discovered; and the great St. Augustine records many miracles performed by means of these relics, of some of which he was an ocular witness1.

V. As to the assertion, that there have been false relics, that circumstance cannot destroy the value of those that are genuine. The church takes the most prudent precaution to guard against imposition; and this is all that can be required. If base money is circulated in the dominions of his Majesty, by artifice and knavery, that deplorable abuse does not impair the value of the legitimate coin.

VI. Again it is said, that the miracles attributed to these relics have often been found to be delusions of the devil. To this it may be safely replied, that they have often been found to be true; and that no doubt can be entertained of the reality of those, which the pastors of the Catholic church, after a juridical examination, have admitted. Again let it be observed, that if base coin has sometimes been circulated, or false cures credited in the history of medicine, those occurrences do not impair the value of good money, or diminish the credit of the successful physician.

VII. The superstition here charged on the

See the whole of the long chapter on the subject, c. viii. lib. 22 de Civit. Dei.

2 Conc. Trident. Sess. 25.

See St. Aug. loc. cit.

Catholic church, exists only in the imagination of the writer1.

VIII. As to the abuse of the veneration paid to relics, it is evident that the abuses here referred to, are not committed by persons well informed of their duty, and if the ignorant and uninformed pervert it to improper purposes, that is no fairer argument for the suppression of the legitimate practice, than the excess of the drunkard would be for prohibiting the general use of wine, and other inebriating liquors.

'See the fair explanation in the body of the present article.

QUESTION XIV.

Why may not the images of God, of Christ, of the Virgin Mary, and of the saints, be venerated or worshipped?

ANSWER.

1. Because, as to images of God, God declares his anger against those that pretend to make any similitude of him, Deut. iv. 15, 16; Isa. xi. 18. And if it he not lawful to make them, it must be more unlawful to worship them. 2. This worship or veneration is peremptorily forbid in the second commandment, and under very severe penalties. 3. Even the worship of the true God by an image, is unlawful, and called idolatry, as is evident from the example of the Israelites worshipping the true God by the figure of the golden calf, 1 Cor. x. 7.

4. The Primitive Christians would not suffer images so much as to be painted on the walls of their churches, so far they were from thinking their worship lawful.

5. Several councils of old have condemned this worship. 6. The Carpocratians were counted heretics in the Primitive Church, for worshipping the images of Christ and St. Paul. 7. God doth not only forbid placing divine virtue in images,

but falling down before them in a religious way; and whatever men's pretensions are, he interprets their falling down before them as worshipping the image itself, Jer. ii. 26, 27; Isa. xliv. 17.

8. The heathens excused their worshipping of images, with the same argument the Church of Rome makes use of, that they did not worship the image, but the person represented by the image, yet the Christians charged them with idolatry. 9. So great an aversion had the Primitive Christians to all such worship, that St. Epiphanius, bishop of Salamine, who lived in the fourth century, tore a vail in the church, on

which an image of Christ, or some saint, was painted, looking upon it as scandalous and dishonourable to religion. 10. Though the second Council of Nice established this imageworship, yet the Council of Francfort, that followed soon after, condemned those fathers for their superstition, and deflecting from the primitive rule.

OBSERVATIONS.

By applying the term worship to the veneration paid by the Catholic church to images, the catechist wishes to insinuate, that by this practice divine adoration is given to created objects. But this is wholly a misrepresentation of the state of the case, which is usually made by Protestant writers, and diametrically opposite to the authoritative decisions of the Catholic church. What is the language of the Council of Trent? Nothing can be more satisfactory and precise on the subject. That venerable synod teaches, "that the images of Christ, of his Virgin Mother, and of the other saints, are to be had and retained particularly in the churches; and that due honour and veneration are to be given to them; not that any divinity is supposed to reside in them, or any property, for which they should be worshipped; or that any thing is to be asked of them, or any confidence is to be placed in images, as was done by the Gentiles, who reposed their trust in their idols; but because the honour, which is paid to them, is referred to the objects which they represent; so that by the images which we kiss,

and before which we uncover our heads and bow down, we adore Christ; and venerate those saints, of whom they exhibit a likeness1." Such is the explanation of the Council of Trent, which is amply sufficient to convey the Catholic doctrine on the subject, and to remove the coarse and vulgar objections produced by the catechist. Even children are so accurately instructed in this particular, that the answers furnished in the catechism, are calculated to fill our adversaries with that sense of shame, which misrepresentation and falsehood, clearly detected, ought, in every instance, to produce. In the Doway Catechism, (first commandment) in answer to the question, do Catholics pray to images? it is distinctly said: "No, by no means: we pray before them indeed, to keep us from distractions, but not to them; for we know, that they can neither see, hear, nor help us."

The purpose, which the Catholic church has in view, in proposing holy images to the veneration of the faithful, is so simple and obvious, that it would appear difficult to conceive, how any misrepresentation can take place. The catechist and his associates are invariably in the habit of preserving the pictures and images of their absent and departed friends; and the utmost respect is shown to these inanimate memo

1 Sess. 25.

M