powerful pathos, and turns upon the miraculous recovery of a girl in the last stage of a rápid consumption, by means of the interces> sion of her confessor before Our Lady of the Assumption. While such early lessons are addressed to the middle and higher classes, we may perhaps account for the prevalent belief among the lower orders that a loaf of bread, which is blessed by the priest on the morning after All Saints' Day, is a preservative against the bite of a mad dog during the ensuing year: but what is to be said of a christian minister who would encourage such absurdity? Yet, so it is; and even in the capital of the Belgian kingdom, which boasts of a high degree of civilization, and is becoming one of the first marts of European litera ture, all the hot rolls are marched off for priestly benediction, on the 2d of November yearly. Your humble servant is accordingly proof against tous les chiens enragés for a year to come. Another important part of the Romish service is in like manner almost exclusively observed by the female portion of the worshippers. Seldom is a man seen to enter the confessionals with which the aisles of the churches are lined from one end to the other; though women are seen in them continually. Even among the higher classes, it is not unusual to observe young girls whispering their confession to their favourite priests; and the reflecting mind naturally reverts to the thousand sorrows which this confidence may engender in families. Indeed, many fathers of families would fain break through this degrading ceremony, to which they never submit themselves; and it not unfrequently happens, among the humbler classes, that a man will die in his hovel in the midst of penury and pain, rather than resort to the hospital, where he would be exposed to the searching inquisitiveness of the priests. It may here be remarked, by the way, that very little respect is paid to the dead; except in cases where very large sums are paid for the celebration of masses, which are then accompanied with all the vanity of pomp and parade. Persons, even in the middle ranks, are placed in plain coffins, without any shroud, and buried with but little ceremony; and the poor are carried at night, in mere boxes, almost unattended, to the grave. To compensate, however, for the services of the church, it is the custom for a relative to visit the new-made tomb, cover it with fresh flowers, and for days together repair thither to offer a silent prayer for the departed soul. It is curious, and even affecting, to witness the scene which their cemeteries constantly exhibit, of mourners kneeling on the spot where a parent or a child has been lately deposited; but this duty also, in ninety-nine instances out a hundred, is performed by a woman. With respect to the order of divine service, it is so totally different in different dioceses, that it is impossible to state precisely what it is. According to strict usage, it consists of eight parts; namely, Matins, Laudes, Prime, Tierce, Sexte, None, Vespers, and Complies. In very few churches, however, is this order observed, if indeed in any. Sermons, properly so called, are preached only in Lent, and at certain appointed seasons, except in large towns or in cathedrals; but there is usually a Prone, so called because it is delivered by the Curé, walking up and down the nave, which in Greek is Proneos. The service of the day concludes with the salut, or benediction; to which vast crowds are usually attracted by the vocal and instrumental music which accompanies it. Indeed, it is astonishing how small a portion of the Catholic worship consists in prayer. Concerts of music, into which overtures and lively pieces are frequently introduced, though totally at variance with the solemnity of the place or occasion, are found to be more attractive and it is not unusual to advertise some favourite service on high days and holy days. Perhaps, however, the sort of addresses which are made to the Virgin, and other holy saints and martyrs, are calculated to do more harm even than martial airs, or national melodies. The following chant, in honour of the Virgin, is one of the least offensive. A series of articles on the churches of the continent, including occasional notices of the Romish worship and discipline, may probably be acceptable to the readers of the CHRISTIAN REMEMBRANCER; and in the course of them, other such specimens of papal idolatry will occasionally be submitted to their view. In the mean time, the manner in which the second commandment is, as it were, struck out of the Decalogue, and the lacuna supplied by splitting the tenth into two, is well known, and truly it is somewhat at variance with such effusions as the above. To remove this commandment out of the 20th chapter of Exodus was not very easy; but the method by which it is kept out of the sight of the laity, who are forbidden to peruse the sacred volume, is well illustrated by the subjoined metrical version of Les Commandemens de Dieu en vers. 1 Un seul Dieu tu adoreras 6 Luxurieux point ne seras, De corps, ni de consentement. 7 Le bien d'autrui tu ne prendras, Ni retiendras sciemment. 8 Faux témoignage ne diras, Ni mentiras aucunement. 9 La femme ne convoiteras, De ton prochain charnellement. 10 Ses bien tu ne desireras, Pour les avoir injustement. Subjoined to these distichs are the following, which are considered as at least equally authoritative, and are virtually more so : Les Commandemens de l'Eglise. 1 Les Fêtes tu sanctifieras, A tout le moins une fois l'an. 4 Ton Créateur tu recevras From the specimens above cited, it is not, however, to be concluded that there is an equal degree of levity throughout the Roman Catholic Liturgy. It is lamentably true that prayer bears no prominent part in the service as performed in most of the churches; but there are, nevertheless, some beautiful forms in their mass-books. With a translation of one of these this communication may well conclude. It has been attributed to the pious and amiable Prince Eugene, and has been heretofore partially translated, or rather imitated, in English. It cannot be unacceptable in a more perfect form. A CHRISTIAN'S UNIVERSAL PRAYER. I believe in thee, O my God, because thou art the Truth itself; do thou increase my faith :-I hope in thee, because thou art merciful and faithful; do thou confirm my hope : I love thee, because thou art infi nitely good; do thou inspire my love with greater ardour:-I repent of my sins, because they outrage thy divine perfections; do thou assist my repentance. As my first beginning, I adore thee ; as my last end, I long for thee as my constant Benefactor, I praise thee; as my almighty Protector, I pray unto thee. Be graciously pleased, O Lord, to guide me by thy wisdom, to restrain me by thy justice, to comfort me by thy mercy, to protect me by thy power. To thee I devote all my thoughts, that thou mayest be ever in my mind; my words, that my mouth may ever speak of thee; my actions, that thou mayest order them aright; and my sufferings, that I may look forward to their termination with patience. I will what thou willest, O God, because it is thy will; not would I will otherwise than as thou willest. Enlighten, I beseech thee, my understanding, inflame my will, purify my body, sanctify my soul. Give me grace to repent of my past sins, to resist temptafions, to subdue my vicious inclinations; and to practise the virtues of a christian life. Inspire my breast with admiration of thy divine perfections, with hatred of all my evil ways, with love for my neighbour, and contempt for the world. Dispose me to submit myself reverently to my betters, to help and succour my inferiors, to oblige my friends, and to forgive mine enemies. Enable me to subdue lust by mortification, covetousness with liberality, anger by meekness, and lukewarmness by zcal. Endue me, O my God, with prudence in all my undertakings, with courage in danger, with patience in adversity, and with humility in prosperity. Make me attentive in my devotions, temperate in my diet, punctual in my duty, and immovable in all good resolutions. Grant that I may be irreproachable as regards myself, courteous and kind to other men, edifying in my conversation, and upright in my conduct. Make me diligent in curbing my natural corruption, in furthering thy grace, in keeping thy commandments, and in working out my salvation. Unfold to me, O Lord, the vanity of the world, the value of heavenly things, the shortness of time, and the duration of eternity. Teach me to prepare myself for death, and to dread thy judgments, that I may escape the torments of hell, and obtain the blessedness of heaven. Grant, O my God, repentance to sinners, support to the just, peace to those who live on earth, and eternal happiness to those who die in the faith of thy dear Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. ON THE IMMEDIATE PROSPECTS OF THE CHURCH, AND THE CONSEQUENT DUTIES OF CHURCHMEN. RAPID is the progress which has been made towards the eradication of religion in the United Kingdom since the suicidal bill of 1829! and beyond all that was anticipated by the most confident alarmists! Yet the stages of the disease have been so numerous, and the public mind so artfully prepared to expect them, that the country seems, comparatively, to receive with little surprise proceedings from which, seven years only ago, it would have revolted with horror, nay, would have pronounced impossible. We say, comparatively; because the recent elections and the amount of the subscriptions for the Irish clergy prove that the proceedings of the antichristian administration are not regarded with apathy by the respectability of the country. But still, is it sufficiently considered, at what a state we are really arrived? When, at the time of the fatal popish bill, we, and others who thought with us, ventured to hint that popish persecution, even to the death, would be the result, with what ridicule we were met! How were we reminded of the "intellect" of the generation, opposed to us! As to persecution, personal violence on account of the faith, who could suppose it possible, in these enlightened days? The Catharines and the Maries, the Guises and the Bonners, belonged to illiberal times, departed for ever. Popery was now guided by the philanthropy of an O'Connell, and the tolerance of an O'Hale. We did not surrender to this cogent reasoning our conviction of what would take place in the end; but we were not prepared to expect the commencement of direct persecution within seven years. But what is now the state of Ireland? Wherever popery prevails, there is the Protestant Clergyman literally PERSECUTED TO THE DEATH. Starvation, as the easiest method to the persecutor, and the least open to the extremes of legal penalty, and possibly, as not the least painful to the wretched victim, is the plan most generally adopted. Except for the christian beneficence of British Churchmen, the blood of thousands of exemplary men, educated with the most acute sensibilities, thousands of affectionate and delicate women, thousands of innocent and defenceless children, would have been crying from the ground against an unprincipled government. They have not starved-not all-but it is not because they have been' defended by the depositaries of justice-no-for them they might have fed the eagles and the crows;-PRIVATE COMPASSION has supplied what the magistrate not only has refused to defend, but proclaimed his intention to betray. Starvation, however, does not always comport with the eagerness of popish malignity. The steel, the bullet, and the flame, are occasionally called in to aid the pious work; and it is matter of fact that an insurance cannot be effected on the life of an Irish clergyman, without an express stipulation that the policy be void in the event of his MURDER !* In what then does the present situation of the Irish clergy differ from that of their unfortunate fellow-Christians in the reign of the merciless Mary? The only assignable difference is, that persecution is now against the law, whereas then it was only the execution of the law. But this difference becomes in reality nothing when the law is permitted to sleep-when its violators are told that they may proceed with impunity, and when they are allowed to pursue their own course to its full extent in the open day. The truth is, and we wish our countrymen to feel it, that there is now going on a popish persecution in Ireland, under the conduct of the government. We say, under its conduct; for this must be the case, unless the govern ment pleases to confess itself too weak to uphold the law. True, the rejection of Lord Melbourne's Spoliation Bill by the House of Lords may be unpalateable to him; but if the government cannot carry its measures by the instrumentality of the legislature, and does not choose to resign, it is not at liberty to carry them with pike and musket. Either the government is strong enough to maintain the law, or it is not; it is therefore self-convicted of treason or incapacity. Be the law good or bad, the same law protects both tithes and rents; and if it be not supported in its protection of one description of property, it will be soon found too weak to defend any other. At any rate, it is the law; and none questions that, in a free state, it is the duty of a government to administer and vindicate the laws, and that a contraryTM conduct is evidence conclusive of impotence or treachery. The sum of the matter is this; there is a popish persecution în As this assertion involves so horrible a state of facts as scarcely to be credited, we present our readers with a document which will PROVE it. Many more might be adduced, but this one is quite sufficient for its purpose. Copy of a letter from George Farren, Esq. president Director of the Asylum Life Office, to M. Mortimer, Esq. of Waterford : "Asylum Foreign and Domestic Life Office, 70, Cornhill, and; 5, Waterloo Place, London, 31st Dec, 1835. "DEAR SIR,-This proposal may be completed; the payment will be 111. 7s. 3d. premium, and 11. stamp. The policy will except death by POPULAR VIOLENCE or ASSASSINATION; a clause which the Company now ALWAYS introduces in policies on THE LIVES OF Protestant CLERGY IN IRELAND. "I am, Sir, your obedient servant, "To M. Mortimer, Esq. Waterford.N VOL. XVIII. NO. II. P GEORGE FARREN, Resident Director." |