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eighty-four tradesmen; one hundred husbandmen, fifty-five women, and four children. And, a century and a half has scarcely elapsed, since the Presbyterians in Scotland were hunted across moors and mosses, like partridges of the wilderness, slaughtered by bands of ruffian dragoons, and forced to seek their spiritual food in dens, and mountains, and forests, at the peril of their lives. Hunter, a young man about nineteen years of age, was one of the unhappy victims to the zeal for Papacy of Mary Queen of England. Having been inadvertently betrayed by a priest, to deny the doctrine of transubstantiation, he absconded to keep out of harm's way. Boner, that arch-hangman of Popery, threatened ruin to the father if he did not deliver up the young man. Hunter, hearing of his father's danger, made his appearance, and was burned alive, instead of being rewarded for his filial piety. A woman of Guernsey was brought to the stake, without regard to her advanced pregnancy, and she was delivered in the midst of the flames. One of the guards snatched the infant from the fire; but the magistrate, who attended the execution, ordered it to be thrown back, being resolved, he said, that nothing should survive which sprung from a parent so obstinately heretical.*

What a dreadful picture would it present of the malignity of persons who have professed the religion of Christ, were we to collect into one point of view, all the persecutions, tortures, burnings, massacres, and horrid cruelties, which, in Europe, and Asia, and even in the West Indies and America, have been inflicted on conscientious men for their firm adherence to what they considered as the truths of religion! When we consider, on the one hand, the purity of morals, and the purity of faith which generally distinguished the victims of persecution; and, on the other, the proud pampered priests, abandoned without shame to every species of wickedness, we can scarcely find words sufficiently strong to express the indignation and horror which arise in the mind, when it views this striking contrast, and contemplates such scenes of impiety and of crime. Could a religion, which breathes peace

* Kaims' Sketches, Vol. IV.

and good-will from heaven towards men, be more basely misrepresented? or can the annals of our race present a more striking display of the perversity and depravity of mankind? To represent religion as consisting in the belief of certain incomprehensible dogmas, and to attempt to convert men to Christianity, and to inspire them with benevolence, by fire, and racks, and tortures, is as absurd as it is impious and profane; and represents the Divine Being as delighting in the torments and the death of sin ners, rather than that they should return and live. But, without dwelling longer on such reflections and details, I shall just present an example or two of the moral state of Roman Catholic countries, as a specimen of the effects to which their system of religion naturally leads.

"By their fruits ye shall know them," says our Saviour. Wherever religion is viewed as consisting chiefly in the observance of a number of absurd and unmeaning ceremonies, it is natural to expect that the pure morality of the Bible will seldom be exemplified in human conduct. This is strikingly the case in those countries, both in Europe and America, where the Catholic religion reigns triumphant.-Mr. Howison, whose work, entitled "Foreign Scenes," I formerly quoted, when speaking of the priesthood in the island of Cuba, says, "The number of priests in Havana exceeds four hundred. With a few exceptions, they neither deserve nor enjoy the respect of the community. However, no one dares openly to speak against them. In Havana, the church is nearly omnipotent, and every man feels himself under its immediate jurisdiction. Most people, therefore, attend mass regularly, make confession, uncover, when passing a religious establishment of any kind, and stand still in the streets, or stop their volantos, the moment the vesper-bell begins ringing. But they go no farther; and the priests do not seem at all anxious that the practice of such individuals should correspond to their profession. The priests show, by their external appearance, that they do not practise those austerities which are generally believed to be the necessary concomitants of a monastic life. The sensual and unmeaning countenances that encircle the altars of the churches, and the levity and indifference with which the most sacred parts of the service are hurried through, would shock

and surprise a Protestant, were he to attend mass with the expectation of finding the monks those solemn and aweinspiring persons, which people, who have never visited Catholic countries, often imagine them to be."

The following extract, from a late writer, exhibits a specimen of the religion and the moral feelings of the NEAPOLITANS. "When Vesuvius thunders aloud, or when an earthquake threatens them with destructionwhen fiery streams vomited from the roaring mouth of the volcano roll on, carrying desolation over the plains below -when the air is darkened by clouds of smoke, and showers of ashes, the Neapolitans will fall on their knees, fast, do penance, and follow the processions barefooted; but as soon as the roar has ceased, the flame has disappeared, and the atmosphere has recovered its wonted serenity, they return to their usual mode of life, they sink again to their former level, and the tinkling sounds of the tumburella call them again to the lascivious dance of the tarantella."--As an evidence of the litigious dispositions of the Neapolitans, the same Author informs us, “Tha there is scarcely a landholder but has two or three causes pending before the courts-that a lawyer, and a suit, åre indispensable appendages of property ;-and that some of the principal families have suits which have been carried on for a century, and for which a certain sum is yearly appropriated, although the business never advances; and, at last, the expenses swallow up the whole capital."" The infinite number of churches," says a late writer, "is one of the most efficient causes of the decline of the religion of Rome, whose maxims and practice are diametrically opposite to those of the Gospel. The Gospel is the friend of the people, the consoler of the poor. The religion of Rome, on the contrary, considers all nations as great flocks, made to be shorn or eaten according to the good pleasure of the shepherds for her the golden lever is the lever of Archimedes. The favours of the church are only showered on those who pay; with money we may pur chase the right to commit perjury and murder, and be the greatest villains at so much per crime; according to the

* Vieusseux's "Italy in the 19th century." 1824.

famous Tariff printed at Rome, entitled, "Taxes of the Apostolic Chancery."*

M. Jouy, in his late publication, "The Hermit in Italy," presents the following picture of the religion and the practical morality of the Tuscans. The greediness after profit is such, among the lower classes of shop-keepers, that they adulterate their merchandize so much, as to render it almost intolerable. Milk, cheese, and butter, are always in peril under the hands of a Florentine shopkeeper. It is impossible to meet with good butter, except at the dairies. The grocers are not exempt from the imputation of these illicit mixtures, and adulterations of their goods. I bought, from one of them, some brown sugar, which would not dissolve in the mouth; and, on examination, I found, that nearly one-third part consisted of powdered marble, which had been mixed up with it. Yet they are excessively punctual in the outward ceremonies of religion; and whenever they remove from one place to another, a large cross, or a Madonna, is always stuck up at full length in the cart."

In a conversation which Buonaparte had with his friends at St. Helena, on the subject of religion, as related by La Casas, in his Journal, he said, among many other things, "How is it possible that conviction can find its way to our hearts, when we hear the absurd language, and witness the acts of iniquity of the greatest number of those whose business it is to preach to us? I am surrounded with priests, who preach incessantly that their reign is not of this world, and yet they lay hands upon every thing they can get. The Pope is the head of that religion from heaven, and he thinks only of this world,' &c. The Emperor ended the conversation, by desiring my son to bring him the New Testament, and taking it from the beginning, he read as far as the conclusion of the speech of Jesus on the mountain. He expressed himself struck with the highest admiration at the purity, the sublimity, the beauty of the morality it contained, and we all experienced the same feeling."

* "Picture of Modern Rome," by M. Santo Domingo. 1824.

Such facts may suffice as specimens of the benevolence and morality which exist in Roman Catholic countries.

MORAL STATE OF THE PROTESTANT CHURCH, AND OF THE DISPOSITIONS GENERALLY MANIFESTED AMONG CHRISTIANS IN OUR OWN COUNTRY.

This is a topic which would admit of a very extended illustration; but my present limits will permit me to do little more than simply to allude to a few prominent dispositions displayed by the different sections of the Protestant church. We have already seen some of the pernicious effects which flowed from the divisive and contentious spirit of Christians, under the reign of the Christian emperors, and during the milddle ages, when ignorance and intolerance so extensively prevailed. The present

state of the Christian world affords abundant proofs that this spirit is far from being extinguished. Christians are at present distinguished by the peculiarity of their opinions respecting-the Person of Christ, and the attributes of which he is possessed-the means by which salvation is to be obtained-the measure and extent of divine benevolence -the Government of the Christian church-and the ceremonies connected with the administration of the ordinances of Religion. Hence the Religious world appears arranged into such sects and parties as the following:Arians, Socinians, Unitarians, Sabellians, Necessarians, and Trinitarians ;-Baxterians, Antinomians, Arminians, Calvinists, Lutherans, Sub-lapsarians, Supra-lapsarians, Sandemanians, Swedenborgians, and Moravians;-Roman Catholics, Protestants, Hugonots, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Independents, Seceders, Brownists, PædoBaptists, Anti-Pædo-Baptists, Keilamites, Methodists, Jumpers, Universalists, Sabbatarians, Millennarians, Destructionists, Dunkers, Shakers, Mystics, Hutchinsonians, Muggletonians, the followers of Joanna Southcott, &c. &c. -Most of these sectaries profess their belief in the existence of One Eternal, Almighty, Wise, Benevolent, and Righteous Being, the Creator and Preserver of all things; -in the Divine authority of the Holy Scriptures;-that God is the alone object of religious worship;-that Jesus