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consent or agreement between the temple of God— which all true Christians be—and images, than between righteousness and unrighteousness, between light and darkness, between the faithful and the unfaithful, between Christ and the devil.”

Let us attend to the following wholesome advice given in the XXVIIIth and XXXIIIrd Homilies: -"But to conclude, and make an end, ye shall briefly take this short lesson; wheresoever ye find the spirit of arrogance and pride, the spirit of envy, hatred, contention, cruelty, murder, extortion, &c., assure yourselves that there is the spirit of the devil, and not of God, albeit they pretend outwardly to the world never so much holiness. . . . . Therefore, dearly beloved, according to the good counsel of St. John, believe not every spirit, but first try them whether they be of God or no. Many shall come in my name, saith Christ, and shall transform themselves into angels of light, deceiving—if it be possible— the very elect. They shall come unto you in sheep's clothing, being inwardly cruel and ravening wolves. They shall have an outward show of great holiness and innocency of life, so that ye shall hardly or not at all discern them. But the rule that ye must follow is this, to judge them by their fruits. Which, if they be wicked and naught, then it is impossible that the tree of whom they proceed should be good. Such were all the Popes and Prelates of Rome for the most part; as doth well appear in the story of their lives; and therefore they are worthily accounted among the number of false Prophets, and false Christs, which deceived the world a long while. The Lord of heaven and earth defend us from their tyranny and pride: that they never enter into his vineyard again to the disturbance of his silly poor flock; but that they may be utterly confounded and put to flight in all parts of the world. And he, of his great mercy, so work in all men's hearts, by the mighty power of the Holy Ghost, that the comfortable gospel of his Son Christ may be truly preached, truly received, and truly followed in all places; to the beating down of sin, death, the Pope, the devil, and all the kingdom of

Antichrist." Homily XXVIII., part 2.

..." Wherefore let all good subjects, knowing these the special instruments and ministers of the devil, to the stirring up of all rebellions, avoid and flee them, and the pestilent suggestions of such foreign usurpers, and their adherents, and embrace all obedience to God, and their natural princes and sovereigns, that they may enjoy God's blessings, and their prince's favour, in all peace, quietness, security in this world, and finally attain, through Christ our Saviour, life everlasting in the world to come.” Homily XXXIII., part 5.

The foregoing passages from the Homilies clearly prove that the Church of England does not regard the idolatrous priests of Rome with the Pope at their head, as ministers or ambassadors of Christ, but as emissaries of Satan; their object being to propagate an "ungodly and counterfeit religion" (see Homily V., part 3) throughout the world. Such being the case, can anything be worse, can anything be more disingenuous, than for persons who profess and call themselves members of the Church of England, to foster and encourage such an Antichristian system as Popery? They may attempt to excuse this course by denying its Antichristian character, but honesty and consistency require that they should at the same time, avow their disbelief in the accredited formularies of their own Church. Our leading statesmen would do well to remember that there is one sin which is peculiarly offensive to God, and that is hypocrisy. would be far better to make no profession of attachment to the Church of England, but renounce her communion altogether, than remain within her pale, and advocate the encouragement and endowment of a religion which she repudiates as ungodly and counterfeit, as idolatrous and Antichristian. There is an atrocity in such conduct that deserves to be reprobated in the severest terms. Politicians may deem it expedient to practise such dissimulation, but this shows that their standard of morals is wretchedly low and defective. It is a part of their tactics to play fast and loose with truth, and to sacrifice that truth on the altar of expediency,

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whenever it clashes with their party purposes or ambitious projects. These men entertain very inadequate conceptions of the real character of the Romish priesthood: in order to form a just estimate of that character, we cannot do better than study it, as it is exhibited in the Confessional and the Inquisition: the one being a disgusting sink of impurity; the other a diabolical engine of persecution. Impurity and cruelty usually accompany each other; this is strikingly exemplified in the conduct of the Romish priesthood, as history abundantly testifies.

We will close these remarks in the words of an able riter on the side of truth and Protestantism. The author of the "Protestant" says-"Popery is not Christianity, but the counterfeit of it. It is Antichrist; that is, against Christianity. The priests of that religion are not employed in preaching salvation by free grace, but by the merit of men's own doings: they are not labouring to instruct the people, but to keep them in ignorance; and instead of being like the Apostles, dead to this world, and alive to another, their greatest efforts are directed to the things of this world: how they may extort money from their deluded adherents, and how they may promote the reign of ignorance and error. The propagation of this religion, therefore, and the multiplication of its priests, are evils to be deprecated as much as the introduction of the plague into the country. They are the pests of human society, and wherever they shall obtain a footing, farewell to every social and domestic comfort." "The Protestant," Vol. I., p. 77. Tenth Edition.*

PARLIAMENTARY DIVISIONS.
To the Editor of the Protestant Magazine.

SIR,-I am rejoiced to find any of your readers consider the lists I sent you relative to the Maynooth Bill likely to be serviceable to the Protestant cause; the thought that such may prove to be the case is most agreeable, but I believe there would be

Bishop Burgess speaks in terms of high commendation of "The Protestant," and says "The Author writes with ample knowledge of his subject, with great acuteness of reasoning, and with the force and perspicuity of Wm. Law."

much more difficulty in procuring any accurate list of the Peers who voted, or were absent, on the third reading of the same Bill in the House of Lords, though if such list could be printed there would be found therein, I very much fear, some well-known names associated with Bible and Missionary Societies, and thus the same persons who give their money to send out Bibles and missionaries to Heathen and Roman Catholic lands be found voting for a Bill to encourage the education and training of Popish priests and missionaries, who will be sent forth to take away those very Bibles which they themselves have been instrumental in sending out, or in other words giving money with one hand to sow the good seed of the Word of God, and with the other lending their influence to enable others to sow the destructive weeds of vain tradition. Oh that such would seriously consider the threatening denounced against a well-meaning but ignorant worshipper of old, "Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the Lord? therefore is wrath upon thee from before the Lord." 2 Chron. xix. 2. I was forcibly impressed, a short time ago, with the following passage in reading a memoir of the late Archbishop Magee :-" In 1825, an examination of the Archbishop and of others, on the subject of the tenets of the Roman Catholic religion, took place before a Parliamentary committee. Particular interest was naturally felt respecting his Grace's answers. Two or three peers, who were strongly opposed to him in politics, cross-examined him sharply; but no man was more perfectly qualified to come off successfully on such an occasion. With one short reply he silenced the most talented of those peers-(the late) Lord Holland. His Lordship asked the Archbishop, Does your Grace really think that there is any person capable of holding such a monstrous opinion, as that the Roman Catholic religion is idolatrous?' The Archbishop calmly fixed his eyes on Lord Holland's countenance, and replied, My Lord, some have sworn to The force of the application was striking that a very strong impression was immediately produced on all

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present; and Lord Holland resumed his seat and continued silent during the remainder of the Archbishop's examination."

Let us pray more and more earnestly, as the general election approaches, that God would in mercy be pleased not only to open the eyes of many nominal Protestants, who will no doubt be again returned to Parliament, but also incline the heart of every influential Christian elector to make choice of, and support, only such persons who will, in all likelihood, bring a blessing with their counsels in Parliament, ever remembering that true religion is "an element of the strength of states." Mr. J. E. Gordon's Second Letter on British Protestantism, recently published by the Protestant Association, is very encouraging. May the advice therein given be duly considered and extensively followed! His remark that "Luther did not pass a day without devoting at least three of its best hours in communion with God," reminds me that it has been also said of many other distinguished men, that they spent much time in prayer. Our great lawyer, Sir Edward Coke, was a man of prayer

"Sex horas somno,totidem des legibus æquis, Quatuor orabis, des epulisque duas ; &c." Of Bishop Andrews, also, it is said, that "a great part of five hours was every day spent by him in devotional exercises.". On this subject I might greatly enlarge, but I have, I fear, made my letter too long already, and will therefore only add that I have been led to write it from reading the kind and, to me, pleasing communication of your correspondent, "An Old Protestant," dated March 15, and inserted in your Magazine for this month.

I am, Sir, yours very faithfully, May 4, 1847.

F. G.

EXTINCTION OF PROTEST-
ANTISM.

To the Editor of the Protestant
Magazine.

SIR,-I trust that the fearful times in which we live, and the precedents from Scripture, that females not only may, but ought to do what they can in, and for their country, where the honour of God, and the welfare of

that country are concerned, will plead my excuse for now troubling you. The extraordinary speech of the Earl of Arundel delivered in support of Mr. Watson's Bill, I have seen commented on admirably in different publications, but there is not one that I have seen that notices the fact first, that his Lordship from his family position and connexions cannot be regarded as any other common speaker. Allied to all the first families in the kingdom and one of the oldest in it, descended partly from the ancient Royal family of Spain, every political announcement from that family must have a weight and importance greater than persons whose family ramifications are neither so distinguished nor so ancient. Next, it must be observed, they have ever been undeviatingly loyal to the Papal chair; and on this account, therefore, united with their family position and connexions, they must be objects, not only of peculiar interest, but also of entire confidence at the Vatican; and, therefore, the Earl's late memorable announcement, that Popery was resolved to pursue its onward course till "Protestantism was extinct," must, rightly received, be considered the echo from the Papal chair. No doubt, it was never intended by that implacable foe, that this announcement should be made at this stage of its aggression, but to my mind, there is not the shadow of a doubt, that He who rules the sparrow and the monarch, and who defeated the crafty (but excellent, as to the attainment of the desired end) counsel of Ahithophel, so overruled here, that in an unguarded moment, the Earl foolishly betrayed the ultimate designs of the Рарасу, freely communicated and discussed amongst themselves. No doubt, he now deeply regrets his inconsiderate speech. But blessed be our God and Saviour who so overruled, that his own mouth should condemn him, and reveal those secret thirstings for our destruction, that, questionless, were intended by the Papal hierarchy only for privately encouraging and stimulating the efforts of these vampires to glide on in the darkness, till we had no means of escape. Another fact, I have not seen noticed, contained in the Earl's

speech, is, the unconsciousness with which he associated the sure ruin of London, with its bridge of broken arches, and St. Paul's levelled with the ground, together with the ascendancy of Popery. Here is a graphic picture of the certain result of Popery drawn, not by a Protestant, but by a zealous, and still more, a noble Papist, well versed in history, and who was drawing not to alarm and warn, but only to state a simple fact. And, though he tried afterwards to qualify his speech by pretending to put his expectations of success upon persuasive art, it must be manifest to a child, that persuasion will never break up the arches of London Bridge, nor level St. Paul's with the ground; indeed, there could be no doubt of what was passing really in his own mind on the subject, from his associating with the picture St. Peter's in the ascendant, as contrasted with ruined St. Paul's, and opened his speech with the relation of the destruction of the nations by the Israelites in their way to the promised land, as a type of the Papacy. I beg your pardon for trespassing thus long upon your valuable time. I do not doubt, you will oblige me by viewing this as a confidential communication; and though every word I have said about the Earl's speech, may, if you think it worth while, go forth from end to end of the land, yet my name must remain unknown; for, truly, the generality of Protestants seem to me to be in a state of torpor, resembling infatuation, and I fear they would less regret the loss of their spiritual than temporal advantages, but, perhaps, if made to see, Rome fully intends that the one shall be consequent on the other, they may be somewhat quickened to action. I am, Sir, yours, &c.

MISCELLANEOUS. "How much greediness and appetite of honour and dignity is seen now-adays in clergymen! How run they, nay, almost out of breath, from one benefice to another, from the less to the greater, from the lower to the higher! Who seeth not this, and who seeing sorroweth not? What things seek we now-a-days in the Church but fat benefices and high promotions? And it would be well

if we minded the duties of those when we have them. But he that hath many great benefices minds not the office of any small one. And in these our high promotions, what other things do we harp upon but only our tithes and our rent? We care not how vast our charge of souls be, how many or how great benefices we take, so they be of large value. Our warfare is to pray devoutly, to read and study the Scriptures diligently, to preach the word of God sincerely, to administer the holy sacraments rightly, and to offer sacrifices for the people."

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Farewell to thee, Rome!-tho' in

scarlet attired,

And deck'd, like a bride, in thy jewels of state:

Tho' thy sceptre be own'd, and thy beauty admired,

And senates and monarchs regard thee as great:

Yet I dare not honour that sceptre obtrusive

Nor worship thy Dagon-or deem thee my home;

Thy promises all have prov'd vain and illusive

I'll serve thee no longer-Farewell
to thee, Rome!

S. PHILLIPS DAY.
London, May, 1847.

NOTICES OF BOOKS. Protestant Lectures.-Lecture I., on the Protestant Character of the British Constitution, pp. 24. Lecture II., on the Encroachments of Popery and the Duties of Protestants, pp. 36. Recently delivered by JAMES LORD, of the Inner Temple, Esq., Barrister-atLaw, in the Music Hall, Store-street, Bedford-square, London, on Tuesday evening, April 20, and 27, 1847. J. P. Plumptre, Esq., M.P., in the Chair. Revised from the Notes of the Shorthand Writer. London: Seeley, Burnside, and Co., Fleet-street; W. H. Dalton, Cockspur-street.

THE subjects treated of in these Lectures are of special importance at the present crisis.

Monastic Institutions; their Origin, Progress, Nature, and Tendency. By SAMUEL PHILLIPS DAY, formerly a Religious of the Order of the Presentation; with an Introduction by the Rev. C. H. Minchin, A.M., Dublin. Second Edition. London: Nisbet and Co., Berners-street. Pp. 223.

AT a time like the present, when "the road from Oxford to Rome" is peopled with travellers, anxiously pressing forward to get a glimpse of the idolatrous and doomed city, it is at all events pleasing to discover a counter movement on the part of those who have drunk deeply of Rome's abominations, but whose souls having sickened from the nauseous draught, are led from the corrupt fountain of her traditions to slake their thirst at a purer spring.

The Author of the work before us has endeavoured to stir up Protestant feeling

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upon a subject of grave and momentous interest, namely, the Monastic Institutions, now unhappily increasing in this country, threatening our civil rights, our constitution, and our religion.

We consider Mr. Day's production highly interesting and instructive. It exhibits to us the rank weeds of Popish superstition, and the ripe fruit of Romish growth. The present is a very opportune time for such a publication; for how many are there who cannot believe those weeds to be so rancid, or that fruit to be so bitter to the taste? We are happy to find that the work has passed through a first edition, and trust that the present will meet with similar success.

The Popes painted by themselves.-London: Protestant Association, 11, Exeter Hall. 8vo. pp. 8.

AN interesting, valuable, and important tract, by the Rev. NAPOLEON ROUSSEL, Minister of the French Reformed Church; with ten engravings from medals struck at Rome, to illustrate some of the proceedings of the Church of Rome.

INTELLIGENCE.

DERBY.-The anniversary of the Derby Protestant Association will be held 11th June. Sir Matthew Blakiston, Bart., has consented to preside, and Rev. Hugh Stowell, and Rev. Dr. Foley will address the meeting.

BODMIN. Our friends are stirring here, and have distributed copies of Mr. Gordon's letter on British Protestantism to every elector in the borough, we are informed. We wish other constituencies would do the

same.

TUNBRIDGE.-We hear that it is intended shortly to have Meetings or Lectures here.

ISLINGTON PROTESTANT INSTITUTE.A Lecture was delivered on Thursday Evening, May 13, 1847, in the National School-room, Highbury Vale, by James Lord, Esq., Barrister-at-law. Subject:"The Aggressions of Popery and the Duties of Protestants." The third quarterly Lecture will be delivered on Monday Evening, June 28, in the National School-room, Church-street, by the Rev. Hugh Stowell. Subject:-"Popery in England in the Nineteenth Century, a Warning to Protestants." The Rev. Daniel Wilson, M.A., will take the chair at Seven o'clock. Tickets of admission one shilling.

We have to thank our correspondents for their several communications. Want of space precludes our noticing till next month various works of interest and importance.

LONDON:

Published, UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE PROTESTANT ASSOCIATION, AT 11, EXETER HALL; SEELEY, BURNSIDE, & SEELEY, 54, FLEET-STREET; SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, & CO.; AND R. GROOMBRIDge.

Macintosh, Printer, Great New Street, London.

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