are to date the commencement of the three times and a half, or 1260 years, fixed for the duration of the system, its complete overthrow cannot be very remote. Irrespective of that opinion, however, there are other and equally heart-stirring proofs that the destruction of popery demands our most prayerful and strenuous efforts. First. The Roman Catholic religion denies and anathematizes those doctrines of the Gospel which are, in our view, necessary to the salvation of man. That it withholds from the laity the use of the Scriptures, and enjoins an unqualified surrender of the judgment to the dicta of men as the oracles of heaven; that it excludes the sovereignty of Christ from earth, and demands, under pain of damnation, the homage of conscience to the Pope of Rome, as head of the Church, and vice-gerent of Jehovah; that it denounces, as damnable error, the sentiment that men are to be justified by the free favour of God, irrespective of merit in themselves; that it teaches we are to obtain forgiveness and life, not by faith alone in the Redeemer's righteousness, but as the reward of our penances, alms, and compliance with the commands of the Church; that it affirms the wafer and chalice, presented by the priest in the mass, to be the body and blood of Christ really offered, though in an unbloody manner, as a true and proper propitiatory sacrifice for the sins of the living and the dead; that it directs its votaries to worship the Virgin Mary, and dead men and women, as mediators of mercy to the soul, is universally known and acknowledged. Let any one contemplate the error of the judaizers, to expose and condemn which the epistle to the Galatians was written, and on comparing it with popery, say whether the inspiration which pronounced the teachers of that error accursed, and its disciples ruined, would not have penned equally solemn warnings against the faith of the Church of Rome. Were we influenced towards it as the Apostle of the Gentiles would have been, our zeal for its extermination would burn like fire. Jealous for the honour of the pure Gospel, with great jealousy we should proclaim, with a voice audible and intelligible to the whole world, "this is not the mystery of godliness; it is the mystery of iniquity." Nor could we rest, aware that a single being remained the dupe of its delusions. Second-The description of popery given in sacred prophecy leads us to regard it as a deadly evil, the object of God's holy abhorrence and reprobation. It is described as "speaking against the Most High, and wearing out the saints of the Most High, and thinking to change times and laws." Its head is declared to be "the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he, as God, sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God: whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power, and signs, and lying wonders, and with all deceiveableness of unrighteousness in them that perish, because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved; and for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie," &c. Equally strong is the language of the same writer in his first epistle to Timothy: "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons; speaking lies in hypo But crisy; having their conscience it has ever proved itself intoseared as with a hot iron; forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats," &c. it is in the revelation received by John, in Patmos, that we find the most full and appalling premonitions of this baleful heresy. In chap. xiv. 8-11, we read, "there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name." May I request the reader to peruse attentively the 17th, 18th, and the beginning of the 19th chapters of the same book, and pronounce whether our opinions, feelings, prayers, and endeavours, in regard to popery, are such as correspond with these inspired representations of its heinousness and disastrous consequences in the future desti nies of man? Third. The experience which the world has had of the genius of popery, and its effects upon society, requires that all possible means should be employed for its overthrow. Though never backward to fawn, and crouch, and flatter, if thereby it can acquire power, according as it became dominant, lerant and persecuting-the determined foe of political and religious freedom. When in depression, it may, as a method of good policy, eulogise liberty and equality among men and among sects, till it finds itself on a level with its neighbours; but no sooner is that level gained, than its ambition towers still higher, nor can rest till it becomes and is acknowledged the great all-in-all. Its career to pre-eminence, in periods past, has been over myriads of martyrs, slaughtered for conscience sake. Semper idem is its motto and its boast. What it was in the days of Gregory and Mary, openly, it is now and ever will remain essentially. By magnifying the importance of things ceremonial above things moral, it encourages superstition rather than virtue. By granting absolution, for money, on confession to a priest, it makes light of repentance in the sight of God. By prohibiting free inquiry it narrows and prostrates the intellect: what exercise of sober and enlightened thought can, indeed, be expected, under a system which requires us to believe as an undoubted verity necessary to salvation, that most palpable and preposterous absurdity ever imposed on human credulity—transubstantiation. Look wherever we may, in proportion as it prevails, we observe the people ignorant, debased, and wretched. Were I called upon to name the great cause of Ireland's misery, I should, unhesitatingly, name popery; and we may be assured, that until her inhabitants are emancipated from its yoke, all efforts to raise her in the scale of nations will be vain. Fourth.-Shall I refer to the example of our venerated forefathers to awaken our energies, to renew and prosecute the combat in which they toiled, and bled, and triumphed? The fact has been often named, but never satisfactorily accounted for, consistently with the honour and obligations of Protestants, that after the century in which the Reformation began had expired, no further inroads have been made upon popery; matters have remained in statu quo; scarcely has more been attempted than to preserve the laurels that were won in those days of glory. Is it that the first champions of the cause finished the work purposed of God to be achieved by his word and spirit? let the vast preponderance of Roman Catholics above Protestants speak! Is it that the resources of zeal and means within the Church were exhausted, and required the repose of centuries to recruit? let the sufficiency that is in Christ, and the splendid enterprises that have been lately undertaken, bear witness! Will it be said that those modern projects are of such transcending moment that, compared with them, the progress of protestantism is unworthy of regard? Till it be shown that popery is less contrary to God, and less dangerous to man than paganism, we must reject the plea. Shall we affirm that the Reformers carried matters too far; that Luther, and Calvin, and Knox, and Cranmer, went to an extreme, and that a suspension of effort was called for, as a counterpoise to their extravagance, that the rationality of their design might be indicated? why then do we extol their doings as second in value only to those of apostles and evangelists in promulgating Christianity? Alas! alas! out of our own mouths we are condemned. Lukewarmness, drear and criminal lukewarmness, has overspread and paralyzed the churches. To the awful apathy of Protestants to wards their principles must it be ascribed that the banners of Roman Catholicism yet float over SO large a portion of what is called the civilized world; that popery yet rears its head in defiance of the skies, and holds, unbroken, its tyrannic and disastrous sway over the souls and destinies of men. Are we guiltless in this matter? Fifth. The state and attitude of popery at present claims our attention. You inform us, that it is "most alarmingly" on the increase in America; that "there are already half a million of Papists” in that country. Permit me to say, that we have much greater cause for vigilance at home. In Ireland, the Roman Catholics are numbered at about six millions, and by the emigration of labourers, it is rapidly colonizing other parts of the United Kingdom with its adherents. In several of the large towns of Great Britian, as Glasgow, Manchester, &c. they amount to from 30,000 to 50,000. The activity of its advocates shames the apathy of its opponents. They have "one thing" to do, and to that, by a wisdom and assiduity, (often noiseless and unobserved, but commonly effective,) they make all besides subservient. The system is unquestionably rising in respectability and influence in society. It makes the liberalism of the day a stepping-stone to its advancement, allaying apprehension and even courting popularity, by exclaiming against the oppression of the Government Church. I mean not to censure Catholic emancipation; it had been well for evangelical truth had its friends never rested on an arm of flesh; under the favour of God it is selfsufficient for its own support, nor should we fear the result, if our rulers, instead of remaining neuter, threw all their power into the ranks of the enemy. sacred cause? The On the to join with the British Reformation Society, but of this I have some doubts. When the Irish branch of the Society was formed for promoting the religious principles of the Reformation, it was proposed in Committee that a detail of those principles should be prepared, partly, that all might know what sentiments the institution was formed to promote, and partly, that Protestants of different persuasions might not be brought into collision with each other on their respective peculiarities. proposal was over-ruled, and I believe that in the working of the Society, the term "Protestantism" is understood as expressing the whole faith and order of the Established Church. Another cause of hesitation in regard to such an union is, that we should find ourselves much fettered, and deprived of many a vantage ground in the controversy, by identifying ourselves with Episcopalians. I make not these remarks through hostility to the Society in question. Many of its friends I highly esteem as men of God. I have, in compliance with their wishes, occasionally taken part at its meetings. I believe that their object is not to sustain a party, but to vindicate and promote the Gospel we hold in common, and so far I cordially wish them success. What then is to be done? How is the contemplated movement to be made? Consistency with our principles forbids that we should seek the re-enactment of the penal code, or employ any other weapon than the rod of Christ's strength, the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Might not our ministers more frequently notice the errors of popery in their pulpit discourses? This would make their hearers somewhat familiar with the controversy; it would excite curiosity among Roman Catholics and others not in the habit of attending their instructions; it would afford an admirable opportunity for argumentatively illustrating all the glorious truths of the Gospel; it would awaken attention to the subject throughout our congregations, establishing them in the faith, and supplying them with materials for instructing, admonishing, or reclaiming some of their associates. This, I am aware, has been done in neighbourhoods where popery prevails. I need not add, that our manner in conducting the discussion should be always such as will make our hearers feel that we are influenced by the love of truth and a sense of duty, and that our aim, in simplicity and godly sincerity, is the conversion and salvation of man. Our brethren in Yorkshire intimate, that it may be right for us The formation of a new Society should be maturely considered before it is resolved upon. We have already a multitude of institutions, and it seems to me, that attempts for the overthrow of popery ought ever to be combined with the inculcation of saving truth. Should not our Home and Foreign Missionary Societies have that object in view, and ought not every agent, in Roman Čatholic neighbourhoods, to be fully versed in the controversy? But I leave this part of the discussion to others, and conscious of having already obtruded too far upon your pages, for which I sincerely apologise, subscribe myself, Gen tlemen, your unworthy fellow-servant in the Gospel, WILLIAM URWICK. Dublin, August 16, 1832. ON THE MORAL TENDENCIES OF A BELIEF IN THE DOCTRINE OF THE INCARNATION. To the Editors.-THE following observations were penned some years ago, after reading a sermon of Dr. Channing's. If you think them worth inserting, they are at your service. Pentonville. R. The doctrine that the divine nature assumed a human form, or, to use the emphatic language of inspiration, that "God was made manifest in the flesh," stands at the basis of all that is most important and peculiar in the views of Christianity; without it, its most distinguishing features melt away, and the volume of revelation becomes little more than a clearer presentation of some of the more obvious truths of natural religion, and an improved edition of pagan morality. It is true, that the proper method of proving this doctrine is by appealing to the declarations of Scripture; and if, after a fair and legitimate interpretation, we find it there, we are bound, as long as we admit their divine authority, to receive it. Yet it is a doctrine so mysterious, that we can scarcely wonder that it has met with the most strenuous opposition from selfsufficient reason and a false philosophy. Unable, however, to rest their objections on Scripture evidence, which it has tasked all their ingenuity to explain away, the opponents of this doctrine are fond of insisting on its "appa rent absurdity"-its repugnance to human reason; and, of late especially, of questioning the moral tendencies of a belief in it, representing it as not only inconsistent with the decisions of an enlightened judgment, but hostile to the promotion of an elevated and ardent piety. It is represented by one of the most celebrated champions of Unitarianism of the present day, as a relapse "into the rudest mythology of the most idolatrous ages." Let us briefly canvas this assertion. It is often objected, that a belief in this doctrine induces views derogatory to the glory of God. "What!" it is asked, "are we to degrade our conceptions of a being of such infinite majesty and glory, and believe that he actually allied himself with a material form?" But surely this objection results from perverted views of that which forms the medium of the manifestation-that is, a material form. We conceive that nothing would form an insuperable barrier to God's employing any mode of manifestation for purposes worthy of it, except a moral obstacle; and who will say that this accompanies a belief in the doctrine of the inearnation ? If there be nothing degrading to the moral glory of God in the mode of manifestation ; if, as in the character of Christ, there is nothing inconsistent with God's purity and holiness, what is there so derogatory to the majesty and glory of God, in the mere fact of |