1

only to the remission of punishment due to the sin forgiven in the sacrament of penance-that is, after attrition, confession, and absolution (by the priest) of the sin; the indulgence, they say, extends only to the remission of the punishment consequent on the sin which has been forgiven, and which otherwise must be undergone to satisfy God's justice. This is a favourite evasion. Dens, in his "Theologia,” tells us that an indulgence "is the remission of temporal punishment due to sins, remitted as to their guilt, by the power of the keys, without the sacrament, by the application of the satisfactions which are contained in the treasure of the church." The priest, on pronouncing the absolution, measures out the amount of satisfaction to be undergone, called the penal part of the sacrament of penance, and an indulgence in this instance, they tell us, is awarded to remit this penalty of sin. But the assertion that this theory is restricted to the remission of the satisfaction to be performed at the bidding of the priest in the sacrament of penance, is at once put to the rout by the admission of Dens, and also by the fact that it was quite a common thing to grant indulgences for a long period of years. For instance, the following is recorded in the Hours of the blessed Virgin Mary according to the ritual of the church of Salisbury: "This prayer, made by St. Austin, affirming that he who says it daily, kneeling, shall not die in sin, and after this life shall go to everlasting joy and bliss. Our holy father, the Pope Bonifacius VI., hath granted to all

1 "Quid est indulgentia? R. Est pœnæ temporalis peccatis, quoad culpam remissis, debitæ remissio, facta potestate clavium, extra sacramentum per applicationem satisfactionum quæ in thesauro Ecclesiæ continentur." Dens' Theologia, tom. vi.; Tract de Indulg., No. 30; De Indulgentiarum Natura. Dublin, 1832.

2 Edit. Paris, 1526. See Burnet's Hist. of the Reformation. Records, Book i. xxvi. p. 280, vol. iv. Nares' Edition.

them that say devoutly this prayer following, between the elevation of our Lord and the Agnus Dei, 10,000 years' pardon" (fol. 58), or an indulgence for that period. And, in folio 42, we are told that Sixtus IV. granted 11,000 years of pardon to all who should devoutly say a prescribed prayer before "the image of our Lady." And again, in folio 54, we read-"To all them that before this image of pity devoutly say five Pater Nosters, five Ave Marias, and a Credo, piteously beholding those arms of Christ's passion, are granted 32,755 years of pardon; and Sixtus IV., pope of Rome, hath made the fourth and fifth prayer, and hath doubled his foresaid pardon" [i.e. 65,510 years]. And, in folio 72, there is this strange form of indulgence :

"And these prayers written in a table hanged at Rome in St. Peter's Church, nigh to the high altar there, as our holy father the pope evely is wont to say the office of the Mass; and who that devoutly, with a contrite heart, daily say this orison, if he be that day in the state of eternal damnation, then his eternal pain shall be changed him into temporal pain of purgatory; then, if he hath deserved the pain of purgatory, it shall be forgotten and forgiven, through the infinite mercy of God."

It is true that indulgences of thousands of years are not now issued, simply because the absurdity would be too glaring for this advanced age; so they are reduced to days. But what was orthodox and good for Christians in the sixteenth century, must be, according to Romish teaching, good in the nineteenth. The principle is exactly the same. The extreme illustrates the case better. What we maintain is, therefore, that this principle of granting indulgences is wholly incompatible with the doctrine of penance and the remission of the satisfaction imposed by the priest. Let us

apply the proposition. An individual is stated to be in a state of grace-that is, has confessed and been absolved; the priest tells him that his sins are forgiven, but he has to undergo a penance of 32,755 years! To be sure, he has an easy method of escaping from even double the penance by an indulgence on the terms prescribed by Sixtus IV. The proposition would rather startle the penitent. But what is to be said of the last extract from the ritual above quoted? has that any reference to the sacrament of penance ? An indulgence, therefore, is not necessarily connected with the sacrament of penance.

III. Again, we are told that the benefit of the indulgence, like that of absolution, entirely depends upon the disposition of the sinner. The real doctrine of Romish absolution does not depend on the disposition of the sinner. The priest represents Jesus Christ in the confessional, and is supposed to know the mind of the penitent. When he absolves, his words are, "I absolve thee;" not, "if truly penitent I absolve thee." He acts judicially. The sentence, according to Romish theory, is irrevocable; yet the recipient may still not really be in a proper disposition. God alone knoweth the heart. If there is any condition or uncertainty, then the priest does not represent Christ, for Christ could not be deceived, and he could not delegate his functions to so fallible a representative. But let us test this proposition also. It is quite a common thing to see appended to indulgences "These indulgences are also applicable to the faithful departed," or "to souls in purgatory." What does this mean but that, when we obtain an indulgence or pardon for having done some notorious act in the eyes of the church of Rome, and having obtained, say 10,000 years' pardon, we have the option of applying all or part

of these years to the souls of persons whom we may name, supposed to be in purgatory. For instance, in a little tract now on sale, called "Devotions of the Scapular," in page 24, indulgences are given to the wearer of the scapular; and we are told that "these indulgences are also applicable to the souls in purgatory by a constitution of Clement X." We are quite aware of what some assert, that it is by "suffrage" only that indulgences are applicable to the dead-that is, by the united voice given in public prayer-another of the "technicalities" of Romanism. Indulgences nevertheless are, in one way or another, applicable to the dead. How will the objector apply his proposition, that the indulgence entirely depends upon the disposition of the sinner, when the supposed recipient is dead and gone, and, for anything we know to the contrary, has no disposition one way or the other? Therefore the benefit of the indulgence does not depend on the disposition of the supposed recipient.

IV. Again, when we assert that indulgences are bartered for money at the present day, it is indignantly denied. We, nevertheless, assert that it is an almost every day practice, even in this country. Buying and selling is a mutual exchange of some commodity for money. Here is a devout Romanist in a state of grace-he has gone through the prescribed forms, he has confessed, attended masses, has said the prescribed number of prayers before an image, or the prescribed number of Aves and Pater Nosters, but still he has not got the indulgence. This can be obtained; yes, even a plenary indulgence, that is, a forgiveness of all punishment due for past sins up to that day, for £20, or by paying £1 1s. annually. We find this advertised, almost weekly, in the Romish papers, the Tablet and the Weekly

Register. The following is from the papers of the 24th September and 1st October, 1861:—

"The Rev. Mother Superior of the Female Orphanage at Norwood offers to present each perpetual or life subscriber to the institution with a copy in fac-simile of the rescript of his holiness Pius IX., containing the written signature of the holy father, and granting a plenary indulgence to the benefactors of the Orphans of Our Blessed Lady."

In other words, to every annual subscriber of £1 ls., or a life subscriber of £20 (for these figures are actually given), is guaranteed by the pope a plenary indulgence; so that the happy possessor, if he die forthwith, is supposed to have given even purgatory the "go by," and to have a passport to heaven direct!

While it must be admitted that this is a clear case of bargain and sale, we doubt whether the signatures of the so-called "Vicar of Christ" will be honoured at the gates of that "heavenly Jerusalem which is above," though the receipt for the due payment of the subscription be duly certified by the "Rev. Mother Superior." Of course the sale is denied. The mother only "offers to present;" in fact, the indulgence is given away. These "technical" words mean nothing. But take another case. Dr. Wiseman, writing to his clergy, desirous of making a collection for the "Poor School Committee Festival," says, "You will inform them (the people) of the plenary indulgence which they will gain on the following Sunday by giving alms to this pious work, and going to confession or communion on that day, or within eight days after. See Directory, p. 146."1 On consulting the directory indicated, we find, "and communion,"

1 "Catholic Standard," now "Weekly Register," June 8, 1850, No. 35,