With regard to the second, we are taught by God, that Scripture and Truth afford the test by which to try and determine such pretensions. Thus, in Deuteronomy xiii. 1, 3.-The Lord says, 'If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of "dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, and the sign or "the wonder cometh to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, "and let us serve them; thou shalt not hearken unto the words "of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether yé love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul."

Here the apparent reality of miraculous pretensions is brought to the test of truth previously known, established, and demonstrated on divine authority; and any inconsistency with that is pronounced fatal to such claim. And when the record of truth in the revealed word was more fully introduced in the time of the evangelical prophet, it is to that a reference is made, as the conclusive standard by which to judge and determine, in any attempt to delude by fictitious wonders. When

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they shall say unto you,-seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep and that mutter; should "not a people seek unto their God ?"-The question is met by the pungent inquiry "For the living unto the dead ?" and the suggestion by the direction, "To the law and to the testimony: "if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is

no light in them."* Thus, although we cannot admit the conclusiveness, positively, of miraculous pretensions in proof of peculiar doctrines in favour of which they are adduced; yet we have scriptural warrant for bringing forward established truth as conclusive negatively with reference to the claims of wonders or signs upon our credence, when a plain contrariety to revealed truth is evident.

And this test, of contrariety to scriptural doctrine, being applied to the system in favour of which Rome appeals to miracles, is fatal to their admission.

The peculiar dogmas of that Church, for which I find your Lordship claiming sanction from the wonders of the Tyrol, are-PURGATORY; INFALLIBILITY; the SACRIFICE OF THE MASS; INTERCESSION OF SAINTS, as obligatory on Christians; and IMAGE WORSHIP.

Your words (page 95) are—

Isaiah viii. 19, 20.

"If she be not an impostor,-and no eye can behold her and believe "her to be so-then let us learn the lesson which she teaches. Let us "esteem her a messenger from heaven to guide us thither,-let us believe "what she believes, honour what she honours, adore Him whom she "adores, intercede with those whom she supplicates, and yield submission "to that authority to which she has pledged obedience."

And in page 99, the doctrines stated above are enumerated. The full consideration of the anti-scriptural, unchristian character of these chosen principles of Rome, would lead to a far greater length than my limits will permit: and for any reader desirous to ascertain and know the truth, it is unnecessary. They are subjects upon which wheresoever the English language is spoken, thanks to God, information can be obtained; and on them Scripture is full and explicit, and therefore a few words on them may suffice.

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PURGATORY. If the principles of Rome be true with reference to the existence of such a place, and such a state of satisfactory suffering to atone for sin, what becomes of the efficacy of the blood of "The Lamb of God which taketh away 'the sin of the world,' which cleanseth from all sin,"t which " purgeth the conscience from dead works to serve the "living God," so that "the worshipper once purged has no "more conscience of sins;"§ of the promise your sins and "iniquities will I remember no more." Of the declaration, "There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus,"¶ and by him all that believe are justified from all things.”** What becomes of the gracious assurance, Blessed are the "dead which die in the Lord from henceforth yea, saith the "Spirit, that they may rest from their labours :"++ and "We "know, that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dis"solved, we have a building of God, an house not made with "hands, eternal in the heavens."‡‡

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My Lord, if these passages of God's Word be true, Purgatory is a "fond thing, vainly invented, and grounded upon no warranty of Scripture, but plainly repugnant to the Word of God;" and its overthrow, by "the more sure word of prophecy," stamps falsehood as well on the rhapsodies and reveries of modern occurrence, as on the fictitious apparitions and nocturnal visitations of a former date, adduced in its support.

• John i. 29. † 1 John i. 7. Jer. xxxi. 34.-Heb. viii. 12.

‡‡ Rev. xiv. 13.

Heb. ix. 14.
Rom. viii 1.
++ 2 Cor. v. 1.

§ Heb. x. 2. ** Acts xiii. 39.

THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS-" A true, proper, and propitiatory sacrifice for the living and the dead," as described by the Creed of Pope Pius IV. If this be so, how shall we dispose of the arguments of St. Paul, in vii. ix. and x. chap. of Heb; establishing the needlessness and inconsistency of the repetition with the completeness and perfection and efficacy of that ONCE offered. Ten times in this short portion of Scripture, does the great Apostle of the Gentiles emphatically dwell on the one offering, ONCE offered, as precluding the necessity or lawfulness of repetition.

But the truth is, as already hinted, that although Scripture affords no countenance for either the existence of Purgatory or the efficacy of the Sacrifice of the Mass as a means of deliverance therefrom, but very palpably disproves both; yet so interwoven are they one with the other, and with the unholy gains of the Church of Rome, that she cannot afford to part with the complex machinery by which she makes merchandise of the souls of men; and as she cannot establish them by recorded revelations of Prophets and Apostles, she has recourse to " a pious fraud;" and Stigmata and Extatics and Raptures prove to her satisfaction and advantage, what contradicts Scripture, neutralizes the atonement, robs Christ of his honor, the Christian of his comfort and good hope through grace, and transfers to her coffers the wealth of the timid, superstitious, and ignorant.

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INFALLIBILITY.-How is this proved, supposing that the spectator is assured that Domenica Barbagli is inspired ? Has she, under divine influence, expressly revealed that it is lodged in the Church of Rome exclusively, and has she told where it is to be found? Whether in Pope? or Council? or both together? or Church diffusive? Or how it is to be rendered practically available? But independent of this ;—that the new revelation does not convey new instruction, nor practical benefit. How does your Lordship's argument stand? Domenica is the subject of Miracle, and she is in communion with the Church of Rome. But Rome claims to be infallible ergo she is so-with all deference, I would suggest, that independent of the question assumed in the first part of the first premise,there is a palpable inconclusiveness in the inference. In order to make it legitimate, the following, or some such position should be introduced; every miraculous influence proves the truth of every claim, of every Church, with which the subject

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of it holds communion: but such a position would be so palpably contradictory to scripture and experience, that the statement of it would be sufficient to disprove any argument in which it was introduced-and yet, without some such, there is neither connexion between the parts nor conclusiveness in the inference of your Lordship's argument. And further-has infallibility performed the same service for Domenica as she has for it? Has Rome infallibly pronounced her reveries to be miracles, her revelations to be Divine Truth. If not, this proof of infallibility rests only on the fallible private judgment of an individual as to the truth of her pretensions :-if it has, the vicious circle here is manifest; for a miracle is adduced to prove infallibility, which infallibility again attests the reality of the miracle,

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INVOCATION OF Saints and Image Worship.-Domenica may be an authority to those who reject, or at least will not consult "the law and the testimony;" but Protestants prefer to attend to the warning of God by Moses-Deut. iv. 15. "Take ye "therefore good heed unto yourselves, (for ye saw no manner "of similitude on the day that the Lord spake unto you in "Horeb out of the midst of the fire.) Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female, the likeness of any "beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl "that flieth in the air, the likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters "beneath the earth." They choose to follow the commandment of the Decalogue, which in her blind infatuation Rome has rejected from her authorised Catechisms; craftily supplying the number by an unwarranted and anti-scriptural division of the last. "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the "third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my "Commandments." They remember with reverence the precept of their Holy Saviour, "Thou shalt Worship the LORD thy GOD, and Him only shalt thou serve;" and they rejoice in the privilege revealed by the Apostle. "There is One God,

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"and ONE Mediator between God and Man, the Man Christ "Jesus."

Thus, my Lord, it appears to me that an appeal to the sanction of the wonders of the Tyrol, as confirmatory of the peculiar doctrines of Rome, while it is not in analogy with Scriptural precedent itself, does, justify A TESTING OF THE MIRACLES by the TRUTH or FALSEHOOD OF THE DOCTRINES in favour of which the appeal is made, judged by the light of Scripture and that the result of such a test is no less fatal to the whole company of the Estaticæ of Rome, than the visit of Messrs. Scully, Russell, and Lucas was to the Miracle of Youghal.

But there is another important view of the subject, induced by an examination of Scripture, as to the position that alleged Miracles were to hold in the later ages of the Christian Church. Rome asserts that they were to be a perpetual mark of the True Church; and to prove this she adduces Mark xvi. 17, 18."These signs shall follow them that believe in my name they "shall cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the "sick and they shall recover."

We reply ;

This promise no more guarantees the perpetuity of these divine attestations in every age of the Church, than it proves the universality of the power of working them by every Member of the Church. The prediction is indefinite as to duration and extent of fulfilment. The miracles in the Apostles' days sufficiently testified to its accomplishment; and we have no more warrant to look for their continuance, than to expect that every believer should be thus gifted.

There are other passages, however, in which Miracles are foretold, and in which they are predicted as marks and characteristics not of the True Church; but of the opponents of Christ in general, and the GREAT APOSTACY OF THE LATTER TIMES in particular. As forming a prime resource and striking illustration of the "false Christs and false Prophets" who should arise and deceive many, nothing can be more explicit than the language of Our LORD, when discoursing with his disciples, shortly previous to his removal from them. In Matt. xxiv., he reiterates the warning against this species of deception. "Take heed that no man deceive you; for many shall come in my name saying I am Christ; and shall deceive many." "And "many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many."