seen a beautiful girl in the course of her noviciate, who, if her story, as we heard it, was true, was, indeed one of the sad examples we have alluded to. "Whereas, the Reformation has never yet produced any such fruits "—God forbid it ever should-If an amiable and innocent young woman enters a cloister, is her punctual performance of set prayers and penances at stated times a greater proof of virtue, and more acceptable to her Creator, than would have been fulfilling her duties as a wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend, had she mingled in all the natural endearments of social life?—Whilst instilling the principles of religion into the minds of her children, are we to be told she would thus be more forgetful of her duty to her God than in the performance of the task enjoined by the rules of her convent?

Whatever might have been the "true saving faith in the days of our forefathers," what is there in a reformation of abuses calculated to decrease the "true saving faith" of ourselves? We think it rather hyperbolical to call Popery a saving faith, which damns all mankind who question her infallibility. That good Christians should have "arrived at the happy port of eternal felicity," whatever their profession of faith, no good Christian, unwarped by the prejudices of education, would deny; but Popish histories of "Kings and Bishops" is no proof of their being there, since the prince and the pauper will a like be judged by his respective merits, for "God is no respecter of persons. That it is

safer" to be in communion with the Church of Rome than in the Church which retains the doctrines of CHRIST only, we deny; -the daily increasing numbers that leave the Romish, to join the Reformed Church, prove that the Gospel, in its dissemination, enlightens as its spreads; and, consequently, strengthens the general dissent to Dr. Challoner's assertion; both he and Pope Pius say, "reason would teach mankind to become Roman Catholics-of such who are thus taught, we think the number but few indeed: but if "reason" can do this, it must first assure us that the doctrines of Christ and those of Popery are not opposed to each other; since, if error is to be held sacred on the score of its antiquity, Ju

R

daism has a prior, and, as we think, a more feasible claim than Popery.

"13. All ancient pretenders to reformation (i. e. all those that ever undertook to alter or amend the church faith) were condemned by the ancient church for heretics, and are acknowledged to have been such by protestants themselves. Therefore there is just reason to apprehend lest protestants walking in the same path may be involved in the same misfortune.

"14. In fine, protestants, to defend the Reformation, condemned in its first appearance by the church guides of divine appointment, are forced to have recourse to a rule of faith, which, if allowed of, would set all, both ancient and modern heretics, out of the reach of church authority. They are forced to appeal to a tribunal, at which it is not possible that any sectary should be condemned. Such a rule, such a tribunal is the scripture, interpreted not by authority of church guides, but by every one's private judgment: for this in effect is making every one's private judgment the supreme judge both of the scripture and of all controversies in religion, and authorizing him to prefer his own whimsies before the judgment of the whole church. Could it be consistent with the wisdom and providence of God to leave his church without some more certain means of deciding controversies and maintaining unity? No, certainly.

"N. B. That in the foregoing sheets, in quoting the scripture, we have followed the common Protestant Bible, for the sake of a great part of our readers that may have been accustomed to it: not designing thereby to declare our approbation of that version, much less to give it the preference to our Catholic, Rhemish, and Doway translations."

It may readily be admitted that all who ever sought to amend the Romish Church Faith have been "condemned " by the Romish Church; nay, not condemned only, but executed also where she had the power of reducing her theory of

extermination to practice. Protestants, however, fear not, now, (thank God!) of being " involved in the same misfortune," since, if the will of immutable "Old Popery" be warm as ever, the power has for ever fled her withering grip. Surely, the last paragraph is written in despair? Why the iteration of "Church guides of Divine appointment," and "heretic Protestants," whilst the only proofs of this Popish divinity must appear to the most superficial observer in an avowed longing to have these "heretics" within the pale of Papal "authority?" The abuse of Protestants, we have already observed, is no proof of the purity of Popery. Protestants are indeed forced to leave all heretics in the hands of their God; the SCRIPTURES force them to this, and it is no less true that they protest against a " condemning Tribunal;" yet, though every Protestant is permitted to walk in the light of Gospel truths, it must not be forgotten that by this means every man is enabled to acquire a knowledge of his duty towards his God, and his duty towards his neighbour; and that upon these two commandments their Saviour tells them," HANG ALL THE LAW, AND THE PROPHETS.' What more necessary to salvation, does Popery profess to teach? Controversy may amuse or distract schoolmen; but he who would seek the pure doctrines of Christ can only learn them from His own word. Let the man who cannot read have the sermon of Christ as He delivered it on the mount, repeated to him until he get it by rote-let him make it the guide of his future life; and we would prefer his state of salvation to that of any Pope who ever slew a heretic, or issued a bull of anathematization. Popish Doctors may term this, our opinion, a "whimsy," perhaps but even Roman ecclesiastical writers show the judgment of the Pope (to whose individual judgment "the whole church" submitted for ages) to have been ever employed in establishing his own temporal power rather than (as "Old Erasmus" said) ❝evincing a solicitude for the honour of Jesus Christ." The blasphemy contained in the last sentence-the taxing the CONSISTENCY of the ALMIGHTY as to his leaving some poor worm of the earth," to decide idle controversies of atoms as fragile, is surely too gross to require further comment:

Dr. Challoner, however, has taken upon himself to decide the question as one more instance of Popish impiety. Certain we are it is neither "consistent nor CHRISTIAN thus to assume an authority of judging "the WISDOM AND PROVIDENCE OF GOD."

And now, without entering upon the mutual exconimunication of Popes, and the innumerable divisions that have ever existed among the different orders of Romish ecclesiastics, we will say a few words upon the oft-repeated term, "Unity," which Papists are taught to believe exists in their Church. The Unity of the Primitive Christians was a unity of faith and mutual love, (although these were formed into respective churches, (as the seven churches of Asia, &c.) The attempt of Papal supremacy broke this unity; it has been shown by what steps Popery ultimately succeeded in her arrogant assumptions, and which, disgusting the whole Christian world, sunk her into her present comparative insignificance. She still, however, asserts her propensity; and as the imprisoned hyæna, shows his teeth through the grate which confines him, her canons, edicts, and decretals, stand unrepealed (the faithful beacon to an enlightened age!), though confined within the dark archives of the Vatican by the Reformation. English Romanists are least of all in the "Unity of their own Church; we are not about to show the causes of this these must be sufficiently obvious, when it is considered that they inhabit a free soil, where every man is tolerated to worship his Creator as is most agreeable to his own

conviction.

Dr. Challoner himself speaks "of the judgment of the whole Church"-had he deemed his Pope to possess the supremacy claimed by his predecessors, the Doctor would not have dared to imagine, much less to assert that "the whole Church" had anything to do with forming a judgment on ecclesiastical matters at all—such reservation being claimed and exercised by the Pope alone, and whom his own clergy found out to be too supreme for them to oppose (as in the case when Gregory VII. forced them into chastity by prohibiting their cohabitation with their own wives). The Romanist must believe in the Unity of his Church, as he must

believe every thing else she says, and (see last new article of the Profession of Faith, p. 17) curse all and everything she commands him to condemn. Among those who ignorantly do this, such a perversion of the sense God has endued them with, is the "Unity" among them:-these, however, should remember that had a similar line of conduct been persevered in, when Christ came into the world, there never would have been a single Christian. Reason, however strenuously her appeal may be denied, still returns upon her opponents even against their will; not one who rejects her admonitions dare avow that he has deserted her-not one who shuns her in his worship, but will assert that she influences him to continue. it. If we be in the truth, Reason (if consulted) will confirm us in it-if in error, she will convince us of it.

Perfect unity of the Spirit is not to be expected in any Church of which the righteous and the unrighteous profess themselves, and are acknowledged to be, its members. Every Christian is a member of the Catholic Church of Christ; but, since the existence of that of Jerusalem, there never was a Catholic Church in the sense applied by Popery to her own, viz., the head and principle of Unity, and mistress of all others; these arrogant pretensions never were, nor ever will be, owned by any other Church. Members of the Church of England believe that it is their duty to live in Christian fellowship with all others, without breaking communion with them, so that nothing declared by the Scriptures to be sinful is required as the condition of it. This Reformed Church pronounces not that her most rebellious children cease to be Christians, whilst they believe in Christ-those who reject His word must answer to himself for their wilful errors; but Protestants are not taught that Papists are not Christians, although the doctrines of Popery are directly opposed to Christianity. "That which is not of faith is sin," says the Apostle; and whatsoever unrepented sins we commit here, we must answer for hereafter: but, if there were not one Christian Church upon earth in communion with another, they would not, on this account, all cease to be Catholic Churches of Christ. Popery, however, extends her communion to those (as we have shown by her own bulls) whom she