"which one would think it impossible to exceed in daring rebellion against the sovereignty of heaven, I have not yet reached their climax. What think you, my dear Mrs. Sandford, of Roman Catholic priests burning the Bible? Yes! burning the Bible! Of their casting into the flames the Scriptures of everlasting truth?-the precious word of God Himself?-the commandments of the Decalogue ?- written with the finger of God,'-as if they were an unclean and unholy thing? And yet these Holy Scriptures contain the only revelation of the Divine will,-alone point out to man the way of salvation through a crucified Saviour; to accomplish which Christ died the bitter death of the cross; and which glorious truth is revealed in the sacred pages of the Bible alone. And this sacred book they burn! For it is a fact undeniable, as well as most melancholy, that both in the sister kingdom, and in other countries under papal dominion, this spiritual atrocity has been not unfrequently committed. I will not stop to observe on the fact of the Roman hierarchy withholding the Bible from their people, in daring violation of the command of our Lord,' Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature;' but it makes my very flesh creep and shudder, when I think of that idolatrous and apostate Church hurling into the flames that inestimable book, stained as it is, and sanctified, by the precious blood of Christ! "This is that tremendous sin against the Holy Ghost," said Mrs. Gracelove," which it is declared in Scripture shall not be forgiven, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.' * "Listen to the awful declaration of the Spirit of God, although your ears should tingle at the denouncement of so fearful a judgment as that which is contained in the 22nd chapter of the Revelation:- For I testify unto every man that * Matt. xii. 32. heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.'* "If, then, these terrible denunciations shall be executed against the man who shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy,'-an expression that imports but a portion of the words,-how much more severely will these denunciations be realized against him who shall take away all the words contained therein, by the very act of casting the sacred volume, whole and entire, with demoniac fury, into the consuming flames? "And now let me ask you," said our friend, "to point me out a single text in the whole of the Bible that sanctions the worship, by the Roman Catholics, of any one of the objects I have just brought to your notice. "Can the Roman Catholics, indeed, point to even a permissive scripture, to say nothing of a positive commandment, to warrant these adorations of any one but the Triune Jehovah, -the holy, blessed, and glorious Trinity, three persons and one God?' Not to a single one! The reproof of the incarnate Deity to the Scribes and Pharisees in the days of ancient times may be equally addressed to the Romanists in our times: Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.' + "In addition to the solemn injunctions against idolatry, contained in the first and second commandments of the Decalogue, which the Romanists have chosen to unite into one, and in a form best calculated to serve their own purposes, what do + Mark vii. 9. * Rev. xxii. 18, 19. they think of the following passages of scripture, as confirmatory of the doctrine they set up? "To whom will ye liken Me, and make Me equal, and compare Me, that we may be like? ""For I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like Me.' * "There is no God else beside Me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside Me. "Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth for I am God, and there is none else.' ↑ "Thus saith the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of Hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside Me there is no God. "Is there a God beside Me? Yea, there is no God; I know not any.'‡ “Before Me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after Me. 'I, even I, am the Lord, and beside Me there is no Saviour.' § 66 6 They shall be turned back, they shall be greatly ashamed, that trust in graven images, that say to the molten images, Ye are our gods.' || 66 As the two last instances that I shall adduce," said the lady of Derwent Cottage, "let me inquire of you, or of your Roman Catholic friend, Mr. Merton, what is meant by our blessed Lord's reply to Satan, 'Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve?' ¶ "Let me ask, also, what is meant by the angel in the Revelation refusing the slightest worship from St. John? 'I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things. * Isaiah xlvi. 5, 9. Isaiah xliv. 6-8. || Isaiah xlii. 17. + Isaiah xlv. 21, 22. Matt. iv. 10. "Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellow-servant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book :-WORSHIP God.'* “If, then, my dear Mrs. Sandford, these irresistible scriptures can be satisfactorily answered, so as to make them conform to the Romish doctrine of idol worship, I must at once commence to unread my Bible from beginning to end ;-to form a new theory of religion ;—and shall be reduced to the necessity of asking, with Pilate,- What is truth?' 66 And, now, let me say a few words in reference to the prohibition of the Bible by the Church of Rome. What can be expected from the ecclesiastics of that Church, even to the utmost extent imaginable of impiety, when we find the very pontiff himself setting the fearful example? What think my dear friend, of the two awful facts following? you, "In the year 1816 Pope Pius VII. declared the Bible Society to be a most crafty device by which the very foundations of religion are undermined.' 66 Eight years afterwards, in 1824, Pope Leo XII. spoke of it as turning the Gospel of Christ' into the Gospel of the devil. "Under the sanction of such documents, the Irish priests insisted on all copies of the Holy Scriptures, put into circulation by Bible Societies, as well as the various publications of the Religious Tract Society, found in the possession of their flocks, being given up to them for the purpose of being destroyed! "Does not your very heart shudder, my dear Mrs. Sandford, at such a contemplation? "But I proceed to the proof of this prohibition; and as it is always desirable, whenever practicable, to go to the fountainhead for your authority, whether it be of law, physic, or * Rev. xxii. 8, 9. divinity, I will, with your permission, read you the letter of the last pope, Gregory XVI., on this very subject. It is long, but quite relevant to our present discussion; and if you will not be wearied by listening to its extraordinary doctrine, I shall hasten at once to unfold this marvellous document of the supreme pontiff." "I cannot feel wearied, when so deeply interested," replied the fair hostess," and beg you will kindly proceed." Thus encouraged, Mrs. Gracelove commenced with the title of the epistle. "An Encyclical Letter of our most Holy Lord Gregory XVI., by Divine Providence Pope, to all Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, and Bishops. “VENERABLE BRETHREN, Greeting and the Apostolic Benediction. Amongst the principal machinations by which in this our age the non-Catholics † of various names endeavour to ensnare the adherents of catholic truth, and to turn away their minds from the holiness of the faith, a prominent position is held by the Bible Societies. These societies, first instituted in England, and since extended far and wide, we now behold in one united phalanx, conspiring for this object, to translate the books of the Divine Scriptures into all the vulgar tongues—to issue immense numbers of copies-to disseminate them indiscriminately among Christians and infidels—and to entice every individual to peruse them without any guide. Consequently, "This Encyclical Letter was published on the 25th May, 1844, in the Diario di Roma, (the official gazette of the papal government,) in the Latin and Italian languages. It is translated from a copy purchased at the Roman Gazette Office, in June.' +"Acatholici.' |