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reasons which led to my separation from the Church of Rome. I know you are all able to appreciate whatever is given from an honest heart, and that there are noble faculties within you, albeit they sleep in 'durance vile.' Therefore I do not despair. I hope I will have the pleasure of seeing you all casting away the trammels of Popery, for then, and not till then, will you indeed be free

men.

"In the first place, I deny that a Romish priest has the power to change bread and wine into the body and blood of Jesus Christ in the sacrifice of the mass. My friends, the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was ordained for a continual remembrance, and not for a continual repetition of the sacrifice of the death of Christ; and in proof of this we read, "For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show forth the Lord's death till he come.' (1 Cor. xi. 26.) Now, according to the Creed of Pope Pius IV., there is offered unto God a true, proper propitiation for the sins of the living and the dead; but what does St. Paul say in his Epistle to the Hebrews (chap. x. 11), -that any sacrifice which needed to be offered continually, could never take away sins. He also says that Christ

was once offered to bear the sins of many' (Heb. x. 28); and, by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.' (Heb. ix. 14.) In the first Epistle of Peter, iii. 18, we read that Christ hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God;' and oh! what an insult it must be to him when your priests deny that the one suffering of Christ is sufficient, and endeavour to immolate him every day on their altars. Now, without shedding of blood there is no remission (Heb. ix. 22), and it is clear to all that in the mass there is no shedding of blood, consequently it cannot procure the remission of our sin. I deny the applicability of the word 'sacrifice' prefixed to the mass, except for one reason-that the priest sacrifices his senses and understanding to Mammon, if at the mass he believes that a bit of paste and a goblet of wine, or other mixture, are really and

substantially the body and blood of our Lord.

"I mean to show you, from our Lord's own words, that the wine underwent no change; for, at the Last Supper, when he gave it to his disciples, he said, 'I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father's kingdom.' (Matt. xxvi. 29.) In like manner about the bread, St. Paul calls it three times by that name, after it was received by the people. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show forth the Lord's death till he come. Wherefore, whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.' (1 Cor. xi. 26, 27, 28.) Thus we have the words of Christ and his apostle to counteract the absurd pretensions of Popish priests. Truly, that saying of the prophet Jeremiah is applicable to them: 'Ye have perverted the words of the living God.' (Jer. xxiii. 36.) I have often, while present at the celebration of mass, burned in my heart within, when called upon to bend my head in suppliant adoration to a piece

of bread.

"I now come to image worship. The second commandment forbids the making, much more the homage and adoration paid to images. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.' (Exod. xx. 4.) I well know that ignorant Romanists pay more respect to the crucifix than they do to the Lord himself; while at their devotions they will hold it in their hands, and direct all their thoughts to it alone. Is not that idolatry? Oh, my friends, read the doom that is in store for you: 'Idolaters shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.' (Rev. xxi. 8.) St. Paul, in his First Epistle to the Corinthians, says, 'My dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.' (x. 14.) 'Little children, keep yourselves from idols.' (1 John v. 21.) 'Confounded be all they that serve graven images.' (Psalm xcvii. 7.)

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Their silver saviours, and their saints of gold.

"As to the intercession of the Virgin Mary, I shall offer a few observations, and before I proceed to do so, I shall mention one fact. Romanists adduce the following argument in favour of their reliance on the Virgin. They say that if any person wishes to get a favour from some high personage, he will naturally go to some near friend of his, or hers, to intercede; thus you place your Saviour and a miserable worm in the same light-the being who knows the secrets of your hearts with a person who knows not his own. These are the words of St. Paul, 'There is one Mediator.' (1 Tim. ii. 5.) Ponder on that. If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and he is the propitiation for our sins.' (1 John ii. 1, 2.) 'Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.' (Acts iv. 12.) And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.' (Acts ii. 21.) I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by me.' (John xiv. 6.) These are plain truths which your blind leaders cannot refute. Every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.' (John iii. 20.)

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"The next thing which I now direct your attention to is the confessional; and oh! how my mind shudders at the impious and hellish interrogatories which your priests propound to their infatuated penitents. Were you acquainted with

the questions proposed to married women, I feel confident you would not allow your wives to be tainted with the noxious exhalations which emanate from the confession-box. In the whole of the Bible there is not one text of Scripture which tells us to confess our sins to a priest; and as proof of this, read the following:When Achan sinned, Joshua said to him, My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the Lord God of Israel, and make confession unto him.' (Josh. vii. 19.) I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession.' (Dan. ix. 4.) And when the Jews sinned, Ezra told them, ‘Make confession unto the Lord God of your fathers.' (Ezra x. 10, 11.) To our Heavenly Father we must confess our sins, and not to frail and wicked mortals, for who can forgive sins but God only?' (Mark ii. 7.) "Pardon belongs to God alone;

If we to him our sins confess, He'll send forgiving mercy down, And cleanse us from unrighteous

ness.

"I next proceed to impugn the doctrine of purgatory, which fills the pockets of your priests, who adopt the motto, No money-no paternoster;' and who take upon themselves the onerous duty of leading souls to heaven for silver. The rich man, who is well able to pay them, can purchase an entrance ticket for heaven; but the poor must be content with an inglorious escape. The doctrine of purgatory is at variance with the written word of God, for we there read, 'The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin.' (1 John i. 7.) (1 John i. 7.) Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation.' (John v. 24.) There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.' (Rom. viii. 1.) He that believeth in the Son of God hath everlasting life.' (John iii. 36.) To die is gain.' (Philip. i. 21.) You perceive, therefore, that the doctrine is a mere fable, invented by cunning men for the sake of extracting your money.

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"I hope these few plain, but un

deniable facts, will be the cause of rescuing you from that system of corruption to which you at present unhappily adhere; but I trust in God the mystic spell will be shortly broken, and that Popery will yet become a rara avis' in Ireland. I know very well the danger and difficulty which attend any person who has the boldness to come out of the Romish Church, for life is not safe in the hands of persons whose religion inculcates the lawfulness of killing heretics; and perhaps my addressing you now, might be the cause of making me the victim of some ruthless assassin, when I will have the happiness of again meeting you; but persecution shall never intimidate me from doing what my conscience tells me to be right, in embracing the truths of the Bible. I have sacrificed the friendship of all that is near and dear to me, and injured the health of beloved parents; but I have a solace in that saying of our Redeemer, He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me' (Matt. x. 37), that cheers me in the hour of affliction; and how often on my knees do I thank my God for endowing me with courage to fly from a Church which fetters the understanding of its deluded victims. They have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations.' (Isa. lxvi. 3.) I hope that verse is not applicable to you, and that you will show yourselves obedient to the warning of Christ himself, who says, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues: for her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.' (Rev. xviii. 4, 5.) Ought not that to stimulate you to fly from the Mystery of Iniquity, and to return to the ancient creed which was professed by your fathers-the faith which was professed and taught by your loved St. Patrick? The Popery now-adays is quite a novel religion; it is a twin-sister of the Paganism of old, and if possible worse than it.

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"In conclusion, may God, in his

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THE FRENCH CHURCH IN ST. MARTIN'S-LE-GRAND.

THE following case we print, as it has been sent to us by a correspondent on whose good faith we have every reliance.

The French Protestant Church of London, founded by Royal charter of Edward VI., and, therefore, of considerable antiquity, is an established Church of the country, and is placed under the protection of the Sovereign, and the supervision of the Bishop of London.

The creed of the French Church in

St. Martin's-le-Grand is in accordance with the pure Protestant doctrine of the Reformation, for which our glorious martyrs poured forth their lifeblood, in the adjacent plain of Smithfield. Now, it appears that the preaching of these scriptural doctrines by the esteemed pastors of the Church, Messrs. Martin and Daugars, has had the blessed effect of converting many an unenlightened Romanist from the errors of Popery.

A female convert of this description, of whose name we are in possession, publicly recanted the Romish faith, a few weeks ago, before the congregation of the French Church, and is now received as one of its members. The neophyte has, however, since been taken to task, somewhat severely, by a clergyman of the Protestant Church of England, viz., the Rev. Mr. A., in the Diocese of Winchester, who, in his objurgatory correspondence with the lady, not only vilified the French Church in question, as a heterodox and heretical institution, but—and this constitutes the gravamen of the offence-distinctly assured the convert that the

Church of Rome was the true Church, and that she had acted very wrongfully in deserting it! We quarrel with the opinion of no man; but if the Church of England harbours such men as Mr. A. (who is only unus ex multis aliis)-ministers retaining her emoluments, but secretly betraying her interests-she must inevitably fall upon her foundations. We understand that the conduct of Mr. A. will be exposed to his diocesan, the Bishop of Winchester,* without delay; but that the literæ scripta of the Rev. Gentleman contain far more condemnatory evidence against him than the facts already adduced.-Church and State Gazette.

THE ROMISH PRIESTHOOD OF

IRELAND.

To educate this priesthood-what is it but to perfect an instrument for the restraining and corrupting the education of all the rest of the people? To endow this priesthood-what else would it be but to give them an additional influence and power, to be used always for their own aggrandizement, and the strengthening of their own usurpations? The donation of a Protestant Government would not make them dependant upon that Government; they have sources of wealth in their own superstitions; they draw their vitality, and strike their root, in a far other soil than the crafty munificence of an opponent. They would use the gift as it best pleased them, and defy a Government-anxious only for peace-to withdraw it. No! even if the tranquillity of the empire should require the two Churches to be placed on an equal footing, I still would not endow the Roman Catholic. -Blackwood's Magazine, Feb. 1847.

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visited a convent, told me that she spoke to a nun who had been immured for thirty years. "I cannot describe to you," she said, "how tired, how worn out I am with my hopeless confinement. I would consent to die, to be allowed to return for one year to the world; and I have an ardent desire to mingle, even for one month, with society; but, alas! I cannot escape from my imprisonment."

My informant also said, that in the church of the convent she saw some gentlemen most devoutly crossing themselves; and on remarking their piety afterwards to a friend, "You are mistaken," was the reply; "these pious gentlemen were engaged in making signs to the nuns who were peeping at them through a grating behind the altar."

TAKING THE VEIL.-It is a most painful sight to witness a young and delicate creature, in the very springtime of her existence-the interesting age of fifteen-take the veil; and one is inclined to curse the elders who assist at the ceremony, for lending themselves to such an unnatural rite. Crowned with flowers, and arrayed in a bridal dress, the novice advances in procession into the Church-the bells toll-she is laid down, and covered with a pall, thus dying to the world and all its enjoyments; the hair-the pride of woman -is cut off, the plain habit assumed, and a dull and dreary existence com

mences.

PENANCE.-Early in the morning, ladies may be seen going to the churches to do penance-perhaps consisting of going on their knees round the interior. At certain times, the images of the virgin and saints are carried through the streets, by people barefooted and shrouded in cloaks, and the whiteness of the skin of many of these betrays them to be of the higher orders. But sometimes penance is a complete farce: thus, I heard of one lady who vowed, on recovering from illness, to go from one church to another barefooted. She did so; but it was in full dress, and carried in a sedan-chair.

SIR R. PEEL UPON THE ROMAN nothing would prevent really pious

CATHOLIC RELIGION.

THE following passages are extracted from a speech of Sir R. Peel's, delivered March 6, 1827, in a debate upon the Catholic claims :

"He would own, fairly and candidly, that he entertained a distrust of the Roman Catholic religion. He objected not to the faith of the Catholics; .... it was a matter of utter indifference to him whether or not a party professed the doctrine of transubstantiation; but if there were superadded to that doctrine a scheme of worldly policy of a marked character, he had a right to inquire into its nature, and observe its effect on mankind. Could any man acquainted with the state of the world, doubt for a moment that there was engrafted on the Catholic religion something more than a scheme for promoting mere religion?-that there was in view the furtherance of a means by which man could acquire authority over man? Could he know what the doctrine of absolution, of confession, of indulgences, was, without a suspicion that those doctrines were maintained for the purpose of establishing the power of man over the minds and hearts of men? What was it to him what the source of the power was called, if practically it operated as such? He held in his hand a bull of Pope Pius VII., issued in 1807 to the Catholics of Ireland, granting an indulgence of 300 days from the pains of purgatory to those who should devoutly recite at stated times three short ejaculations, of which the following is the first : Jesus, Maria, Joseph, I offer to you my ardent soul.' The other two ejaculations began with the same sort of invocation. When he saw such a mockery of all religion as this was, resorted to in order to prop up the authority of man over man, when he saw such absurdity as this addressed to rational Catholics, and received by rational Catholics, and published amongst an illiterate and superstitious populace, it was in vain to tell him that such things could be ineffective. Whilst the privilege of free discussion was allowed by law,

persons from doing all in their power to counteract and undermine such influence as was attempted to be exercised over the minds of the multitude. .... He would view the effect of the Catholic religion as it existed in the present day in various countries; in some where it luxuriated in undisputed growth; in some where it was only struggling for supremacy; and in others where it was subordinate to a purer system. Under these different aspects he had contemplated the Catholic religion, and the result of his investigation was, that it was expedient to maintain in this kingdom_the_mild predominance of the Protestant Church.

The

He contended that the consideration of the influence which the Catholic religion exercised on political affairs ought not to be lost sight of. It was the natural desire of every man to promote the religious faith to which he was attached. If Roman Catholics were admitted to Parliament, what could be more natural or just on their parts than to attempt to improve the condition of their religious system, to extend its influence in this country, and to bring it into closer connexion with the Government? consequence of the admission of Catholics to Parliament would be, to bring the Catholic and Protestant religions into collision, in such a way as might lead to the destruction of the latter; and he considered the disorders and confusion which must prevail for ages during the conflict before that event took place, as a greater evil than even that event itself...... Believing, as he did, that the admission of Catholics to Parliament and to offices of State, would endanger the constitution, yet if he were satisfied that such a measure would have the effect of restoring peace and tranquillity to Ireland, he would sacrifice his apprehensions of the ultimate result to the attainment of the present immense benefit. He could not, however, believe that there would be such a consummation.

..... If the friends of the Catholics should propose to make the religion of the great majority the religion of

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