imposed on the people? Has she not devised seven sacraments, when there are but two? And has she not denied the cup to the laity, when the Corinthian church was directed both to eat the bread and drink the cup?* And has she not invented traditions as contrary to Christ in the Gospel, as more direct idolatry is to the honour of God in the Law? and does she not virtually teach that, in the sacred Scriptures, God has given a defective rule, and will be pleased with that which he has not commanded? If such a system as this be not a lie, there is no truth in our world. And yet you are taught to believe that there is no salvation except within the pale of that church; thus substituting the belonging to that church for the belonging to Christ. All we ask of our Roman Catholic friends, is diligently to search the Scriptures, and then judge of their own church by that remarkable passage with which they close: "If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life." Wonder not, then, but give us credit for our Christian love, and best wishes for your happiness, when we say, "Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues." May it please thee, O Lord, to grant unto them which be in error the light of thy truth, and to hasten its final victory over every delusion. 2. To the professors of the Protestant faith. Whilst I congratulate you in being rescued from tyrannic power, false doctrines, and delusive hopes; in being possessed of the right of private judgment, and liberty of conscience; in having the consolatory doctrines of Revelation perpetually before your eyes; § and in thus being provided with every thing essential to peace of mind, purity of conduct, and victory over the last enemy; let me exhort you to take warning by the Church of Rome. * 1 Cor. xi. 25-28. + Rev. xxii. 18, 19. Rev. xviii. 4 § John iii. 14-17; Acts xiii. 38, 39; Rom. iii. 24-26; Rom. v.; Titus iii. 4-7. "Thou standest by faith; be not high minded, but fear: behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: toward them which fell severity, but toward thee goodness, if thou continue in his goodness; otherwise thou also shalt be cut off." If with all your peculiar advantages there be a disregard for truth; and much more, if there be a determined rejection of it, "take heed, lest he also spare not thee." Alas! how many are there, who, while boasting of their freedom from priestly dominion, are still the slaves of error, and trust in their own righteousness! How many are there who indulge an antipathy to holiness, in which, so much of the criminality of error lies! And how many have even renounced the authority of revealed truth, and believed the lie of infidelity! Whilst there are others who are satisfied to be ignorant, and seek their happiness in the things of time and sense, and regard this world as a substance, rather than as a fleeting shadow, and so believe that lie. The father of lies has many methods of deluding the human race: beware therefore, ye professors of the Protestant faith, with the Bible in your hands; lest ye "neglect so great salvation," and perish with aggravated guilt. Be it known unto you also, that it is a principle of the Divine government to punish a neglect of truth, and a rejection of truth, with that delivering up, that desertion, that judicial permission of eircumstances and events, by which mén come under strong delusion, and actually believe a lie. In addressing those Protestants who have "received the love of the truth," and who rejoice in the holy and gracious character of God as exhibited in Christ Jesus our Lord: I would say, out of love impart the knowledge of it, and in the same spirit endeavour to propagate it. Let others see your regard for it by your zeal to promote it. But let them see that it is love, and love alone, which actuates you. You have "believed the love that God hath to you;" then show that love to others. You have experienced the patience of God towards you; then exercise patience towards others. You have found how kindly he has borne with your infirmities; then bear with the infirmities of your neighbours. Attempt to convince them of their errors, and faithfully to reprove their sins, but do it in love; and sooner or later they shall bless you. God grant to all who profess and call themselves Christians an earnest desire to know the truth; a hearty reception of it in love; a growing experience of its suitableness and power; and a final enjoyment of it in the kingdom of our Lord. And may his word have free course and be glorified, till He who was the Truth, and bare witness to the truth of his salvation and kingdom, shall come to destroy the man of sin, and establish his rule of righteousness among the children of men. 1 ON THE PRACTICAL TENDENCY OF POPERY. BY THE REV. J. W. CUNNINGHAM, M.A. MATT. xii. 33.-The tree is known by its fruit. SOME of those who are fully prepared to admit the doctrinal errors of Popery, are disposed, nevertheless, to consider the disputes of Papists and Protestants as not of vital importance. And the ground of this opinion is, that, whatever be the theoretical difference, the practical result of these and of all other systems of religion, is, in their estimation, much the same. Let either Popery or Protestantism have its free course, and it is conceived that the civil, political, and perhaps even moral consequences, will not be materially different. Now, Christian brethren, suppose the point, for the sake of argument, conceded (which, however, never can be conceded), that error is not to be resisted as error, whatever be its apparent or real results; and that Popery is to be tried only by its practical consequences; can its influence be considered as of a merely negative or harmless character? Is it to be regarded merely as the meteor, flashing its threatening light over the landscape for a moment, and then vanishing away; or, as really "shaking pestilence" and ruin upon every spot which it visits? Is it a libel upon Popery to say, that no reasonable hope can be entertained of the welfare of any country, or individual, where its tenets are fully and cordially embraced? The object of the present discourse is to endeavour, in dependence upon the Divine blessing, to reply to these questions. But it is impossible to enter upon this undertaking without a deep sense of its difficulty. In the first place, who has not felt the almost insuperable difficulty of so tracing events to their real causes, as to assign to each what properly belongs to it? Who, also, has not found, that events, which appear to us to rise in the natural order of cause and effect, are often the mere result of what may be termed accident? Who, again, has not discovered, that, where the practical tendency of any principle or system is to be ascertained by its influence upon human beings, the irregularities of the mind are such, as to produce in different individuals the most opposite results from the same causes? Such being the perplexities of the question before us, how earnestly ought we to labour, in the conduct of the argument, to "maintain a conscience void of offence;" and to cultivate a spirit of candour and integrity! How earnestly, above all, should we implore the assistance of that blessed Spirit who can alone "guide us into all truth;" that so we may neither extenuate what is wrong, nor asperse what is right; that we may not give to preudice the authority of truth, nor imagine those evils. which we do not find; and, finally, that we may judge a system by which the destiny of so many millions is to be decided, as we believe it will be judged at the great day of account. In thus estimating the PRACTICAL TENDENCIES OF POPERY, it will be my wish to notice its influence, I. UPON LIBERTY." II. UPON LITERATURE. I. In the first place, we are to consider ITS INFLUENCE UPON LIBERTY. Nor let this question be considered as foreign to the place in which I stand, or the office which I am called to discharge. By the term liberty, I do not here mean simply freedom, civil and political, precious as these possessions must, be considered; but that species of liberty which may exist even amidst the severest bodily or political bondage. I mean, liberty of mind, of heart, of conscience; freedom to canvass, to judge, to decide, to act, upon all the great subjects of thought, feeling, and practice, connected with time and eternity. As to this |