uniformly wrought in attestation of the first Truth of Theology, and in refutation of polytheism; while those of the nicene church were as uniformly employed for the opposite purpose of sustaining the credit of demonolatry! Let us hear Ambrose himself on this point, and consider, at the same time, what practical interpretation was put upon his language by his hearers-high and low.

6

Already the people of Milan, according to the usage of the times, were accustomed to frequent the shrines of St. Felix and St. Nabor; humbly supplicating from these demi-gods, aid in trouble and sickness. Ambrose now tells them that henceforward they may resort to the new church' for the same purposes-Gaudent omnes extrema linea contingere, et qui contigerit, salvus erit. We have heard Chrysostom telling the people of Constantinople that Holy Relics are more to be trusted to for the defence of cities, than are walls and towers. Ambrose, in the same strain, speaks of the Church as succoured and defended in the very same manner; and he boldly professes his own confidence in this species of guardianship. The language he employs must not be regarded as a mere flourish of rhetoric; for those to whom he spoke understood him in the literal sense of his words, and he knew they did so, and he and they acted habitually on this professed belief. These martyrs (or their bones) are his guards and defenders.-Tales ego ambio defensores, tales milites habeo. The Lord had opened the eyes of his people (as those of the prophet's servant) to behold the helpers who had often, in times past, succoured them, even when they knew it not-patronos habebamus, et nesciebamus. To heighten the awe of the people in approaching the 'Inviolable Relics,' they are affirmed to possess the formidable power-a power constantly exerted, of inflicting horrible pangs upon evil spirits :-et nunc audistis clamantes dæmones et confitentes martyribus quod pœnas ferre non possint. The devil, wrung with anguish when dragged toward the holy relics, is constrained to make an orthodox confession, and to warn the heretic of what he may look for!

This varied ascription to the martyrs, of powers to help, powers to heal, powers to punish, was enough. Whatever oblique references might be made to the power of God, as the ultimate source of these energies, the people-the ignorant and the instructed alike,

crowded around the visible and palpable shrine, where, as they were taught, the supernatural energy resided. And before this shrine they knelt ;-to the deity there present they offered their supplications, and to him, when their suit was granted, they offered their grateful acknowledgments-presenting to the god some appropriate votive offering.

In nothing but names and titles did this worship differ from the abolished paganism ;-in nothing did it differ from the idolatry of modern popery. And yet it was in support and

recommendation of these abominations that the miracles of the times of Ambrose were wrought! Is it possible, with the Old Testament in our hands, to yield our assent to these 'wonders?'— But if not, they were not illusions, but deliberate knaveries, and such precisely as are the tricks of romish priests in exhibiting a Madonna that moves her eyes and smiles, or a bottle of boiling blood.

Ambrose occupies a high position among the Fathers; and there was a vigour and dignity in his character, as well as a vivid intelligence, which must command respect; but in proportion as we assign praise to the man, individually, we condemn the system which could so far vitiate a noble mind, and impel one so lofty in temper to act a part which heathen philosophers would utterly have abhorred.

Heavy blame has fallen upon the assertion that Romanism is in many respects a reform upon Ancient, or let us say, Nicene Christianity. I will take this occasion to illustrate my meaning in a single instance. In the Romish communion the working of wonders, although it is not condemned by intelligent and respectable men, is left almost entirely in the hands of very inferior persons, whether they be fanatics or jugglers; and when these things are referred to, it is in a style of evasion, extenuation, explanation, and with an evident wish to save truth and piety, if by any means it may be done, without compromising the avowed principles and practices of the church. And so it is with the direct worship of the saints.-The least possible is said of it; and its enormities are kept out of sight.

But in the Nicene church, so lax were the notions of common morality, and in so feeble a manner did the fear of God influence

the conduct of leading men, that, on occasions when the Church was to be served, and her assailants to be confounded, they did not scruple to take upon themselves the contrivance and execution of the most degrading impostures. Under the Nicene system, bishops in the great cities could stand up in crowded churches, without shame, and with uplifted hands appeal to Almighty God in attestation of that, as a miracle, which themselves had brought about by trickery, bribes, and secret instructions. No such enormities would be perpetrated by any modern Romish bishop of repute.

Ambrose, before entering upon the service of the Church, had mingled in the busy world, and he knew mankind. Snatched, by the popular whim, from secular affairs in middle life-an unbaptized laic; he was suddenly lifted to the pinnacle of spiritual power. As to Christianity, he had every thing to learn at the moment when the burdensome duties of the episcopate, in a large city, came upon him. He could do nothing but accept the system, entire, into the midst of which he was thrown; and if he be judged by the principles which he found already admitted and acted upon in the Church, he must be regarded with admiration. But then these principles barely retained a rudiment of the pure morality of the New Testament. A worship grossly polytheistic had (as such a worship uniformly does) thoroughly vitiated the moral sense of the professedly christian world, and in combination with the extravagances of the ascetic discipline, had created a taste for whatever is most absurd and most vile in superstition. To glut the prurient appetite of the licentious rabble of the great cities had become the aim of those who aspired to spiritual power; and it was in thus feeding the mob with wonders that the chiefs of the Church obtained an influence which enabled them to cope with the secular power, and often to triumph over it. It was moreover greatly by such means that the influence of the bishops of the principal cities was extended over wide tracts of surrounding country. I shall adduce an instance illustrating this sort of policy, and serving at the same time to show how peculiar a hold blood miracles' had obtained over the popular mind. The dry ossA needed the PLURIMUM SANGUINIS to give them life.

The instance now to come before us, belongs to a rather later time than that of the Ambrosian miracle; nevertheless it falls far

within the period over which the pall of catholicity has been spread. Let the reader say whether it be not a proper continuation of the practices of an earlier age, as well as a link connecting the superstitions and fabrications of Romanism, with those of catholic antiquity.

THE BLEEDING RELICS OF ST. EUPHEMIA.

The council of Chalcedon was held in the year 451 ; but the circumstances narrated by Evagrius are spoken of by him as belonging to a course of years preceding, and must be supposed to date back as far, at least, as to the close of the episcopate of Chrysostom; and we shall see in what way the worship of St. Euphemia connects itself with the opinions and practices approved and taught by that Father, on the other side the Bosphorus. In truth the two cities, Chalcedon and Constantinople, were so much connected in ecclesiastical matters, and the people of both were so much accustomed to mingle in church festivals, that whatever is characteristic of the religious usages of the one, is so of the other. The historian distinctly affirms that the clergy and people of the European shores were wont to participate in the solemnities which he describes; and indeed the patriarch took the lead in them.

"A quarter of a mile from the Thracian Bosphorus," says Gibbon, (chap. 47) "the church of St. Euphemia was built on the summit of a gentle, though lofty ascent: the triple structure was celebrated as a prodigy of art, and the boundless prospect of the land and sea might have raised the mind of a sectary to the contem.. plation of the God of the universe."

Alas! the worship to which this temple was dedicated tended to fix the thoughts of the people, not upon the God of the universe,' but upon a female divinity! Of what avail are the visible demonstrations of the Divine power and goodness, as displayed in the creation, when, in the fanes they frequent, men are taught to address their petitions to the creature, not to the Creator? Feeble must be the influence of the great truths of theology, when the imagination of the people is occupied with 'signs and wonders,' attesting the present power of the demi-god at whose

shrine they kneel! But are we using language which the facts, in this instance, do not warrant ?-Let it be seen.

The Fathers of the council of Chalcedon, says the historian Evagrius (a respectable writer) assembled in the magnificent basilic of St. Euphemia, from which a delicious prospect, of verdant slopes, waving corn fields, and clustered trees, lay outstretched before the delighted spectator; and which was bounded on either hand by woody mountains, and in front, by the wide waters of the Propontine sea; and on one side, by the glittering palaces of the imperial city. The shores presented sheltered inlets and levels, richly strewed with shells, and decked with marine plants. The temple itself, graced with domes and marble columns, included a magnificent chapel, the decorations of which were of the most sumptuous kind, and which contained the shrine and relics of the saint, ‘accessible,' says the historian, ' to those who wished to supplicate the martyr, and to take part in the celebration of the mysteries. Ως ἂν κάντευθεν ἐξῆ τοῖς βουλομένοις ἱκετεύειν τε τὴν μάρτυρα, καὶ τοῖς τελουμένοις παρεῖναι. Beneath the dome of this chapel, and toward the east, the sacred relics of the martyr (St. Euphemia) deposited in an oblong silver coffin, graced a richly decorated enclosure (properly the shrine) the coffin itself being curiously sculptured.

But the miracles which from time to time are there wrought by the most holy (St. Euphemia) are known to all christian people, says Evagrius. For not seldom she appears in a dream, either to the bishop for the time being, or to some other person among those eminent for piety, who frequent her fane, and when she enjoins a festival to be held (in her honour). This is forthwith signified to the imperial persons, to the patriarch, and to the people at large; and instantly all repair to the temple-rulers, priests, and the multitude;-one and all desirous of sharing in the solemnities of the occasion. Then, in the sight of all, the primate of Constantinople, attended by his clergy, enters the sacred enclosure within which is deposited the most Holy Body πανάγιον σῶμα. Now on the left side of the silver coffin there is some lattice work closed (ordinarily) by little fittings. Through these an iron rod (or spatula) to the end of which a sponge has been attached, is thrust, even till it touches the most holy relics;