are

good as to pray. I thought there was no need of praying for deceased Christians—for the faithful departed. I got the notion somewhere, that good people, when they die, go where there is "fullness of joy," and "pleasures forevermore." I may have imbibed it from St. Paul, who says that when such "absent from the body," they are (6 present with the Lord;" or perhaps I caught it from St. John, who speaks of the dead that die in the Lord, as "blessed from henceforth," and as resting from their labors. It is more likely, however, that I got the idea from our Saviour, who says to the church in Smyrna, "Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” It was natural that I should take up the idea in reading this, that prayers for the faithful departed were needless, since he says, if they were faithful unto death they should receive a crown of life. We are all liable to mistakes, that is, unless we are infallible. It seems, according to the Catholics, who profess to know all about these matters, that the faithful don't get the crown of life by being faithful unto death. No, they must be faithful a good while after death, before they receive it. That which they get at death is very different from the crown of life. They are a long time absent from the body before they are present with the Lord. They don't go to heaven, or paradise. They go to purgatory. This is the Catholic's creed. It don't seem to agree altogether well with the Savior's promise to the Smyrneans. A simple man would suppose that fidelity unto death was immediately followed by the crown of life. But they that cannot err tell u otherwise.

Somehow or other this doctrine of the faithful going

to purgatory after death, and needing to be prayed out of it, seems to have been always out of the mind of the apostle Paul, when he had his pen in his hand, or was dictating to the amanuensis. He speaks of it as gain to die; but surely, to exchange earth for purgatory is no gain. Air, however impure or sultry, is more agreeable than the element of fire. He tells of his desire to depart and be with Christ, just as if the one immediately followed the other. He overlooked purgatory; otherwise I think he would not have had the desire to depart. Perhaps he thought he would fare as well as Lazarus, who made no stop in purgatory; or as the penitent thief, who could not have made a long one, since he was in Paradise the same day he died. It has always appeared to me, that according to the Catholic system, this man, of all others, should have gone to purgatory. He never did any penance on earth-never bought an indulgence-he repented only a few minutes before he died; and yet he goes direct to paradise! Who then may not?

But do they not give us chapter and verse for praying for the dead! It must be confessed they do. Here it is. "It is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosened from their sins." 2 Macb. 12: 46. This looks like Scripture, though it does not sound much like it. It passes for Scripture with the Catholics; but it is Apocrypha. It is no more holy Scripture than the Koran is. I know the Catholics contend that it is as good Scripture as any. But ask the Jews if it is Scripture. "Unto them were committed the oracles of God." Ask them if the books of Maccabees were committed to them. They tell you no. They were not even written in

Hebrew. The New Testament abounds in quotations from the Old Testament Scriptures. I wonder some of the writers of the New Testament had not quoted Maccabees, if it had been Scripture. I would ask any one who reads it, if it strikes the ear as Scripture. It certainly does not. Besides, it is not in all cases good sense. The verse quoted in favor of praying for the dead is not good sense. They speak of praying for the dead as a holy thought, and of prayer as having an efficacy to loosen them from their sins. Now any child can see this to be no part of Scripture.

But I hasten to the prayer. "A prayer for the suffering souls in purgatory." It is a curious prayer. I should like to quote the whole of it. But some specimens must suffice. Here is one petition. "Have mercy on those who suffer in purgatory. Look with compassion on the greatness of their torments; they are more keenly devoured by their ardent desire of being united to thee, than by the purging flames wherein they are plunged." Observe, here are spirits in flames; and they are purging flames. Fire may refine and purify certain metals, but how it should act in that way on souls, is beyond my comprehension. The suffering occasioned by fire is very horrible; but it seems that it is nothing compared with what they suffer from the love of God, or the "ardent desire of being united to him." I wonder, if they have such desires after God, that they are kept in that suffering state. I wonder he does not take them up to himself. Why should they suffer so, since Christ has suffered for them, and they are the faithful who believe on him? Did not Christ suffer enough? But the prayer proceeds: "With them I adore thy

avenging justice." So it seems the faithful are the objects of God's avenging justice. I always thought that justice exacted its full demand of Christ. I don't know what the Apocrypha says about it, but holy Scripture informs me that God can now be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus; and that if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive them. Are not the faithful pardoned; and how is pardon consistent with vengeance ?

The prayer goes on thus: "Remember, O Lord, thou art their Father, and they are thy children. Forget the faults, which, through the frailty of human nature, they have committed against thee." Then a little farther on: "Remember, O Lord, that they are thy living members, thy faithful followers, thy spouses." Here you see these sufferers are God's children; and they are suffering for mere faults, which they fell into through frailty. This seems hard. But they are not only God's children; they are Christ's living members, his faithful followers, his spouses; and he died for them-and yet there they are burning-pardoned, yet suffering punishment— interested in the satisfaction of Christ, yet making satisfaction for themselves-paying over again the penalty which the Savior discharged. And this is the Catholic gospel! Is it not "another gospel ?" And yet "not another." It is no gospel. It is a contradiction of the good news.

I quote but one more petition: "Deliver them, O most merciful God, from that place of darkness and torture, and call them to a place of refreshment, light and peace." The reader will remember that this prayer is for the faithful. It is they who, having

been "faithful unto death," go to a place of darkness and torture. There they "rest from their labors." I don't know, for my part, what worse can befall unbelievers than this. Truly, here is no great encouragement to believing. What a consolitary doctrine this to break in the ear of a dying disciple! Fear not, be of good cheer, thou art but going to the place of "darkness and torture." Can it be Jesus who says this to his faithful followers? Can this be Christian doctrine? It certainly is not well calculated to make dying easy. With such a prospect before them, I do not wonder that Catholics find it hard to die-verily death has a sting, and the grave a victory, if the Catholic doctrine of purgatory be true.

48. An Improvement.

I always hail improvements. I am always glad to see things taking a turn for the better, even though the improvement be slight. We must not despise the day of small things. Rome was not built in a day, nor will she be overthrown in a day. A system that it took centuries to introduce, cannot be expected to pass away all at once. Even if the improvement be only in phraseology, I rejoice in it, because words not only signify ideas, but sometimes generate them, so that from using right words, men not unfrequently pass to holding correct ideas on subjects.

The improvement to which I refer relates to phra