bave
proved more successful. He says most strangely —
" Even tbe false prophet of tbe east shall bave proved
more successful. For so powerful is the doctrine of one
God, that wherever tbe doctrines of Islamism bave been
proclaimed, idolatry has-been banished, so as never more
to have returned. And shall Christianity have pro-tred
feebler than they?"t Istop not to ask what he means

* P. 48.
t In opposition to this opinion of Dr. Wiseman, I beg to quote the
following passage from the learned Sale — accounting for the success
of Mahomet by the vices of the clergy, &c., — he adds, " Among the
Arabs it was that the heresies of Ebion, Beryllus, and the Nazarasans,
and also that of the CoMyridians was broached, or at least propagated ;
the latter introduced the Virgin Mary for God, or worshipped her as
such, offering her a sort of twisted cake called CoUyris, whence the
sect had its name."
" This notion of the divinity of the 'Virgin Mary was also believed
hy some at the Council of Nice, who said there were two Gods be
sides the Father, viz., Christ and the Virgin Mary; and were thence
named Mariamites. Others imagined her to be exempt from huma
nity, and deified ; which goes but little beyond the Popish supersti-

POPERY AND INFIDELITY. 269
by "the doctrine of one God," as if Christianity denied
it; but remark that, undoubtedly, if truth is to be tried
by the majority, Christianity, including all its denomi
nations, must }Meld the palrri to Mahomet and Pagan
ism; and the authority of the Church must rise on the
ruins of the gospel. And is it thus that a pretended
minister of Christ is employed, in heaving up barriers
between you and tbe word of God? Is this an employ
ment meet for a Church of Christ? If tbis be all true,
what is the Bible to you? But have you felt it so? No;
you will answer — it is a hideous indignity done to God's
word. We have felt its power to enlighten, comfort,
and save, and all the powers of earth and hell shall not
make us renounce it. ' t
Our author himself seems conscious of the charge to
wbich this treatment of sacred Scripture makes him lia
ble. Accordingly he says,* " As I have spoken so much
of the word of God, (meaning sacred Scripture — I trust
witb some misgiving for calling any thing else that
' word,') and as I fear that those present, misled perhaps
by feelings infused info tbem by education," (and why
not infuse feelings of reverence for the word of God?)
"may bave been tempted to think that we universally,
and myself in particular, speak with unbecoming dispa
ragement thereof, I wish, before closing this portion of
my subject, to state what is the practice and belief of
Catholics. We are told that the Catholic loves not the
Scriptures," &c. " The Catholic Church not love and
esteem the word of. God!" (Observe he changes the
terms — word of God with bim means Scripture and tra
dition.) "Is there any other Church that places a hea
vier stake on the authority of the Scriptures than the
Catholic? Is there any other Church tbat pretends to
base so much rule over men on the words of that book?"
This latter question may be answered in the negative;
and we ask again — How? but by fettering them in
tion in calling her the complement of the Trinity, as if it were imper
fect without her. This foolish imagination is justly condemned in the
Koran as idolatrous, and gave a handle to Mohammed to attack the
Trinity itself." — Sale's Prelim. Disc, to the Koran. Sec. II.
* P. 49.
z2

270 CONNEXION BETWEEN
every possible way; nay, making it dangerous to the
soul to interpret them. But the question is not vvhat
power the Church claims, but what ideas she- gives of
the Bible. Let the quotations we bave given .testify.
" His best proof is a hearty exclamation or two." Some
facts he gives — of these hereafter.
Do we find other modern Popish writers belie the
doctrines of Trent or of Pope Pius? Let us hear a
book published by Coyne, Bookseller to Maynooth Col
lege* — " It follows, 2dly, tbat the Scriptures are so far
from being the whole necessary rule of tbe Christian
faitb, that they are not (absolutely speaking) even a ne
cessary part of tbat rule."t " Why have they (the Re
formers, so great a spleen against the one (tbe Roman
Catholic Church,) and bave so great a respect for tbe
other (the Scriptures?") " The reason, in short is, be
cause the Church is somewhat harder to be managed
than the Scriptures."
Milner, in his End of Controversy, repeats the same
offensive statements of the difficulties of discovering the
Scriptures to be the word of God. Thus, " Lastly, you
have no sufficient authority for asserting that the sacred
volumes are tbe genuine compositions of the holy per
sons whose names they bear."| " Again; supposing the
divine authority of the sacred books themselves to be
established, how do- you know that tbe copies of them
translated and 'printed in your Bible, are authentic?"
He talks§ of " apocryphal prophecies" and " spurious
gospels," from whicb it is impossible for individuals to
distinguish the true. He then proceeds to declare, on
tbe authority of " all the learned," not one of whom he
mentions, that tbe Old Testament was twice lost, and
that totally, till restored by Christ and his apostlesi
Where they have been so, or where is the proof, is left
to " all the learned." Listen to tbe following, biore like
z petit maitre of the Voltaire school than a grave di
vine — " In like manner, granting that Paul wrote an

* England's Conversion and Reformation Compared, &c Dublin,
1827. tP.45. tP. 103. §P. 103.

POPERY AND INFIDELITY. 271
inspired epistle to the Romans, and another to the
Ephesians, yet as the former was intrusted to an indi
vidual, the Deaconess Phebe, to be conveyed by her to
its destination, and the latter to his disciple, Tychicus,
for the same purpose,.it is impossible for you (why so?)
to entertain a. rational conviction that tbose epistles, as
they stand in your Testament, are exactly in the same
state in which they issued from the apostle's pen-, or that
they are. genuine epistles at all" — ^except of 'course by his
Church ! He then magnifies tbe difficulties of transla
tions, and adds — '' In this inquiry the Catholic Chureh
herself can afford you no security to build your faitb
upon — much less can any private individuals whatso
ever."'* Well — what is to be done be does not declare.
He then talks of -the mistakes of tbe apostles themselves
— of " numberless obscurities," " manifold is the obscu
rity of holy writ," "sublimity," "figures of speech,"
" mysteries," " Greek and Hebrew idioms,"! &c.; and
be crowns the whole witb an enormous calumny upon
Protestants, in fact a plain untruth. " Now is it demon
stratively evident, from mere Scripture, that Christ is
God, and to be adored as sucb? Most modern Protes
tants answer — No!!" The Jesuitism and falsehood of
this are truly matchless, and it shows to what extent
such writers will venture on the odious task of slander.
He enumerates other difficulties arising from mysteries,
figures, parables, and the like; and how are we to get out
of all these? By receiving tbe'autbority of tbe Church
— by " traditions."X Now, I ask you, Roman Catho
lics, yourselves being judges, would the difficulties be
less to you in discovering these traditions? in discover
ing what heaven, or earth, or bell, never saw, "the
unanimous sense of the fathers?" I shall put you on a
practical proof of the easy task imposed on you, and
which you receive, I fear, too thoughtlessly. Take up,
for instance, the " Catholic Christian Instructed," and
glance over tbe pages of references to the works of the
writers there put in the mouth of the " Instructed," not
one of which he ever saw, and could not even pronounce
* Pp. 105, 106. t P. 109. X iVIilner, p. 130.

272 CONNEXION BETWEEN
their, names, and say if it does not stamp with absurdity,
the pretence that your rule of faith is easier than the
Scripture. I will here give you a specimen of tbe mode in which
Popery makes materials for her argument, viz., that the
multitude of translations, and the like, multiply the dif
ficulties of knqwing the Scripture to be the word of God., ,
In one of the Scripture lessons by the National Education
Board, that professing to contain tbe gospel of St. Luke,
(which by the by they bave mutilated for a purpose,)
the variations from the authorized version amount to
1680; and in the lesson book of the Acts of the Apos
tles, the variations are 1906. Why? To establish the
Popish rule of faith. For no other reason of the smallest
weight.* These writers descend so low as to endeavour to dis
cover in the Scriptures contradictory doctrines, and
contradictory morals. Milner says, " Is it an easy mat
ter to reconcile certain well known speeches of each of
the holy patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, with tbe
incommutable precept of truth?"! It is not necessary
to do so — we confess they have all sinned and come
short of the glory of God, and expect no perfection from
tbem; and where tbey sin, the word condemns them,
and is not answerable-for their faults.
Chaloner, in. his " Grounds of Catholic Doctrine,"
Bossuet, in his " Exposition," and other Romanists hold
the same doctrines. Ind'eed they spring from the Trent
decrees as naturally as the branches of the deadly upas
tree from its root.
Though it is not the business of tbis lecture to answer
either Popish or infidel objections, but to show the con
nexion between them; yet I am constrained to point out
the mode in which they may be answered very easily.
You will think it curious to find the celebrated Popish
author, Bossuet, when writing against infidelity, an
swering, with great power and simplicity, the very
objections I have now produced from the Romanists ;
* Rev. Hugh M'Neile's Letter to Town Council of Liverpool.
t P. 189.

POPERY AND INFIDELITY. 273
refuting, against the infidel, the very objections with
which themselves have supplied him. After removing
many of the difficulties, substantially and even verbally
the same as those just quoted, be says, " But let us leave
vain disputes, and in a word cut up the difficulty by the
roof. Let any one tell me if it is not evident, that from
all the versions, and from every text, wbatever it may
be, there shall not always result tbe same laws, the same
miracles, the same prediction,<!,'the same train of history,
the same body of doctrine, and, in fine, the same sub
stance. In what, then, after that, do the various texts
do injury ?" Again, as to tbe authors of the Pentateuch,
and the prophecies and their dates, among otber things
he says, " Secondly, because their dates being once fixed,
one can no more efface the infallible mark of divine
inspiration, which they bear engraven in the great
number and the long series of memorable predictions
with which we find tbem filled."
" It is to avoid these miracles, and these predictions,
tbat tbe impious {les impies) bave fallen into all the
absurdities whicb have surprised you. But let them not
think to escape God. He has reserved to hia Scriptures
a mark of divinity whicb suffers no harm {atteinte) — it
is the relation of the two Testaments. It cannot be dis
puted, at least, that the Old Testament was written be
fore the New. There is here" no new Esdras wbo could
bave persuaded the Jews to invent or to falsify" (as in
fidels allege) " their Scripture in favour of the Christians
whom they persecuted. Nothing more is necessary.
By the relation of the two Testaments, it is proved that
both are divine ; they have both the same design and the
same scope {suite), ih.e one prepares the way for the
perfection which the other exhibits plainly revealed —
the one lays the foundation and tbe other finishes the
edifice — in a word, the one predicts wbat the other re
veals accomplished."*
Sucb is tbe ungracious task imposed upon Popery,
tbat of answering its o'wn objections wben urged by the
infidel. * Bossuet, Suite de la-Religion. Seconde Partie.

274 CONNEXION BETWEEN
Keeping them, however, in mind, I now ask any of
my reverend brethren, or any intelligent Protestant, how
would you answer these difficulties of the Romish wri
ters? Could you, or could any man, believirig tbe Scrip
tures to be a divine revelation of the will of God, answer
them in any other way than you would do the assaults
of the infidel ? Will you find any other objections ac
tually started by the infidels? Do you find any other
points discussed in our books of evidences, or of answers
to Deists ? I know of none. The objections are the
very same by both, though the conclusions are different.
The infidel rejects the Bible as a rule, and sets up his
reason. The Papist rejects tbe Bible as a. rule, and sets
up the. Cburch, in other words, tbe priest; for I should
like to know what other Church than their priest, or it
may be their bishop, have the mass of Papists ever seen ?
Which of the two judges, then, reason or tbe Popish
priest,- would a man to whom God hath given an under
standing, the inspiration of the Almighty, choose for
bLmself, if he is not to take tbe word of God? For my
part, I hesitate not to declare, that I would renounce the
priest and take my reason, even though I had a better
guarantee than Popery has yet afforded for tbe honesty
and morality of its priesthood. Blessed be God, I am
not reduced to this awful alternative, but may in humble
faith, commit myself to the guidance of God's " Spirit
speaking in the Scriptures."
But it is time now to show you, from actual facts, the
identity of infidel and Popish reasonings.
You would observe that tbe Papists, and especially
Dr. Wiseman, disclaim any hostility to the sacred Scrip
tures — far more any hostility to divine revelation, con
sisting, tbey say, of Scripture and tradition. Some of
you will, perhaps, be surprised to learn that the leading
English and German infidels do the same. This being
the case, therefore, I see not why we maj' not be allowed
to expect that the effects of their principles and state
ments, when tbey coincide, will undoubtedly be the very
same on the human mind ; and that in reference to the
Scripture, the same arguments used by the one, and by
the other, will not be essentially changed in their nature

POPERY AND INFIDELITY. 275
and. effects, by the circumstance that the one seeks to
reject Scripture as a rule, and set up his reason in its
stead, and the other to reject Scripture as a rule, but to
setup the Church as the infallible guide; or, in other
words, themselves.
The celebrated Lord Herbert, of Cherbury, declared
tbat Christianity is the best religion — that his own uni
versal religion of nature agrees wbolly witb Christianity,
and contributes to its. establishment ; and that it was far
from his intention to do barm to tbe best religion, as he
calls Christianity, or to destroy true faith, but rather to
establish both.* Hobbes declares, that the "Holy Scrip
ture is the voice of God ruling all things by tbe greatest
rigbt."t Blount thought that Christianity was tbe safest
road to heaven, but that it did best mingled with Deism.
Toland, in reference to his book, entitled Jlmyntor, says,
" I made no objections then, nor do I make any now, to
invalidate or destroy, but in order to " illustrate and
confirm the canon of the New Testament."J Shaftes
bury makes the same profession of respect for Christi-
anity,§ thus: —
" The only subject on which we are perfectly secure, and without
fear of any just censure or reproach, is that of faith and. orthodox
eeliSf. , For, in the first place, it will appear, that, through a pro
found respect, and religious veneration, we have forborne so much
as to name any of the sacred or solemn mysteries of revelation. And
in the next place as we can with confidence, declare, that we have
never iu any writing, public or private, attempted such high re
searches, nor have ever in practice acquitted ourselves otherwise
than as just conformists to the lawful Church, so we may, in a proper
sense, be said faithfully and dutifully to embrace these holy mysteries,
even in their minutest particulars, without the least exception, on
account of their amazing depth."
He makes in substance tbe same statement at p. 49,
and repels tbe charge of scepticism. Tindal, in bis
Christianity as Old as the Creation, 8vo. p." 382, says,
" I entirely agree witb tbis Right Rev. Father (Bishop
Chandler), that Cbristianity in itself, stripped of the ad-
• Home's Introduction, 'V^ol. i. p. 21 ; Leland's 'View of Deistical
Writers, Letter II.
f De Give, cap. iii. sec, 33.
t Nazarenus, Pref. p. ix. Lond. 1718.
§ Characteristics, Vol. iii. p. 219.

276 CONNEXION BETWEEN
ditions that policy,' mistake, and the circumstances of
time bave made to it, is a most holy religion." And
again, p. 383, " If this be true, have I not -shown some
resolution in daring to attack the darling weaknesses
and follies of false Christians; in proving that Cbris
tianity is so far from being indefensible, tbat it carries
its own evidence with it; or, in other words, all its doc
trines 'evidently speak themselves to be the will of an
infinitely wise and good God." Even Hume, in a letf
ter to Dr. Blair, published in tbe preface to Campbell
on Miracles, says, " I wish your friend had not denomi
nated me an infidel writer, on account of ten or twelve
pages wbich seeiii to have tbat tendency." The same
thing might be shown of Woolaston, Chubb, Boling-
broke,.and even Rousseau and Voltaire. Enough, how
ever, has been produced to show you that disclaimers of
hostility to the Scriptures, are not enough of themselyes
to wipe off tbe stain of an infidel tendency, or of direct
infidelity. If tbey were, we should have scarcely any
infidels to contend with. I sball not waste time by
showing the same thing of tbe German Neologists and
infidels, to whom I shall afterwards have occasion to
advert.* Let me now beg your attention to tbe modes in which
the forementioned infidel writers assail the Scriptures,
and then tell me if you can discover any difference be
tween tbem and the assaults made upon them as a rule
of faith by tbe Cburch of Rome. To save time, I must
omit the proof that their tactics are, even in lesser points,
the same — such as quoting and perverting passages from
individual Protestant writers, to make out tbeir argu
ment. Both Wiseman and Milner follow Shaftesbury
and Tindal in this respect, as any one may see by com
paring them together.
Give me your attention now, for a little, to some of
the infidel objections against tbe Scriptures, and com
pare them with those I have adduced from the Popish
writers. Tbe principal objection of Lord Herbert
against the Christian revelation, is the want of its being
* See Rose's Protestantism in Germany, for ample proof.

POPERY AND INFIDELITY. 277
universally known and promulgated — tbe objection, you
will remember brought by Milner and Wiseman, against
the Bible asaruleof faith, but which applies- equally
against the goodness of God in distributing his gifts un
equally to men, and would war as much against the prooj
of a divine providence as of a divine revelation. Hobbes,
to weaken the authority of the Sacred Canon, endeavours
to show that the books of Moses, and the historical writ
ings of tbe Old Testament, were not written by the au
thors- whose- names tbey bear, and that they are derived
from no otber authority than that of Esdras,* which you
will remember was assailed thus at second-hand by -Mil
ner. Bolingbroke and other infidels followed the same
course. Hobbes affirms tbe Popish doctrine, that the
authority of the Church is the only assurance for the
certainty of Scripture. The infidel Toland wrote a book
called Amyntor, the main design of which was to dis
credit the authority of the Sacred Canon, by raking up,
which he did, to t^e number of eighty, all the spurious
gospels and ridiculous and, exploded forgeries of, the
early ages, pretending, as Milner does, tbat it was not
possible to discover them from what were called real.
Shaftesbury, in his Characteristics,t makes bis gentle
man, who manages tbe conversation, as a sceptic or free
thinker, who nevertheless had previously professed, as
we bave seen, perfect reverence for Scripture, speak as
follows, (and I request any Papist to take Milner's End
of Controversy, and compare it witb what I now read,
and let him declare which is the greater infidel of the
two:) — "There are innumerable places that contain (no
doubt) great mysteries; but so wrapt in clouds, or hid
in umbrages, so heightened with expressions, or so co
vered with allegories and garments of rhetoric; so pro
found in the matter, or so altered and made intricate in
the manner," &c. "For wben tbere are found in tbe
explications of these writings, so many commentaries;
so many se'nses and interpretations; so many volumes
in all ages, &c. Tbere are, besides, so many thousands
of copies, &c.; so great -variety of readings; whole
* Leland, Letter III. 1 Vol. iii. Ed. 1757, p. 224.
2 A

278

CONNEXION BETWEEN

verses in one that are not in another; whole books ad
mitted by one church or communion, which are re
jected by another," &c. " If we follow any one transla
tion, or any one man's commentary, what will or direc
tion shall we have, by wbi,ch to close that one aright;"
Tindal, in his Christianity as Old as the Creation,* says:
"Are not the unlearned wholly unacquainted with those keys /of
solution (as they are called) which the learned have such frequent
recourse to; such as those ofa transposition of words or clauses, er
rors of copies, various readings, various meanings of the same word,
punctuation, taking away or adding of the negative particle; allusion
to customs, consideration of the matter in hand, exaggeration, inter-
rogation, parenthesis, literal sense, figurative sense; want of exact
ness in the sacred writers, prudence in concealing some things, or in
complying with some opinions prevailing in their times; condescen
sion to Pagans or Jews ; using such ideas as prevailed in such a reli
gion; prejudication in the hearers, answers suitable to their needs,
rather than to their queries; compendious expressions, phraseology
of that time, the author's nation, or native country; parallel pas
sages, precepts peculiar to the apostles, advices to perfection, cen
sures against certain heretics, the circumstances of the subject, the
scope of the author, vAiat goes before, and what follows; tbe barren
ness of the Hebrew tongue ; and consequently, its ambiguity, its
particular idioms, the various senses of the same verb, in dift'erent
conjugations; the want of certain ways of expression used in other
tongues ; the sublime and metaphorical expressions most frequent in
the Oriental languages; tbe imitation of the Hebrew idiom in the
Ixx version ; and in the original text of the New Testament Greek
of the synagogue," &c.
But not absolutely to weary you and myself, I shall
finish tbis proof by one quotation more. It is from the
works of Lord Bol-ingbroke.t He says tbat "the Jews
and Christians differ among themselves, and from one
another, concerning almost every point that is neces
sary to be known, and agreed upon, in order to establish
the authority of books which both have received as au
thentic and sacred. Who were tbe authors of these
Scriptures, when they were published, how they were
composed, and preserved or received; in fine, bow
they were lost during the captivity, and how tbey were
retrieved after it; are all matters of controversy to this
day." This is known to every st-udent of Scripture
evidence, to be gross misstatement. You will recall
*P. 213. t Vol. i. p. 100, 101.

POPERY AND INFIDELITY. 279
Bossuet's reply to it. But my present object is not to
expose it, but to request you to observe two things; 1st,
that the whole mass of infidel writers, who pretend to
superior enliglvtenment, ring the changes, one after ano
ther, on the same points, without one particle of origi
nality; and, 2dly, that the Popish writers either follow
in their train, or set them the example: which is parent
or child it is difficult to say, and of no importance to de
termine. One thing is certain, they are clearly recog-
pised by one family likeness. And as families are often
inheritors, and fosterers of the same feuds, they have a
most fraternal determination to heap obloquy upon the
satered Scriptures. All tbe difference that I have dis
covered in the comparison which I have instituted, is,
that the infidels are the least virulent assailants. They
have also their several objects; tbe one to set up his rea
son as his rule and guide — in other words, himself; the
other to set up- the Cburch — in other words, himself
also; for observe, it is priest contending for the priest,
the Popish, notion of the Church as a guide being tbe
clergy, but both determined to have their own mind
and their own way, unfettered by the written word of
God. If the facts and quotations produced, and conclusions
I bave drawn from tbem be correct, then we may ex
pect a common reason for this treatment of the Bible. I
can only give one, but which is very comprehensive, and
applies alike to Pagan and Jew, Infidel and Papist.
"This is the condemnation that light- is come into the
world; and men loved- darkness rather than light, be
cause tbeir deeds were evil. For every one that doeth
evil hateth tbe light, neither cometh to the light, lest his
deeds sbt)uld be reproved." Neither the pride, self-
righteous,ness, frivolity, or immorality of the infidel, nor
the arrogant ambition, the creature merits, the endless
impositions, the hideous rhorals, nor the towering tyran
ny of Rome dare abide the full, and free, and universally
diffused light of the blessed word of God; and they
would, therefore, bury_ and overwhelm it — mutually
attempt to confuse the canon of Scripture — affirm the
difficulty of understanding it, and mutually dishonour

280 CONNEXION BETWEEN
the truth of God, as if it were beyond human compre
hension to discover what it is, even when God hath i-e-
vealed it in his infinite wisdom and mercy to man.
But, exclaims Dr. Wiseman, " tbe Catholic Church
not love the Word of God!" To which we reply, "the
facts we see are stronger than the words we hear."*
We appeal to the decrees of Trent,'^ and to your own in
fidel reasonings. But, replies Dr. Wiseman, Did not
Roman Catholics publisji .many' editions of tHe Scrip
tures before the time of the Reformation? Granted.
But we must still quote the Trent decrees and your own
reasonings against you. But, he affirms, that all these
editions were published, not only " with the approbation
of the ordinary authorities, but witb that of the Inquisi
tion, which approved of their being published, distri
buted, and promulgated." This may be so. He deigns
no proof Why, then, we say, you allow the " faithful"
to read tbem. Not so fast, be answers. The "heretics"
made it necessary to abridge this privilege of the " faith
ful," and' to " check the perilous diffusion" of the Scrip
tures, " althou'gh, in the first instance, the Church did
not prohibit the diffusion of the Scriptures."t This is
curious. Here it is acknowledged, that through the
perversity of tbe heretics the "faithful" are deprived,
by their own guides, of their birthright. 2d.. That the
Church once permitted the free use of the Scriptures.
This is perfectly true, and let Papists mark it. But it
was before Rome saw danger to her corrupt power.
And then, 3d. The infallible Church, more ancient, they
allege, than the Protestant, made a new rule about the
Word of God, as well as a new creed in 1564! Strange
admissions these! and strange logic for the infallible
cburch, the only safe guide — heretics abuse the Scrip
tures, ergo, the " faithful" must, as a matter of " disci
pline," be deprived of them. Why does the Church
that cannot err, not defend and preserve tbe " faithful"
by other means than by creating a " famine of tbe Word
of God?"
But did tiie Church of Rome really encourage and
* Pra Paolo. t Wiseman, Vol. i. p. 53, 54.

POPERY AND INFIDELITY. '3S1
reward tbe publication of the Scriptures till the Refor
mation? Here I must cease for a little the parallel be
tween Popery and infidelity, as Popery will now shoot
far ahead of wbat I have ventured to describe as her
companion in tbe anti-bible crusade, and exhibit an in
sanity of hate, which infidelity has not been absurd
enough to attempt on a great scale. Infidelity laughs at
tbe Bible as a fable — Popery dreads it as a " pestilence,"
as "poisonous pastures."
Dr. Wiseman enumerates of versions and editions of ^
tbe same version of tbe Scriptures, and parts of the
Scriptures, about fifty-four; making, suppose we give a
thousand to each, fifty-four thousand during the fifteenth
century, for Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Belgium,
Bohemia, whicb would not have supplied, the clergy of
any one of these countries. In the end of the sixteenth
century, even after tbe Reformation, it was calculated
there were upwards of four and a half millions of souls
in the monasteries of all Christendom.* At the Revo
lution, there were eighty thousand ecclesiastics exclusive
of monks and nuns in France alone. So that tbis is a
poor proof of their general diffusion of the Scriptures,
fine as it looks spread over a few pages of generalities.
Moreover, they were at such an immense price, as put
it beyond tbe reach of the vast mass of .the people to buy
them. How many have Protestants published in sucb a
period? And remember tbat Rome bad at ber command
money, printing presses, and unlimited power.
In the reign of Henry VIII., in twenty-two years,
there were forty-eight editions of the English Scrip
tures. In the reign of tbe pious young King Edward
VI., in tbe course of six and a half years, tbere were
forty -five editions; and observe, during tbe reign of the
Popish Mary, in five years and four months, how many
think you? one whole edition! During the reign of
Elizabeth, in forty-four years and four months, one
hundred and eleven editions; double the wbole number
mustered by Dr. Wiseman in the various countries of

* History of Popery by a Society of Gentlemen, Vol. xi. p. 424,
quoted by Calvinus Minor. •
2 a2

282 CONNEXION BETWEEN
Europe -in the fifteenth century. During the last .thirty
years the British nation alone bas printed and published
about twenty millions of volumes of the Sacred Scrip
tures; sixteen and a-lialf millions have been in the En
glish language. Poor Tyndal, the first translator after
Wickliffe, of tbe English Bible, had a bard struggle.
Many editions were burnt, and himself at last executed.
John Fryth, and Miles Coverdale, met with equal oppo
sition, in the work of translating and printing tbe Scrip
tures. Coverdale had to flee from Paris, where be bad
gone to superintend the printing of an English Bible, to
escape the hands of the inquisition, who condemned th^
impression of the Bible, and consigned the copies to the"
flames.* Of all defences for Popery, the most unwise
is to attempt to prove its love of the Scriptures.
But by tracing the history of the versions mentioned
by Dr.Wisema"h inTtaly and Spain, I find the following
facts. He mentions tbat of Malherbi, which was very
imperfect, and then the better one of 'Bruccioli at Ve
nice, in 1532; a corrected edition of whicb was pub
lished in 1538, adding, that every one of them was ap
proved by tbe ordinary authorities. That might be,
but what followed? Bruccioli's Bible was ranked
among prohibited books in the Index of the Council of
Trent.t In Spain, in 1490, where tbere was not the apology
whicb Wiseman gives, viz: the heresies of the Re
formation, " many copies of the Hebrew Bible were
conimitted to the flames at Seville, by tbe order of Tor-
quemada the inquisitor; and in an auto da fe celebrated
soon after at Salamanca, six thousand volumes of the
Scriptures shared the same fate."f Lists of prohibited
books, including the Bible, have been published in tbat
country from time to time, and those who ventured to-
print, publigh, or vend Bibles, without express permis
sion, must have done it under the terror of punishment,
and if true Papists, with a guilty conscience, so long as
the decrees of Trent remain which strictly prohibit it.
* English Scriptures, .by Rev. Christopher Anderson.
t M'Crie's Italy, p, 55,,
X M'Crie, Reformation in Spain, p. 105.

POPERY AND INFIDELITY. 283
Cardinal Ximenes, who published the Bible caljed tbat
of Complutum, contended against having a translation of
it in the vulgar tongue, because it should be kept in
those three languages wbich God, " not without mys
tery, "had ordered to be placed over the head of his dear
Son when he suffered on the cross." In a letter which
I lately addressed to Bishop JNIurdocb on the subject of
a burnt Bible, I collected many proofs of hostility to
the Bible on the part of Roman Catholics, in addition to
tbose I bave now mentioned. Tbe following are some
ofthem : — •
" It is not unusual for the priests to burn it. A case of this kind
was brought before the House of Commons, in 1834, by a petition
signed by UOO persons, and no Popish member dared deny the fact.
" I find in a Report of the Thirty-Second (1836,) Anniversary of
the British and Foreign Bible Society, the Rev. W. Acworth states
that his Bible was taken from him in a large town in Italy — that at
Naples, the police demanded some Bibles, that had been given to the
people, to be given up, ' and their Bibles were publicly burnt.' At
Cork, at the spring assizes, in March, 1836, a priest, the Rev. Edward
Jeffords, was tried, and punished for an assault upon a poor old man
of seventy years of age, for reading tlie Bible, and the following is
the language in which this worthy endeavoured, without success,
before assaulting him himself, to stir up the hatred of the people
against the poor man : ' Take care, take care of yourselves ; take
care, good people, for Downey the Bible reader is here ! Downey,
niy curse upon you, and I denounce you as the -chief prince of de
vils !' You.are aware that many of these poor Bible readers have
been murdered for no crime but reading the Bible. Mr. Finch, M.P.,
made the following statement at the late Ninth Anniversary Meeting
of the British Reformation Society, London : ' The principle which
dictated that feeling (hatred to the Bible) was not confined to Ireland,
it was general throughout the Romish Church. "When at Nice, he
heard of a number of Bibles being burned by order of the'priests. —
In Syria, the Roman Catholic priests were very active in searching
out for copies of the Bible" and burning tliem,' &c. He then states,
on the authority of a letter received from an Irish Presbyterian cler
gyman, that out of 812 (Roman) CathoUc teachers, employed by the
Irish Society to read the Bible to the people, only ten of them had
escaped persecution. Four of them were cruelly murdered."
I have since observed in the ordinary reading of the
newspapers similar facts, thus: —
" Mr. Costello in introducing Mr. O'Ferall to the O'Connell Asso-
ciation, said — ' He had one remark to make about Mr. O'Ferall. —
Early in his life, he went to Scotland, and there amassed a consider
able property. On his return he opened an extensive woollen estab
lishment in Cookstown. About this time, the incendiaries, -were

284 CONNEXION BETWEEN
spreading the Bible for purposes of mischief among the people. Mr.
O'jrerall published an advertisement in the newspapers that he.would
buy all the Bibles that should be brought to him, and he actually did
purchase two cart loads of them. That he thought was a good plan
for putting a stop to their diabolical efforts." — Dublin Evening Packet,
Nov. 17, 1836.
Another case lately occurred at Achill, where four
New Testaments were committed .to the flames.
But the other day the Bishop of Bruges issued an
anathema against the circulation of Bibles by the Bible
Society.* " At a meeting for discussion at Castlebar, on Friday, the 6th of
this month, between Priest Hughes and the Rev. Mr. Stoney, where
the latter held up the Bible, it raised shouts of execration from the
Papists present." — Dublin Record, January 12.'
In the first Report of the Commissioners of Irish Education En
quiry, a Mr. Griffith states in evidence, that " all the measures (by
the priests) he has heard of are of extreme violence, denouncing the
people, and stating from the altar, that if they read the Bible or took
it into tbeir houses, they should be damned; that the devil was in
the'Bible." The same hostility is still rnanifested to the Bible by
Papists on tbe Continent. Tbe cures cry aloud to burn
the Sacred Scriptures.t From these facts it is plain that
Poper}^ is still unchanged in its hatred of the Bible.
Wiseman, in his attempts to discredit Protestant Mis
sions, relates with evident satisfaction the loss and de
struction of the Bibles sent abroad by the Missionary
Societies, and most falsely represents Protestants as
counting converts by the number of Bibles distributed.
One of tbe alleged facts I allude to for the purpose of
showing what Dr. Wiseman omits in his English quota
tion, though be could not deny bimself and bis Popish
brethren the gratification afforded by the circumstance,
viz., the contemptuous epithet bestowed on the lovers of
Bible circulation. The Dr. in English quotes the' Vicar
Apostolic of Siam thus: — "That two English Mission
aries had arrived and were distributing Bibles in every
direction, the people used them to wrap up their mer
chandise in the shops, some of them, however, brougbt
them to the Catholic clergy as of no use.":}: The true
* Galignani's Messenger. Record, Sept. 10, 1836.
t Report of Evangelical Society of Geneva, 1836.
t P. 199.

POPERY AND INFIDELITY. 285
translation of the Vicar's words is, " Two emissaries of
the society of Biblists came hither about ten months
ago ; tbey scattered among the Siamese (translated by
Wiseman, " in every direction") immense books of
Bibles written in the Siamese language. Some use them
to smoke tobacco, some to wrap up the sweetmeats which
they sell, others finally delivered them to our people,
who brought them to me as of no use." What did the
bishop and bis people do with them ? " These biblists
numbe'r the books distributed," &c. He hints that the
king wished them sent out of the country, but they
were permitted through fear, or having given^money,
as he thinks {ut puto) to remain, much no doubt to
his mortification. It is no new device of Papists to
give nicknames to the lovers of the Bible. In tbe de
dication to the first edition of the Scriptures published
at Edinburgh, nineteen years after tbe Reformation, it
is stated, that almost every person bad a Bible, and
could read it; whereas forty years'before, " scarcely in
a wbole city without the cloisters of the monks and
friars, could the book of God's own be found, and that
in a strange tongue of Latin, not good, but mixed with
barbarity ; used and read by few, and almost understood
or explained. by none ; when a false named clergy of
the realm made it a capital crime to be punished with
the fire, to bave or read tbe Ne^v' Testament in tbe vul
gar language ; and to make tbem to all men more odious,
as if it had been tbe detestable name of a pernicious sect,
they were named Nevv Testamentares." Biblist, bibli
cal, and such like, are the common terms of reproach
dealt out by Papists to tbe lovers of the Bible. In one,
of those singular manifestoes that now and then issue
from tbe heart of. Popish Ireland in the shape of priest's
letters, written by a priest of the name of Wm. Grace,
P.P. Ballycallan, Oct. 18, 1836, and addressed to the
Reverend,' and I will add, pious and excellent Wilber
force Caulfield, tbe utmost ridicule and contempt is pour
ed on the Bible, and Bible circulators ; and a most me
lancholy picture is afforded of wbat Ireland is, and wbat
it would be, if under the full sway of the priests. The
following are a few of its expressions : —

286 CONNEXION BETWEEN
" In the well-known and characteristic jugglery of your school,
and as a cloak for your vanity and fallen faith, you run to the Scrip
tures. What a storehouse of chivalrous appeal—the Scriptures ! What
a shield — the Bible .' What an armoury for every itinerant and scrib
bling unbeliever — the Word of God ! Making any charge against the
Roma.n Catholic religion, its authority, its ministry, its hierarchy, its
priesthood, its doctrine, its discipline, its morals, you are always sure
to take refuge in the Scriptures ! Jls you "^11 do all your work on
that plank, caring little how the storm rages, and the vessel sinks, answer
me, where were these Scriptures before the art of printing was invented ?
Now Sir, printing was'^first introduced into England by Wm. Caxtpn,
in the year 1464. "Where were the Scriptures till then .' "Who had
aece,ss to them .' If they were a plank in shipwreck, the main stay
of life and death, what became of the children of men for nearly
fifteen centuries preceding ? The Protestants of Kilkenny had hardly
fifty Bibles during these centuries, and, I am quite sure those of the
good old religion, the ^Romanists,* had not one. The poor people were
obliged to wait in Purgatory until their turn at the press, and how jea
lous of your ascendancy still ! Though with all tbe anguish and
tears of a Jeremiah, you can sigh over the deserted and forlorn state
of that ancient city, because there is to this day among the ' Roman
ists' only one Bible to every fifty among the Protestants. Ah, the
priests are to blame, and the Council of Trent is toUame. They are a
very set of monopolists. They will not share the luxuries of this world
nor the next with their people. Why do you not open your storehouse
all at once and dispense the Word of G-od more copiously among
20,000 of the benighted and neglected ' Romish' inhabitants within
your walls ? I tell you what you ought to do, in the fire and fierce
ness of your holy benevolence — take upon yourself, like another
Moses, to emancipate these 22,000 from the Pharaoh bondage of their
priests, and putting in every hand a Bible (for St. Hans* can supply
you, as in latter years the market fell, and there being no demand,
several chests lie on his hands unopened and unlocked for), lead them
to Kilmanagh.t Tliey need no more, and barring desertion, you will
soon send them all to the land of cakes and comfits. The Biblicals
will mind garrison till you return, when you will find the city safe,
and the old ladies of the buskin and Bible on the ramparts watching
your approach, and desperately prepared to sing — ' See the conquering
Hero comes!' — The rudiments of my early education were not scrip
tural like yours. Our schools did not exhibit, nor our masters encourage,
'the use of the Bible in every hand. — No, Sir ; I have too profound a
reverence for that sacred revelation of God to handle it on every pro
fane occasion, and in this I may be said to imitate the Mahometans
in their high regard for their fabulous Koran. , When you are in jeo
pardy, you resort to the Bible. When you are in tribulation, you seek
its comforts. When you are in distress, you appeal to its benevolence.
Do it, were it only to restore the Burnchurch Doctor his chaise vnth the
humble appendage of a servant, and a pair of amber spectacles, not for
getting dear Father Hans. I'll give you more of it, for I have not
done with you yet !"
* The Rev. Hans Caulfield", father of Mr. W. C.
t The chest happened then to be empty, but this, outrageous letter
led to its replenisbment, by the friends of the Bible.

POPERY AND INFIDELITY. 287
He asks, where were the Scriptures till the art of
printing? let Rome's millions of monks tell, who might
have been of some use had tbey been compelled to write
and circulate the Scriptures, instead of indulging for the
most part, in beggary, sloth, gluttony, and licentious
ness! He seems to have practised the precejDt " know
thyself," so far as to discover, that be is like the Maho
metans. The' same reproachful epithets are used by tbe com
mon laity in our own place and day: a neighbouring
parish minister, whose Christianity and veracity no one
bas yet doubted, so far as I know, in a discussion with Pa
pists appealed within these few days to the Bible; he was
answered, that our Bibles were the " devil's books." —
In a letter full of falsehood and abuse, addressed to me,
by one calling himself a Catholic layman, published most
appropriately., by Dennis Kennedy, Popish Bookseller,
and by a wretcbed man wbo earns his bread by selling
the blasphemies and atrocious abominations of Paine,
and of the horrid monsters in human shape, who live by
the awful appetite for impi*ety and impurity, in tbe minds
of our vitiated population, there are these words, " bow
your virtuous mind, forsooth, must have revolted and
recoiled at the obscene narrations of Bible history !" —
In another pamphlet issued from the same quarters, I
find the same ridicule thrown on the "Bible-mongers,"
as they are called. These are low matters, but they in
dicate the state of the Popish mind among us, and are
the natural growth, in a rude soil, of the seeds sown by
the Council of Trent, and her successors to this day.
They are the " mire and dirt"- of the muddy Lethean
waters, wben the agitation of opinion throws tbem up to
the surface. I had intended to show the identity of the
things now alluded to, with the sentiments of Paine, and
the perfect propriety of the companionship of tbe ven
ders of bis and of Popish immorality, but must spare
you the contamination, and myself, the disgust of pro
secuting this point.
I have brought this painful head to a close; I have
dwelt long upon it, because of its vast importance. To
me the proof is clear of the connexion, nay as far as I

288 CONNEXION BETWEEN
have traced it, of the identity of Popery and infidelity.
Do I then charge all Roman Catholics witb being infi
dels ? No, but I charge them witb advancing its cause,
if tbey believe and act upon tbe principles I have now
proved to be tbose of their Church ; and I once more
request them to show, that the means by which avowed
infidels assail revelation, are different from those by
which Popish writers endeavour to discredit it as a rule
of faith. Infidels, Socinians, and Papists, all attempt to
discredit the Bible as an obvious and authoritative rule
of faith. The former either putting their reason in its
stead, or exalting it to supremacy over it; the latter re
ject it as rule of faith, and constitute themselves its sole
interpreters; affirm, as we bave seen, that the Charch
could have done without it, but that Cbristianity could
not have done without the Church, that is, of Rome. —
The Protestant reformed, alone leave the Bible free,
open, supreme — revererrcing it as becomes a revelation
from God, bowing implicitly to its decisions as those of
God, permitting none to intercept its glorious light, in
its way from the throne of God to the human soul ; ac
knowledging no interpreter, but the Holy Spirit its
author, speaking in the Scriptures, and aiding by his
promised presence and grace; shifting the responsibility
of bowing to its authority, or neglecting its commands,
on no other but tbeir own souls, as they shall answer to
God at the great day. It is a Popish calumny to assert,
that our doctrine is, that the Protestant may take what
meaning be. pleases from the Word of God. We reject
this infidel notion, and the equally infidel opinion, that
the clergy may impose what tbey please on our con
sciences, and tbat tbey, not we, sball then answer to God
for the consequences: no, we reject both as equally im
pious and presumptuous. Man is responsible to a higher
authority than either the Church or his own. reason.
His reason he must use, but for the manner of using it,
he must answer to the great and only Head of the Church,
the Lord Jesus Christ, when he shall come to judge the
quick and the dead ; for " every one sball bear bis own
burden." I appeal then to the reason of man^ I appeal
to all who truly reverence Gfod and bis word, whether

POPERY AND INFIDELITY. 289
this be not most reasonable, most devout, and most truly
religious, that between God and our souls we admit of
no authoritative interposition, how thankfully soever
we receive the ministerial aid of men appointed in his
Word. Tbere are two ways whicb present themselves for
prosecuting what remains of my subject: the one whicb
I might be tempted to take, in order to lighten your
task, is, to collect the historical proofs of the fact, that
Popery has led to infidelity, and then to assign the
general causes. But the other, which I intend to fol
low, because upon the whole, as a cumulative argument,
it will, in my view, be dearer and stronger, is to notice
certain principles, whose tendency obviously is to lead
to infidelity, and then to ^bow tbat the facts actually
correspond with the tendency of the principles. Witb
this view, I proceed to observe,
2dly. That the Romish doctrine of infallibility leads
to infidelity.-
.We believe it has never been authoritatively declared
where infallibility resides; whether in the pope, or a
general council, or in both. We believe that the pre
vailing opinion is, tbat it resides in both conjoined. It
is not necessary to determine this point. It is suiEcient
for my purpose that the Cburch of Rome claims to be
infallible, tbe sole and exclusive depository and inter
preter of tbe divine will, and invested with the power
of tbe keys, to open or to- shut the kingdom of beaven.
Dr. Wiseman,* says with great plainness " so that it is
impossible that the Cburch (meaning thereby the Cburch
of Rome) can fall into error." " He (Christ) selects a
certain body of men : be invests tbem not merely with
great authority, but with power equal to his own; he
makes tbem a promise of remaining, with and teaching
among them; even to the end of time."t Again, " It is
this promise whicb assures her that she is the deposi
tory of all truth, and is gifted witb an exemption from
all liability to error, and bks authority to. claiili from all
men and from all nations submission to her judgment
* P. 88. t P. 64.
2b

290 CONNEXION BETWEEN
and instruction." " The moment the council come to
state the decree on doctrines of faitb, tbey say, 'the
Church teaches this;' not the word of God, not the
Scriptures, but the Church of God teaches this doctrine;
and, because tbe Church of God teaches it, all Who are
present, and all the bishops over the world must sub
scribe to it." This claim he pretends is founded on
Scripture — and you will remember that the Church
claims to be the only party invested with a divine right
to know, and to say what is Scripture — so tbat she
proves Church authority by Scripture, and Scripture by
Church authority; and we bave seen tbat it is a mere
matter of historical inquiry in both; sc> that, reasoning
in a circle, tbey never come to a conclusion. Aware of
this oft-repeated argument. Dr. Wiseman says, "To tbis
I might reply, tbat there is a fallacy in tbe way of rea
soning." He does not show where it is, but proceeds
to give at second hand, and without acknowledgment,
from Milner's End of Controversy, as an, answer, the
case ofan ambassador, who, upon producing his creden
tials, is recognised as tbe. ambassador- of bis sovereign
by simply presenting them; and so, it is concluded, is
the Church of Rome by presejnting tbe Scriptures. But
there is a fallacy in his own argument against wbich he
has not provided, viz: to let us know how the creden
tials are known to be real, or what should be done if
two ambassadors presented the same credentials. We
are just brougbt back to an examination of Scripture
evidence, and to a trial by Scripture of the true Church;
and if be reasons not in a circle, he at least reasons in,
and is tossed upon the three uncomfortable corners of a
trilemma, but finds no resting place for the arrogant
claims of Rome. Such, bowever, is the claim. It is
not my business to overthrow it by reasoning, but to
show its effects. Now observe wbat is at stake here.
It is the whole of Christianity — because in arguing this
point we must suppose that Popery is Christianity, and
that infidelity assails it. Observe, then, again, that the
existence of Christianity is thus staked on the character
of the Church of Rome; and if her popes and councils
do err — if they contradict each other — if they decree

POPERY AND INFIDELITY. 291
doctrines contrary to -Scripture and to good morals — if
her clergy become dissolute and vicious, and give the
plainest evidence that can be obtained out of hell, of
every thing immoral and corrupt, what can be the effect
on the mind ofan inquirer, of one permitted to use his
reason and his conscience, but the utter rejection, and
that with, loathing and abhorrence, ofa system that
claims to be tbe depository and promulgator of the in
fallible decrees of heaven, while it gives the plainest
evidence of every thing false in doctrine and pernicious
in morals? This has actually been tbe result, as I shall
show you, wherever Popery has reigned, and by any
singular concurrence of circumstances, free inquiry has
to any degree obtained ; and even where it bas not, the
fatal effect is capable of historical demonstration.
Let it be remarked, tbat Protestantism does not ex
pose Christianity to any such tremendous ordeal. If it
bad done so, we venture to affirm that with the light
and the freedom of inquiry that have characterized the
world since tbe ' time of the Reformation, and which
none but Papists wish to suppress, though we would
wish to put it under the control of a divine responsi
bility, the threats of the infidel conspiracy of last cen
tury, to root out Christianity from the earth, would
bave been fulfilled. But, blessed be God, it was not
made to rest in the character of man, but in tbe power
of God.
Tbe character of the disciples of any religion is of
supreme importance as a practical recommendation or
discouragement to it. But we place not our religion on
any human infallibility. We are not reduced to defend
men, but the word of God. What system could stand
the free scrutiny of human reason, which made itself
responsible for tbe follies or the vices of men, whether
buried in ignorance, corrupted by the madness and in
toxication of undisputed power, or sunk ih the profli
gacy of boundless wealth, and irresponsible sensual in
dulgence? And accordingly. Popery, which has made
itself thus responsible, can never stand but by fettering
the human mind, putting divine revelation under a
bushel, discouraging freedom of opinion, and, when she

292 CONNEXION BETWEEN
has the power, punishing witb horrid inquisitorial tor
tures, and death in its most hideous forms, those who
dare, or are even suspected to rebel against ber decrees.
And for all this also-, by her doctrine of infallibility,
rendering herself, and, if sbe were to be believed, ren
dering Christianity responsible, and making it a solemn
duty for every man Who dares to think, to be free, or to
abhor tyranny, 'oppression, and bloody cruelty, to be an
infidel. And such hath actually been the effect.
" If," says Blanco White in his Letter to Protestants
converted from Romanism,* " If I am to turn away
from them (the Scriptures) in order to listen to you; if
it is my duty when they say white, a.nd you say black,
to take your sense as their meaning; their whole value
depends upon what you are worth." This is obvious
to common sense; what then has been the worth of tbe
Church of Rome at various periods? Instead of vague
generalities, I shall select a few historical facts; and I am
at perfect liberty to select any period of her authentic
history I please, because Popery says she is infallible at
all times and in all places; and affirms that sbe alone is
Christianity, and the Bible itself, without her, useless.
The fairest period for Rome must be that when her
power was unquestioned, and heresy nearly unknown.
Open then the volume of impartial history at the period
preceding tbe Reformation, and about the revival of let
ters — and what do we discern? An ignorance, barba
rism, and profligacy in the Church whicb exposed it to
the contempt of even these times.
The ignorance of the dark 'ages, which Wiseman
monkishly calls the "ages of conversion," is proverbial.
The nobles, and even the. dignified clergy, could not
write, and many of them could not read. In England,
Alfred the Great complained, tbat from tbe Humber to
tbe Thames (here was not a priest who understood the
Liturgy in his mother tongue, or who could translate
the easiest piece of Latin. Alanus describes the priests
as rather given " gulae quam glossas," to the .gullet than
to languages.t The clergy engaged in private feuds
* Pp. 11, 12.
t See curious facts in Robertson's View of the State of Europe,
note X.

POPERY AND INFIDELITY. 293
and wars.* The general morals were corrupt beyond
any thing ever known in the annals of Europe.t As
we advance towards the revival of lettens, matters do
not improve. The literature of that period discovers
the general profligacy. The troubadours, or Provencal
bards, fi^equently satirized the vices of the priests.
"The cupidity, the dissimulation, and the baseness of
that body had rendered them odious both to tbe nobles
and people." They exercised every kind- of avarice
and rapacity, " while they squandered," says Sismondi,
" in debauchery and drunkenness, the money which
they extorted by the most shameful artifices." " The
gentry ba^d imbibed such a contempt for the corrupted
clergy that tbey were unwilling to educate their chil
dren for the priesthood." " ' I had rather have been a
priest thaa have done so disgraceful a thing,' became a
proverbial expression. "J The effect of tbis was, that
these light-hearted bards indulged in the grossest im
piety and profanity of language. "Many," says Sis
mondi, " revoked irr the face of the Cburch, the oaths
by which tbey bound themselves to tbeir married mis
tresses, and were absolved from tbeir adultery by the
priest; while others caused masses to be said before the
altar to propitiate their ladies. Sucb was the light in
which religion was considered by the poets of Pro
vence." " Religion was a stranger to their bearts."§
Sacred dramas, tar theatrical representations of sacred
subjects, mingled with every thing grotesque and ridicu
lous, were invented. Religion was a gain to the priest,
and, at one and the same time, a farce and an oppression
to the people. At a later period, tbe poets Dante, Boc-
cacio, Petrarch, lashed the vices of the clergy. Dante,
" after having met with pope Anastasius in the depths
of hell, it is no wonder that he represents the Church as
sunk under the weight of her crimes, and polluted with
mire and filth." || — -The list of crimes is tog horrible to
be translated.
* lb. note xxi. t lb. sec. 1.
t Siamondi's History of Lit.vol. ii. p. 213.
§ Sismondi, vol. i. p. 309.
D Roscoe, vol. iii. 197. " (») Inferno, Cant^zi. v. vi., &c.; also the
2b3

294

CONNEXION BETWEEN

Of Boccacio, Roscoe says, "The debaucheries of the
religious (monks and nuns,) of both sexes, form tbe
most general theme of his very popular and entertaining
work."* Petrarch calls Rome, "Impious Babylon," Empia
Babylone. Succeeding writers did the same, t Erasmus, in- his
Colloquies, gives a sad picture of the vices of the clergy,
and especially of tbe monasteries. In our own country
of Scotland, things were no better. "Imm-ense wealth,
pxtreme indolence, gross ignorance, and, above all, the
severe injunction of celibacy, bad concurred to intro
duce this corruption of morals among many of the
clergy, wbo, presuming too much on the subnaission of
the people, were at no pains either to conceal or disguise
their vices. According to the accounts of the- Refor
mers, confirmed by several Popish writers,"' the most
open and scandalous dissoluteness of manners prevailed
among the Sj:ottisb clergy." "A remarkable proof of
the dissolute, manners of the clergy is found in the pub
lic records. A greater number of letters of legitima
tion was granted during tbe first thirty years after the
Reformation, than during tbe wbole period that has
elapsed since that time. These were obtained by the
sons of the Popish clergy."f
Many of tbe Popes were monsters of iniquity. This
is so notorious, that proof here were superfluous. " The
court of Rome had become more corrupt than any of the
secular courts of Europe, by the confession of writers
who owned its authority, and of such as, from the official
situations which they held in it, were admitted into all
its secrets. The unprincipled and faithless character of
its policy was proverbial. It was a system of intrigue,
whole nineteenth Canto, where Dante finds Nicholas III., (Corsini)
in hell, planted with hia heels upwards, waiting till Boniface VIII.
arrives, who ia to take his place ; and who is to be again relieved in
due time by Clement V. Pastor aenza lege." (A lawless shepher'd.)
Nay, so determined is the punishment, that the poet represents them
as standing heels uppermost, and their bodies fixed in the ground,
up to the thick of the legs, and the flames scorching their feet.
* Roscoe, vol. iii, p. 198. t See M'Crie's Italy, pp. 13—16.
~ X Robertson's Scotland, Book II.

POPERY AND INFIDELITY. 295
cabal, and bribery ; and its ministers, while they agreed
together in duping the world, made no scruple of sup
planting one another, whenever their personal interests
came to be concerned. The individuals who filled the
Papal chair for some time before the Reformation, openly
indulged in vices, over whicb the increasing knowledge
of the age should have taught them to draw a veil. —
Durmg the pontificate of Sixtus IV., we are presented
witb the horrid spectacle of a supreme pontiff, a cardi
nal, an archbishop, and other ecclesiastics, associating
themselves, with a band of ruffians to murder two men,
who were an honour to their age and country; and
agreeing to perpetrate this crime during a season of hos
pitality, within the sanctuary of a Christian cburch, and
at the signal of the elevation of the host. Alexander VI.
was so notorious for-his profligate manners, and' insatia
ble rapacity, that Sanazzaro has compared bim to tbe
greatest monsters of antiquity — to Nero, .Caligula, and
Heliogabalus. Julius II. was more solicitous to signa
lize bimself as a soldier than a bishop, and, by his ambi
tion and turbulence, kept Italy in a state of continual
warfare." Guicciardini says of the Popes, " Their con
cern was no longer to maintain sanctity of life, no longer
to promote religion, no longer to show charity to man
kind; but to raise armies, to wage wars against Chris
tians, to perform the 'sacred mysteries with thoughts and
hands stained witb blood."* Bellarmine,t quoted by
Robertson,^ says "tbere was almost not any religion
remaining." The Italians were quick-sighted enough
to perceive all this; and Robertson says that " two or
three pontiffs wandering through Europe at a time,"
practising the things already described, "excommunicat
ing their rivals, cursing those who adhered to them, dis
credited their pretensions to infallibility, and exposed
both tbeir persons and their office to contempt." And
remember, that as Popery makes the Church and reli
gion the same thing, rejigion necessarily shares this con
tempt ; and, therefore, M'Crie says, " The consequence

* M'Crie's Italy, p. 21. t Concio, xxviii.
t Charles V. Book II.

296 CONNEXION BETWEEN
of this, under the corrupt form in whicb Cbristianity
every where presented itself, was the production of a
spirit of indifference about religion, whicb,on the revi
val of learning settled into scepticism, masked by' an
external respect to the established forms of religion."*
Father Paul,"and other historians, give the same testi-
moriy. It is impossible to read the Life of Leo X.,
even as drawn by his apologist Roscoe, without coming
to the- conclusion, that the court of Rome, and the lite
rary men then and there patronized, were deeply sunk in
shameless profligacy, scepticism, and impiety. Leo. X.
and his court were remarkable for profanity and levity.
A conspiracy was formed against him by tbe college of
cardinals, from which be narrowly escaped with his life.
The mythology and philosophy of heathenism were
mingled witb the religion of Cbrist. Sacred subjects
were illustrated by profane and grotesque imagery, in
such a way, says Roscoe,t " as can only occasion disgust
and horror to the true believer, and afford the incredu
lous a subject for ridicule and contempt." " Tbe writ
ings of tbe period — and tbat too of dignified ecclesias
tics, were grossly indecent, and licentious in the ex-
treme."J We can hardly conceive it otherwise with
men trained in the principles of Dens, wbich are not
new at Rome, and practised in tbe confessional. It is a
question about the death of Leo, whether he died of
poison, or of joy at the success of his arms. Either way
is discreditable enough to Rome. And, without quoting
the alleged proofs of hisj atheism, and his saying, as it
is well known, " How profitable this fable of Christ bath
been to ¦us," whicb have been strongly denied, tbere is
no doubt of his irreligion, voluptuousness, ambition and
profligacy.§ It is impossible to read the speeches of some of the
members of the council of Trent — the papers transmit
ted by ambassadors to their sovereigns — particularly
those of Spain, as recorded by .Roscoe, and in Blanco
White's Evidence against Catholicism, without coming to
* M'Crie's Italy, p. 23. t Roscoe, Vol. iii. p. 386, 387.
i lb. Vol. iii; p. 326. ^ Roscoe, Vol. iv. chap. 34.

POPERY AND INFIDELITY. 297
the conclusion, that the whole was a system of intrigue,
»nlbition,'perfidy, and contempt of religion. And is it
possible for rational men to contemplate all tbis with
open eyes, when tbe demand is urged upon them' to
receive the Church as the institution of Cbrist, and
affirmation made, that the decrees of such men are the
infallible decrees of heaven, without spurning the whole
as a detestable fable, and as an enormous and presump
tuous piece of imposition and tyranny — a system devised
to blindfold, almost without even the trouble of assum
ing a veil of religion, and thus to enslave and oppress
mankind? Hence the fearful revenge which infidelity,
when it obtained the mastery, as in France, and more
recently in Spain, hath taken upon the Popish clergy.
On the awful crimes, the debaucheries and murders^
that have disgraced the convents both of monks and
nuns, sheltered by the Cbyrch of Rome, I shall not
speak. There is the most authentic evidence of history
to this point : in recent times, we have the fearful dis
closures made in the Memoirs of Scipio de Ricci, bishop
of Pistoia and Prato near Florence, who died only in
1810. I must hasten on to notice in few words another de
velopment of Popery in its connexion with infidelity;
a development which in atrocity and crime hath never
been paralleled in tbe annals of the world, except per
haps by tbe Spaniards in South America; and which,
with all the madness and folly that are in the heart of
man, and his unwillingness to profit by the lessons of
history and experience, still holds up to men a terrible
warning against the dangers of Popish tyranny and of
infidel misrule ; I mean as you will all see — the French
Revolution. The ultimate causes of this terrible event
reach back to a remote period in the long accumulating
abuses both of religion and government. Not a small
share of the scepticism of France is to be traced back
to the easy conversion to Popery of Henry IV., and the
example of easy faith which it gave to tbe nation; and
what Popery gains by such easy conversions as we shall
afterwards see she does, in numbers, she loses in tbe in
crease of scepticism, and the shaking of her very foun-

298

CONNEXION BETWEEN

dations. Much of it is to be traced to the perfidy of
Louis XIV.j in revoking the edict of Nantes, to the
profligacy of his court and age, his own licentiousness,
coupled witb a false and bigoted devotion to atone for
it, to his patronage of literature, and his love of faine,
which allowed the French literary men a sceptical liberty
which proved fatal alike to Popery and the French mo
narchy, uprooted tbe foundations of religion, led to tbe
deification of a prostitute as the goddess of reason, to a
public decree declaring death an eternal sleep, and a
future state a fable ; rent tbe social fabric into a thousand
fragments, and drenched in the blood of millions the
hideous ruin. Some idea may be formed of tbe state
and temper of tbe court of Louis, from the following
fact. " Cardinal Dubois, himself an infidel, recommend
ed to Louis a man of bis own stamp to fill some impor
tant office. The monarch was astonished, and told the
Cardinal tbat the man was a Jansenist, and would never
do; 'Eh, que non, Sire,' said the Cardinal, 'il est qu'
athee:' (he is only an atheist) all was safe, and the man
got the priory."* The fearful profligacy of the succeed
ing reign, hastened on the crisis apace. A great variety
of concurring circumstances. brought it to m.aturity ; but
none operated so fatally as the absurd claims of Rome,
combined with tbe character of which we have given a
few occasional features. Instead of entering into a
minute • historical induction of evidence on this point,
which I had prepared myself to do, tirne compels me to
be content with one or two statements from common
historians; 'and if you -wish to see the subject unfolded
in a lively, vigorous, philosophical, and in this instance.
Christian spirit, consult Scott's Life of Napoleon, whose
spirit seems to have been awed into Christian gravity,
by the fearful events be was called to relate.
" The Catholic Church had grown old, and unfortunately did not
possess the means of renovating her doctrines, or improving her con
stitution, so as to keep p^ce with the enlargement of .the human un
derstanding. The lofty claims of infallibility which sbe had set up
and maintained during the middle ages, claims which she could nei
ther renounce nor modify, now threatened, in more enlightened times,
'Eobinaon's Proofs ofa Conspiracy, p. 88.

POPERY AND INFIDELITY. 299
like battlements too heavy for the foundation, to be tbe means of
ruining the edifice they were designed to defend. But, in. all events,
the Church of Rome, retaining the spiritual empire over so large and
fair a portion of the Christian world, would not have been reduced to
tho alternative of either defending propositions, which, in the eyes
of all enlightened men, are altogether untenable, or of beholding the
most essential and vital doctrines of Christianity confounded with
them, and the whole system exposed to the scorn of the infidel. The
more enlightened and better informed part of the French nation had
fallen very generally into the latter extreme.
*' Infidelity, in attacking the absurd , claims and extravagant doc
trines of the Church of Rome, had artfully availed herself of those
abuses, as if they had been really a part of the Christian religion ;
and they, whose credulity could not digest the grossest articles of the
Papist creed, thought themselves entitled to conclude, in general,
against religion itself, from the abuses engrafted upon it by ignorance
and priestcraft.
" Religion cannot exist where immorality generally prevails, any
more than a light can burn where the air is corrupted ; and, accord
ingly, infidelity was so general in France, as to predominate in almost
every rank of society. The errors of the Church of Rome, as we
have already noticed, connected as they are with her ambitious at
tempts towards dominion over men, in tbeir temporal as well as spirit
ual capacity, had long become the argument of the philosophe-r, and"
the^estof the satirist; but in exploding these pretensions, and hold
ing them up to ridicule, the philosophers of the age involved with
them tbe general doctrines of Christianity itself; nay, some went so
far as not only to deny inspiration, but to extinguish, by their sophis
try, the lights of natural religion, implanted in our bosoms as a part
of our birth-right."*
Alison, and indeed all intelligent writers, ascribe it to
the same cause.
" The Church," says Alison, "in France, experienced the fate of
all attempts, in an advancing age, to fetter the human mind : the re
sistance to its authority became general, and, in the fervour of opposi
tion, the good and the bad part of its doctrines were indiscriminately
rejected. This is the hsual consequence of attempts to force incredi
ble and absurd doctrines upon human belief. As long as tbe minds of
the people are in a state of torpor and inactivity, 'they embrace with
out scruple, whatever is taught by their spiritual guides ; but when
the spirit of investigation ia r0u3ed,and thc l-ight of reaso"n breaks in,
the reaction becomes strong in the opposite direction, and infidel
supplies the place of superstitious fanaticism." t
At the Re-colution, the same author tells us there were
in France eighty thousand ecclesiastics, exclusive of
monks and nuns, with a revenue of £5,600,000 from
tithes, besides territorial property amounting to " nearly
* Scott's Life of Napoleon. Paris Edition, pp. 9, 11,13.
t P. 126, Vol. i.

300

CONNEXION BETWEEN

the half of the whole land in France. " The dissolu
tion of manners," he say.s, "was enormous; jE20,000,000
of the public debt had been incurred for expenses too
ignominious to bear tbe light, or be even named in the
public accounts." The inferior cfergy who performed
the duty were in abject poverty, and they united with
the popular party, in driving on the Revolution. ¦ The
higher clergy partook of the corruption and infidelity
of tbe times ; and it is curious to find the names of many
Abbfes, such as Dubois, Perigord, Cossandy, Sieyes Ber-
tbolis, Dellis, and many others, active promoters of in
fidelity, and engaged in the conspiracy tbat was formed
last century to destroy Christianity.*
The results in France every one knows. To tbis
day sbe is reaping tbe bitter fruits in public despotism,
rendered as necessary to bridle a people without reli
gion, as chains are to bind a savage beast; and in the
destruction of private and social virtues Suicides and
assassinations are most frequent. The late attempts on
the king's life, betray an atheistic bloodtbirstiness quite
unparalleled. Every third child born in France is ille
gitimate, and a large proportion of the poor die in bos-
pitals.t Infidelity still reigns. From 1817 to 1829,
there were published in France 5,768,900 volumes of
the works of the four chief French infidels, and only
91,764 Bibles and Testaments, the former sold, the lat
ter distributed gratuitously.^
Some are apt to suppose tbat all this is tbe necessary
consequence of all revolutions. Undoubtedly the com
motions whicb unsettle the established order of things
in any country are pregnant with danger, with civil
war and bloodshed, and many crimes, But the wars of
the Reformation, or the civil wars of Britain, never
produced the awful atrocities of France. Tbey were
brought about, and carried on, on the part of the Re
formers and of those who contended for civil freedom
in Britain, mainly by those who received the Protestant
* See Robinson's Proofs of a Conspiracy.
t Dupin, Force Commerciale, I. 40, 99, quoted by Alison, Vol. i. p.
418. t Bickersteth's Sermon befdre European Missionary Society, 1836.

POPERY AND INFIDELITY. 301
faith. And though- Hume calls their faitb fanaticism,
Alison well remarks, that " but for tbat fanaticism, they
\YOuld have been disgraced by the proscriptions of Ma-
rius or the executions of Robespierre."
Before concluding here, I may remark, that while
these terrible calamities are traceable to the Church of
Rome, which thus nursed infidelity, and shocked it by
ber arrogance and absurdity, her clergy suffered, in aw
ful measure, the terrible effects. Tbe Abb6 Barruel
relates, in his " History of tbe French Clergy, during
the Revolution," confiscations, murders, and wholesale
assassinations of tbe priests, which make the blood ab
solutely run cold.* But let Popish priests take warning
from the words the villanous and murderous assassins
employed to their victims, with too much truth, tbough
not justifying their crimes. " Villains," said tbey, " the
time is at last arrivedj wben you shall no longer impose
upon the people witb your masses and your bits of bread
upon your altars," &c. He describes those who thus
addressed tbe priests, as not of the very lowest rabble,
but as educated persons acting on, and quoting the max
ims of infidel philosophy. The insults of the infidel to
the assassinated priests, 24,000 of whom were destroyed,
can only be paralleled by the St. Bartholomew atroci
ties of the Papists to the massacred Protestants, show
ing them to be one in heart and in tendency, and prov
ing, too that "verily there is a God that judgeth in the
earth." It is but fair to state, that while many of the
priests turned apostates to infidelity, many of them bore
their sufferings with invincible fortitude and patience:
and let Papists remember, that it was in Protestant Eng
land that 8000 priests, as Barruel states,'!' " were openly
protected in England," when driven from France; and
let them remember, too, that they themselves were only
suffering tbe retribution of tbe massacres of St. Bar-
tbolomew,J and of the revocation of the edict of Nantes.
*P. 56. tP. 233.,
i And here I cannot but notice the singular words of John Knox,
which have receirved so striking a fulfilment. They will be found
in the life prefixed to the folio edition of his history,' printed in 1732.
When near his end, he was told of the Bartholomew massacre, which
2 C

302

CONNEXION BETWEEN

And mark the different efiects. The latter, which ex
iled tbe Protestants, carried to Protestant Europe, learn
ing, religion, arts, and manufactures. The former, the
revolution, brought to England, priests, fresh bigotry,
intrigue — monkery and superstition. But notwithstand
ing tbe ev-il, we rejoice that Protestant freedom Could
thus repay evil with good. Yet we cannot forget that
the return of tbe Bourbons in 1816, was the return of
Popish persecution to the Protestants of France, show
ing that no benefits will conciliate Popery.
Let me now advert, shortly, to the evidence, that tbe
Papal claim to infallibility leads to infidelity, furnished
to us by Spain. In the conclusion of M'Crie's History
of the Suppression of tbe Reformation in Spain, there is
a most admirable, condensed, philosophical, and truly
enlightened chapter, embracing' -this topic wbich I am
sorry I cannot present to you. He gives a resumi of
the causes that have Operated in Spain, as well as otber
Popish countries, to suppress knowledge, establish des
potism, and encourage every kind of superstitious foole
ry. He shows the enotmous multitude of clergy, monks
and nuns, their wealth and profligacy, and says — " In
Spain, as in Italy, religion is associated .^vith crime, and
protected by its sanctions. Thieves and prostitutes have
their images of the Virgin, their prayers, their holy wa
ter, and their confessors — murderers find a sanctuary in
the churches and convents. Crimes of the blackest cha
racter are left unpunished, in consequence of tbe immu
nities granted to the clergy. Adultery is common, and
those who live habitually in this vice-, find no difficulty
in obtaining absolution. The cqrtejos, or male para
mours, like the cicisbti in Italy, appear regularly in tbe
family circle. In great cities the canons of cathedrals
act in this cbaracter, and the monks in rVillages. The
parish priests live almost universally in concubinage,
"sunk him much;" and in his sermon, 'he said, " Sentence is pro
nounced in Scotland against that murderer, the king of France, and
God's vengeance shall never depart from his house; but that his
name shall remain an execration to posterity to come, and none that
shall come of his loins, shall enjoy that kingdom in peace and quiet
ness, unless repentance prevent God'^ judgments," p. xxzv.

POPERY AND INFIDELITY. 303
and all that the more correct bishops require of them is,
that they do not keep their children in their own houses.
Until they do begin to look to a mitre, few of the clergy
think of preserving decorum in tbis matter."* He re
fers to his authorities — Townsend's Travels, Sismondi,
Doblado's Letters. I have verified tbe correctness of
tbe references to the two latter, tbough it is hardly ne
cessary with such an author. Sismondi adds, that the
same things are common in Italy also. Doblado con
firms the statements of Townsend, respecting clerical
crimes, and murders.t
The demands of false religion enter into every mo
ment, and every transaction of their lives, and thought
of their hearts. Unbelievers of little virtue comply
outwardly, and laugh in their hearts. Tbose of sterner
character detest the whole, and conclude that Christian
ity is a fable; and botb in Italy and Spain infidelity pre
vails widely among the clergy. This is the universal
testimony of travellers; and when in Ital}^ you affirm
that certain vices do not reign in this country, they do
not believe it. In regard to Spain, Blanco White fur
nishes the most complete evidence. He is a man of
distinguished talent — was a chaplain to the king of
Spain, and is now a minister of the Church of England.
Whether his alleged Socinianism be fact or not, I have
no means of ascertaining* It militates not against bis
testimony in matters of fact.
In describing the state of bis mind on the discovery
of Popish imposture, be says, " Tbe confession is pain
ful indeed, yet due to religion; I was bordering on
atheism." "If my case were singular, if my know
ledge of tbe most enlightened classes of Spain did not
furnish me witb a multitude of sudden. transitions from
the most sincere faith and piety, to the most outrageous
infidelity, I would submit to the humbling conviction,
that either weakness of judgment or fickleness of cha
racter, had been tbe only source of my errors. But
though I am not at liberty to mention individual cases,
I do attest from the most certain knowledge, that the
• Page 390. t Pp. 20—23.

304 CONNEXION BETWEEN
history of my own mind is, with little variation, that of
a great portion, of the Spanish clergy. Tbe fact is cer
tain: I make no individual charge: every one who comes
within this general- description, may wear the mask,
which no Spaniard can throw .off without bidding an
eternal farewell to bis country."* In tracing the work
ings of his mind in leading to the rejection of Popery,
he shows that it was the doctrine of infellibi'lity that led
him to inficfelity; and adds, " wherever the religion of
Rome reigns absolute, tbere is but one step between it
and infidelity." In illustration of this, in a note, he
says, " The tendency of Roman Catholic Christianity
to produce complete and sudden infidelity, arises, in
the first place, from its exclusiveness. A Romanist is,
from infancy, taught," as an article of faith, tbat Popery
and Christianity are identical. He must, therefore, be
prepared to reject the gospel revelation, the moment he
shall find cause to reject Popery." And, in fact, the
discrediting way in which, I bave shown you, tbey speak
of the Scriptures as a rule of faith, makes this a very
easy transition. They are perfectly prepared for it.
Wbite adds, " A Roman Catholic is also taught to be
lieve in the infallibility of the Church, as an essential
part of Christianity. He must, therefore, be prepared
to reject Christianity, upon being convinced of a single
error in bis Church's creed."t What a fearful test to
wbich to expose Christianity! to make it responsible
for all the authorized follies, crimes and absurdities,
contradictions and falsehoods, that have disgraced the
Church of Rome! Well has Paley said of the Protes
tant Churches, that they "exonerated Christianity from
a weight tbat sunk it." White describes his own pro
gress, first in infidelity. He had the belief that all Pro
testants were infidels,J as he was ignorant of the Chris
tianity drawn from tbe Bible alone. And he says most
truly, " When Voltaire has made the young Spaniard
heartily laugh at popes, saints, monks, apd miracles, he

* 'White's Evid, against Catholicism, pp. 7, 8.
f White's Evid. pp, 225, 286. ,
}P. 12.

POPERY AND INFIDELITY. 305
will not undertake a long and laborious study to dis
tinguish Christianity from -Popery."* He relates that
he concealed, in a nook; his infidel books, which he read
in private, and exhibited the black Breviary on his table
to blind his visiters; and much more to the same pur-
pose.t To show tbat the jealousy of Popery wbich excludes
the Bible from Spain, has not excluded infidel books, I
may state, that 26,500 volumes in Spanish, of the works
of the most. celebrated French infidels, issued from the
press of Paris alone, from 1817 to 1825. J White tells
us, his own brethren possessed, and lent sucb books to
bim ; and tbat booksellers, wbo obtained an exorbitant
price for them, imported tbem into Spain. §
It is remarkable, tbat in the late disturbances of Spain,
infidelitj- has produced the same results as in France, in
the overthrow of 950 monasteries, and the murder of a
multitude of priests, as well as in other atrocities. God,
we may, without presumption, say, thus avenging tbe
slaughter of bis own saints, in the suppression of the
Reformation in that oppressed and unhappy country.
Thus have I brought this important bead to a close —
and confirmed the deductions of reason by an ample array
of facts — on whicb I entreat Papists seriously to ponder;
and if they do regard the gospel as the word of God, let
them reflect seriously on tbe awful injury tbat is done to
it, by identifying tbe infallibility of a Church convicted,
on the impartial testimony of universal history, of so
many enormous delinquencies, with the gospel of Christ
himself — and leaving no alternative to the insulted, op
pressed, and outraged reason of man, but to be a Papist
or an infidel — to receive tbe enormous load of wicked
ness and absurdity, or to spurn the gospel of the Re
deemer. Popery plays a bold but a hazardous game ;
but if it be, as we affirm, tbe antichrist — then may we
conclude, that such results will not alarm him, after whose

* White's Evid, pp. 225, 226.
t Doblado's (White's) Letters from Spain, p. 134. Comp. 112 —
113. t Tables in Record, Dec. 24, 1835.
§ Dob. Letters, pp. 132, 134.
2 C 2

306 CONNEXION BETWEEN
coming it is ;- because they are what he actually desires
to accomplish under the veil of -friendship. '
3. My third argument to prove tbat Popery leads to
infidelity, is derived froip the Popish doctrine of mira
cles. As my space is limited, I shall not think it neces
sary to prove by authorities that tbe Popish Church
claims the power of working miracles ; or to adduce
many specimens of the boundless number and absurdity
of the miracles she has professed to perform. The lives
of the Saints, the Breviary, and my own observation in
Popish countries, furnish me with ample materials to
draw out a picture of an infinite train of absurd; puerile,
grotesque, and profane legends of " lying signs and won
ders," till the mind were lost in a greater number of
marvels than were ever compiled in the legends of
Bramah or Confucius, in the Tales of the Arabian.Nigbts,
or the histories of fairies and hobgoblins. Even Wise
man, though he declines with great propriety and pru
dence to " enter specially into the question," or to de
clare distinctly his own belief, yet attempts a vindication
of tbe absurd pretended miracles of St. Xavier, and, to
make out his case, alleges the authority of three Protes
tant writers that "it was believed by all the natives of
Southern India, that St. Francis Xavier wrought such
miracles as induced them to become members of the
Church of Christ"'* — that is, Romanists. It is tbe first
time we bave beard that " all the natives of Southern
India" were Roman Catholics; and though they were,
it were only by exchanging one imposture for another.
This passage at least proves that Rome still claims foy
ber sons tbe title of "Thaumaturgus," or wonder-work
er ; and justifies the title to the scriptural characteristic
of " lying signs and wonders." But to proceed, I might
describe to you wbat has been presented to my own ob
servation ; such as, in Portugal, the waxen figures of all
parts of the human body, stuck up in thousands in the
churches, as votive offerings to tbe saint who cured the
votaries of diseases in these parts ; the two crows, still
preserved alive ! in tbe cathedral church of Lisbon, after
* Wiseman, Vol. I. pp. 213, 214.

POPERY AND INFIDELITY. 307
having steered in a ship, nobody knows when, laden
with corn, to relieve the 'city wben suffering under
famine; the miraculous image, or as a Frenchman called
it to me, '' morceau de terre," discovered in a bole by
a shepherd's dog, and which wrought great miracles,
which brought crowds to the hole, and money to the
priests ; tbe marble table at the Cistercian convent near
Milan, pierced through and through by the host fall
ing upon it, to convince an unbeliever of the real
presence ; the marks of St. Peter's head in bis supposed
prison at Rome, when it struck on the hard marble,
" e il prodigio resta," and the prodigy remains ; the
miraculous cures of the Bambino, or infant image of
Christ, in the church of the Jira cceli at Rome, the steal
ing of tbe little image, and its return on its own feet to
the convent door, and ringing tbe bell to obtain admis
sion to its old abode; the carrying, by Dalmatia and over
the Adriatic, of the Virgin's house, from the Holy Land,
on tbe back of angels, to Loretto; the porringer of the
infant Saviour, and tbe rope of the bell found in her
house — all attested, as the printed account sold at Loretto
affirms, by an infinite number of miracles; the alleged
virtues of holy water, to purify the air, chase away devils,
cancel venial sins, &c. I might describe the street paint
ings in every village, of the miraculous deliverances
wrought by the Virgin Mary, when a mule or a donkey
cast their burden, or a carriage is overturned; her pic
tures and images weeping and smiling, and many more
wonderful things. I might come nearer home and de
scribe the miracles of Prince Hohenlohe, and of holy
wells in Ireland, believed and sanctioned by the priests
to tbis day. Time forbids. All these may be denied,
as of no authority ; but let it be observed, that tbe
Cburch of Rome, which not only does not forbid, but by
every means encourages them as real, is answerable for
th& effects. But sbe cannot refuse to be answerable for
those related in the Breviary, the standard of Romish
devotion, and whicb must be read by every priest every
day, at least an hour and a' half, under pain of mortal
sin. This reading is sanctioned and enforced by severe
penalties. It relates endless marvels wrought by the

308 CONNEXION BETWEEN
martyrs, and for their deliverance ; miracles to confirm
the authority of tbe popes; the miraculous discovery of
St. Peter's chains, whicb we have seen, still exhibited
at Rome; the miraculous junction of their two parts;
the transportation of the holy, bouse, above referred to,
commemorated by an annual mass; St. Denis walking
with his own dissevered head in his hands ; the lique
faction of St. Januarius's blood; his extinguishing Ve
suvius, to which his bands are still stretched out to bid
back the lava from Naples ; St. Anthony's miraculously
obtaining Paul's cloak — I suppose he had no use for
" the parchments," not being oral tradition ; St Bene
dict, by the sign of the cross, detecting the poison the
holy monks presented, and making the cup to fly in
pieces ; St. Scholastica raising a storm in the atmospbere,
by her tears, that compelled the reluctant Benedict to
stay all night, and afford her the pleasure of his conver
sation ; the thousand celestial appearances and terrestrial
wonders ; sudden lights; trees blooming; river.s changing
their course to accommodate a saint; voyages perform
ed over the sea on a mantle; and all the fooleries that
human imagination can contrive. I stay not to prove
that the books of devotion in Ireland, and even England,
claim belief for similar fables.'*
I do not allude to these impostures td show that their
very absurdity must lead to infidelity, notwithstanding
tbe strange apology of Mr. Butler ,t that a man may dis
believe them, and yet be a Roiflan Catholic; without
his reflecting on the singular predicament in which he
thus places those who relate and those who consecrate
them — and wbat must be tbe effect on tbeir minds, on
tbe minds of such men as Dr. Wiseman, Dr. Murray, or
even Dr. Murdoch? think you tbey believe tbem? — it
may be so — but I adduce them for this purpose, viz., to
remark, that if these miracles are alleged to be real, and
if tbey are to be defended against infidelity, as if Cbris
tianity were responsible for them, then with their fall,
before tbe assaults of infidelity, must fall Christianity
itself It was thus that the ablest and subtlest adversary
' See White's Evidence against Catholicism.
I Book of the Churcli, p. 46.

POPERY AND INFIDELITY. 309
of revealed religion endeavoured to overtbrow it; and
the better attested the Popish miracles were, the' more
certain his victory over Christianity.' - And it is a most
singular fact that Hume's argument against all miracles
was suggested in tbis very way. In his letter to Dr.
Campbell, dated Edinburgh, Jan. 7, 1762, and published
in preface to Campbell on Miracles, he says: — "It may
perhaps amuse you to learn the first hint which suggest
ed to me that argument which you bave so strenuously
attacked. I was walking in the cloisters of the Jesuits'
college of La Fleche (a town in which I passed, two
years of my youth"), and was engaged in conversation
witb a Jesuit of some parts and learning, who was relat
ing to me, and urging some nonsensical miracle per
formed in the convent, when I was tempted .to dispute
against him, and as my bead was full of the topics of my
Treatise of Human Nature, which I was at that time
composing, this argument immediately-occurred to me,
and I thought it very much gravelled my companion.
But at last he observed to me tbat it was impossible for
that argument to have any solidity, because it operated
equally against the Gospel as the Catholic miracle;
which observation I thought proper to -admit, as a suffi
cient answer. I believe you will allow that the freedom
at least of this reasoning makes it somewhat extraordi
nary to have been- the produce of a convent of Jesuits,
though perhaps you may think the sophistry of it sa
vours plainly of the place of its birth." This letter is
most instructive. It shows that the Jesuit defended his
legendary miracle on tbe same ground as those of Chris
tianity, and that the rejection of the one must be the re
jection of the other. This consequence was what Hume
desired; and though be concealed his satisfaction, he
was convinced be had attained his object. His argu
ment against miracles is that we can have no experience
ofa miracle, and that belief in testimony is founded on
experience — an assertion philosophically untrue. He af
firms that "a miracle supported by any human testimo
ny is more properly a subject of derision than of argu
ment:" and on the ground that forged miracles have
readily been received in all ?iges, he argues that thi^

310 CONNEXION BETWEEN
ought to beget a suspicion of them alL* And just as the
infidel or sceptical notion that all- religions are alike sa
cred and obligatory, implies that they are all alike false,
so the Popish doctrine that tbeir miracles are all sacred
as gospel, makes all miracles alike false; and to make
out his point, Hume selects the miracles said to have
been performed at different times, and best attested.
His strongest case is the miracles- declared to have been
wrought tovvards the middle of last century (1727 —
1732), at tbe tomb of the Abbe de Paris, for which the
highest evidence was alleged, and the impossibility of
evidence for the truth of a miracle being higher was af
firmed. The wbole, however, turned out to be mere
fable and imposture; and in tbis instance, having been
wrought in favour of the party of the Jansenists, and
consequently opposed by the skill of the Jesuits, and
the power of the Church and of tbe government, tbey
were speedily brought into discredit, and proved, as
Hume says, the grave of Jansenism in France; and by
consequence he affirms that alLmiracles are alike incre
dible, and alike fatal to Christianity.
I cannot stay to show how completely Hume's argu
ments bave been- answered ; nor to point out the vast
difference in their cbaracter, circumstances, nature, and
ends, between these Popish impostures and the mira
cles of Scripture; Tbis you will find amply done in
Campbell on Miracle's, Douglas' Criterion, or any of
the later writers on the evidences of Christianity. Bilt
I call upon Roman Catholics, if they are sincere in their
regard for tbe religion of the Bible, to beware how tbey
surrender themselves and it to tbe authoritative and sole
direction of a church, and to the belief of a faith whicb
acknowledges such endless absurdities, places them on a
level witb the mirE^cles of tbe Gospel, and exposes it to
stand or fall along with them. Had there been no otber
Christianity but Popery, and no restraints put upon tbe
reason of man, Christianity as well as Jansenism, would
long ere now bave been buried in the same tomb ; and
infidelity would have enjoyed its poor and wretched
* Essays, Edition of 1804, p. 134.

POPERY AND INFIDELITY. 311
triumph in desolating the heart of man, robbing it of all
its consolations and hopes, and amid impiety, impurity,
and blood, consigning all tbat is dearest to the aspira
tions of the human soul to eternal oblivion, and re
establishing in the civilized world the reign of ancient
Paganism, witb all its abonjinations. No — they could
not have consigned them to eternal oblivion. The
judgment day would "have awakened them to the tre
mendous reality of their truth, and the torments of hell
been to them their everlasting jremembrance.
4. My next argument to prove the tendency of Popery
to lead to infi.delity; nay, tbeir identity, would be to
prove, if time permitted, the identity, in many respects,
of infidel and popish morality.
Let it not be supposed, that because infidelity bas often
proved the most dangerous enemy to Popery, there is no
mutual relation between them. They may bave a natu
ral antipathy to one another, wben their interests and
passions clash, though they have the same propensities
and tendencies, and tbe same hatred to the law and the
gospel of God. Creatures of tbe same savage and im
pure natures may yet devour one another; while both
separately and combinedly tbey will feed on the same
carcass, or assail the same common enemy. Human
beings and parties of the most opposite views and inte
rests, in many respects, may still harmonize in their
general characteristics and features, and unite to promote
the same cause, while they expect to accomplish tbereby
each tbeir own personal ends. Popery and infidelity
may act on tbe same common maxims of morality; while
there are times in which they will quarrel, and, as at the
French Revolution, tear each other's bowels. Criminals
who act on the same common lawless principles, will
yet suppiant, betray, or destroy each otber ; and if the
object of Popery be to- exalt the' Cburch, in other words,
the clergy or itself to an uncontrolled dominion, and of
infidelity to exalt human reason, in other words, the
infidel himself to uncontrolled and unbridled freedom of
thought, and by consequence of action, both will feel
that the pure, and perfect, and everiasting rule of moral
obligation in the revealed moral law of God fetters their

312 CONNEXION BETWEEN
movements, restrains their ambition, humbles their pride,
puts a barrier in the way ortheir designs; and to get over
it, they must invent pernicious, and dangerous, and plia
ble interpretations of the moral law. Hence the Popish
maxim, that " the end sanctifies the means;" the dispen
sation with oaths and marriage vows, at the pleasure of
her authorities; her doctrines of venial sin, of persecu
tion and murder, to accomplish her ends; her encourage
ments of impurity, which we cannot describe. It is my
object to show you that infidelity maintains the same per
nicious dogmas. False morality, as well as false faith, cha
racterize all false religions. Hence the ancient heathens
not only acted wickedly, but maintained the most per-
niciou^'s morals. Menander affirmed that a lie is better
than a hurtful truth. Proclus, that good is better than
truth : " When telling a lie will be profitable, let it be
told.""* " He may lie who knows how to do it in a
suitable time."t " There is nothing decorous in truth
but wben it is profitable; yea, sometimes truth is hurtful,
and lying profitable to men."| The Pagans maintained
that corlcupiscence was no sin. Such also is the doctrine
of Rome. This is maintained at length in the Rheimish
notes, and iri the most revolting way. Lord Herbert
maintained that tbe indulgence of lust and anger were
no more sins than a bodily disease. Hobbes maintained
that tbe sovereign is not bound by an obligation of truth
or justice, and can do no vfrong to his subjects. Substi
tute for tbe sovereign, the Pope, or the Church, and you
have the Popish morals on tbe same points. Boling
broke taught that the lust of power, sensuality, and
avarice, may be lawfully gratified, if they can be safely
gratified, flume. Gibbon, Voltaire, and Rousseau, main
tained more revolting morality still — justifying murder,
adultery, and the most scandalous immorality. A pa
rallel to this is to be found in the morality of the Jesuits,
and of the court and decrees of Rome.§
* Darius ih Herodotus, lib. iii. c. 62.
t Plato apud StobsBum, Serm. 12.
X Maximus Tyri'us, Dissert. 3, p. 29, and other cases. See Home's
Introduc. vol. i. p. 14.
§ See Calvinus Minor,, pp. 79, 90, 100.

POPERY AND INFIDELITY. 313
Any one who wishes to obtain tbe knowledge of the
morality of the Jesuits, may consult a French work with
that title, in 3 vols. ; or a book of more easy access, the
Provincial Letters, by the celebrated Pascal and Arnauld,
in which he will find tbat they fall not behind tbe infidels
to whom I bave now alluded, but recommend, " almost
in express terms, avarice, ambition, vanity, luxury, dis
obedience, seduction, calumny, dissimulation, equivoca
tion, mental reservation, lying, perfidy, bribery, simony,
fraudulent dealing, theft, robbery, envy, hatred, revenge,
duelling, homicide, infanticide, regicide, with other vices
and crimes too numerous, and some of them too impure
and abominable, to admit of description."*
True, this nefarious society has been fVequently abo
lished, and as frequently restored by the Popes, as neces
sity compelled the one, or circumstances required and
favoured the other. At tbis moment they are authorized
by the Pope, and Dr. Wiseman has formally undertaken
tbeir eulogy and defence.
Tbe German illuminati, or infidels, who pretended
reverence for Christianity ,t who adbpted at second-hand
the infidelity of England, united with those of France,
and when infidelity was sunk and degraded in Britain,
conspired to overthrow all religion and order; adopted
the most infamous morality, acted on the principles of
the Jesuits, many of whom were members of their con
spiracy ; adopted tbe pernicious Jesuit doctrine, that tbe
end sanctifies the means, and were ready, under the
sanction of tbis maxim, for tbe most horrible atrocities.
Among them figured the Abbes I have already mention
ed. The Archbishop of Paris was in their secrets, and
though specially made known to him, he did not reveal
them. The reason was soon made obvious. On tbe
19th November, 1793, he appeared with bis vicar and
eleven otber clergymen at the bar of the Assembly, re
nounced Cbristianity, acknowledged tbat tbey had for
many years been teaching wbat they believed a lie.
The vicar had previously run away with another man's
* Calvinus Minor, pp. 107-113.
t Proofs ofa Conspiracy, p. 290.

314 CONNEXION BETWEEN
wife and his strong box. They were soon after guillo
tined.* These things should warn Papists of the serious
danger of tampering with the eternal law of God, un
hinging reverence for tbe-Bible, or daring to shake, for
their own corrupt ends, the foundations of pure moral
ity; for assuredly the retribution of offended heaven
will overtake tbem, and their own iniquity will correct
them. Their own maxims will be acted on, and tbe vic
tims of their delusion and oppression will be the re
vengeful instruments of their punishment. ThinLyou,
that if you pervert men to serve yourselves, they will
not, when their turn comes to rule, make you experi
ence the fruit of your own devices? A rebellion of op
pressed slaves is always the -most furious and bloody.
It was my intention, had time permitted, to bave illus
trated tbis head historically, by contrasting tbe deeds of
triumphant infidelity with triumphant Popery, especially
at the periods of the Bartholomew massacre, and tbe re
vocation of the edict of Nantes — for both of wbich, with
all their horrible consequences, the Church of Rome ren
dered solemn thanks to God, and gave congratulations
to the agents wbo effected them; witb the period of the
French Revolution, and the suppression of the Reforrpa-
tion in Spain, with the present doings of infidelity in tbat
country. I should then have demonstrated tbe very dif
ferent spirit of Protestantism, triumphant or contending;
its boldness, perseverance, and determined love of li
berty, yet absence from treachery, assassination, and the
vile atrocities that bave stained the infidel and Popish
powers. To this I have already alluded, and having
hinted at it, must leave the filling up to your own read
ing and reflection.
5. My last argument, -which I mean to adduce to show
the tendency of Popery to lead to infidelity, is not so
much a new and separate one, as an inference from the
-whole; it is, that viewed as a. whole, the system of Po
pery leads to infidelity, by departing from the simple
authority and guidance of the Word of God — by adopt
ing vague and unknown traditions, leaving the capricious
* See Proofs ofa Conspiracy, pp. 215, 383.

POPERY AND INFIDELITY. 315
mirtd to roam at large in tbe wilds of imagination — em
powering a body of men, without responsibility to man
or to the Word of God, to draw at large upon their own
inventive faculties, and on the credulity of mankind; to
consecrate all- their follies, and to accumulate, under the
sanction of infallible and consequently unchangeable au
thority, all the scripturally unauthorized ceremonies and
will-worship of ages; to invent pretended mysteries, to
decree sacraments, to appoint sacred days, to consecrate
and to venerate angels and saints, real or imaginary — to
adore relics, rotten bones, supposed wood of the cross,
chains of St. Peter, to kiss the holy stairs upon which
Christ ascended to Pilate's judgment-seat — to ascribe
virtues to bits of rags, to venerate images and pictures,
to obtain the exorcism of devils and tbe cure of diseases
by a priest, or by a charm, by the scapula of Simon
Stock, by holy water, or by the sign of the cross, by a
boly well or by pilgrimages — justifying pious frauds,
multiplying puerile Or gorgeous processions, consecra
ting beggary and splendour alike, and throwing around
the whole the mantle of mystery^ and sacredness; I say
the system which does all this, offers a fearful temptation
to infidelity, especially when it declares, in tbe words
of Dr. Wiseman,* that "the moment any Catholic doubts
not alone the principle of his faith, but any one of those
doctrines, which are thereon based, the moment he al
lows himself to call in question any of the dogmas whicb
tbe Catholic Church teaches as baving been handed down
within her, tbat moment the church conceives bim to
have abandoned all connexion witb her. For she exacts
such implicit obedience, tbat if any member, however
valuable, however he may have devoted his early talents
to the illustration of her doctrines, fall away from her
belief in any one point, be is cut off without reserve."
So this is the tender mercy of Popery in the year 1836!
this is the charitable conciliatory thing that calls Pro
testants " beloved fellow-Christians," that cajoles, and
caresses, and fawns upon the Dissenters of Scotland, and
the liberal Protestants of Great Britain, tbat is wide in its
* Page 77.

316 CONNEXION BETWEEN
charities as the expanse of heaven ; but " cuts off, with
out reserve, even its most valuable member," and con
signs him to perdition, if he dare to doubt — this is the
sovereign recipe of Rome to preserve ~tbe boasted unity
of the body, the Church — to " cut off" her most valua
ble member, if be dare but doubt ! And yet she con
descends to reason with us, and to strengthen the faith
of ber votaries by writing, and discussion, and contro
versy! Surely in vain is it, to compile reasons for the
convinced, to add doubtful disputation to infallible cer
tainty. But do not you see that ber acts belie her doc
trines, and sbe knows tbat her members doubt — ay, and
must, and will doubt? But she knows also that if she
permitted them to do so witb a quiet conscience, the
whole accumulated folly and corruption of ages would
crumble to pieces, and the great image of gold, and sil
ver, and brass, and iron, and clay, would fall into frag
ments and dust, smitten by tbe light of reason or of
Scripture. By thus taxing the credulity of men, she
plays a most hazardous game — but it is the boldest and
in consistency with the conservation of the wondrous
fabric of delusion, perhaps the wisest. Yet it is not easy
to shut out the light of heaven, it is not easy to fetter in
chains tbe spirit of man — as well may you attempt to
bind tbe restless wave. God has set bounds to the sea
that it cannot pass, but it mocks the puny efforts of
man — tbe utmost be can do is to construct a temporary
pile to break tbe rolling wave, wbich the rolling wave
will, ere long, destroy, and in tbe broken ruin laugh at
human weakness; and Popery as vainly may attempt to
bind the spirit of man witb human inventions.
Conceive a Papist standin.g in the temple of his church,
and surveying all its gorgeous and grotesque imagery —
conceive bim in the paritbeon of his religion, his eye fas
cinated with splendour, bis ear regaled with the loftiest
melody, either in the gloom of partial darkness, or in tbe
pale light of the glimmering taper, or in the full beam
of heaven's natural light streaming through the painted
window and on gilded roof — reflected from silver shrines,
or gilded altars, sparkling on precious stones, playing on
images of saints, on shrines of relics, or on pictures of the

POPERY AND INFIDELITY. 317
Trinity, or representations of the Virgin, on sculptured
or on canvassed miracle, clouded with incense; — and his
soul is enraptured, and bis body bent in lowly adoration.
But conceive another ray from the throne of God, from
the Sun of Righteousness — a beam of scripture light, or
even a spark from reason's altar shed into the votary's
soul, and discovering to him in this temple of bis imagery
tbe degradation of kneeling before a rotten bone, or an
image of wood or stone, the incongruity of associating
with the worship of God, the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Ghost, that of the Virgin Mary — the bones of
Carlo Borromeo, the relics of a bloody monk, or a proud
and beggarly saint, of a Dominic, of a Thomas k Becket,
a statue of Jupiter, called of St. Peter; — and reason re
volts and rebels — the whole soul is commoved, and the
burning sense of indignant shame rouses it to contempt,
and makes it spurn away from it the degrading imposi
tion; and wbat is the final effect? The dii minores, the
gods, and demi-gods, ha.ving been raised, if not to equal
honour, yet to undue approximation to the; Father, Son,
and Spirit, (who by picture, and by image, and represen
tation, as we have felt, has been reduced in the mind to
an earthly sensible thing,) into some such relation to the
true God, as tbe dii minores of tbe heathen to tbe Jupi
ter of the Pantheon — the whole are alike despised and
rejected; and the emancipated devotee flees, not from
Cbristianity wbich he never knew, but from a grotesque
and gorgeous, and unseemly and puerile caricature of its
glorious simplicity, out into tbe open fields of nature's
temple, and fancies tbat he tbere finds nature's God, freed
from ghostly impostors, and degrading bonds, into the
dignity, and freedom, and independence of a man. But
is he free? Ah! no. He has only exchanged tbe Church
for his own wild will. He bas promised himself liberty,
but he is the slave of corruption, for
" He is the freeman whom the truth makes free,
And all are slaves beside."
Had it pleased God by bis Holy Spirit, through the
medium of tbe written word, to dart into bis mind a
ray of heaven's eternal truth, his bonds would fall, his
2 D 2

318 CONNEXION BETWEEN
soul would be free, while in meek subjection to the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, be could say,
" not my will, but thine be done." Sucb is the differ
ence between a Protestant and an infidel rejection of
Popery. Is all tbat I bave now described mere imagination ? —
Not so. It is based on tbe immutable principles of hu
man nature, and proved by many undoubted facts. All
that I have already quoted under my second head, in
reference to France and Spain, and Blanco White, are
undoubted illustrations of wbat I have now said, and I
need not resume them. We have seen tbat tbe slavery
of the system led White to the border of the gulf of
Atheism, and even where it may not come to this, it
produces a reckless spirit of profaneness, the sister of
Atheism. White^says, speaking of tbe extravagant
superstitions of Good Friday, " I bave carefully glided
over such parts of this absurd performance as would shock
many an English reader, even in narrative. Yet such is
the strange mixture of superstition and profaneness in
tbe people for whose gratification these scenes are exhi
bited, tbat tbough any attempt to expose tbe indecency
of these shows would rouse their zeal ' to tbe knife,'
I cannot venture to translate tbe jokes and sallies of wit
that we frequently beard among the Spanish peasantry
upon these sacred topics." "The like strange mixture,"
says Whately, " is found in. other Roman Catholic and
also in Pagan countries ; particularly among the Hindoos,
who are described as habitually reviling tbeir gods in the
grossest terms, on the occasion of any untoward event."
In proof of tbis, some of you may remember Dr. Duff
to bave stated, that the Hindoo image-makers not only
entertain a sort of doctrine of transubstantiation by which
the priest is supposed to convey to the image the pre
sence of the god, but also that this people break the
images to pieces in revenge on certain occasions. I
myself have beard the contempt with which an Italian
regards a " Prete." I have heard him curse the Pope
as a sensualist, and assert after his death tbat be was in
bell. I have seen a party of Portuguese toss in each
others' faces tbe boly water, and next minute bowing

POPERY AND INFIDELITY. 319
down on the floor, smiting their breasts before a crucifix ;
and a creature wbo would curse tbe Pope would next
moment confess to a priest, or kneel in tbe mud before
his holiness or the host. This is the way in which a
religion of fear rather than of love revenges itself on its
oppressors.* Pretended mysteries and pious frauds
when once detected produce the same result. There is
an anecdote in the Protestant Penny Magazine to this
effect. — A boy was asked to carry for his uncle, wbo was
a priest, the vessel in which was deposited the host; he
let it fall and broke it. But what was be to do? flow
could be dare to touch and gather up wbat be believed
was God ? But how could he face bis uncle without his
god ? He made the attempt in fear and trembling ; but
no mischief befell ; and he speedily despised the whole.
You heard from Dr. Smyth the anecdote of the woman
and tbe priest preparing the paste to make what he called
God before ber, and the instant effect in revolting the
woman's mind. Had there been no other Christianity,
these people were infallibly made infidels. What but
loathing and contempt must be excited by the doctrines
of the Missal regarding the defects of the Mass ? t Well
* Whately's Romanism, pp. 40 — 42.
t " If any thing can show the absurdity and blasphemy of the Mass,
it is their doctrine concerning tbe various ways by which it is defec
tive, and the transubstantiation does not take place. The following
are some of them, as laid down in the Roman Missal, authorized and
decreed by the Council of Trent; viz. — If tbe bread be not pure un
mixed wheaten bread — if the wine be sour, or made of sour grapes 
if the " host," or victim, as they call the wafer, disappears by the
wind, or by a miracle, or be taken by any animal (in some editions,
by a mouse) and cannot be found, then another must be consecrated
— and if the mouse can be got it is to be burned , and its ashes thrown
into the sacristy. So their God may be eaten by a mouse [ What
blasphemy ! If the priest has not intended, that the transubstantiation
shall take place, it cannot do so.t This doctrine applies to every
sacrament — so any renegade priest may have rendered them all void
— orders — matrimony, and all. If a fly, or spider, or any thing poi
sonous fall into the cup, or any thing that would " provoke vomiting,"
it is defective — and if the priest do vomit the Eucharist, if the species
t Therefore, in such cases, aa Blanco White, Nolan, Crotty, &c.,
who long doubted, and even disbelieved transubstantiation, while they
officiated at the mass, the poor people, on their own principles, adored
what was literally a bit of paste.

320 CONNEXION BETWEEN
therefore does Whately say, "Not only did it (fraud)
give rise to a hostile separation among Christian Churches,
but in countries which have continued under the Papal
sway, tbe abhorrence and contempt excited by tbe de
tection of a fraudulent system, has led the far greater
part of the educated classes into secret but total apostasy
from Christ. With tbe indiscriminate rashness which
is universally so common, they have confusedly blended
together in their minds Christianity and its corruptions;
and having in so many instances detected fraud witb
absolute certainty, they think it not worth while to in
quire farther, but take for granted that all the Church
teaches," and be might bave added, every Cburch
teaches, " is one tissue of imposture and superstition
throughout."* Blessed be God that when the impos
tures of Romanism were detected at tbe Reformation,
"he left not bimself without witness," and his Spirit
guided men to tbe living fountain of everlasting truth,
the blessed word of God.
Thus have I concluded the first head of my subject
and proved, I believe to tbe satisfaction of most of you,
the connexion and even identity of Popery with infide
lity, from the five several arguments which I bave ad
duced. And 0 ! let me implore you by all that is sacred,
to remember the judgment-day; and venture not your
souls on tbe power of a, priest! How awful tbe follow
ing language of the Maynooth class-book! "How differ
ent the lot of tbe Catholic" (Roman) that is from the
Protestant, " although he should bave fallen into error
through his obedience to the decrees of the Church! —
Can he not wben interrogated on tbis head confidently
say to tbe Supreme Judge, 'Lord, if that wbich we have
followed be an error, thou, even thou, bast deceived us
by thy clear and reiterated precept; that unless we wish
ed to have our part with tbe heathen, we should bear tbe
appear entire, they are to be reverently taken (eaten again) unless
nausea should happen!! — and " if any of the blood of Christ fall on
the earth, or on a table, it is to be licked up by ,the tongue," and the
place scraped, &c. Was ever any thing so revolting as to speak of
the glorified Saviour in such degrading terms." — My Letter to Doctor
Murdoch. * Errors of Romanism, pp. 167, 168.

POPERY AND INFIDELITY. 321
Church as we hear thee. Thou thyself bast deceived
us by thy Apostles, by thy pastors, and doctors, whom
thou hast ordained in the Church, for the perfecting of
the saints, and the building up of thy body ; thou thyself
hast deceived us by thy Church which is called by the
Apostle the pillar and ground of truth, for she has always
exacted from ber children a firm assent in heart and
mind to her decrees, in thy name denouncing an eternal
anathema against the rebellious. Confidently then we
say, 0 God, if it be an error which we bave followed,
thou thyself hast deceived us, and we are excused." 0
fearful impiety! 0 Satanic presumption! 0 atheistic
madness! and 0 the long suffering of God! 0 dare not
thus to rush upon the thick bosses of Jehovah's buckler!
II. My 'second general head, which may be discussed
with comparative brevity, though to us of far more im
portance than the first, is, " infidelity as in many re
spects identical with, and preparing the mind for, the
easy reception of Popery."
The first part of this proposition is already proved.
We have shown that they occupy a large portion of
common ground, and in so far are founded in the same
great principles of human nature — the same self-right
eousness — the same want of simple submission to God —
the same hostility to his word, and exhibit the same
moral features; and though wben tbeir views and inte
rests clash, manifesting deadly hatred, as those of the
same family will often do, yet by no means irrecon
cilable or incapable of union for a common object, or
of cherishing hatred to a common enemy. There is,
as every one knows, a sympathy in errors as well as in
vices; and though they may " bite and devour each
other," they will yet combine and harmonize against a
common foe. The enemy of error is truth; and tbe
infidel's being opposed to Scripture is no proof that he
will hate Popery. There are two things whicb the hu
man mind cannot bear; the one, destructive to Popery,
and the other, producing a reaction in its favour; the
first is, to be forcibly restrained in slavery, and confined
in darkness when once it has tasted of freedom and
light. This leads to infidelity. The second is— to be

322 CONNEXION BETWEEN
tossed on a sea of doubt, especially wben tbe objects of
contemplation are God, tbe soul, a judgment-day, and
an eternal existence, the belief of which all the efforts
of infidelity in vain attempt to efface from the human
conscience, on which tbey. have been engraved by the
hand of God, as witb " an iron pen and the point of a
diamond;" and wbich in all the delusions, follies, vices,
crimes, cares, troubles, pursuits, self-deceptions, sophis
tries, sneers, and triumphs of the perverted mind, keep
fast bold upon it, and in seasons of distress and reflec
tion, proclaim that something is wanting; tbat on the
restless waters of scepticism there is no rest for tbe sole
of the foot, no ba,ven for tbe weary soul. In tbis con
dition, infidelity is not necessarily predisposed to Po
pery, more than to any other system of error. But all
this may take place by the mere natural wants of a trou
bled mind, without the smallest cbainge on the moral
dispositions of tbe heart to the true God, or to the truth.
To the new heart and life it may be as hostile as ever;
to the will of God as rebellious as ever. But it is rest
less, there is a want to be supplied, a void to be filled
up. Infidelity saith, " rest is not in me." Still rest is
desirable, and the sooner and the easier it is attained,
the more acceptable it will be. Popery will take the
sceptic with all his sins, and all his unbelief about bim,
if he will only do that wbich he longs to be able to do,
viz., to surrender up his mind to one vvbo will give bim
rest, who will answer for all bis doubts. He may bring
all his self-righteousness along with him, all his doubts
of Scripture evidence, all bis doubts of Scripture truth,
only let him bend to tbe teaching of tbe Church. Tbere
is a great tendency in the human mind to rest on author
ity, and to save itself tbe responsibility for its own
acts. In this respect. Popery is perfectly adapted to it.
Is this overdrawn? Hear Dr. Wiseman, who gives it
as one of the marks of tbe true Church, tbat ber mis
sionaries can baptize at once, and " have done it in every
age; for St. Francis Xavier, like the apostles, converted
and baptized bis thousands in one day, wbo remained
steadfast in the faith and law of Christ. And all may
be so admitted at once into the Catholic religion, who

POPERY AND INFIDELITY. 323
give up their belief in their own individual judgment,
and adopt tbe principle, that wbatever tbe Catholic
Church shall teach them must be true." We have
seen too that sbe will engage for tbem at the judgment-
day. This is better to the infidel than absolute nothing;
and he may receive it without believing the dogmas of
Christianity: for hear Dr. Wiseman again, "The doc
trines of the Trinity, the incarnation, and above all, that
dogma which now-a-days particularly is considered the
most vital of all, the atonement of the cross, were
not even slightly hinted at, much less commanded to
the new Christian, before be was baptized."* Is he,
after all, a Socinian? a denier of the atonement, as a
modern dogma, and, consequently, not Popish? I can
not but here call to mind, for tbe consideration of Pa
pists, the affirmation of Bishop Murdoch, in his Letter
of March 14, 1836, to discredit the evidence of the
poor woman, who had said, tbe priest wished to make
her a Papist — viz., that " be (the priest) refused to go so
quickly to work, and insisted on her acquiring a know
ledge of the Catholic religion before she thought of
embracing it." This looks like common sense certainly.
The priest gives bis oath to the same effect. Which
party, then, is in the right? Dr. Wiseman, or Dr. Mur-
docb and priest Forbes? Or are botb in the wrong?
Their friends may reconcile them as they may. But
Protestants will conclude, tbat there is wisdom in doubt
ing the affirmation of a priest. It appears, bowever, in
Dr. Wiseman's judgment, that the infidel may be re
ceived on simply yielding submission to the Church.
So that, there being predisposing causes, and the matter
easy of accomplishment, we need not wonder if tbe fact
be as my argument represents. And here I may remark,
that though this easy interchange is undoubtedly a strong
presumption" against Popery, though, as we shall see.
Dr. Wiseman thinks the reverse, yet I insist upon it
rather as an argument against those mischievous mo
dern notions and theories, falsely called liberal— unless
liberal means pliable— -which imagine, and pretend that
* Wiseman, p. 138.

324 CONNEXION BETWEEN
mere knowledge, philosophy, and civilization, are a suf
ficient preservative against Popery. It is not so^^ — and
never was there a grosser delusion. Popery is the re
ligion of human. nature in its unrenewed state; and in
this state, adapted to it, in all its phases, ranks, and mo
difications. Do facts bear me out in this argument? I shall give
a few to prove that they do. I shall begin'witb the in
fidelity of Germany. Every one is aware that that
country bas been fearfully overrun with open and avowed
infidelity — tbat ber literary men, with tbe king of Prus
sia at their head, conspired, during the course of last
century, with the infidels of France, and other parts of
Europe, to uproot Christianity. They united together
to command the public journals of all sorts — to make
pictures and engravings means of moral corruption — to
bring tbe entire press under their influence and control —
even so to command it, as that booksellers would sell
only their productions — and these alleged sole and only
friends of freedom, and of free discussion, actually con
spired to destroy freedom of opinion, and to prevent
the publication of any views hostile to their own. They
laid plans to secure the education of youth in universi
ties and schools — nay, to put their friends into the parish
churches, and on the bench, and into tutorships — they
"had a seminary for Bavarian priests."* They suc
ceeded to a great extent in debauching tbe principles of
influential men and women, especially tbe young — in
destroying social virtue — and were many ofthem them
selves monsters of every vice — fornication, adultery,
murder, poisoning, and assassination. Sucb were Barhdt,
Weishaupt, Zwack, and many others, of whom Robi-
son says, " all were liars."t Under the name of a so
ciety of free-masons, formed and governed after the
model, and by the maxims, of the Jesuits, many of
whom were members of their conspiracy — they designed
to destroy the religion and governments of Europe.
Infidelity advanced also under the name of Neology, or
rationalism, or naturalism — varying in all degrees from
* Robiaon's Proofs of a Conspiracy, pp. 191 — 200. + P. 252.

POPERY AND INFIDELITY. 325
Pelagianism to Atheism.* This system tbey adopted
from the ,Engli«h Deists; while, like them, they pretend
ed respect for Christianity, but asserted the supremacy
of their own erring reason, and the right to bring all the
facts and doctrines of Scripture to its standard, and, as
they agreed with, or differed from it, to receive or re
ject, accordingly. Tbey advanced all tbe objections,
and many more, to Scripture, which I bave produced
from the infidels, and from the Papists to the Scripture
as the sole rule of faith. Tbis system infected the great
majority of the clergy, wbo turned the pulpit into an
engine of mere paganism,. and taught the most unchris
tian tenets and pernicious morals, under the name of
Christianity — rejected confessions of faith, and profess
ed the right of the utmost latitude of opinion, spoke,
and printed the worst infidelity, and even immorality —
while they professed to be ministers of the gospel, and
thus shocked all feelings of decency, honour, and com
mon honesty — and wrought fearful havoc in the minds
of tbe people. " The churches were thinly attended —
the Sabbath little honoured, and the Bible neglected. "t
Matters, I am happy to say, have now taken a reaction;
and as much of the infidelity of Germany was owing to
a former, much of its Christianity is owing to a present,
king of Prussia, the friend of religion, and the father of
his people.
Perhaps this is tbe proper place to notice an objection
against Protestantism, which may be, and actually has
been brought by Milner, supported by a quotation from
Professor Robison's Proofs of a Conspiracy, viz., that
the wild and unbridled speculations of tbe Protestants
in Germany, gave rise to this infidelity; "and that not
one Roman Catholic could Basedow (a noted infidel) al
lure to his seminary of practical etbics."t The answers
to this are easy. 1st. This latter sentence, though it
may be true of Basedow's institution, is not true of Ger
man infidelity in general. Tbe leader of tbe whole
conspiracy was Voltaire, wbo built a Popish Church,
* Rose vol. xxxi. t Rose's Protestantism in Germany.
X Milner's End of Controversy, pp. 89, 90.
2 E

326 CONNEXION BETWEEN
professed himself a Papist, adored the host, while he
was impiously and malignantly crying " tcrasez Vin-
fame," crush tbe wretch — meaning the blessed Saviour.
I have already named six popish Abbes, engaged in tbe
conspiracy, and tbere were many more,* whom Robison
calls " crafty and licentious Abb^s." I find also the
names of several priests and canons, who were of the
number. The most active leaders of the French revo
lution were members of it. We bave already seen bow
much they o-wed to Popery. Moreover tbe Jesuits
united with tbem, and Robison adds, " And we know
that at this time they were by no means without hopes
of establishing the dominion of the Church of Rome in
England." No doubt, they expected to bring about
this consummation, by overturning, by the engine of in
fidelity, the Protestant religion. Does this not speak
volumes of comment on the present alliances of these
parties in Great Britain and Ireland?
Freemasonry, tbe guise under which infidelity veiled
itself, was made a cover to prosecute tbe Popish de
signs of the Pretender in Great Britain, of whom the
chevalier Ramsay was an active agent. It was carried
with tbat party into France, when they failed in Britain
— and Robison gives proofs of "Jesuitical interference,"
and of encouragement by tbe Papists, "who," he says,
"panted after tbe re-establishment of tbeir faitb." He
shows that cardinal- Dubois, and the higher clergy of
France were sceptical and corrupt in the bighest degree.
The bishop of Aulun was the bead of one of the lodges.
At Liege, in one of the lodges, "The Prince Bishop, and
the greatest part of bis chapter, and all the office-bearers,
were dignitaries of tbe Cburch (of Rome); yet a dis
course given by the brother orator was as poignant a
satire on superstition and credulity, as if it had been
written by Voltaire. The same author tells -us, that tbe
unprincipled and profligate Weishaupt, the most active
of the German illuminati, declared, "I did not bring
Deism into Bavaria (Popish), more than into Rome. I
found it here in great vigour, more abounding than in
any of the Protestant states." Why does Milner, in
* Robison, p. 41.

POPERY AND INFIDELITY. 327
quoting from this author, suppress all this? The con
text of the very passage which he quotes, shows, tbat it
was the defence of their civil and religious libenties
against the Papists, tbat drove these nominal Protestants
into tbe extreme of infidelity; that it was not Protes
tantism, but the renouncement of it, that brought on
these pernicious excesses, viz., their liberties with the
Bible, which tbey pretended was a system of allegory
and mystery, as Papists also affirm — and their rejection
of tbeir Confessions, and their pretences tbat the Bible
was beyond our capacity to understand. These are Po
pish, not Protestant tenets. Protestants affirm, that
"He who has given Scripture as a guide, bas given us
also the power of understanding tbe truths it contains —
that we have not been in times past, that we are not
now, left to wander in uncertainty and error, but possess
a light whicb will guide us to truth and peace."'* We
abhor alike the doctrine, either that Scripture is unintel
ligible, or that we may receive or reject it as we please.
It is at our peril if we do.
It will be observed from wbat I have now stated, that
it is not Protestantism wbich is responsible for German
infidelity — but rather those Popish doctrines and prac
tices that furnished it with reasons, with exciting causes,
and with weapons — and before which, bad there not
been true Protestantism in the word of God, Chris
tianity would, humanly speaking, have now been over
thrown. What human power but Protestant Britain,
resisted most strenuously tbe "reign of terror?"
Having thus cleared my way, let me resume, by pro
ducing a few facts to show, that this infidel state of things
was no barrier against tbe return to Popery. The first
instance I shall notice as illustrative of the characters
both of infidelity and of Popery, is tbat of Starck, who
was converted to Romanism, but continued to hold
offices in the Protestant Church, while he was a Papist,
and published writings in behalf of Romanism. His
book was translated into French, and into English, by a
Romanist. " In the title-page the author is described
* Rose's Protestantiam in Germany, p. 29;

328 CONNEXION BETWEEN
as ' a Protestant minister, and first preacher to tbe court
of Darmstadt;' nor is a word said in the preface witb
relation to his change, so tbat the Protestant is taken
entirely' by surprise. The Romanists have certainly no
belief in tbe adage, as to tbe good policy of honesty.
Starck and his translator, are apt illustrations of the as
sertion."* The German Neologists carried their system so far as
to deprive it of all religious power, either to affect tbe
heart or conscience, or to impress the imagination. This
produced a reaction, wbich led to a species of transcen
dental mysticism, consisting in all the excitement of
feeling and extravagant imagination, closely allied to
the monkish mysticism of Popery. " And hence,"
says Tzschirnir, "this is the poetic system whicb finds
not a few followers in Germany, at tbis moment (ISIO),
favours the return to the positive, and in many of its
followers, produces a tendency to (Roman) Catholicism,
which is better calculated than simple Protestantism, to
nourish fancy and feeling." Some of them in this spi
rit praised extravagantly the mystic heathenism of the
Greeks. "But it need hardly be said," says Mr. Rose,
" that Popery soon began to find favour in the eyes of
tbose who held these opinions, because it addresses itself
to tbe senses, and in tbat respect, at least, supplies tbe
void, of wbich these writers complained. Many, in
consequence, openly deserted the Protestant Church."
Gothe, for the same reasons, professed to admire Pope
ry. The Rationalist Journals confess this tendency of
their system — and, "m 1813 and 1814, m.ore than
three hundred men, of cultivated minds, went over to
the {Roman) Catholic Church." Others adopted a kind
of allegorical Popery. Of all this, of course, Romanists
availed themselves, as a triumph to their religion,t as if
these were proofs of its truth. To us it is only a proof
of its adaptation to unrenewed and unsatisfied, corrupt
human nature; and Dr. Wiseman, while he confirms my

* Roae, pp. 169, 170.
t Rose's Protestantism in Germany, pp. 214 — 216. See also Schle-
gel's Philosophy of History.

POPERY AND INFIDELITY. 329
facts, strengthens also my argument, while nothing was
farther from his mind. In a vamped up passage, full,
after bis manner, of what the French call ^^ pretention,"
and a great preparatory flourish of trumpets, or display
of his brilliant feathers to the sun, he speaks as fol
lows: —
"And I will own that the grounds on whicb (Ro
man) Catholics adhere to tbeir religion, or the motives
by which tbey are brought to it, if tbey have not been
therein educated, are not only as various and as nume
rous as those which I have mentioned, wben speaking
of Protestants, but tbat tbey are infinitely more so: and
hence it may be that (Roman) Catholics, if interrogated,
will give the most various reasons why they are (Ro
man) Catholics."* After much specious talk, and tra
cing the manner in which the ancient heathen philosophy
led men to Popery — and which I could make to illus
trate my argument very clearly, he says,t " And in
modern times tbe same variety of motives is perceptible
in tbe writings of those who have, within these few
years, joined the (Roman) Catholic faith. I do not al
lude so much to what has occurred in tbis country; be
cause, however great may have been the spread of the
(Roman) Catholic religion since the commencement of
tbis century, amongst us, however frequent the conver
sions which we hear of, and see — all tbis is, in one re
spect, as nothing to what goes forward elsewhere. For
while, witb us, the work of conversion, with several
brilliant exceptions, bas been chiefly confined to persons
of a less literary class, on the continent, and I speak
particularly of Germany, there is hardly a year, and
there has not been for some time back, in which some
individuals have not embraced the (Roman) Catholic re
ligion, who were previously distinguished in their own
country, as men of first-rate abilities, and deep learning,
often holding important situations, and particularly, em
ployed as professors in Protestant universities." Is
tbis like tbe Scripture account? flow unlike to Paul's
account of the matter. — " For ye see your calling, bre-
* Wiseman, p. 11. t lb. p. 14.
2e 2

330 CONNEXION BETWEEN
thren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not
many mighty, not many noble are called"* &c. " Now,
many of these have published the motives wbich brought
them to the Catholic religion. I have perused or heard
many of their accounts, and some are written in a highly
philosophic spirit; and the arguments are conducted with
a terseness which, in this country, could be hardly popu
lar." No, we would like something after the Scripture
account. " They were pricked in their hearts, and said,
'Men and brethren, what shall we do?' — 'What shall I
do to be saved?' " " But," he proceeds, " wbat I wish
principally to note, their motives are as varied as the
different pursuits in which each of them was engaged.
You will find one wbo has made history tbe study of
his life, and who taught that branch of learning in one
of the most celebrated universities, announce to you,
that he has become a (Roman) Catholic, simply by ap
plying tbe principles of his study" — to wbat think )rou?
to Scripture evidence? No; — " ^o the facts recorded
in the annals of Europe."^ " You may hear another
draw bis arguments from motives connected witb tbe
philosophy of the human mind — from his discovering,
that only in tbe (Roman) Catholic religion can he find a
system of it adapted to the wants of man; and another,
whose enthusiasm has first been kindled by observing,
that the principle of all that is beautiful in art and in
nature, is nowbere to be found, except in the Roman
Catholic religion. "J "You will read a political econo
mist, wbo tells you tbat, baving made a deep study of
that science, he was forced to admit that, only in (Ro
man) Catholic morality he could discover the principle
whereon it could be honestly conducted, and so was led
to tbe practical adoption of its creed. "§ "Another, by
watching that very event which has been considered by
some, a proof of the demoralizing power of the (Roman)
Catholic religion, by a deep attentive study of the dread
ful tragedies of the French revolution, became a (Ro-
* 1 Cor. i. 26— 31.
t Professor Phillips, late of Berlin, now of Munich.
X Stolberg, Schlegel, Veith, Molitor, Beautain, &c
§ See De Coux's First Lecture on Political Economy,

POPERY AND INFIDELITY. 331
man) Catholic; and has since written," what think you?
"profound treatises connected with" theology? no —
but " witb public rights!"* " These are but a few," he
goes on, " out of many which I could quote." One
looks in vain here for any expression of reverence for
scripture, or any proofs of a change of heart — of being
new creatures. Indeed I could not bave got evidence
more suited to my purpose, viz., to show how easily
mere human philosophy exchanges the adoration of rea
son for the adoration of tbe Pope: one delusive infalli
bility for another — the Church giving it this advantage,
that she will answer for them at the great day. Alas!
is this the mighty result of- continental infidelity and
liberalism? Is this the issue of rivers of human blood
shed by the regenerators of the human race? Is this
the goal to whicb tbe fantastic theories of human per
fectibility are to carry us? Are these the lights wbich
our own leaders in the " march of intellect," are requir
ing us to follow? Is it to reward our love of tbe mar
vellous, by landing us in the quagmire of Popery?
" Vain wisdom all, and false philosophy.''
But from tbe above premises our author proceeds to in
fer that " The Catholic Church is then a city to wbich
avenues lead from every side, towards whicb men may
travel from any quarter, by the most diversified roads—
by the thorny and rugged ways of strict investigation —
by tbe more flowery paths of sentiment and feeling; but
arrived at its precincts, all find there is but one gate
whereby they may enter, but one door to the sheep-fold,
narrow and low perhaps, and causing flesh and blood to
stoop as it passes in." The same might be said with
equal truth of hell, to which there are many roads, while
there is only one to beaven, viz., " Jesus Cbrist, the way,
the truth, the life." They may wander about Rome's
outskirts, they may admire the goodliness of its edifices
and of its bulwarks, but they cannot be its denizens and
children, if, continues Wiseman, "They enter not at
that one gate, of absolute, unconditional submission to
* Adam MuUer.

332 CONNEXION BETWEEN
the teaching of the Church." Stript of its imposing
butflimsy sentimentalism, this just means,reason, history,
feeling, political economy, imagination, virtue, vice, plea
sure, or pain, lead you here, but when you arrive, says
the arch priest, you must surrender to me. Now, Pro
testantism says, tbat only the Word and Spirit of God
can guide you to the truth, and keep you there — we do
not bid you then throw them away, but as you come
by them, you must abide in them. " But," adds our
author, "tbe beauty of this system ends not here; for
after each one bas thus embraced tbe religion upon a
principle, one and indivisible, bis affections and tastes
are allowed tbe fullest play." Their play is like that of
tbe lambkins in the lion's den; they may frisk till they
come tbere. But wo betide them if they offend the
king of beasts! For what means tbe door "narrow and
low?" What means " absolute, unconditional submis
sion ?" We are forcibly reminded of the words placed
by Dante over tbe gates of hell,
" Lasciate ogni speranza voi ch'intrate."
Leave every hope who enter here.
I have quoted thus largely from Wiseman, because this
passage proves, not only my argument, but that tbe way
to Popery, like the way to bell, is smooth and easy,
"facilis descensus Averni." One other passage from
this author, and I leave him, with tbe remark that his
book is a most seasonable contribution to tbe cause of
Protestantism — exhibiting at once the unchanging arro
gancy, and yet chameleon nature of Rome — the useless
ness of human science to resist her syren allurements,
and her baseness in throwing wide her gates to every
form of opinion. " I bave told you that in perusing the
works of men who have witbin these few years become
members of the (Roman) Catholic Cburch — men of
talent and erudition — I have hardly found two of them
agree upon the grounds which they record, as having
induced them to embrace the (Roman) Catholic religion."
Is this like the unity of truth ? It is the wideness of
scepticism.

POPERY AND INFIDELITY. 333
All this is most instructive, and abundantly accounts
for the favour shown to Popery by our political econo
mists, our irreligious, infidel, and radical statesmen, our
infidel journalists, and liberal reviewers; for tbe singular
coalition of Popery and radicalism, and the singular con
geniality of the sentiments of Paine and our more vulgar
Popish advocates; for tbe cry against confessions and
" education without a creed," in wbich they harmonize,
and which men professing Protestantism have dared
publicly to toast among ourselves. All this will easily
account for the supposed triumphs of Popery, so much
vaunted by its advocates. It accounts for tbe facts alleged
by the translator of Schlegel's Philosophy of History,
of the revival of literature and science in the Romish
Cburch on the Continent. It obtained a large accession
from the ranks of those who were degraded to tbe earthli-
ness of materialism, or speculating like Schelling in the
wilds of pantheism. The transition to Popery was easy,
her doors were wide open, and for all their " pantheistic
reveries," there is full play in tbe religion of tbe so-
called " eternal city," the eclecticism of modern Rome.
Of the boasted conversion of Schlegel, his translator, an
apologist for Rome, says, " To himself, — for though his
noble mind would never have run aground amid the
miserable shallows of rationalism, yet had it not then
taken refuge in the secure haven of (Roman) Catholicism,
it might bave been sucked down in the rapid eddies of
Pantheism." Tbe translator of Schlegel and Molitor,
himself a convert of the German school, apologizing for
Scbelling's pantheism, represents it as a point of transi
tion from tbe materialism and rationalism of the eigh
teenth century to the Chrislian (Roman) religion.* This
is in reality the condition of the Popish " aristocracy of
French literature." They are in a wild transition state,
between a materialism produced by an impious over
strained rationalism, and a mysticism begotten by the
restless aspirings of minds unholy and unsatisfied ; and
in their weary flight in the regions of fancy, they sink
down caught by the mephitic exhalations of Rome's
* Schlegel's Philosophy of History, Life, Vol. i. p. 57.

334 CONNEXION BETWEEN
pestilential sea. Thus, in the language of inspiration,
"professing themselves wise, they have become fools."
Deceive not yourselves, then, in the belief that science
and philosophy, and the diffusion of education and in
telligence, will preserve you from Popery. If without
true religion, they prepare tbe way for it, and thus lead
back to ignorance and barbarism, as political licentious
ness leads back to political despotism. Popery and in
fidel philosophy are kindred spirits. The corrupt heart
is a soil suited for both. They bave a common origin,
and they lead to a common end. And be assured that
nothing will preserve you from their power, but that
scripture truth as it is in Jesus, which tbey hate, and
that true Christian character whicb nothing but the truth
in tbe hand of the Spirit of God can ever form in the
human soul.
It may possibly be said, how if Popery leads men to
infidelity, does infidelity prepare the mind for Popery?
Besides that I have shown, they have a common nature
and a common origin, and occupy a large portion of com
mon ground. Dr. Wiseman has furnished the answer. —
Popery receives them back just as they are, and allures
them by flowery paths lo her pleasant palaces.
I have other facts, such as the death of Voltaire as a
Romanist; of Napoleon, without the smallest appear
ance, but bis submission to the Cburch, of any other faith
than when be professed himself a Mahommedan.* It
is tbe very essence of infidelity and scepticism to be in
different to truth, or rather to be hostile to it, while error
is viewed not only without alarm, but with favour. In
proof of this, I might call you to mark the ease with
which the whole nation of infidel France outwardly re
ceived back Popery at the return of the Bourbons, and
indeed under Napoleon, as contrasted with the deter
mined resistance even unto death, which it met with in
England, Ireland, and Scotland, when the Popish Stuarts
attempted to re-introduce it. I might describe the dis
gust we have felt at seeing the Marshals of France, the
el6ves of the Revolution, the soldiers of infidelity,
* Scott's Life.

POPipRY AND INFIDELITY. 335
walking in procession at the Fete Dieu, kneeling to the
host, and contributing to swell the Popish pageant,
while they^ despised it in their heart. I might have
shown from recent documents, that Neology and infi
delity on the Continent at this moment harmonize in
their opposition to true religion, in their intolerance and
hostility to religious liberty, when claimed by the true
disciples of Christ.'*
I have already trespassed on your patience beyond all
reasonable bounds, if tbe usual time for a lecture be the
standard, but not so if the importance of the subject be
considered, and I shall now draw to a close, by a word
or two of exhortation.
It is admitted that the English Deists assailed Chris
tianity with more talent, skill, and freedom, than have
ever been brought to bear upon it any where else. It
stood the shock, and rolled back the impetuous tide.
And why? Because under God it bad a religious, edu
cated, and free people, and a religious, moral, and ta
lented clerg}'. Cbristianity, in short, had a real exist
ence, and tbe malignity of the infidel was neither
seconded by the profligate scepticism of priests or
ministers, nor found food for its ridicule and contempt
in the ignorance, folly, and superstition of the people:
and hence the observation of a French prince who
sought refuge among us at the Revolution. "If this
country was to escape the general wreck of nations, it
would owe its preservation to religion." When tbis
was doubted, and it was observed there wanted not
many religionists in France; "true," said the prince,
" but tbey are not in earnest. I see here a serious in
terest in the thing. The people know what they are
doing when they go to church, they understand some
thing of it, and take an interest in it."
Give then, my friends, God the praise. But at the
same time honour, revere, and love the glorious insti
tutions and privileges, to wbich, under God, .we are
mainly thus indebted. Be not seduced by tbe plausible
theories of infidebty, nor driven about by every- wind
* Archives du Christianisme : 1836.

336 CONNEXION BETWEEN POPERY, &C.
of doctrine, or breath, of flimsy opinion. " Hold fast
tbe liberty whepewith Christ has made us free, and be
not entangled again with tbe yoke of bondage." Dread
all attempts at fettering or curtailing Scripture truth, all
compromises with unscriptural error, whether proposed
by the shaven priest, the hooded monk, the easy sceptic,
or the slippery politician. Beware of all attempts to
fill our University chairs and seminaries witb men of
easy faith. Beware of all systems of education, which
in the perverted and stolen sense of tbe word are called
liberal, because tbey make free witb tbe Bible and Bible
truth. They all will promise you liberty and joy, but
believe tbem not, while they themselves are tbe slaves
of corruption. Their splendid promises are like those
of tbe father of lies, the great boaster, who promised
most falsely what was not his to give. " All the king
doms of the world will I give, if you will only fall
down and worship me." The promise was magnificent;
tbe price, rebellion against God; and the end, had com
pliance been possible, everlasting destruction to the race
of man, and ruin to the government of tbe Supreme .
God. There is only one way to true freedom, personal
or national. " Ye sball know the truth, and the truth
sball make you free; if tbe Son of God sball make you
free, ye shall be free indeed." Be assured there is no
security but in the knowledge, tbe faitb, and tbe prac
tice of the Gospel of the grace of God, revealed in the
Scriptures of truth; and while you use tbe reason tbat
God bas given you, to "search" and understand the
Scriptures, remember you need the guidance of the
Holy Spirit,' and that you must answer at the day of
judgment for the manner in whicb you bave employed
his gifts. Thus thinking, acting, and feeling, j^ou shall
be preserved from the licentiousness of scepticism on
the one band, and the midnight darkness and leaden
despotism of Popery on tbe other.

THE END.

YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

3 9002 01267 1955

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