this principle in order to favour and assist the false and idolatrous Church of Rome. "That your petitioners firmly believe that any grants of public money to Romish schools would be extremely prejudicial to the interests of Christianity, and totally repugnant to the Christian principles of the British Constitution; and, therefore, your petitioners earnestly entreat your Honourable House not to allow or sanction them. "And your petitioners will ever pray," &c., &c., &c. 3d. Petition against Diplomatic Relations with Rome. "That your petitioners have observed, with deep concern and alarm, a disposition on the part of Her Majesty's Government to open diplomatic relations with the Court and See of Rome. "They, therefore, beg leave humbly to represent to your Honourable House, that since all communion with that See is expressly prohibited by the law of the land, as enacted at the settlement of our Protestant Constitution, and as your petitioners conceive that any step of this kind would be sinful and impolitic, dangerous to the interests of our holy religion, to the rights of the Crown, and to the peace and safety of the empire; They therefore implore your Honourable House not to sanction or permit any intercourse or communion whatever with the Court and See of Rome. "And your petitioners will ever pray," &c., &c., &c. ADMIRAL LORD EXMOUTH ON THE STATE OF IRELAND. To the Editor of the Protestant Magazine. SIR,-In the "Life of Admiral Viscount Exmouth," by Edward Osler, Esq., published in 1835, your readers would find (chap. v., p. 130) some most suitable and admirable remarks upon the state of Ireland, and the utter inutility of concession to the Church of Rome. Lord Exmouth was remarkable for a sound penetrating judgment, plain English common sense; and that common sense enhanced and improved by a very general acquaintance with men and countries of all climes, and of various forms of political government. The opinion, therefore, of such a man, is by no means to be contemned. It was Lord Exmouth's very decided opinion that the Emancipation (so called) of the Roman Catholics, and the admission of any of their number into the British House of Commons, would never satisfy Ireland, or procure quiet and safety in that unhappy country. "Ascendancy," this great man said, "is their object. You may postpone, and by loss of character parry the evil for a short space, but not long, depend upon it. You and I may not see it, but our children will, and be obliged to meet the struggle man to man, which we may now shirk. By GoD alone can we be saved from such consequences; may he shed his power and grace upon us as a nation!" Was not this quotation almost prophetic, and do we not live to witness its proof and truthfulness? "Securities" were named, which would accompany the proposed concessions. "Securities!" ex claimed Lord Exmouth, "it is all nonsense; I never yet could see them, and I never shall." This was said ere the nineteenth century commenced: its demonstration in 1847 is as clear as the unclouded sun. Our refuge must be in GoD, and in the power and grace which Lord Exmouth besought for his country and his times, and conjointly with this, we must still protest against concessions to the Romish system. Wishing you much success in your labours, I remain most truly yours, A REVIEW OF MARTIN LUTHER'S VIEWS COMPARED WITH THE ROMANISTS', ON CLOISTER VOWS, CELIBACY, POVERTY AND OBEDIENCE TO THE RULE OF THEIR ORDER, AND DISPENSATIONS. ARRANGED BY REV. C. SMYTII, B.A., OXON., FROM HIS GERMAN TREATISES," 1847. (Continued from page 349.) IN refutation of the dry and fanatical praises of the claustral life, the Reformer gives a short account of St. Anthony, the Thebaic hermit, and his conference with a poor shoemaker who lived at Alexandria. St. Anthony once upon a time wished to ascertain who was to be his companion in sharing with him a happy eternity. This hermit had conceived excessive satisfaction with himself, in consequence of his life spent in solitude, privation, and prayer. It was intimated to Anthony in a dream, that there lived a poor tradesman destined to be his partner in future bliss, whom he would find at Alexandria; the saint desired an immediate interview with this individual, and, of course, expected to find him possessed of the most exalted acquirements in the ascetic life. St. Anthony found him working at his trade to support his wife and family, and thus accosted him :-" I am sure, my friend, that you lead a most spiritual life; tell me then, I implore you, what you do, and what you eat, what you drink, how and how often you pray, how you spend the whole night,—is it not in vigils and orisons ?" “No, indeed," said the mechanic, "but every morning and evening I thank the Almighty for his gracious protection, for all his daily care and tenderness. I implore him to forgive me all my sins for Jesus Christ's sake. After that I beseech him most humbly to govern me with his Holy Spirit, and to deliver me from all temptation. And when I have ended my prayers, I begin to work upon my leather, to earn a maintenance for myself and family. This is all that I do, and I watch against committing aught that may wound my conscience." No sooner had the saintly Anthony heard this account, than his wonder was only equalled by his conviction, that his self-invented austerities and corporeal chastisements were real service done to God; and that the Christian world should never embrace his past practices. And Luther properly remarks, that this grace to see his errors, and to confess them, and to warn others against their adoption, was not vouchsafed to St. Anthony alone, or for his own happiness and security; but that it was intended to prove no a warning to all posterity, and to persuade the Church of Christ never to seek and expect eternal life from self-righteous rules and inventions, but rather to trust entirely to the mercy of the Almighty, and to the grace of Jesus Christ for ever and ever! St. But this was not a sufficient foundation for St. Hilarion. Jerome informs us that Hilarion tasted no bread for forty years, and drank nothing but water till his seventieth year. All this abstinence appeared marvellous and most meritorious in the eyes of the multitude, whilst Luther most strongly disapproves of such fanciful holiness, which found countenance in the legends and lives of the saints, and he contrasts with these pretensions the sanctity of Christ and Paul. He asks why we do not follow the latter? Why we do not adopt their rule of life? Because we may be quite sure, that if we follow the example of Christ and obey his rules, we shall please the Father of Mercies far more than Carthusian friars, though they never eat meat once after their profession. And why do they hold to abstinence? Ah, a holy man has given such a rule! But is this a sufficient answer? "Let them boast of their own marvellous works, and laugh at ours," says Luther, "and vaunt with full mouths of distant pilgrimages and adventures like saint-errants, what does it all amount to, when compared with the real holiness of an Abraham, and the Baptist's preaching repentance? And who are their authorities, and what are Francis and Dominic when placed beside the Patriarchs?" (To be continued.) THE ADDRESS OF THE REV. Formerly a Romish Priest, Superior of a Which he read at Cheltenham, as well as elsewhere; and which was delivered with much emphasis and feeling, was as follows: DEAR BRETHREN,-I come before you in the name of God, of his dear Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom be honour and glory and power, for ever and ever. Amen. You have already heard of me, and how the Lord has shown mercy to me. But a few years ago I was immersed in darkness, and blinded in mind a few years ago I worshipped the wafer as God, and believed myself able to offer an expiatory sacrifice for the sins of the living and of the dead, as a propitiation for the people before God. Such is the belief, such is the idea of a priest of the Church of Rome. And not only was this my unhappy state, but it was also my business and occupation to teach these false doctrines to others. I not only believed in Popery myself, but I have been the means of making others live in that idolatrous communion. But the Lord has opened my eyes, and sent the heavenly light of truth into my heart; and this light I am bound to spread amongst my brethren, to show them the danger in which they are living. Shall I tell you how the Lord enlightened my own soul? It was reading and studying the holy Scriptures, and the comparing them with the doctrines of Rome. The first doubt that led me to investigate the most absurd dogma of Transubstantiation was, in fact, the first ray of light that flashed across my darkened mind, and showed me the crooked and dangerous path in which I was standing. I did not pause in my investigation, but followed it on, and, in doing so, I merely yielded to the impulses of that Divine grace which wrought my conversion. I can say with St. Paul, that "I have not received the Gospel from men, but from God." Now this Gospel must not be hidden. The light of God must not be put under a bushel, but on a candlestick,-I am a debtor to my brethren of that mercy which God has shown me. I must proclaim the Gospel to them. I must preach to them Christ Jesus and him crucified. I am an Italian—a Roman—and there where I have taught error, there must I carry the truth. You know, however, that the truth of the Gospel cannot be preached in Rome, nor spoken, nor written; and therefore have I left my country for a free land where I may speak and write the truth, none making me afraid. Malta is the spot I have chosen for the evangelization of Italy. Its position and constant intercourse with other lands, render it a great point for operations. From thence we can introduce into Italy, Bibles, tracts, and all that we need. Italians arrive in Malta every day. The island itself is Italian in language, manners, and, above all, in religion. It is, therefore, in every respect, a good station for our Mission; but from thence the work must be carried round the Mediterranean,-wherever the Italian language is spoken and intercourse with Italy exists. The island of Corsica is in the same position as Malta, as far as language and vicinity to Italy is concerned. In Switzerland too, we have the Cantons of the Grisons and of the Ticino-where Italian is spoken under free Governments. All these are points of interest to our Mission, and, with the help of God, we propose to occupy them all; and, great as the undertaking is, if we commence it in the name of the Lord, and follow on in his strength, we shall succeed. But, I am asked, why dwell so much on Italy? Are there not other lands that need the Gospel? I answer, Yes, and willingly would we see it preached throughout the world; but Italy is the field to which we Italians are called, and for Italy we must labour. And not only because we are Italians, but because we believe that while no land needs the Gospel more than Italy, her conversion would have a marked and startling interest for all Christendom, and would be attended by results of the greatest magnitude. any The religious condition of Italy is more deplorable than that of Heathen land, India or China. In Heathen lands the poor idolaters worship statues and images of their pretended deities. In Rome they worship statues and images of saints, who are to the Papists so many deities. Now, amongst Heathen idolaters, no one believes that the statue or the picture is an actual God, but merely a symbol or representation,— the Papist believes that a piece of bread is God-they worship it as God, and pray to it as God. In no part of the world does a religion exist which teaches that a man is infallible, as Rome does the Pope; nor that requires its followers to open out every secret weakness of their souls to a fellow-man deputed to hear the confession, but this is done in Rome; and imprisonment awaits the man who does not comply at least once in the year. Am I not, therefore, right in saying that the religion of Rome is worse than that of many Heathen lands? But some one will say to me, that certainly there are Christians in Rome? I reply, that faith in Christ, and the pure doctrine revealed by him, is that alone which makes a man a Christian; and that this pure doc.trine Rome has marred and mutilated in every single point, by a practice and doctrine directly opposed to the teaching of holy Scripture. Therefore do they forbid the people to read the Bible, and therefore do they cry out against Protestants for printing it in the vulgar tongue, and giving it to read to whomsoever will freely. You know as well as I do that Popery is not Christianity; but a political system, opposed to the most holy religion of Jesus Christ. The Papists of Italy, therefore, are not, and ought not to be called Christians, but rather, enemies and opposers of Christianity. But, thanks be to God, all in Italy are not Papists; no! nor all in Rome itself. I can assure you, that there is a religious awakening in Italy at the present moment, amongst all classes beginning with the clergy; they already see the falsehood of their system, and are seeking for some way to get out of it. These are the men that need help, and I say this from my own experience. It is no easy thing to give up country, family, and friends, and every earthly endearing tie, to give up the very means of subsistence; yet this is what the Romish priest must do who would abjure his errors, and follow the pure truths of Christianity; his very first step must be to leave Italy, where the laws, more or less severe under the different Governments, no longer permit him to live; and, therefore, it is that the Committee of the Malta Protestant College have resolved to provide an asylum for such priests in St. Julian's College, at Malta. Some have already arrived-others await my return to come and join themselves to us. Together we shall study the holy Scriptures and the saving truths of religion, both for our own profit and for the instruction of our brethren. From that College the missionary agents of the Italian Church will go forth; having first established itself in Malta, it will extend and surround Italy, and we look to God to enable us to carry it into the bosom of Italy itself. The College of Malta will be a seminary whence the Gospel of Christ will be preached far and wide; and let me extend my views and look into the future, closely linked as it is with the present time. The position of Malta affords means to act on the Eastern as well as the Western Church, and to originate a mighty movement in both the fallen Churches. The project is vast, but it is worthy of you. On your assistance now depends the fulfilment of a plan projected at the very first establishment of the College. From the very first it was called a Missionary College, and we have now arrived at the real commencement of the work. I return to Malta in a few weeks; my companions await me; our mission is actually on foot; Rome already cries out, calling us seducers, the very name that Jesus Christ was called by. They say that we have been seduced; why, true enough—just as the apos tles were seduced by their heavenly Master. A series of publications are being printed at Rome against "The Indicatore," a journal published in Malta for the defence of the true religion. In the very first issue of these publications, they call us senseless fools for seeking to draw Roman Catholics to the Reformed religion of England: while on every side Anglican Protestants are renouncing the Reformation, and becoming Roman Catholics. A great noise is made at Rome about those of the school of Dr. Pusey who have joined the Romish sect, and they especially talk of about a hundred and fifty of your ministers, and others, having within a few short months declared themselves Roman Catholics. And, with these arms in their hand, they taunt us, and tell us, we are too few in number to make up for the daily losses of the Anglican Church. I told you, dear brethren, that the false religion of Rome was worse than that of the Heathen, and see how much evil it inflicts on you. It creates discord amongst the people, and confusion in the Government. It has had a mighty influence in your recent elections, and God only knows what the consequence will be. On one hand Rome laughs at you, and on the other insults you. She tries every means to injure you. In England alone, Rome has eight bishops, and a multitude of churches and ministers; and besides this, a mission of Jesuits, who introduce themselves into houses, gaining over men and women, and sow on every side the seeds of Romish doctrines. And what is the result? You see it too plainly a general tendency towards Romanism, which, beginning with some of your ministers, goes down and down, descending to the very lowest classes. The doctrines of Rome are preached from your pulpits, and are taught by Professors in your Universities. Do not, my dear friends, be offended if a Roman tells you these things, and even reproves you for a fault which has hitherto wrought you much evil, and may one day prove |