APPENDIX.

THUS far our Author,-ending, not amiss, with an illustration of the strange and carnal nature of Romish Devotion, which aptly illustrates what he says, in No. 12, (pp. 33, 34,) of 66 a religion without the Holy Spirit."

For myself,—deeply as I was impressed with the awful character of the Romish Apostacy in reading the history of the Reformation, I never had any adequate conception of the depth and blackness of its abominations, till I was led to examine for myself some Popish books of instruction and devotion. I took care to read those which were authenticated and sanctioned by Bishops of the Romish Church; and which were used or recommended by them, for the instruction of their own people. Then I soon came to understand, that Popery is indeed a Mystery of Iniquity, the Master piece of Satan,-devised by him,

Firstly, To enslave the minds of men in blind submission to human authority, in utter neglect and contempt of the Word and authority of Almighty God;

Secondly, To set aside the one only all-atoning Sacrifice of Christ, whereby He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified (Heb. x. 14), by substituting for it, (1.) a pretended sacrifice, devised and offered up by a sinful and presumptuous man, usurping His Priestly Office, and (2.) human merits and superstitious observances for His perfect and everlasting Righteousness; (Dan. ix. 24; Rom. iii. 21, 22; 2 Cor. v. 21);

Thirdly, To kindle a strange fire of fancied devotion (compare Lev. x. 1, 2 with Is. 1. 11), by working upon the natural affections and imagination of Fallen Man; and to substitute this for that Sacred Fire, which is kindled in the heart by the holy and heavenly operation of the Blessed Spirit of God. (Rom. viii. 26, 27; Jude 20; John iv. 24.) Hence it is, that the Romish Church has recourse to all pomp and magnificence of external worship; to images and paintings; to music and singing, the most refined and affecting; to incense and burning tapers; to splendid dresses and long processions;-in short, to everything that can impose upon the mind and captivate the senses, and thus work upon the heart and imagination of the “natural man” (“sensual, having not the Spirit," Jude 19) till he fancies himself devout;-though he has not yet the least

conception what it is to worship God in Spirit and Truth, and has never yet experienced that cleansing and renewing by the Blood and Spirit of Christ (1 John v. 6; 1 Cor. vi. 11.) without which it is impossible for any child of fallen Adam to offer up one acceptable prayer.

Thus Romanism is, in fact a system which practically dishonours and denies every Person of the blessed Trinity; and this under the highest professions and most specious pretencespalming an apostate Church upon the world, as the " One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church,"-out of which no one can be saved! So that neither the craft nor the malice of Satan could go further. The Church of Rome has all the Scriptural marks of Antichrist-"the Man of Sin;" and she cannot be better described than in the words of Prophecy, which foretold and pourtrayed the rise and character of this awful Apostasy centuries beforehand. (2 Thess. ii. 3-12; 1 Tim. iv. 1-6; Rev. xiii. 1-18; xvii 3-6.)

I need not quote the passages of Scripture at length. These references must suffice: but let the reader turn to them in his own Bible, and consider them well. I will conclude with quoting at length the Creed of Pope Pius IV. which has been often referred to in the preceding pages, and which is the acknowledged Creed of all Romanists-adding a few remarks. It is contained (as was mentioned in the note p. 22) in the Bull entitled " Injunctum nobis," read and published at Rome, Dec. 9, 1564. It appears from the terms of that Bull, that all Ecclesiastics of the Church of Rome are strictly enjoined to make this profession of Faith, in the following form:

"I. N., with stedfast faith believe and profess all and every particular contained in the Symbol of faith which the holy Roman Church uses, namely:

I BELIEVE in one God the Father almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible ; and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, light of light, true God of true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial to the Father, by whom all things were made; who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made man; was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate, suffered and was buried, and rose again the third day, according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, sits at the right hand of the Father, and will come again with glory to judge the living and the dead, of whose kingdom there will be no

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end; and in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Life-giver, who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who, together with the Father and the Son, is adored and glorified; who spoke by the Prophets; and one holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. I confess one baptism for the remission of sins, and I expect the resurrection of the body, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

This is the ancient Creed of the Church-commonly called the Nicene Creed; but it is, more properly, the Constantinopolitan Creed. It was drawn up, authenticated, and transmitted to us in its present form, by the first four General Councils-that of Nice in 325, that of Constantinople in 381, that of Ephesus in 431, and that of Chalcedon in 451. It was very solemnly recognised by the Council of Trent, in its Third Session, held Feb. 4, 1546; when it was introduced with these remarkable words: 66 Wherefore it [the Council] has thought good, that the Symbol of Faith which the holy Roman Church makes use of, as being that principle wherein all who profess the faith of Christ must necessarily agree, and that firm and only foundation, against which the gates of hell shall never prevail, be expressed in the very same words in which it is read in all the churches; which indeed is in this manner, "I believe, &c."

Observe then, that "this firm and only foundation (fundamentum firmum et unicum) against which the gates of hell shall never prevail"-this "principle wherein all who profess the Faith of "Christ must necessarily agree;" keep it "whole and undefiled:" the Church of England requires -WE Protestants hold fast: we of Communicants no other profession of Faith. (See the Communion Service of our Church.) an innovation, unauthorized by any General Council, and conBut the Church of Rome makes trary to an express decree of the Council of Ephesus (in 431), by adding to this Ancient Creed of the Church, which had stood unaltered for eleven hundred years, the following Modern Articles, which were unknown to the Creeds of the Christian Church till the 9th of December, 1564. Which then is the Ancient Faith? and which is the Modern? the Protestant? or, the Roman?-which, as distinguished from the Protestant, is especially set forth in the Articles which follow.

I most firmly admit and embrace apostolical and ecclesiastical traditions, and all other constitutions and observances of the same Church.

I also admit the sacred Scriptures, according to the sense which the Holy Mother Church has held and does hold, to whom it belongs to judge of the true sense and

interpretation of the Holy Scriptures; nor will I ever take and interpret them otherwise than according to the unanimous consent of the Fathers.

I profess also, that there are truly and properly seven sacraments of the new law, instituted by Jesus Christ our Lord, and necessary for the salvation of mankind, though all are not necessary for every one; viz: baptism, confirmation, eucharist, penance, extreme unction, order and matrimony; and that they confer grace; and of these, baptism, confirmation and order, cannot be reiterated without sacrilege.

I also receive and admit the ceremonies of the Catholic Church, received and approved in the solemn administration of the abovesaid sacraments.

I receive and embrace all and every one of the things which have been defined and declared in the Holy Council of Trent, concerning original sin and justification.1

I profess, likewise, that in the Mass is offered to God, a true, proper, and propitiatory sacrifice for the living and the dead; and that in the most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist, there is truly, really, and substantially, the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ; and that there is made a conversion of the whole substance of the bread into the body, and of the whole substance of the wine into the blood, which conversion the Catholic Church calls transubstantiation.

I confess, also, that under either kind alone, whole and entire Christ, and a true Sacrament is received.

I constantly hold that there is Purgatory, and that the souls detained therein are helped by the suffrages of the faithful.

Likewise, that the saints reigning together with Christ are to be honoured and invocated, that they offer prayers to God for us, and that their relics are to be venerated.

I most firmly assert that the images of Christ, and of the mother of God, ever Virgin, and also of the other saints, are to be had and retained; and that due honour and veneration are to be given to them.

I also affirm that the power of indulgences was left by Christ in the Church, and that the use of them is most wholesome to Christian people.

I acknowledge the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Roman Church, to be the mother and mistress of all Churches; and I promise and swear true obedience to the Roman Pontiff, the successor of St. Peter, prince of the apostles, and the vicar of Jesus Christ.2

I also profess and undoubtingly receive all other things delivered, defined, and declared by the sacred canons and General Councils, and particularly by the Holy Council of Trent; and likewise I also condemn, reject and anathematize all things contrary thereto, and all heresies whatever condemned, rejected, and anathematized by the Church.3

This true Catholic faith, out of which none can be saved, which I now freely profess and truly hold, I, N. promise, vow, and swear most constantly to hold and profess the same, whole and entire with God's assistance, to the end of my life, and as far as lies in my power I will take care that it be held, taught, and professed, by those who are subject to me, or are confided to my care; so may God help me, and these holy Gospels of God. Amen."

NOTES.

1 This Article says directly nothing at all on those two very important subjects: but it says indirectly a great deal; for it subscribes and endorses all that was said by the Council of Trent-that is to say, a statement on Original Sin, under five heads, enforced by six Anathemas; and a long and elaborate statement on Justification, in Sixteen Chapters; followed by Thirty three Canons,-every one of which ends with an Anathema, or curse, on any one and every one who holds the notion therein condemned. It may be questioned whether one Romanist in fifty knows any thing distinctly about either the Doctrines maintained, or the Doctrines denounced with a curse, by the Council of Trent, on this important subject. This may seem to us strange and awful: but this subscription in the dark--this profession and confession of they know not what, is quite characteristic of the Romish System. If a man pro