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the world; and that the more you exhibit of the pure principle of that Gospel in your lives, the greater will be the contention elicited. Advance but the true doctrines of the Bible, and all men of false creeds will immediately employ their tongues and their pens against you, to defame you. Stand up boldly for God, and Satan will marshal all his forces to withstand you. Let your light shine before men, and the world will try to extinguish it. Endeavour to live in continual communion with God by prayer, and Satan will try to make your closets and their duties either irksome or pride-feeding. Read God's holy Word, and the trammels of human wisdom will intercept divine apprehension; and but for the Holy Ghost, the letter would kill you. Come into his Sanctuary, where his ordinances are kept, and you will frequently find that the wicked one has erected his altar there, and fain would induce you to bow down at it, and worship either himself or yourselves instead of God. Yea, every duty has its impediment; every sweet its attendant bitter; every joy its accompanying sorrow; every victory its necessary fighting; and every glory its antecedent tribulation. Christ was tempted by Satan, betrayed by Judas, denied by Peter, crucified by Pilate, shut up in hell or the grave for three days, and thou! shalt thou escape, believer? As they did to the master of the house, so will they do to the household. But be of good cheer, He conquered all his foes, and so shalt thou in his strength for his power is thy power; his enemies thy enemies; his victories thy victories; and his glory is and shall be thy glory. Thy name is enrolled in the Lamb's Book of Life; the counsels of Jehovah secured thy salvation; the Father has bound himself by promise and oath to deliver thy soul; and Jesus has died, risen again, and is seated in heaven to make sure thine admission there. Take, then, this Scripture as a means, in the execution of which God will be with thee, Christ will protect thee, and the Spirit direct thee, and thou shalt be brought with triumphant exultation, in praising the Lamb, to the throne of his glory; for he that sends thee forth will go along with thee; the wolves being the work of his hands, he can subdue and tame their ferocity, extinguish their hunger, chain up their powers, and make thee finally and completely victorious. Live, then, by faith upon his power, dwell in his love, remember his unchanging purpose in thy salvation, and thou wilt rejoice to proceed in his cause; be obedient to his precepts, and conduct thyself in all thy ways as seeing him that is invisible, even Him who said, "Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves; be ye therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves." No animals equal wolves in their rapacious cruelty. He directs his people to be harmless, not to provoke danger, not to do injury, and make their fellow-men justly enraged against them. Doves are, and always have been, a striking emblem of innocence. Christians are therefore as sheep and doves, and the ungodly are as wolves and serpents.

THE WORSHIP OF THE VIRGIN.

THE following communication is by the Rev. John Hartley :There is one great truth revealed in the Bible, which may be called the leading fact and doctrine of Christianity, and it is so obvious to every one who examines the Scriptures with attention, that we may well wonder it is not practically and universally received; it is this, Jesus Christ is the Saviour of sinners. In connexion with this truth, and as the only method by which it can be rendered of any advantage to the human race, one other doctrine is unfolded in the sacred writings with a degree of care and precision which appears to me to surpass the attention directed to every other; it is this, that we become partakers of the salvation of Christ by a method which excludes all merit on the part of man, and leads us to found our hopes on the performances of Christ alone: in other words, we are justified by faith without the deeds of the law. This tenet is taught us in the Epistles to the Romans and Galatians, with a degree of fulness, of accuracy, and of logical and formal argument, which we cannot find in regard to any other truth in the whole system of Divine revelation. The other great doctrines of salvation are all revealed most clearly. No man who sincerely seeks to be guided aright can fail to discover them, under the teaching of the Holy Ghost; but I would appeal to every one who would reflect rightly and answer conscientiously on the subject, can any discovery of the Bible be found so distinctly and in so many respects so pointedly presented to our notice, as is the doctrine of justification by faith alone, in the third chapter of Romans and in the first and second chapters of the Galatians? For my part, I must avow, before God and man, that after the study of the Scriptures for many years of my life, I can find nothing in them, from Genesis to Revelations, which seems to me laid down with greater force and plainness than this grand fundamental position.

Hence, to a simple and conscientious student of the Bible, nothing appears more astonishing and distressing than to find a large number of persons, professedly Christian, and sometimes appearing to be anxiously seeking the salvation of the soul, who do by their faith and practice completely subvert this foundation. They acknowledge that Jesus Christ is the Saviour, they believe his divinity, they hold to many other important truths of Christianity, and yet they seek for eternal salvation not through his intervention alone, but through other agency. In the spirit of the Roman Catholic religion it is not so much Jesus Christ who reconciles us to God; but it is through the Virgin Mary and other beings that we are first to be reconciled to Jesus Christ. The great object to be attained is, to have a mediation by which Jesus Christ may be propitiated; and the doctrine of the inefficacy of human merit, and of the all-sufficiency of the merit of Christ, is openly denied. Now this is completely to remove the very foundation-stone of the Gospel. If the great doctrine of Christianity be the good news that Jesus Christ saves all sinners who resort to him for salvation, it is self-evident that if we formally or virtually resort to any other being or assistant in the universe for salvation, we forsake the Saviour whom God has revealed; and, therefore, however correct our views and No. 1. VOL. I.— -New Series.

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conduct in other respects, we are precisely mistaking that one only path which leads to life eternal!

Now, let any man consult the great multitude of works of devotion of the Church of Rome, whether authorized or unauthorized, and what will he discover? He will find many admirable prayers to Christ; he will find much concerning Christ as a Saviour which, were it taken alone, would almost lead to the conviction, this is the very doctrine of salvation! but, melancholy to say, along with it, and in much-very much larger proportion, he will meet with a mass of prayers and invocations addressed to the Virgin Mary and other saints, evincing that the great struggle of the mind, the earnest hope of the sinner, is to win the aid of these mediators; in other words, such persons do not believe that Jesus Christ is willing to save them, unless they can present to him a certain amount of merit on the part of saints and on the part of themselves; that is to say, they trust to be saved by this merit of the saints and of themselves; that is, they are refusing to believe in the sufficient merit and willingness of Christ to save them, and they are trusting to something else; they are therefore, in point of fact, unbelieversthey are rejecting Christ as a Saviour.

I would affectionately appeal to all serious members of the Church of Rome, and ask them whether they do not find the worship of the Virgin, as it exists amongst them, derogatory to the Divine Redeemer? Bonaventura is a canonized saint, so much reverenced by their Church, that a prayer in the Breviary on his festival is thus expressed :-"O most excellent doctor (teacher), light of the holy Church, blessed Bonaventura, lover of the Divine law," &c. (vide Brev. Rom., July 14); and in one of the Prosa Communes of the missal, Sion is called on to praise the great doctor: * what, then, must we say to the guilt of canonizing and commending an individual who has actually published a Psalter, in which he changes the praises of the inspired Psalmist, addressed to the infinite Jehovah, and directs them to the Virgin? I have an edition of this work, published at Lyons, 1779, and which has not only the formal approbation of the King in Council, but the regular ecclesiastical attestation of J. Tamponnet, Doctor and Ex-syndic of the Faculty of Theology of Paris, that there is nothing contained in it contrary to faith and manners. Well, open this fearful production to the 103d Psalm, and you will find this language:1. "Bless the Mother of Jesus Christ, O my soul; and all that is within me, glorify her holy name !" 3. " By her favour sins are forgiven, and by her mercy sicknesses are healed." Under the 99th Psalm (Ps. 100) I find this language:-" Those whom thou shalt assist, lady, will enjoy the refreshment of peace; and those from whom thou shalt turn thy face will have no hope of salvation." After Psalm V. follows a hymn with these expressions:- "Let every knee, O Virgin, bow at thy name, of celestials, of terrestrials, and of infernals." Under the title of Psalm II., are the gracious words of our Saviour, so full of compassion, turned away from him, the only source of consolation, and given to a creature: "Come unto her, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and she will give rest to your souls!" Nay, as if nothing were to be done, to leave this awful idolatry without excuse, the very *The praise of Christ, Lauda, Sion, Salvatorem, is actually turned into a hymn to Bonaventura!

Te Deum laudamus is adapted to the praises of Mary" We praise thee, Mother of God; we acknowledge thee, Mary the Virgin. All the earth venerates thee, spouse of the Eternal Father. Thee all angels and archangels; thee thrones and principalities faithfully serve. To thee every angelic creature cries, with unceasing voice, Holy, holy, holy Mary, Mother of God!" The reader may judge of this entire volume by these extracts.

But are these rare and solitary specimens of the worship addressed to Mary in the Church of Rome? No; I regret to say, I find a similar spirit exhibited in regard to the Holy Virgin wherever I turn my steps. At the present moment, and in France, a degree of homage is presented to Mary which, if differing somewhat in expression, is by no means inferior in character.

The following extracts are from the Mois de Marie, second edition, by the Abbé Le Guillou, a work containing the formal approval and recommendation of the Archbishop of Paris, De Quelen :

"At the birth of Mary Heaven rejoices, because it beholds in her, firstly, the repairer of its losses; secondly, the cause of its glory; thirdly, its august queen."-P. 56.

"A God-man, a virgin mother, and mother of a God, souls without number saved by the intercession of Mary are, without doubt, a great increase of joy for Heaven; but does not Heaven owe this glory to the humble consent of Mary to the word which the angel addressed her on the part of the God who had chosen her for mother, Behold the servant of the Lord?' &c. It is from this fiat that so much good depended."-P. 56.

"Let us love her as St. Stanislas Koska, who could not speak of his love to her without the ardours of his flame communicating themselves to his hearers, who invented new names to honour her, who asked her blessing at the beginning of all his actions; who prayed to her as if he had spoken to her face to face; who was transported out of himself when he heard the Salve Regina chaunted; who being asked how he loved Mary, replied, She is my mother; what can I say more?' pronouncing these words with such emotion, that he seemed an angel descended from Heaven to preach the love of Mary. Let us love her as much as the blessed Hermann, whom his tenderness for Mary had procured the surname of Joseph; as much as a St. Philip of Neri, who called Mary his delights; as much as a St. Bernard, who called her the ravisher of hearts, raptrix cordium; or as a St. Louis de Gonzaga, whose heart was made to beat and his cheeks to colour by the name of Mary. Let us love her as much as a Diego Martinez, Jesuit, who used to say, 'I would have the hearts of all the angels and of all the saints to love Mary as much as they love her. I would have at my disposition the lives of all men, in order to consecrate them to her service. Let us love her as much as the son of St. Bridget, who was in the habit of saying, that nothing in the world caused him more joy than to know how much Mary was loved of God; and that there was no torment to which he would not eagerly expose himself to prevent this Queen of Heaven losing a single degree of her grandeur."P. 61.

We might suppose, that no one whose heart was penetrated with the love of God could ever think of engaging an assembled multitude

to sing the praises of any other than the Supreme Being. Te decet hymnus, Domine, in Sion; laus et jubilatio in Jerusalem.—(Ps. lxv. 1. Vulg.)

But, alas! the Church of Rome has long been guilty of this practice. Solemn music and elegant poetry are employed habitually to hymn the praises of created objects! The author of the work before us is striving to increase this idolatrous devotion. He is engaging the assistance of men the most talented to obtain both verse and melody for this purpose, and with the sanction of his ecclesiastical superiors. At the close of his work he gives us some specimens of his intended production:

"Little birds, what sing ye when the twilight whitens the hill ? Mingle her name with your concerts; reserve your melody to tell to the woods and to the deserts the sweets of the name of Mary!

"Zealous ministers of her court, seraphim who guard her throne, spirits intoxicated with her love, angels who form her crown, redouble your burning transports, unroll the floods of harmony! I unite my voice to your accords; spirits of fire, let us sing of Mary."P. 420.

"Nature entire seems beneath thy law; except the thunder, all speak of thee! the song of the plains repeats to the mountains always! Divine Mary, O cherished Virgin, be our loves always!"

"Thy will shall be followed by us; yes, we love thee, and we come to offer thee our whole heart, our desires, our life, and our death, since we must die! Virgin so near," &c.-P. 432.

Is it possible that the Archbishop of Paris and the Bishop of Quimper give their sanction to such blasphemy? Yes, it is the case !(Vide pp. 408 and 409, as well as the formal approbation and dedication at the commencement of the volume and of the hymns.)

Another work, which shows to what an extent the worship of the Virgin is now carried in France, is the Manual of Instruction and Prayers, for the Use of the Members of the Arch-Association of the very holy and immaculate Heart of Mary, by M. Dufriche Desgenettes; and how far this work receives ecclesiastical favour we may judge of by the fact, not only that there is prefixed the approbation of the Archbishop of Paris to "the instructions on indulgences" contained in the volume, but the present pope has sanctioned the formation of this association of Mons. Desgenettes in a formal Breve Apostolicum.— (Vide pp. 117-123.)

As specimens of this production, we give the following:

"The bishops, above all, those of our France, hastened canonically to form pious associations in honour and to the glory of the holy heart of Mary. The faithful, thus rightly authorized, gave a free course to the movement of their piety. It was not merely some prayers, some acts of confidence in the protection of the heart of Mary which was implored, but the homage of the most religious veneration, and even vows of consecration to this sacred heart. We shall only cite one example; it will give an idea of the piety of our fathers.

"Before the storms which overthrew the Church of France, at the end of the last century, at the entrance to the chapel dedicated to the heart of Mary, in the church of the Carmelites, of the town of Apt, this form of consecration of the town was read: Apta Julia, most