directly, within this realm. But, as it is undeniable, that different popes, in former ages, have pronounced sentence of deposition against certain cotemporary princes, and, as great numbers of theologians have held, (though not as a matter of faith,) that they had a right to do so, it seems proper, by way of mitigating the odium which Dr. Porteus and other Protestants raise against them, on this head, to state the grounds on which the pontiffs acted, and the divines reasoned, in this business. Heretofore, the kingdoms, principalities, and states, composing the Latin church, when they were all of the same religion, formed, as it were, one Christian republic, of which the pope was the accredited head. Now, as mankind have been sensible, at all times, that the duty of civil allegiance and submission cannot extend beyond a certain point, and that they ought not to surrender their property, lives, and morality, to be sported with by a Nero or a Heliogabalus; instead of deciding the nice point for themselves, when resistance becomes lawful, they thought it right to be guided by their chief pastor." Letter XLVI. page 131. Here Dr. Milner admits that an odium attaches to the papal administration; and that so far from being able to remove, he can only mitigate it. And his mitigation consists in admitting the fact, that the pope exercised authority over all Christian states; and that for the express purpose "of deciding the nice point," when subjects should rebel against their sovereigns. And this must always have been when the thing was agreeable to the pope himself, and when sovereigns refused to be subject to him; as in the case of king John, and Henry VIII., and queen Elizabeth. It is true, Dr. Milner confines his admission to the case of such sovereigns as Nero and Heliogabalus; but he has no right to do so, for the pope is the sole judge; and Dr. Milner knows, that in the esteem of the pope, a heretical prince is infinitely more hateful than a Nero. Whenever, therefore, Papists shall become powerful enough, for the purpose, in this kingdom, the pope will "decide the nice point" when they shall throw off a Protestant and bring in a popish sovereign. A sentence or two farther on, indeed, Dr. Milner tells us, that "since Christendom has been disturbed by a variety of religions, this power of the pontiff has been generally withdrawn." This is to quiet our fears in the mean time; for it was never fully withdrawn; and this power was never disclaimed by the pope himself, so that we may expect he will resume the exercise of it whenever an occasion offers.

The reader will readily perceive a striking contrast between the pope, even according to Dr. Milner's partial representation of him, and the Apostle Peter, from whom he pretends to derive his authority. It was in the reign of Nero, and such as he, that Peter and Paul commanded every soul to be subject to the higher powers; and to pray for kings and all in authority: but the pope sets himself above all sovereigns, and makes it his business to "decide the nice point" when subjects shall no longer obey, but rebel!

Yet it seems it is not the faith of the church that the pope possesses temporal sovereignty, because Jesus Christ did not claim this when on earth. Does Dr. Milner then really believe, or wish us to believe, that the conduct and claims of the pope are regulated by those of Jesus Christ? His words imply no less than this impudent mockery of his readers, whom he must take to be no better than beasts of burden, else

he would not venture to insult them by insinuating such a palpable falsehood, a falsehood detected by his own words in the same paragraph. Christ declined being a judge or a divider among men, in their temporal affairs; but according to Dr. Milner's own account, the pope was the accredited head of kingdoms; and that "the kings and princes themselves acknowledged this right in the pope, and frequently applied to him to make use of his indirect temporal power, as appears in numerous instances."

Dr. Milner has another quibble, in the words of the oath, which, he says, Papists in this country swear; that is, that the pope has not any civil jurisdiction, power, &c. within this realm. We know very well that he has not, and we do not require to be informed of the fact by them. But whom are we to thank for this? Our noble ancestors, who threw off the yoke, which their degenerate children are labouring to rivet on again. Papists will not swear that the pope ought not to have any civil authority in this kingdom; and if they did, no man would believe them in earnest.

CHAPTER CCIV.

REASON OF SOME APPARENTLY DEATH-BED CONVERSIONS TO POPERY. POSSIBILITY OF SALVATION IN THE CHURCH OF ROME ADMITTED. AFFIDAVIT OF REV. JAMES DALY, GIVING AN ACCOUNT OF A FORCIBLE ATTEMPT TO PROSELYTE A DYING MAN.

SATURDAY, June 8th, 1822.

DR. MILNER, like most other popish writers, repeats the silly boast of the Duke of Brunswick, that many Protestants, in the prospect of death, seek to be reconciled to the church of Rome; but that he never knew an instance of a Papist, in these circumstances, desiring to die a Protestant. I do not know whether this is true or not; but supposing it to be true, it proves nothing in favour of popery, which, like every other system, ought to rest upon its own merits, and not upon what either dying or living men think of it. Both may be under a great delusion; and that multitudes both living and dying are so, is too evident to admit of reasonable doubt. A deceived heart has turned men aside from the love of God and obedience to him; and when they receive not the love of the truth that they may be saved, but have pleasure in unrighteousness, he sends them strong delusion; that is, he leaves them to the influence of those errors and vices which they have chosen, and from which they refuse to be reclaimed. This delusion consists in their believing a lie, which was the cause of the fall and ruin of our whole race; and which is now the cause, and the sole cause, why all those to whom the gospel comes are not saved by it; for their believing a lie is stated as the same thing as their not believing the truth, or not receiving the love of the truth that they might be saved. 2 Thes. ii. 10 -12. The condemnation of such, is represented as proceeding upon this ground alone; because their not receiving the truth, is a positive rejection of that salvation which God in infinite mercy provided for our fallen race; and those who will not accept of deliverance from the guilt and punishment of their sins in this way, shall never find another way.

Thus, in strong and decisive language, Christ himself declares the truth of the case: "For God sent his Son into the world, not to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." But Christ never proposed to save any man against his will, or any man who continued to dishonour God by disbelieving the word of his Son. Therefore, he continues,-" He that believeth on him is not condemned; but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men have loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil." John iii. 17-19. Their loving darkness rather than light, is the same thing as their preferring the devil's lie to God's truth; and the reason is, the lie allows them to live in sin, while the truth would turn them from it. Their deeds are evil;-they have pleasure in unrighteousness; therefore, they hate the truth that is holy in its nature, and which produces holiness in all that embrace it.

It is the devil's old and original lie by which he still deceives the world, for it is doubtful if he could ever make another equal to it, and while he gets the world to continue to believe it, there is scarcely another necessary for his purpose. It was, though you disobey God, ye shall not surely die; and it is now, though you live in sin, ye shall not surely die; that is, ye shall not perish for ever;-by some means or other, you shall escape condemnation; and if you cannot find a way of escape for yourself, the church will do it for you;—the priest will absolve you at the hour of death;-and though you should go to purgatory for a time, he will, for a stipulated price, insure your ultimate and safe arrival in heaven. This, I confess, has the appearance of placing the subject in a light horribly ludicrous. But it is horribly There is nothing exaggerated in this view of the character of popery; and not one feature of the picture distorted.

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In his concluding letter, Dr. Milner introduces some great Protestant names, as admitting "that salvation may be found in the communion of the original Catholic church: but no divine of this church," says he, consistently with her characteristical unity, and the constant doctrine of the holy fathers and of scripture itself, as I have elsewhere demonstrated, can allow that salvation is to be found out of this communion; except in the case of invincible ignorance." Page 197. I never knew before that salvation was to be found any where by invincible ignorance. This, I believe, is the highest commendation of ignorance that ever was penned, for the advantage of possessing it must be immense, seeing it is the only faculty by which salvation can be found, without submitting to the intolerable bondage of Rome! Who would ever desire to acquire knowledge after this?

But my design in quoting this passage is, to show how the church of Rome glories in that which ought to be her shame; that is, her stern, exclusive, sectarian spirit. It is to her narrow pale that Dr. Milner applies the words "original Catholic church;" though he knows that Protestant divines attach a very different meaning to the words. But admitting them in his sense, few Protestants, I suppose, will deny the possibility of salvation to men in communion with the church of Rome. For my part, I believe that salvation is not only possible but certain to every man in that and every other church, who believes in

Christ, and turns from sin to holiness; and I doubt not this has taken place in numerous instances, by means of some part of the word of God, read or heard by individuals in communion with the church of Rome, notwithstanding the monstrous corruption of that church, and her extensively organized opposition to the truth. The Lord knoweth them that are his every where, and as he preserved a few Jews in Babylon from the rage of their enemies, so he can preserve alive the souls that trust in him even in antichristian Babylon. The very command,— "Come out of her, my people,"—which is as much in force as ever, implies that some of the Lord's people may still be in her, and that they are where they ought not to be. Such persons are saved, not because they are in the church of Rome, but in spite of it, through the abounding mercy of our God and Saviour.

But, instead of imitating the Christian charity of Protestants, who believe that persons in the church of Rome may be saved, Dr. Milner, and I suppose all Papists, triumph in maintaining the principle that there is no possibility of being saved out of her communion, except in the case of invincible ignorance, which of itself makes salvation impossible; for ignorance cannot be called invincible, till knowledge has been presented, and rejected; and then it incurs, on its own account, the condemnation of not receiving the truth.

But this exclusion from salvation of all who are out of the church of Rome is not all, nor even the worst of the system. The more dangerous and destructive principle is, that all who are within that church shall certainly be saved, in virtue of their being there, and their participating of her rites, whatever may be their personal character. To teach that a man will be saved in virtue of his belonging to any church, without being personally united to Christ by faith, and renewed by his Spirit, is to encourage presumption and immorality. This was the error of the carnal Jews, who thought all was well because Abraham was their father, and they were of the stock of Israel, which was the true church at the time. But as Paul told them afterwards, "He is not a Jew who is one outwardly" only; so he is not a Christian who is merely one outwardly; that is, who has no more than an external visible relation to a Christian church, though it were as holy as that of Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." This means a new creation to holiness by the Spirit of God, and a turning away from sin. But the church of Rome teaches, that being in her communion, and receiving her sacraments, makes salvation perfectly secure. Thus persons who will not forsake their sins are flattered with the delusive hope that they shall be saved: and supposing it to be true that many Protestants, in the prospect of death, seek to be reconciled to the church of Rome, this is enough to account for it. Wherever the Protestant religion is established, or generally prevalent, there will be found many who assume the name, and pass for Protestants, who live very wicked lives; and in consequence, they feel themselves miserable in the prospect of death and judgment. If they would apply to Christ even in the last hour, he would not cast them out; but such persons have no distinct apprehension of the gospel plan of salvation; and what is worse, they have no heart to it. They will not submit to the righteousness of God, and embrace the truth which brings, as the free gift of infinite mercy, sal

vation from sin, as well as from its punishment. It is not salvation from sin that they want; they desire only exemption from punishment; and this is what the gospel does not promise, without salvation from sin itself; that is, without sanctification-a new heart, and a new life. Such persons as I am speaking of, cannot endure this; but their misery may be increasing; they turn away from the word of God, for they find it is all against them; but the church of Rome presents a remedy which she assures them is of sovereign efficacy. It is, Be reconciled to the church. Her baptism will most certainly regenerate you. Her sacraments are effectual means of salvation. Her priests will absolve you from your sins. At the hour of death they will anoint you with holy oil; and give you a passport from this world to the next, which will make your salvation absolutely certain. The priests are so sure of this, that they pledge their own salvation upon it, as the duke of Brunswick says they did to him, and promised to take his damnation on themselves, if he should be damned. See his Fifty Reasons, Chap. L. Now it is by no means wonderful, that persons who reject the salvation of the gospel, and who cannot part with their sins, should be left, in righteous judgment, to believe this lie. They lay hold of it, as drowning persons do of a straw. Thus their conscience is pacified. They attend to every prescribed form, and observe all the rites of the church, expecting that by these they shall be saved, while living in sin, with their hearts at enmity against God. The delusion is so fascinating, that, instead of being surprised that some carnally minded Protestants should embrace it, the surprise is that there are so few.

I shall illustrate these things by an example of recent occurrence, which shows how closely the priests lie in wait to get dying Protestants reconciled to the church, which they maintain insures their salvation, though so ill as to be unconscious of what is done. The statement which is given upon oath has been published in some of the Irish newspapers.

The following are the affidavits which the Rev. Warden Daly has found it necessary to publish, in justification of his own character, which was so insidiously and grossly attacked; and to prove to the world of what description the spirit of modern popery is.

County of the Town of Galway, to wit:-James Daly, of the Town of Galway, clerk, maketh oath and saith, that he has been eleven years and upwards warden of the collegiate church of St. Nicholas, in said town; that during the whole of that time he has known Bartholomew Halliday to be a member of the established church, and as long as he was able, a constant attendant at divine service, and the Supper of the Lord. That about three years ago the said Halliday received a hurt which confined him entirely to his room; that during the latter period he was regularly attended by deponent as a minister, and regularly received the sacrament at his own request, along with Thomas Blakely, a friend of his; that in many of these occasions he did repeatedly, impressively, and with considerable agitation, supplicate deponent to prevent him from being tormented in his dying moments by a Roman Catholic priest; that having been visited by deponent about ten days before his death, he said to deponent, "Oh sir, I wish I was out of this place?" giving deponent to understand that he was surrounded with bigots, and would not be allowed to die in peace; that VOL. II.-81