tW9 >*> !^»s ^s» to: dpss r - >■> > !»>• :> ^^^ > 3raS^ . a 3^ii»>~i>3s '"Z^^^CSK^ ■ ►C3F > t>*"2i »:^»^3»C3 — sBsaoto* *":-; > Spt* BOB* ^_i->.'-j_S£^J? 3*ST fa «£'* ^^^ >>M> sa^JS&£%- LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. UNITE]) .STATES OF AMERICA. :»1> T^SMT > > * , °l5ffi >,? .>i..^ ^?> > ?y>^ -> v^T* >>> > ^*> ^> ^ >3>Jfc> > m* >^>3j> K> 22>^ 2* > &^22>i3>> ■■>■ > ?3> > - sagarsB P^g3T :^£> 3?> ^il^; ; SPIRITUALISM OTHER SIGNS OF THE TIMES. By E. S. "And I SAW THREE UNCLEAN SPIRITS LIKE FROGS COME OUT OF THE MOUTH of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. "For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of god almighty." Rev. xvi. 13, 14. LONDON : SIMPKIN, MARSHALL & CO., STATIONERS' HALL COURT, AND ALL BOOKSELLERS. PREFACE, When particular evils press hard upon the mind of a Christian, filling the heart with pity and sorrow regarding the results of such evils, it may be taken as an evidence that he is to be used to raise a voice of warning against what is producing wholesale delusion, defilement, and destruction. Thus is he called to engage in that warfare, the weapons of which " are not carnal, but mighty, through Grod, to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of Grod, and bringing into cap- tivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.' ' Spiritualism is placed as the first subject in this book, not because it is more seducing and destructive than Eomanism or Infidelity, but because it is so little understood, and therefore so alarmingly attractive. Romanism and Infidelity are enemies of so long a standing, and are now being developed before us so practically, that their wickedness and corruption are better understood. IV PREFACE. What is attempted in the following pages on these overwhelming subjects is merely a touch. But the book is published with a desire that the Lord will own and bless its weak and limited testimony to His truth against the work of the enemy. And should it be the means of bringing one sinner out of darkness into the marvellous light of Christ, or undeceiving the self- deceived, the praise and the power shall be ascribed to Him by whom it is believed this endeavour was prompted. Critics may discover many expressions, and want of order in detail, whilst reading this book, at variance with their views. The author, however, hopes and believes that it will be the means of drawing attention to the solemn subjects of which it treats, and the errors which are working destruction in the world, deluding the professing Church, and damaging the peace and testimony of some in the Church of Christ. SPIEITUALISM AXD OTHEE SIGXS. In the following pages will be found quotations from pamphlets and papers which have been too little re- garded, although containing facts of stern and solemn importance, which cannot fail to arouse the God-fearing reader, or to arrest the attention of some others, who have not yet been brought to consider their ways, or the end to which such ways must inevitably lead them. Personal knowledge of individuals, both in America and England, who lend themselves to seducing spirits, and thus are brought to sympathize with "lying wonders," " witchcraft," " and all deceivableness of unrighteousness," has the more deeply impressed the writer with the importance of the publication of these warnings. They will be found to afford subject-matter for deep consideration and prayer on the part of Christians, and personal application on the part of those who have been deluded and seduced. The following information has been compiled with especial reference to the young. Concern for them A SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. should indeed move the heart of the Christian at the throne of grace. It is little to be wondered at if some look upon the young and inexperienced, in these per- plexing and wicked days, with deep and solemn appre- hension. But let those who through grace understand the signs of the times, be practically occupied in doing what they can, and all they can, to warn them of, and protect them from, the evil, by directing them in the way of truth and safety ; and let them bear a faithful, unmistakable testimony in their daily life to " the truth as it is in Jesus." How should those who have been called out of dark- ness into marvellous light, be constrained by the love of Christ to testify with all boldness against the various phases of sin, which are now so manifestly beguiling unsuspecting souls, while the enemy is insinuating a peace, when there is "no peace." Let those who know that they are of the truth, and shall " assure their hearts before Him," seek also to realize, " The Lord is on my side, I will not fear what man can do unto me." Under the power of this holy dignity, they would rise above that fear which " bringeth a snare ;" their united conduct would prove that their love was not only " in word and in tongue, but in deed and in truth." The times we live in demand from us that clear example which the looking away from each other to our ascended Lord alone will enable us to exhibit. Spiritualism, in its peculiar modern manifestations, and, no doubt, in its intentions, is comparatively" of recent date ; yet those who are the subjects of its de- lusive power find constant novelty in such resources, being supplied with new and spiritual " associates," SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 6 who ever increase their interest and ruinous deception. Thus they multiply, and continue to indulge in further unlawful curiosity. "We see here a practical exposition of Gen. iii. 4 — 6 : " And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die : for Grod doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat." Was it not curiosity that prompted Eve, our first parent, to dis- obedience ? And what has been the universal result ? " The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life." It may be also noticed that Satan ruined man by presenting a temptation which appealed chiefly to his natural senses ; and now, as an angel of light tells him, that the want of his soul can alone be satisfied by that which is spiritual, offering that satis- faction in spiritualism. This the deceived soul accepts, and "It shall even be as when an hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth ; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty : or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh ; but he awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appetite " (Isa. xxix. 8). "He feedeth on ashes: a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?" (Isa. xliv. 20). The excitement derived from association with demons could not fail to speed these deluded ones in their rapid and downward course. Who shall say whether b 2 4 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. Romanism, Infidelity, or Spiritualism shall be the most successful in the end ? Judging according to the pre- sent aspect, and the energies and stratagems employed, their race is not likely to continue long. But which of these great enemies to truth and righteousness shall triumph over the greater number of souls taken captive, waits to be proved. When the devil, in the form of a serpent, tempted Eve, the knowledge of good and evil, which would exalt her to a level with her Maker, was presented to her as the desirable result of eating of the fruit. " She did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her ; and he did eat." The Lord Glod warned Adam that "if he eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, he should surely die." It is not said the knowledge of "evil" only, but " good and evil." In this is proved man's responsibility for his natural conscience, disobedience to which necessarily results in his condemnation, since his thoughts, between themselves, "accuse or excuse one another" (Horn. ii. 15). Every soul, therefore, merits the wages of sin, which is death. Those who are saved know this and feel it. Those who are unsaved know it, but feel it not. The former possess the light and teaching of the Holy Spirit ; the latter are blinded through the deceitfulness of sin. " The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of (rod : for they are foolishness unto him : neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned" (1 Cor. ii. 14). Natural goodness is often found in man, but can extend only to his fellow-man ; whilst the goodness of God has been discovered to us in the man # Christ Jesus, and by faith in Him is enjoyed, not only a truer fellow- SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. O ship between man and his fellow, but also with God as our Father, and with His Son Jesus, whose blood " cleanseth us from all sin." Again we return to our mother Eve. Her trans- gression may appear a very small act in itself; but being disobedience against Grod, it brought in the curse, under which every man is born, and therefore must eternally perish if he be left to himself. He has not, however, been left to himself, for the Son of man, who " led captivity captive, and received gifts for men ; yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord Grod might dwell among them " (Ps. lxviii. 18), has said, " look unto me, and be ye saved " (Isa. xlv. 22). While writing or speaking on this or any other solemn subject concerning the eternal interests of our fellow-sinners, it is the privilege of the Christian to be pitiful, courteous, and kind — loving the poor sinner while hating his sin ; and where is the Christian who cannot sympathize, more or less, with those who are under the power and delusion of sin, of whatsoever kind it be ? " The trangression of the wicked saith within my heart, there is no fear of Grod before their eyes ;" so that the renewed soul, remembering its past ways, transgressions, and unbelief (1 Cor. vi. 11), is, on this very account, qualified to sorrow over, and constrained to cry out and warn, those who are standing on the brink of an eternal precipice, or with feet ready to " stumble on the dark mountains." From the variety of dispositions, temptations assail and affect us very differently, so that what is an overwhelming trial to one, may not only fail to touch, but even be repulsive to another. None of us know wherein our weakness lies till the temptation is presented ; but we may be quite 6 SPIRITUALISM AKD OTHER SIGNS. sure that there is ample room in every one of us, when left to ourselves, for sin with all its present deluding fascinations (but future misery and torment) to take complete hold of us, and so distort our common sense, corrupt the heart, and blind the mind, that the practical result is " calling evil good and good evil." Hence we read, " Pray that ye enter not into temptation." Those who heed not this safeguard must fall a prey to pre- sumption, and expect to reap what they sow : " He that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap cor- ruption." Most assuredly these have not been taught of God. Having eyes they see not, and ears they hear not, and so have been taken captive by the prince of this world. The very fact of meddling with " demons," is a con- clusive proof of the awful condition of those who are the willing captives of such destructive fascinations. This sad state of things increases the responsibility of such as have eyes and see, ears and hear, to pray and watch for these victims of satanic craft, that they may be delivered, and by godly sorrow brought to repentance unto life. Nothing else or less than the mighty power of God can deliver from this tight grasp of the enemy of souls. It is solemnizing to know that multitudes are held in bondage by this very frightful evil. But from whom and by what means is this the case ? " Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God ; for God cannot be tempted with evil : neither tempteth He any man : but every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin : and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death" (James i. 13). SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. / Let those who are identified with spiritualism re- member by what gratuitous personal act they brought themselves into a position to witness development from the world of demons. The many hindrances the Lord's people meet with from the world, the flesh, and the devil in their narrow path of sanctification, suffice to prove the necessity of " trying the spirits whether they are of Grod." Are the subjects of spiritualism prepared to do this ? and are they willing to try their principles and conduct by this sure and blessed test — viz., " My sheep hear my voice, and they follow me ?' " For if our heart condemn us, Grod is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward Grod " (1 John iii. 20, 21). Let them look well to this; and if they can still suppose that God is preparing them to dwell with Himself in the coming glory through their inter- course with and schooling by " demons," they are sup- posing and acting out a lie ; which necessarily places them amongst those to whom the Lord says, " Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him .... for he is a liar and the father of it" (John viii. 44). Come to the vital point again. Can they prove that they are not in league with "this father" to murder their own soul? We leave this with them to settle now, before it shall be irrevocably settled for them in eternity. " Time is short ;" they are spending it in a dream ; and through the influence of these lying wonders, they take it for granted that what are really spiritual opiates administer that peace and joy which O SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. they so greatly need, and are perhaps in search of, but not according to truth. The fact is, they have refused to drink from "the Foun- tain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water" (Jer. ii. 13). "Why do they desire to obtain what they do not yet enjoy ? and why do they use means to possess what they have not yet obtained ? The answer is plain : they are sinners, and they feel the bitter results of sin, in common with the whole race of man. Daily life, # with all its disappointments, grievances, heartlessness, and labour, is irksome and weary work to them. They, neverthe- less, possess advantages which multitudes do not enjoy, and for which they will have to render an account. Oh that they would bear with us, for we want to go into their case with sympathy and faithfulness. They have already endeavoured, by worldly pleasures, to obtain relief from the sorrows incident to a fallen state, and having met with disappointments, they now seek it in intercourse with spirits ; but they must ultimately find this also to be a mere cistern instead of a fountain, and incapable of holding water. Nevertheless, their ways and means failed them, not knowing where to look, or whom to trust. So far, good experience ; but what use have they made of it ? What practical benefit has it brought them ? They have learnt that "man in his best estate is altogether vanity" — that " he who trusteth in his own heart is a fool." Bring these truths to bear upon their own case. Have they not limited their trust and desires to what they found or expected to grasp in the creature ? Disappointment, instead of happiness, was the necessary result. Their present condition proves that they were then, and are SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. U still, following their own desires. If they had sought the Lord, the Fountain of living waters, He would have been found of them ; but they lent their ears and senses to satisfy cariosity at first, then gave over their affections and hopes to spirits, well-known for their power to adapt their influence to the peculiar tastes and characteristics of every individual, whether moral, im- moral, or professedly religious. A qualified spirit is never wanting to direct and sympathize in that which is manifestly evil, as well as that which is professedly good. We therefore marvel that men and women have been so duped as to confide in that which appears to " send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter." In this age of religionism, we ought not, perhaps, to be surprised at the subtlety of the influence which they exert, for were their operations seen in the light of the truth, they would be regarded as "false Christs in secret chambers," and the enemy would be foiled in his pur- poses. But he thus succeeds in inducing his deceived ones to accept spiritualism, his counterfeit for Chris- tianity, as affording all that satisfaction of soul which can really and only be found in Christ. Passages- of Scripture (as in the temptation of the Saviour) are wrested from the connection in which they stand, and so made, not only to found spiritualism on Grod's Word, but to justify all kinds of spiritual influence. Thus the "angel of light" administers his deadly poison through these "demons," who go forth under their master to deceive and take possession of poor souls, qualifying them to take part with him in his final battle. All this frightful delusion is going on in the face of a striking feature connected with spiritualism, sufficient, we might think, to shake the confidence at least of the 10 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. " religionists " amongst them — namely, that each one can walk according to the course of this world, differ- ing only in matters of taste or habit, some being more sober-minded and attentive to outward forms and services, and others carnal, sensual, and even devilish. From jealousy for the Master's honour, and for love of the truth as it is in Him, let there be no photograph of black into white, no " doctrines of devils " and un- righteousness regarded as truth and holiness. Let everything have its proper place assigned to it. Where is the spiritualist to be found who is living by faith on the Son of God ? The whole system is essentially opposed to faith in, and walking with, Jesus Christ ; and the spiritualist knows it (we do not say how many of them are included in this assertion), although they are under a blinding in- fluence, and are thereby taught to believe that special and favoured blessing has been conferred upon them. (This assumption, with the Word of God before our eyes and in our hearts, is truly one of the solemn signs of the time.) Jude 12, 13, 17 — 19 : " These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear : clouds they are without water, carried about of winds ; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots ; raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame ; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever. . . . But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ ; how that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit. " SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 11 1 Tim. iv. 1, 2 : " Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils ; speaking lies in hypocrisy ; having their con- science seared with a hot iron." It may be well to remember that witchcraft is named as one of the works of the flesh (Gal. v. 19—21). The spiritualists are divided in the matter of what the spirits are with whom they communicate. Some of them receive, and hold intercourse with, these " demons," believing them to be the spirits of their departed friends, sent to minister present comfort and peace, and to fill them with hope for the future. The past, present, and future life interests, experiences, &c, afford ample subject-matter for the intercourse between spirits (" demons ") and humanity. Others, like Gallio (who cared for none of these things), under the delusion of this spiritualism, are kept asleep altogether, as regards any desire or fear about their souls and eternal prospects. We have not heard of a single case in which a poor sinner has received any warning or teach- ing about " the way, the truth, and the life," and that " the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life." While every variety of character, discovery, and their religion, are occupying the intense sympathy of spiritualists, salvation by the Lord Jesus Christ, as taught by the Holy Spirit, is wholly omitted, and has yet to be revealed to them ; although many spiritualists are willing to be persuaded that they are saved, being content to take the teaching of spirits as a substitute for the Holy Spirit, whose office it is to take of the things of Jesus and to reveal them unto the soul. We ask if any one can give a single instance of 12 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. such an exceptionable spirit (or "demon") having been manifested ? A teacher sent by Grod to tell about Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Ghost? Oh no ! this is not their work, neither would it suit their errand. Counterfeit work abounds, and such does suit them, and well becomes their purpose. It is found to be one of their most successful fascinations. Thus these poor dupes are nourished, and their profound ignorance is locked up with the sweets of delusive and seductive mystery with demons, of whom they have been overcome — of the same therefore aro they brought in bondage. There is another characteristic worth noticing in this modern development of witchcraft. Spiritualism appeals to the " wise men after the flesh, to the mighty and to the noble," who cannot see how opposed this is to the operation of the Holy Spirit, whose office it is to make " the poor of this world rich in faith," so " confounding the wisdom of the wise." Was it not in the poverty of the "Firstborn" Himself that the Holy Spirit en- riched man's nature by filling it of the fulness of G-od? If the reader fail to perceive this solemn contrast in the light in which it is here presented, he must readily admit the fact that spiritualism is confined chiefly to the unoccupied in society. The poor, illiterate, and uninfluential would not so well serve the subtle purpose of the enemy in the struggle of these latter days. Happily for them their energies are taken up with the necessary occupations of daily life, and thus their minds and time are guarded by Jionest realities; their position preserves them from what the more idle, discontented, and carious succumb to ; and on this terra firma, the SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 13 working multitudes find no inclination for, or profit in, turning aside from the way of their fathers : they are not inclined to shut their ears to truth, or give them- selves up to spiritualism, which necessarily demands surrender of conscience, while it promises increased liberty. It may be well to mention here, for those whose memories fail them, or for those who have not read history, that thousands of witches have been killed in England and elsewhere. It is on record that, " during the space of 200 years, a number of witches, amount- ing to something like 30,000, were put to death for witchcraft." How rarely is witnessed the deliverance of any spiritualist from this soul- destroying snare ; how few are made alive to the responsibility of a course so manifestly contrary to Scripture, which invariably points the soul to Jesus alone as the source of all that they so blindly seek. The fountain of life and source of peace says, " Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart : and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light " (Matt. xi. 28—30). " All that the Father giveth me shall come to me ; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out" (John vi. 37). Who would. not prefer the poorest and most laborious position, and to do business with their fellow- men, to that in which the eyes, ears, and heart are prepared to hold intercourse and do business with " demons," in a world yet un- known to them bodily ? Again we say to spiritualists, " Try the spirits 14 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. whether they are of God " (1 John iv. 1). Has the love of Christ taken you captive, and are you receiving His gifts purchased by His own blood? Do you know what it is to have the Holy Spirit dwelling in your hearts, and taking of the things of Jesus and showing them unto you ? " Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His" (Eom. viii. 9). When will you be wise ? When will ye " consider your ws^s?" How many of you intend to be left with those who " love darkness rather than light, be- cause their deeds are evil," till you shall say to the mountains and rocks, " Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb : for the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?" (Eev. vi. 16, 17). Some are, indeed, lulling themselves to sleep with lies dipped in oil, and taking it for granted that they will be able to deliver themselves, if necessary, at some "more convenient season," while the devil walketh about "as a roaring lion," seeking to devour them (Pet. v. 8) . May not these solemn words be applied to such, "Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming?" (Isa. xiv. 9). This awful future must be of necessity the full de- velopment of what is now indulged in as an amuse- ment by those who are asleep in the arms of witches, necromancers, magicians, and demons. This society is cherished, not only as novel, but as promising power to establish friendship between embodied and disembodied spirits ; and this — regarded as so vastly superior an order — is allowed to monopolize social intercourse ; the result of which is, the division of families and the SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 15 destruction of their peace. They cannot descend from their heights to hold intercourse with those who occupy so low a place, pitying their uninteresting ways as old- fashioned prejudices, whilst such wondrous discoveries are bein^ made. We would here digress, just to remark on another subject, but bearing out the same principle — the Shakespeare tercentenary. " The stuff that has forced its way into the public press has been most humiliating to the common sense of the country generally. No one has taken the trouble to wade through the nonsense that has been written on the subject, without perceiving that it has been confined to a few professionals and their dupes. The idolatry of Shakespeare never yet extended to the masses; and no attempt to make nis works popular with them will ever succeed." It might be well to prove from Grod's Word, the only test of truth, why and how it can be accounted for that embodied and disembodied spirits are so closely allied. Whilst this is actually and undeniably the experience of the spiritualists, what is the experience of the spirits ? " One feature of their unclean and debasing operations, presented with remarkable prominence in the New Testament, is that of incorporating themselves with men in the body, superseding and directing the will, inciting the passions, destroying the reason, under- mining the health, and doing various forms of despi- cable mischief." We may see here another atmosphere, but the same contagion as Romanism ; each must claim relationship with the other, while both testify of the vnckan, and their birthplace, the bottomless pit. When the man Christ Jesus was here in the body, He was called "Beelzebub," and His miracles were 16 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. attributed to satanic power. Now the tables are turned, the works (or miracles) of lying spirits are honoured ; satanic demons are courted, trusted, and consulted in the place of the Lord Jesus Christ, according to the ordinary mode and stratagem of the prince of this world : he is a transforming master, shifting his quarters; a captain presenting arms; a minister quoting texts, crying " peace, peace," as the case may be. Satan, being the most experienced of all created beings, must present temptations t to the professing world in some "religious " garb, to satisfy the natural conscience, and to delude the excited feelings of the multitude. He gives them " a name to live while they are dead," silencing the voice of conscience with a round of ritual observances. Thus the enemy of true peace finds open access to the hearts of all classes. This is the age which facilitates the purposes of the deceiver, and who can doubt but that he who beguiled Eve is now glutting over the rapid accession to the number of his captives ? Age after age has borne testimony to the unchang- ing and deadly designs of the adversary, who has ransacked every resource, enabling him to establish himself in every nook and corner of man's heart, so as to control every circumstance and transaction of his life. And the various phases of his operations to beguile men are gradually and almost imperceptibly unfolding the mystery of iniquity. Turning tables, mesmerism, and clairvoyance have paved the way for spiritualism, which is now, in all quarters of the globe, displaying its unrivalled audacity, in professing to make happy through time those who are unhappy, and to save through eternity those who SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 17 are not saved. In the dark signs of these portentous times may be heard the distant boom of approaching wrath. In the midst of all this foretold ripening for destruc- tion, can there be any development of iniquity more appalling than the name of our blessed Lord being used in the devil's merchandize with souls ? No higher or more attractive standard can he carry than that of the name of the Lord in his " legion " work. And hence, with this appliance, his success in pressing recruits of all ages into his army against the Lord. It may be a warning to some to ask, Who are his sergeants ? Those who know the work of " mediums " will at once perceive something like an organized force, under the command of the prince of this world. Whoever is capable of believing that these spirits can have fellowship with Jesus, must indeed be filled with the spirit of their father : he was a deceiver from the beginning. A roaring lion, with nearly four thousand years' experience, well knows how to make inroads and to dig his own deep pits in the affections of blinded sinners, suiting all to the disposition and dispensation of the times. Through his agents, we now see him, dressed in sheep's clothing, professing to impart the love, wisdom, and consolations of a Saviour, while the pitiable, helpless lambs of his counterfeit flock are tell- ing us the spirits are making them so happy, " so sym- pathizing." They " could not live without intercourse with spirits." "Such peace, and joy, and reality never before felt — all trials and difficulties are become so easy to bear, and everything is made so plain, and arranged for their good." " In fact, it is quite another existence altogether." " The right medicines 18 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. for the body prescribed.' ' "All questions pondered and answered." "We enjoy such confidence in one another, and so much love and goodwill amongst ourselves, that we would not be without intercourse with spirits for the world." There is another phase in this spiritualism which it is of the utmost importance to notice, namely, that it has its own counterfeit. And this imitation of spiritualism is made to be introductory to spiritualism itself by the great deceiver. Many persons, having examined the tricks of those who profess to act as mediums, and discovering the fallacy, are led to sup- pose that spiritualism itself is an unreality, and there- fore are led to regard it as a harmless amusement at first, until practically they are ensnared into an accept- ance of and delight in all its diabolical influence. In order to prove to what extent spiritualism has already spread, we quote from an article written by Mr. William Howitt, one of their most distinguished advocates in this country, in the Spiritual Magazine for November, 1863 :— " During ten incessant years the whole of North America has been in motion and in excitement with the wonderful outburst of spirit-life. The whole of that vast continent was thrown into a ferment like one gigantic hive of bees at swarming time. Scarcely did Jerusalem and Judea, and the astonished world of Greek and Eomon wisdom, exhibit a more agitated condition when the first dazzling day of Christianity broke upon them, than did America at this second advent ' in spirit and in great poiver. 1 Like the revelation of Christ's eternal religion, this second birth of it was in an obscure spot and amongst simple people 'There are now in the United States,' Mr. Clarke tells us (in his "Plain Ghiide to Spiritualism"), '500 public mediums, who receive visitors; more than 50,000 more private ones ; 500 books and pamphlets have been pub- SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 19 listed on the subject, and many of them immensely cir- culated. There are 500 public speakers and lecturers on it, and more than 1,000 occasional ones. There are nearly 2,000 places for public circles, conferences, or lectures, and in many places nourishing Sunday-schools. The believers, the decisive believers, number about 2,000,000 ; while the nominal ones are nearly 5,000,000. In the eastern con- tinent the number may be reckoned at 1,000,000. The whole number now on the globe supposed to recognize the fact of spiritual intercourse cannot fall short of 20,000,000. In Paris, and in different parts of France, the manifestations have been of almost every kind, and of the most decisive and distinguished character. Great numbers of persons have been healed, by therapeutic mediums, of diseases and injuries incurable by all ordinary means. Some of these persons are well known to me, and are every day bearing their testimony in aristocratic society to their cures by spiritual agency. Many persons have been called to life when pronounced perfectly dead by their medical attendants. Deaf and dumb persons have been gifted and re- gifted with speech and hearing, either by mediumistic manipulation or by direct prayer. A most extraordinary case of this latter kind is that of the youth Grigott, of Briac, attested by the doctors themselves in the Revue Spiritualiste, torn, i., p. 322. But, in fact, a very large volume of spiritual cases of what is called the supernatural might be selected from the volumes of the Revue Spiritualiste and the Revue Spirite, certified by names of persons, places, and wit- nesses. The direct spirit writings obtained in hundreds of instances by Baron Gruldenstubbe and various other dis- tinguished men, are familiar to all who know anything of spiritualism. Spirit drawings are equally well known in France, some of which have been engraved, as the re- markable one of the Maison de Mozart. The musical demonstrations have been and are equally singular. The one great fact, however, stands prominent as the Alps on the bosom of Europe. Spiritualism, the great theologic and philosophic reformer of the age, the great re-quickener of religious life, the great consoler and establisher of hearts, the great herald to the wanderers of earth, starved upon the husks of mere college dogmas, and loaded with a sore pilgrim's pack of materialism, is marching calmly onward amid the nations, and on all sides rejoicing souls are flow-* c 2 20 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. ing towards it. The stone cut out of the mountain without hands is rolling on its way, and promising ere long to fill the whole earth.' " After these statements, we may well say, if people will remain so ignorant and so shortsighted as to persist in judging of such a reality by its counterfeit, they must necessarily fall into the snare of the wicked one. Admitting so unsound a principle, the judgment of the enlightened would ere long " turn aside like a broken bow," and find themselves, to use another figure, launched upon a tempestuous sea, without pilot or compass. Apt scholars they would make for the Bishop of Colenso's teaching, and for all the infidelity and sophistry of man's reason, now put forth with such bold and fearless presumption. " The prophets PROPHESY FALSELY, AND THE PRIESTS BEAR RULE BY THEIR MEANS J AND MY PEOPLE LOVE TO HAVE IT SO I AND WHAT WILL YE DO IN THE END THERE- OF ? " (Jer. v. 31). " Nevertheless the founda- tion OF GrOD STANDETH SURE, HAVING THIS SEAL, The Lord knoweth them that are His " (2 Tim. ii. 19). "They that trust in the Lord shall BE AS MOUNT ZlON, WHICH CANNOT BE REMOVED, BUT ABIDETH FOR EVER " (Psalm CXXV. 1). Again, do they allow themselves to judge of a reality by its counterfeit, in matters which relate to their tem- poral interests ? I trow not. In the case of finding a counterfeit sovereign, they know that it is base because they have seen the true coin. But from their ignorance of spiritualism itself, they judge it to be what they find its counterfeit is. On this common-sense principle, let us deal with all counterfeits (and what has not its coun- SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 21 terfeit ?), then we shall be prepared to know what is, and what is not reality, whether a reality of evil or reality of good, instead of calling " evil good and good evil," thus subjecting ourselves to whatever the deceit and desperate wickedness of man's heart and the devil may present to our minds or hearts. We may depend upon it when tricks, sleight-of-hand, juggling, and such like are practised in lieu of spiritual- ism to deceive, or for personal gain, &c, the bystanders naturally take it for granted that there can be no harm in trying their skill in such amusements. By-and-by these so called innocent recreations will bring them into contact with genuine mediums, those who are made capable of receiving and imparting, together with all the deluding traps and pits involved in meddling with so frightful a world of iniquity. " Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils ; speaking lies in hypocrisy ; having their conscience seared with a hot iron " (1 Tim. iv. 1, 2). And nothing to be wondered at, while we see people on such a slippery inclined plane, and, like children blindfolded, playing with what must harden the heart into adamant, and sear the conscience — so long as they allow themselves to be the dupes of lying spirits, whose sole object is to ruin them ; and in so doing they accom- plish their master's errand, who endeavoured to tempt and overcome even the sinless Man, the Lord Jesus Christ. No marvel, then, that sinners, unregenerated, and therefore unprotected, are taken captive. This very solemn procedure brings before us what is written Matt. iv. 3 — 10 : " And when the tempter 22 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. came to Him, lie said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But He answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Then the devil taketh Him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, and saith unto Him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down : for it is written, He shall give His angels charge concerning thee : and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Again the devil taketh Him up into an exceeding high moun- tain, and showeth Him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them ; and saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan, for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve." In this temptation which our blessed Lord and Master passed through, compared with every repetition of the devil's temptations by which man is 'tried, there is a vital distinction, though closely allied. The God-man was proof against all the machinations of the devil, because in Him was found nothing to respond to his influence ; and it is only when the Christian refers the devil to Christ, who is in him, that Satan is over- come, for in man's nature, whilst unrenewed, the prince of this world finds everything to answer to his wish. The day must come, and probably is nigh, when mediums will find their supposed exaltation and light utterly fail them. The "superiority of our age," the " wondrous advance in the arts and sciences," " know- SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 23 ledge of, and discoveries in, things hitherto unknown," are alleged as the cause and justification of what is, in truth, a daring attempt to change the unchangeable laws of Grod's holy government. They thrust them- selves into a position where their business can only be transacted with spirits from the unseen world. This involves, without controversy, that any one occupying the place of a medium assumes to be a messenger between Grod and man. This conclusion will meet with the full approbation of some, while others will ignore and vehemently protest against the assumption of this awful responsibility. Nevertheless, solemn and frightful as it is, it is really true, and the result of their own showing ; for be it known, that mediums and spiritual- ists claim to themselves the knowledge of Grod and spiritual attainments. The owning or disowning, the knowledge or ignorance of a fact, cannot make it less a fact. Can a spiritualist be found to own that she or he is associated with demons ? We believe not : then we simply ask them, from whom are these spirits sent ? by whom and for what purpose are they invoked ? and what will be the ultimatum? To form a correct answer to these three queries, there must be a practical, as well as theoretical, knowledge of the plain and incontrovertible fact that Grod is the source of all good, and the devil the source of all evil — involving that every agent, visible and invisible, must own Grod or the devil as its master. Through the instigation of spiritualists, they are prying into those things which are not unfolded in the Word of Grod. We would here remind individuals who profess to be associated with spirits in their way to heaven, that God requires His servants to walk by faith. The sight 24 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. of and intercourse with spirits is never represented as the way of communion between Grod and man. There is but one Holy Spirit, and by His operations only can Christ be revealed to the soul. The sinner, then, being born again, believes in Christ Jesus, and walks by faith. All this is in the power of the Holy Spirit, who dwells in every believer ; and is therefore " a holy temple unto the Lord." Those who are thus blessed with a revelation of Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit, may well be content to keep aloof from all other spirits. " In this the children of Grod are manifest, and the children of the devil : whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of Grod" (1 John iii. 10). We read, "Between us and you there is a great gulf fixed." This most solemn principle holds good now. Eternity is only a full development of principles and conditions now held and lived in. Is it not then a vital individual matter to search and see on which side of the gulf we are note found ? Let death or the coming of the Lord meet you — where will you then be found? Fixed unalterably with the devil and his angels in the pit, or made like unto Christ, and with Him in the glory, no more to go out. " To-day is the day of salvation, therefore harden not your hearts" Is it not better for thee to " cut off" now, and to bear with trying results from false friends, who are now deceiving you on the mouth of the pit, and to be looked upon by them as "halt or maimed " (and perhaps, at first, feeling yourself to be so), than to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched ? This labyrinth, of delusion, involving such awful results, may indeed call forth the deepest pity and prayer for one and all who form part of so solemn a SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 25 community — " having eyes, but see not." " If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His " (Rom. viii. 9). Can spiritualists apply these searching Scriptures and feel easy, confident, and happy in the prospect of death and eternity, while engaged in their delusive proceed- ings ? They are responsible for the use they make of (rod's holy "Word. How deep will be their dismay if not delivered out of the snare of the devil before the " wicked one be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the Spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming : even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish ; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved " (2 Thess. ii. 8—10). But however these spiritual opium-eaters may mystify others and deceive themselves, they must own that Grod is the Almighty, and the supreme Governor and Judge of all men. And " He is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, and cannot look upon sin." Is there no solemn warning in the ease of Uzzah ? In the former dispensation a man's profanation of holy things met with immediate punishment in the death of the offender, but in this dispensation of grace " the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation " (2 Peter iii. 15, 16). This dispensation will close with the coming of the Lord to gather His people to Himself; how blessed, then, for those who are " looking for and hasting " His coming. "Beloved, now are we the sons of 26 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. Grod, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him ; for we shall see Him as He is. And every man that hath this hope in Him, purmeth himself, even as He is pure " (1 John iii. 2, 3). As it was only by the shedding of His own blood that the Lord Jesus Christ could procure the true peace and blessedness which He gives to all who come to Him, how overwhelming is the condition of those who, adopt- ing spiritualism as the source of these, have rejected Sim, and have " trodden under foot the Son of (rod." Those to whom the blood has spoken peace, and who truly have " fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ," must indeed contemplate with dismay and solemn apprehension the portion of those who will not " be found in Him at that day." Satan, at this time, is uniting all his old deceptions in new and attractive forms to those which arise from the present state of the world-; and sin is taking gigantic strides in the development of its deep and still deeper resources, as we near the end of the dispen- sation. The writer now directs the reader to the quotations referred to in the beginning of the book : — " What is spiritualism ? There can, we think, be only one true answer returned. It is (whether we regard it as a delusion or a reality), in point of fact, necromancy ; a practice not only emphatically forbidden under the Old Testament, but which, even in the New, we find classed by St. Paul under the general denomination of 'witchcraft,' with such ' works of the flesh ' as idolatry, murder, adultery, and drunkenness; concerning all of which the Apostle adds the solemn declaration, ' that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God' (Gal. v. 19—21). SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 27 " Whether spiritualism is in reality what it claims to be — a means of communication with departed souls — is a further question. Three theories may be said to be cur- rent on this point. 1. That it is altogether an imposture and delusion. 2. That it is to be traced to the operation of occult but natural causes, being closely allied, if not identical, with the phenomena of animal magnetism. 3. That it is in truth, as it professes to be, a species of modern demonism. Which of these theories may contain the most truth, we shall not here attempt to decide; simply observing, that we are decidedly of opinion that ' we must combine all three' in order to approximate to the whole truth of the matter. Be this, however, as it may ; whether spiritualism is an imposition or a reality, the plain duty of every Christian man seems to be laid down regarding it in the exhortation of the Apostle : , ' Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them ' (Eph. v. 11). "What if spiritualism, in its present half-serious, half- ludicrous phase, is designed by Satan as the thin edge of the wedge, to prepare men's minds for, and to put them off their guard against, some further, more open, and startling manifestations of the same character ? Is there any intimation in the prophetic Word to render such a supposition pro- bable ? To afford some answer to this inquiry is the object of the present remarks. It is a remarkable fact, that in the year 1842, six years before the first appearance of spiritual phenomena in America, the late excellent Kev. Edward Bickersteth, himself a zealous and able student of prophecy, anticipated something of the kind. In his introduction to Charlotte Elizabeth's work on Angelology, entitled ' Principalities and Powers,' published in that year, he wrote as follows : — ' Looking at the signs of the times, and the long neglect and unnatural denial of all angelic ministration or spiritual influence, and at the express predictions of false Christs and false prophets, who should show great signs and wonders, insomuch that if it were possible they should deceive the very elect ; and that when men receive not the love of the truth that they might be saved, for this cause God shall send them strong delusion tliat they should believe a lie; I cannot but think there is a painful prospect of a 6udden recoil and religious revulsion from the present unbelief and misbelief, to an unnatural and undistinguish- 28 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. ing ceedtjlity, when Antichrist shall appear in his latest form, with signs and lying wonders. I would, therefore, leave an earnest caution on the minds of my readers : ' Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits, whether they are of God. 1 The Scriptures have forewarned us before- hand, that we may not be led away with the error of the wicked, and fall from our own steadfastness. In connection with this subject there are two passages of Scripture which suggest themselves as peculiarly significant. The first is 1 Tim. iv. 1, 2: 'Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils ; speaking lies in hypocrisy ; having their conscience seared with a hot iron.' So we read in our English version ; and this language, as we all know, taken in connection with that of the third verse, has usually been supposed to refer to the doctrines and practices of the apostate Church of Borne. " That a partial and incipient fulfilment maybe found in that antichristian system, we have no intention of denying, but it has been proposed on sound critical grounds to read the passage somewhat differently: ' Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits, and teachings of DEMONS SPEAKING LIES OP HYPOCRISY.'* According to this reading, the ' giving heed to deceiving spirits,' and the 'speaking lies in hypocrisy,' are not to be considered as separate counts in the indictment against these ' apostates of the latter times ;' but their sin consists rather in giving heed to 'demons speaking lies in hypocrisy.' The por- traiture of spiritualism seems thus to become very distinct. ' Demons speaking lies in hypocrisy! 1 What more correct definition of spiritualism, taking all its declared phenomena for granted, could be framed? That these demons, if demons they be, ' speak lies ' is plain, for the gospel of spiritualism, as all acquainted with the subject are aware, * " Epiphanius, quoting the first verse, adds to. it the following clause : — ' For they will be worshippers of the dead, as in Israel also they were worshipped,' alluding to the Israelites worshipping Baalim and Ashtoroth. Beza and Mann contend that this addition is a part of the inspired original ; but Mede and Mill think it a marginal explica- tion, because it is found only in one ancient MS. On supposition, however, that it is a marginal explication, it shows what the ancients took to be the meaning of this text." — Macknight 's "Literal Translations of the Epistles" in loco. SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 29 presents a striking contrast to the gospel of Christ; and the apostle Paul has ruled for us, that if ' an angel from heaven' (and how much more a demon from hades!) 1 preach any other gospel ' he is to be held accursed. And that these lies, moreover, are spoken 'in hypocrisy,' we may as certainly conclude, since we are told on the very highest authority that the demons ' believe and tremble.' The second of the passages referred to is Rev. xvi. 13, 14 : 'I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are demon-spirits ' {Ttvev^a-a Icajjibvuv), 'working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of Grod Almighty.' In a former chapter we were informed that the beast or false prophet shall work miracles. ' He doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, and he deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast ; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast,' &c. (Eev. xiii. 13 — 15). And the apostle Paul, in his description of the c Man of Sin,' tells us that his 1 coming is after the energy of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders ' (2 Thess. ii. 9). So that not one passage of Scripture, but many, show us that super natural- ness of satanic origin will characterize the manifestation of the last Antichrist. The instrumentality, moreover, through which Grod will permit this exercise of power on the part of Satan is indicated in the present passage ; it will be by ' demon-spirits' working miracles, the object of its permission being to gather the kings of the earth ' to the battle of the great day of God Almighty.' "Hence, as Dr. Seiss has observed, 'this (passage) evidently refers to some new and strangely successful turn in the affairs of the kingdom of darkness. Wonders are to be wrought. Demons are to be the agents. The move- ment is to combine the elements of paganism, European politics, and the false religion of the Papists. Its effect should be to marshal the powers of the world for their last conflict. And it is not at all improbable that we have 30 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. the beginning of all this in the strange, infatuating, and widely- spreading abomination called spieitualism.' " Finally, the mention of ' sorcery,' or witchcraft, in some other passages in the Apocalypse is worthy of notice in reference to this subject. Among the sins of those upon whom the plague of the Euphratean horsemen is inflicted the ' worship of demons ' is expressly mentioned (Rev. ix. 20) ; and in the next verse we are told that they ' repented not of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.' And, again, among those excluded from the tree of life and the holy city ' sorcerers ' are especially mentioned (Rev. xxii. 15). All these allu- sions lead to the conclusion that the last days of this dispensation are fated to witness a manifestation of demon power unparalleled in extent and character in any former age of the world, and of which we may even now be beholding the commencement in the portentous phenomena of spiritualism. Here we pause. In what has been said, we have no intention of asserting anything dogmatically. We simply submit these thoughts to the judgment of our Christian brethren, to the end that if Satan has any such design on hand, he may not gain an advantage over us because we are ignorant of his devices." — W. Maude, Birkenhead. 11 In these days of rebuke, and blasphemy, and deceiv- ableness of all kinds, it would only betray ignorance or doubt of the Word of God, if we were to express any sur- prise at the statements and testimonies of the witnesses of these facts. We call them facts, for we know them to be facts. That a parcel of infidel journalists should sneer at these or any other authentic developments of the sacred records does not surprise us ; but that sensible and intelli- gent persons should be found, who pretend to believe that spiritual manifestations are mere conjuring tricks or the result of scientific manipulation, indeed perplexes us. Was the witch of Endor a conjuror? Was the damsel men- tioned in the Acts, who brought her masters much gain by her divination, a conjuror? Are the wonder-workers referred to by St. Paul, who ' shall, if possible, deceive the very elect,' conjurors? The very idea is preposterous! We have known, and we have proved, that what is called by the general term ' spiritualism,' is a reality and a fact, SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 31 of which we have no more doubt than we have of the existence of a God. But we also know that its employ- ment and encouragement is strictly forbidden in God's Word. And we never yet met with a true Christian who viewed it in any other light. There may be degrees of guilt in its employment, but even as to this we speak with much diffidence. We would rather say, shun it, all you that fear God ; give it no countenance. If it were justifi- able in the slightest degree, the whole of the passages in the Bible that refer to it would not speak of it with such marked disapprobation. We hear, with much sorrow and the deepest concern, that our poor Queen has been beguiled with this delusion. We cannot contemplate the results of such a morbid frame of mind without trembling for the consequences. But we forbear. We just say to those who see no harm in its increasing influence over the minds of our fellow-countrymen, Remember, the Almighty's ' visita- tion for these things ' in the case of America. Again we say, Eemember ! " — From " The Armourer.'* 1 "Not long since we noticed, in terms of strong con- demnation, a work on spiritualism, by Mr. T. P. Barkas. Last month we received from that gentleman two lectures delivered by him in Newcastle. The following extracts will suffice to show our readers that we read the lectures with much satisfaction : — " ' I have now arrived at the conviction that the only use of modern spiritual manifestations is to convince materialists and unbelievers of other conditions and states of being than this we now possess; to demonstrate to them that invisible beings surround and influence us ; and eventually, by the worthlessness and uncertainty of the communications made, to lead them to the source of all truth, the Almighty Himself, for spiritual guidance and direction. To honest, earnest believers in the religion of Jesus, modern spirit- ualism is of no value, but may prove a great curse. Its tendency is to degrade, rather than elevate, both mediums and disciples. Mediums, generally, are not high moral or spiritual men or women, but usually the reverse. Strong physical manifestations are generally, if not always, pro- duced through the lowest forms of mediumship, and, as I believe by the lowest and least developed class of spirits ; and my earnest recommendation to all Christian people is, 32 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. to believe in the reality of modern spiritual phenomena, but to have neither part nor lot in the practices of modern spiritualism I believe that there is a considerable analogy between some of the forms of modern spiritualism and ancient witchcraft, sorcery, and necromancy; and that, except as a matter of strictly scientific investiga- tion, it ought to be entirely discountenanced My own solemn conviction is that spiritualism, as commonly practised, is altogether demoniacal, and that, with the ex- ception of leading materialists to see that there is a spiritual life without visible bodily form — that invisible agencies are everywhere around us, reading our thoughts and seeing our actions, and the great teachings of the Bible in relation to another world are, notwithstanding their previous un- belief in spiritual existence, true — there is no utility in the practice of modern spiritualism to believers in the religion of Jesus, and what utility there is to unbelievers is not designed but incidental. Spiritualism in America has proved a great curse ; it has relaxed the reverence which thousands had for the Bible ; it has led tens of thousands from the fountain of truth to the broken cisterns of modern spiritualism, which hold no water — to the consulting of mediums, instead of to the consulting of God — to the fictions of demons, instead of to the utterances of the Spirit of truth. " There is no dependence whatever to be placed on any of the communications which come through the instru- mentality of modern mediums. You may obtain doctrines extending from Universalism to Calvinism, and from Deism to Athanasianism ; you may have morals of any degree of laxity — free love is not everywhere condemned. In philosophy there is no limit to the extravagances which characterize the utterances of mediums. You may have heaven nearer than the moon, or more distant than Sirius, and all revelations are thoroughly worthless. As revela- tions, they are l a mockery, a delusion, and a snare.' "We have always treated spiritualism as a diabolical delusion, and one of the signs of these latter times. Our testimony is now confirmed by a witness, who has thoroughly investigated the subject. It is fearful to contemplate the prevalence of this delusion, as described by Mr. Barkas in the following extract : — " 'I need scarcely inform a Newcastle audience, who for SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 33 years have had the subject of spiritualism prominently brought before them, that the phenomena of modern spiritualism had their origin in America, in 1846, in the neighbourhood of New York ; that they spread with unex- ampled rapidity throughout the length and breadth of the American Union ; that tens of thousands became mediums, and that about five millions became believers ; that about thirty newspapers devoted to the question were published weekly or monthly ; that upwards of one hundred works, some of them of a very extensive character, were issued from the press ; that among the retinue of believers were judges, ministers, senators, doctors, and literary men, many of them the most learned men in America ; that Abraham Lincoln is a spiritualist, and consults mediums ; and that the philosophy — if philosophy it may be called — has pene- trated into every nook and corner of American society. " ' The wave has rolled across the Atlantic, and believers in spiritualism may be counted by hundreds of thousands in all the kingdoms of Europe. There are probably half- a-million of believers, to a greater or lesser extent, in England ; there are fully that number in France and Spain ; it has overrun Italy and Germany ; works are published weekly and monthly, and many large volumes on spirit- ualism have now an extensive circulation in all continental cities. Kardac, an enthusiastic hierophant of the new faith, is revolutionizing France ; the Emperor Napoleon himself is a consulter of familiar spirits. Circles for spiritual manifestations are plentiful in New Zealand, Australia, and the uttermost parts of the earth : it rivals in its increase the spread of early Christian faith ; every- thing seems to indicate that, notwithstanding the apathy of the majority of men, and their determination to hold their eyes fast bound by prejudice, this great phenomenon, great blessing or great curse — time will show — spiritualism, is now deluging, and will yet more extensively deluge, the earth.' "Mr. Barkas concludes his lecture with the following counsel, which we commend to the earnest attention of all who may have been entangled in the spiritualist delusion : — ' The only hope for the spiritualist, who accepts the teachings of spiritualism, is again to come to the good old Book ; to give up all practices which it condemns — and it condemns necromancy and the consulting of the dead ; 34 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. to come to the Almighty, and ask forgiveness through Jesus ; to cling to the teachings of the Sacred Word, which has stood the storms of ages, and will stand the storms of ages yet to come, becoming brighter after every assault, and leading myriads to the feet of Jesus, the only Saviour.' " — From " The Achill Missionary Herald." "The expression 'understanding dark sentences' indicates in a general sense Napoleon's sagacity and great intel- ligence, but seems to refer more specially to his skill in the practice of that dark and mysterious development of satanic power — spiritualism. One of the most noted Ameri- can mediums, named Hume, has frequently practised his magic art in presence of the Emperor. The spirits of deceased persons are supposed to enter into and possess these mediums, whose faculties of articulation they then make use of to speak to their earthly acquaintances. The spirit of Napoleon I. is reported to have often communi- cated in this manner with his Imperial nephew ; and it was probably in direct allusion to this that Louis Napoleon once said to the "French Senate, 'What most affects my heart is the thought that the spirit of the Emperor is with me, that his mind guides me, and his shade protects me.' It is evident that the spirits which speak through mediums and which claim to be the spirits of deceased persons, are, in reality, demons possessing great powers of impersonation. They enable the medium to imitate the voice, accent, gestures, and handwriting of the deceased with such accuracy, as completely to deceive those who have not learned from Scripture that this is entirely the work of the devil. Spiritualism is the most anti- Christian system that has ever yet arisen, and its most ardent followers do not disguise their desire to see Christianity and all its institutions, such as marriage and the observance of the Sabbath, swept out of existence. It is by the supernatural art of spiritualism that the false prophet will make fire come down out of heaven on the earth to induce men to worship Napoleon's image (Rev. xiii.) Gigantic prodigies will be wrought very soon by this latter-day manifestation of necromancy and witchcraft, and those will be entrapped who have not learned from prophecy that the infidel man of sin is to arise accredited by such miracles. Already there are speaking, writing, painting, music-performing, SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 35 healing, and physical manifestation mediums, by whose diabolical sorceries more than two million persons in America have become more or less confirmed in infidelity. Those who deride the marvels of spiritualism, and regard them only as displays of legerdemain or sleight of hand, manifest exceeding blindness and ignorance. Its miracu- lous operations were plainly predicted to characterize the period immediately preceding the Second Advent (2 Thess. ii. 9 — 12; Rev. xvi. 13, 14)." — From " Louis Napoleon, the Destined Monarch of the World," by the Rev. M. Baxter. SPIRITUALISM PROPHETICALLY CONSIDERED. I 'In continuing our remarks on the subject of spiritual- ism, we desire briefly to draw the reader's attention to certain admissions made by its advocates, and to certain inferences which may be legitimately drawn from its declared character, in so far as these tend to throw light upon its prophetic aspect. The great and increasing interest felt in the subject generally may be inferred from the fact that in his inaugural address to the Social Science Congress recently held at York, Lord Brougham deemed it of sufficient importance to call for the following weighty remarks. Having alluded to the wide-spread infidelity of the day, and the restless efforts of its propagators, his lordship observed : — ' It is strange to find that while a body directing these are actually distributing tracts, con- ducting a periodical work, and holding meetings for debate, both in the southern counties and even as far north as Edinburgh, there should be found at the same time pro- pagators of spiritual visions, in which, as extremes often- times meet, those are prone to believe who have faith in nothing else. Although some of the most zealous of those subject to these delusions fancy that true religion gains by them as affording proofs of another world's existence, it is certain that the bulk of those who believe in spiritualism, in communications from remote regions of the earth, and even from beyond the grave, are utter disbelievers in all religion natural and revealed, unhappy persons in whom the works of the Creator which surround them fail to raise a thought of the Almighty power, wisdom, and goodness, and to whom the revealed will of God is addressed in vain.' II l To whom the revealed will of God is addressed in vain.'' d 2 36 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. Let us mark these words, for they are, we think, as im- portant as they are true. The common line of argument — we might say the only one — adopted by the advocates of what is now called, by way of distinction, ' Christian Spiritualism,' is, that it is calculated to convince the un- believer, and in point of fact has done so in many instances, of the existence of a future state of existence for man. This is the ground of defence taken up by a gentleman of some literary eminence, Mr. S. C. Hall, in a letter written by him on the 'Use of Spiritualism,' and ' printed for private circulation.'' 'I believe,' says Mr. Hall, 'that as it now exists, it (spiritualism) has mainly but one purpose TO CONFUTE AND DESTROY MATERIALISM, by Supplying sure, and certain, and palpable evidence that to every human being God gives a soul, which He ordains shall not perish when the body dies.' But granting, for the sake of argument, that spiritualism does indeed supply such evidence, and putting aside the fact that, in most cases at least, the evidence itself, and consequently the conviction induced, is of a somewhat dubious character, the grand question remains to be considered — what is the soul-value of this conviction f In other words, what is a man the better for believing that there is a future state, if his belief extends no further, or if it be coupled with intimations which, effectually neutralize its moral influence ? Does spiritualism afford any evidence that the future state which it professes to reveal to us is one of moral retribution ? Does it tend to deepen our sense of the evil of sin and the necessity of holiness ? These questions are suggested, and, thank God, they are infer entially answered, by a most solemn parable which is recorded for our instruction in the 16th chapter of St. Luke's Gospel. In that parable we read of a certain rich man, who, finding himself after death in a state of most grievous suffering, of which all alleviation was de- clared impossible, urges the following remarkable petition: 'Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldesl soul him to my father's house: for I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come to this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And lie said, Nay, lather Abraham : but if one went unto iheni from the dead, they will repent.' Mark! l If one went unto them from the dead' — in other words, if the very SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER, SIGNS. 37 selfsame evidence be afforded them which spiritualism pro- fesses to afford — ' they ivill repent.'' Such is the argument of this lost and miserable soul ; and surely we must hear it with a strange and wondering pity. ' Because one has come unto them from the dead, they do repent.' Such is the assertion — using the very argument of this lost soul — of modern spiritualists ! But what says the answer of God by Abraham ? — for it is the answer to both alike : — 'And he said unto him, If they hear not Hoses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead ' (Luke xvi. 27 — 31). Of what would they not be persuaded? Not surely that one had been sent to them from the dead ; of that men are easily enough persuaded ; but persuaded to amend their lives, and to adopt the only effectual means — because the only means of God's appoint- ment — of escaping the awful doom of their miserable brother.* God's word, then, most explicitly declares that the appearance — nay, more, the actual bodily resurrection — coupled with the most solemn warnings of one from the dead, would be utterly ineffectual to turn a sinner from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God. Spiritualism asserts the direct contrary, and on this contra- diction of the plain declaration of God's inspired word, it bases its only claim on our confidence, and the vindication of its own character. "'The true mission of spiritualism,' says William Howitt, ' and it is a great and magnificent mission, is to recall to the knowledge, and restore to the consciousness * " Inasmuch as we all have assurance enough in the "Word concerning the condition of the dead (though not specific charts of their domains, or answers which might gratify curiosity as to how they may employ their tongues and fingers there), nothing more copious or precise would ay ail to supply the deficiency of man's repentance. It may, indeed, appear to he otherwise in the case of some of our own times, for whom magnetism and spiritual noises may appear to have paved the way to faith ; but that could have been only a corroboration of the Word, in which they were not altogether disbelievers, and Abraham's precise and solemn utterance remains unaffected in its simple truth. Did Saul repent when Samuel, coming to him from the dead, preached to him the same truth which he had preached to him when living ? Have all, or indeed many, of those believed, who have verily persuaded themselves that they have seen such apparitions ? "What avails, then, ' second sight' to those dissolute men of shattered nerves, to whom ordinarily such things occur?" — Stier, " Words of the Lord Jesus,'" in loco. 38 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGXS. of mankind, the Christian faith, with all its divine and supernatural power.' " * As to the " use " of spiritualism,' observes S. C. Hall, 1 it has made me a Christian : I humbly and fervently thank God it has removed all my doubts ! ' " ' I could,' he adds, 'quote abundant instances of conver- sion to belief from unbelief — of some to perfect faith from total infidelity. I am permitted to give one name — it is that of Dr. Elliotson (a name well known throughout Europe), who, in a letter to the Rev. Dr. Knatchbull (an earnest advocate of spiritualism), thus writes: ''You ask me if I believe in spiritualism ? I believe all that you, as a Christian minister, believe, and perhaps more." The now abjured opinions of Dr. Elliotson, as recorded in his writings, do not demand comment ; he expresses his deep gratitude to Almighty God for the blessed change that has been wrought in his heart and mind by spiritualism.' " Here, then, the issue is fairly joined. Which are we to believe — the Word of God or the word of man ? To the Bible Christian at least the alternative, though painful, is not difficult. ' To the law and to the testimony ; if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them' (Isa. viii. 20). "But we must proceed to consider the more precise sub- ject of these remarks. In the former paper we directed the reader's attention to a most significant passage in St. Paul's first Epistle to Timothy, in which the apostle, among other marks of the apostasy of the last days, mentions expressly the 'giving heed to deceiving spirits, and teachings of demon*, speaking lies in hgpocrisg. 1 (1 Tim. iv. 1, 2). And we then expressed our conviction, which we now repeat, that if spiritualism be all that it assumes to be, we have in these words its portrait drawn by the pen of inspiration. The inquiry is, however, naturally suggested — What was the nature and character of the 'demons' so frequently mentioned in the New Testament ? And what reason have we for concluding that the ' spirits,' if such indeed they be, concern, id in the production of the phenomena of modern spirit iialism belong to the same class ? Now there are two Greek words '& Ata/3o\oc and Sat/ioviov) used in the New Testament, both of which, as is much to be regretted, have been rendered by our English translators, 'devil.' There however, only one devil (6 Aiaj3o\oc) mentioned in SPIRITUALISM AXD OTHER SIGNS. 39 Scripture, while there are legions of demons (Saipovta).* What, then, is the nature and character of the latter? Usually it seems to be supposed that demons are the same beings as 'the angels which kept not their first estate.' This is a very natural inference from the erroneous translation of the original word by ' devil ' but it has really no founda- tion in Scripture. Demons are referred to about eighty times in the New Testament, and are even spoken of as of different classes, but they are never mentioned in a way to show that they are to be identified with the fallen angels. They are never assigned a celestial origin. They are never referred to except in connection with our world. The devil is never called a demon. The word demon, in its commonest and best understood meaning, denotes the spirit of a dead man, particularly the spirit of a wicked dead man. With a few exceptions, this appears to be its import in the heathen, the Jewish, and the early Christian writers. That the Pharisees in the Saviour's time so understood it, there can be but little doubt. Josephus says, 'Demons are no other than the spirits of the wicked, that enter into men.'' Philo says, ' The souls of the dead are called demons? Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Irenseus, Origen, and Augustine have spoken to the same effect. Dr. Appleton affirms that this is the sense in which the word was commonly used. Jahn refers to numerous authors who have maintained by a multitude of quotations from Greek, Roman, and Jewish writers, that ' the demons are the spirits of dead men, who have died a violent death, particularly of such as were known to have sustained bad characters while living.' If Jesus, the apostles, and the New Testament writers, then, meant to be understood by those to whom they spoke and wrote, they could hardly have used the word demons in any other sense than that attached to it by their contemporaries. There is but one shade of difference between the heathen * "In the ancient Syriac version," says Professor Campbell, in his learned Dissertation, " these names are always duly distinguished. The words employed in translating one of them are never used in rendering the other ; and in all the Latin translations I have seen, ancient and modern, Popish and Protestant, this distinction is carefully observed. It is observed also in Diodati's Italian version and most of the late French versions. But in Luther's German, the Geneva, French, and the common English, the words are confounded." — Campbell on the Gospels. 40 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. and the scriptural use of the word. Thp Greeks sometimes applied it to what they considered good spirits ; thus Plato says, ' When good men die, they obtain honour and be- come demons ; ' and according to Hesiod, when the men of the golden age died and became demons, the change was deemed an 'honourable promotion.' The Scriptures, how- ever, seem to confine the designation to evil beings ; such being the character, we have good reason to believe, of the spirits next behind the veil which divides the material from the spiritual world. We are disposed, therefore, to agree with an able scholar, that ' all scriptural allusions to this subject authorize the conclusion that demons are the spirits, and especially the wicked and unclean spirits, of dead men.'' And these we think, moreover, are in all probability the same class of evil agents described by St. Paul as ' the wicked spirits in the aerial regions (wpoQ ra ^vey/iaTtica ttjq 7royt)piag kv to~iq e7rovpavioic) (Eph. vi. 12). They are, at all events, a class of beings of depraved and mischievous character, belonging to the Satanic kingdom. They have their abode in our atmospheric regions, and hence Satan is called ' the prince of the power of the air ' (Eph. ii. 2).* They wander, like their dread master, ' to and fro in the earth ' (Job i. 7). The enter into close relations with men, and constitute, perhaps, the most efficient ' mediums ' for the accomplishment of Satan's infamous designs against the peace and happiness of our race. " Another form of evil wrought by the agency of demons is the corruption, deception, and infatuation of men by a forbidden and unnatural intercourse with them. ' Some think such communications mere pretence. But the plain testimony of the Scriptures, and well-authenticated pheno- mena of ancient and modern times, f leads to the conclusion that men may communicate with demons, and by them do * ""We live,"* says Auberlen, "in an atmosphere poisonous and im- pregnated with deadly elements. But a mighty purification of the air will be effected by Christ's coming." '"The power' is here used col- led iwly for the ' powers of the air ?' in apposition with which 'powers' stand the ' spirits,' comprehended (also) in the singular; the aggregate of the 'seducing spirits' (] Tim. iv. 1) which work now (still; not merely, as in your case, ' in time past ') m the sons of disobedience." — m /. f "No O&e, with any insi-ht into the awful mystery of the false worships of the world, but will believe that these symptoms were the SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 41 many supernatural things. What do the Holy Scriptures mean when they speak of consulters with familiar spirits, enchanters, witches, wizards, magicians, soothsayers, and necromancers ? What is a consulter with familiar sj>irits but one who seeks information from a demon with whom he is in compact, and who attends at call ? What is an enchanter but a person who practises incantation, calls up spirits by magic formularies, and brings into action the power of demons ? What is a witch or wizard but a woman or man who practises divination by the aid of evil spirits, or does supernatural things by the " inediumship " of demons ? What is a magician but one who experiments in the same black arts, a sorcerer, a diviner, an enchanter? What is a soothsayer but a demoniacal prophet, who fore- tells events, or undertakes to guide by divination, and by the ''impressions" derived from some foul afflatus pro- duced by the invocation of spiritual agencies ? And what is a necromancer but a consulter of the dead — one who reveals secrets by the assistance of the departed — one who resorts to demons for aid and information ? It is useless to say that these were all false pretenders, and that all ascribed to them was mere trickery and deceit. The Bible says, in so many words, that the four hundred lying prophets whom Ahab followed to his ruin were really inspired by wicked spiritual beings. The changing of rods into serpents, water into blood, and the bringing up of frogs over the land of Egypt by the sorcerers and magicians who withstood Moses, were not delusions of the senses, but realities, so given in the holy record. And all the expressions which the Bible contains on the subject proceed upon the assumption that this intercourse with, and aid from, demons, is something more than imaginary. When we read of a man consulting familiar spirits, it is necessarily implied that spirits may be consulted. The case of Saul and the witch of Endor clearly shows that the alleged communication with the dead was regarded as a substantial fact. And from the thunders and smoke of Sinai, Jehovah said, "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to evidence and expression of an actual connection in which these persons (i.e., seers, pythonesses, and the like) stood to a spiritual world— a spiritual world, indeed, which was not above them, but beneath." — Archbishop Trench, "Synonyms of the New Testament," Part I. p. 43. 42 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. live." " A man or woman that hath" — not in pretence, bnt reality — "hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death." Here was a statute given by the great King Himself ; and has God legislated against a nonenity?'* When, therefore, modern spiritualists do avowedly hold communion with the dead, receiving mes- sages from and being powerfully influenced by them, they virtually acknowledge themselves to be ' giving heed to the teachings of demons ; ' or, in other words, to be practisers of that necromancy which the Word of God so emphatically condemns. " But, as it has been well said, ' they are twice overcome who are beaten with their own weapons,' we shall here adduce some remarkable admissions as to the identity of modern spiritualism and the demonology mentioned in Scripture. "Mr. Howitt, speaking of our Lord's transfiguration, says, 'The Lord of life, who was about to become the Prince of the spirits of the dead, broke the Imo prohibiting the intercourse with the spirits of the dead, and in no other pre- sence than that of the promulgator of that law, who had long been a spirit of the dead, and at the same time in the presence of those selected by Christ to teach this great act to posterity. And, the disciples, admitted to a convocation which would have brought the penalty of death on their ancestors, found it so good for them, that they desired to build tabernacles, and remain with those illustrious dead.' "Mr. Brevior says: — 'Those who question or deny the lawfulness of spirit-communion on grounds deduced from Scripture, rest their objections mainly on the prohibitions in the Mosaic code. But surely it is by no means self-evident that we are now under these prohibitions, that they apply to us and to all time.'' "Mrs. Newton Crosland says: — 'The history of Saul stands out with singular consistency and distinctnesss by the light which a spirit message throws upon it. These words were spelt out in my own house: — "Said was a medium, but he offended God by consulting undeveloped spirits." ' (Was Samuel the prophet an ' undeveloped spirit ? ' ) " The writer of an Apology for Spiritualism in the ' English- * Dr. Seiss, "The Wonderful Confederation." A truly admirable discourse. SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 43 woman's Domestic Magazine'' says : — ' The very titles of the art and its professors have been altered : what was necro- mancy is noiv spiritualism ; and the presiding high priest or priestess of the mysteries is no longer called witch when of the feminine gender, and wizard when of the masculine, but both are now styled in common by a less expressive appellation — that of medium.' " Andrew Jackson Davis, the high priest of American demonolatry, says : — ' The time is past when these new things (spiritual manifestations) would have been igno- rantly termed demonism, necromancy, and witchcraft.' " Governor Tallmadge saj'S : — ' AIL the magic, the myste- ries, the witchcraft, and necromancy of the ancient world, from the time of the Delphic oracle, are explained by the modern manifestations.' " Judge Edmonds says : — 'The history of Salem witch- craft is but an account of spiritual manifestations, and of man's incapacity to understand them.' " Charles Partridge says of the witch of Endor : — ' Call her witch, or what you will, she was a medium for the spirits.' " Professor S. B. Brittain says : — ' Simon Magus ivas, of all men, prince among the workers oe spiritual miracles.' " So much for spiritualism as a ' giving heed to teachings of demons ; ' but there is another count in the divine in- dictment, or rather the charge is more comprehensive, for it is added, ' speaking lies in hypocrisy.' All who are at all acquainted with the writings of spiritualists know that these alleged spirits generally claim to be good and holy spirits — the spirits of pious friends and noted saints. Thus, for instance, Mr. S. C. Hall, in his letter before quoted, says: — 'Honoured and revered be the memory of the good woman (her life in this sphere was continual prepa- ration for life in another), who, when she left earth, was mercifully permitted to continue her influence, to give me counsel, to bring me "messages," to humble my heart, and lead me to a knowledge cf my Saviour — a work she had laboured, while in the flesh, to accomplish, in vain. "We have had evidence of her presence with us, since her " removal," as clear, certain, and conclusive, as we had when she was "sitting in the body" by our side.' We have met this argument on scriptural grounds already ; but we would here add a few more important ' admissions ' by spiritualists and ' spirits.' Mr. Laroy Sunderland, a well- 44 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. known spiritualist writer and lecturer in America, in a work entitled ' The Book of Human Nature,' makes the following statement : — ' Now as to the question, Are spirits reliable ? I answer Yes ; they are reliable for teaching and demon- strating THE EXISTENCE OF THE SPIRITUAL WORLD. If you make the inquiry still more specific, and ask whether the " communications " indiscriminately made by spirits to mortals are always reliable, and to be taken for what they purport to be, I answer. No I ' * ' ' Mr. Gr. "W". Stone, in his book on ' Spiritual Mani- festations,' says: — 'I conclude for myself that implicit confidence cannot be placed in the so-called spirit responses and communications as always coming from departed spirits. The medium, or some powerful mind or minds present, may overrule, warp, twist or colour the answers and sentences spelt out There is a mysterious agency from the spiritual world which cannot be completely overruled. Nevertheless, it is so often and so far controlled as to be ' decidedly unreliable? f Dr. Nichols, in his recently published * Forty Years of American Life,' which contains an important chapter on spiritualism in that country, tells us : — * These pretended spirits often lie. Messages are re- ceived purporting to come from departed persons, and giving the particulars of their decease, who prove, on in- quiry, to be still alive. I have known this in several instances. Of course this does not disprove a communi- cating intelligence If we admit the physical phenomena of spiritualism, and concede that communi- cations or revelations are really made by beings ordinarily invisible to us mortals, we are still surrounded with diffi- culties. What assurance can we have in any case of the identity of a spirit ? A bad or mischievous spirit may, for aught we know, personate our friends, penetrate our secrets, and deceive us with false communications. Where is the proof of identity ? 'J 11 But more than this, the f spirits ' themselves have made the same confession of * speaking lies in hypocrisy.' The following remarkable instance is given by Dr. Seiss : — ' They affirm (♦.*., the spirits) that intercourse with them will make men happier and better ; that they are blessed * Quoted by (lie Rev. E. Nangle, "Spiritualism Fairly Tried," p. 43. f Page 63. X "Forty rears of American Life," vol. ii., pp. 63, 64. SP [RITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 45 in the spirit-world; that there is no resurrection of the dead, no future punishment, no day of judgment.' So these demons generally teach; and so one declared to William B. Laning, of Trenton, New Jersey, in 1853, through a writing medium. But he cross-questioned the spirit, and demanded of it, ' in the name of the Lord,' to answer his questions truly ; and, though professing to be happy, it at once began to quail. Mr. Laning then asked : — " 'In the name of the Lord, is the Bible true? Answer — Yes. The Bible forbids necromancy and the consulting of familiar spirits ; which shall I believe, you or the Bible ? Answer — The Bible. Why then did you tell me that it was right and useful to consult the spirits ? Answer — Because I wished to deceive you. What is the business of these spirits with men ? Answer — It is to deceive. Are you happy ? Answer — No ; I am miserable. Are you in hell ? Answer — Not yet. Do you expect to go there? Answer — Yes. When? Answer — At the day of judgment. Is there a day of judgment ? Answer — Yes. Is there to be a resur- rection of the dead ? Answer — Yes. Have you any prospect of happiness? Answer — I have no hope. In the name of the Lord, is there a good spirit — the spirit of a departed Christian — among all these rapping and writing spirits ? Answer — No, not one. Where are the spirits of departed Christians ? Answer — The Lord has taken them ! ' " ' This,' adds Dr. Seiss, ' is given as an authentic account of an actual occurrence. I have myself seen a manuscript letter from Mr. Laning, vouching for the truth of it, and of other like instances. The Rev. W. E. Giordan, of New York, affirms that he challenged one of these spirits in the name of the Lord Jesus to answer whether he was not a demon; to which the reply was in the affirmative. He asked further, Are all the communications of spiritualism from personating demons? Answer — Yes.' " Somewhat similar confessions are given by Mr. Nangle, Mr. Godfrey, and others. " All this is sufficiently startling ; but the crucial test of spiritualism, as of every false system, remains to be applied. The Master has said : l By their fruits ye shall know them' (Matt. vii. 20). Christianity can bear this test, the Bible can bear it, but no system of falsehood that the world has ever seen could endure it. How does spiritualism, on the whole — an isolated case is no fair criterion — bear it ? Listen 46 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. to the testimony, not of an opponent, but of an impartial observer. Dr. Nichols says, speaking of its results in America, ' There can be no question about the marked effect of spiritualism upon American thought, feeling, and character. Nothing within my memory has had so great an influence. It has broken up hundreds of churches : it has changed the religious belief of hundreds of thousands ; it has influenced, more or less, the most important actions and relations of vast multitudes. Immense numbers of those who, a few years ago, professed a belief in some form of Christianity, or were members of religious organizations, have, under the influence of spiritualism, modified or re- nounced such beliefs. Greater numbers, perhaps, who doubted or denied a future state, have found, as they think, in the phenomena of spiritualism, incontrovertible proofs of its reality The reader may make his own estimate of the value of this conviction il ' There can be as little doubt that spiritualism has either produced or developed a tendency to insanity in a great number of instances. I think no careful observer can mingle with considerable numbers of spiritualists, without noticing symptoms of insanity. There is no portion of the world so subject to insanity as New England and the Northern States, which it has mainly peopled. . . . "'The influence of spiritualism upon morality is not very easy to estimate. It is claimed that the influence and admonitions of spirits and the belief in immortality have reformed many drunkards and profligates. On the other hand, it is known that numbers of spiritualists have taught and acted upon ideas of the largest liberty in social re- lations. They have adopted individualistic and ' free-love ' doctrines. Husbands have abandoned wives, and wives husbands, to find more congenial partners, or those for whom they had stronger spiritual affinities. All spiritual- ists, it is true, do not accept the free-love doctrines ; but it is also true that some of the most noted spiritualistic mediums, speakers, and writers have both taught and practised them, and that they have had numerous fol- lowers, to the great scandal and disgust of those who hold to old fashioned morality.' "Listen again to iMr. John F. Whitney, of New York, himself for two years a devoted and prominent spiritual- ist : — ' We have Been the gradual progress it (intercourse SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 47 with spirits) makes with its believers, particularly its mediums, from lives of morality to those of sensuality and immorality, gradually and cautiously undermining the foundation of good principles, till we look back with amaze- ment at the radical changes which a few months will bring about in individuals ; for its tendencies are to approve and endorse each individual act and character, however good or bad those acts may be. If an individual be an adulterer or an adulteress, approval of their course is given from the spirit, purporting, perhaps, to be the spirit of a loving, devoted father, who in this world would have gone to his grave in wretchedness to have known that his child could have so erred.' " Listen once more to Dr. Seiss : — ' It (spiritualism) has denied the authority of the Holy Bible, which is man's only light amid earth's darkness, and which in the face of the scepticism and scrutiny of a thousand generations, has maintained its claim to be the inspired word of the eternal Grod. It has repudiated the Deity, Messiahship, and me- diatorial work of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the only way to eternal life and blessedness. It has shown itself uncompromisingly inimical to the teachers of pure morality and scriptural religion. It has its chief support among men and women of questionable morals and of loose and sceptical principles. It has furnished sneers and accusa- tions against the statements of inspiration, and the system of salvation therein revealed, the most malignant and blasphemous that have ever been uttered. It has not hesitated to give the glory of the Everlasting One to devils. I have a book of songs, professedly prepared by the spirits to be sung in the circles, which is wholly made up of metrical praises of intercourse with the dead, and solemn invocations of the departed — a liturgy of mere demon-worship' "Yiewed in the light of the evidence we have now adduced, and it might be largely increased, how awfully applicable to modern spiritualism do the Apostle's words become : ' Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall apostatize from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits, and teachings of demons, speak- ing lies in hypocrisy ; having their conscience seared with a hot iron.' Surely we may recognize in them the finger of God pointing silently, through the mist of ages, to one of the dark signs of the end even now looming before us. 48 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. And let us remember that we have not yet seen the full develop- ment of this mystery of iniquity. Mesmerism has merged into clairvoyance, clairvoyance has given place to spiritual- ism ; what is to follow ? Can we doubt that the man who is giving heed to these deceiving demons, will be the most ready to bow the knee before that lawless one 'whose coming is after the energy of Satan, with all power, and signs, and lying wonders V (2 Thess. ii. 9). And is he not at hand ? Yes, it is our solemn conviction that the world is preparing for Antichrist. 'Evil men and seducers wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived ;' ' a form of godliness,' and at the same time a denial of the power thereof, meets us on every side ; the taunt of the scoffer, ' Where is the promise of His coming ? ' is in our ears ; the cross of the Redeemer is becoming the standard of a flying camp. But this is our confidence and our hope — the King is coming. And when His starlike banner shall gleam in the van, and His battle-shout shall rally the fainting host, the tide of battle shall be turned, the army of the aliens shall be put to flight, the enemies of the Lord shall con- sume like the fat of rams, Satan shall be bound in chains of darkness and consigned to the prison of the pit, and, amid the glad alleluias of an emancipated world, Jesus shall take unto Him His great power and reign." — By W. Maude, Esq., Birhenliead. 4 " Dear Sir, — As among your protests against the various errors of these last days you have lifted up your voice in opposition to spiritualism, alias necromancy, I have no doubt you will gladly insert the following proof of the pernicious character of that 'black art.' The well-known writer William Howitt may fairly be called the high priest of spiritualism in England, and the effect of this on a mind so able and cultivated as his may be well taken as a criterion of its influence on less critical converts. In an article entitled 'What Spiritualism has Taught,' in the April number of the ' Spiritual Magazine,' this clever writer pours forth what, I am sure, you, your readers, and Chris- tians would regard as a torrent of envenomed blasphemy, dashing its headlong course from necromantic sources and heights against the rocks of orthodoxy. Take the following extracts in proof of this charge: — '' 'All souls, according to the Protestant faith, pass at SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 49 once to heaven or to hell .... By this arbitrary extinction of some of the loveliest regions of creation .... Grod's whole being was blackened, and every one of His eternal attri- butes dislocated and driven pell-mell into the limbo of atheism. I say atheism, for such a Grod could not possibly exist as this Protestant theory would have made Him ; a Grod with less justice than the most stupid country squire ever established in the chair of magistracy, with less mercy than an inquisitor or a torturer with red-hot pincers and iron boots. These atrocities were but the work of moments, but this system made the Grod of love and the Father of Jesus Christ sitting in endless bliss amid a favoured few, whilst below were incaculable populations suffering the tortures of fires which no period, even of millions of years, should extinguish; and that without any profanation whatever in the offences of the sufferers. All who were not the " spirits of just men made perfect" were, according to this doctrine, only admissible to this common hall, this common receptacle of the middling bad, and the most bedevilled of devils. Never could any such monstrous, foul, and detestable doctrine issue from any source but that of the hearts of fiends themselves.' "In other words, the doctrine of the punishment of the lost, according to Mr. Howitt, is ' a doctrine of devils,' but according to Christians it is a doctrine of Christ and His apostles. Again : ' But the lovers of eternal torments for their brethren, whom they are commanded to love as them- selves, immediately cry out, "Take away eternal damna- tion and you take away all fear of sinning.' " This is not true, Mr. Howitt, and you are a calumni- ator for calling those who hold the doctrine you denounce ' lovers of eternal torments for their brethren.' "Again: 'The spirits, without exception, deny the Moloch doctrine of eternal damnation.' Mr. Howitt's misquotations and misrepresentations of Scripture I have observed in several of his writings. For example, in the article before us : ' This was precisely the doctrine of St. Paul, that everything here on earth is made after the pattern in the heavens, that we have, only more perfect, and being only made after their patterns and of inferior or only physical materials.' This is very bad. "What Paul ' precisely declares ' is no such thing ; he is speaking exclusively of the pattern of the tabernacle, and not of 50 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. ' everything that we liave on earth.' Is not this ' a doctrine of devils, speaking lies in hypocrisy ' ? Again : ' If anything be the plain end of Christ's coming, it is this glorious result — it is declared that Christ came to restore all things.' Where? But enough. I recommend your readers to peruse the entire article, than which I have seldom read a more bitter or more erroneous production ; and when we consider that the animus displayed and the views taught are held forth as the genuine fruit of spiritualism, we need no further proof that this new religion is the last-born of the- father of lies. " I am, my dear Sir,. " Yours faithfully r "Arthur A. Bees."" —From "Tie Rainbow," 1865. Since copying the last quotation , the author has become acquainted with still further advances made by the spirits, which are important for publication. A lady living |t few miles out of Brighton is now asserting (not only her power with the spirits, in common with all spiritualists, but) that she can and does pass out of her body and go to Scotland or elsewhere, leaving her body at home. She says that she (or her spirit) passes through walls, doors, &c, without the slightest diffi- culty ; that she ascends into the spirit world above, has close communion with Jesus Christ and with those who are gone there. She can call at her bidding any one with whom she wishes intercourse. She and a few other ladies of the same class can tell yon that they take the sacrament together at stated times, and (what will now follow is too solemn to publish, were it not done to convince others, if possible, of the signs of the times) when this lady and her friends meet to take the sacra- ment, they affirm that the Lord Jesus Himself, in person, and seen by them, Joins them, bringing grapes, and placing SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 51 them on the table, round which they are sitting, and then all partake of the grapes together. After this, one reference will suffice. When the Lord Jesus was here on earth, He distinctly told His dis- ciples the reverse of this most appalling statement. Matt. xxvi. 29 : " But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom." "We may now assume that what is written for our learn- ing was purposely spoken by our Lord to shield His people from those, who, " if it were possible, would de- ceive the very elect." It is worthy of notice that this lady tells you that her knowledge of the Greek language is so superior to that of other Greek scholars, that, therefore, the Scrip- tures reveal to her what is not understood by or revealed to others. One instance of this superior learning will suffice. She asserts that the Bible no- where speaks of hell, or in any way teaches us to believe that there is a place of everlasting misery, for ever separated from God, e 2 ROMANISM. "Who is on the Lord's side?" When we see our enemy, and hear the sound of alarm, we know that danger is at hand, and that it is not a time to lie down to sleep, thus placing ourselves in a position of ignorance of whatever may be passing around us, or even within our doors. How can we then account for all this supineness, incredulity, willing deafness, and blindness in Christians, while Popery is not only secretly undermining our nation, but shamelessly erecting its head in our midst. Jesuits are being inveigled into Protestant houses under false pretences, to exert a secret influence on others, and to obtain information for their Church. Plardened, vile nuns, with their wily insinuations, are gaining admittance into the drawing- rooms of High Church ladies to strengthen their principles, and to draw out their sympathies, to assist them in relieving " the destitute poor of all denominations, quite irrespec- tive of religion!" "Borne, on the other hand, setting as usual the lessons of the Bible at defiance, and studying how she may turn the worst propensities of human nature to her own account, has filled every country to which her influence has extended, with SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 53 crowds of lazy and dirty monks, and swarms of rapa- cious nuns, eating up the fruits of honest industry, and that, too, upon the flimsy pretence of removing that very pauperism of which they are the principal cause. The Reformation swept all this out of Britain ; but with the advent of Borne, it has begun again in right earnest. The nuns go first, as likely to excite less opposition, but the monks will follow. These nuns profess to go from door to door, in the words of their own organ, ' to beg for the poor the crumbs which fall from the rich man's table, and to live on what re- mains when their poor inmates are supplied ;' and they do this work ' in the name of Grod and of the poor.' The spirit and feelings of the people of this country since the Reformation are opposed to all secret combinations, so much in vogue in the Church of Rome, although nothing in Popish lands has served the Church of Rome so effectually as these sisterhoods. To permit and en- courage the members of such orders to perambulate our streets in the habit of their order, and to beg from door to door, and to enter our homes, is effectually paving the way for an open recognition of them and of the system of political and religious slavery, whose pioneers they are. This will be followed universally by demands, which have already been made to some paro- chial boards, that they shall receive grants from the local funds, to assist them in sustaining their institu- tions. These, again, if granted, will end in raising such institutions to an equality with our poor-houses, if they do not supersede them. Moreover, it is folly to believe that these nuns live solely upon the mere crumbs which their inmates, if they have any, may leave. This is contrary to all the lengthened experience 54 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. of such sisterhoods, and is opposed to fact, as can be easily proved during the short time these begging nuns have established themselves more recently in Britain. They live on the very best that they can get, or the land can produce. The contrary idea is the fruit of incredulity, and gives the lie to all history. The emissaries of the infallible Church have not so com- pletely changed their designs and tactics, after following a course so very opposite for so many centuries." Such a system of begging is an attempt, on the part of the Church of Eome, to ascertain the position of every family in the country, and their feelings in regard to Romanism. We find that this system has been set on foot on a very large scale. " The Popish organs tell us that these ' little sisters ' are in almost every country in Europe, and that now they are spreading themselves throughout England and Scotland. They, probably, take notes of every family to which they get access, and these notes are duly communicated to the priests, who, in turn, com- municate the substance of them to their bishops or other superiors. This is not mere fancy. It has been known that the visits of these nuns have already paved the way for visits by the priest to some Protestant families in our towns. It has been declared by one who has watched the system abroad, that this in-door reconnoitring is a mode of Pomish aggression, which, by gaining an entrance into Protestant households, is intended to make way for a more direct priestly inter- ference in such households. Dr. Wiseman has told us it is the aim of his party to reconquer England, and nun-begging is but a method to that end. The Jesuits, everywhere and always, attach it to their movements. SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 55 Under the form of charity, it is used as the pioneer to a system which would reduce this free land, as before the Reformation, to the priestly sway of the servants of the Pope of Rome. The giving of moneys or goods, in compliance with applications by these nuns, is equi- valent to supporting the Romish system, which the Bible declares to be sinful and idolatrous, and it is an effectual means by which the doctrines of the Church of Rome will be spread, especially among the reckless and lower classes, who are ready to sell their souls for a piece of bread. If the order of nuns are allowed thus to beg, and if it be proper to encourage them, it will be equally right to allow and encourage orders of monks to heg from door to door, and from hamlet to hamlet, as in the days before the Reformation, But this has been condemned by almost every country in Europe, and is altogether against the laws of this country. Hence it is the duty of every Protestant peremptorily to refuse every application." Many other open and secret acts are being trans- acted, allowed and courted, to the disgrace of Pro- testants. If an understanding had been entered into between Protestants and Roman Catholics that they should join a common fraternity, the former could hardly be more obliging, while the latter, in their crafty wisdom, could scarcely obtain a greater benefit from such a union. " Never mind," the Protestants say, " we cannot help it now ;" things have become so difficult to manage that they must be allowed to take their course. This " taking their course " is nothing more nor less than parleying with, and embracing the serpent. But, " never mind ;" all that is done and left undone is right and lawful, if we can find a reason, 56 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. and the reason given is expediency (a leaf out of a Maynooth class-book). This real fellowship with Eome in the Legislature and the High Church has resulted in nothing less than the introduction of dungeons, con- taining " only a few instruments for correction" which have been established, and are known to be rapidly increasing in several places in our land. London may not be exempt from this deep satanic encroachment ; but while (in some places on the Continent) the strength of the devil is relaxing, England is opening her arms to receive, what even Eoman Catholic countries, after investigation, have been obliged to mitigate.* "The great movement at present going on in Germany is a sufficient awakener. "What has stirred, like a tempest, the whole ocean of Catholic life over almost every district of that great nation? The horrors resulting from the celibacy of the clergy, against which they have long petitioned the Pope in vain — the scandal to public morals and to private manners everywhere occasioned ~by that diabolical institution, have been of such a nature as com- pletely to open the eyes of the most simple and stupid, and to occasion loud demands for its removal. According to German policy, every means has been used to suppress the knowledge of the terrible revelations which, from time to time were taking place. The press was securely prevented by the censor from ever alluding to them; the police hushed all possible discussion regarding them ; yet, spite of all this, such bloody and tragic facts have oozed through * " It is hardly necessary to remind the reader that in the year 1829 there were in Greal Britain 477 Popish priests, 449 Popish chapels, and scarcely a monastery or nunnery. In the present year of 1864 there are 1,445 Popish priests, 1,098 Popish chapels, 56 'monasteries, and 186 nunneries::: Such is the progress made hy superstiti< and blasphemy in the last thirty-five years; such the ' Catholic Relief Bill,' that healing measure which made Ii thai wise (!!) measure, which proved England a dupe. Prophet ' <) ><>intments and temptations of mixing with the world. Of course they never doubt the professed sin- cerity, love, and devotion of nuns, or the faithfulness of priests — men who profess to give up everything that they may devote themselves wholly to the service of God and the care of precious souls, whilst in their aanotimonioTM sanctity they mask their corrupting and murderous practices, (lleb. xiii. 4; 1 Cor. vi. 18.) SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 59 They profess to deprive themselves of those domestic helps and comforts which, in mercy to man, Grod has provided. (1 Tim. iii. 2, 4, 5.) The holy and pure life of the priesthood is not sup- posed to require these lawful and needful gifts. (1 Cor. vii. 2.) No wives or children to tempt or distract their hearts, or to divide their affections. (Prov. xviii. 22). We are therefore expected to believe that they sacrifice everything for the Lord's sake. (Eph. v. 12; 1 Thess. iv. 6, 7.) "We are also expected to believe that they exert such watchful care over themselves that they cannot venture to lift their eyes from the ground in passing a woman. (2 Peter ii. 14—19.) The feigned character is sure to aim at a standard either too high or too low, proving at once that (rod's standard is not understood or regarded. " Unautho- rized ascetism conduces to unbounded libertinism." " Grod is a Spirit : and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth " (John iv. 24). Of course, then, these very holy and devoted priests must be unquestionably the best guides and teachers to consult and trust in ; but, more particularly qualified for extracting everything out of the hearts of young females, and for undertaking to keep watch over their souls — arranging and disposing of their affections, and thus claiming the first and most secret occupant in the hearts of these unsuspecting ones, many of whom are left to their own thoughts and ways till the priesthood takes possession of both ; thus they become the dupes of wickedness, and bound, as by a spell, to reveal nothing of what passes between them and their father confessor. 6*0 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. Poor deluded females I It stirs the spirit and makes the blood boil to think of the profound ignorance which exists, and its solemn issues. Not knowing, or caring to know, what is truth and what is error, they cannot see that Rome is essentially impure, unholy, and that Christ is essentially pure and holy, and thus they continue in the snare until they fall into the arms of the devil. It is not difficult to understand why the priests so rigidly deny the Holy Scriptures to the people ; their wicked dogmas and impurity could not abide in the same atmosphere with " the law and the testimony." They know that the Word of Grod represents Jesus Christ to the soul. Home deals with the Word as Satan dealt with the man Christ Jesus. And this is the position which professing Protestants are hasting into — allowing their daughters to go to the Brompton Oratory, and other such blasphemous places, to listen to music (one of the successful traps) ; another day to hear a " preaching of Christ" (another trap), intended to deceive the unwary so-called Protestants, and so induce them to go again and again. Thus the enemy is beguiling and destroying souls. Many mothers are shamefully inconsistent in their conduct in this matter. They are allowing their daughters to play with the fire, and shutting their eyes and ears, they become ignorant of their responsibility, and render both themselves and their children virtually recipients of these pollutions, which are doomed. What will such mothers "do in the end thereof?" After allowing their (laughters to attend churches which are nothing more nor less than stepping stones to Rome, how needful are grace and wisdom now to enable them to open their eyes and ears to see and understand their true position! When your daughters are suffered to SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 61 regard their clergyman as a father confessor, and reve- lations are thus made to these Eomish priests in disguise, what can they expect ? The churches and the priests combined are regarded as their salvation. Thus the judgment, will, and soul are brought under bondage to man, and mothers discover, to their utter distraction, when too late, that their children are lost to all parental influence. This solemn state of things is looked at by some mothers, and others who have the charge of young women, as "an innocent and easy way for them to get comfort — a lawful and instructive channel for the clergy- man to obtain knowledge of their characters ; and who can so well comfort and guide them in all their little or great diniculties, as their clergyman?" So says Eome also. THE POWER WHICH THE CONFESSIONAL GIVES TO THE PRIEST. " It corrupts his mind, and then affords opportunity to carry out the evil design. The confessor learns the state of the heart, and knows his victim. It is admitted by Roman Catholic authorities that priests have lost their own souls, and those of their penitents, in the confessional. . . . 'Knowledge is power.' In every sense this is true; but man, in his intercourse with his fellow, judges of mind only by outward actions. Could the diplomatist see the hearts, the intentions, the real feelings of those with whom he has to deal, he could calculate with certainty upon success. In proportion as a man is acquainted with human nature, does he possess power in intercourse with his fellow. The confessor dives at once into the secrets of the human bosom. From the king to the beggar, all unfold their hearts to him, and, officially, the most ignorant priest acquires a knowledge of human purposes and dispositions, to which the most philosophic and ,acute cannot attain. Consider the influence which he possesses over those who acknowledge his pretensions. He is regarded in a fourfold point of view — Physician, Counsellor, Father, and Judge — in fact, as God in the Confessional ; as Dens distinctly says, 62 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. ' He is God in the Confessional ' (p. 160., torn. 6, Dublin, 1832). Irrespective even of character, he is venerated as God's vicegerent, invested with powers of a superhuman kind. Yiewed in this light, he can exercise control by advice. What earthly parent, judge, or counsellor, in the estimation of the devout Romanist, could have half the influence of the confessor. Regarded as one who possesses authority from God to forgive sins, and to change the ele- ments of bread and wine into the Lord of life and glory, his advice is all potent, and influence unbounded." — Blalceney' 's "Popery in its Social Aspect" We recommend this book to Protestants, as con- taining valuable information. "I am bold to say aloud, that Protestants have nothing yet upon this important matter so precise as what I am about to say. I have confessed priests and laymen of every description, a bishop (once), superiors, curates, persons high and low, women, girls, boys. I am, therefore, fitted to speak of the confessional. Confessors endeavour to give a high opinion of their own holiness to fathers and husbands, that they may be induced to send to the confessional with- out fear their wives and daughters; because, doubtless, should fathers and husbands know what passes at the con- fession box between the holy man and their wives and daughters, they never would permit them again to go to tljose schools of vice. But priests command most carefully to women never to speak of their confession to men, and they inquire severally about that in every confession. The confession of the female sex is the great triumph, the most splendid theatre of priests. The more I think of this matter, the more I remember this sentence : ' Priests, in taking the vows of renouncing marriage, engage them- selves to take the wives of others.' — The statement of a converted Roman Catholic Priest." — " Papal Conspiracy Exposed" E. Beecher, D.B. When this frightful abomination, corrupting inter- course, and wicked teaching, in the Church of England, have run their course, what must the natural issue be but that of adding souls to Babylon, the mother of SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 63 harlots ? Mothers ! the precious souls of your daughters are being seduced into perdition. The end of all things is fast approaching ! Beware in time ! Take warning before it is too late ! Consider what you are doing,, and what you' are omitting to do ! Eegard all such priestly clergymen as really worse than the openly avowed Romish priest. They are working the same work of death, playing into one another's hands, and necessarily are serving the same master. It may be instructive just to refer to what took place in the House of Lords, May 12. During discussion about the Popish and unprincipled conduct of the Rev. A. D. Wagner, " the half-hatched Roman priest/' — a true specimen of such in disguise — the unlawfulness of the confessional and other innovations in the Church of England was honestly pleaded by the Marquis of "VVestmeath. On which occasion the Bishop of London, in reply, ex- pressed himself in the following words : — " Unfor- tunately, there was great doubt as to the law ; and there was great difficulty in ascertaining the facts." It is rather astonishing, and not less significant and still harder to believe, that the Bishop of London can be ignorant of "the law" or "the facts," while the Church of Christ and the world at large are both well up in all the Popish proceedings which are so fully acted out, and so easy to be understood, in some fourteen or more of the churches in the Bishop of London's diocese. The following are a few out of the number : — St. Alban's, Holborn ; St. Greorge's-in-the-East ; Holy Trinity, Yauxhall ; St. Mary Magdelene, Munster Square ; St. Matthew's, Stoke Newington ; Christ Church, Clap- ham; St. Paul's, Knightsbridge, &c, &c. Be not content to remain destructively ignorant of the devices 64 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. and stratagems now deceiving so many. Take alarm before you find your own daughters, or others for whom you are responsible, inveigled away, and secreted, never perhaps to be traced or heard of again ; and if searched after, drugging is not unfrequently re- sorted to, to neutralize the power of telling what has passed. Two cases have lately oozed out before the public (Mary Eyan and Eliza M'Dermot). These are specimens which afford sufficient proof of what is ever being transacted to fill the hearts of mothers with profound horror and indignation. Will not such unjustifiable acts and indignities intensify their feel- ings and energize their common senses ? It is time to begin to weigh their responsibilities with the sad results arising from the unfaithfulness of mothers, while most things around us are being formed and fashioned under the influence of this deception, which is as yet " the master-piece of Satan." Not only is much of the jewellery of the present day decidedly "Romish in its form, but even the toys for children are many of them made to familiarize the mind with Romish prac- tices, and to poison the minds of babes. We may well sound out a warning voice to mothers, entreating them lo beware ! It is time for the people to take this matter into their own hands, for it is vain to rely for pro- tection from Popery on those who are sworn to preserve Protestantism in this country, as the following letter will show : — "Our readers, no doubt, will have seen the accounts which have been going the round of the papers, of the abduction of a nun by the Sisters of Mercy, as they are called— and running away with her into Belgium. That this is an illegal act, Sir George Grey does not deny, and declares the parlies engaged in this illegal business "liable SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 65 to an indictment for the offence. But they are Papists, therefore the Secretary of State, Sir George Grey — one of our law-makers — can also break them, as the folio wing will prove. We are glad, however, that he is not to do so with impunity, as the Dover Town Council has the matter in hand, and the whole affair will be brought before Parliament. It is not long ago since this Puseyite Popery- supporting Grey had his knuckles pretty heavily rapped for a piece of his handy- work. We hope this time he will be kicked out of the ministry, and all such traitors to the laws of our land. However, the following are the par- ticulars to which we refer : — " At a meeting of the Dover Town Council, held a short time ago, the following letter was read on the subject of the late alleged forcible abduction of an insane female from this country by Catholic Sisters of Mercy : — " ' Sir, — With reference to the correspondence which has taken place respecting the removal to Belgium of a British subject named Mary Pyan, otherwise Sister Theresa, a Sister of Mercy, from the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem and St. Elizabeth, No. 47, Great Ormond Street, Queen Square, London, I am directed by Secretary Sir George Grey to inform you that he has caused all the papers on the subject to be submitted to the law officers of the Crown, for their opinion as to the liability of persons concerned in such removal to prosecution, and that they have given it as their opinion that the removal of the said lady from this country under the circumstances stated was illegal, and that all parties concerned in it are liable to an indictment for the offence of forcibly abducting her to ports beyond the seas. Inasmuch, however, as those con- cerned appear to have been actuated by no improper motives, Sir George Grey has intimated to the lady super- intendent of the said hospital, who is reported to have superintended the removal, that he does not propose to institute legal proceedings in the present instance, but that he considered it his duty to warn her of the conse- quences of taking part in any similar case which may hereafter occur. I am, sir, yours, &c, Whitehall, November 15. H. WADD1NGT0N.' " << t 66 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. " The Town Council discussed the letter at some length, and Mr. Eees said, as the Secretary of State had declined to take proceedings against the parties who had thus violated the law of the land, he should use his in- fluence with some members of Parliament to bring the matter forward next session ; for he could not understand that Sir George Grey should enter into the motives of persons to sanction the commission of an illegal act.*' One testimony out of many which might be given : — "Sir. — Calling at Clifton to-day, on Mrs. Hickson, a clergyman's widow, I was told that screams have been heard by her, and neighbours, at night and early in the morning. A nurse, distressed by the shriek of horror, went out, and proceeded to the convent door, saw a struggling girl between two priests; they pushed her into the gates of the nunnery. She had been brought in a fly. A deed of darkness and piteous ! Sir George Grey ought to know of this fact. He is apparently a coward in heart when Eome questions are put before him. He really ought to know that Popery is like a nettle, grasp it firmly and it stings not — be tender in handling it, and he himself will be stung. "Kev. K A Taylor. "Norton Eectory, Bristol, Jan. 26, 1865." THE MOXKS, ETC. " England, the land of our nativity, the home of the most religious, the most civilized, the most charitable and moral, the most pure and benevolent people upon the face of the earth ! — England, the nation of churches, the native country of missions and of all those pious and evangelical enterprises which have so wonderfully assisted to scatter the clouds of darkness, and instrumentally to enlighten the people with the light of eternal truth— this happy garden of Cod's great, created, and inhabited universe, has, for some years past, been threatened to be infested with the poisonous, the demoralising, and the destructive influence of this Batanic master-piece of hypocrisy and worse than heathen barbarity. Thousands in our own delightful SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS, b/ country now are immolated, concealed, corrupted, robbed, and, in a moral and social sense, destroyed. Our fair damsels, our simple-minded, timid, and easily beguiled daughters, are ensnared, imprisoned, and to their families and friends for ever lost." "In a recent lecture, given by Dr. Cumming, lie ob- served, referring to convents, that ' they were held sacred by the Pope, to be maintained by the state, and the magis- trates were to have the power of punishing those who escaped from these institutions. Now in England there were about 200 convents, where 10,000 ladies where shut up. Was it reasonable to assume that many of these would gladly escape ? Entered, perhaps, at the early age of sixteen or seventeen, after serving a brief apprenticeship at a tractarian place of worship, which were merely training schools for the future inmates of convents. It was not to be denied that some entered after mature reflection, though no doubt, many who entered young would, after serving four or five years, be glad to be free. But, while the Queen's representatives had charge of minors, and could inspect at pleasure lunatic asylums or hospitals, these con- vents defied the inspectors' powers. Was it desirable there should be such secluded spots in this country ? What were their principles ? From the highest Poinish authority nuns were taught to despise the married state. They were told to obey their confessor, for so doing they obeyed Grod. Their property might be taken by the superior : they must submit to be beaten, though not in the presence of a lay- man, and to murmur was a great sin.' After reading various rules by which the nuns were governed, the lecturer asked ' if it was wonderful that the Pope protested against the inspection of such institutions, or was it surprising that the priests in this country should cry out against any attempt to pass a law for the inspection of convents ? Nor was it, seeing such places existed in this land, surprising to hear Protestants were petitioning that these sacred abodes, which held these 10,000 ladies, should be thrown open to the inspector's gaze."— Published at " Gospel Guide " Office, Crane Court, Fleet Street. "Whatever might have been the object of the Pope and his advisers in his Encyclical Letter, it has un- f 2 68 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. doubtedly damaged the cause of Pomanism beyond remedy. Already the letter has been publicly burned in Naples, and multitudes who have learned lessons of liberty from the becoming words of Niccolini — Pome's special terror and abhorrence — are waiting impatiently the hour of its fall. " The world has learnt a truth, not grown in shrines, And spurns a church that shuts it out from heaven." ' ' Elsewhere in Italy the fulminations of Pope Pius fall unheeded, and the letter and appendix are treated with great contempt. In Austria and Spain there is an outcry of the press generally against it ; while in France — against which it was specially directed — its result has been to throw an apple of discord between the government and the bishops, the latter being placed in the position of the man who has to serve two masters. In Pussia the publication of the Encyclical Letter is forbidden, while the Czar has resolved on the reform atien of the Pomish Church in Poland, with the determination to pay the clergy, and so make the Church dependent on the state. Most important of all, we trust that it will open the eyes of England to the real enormities of this evil system, which is creeping, snake- like, into quiet nooks in our fair provinces, planting what are called religious houses, to become once more what they have formerly been, moral pest-houses and dens of corrup- tion. Already in our midland counties there are heard the shrieks and screams of women. Most opportunely for our illustration has occurred the Brompton Oratory case, showing how the priest hesitates not to step between parent and child, and to violate the most sacred of rights and duties. The Christian churches of England are im- peratively called upon to arouse themselves from the apathy into which they have sunk on this vital question. Especially should the public mind of England awake to the iniquitous conduct of those, who, members of the Church established by law, are, under various specious mces, doing these things themselves, and glorying in others who do them. We are far from desiring to see religion established by law, or men of any religion perse- ! by law, and hold all penal statutes against religious men of any denomination to be a disgrace to our Statute Book ; but we trust that the House of Commons will, during tl ion, take some steps to establish a SPIRITUALISM AXD OTHER SIGNS. 69 rigid system of inspection for convents, so that the thousands of deluded women who have been entrapped or beguiled within them may not be mentally, morally, and physically crushed and degraded, without mercy and without appeal. " If these houses are to be the places of refuge and havens of peace for females weary of the world, as represented, what need can there be of dungeons, and gratings, and chains, and cages, such as are known to exist in free and happy England ? Our lunatic asylums are under the guardianship of the law. There is more reason that these nunneries should be visited by impartial officials, who should have the power to insist on setting wide the gates, and bidding the oppressed go free." It is hard to realize the fact that our legislators are well acquainted with the history of this great struggle, which is again being resumed in all its force. The darkest, most perilous, and suffering periods through which this land has passed, tottered, and reeled to and fro, and from which it was only just saved, arose from the murderous treachery of Rome, ever ready to prove the hellish depths of her secreted resources, when con- venient opportunities are presented for manifesting her hatred to all who, whether influenced by nature or grace, have been kept from putting on her livery. "And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, an decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abomi- nations and filthiness of her fornication : and upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTEEY, BABYLON THE GEEAT, THE MOTHEE OF HAELOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EAETH. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus : and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration " (Eev. xvii. 4 — 6). In her "drunken" habits she sends out 70 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. blood-hounds in human form from educational kennels to kill and destroy ; or in serpent's form indulging in her insidious policy and fascination, she delights herself in the victims she has lured into her secret dungeons. " What is Eomanism ? Komanism is a satanic, gigantic fraud, and deadly evil, whether considered politically, intellectually, socially, or religiously. It is Christianity's grand antagonist : as Christianity is intended and calculated to glorify God, and bless man, so Eomanism is intended and calculated to dishonour God and ruin man. It is spiritual mesmerism in the hands of skilful operators." — fi. Steele, formerly a Romanist. It is the positive duty of those who hold themselves responsible for the well-being of their fellow men, whether the legislature or the heads of families, to take the trouble to inquire into this lamentable state of things, and remember that what has been may be again. Those who depend upon the faithful discharge of their responsibility claim it of them now, before Maynooth and other such dens of abominations shall return upon this guilty nation the just reward of her sinful and cowardly doings. Rome knows her own business too well not to give a high percentage for an income of £350,000 granted her by her Protestant friends ! ! She only waits her own and their convenience to acknow- ledge in full the debt of gratitude under which she is bound. At the same time a more intelligent course of expediency than has wont to be practised, would be more suitable for our Government and the people, as a pre- paration for the reception of these tokens of grateful love! Self-preservation and the preservation of the nation call upon us all to regard every innovation from Rome's deep and pestilential vaults as the harbinger of all evil. The family, social, and political interests of SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 71 any people must be, as they ever have been, withered and corrupted under the debasing grasp of that worst and most treacherous of all systems. When we know that morality is systematically swamped by the per- nicious cunning craftiness of the teaching and practices of Rome to make room for its religious immoralities and defilements, and that Jesus Christ is hunted and per- secuted in and through His people even unto the death, we may, as His disciples, take heart, if we magnify our high calling, and, as the office-bearers of the " faith once delivered to the saints," rise up with renewed strength and jealousy to exalt the honour and glory due to our risen Lord and Master, by protesting, with all holy boldness, against every opposition to Him and His truth, and every innovation of error. On such high ground we shall necessarily be found looking down upon all untruthful expediencies, unholy sophistries, and the fear of man. This standing must result in a sacrifice of that respect which we would, if we could, feel for and give to those who occupy positions in high places, involving weighty results, professing to hold themselves responsible for the well-being of the nation. The times we live in are too rapidly unfolding the prophetic signs of momentous events, for the ignorance of truth and error to be pleaded by any one who is taught the truth as it is in Jesus. Whoever, there- fore, is found walking in disobedience or sin, and thereby propagating evil, of whatever kind it may be, that person ought to be a subject for observation and inquiry on the part of others, to enable them the better to exhort and warn their fellow-men who transgress wilfully or ignorantly. If this is a matter of con- scientious duty which we owe one to the other in our 72 SPIRITUALISM AXD OTHER SIGNS. relative positions, what ought to be the conscientious duty in word and deed, emanating from a legislative body to the people, and from the people to the legisla- tive body in return ? Surety, then, as these are mani- festly the days when viperous errors are undermining Protestantism, and corruption neutralising morality, Eoman theology is countenanced (hugged secretly) and propagated broadcast over our land. All manner of infidel sophistry is listened to, and so dealt with in high places, that we may say one platform is now given to error and truth, thus sending forth a specious dignified sanction to all who feel disposed to fall in with so honourable and worthy a compact, to play battledore and shuttle-cock with time and eternity, God and the devil, heaven and hell, souls and their responsibility. Is this the representation of a Protestant nation? the standard of that righteousness which exalteth a nation ? or is it that " sin which is a reproach to any people ?" Which have we to reign over us, God or Baal ? " When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice ; but when the wicked beareth rale, the people mourn" (Prov. xxix. 2). It is time for Protestants to sound an alarm, and it is a mercy to know our friends from our foes. Councils and discussions multiply ; but is the honour of God referred to, or His truth valued and sought after, as the guide to those who have to legislate in the affairs of men ? " Have the interests of the Church of Christ been advanced by her alliance with the State ? No ; but far otherwise, the formalism and degradation of the Church being in proportion to the closeness of such alliance. The kingdoms of this world are in hostility to our Lord, and are influenced by Hie Prince of Darkness, whose subjects they generally are. Even Protestant Governments make the SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 73 religious systems which they support subservient to their schemes, and will advance, equally and simultaneously, in- terests and principles the most antagonistic. Our own Government will encourage Christianity in England, Popery in all her dominions, and Paganism in India; while Eomish governments not only cramp the energies of Christians, but manifest towards them and Christianity the most deadly opposition." — "Doctrines of Christianity and Boy mas of Romanism" Robert Steele. u Religion, in its name, and purpose, and divine origin, was meant to be the bond to bind men. What a thing when it is made the lever to crack and break asunder, to divide kingdoms and families, in order that a hostile caste, who have renounced humanity, may subjugate and govern for themselves ! When to be pious is to be a traitor and a spy, is to bring a stranger's hand to the purse, a stranger's lips to the cradle, a stranger's ear to the hearth, and oh, worst of all, a stranger's eye over the most sacred tie in the family ! Between the bridegroom and the bride, between the mother and the child, between the brother and the sister, between the master and the servant, between the sovereign and his liege, everywhere and always the priest, the curse-laden, blighting priest ! Think of how many a holy domestic paradise this serpent daily enters, and — the wife or daughter, caught as Eve was, all alone — turns into a wilderness ! Look at the struggling, hopelessly ( ? ) struggling, Continent of Europe, where, instead of truth, and justice, and human confidence, Popery and standing armies keep men quiet like brute beasts ! Look at the Wiseman- and- Cullen Quarterly Review; perpend there the rationale of Popery and despotism, of scarlet stockings and the bayonet, and say if the results we see are accidental. Let the same system take root with us, and Popish priests grow into an estate ; let distinctions (conferred in the Queen's despite, by a presumptuous Pontiff, whose reign- ing is but a juggle, who only lives and has his being vetus delictum, in man's forbearance on their folly) ; let Papal distinctions go on being recognized in Government offices, by judges, by cabinet ministers, and at Court ; let men, whose first allegiance, it is avowed, is paid to Pome, come to hold the balance of power in Parliament, and a Grey or Clarendon become prime minister, and the people of these 74 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. realms will have to choose between another Reformation and a standing army ! Confidence between man and man can alone supply the place of force; and confidence be- tween man and man upon the Roman system is as possible as companionship with tigers and hyenas. "And this very number of the Papal quarterly jeers aloud at ' the slaves,' not of Her Majesty 1 s supremacy, not of the supremacy of Queen, Lords, and Commons, but 'of the supremacy of law,' human or divine — that is to say, of any supremacy upon earth but that of the Pope of Pome ! * We are not pretending to follow the reasoning of those who are slaves to the supremacy of law ' (p. 223). Slavery to the supremacy of law ! How truth will out ! From the fulness of the heart the mouth speaketh. Other men believe that liberty consists in the supremacy of law — in being under no restraint but that of law, in being subject to the will of none. But, according to Pome, slavery is being under law. It is liberty to be at the will of a master, provided that master be a Pope's priest; liberty to know only what is authorized permissu superiorum; liberty to be able to speak out only by a Papal priest's conceditur, or print only with his imprimatur. It is liberty to be liable to be proceeded against capitally without forms of law (pp. 20, 21) ; liberty to live at a priest's good pleasure, subject to torture at his discretion, and to be hanged or burned ut lubet illi. This is Pome's notion of a layman's liberty ; the liberty of a Papal priest, according to Pius IX. himself, is, as we shall see, ' freedom to exercise his proper power or jurisdiction ' over laymen. " Imagine the Anglo-Saxons of the present day trans- formed into the glorious liberty of Frenchmen or Italians in the days of Alexander VI. Imagine a Du Bellai-Blom- field, as Ordinary of London, commanding, in the Vice- God's name, Her Majesty the Queen, her Poyal Consort and the court, the peers temporal resident in London, the City members of Parliament, the Lord Mayor and his livery, and the * faithful ' generally, to be ready on Wednesday, the 5th day of November next, in full dress, to go on foot processionally, torch in hand, for a holy spectacle prepared for them by his zeal and piety, in honour of blessed Guy Pawkes, to the centre of Hyde Park. Imagine this holy spectacle to be some dozen alternate men and women, with chains around their bodies, SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 75 hoisted and lowered by pulleys during two mortal hours over a slow fire of well-burnt coals ! Imagine, at the holy Bishop's suggestion, an English sovereign holding up an English heir-apparent (it is the Jesuit Daniel's glorification of Erancis I.), and calling Grod and the great multitude to witness that he would fain see that Royal child burnt in like manner should he turn Protestant ! Imagine this, or imagine the actual atmosphere of the ' Holy City,' or of Naples, existing here in England, and the British people enjoying 'true liberty' (see p. 25.) under a Pius or a Ferdinand! Imagine these things, ye besotted English laity, Protestant and Eomanist, and bewail your wretched 'slavery to the supremacy of law,' or lawful sovereign! Imagine these things, and think well if ye, too, will not join in the race of Austria and Prussia, of France and Spain, to overtake the blessed liberty of Southern Italy and a Pope's universal supremacy, undisputed over Christendom." — " Cases of Conscience" ly Pascal the Younger. What but the "Word of Grod alone can teach man the right way, or preserve him in it. The injurious, contaminating results of the corrupt principles and teachings of the present day, the cowardly and wicked conduct of those who look no higher than to their fellow man for honour or praise, while they occupy positions of trust, are not to be regarded or treated as holding neutral ground. They are positive enemies to Grod and man, and every Christian is bound to bear testimony to the honour of his Lord and Master, according to the wisdom and grace given him, leaving results with Grod, who says, "Him that honour eth me I will honour." Were Christians more manifestly of one mind in the true catholic bond, living up to " the family" duties and privileges, how much of present darkness and corruption would be shamed, and, instead of lifting the proud head with " Who is Lord over us ? " or, the Lord " will not do good, neither will He do evil," hence fulfilling Grod's 76 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. Word in their own case, they would necessarily see that those who do fear and love God rejoice in having such a Lord to reign over them, while those who fear Him not are walking in the light of their own fire, in the sparks of their own kindling, thus preparing to lie down in sorrow. The faithful in the land are enabled through grace to look at the present forebodings of coming storms in assurance of understanding, faith, and hope — "hope that maketh not ashamed" — while their cry goes on- ward and upward, "Come, Lord Jesus." The Chris- tian, who is really devoted to a life of faith, and is crucified to, and cares not for the things of sight and sense, must cease altogether to look up to, or expect truth and example from, any man or government whose principles and conduct are in opposition to the Word of God ; although Protestantism is supposed by many to be a safeguard and proof against the very errors and evils which nevertheless are now rampant in our midst — proving the worthlessness of having a name, while destitute of its principle. Most favourable opportunities are now given to prove the strength of Protestantism, and let those who know the value of such principles in these unprotestant and unfaithful days gather together and practise all that Protestantism claims — unflinching and stern refusal of all substitutes — and a bold and continual exposure of such substitutes, remembering that whether we are great or small this responsibility and faithful conduct are laid upon each. Treachery is now so manifest in Church and State, and Eomanism is so evidently usurping the place of Protestantism, that it behoves many to beware how far they are slipping, and may continue to slip, till they find themselves in one of SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 77 Home's strongholds before they are aware. The fol- lowing is a specimen of what is alluded to : — Lacy de Lacy is a peer's son, his mother a peer's daughter. He is a Church of England clergyman, amiable, accomplished, learned, pious, and if not philo- sophic, quick, and penetrating. He is converted at forty, and believes infallibility as he believes the one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, and accepts as heartily Ignatius Loyola's legitimate development of it, " blind obedience ! " Read what that development is in Loyola's own words : — "Obedience is to be rendered to a superior, not on account of his wisdom, goodness, or any other such like quality with which he may be divinely gifted, but solely because he holds Grod's place, and wields the authority of Him who saith, ' He that heareth you, heareth me ; and he that despiseth you, despiseth me? Nor, on the other hand, is anything to be abated from this obedience on the ground that the superior may be wanting in prudence or discretion, for he claims it as superior, and as representing Him whose wisdom can never be deceived, and who will Himself make up whatever is wanting in His minister of the grace of probity or any other. ' The noble simplicity of blind obedience is gone if in our secret breast we call in question whether that which is commanded be bight or wrong. This is what makes it perfect and acceptable to the Lord, that the most excellent and precious part of man is conse- crated to Him, and nothing whatever of him kept back for himself.' "And let every man be well persuaded that he who lives under obedience ought to suffer himself to be carried about and governed of divine providence, through his superiors, exactly as if he were a corpse, which suffers itself to be turned in all directions, and dragged everywhere ; or as if he were an old man's stafe, to be used wheresoever and in whatsoever he wishes who holds it in his hand." — " Cases of Conscience," by Pascal the Younger. " Thou sinner, the most robust Eomanist must " (says Dr. Wiseman, even if he be the Pope, and not only must), "he 78 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. go for direction to his spiritual doctor, but he must submit himself to it, or be anathema out of hand. The sovereign Pontiff is obliged to submit himself to the direction of another in whatever concerns his own soul."— N. Wiseman, Preface to " Exercises of S. Ignatius Lo\ To this must be added from the work itself, p. 180 — " That he may in all things attain the truth, that he may not err in anything, we ought ever to hold it as a fixed principle, that what I see white I believe to be black, if the Hierarchical Church so define it to be." — Dolman, London, 1847. These quotations at once prove to what extent the human mind can be shrouded in profound darkness, and lost to all shame or fear. But such a state of things is not learned in a day. The wisdom of the serpent has his alphabet scholars well grounded to pre- pare them for what must follow. The babes are at first attracted by pictures, music, images, change of garments, and sculpture. Are any of these deceptions falling short now to gratify the senses, and to excite the pas- sions ? Hence the results are but too plainly develop- ing. All is successfully working for Borne. "Let the sensuous admirers of lovely forms of charity, and of mediaeval developments of high imaginative devo- tion, look thoughtfully at what lies beneath, and remember that, in the church where they are tempted to seek them, in the church which flings anathema on all who deny it to be the only one truth, the link which binds man to his fellow-man, is repudiated, and this solemnly, deliberately, authoritatively, irrevocably, not by a civil tribunal interpret- ing its disputed though written laws, not by a court that any man can pretend incompetent, but by that church itself, influenced or overruled by no extrinsic power, pronouncing, ex cathedra, the judgment of twenty sacred congregations, of cardinals, through the lips of Christ's pretended vicar upon earth. RATIO SOANDAM, some worldly reason is the SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 79 only ultimate reason why any mere papist should not lie, and swear false oaths in England as devoutly as shoot landlords or their agents in the neighbouring island. "Read the 'never-to-be-censured,' the 'safe and in- fallible ' Liguori, who brings a score of great divines to prove that probability is all that is required for what you swear is true, in oaths declaratory or promissory ; that a witness interrogated upon oath by incompetent authority (the Arches' Court for instance), may swear just what he pleases : that no matter how competent the court may be, if a crime be secret, the witness is bound to swear it false, though he knows it true ; that a man who has paid bor- rowed money may swear he never had received it ; that a man, whose marriage contract is got rid of, may swear he never was betrothed ; that an adultress, who has confessed her sin, may solemnly call God to witness she is inno- cent ; that traders may swear they have paid a higher price than they have done for what they offer for sale ; that any man may swear anything, provided in a whisper he secretly subjoin some true circumstance ; and finally, that every oath, made by a sincere Romanist, is made with mental reservation in favour of all the prelatical or papal pretensions of his church, salvo jure superiorum. Read these lessons, which no man in the Church of Rome dares call in question, or may be refused absolution for practising, and then think what any zealous 'faithful,' what any priest, what any bishop, archbishop, or cardinal can mean by swearing before the highest or the lowest court in Eng- land ? What, but to persuade belief of just that which it is expedient for his church should be believed ? "Who, amongst other 'mounts and marvels,' swore before the House of Lords that the spiritual politics of Hildebrand were mocked at or forgotten in the Church of Eome ? ' ' Borne makes war without quarter against every natural authority, civil and domestic, and is as anti-national as anti-social. Her great 'tribunal,' the confessional, is a shambles, where men's souls are set up for sale, as well as slaughtered. "Let no one flatter himself the picture is overdrawn. Liguori, deliberately writing in his closet, says, ' Priests in the world, really good men, are rarely — not to say most rarely — to be found.' For the most of men, he declares, 80 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHEK SIGNS. the priesthood, with the confessional and its dangers, is 'almost certain damnation.' " — " Cases of Conscience" by Pascal the Younger. " A confessor may swear before a judge that he knows nothing of the criminal's guilt, for, as a man, he knows nothing about it, and only knows it as he is God's vicar." " Heretics may be compelled to return to the Church, inasmuch as they belong to the Church, and may be punished by her, and condemned by anathema. Q. What if they should prove obstinate ? — may they be slain ? Ans. Clearly, for thus we are taught by the Holy Scriptures, and the orthodox fathers." Q. What is the lot of heretics after death ? Ans. They are condemned to the eternal fire of hell. " A son may denounce his father to the Inquisition if he be a heretic. " A man may slay his father in defence of his country." — "Popery Tottering to its Fall in 1866," by Joseph Fernandez, B.A. EQUIVOCATION AND THE ROMISH OATH. "It seems there are two kinds of equivocation — that which is necessary, and that which is unnecessary • or that which may not be laid aside, and that which can be laid aside. When the Eomanist, therefore, swears with a de- claration that he does not use equivocation, he means a particular sort of equivocation, or that which may be laid aside, but not the necessary equivocation. " One fact is worth a thousand arguments. Is it not a public fact that Eomish members of Parliament deliberately take an oath not to injure the Established Church ? Is it not a fact, notwithstanding that oath, that Eomish members of Parliament employ all their influence for the overthrow of the Establishment ? " Q. — By what process of reasoning do they justify such conduct? " A. — They assert that there is a necessary equivocation which may not be laid aside, and an unnecessary equivoca- lion which may; that, when sworn without equivocation or mental reservation, they lay aside merely unnecessary equivocation; that the equivocation which is needed to enable them i destroy the Protestant religion is necessary SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 81 equivocation, and cannot be laid aside, because it is for the good of the Church of Eome to subvert the Protestant Church, the Protestant religion, and Protestant govern- ment. " Q. — What practical lesson should we derive from the avowal of such principles ? "A. — That men trained to such systematic lying and perjury as part of their religion, are disqualified to legis- late in Parliament or elsewhere for Protestants ; and that the preservation of our own civil and religious liberty requires that all Eoman Catholics be excluded from Par- liament and power." — " Popery in its Social Aspect" by " Garnet, the Jesuit, admitted that the Gunpowder Plot had been revealed to him in confession, but denied that he was guilty in the matter. Conscientiously, as a Romanist, he could thus deny, though he was guilty of a full par- ticipation in the diabolical conspiracy, for the crime ap- peared to himself to be free from blame ; and, besides, he was bound to keep it secret. Liguori states that the accused or witness, legitimately interrogated, cannot use equivocation, except in the following case, which is well worthy of observation : — ' Make an exception in a trial where the crime is altogether concealed, for then he can — yea, the witness is bound to say that the accused did not commit the crime.' It seems that when the crime is ' altogether concealed ' (omnino occultum), the witness may, or rather is bound to say that the accused did not commit the crime. It seems that Eomanism is only honest when it is necessary to save appearances" — lb. "True, the Church of England has withered branches! True birds of prey have made their nests in her, and ugly insects ramp upon her surface : still her sap is not poison ; her smell is not rottenness ; her shadow is not pestilential ! But Eome ! the Upas Eome ! An ocean is scarcely a safe- guard from her contagion. ' In Catholic countries the first place is given to the supernatural, and but the second to the mere neighbourly virtues.' That is to say, the priest first, and then husband, father, mother, and the rest. First the commandments of the Church of Eome, then 82 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. those of nature, that is, of God. First vows in some con- fraternity, then household duties, truth, and allegiance. Down with such ' merely neighbourly virtues ' as a wife's loyalty, a child's obedience, a subject's honour! Up with something ' supernatural ! ' Supernatural, not as aided by heavenly grace, but as contra- distinguished to natural duties, to duties to our fellow man ; not as fruits of the gift of charity, but as opposed to them, as unnatural, as re- quiring some help of fallen angel to attain to. This is the key that opens the mystery of the ' Lives of Saints ! ' This the crucible where vice and folly thrown in under 1 direction ' are transmuted into virtue. " — Appendix. i ' Cases of Conscience" — Wiseman v. Pascal the Younger. A Roman Catholic priest, the Rev. L. Morrissy, of Ireland, wrote a book, entitled, " A Development of the Cruel and Inquisitorial System of the Court of Rome in Ireland, and of its particular operations in the case of the author." In this work the Author gives a list of principles which he asserts to be maintained by all the Roman Catholic ecclesiastics in Ireland, from the bulls of twelve Popes, all bearing out the same principles, which are developed in the Papal Canon Law, as now taught at Maynooth, and to all priests in Ireland ; laws of intole- rance, persecution, and extermination of heretics, confis- cation of their property, right to absolve subjects from oaths of allegiance, and to depose heretical monarchs, &c, &c. Priest Morrissy testifies that he was present at the consecration of a Roman Catholic bishop, and heard him swear the oath containing the clause: — "I will persecute and fight against all heretics, schismatics, and rebels to our Lord the Pope and his successors." And, " I will receive the Apostolic or Papal mandates, and will put them most diligently into execution." These statements are found in this work of Morrissy's. He SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 83 asserts that in the diocese of Ossoiy, where he was parish priest, the priests " were bound to appear before his lordship (their bishop) and bind themselves by a solemn oath to become ministers of the Holy Inquisition, as well as of the Holy Grospel." In Part II., p. 69, this remarkable sentence occurs, thus printed in Italic : — "Let Government grant the Catholic claims, and they ivill unsheath the Inquisitorial sword, and unveil the rack and torture. Let the Government give them unqualified emancipation, and they will sap the very foundation of the British constitution. Let our Government admit Roman Catholic bishops into the Imperial Souse of Parliament, and they will establish the Holy Inquisition in the British JEmpire." These quotations are placed here to follow what was written under the head of " having the name of Pro- testantism while destitute of its principle, &c, &c," with a view of showing the alarming and subtle nature of sin, which must, if not conquered through grace, conquer the wisest amongst the children of men. The desperate wickedness of the heart so distorts the under- standing, that "the standing, the walking, and the sitting," run their course, while the sinner, thus growing in sin, grows also in blindness to his case, with hardness and pride of heart. The following speech has been extensively read and discussed, but it is well worth reprinting. It contains a number of stubborn facts, and, although they are willingly unheeded, or forgotten by many, they are still practically in full force, and not likely to be for- gotten by the ten thousand ladies who are shut up in the two hundred convents now existing in England. g 2 84 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHEK SIGNS. ' ' During the former debate, attention was drawn to the society of the Oratorians, and a petition had been pre- sented to the House by the Eev. Mr. Harrison, a clergy- man of Bagbrooke, Northamptonshire, complaining that his son, a minor, who had been captain of Westminster School, had been seduced into that establishment, contrary to his parental authority, and kept there in defiance of his will, and had been induced to enter that monastic order to the detriment of his prospects in life. He knew not why, but the committee of selection had not thought proper to publish this petition in their report; although, in his opinion, a more important petition had seldom been pre- sented to that House. The petition had been presented by the honourable member for Northamptonshire, the repre- sentative of that injured gentleman. The petition was to the effect that petitioner's son had been introduced to Father John Bowden, sho a n over the establishment, and confessed and baptised at nine o'clock at night. Having been consulted by Mr. Harrison, he recommended him to seek legal advice, in order that his statement might bear the strictest investigation; and as his suggestion had been adopted he thought the petition was worthy the atten- tion of the House. 11 He wished to refer to another circumstance connected with the former debate. The then Attorney- General for Ireland said that everybody belonging to his creed (the Roman Catholic) must be aware that the Brompton Oratory did not come within the law. Those connected with that order were not bound together by a vow, but were secular priests, and not bound to remain together for agle hour, each holding his property and being capable of disposing of it as he pleased. Upon this statement he (Mr. Newdegate) would remark that, when the case of this order had been brought before the High Court of Genoa, in 1855, for the purpose of ascertaining whether the order came within the law prohibiting monasteries in Italy, the judgment of the court was to the effect that the order did not come within the law. But on a subsequent occasion tho court decided that this order was embraced by the law forbidding monasteries in Italy. "The case of Miss M'Dormot was also likely to come under the oognizance of a court of law, and had been already investigated by the magistrates. He asked the SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 85 House for a committee of inquiry, as it was notorious to everybody that of late years there had been an enormous and unprecedented increase of monastic and conventual es- tablishments, Last session he had asked for a return, which would give some information as to the localities of those establishments, the character of their inmates, and the nature of their organisation. The Home Secretary then told him that he would find the information in the Registrar- General's Office. He applied there, and there were no such documents. That House, acting in the spirit of the law of 1829, took cognizance of the houses of women. The Act of 1829 strictly forbade seminaries and houses of Jesuits, and other religious orders of the Church of Rome ; and the clauses of that Act were re- enacted in the Act of 1860, for the protection and due administration of Roman Catholic charities. These clauses were not, therefore, obsolete, as they had been revised five years ago. "But it was argued that those were private establish- ments, with which it was no more justifiable to inter- fere than with private establishments of Roman Catholic families. But Parliament had provided for property belonging to convents, as if it were possessed by a quasi corporation, and had prohibited the possession of property by male monastic orders ; the last session an Act had been passed for the registration of burials within the precincts of monasteries. The assertion that they were private establishments came too late. The law of France pro- hibited the taking of monastic vows beyond a period of five years ; and in Prussia the Crown possessed the power of revising monastic and conventual establishments. Italy had found it necessary for the establishment of her freedom to suppress a large number of these monastic institutions, and for the sake of her morality to suppress a large num- ber of her convents. Italy, in 1863, was but following the example of England at the time of the Reformation, of France in 1798, and of Spain — bigoted Spain — in 1837. With such a movement on the continent, he trusted that the Parliament of England would forgive him if, in the face of so rapid an increase of these establishments, he called on them to make some inquiry as to the locality in which they were to be found, and to the character of the orders by which they were held, and the nature of the 86 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. discipline which was carried out amongst the inmates. He would give the House some proof of the increase of those establishments. He found that in England and Wales there were, in 1841, of religious houses of men but 1, of convents 16, of colleges 9; in 1851 there were religious houses of men 17, convents 53, colleges 10. How stood the case in 1865 ? Why, of religious houses of men there were 58, of convents 187, and colleges 10. If to the account he added 14 for Scotland, there were 201 convents already established in this country, possessing, to his knowledge, in the Midland Counties, considerable real property as well, as he believed, personal estate. He wished to dispel the illusion that this motion on his part was a mere ebullition of Protestant bigotry. He would for one moment recall the attention of hon. members to some passages in the history of their own country, which he thought must have escaped their attention. He found in the works of Lord Lyttelton — the ancestor of the present noble and accomplished peer — that in the reign of Henry II. the increase of these establishments was about as rapid as that which had taken place now, and was considered as a grievous detriment to the country. The hon. member quoted from the works in question, as well as from Kennett's 'Cases,' Lingard, Blackstone, and Hallam, to prove the number and wealth of these religious establish- ments, their admitted licentiousness, and the natural de- moralization which they produced. " After thanking the House for having listened to these extracts, the hon. member went on by asking, was the suppression of the monasteries previous to the Reformation the act of Henry VIII. alone ? Why, the other day, in a lecture at Bath, the Rev. Hobart Seymour, whose know- ledge of the subject was exceeded by no one, gave a full account of the process. In the reign of the eminently Catholic King Henry VII., Cardinal Morton, an English cardinal, applied to the Pope for permission to suppress a number of monasteries. Mr. Seymour had sent him an extract from the Pope's bull and a copy of Cardinal Morton's letter addressed to the bishops in England, and there was nothing in the reports of the commissioners in the time of Henry VIII. which conveyed in terms more explicit and powerful the evidence of the deep corruption which prevailed in those institutions. It declared that SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 87 nuns were violated and murders committed ; and when he was told that an objection so generally felt to those institu- tions was mere Protestant prejudice, he trusted the House would forgive him for recalling those historical facts to the memory of Catholics, and for stating that it was an English cardinal who first proposed, and that it was the Pope who sanctioned the first suppression of the monasteries in the reign of Henry VII. Henry YIIL was a more eminently Ca- tholic king than any sovereign of his time. Even the Pope himself endowed him with the title of Defensor Fidei ; and, being an accomplished man, he wrote an answer to Luther. Henry YIIL, through Wolsey, applied for power to sup- press the monasteries. The cardinal agreed, and obtained the sanction and authority of the Pope. To tell, therefore, the Chancellor of the Exchequer and himself, who had been educated at Christchurch, that they did not know whence the funds were derived for the foundation of that noble establishment was presuming a little too much upon their want of historical research. It was Cardinal Wolsey, as the- Pope's legate, who took the funds from the monasteries to found Christchurch, and a blessed Work it was. There- fore, when he asked the House to pay some attention to the rapid increase of that which, in the estimation of two English cardinals and two successive popes before the Re- formation, was considered the increase of a national disease, he hoped hon. members would not think him presumptuous when he expressed the strong public feeling which existed that it was the duty of the Legislature to inform itself by its own inquiry as to an increase which caused so much uneasiness throughout the land. If the Legislature per- sistently ignored the existence of those establishments, and only trusted to the casual information which with extreme difficulty was procured as to certain malpractices which had come to light ; if the Legislature continued in this state of wilful obtusity, was it not inevitable that, when the Catholic countries of the Continent found it necessary to eject the inmates of those establishments from their shores, they would find a harbour here, and that we should inherit the evils from which the Continent was rapidly freeing itself? Foreign monks and nuns came here either to existing establishments, or to found establishments of their own. Thus we had growing up in this country the very evil aimed at and successfully suppressed by Henry Y. in the thirteenth 88 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. century, -when the rapid increase of establishments of foreign monks and nuns had to be stopped. It was not reasonable to ask the House to ignore such facts. The public anxiety was evinced by the number of their petitions. "He would touch for one moment on the case of Miss M'Dermot. The evidence was that she, being then a minor, aged fifteen, was withdrawn from her natural protector. The case came before a metropolitan magistrate, Mr. Selfe, who declared that the law did not give him power to enforce the restitution of the child to her parent. Mr. Selfe used, in the kindness of his heart, more private exhortation than his official and judicial position justified, to accomplish an object which his humanity dictated. It was in evidence how the law was resisted, and how the priests who had gained possession of this young girl calumniated her cha- racter and the character of her mother. That was a weapon used in such a spirit that if it was not restrained — if the characters of women were to be calumniated for the purpose of coercing them into submission — though he trusted the spirit of order among Englishmen to a great extent, he warned the house not to trust that there would be no viola- tion of the peace. He had only yestesday received the ac- count of a young man being carried off, an undergraduate of Cambridge, a few years ago, to a monastery in a distant country. His brothers heard of it. They went to the monastery and told the superior that this youth was a minor, and as his nearest of kin they claimed him. The superior resisted. The brothers said, 'We do not come here to violate the law ; we know you have got in your possession our brother, who is a minor: we have more Mends here, and if you do not give him up we will take him.' The superior then yielded ; but he (Mr. Newdegate) would warn the house that if that stress was put upon Englishmen they would break loose. If children were withheld from their parents, or from their elder brethren who stood in loco parentis, they would find that English people would, as in many cases they had, take the law into their own hands. Then, again, there was the case of Miss Ryan, who was taken from a conventual establishment in this city, and transferred to a lunatic asylum in Belgium, screaming, struggling, and imploring the help of every passer-by. Jt was admitted by the Government that the moans of testing the sanity or insanity of this poor girl SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 89 which, the law prescribed had never been complied with. It had been stated that Dr. Miller, a distinguished medical practitioner, had given a certificate ; but he (Mr. Newde- gate) held a letter in his hand from Dr. Miller stating that he had given no certificate at all. He knew not what the Government must do in this case. The corporation of Dover, who most properly interfered, stated that the Go- vernment and the law officers of the crown admit that the law had been violated and set at nought, but they say it was not done with a bad intention. Such things tried the patience of Englishmen. They were, of all nations in the world, the most orderly and the most attached to the law ; but once let them feel that there is some organisation in this country which, could defy the law, and it would be diffi- cult to restrain them. When once John Bull turned into a bull-dog he was very loath to leave his hold. The cases of Miss M'Dermot and Miss Ryan were known, but there was a case of very much graver interest, resting on direct sworn evidence, of which he believed neither the public nor that House were cognisant. There were monasteries in the mid- land counties, and one in North Warwickshire. He knew in the case of that one that not only were there under- ground cells, but that they had strong doors, and very good locks on them. He knew the man who made those doors, and put on the locks — a very estimable man, now dead. The man was told the locks were not good enough, and accordingly he went to Birmingham and procured better locks, and I believe, from my knowledge of the trade, that these were most admirable locks. " Many years ago there was an escape from this convent. A poor nun got across the road and half-way across the next field. She was, however, captured and forced back into the convent. All we knew was that there were 1 5 cwts. of iron bars to those windows, and the public were very uneasy. The neighbours did not like their ways, and there was a close watch. What happened ? All at once a priest connected with the convent became wonderfully communi- cative. He said it was quite true that the discipline was frightfully severe, and he was not in the least surprised that there was an attempt at an escape ; that he was going to give up his situation ; that he would be no longer con- nected with such an establishment; that the order was about to be changed ; that nuns of a less severe order were 90 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. to succeed; and so the whole community disappeared — nuns, priests, confessors, and all. " Then there was the case in Derby. There the corpora- tion were uneasy because they found there were burials within the convent walls, and the deaths were not regis- tered. The whole case was brought before the corporation and the Home Secretary. The same thing happened as at Alliston; the community was removed, and something more was done — the convent was pulled down. There was another case ; and here he spoke from sworn affidavits. In February, 1857, it became known that a nun of a Benedictine order had escaped from a Benedictine priory at Oolwich, in Staffordshire. She was seen at the back of the convent upon the railway line. She went to the pointsman first, and then to the station-master. She was described as dreadfully emaciated, poorly clad, and in the greatest state of terror. She concealed herself there for some time. She then went to Stafford, and at Stafford it was a very fortunate circumstance that an old general officer was at the station and saw her. She went on to Birmingham. That night a telegraphic message passed along the line that Dr. IJllathorne would bring her back. He would not name any name except this. He did so. The circumstance of her being brought back closely veiled and closely watched created an uneasiness. They did not like these things in the midland counties. It was soon after the discovery and conviction of the poisoner Palmer. The Government would not allow . us in the midland counties to try that man. He was tried in London, con- victed, and hung. Well, that produced a good deal of excitement in the neighbourhood, and the people were more watchful in consequence, and there was most extreme difficulty of procuring evidence in the case of this nun. He had a complete narrative of what was done, written by a person whom he would not name, though he had the solicitor's name who took this matter up in the spirit of an Englishman. lie had never seen this woman, but he was determined from all he had heard in the neighbour- hood that the circumstances of the case should be brought out. He m;is appointed by the Protestant Alliance in London. Well, the priests and those connected with this convent throughout the neighbourhood threatened in the most malignant terms every person who gave evidence. SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 91 They obtained the dismissal of the clerk through whom the telegraphic message was sent. It was a most happy circumstance that he was absent from his post at the moment when the message came, and had left another person to transmit the message. That person was not bound by the obligation of secrecy, and it was through him that the superintendent of police found out the name of the person in this case. It was not known for months, and never would have been known had it not been for this happy accident. After Inspector Field came down, the terror which had been excited subsided, and the people began to speak out. Application was made to the Court of Queen's Bench for a writ of habeas corpus. " He would give them an account of what occurred before that court, and the House would see the impression pro- duced on that excellent judge, Judge Wightman. The evidence being complete, the application was made, and the counsel agreed to abide by the decision of the judge. His lordship took the affidavits home with him, and after considering them for two weeks, he recommended that before the writ was granted application should be made at the convent for permission to see the lady. The witnesses went, and arrived there on the 4th of July. After waiting some time they saw the lady superior, by whom they were told without hesitation, but much to their surprise, that the lady they inquired for had gone to Staple Hill, near Wimborne, in Dorsetshire. They accordingly went there. There were the aged general officer who first saw the nun, and his wife, and the gentleman who wrote the work he was quoting. On arrival they found this convent to be of an apparently different description. The telegraph, he believed, had been at work. They applied to see the nun, and they did see her. They told her that for months the object they had in view was her rescue, and they had come there for no other purpose, and they asked her to treat them with candour. She gave an earnest look, and said she did not know how to thank such kind friends. They promised to give her all the assistance she wished to have. She said no, she had no wish to leave now ; since she had been there she had been treated so kindly that it would be ingratitude in her to leave. They had treated her, she said, like a sister, and she must not leave now. She did not like to leave, because she believed she had an 92 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. earnest desire to be devoted to the service of God. They saw that her resolution was taken, and it was in vain to shake it. She said, ' What could I do if I left ? All my relations and friends are Eoman Catholics, and would turn their backs upon rae ; and what could I do to live ? ' The poor, terror-stricken, emaciated nun had been completely changed in appearance, and was apparently comfortable and happy. But this was not all the case. It was na- turally inquired why should this nun escape ; and when it was found that the protection of the English law and an inquiry in the Court of Queen's Bench was obtained, facts came out of which he would give some indication to the House. In the conversation they had with the nun at Staple Hill they informed her of the habeas corpus, which astonished and amused her ; and they told her that im- portant evidence was obtained with respect to certain doings in the convent. They marked the expression on her face. They asked her if there were cells called grottoes, and if she had seen them. She was silent. They asked her if she knew a nun named Miss . She asked if Miss had been in the convent school, and then said she had some recollection of her. They then said that witnesses had stated that they had seen a nun put in the cellar under the convent, and that she was found dead there. They asked her if she ever knew such was the case. She re- mained silent. They saw that her silence was equivalent to admission, and again they asked her if she had seen a nun put into a cellar. Again she was silent. They did not press her again, as they saw her silence was resolute, and it was to them a sufficient proof of the scholar's state- ment. That statement was that the greatest severity was practised in that convent. She had seen nuns in prison, she had known them kept short of food, and she had known one nun forced down into this underground cell, and that, to the best of her belief, she never came out again alive. She attended the services at her funeral, and saw the grave close over her. These statements were corroborated by the evidence of twenty-seven witnesses who were examined. It was proved that there were burials within the precincts of the convent that were not placed on the register of deaths. 1 1 was proved that coffins were seldom made out of the con- vent, and that oarpenters were employed inside the convent to make oirdinary packing-cases, in which bodies were placed SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 93 for burial. It was known that the most malignant threats were used in the convent to prevent evidence. It was a fact that, until Inspector Field came down, very few of the wit- nesses could be induced to speak. He asked if he had not said enough now to induce the House to grant a committee to ascertain the character of these establishments. The convent at Colwich, up to 1857, was a cloistered convent of one of the severest orders. The convent at Wimborne seemed to be a happy home. But what did that prove if there were other convents which realized Liguori's de- scription of ' hell upon earth ? ' Such were the facts he was prepared to prove by the production of these affidavits ; and he asked the House respectfully to grant this committee for the purpose of ascertaining the locality, the character, and the increase of these establishments. He did not ask the House to permit this committee even to suggest a re- medy, but to furnish the House with information which might enable the House in its wisdom to devise some means for the better protection of one class of her Majesty's subjects." — Mr. New cleg ate, 3LP., March, 1865. " Shall I not visit for these things ? saith the Lord." Who amongst the people are ready for the coming storm which is stealthily, but systematically, advancing, when the persecutors of all truth and righteousness shall come forth in their true characters to do their worst. How many, being found in Christ, and " having done all, " shall "stand"? Whatever outward garb may now be worn — Protestantism alias Eomanism, or such like — the coming tribulation will rend asunder, and every cloak of deception will be scattered to the winds, leaving each miserable deceiver discovered, naked and convicted, panic-struck and overwhelmed ! Fierce persecution will, we believe, develop. " The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father ; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother ; the mother-in- law against the daughter-in-law, and the daughter-in- 94 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. law against the mother-in-law. And He said also to the people, When ye see a cloud rise out of the west, straightway ye say, There cometh a shower : and so it is. And when ye see the south wind blow, ye say there will be heat : and it cometh to pass. Ye hypo- crites ! ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth ; but how is it ye do not discern this time ? Yea, and why even of yourselves judge ye not what is right? When thou goest with thine adversary to the magis- trate, as thou art in the way, give diligence that thou mayest be delivered from him ; lest he hale thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and the officer cast thee into prison. I tell thee thou shalt not depart from thence till thou has paid the very last- mite" (Luke xii. 53 — 59). Protestants! take warning, and learn by the history of the past times what we may gather from the present. Arouse yourselves out of that apathy which does not like to be disturbed with evil forebodings. Will your unwillingness to know the truth delay or mitigate the storm ? When you find yourselves in a fire, will the fact of your having added to the fuel lessen your sufferings ? Or will the remorse of a guilty conscience be removed by the keen remem- brance of unfaithfulness, false palliatives, and deter- mination not to be informed, and disturbed ? Popery is a ravening beast, " a roaring lion," ready to seize upon its prey, and to devour all that is good and sacred. ''Consult, therefore, the law of self-preservation, and common sense will oppose itself to that enemy who now, with tho subtlety of the serpent, is winding his deadly coils around the whole body politic. Study the history of the Jesuits (the reader is referred to an excellent work by SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 95 T. H. Usborne, Esq., entitled 'The Jesuits'), and ob- serve their present successful movement. Are they not, with a cunning and an adroitness peculiar to their order, insinuating themselves into places of trust and power, in the Government, in the army, in the navy, the post- office, the police, the universities, and, as sisters of mercy, and, under every disguise, undermining the religion and loyalty of the country ? Auricular confession is being made to Puseyite clergymen, who, adopting the style of 1 the mother of harlots, 7 corrupt the young and virtuous, and relieve the guilty from remorse." — "No JPopery." Seeley, Fleet Street. Those who make a compact with such antagonistic principles are not in a position to enjoy for themselves, or to aim at a higher standard for the good of others, than false expediency. By and by they will be forced to change their minds, because unfaithfulness and sin must result in detection and humiliation, and reap its own fruit — shame and misery. Doubtless some of you say, " This view will lead to controversy and offence." "With all our heart we reply, Grod grant it may ! The dead formalism that exists in all positions, and in all teaching where controversy is viewed as " uncharitable " and " injudicious," we utterly condemn. "We are quite of opinion that if controversy does not often win souls, false charity, liberalism, blindness to error, fear of offence, hoping for the best, has destroyed thousands. "We are not yet exposed to persecution in the whole practical sense of that word, but we are threatened with disturbance and warfare at home and in the distance, while we are faithful to the truth, and, denying all else, take the "Word of Grod alone as our guide, and Christ alone as our example. But were this persecution to commence its attacks upon us, are we ready to maintain our high calling, 96 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. and to "contend for the faith once delivered to the saints?" or would any of us who now profess to have Christ as our master be ready to make our peace with Eome? " Foxe's Book of Martyrs " may be read and re-read with advantage in these days. It is good to know what " Christ, the hope of glory," will arm us for, and carry us through. "Bishop Latimer was once a bigoted Bomanist, but, through the instrumentality of Thomas Bilney, his views underwent a change, and he became an eminent preacher of Protestant truth. He fell under the displeasure of Mary, and was cast into prison with Eidley. After sundry examinations and conferences, which are recorded in 'Foxe's Lives of the Martyrs,' he, with Eidley, was con- demned to death. Foxe describes their death as follows : — " ' Then they brought a lighted faggot, and laid it at Dr. Ridley's feet. Thereupon, Mr. Latimer said, "Be of good comfort, Mr. Eidley, and play the man ; we shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, u/ JEngland, as, I trust, shall never be put out. ,f When Dr. Eidley saw the fire flaming up towards him, he cried, with a wonderful loud voice, " Into thy hands, Lord, I commend my spirit ;" and afterwards repeated this often, " Lord, Lord, receive my spirit." Mr. Latimer cried as vehemently on the other side, " Father of heaven, receive my 60ul," who received the flame, as it were, embracing of it.' — Book of Martyrs. " Thomas Cranmer was born in Nottinghamshire, of an influential family. He was raised to the See of Canterbury by Henry VIII,, where he contributed much to the good work of Eeformation. In the reign of Mary he was deposed and degraded. In an evil moment, after long confinement, and with dread of death by fire in view, he was induced to sign a recantation, which he shortly after retracted, deploring his unhappy fall. His last end is thus described by Foxe : — " ' But when he came to the place where the holy bishops and martyrs of God, Bishops Latimer and Ridley were burnt before him for the con- fession of tlu 1 troth, kneeling down he prayed to God; and not long tarrying in his prayers, putting oil' his garments to his shirt, he pre- SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 97 pared himself for death. His shirt was made long down to his feet. His feet were bare ; likewise his head, when both his caps were off, was so bare that one hair could not be seen upon it. His beard was so long and thick that it covered his face with marvellous gravity ; and his reverend countenance moved the hearts both of his friends and enemies. He died with great constancy.' "Time would fail to tell of Wishart, Pliilpott, Saunders, and a host of others who gave their lives for the truth. Suffice it to say that hundreds of men and women, without regard to age or station, perished in the most cruel manner for the crime alone of adhering to the Bible. The acces- sion of Elizabeth to the throne, under Grod, saved the country ; and may we hold fast the privileges which were bought with the blood of the martyrs. Well may we cry 1 No Popery? WeU may we fear the wrath of Grod for our unfaithfulness of truth. Strange infatuation that permits the admission of the adherents of such a system into place and power in a Protestant state." — Blakeney's " Popery in its Social Aspect" Weigh this solemn question well. Never did the Church of Christ live in days more perilous, sifting, and expectant. " All that dwell upon the earth shall worship him (the beast), whose names are not written in the book of life." No one shall be sustained through the foretold warfare but those who are " kept by the power of Grod through faith unto salvation." Look well to your credentials, watch and pray against being seduced until you stumble and fall. Subtle under- mining foes, Jesuits, and well-schooled entrappers of men, both learned and ignorant, amongst us are not wanting, and are plying their craft where little suspected. It may be of practical service to some in these days to read the following document, written by Liguori — venerated by the Church of Rome for his " sound truth and holiness." He contemplates two universal posi- tions — 1st. That of the Eomanist asked concerning his H 98 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. religion ; 2nd. That of the Eomanist not ashed concern- ing his religion. " He who, being asked, either by private or public authority, is silent, or answers obscurely, or says that he does not wish to answer, that he is not justly interrogated, that he is not bound nor does he wish to speak to others what he himself may believe, and in Wee manner tergiversates, does not appear to deny the faith, but is unwilling to betray it. Whence, if thus he may be able to deliver himself from a troublesome investiga- tion, it is lawful ; for, generally, it is not true that he who is interro- gated by public authority is positively bound to profess the faith, unless when that is necessary, lest he may appear to those present to deny the faith. "When you are not asked concerning the faith, not only is it lawful, but often more conducive to the glory of God and the utility of your neighbour, to cover the faith than to confess it : for example, if concealed among heretics, you may accomplish a greater amount of good, or, if from the confession of the faith, more of evil would follow ; for example, great trouble, death, the hostility of a tyrant, the peril of defection if you should be tortured, whence it is often rash to offer oneself willingly." Dissimulation ivell-disguised is lawful, nay, even com- mendable, says the Saint, " for it is often more conducive to the glory of Grod and the utility of your neighbour to cover the faith than to confess it; for example, if concealed among heretics, you may accomplish a greater amount of good." In accordance with such principles, Eomish priests, wearing the garb of Protestant ministers, have laboured to propagate Eomish views. We have too much reason to believe that similar events are now taking place. "When we behold, on the one hand, the advocacy of the whole cycle of Eoman doctrine by some clergymen of the Protestant Church of England, and, on the other, men who profess to hold religious sentiments opposed in the extreme to Popery, yet allied closely with that Church for the attainment of her political advancement in these kingdoms, can we doubt that Jesuits in disguise lie concealed among Protestants, and that their influence is felt amongst men of all religious views ? SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 99 "Lately a proposition was made by the Eev. George Spencer, a pervert to Eome, styled Father Ignatius — a name not unsuitable — that Eomanist, Catholic servants, of course dissembling their faith, should enter the service of Protestant families, specially to imbue the minds of such families, if possible, with Eomish sentiments. The pro- position was indeed worthy of an Ignatius, a true son of the Church of Eome. How often may the following case occur : — ' A devout Eomanist seeks for the office of tutor, or governess. He or she dissembles his or her principles, even if interrogated as to them. The appointment takes place, and the care of the children is entrusted, unknow- ingly, to a member of the Church of Eome. The tutor, or governess, disseminates unsound principles amongst the members of the family, and an advance is stealthily made, until, at length, unsound doctrine takes deep root in the hearts of the children. Members of the family and some of the children consequently join the Church of Eome, and bring sorrow upon their parents, who, too late, discover the source of their calamity, and mourn over the awful conse- quence of Eomish dissimulation. No family, no commu- nity, no church is safe from Eome. Her dissimulation renders her more than a match for Protestants, and would ensure her ultimate triumph, were there not One above 1 'from whom no secrets are hid," and who bringeth the devices of unsanctified men to nought." — Blakeney's "Popery in its Social Aspect." In many instances when a Eomanist or Jesuit is placed in a family on false pretensions to work amongst Protestants, the secrecy on the part of such an one is kept on peril of worse than murderous threats. The result is that we hear from time to time of some young one, or even old one, renouncing Protestantism, and, yielding to the lies told, going over to Eome. Popery is unbounded in her accommodation. "In Germany, to hear the sermons of heretics, to attend at a funeral, to act as sponsor for a child in baptism, are not esteemed professing signs of the faith, or of compmnion H 2 100 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. with the religious affairs of heretics. Hence, when there is no danger, scandal, or prohibition, if it is for a good cause, it is lawful." — Blakeney's "Popery in its Social Aspect" It may he well to substantiate the high authority given to these dogmas of the Church of Eome. The Roman Catholic Calendar, Dublin, contains the following statement of the canonization of Alphonsus Liguori, on May 26, 1839 :— " Together with his Holiness Gregory XVI., the principal actor, there were forty cardinals, 130 patriarchs, arch- bishops, and bishops, all the generals, superiors, and members of religious orders in Eome, about 17,000 clergy- men from various countries, several kings and queens of different states, an innumerable number of princes, dukes, earls, and about 250,000 of various other classes, indepen- dently of the inhabitants of Eome and its environs." This grand manifestation of darkness took place in the professed light and knowledge of our own century ! In the same Calendar we read that his works under- went a stringent examination, received unqualified approval, and after twenty rigorous trials by the rules of Urban VIII. and Benedict XIV., the absolute judgment was given that they did not contain " one word of censure." In a life of this Saint, published by Cardinal Wiseman, he speaks in the highest terms of his works, to which he adds, "he is celebrated throughout the world for his theological writings." This is decisive as to whether Cardinal Wiseman, and the Church of Eome universally, are changed or abated in their principles, modes of practice, and objects ! ! spiritualism and other signs. 101 " Life in a Convent. " To the Editor of the Daily Telegraph. M Sir, — It seems to me tliat one of the most cheering signs of the prosperity of this country is to be found in the general disposition which Englishmen feel to abate or abolish abuses of all kinds, whether in Church or State. "I beg permission to call your earnest attention to a very great abuse, which is increasing every day in our midst, and yet remains entirely unchecked. I suppose no one will dispute that the Eoman Catholic Church is im- proving her position, and gaining a good many converts in this country. There are many more of her priests among us now than there were fifty years ago ; their influence is somewhat felt in society, and is beginning to tell upon the House of Commons. They are once more becoming an ag- gressive power in England, and we may be sure that any power given to them will be stretched to its utmost limits. Now, wherever there are many priests, care is taken that convents shall be established. I am sorry to say that their number is increasing every year. And I wish to inform those of your readers who may be ignorant of it, that Eomish priests, wherever they have the opportunity, are now making constant efforts to induce young English- women to take the veil. I am not using too strong lan- guage when I afiirm that many girls are ensnared into these convents. They have, most of them, only an im- perfect notion of the sort of life they will be required to lead. " After a probation as novices, during which time the idea of convent life is rendered attractive to them by arts which their superiors know well how to employ, they are induced to become veiled nuns. This step is practically quite irrevocable. From the day on which it is taken they are entirely lost to the outside world. In this way they are condemned to life-long imprisonment. Their escape is carefully prevented, even should they find reason bitterly to regret the choice which has, in many cases, been made in a moment of weakness or enthusiasm. They are under the complete control of the priests. They are compelled to confess every prohibited thought, word, and deed to men who, by a monstrous perversion of authority, are forbidden 102 SPIRITUALISM AXD OTHER SIGNS. to marry. Their offences are often punished by penances of a degrading kind. All the terrors and all the attractions of a picturesque superstition are employed in order to gain the absolute submission of their will, and the complete surrender of their liberty of thought and action. In fact, these poor nuns are as destitute of the protection of English law as if they lived in the interior of Africa. Now, sir, I am describing no new state of things. All that is new about the convents in this country is the recent increase in their number. These institutions nourished in the full per- fection of their wickedness before the Reformation. They were then happily suppressed, along with many kindred abominations. And I think we are bound to listen to the warning voice of history, unless we think ourselves fated to ' turn perpetually within the same circle of passions and misfortunes.' At the time of the Reformation there was issued a royal commission, directing a thorough inspection of these so-called religious houses. What were the facts disclosed ? Bishop Burnett, quoting from the report made to the King and Parliament by the royal commissioners, which report he himself had seen, tells us that ' such was the lewdness of the confessors of nunneries, and the great corruption of that state, that whole houses were found in which the nuns were almost all with child.' He further says, that in a hundred and forty-four convents that were inspected ' brutal practices ' prevailed, equal to ' the abomi- nations of Sodom,' not fit to be spoken of. Sir, I ask any one who reads about these results of what I may call a system of consecrated seduction, whether it is reasonable to expect that convents, which at the time of their last in- spection were hotbeds of vice, and altogether c a mystery of iniquity,' are at this time retreats sacred to the practice of piety and the protection of purity? No. Vice and superstition are twin-sisters. We may always expect to find them allied in one shape or another. " Of course it would be quite unfair to condemn any set of men indiscriminately. None can doubt that some pious priests are able to reach that degree of virtue and self- denial which, if it were universal among them, would go far to justify their rule of celibacy. But no set of men are fit to be trusted with irresponsible power over their fellow - creatures. And that kind of power is fully exercised, without any liindrance, over young women who have been SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 103 persuaded to immure themselves in nunneries. When men are conscious of rectitude, they never fear inquiry into their proceedings. Do the Romish priests invite inquiry into the subject of which this letter treats? On the contrary, they oppose it with all their might. It must not be forgotten that the members of the Ultramontane party, both in Par- liament and out of it, are devoted to priestly interests. Obedience to their spirtual directors is considered by these men to be one of the highest of Christian virtues. It is fresh in my recollection how, when a motion was made in Parliament not long ago for inquiry into the state of reli- gious houses, Lord E. Howard got up on behalf of the priestly party, and, by a clever evasion of the question before the house, contrived to divert the minds of members from a subject of discussion which his spiritual guides might possibly have found highly unpalatable. Our duty, however, is plain. Let public opinion pronounce itself strongly against institutions which nourish in secrecy and obscurity, sheltering much that will not bear the light of day. I beg to submit to your judgment whether a careful inquiry into the present condition of nunneries in this country be not urgently needed; or whether we are to tolerate the imprisonment of English girls in places from which they have no means of escaping, and where they are entirely under the control of unmarried priests. " In Italy the Government has lately abolished a number of these houses, to the great rage of the priests and to the great relief of the people. Does England intend to foster abuses which even Italy is shaking off? I should hope not. Let us, then, by all constitutional means, endeavour to move our Government and Legislature to action in this matter. Our newspapers give their powerful votes fear- lessly in favour of reform, where reform is needed; and with your help, sir, much may be done to mitigate the dire abuse concerning which I have written. Let us put a stop, if we can, to the growth of an un-English and un- natural institution. Let us chivalrously interfere on behalf of some of our countrywomen who are silently appealing to us for protection. I have faith enough in the manly and truthful spirit of my countrymen to believe that an appeal of this sort will not be entirely neglected. "I am, sir, yours, &c, "A Young Englishman." 104 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. It is thought expedient to shake up the memories of the old, aud to instruct the minds of the young ; there- fore some of these extracts are not, we think, out of place, although it may be supposed that such things have passed away with by-gone ages. From the " Eoman Pontifical," restored and edited by order of Clement VIII. and Urban VIII., Supreme Pontiffs, part first, we extract the following form of cursing, intended for use against those who should attempt to remove a nun from the cloister : — CURSE FROM THE " ROMAN PONTIFICAL" AGAINST THOSE WHO INTERFERE WITH NUNS. " By authority of Almighty God, and of His holy apostles Peter and Paul, we solemnly forbid, under the curse of anathema, that any one draw away these present virgins, or holy nuns, from the divine service, to which they have devoted themselves under the banner of chastity ; or that any one purloin their goods, or be a hindrance to their possessing them unmolested. But if any one shall dare to attempt such a thing, let him be accursed at home and abroad ; accursed in the city and in the field ; accursed in waking and sleeping ; accursed in eating and drinking ; accursed in walking and sitting ; accursed in his flesh and his bones ; and from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head, let him have no soundness. Come upon him the malediction which, by Moses in the law, the Lord hath laid on the sons of iniquity. Be his name blotted out from the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous. His portion and inheritance be with Cain, the fratricide ; with Dathan and Abiram ; with Ananias and Sapphira ; with Simon the sorcerer, and Judas the traitor ; with those who have said to God, ' Depart from us, we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.' Let him perish in the day of judgment; and let everlasting fire devour him with the devil and his angels ; unless he make restitution, and come to amendment. So be it ! So be it ! " SPIRITUALISM AXD OTHER SIGNS. 105 No. of Canons. No of Curses 1. On Justification 33 33 2. On the Sacraments . 13 13 3. On Baptism 14 14 4. On Confirmation 3 3 5. On the Eucharist 10 10 6. On Penance 15 15 7. On Extreme Unction 4 4 8. On Communion 4 4 9. On the Sacrifice of the Mass 9 9 10. On Orders 8 8 11. On Matrimony . 12 12 Total of Canons and Curses 125 125 In all ONE HUNDEED AND TWENTY-EIYE curses by the Romish Council of Trent ! ! ! " The adversary is disguised in the Roman Church (as he is now also in the English Church), being arrayed as 1 an angel of light? And the minds of men are deceived through the surplice and the ' holy garments ' which cover the ' abominations ' that lie concealed from the public view. Happy, thrice happy, and honoured are those who, in the simplicity and sincerity of God's truth, 'make war ' against the great apostate of the latter ages, the avowed hater and rejecter of the Word of God, delivered to us by Peter and by Paul, to ' contend for ' and to keep. "There is a subject which I have often desired to see more prominently noticed in our Protestant periodicals, one that is not (or has not been) so much regarded by the Christian public as it deserves to be. Rarely or ever do we hear it alluded to in the ordinary or united prayer-meetings of the people of God. I refer to the subject of Roman convents and nunneries. We see the Jew, the slave, the persecuted Protestant, the fallen and unfortunate, all thought of They are sought for, cared for, supplicated for. But who seeks or who intercedes for the thousands and ten thousands oppressed and betrayed females in convents ? — the convents of England and Ireland, as well as those of our colonies generally. Is not this a subject for the sym- pathies and for the efforts of the Church of God ? Is it not a subject for the ardent and united supplications of the Church of Christ, on behalf of our countrywomen and others who are suffering under the iron yoke and tyranny of Rome and her priesthood ? Many of the cases in the 106 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGXS. nunneries are cognizable only in the heart of G-od, and in the court and tribunal of heaven. Will not God interpose at the wisely-directed efforts of his people and at their united prayers ? And is it not the duty of the Christian Church, and of Christians of every sect, as compassionate burden-bearers of the woes of the human family, to take up this neglected cause ? God may do so, and wipe away, perhaps, some of the bitterest tears that are shed on earth. " The atrocious facts that occasionally come to light on this subject, show us that the time is come (and more than come!) for both God and man to interpose; and that England ought not to be so quiet as she is upon this subject. "What, in many instances, are convents but Roman prison-houses, where free-born females are immured at the pleasure of their captors, and for their pleasure ? The nuns are free subjects of their respective countries, whether England or the colonies; but imprisoned by a licentious priesthood, their national privileges and rights are denied them. Many of these have been induced (or seduced) to believe that in renouncing the world they were about to dedicate themselves to lives of unspotted chastity and holiness ; but have found themselves deceived and betrayed when too late, and when remedy is impracticable. Once in the toils of Eome, as a captive bird in the ' fowler's net,' the fortune, the power, and the freedom of these poor females are gone, and their return to society, or to their friends, is counteracted and prevented, however earnestly they may desire it. Without question many are the captives in the British dominions, suffering under Popish shackles, and vainly groaning for relief. How many pure, innocent-minded females take the convent veil, and commit themselves to the care of men, whose only object is the full, unreserved possession of their wealth and persons. It is a sad truth, it is a startling fact, that the government of England affords no relief to the inmates of Roman Catholic nunneries. Foreign governments (even Papal governments) protect their defenceless nuns. Prussia, Austria, Bavaria, France, have all stringent laws protecting the liberties of their nuns, and giving power to the civil authorities to inspect convents. In both Russia and Bavaria any re- ligious recluse is at liberty to appeal to the secular power if unhappy or dissatisfied with her condition. But in SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 107 Great Britain — the land and home of the free — no shield of protection whatever is afforded the numbers of defenceless women who are held in a bondage and oppression worse than that of the slave. Having once entered and taken the vows, they have no human helpers. Free from the inspection of police, or of friends and relatives, or of any inquirer or intruder whatever, governments and societies are set at defiance. Neither police, nor sympathizing friends, nor rescue societies, have communication with these abodes. They cannot advocate the cause of the ' broken in heart,' they cannot relieve or deliver them. The pro- prietors of English convents possess an unrestrained and irresponsible power ; hence body and soul, and frequently estate also, are yielded over to the cupidity of the Eomish Church and prelacy. Many can testify who have desired — urgently desired — to see their secreted relatives, and have been repelled. When it does not suit the in- terest of Borne, access is denied. She may be dead; she may be suffering in the underground dungeons common to these institutions; she may be weeping and declining with neglect, torture, or cruelty (not an un- common case) ; it matters not, there is no redress, no more than if she who is entrapped were in the inquisition of Spain. Justice and mercy cannot reach her, they are not known. The Eoman priesthood rejoice in exemption from discovery ; they are secure, at least from human interposi- tion, although the convent may be luxuriating in the wealth her victim has imparted. " But why do the Eoman priesthood seek, by every wily artifice, by every alluring stratagem, to win over to the life of a recluse — a nun — that elegant female, reared in affluence, comfort, and perhaps in piety ? Wherefore ? It is her ample fortune which they seek ; and her person once surrendered, her estate will surely follow : the major objects of Rome being twofold — namely, possession of the person and of the wealth of their devotees — also to win over the precious soul to the deadly superstition and idolatries of the Papacy. It is well understood by some for what purpose many of these nunneries are designed ; but in order to save appearances — to hide the scandal, and to hoodwink the public — it is not allowed to be so at all. What, may we inquire of those familiar with history, were the convents of past ages in England but abodes of im- 108 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. purity? And that nuns in our days, yielding an abject submission to their spiritual betrayers, have been compelled to a life of infamy, can be readily substantiated. But not one of the inmates of this class of nunneries dare disclose the truth, or to express their desire for liberty, however strongly cherished, unless they were previously assured of effective protection. Too well they know the result would be the underground vault or secret prison. There is no law but submission, utter submission, or maltreatment, even unto death. If there be subsequent resistance or compunction of mind, punishment is resorted to with great rigour and cruelty. Should a love of holiness, or abhorrence of this life, impel a female to testify the truth, to speak ner mind and to remonstrate ; if she should suffer or be tortured — no cry, or wail, or sound is heard. Who or where is he that dare interpose, even on English ground ? All is still. The gag, the vault, hanging with the head downwards, and other modes of punishment are ever ready for helpless woman, to enforce submission or to destroy her. That there are corrupt nuns who remain voluntarily what Eome has made them, we do not attempt to deny. But where are the friends of the betrayed, the injured, the deceived, the virtuous woman, whose person is arbitrarily imprisoned, and whose fortune is alienated, after entering these abodes of despotism and sin ? " The Church of Eome is responsible for these ' abomina- tions,' these ' scandals.' The Pope sanctions them — the same who sanctions the Jesuits. The priesthood of Eome conceive the ' strong delusion ' that the denunciations of the Word of God do not apply to them. They are annulled — they are repealed — by the superior voice and dictum of 1 The Church '—the Church that soars above Scripture and above ' all that is called God.'' Sin is not sin in their case ; they are exempt, it being sanctioned by the 'word' of the Pope, and the execrable laws of Jesuit Popery ; to betray confiding innocence, to corrupt guileless souls who resort to then) for ihe salvation of God, is not sin to these vice- gerents of heaven. Nay, a nun is taught to esteem herself made more acceptable to God by ministering to Christ's holy priesthood upon earth. On the Continent, in Eoman countries, those evils are known to have existed in past times, whatever may be the- case at present. In the con- vents destroyed by Napoleon, he found 'innumerable SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 109 bones of infants,' it being the custom in these establish- ments to destroy the offspring a few days after birth. Is there not a cause for secrecy, MYSTEEY, concealment, bolts, bars, high walls, in Papal Catholic 'houses,' thus devoted to the rites and mysteries of the god they worship ? "Men of England! these are the works of Antichrist predicted to arise in ages past. The burner of Scripture — of the holy words of Peter and of Paul, whom they pretend to venerate — the t forlidder of marriage,'' the woe and blight of nations ! Men of England ! tear away the veil, and look behind the scenes of ' Mystic Babylon.' You will see prophetic Scripture fulfilled and verified — 'And she had on her forehead, her name written, MYSTEEY .... THE MOTHEE OF HAELOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EAETH' (Eev. xvii. 5). Let us then determine to wipe away this reproach to Britain, this shame to British legislation — that her justice and laws cannot reach the deceived, the betrayed, the wronged, the crushed English female, who enters her doom wholly unconscious of the evils that await her, helpless of redress — helpless and unable to escape from a forced captivity and confiscation of all she possesses — her soul, her honour, and her wealth." — T. R. F., Bath. Surely no one who has been taught " as the truth is in Jesus," who knows what Rome is, and who desires the good of souls, ought to remain silent. It is only a marvel that so few are found boldly ex- pressing their abhorrence of the wily treachery and superstition by which Popery is ever trying to fasten her satanic destruction on the minds of men. It is vain to say, How can intelligent minds succumb to such absurdities and hellish atrocities ! Man is lost in sin — he lives in darkness — he has no divine light ; therefore, what one sinner is capable of, so may another. Man is naturally propense to corruption; only let the means be furnished, and where is he? Rome's policy is to conceal all but what is known to attract and delude the 110 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. natural senses. All history proves that its practices — image-worship and invocation of saints, auricular con- fession, the celibacy of its clergy, sale of indulgences, remission of sin by the absolution of a priest, prayers in a dead language, and, more than all, the denial of Grod's Word, have been abounding sources of the vilest under-currents of iniquity, and prolific in the enormity of the greatest public acts of sin. As to the absurdities to which the man will succumb, and the atrocities in which he will take part, the follow- ing specimens are reliable and conclusive. The Eomish objections to giving the laity the cup are summed up in the " Grounds of Catholic Doctrines," as follows : — 1. "Because of the danger of spilling the blood of Christ, which could hardly be avoided, if all were to receive the cup. 2. " Because, considering how soon wine decays, the sacra- ment could not well be kept for the sick in both kinds. 3. " Because some constitutions can neither endure the taste nor smell of wine. 4. " Because true wine in some countries is very hard to be met with. 5. "In opposition to those heretics who deny that Christ is received whole and entire under either kind." THE PRIEST CONFOUNDED. " A Protestant lady married a Eoman Catholic 'gentle- man, on condition that he would never attempt to make her a proselyte to his religion. After their marriage, he so far kept his word as to abstain from conversing with her on Popish points. He, however, did not scruple to employ the Eomish priest, who often visited the family, to endea- vour to instil Eoman Catholic principles into her mind. But she remained unmoved, and on the doctrine of tran- substantiation was especially firin. At length the husband became seriously ill, and was recommended by the priest to receive the 'holy sacrament.' The wife requested that SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. Ill she might be allowed to prepare tlie wafer and wine for the solemnity. Leave being granted she did so, and said (on presenting them to the priest) ' These, sir, you wish me to believe will, on your performing the act of consecration, be no longer bread and wine, but be changed into the real body and blood of Christ.' " ' Most certainly,' he replied. "'Then, sir,' she rejoined, 'as our Saviour has said, u My flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed, and he that eateth me shall live by me," it will not be possible, after the consecration act, for the elements which have become the body and blood of Christ to do the worthy communicant any harm.' " 'Assuredly,' answered the priest, 'they cannot do harm to worthy receivers, but must communicate to them great good.' ' ' The ceremony was proceeded in, the bread and wine were consecrated, and the priest was just about to take and eat the bread. At this juncture the lady begged pardon for interrupting him, and said, 'I mixed some arsenic with the bread, sir ; but as it is now truly changed into the real body of Christ, it cannot, of course, do you any harm.' "The principles of the priest, however, were not suffi- ciently firm to induce him to eat the bread. Confused, ashamed, and irritated, he forthwith left the house, and never again argued with the lady about the doctrine of transubstantiation. " 'Hefeedeth on ashes, a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand ? ' ' Prove all things. Hold fast that which is good.' "Bertram, a celebrated .Roman Catholic writer, says, 'As to the substance of the creatures, what they were before consecration they remain after it. Bread and wine they were before, and after consecration, we see, they con- tinue bread and wine.' " " ' I affirm,' saith the creed of Pius IV., ' that the power of indulgence was left by Christ in the Church, and that the use of them is most wholesome to Christian people.' 'Come,' said Tetzel, on his tour through Germany with indulgences, ' and I will give you letters, all properly sealed, by which even the sins you intend to commit may be par- 112 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. doned.' This was the wretched priest whose abominable speeches and acts roused Martin Luther to defend the truth. "' There is no sin so great that an indulgence cannot remit, or even if any one had offered violence to the Virgin Mary, mother of God, let him pay — only let him pay well — and all will be forgiven him.' (Tetzel contra Lutherum.) Again, ' Indulgence avails not only for the living, but for the dead (in purgatory).' 'At the very instant,' said he, 1 when your money rattles at the bottom of the chest, the soul escapes from purgatory, and flies liberated to heaven. Now heaven is opened ! Stiffhecked and thoughtless man ! with twelve groats you can deliver your father from pur- gatory ! The Lord our God no longer reigns ! He has resigned all power to the Pope.' " The end of this blasphemy was to obtain money to re- build and decorate St. Peter's, at Pome. I have seen an extract of a report concerning one hundred and forty-four monasteries, that contains abominations in it equal to any that were in Sodom. We are told, concerning relics, that the teeth of St. Apollonia, used as amulets on charms against toothache, filled a tun. There were more pieces of the true cross than would have made a whole one. The market was bountifully supplied with the parings of St. Andrew's toes, coals that roasted St. Lawrence, girdles of the Virgin, &c, &c. All this in the nineteenth century. The most valuable, however, to the clergy was a phial, said to contain a portion of the Saviour's blood, which was invisible to all except to penitents, who, by confession and offerings, had obtained absolution. It contained blood, which was renewed every week ; was transparent on one side and opaque on the other, and turned, by secret means, its red side to the penitent at the will of the priest who held it. Nor is this to be regarded as peculiar to a past age ; only last summer we saw an exhibition of the bones of St. Genevieve in Paris, when a professedly Protestant minister paid to see them, and, with a young lady, gave to them the utmost reverence. Money, money, money is the secret of it all. The exhibition of the holy coat of Treves in 1844 w ill be fresh in the memory of our elder readers, when what is said to bo the seamless coat of our Lord was shown, during six weeks, daily to 500,000 of assembled worshippers, who were invited by circulars to the public exposition and adoration of the ir estimable treasure. As a climax to such SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 113 a mass of superstition, we may mention the relic seen by Beckford at the Escurial, near Madrid, which was a large and handsome feather, very splendidly mounted, &c, said to be 'a feather from the wing of the angel Gabriel.' " All this is contemptible and blasphemous. But we feel constrained to touch another characteristic — the ruling and diabolical characteristic of Home. Now that England is shutting her eyes, and stopping her ears, and becoming tinged by this fire from the infernal regions, it is needful to remind people of that which will surely appeal to their feelings, and revive in their memories facts which they appear to forget. u On Bartholomew's night, August 24, 1572, the ca- thedral bell of St. Germain L'Auxerrois tolled as a signal for the work of destruction (concocted, as we all know, at Bayonne, between Catherine de Medicis and her young son Charles IX., &c.) to commence, the horrors of which we will allow a Roman historian to describe : — "The daylight, which discovered so many crimes which the darkness of an eternal night ought for ever to have concealed, did not soften their ardour by these objects of pity, but exasperated them more. The populace, and the most dastardly, being warmed by the smell of blood, sixty thousand men, transported with their fury, and armed in different ways, ran about wherever example, vengeance, rage, and the desire of plunder transported them. The air resounded with a horrible tempest of the hisses, blas- phemies, and oaths of the murderers ; of the breaking open of doors and windows ; of the firing of pistols and guns ; of the pitiable cries of the dying ; of the lamentations of the women, whom they dragged by the hair ; of the noise of carts, some loaded with the booty of the houses they pillaged, others with the dead bodies, which they cast into the Seine ; so that, in the confusion, they could not hear each other speak in the streets, or, if they distinguished certain words, they were these furious expressions, ' Kill 1 stab ! throw them out of the window ! ' A dreadful and inevitable death presented itself in every shape. Some 114 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. were shot on the roofs of houses, others were cast out of the windows. Some were cast into the water, and knocked on the head with blows of iron bars or clubs ; some were killed in their beds, some in the garrets, others in cellars, wives in the arms of their husbands, husbands in the bosoms of their wives, sons at the feet of their fathers. They neither spared the aged, nor women great with child, nor even infants. It is related that a man was seen to stab one of them who played with the beard of its murderer, and that a troop of little boys dragged another in its cradle into the river. The streets were paved with the bodies of the dead or the dying ; the gateways were blocked up with them. There were heaps of them in the squares; the small streams were filled with blood, which flowed in fresh torrents into the river. Finally, to sum up in a few words what took place in these three days — six hundred houses were repeatedly pillaged, and four thousand persons mas- sacred, with all the confusion and barbarity that can be imagined." — Mezerai's History of France. In 1643 a Pope's bull was issued respecting certain atrocities perpetrated by the Papists of Ireland on their Protestant countrymen, which was this : — "That whereas, the Irish have endeavoured, by force of arms to deliver their thralled nation from the oppression of the heretics, and to extirpate those workers of iniquity; by virtue of his power of Unding and loosing, which Grod has conferred upon him, to all and every the aforesaid Christians in the kingdom of Ireland, so long as they should war against the said heretics, and other enemies of the Catholic faith, he did grant a full and plenary indulgence, and abso- lute remission of all their si?is, desiring all of them to be par- ti iters of this precious treasure." Is it to be wondered at, that with all horrible deeds fhus forgiven beforehand, the bigoted Papists slew thousands of Protestants, and committed barbarities suoh as c.nly oharaoteriae the warfare of Eome, and her enslaved and ignorant sons? The Popish historian, SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS, 115 Llorente, writing of the Spanish Inquisition, says that the number of its victims from a.d. 1481 to 1808, amounted to 341,021 ! ! Of these 31,912 were burnt, 17,569 who died under torture in prison, were burnt in effigy, while the rest were subjected to very severe penances, and this in Spain alone. The Duke of Alva, a bigoted Papist, who ruled the Netherlands as Spanish viceroy in the sixteenth century, boasted that he had put to death 36,000 Protestants by the hand of the common executioner. It is not too much to say that millions of lives have been thus sacri- ficed, in the name of the meek and lowly Jesus. Oh, how infinite must His mercy be, to refrain from sending direct and immediate judgments on such evil-doers ! Read of the atrocities committed on the Albigenses and Waldenses. Time would fail to recount the repeated acts of which Rome is guilty, all proving the hellish source of her birthplace. A word to women here : let those who now think it so innocent and becoming to attach crosses to their persons, worship clergymen and creeds, and succumb to a vast quantity of absurdities, while they endanger their souls and bodies, remember that such "harmless" or "profitable" "pretty little books," &c, contain, nevertheless, a germ which is capable, even in a woman, of growth so noxious that we need only refer to Catherine de Medicis, and one more — the mother of Francis of France, who, wishing to please the Pope, consulted with him as to the best mode of repressing Protestantism, on which occasion the Pope appointed the Inquisition in France, and com- manded that " all heretics should be given up to the secular power to be burnt to ashes." How many more of these fiendish characters in the i2 116 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. form of men and women might be added as specimens of Eome's schooling ? "Why are these horrors quoted here ? Because such diabolical horrors are only the full manifestation of the principle contained in small begin- nings. Every accession to Roman Catholicism in agree- ment, taste, or act, is a step onward in the principle which can glut and glory in torturing and killing human beings ; this may offend many, but did Liguori, Catherine de Medicis, &c, &c, foresee and approve in their beginnings that in which they ultimately exulted ? It has been shown that Saint Liguori was and is still held as a sure reference in all matters of theology in the Church of Eome. In his treatise on the Inquisition, he shows how its duties may be successfully carried out. Not one word does he breathe against it ; on the con- trary, he teaches that a child should denounce even his own father ', and the father denounce his own child to the Inquisition in case of heresy (p. 239, vol. iv., 1828). " In reference to the torture, Liguori says : ' Finally, if the accused confess the crime, the sentence is to be given. If not, he is to be led to correction, or the torture.' 11 So that, on the testimony of one who is considered an unexceptionable witness, the accused may be put to the tor- ture ! Having given other cases in which the torture may be employed, he says : ' Because torture is a help to proof, when arguments and signs are non-efficacious, that thus a full proof may be elicited.' British Protestants, think of torture being advocated by this saintly doctor, by whose admonitions Eoman Catholics pray that they may be taught ! Alas ! how Satan perverts the holiest things to his own purposes, when religion is thus made the hand- maid of inhumanity ! Truly, Popery is Satan's masterpiece ! Seo a poor fellow-creature writhing in all the agonies of the rack, the pulley, or the pendulum, whose only crime, per- adventure, is thai ho is a Protestant! BehoM beings who wear the human form, but are more like demons, though they are distinguished by the priestly robe or the monk's SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 117 cowl, working the instruments of torture, and adding to the woe of the sufferer in every possible form ; and when you learn that this system was solemnly established by Rome, sanctioned by the bulk of those who call themselves Yicars of Christ, and advocated by Saints to whom Roman- ists pray, does not your blood boil with a manly, yea, a righteous indignation ? and have you not proof sufficient in this — had you no other — that the religion which teaches such a system is not from the Prince of Peace, but the prince of darkness — is not from heaven, but from hell ? Oh, could the walls of the Inquisition speak, what tales would they tell of sorrow, and suffering, and woe ! But there is a day coming when great Babylon shall come into remembrance before Glod, and for which the blood of martyrs pleads. ' How long, Lord, holy and true, dost Thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on earth?" (Rev. vi. 10). " Let British Protestants — if they value their free insti- tutions, their noble constitution, their homes, which not even the monarch can invade — protest against the national encouragement of a system in whose train follows misery, and crime, and woe!" — Blaheneifs "Popery in its Social Aspects." The following account is well calculated to show that ■money is the secret idol, worshipped and obtained by every lying device. All the exhibitions and demon- strations of Romish worship, with its false attractions to the natural senses of the ignorant, are entirely de- pendent on money : — THE RELIGION OF MONEY. " A rich Scotchman had come to sojourn in a village on the banks of the Loire. There he dwelt happily in the bosom of a large family, and found his satisfaction in pro- moting the comfort of the poor around him, as far as his ample fortune would permit. The country folks were loud in his praise, and often observed that this 'heretic,' as the curate called him, gave more in charity than the amount of all the parish collections put together. The curate was afraid that this generous conduct would win the hearts of the people towards this Protestant, and by degrees alienate 118 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. them from the holy Catholic Church. He undertook, there- fore, to prove from the pulpit, that all the heretics, Cal- vinists, and Lutherans are condemned to everlasting flames. But he well knew that none of his arguments would be so powerful with his parishioners as the liberality of the foreigner ; he determined, therefore, to change his course and root out the evil at once. In order to fulfil his pur- pose, he determined to convert the Scotchman to the Mother Church. He sought, therefore, opportunities of intercourse, and did not hesitate to warn him of his danger, and earnestly besought him to enter that Church, out of which there is no salvation. At last, as they were walking one day, our Cure resumed the usual topic, and was agree- ably surprised to hear him answer with a friendly smile, 1 Yery well ; let me hear, then, a little about your religion, that I may rightly understand it. Stay, let us sit down here,' added he. ' Tell me, then, according to your Roman Catholic and Apostolic Church, what must I do to be saved ? ' " Cure. — First of all you must be baptized. " Milford. — And how much will it cost me to be baptized ? " C. — It depends upon the generosity; the fixed price is 45 sous. " M. — Yery well ; but once baptized, what must be done then? " C. — As soon as the child attains the proper age, he must be admitted to the first communion. " M. — And how much does it cost to make the first com- munion ? " C. — It will depend on your generosity and " M. — It is of course nothing to me \ but I merely ask what is the sum usually paid by your villagers ? " C. — Alas! sometimes only a wax candle: scarcely 3 francs and 10 sous. " M. — Yery well; 45 sous to be baptized, 3 francs and 10 sous for the first communion. What must be done next in order to be saved ? " C. — You must fast during vigils in Ember weeks ; take no meat on Fridays, Saturdays, and during Lent. "if. — But I must tell you that we English are great eaters, especially of animal food ; so that it would be to me a very painful matter to fast and live upon broth. And my health SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 119 " C. — Oh ! sooner than your health should suffer, we can dispense with fasts : I can give you the recent example of the Pope, who, to reward a faithful Bonian Catholic who had given him a tiara worth 6,000 francs, accorded to him a parchment grant, signed, sealed, and delivered, exempting him and his descendants from fasts, so long as the world lasts. " M. — I do not question it, but I have no tiara to bestow. I ask you, then, what is ordinarily given to procure exemption during Lent ? " C. — A crown of 6 francs. " M. — And for the fifty-two Fridays and Saturdays at the same rate. " C. — Of course. " 3f. — It amounts, then, to about 15 francs per annum, besides the 6 francs for Lent, amounting altogether to 21 francs. " C. — You forget the fasts. " M. — You are right; we must add 10 francs more to be excused from the fasts and Lent; that makes 31 francs for fasts, maigre, &c. And what more does your Church require ? " C. — To attend mass every Sunday. " M. — And what does it cost to be properly accom- modated at the mass ? " C. — You can have a comfortable seat in the choir for 15 francs, or the verger can give you a chair every Sunday morning for 1 sous, except in the principal feast days, and then she would expect 2 or 3 sous. " If. — That is fair. On these days the people are more eager to be at church : it is therefore right to facilitate their admission by raising the price of the seats. There- fore we will say 1 sous each Sunday, which is 52 each year. I reckon 10 sous for chairs for special feasts. This amounts to 3 francs 2 sous yearly. What more is wanted ? " C. — You must confess once a year at least. I will give you absolution for your sins, and you will only have to make up the penance imposed ; for instance, to repeat fifty Paternosters and fifty Ave Marias. " M. — But if by chance I forget to repeat my Ave Marias and Paternosters, and after a number of these omissions it became impossible to fetch up the arrears, then I could not expect to be saved ? 120 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. " C. — Oil ! but you could have recourse to the indulgence box to do away with such. sins. " If. — And what is put into the box for indulgence ? " C— Money. "M.— How much? " C. — We do not know what is given by each wor- shipper ; but we find there some gold, some silver, many pence, and more farthings. " If. — Yery well. I should adopt the middle course, and so I will set down 12 fr. for my fines. But, as it regards those boxes, I have observed several in your church, and I should like to understand what is put into them. " C. — Money. 11 If. — What is the purpose of the one against the first pillar to the left ? " C. — Money for the repairs of the church. " Jf.— And the box to the right ? " C. — Money for permission to have butter and milk during Lent. " M. — And what have you in the box facing the pulpit? " C— Money for the Holy Chapel of the Virgin. " If. — And in the other ? " C. — For public worship. 11 If. — It is well explained. But, to proceed, what else must be done ? " C. — On the bed of death a good Roman Catholic must receive extreme unction. " if.— And what is the fee for that ? " a— Nothing. " M. — How ! nothing ? — hardly possible ! " C. — Why, you see, when a man receives extreme unction he is not far from death, and then comes the inter- ment. " If. — Oh ! I understand ; it is all paid together. How much then does the whole funeral cost ? " C. — Oh! it is impossible to give you the precise answer. It depends on the number of priests who are wanted. These are 20 fr. each. Then if the large cross is borne at the head of the procession, it is 15 fr. more. If the one in gold is required, it is fifty. With the Swiss, twenty-five more. We have also funeral palls coarser or finer, more or less rich, and therefore more or less expen- sive. You may also have the old people from the alms- SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 121 houses, and the young girls from the orphan asylum, the order of white or black penitents, whichever you please. You may estimate burial costs from 15 fr. to 1,000 crowns. " if. — I thank you for all your information, but I merely want to know the ordinary expense. " C. — Very well. You could not do without one priest, two ecclesiastics, and one cross ; according to this arrange- ment you may be buried for 24 fr. " M. — And with all these costs I should be sure of Paradise ? " C. — No: but in all probability you will go to purga- tory. " M. — To purgatory! But, if so, you have not saved me, for you cannot come to deliver me from thence. " C. — In that you are mistaken. You have only to leave orders, by your will, that masses shall be repeated for you, so that you may be taken from purgatory to Paradise. " M. — I understand ; and how much does a mass for the dead cost ? " C.— Thirty sous. " M. — And how many masses will be wanted ? " C. — I cannot exactly tell, but the more masses you appoint, the greater chance there is of a speedy deliver- ance from this place of torment. " M. — I see. As the money for the masses is the last that you can receive from an individual, you do not fix the number, that scope may be given for the generosity of his relatives. You are less compassionate than death itself ; she closes the earth over us once for all. But you — you never close your purse. But as I wish to know what I can do whilst I am here towards my salvation hereafter, will you make an exception in my favour, and tell me how many masses one may reasonably provide ? " C. — Twenty would not hurt you, and I think " M. — Twenty masses at 30 sous ; that makes 30 fr. ; now then let us add up all these items of expense, which must be incurred in your Catholic and Apostolic Church in order to be saved : — 122 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. Francs. Sous. Baptism 25 First Communion ^ . 3 10 For exemption during Lent, at 6 fr. a-year: this for thirty years [if I should live] will he . 180 For exemption on Fridays and Saturdays, at 15 fr. a-year, for thirty years .... 450 To he excused from fasts at 10 fr. a-year, for thirty years 300 For the seats on Sundays and great festivals, at 3 fr. 2 sous per annum, for thirty years . 93 For indulgences on account of ommissions, &c. . 12 Burial and extreme unction 24 Masses to be delivered from purgatory 30 1117 10 I can be saved — go to Paradise — for the moderate sum of 1, 1 17 fr. 10 sous ! " —RousselV s Tracts. We need not travel far into Eomanism before we find ourselves in the meshes of infidelity — not only merging out of it, but coupled with it, as a natural consequence. Every unchanged sinner is, and ever has been, a practical infidel, " living without God in the world." but the allowed infidelity of this age of shameless defiance of God and His truth is presented before us as a subject invested with the interest of some worthy novelty in which man may take refuge, accepting or otherwise just as infidels choose. In fact they bring God down to their own level. His word is placed on one platform with the discoveries and objects of the day. Thus the things of time and eternity are regarded and offered to the people, as matters of equal choice, and whether lost but immortal sinners are taught to disbelieve the revelation of Grod and perish ; or whether they be brought through grace to believe and live, it little troubles those who, in their blindness and sin, treat the Word of God as the word of man. How awfully solemn must that time be when man's network is torn to pieces, and every thread becomes an SP [RITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 123 insupportable torment ; the past gone ; the future unknown ; and nothing left but horrible forebodings, and with every breath a doubt, whether the rest may not be with the devil and his angels shut up to shame and everlasting contempt. Who can live happily in a position involving so awful a doubt; not knowing at what moment life may be taken ? The Lord in His sovereign mercy bring such poor blinded ones to see and receive the truth in the love of it. Place all that this world can yield at the disposal of the unbeliever, and, whatever views he may have of Grod and eternity, he cannot be here long to entertain them. Compare this with the substantial comfort which the believer possesses from the verities of eternal truth through the Fountain of life, and the confidence with which he faces the future, and judge whether the former position for the longest life is worth the torment of doubt. Many endeavour to harden themselves against the truth, saying in the heart, "No Grod;" but their efforts fail. Conscience discovers proofs of the truth too strong to allow them to enjoy complete success. The fact which our great deceiver, " the serpent," spoke to Eve is proved to be true. " Knowing good and evil " is charged upon us, and for which we are responsible. and will be weighed in (rod's scales. Into what depths, then, will those sink who have allowed themselves, first to walk with Grod's enemies, then to stand parleying with them in fellowship, and, as usual in a downward course, to end by sitting " in the seat of the scornful " — helping one another, through the hardness of their hearts, to maintain their infidelity, whilst they fill up the measure of their iniquity, step by step, passing through a process by which the enemy with his iron 124 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHEJl SIGNS. grasp effectually turns the whole man into a weapon of iniquity. Such is practical infidelity, with " the con- science seared as with a hot iron," living only to deny and blaspheme his Maker, as well as instrumentally to destroy his fellow mortals. There are some amongst these pitiable ones — and sorrowful it is to believe their number is increasing — whose resolute unbelief reins in the tongue so tightly that it cannot move under the impulse of conscience ; whilst others, not so far gone in self-destruction, leave the tongue sufficient liberty to indicate the trembling that is felt within. Outward shades vary, and greater or less acknowledgments may be made ; but the con- science and manifestations to the searching eye of Grod are regarded as the same thing, and must be traced to the one great deception, " Thou shalt not surely die." And so the enemy of souls continues to whisper in the hearts of his victims his own forged lie. All the stages of hardening and fearful unbelief of Grod's word are traceable to this soul-destroying lie. But the heart being "deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked," is thereby deceived. They are kept from seeing his devices, or knowing themselves. The many phases of infidelity are perhaps as great as the most experienced creature is capable of. For instance, religionism, practised for temporal purposes, or no religion, consented to also for a temporal purpose, or either of these, as a self-defender against whatsoever might at times intrude (illness, danger, &e.) and trouble the mind in reference to another world. But this very struggle to harden self against believing the truth is a proof of that very truth which must condemn every subject of such a struggle now (and such is their inward SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 125 experience), added to which, the fear and apprehension of coming doom " upon every soul of man that doeth evil," proves immortal man to be incapable of making himself a true infidel. It is a rare thing to meet with a real, consistent infidel ; one who never flinches, and whose conscience never whispers conviction or alarm. It is a strange thing to regard a counterfeit as the lesser of two evils ; but in the matter of infidelity, the counterfeit has the hopeful advantage. Let, then, the unreal infidels take warning before time closes upon them, and before eternity shall for ever convince them of their madness. We need not look beyond the appalling descriptions given in Jude to tell us what man really is capable of when continuous sin hardens into a defiance of Grod. At last left to himself, real infidelity sets in, and a licence is thus given to sin yet more, for then no restraint remains to check the full outgoing of all iniquity. Jude, 12, 13 : " These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear : clouds they are without water, carried about of winds ; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots ; raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame ; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever." If such awful results are existing in this world con- sequent on man's defiance of his Maker, what must his condition be when fully developed, where his soul and body shall have become a ceaseless subject of torment- ing unsatisfied cravings, and bound down to eternal endurance — associated with kindred characters, and in a world where not a single ray of hope appears to gild the gloom. "Will he then repeat what he now dares to 126 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. say, " No Grod " ? since " the devils themselves believe and tremble." " Infidelity is making far more rapid progress than we are at all aware of. It is secretly sapping the foundations of thought and feeling throughout the whole civilized world. In numberless cases where there is the outward semblance of reverence for sacred things, there is underneath a sceptical influence at work, which only waits for the suited occasion to burst forth in overwhelming force, and carry away the feeble embankments which education and social influence have erected. In many cases it is painfully apparent how little reverence there is for the Bible or sacred things on the part of the young people growing up around us. If we look back over the history of the last quarter of a century, we cannot but see a marked and melancholy change in this respect. There was an outward respect, at least, for the Word of God, sufficient to make men shrink with a sort of horror from any one who could dare to broach infidel or sceptical notions. - Even that feeling is rapidly passing away. Thousands and tens of thousands now listen with cold indifference, if not with a secret feeling of approval, to bold infidel attacks upon the sacred volume. All this, with much more that might be named, marks the appalling progress of infidelity. Professedly Christian teachers are not ashamed or afraid to call in question the authenticity of Holy Scripture. Every new attack upon the Bible, every new assault upon Christianity, is received with a growing interest by millions of professing Christians throughout Europe and America. Every new theory which seems at all likely to furnish materials for an attack upon divine revelation, or its divine Author, is swallowed with avidity. "VVe cannot shut our eyes to these facts, and we dare not withhold them from our readers. These lines w hich we are penning in England may be read by persons in the bush in Australia and New Zealand, or in the back- woods of America ; and these persons may be casting many a longing look, and sending many a deep-drawn sigh across the ocean to this highly-favoured land, and drawing a con- between the lighl which shines here and the darkness eigne there. "AVell, we can and do bless God for our many privileges —we praise Him for the inestimable blessing of civil and 'B SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 127 religious liberty — we praise Him for an open Bible and a free Gospel — we praise Him for thousands of souls turned from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to Grod — we praise Him for thousands of hearts devoted to the name and cause of Jesus — we praise Him for the mag- nificent wave of blessing which has, within the last seven years, rolled over America and Europe. For all these things, we heartily bless His name ; but, notwithstanding all this, the solemn fact presses upon the heart that infidelity is making rapid strides in England, on the Con- tinent of Europe, and throughout the length and breadth of the New World. "Then, as to superstition, in all its forms, can anyone fail to mark its progress ? "What a growing confidence in ordinances ; what attention to the outward forms and cere- monies of ritualism ; what a clinging to human authority ; what reverence for tradition ; what earnest cravings after antiquity ; what thirst for the attraction of music, painting, sculpture, and architecture in the so-called service and worship of God ! What do all these things indicate ? In what direction are they leading souls ? Of what are they the symptoms ? Let the thoughtful reader answer. "But let us inquire, what is there in the professing Church to stand against this rapidly rising tide of infidelity and superstition? A feeble, meagre, shallow evangeli- calism; an easy, worldly, self-indulgent evangelical pro- fession ; a kind of gospel ; a gospel diluted ; a gospel shorn of its strength, its majesty, and its glory ; a gospel deprived of its edge, its point, and its pungency ; a gospel which, in many cases, seeks to persuade the sinner that Glod (we speak with all reverence) will be very much obliged to him for accepting salvation ; a gospel which will not suffer the word 'responsibility 7 to fall upon the ear of the pro- fessor, and will not admit of any such thing as the claims of the Lordship of Christ. According to the teaching of this so-called gospel the very mention of duties, claims, and responsibilities savours of legality. The conscience is not to be addressed. No warning voice must be heard, lest it should lead souls to question their interest in Christ, lest it should disturb their peace. "Reader, be thou well assured of it, this will never do. We want something quite different. We want a gospel which links together, by one indissoluble bond, these two 128 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. words, ' Saviour ' and ' Lord.' We want, like the rescued demoniac, to take our place at the feet of that Blessed One who is at once our Deliverer and our Master." — " Things New and Old," March, 1865. " It is one of the signs of the times that references to the injurious practices as well as the false doctrines of the Church of Eome are received with an ominous silence, betokening a moderation of public feeling upon the subject of Romanism, which, if it pervaded our community, would utterly destroy our missionary zeal. The results we have looked for are not outward and manifest, but inward and spiritual. They are small comparatively, and gradual, but they are genuine. They are such as may escape the obser- vation of an anthropologist, while they are open gloriously to the discernment of the Christian mind. The other con- sideration I refer to is this. It should be borne in mind that, against the gigantic evils of an idolatry for many centuries neglected both in India and Africa, the exertions of the Christian Church have been brought to bear only within the last fifty or sixty years, that for several of those years the efforts were few and feeble, and that even now the aggressive power of the Christian Church is far, far from what it ought to be. Surely, my Lord, we may say that this subject has not been sounded to its true depths, even by those who are conscientiously supporting our missionary institutions. Surely we may say that the liberality of the wealthy, the self-devotion of the enterprising, and the self- denial of all, are as yet but in their infancy in this great cause. For it is indeed a great cause, the cause for which our Lord and Saviour was content to be betrayed and given into the hands of sinful men. My Lord, no half measures can meet the demand made upon us by this great cause. No superficial opinions, no peradventures about what is truth, no natural principles of benevolence, or humanity, or social improvement, or love of progress — nothing of the kind can meet the majesty of this demand. Nothing can, I think, meet it but a deep, heartfelt conviction that the salvation of human souls is at stake, that Almighty God, in 1 1 is distinguishing mercy, hath given to us the one only way of salvation, and with it given us a command to give it to others. The statement, the divinely authenticated statement, was plainly made: 'No man cometh to the SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 129 Father but by me.' The command was plainly given: ' Go into all the word and proclaim the glad tidings to every creature.' The great apostle, beholding his own beloved kinsmen after the flesh rejecting the one only saving remedy, poured forth his heart's desire and prayer before God for them, that they might not stumble at that stumbling-block, but receive it and be saved. And when he saw the Gentiles around him, the climax of his complaint against the obstinacy and prejudices of the Jews was that they forbade, and, as far as in them lay, hindered, the preaching to the Gentiles of the Gospel that they might be saved. St. Paul does not appear to have had the slightest idea of any man being saved and of his being permanently happy in fellowship with God, except through the know- ledge of Jesus Christ. Our Reformers all felt this, and our Church declares this. It is well for us to remember this; for the Eighteenth Article of our Church is now tortured and rejected by multitudes that have pledged themselves to its truth. ' ' In these apostolical convictions of constraining power the faithful men to whom his Grace has just referred, and who founded this society, most fully participated. Since their time, and very largely within the last few years, much has been said and much has been written calculated to shake these convictions, and thereby and to that extent to weaken the spring of all true missionary zeal. In one of those ' Essays ' which have attained an unenviable notoriety, this solemn subject, the subject of the multitudes of the heathen world, in the light of their connexion with revealed religion, is formally discussed, and the doctrine of the ruin of our race by the transgression of the first man is rejected as incompatible, we are told, with the moral sense which God has given to all men ; and, if the sacred writers have really enunciated that doctrine, the essayist concludes that, in so doing, they have given us the results of their own per- sonal convictions, and not the mind of the Spirit of God. In other words, they cannot have been inspired of God, if they have said what is opposed to the moral sense that is in man. This is to beg the whole question of an authoritative revela- tion. Many questions are reduced to this result in the volume to which I have referred ; but on this great subject of the heathen the writer makes an admission, of which it is much to be lamented he did not more largely avail himself. 130 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. He says— if indeed all are not to be equitably treated, accord- ing to their opportunities, whether they have heard or not of the name of Jesus — we may then accept the state of the Christian and non-Christian populations as a matter of difference of advantages. Why, this postulate required as a solution of the difficulty is the very doctrine of Holy Scripture. All shall be equitably treated. The servant that knew his Lord's will, and did it not, shall be beaten with many stripes. The servant that knew not his Lord's will, and did commit things worthy of stripes — here is the case of the heathen man ; he knew not, as the other did, his Lord's will, yet he committed . things worthy of stripes, his ignorance even is not an excuse ; but how commit things worthy of stripes, if he knew not his Lord's will ? Because he was not a stock, a stone, or a horse, but a servant. He was a servant. He had a certain knowledge of his Lord's will, though not that knowledge referred to in the case of the other servant. He had a conscience of his Master's authority, if he was a servant — a conscience accusing or else excusing him ; and though for many things which would have been disobedience in the other servant, he may not have been disobedient, yet in some things, however low his standard, his practice being lower, he became altogether inexcusable himself. It is therefore a gross misrepresentation to say that we charge the lost and ruined condition of the heathen upon their ignorance of the Gospel which they have had no oppor- tunity of hearing, No, it is upon their transgression of their own moral standard, their own conscience, which, every man bears within him — a measure of the law written in his heart ; for I say again, he is a servant — not a stone, a stock, or a horse- — but a servant, and did things worthy of stripes. But then he is beaten with few stripes. All is equitable. We may trust in God for that. It is more tolerable for the one servant than the other; and 4 more tolerable' is the Master's expression — more tole- rable for Tyre and Sidon than Chorazin and Bethsaida. If ' more tolerable ' be everlasting happiness, then all who have not been taught may be everlastingly happy ; but if ' more tolerable ' wear a different and much more painful aspect, we are compelled by our allegiance to authoritative revelation, either to admit the awfully solemn truth, or to throw off that allegiance, and deny the volume which contains that statement. Now it is of the utmost importance, for SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 131 the sake of our missionary cause, that this question should be fairly tested and examined, and that the alternative should be forced upon the public mind, because I believe that there is such a love of moderation in our English people, that there is such a repugnance to extreme opinions and extreme measures, that half-and-half statements are doing more injury than bold and direct scepticism itself. We have a school of compromisers more to be dreaded in the recesses of our missionary work than open sceptics. And why do I refer to these things but because the more pointed distinctness in the initial sound is indispensable for power or plainness in the distant echo, and that, if we lose distinctness at home, we shall lose all power abroad ? I say, then, that we have a school of compromisers who ought, I think, to be brought to the test, Do they believe the Bible or not ? But in matters of human arrangement, in the affairs generally of human society, and the policy of human nations, compromise is often most judicious, for this reason : Where serious differences in human matters occur, there is no infallible perfection of knowledge on either side. Therefore, a mutual concession, which is a compromise, may be the nearest possible approach to true practical wisdom. To extend this principle to religion is to declare, concerning religious differences, that there is no infallible perfection of wisdom on either side : that is, that Almighty Grod has not spoken. Now, if He has not spoken, then all religious differences consist in human opinions, and one human opinion has as good a right to be considered as another human opinion ; and if we have nothing but human opinions, by all means, as modesty is becoming and charity is becoming, if we have only human opinions, by all means let us have compromises. If I say, Grod has not spoken, or if, though He has spoken,- we cannot ascertain exactly what He has said ; if His words be contained in books which contain other words besides, or if any part of them be contained in books and other parts are to be developed, at the convenience of the Church, from age to age, so that we may have a theology of the nineteenth century; in any of these suppositions we are at sea. All is uncertain. To talk of steering right or steering wrong is only talk ; for there is no standard. One man who is bold enough to take a stand for his own thought steers to the north, another steers to the south, a third to the east, and a fourth to the west ; and then come a multitude of smaller K 2 132 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. men too moderate to be decisive. They dare not go quite to the north nor quite to the south. The softer among them would steer south-south-west ; and some of them of a bolder character would go right in the wind's eye and steer to the eastward; while all the while we have on board this craft certain cunning and clever men who are in- structed to join all the steerers, to encourage all the com- promisers, and to watch their opportunity until they can get command of the ship, and then steer her into the Tiber. We have such men. " Now if such teaching as this prevails, farewell to all missionary zeal. Farewell to all Christian certainty, all real conscientious convictions of truth. Farewell to all such constraining power of the truth of God as overcame the world. If such teaching prevails, farewell to that in- ward conviction which penetrates the nursery, and enables the mother and the sister to devote in secret prayer their darling boy to the cause of Christ in the mission field. How shall this certainty follow you, my friends to whom I now alluded ? How shall this certainty of truth for Jesus follow you into your secret recesses if you indulge curiosity at the expense of principle, and tamper with those beau- tifully written books which contain the small doses of this compromising poison ? Oh, let me earnestly entreat you, let me affectionately urge upon you, as an old man who has almost finished his course, that you refrain from the indul- gence of that curiosity which has given currency to that pernicious literature which has neither power nor life in it, because it compromises the truth of God's holy Word. And, my reverend brethren, allow me before I sit down to appeal to you. Oh, let no hesitation arising from such arguments or such assertions, or such difficulties — for there are difficulties in the way ; let no hesitation arising from such difficulties hinder you from a repetition, a bold and faithful repetition of the glorious Gospel of the grace of God. See how the great Apostle, without any ethnological or anthropological dissertations, boldly declares the ruin of the race by the first man ; so that this is not merely con- tained in ancient history, that might be explained away, or as some call it a poem, senii-nryth or semi-prophecy, but as the very basis of i he most logical arguments contained in the Epistle to the Romans, the foundation of the whole system 01 apostolical truth. Oh, believe me, imitate him, declare SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 133 this truth. ; and do not be afraid of the captious critic. Do not be afraid of the charge of only half education, which is thrown upon the Evangelical clergy, but show that you are not only half educated, but full educated. And do not let even difficulties which you are not at pre- sent able to solve stand in the way of the plain and faithful declaration of the Gospel. Rest assured, that no discovery has been made, that no discovery will be made, which, when fully tested, will operate against the plain, gram- matical, and practical understanding of the writings of Holy Scripture. Science of every kind is in its infancy. See, my reverend brethien, how the sacred writers, without any attempt to understand God, and without any hesitation to receive what this vast hall understands, speak of Him as Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and yet but one God. See, my reverend brethren, how the sacred writers, without any abstract arguments about justice and benevolence, declare the love of God towards our world to have been such as that, instead of acting as an indemnity, a soft indemnity to sinners, He gave His own co-equal Son, and was pleased to bruise Him, as a sacrifice and a ransom. See how the sacred writers, without any discussions whatever about what are called Church questions — without a word about Church architecture, or Church decorations, or Church pro- cessions, or anything of that kind — proclaimed the salvation of man by the knowledge of Christ, the duty of the pastor to preach Christ crucified, and the duty of the Church to send the pastor, that he may preach Christ crucified. Let us hope that the plain and faithful declaration of the Gospel, the only one glorious Gospel of the grace of God, the only sacrifice of the death of Christ, a full propitiation and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world, will be more entirely relied upon, without any mincing arguments against opposers of the atonement, but let there be a bold proclamation of it in spite of all. Proclaim it as a thing not to be gainsaid, or doubted, or argued upon in your mixed congregations. Argue it with yourselves, and in your studies ; but when you come into your pulpit — and I plead my privilege as an old man who may never stand upon this platform again for what I say — it is not to argue with a set of persons who are only disturbed, unsettled, and bewildered by your arguments ; it is to preach what you have already argued out for yourselves. It is not to be 134 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. inquirers after truth, but ambassadors for Christ. And let the embassage have a certain sound ; and I will say, before I sit down, that that sound ought to be an unmistakable sound. Ours is a Protestant society. Ours are Protestant missions; and Rome is everywhere at work, and injures our missions, both at home and abroad. She assails them wherever we read of them in foreign lands, and she is undermining the very heart, and core, and source of them at home. But when all these dangers are fairly looked at, and all the exhortations arising out of them are fairly pressed upon the Christian public, there remains still the glorious consolation for the encouragement of the Christian heart, that there is no danger to the Church of God. What- ever danger there may be to Established Churches in this or other lands ; however one Church may fail, as other Churches have failed ; however the Church of England, as it is called, may follow the Church at Antioch or the Church of Pome, the Church of Christ is safe. The gates of hell cannot prevail against her ; and her missionaries are going from place to place, as we have just heard, preaching from the Gospel that fulness of the Gentiles which is to be pre- pared before the Lord, the King of the Jews, shall return. It is the fulness of the Gentiles and not of the world. Pre- eminence in everything is given to the Jews. They were missionaries, and Christian missions succeeded more while Jews were missionaries than they have ever done since. And when the King of the Jews shall re-appear, and all Israel shall be saved, the sentence will go forth, Life from the dead to the world. ' The beam that rests on Zion's hill Shall lighten every land ; The King that reigns on Zion's tow'rs Shall the whole earth command.' " — Rev. Canon If 'Mile, of Liverpool, May, 1865. "Why are Christians so slow to believe the evidences that each day is forcing upon them ? If worldlings fail to observe any peculiarity in the times, surely the Bible student is inexcusable if these events should overtake him unawares. If the Word of God is true, we cannot for a moment doubt but that there will be desperate attempts made by the enemy against the true Church in the last days. We would especially press home this argument SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 135 upon those who do not, or will not, see that Popery or, any other error, is making any progress. If a man had only just risen from the bowels of the earth, and had read and seen nothing but his Bible, he ought to, and probably would, declare just what is going on around us at this moment. Our guilt is not so surprising as our blindness in being unable to realize the events that are daily taking place. Yet there are those who accuse us of exaggeration and of magnifying dangers that have no real existence. The extraordinary delusion that exists in some minds as to the gradual improvement and enlightenment that are to herald in the latter days is to us perfectly unaccountable, and entirely opposed to all the warnings of Scripture. It being our firm conviction, however, that the spirit of evil is to wax worse and worse as the latter days approach, so are we determined to draw attention incessantly to those fundamental truths that Protestants are pledged to hold and maintain, and that every real believer should lodge and cherish within his heart. These are interests that concern the patriot and the Christian alike. Let Pro- testants of all denominations lay aside their minor differ- ences, and unite to defend, not forms or ceremonies, but, the fundamental doctrines and liberties of Christianity. Tiere must be no neutrality ; God calls us to decision. He sickens at lukewarm Christians, and rejects their service as if they were altogether hostile : genuine " charity rejoices iD the truth.' Let us strive for truth, and peace if we can get it. May the churches of all denominations be roused at once to a sense of their duties and their privileges. Let us study to know God's will, and then strictly and faithfully comply with it in all things. Remember that neither the influence of superiors nor the example of the godless mul- tirade will afford any excuse for going against the light of revealed truth. If Luther, and Wickliffe, and Knox had listened to the peacemongers, where would England have been at this moment ? To have peace with God we must be at war with the world. ' He that saveth his life shall lose it.' " — From the "Armourer." " My Lord, the resolution, which I have to submit to the meeting is, — 'That this meeting gratefully acknow- ledges the goodness of God in still further enlarging the resources and extending the operations of this Society ; 136 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. and whilst rejoicing in the efficacy of the inspired Word for the accomplishment, through the Spirit's teaching, of all God's purposes of grace in the soul, desires to circulate it still more widely in every land, until the earth shall "be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.' You will observe, my Lord, that this resolution refers to the efficacy of the inspired Word; it reassats the inspiration of the Bible and its sufficiency to accom- plish, by the Spirit's teaching, all God's purposes of grace in the soul, and on that ground to circulate it throughout the world. I will endeavour, my Lord, to keep as closely as possible to my text. The Society that seeks to circulate the Bible throughout the whole world used to be assailed by ridicule and profanity. That day is over, and criticism, apparently devout, and sometimes really so, seems to some minds, far more seriously than irreverent infidelity ever did, to assail the foundations of our faith ; and there are many minds painfully agitated by such questions as these — Is the inspiration of the Bible of a different kind as well as superior in degree to the inspiraration a1- tributed to men of genius, of literature, of science, of philosophy? — is the Book divine, and therefore inevitably true, or human, and therefore to be judged as we judge other human books, accepting just so much of it as ad- dresses itself to our judgment ? I think an easy mode of settling the authority of the Hcly Scriptures may be fouid from accepting the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ. Whether there is a Bible or no Bible, we have a Christ who died for us and rose again. There is a Christian Church, whether there is a Bible or not, and that leads is back eighteen centuries — back to the death and resurrection of our Lord and Saviour. The New Testament contahs the record by his immediate friends and followers of our Lord's actions and teachings, and if I accept the New Testament I accept the authority of Christ. But it is against the Old Testament that the attacks are chiefly di- rected. How men would value it if we could ask our Lord how we are to regard the Old Testament in the light of the present controversy ! That is impossible ; but we may gain the result, for the Old Testament was widely circulated in His time, not only in the Hebrew version but in the Greek version. Our canonical books were the canonical books then. If our Lord practically used the Old Testa- SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 137 ment as a Divine Book, then, although I might he unable to bring forward any logical definition of inspiration, and to answer the objections in connexion with dates and figures, it would be sufficient for me to reply, from what is written, that the Lord Jesus Christ must have foreseen this contro- versy. Frequently He read the Book, He loved the Book, He quoted the Book as divine, and therefore I will love the Book, I will uphold the Book, I will spread the Book, and Christ's Bible shall be my Bible. Let us then come to the investigation, and I will endeavour to be as brief as I can consistently with my argument. We may learn how Christ treated the Bible in his youth from the manner in which He refers to it in his maturer years. At the commence- ment of his ministry He went into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil, and in that conflict between the great enemy of man and man's great Champion, the sword of the Spirit, with which our Lord conquered, was the Word of God. Quoting from the Book of Deuteronomy — one of the books of that Moses whose authority is now so much disputed — when the tempter said, 'Command that these stones be made bread,' our Lord said, 'It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that pro- ceedeth out of the mouth of God.' When the tempter said, 4 If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down/ Jesus answered, 'It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.' When the tempter said 'All these things I will give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me/ Jesus said, 'Get thee hence, Satan, for ifc is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.' When our Lord commences His teaching He goes into the synagogue, and there was delivered unto Him the book of the prophet Esaias, and He quoted His favourite passage, 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He hath anointed me to preach the Gospel.' And then He said, 'This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears.' He began His ministry by an appeal to the Old Testament. At the beginning of His Sermon on the Mount He says, ' Think not that I am come to destroy the law ' — by ' the law ' meaning the five books of Moses — ' I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.' Let it not be sujDposed that I come to set aside the authority of Moses and the Old Testament. Not a jot. "When they questioned Him about divorce, He said, 138 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 'What did Moses command you? He wrote you this precept : from the beginning of creation God made them male and female. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife.' He quoted from the third chapter of Genesis, and did not seem to think it a poem, and not a fact. ' What good thing shall I do to inherit eternal life ?' inquired one. The reply was, < Keep the commandments ;' and He quoted from the book of Exodus, implying that obedience to the commandments would secure eternal life. When speaking of the resur- rection, He said, ' Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God. Have you not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.' Again quoting from Exodus, when asked, ' Which is the great commandment of the law ?' Jesus said, ' Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself,' quoting from Leviticus. Then again, 'As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wil- derness,' referring to the book of Numbers. Speaking of John Baptist, ' Behold I send my messenger before thy face,' He quotes from Malachi. When His disciples were found fault with for plucking the ears of corn on the Sabbath-day, He said, 'Have you not read what David did when he was an hungered and they that were with him ?' quoting from the book of Samuel. When asked, ' Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread,' He answered, 'Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? for God com- manded, saying, Honour thy father and mother ; and he that curseth father or mother, let him die the death,' quoting from Deuteronomy and Proverbs. He there quoted the Bible against Jewish tradition, old tradition, believed tradition. One verse of God's Bible is worth a waggon-load of tradition. Then our Lord said, 'Ye hypo- crites, well did Esaias prophesy of you saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me,' quoting from Isaiah. Then with respect to buying and selling, He said, ' It is written, My house shall be called the house of SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 139 prayer,' quoting from Isaiah. To the Jews He said, ' It is ■written, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner,' quoting from the Psalms. When He was found fault with for allowing children to sing ' Hosannah to the Son of David,' He said, 'Have ye never read, Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?' quoting from the Psalms. When the disciples were asked why their Master ate with publicans and sinners, our Lord quoted a text from Hosea, ' Go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice.' When He alluded to the manna in the wilderness, He quoted from Numbers ; and, in other pas- sages, He referred to the books of Bangs and Jonah, and that now disputed authority, Daniel. " In that most emphatic parable of the rich man and Lazarus, where the rich man is represented in torment, he cries out, ' Father Abraham, have mercy upon me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue ; and I pray thee that thou wouldest send him to my father's house ; for I have five brethren : that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets ; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham ; but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.' The written authority of the Old Testament was regarded as a higher authority than the testimony of any one from the tomb. And then to the Jews He said, ' Had ye believed in Moses, ye would have believed in me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words ? ' — showing that there is a sense in which the written Word is superior to the living voice. Then there is our Lord's exhortation, i Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me.' And then, coming to the end, speaking of the deser- tion of His disciples, He says, ' It is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad,' quoting from Zechariah. Just before His passion, in the last act of worship in which He engaged with His disciples, He chanted the 113th, 116th, 117th, and 118th Psalms. When betrayed, His holy, perfect human nature 140 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. was rightly indignant, and He said, l Are ye come out as against a thief with swords and staves to take me ? I sat daily with you teaching in the temple, and ye laid no hold on me. But all this was done that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.' When Peter drew his sword, Jesus told him to put it up again, saying, ' Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and He shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels ? But how then shall the Scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be ?' " When dying on the cross, His last words were quoted from the Bible, ' My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me ? ' Up to the last moment He treated the Bible as a divine authority. And what did He do with reference to the Bible on His return ? ' Beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.' It is a marvellous thing that the risen Lord, instead of dwelling on his resurrection as a proof of His Messiahship, should turn to the written document to prove His mission. And when He met His disciples all together He took a piece of broiled fish and honeycomb, and He said, 'These are the words which I spake unto you while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms concerning me. Then opened He their understandings that they might understand the Scriptures.' So that the Lord referred to the Bible as a whole — to the Bible in its grand divisions, to the Bible in its separate books. Considering the small narrative we have, we may suppose that our Lord's refer- ences were much greater. But here we have distinct references to Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Leviticus, Deu- teronomy, Samuel, the 1st Kings, the 2nd Kings, the Psalms, the Proverbs, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Micah, Joel, Zechariah, and Malachi. Our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom I look as the supreme authority in all religious matters — the divine Saviour — God manifest in the flesh, used the Bible as we urge all the world to use the Bible. He read it in private, storing it in His memory, used it in His devotions, went to it for comfort in His sorrows, for strength under temptation, and died with its words upon His lips. As a teacher He referred to it at the beginning of His ministry, throughout His ministry, up to the close of His ministry, after His resurrection. He SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 141 referred to it as a book peculiar, a book paramount, a book divine. Yes, our risen Lord referred to it. He who is now at the right hand of the Father referred to it. I think without irreverence I may say that our Bible has been in the hands, and our Bible has been expounded by the lips of the glorified body of Jesus now on the throne in the heavenly world. And therefore may I not be encouraged to read it, and trust to it as the guide of my life, for strength in my perils, for comfort in my sorrows ? If good enough for the Master, is it not good enough for the ser- vant ? Shall we not say, in the words of the children's hymn, ' We'll not give up the Bible ' ? This Society, according to the words of the Resolution, means to spread it more and more widely, and with every increasing con- fidence in its divine authority and capability to effect all that Grod has purposed through it. Let us read it daily — let us read it in private — let us store it up, that we may not sin against it — let us read it daily in our households — let us honour it in our churches — let us test all our doctrines by the Bible — Christ's Bible. Let us bring all our contro- versies to Christ's Bible as the ultimate court of ecclesias- tical appeal. While we value the writings of all good men of all ages, we will test all we have to say by the authority of Christ's Bible. To the law, and to the testimony. We love the Bible. We love it for what it is in itself. We love it for its association with the Lord Jesus Christ. How many things we prize because of this association. Why, I value even a bit of furniture connected with the memory of those I love — the desk at which he wrote, the chair on. which he sat, the book associated with our friend's mind, his favourite authority and his marked passages — the Bible of our friend, associated with the high exercises of his soul. How I love my dear father's old Bible. I see his marks in the margin, I see the traces of his tears, of his joys, of his sorrows, of his holy communion with the God he loves. I love it, for it is his Bible. And shall I not love it because it is my Christ's Bible — the Bible my Saviour loved? There are his marks upon it, the traces of his fingers, the marks of his tears, the echoes of his sighs, and his songs, and his prayers. And therefore whatever difficulty assails me, and whatever question perplexes me, and whatever enemy of truth comes to unsettle my faith, I am ready to gay, if my Lord read the Bible I'll read it, if He loved it 142 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. I'll love it, if He taught it I'll teach it, if He found comfort from it I'll find comfort from it, if He upheld the divine authority of it I'll uphold the divine authority of it. When the enemies of my faith come, I will say, this testimony have I taken as a heritage for ever, and strong men in Israel and greyheaded Christians shall mingle their deeper tones with the silver treble of infant disciples, and shall " < Holy Bible ! Book divine ! Precious treasure ! thou art mine — Mine to show a Saviour's love, Mine to chide me when I rove, Mine to comfort in distress, If the Holy Spirit bless : Mine to show my living faith, Mine to triumph over death, Mine to tell of joys to come, Mine to guide to heaven, my home : Holy Bible ! Book divine ! Precious treasure ! thou art mine. *" — Rev. Newman Sail. "Put aside the declaration of God's word, suppose a city to be occupied by persons whose works a^e as follow : adultery, fornication, uncleanness, licentiousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, violence, emulation, wrath," strife, re- viling, and such like. Suppose a community of such persons, all bound up in these works, would you, or would you not, say that that was a community of intensely wretched beings? For, observe, according to your own principle, aU the persons who have these tendencies must be in perfect liberty to carry out their principles to the very utmost. Tell me — never mind the Bible for a moment — let us have a community like that ; let us have a land, and fill it with that class of people, what would be going on ? Let London go free to-morrow ; take out of London nil who are opposed to these things, and what would you have — heaven or hell? I ask any sceptic who says 'I don't believe about God, and Christ, and the word of God.' These are simple fads. We want not the Bible for them : they are facts, abounding around us. There are thou- Is of men in London wlio delight in all these things; and there is a certain law of the land to prevent them going to excess. Kemove the law — give them perfect SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 143 liberty, and would London be bell or beaven ? Again, suppose you bave a place filled witb people abounding in tbese fruits love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faitb, meekness, temperance. Now, sceptic, honestly, as in tbe sigbt of God (if you will allow that expression), if you bave a place occupied exclusively by men and women of tbat stamp, taking away all tbose wbo perform tbe works mentioned in tbe former cas« ; let London be occupied by tbe latter, let tbem bave perfect liberty — tbat is, liberty to love, liberty to forgive, liberty to be boly and to be pure — and I ask you, would tbat be bell or beaven ? Is not tbat a tremendous argument in favour of tbe Bible ? because tbe Bible condemns tbe former, and avowedly produces tbe latter. Now, wbat do infidels say to that as a fact? This is the Bible's own statement. There is no man, let him be the veriest infidel who ever lived, who would not be compelled to admit that, if you were to give up London to the former, you would have hell ; and if you get the latter, by the confession of any man of common sense, you would have beaven, for you cannot conceive a moral character of a higher or a more delightful state of social existence than would be at once secured." — Rev. Capel Molyneux. In tbe selection of tbese quotations it has been tbe desire of tbe compiler to remember tbe young ; for, while it is expedient to be cautious as to bow much, and bow deeply some corrupt errors are unfolded before tbem, it is also necessary in tbese days tbat . young people should be properly informed. Indeed, there is no safety in ignorance either for old or young ; but it is grievous and touching to think how great are tbe diffi- culties surrounding tbe latter. Many are led out of tbe school-room into tbe drawing-room, to take part witb whatever they may find ready prepared for tbem in their several positions. In too many cases little sym- pathy is met with in anything profitable (sometimes not even rational). It is melancholy to think of the years of busy toil in the school-room being in so many 144 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. cases dishonoured, and the pupils making so little use of what has cost them so much labour to attain, excepting indeed music and dancing to amuse and attract, which are freely indulged in. The sad consequences of this are manifest in the self-will and vanity, which now cha- racterize the young, in place of that retiring modesty and discretion which so become them. The dress and manners display a distortion of all that is graceful and suitable, and ignorantly " they glory in their shame." This fact proves that mothers are to blame. The rising generation, in their inexperience, gladly avail them- selves of an open door for indulging in the novel excite- ments and strange amusements of the day, urged on by the sad example of their superiors in age. The young are naturally prepared to fall in with the tastes and habits of those with whom they are associated. Many enter into life to join others who not only " live without God," but make to themselves false gods, and worship them. In these days of superficial refinement, evil prin- ciples are presented in an attractive form, being embel- lished by terms which do not mark their real enormity, and therefore induce many persons to regard sin as no sin (while religion — so called — is often on the tongue). What vital distinction is there between an idol made of stone standing in the corner of the room to be worshipped, and the idol found in the wardrobe ? or in amusement ? or in vieing with their neighbours to gratify their own love of display ? Living to self and sinful gratifications ever must be under the curse of a doomed world ; and no oft-repeated church-going, sacraments, prayers said with crosses, &c, can cover from God's eye the source from which it all springs — a deceitful heart, unbelieving and destitute of the love of Him who came to seek and SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 145 to save that which was lost, will account for even sup- posing that all is safe with the soul when all is in imminent danger. " For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much sope, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord Grod" (Jer. ii. 22). The desperate wickedness in the heart of man produces that infidelity which acts as a guard against the dictates of the natural conscience. Thus multitudes are kept easy and unconcerned, satisfying themselves, saying, " Grod is very merciful," instead of crying, " God be merciful to me a sinner." But to return to the position of these young people. What unnecessary time and money are wasted in providing for themselves the never- ceasing novelties and cruelties of dress. We would insert here a word of warning : — " To the Editor of the Times. "Sir, — Will you allow us to bring under the notice of your readers the melancholy fate of hundreds of young women and children, who, as artificial florists, are suffering in the most terrible manner from handling and inhaling the cruelly destructive poison with which they colour the brilliant green leaves now so much the fashion ? During their work in the stifling atmosphere necessary for the process, they wrap their faces tightly round with towels, but all precautions are baffled by the subtle character of the light powder, which penetrates the system, producing inflammation and ulceration of the mucous surface of the body. The account in the Times about two months ago of the inquest on Matilda Scheurer, who was proved to have been poisoned by emerald green, led us to investigate the sub- ject, and we find that in other instances death has been attributed to the same cause. Some have only escaped her fate by discontinuing the employment for a time. The workers generally dread the occupation, but dread still more the alternative of being without work. We believe that those who, attracted by the gay and brilliant green, risk the danger to themselves of wearing it, will, when 146 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. they become aware of the suffering occasioned by its pre- paration, abandon it for a more natural, and, we think, more becoming colour; and we send a statement, kindly made by an eminent professor of chemistry, which we hope may command attention. " Your obedient servants, "GrEORGLNA COWPER, " Elizabeth Sutherland, " Secretaries to the Ladies' Sanitary Association." u Royal College of Chemistry, January, 1862. " I have examined carefully the green colouring matter of the artificial leaves from a lady's head-dress which you have sent me. " In a dozen of the leaves sent me an analysis has pointed out on an average the presence of ten grains of white arsenic. I learn from some lady friends that a ball wreath usually contains about fifty of these green leaves. Thus, a lady wears in her hair more than forty grains of white arsenic — a quantity which, if taken in appropriate doses, would be sufficient to poison twenty persons. The immense consumption of arsenic colours, and their reckless use under various conditions prejudicial to health, certainly claim the special notice and the consideration of the public. Not satisfied with poisoning the wreaths which adorn the heads of our women, modern trade introduces arsenic with- out scruple even into their dresses. The green tarlatanes so much of late in vogue for ball- dresses, writes Erdmann, of Leipsic, contain as much as half their weight of Schweinfurt green. The colour is loosely laid on with starch, and comes off by the slightest friction in clouds of dust. I am told that a ball-dress requires about twenty yards of material — an estimate probably below the mark, considering the present fashion. According to the above analysis, these twenty yards would contain about 200 grains of white arsenic. A Berlin physician has satisfied himself that from a dress of this kind no less than sixty grains powdered off in the course of a single evening. " It will, I think, be admitted that the arsenic-crowned queen of the ball, whirling along in an arsenic cloud, presents, under no circumstances, a very attractive object of contemplation. But the spectacle — does it not become truly melancholy when our thoughts turn to the poor SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 147 poisoned artist who wove the gay wreath in the endeavour to prolong a sickly and miserable existence, already under- mined by this destructive occupation ? " I remain, dear sir, "Yours very sincerely, "A. W. HOFMANN." " To the Eight Honourable William CoTrper, &c." How much more might be added to this testimony to the sad condition of poor humanity! Deplorable are the exhibitions both at home and abroad. What an abuse of that covering which sin has made a neces- sity. The old and the young now seem to vie with each other in an endeavour to appear the most unwise and ridiculous. They regard not the painful cost to others at which their folly and vanity are gratified. The days and nights spent by their poor sisters in the human family, plying the needle with weary hands and heart, sickened with relays of finery passing from hand to hand, hastened on by oft-repeated words of pressing urgency — "Work on!" "Lazy girls, do hurry the work !" " The dresses will never be in time ! " " Here is this grand ball and two concerts close upon us, and our best customers have all to be pleased !" " Ladies calling and through your idleness I shall lose their custom !" "Lady said to-day, if I disappointed her, she would never give me another order." " Oh, my head aches so ! and I think I shall faint." " Never mind," said the head " lady " of the room ; " it is only three o'clock — you shall have a cup of green tea." In reply, one of the young women said, " Well, it is a pity the ladies do not give us more time ; they do not know the number of stitches to make a dress." " I suppose they do not think of us, so long as they get what pleases them." " Not only that," added another, " but many l 2 148 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. ladies will leave their orders to the very last, because they will not have a similar dress to their own in the room." "How is that?" said a third. "Oh, that is the pride of the thing — the last fashion, and the only dress." How solemn, when all this is considered in connection with " the last fashion " for the poor lifeless body. The sufferings and injustice borne by the dress- makers are well known and mourned over by some ; but so long as the many heed them not, is it not well to remind such ladies of what they are causing now, and refer them to that time when all shall stand before the great white throne ? the books will then be opened, and they will be "judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." To this we would add a beseeching voice to each one, to " consider her ways," to " prove all things," and to try and discover now the hardhearted selfishness which will have to be accounted for when it will be too late to repent. Those who live for this world are only doing what is, of course, natural to them. They know not the blessed deliverance of being " crucified to the world," and the world unto them. They weigh all things in the scales of unbelief: and what is unbelief but in- fidelity ? How many would shrink from the thought of being infidels, who nevertheless are satisfied in " living without (rod in the world." Are none infidels but those few who openly profess to be such before man P When " the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life " constitute the life of any one, is it not infidelity in the sight of Grod ? While SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 149 His "words of life and death " become a dead letter to them, in keeping with all this worldliness, their life is sustained by the exciting and pernicious " sensation novels, 1 with other injurious reading. The heroes and heroines of such fictitious romances are not behind the religionism and infidelity now so prevalent in the world. They likewise traffic with the Holy Scriptures, quoting texts now and again ; otherwise the books would fail in bringing in the profit ! The authors are not afraid, but dare to scatter the word of life on the surface of their poison. How many Christians would rejoice if all such books were piled up and burnt. Were the writers of such ruinous productions brought, through Divine teaching, to see and feel what enemies they are to the holiness and purity of Christ and truth, their own hands would kindle the fire to destroy what is helping on the infidelity and corruption of this shameless age. One sin is never satisfied to abide alone ; it is in- genious in multiplying its kind. Added to this unholy use of Scripture by which these false books are made acceptable to the blinded conscience, the world's religion is being nurtured by the false theology of carnal romances, which are dressed up with texts of Scripture. Other books, which are still more deadly and poisonous, being full of licentious infidelity, also use the Scripture, for the double objects of seeking to destroy its own truth, and conveying to their readers what they wish to be taken for granted as right and good, namely, being found in a "religious book." 150 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. LEEETICAL BOOKS, ES OF CLERGY OF ENGLAND. Verily we are living in a curious age. During the last year two societies have been advertising themselves and their publications, one calling themselves " a com- mittee of clergy," the other " several clergy ;" and, under these two very equivocal identities, have been published at London and Oxford severally, thousands of small catechisms, books of devotion, manuals for communicants, and a variety of other small fry of tractlets, that we do not hesitate to assert are doing more injury to the multitudes who may unfortunately meet with them than the worse productions of Holy- well Street could effect : for whether a man loses his soul by the publication of false doctrine or the obscenities of glaringly vicious prints, we do not think it can be of the slightest consequence. These nameless Jesuits are the growing pests of our reformed faith. The Rev. S. A. Walker has, in the appendix to his recent pamphlet, drawn attention to a publication entitled " The Altar Manual," which we shall also refer to at some future time ; but we have now before us " A Catechism of the Chief Things which a Christian ought to Know and Believe to his Soul's Health," " Edited by Several Clergymen," and published at Ox- ford, in which is contained some of the grossest Popery that any E-oman Catholic book could possibly produce. We merely quote expressions taken from some of the answers of the various questions. The "Ever- Virgin Mary," oalled by the Church "the Mother of God." SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 151 " No sure way of salvation out of the Church." " We have a share in the prayers of the saints in Paradise." "It is a pious practice to pray for the dead in Christ, whose happiness is not yet complete." " The blood of Jesus is applied to the soul in baptism." " All sins are not equally sinful ;" yet " Grod hath left power to His Church to put away deadly sins." Even " flesh meat is forbidden on all Fridays, Grood Friday, and the other days of Lent." " We ought to confess our sins to our pastor, or some other priest whenever they trouble us." " Not to marry during Advent or Lent." " Christ's incarnation is the instrument of our salvation through the sacraments." " Confirmation is a means whereby we receive the Holy Grhost." " The bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ by the con- secration pronounced by the priests." " The special office of a priest is to celebrate the Eucharist, and to absolve penitents." " There are seven deadly sins" (the same as mentioned in the Church of Rome). "There are seven corporal works of mercy," and " three eminent duties." Previous to saying the "Short Forms of Morn- ing and Evening Prayer," " cross yourself, as expressed by the printed t." The above quotations are word for word. These are the teachings of many hundreds of ministers who are eating the bread of the Reformed Church of England. If any member is rash enough to complain to the Bishop, he is told, as we were once, that " such com- plaints must come through the proper authorities." If some Bishops were not in full sympathy with these kind of clergy, there would be no painful necessity for others to add testimony to testimony to prove that it is the case. There is a penitentiary in Holywell 152 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. Street, Oxford, of which the Bishop of Oxford is patron. A Christian lady became a visitor there, believing that, as the institution bore the name " Protestant," the teaching and treatment of the inmates would neces- sarily be conducted on Protestant principles. The lady was not long in seeing that everything so resembled what she had seen in such places in a Poman Catholic country, that she commenced an inquiry, and found that the confessional was regularly organized and steadily carried on by a young clergyman from one of the colleges, who attended periodically for the purpose. In a room upstairs, he and one young woman after an- other, alone, knelt together before a large cross (previous to which he put on his surplice). The lady visitor can testify that the character of this confession partook exactly of the ordinary corruption of the confessional of the Church of Borne ! ! Small blame to the lady for informing herself fully, and then writing to the patron ! She did so, and gave him a true and complete report of facts. The Bishop did not reply to it himself, but sent the letter to the " Lady Superior " of the institution, and in her reply to the Bishop (which he forwarded to the lady), she writes : — " My dear Lord, — I have read Mrs. 's letter, which you enclose. The Sister Superior made her the true and direct answer. "We in no way go beyond the line laid down in the Prayer Book, and which leaves those who are burdened with sin free ' to open their griefs and receive the benefit of counsel and absolution.' .... We are very careful that none are admitted to confession but those who really do feel the burden of sin ; and who dare deny to sin-laden souls, such as we seek to save, the com- fort and help which the Church of England provides for thorn ?" &c, &c. June 13, 18C2. SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 153 At two public meetings held in Reading, December, 1863 (at which the author was present), the Chairman said — "We are met here to-night, as I understand, as a body of professed Christians, to speak upon a matter of con- siderable moment to all persons of that name and pro- fession, inasmuch as we believe that a great ecclesiastical authority in this diocese has been the medium through which much unsound doctrine has been propounded to the public and to the clergy of the Established Church in these counties. I understand that to be the position which we assume to-night — as censors, in one sense — to express our judgment upon that which has been uttered publicly by the Bishop of Oxford. I call upon the Rev. John Aldis, who will address you." The Rev. J". Aldis spoke as follows : — "I have to address you on ' the Divine presence with the Church.' The Bishop of Oxford speaks of it in relation both to infidelity and dissent. He denies the existence of the Divine presence with Dissenters, or at least the ' certainty and fulness ' of it ; and tells us that if we do not hold with him, that a special sacramental presence of God is realized in the Episcopal Church, we are the victims of the master principle of unbelief, and can ultimately hold no position short of a ' dull naturalism,' or atheism. Those portions of the recent Charge which appear to me to contain these representations, I will now read : — " ' The next hindrance most frequently named by you is one of a wholly different class, and assails the spiritual authority of our office. It is the presence of " dissent " in jout parishes. The number of the separatists is often said by you to be small, but you find them weaken your ministerial influence, and disturb the minds of your flocks. This seems to me to point out one main cause of the "hindrance," and where we are to find its remedy. We want more distinctive Church teaching for our own people. We believe that we do possess, as we cannot see that others do, Christ's direct commission for our ministry, and a cer- tainty and fulness therefore of His presence, and of His sacramental working, which, to say the least, may be lack- 154 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. ing elsewhere. If we do not hold as muck as this, we must dissent from the plain language of our own Ordination Service ; and if we do, we must teach as well as live as those who are possessed by this belief. We need not be con- tentious. God forbid that we should be uncharitable in our mode of stating the truth according to the principles of our own Church, but the truth we must state Now that master principle is, as we have seen, the denial of the presence with us of the supernatural, and so the with- drawal from us of the presence and of the acting of a per- sonal God ; against this, therefore, we must strive equally everywhere in nature and in grace, and in grace equally in every part of its blessed kingdom. For if we yield one part of the truth here, it will be in vain for us to seek to main- tain the rest. Thus, for example, we shall in the long run be unable really to maintain the divine authority of Holy' Scripture, if we give up the divine authority in its proper place of the Holy Catholic Church Without such a witness there could have been no Bible, no booh which we could receive, as a whole, as the record of God's revelation. How, again, unless the Divine Spirit, as a really present Person, acts indeed upon separate hearts, regenerating, converting, renewing, purifying, strengthening, and saving them, can any of the means of grace within her be anything else than what these writers so profanely pronounce them to be, lying magical delusions ? There can, in the strife which is forced upon us, be no intermediate position between the dull naturalism to which so many are tending, and a simple faith in God's presence with His Church, and so a hearty belief alike in her sacraments, her creeds, her orders, and her Bible, as the separate portions of the great system of instruments, through which her God, her Saviour, and her Sanctifier are present with and working in her.' " The Bishop of Oxford says: 'Now that master prin- ciple is (of the sceptical delusion), as we have seen, the denial of the presence with us of the supernatural, and so the withdrawal from us of the presence and of the acting of a personal God.' Now I have put this sentence in every light possible for me, and it seems absolutely contradictory or absurd. If it mean that this master principle denies the presence of the supernatural, and also denies that the presence and acting of a personal God is withdrawn, that is plain enough indeed; but it is a senseless tautology, for, SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 155 of course, that cannot be withdrawn which was never there. Or if it mean that this master principle denies the presence of the supernatural, and affirms the withdrawal of the pre- sence and action of Grod, that is a stupid contradiction : for it affirms, first, that a thing was never there ; and second, that it is taken away. Or if it mean, that to deny the pre- sence of the supernatural teaches or involves this with- drawal, that is only another form of the contradiction just- pointed out. Or if it mean that the denial causes the withdrawal, then, in addition to an equal contradiction, it attributes to the ' master principle ' a power which belongs to nothing on earth — actually to take away the presence and working of the Almighty. Or if it mean that whatever denies the presence of the supernatural, necessarily denies also the presence and the action of a personal Glod, then I reply, that millions amongst us must flatly contradict his lordship ; for in a thousand things we devoutly recognize the one where we find no trace of the other. Or else, perhaps, the emphasis lies on the words ' with «*,' so that the Church of England is to be regarded as holding that Grod is not with them, nor acting amongst them, except super- naturally. In other words, that the only Divine presence possible for man is sacramental. From other parts of the Charge, this appears the more probable interpretation, and it is against this dogma that I intend to speak. But at all events the sentence is sadly obscure, and I confess that I am not impressed by it, either with the power of the bishop's intellect, or the clearness of his language. " The method with which he proposes to deal with dissent is quite as strange. He alleges that the bare ' presence ' of dissent in a parish assails the * spiritual authority ' of the clergyman's office — a statement which every Dissenter knows to be untrue, and which many others feel to be absurd. I know of only two forms of the Divine presence ever pretended to by religious men. The first is called sacramental, because it is mainly, if not exclusively, to be enjoyed through the intervention of the priest, and in con- nection with the sacraments. The second is called spiritual, because it is realized in each heart by the power of the Holy Ghost. The one makes religion a thing of form, to be performed for us by the ceremonial, and dependent for its certainty and worth on the proper appointment of man. In the other, religion is moral and spiritual, wrought 156 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. within us by the grace of God, and is dependent solely upon the sovereign supremacy of Jesus Christ our Lord. The first is that which the bishop claims, and which we affirm that he has not. The second we claim, not as our exclusive patrimony, but as that of all who believe, whether in the Chuch of England or out of it. "That the bishop claims this sacramental presence, appears to me most certain. Some portions of the Charge may appear to teach the contrary ; but, carefully examined, they do not. The presence he claims is that which he cannot see amongst Dissenters. It is connected with sacramental working, and imparts an equal efficacy to the creeds and orders of the Church and to the Eible. It is called l supernatural ' — a word never used by those who hold a spiritual and gracious influence, but familiar with those who wish to have it understood, that the bishops occupy the same place, and possess the same power as the apostles ; and who further wish us to believe that the exercise of the sacerdotal function works out results analogous to the miracles of our Lord. It is, finally, something which has been denounced as 'lying magical delusions,' which might possibly be the case with sacramental ceremonies, which are alleged to accomplish supernatural results. Now, this sacramental presence we utterly deny. First, it is without Scripture warrant. I need hardly occupy your time in attempting to prove this. We are sure that a matter of such vital importance would be most explicitly stated in the Word of God. If the priest is to be to us what our Lord was, and we are dependent upon him for access to God, and communication from Him, the most unequivocal declaration of that fact is indispensable. But search the New Testament through, and you will find nothing con- cerning it. For instance, the apostles are nowhere en- joined to administer the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, nor is there any clear example that they ever did so, and yet, according to the bishop's theory, all "the efficacy of the sacrament depended on the grace they could bestow. It is without evidence. According to the old maxim, if a thing does not appear, we conclude that it does not exist. The presence of God in nature is manifested by His works. If nothing were done, we could not know that God is, much less what He is. So if the bishops have the supernatural with them, and working by them, something will be done SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 157 or manifested. This is all we want. We stand, as Isaiah, stood before the idols of the heathen, and say, 'Bring forth your strong reasons .... that we know ye are gods ; yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be confounded together.' Multitudes of those who are declared to have been regenerated in infancy, may be found in every con- dition of ungodliness and crime. I have known young persons confirmed, and, of course, they had actually re- ceived the Holy Ghost; but I have never known them, after the operation, better or worse, more or less worldly, wiser or more foolish. This, the greatest change that can be experienced in the life of man, is thus a practical nullity. Now, for me, that is no Divine presence which I can in no way perceive ; that is no power which does nothing ; and that is no grace which neither enlightens or sanctifies. To allege the Divine name for such useless trifling, looks very like taking it in vain. To tell us that this is certainly the best, and probably the only presence and action of a personal God, astonishes me with the ex- tent of human arrogance, or, if I believed it, would drive me to despair. This sacramental presence is contradicted by the evidence. The Divine presence with the Church is, on all hands, confessed to be emphatically the presence of Christ. The ultimate foundation of confidence in regard to it, is His promise, ' Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.' This sacramental presence dis- honours God. Jesus said, 'I will send you the Comforter.' On the day of Pentecost the Spirit was poured out in His fulness. This is the fountain of all spiritual life and power. All who will may seek a share in it, and none shall seek in vain. That Spirit speaks in and by the "Word, and every one who reads or hears in faith, listens to the voice, and feels -the grace of God. The doctrine of sacramental grace admits, indeed, the outpouring of the Spirit ; but it affirms that it has been deposited in certain reservoirs, and can flow down to man only through certain channels. The bishops are said to be both the reservoirs and the channels. But in this country, though the prime minister cannot ordain the bishops, he must determine who shall, or shall not be ordained. Thus these channels are in the hands of man. The spiritual turncock can turn the supplies on or off at will, or stop them altogether. The 'certainty and fulness' of the Divine presence may be 158 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. turned in one direction to-day by Lord Palmerston, and in another to-morrow by Lord Derby. Though, this grace is for the salvation of the soul, the course it shall take de- pends, not on the good pleasure of the Almighty, but on the caprice, the passions, or the sordid interests of a parliamentary majority. All this may seem very holy and good to the Bishop of Oxford ; to me it seems both impious and wicked. To allege such things concerning the cha- racter and conduct of the Almighty in the dispensation of His grace, shocks me more than the ravings of atheism. Even in my poor earthly life, I had much rather men should say that I did not exist, than that I did such things as these." The Eev. E. Bulmer then spoke : — " . . . Dissenters as a body, the Bishop of Oxford terms a l hindrance ' to the clergyman's work ! If that work has been the work it ought to have been, we deny the charge ; if it has not, why then we are thankful for the com- pliment. I hold in my hand a rare specimen of distinctive Church teaching — a copy of a tract, which is just now cir- culating in Theale, which may give you some idea of the work we do hinder. I will read one or two extracts : — 'The plea of "conscience" is a modern artifice on the part of Dissenters, who wish to see themselves regarded as martyrs. To sum up. Some or other kind of State re- ligion has existed in every nation of ancient or modern times, with but very, very few exceptions. Egypt, Persia, Greece, Carthage, regal, republican, and imperial Rome, Druidical Britain, and a multitude of states and empires, bear us out. No matter whether that religion were Jewish, Pagan, Mahomedan, or Christian ; in all cases there was a State-united creed. If all nations, in all ages of the world, have deemed a national religion a necessary adjunct to secular government, are English Dissenters, for their own caprice and ends, to be quietly permitted to overturn that branch of Christ's Holy Catholic Church which has for well-nigh 1,300 years been established in these realms, to the great spiritual and temporal blessing of the Anglo- Saxon race ? " Presumptuous are they, self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities." How graphically do these words describe a large body of the Dissenters of the SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 159 present day, including some well known as writers and preachers. Foremost among those Dissenting ministers, notorious for their abusive language towards the Church, are Thomas Binney, Newman Hall, Edward Miall, 0. H. Spurgeon, not to name other less-known champions of schism and the separation of Church and State. Most faithfully does St. Paul portray and condemn, in 2 Tim. iv. 3, schism. Even in his time he had to deprecate per- sons calling themselves (as we should say) " Paulites," " Apostolites." So also would he condemn the Irvingites, the Glassites, the Calvinists, the Wesleyans, &c, of the present day. Such is the vicious — inherently vicious — nature of dissent, that even when a body of persons secede from the Church, and form themselves into a separate com- munity, the new community hold together but a short time. Thus the " Baptists," originally a single sect, have con- stantly fallen out amongst themselves. We have now the "General (Unitarian) Baptists," "General (New Con- nexion) Baptists," "Particular Baptists," "Seven-day Baptists," " Scotch Baptists," &c, all sects of a sect ; circumstances (and many others might be adduced) show- ing the utter rottenness, the unscripturalness, and conse- quently, the wickedness of dissent. "They heap to themselves teachers." This was true in 66 a.d. ; it is still true in 1861 a.d.' "Now let me ask, if that be distinctive Church teaching, is it not a time for dissent to assert itself? Are not the true hinderers of the Word of God those who thus poison the minds of the people — who sow bitter seeds of dissen- sion, rail against good men, and, after the example of one I need not name, quote Scripture for their wicked pur- poses ? Again, the bishop proposes sidesmen, whose special duty is, he says, to ' see that all the parishioners ' (there is to be no exception in the case of Dissenters) ' duly resort to their church upon all Sundays and holy days, earnestly calling upon, and admonishing, those who are slack and negligent,' and finally ' presenting the obdurate.' Now, if this charge had not been spoken by a grave bishop, in such a grave place, and to such grave people, and amid so many gravities, one would have fancied that the bishop had been betrayed into a little humour here. Think of the sidesmen — a kind of ecclesiastical detective or special police for church extension — in this the nineteenth 160 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. century. In England, too, where we do not hesitate to put the person who acts as a spy on our ordinary goings, under the first pump we come to. Suppose, for example, that to-day is a holyday appointed in honour of some saint of blessed and inscrutable memory ; but here we have been instead of being at church. Suddenly there come into our midst men of severe countenance and repute, noting us all down, or, if they are able, trooping us all off, hanging our heads like whipped boys, with our good father and friend, Mr. Legg, at the head of us, to pay fourpence apiece for the benent of the clergy. Show me the man upon whom the love of the Father has cast its everlasting bands, with the blood that ever speaks for pardon and for peace upon his conscience — whose wanderings from Glod have been stayed by the overcoming grace of the Spirit — who believes on my Saviour, loves my Saviour, on whom my Saviour sees His growing image — and who is going up with sing- ing to the many mansions which constitue but one Father's house : how would you treat him, churchmen ? ' He is a Dissenter,' says the bishop, ' don't come near him.' 'What ! but the life-blood of the Saviour is upon him.' 'Never mind; our sacramental water has not besprinkled him.' 'He is forgiven of G-od.' 'Never mind; he has not re- ceived priestly absolution.' ' He has partaken of the body and blood of Christ.' 'Never mind; he has not received the consecrated elements from ordained fingers.' 'He loves the Saviour.' 'Never mind; he pronounces not our shibboleth.' 'He is trying to save souls — casting out devils.' ' Never mind ; let the prodigal wander, and the brands go down to their burning, and poor lost souls perish from our very doors, rather than any effort be put forth out of "Church order."' Oh, shame upon the spirit, though it breathe on a bishop's bench, and from the high places of the sanctuary itself, which thus outrages alike the Christian and his Lord! 'Whom God hath joined togther, let not man put asunder.' " The Eev. W. Legg, B.A.:— "Now, what is the 'distinctive Church teaching' to which the l>ishop of Oxford alludes, which is to aid the jy, and be a remedy for the presence of dissent? Let the distinctive Church teachers speak for themselves. SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 161 Bishop Jeremy Taylor, in his 'Episcopacy Asserted,' says : 1 The sum of all is this, that Christ did institute apostles and presbyters, or seventy-two disciples. To the apostles He gave amplitude of power, for the whole commission was given to them in as great and comprehensive clauses as were imaginable ; for by virtue of it they received a power of giving the Holy Ghost in confirmation, and of giving His grace in the collation of Holy Orders, a power of juris- diction and authority to govern the Church ; and this power was not temporary, but successive and perpetual, and was intended as an ordinary office in the Church, so that the successors of the apostles had the same right and institution as the apostles themselves had. The apostles did give power of administering sacraments, of absolving sinners. And all this, I doubt not, but was done by the direction of the Holy Ghost, as were all other acts of apostolic ministration ; and so I will vindicate the practices of the present Church from the common prejudices that disturb us, for by this account episcopacy is not only a divine institution, but the only order that derives immediately from Christ.' Dr. Hicks, another of the distinctive teachers, says : ' Bishops are appointed to succeed the apostles, and, like them, to stand in Christ's place, and exercise the kingly, priestly, and prophetical offices over their flocks. Can you, when you consider this, think it novel, or improper, or uncouth, to call them spiritual princes, and their dioceses principalities? For what is a prince but a chief ruler of a society, that hath authority over the rest to make laws for it, to challenge the obedience of all the members, and all ranks of men in it, and power to coerce them if they will not obey ? They stand in God's stead, and in Christ's stead, over their flocks ; the clergy, as well as the people, are to be subject to them as to the vicegerents of our Lord. ... I need not tell you how much the ancient Christians stood in aiue of the apostolic rod in the hands of their bishops, especially of excom- munication, which they look upon as the spiritual axe and sic or d to the soul, and thought more terrible than death.' Ajad Dr. Hook, the present Dean of Chichester, says: ' Some persons seem to think that the government of the Church was essentially different in the days of the apostles from what it is now, because they do not find the names and titles of the ecclesiastical officers precisely the same. We ask, what was the fact ? and the fact was this, that the M 162 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. officer whom we now call a bishop, was at first called an apostle, although, afterwards it was thought better to con- fine the title of apostle to those who had seen the Lord Jesus, while their successors, although unendowed with miraculous powers, exercising the same rights and authority, contented themselves with the designation of bishops. The prelates, who at this present time rule the churches of these realms, were validly ordained by others, who, by means of an unbroken spiritual descent of ordination, derived their mission from the apostles and from our Lord. This con- tinued descent is evident to every one who chooses to investi- gate it. Let him read the catalogues of our bishops, ascending up to the most remote periods. Our ordinations descend in a direct unbroken line from Peter and Paul. .... And from their time, an uninterrupted series of valid ordination has carried down the apostolic succession in our churches to the present day. There is not a bishop, priest, or deacon amongst us, who cannot, if he pleased, trace his own spiritual descent from St. Peter and St. Paul.' "Let us now see how this ordination is transmitted. Archdeacon Mason, in his 'Defence of the Church of England's Ministry,' puts the question, 'Does schism or heresy take away the power of consecration ? ' The answer is, 'Neither heresy nor degradation from the office of a bishop, nor schism, nor the most extreme wickedness (quamvis enim viri essent omnium secleratissimi), nor anything else, can deprive a person, once made a bishop, of the power of giving true orders? 'This,' he goes on to say, 'we joyful) 'y embrace? This is distinctive Church teaching, and surely every pious mind must revolt at the thought of the de- fenders of an important section of the Protestant Church joyfully embracing the impious position that a bishop is a true bishop, though a heretic and the most wicked of men. But unless that be granted apostolic succession must fall to the ground. It must perish or be received through the hands of the moral monsters who were in the succession at Pome. Yet all this must be maintained to support the arrogant assumptions of the bishops. Thus Bishop Taj-lor says : ' Without the episcopacy no priest, no ordination, no consecration of sacraments, no absolution, no rite or sacrament Legitimately can be performed in order to eternity.' Dr. Hook says further: 'Unless Christ be spiritually present with the ministers of religion in their SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER. SIGNS. 16 services, those services must be vain. But the only minis- trations to which He has promised His presence is to those of the bishops who are successors of the first commissioned apostles, and the other clergy acting under their sanction and authority.' He adds: 'I know the outcry which is raised against this by those sects which can trace their origin no higher than to some celebrated preacher at the Refor- mation. But I disregard it? In these extracts you have the main features of the system, which the Bishop of Oxford calls ' distinctive church teaching.' From the creation to the coming of Christ the Church was never built on any men, or order of men, but was founded on the living God. It is fair, therefore, to ask the distinctive teachers where they find their personal succession scheme, or any importance attached to it ? It is not in the Bible, it is not in the Constitution and Canons of the Church of England, it is not in her Articles, nor can I find it anywhere in the Prayer Book. I am afraid it is a tradition from Pome, adopted to lead back this dear old England of ours into that false Church, whose essential element is the sub- jugation of the human mind to human authority in matters of religion. A gospel minister is God's own positive insti- tution. Ministers are Christ's ascension gifts to the Church. Whenever a revival of vital godliness has taken place the work has been done, not by the pretended succession bishops, but generally in spite of them — by nonconformists. The Waldenses in the valleys of the Alps ; the Lollards in England ; Luther, Melancthon, Calvin, Zwingle, and Emox; the Puritans in their day, and the Wesleys and Whitfield in later times, are all full proof of what I say. The English reformers are no exception to this remark. Who broke up the fallow ground, and sowed the seed of the Peformation in England ? Who watered it with their tears and blood before Henry VIII. quarrelled with the Pope ? The bishops ? Emphatically, No ! They imprisoned .the saints, and shed their blood like water. You devout members of the Church of England, who tremble for your children's future faith, teach them to read 'Eoxe's Book of Martyrs. They will there learn that Protestantism had its worst enemies among the apostolical bishops. As an order they all sided with antichrist, excepting only five. As a nonconformist minister, it gives me great pleasure to mention those hallowed names — Cranmer, Latimer, Pidley, M 2 164 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. Hooper, and Jewell. Would I could have recited five hundred instead of five, our country would not have been in the state it is to-day. Since their time, it must be confessed that the persecution of the Puritans, and alt the injuries and insults offered to nonconformists, have generally originated with the bishops. Thanks to a kind Providence, their power is limited, and ptiblic opinion is going on to limit it more and more. Still, there is an apostolic succession which I claim for myself and my brethren; it is the only supreme and essential rule of succession, namely, the preaching of the truth, of the faith, of the doctrine taught by the apostles. We want Christ crucified, and the demonstration of the Spirit. The Rev. Edward Bickersteth, in his excellent work, ' The Christian Student,' quotes Bishop Lavington's charge to his clergy in or about the year 1750, in which he says: 'My brethren, I beg you will rise up with me against moral preaching. We have long been attempting the reformation of the nation by discourses of this kind. With what success ? None at all. On the contrary, we have dexterously preached the people into downright infidelity. We must preach Clmst and Him crucified. Nothing but the Gospel is, nothing besides will be found to be, the power of God unto salvation. Let me, therefore, again and again request — (may I not add, let me charge ?) — you to preach Jesus, and salvation through His name.' Now, if moral preaching, which at least may appeal to common sense, only preached the people into infidelity, what other fruit can we expect from mere Sacramentarianism ? Pusej'ism is simply a reaction on the then widely-spreading evan- gelization in the Church; Eationalism is a reaction on Puseyism ; and from Eationalism there is but one step to Infidelity, and that step has been taken by a bishop, who says that « Moses is a myth ; ' and if so, we know that Christ can be nothing more, for He says, 'If ye had believed Moses, ye would have believed me.' The inference is, he that believes not Moses believes not in Christ. If the truth of the Gospel had been left to the Succession men, it would have perished long ago. The fishermen of Galilee, the poor men of Lyons, the Huguenots in Prance, the Lollards in England, Luther (the monk) in Germany, the stripling Wesleys and Whitfield at Oxford— these, these have been God's instruments — this, this is the sue- SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 165 cession to which. I feel it to be my glory to belong. Let all human schemes perish in their turn when abused to prevent the progress of Gospel truth and holiness. If mine is not a plant which my heavenly Father has planted let it be rooted up ; I shall be a gainer. The Lord liveth ; blessed be His holy name ! Blessed be His name for His servants — His holy ministers of every denomination ! Blessed be His name for His martyrs ! His confessors ! above all, blessed be His name for the unspeakable gift of His Son, and of His holy truth, transmitted by the Scriptures, and a holy ministry, from generation to generation." The Eev. J. F. Stevenson, B.A. : — ''Speaking of the Church and the Bible, the bishop says : ' We shall, in the long run, be unable really to maintain the divine authority of Holy Scripture if we give up the divine authority, in its proper place, of "the Holy Catholic Church." The two are absolute correla- tives.' If the bishop simply means to say that the Bible came down historically through the channel of the Church of Christ, he is saying what every Sunday-school boy knows. I have too high an opinion of his common sense to believe for a moment that he would announce so jaded a truism to an audience of clergymen, and especially that he would propound it as a sovereign remedy for scepticism. If the bishop means any more than that, then he can only mean that the authority of the Church is our guarantee for the truth of the Bible — that is to say, the Bible is to be received as true because the Church declares it to be true. The bishop means this latter, or he means nothing. There is no escaping the dilemma. If the words of the charge are not absolute nonsense, or school- boy platitude, they declare that the Bible is nothing until it has received the imprimatur of the Church. This is the announcement which is to crush the scepticism of Bishop Colenso, and reply to the 'Essays and Reviews.' I know not what the bishop may call it, I can designate it only by one name — it is Popery" 166 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. " Signor Gravazzi lias been lately lecturing in Bayswater, London, on ' Eomanism in England.' Amongst very many practical remarks, he observed that i selfishness alone, if no better feeling, ought to induce ministers of the Gospel to treat more of the practical questions of the times, and less of mere dogmatic theology ; for if the present indifference continued, the flocks ayouM soon leave their several pastors.' And the lecturer fully and strongly pointed out the faith- lessness of both civic and ecclesiastical officials in respect to this state of things. He dwelt upon the several doctrines of the Puseyite party, and proved how analogous they were to the licentious, absurd, and blasphemous dogmas of the Church of Eome ; and asserted, from his knowledge of facts, that many in our Church held dispensations from the Pope to remain nominal Protestants, in order that they may the more effectually betray us and secure their object." Signor Gravazzi's assertion is nothing new to some persons, or in any wise questioned by others who are familiar with what he so faithfully exposes. Puseyism and Popery in the Church of England is pregnant with means for making free-thinkers and infidels — an ignis fatuus — fascinating and bewildering common sense — while it exhibits its lurid phantoms until the deceived, in their disappointment and disgust, hopelessly sink in the swamp of no belief whatever, and find relief only in that which for the present moment gratifies the sensuous nature. Thus, individuals, finding the rigidity of cold ritualism, with the repetition of its dead services, irk- some and disappointing, seek repose in that which is its natural reaction, namely, the ancient, but still modern, creed of the infidel — "No Grod." We may truly sympathize with these unhappy wanderers, particularly when we have ourselves been led through, and proved these wordly fallacies. Multitudes are brought up with the false notion that religion and the Church of England are inseparable — SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 167 that everything safe and proper must be secured in being a member of a national Church, thus regarding every other position for worship as ignorant and low, and well meriting the usual opprobrium of " vulgar dissent," &c, and therefore beneath the standing of the upper classes. This view reacts upon others, who, with those whose favour is closely allied to their temporal interests, regard one another as the first and most respe3table people in the land. They take for granted that no occasion can be given for their own hearts, or the judgment of others, to question the purity of their religion or the respectability of their characters, so long as they strictly adhere to the services and ordinances of their Church, having been duly baptized (viz., made "regenerate, and grafted into the body of Christ's Church," and taught to lisp from infancy, " wherein I was nade a member of Christ, a child of Grod, and an inherror of the kingdom of heaven " ! !) and " con- firmee" in the same ! ! Mmh of the teaching in the Church of England is founcbd on the following specimen, taken out of " Hynns for Little Children," of which " the two hundiedth thousand" are in circulation amongst Episopal children : — " See, then, the font, the Church's door; The group with gladsome look ; The waters, and the priest to pour, The sponsors and the book. " And he — of innocence that wears That sign and spotless vest, How shepherd-like, like Him that bears The lambkin in His breast. " But hark, the tiny Christian's name ; Hush ! 'tis the mystic Trine ; The water and the Spirit came, And there is life divine. 168 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. " The cross is signed — mysterious seal Of death our life that won ; — And Christ's dear spouse for woe or weal Hath born her Lord a son." A few words may suffice here, as important information and facts will follow concerning this matter. Probably some one is now reading this book who is the very sub- ject for exhortation and warning. For your precious soul's sake, for all that concerns you when you shall open your eyes in eternity, " prove all things " nor, for " Behold, now is the accepted time ; behold, now is the day of salvation." Examine, according to the Gospel of Christ what you are listening to and engaged in every seventh day, when the "going to church" fuiets and satisfies the consciences of multitudes. "We srould acknowledge and cordially admire the wisdom of these adherents to the Church of England, and we woiid as cordially co-operate with them, were this- icorld al that concerns us ! For probably few have left the Qiurch of England without personal results proving the truth of what has just been stated, those who have lei the Establishment are made to feel the tenacity of ahers, for they not unfrequently find themselves regarced as having * ; lost caste ! " But let everything have iti own due; the Church of England, from its very insti- tution, assumes for her members a position Thich gives a sort of definite standing, and in the judgnent of some people that standing is reliable and covpled with honour. Such honour may well be dispensedvvith by those who are led to " dissent " from a " State Church," from a full conscientious conviction that n so doing they come under the promise — "Him hat honoureth me I will honour." (The almost universal SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGN'S. 169 abuse of the term " dissent " can only continue so long as the State Church is looked upon as "the mother Church " invested with the only pure religion.) But ere long the true Christians within her pale will probably be compelled to follow those who have already left her. They will not be able to associate any longer with her natural children, who, coming to sufficient maturity, manifest the evils of her constitution in tlie forms of Broad Church, High Church, Popery, and Infidelity ; these are at enmity against each other (like Herod and Pilate), and only become friends when united action is necessary to uphold " the mother Church " against the truth which enforces nonconformity. It is a glorious fact that Gk>d blesses His truth for its own sake, to the salvation of many in the Church of England, but this great goodness only increases the responsibility of those who preach it. For they have virtually to sap the constitution of their ecclesiastical position in laying the foundation of a sinner's only hope in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is this inconsistency which has compelled many servants of Grod to leave her, affording proofs of the overruling power of the Holy Grhost. How many Christians of late have been enabled to overcome natural prejudices, and to separate from that which they have discovered to be one of the offences which must come, and to bear with the result of a step which is regarded by many as bondage, but by them deliverance. "With pain and confusion we must declare that the ancient bulwarks have been broken down ; the wild boar of the wood is devastating the vineyards, and playing havoc with our most costly treasures. Is he to be driven 170 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. out ? We fear not. Are we content to lodge with him, and own him as a neighbour and a friend ? Many seem to be debating the question. But our answer is,' — No ; we de- pended for security on our sentinels and outposts, they have slept, the enemy is now within the walls, and it would be the height of complacency to say, Well, let us be agreed, and try to live together as friends. No — ten thousand times No ! To remain would be slavery of soul and body. We must withdraw from what we cannot mend ; otherwise, at our Lord's r*eturn, we shall be thought to be in league with His foes. We urge these considerations upon the evan- gelical clergy, for we sadly fear they are lingering in Sodom at the peril of their own safety, and of the honour of the cause they have promised to defend. We believe that trials and temptations are at hand which would, if it were possible, ' deceive the very elect.' " He who was a liar and murderer from the beginning has been most successful in his deceivings by being an imitator of God. You often see this in Scripture, and especially in the Revelation. God has wise virgins ; Satan has virgins also — false. Christ sows good seed — wheat; Satan sows seeds, too — tares. God has a vine — ' the true vine ;' Satan has a vine also — ' the vine of the earth.' Christ has a bride ; Satan has a harlot. God has a city — the New Jerusalem ; Satan also has a city — Babylon. But none of his imitations seem so vile as in Eev. xiii. — none so perfect in blasphemy against God. For instance, God had a man, His dear Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, to bear witness for Him in the earth ; Satan will have a man also — the man of sin. God did ' miracles and wonders and signs ' by Jesus of Nazareth ; Satan's servant will come too 'with all power, and signs, and lying wonders ' (compare Acts ii. 22 with 2 Thess. ii. 9). God will have all worship Jesus, and bow the knee to Him, for He is worthy ; so Satan will have all that dwell upon the earth to worship 'the beast,' whose names are not written in the book of life. The saints of God shall have His name 'in their foreheads;' so the worshippers of 'the beast ' ' shall receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads.' But worse than all this is the direct blasphemy against God. The Gospel of the grace of God now gives testimony to the love and wisdom and power of the Triune God — Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ; so we se^ SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 171 in this chapter that Satan has a trio also — the beast, false prophet, and the image that doth speak ; all energized by- one lying spirit — all united in blaspheming God and deceiving man. This infernal outrage, venting itself in direct antagonism to Christ, seems to fill up the measure of iniquity, and bring speedy vengeance from heaven by the glorious appearing of the Son of Man in great power and glory, who will consume this wicked one with the spirit of His mouth, and destroy with the brightness of His coming. Both the beast and the false prophet are cast alive at once into ' the lake of fire burning with brim- stone ' (2 Thess. ii. 8 ; Eev. xix. 20). Happy for us who believe that ' when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, we also shall appear with Him in glory ' (Col. iii. 4)." We are now about to quote from a most interesting and instructive book, " The Two Babylons," by the Eev. Alexander Hislop. (Houlston and Wright.) "If Eome be indeed Babylon of the Apocalypse, and the Madonna enshrined in her sanctuaries be the very Queen of Heaven, for the worshipping of whom the fierce anger of Gk>d was provoked against the Jews in the days of Jeremiah, it is of the last consequence that the fact should be established beyond the possibility of doubt ; for that being once established, every one who trembles at the Word of God must shudder at the very thought of giving such a system, either individually or nationally, the least countenance or support. At every step the evidence to prove the identity of the Eoman and Babylonian systems, becomes still more overwhelming. But that which arises from comparing the different festivals is peculiarly so. The festivals of Eome are innumerable, but five of the most important may be singled out for elucidation — viz., Christmas, Lady-day, Easter, the Nativity of St. John, and the Feast of the Assumption Each and all of these can be proved to be Babylonian. And first, as to the festival in honour of Christ, or Christmas. How was it that that festival was, connected with the 25th of December ? There is not a word in the Scriptures about the precise day of His birth, or the time of the year when He was born. What is recorded there implies that at what time soever 172 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. this birth, took place, it could not have been on the 25th of December. At the time the angels announced the birth to the shepherds of Bethlehem, they were feeding their flocks by night in the open field. It was not the custom for shepherds to watch their flocks in the open fields later than about the end of October. It is, therefore, in the last degree incredible that the birth of Christ could have taken place at the end of December. Indeed, it is admitted by the most learned and candid writers that the Lord's birth cannot be determined, and that, ivithin the Christian Church, no such festival as Christmas was ever heard of till the third century, and that not till the fourth century was far advanced did it gain much observance. How, then, did the Eomish Church fix on the 25th of December as Christmas-day. Why, thus; long before the fourth century, and long before the Christian era itself, a festival was celebrated among the heathen at that precise time of the year, in honour of the birth of the Babylonian Queen of Heaven ; and it may fairly be presumed that, to con- ciliate the heathen, and to swell the number of the nominal adherents of Christianity, the same festival was adopted by the Roman Church, giving it only the name of Christ. " This tendency on the part of Christians to meet Paganism half-way, was very early developed; and we find Tertullian, even in his day, about the year 230, bitterly lamenting the inconsistency of the disciples of Christ in this respect, and contrasting it with the strict fidelity of the Pagans to their superstitions. Upright men strove to stem the tide; but in spite of all their efforts, the apostasy went on, till the Church, with the ex- ception of a small remnant, was submerged under Pagan superstition. "That Christmas was originally a Pagan festival, is beyond all doubt. The time of the year, and the cere- monies with which it is celebrated, prove its origin. In Egypt, the son of Isis, the Egyptian title for the Queen of Heaven, was born at this very time, i about the time of the winter solstice.' The very name by which Christmas is popularly known amongst ourselves — Yule-day — proves at once its Pagan and Babylonian origin. * Yule ' is the. Chaldee name for ' infant,' or < little child ;' and, as the 25th of December was called by our Anglo-Saxon an- cestors ' Yule-day,' or the * child' s-day,' long before they SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 173 came in contact with Christianity, that sufficiently proves its real character. " The wassail-bowl of Christmas had its precise counter- part in the ' Drunken Festival ' of Babylon ; and many of the other observances still kept up among ourselves at Christmas, came from the very same quarter. The candles lighted on Christmas- eve, and used so long as the festive season lasts, were also lighted by the Pagans on the eve of the festival of the Babylonian god, to do honour to him, for it was the distinguishing peculiarity of his worship, to have lighted wax-candles on his altars. The Christmas- tree, now so common amongst us, was equally common in Pagan Pome and Pagan Egypt — in Egypt, the palm ; in Pome, the fir. . . . Yea, the ' Christmas goose ' and the ' Yule cakes ' were essential articles in the worship of the Babylonian messiah, as practised both at Egypt and at Pome. " The next great festival in the Popish calendar gives the very strongest confirmation to what has now been said. That festival, called Lady-day, is celebrated at Pome on the 25th of March, in alleged commemoration of the miraculous conception of our Lord in the womb of the Virgin, on the day when the angel was sent to announce to her the distinguished honour that was to be bestowed upon her, as the mother of the Messiah. But who could tell when this annunciation was made ? The Scripture gives no clue whatever in regard to the time. But it mattered not. Before our Lord was conceived or born, that very day now set down in the Popish (and Church of England) calendar for the ' Annunciation of the Virgin,' was observed in Pagan Pome in honour of Cybele, the mother of the Babylonian messiah! Now, it is manifest that Lady-day and Christmas stand in intimate relation to one another. Between the 25th of March and the 25th of December there are exactly nine months. If, then, the false Messiah was conceived in March and born in Decem- ber, can any one for a moment believe that the conception and birth of the true Messiah could have so exactly synchronized, not only to the month, but to the very day ? The thing is incredible ! Lady-day and Christmas-day, then, are purely Babylonian festivals. "As to the connection between Popery and State Pro- testantism (notwithstanding the difference of doctrine) 174 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. Goldwin Smith, a clergyman, and Begins Professor of Modern History at Oxford, thus writes in reply to Lord Stanley — ' The English Establishment is a relic of that great European establishment of the middle ages, of which the Papacy was the centre and the life.'' If so, then the Church of England, as by law established — not her doctrine, but her State connection — is part and parcel of * Babylon the Great ' — a member of ' the great whore ' that rides the beast. " The Divine contrast of the woman on the least on earth, is the woman on nothing in heaven (see Pev. xii). This is God's idea of a Church (see Col. iii. 1 — 3, and Eph. ii. 5 — 7). So far is the woman from standing on sublunary things, that she stands above the moon, with no visible sup- port ; for she walks by faith, not by sight, and is sustained by the unseen God. This heavenly system is called ' the new Jerusalem, ' in allusion to ancient Jerusalem, ' the city of the great King,' and in opposition to 'Babylon the great.' The one is a 'chaste virgin,' the other is ' a great whore.' The virginity of the former consists in her simple dependence on God ; the whoredom of the latter consists in her dependence on the world ; and as old Babylon per- secuted old Jerusalem, so new Babylon persecutes new Jerusalem ; for all State Churches are necessarily perse- cutors of the true bride. The serpent's sting may, indeed, be destroyed, but his hiss will ever be heard. Popery, State Protestantism, and world Protestantism are all guilty of persecution in some shape or other." — " Babylon the Great" Phil-ax. Let those, then, who profess to belong to the new Jerusalem see that they are not found in the new Babylon persecuting the true bride. What have the followers of Jesus to do with condemned Christendom in a doomed world ? " Come out of her, my people." " The world and the world's Church will go hand in hand, and each will choose the same head and king. 'If another sliall come in his own name, him ye will receive.' The Jew, the world, and the nominal Church will own one head, but not the rightful Lord and Christ. Some may not SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 175 follow these remarks ; but it is well for us to discern things that differ. The Holy Scriptures do speak of a time of universal blessing ; but in no place do they encourage the fond hope of the world being better in this age or dispensation. There is an age of glory, of peace, and of love coming. But prophecy warns us of the world's apos- tasy, and of the apostasy of the Church, too. In taking this scriptural and most simple view of things, we learn to understand the true condition of the world, of the pro- fessing Church, and of the true Church. The course and end of each one of these will appear in their true light. The world is but ripening for its coming fearful judgment. The end of this ' Christian dispensation ' will be Hke the close of the Jewish one (2 Pet. ii.); full corruption will manifest itself." Many signs already trouble weak and unestablished believers ; twelve churches of the High Church school are now in full force in London. In all, in the diocese of London, sixty such churches are numbered. The humble-minded need not fear. The Almighty has in safe keeping all His own. Every heart is in His hand. He knows His Antipases and His witnesses. From the first ages until the present hour there have been those who have stood firm against error and evil. "Most eventful scenes are rapidly approaching. There is an earnestness and intensity of purpose on both sides that must lead to the most serious consequences. If the spirits of evil are making their final struggle, the spirits of good men are equally determined to resist manfully in the defence of the faith entrusted to the saints by their absent Lord. We well know the strength of the foun- dation upon which that faith is built ; we know that it is impregnable ; but we also know that the true Church has been honoured by its custody, and that the Master's sore displeasure awaits those who have failed in or flinched from this heavenly warfare." 176 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. The Pope, in his late wondrous and mediaeval en- cyclical, gives a long list of errors — philosophy, ra- tionalism, pantheism, &c. He enumerates evil after evil, but, unhappily for the poor old man, in his list of heresies the Bible Society is named ! What a warning in proof of how low the mind becomes, first distorted, then enslaved to its creed. However, we need not exhaust all our lamentation on the poor old Pope. There are signs and tokens nearer home (not altogether irrelevant to parts of the encyclical letter), calling upon Christians to be as wise as serpents, and to place them- selves as sentries to guard the "precious treasure, book divine" from the ruthless hands of infidel heads and unhumbled hearts. The Pope is honest, we can all understand him ; but the half-hatched little Popes at home are very trouble- some. Nevertheless, some of us do understand the ominous sounds, and can unravel the network contained in the charges, sermons, books, &c, emanating from bishops and those under their authority, from whose writings specimens are given here. "Would that such specimens were confined to the names attached to these dark sayings. A vast number of others might be added who subscribe to everything contained in these quota- tions. Some people "are puzzled," others are " afraid to express their opinions," while Komanizing teachers and tendencies are broadcast over the land. " Dr. Manning has received in all 3,000 abjurations, and Father Faber BayB, in his Church they are of daily occurrence." But this by no means relieves the Church of England from Romanizing teachers, as the following will prove. The author was recently in conversation with a " very high SPIRITUALISM AXD OTHER SIGjS\S. 177 cliiirch" clergyman, who stated that one of his many Roman Catholic friends had just asked hi in why he did not join the Church of Eome. To which he replied, " I have no intention of doing so, because I have no neces- sity ; I find enough in the Church of England to satisfy me." It may be well to mention some of the milder forms of high-churchism, previous to its full develop- ment into rank popery or infidelity. Multitudes are now confiding in forms and ceremonies, and every seventh day, assisted with a cross on the Prayer Book, a small atonement is made for the weekly commissions and omissions. "While untruthful clergymen, some amongst them not concealing their freethinking and popish- thinking priestly characters, are all received, listened to, and discussed, as affording one of the many novel and exciting subjects of the day, with no more concern about their mutual precious souls, or the infidel blasphemy contained in what they speak or listen to than were they considering the merits or demerits of professors of music or painting ! The sermons, prayers, and singing are accepted or rejected, not according to the matter contained, but according to the style of the performances. Partaking of other men's sins is no small transgression, but to listen to what poisons the soul, is tempting Grocl to leave the subjects of such wilful conduct to the results of their wickedness. One instance here will suffice : — "On Sunday week Dr. Temple preached, by appoint- ment of the Bishop of London, at Whitehall. In the course of a sermon on ' The Inspiration of the Bible, ' he is reported by the Daily News to have declared that the state- ments of Genesis and the discoveries of science 'were totally irreconcilable.' They must come to the conclusion that the narrative in the first of Genesis was not a history at all, but poetry ; and more to the same effect." N 178 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. The professors of religion forget that God can as easily deal out curses as blessings, if He please, " For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming them- selves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel ; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also he transformed as the ministers of righteousness ; whose end shall he according to their works " (2 Cor. xi. 13 — 15). These enemies of God's truth are regarded by some people as heroes; hence, when any such hero is ex- pected to preach, he is sure to have a crowded con- gregation to increase his woeful responsibility, and to prove the lamentable condition of his hearers. Many of the young and inexperienced are becoming seared against the truth as they listen to the preaching of such men, added to which, their ears are polluted by hearing the "Word of God questioned, by the loose and infidel principles spoken out in drawing-rooms, alike in the gin-palace and beer-house. A father was heard to say lately, when spoken to about his soul's salvation, " Well, if bishops and their clergy are not agreed about the Bible, and what is truth, surely I may be excused if I know but little about it." These ruinous results thus tell upon some, while the weighty responsibility of others will appear from the following quotations : — " Some bishops of the Established Church, for instance, Goodman and Cheyney of Gloucester, and Gordon of Glas- g< >\v ; i nobably also King of London, Hallifax of St. Asaph ; died Roman Catholics." — Milner Refuted. How carefully should we guard against the least taint of contempt or bitterness in writing or speaking about those who are deluded in error, and thus separated from us who stand on the ground of God's truth. For SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 179 although our spirits are grieved by them aud for them, aud we are unable to give them divine light and deliverance, we know not the happy moment when it may please Grod to reveal Christ in them the hope of glory, and thus to unite by one Spirit in Jesus what is now so antagonistic to the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace. The Christian's love is greatly tested when inquiring souls for the way of life are hindered by wicked men, and as they say, "What are we to do ?" while every antagonism to the truth is presented to them by those who profess to teach and guide. Let the troubled and perplexed learn to " cease from man," " Looking off unto Jesus," who says, " Him that cometh unto me I will in nowise cast out ; " " Every one that asketh receiveth." These "dark dealings" with them unfold in the light, thus proving the truth of Grod's Word in its prophecies and suitable promises. You will with such teaching call upon your soul to praise the Lord for His love and faithfulness, practically knowing the blessedness of suffering in fellowship with the Master, willing to be contradicted and persecuted, if only His grace and glory may be magnified in and by you. " Where reason fails, •with, all her powers, There faith prevails, and love adores." " The Lord reigneth." He who made the world, can He not make a way for you ? Can He not teach, keep, and bless all those who through sovereign grace have been brought to repent and believe the Grospel — causing darkness to be light, and crooked things straight, such crooked things indeed that none but the Lord Jesus could steer your way through the billows and storms of these tempestuous days ? N 2 180 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. "'The night is far spent.' Protestants, awake! Yes; the night of Gentile wickedness is blackening around our horizon. Jehovah's forbearance, the Church's testimony and sufferings, Satan's power, creation's thraldom, the world's misgovernment, Israel's blindness — all are hastening to their crisis ; the day of the Lord, in which even the righteous shall scarcely be saved, is at hand. Oh, then, what search- ings of heart should affect us all : ' Who may abide the day of His coming? Who shall stand when He ap- peareth?' (Mai. iii.) "But more particularly, ye Christian people, who are patriots, and who can weep, like Jesus, for the woes that are coming upon your land, England's sun is fast going down. The time was, when, in her laws and institutions, however degenerate her children, she honoured God. When the pround foot of the invader, Napoleon, trod every other soil, and the oldest dynasties of Europe shook at his ap- proach ; when, in neighbouring states, their fruitful fields were turned into military encampments, their public build- ings into barracks, and the tenderest youths were torn from their parents' arms to feed as conscripts the lusts of voracious war ; and though, as the crowning point of his ambition, the imperious despot burned with desire to sub- ject this country to his sway — by the finger of God, as it were, was he warned off our coast ; yea, England was used to chastise and bring the usurper low, and was exhibited in the honourable position of benefactress of the civilized world. But alas ! how has the gold become dim ! how are we fallen from our high distinction ! It is competent now for infidels and idolaters to direct the counsels of the throne, to legislate as senators, to preside as judges, to clothe them with civic honours ! Nor, ere the citadel of the constitution was thus opened to these enemies, was the question even entertained, ' Is this compatible with the honour and glory of God ?' It sufficed to inquire, * Was it conducive to carnal peace ?' That the measure was antichristian, was not cared for ; but simply (and that with fallacious reasoning), that it was not antisocial. And still this course of godless liberalism is being gloried in and prosecuted, though 'out of the serpent's root has come forth the cockatrice,' every sacrifice of principle having but produced scorn for our inconsistency, and yielded a more commanding ground fox attack upon the little which has been recovered. SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 181 " "Witness, once more, the acclamation with which is hailed in the British Parliament, the aspiration after har- mony between the ranks of Christ and those of antichrist ; and the shont of derision, on the other head, called forth by a faithful testimony to their distinguishing colours. Awake, then, ye Protestants of the land, ye servants of the most high God, who have not bowed the knee to Baal. "Who knoweth but that for such a time as this, ye have influence still left you in the kingdom, if not to avert the crisis, yet to postpone it, and put a drag upon the down- ward career of your infatuated country. But, be not deceived as to the efforts which become you ; it is the nation has sinned, and it is the nation must repent. No prevalence of piety among individuals will avail as a substitute for this. True, had there been even ten righteous persons in Sodom and Gomorrah, those cities had been spared; but in our case, the analogy holds not with such heathen multi- tudes, but with Israel — the organized depository of religion — its responsible witness in the earth — in regard to whose land we read, ' Though those three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord God.' But now, how is this national repentance to be brought about? at least, how is it to be attempted ? Ye Protestant senators, ye in whose hearts is the love of God — where are you? The soldiers of an earthly sovereign will band themselves in the forlorn hope, and at the call of duty, will rush into the cannon's mouth ; and they do it for a corruptible crown : cannot you, then, show similar loyalty to the King of kings, who holds out to His faithful followers ' a crown of glory that fadeth not away ? ' Can you not bear the re- proach of confessing Christ, and testifying that ' righteous- ness exalteth a nation, and that sin is a shame to any people ? ' Can you not brave the ignorant scorn of foolish men, and affirm that God hath spoken ; that what is truth is not matter of mere inquiry with you, but that you have found it ; that it has come to you endorsed with the testimony of your martyred forefathers, and that popery is a lie ; that therefore, in love to your neighbour, you must discourage it ? If your respective constituencies support you in this — and thank God, though the pulse beat low, the Protestant heart of England still beats — then you can keep your ground, and who knows what may be the issue ? At all events, 182 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. whatever be the result, ye faithful senators, ye shall not witness in vain. Be it so, even that, according to the divine decree, the canker of apostasy is not to be eradicated but still to consume the vitals of your country ; you will be "a sweet savour unto God,' whatever you prove to men. Nor, in this case, let reproach affect you for plying an impracticable labour. He whose followers you are might have been taxed with this. All day long did He stretch forth His hands to a gainsaying and rebellious people. He sowed, but did not reap. You may be content to do the same. " Of ultimate success to the cause of truth you may be fully confident, hut present success is limited in 'this evil age.' It is not therefore your standard of duty, but simply the commission, ' occupy till I come.'' Without carnal reason- ing, then, let each of you prosecute your high vocation as senators. 'In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thy hand' (Eccles. ii.). Be not dis- couraged by seeming failure; be not elated by seeming success. Neither 'observe the wind,' nor 'regard the clouds.' Duty is yours; the event is God's. Let your legislative maxim be, ' Cease to do evil, learn to do well.'* And be resolute in your career of duty. Even a heathen could say: 'Fiat justitia mat ccelum.' Oh! what then ought to be your language, with the divine challenge more- over sounding in your ears, ' Who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good?' (1 Pet. iii.) — Rev. James Kelly, M.A. " It is most evident to me from the Holy Scriptures, that at the close of the present Gospel dispensation, there will be a second, visible, personal appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ; as certainly, and as literally as He did, above 1800 years ago, appear and tabernacle in our fiesh. That, previous to His appearing, there will be very awful judg- ments, more particularly confined to the nations of Christen- dom ; and it is moreover evident to me, that the eventful times in which our lot has been cast, sufficiently indicate the near approach of those judgments : and, consequently, if such be indeed the case, it is highly important and neces- sary, that all the members of the Church of Christ, who profess to love Him in sincerity, should be prepared to meet whatever trials or tribulations it may please God to SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 183 subject them to; should walk circumspectly, and con- sistently with the truth of the Gospel ; and should ' lift up their heads with joy, for that their redemption draweth nigh ' (Luke xxL 28), With regard to the first point; namely, that our Lord Jesus Christ will assuredly appear again, visibly, and personally appear; and that too, at the con- elusion of this very dispensation under which we live ; I find it so abundantly revealed in the Holy Scriptures, that I cannot in the least degree doubt it. And moreover, that He will appear, not for the purpose of passing the final sentence upon all who shall have died from the beginning — that will not be the commencing act of His advent, but a subsequent one ' (Rev. xx. 2) — but that He will appear to take to Himself His ' great power, and to reign' (Rev. xi. 17); to inherit 'the kingdom, and the dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven ' (Dan. vii.); and to 'rule over all' in unutterable glory for ever, as God's vicegerent, ' the brightness, or bright efful- gence, of His glory, and the express image of His person,' I have no more doubt .than I have that He literally ap- peared as a ' Child born, and a Son given ; ' that He entered Jerusalem, i lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass ' (Zech. ix. 9) ; and that He now sitteth upon the Father's throne, expecting until all His enemies be made His footstool. "That the present dispensation shall, like all the pre- ceding, terminate in apostasy, the Scriptures manifestly declare ; and by none is it affirmed in stronger language than by our Lord himself. When speaking of His second coming (Matt, xxiv.), He says (37 — 41) : ' But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be.' St. Peter, also, in the third chapter of his second epistle, declares : ' There shall come, in the last days, scoffers walk- ing after their own lusts!' For, it does appear that in these latter times, the nearer the awful day of the Lord approaches, when all these things shall be dissolved, the more madly does the world rage against its Creator and Redeemer ; the more desperately does it rush on its own ruin, and scoff at the Divine judgments with increased audacity and contempt ! The wide spread of infidelity throughout all the nations of Christendom; the Papal power itself having in a great measure become infidel ; the increase of Socinianism, better known now by TJnitarianism, 184 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. which, truly speaking, is nought else than sheer infidelity — these, with many other awful signs, betoken apostasy, rather than any great increase of true religion, and indicate that the time is near when Bev. xvii. 13, 14, shall be ful- filled."—^. R. Maunsell. " We cannot form an adequate conception of the extent and variety of the means employed, in these latter days, for the overthrow of the Gospel, unless we take into the account the more insidious devices of the enemy, in raising up, from among the very household of faith, foes to its doc- trines and principles, who, under the semblance of giving it their support, were employed in secretly undermining its foundations. In Germany and Holland, and in other parts of Europe, there has long existed a tribe of theologians, who, professing a desire to make Christianity more accept- able to men of a philosophical and sceptical turn of mind, have manifested a disposition to abandon almost all its dis- tinguishing and essential doctrines ; to explain away some of its most important facts, as merely allegorical represen- tations ; and to renounce its claims to divine authority, by throwing doubt upon its miraculous testimonies, and treating its sacred records as works of merely human composition. The mischiefs that have arisen from the labours of these denier & of inspiration and heterodox inter- preters of Scripture, are manifested, not only by a very general abatement of that reverence with which the Gospel was wont to be regarded by its professors, but also by a perceptible increase in the number of its avowed con- temners. "I assert then, without any fear of contradiction, that this apostasy has long since begun to take place, and is fast ripening to a head ! That St. Paul's prediction, con- tained in 1 Tim. iv. 1 — 3, hath been, and now is fulfilling; and that contained in 2 Tim. iii. 1—5, iv. 3, 4, and 2 Pet. iii. 3, also is fulfilling ; that infidelity, in various shapes, and under different forins, prevails throughout Christendom. God is east off ; and as it was in the days of the judges of Israel, so in a great degree is it now, * Every man did thai which was right in his own eyes' (Judges xxi. 25). Moreover, I assert, that the event which has just been brought to issue — ' an untoward event,' very similar to the battle of Navarino, swift and sudden! an event by which SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 185 God has been, in a manner^ discarded from the nation, in- asmuch as that noble protest against the idolatrous Church of Rome, "which, of all the nations of Christendom, England alone so strenuously made, hath ceased to be. "I assert that this event — the taking of Popery into co- partnership with the Protestant constitution of Great Britain and Ireland — is no insignificant token that this dispensation is grown old, and having become apostate, is soon to die an unnatural death ; for who can dare say that Popery is a harmless thing ? Who, with the Bible in his hand, can dare pronounce idolatry a harmless thing ? Who can venture to say that darkness and light can com- mingle ? Christ and Belial have concord ? God and Mammon unite ? Yet this is neither more nor less than the very principle upon which this strange act has been so hastily accomplished ; and having been accomplished, there remains now nothing more to be done, than for God to signify His righteous displeasure, and to manifest by His sore judgments, that the day is near at hand, when the chief Shepherd and Bishop of souls shall appear to take account of His servants; to separate the chaff from the wheat — the goats from the sheep, and to appoint unto each their everlasting portion ; ' to take vengeance upon them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel ; and to be glorified in His saints, and admired in all them that believe in that day.' 'And who may abide the day of His coming ? Who shall stand when He appeareth?' " But seeing also that ere this period shall have come a dark, a very dark cloud must pass over our heads, it may be : seeing that we are touching upon times of peculiar difficulty and dismay ; times, which will prove the faith of many, and make manifest what sort the hope and expecta- tion of professed Christians may be ; * because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold ' ! ! Seeing that these things are so, doth it not behove us, ministers and people, to have regard each to our calling, and to see how we stand, both toward God and toward each other ? to bring our faith and hope, our joy and confidence to the touchstone of God's most holy Word ? and, resting alto- gether on Him who hath fully accomplished the Father's will, and hath ' perfected for ever them that are sanctified,' to wait with patience, and yet with intense anxiety (0 Lord, how long? Eev. vi. 10) for His revelation from heaven 186 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. as the King of Saints, and the Lord of Glory ; when we shall have our full recompense and reward?" — Br. Van Mildert. Let each Christian ask himself and herself, Am I an exponent of God's Word — so living that others must take knowledge of me that I am much with Jesus? Am I " looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God?" Thus confident in "the hope," and therefore fearless of man, am I doing my utmost to oppose evil, and to promote good ? " It is astonishing how much sensation is caused in the Christian Church hy the outbreak, every now and then, of fresh phases of infidelity. I do not think that these alarms are at all warranted. "It is what we must expect to the very end of the dispensation. If all carnal minds believed the Bible, I think the spiritual might almost begin to doubt it ; but as there are always some who will attack it, I shall feel none the less confidence in it. Really the Book of God has stood so many attacks from such different quarters, that to be at all alarmed about it shows a very childish fear. When a work has been standing all our lifetime, and has been known to stand firmly throughout all the ages of history, none but foolish people will think that the next wave will sweep it away. Within our own short life — say some five-and- twenty years' recollection — have we not remembered, I was about to say almost as many as five-and- twenty shapes of infidelity? You know it must change about every twenty years at least, for no system of infidelity can live longer than that. There was the witty system of objection which Voltaire introduced ; and how short-lived was that ! Then came the bullying, low-lived, blackguard system of Tom Paine; and how short-lived was its race ! Then, in more modern times, unbelief took the shape of secularism : what particular shapes it takes now we scarcely know — perhaps Colensoism is the most fashionable ; but that is dying out, and something else will follow it. These creations of an hour just live their little day, and they are gone. SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 187 " But look at belief in Scripture and at Scripture itself. The Bible is better understood, more prized, and, I be- lieve, on the whole, more practised than ever it was, since the day when its Author sent it abroad into the world. Its course is still onward ; and after all which has been done against it, no visible effect has been produced upon the granite-wall of Scriptural truth by all the pickaxes and boring-rods which have been broken upon it. Walking through our museums now-a-days, we smile at those who think that Scripture is not true. Every block of stone from Nineveh, every relic which has been brought from the Holy Land, speaks with a tongue, which must be heard even by the deaf adder of secularism, and which says, 1 Yes the Bible is true, and the Word of God is no fiction.' The Bible has a fulness more than that which the letter can convey, having in it a profundity of meaning such as words never had when used by any other being, God having the power to speak a multitude of truths at once. And when He means to teach us one thing according to our capability of receiving it, He often teaches us twenty other things ; which for the time we do not comprehend, but which by and by, as our senses are exercised, reveal themselves by the Holy Spirit. Every time I open my Bible, I will read it as the Word of ' God that cannot lie ; ' and when I get a promise or a threatening, I will either rejoice or tremble, because I know that these things stand." —Rev. C.H. Just as wicked men tried to accuse the man Christ Jesus, but failed, because their witness agreed not together, so wicked men now try to accuse His Word, and to bring it under condemnation. But their witness still " agreeth not together." It can never agree. The minds of sinful men are influenced and guided by too many contradictory imaginations and motives, to admit of agreement. Neither would such agreement suit the devil's purpose. Disagreement excites curiosity. The attractions also of wondrous assertions, and the novel argumentative books on such vital subjects, 188 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. greatly aid the circulation of whatever opens a way to question the truth of the Bible. For alas ! such daring liberty is found to sympathize with the " desperately wicked " heart of man, which is ever ready to stifle convictions, and to throw off responsibility, and so change " the truth of God into a lie," and so worship and serve " the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever" (Eom. i.). "Haters of God," and " ye have not His word abiding in you," is as truthful and universal in its application as the breath we draw. Hence it is the wisdom of the devil to get a ready sale for his poison — " Authorized People's Edition. COLENSO ON THE PENTATEUCH. One Shilling." And this flimsy web of infidel sophistry is the substi- tute for the Gospel, which the people of an enlightened age will ultimately accept ! ! Whilst the apostle to the Gentiles was satisfied by saying for himself, " Necessity is laid upon me ; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the Gospel " (1 Cor. ix.) ; and to his companion in labour, " Make full proof of thy ministry " (2 Tim. iv.) ; and to the people, "If any man preach any other Gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed" (Gal. i.). Exodus xiv. 19, 20; Deut. iv. 2; Eev. xxii. 18, 19. If the Lord Jesus were now on earth, would His character, "holy, harmless, undefilecl, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens," be re- ceived, loved, and followed by the infidel "disputers" around us, or would tbfiy deny and persecute unto the SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 189 death ? But we will remember there are two sides to every question, and out of evil comes good. "While the devil is leading so many into his tree-thinking school to question and then to reject the inspiration of God, some, perhaps many, are brought out of the mazes of " man's wisdom," to realize the grace which has placed them with " the foolish " and " the weak." They now see that " the wise and the mighty " are not only con- founded by " the weak things," but " the wisdom of this world is foolishness with Gfod. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness." We may well repeat, " WThat is man ? " " For vain man would be wise, though man be born like a wild ass's colt." (Job. xi. 12). " For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness ; but unto us which are saved, it is the power of Gfod. For it is written, I will de- stroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent." (1 Cor. i. 18, 19). Except we be taught by the Holy Spirit to realize that " the wisdom of this world is foolishness with Gfod" we cannot realize the great truth, " of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of Gfod is made unto us, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption." " ! ye fools, when will ye be wise ? " " Yet there is room." " Come unto me." Let no one suppose that the Lord Jesus loses whilst the devil is taking captive his own. " All that the Father giveth me shall come to me ; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which He hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day " (John vi. 37, 39). Christians indeed need this most comforting statement to arm them against " the wiles of the devil," 190 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. whose hatred to God and His truth is such that we need not marvel if from time to time sinners are employed to do his work in contradicting revelation and distracting people's minds — which help to show, in his hatred to Grod's revelation, the truth of those very parts of the Bible which have foretold what is now undoubtedly being fulfilled. Scoffers, disputers, and those who are wise above what is written, are only testifying to the truth of Cod's prophetic word in their generation, as others have done before them in former generations. And what have they accomplished ? Have the whole army of infidels, scoffers, free-thinkers, and disputants mutilated or destroyed one particle of the sacred page ? Have they overcome the faith and love of any one taught and sanctified by its blessed truths ? Have they blighted or hindered the progress of its sacred mission ? The Church triumphant, the Church militant, and the whole army of martyrs would re-echo iVb, they have but lengthened the cords, and strengthened the stakes, and will, even to the end, cause the conqueror's song to rise louder in praise and adoration to Him against whom " the gates of hell shall not prevail." " We find our reason by no means outraged by the truths of the Bible, which is the religion of Protestants ; nor are we, like Bishop Colenso, disposed to expunge from its sacred pages what is beyond the scope of human reason, or any words the meaning of which Grocl has left unrevealed. The error as to the prophecies and miracles being the fables of poets, and the Testaments fabulous fictions, is greatly to be deplored, and exists in the minds of learned as well as unlearned men in all countries of Europe more or less; but Protestantism alone may take the credit of having com- bated 1h.se errors with 'the weapons of truth, and the BWord of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.' It has SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 191 not attempted to crush investigation by anathemas, nor meet the assertions and objections of rationalism by appealing to tradition and absurd superstition. The works of the rationalists of Europe have aroused the minds of earnest Christian men, and the result has been that at no time has the fact been more apparent, ' Magna est Veritas, et pre- valent.' "The 'Life of Jesus,' by Strauss, in Germany; the 1 Essays and Reviews,' in England ; the ' Life of Jesus,' by Eenan, in France; and Bishop Colenso's heresy, have called forth an amount of learning and research among the most eminent Christians of all nations in Europe that may well satisfy the most timid that the truth is in no danger. It would, however, be instructive to inquire how many of these champions for the truth are found within the pale of the Church which thus arrogates to itself the position of the Church, and consigns all who utter not its Shib- boleth to unmitigated perdition." — Joseph Fernandez,, B.A. But not without solemn and sorrowful feelings is it believed that w T ere it not for such men as Colenso, Stanley, Temple, Jewell appearing before us, the Bible student would be looking out for these very characters to arise in accordance with prophetic teaching. There is no doubt as to the fact that all the actions of His creatures will ultimately establish the truth of (rod's Word. The believer glorifies Grod below, and shall throughout eternity glorify Him above. The unbeliever shall also eventually glorify Grod's infinite holiness and power in his very destruction and over- throw. The unhappy sinner will not come to Christ that he may be saved, yet he reads, " Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out." The believer has come, and, through grace, happily knows that "all things work together for good to them that love God." How deep and grievous are some of the " all things " 192 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. permitted of God for the good of His people ! but where is the Christian who would not heartily acknowledge that it has been through trial and disappointment that he has learnt more of the love, faithfulness, and sym- pathy, of a heavenly Father than ever he experienced in smooth paths ? On the Christian's part it is his con- stant weakness and sinful propensities which render such trials necessary, and he knows it, and is grateful for such pains taken on Grod's part. The Christian's chief sorrow is not his own sufferings, but the cause of his sufferings is almost always the weightier matter of the two. For instance, the enemies of Grod's truth, whether as bellowing bulls proclaiming, or as sneaking serpents whispering their wickedness in the ears of their fellow- men, are a prolific source of Christian suffering. Ere long we shall each know heaven or hell as our eternal home. Is not this fact, that many will find the latter to be their portion, enough to sorrow the Christian's heart, and to cause weeping " between the porch and the altar ?" for, whilst the blasphemy and sin of these days are proving the strength of their Hope as an anchor, and the firmness of " the Bock " in the midst of the storms of that troublous sea, whose dark waters engulf many, whose false anchor slips in the time of distress, how many Christians, pressed and sorrowful, could cry out, " Oh that I had wings like a dove ! then would I flee away, and be at rest." But they must stand their ground, and enduring hardness like good soldiers of Jesus Christ, strive together for the faith once delivered to the saints, however the battlefield may appal, or the billows affright. " The Lord is faithful," and His people shall prove Psalm cxix. SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 193 89, 90, " For ever, Lord, Thy word is settled in heaven. Thy faithfulness is unto all generations." He will give them the fulness of Israel's blessing in Christ; and when the enemy " darkeneth counsel," and tries to put to nought the word of the living Grod — pursuing the spiritual Israel unto the death — what do we read ? " And I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them : and I will get me honour upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gotten me honour upon Pharaoh, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen. And the angel of Grod, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them : and it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel ; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these : so that the one came not near the other all the night" (Exodus xiv. 17—20). It is profitable to notice the extreme of opposites produced from the one source of all good — " Grod is a consuming fire ;" " God is Love." His word is " a savour of life unto life, and of death unto death." Christ is " the hope " of His Church, and " He will destroy His enemies with the brightness of His coming." One simple gift from Grod — even faith to believe in Jesus — takes the soul over the otherwise impassable gulf which is presented between the two phases of His character, and enables the sinner to say, " My Grod and my Eather ! " " He brought me up out of the horrible pit, and out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a 194 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGXS. rock, and established my goings" (Psalms xl. 2). What is the opposite standing ? "In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them " (2 Cor. iv. 4) . "In naming fire taking ven- geance on them that know not Grod, and that obey not the Grospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power " (2 Thess. i. 8, 9). But to return to God's chosen people. Do we not see in " the Angel of Grod," the Christ of God, and in " the pillar of the cloud," a Father's protecting care ? While " the light by night " seems to testify of " Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." Not so with those who are on the wrong side of " the pillar," surrounded by the darkness of sin or infidelity. But " what will they do in the end thereof?" " Pharaoh's chariots and his hosts hath He cast into the sea : his chosen captains also are drowned in the Eed Sea. The depths have covered them : they sank into the bottom as a stone And in the greatness of Thine excellency Thou hast overthrown them that rose up against Thee : Thou sentest forth Thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble Who is like unto Thee, Lord, among the gods? A\ ho is like Thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?" (Exodus xv. 4, 5, 7, 11). * ' The past is gone, the future is uncertain, the present alone is ours, and we must ' redeem the time, because the days are evil.' There is trouble hard at hand; the time that is gone, this moment that is going, we cannot reclaim, SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 195 any more tlian gather up the water that is spilled on the ground; but we can "redeem " it — that is, make the best use of that which is still ours. And ' the time is short, 7 so short, indeed, that * they that have wives ' should be as serious, zealous, active, dead to the world, devoted to the Lord in all holiness and sobriety, ' as if they had none f * and they that weep,' these poor, degraded suffering brethren of ours, ' as if they wept not : and they that rejoice ' in the possession of earthly good, ' as if they rejoiced not : and they that buy,' do business in the shops and ships, 'as if they possessed not,' knowing themselves to be only stewards and not proprietors : ' and they that use this world,' have everything prosperous in it, ' as not abusing it,' not seeking happiness in it. And why? i because the fashion of this world passeth away:' all this buying and selling and getting gain, this marrying and being given in marriage, this weeping, suffering, sorrow- ing, and rejoicing, not only will pass away, but now passeth away, is at this moment fleeing off like a shadow." And this " little while " will soon and for ever be exchanged for the palm of victory, and the eternal rest with Jesus in our Father's house. " Soon and for ever the breaking of day Shall chase all the night- clouds of sorrow away ; Soon and for ever we'll see as we're seen, And know the deep meaning of things that have been. "Where fightings without, and conflicts within Shall weary no more in the warfare with sin ; "Where tears and where fears and where death shall be never, Christians with Christ shall be soon and for ever." Let us, then, who are engaged in the Lord's battle, and feel the increasing pressure from without, give our- selves afresh unto Him and His cause, so shall we " not be ashamed before Him at His coming." We now return to WHAT BOME IS DOING- IN THE CHUECH OF ENGLAND, recommending all who really desire to be informed to read " The Church o 2 196 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. Times" from which paper the following quotations are copied word for word. "CHRIST church:, clapham. " Lady-day was observed at this church with great solemnity. The violet hangings of the sanctuary were undisturbed, but in front of them were ranged hundreds of candles, and on the super-altar stood six enamelled brazen vases filled with the choicest camellias, the two next the cross being all white flowers. Tall lilies and azaleas were placed on the floor right and left of the altar, which was vested in the very beautiful white silk frontal. Evensong commenced on the eve at eight o'clock, when the procession entered singing a joyous hymn. The cross was borne on high, and before the priests came two acolytes in scarlet cassocks with lawn cottas, one swinging a silver censer, the other bearing the incense-boat. The altar was first incensed, and evensong proceeded. Before and after the ' Magnificat,' the proper antiphon was sung by the full choir, and as the jubilant strain arose the candles were lighted, the effect being indescribably mag- nificent. While the choir chanted the song of Our Lady, the altar was incensed, and the choir and people by an attending acolyte. At the close of evensong, the Rev. 0. Soames preached an excellent sermon on the Incarnation ; and the altar having been again incensed, and the bene- diction given by the Eev. B. Abbot, the choir reformed the procession, going round the church to the vestry, singing, 'Praise the Lord, ye heavens adore Him.' At the early celebration on Lady-day, the Eev. B. Abbot was celebrant ; and at the high celebration, which took place nl'toT eleven o'clock matins, the Eev. C. Soames officiated, wearing the splendid white silk chasuble ; the Eev. B. Abbot, as deacon, being vested in the white dalmatic. The altar being incensed, the divine office proceeded chorally to the Gospel, when, as well as at the offertory and the canon, incense was again offered. There was no sermon, and a goodly number communicated, many candles being lighted al and before the celebration. Evensong was plain, as it was considered thai the eve of the Sunday in Lent super- seded the second vespers of the festival, which nowhere SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 197 was observed in a more Catholic manner than in this now flourishing little church." " COXTIR3IATION AT OXFORD. "On Thursday, March 2nd, 1865, the Lord Bishop of the diocese held a confirmation in the Church of St. Thomas the Martyr, Oxford, when a very large number of persons of both sexes received the apostolic rite. The altar was vested in a white frontal and scarlet super-frontal, and, besides the accustomed cross and candles, was adorned with two vases of very choice violet and white hyacinths. Without the sacrarium, on the south side, a throne was erected for the Bishop, suitably ornamented with the arms of his lordship and of the diocese. The choir consisted chiefly of members of the country branch of the English Church Union. The organ was played by the Rev. H. P. Goodridge, one of the curates of the parish. At one o'clock the clergy and choir proceeded to the gates of the churchyard, where they met the Bishop, preceded by his verger, and attended by his chaplain. The procession then returned to the church through the south porch, chanting the psalm Exurgat Dens, from the 'Psalter Noted.' The opening address of the office was said by Archdeacon Clerke, and at its conclusion the hymn on 'The Holy Cross,' from the 'St. Thomas' Hymnal,' was sung. The Bishop was then conducted to a chair placed under the chancel arch, and proceeded to address the candidates on the purpose for which they had assembled. He requested them to kneel for a few minutes in private prayer, and bade the congregation to join them. Then the congre- gation rose (the candidates still kneeling) and sang the Veni Creator, to the first melody in the ' Hymnal Noted.' After the question and answer had been made, the Bishop again addressed those who were to be confirmed, reminding them that they were about to receive no less a gift than the blessed Spirit of Grod. The versicles having been chanted, the laying on of hands commenced, the candidates kneeling at the chancel step. The Amen was chanted every time by the choir, the organ accompanying and being played while the confirmed were leaving and others taking their place. The girls were first confirmed, and afterwards the 198 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. youths, and when all had received the ' Seal of the Spirit/ the Bishop addressed them once again. He told them to •what a privilege they had been admitted ; how fearful would be their sin if, by impurity, anger, evil-speaking, or vanity, they should grieve the Holy Spirit, and even quench it. He urged them not to put off the coming to receive their Lord at His altar, but by frequent and regular communion, and by earnest constant prayer, to stir up the gpft that had just been bestowed by the imposition of Episcopal hands. He then intoned the rest of the service, and, after the benediction, left the church, preceded through the graveyard to the gates by the choir, chanting Nunc Dimittis, to the third tone, second ending. " " WORSHIP GOD IN THE BEAUTY OE HOLINESS. " Sm, — The tithe of this parish is over £500 a year, but it is in the hands now of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners ; the incumbent has no house, and receives from those tithes £16 a year, from other sources his income is nearly made up to £100 a year. Under these circumstances our clergy- man is unable to do anything for our church, though most anxious to have all things so ordered that God may be manifest in His house and services, and especially does he desire that by the whole ordering of the church fittings, the life that is veiled beneath the sacraments should be mani- fested. As the church is now ordered, the font is placed in the centre aisle without any comeliness or honour, and no room for the worshippers to kneel around it ; and the altar is nearly hidden by pews, which extend even to the chancel, and the altar itself is a small table, and sur- rounded by nothing that is seemly, or befitting ' the greatest place of God's residence upon earth.' 1 ' Reader, will you from love to our incarnate Lord, send offerings for this church, directed to me, to the care of tho publisher of this valuable paper. "I am, sir, yours obediently, "A Catholic. " "the burial of the dead rN CHRIST. " 'To bury the dead' is one of the corporal works of mercy, which any of us may be suddenly called upon to SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 199 perform, but which few are prepared rightly to execute. The hour of overwhelming sorrow comes, and renders most men powerless to break through long- established usages, even though they be repugnant to their deepest religious convictions. Those who possess sufficient moral courage and self-control to do what they believe to be right are nevertheless deterred, because they know not how to set about it. "We purpose, therefore, to make a few suggestions for the help and guidance of those who would thankfully adopt a more Catholic, loving, and reverent mode of treating the bodies of the faithful departed from the hour of death till the time of burial. A mighty change on these points is being wrought in the minds of men by the revival of that long-forgotten article of the faith, — ' I believe in the Holy Catholic Church.' For in proportion as men receive this great verity they come to believe and realize those blessed truths, ' the communion of saints,' and 'the resurrection of the flesh,' which are necessary to a full and right faith in the Catholic Church, as the body of Christ. Funeral rites and ceremonies, like the ritual of the Church, are embodiments and symbols of the faith from which they spring. Hence the respective customs observed by Puritans and Catholics are as much at variance as the creeds which they profess. Thus Puritanism, re- jecting the pure doctrine of the Holy Catholic Church as one visible, living body, and making ' the communion of saints,' living and departed, a vague, unreal, sentimental thing, has necessarily invested death with a gloom and sadness more characteristic of heathenism than of Christian faith. . . . The black coffin, with its heathen emblems . . . are the natural expression of a cold and heartless creed. .... On the other hand, the Catholic Christian, looking upon the Church as a divine kingdom, which not only ex- tends its illimitable sovereignty and benign sway over all the kindreds of the earth, but also reaches onward into the world invisible, and forming one vast body, united with one Divine Head, pervaded by one common life, and carrying on perpetually that wonderful system of mediation which knits together the Church visible and invisible. To him, death and the condition of the faithful departed appear in a very different light. He no longer shrinks from the sight of death, nor invests it with impenetrable gloom ; no longer looks with horror upon the grave, for its dark chamber is 200 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. illumined with the bright beams of a joyful hope of the resurrection to eternal life. The bitter pang of separation is assuaged by the precious doctrine of ' the communion of saints,' which teaches him daily to commemorate in prayer and the Holy Eucharist the souls of the faithful departed, and soothe his soul with a deep, inward conscious- ness of a real and riving communion with them. Of prayers for the dead we shall have more to say on another occasion. All the rights and usages appointed by the Church at the burial of her children are designed to sym- bolize those precious truths which only can cheer the heart crushed under heavy bereavements. . . . The plain elm coffin with the cross of victory on its lid, overshadowing it, as it were ; the redeemed body within, the violet pall with its crimson cross, tell of sorrow and victory. . . . The pro- cessional cross, the joyous chimes, the white-robed choir, the soul-inspiring words, the solemn music, the lights, incense, and Eucharistic sacrifice, all tell of rest and bliss now, and of a glory yet to be revealed. . . . "With these remarks, which are intended to prepare those of our readers who have not thought much upon this subject, to enter into the meaning, and to perceive the fitness and touching beauty of those observances, we conclude, in the hope of being able to resume the subject, and to give some practical hints to enable all who will, to bury their friends in a Catholic and Christian manner." " What we now propound to others, has afforded us the greatest comfort in seasons of deep sorrow ; and we feel sure that they may be readily carried out, either wholly or in part, in every Church family. • " Natural affection impels us to show all respect to the departed ; but it is the Catholic faith alone which dispels the gloom with which nature invests death, and teaches us to bestow that reverent loving care due to the body, which has been the temple of the Holy Grhost fed with the Body and Blood of Christ, and is destined again to rise in glory, and unfading beauty. The burial of the dead in Christ is a solemn and sacred duty, to be performed in a simple, real, earnest, intensely loving, and reverential spirit, and in which everything eccentric or sentimental is out of place. To make the subject more clear, we will divide the duties of the bereaved into those of (1) the day of the soul's SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 201 departure; (2) the week of sorrow ; (3) the day of burial. But we must, at the outset, emphatically protest agaiust that cold and miserable, though common practice of locking the corpse in a dark and desolate chamber, as if it was a thing to fear or to be shunned ; a practice hardly consistent with the love and respect due to that which has long been the loved and familiar companion of our home. " 1. The body having been duly washed and dressed, if possible by loving friends, let the arms be crossed over the breast ; then place a cross at the head, the symbol of the faith in which the soid departed, and sleeps in the hope of a joyful resurrection ; and two lighted wax tapers, one at the head, the other at the feet, to be kept burning con- tinually day and night until the funeral, to symbolize that the light of the soul is not extinguished by death. Make the chamber bright with bouquets of flowers. The candles used for this purpose should be long tapers made of yellow wax, and about an inch in diameter. They will burn thirty-six or forty-eight hours, and need but little attention, whilst the larger candles are continually guttering, and emit a large quantity of carbonaceous smoke, which soon becomes oppressive. The early Christians always kept watch by the body, until the funeral, frequently singing psalms all the night. By the aid of friends it will be easy to keep this watch by the corpse each night, and at intervals through the day. " The next thing is to prepare the coffin, about which very explicit directions to the undertaker will be necessary. It shoidd be in the ancient form, made of elm wood, rubbed up with linseed oil to bring out the beautiful graining. French polish is absurd for the grave. On no account allow the coffin to be covered with cloth, which is a horrid mockery and sham. Oak and lead, as being indestructible and preventing the body mingling with its mother earth, should be avoided. It should be lined, not with the wretched frippery of glazed calico generally used, but with pure white jean, plaited in broad folds, and fastened by a band of white silk lace about an inch wide, nailed around the upper edge. The execrable black handles, and thin stamped plates, with their heathen emblems, should be forbidden. Proper furniture (that is, the handles, &c.) may be procured of Mr. Vigors ; or, where cost is an object, they may consist of quatrefoils cut out of thick zinc 202 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. and polished, with white iron rings for handles, which are not only inexpensive, but simple and effective. The lid of the coffin may either be gabled or flat, and having a wooden cross extending the whole length, or a brightly-polished zinc one fastened over the breast with large-headed brass nails. At the lower end of the lid should be an engraved zinc or brass plate, giving the name, day of decease, and age of the departed, thus — * N.N. Departed this life a.d. 186-, aged — .' This, when nicely cut, and with red initials, looks bright and beautiful. "When the coffin is ready, we would especially urge that the placing of the body therein should not be left to the undertakers, but that loving friends should assist. Place the coffin with the foot towards the east, and put the cross and lighted candles at the head and feet, as before directed. Let the body be then decorated with flowers, and a cross placed on the breast ; and a linen house pall, with a red cross on it, laid over the coffin. "2. In the week of mourning, when Grod comes very near to us, smiting us to the earth, and bringing us face to face with death in all its awful majesty, it will be a solace to the sorrowing to frequent the chamber of death through the day ; not to indulge immoderate grief, but to offer prayers for themselves, and for the departed soul. Next week we hope to give a short service for such occasions, which has proved a comfort to others. " 3. The day of burial. All Churchmen should, on these sad occasions, resolutely reject the vain trappings of the undertaker, such as mutes standing at the door, scarves, hat bands, &c, which are but miserable perversions of the old hooded funeral cloak ; and also the black feathers on the undertaker's hearse or the horses. A walking funeral, where possible, is the right and fitting thing. A bier, covered with a light movable canopy called the hearse, and a violet pall, having a red cross running through its whole length and breadth, and also a white one for virgins, should be provided in every church. The bier being brought to the house (if a walking funeral, which should always be when possible), or standing at the church gate, the coffin is to be carefully placed upon it, and not carried on men's shoulders, the hearse is then put over it, and the pall spread over the whole. It should be borne by four or six bearers, carrying it underhanded, and with bearing-straps over the shoulder. SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 203 The pall is to be borne by four or six friends, the mourners following in plain clothes. If the funeral be that of a young woman, the pall-bearers should be clad in white, carrying flowers in their nands, to deposit on the coflm before it is lowered into the grave. On nearing the church the bells give out a joyous peal, in token of the victory of another of the Church's members. The clergy and choir meeting the body, preceded by the processional cross, at the church-gate, conduct it, singing the cheering tones of the burial office, to the foot of the chancel steps, in front of the altar, where it is deposited, covered with the pall, which is not to he removed or turned up. The body should not, except in the case of a parish priest, be taken into the chancel. On either side of the bier should be placed two or three large wax lights, sufficiently high to reach above the heads of the people when standing. The pall-bearers should stand on either side between each light, and the bearers behind them. These lights are beautiful and symbolical. St. Chrysostom informs us that it was usual to carry lights before the faithful departed, to signify that they were con- querors borne in triumph to their graves. They were also carried forth with psalms and hymns. St. Jerome says that the echoes of the Alleluias, at the funeral of Fabiola, shook the golden roof of the church. The psalms should be sung. On two or three occasions we have seen the priest come down after the Lesson, and taking his place at the head of the coffin, has waved the censer over it, whilst the choir sung ' Jesus lives.' Those who have once wit- nessed this most beautiful symbol, especially mourners, would never again be deprived of its use. The Holy Eucharistic Sacrifice should always be offered at funerals, pleading the One Great Sacrifice through which both the living and the dead obtain pardon and life ; and in which we have communion with the departed. The service being ended, the procession re-forms, the choir chanting as they go Psalm cxiv. At the church-door they separate right and left to allow the procession to pass ; and the body is taken to the grave. The hearse with the pall should be taken off the bier, and previous to its being lowered into the grave a wreath of immortelles and bouquets of flowers should be placed on the lid of the coflm. " We can aflirm, from experience, that a week so spent, in realising the reality of death, and investing it with all 204 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. those symbols and tokens of its destruction, and a funeral so conducted, will be causes of thanksgiving to Glod to the very end of life. The restoration of these Catholic usages, so full of touching beauty, will do more than aught else to bring men back to the belief in the great mysteries of the Incarnation, the Death, and Resurrection of the Lord Jesus. " Kcw different the ideas conveyed by such a funeral and one of the horribly gloomy functions which speaks of death and annihilation. While the pall, with its bright cross, the white-robed choir, the processional cross, the solemn old church music, the psalms and hymns, the lights, and perchance the incense, all tell of faith, of hope, and life — of victory, and triumph, and rest, and a glorious resur- rection." The foregoing solemn bnt specious heathenism is not without its instruction. The writer is not afraid or ashamed to publish this gross ignorance, or tell these amazing falsehoods ! What but the teaching of the Holy Spirit and the appropriation of the blood of Christ to the sinner's soul, can bring that soul {otherwise lost) effectually to participate in the benefits of the " Incarnation, the Death and Resurrection of the Lord Jesus " ? Another thing is equally manifest. The writer, we may truly say, calls loudly for pity, and claims the prayer of Ghxl's people. For whilst jealousy for our Lord and His truth stirs up holy indignation, we would sorrow over the wretched condition of those who are so dead to truth and alive to error. It well becomes Christians to pray that God may yet deliver, and bring them into the light of life ; and may others who have not hitherto had opportunities of knowing (or believing) that such error and Popish darkness exist where they do; be led to receive these unmistakable proofs without any further hesitancy ; self-preservation SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 205 requires an honest reception of what is, and what is not. "We therefore urge upon you to Watch — Beware, Seek Divine teaching : " Cease ye from man." " PROTESTANTISM IN DANGER. " On this holy Easter Eve we would fain call the serious attention of our readers to the present position of the Catholic party in the Church of England. As to-day we stand between a season of trial, self-denial, and self-ex- amination and a season of triumph, so it seems that the Catholic principle which we have so strenuously asserted has nearly come within hail of its time of victory. Mark the progress within the year which may be taken as ending to- day. See what has been accomplished in spite of opposition, and how that opposition has nearly everywhere earned the contempt of educated people, whether they are or are not numbered in our ranks. The Protestant theory has nowhere stood the test of comparison with the Catholic theory. Pro- testant practice has been always rejected when brought into contrast with Catholic practice. And this is the witness of it, that in the twelvemonth since last Easter we have suc- ceeded in nearly everything that we have undertaken ; and such discouragement as we have encountered has served rather to spur us on to renewed exertions than to check our work. Erom all parts of England we hear the welcome news that many who had heretofore held aloof from our ranks, because they did not see their way, have determined to halt between two opinions no longer, have settled in their own minds that ritual must accompany doctrine, and must be the light they set before men to show forth, in all the beauty of its symmetrical proportions, the edifice of the One True Faith. " Some seem to-be dropping off from the High and Dry to the Broad Church party, but more are coming daily to perceive that the dry bones of teaching can never be vivified except by the use of those forms and ceremonies which, so long as they tend to edifying, the Church of England recommends to the use of her faithful children. Does one, from whom better Jthings might once have been expected, confine his desires for ritual to the eastward 206 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. posture of the celebrant? For that one a dozen take to the restoration of the legal vestments. Does one ' High Churchman ' cease to light the tapers on the altar ? For that one twenty light a host of tapers around the altar. Does one priest think it not worth while to make a fight over the old question of preaching in a surplice ? For that one half-a-dozen have decided to revive the use of the fragrant incense, which typifies the prayers of the saints. Even as we write, we hear of a Puritan church in which to-morrow they begin to chant the Psalms, by way of checking the drafting of the congregation to one of the most Catholic Churches in England, in the neighbourhood of which another church was some months ago compelled into a similar step. Just beyond the first-named church — and the four lie all in a line of about a quarter of a mile and with none others between them — a new incumbent has given proof that his sympathies are in the right direction, and that ere long he too will be declared with us. Is this progress or is it not ? and all within four years from the very first step in the good way within the district. The story that we have to tell of this locality is one which, with little variation, might be told of England generally. Perhaps the triumph has not been accomplished elsewhere so speedily; perhaps the victory has only been gained after many years of patient toil; perhaps in the majority of places it is not yet assured ; but it is coming. Our opponents, who lay everything to the account of preaching, and whose orators are fading away as dew under the morning sun, find their congregations decreasing ; and in- stead of recognizing the inevitable — instead of looking for the cause to the great principles of human nature met and satisfied by the great principles of Catholicity, they begin to rave and use bad language, which will not profit- them greatly. One by one their supporters are dropping into our ranks, until we begin to wonder at the success which it has pleased our Eisen Head to vouchsafe to those who are working for His honour and glory, and for the restoration of the beauty of holiness in His Church. " Here and there some Mrs. Partington attempts to stop the tide with her besom ; but the result is simply that she and her broom are both swept away. And yet no sooner is her form lost in the advancing waters, than some other of her kidney commits a similar moral suicide. The last SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 207 of these pseudo-Conservatives has turned up in Stoke Newington, where the Eev. Prebendary Jackson has fallen in with the good work. The person's name is Ham el, and he belongs to some department in the Civil Service (we believe the Customs), his experience of tide-waiting in which ought to have taught him that it is usually as well to get out of the way of the current. At any rate, this last ape of Messrs. Westerton and Beale is ' Senior Church- warden of Stoke Newington,' and he has written a book, which is chiefly remarkable for two things : that, as its title, it proclaims the important truth we have placed at the head of this article ; and that he knows, if possible, less than the ordinary Puritan about the subject concerning which he com- mits himself to the folly of print. We have no desire to be hard upon the poor man ; but really his friends ought to step in and prevent another exposure like that which he has now made of himself. His facts are wrong, his law is wrong, his conclusions are wrong, save the one conclusion — that ' Protestantism ' is in danger — and a good thing too ! Protestantism is indeed in danger — nay, is moribund. It has always existed on false pretences, and now people have found it out. It has no part or lot in the evangeliza- tion of the future. It is as hollow a sham as its offshoot the Irish Church Missions — and, what is worse for it, the world knows the fact I "Mr. Ham el only serves to show how little reason * sound Protestants ' have on their side, and how entirely they mistake their cue. They will do nothing to stem the flood by their shrieking expostulations about everything. They would achieve their wretched object much better by writing in the Christian Remembrancer, under the mask of friends to the cause, anxious to check its exuberance. As it is, we desire no better fortune for those with whom we work, than that there should be a number of Hamels in England. Those who have not had experience of the fact can hardly tell how a Hamel smooths the way for the progress of Church principle and practice. Ordinary people object to his throwing stones, and stand aloof until he has ex- hausted himself, when they offer their sympathies to the mark of his missiles. ' In quietness and confidence shall be your strength,' is the motto of our party. Our friends can hardly think what an admirable recruiting sergeant a Hamel makes, if we have only patience to wait. 208 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGXS. "But by noticing a silly attempt to mar a good work, we nave been drawn into some remarks which are less suited to the solemnity of the season than we had pur- posed. Our object was to bring prominently before our friends the great work which the Holy Arm is doing through His chosen instruments in England. It has come up like a crop of wheat — insensibly ; i first the blade, then the ear, and then the full corn in the ear.' Let us to- morrow, before the altar, bring to remembrance the harvest which is even now ripening ; let us there thank our Lord for the great mercies that He has done to us in this es- pecial respect ; and let us pray Him, there present, to be with us until next Easter, as He has been with us since last Easter ; so that when another Queen of Festivals comes to give us a holy joy, we shall be again able to raise the triumphant Alleluia to Him, by Whose mercy His servants have been enabled to do something in the past year for the advancement of His Church and for the glory of His great name. With thanksgiving for the triumph of our King and Head, we shall not do amiss to associate prayer for the speedy consummation of the triumph of His Bride, which is the Church." — The Church Times, April, 1865. " There are a host of vestrymen in London who object to vestments, to altar lights, to surplices, choirs, to choral service — to anything but that to which they have been pleased to give their all-sufficient imprimatur, and who have ' put themselves in communication with Lord West- meath.' Birds of a feather flock together, we are told; like attracts like ; the vestrymen and Lord Westmeath are capitally matched. Their first move was to make formal complaints to the bishops. This petard was not long of exploding, and hoisting its engineers. They came to the conclusion that the bishops could not help them The law, unfortunately, is on the side of those dreadful Puseyites; and the only thing left for the bishops, and the Marquis, and the vestrymen to do, is to ' get the law altered.' .... The Marquis of Westmeath has under- taken to run a bill through both Houses for the correction of these abuses.' How very charming ! The Puseyites are to be squashed and sat upon by a special Act They may steal a march upon us, if we be not warned in time ; your viper is dangerous sometimes, if he reach you SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 209 through, the rank grass in which you are calmly walking. We do not think there is much danger to be apprehended if we can only see the snake in time to deal him a good blow with a stout cudgel ; and we are happy to know that the Westmeath-Whalley Association is being met by a counter organization. While some of the bishops, it is reported, were not unwilling to lend a hand to the Protestant move- ment, several others, with greater spirit than we should have been inclined to eredit them with, declared their intention to throw in their lot with us if the scheme were persisted in. This is, at least, satisfactory ; and it is pleasant, moreover, to know that measures have been taken to nip the Westmeath plant in the bud, if ever the seed should fructify. We are not at present at liberty to say more ; but we have sounded the note of warning to churchmen that they may be ready, if called upon, to sup- port the cause which they have at heart Will not somebody offer a reward for the production of the person who believes in Whalley ? As for Lord Westmeath — poor man! — he does not believe in himself." — The Church Times, June, 1865. The foregoing article needs no comment. It is plain — no Protestant or Eomanist can misunderstand it. The author's apology for inserting these lengthened articles is simply stated in the following remarks : — Multitudes of people are altogether ignorant of what they ought to know — others suppose they are in pos- session of all they need. Hence the number of persons who need arousing and alarming are not the few, but the many. The world at large, professors of religion, and even Christians, must be included in this remark. Alas ! many " having eyes," cannot see afar off, but stumble even at home, as do the blind : and " having ears," are so hard of hearing, that probably they may continue to enjoy such deafness till they be stunned by a thundering avalanche, overwhelming and destructive — the natural result of the antagonism 210 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. now going on with spiritualism, Pomanism, and infi- delity. Howincapable are infidel disputants, and all who amuse themselves with Divine revelation, of believing, in their present state, that they are only just suspended, moment by moment, from rolling down an eternal precipice — for ever to realize. " I also will laugh at your calamity ; I will mock when your fear cometh ; when your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind ; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer ; th.Qj shall seek me early, but they shall not find me : for that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord. Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices " (Pro v. i.) A few more daring strides in this conflicting iniquity may suffice to fill up and complete the prophetic word. But whilst the unwary are being caught in the net, and the " disputers " encircled with chains, the Lord's people are afforded increasing opportunities for proving their blessed security in the " Rock of Ages," who is " a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall." " When the enemy shall come in like* a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him." It is strengthening to faith to take a retrospect, and let the faithfulness of Christ in such cases as the follow- ing help to buckle on our armour : — "With John Leaf, John Bradford received the martyr's crown in Sniithfield ; approaching the stake he said, ' Ob, SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 211 England, England, repent of thy sins, repent of thy sins ; beware of idolatry ; beware of antichrist ; take heed they do not deceive you.' Embracing his ' companion in tribu- lation,' he said, ' Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, that leadeth to eternal salvation, and few there be that find it.' He died rejoicing." A contrast; from the Church Times: — "VESTMENTS. "Sir, — I observe in the June circular of the E. C. IT., a method of familiarizing people with Eucharistic and other vestments, which is exceedingly simple, and deserves imi- tation. The committee of the Stepney Branch E. C. U. gave an evening conversazione on May 3, at which a cope, several chasubles, dalmatics, tunicles, stoles, palls, &c, were exhibited and explained. If it should be proposed at some future time to introduce these things into Stepney, the people will know exactly what is coming, and will not be startled, as they might be if taken unprepared. Why not copy this example all over the country ? The lenders of the different articles are, no doubt, willing to repeat their loans to others. "A Ohasubled Priest." TRACTARIANISM m THE CITY. Under this title the Record reprints the following letter addressed to a contemporary : — "A charity sermon was preached at the parish church of St. Michael, Paternoster Royal, College Hill, on Sunday last. The Lord Mayor, sheriffs, and other corporation authorities were present, to patronise a charity, for Pro- testant purposes, in a Protestant church, themselves being the dignified representatives of a venerable Protestant corporation. The sermon was preached by the Eev. M. Collins, and the prayers were read by the Eev. T. Darling, the rector of the parish. The communion-table was luxu- riously decorated with flowers and massive candlesticks, with candles in them. During some of the prayers the Eev. T. Darling did not face the congregation, for whose p 2 212 spiritualism a:nd other signs. spiritual benefit he was reading, but lie looked aside towards the north or the south, and out of a small book, which he held somewhat secretly or obscurely. When he went to the communion-table, he sat, not in the usual manner, but in a chair against the rails, and again not with his face towards the people. This was neither Popery nor Pro- testantism ; it seems that a new and third religious sect is coming up, who may be called ' north-easters.' " The following advertisements are instructive, also from the Church Times : — EUCHAEISTIC VESTMENTS, ETC. E. L. Blomfield, &c._ Complete Low Mass set of Vestments, Copes, Altar-cloths, Incense, &c. TEANSUBSTANTIATION; or, Thoughts on the Change consequent on Consecration in the Lord's Supper. By an English Churchman. London : G. J. Palmer, 32, Little Queen Street. A LAEGE DOUBLE DEMY BILL for posting on walls, price 2d. GOOD ^ FEIDAY. "Is IT NOTHING TO YOU, 0, ALL YE THAT PASS BY?" Your Lord was Crucified for you on Good Friday ! Dare you meet Him in judgment if you do not Keep Good Friday ? "THE SURPLICE. "I am very glad that a writer in your columns has ad- vocated the cause of the ample surplice of the Church of England. The 'Cotta' was unknown in early and mediaeval times. That very learned and candid Roman Catholic ritualist, Can. Bock, D.D., remarks, * Honorius, in the year 1 1 30, describes the surplice as a white loose vest that reached down to the feet. . . . That the surplice used in Catholic England answered this description, and was long, with flowing sleeves, and, though more ample, per- fectly resembled the form of the surplice in use on the continent, in Italy, and especially in Home, is evident from the illuminations of old English MSS. and legends of the saints.' It is to be lamented that no general attempt has been made to reproduce the old English surplice within SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 213 our sanctuaries. Independently of possessing a title to our reverence on account of being a venerable relic of our once Catholic National Church — an incident alone sufficient to demand the restoration of the ancient form — this vest- ment comes recommended to our good taste by its intrinsic gracefulness. Its ample and majestic sleeves and flowing drapery render it more dignified and becoming than the present winged surplice. . . . Let us hope, however, that ere long, as the study of ecclesiastical antiquities, but of those of our ancient British Church in particular, becomes more extended, the surplice will be again fashioned according to that graceful model which still prevails through Italy, and once prevailed in England, prior to the much-to-he-lamented change of religion. . . . Let us endeavour to restore everywhere amongst us the daily prayers, and (at the least) weekly communion ; the proper Eucharistic vestments, lighted and vested altars, the ancient tones of prayer and praise, frequent offertories, the meet celebra- tions of fasts and festivals (all of which, and much more of a kindred nature, is required by our ecclesiastical statutes) ; but let us be careful not to retard the general return of the clergy to rubrical regularity, by attempting as individuals, and by the adoption of isolated practices, to do more than our Church sanctions in the ceremonial departments of Divine Service." — The Editor of the " Hierurgia Anglicana." The Church Times, Jitne, 1865. " To account for the secessions (from Protestantism and joining the Church of Rome) which have already occurred, it is necessary to examine the religious training which these persons have been accustomed to. It is beyond question that for the most part they were members of the Anglican Establishment, and, as a body, opposed to the Evangelical doctrines, which many earnest and pious ministers of that Establishment preach. The leaders were clergymen who had accepted the Articles and Book of Common Prayer and the Ordinal as the legalized dogmatic and ritualistic teaching of the Church, whilst the laity who followed them were chiefly influenced — as was natural under the circumstances — by the Book of Common Prayer. Each of them believed, and was trained by the Church in the belief, that the ministry of the word and sacraments was to be restricted to those who revived Episcopal ordi- 214 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. nation, and that that ordination conveyed, or conferred the Holy Ghost for the office and work of the ministry, and invested all priests with power to remit or retain sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Each of them "believed that ' the sacraments ordained of Christ .... he certain snre witnesses and effectual signs of grace, and God's goodwill towards us, BY THE WHICH He doth work invisibly in us, and doth not only quicken, but also strengthen and confirm our faith in Him ' (Article xxv.) ; or, in other words — as the Catechism defines sacraments — they believed that baptism and the supper of the Lord were 'generally necessary to salvation,' because each of them is an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace given unto us, ordained by Christ him- self as a means WHEEEBY we receive the same, and a pledge to assure us thereof. Accordingly they regarded their baptism as an outward and visible sign, ' WHEEE- BY ' they experienced ' a death unto sin, and a new birth unto righteousness ; for, being by nature born in sin, and the children of wrath, we are HEEEBY ' — said thev, in the words of the Catechism—' we are HEEEBY MADE the children of grace.' In like manner they 'received' bread and wine in the Lord's Supper, but ' the inward and spiritual grace given' by those 'means' was 'the body and blood of Christ, which are verily and indeed taken and received by the faithful in the Lord's Supper;' so that 'the benefits whereof they say — in the prescribed words of the Catechism — 'we are partakers THEEEBY,' were ' the strengthening and refreshing of our souls by the body and blood of Christ, as our bodies are by the bread and wine.' They were thus dependent on the validity of a human priesthood, authorized to dispense sacramental grace. Apostolical succession, baptismal regeneration, the benefit of auricular confession in cases of sickness, the power of the priesthood to absolve the penitent from all his sins by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ com- mitted unto them, the Eeal Presence in the consecrated bread and wine of the Eucharist, and their cognate dogmas were cordially received by them as explicitly, or inexplicitly, taught in the Liturgy, and consequently involved in, or at least in no sense contradictory of, the Thirty-nine Articles ; and for a while they were content to remain in the Anglican Establishment, because it asserted and implied these so- SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGXS. 215 called Catholic Truths. By degrees one and another sought refuge in the Church of Rome ; but the great body of those who clung to these doctrines, as the teaching of the Anglican Establishment, remained in its communion, and manfully strove to vindicate their position. Some were startled and detached from their old connections by the Grorham judgment; others who were shocked by it hoped that, in the celebrated case of Archdeacon Denison, they might receive comfort from a judgment in favour of his teaching as to the Lord's Supper ; but when that case was settled, or rather set aside, on a technical ground, they reconciled themselves with marvellous dexterity to their position ; and now that the judgment of the Privy Council has been pronounced in the case of the ' Essays and Re- views ' they all are still content to remain — and to remain as long as they can — in the pale of the Establishment. The increased tenderness manifested by Englishmen in their estimate of Romish doctrines and practices is not, however, to be accounted for solely by the teaching of the clergy belonging to that party in the Church which I have referred to, nor by the zeal of those men in priestly offices of all kinds, but must be attributed, in a great degree, to various concurring influences, such as — the fascinating beauty and seductive charms of ' The Christian Year,' which everybody reads, and everybody professes to admire — the revival of taste, especially shown in fondness for Grothic architecture and its befitting decoration and symbolism for places of public worship — a desire to make the public services of Grod as artistic and finished as the performance of an opera or an oratorio could be, and the consequent mimicry in Protestant sanctuaries of the arts of the Romanists in these respects — the increased regard for ritual amongst the Evangelical clergy as well as their neighbours — the general custom amongst ladies of wearing the cross as an ornament, and the use of the same symbol as a bookbinding embellishment of Bibles and books of devotion — the formation of sisterhoods and confraternities — amongst these the ' Association for the Promotion of the Unity of all Christendom ' deserves especial notice. It has been formed to secure ' a Corporate Re-union of the Roman Catholic, Greek, and Anglican Churches.' The daily use of a short form of prayer, together with ' Our Father ' — for the intention of the Association — is the only 216 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. obligation incurred by those who join it ; to which is added, in the case of the priests, the offering, at least once in three months, of the holy sacrifice, for the same 'intention.' It was formed in 1857 by thirty -four persons ; it now numbers more than 7,000 members, of whom 'the greater majority are members of the Church of England !!'.... This fact stares all Englishmen in the face — that the clergy in the Establishment need not so much inquire whether their teaching of doctrine be true, as whether it is legal. It is legal, for example, for Dr. Pusey to affirm, and for Dean Groode to deny, spiritual regeneration in baptism, though each of them having baptized a child, thanks God that it 1 hath pleased ' Him ' to regenerate this child with water and the Holy Ghost ! ' It is legal to teach the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, and to speak of 'the due receiving of His blessed body and blood under the form of bread and wine,' and to teach that the consecrated elements are but the memorials of His passion. It is legal for the clerical writers of ' Essays and Reviews ' to deny the in- spiration of various portions of the Holy Scriptures ; and for bishops and others — as the unauthorized and powerless convocation of the province of Canterbury did, in both houses, by a miserable majority — to affirm the contrary. So far as their position in the Establishment is concerned, the clergy need not now be troubled by scruples as to whether they teach the truth in such matters ; their only care must be to keep within the meshes of the law ! Such is the present condition of the Anglican Establishment ; so that it needs no great insight into the future to prognosticate the results which must follow when the ' authority ' of such a Church is contrasted with that of the Church of Rome. " English Churchmen have been, and still are trained by the clergy to contemn Evangelical Dissenters, and to treat them as schismatics and corruptors of Catholic truth ; they must henceforth be modest enough to remember that their boasted establishment legalises the teaching of con- tradictory doctrines on the same topics, and that there is no power in their so-called Church to decide what is the truth of God, and to require the clergy to preach it only. ... In a book of devotions largely and hig x hly esteemed amongst the clergy, priests are taught to pray before cele- brating, in these words* : — ' Now, Lord, mindful of Thy * " The Priest's Prayer Book." Elited by two clergymen. SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER. SIGNS. 217 venerable passion, I approach Thine altar, to offer Thee that sacrifice which Thou hast instituted and commanded to be offered in remembrance of Thee for our wellbeing. Receive it, we beseech Thee, G-od Most High, for Thy holy Church, and for the people whom Thou hast purchased with Thy precious blood. And since Thou hast willed that I, a sinner, should stand between Thee and this Thy people .. . . let not, through my unworthiness, the price of their salvation be wasted, for whom Thou didst vouch- safe to be a saving victim and redemption. ... I pray Thy clemency, Lord, that on the bread to be offered unto Thee may descend the fulness of Thy benediction, and the sanetification of Thy Divinity. May there descend, also ? the invisible and incomprehensible majesty of Thy Holy Spirit, as it descended of old on the sacrifices of the fathers, which may make our oblations Thy body and blood. And teach me, an unworthy priest, to handle so great a mystery with purity of heart, and the devotion of tears, with reverence and trembling, so that Thou mayest graciously and favourably receive the sacrifices at my hands for the good of all,, living and departed'. 7 And after celebrating, they are taught to say : — ' Almighty and everlasting God, the Preserver of souls, and the Redeemer of the world, very favourably regard me, Thy servant, prostrate before Thy Majesty, and most graciously accept this sacrifice , which, in honour of Thy name, I have offered for the saving health of the faithful living as well as departed, as also for all our sins and offences/ In perfect con- sistency with such pretensions, auricular confession is en- couraged,-]- and priestly absolution i3 given to penitents ; and prayers for the dead — which, by the way, Sir H. Jenner, in ' Woolfrey v. the Vicar of Carisbrooke, ' judicially declared to be ' not contrary to the articles or canon of the Church of England' — are offered; as a collection of such, ' Prayers . . . for the use of the members of the Church of England,' first published nearly twenty years ago, abundantly serves to ■ prove. By these means the people of England are being led, step by step-, towards the Church of Rome, and are being prepared to receive the entire cycle of her doctrines. At present no bishop has given a sign of interference, and f " Confession is distinctly recognised, and very extensively practised n the Church of England, exactly after the pattern, and in the very words of the Koman method." — Christian Remembrancer. 218 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. it would seem as if the entire bench were content that things should take their course! Perhaps they feel, as travellers in the high Alps sometimes do, that silence is the condition of their safety ; since a word might disturb a few of the atoms around and above them, and these, gathering momently, might roll down in a thundering avalanche and overwhelm them in destruction. But even so, they must be declared guilty, before God and man, of being content to receive these things and their opposites as equally legal, without troubling themselves to pronounce them true or false. They register and act upon the judg- ment of the State to which they belong ; but they either cannot, or do not, interpret and enforce the decrees of 'another King, one Jesus !' " — Rev. George Gould. Surely no honest mind can object to knowing the truth as to the foundation, position, and results of what lie holds dear. It is only just that every one should have the opportunity of proving all things, that he may know what is good and what is evil. The full result of good and evil, honesty and dishonesty, will soon be brought to an eternal separation. Will it avail any one in " that day " to find that ritualism and creeds, with all the authority of bishops and priests, have utterly failed to deliver from the guilt and punishment of sin? Any sinner who trusts in a refuge so hopeless, must sooner or later discover, to .his profound consterna- tion, that nothing can take the place of Divine faith in Jesus Christ — and nothing can be a substitute for the known efficacy of His cleansing blood. "things worth knowing. "The (Eoman) Catholic Church is getting to feel its true dignity and right position in this country. What we of course aim at, in God's good time and way, is to be, as we have once been, the DOMINANT Church of England. SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGXS. 219 "We had gradually, under the pressure of the penal laws, forgotten our place in the world as Grod's only Church ; we had been snubbed so successfully, that we thought it gain even to make common cause with the sects of yesterday (Dissenters), and pinning ourselves to their sleeve, to get, if it might be, a share in the poor pickings of concession which, with mighty professions and small fruit, were from time to time vouchsafed to us." — Rev. F. Oakley {a Pervert). — Tablet {Romish Paper) May, 1859. " If ever there was a land in which work is to be done, and perhaps much to suffer, it is here. I shall not say too much if I say that we have to subjugate and subdue, to conquer and rule an imperial race ; we have to do with a will which reigns throughout the world as the will of old Rome reigned once ; we have to bend or break that will which nations and kingdoms have found invincible and in- flexible. . . . Were heresy {i.e., Protestantism) conquered in England, it would be conquered throughout the world. All its lines meet here, and therefore in England the Church of Glod must be gathered in its strength." — Rev. Dr. Manning {a Pervert). — Tablet, Aug., 1859. 1 ' When it was generally expected that the Emperor of the French contemplated an invasion of England, the Tablet, in a leading article, wrote : — ' It will be the most popular act in his life. He will have every Frenchman on his side, with the unconcealed sympathies of every nation in the world. When he sets out upon his campaign on . English soil, he need fear no secret societies or insurrec- tions at home ; he will be hailed as the avenger of nations, and as the scourge of a race that is unpopular wherever it is known.' "—Tablet, 1859. " ... You ask if the Roman Catholics were lords in the land, and you were in a minority, if not in numbers, yet in power, what would he do to you ? That, we say, would entirely depend upon circumstances. If it would benefit the cause of Catholicism, he would tolerate you ; if expedient, he would imprison you, banish you, fine you, possibly he might even hang you. But be assured of one thing, he would never tolerate you for the sake of the glorious principles of civil and religious liberty. . . . Shall I hold 220 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS* out hopes to the Protestant that I will not meddle with his creed if he will not meddle with mine ? Shall I lead him to think that religion is a matter for private opinion, and tempt him to forget that he has no more right to his religious views than he has to my purse, or my horse, or my life blood ? No ! Catholicism is the most intolerant of creeds. It is intolerance itself, for it is the truth itself." — Rambler {Roman Catholic Magazine), Sept., 1855. "If the Pope should err in commending vice, or for- bidding virtue, the Church is bound, to believe vice to be good, and virtue to be bad." — Bellarmine de Pontifice, Book IV., chap. 5. These things can only be attributed to the work of the enemy of the truth, (rod's ministers are not by man's appointment. "But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ," who qualifies His servants by the Holy Ghost to. preach the truth in season and out of season, and to " contend for the faith once delivered to the saints/' in opposition to the stratagems of the wicked one. All classes are now brought under the Word, for the rightly ordained ministers are now what they ever were — men not confined to any station or human education, but taken up by Grod out of all, from the peer of the realm to the unlettered collier. Herein is manifested the distinction between the spiritual ad- ministration of the " One Lord," and the carnal con- fusion resulting from the traditions and " command- ments of men." Thus the Head of the Church is " making a people prepared for the Lord," whose coming all believers must regard as certain at some — possibly at any — moment. The time may not be far distant when far greater signs and developments shall be seen by all, while SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 221 " many shall "be purified, and made white, and tried ; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall under- stand." (Dan. xii. 10.) So it has ever been when the foe has pressed hard upon the Church of Christ to try and extinguish her light, the brighter it has burned. In what has persecution ever resulted, whether in the Church collectively or individually, but " glory to Grod in tho highest; and on earth peace, goodwill toward men?" (Luke ii. 14.) Precious are the fruits of His love and faithfulness. Some of us now living may know more of the results of persecution presently, but in the meanwhile we need to be watching unto prayer, realizing our oneness with our risen Lord. " Looking off unto Jesus " will keep us alive to our high calling and the glory yet to be revealed. Tribu- lation will thicken around us, that, " if it were possible, shall deceive the very elect." Surely it behoves us then to be separated from all known or doubtful hindrance to our resurrection life and walk of faith in Christ. In close communion with Him we shall hear a word behind us saying, " This is the way, walk ye in it," while many are being snared and taken, and others, in the forwardness of inexperienced zeal (which is not confined to the young), mistake their calling, and instead of attending to that to which they are called, try to go where they are not sent. But so long as they recognize the footprints of others, and justify them- selves on the plea of " doing as others do," their work is rather an imitation of man than a following of Christ. " "Without Me ye can do nothing." In the midst of vast excitement — supineness — zeal — zeal without knowledge — and delusion — painful extremes 222 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. are very visible on the part of some of (rod's witnesses. On the one hand, Christian men and women, who, from their long standing in the battlefield, ought to be veterans and mothers in Israel, are most disappointing. While we look for their testimony in unflinching bold- ness for the truth, and against the fierce arrows around us, how many are silent, and take no decided stand ; they appear on neutral ground. " He that gathereth not with me, scattereth abroad." This is very deplor- able while our Lord's enemies are encamping about us on every side ; and who are to fight His battles, esteeming it the greatest honour to be so engaged, even unto the death ? On the other hand, how liable are Christian youths in these excitable days to take upon themselves the ministry of the Word, going about preaching and exhorting before they are suffix ciently taught the deceit and wickedness of their own hearts, or established in the dootrines of grace, so that they not unfrequently find themselves in needless temptations, and unexpectedly discover their ignorance in some humiliating result, being short of that needful experience which the apostle gave to Timothy. " Let no man despise thy youth ; But be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of hands of the pres- bytery (hands by which, in those days, the distinctive gifts of the Holy Ghost were imparted). Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all. Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine ; continue in them : for SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 223 in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee." (1 Tim. iv. 12—16.) A little more education in Grods school would be an advantage in many instances, before attempting either to preach or teach. A timely caution is not likely to injure the teacher or the taught. In days when specious errors are leading so many into false paths, preachers and teachers are more than ever called upon to be clad with " the whole armour of Grod," lest they should become the unconscious instruments in fulfilling the wily arts of the wicked one. How is it possible to preach or teach in the power of the truth unless our own felt need takes us continually to draw from " the riches in glory by Christ Jesus ? " In a world of sin and sorrow we find many poor travellers wounded and stript by the thieves as they go down from Jerusalem to Jericho (we are sure to get among thieves if we go down from our Jerusalem standing) — many ignorant, wishing to be taught; many rebellious, seeking to avoid us as we seek to find them, because of the truth. How can we, like the good Samaritan, pour in oil and wine, teach the ignorant, or follow up the self-destroying rebel unless we ourselves have the unction of the holy One and the blood of the slain Lamb upon our hearts and con- sciences, realizing "the Lord is my Shepherd, He restoreth my soul?" If we would be faithful there are so many trying things to speak, so many sorrowful things to listen to and to act in, and so much to unteach whilst teaching, that close walking with Grod, self- denial, and discipline in the truth are requisites apart from which we cannot minister in the Lord, or for man, faithfully. 224 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS, Under this head it is to be feared that some women may be found greatly at fault. There are land-marks given in Grod's Word not to be misunderstood as to the position appointed for women, containing general rules for individual application. Nevertheless, it is the province of a sovereign Grod to make His own excep- tions, but not so as to sacrifice personal and relative duties. For instance, Grod would not give a mother work to do which involved the neglect of her first calling, or in any way lessened her sacred responsibility in the bosom of her family. It would therefore be very hard to believe that God's exceptions would extend to calling any mother away from her family to preach to others, while she is bound by Him to the discharge of hourly, though may-be unostentatious services in her position of real dignity and power. The fulfilment of these is far more acceptable to a heart-searching Grod than were her voice to sound from pole to pole in loud and eloquent discourse. We cannot take excep- tion because of " good results." Grod sometimes sees fit to overrule all and everything for His own glory in bringing sinners to inquire, repent, and believe the Gospel. (Even the blasphemy and oaths of His enemies have been known to bring people to their knees.) Results should not decide our judgment. Not being of Grod, it is worse than vanity. Well, admitting the question, if there are any exceptions, in accepting a woman's preaching, under what circumstances do they exist ? Surely we might look for such self-distinguishing women to be so clearly defined that none should know their circumstances, lives, &c, and hear them preach without at once being able to acknowledge, "It is of Grod, who has said, I SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 225 will work, and who shall let it ? " Some may wish to refer to what is said in Joel ii. There is a time appointed for the fulfilment of every prophecy, and we read, " Upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my Spirit." But this is in connection with "And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood." Surely when such things come to pass there will be no questioning as to the appointed " servants " and " handmaids." If qualified Christian men were lacking in preaching " in season and out of season," it might be less difficult to accept female preachers. There are many texts in the Bible bearing strongly on this subject, but the " things pure," " lovely," and " of good report," in Phil. iv. 8, seem to infer something. Women need not neglect any duty, or thrust themselves where they are not called, and yet the very province of a Christian woman is to labour with others " in the Gospel," and for this she will find ample employment within her own doors and elsewhere. A diligent Christian finds work in the Gospel with all with whom she has to do, and when it is done for God it needs not the praise of man. There seems to be such a spirit now possessing people's minds for trying after something new, rather to astonish than to profit; something notorious is looked for and encouraged more than becoming simplicity. Anything like a "Tragedy Queen," a "Tower of Babel," or any other extraneous novelty, are the pre- sent temptations, which, alas, are not always confined to the people of the world — temptations indeed, for " Christians have not so learned Christ." 226 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. It is not so much a matter of capability, for un- questionably some women can preach better than some men ; the point is whether or not such or such a woman is directed by God to preach, and thus to occupy this position of exception to a general rule? But certainly it appears more seemly for any woman who really possesses the constraining love of Christ, and power even to preach, to be found employing these capabilities in visiting the ignorant, neglected, poor, sick, and sorrowful amongst all classes. Alas ! there is no lack of such cases everywhere. Women who are thus engaged can prove that there are multi- tudes of their fellow-creatures ever calling for the loving and quick impulses of unselfish hearts. These are the very qualifications which God has bestowed upon woman, and for no mean employ. She can go where man is necessarily denied — all are glad to have the sympathy and confidence which woman so often has it in her power to impart. Great, honourable, and blessed is this work and its mission, hidden though it be from the applause of the world. Contrast this with the empty visits and vain conver- sation of the world, and what do you see and hear ? Many are talking about Christ, and even of His coming again (merely as the great subject of the day) with little or no personal concern in the matter. But are none of God's people found amongst " the stuff," as though they were one with a doomed world, to the dishonour of the name they bear, while all manner of selfish indulgences are gratified, luxuries and extravagances enjoyed, and obtained by spending money for which the wants of others call, and for which an account must be given ? And what are the results obtained? No honour SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 227 brought to or received from the Church of Christ or from the world. The former are grieved, the latter despise such inconsistency, while they gladly take shelter for themselves in " not professing what others do." So far well, that the world should not profess what they do not possess. But the inconsistencies of those who do possess the love of Christ will not shelter poor self- deceivers who live and die ignorant of that love as the only refuge for sinners. And what benefit to any one will the inconsistencies of Cod's people confer when the great white throne is set up, and all shall meet there to give an account of " the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." No self-appropriation of the consistencies or inconsistencies of our fellow mortals will avail in that day. It is altogether another question. " He that hath the Son hath life, he that hath not the Son of Cod hath not life." But to return to Christians who are hardly known to be such through their manifested worldliness : how little they can know about that deep stripping of self and separation from the world, involved in "looking off unto Jesus," to enable the soul indeed and in truth to walk with Cod, which is the essence of knowing " Thy favour is better than life." The possessor of such joy, such favour, knows too well that nothing short of "holiness unto the Lord" can maintain the like blessed experience, to risk even the partial loss of it for anything or everything this world can offer. But, happy in the satisfaction of walking with Cod, the world becomes a waste-howling wilderness, and its temptations cease to tempt. Apart from Christ's glory and immortal souls the Q2 228 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHEK SIGNS. world is regarded as a chaos of sin and sorrow. We must say that those Christians who still cling to it &nd its pleasures are not whole-hearted before Grod or man, they are double-minded, unstable, not happy. There is no such thing as serving two masters. In the first place those who try to do so give Grod the lie, and the result must be what they find. The world rules, and the peace and joy of believing departs — and such is their testimony of Christ. What can they know about the Christian paradox, "sorrowful, yet alwajr rejoicing ;" " as having nothing, and yet possessing all things;" "the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world;" "looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of Grod;" "rejoicing in hope;" or of that heavenly mindedness which is the effect of having died and risen with Christ ? In this age of luxury and display, when every art and discovery are united to teach people how many cultivated carnal desires can be nurtured, and the eye, the flesh, and the pride of life are gorged, even 'to the wondrous display and ingenuities of shop-windows, it is marvellous that Christians, to a man, cannot perceive the smouldering hot-bed which is universally and rapidly preparing to throw up its own production — not a mushroom — but that " man of sin," " the son of perdition" (2 Thess. ii). "And he shall speak great words against the Most High and shall wear out the saints of the Most High" (Dan. vii. 25). "And they worshipped the dragon, which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, who is like unto the beast ? who is able to make war with him ? And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great tilings and blasphemies" (Eev. xiii. 4, 5). SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 229 But the question is, have Christians now anything to do with all this preparation for the coming tribulation, horrors, and judgment ? Are they, whilst in the midst of it, separated from it in heart and life ? Are they walking by faith with Christ in His life and resurrection ? Are they contented to be pilgrims and strangers before man, desiring no more of this world's possessions than what the sainted pilgrim needs for his journey ? If so they can say, " To me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." To be allured by, or in any way to be mixed up with this hot-bed, out of which grows " all deceivableness of sin," is practically helping to prepare for " the man of sin." Indeed sin and iniquity are being so rapidly developed, that a very little more may be sufficient to develop this foretold " man of sin " — the personification of the devil. "We read, " And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the founda- tion of the world. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads " (Eev. xiii. 8, 16). The day may not be far distant when this beast shall separate man from man by his mark being " on their right hand and in their foreheads." Will spiritualism, or Romanism, or sophistry, or man's infidel questioning of God's Word, " deliver" or " save " him in that day of awful manifestation ? " Our Apostle, standing on the mount of prophetic vision, and directing his eye, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, along the course of this dispensation, saw the dark clouds of superstition and infidelity gathering around its closing scenes. He warned his son Timothy, and 230 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. through him he still warns every faithful teacher in the Church, of the errors tending to produce these fearful evils : ' This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.' " Which days will be the closing period of the present age ? — the day of gospel grace — to be terminated by the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Whether we look at the abounding superstition of the times, or at the increas- ing rationalistic tendencies of professing Christians, we cannot but discern the truth of the prediction, ' having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.' We see that ritualism, whether Roman or Anglican, makes ordinances essential to salvation, and thus sets aside the sole ground of pardon and peace, through the blood of Christ; and which virtually denies that salvation is of faith alone. We see that ritualism clings to its forms of religion with more than Jewish zeal and superstition. We see, too, that rationalism, which denies the veritable in- spiration of God's holy Word, and which rejects the great fundamental truth of Christ's one sacrifice for sinners, can likewise cling to religious forms, making them of more moment than the great foundation truth on which God has rested the honour of His eternal holiness and justice, in granting saving mercy to guilty man. "While the forms of godliness are attended with a slavish devotedness, no one can look intently beneath the surface, without discovering that there is a widely diffused spirit of latitudinarianism underlying this mass of ritualism. The inspiration of God's Word is not held by those who assume to possess high mental powers, and to be the leaders of progress in spiritual things. The blessed doctrines, for which our reformers, and those of continental Europe, were ready to sacrifice their lives, are considered effete and ineffectual to answer their proposed end. There is an unwillingness to submit to the definiteness of Scrip- ture testimony, and a desire to have all things loose and undecided — in short, an unsettling of the foundations, and a removing of the ancient landmarks, as though men would throw everything back into chaos. " It would be matter of joy to many who have no desire to judge any servant of the Lord, if every faithful minister of Christ would abstain from affirming their belief in ordinances of human invention. But it cannot be denied SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 231 tliat the aversion to creeds, reviewing itself in all sections of the professing Church, the claim for free thought and testimony on the part of human reason, and the attempt to set aside all definite statements as to what is, and what is not, God's truth, arise from unbelief in God's revealed word and will. It is man's reason asserting its claims against the thoughts and testimony of God. The only remedy for this evil is for the true believer to accept God's solemn warning concerning the coming evil, and to cling closely and constantly to the word of truth and life. There is no safe footing for the mind or heart outside the sure foundation and apart from the great essential truths of the gospel of our salvation. And this Satan knows, and there- fore seeks to exalt human reason, in its own eyes, against the truth of God, that he may cause it to know a more fearful fall; for doubtless all this is tending to the great apostacy." — Rev. John Offord. "Men, without the guidance of the Holy Spirit, are just as liable to deadly and fatal error in our own times as in any previous age. The louder their boasts of intellectual advancement and superior intelligence, the more plainly the snares of that great deceiver, who is ' king over all the children of pride,' are weaving around their path. It is only by returning to sit, with the docility of little children, at the feet of Christ, that they can avoid the danger which the prophet has described in such vivid terms : ' Give glory to the Lord your God, before He cause darkness, and your feet stumble on the dark mountains ; and while ye look for light He turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness.' The Bible is a history of redemption, but of a redemption still incomplete, and of which the full and open triumph is reserved for days to come. "Viewed in the light of this great truth, a singular unity of prophetic hope runs through the whole, and becomes doubly striking, when we compare its earliest and latest messages. No books of the Bible are more contrasted in their general character than Genesis and Revelation : the interval of time which sepa- rates them is more than fifteen hundred years. The first is a simple, unadorned history; the second a series of highly poetical visions. The first is the earliest variety of Hebrew prose ; the second, in a language then unborn, embodies the main features of Hebrew poetry. The Book 232 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. of Genesis records common events upon earth. ; the Apoca- lypse, to a great extent, is the description of heavenly- wonders. One is a preface to the Law, the other a supple- ment to the Gospel. One was written by the adopted son of Pharaoh's daughter, learned in all the wisdom of Egypt ; the other, by an unlearned fisherman of despised Galilee. The first abounds with innumerable details, names of per- sons, places, and domestic animals of the most minute and various kind ; while the other scarcely stoops to set its foot upon earth, but dwells apart as on a mount of transfigura- tion. When the former was composed Israel had scarcely begun to be a nation ; but when the exile received his visions in Patmos, their national history was closed for ages, and they were already outcasts and wanderers through the earth. All things were on earth changed in this long interval — Egypt, Canaan, and Babylon — only God and His redeeming grace remained unchangeable. Yet the latest book corresponds to the earliest, as the loops and curtains of th.e tabernacle, or the various parts of the temple, with multiplied harmonies, partly of the most obvious, but in part of the most delicate and unobtrusive kind. Creation has its counterpart in the promise, ' Behold I make all things new.' The uncreated light which, fills the heavenly city ; the successive revelation of the beast from the sea, the beast from the earth, and one like to the Son of Man ; the sabbatic rest of a thousand years ; the river from the throne watering the heavenly Paradise ; the great river Euphrates ; the gold and precious stones of the new Jeru- salem ; the tree of life in the Paradise of God ; the marriage of the Lamb ; the second Adam ; the clothing in which the bride is arrayed ; the old serpent, the deceiver of the nations ; the woman and her mystic seed, and sore travail ; the re- moval of the curse ; and the angel guards at the open gates of the heavenly Paradise; the cry of the martyrs from beneath the altar of burnt offering; and the rainbow around the throne, are all so many distinct allusions in this closing prophecy to the earliest chapters of the sacred history. The Old Testament here conspires with the New, and the history of the world's first infancy is seen to be stored with lessons of Divine wisdom, which were to be fully unveiled, after six or seven thousand years, in the final close of the mystery of God. The Bible, then, amidst the large variety of its contents, which, embrace an interval of fifteen cen- SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 233 turies in their composition, and seven thousand years in the time to which they refer — in its histories, psalms, proverbs? prophecies, and epistles, earthly facts and heavenly revela- tions — exhibits, from first to last, the clear signs of a Divine unity which pervades and animates the whole. Its distinct parts are not of separate interpretation. Behind the human authors stood the Divine Spirit, controlling, guiding, and suggesting every part of their different messages. Their words ' came not at any time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake, borne along by the Holy Ghost.' As the Jordan flows underground in part of its course, so this Divine unity may be obscured from hasty observers by the multitude of intervening works of which the whole message is composed, by the variety of historical details, the diversity of manner and style, of age and local circumstance, in the sixty-six books which constitute the Bible ; but its sunrise and sunset are equally glorious, and reveal clearly the hidden harmony of the whole revelation. It traces the course of Providence from that creation in which our earth was prepared for the habitation of men, to the complete accomplishment of that new creation, in which it will be the habitation of righteousness for ever. It begins with the first bridal of Adam and Eve, the parents of all man- kind, and closes with the heavenly bridal of the second Adam, the Lord from heaven, and the Church of the first- born, in whom the great mystery of that ordinance is fulfilled. It begins with a vision of the earthly Paradise forfeited by sin, and the taste of the forbidden tree of knowledge. It closes with the revelation of a better and heavenly Paradise, where no tree of knowledge is seen, but the tree of life alone, and even its leaves are for the healing of the nations. It begins with the success of the old serpent in deceiving Adam and Eve ; and ends with the vision of his overthrow by the seed of the woman, when he can deceive the nations no more, but sinks under the righteous judg- ment of God. It begins with man's exclusion from Pa- radise by the watching cherubim and the flaming sword ; and ends with the revelation of the heavenly Jerusalem, whose gates are open continually, while an angel at every gate invites the nations of the saved to bring their honour and glory into the city of God. The more closely, then, we examine the Bible, the more plainly it will appear to be indeed 'the true sayings of God,' 'the Word of God 234 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. which, liveth and abideth for ever.' In its width, its free- dom, and its grandeur, it reflects the largeness of God's universal Providence. Like that Providence, it has its seeming discrepancies, and its real perplexities, much to exercise faith, as well as much by which it is nourished, parts which may appear trivial and superfluous, and depths which repel the frivolous with a sense of impenetrable gloom. Even those who sincerely embrace the Gospel may rest satisfied with a dim and imperfect measure of knowledge, and have thus their faith in it exposed to sore trial, whenever new temptations assail the Church of Christ ; but, in proportion as we search it with humble diligence and earnest prayer, fresh harmonies of Divine truth, and new wonders of Divine grace and love, will disclose themselves to our view. One difficulty after another will slowly melt away, and resolve itself into a halo of heavenly beauty. Sixty generations of the Church have studied it un- ceasingly; but this incorruptible manna neither wastes nor corrupts, and they have never exhausted its stores of Divine wisdom. Sixty generations of unbelievers have assailed it on every side with winds of false doctrine ; but it has only rooted itself the more firmly in the hearts of Christians, and in the history of the world. And still, after all these ages, there are deep mines of truth in it which have never been explored, rich harvests of spiritual food still to be reaped by coming generations, and healing medicines for countless evils that are still concealed in the depths of future time. The words of the prophet to Ariel of old will assuredly be fulfilled, soon or late, in all who assail this enduring Word of God. ' And the multitude of the nations that fight against her, and her munition, shall be even as the dream of a night vision. It shall be as when a hungry man dreameth and behold he eateth, but he waketh, and his soul is empty ; or a thirsty man dreameth, and behold he drinketh, but he waketh, and is faint, and his soul hath appetite : so shall all the mul- titude of the nations be that fight against Zion.' But those who draw near with reverence, and while they meditate, loose their shoes from their feet on this holy ground, will equally find the promise of the Psalmist fulfilled in their own experience : ' They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fulness of Thy house ; and Thou wilt make them drink of the river of Thy pleasures. For with Thee is the fountain SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. 235 of life : and in Thy light shall we see light.' The meteors of false philosophy blaze for a moment, and disappear, but the written Word of Grod is an effluence from the Un- created Light and must endure for ever."— il The Bible and Modem Thought" hy Rev T. R. Birhs. The writer was about to close this book, containing so many and solemn quotations, desiring in so doing to point to the Bible as the only foundation of truth and blessing, when the foregoing most comprehensive and condensed analysis of God's Word was met •with, leaving the writer nothing more to say than to express a longing desire that the contents of this book may — if it so please Grod — be the means of bringing some to, and confirming others in the truth that " the entrance of Thy words giveth light," with an experimental knowledge that the only source and revelation of all truth is the Bible, and the only refuge for sinners, and those deluded by "an angel of light," is the Lord Jesus Christ, and the only Teacher of Divine truth is God the Holy Spirit. " Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall."— 1 Cor. x. 12. " Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh." — Jer. xvii. 5, 6. " He that is unjust, let him be unjust still : and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still : and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still : and he that is holy, let him be holy still." — Rev. xxii. 11. "For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whorer 236 SPIRITUALISM AND OTHER SIGNS. mongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie." — Eev. xxii. 15. " Blessed is the man that trastest in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river."- — Jer. xvii. 7, 8. " And there shall be no more curse : but the throne of Grod and of the Lamb shall be in it ; and His servants shall serve Him : and they shall see His face ; and His name shall be in their foreheads." — Eev. xxii. 3, 4. " Lord to whom shall we go ? Thou hast the words of eternal life." For out of Thee " all is vanity and vexation of spirit." — John vi. 68 ; and Eccles. i. 14. " Soon and for ever the work shall be done, The warfare accomplished, the victory won ; Soon and for ever the soldier lay down The sword for a harp, the cross for a crown : Then sink not in sorrow, despond not in fear, A glorious to-morrow is brightening and near, When — blessed reward for each faithful endeavour — Christians with Christ shall be, soon and for ever!" THE END. "W. H. 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