when he came to understand what his keepers had in view, he earnestly begged they would not perform such foolish things, or expect any advantage from them. An old man who attended for the purpose, who probably was once a Romish priest, but now acted as a teacher in the village, conducted all the ceremonies, and fluently expatiated on their origin and virtues. He carried the patient so many times across the ford of a river, and round so many cairns of stones, requiring him to throw one each time into the heap, raised probably in course of time by this means. With the stone was thrown some part of the patient's clothes, the pedagogue probably adding, as usual in such cases, some spell or charm. "This ceremony over, which took some time, he was guarded to a pool of the same river, ordered to strip and wade into the deep part, and if reluctant, repeatedly immersed over head, and forcibly kept some time under water, while violently struggling, as if alarmed for his life. Females were equally welcome to witness the exhibition in the state of nature as the males, and all lent a hand to overawe and subdue the poor patient. This pool was supposed to have all the virtue ascribed to it from a gray stone, once in possession of the saint, and ordered, before his death, to be cast into this pool, where, however, it is now invisible. Long it was famous, even after his death, for giving speedy delivery to women in hard child-labour, and for other distresses, and often sent for, from a great distance, to answer such purposes, and greatly relied on in such cases. The virtue of this consecrated stone did not die with the famed saint, and is supposed to continue periodically in the pool into which it was thrown, at least so far as respects the removal of certain ailments. In vain you ask any questions, you must implicitly receive whatever they hand down from tradition. "The patient having got dressed, he is conducted next to the side of an adjacent hill, to drink copious draughts from a well dedicated to some saint. Here the company pledge him, all expecting some benefit from the libations of this holy water. It escapes me whether this did not constitute the last ceremony, or was not preceded by what follows; whether, from this salutiferous fountain, he was not carried to the burial place, where a new place of worship was built, bordering on the ruins of the old Romish chapel. There the patient is made to sit down on a grave stone, on which lay a large hand bell, which is repeatedly rung over his head by the master of the ceremonies, and he is as often crowned with it; all the while money passes from hand to hand, and finally lodges with him, which is deemed a necessary part of this and of all the preceding rites. The pedagogue entertains you all the while, with the miraculous feats of this wonder-working bell, the spectators assenting to the truth of the whole. One of these was, that upon a time some wicked wretch stole it, and carried it all the way to Glasgow, whence it was soon heard returning, ringing all the way in the air, till it alighted on that gravestone where it then lay, to the astonishment of all beholders. These things were as firmly believed, and as gravely told, as if an angel had confirmed them from heaven; and they find professed Protestants silly enough to give them credit, I suppose, even to this day. By such vain stories is the reputation of this place of resort all along maintained, so that to call them in question, would endanger any man's safety who visits these bounds-With great gravity they related a circumstance, which should have happened some time before, and greatly added to the reputation of this wonder-working place. Some man passing in his way to a public market, was heard to ridicule the virtue of the place, as merely delusion and superstition. To be avenged for such profanation, he ran raving mad in the market, and was obliged to be carried back, bound, to the very place which he had dared so impiously to ridicule. When professed Protestants are so silly as to expect relief from such rites, and to secure them at the cost of much labour and expense, no wonder they are credulous enough to give credit to such tales. "The poor passive patient is now conducted to the dreary ruins of the popish chapel, overgrown with nettles and other weeds, and there bound down firmly with a tether, between the two sides of an old car, with no covering but the heavens, and left thus to pass a long night in sadness and sorrow. The youth who was the subject of this painful operation, having a sense of piety on his mind, was desired to pray, before he was bound down among the prostrate dead. I can never forget one part of his solemn address, in which he expressed his abhorrence of these unhallowed rites, and appealed to God, that his compliance with them was the sole result of compulsion, and that he expected deliverance from quite another quarter. "Thus have I given you a brief view of this infernal ceremony, so often practised even in highly favoured Scotland. Is it not surprising that any can think lightly of the crime of idolatry, so wicked in its origin, and so fatally degrading in its influence, who have access to know what punishment God inflicted on the Jews for the commission of it, and continues to inflict to this day. I am, sir, "A CONSTANT READER." I shall conclude my miscellaneous matter for the present, by quoting a writer in the Orthodox Journal, for September last, who has pointed out the most effectual means of affording relief to our starving population. No plan so simple, and at the same time so likely to be effectual, has been suggested by any other author. The writer is a zealous Papist. He speaks of emancipation as if he despaired of obtaining it. He is for petitioning only once more; and in the event of the prayer of the petition being refused, which he considers almost certain, he calls upon his five millions of brethren to remove, bag and baggage, to Spain, that free and happy country, where he is almost sure the beloved Ferdinand will be most happy to receive them. Let this sublime measure be carried into effect, and there will be employment and provision enough in Britain and Ireland, for those who remain. 66 66 We cannot," says this writer, we cannot longer hug our misery, or slavishly embrace intolerable chains. Our bondage is more cruel than any death, and continued for ages. We are entirely wearied out under insupportable burdens, and galled to the heart by constant disappointments, in vain expectations. Another failure will show that our countrymen are also wearied of us, and that a separation must take place. We must then go into voluntary banishment. America, the Cape of Good Hope, or New South Wales, whither, as we have much reason to fear, all our chains would follow us. Faithful Spain offers the fairest prospects to our view, where loving brethren, with stretched-out arms, are ready to receive us into their I mean not to kind embraces. That kingdom was very much depopulated, even before the late destructive war, which completed its desolation, and left one fourth of that fine country a perfect desert.” "Five millions of good subjects," continues this writer, "is truly a grand object to Spain in its present situation."-"Should our first applications (i. e. for emancipation) fail, be you ready, Mr. ANDREWS, to sound the trumpet of emigration. Let the peals of it, like thunder, be heard over all the British dominions, calling our people together.""In the event of our being forced to emigrate, which is but too probable, from all the past obstinate resistance of our just claims, I wish you would induce some of your correspondents, who may have poetical talents, to compose a hymn appropriate to the occasion, upon the words, In exitu Israel de Egypto, and the rest of the first verse of that psalm. I am for committing the care of the tabernacle, in this holy transmigration, to the eminent MILNER.". Sir James Gordon will conduct the Scots." 66 The writer is not in jest, but in sober earnest; and I do most cordially wish him, and Dr. MILNER, and Sir James Gordon, success in this holy transmigration." CHAPTER LXXV. POPISH AUTHORITIES POPE PIUS IV. GOTHER'S THE SUBJECT OF PURGATORY. ANECDOTE OF PURGATORY BRIDGE. SATURDAY, December 18th, 1819. It is time now to take up the solemn subject of purgatory, which, in my sixty-ninth number, I announced as the next general head of the plan which I had proposed to myself. As a suitable introduction to a subject of such importance, I quote the following anecdote from the Philanthropic Gazette, of the 27th October last, for the truth of which the editor of that truly valuable journal is responsible. "A gentleman in Dublin lately called on a tenant for rent; the poor woman had been always punctual heretofore; she apologized for not being so now, by telling her landlord that the priest came to her lately, and asked her if she had heard from her husband? She answered, how could she, as he was dead? 'Oh! yes,' said he, 'but did you not hear that a great crowd was lately passing over the bridge from purgatory to heaven; that it broke down from the weight; that many were left at the wrong side, and amongst the rest your husband; that their lamentations had come to the priests to get the bridge repaired; therefore he called upon her, who was so much interested, for a good subscription, as the job would be very expensive!' The poor woman complied of course. In a few days after, the gentleman brought this nefarious traffic to exposure: the priest declared he only wanted the use of the money for a few days, and played this trick to obtain it, but that he meant to return it." I will concede to my opponents that this anecdote is not taken from one of their own authors. It is, indeed, given as a fact in a highly respectable newspaper; it is said to have taken place lately in Dublin; and as there are thousands of Papists in that city, where my work is republished in weekly numbers, they will not only soon have an opportunity of reading the story, but they may, if they please, inquire into the truth of it. If it shall not be contradicted, or even questioned, by those who have an opportunity of ascertaining the fact, I will consider its truth as admitted; and if so, it shows to what pitiful arts the holy fathers of Rome have recourse in order to rob people of their money. I shall not, however, found any argument upon this anecdote, even supposing it to be true, but shall, according to my usual practice, lay down the doctrine of the church of Rome in the words of her own accredited publications, and then proceed to show that it is contrary to scripture and to common sense. Purgatory, it must be confessed, makes no great figure in the Douay Catechism. Instead of giving it the honour of a chapter by itself, as a doctrine of such importance deserves, the compilers, as if afraid of exposing it to the light in this enlightened country, have thrust it into a corner of a chapter which bears the title of "the kinds of sin expounded." 66 'Q. Whither go such as die in mortal sin? A. To hell to all eternity. Q. Whither go such as die in venial sin, or not having fully satisfied for the punishment due to their mortal sins? A. To purgatory, till they have made full satisfaction for them, and then to heaven. Q. What proof have you of this in the New Testament? A. First from our Saviour's own words, Matt. xii. 32, where, speaking of the remission of sins, he says, there is one that will not be forgiven in this world nor in the world to come: which words, St. Austin says, would not be true, if some sins were not forgiven in the next world; and this implies a purgatory, for there only is remission of sin, and not in hell or in heaven. Second, From St. Paul, 1 Cor. iii. 15, where he speaks of some, under the guilt of sin, that shall be saved, yet so as by fire." This is all that the Douay Catechism teaches concerning purgatory; and, I think, it will be allowed that here there are some great and fundamental errors. The first that strikes us is, that which makes a distinction between mortal and venial sin. From the word of God we learn that sin, and that every sin, without exception, is the object of divine abhorrence; and that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all unrighteousness, and all ungodliness of men, without any exception. In the whole Bible, there is no such thing as a small or venial sin mentioned, or alluded to. It is declared that he who offendeth in one point is a transgressor of the whole law, because the single transgression, however trivial the matter may appear to men, indicates a state of mind in the offender which is opposed to the authority of the Lawgiver; and is, therefore, opposed to every precept of the law itself. I allude at present to this subject only in general terms; it may come afterwards more formally in our way, as a distinct subject of dis cussion. Another fundamental error plainly avowed by the Douay doctors in the above extract, is, that men must make full satisfaction to divine justice, even for their mortal sins, or they must go "to hell for all eternity." It is supposed that some persons die who have not "fully satisfied for the punishment due to their mortal sins;" and these go "to purgatory, till they have made full satisfaction for them." I believe it is not possible in fewer words to set aside altogether the atonement of Christ. It was declared of him that he should finish transgression, make an end of sin, make reconciliation for iniquity, and bring in everlasting righteousness, Dan. ix. 24. When he appeared in the likeness of sinful flesh, it was to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Heb. ix. 26. His death was an atoning sacrifice for sin, Heb. x. 12, and it is declared that by him we receive the atonement, or reconciliation. Rom. v. 11. He only was able to make satisfaction for the sins of his people, and he alone has done it: the sinner, believing in him, receives the atonement; he sees that satisfaction has been made for his sins by the death of Christ: thus he enjoys peace with God, and the assurance of his favour; and he knows that he is no more able to make full or even partial satisfaction for his sins, than he is to create a world. But the Douay Catechism teaches that every individual must make full satisfaction for his sins, either in this world, or in a certain fancied middle state which they call purgatory. According to this doctrine, Christ has done nothing for them in the way of satisfaction or atonement, for they must do all for themselves. This, therefore, is the antichrist, which sets aside the doctrine of Christ, and salvation through him alone. In comparison of this, their baptism of bells, and all their other mummery, are harmless, and not worthy to be named. This subverts the whole system of divine revelation, and brings popery down to the level of the grossest heathenism. It is a religion without a Saviour; which leaves every man to satisfy divine justice for him self; and is, therefore, no better than that of Mahomet, or of the Grand Lama of Thibet. The above are some of the fundamental errors of the Douay Catechism relating to purgatory. I shall reply to what they adduce as scriptural authority for their doctrine, after I have given the doctrine itself more in detail, and that from their own acknowledged publications. The following is from "The Grounds of the Catholic Doctrine, contained in the Profession of Faith, published by Pope Pius the Fourth, by way of question and answer." "OF PURGATORY. "Q. What is the doctrine of the church as to this point? "A. We constantly hold that there is a purgatory, and that the souls therein detained are helped by the suffrages of the faithful; that is, by the prayers and alms offered for them, and principally by the holy sacrifice of the mass. "Q. What do you mean by purgatory? "A. A middle state of souls which depart this life in God's grace, yet not without some lesser stains or guilt of punishment, which retards them from entering heaven. But as to the particular place where these souls suffer, or the quality of the torments which they suffer, the church has decided nothing. "Q. What sort of Christians then go to purgatory? "A. 1st, Such as die guilty of lesser sins, which we commonly call |