each other, or for him to bestow eternal rewards upon the professors of such doctrines,—is a thing so evident in itself as to render it superfluous to add another word on the subject. For we have a more sure word of prophecy; and when writing to you, we speak wisdom among them that are perfect; yet not the wisdom of this world, but the wisdom of God in a mystery! It is by this wisdom that we are instructed, and by divine faith we hold one Lord, one faith, one baptism; for there is none other name under heaven given among men, except the name of JESUS CHRIST of Nazareth, whereby we must be saved: wherefore, we also openly profess, that OUT OF THE CHURCH IS NO SALVATION."

BIBLE. On the question of the Bible Society and its operations, the Pope writes:

"What now can be said? The iniquity of our enemies proceeds to such a length, that in addition to the filthy mass of pernicious books, which is of itself prejudicial to religion, they endeavour to convert to the detriment of religion the very Sacred Scriptures themselves, which were bestowed on us by God for the establishment of religion.

"It is no secret to you, venerable Brethren, that a certain society vulgarly called THE BIBLE SOCIETY,' [audaciter vagari] is audaciously dispreading itself through the whole world. After aspersing the traditions of the Holy Fathers, and in opposition to the well-known decree of the Council of Trent, (Session the Fourth, on the publication and use of the Sacred Books) this society has collected all its forces, and directs every means to one object, -to the translation, or rather to the perversion of THE BIBLE into the vernacular languages of all nations! From this fact there is strong ground to fear, lest, as in some instances already known, so likewise in the rest, through a perverse interpretation, there be framed out of the Gospel of CHRIST, a gospel of man, or what is worse, a gospel of the DEVIL.

"For the purpose of averting this pest, several of our predecessors published constitutions; and in these last days, Pius the Seventh, of pious memory, delivered two briefs, &c.

"We likewise, in discharge of our Apostolical functions, exhort you, venerable Brethren, diligently to occupy yourselves by every possible method, to remove your flocks from these deadly and destructive pastures. Reprove, entreat, be instant in season and out of season, in all patience and doctrine, that the faithful under your charge, conforming themselves exactly to the Rules of our Congregation of the Index, may be assuredly persuaded, if the HOLY BIBLE, translated into the vulgar tongue, be GENERALLY PERMITTED without discrimination, more detriment than utility will arise from such a practice, in consequence of men's rashness."

Evidence might easily be multiplied on this question. We have, however, living proof of the actual dominion of this corrupt Church over the consciences of millions of our own countrymen. The case of Ireland appears to be preserved either to illustrate the true spirit of this monstrous form of religion in order that we may be enlightened and convinced, or otherwise to overthrow our Protestantism and freedom. No one that is acquainted with the facts of the case can affirm, that the Irish Papists are free in their church. A state of blacker tyranny does not exist on earth. It is impossible to discover a more deeply injured, afflicted, and enslaved people. From time immemorial, the fashion has been to decry every government and party in

the state, till they found allies of their system in the present; whilst, in truth, the cause of Irish misery is of home growth—it is moral: the despotic hierarchy is the fruitful source. How should it be otherwise? The people are deprived of the right to read the Bible; of questioning the monstrous folly which is palmed upon them as the infallible truth of God; of investigating the foundations of religion; or in any way exercising their reason and judgement. By some talismanic influence, the intellect, conscience, fears, (they have but few hopes or joys) are seized, rivetted, and held fast by Popery. If the English people could be benefitted by a simple narrative of facts, on the grinding despotism exercised over their fellow-subjects in Ireland, it would stand in the place of a volume of arguments in condemnation of this monstrous system. As if to display the perfection of their tyranny, and refute all the beautiful eloquence employed respecting the melting and healing nature of the Emancipation Act, ever since that period, the priesthood have been tightening the chain, so that now the poor people are perfectly inaccessible to the light of the Gospel.

To free the people from this tyranny over their consciences, and invigorate the national mind with a just appreciation of the rights of private judgment, was one of the battles and victories of the Reformation. Neither was this sentiment apprehended, or this right gained, at once. The Protestant Church has been charged with a persecuting spirit. There is some ground for the charge. So long as the relics of Rome hung upon our Protestant profession, and our Church lingered on the confines of her dark dominion, so long imperfect notions of liberty were entertained. But, on the other hand, so soon, as the virus of the old despotism of Rome had worked itself out of the veins of our Protestantism, then we ceased to persecute, and recognized liberty of conscience as one of the unquestionable privileges of mankind.

In case the spirit and claims of Popery prevail again in the nation, it must be to the extreme hazard, and final annihilation, of this precious and invaluable right of private judgenent. Every British subject who may fall into the snare of the Romish Church, becomes the victim and the supporter of despotism, and is consequently a much less valuable member of the empire. The exercise of this power over the conscience works two ways; first, in regard to the Papists themselves, who allow and submit to it; and then, secondly, in relation to those who separate from the Popish Church; in their case, the right of dissent is denied, and they are all denounced as heretics.

The adoption of the claim of the priesthood to exercise an absolute controul over the judgement and conscience of the disciples of Rome, when adopted by large numbers in the State, becomes a precedent of great importance, and so far as it goes, must tend to overthrow one of the most necessary, as well as one of the most ennobling rights of mankind. We hear from Mr. O'Connell and other Papists, loud and blustering speeches on the question of religious liberty. It is quite easy to comprehend the meaning of this; but let us ask, are these gentlemen themselves, and the millions they represent, free? Do they or do they not allow, that, to the Church and to the Church only, belongs the power and right of infallibly and authoritatively settling all controversies and enjoining all articles of faith? Do they or do they not hold, as one of the verities of their religion, and on which their salvation depends, that they themselves are bound to receive, and believe, without any right to examine, or question, the dogmas enforced upon them?

Do they or do they not assent to the doctrine of the Papacy, that the right of private judgement in searching the Scriptures, examining the grounds of religion, the doctrines to be embraced, and the duties to be performed, is a dangerous and a pernicious error, denounced and anathematized by their Popes and Councils? Every one knows that the clamour for religious liberty is an exertion to obtain the advancement of that monstrous hierarchy, one of whose fundamental rules is, the utter denial of the right. Concessions, no doubt, are made by the priesthood to the wealthy, the talented, and the powerful. But as a principle, the rule is enforced with the strictest rigour; and we have the very pleasant circumstance, of millions of men, living in the very heart of the empire, constantly clamouring for their claims, making their support the pivot on which the government of the country turns, and also increasing in numbers, wealth, standing, and influence, one of whose leading, fundamental, and even religious dogmas is, the denial of the rights of conscience and of private judgement, Talk about free institutions! How can these either be originated or secured

unless the mind is free?

The reverse of this dangerous and humiliating doctrine of Rome is one of the leading, glorious, and most essential maxims of Protestantism, viz., the inalienable right of every man to exercise his own free and unbiassed choice in all matters of religion. Surely on this ground all Protestants can unite. It is a sentiment common to them all. Would not the moral and political ascendancy of Popery lead to the utter overthrow of this solid, and as long as it is maintained, impregnable rampart of Protestantisın. How is it, that, whilst civil rights and political power are conferred on Popery by men professing Protestant principles, no pains are taken to raise, at least, a moral barrier against the extension of her pernicious opinions? If legal guards are removed, and this great and powerful body is raised to political equality with all other parties in the State, then certainly it ought to be accompanied by a clear and intelligible line of demarcation, between the tyrannic and pernicious principles of this Church, and the constitutional principles of our common Protestantism. Whilst Papists are yet free from the external restraints of law, and civil penalties from without, let it always be understood by the British public, that amongst themselves they are bound together by a system which annihilates the right of private judgement: that this blessing is denied to us, accompanied by the bitterest anathemas; and that it is intended, amongst other things, by the spread of Popery, to rob us of our individual freedom, by placing our consciences in the safe custody of Mother Church. Milton, one of the earliest and most strenuous asserters of the true principle of liberty of conscience, says :—

"The whole freedom of man consists either in spiritual or civil liberty. As for spiritual, who can be at rest, who can enjoy anything in this world with contentment, who hath not liberty to serve God, and to save his own soul, according to the best light which God hath planted in him to that purpose, by reading of his revealed will, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit? That this is the best pleasing to God, and that the whole Protestant Church allows no Supreme Judge or Rule in matters of religion but the Scriptures; and these to be interpreted by the Scriptures themselves, which necessarily infers liberty of conscience: I have heretofore proved at large in another treatise; and might yet further by the public declarations, confessions, and

E

admonitions of whole Churches and States, obvious in all histories since the Reformation."

LETTER V.

THE last letter related to a basis of union amongst true Protestants, in resisting the encroachments of Popery. In furtherance of the same object, permit me to add :

3. THAT THE INTEGRITY OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES, TOGETHER WITH THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE TO THEIR USE, IS A PRINCIPLE ON WHICH ALL PROTESTANTS MAY UNITE.

Of all the questions at issue betwixt the Popish and the Protestant Churches, this is the most momentous. In fact, it is a dispute for the platform and basis of either system. Popery being built, chiefly on a corruption of the truths of Scripture, or on principles inimical to those truths altogether, is naturally desirous of putting the Bible out of the way, that her dark designs and pernicious dogmas may remain unquestioned by the people. On the other hand, Protestantism being based on the Scriptures only, must be anxious to keep them before the public, not merely as a weapon of opposition to the rival Church, but as the foundation on which she alone claims to rest. To wrest the Bible out of the hands of Protestants, is to disarm them of their shield and spear, leaving them defenceless in the hands of their enemies; whilst, on the other hand, the absence of that blessed book allows Popery to arm herself in the complete panoply of her power.

Moreover, to place the Word of God in the hands of the people has always been considered one of the most noble triumphs of Protestant freedom; whilst to deprive them of that invaluable blessing has been held as one of the worst forms of Popish despotism. Then the contest on this question is a contest of the spirit of liberty against tyranny, not for some national territory, church revenues, state ascendancy, ecclesiastical polity, but for an object infinitely superior to them all,-the book of God's covenant, and the charter of our salvation.

We find, in tracing the progress of the "mystery of iniquity," from its earliest dawn to the perfection of its vile usurpations, that one of its leading objects has always been, either the proscription of the sacred volume, or otherwise, its tolerance to the "faithful" only on the license of the priest. The effect has ever been the entire overthrow of Christian liberty; the reign of superstition in the place of " a pure offering;" the banishment of all evangelical doctrine and sentiment from the Church, and also from the habits of thought and feeling amongst the people; the enforcement of the grinding oppressions of the Papacy on the souls and lives of her disciples; and the consequent dominion of a state of complete mental and moral darkness. On the other hand, the extension of the pure gospel of Christ, has always stood connected with the circulation of the Holy Scriptures. In times of primitive piety, it is well known that the zeal of the Church, and even of private Christians, without the aid of printing, had increased the number of manu

script copies of the Scriptures, in whole or in part, to a prodigious extent. On the revival of primitive Christianity at the period of the Reformation, one of the first and most essential objects was, to give the people the Bible in their vernacular language.

In the midst of his other arduous, gigantic, and dangerous labours, Luther gave his countrymen the Holy Scriptures in the German language. This great achievement awakened the resentinent and persecuting zeal of the Church of Rome, in the same manner as his opposition to the sale of indulgences had done before. Among our own countrymen, Tyndal, one of the first translators of the Bible, and John Frith, his pious companion, after suffering banishment accompanied by the greatest privations, were betrayed, brought to this country as prisoners, and finally suffered martyrdom, for the crime of opening the sealed fountains of eternal truth to their oppressed and benighted countrymen. This, it is known, was the fate of great numbers of private Christians of both sexes, in this and other nations, whose only impiety was the possession of some portion of the Word of God, and conscientious fidelity to its teaching.

These facts are adverted to in order to shew the importance of the question in the opinion of the first disputants. The love of cruelty and blood, surely, could not have been so instinctive to the Church of Rome as to lead her to slaughter myriads of persons of all ranks and ages, for the only fault, alleged or surmised, save their possession and love of the Sacred Scriptures; had not their extirpation been considered an essential and vital matter on other grounds. On the other hand, the confessors and martyrs of those times, surely would not have endured expatriation, poverty and want; the loss of liberty; allowing themselves to be laden with chains and fetters; to be immured in dungeons, the companions of silence, solitude, and sorrow, only to end their miserable existence at the stake; had they not felt that the possession of the Word of God, adherence to its doctrines, and its spread amongst the people, were subjects of greater consideration than even life itself.

This, then, is the aspect in which the question stood in the commencement of this great debate. Have either party changed their position? The scattered opinions of the Church of Rome, as taught by her most celebrated doctors, promulgated by the bulls of individual Popes, and decreed by minor councils, being finally settled by the Council of Trent, it only remains to ascertain whether those decrees have been abrogated, or whether they still remain in force, Or, seeing that the Church of Rome, in consequence of her pretended infallibility, cannot formally rescind any of the articles of a universal council, or any of the bulls of her Popes; it is necessary to inquire whether this ancient doctrine of the Church is permitted to remain a dead letter.

The fair way is to compare, as briefly as possible, the decrees of the Council with the modern opinions and practices of the Papacy, on the subject of the right of the people to possess the Scriptures. The general rules respecting Prohibited Books, adopted by the Council, and afterwards confirmed by the Pope, contain the following provisions :

I. "All books condemned by the supreme pontiffs, at general councils, before the year 1515, and not comprised in the present Index, are nevertheless to be considered as condemned."