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HERETICS.-Not forbidden to say they are damned.

44

'Blaspheme when they say priests
cannot forgive sins.
Persecuted by kings when those
kings become Christians.
"Christ abhors any that allow and

consent to them.

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These are but a few extracts from the Index; and it only goes to the tenth chapter of the Gospel of St. Matthew. "It was said, again, that Dens' was in Latin; this is written in plain English. It was said that Dens' was a Look confined to the priests; this is carefully distributed among the people. Dens merely lays down the law, the principle; but this enkindles all the evil passions of the heart. Dens describes crimes in a merely dry didactic form; this book stimulates to their perpetration. Dens merely dressed Satan as an angel of gh; this book invests Satan with the power of Jehovah-places him upon the Throne of God-raises him up into the Tery heights of heaven, not to pour, as in the Word of Life, mercies on mankind, bat to pour down his blasphemousthe deafening applause which followed prevented the reporter catching the conclusion of the sentence.) What must be the principles and feelings of the poor, unfortunate, ignorant men, who are taught lo receive such doctrines as the infallible andard of eternal truth? Who is there haean think of the poor Roman Catho, without thinking of them as a ChrisLan with anguish of heart, when religion made the very minister of crime, when

science is inverted, and taught to conder that as virtue which God has deneed with everlasting judgment? I as found fault with for saying, that he crimes perpetrated in the midnight arkness by the assassin, were discussed the sober morning conferences of the priests. I retract that assertion-only

to re-affirm it-not modified, weakened, but doubled, trebled, with tenfold force and power. I say the crimes perpetrated, the deeds of darkness committed, by my poor, unhappy, ignorant countrymen, are taught them as the infallible, unerring will of God, in that Bible. The oath that is taken by the unfortunate Whitefoot and Ribbonmen, who fall victims to their country's justice, to bathe their hands in the blood of their Protestant neighbours, is only carrying into practical effect the infernal comments upon the book on which he swears. This is a fact. It is not in the power of human talent to disprove it; and no man of common feelings, conscience, or even of common judgment, will deny that it is cause enough to account for all the crimes that are committed by the deluded peasantry of Ireland.

"If ever cause produced effect, who can doubt the effect produced by this Bible? What must be the private instructions of men who dare to print documents like these? What must be whispered in the ear, when this is printed upon paper? May God, of the riches of his mercy, open the hearts of men and show them that it is their duty to stand out faithfully and testify against these evils; and that the poor Roman Catholics of Ireland are not to be banished, or persecuted by the sword, but that they ought to be instructed, in the face of every opposition, by the Word of God, the only standard of all pure religion.

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Resolved, That from the documents laid before this meeting, it contemplates the soabjured as an awful illustration of the princilemnity with which these books have been ples which they inculcated, calculated to lull Protestants into a fatal security as to the evils of the Church of Rome, both as affecting themselves and their Roman Catholic fellow subjects; and that while Protestants are bound to maintain the principles of eternal truth, and of civil and religious liberty with which it has pleased God so long and so signally to bless them, it is their duty to use all faithful diligence in a spirit of Christian fidelity and kindness, to rescue their Roman Catholic countrymen from a system at war with all sanctions human and divine, which cannot even stand

the test of human judgment, far less can it stand acquitted at the tribunal of the Holy

God.'

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would call your attention is the examination of Dr. Murray before the Committee of the House of Commons. Mr. O'Connell has spoken of my 'indescribable conduct towards that meek and venerable prelate.' Would to God we could discuss mere abstract principles without involving names or men in the discussion. But that is impossible; for while men stand out as the patrons and propagators of iniquity, and while they are promoting its dissemination throughout the country, it is the part of Christian fidelity and truth to hold up the truth, and maintain it, whoever is injured, or whoever suffers by it. Dr. Murray was examined before a committee of the House of Commons respecting this Bible of 1816; and I read these extracts from the Report (17th May, 1825):

:

"Are you aware that an edition of the Testament, with notes, was published in Dublin in or about 1816, by Dr. Troy?—I am. That edition was published under a misconception. Dr. Troy had given his sanction to an edition of the Bible, supposing it to be the same that he had before sanctioned; but as soon as he found his mistake, he withdrew his approbation, and I do not find that the edition is in use among Roman Catholics.'

"Under misconception!' Dr. Murray confines the approbation to Dr. Troy alone. But here is the advertisement of the book itself with Dr. O'Reilly's name, Dr. Troy's name, Dr. Murray's own name, and the name of some other bish

ops; and on the cover is the name of the priest residing in Dublin, appointed to revise and correct' the edition printed there, in connection with the bishop's name itself.

"As to this edition not being in use among Roman Catholics, I cannot accuse Dr. Murray of falsehood here; for I believe that edition was not in use among the Roman Catholics. Mr. Cumming, to save himself when Macnamara failed, completed an edition of 500 copies, of which this is one, (producing it)-and when Dr. Troy came forward with his denunciation, Mr. Cumming, I believe, never sold another copy: he was compelled to collect the books he had printed, and export them to America; and he lost, I believe, 5007. by the transaction. But whilst Mr. Cumming could not sell a sin

gle copy of that edition, which was not therefore in use among Roman Catholics, this edition, (producing a copy,) which was in the press in Cork, while Dr. Troy was denouncing the other in Dublin, was carefully circulated throughout Ireland, and has been in use among the Roman Catholics in that country ever since.

Dr. Troy withdrew his sanction? He wrote "By what document can you show that

a letter to that effect, which was published at the time. Were not those notes the usual notes in use among Roman Catholics; were they not extracted literally from those to be found in the Douay version? They were not in that country any previous edition of them. used in Ireland before; for there had not been Where were they obtained; by Cowie, the printer, or by whom were they furnished? They were furnished in an edition known in England, and which proceeded from certain exiles who left this country in very angry times, and carried a little of the spirit of the times along with them. It is a subject of reof that spirit has been infused into these notes. gret to many sincere Catholics, that too much They have, however, been gradually softened down; so that, in the last edition, there are ble. Were not those notes to the Scriptures, very few notes, and those very unobjectionawhich have been considered as objectionable, published at Rheims in France; and are they not called the Rhemish notes?-They are;

they were published by exiles who had been obliged, during the angry times of persecution, to forsake their native country. Were they English or Irish exiles?-English. The Douay version is one thing, and the Rhemish notes are another; are not editions of the Douay Bible published in Ireland without those notes ?

The Rhemish notes were never published in Ireland, except on the occasion already alluded to, when they were published by mistake. They were called Rhemish, because the Testament was translated at the College of Rheims. The college was afterwards removed to Douay, and the remaining part of the Bible was translated at the latter place. Have you conversed with Dr. Troy upon this subject? I have. Are you aware, from those conversations, whether Dr. Troy was aware of the intention of republishing those Rhemish ed?-I know he was not.' notes at the time his approbation was obtain

"I know he was not!'-while he himself, his coadjutor archbishop along with him, had joined with nine other bishops in the list of subscribers for that Bible, corrected by a priest in the city of Dublin, and placed under their own inspection. I know he was not!'

"Do you know whether Dr. Troy's approval was withdrawn from the circulation of the Scriptures as soon as his attention was called to the objectionable character of those notes! -I know that to be the case, and in consequence of that the book was not circulated.'

"Now this is partly true. The Bible of 1816 was not circulated; but the Bible of 1818 was printed and was circulated.

"Do you believe the edition of the Scriptures, with those objectionable notes, is at the present moment circulated under the authority of any one individual of the Roman Catholic clergy of Ireland?-My belief is, that it is not; I do not know of a single instance of it, nor did I ever happen to meet with a copy of it in circulation.

humbled and degraded condition in which they are now placed, they will submit with resignation to the Divine will. The prelates, however, conceive it a duty which they owe to themselves, as well as to their Protestant fellow subjects, whose good opinion they value, to endeavour once more to remove the false

imputations that have frequently been cast upon the faith and discipline of that Church which is intrusted to their care, that all may be enabled to know with accuracy the genuine principles of those men who are proscribed by law from any participation in the honours, dignities, and emoluments of the State.'

"Now look, I beseech you, at these general principles.

"ARTICLE 11TH.-The Catholics of Ireland not only do not believe, but they declare upon oath, that they detest as unchristian and impidestroy any person or persons whatsoever, for ous, the belief" that it is lawful to murder or

or under the pretence of their being heretics;" and also the principle "that no faith is to be kept with heretics." They further declare on oath their belief, that no act, in itself unjust, excused by or under pretence or colour, that immoral, or wicked, can ever be justified or it was done for the good of the church, or in obedience to any ecclesiastical power whatso

ever. That it is not an article of the Catholic faith; neither are they thereby required to be

do not hold themselves "bound to obey any

"My belief is that it is not !'--While here is this Bible, with the names of twelve bishops and one hundred and twenty-five priests, in the list of subscribers! while it is stated on the very cover that it is under the patronage of three hundred priests in different parts of Ireland, and that proper men were appointed in every town in Ireland to distribute it! I read these extracts from Dr. Murray's examination. I make no remarks on Dr. Murray's answers. Ilieve that the Pope is infallible, and that they simply lay the whole before you. Judge for yourselves. There is another document which I wish to read to you--a document which I read for this reason, that in the last number of a Review published under the patronage of Mr. O'Connell-the Dublin Review--he promises that the next number shall contain the oath and declaration of the archbishops and bishops of the Roman Catholic Church upon it. Therefore you may take the Dublin Review, with this oath and declaration, and weigh it in one scale with this quarto Bible in another. This declaration on oath, and these resolutions, were appended to Dr. Doyle's Letter to Lord Liverpool,' in 1826:-

At a time when the spirit of calm inquiry is abroad, and men seem anxious to resign those prejudices through which they viewed the doctrines of others, the archbishops and bishops of the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland avail themselves with pleasure of this dispassionate tone of the public mind, to exhibit a simple and correct view of those tenets that are most frequently misrepresented. If it please the Almighty that the Catholics of Ireland should be doomed to continue in the

order in its own nature immoral," though the Pope or any ecclesiastical power should issue or direct such an order; but, on the contrary, that it would be sinful in them to pay any respect or obedience thereto.'

"Again in the 12th article

"They further solemnly, in the presence of God, testify and declare, that they make this declaration, and every part thereof, in the plain and ordinary sense of the words of their oath, without any evasion, equivocation, or mental reservation whatsoever, and without any dispensation already granted by the pope, or any authority of the See of Rome, or any person whatever, and without thinking that they are or can be acquitted before God or man, or absolved of this declaration, or any part thereof, although the Pope, or any persons in authority whatsoever, shall dispense with or annul the same, or declare that it was null and void from the beginning.'

"The 13th article, again

"The Catholics of Ireland, far from claiming any right or title to forfeited lands, resulting from any right, title, gr interest, which their ancestors may have had therein, declare upon oath, that they will defend, to the utmost of their power, the settlement and arrangement of property in this country, as established

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"There is the oath of the Roman Catholic bishops-I believe I shall not go far astray, when I say there-(pointing to the Bible with the Rhemish notes)-there is the Bible upon which it was sworn. Now who could doubt a number of men professing to be the servants of God however erroneous we may believe their principles to be-who came forward and could make such a declaration upon oath as this? Who could have believed that at that very moment, under their authoty, were circulating throughout Ireland, inciples, as far from those which they represented on oath as their own, as the east is from the west? Were not these things calculated to lull Protestants into a false security? Did they not have this effect? Was not Popery, like its parent and prototype, putting off its natural form, and whispering, in reptile shape, in the ear of sleeping England, dreams of harmony and peace which were to be expected from abandon ing the word of God, and giving that word up to be trampled under foot by the tyrant Church of Rome? But as the reptile was whispering its visions of delusion in this alien form at the nation's ear, God, by the heavenly tempered spear of truth, has touched the monster, and he starts again into his native shape in all the dark dimensions of the demon."

Mr. M'Ghee, after reading certain documents, proceeded to speak of Dens' Theology, a work which has attracted little less attention in this country than in Great Britain. "The discovery of this book," he said, "has been attributed to my exertions, and I have been less pained by public censure than by undeserved praise. Dens' Theology' was put into my hands by a Protestant bookseller, in November, 1834; it was the only copy he had seen; I believe he obtained it at an auction, and it lay unopened

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on my table from November, 1834, till interval, I was employed in every leisure the month of April, 1835. During the hour, not in endeavouring to injure, but in writing and labouring, to the best of my judgment, for the true interests of my Roman Catholic countrymen. When I opened and read the principles maintained by Dens, they were laid before my brethren, and it was thought expedient, for the sake of truth, to lay them before the public. We have been censured because we have done so. Our principles have been called in question. But we stated the truth, and the truth we shall maintain. If I had acted in this as a politician, I should not fear to acknowledge it. I acted upon principle. My principle was this:-if these men are wrong, if these principles are immoral, anti-social, detested by man, and accursed by God, what is the duty of Christians? I know of no doctrine of sound philosophy which deals with the effect, and leaves the cause which produced it without notice. If our Roman Catholic countrymen are wrong-and wrong they are we should lay the axe to the root, not by persecution, but by devoted, Christian, persevering fidelitytestify to them of the blessed Word of God, and bear our testimony against their error-instruct them in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and bring the light of his everlasting salvation to shine into the dark inquisitorial dungeons of Rome. There is not a man in the world that will contend more than I for liberty of conscience. But if we love God-if we love our fellow-men, we cannot but pity, and, if we pity, we cannot but use our best exertions to relieve. I call not for laws of restraint; I say, 'Liberty for the Roman Catholics of Ireland'-liberty. I say, Emancipation for my Roman Catholic fellow-countrymen.' Let them be delivered from the bondage of a cruel, debasing, and persecuting tyranny. Why should the light of heaven be intercepted from the eye of Ireland? What right has any man to intercept the light of God from the eye of his fellow-man? Why should the immortal mind be bound up in the chains of the power of darkness?"

THE DOCTRINE OF TRANSUBSTANTIATION SUBVERSIVE OF THE

FOUNDATIONS OF HUMAN BELIEF.

BY ALEXANDER CARSON, LL. D.

His ego gratiora alia dictu esse scio; sed me vera pro gratis loqui, etsi meum ingenium non moneret, necessitas cogit. Vellem equidem vobis placere, Quirites; sed malo vos salvos esse, qualicumque erga me animo futuri estis. -T. Q. CAPITOLINUS.

SINCE God stretched the heavens over the earth, there has not been broached in human language an absurdity so monstrous as that of Transubstantiation. That a bit of bread is converted into a full-grown human body, while to all the senses it remains unchanged; and that this is the real body of Jesus, who was born of the Virgin, crucified in Jerusalem, and now in heaven, is an assertion so shocking to common sense, that without the clearest evidence, it could not be credited that ever it was believed by any rational being. To many, indeed, it will appear utterly useless to reason with persons who profess so senseless a dogma. Why do you hope to cure madness by argument?-Why reason with those who renounce all the principles on which evidence is founded? Were the subject of debate a matter of philosophical speculation-did it concern the interests of this world only, we might, without arrogance, turn away from our opponents with a disdainful brow. Absurdity, without question, deserves no attention; but as the eternal interests of millions of our brethren are concerned in the issue, we are bound to use every effort to awaken in them the dormant principles of common sense, and rouse them to attend to the voice of reason and of God. Were they a distinct race of men, with minds so constituted as to be unaffected by truths that to human kind are first principles, we might indeed despair of doing them service. But as their insanity is only a voluntary surrender of their rational na ture, to a system introduced by the grand deceiver of mankind, there is still hope of reaching their understanding, and of recalling them to subjection to the empire of reason and scripture.

In all reasoning there are certain first principles which it is necessary to take VOL. I.-10

for granted, and without an entire agreement in which, on both sides, it is impossible to come to a conclusion. Without common principles in some grand points, it is impossible even to argue, for argument must have an acknowledged. foundation. Among the various sects of Protestants the Bible is such a common foundation, whose authority in religious controversies is paramount and ultimate. But in reasoning with Roman Catholics, Protestants have not this advantage. The Scriptures, though in some sense acknowledged, are not, with them, the only, nor the ultimate standard. Tradition has the better half of the empire of revelation, and a Lord paramount is acknowledged in the authority of the Church. As long as this principle is held, it is easy to see that no satisfactory results need be expected from reasoning with them on the meaning of Scripture. The Bible is not to Roman Catholics the ultimate appeal: and their only first principle, the authority of the Church, we utterly disown. Since, therefore, we have no common ground of argument in the Divine word, I shall advance higher, and appeal to principles, the denial of which is a renunciation of rational nature. I shall not take for granted even the truth of the Scriptures, in refuting this doctrine. All that I ask my opponents to take for granted, is, that God Almighty made them, and gave them the faculties which they possess. This they are not likely to dispute. I undertake to show-not by forced or refined interpretations of Scripture-not even by remote deductions of reason; but by a series of self-evident truths, that Transubstantiation is subversive of the foundations of human belief; therefore incapable of being proved by any evidence, or of being believed by men under the influence of

common sense.

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