But

recommends, and which the other condemns?" that is not so. The two parties do not approve of it. So far from it, that the Protestant declares the Roman Catholic way to be an exceedingly dangerous way; while his own way, though pronounced by the Roman Catholic to be fatal, can claim the most respectable testimony, that it is the true and safe way. Then comes an illustration, which, like a great many other illustrations, is well constructed, but happens to be totally inapplicable to the case in hand: "Who, in fine, can doubt, but that a medicine prescribed by two physicians may be taken with more security than another, which one of the two judges may be his death?" How the Duke rolls on his argument! Just now the Protestant only admitted the possibility of the Roman Catholic's salvation. Then he is represented as approving the Roman Catholic way -and immediately after as prescribing it! It is easy proving any thing, if one may make facts to suit his purpose. It is not true, that Protestants prescribe the Roman Catholic religion to those who ask them what they shall do to be saved.

People must become Roman Catholics if they please; but I would advise them to look out for better reasons for the change than the Duke of Brunswick's fifty; and especially than this, his seventh. It is a poor reason for becoming a Roman Catholic, that they say they are the people, and haughtily bid others stand by. I cannot think it so great a recommendation of a religion, that it denounces, and, so far as it can, damns all who cannot see their way clear to embrace it.

51. The Duke's Eleventh Reason.

Fifty reasons why the Roman Catholic religion ought to be preferred to all others! Only think. And some of them, that I don't find any answer to in any Protestant writer! Such a one is the eleventh of the formidable series. In the three preceding reasons or considerations,

as he calls them, the duke had been giving us the result of his inquiries. It seems he was quite an investigator. He searched almost every book but the Scriptures. He looked for what he wanted every where, but where the thing was. When a man is enquiring after the truth, and consults the philosophers, the fathers, the martyrs, and all the saints, I cannot see where is the harm of just looking into the Prophets, the Evangelists, and the Apostles too. I don't know why they should be treated with such neglect; I think they are quite as respectable writers as any of the fathers. But be this as it may, the duke, in his eighth consideration, tells us about his consulting the writings of the ancient fathers, to find what they would advise him to do, whether to embrace the Roman Catholic faith or no. And he says, they all told him to be a Roman Catholic by all means. Then, says he, in his ninth consideration, "I appealed to the saints of God, and asked them what was the faith they lived in, and by which they arrived at eternal bliss." And they said (not that they had "washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb," in accordance with the account given of some other saints in Rev. vii.)-but "they all made answer, It was the Roman faith." By the way, the Roman Catholics have an advantage over us Protestants. They know who are saints, and seem to have a way of consulting them after they are dead. We are not equal to those things. Why, the duke even tells us the names of those who made answer. "Thus," says he, "I was answered by St. Martin, St. Nicholas, St Athanasius, and many more among the bishops; among the religious, by St. Dominick (!?), St. Francis, &c. Among the widows, by St. Monica, St. Bridget, St. Elizabeth, &c. Among the virgins, by St. Agatha, St. Lucy, St. Agnes, St. Catharine, &c." I think, if a Protestant had had the privilege of crossexamining the above when the duke consulted them, the result might have been somewhat different. But no Protestant had notice of his intention to carry his inquiries into that quarter. The duke was determined

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to make thorough work of it. Therefore, in his tenth consideration he tells us, "Then I turned to the holy martyrs, and inquired what faith it was, for the truth of which they spilt their blood." They answered it was the Roman Catholic. "This," he says, "I was assured of by thirty-three bishops of Rome, who were crowned with martyrdom; by the saints Cyprian, Sebastian, Laurence; by St. Agatha, St. Cicily, St. Dorothy, St. Barbara, and an infinite number of other saints." They all told the same story. Then," says the duke, "I wound up my argument." But he concluded on the whole, before winding it up, to let it run down a little lower. And this brings us to his eleventh reason. The reader will please prepare himself now for a prostrating argument. "My next step was in thought to hell, where I found in condemnation to everlasting torments, Simon Magus, Novatus, Vigilantius, Pelagius, Nestorius, Macedonius, Marcion, &c." May I never be under the necessity of descending so low for an argument! But the duke does not say that he actually went thither, but he went in thought. There, having gone in thought, he found so and so. Here is another advantage the Romanists have over us. They know who are in hell. We do not. Perhaps some are not there who we may fear are. We do not hold ourselves qualified to judge in these matters. Well, he found them there. He was quite sure not one of them had repented and been saved. And he asked them how they came there, and they very civilly answered, that "it was for their breaking off from the Roman Catholic church." Now this is the argument that I have not seen answered by any Protestant writer, as far as I can recollect. I don't read of any Protestant who went even in thought to hell, to consult the lost on the points in controversy between us and the Romanists. So that the Romanists have the whole of this argument to themselves. The duke says they told him they were there for not being Roman Catholics, and we have no counter-testimony. Protestantism, however, having so many other "witnesses to the truth" of her system, can

easily do without the testimony of "the spirits in prison." Let that be for the Roman Catholics. But by the way, I wonder that the duke relied so unhesitatingly on the testimony of those persons. How does he know that they told the truth? Are not all such called in Scripture "the children of the devil," and does not every body know his character for veracity? It is certainly an extraordinary answer for one of them, Simon Magus, to give, considering the time when he lived. How could he say with truth that he was there, for breaking off from the Roman Catholic church, when, at the date of his apostacy, the gospel had never been preached at Rome? There was no Roman church to break off from then.

I was expecting that the duke would push his inquiries yet one step farther; and, seeing he was on the spot, would interrogate Satan in regard to the true religion. But he does not seem to have consulted "the father of lying," but only the children. The truth is, the devil does not wait to be consulted on that subject, but makes his suggestions to "them that dwell on the earth,” without being called upon so to do.

I hope the Reformed religion will be able to stand the shock of this argument, though it has never been answered before.

52. Beauties of the Leopold Reports.

I have been not a little interested with the extracts recently published from the Reports of the Leopold Society in Austria; and it has struck me that I might do some service, especially to those who have not the time or the patience to read long articles, by calling the attention of the public to the choice parts of these reports; for even where all is good, you know, there are generally portions here and there of superior excellence. Will you allow, me then, to point out some of the beauties of the reports? What has struck me with peculiar force, will probably affect others as forcibly.

Now I have admired the way in which the report speaks of conversions. It seems that these Roman Catholics can foresee conversions with as much certainty as we, poor blind Protestants, can look back on them! F. Baraga writes, under date of March 10, 1832: “I long for the arrival of spring, when I shall have numerous conversions"!! Now, I am aware that the face of nature is renewed when spring appears; but I did not know this was as true of the souls of men. It is news to me, that conversions can be foreseen with such perfect accuracy. It is hard to foresee what men will do. But here is a foreseeing of what God will do, unless they deny that conversion is his work! But what makes our Roman Catholic brother speak so confidently of the conversions that were to take place? How did he know it? Why, forsooth, some had promised him that they would be converted in the spring. "There are many pagan Indians," he says, "who promised me last summer and fall, that they would in the spring embrace the Christian religion!" This beats all. Why, if they were convinced of the truth of the Christian Religion, did they not embrace it at once? Why put it off till after the first of March? But not only had some promised him that they would be converted, but he says,

From two other counties I have received assurances, that many of the Indians there would be converted to the Christian religion, if I would come and preach the gospel to them!" You see they had told others, who told Baraga, that they would. It came very straight. He speaks particularly of a Christian Indian who had brought him the intelligence. Now observe, they had never heard a word of the Gospel-neither knew what it was, nor how it is confirmed! Yet they promised to embrace it promised to believe, and to be converted-to have their hearts changed-to be born again! I know that God promises, "A new heart will I give you;" but I never knew before, that any man, and especially one who had never heard the Gospel, could look forward and say, "At such a time I will have a new heart."