An Exposure of Popery - William Anderson

AN
EXPOSURE OF POPERY;
\\TIIl SPECIAL REFEREl'iCE TO
PENANCE AND THE MASS.
BY THE LATE
RE'-. WILLIAM ANDERSON, LL.D ..

GLASGOW.
WITH AN INTRODUCTIO:<l BY THE REV. JOHN CAIRNS, D.D.,

Professor if Systematic Theology and AfIYloJdies to the United
Presbyterian Church.
~t\ll nnb :!ttbil'ltb lfbition.
LOKDON: HODDER & STOUGHTOI\.

EDINBURGH: W. OLIPHANT & CO.
lIlDCCCLXXVIII.
FAC-SIMILE OF D! ANDERSON's HAND WRITING.
The following is the closing paragraph of the last lecture _
~NO PRIESTS"- which the Doctor delivered shortly before his
death, in 1872. He had quoted the words in Hebrews X,21.
"And having an high priest over the house of God:'
l.l.\'-;(..iHW:
I'HI 'TEll BY AfRO AND COOJilLL,
All "If: liiInn.T.
!AT "ITAlIC,
'Q[v
ALESSA N"DRO GAV AZZI,
THE ELOQUENT PREACHER AND PAT(llOTW IHJFORMI';U,
WHOSE EFFORTS IN TIlE C.lUSE OF C1YIi, ANI! REL[(IlOU~
FREEDOM IN ITALY SECURED ~'Ul~ HIM 'I'll I';
ADMIRATION, SY~[PATHY, AND AID OJ,'
THE AUTHOR OF THIS VOLl; "[io::
'QI'hc p r e e e ut 4tl.ehJ ~lliti.olt

OF THE WORKS WHICH IT CONT_UNS, DESIGNED TO EX'l'JJ:NI!
THEIR USEFULNESS IN EXPOSING TIlE ERRORS 01' TlU]
E~SL_\ VING SYSTEM OF POPERY, AND PROMOTING TH~]
SPREAD OF CHRISTIAN LIGHT AND [ABERTY,
IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED
BY THE EDITOR,
WILLIAlII LOGAN.
e, h' ANY THINK THAT I OVGHT NOT TO MOCK TIlAT WHWH nu:
WORLD SO LONG llA'l'H HOLDEN, AND GREAT PRINCES YET HOLD, IN SO
G!tEAT VENERATION, I ANSWER, THAT NOT ONLY I, BUT ALSO ALL THE
GODLY, OUGH'i' NOT ONLY TO MOCK, BUT ALSO TO CURSE AND DETEST
WHATSOEVJ>R IS NOT GOD, AND YET USURPETH THE NAME, POWER,
AND HONOUR OF GOD; AND ALSO, THAT WE OUGHT BOTH TO )LOCK,
GAI:'!SAY, AND ABHOR ALL RELIGION OBTRUDED ON THE PEOPLE
WITHOUT ASSURANCE OF GOD AND HIS WORD-HAVING NEITHER
RESPECT TO ANTIQUITY, TO MULTITUDE, TO AUTHORITY, NOR ESTDIA-
'rrON OF THEM TIlAT MAINTAIN 'fHE SAM.E."-John Knox.
"ALL CHRISTIANS ARE GOD'S CLERGY."-Archbishop Leiqhton.

PREFACE.
IN this volume are reproduced two companion courses

of Lectures, published by Dr. .Andersonin the years 1851
and 1853, the one containing an illustration lind exposure
.of the Sacrament of "Penance," with an explanation of
what is antecedent in the Popish theory of the Pardon of
Sin; and the other, illustrations of "The Mass," with
two additional lectures on "The Man of Sin," and "The
Genius and Power of Popery." With the exception of
"The Man of Sin," which.was given on the evening of
Sabbath, 8th December, 1850, in the Rev. Dr. Wardlaw's
Chapel (now used as the offices of the North British
Railway Company), West George Street, all the lectures
were delivered in the City Hall, Glasgow, on week-day
evenings, to audiences chiefly of the working classes,
numbering between three and four thousand persons.
The Lectures on Penance, 88 stated in the Dedication,

were appropriately inscribed" To the Protestant opera-
, I
tives of the City of Gluegow, ill the trust that tl.oy will
find the volume useful as a magazine fro/ll which they
lllay furnish themselves with weapons for the warfare
against a system, than which there is no other more
inimical to the Divine Glory and the interest'> of the
human race." The volume on "The Mass" was inscribed
to the Young Men's Christian Association of Glasgow, at
whose request the Lectures were delivered; and a cheap
edition of this work, of which several thousand copies
were sold, was subsequently issued.
It has been well remarked by Mr. Gilfillan, in his " Life

of Dr. Anderson," that" if ever man deserved the name of
Protestant it was he;" and yet, while" his whole life had
been a protest and a struggle" against Popery and other
forms of error, no one more warmly espoused the civil
rights of man, whether Papist or Protestant, so that his
exposure and denunciation of the evils of a system were
compatible with the most friendly and hospitable feelings
towards some at least of its advocates and victims.
The Lectures having been out of print for about twenty

years, and a desire having been repeatedly expressed for
their re-publication, they are now issued in one volume,
in a form and at a price which will render them aeces-
sible to the general mass of readers; thus carrying out
the wish of the author, that his views on questions in
which he had taken such l\ deep and studious interest,
PREFACE. vii
and which at the present day are occupying 'So much

attention, should have the widest dissemination.
The value of the present new and carefully revised
edition is enhanced by an Introduction from the pen of
Professor Cairns; a portrait of Dr. Anderson, which will
be recognised as a faithful likeness, is prefixed; and the
volume is, by permission, dedicated to SIGNORGAVAZZI,
the valiant champion of Protestantism, from whom the
following letter has been received, which will doubtless
be read with interest by the present generation;-
"ROMA, VIA DI l'ANIEO 43,

"20th November, 1877.
"My DEAR SIR,-It shall be a pleasure and an honour

to me the dedication of the book of dear Dr. Anderson,
who was my helping hand, and one of my best and most
prominent supporters when I first lectured in Glasgow,
August, 1851. He was ever since alway friendly to me
and my mission. His memory is sweet to my heart, and
will be lasting with my life. With my best wishes,
believe me, yours sincerely,
ALESSANDRO
GAVAZZI."
The re-publication of this volume at the present time is

considered to be specially opportune, now that it is said to
have been formally decided by the Vatican to establish a
Papal Hierarchy in Scotland; and the book,which may well
be termed a Knox-like "blast" against Popery,is anew sent
forth in the consciousness, as expressed by the author
'iii PRl:FACE.
himself in the Preface to the first edition of" The Mass,"

that "full of bitterness, scorn, and indignation, as the
volume is, it has been written more under the influence
of the love of truth than under that of the hatred of
error," and is therefore once more, " with great libertyof
heart," commended "to the advocacy of the Spirit of
Holiness."
W. L.
GLASGOW, December, 187i.
CONTENTS.
P.\GI::;.
PREFACE, v
INTRODUCTIONBY PROFESSOR CAIRNS, D.D., xiii
INTRODUCTORYOBSERVATIONS, 17
THE PAHDON OF SIN.
I.
THE PROTESTANT DOCTRINE.
THE MERITORIOUS CAUSE OF PARDON-CUBIST'S DEATH,

THE QUALIJ'YlNG CONDITION-FAITH,
THE COMMUNICATIONOF FAITH, • M
CONDITION AFTER PARDON, 3(;
II.
THE POPISH DOCTRINE.
HISTORY OF THB COUNCIL OF TRENT ON JUSTIFICATION, 42

LUTHER ON JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH, 46
JUSTIFICATION AND GRACE, 50
"BEING JUSTIFIED FREELY BY HIS GRACE" (Romans iii. 24), 52
DECREE AND CANONS OF THE COUNCIL OF TRENT ON JUSTIFICA-
TION, - 56
REFUTATION BY SCRll'TURE OF POPISH VIEW OF JU~TIFICATION, 60
THE POPISH DOCTRINE-(CONTINUED).
GRACE AND ITS COMMUNICATION.

A.-The Priesthood.
THB PRIE8THOOD, 65
PRIESTLY PREROGATlVE- WHENCE INFERRED, 70
SUCCESSOR.PRIBllTS, 72
REFUTATION OF SO·CALLEDApOSTOLICAL SUCCESSION, 75
NECESSITY OF RIGHT INTENTION, S
SACB.AlUINTALEnICACY, S,)·,
"DOWN WITS PJUEllTHOOD," 8
x CONTENTS.
THE POPISH DOCTRINE-(CONTINUED).
GRACE AND ITS COlUlI'1UNICATION.
E." -The Sacraments.
TUE COUXCIL OF TRENT ON THE SACRAMENTS, 91

BELLARMINE ON THE SACRAMENTS, 95
BAl'TISM, 99
PROTESTANT VIEW OF BAPTISM, 99
POPISH VIEW OF BAl'TISM, 101
THE COUNCIL OF TRENT ON B_nTIS~J, 103
SALVATION OF INFANTS, 108
BAl'TISM OF ADULTS, 110
CONFIRMATION, 112
THE EUCHARIST, - 116
'YORKS OF SUPEREROGATION, - 117
B.-The Sacraments-s-i Continued }.
PENANCE.
WHAT IS PENANCE? 123
ABsOLUTION, • 124
MORTAL AND VENIAL SIN, 127
"REATUS CULP.E" AND "I{EA1'U'l P<ENLE," 131
CANONS OF THE COUNCIL OF TRENT ON ABSOLUTION, 1::12
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND ON ABSOLUTION, • 133
THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE AND DIVINE GOVERNMENT, 135
CONTRITION, - • 138
CONFESSION, - 141
SATISFACTION, 144
CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS, • 149
THE MASS.
PRELIMINARY REMARKS, • 155
I.
THE MAss: ITS PRIEST AND ALTAR, . 160
CONTENTS. XI
II.
P.\GE
THE MASS: ITS CONSECRATION, 164
III.
TIlE MASS: ITS ELEVAnON, 171
QUOTATION FROM JOHN KNOX, li4
IV.
THE MAss: ITS OBLATION AS A SACRIFICE, 177

THE MASS AN EXPIATORY SACRIFICE-80URCF,S OF EVWF,NCE, li~)
THE MASS, AS EXPIA'rORY, NOT CON'rAINED IN SCUlI'TUIIE, - IS:?
THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS IGNORES CIIHIST'S FINISHED
WORIl:, IS.;
TilE SACHIFICE OF TilE MASS INTERCEPTS THE VIEW OF TilE
SACRIFICE OF THE CROSS, - 186

THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS FOSTERS DELUSION, 188
THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS INVOLVES CRUELTY AND
PARTIALITY, - 192
TilE SACRIFICE OF TilE MASS INTRUSTS THE SOUL'S SALVA-
TION TO MAN, 194

M ASSES FOR SINS AND "OTHER N ECESSITI ES, " 197
MASSES IN HONOUR OF SAINTS, 199
V.
THE MASS: ITs COMMUNION BY TilE PRIEST,
DECREES AND CANONS OF THE COUNCIL OF TRENT ON SACRA-

MENTAL EFFICACY, - 20"2
EXPLANATIONS OF THE PAROCHIAL CATECIiISM, 204
STATEMENTS OF TilE MISSAL, 207
REFUTATION OF FOREGOING VIEWS, - 208
VI.
THE MASS: ITS COMMUNIOlil BY THE"pEOPLE, 215

TilE COMMUNION OF THE HOST, 21.5
THE CUP 'VITHHELD FROM TilE PEOPLE, 216
THE SUPPER, AS INS'l'ITUTED Bl' CHRIST, ALTERED BY PAPISTS, 218
INSUFFICIENCY OF REASONS FOR SUCH PROCEDURE, - 2'.?O
CONCLUSION, • 2'26
xii CONTENTS.
"THE MAN OF SIN,"

i'AUt:.
LECTURE ON 2 THESS. II. 3·11, - - 227
THE GENIUS AND POWER OF POPERY. - 212
APPENDIX.
NOTE A, p. 193-PuRGATORIAN SOCIETIES, 258
NOTE B, p. 2M-THE POPISH VIEW OF JUSTIFICATION, • 259
NOTE C, p. 234-THE PRIMITIVE CHURCHONTHE ROMANEMPIRE
ANDTHE REVELATIOlS'
OF THE "MAN OF SIN," 262
NOTE D, p. 238-POPE PIUS V. AND QUEEN ELIZABETH,. • 263
INTRODUCTION.
I'
THE Works of the late Dr. WILLIAMANDERSON, here
reprinted, were chiefly delivered in the form of popular
Lectures during the excitement of the "Papal aggres-
sion," more than a quarter of a century ago, and
were published as stated in the Preface. The Lectures
on "The Mass" and on "Penance," which were ad-
dressed, as their author says, "on week-day evenings,
in the City Hall of Glasgow, to an auditory com-
posed chiefly of the operative classes," made at the
time a great impression, and were widely circulated.
They raised their author to the first rank of popular
controversialists in that war with Rome of which he had
been one of the earliest to predict the revival, and
for which he had for many years, both from taste and
from conviction of its importance, made preparations far
beyond the measure even of diligent students of the
Papal question. They were acknowledged by competent
judges to be a real and valuable contribution to Christian
theology; and though they bear, and bear deeply, the
marks of what was local and temporary in the agitation
from which they sprung, such is the acquaintance with
Romish error which they display, and such the vigour of
argument and illustration with which they meet it, and
such also the embodiment of Protestant saving doctrine
which they furnish, in large measure independently of
relation to Papal errors, that DO apology is needed for
reproducing them, any more than any other of the long
series of works, which opposition to Rome, for the last
three centuries, has called forth to enrich our English
theological literature.
INTRODUCTION.
There are, indeed, some considerations which at first

sight might seem to make a refutation like this,-strict
and even profound, while popular, of Romish doctrine,
though it be,-less attractive and seasonable than when
it first appeared. Since then, public attention over all
Europe, and even over all the world, has been more
concentrated on the Papacy as an institution and as a
temporal power, than as a distinctive system of theology.
As the result of three great wars-falling successively, in
their issues, on the Papal throne like divine judgments-
the temporal power has disappeared, it is to be hoped
finally, from the sphere of religion and of earthly politics;
and so great is the change, that everything Romish has
been affected by it, and still feels the shock. Contem-
poraneously with this great struggle, a movement has
been going on within the Papacy, and revolving, not
around its special doctrines, but its central authority as
a fountain of doctrine altogether, which has at length
issued in the proclamation of Papal Infallibility, and
has opposed to Protestant and every other form of heresy
or rebellion the ready weapon of an immediate divine
oracle to crush it into instant subjection.
This great revolution, for it is nothing less, superseding
and even anathematizing that Gallicanism which was once
the firmest bulwark of the Romish system; throwing back
the slow and laborious steps of Councils-and the Council
of Trent among them-to a distant and almost inferior
age, before the last development of Vaticanism took place,
and thus seemingly antiquating the Reformation and
post-Reformation controversies in their special contents
and bearings; and hence necessarily filling the public
mind with the spectacle of resistance within the Romish
pale, and without, to the gigantic claims thus formulated
INTRODUCTION. xv
and partially carried through-has to some extent with-

-drawn interest from every preceding debate, and given
the Papacy the apparent advantage of a change of front,
or flank, towards all its enemies. It has also discouraged
argument on its part, and made it trust more than ever
to blind faith and the union of numbers; and, as a natural
consequence, it has tempted its assailants to despair more
of argument in dealing with it, and either to rely more
on their several agencies (apart from controversy) for
upholding gospel truth, or to fall back (in some cases
unduly) on the only authority that seemed able to con-
front this ever-encroaching despotism-the power of the
secular magistrate.
But while all this is true, it would be a very short-
sighted and mistaken policy on the part of the Protestant
Church to abandon the field of argument altogether, or
even to limit it to the earlier question of Papal authority,
as now defined and made at the outset summary and
final. It never can be indifferent even to the effectual
disproof of any power as infallible, to show what it
teaches; and hence the bringing home to it of charges
of absurdity, of moral obliquity, and of contradiction to
Scripture, may still, in the minds of its own votaries,
shake its claims, and hinder their acceptance by others.
Nor has the dogma of Infallibility liberated the Romish
Church from the liabilities of its past conciliar decrees,
since, as in the case of Trent, these received Papal
ratification, and are still-till some new development
upset them-of binding validity. Nor is any such
development imminent, such as has given Ultramon-
tanism the victory in regard to the Immaculate Concep-
tion of the Virgin and the sole Infallibility of the Pope.
The articles of Trent, in regard to Justification and the
xvi INTRODUCTION.
Sacraments, have not been the subjects of party contro-

versy within the Church of Rome since they were framed;
for here generally their theologians are best agreed, and
their scheme cannot be altered without self-destruction.
Hence a fair and manly discussion of these vital points
of the Romish theology is, notwithstanding the other
changes to which I have referred, as truly as ever in
place; and while it may have some effect on Romanists,
it cannot but strengthen the faith of Protestants, and
especially of such of them as may be feeble and wavering
in their attachment to their own .system. It is not easy
to conceive anything more instructive in regard to the
real teaching of Rome as to human salvation than is
found in this volume. The author seizes with admirable
skill and clearness her two fatal enol'S in regard to the
application of salvation: the turning of justification into
an inward process, instead of leaving it a change of legal
relations grounded on the work of the Saviour; and then
the resolving, in turn, of this inward grace, which the
justification of the sinner is misrepresented as being, into
the magical working of priests and sacraments, instead of
the operation of faith on the soul by the influence of the
Holy Spirit.
It would not be easy to name any work in which the
priestly and sacramental scheme of the Church of Rome
is more thoroughly exposed; and what is also worthy of
notice is, that the strong and eloquent denunciation
which runs through it has its root in love of the gospel
and of the souls of men, and, as in the great Epistle to
the Galatians, is suffused with grief as well as hot with
indignation. The sense of the ludicrous, for which the
author apologizes, and which sometimes perhaps carries
him too far, is thus in the main harmonized with moral
INTRODUCTION. xvii
earnestness, and subservient to it; and the reader is

never allowed to forget, that it is not as a system of
spiritual tyranny and necromancy chiefly that the
Papacy is assailed, but as a defeat and hindrance of the
gospel plan of salvation. At the same time, the possibility
of salvation within the Reman pale is not denied, nor
that enough of light has at times descended into its dim
and dreary caverns to keep the darkness from being fatal.
It is an eminent merit of these controversial discus-
sions, that Dr. ANllEHRON never loses sight of the
principle that Home is not to be conquered in tho name
of mere liberty or reason, but by the assertion of gospel
g'l'ace and truth. Here, too many eombatants on this
arena have failed, and perhaps, in one sense, the greatest
of them all-Chillingworth; who, though he has nobly
vindicated the Protestant watchword, "The Bible, and
the Bible alone, the religion of Protestants," has not
sufficiently-along with this merely formal principle of
the Reformation-bronghtout the material principle of
justification by faith also, and has thus simply opposed
the Bible, in its bare generality as a revelation, and not
its actual saving contents, to the Papal priestcraft and
superstition.
One further advantage, which the re-publication of these
Lectures may bring with it, is to meet the current of evil
still unhappily rising and swelling around in the bastard
Popery of professedly Protestant Churches. Though they
may deny the infallibility and even the supreme authority
of the Pope, the admission of the priestly and sacramental
principle draws with it all the consequences which in
these Lectures are so ably and earnestly opposed. Even
the ConfessionaJ, with all its horrors, is the legitimate
issue of such a starting-point: for, as Dr. ANDERSON has
xviii JNTRODUCTIOK.
well shown, though the Church of Rome cannot find a

text more favourable to her than the very unlikely
one (James v, 16), "Confess your faults one to another,"
confession so lies in the essence of the system, as an
integral part of the Sacrament of Penance, and as neces-
sary to priestly Absolution, that, sooner or later, it must
creep in and reach its full development, wherever these
premises have been admitted; so that the only remedy is
to strike out, from the creed of every Protestant Church,
every word that allows any other priesthood than that of
Christ, and with it the universal priesthood of believers,
and every view of the sacraments, that makes them more
than the repetition and reaffirmation of the promise of
pardon, through the blood of Christ, held out to faith and
repentance.
In the great battle of our times, therefore, which, to
the humiliation of the Protestant, Church, iii still needed,
not only with the original errors of Rome, but with the
bastard Popery which Churches of the Reformation have
so long endured, and seem as yet unable to expel, it may
be hoped that this little work will perform a useful part,
and that it may strengthen in many minds adherence
to those grand truths which it delights to re-echo, and
to vindicate against every Romanizing perversion and
denial-" For such an High Priest became us, who is
holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made
higher than the heavens; who needeth not daily, as those
high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins,
and then for the people's: for this he did once, when he
offered lip himself." "By one offering he hath perfected
for ever them that are sanctified."
J. C.
EDINBURGH, December, 18':7.
INTRODUCTORY OBSERVATIONS.
..
WHAT mUE~t we do to be saved-how shall we obtain the pardon
of our sin-wherewith shall we appear before the Lord, to
secure his justifying award ~ is the question which should take
the precedence of everyone else in the inquiries of us all.
What would it avail though a man had gained clearness and
satisfactoriness of views on all other subjects, if his mind
remained clouded with doubt about the condemnation of the
Divine Government being removed from him ~ And equally,
when the soul has found satisfaction on this subject, what
losses or grievances in other directions can greatly affect it ~
Let a man be well assured that God's government has pardoned
all his offences and is reconciled to him, the afflictions and dis-
appointments of this world may ruffle the surface of his spirit,
and cause him annoyance and fretfulness, but there will be far
down an abiding peace, which nothing earthly can reach to
disturb it.
The question, I say, is of the first importance to us all;
even to those who have heretofore pondered it, and thought
they had arrived at a sure conclusion. All such should
frequently bring it under review and revisal, lest they may
have erred and been deceived. How much more should it not
be felt interesting by those who may have hitherto put off the
inquiry, and never either sought or found satisfaction ~ But,
unhappily, those who have the greatest need of engaging in it,
are precisely those whom it occasions the least concern. In
proportion as men are guilty, condemned, and near to the
execution of the dreadful sentence, are they usually insensible
to the danger of their situation. It is the same with sin as
with bodily disease: when the acute pain of the inflammation
has subsided, and the patient lies at peace, it is because he is
sinking under mortification.
18 INTRODUCTORY OBSERVATIONS.
Observe, therefore, that in order to our taking an interest in

this question with the requisite earnestness, and even, to our
understanding the discussion of it, we must all, each man for
himself, be well convinced of our guiltiness in the sight of God.
On the one hand, there must be a realizing of Him as our
Supreme Lawgiver and Judge; concerned about the order and
happiness of his kingdom; in his holiness abhorring all vice
and immorality; and feeling indignation when his law is
violated and dishonoured.. On the other hand, there must be
a realizing of ourselves as having acted that part; each of us
reviewing his own life, and inspecting the dispositions of his
heart, till he is self-convicted of a rebel's guiltiness llfld danger.
When sin is an object so dark, the figure may appear somewhat
preposterous, but it contains an important truth, when we say,
that the salvation of God can be discerned only in the light of
sin: or, illustrating it otherwise, it is only when we have
descended the dark pit of reflection on our own unworthiness
and evil desert, that we can perceive the shining of the Star of
Divine Mercy.
Although, however, this bringing home of the charge of
~t to each man's own consciousness is necessary, not only
for taking a sufficient interest in the question, but even for an
intellectual comprehension of its import, yet is it far from
being all that is requisite. Beside you and me, brethren,
there is a whole world of rebels; and the question is about the
pardon of a revolted empire. Along with holy angels let us
place ourselves, in imagination, on the steps of the throne of
heaven, and from that position survey this earth solitary in its
revolt, amid the allegiance of a surrounding universe; or, if not
solitary, worse than were it so, having joined league with hell in
its defiance of the Eternal One. Think of the virulence of that
revolt-of the enmity of its impiety, the malice of its mutual
cruelties, and the abomination of its sensuality; and then reflect,
that down yonder is the scene of wickedness concerning whieh
the question is agitated, how shall its pardon and reconciliation
to the Divine Government be effected 1 Though we cannot take
the requisite interest in the question unless we individually feel
ourselves to belong to the rebel class; yet, equally, there must
be much misapprehension and narrowness of views when the
inquiry is limited by any man to the pardon of himself. Besides,
let all the anxious be assured that in the study of the world's
Saviour, their own salvation will display itself more clearly
INTRODUCTORY OBSERVATIONS. 19
and satisfactorily. How many can tell that they never felt
freedom of mind on the subject of mercy for themselves, till
they began to study and contemplate its richness in the salvation
of Caffres and Hindoos!
Having made the foregoing observation on the moral state
of mind requisite for the successful study of this question, I
remark secondly, that we must wait on the Lord for our answer.
Only He who has been offended can give us assurance respecting
the terms on which we can obtain forgiveness. If we had no
opportunity of ascertaining his will, there would be no help for
us but to have recourse to our own speculations, or the opinions
of friends about what might probably or possibly satisfy Him,
and then to try Him with the presentation of it. But is it
not most criminally presumptuous, that, after He has made a
clear revelation on the subject, anyone declaring himself dis-
satisfied with the divinely appointed method, should set about
inventing another for himself, and assume airs of demanding
that he be pardoned according to its provisions ~ Suppose,
when a criminal had been convicted before any of our courts,
that he should stand up and commence arguing with the judge,
that the reparation appointed by the law was irrational, and
immoral in its tendency, and that he had devised a much
Superior mode, which he insisted the judge should adopt in
preference, would not such contempt of court insure for him an
aggravated punishment ~
And yet such is precisely the conduct of many towards the
Divine Government. Dissatisfied with what the Scripture calls
" God's righteousness," that is, such a justification of the sinner
as God's mercy has provided,-accusing it of being absurd, yea,
as dangerous to the cause of good morals, for which they affect
great concern-they invent more philosophical and holier plans
of their own; and, criminals at the bar though they be, claim
that the Judge surrender his own method of pardoning and
adopt theirs! This impotent presumption is more directly
characteristic of Socinianism. In Popery, it is slightly modified,
for the people at least, in this way: instead of inquiring at God
Himself what He would have them do, as ignominiously as pro-
fanely they surrender the right and refuse the duty, arid deliver
themselves over to the guidance of a usurping priesthood.
The result is, that the extremes of Socinian infidelity and Popish
superstition meet in their rejecting of God's righteousness, and
going about to establish a righteousness of their own (Rom. x. 3).
Brethren, be it our care to avoid either evil. First, in a matter

of such moment, let us trust no man's report, but satisfy our-
selves, each man for himself, with a personal inquiry at the open
oracle of God-to all of us in these Protestant lands so open
and accessible: and then, having heard his decree, instead of
idly, impotently, criminally commencing to criticise its wisdom,
and propose something more agreeable to our own humours and
views of propriety, let us rejoice with grateful and accepting
hearts, that He has so graciously offered us reconciliation on
any terms whatever. What! shall we, the party convicted so
deeply, enter into a controversy with the Judge respecting the
conditions on which his pardon should be extended 1
As a third preliminary observation, I remark that the
question of a sinner's pardon is, on the part of God, not one
of personal or private feeling, or domestic arrangement; but
of jurisprudence, or the equitable and efficient administration
of Public Government. There is no distinction made more
clearly in the Scripture than that of God's royal and paternal
characters; and the distinction recommends itself to our reason
so soon as it is proposed. Now, is it not obvious that the
principles on which a Parent pardons an erring and undutiful
child, differ, and in some respects greatly, from those on which
a. Sovereign pardons a rebellious subject 1 Suppose (sed absit
omen I} that the Prince of Wales, having grown up to man's
estate, should be guilty of some great crime, would that which
might be sufficient for propitiating Victoria, as a mother, be a
sufficient ground on which pardon might be extended to him
by Victoria, as a. Queen 1 Would not public interests be con-
cerned in the one case, which had no place in the other-the
maintenance of the law in force and honour, and the preserva-
tion of the order of the commonwealth 1 We might accuse her
of being a harsh and unnatural mother, if, on the Prince's
professing penitence, she spurned him from her feet and refused
him her maternal forgiveness; but equally we might have reason
for accusing her of a criminal laxity in the administration of
the law, did she, simply for the same penitence, take advantage
of her royal prerogative and deliver him from the awarded
punishment of the judges.
The distinction is so palpable, that it is difficult to refrain
from imputing the grossest dishonesty to those who take no
account of it in attempting to discredit the theological systems
of others, and in the construction of their own, When we
plead for that doctrine of atonement through the mediation and
sacrifice of Christ to which I shall presently call your attention,
they are accustomed to taunt us with the scornful exclamation,
"Behold what kind of a Father these evangelicals have, who,
whatever may be the penitence of his children, refuses to pardon
their offences for any satisfaction less than the shedding of
blood! " Our reply is, that our Father is infinitely richer in
mercy than theirs: for not only did He forgive us our offences
before we repented, or rather, as He is our Father, never mark
the offences against us at all; but Himself furnished us at an
unspeakable cost with that same sacrifice of blood, by our pre-
senting which with the faith of our hearts at the tribunal of
his Government, it might be possible for Him in his Royal
character to pardon our rebellion.
Having thus repelled the Socinians' taunt about the character
of our Father, I now ask them what may be the character of
their king 1 Oh, most convenient! A king with a number of
good advices; the neglect of which he has no doubt threatened
with punishment; but it is a threatening which an improved
philosophy has detected to be It mere bug-bear for the scaring
of the weak-minded; by the exposure of which imposition the
philosophers are resolved to thwart the good intentions of the
King; for they consider it to be most unbecoming to administer
any government by false pretences! Such is the discovery of
Unitarian philosophy: and having commenced with emanci-
pating them from the fear of God as a King, there is little
wonder that in its progress it should emancipate them from
the reverence of God as their Father.
"God, at once our Father and our King:" let this, brethren,
be the motto of our philosophy; it will regulate our minds
alike in comfort and holiness. The principle is so important,
that I shall narrate an illustrative anecdote, with which some
of you are familiar, for the advantage of those who have not
heretofore heard it.
Zaleucus, a king of ancient Loom, a principality of Greece,
grieved by the manner in which the crime of adultery was
destroying the peace and prosperity of his kingdom, after all
milder measures for its suppression had proved abortive, at last
decreed that the criminal should be punished with the loss of his
sight. The corrupt population exclaimed against the severity
of the penality; and when his own favourite son was the first
accused, they reasoned among themselves, that when the law
was turned against his own interests and happiness, he would no

doubt abrogate or relax it. The day of trial arrived: his son
was clearly convicted; but as they waited for the succumbing
of parental affection, he calmly pronounced the doom of the
law, and ordered the executioner to proceed with its infliction.
The heated plate of steel had extinguished one of the eyes of,
his son, when heordered a suspension of the punishment. The
profligate among the onlookers thought they had at length
triumphed; but they knew not the royal spirit of their king.
Descending from the judgment seat, he appealed to the mercy
of the assembly, and implored that they would accept of the
substitution of himself in place of his son, for bearing the
remaining half of the penalty. The people in admiration and
sympathy cried out that enough had been suffered, and refused
his proffer. "Nay, then," said the king, reascending his
throne, "let the execution proceed on the criminal; the law
must be vindicated." His substitution was now accepted, and
he suffered the extinction of his right eye, for the preservation
of the sight of his son.
M.y principal reason for introducing this anecdote at present
is, to illustrate how different are the principles on which judicial
integrity and parental affection proceed; but that yet they may
co-exist and operate in great strength in the same bosom, at
the same instant of time. I shall have occasion for referring
to the case afterwards, for the illustration of other points; but
meantime I may state that the success of the policy was com-
plete. Impunity in the commission of crime was demonstrated
to be utterly hopeless, and adultery was suppressed throughout
Locris, We may also reflect, what influence that father's
conduct must have had upon his son: what inflaming of
filial affection, and what abhorring of his crime, whenever the
marred countenance of his father was presented to his view!
And yet his father had suffered only the half of the penalty;
whereas ours took the whole of it upon Himself, when, in our
necessity, He spared not his Son, but freely gave Him up to
the death, that we might be delivered.
THE PAR DON 0 F SIN •
•••
J.
THE PROTESTANT DOCTRINE.
HAVING made these preliminary explanations, we are now

prepared for an illustration of the scriptural law for the
Pardon of Sin.
Observe, then, carefully, the distinction betwixt the Meri-
torious Cause of Pardon, and its Instrumental Cause, or
Qualifying Condition. The first is the Vicarious or Substitu-
tionary Death of Christ; the secondis the penitent criminal's
own Faith.
THE MERITORIOUS' CAUSE-CHRIST'S DEATH-
is that, in consideration of which, as a satisfaction for the

violation of its law, so that the honour and force of that law
may be maintained, the Divine Government pardons the rebel:
The lJiuine GO'Vernment, remember: God's Royalty; not his
personal or paternal feelings. Our repentance and reformation,
or even feebly expressed purposes of reformation, might have
sufficed-I feel J;J.O hesitation in saying, would certainly have
sufficed-for reconciliation in these latter respects. They would
no doubt have sufficedfor the Locrian prodigal's restoration to
communionwith his father. And yet, who was Zaleucus, as a
father 1 A mortal man of humours and passion. High as the
heavens are above the earth is our Father's loving-kindness
above his. But Zaleucus-a king ! Well, again, high as the
heavens are above the earth is the holiness of our King in the
administration of the law of his government: "righteolisness
and judgment are the habitation of his throne." Besides,
Zaleucus looked only at the few square miles of Locris, and
the few thousands of its inhabitants; whereas our King must
24 THE PARDON OF SIN.
have respect to the government of the Universe. Angels, as

well as men, must be retained or instructed in reverence of
the law.
Accordingly,mark the expressionsof the apostle: "Whom
God hath set forth to be a propitiation, through faith in his
blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins"
(Rom. iii 25). To declare his righteousness, i.e., to show it
forth or prove it. How 1 Just as Zaleucus showedor proved
his righteousnessas a judge, by refusing to yield to the solici-
tations either of his own paternal feelings or the sympathy of
the people, in forgiving his son, and dismissinghim acquitted
from the bar, till he had surrendered his own sight on his
behalf, for vindicating the ma:jesty of the law, as not to be
violated with impunity. What need the world has of such a
vindication of the claims of the law of God! Born as we all
are with a proclivity to sin, educated in the midst of it, and
tempted all around, how ready we are to think lightly of its
evil, and make apologiesfor its commissionI Behold the cross
of the Son of God, says the Gospel,for the dispelling of all
such delusion! Learn there what is the character of sin in the
estimation of the Divine Government: nothing less than the
death of One so great can expiate its guilt.
It is unnecessarythat I multiply quotations in evidence of
its being the doctrine of the Scriptures, that Christ's death
occupiesthe same place, and with the same species of virtue
or power, in securingthe pardon of the sinner under the Divine
Government, which the substituted loss of sight by Zaleucus
occupied in securing the legal pardon of his son under the
government of Locris. Even Sociuians now, widely, almost
universally, admit that such is the true import of the apostolic
testimony. For a long time their brotherhood contended
that the multitude of passages,which at first reading seem to
imply this, should be interpreted by canons of tropical allusion.
But under the progress of rational and scholarlike criticism
they have been shamed out of these figurative apologies of
their antiquated fathers, and acknowledge that the apostles
taught literally and designedlythe sacrificial atonement of the
evangelicals; so that their only recourse now is to reject the
authority of the apostles, under the charge that when they
taught that" Christ came to give his life a ransom for many,"
and that his" blood was shed for the remission of sins," they
were either designing impostors or deluded fanatics, And yet
THE PROTESTANT DOCTRINE. 25
these words which I have just quoted were uttered by Christ

Himself (Matt. xx. 28, and xxvi, 28). It is the vainest of
attempts to endeavour to separate betwixt Christ and his
apostles, and when their authority has been rejected to affect
to abide by his. The imputation of imposture to the servants
plainly involves the libel of the Master.
When the admissions of modern Socinianism complete the
argument of our doctrine, that the meritorious cause of a
sinner's pardon is the substitutionary death of Christ, being
the doctrine of the apostles, we shall afterwards see how it is
repudiated by the Papacy. There is a popular misconception
on this subject among Protestants. It is generally supposed
that the Church of Rome ascribes one half of the merit to
Christ's death, and represents the other half as being supplied
by some strange works of their own, together with the work of
some strange friends of theirs. But howsoever dishonouring
this would be to the government of God, and derogatory from
the claims of the perfect and all-sufficient work of the Redeemer,
I shall show in the sequel that the representation gives Popery
credit for much of which it is not possessed, and that its system
contains as virulent a denial of Christ's death being even in part
a satisfaction made to the divine law, so as to gain the sinner's
pardon, as is made by the most blaspheming Socinianism.
THE QUALIFYING CONDITION-FAITH.
Having seen that the Meritorious or Procuring Cause of the

sinner's pardon is the substitutionary or sacrificial death of
Christ, attend now to the Instrumental Cause, or Qualifying
Condition. This I formerly stated to be the penitent criminal's
own Faith. We shall afterwards see that Popery discredits
Faith, as much as it dishonours the work of Christ; and I
invite your special attentitn to the place which this great
principle holds in the divine economy for our salvation.
Observe, then, fundamentally, that no government whatever
would be justified in conseuting to pardon a rebel, be the satis-
faction proffered by a benevolent intercessor what it might,
unless security were given for his future loyalty. Remember
that it is a government question; and not one of private
feeling, or mere commercial arrangement. Suppose that by
extravagance I had contracted a large amount of debt, for
~hich I had been cast into prison, and that a friend were to
Interpose and discharge it, my creditor would be obliged to
26 THE PA.RDON OF SIN.
liberate me, though in leaving my cell I should denounce him

bitterly as a cruel exactor, and declare that I would not be
restrained in the gratifying of my inclinations, but proceed to
contract new debts wherever I could find an opportunity. Yea,
though my pride might resent the interference of my benefactor,
the turnkey would force me out t<J the liberty of the street,
saying that the law of the prison was, that none should receive
its accommodation but those whose debts were undischarged.
It is altogether different with criminal jurisprudence. It
would be impure government, discreditable to the law, and
injurious to the commonwealth, to pardon a rebel on whatever
terms, so long as he continued to be of a rebellious disposition.
History does not inform us what was the state of the mind of
the son of Zaleucus; but had he violently protested against
the barbarity of the law, treated the proffered substitution of
his father with scorn, and declared, that though they should
consign him to perpetual darkness he would persist in his
licentious course,-then, we may be certain, that although the
paternal feelings of Zaleucus might have stood proof against
the provocation, and continued to yearn over his unhappy son,
he would yet, in respect for the majesty of- the law, have
"declared his righteousness" by withdrawing his proffer, and
commanding the completion of the execution of the penalty on
the criminal's own person.
Accordingly it was arranged and ordained in the COlIDCilsof
the Divine Government,-on the one hand, that Christ should
after his death be exalted to royal power,-and, on the other,
that none should obtain the benefit of his sacrifice for the pardon
of sin, but those who received the testimony respecting both
his sacrificial death and royal exaltation. This belief in the
Gospel, then, is the security for the sinner's future loyalty;
and so soon as it is given, the moment he believes. he is par-
doned; and were he presently to die, his spirit would pass
happily into the Paradise of the redeemed, being" justified by
faith" (Rom. v, 1).
"Delusion, most dangerous!" exclaims the infidel philosopher;
" Most dangerous," echoes the Papist; both of them being so
much concerned a.bout good morals as to be greatly horrified at
the licentiousness which would ensue, were such principles to
gain prevalence.
I take up the philosopher first. You might think that in
obedience to the dictates of that philosophy of which he pre-
tends to be the disciple, he would institute an examination and

induction of facts, before he formed a conclusion; and that
when he found the result to be so different from what he at
first fancied it might be ;-when he found that these trusters
in the Cross were the very salt of the earth, who, by their
superior purity and integrity, preserved society from corruption
and dissolution ;-when he found that they had attained to a
stature of virtue compared with which his own was dwarfish,
shrivelled, and contemptible; one might think, I say, that
when he discovered all this, and felt it-felt his own com-
parative worthlessness-he would, as a good philosopher, have
surrendered his first suspicion of the immoral tendency of our
faith; and, whether he found out the secret of its influence
or not, have at least ceased from his mockery of men whose
philosophy, learned in the school of Jesus of Nazareth, was
practically demonstrated to be so much more excellent than his
own. What, I demand, are those of our youth, who boast of
their philosophy, and riddance from Bible superstition, doing
for the city of Glasgow 1 Not one of them, I answer, not a
single soul, is engaged in improving its morality by the smallest
effort; while many of them make it their life work to deepen,
and thicken, and pntrify the more its festering corruption. And
who, I ask a second time, are the salvation of our community;
educating and training the bastardy of the philosophers, and
reclaiming and saving from suicide the victims of their pro-
fligacy1 I answer, a second time, they are those young men
whom the doctrine of Justification by Faith has inspired with
sympathy and zeal.
Let this suffice for the philosopher at present; he will be
brought up for judgment .afterwards. And now for his fellow:
think of a Popish priest, in the midst of that moral degradation,
which all history proves is as constantly an attendant on Popery
as death is on sin; think of him standing by his altar at Madrid,
or Lisbon, or Paris, or Vienna; yea, think of him standing by
his altar at Rome, and surrounded by all the profligacy and
crime of that cruel Sodom, with a perjured tyrant for his pre-
siding High Priest; think of him pointing over to Britain-
Britain, notwithstanding the degeneracy of many of her sons
and daughters, still comparatively so noble, so pure, so god-like
in charity, the only vision of Virtue to be seen on this earth;-
yet think of that Roman priest pointing the profligate devotees
who sarround his altar to this oar Britain as an evidence of
28 THR PARDON OF SIN.
the immorality of Protestantism, and the licentious tendency

of the heresy of J ustiflcation by Faith! Friends, it is impos-
sible to be angry at this: the curiosity of the thing prevents
every other expression but that of laughter. Curiosity and
laughter! Ah! the genius of Rome weeps tears of blood over
the degradation and wretchedness of her children, inflicted by
the obscene, the cruel, the maniac imposture.
The wisdom of God in having constituted Faith the Instru-
mental Cause or Qualifying Condition of our Pardon being
so clearly manifested by the practical result, in the superior
morality of those who embrace the system, less is necessary in
the way of attempting to explain, on metaphysical principles,
how such is necessarily the case. A few observations, how-
ever, seem requisite, lest anyone should say that the indis-
putable moral superiority of those among whom Protestant
principles prevail, is an accidental circumstance, and ascribable
to other causes than their entertainment of the doctrine of
Justification by Faith.
Observe, then, generally, that the apostolic doctrine of the
power of faith, as a moral principle, is only the doctrine of
common-sense. Does not all action proceed from our belief of'
something ~ And how is it that Mr. Carlyle has obtained such
repute for his magnifying the energy of believing, when the
apostle Paul had done the same thing more eloquently eighteen
hundred years before 1 the only difference being, that whereas
Paul inculcates the belief of what is true and good, Mr. Carlyle
is unhappily too little concerned about the matter of a man's
belief, provided he do believe one thing or another, and be not
a mere sham, without any settled conviction. Nevertheless,
much honour to him for hill illustration and enforcement of
apostolic doctrine, the length he has carried. the principle.
More particularly: some of you must have remarked. that,
in speaking of faith hitherto, I have regularly given it the
character of being either the Instrumental Cause of the penitent
sinner's pardon, or its Qualifying Condition. Under either
of the ideas faith's moral influence may be illustrated with
sufficient clearness. I am not sure but. that, in the common
course of my ministry, I use that of Instrumentality more
frequently,· but on the present occasion I prefer that of
Qualifying Condition.
"It may be considered lUI an applying, or apprehending, or recelYiDg
inltru.meni, whiob, when the meana of pardon have been provided in OllJ'
Some evangelical Protestants object to the employment of
the term condition in this connection; but I think most
unreasonably. If, when it is said, "Believe and thou shalt
be saved," it be an improper use of language to represent
believing as being a prescribed condition of salvation, then I
cannot imagine any case, either secular or sacred, in which I
could use the term. A sine qua non, i. e., that without which
another thing cannot be, is a condition; and faith is a sine qua
non of being saved. Accordingly, some of our best theologians
have not only not scrupled to use the term, but have prescribed
its use as the proper term to be employed when calling and
exhorting sinners. 11-
The only question is about the nature or kind of the con-
dition: and so long as we deny that faith is a meritorious
condition of salvation (Popery makes it that), and contend only
for its qualifying property, we occupy not only safe ground,
but the best ground. The distinction is this: a meritorious
condition is that on account of which a man is entitled by
justice to a reward: a qualifying condition is that character
which, although it does not entitle the pos'lessor to a reward,
yet makes it morally fit or proper for the government to
bestow benefits on him, or supplies that without which the
bestowment would be morally improper. Thus: were a pauper
to demand my help, with threatenings of vengeance if I denied
him his request, he would be disqualified as an object of my
charity; there would be a want of moral fitness in my relieving
him; it would encourage him in the practice of his insolence.
But were another to prefer his request with humility and tears;
although this would not give him a meritorious claim, yet
would it be a moral qualifying of him for aid, of which the
other was destitute.
Now, such is the property of faith as a condition of salvation:
it does not invest a man with any merit; but it places him before
the throne of the Divine Government with such a qualification,
Lord's atoning death, lays hold on a share for itself, and pleads its merit
before the throne of justice; or, as a connecting instrument, by means of
whicb Christ and the believer are identified. In all the cases Christ will
dwell in his heart (Eph. ili.17) as an object of adoration, love, confidence,
and loyal obedieuce.
* See Robert Hall on .ine qua non. By a book more endeared to some of
us than even the Shorter CatechillD, not only our mothera bllt our fathers
were instructed to ask us, "What is the tenor or condition of the covenant
of grace?" and we were instructed to answer, .. Believe in the Lord Jesus
Chpat."-Jlother'. ClJUchiBm by Willison.
that there is not only no unfitness, but rather much moral

fitness in bestowing oil him the pardon which Ohrist's death
merits: for I now take the positive ground; whereas, a few
sentences ago, I gave the choice of the positive and negative.
I contend that faith not only removes unfitness, but invests
with fitness. In no case is charity imperative; but there are
cases in which to refuse it would be chargeable with harshness.
In like manner, I have no hesitation in saying, that supposing
a rebel were to make such a presentation of himself before the
throne of Victoria as the believer makes before the throne of
the Eternal King, it would be censurable administration to
refuse him pardon; censurable, not for its want of justice, but
its want of clemency, which moral fitness requires should be
exercised wherever it can be done in consistency with upholding
the law in honour and force. So that, although this faith were
entirely of the origination of the man's own mind, I would yet
contend that it constituted a fitness for pardon being extended
to him, regardless of the unmeaning objection that this would
represent him as being his own saviour; as if he who stretches
out his hand to receive the proffered alms had the credit of
delivering himself from hunger! How much less has the
objection any force, when the qualifying faith, as well as the
Redeemer's meritorious death, is the gift of divine mercy; so
that in magnifying faith, we only magnify what God has
imparted.
Attend, therefore, now, to a short illustration of faith's
qualifying properties. First of all there is such a property in
the immediate act itself. Oonsisting as it does in "believing
God," in submitting the mind to his instructions, and crediting
his word, it separates a man far asunder from those who, by
discrediting that word, according to the language of the apostle,
"make God a. liar." In these circumstances it honours God
greatly. But it is principally on account of its prolific pro-
perty, in giving birth to all the other virtues, that it has been
constituted the qualifying condition-the grand security, as
I former1y expressed it--of the rebel's futu~ loyalty. Afl
believing the gospel, what does a man believe 1 He believes
that, as guilty, condemned, and near to everlasting ruin, another
behoved to die for him before he could be saved. How must
not the belief of this disclose to him the view of his own moral
vileness 1 so that faith is at once a principle of self-abasement
and detestailion of sin. Is not this much secured for the cause
of virtue at the very first step. But again: as believing the
gospel, what does a man believe 1 He believes in a mercy
unspeakable, both on the part of God who gave his Son, and of
that Son who gave Himself-gave Himselffrom his throne, gave
Himself as a man; gave Himself on the cross for his salvation.
Faith, therefore, must. be a principle of reconciliation of the
heart to God, crying Abba, my Father j and of fervent grati-
tude to the Redeemer, crying, What wouldst Thou have me do,
that I may please and honour Thee 1
What more than this would you have, you who affect so
much concern about good morals, and are so virtuously sus-
picious of the doctrine of justification by faith heing a dogma
of licentiousness 1 How hard it is to satisfy that philosophic
jealousy of yours, and Socinian jealousy, and Popish jealousy,
and all your other holy jealousies, lest the cause of virtue
suffer by our preaching faith in the blood of the Cross for the
remission of sin ! Who, I demand, preaches that 1 Although
such were the whole of our testimony, I would not shrink from
undertaking its vindication as the only hope of the earth's
moral regeneration. But our system possesses an overflowing
plenitude of security for the pardoned rebel's future loyalty j
and it is an injurious representation, when it is alleged that
we so limit our testimony as to preach faith in Christ's blood
as sufficient for pardon. We preach faith in Christ's Self-a
v)hole Christ, as Papists themselves express it j though they
little comprehend the import of their own phraseology. Ah!
no j if they understood a whole Christ, they would not find
Him so defective as to ohlige them to have recourse to so many
other saviours. It is their half Christ which has created need
for all their profane and degrading idolatry.
But this is only a remark by the way. I go on to ask, a
third time: . In believing the gospel, what does a man believe 1
He believes that, in reward of Christ's humiliation and suffer-
ings, his Father has exalted Him to the government of the
world. Who, then, can see this King of Glory, with his
rights so legitimate, and his majesty so bright. and full of
grace, without falling down to do Him homage, and swearing
allegiance to his throne 1 Well, he who believes sees it all j
and therefore is faith a principle of loyalty to a virtuous King.
What would satisfy the philosophers in their concern about
virtue, if they will not accept of this security' Let them be
honest, and confess that the holiness of the virtue of faith's
King is, after all, the great secret of their virulent opposition.
But we are not yet done: In believing the gospel, what does a
man believe 1 He believes in a future state of indescribable
happiness and glory, and that he himself is invited to its par-
ticipation. Faith, therefore, must be a principle of heavenly-
mindedness; of insensibility to the seductions, and defiance of
the threatenings of this world ; and of an active well-doing,
in the expectation of the enlargement of that reward of grace
which the Lord will proportion to the various degrees of the
faithfulness of his children.
Illustration similar to the above might evidently be extended
a great length; but let what has been produced suffice as a
specimen of the influence for a holy morality which resides in
faith, and for a vindication of the divine wisdom and holiness
in having ordained it to be the qualifying condition on which a
man is admitted to share the pardoning merits of the Redeemer's
death. Such faith is the seed of all the virtues: she is the
mother of all the graces, as she herself is the daughter of the
Spirit of God. .And were those, against whom we contend in
this argument, honest in professing their concern about morality,
and wise in their endeavours to promote it, they would first
welcome her to a dwelling in their own bosoms, that she might
replenish them with all her holy progeny, and then be earnest
in their pleading with others to give her a similar reception
and entertainment.
There are some, however, professing to admit that such is
the moral influence of faith, who persist in objecting, that since,
according to our own admission, it is rather the seed and germ
of the virtues, and since its principal value lies in its fruits, we
should wait till these fruits be produced, instead of hailing the
penitent with the assurance of his being pardoned, so soon as
he believes. Popery, with its usual inconsistency, considering,
for instance, the peremptory terms of its priestly Absolution,
inveighs strongly against such an immediate deliverance of the
penitent believer's conscience. In answer, then, to the objec-
tion, I remark,
First : God looks at principles and reckons by them, knowing
their mode of operation, and does not need to wait for their
development and results.
Secondly: In his paternal love, God waits for an opportunity
of pardoning his erring child, and embraces it so soon as it is
offered. His child's faith furnishes Him with that opportunity;
and not a moment does He delay the gratification of his own

paternal love and the disburdening of the heart of his child, by
saluting him with the benediction, "Thy faith hath saved thee."
Stupid child! Sinful child! with much of the old perverseness
still adhering to thee, that thou shouldst not believe it as
quickly as thy Father speaks it.
Thirdly: If the objectors had competent discernment, they
would perceive that the best, indeed the only, way of getting
out of a man that good working, about which they profess to be
so much concerned, is first to pardon him-to liberate his mind
from the bondage of condemnation; in the expressive language
of Scripture, to "purge his conscience from dead works," i.e.,
from a sense of works deserving death-and to animate and
inspire him with the persuasion of a benefactor's love. Such
is the wise and beautiful philosophy of the Christian system.
Hear it: "How much more shall the blood of Christ, who,
through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God,
purge your conscience from dead works, to serve the living
God 1" (Heb. ix, 14.) How striking and admirable I Paul,
trained at the feet of Gamaliel in principles directly antagonis-
tic, was as incompetent to the invention of such philosophy as
were the fishermen of Galilee. The whole of the Papists, all
the philosophers, and not a few of the Protestant doctors and
bishops are entirely ignorant of it.
What, again, is the secret 1 First pardon a man, and then
he will work; work with the devotion of a son in the cause
of his Father, to whom after long alienation he has been
reconciled; work with devotion in the cause of that Brother
who has effected the reconciliation, at the expense of such
suffering. Other systems prescribe to men that they should
work in fear-work like slaves-burdened with a sense of
guilt and condemnation, and only with some hope that their
slave-work may possibly gain their pardon at some distant day.
The gospel first pardons them, exacting no condition but that
they shall believe its mercy; and then sends them forth to
work, because they have been pardoned, with the spirit of
Adoption animating their zeal. This spirit of Adoption is
that which the priesthood of Rome above all things reprobate.
Its prevalence would destroy their craft; and their policy for
maintaining the revenue of their mercenary imposture, derived
from the sale of masses, absolutions, and indulgences, is to keep
the hearts of their victims continually occupied with fear; all
B
THE PARDON OF SIN.
their lifetime subjecting them to bondage; yea, after their

lifetime, holding the hearts of their friends in bondage, through
fear about their eternal state, that they may mulct them in
mass-fines for their deliverance from the torment of those pur-
gatorial fires into which God has cast-e-whom! his own children!
Moloch! ~foloch is the name for the Papist's father!
THE COMMUNICATION OF FAITH.
The next point in order, on which we hold conflict with

Popery, is the Communication to the soul of that precious
Faith through which, as we have seen, pardon is bestowed.
The greater number of you have probably some knowledge of
the claim which Popery makes for its spurious priests of being
a mediatorial agency for conferring pardon; but few of you,
probably, are aware that it equally makes a claim for them as
being an indispensable agency for communicating faith itself.
This I shall afterwards largely explain and expose. Meantime,
I make a general statement of the Protestant doctrine.
We hold that faith is the gift of God-an effect of the
operation of his Spirit-causing the gospel to be received as
truth. The Papists pretend to hold this also; but then they
maintain that their sacraments are the only means by which
the Spirit operates to dispose the mind for believing, and that,
too, mechanically-ex opere operato--an operation which will
be afterwards illustrated. We, on the other hand, maintain
that the Spirit operates directly on the mind, influencing it to
believe;· that He not only can operate without such mechanical
instrumentality, but never does operate in any case by its
means: moreover, that He operates at all seasons and in all
circumstances; that, consequently, a man may find faith at
home, and therefore find pardon at home; that he may find it
as he reads the Bible; as he reads the Pilgrim's Progress; as he
listens to the exhortation, or is subjected to the remonstrance
of his mother; as he disputes with the unbeliever, himself not
yet a believer, but when his own arguments sh4tl be carried to
his heart with convincing power; as he meditates in the dark
night on his bed; as he walks at noon amid the throng of the
street; as he wanders solitary on the hill side i-any where, at
any time-far out at sea on a plank of the wreck, may the
omnipresent Spirit of God generate this presently saving faith
in his soul,
• See the author's work on .. Regeneratiou. "
What, then, some may ask, do we make of the priesthood1

o nothing: verily nothing: by a good many degrees less than
nothing: an object of unmitigated contempt for their endeavour
to practise their imposture of charms and incantations on civil-
ized man; yea, in the abstract, in respect of their office,to be
denounced with indignation, and menaced with divine judg-
ments, as invaders of the prerogative of the high-priesthood
of the Son of God, who ever liveth to make intercession for
his people, without there being a possibility of a successor;
to be denounced, I say, with indignation, as invaders of the
prerogative of God's children, everyone of whom is constituted
a priest for himself (1 Peter ii. 9), to offer sacrifices of praise
and thanksgiving, and works of charity; to be denounced by
an insulted and oppressed nation as a foul incubus on the
intelligence,liberty, and prosperity of the commonwealth. They
form the great Korah, Dathan, and .Abiramconspiracyagainst
the lawful priesthood of the New Testament, and with my
whole heart fervently do I pray that their institution may be
ingulfed ! We acknowledge no higher officein the Church
than that of a teaching pastor, whose duty is to instruct, in
order to faith, and that, too, with such a qualified authority,
that we shall subject his teaching to scrutiny, and judge for
ourselves,by the standard of God's revealed law, whether we
shall receive it or not. "No priesthood, then, but that of
Christ and of ourselves, each man for himself!" -that is the
great battle cry of Protestantism, whether for England or
Rome. Give us good teachers: that is all we need; it is all
we shall permit, in the asserting of that liberty with which
Christ has made us free.
Wlth respect to the Sacraments,our Protestant faith is, that
only two ordinances of the nature indicated by this term are
legitimate, namely, Baptism and the Lord's Supper, and that
the other five of Popery are a spurious imposition. Further:
of these two which we retain, we make this estimate, that
though highly useful, and obligatory on the reverent observance
of all who have the opportunity, they are yet of subordinate
importance, and not necessary to salvation; that millions of
infants and myriads of adults have been saved independently
of them; and further, that no soul was ever saved by their
virtue. We contend that all their use and efficacylie in their
helping and animating faith by their exhibition of the truth,
and in their dording us an opportunity of confessingthe truth,
whether for invigorating our own faith, or bearing witness, for

the advantage of others; that they are just another mode, on the
one hand, of a pastor preaching God's mercy, and on the other,
of the people expressing their reception of that mercy. In
other words, they are only declarative, not efficient ordinances;
or if such, only because they are declarative-declarative of the
promises of the Bible, and declarative of the people's embrace-
ment of them; in both cases for the help of faith. There is
nothing different in them from what you may find at home in
the reading of God's word, and in responding to the voice of that
word by the acknowledgments of a prayer or the singing of a psalm.
Some of the Protestant brethren, and I myself, perhaps, at
times, have spoken of these sacraments as if they declared the
truth with greater power and vividness than the word, read
or preached; but not only is this unsupported by Christian
experience, it is derogatory from the lawful honours of a written
and spoken gospel. "I thank God that I baptized none of you,"
Mid Paul, making little account of the sacraments comparatively,
"for Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel"
(1 Cor. i, 14, ] 7). At all events, our safest and most discreet
way is, to say that the reading of the Bible or the preaching of
a sermon is one way of declaring truth to the mind, and that
the administration of the sacraments is another of making the
same declaration, and that the dulness and weakness of our
faith need all the variety.
In opposition to these views, which commend themselves
so well to our common-sense, and as being in harmony with
the spiritual genius of our faith, it is a lamentable spectacle of
imposture and superstition which it will be my task to exhibit,
when I illustrate the manner in which Roman Popery, the
harlot mother, and English Puseyism, the bastard daughter,
degrade the Christian name, outrage common-sense, insult
civilization, and demoralize society by their system of sacra-
mental jugglery. When I apporach that exposure it will be
necessary to explain somewhat more minutely the Protestant
doctrine; but meantime, let the general formula be pondered,
that the sacraments are not efficient, but only declarative of
the truth for the embracement of faith.
CONDITION AFTER PARDON.
The believing penitent having obtained pardon from Govern-

ment Justice for all his past offences, whether of transgression
or omission, it would be competent for Paternal Mercy to take
him back into the family, and reinstate him as an heir of the
kingdom; without that Government Justice having any room
or right for interfering, to prevent the bestowment of these
privileges, unless it received some additional compensation: its
right, however, being fully acknowledged, to have satisfaction
for all violation of law committed, whether by believer or
unbeliever; for that right is eternal and indefeasible, and can
never be surrendered. Notwithstanding, however, the com-
petency referred to on the part of paternal mercy, the arrange-
ment of the scheme of salvation, as beautifully wise as it is
gracious and equitable, is that the pardoned criminal be adopted
'into the family, and constituted an heir, in the character of one
in whom Christ is interested-a friend, a brother of his; as a
reward of his obedience in the whole of his work, both active
and passive, as theologians are wont to distinguish; and further,
as one who should be under the superintendence of Christ->
at once for Christ's honour, for the recovered penitent's own
advantage, and as a security that the family honour shall not
be injured by his misconduct.
Such being the position of the recovered believer, there are
two questions, especially in relation to it, on which we maintain
a dispute with Popery. The first respects his good works; the
second respects his afflictions.
On the first of these questions, the value and bearing of the
recovered believer's own good works, I suspect (yea, why say
suspect, when I am certain 1) that though Papists are them-
selves far from being in the right, they have convicted many
Protestants of being far in the wrong. Luther, especially,
though he could probably have given mitigating explanations,
used expressions on the subject which it is vain for his admirers
to attempt to defend, which greatly hindered the cause of the
Reformation, and gave the enemy a handle of great advantage.
All parties agree that, by his holy exercise when recovered
to the divine family, the believer is prepared and capacitated
for the enjoyment of the heavenly inheritance. The point of
dispute lies here, Are these works rewardable7 Now, when
anyone denies that they are, he contradicts much of the plainest
statement of the Scriptures. The only question which can be
honestly entertained respects the kind of reward. We have
already seen that there are two kinds of conditions; corres-
pondingly there are two kinds of rewards =- that, on the one
38 THE PA.RDON OF SIN.
hand, of merit, which nearly corresponds with what Papists

denominate" condignity;" and, on the other, that of grace, or
moral fitness, which nearly corresponds with what Papists
denominate" congruity." The reward of merit is that which
a servant can legally demand from his master for the work
which he was hired to execute; the reward of grace is that
which a father bestows on a dutiful child. The former of
these is indignantly denied a place in the Christian scheme of
salvation; but the latter bulks largely in it; and it is morally
fit that it should: the fitness lying, first, in the nature of the
work itself; and secondly, in its being produced by Christ's
people, and under his superintendence, which makes it peculi- .
arly pleasing in the sight of God.
Now, while many Protestants err greatly in denying, or
treating with jealousy, or overlooking this reward of grace,
far more dangerous is the error of the Papists, when they
claim for their work", the reward of merit. As just intimated,
their system contains a reward of grace too, under the name
of congruity, which is conferred on a man when his virtue
has advanced no further than horror of God; but whenever
it assumes the spirit and character of love, they claim the
heavenly inheritance for it, on the principle of condignity, or
meritoriousness, in a manner so offensive, that your imagina-
tions oan scarcely anticipate the extent to which they have
carried the profane insolence with which, as I shall in proper
time illustrate, they claim compensation from God for works
which at the best are faulty, and which, in many instances, are
rather provocative of punishment than meritorious of a reward.
The second point, under this department of the subject, on
which we contend with Popery, is the nature and design of the
believer's afflictions, after he has been admitted through faith
into the family of God. The Protestant doctrine is, that so
far as the public justice of the Divine Government is concerned,
no sin of which he may be guilty is placed to the account of
that man, who, as a believer, stands under the shelter of the
Redeemer's mediation. For although, as was formerly stated,
that public justice can never surrender its claims over the
creature, yet, so soon as a sin is committed, in the believer's
position, it is instantly covered (Psalm xxxii, 1) by his Lord's
atonement and intercession, and that, too, without a special
act of faith, but in virtue of his habitual discipleship. So that,
although, in consequence of the want of a ~lear realization of
his position, the prayer of a Christian, when he has fallen into

sin, usually takes the form of supplication for pardon, yet, pro-
perly, it should take the form of thanksgiving, in the persuasion
that, for Christ's sake, it has never been marked against him.
Such is the state of the matter in respect of the public justice
of the Divine Government-no believer is ever punished.
It is considerably different in respect of the paternal admin-
istration. When the sword of justice was sheathed, the rod of
chastisement was brought forth, which chastisement is designed
not merely to reduce the offender to penitence-for although
such penitence does frequently avert the chastisement, through
rendering it unnecessary, yet there are many instances in which
the deepest contrition will not serve the eud-but for the
confirmation and augmenting of grace.
While this view of afflictions is full of salutary fear for
preventing sin, it is equally rich with comfort, when, the sin
having been committed, the corrective affliction is administered.
"Ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you
as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of
the Lord, nor faint when thon art rebuked of him; for whom
the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom
he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you
as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth
not 1 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are par-
takers, then are ye bastards and not sons. Furthermore, we
have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave
them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection
unto the Father of spirits, and live 1 For they verily for a few
days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our
profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now, no
chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous:
nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of right-
eousness unto them which are exercised thereby. Wherefore
lift up the hands which hang down" (Heb, xii, 5-12).
Except that voice, Behold. the Lamb of God which taketh
away thy sin, there is no other in all the Scripture which falls
80 soothingly as, Whom the Lord looeth. He chasteneth, on the
heart of the pained, the bereaved, or the ruined in fortune; but
Popery refuses it an opportunity for utterance. Throughout the
Decrees and Canons of Trent, the idea of fatherly correction
does not once occur. All afIlictions are there represented as
being avenging punishments, judicial satisfactions, and rigorous
exactions of debts which are only partially discharged in this

world, and which the miserable child of God must, unless the
mercy of the Pope prevent by an Indulgence, go away and
clear off by hundreds or thousands of years of torment amid
purgatorial fires. Moloch 1 Was I not right in crying" Moloch"
to the Papist's father I
So characteristic of Protestantism, in the controversy with
Popery, is the doctrine of a saint's afflictions being not judicial
punishments, but fatherly corrections, that I shall narrate an
anecdote for impressing it more deeply. Some years ago, when
conducting Sabbath evening exercises in the Magdalene Asylum,
I had made some observations on afflictions as disciplinary
chastisements, but not with such particularity as to make the
following question altogether what is usually called a leading
one. In proceeding to catechise the inmates, there was one
whose answers on former occasions had been specially satis-
factory, and whose conduct the matron assured me was most
exemplary, to whom I put this question: N--, wherein lies
the difference of the nature of Christ's afflictions and yours 1
She promptly answered, "I am sure Christ's afflictions were
atoning punishments for our sins:" then, pausing, with a
heaving heart she said, "as for my own-I trust-they are
the chastisements of a Father," and she burst into tears, and
wept aloud. There was more genuine, scriptural, saving
theology in that poor Magdalene's reply than can be found in
all the Decrees and Canons of Trent.
.THE PARDON OF SIN .
•• •
II.
THE POPISH DOCTRINE.
IN the exposition of the Protestant system, having set up the

standard by which Popery may be measured, I now proceed to
the exposure of its perversions.
What is precisely the doctrine of Popery on the subject of
the Pardon of Sin no one need attempt to explain. A system
may be erroneous when yet it observes some self-consistency.
But Popery, as exhibited in the Decrees and Canons of the
Council ·of Trent, its great authoritative symbol, is destitute
of even this intellectual quality to recommend it. It is a
compound, or rather a conglomeration, of opposites and
antagonisms.
This was produced principally by two causes: first, by its
priestly craft basely accommodating itself to the various
humours, prejudices, passions, and circumstances of men. It
has provided its word of fear or flattery, of ascetic restriction
or licentious indulgence, for every grade and every disposition.
Explanation is ready for all difficulties, except for doubting
the lordship of the Pope, or the godhead of the Virgin. For
questioning either of these, damnation is certain if the male-
diction of Rome have any potency; but for all other difficulties
it has provided some explanation suitable to the temperament
of the inquirer, in some one or other of its Decrees or Canons,
or Pontifical Bulls j but as opposite to the utterance of some
other Decree, or Canon, or Bull, of another, or the same Council
or Pope (designed for the pleasing of another party), as it is
possible for two mutual contradictions to be framed.
But, secondly: besides this accommodating craft of the
priesthood, their disagreement among themselves, necessitating
compromise, produced much of the self-contradiction which

the result of their deliberations exhibits. This conllicting of
sentiments characterised the whole of the proceedings of the
Council of Trent, when Popery received its present shape. It
was especially characteristic of them, however, in the earlier
Sessions, when the doctrine of J usfification was discussed,
before the Court of Rome had taken its measures so carefully
to have the Assembly purged as much as possible of men whose
independence troubled it, and packed with its own creatures,
hired by bribes, or intimidated by threatenings.
HISTORY OF THE COUNCIL OF TRENT ON JUSTIFICATION.
Those of you who are even but partially acquainted with the
history of that Council's Convocation must know, that although
part of its professed design was to rectify gross abuses in the
administration of the Holy Catholic Church, presided over by
the Vicar of Christ, and every bishop and priest of which had
received the Holy Ghost i-yet its principal object was the
repression of that doctrine of Justification by Faith, by which
Luther, as with a battering ram, had shaken the Papacy to its
foundations. Accordingly, having passed with comparatively
little deliberation some preliminary Decrees on the Rule of
Faith and Original Sin, they addressed themselves to the
question of Justification; when all stood with their arrows
sharpened, and their bows bent, eager for the conflict, not witb
Luther alone, but more, in many respects, with one anotber;-
Franciscan with scowling eye defying Dominican, and Dominican
casting back the scowl on Franciscan; and Augustinian scowling
and scowled on by both; while Jesuit despised and was hated
by all the three. Yet tbe§e were the characters from amidst
whom came forth that oracle of the Holy Spirit to which all
Popedom is at present in subjection; and for refusing submis-
sion to wbich, all Protestants will be everlastingly damned, if
the anathema of Rome be not the impotent cursing of a profane
and vulgar bully. This reflection, however, will recur with
greater force when we have seen both what the Council decreed,
and how the Decree was manufactured.
On the day when the subject was introduced to the Council,
the Secretary of the two presiding Legates read a paper which
they had drawn up, the contents of which were as follows:-
"That the Council, having by Divine Inspiration condemned
the heresies which have a respect to Original Sin, the order of
THE POPISH DOCTRINE. 43
matters required that they should examine the doctrine of those

new Doctors who had arisen, on the subject of the Grace which
is the remedy of that sin :-That with this view the Fathers
and Theologians should have recourse to God by prayer, and
study with care and diligence this matter on which all the
errors of Luther were founded :-That said author, having
commenced with attacking Indulgences, seeing that he could
not accomplish his designs without destroying those works of
Penance, the default of which Indulgences supply, he had not
found a better means than the unheard of doctrine of J ustifica-
tion by Faith alone :-That thence he had not only arrived
at the conclusion that good works are unnecessary, but had
moreover introduced an unbridled licentiousness to exempt
himself from the observance of the laws of God und the
Church :-That, as a consequence, he had denied the elllcaoy
of the Sacraments, the authority of Priests, Purgatory, the
Sacrifice of the Mass, and all the other remedies instituted for
the pardon of sin :-And, that by opposing argument it was
necessary, for 'the establishment of the body of the Catholic
doctrine, to destroy this heresy of Justification by Faith alone,
and to condemn the blasphemies of this enemy of good works"
(Sarpi, B. ii. C. 73).
On the slander of Luther's personal character, and the mis-
representation of his doctrine, contained in this introduction of
the question to the Council, I shall presently animadvert. But
I remark, in the first instance, that it is highly interesting on
account of the acknowledgment which it contains of the neces-
sary logical connection subsisting betwixt the opposition to
Indulgences and all the other characteristic features of Popery.
According to those Legates' own showing, if you overthrow
the dogma of these Indulgences, then Priesthood, Penance,
Mass, and Purgatory all tumble down in ruin. This, one
might think, would make short and easy work of the imposture.
For what is an Indulgence, the exploding of which is admitted
to be so universally fatal to the system 1 Papists complain of
it as being a slander when anyone represents it as being a
permission to take liberty in perpetrating a crime. I shall
afterwards examine whether this be a slander or not. But
their own admission is sufficient for my present purpose, when
they pretend that it only ensures the pardon of a sin after it
has been committed.
Well, suppose that some Papist, ignorant of this order of
THE PARDON OF SIN.
proceeding, should approach the priest, saying he had a wish

to execute, of the perfect propriety and squareness of which his
conscience was not satisfied, but that he was willing to pay for
one of those Indulgences to be allowed to proceed: "Nay,"
says the priest, "you mistake the matter; it is not yet the time;
I can give you no such liberty beforehand; but after you have
taken the liberty yourself, and done the deed, come back and
you shall have the Indulgence for its pardon." "Ah, your
reverence, is that the way of it ~ You'll excuse my ignorance ;
but it seems to me to be but six and half-a-dozen, and I'm quite
as well pleased. Good night, your reverence; I shall soon be
back." "As quickly as you please, sir, and mind the money."
What, then, is an Indulgence ~ It consists of a piece of
paper in which there is made over to a robber, or murderer,
01' adulterer, a part of that excess of the merits of Christ over
and above what were necessary for the salvation of the world;
together with a part of the excess of the merits of the Virgin,
and other great saints, over and above what were necessary for
the salvation of themselves ;-made over to the criminal fora
money-payment, and placed to his credit, that he may be saved
so many centuries of purgatoria' torment ;-made over to him
by the Pope, who hulds the key of the box in which all the
excess is deposited, that he may distribute it to those who pay !
Brethren, if the overthrow in any mind of the belief of such
amazing absurdity, not to say base and mercenary blasphemy,
be, by consequence, the overthrow, as the Legates at Trent
represented, of the whole of the Popish system, one might
think there would not be left a soul adhering to it which
moved within the sphere of rationality and civilization; and
the circumstance that so many are found adhering to it can
be sufficiently explained only on the Scriptural principle,
that "because they received not the love of the truth, God
sent them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie"
(2 Thess. ii 10, 11).
It is of great importance to consider well this first blast of
the trumpet, blown at Trent, against the doctrine of Justmca-
tion by Faith. I, therefore, now call your attention to the
assault made by the presiding Legates on Luther's personal
character: "He had introduced an unbridled licentiousness,"
they said, "to exempt himself from the observance of the laws
of God." Those who are acquainted with the history of the
times will understand to what it was they specially referred
in saying so. No charge of personal immorality was ever

breathed against Luther in his lifetime, even by his most
malignant enemies, except that of having renounced the vow
of celibacy, made in the days of his monkish ignorance, and
married in public wedlock the noble Catherine de Bora, to
whom the Reformation was so much indebted, for the manner
in which she soothed and animated the mind of her husband,
when on many occasions it was like to have failed. There was
the crime for which these men dared accuse him of unbridled
licentiousness, in dispensing with the law of God. Suppose it
had been a crime, who were these Legates that they should be
his accusers! Did they themselves come into court with clean
hands1 What they may have been personally I know not; but
I know something of their Master who commissioned them;
and hold them, as bearing the commission, responsible for his
conduct. That Master was Pope Paul III. Well, there had
been men of more profligate character Popes before Paul, and
there have been greater profligates since. But that is saying
little. There are high degrees of enormity which range under
that to which some of the Popes have risen. Paul was a
moderate sinner for a Pope; for he had only two bastard sons,
so far as the world knew, or history has recorded. That
occasioned no odium at Rome, where the law of the priesthood
was, and continues to be, damnation for marriage, and full
scope for whoredom.
The following circumstance, however, gave great offence to
the clergy, as being an unfair division of the ecclesiastical
spoil. Through these two SODS, Paul had two grandchildren,
one of whom he made a cardinal at the age of sixteen, and the
other at the age of fourteen. Venerable boys with their broad
hats and stockings so red !-the prototypes and ancestors of
My Lord Cardinal Wiseman! These be thy gods, 0 Rome!
Such, then, was Paul III.,-such his depravity-who, as
Vicar of Christ, convened the Council of Trent, and whose
commissioners, in opening the attack on the standard doctrine
of the Gospel, accused one of its holiest defenders of unbridled
licentiousness, because, according to the institution of God, he
had espoused one of the most virtuous of women. But it was
always the same with Popery, and is the same now. Mark
that Popish Priest or that Popish Editor of a Newspaper, who
mocks and jeers, or affects to have his delicate sense of
propriety shocked, at, the marriage of Protestant Pastors.-
Mark him, and be sure of him, that he is privately a licentious

profligate. -
LUTHER ON JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH.

I admit, however, that we are more concerned in the defence
of Luther's doctrine than of his character when the Legates
denounced his dogma of Justification by Faith as a "blasphemy
of the enemy of good works." How much Luther must have
been deceived in his estimate of his favourite doctrine, if its
influence be so immoral! His love of good works was one of
the principal reasons for making him cleave to that doctrine at
the peril of the loss of life itself; so much was he convinced or
its holy fruitfulness. When he first made a journey from
Germany to Rome, as yet a bigoted Papist, he approached
t4e Capital of Christendom with expectations, excited by the
imagination of the sanctity that reigned there, higher perhaps
than Jew ever felt when for the first time ascending to Jeru-
salem to keep the feast. When behold! its altars were
desecrated by a priesthood of the most impious and flagitious
character; and the chair of Peter was occupied by a luxurious,
debauched Atheist. The revulsion of feeling was dreadful for
his holy mind. The remembrance of that visit never forsook
him. First, it caused him to doubt Rome's prerogative; and
afterwards made him certain that it was the great Anti-
Christian Apostasy; and the weapon which he judged the most
potent for the overthrow of the huge system of abomination,
and supplanting it with a church of holiness, was his doctrine
of Justification. I repeat, then, that he must have been
deeply deluded if its spirit was inimical to good works. It
was an object for his adversaries to uphold a system which
tolerated their impiety and indulged their licentiousness: his
object, on the contrary, was to find a system which should
destroy these evils. As Dr. Milner himself, the Popish
historian, records, Aleander when sent by the Pope to
endeavour to reclaim him, reported that "he was an insensible
brute because he would look neither to bribes nor honours.
otherwise he might long ago have had thousands paid to him at
the bankers by_the Pope's order." The Papist was confounded:
from any experience of his own he could not comprehend such
stubbornness or virtue; and in all his agency for the Pope he
* See Hume'. History of England for an account of the prolUgate character of
the Pope'. ~te, who was eommissfoned to enforce the celn-y of the olergy.
had never met with the like of it among the priesthood of
Rome, where every man had his price.
I have formerly shown, both by abstract reasoning and
reference to the practical result, that Luther calculated wisely,
when, meditating with a holy mind the reformation of morals,
he chose the doctrine of Justification by Faith as the grand
characteristic of his system. You will feel interested, however,
I am sure, in hearing the Reformer's own statement. I select
the following, not only on account of its intrinsic worth, but
because it was peculiarly favourite with our late townsman,
Mr. M'Gavin,· whose name and services in the cause of Truth
no friend of Protestantism will allow to pass into oblivion.
The passage occurs in the Preface to Luther's Commentary
on the Epistle to the Galatians :-" Do we then, nothing 1 Do
we work nothing for the obtaining of this righteousness1 I
answer, Nothing-nothing at all. For perfect righteousness is
this-to do nothing, to hear nothing, to know nothing of the
Law of Works; but to know and believe this-that Ohrist
sitteth in heaven at the right hand of his Father, made unto
us wisdom, righteousness, holiness, and redemption; briefly,
that He is our High Priest, interceding for us, and reigning
over us and in us by his grace. When I have this glorious
righteousness dwelling in my heart by faith, I descend from
heaven as the rain, making fruitful the earth; that is to say,
I come forth unto another kingdom, and I do good works how
and whensoever occasion is offered."
Had I time, brethren, to quote the enumeration of these
good works, with which, as a fertilizing shower, he represents
the believer, justified by faith, as descending upon the earth,
your indignation would know no bounds, that Rome, all ulcerous,
leprous, putrescent, fetid with profligacy, with its fumes and
vapourB steaming and reeking up to heaven to obscure the sun,
should yet, in pretended concern for virtue, the hypocrisy of
which stinks most abominably of all, have dared to denounce the
holy Luther as an enemy of good works. It was an inexpres-
sible villany. It exceeded that of the devil in his accusation of
Job. There was philosophy, and a sharp insight into common,
unregenerated human nature in that insinuation, "Doth Job
serve God for nought!" But, when Pope Paul III., with
his two little bastard cardinals behind him, accuses Martin
Luther of unbridled licentiousnesa, because he had espoused in
* William ~I'Gavin, author of "The Proieatant."
public wedlock Catherine de Bora-Satan, with some remaining

sense of dignity, will have no personal communion with him,
and delivers him over to the tutelary care of him whom Milton
describes as being" the least erected spirit that fell." Yet
such was the man by whose authority the Council of Trent was
convened; in whose name the presiding legates acted; and,
sanctioned by whose supremacy they constructed those Decrees,
for the disbelieving of which they anathematize to eternal
destruction all gainsayers, as blasphemers of the Holy Ghost.
Is it possible to employ any language too violent or virulent, or
which transgresses either charity or courtesy, in exposing such
a system to the scorn and detestation of man, or language too
earnest in praying, that it may be speedily consumed by the
<promisedcurse of the Almighty ~
Although these illustrations have delayed the discussion of
the main question, yet they have an interesting bearing on its
merits. Father Gavazzi's interest was to show what Rome is
at present;* mine is to give you some idea of what Rome was
-what a brothel the Vatican-when it anathematised Luther
and his Doctrine of Justification by Faith together; and
consequently, what an apostasy from the Son of God that
system must at present be which holds by the law issued from
that corrupt source.
I therefore proceed with the historical illustrations. For the
clearer understanding of the proceedings at Trent, observe that
it was only bishops, with a few superiors of the different orders,
who were permitted to vote in decreeing the faith of the Church.
But besides these bishops, there was a large attendance of doctors
of theology, to whom the various questions were submitted first
and who discussed them, a number of the bishops usually
attending, and reported their conclusions; after which the
bishops entered upon the discussions in what were called
Congregations; and, when they in their turn had come to a
conclusion, they reported it to the Pope; and, unless he
disapproved, a Session of the Council was held, high mass
performed, and the Decree proclaimed as the oracle of the
Holy Ghost. - .
According to this order of proceeding, the presiding Legates
having opened the question of Justification in the manner
explained, submitted a number of points for the consideration
• That celebrated orator had a ahort time prenoualy appeared in the same
Ball where these lectures were delivered.
of the theologians. Then commenced the tug of war. Never did

cock-pit exhibit a more animated scene, whether on the part
of the combatants or the spectators. After long disputation,
in which they characterized one another's opinions by all
abusive names, of which Lutheran was deemed the most
opprobrious both by the accuser and the accused, being pressed
for theirreport, the wrangling of the doctors was brought to a
close. The nature of their report, as drawn up by Seripando,
will afterwards appear.
The battle having been transferred to the congregations of
the bishops, if it was cock-fighting before, it was bear-fighting
now. After much bitter contest, the Bishop of Bitonto was
appointed to make a draft of a proposed Decree, in which they
might all concur. The production of this draft only furnished
oil to the Harne. The help of Seripando, the doctor already
mentioned, was then solicited, but his draft met with little better
success; the conflagration burst forth with all its former fury,
and the Council had well nigh broken up without being able
to determine the question of a sinner's pardon-inspired by the
Holy Ghost, as they claimed to be regarded, and regarded as
they are to have been by all genuine Papists at this day.
The Council was saved the threatened catastrophe, which
would have made it the laughing-stock of all Christendom, by
the management of the legate, Cardinal della Santa Croce, a man
of little principle but great dexterity. He apologized for the
dissensions on the ground that the subject was a new one to
the Fathers, and had never been strictly considered by any
previous Council of the Church. Think of that! The
Justification of the Sinner a new subject to these Bishops of
the Gospel! With Seripando's draft for a basis, the Cardinal
proceeded to the work, not so much of harmonizing the con-
flicting parties (for that was impossible), as of giving them all
II. kind of satisfaction after this ingenious fashion :-Suppose
Nicholas ·Wiseman and Paul Cullen were the contending
parties, he says to Paul, "My Lord Primate, although I may
soften a little that expression of his Eminence of Westm.inster,
yet I cannot exclude it; but I will insert your statement in
some part or other of the Decree, so that although the two
different inspirations .which you have received will be both
offended, yet eqnally they will be both gratified; and each of
you will be able afterwards to point to your own part of the
Decree in proof of the Council being of his mind. Brother
c
Wiseman, My Lord of Westminster, you hear these terms."

-" With the utmost satisfaction, My Lord Legate: with what
an admirable, and inspired, I may well say Divine, discretion,
you preserve the dignities of us all."-" Well," says Paul
gruffly, "if his Lordship of Westminster is agreeable, I must
be agreeable, I suppose, too, Lord Primate of all Ireland
though I am, and the discoverer of a new system of astronomy.
Only I must declare, that when Jesuit cuts Jesuit in this style,
I do not feel exactly comfortable,-and I'll have a word with
His Holiness about it; he andI are particular friends, mind
ye: I was lately over seeing him."
At this work of compromise the legate laboured incessantly
for not less than three months. When he had completed his
arduous task, the draft was despatched to His Holiness, who
returned it with prescriptions for alterations. The dissension
was revived, but resistance was vain. The alterations were
made and the Decree perfected in order to its solemn ratifi-
cation with Mass and trumpets-sounding at the ensuing
Session. It will be afterwards seen that it is of importance
to notice that Seripando's draft came forth from the process so
thoroughly changed that he indignantly disowned its paternity.
Such being the history of the concoction of the Decree of
Trent on the subject of Justification, you will easily compre-
hend how what I formerly stated must be true, that no one
can give a precise answer to the question, What does the
Church of Rome teach on that all-important question-the
pardon of a sinned The Decree is necessarily full of self-
contradictions and evasions; yea, is designedly equivocal and
ambiguous. Accordingly, two of the more eminent consulting
theologians, who had keenly contended with one another for
opposite opinions, published yolumes, so soon as the Decree
was promulgated, each claiming the sanction of the OOlIDCil for
his peculiar view.
Nevertheless, there are general principles pervading the
Decree, which, _although contradicted by particular clauses and
expressions, together with expressions in the Canon of the
Mass, both Popish and Protestant examiners agree in deducing
from it.
JUSTIFICATION AND GRACE.
Fix your attention, then, on that pbrase "Justijicati<m by
Grace." Being scriptural (Romans iii 24), both Popish and
Protestant theologians use it; but they do so with very

different meanings; and Protestants, who are ignorant of the
difference, when they hear it or see it employed by Papists, in
their preaching or their books, are ready to be deluded, and to
suppose that they teach essentially the same doctrine as our
own. The mistake is great--they are essentially two different,
I should rather say, opposing theories of salvation expressed by
the same terms.
First, then, observe, that the term justification may be used
in one or other of two senses. The first is its legal, or judicial,
or forensic, sense; the second its moral, or natural sense. The
two senses may he illustrated thus :-snppose, as we did
formerly, the case of an individual who had been imprisoned
by his creditor for debts, contracted through his unprincipled
extravagance-were a sympathetic friend to go and discharge the
debt for him he would be forensically, or legally justified. The
law would declare all rectified; and the prison doors would be
thrown open for his liberation, although he might continue
morally as unjust and unprincipled in his disposition as ever.
But suppose, on the contrary, that the prison chaplain had
.dealt seriously with him, and brought him to repentance, so
that he set to work in his cell, and gained by his own labour so
much as to discharge his debt himself, then he would Be
morally justified, as well as legally. As the Popish theologians
say, he would have justice intrinsically in his own person, and
I).otextrinsically wrought for and conferred on him.
Secondly, just as there are two significations of the term
justification, so there are two of the term grace. First,
etymologically and primarily it signifies favour, and is nearly
synonymous with mercy-mercy as a quality of the Divine
nature, and exercised in bestowing unmerited bleasings on
men. In this sense it is contradistinguished from justice,
whose office is to treat men according to their lawful deserts.
This, I say, is the primary signification of the term; and its
use in this sense is exemplified in such PassaKes of Scripture 88
these--" Let lis come boldly to the throne of grace" (Heb. iv. 16).
" Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Ohrist, that, though he
was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through
his poverty might be rich" (2 001'. viii. 9). There is no possi-
bility of disputing that, in both of these cases, the grace denotes
mercy on the part of God and his Son, bestowing gifts on
the needy.
By a very common figure of speech, however, when the effect

receives the name of the cause, the term grace is often used to
denote that gift which the Divine mercy has communicated; as
when a poor man who has received alms, holding forth the penny,
might say-There is the grace of my gracious benefactor. Now,
in the Scripture, holy feelings are frequently called grace, being
communicatedby Divine grace. Thus Peter says to the disciples,
"Grow in grace, and in tbe knowledge of our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ" (2 Pet. iii. 18). .Andagain, Paul, when inculcating
liberality on the minds of the Corinthians, says, "As ye abound
in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and
in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also "-the
grace of charity (2 Cor. viii. 7). As in the former class of
passages it was evident that grace denoted the mercy of God
exercised for man's salvation; so is it evident that, in the latter
class, it denotes that holiness, or those virtues--those gracious
dispositions-which Divine grace imparts.
These being the significations of the two terms, the question
now is, In which of the senses are they employed, when the
apostle, at Romans iii. 24, says-
H BEING JUSTIFIED FREELY BY HIS GRACE" 1
Evangelical Protestants maintain that both terms are em-
ployed in the first of the senses respectively explained: that the
justification is legal, as when the prisoner, formerly instanced,
was set free in consequence of his benefactor having graciously
paid his debt for him; and when the law declared that its
demands had been satisfied, and that it had no longer any
charge agaiBst him. We consequently hold that the grace
denotes the mercy of God, which paid all the debt for us, by
providing for us the sacrifice of his Son. I fear we are singular
now in holding these views; but it was not always so. Some
of the most eminent, not only of the consulting theologians,
but of the Prelates of Trent, contended warmly and boldly for
our view of Justification, and were hooted at, and put down
as Lutherans, and subjected to the anathemas of the Council
as accursed, as deeply II.S any of us. That was no rare thing
in the course of the proceedings of that infamous synagogue.
Many of their anathemas implicated not a. "few of their own
inspired brethren. How many Popish bishops, and priests,
and laymen, they implicate at the PTeSe1ltday, not for their
Lutheranism, but their libertinism and atheism !
What, then, was the decision of the Council 1 They invented
a new theology for the occasion, theretofore unheard of in the
Church of God. It was elaborated in the course of the debates,
when the Jesuit and Vatican party were pressed by the Luther-
anism, or rather, the old Scriptural faith, which still lingered
in the Council. Not a single soul of the assembly came up to
the Council prepared with the novelty. We have already seen
how the presiding Legate apologized for the distractions and
dissensions on the ground that the question of a sinner's pardon
was new to them. Again, I say, think of that! Yes, it was
unknown to the Apostasy for centuries previously. But under
the keen scrutiny which was now forced on them, they found
that the dominion of the Priesthood, but above all, the lucre
derived from penances, indulgences, and musses for the dead,
could not bear the test of the old doctrine revived by Luther,
that a man may be saved by faith at home, independently of
either priest or sacrament. I told you before, how the Papacy
had been delivered over to the tutelary care of "the least
erected spirit that fell from heaven." Who was that 1 Mammon;
under whose inspiration Paul Cullen, my Lord Primate of all
Ireland, exacts from the widowed mother her last penny for a
mass to deliver the tormented soul of her son, and sends her
away to beg for more from the accursed Saxon.
What, then, was the novelty which the Tridentine heretics
substituted in the place of the holy catholic faith 1 Satan, as
is usual with him in such cases, assumed the garb of an angel
of light. These servants of his Holiness, he with the two
little bastard Cardinals, affected great tenderness of conscience
on the subject of pure morality. Seripando led the way by
reducing the Apostolic doctrine one-half-admitting the imputed
merits of Christ, but claiming a large share' for the reformed
sinner's own. The Jesuit Lainez improved the hint, and
carried forward the principle of blaspheming the Redeemer's
work to its consummation, He succeeded, by a sophistry,
afterwards to be explained, in persuading them to decree,-
first of all, that justification does not signify, in any case, the
legal act of absolving the criminal from his guilt, and dismissing
him pardoned; but the moral work of making him personally
a holy man :-not the legal, as when the debtor was justified
by his friend paying his debt for him; but the moral, as when
under the persussions of the chaplain he became a penitent in
his cell, and wrought out his liberation (or himsel£ In other
words, they interpreted justification as signifying nearly what

Protestants denominate sanctification; and the man, they said,
being thus sanctified, is, in the first instance, pardoned and
accepted on account of his own intrinsic righteousness, or justice,
as they term it; and as he goes on to work, is advanced to
heavenly glory, as a reward to which he is justly entitled.
Consistently with this, they interpreted the word. Grace as
signifying, not the mercy of God exercising itself for men's
salvation, but that holiness which the mercy of God com-
municates.
Papists might complain, with good reason, of my misrepre-
sentation .were I to stop here with my description of their
system, true though the account of it be the length I have
proceeded. Thus far it excels, indeed, modern Socinianism,
in respect of its acknowledgment of the necessity of a Divine
communication of grace; but it does not excel the old system
of Socinus himself, who not only acknowledged such a Divine
communication, but one far superior, both in respect of its
mode and matter, as will afterwards be explained. But
meantime I must do Popery the justice of separating it from
Socinianism, which I could easily afford to do, though I were
capable, which I am not, of concealing any good property in an
adversary; for that which remains to be told, and which
Popery regards creditable to itself, is only the betraying of the
Son of Man with a kiss.
Attend, therefore, to the explanation :-when you might
object that, according to the foregoing representation, the
sinner is saved by his own virtue; of course they reply-
See you not that the virtue is all grace 1 that is, something
communicated by Divine mercy; so that the credit of it belongs
to God; and when He rewards it, He rewards only what is his
own. But you go forward to inquire, What is Christ's place in
all this 1 A most important one, they say; by his death He
made such a kind of satisfaction for the sins of the world as to
purchase for men the grace, endowed with which, as a meritor-
ious cause, God pardons them; and proceeding in the strength
of which, they work out a title to heavenly gloryJor themselves.
Ah me! says the anxious inquirer, with his burdened conscience,
that is placing Christ far back and far away, doing little for me,
and leaving a great deal too much to be done by myself. Never
fear, says Popery; I have provided my holy sympathetic Priests,
with all their resources and appliances of baptism, confirmation,
penances, mass, eucharist, indulgence, and multifarious unction
for helping thine infirmities, and supplying thy defects. Only,
observe, you must pay for them. You cannot expect the benefit
of this great salvation for nothing. "Justified freely," says
the Apostle. Yes, says the Priest, with the reserve of my fees
for communicating the sacramental grace. Mammon, ever-
" the least erected spirit that fell from heaven."
Of this necessity of Sacraments, and the mode of their opera-
tion, those who frequent these Lectures for instruction are, by
the supposition, to a great extent ignorant; and must wait for
future explanations of the sacerdotal imposture. Meantime,
attend to the following points as giving a comprehensive view
of the Popish system :-
First, all the use of Christ's death was to purchase virtuous
grace for men; and it served for the meritorious cause of pardon
to no human being. Secondly, Christ's merits, i.e., the grace
which He purchased, are communicated to men by the sacra-
ments of the priesthood, and by this means alone. Thirdly, the
grace thus communicated is, in the first instance, the meritorious
cause of pardon and admission into the heavenly kingdom; and,
being cultivated and improved, is entitled to a high degree of
heavenly glory. Fourthly, defects, in the COUrse of a man
working out his own salvation, in consequence of resisting or
not improving the grace first communicated in Baptism, are
supplied, especially by penance, by indulgences, and masses
after his decease, secured either by the affection of surviving
friends, or by a bequest in his latter will, or by the insurance
which he had providently effected for his soul in a Purgatorian
Society.·
The only explanation, which it is necessary at the time to
subjoin to this, is their interpretation of the Scriptural
testimony that the sinner is justified by faith (Rom. v. 1). I
have already, at great length, illustrated the Protestant
doctrine, that faith is the instrumental cause which lays hold
on the atoning work of the Redeemer, and makes it its own;
or, the qualifying condition, for being made a partaker of the
henefits of that work, in which alone the meritorious cause of
our pardon is found. Popery, on the other hand, represents
* Every ODe,indeed, has a share in every mass which is ll&id throughout

the ohurohes ; but it is such an infinitesimal part, ih,.t 4i llI!!luires a friRhtful
time to deliver him from Purgatory at this rate. ~ a lIIass is paid for
himself, he obtlliD. ~ly ibe whole beDetit of it.
faith as being a part of the sacramentally-communicated grace

which merits pardon and heavenly glory; and is ranked first
among the meritorious virtues as being the mother of all the
rest. Remember the Popish interpretation of justification, and
say, "sanctified througl. faith, which sanctification merits
pardon and eternal reward," and you will have a correct view
of their system.
DECREE AND CANONS OF THE COUNCIL OF TRENT ON

JUSTIFICATION.
Now, Protestant brethren, having given this epitome of the

Popish creed on the subject of a sinner's pardon, when many of
you, I trust, are shocked not only at its perversion, but its
subversion of "the glorious Gospel of the blessed God," T
would feel the greatest confidence in appealing to any intelli-
gent Papist who might be present, and who knows the system
of his own church, if I have not made the representation with
as much accuracy as the case admits of j and when you
expressed your reprobation of the system, he would wonder at
you; it being, in his estimation, the very perfection of beauty.
On the result of the deliberations of the Council of Trent on
this particular object, Waterworth observes-" If it be per-
mitted to draw a comparison between one division of the
labours of the Council and another, it will probably be thought,
that this section of the Council of Trent surpasses that of
any other session, and is not excelled by any other council of
any age."
In these circumstances-when my representation will not be
questioned-it is unnecessary to support it by any extended
reference to Popish documents. A little of this, however, may
be felt by some desirable. I therefore select for quotation the
principal part of Chapter vii. of the Decree of the Council,
along with Canons x., xi., and xxxii. I adopt Waterworth's
translation. It might be improved in elegance and perspicuity;
but its faithfulness will not be questioned as he stands high in
the estimation of his Popish brethren:-
CHAP'I'ER VII. - What the justification of the impious is, end. what are the
causes thereof.
This disposition or preparation [spoken of in the preceding chapter] is
followed by Justification itself, which is not remission of sins merely, but
also aanctificat'ion and renewal of the inward man, through the voluntary
reception of the grace and gifts, whereby man of unjust becomes just, and
of an enemy a friend, so that he may be an heir of life everlasting.
THE POPISH DOCTRIYE. 57
Of this Justification the causes are these: the final cause indeed is the
glory of God, and of -Iesus Christ, and life everlasting; while the efficient
cause is a merciful God, who washes and sanctifies gratuitously, signing and
anointing with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the pledge of our inheri-
. tance; but the meritorious cause is his most beloved Only-begotten, our
Lord Jesus Christ, who, when we were enemies, for the exceeding love
wherewith He loved us, merited .Justification for us by his most holy passion
on the wood of the cross, and made satisfaction for us unto God the Father;
the instrumental cause is the Sacrament of Baptism, which is the Sacrament
of Faith [for communicating Faith], without which (Faith) no man was ever
justified; lastly, the alone formal cause is the justice [righteousness]of God,
not that whereby He Himself is just, but that whereby He maketh us just
[holy]; that, namely, with which we being endowed by Him are renewed in
the spirit of our mind; and we are not only reputed, but are truly called,
and are just, receiving justice [holiness] within us, each one according to his
own measure, which the Holy ChoHt distrihutcH to everyone as Hn wills,
and according to each one'« proper diH}loHition nn.l co-operation. For although
no one can he just [holy I hut 110 to whom the nu-rit« of the T'usaiun of OUT
Lord -Icsus are couuuunicate.I, yet iii thi» lIHUO in the HH.id .l nat.ificat.inn of
the impious, when. hy the met-its of thuf sumo lIIost holy 1'11f1;..ion, t.hu lovo
of God is poured forth hy the Holy Spirit in tho IlI'srts of thoHetbat nn,
justified, and it is inherent therein; whence n rnnn, through .1eMuR ChriHt, in
whom he is engrafted, receives, in the said ,r uatiflcation, together with the
remission of sins, all these gifts infused at once, faith, hope, and charity.
CanonX.-If anyone snith that men arc just [holy] without the justice
[righteousness] of Christ, whereby He merited for us to be justified [made
holy], or that it is by that justice [of Christ] itself that they are formally
just, let him be anathema.
CanonXI.-If any one saith that men are justified either by the sole
imputation of the justice [righteousness] vi Christ, or by the sole remission
of sins, to the exclusion of the grace and the charity which is poured forth
in their hearts by the Holy Ghost, and is inherent in them, or even that
the grace whereby we are justified is only the favour of God, let him be
anathema.
CanrmXXXII.-If anyone saith that the good works of one that is
justified are in such manner the gifts of God, that they are not also the
good merits of him that is justified; or, that the said justified person, by the
good works which he performs, through the grace of God and the merit of
Jesus Christ, whose living member he is, does not truly merit increase of
grace, eternal life, and the attainment of that eternal life-if so be, however,
that he depart in grace- and also an increase of glory; let him be anathema.
Only a brief explanation is necessary to show, that these
quotations authorize the representation which I previously
made of the Popish system. '
In scholastic phrase" the formal cause" denotes that which
constitutes an object what it is-its "essence" as it is explained,
in the present case, by Waterworth, the Popish authority
already referred to. Observe therefore, first, how, in the pre-
ceding extracts, justification is uniformly represented as consist-
ing in the communication of gracious dispositions to the soul
of the sinner, so as to be identified with sanctification: these
dispositions are stated to be its formal cause, or essence.
Observe, secondly, how the term Grace, in the phrase "justified

by grace," is interpreted as signifying communicated holiness;
and bow the doctrine, that it signifies the Mercy of God,
exercised in absolving the sinner from the charge of guilt, is
denounced with an anathema. Observe, thirdly, how the
Passion or Death of Christ is denied the credit of being the
ground or meritorious cause of the sinner's pardon, and receives
only the subordinate credit of having merited justification in
the Popish sense of the term, i. e., communicated, inherent
personal grace, or holy dispositions. Observe fourthly, how
this inherent grace--existing in the regenerated sinner's own
heart-(regenerated by the physical power of the Priest's
baptism) receives the credit which is denied the work of Christ,
of being the procuring cause of the remission of sin.
Here both the Decree and the Canons are somewhat
ambiguous, for the reasons mentioned at the commencement of
these illustrations. But there can be no doubt respecting
what is the prevailing principle. Let the question be put in
this form, What is the satisfaction made to the Divine govern-
ment in consideration of which the sinner is pardoned 1 or
What is faith's plea when praying for pardon i Let the ques-
tion, I say, be put in either of these forms, and no Papist can,
consistently with the Oracle of Trent, answer, The Death of
Jesus Christ. I trust many called Papists would return that
answer devoutly, and thereby approve themselves members of
the Holy Catholic Church; but equally they would thereby
disprove themselves to be members of the Papal synagogue, for
it denounces such an answer as damnable. The utmost, in the
way of honouring Christ, for which they could find even the
semblance of authority in the Pope's gospel, would be to answer,
"Partly the Death of Christ, and partly the Grace which the
Priest has communicated to our own hearts." It would only
be a semblance, however, without a reality. When Canon XI.
anathematizes the doctrine that justification consists in "the
sole imputation of the righteousness of Christ," or, in "the
sole remission of sins, to the exclusion of (inherent) grace," some'
might suppose this signified that the imputation would be
admitted in part, provided the grace were included; but
this would be a great mistake, the "sole" stands there merely
as a blind, to reduce the flagrancy in blaspheming the pardon-
ing merits of Christ; and to give the feebly faithful party of
the Council some pretext for concurring in the decisions. lames,
the Jesuit, triumphed in the argument, that there cannot be

two formal causes of justification; so the sacramentally-communi-
cated grace-the Priest's gift - (forget not that, it is the key
of the whole of the Mystery of Iniquity,) obtained the entire
credit for itself, first, of the name of justification, and then, of
the meritorious cause of pardon.
Observe, fifthly, the atrocious manner in which, according
to Canon XXXII., a claim is made on the divine government
for the rewarding of a Papist's good works. This atrocity
will be more manifest when I shall afterwards have occasion
for illustrating what sort of works Papists denominate good;
and that the merit may be carried so high, that there is not in
all Heaven an adequate remuneration for it: so that it becomes
necessary to transfer the surplus to the account of such of tho
weaker brethren as may have money to pay for tho POpO'1i
agency in affecting the transference. This is no burlesque, but
a sober statement of Popish stock-broking.
So far as historical illustration is concerned, it only remains
that I relate the special virulence of the manner in which the
Council of Trent rejected the merits of Christ as the ground of
a sinner's pardon. Heretofore, I have more than once men-
tioned the name of Seripando, a Dominican, as one of the
ablest of their theologians. At the commencement of the quarrel
-for there was nothing with which the Council was more
energetically inspired than a spirit of bitter contention, going
the length even of pulling one another's beards-at the
commencement, I say, of the brawl, Seripando took the ground,
that the merits of Christ imputed to the sinner formed part of
his justification. I know not whether he assigned the first place
to Christ's work, to be supplemented by the sinner's own; or to
the sinner's own, to be supplemented by that of Christ. I have
some liking for the man, and think it must have been the first
of these orders of the component parts for whieh he argued.
So successful had he been in advocating this compromise
among the theologians, that, when the inspired Fathers had
grown somewhat weary of their fighting, they invoked his
aid for the manufacture of the draft of a decree.
The Vatican, which afar off watched the proceedings of the
Council, saw the imminent danger. They perceived that, if
Christ's claims were admitted at all, they would so encroach as to
engross the whole in the minds of all the piously disposed. And,
besides the triumph which Luther would tbus obtain, what would
be the fate of the monies for indulgences, masses, and satisfactions

of penance ~ Lainez was, therefore, deputed from Rome with
all urgency. He was one of the most talented and unprincipled
of the Jesuit conspiracy. At once proudly conscious of his
own powers in the contest with these inspired men, to whom
according to the Legate's own account, the question of a sinner's
pardon was a new one, and, bearing the character of the Pope's
own special agent, he acted with great audacity and insolence,
mocking, denouncing, and threatening all opposition; and with
a show of logic contending, that there could not be two formal
causes of justification, according to the theory of Seripando.
There was no genuine logic in the objection, but it was cogent
argument at Trent. "Two formal causes," cried Lainez, "are
a philosophical absurdity, and your choice lies betwixt Christ's
work and the sinner's own." The sacerdotal ambition and the
sacramental fees were in the one scale, and the merits of Christ
in the other. The pride and the fees preponderated; Christ's
work was repudiated; and the Apostasy of Rome consummated.
Hitherto the doctrine of salvation had lingered, though in
feebleness, within her walls; but it was now extinguished
for ever: for Rome shall never be reformed. The world can
be rid of her pestilence only by her destruction. Hasten it,
o God!
REFUTATION BY SCRIPTURE.
My design in these Lectures is rather to show what Popery

is, than formally to refute its errors i-my persuasion being,
that the bare statement of them contains their refutation for
every rational, moral, and Bible-reading mind. Nevertheless,
I have done a little heretofore in this course, in the way of
such argumentative disproof; but in the matter more immedi-
ately before us, the sinner's justification, not only is the error
so flagrant, but so frequently is the subject discussed in
Protestant pulpits and treatises, that I shall suspend the
exhibition of abominations and curiosities by even less than
usual of logical refutation. I shall select only two passages of
Scripture for showing how the Popish principle perverts their
interpretation.
Matthew xxvi. 28, "This is my blood of the New Testament,
whiclt is shed for many for the remisaion oj'sim." All Christ's
words are memorable; but these are peculiarly 80. They
contain his explanation of that commemorative ordinance which
is the great sign of his salvation. Misinterpretation here is

vital: it is the misinterpretation of Christianity. Our evan-
gelical interpretation is, that that shedding of blood was the
expiation of our guilt, so as to gain for us directly the remission
of our sins: for the intervention of faith, as the instrumental
cause, does not make his sacrifice less directly the meritorious
cause of our pardon. Papists, on the other hand, if faithful to
the Decrees of Trent (which, I have already signified, I trust
multitudes of them are not), virulently deny this directness of
its pardoning power. They contend that it is only the remote
cause; as being of avail only to gain for them that grace which,
when communica.ted by the Priest's sacraments to their hearts,
is that, in consideration of the merits of which, the Divino
government remits their sin. Here the Papist and Socinian
shake hands in amity. When both deny that Christ's death
procures directly the sinner's pardon, the Socinian, all well all
the Papist, admits that it procures it remotely, in respect of its
martyrdom and example being influential of that virtue which
is the ground of the Divine forgiveness. It is evident which
of the systems is less absurd, when the Priestly and Sacramental
elements of Popery are considered; and which of them is less
a perversion of the meaning of our Lord's words,-which of
them less blasphemous-which to be punished in the day of the
wrath of the Lamb, for the insult done Him, with the compara-
tively few stripes, it is needless to attempt to determine, since
both of them are infinitely wicked.
Romans vi 1, " What shall we say then? Shall we continue
in sin, that grace may abound I" Of the multitude of passages
which pressed their claims for notice, next to that containing
the institution of the Lord's Supper, I have preferred this, not
so much because of its greater intrinsic power compared with
that of some of the rest; but because its argumentative bearing
is frequently overlooked by Protestant brethren, in their zeal
for its practical application.
Observe, then, that before the Apostle could employ such
language, he must have been inculcating a system of sa.lvation,
of the perversion of which there was an apparent possibility,
if not danger. But on the Popish principle, that Grace signi-
fies holiness in a man's own heart, how is it imaginable that
such a doctrine could be perverted to licentiousness t Let sin
and such grace be resolved into their elements, and try how
the remonstrance will ~roceed. Shall we oontinue in impiety,
that godliness may abound 1 Shall we continue in selfishness

and uncleanness, that charity and purity may abound 1 Is not
this pure nonaense i But when we take the Protestant view
of Grace, as signifying the pardoning mercy of God, through the
satisfaction made to his government in the death of his Son,
there is then a clear logical connection betwixt the premises
and the Apostle's Caveat: See that you continue not in sin
under the plea, that it will afford the mercy of God a better
opportunity for illustrating its bounty in your forgiveness. We
must find something in the Apostle's system which might be
antinomianally perverted. But that is precisely the state of
our system. It is that which the Papists, in their pretended
concern for good morals, most strenuously object to it; while
they maintain that theirs is liable to no such misconstruction.
Well, whether ours be right or not, theirs is manifestly wrong:
it cannot be that of the Apostle; for his was liable to the'
misconstruction. Is it not remarkable, that that which Papists
object most strenuously to Protestantism turns out to be a
strong presumptive evidence of its truth; while that of which
they boast, as evincing the greater purity of their system, is
one of the clearest proofs of their having corrupted the Apos-
tolic Faith 1
I have already expressed my trust that many of my auditors
view with abhorrence the subversion which has just been
exposed of the cardinal doctrine of Christianity; but it is not
impossible, especially when I have not yet had an opportunity
of explaining the sort of grace which Popish priests communi-
cate by their sacraments, that there are some who may need
the admonition, contained in the following observations of
Turrettin, with which I close this department of our subject.
That unsurpassed master of Scriptural dialectics, coming forth,
as he himself expresses it, from the shade of scholastic disputa-
tion and rising above its turbid dust, relieves his own heart and
that of his reader by a strain of solemn eloquence, which makes
us lament that the nature of his work did not admit of his
having more frequent recourse to ~imilar appeals; for the
fewness of which, when he was so qualified for making them,
that nature of his work, as a system of stern dogmatic theology,
is the only sustainable excuse.
Having stated the question on justification as it lies betwix1.
Papists and Protestants, he proceeds thus :-" Hence, it is
obvious that thig is not a conten~on about mere words, as
some ignorantly represent it, but about what is of such vital

importance that it affects the very foundation of our salvation;
if which be overturned, all our hope", both in life and death,
must utterly perish. So that the inquiry is not to be conducted
in a spirit of frigid scholasticism, but of the most intense self-
interest, when the conscience, alarmed with a sense of sin and
the Divine justice, is sisted before God, and seeks for a ground
of standing in the judgment, and for means of escape from
the coming wrath. It is easy, indeed, in the seclusion of the
schools, to prate about the value of inherent grace and good
works; but when we have entered into the presence of the
holy God, all such trifling but wearies the spirit, If wc would
inquire into justification with any profit, we must d ireet. 0111'
eyes hithorwurd-c-How shall wo answer tho I·;terllal .llIdge,
when He summons us to reckoning 1 If men uro supposed to
be the judges, each one may think that he is possessed of some-
thing which he can plead as of value and consequence. But
when we rise to contemplate the tribunal of Heaven, and place
before our eyes the Supreme Judge, not as our own fancies,
but the Scriptures, represent Him-Him, by the brightness of
whose glory the stars are obscured-before whose power the
mountains melt-under whose anger the earth trembles-the
scrutiny of whose holiness even angels cannot bear-who will
not clear the guilty-and whose wrath, when it is kindled,
penetrates to the lowest hell-at once all the self-confidence of
man vanishes; and howsoever much the conscience may have
heretofore vaunted of its own righteousness before men, it is
now constrained to deprecate the judgment, and acknowledge
that it is possessed of nothing with which it can appear before
God, crying with David, '0 Lord, if Thou shouldst mark
iniquity, who shall stand 1 Enter not into judgment with thy
servant, because no flesh shall be justified in thy sight! I "
POPISH DOCTRINE.
[Conunued.)

A.-THE PRIESTHOOD.
"THE death of Christ is the ground of pardon to no man, and
is of avail only as a kind of propitiation by which grace, 01'
holiness, is provided for the sinner; which grace, when commu-
nicated and exercised, becomes the meritorious cause not only
of his forgiveness, but of his exaltation to the happiness and
glory of the heavenly kingdom." Such is the fundamental
principle of Popery; and at the conclusion of its illustration,
I expressed my apprehension that there might be some of my
auditors who wondered at the severity with which I denounced
the system, since the acknowledgment which it makes of the
importance and necessity of grace seems to be favourable to the
cause of morality. Well, I freely avow, that if the grace were of
the same nature which Protestantism inculcates-a thoughtful,
active holiness-my censure would have been greatly mitigated,
notwithstanding the manner in which, even thus, the Redeemer's
glory would have been obscured, and the sinner's confidence in
Him impaired. But I appeal the case to the judgment of every
man of common intelligence and common moral sensibility,
whom God has not judicially blinded and given up to strong
delusion -to believe a lie, which, on the foundation of that
Scripture (2 'I'hesselonians ii. 11), I am deeply convinced is the
case of every thorough-going Papist, and Puseyite also, if I
have not hitherto betrayed the possession of but a meagre
vocabulary of reproach, after I have illustrated, as I now
proceed to do, the nature of that grace, of the merits of which
we have seen Popery boasting so much, together with the mode
of its communication. The former of these points I shall
explain with more definiteneu subsequently; but some idea of
it will be obtained in the course of the illustrations which I

shall in the first instance make of the latter.
Observe, then, that Popish Grace, such as it is, so meritorious
of pardon and reward, is communicated by their Priesthood,
who are constituted of God the depositaries of the grace, or the
agents of its impartation; that the instrumentality by which
they work is the enginery of the Sacraments; that this is the
only agency, and the only instrumentality, and that they are
sure and effectual in their operation. We shall see in the
sequel what ignominious qualifications and retractions they are
compelled to make of these swelling words of vanity, "only"
and "effectual;" but, meantime, let us review the assumption
generally.
THE PRIESTHOOD.
With them has God deposited the saving grace to be dis-

tributed-according to their humour, I1S they are inclined or
disinclined, well intentioned or not; according to their ability
as they are near or far off, as they are healthy or sick, as the
implements of their craft are at hand, or the Mass box has been
lost or exhausted, or pillaged by vormin j " according to their
habits, as they are drunk or sober, to be found at home, or
secreted I know not where :-neither man, woman, nor child,
can be saved without them. What a sacrilegious violation it
would be of their prerogative, and robbery of their fees, to
represent it possible that the Spirit of God lllay communicate
faith to a man's heart so that he may be saved at home, indepen-
dently of their intervention!
Heretofore, in this course, I have made some general state-
ments on the importance of Priesthood; but I shall take the
present opportunity of illustrating the subject more largely,
though it should occasion a repetition of former observations.
It is one of the deepest public interest. Not to speak of
Brahminical and other heathen priesthood, which is the great
preventive of the civilization of the world,-throughout Europe,
this same imposture is the bane of society-England but par-
tially excepted, Scotland not wholly excepted, while poor Ireland
is the victim of a double dose of the poison. priesthood, I say,
is the grand bane. Despotism abroad, and aristocracy at ho~e
would be easily overthrown but for the help they receive
• See John 'Knox'. picture of the Pui_t House: and. the inatruction.
of the MilIa! about tbe care to be employed lest raw get in and eat up
thepd&
D
from Priesthood; and although the despotism were overthrown,

if the Priesthood were perpetuated, the degradation would be
but slightly mitigated, as may be seen in Glasgow, inundated
and threatened in all her interests by a population whom
Priesthood degraded in Ireland, and whose degradation Priest-
hood perpetuates, though transferred into the midst of the' light
and civilization of Scotland. " No priesthood," then, must be
widely the battle-cry of our agitation. But besides this public
interest of the question, it is one in which the interests of
individual piety are vitally concerned. It is of the utmost
importance that each man be impressed with the consideration
that he is his own priest, under the Great High Priest of our
profession, and that there is no OlW else on earth who can
discharge the duties of the office for .Him.
My thesis, then, is, there is no Priest, under Ohrist, but the
believer's self; and that the highest office in the Christian Church
is that of a Teaching Pastor, for the help of the brethren's faith.
Only I would not quarrel with the man who might maintain,
that the office of ruling elder (1 Timothy v, 17), for adminis-
tering the discipline of the church, is of equal, or even superior
eminence, on the supposition that he who is appointed to teach,
is not appointed to rule also.
The foundation of the argument lies in Sacrifice; for the
principal idea of a Priest is that of one who officiates in this
act; though with the offering of one of its species particularly,
there is almost universally connected the idea of a Mediator-
one who stands betwixt God, and the worshipper who brings
the sacrifice; and who is the only medium of communication
between the two parties.
Observe, then, that there are especially two kinds of sacrifice
-the expiatory or propitiatory, and the eucharistic or thanks-
giving. For the offering of the latter species, consisting of
praise, and works of piety, and charity, the apostle Peter, in his
First Epistle (ii. 5, 9), represents the whole of the church
ordained to be a priesthood: "an holy priesthood" he calls
them; and again, "a royal priesthood," to offer up "spiritual
sacrifices," with the altar within each man's own bosom-a
believing and a holy heart; or, mther, with Christ Himself the
altar, by whom the gift is sanctified, and the heart the sacrifice
(Mat. xxiii. 19). In harmony with which the apostle Paul
says: "By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to
God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to
hi.s name. But to do good and to communicate forget not; for

with such sacrifices God is well pleased" (Heb. xiii, 15, 16).-
This universality of priesthood, existing in the whole of
the members of the church, for the offering of eucharistic
sacrifice, the Church of Rome itself admits. Thus, in the
Trent Catechism, the parochial priests are instructed to
teach the people that there is a twofold priesthood, an internal
and external; respecting the former of which it is stated that
" all the faithful, after they have been washed with the salutary
water, are called priests; but especially the sanctified who are
possessed of the Spirit of God, and who hy this hountyof Divine
grace have been made living members of Christ, the Gl'eat
High Priest, For these, by a faith inflamed by love, present
spiritual sacrifices to God, on the altar of their own mind;
among the which kind of sacrifices, all good and virtuous
actions which pertain to the glory of God are to be reckoned II
(Part ii. C. vii. Q. 23).
Of the other kind of saerifice, the expiatory, designed to
make atonement for sin, Christ made an end for ever by the
oblation of his perfect sacrifice on the cross at Calvary, eighteen
hundred years ago. This doctrine of Christ's c, finished work"
is one with which all evangelical Protestants are familiar; but
it is not enough that we be generally persuaded of it as a
Scriptural truth; we should be able to refer to those particular
passages which expressly declare it; both for the confirming
and refreshing of our own faith, and for the exposure of the
perversity of the heretical, that they may be prevented from
deluding others, if they themselves be not prevailed upon to
receive the truth.
It is at this point the Popish apostasy is at once most insolent
and impious in its assumptions, and most easily convicted of
error. They contend that Christ did not make an end that
day at Calvary of sin-offering, and that it is necessary He
should be sacrificed millions and millions of times over again
by their Priests in the sacrifice of the Mass, which they affirm
to be as necessary and as efficacious for salvation as the original
sacrifice offered by Himself on the cross. It is a hideous blas-
phemy; but, as just stated; i.t is not enough that we u~r
exclamations of horror against It. We-must be prepared WIth
a pointed Scriptural refutation; and when there may be a
* Compare &laoPBalma Ii. 17; cvfi. 22; Rom. .riL 1.

reluctance to task the memory 'with a number of passages," I

recommend for selection Hebrews vii. 26, 27-" For such an
High Priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate
from sinners, and madehiqher than the Iieaoene; wlw NEEDETH
NOT DAILY, as those (Levitical) Mgh priests, to offer up sacrifice,
first for l~is own sins, and then for the people's: for this. he did
ONCE, when he offered up himself." Let this be stored in the
memory of all, ready for quotation. Every child should be
made familiar with it, so as to remember it for life. It is
peculiarly precious for its personal consolation, as a testimony
to the" finished work" on which faith builds its confidence;
but that to which our attention is at present more especially
directed, is its value as a weapon in the controversy with error.
No man was ever perverted to either Popery or Puseyism with
these words before his eyes. And no member of either of the
apostasies (if there are indeed two, and there be not 'only one
huge homogeneous impiety) ever hears them quoted, without
having his heart excited to malice against God's Word. I
affirm that, without any fear of being found guilty of uncharit-
able judgment. They may affect to resent the charge; but I
am sure of its truth, for this reason, that it is physically
impossible for the man who sets up in trade as a Saorificer of
Christ, as every Popish and Puseyite Priest does, to hear quoted
with any thing but a feeling of bitter malice, that Hebrews vii.
26,27, which makes such a thorough explosion of his craft;
just as every Unitarian has his malice excited by the quotation
of John i. 1. Brethren, let us torment both of them with the
loud reiteration-" The Word was God; and he needeth not
to offer himself daily, for this he did once." Let us torment
them unceasingly: they themselves may refuse to repent, and
only blaspheme the more; but the sight of their vexations will
save others from being seduced into their condemnation.
Expiatory sacrifice having been abolished by the all-sufficient
sacrifice on the cross of Calvary, the corresponding Priesthood
ceased also; except that Christ, as our High Priest, entered
within the veil, to plead the merits of his oblation before the
throne of Divine justice; in which intercession no mortal
Priest has part, any more than in the original work of
sacrifice. Without auceessor or co-partner, He ever liveth to
make intercession-the only Mediator betwixt God and man
* BeJridea that preferred for ~~.etext, the following are .,.ery expreu:
Heb. ix. 24.28; x, 10-14; 1 Peter 111. 18.
(Reb. vii. 25; 1 Tim. ii. 5). Renee the vehement denunciation-
~' Whoever professes to be a Priest, under the New Economy,
invades the prerogative of Him who is a Priest for ever after
the order of MeIchizedek; and is guilty of presumption as far
exc.eeding that of Korah and his company, as the ministry
which Jesus hath received is a more excellent ministry than
that of Aaron and sons."-
~ "Exposition of the First Epistle of Peter," by the Rev. Dr. John Brown,
Edinburgh. In the sentence quoted, the eminent critic and theologian has
made a powerful retort, perhaps unwittingly,of a reproach, than which no other
is more favourite and hackneyed on the part of the sacerdotal faction, in their
abuse of the Nonconformist ministry. Let all who make God'. Word their
rule, judge of which party Korah, Dathan, and Abiram were the prototypes.
. In the department of the Communion, the Liturgy of the Engtish Church
I.·commendably purged of all phraseology pertaining to an Altar for sacrifice;
and .0 express is the Rubric in its prescriptions, that there shall only be the
form of a simple Table for feasting, that no fraud nor treachery, both to the
Church and the commonwealth, Iess than that of which a Tractarian Is
capable, can pollute that Church with the nuisance and impiety of the
semblance of an altar. It i. also worthy of remark, that the Scriptural
designation, The Lord'. Supper, is uniformly observed; whereas! we search
for it in vain throughout the Decrees and Canons of the Oounell of Trent.
The English Liturgy, however, unhappily retain. the appellation of Priut
for the officiating Pastor. The evangelical party, it i. true, contend that the
term is a derivative of Presbyter; but, beside. that this is doubiful~. and
that the common acceptation of the word gives an advantageous handle to
the Korah-like conspiracy of their bretbren,-what, I demand, means that
surplice 1 Long before Mr. Carlyle wrote, the Puritan fathers had studied
the Philosophy of Clothes; and men only betray their own ignorance, when
they mock at the scrupulosity of those who objected so strenuously to the
hated garment. A great principle of the Gospel was concerned in it. That
surplice was then, and is, by the Puseyite faction, still a challenge on the
part of the wearer to be regarded a Priest. Strip it off him; it is an impudent
imposture; the Teacher's black cloak is more than enough for dignifying hi.
ignorance and perversions of the Truth. But, besides exposing the traitor
party, no partiality will induce me to repress my remonstrance with the
faithful and evangelical party in that Church. What mean they by the
change of garments-officiating in white at prayers and sacraments, and in
black when preaching the Word? Is there not here a delusive appearance,
at least, of evil-an assertion of priestly prerogative for one-half of their
ministration, so as to differ from their brethren only in the extent of tlIe
. pretension-eIainrlng the character of Intercessors and Mediators during
one-half of their work; and ouly not insisting on- an implicit submission to
their teaching when they occupy the pulpit ? No plea of comeliness of attire
is a sufficient apology for this. It is an indefenaible corruption.
I only remark additionally, that the Ablolution act, occurring in the midst
of the Order for tbe Communion, B8 well as in the Visitation of the Siclr,
together with tlIe Forms of Ordination, of Baptism, and of Confirma~on, Me
all retentions of the leaven of Priesthood; and indicate what need the Church
of England has of a Second Reformstion. But mammon, pride, state-oraft,
to rende! such
jl()wardice, indifferentism, BUP!'rs~ition,and infidelity, col18pU'O
action for reformation from WIthin utterly hopelesa. The corruption WIllpro-
c~ a little further till an indignant people, unable any longer to tolerate tlIe
abomination, will .be, and not reform, bu~abolish it u a national institution.
PRIESTLY PREROGATIVE-WHENCE INFERRED?
It is impossible to determine whether the apostasy com-

menced with the superstition of regarding the Lord's Supper
an expiatory sacrifice, so as to draw after it t.he presumption
of claiming priestly prerogative for the officiating pastor; or,
with the presumption, so as to draw after it the superstition,
when they looked about for some work of a sacrificial nature
which this Priest might perform. Probably both corruptions
sprung up simultaneously, so as to aid each other's growth.
But whatever may have been the case, Priesthood usurped a
place in the Church, not only without the sanction of the Now
Testament, but in violent defiance of the whole spirit of its
institutes.
When assembled in Council at Trent, the want of any thing
to plead, which had even the semblance of direct Scriptural
authority for their pretension, greatly perplexed the Doctors
and Fathers. When enumerating the office-bearers of the
Church, Paul had mentioned apostles, prophets, evangelists,
pastors or bishops, and teachers, but no intimation had he
made of Priests, although engaged with a description of the
munificent manner in which the endowment had been made,
for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry,
and the edifying of the body of Christ (Eph. iv. 11, 12). This
ignoring of the most important of all the offices, according to
the Popish reckoning, was felt to be most annoying. Nor did
any other part of the New Testament supply the omission-
"No Priest but Christ, and every member of the Church
equally with the pastor," was the uniform response of all its
oracles. It was therefore necessary to have recourse to
inference. They were great adepts in this species of logic.
Such ingenuity as can derive lucue a non lucendo, and such
dexterity as can extract sunbeams from cucumbers, were never
exhibited in such perfection as during the whole of the
proceedings of those skilled dialecticians; but their inspiration
for drawing an inference made a peculiar display of its insight
in the present instance. They discovered their object in these
words of the institution of the Lord's Supper-" Do this in
remembrance of me." And with such clearness and force of
demonstration did they thence infer their priestly prerogative,
88 to warrant their pronouncing a curse of eternal damnation
on all who might question its validity.
Their interpretation was this: first, that Christ made a

sacrificial offering of Himself to his Father, that night, at that
table, in that breaking of bread and effusion of wine, previously
to the offering of Himself next day on the cross, and as truly,
really, and substantially; secondly, that the commandment,
"Do this," was addressed to the Apostles in their official
capacity, enjoining them to do the sacrificial work which they
saw Him performing; thirdly, that He thereby invested them
with the priestly character, of which they were not theretofore
possessed; and fourthly, and most conclusively, that they, the
Popish fraternity, as the ordained successors of the Apostles, are
Priests too, and that to the exclusion of all other pretenders.
The Puseyites claim brotherhood, indeed, hut the Pa)list~
repudiate the claim; tenderly, however, folicitatint( them on
their being not far from the kingdom; and encouraging 1,110111
to free themselves from the bondage of that chain of nutionul
gold, which retains them in the communion of a spurious
priesthood, who have no power like them to make offerings
of Christ, and to do many wonderful things besides.
Such is a specimen of the inspired exposition of the Infallible
Church, without which no one can ascertain the meaning of
God's revealed will! As usual it is full of blasphemy. There
is not a single decree of the Council which is not characterized
by that element; but in the present case, the blasphemy is
peculiarly malignant. Observe, how, in the endeavour to
maintain their own priestly character, they not only crucify
the Son of God afresh in their Masses, but sacrifice Him before
his hour had come. It is nothing less than a murderous com-
passing of his death: yea, it is worse; I charge it with being
an imputation of suicide to the Redeemer; for suicide it would
have been, had He sacrificed Himself an hour sooner than the
time appointed by his Father's decree. Some of them will
perhaps plead, that the Council do not affirm that the sacrifice
which He offered that night was expiatory; and that the
language of the Decree may be received as signifying, that it
was only eucharistic. Of this I am well aware; but I have
elsewhere shown, that the want of its being expressly declared
expiatory, did not proceed from any want ~f will to do ~, on
the part of the leading me~bers of the Council, w?~ were driven
from their purpose, espeerally by one bold spmt, Guerrero,
Archbishop of Granada; in accommodation to whom, or rather
in accommodation to those whom his protesbil influenced (for
he himself did not accept of the compromise), they framed the

decree, so as to declare generally, that Christ offered Himself,
leaving each one to judge for himself whether expiatory or
eucharistically. But this does not affect the present question. So
long as they maintain that He then offered Himself at all, since
it was his "body broken," and his "blood shed," and these "truly.
really, and substantially," as they themselves contend, they ate
clearly convicted of the atrocity with which I have charged them.
Nothing can be more obvious to common intelligence and
honesty, than that these words-" This do in remembrance of
me "-were addressed to the disciples as communicants. We
have Christ's own express authority for saying so--"This do ye,
as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me." The doing
consisted in the drinking; and equally, by that drinking, and
not'lly any sacrificing, was the remembrance to, be maintained.
Accordingly, the Apostle subjoins-" As often as ye eat this
bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death"
(1 Cor. xi. 26). It was the eating and drinking by which the
showing forth, or commemoration was effected. These, and
similar considerations, prevailed with Guerrero, and others of
the prelates, to make them beseech the Council to depart from
this wound for the establishment of their priesthood; and they
recommended, in preference, Matt. xviii, 18, "Whatsoever ye
shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven," &c., and John
xx. 23, "Whosoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto
them," &c. We shall afterwards see that the Council did not
slight these two passages, and were not slow in laying hold of
them to abuse them and prostitute them in support of another
assumption. But they did not find them sufficient for their
present object. Luke xxii. 19, with the parallel narrations, was
their sheet anchor, without which they felt their priesthood
must suffer wreck. They therefore fulminated the Canon,
which swept down with its curse a number of the most eminent
of their own inspired brethren, equally with all Protestants: "If
anyone saith, that by these words, Do this for the commemora-
tion of me (Luke xxii. 19), Christ did not institute the Apostles
priests; or did not ordain that they and other priests should
offer his own body and blood; let him be anathema."
SUCCESSOR-PRIESTS.
I now summon your attention more particularly to the caae

of those other priests referred to in the Canon. Excepting a
modification, which will be explained afterwards, the Popish,
and not less the Puseyite dogma is, that Christ having instituted
the Apostles Priests, at the same time commissioned and
e~powered them to ordain successors, who, through the imposi-
tion of their hands, should not only be ecclesiastically authorized
to officiate as Priests, but endowed with the gifts of the Holy
Ghost, for the efficient discharge of their sacrificial and other
priestly offices; and moreover empowered to transmit, in their
turn, those powers and gifts to others, as their successors, and
they, again, to theirs, and so on, down to the end of time. As
a consequence, the dogma further contains, that none are
genuine priests who do not lie in the line of this Succession;
that all others are presumptuous invaders of the prerogative,
whose words have no authority, urn I whose sncrnments are
spurious and impotent. "None but we," Raid Dr. Hook, when,
having obtained access to the royal chapel, 110 lectured the
Queen on the pious care she should take of providing salvation
for her subjects-" none but we, of the Apostolic succession, can
give the body of Christ to the people. Let your Majesty beware
of these Nonconformists. Saving our prior constitutional claim,
you may employ a few Papists should it please your Royal
Humour as Head of the Church; for they as well as we, belong
to the Succession: but as for such men as Robert Hall and
Thomas Chalmers, I, anointed as I am to be a Priest and a
prophet, in virtue of my Priesthood, solemnly warn your
Majesty against showing them any countenance; for they only
cheat your subjects out of their salvation."
In the account just given of the dogma of Apostolical Succes-
sion, I have adverted to an exception. It is something very
remarkable. In order to a full communication and transmission
of the power and gifts, the individual must be ordained to be a
Bishop-priest. When ordained to be only a Presbyter-priest,
whether by an Apostle's self, or a Successor-bishop, there was,
or is, an important withholdment made in the communication.
As a Presbyter-priest his Baptism regenerates the soul; his
Consecration of the Eucharist transubstantiates the bread and
wine into the body and blood of Christ; his Absolution acquits
of sin' his Solemnization sanctifles Matrimony, without which
all unions, called marriages, presumptuously solemnized by
Dissenters, and the Speech-makers of the so-called Church of
Scotland are impure concubinage, and produce only a progeny
of bastards; finally, his Extreme Unction cleanses the soul of
THE PARDON OF SIN.
all impurity at death, leaving only so much as will afford him

an apology for some remunerative employment in performing
sacrificial Masses for its deliverance from Purgatory. All
this the Presbyter-priest can accomplish; but there are two
things for effecting which the gifts have been withheld from
him.
First: although his Baptism can wash away the sin, both
original and actual, of all the previous life of the hoary
adulterer and murderer, provided he have fortunately not been
baptized before; and, although when the profligate, in defiance
of the grace communicated at baptism, returns to his crimes, he
can a second time acquit him of them, and restore the grace by
Absolution; and although, when in defiance again of the
renewed holiness, there is a relapse into villany, he can a third
time cleanse it away by Extreme Unction; and although a
fourth time he can deliver his soul from Purgatorial torment,
due for the remains of impurity which the former roughwash-
ings had not removed ;-although all this he can do for the
hardened criminal, yet he is incompetent to the invigoration of
the baptismal grace for the tender-hearted, tremulous girl of
twelve years of age, by means of the Sacrament of Confirmation.
So far as his aid is concerned, she mnst be exposed, without
any fortifying strength, to all the trials and seductions of
the world, and, additionally, the seductions of the Church
at the infamous Confessional. No; he can do much, but he
cannot confirm. When the Bishop-priest ordained him, he
reserved the immolation of the lambs for himself. Yea, their
immolation. There is nothing throughout all England and
Ireland by which such a massacre of souls is perpetrated, as
by the Confirmation imposture of Bishop-priests, whether
they be Popish, or self-called, or vulgarly called, but falsely
called, Protestant. Just when the conscience is beginning
to speak articulately and decidedly of the necessity of being
concerned about salvation, the imposition-c-how truly such l-
of this corrupt device interferes, and lulls all into the most
fatal repose.
The second withholdment in the ordination of a Presby ter-
priest is, that he receives no power to transmit his gifts to
a successor. He is permitted, indeed, to impose his hand at
the ordination of a brother Presbyter, but it is only a kind
of civility. A hundred such as he could not of themselves
preserve the Succession. It is only the main chain of Bishop-
THE POPISH DOCTltINE. 75
priests which transmits the inspiring element. The branch
chains of the Presbyters will not yield a spark. It is a peculiar,
capricious sort of galvanism-most worthy of the examination
of the scientific-most worthy of the exposure to scorn and
detestation of all who love truth and abhor imposture-by
which the ignorance, superstition, immorality, and enslavement
of the people are perpetuated.
Only one other observation remains to be made that we may
have the dogma before us. Although there were thirteen
Apostles, the succession of all but one has been cut off. There
was a time when, in asserting independency of Rome, the High
Church party made pretensions of their having derived their
prerogative from some of the other Apostlc«. But in these
traitorous times of tho attempt of a perjured misereuuey to
deliver England up to the domination of the obscene Itulinn
Impostor, it does not appear that there remains anywhere IIny
desire of being reckoned in the lineage of John 01' of Paul. The
run of the ambition is entirely towards the paternity of Peter;
and the generation of all the rest seems to have expired, without
the possibility of a revival.
REFUTATION OF SO-CALLED APosTOLICAL SUCCESSION.
Having described the dogma it will scarcely be regarded by

anyone, I think, a matter much to be regretted that the limits
of these illustrations do not admit of treating it with an extended
argumentative refutation. Is it not so flagrantly an imposture
that its refutation has been made already by the mere statement
of its contents 1 I shall therefore dismiss it with only a few
general observations.
First: It has already been demonstrated that the Apostles
themselves were never invested with any Prerogative of Priest-
hood, other than what is common to every believer; how then
could they transmit any such thing to successors 1 this is the
question of main importance. It signifies little how it may
fare with other points in the argument, since all pretensions to
the character of Mediatorial priests are evinced to be entirely
baseless. That can have no subsistence in the euceessora to
office which had none in the original occupants.
Second: it is not denied that there is a true apostolical
succession; but we contend that it simply consists of men
who are ecclesiastically· authorized as preachers of apostolica1
doctrine, dispensers of apostolioal sacraments, and administra-

tors of apostolical discipline, in an apostolic spirit of heavenly-
mindedness, faithfulness, and love. By this rule, how many
who prate about the succession, and boast of their standing in
it, are indignantly and contemptuously excluded! It was for
their faithful application of the rule that the church of Ephesus
received that commendation of Him who holdeth the seven
stars in his right hand-" Thou hast tried them which say they
care apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars" (Rev. ii, 2).
But equally, many humble ones are by the same rule ranked in
the hononrable succession, who never made the title an object
of their ambition.
For explanation of the rule, observe, that I not only do not
dispute the right, but insist that it is the, duty of every
believer whatever to teach the Word and proclaim its message.
The commandment runs thus, "Let him that heareth say,
Come" (Rev. xxii. 17). Nevertheless, I would experience some
difficulty in designating as a Successor of the Apostles that
individual, who, how successful soever in the enlightening and
converting of sinners, might preach the gospel on his own
account, so to speak, without the ecclesiastical authorization
referred to. But mark, that the acknowledgment of its being
found difficult to bestow on him the title, indicates that it would
be found difficult to withhold it from him. And should any of
my Protestant brethren, troubled with some Popish fancies
still adhering to them, wonder that I should experience any
difficulty in the latter case, and not make the refusal promptly,
I appeal to their sense of piety, if Whitfield, and Wesley, and
Hill, would have been without a place in the succession, had
they not contrived to gain the ordination of some Bishop; and
if that ordination secured for them its honour! Fie on you for
your snobbishness: it is rather those who wonder I should find
any difficulty in bestowing the designation, in the supposed case,
to whom lowe an explanation.
For the phrase, "ecclesillstical authorization," I have no
partiality, and employ it only for want of a better. That I do
not use it in a ngid sense, will appear from the following
representation. Let twelve, or ten, or fewer-so many as may
have constituted the apostolic church which was in the house
of Nymphas (Col. iv. 15),-let this number of believers be
associated for the ends for which the Church has been instituted
-the mutual cherishing of their faith and its propagation among
their neighbours ;-let them elect one whom they judge quali-
fied for their instruction and exhortation, and who may preside
in the administration of ordinances, and in the ordering of the
affairs of their association;-let them set him apart to his work
as a pastor with prayer, and the imposition of their hands on his
head, if they choose, as an expressive mode of investing him
with office ;-let all this be done; then that man will be pos-
sessed of the apostolical succession as validly-were I to say,
as is Cardinal Wiseman or Bishop Philpotts, I would do him a
great disparagement, and rather disprove his claims; for a drop
of apostolical blood is not in either of them; they are both sup-
posititious illegitimates-as validly, I say, as is either of the
Moderators of the two Assemblies, who contend for the name
,of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland-as validly
as is the Moderator of the United Presbyterian Church, whore
the succession is to be found in a state of great purity and
integrity. May it be purified more and more; and raised
above all suspicion of its genuineness, both by the greater
excellence of the electoral medium, and the greater excellence
of the elected pastorate !
I suspect that some even of my Congregational friends may
regard it as being somewhat ultra-Protestant to dignify with
the title of a successor of the Apostles the elected one (possibly
a labouring artisan like Paul) of that association of a dozen or
so of believers, and ordained by themselves, without any recog-
nition of the pastors of other churches. How much more may
I not calculate that objections will be taken to the validity of
the title by some of my Presbyterian brethren 1 The snobbish
leaven of reverence of a mechanical transmission of Priesthood,
and of an ambition to be numbered in the succession, when
others are jealously denied the acknowledgment, has diffused
itself in quarters where one would little expect to find
its corrupt fermentation. In defence of myself, therefore, I
call attention to the sentiments of one who will not be sus-
pected of unfaithfulness to the Presbyterian cause. Turrettin,
in his Institution, :B. xviii Q. 23, makes the following repre-
sentation ;-
. "Suppose a few faithful men were driven by a storm into
some distant region of the world, and wrecked on the coast
ofa barbarous. people, among who~ they were compe~led to
remain without any hope of returnmg home,-who will not
admit that they were obliged, by the law of cha.rity, to com-
mence the instruction of these heathen in the faith 1 And

when a number of them might be converted, would it not be
lawful for them to choose a pastor for themselves, who should
constitute a church (cfJnstituat ecclesiam), and labour for its
edification 1" He proceeds at considerable length, in a strain of
warm and indignant remonstrance, with those who may question
the validity of such a ministration of the Word.
Taken at its lowest value this clearly indicates Turrettin's
view, that neither any mechanical nor class transmission or
communication either of authority or influence, is essential to
the apostolic succession. Notwithstanding, however, the high
estimation in which I hold the eminent theologian's sentiments,
on this as well as all other subjects, there are two respects in
which I complain of the restrictions which he has made. First:
unless I misinterpret his phrase, constituat ecclesiam, I complain,
that he should represent the order of proceeding to be, that the
believing converts should first elect a pastor, and that he should
then constitute them a church. This inversion is not only
unnatural, but opposed to his own great principle, that, under
the Lord, the Church is the source of all power. I contend,
that in the supposed case, the converts are competent to associate
as a church before they elect a pastor; although they may leave
the ordering of many things in abeyance till after his election.
Yea, unless it be as a church, formally constituted, that they
elect, call, and ordain him, their proceedings are irregular and
unconstitutional.
Secondly: when distinguishing betwixt an ordinary and
extraordinary call to the ministry of the gospel, Turrettin
makes the evils complained of by a dissatisfied party far too
many and too great, before having separated and constituted a
church for themselves, he whom they elect as a pastor is entitled
to the honour of the apostolical succession. Considering his
day, it is for our admiration to see how Turrettin had divested
himself of the imposture of Priesthood; but still a little adhered
to him; and his principles, in respect of the Magistrates' power
and a National Church, greatly sophisticated him, and caused
him to abridge "the liberty of prophesying" in a manner which
it is melancholy to behold.
I need not tell in what detestation I hold that spirit which,
on account of small differences of opinion, and because its
pettish humour has been crossed, will schismatically separate
from brethren, either for another church of the same denomi-
nation, 0... for one of a different denomination, or for the
constituting of a new church of a new denomina.tion, in
company with disaffected spirits like itself. But the question
is not about the absolute or essential sinfulness of such
conduct; it is about its degree; and, not until you feel yourself
warranted to pronounce on them the judgment, that they have
apostatized from the Christian faith, and are no longer entitled
to the Christian name-not till then are you warranted to
withhold from their elected pastor the title of a successor of the
Apostles.
The foregoing remarks on what oonstitntes the true apostolical
succession have been extended a little further than would have
been deemed requisite, had there been no other l'rdelisioIHI
to expose, or errors to correct, than thoso of 1'lIl'ists nTHI
Puseyites. I proceed with the exposure of pretensions peculiar
to themselves.
Thirdly: although a chain of mechanical succession, such as
they fancy and lie about, constructed by a concatenation of
impositions of hands, and stretching from the times of the
Apostles to the present day-though such a chain, I say, could
be clearly traced through history, without the failure of a link,
yet there could be nothing more blasphemous than to represent
the Church of Christ depending on that chain for the communi-
cation of the smallest blessing, not to speak of the perpetuation
of its very existence. Were anyone to propose to himself the
task of writing a Calendar of Crime, containing the biography
of the most infamous characters-the most mercenary, impure,
treacherous, murderous, and impious, who appeared in Europe
from the ninth century to the Reformation, selecting a character
for every twenty years of that period, every man of them would
be a Pope, a Cardinal, or a Bishop. If you would know what
length men can go in coping with devils, you must look for
your exemplars in that succession to which, not only the Arch-
bishop of Westminster, but the Bishops of London, Oxford,
and Exeter-the whole generation of Priesthood-boast that
they belong, and in virtue of their inheritance of which they
claim a right to lord themselves as they do, I say not over the
heritage of God, for few of th'at heritage acknowledge their
ghostly claims, but, with a haughty and mercenary. spiri~ of
worldliness, over the secular commonwealth of thIS priest-
cumbered realm. The best types of blasphemy, sensuality,
and cruelty, are to be found in the links of that chain, through
which they represent the Son of God as having transmitted to

them their prerogative for evil. *
Brethren, is there any other name used for the sanction of
so much lying quackery, and pled as the authority for &0 much
oppression and plunder, as are practised and perpetrated in the
name of Jesus Christ 1 And can that man 'be his friend who
speaks of the manner in which He is thus blasphemed in lan-
guage of forbearance and apology1 Away with your charity! it
is an impure and treacherous affectation. By speaking tenderly
of such imposture, you either evince a disgraceful ignorance of
the manner in which it has desolated the continent of Europe,
and fetters Britain, and imperils more and more its faith, its
liberty, and all its best interests; or convict yourself of an
unbelieving, selfish heart, which cares .not how it fare either
with Christ's causo or your country's, provided you yourself
are permitted to dwell at ease in this world. This world!
Look, fool, to the next, where you will meet as your Judge
Him at whose dishonour yon connive.
NECESSITY OF RIGHT INTENTION.
Fourthly: still supposing that the mechanical succession

were clearly demonstrated, and further, that the chain consisted
throughout of creditable characters, the Popish dogma on the
subject of intention would affect with suspicion the whole of
the Priesthood in the estimation of every thoughtful man.
That dogma is thus expressed and proclaimed by the Council
of Trent: "If anyone saith, that in ministers, when they effect
and confer the sacraments [of which Ordination, remember, is
one] there is not required the intention at least of doing what
the church does, let him be anathema."t What Bishop, then,
shall assure himself of the right intention of the several Bishops
who ordained him, yea, of the right intention of the Bishops
who ordained them, and so backward through all the links of
the chain, so as to be sure that he has obtained t)J.eapostolical
inspiration 1 And what Priest, though sure (which yet he
cannot be) of the genuineness of the succession of the Bishop
who ordained him, can be sure of his right intention at the
* See for illustration chapter iv. of Dr. Begg's "Hand Book of Popery."
This admirable work, and happily so accessible, while excellent at all pointe
as a thesaurus both of heads of argument and of facts, is especially valuahle
fot' its illustrations of what Popery continues to be, both dogmatically and
practically, at the present day.
1" Canon ix., on the Sacramenb.
time of the act, so as to have confidence that he has obtained
from him authority and qualifications for his various offices1
We shall afterwards see how the people's confidence is affected
in respect of the sacraments of this Priest.
The manner in which this dogma of the necessity of inten-
tion involves the entire succession in doubt and suspicion, has
induced Popish theologians to labour in an attempt to explain
it away. Some of them contend that the want of intention,
referred to by the Council, does not signify an internal want
of good design, but the want of an external appearance of
seriousness in doing the work of the church; so that the
sacrament may be valid and efficacious, provided tho minister
observe a due grimace, though at heart he be scorning it 11K
an idle superstition. There is little doubt that much of the
sacramental work of Popery needs such a defence; but the plea
is insufficient for the following reasons: Ist, it is a burlesque 011
the word intention; 2nd, when Catherinus, Bishop of Minorca,
took the ground at the Council, that the external decorous
celebration of the sacraments was sufficient for their validity,
his speech gave great offence; 3rd, in Chapter vi on the Sacra-
ment of Penance, the phraseology is explicit in explaining the
intention, as signifying internal feeling-" intention on the part
of the priest of acting seriously, and absolving truly;" and 4th,
the nature of the case requires that there be will on the part
of the operator to cause energetically the forthgoing of that
sanctifying power which the succession has deposited within
him. But supposing that the meaning of the Council is obscure,
so long as it is not certain that they declared external decorum
sufficient, the whole of the sacramental work of Popery is affected
with suspicion and distrust. In the matter more immediately
before us, no Bishop nor Priest can be sure of the genuineness
of his ordination, since he cannot be sure of the right intention
of the performer of the ceremony.
Some have wondered how the Council of Trent should have
committed this suicidal blunder on the subject of "intention;It
but a little consideration of the circumstances will show how
they were entrapped into it. Suppose it were Pope Alexander
Borgia, or even the comparatively small sinner, Paul III., who
officiated at Mass,-when even such loose morality as that
which is characteristic of Rome mi~ht feel shocked, and ask,
how could sacraments performed by hands 80 Ieprous-c-in
&rgia's case, by hands 80 bloody-have any saving efficacy'
E
the Council felt compelled to suppress the scepticism by their

inspired authority. They therefore fulminated the following
anathema, needful at the present day as it was at first," for
the protection of the Priesthood: "If anyone saith that a
minister being in mortal sin, neither effects nor confers the
sacraments, let him be -aceursed " (Sacraments, Canon xii.), If
the matter, however, had been left here, even Popish sense of
propriety, which is not very delicate, and Popish submission,
which is very wide in its gorge, could not have swallowed the
enormity. They therefore gave forth, as a sop to quiet com.
plaints, the Canon on the subject of the performer's present
right intention, whatever his habitual character might be.
I have already stated the reasons for construing the Canon,
not as signifying that anyone, who is secretly a mocker and
blasphemer, can nevertheless confect (that is their own expres-
sion) the wheaten cake into the glorified body of Immanuel,
by a judicial act absolve the sinner of his guilt, and by the
touch of his hand communicate the Holy Ghost, provided only
he do the church's work with a well-acted hypocrisy; but as
signifying, according to their own explicit interpretation, that,
for the time being, at least, the performer must act seriously,
and absolve truly. " Ah! then," how well many a poor
Papist may exclaim, "what reason have I for fearing that my
deceased child received no valid Baptism; that I myself have
never received a valid Absolution, nor a valid Communion;
that I shall obtain no valid Unction for my departing soul; and
that after its departure it must dree out its full purgatorial term
without the benefit of a valid Mass, since I have no confidence
in our Priest, from what I know of him-none whatever-that
even at the altar, he can, even for a moment, have the least
sentiment of an intention to do me, or anyone else, any
spiritual good !"
Alas! that it should not be Popish Priests and Bishops
alone against whom their congregations have sometimes reason
to make such reflections. But here is the great difference:
the Protestant can be saved at home, independently of any
minister; yea, by his own faith he can sanctify the sacrament of
an unprincipled administrator; whereas the poor Papist is lost,
if he enjoy not the ministrations of a well-intentioned Priest.
* Bishop Catherinua exclaimed in the midst of the assembled Fathers,
.. Would to God that there were no grollDds for believing that in thia corrupt
age _ of .uch iusincerity abound I"
These illustrations of the Sacraments in general are somewhat

anticipative of what shall afterwards present itself for explana-
tion. And I recall attention to the manner in which the dogma
of the necessity of right intention, on the part of the operator
in the sacrament of Ordination, not only places it beyond the
power of anyone being certain that he has been adopted into
the succession; but should make him absolutely certain that he
has not been adopted, when he reflects that many who occupy
a place in the chain cannot possibly have had one feeling of
godly sincerity in the pretended transmission of apostolic gifts.
SACRA}IENTAL EFFICACY.
Fifthly: still supposing that the mechunical succession were

demonstrated, and that the chain were this length in a satis-
factory state, both in respect of the habitual character and the
present intention of the party ordaining, the succession would
remain under suspicion, in consequence of the dogma, that the
Sacraments take effect only if the party operated upon" do not
place an obstacle thereunto," by mortal sin, at the time of the
operation (Sacraments, Canon vi. ). We shall afterwards see
what delusive immoral absurdity they teach on the subject of
sacramental efficacy, without. there being need of any activity
of thought on the part of the recipient. To save the dogma,
however, from being scornfully rejected by every one in whom
there remains the least moral sensibility, they introduce the
exception or negative qualification just noticed. Now, although
Popery is dexterous in magnifying venial sins into mortal, and
reducing mortal to venial, according to the mercenary end to
be served, yet, not to speak of the high probability, that a far
greater proportion both of Bishops and Priests than is necessary
for our argument, have been, and are annually being, ordained,
with the most mortal sins lying unpurged on their consciences,
even by such Absolution as their own impious system pretends
to administer-not to speak, I say, of this high probability, I
instance these four characters-Popes Sergius III., John x.,
John XI., and John XII., and defy either Papist or Puseyite
to imagine one moment, in the life of any of them, of exemption
from mortal sin, of which advantage could be taken to administer
effectually the electric stroke of the succession. if "Oh what was
* See agaiaDr. Ben'. "Hand Book" fora brief accouut of iheir enormoualy
wieked 1iYe8. There were a Dumber of othll1'8 perhaps equally wicked; but
there ill thill adnutage for the argument in iDatauaiDg iheae four, that ihey
then the face of the Holy Roman Church!" exclaims Baronius,

one of their own cardinals. "How filthy! when the vilest
prostitutes ruled in the Court of Rome, by whose arbitrary
sway dioceses were made and unmade, bishops consecrated, and,
which is inexpressibly horrible to be mentioned, false Popes,
their paramours, thrust into the chair of St. Peter!" And yet,
let it be remembered, that the validity of the ordination of
Archbishop Wiseman, and Bishop Philpotts as well, depends
on the validity of that of these life-long infamous men. They
form links in the chain of the succession.
Sixthly: supposing, as before, the mechanical succession
to be clearly established, and all the moral conditions to be
satisfactorily answered, the ordination would remain question-
able, in consequence of the manner in which the most accurate
compliance with the prescriptions of the rubric isrepresented
as being necessary to its validity. I shall notice only the
material of the Sacrament. In the case of the Mass, as we
shall see, if the cake be not genuine in respect of wheaten
flour, and if the wine have been made of immature grapes,
they will not transubstantiate; so that no acceptable sacrifice
is made for sin, no grace is conferred in the communion, and
the adoration of the Host is the idolatry of a mere piece of
bread. In like manner, what if the chrism used in Ordination
have not been properly compounded according to the recipe
given by Christ to the Apostles! The person operated upon
will be the mere pretence of a Bishop or Priest all his life,
with no apostolic virtue in him whatever to qualify him for
discharging effectually anyone function of the Priesthood. If
that olive oil had become rancid, every soul which depends on
his baptism, confirmation, masses, and extreme unction, is lost
for ever. And this is the least of the evil: as an ordaining
Bishop he transmits his incapacity to others, and they again to
their successors, down to the end of time; so as to replenish
the earth with a greatmultitude of impotents; the ruin of souls,
effected by deluded confidence in whom, exceeds all imagination
of what is horrible.
Seventhly: yet once more, supposing all to be satisfactory,
both in respect of the mechanical euceession and of the whole
of the forementioned conditions, yet, according to both the
_pied the Papal ohair in, auceeuioD, for a oontiderable period of time; 10
that 1lIIder their adminiairatioD all Biahope formerly ordained muai have
DMI'1y died out, leaving for the IUooeAion 110118 but their 0WJl oreature ..
Popish and Puseyite reckoning, it remains to be ascertained if

the individual was validly baptized. Validly! Why, the fact
of his having been baptized in any form is in many instances
exceedingly questionable; the only evidence being, that it is
to be hoped the parents would not be unmindful of having the
ceremony performed. Such is the basis on which many rest
their pretension that they are possessed of the miracle-working
prerogative of the succession, and on which a deluded and
degraded people rest their confidence in these ghostly proctors
of their eternal interests. Whether the pretension or delusion
is greater cannot be determined, only the pretension is more
scorn-worthy and hateful, and the delusion is more ignominious
and pitiable. This necessity of a valid Baptism in order to the
validity of Ordination, will be illustrated more largely after-
wards; meantime, let it be understood, that the theory of the
superstitious imposture is, that unless the soul be previously
modelled by baptism, it remains insensible to the influence of
any of the other Sacraments. Baptism is the grand mordant
in the process of Sacramental dye work.
The argument here bears more strongly against the Puseyite
than the Papist; for the former does not admit, like the latter,
that baptism administered by heretics, midwives, &c., is valid.
Well, not to speak of any other, Seckel', Archbishop of Canter-
bury, and Butler, Bishop of Durham (author of The .Analogy),
were sons of dissenting parents, and baptized by dissenting
ministers. As for Archbishop Tillotson, he was the son of
an anti-predobaptist; and there are the strongest reasons for
questioning that he was ever baptized at all. Let it be remem-
bered, that this not only affects the validity of their own
ordination; but, that the taint, through transmission, must by
this time have infected the whole of the English Priesthood.
What logicians these Oxford scholars be ! By nothing are they
more strikingly characterised than arguing themselves out of all
prerogative, into a class of the most spurious imbeciles.
Eighthly: it is time that we be done with supposing the
mechanical succession to be demonstrated; and I cut the matter
short by affirming, that such a chain is at best the merest fancy
of ignorance, on the part of him who has not examined the point;
and that on the part of him who has examined i1'.tto say, that
he has ascertained the concatenation, is one of those palpable
falsehoods which would degrade a man Qf any other profession,
but which a mercenary priesthood practise with impunity on
86 THE PARDON OF srs,
the ignorance of silly girls, and superannuated rakes, who lie

open to the imposture of any superstition, the more empirical
the more welcome,for soothing with its opiates the inquietude
of a troubled conscience.
We have already seen that the question is narrowed at the
present day to the successionof the Apostle Peter, and that as
Bishop of Rome. Now (1), It is all but demonstrated, that
Peter, instead of being the founder, and original Bishop of
Rome, never visited that city as a preacher of the Gospel.
There is first the general principle, affirmedby Paul, that he,
and not Peter, was the chief Apostle of the uncircumcision
(Gal. ii, 7, 8); and, as to the fact, without burdening the
argument with a review of the vague tradition, it is enough
to refer to the epistle of that Apostle of the Gentiles, written
to the Romans before he visited them, and the various epistles
written when he was a prisoner among them, and appeal to
common-sense, even although much sophisticated, if it he
possible to imagine, that he could have so thoroughly ignored
the claims and labours, yea, the very existence of Peter, had he
either been the founder of that church, or its resident pastor.'"
When the adversaries reply, that this amounts only to an
improbability; our answer is, that their plea requires certainty
for its being valid; which certainty is destroyed by our demon-
stration of an improbability.
(2.) Supposing it had been demonstrated that Peter was the
first Pastor of the Church of Rome, the traditions of the Fathers
respecting his successorsare in a state of the most inextricable
confusion,and irreconcilable mutual contradiction. Tertullian,
Jrensesa, Epipbanius, and Augustine, give four different lists;
Eusebius, the earliest ecclesiastical historian, says, " We are
totally unable to find even the bare vestiges of those who may
have travelled the way before us; unless, perhaps, what is only
presented in the slight intima.tions which some in different
ways have transmitted to us in certain partial narratives of the
times in which tbey lived." Hence the memorable saying of
StillingHeet, that the stream of the succession is "as muddy
as the Tiber itself."
(3.) At various times in the history of the Church, there
have been contending Popes, elected by -different factions,
anathematizing and excommunicating one another with the
* Thfa Scriptural departmeni of the upmeni hu been ably and interest·
in&11muir&W by Hr. Knowl •• in hia 1100II: entiiled the .. Rock of Rome."
r
most frightful imprecations, and determining the quarrel with
the sword. Only one of them could be the legitimate successor
of Pet.EJr. Was the sword a veracious arbiterf Suppose it
was, since the Bishops ordained by the vanquished illegitimate
party almost universally retained their offices, the whole stream
/If the succession must have been infected by their taint.
(4.) Will our Roman misogamist, who affects to regard
women as a pollution, and our Anglican prude, who envies the
Papist the control of his law of sanctity-will any of them
admit that a female, and a very profligate one too, could
lawfully occupy Peter's chair, and form a link of that chain on
which. they depend for their prerogative 1 We know well that
they feel no squeamishuesa at the sight of It hundred adulterers
all in a row; but will their charity tolerate 11 harlot, and allow
her a place in the apostolic chain 1 It must; otherwise tlUlY
break the chain, and precipitate not only themselves to a level
with the laity, but all mankind to destruction, without a law-
fully constituted church for help, For five centuries after th«
a Ueged event, it was the current belief that II harlot occupied
the Papal chair, under the title of Pope Joan. It was not till
after tke Reformation that the Papists began indignantly to
deny it, under the taunting of the Protestants. It is admitted
that do,bt has been cast on the fact, and by none more strongly
than by our own Protestant, David Blondel; but 80 long as
the mystery is not satisfactorily cleared up, which even such a
calm and dispassionate writer as ~losheim says it is far from
being, 80 long must the succession be affected with suspicion.
"DOWN WITH PRIESTHOO/)."
On .reviewing the whole case, what judgment must we

pronounce on the morality of the authors of the "Tracts for the
Times," when, in No.7, they say, that the fact "of the Apos-
tollcal Succession is too notorious to require proof," and that
"every link in the chain is known from St. Peter to our
Metropolitan Bishops 1" Such is a specimen of the fraud by
which the Puseyite conspiracy impose on the ignorance and
credulity of the aristocracy and fashionabl~ classes of Engla.nd-
religiously, more ignorant far than the children o.four h~mblest
Bible Sabbath-classes. Mr. Gladstone, M.P., 18 CODSlderably
more modest in his claims for the Hierarchy. He makes
allowances both for historical obscurity and the possibility of
vitiating circumstances in the ordination; but calculating the
problem mathematically, he contends, that, although no Bishop

is warranted to affirm absolutely that he holds the apostolical
commission, yet he is entitled to take to himself parts oftm
a certainty that be stands legitimately in the Succession. In
other words, there is an 8000th part of a probability that he is
the mere pretence of a Bishop, with no apostolical pith or virtue
in him, Is not that a nice calculation which Mr. Gladstone's
scientific theology has made of the confidence with which a
man may commit the proctorship of his soul to the Bishop of
Exeted Only an 8000th part of a probability that be will
defraud him, to his everlasting destruction! ;,.
How long will England either take counsel with the
philosopher, or entrust the Bishop with the smallest fraction
of its spiritual interests 1 Not long, I ween: the game of
imposition is nearly played out. I therefore raise again our
* In calculating tbe problem in favour of the English Hierarcby, Mr.

Gladstone has to a great extent proceeded by wbat may be called tbe general
rule of chances, witbout making sufficient allowance for the facts of the
particular case, which, if admitted into the calculation, would moee than
invert his proportions of probability and improbability. I shall notice only
a few of the points wbich are peculiar to the Anglican genealogy. First: tbe
original Bishops of the North of England were principally ordained by our
St. Columba, who, not being a Bishop biroself, was incompetent ,0 confer
apostolic gifts. Tbese Bishops in tbeir turn proceeded south, vitiating the
Succession wherever tlley presumed to ordain (See Dr. Cumming's Tracts
for the Tiroes). Second: the vitiation of St. Columba from the nortb,
was met by that of St. Augustine from the south. To the questiln-Who
ordained this monk to be Archbishop of Canterbury? no Anglican .R.ngive a
satisfactory reply. All agree that when he was deputed by Gregory for the
conversion of England, he was not possessed of Bishop's orders. Wbo then
ordsined him? But admittiug the m~ parts of a certainty in favour of
himself, we have ~ parts of a certainty that the multitude whom he
ordained, were ordained irregularly, so as not ouly to vitiate ~be mceesaion
in their own persons, but through their ordinations to infuse s taint so
extensively, that it is impossible to conceive otherwise than tlat it has
infected the wbole church. We are made certain of this irregala.rity by
Gregory's censure of it, and who declared that he tolerated it ooly in the
Cl!icheley, Archbishop of Canterbury, was consecrated in 1414 .y
hope that the monk would in due season return to canoniCAlorder. Third:
Gregory
XII., who was subsequently deposed by the Council of Constance, aa a falae
pretender to the Holy See (Spence). Chicheley's own orders, ihen, were
invalid; and from the important position which he occupied, he must hAye
contributed to vitiate the Succession widely, if anything genuine existed
to be vitiated. Fourth: in regard of the Reformation, there iI only the
alternative, that the Church of Rome had through its apostalY lost the
Succe.. ion, or that the Church of England lost it tbrough its unwarranialtle
aDd wicked schism. Let the Tractarians make their ohoice of either of the
terms. In these circumstances, we invert Mr. Gladstone'. formula, aDd
maintain that the chances are as 8000 to 1 against either Henr,y Philpott8
or Samuel Wilberforoe heing legitimate.
battle cry "Down with Priesthood I-with all Priesthood,

English as well as Irish I" And if young Hibernian ladies
insist on having young gentlemen for their confessors, who
have been qualified by study at Maynooth for initiating them
into the mysteries; and if Anglican dowagers insist on having
their spiritual interests fashionably agented by pompous prelates
who have been trained in treachery at Oxford, then, in the
names of truth, morality, liberty, and patriotism, we demand
that it be at their own cost, and not ours, they be indulged
in their humours. Millions of us make the demand; and
the infatuated conduct of the faction precipitates the time,
when the outraged forbearance of an insulted nation will rise
and enforce the demand with a vengeance, for which the fools
in their security are but little prepared. Nor will this disbur-
dening ourselves of their hateful incubus, and throwing them
on their own resources, content us. For the church's sake, for
the commonwealth's sake, for their own sakes we are resolved on
the extinction of their pestilential folly; and with all the weapons
wherewith God has furnished us-with his Word, with our
own reason-with argument, with merry humour, with bitter
sarcasm -to expoae the Pharisaic pretension and mercenary
hypocrisy to the scorn and indignation of the people, till the
vile imposture be exterminated from our land-the imposture of
Priesthood. May the Lord endow us with the requisite hatred
of error as well as love of truth,-with the requisite bravery
and self-denial as well as prudence and discretion!
POPISH DOCTRINE.
(Uontinued, )

B.-THE SACRAMENTS.
HAVING considered the jugglers, let us now examine the
implements of their craft. '
I have already explained our Protestant view of the two
ordinances which alone are entitled to the Sacramental name
-Baptism and the Lord's Supper. Our formula is, that they
do not effect salvation, but simply declare it: that they are,
on the one hand when administered, only another way of
proclaiming the Gospel than is done by the Bible itself or the
sermon of a preacher; and, on the other hand when received,
only another way of professing the faith and pledging ourselves
to its preservation than is done by the acknowledgments of a
prayer, or the singing of a psalm or hymn, or an oral confession
or testimony made to brethren or before unbelievers:-that the
whole of their use and influence consist in their being instruc-
tive signs for the strengthening of faith, and an impressive
mode of declaring discipleehip-c-impressive both for the help of
our own faith, when we commit ourselves to the cause, and for
the help of the faith of witnesses :-that there is nothing to be
obtained from them which. may not be found in reading the
Word at home, or attending to the exhortations of a pious
mother; and solemnly expressing a determination to receive
or abide by the Gospel: and, besides, that the benefit is
communicated essentially in the same way; the only difference
being, that, when the characters of the Book present truth to
the mind through the .,ye, and the exhortations of the parent
present it through the ear, the symbols and symbolic actions of
the Sacraments present it through several of the senses, all for
the cheriahing of faith; and that, when the oral declaration is
one way of confessingthe truth, the reception of the symbolsis
another way of making the same confession, still for the
cherishing and confirmingof faith.
Nor, I repeat, am I prepared to admit, when the Sacraments
do nothing more than is done by the Word, read or preached,
and orally confessed,that they do the same thing more vividly
and impressively: they only furnish a profitable variety. It
was in this sense, but this sense only, that Luther spoke of
them as being superfluous;-superfluous, in 80 far as a man
may be saved without them, and in so far as they communicate
nothing more than the Word does, nor in an essentially
different manner; hut, not superfluous ill the sensethat they
may be dispensed with lawfully, and without the sustaining of
much spiritual loss, since the Lord has commanded their
observance, and that most wisely and mercifully, both in tilt'
way of our being taught the faith, and professingit before men.
THE COUNCIL OF TRENT ON THE SACRAMENTS.
Oontrasted with these views which do no violence to our

common-sense,and preserve so well the honour of our faith as
a worship of the spirit, attend now to the perversions of the
Oouncil of Trent, which the Puseyite apostasy have adopted,
almost without exception of a point. The Oouncilconstructed
no Decree on the subject, and enacted Oanons only. The
differenceis this: a Decree contains reasons and explanations;
whereas a Oanon consists merely of a curse, without any reason
assigned, pronounced on the individual who may deny or pro-
fess a certain opinion which pleases or displeases the fancy,
but especially which promotes or counteracts the interests of
the anathematizers. The Oanon is evidently the far more
convenient weapon for terminating a dispute. Some who are
conceited about their opinion are wearisomely verbose ancl
minute with their explanations; but the Oanon-the Curse
direct--is the favourite argument of Priesthood. Hitherto
the Council had foolishly proceeded with the mode of Decree
as well. But the presiding Legates, and wiser heads among
the Prelates, feeling that the Council had narrowly escaped
shipwreck, or explosion rather, through the violent dissension
of the Doctors and the inspired Fathers of the Succession,
when recording reasons for their decisions, espeCiallyon the
question so strange to them, that of the method of a sinner's
pardon, resolved that, on the subject now Wore us, the Sacra-
ments in general, when the opinions were if possible more

discordant than ever, they should abandon all logic, and limit
themselves to the cursing. Nevertheless, they indited a proem,
which, although brief, contains matter of great significance:-
For the completion of the salutary doctrine on justification, which was
promulgated in the last preceding session, it hath seemed suitable to treat
of the most holy Sacraments of the Church, through which all true justice
[holiness, in order to pardon] either begins, or being begun is increased, or
being lost is repaired. *
To this proem they subjoined thirteen Canons, of which I
select the following, as being all that our illustrations require.
CanonII.-If anyone saith, that these Sacraments of the New Law do
not differ from the Sacraments of the Old Law, save that the ceremonies
are different, and different the outward rites; let him be accursed.
OanonIV.-If anyone saith, that the Sacraments of the New Law are
not neceasary unto salvation, but superfluous; and that without them, or
without the desire thereof, men obtain of God through faith alone the grace
of justification; let him be accursed.
OanonV.-If anyone saith, that these Sacraments were instituted only
for the sake of nourishing faith; let him be accursed.
CanonVI.-If anyone saitb, that the Sacraments of the New Law do not
contain the grace which they signify; or that they do not cower that grace
on tbose who do not place an obstacle thereunto [of mortal sin]; as though
they were merely outward signs of grace or justice received through faith,
and certain marks of the Christian profession, whereby believers are dis-
tinguished amongst men from unbelievers; let him be accursed.
CanonVIII.-If anyone saith, tbat by the said Sacraments of the New
Law, grace is not conferred ex opere operate; but that faith alone in the
Divine promise suffices for the obtaining of grace; let him be accursed.
On these general Canons I shall make only a few general
observations, deferring special remarks to the illustration of
the Sacraments separately.
First, then, observe how the Council impute to the Divine
government a change of principle on which it vouchsafessalva-
tion to men. That there should be a changeof the dispensation
of the principle, in the course of training men from childhood
to manhood, is worthy of God's wisdom; but a change of
principle would affect the character not only of his wisdom,
but of his immutability and justice. Accordingly the apostle
Paul earnestly inculcates throughout his epistles, that we are
saved under the present dispensation on the same principle on
* Baptism for the beginning; Confirmation, the Eucharist of the M....
Ordination, Marriage, and Extr&me Unction for the increaeing; Peuaoce for
the repMring.
which Abraham and the Patriarchs were saved, viz., through

believing the Word. " A most pestilent and mortal heresy!"
exclaims the Council: "anathema Bit, let him be cursed, who-
ever he may be that holds it: it is by Sacraments, and them
alone, that any man now attains to salvation. It is true that
those ancients had the benefit of Sacraments too; but they
were comparatively insignificant: they did not impart grace
like ours; they only signified it, being precisely of the same
nature which the Protestants wickedly represent those of the
New Law to be."
These sentiments came out very distinctly during the
contentions of the Council. .A. party were anxious to save
Circumcision, at least, from the stigma of Canon II., maintain-
ing, on the authority of Augustine and others, that it was of
the same nature as Baptism; and pleading that the- expression
"Levitical Law" should be substituted in place of that of
"Old Law," so that Circumcision, which preceded the Levitical
Law, might be exempted from the censure. But, as Papiste,
believing in the efficacy and necessity of the Sacraments, they
were answered effectually by being referred to the apostle's
declaration, that Abraham was justified, not through circum-
cision, but before it; so that it was only a Protestant Sacrament
for the nourishing of a faith previously acquired. "Old Law,"
therefore, kept its place in the Canon, stigmatizing as impotent
all Sacraments antecedent to those of the New Law of Popery,
which at once introduced a new principle of salvation, and
abolished the old.
But besides the mutability of principle which Popery
imputes to the Divine economy, it imputes a rude retrogression
in respect of dispensation. The Old Law of salvation from
Abel's day was-Thou shalt exercise thy mind; thou shalt
think-think believingly (Heb. xi. 4). Popery emancipates
its disciples from this bondage of mental labour, and not only
assures them that it is sufficient to submit mechanically to the
operation of a Sacrament, but that this is the only method of
being saved i-that the old way of thoughtfulness is either
impracticable, or would be inefficacious though used. What
can account for such perversion 1 We shall see presently.
The preceding observation on Canon.lI. contains the merits
of the question, but it will be profitable to be a little more
special in our illustrations.
Secondly; admitting, for the time, the validity of the defence
which Popery makes of itself against the accusation of discredit-

ing .both faith and the operations of the Holy Spirit, when it
pleads that it represents both, the former as being necessary,
and the latter as being indispensable to render the Sacraments
effectual; still, observe what indignity it offers to the Word.
The Scripture widely declares that Word to be the primary
instrument of grace; calling it "the sword of the Spirit"
(Ephes. vi. 17); yea, expressly declaring that it is "the incor-
ruptible seed" by which men are regenerated (1 Pet. i, 23).
No, said the apostates of Trent, and the apostates of Oxford
echo the denial: The Sacraments go first; they generate faith
in the passive mind; and whosoever saith, that they only
nourish faith which was previously generated, let him be
accursed. Well, Paul says it most explicitly; "Faith cometh
by hearing·[not by sacraments], and hearing by the Word of
God" (Rom. x, 17). There is no head on which the curses of
Rome fall so thickly and heavily, as on that of the apostle Paul.
Think you they will not rebound with vengeance on the profane
blasphemers 1
Thirdly; observe, how, in consistency with the above, the
Sacraments are declared to be absolutely necessary to salvation,
as being the only means of conveying grace-the grace of faith,
and any other grace whatever. I have already explained what
was the sense in which Luther called them" superfluous," and
in which we agree with him ;-not in the sense, that they are
of little or no use for the nourishing of faith ;--not in the sense,
that a man may deal with the Lord's institution of them accord-
ing to his humour and convenience, and incur neither guilt nor
loss by neglect of them. Our practice belies any such accusa-
tion. We are as faithful in the observance of Baptism as is the
Church of Rome, and far more faithful in the observance of the
Eucharist. But we hold them to be superfluous in the sense,
that a child or man may be saved, and that millions of children
and myriads of men have been saved, without them; and that
they avail only to the enriching of a salvation, which has been
previously secured independently of them.
It was in this sense the Council used the term "superfluous,"
when they pronounced their anathema. It is true, they were
compelled to make an ignominous qualification. How they were
compelled we shall see subsequently. Mark, in the meantime,
what the qualification was :-" Whosoever saith, that without
them, or the desire of them, men obtain of God, through faith
alone, the grace of justification; let him be accursed." Even

this they were obliged to wire-draw into a state of the most
curious tenuity. When some objected, that there are cases
recorded in the Scripture of persons being saved who were not
only not baptized, but never heard of the ordinance, and could
not therefore have desired it; in reply, they distinguished
betwixt two kinds of desire,-the one explicit or actual, the
other implicit, when a man may be very properly represented
as having a desire for an object, though he know nothing of it,
if yet he be of such a disposition that he would desire it, if
it were made known to him! With such implicit desire the
doctors declared themselves satisfied (Sarpi B. II. 85). But
explicit or implicit, yOIl will wonder, when I have explained
the alleged mode of the operation of the Su,cruulllntll,how the
desire of them can possibly supply the want of their actual
enjoyment.
BELLARMINE ON THE SACRAMENTS.
Fourthly; observe the mode of operation just referred to.

It is "ell: opere operato" they are said to produce their saving
results. This is barbarous Latin which even a finished classical
scholar might be unable to interpret. But the meaning is still
more barbarous than the phraseology. It is this; that,
provided the person operated upon "do not place an obstacle
thereunto" of mortal sin,-without any act of mind on his own
part (that would be ex opere operantis)-provided only he lie
still, and don't kick, these Sacraments will by their intrinsic
energy-by a species of spirito-matefial galvanism, chemistry,
or dynamics, produce faith and every holy grace. This is 80
monstrous, that there is no subject on which Bellarmine
labours BO earnestly for mitigating its grossness, returning to it
again and again; and with more than his usual virulence (the
usual being very bitter) accusing Protestants, at one time of
malicious falsehood, and at another of ignorant incapacity to
discern Catholic truth, when they represent the doctrine of the
Council to be, that the virtue communicated by consecration to
the Sacramental materials, together with their application by
the Priesthood, confers grace on the soul by a physical operation.
Against such representations the Cardinal rages furiously.
W'hat, then, is his own explanation of the expressions of the
Canons, when they declare that the" Sacraments" contain the
grace which they signify," and that they confer that grace "ex
opere operatol"* Attend: the Prince of Rome's theologians

speaks! They do not contain grace, he says, making the denial
with great indignation, in the same way that a cup contains
medicine, but in the same way that an arrow contains death!
(De Sacramentis L. I. c. v.) Prince of theologians, indeed!
How satisfactory the vindication of the inspired Council from
the charge of having legislated a system of spiritual mechanics!
Supposing, however, that the death-arrow argument, if admitted,
would relieve the representation of part of the grossness con-
tained in the cup of medicine, Bellarmins would not be entitled
to its benefit.
For first; the expressions of the Canons, when interpreted
naturally, convey the meaning, that the elements when
coasecrated are possessed of an inherent virtue for conferring
grace. Accordingly, the Popish vulgar, whatever may be the
sentiments of the priests, universally imagine this. . I would
that the leaven of the impure superstition were thoroughly
purged out of our Presbyterian, Congregational and Methodist,
not to speak of Episcopalian Churches, where, even when
Evangelical and Anti-Puseyite, it greatly abounds. Secondly;
the prescriptions of the rubric about the care to be employed in
using genuine material, and performing every item of the
ceremonial appointed for its consecration, are utterly meaning-
less, except on the principle that the manufacture communicates
a virtue to it. Thirdly; when a party in the Council took the
ground, that there is no energy in the consecrated elements
themselves, and that the blessing which follows their application
is only the consequence of an arbitrary arrangement on the part
of God, rewarding compliance with his positive commandment,
the sentiment was reprobated, as savouring of Lutheranism.
Fourthly; we find, when exploring the Mass, that the officiating
Priest, after communicating, prays thus: "May thy body, 0
Lord, which I have received, and thy blood, which I have drunk,
cleave to my bowels!" -For what end 1 For none other con-
ceivable, but that by their physical action on his soul, they may
fill it with grace. We shall subsequently see the same thing
taught, very expressly, about the virtue of the Baptismal water.
* Waterworth, with Cardinal Wiseman's sanction, translates ., through
the act performed." This ill literal and faithful enough, but conveys no
meaning to the uninitiated. Observe, then, that u opere operata is oppoaed
to «I: OfI41't operantis, which signifte. an IlICt of faith on the part IIf the ~
of theSBcrament.. And the dogma is, that the Sacraments confer grtIAle
independently of auy sucll act of faith, and by their own operlliUml alone.
Brethren, can you imagine any thing more degrading to the
Christian faith than this lowering of its institutions to a level
with the charms, and Jove potions, and enchantments of
wizards 1 And with what view do wizards practise their
enchantments 1 Only that they may make gain of the
ignorant. So is it with the wizard-priest. " Sacraments! Ho,
fiacraments ! Come, buy my Sacraments! It is perdition
without my Sacraments! Haste and buy!" The sacramental
revenue, either direct or promoted more remotely, is the grand
secret of the sacramental heresy. In whatever direction we
conduct the inquiry, we come at laxt to the central inspiration
of "the least erected spirit that fell"-low, vulgar, rude-minded
love of money, with a little infusion of the love of power;
which, however, redeems tho character hut little from iLKmoan-
ness; for even the beggar wizard is not insensible to the umbition.
AU are agreed, all right-hearted men, that this cupidity ill th«
master key for unlocking the mysteries of genuine Popery; and
as for her bastard daughter, the Tractarians have, with bastard
effrontery, openly avowed that it was the apprehension of the
stream of the Reform Bill, being turned into their Augean
Church, which set them on the work of magnifying the Priest-
hood with their Sacraments, that the superstition of England
might be deterred from touching the Lord's Anointed.
Finally: observe how the Spirit of God is limited in the
work of salvation, and how that salvation is made dependent
on the weakness and wickedness of human Priests. After the
preceding illustrations, some will be ready to ask, What place
does the system allow for the operations of the Spirit at all 1
I answer, scarcely any for such a direct influencing of the
mind as that which Protestants ascribe to his inspiration;
and when it does apparently admit of anything of thp, kind,
it is in a matter where the operation is questionable, namely,
the producing of that attrition (afterwards to be explained)
which should precede the administration of the Sacraments;
but which, natural conscience, unaided, is quite competent to
exercise, and which they themselves admit is not properly of
the nature of grace (Justification, Canon iii). Subsequent to
that attrition, the operations of the Spirit are represented as
being almost entirely limited to the instrumentality of those
Sacraments, the administration of which is at the will of
man. Through them alone does the Lord operate for the
communicating of anything worthy of the name of salvation.
I'
9i THE PARDON OF SIN.
For although they must surely make some allowance for his
influencing the meditations of the soul by the Word in private,
yet so small is the allowance,that I do not recollectof a. sentence
throughout the Decrees and Canons which I may quote in
evidence. The general law unquestionablyis, that by means of
the Sacraments the soul obtains that beginning,and increasing,
and repairing of grace, in the power of which it proceeds in
its course, till it obtain, by a re-administration of these rites,
another increase, or repair, without any intervening communi-
cation made at home.
Now, it is not so much the rudeness and unworthiness of
the alleged instrumentality, nor the despite done to the instru-
mentality of the regenerating Word of Truth (1 Pet. i. 23), nor
~e manner in which the constitution of man as a thoughtful
responsibleagent is ignored-it is not so much, I say,these vices
of the system which I would at present expo~ to reprobation,
as the manner in which it represents the saving operations of
the Holy Ghost to be limited to, and made dependent on, the
sacramental quackery of a worthless Priest-but worthless the
best of them-when they render themselvesso vile, by imposing
themselves on the rude mob and the not less ignorant classesof
wealth and fashion, as the only agencythrough whosepotions-
nay, they reserve all the drinking for themselves-through
whose charms of spittle, and oil, and wafers, and spells, and
exorcisms of barbarous Latin, with harlequin dressing, and
wizard singing, and antic postures, they allege that the Holy
Spirit enables them to confer grace and salvation on the soul ~
What less can you say of it than that the imposture is very
damnable1 You have no trueness of heart in you, either for
the glory of God or the interests of man, if you begin to whine
about charity, and do not promptly and heartily curse it, as
being damnable exceedingly. We have seen, indeed, that they
qualify the doctrine of the necessityof these priestly operations,
by admitting that in certain circumstances"the desireof them"
will suffice. Even thus the general rule remains a hideous
enormity. And, be it remembered,that the bastard Puseyite
qualifies still less than the legitimate Papist. Down, therefore,
with all Priesthood! Down with the impostors to the level
of a common Christian discipleship, if that will not rather be
the elevation of them! And down with the imposture itself
to the pit from which it rose! Amen I Amen! cries the Holy
Catholic Church round the whole earth.
BA.PTISM.
Having made the foregoing illustrations of the Popish

doctrine on the subject of the Sacraments in general, I proceed
to the explanation of their particular dogmas on the subject of
Baptism. But I shall as usual state previously our Protestant
views, which, besides being necessary in the way of conducting
the argument, will afford a short respite from that painful
bitterness, without which it is impossiblefor a mind that loves
the truth to deal with Popish perversions.
PROTESTANT VIEW OF BAPTISM.
There are three classes of Evangelical Protestants holding

different views on this subject. The Friends, or Quakers-thp
state of whose opinions on the subjects of Christ's atonement.
and justification appears to be at present highly satisfactory-
reject water Baptism in whatever form, imputing to it a car-
nality which is inconsistent with the present dispensationof the
Spirit. I am sorry for this error (of considerable magnitude,
as I regard it) with which our brethren are chargeable; but
not, certainly, becauseit subjects every man, woman, and child
of them to the damnation of Rome. I have no sympathy for
them as the objects of that curse. They do not claim pity; they
feel no bligb.t from it at present, and apprehend no evil from it
for the future. Neither does it occasion them much concern
that the sons of the daughter-church deny them burial in their
consecrated grounds. They have sweet graveyards of their own,
where .the Lord will watch their own and their children's dust,
till He bid it rise in life and beauty in the morning of the
Resurrection.
The two other classes are the Predobaptists, who baptize the
infant offspring of believers; and the .Anti.predobaptists,who
baptize only believing adults. Both of these parties agree in
the formula heretofore explained, that the Sacraments are not
efficient of salvation, but only declarative.
We Predobaptists,-I, at least, for one,-do not believe that
the baptism effects,in the first instance, the least change either
in the child's character or state, unless the following points be
regarded changes in its favour :-lst, that the parent's faith
being strengthened, and he consecrating his child anew to the
Lord,it becomes more and more fit for the Divine government
to regard with special favour the oftSpriDg of the loyal saint,
above that with which it regards the offspring of a rebel:

2d, That, through the same strengthening of the parent's
faith, the security is increased for the careful education of
the child: and 3d, That the church is more impressed with
the consideration, that they have property in that child,
as being a constituent member of the household, and that
they have conjoint charge with the parents for its pious
education.
Admitting that these are changes, there is 110 direct change
made in the meantime on the child's self. It is only the parent
and the church that reap present advantage through the
strengthening of their faith. But I deny that they are changes:
they may he an improvement or increase of what previously
existed, but it all existed as really before the baptism as it does
after it. So soon as the child was born, the voice of the Lord
came forth from the Word, and filled the house, and went forth
over the church proclaiming the covenant, "I will be a God to
the child, and the child is mine; let him be reared for Me !"-
to which the believing parent all joyously responded, "I thank
Thee, 0 God! I agree; gratefully I agree;" and all the church
who heard of the birth united in their Amen. All this was cer-
tainly done before the baptism, on the part of God, and should, at
least, have been done on the part of the parent-the parents, I
shouldsay,-and the church also; and the baptism was just
another way of making the self-same declarations by all the
parties. For what end 1 For nourishing and invigorating
the faith of the parents and the church, and pledging them
over again to the fulfilment of their terms of the covenant.
Meantime the insensible child has received no communica-
tion of grace. His time of profiting comes, when, having
grown up to the years of understanding, and being informed
of what was done, he realizes the scene; and the imagination
of it helps his faith: his faith in what'l-that from the hour
of his birth, long before his baptism, he was the property
of the Lord.
None of myanti-Predobaptist brethren, surely, can either
suspect or accuse me of taking an unfair advantage of my
present position by these explanations of my own views. Less
I could not do in conducting the argument against Popery;
and, with precisely the same object, I now state what I under-
st4tut to be their views. When immersed in the water, and
ill. railed out of it, none of them· either says or feels, or thinks,
that the least change was effected on his soul, either in respect
of disposition, or of relation to the Divine government. All
he received was, at best, the confirmation of a faith which
formerly existed, and by which he was previously justified.
On the part of God there was a declaration of the offer or
promise of his being made dead to sin and alive to righteous-
ness j and on the part of him who voluntarily submitted to
the rite a declaration of his embracement of the offer. In
all this there was nothing new. It was only acting over
again, with a little variety in the mode, that which had
frequently been done before-on God's part in his Word,
and on the part of him baptized, when, in prayer at home, or
profession made to brethren, he had doclured his embracement
of what was proffered to him in tho 'Vort!; tho objoct of
the repetition being the establishment of a previously existing
saving faith.
It is thus that both Protestant Predobaptists and anti-
Predobaptists agree, that the ordinance is simply declarative, in
opposition to the dogma, that it is possessed of that efficiency
in working the most astounding of miracles, which Popery
ascribes to its spurious institution, and which I now proceed
to expose.
POPISH VIEW OF BAPTISM.
Besides the administration of water in the name of the

Trinity, the Church of Rome, that it might redeem the
institution of Christ from imputed nakedness, and render it
something ward like, and more imposing for vulgar and
unsanctified minds, has encompassed it with a huge ceremonial
of its own fabrication. Bellarmine-remark who he is-s-the
Arch-image of the Apostasy, whose authority goes further with
many than that of the Council of Trent j-the said oracular
Cardinal explains, that besides the central ordinance itself,
there are twelve antecedent acts of ceremony, five concomitant,
and five subsequent (De Baptismo L. I. Cc. xxv-vi-vii.). It
will be enough that I make a selection as a specimen.
.Antecedents.-lst, The Priest signs the child on the forehead
and the breast with the figure of the cross, by the way of
enlisting it for the Christian warfare. 2nd, By an exorcism of
Latin he expels Satan and all evil spirits from its infant bosom.
3d, He blows thrice into its face, which Bellarmine explains as
'consisting first of an ~Ulation, or blowing away, of the ero
spirits (after the exorcismhas brought them up to the surface,

I suppose); and secondly,of an adsutflation, or blowing in of
the influences of the Holy Ghost.· 4th, He puts into its
mouth a little holy salt, whether for seasoning its speech,as
some say, or preserving its whole constitution from corrup-
tion, as others say, the Cardinal doesnot determine. 5th, He
anoints the ears and nostrils of the child with-guess what?
-his own spittle, and, travestying the Gospel,says Ephphata,
"Be opened." 6th, He anoints its breast and shoulderswith
holy oil, that it may be invigorated for the combat. 7th, AI'
possessed,through the Succession,of the power of imparting
gifts, he imposes his hand on the child and blesses it. Yon
might suppose this was enough, and that there was no room
left for any more grace being communicated,but you would be
greatly mistaken. The child has undergone only a third part
of the manipulation.
Ooncomitantll.-Of thebe I notice only the Consecrationof
the Water. I formerly mentioned the fiercenesswith which
the Cardinal rages against what he calls the maliciousfalsehood
of Protestants, when they represent the doctrine of the Papal
Church to be, that the sacramental elements are endowed by
Consecration with inherent virtue to operate grace on the
soul. His representation is, that the material and its adminis-
tration being viewed conjointly, the sacraments "contain the
grace which they signify," only as when an arrow may be
said to contaiu death. As before, I question if he state the
doctrine of his Church correctly.t But, admitting that he
does, the Water of Baptism being in that case the arrow
discharged by the Priest,.r ask if it be of the nature of an
itn has not besn without some scruple (overcome by a resolution to
expose the system to scorn) that I haTe indited that sentence. Lest I
be anspected of :baving r:;rpetrated a profane caricature, I transcrioo
Bellarmine's own worda-' Septima CIIIlremoniaeat ExsuftIatio, qnllequidem
annectitnr Exorciamis. Nam et verbis exorciamorum pelluntnr dllemonea,
et CIIIlremoniaexauftlationia aignificatnr eorum expulaio, et limn! aignificatnr
alHatio honi Spirito. "
t Since writing the paBB&ge at ~ 96, my attention hM been directed to
the following sentence in Chap. iiL of the Decree on the Eucharist: .. The
Holy Eucharist has, indeed, this in common with the rest of the Sacramenta,
that it is a symbol of a sacred thing; but there is found in it this excellent
aDd peculiar quality, that the other Sacramenta have then first the power of
MIlctifying when one u_
1U8d, there is the Author·
J,~:it Whereas in the Eucharist, before being
of IIlIDctity." Let Bellarmine have the
........ tace of this, such .. it is, in denying the doctrine to be, that any of
iJae other Sacramenta, but the Euehariat, contain 11"- as a cup containa
... e, and that the1 contain it only .. wMn lID arrow eontaiJul death.
:UT?W before consecration; or, if so, if it be sharp enough 1 If

It lB both the one and the other what is the need of
Consecration, or what does it effect" Protestants have their
conse.cration, too, more or less formal; but except where there
remams a leaven of the old superstition, as when some will
pray! that so much of the water as is used may be blessed!-
makmg this most discreditable exception, our consecration
consists simply of a declaration, that the water is, for the time
being, set apart, as a symbol of the purifying influences of the
I-!0ly Spirit; the application of which to the child is a declara-
non of God's will to accept of the child, and of his promise to
bestow such grace as is fitting for his government. And it is
just as this is seen by the parent, and afterwards thought of
\,y the child, that the ordinance is of any profit. But this
profiting is all ex opere operantis, the idea of which Popery
scorns and reprobates. Since, then, their consecration does
n~t consist in setting the water apart for the contemplation of
faIth, what does it effect 7 either nothing, so lIB to be an idle
ceremony, or an infusion of some virtue.
Sub8Ilquent •.-'J'he Baptism of Water having been adminis-
tered, the child is anointed with Chrism (a peculiarly potent
holy oil) in resemblance of the descent of the Holy Spirit on
our Lord after His Baptism. He is then wrapt up in a white
robe, and has a lighted wax taper put into his hand, BO as to be
fully inaugurated as one of the wise virgins.
THE COUNCIL OF TRENT ON BAPTISH.
Brethren! it would be insulting your understandings, and

abusing your time and patience, were I to dwell on the exposure
of the unwarrantableness, the puerility and jugglery of all those
antecedents, concomitants, and subsequents; and especially
when, if debating with a Jesuit, he would pretend to surrend~r
them all lIB being unnecessary, and merely decorous accomparu-
ments. Let us, therefore, consider their views of the substance
of the ordinance, the administration of water in the name of the
Father: and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
We 'have already seen that, in company with all the rest of
the Sacraments, ex opere operata, by its own energy, it com-
municates grace to the soul. And that there may be .no
mistake of the doctrine, that that water, whether consecration
:infuaes into it any virtue or not, does by application avail to
the purification of the soul from all guilt and sin, and the
beautification of it with holiness, the Catechism (drawn up,

remember, by a commission of the Council, and ratified by the
Pope) contains the following observation :-" How an effect
so great and admirable should be produced-that water in
cleansing the body should reach the soul-cannot be com-
prehended by human reason and intelligence. But by the
light of Faith we know that the power of the omnipotent God
resides in the Sacraments, by which they effect that to which
the natural elements are by their own energy inadequate"
(P. II. c. i. Q. 21).
Here is the materia-spiritual chemistry, or, if you will, the
spiritual hydrodynamics or water-power, professed in their
naked absurdity and grossness. Well, the action of the water,
reaching the soul, endows it with grace; but what more par-
ticularly is this Popish and Puseyite grace'l-for in this matter
mother and daughter are perfectly agreed-Wiseman and
Philpotts, to the shade of a sentiment. Hear then the Council
as it fulminates its anathema with more reason assigned for its
cursing than usual :-
If anyone denies, that by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is con-
ferred in Baptism, the guilt of original sin is remitted; or even asserts, that
the whole of that which hal the true and proper nature of sin is not taken away,
let him be accursed. For in those who are regenerated there is nothing that
God hates, because there is no condemnation to those who are truly buried
together with Christ by Baptism into death; who walk not after the flesh,
but, putting off the old man and putting on the new, who is created according
to God, are made innocent, immaculate, pure, harmless, and beloved of God,
so that there is nothing whatsoever to retard their entrance into heaven.
But the Holy Synod confesses, and is sensible, that in the baptized there
remains Concupiscence, or an incentive to sin, which, whereas it is left for
our exercise (of grace), cannot injure those who consent not. This Con-
cupiscence, which the apostle sometimes ealls sin (Rom. vi. 12; viii. 8, 9),
the Holy Synod declares the Catholic Church has never understood to be
called sin, as being truly and properly sin in the baptismally regenerated;
but because it is of sin, and inclines to sin. And if anyone is of It contrary
sentiment, let him be accursed (Original Sin, Canon v.),
What is precisely the doctrine of the Council on the subject

of Original Sin, it is, as usual, impossible to determine. Amid
the bitter conflict of opinions, self-contradictory compromise was
unavoidable. This, however, is evident, that they repudiated
the doctrine of the imputation of Adam's sin to his posterity
in every form of it. The admission of this would have drawn
after it the doctrine of the imputation of Christ's righteous-
ness to his believing people-a doctrine which they heartily
abhorred. The guilt, therefore, of which they speak in the
Canon just quoted, must signify personal guilt, arising from sin
being propagated to each member of the family-a dogma which
they all unquestionably held, some in the grossest material
form, others in a form approximating the privative theory of
Edwards, Williams, Payne, and other eminent Protestants.
The dissension, however, was so great that they could determine
nothing specifically.
But, whatever may have been the nature either of the guilt
or depravity which they individually imagined, they were
unanimous in asserting, that all iii washed away and rectified
by the potency of Baptism, and that grace is infused which
constitutes justification. Am] the undeniable fact, that some-
thing remains which is not only like sin, but which tho Apostle
expressly declares is sin, must 1)(Jexplained to be IlO sin at all,
that the honours of the spell may he maintained. "TIIll
collective desires of revolt existing in man," says Bungener,-
"the revolt of the flesh against the spirit, and of the spirit
against God, are called concupiscence. These desires, viewed
as a consequence of Original Sin, cease through Baptism to be
sins; they become criminal only when we yield to them;
whilst, in the man who is not baptized, they are culpable by
the simple fact of their existence." Can anything be morally
more atrocious and pestilential 7 "Thou shalt not covet," saith
the law of God: yes, says Popery, but it is law only for the
unbaptized; for the baptized there is impunity, provided they
do not put forth their hands to steal. Small is the wonder so
many of them are thieves!
~ otwithstanding this permitted and cherished corruption,
observe carefully, that it is by the infusion of grace into the
soul, Baptism is represented as effecting salvation. We have
seen, when treating of justification, that according to Popery
there is no pardoning of men in consideration of Christ's
having atoned for their sins; that is Lutheranism: neither is
there any pardoning of them for a righteousness, one half,
supplied by Christ and the other half by themselves; that is
the rejected compromise of Seripando: the pardon is bestowed
entirely in consideration of the grace, which the Judge perceives
in each individual's own bosom, with which grace Baptism
furnishes him abundantly, making him "innocent, immaculate,
pure, and harmless."
Observe now, how the origination of this necessary grace is
limited to Baptism. There is no other means of obtaining it.
Even the Eucharist of the Mass is incompetent to the task.

It can only cherish a grace which Baptism had previously
communicated. Though the body of the Lord should" cleave
to the bowels," it would send forth its influences in vain on a
soul which had not been softened for their reception by the
waters of Baptism. Without Baptism the eternal ruin of
young and old is certain. Listen to the Catechism-the
Catechism of the Council remember, ratified by the Pope;
"When the knowledge of all the other things which have
hitherto been explained, should be regarded as being of great
utility to the faithful; yet nothing can appear more necessary
than that they be instructed, that the law of Baptism has been
prescribed by the Lord to all men, in .such a manner, that,
unless they are regenerated to God by the grace of Baptism,
they have been procreated to eternal misery and damnation by
their parents, whether these parents be infidel or Christian."
(P. II. c. ii.Q. 30).
The consequences of this doctrine, in an absolute form, would
be so dreadful, that, independently of the heart of Popery itself,
hard and cruel as it is, shrinking and relenting, ten thousand
mothers, whose infants had died unbaptized, would have raised
an insurrection throughout Christendom, in defiance of both
Pope and Councils. They were therefore obliged to make large
qualifications. We have already seen in what one of these quali-
fications consists, namely, that, in circumstances of necessity
the desire of the Sacrament, whether on the part of the parent
for his child, I suppose, or on the part of the adult for himself,
is sufficient. After the explanation which has been made of
the ex opere operau» hydrodynamics, you will perceive more
clearly the absurdity of representing the desire of the operation
.as equivalent to the enjoyment of the operation itself. We can
easily comprehend how, in the ease of a prescribed duty, the
Lord should accept of the will for the deed, when the perform-
ance is impracticable; but how the desire of being operated
upon, in such a case as the present, should. be of equal efficacy
as the operation itself, exceeds all imagination. The Priests
might as well tell us that the desire of an apple is as nourishing
as the apple itself. Try them; Give them the desire for their
share, and let us have the apple.
So unsatisfactory was the reply about the sufficiency of the
desire, that the mothers would not be put off with it. Observe,
thererOl'l~, how after all their gasconade about their being the
successors of the apostles, to whom as the only depositaries and
distributors of God's mercy He had committed the grace-giving
life-giving, miracle-working Sacraments--observe, I say, ho~
the mother-women humbled their pride. "No Monopoly, your
Reverences," they cried, and demanded that the baptism of the
goo~ handy midwives should be acknowledged as potent as
their own. There was no help for the Priests: the insurrection
was imminent; and they were obliged to seek about for an
apology with which they might surrender as gracefully 88
possible :-" We find you are right, venerable ladies, and that
your demand is most pious-Zipporah circumcised her own son."
A. theologian! Set a woman on the Jesuits, with a mother's
heart in her.
You might think that the matrons had humbled tho Apoa-
tolical Succession low enough, when they had levelled them
with the midwives. But they were fated to undergo a lItill
greater indignity. A. number of weak-minded women had been
proselytized from other faiths by Jesuit flatteries j but the
woman-judgment may be weak when the mother-heart is strong.
These mothers began to inquire about the state of those children
who had died when they belonged to the alleged heretical
communions, within which they had been baptized. "All
damned," said the Priests, "the Pope himself could not save a
soul of them." See the Mothers! "Bachelor villains!" they
cried, and were up and after them. The Priests shut themselves
up in Council, and to propitiate the rage, not only published a
Decree, but launched the thunderbolt of an anathema, against
whosoever might presume to insult a mother's love of her child.
Cowrwil of Trent; Session Seventh; Canon Fourth, on Baptism:
"H anyone saith that the Baptism which is given even by
heretics, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Ghost, with the intention of doing what the church doth, is
not true Baptism, let him be accursed." The Baptism of Heretics
as potent, after all, as that of the legitimate Priesthood I The
Prerogative surrendered! The Monopoly abolished! Not only
the sisterly midwives, but the hated heretics admitted to equal
honours I And that too, observe, in respect of the administration
of the most important of the Sacraments: far more important
even than that of the Mass: that on which all the rest are
dependent, but which of itself effects salvation independently
of them! It is very remarkable; and notwithstanding the
iIluatration, somewhat parablewise, which I have made of the
manner in which the priesthood have been compelled to

accommodate their dogma to parental feeling, we may be
certain that the accommodation was facilitated at least, by
other considerations, It is in virtue of this admission of the
validity of the Baptism of heretics, that Wiseman sits on his
throne at Westminster, and claims all the baptized of whatever
denomination as his, being deputed to receive their submission
by the Mother Church.
SALVATION OF INFANTS.
But notwithstanding all the comprehension-that, besides

the' Baptism of Popish Priests, the Baptism of Midwives, the
Baptism of Heretics, yea, the desire of it by 'the parents are
valid for salvation,-yet, if one or other of these is necessary,
how many infants must perish! Nay, say the Papists, that is
one of your Protestant slanders; we do not damn them to Hell,
we only send them to Limbo.
Now, brethren, before explaining what this Limbo is, let me
state my own view of the destiny of those who die in infancy.
Elsewhere'" I have explained it at large, and satisfy myself at
present with the declaration, that I believe, that never does
spirit of infant, of whatsoever parents born, baptized or
unbaptized, leave this world without ascending all-joyously
into the Paradise of the blest, through the merits of Him who
is eminently the Saviour of Children: and that rather than
have community of feeling with that Protestant, if such
Protestant there be, who believes that it is either certain, or
probable, or even possible, that God will consign any infant
to the torments of hell I would renounce my faith in Godhead,
and consort with Robert Owen. The god of such a Protestant
is not my God; and I am sure that the honour orthe true God
would be benefitedby being rid of the name of such a worshipper;
and that the worshipper himself would be benefited by being rid
of the fear of such a god. 0, you will argue the case, will you!
and demonstrate that such damnation magnifiesthe Divine Sover-
eignty 1 How fond you must be of an argument, and confident
in your logical gifts, when you would undertake the defenceof
such a thesis I Go rather, Sir, and test your principle by
trying if you can pray with it. I can pray to my God, all the
more confidinglyin his character, when I place beforemy mind
• "~Union in the Heavenly Kingdom and other DiIcoUJ'lel:" Sennon xxxi.
the scene of the Despots and Priests, who have shed the blood
of the saints and trodden down the liberties of men, being
driven away in his ire into everlasting destruction; can you do
the same towards your God, when you place before your mind
the scene of bis sovereignty displaying its glory in the damna-
tion of the infants1 There are others besides Papists who have
Moloch for their God.
Attend now to the Popish Limbo. The more vulgar Papists
represent the nether world as being divided into a great variety
of depa.rtments; but their more accomplished, classical, philo-
sophical theologians, who have rid themselves of all superstition,
limit tbe number to fonr. The lowest department is Hell;
immediately above lies Purgatory; highest is Limbns I'atrum,
or the region of the fathers, where the souls of the Patriarch;;
and all saints who died before the Resurrection of Chrilit wert'
detained, but which He delivered at that time, and conveyed
with Him to Heaven. Ever since, Limbus Pat1'1tm has been
untenanted; the Pope, who holds its key, being puzzled how
to dispose of it. Intermediately, under Limbus Patrum, and
above Purgatory, lies Limbus Infantum, the region of infants
who die unbaptized :-not perfectly dark, but with the least
perceptible light ;-with the climate neither wintry cold nor
summer warm, but temperate, say at 50° of Fabrenheit ;-tens
of thousands of acres, broad and long for the vast population,
all covered over with a kind of creeping, broad-leaved dock-
weed, under which the melancholy infant spirits cower and
weep. Their parents having been negligent about their baptism,
or having never heard of such a thing, or the priest having
wanted intention at the time of performing it, the little helpless
victims are doomed by the Papist's god to suffer for eternity the
punishment, not of sense-no, he is more merciful than that--
but of loss--he must have some gratification of vengeance--i.e.,
not the pains of Hell, but the privation of the bliss of Heaven.
This distinction of the scholastic doctors, betwixt tbe punish-
ments of sense and loss, is an ancient one; but tbe rare genius
of Bellarmine greatly improved it: tbe punishment of Limbo,
he says is on the one hand not so bad as annihilation, but on
the oth~r not much better; Is not that acutely discriminated 1
Remember who Robert Bellarmine is: Facile Princep8, the
None-Such of Popish Divines. And yet, I protest it is superior
theology to that of those Protestants, an opprobrium to the
name, who consign multitudes or children two regions further
down. Rellect especially, that, when the Puseyite Perjury

hold the same views with the Popish .Apostasyon the necessity
of Baptism, they at once limit the genuineness of its adminis-
tration to a much narrower circle, making no allowance for the
heretical dissenters, and have made no provision for such miti-
gated punishment as that of Limbo. Their Moloch-massacre
of infants is far more fiendish, both for extent and cruelty.
Generous, freedom-loving England! whose aristocracy legislate,
and whose people patiently endure, the taxation of millions
of her wealth, for the pampering of the infanticides. Yea,
pious England! who bribes them so high for the blaspheming
of her God!
BAPTISM OF ADULTS.
After the foregoing illustration of the Baptism of a child, a

little will suffice for illustrating that of an adult. Besides,
there are two distinctions which Popery makes, namely, betwixt
attrition and contrition, and betwixt reatus culpre, or charge-
ableness with fault, and reatue pr.enre, or obnoxiousness to
punishment; the explanation of which must be deferred to the
illustrations of Penance, although the dogma of adult Baptism
also cannot be fully comprehended without some knowledge of
their import.
Assuming, then, the case of a man of fifty years of age who
had not been baptized in his infancy, and spent his life hitherto
in the most abandoned prolligacy--drunkenness, robbery,
adultery, and murder: some dark night let him imagine that
he has seen the ghost of one of his victims; let him be terribly
alarmed, and' tremble for the judgments of God; let him wish
he had not perpetrated the murderous deed, and resolve that he
shall amend his life, let him say, that he must become a
Christian, though he does not know particularly what Ohristi-
anity is, but only, that it is a way, as they tell him, of escaping
Hell, in order to which he is willing to acknowledge the Pope,
and the Virgin, and Him they call Ohrist, and St. Dominic,
and all the saints of the calendar, for he is dreadfully afraid-
that man is qualified for Popish Baptism. Not only is it
unnecessary that he be of a contrite heart, as distinguished from
an alarmed heart; Dot only is it unnecessary that he have
conliding views of God's paternal mercy, as distinguished from
terror of Him; not only is it unnecessary that he have a loving
faith in Ohrist, as distinguished from a state of mind in which
he says, I know little of Him, but 1 have no objections to
?onfess Him-not only is all this unnecessary, but to represent
It as being attainable in his circumstances, even though
Bellarmine himself were his instructor and counsellor is
according to Popish th6?logy a damnable heresy. See you 'not,
that such a state of mind would be grace 1 And what then
would be the need of Baptism, the whole of the design of which
is to regenerate and communicate grace for the first time 1
"This faith," says the Council, "catechumens beg of the church,
agreeably to a tradition of the Apostles previously to the
sacrament of Baptism, when they bl'g for the faith which
bestows ,life everlasting" (Justification c. vii. ).- Well, there
being no "obstacle in the way," the priest baptizes, and lo!
immediately, instantly, with lightning execution, liZ 0P/!1'6
operato of the Hydrodynamics, the soul of the profligate is
purged of all sin, and beautified with all virtne; and were he
presently to die, not only would his ultimate salvation be
certain, but he would pass directly into the celestial paradise,
without being subjected to any intervening discipline of
purgatorial fire.
I am quite certain that this is the doctrine of the foul
Apostasy, though 1 doubt that the practice is conformable.
Were a Popish mother, ignorant of the universal power for
salvation which resides in baptism, to proffer money for a mass
for the deliverance of the soul of her deceased child, I guess
that the priestly cupidity would not resist the temptation: how
much more is there not reason to suspect, that no refusal
would be made in such a case as that of the newly baptized
profligate 1 At all events, to receive the money would be
an imposition, which exceeded the imposture of their own
legislation. The doctrine is express, that every thing of sin,
both culpa and pr£na, moral blemish or guilt, and punishment
alike, is abolished by the Baptism. The Catechism is copious
in its illustration, that this sacrament differs from, and excels
all the rest, in this respect, that when they only remove the
culpa, leaving much pama, to be atoned for by satisfactions,
purgatorial sufferings, &c., Baptism by its potency makes a
universal work of the salvation, until new guilt be contracted
(P. H. c. ii Qs. 44, 46).
I must close the illustration of Popish and Puseyite Baptism,
that there may be room for a proportionate illustration of their
other dopaa and practices. But. although I had an oppar-
tunity, I question if I would take advantage of it, to examine

particularly their interpretation of those passages of Scripture
which they adduce as authority for their fancy of physical
regeneration. For any mind, even moderately civilized, not to
speak of its being spiritualized, I regard it enough to appeal to
it-if such a system of spells and charms, as that which has
passed under review, be not at once so degrading to man and
dishonouring to God, that there cannot possibly be any word
spoken by Him which authorises it. I admit, that frequently it
is presumptuous to be guided in our interpretations by the rule
of what has been called previous probability or improbability.
But there are atrocities in ihe priestly imposture which offer
such violence to our intellectual and moral natures, that it
would be profane to proceed to examine the Divine testimony
with the feeling that we might possibly find them taught and
legislated there. Among those atrocities, the dogma of Baptis-
mal Regeneration is pre-eminent. I dismiss it,. as being in
some instances entertained in a spirit of the most pitiable
ignorant delusion; in others, as professed in a spirit of the
most abominable, mercenary hypocrisy.
CONFIRMATION.
Throughout the system of imposture, there is nothing which

has less even of the pretence of Divine authority, than the
Sacrament of Confirmation. As I proceed with its description,
reflect that the main plea for its observance is the descent of
the Holy Ghost on Pentecost day, to qualify the Apostles for
executing their commission; and then judge, if the subject
furnish materials for anything of the nature of an argument.
And, although it affords one of the best opportunities for
exposing the system to ridicule, yet I shall be temperate in
indulging this humour, and hasten the subject over, on account
of matters of much weightier moment which lie beyond.
The object, then, observe, of this spurious rite is the
increasing and invigorating of the grace which was communi-
cated in Baptism. Through that ordinance the destined infant
warrior received life; but now that he is about to enter the
field of conflict, he must be endowed with might. The instruc-
tion of the Catechism is, that he be subjected to this second
operation some time betwixt the seventh and twelfth year of
age; as before the first of these terms he is not properly a
responsible agent, and after the latter might be guilty of mortal
sin, which would greatly perplex the case, as qualifying him

rather for the Sacrament of Penance. This consideration shows
that the best time for confirming an adult i! immediately after
he has been baptized, when he is yet "innocent, immaculate,
pure, and harmless." Of such high importance is this sacra-
ment that, as we have seen before, it requires a Bishop-priest
for its administration; only in a case of necessity a Presbyter-
priest IIIay perform it, but only by express deputation. Its
efficacy is limited to no particular season; but it is considered
to be especially potent when administered on Pentecost day, as
being that on which- the A postles were confirmed.
In proceeding to the ceremony, the sacred Chrism is again
produced, a little of which we saw was employed in Baptism.
That little has occasioned Popish theologians not a little per-
plexity. It is so like Confirmation, which, on account of the
indelible character it impresses, cannot be administered twice,
without incurring the pains of an anathema. But I must not
stop to explain this. Attend to the Chrism: it is one of the
greatest curiosities of Popery, many and great as these curiosi-
ties be. The Catechism assures us, and Bellarmine redoubles
the assurance, that the recipe for compounding it was given by
Christ to the Apostles! After this, is not the free-thinking
of Peter Dens most scandalous, when he expresses himself
doubtfully on the subject 1 It endangers the whole of the
education of Maynooth, by its evil example in questioning
one of the most venerable traditions. But whatever may
be the authorship of the prescription, it directs that the
charm be compounded of oil and balsam, in resemblance, says
Bellarmine, of the two divisions of the cloven tongues of fire
which descended on the Apostles! It is with extraordinary
solemnity of ceremony-prayers, signings of the cross, breath-
ings, and incantations, that as much is prepared and consecrated
by the Bishop on Maunday Thursday of Passion week, as will
serve for the whole of the succeeding year :-
"Double, double, toil and trouble;
Consecrate the holy babble;
Olive oil and balsam pure-
Make the charm both firm and sure,"
.A VII, sanctum Chrisma! Hail, holy Chrism! exclaim the Bishop
and attendant Presbyters, so soon as it has been confected; and
Bellarmine defends the salutation by a. proof from Virgil's
lEneid. But hear the Council :-" If anyone saith that they
G
who ascribe any virtue to the Sacred Chrism of Confirmation,

offer an outrage to the Holy Ghost; let him be accursed"
(Confirmation, Canon II.). And Bellarmine himself, notwith-
standing the fierceness of his indignation against Protestants,
when they represent the Papists as teaching that consecration
communicates virtue to the sacramental material, cannot sup-
press his admiration of the potency of Chrism; but speaks of
it as possessing vim sanctijicandi, the power of sanctifying, and
. therefore well entitled to the A oe with which the Bishop and
Presbyters salute it, when it comes forth from the process,
fervid with the spirit which the Bishop has breathed into it.
The charm having been prepared and carefully bottled up,
lest the spirit evaporate, at its application the Bishop, with one
of his hands placed on the head of the subject of Confirmation,
invokes the Holy Spirit ; and, at the same time, with the other
anoints the forehead, after the form of the cross, saying, "I
sign thee with the sign of the cross, and I confirm thee with
the Chrism of Salvation, in the name of the Father, and of the
Son, and of the Holy Spirit."
Observe there is a twofold action here; the Imposition of
the Bishop's hand, and the Anointing with Chrism. At the
commencement of his discussion, Bellarmine represents the first
of these to be the material of the sacrament; in which case
its virtue will consist in an influence passing forth from the
Bishop, down through the child's head to his heart, by a species
of mesmerism. But by the time this prince of theologians has
proceeded forward half-a-dozen of pages, he either forgets him-
self, or changes his mind, and represents the Chrism as being
the material; in which case, like the Water of Baptism, ex
opere operato, it will permeate the child's flesh, and, as the
Catechism says, "reach the soul" with its alchymic power, its
vis sanctificandi, according to Bellarmine, and invigorate the
grace which Baptism originally communicated. The Puseyites
are limited to the first of these alternatives: they dare not-
no, the mercenary cowards, for their" livings" they dare not---
begin to compound Chrism. Even Sir Robert Inglis and Mr.
Gladstone, yea, that pillar of the Church, Rabbi D'Israeli,
would deliver them up to the outraged civilization of England,
which would make swift work of the judgment--" to beggary!
and be thankful it is not the stocks, where perjury receives
its due." How enviable is the prerogative of Wiseman in
comparison! I mean in comparison with that of Philpotts,
and Wilberforce, and Bloomfield, and some more of them. On

Bellarmine's principle, that the sacraments contain grace in the
same way that an arrow contains death, the genuine Papist has
two strings to his bow in Confirmation, when the illegitimates
have but one.
The remaining part of the ceremony, I must introduce as
described by themselves in Latin phrase: "Postea, episcopus
infligit levem alapam in maxilla confirmati." The Scotch idiom
furnishes us with a translation of this treatment with which
the subject of Confirmation is dismissed home, much superior
to any rendering in English: "Then the Bishop-infligit leuem.
alapam in maxilla-cuffs him on the cheek." The Popish
doctors are at great variance in their interpretation of this
episcopal "cuff." The Catechism, Bellarrnine corroborating,
says that it is designed to warn the receivers of the indignities
and hardships to which they will be subjected in the course of
that warfare on which they have entered: others maintain that
it is designed to keep them in remembrance of the ceremony;
that, whereas they might forget the other parts of it, the boys
and girls are not likely to be oblivious of the Bishop's cuffing:
while a third party contend that it is significative of his
reverence's familiarity and condescending kindness, on the
same principle that Scotch wooing is said to be conducted by
practices which a stranger to our manners might misinterpret
as indicative rather of enmity and ill nature! Rome proclaims
her anathemas in peals of thunder; let us respond with peals
of laughter. There is no better treatment for much of her
pretension; no better use of our faculty for merriment. I am
certain that Elijah designed that Israel should laugh aloud
when he mocked the priests of Baal (1 Kings xviii. 27). And
although John Knox accomplished the greater part of his work
by solid scriptural argument and the fiery denunciations of a
holy zeal, yet he accomplished not a little by his laughter-
moving humour. There is not a better instance of it in the
English language, than that which is furnished by his" puissant
mouse," putting to flight the impotent bread-god of the Mass.
I shall therefore dismiss Confirmation with the gentle "cuffing"
it has received.
It would be a waste of time, intellect, and feeling, to
expend grave refutation on anything 80 utterly destitute of
divine authority, so impious, 80" degrading, 80 puerile, so
delusive of the silly youth on whom the imposition is prao-
tised, if they regard it otherwise than as being a holiday's

sport, when they get a "cuffing" from the Bishop. I wonder
if Exeter cuffs. But, so ignorant am I, that I know not if
the rubric of the Reformed Church of England prescribe that
he "do the amiable" at Confirmation, and "cuff" the little
maids of the aristocracy. Without the cuffing the ceremony
must be dull and unimpressive. "If anyone think," said
John Knox, "that I ought not to mock that which the world
so long hath holden, and great princes yet hold, in so great
veneration, I answer, that not only I, but all the godly ought
both to mock, gainsay, and abhor all religion obtruded on the
people, without assurance of God and his Word-having respect
neither to antiquity, to multitude, to authority, nor estimation
of them that maintain the same."
THE EUCHARIST.
In practice, the Sacrament of Penance almost always takes

the precedence, in order of time, of the Sacrament of the Mass."
But theoretically, an adult may be baptized, confirmed, and
communicated within the same hour, without having confessed
and received Absolution; the theory being, that Baptism and
Confirmation having purified him of all sin, and endowed him
with much grace, he has not had opportunity for committing
sin anew, which requires Absolution, and is therefore pre-
pared for the Eucharist, which contains a third instalment of
invigorating sanctity.
As, in subsequent Lectures on the Mass, I shall illustrate
at length its Sacramental as well as Sacrificial department, I
satisfy myself with making here a simple statement of the sum
of the benefit :-That wheaten cake, transubstantiated into the
body of Christ, and possessing "'vim sanctijicandi, as when an
arrow contains death," being administered by the priest, and
* Obaerve the clliferenee of the Sacrifice and Sacrament of the Mass. The
sacrifice ia a re-enacting of what Christ did on the cross. But when treating
of Justification, we saw that, according to Popery, that work of Christ doee
not avail to the obtaining of Pardon, but only to the obtaining of that grace
which forms the grounds of Pardon. The sacrifice of the Mass, though
it does as much as the original sacrifice, cannot do more. Consequently,
though called propitiatory, it propitiates onl1 so far as to secure that grace
which is communicated by its own lISCl"aJIIent and the various other sacra-
ments. There are expressions, indeed, in the Ordinary of the Mass, as well
as in the Decrees and Catechism, which seem to ascribe a direct power of
gabIing pardon to thia great sacrifice of the Prieethood. But no one who has
anT ~oe of the work, ever prooeeda in the analysis of Popery on the
priDalpIe of tiBding in it a self-GODJiJtent theory.
received by the communicant, and" cleaving to his bowels,"
does, ex opere opera to, independently of faith in the receiver,
communicate grace to the soul; destroying whatever sins
Baptism, Confirmation, and Penance may have left unpurged
away, through deficiency in the administration or reception;
and aiding and augmenting what they had bestowed in com-
parative weakness and scantiness. I refer to the Lectures
on the Mass for additional explanations, and proceed to the
exposure of new perversions.
WORKS OF SUPEREROGATION.
Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist having commenced

grace, and then increased it, and yet again augmented it, there
are two ways in which this grace may be treated by him who
has been so plentifully endowed: it may be cherished ami
culti vated; or it may be neglected and resisted, so as to be
impaired, and even ultimately lost. It is the latter term of
this alternative which the tenor of these illustrations leads us
especially to consider; but it will be both interesting and useful
for our argument to advert shortly to the former also.
Observe, therefore, that he who is faithful, having, by the
communicated grace, become entitled to the kingdom 88 a
common citizen, proceeds to work out for himself, meritoriously,
a title to a higher, and then to a higher, and yet to a still higher
degree of heavenly glory, till-what 1 Why, till all the degrees
are exhausted-till he has attained to the topmost hierarchy
of heaven, so that there remains nothing higher to which his
ambition may aspire. But, although the rewards are exhausted,
not so his holy zeal; he goes on working; nothing will stay
him. What then is to be done 1 Is this overflowing righteous-
ness to go for nothing 1 Must the Divine government remain
indebted to the Popish saint, without ability to compensate
him 1 Is it not a great perplexity 1 But what is so perplexing
that the ingenuity of Popish inspiration and infallibility cannot
resolve it 1 All the merit of these. supererogatory works, which
it exceeds the power of Heaven to reward in the person of the
saint himself, is deposited in a treasury, of the key of which
the Pope is the custodier, to be distributed by him, through
the ministry of his Priests, and transferred to the account of
the weaker Popish brethren-the limping and leprous, of whom
there is happily a great multitude. Happily I How happily'
For this obvious reason, that it relieves the Divine government
of a great difficulty. How could it otherwise have disposed of

these excessive merits which it is unable to reward in the
persons of the paragon saints t.hemselves ~
Well, transferred to the account of the limping and leprous-c-
for what end 1 To reduce, or altogether discharge, the purga-
torial debt which they have contracted. And on what con-
ditions 1 Sometimes gratuitously, when his Holiness has been
seized with a fit of generosity; but infallibly for a sum of
money. Brethren, what is it I speak on Is it about some
absurd, unclean superstition of the middle ages, a thousand
years ago 1 No; but about what exists at the present hour.
At Timbuctoo, then, you will say-in central Africa. No; in
central Scotland-in Glasgow. There are tens of thousands
of our fellow-citizens--they themselves boast they are sixty
thousand strong-who say they devoutly believe it all, and
proceed on its principle in making their arrangements for
eternity. Reflect how, just last year [1851] they flocked in
multitudes to obtain the Italian Impostor's Indulgence, when
he had proclaimed a Jubilee in gratitude for the manner in
which the French Atheist had reimposed his hated tyranny on
the citizens of Rome. What was that Indulgence ~ It was
a share of the surplus merits of the saints, with which his
Holiness furnished them against the exaction of their purga-
torial debt. How difficult it is to imagine, that there mingle
with us, as we walk the streets, a class of men who teach, and
a great multitude who with serious air listen to the teaching
of such barbarous absurdity, not to characterize it as being
anything worse! For the sake of our common humanity-that
we may vindicate for our species the title of rationality-I
express my conviction that the great majority of them have as
little faith in it as you and I have. And although this con-
viction is expressed at the expense of imputing to them a
want of sincerity in their profession, yet a thousand times Jess
criminality would there be in such hypocrisy, produced by the
temptation of circumstances, than in the sincere belief of a
system which ascribes such procedure and arrangements to the
government of God, and usurps for itself the name of his holy
Gospel. No; I am persuaded of them, that the men are not
80 wicked as to be honest in their profession.
There is only one other question on this subject, to which I
shall at present advert. Some of you no doubt feel curious
about the nature of these good works, by which the paragon
THE POPISH nOCTRINE. 119
saints of Popery secure such a superabundance of merits for

others, after their own necessities have been supplied. It can-
not be mere sobriety, for there are thousands of total abstainers
among Protestants, who equal them in this virtue; neither can
it be almsgiving, for the charities of British Protestantism
exceed those of the entire Popedom.
What then can it be 1-Are you a "sisted" Get thee to a
nunnery. If conscious that your heart is so frail that you can-
not withstand the allurements of the world like other virtuous
women, flee to the nunnery. Of all the wealth you at present
possess, and of all you may in future become entitled to, dis-
burden yourself by a deed, burdening it on the Priests, who
will compassionately uudertake the bearing of it,-then, into
your cell! Refuse all intercourse with your mother; and leave
your younger sisters to the mercy of that world which you
found so dangerous to yourself': what have you to do with
them 1 They are of the world: submit with the docility of a
weaned child to the lady superior; the more a harridan she is,
the better for your soul to tame it of its naughtiness: pray by
the rosary tens of Paternosters and hundreds of Ave Marias in
the day: sew a necklace for the Virgin: knit stockings for the
Cardinal. Sister! be vigilant: all history warns you to be
vigilant of the profligate confessor: the harridan and he may
conspire your ruin. Conducting thyself thus, thou shalt not
only save thyself with the topmost salvation by the side of the
Queen of Heaven, but replenish with th)~ supererogatory merits
the treasury of St. Peter, which the Holy Father, after taking
a share for himself, for he has great need of it, may transfer
to the account of thy former grovelling acquaintance out in
the world, who have taken advantage of the impure law of
marriage, as that foolish one, thy mother, did: work for her,
then, that she may be saved. But ah l let thy sympathy be
especially thoughtful about the less vigilant of the sisterhood
with whom the tempter has prevailed. There is no lack of
work for thee.
Or, Are you a "brother 1" Get thee to a monastery. Even
the tlregs of a life of profligacy may be turned to wonderful
account of profit within the precincts of a monastery. Doff
these luxurious linens; clothe thee with a hair shirt stuck full
of thorns; emaciate thyself with fn.stings; macerate thyself
with switches and thongs of bull's hide, till thou art covered
with gore: such are the works in which the Moloch of Popery
120 THE PARDON or SIN.
delights. And when by their merits thou hast reached the

highest pinnacle, so that Heaven has no additional recompense
for thy excellence-put in more thorns, fast more rigorously,
scourge thyself more savagely; and like thy holy sister who is
busy at her work of supererogation to redeem the follies of her
Magdalene nun-sisters, so labour thou for redeeming the villanies
of thy prodigal monk-brothers. Yea, as thou art a man, and
not a weakly woman, forth from thy cell, and emulate St.
Dominic I-that is the aim for a soaring ambition: no work is
there so meritorious, as that of hunting, and shooting, and
stabbing, and burning Protestant heretics; by no other have
men risen so rapidly to the highest eminence of heavenly glory :
by no other have they replenished so plentifully the church's
treasury, by means of which his Holiness may rescue the worth-
less out of the hands of Divine justice.
B.-THE SACRA:MENTS.
( Oonunued, )
PEN A~CE.
HAVING illustrated the result of the grace being well cultivated,

which was communicated and increased by Baptism, Oonfirma-
tion, and the Eucharist, I proceed to consider the consequences
of the reverse, when the grace is neglected or resisted, so as to be
impaired or even altogether lost. The Council, indeed, declare
that each of the first two of these sacraments impresses the
soul with an indelible character or sign, which even the fires of
hell cannot obliterate. Just like the mark of the good ship the
Victory, which will cleave to the Trafalgar hero's arm, though
he should be degraded and dismissed from the service, and
reduced to sweep the streets j similarly, though the marks made
by Baptism and Oonfirmation are ineffaceable, yet may the
grace itself be lost. These imprints, made in the spiritual sub-
stance of the soul, must be great curiosities if one could see
them. The doctors contend bitterly with one another about
their nature and complexion j but it is of small importance to
determine what like they are: the alarming consideration is
that the grace itself may have escaped from underneath, though
the marks remain on the surface.
How is it to be recovered 1 Ignorance might say-J ust baptize
and confirm over again. :Most wicked imagination! exclaims
Popery. Know you not that there are two marks on the soul
already, and would you presume to attempt to confuse them'
Poor ignorance does not see there would be any harm in that;
but the Priesthood, who know better, and see the soul of man
to be a thing of such narrow compass that there is no room in
it for 80 many markings, denounce with one of their anathemas
all-who may attempt a second impression: II if anyone Raith
that in the three sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and
Order, there is not imprinted on the soul a character, .. ".,
122 THE PARDONOF SiN.
a certain spiritual and indelible sign, on account of which

they cannot be repeated; let him be accursed." (Sacrament~,
Canon ix.)
They have accordingly provided a new sacrament altogether
for restoring the lost grace; even the Mass being incompetent
to the task. They call it the sacrament of PENANCE,which the
Council, and all their theologians and preachers delighted in
describing as being" The Second Plank after Shipwreck."· It
is this Plank, then, which we are now invited to examine, and
judge if it be wise for the shipwrecked mariner to commit him-
self to it, in despite of the proffered help of Him who comes
walking over the stormy sea, and says, Perishing one, give Me
thy hand! No, says the Sorceress. Trust yourself to my
Plank; you tnay have a place on it for a small consideration.
Observe, then, generally, that the sacrament of Penance is
a perversion of the common and all-important duty of Repent-
ance; that Repentance which, like an angel of mercy, approaches
the sinner, and discloses to him the turpitude and danger of his
conduct, and reasons, and remonstrates with him, and appeals
to him, till, humbled and alarmed, he exclaim, What must I
do 1 I cannot save you myself, she replies; but I will guide
you to One who can: and she leads him away up Calvary, and
placing him before the Cross, says, " Behold the Lamb of God,
who taketh away sin! Believe, and thou shalt be saved." It
is thus that Protestantism maintains alike the necessity and
inefficacy of Repentance; its inefficacy as a ground of salvation,
but its necessity as a guide to the Saviour.
This repentance is evidently a state, or, if you will, an act of
mind. Some may think this remark is so simple as to be like
trifling; but they will presently see their mistake. I therefore
repeat it: when genuine, Repentance will no doubt produce
much external action; but essentially it is a condition of mind,
consisting of regrets for past misconduct, resolutions of amend-
ment, and purposes of making reparation and restitution where-
ever it is practicable. Accordingly, the Greek word of the
original Scriptures (floETI1.VOLI1.) etymologically denotes an "after-
* Secunda post naufragium tabula. The words are Jerome's; but the other
member of tbe sentence they carefully lup\lrels; culpam B'impliciUr ctmfitm-
.. simply to confess your fault." That" simphciter " link. their Plank. It
is our simple confession which Jerome celebrates, repudiatinK their complex
and operose performance. Quaere: Doea not Jerome UIlS .. ucunda" in this
-. rather with the meaning which it bears in the phrase .. rei _1IdaI 1"
He could _rcely call Baptiem the first PlaDk afier Shipwreck.
thought." But that which is so simple Popery has perverted

into a great Sacramental performance, than which there is no
other of its impostures, whereby the Priesthood so effectually
enslave and corrupt their victims.
They affect to plead as their Scriptural authority for making
a performance of Repentance, the phraseology of an antiquated
and exceedingly imperfect Latin translation, called the Vulgate,
in which that passage for example, Matt. iii. 2, if literally
rendered into English would read thus: "do penitence, (agite
prenitentiam) for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand." But,
independently of the word of the original Greek (fLETUVOEtTE)
signifying" be penitent," every tyro knows, that, even according
to the Latin idiom, the verb (agite) translated" do," docs not
always denote external action, nor even any action at all, hut
simply a state of existence; just as when in our own language,
we say, "we do repent," or, "we do believe." In this instance,
then, we find no fault with the Vulgate, but only with its
ignorant or perverse interpreters.
Again: with regard to the word •'prenitentia," -independently
of the meaning of the Greek word (P.ETuVOtU) of which it is the
translation-it is in contradiction of numerous instances in the
classic writers, they contend, that it signifies a sorrow for sin.
necessarily accompanied by acts of self-mortification; and which
they, therefore, distinguish from the mere internal feeling, by •
the name of "Penance;" corrupting our English with a bar-
barous word, and, with a false interpretation, abusing that Latin
which they affect to regard so sacred, that they doubt if God
would listen to them if they prayed in any other.
WHAT IS PENANCE 1
What then is this innovation, both on language and faith,

which they call by the name of the Sacrament of Penance 1 It
is a tragi-comedy in four acts ;-ever tragic as it respects men's
spiritual interests; and as it respects their temporal interests,
not seldom of the same tragical character; but frequently comic,
in all the forms of comedy; sometimes serio-comic, sometimes
farcical, ofttimes most abominably obscene. The four acts of
the drama are these: first, Contrition, or sorrow for sin at home;
second, Confession of it to the Priest; third, Satisfaction, or a
punishment which he decrees, and which it is understood the
penitent will retire and perform on himself; and fowrthly,
Absolution, or his bestowment of pardon.
Now, before I enter on the particular explanation of these

various acts, and viewing them generally, I appeal, if you can
imagine any such thing to have been performed, either tragi-
cally or comically, in the days of John the Baptist. Were you
to think or say so, you would expose yourself to the curse of
the Council j for they pointedly anathematise anyone who says,
that there was any such Sacrament under the law, or that the
right Baptism, which necessarily precedes Penance, was ever
administered by John; and yet, it was this same John who
first proclaimed these words, "Do penance" (Matthew iii. 2).
Again j was any such thing practised by Christ Hirnself I
Equally, as before, to say so would subject you to the curse;
for they assert that He did not institute this Sacrament till
He was just about to ascend to Heaven; and yet, we find Him
at, the commencement of his ministry carrying forward the
proclamation of tEe Baptist, "Do penance" (Matthew iv. 17).
A third time j did Peter and his brethren auricularly confess,
fine, and absolve the thousands of converts on the day of Pente-
cost, previously to baptizing them 7 Still, as before, to say so
would incur the pains of an anathema; for Baptism, as just
stated, necessarily precedes Penance j and yet, Peter said, "Do
penance, and be baptized" (Acts ii. 38). Such inconsistency,
if professed by any other person claiming the character of a
rational being, would fill us with astonishment j and we take it
calmly, only when professed by a Popish Priest, in whose creed
self-contradiction is the rule, and consistency the rare exception.
ABSOLUTION.
I proceed to a particular review of the various departments
of the Sacrament, and commence with that which contains the
essence of the imposture.
I. ABSOLUTION.-When engaged exposing the wickedness and
pretensions of Popery, you will occasionally meet with a. class
of objectors of a peculiarly provoking character j-youths who
esteem themselves the wits of the day, because they frequent
the reading rooms and read the periodicals. As the effect of
their literary accomplishments, they are liberalised with the
most genial candour, and deplore the rudeness and bigotry of
the ministers of the Gospel j but most especially of that portion
of them called evangelical Dissenters. When in company you
may express your detestation of Popery, one of these literary
spanows will beg to be excused for interrupting you, and 88IlU1'e
you, that you are quite mistaken in imputing to the Roman

Catholic clergy the pretension that they pardon men's sins-that
the misrepresentation is of course undesigned on your part and
arises from your excusable ignorance of the state of the world,
in consequence of being so much occupied in writing sermons
and visiting sick-beds so that you cannot attend the reading
room; but that you may take his word for it, that it is one of
John Knox's vulgar misrepresentations. Such is the sparrow-
chatter of a degenerate, feeble, impious, and impure generation,
by whom the best interests of this country, both moral and
civil, are wickedly betrayed!
But suppose you keep temper, and, for the sake of the amuse-
ment, request that your learned friend set you right, and
explain the true meaning of Absolution. He has not studied
the matter minutely, he says, being occupied with far higher
speculations than these theological niceties. No, the sparrow-
though these are questions which shake the kingdom to its
foundations-when he leaves the battle to be fought all round
about in defence of the tree of liberty, under which he lounges
in such security with his novel and cigar, by those whom he
chatters, and calls bigots. But although he does not know
particularly what that respectable class of her Majesty's subjects
mean by their Absolution, he supposes it to be a way by which
the priest, as a kind counsellor, assures the poor, frightened,
superstitious girls and old women that, if they be sorry for their
faults, a gracious heaven will not be hard on them. So he
supposes j but it is just such a defence of the Priesthood that
Rome curses him for his impertinence in volunteering it.
There is no heresy which she denounces more bitterly than
that which represents her sons as bearing a commission only
to declare pardon ministerially; she demands for them the
acknowledgment that they have been ordained of God to
act judicially in bestowing or withholding pardon, with the
assurance that He will pardon none who dishonour them by
passing by their tribunal, and that He will ratify Inthe
chancery of Heaven the sentences which they pass in the con-
fessional on earth. The Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, or the
Governor-General of India has not more power for acquittal or
condemnation, under the Commission of Victoria, than the
Popish Priest has, under the commission of God. Nay, he has
not 80 much. The Irishman or Indian may petition the Queen,
when he thinks lIimaelf aggrieved by her aepresentative; but,
throughout the Decrees, Canons, and Catechism, there is not the

signification of a possibility that, by a protesting prayer against
the judgment of the most profligate priest, the complainer may
have pardon directly from God Himself. Any modification which
they make of this general doctrine will be presently explained.
So resolute is Rome in maintaining her prerogative in this
matter, that, lest any modest and faint-hearted son, awed by
these words, "Who can forgive sins but Godl" should shrink
from the hideous blasphemy of pretending to do so, she has
bound him down to the precise words which he must employ,-
EGO TE ABSOLVO (I absolve thee). And were he to say, I declare
thee absolved; or, May the Lord absolve thee! it would not be a
valid sacrament; and the penitent would leave the tribunal,
burdened with his sin as heavily as when he approached it.
Mark the particular manner in which this Absolution
operates pardon. You might suppose, that it is bestowed in
consideration of the moral worth or grace which lies in the
contrition and confession, and of the compensating value of the
prescribed satisfaction, which it is understood will be faithfully
rendered. This is a vulgar mistake. See you not, that this
would represent grace as being recoverable independently of the
Priest's Sacrament, whereas the design of the invention is to
effect this recovery, which is otherwise unattainable 1 The
contrition, confession, and purpose of making satisfaction only
remove obstacles to the communication; and the words Ego
te absolvo, ex opere operata, penetrate to the soul with grace-
restoring power, just as the water of Baptism "reached" it with
grace-originating power: and it is this restored grace in con-
sideration of which pardon is bestowed a second time, or third
time, or hundredth time-so many times as the loss of grace
may require another, and another, and yet another justification.
The dogma, therefore, strictly is, that the Priest pardons sin
only in virtue of his communicating that grace which merits
pardon. Accordingly, in answer to the question, "What is the
sense of the Sacramental form, Ego te absolvo 1" Peter Dens
answers, "I judicially bestow on thee the grace of the remission
of all thy sins, or grace remissive of all thy sins :" and Bishop
Hay says, that" in Absolution the penitent's sins are actually
forgiven, that is, are washed away from his soul by the grace
of God then poured into it." Remember what is the Popish
interpretation of the term Grace-communicated holiness-and
you will clearly perceive the meaning of these statements.
The explanation diminishes, perhaps, the grossness of the

dogma of Absolution from what, at first sight, it appears to be;
but enough remains to make Popish theologians labour hard to
reduce the offensiveness of their claims to be regarded as the
pardoners of sin, whensoever they utter their spell. They,
therefore, explain further, that the Ego te abstJlvo takes effect
only conditionally. That just as the Hoc est corpus meum of the
Mass will not effect Transubstantiation, unless the cake placed
on the altar be genuinely wheaten, so neither will the Ego te
absolvo of Penance communicate the "remissive grace," unless
the contrition of the confessing penitent be genuine. Wherein,
then, say they, is the alleged licentiousness of our doctrine 1 I
answer, first, that the contrition may be genuine all the length
they require, when yet to assure such a kind of contrition of
the remission of sin is an imposture of the most delusive and
licentious consequence. This will be exposed fully when I
treat of the Contrition department of the Sacrament. But I
answer, secondly, that the blasphemy of the doctrine exceeds
its licentiousness, when they not only personate God in the
most sovereign act of his Majesty; but represent Him as having
limited Himself to their ignorant and impure agency. For
although by the above-mentioned rule of conditionality, they
may plead that their Ego te abliolvo does not take effect, so as
to force the unworthy on His acceptance; yet they not only do
not deny, but contend, that the want of their Ego te absolvo
debars Him from pronouncing it on anyone from his throne in
heaven. There is no possibility of mistake about this being the
general rule: the slight qualification will be noticed afterwards.
MORTAL AND VENIAL SIN.
Attend now, first, to the species of sin which the Priest

judicially pardons, and secondly, to the extent to which his
absolution remits punishment.
The Protestant doctrine, according to the Shorter Catechism,
is that, though "some sins in themselves, and by reason of
several aggravations, are more heinous in the sight of God than
others," yet, "every sin deserveth God's wrath and curse, both
in this life, and that which is to come." There are some trans-
gressions, the [mmediate motives of which have so little
enmity in them, and the evil consequences of which are so
slight, that when they are considered merely by themselves,
the award just recited of the Westminster Divines may seem
severe and extravagant; but; when they are viewed as having

their root in the great apostasy of our fallen nature, and as
being shoots, however tiny and tender, of the deadly upas, then
there appears no exaggeration in the statement of their deserv-
ing. Using Popish phraseology, therefore, presently to be
explained, we regard every sin committed, whether by believer
or unbeliever, as being mortal, in respect of its inherent desert ;
but equally, every sin, committed by a believer, as being venial,
in respect of punishment, in consequence of its heing covered
by the atonement of his Lord.
Such being the Protestant view, let us now consider the
Popish contrast. In the following paragraph, Turrettin
(Loc. ix, Q. 4.) has so faithfully condensed the sentiments
of Bellarmine, that, making allowance for any inaccuracy in
my translation, it may be taken as containing the precise
expressions of the Cardinal (De Amiss. gr. L. i, c. 9). .
"Mortal sins," he says, "are those which of themselves
decidedly turn man away from God, and to which eternal punish-
ment is due; like mortal wounds which instantly extinguish
life. Venial, on the other hand, are such as do not decidedly
turn him away from God, but hinder his progress towards God,
and are easily expiated; or, which of themselves, and in their
nature, are so slight and insignificant that they do not prevail
to deprive anyone of Divine grace, and to make him an enemy
of God, or render him worthy of eternal death. Sins, they
allege, are of this venial character, either first, from their own
nature; or secondly, from the imperfection of the work. The
first species consists of those which have for their object some-
thing which is indeed evil and inordinate; but which is not
repugnant to the love either of God or our neighbour-such as
an idle or jocose word, immoderate laughter, or an obliging lie.
The second species--consisting of those which are venial, from
the incompleteness of the act, are of two kinds--first, Those
into which a man is surprised, and which are not perfectly
voluntary, such as sudden emotions of cupidity, anger, revenge,
&c., which arise in the mind before his reason has deliberated
whether or not they are to be entertained; and secondly, those
which are venial on account of the smallness of the matter, the
theft for instance of an obolus,"
Heugh! Cardinal I-revealed at last I-the Attorney of
thieves I So long as you perplexed us with your sophisms in
aBIIailing truth and defending error, we could admire your
dexterity; but, sir, that "obolus." beggars you-beggars you

down by the side of John Tetzel, and shows that the whole of
your Popish fraternity, high and low, are morally brutified.
Think, sir, of there having occurred in Paul's Epistle to the
Romans a verse to this effect, that they need not superstitiously
hamper themselves in stealing oboli! Is there not awful
blasphemy in imagining it possible that such a sentence might
have been inspired of God 1 And yet you, sir, virtually main-
tain that such is the spirit of his holy law. Candour! yes,
candour ! Besides, I have a liking for Bellarmine. Many
instructive hours have I spent in the company of his genius.
He is a venial sinner, as the Attorney of the thieves of Rome,
compared with him whom they have sent over as the Attorney
of the thieves of Westminster, who endorses the sentiments of
Alphonso de Liguori.
De Liguori's great merit consists in this, that when one
Jesuit doctor had taught, in the matter of theft, for instance,
that you may not steal with safety more than two coins, but
another, that you may safely go the length of three, De Liguori
comes to judgment with the principle of " medio tutisBimus ibis,"
and, halving the difference, determines the law to be, that you
sin only venially if you restrain your thieving propensities
within two and a-half pieces, but mortally, if you proceed that
length. It is this judiciousness of the saint, so holy in its
restraining within number three, and so merciful in its per-
mitting to go beyond number two, which principally excites
the admiration of the Attorney of Westminster.
It is interesting to trace the course of improvement in the
jurisprudence of Popery in this matter. Augustine illustrated
the nature of venial sin, by supposing that Abel might have
occasionally laughed immoderately, or perpetrated a bad joke,
or pulled an apple too much, and brought on an attack of
dyspepsy by his greed - What liveliness of imagination inspired
these old Fathers! What wonder is there that their authority
should have weighed more with the Council of Trent than that
of the dull, prosaic Apostles 1 But let that pass. Mark how
Augustine's" bad joke" grew up into Bellarmine's "theft of
an obolus;" and now see the jurisprudence perfected by St.
Alphonso de Liguori's julii and aurei, when he determines at
what point precisely theft becomes mortal, and under which it
is only venial, in respect of different classes of men on whom
* lIee BellanniDe de A.IDi& gr. L. i. e. 10.
R
the theft may be committed. The following paragraph is a

literal translation of the passage numbered 528 in his System
of Moral Theology:- .
From all these sentiments of the Doctors, I determine what appears to
me the greater probability. (1.) In respect of mendicants, I think that one
,julius or carolenus (about 4~.) is a matter of consequence; and even less,
when any pauper may not make so much by daily alms. (2.) In respect of
ditchers and similar workmen, speaking generally, two julii; but for artisans,
two and a half. (3.) In respect of those who are only moderately rich, four
[ulii ; and even less for those who, although they have property, are yet
straitened in their means; but for those who are absolutely rich. five, or even
six julii; and I determine the same for very wealthy merchants. (4.) In
respect of very rich noblemen, one aureus (about a guinea); and I think the
same for a very rich corporation; at all events, I say that an aureus and a half
is a matter of consequencefor such. But, as for kings, two aurei,
"0 the wisdom I" exclaims our Westminster attorney .

.. How equitably the saint adjusts the balance betwixt the
thief and his victim-betwixt the holiness of the divine
requirement, and the gratification of a corrupt heart!"
De Liguori's works would furnish matter for a large volume
of extracts, all as perverse as this passage, and in many instances
far more profane and abominable. But enough has been quoted
for illustrating the manner in which Papists distinguish betwixt
venial and mortal sins; and the question now is, From which
of those species of sin does the priest set the criminal free by
the act of Absolutions Some of you will say, in your iguorance,
it must surely be the venial only. But so much is the true
state of the matter the reverse of this, that sins of this class are
not only unnecessarily brought before him at the Confessional,
but if Drought, are a fruitless troubling of him by the stupid
revealers of their weaknesses. For, first, these small thefts,
and small perjuries, and the small violations of all the other
commandments, do not impair grace; whereas the object of
Absolution is to restore it when destroyed. Secondly, at the
worst they deserve only a short time of Purgatory, from the
pains of which Absolution gives no deliverance: that is a
matter far too insignificant for the venerableness of this
priestly judgment; its redemption extends to the pains of
hell. Thirdly, whatever defilement such small sins may have
occasioned the soul, is removable by a little fasting or alms-
giving, but especially by the Sacrsment of the Eucharist, the
principal design of which no doubt is to nourish grace; but
besides this, the Catechism says, "There is no reason why it
should be doubted that slighter Iins, which are oommonly
called venial, are remitted and forgiven by the Eucharist"
(P. II. C. i, Q. 50). Attend, therefore, to the decision of the
Council on the species of sin to be confessed, in order to
Absolution (Penance, Chap. v. on Confession) :_
Venial sins, whereby we are not excluded from the grace of God, and
into which we fan more frequently, although they be rightly and profitably,
and without any presumption declared in confession, as the custom of pious
persons demonstrates; yet may they be omitted without guilt, and be expiated
by many -other remedies. But whereas all mortal sins, even these of thought,
render men childreu of wrath and enemies of God, it is necessary to seek abo
for the pardon of them all from God, with an open and modest confession.
We shall afterwards see how, when the Priest has an object
to serve of personal cupidity, or the betraying of his victim to
the despot, he can magnify venial into mortal sins, and enforce
their confession; meanwhile, so far as the theology of the
system is concerned, let the above illustrations suffice.
"REATUS CULP..E" AND "REATUS PlENA"
I now proceed to explain the other question connected

with that of the species of sin which is pardoned by Absolu-
tion, namely, the extent to which Absolution delivers from
punishment.
The Popish Latin which appears as the title of this section
is, as in a former case, very barbarous, but having a. still more
barbarous meaning. Reatus oulpo: signifies chargeableness, or
rather defilement, with sin: Reatus pamre, liability to punish-
ment. Now, when the Absolution clears away the first reatus
entirely, you might suppose that it would equally abolish the
second. But you would be greatly mistaken. Such a doctrine
would disintenant and shut up Purgatory as completely as
Limbus Patrum, and extinguish all revenue derived from
Indulgences and Masses for the dead. Accordingly, the dogma
of the imposture is, that the Absolution removes the reatus
pceno: only partially; that although the debt of eternal punish-
ment in hell is thereby cancelled, yet the Divine government
holds the penitent still a debtor for a la.rge amount of temporal
punishment, which signifies afflictions not only for the few
years of the present life, but for thousands of years in Purga-
tory after death.
VilMa XXX. on JustifiMtion.~If anyone ll&ith,that, after the grace of
JuatiflcatioD has been received, the guilt (culpa) is remitted, and the debt
(nat",,) .of eternal punishment is blotted out to every penitent linner, in
nch wise that there remains not any debt of temporal pnnishment to be
discharged either in this world, or in the ned in purptory, before entranoe
into the kingdom of _Yen can be opened; let lWn be IlllOIU'Ied.
From explanations which were formerly made, when illus-

trating Baptism, it will appear that this Canon is expressed
very unguardedly. There we found the doctrine to be, that, in
the first Justification effected by Baptism, all reatus of whatever
name is abolished, even in the case of an adult profligate; so
that the unexpiated portion of reatus prenre referred to in the
Canon just quoted, must attach to the second Justification of
Penance. Accordingly, the Council, in Chap. vii. of its Decree
on this Sacrament, explains at considerable length why Satisfac-
tion, which is part payment of the debt of temporal punishment,
is exacted in the one case, and not in the other.
When explaining the Protestant doctrine of Justification, I
took the opportunity of exposing the manner in which Popery
blasphemes God, by imputing to his government the enormity
of absolving men from the guilt of sin, and yet proceeding to
avenge it by heavy punishments, of which the afflictions of this
life form a part; so that the apostolic doctrine of the correction
of fatherly love (Heb. xii, 6) is excluded from the system.
When so much remains to be illustrated, the exposure made
on that occasion must be received as sufficient, in the way of
moral testimony, against what is at once a hideous perversion of
the gospel, and a robbing of the children of God of one of their
dearest consolations, "whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth."
Besides, the subject will present itself once more under the
department of Satisfaction.
CANONS OF THE COUNCIL OF TRENT ON ABSOLUTION.
These previous explanations being made, you will be prepared

for understanding the Council's fundamental Canons on the
subject, which I shall now quote, both as proof that my pre-
ceding representation of their doctrine is correct, and as a text
for a few additional observations and reflections.
CanonIII.-JI anyone oaith, that those words of the Lord, the Saviour,
.. Receive ye the Holy Ghost: whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven;
and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained" (John XL 22, 23), are not
to be understood of the power of forgiving and retaining sins in the Sacl'llDlent
of Penance, .... the Catholic Church has always from the beginning understood
them, but wrests them, contrary to the institution of the Sacrament, to the
power of preaching the gospel; let him he accursed.
CanonIX.-If anyone oaith, that the sacramental Absolution of the "riest
is not a judicial act, but a bare ministry of pronouncing and declaring 81D8 to
be forsiven to him who confesses; let him be accursed.
Observe, first, how unmistakably they assert for themselves,
as the successors of the Apostles, the prerogative of judicially
forgiving sin. They repudiate with an anathema the notion,

that they merely declare forgiveness. We shall presently see
that there are various views of such declaration: but, what-
ever they may be, the Popish priesthood denounce them as
derogatory to their rights, and claim that they be acknowledged
as commissioned to bestow or withhold the mercy. No British
judge holds the commission of Victoria more absolutely than
the Popish Priest holds the commission of God either for
acquittal or condemnation-for life or death.
Observe, secondly, how they pervert the Scripture in their
endeavour to support their arrogant and blasphemous claim. I
have already exposed the utter baselessness of their pretension
that they are successors of the Apostles: hut suppose they
were, when and to whom did any Apostle ever say Ngo te
absolvo, in the sense in which it is pronounced by /I Popish
Priest 1 Nothing can be more evident, even to a small measure
of intellect, which has not been stupified by the debauchery of
Priesthood, than that the power of forgiving and retaining sins
which was conferred by our Lord on the Apostles (John xx.
22, 23), consisted in their being ordained of Him the promul-
gators of his law, for which He qualified them by the miraculous
inspiration of his Spirit. They accordingly published the terms
of salvation to the world, and recorded them in the New Testa-
ment-loosing and binding men by the law of its faith. In this
capacity they neither have, nor ever had successors. And all
that any minister of the gospel can legitimately do at the
present day is to ply the consciences of men with that law, as
being apostolic; it being still left to the people to judge, first,
if it be apostolic law which he preaches; and, secondly, if the
special testimony of the law which he may apply to their
particular cases be applied suitably-each man absolving his
own conscience for himself, so far as persuasion of the pardon
of his sin is concerned, all according to apostolical law. No
Priests! then, I again proclaim.
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND ON ABSOLUTION.
J therefore emphatically deny that these words of John xx.

22, 23, refer to any ministry of the gospel at present in existence ;
and deplore that the evangelical party of the Church of England
should succumb to the temptation of attempting to defend the
corrupt reference; 80 as to be found expressing themaelves in
language akin to that of their Poseyite brethren, who, of
course, assert for themselves the prerogative of the Popish

brethren. The temptation, I admit, is strong, so long as they
are resolved to abide by their partially reformed institution.
For first, when they were ordained, the Bishop, as he laid his
hands on them individually, said, "Receive the Holy Ghost for
the office and work of a priest in the church of God, now
committed to thee by the imposition of our hands. Whose sins
thou dost forgive they are forgiven; and whose sins thou dost
retain they are retained." This sounds, at least, loud enough of
the judicial prerogative, both in respect of the work to be per-
formed and the qualification conferred for its performance.
And secondly, whatever explanations may be made of the
private Absolution, recommended when troubled consciences
are preparing for the Communion, and of that which is publicly
pronounced immediately before the Communion is administered
-the prescription for the Visitation of the Sick, at least, is of
such a character as to make it prudent for all the members of
that church to be quiet on the subject of Popish presumption;
either till they have cleansed their own walls of the leprosy, or
till they have deserted them as incurably infected.
Here shall the sick person be moved to make a special confession of his
sins, if he feel his consciencetroubled with any weighty matter. After which
confessionthe priest shall absolve him (if he humbly and heartily desire it).
after this sort: Our Lord Jesus Ohriat, who hath left power to his church
to absolve all sinners who truly repent and believe in Him, Of his great
mercy forgive thee thine offences! And, by his authority committed to me,
I ab801ve thee from all thy sins, in the name of the Father, and of the Son.
and of the Holy Ghost.
Remember, brethren,-for I should not wonder that some of
you need the memento,-that it is not the Decrees and Canons
of the Council of Trent, but the Formularies of the Church of
England, from which I at present quote. What then is the
explanation offered by the evangelical party ~ The" Ego te
absolvo," they say, as used by them, is only a declaration of
what God has done; whereas in the mouth of a Popish Priest
it signifies, that he himself first effects the absolution, to be
subsequently ratified by the Lord. In answer to this, I observe,
first, that it is a very extraordinary figure of speech to say to a
man, " I pardon thee," when you only mean to announce to him
that another has done it. Solecism is never reckoned among
the beauties of rhetoric; on the contrary it is peculiarly dis-
creditable to a man's scholarship. But, secondly, suppose you
expressed yourself in good English, and said, "I declare that
God has JlIU'donedthee," who, or what, I demand, authorises you
to give such assurance to any human being'l Nothing less

could warrant it than a miraculous discernment of the genuine-
ness of the repentance and faith of the professing penitent.
The reply to this is, that the priest proceeds according to the
judgment of charity, and that his meaning, when fully expressed,
is, "In the trust that your profession of repentance and faith is
sincere, I declare my opinion, for your comfort, to be, that God
must have pardoned you." And is this all into which your
"Egote absolvo" resolves itself; to qualify you for pronouncing
which, the Bishop endowed you with the Holy Ghost! Why,
sir, the sick-nurse is competent to such absolution. And when
you might say, that her opinion would not fall on the heart of
the penitent with such consolatory power, I reply, it might or
might not according to circumstances, of which that of your
being ordained either by York or Canterbury should be a very
insignificant one. The comparative force of the two opinions
would depend on the estimation in which the penitent held the
characters respectively of him and her who pronounced them.
And many sick-nurses there are whose opinion, on account of
their skill in the science of salvation, is incalculably more
valuable than that of thousands of the Priesthood. So that if
the dying one laid the" Ego te absolvo" of one of those priests
as a "flattering unction to his soul," when one of the nurses
stood by shaking her head in doubt, it would only be an
additional reason for fearing, that he was dying in a state of
delusion. Home, Priest, to your cards and dice, and Horace,
and Anacreon ! and leave the man to be absolved" truly" by
the Apostle-taught nurse.-From this digression on the illegiti-
mate, I return to the exposure of the genuine Popery.
THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE AND DIVINE GOVERNMENT.
Observe, thirdly, how the Sacrament of Penance imputes to

the Divine government a changeableness of principle in the
salvation of men. Besides the general doctrine respecting all
the Sacraments, the Council declare specially, in Chap. 1. of
their Decree, that that of Penance had no existence before the
coming of Christ, nor even during his personal ministry.
Abraham, then, was saved in a different way from that in
which men are saved now. For the exposure of this defaming
of the government of God, I refer to the remarks formerly
made on the Sacraments in general, to be applied to this one in
particular. But there is another point noticeable here. When
the Council speaks in Canon iii. as if their Sacrament of'

Penance had existed in the church from the beginning, they
falsify with an effrontery to which the spirit of Popery alone
is adequate. That an ecclesiastical exclusion of offenders, and
restoration of them on repentance, such as all Protestant
churches practise, were exercised of old, no one disputes. But
the introduction of private or .Auricular Confession of secret
sins, with the view of obtaining through a Priest the acquittal
of God, is an innovation of a late and corrupt age, compared
with which there is no other of the multitude of innovations of
Popery of which history furnishes so clear an account.
Observe, fourthly, how by this Sacrament the salvation of
men is placed at the disposal of the Priesthood more extensively
than even py the Sacrament of Baptism. For when it is as
necessary for restoring grace, as Baptism was for originating it,
there is no such latitude allowed for its administration by
heretics. .An apostolically ordained Papist alone is adequate to
the operation. Without the offices of such a one, damnation is
sure-there being no exception but for the physical inability' of
obtaining his aid. when the desire of it proves sufficient. By
this rule all Protestants perish of course. But how does it
affect the Popish community themselves 1 How many of the
male population of Paris, for instance, appear at the Confes-
sional even once a year 1 Only a few hundreds, it is said.
.And even in the case of those who, according to the prescription
of the Council, confess annually at Lent,-what, if some of
them should die suddenly before next Lent, without the oppor-
tunity even of exercising a desire 1 Reflect what constitutes a
mortal sin, and what are its consequences, if not expiated by
Penance-neither Mass nor Indulgence being of avail. The
theft of a julius, we have seen-less than a sixpence-may fill
up its measure, to entail on the soul eternal ruin. How widely
then damnation must proceed among Papists according to their
own system, since so few apply for the necessary expiation!
On what principle shall we account for such negligence 1 Only
on this, that they do not believe the system, and that their
profession of it is a pretence. Let the priests be assured of it:
the people have learned to believe as little as they do them-
selves, which the" mummers" know is little enough, that they
are endowed with power to pardon sin. Popery is no longer a
faith, it is only a policy.
Observe, fifthly, how, were the system true, the horrorwoold
be increased by the usual qualifications being necessary on the
part of the officiating priest in order to the validity of the
sacrament; such as, that he have been properly ordained, and
stand legitimately in the apostolical Succession. But mark, it is
in the case of the Sacrament of Penance, so peculiarly calculated
by the abominations of its Confessional to inflame the mind
with unholy passion, that we find our clearest evidence of the
"intention," prescribed by the Council as necessary to the priest's
efficient sacramental performances, being an internal pious pur-
pose. In Chap. iv. of their Decree they make this explanation,
"intention on the part of the priest of acting seriously and
absolving truly." How many, then, there must he who confess
and are absolved fruitlessly and consequently perish! What
with intelligence which inwardly scorns the superstition, and
what with profligacy which scorns all religion whatever, a priest
who" acts seriously and absolves truly" must be a kind of bird
.of paradise-an object of exceedingly rare occurrence.
Observe, sixthly, how, according to the general law of the
Sacraments, the individual who holds in his hand the power of
eternal life and death, to bind and to loose according to his dis-
cretion, may be personally one of the most infamous of men. If
Alexander Borgia was a legitimate Pope, one as wicked may be
a legitimate Priest. But supposing the difficulty to be mastered
of believing, that such a one is empowered to regenerate the
soul by Baptism, and to effect the Transubstantiation of the
Mass,-that he should be empowered also to pardon the sins of
others, is something so hard for the digestion even of the
greatest credulity, that the Council found it necessary, besides
affirming the general principle in regard of all the Sacraments,
to make a special reiteration of it in the case of Penance, so
that no one might imagine an exception. Canon x. "If any
one saith, that Priests who are in a state of mortal sin have
not the power of binding and loosing; let him be accursed."
Such is the general law. But Rome, all despotic 88 she is, and
degraded 88 are her victims, h88 been compelled to succumb
to the protest of outrnged nature, and grant an exceptive
ease, namely, that should an adulteress present herself at the
Confessional, she shall not have absolution from the priest
who occupies the tribunal, if he himself be implicated 88 the
adulterer, but that another shall be called in to the judgment
{Dens, Tom. vi de Cas. reserv. No 215).
With this exception, however, the abllolYing priest may be
particeps criminis-a fellow not only in similar crime, but in

the same act which the penitent has come to confess :-the same
drunken debauch; the same murder, the priest having instigated
to it from the altar; the same imposing of a "latter will" on
a dying man, for defrauding his children, and transferring his
wealth to some brothel nunnery. The scrivener drew out the
deed, the priest guided the fingers for the signature. The
crime was perpetrated last night. The pair have met again
this morning; but when the one kneels as a penitent beseech-
ing pardon, the greater villain of the two occupies the judgment
seat, as anointed of God to absolve him! There is something,
however, still more malignantly blasphemous than this: should
the adulteress be at the point of death, the seducer himself
may take her confession and absolve. So far well, Priest; you
have redeemed the wrong you did her, the length of delivering
her from hell. But much remains to be done. Away to Masses
in a multitude, for the deliverance of her soul from Purgatory 1
otherwise her sufferings there cannot fail to be of the sharpest
and most protracted. In this case, at least, it becomes you to
labour without pay. To such a representation it is nothing to
the point for a Papist to reply, that there are villains among
Protestant pastors as well. There are, or at least have been;
but they made no pretence, like the Popish ones, of being able
to pardon their paramours' sins.
Having illustrated at such length the fundamental evil of the
imposture, I shall occupy comparatively little time with the
exposure of the other departments of the Sacrament of Penance.
I now take them up for illustration in their regular order.
CONTRITION.
This stands for our Repentance; and were it as genuine,

there would be less concern about the corruptions attached to it.
But the sacrament is impure throughout. In their description
of Contrition, the Council, indeed, begin well; though it is no
more to be compared with that of the Westminster Divines,"
than is the twinkling of a star with the effulgence of the sun.
Nevertheless, they begin well-remarkably well for Papists--
in describing Contrition as consisting "in a BOITOW of mind
and a detestation for sin committed, with the purpose of not
" "Repentance unto life is a saving grace, whereby a sinner, out of a true
lIe1Iaeof his aiD, and apprehension (laying hold) of the mercy of God in Chriat,
doth, with Krief and hatred of his sin, tum from it unto God, with full pur-
)10M of. and" ed.vour after, new obedienoe."--8Aortw O~
sinning for the future, united with confidence in the divine

mercy." But just as you might be beginning to felicitate
yourself on having at length lighted on something precious,
amid the mass of absurdity and abomination, your feelings are
subjected to the most painful revulsion. I refer not so much
to their declaration, that such a satisfactory state of contrition,
being" perfect through love, reconciles man to God before this
Sacrament (Penance) is actually received," with the proviso that
"the said reconciliation is not to be ascribed to that Contrition
independently of the desire of the Sacrament which is included
therein: "-it is not so much, I say, to this vile proviso, that I
refer-this dead fly of the priestly prerogative which corrupts
the ointment-as to their subsequent declaration, that such a
state of holy Contrition is by no means necessary-c-that it is of
very rare occurrence-and that a much inferior article, which
they call Attrition, will serve the end equally well.
What is this Attrition 1 It is just the horror of the murderer
back, with which we saw him overtaken before he was baptized.
That Baptism indeed cleared off all old scores, rendering him
"innocent, immaculate, pure, harmless, and beloved of God," so
as effectually to lay the ghost. Besides, it endowed him with a
large measure of grace. But howsoever large, his old habits
prevailed over it. He returned to his former ways, and the
ghost of one of his new victims has awakened his fears. There
is no more hope for him in Baptism. The indelible sign of the
first operation is on his soul, and it would be profane to enstamp
it anew. But there is the "Second Plank." He hies away,
therefore, with his attrite heart to the priest, confesses, is
absolved, pays down the appointed Satisfaction out of the g-ains
of his robbery, goes to the altar and swallows a mass-cake, and
walks forth a pardoned man replenished with grace. But, alas!
temptation again prevails; he slips off "the Plank," and is away
to rob and murder as before, and as before to be scared by the
phantoms of the night. The Plank is not revengeful like Bap-
tism. Forgetful of his insult in leaving it, it graciously welcomes
him again to its accommodation; and will do so for seventy times
seven occasions, should his frailties and villainies require it.
Such representations are violently resented, especially by
such Papists as are located in the midst of Protestants; but
the books of their church are as accessible to us as they are to
them; and we are as qualified as themselves to read and analyze
them. I could fill pages with extracts from some of their most
renowned authorities, maintaining the opinion, that not only is

horror of God's character a state of mind fit enough for appearing
at the Confessional to be absolved j but, that any such thing as
one act of filial confidence in God during the whole course of
life is unnecessary j it being enough, that the Sacrament endow
the soul with the power of loving Him, though it should never
be exercised. But since the sentiments of these Doctors, how-
ever high in repute, would be objected to as evidence in the
argument, I confine myself to the testimony of the Council.
Cardinal Wiseman, and a much greater man, Dr. Moehler, in
describing Popish Contrition, have most disingenuously limited
their representation to that contrition of love with which the
Council commences, concealing the reverse of the picture. Here
it is:-
As to that imperfect Contrition which is called Attrition, because that it
is commonlyconceivedeither from the consideration of the tnrpitude of sin,
or from the fear of hen and of punishment, the Council declares, that, if,
with the hope of pardon, it exclude the wish to sin, it not only does not
make a man a hypocrite, and a greater sinner, but that it is even a gift of
God, and an impulse of the Holy Ghost-who does not indeed ... yet dwell
in the penitent, but only moves bim-whereby the penitent being assisted,
prepares a way for himself unto justice. And although this Attrition cannot
of itself, without the Sacrament of Penance, conduct the sinner to Justifica.-
tion, yet does it dispose him to obtain the grace of God in tbe Sacrament
of Penance.-Penance, Chap. iv.
It is unnecessary to attempt to analyze the whole of this
farrago. The noticing of the points, which are clear and
indisputable, is sufficient. First, that genuine Contrition is not
necessary j secondly, that the Attrition which is sufficient does
not contain grace, and is destitute of the sentiment of Divine
love; and thirdly, that it is on the mind when in this graceless
state that the Absolution is pronounced. But independently
of any special observations of this nature, is it not of the very
essence of the Sacrament of Penance, as the Second Plank after
Shipwreck, to restore grace which has no existence till the
pronouncing of its "Ego te absolvo" 1 So that, instead of
expending argument in proving that they pretend to pardon
the graceless, our proper form of argument is, to call on them
to show where these few to whom they refer, as having attained
to a perfect contrition before the administration of the necessary
Sacrament, found IUch excellent grace. Yea, how forgetful I
am. These few desired the Sacrament. And we have seen
before, that according to the dietetics of Popery, the desire of
an apple is as nutritive as the real apple itself.
I therefore assert that the representation which I have made
of the Baptism and Absolution of the horrified murderer is
genuine. And when the honest Papist in acknowledging this
will maintain, that the relapse into sin is not imputable as
a fault to the Sacraments, since they did truly communicate
grace to the heart of the man at the time he was assured
of his pardon,-what, I ask, signifies a grace so latent and
inoperative, and which is so easily resisted and "lost, while it
signifies much, both to the honour of God and the interests of
society, that the ruffian should be cherished in his delusion,
and taught that he may persevere in crime with impunity i
CONFESSION.
SO much has been published on auricular confession, for the

enlightening of the public mind on its atrocities and abomina-
tions, that I shall do little more than indicate principles.
The Protestant principle is, that confession of faults is due
from an offender only to the party whom he has injured. All
sins, then, whatever-private or public, of thought, word, or
deed, being violatory of the honour of God, are to be confessed
to Him, as at once indicative and promotive of that Contrition
which is the moral qualification for receiving his forgiveness ;
all the merit being found in the atoning work of Christ. When,
besides dishonouring God, the sin has injured a neighbour,-
in addition to all possible reparation of the wrong, by restitution
of property, retraction of falsehood, &c., he is entitled to a
humble confession and beseechment of his forgiveness, as some
solatium to his wounded feelings. When the sin has been
committed publicly, or reported abroad, so as to bring discredit
on any church with which the offender may be connected,
confession before the church at large, or its office-bearers,
is imperative; that, in the Contrition which it indicates, they
may have some security that the offence will not be repeated.
Otherwise they are warranted to exclude him from their fellow-
ship. But, when the sin has been secret, so that the character
of the church sustain no injury, and their feelings of confidence
in him have not been impaired, he acts foolishly for himself,
and annoys them needlessly, if he reveal his transgression.
Let him keep his confession for the ear of God alone. Never-
theless' if his conscience be troubled and perplexed, it is one of
the strictest of obligations that any Christian brother to whom
he may apply. but especially the Pastor of the church, should
sympathetically listen to the narrative of his case, in order to

help him with counsel, consolation, and the intercession of prayer.
Popery makes little or nothing of these various forms of
confession, except as they may be enjoined in the subsequent
Satisfaction; and demands, that in every instance the con-
fession be first made in the ear of the Priest. Any confession
made to God prior to that is not only vain, but presumptuous,
unless it be a case of perfect Contrition, which we have seen
they admit is of rare occurrence. This confession is to be made
to the Priest with the greatest possible particularity, not only
in respect of the sins themselves, but their aggravating circum-
stances. Moreover, after the penitent has exhausted his spon-
taneous confession, he must submit to be interrogated, according
to the Priest's discretion, of every conceivable violation in
thought, word, and deed, of the whole of the ten command-
ments of God, and of many laws of man besides.
The Council empowers the priest very expressly to interrogate
the penitent, as he or she kneels at his tribunal, of violations of
"the last two precepts of the decalogue," i. e., of the Tenth
Commandment, according to the arrangement of God, but which
they profanely break down into two, that they may exclude the
Second, "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image,"
and yet preserve the complement of Ten. It has a double
advantage: besides the saving of their degrading Idolatry from
condemnation, it sanctions the priest in being particularly
inquisitive about the violation of "Thou shalt not covet thy
neighbour's wife," and conversely "Thou shalt not covet thy
neighbour's husband," and by implication" Thou shalt not covet
thy neighbour's lover," and many other covetable objects besides
-as being by itself a special prohibition of the law. And when
outraged modesty might, in defiance of. the power of super-
stition, rebel against the system of vile interrogation,-H Still
more pernicious," says the Catechism, than the justifying of sin,
His the conduct of those who, yielding to a foolish bashfulness,
cannot induce themselves to confess their sins. Such persons
are to be encouraged by exhortation; and to be reminded that
there is no reason whatever why they should yield to such false
delicacy; that to no one can it appear surprising if persons fall
into sin, the common malady of the human race, and the natural
appendage of human infinnity" (P. II. C. v. Q. 58).
Can anything be conceived of more diabolical 1 The youthful
penitent approached the confessional contrite and self-abased,
but is dismissed home with the assurance that the Priest was
nowise surprised at the revelations which she made, for he him-
self and everybody else are equally wicked; and that she, there-
fore, need not feel disconcerted. And all this he has practised
that he might gratify his prurient nature by mastering himself
of her secrets, debauch her mind by his corrupt insinuations,
and induce her to return again both more frank in her revela-
tions, and eager to learn a little more of that" entertaining know-
ledge of which he has given her an initiatory lesson.
The direct scriptural authority on which the uneducated and
more vulgar of the tribe of spies claim to be put in possession of
every secret of the lives and hearts of their degraded victims
(and through them, of the secrets of their victimized friends),
is that prescription of the npostle, "Confess your faults one
to another" (James v, 16). But the quotation is made so
absurdly, that their wiser men make no use of the passage in
framing their argument. It is not only inappropriate; in the
mouths of the Priesthood it is suicidal. "A bargain be it,
your Reverence," many a penitent who appears at the con-
fessional might well say, "Let us have turn about at the
questions and answers, and see who is the greater rogue."
Accooiingly, though we have frequently seen the Council
summon passages of Scripture from a great distance to their
help, yet, in the present instance, they do not pretend that they
have the direct warrant of a single verse of the Bible, Apoc-
rypha included, for their infamous espionage; and only infer it
from their having received the prerogative to Absolve. Attend
to the manner in which they draw the inference: Penance,
Chap. v., on Confession.
From the institution of Penance, as already explained, the universal
church has always understood that the entire confession of sins was also
instituted by the Lord, and is of Divine right necessary for all who have
fallen after baptism; because that our Lord Jesus Christ, when about to
ascend from earth to heaven, left priests His own Vicars, as presidents and
judges, unto whom all the mortal crimes into which the faithful of Christ
may have fallen should be carried, in order that in accordance with the power'
of the Keys, they may pronounce the sentence of forgiveness or retention of
&ina. For it is manifest that Priests could not have exercised this judgment
without knowledge of the cause; neither, indeed, could they have observed
equity in enjoining punishment, if the said faithful should, have declared
their lins in general, and not rather specifically, and one by one. Whence it
is gathel'ed, that all the mortallins of which, after a diligent examination of
themselYes, they are conscious, must neoessarily bo enumerated by penitents
in oonfellion, even though these sins be most hidden, and oouunitted only
against the last two precepts of the decalogue.
Such is the proof-not the explanation merely, but the only
proof which the Council produce of their right to exact from

their abject victims the disclosure of their most delicate secrets.
They infer the obligation of the people to confess, from their
own prerogative to absolve. But, having already demonstrated
the falsity of the premiss, there is no place for an argumentative
refutation of the inference.
The argument being dismissed-if, for the purpose of expos-
ing its immorality, I were to enter that "slaughter house of
conscience," as the Reformers called the Confessional, and
commence a description of the scenes which it presents, I would
be carried far beyond the prescribed limits of these illustrations;
and I must satisfy myself with one sentence of protest, in the
names of religion and human rights, against the foul espionage,
compared with which there is nothing throughout the institu-
tions of heathenism so treacherous and debasing-nothing
throughout the inventions of sin so anti-human, so malignantly
poisonous of the world's virtue and happiness.
SATISFACTION.
The contrite penitent having confessed, the Priest" exercises

his judgment" on the amount of guilt, appoints him a punish-
ment, and on the understanding that he will submit to that
punishment, pronounces the Absolution.
Let us consider, first of all, what is the expiation which this
punishment effects. We have already seen, when examining
the distinction betwixt Reatus Culpre and Reatu« Pamce, that,
although the Absolution makes an entire removal of the peni-
tent's guilt, it makes only a partial removal of his punishment
-removes the eternal, but leaves a large amount of temporal,
extending through this life into the remote ages of Purgatory.
Now the Satisfaction of Penance is part-payment of this
temporal debt. Hear the Council :
Oanon.XII.-If anyone saith that God always remits the whole punish-
ment, together with the guilt, and that the Satisfaction of penitents is no
other than the faith whereby they apprehend that Christ has ll&ti81iedfor
them; Jet him be &CClUr8Cd.
Canon XIII.-If anyone Haith that Satisfaction for Bins, as to their
temporal punishment, is nowise made to God, through the merits of Je8U8
Christ, by the punishments inflicted by Him and patiently borne, or by
these enjoined by the Priest. nor even by these voluntarily undertaken; let
him be accursed. .
Remark here 1st, The reassertion of the principle, that,
though the Divine government remits to a man the guilt of his
sin, it nevertheless proceeds forthwith to punish him; 2nd1y,
that .the providential afflictions to which the saint is subjected
in this life are not of the nature of fatherly corrections, but
of bitter punishments of an avenging judge; and 3dly, that
voluntary self-inflictions of pain by scourgings, &c., are accepted
in liquidation of the debt.
It is especially, however, the Satisfaction appointed by the
Priest in which we are at present interested. Of what does it
consist 1 A fine of money, you may be sure, forms a principal
element: but they gild it with the name of alms to the
poor. Fasting and the various modes of self-mortification form
another. And what else think you 1 Prayer! Think of that.
Remember what Satisfaction is j Punishment: so that the grand
consolation of a distressed spirit is reckoned a punishment for
Popish saints. It is that for some Protestant saints too, I fear.
But how shocking it is to appoint it for a punishment, and
make its character of a penalty an article of faith!
The atrocity of stigmatising prayer in this manner will
appear still more glaring, when we consider what the prescribed
prayers are. There are certain Popish prayers, rather than
defile our lips with which, some of us would die j but think of
the praying of the Lord's Prayer being reckoned a punishment!
And although the Ave Maria is one of those impure prayers,
yet Papists regard it as exceedingly sacred. According to the
Rosary'f it is as ten to one more precious than a Pater noster;
nevertheless the praying of it is prescribed as a punishment.
Is it not the extremest folly, that Papists should expose them-
* The Rosary consists of fifteen decades, or tens of smaller beads, separated
by fifteen single larger ones, strnng circularly with a pendant consisting of a
cross, to be kissed at the beginning of the exercise, and five beads for the
invocation of the Trinity-" in the name-of the Father-of the Son-and
of the Holy Ghost-Amen."
The design of the Rosary is to help them to keep in mind where they are at
in the number of their prayers; the fingers being moved a beed onward for
every prayer which has been recited. The larger beads denote Lord's ~yers,
or Pater n08U1r8, these being the first two words of the prayer in Latin.
The smaller ones denote prayers to the Virgin, or Ave MtWiaB, the Latin
for " Hail Mary I" In abbreviated phrase they are called Patel.. uul A-.
The Ave is as follows :-Hail Mary, full of grace I our Lord is with thee:
bl_d art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb,
Jeaua. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and at the
hour of 01lJ' death, Amen.
61Whis the entire St. Dominic Rosary, and when used in full f8l'l'our of
devotion, the fifteen decades of Aves with their respecthe Paters, are asso-
ciated in the mind of the devotee with fifteen different events in the history
of Ohriat aDd the Virgin. But the common Roary coulats of only five
deeades of ""_ and five single Patei-., UBOCiatedwitIi Chriat's five wounds.
I have been thu minute in d-ndDc the a-q, lU ohain beiDg the
grand II1D1bo1of Popiah bondage.
I
selves to the charge of Idolatry in worshipping the Virgin, when

it is so obvious that they have but small liking for her 1 They
take it as a heavy punishment to be prescribed to pray to her;
at least the priests, judging from their own experience, think
that all other sinners will feel the task odious and onerous, and
therefore impose it when punishment is needful.
But to judge candidly: suppose, Protestant brethren, both
that Penance were a genuine sacrament, and that the matter
of the prayers were unobjectionable, and that the most devout
llmong us were dismissed from the Confessional even with the
smaller Rosary on his neck, condemned to go the round of its
five Paters and fifty Aves, every morning for a week, before
breakfast, and again at night before lying down to sleep, he
would feel it, I guess, to be an exercise cousin-german to that
of the treadmill. But it is a stretch of imagination exceeding
all poetical license, to think of you, a malignant heretic, being
privileged with the tender mercies of the treadmill of the
Rosary: when you get your due it will be the guillotine, in
the day of friend Lucas' chancellorship, and Cahill's lordship
of Canterbury, and of Britain's being a province of the empire
of Napoleon le Desire. So long, then, as you are respited, we
must suppose the case of some faithful son of the Church, My
Lord Arundel, for instance, who prostrated himself, even on
the platform of the railway terminus, at the feet of the Bishop,
beseeching his benediction. '" An amiable nobleman though
he be, particularly distinguished through the training of the
priesthood for his filial piety, yet we cannot expect that he
should have attained to that perfection of grace which the
Indian savages had acquired under the power of the baptismal
hydrodynamics, for the professor of the Collegio Romano
assures us it was miraculous, t My Lord Arundel, therefore,
cannot take it amiss, that, judging of him by the rule of
common saintship, we imagine that he may be occasionally
guilty of a mortal faux-pas. Of course, he goes to Confession.
Suppose the priest condemns him to the "Beads" for a week,
and he protests that it is most inconvenient: "Sorry for you,
* It is that act of ignominy alone to which his Lordship is indebted for
being thus signalized. We are a.Il concerned in the dignity and independence
of that legislature for securing a place in which he performed the election-
eering farce. Or, if the idolatry W&8 acted in good faith, BO much the WOl'lle
is it that.our liberties should be endangered by the legialation of men whOle
mind. the priesthood have .0 debased and enthralled.
t See the Rev. K. H. Seymour'. "Mornings Among the JUIlita," pp.
257-278, BeL .th.
My Lord j but when I was ordained I received the Holy Ghost,

that I might be qualified for the office of binding and loosing,
and it is this inspiration which decrees the beads, only-"
" Only what 1 reverend father." "Why, only this, My Lord;
I have here a few Indulgences with which the Bishop has
intrusted me j you may have one and be saved the beads. It
is not quite regular to give it you beforehand, but if you pay
the consideration now, I pledge my honour as a priest, that I
will remit it as soon as the seven days of your disobedience
have expired j and should you die before that time, which all
mercy forbid-Ave Maria I-for we cannot spare you in these
Nero-like times of the persecution of Victoria j but should you
unfortunately die, be assured, My Lord, that I will expend the
money on Masses for the deliverance of your poor soul, which
will serve precisely the same end." "Well, well, what's to
pay 1" "\Vhat your Lordship has confessed is very mortal
indeed; and the soiling of the honour of the name of Howard,
which now rests with you since the apostasy of your unworthy
father, must not be treated lightly: the Indulgence will cost
you twenty sovereigns." "Twenty sovereigns! and is that,
too, the award of the inspiration 1" " As I occupy the divine
tribunal, I assure you it is : but if you object, what's the money
to me1 There's the beads, My Lord." "The beads! hangthem
-there's my cheque, and send the Indulgence." "All right:
Ego te absolvo: go, my son, in peace, and when thou hast
sinned again, come back. (Solus) How green he is, either to
confess or pay! There's no stuff in these lords: our hope is in
~he peasantry to do our work by night or by day."
The foregoing representation is somewhat imaginary; but he
knows nothing of Popery who regards it as being a mere
burlesque. I stake my reputation for candour on its being true
to the genius of the system. That there may be no dispute,
however, I shall quote a specimen of Peter Dens' instructions
to the junior priesthood how they should deal out pUnishtnerit
to a penitent. I select a. case not unfit for the public eye-
that of one who confesses himself to have been guilty of an act
of mortal drunkenness privately, The Penance appointed is:-
That for two days he read the psalm Mi8erere on his knees; that he fast
twice in the w6l!k; and that he distribute to the poor twice as much ... he
has spent on drink. But if he be a poor man and a labourer, that for three
suceesaive days he recite on his knees five Paten and A.Yes;that for two days
he do not drink anything before noon. and in the eveniDg eat only half a
meal; that for the two n81t Sabbaths he do noi enter the obuPCb (tabernam),
but thai after !lOOn(when Masa is over). he _y go to preMlhing aDd praiau.
It is that they may be able to "exercise judgment" and to

" observe equity in enjoining punishment" after such a fashion
as this-that they may know whether to adjudge the penitent
criminal to the suffering of five Aves or of ten, that the priest-
hood claim to be put in possession of all the secrets of their
degraded victims.
Deferring for a little the testimony against the manner in
which they violate the Drst principle of the gospel by their
dogma of the expiatory nature of these satisfactions, how, we
ask, do they determine the proportion of temporal punishment
which is to be expended by that part of the expiation which it
falls to them to prescribe ~ We have seen that a part consists
of providential ajIlictions, a part of austerities voluntarily
undertaken, and a part of purgatorial torments. Supposing the
proportion of the last to be fixed, how do they regulate the
number of Aves and Patera in relation to the varying amounts
of the first two elements ~ The only answer is, that it is a
system of imposture as inconsistent as it is abominable; which
no sane priest can honestly administer, and no sane penitent
honestly submit to. The judgment lies betwixt sanity and
honesty.
Before making the concluding testimony to which I have
just referred, there remains another point to be noticed, which
very signally convicts the whole matter of the grossest absurdity
and self-contradiction. The Absolution is almost universally
pronounced before the Satisfaction either is, or can be, rendered.
It is rarely that an Indulgence is paid for on the spot, as in the
supposed case of his Lordship. If Peter Dens' penitent
drunkard, then, on leaving the Confessional,fail to perform the
prescribed Aves, what is to be said of the Absolution ~ Did it
take effect when pronounced1 Or, was it pronounced con-
ditionally, to take effect only should the Satisfaction be forth-
coming~ All the Doctors reject the latter idea as impugning
the judicial character of their sentence; and maintain that
pa-rdonis presently conferred, while yet it seems to be conferred
on a condition which may never be realized. No difficulty has
gravelled them more than this. One of the most celebrated of
the brotherhood, Durandus, endeavoured to escape it byexclud-
ing Satisfaction altogether; but the Council of Trent having
decreed it, with an anathema OD gainsayers, to be a constituent
part of the material of the Sacrament, their theologians, ever
llinee, have been allowed DO discretion in the matter. Poor
Bellarmine feels uncommonly uncomfortable on the subject (De

Prenit. L. I. C. vii.); and in want of something more feasible is
obliged to disgrace his logic by adopting the solution proposed
in the Cathecism (P. II. C. v, Q. 21). It is this: just as the
head and heart are essential to a man's existence, while hands
and eyes contribute only to the integrity of his being, and are
of such a nature that he would be truly a man without them,
though not a perfect man; so, Contrition and Confession are
essential to Penance, while the non-performance of Satisfaction
only mutilates it, and does not destroy its vitality.
What this jargon may practically imply they do not explain ;
but I suppose it will be this: that independently of Satisfaction,
Absolution delivers from the eternal punishment (there can be
no merely half-done work in this case); but, that if tho
appointed Satisfaction be not observed, the temporal punishment
will not be diminished, but rather accumulated, perhaps through
the disobedience. Whether this be the proper explanation or
not, it is evident that the Satisfaction is comparatively a very
insignificant matter-according to the Catechism and Bellar-
mine, but as a little finger to a man's head. And yet, be it
remem bered, their only plea for exacting the degrading "slaughter
house" confession is, that they may be able to adjust the terms
of what is 80 contemptible, that the absolved penitent may dis-
regard it without sustaining any loss worth the mentioning.
The weakness of the argument is matched only by the strength
of the villainy-ofthe system, I mean: let those who administer
the system themselves judge of their personal character.
CONCLUSION.
I conclude with proclaiming the system to be, first of all,

most deepfy insulting to God. Supposing, that to pardon sin
on the ground of satisfaction made by the transgressor himself
were a principle of his government, in what light does it place
his character, when He is represented as acquitting the guilty
for the mumbling of Aves and Paters by bead-measure I Have
we not reason for exclaiming again-What a god is the Papist's
god I Only, when we formerly uttered the exclamation in
horror of him, as avenging himself on infants, it is now in
contempt of him, as one who is appeased by sacrifices of beads!
But, especially, I denounce the system as blasphemously
derogating from the honour of the sacrifice of Christ, as the only
and all·suilicient expiation of sin. When all the Reformers
150 THE PARDON OF SJN.
bore this witness with great indignation, Bellarmine's defence

is, that the Satisfaction of Penance docs not extend to salvation
from the eternal punishment of hell, but only to deliverance
from the hundreds and thousands of years of temporal punish-
ment of purgatory! Is there any need for replying to this 1
Bellarmine himself forswore it. The death-bed scattered all the
sophistry: and his "latter will" and testament, discloses him
renouncing all self-righteousness of whatever nature, and dying
holily and hopefully, in simple-hearted reliance on the finished
work of the Redeemer. How relieved I feel that these pages
are drawing to a close, though it were for nothing else but that
I will no more meet Bellarmine as a foe, and that I bid him
farewell in the brotherhood of the gospel.
Properly I have finished the task which I originally prescribed
myself-an exposition of the Sacrament of Penance. But just
as it was found necessary to go back, and give a history from
the beginning, of the Popish method of saving a sinner, before
the nature and bearing of Penance could be understood; so is
it desirable, that some explanation should be made of what
accompanies and follows it, down to the close of the history.
This would require an illustration of Indulgences, and Masses
for the Dead, more extensive than has been, or possibly can be,
given of these two corruptions, either in this or the following
course of lectures. Besides, that of Extreme Unction has
hitherto escaped exposure altogether. But time and space
prevent the protracting of the discussion.
The cause for regret, however, is but small. We have surely
seen enough, for a time, to make us devoutly grateful, that we
were born and enjoy life in a land for which God raised up an
ancestry so noble, to deliver us from such degradation and bond-
age; enough to awaken our sense of responsibility for peculiarly
high attainments; enough to excite our compassion into active
measures for the deliverance of our fellow-subjects, and those
nations of Europe who are the victims of the tyrannical
delusion; enough to excite our zeal in the work of exposing to
mockery and indignation the surpliced hypocrisy of Romanism
and perjury of Anglicanism, till public opinion shall have chased
the noxious vermin out of our isles; and, finally, enough to
arouse us, as we would be freemen, to demand of our legislature
that they terminate this treachery of the commonwealth, per-
petrated in the helping of Judas Iscariot's Antitype to the
betrayment of our Lord; and, that if they feel 80 conceited
about Popery as 8 venerable system, it be at their own personal
expense, and not ours, they cherish and aggrandize it. .
For the question is not, what they think of the system, but
what we, the party exacted on for its maintenance, think. And
when some of them reply, that they must act equitably, and
exact on Protestants for the help of Papists, since Papists are
exacted on for the help of Protestants, let those answer this
who share the spoil. But, in the name of millions of the most
honourable of Her Majesty's subjects--most honourable, because
they maintain themselves, and would not accept, though it
were offered them, of the smallest coin of public money for the
help of their faith-in the name of these millions, I protest,
that it is insult added to the wrong when they felicitate us on
the liberty which we enjoy under the British Constitution, and
which they take credit for conserving for us, so long as they
coerce us to pay for the support of a system which we regard as
being a hideous, demoralizing blasphemy-which insults our
God, defames our Redeemer, pollutes our neighbourhood, pro-
motes robbery, murder and sedition, and obstructs all our efforts
of piety and philanthropy for gaining honour to our Lord, and
promoting the happiness of man.
It is hard that we should be compelled to contribute to
the strengthening of our enemy, and then told we should be
thankful for our liberty! No, My Lords and Gentlemen; there
are many acts of justice which we must force from your hands
before we be free; among these is prominent the deliverance
of ourselves from the manner in which you have betrayed us
into the support and aggrandizement of him whom God has
denounced as the Son of Perdition. Woe to them who bless
when God curses! And if you are destitute of the piety which
fears such comminations, act the part, at least, of honourable
and honest men, and be done with your tyrant-like coercion
of us to support a system which we abhor. Until we obtain
this justice we shall protest against you as the enactors and
perpetuators of a law which is fit only for the government
and submission of slaves. Remember, it is millions of us, of
intellect, morals, and blood equal to your own, who share these
sentiments of indignation.
THE MASS.
THE MASS.
-_:--
INTRODUCTORY OBSERVAT IONS.

You are all generally aware, that the Mass affects to be what
the Scripture denominates The Lord's Supper (1 Cor. xi. 20).
The account of the institution of that ordinance, as given by
the apostle Paul, runs thus :-
"I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered
unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he
WaB betrayed took bread: and when he had given thanks, he
brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken
for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner
also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is
the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink
it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread,
and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he come"
(1 Cor. xi. 23-26).
Such is the simplicity of that Institution which has been
perverted into the huge superstructure of superstition, idolatry,
delusion, and immorality which it is my task to expose. But
before I proceed to that exposure, let me briefly state our
Protestant view of the nature and design of the ordinance, that,
having a clear apprehension of the truth, we may be better
qualified to discern the grossness of the error.
Our doctrine, then, is, that eighteen hundred years ago,
Christ perfected the work of propitiatory sacrifice for sin, by
the oblation of Himself on the Cross at Calvary j. and that we
are individually made partakers of his atonement by faith in
that work, at that time, and at that place, perfected and
finished. Observe, then, that we are saved instrumentally by
thinking-by an exercise of the mind. That is the boast of
our system, as worthy of the profession of dignified men :-that
we are saved by thinking well_ved by faith.thinking. A.s a
156 THE MASS.
man lies in meditation on his bed, in the darkness and stillness

of the night, let his thought be, that the Son of God died
for his sin; let him think that believingly, and, consequently,
admiringly, gratefully, confidingly, and with consecration of
himself to the Redeemer's service; let him think that, and as
he lies on his bed God justifies him, and pronounces on him
the benediction of a pardoned and accepted man, so that were
he presently to die--without anything more being done either
for him or by him-his spirit would ascend triumphantly into
the Paradise of the blessed. Mock-priests rage against this
doctrine of grace, which teaches that a man may be saved at
home independently of them; and mock-philosophers sneer at
what they stigmatize as a superstitious fancy; but the expe-
rience of,.n ages has borne witness to it, as being the wisdom
and the power of God, alike for the rejoicing and sanctifying
of the soul,
Observe, then, further, that, since it is by faith alone we are
saved, any religious ordinance can be profitable only in the
proportion of its serving to express faith, and of its contributing
to its strength. When the ordinance of the Supper, as observed
by Protestants, is measured by this rule, how important it
approves itself! That bread and wine being regarded simply
as memorials of our Lord's broken body and shed blood, how
expressive our participation of them is of that grateful remem-
brance in which we hold his death; and how loudly we pro-
claim to a careless or scoffing world, that this death which they
despise is yet that great event in which we find all our hope of
salvation-that which above all other events in the world's
history we regard most worthy of being commemorated-that
in which above all others we triumph-that in meditation on
which our souls find their richest feast!
And when the ordinance is thus so admirably adapted for
expressing faith, equally efficient is it for the cherishing of
faith. &l',h of us may be represented on the morning of a
Communion Sabbath addressing himself thus: "How ready
thou art, 0 my soul, to be downcast and disquieted; but I will
take thee to that 'l'able to be reminded of the Redeemer's work
and love for thee: how ready to yield to the pleadings of thy
disordered passions, and to grow weary and lax in thy duty; but
I will take thee to that Table to be reminded of thy obligation
to thy heavenly Master, and to renew the pledge of allegiaDce
to his throne: and ob, how ready, in times of mockery and
contradiction, to be ashamed of his name, and treacherously
deny Him; but I will take thee to that Table to practise thee
in the lesson of confessing Him, and make thee bold in avowing
thyself his dependant and subject."
Happy ordinance, either for giving vent to the feelings of
faith, or for animating and strengthening faith by all its holy
and tender remembrances! Is not this enough 1 What more
does the Christian need 1 And why should we wonder that
the great adversary, after having failed in his attempt to put
this ordinance down by force-mingling the blood of the primi-
tive saints with their feast--should have changed his craft, and
by means of priestly imposture have withdrawn one half of it
from the people, and so corrupted the other which he left, that,
instead of the church's bread, it has been converted into the
most fatal poison 1
Having thus prepared the way, I proceed to the consideration
of the Popish Mass. The origin of the name is doubtful. The
more general opinion is, that it is derived from a Latin word
signifying "dismission," as being an ordinance on the occasion
of the celebration of which strangers and mere catechumens
were ordered to retire. But whatever be its signification,
Papists have a good reason for holding by it, and rejecting the
apostolic name of the Lord's Supper. So far as I have observed,
that designation of it does not occur throughout the Decrees
and Canons of the Council of Trent. The reason is, that the
Scriptural name characterises it as a Feast; whereas, under the
Popish perversion, feasting is a very subordinate part of the
ordinance; and, so far as the people are concerned, in the great
majority of the cases of its dispensation, not practised at all.
Ignorant Protestants, and there are far too many of them, suppose
that there is nothing wrong in the Popish doctrine and practice
in regard to this subject but the dogma of Transubstantiation,
and the withholding of the Cup from the laity; and that in
all other respects the ordinance remains the same as with
ourselves: whereas the truth is, that the testimony of many
of the Reformers was carried but a. short way against the
Transubstantiation figment. Luther's Consubstantiation was
only a. slight modification of it; and Calvin himself entertained
mystical views of a. real presence which did not entitle him to be
severe in his censure of this article of the Romish superstition.
It was other perversions in the Mass, far more bsneful, which
excited their indignation.
158 THE MASS.
The ritual of the Mass is extensive, complicated, and vari-

ously self-contradictory. The self-contradictions it is not my
part to reconcile; for the complexity I shall attempt some
arrangement; and for the extensiveness I must have recourse
to abridgment.
The principal authority which I shall adduce for my state-
ments and representations, is, the Council of Trent. Were
anyone to say that it is not fair to estimate the Popery of
the present day by their decrees, since no denomination,
perhaps, could bear to be measured minutely by its ancient
standards, my reply would be, first, that no Papist would
thank the objector for volunteering such an apology on his
behalf ; since he believes the Council was rendered infallible by
the guidance of God's Spirit : and I would reply, secondly,
that the Council is not of such antiquity as some suppose.
Had it been held in the dark ages, eight hundred or a thousand
years ago, there would have been some force in tbe allegation
of its being unfair to hold modern Papists responsible for all
its decisions; but it was convened so recently as the year 1545,
and did not terminate its sittings till the year 1563-a period,
you will observe, not only of recent date, but of much light, as
diffused by the Reformation. Lutber, and Melancthon, and
Zwingle, and Cranmer, and Calvin, had all of them by that
time finished their great work. But whatever apology may be
made for that Council, on the score of its antiquity, it will be
impossible to make the charge of unfair or uncandid dealing
when, in giving a representation of modern Popery, I produce
the authority of the Missal, which, as their book of Common
Prayer, is used every Sabbath in every Popish meeting-bouse
throughout Christendom, and concerning the Canon of the
Mass, contained in which, the Council of Trent has pro-
claimed-" If anyone saith that the Canon of the Mass
contains errors, and is therefore to be abrogated, let him be
accursed." Besides these, my t:wo principal authorities, I shall
make some use of the Creed of Pius IV., to which everyone
swears who takes orders in the Ohurch of Rome; and also
of the Catechism for the Parochial Clergy, drawn up by a
Committee appointed by the Council of Trent, and whose
performance received the official sanction of Pius V. When
I limit myself to such authorities as these, there will be
no opportunity for making the charge either of falae or
uncandid witness-bearing.
The arrangement of topics according to which I propose to
consider the Mass, is:-
I. Its Priest and Altar.
II. Its Consecration.
III. Its Elevation of the Host and Chalice for adoration.
IV. Its Oblation as an expiatory sacrifice.
V. Its Sacramental Communion by the Priest; and
VI. Its Communion by the People.
May the Spirit of Truth gift me with all clearness of
intelligence, and boldness and holiness of zeal for exposing
and denouncing the error, so dishonouring to God and fatal
to man, which lies in these and some collateral topics which
will "present themselves for investigation!
I.
THE MASS: ITS PRIEST AND ALTAR.
I FEAR there is a lamentable confusednessof ideas, even among

our Protestant population, on the subjects of Priest and Altar
in their own worship. Are all of you who call yourselves
Protestants, familiar with the doctrine, that those whom we
denomioate pastors, or ministers of the gospel, are no more
priests than yourselves; and that there are no genuine altars
on the earth but those of your own hearts, if even they are
entitled to the name1 A Priest is one who offers up sacrifices
to God. Now sacrificesare principally of two classes: the one
calledEucharistic-consisting of thanksgiving, praise, and works
of piety and charity; the other Propitiatory-having for their
object the procuring of the pardon of sin. For the offering of
the former-the Eucharistic-the apostle Peter, in his First
Epistle (ii. 5, 9), represents the whole of the church ordained
to be a priesthood :-" an holy priesthood," he calls them; and
again, "a royal priesthood," to offer up "spiritual sacrifices,"
with the altar within each man's own bosom-a believing and
holy heart; or, rather, with Christ Himself as the altar, by whom
the gift is sanctified, and the heart the sacrifice (Matt. xxiii. 19).
In harmony with this the apostle Paul says, "By him there-
fore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that
is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name. But to do
good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices
God is well pleased" (Heb. xiii, 15, 16). jf. This community
and universality of priesthood, existing in the whole of the
members of the Church, for the offering of eucharistic sacrifice,
the Church of Rome admits. Thus, in the Catechism, the
Parochial priests are instructed to teach that there is a double
priesthood-an internal and an external j respecting the former
of which it is stated, that "all the faithful, after they have
been wBBhedwith the salutary water, are called priests j but
especiaJly the jUBtifiedwho are possessedof the Spirit of God,
* Oompue &110 PIIalma n. 11; 0Yii. 22; Rom. xii. 1; Eph ... iT. 18.
ITS PRIEST AND ALTAR. 161
and who, by this bounty of divine grace, have been made living
members of Christ, the great High Priest. For these by a faith,
inflamed by love, present spiritual sacrifices to God, on the altar
of their own mind; among the which kind of sacrifices all good
and virtuous actions which pertain to the glory of God are to
be reckoned" (Part II. C. vii. Q. 23).
Of the other kind of sacrifice-the propitiatory or expiatory
for the pardon of sin-Christ made an end for ever, by the
oblation of his perfect sacrifice on the cross: and with the
abolition of all such sacrifices, there has necessarily been
abolition of the corresponding Priesthood also, except in the
case of the intercessory part of the office, which our Lord has
ascended on high to conduct within the veil. But Popery
having, to the discredit and dishonour of the perfect and
finished work of Christ, restored a great work of propitiatory
sacrifice, as will afterwards be fully illustrated, has consistently
restored a Priesthood also.
When assembled in Council at Trent, they were deeply
perplexed, through want of Scriptural authority with which
to sustain the pretension. In his enumeration of the office-
bearers of the Church, Paul had mentioned apostles, and
prophets, and evangelists, and pastors, and teachers, but not
a word had he said about Priests, although engaged with a
description of the munificent manner in which the endowment
had been made for the perfecting of the saints, for the work
0: the ministry, and the edifying of the body of Christ
(Eph. iv, 11, 12). This omission of the most important of the
offices, according to the Popish reckoning, was most un account-
aoie, Nor did any other part of the New Testament supply
the lack. " No Priest but Christ," was the constant response
of all its oracles. It was therefore necessary to have recourse
to inference. What then do you imagine, you who are not
already in possession of the secret, may be that passage from
which the majority of the Council determined to infer their
sacerdotal power, and to which every genuine Papist must
believe they were guided by the inspiration of the Holy
Ghost 1 You might guess round the whole Canon of Scripture
in vain, till you came to that last verse which you had not
quoted before, thinking it impossible that that could be the
one. It is these words of the Institution of the Supper, "This
do in remembrance of me." Now, observe, that we have the
direct and explioit authority of Christ Himself for maintaining
K
162 THE MASS:
that these words were spoken to the disciples, as communicants:

"This do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me."
The doing consisted in the drinking j and equally by the
drinking was the remembrance to be maintained. Accordingly,
the apostle subjoins, "As often as ye eat this bread, and drink
this cup, ye do show the Lord's death." It is the eating and
drinking by which the commemoration is effected.
But, no, said the majority of the Tridentine Prelates, and
Doctors, and Abbots, and Canonists, inspired, as they pretended
they were, and inspired as a superstitious people believes them
to have been :-the words, say they, were not spoken to the
Apostles in their character of communicants at all j nor have
they any reference to the eating and drinking: they were
addressedto them solely in their official character, and refer to
the manner in which they, as performers of the Mass, should,
after his example, execute its ritual. So that the true inter-
pretation of the words is, "Perform this sacrifice, as my
ordained and commissioned Priests, for a commemoration of
me J " Was there ever a grosser perversion of a divine
injunction 1 And yet, on a foundation so spurious rests the
whole superstructure of the Priestly usurpation of Popery.
One or two other passages they quote, but doubtfully or
hesitatingly. This is their grand plea, and main dependence.
Corrupt and enslaved as the Council of Trent was, it would
have been remarkable had no voice been lifted up against such
abuse of the divine testimony. Accordingly a minority,
respectable both for number and character, remonstrated
against the proposition of such a basis for their priestly claims:
but their protest was of no avail, and the decree went forth
involving that minority as well as all Protestants in its
anathema j "If anyone shall say, that by these words, 'Do
this, for a remembrance of me,' Christ did not constitute his
apostles Priests, or did not ordain that they and other Priests
should offer his body and blood, let him be accursed." Of
course, we mock at the curse j but let us beware of partiality:
we had need carry our testimony much higher than, No Popery:
we must raise the cry, No Priesthood, save that of Christ, and
such as is common to every member of the Church. That
must be the battle cry of Protestantism throughout England j
and Scotland is not exempt from the need of it. There are
occasional manifestations of pretensions which warrant the
sarcasm of Milton, that "Presbyter is only Priest writ large."
ITS PRIEST AND ALTAR. 163
And our Congregational brethren cannot be the worse for the
admonition of being watchful, lest the humble name of Pastor
be made the cloak of sacerdotal pretensions.
I conclude this department of the subject with quoting these
words of my friend, Dr. John Brown, of Edinburgh: "Whoever
professes to be a Priest, under the New Economy, invades the
prerogative of Him who is a Priest for ever, after the order
of Melchizedek; and is guilty of presumption as far exl!eeding
that of Korah and his company, as the ministry which Jesus
hath received is a more excellent ministry than that of Aaron
and his sons." There is a well launched Scottish Presbyterian's
anathema, with more force in it than that of all the Canons
of Trent.*
* In England, Cranmer and his brethren performed their duty in thit
matter so far well. The Liturgy, in the department of the Communion, is
thoroughly purged of all phraseology about an altar: and the Scriptural
designation, The Lord's Supper, it uniformly employed. But the name
Priest is unhappily retailled. ARd what means the surplice r Long before
Mr. Carlyle wrote, the Puritan Fathers had studied the Philolophy of
Clothes. And men only betray their own ignoranOi when they mock at the
scrupulousness of those Who objected so strenuously to the hated garment.
A great principle of the Gospel was concerned in it. That surplice was then,
and it by the Puseyite faction still, a challenge on the part of its wearer to
be regarded a Priest. The Absolution, too, occurring in the midet of the
Order of Communion, is a part of the Sacerdotal assumption which man
that Church's Protestantitm.
II.
THE MASS: ITS CONSECRATION.
HAVINGerected an Altar, and ordained a Priest for itself, let

us now consider how Popery finds a Sacrificial victim: Yes, a
Victim-Christ to be "crucified afresh," as Papists not only
admit, but contend, yea, boast: and I will presently call on
you to .l~ge whether it be not also to fulfil the rest of the
Scripture--" and put him to an open shame." This prepara-
tion of a Victim is effected by the. Consecration of the Mass,
consisting in the process for converting a little bread and wine
into the real body and blood of Christ; so that it is no longer
bread and wine in reality, but only such in appearance. It
looks like bread and wine to the eyes; it savours of bread and
wine to the nostrila ; it feels like bread and wine to the hands
and mouth; it tastes like bread and wine to the palate; like
bread it is digested and nourishes, or grows mouldy; like wine
it exhilarates and intoxicates, or turns sour j but that, says the
Priest, is all delusion; everyone of the senses but that of
hearing is at fault; by means of which hearing he assures us,
that his Consecrating power, transmitted to him and infused
into him by ordination from the Pope, has converted them into
the true body and blood of the Son of God.
An .ignorant and charitable Protestant is ready to ask here,
if we do not misrepresent Popery, or, at least, the Popery of
the nineteenth century, when we represent any class of men as
believing and teaching such palpable absurdity 1 Now, never
was there a case in which an honest controversialist was less
in danger of mistaking and misrepresenting an opponent. For,
first, the Popish Priesthood, instead of disputing or resenting
our allegations, boast of the power of their consecrating word
to effect the wonderful transformation; and mock at the
unauthorized ministers of the Protestant heresy for their
impotence, because they are unable to give, like them, the
body of Christ to the people. Or, where there may be any
ae.cheroua father or brother aullmg them, who, in presence of
ITS CONSECRATION. 165
intelligent men, blushes to avow the dogma in its naked
monstrousness, and attempts some modification of. it, there
are the Decrees and Canons of Trent, the Catechism, the
Creed of Pius, and the Mass Book-all protesting against
his equivocation.
Listen, then, and mark the precision of the language of these
documents, and reflect if it be possible to misunderstand what
they prescribe us to believe, and for refusing to assent to
which, they doom us to everlasting punishment with fierce
anathemas.
Canon I. of the Councilof Trent, on the Eucharist.-" If
any denieth, that in the Sacrament of the most holy Eucharist
are contained, truly, literally, and substantially, the body and
blood, together with the soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus
Christ, and consequently the whole Christ, but saith that He
is only therein as in figure or virtue [influence], let him be
anathema." This, however, you will observe, does not carry
the superstition much farther than was done by Luther, in
his dogma of Consubstantiation, and that form of it which is
contained in the Scottish Episcopal service: both appear to be
•.,'onsistent with the notion, that the bread and wine remain
after the Consecration, and only have Christ's body and blood
combined or united with them. Attend, therefore, to the
advance made beyond this in
CanonII.-" If anyone saith, that in the sacred and holy
Sacrament of the Eucharist, the substance of the bread and
wine remains, conjointly with the body and blood of our Lord
Jesus Christ, and denieth that wonderful and singular conver-
sion of the whole substance of the bread into the body, and
the whole substance of the wine into the blood-the species
[appearances] only of the bread and wine remaining; which
conversion, indeed, the Catholic Church most aptly calls Tran-
substantiation-let him be anathema."
Attend again: I have already informed you what is the
anthority of the Catechism for the parish priests, ordered to be
prepared by the Council of Trent, and sanctioned by the Pope.
Nowhere else have we properly such an authentic exposition
of Tridentine doctrine. At Question 31st, then, of Chap. IV.,
Part II., we find the following direction about the manner in
which the Priests are to instruct the people. I must present
it first in the original Latin, that any scholar may assure his
friends that I have translated cbrrect1y.
166 THE MASS:
Jam vera /WC loco a pastoribus explioamdum. est, non solum

oerum. Christi corpus, et quicquid ad veram corporis rationem
pertinet, veluti OSSA et NERVOS, sed etiam tatum Christum in hoe
sacramento eontineri:-
" In this place the pastors must explain, that not the true
body of Christ alone, and whatever pertains to the true consti-
tution of a body, such as the bonesand sinews, but also the entire
Christ are contained in this sacrament."
Finally; at ordination they all swear in the language of the
creed of Pius, that they believe "that in the most holy Sacra-
ment of the Eucharist there is truly, really, and substantially
the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity of our
Lord Jesus Christ; and, that there is a change made of the
whole subetsace of the bread into the body, and of the whole
substance of the wine into the blood, which change the Catholic
Church calls Transubstantiation."
Here, then, there can be no mistake. The oracle is without
equivocation. That, which not many seconds ago was bread
and wine, is such no longer in reality. When the apostle Paul
speaks of it after consecration as being bread still, saying, "as
often as ye eat this bread" (1 Cor. xi. 26); yea, when Ohrist
Himself speaks of it as being wine still, referring to it as the
fruit of the vine (Matt. xxvi, 29); that is all an unfortunate
accommodation of language to appearances which Popery has
corrected. By the alchymic voice of Consecration it has been
changed into the body and blood of the Son of God truly, really,
and substantially, without any trope or figure of speech what-
ever; and if the anathema of Rome have any power, whosoever
of us doubts it is damned.
Brethren, you may witness this pretended, horrid manufac-
ture any Sabbath day your conscience will permit you to attend
at a Popish place of worship, and many common week-days
besides. There is no public worship among them without it.
The greater part of Protestants imagine that Mass is performed
only occasionally, as when the Lord's Supper is observed among
ourselves. On the contrary, that miraculous work of Oonver-
sion goes regularly forward every time they assemble. Their
assembling has this for its principal, almost its sole design.
But when you may attend to satisfy yourselves that I tell you
no merely imaginary tale-that men mingle with us as we walk
the street, who pretend that they are endowed with a power,
which trvtJry Sabbath they exercise, of placing the body of the
•
glorified Redeemer on their altar, by a certain operation which
~hey perform on a cake of bread, and a cup of wine-placing
It there flesh and blood, bones and sinews, alive with his soul,
and with his divinity, to be adored; then to be immolated (1
use the precise expression of the Council of Trent), immolated
as a sacrifice; and afterwards truly, literally, and substantially
to be eaten and drunk-when you make your visit, 1 say, for
satisfying yourselves of the truth of my representation, you
must not expect to hear the whole of the language of the cere-
monial. Independently of the Church of Rome being faithful
to her character as a contemner of the Word of God, so as, in
defiance of apostolic prescription, to use in the celebration of
the Mass what, to the most of you, iii an unknown tongue
(1 Cor. xiv. 2)-at the critical mouient when tho work iii to
be done, the operator lowers his voice to a whisper. Uruler
that whisper is couched the greatest imposture, perhaps, of tho
Mystery of Iniquity.
Before the meeting of the Council of Trent, there had been
considerable disputing among the doctors about the precise
time when the transmutation of the bread and wine takes place;
and if any formula be necessary for that end, additional to what
is recorded as having been used by Christ at the original insti-
tution. The Council, by its ratification of the Canon of the
Mass, contained in the Missal, determined both what are the
words under which the Consecration is effected, and the manner
in which they are to be pronounced. On the first of these
points; the words-of more than creative power, the pro-
nouncing of which is followed by a more wondrous effect than
when God said, " Let there be light "-were determined to be
those expressions in the recorded formula, when Christ said,
" This is my body," and again, "This cup is the new testament
in my blood."
And, with respect to the second of the disputed points, it was
determined, that the priest, bending over the bread and wine,
should pronounce the consecrating words secretly. All this
was a principal object of the mockery of the Reformers: and
Archbishop Tillotson has not been afraid of committing his
scholarship, when he traces the Hocus pocus of the practisers
of the art of legerdemain, to their attempt to imitate the incan-
tation of Popish Priests, when they whisper in the- Latin lan-
guage the Hoc 68t Corpw. The Council of Trent has fulminated
a furious anathema against the mockers: "If anyone saith,
HIS THE MASS:
that the ritual of the Romish Church, according to which a

part of the Canon and words of Consecration are pronounced in
a low tone, is to be condemned, let him be accursed." Mark
what reason they have for their tenacious adherence to this
form. It is not merely to give the ceremony an air of deeper
mystery in the eyes of the vulgar. The words, as used by
Christ, are evidently declarative: and accordingly, in the ritual
of the Church of England, the officiator is commanded to stand
by the side of the table, with his face to the people, that they
may hear their enunciation. But according to the Popish
perversion, they are not declarative-the people have nothing
to do with them-they contain a commandment addressed to
the bread and wine, as when our Lord addressed the sea, and
rebuked it in1io'a calm. It is, therefore, that, with his back to
the people and his face to the altar, the priest, personating
Ohrist, whispers his order to the insensible elements, that they
be presently transformed. Well, the mysterious omnipotent
whisper has been breathed, and that ere while wafer of flour has
been metamorphosed, truly, really, and substantially, into the
incarnated Deity of the Son of God! It is not true that the
heavens should retain Him till the times of the great Restitution
(Acts iii. 21). That whisper of a mortal priest has prevailed
against the divine decree; and there is a whole Christ, truly,
really, and substantially, secured as a victim for his altar.
One Christ! A plurality of them: Two at least. Hear the
Council :
CanonIII.-" If anyone deny, that, in the venerable Sacra-
ment of the Eucharist, the whole Christ is contained under
each species, let him be accursed."
Language has no meaning if these words do not imply, that
after the Consecration there are two whole Christs on the altar,
one under the species of bread, or the Host, as it is named in
their vocabulary, and another under the species of wine, in the
Chalice, as they term the Cup. No wonder is there that, so
soon as the other superstitions will permit, the Host should
be plunged into the Chalice, that there may be some appearance
of escape from that, of which it is impossible to determine
whether the blasphemy or the absurdity be the greater. But
attempt to escape is vain. Is not everyone of these Hosts--
consecrated whether now or formerly, and which are reserved
for the Sacramental Oommunion-a whole Christ by itselft
Hear the Council again in the remaining part of that Canon,
the first part of which I have just now quoted :-" If anyone
deny, that, in the venerable Sacrament of the Eucharist, the
whole Christ is contained under each species, and under every
part of each species when separated, let him be accursed."
Suppose, then, that I have here a consecrated Host. In its
entireness it is a whole Christ, body, soul, and divinity-
remember, 000, the ossa et neTvo8-really, truly, and substan-
tially. Let me break it; each half is a whole Christ still; and
so on indefinitely, even to the smallest particles, as we shall
presently see the Council itself explicitly declares. It is the
same with the Chalice: let but a drop of its contents be spilt,
that is a whole Christ lost. All this is irrespective of the con-
sideration of the other whole Christa at all the other altars
throughout Popedom, where Mass is being performcd ; and of
all the Hosts which are laid up in the sacraria, or carried about
in Mass-boxes in the pockets of the priests to the beds of the
dying. It is a sickening mass of superstition: and instead of
proceeding further in this direction with any explanations of my
own, I shall refer, for the exposure of the next Canon, to the
exhibition made of it by John Knox, whom I shall afterwards
have occasion to quote. In the meantime I shall transcribe
the Canon:-
(Janon IV.-" If anyone shall say, that, after the Consecration
is completed, the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ
are not in the admirable Sacrament of the Eucharist; but are
there only during the use, whilst it is being taken, and not
either before or after; and that in the Hosts, or Consecrated
Particles whieh are reserved or remain after communion, the
true body of the Lord remaineth not, let him be accursed."
I conclude this department of the subject with two observa-
tions. First; controlled as they were by the Court of Rome,
and blinded as they were by superstition and self-interest, it
would have been the greatest miracle of all, if the members of
the Council of Trent had enacted such decrees harmoniously and
without much contention. Accordingly, though they appear
to have been unanimous in holding the dogma of a real presence
in one form or another, yet the contest betwixt the Franciscan
and Dominican doctors about the mode of the presence, affords
one of the most amusing passages which the history of contro-
versy contains, for the manner in which two absurdities assail
and destroy one another.
My second observation is, that, notwithstanding the grossness
170 THE MASS.
of the absurdity, the dogma of transubstantiation, as the late

Mr. O'Connell discerningly remarked, is the yery last which the
Church of Rome will surrender-he said, in its declension into
apostasy-I say, in its recovery to the purity of the Gospel; if
that shall ever be, instead of its being vengefully destroyed.
On the part of the people there is no superstition which holds
their minds bound in a spell so potent as this. What shall we
say of it, when even Luther himself continued till death to a
great extent the victim of its delusion 1 And as for the Priests,
it is chiefly on this that both their prerogative and interest rest.
When Pope Pascal II. vindicates for the Clergy an exemption
from being tried for such crimes as robbery, adultery, and
murder, by the civil magistrate, like other citizens, "It is a
most execrable thing," he says, "that those hands which have
received a pow;»r above that of angels-which can, by an act of
their ministry, create God himself, and offer him for the salva-
tion of the world-should ever be put into subjection to the
hands of kings."
Such is the prerogative which the Priesthood of the Mass
confers, and with which an ambitious and arrogant spirit will
not easily part. And as for their temporal interests, what a
beggaring of them it would be were they deprived of the
revenue for those Masses for the dead, and other" necessities,"
which it will be my task afterwards to explain and expose!
To strike here is to strike at the Priesthood's life; and it is no
wonder, therefore, that they should make the dogma the grand
test of heresy, for persecuting men to death."
* "It 'Wouldmake one's eyes to run down with rivers of tears, and his
very heart to bleed," says the celebrated Dr. Benson, "to read what havoc
.this one article of Transubstantiation hath made among mankind. How
many myriads of innocent and harmless men, women, and cbildren, have
been sacrificed to this devouring idol! It is a huge and ugly misshapen
monster in itself, and a greater absurdity cannot by all the wit of man be
invented: but it is ten thousand times a greater monster in its effects and
consequeneee-c-bavlngdevoured the flesh and drank the vital blood of in-
numerable multitudes of the human race ; and yet it is as far from being
satiated as ever. Like de..th ..nd the gr..ve, it is continually crying out,
OWe, Give."-8ermon preached in 1745,on the terrible consequences of Tran-
substantiation, on the occasion of the Pretender'. Invasion.
III.
THE MASS: ITS ELEVATION.
THE anti-scriptural and profane character of the Mass in this

department is so unmixed and simple, that its exposure will not
long detain us. The Consecration having been consurnmated-
the wondrous metamorphosis having been effected-when the
Priest lifts up the Host from the altar, and exhibits it on high
to the view of an abused and ignorance-bound people, what
else can the poor men and women and children do, hut kneel
down in adoration, and worship that which though it was once
a mere wafer, and has all the appearance of being such still,
they are assured is now, through the potency of the Priest's
incantation, truly, literally, and substantially, the Son of God ,
The adoration is repeated on the elevating of the Chalice, of
which they are assured that it equally contains, if they but saw
it, a true and whole Christ.
Again, there is no possibility of mistake or misrepresentation
here. When accused of idolatry in the case of the worship of
the saints, Papists defend themselves on the ground of a dis-
tinction which they make betwixt the worship due to God, and
the reverence and respect due to man-the distinction being
expressed in their schools by the terms latria and dulia. Now
it is the first of these-the latria-the divine worship, which
they claim from their deluded followers for their Host and
Chalice. Hear the Council of Trent :-
"There is no room for doubt, that all the faithful of Christ
may, according to the custom ever received in the Catholic
Church, render, in veneration to this most holy Sacrament, the
worship of latria, which is due to the true God.. For
we believe that same God to be present therein of whom the
eternal Father, when introducing him into the world, says,
'And let all the angels of God worship him.' . The
holy Synod further declares, that very piously and religiously
was this custom introduced into the Church, that this sublime
and venerable Sacrament be celebrated every year, on some
172 THE MASS:
peculiar festival day, with special veneration arid solemnity;

and that it be borne reverently and with honour in processions
through the streets and public places. . And thus it is
proper that victorious truth celebrate a triumph over falsehood
and heresy, that thus its adversaries, at the sight of so much
splendour, may either pine away weakened and broken, or
ashamed and confounded may at length repent" (Decree, Chap.
v. Eucharist).
This decree of the Council is embodied in a Canon, with the
usual curses proclaimed against all who mock or deny. "Butthe
anathema is, as usual, impotent for us j and we denounce it all
as being the most palpable idolatry ever practised on the earth.
Paganism contains little or nothing that equals it in grossness.
For observe, ,~t when the Brahmin falls down in adoration,
he protests against being regarded as worshipping the image of
wood or stone which presents itself to the eyes: his worship,
he says, is directed to the invisible God who resides within
the image; but the Papist, instead of making any explanation,
that it is a divinity residing within that wafer-like substance
which he adores, fulminates an anathema against any man who
may speak of such an indwelling or union (Canon 2nd), and
maintains that the very wafer-like substance itself is truly,
really, and substantially, the God of his adoration.
Who, after this explanation, will accuse us of bigotry when
we denounce the Papist as an idolated And when pseudo-
liberals of the present day are so indignant at our conduct for
stigmatizing so many of our respectable fellow-citizens with the
name, will they tell us what else, in their charity and liberal
theology, they characterise the worship of a wafer as being 'I
Observe that the Papist himself admits, that it would be idolatry
were it indeed a wafer; and resents the charge on the ground,
that it is not a wafer, but truly, really, and substantially, the
Great God. But our liberals believe no such thing; they are
convinced that it is nothing but a wafer. Well, when they see
a man bowing down and worshipping a wafer, will they find us
any otber term in the English language, by which to express
his conduct, but that of idolatry, unless it be the term, blas-
phemy 1 When Earl Grey, in pleading the cause of Catholic
emancipation, admitted that it would have been idolatry for
him to worship the wafer, but that it was not idolatry for the
Papists to do so, because they believed that the object presented
to their eyes was the true God-it would be difficult on that
ITS ELEVATION. 173
principle to find any thing throughout the world which deserved

the imputation. The criminality of the Papists, as of all other
idolaters, consists in their conceiving so unworthily ofthe Deity,
as that such a thing as that which they bow down to worship
can either be the true God itself; or have Him residing within it.
You will have observed that the adoration of the Host is not
limited to worship within the walls of the Church. The Council
of Trent sanctions the custom of its being annually carried
round in triumphal procession through the streets and public
places of cities. The name of one of the streets of our own
city is supposed to be derived from this custom. The Routim
Row, corrupted into Rotten Row, is that street along which the
priests from the Cathedral passed in routine 0)' procession, with
the elevated Host, for receiving the people's udorution. In
Catholic countries that day of the Procession of the Host is
indeed a memorable day-memorable for its degradation of the
Christian name. " A triumphal procession," said y0111 "when
the adversaries placed within the view of such splendour should
be ashamed and confounded 1" Oh! that you would hide your
idolatry at home. As your procession approaches, instead of
waiting to enjoy the splendour, see how Protestant, Infidel, and
Jew all hasten out of the way, grieving, mocking, and cursing,
not one of them awed into reverence of your impotent idol: and
when they fear, fearing only the vengeance of your rude and
ignorant mob, who would resent with violence their remaining
uncovered, and refusing to bow their heads in worship like them-
selves. Call you this a triumph 1 Keep your idol, I say, at
home. Eat it up there. To bring it abroad is only to expose
it to the mockery of all the intelligent, and the malediction of
all the pious.
I conclude this department with the promised quotation from
our Scottish Reformer. I quote it for two purposes-first, for
the sake of its argument and illustration; and secondly, that
you may see by what force of eloquence our Reformation was,
under God, effected. When you reflect that the following pas-
sage was written in 1563, you will be gratified even by its
literary excellence. Let me explain before I commence, so that
the flow of Knox's eloquence may not be interrupted by any
commentaries, that those parts of the satire which refer to the
making of the Mass cake, and its protection from vermin, are
not ribaldry, but fully sanctioned by the minute prescriptions
given on these subjects for the making and preservation of the
174 THE MASS:
Host :·-and that the word drammock which occurs in the

description, is not a low or vulgar term, but classical Scotch,
such as the poverty of the English could not supply him with
for his idea. The passage occurs in the " Reasoning which was
betwixt the Abbot of Crossraguell and John Knox."
"After that the prophet Isaiah," says Knox, "in great
vehemence, had rebuked the vanity of idols and idolaters, as
in the 40th and 41st chapters doth appear, \t last he bursteth
forth in these words: 'Let them bring forth their gods, that they
may show unto us things that are to come, or let them declare
unto us things that have been before.' By which words the
prophet doth, as it were in mockage, provoke idolaters and their
idols to produce for themselves some evident testimonies, by
which we might be assured that in them was power, and that
their religi8a had the approbation of God. Which, when they
could not do, he is bold to pronounce this sentence: "Behold,
you are of nothing, and your making is of nothing; abomination
hath chosen you.' If this reasoning of the prophet had suffi-
cient strength in his age to show the vanity of idols, and the
fanatic foolishness of such as worshipped them, then may the
godly of this day most assuredly conclude, against the great
idol presented by the Papists to be worshipped in their Mass,
and against the patrons of the same, that it and they are vain,
foolish, and odious before God : It, becanse it hath more makers
than ever had the idols among the Gentiles, and yet hath no
greater power than they had, albeit it hath been worshipped
as God Himself; and they, because they worship their own
im.agi.nations, and the workmanship of their own hands, with-
out any assurance of God or of his word. If any think that I
speak more liberally than I am able to prove, let him consider
what makers the idols of the Gentiles had, and what makers the
god of Bread hath, and let the power of both be compared, and
Jet them be rebuked if I speak the truth.
" The prophet, in his description of the vanity of the idols,
maketh these degrees :-The earth bringeth forth the tree; it
groweth by moisture; it is cut down by the hand of the hewer;
* Take the following lUI specimens, at present :-there will be occasion

for quoting more afterwards.-"lf the bread is not wheaten, or although
partly wheaten, if it he mixed up with other grain in such quantity thai; ii;
cannot properly be called wheaten, or if it be in any degree corrupted, no
_0.
Sacrament takes place. ~ Again-" If the consecrated Bosi; diaappear, either
by such a cause as wind or miracle, or by any animal having go1; hold of it,
lI1ld be found, then let ano1;her be oonseorated. "-De Defectibul, d:e.
ITS ELEVATION. 175
a part thereof is burnt; a part spent in uses necessary to man;

another part chosen to be an idol. This is formed to the like-
ness of man or woman; and then set up and worshipped as a
god. All these and some more shall we find to assist and
concur in making the great god of Bread. The wheat is sown
and nourished in the earth; rain, dew, and heat bring it to
maturity; the reaper cutteth it down; the cart or sledge drawn
by horse, or some other beast, draweth it to the barn, or barn-
yard; the tasker or the foot of the ox treadeth it out; the fan
delivereth it from the chaff; the miller or millstones, by the
help of wind or water, maketh it to be meal; the smith maketh
the irons that give to that god his length and form; the fine
substance of that god is neither wood, ~old, nor silver, but
water and meal made in the manner of a drammock ; and then
must the workmen take good heed to their hands; for if the fire
be too hot, that god's skin must be burnt; if the irons be evil
dight, his face will be blackened; if in making the roundness
the ring be broken, then must another of his follow-cakes
receive the honour to be a god, and the crazed or cracked miser-
able cake, that once was in hope to be made a god, must be
given to a baby to play him withal. And yet is not all the
danger past: for if there be not an anointed priest to play his
part aright, all the former artificers have lost their labour; for
without him that god cannot be made; yea, if he have not
intention., the fashioned god remaineth bread, and so the blind
people commit idolatry.
" These are the artificers and workmen that travail in making
of this god: I think as many in number as the prophet reciteth
to have travailed in making of the idols. And if the power of
both be compared, I think they shall be found in all things
equal; except that the god of Bread is subject unto more dangers
than were the idols of the Gentiles. Men made them; men
make it: they were deaf and dumb; it cannot speak, hear, nor
see. Briefly, in infirmity they wholly agree; except, as I have
said, the poor god of Bread is most miserable of all other idols:
for according to that matter whereof they are made, they will
remain without corruption for many years; but within one year
that god will putri(y, and then he must be burnt. They can
abide the inclemency of the wind, frost or snow; but the wind
* .. If anyone saith that, in ministers, when theyelfe<,-t and confer the
sacraments, there is not required the intentwn, at least, of doing what the
Church doe" let him be anathema" (Canon v. on the Sacramenta).
176 THE MASS.
will blow that god to the sea; the rain or snow will make it
dough again: yea, which is most of all to be feared, that god is
a prey, if he be not well kept, to rats and mice; for they will
desire no better dinner than white round gods enow. But oh,
then, what becometh of Christ's natural body ~ By miracle it
flies to heaven again, if the Papists teach truly: for so soon
soever as the mouse takes hold, so soon flies Christ away, and
lets her gnaw the bread. .A bold puissant mouse! but a feeble
and miserable god! Yet would I ask a question: Whether
hath the priest or the mouse greater power i By his word it is
made a god; by her teeth it ceaseth to be a god: let them
advise, and then answer.
"If any think that I ought not to mock that which the
world so 10I!-ghath holden, and great princes yet hold, in so
great vene~n, I answer, that not only I, but also all the
godly, ought not only to mock, but also to curse and. detest
whatsoever is not God, and yet usurpeth the name, power, and
honour of God; and also, that we ought both to mock, gainsay,
and abhor all religion obtruded on the people without assurance
of God and his word-having neither respect to antiquity, to
multitude, to authority, nor estimation of them that maintain
the same."
Nobly witnessed, Christ's champion for dear Scotland! Oh I
for an Englishman like thee for England, and an Irishman for
Ireland-yes, even yet.
IV.
THE MASS: ITS OBLATION AS A SACRIFICE.
ALTHOUGHmuch that is anti-scriptural, absurd, and profane,

has been presented for our scorn and astonishment under the
preceding topics, yet is it all as nothing compared with that to
which we are now introduced. We have arrived at the centrul
evil of this mystery and mass of iniquity. As formerly noticed,
it was not till now that Luther, and many of the Reformers
besides, could, consistently with their dogma of a real presence,
testify with much severity against the corruption. But here
they observed no restraint. Cranmer and his Mends did
not scruple to record the charge of "blasphemy" in those
Articles of the Church of England, which are authoritative at
the present day.
Observe, then, that the Priest, having by Consecration pro-
vided his Altar with a Christ, truly, really, and substantially
-with flesh and blood, and bones and tendons-with a living
soul, and an eternal divinity; and having elevated the same for
II little time, that it may receive the adoration of the people,
proceeds (I use their own expression) to immolate Him, and
offer Him up to divine justice as a sacrifice for the expiation
of sin, as really and efficiently as He Himself made the oblation
of Himself at Calvary. The work of sacrificing the Son of
God afresh goes forward every Sabbath-day, at every meeting
for public worship throughout Popedom, and on every festival
day, and at innumerable private Masses besides. Yea, ill
many instances, on the same Sabbath, in the same chapel,
and by the same officiator, is the immolation performed twice,
thrice, or even more frequently: and Popery, instead of being
backward to acknowledge it, boasts of it for the plentifulness
of salvation to be found within its pale j and mocks at Pro-
testantism for its impotence, through its want of a sin-offering.
Let those who, through their ignorance of the system, and the
monstrousne&S of the idea of such immolation. feel incredulous
L
178 THE MASS:
as to the truth of my representation, give me the benefit,

for a few moments, till I have produced the evidence, of a
supposition that the representation is correct; and then reflect
what a flagrant contradiction and defiance of Scripture Popery
has the hardihood to make.
With the following passages all diligent readers of the New
Testament are familiar: but though they were originally written
with a more direct view of magnifying the one sacrifice of Christ,
once offered, above the numerous and repeated sacrifices of the
Levitical Institution, yet, so striking is their significance, when
applied for the exposure of Popery, that it seems no extrava-
gance to be persuaded that the Spirit of prophecy designed, by
his enlargement on the subject, to furnish materials for our
witness-bearing ~lijnst the future apostasy." Listen therefore,
to the expressness and the reiterations of the oracle :-
Heb. vii 26, 27. "For such an High Priest became us, who
is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made
higher than the heavens; who needeth not daily, as those high
priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for
the people's: for this he did once, when he offered up himself."-
Again:-
Heb. ix, 24-28. "For Christ is not entered into the holy
places (of the earthly temple) made with hands, which are the
figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the
presence of God for us: nor yet that he should offer hiTn8elf
often, as the (Levitical) high priest entereth into the holy place
every year with blood of others; for then must he often have
suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in
the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin (sin-
offering 7) by the sacrifice of himself. And as it is appointed
unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: so Christ
was once offered to bear the sins of many."-A third time :-
Heb. x. 10-14. "By the which will we are sanctified through
the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And
every (Levitical) priest standeth daily ministering, and offering
oftentimes the same sacrifices, 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 expecting
till his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering he
* I IlDl penuaded that the Spirit of prophecy had thia allO in view, when
He 0&IU8d O1IJ'Lord'. rebuke of hi. motlier, &lidboth the fint &lid_n4 falll
of P.- to 1Nt 10 prominently ~ed.
ITS OBLATION AS A SACRIFICE. 179
hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified." Just one
quotation more :-
1 Peter iii. 18. "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins,
the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God."
Now, I appeal to you, if that system be not desperately bold
in its defiance of the Scripture, which, in the face of these most
explicit declarations, would derogate from the glory of the
finished work of the Redeemer, by representing it as necessary
that He should sacrifice Himself or be sacrificed over and over
again-I may not attempt the calculation of the millions of
times-since that day at Calvary: and that He be immolated
over and over again, in continuance, millions of times more, till
He return in glury for the judgment of the world. Well,
observe how anxiously Popery multiplies its testimony in proof
that it is such a system, lest we should by any possibility mis-
take its pretensions. There is nothing so clear as that this
Apostasy teaches that the sacrifice at Calvary did not put an
end to sin-offering, unless it be that the Apostles declare that
it most certainly did.
THE MASS AN EXPIATORY SACBIFICE--SOURCES OF EVIDENCE.
I. The term HOST, applied to the Consecrated cake of the

Mass, is of Latin derivation, and signifies a sac'rificial victim.
Comparatively, I make little of this evidence; but it is by no
means inconsiderable. The term proclaims, in defiance of the
Scripture, a restoration or perpetuation of an offering for sin.
II. The Decree of the Council of Trent is as follows: It is
titled, "The Sacrifice of the Mass is propitiatory both for the
living and the dead:" and then proceeds :-" Forasmuch as in
this divine Sacrifice which is celebrated in the Mass, that same
Christ is contained and immolated, in an unbloody manner, who
once offered Himself in a bloody manner on the altar of the
cross-the Holy Synod teaches, that this sacrifice is truly pro-
pitiatory, and that by means thereof this is effected-that we
obtain mercy, and find grace in seasonable aid, if we draw nigh
unto God, contrite and penitent, with a sincere heart and
upright faith, with fear and reverence. For the Lord, appeased
by the oblation thereof, and granting the grace and gift of peni-
tence, forgives even heinous crimes and sins. For one and the
same is the victim-the same is the offerer, through the ministry
of priests, who offered Himself then on the C1'OllII; the manner
alone of offering being different. The fruita indeed of which
180 THE MASS:
oblation, the bloody one, to wit, are received most plentifully

through this unbloody one; so far is it from being true that the
latter in any way derogates from the former. Wh~refore, not
only for the sins, punishments, satisfactions, and other neces-
sities of the faithful who are living, but also for those departed
in Christ who are not as yet thoroughly purified [in purgatory],
is it rightly offered according to the tradition of the Apostles"
(Chap. II. Sacrifice of the Mass).
Attend now to the Canons corresponding to this Decree, and
founded on it :-
CanonI._u If anyone shall say that in the Mass a true
and proper sacrifice is not offered to God, or that Christ's being
offered is nothing else but that He is given for being partaken
of by us: let him be accursed."
CanonII.-" If anyone shall say, that by these words' Do
this for the commemoration of me,' Christ did not institute the
A postles to be Priests, or did not ordain that they and other
Priests should make an offering of his body and blood: let him
be accursed."
CanonIII.-" If anyone shall say that the Sacrifice of the
Mass is only [a eucharistic] one of praise and thanksgiving; or
that it is a bare Commemoration of the sacrifice consummated
on the cross, but not propitiatory; or that it is profitable only
to the partaker, and that it ought not to be offered for the
living and the dead-for sins, punishments, satisfactions, and
other necessities: let him be accursed."
III. The third evidence is that of the Catechism for the
parochial clergy. Part II. Chap. iv, Q. 68. "First of all, they
shall teach that the Eucharist was instituted by Christ for 'two
reasons. The one is, that it may be heavenly nourishment for
the soul-by which we may be enabled to protect and preserve
the spiritnallife: the other, that the church might have a Per-
petual Sacrifice by which our sins might be expiated, and our
heavenly Father, ofttimes deeply offended by our sins, might
be withdrawn from wrath to mercy; from the severity of just
condemnation to clemency."
Quest. 69. "These two reasons, however, differ greatly from
one another: for the Sacrament is effected by the Consecration;
whereas the whole of the virtue of the Sacrifice consists in its
being Offered. Wherefore, the sacred Eucharist, when it is
contained in the pyx, or is carried to the sick, is of the nature
Of .. Sacrament, not of a Sacrifice. Hence when it is a Sacra-
ment it furnishes, to all those who partake of the divine Host,

a cause of [personal] merit, and all those other advantages which
have been mentioned: but as it is a Sacrifice it contains the
efficacy, not of merit only, but also of satisfaction. For as
Christ our Lord, in his passion on the cross, both merited and
satisfied for us; so those who offer this sacrifice, in which they
communicate with us, both deserve the fruits of our Lord's
passion, and make satisfaction."
IV. The fourth evidence is that of the Creed of Pius,
according to which the candidate for orders swears thus: "I
do in like manner profess that in Mass is offered a true, proper,
and propitiatory Sacrifice for the quick and the dead."
V. But it is chiefly to the evidence contained in the Missal
that I call your attention. Here we find the manner- in which
the dogma of the Apostasy is being weekly, yea, daily, yea,
hourly-at this moment, in some private, if not l"lblic MaliS,
carried forward in that church. We may be certain that some-
where or another in Popedom there is at this instant of time
an Immolation being made of the Son of God.
(1.) Proceeding to make the oblation of the Host, the
Priest prays thus : "Accept, 0 Holy Father, Almighty and
Eternal God, this unspotted Host which I thy unworthy
servant offer unto Thee, my living and true God, for my
innumerable sins, offences, and negligences; and for all here
present; as also for all faithful Christians both living and dead,
that it may avail both me and them unto life everlasting,"
(2.) In like manner, when making the oblation of the Cup,
he thus prays: "We offer unto thee, 0 Lord, the Chalice of
Salvation, beseeching thy clemency, that it may ascend before
thy divine majesty, as a sweet odour for our salvation, and that
of the whole world."
(3.) Then, turning himself to the people, he says, "Brethren,
pray that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God the
Father Almighty." To which they respond, "May the Lord
receive the sacrifice from thy hands, to the praise and glory
of his own name, and to our benefit and that of all his holy
church !"
(4.) I shall submit additionally only two specimens of
prayers used on the occasion of Masses being performed for
the dead. These are numerous, being accommodated to what
were the relationships of the deceased to those who procure the
performance of the Masses-to the offices they occupied in the
182 THE MA.SS:
church-to the periods of time which have elapsed since their

decease, &c., &c. But howsoever numerous and varied, they are
all pervaded with the same spirit, in pleading the Mass's pro-
pitiatory power. Thus in the Mass on the day of the decease
or burial of him on whose behalf it is offered, the first prayer
is as follows: "Have mercy, 0 Lord, we beseech Thee, on the
soul of thy servant (naming the person) for which we offer this
victim of praise, humbly beseeching thy majesty, that by this
propitiatory sacrifice he (or she) may arrive at eternal rest."
And subsequently this other prayer is presented: "Grant, we
beseech thee, 0 Almighty God, that the soul of thy servant
which hath this day departed this life, being purified and freed
from sin by. this sacrifice, may obtain both forgiveness and
eternal rest." (Missal: Masses for the Dead.)
Having thus adduced sufficient evidence of the fact that
Popery makes an Expiatory Sacrifice of the Mass, I might
here conclude this department; the principal design of these
expositions being, as I have already explained, to inform
Protestants what the Mass is, rather than refute its doctrine;
persuaded, as I am, that for all such, the bare statement of
the error is its refutation. Nevertheless, by a few remarks I
propose to excite the judgment to pronounce its condemnation
with a somewhat adequate degree of abhorrence.
THE MASS, AS EXPIATORY, NOT CONTAINED IN SCRIPTURE.
(1.) I remark, then, in the first place, that, by their own

confession, Papists put more into the ordinance of the Eucharist
than was to be found in it when it was first dispensed by
Christ Himself, and partaken of by the apostles. If the question
were proposed to a Papist, Would you be satisfied with Mass
just as Christ dispensed it that night He instituted it 1 he
would be bound to say, No-that he must have something
better. It is according to their own acknowledgment, I say,
that I charge the Church of Rome with the crime of having
changed the law and the ordinance. It is a point of great
interest this, and has escaped the notice of the most of Pro-
testant controversialists. Indeed, I do not know one who has
hitherto exposed it. It is not discoverable from the Decrees
and Canons of Trent, and is elucidated only by the histories
of Father Paul and Pallavicino. It lies indeed in the Decrees
and Canons, but under such a cover of cunning sophistry, that
l»;lt for these histories it could not well ha ve been detected.
You will yourselves judge presently if it be what is sarcastically
called a " mare's nest" that I have discovered.
We have already seen that there is an essential difference
betwixt a Eucharistical and a Propitiatory sacritice--the one
being merely the expression of a thankful heart, the other
being offered for procuring pardon of sin. Well, the question
came up before the Council of Trent, Did Christ that night,
before his crucitixion, make an expiatory sacrifice of Himself
when He instituted and dispensed the Eucharist 1 Is it not
most dreadful that such an idea should ever have crossed the
mind of any man even as an imagination 1 Crossed it as an
imagination! It was entertained and zealously contended for
by the Italian party, who were especially the Pope's party,
and the whole of the Jesuits. They had a substantial reason
for this. Without it, where was the argument for their own
priesthood 1 We have already seen that they erected their
usurpation on these words, " Do this in remembrance of Me,"
which they interpreted thus, "Do this thing which I do for
a commemoration of Me." If Christ then did not perform a
propitiatory work, they can have no authority for performing
it, since they are only to do what He did. See you not how
their whole sacerdotal pretensions were perilled 1
Nevertheless, even in that corrupt synagogue of fraud,
trickery, and servile compliance, there were men not a few-
Archbishops and Bishops-who, although they had submitted
to much, and gone great lengths in perversion, yet stopped short
here, at the expense though it might be of surrendering the
proof of the legitimu.cy of their own priestly character. At the
commencement of the dispute (for it was disputed long and
bitterly in that assembly of inspired men!) the members appear
to have been nearly equally divided, so as to threaten the
rending of the Council in twain. The Archbishop of Grenada,
who on several other occasions displayed a noble spirit of
independence, acted a prominent part on the right side of the
question; though others, such as the Archbishops of Braga
and Lanciano, and the Bishops of the Five Churches, of Chiozza,
and Veglia, deserve to be honourably mentioned. Before the
great day of decision, however, arrived, so far had Italian and
Jesuit intrigue prevailed to obtain promises of acquiescence,
that Grenada resolved to be absent. But the Legates of the
Pope, who presided over the Council, observing that he was
not present at the preliminary opening Mass of the morning,
184 THE HASS:
sent, demanding his attendance, whether from fearing that the

absence of one so great and influential might invalidate the
decision, or, from being resolved to intimidate and humble him.
They miscalculated both their own strength and the weakness
of their opponent. The scene is worthy of being paralleled
with that of Luther at the Diet of Worms. Roused by the
insolent summons, the aged veteran sped his way to the Council,
and standing forth in their midst, defied them to legislate the
great blasphemy that Christ offered Himself up a propitiatory
sacrifice that night at the sacramental table for the expiation of
sin, because thus his crucifixion next day upon the cross would
have been a vain expenditure of suffering.
The defiance "daunted even many who were bold in sin; and
it was feared that the Decree, if put to the vote in the terms in
which it was prepared, would not be carried. But when was
a Jesuit ever nonplussed or disconcerted 1 A compromise
was proposed, which, although it did not entrap the heroic
witness-bearer, and a few more who remained faithful, yet
ensnared the majority. It was to this effect, that the Decree,
with its corresponding anathematizing Canon, should go forth,
affirming that Christ did truly offer Himself that night to the
Father, but without determining what was the nature of the
Sacrifice-whether eucharistical or propitiatory. And yet, of
how little avail is the evasion 1 They dared not declare that tIle
Mass was PropitiatO'rlJ under the hands of Christ, while yet the./f
make it Propitiatory under their own hamds. Are they not
singularly modest gentlemen those priests of Rome 1 And
remember, it is on their own showing that I charge them with
having perpetrated a knowing, designed alteration of the nature
of this most venerable institution of our Faith. They question
the integrity of Father Paul as a historian, though he was a
monk of their own Church; but Pallavicino, their favourite
authority, details the history of the dispute even more minutely.
But independently of their own acknowledgments, how easily
may not the charge be substantiated, that they have entirely
changed the nature of the Institution 1 There is not a shadow
of evidence that Christ made an Offering of that bread and wine
to his Father, either eucharistically or propitiatorily, or in any
form whatever. Both the evangelists and the apostle simply
BaY,that, having blessed the bread, or given thanks, and said,
·'This is my body," He brake it and gave it to his disciples: and
10 with the wine. Not a word is spoken of his having made an
offering of them. Papists admit this; and that all the authority
which they have for this part of the observance is the tradition
and practice of the church. Is not this remarkable-that the
most important part of tbeir institution, which all must acknow-
ledge the Sacrifice to be, should be destitute of a Scriptural
warrant: and either that, at the very time our Lord instituted
it, and gave his disciples a pattern of the manner in which they
should observe it, He dispensed with what was most essential,
or that the inspired writers omitted to record it, and left the
tradition to be recorded by-nobody knows whom 1 Is it not
contemptible that these men should pretend that they have
found their religion in the Bible 1 and does not honesty require
of them to acknowledge that their system is of their own device
and fabrication, ana that they have only occasionally taken a hint
from that antiquated volume, when they found it convenient 1
THE SACRIFICE or TIlE AIASS IGNORES CHRIST'S FINISHED WORK.
(2.) In the second place, I repeat the charge, formerly made

incidentally, that the dogma of the expiatory nature of the
Mass impugns the sufficiency of Christ's Sacrifice at Calvary.
The Council of Trent indeed denies this, and fulminates its
anathema against those who say so. Nevertlleless, we persist
in making the accusation. Besides all the script.ural t.estimony
which has been adduced, so express on the subject, that it is
not only by one sacrifice, but that sacrifice offered once, that
our salvation is effected ; common-sense remonstrates, If once
was sufficient, why make a repetition 1 When Popery, there-
fore, makes a repetition, it derogates from the sufficiency of the
first offering. They reply, that the sacrifice is made in the
Mass in another manner than that in which it was made on the
cross--that then it was made bloodily, but is made now un-
bloodily; that the second form is a commemoration of the first;
and that by means of the second, the fruits of the first are
gathered.
But all attempts at explanation are vain, so long as they
contend that Christ is immolated over and over again every
time Mass is celebrated; and that it is essentially and substsn-
tially the renewed, or if they will, the prolonged sacrifice of
C&.lvary, both the victim and the offerer (as personated by the
Priest) being the same. Besides, if it were not Popery, where
self.contradiction is the rule, how strange it would appear, that
they should .y there is any dift'erence eTen in form, arising
186 THE MASS:
from the unbloodiness of the Mass! Do they not contend, to

the anathematizing of all gainsayers, that the ere while wine of
the Chalice has been transubstantiated truly, really, and sub-
stantially, into the blood of the Redeemer 1 And we shall
afterwards see, that they strenuously contend, that the Host
contains blood in its flesh. Your Mass bloodless! say you 1
Why, our objection is, that it is so hideously bloody; and that
priest and people are so cannibal-like in its participation. But
grant that it is unbloody: then it can have no expiatory character;
for the Scripture is express, that" without shedding of blood
is no remission" (Heb. ix. 22). It is difficult to say whether
absurdity, or self-contradiction, or impiety, be most character-
istic of the system.
INTERCEPTS THE VIEW OF THE SACRIFICE OF THE CROSS.
;'#
(3.) I remark in the third place that the sacrifice of the

Mass intercepts the view of the sacrifice of the Cross. The
Council indeed declares that instead of this it serves as a
memorial of it. This, however, is just another of the self-
contradictions of the incongruous system. It is our Protestant
Feast which is the memorial of the Sacrifice of the Cross; but
the Mass being the very Sacrifice itself, how can it be its own
memorial 1 It is an abuse of language in a vain attempt to
answer a fatal objection. We have already seen, that there is
nothing for which Papists more strenuously contend elsewhere,
than that their Mass-work is essentially one and the same with
Christ's Calvary-work, and as good ;" and the attention is called
off from the Son of God on the cross, to the Host on their altar.
There the view is terminated. There is not only no need for
looking beyond: to look beyond for something else-to use it
as a perspective glass through which another object might be
descried, would discredit the perfection and self-sufficiency of
the Mass. Behold the Lamb of God! He is here "truly,
literally, and substantially," made a "true, proper, and pro-
pitiatory sacrifice for the quick and the dead." Such is the
demand of the Mass twice over, once for its Host, and again for
its Chalice.
Well, delusion though it be to believe that Christ is there,
yet, since many of the ignorant people (though few, I am con-
vinced, of the Priests) do seriously believe it, I must in candour
• For neither ia the bloody nd unbloody Host. two hosh, but one only
(Ca.teohiam, Part II. O. iv., Q. 74).
admit tbat some good may be done to the mind by trusting in

that sacrifice. It is not the only case in which I bave expressed
my persuasion, that superstition is overruled by the Spirit of
God for the cherishing of holy principles. In tbe present, the
trust partakes of the nature of Faith: but how scantily it must
do so at the best! With what difficulty can even the most
credulous superstition be brought to realise Christ in that
wafer-like form! And then, where is there any scene of suffer-
ing to move the heart to penitence, love, and confidence 1 A
real, a true, a substantial and living Christ, with bones and
tendons, though the Priests represent tbat Host to be, they
have never ventured to affirm that in the breaking, or as they
themselves express it, the immolating of the victim, there is
the infliction of any pain. Far as they have gOlln, they huve
not dared go this length. But how shall IL aacrifico without
suffering either move the affections, or give persuasion of sin
being expiated 1
And then, think of the obscuration which is made of the
Priesthood of Christ, as being not only the Sacrifice but the
Sacrificer. We have seen that the doctrine of the Council is
that the officiating Priest personates Christ, and that Christ is
to be contemplated in him. What I does Christ bow in adora-
tion to his own Crucifix--does He kiss in adoration his own
altar--does He bow his knee and cross Himself in adoration to
Himself in the Host and Chalice-does He break his own body
-does He make an oblation of Himself for his own sin as well
as for the sins of others-does He eat of his own flesb and drink
ofhis own blood 1 If the Priest personate Christ, how frequently
he must cast Christ off and take his ownself on, and then again
cast himself off and take Christ on! How are the poor people
to distinguish all these ever-shifting variations ~
But suppose they have realized the personation: in a form
how low and degrading it exhibits the Great High Priest of
our profession, who has entered within the vail to take his
place as our Intercessor before the eternal throne, when He is
represented as performing all the antics, according to John
Foster-the postures and impostures, according to Sydney
Smith-the histrionics, according to the Bishop of London-the
mummeries, according to Lord John Russell, which the rubric
of the Mass prescribes. Go and see it on Christmas day, and
say if you ever beheld anything so contemptibly puerile: No,
no, Papists themselves cannot see Christ in such an exhibition.
188 THE MASS:
Whatever discernment they may attain to of a sacrificial

Victim in the wafer, they can realise nothing but a poor cere-
monially oppressed slave officiating as the Sacrificer. Dr.
Johnson defines Personation to be, the counterfeiting of another
person. It is a high misdemeanour in the eye of the Law. Row
great, then, the misdemeanour of personating the Son of God,
and that, too, with such shamefulness of harlequin caricature !
FOSTERS DELUSION.
(4.) I remark in the fourth place, that the sacrifice of the

Mass is calculated to cherish delusion and relax: the bonds of
morality. If a people, among whom so many sacrifices of Christ
are made, have any confidence at all in the work, how can
their sins occasion them much uneasiness ~ Since the doctrine
howeve~."is, that none are benefited but such as approach the
altar in penitence and holy faith, I do not insist at. present on
the charge in this direction. My principal reference is to the
influence exerted on the minds of the living by those Masses
for the Dead.
The dogma of Purgatory, at once the grand shame and the
grand gain of Popery, would furnish the subject of a long
lecture for itself. At present we are concerned in it chiefly
in connection with the Mass. The general doctrine then is,
that there is an intermediate region between Hell and Heaven,
of sharp and fiery torment, where saints who have died not
thoroughly justified and purified, at once suffer the remaining
punishment due to their sins, and are by that fire purged of all
uncleanness. And let it be observed, that this punishment
of Purgatory is called temporal in the Popish vocabulary, as •
distinguished from the eternal punishment of the reprobate.
The doctrine further is, that there are very few, if any, who
die so thoroughly justified and purified as to be ready and fit
for an immediate and direct translation into the heavenly rest,
without having passed through the atoning and purifying Hames.
Not to speak of & poor Priest who had sacrificed Christ and
partaken of his blood as well 88 of his body thousands of times,
there was never a Pope-Christ's god-like representative on
. earth though he was-of whom they were not apprehensive,
when he died, that he had gone below to suffer the fiery purga-
tion. and in compassion for whose anguished soul they did not
hasten by incantations to have the time of torment shortened ;
for Datnrally it would require a protracted proeeBBto make it
ITS OBLATION AS A SAVHIFICE. 189
clea~. When different cases are compared with one another,

the degrees of duration will of course be proportioned to the
sins which remain to be punished and purged. But even in
the case of the least guilty, the time would appear, according
to Popish reckouing, to be dolefully long. I have already
observed that, although the dogma of Purgatory be the grand
gain, it is equally the shame, of Popery. Accordingly, we have
but a few lines on the subject in the Decrees of the Council of
Trent, and those of a very vague nature. We are therefore
left in a great measure to gather the opinions of their Church
from private and individual declarations and conduct. I shall
not take up your time on the present occasion with producing
a number of these; but must refer you to Mr. M'Gavin's
"Protestant," a book the reading of which we must have
revived for the present generation.
There is one illustrative occurrence, however, which I cannot
omit noticing. The Pope has manifested his gratitude for his
restoration to power in Italy by proclaiming an Indulgence
to the Christian Church in the form of a Jubilee: that is,
he shows his gratitude for the help of the bayonets of infidel
France against his own subjects, by graciously conferring on
God's children a benefit which it is in his power to grant, but
which otherwise he would have withheld from them. The two
Bishops of Edinburgh have not been satisfied with announcing
the proffered gift to their own congregations, but have pub-
lished it widely, either with the design of proselytizing, or
exciting the envy of, or as in our own goou. expressive Scotch
we say, chawing, the Protestants of Modern A thens with the
exhibition of the privileges of Popery.
Those of you who are ignorant of the occurrence will ask,
what the proffered gift is. But first observe the conditions:
they are, that the faithful shall, within the fifteen days of
Jubilee, approach worthily to the holy sacraments of Penance
and the Eucharist; that they shall on three different days within
said fortnight, visit some church or chapel and say five Pater-
nosters, and as many Ave Marias; that once during that time
they shall bestow alms on the poor; and that on the three
included Sabbaths they shall observe all the regular ceremonies
of the Church ;-that's all, all that is required in the way of
conditions. And what now is the benefit1 Not less than
a hundred years' Indulgence! There's a. bargain for yon-
'whatever that Indulgence may particularly mean. Hear,
190 THE MASS:
then, what it does mean: shortening by a century the merited

term of Purgatorial torment! Reducing it from a thousand
years, when any of them might deserve so many, down to
nine hundred. Privileged saints, the saints of Popery! How
chawsome to us Protestants! Brethren, where are we i Is this
Scotland; or are we dreaming 1 Are you sure that we are not
in the interior of Africa 1 Is there a man so civilized as to
have shoes on his feet that can be deluded by such barbarian
imposture 1 I fear there are many-many both of priests and
people, cultivated in worldly accomplishments, for whom the
profession of such things is no pretension now-now in the
advanced stage of their apostasy. Hear what the Scripture
saith, "Because they received not the love of the truth, God
shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a
lie." There is no prophecy whose object is so manifest as that
which Pftldicts Popery under the name of the Man of Sin,
whose coming should be after the working of Satan, with
all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish
(2 Thess. ii. 9, 10).
Although the notice which has been taken of Pio N ono's
jubilee, has been somewhat illustrative of the duration of that
purgatorial torment which Popery assigns to its saints; yet is
it rather of the nature of a digression, since the hundred years'
boon is not conferred through Masses; but by a part of the
surplus righteousness of the greater saints-that superfluity of
holiness in which they indulged above what was requisite for
their own salvation-being placed to the account of the smaller
ones; which transfer it is the prerogative of the Pope to make;
I know not whether now always gratuitously, as in the case of
the present Indulgence, or sometimes, as of yore, for a money
consideration. Some obscurity rests on this subject.
I return to the line of argnment. The foundation of the
dogma of Purgatory is laid in their views of Justification.
Canon 30th.-" If anyone saith, that after the grace of justifi-
cation has been received, the guilt of every penitent sinner is
remitted, and the debt of eternal punishment is blotted out, in
such wise that there remains not any debt of temporal punish-
1.
ment to be discharged, either in this world [by penance or in
the next, in Purgatory, before the entrance into the kingdom of
Heaven can be opened to him: let him be accursed."
Decree concerning Purgatory. -" Whereas, the Catholic
Church, iDatructed by the Holy Gh~ has, from the sacred
writings and the ancient tradition of the fathers, taught in sacred

Councils, and very recently in this <Ecumenical Synod, that
there is a Purgatory, and that the souls there detained are
helped by the suffrages of the faithful, but principally by the
acceptable Sacrifice of the Altar ; the Holy Synod enjoins on
Bishops that they diligently endeavour that the sound doctrine
concerning Purgatory, transmitted by the Holy Fathers and
Sacred Council, be believed, maintained and taught, and every-
where proclaimed by the faithful of Christ."
We have already seen how the third Canon on the sacrifice
of the Masa denounces all who deny that its sacrifice is to be
offered for the dead as well as for the living: and we have also
seen from the Missal how the doctrine is carried into execution
both in public and private Masses: you would further observe
how it is comprehended in the creed of Pius IV. I shall pro-
duce only one testimony more; it is from the Catechism:
"Hence the Parochials will teach, that such is the power of
this sacrifice, that it is of avail not only to the immolater and
partaker, but also to all the faithful whether they live with us
on earth, or having died in Christ are not yet entirely expiated.
For neither, from the most certain tradition of the Apostles, is
it less advantageously offered for them, than for the sins, punish-
ments, satisfactions, and whatsoever calamities and exigencies
of the living" (Part II. C. iv. Q. 77).
Now, to say nothing at present of the unscriptural views
contained in all this of the power of faith and the justification
of a sinner-nor of the manner in which it impugns the meri-
toriousness of the obedience of Christ in gaining for his people
a complete deliverance from punishment--nor of the manner in
which, when it speaks peace to the wicked, it robs the saints
of their blood-bought immunity-nor of the manner in which
it represents the dead as deriving advantage from these repeated
sacrificings of Christ of which they know nothing, and in which
consequently they can have no faith-not to speak, I say, of
these and similar errors and enormities, reflect how Popery is
convicted of the most:fla.grs.nt inconsistency, and the grossest
immorality, on its own ground, in respect of the sanctifying
part of the process. The half of the doctrine is, that these
purgatorial fires are necessary for cleansing the spirit of the
defilements which will attach to it; and yet they basten with
all their might to deliver it by Masses from the requisite
purification I Can there be a more absurd self-contradiction;
192 THE MAS;;:
and must not the result be the pollution of Heaven with an

imperfectly purified people 1
But neither is this the immoral influence which I had more
especially in view, when I made the statement contained in the
enunciation of the present topic. These Masses for the dead
give license to the living, through confidence that the sacrifices
of Christ, which their legacies, or the affection of surviving
friends may obtain for them, will lighten and abbreviate their
purgatorial punishment. I am aware that Papists, in defence,
reply, that it is only venial, as distinguished from mortal sins,
for which Masses are a remedy. 'VeIl, venial sins be it-thefts,
falsehoods, debaucheries committed under strong power of temp-
tation: is there no harm, that a man should be made easy about
committing such things as these 1 But equally I know that
there is no lie, howsoever deceitful or treacherous-no fraud,
howsoev8l."¥illainous-no adultery, howsoever foul-no murder,
howsoever atrocious, which, with a Jesuit's help, or: with no
help but that of his own wicked heart, a man will not take out of
the category of mortal sin, and prove to himself to be but venial,
so that he may proceed to the commission of it under the assur-
ance, that his mother shall secure for him the remission of its
punishment, by the purchase from a Priest of a few Masses for
his soul. Your mother 1 Leave not such a matter to the risk
of the failure of even maternal affection: provide a legacy for it
in your will; yea, without a legacy, take advantage of the
Pope's J ubiIee, and beforehand cheat the fires of Purgatory of
at least a hundred years' torment of you. Before God and
men, I denounce it as being not only a blasphemous imposture,
but one most dangerous to the commonwealth for its encourage-
ment of crime. It is not their religion, but their own better
common-sense, and their better natural conscience, and their-
constitutional good nature, and their prudence, and their
respect fof the laws, which make it safe to dwell amid a Popish
population. .
INVOLVES CRUELTY ANI' PARTIALITY.
(5.) I observe, in the fifth place, still in its relation to

Purgatory, that the dogma of the Mass involves the greatest
cruelty and partiality. Reflect first on the cruelty. If such
be ite power in redeeming from torments-which some of their
Doctors have represented as being, though temporal, yet for
the thoulIUlds of years they last, aharper than thoee of Hell-
you might think that it would require no great humanity of

the Priests, who are possessed of such an instrument of libera-
tion, to prevail with them for plying it night and day at its
work of mercy. Is there one of us, Popish or Protestant (in
my heart I believe there is not, such confidence have I in the
natural humanity of man, vitiated and blunted though it be
by the Fall)-is there one of us who would refuse to set out,
even barefooted, to London, were he perfectly convinced that
by visiting-not the Queen-not some nobleman-not some
wealthy merchant-not some one distinguished for his literature
or beneficence, but-some poor labourer, he would be relieved
for a life of many years to come of the grinding agonies of the
stone, and sent forth a healthful man to enjoy the breezes, and
the sunshine, and the blooming of the flowers, and the chirping
and singing of the birds ~ And yet the Priest will wait on
until that poor Irish widow has gathered the Shilling and
Sevenpence, before he will say a Mass for the delivering of
her child's soul from these frightful fires, and setting it free
for the scenes of the heavenly paradise. "No Pay," he says,
"No Paternoster." Brethren, mistake him not: as a man he
would take the barefooted journey with any of us: it is as a
Priest that he is so mercenary and cruel. (Perhaps, too, quietly,
he has as little confidence in the efficacy of his incantation as
either you or I have. I am willing he should have the benefit
of pleading imposture, to save him from the charge of such
savage inhumanity.)
But especially I call your attention to the infamous partiality
of the system. When the wealthy can secure Mass in abund-
ance for themselves, by means of bequests and legacies; and
when wealthy parents can secure abundance for their deceased
children, how fares it with the poor ~ I am aware that the
Papist replies, that every Mass, public or private, is of some
avail for every member of the Church Catholic, dead or alive;
but equally am I certain, that no Priest will deny-it would
ruin his trade in sacrifices if he did so-that the individual soul,
on whose account the Mass is paid for, and specially presented,
obtains the far largest share of the benefit; and that but little
goes to be diffused over the Church universal. What, then, I
insist, becomes of the poor l Must they, through want of
means of purchasing liberation, dree out the natural term of
those fiery torments; while the rich, and the friends of the
rich, though probably guiltier than they, are, through the
11
194 THE lIASS:
power of their wealth, speedily delivered ~ The plan to which

the poor have had recourse in this exigency, is one of the
greatest curiosities in the history of superstition. In Dublin,
and London, and elsewhere, they have taken advantage of the
Mutual Insurance principle, and formed penny-a-week societies,
through which they secure Masses for themselves and friends,
in the order of their deaths. Can the degradation of the Chris-
tian name, and the down-treading of the people be possibly
carried a greater length than this ~
ENT.RUSTS THE SOUL'S SAI,VATION TO llANo
(6.) Finally, I wonld excite your detestation of the blas-

phemous dogma, by calling on you to observe the manner in
which it represents the salvation of an immortal spirit as being
intrusted t&, and made dependent on the will and work of a
human being. As lord of the Mass, the Priest holds in his
power the eternal destiny of all his devotees. Not to speak of
the ignominy of this-in what a troubled and anxious state of
mind every thoughtful Papist must live, wondering if the
Priest have been so faithful and diligent as to perform the
necessary sacrifice for himself or his child. But, as if this were
not enough, the Church of Rome has perplexed the question
with the statement of such a number of defects which are fatal
to the valid performance of the rite, that no Papist can be sure
that he ever enjoyed its genuine and efficient administration.
I snbmit the following as a specimen :-
First: Transubstantiation is not effected, and consequently
there is no sacrifice of avail for the expiating of sin, unless he
who officiates have had influence transmitted to him by an
unbroken chain of Succession, if not from Peter, at least from
some one of the thirteen apostles. Now, Mr. Gladstone, M.P.,
of the learned order of St. Pusey, calculating the problem
scientifically, in favour of the Bishops of the Anglican Church
(and the same is the rule for those of the Roman), felicitates him-
self and his brethren of that communion on the following result:
-That, although no Bishop Is warranted to affirm absolutely
that he holds the apostolic commission, he is yet entitled to take
to himself iffi parts of a certainty that he is so qualified: i; e.
that there is the chance of one in eight thousand against him
that he is an impotent impostor; and consequently, the same
chanoe against all priests whom he ordains; and consequently,
the same chance that all those who depend on them lose their
salvation, through the spuriousness of the sacraments which
they administer.
Secondly: Though the Bishop who ordains the Priest be a
lawful one himself, the ordination may have failed of communi-
cating the mysterious power, through the Bishop's want of
intention on the particular occasion; so that the Priest, and
consequently all his sacraments, are spurious. I repeat the
quotation of the Canon on the Sacraments in general, of which
sacraments Ordination is a principal one in a Papal Church :-
Canon 11th, "If anyone saith, that in ministers, when they
effect and confer the sacraments, there is not required the
intention at least oC doing what the Church does: let him be
anathema." The doubtfulness of validity which this casts 011
the whole of the sacramental performances of the popish priest.
hood-so that a devout Papist might begin to fear that through
want of intention on the part of the Priest at the sacrament of
his marriage, he may not have been legitimately married to her
he calls his wife, and that all their children may be bastards-
is so alarming, that Pallavicino maintains in opposition to
Father Paul, that the want of intention does not refer to an
internal want of will, but the want of an external appearance
of seriousness in doing the Church's work; so that the sacra-
ment may be valid and efficacious, provided the Priest observe
a due grimace, though at heart he be scorning it as an idle
superstition. There is little doubt that much of the sacramental
work of Popery needs such a defence; but the plea is insuffi-
cient for the following reasons :-lst, It is a burlesque on the
word intention; 2nd, When Oatharinus, Bishop of Minorca,
took the ground at the Council, that the external decorous
celebration of the sacraments was sufficient for their validity,
his speech gave great offence; 3rd, In chapter vi on the Sacra-
ment of Penance, the phraseology is explicit in explaining the
intentiQn as signifying internal feeling-" intention on the part
of the Priest of acting seriously, and absolving truly;" and 4th,
The nature of the case requires that there be will on the part
of the officiator, energetically to cause the forthgoing of that
sanctifying power which has been communicated to him through
the apostolicaJ succession. But, supposing that the meaning of
the Council of Trent is obscure, so long as it is not certain that
they declared external decorum sufficient, the poor Papist is
left in doubt whether his priest was validly ordained, so as to
196 THE MASS:
be qualified to make valid sacrifices for the expiation of his

own sins, and the deliverance of his child from the purgatorial
furnace.
Thirdly: Though he were sure of the validity of the orders
conferred through the good intention of the Bishop at the time
of ordination, fear of the want of that same intention on the
part of his own priest would recur to darken his mind about
the validity of any Mass which he celebrates. Nor would there
be anything strange or invidious in that fear. Bishop Cath-
arinus himself, even in the midst of the Fathers assembled at
Trent, exclaimed, " Would to God that there were grounds
for believing that, in this corrupt age, the cases of such insin-
cerity do not abound!" Though a Protestant should be doubtful
of the sincerity of his pastor, the comfort of his sacraments,
though injured possibly by the association, is not destroyed j
but such suspicion of his priest is fatal to the comfort of the
Papist.
Fourthly: Suppose that he is fully satisfied of the genuineness
of his priest's apostolical succession, and also of the integrity
of his intention now and at all times-all cause of doubting
has not yet been removed j unless the bread and wine placed on
the altar for consecration be genuine-unless the miller, and the
baker, and wine maker, and wine merchant, have all been honest
and careful j and unless the priest keep all his wits about him
for the observance of the prescribed form in the multitude of its
minutire, the god-making is marred-Transubstantiation is not
effected-the adoration is the worship of a mere wafer and a
cup of wine-no sacrifice takes place j and consequently no
remission of sin, no shortening nor mitigation of purgatorial
torments is secured-and there is a complete failure of any
communication of that sacramental grace, the dogma of which
will be afterwards illustrated.
Over the whole of the case, when any thoughtful Papist
reads in the ritual of the Mass these words of authority:
" Defect in the Mass may occur in respect (1st) of the material
to be consecrated j (2nd) of the form employed j and (3rd) of
the minister who officiates: for whichever of these may be
wanting, viz., genuine Material, Form with Intention, and
Sacerdotal Order in the officiator-no Sacrament is effected: "
and when he reads forward page after page of the voluminous
code, and Bees what a multitude of particulars under each of
these heads constitute defects-even the circumstance of the
wine having been expressed from gmpes not perfectly ripe-
he may well doubt if he ever have enjoyed, or ever will
enjoy, the benefit of a true and efficient Mass. How then,
if Mass be so necessary as the priest represents it to be,
shall he ever feel certain of his salvation 1 The imposture
of the Priest is followed closely by the gloomy incertitude of
the people, wherever that people exercise even such a common
measure of reflection as entitles them to the character of
rational beings."
Protestant brethren, let us bless God that we have been
rescued from such degrading and comfortless depend-uoy either
on man's work or man's will for our salvation: and that He
raised up for us such a noble ancestry to vindicate .mr prero-
gative of being priests to ourselves, offerin~ up to G,,,l at home
the spiritual sacrifice of a joyous faith in the finislu«I work of
his Son: so that no phantom fears of Purgatorial torment shall
distress us when we are called to die j but the hope irradiate
that otherwise gloomy hour, that our souls shall wing their way
presently into the bosom of our Lord, to be cherished there
warmly and securely, until the completed triumph of the
Resurrection of the Just.
My great object is to have the Mass exposed to pious indig-
nation in its character of being a propitiatory sacrifice. There
are two other features, however, the exposure of which belongs
to this department of the subject, to which I shall briefly
advert, that the view may be complete.
MASSES FOR SINS AND" OTHER NECESSITIES."
First, Those of you who have attended accurately to the

language of several documents which have been quoted, will
have observed that Mass may be performed for something else
than the remission of sin. I repeat Canon 3rd: "If anyone
saith, that the Sacrifice of the Mass ought not to be offered for
* In addition to what has been quoted in the test, I select the following
specimens of defects in respect of the Minister himself. "These may occur,
first, in intention, then in disposition of mind, condition of body, array of
vestments, and actual performance."-Under the first of these, it is stated,
"If anyone does not intend to execute the Sacrament, but to do something
delusively; also, if any Hosts remain on the altar through neglect, or if any
Host or quantity of Wine lies concealed on it, when he does not intend
to consecrate except what he observee r also, if anyone hILSeleven Hosts
before him, and intends to consecrate only ten, not determining which ten
he intendl--in these C3IIesno consecration takes place, ~use illter.tion is
tlecelsary. tJ
198 THE MASS:
the living and the dead-for sins, punishments, satisfactions,

and other necessities : let him be accursed."
Now, just as in the case of Purgatory, these "other
necessities" are at, once a great shame .and a great gain
of Popery; and the Fathers and Doctors have been most
chary of entering into any particular explanations. I have
quoted, now or formerly, all that is to be found on the sub-
ject in the Decrees and Canons, and the Catechism amplifies
no farther than to say" whatever calamities and exigencies"
(Part II. Ohap. iv. Q. 77). But so great is the superstitious
prostitution cherished and sanctioned by this article of the
system, that not fewer than twenty-six Prelates protested
against the clause. And well they might, albeit they were
not particularly scI1lJ'l'ulous at Trent on the score of either
superstition or immorality.
Remember what a Mass is: it is a sacrificing of Christ-a
living, divine, whole Ohrist-truly and properly the same-
--without figure, as at Calvary. Well, April draws on, and
the shepherd concerned for his flock proceeds to the Priest, with
a price in his hand, to obtain an immolation of the Lamb of
God, for a prosperous season of yeaning for his ewes! But that
is comparatively excusable. I may not, for decorum's sake,
enter into an explanation of all the kinds of cases in which they
apply for sacrifices of Christ, that they may secure their object.
Of every low and frivolous desire of their hearts, they will make
a "neceSBity." Here, however, is one instance more :-A
Brazilian merchant has despatched his ship to the coast of
Africa. He calculates, that by this time she will be stored
with her cargo of weeping agonised human beings. The cruisers
of these hateful British heretics are on the outlook for their
prey. There has arisen a case of great "neooSBity;" and he
hastens to the Priest with his thirty pieces of silver, that Christ
may be sacrificed for a prosperous adventure to his slave ship--
that miniature of hell-hell for the woe of its victims-hell for
the wickedness of its crew-hell for its owner, who now solicits
the sacrifice for its prosperity: and what shall we say of the
Priest who accepts of the bribe 1 Yea, what of the system
which sanctions the enormity 1- What 1 but that God shall
vengefully cast .it down into its own place whence it arose :-
"whose coming," saith the Scripture, "is after the working of
&ts.n;" and .. whom the Lord shall destroy with the brightness
of his coming."
MASSES IN HONOUR OF SAINTS.
The Second subordinate point in this department of our

subject is Masses performed in Honour of the Saints. The
Canon of the Council of Trent is as follows :-
"If anyone saith that it is an imposture to celebrate Masses
in honour of the Saints, and for obtaining their intercession with
God as the Church intends: let him be anathema." Canon 6th,
Sacrifice of the Mass.
Such is the ignorance, not by any means surprising, of a
Popish population, that the framers of the Parochial Catechism
have found it necessary to enjoin the Priests to be particularly
careful in instructing the people, that these sacrifices are not
offered to the Saints themselves. Think of a state of matters
so idolatrous as to need such a caveat!
"Nor hath the Holy Synod omitted carefully to explain,
that the sacrifice is made to God alone. For although the
church has been accustomed to celebrate Masses at times for
the memory and in honour of the Saints ; yet it hath not
taught that the sacrifice is offered to them but to God only,
who has crowned the Saints with immortal glory. Accordingly,
the Priest never says, 'I offer sacrifice to thee, 0 Peter, or
Paul;' but while he sacrifices to God alone, he renders Him
thanksgiving for the signal victory of the most hlessed Martyrs;
and so beseeches their patronage, that they whose memory we
celebrate on earth, may condescend to intercede for us in
Heaven" (Part II. Chap. iv. Q. 71).
How the Council should have expressed itself as if Masses
were offered in honour of the saints only occasionally (nonnullas
-interdum), I do not understand. It could scarcely be through
shame of the idolatry, and their prostitution of the ordinance,
for with that sentiment they were but little annoyed. But,
whatever may have been the reason, the Ordinary of the
Mass contains the following prescription for every time it is
celebrated ;-
" Bowing in the middle of the altar, the Priest says, Receive,
o holy Trinity, the oblation which we make to Thee in memory
of the passion, resurrection, and ascension of our Lord Jesus
Christ; and in honour of the blessed Mary, ever a virgin; of
blessed John Baptist, the holy apostles Peter and Paul, and of
all the Saints: that it may be available to their honour and our
salTation; and tbat they may vouchsafe to intercede for us in
200 THE MASS:
heaven, whose memory we celebrate on earth." Also, in the

Canon of the Mass, we find similar memory and honour pre-
scribed of the ever glorious Virgin first, and after her of all the
Apostles, save one; but as a compensation for this neglect, there
is further prescribed the memory and honour of Linus, Cletus,
Clement, Xystus, Cornelius, Cyprian, Lawrence, Chrysogonus,
Cosmas, and Damian, and some other John and Paul, and then
of all the saints in cumulo, or, as we say, in a slump.
Besides, however, these commemorations of the saints in
general, and of a number of them in particular, which are made
every Sabbath day, there is scarcely a day of the year which
has not been appropriated to the commemoration of one or
other of the canonized-of which canonized some are the merest
legendary fictions, others were persons of very questionable
virtue, and not a few atrociously wicked men. Yet a sacrifice
of Christ is made in their honour!
Among the multitude, each church, or each individual mem-
ber, may make a choice of favourites. I select the case of St.
Andrew for illustration, presuming that he is a special object
of veneration to our neighbours; as being not only the tutelary
Saint of Scotland, but the patron Saint of the Popish mother
church of our city. His day is the 30th of November.
First, then, we have the prayer titled Secreta, as follows :_
"May the holy prayers of blessed Andrew the Apostle, we
beseech thee, 0 Lord, render our sacrifice pleasing to thee;
that what we solemnize in his honour, his merits may render
acceptable." Afterward we have that titled Post communio:-
" As the divine mysteries we have partaken of with joy on this
festival of blessed Andrew conduce to the glory of thy saints,
so, 0 Lord. we beseech Thee. let them obtain pardon for us"
(Missal: Proper of Saints).
Now, notwithstanding of our having met with much before
of a very absurd and impious character, I question if we have
met with anything which surpasses, in these qualities. what is
presented to us here. I make little at present of the supersti-
tion of praying to Andrew in general. I am certain that he
does not hear a word of it. This, some of their own Doctors
admit ; and Mr. Seymour shut up his acute Jesuit disputant at
Rome to the acknowledgment of the absurd principle-" that
the prayer first reaches God-that He reveals it to the saint-
that the saint then prays it back again to God, presenting to
Him the petition of the votary; and thus, according to this
system, God is our mediator to the saints, and not the saints
our mediators to God." But, as already stated, I make little
of this at present. Supposing that Andrew both sees and hears;
mark what they do for him, and expect from him. First, they
make a sacrifice of Christ for Andrew's honour. They would
not perform Mass on that 30th day of November, but for his
gratification. Secondly, they expect that since they are so
mindful of him, he will return the compliment, and be mindful
of them, by interceding for them. In what way 1 Why, by
praying for them, that God would be well pleased with the
sacrifice of his own Son, which otherwise He might reject.
And thirdly, turning to God Himself, they express their trust
that Andrew's merits will render Christ's sacrifice acceptable.
I appeal to you, brethren, you who know what the Christian
faith is, if it would be easy to fancy anything more blas-
phemous :-Andrew's merits represented as being necessary to
make the Redeemer's sacrifice acceptable to Divine Justice 1
v.
THE MASS; ITS COMMUNION BY THE PRIEST.
WE have at last reached something which bears a resemblance

to the Lord's Supper. Is it not remarkable, that although the
Church of Rome pretends that that institution of Christ is its
authority for the Mass, we should not hitherto have seen a ves-
tige of thatjea8ting which characterized his exemplar-ordinance, .
notwithstanding the protracted course of ceremonial which has
passed in review before us1 Nor is this all; Sacrifice having
been completed, the work might consistently enough terminate
here; just at that point where man's invention ends, and
Christ's authority begins. I do not speak with certainty, but
I am informed that it does conclude here in private Masses for
the dead, at which even the Priest does not communicate; and
yet their warrant, they say, for the observance is, "Take, eat, n
and, "Drink ye all of it!" At all events, on all public occa-
sions, with the exception, perhaps, of Easter, Mass terminates
for the majority of the people with the Sacrifice-few or none
communicating at all the other hundred Masses of the year, and
the Priest engrossing the feasting for himself, according to the
fable of the lion's share.
Although, however, that part of the ceremonial of the Mass,
which is the only one possessed of the appearance of divine
sanction, be thus pressed into a corner, yet, in that corner, a
work is practised not less anti-scriptural, irrational, profane,
and immoral in its influence than any which has already pro-
voked our scorn and indignation.
DECREES AND CANONS OF THE COUNCIL OF TRENT ON
SACRAMENTAL EFFICACY.
I. Attend first to the Decrees and Canons of the Council of

Trent, and (1st) to their dogma on the subject of Sacramfllntal
efficacy in general.
O/lflO1lIY.-" If anyone saith, that the Sacraments of the
ITS COMMUNION BY THE PRIEST. 203
New Law are not necessary to salvation, and that men obtain
of God, through faith alone, the grace of justification: let him
he anathema."
Canon V.-.If any one saith, that these Sacraments were
instituted for the s~ke of nourishing faith alone: let him be
anathema."
Canon V1.-" If anyone saith, that the Sacraments of the
New Law do not contain the grace which they signify; or that
they do not confer that grace on those who do not place
an obstacle thereunto; as though they were merely outward
sigus of grace or justice received through faith: let him be
anathema."
Canon V11.-" If anyone saith, that grace, as far as God's
part is concerned, is not given through the suid Hacrll.ments,
always and to all men, even though they receive them in pro-
per form (rite), but only sometimes, and to some persons [when
faith is in exercise] : let him be anathema."
Canon V111.-" If anyone saith, that by the said Sacraments
of the New Law grace is not conferred ex opere operato (through
the operation operated); but that faith alone in the divine
promises suffices for the obtaining of grace: let him be
anathema."·
(2nd) The Council, having declared its decisions so explicitly
on the efficacy of the Sacraments in general, appears to have
felt it unnecessary to enlarge on the efficacy of the Eucharist in
particular. They, therefore, expend their Decrees and Canons
under this head almost entirely on the subject of Transub-
stantiation. A few sentences, however, occur referring to the
opus operatum, which it will be useful for illustration to quote.
Decree, Cltap 11.-" Christ would also that this Sacrament
• Dr. Dick says that the barbarous phrase opus operatum is utterly
uniutelligible without explanation: which explanation I shall presently
attempt. The Rev. Mr. Waterworth, our living Popish authority, translates
" through the act performed." Mr. Cramp, in his useful Text Book, trans-
lates freely" by their own power." I have translated the barbarism by a
barbarism, as is meet. It is not only fair, however, to the CoanCil, but
useful for illustration, to explain, that they were led to perpetrate the bar-
barism in expre .. ing an opinion opposite to th~t which they condemned,
viz.: that the Sacraments are efficaciousex opere operantis (through the work
of the operator), in which phrase the operator does not signify the officiating
Priest, but the partaking commuuicant, acting faitll, .s our old divines
expreIBed it-au expreB8ionwpioh I reRard as being exoellently significant,
aud which, I contend, is everything but barbarous. I would that more of
0111" metaphyaiolula oomprehended the philotOphy of IICting /ail1l on the
divine promise Nt forth either in the Word or Sacramenta.
204 THE MASS:
should be received as the spiritual food of souls, whereby those

may be fed and strengthened who live with the life of Him
who said, 'He that eateth me, the same also shall live by me;'
and as an antidote, whereby we may be freed from daily faults,
and be preserved from mortal sin." Again, under Chap. iii.-
" There is found in the Eucharist this peculiar thing, that the
other Sacraments have then, for the first time, the power of
sanctifying, when anyone uses them; whereas, there is in the
Eucharist, before it is used, the Author Himself of sanctity."
Finally, under Chap. viii.-" This holy Synod admonishes, that
all who bear the Christian name would believe and venerate
these sacred mysteries with such constancy and firmness of
faith, as to be able frequently to receive that super-substantial
bread; and that it may be to them truly the life of the soul, and
the perpetual health of their mind; that being invigorated by
the strength thereof, they may be able to arrive at their
heavenly country; there to eat, without any veil, that same
Bread of Angels, which they now eat under the sacred veils."
It is only, by the way, when quoting documentary evidence,
that I express my wonder, if these last quoted lines signify,
that Angels mass for their salvation on the body of Christ; and
that the saints in glory do the same, without the veiling acci-
dents of bread; but with his flesh distinctly revealed to the
senses. And let it be remembered, that the Church of Rome
rejects with scorn the idea of a mere spiritual feasting by faith
and contemplation. Nothing less will satisfy them than literal
manducation.
~ EXPLANATIONS OF THE PAROCHIAL CATECHISM.
II. Attend now to the explanations of the Parochial Cate-

chism, and, as before (Ist.), to the illustration of the efficacy
of the Sacraments in general.
Port Second, Clup. L Q. 26.-"They possess an admirable and
unfailing virtue to cure our spiritual maladies, and communicate
to us the inexhaustible riches of the passion of our Lord." In
Q. 21 the 0'pU8 optn'atum dogma is affirmed still more explicitly.
There the principal effects of the Sacraments are said to be
two; one of which, namely, the Impressing of a character on
the mind, since it does not pertain to the Eucharist, but only to
Baptism, Confirmation, and Ordination, we need not at present
consider: the other is described as follows :-" That grace which
• we call by the name-common among our sacred Doctol'B-
ITS CO)IMUNJON BY THE PRIEST. 205
, justifying,' '" deservedly occupies the first place. But how so

great and admirable an effect is produced by the Sacraments,
that, as has been celebrated by the saying of Augustine, 'water
should cleanse the body, and reach the heart,'-this, indeed,
cannot be comprehended by human reason and intelligence.
For it ought to be received as a point established (in philosophy),
that nothing material is constitutionally endowed with such
virtue that it can penetrate to the mind. But by the light of
faith we know, that the power of the omnipotent God resides in
the Sacraments, by which they effect that to which the natural
elements are by their own energy inadequate."
(2.) Attend next, more particularly, to the alleged efficacy of
the Eucharist. The general principle is stated thus, in Q. 47 :
"No one should doubt, but that those who, affected with pious
and religious desire, partake of this Sacrament, admit the Son
of God into themselves in such a manner that they are inserted
into his body as living members;" for, according to Q. 46,
"This Sacrament is not changed into our substance like (other)
bread and wine; but we are in some way changed into the
nature of it."
.After this incorporation with Christ, truly, really, and
substantially, effected by the partaking of that only apparent
bread and wine, nothing can surprise us that may be said
about its wonderful results. On the contrary, there is great
inconsistency in representing these results to be comparatively
so insignificant. 1st, at Q. 50, all the length they proceed, is
to say that" there is no reason why it should be doubted that
slighter sins, which are commonly called venial, are remitted
and forgiven by the Eucharist." 2nd, When, according to Q.
49, it is said that the soul is thereby refreshed with sanctifying
grace; and, according toQ. 51, that it obtains both a quelling
of evil lusts, and a strengthening of itself for enduring trials-
all this is but an ordinary consequence. But 3rd, I must
admit, that when the effect of the Viaticum, t or Host adminis-
tered to the dying, possibly msenaible,: man, is described in
Q. 52, there is something which rises nearly to the height of
the argument. It is a specimen of beautifully eloquent super-
stition; and although it be of considerable length, I will be
• Let it be observed, that a principal herely of the Popish Aposta.sy

coDBiltain its confounding JUltilloation with Sanotification. See Note on
.Juatilicatlon in AppendU.
t Provision for a journey.
206 THE }IASS:
excused for transcribing it, amid the dry bones, as I suspect

they will be accounted, of these other quotations.
The question is titled, "The manner in which the access
to eternal glory is' opened up by this Sacrament," and then
proceeds :-" Finally, that all the uses and benefits of this
Sacrament may be comprehended in one word, the Priest must
explain that the grand power of the sacred Eucharist lies in its
procuring eternal glory; for it is written, 'whoso eateth my
flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will
raise him up at the last day.' Thus, through the grace of this
Sacrament, the faithful, while they live here, enjoy the greatest
peace and tranqui\lty of conscience; and then, when the time
of departing from this life arrives, refreshed by its virtues, not
less than when Elias, who, under the strength of that cinder-
toasted cake, journeyed the length of Horeb, the mount of
God, 'to do they ascend on high to bliss and glory! All these
things will be largely explained by the pastors, either should
they have selected for exposition the Sixth Chapter of John
the Divine, in which the manifold effects of this Sacrament are
disclosed; or, discoursing on the wondrous acts of Christ our
, Lord, should they have shown, that--when we correctly and
properly account those to have been highly blessed into whose
houses He was received in his mortal state, or who recovered
health by the touch of the hem of his garment-much more
happy and blessed are we whose soul He does not refuse to
enter, arrayed in his immortal glory, that He may cure all
its wounds, and unite it to Himself adorned with the most
munificent endowments."
I grudge superstition these beautiful sentiments; and would,
that instead of the blessing being ascribed to the reception
and operation of a bit of insensible bread, the description had
occurred in the book of some Protestant, when describing the
manner in which the saint is "strengthened with might
by the Spirit in the inner man," when" Christ dwells in his
heart by faith" (Ephes. iii. 16, 17). But this is somewhat
an anticipation of our argument, and we must return to the
* 1 Kings xix. 5-8.-" And 88 he lay and slept under a juniper tree,
behold. then an angel touched him, and S&idunto him, Arise and eat. And
he looked, and, behold, there was a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of
water at hia head. And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again. And
\he angel of the Lord came again the I800Ild time, and touched him, and laid,
A.riae and eat; because the joumey b too great for thee. And he arole, and
did eat and drink. and went in the .trength of that meat forty day. and fortr
qh_ unto Horeb the mount of God. "
ITS COMMUNION BY THE PRIEST • 207
. collection of a few more dry bones. Lest patience, however,

should begin to fret, let me assure it that some of them are
uncommonlycurious relics.
STATEMENTS OF THE MISSAL.
III. I proceed to show, from the Missal, how the foregoing

doctrine on the subject of the Sacrament of the Eucharist is
practically carried into execution.
(1.) We meet with the manner in which the connection is
established betwixt the Sacrificeand Sacrament; according to
the old representation of the Lord's Supper being a Feast upon
a Sacrifice,in which God and the sacrificer hold communion
with one another, over the same sacrificial victim-a represen-
tation which some Protestant divines continue to make, and to
which I do not strongly object,provided it be qualifiedwith care.
"We most humbly beseechthee, Almighty God, to command
these things to be carried by the hands of thy holy angels to
thy altar on high, in the sight of thy divine majesty j that as
many as shall partake of the most sacred bodyand blood of thy
Son at this altar [after they have been restored to it], may be
filled with every heavenly grace and blessing."
This occurs in the Canon of the Mass, the most venerated
part of its ritual. I have sought in vain for some Popish or
Protestant authority to explain it to me. Can the reason of
the silencebe, that it needs no explanation; and that the words
mean just what they appear to mean-that, when the accidents
of bread and wine, that is, whiteness and roundness, redness
and fluidity, remain on the earthly altar, without any sub-
stance whatever in which they inhere, the substance of Christ's
body and blood is for a short time divorced from them, and
carried by the angels to a literal altar in Heaven, and presently
brought back to be re-united to the accidents1 To be sure,
that strength of faith which believesin Transubstantiation may
believe all this; and we, poor heretic Protestants, who are
the slaves of common-sense,cannot judge of the capacity of
a Popish intellect.
(2. ) Well, the Sacrificehaving been restored, the Priest, in
proceedingto partake of it, striking his breast with humility
and devotion, says thrice, "Lord, I am not worthy that thou
shouldest enter my roof;" and then, receiving reverently both
parts of the Host (the other part having been committed to the
Chalice), he prays thus: .. May the Body of our Lord Jesus
208 THE MASS:
Christ preserve my soul to life everlasting!" And in like

manner, partaking of the Chalice, he prays: "May the Blood
of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve my soul to everlasting' life !"
(3.) It is very specially that I call your attention to the
concluding prayer, on the occasion of his taking the Second
Ablution, having rinsed the cup once and again with wine,
that no vestige of the blood may remain: "May thy Body,
o Lord, which I have received, and thy Blood which I have
drunk, cleave to my bowels! and grant that no stain of sin
may remain in me, who have been fed with this pure and holy
Sacrament!" (Ordinary and Canon of the Mass.)
REFUTATION OF FOREGOING VIEWS.
Having tWs produced as much documentary evidence as is

necessary, of the state of faith in the Popish Church on the
subject of the efficacy of the Sacraments in general, and the
Eucharist in particular, it will not require an extended dis-
cussion for the exposure of its error and immoral influence.
Nevertheless, a few observations are necessary.
(J.) Observe, then, in the :first place, that the Council of
Trent itself dared not decide that that eating and drinking of
the Redeemer's flesh and blood, of which He Himself speaks
in the sixth chapter of John, refers to the Eucharistical feasting
on Him. Inspired by such a spirit as possessed them, they
were on the point of decreeing it. Their purpose was very
wicked: it was, that by verse 49th, and some others similar, in
which Christ speaks only of the heavenly bread, and his flesh,
they might defend their defrauding of the people of the sacra-
mental blood. But our old friend, the bold Grenada, was at
his post with his better inspiration, pleading not only his own
opinion, but that of many of the most celebrated Fathers and
Doctors of the Church, that there was no reference whatever
throughout the chapter to sacramental, or oral, or corporal
manducation or potation; but that all the feaBting described
in it was of that spiritual nature of which the Apostle speaks,
when he says, "the life which I now live in the flesh I live by
the faitl~ of the Son of God" (Gal. ii, 20). The appeal to the
Fathers was irresistible; and the Council so modified the pre-
pared Decree, as not to affirm that the verses cited indubitably
referred to the Eucharist (Chap. i. On Communion in One Kind).
Papists generally, however, bear the victory of Grenada and
his friends a deep grudge; and have a strong hankering after
the original opinion of the Council, on account of the manner
in which they think it sanctions both their dogma of Transub-
stantiation, and their robbing of the people of one-half of their
feast. A few sentences, therefore, may be useful-and a few
will suffice-in proof that the feasting spoken of is entirely
spiritual.
Ist. In various parts of the chapter, coming to Christ, and
believing on Him, are used as phrases equivalent to eating of
his flesh, and drinking of his blood. Thus at verse 35th, He
says, "I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never
hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst." What
can be more obvious, especially in regard to the last clause, than
that believing is that drinking by which the thirst is quenchedi
(Compare verses 40,44, and 47.)
2nd. When the stupid and carnal Jews attached the same
meaning to our Lord's words, which this class of Papists, and
almost all the Puseyites attach to them-understanding them
in the sense of a literal manducation of his flesh-He exposed
the dulness of their comprehension; and distinctly declared, that
any such eating of his flesh, truly, really, and substantially,
would not be of the least avail for their salvation, though they
were permitted to make the cannibal-like feast: "The flesh
profiteth nothing" were his memorable words (verse 63).
3rd. As distinguished from liny opus operatum of flesh, which
could furnish material only for other flesh and blood, and
muscles and bones, He affirmed, that it is only the Spirit of God
who can supply food necessary to the life of the soul-which
food consists of holy and happy thoughts. His words are, "it
is the Spirit that quickeneth" (v. 63). In beautiful consistency
with this, and all the rest of the Scripture on the subjects of
Regeneration and Sanctification, He goes on to say, "The words
that I speek unto you, they are spirit and they are life," as
being the vehicles employed by the Spirit for conveying these
thoughts to the soul, on which it feasts. Only mark carefully
the nature of the words to which He especially refers: they are
the words about his broken body and shed blood; which, when
believed, through the operation of the Spirit, feed the soul with
meditations on his atoning sacrifice.
(2.) Observe, therefore, in the second place, how our Pr0-
testant Eucharist is a feast of divine richness. As embodying
the words referred to above-embodying the doctrine of our
Lord's atonement; and by its symbolic materials and action
N
210 THE MASS:
preaching the Word with peculiar liveliness and impression for

the animating of faith, it ministers plentifully and luxuriously
to the communicant those thoughts which sustain and exhilarate
his spiritual life.
Now, whoever may mock at the phraseology, when such
acting of faith on the sacrifice of Christ, so as to find in it
delight for the soul, is called eating his flesh and drinking his
blood, the Papist, for one, is excluded from all enjoyment of the
mirth. We have already seen how old Grenada compelled the
Council of Trent to acknowledge, that the language is at least
not illegitimate. But there is much more than this: they
sanctioned it positively by a Decree, as being an exceedingly
precious thought, In Chap. viii, On the use of the Sacrament,
we find them lnstinguishing three classes of receivers, the second
of which consists of those who, although they do not actually
communicate, yet receive it "spiritually-those, to wit, who
eating in desire that heavenly bread which is set before them,
are, by a lively faitb, which worketh by love, made sensible of
the fruit and usefulness thereof." And the framers of the Cate-
chism have proceeded so far as to say, that from this spiritual
use those persons" obtain, if not the whole, certainly very great
fruits of advantage." It is wonderful to see in what circum-
stances down-trodden truth will rise up and assert its claims.
What Papist, after reading these words of his own inspired
authorities, will dare mock at the Protestant doctrine of Feasting
by Faith !
But who is he, of whatever creed, or no creed, that can mock
consistently ~ When the infidel, after having expressed his
contempt of the Popish literal manducation in the Mass turns
about to tell the Protestant that he holds in no less contempt
his spiritual manducation in the Supper-and that he regards
the phraseology, at least, of eating the flesh and drinking the
blood of the Son of God, as being at once unintelligibly mystical
and rudely barbarous--what, I demand, is the current of his
own expressions, when he pretends to be so polished and deli-
cate in his taste t On returning from the theatre, he exclaims,
"What a feast I have enjoyed!" the explanation of which is, that
his soul, with its tastes and capacities such as they are, has been
greatly delighted with the scenic representation of a bloody
murder. Is this the man to mock at the Christian when he
says, that, at the Lord's Table, he has feasted richly, through
the manner in which his faith was excited, so us to realize, in
holy contemplation, the triumphant scene of t.he destruction of

Death by the death of his Lord ~ Uompare the two feasts, or
rather, the two minds, which respectively relish them.
(3.) After the preceding explanations, the more direct ex-
posure of the dogma of the efficacy of the opus operatum of the
Sacraments, will not require many sentences.
Observe, First, how the same objection applies to it which
was urged against the Sacrifice of the Mass, in respect of its
representing Salvation for eternity as dependent on the will and
work of a mortal. If no Priest be near, or if he who is near,
and called a Priest, want valid ordination, or intention, or be
reluctant, or forgetful, or faithless, or violate, even inadvert-
ently, proper form, or be imposed on by a bad cake for conse-
cration, so that no Sacrament take place-how shall the soul be
saved ~
Observe, Secondly, how the Word of God, and Faith in that
Word, are discredited as impotent for Salvation, without the
accompaniment of these priestly appliances. Read again Canon
iv., under the reflection that the Apostle never speaks once,
throughout the Epistle to the Romans, and several of his
Epistles besides, of the Sacrament either of Penance or the
Eucharist :-"If anyone saith that the Sacraments of the New
Law are not necessary to SalTation, and that men obtain of
God, through faith alone, the grace of Justification; let him be
anathema." Is this religion of the Council of Trent the same
as that of the Author of the Epistle to the Romans ~ Nor let
it be said, that the anathema is directed against those who
despise and vilify the Sacraments, as having no help or use in
them, and to be dealt with only as suits a man's humour or
convenience. It is directed against Luther and his Reforming
brethren, who held Baptism and the Eucharist in high venera-
tion, as ordinances most helpful of faith, and which it was
deeply sinful not to observe, where there was an opportunity;
and, not necessary, only in the Reuse, that a man may believe,
and be accepted. of God without their aid. It was this against
which the Council fulminated its Canon.
Observe, Thirdly, the absurdity of the dogma. Even although
that Host were truly the flesh of Christ, we have aJready seen,
according to Christ's own expre!!8 declaration, that its participa-
tion would of itself profit nothing; how much less (though I
should scarcely express myself so, as if I admitted that in the
supposed caae there would be any superiority- but let the
�12 THE MASS:
expression pass), how much less can that, of which we are

certain that it is but a morsel of wheaten cake, operate, by a.
sort of materio-spiritual chemistry, any saving effect on the
immaterial mind 1 Papists themselves admit, as we have seen,
that it contradicts all well-established philosophy, and that it
requires faith to receive it: so it does-faith in such an impos-
ture of magical charms as is fit only for the rudest ages of
barbarism.
Papists and Puseyites endeavour to reduce the offensiveness
of the dogma for all intelligent minds, by explaining, that in
order to the efficacy there must be no obstacle of mortal sin;
and that there must be, on the part of the communicant, the
general faith that it is the body of Christ which he receives.
The first of these qualifications has evidently little pertinency
to the question: and the second is only the general rule; for,
although it should be denied that the Viaticum is legitimately •
administered to the dying in a state of insensibility, yet we
have the authority of the Catechism for maintaining, that it is
lawfully administered to the insane, who were formerly pious,
although now they may be incapable of acting faith on it in
any degree (P. II. C. iv. Q. 62). But though the rule were
absolute, that there must be that general faith of its being
Christ's body which is received, all other active exercise of the
mind is excluded. To represent it as necessary would be an
entire evacuation of the dogma. It would represent the salva-
tion as depending ex opere operantis, a representation which
the e:r opere operato theory is expressly designed to oppose as
a heresy. Without any" internal motion," as their doctors
express it, on the part of the communicant, accompanying the
" external sacramental act," that Host goes down, and "cleaving
to his bowels," works within him, as a passive subject, all the
salutary e1J"ect.
But why be 80 anxious to prove that this is the Popish
doctrine' They do not deny it. Deny it! they boast of it;
that their priests are endowed with a power to compound
charms of such potency. And Dr. Hook, envious of the pre- .
rogative, put in the claim of a share of it for himself and Ius
brethren of the apoetolical succession, when to her face he
warned our Queen, in the name of his Puseyite fraternity, that
so many of her subjects were perishing under euch unauthOrized
ministries as those of Boben Ball, and Pya Smith, and Thomas
Chalmera, because they wete uable to compound the pill, and
,
mix the potion of Christ's flesh and blood for the people. That
is precisely the intellectual and moral education for which this
country, calling itself enlightened, free, religious, and Pro-
testant, is taxed in millions of its wealth! (See Sermon on
" Hear the Church," preached before the Queen.)
Observe, Fourthly, the immoral tendency of the dogma. The
lowest degree of such evil influence is the manner in which it
absolves the recipient of the Sacrament from the duty of all
active cultivation of religious principle. What need is there
for this 1 Will not the Host look after the work 1 The second
degree is the delusion, that the Host must have done the work,
at least in part :-that notwithstanding adverse appearances of
immorality, which otherwise would have caused both the
recipient himself and his neighbours to doubt his gracious
state, yet it cannot but be, that internally and essentially there
is proceeding a good work under that Son of God, whom he
admitted into himself, when he recently received the Host at
the altar.
The delusion is consummated when the communicant is taught
to believe, that it has power to remove the guilt of sin. The
Council has proclaimed, in Canon 5th, "If anyone saith,
either, that the principal part of the most sacred Eucharist is
the remission of sins; or, that other effects do not result from
it; let him be anathema." The framers of the Catechism,
perceiving that these words might be misapprehended, have
prevented mistake by this explanation: "There is no reason
why it should be doubted, that slighter sins, which are commonly
called venial, are remitted and forgiven by the Eucharist" (P.
II. C. i Q. 50). What a fountain of pollution is here! Venial
and mortal sins! Who shall draw the line of distinction 1 Dr.
Pusey himself has nearly given up the attempt in despair. " I
certainly," he says, "much as I have laboured, have not yet
been able to decide any thing." You may advance the mark
for yourself, and bring it near for your neighbour, just as suits
your humour or necessity. How thin is its fence! so that
the most profligate, notwithstanding the declared "obstacle of
mortal sin," may break through it, and approach the altar;
and return through it, with a persuasion of being pardoned,
notwithstanding the declaration, that the privilege is extended
only to such as are" venial" Nor are they the ruder minds
alone which, with excuses and extenuations, contrive to reduce
the most ftagrant crimes, whether purposed or perpetrated, to
214 THE MASS.
the venial dimensions. It is your polished gentlemen and ladies,

and grimaced priests, and demure nuns, who are most dexterous
at the juggling of conscience.
In conclusion, I denounce the dogma of sacramental efficacy
as one of the principal delusions of the system of fraud and
corruption-fatal to the sinner's self, and dangerous to the
commonwealth, through its vitiation of public morality. And
I beseech my Protestant brethren, both as they would be saved
themselves, and as they would be efficient agents for the salva-
tion of others, that they improve the exposure of the error, to
the deepening of the impression, that it is only by an active
faith exercised at home, and on the street, and by the river
side, and up ·the mountains, and not at the Sacramental table
alone, that the soul receives and lives upon the Son of God.
VI.
THE MASS: ITS COMMUNION BY THE PEOPLE.
THE COMMUNION OF TilE HOST.
IT is only on account of the withholdment of the Cup from the

People that I make this a separate topic of exposition. But
as the view would be incomplete without some notice of the
manner in which they share the communion of the Host, I shall
transcribe Dr. Challoner's directions, as given in the" Garden
of the Soul," p. 251.
" At the time of Communion go up to the rail (before the
altar), and take up the towel, and hold it before you. Whilst
the clerk says the Oonfiteor, humbly confess your sins, and beg
God's pardon for them. When the Priest turns about to give
the Absolution, receive it with your head bowed down, as from
the hand of the invisible High Priest, whom you are going to
receive. When the Priest holds up a particle of the blessed
Sacrament with these words, 'Behold the Lamb of God, Behold
Him who taketh away the sins of the world!' humbly beg, with
a lively confidence in the merits of his death and passion, that
he would take away your sins. When the Priest repeats three
times, 'Lord, I am not worthy thou shouldst enter under my
roof, speak only the word and my soul shall be healed!' say the
same with him, in your heart. When the Priest gives you the
blessed Sacrament saying, 'The body of our Lord Jesus Christ
preserve thy soul to life everlasting,' receive it with a lively
faith. At the time of your receiving, let your head be erect,
your mouth opened moderately wide, and your tongue a little
advanced, so as to rest upon your under lip, that the Priest
may conveniently convey the blessed Sacrament into your
mouth: which being done, shut your mouth, let the sacred Host
moisten a little upon your tongue, and then swallow it down
as you can, and afterwards abstain awhile from spitting. If
216 THE MASS:
the Host should chance to stick to the roof of your mouth, be

not disturbed; neither must you put your finger into your
mouth to remove it, but gently and quietly remove it with your
tongue, and so convey it down; and then return to your place,
and endeavour to entertain as well as you can the Guest whom
you have received."
That which is especially calculated in all this to excite our
condemnation is, its idolatrous adoration of that particle as
being verily the Lamb of God, by the swallowing of which He
is receivedas a Guest, that He may cleave to the bowels, for
effecting, ex opere operato, the pardon of sin, and the purifica-
tion of the soul. The manner, however, in which the usual
clerical arrogance exhibits itself, is also worthy of notice. The
Priest's, as being 'the only pure hands, are alone permitted to
touch that Host; and instead of the people being called to take
it, in the sense in which our Lord evidently used the word, he,
lUI their physician, applies it: or. if the reason of this departure
from the original form of the institution be, that the people's
tongues are supposed to be cleaner than their hands, I am sure
it is a mistake, unless there he It great difference, in this respect,
betwixt Protestants and Papists.
Regarding the ludicrous parts of the representation, although
they are given on the authority of Dr. Challoner, yet are they
surpassed by some prescriptions of the Missal, proceeding on
the principle of protecting the Host from all impure contact.
When the Priest, for instance, is enjoined the strictest fasting
from the midnight preceding the celebration of Mass; yet, says
the Ritual, "If any particles of food remaining in the mouth are
swallowed, they do not hinder Communion, since they are not
swallowed after the manner of food, but after the manner of
saliva. The same thing is to be ssid if, in washing the mouth,
a drop of water is swallowed unintentionally" (De Defectibus).
What straining of gnats, and swallowing of camels Popery
exhibits! A retlection which conveniently introduces us to the
exposure of one of its most violent atrocities.
THE CUP WITHHELD FROM: THE PEOPLE.
On the subject of withholding the Cup from the People, Dr.

Dick has said, "In all the proceedings of the apostate Church,
there is not an instance of more undisguised and avowed opposi-
tion to the authority of Christ." No doubt, amid Buch a
multitude of enormities, it might appear difficult to determine
ITS COlUIUNION BY THE PEOPLE. 217
which is the greatest; but he would not have perilled the credit
of his judgment by pronouncing that there is no other which
equals this in effrontery.
(1.) Observe, first, their own acknowledgment of what was
the original law and practice. The Council of Trent, in Chap.
i. of its Decree, declares that" Christ the Lord did, in the last
Supper, institute the venerable sacrament of the Eucharist, in
the species of bread and wine." Again, in Chapter ii., that
"from the beginning of the Christian religion, the use of both
species was not unfrequent." And when one of their Bishops
spoke of it as being a heretical custom, they compelled him to
confess and beg pardon on his knees, a member of their inspired
Council though he was.
(2.) Observe, secondly, the manner in which they have
asserted their right to abrogate the law. In Chapter ii.-" It
declares, that this power has ever been in the Church, that,
in the dispensation of the Sacraments, their substance being
untouched, it may ordain, or change what things soever it may
judge expedient, for the profit of those who receive, or for the
veneration of the said sacraments, according to the difference of
circumstances, times, and places. And this the apostle seems,
not obscurely, to have intimated, when he says: 'Let a man
so account of us as of the ministers of Christ, and the dispensers
of the mysteries of God'" (1 Cor. iv. 1).
(3.) Observe, thirdly, how they have exercised this authority.
Chapter i.-" Wherefore, this holy Synod, instructed by the
Holy Spirit, and following the judgment and usage of the Church
itself, declares and teaches, that laymen, and clerics when not
officiating, are not obliged, by any divine precept, to receive
the Sacrament of the Eucharist under both species; and, that
neither can it, by any means, be doubted, without injury to
faith, that Communion under either species is sufficient for
them unto salvation." And farther: Chap. ii.-" Holy Mother
Church, knowing this her anthority, induced by weighty and
just reasons, has approved of the custom of communicating .
under one species; and decreed that it was to be beld as a law,
which it is not lawful to reprobate, or to change at pleasure,
without the authority of the Church itself."
(4.) Observe, fourthly, how the Council, notwithstanding
they claimed the power as above described, obstinately resisted
all 8Olicitatio:tl8 to change tbe existing law, and restore the
ordinance to tbe completeness in which Chriat bestowed it on
218 THE !IASS:
his people. The ambassadors of the Emperor of Germany, of

the King of France, and several other princes, appeared at
their bar, imploring the redress of this grievance, which, above
many others, disturbed the peace of their respective govern-
ments j but they petitioned in vain. Yea, the evil was aggra-
vated j for the Decree of the Council of Constance, which was
the first to forbid Communion in both kinds, had not been
universally obeyed: but after its sanction by the Council of
Trent, the practice was abolished throughout the Popedom.
"The cup of blessing," the apostle calls it, by the animating
wine of which, the richness of Christian salvation is signified
even more strikingly than by the broken bread; and the denial of
that Cup by a usurping Priesthood, and the submission yielded
by an ignominious people, consummated the apostasy, and filled
up another cup for them, even to the brim."
THE SUPPER, AS INSTITUTED BY CHRIST, ALTERED BY PAPISTS.
I. Before exposing the insufficiency of their reasons for

altering the original institution, even although they had been
possessed of authority, I shall shortly advert to the wickedness
of their usurpation of any such power. It would have been
wonderful, if the divine Legislator had intrusted his ministers
with authority to alter his laws according to their discretion.
Accordingly, the manner in which the Council plead a scrip-
tural warrant for their conduct, is of the most fantastical nature.
Heretofore we have had several curious specimens of Popish
biblical criticism and hermeneutics j but none more preposterous
than their interpretation, in the present case, of 1 Cor. iv, 1,
" Let a man so account of us as of the ministers of Christ, and
the dispensers of the mysteries of God."
I do not stop to deny, that either the Council of Trent, or
any other class of men, were, or are successors of the Apostles
in their apostolical character j nor, that the term myste'I"iM has
any special reference to the Sacraments; but, admitting, for the
* As there has been reason for remarking in some other cases, so is there
in this, that, corrupt though the Council was, it would have been wonderful
if sueh enormities had been decreed harmoniously. Accordingly there ....
scarcely any other subject on which .. the holy Synod, instructed by the Holy
Spirit," was'o violently divided. Pallavicino himself is greatly scandalized
by it. Ultimately, it was decreed, .. that the whole business be referred to
our moat holy Lord,"-the Papist's lord-to grant the permission of the 11Ie
of the Ohalice..... hen he might judge proper. But from that day to this, he
baa taken.pecial care to keep exoludeQ, from hi. Church, the in.tituticn of
the Lord of Christialla.
ITS CO)DIl:XIOX BY THE PEOPLE. 21~
time, their interpretation thus far j what then 1 Is a minister
or ser~ant of Christ one who is at liberty to abrogate his law 1
Is a dispensej- of the mysteries of God one who is authorised to
dispense with them 1 Is a steward, as our translation more
correctly renders it, one who, in the management of the house-
hold, may lawfully withhold from the children one-half of the
food.which their Father has distinctly appointed they should
receive 1 Two things characterise the treatment which Papists
give the Scriptures: sometimes they ignore them, as if they
had no existence j at other times, as in the present instance, they
interpret them by the Canon of Contraries.
It is but fair, however, to explain, that, whereas the decree,
as prepared originally, affirmed absolutely, that the forecited
verse sanctioned their claims to tho authority which they
assumed j there was enough of shame in the Council to make
some of its members protest against the meditated perversion,
and with such vehemence, that they were compelled to qualify
it in the manner in which it now appears, viz., that "the
Apostle seems, not obscurely, to have intimated" such power!
Is there anything peculiarly candid in explaining that such is
the state of an opponent's case 1 Does not the explanation rather
tend to exhibit the iniquity of these men in a still stronger
light--that they should have built up such arrogant pretensions
on a basis which they themselves acknowledge to be so insuffi-
cient, when they are compelled to speak of it as being only
something which seems to be indicated not obscurely 1
I have not yet done with the exposure of their claim to
change the law, should they judge proper. To soften the
offensiveness of the assumption, they have condescendingly
limited their power to such alterations of the Sacraments as
leave their" substance untouched." Is the Chalice, then, I
ask, not of the substance of the Eucharist 1 Is it less of its
substance than the Host 1 There lies here a secret of great
iniquity. At Trent, questions were first submitted to a body
of attendant consulting Theologians, who debated the different
articles among themselves, and reported their opinions to the
Prelates, who were members of the Council. On the present
subject this question was proposed to them: "Is as much
contained, and is as much received, under one, as under both
species 1" To the first part of the question they seemed to have
replied harmoniously in the affirmative, on the principle of a.
dogma called Concomitance, which will be presently explained,
220 THE MASS:
But in respect of the second part ;-a large and respectable

minority contended that more grace is conveyed by two than
by one; and even many of the majority expressed themselves
as only inclining to the opinion, that the amount or degree in
the two cases is equal.
When the matter came to be discussed by the Prelates them-
selves, the presiding Legate earnestly advised that it should be
left an open question, without anything being decided on it.
This advice was adopted; and accordingly the Decree stands
thus, "that neither can it, by any means, be doubted, that
Communion under either species is sufficient for salvation."
They were not prepared to affirm that one conveyed equal
abundance to that of two. They doubted this, and yet they
risked the loss to the people. Som~..of them, indeed, were
certain that it was a loss; few were certain that it was no loss;
the majority thought it possibly II. loss, and yet they decreed it.
There are only two ways of explaining their conduct: either
they considered the salvation of the people, whom they denied
one of the species, a matter of less importance; or they regarded
the priests, whom they allowed both species, as being a more
obdurate class, and requiring more for their cure.
INSUFFICIENCY OF THEIR REASONS FOR SUCH PROCEDURE.
II. Whatever might have been the plausibility of their

reasons for altering that which was divinely instituted, we
would have rejected them as incompetent: but, that our con-
demnation may be expressed with sufficient strength, it will be
useful to show how futile were their pleas. The framers of the
Catechism have given the following enumeration of them :-
" (1.) First of all, the greatest care was necessary that the
blood of our Lord should not be spilt on the ground, which it
did not appear easy to prevent if it was requisite to administer
it among a great multitude of people. (2.) Besides, when the
sacred Eucharist ought to be in readiness for the sick, it is much
to be feared, if the species of wine were kept for a long period,
that it might grow sour, (3.) Moreover, there are a great many
who cannot, by any means, endure the taste, nor even the smell
of wine. Wherefore, lest that which is given for promoting
spiritual health should be injurious to the health of the body,
the Church has most prudently decreed that the faithful should
receive the species of bread alone. (4.) This is to be added to
other reasons, that in many countries there is experienced a.
,
ITS COMMUNION BY THE PEOPLE. 221
great scarcity of wine, nor can it be conveyed thither from
other places, except at great expense, and by long and difficult
journeys. (5.) Finally, what is most of all to the purpose, the
heresy of those was to be uprooted who denied that a whole
Christ is in each species; and asserted that the body only,
without blood, is contained under the species of bread, and that
the blood is contained under the species of wine. .There-
fore, that the truth of the Catholic faith might be placed
more distinctly before the eyes of all, the Communion of one
species, that is of the bread, was introduced with the greatest
wisdom ,. (P. II. C. iv. Q. 64). We shall presently see that
there were other motives actuating the Council, and more
strongly, besides those signified in the foregoing enumeration;
but we shall first consider the value of those which are
acknowledged.
Generally, then, no reflective mind can fail to observe, that,
in proportion as the wisdom of the priesthood is magnified for
abrogating the law, is the wisdom of Christ impugned for
enacting it. Did He not perceive all these dangers and diffi-
culties 1 And yet He made no account, of them. Do the
Papists think it was rash and imprudent 1 What less does
their conduct accuse it of being 1 Proceeding to the consider-
tion of particulars, I remark-
(1.) That their fear of a drop of wine being spilt arises
from their dogma of Transubstantiation: that is, they make
their belief of what is most profane in doctrine, their apology
for perpetrating what is most wicked in practice. At first I
was disposed to treat their apprehension in this matter as a
mere pretext; but, on further consideration, I am persuaded
there is some honesty in the plea. Were it not for the manner
in which it affects the Christian cause with shame, the extent
to which theirsuperstition has been carried, in fear that either
crumbs of the Host, or drops of the Chalice may be desecrated,
would be the subject of much merriment. Here are two speci-
mens, additional to some which have been given fonnerly:-
" If a fly or spider, or anything else, should have fallen into
the cup before Consecration, let him cast out that wine into a
becoming place, and replenish the cup with more: should the
fly, or anything of that kind, have fallen into it afUr Conse-
cration, and the priest feel any nausea, let him take it out, and
wash it with wine, and when Mass is oYer, burn i~ But if
be do not feel any nausea, nor apprehend any danger-lUmat
222 THE MASS:
cum sanguine-let him swallow spider and all."-Again:

" Should the priest vomit the Eucharist, if the species appear
€ntire-;-reverenter sumantur-Iet them be reverently licked up,
unless he feel nausea; in which case, let the consecrated
species be carefully separated, and laid up in some sacred place
till they become corrupted, and afterwards let them be cast into
the sacrarium. But if the species do not appear, let the vomit
be burnt, and the ashes cast into the sacrarium " (Missal: De
Defectibus).
There is much more in their rubric of the same kind; so
that we need not wonder that they were actuated, in their
legislation on the present subject, by fear of the blood being
desecrated by the people. But why not expend a little
-care on its administration, instead of abolishing a divine insti-
tution ~ Without any such superstitious fear, and with only
that respectful regard to the commemorative wine which we
Protestants show it, tens of thousands will communicate without
the occurrence of an unseemly accident.
(2.) When they plead the danger of the species becoming
sour, if kept for any length of time-is it wine after all ~ for
blood does not become sour: and whereas you spoke, a few
minutes ago, of the species becoming corrupted-neither can
that refer to the whole Christ, if your Christ be that Holy One
of whom it is said, that He should never see corruption (Acts
ii. 31). It must be the accidents, then, of the species-their
whiteness, and redness, their roundness, their flavour, &c.,-
which grow acid or putrify; so soon as they begin to do which,
Christ, the substance, escapes to heaven; but, how then is the
contra-substantiation effected ~ How does the substance of
bread and wine return to the accidents ~-There are just two
ways of it, gentlemen; either you are most transcendental philo-
sophers, or knavish impostors. With respect to communicating
the sick at home, I am not one of those who object to it. But
if it be inconvenient to give them the whole of the feast, is that
any argument for depriving the healthy of the half of it ~ Yet
where is the inconvenience ~ What hinders consecrating in the
sick-chamber, but your own unscriptural inventions of conse-
crated temples, with consecrated altars, in which you may
perform the spurious rites of your usurped priesthood ~
(3.) In answer to the third JIJea, I ask, what may be the
proportion of those who are 80 peculiarly and delicately eon-
stituted, that the taste and smell of wine are offensive and
ITS COM1WNION BY THE PEOPLE. 223
injurious to them 1 Is it as a unit to a myriad 1 But although
the proportion were considerable, why should the multitude be
deprived of that which is salutary to them, and to which they
are entitled; and especially when no one would insist that the
few should partake of that which they conscientiously
declared was noxious to them 1 This plea, therefore, I regard
as being a mere pretext.
(4.) To the fourth reason I answer, that it can apply only
to such countries as Greenland and Iceland. And must all the
rest of the world suffer for the sake of conformity to them,
especially when, at the worst, the few communicants there
would sustain no injury hy the unabridged feast of their more
favoured brethren 1 I say, at the worst: but what prevents
their full feasting too 1 Although it were necessary to supply
them with the wine of southern Europe, is Mother Church so
poor, that sbe would find it difficult to convey to them as much
as is requisite for communicating at Easter; and particularly
when at any rate, she must transmit a supply for the priests 1
Even for this there is no necessity: were it not for superstition,
from a few pounds of raisins you might provide what would
communicate a kingdom luxuriously; yea, from the brambles
of Siberia they might produce a wine at home, which would
furnish the sacramental feast as richly as from the most luscious
dusters of the vineyards of Italy. As dispensers of the
mysteries, who dispense with so much that is substantial and
essential, it is curious to see what difficulty they find in
furnishing sacramental wine for the Christians of the Arctic
regions; and then making that difficulty a plea for impoverish-
ing the whole Church, by a half of its rightful feast.
(5.) In the last reason, according to their own statement,
lies the strength of their apology for abrogating the Redeemer's
law. Generally it amounts to this, that, perceiving what they
regarded as being a great error among their neighbours, they
resolved to correct it by establishing a great wrong among
themselves. The error of their neighbours was, that they
looked upon the Host as being merely the body of Christ,
without his blood, against which they determined to bear wit-
ness, by withholding from the people that which was erroneously
considered to contain the blood exclusively; so that when the
Host was given as sufficient for them, its claim to be regarded
a whole Christ would be signally asserted. Besides this being
an attempt to correct one conceived evil by the perpetration of
224 THR MASS:
another, we have already seen, that, although they professed to

be persuaded, that as much, viz., a whole Christ, was given by
one species as by two, yet they legislated the withholding of the
Cup, amid the expression of doubts if as much grace was
received under the single as under the double Communion; and
thus declaredly perilled the people's spiritual profiting. It is
further worthy of remark, that the testimony against the error
required, on their own principle, the abstinence of the priest
also. Whence, then, the partiality of reserving his rights 1
There is enough in these observations for showing the futility
of the plea at present under consideration, and convicting them
of great sin, in their wanton abrogation of what was divinely
instituted. But the heavier part of the charge remains to be
made.
When, in their Decree, Chap. iv., on the Eucharist, they
declare, that "a conversion is made of the whole substance of
the bread into the substance of the body of Christ our Lord,
and of the whole substance of the wine into the Bubstance of
the blood,"-one might think that their own words affirm very
expressly the error which, by the withholdment of the Cup. they
propose to eradicate. Does not the conversion of the whole
substance of the bread into the body signify, that nothing is left
for being converted into blood; the supply of which blood is
referred to the conversion of the wine 1 This they BO far
admit,-that the direct and immediate effect of Consecration
and the intention of the priest are only to transubstantiate the
bread into the body; but then they affirm, that, by necessary
consequence, the blood is produced along with the body: and,
in like manner with the species of wine, tbat the body is pro-
duced along with the blood. This is their celebrated dogma of
Concomitance, which is explained as follows, in Chap. iii. :-
"This faith has ever been in the Church of God, that,
immediately after the Consecration, the veritable body of our
Lord, and his veritable blood, together with hiB soul and
divinity, are under the species of bread and wine; but the
body indeed under the species of bread, and the blood under
the species of wine, by the force of the (consecrating) words:
but the body itself (as well as blood) under the species of wine,
and the blood (as well as the body) under the species of bread,
and the soul under both, by the force of that natural connection
and Concomitancy whereby the parte of Christ our Lord, who
hath now risen from the dead to die no more, are united together."
ITS COMMUNION BY THE PEOPLE. 225
Of the absurdity of all this, and the manner in which it degrades
the Person of our Lord, I have spoken enough formerly: and I
summon your attention at present to the manner in which it
subverts his Institution of the Supper, and obscures the doctrine
of his atonement. Observe how interested they feel in incul-
cating that their Host is a living Christ; whereas, the great
secret of the influence of the ordinance lies in its setting forth
Christ in death, as being the life of the soul. It is with a body
broken, and his blood separated from it, that He is presented
for the contemplation of faith; but in the Papist's Sacrament
there is no exhibition of death. They themselves protest
against that breaking of the Host, which the priest performs
in the Sacrifice of the Mass, being a part of the Sacramental
ritual, and they distribute different whole Hosts to the people.
And when they have been compelled to admit, that the break-
ing of bread by Christ Himself, and the apostles (1 Cor. x. 16),
was connected with the sacrament, they contend that this was
not done ceremonially, as an essential part of the ordinance, but
merely economically, for the sake of distribution; that it may
therefore be lawfully dispensed with, yea, is dispensed with
wisely, as it was calculated to mislead the people with the
notion, that it was not a whole living Christ whom they
received. Instead, therefore, of this last plea, on which they
especially rest their defence for their mutilation of this ordin-
ance of Christ being satisfactory, we denounce it as being not
only frivolous, like all the rest, but as being an entire evacuation
of His Institution, which He ordained for the commemoration
of his death, by the bread, which symbolized his body, being
broken, and the wine, which symbolized his blood, being
exhibited in a state of separation from it.
I have exhausted their apology so far as it is detailed by the
authors of the Catechism; but, as has been already signified,
there were other and more powerful considerations by which
the Council was actuated. The calmest of Protestant divines
have not feared committing a breach of charity, when they
impute to the priesthood a design of "making a distinction
between themselves and the laity, and thereby securing that
profound veneration for their persons as sacred, which it is the
great object of the whole system to maintain." But whatever
may be in this, there were other two motives which tlley were
little careful to conceal-spite against the Protestants, and fear
that, should theX yield to the popular demand in this matter,
o
226 THE MASS.
it might prove the commencement of a series of innovations

which would not soon terminate. These two principles, indeed,
pervaded their discussions on almost every question; but none,
perhaps, so manifestly and bitterly as their discussions on this:
and they sacrificed to them reason, conscience, the Bible, Hit,
prerogative of Christ, and the rights of the people; and when
that people, treacherously in respect of the honour of Christ,
and ignominiously in respect of their own privileges, acquiesced
and succumbed, I repeat, that then was the Apostasy consum-
mated in its criminality and degradation.
CONCLUSION.
I have finished an exposition, which, although interesting

perhaps at first, to those who were heretofore ignorant of the
system, for the strangeness of the scene to which they were
introduced, may have latterly become, I fear, as wearisome
and sickening to the conducted, as I am sure it has proved to
the guide, in consequence of the uniformity of the absurdities,
the impieties, and arrogant pretensions through which they
have been led-without one green spot of truth with which
the eye migllt be refreshed, or one object of moral beauty or
grandeur with which it might be charmed.
I close with reminding my Protestant brethren-whether for
exciting them to gratitude to God for the great redemption
wrought for them by the Reformation, or to exertion for having
the blessings of that redemption still more widely extended
-that the Mass is but one of many Popish enormities: the
greatest, possibly, but still only one of many evil principles
which are leagued in a great conspiracy against knowledge,
piety, morality, and liberty-against the honour of God, the
welfare of the Church of his Son, and the dignity and happi-
ness of human nature. May God hasten the execution of the
doom which He has pronounced on it !
" But judgment unto righteousness
Sball yet return again;
And all shall follow after it
Tbat are right-bearted men."
THE J.\;IAN OF SIN.*
.. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come
except there come a falliug away first, aud that man of sin be revealed, th~
son of 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 Go.l,
shewing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet
with you, I told you these things? And now yo know what withholdetb
that he might be revealed in his time. For tho mystery of iniquity doth
already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he btl taken out of tho
way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord xhnll con-
sume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of
his coming: even him, whose coming is after the working of >-Ia tan with all
power and sign. and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unright-
eousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth,
that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong
delusion, that they should believe a lie."-:! THESSALONIANS II. a-11.
ABOUT twenty years ago (1830), when endeavouring to expound
the Revelation of John, I felt myself, like many others, shut up
by the principles' of interpretation which I had adopted, to the
belief that Popery would yet revive with great strength of
delusion. Those of you who recollect what was the state of
matters twenty years ago, will, on reflection, see how improb-
able this appeared to the natural judgment. The principles of
civil and religious liberty were asserting their claims with
peculiar energy-education had set ont as it were anew on its
march-and missions, both home and foreign, had risen into
unwonted favour. Nothing could appear more preposterous
to human calculation than that that power of darkness and
despotism should again lift up its head in pride, even on the
continent of Europe, and much less in England and Scotland.
I preached and warned, but it was only in faith, when my
natural understanding was staggered.
Behold in how short a time God's word has been verified!
Scarcely since the times of the Reformation, but, at all events,
since the days of the last of the StUil.l'ts, IlllS Popery made such
formidable pretensions as at the present hour. But, notwith-
standing the prediction of God's word, I am not afraid for
• This Lecture was delivered in the Rev. Dr. Wardlaw's Chapel, Glasgow
all the evening of Sabbath, 8th December, 1850.
228 THE MAN OF SIN.
Britain. The declaration is made especially in reference to that

Popedom from which Britain separated herself at the Refor-
mation; and this most impolitic and infatuated movement of
the court of Rome will result, I doubt not, in her separation to
a still greater distance than ever.
My object at present, brethren, is to assist in the widening of
that separation. The means by which it is to he effected I
shall consider at the close; but we must first be roused up to a
spirit of determination. N ow, although appeals made to
national honour, and to a patriotic sense of national safety and
prosperity, and to loyalty to our insulted Queen, and contempt
of the interference of a foreign power so despicable as that which
Rome now is; and to the remembrance .of the heroism and
martyrdom of OU1; forefathers-although. appeals, I say, to all
these and similaf principles are legitimate, and helpful of our
zeal, yet, unless the great actuating consideration under which
we proceed be, that the system is hateful to God, our zeal will
be wanting in the requisite fervour and strength. I therefore
design to show you that the system is specially denounced by
God, in terms of unwonted strength of indignation.
In proceeding to apply the prophecy before us to the system
of Popery, as consummated in the office of the Bishop of Rome,
at the outset, I make my appeal to Protestant judgment on the
ground of its being previously probable, that the passage con-
tains a prediction of that deplorable apostasy. .As Protestants,
you, by confession, testify against it as a system of iniquity
compared with which nothing has appeared in the history of the
Church so false, so impure, so impious, and so cruel-nothing
which has so deeply perverted or corrupted the Gospel-
nothing which has so extensively and fatally deluded men to
their everlasting ruin-nothing which has shed so profusely
the blood of saints-nothing which in times past has been, and
at the present hour is, so obstructive of the light of knowledge,
or so obstructive of the peace of society; and all this for more
than a thousand years of operation, and widely over the world.
Well, believing Popery to be all this, can you conceive it
possible that, when the Spirit of prophecy was constructing this
book of warning for the Ohurch in future ages-this chart by
which she might safely steer her course--He would give her no
special warning of this enormity, but leave hill' to judge of
Popery by the common rule of a scriptural theology, or pure
morality 1 Is it possible, that when the prophetic page w&l118
THE MAN OF SIN. 229
US particularly of a great many other dangers which we should

encounter, it contains no warning against this the greatest of
all dangers, at least in the history of the Church hitherto?
I admit that the application of this rule of previous pro-
bability to the interpretation of the Scripture is attended with
some danger; nevertheless, if, on consulting the prophetic
oracles, I had discovered no special prediction of the Papal
apostacy, I would have wondered greatly; my faith would have
been somewhat staggered-that when the trumpet had blown
its warning notes about so many dangers comparatively trivial,
it should have been voiceless respecting the world's curse of a
thousand years' desolation. I could almost as easily imagine
it voiceless ill cheering the Church with encouragement in
prospect of the thousand years of millennial happiness. And
yet, if the prophecy before us do not contain a prediction of
Popery, then is the Bible destitute of any such; for on the same
principles that the burden of this is taken off that system, and
transferred to an Infidel Antichrist who is yet to arise, you
must relieve it of the burden of all the others, and make a.
similar transference. The few Protestant expositors who ha.ve
departed from the line of the common interpretation have felt
themselves impelled by this necessity.
Here, then, brethren, is our choice--either this present pro-
phecy denounces the Bishop of Rome as being the Man of Sin,
or the Bible is silent throughout on the subject of his usurpa-
tion. On the ground of "previous probability," or rather
"previons improbability," I cannot imagine the possibility of
such silence. Being so sure that Popery is, in the sight of
God, a system of the deepest detestation, though I had pre-
viously known nothing of the contents of sacred prophecy, I
would have entered on its study with the assurance that I
would find the iniquity denonnced there for the Church's
warning, and its doom proclaimed for the Church's hope, in
the most special manner to which the nature of prophecy is
competent. Should anyone say that this makes a prejudiced
study, BOas to be in danger of producing a perverted com-
mentary, I would not complain much of the imputation. I
envy no man that calmness of mind which does not wait with
expectation for BOrneutterance of thunder expressing the curse
of God against this mystery of sin. But as I go forward with
the interpretation, you yourselves, brethren, will judge, if,
instead of its being an eye whose vision is nervously excited
230 THE MAN OF SIN.
and perverted by prejudice which sees in the prophecy a

resemblance to Popery, it do not rather require an eye which
has been jaundiced or dimmed by prejudice to be insensible to
the image-so striking is the portraiture.
I. Observe, then, in the first place, that the Man of Sin is
an ecclesiastical character, and is to be sought for within the
church-that which was the true church at the time of his
usurpation, and which, under his usurpation, became an apos-
tate church, but still claimed and retained the Christian name.
" He sitteth," saith the prophecy, "in the Temple of God." This
can possibly mean only one of two things-either the temple
at Jerusalem, or the Christian Church. The Papists and a
few Protestants centend for the first interpretation j and they
speculate on the rise of an Infidel Antichrist, who shall yet
take his godlike seat in the Temple at Jerusalem, rebuilt. The
Protestant party, to whom I have referred, expect the revela-
tion of this A.ntichrist soon; the Popish party defer it to the
end of the world.
Now whether there shall be such an Infidel Antichrist as
distinguished from the Superstitious A.ntichrist, I shall not
stop to endeavour to determine. I am not disinclined to
believe there will; but, whether or not, I contend that there
is no reference to such a one in the present prophecy. The
evidence will accumulate as we proceed. In the meantime, it
is sufficient that I maintain, that it is inconsistent with apos-
tolical usage to call the temple at Jerusalem" the temple of
God;" while, on the other hand, the Visible Church, consisting
of professed believers, is currently thus designated. Especially
is it a favourite phraseology with the apostle Paul, the author
of this prophecy. "Know ye not," says he to the Corinthian
Christians, "that ye are the temple of God, and if any man
defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy: for the temple
of God is holy, which temple ye are." And again, in his second
epistle, he thus expresses himself, "What agreement hath the
temple of God with idols 1 for ye are the temple of God." But
still more especially, observe the prophetic style of the New
Testament. In the book of Revelation we meet first with this
expression, "Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the
temple of my God"-an eminent person, evidently, in the
redeemed church. And again, "rise and measure the temple
of God," signifying a reckoning of the number of the faithful.
Even already, then, I might feel myself justified in concluding
THE MAN OF SIN. 231
that the Man of Sin is to be found within the precincts of
the visible church-that he is not an avowed infidel; and this
being granted, the branding of the Bishop of Rome with the
designation becomes a direct process. If it appertain to an
ecclesiastical personage, Who can it possibly be but he 1 The
Papists feel this-that if you limit your search for the usurper
to the pale of the visible church, the lot will certainly fall on
him. For a time they attempted affixing the brand to Luther;
but they soon found his holy brow would not take the mark.
They therefore wisely retreated to their old position, and
maintain that the criminal is not to be found within the
professing church at all; but that his manifestation is reserved
for the last days of the world, amid the ranks of avowed
Atheism. Nevertheless, I shall not claim the character of
proof for what has been already advanced, but satisfy myself
with claiming a high degree of probability for the argument,
that the Temple of God means the professing Church, and
that the Man of Sin is an ecclesiastical authority sitting or
ruling there.
II. I remark, in the second place, and much to the same
effect as in the foregoing case, that the Man of Sin is to be
sought for among traitors to the Christian cause; and conse-
quently among those who, once at least, avowed themselves
its adherents; for a man cannot be called a traitor who never
professed attachment. But equally observe, that the circum-
stance of his being a traitor does not imply that he has ceased
making professions of friendship. On the contrary, such pro-
fessions may be made more ardently than ever. Remark,
therefore, that he who is called the Man of Sin, is also called
the Son of Perdition. This is the designation of Judas Iscariot,
who kissed our Lord in the act of betraying Him. Our Pro-
testant interpreters have not generally done sufficient justice
to this designation, as applied to the Man of Sin. All of them,
indeed, represent it as having a reference to Judas in the way
of comparison, but limit the comparison to the doom of Judas;
• whereas I am persuaded that the comparison is made especially
with the character of Judas. It is rather as a traitor, than as
one destined to a fearful end, that the Man of Sin receives this
inheritance of Judas's memorial. I question not that it has
reference to his doom also; and I rejoice for the completion of
the parallel; I would have been grieved had it stopped short
of the doom; but I contend that the reference is particularly to
232 THE MAN OF SIN.
the character. It occurs in that part of the prophecy in which

the apostle furnishes notes, by which the church may detect
the Man of Sin; the comforting of the church in regard of his
doom being reserved for another department of it.
Here, then, brethren, is another point ascertained respecting
the Man of Sin. He is a traitor within the church, betraying
the Son of Man with feigned homage. And although the appeal
is somewhat premature in the argument, yet, let me trust that
the hearts of many of you are prepared for it ;-among all the
betrayers of our Lord who have appeared in the history of the
church-betraying Him in his glory, and betraying Him in his
saints even unto death, as He Himself was betrayed-who has
best earned the patrimony of Judall Iscariot 1 The patrimony
of St. Peter! Giy~ him the patrimony of Judas Iscariot, is
the response in groans of a betrayed and persecuted church
throughout the world; and of tens of thousands of souls of
martyrs, from below the altar, which cry, how long, 0 Lord,
holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood!
III. I remark, in the third place, that the principles by
which the Man of Sin should be characterized, were in exist-
ence and operation in the apostle's time. "The mystery of
iniquity," says he, "doth already 'Work." It is not yet time to
inquire what these iniquitous principles particularly were. I
therefore only observe on this point, that an attentive reader of
the apostolical epistles cannot fail, on reflection, of being
astonished that there should have been so much need for
administering rebuke to members of that infant church on the
subjects of a spirit of haughty domination; and of corrupting,
on the one hand, the doctrine of the Gospel by human tradi-
tions, and on the other hand, its morals, by idolatry and
unrequired mortifications of the flesh; and all this on the part
of the teachers, with a view to worldly gain, but with an affec-
tation of great spiritual zeal. Hear, as a specimen, how the
apostle writes to the Colossians: "Let no man beguile you of
your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels,
intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed
up by his fleshly mind, and not holding the Head. Wherefore if
ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why,
as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances,
(toueh not; taste not; handle not; which all are to perish with
the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men 1
which things have indeed a t1how of wisdom in will-worship,
THE MAN OF SIN. 233
and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to

the satisfying of the flesh." If this was a part of the mystery
of iniquity, was it not a mystery indeed-a mystery for its
wonderfulness of insolence, that it should have dared to lift up
its head in the very presence of the living apostles 1 But, as I
have already stated, it is not yet time to consider particularly
what may be the characteristics of the apostasy; that which I
feel interested in noticing at present is, that whatever these
characteristics may have been, they were actively at work in
the apostolic age, and were foreseen as gathering strength till
consummated in the revelation of the Man of Sin.
Now, brethren, I appeal to you, since they were actively in
operation eighteen hundred years ago, if it be probable that,
according to the Popish interpretation, they will not be con-
summated till the end of the world; or, even according to the
interpretation of a small party of Protestants, that they have
not been consummated already. Is not that incredible 1 Awl
may we not proceed in the certainty, that, whether we detect
him or not, the Man of Sin has already eppeared-I Detect him
or not! He is neither so small, nor so quiet, nor so common-
looking, nor does he so much hide himself in a corner, nor work
so little mischief, that there is any difficulty in detecting him.
He is of a giant's stature, and he roars like a lion, and on a car
like Juggernaut's he rides round the world claiming it as his
kingdom, and wherever he dare, and whenever he can, destroy-
ing those who refuse him submission. Difficult to detect him!
All the plains and mountains of Europe are white with the
bones of those whom the ferocious monster has crushed to death
in his progress.
IV. I remark,in the fourth place, that the prophecy inti-
mates, that those principles which were at work in the apostle's
days in a more dissipated form, should come to be organized and
embodied in the office of one individual at a certain time, that
time being when another person, who stood in the way, should
be removed. "He who now leUeth (OT hindereth) will lee (or
hinder), until he be taken out of the way: and then aMll tlw.t
Wicked be revttlJ,led."
The question, therefore, is, Who was he that hindered the
revelation of this Wicked one 1 or, Who is he that hinders the
revelation at this present hour, if it has not already taken
place 1 Take the question first in this latter form: If the Man
of Sin is opIy yet in embryo, just as he was eighteen hundred
234 TilE MAN Of' SIN,
years ago, What power is in existence hindering his revelation

now, which hindered then 1 This is a question which no applier
of the prophecy to a future Infidel Antichrist has attempted to
answer, without committing what appears to me to be not only
a large measure of folly, but not a small measure of profanity.
Some have said that it is the Holy Ghost who hinders.
What then does that other expression signify-" until he be
taken out of the way 1" Is this language fit to be used of the
Spirit of God 1 And more especially when another luminous
and consistent interpretation is at hand, so soon as we put the
question in the other form, Who was he that once hindered,
and has already been taken out of the way, so that the revela-
tion must have been already made1 You will observe, brethren,
that this had been distinctly revealed to the apostle, and that
he had communicated it to the Thessalonians. " Remember
ye not," says he, "that, when I was yet with you, I told you
these things 1 and now ye know what withholdeth, that he,"
the Man of Sin, "might be revealed in his time."
Now since the Thessalonians knew it, yea, since Paul must
have discoursed on the subject privately wherever he went,
must not the knowledge of it have widely pervaded the
apostolical church, to be communicated to succeeding ages 1
Accordingly, there is scarcely any other subject on which the
primitive Fathers deliver their opinions so harmoniously and
distinctly; and on which their traditions are entitled to so
much respect. With one voice they attest that the hindering
power was that of the Roman Emperor; and they were there-
fore accustomed to pray earnestly for the empire's preservation,
as the impediment to the revelation of this Antichrist. - Here
we have a satisfactory explanation of the apostle not having
recorded the name of the hindering power in his epistle; but
only referred to his private conversations. Although it was
somewhat creditable to the Emperor that he should be repre-
sented as the obstructor of the usurpation of one so wicked, yet
had the apostle given written expression, in the days of Nero,
to the idea of his being" taken out of the way," it would have
perilled his life, as one who presumed seditiously to question
the permanence of the power of the Eternal City.
But without placing any dependence on this tradition of the
Fathers-without even having its help as a hint, we could not
well have failed to light on the interpretation ourselves. When
• See Note in the Appeudu.
THE MAN OF SIN. 235
we review the history of those times, in the pages of Gibbon,

for instance, one of the most prominent phenomena which
present themselves to our eyes is, that precisely and regularly
as the power of the Emperor of Rome declines, does that of the
Bishop of Rome wax strong, till, when all else is overwhelmed
by the flood of the barbarian tribes, he, the Bishop of Rome,
stands erect amid the desolation, not only with his power
unimpaired, but augmented into tenfold greater strength. The
obstruction being now taken out of the way, behold him
revealed-revealed as a god-a god of Satan's upsetting-his
counterfeit image of Him whom Jehovah has anointed!
V. "Shewing himself that lw i~Uod;" . This is the subject of
my fifth analytical remark, and the illustration will not detain
us long. Who needs to be told that the Bishop of Rome claims
to be regarded as being Christ's Vicar on earth-not his partial
representative-but his Vicar-a substitute for Him, wielding
all his authority, and endowed for this end with infallible
wisdom ~ And although he has somewhat cautiously abstained
from calling himself expressly by the divine name in any of his
Bulls or decretals, who is ignorant that he has permitted his
adulators to address him in his presence, and to write of him
under that appellation in their books, without censure, remon-
strance, or rebuke I Not more blasphemous could be the
ascriptions of divine honour made by the mob to Herod of old,
than are those which Popish orators in their addresses, and
suppliants in their petitions, and theologians in their treatises,
and councils in their decrees, have addressed to their Lord God
his Holiness, the POpE'; of whom, say the canonists in their
books of law, that" his sentence is the same as that of God, so
that from him to God there is no appeal His tribunal and
that of God is the same."
There are many ignorant Protestants who, in an amiable
enough, but most false and injurious spirit of charity, object to
all our illustrations of the genius of Popery, drawn from its
sayings and doings even so recently as a hundred years ago.
No party whatever, they say, could bear the test of having
imputed to them in this way the opinions and deeds of their
fathers; and that we are bound to give Papists the fair play of
measuring them by their own conduct.
To .this I reply, in the first place, that Papists themselves
refuse the application of the rule. They endorse the deeds of
their fathers, and maintain that their Church has never erred.
236 THE MAN OF SIN.
As Protestants, we can consistently admit that our fathers

were frequently in fault; but a similar admission on the part
of the Papist would be fatal to his cause. I reply, secondly,
that, supposing it were admitted, that Popery is considerably
improved, and that it is unfair to impute to Papists of the
present day the same ferocious spirit of persecution, for instance,
which inspired their ancestors of the dark ages, this admission
would be nothing to the point in the present argument.
Observe, we are in quest of one to whom appertains the title of
the Man of Sin; and if I find that the Popedom fulfilled the
conditions of the prophecy at any period of its history, even a
thousand years ago, since it is still the same system, I would be
warranted to affix to it the name, even though its virulence
were considerably mitigated.
But I answer, thirdly, that, in the matter more particularly
before us, his "shewing himself that he is God," we have no
need for going so far back as the ages of Hildebrand, or Pascal,
or Innocent for our illustration: Pio N ono's history will furnish
us with more than is sufficient. The said Pius the Ninth, the
present Pope, was raised to the pontificate in June, 1846.
That is not a story of remote antiquity. Well, a part of the
ceremony of his inauguration into office was the lifting of him
up and placing him on the high altar of St. Peter's-that altar
at which it is customary at Mass to elevate Christ for adoration,
in the form of the Host. On that :,tltar they elevated this man
-his representative Vicar-and what 1 The Univers journal
-the great organ of Popery on the Continent-reports with
exultation that they hailed him with the first, and the second,
and the third adoration.
Herod was smitten by the angel, and eaten up of worms,
when without remonstrance he allowed the multitude to debase
themselves by worshipping him with far less blasphemous
homage; and the unreflective might be ready to charge God
foolishly, and ask, whence the partiality, that when the Bishop
of Rome is the guiltier he should yet be spared 1 Spared,
said you 1 Careless reader that you are. See you not the
decree 1 SoN OF PERDITION!--Judas in doom, as Judas in
character. Fret not, but wait with patience, and thou shalt
be fully satisfied with the judgment of an insulted God.
VI. "Who QjJJJoseth and e:r.alteth ltimself above all that is
call«l God, en- that is worshipped." This is the sixth point for
our analysis, which some who are ignorant of the phraseology
THE MAN OF SIN. 237
of the Scripture may suppose must be of very difficult inter-

pretation, whereas it is perhaps the most easily solved of any
which has yet come before us. .
Even although the term "God" were used here in its common
scceptation, it would not be difficult to bring home the charge
to the Bishop of Rome, that he exalts himself against the true
God, inasmuch as he usurps his prerogatives, abrogates his
laws, and gives men dispensations and indulgences for their
violation. I am persuaded, however, that this is not the
accusation which is contained in the present prophecy. You
will observe that the phraseology is peculiar: "all that is
called god, or that is worshipped. " We can scarcely imagine
that the apostle would speak in this manner of the one true
God. Accordingly we have Christ's personal sanction for
sometimes interpreting the term "god" as designating a person
of eminence or authority either in Church or State-a bishop,
a deacon, a prince, a nobleman, or a magistrate. The worship
referred to will consequently be that civil worship, or respect
and submission which are due to such authorities. Who, then
again, needs to be told that the Pope, in virtue of his being the
Vicar of Christ, claims the subjection of all these parties 1 His
claims to be regarded the Universal- Bishop-the Bishop of all
other Bishops-and through them the head of all churches, and
the lord and master of each individual member of the Church;
and equally the spiritual lord and master by right of every
heretic-of you and me, who are rebels in denying his
authority; and, not less, of every infidel and profligate-
these spiritual claims need no illustration. All England rings
with the clamour of them; and Papists, instead of denying that
be makes them, glory in his baving so far put them into force,
that be has commissioned his servants to receive England's
submission.
His claim to temporal jurisdiction also, as well as spiritual,
as being the Vicar of Christ, who is not only Head of the
Church, but King of kings, and Lord of lords, requires a little
more illustration. Papists find it convenient at present to
deny that he makes any such claim of secular jurisdiction; but
they do so in contradiction of a thousand historical facts, and
an open avowal of principles wherever it has been safe to make
it. Hear, further, what was said and transacted at the coro-
nation of Pio N ono. W e have seen how he was inaugurated
as supreme Pontiff, when he showed himself as God on the
238 THE )IAN OF SIN.
high altar of St. Peter's, and was hailed with divine honours.
Well, three days thereafter he presented himself aloft on the
balcony of the same edifice, when the oldest cardinal approached
him, and removed from his head the Mitre and replaced it with
the Crown, uttering these words, "Receive the Tiara or triple
Crown, and know that thou art the Father of Princes, and the
King and Ruler of "-the small patrimony of St. Peter in
Italy 1-" King and Ruler of the world." Think, brethren, of
the insolence of that; think of its impotence; but especially,
think of the manner in which that Tiara attracts for his brow
the lightnings of this prophecy, to brand him the Man of Sin
of whom we are in quest, as one who "exalts himself above all
that is called God."
I wish I had an opportunity of deepening your impressions
by detailing a few of those cases in which he has carried, or
attempted to carry, these claims into execution. Among a
great multitude, I had noted for exposition his gift of the New
World, discovered by Columbus, to the king of Spain ;-his
excommunication, and absolving their subjects from allegiance,
and transferring their authority to others, in the cases of Chil-
derio III., king of France; Henry IV., Frederick Barbarossa,
and Frederick n., emperors of Germany; Henry of Navarre
and the Prince of Conde; King John and Queen Elizabeth of
England; and more recently, as experienced or witnessed by
the present generation, his absolving the bishops of France from
their oaths of allegiance to Louis XVIII., and transferring it to
Napoleon Bonaparte. who compelled him, howsoever reluctant,
to anoint and crown him, since he inculcated his claim to be
regarded as the Father of Princes on the minds of his super-
stitious devotees. (Served him right, say I; the big tyrant
coercing the smaller and prouder one.) Also, his recent inter-
ference with the laws of Prussia on the subject of marriage;
and his pending controversy with the government of Sardinia,
claiming that the priesthood, as his sons, should not be amen-
able to the common tribunals of the country, when they might
be guilty of theft, or adultery, or murder-crimes, to the
temptation to commit which the calendar of villainy shows they
are, notwithstanding their holy lineage, by no means insensible.
But what does that signify 1 "It is a most execrable thing,"
said Pascal II., "that those hands which have received a power
above that of angels; which can, by an act of their ministry,
create God Himself, and offer Him for the salvation of the
THE MAN OF SIN. 239
world, should ever be put into subjection of the hands of
kings;" and, finally, the manner in which he has interfered
with our own Government's measures of collegiate education
for Ireland, even when the more respectable portion of his own
clergy deprecated his conduct. None of the cases, however,
does the state of our time permit me particularly to illustrate.
VII. For the same reason I must dismiss, without illustra-
tion, that part of the prophecy in which it is said the Man of
Sin should be characterised by his practice of " lying wonders :"
winking madonnas j the liquefying and curdling of St. J anuarius's
blood j collusions between poor men who yielded to the bribe,
?,nd ~ore infam~us priests wh~ practised the teml~tations,
1Il gettmg up stones of cures of diseases through the virtue of
old bones, old rags, old shoes, and rusty nails. A bit of the
rope with which Judas hanged himself would be prized at
Rome as a miracle-working relic.
VIII. The "deceivableness of unrighteousness" has a very
special reference, I am persuaded, to Jesuit casuistry and lies;
but for the same reason I must forego all illustration. Al-
though, however, time were afforded, would not the producing
of additional evidence be superfluous 1 Have we not already
detected the object of our search 1 Could any portrait of a
criminal enable us to fix on, the guilty one more undoubtingly
than this portraiture by the apostle, which, without making
further comparisons of features, enables us to identify the
Bishop of Rome as being most manifestly the Man of Sin 1
Before proceeding to offer a few remarks on what I consider
to be our duty in the present emergency, I call on you, brethren,
to make these two general reflections :-
First, Feel how secure is our position when we stand by the
Bible as inspired by God. With all his fanaticism, how shrewd
and far-seeing a man Paul must have been, according to infidel
reckoning, that he should have guessed so happily, that, five
hundred years after the time when he wrote these words, out of
that institution of the crucified Nazarene, which at that time
consisted one-half, I should suppose, of slaves, and the other half
of poor men, there should arise such a Power of wickedness and
despotism I Paul guessed it, say you 1 What an imbecile you
are-with your judgment imbeciled by some lust, which makes
you hate the gospel because of its holiness! Christian brethren,
let us never forget that, bad as Popery is, there is something
greatly worse, not only for the future but the present world.
240 THE MAN OF SIN.
The Massacre of St. Bartholomew under Popery was nothing

so horrible as the Reign of Terror under Atheism.'
Secondly, See what are God's views of Popery. He calls its
head the Man of Sin, as being of all sinners the greatest; The
Wicked, as being Wickedness concentrated and personified ;"
The Son of Perdition, as being the grand Traitor; and finally,
one whose elevation to power is the master device of Satan.
Such being the manner in which God speaks of Popery, woe to
the man who speaks of it tenderly and with apologies, "blessing
that which the Lord abhorreth!" (Ps. x. 3.) More woe to
them who aggrandise and magnify it with lordly titles and
honours! A deeper woe still to those who foster it with gifts and
emoluments! it. is acting over again the work of bribing Judas
to betray the Lord. But there is yet another woe-it is for
those who are indifferent to all such matters; who cry for senti.
mental and poetical, and what they call experimental, sermons;
and who read nothing but novels on week days, and on Sabbath
evenings, little nice books of mawkish spiritualism; or who are
engrossed with money-making by day, and conviviality by night,
and resent being disturbed with the vulgar cry of" No Papery"
-woe unto them! they can be no friends of God who are not
roused to oppose him whom He so emphatically declares to be
his enemy.
This introduces a consideration of what is our present duty:
-First of all, then, I advise that we be no party to the cry of
coercive measures being resorted to for the repelling of the
recent Papal aggression. ben though it were proved that the
Vatican conclave has in this matter violated our laws, I would
question the expediency of exacting the penalty. When it was
reported that Dr. Wiseman had received an order of Council to
quit our shores, I deeply deplored it-deplored it for the
manner in which, I was sure, the enemy would call it persecu-
tion, and boost that we were afraid of the proselytizing power
of his church, were it duly organi2ed-deplored it for the
manner in which it would shut us out still more closely from
all preaching of the Gospel to an irritated Popish population-
deplored it for the manner in which it might be revenged on
our fellow-Protestants on the Continent. It is true that no
such aggression made by us would be tolerated in any Popish
kingdom in Europe. And it is with the utmost loathing and
* Some translate, The Lawle.1, which. jf it be an improvement of the
Van.lation, i. lUI improvement of the character of the Man of Sin.
'THE MAN OF SIN. 241
contempt that I regard that part of Dr. Wiseman's manifesto,
in which he taunts the clergy of England with their unwilling-
ness to commit the question of Popery and Protestantism
to the arbitration of argument. Will he commit it to that
arbitration at Rome, of which it now seems he is a prince 1
Since he claims here what he will not grant there, it would
be the soundest equity that he should be sent home. But
Popish intolerance is no rule for either Britons or Protestants.
Let us show that we can afford to grant them what they dare
not grant us. Our forefathers brought down Popery, when in
its strength, with the spiritual weapon; and we are surely able,
with the same weapon, to keep it down.
This is perfectly consistent with our demanding, that all that
bribing of Judas Iscariot, to which I have already referred, as
perpetrated by our Government at Maynooth, and throughout
the colonies, should cease and determine for ever. That is l\
small matter, however, compared with the manner in which we
are called upon to ply our educational and missionary measures
with redoubled energy, and especially in the direction of Ire-
land. There lies the root of the evil. Dr. Ullathorne himself
confesses, that it is not the multitude of converts from Protest-
antism which renders this completing of the organization of the
Church necessary, but the influx of Irish Catholics. It is
astonishing for its folly, when we think of it, that, amid all our
missionary zeal, we should have thought so little of Ireland.
This day we are reaping the bitter fruits of our negligence.
Let Ireland, then, be invaded with a host, and with the greater
alacrity, that we are assured that the power of the priesthood
there has recently been greatly reduced, and that a much more
patient ear is given to the preaching of a genuine Gospel.
At a meeting of" Friends," when several had told how deeply
they felt for a case of distress which had been brought under
their notice, a quiet brother rose and said, "I feel five pounds."
Amid this cry, then, of." No Popery," let me trust, brethren,
that when the application is made to you for the redress of the
grievance, you will cry your shillings, and your pounds, and your
five pounds, lustily. At the same time, let us remember and
reflect, that earnest praying for the consumption and destruction
of this enemy of God and his Church, must be praying which
is peculiarly acceptable at his throne. May the Lord hasteJl
this, and every holy consummation!
p
THE GENIUS AND POWER OF POPERY.
IN the course of our examination of that one department of the

system of Popery, the Mass,to which all the other departments
bear a resemWance,there was exhibited to our view so much
that is irrational and absurd, that an unreflective person is
ready to regard it with no other feeling than that of contempt,
and to argue that it must soon vanish away from the world
under the power of the self-reflectionof men's minds, when
they have been exercised,even but a little, to think, and under
the light of education, shining in a general way, without there
being any necessityfor special exertions to exposeits deformity
and hideousness.
This is a great delusion. Supposing it were admitted that
such light of general education and exercising of the mind in
habits of thinking were adequate to the work, How long, I
ask, must we wait, on this principle, for the object being
effected, and especially when there exists a powerful self-
interested despotism in active operation for preventing the
training of the mind in that natural and healthful logic on
which the hope depends1 How long must we wait before
the training of the minds of the millions of an ignorant
Popish population, by the commonprocessesof education, shall
have enabled them, in the spontaneous exercise of their own
judgment, to emancipate themselves from this superstitious
thraldom I Can we afford to wait patiently till that distant
period1 Can our loyalty to Christ, our patriotism for his
Church, and a philanthropic regard to a present generation-
degraded in: this world and perishing in respect of the next-
afford to wait so long1 Can our own safety afford it 1 What
signifiesit although we should be persuaded that the ignorance
of the mob will be dispelled in the course of 'a number of years
by the natural progress of light, if yet they may presently rise
THE GENIUS AND POWER OF POPERY. 243
and envelop the city in flames 1 No, we cannot afford to wait,
but must set to work with special agencies for enlightening the
darkness.
But, besides this, though it cannot be denied that the pro!ITess
of knowledge and the discipline of the intellectual faculti~s in
other departments of learning and science have done much for
some in emancipating them from the dominion of Popish
imposture, yet the history of all ages demonstrates that such
general education affords no security that the work shall be
accomplished. Not a few of the most highly cultivated minds
in literature and science have refused to apply to the question
of religion those principles of ratiocination by observing which
they rose to eminence in other departments of knowledge, and
have remained the abject slaves of this mournful delusion.
Mr. Seymour's" Mornings among the Jesuits" gives many
instances, in the case of living characters, of men of high literary
and scientific accomplishments, who are unquestionably sincere
in professing their belief of the most grotesque absurditiea s
I therefore proceed to trace some of the principal natural
causes which originally reared the superstructure of Popery,
and which continue to sustain it in power; in the course of
which examination we shall see that, in combating the system,
it is not only irrational absurdities against which we have to
contend, but the in1luence of the strongest and most deeply
rooted corruptions of human nature. I have just stated that
it is the natural causes which I propose at present to trace.
That there were supernatural causes at work in rearing the
system, and that such are at work still in perpetuating it,
I firmly believe. It was predicted of the Man of Sin, the
proof of whose being the Bishop of Rome I regard as being
of the character of a demonstration, that his coming should be
after the working of Satan, and that his devotees should be
judicially abandoned of God to strong delusion, that they should
believe a lie, because they received not the love of the truth
(2 Thess. ii, 9-11). Nevertheless, into a consideration of such
supernatural causes I shall not in the meantime enter; but limit
• The mil"llllulousspringing. for instance, of the Host from between the

fingers of the Missionary. aud flying into the mouth of a poor South Sea
Islander who was gaping for it at a considerable distance. One of the pro-
fessors of the Oollegio Romano, of great ..,holar-Iike Bttamments, pled this
fact. with eveJ'1 IJIIlptom of linearity, II an inoonieltable evidence of the
Church of Rome beinB the only true Church.
244 THE GENIUS AND POWER OF POPERY.
the inquiry to those, the operation of which our own reason

can discover and comprehend.
I. I observe, then, in the first place,· that the grand secret
of the power of Popery lies in the manner in which it lulls the
conscience of its victim with the persuasion of his being reli-
gious, when yet, by its accommodations, it gives liberty to the
natural enmity of his heart, to live at a distance from God, in
a state of estrangement from Him.
Man cannot subsist without a religion. In one form or
another he must have a worship of God, in the hope of pre·
venting or removing his displeasure, and securing his favour.
Without this there is no happiness for him, but a restlessness
of gloomy presentiment, not the less afflictive that it is fre-
quently'fague and undefined ; and a gulf-like void within his
bosom which no earthly love, or honour, or learning, or wealth,
or luxury, will fill up. It is of little importance to determine
whether this proceed from an innate sense of God in the soul,
or be, as I thiuk it is, the result of the natural operation of its
other faculties and sensibilities producing the demonstration,
or a readiness to receive the demonstration, of a Great First
Cause. Whatever be their origin, there the presentiment
and void are, imploring to be soothed, and craving to be
replenished. Most of those who have attempted to resist
this sentiment of God have either returned to cherish it, or
have died miserably, confessing that in their most joyous hours
peace was a stranger to their bosoms.
Observe, further, that of all the systems which have been pro-
posed for the adoption of the natural religious sentiment, the
Christian is the only one which is accredited by sufficient
evidence, either externally or internally, for an inquiring mind:
but then, just in proportion to the strength of its evidence, is
the holy character which it gives of God repulsive to the
naturally depraved heart. There are only three ways in which
this difficulty is to be met. The first is, by the heart taking
all the blame to itself, and humbly succumbing: this is the
course of a Protestant evangelical faith. The second is, by its
falling back and questioning the validity of the evidence: this
is the course of infidelity and atheism. The third, and that
adopted by Popery, is, to admit it all, and to endeavour to
quiet the conscience by a confession of the Bible's God, when
yet it contrives to have as little direct lIDd personal intercourse
with Him as possible. This is Popery's great compromise
betwixt Faith and the ungodliness of an unregenerated heart.

Natural conscience calls for a God j natural depravity depre-
cates communion with Him, and beseeches that He be revealed
only at a distance and obscurely.
Popery answers both demands. It does this by its vast
system of the Mediation and Intercession, and consequent
Idolatry of Angels, of Saints, and of Priests. These it inter-
poses betwixt God and the soul, to save it the pain and annoy-
ance of personal communion with Him; when nevertheless it is
permitted to flatter itself with the thought that it does not
deny Him, and that He will accept of its worship. This was
the origin of pagan idolatry. The Apostle declares expressly,
that although they knew God, yet, not liking to retain Him in
their knowledge, they changed his glory into an image made
like to corruptible man (Rom. i.), They could not endure the
effulgence of his holiness shining directly, and interposed the
Image j pretending that, as a likeness or symbol of God, it
helped them to conceive of Him more distinctly; whereas the
true intent was to rid themselves ofimmediate intercourse with
Himself, when yet the conscience was pacified by a sort of
acknowledgment of Him.
Human nature is ever the same in its principles, and
remarkably uniform in its devices. Observe how the pagan
principle manifests itself in Popery. When the Mystery of
Iniquity was in embryo in the days of the apostles (2 Thess. ii.
7), they had commenced the" worshipping of Angels j" and
mark you, with the Vflry same apology which Papists plead at
the present day: the apostle says it was with a show of
"voluntary humility" (Coloss, ii. 18-23). These early cor-
rupters of the Church-the true fathers of the Church of Rome
-affected to have such an humbling sense of their own
unworthiness, that they dared not approach the divine pre-
sence themselves, and therefore paid their court to Angels,
soliciting their mediation. But the truth was, that from aver-
sion to the divine holiness, and desire to be delivered from'
communion with it, they betook themselves to a lower and
more endurable form of it.
As the corruption of the Church proceeded, even angel-
holiness was felt too oppressive j and the mediation was reduced
still lower, by the introduction ofthe Intercession of th~ Saints.
, But neither was this sufficient. For, although these samts had
once been men and women of like passions with themselves,
yet, being now glorified, intercourse with such heavenly purity

was still oppressive. The relief was provided by interposing
the Image-not for the purpose of helping to a better concep-
tion of the celestial glory of Mary, or Peter, or John j but for
the very opposite of this-that by the earthly forms the glory
might be reduced, and made less offensive to the unsanctified
heart. It was thus that the idol-statuary and painting of the
Pantheon came to be rivalled by those of St. Peter's j yea, to
be transferred thither, with such easy conversions as that of a
Bacchus into a Peter, and that of a Venus into a Virgin.
When, tracing the progress of degradation, we have found
the worshipper prostrate before the Image of the saint, you
might suppose that the heart had contrived to remove itself
far enough from any intercourse with God. But in such a
supposition you would be mistaken. Though that Image greatly
obscures the holiness of the heavenly vision, yet does it suggesta
character of more than ordinary sanctity; and the heart seeks
for relief by intercourse with something less holy still. It has
therefore devised for itself the Priest-the flesh and blood
Priest-the Priest who drinks wine and makes merry jokes
with the squire, and gossips at the tea-table with his daughters.
If intercourse with such a one shall enable the heart to dispense
with intercourse with the Holy God, shall not all its diffi-
culties be at last surmounted 'I Well, Popery has performed
the feat! It has constituted that same nice, pleasant, jocular
gentleman, the great agent of your salvation, with whom it
has deposited the power of pardoning and saving you. It is
with him, and not God, that you are appointed to transact.
Is not that excellent 1 You and he have been laughing and
making merry with one another to-night: what reluctance can
you feel in approaching him at the Oonfessional to-morrow 1
That which burdens your conscience ispOSBihly a profane con-
versation in which you engaged with himself, and which he
prompted and encouraged. You cannot fail of finding an easy
shrift, and being sent home with a lighter heart, assured that
all is forgiven.
" If anyone saith that these words of the Lord, the Saviour,
'Receive ye the Holy Ghost; whose sins you shall forgive,
they are forgiven, and whose ains you shall retain, they are
retained,' are not to be understood of the power of forgiving
and retaiDing sins in the sacrament of Penance, but wrests
them, eontrary to the institution of tbis sacmment, to the power
THE GENIUS AND. POWER OF POPERY. 247
of preaching the gospel." let him be anathema" (Council of

Trent: Penance, Canon iii.).
In this Popery stands perfected, as a. system which delivers'
~he unsanctified mind from all necessity of direct and personal
intercourse and communion with the Holy and Spiritual Eternal
One. In this consists its grand attraction for the multitude of
the cultivated as well as the rude. It furnishes the con-
science with a pretence of religion, and yet exempts the natural
heart almost entirely from the offensiveness and distress of the
presence of the great object of religion. To such an extent is
this the case, that many who were once zealous adherents of
the system, but who have been rescued from its delusion,
acknowledge that, on their being awakened from tho dream,
the very idea of God seemed new and strange to them ill
consequence of the manner in which He had been concealed
and removed to a distance by the multitude of interposed
mediators.
Protestant brethren, let us reflect, in order to a better im-
provement of our privileges, that our faith is characterised by
having cleared away the entire mass of superstitious obstruction,
and given us "boldneSll of access" to the immediate presence
of the Father of our spirits. Not, indeed, without the inter-
vention of a Mediator; but that Mediator one who, instead of
obscuring our view by the interposition of Himself, discharges
his office of love by carrying, not our cause only, but ourselves,
before his Father's throne, to behold his glory, and to be warmed
by his smile, so as to be excited to exclaim, Abba--our Father.
And yet, again, that is precisely what the natural and unre-
generated heart of man not only does not relish, but deprecates;
and Popery, to accommodate it, has perverted the Christian
profession into all that profane and shameful system of Idolatry
and Priestcraft, by which personal approach to the divine
presence is not only rendered unnecessary, but countermanded,
and the heart is glad for the countermand. Instead of resenting
the order of the priest forbidding it to approach, it is thankful
for the liberty to stand afar off, and feels this to be the most
attractive excellence of the mystery of iniquity.
II. I observe, in the second place, that a great secret of the
* The Council haa not given a fair view of the genuine Proteatant inter-
pretauon. We maintain that these worda were addreued to the Apostles,
fta the Inspired Legislators for the Church and the world, by whoae law men
would be judpd of God. whether for acquittal or ooDdemnauoD. In tbis
character they have DO auooellOn.
power which Popery has over its victims, though not so subtle
and delusive for many as that which has just been exposed, is
the manner in which it gives them license to commit sin, when
beforehand they meditate on it; and the facile manner in which
it delivers their consciences from a sense of guilt, after the
crime has been perpetrated. This is a heavy charge, but not
heavier than we can far too easily make good.
Imagine, then, in the first instance, the case of an individual
tempted to commit sin-to defraud his master, say, of a sum of
gold. See what meditations Popery affords him for smoothing
his path to the wicked deed.
"First," he says, "I need not trouble myself with any
apprehension that the doing of this will make me a reprobate,
so as to be punished eternally; for the Priest regenerated me
by the sacrament of Baptism. True, I am told, that the grace
then communicated may be effaced by mortal sin. But it
needs a great deal to make a sin mortal. I never knew of any
of my neighbours, howsoever depraved, whom the priests denied
burial in consecrated ground, with prayers which acknow-
ledged them as being dear Christian brethren who had fallen
asleep in Jesus-all in virtue of having received that holy
Baptism. At all events, that which I design to do is certainly
venial. My master is wealthy, and will never miss the two or
three sovereigns; besides, he is a Protestant, and might give
them to some heretical missionary; wbile my purpose is to
spend them convivially with my friends, for the cherishing of
good fellowship. Who would be so cruel as to call that
mortal 1 Well, it is a fixed point, that, though I do it, the
Baptismal grace will not be effaced.
" But, secondly, next Lent I shall confess; and, I doubt not,
with all necessary contrition; for the money will be all gone,
and I shall possibly have lost my place from being detected;
and the priest, seeingme so heart-broken, will be easy on me in
respect of the necessary satisfaction,- and give me absolution.
" I am getting forward in the knowledge of the mystery of iniquity j but
there are several points on which I atill desiderate information: among
others, there is this Satisfaction. The Connoll explains tkat three things
are necessary for the Sacrament of Penance, in order to absolution, viz.:
Contrition, Confession, and Satisfaction. For the Contrition, I know that
snob a .. sorrow of the world as worketh death" is quite sufficient: the
Confession I know to be of such a nature as pollutes the minds both of
penitent and prie.st, and betrays the moat intimate and dearest friendshipL
But a.IthoUChI know that under the head of Satisfaction, the reoital of the
Lord'. Prayer is made a punishment (think of that) equ~y as seU·in1lfoted
How any thing more should be necessary after absolution I do

not understand, but the priest says there is much: I shall,
therefore, thirdly, attend Mass very regularly for two or three
Sundays, and get a large share of the benefit of the Sacrifice.
Fourthly, I shall communicate at Easter, and get put into me
that holy Host which, cleaving to the bowels, works the
pardon of lighter sins, of which light character that, which I
design to commit, unquestionably is. Fifthly, I shall wait on
for another Jubilee of our Holy Father at Rome, and make
myself sure of a hundred years' indulgence. The bastardly
Protestants! have they a precious Father like that, for the
comfort of a poor fellow who, at a time, may help himself to a
sovereign in an easy way when he needs it 1 But, to proceed
with the reckoning of my privileges; sixthly, though I fear I
shall never be so rich as to be able to leave a legacy for Masses,
yet I shall join one of these excellent penny-a-week insurance
societies.
" And, finally, let the worst come that can, it is but Purga-
tory: who cares for Purgatory 1 At the longest, its pains are
temporal, and I shall get out, though I should be the last to be
delivered. I commit a mortsl sin, so as to be classed with the
reprobate! Let them but give me the word of command, and
I shall show them what execution I am ready to perform on the
heretics, as a true-hearted son of our Holy Mother: so take
courage, my heart, and pick the lock!"
Fellow citizens, I would to God it were all a caricature! It
would be a happier and safer country to dwell in, were it a
slanderous misrepresentation. It is the legitimate, logical
operation of the system, enticing corrupt men and women to
its embracement, and persuading them to a zealous retention of
it, by the manner in which it licenses indulgence in crime, with
the assurance of comparative impunity, and easy remission.
Having seen how the system works on a man's mind,
smoothing his way to the perpetration of crime, we have only
to suppose him, after the deed is done, returning from the
Confessional, with the priest's absolution, and from Mass, with
the pardon-working wafer cleaving to his bowels, to understand
how he should be at once so gratefully and self-interestedly
attached to the delusion. Christianity is a religion for those
who desire to forsake their sins: Popery is a religion for those
liripea; yet there ia a aecret about the Plf!!leDs of mODey whioh I am not
prepued to explain. I IUlpeet it ia yery WIoked.
250 THE GENIU~ AND POWER OF POPERY.
who are resolved to retain them. The bandit of the Alps

annually descends to confess his robberies and murders; makes
satisfaction out of the spoils of his crime; receives absolution;
possesses himself of the charm of the Host; and is away up
again among the rocks with a light heart to wait for his prey,
and take on another burden of guilt, next year to be eased of
it as he was of the former. So it is with a Glasgow harlot: so
it is with men worse than harlots. And think you, that a
religion so convenient for sinners will be easily uprooted 1
Though you were permitted to argue with them, no help less
than that of the Spirit of God would avail you.
A few words, my evangelical Protestant brethren, will suffice
for repelling the Socinian's sneer, when he asks, If many of
these objections which we have urged against Popery, as
licensing immorality, do not equally lie against our own doctrine
of Justification by Faith in the atonement of Ohrist ! I con-
sider it to be a sufficient reply to ask, If anyone present ever
heard this doctrine proclaimed by any of us without the
accompanying explanation and warning, that the Faith which
saves is of such a nature as produces a hatred of sin 1 So that
no man in our communion can possibly delude himself with the
confidence that he is possessed of this Faith, when he cherishes
sin in his soul: or fail of suspecting himself of hypocrisy and
reprobacy when he has at any time succumbed to temptation;
so as to subject himself to a searching self-examination, and to
a renewing of his vows of fidelity to the Lord who bought him.
Has the Socinian anything better- than this in his creed for the
securing of a good morality 1 Has he anything half so good 1
And how much it differs from the unholy confidence cherished
by Popery needs no further explanation.
III. There is yet a third reason, found deep in human nature,
which makes Popery acceptable to an unregenerated mind. By
nothing is the religion of Christ more distinctly characterised
than the spirituality of its prescriptions and demands. " God
is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in
spirit and in truth," is the great fundamental and pervading
principle of its ethics. Its service is acceptable in proportion
to its being an exercise of mind. Thought constitutes the
service of God: that is the philosophy of Christ; and is it not
divine!
Now, mark, that, not to speak of the mental exeroise of the
atrectioDBof the heart, even the .exercise of the faculties of the
understanding is one of the most painful labours to the great

majority of the human race, and which, with all contrivances,
they endeavour to evade; and that, too, in many cases in
which you might imagine the very opposite. When a young
lady is seen reading novels night and day-never, as her
mother admiringly tells us, without a book in her hand-the
unreflective are ready to judge of her as being a person of much
exercise of mind. A s a great reader, must she not be a thinker'l
There cannot be a greater mistake. There is no more thinking
in it than in the life of the child who disports himself in the
chasing of butterflies. To try her of her thinking, appoint her
as an exercise, to give you an account of the contents of the
Fourteenth Chapter, for instance, of tho Gospel of John; 0/',
should this be objected to as trial of her mere thinking, since
her heart might nauseate its heavenly.minderlnesa, let the
subject of the exereise be a Chapter of WattR' Logie, and, ten
to one, you will find that she would prefer walking barefoot l~
journey of many miles. How much more would she endeavour
to eschew the task when, reverting to the chapter in John,
besides exercising her mind in discerning the ideas contained
in it, you might call upon her to exercise her heart with that
heavenly Father's house of many mansions; that Redeemer
who has secured its inheritance for his people; and that Com-
forter under whose guidance it is to be reached! This last
remark, however, anticipates a subsequent illustration; let the
attention be fixed in the meantime on the intellectual indolence.
To this indolence Popery addresses itself, so as to be
received and entertained with the most grateful welcome.-
"Doth not Wisdom cry, and understanding put forth her
voice 7 She standeth in the top of high places, by the way in
the places of the paths. She crieth at the gates, at the entry
of the city, at the coming in at the doors. Unto you, 0 men,
I call; and my voice is to the sons of man. 0 ye simple,
understand wisdom; and ye fools, be ye of an understanding
heart." Such is Divine Wisdom: beautiful, holy, and benig-
nant! Hear now her hag-like antagonist: "Ignorance is the
mother of devotion: God's Word will poison you if you
presume to read it: resign yourself implicitly to me." And
many are they who, thankful to be delivered from the burden
and irksomeness of inquiring, and pondering, and judging for
themselves, follow the sorceress away into darkness and death.
It would be observed, that Ijust now gave the word "impli-
252 THE GENIUS AND POWER O~' POPERY.
citly" special emphasis,when representing the manner in which

Popery calls on its victims to resign themselves to its guidance.
It was a word of peculiar significance in the time of the
Reformation: the Reformers contending for the necessity of an
explicit faith on the part of the people; the Papists for the
sufficiencyof an implicit faith. The distinction is this: an
explicit faith is that to which the matter is explained, and
which believes as convinced by evidence; whereas an implicit
faith believes without evidence, on the mere assurance of the
priest.
That the people are entitled to have this evidence submitted
to them, was the noble vindication which our ancestors made
of our rights, as having received from God rational souls, for
the exercise of which weare responsible. The Popish party on
the contrary denied, and still deny the claim; and it is the
extremest length of generality to which they carry their
doctrine, both of the sufficiencyof the implicit faith for the
salvation of the people, and of their obligation to render it.
For example, it is not necessarythat they understand what are
all the different departments of the action of the Mass-its
Consecration,its Elevation, its Sacrifice,and the OpU,fJ operatum
of its Communion. Independently of their being ignorant of
the arguments by which the priests attempt to establish these
several points, do you imagine that all the Papists of Glasgow
know even of their existence 1 Not a half of them do.
And implicit faith consists in their standing afar off, and, as
the priest is seen in the perspective performing in an unknown
tongue all the histrionics of the ceremonial,saying, " Yonder is
God's anointed servant working our salvation for us. How it
is done we know not; but we believe he is doing it." This is
implicit faith; and the poor creatures are satisfied. Yea, satis-
fied and thankful.
I spoke a little ago of thE' manner in which our reforming
ancestors had vindicated the people's right to be informed of
the alleged reasons of what was proposed for their belief, and
to be allowed to jud~ for themselves, A Popish population
do not value it as a right. They deprecate the thought of
being burdened with it. They pity Protestants who are
afBicted with it; so that they are obliged to read the Bible and
search it at home,that they may find a. religion for themselves:
and boaBtof their own happier lot, that Mother Church has in
her bounty provided a priesthood to tbink and judge for them,
and save them the trouble. Some Protestants wonder how the
Popish laity should submit so slavishly to the priestly dictation.
The wondering indicates much ignorance of human nature. To
the great majority of mankind, exemption from the toil of
thought, and responsibility for forming a judgment for them-
selves, is one of the best of boons; and Popery is most liberal
in the bestowment of it.
The other department of this subject is still more important.
There are two kinds of thinking-s-head-thinking and heart-
thinking: the former consisting of thoughts of knowledge; the
latter of thoughts of holiness, love, and heavenly-minded ness .
.And just in proportion as the latter are more valuable, and
especially prescribed and demanded by the divine luw, dews the
natural mind grudge the rendering of them. Savo UM from
heart-work, is the beseeching cry of corrupt nature. Appoint
us any burden howsoever heavy, any journey howsoever long
and rough, any stripes howsoever sharp and numerous, any
fasting howsoever rigorous, any fine howsoever exorbitant, a.nd
we shall willingly submit, on condition that we be exempted
from work of the heart.
The manner in which Popery ingratiates itself with the
millions, by answering this prayer, does not require a protracted
illustration. When a principal object of our Lord's mission to
this world was the abolition, almost entirely, of external cere-
mony in the worship of his Father, and the establishment in its
room of a pure devotion of the spirit--Popery, with its priest-
hood, and consecrated temples and altars; with its incense, and
sacrifice, and unction, and sacramental charms; with its confes-
sion and oracular absolution; with its penances-its scourgings,
and fastings, and money satisfactions; with its pilgrimages, its
jabbering of words by the bead-roll." itskissings, and crossings,
and genuflexions; with its angel-days and saints' -days, its feast-
days and fast-days-has erected a far more extensive and com-
prehensive order of ceremony than was that of the Levitical
law; and has additionally ordained a vast system of mediatorial
idolatry and image-worship, of which the ancient ceremonial was
free.
And never did carnal Jew, perverting the preparatory insti-
.. The smng of beads on which they count their prayers is called a Rosary,
It consists of five or fifteen divisions, each containing teu amall beads and
one large one. For each of the amall beads an Ave Maria, and for each of
the larger a Paternoster, is repeated. Ten prayers to the Virgin, for every
one to God I
tution of God, put more confidence in the scrupulous observance

of prescribed rites for working out a meritorious righteousness
for himself, than does the Papist at the present day, in a strict
conformity with all the prescriptions of his irrational and pro-
fane superstition. What a degrading, materialized, mechanical
work it makes of the worship of the Eternal One! Here, again,
there are many who wonder, that the people should submit to
the priest-imposed burden; but, as before, the wondering
- betrays an ignorance of human nature. Tbey are thankful for
the burden, as securing an exemption for them from what they
regard the heavier burden of the spiritual exercise of a holy
heart.
Properly I have finished the task I proposed myself, which
was, philosophically to account for the prevalence 'of Popery,
and the manner in which it retains hold of its victims, not-
withstanding the multitude of its flagrant absurdities. Nothing
less, I am persuaded, than what has been illustrated, will
explain the phenomenon, viz., the manner in which the system,
basely but craftily, accommodates itself to man's corrupt
nature, when yet it flatters the conscience with a persuasion of
its being religious. Though the compromise which it makes
betwixt Religion and Sin is of a very monstrous nature, yet is
it most seducing for that immense class of men and women,
polished and rude, who cannot rid themselves of the religious
sense altogether, but who equally are resolved that they shall
not forego the indulgence of their natural propensities, except,
at most, in a very small measure. Nothing less than this, I
say, will account for the prevalence and power of the hideous
delusion; and little more is necessary when inquiring for an
adequate cause.
Nevertheless, there are a few subsidiary and co-operating
causes which I shall mention, that the argument may have
some appearance of completeness, but with a very brief
illustration.
First: The alleged and apparent antiquity of the system
(for it is only alleged and apparent) gives it for many minds
a prescriptive right to be regarded the only lawful and
trustworthy system. Where was your religion before
Luther appeared 1 is quite enough of confutation, in the
estimation of the p;reat majority of Papists, when debat-
ing with Protestants. .And it is of little use to reply
that it lay in the Bible; for the priest assures them that
that is a very insufficient if not a bad book. " - Again,
when you might demonstrate, from the best authenticated
historical documents, that, instead of their Church being the
ancient one, those things which are characteristic of it-its
reverence of the Pope as universal Bishop, its transubstantia-
tion, its propitiatory sacrifice of the Mass, its prayers to the
dead, its purgatory, its confessional, its image-worship, its
withholding of the cup from the people-are all corrupt inno-
vations of later times; so that their Church is like an old inn,
with the old sign, but with a new landlord, and a great change
in the kind of entertainment, when the old landlord has
removed with his establishment elsewhere,-again the priest
assures them that it is all a heretical lie, awl implicitly they
believe him. They cannot afford to doubt his integrity; thoir
salvation is in his hands, and we have seen how satisfied they are
that there it should remain.
Second: Another subsidiary cause of the acceptability of
Popery is the manner in which it has taken advantage of the
fine arts-of architecture, statuary, painting, and music, not
only for attracting to its profession those who have a taste for
these things, but for producing an imaginative and superficial
sentiment which many mistake for devotion. It is one of the
ways of flattering a man's conscience with the persuasion that
he is religious, without putting him to the trouble of thinking,
and acquiring principles. The picture of the Man of Sorrows
has excited his sympathy, and the wail of the miserere of the
mass-dirge has melted his heart; and he self-complacently
reflects that, profligate though he appear to be, there must
surely be something good in him, when he feels so tenderly.
Third: I would have been especially glad of an opportunity
to illustrate the strength which Popery derives from the organ-
ization of its Priesthood-lording itself over the superstitious
mind with such despotic authority, and denouncing, as the
greatest of mortal sins, that reading of God's word, and listening
to the arguments of heretics, by which the delusion might be
scattered. I am the more sorry that I want opportunity for
* When the Papist puts the objection in this form, Where was your
Church before Luther appeared? the old rejoinder of tbe Protestant is
worthy of record for more tban its wit, wben he asked tbe Papist, Where
was your fall6 before it was washed? Another reply to the same effect is-
It was like tbe lost piece of silver, covered with dust; or, like the seven
thousand hidden ones in the time of Elijah. But the best answer is, Sbe
_ in the wild_-. whither the Man of Sin had driven her.
256 THE GENIUS AND POWER OF POPEI\Y.
making this illustration at large, inasmuch as there is a prevail-

ing misconception on the subject. Ambition and Covetousness,
on the part of the priesthood, are far from being sufficient
principles on which to account for the phenomenon of the
Popish hierarchy. We are assured, it is true, by the A postle,
that this proud love of pre-eminence and sordid love of gain
were characteristic of the mystery of iniquity in its embryo
condition. But, unless there had been a corresponding aptitude
to submit to the imposition, the attempt to practise it would
have failed.
I therefore maintain, that depravity, on the part of the
people, operating as I have already illustrated, under first prin-
ciples, is as much the cause of priestly despotism, as priestly
despotism is the cause of popular degradation. The Lord's
testirw;lby against ancient Israel was this: "The prophets
prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and
my people love to have it so" (Jer. v. 31). So is it with
Popery. The depraved heart invites the despotism of Man,
that it may be delivered from what it regards the heavier des-
potism of a Holy God. It not only submits acquiescently to
the priest's assumption of power, but beseeohes him to assume
it, and forces it upon him, that he may stand between it and
God, so as to save it from personal intercourse and communion
with his holiness; and that he may take its confession, and
pronounce its absolution: and it presses his acceptance of its
handful of brass or silver, not so much as an atonement for its
transgression, as a bribe by which he may be prevailed on to
undertake the work of its salvation. In the ambition and
covetousness of the priest it of course meets with a gracious
compliance. And when he has been once invested with the
power and prerogative, it is not wonderful that he should
exercise it for the still deeper debasement of the heart; so that
it shalljust be hack to him with the demand, that he take more
power than ever, since it has more need of his help. In no
other way can we satisfactorily account for that astounding
dominion over their victims to which the Popish priesthood
have attained. The study is a deeply interesting one; but our
limits prevent its being prosecuted at greater length.
Fourth: For the same reason, I can do little more than
suggest for meditation, that great strength which Popery
derives from its being the favourite religion with despotio
princes and govemments. As being a despotism themselves,
the priesthood have a fraternal sympathy with all other des-

potisms; and, more than this, perceiving that liberty in the
State naturally tends to the asserting of liberty in the Church,
as a matter of self-defence they are ever ready to lend their
aid in suppressing it. In grateful return for this, the sword
and dungeon of the State are always at the service of the
priest, for repressing or exterminating all resistance of his
sacerdotal claims, and its exchequer is thrown open that he
may draw on it for the necessities of his faith. Yea, free and
professedly Protestant governments like our own, administered
on the principles of a cowardly expediency, fearing tho powor
of the priesthood to excite commotion among the people, will
make them more powerful for mischief than over, "yen.
deavouring to bribe them with wealth, and propitiate the III
with honours. Betwixt Papal ' arrogance, and Protestant
treachery, Christian truth has at present a sorry lot; but the
day of her vindication draws on, with judgment not only for
her great Adversary, but all his abettors. May God speed it
faster! .
Raving arrived at the conclusion of this particular topic, and
with it, of all the other topics discussed in these pages, I find
that I have anticipated, especially in the Lecture on the MRn
of Sin, the greater part of the reflections which are suitable to the
occasion. I shall therefore refer thither, and close with only
this additional call on myself and Protestant brethren, to
examine ourselves, if, amid all this expressed abhorrence of
Papal error, we ourselves have received, and are cherishing,
Gospel truth. How different the two things are! and yet
how many mistake the former as implying the latter! Retl.ect,
that just as the slave-holder is often denounced, in words of
burning indignaticn, by men who have no compassion for the
negro, so may the Pope be denounced by men who have no
admiration of Christ. Well, the anger may carry a man a short
way forward in his attempts to overthrow the evil; but, not to
speak of its being of itself of no a vail for his eternal well-being,
it will be only a short way. It is not till unger and love are
united that the zeal is perfected, and adequate to the work ••
When publicly Luther's was a Pope-hating, at home it was, in,
his own expressive German, a "Christ-loving soul."
Q
..
NO,T.ES.
NOTE A, PAGE 193.
PURGATORIAN SOCIETIES.
The Rev. Dr. Carlisle, of Dublin, late Secretary of the Government

Board of Education for Ireland, and whose integrity is in high repute
with the Popish members of that board, has furnished us, in one of his
works, with the whole of the rules of one of these curious institutions,
so illustrativ&Gf Popish imposture and degradation. It will be. enough
that I submit a specimen of them: and especially when Mr. M'Gavin
has inserted them at length in TIle Protestant, No. LXXV.
" Rule 2. That every well-dieposed Catholic, wishing to contribute to
the relief of the suffering souls in purgatory, shall pay one penny per
week, which shall be appropriated to the procuring of Masses to be
offered up for the repose of the souls of the deceased parents, relations,
and friends of all the subscribers to the institution in particular, and the
faithful departed in general.
" Rule 6. That the spiritual benefits of this institution shall be con-
ferred in the following manner, viz.: Each subscriber shall be entitled to
an office at the time of their death; another at the expiration of a month,
and one at the end of twelve months after their decease. Also, the
benefit of Masses which shall be procured to be offered by the money
arising from subscriptions, and which shall be extended to their parents,
relations, and friends, in the following order: that is to say, their fathers,
mothers, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts; and if married, husbands,
wives, and children, if they have any departed, who lived to maturity.
" Rule 7. That every member of the office for the dead, who serves
the Society in the capacity of Superior, shall, at the time of his death,
he entitled .to three MlI8IleBfor the repose of his soul; and also every
member who serves the office of Rector, shall be eutitled to the benefit
of two Masses; and every subscriber, without distinction, shall be
entitled to the benefit of one Mass, each, provided that sucb member or
subscriber shall die a natural death, he six months a subscriber to the
institution, and be clear of all dues at the time of their departure. ,-
The Rules of a similar aasociation in London will be found in the
Qvarkrlll ReNto for September, 1818, p. 109.
NOTES. 259
NOTE B, PAGE 204.
THIl: POPISH VIEW OF JUSl'IFICATION.
The condemnation of Luther's doctrine of Justification by Faith, may

be properly represented as the great object for which the Council of
Trent was convened. That being condemned, supposing the condemna-
tion to have taken effect, not only was the life of Protestantism
extinguished, but the life of Popery greatly invigorated, as a system
which places the power of men's salvation in the hands of the Priest-
hood.-The Reformer's doctrine was, that the work of Christ is the
sole and entire meritorious ground, or procuring cause, of a sinner's
pardon; and that each man receives the benefit of this work by Faith,
as the instrumental cause, or appropriating hand; so that, in the act of
believing, and pleading before the throne of Divine Justice his Master',
work on his behalf, he obtains a present, free, and full remission of all
his sin, and restoration to a place in the family of God.-Having been
received into the family, there proceeds the work of Sanctification, or
the training of him as a child, to make him meet for his heavenly
inheritance; according to that expressive and comprehensive statement
of the apostle, "taat being (first) justified by his grace, we should
(then) be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life" (Titus iii.
7), where the being "made heirs" does not signify constituted heirs
(for that properly belongs to Justification), but educated as heirs,
according to, or in correspondence with, the promised inheritance. As
when a father, who designs for his elder son an estate in lands, gives
him an agricultural education, and his brother, for whom he designs an
estate in merchandise, a mercantile education, that they may be fitted
both to administer and enjoy their respective inheritances.-Let it be
further observed, that, according to the Lutheran doctrine, a believe~'s
sufferings under the hand of God are never of the character of judicial
punishments, but always of the character of parental chastisements, in
the course of the foresaid training of Sanctification. "Whom the Lord
loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth"
(Heb. xii. 6). Let even those who are familiar with the passage read
over the whole of it, from the beginning of the chapter to the twelfth
verse, that, with the word fresh in their minds, they may be prepared
to treat with adequate abhorrence that part of the Popish doctrine on
the subject, which I shall presently set before them. •
In opposing and condemning these views so scriptural, so glorifying
to the work of Christ, and so animating both with joy and sanctity for
his aaints, the majority of the Council (for here, as in other cases, Christ
260 NOTES.
had his reclaiming witnesses in a venerable minority *) acquiesced in a

scheme of salvation, advocated especially by the Jesuits, which was
nearly as great a novelty to their own corrupt Church as it was to the
Church of the New Testament. It was to this effect: that Christ's
work is to no man the whole of the ground of his pardon, or rather the
ground of his whole pardon; but that it avails principally in making
such an atonement as gains grace for him, or holy influences; and that
it is the work which he himself performs, by the aid of this grace, which
is the meritorious cause of his justification. The Decree of the Council
is long and intricate; but Ranke gives the substance of it as follows:
"The sinner is justified when, through the merits of the most holy
passion, ud through the operations of the Sacred Spirit, the love of
God is implanted in his heart and abides in it; thus become the friend
of God, man goes forward from virtue to virtue, and becomes renewed
from day to day: whilst he walks by the commandments of God and the
Church, he grows, with the help of faith, through good works, in the
righteousness obtained through the grace of Christ, and becomes more
and more justified" (Hist. of the Popes, B. II. Chap. I. Sect. 5). Such is
Popery's compromise betwixt the claims of Christ, that his work receive
the undivided honour of being the ground of the sinner's pardon, and
the claims of the pride of the human heart, that its own work receive at
least a share of this honour,
Besides the unscripturalness of the principle in general, there are
three points to which 1 would especially direct the attention in Popery's
working out of the dogma.
Observe, first, the manner in which it is employed to sustain the
priestcraft. According to the Lutheran doctrine, a man may be saved
of himself at home, or rather can be saved no other way; by an exercise
of faith, as he sits by the fireside, or lies rrreditatively on his bed-
thinking believingly of the Lamb of God. The priesthood gnash their
teeth in rage against this invasion of their prerogative-this dispensing
with their services-this defrauding of them of their honour and pay.
For, mark how they follow, up the first principle, that men are to be
saved by works which they themselves perform by the aid of a com-
m unicated grace. Well, how is it communicated! Only by the priest's
sacraments-first by his Baptism, then by his Confirmation, then by his
Absolution, then by his Sacrifice of the Mass, then by its Sacrament,
• Such as Cardinal Pole, the Archbishop of Siena, the' great Contarlnl, Bishop of
Belhmo, the BIshop della CaTa (who was rather pRselonate, howe~cr, honest old man,
when he oeIzed his antagonist in the Council by the beard), ana SerlpllJldo, the
ho1ie8t and moot learned of all their Doctors. Th_ and some more held the
doctrine of J...Wleation by Faith purely ... It was held by Luther, and equally
with JIIm were anbjected to tho eu of tho'Cow>cI1'. aDIlthemaa.
NOTES. 261
then by his sanctifying of Marriage, and at last by his Extreme Unction.
There is no possibility of obtaining the necessary grace except by the
agency of the demi-god priest.
Observe, secondly, the place which providential afil.ictions, penances,
and indulgences, {wId in the system. It is by his own good wor ks
the man must save himself. But since the grace purchased for him by
Christ, and communicated by the priest's sacraments, is not irresistible,
he frequently violates or comes short of his duty. How is this to be
remedied? 1st, By the punishments of Providence. The idea of
fatherly chastisements for the child's profit (Heb. xii. 10), has properly
no place in the grim theology of Popery. All afflictions are bitter
penalties for the expiating of guilt. 2nd, By priest. imposed or self.
inflicted penances-of fastings, scourgings, hair-shirts, spikes in the
shoes, and fines of money, under the name of alms to the poor. A ,ul
what think you is a principal penance-a punishmcnt for the expiation
of sin? Paternosters! And what are these? Repetitions of the Lord's
prayer! Our Father who art in Heaven-to say that is, according to
Popish reckoning, a grievous punishment! Well, I fear it may be that
for others besides Papists, bnt it is monstrous to acknowledge it. 3rd,
By indulgences, paid for to the priest, or bestowed gratuitously by the
Pope, or secured by a pilgrimage to St. Peter's, or elsewhere, or by
saying .Ave Marias before some picture of the Virgin, &c.; these indul-
gences consisting in the trausference of the supererogatory or overplus
merits of the great saints, by which they made the divine Government
their debtor, to the account of the smaller ones; so that they obtain the
remission of a hundred or more years of that purgatorial punishment
which is their due.
Observe, thirdly, that the reckoning made of punishments above is
so unsatisfactory, even to the Popish conscience, that, in violation of
their own fundamental principle, that Christ's sacrifice does not avail
for pardon, but only for securing grace by which the sinner may work
out a pardon for himself-they have been obliged to fall back on that
insulted sacrifice, and make it part of the ground of their hope. Hear
how Dr. Challoner speaks in his "Garden of the Soul," which is a kind of
Pilgrim's Progress to the Papists: when exhorting the sick man he
says, "Beg that God would accept of all your pains and uneasiness, in
union with the sufferings of Jesus Christ, in deduction of the punish-
ment of your sins." This will explain how the sacrifice of the
Mass is sometimes repreaented as propitiating God only the length of
I6curing grace, in the power of which a man may work, so as to gain
his pardon ultimately and entirely himself; and at other times as
securing his ~on directly, without the intervention of his own grace-
262 NOTES.
guided performances. All Masses for the dead are entirely of this
nature; and the same is the power of the sacrament of the Mass, for
the immediate purgation of the guilt of slighter transgressions.
These observations are all that my limits will permit for the guidance
of the student. But study as he may, let no one expect that he will
arrive at a clear view of the consistency of the system. That which
does not exist can uever be discovered.
Before closing the Note, I cannot forbear remarking that many Pro-
testant divines have given Papists a great advantage in the argument,
by ignoring or denying that which is written as with a sunbeam on the
sacred page, viz., that the works of a believer are both rewardable, and
shall be rewarded munificently. Having been justified through faith,
and received into the diviDe family, his good works become the subject
of that reward of grace (as distinguished from the reward of merit)
which a father bestows on a faithful child. Had I not discussed this
matter elsewhere, at great length, I must have made room for
its illustration here, at whatever expense of inconvenience in enlarging
the publication. It is a point of vital importance in many respects, and
among others, in respect of depriving the Papist of his grounds for
boasting, that he alone interprets, honestly and freely, that large portion
of the Scripture promise which eucourages the saint with the prospect,
that his well-doing shall be acknowledged with a great recompense of
reward (See Discourses: No. I. On the Doctrine of Good Works).
NOTE C., PAGE 234.
Evidence that the Primitive Ohurch understood the Roman Empire to be

the Power which hindered the Revelation of the Man of Sin ;-
TERTULLIANsays, in his Apology, "We, Christians, are under a
particular necessity of praying for the emperors, and for the continued
state of the empire, because we know that dreadful Power which hangs
over the whole world, and the conclusion of the age which threatens the
most horrible evils, is retarded by the continuance of the time appointed
for the Roman empire. This is what we would not experience. An.d
while we pray that it may be deferred, we hereby show our geed-will
to the perpetuity of the Roman State."
LACTAl'lTIU8, in the Seventh Book of his Institutes, treats of the
coming of Antichrist, and, speaking of Rome, says: .. That city it is
which hitherto sustains all things, and we ought to supplicate the God
of Heaven, if his decrees and purposes can be delayed, lest that abomi·
nable Tpa:nt Ilhould come lOODer than "e tlIiDk. who shall perpetrate
NOTES. 263
so great a wickedness, and destroy that light, with the extinction of
which the world itself will fall."
.JEROME, when he heard of the taking of Rome by Alaric, reprovingly
expressed himself thus: "He who hindered is taken out of the way,
and yet we consider not that Antichrist is at hand."
Testimonies to the same effect occur in the works of Justin Martyr,
Ambrose, Augustine, Chrysostom, Cyril, and others (See Mede's Works,
p. 656). But those quoted are sufficient for the illustration.
NOTE D, PAGE 238.
" The Damnation and Excommunication of Elizabeth, Quem of En!!.

land, and her adherents, with an addition of oilier rnmiilhments. PIUS V.
Bishop, Servant of the sermnts of God, ad perpetuum rei memoriam,
" He that reigneth on high, to whom is given all power in heaven and
in earth, committed one Holy Catholic and apostolic Church, out of
which there is no salvation, to one alone upon earth, namely, to Peter,
the prince of the Apostles, and to Peter's successor, the Bishop of Rome,
to be governed in fulness of power. Him alone He made Prince over
all people and all kingdoms, to pluck up, to destroy, scatter, consume,
plant, and build, that he may contain the faithful, that are knit
together with the band of charity, in the Unity of the Spirit, and pre.
sent them spotless and unblameable to their Saviour."
The Bull, having recited the various Protestant misdemcsnours of
the Queen, proceeds with the Damnation as follows :-
"Being, therefore, supported by His authority, whose pleasure it
was to place us, though unable for so great a burden, in this supreme
throne of justice, we do, out of the fulness of our Apostolic power,
declare the foresaid Elizabeth, being a heretic, and a favourer of
heretics, and her adherents in the matters aforesaid, to have incurred
the sentence of anathema, and to be cut off from the unity of the body
of Christ. And, moreover, we do declare her to be deprived of ber
pretended title to the kingdom aforesaid, and of all dominion, dignity,
and privilege whatsoever.-And also, the nobility, subjects, and people
of the said kingdom, and all others who have in any sort swom uuto
her, to be for ever absolved from any such oath, and all manner of duty,
of dominion, allegiance, and obedience: as we also do, by authority of
these presents, absolve them, and deprive the same Elizabeth of her
pretended title to the kingdom, and all other things above said. And
we do command and interdict...u and every the noblemen, subjects,
people, and othen aforesaid, that they preII1UIle not to obey her
264 NOTES.
monstrous mandates and laws. And those who do the contrary, we do

innodate with the like sentence of anathema. "
Besides what is contained in the above, let it be remembered that he
transferred the rights of the kingdom to Philip of Spain, who was pro-
ceeding to take possession when God overwhelmed his Armada in the
deep.
The case is quoted chiefly as a specimen of the manner in which the
prophecy in the Epistle to the Thessalonians is fulfilled iu the Pope, in
respect of his "exalting himself above all that is called god; "-but let
it be employed in the controversy with our Popish fellow-subjects in
this other form: Do you admit that Pius V. acted lawfully in his
attempt to dethrone Qu.een Elizabeth? Then would not Pius IX. be
equally warranted to attempt to dethrone Queen Victoria? Answer,
Yea or Nay, without auy Jesuit equivocation. I answer Yea, in the
name of half of the Popish Priesthood, and not a few Pnseyites besides,
who deplore the Reformation as a great calamity. The majority, how-
ever, of our Catholic fellow-subjects, I am persuaded, will, as in the
time of Elizabeth, loyally and indignantly answer, Nay. Why then
shackle your judgment and conscience with the dogma of the infallibility
of one who is so patently convicted of enormous crime? For if Pope
Pins the Fifth was not infallible, Pope Pius the Ninth must be a despic-
able pretence.
DR. ANDERSON'S WORKS.
Third Edition, Sixth Thousand, pp. $$4, Price 38 6d.

REGENERATION:
By THE LATE REV. WILLIAlII ANDERSON. LL.D., GLASGOW.
WrTH INTRODUCTORY SKETCH BY REV. JOHN KER, D.D., GLASGOW.
OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.

Evangelical,Wagazine, September, 1875.- 'Ve are glad to welcome, and beg
heartily and earnestly to recommend this new edition of Dr. Anderson's
treatise on "Regeneration." It is one of the most thoughtful, able, and
practical books in our language on that great and important theme. Dr. Ker
justly snys in his admirable introduction to this edition, "ThiR is the trllo
book of a true man." It indicates earnest piety, penetrating intellectual
power, much knowledge of Scripture and of human nature, and a largo
amount of practical sagacity, and cannot be read without thought or
without advantage.
The Baptist Magazine, November, 1875.-We are sincerely thankful to see
a cheap edition of one of the ablest, most scholarly, and philosophical treatiseB
which our age has produced. On the subject of regeneration, embracing it.
nature, its necessity, its instrumentality, its manifestation, &c., we know
of no work so complete and satisfactory as this. This work is in some
respect. Dr. Anderson's best, and its appearance just now is peculiarly
timely. It ought to be circulated by thousands, especially among intelligent
young men.
The Wesleyan Methodist Magazine.-This treatise embraces a thorough
diecussion of the great subject with which it treats; it. tone is one of
sustained earnestness ; and it is marked by faithful appeals to the conscience.
The Primitive Methodist Mag&zine.-The several aspects of the subject are
discoursed of with a fulness of knowledge, a wealth of argument, and an
aptness of illustration which leave nothing to be desired. We can scareely
conceive of a greater blessing to our preachers, and, as a consequence, to our
churches. than for them to get the contents of this volume incorporated with
the fibre of their intellectual and moral nature.
The General Baptist Magazine.-The argument is-a compact, four-square,
impenetrable fortress. The style befits the argument. It is marvellously
strong, well-knit, solid masonry, reminding of structures that haVA weathered
the storms of centuries.
The Methodist New Conncxion Maga.zine.-As a whole, it ia a noble .. ork-
a work eminently for the times.
The NonconjM'11li,t.-Our opinion of the singular value of Dr. Anderson's
work bas been already given; we rejoice in this handy re-issue of it.
The Weekly Review.-This work presents the rare combination of systematic
theological treatment and pointed, practical enforcement, conducted in a
fresh and original vein, and in a style of great flexibility, vincity, and force.
The Literary World.-This book has on it the impress of a vigorous,
healthfnl, and devout mind. We cordially recommend this well-reasoned
and pithy book to our readers. Dr. Ker contributes an admirable intro-
ductory sketch of Dr. AnderaoD.
The RocJ;. -Full of sound teaching, and singularly attractive on account of
the mm,led force and elegance ..-it\> which the several points are urged.
The Methodilt R«ordel'.-Dia~hed by much though" a great defer-
_ to $he Word, ADd a high practiCll1aim.
DR. ANDERSON'S WORK~.
The Christian A[Je.~A model of clear, fresh, ana vigorous writing on a

theme of vital and paramount importance.
The Publishers' Cil·Culol·.-The thoughtful, thorough work of a sound and
conscientious Scotch divine, and eminently worth reading.
The Grophic.>:" Regeneration" will be hailed by many, even of those who
do not in all things hold the rigid Presbyterian view, as a masterly exposition
of at least one aspect of the vital question of a Christian life.
The Leeds llfCl"cllry.~The time chosen for the re-issue of this work is
singularly opportune. 'Ve cannot too highly commend it; it is an earnest,
Scriptural, common-sense treatment of an important doctrine. It is as
practical as any of the popular hand-books which are placed in the hands of
religious inquirers, and is likely to be far more useful than many of them.
The last chapter especially, on the Manifestations of Regeneration, is so
eminently judicious that it cannot fail to be helpful in solving some of thc
problems of Christian experience.
The Liverpool Dail» Post.~The book possesses intrinsic and enduring
worth. In it we have the author at his very best. There is evidence every-
where of the original thinker, the bold un trammelled theologian, the fine
analyst. the vivid artist. the experimental divine, the pathetic pleader with
men. This treatise, in point of thoroughness, is a text-book on the subject
which it handles. And it is a great deal more. Orthodoxy here is not
botanical. but vital. The sap of new life runs through it. A central glow
of moral force and spiritual sensibility comes out page after page to the close
of the volume.
The Birmingham Mornin» Ne1Cs.-All through "Regeneration" is charac-
terised by the theological breadth, the sound judgment, the pathos, and the
impetuosity, which made Dr. Anderson for some fifty years one of the
leading preachers in the West of Scotland. It is marked by great meta-
physical acuteness and philosophical power.
The Neiccastle Chronic/e.-For subtle reasoning and copious illustration of
a difficult theme this work is marvellously able.
The OIasgowEvening Citizen.-Criticism at this time of day would be out
of date, while Dr. Anderson's name is sufficient guarantee for substantial
thinking, practical expression, and warm religious enthusiasm. Dr. Ker's
sketch is marked by refined taste and thoughtful appreciation.
The North British Daily llfail.-The book is clear and comprehensive,
and mingles doctrinal discussion with very pointed and powerful appeals.
The Christian Nf1vs.-The perusal of this work will enrich and benefit
those who can appreciate vigorous reasoning and Biblical exposition.
The United Presbpterian. Magazine.-In this volume Dr. Anderson puts
forth his utmost strength, and by clear statement, unmistakable explanation,
powerful argumentation, graphic illustration, and pathetic appeal, seeks to
instruct, and win, and warn men.
The GlalglYlOSabbath School Magazine.-This is a work of rare vigour,
originality, and practical wisdom, and treats on a topic of momentous im-
portance. It is rich, in no common degree, in lncid statement of doctrine,
logical argument, earnest and direct personal application, and maturity of
Christian experience.
The Scottish Congregational Magazine.-We hail wi~h much satisfaction
and pleasure a new and cheap edition of this standard work on "Regenera-
tion." Notwithstanding all that has been written of late years we do not
know another book on the subject which we would place above this one.
Dr. Ker'a sketch is most appreciariva and interesting: it is one master in
Israel writing of another.
The Young Men's Christian MarlIJzine,Glasgow.-This book may fairly be
said to have gained a permanent niche in the great temple of British and
American Biblical and Protestant theology. It is the out-come of " strong-
minded and noble-hearted man, and i. eminently fitted to build up a race of
olear-headed and brave-hearted Chriatian ••
VI!. AXDEHSO!('S WORl'.' .
.The Kelso Ch"ollicle.-This hook could only have been produced by a strong
mind, well rea.l in our standard theology, and still better read in the """ord
of God, and the deep language of the human heart. It has real !I"il', and is
most instructive and stimulating.
The Ardrossan Hera/d.-No more suggestive or instructive work could be
placed in the hands of working men than this of the eminently practical Dr.
Anderson.
The Dumfries Cou,·ia.-It is absolntely refreshing to note with what a lofty
mien and at the same time with what a wary caution this accomplished
master of theological fence approaches the difficulties of his subject and
disposes of the objections of the doubting or sceptical.
The Northem Ensi!!".-'Ye repeat our warmest commendatiou of this
work, as well ad regards its comprehensive view of an all-impor-tant question,
its thorough evangelical character, and its faithful application to the heart
and conscience of the reader.
The Dumfries Staud((l'd.",-This book teems with thought; t.he Illll~lIage ili
terse-s-at times Bunyan-like in its simplicity, and not seldom t. rilly doqluont ;
and the doctrinal matter. never heavy in itl'lelf, iK richly dl'apt'll w rt.h illuMtl'lL-
tiona drawn from every-day incidents, frum the l':l";:l')oi uf seculur hi'itl)1"y, and
from those of Holy Writ.
The Bermickshir« 1\rrUJ,If.-1'his is a. work of grea.t POWtH' hy one of the moat
original thinkers and st.irriug preachers of the present century. 'VI! ht:'a..rtily
commend it to the Christian Church in all its branches, n.~ II. hook for tilt.'
times, and eminently fitted for gniding inquiring minds to " right knowledge
of a vital truth of Holy Scripture.
The Shetland Times,-To the young, especially, we would most earnestly
say-Read this book.
NOTICES OF THE EARf.,Y EDITIONS.

British Qllarte1'l~Iterietc.-« There is in this volume, on this apparently
exhausted topic, an amount of force, of originality, and withal of Scriptural-
ness, which justifies us in most earnestly commending it to our readers.
British and Foreion Quarte1'/yReriew.-There is much in this volume that
we most heartily commend.
Westminster Reuieu...-The views enonnced are very clearly and logically
expressed.
Eclectic Review,-Logic, passion, almost tears, blend in the strangest but
most captivating manner in this, as in all the remarkable productions of its
remarkable author.
Christian Times.-The work is distinguished by independence of thought,
and close yet vivid reasoning.
Bradford Obserrer.-The book is well reasoned, vigorous, earnest, emi-
nently suggestive, and calculated equally to arouse the conscienceand inform
the mind.
United Presbpterian Ma!!azine.-It is rich in thought, rich in illustration,
rich in the fruits of spiritual experience and observation.
Scottish Christian Joltr'nal.-Dr. Anderson is not only a sound divine and
original thinker. but possessesa metaphysical genius of no mean order.
The late Dr. JOHN CAMPBELL, in the British Bannu.-The book, taken as a
whole, i. by far the best exhibition of the subject that has yet been presented
in the English language.
The late Dr .• JOHN BROWN, Edinburgh, in the Scottish Prcss.-This is a
remarkable book. Th"t minister muat stand very high or very low, intel-
lectually and spiritually, who is not made by it, both personally and pro-
feasionally, wiser and better.
GEORGE GILFIJ,LA~ in HO[lg's Instl'uctor.-William Anderson's book 011
Regeneration is every way worthy of his peouliar and powerful mind.
DR. AXJ)I·:lt~O~'~ womcs.
Second 'Thousand, pp. 532, Price 5s.

HE-UNION IN THE HEAVENLY KINGDOM,
AND OTHER D [SCOURSES. THIRD SERIES.
By THE LATE REV. WILLIAM ANDERSON, LL.D., GLASGOW,
WITH AS IYfIWDCCTORY SKETCH BY THE
REV. GEORGE CLARK HUTTON, D.D., PAISLEY.

Nonconformist,»: These sermons are all characterised by the peculiar genius
of the author, fresh, yet devout, sparkling with original thought, full of the
courage of deep conviction, open as the day in transparent sincerity. Not
one of them could be read without giving fresh atimulus to a higher Christian
life. Dr. Hutton's introductory sketch differs from those that have preceded
it both in scope and aim. It is chiefly an elaborate analysis of Dr. Ander-
son's moral and intellectual characteristics, executed with rare acuteness an-I
discrimination. It is lone; since we met with so able and finished a piece of
writing of its kind.
WeeklyReeiew.-Every diseeurse is stamped with the author. irrepressible
individuality. Those that date from near his end show the same invineible
independence, strong practical sense, and abrupt, impetuous, apostrophic
energy, as in those of earlier years.
The Literary World.-A volume of weighty and characteristic discourses.
The Rock.-Dr. Anderson was long known as one of the foremost preachers
of his day, and it is not surprising that his sermons should still be read with
interest, inasmuch as they are in a high degree both thoughtful and practical.
The Watchrnan.-These discourses are thoughtful, suggestive, eloquent,
and edifying expositions of the Word of God. Occasionally there are burst.
of sarcasm and flashes of wit, which vividly remind us of the living orator.
The Christian G~obe.-The first discourse of Dr. Anderson, entitled" God
a Sun," fully proves that his mind was nicely attuned to the beautiful and
picturesque in nature; and that his general pulpit utterauces partook largely
of the didactic, the argumeutative, and illustrative elements.
Evangelical.Magazine, October,187U.-This goodly volume of sermons is a
precious gift to the Church. They are full of sweet counsel and holy in.
struction in the spirit of Christian manliness. Here is argument for the
intellect, and food for the souL DJ:. Anderson was a powerful preacher,
able to reach all classes of hearers, and who being dead yet speaks to us in
these discourses, which we cannot recommend too strongly.
The Baptist.-Common.sense, logical precision, and condensed phraseology
distinguish all these sermons, and there is an urgency and sobriety of appeal
that will arrest the attention of many who are repelled by more declamatory
discourses. Mr. Gilfillan, DJ:. Ker, and Dr. Huttou have united in honour-
ing the dead, and we readily join in commending these works to the churches
of Christ, and the robust, manly character of their writer to the approval
and imitation of the minister of Christ.
The General Baptist Magazine.-In the matters of courageons speech.
practical urgency, vehement rebuke, and scorching sarcasm, these diacourses
are simply unequalled. The volume is a repertory of illustrations of manly
preaching of the highest tyIJ('.
The Bradford Observer. -These discourses are characterised by an earnest-
ness of religious conviction, a purity of sentiment, and a force of language
which constitute for them an abiding charm.
The Liverpool Mercury.-The discourses will bear not only to be read but
to be read again and again; lor evangelical theology has seldom been pre.
sented in a more powerful, mtional, and withsl winning manner,
The Sheffield Daily Telegraph. -We promise the reader an agreeable sur.
prise if he doe. but put his prejudices behind him. and peruse the book
with & mind free to be impressed by its beauties.
DR. ANDER:SOX'S WORKS.
The Sc,?tsman..-:-This volume of posthumous sermons is every way worthy

of the high position, as a theologian and a preacher, which the late Dr.
Anderson. held in .the denomination ~o w~ich he belonged. They may be
characterised as vigorous and masculine discourses of the evanzelical type
but strongly marked by the author's individuality. 0 ,
The Daily Rerieui>« We desire to add a recommendation to our readers to

ge~ .hold ~f th~ present volume, and refresh themselves by the fine breezy
spir-it of Its discourses, and by the healthy counsels of this really great
preacher.
The Glasgow Erenino Citizen.-Another volume of the discourses of this
brilliant light of the United Presbyterian Church; full of the brizht fancy
and large humanity of tbe author. ~
The League Jou,·nrtl.-"Every reader who can appreciate masculine think-
ing and nervous expression will derive hom this volume healthful stimulus
and nutritious spiritual fOOt1.
The Hamilton Adl·crti.'u'1'.~--The subjecta embrnce au interesting vnrir.ty of
topics, and the treatment of each is pecu li.nly An-Iersouian . 'I'lu-y arl!
admirable specimens of VI'. Audersou's work.
The Dumfries Standnrd.--~;vcry p:lge coutaius u pn-ciou« II~HHIII1 \\ ith a
powerful incitement to apply it in or",'. ,laily lif«.
The Bertrick ..shire N("",,~. These di!~collnH)~ arc eminently tittl'd for thv
times. "We hope they will be extensively read.
The Dunfermline Joorn,tI.""We would say to all who hnve the money to
spare, and who wish to have a good book for Sabbath evening rl'ading. a
book which they will be likely to read again and yet again, Invest in thi.
volume, it will suit your purpose.
The Stirling Joornal.-Eminently healthy, informing, and bracing, the
fruits of a mind of sterling honesty. integrity, an.I high Christian worth.
The AbCl'deen Free Pres s. - In these discourse. tbe writing is original.
vigorous, and healthy; pervaded throughout by a tone of sustained, earnest
piety; full of thought expressed in clear, compreheusive language, aIHI so
truly eloquent and forcible that the reader is compelled to own they are the
works of a man of powerful genius.
The Northern E'lUri[lu.-There is here a clearness and force of statement,
an acute analysis alike of truth awl of human experience, a forcible logic
and an unremitting power of appeal, with a suppressed fire, ready ever to
burst forth, touches of grim humour and withering satire. which sustain the
reader's interest and occasionally startle his attention.
The Orkney Hemld.-The result of earnest thought, and the fruit of a
highly gifted and cultivated mind.
The United P"esbyterian 1I'Iagazine.-Dr Anderson here appears in a
character with which he is not very frequently associated-a Barnabas-a
son of consolation; though that, like all strong, true men, he could eminently
be. All the discourses are fresh and bracing, and their perusal cannot fail
to be intellectually stimulating- and spiritually elevating in a high degree.
The Scottish Congregational .~Jagazine.-The discourses before us have all
the well-known characteristics of Dr. Anderson as a preacher; rich thought,
sanctified fervour glowing imagination, and withal a direct and practical aim.
The Your.g M;n's Christian Magazine.-:-These sermo~s contain !,othing
tediously abstruse, nnprofitably speculative, or repulsively doctrinal or
acholaatic. On the contrary, while fundamentally loyal to all the old Evan-
gelical traditions and !'J0de. of present~ng. the gospel, they are throughout
keen practical, experimental, and convicnve.
Th~ Congregationalist, Boston, U.S.-Of former series of Dr. Anderson's
sermon. we had occasion to speak a year ago. He was a stalwart Scot in his
theology and his work, as well as in h~s person; but sw~etnes.s, as well as
thought, distinguish the sermons of thie volume, and their va~led exc.eUen-
eies make them a. edifying to read as they must have been ImpreSSive to
hear.
DR. ANDER~O:'!'~ WORKS.
Second Thousand, Crtnrn. SfO., Cloth Boards, o'tra, 414 pp., price 7s. tid,
LIFE OF THE REV. WrLLIA~f ANDERSON, LL,D" GLASGOW.

By G E 0 R G E GIL F ILL AN, DU~DEE,
Author (U' II TIle Bor-t» (!!'tJ1P Biule," tL·c., ((·c.
British and Foreiqn. Evangelical Review, October, 187:1. - Dr. Anderson

exercised for many years a very powerful influence, both from the pulpit and
the platform, in the \Vest of Scotland. Mr. Gilfillan has told, with much
vigour and enthusiasm, the story of Anderson's Life. Altogether, this is
one of the best Ministerial Biographies in the language, and presents a very
faithful and brilliant likeness of a man whom Mr. Gilfillan calls .. one of
Nature's sturdiest bairns," and "'one of God'a most gracious, yet humble.
devout. and true-hearted children."
London QUa1·terlyRl1'iew.-The memoir is altogether interestingly written.
It is free from wearisome iterations of incidents. which so often mar bio-
graphical accounts. It is impossible to read the book without gaining a very
high estimate of the brave man who, for half a century, was the advocate of
every good and noble movement.
The Echo.-Dr. Anderson was a representative Protestant Liberal; and
not the least interesting part of the book is a selection from his correspond-
ence with other men of his time, including the names of lIIazzini, Binney,
Guthrie. Macleod,
The Nonconformist.-Dr. Anderson was a man of singular originality,
independence, and moral courage. Mr. Gilfillan's memoir is a rare piece of
biography. It is full of matter that is instinct with life and vigour.
The F,·eeman.-The biography of a vigorous thinker, ami a genial, large-
hearted man. His humour, his insight into character aud truth, his broad
sympathies. his bold utterance-all combined to make him a leader of men.
The JVeeklyReview.-This is in every respect a very fitting and really fine
memorial of one of the best known and best belovedministers in the \Vest of
Scotland during the last half-century, \Villiam Anderson was for half a
century known as the foremost man on every platform consecrated to libertv,
philanthropy. and the Protestant faith. Of the biographer's part we will
merely say that nothing could be more felicitously proportioned or wore
admirably executed.
The llock.-The task has been very satisfactorily performed by ;\Ir.
Gilfillan, and in the present instance he has fully maintained his high posi-
tion as a writer. The volume is full of interesting matter.
Primitive Methodist llfagazine.-Dr. Anderson was a man of great versaril-
ity of talent. Seldom do we take up a biography in which we see" man so
many-sided as he. He was an extensive reader and an independent thinker.
The Preacher's Lant<:rn.-There is a singular charm running throughout
the various chapters which conduct the reader from the commencement to
the close of Dr. Anderson's life. The portraiture is complete.
Leeds MercIlry.-Mr. Gilfillan has told the story of this remarkable man with
the genial sympathy of a close personal friend, and in a very pleasing way.
The Liverpool Post.-Mr. Gilfillan bas done his task well. Dr. Anderson
was the co-worker of some of the greatest men of the last and present
generation. It will be sufficient proof of the fact to say that "t various
periods of his life he was associated in labours of love nnd patriotism with
Chalmers, Irving, Sir D. K. Sandford, O'Connell, Cobden, Geo. Thompson,
Kossuth, Gava.zi, anrl H. W. Beecher,
Bradford Obserrer.- \\' e can recommend the work for its honesty as well
a8 for its interest; for the worth of the subject, and also for that of the
biographer.
DR ANDERS01'o'S WORKS.
Yorkshire Post.-We regard the book as a rich contribution to biographical

Iiterature, and think it well sustains IIIr. Gilfillan's reputation as a writer.
The Daily Review.-Dr. Anderson has fallen into good hands. This life is
admirable, both in conception and in execution. It is rich and varied in
material, well-proportioned, and complete.
The Scotsman. - A very readable book. There is a rim. about the bock
which enforces attention to its contents. A generous spirit pervades it.
Edinburqb. C01l1'ant-The narrative is exceedingly interesting. His pulpit
work and public life are both very fully sketched.
Paisley Gazette.-IIIr. Gilfillan has produced a biography which the general
as well as the denominational reader and private friend will peruse with sus-
tained interest, and gratefully place on the shelf with the best books of the
day. 'Ve are compelled to close our notice, heartily recommending to all
readers this refreshing and graphic biography of the JlIOHt J(llOX -Iike man of
his generation.
The Kelso Clwouidr,-( in the biography, aH a whole. We may n-nnu k that
it is written with uufai ling' tus te und judgrucut
The Bcricickslcirc J-leU'.'i. It is no small praitw to ~1r. (Hllilh~11 to ~IlY Jill
has done his work worthily and well. \Vu thank him {IH' tilt! f.:Tt·nf, servioc
he has here rendered to the memory of the rlliKhty dend; aU11 We Iwar-tily
commend his work to the acceptance of the (:hri.ti,ul public,
Hairirk Adrcrtiscr. -- The biogrupher of Dr. Anderaon had n great work
assigned him, an.l he has performed it with very great f1UCCeS8.
The Stirling OIi."rt'o·.-'1'hat Mr. Gilfillan has given us a capital book is
wllat might have been anticipated, and what every reader will rendi ly admit.
He has executed his work with a grace and beauty and warmth of colouring
peculiarly his own, He has furnished a living portrait of Anderson in alt
the variety of attitudes he occupied, and with a life-like pose in all of them.
Haddinpton Oourier.i-s-Dr, Anderson is sketched to the life; and the book,
like all Mr. Gilfillan's works, is eminently readable.
Dumfries Herald.-The sympathetic biographer has executed his labour
of love wlth his usual broad effect-broad and complete, yet individualised
by those happy strokes of feature which Gilfillan's own poetic insight never
fails to supply.
Ardl'088an Herald.-The work is worthy of the subject-alike in its treat-
ment. its completeness, and in the taste with which it has been produced.
Inrerness Couricr.-Altogether, the work present. us with the picture of
a manly, cheerful, vigorous spirit-a man who did good service in his day,
and whose memory deserves to be cherished by his fellow-countrymen.
Northern En8ign. -It is just such a volume as was required-such a
memorial of Dr. Anderson as does just honour to his memory. The memoir
is a treasure. f
The People's Friend.-'Ve recommend the" Life of Anderson" to the

perusal of all, but specially and earnestly to young men, whom it will
stimulate to set their face as a /tint against the difficulties which lie in the
way of an original, consistent life of noble individualism, and to hold on
their way courageously and perseveringly to the end.
Scottish.Congregationaillfauazine.-Dr. 'William Auderson was a true and
noble man. Ha;ing some of the eccentricity of genius, he had also much of
its power. Consecrated by a living piety, and devoted to the highest
objects, this J'{enius has given him a place in tba~ roll of honoured names
which Scotland will not allow to be forgotten. His character as that of an
original and somewhat eccentric man is well sketched.
Eranoclical Rcpo.,itory.-We conclude by expressing it as our conviction
that, whatever may be the fate of Anderson's writings (and literary immor-
tality is hard to be obtained), his life by Gilfillan will continue .for many
generations to be a favourite volume on the shelves botn of pnvate and
public libraries.
DR ANDERSO~'S WOPoKS.
"PENANCE" AND "THE MASS."

NOTICES OF TIlE EARLY EDITIONS.
PENANCE.
illa~phuil'.~Edinblt?'[lhJoltrnal.-'Ve unhesitatingly award it a place in the
highest rank of controversial writings.
British Banne1'.-The volume is really a valuable one. 'Ve know of
nothing equal to it within the same space.
United Presbyterian llfa[luzine.-Dr. Anderson has done invaluable service
to the cause of Christian liberty and Protestant truth, by the publication of
this outspoken and energetic book.
Evafl!l,licallllayazine.-'Ve very mnch value his work on the Mass. It is
the most practical assault of its kind that has issued from the modern press;
but his volume on Penance -xhibits a still closer acquaintance with .. the
Myste: y of Iniquity," while the argument is sustained and carried home with
a greater variety of power.
The Christia» Journal, -The value of this interesting volume does not
exclusively consist in the thorough Investigution and refuta.tion of the Popish
Doctrine of Penance. It is exceedingly rich in gems of Evangelical Truth.
It is partlcularly so in the exhibition of the doctrine of pardon, and the
ground and mode of a sinner's justification before God.
The Noncon/ormi.,t.-There is a singular originality in it. treatment of a
trite subject, great keenness combined with a strong grasp of the various
topics, and more fresh and powerful thinking than in most, even the best. of
modern theological works. This and Dr. Anderson's former book on Tlte
llrass make up the best contribution of our day to the Popish controversy;
ami place him high among theologians, as an iudependent, clear-sighted,
free, and variously-gifted thinker and writer.
THE MASS.
Rev. Dr. BEGG, Edinburgh, in the Hand Book.-A truly noble performance.
Rev. Dr. YOUNG in the Perthshtre Adt"ertlse1".- 'We know not that there is
a book in the English language, or indeed in any other, which does so much,
in so short a compass, to unmask the Roman apostasy.
Rev. Dr. JOB:;" CAMPBELL in the Christian TVltne"s.-"'e may say with
perfect truth, we possess about two hundred dissertations, scattered through.
out various works upon this subject, but nothing for a moment comparable
to this manifesto of Dr. Anderson.
Rev. Dr. ROBERT VAUGHAN, in the British Qua'rtel'lyReri,w.-Those who
have allY acquaintance with the author. or with his previous publications,
will easily believe us when we pronounce his discussion of the l\Iass to be one
of the most vigorous, well-directed and irresistible assaults ever made on that
citadel of the Apostasy. Throughout, there i. a clearness and force of style,
and an iron-hardness in the pressure of the logical faculty which we feel, as
we read, must be all but irresistible.
Rev. Dr. GEORGEJEFFREY. Glasgow, in his prefatory note to "No Pdests"
-15.000 of which were circulated in 1875.-The tractate is written with
all that remarkable ability, logical acuteness, and precision of diction. which
distinguished Dr. Anderson as a polemic. His zeal for Christ's mediatorial
glory. and his moral indignation against those who would rob Him of his
priestly prerogative, and his people of their God-given rights and liberties,
are heard sounding in every line. Occasionally his moral indignation rises
up to withering scorn, and the argument is like logic on fire. I know
nothing in prillt which gives in shorter compass such a masterly refutation
of all priestly pretensions. The tractate is a clear, scriptural, and convinc-
ing atatement of truth.
Loxnos : BODDER '" STOUGHTON: EIH~Br"Gll: W:II. OLIPHAXT '" CO.;

E1>lNBUROll & GLASGOW: JUliN MEKZIES & CO.;
GLASOOW' PORTEOUS BHOTln;H~.

An Exposure of Popery - William Anderson

Caricato da

Informazioni sul documento

Descrizione originale:

Copyright

Formati disponibili

Condividi questo documento

Condividi o incorpora il documento

Opzioni di condivisione

Hai trovato utile questo documento?

Questo contenuto è inappropriato?

Copyright:

Formati disponibili

An Exposure of Popery - William Anderson

Caricato da

Copyright:

Formati disponibili

AN

PENANCE AND THE MASS.

RE'-. WILLIAM ANDERSON, LL.D ..

WITH AN INTRODUCTIO:<l BY THE REV. JOHN CAIRNS, D.D.,

~t\ll nnb :!ttbil'ltb lfbition.

LOKDON: HODDER & STOUGHTOI\.

I'HI 'TEll BY AfRO AND COOJilLL,

All "If: liiInn.T.

ALESSA N"DRO GAV AZZI,

THE ELOQUENT PREACHER AND PAT(llOTW IHJFORMI';U,

WHOSE EFFORTS IN TIlE C.lUSE OF C1YIi, ANI! REL[(IlOU~

FREEDOM IN ITALY SECURED ~'Ul~ HIM 'I'll I';

ADMIRATION, SY~[PATHY, AND AID OJ,'

THE AUTHOR OF THIS VOLl; "[io::

'QI'hc p r e e e ut 4tl.ehJ ~lliti.olt

THEIR USEFULNESS IN EXPOSING TIlE ERRORS 01' TlU]

E~SL_\ VING SYSTEM OF POPERY, AND PROMOTING TH~]

SPREAD OF CHRISTIAN LIGHT AND [ABERTY,

WORLD SO LONG llA'l'H HOLDEN, AND GREAT PRINCES YET HOLD, IN SO

WHATSOEVJ>R IS NOT GOD, AND YET USURPETH THE NAME, POWER,

AND HONOUR OF GOD; AND ALSO, THAT WE OUGHT BOTH TO )LOCK,

GAI:'!SAY, AND ABHOR ALL RELIGION OBTRUDED ON THE PEOPLE

WITHOUT ASSURANCE OF GOD AND HIS WORD-HAVING NEITHER

RESPECT TO ANTIQUITY, TO MULTITUDE, TO AUTHORITY, NOR ESTDIA-

'rrON OF THEM TIlAT MAINTAIN 'fHE SAM.E."-John Knox.

"ALL CHRISTIANS ARE GOD'S CLERGY."-Archbishop Leiqhton.

IN this volume are reproduced two companion courses

The Lectures on Penance, 88 stated in the Dedication,

It has been well remarked by Mr. Gilfillan, in his " Life

The Lectures having been out of print for about twenty

and which at the present day are occupying 'So much

"ROMA, VIA DI l'ANIEO 43,

"My DEAR SIR,-It shall be a pleasure and an honour

The re-publication of this volume at the present time is

himself in the Preface to the first edition of" The Mass,"

THE PAHDON OF SIN.

THE MERITORIOUS CAUSE OF PARDON-CUBIST'S DEATH,

HISTORY OF THB COUNCIL OF TRENT ON JUSTIFICATION, 42

THE POPISH DOCTRINE-(CONTINUED).

GRACE AND ITS COMMUNICATION.

THE POPISH DOCTRINE-(CONTINUED).

GRACE AND ITS COlUlI'1UNICATION.

E." -The Sacraments.

TUE COUXCIL OF TRENT ON THE SACRAMENTS, 91

B.-The Sacraments-s-i Continued }.

THE MASS: ITS CONSECRATION, 164

THE MAss: ITS OBLATION AS A SACRIFICE, 177

SACRIFICE OF THE CROSS, - 186

TION TO MAN, 194

DECREES AND CANONS OF THE COUNCIL OF TRENT ON SACRA-

THE MASS: ITS COMMUNIOlil BY THE"pEOPLE, 215

"THE MAN OF SIN,"

LECTURE ON 2 THESS. II. 3·11, - - 227

THE GENIUS AND POWER OF POPERY. - 212

There are, indeed, some considerations which at first

and partially carried through-has to some extent with-

Sacraments, have not been the subjects of party contro-

earnestness, and subservient to it; and the reader is

well shown, though the Church of Rome cannot find a

Observe, therefore, that in order to our taking an interest in

Brethren, be it our care to avoid either evil. First, in a matter

was turned against his own interests and happiness, he would no

THE PROTESTANT DOCTRINE.