your ruin. It is well that you should tolerate Roman Catholics even as you tolerate Jews, and even idolatry. But mark the difference: the Papists alone are they who seek in return to injure you-Rome urges them to it, nay, makes it a matter of obligation of conscience, to do so. Rome is, therefore, to you an enemy who makes war within your very house; and while she claims all privileges and all indulgences in your house, she will not allow you any in her own. She will not allow you within her walls, nor within any dominion where she rules, even a church wherein to pray in the simple purity of your worship, while she comes and rears in your cities, churches and altars, where, to your peril, acts of idolatry are committed, and the doctrines of Jesus Christ and his apostles are preached against. My brethren, I do not come here to counsel you to repel Rome by force of arms, although being a system purely political, you might well be justified in doing so. I am here to tell you to pray for her; and, since she tries to injure you, I exhort you not to allow yourselves to be taken by surprise. I exhort you to repel her arts with prudence, and to refute her doctrines with all sincerity. Take a Christian revenge on her. Return good for evil, blessing for cursing. While she tries to pervert your ministers, and even, if possible, your bishops, do you try to convert her priests, and, if possible, even the Pope himself. This is the work in which we are engaged. Our mission deals chiefly with the priests of Rome, because on them depends, humanly speaking, the conversion of the people of Italy. I began by writing to the Pope. Two letters of mine to the late, and one to the present Pope, have been printed. I tell the pretended head of the Catholic Church, that we want in Italy a Church of Jesus Christ such as it was at the beginning-not the corrupted one of the middle ages, and such as we now have. I tell him that the Latin Church exists no longer, for the Latin ceased to be a living language four centuries ago, and then the people were separated from their priests. The people are Italian, let the Church, too, be Italian. I tell the Pope that it is his business to put himself at the head of a Reformation, and if he will not, then it is our duty to do it for him; and if he opposes us, then we put him out of our communion. I tell him, that however much we may respect him as the temporal sovereign of our states, we cannot recognise him as the head of the Church. The Church can have no other head but Jesus Christ. All this I have told the Pope in the name of my brethren who have renounced his doctrines. On hearing these things he gave a sigh, as though he pitied my blindness, and then made several attempts, through different persons, to induce me to return to his Latin Church. My brethren, I am full of hope for the conversion of Italy, but I cannot say I have much hope for the Pope, and therefore I don't care about him, but only think of the people whom he deceives. Let us join in this work in a truly Christian spirit of union-in the spirit of prayer and of action. Do you pray for us while we labour for the conversion of our brethren. The Lord will hear your prayers and bless our work, and so we shall together have the consolation of beholding the extension of the kingdom of God, the spread of the faith of Jesus Christ; we shall call them our brethren who now reproach us and persecute us, and with still greater right shall we call God our Father, and Jesus Christ our Lord. A VOICE FROM THE LIVING. "England's protest was England's shield." IT was our melancholy privilege, as well as cur painful duty, some four years ago-under the title of "A Voice from the Dead”—to endeavour to call the attention of our readers to the wide-spread influence of Popery everywhere; and to point them, as we then believed, and still believe, to the great first cause of its advance, where it is most manifest, viz., in our own country. We thus spoke : "We cannot help stating our conviction, that the great cause of all has been but too sadly overlooked, even by those who most clearly see, and most deeply feel, the danger by which we are threatened, as a natural consequence of that advance. We allude to the sin-THE GREAT SINof which the nation was guilty, against GOD, and against itself, when it virtually renounced its Protestant character—a sin, as we believe, mainly consummated by the religionists of that day, who could THEN see no connexion between religion and politics, and who therefore manifested little respect for the obligations by which they were bound-many of them by the most sacred ties-to the Church of these realms. As all we would or could say upon this solemn subject is embodied in the prophetic language of the then Lord Chancellor of England, Lord Eldon, we transcribe two extracts from the speech delivered by his Lordship on the memorable occasion to which we refer; only adding, that we see little cause to wonder at the Church,' so called (self-called), at length denying its Protestantism-the State having set it the example of renouncing hers. We see indeed, or we think we see, in Tractarianism, and in ultra Church principles, only the natural re-action from a forgetfulness of all that constituted the nationality of THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND; and in ALL that has since come upon us—nothing but THE RIGHTEOUS RETRIBUTION OF ALMIGHTY GOD :- "It is my firm, my fixed, and unalterable conviction, that if Roman Catholics are once permitted to take their seats in either House of Parliament, or to legislate for the State, or if they are granted the privilege of possessing the great executive offices of the Constitution, from that day, and that moment, the sun of Great Britain is set.' this hour, as his predecessors did before him, by virtue, and in consequence, of peculiar religious opinions. The present line was called there on these grounds. How, then, can religion and politics be so widely dissevered in this country? Was not the descent of the house of Stuart interrupted in order that no Roman Catholic should be seated on the throne of these realms? Are not Roman Catholics excluded from the Commons House of Parliament by the Oath of Supremacy, and have not persons of that persuasion been subsequently excluded from seats in the Upper House? By these acts the Constitution was sealed-the union between Church and State was thus preserved -it is, according to the present Constitution of the country, an union intimate and indissoluble as that between man and wife. If we abandon this principle, we abandon the Constitution itself." " If these things be so-if we have not been walking in error and delusion for the last 300 years; if the names of "Protestant" and "Reformed Religion" ever meant anything; how loud is the call upon us to pause and consider how far it is possible for us to retrace our downward steps. At all events, how incumbent is it upon all who are now "in authority," whether in Church or State, to do what may be done to "strengthen the things which remain," and to counteract the evil we have to deplore-by the sound and scriptural education of the young-by providing ample means of grace for the population of the country, according to the doctrines of the Reformation, and, above all, in accordance with the ritual of OUR SCRIPTURAL CHURCH! 66 Thus much ALL may do. Every member of the Church, in his vocation and ministry," can pray (as they are taught) to the Great Orderer and Disposer of all things, both in heaven and in earth" to inspire continually the universal Church with the spirit of truth, unity, and concord; and beseech him to grant that all they that do confess his holy name may agree in the truth of his holy Word, and live in unity and godly love." They can beseech him also to save and defend our Christian Queen, VICTORIA-her Consort, Prince AlbertAlbert, the Prince of Wales—and all the Royal Family; that under her and them we may be, both now and hereafter, godly and quietly governed; and to grant unto her whole Council, and to all that are put in authority under her, that they may truly and indifferently minister justice, to the punishment of wickedness and vice, and to the maintenance of God's true religion and virtue. They can pray to him to give grace to all bishops and curates, that they may, both by their life and doctrine, set forth GOD'S TRUE AND LIVELY WORD, and rightly and duly administer his holy sacraments. Finally, they can pray that all God's people may be imbued with heavenly grace; that with meek heart and due reverence, they may hear and receive God's holy Word: truly serving him in holiness and righteousness all the days of their life, and so far "deliver their own souls by their righteousness, as saith the Lord God." (Ezek. xiv.) -Cheltenham Journal. OATH OF SUPREMACY. A CASE of great delicacy, and of no less importance, is likely to offer itself at the assembling of Parliament. More than one or two Noble Lords have expressed their doubts as to the safety of taking the Oath of Supremacy in the actual state of the law as illustrated by the practice of the Executive. By the Oath of Supremacy, Protestant Peers and Protestant Members of the House of Commons are requested to swear "that the Pope hath not power, authority, jurisdiction, or superiority, ecclesiastical or spiritual, within these realms." This oath must be sworn by every Protestant Peer and Member of the House of Commons, and, being Protestants, they will of course swear by law they are required to do) cording to the common meaning and acceptation of the words, without equivocation or mental reservation." Now, the question is, can any Protestant unequivocally deny, upon his oath, that the Pope "has any power, authority, or jurisdiction within this 66 (as ас realm ?" While the power of the Pope and his delegates was exercised in defiance of law and in contempt of the authority of the Crown, men taking the oath might satisfy their consciences by the consideration, that what is not done lawfully may be regarded as not done, and even this was a plea approaching to casuistry: but how can any one now solemnly swear that the Pope has no power, authority, or superiority in this realm, when the law recognises his ecclesiastical appointments, and the Executive admits his titles of nobility? In the Act commonly called the Charitable Bequests Act, 7 and 8 Victoria, chap. 97, sections 15, 17, and 18, recognise archbishops and bishops in holy orders of the Church of Rome as such; section 2 of the same Act empowers the Queen in Council to appoint ten Commissioners. This power the Queen exercises by appointing, under her sign manual, among others, Archbishop Murray, as such archbishop (which is plainly a recognition of the Pope's authority), and places this Archbishop Murray, in order of precedence, above the Earl of Donoughmore, as plain a recognition of the Pope's superiority. But this is not a mere barren concession, which might be regarded as a slip in the copy of the instrument bearing Her Majesty's sign manual, for the Earl of Clarendon excuses his addressing the Romanist bishops as "My Lords," by the terms of the Act referred to, and by the precedence given to an archbishop of the Pope's creation before an earl of the creation of the Sovereign of these countries. The activity, as well as the existence of the " 'power, authority, or jurisdiction, and superiority" of the See of Rome "in this realm," is further illustrated by the late triumph given to Mr. Archbishop M'Hale in the matter of the provincial colleges. By the Pope's command, suggested by M'Hale, Dr. Murray has been compelled to withdraw from his seat at the Education Board. Now, what conscientious man, with these facts before him, can safely swear that the Pope has no power, authority, jurisdiction, or superiority in this realm? We pre scribe to no man's conscience, but we confess ourselves, that we should long hesitate before taking the Oath of Supremacy under such circumstances. We can assure our readers that this is not a crotchet of our raising; on the other hand, many noblemen and Members of the New House of Commons have been for some time meditating on the difficulty with anxiety. -Standard. PROTESTANT MEETING AT DERBY. To the Editor of the Morning Herald. SIR,-I was happy to read the account of the recent meeting at Derby in your outspeaking journal. It is cheering to find that the eyes of the community are generally beginning to open to the wide spread conspiracy of Papists, Jesuits of all descriptions, and others, who are incessantly at work in every Proteus shape to pull down the bulwarks of our Constitution, and with them our independence as a people. The ingenuous confession of some of the speakers does them credit, however we may lament that there should have been occasion for it. The first Parliamentary Session will, I trust, show who have been the authors, and who have been the dupes of schemers, which have well-nigh brought the nation to bankruptcy, and are now attempting to subjugate us once more to Popish thraldom. Amongst the various speakers who so ably delivered their sentiments, I was instructed as well as much amused with the speech of Mr. Lord, to whom Protestants in this country owe an incalculable debt, for his steady, manful, and almost single-handed defence of their best interests. The two red lions, Sir Robert and Lord John, will not be soon forgotten. Their joint endeavours to exalt the Searlet Lady are drawing to a close. The exploits of Robin Hood and Little John, in this unnatural warfare, are about to meet with their deserts from the roused indignation of an insulted and injured people. The sentiments of the whole set have been clearly developed by the unequivocal, and to Protestants, timely speeches of Lord Arundel, Mr. Macaulay, and others, too numerous, alas, to mention. Let all zealous Protestants be up and doing in their various walks of life, unless they are prepared to submit to the tender mercies of a vulgar, remorseless, ambitious, and sensual priesthood. I am, Mr. Editor, yours, &c. MISCELLANEOUS. ROMAN CATHOLICS IN PARLIAMENT. -“The admission of Papists into Parliament is contrary to the fundamental laws of our Protestant Constitution in Church and State-is contrary to our religion-is contrary to that oath which every Member of Parliament has sworn-is contrary to the commission by which his Majesty from time to time summons the Legislature to consult for the defence of the Church, as well as of the State of England."-Bishop of Salisbury. "This measure does not merely affect the feelings and the character -I say it touches the title of the King!"-Mr. Michael Thomas Sad ler. "It is with the utmost reluctance that I break in upon the Act of Settlement of 1688.”—Mr. Peel. POPERY FOSTERED WILL PROVE THE BANE OF ENGLAND." My fellow-countrymen, do you believe the Bible to be the Word of God? Do you indeed believe it? Shall the men of Nineveh rise up in the judgment with you, and condemn you? Your protest is your shield. Oh, that you were wise, that you understood this! How should one of you chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight! Neither Papist at home, nor Russian, French, or Turk abroad, nor all combined, could hurt you. But break your protest, and a feather shall upset you! Some son or daughter of Belial shall receive a commission from your righteous God to lay a trap for you; and you shall be snared, and taken, and broken. Behold, I have told you, before it come to pass, that when it is come to pass ye may believe."-The Rev. Hugh M Neile's "England's Protest is England's Shield," published February, 1829. CABINET. "WHEN we are called upon to believe, we must not consult with vain philosophy. Though in the mystery of redemption there is a depth of wisdom, thy line, oh reason, is too short to sound its bottom. Reason, especially in its depraved state, may not unfitly be compared to the patriarch's ass, which stayed at the foot of the hill, but ascended not with Isaac to the sacrifice. It is the province of faith alone to ascend this hill of the Lord, and comprehend the love of God which passeth knowledge." Yet vengeance cometh,-sure, though slow, And he shall drink the cup of woe! The rites ye seek on us to force, Till Christ, to your eternal shame, Disowns the Church that bears his name. Yes, Rome! desertion shall repay Thy usurpation! He who gave Thy light, that light shall bear away, Till thou art but a Church's grave: While darkness thickens year by year, Around thy blackening hemisphere! Yes! Mistress of the cringing slave! Though now earth's spiritual sun, Thou'lt bear the name the Prophet gave, "Harlot of blood-drunk Babylon!" And meet the doom foretold for thee, Flung like a mill-stone in the sea! Hosanna! Earth no more shall groan 'Neath Superstition's iron reign; No more her million victims moan Upon the torturing bed of pain: Hosanna! purer Gospel light, Dispels Rome's hovering shades of night!* REVIEWS. Lectures for the Times; or, an Exposition of Tridentine and Tractarian Popery. By the Rev. JOHN CUMMING, D.D., Minister of the Scottish National Church, Crown-court, Little Russell-street, Covent-garden. London: Thomas Brooks, Publisher, 8, Baker-street. 1845. 8vo., pp. 532. THESE Lectures had a very extensive circulation in a separate form, and have since been collected into one volume. In his Preface, the Rev. Doctor has a remark which must, we think, have |