CHAPTER XVII.

_LIBERTY._

I cannot but add a chapter in which I shall especially endeavour to give

a word of counsel and warning to all who may in any degree be looking

upon convent life, whether in the Church of England or in the Church

of Rome, with a favourable eye. I may say sincerely this book has been

written with this object. And if, in doing what seemed to me so bounden

a duty, I have hurt the feelings of any who are mentioned in its pages,

it was not with the object of doing so that I was led to speak out the

truth. My prayer for them is that they may be brought out into the same

liberty that I, through God’s infinite mercy, am now in the enjoyment of.

I can truthfully say that in doing this I have fully counted the cost,

and it _has_ already cost me no small amount of pain. I have spoken the

truth, and I have endeavoured to do so in no vindictive manner, but in

love. Distinctly this book has been written to warn all against making

the terrible mistake in life that I made. Had I but listened to and

obeyed my mother, her advice would have saved me from wasting (I can use

no other word, though God will doubtless overrule this mistake for my

own good, and for the good of others) the best and youngest years of my

life, and have prevented me from enduring years of mental suffering and

misery. But when I went astray on the path that seemed so attractive and

pleasant, I was very young; I was but fifteen years of age, and like, I

fear, so many young and inexperienced people, I was foolish, self-willed,

and fancied that I was better able to judge for myself than others were

to judge for me. And so I was led to deliver myself over to the tender

mercies of High Church Fathers and Mothers. I was simply bewitched

by their “fair speeches,” high professions of sanctity, and solemn

assurances of the happiness belonging to the cloistered life.

When I think of such “false prophets,” I am forcibly reminded of the

words we read in 2 Timothy iii. 6:

Of these are they that _creep into houses_, and take captive

silly women, laden with sins, led away by divers lusts, _ever

learning_ and _never_ able to come to the knowledge of the

truth.

I was led by Ignatius to believe that by my action I was doing God’s

will, and that by leaving my home and relations I was but obeying the

command of Christ to “leave all and follow Him.” Was there ever such an

absurdity as this? I was not called to go on a mission to the teeming

millions living in heathen darkness, and take to them the Gospel of God’s

grace; nor yet to work amongst the heathen in our own large towns; but

positively to make myself a prisoner in one particular house, to be shut

up where I could engage in no Christian or even philanthropic labour,

and in _such_ an isolated position I was told over and over again that I

could live the highest, the holiest, and the happiest life on earth, and

withal, bring down to the world around me blessings and health through

the merits of “holy obedience.” I was taught that I could bless, and be

made a blessing to others, by “telling the beads,” “invoking the saints,”

“confessing sins to man,” by “hearing mass,” and by “reciting various

offices.” What incredible folly!

On looking back, I find how great was my delusion, and I do heartily

trust that my experience of this folly may be the means of saving girls

and boys, men and women, from wasting so much precious and God-given

time, which it was my sad lot to lose. I sowed the seed of blind

enthusiasm, and reaped the harvest of untold misery, and blighted hopes.

All the high-flown promises (which I so greedily swallowed) of the joy,

the glory, the peace, the happiness of the nun’s life, are _false_

promises and vain delusions. Certainly at one of the three convents in

which I resided it was (as some of the sisters have said) “like living in

a bear-garden.”

I do from the depths of my heart thank God for delivering me out of the

“bear-garden,” and I pray that He will deliver others, and give them

courage to “come out.”

It needs some courage to enter, but a hundred times as much to leave. I

fear in many convents, humanly speaking, it is, after full profession,

almost an impossibility to do so, for, as I have said, the moral bolts

and bars are even more difficult to break through than the material

ones; and these latter are, especially in Roman Catholic convents, not

few or easily to be broken through. During all the years spent by me

in nunneries I cannot look back to _one_ sister, and say I know she

is happy, that she has found _true_ peace and satisfaction; but I can

recollect the many who were disappointed at finding the life so utterly

different from what they had been led to expect.

Alas! alas! When once we have taken up the “golden plough,” there is

virtually no “looking back.” When once we have made our choice, we must

abide by it. Many I know bitterly regret that they ever put their hands

to this golden or, rather, this _gilded_ plough.

If nuns were only free, and not conscience-bound, they would tell the

self-same, true story which I do. But alas! they dare not speak, they

even scarcely dare to think for themselves. Their reason has been given

up to their Superiors (do remember this), and they have no right to

think anything but what their Superiors think.

It is not your place to think, but to obey.

These words were often spoken to us. And again:

A nun is always sure of doing God’s will, because her

Superior’s voice is God’s voice to her, and even should I, your

Superior, tell you to tell a lie (which of course I should

not), you would be committing the sin of disobedience if you

did not do as you were told.

I recollect well that a certain dear young sister was told to tell what

she believed to be a lie. She was in great distress about it, and went to

the Mother Superior we then had, telling her that she did not know what

to do, as she must either commit the sin of lying or of disobedience.

When a monk or nun is under vows, such a man or a woman is but a _tool_

to be used as the owner of that tool sees fit. Individuality is sunk

in the order in which such vows have been made. Practically, men and

women under vows (and it matters not whether these vows are made in

the established Church of England or in the alien Church of Rome) are

_dead_—dead to the world, dead to father, mother, sisters, brothers and

friends; above all, dead to the “still small voice” of an enlightened

conscience which once had power to speak. Yes, they are _dead_ in another

sense of the word, for have they not, knowingly or unknowingly, committed

an act of moral suicide? They are no longer responsible beings. They

have given up their souls, their bodies, their wills, their consciences

and reason itself into the hands of their Superiors, who from the

moment those terrible vows are taken are to them in the place of God;

and whatever command the Superior gives, _that_ must they obey without

question and blindly. And should one Superior give a sister over into the

hands of another (as was the case with me), then that one must be obeyed

with the same blind obedience. We were taught by the Superior:

If the order given is sinful, that is _my_ sin, and you are

not responsible; but you would be guilty of greater sin in not

obeying, because it would be the sin of disobedience, and God

hates that sin more than any other, because it was the sin that

brought death into the world, and it will bring death to your

soul.

Such being the case, we may define a nunnery as a place where slaves drag

on a weary existence day and night. Whilst the slave-owners do their own

sweet wills, we, their slaves, must idolatrously bow down to them, kiss

the hems of their holy garments, and obey without a murmur. Murmuring at

our condition is most strictly forbidden.

Indeed, should the relatives or friends of a poor nun go to the convent

and there hold converse with her, that conversation must be held only

through a grating, and (in our case, at any rate) the nun must have her

face closely veiled. And even then it would not be possible to lodge a

complaint with one’s relative or friend, or even with one’s own mother,

since another nun is usually sent to listen. Thus it is that we were

often forced to appear perfectly happy, when, in truth, we were just the

opposite.

I have had thus to appear when speaking to my own sister; my heart at

that time was well nigh breaking. But should a nun complain, the training

she has gone through would cause her to be very distressed in mind

at having been unfaithful enough to bring scandal upon the so-called

“religious life,” and she would feel bound to confess it at once to her

Mother Superior.

I should have written this account of my experiences of convent life some

two years ago, had I not then feared that by doing so I should be doing

more harm than good, by exposing to the outside world what a farce and

sham some who make so much profession are, to say nothing of what a farce

the whole system is.

But, little by little, I have become more free from the chains which held

me, and I now trust that this book will do more good than harm by saving

others from being led away by the power of Satan, for I believe it to

be through Satanic influence that this system exists. I sincerely hope

that this book will be read in the spirit in which it is written, and

that thus it will be the means of saving many parents from heart-breaking

separations from their beloved children.

I would ask those who are not believers in Christianity not to use it

in order to bolster themselves up in their atheistical views, or to see

in it a proof of the fallacy of true religion. Although I have given

up convent religion, yet I am a firm believer in God. I believe that

the Lord Jesus Christ died and rose again to atone for and save His

people from their sins, that the Holy Spirit can and does give to all

who believe in Christ a new and a clean heart, and grace to walk in the

footsteps of the Saviour.

However misguided I was when I entered in my convent life, yet I was

induced to do so because I had a deep love to my Saviour, and thought I

could not in a better way prove my love and increase it.

But who can be surprised at a young girl being deluded and led astray

when “false prophets” arise, who _profess_ so much holiness and so great

and exact a knowledge of God’s will?

Many there are, like myself, who have been misdirected and deceived by

ritual, candles, flowers, incense, gorgeous vestments, genuflexions,

sentimental music and sermons, and I know not what other nonsense. I was

seeking Jesus. I asked for bread, but I was given a stone. For a time the

excitement arising from convent life made me think I had found what I

sought, but it was a vain delusion, as I found to my cost.

There are in English convents to-day many unhappy souls, groping in the

dark. Are we to let them share my fate, and that of others, which may be

worse? Nay, rather let us use our pens and voices to awaken and enlighten

the men and women of England as to the truth.

Others have exposed conventual life as it exists in the Roman Catholic

Church; but still the people of England can scarcely be alive to the

fearfully rapid increase in the number of such convents,[24] or of

the degrading and un-English and un-Christian nature of the life of a

nun therein. It is not my lot to expose Roman Catholic convents; the

discoveries I have made have been made in connection with the Church

of England, which, alas, through the fearful growth of Ritualism, is

becoming a recruiting ground for Rome.

My opinion may not be worth much, but I hold the strong conviction that

unless Protestants make a great stir, and unless the bishops of the

Church set the example, England, at no very distant period, will be

Romanized.

I can point to more than two or three convents in connection with the

Established Church where not only Roman Catholic books are in constant

use, but where the Roman Catholic Ordinary of the Mass is used, instead

of our own Protestant Communion Service; and, worse than all perhaps, I

know the Mass was on several occasions celebrated by a Roman Catholic

priest in a Church of England convent!!

When I came out of convent life and mixed with Christian people, I

discovered that the most earnest workers were those who were in the

enjoyment of peace. They were living in the sunlight of God’s love;

they were, so to speak, good without knowing it, they had no time to be

always thinking of themselves, but they were ever looking to God. Now, in

the convent it had been far otherwise; we had been taught by man to try

with all our might to be good according to set rules, and ceremonies,

and methods handed down to us by Roman Catholic saints, or so-called

Fathers of the Church, and to be continually examining and fingering our

spiritual muscles to see how we were getting on in the spiritual life. In

consequence of such a method, there was constant failure, as there ever

will be under such a system.

I feel I have much to be thankful for that God should have led me to see

my mistake in life. It was _His_ work, for, in spite of the treatment I

received, _I_ still clung to the convent life. My motive for leaving it

was mainly to get away from being misunderstood and misrepresented, and

from the endurance of cruel penances. But since then my eyes have been

further opened, so that I now totally disagree with the whole system,

and I thank God for having so providentially taken me by the hand. He

and He alone has delivered me from so many Satanic delusions, and He and

He alone has made known to me the “truth as it is in Jesus,” and not in

Romish rites and ceremonies. I can and do indeed rejoice in the liberty

wherewith Christ has made me free; I am free to serve Him “without

fear,” and I am free to let my light shine that others may learn thereby

to glorify my heavenly Father.

I thank Him especially for not letting me remain in the convent any

longer, wasting time and precious opportunities of doing good and helping

others. And I do pray that He will ever keep me in a listening and

waiting attitude of mind upon Himself, so that I may “hear what the Lord

will speak: for He will speak peace unto His people, and to His saints.”

And may He so speak to me that I may _never_ “turn again to folly.”

That God may use these poor efforts of mine to open the eyes of many, is

the prayer of her who, with the man whose eyes the Lord once opened, can

say, “Once I was blind, now I see.”

DEVOTIONAL BOOKS USED BY SISTER MARY AGNES, O.S.B.

_APPENDIX A._

“MANUAL OF DEVOTIONS TO OUR HOLY FATHER, ST. BENEDICT, ABBOT

AND PATRIARCH OF THE WESTERN MONKS; TO HIS SISTER, ST.

SCHOLASTICA, VIRGIN AND ABBESS; AND TO ALL SAINTS OF HIS

ORDER.” (London: Catholic Publishing and Bookselling Co.

Limited.)

Father Ignatius calls himself a Benedictine monk, and his nuns belong to

the same order. One would have supposed that though he imitated Rome in

the worship of the wafer and of the Virgin, he would still have hesitated

to go the full length of Romish superstition by obliging his nuns to put

their trust in such questionable characters as Gregory VII., Thomas à

Becket, etc. Yet on page 185 of the above book they are required to ask

Gregory VII. to pray for them, and on the following page Thomas à Becket

is invoked in the same manner. Who and what these two Romish saints were,

truthful English history abundantly proves.

As the title of the book shows, it is intended to foster devotion to

St. Benedict, to his sister Scholastica, and to all the other canonized

saints of the Benedictine Order. Now, who canonized these supposed

saints? Was it not Rome?

The first part is entirely devoted to the honouring and invoking of

St. Benedict. Throughout this part we frequently meet with the verse,

“Pray for us, O holy Father St. Benedict.” There are also a number of

litanies, in which he is called upon as being now “placed over the choirs

of monks,” as “the star of the world,” as “the equal of the prophets,” as

“protector of his order,” as “the scourge of devils,” as the “Abraham of

the New Testament,” and is entreated with the cry, “We beseech thee to

hear us.” On page 47 the following invocation occurs: “Beseeching thee

(holy Father St. Benedict) to be so faithfully present to me at the hour

of my death, as to oppose thyself on every side where thou shalt see

the assaults of the enemy most violently raging against me, that, being

defended by thy presence, I may securely escape the snares of the enemy,

and arrive at the joys of heaven.”

Similar impieties occur throughout this and the other parts. Thus, in

the part devoted to St. Scholastica, on page 131, we find the following

collect: “Mercifully look down upon Thy family, we beseech Thee, O Lord,

through the merits of Thy blessed Virgin, St. Scholastica; and as by her

prayers Thou didst cause the rain to descend from heaven deign, through

her supplications,” etc. A number of litanies also occur, in which she is

addressed in the most gushing way, and asked to pray for those who thus

address her.

Moreover, this book introduces prayers for the dead. Thus, on page 165,

the versicle, “May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy

of God, rest in peace.”

There are many other superstitious practices contained in the book,

notably the medal of St. Benedict, the wearing of which is declared on

page 223 to be “a constant silent prayer to God, … that He would have

regard to the merits of our holy Father, and for his sake would extend

His own protection,” etc.

Sister Mary Agnes says that the whole of this book, with the exception

of the part on Indulgences, was in constant use by the nuns under Father

Ignatius.

Must not then monasticism be a fostering garden of superstition, since

even those who claim to reject Rome resort to the same subterfuges as

Rome does to fill the void that must necessarily exist in the aching

hearts of all the deluded followers of monasticism?

The next book, under Appendix B, will appear, if possible, even more

grossly superstitious than the former.—(EDITOR.)

_APPENDIX B._

“THE EXERCISES OF SAINT GERTRUDE, VIRGIN AND ABBESS OF THE

ORDER OF ST. BENEDICT.” (London: Burns & Oates.)

In the preface a short account is given of the life of St. Gertrude,

which is chiefly a legendary history, and made up of some of the most

absurd and ridiculous tales.

“Once, when she was pouring out her whole heart in love to its Divine

Spouse, it received the impression of the five wounds of the Divine

Redeemer, and Gertrude felt them continually to the moment of her death

with an ever-increasing anguish and love.”

Again, “On another occasion, on the Feast of Annunciation, the Mother of

God fastened on her breast a heavenly jewel, wherein were seven precious

stones.”

Again, we have another still more extraordinary miracle vouchsafed to

her; for “once she received in her heart the Divine Infant, who sprang

from his crib to attach himself to her.”

Must not such teaching as this be in the highest degree degrading? And

must not those who can swallow such stuff be spiritually demented?

It is almost needless to point out that Saint Gertrude is said to have

been devoted to the worship of the Virgin Mary. We find the following

most blasphemous words on the subject: “The love of Gertrude towards

Mary was in proportion to the tenderness with which the Mother of God

regarded the dearest of the Spouses of her Son. Gertrude has bequeathed

to us the expression of her devotion to the glorious Queen of heaven

in that exquisite prayer which so expressively reveals the deep and

touching character of her piety: ‘Hail, fair lily of the effulgent and

ever-glorious Trinity! Hail, radiant rose of heavenly fragrance, of whom

the King of heaven willed to be born, and with thy milk to be fed, feed

our soul with thy Divine insinuations!’” I will only give the last prayer

in the book to show how the invocation of supposed saints is inculcated,

as in the other book so commonly used in monastic and conventual

institutions.

“O God, who hast prepared for Thyself a dwelling-place of delights in the

most pure heart of the blessed Virgin Gertrude, deign, we beseech Thee,

through her merits and intercession, to wipe away all stains from our

hearts, that they may become meet abodes of Thy Divine Majesty, through

Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen!”—(EDITOR.)

_APPENDIX C._

REVIEW OF “VISITS TO THE MOST HOLY SACRAMENT AND THE BLESSED

VIRGIN MARY. BY ST. ALPHONSUS LIGUORI.” (Published by Burns &

Oates.)

This book was sent to me by Sister Agnes, who wrote as follows when

forwarding it:

“I send the book which we used daily. It was my constant friend for

years; my troubles and sorrows I confided to it. The hymns with the word

‘Ignatius’ at the end are his, but not the others; the writing in the

first part of the book, written in MS. on foreign note paper, is taken

from St. Alphonsus Liguori, and _was approved of by Ignatius_, except the

part I have covered over: that he did not approve of. It treats of sinful

obedience. I cannot quite make it out. The book it is culled from is, I

think, entitled ‘The Religious Life.’”

Before reviewing the book itself, I purpose to place before you a part of

the matter “written on foreign note paper,” and stuck carefully into the

book, acting as a kind of preface to it, as we may say.

Remember this matter is _taken from St. Alphonsus Liguori’s “Life of the

Religious.”_

“_There is no consecration so profound, so entire as that of ‘religious’_

on the day of their profession, because there is _none so purifying, so

constant, or so religious_. The consecration of bishops and priests is

more exalted, as being a Sacrament; it is more noble, as conferring a

more sublime dignity and ineffable character; yea, it is more powerful,

because it imparts to a mere creature some of the powers of God. _But it

is not so complete as the monastic_ consecration, because it does not

include a man’s entire separation from himself and from the world; it

is not so entire, because it does not _absolutely consume the liberty_,

the independence, and the spontaneousness of his nature: it is a great

sacrifice and a great Sacrament, but _not a_ TRUE HOLOCAUST.”

I would urge my readers to stay a moment and mark carefully, and inwardly

digest this description of a nun’s life. Where is the liberty that is so

vainly spoken of? Are we not here told that a nun by her profession has

her liberty absolutely consumed; that is to say, she is a _prisoner for

life_?

Notice, I pray you, the words “it is a true holocaust.” In fact, the sin

of the children of Israel, who “caused their sons to pass through the

fire,” is committed over again. As king Manasseh “caused his children to

pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom,” so under the

pretence of offering the nuns to the service of God, the Roman Catholics,

and alas! members of the Church of England, “sacrifice their sons and

daughters to devils” (Ps. cvi. 37). It is nothing but Moloch worship

over again. But to proceed with Liguori’s description of the life of the

religious:

“The violation of the vows is then a very grievous sin against the

virtue of religion—(it is) _the crime of sacrilege_. Man, consecrated

to God and to His service, _becomes something divine_; he owes himself,

therefore, a religious respect, which rebounds ever to God; and if ever

he should dishonour by mortal sin the virtues of poverty, obedience,

and virginity, of which he has made profession, he would commit an

outrage against the Divine honour, he would be guilty of sacrilege. What

rashness! what crime! what impiety would it not be then in you to violate

your vows!

“The infidelity of consecrated persons is more awful than the sacrilege

committed against holy places, Eucharist vessels, holy pictures, or

relics. Your soul would shudder at the mere thought of a desecrated

temple, a dishonoured ciborium, a broken crucifix, or of a saint’s

body cast into the flames: would it then consent to far more horrible

_crimes_, or to more infamous violations? Virginity derives not its

nobility and worth from itself, but rather because it is an offering to

the Lord, inspired and preserved by prudence and piety of the soul.

“If it should happen that a religious, in drawing comparison between

his life and that of Christians in the world, should be seized with a

holy fear lest he be less zealous, less pure, or less fervent than many

of them, he may still find a legitimate reassurance in the thought that

his actions, though they may be apparently less virtuous and brilliant,

derive, notwithstanding, greater value and more real devotion than theirs

from the virtue of religion, which is their chief source, and which has

so high a place amongst the more virtuous.”

Do we not see here how a nun is taught to meet what must be an

oft-recurring thought—that her life is utterly useless, and that she is

unable to devote herself actively to the service of God, and that misery

and unhappiness surround her, and that she cannot be so pure as many who,

living in the world, are not shut up, so to speak, with only their own

heart’s corruptions to brood over. She is taught that all these serious

failings are more than atoned for by the mere fact that she has made a

solemn profession of poverty, chastity, and obedience. But to proceed.

“He may be consoled that he has eternally consecrated to the Lord the

root of his actions in such a way that they all bear the threefold

character of a profound religion, ardent generosity (?), and eternal

attachment to that which is good. We may reasonably suppose that on

its entrance into religion, by making profession of the vows, _the

Christian soul obtains remission of all its sins_. Not that the religious

profession, considered in itself, possesses a sacramental virtue,

operating by its own intrinsic and independent office, or that it can,

like baptism and penance, blot out the stain of sin; but if it be

sincere, it is a most excellent act of perfect charity, which unites us

very closely to God, by an effectual outpouring of His sanctifying grace,

and by an abundant remission of those temporal punishments which remain

due to sin after its guilt has been forgiven.

“Before dismissing this noble subject of religious profession let us

not omit to observe that the _vow of obedience is its chief feature_.

That which is done by obedience is more agreeable to God than that

which is performed by one’s own will. Your Superior is like a sacred

vessel wherein God has placed for us all His desires and graces, and the

true proof of religious sanctity, the sure token of perfection, is the

perfection of _obedience_ to all Superiors.

“Need we add that obedience has its limits. There are, firstly, things

forbidden by the _law of God_, which a Superior cannot prescribe without

injustice, since, being then no longer subordinate to the Divine will,

he can no longer serve as a medium between him and his subject. They

are without the pale of obedience, and the Superior has no authority to

enforce them. The subject, therefore, is not to act contrary to the law

of God, or to the rule which they profess to follow; in such obedience

would be _illicit_.”

I must make a few observations on this matter of obedience. Notice how,

by such an obedience, a professed nun (or monk) transfers to an erring

mortal the whole responsibility of her actions. She has to find out God’s

will through the Superior’s. The Superior is to her in the place of God,

and practically his law and order becomes for her God’s law and order.

How can she remonstrate, when the Superior commands what is against the

law of God, when she has been taught that she can only learn what is

God’s law through the medium of the Superior? And if she dared to resist

her Superior’s will because she felt it to be leading her astray, do you

suppose that the Superior would ever acknowledge himself or herself to

be in the wrong? And is it likely that the poor nun would escape some

terrible penance for daring to doubt the propriety of any behest?

But the last paragraph, commencing “Need we add that obedience has

its limits,” and closing with “Such obedience would be illicit,” was

carefully hidden, for Father Ignatius had told his nuns to _paste a piece

of paper over it_, since he _could not agree_ with the Romish doctor!

He required an absolute and unconditional obedience, and believed it

impossible for a Superior to prescribe any law that was against the law

of God.

St. Alphonsus Liguori has always been considered an extreme exponent of

Romish doctrines; but now we find a man holding orders in the Church of

England going even beyond Liguori. I beg my readers to make a special

note of this. I will now finish my extracts from the writing on foreign

note-paper inserted in the book I am about to review.

“The religious is a person consecrated _for ever_ to the divine service”

(mark this “_for ever_”—a prisoner for life, my friends, nothing more

or less), “and who cannot disgrace his high dignity without committing

sacrilege. He has solemnly vowed that he will belong to no other but God;

he has devoted himself to follow after eternal wisdom in order to become

perfect, and the religious, in sinning, has stripped himself of his

justice and merits and become a shameful ruin, a horrid corpse.”

(This is enough to frighten a poor, timid girl, and to bind her in chains

to her prison.)

“The spiritual dangers of the religious life are not to be attributed

to the vows, but rather to the fault, of him who, by changing his mind,

transgresses those vows. Do not then, under the pressure of _most cruel

temptations_”—(who makes them cruel? Read the experiences of Miss Povey

or any other nun who has had the good fortune to escape, or to be turned

out of her prison, and you will find out)—“regret the profession you have

made in the _fulness of liberty_”—(remember that previous to profession

the Superiors have cunningly woven their entangling web around the nun,

and the profession may be compared to the spider, after he has secured

his prey, _carrying the poor helpless fly_ into the inner precincts

of his home)—“but rather behave the more diligently to subject your

impatient nature to so _salutary_ a yoke.” Mark the word “salutary.” Is

it not a well-attested fact that many nuns go mad from the unnatural

confinement within convent walls?

I can only hope to give a very short review of this book, which was

placed in the hands of a nun who was a member of the Church of England.

I have not time for an elaborate or lengthy account of its contents. I

do not think that it was only at Llanthony that this book was used,

and it is to be feared that whilst the Feltham convent is now no longer

under the wing of Father Ignatius, yet that, with the exception of

unconditional obedience, the teaching there is as extreme and as Romish

as at Llanthony, and yet I believe a clergyman, holding a licence to

officiate in the diocese of London, acts as chaplain there. How long our

bishops are going to allow and wink at this state of things, I know not!

May God raise up many faithful men who will demand that the laws of our

Protestant Church be complied with!

The above work is one of the so-called devotional books prescribed by

Father Ignatius, to be used by the nuns under his control.

It is a Roman Catholic publication, in constant use in all the monastic

and other institutions of that Church; was composed in Italian by

Liguori, the founder of the Redemptorist Order, translated into English

by the Rev. R. A. Coffin, a member of that order, and published by Burns

& Oates, the leading Romish publishers in Great Britain.

The nature of this book may be readily ascertained from the fact that it

presupposes the consecrated wafer to be really and truly Christ himself,

and that it insists upon the Virgin Mary as being the Saviour of every

one that is saved. For, in the beginning of the introduction, Liguori

says:

“Our holy faith teaches us, and we are bound to believe, that in the

consecrated host Jesus Christ is really present under the species of

bread”; and, further on, speaking of the visits to the Virgin, he says:

“The opinion of St. Bernard is well known and generally believed. It

is that God dispenses no graces otherwise than through the hands of

Mary.… Hence, Father Suarez declares that it is now the sentiment of the

universal Church that ‘the intercession of Mary is not only useful, but

even necessary to obtain graces,’” and he concludes:

“Do you then be also careful to always join to your daily visit to the

most blessed Sacrament a visit to the most holy Virgin Mary in some

church, or at least before a devout image of her in your own house.”

Hence on page 25 we find a prayer to the Virgin, beginning with the words:

“Most holy immaculate Virgin, and my mother ‘Mary,’” in which she is

styled the “queen of the world,” “the hope, the refuge of sinners,” and

the following blasphemous expressions are used:

“I worship thee, O great queen, and I thank thee for all the graces which

thou hast hitherto granted me; and especially I thank thee for having

delivered me from hell, which I have so often deserved.… I place all my

hopes in thee, and I confide my salvation to thy care, etc.”

Hence throughout the book occur such expressions as the following:

“Sole refuge of sinners, have mercy on me.” “O Mary, grant me the grace

always to have recourse to thee.” “Hail, our hope.” “My hope, help me.”

“Therefore, my lady, and my hope, if thou dost not help me, I am lost.”

“All who are saved obtain salvation through thee; thou then, O Mary, hast

to save me,” and the like.

Extracts might be piled upon extracts, but enough have been given to show

the nature and tendency of the book. Yet this book the nuns, under Father

Ignatius’s jurisdiction, are induced to keep as a constant companion.

It does not seem necessary to say anything further on the head of this

book: for its antichristian nature must be apparent to all students of

the pure word of God. In Christ alone is salvation, and He alone is our

Mediator between God and man.—(EDITOR.)

FOOTNOTES

[1] I read as follows in the October number of the _Protestant

Observer_:—“I remember hearing Father Ignatius tell an Oxford audience

some years ago that he was called Ignatius, not after the famous Father

of the early Church, but ‘after my patron-saint, Ignatius Loyola, founder

of the Jesuit Order.’ May we not call him Ignatius Loyola the Second?”

[2] “There are persons, even amongst ‘Religious,’ so insensible to the

sorrows and sufferings of others, that we might ask whether they possess

a human heart” (“Thoughts and Suggestions for [Ritualistic] Sisters of

Charity,” page 81 London: Hodges, 1871).

[3] These were held in Hunter Street, Brunswick Square; the sisters

were of the third order, or associate sisters, living in the world, but

wearing a dress similar to that in my photograph. They used to accompany

Father Ignatius when he went to preach or attend meetings of a more

private character in Hunter Street. It was at one of these meetings that

I first met the Feltham Mother, early in the year 1868.

[4] If the reader will look at the last verse of this chapter in the

Book of Numbers, he will see that the vows there spoken of can have no

connection with convent vows, nor can they supply any authority for

them. We read in the last verse: “These are the statutes which the Lord

commanded Moses between a man and his wife, between the father and his

daughter, being yet in her youth in her father’s house.” Please note

this. Oh, how clever and subtle are some people in twisting Scripture and

wresting it from its proper bearing!—EDITOR.

[5] In “The Rule of our Most Holy Father St. Benedict,” edited, with

English translation and explanatory notes, by a monk of St. Benedict’s

Abbey, Fort Augustus, occur these words, which show that the rules which

regulate the convents connected with this Order are very similar to those

regulating the monasteries of the same order in the Church of Rome:

“By no means let a monk be allowed to receive, either from his parents,

or any one else, or from his brethren, letters, tokens, or any gifts

whatsoever, or to give them to others, without permission of the abbot.

And if anything be sent to him, even by his parents, let him not presume

to receive it, until it hath been made known to the abbot. _But even if

the abbot order it to be received, it shall be in his power to bid it

to be given to whom he pleaseth, and let not the brother to whom it may

have been sent be grieved, lest occasion be given to the devil. Should

any one, however, presume to act otherwise, let him be subjected to the

discipline of the Rule_” (p. 155).—EDITOR.

[6] John Berchmans was the son of a master shoemaker named John Charles

Berchmans, and was born in the year 1599. His biographers tell us that as

a child he grew up as gentle and guileless as a lamb, and early shared

his time between the school and the altar.

When about fifteen years of age, he joined the Society of Jesus, although

his parents were somewhat opposed to his taking this step. In a letter to

his mother at that time he tried to bring his parents to be reconciled

to his taking this step; he wrote, “God is now pleased, after much

prayer, out of His goodness to give me a vocation to religion and to the

‘Society of Jesus,’ _the hammer of all heresies, the vessel of virtue and

perfection_. I hope you will not be so unreasonable as to oppose Him, but

as (as I have read in history,) the Egyptians offered their children to

the crocodile, which they looked upon as a god, and, while it was eating

them up, the parents made high festival, _so too, I hope you will rejoice

as they did_, and praise God, and thank Him that your son should be found

worthy,” etc.

This Jesuit saint seems to have been “_celebrated for devotion to His

Lord in the blessed Sacrament_” and _devotion to the Virgin Mary_. He was

looked upon as a “_portent of holiness_.” He is said “_to have preserved

unstained by grievous sin the white robe of baptism_.” He died in the

year 1621. At eight o’clock on Friday, Aug. 13th, 1621, with “_his eyes

on his crucifix_,” and with “_the holy names of Jesus_ and _Mary on his

lips he went to his reward_.”

Miracles of course were said to be wrought through his relics. In 1865,

Pius IX. published the decree for his beatification, and on Jan. 15th,

1888, Leo XIII., amidst the splendid festivities of his sacerdotal

jubilee, solemnly canonized him as a saint.—EDITOR.

[7] The late Rev. Dr. Pusey recommended Ritualistic Father Confessors to

give the following advice to those Sisters of Mercy who might happen to

be their penitents: “I would have great respect paid in confession to

your confessor, for (to say nothing of the honour due to the priesthood)

we ought to look upon them _as angels_ sent by God to reconcile us to His

Divine goodness; and also as His lieutenants upon earth, and therefore

we owe them all reverence, even though they may _at times_ betray that

they are _human_, and have human infirmities, and perhaps _ask curious

questions_ which are not part of the confession, such as your name, what

penances or virtues you practise, what are your temptations, etc. _I

would have you answer_, although you are not obliged to do so.” (“Manual

for Confessors,” p. 190. London, 1878.) Heaven help the poor sisters who

have to answer the “curious questions” of an inquisitive or wicked Father

Confessor.—EDITOR.

[8] The following is an extract from a lecture delivered by Mr. W. Walsh,

at Bath, reported in the _English Churchman_, Nov. 26, 1886:

“He (Mr. Walsh) had now to direct attention to the Vow of ‘_Obedience_,’

taken by many Ritualistic Sisters of Mercy. The rule as to ‘obedience’

varied considerably. In _Dr. Pusey’s sisterhood_, it was _very

objectionable indeed_. The rule of holy obedience commands the sisters:

‘Ye shall ever address the spiritual Mother with honour and respect;

avoid speaking of her among yourselves; cherish and obey her with holy

love, _without any murmur or sign of hesitation or repugnance_, but

simply, cordially, and promptly obey with cheerfulness, AND BANISH FROM

YOUR MIND ANY QUESTION AS TO THE WISDOM OF THE COMMAND GIVEN YOU. If ye

fail in this, ye have failed to resist a temptation of the evil one.’

“Would not such a rule as this, Mr. Walsh continued to say, if placed in

the hands of a wicked Mother Superior, lead to the most fearful results?

In Father Benson’s ‘Religious Life Portrayed for the Use of Sisters of

Mercy,’ the teaching was, if possible, placed in a still more fearful

light. In that book the sister is taught that—

“‘A _religieuse_ has made the sacrifice of her will in taking the Vow

of Obedience. She is no more her own, but God’s; and she must obey

her Superiors for God’s sake, _yielding herself as wax to be moulded

unresistingly_.’”

Well did Mr. Walsh observe: “Persons who had to submit to ‘obedience’

such as this were as truly _slaves_ as any negro.”—EDITOR.

[9] There must be many similar lying legends of this kind, in order to

stamp upon ignorant and superstitious minds the necessity of obedience.

In “The Secret Plan of the Jesuits,” by the Abbot Leone, the following

story is told: “Father Saetti, knocking at my door one morning, according

to his custom, I did not open it. ‘Why this delay?’ he asked me. I

replied that I could not open the door sooner. He then reminded me that,

in all things, the most prompt obedience was the most perfect; that, in

obeying God, we must make every sacrifice, even that of a moment of time.

‘One of the brethren,’ he continued, ‘was occupied in writing, when some

one knocked at the door. He had begun to make an “O,” but he did not stay

to finish it. He opened the door, and on returning to his seat, he found

the “O” completed, _and all in gold!_ Thus you see how God rewards him

who is obedient.’” Did not St. Paul prophesy that those would arise who

would “speak lies in hypocrisy,” and did he not say, “_Refuse profane and

old wives’ fables_”? (1 Tim. iv. 1-7).—EDITOR.

[10] See Appendix C. for the teaching we received concerning the nature

of the Vow of Obedience.—EDITOR.

[11] While these pages were passing through the press, the _Western

Mail_, of Cardiff, on March 3rd, 1890, published a report, from the pen

of its special correspondent, of the reception of three new monks at

Llanthony Abbey by Father Ignatius. We reprint this report, slightly

abridged:

“The great event at the morning service was the consecration of three

brethren as monks. They were given new names after their consecration.

The abbot gave Cymric names to the three new monks, naming one Mihangel

Dewi Fair, another Catwg Fair, and the third Dyfrig Fair. The great organ

thundered forth sweetest melody, and the voices of unseen choristers

singing a Welsh chant ushered in the solemn service. The three monks in

reply to the abbot—who was most gorgeously appareled in cloth of gold

and hood, which caught and held the lights which blazed forth from all

parts of the building—who asked whether it was their wish to depart,

said, ‘We wish to dwell in the House of the Lord for ever!’ The abbot

asked, would they make a solemn vow of celibacy, obedience, and poverty.

That was answered in the affirmative. After some other ceremonies of

the most gorgeous description had been observed, the three brethren who

sought to be made monks laid themselves down on their backs on the floor

of the church. A funeral pall was placed over them to signify that they

were henceforth dead to the things of this world. A long wax candle was

placed at each of the four corners of the carpet on which they laid. This

was followed by the Burial Service being performed by the abbot, and the

great bell tolled as if for the dead, and the _De Profundis_ was solemnly

chanted. Moving around the prostrate figures, the abbot, now robed in

black vestments, scattered ashes upon them, and said, ‘Ashes to ashes,

and dust to dust.’ He then sprinkled holy water upon the prostrate forms.

A black curtain was now drawn across the church, hiding everything from

the congregation. Subsequently that was withdrawn, and it was then seen

that the three monks had commenced their spiritual existence. The head

of each bore the tonsure, and was encircled with a wreath as described

above. The abbot received the three monks, each of whom held beneath

his chin the houseling white cloth. Later on in the service the abbot,

standing in wedding garments on the steps of the altar, proclaimed the

three new monks as being ‘the spouses of our Lord Jesus Christ,’ and

on the third finger of the left hand of each he placed a plain wedding

ring. After the ceremony of consecration was over, the three young monks

took their seats, covered with crimson cloth, and thirteen or fourteen

nuns, completely concealed in white wraps, descended from somewhere, and

bowed low, to receive the blessing of the monks. The above will give the

reader some idea of the extraordinary and gorgeous ritual observed on the

occasion.”—ED.

[12] In the “Little Manual of Devotions,” for the use of the “Pilgrims”

to Llanthony Abbey, Father Ignatius teaches that—“It is a pious custom of

devout Christians, on seeing a monk, _to kneel and kiss the hem of the

sacred habit_; if done from love to Jesus, _and reverence to the habit_

of the Consecrated Life, _a great blessing will be received_” (page

6).—EDITOR.

[13] At that period my letters were not kept back; but you will see that

at any time that suits the Superiors letters may be and often are never

sent.

[14] In the _Church of England Catholic and Monastic Times_ for June 24,

1884 (which was the organ of Father Ignatius), there appears an article

entitled “Lent at the Monastery.” It is stated that in the evening of Ash

Wednesday, “Compline was said, and then, while the nuns retired to their

Priory for the Service of the _Discipline_, the monks proceeded to the

Discipline in the solemn choir” (page 5). This confirms the statement of

Sister Mary Agnes that the “Discipline” was in use at Llanthony.—EDITOR.

[15] This last event, I should mention, took place in Devonshire. There

are no stairs at the Llanthony convent.

[16] In the article on “Lent at the Monastery,” which we have already

quoted from the _Monastic Times_, it is stated that on Ash Wednesday, at

Llanthony, “First the Superior [Father Ignatius] received the holy ashes

on his tonsured head, then the monks; after this the nuns descended.…

One by one they knelt before the priest, received the ashes on their

veiled heads, and disappeared behind the Great Shrine.… Nones, Litany,

and the seven penitential Psalms were said; the latter kneeling or _lying

prostrate in the ashes_ in the centre of the choir.”—EDITOR.

[17] Probably few people credit what I know to be a fact, that such

instruments of torture are in use in probably all monastic and

conventual institutions. I have by me now a book called “Priests, Women,

and Families,” by J. Michelet, published in 1874 by the Protestant

Evangelical Mission.

In the editor’s preface to this book there are two sets of engravings

of “Articles of Piety”; or, Instruments of Torture in English Convents.

Under the first set of engravings, I read thus:

“Instruments of torture are _now_ practised upon nuns in Romish convents

in London, and in all parts of the country.”

The Romish “Articles of Piety,” named on the next page, were bought at

Little’s Ecclesiastical Warehouse, 20, Cranbourne Street, and at the

convent of the “Sisters of the Assumption of the Perpetual Adoration of

the Blessed Sacrament.” (London.)

Such instruments of torture are fitter for the worshippers of Baal, than

for the worshippers of God; and a person using them upon cattle would

lay himself open to a prosecution by the “Society for the Prevention of

Cruelty to Animals.” Both the parties who purchased these articles are

intimately known to Mr. Robert Steele, the secretary of the Protestant

Evangelical Mission and Electoral Union, 5, Racquet Court, Fleet Street,

E.C.

Christian reader, it is your duty to testify, on God’s behalf, against

the _blasphemy_ and _cruelty_ of Romanism. The _Maker_ and _Preserver_ of

man is the loving _Father_, who gave His only begotten Son to die for us,

and thus make atonement for our sin.

The second engraving is headed, “Iron Disciplines of the Church.” There I

read:

“Saint Liguori, the Doctor of the Romish Church” (and an author strongly

recommended to the nuns and monks under Father Ignatius), “commends the

use of _Disciplines_ to the ‘True Spouse of Christ,’ thus:

“_Disciplines_, or _Flagellations_, are a species of mortifications

strongly recommended by St. Francis of Sales, and universally adopted in

religious communities of both sexes.”

Then after a minute description of some fifteen of the instruments of

torture, I read these words:

“Were such cruelties perpetrated upon the _heathen_, all our _Christian_

churches would resound with appeals to the sympathy of the people to

come to the help of the sufferers. This would be commendable. Why, then,

is the same course not adopted on behalf of nuns, who, as Rev. Pierce

Connelly says, ‘are not only slaves, but who are, _de facto_, by a

Satanic consecration, secret prisoners for life, and may any day be put

an end to, or much worse, with less risk of vengeance here in England

than in Italy and Spain’?”—EDITOR.

[18] An extern is a boarder, or associate.

[19] See Appendix A, and B, and C, where some Romish literature used is

reviewed.—EDITOR.

[20] Father Ignatius has himself described this service in his book

entitled “Brother Placidus,” and records, in connection with it,

a wonderful “miracle,” which he declares actually occurred in his

monastery. It is hard to understand how any person outside a lunatic

asylum can believe in such a “miracle”:—

“Matins were over at five minutes before midnight. A procession quickly

formed in the Refectory; and, as the hour of joy and gladness struck, the

figure of the holy Child was borne in state to the crib, with lighted

tapers, incense, and chanting—

‘Ye faithful, approach ye, joyful and triumphant,

O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem.’

The infant figure is lying on its linen swaddling bands, in the straw;

the countless tapers are flaming, amid clouds of sweetest incense, and

shouts of triumph song. The little figure was charmingly lifelike—the

head slightly raised, the hand also lifted, as if in blessing. In due

order all present approached to kiss the sacred emblems of Incarnate

Love. With long, lighted tapers they approached, and kneeling down,

kissed the upraised hand. First the Abbot; then Fathers Theodore, Philip,

and Drostan; after them Brothers Pancras, Oswald, Ethelred, and then

Placidus. How pale the fair face of the young novice looks! How his

hand is trembling, as he grasps the burning taper!… The novice has been

longing for this moment—longing to press his burning lips upon that

infant hand—longing to make his adoring confession of faith in Mary’s

little Babe. ‘O my Jesus, my King, my God, let me come and adore Thee.…’

With words like these bursting from his heart, but all unheard by aught

save Him for whom they all were uttered, Brother Placidus knelt to kiss

the little hand. ‘Oh! oh!’ burst from the lips of the children, while the

elder brothers fell involuntarily on their knees. Brother Placidus had

kissed the holy Child, _and, as he did so, the figure became animated

with life, and bowed its head, and returned the kiss, and the little hand

had been laid on the novice’s head_. The taper dropped from his hand,

and he fell into a deep swoon, on the floor, before the shrine of the

Nativity” (pages 115-118).

[21] I almost tremble at allowing such blasphemy as this to appear; it is

too shocking.—EDITOR.

[22] I have seen this charm in the shape of a dried piece of leaf. Miss

Povey has one now in her possession.—EDITOR.

[23] God grant that it may never be revived, and that it will never be

recognised as a part of the Church of England’s machinery!—EDITOR.

[24] I believe there are now in England, Wales, and Scotland, no less

than 458 Roman Catholic convents. Besides, there are about 48 houses

for Jesuits, and 171 monasteries. If the people of England make no

protest against this system, which is so essentially un-English, if our

Government do not enforce the existing laws against the entrance of

Jesuits into this country and the setting up of monasteries, and if our

Government refuse to listen to the wishes of thousands in our land for

convents to be impartially inspected, will not the masses, though such

a course must be deplored, ere long feel almost impelled, at least with

some convents, to take the law in their own hands?—EDITOR.

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Thirty-second Psalm. Crown 8vo, cloth, price 3s. 6d.

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work, it is one which will be profoundly enjoyed by those who

can obtain a copy of it.”—_Clergyman’s Magazine._

A WINTER ON THE NILE, IN EGYPT, AND IN NUBIA. Second Edition.

Artistically bound, Eau de Nil cloth, price 6s. With Map.

“He is an excellent traveller, making friends with everybody,

receiving invitations from Egyptian authorities, foreign

consuls, and Coptic clergy, and the native peasantry, all

alike opening their hearts and homes to him. The result is an

insight into Egypt as it is, and very much as it has been for a

thousand years. The Canon’s descriptions of manners and customs

are lifelike, and sometimes not a little amusing.”—_Times._

GLEANINGS FROM A TOUR IN PALESTINE AND IN THE EAST. Second Edition. Crown

8vo, price 6s. With Map and Illustrations.

“Canon Bell is a scholar and something of a poet; and the

reader may be sure that anything which proceeds from his hand

is written with care, reverence, and polished skill.… It is a

pleasant duty to recognise the admirable spirit in which Canon

Bell has treated the more important part of his work. The

reflections upon a visit to such spots as the Mount of Olives,

the Garden of Gethsemane, or the place of the Crucifixion, are

conceived in a truly reverent and majestic vein. The verses

written in contemplation of these sacred spots are marked by

great beauty and devotion. They read like some of the Church’s

glorious hymns of the Passion set anew, in fresh strains and

varied metre.”—_Morning Post._

* * * * *

CHRIST AND HIS PEOPLE. In crown 8vo, cloth, price 5s.

Thirteen Addresses by

THE BISHOP OF LIVERPOOL,

THE DEAN OF RIPON,

ARCHDEACON RICHARDSON,

CANON HOARE,

PREBENDARY EDMONDS,

H. C. G. MOULE,

CANON J. W. BARDSLEY,

SIR EMILIUS LAURIE, and

GEORGE EVERARD.

THE REVELATION OF JOHN: An Exposition. By P. W. GRANT, Author of “The

Bible Record of Creation True for Every Age,” “The Great Memorial Name,”

etc. Crown 8vo, cloth, price 6s.

THE SAINT AND HIS SAVIOUR. By C. H SPURGEON. A New Edition, set up and

printed from new type. With Portrait. Crown 8vo, cloth, price 3s. 6d.

THE WOMEN FRIENDS OF JESUS; or, Lives and Characters of the Holy Women of

Gospel History. By HENRY C. MCCOOK, D.D. In crown 8vo, cloth, price 5s.

“Dr. McCook describes in felicitous and flowery language

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history.”—_Scotsman._

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THE STORY OF THE LIFE OF JESUS Told in Words Easy to Read and Understand.

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TOILERS IN LONDON; or, Enquiries Concerning Female Labour in the

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NEWLY ENLISTED. A Series of Talks with Young Converts. By the Rev.

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book must rouse as well as teach many.”—_Methodist Recorder._

“This is a beautiful little volume, replete with sound

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truth.”—_Christian News._

THE GROWTH OF CHURCH INSTITUTIONS. By Rev. EDWIN HATCH, D.D., Reader in

Ecclesiastical History, Oxford. Second Edition. In crown 8vo, price 5s.

“Dr. Hatch’s vast learning, his comprehensive grasp of his

subject down to its minutest details, his lucid style, and his

remarkable candour, are equally conspicuous, and we strongly

commend the study and the mastery of this volume to all who are

anxious to set the ecclesiastical problems of our day in their

true light, and to resist the persistent claims of an arrogant

priesthood.”—_Freeman._

THE ANGLICAN PULPIT OF TO-DAY. Forty Short Biographies and Forty Sermons

of Distinguished Preachers of the Church of England. In crown 8vo, price

7s. 6d. Handsomely bound in cloth.

* * * * *

_DR. GODET’S BIBLICAL STUDIES._

I.

STUDIES ON THE NEW TESTAMENT. By F. GODET, D.D., Professor of Theology,

Neuchâtel. Edited by the Hon. and Rev. W. H. LYTTELTON, M.A., Canon of

Gloucester. Seventh Edition. Crown 8vo, price 7s. 6d.

II.

STUDIES ON THE OLD TESTAMENT. Fourth Edition. Crown 8vo, price 7s. 6d.

“Unquestionably M. Godet is one of the first, if not the very

first, of contemporary commentators. We have no hesitation

in advising all students of the Scripture to procure and to

read with careful attention these luminous essays.”—_Literary

Churchman._

* * * * *

_WORKS BY PRINCIPAL FAIRBAIRN, D.D._

STUDIES IN THE LIFE OF CHRIST. By A. M. FAIRBAIRN, D.D., Mansfield

College, Oxford. Fifth Edition. 8vo, price 9s.

“These studies are full of spiritual penetration, profound

philosophy of moral life, and literary beauty. Devout in

feeling, and evangelical in theological view, they are

yet characterised by great freedom and independence of

thought.”—_British Quarterly Review._

THE CITY OF GOD. A Series of Discussions in Religion. Third Edition.

Price 7s. 6d.

“We have read many of the truly brilliant passages of this

volume with thrilling delight. The theology is orthodox, the

logic is accurate, and the learning profound.”—_Ecclesiastical

Gazette._

RELIGION IN HISTORY AND IN THE LIFE OF TO-DAY. Fourth Thousand. Cloth,

price 1s. 6d.

“His clear and closely-reasoned thought finds utterance in

clear and well-knit speech.”—_Academy._

* * * * *

THE MIRACLES OF OUR LORD. By the Rev. Professor J. LAIDLAW, D.D., Author

of “The Bible Doctrine of Man,” etc. Crown 8vo, cloth, price 7s. 6d.

ROMANCE OF PSALTER AND HYMNAL: Authors and Composers. By the Rev. R. E.

WELSH, M.A., and F. G. EDWARDS, Author of “United Praise.” Crown 8vo,

cloth, price 6s.

TROPICAL AFRICA. By HENRY DRUMMOND, F.R.S.E., F.G.S. Fifteenth Thousand.

With Six Maps and Illustrations, price 6s.

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the human side of African life, he is able to present us with

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in books of African travel.”—_Times._

NATURAL LAW IN THE SPIRITUAL WORLD. By Prof. HENRY DRUMMOND, F.R.S.E.,

F.G.S. Twenty-fifth Edition, completing Ninety-second Thousand. In crown

8vo, price 3s. 6d.

“This is one of the most impressive and suggestive books on

religion that we have read for a long time. Indeed, with the

exception of Dr. Mozeley’s ‘University Sermons,’ we can recall

no book of our time which showed such a power of re-stating

the moral and practical truths of religion so as to make

them take fresh hold of the mind and vividly impress the

imagination.”—_Spectator._

THE GREATEST THING IN THE WORLD. An Address on 1 Corinthians xiii. Crown

8vo, leatherette, price 1s.; cloth, 2s. 6d.

LECTURES ON THE HISTORY OF PREACHING. By the late Rev. JOHN KER, D.D.

Second Edition. Crown 8vo, price 7s. 6d.

“A valuable legacy to the Church of Christ. We know no better

book than this to place in the hands of candidates for the

ministry, and we should gladly see it used by the bishops of

our own Church as an indispensable text-book for all who are

studying for holy orders.”—_English Churchman._

JAMES MACDONELL OF “THE TIMES”: A Story of Self-Help. By W. ROBERTSON

NICOLL, M.A. With Etched Portrait by H. Manesse. 8vo, price 12s.

MODERN SCIENCE IN BIBLE LANDS. By Sir J. WILLIAM DAWSON, F.R.S. With Maps

and Illustrations. In crown 8vo, price 9s.

“The result of a tour through Italy, Egypt, and Syria,

collected by a geological observer of such eminence as Sir

William Dawson has shown himself to be, cannot but be of great

value. Such are his knowledge and grasp of the subject, his

perfect fairness and impartiality, and his close and careful

reasoning, that it is not too much to say that he has summed

the present extent of our knowledge of Bible lands.”—_Pall Mall

Gazette._

* * * * *

_BY THE SAME AUTHOR._

I.

THE STORY OF THE EARTH AND MAN. With Twenty Illustrations. Ninth Edition.

Crown 8vo, cloth, price 7s. 6d.

II.

FOSSIL MEN AND THEIR MODERN REPRESENTATIVES. An attempt to illustrate the

Characters and Condition of Pre-Historic Men in Europe by those of the

American Races. With Forty-four Illustrations. Third Thousand. Crown 8vo,

cloth, price 7s. 6d.

III.

THE ORIGIN OF THE WORLD, according to Revelation and Science. Fifth

Edition. Crown 8vo, cloth, price 7s. 6d.

“We heartily commend the book to all those who are interested

in this most important question. Dr. Dawson is a man well

known in the ranks of science for great breadth and grasp of

knowledge; he has been a pioneer in geological discovery: he is

also a considerable Hebrew scholar, well read in the Bible, and

especially those parts which treat of nature.… It is a valuable

addition to Bible criticism from a point of view higher

scientifically than we have yet had.”—_Spectator._

* * * * *

_WORKS BY DR. R. W. DALE, Birmingham._

IMPRESSIONS OF AUSTRALIA. Crown 8vo, cloth, price 5s.

LAWS OF CHRIST FOR COMMON LIFE. Fourth Thousand. Crown 8vo, price 6s.

“Sound sense and wholesome Christian teaching conveyed in pure,

idiomatic, and forcible English.”—_Scotsman._

“This book excellently well bears out its title. The author

gives wise and manly counsel.”—_Literary Churchman._

THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. Its Doctrines and Ethics. Fourth Thousand.

Crown 8vo, price 7s. 6d.

In his first sermon as Vicar of Leeds, Dr. Talbot said: “I

believe that the thought of speaking of God’s purpose in Christ

was suggested to me by reading whilst abroad just now the

impressive words about it in Dr. Dale’s noble book upon the

Epistle to the Ephesians. It is only a single but superlative

instance of what we owe to Nonconformist faith and goodness.”

THE NEW EVANGELICALISM AND THE OLD. Crown 8vo, cloth, price 1s.

THE JEWISH TEMPLE AND THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. A Series of Discourses on the

Epistle to the Hebrews. Seventh Edition. Crown 8vo, price 6s.

“Wholesomer sermons than these it is almost impossible to

conceive. Mr. Dale’s preaching has always been remarkable for

moral energy and fervour, but here this characteristic rises to

its highest power.”—_Expositor._

WEEK-DAY SERMONS. Fifth Edition. Crown 8vo, price 3s. 6d.

“Dr. Dale is certainly an admirable teacher of Christian

ethics. He is, perhaps, the greatest living successor

of the Apostle James. In this volume he appears at his

best.”—_Christian._

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. Fifth Edition. Crown 8vo, price 5s.

“Full of thought and vigour.”—_Spectator._

“The manly, fearless honesty of Mr. Dale’s Expositions demands

the very highest eulogy.”—_British Quarterly Review._

NINE LECTURES ON PREACHING. Fifth Edition. Crown 8vo, price 6s.

“Admirable lectures, briefly written, earnest and practical,

the work of an able man.”—_Literary Churchman._

THE EVANGELICAL REVIVAL and other Sermons. Crown 8vo, cloth, price 6s.

* * * * *

PROFESSOR KURTZ’S CHURCH HISTORY. Authorised Translation from the latest

revised edition, by the Rev. JOHN MACPHERSON, M.A. In three volumes.

Price 7s. 6d. each.

“The complete work of Professor Kurtz is now translated, and

it really shows itself so improved in form, so much fuller

in substance, in fact, so much changed in mind, body, and

state, that it may claim to be a new history altogether. No

one who has tried to peruse the original compilation will deny

that this is an unspeakable advantage in a once unreadable

manual; and, indeed, a ‘manual,’ by its very name, signifies

a work that is meant to hold in the hand and not to enter the

head. The author has carried on his history into the most

recent days. Nothing has escaped his all-seeing eye and his

all-recording pen—neither the Theosophism of Madame Blavatsky,

nor the microscopic heresies of Mr. David Macrae in the United

Presbyterian Church, neither the doings of the Berlin treaty

nor of Dr. Robertson Smith. The annals of the last fifty years

on the Continent are given with considerable fulness, and

ecclesiastical events in Germany are given with an especial

amount of detail.”—_Scotsman._

* * * * *

_DR. FISHER’S NEW CHURCH HISTORY._

A HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. By GEORGE P. FISHER, D.D., LL.D.,

Professor of Ecclesiastical History in Yale University. In large 8vo, 712

pages, price 12s. With Seven coloured Maps.

“This very valuable and exhaustive history.”—_English Churchman._

“It is a book as remarkable for fairness and breadth of sympathy

as it is for learning and power; and if its popularity should be

as great as its value, its success is assured.”—_Nonconformist._

* * * * *

THE CATACOMBS OF ROME, AND THEIR TESTIMONY RELATIVE TO PRIMITIVE

CHRISTIANITY. By Rev. W. H. WITHROW, M.A. Crown 8vo, cloth, price 6s. 560

pages, 134 Illustrations.

“An exceedingly painstaking and thorough-going work, and whether

or not the writer may be correct in all his inferences, they have

evidently been founded upon diligent information. He could not

have very much that was absolutely new to tell on the subject;

but as a convenient account of the most remarkable and interesting

monuments of primitive Christianity, of those excavations which

furnished the persecuted Church with refuges during life and in

death, which formed her places of worship in times of peril, and

received the remains of martyrs, the present volume is perhaps

inferior to none of its predecessors.”—_Saturday Review._

THE PHILANTHROPY OF GOD. By the Rev. HUGH PRICE HUGHES, M.A. Crown 8vo,

cloth, price 3s. 6d.

SOCIAL CHRISTIANITY. Sermons delivered in St. James’s Hall, London. By

Rev. HUGH PRICE HUGHES, M.A. Third Edition. In crown 8vo, cloth, price

3s. 6d.

PRESS NOTICES.

“If all sermons were as fresh and unconventional, as simple,

practical, and unaffected as those which he (Rev. Hugh Price

Hughes) has put together under the appropriate title of ‘Social

Christianity,’ there would perhaps be less grumbling from the

pew than is at present the case.”—_Scotsman._

“Wise, strong, wholesome, and thoughtful.”—_British Weekly._

“It is not difficult, after reading these fervid, brave, and

genial addresses, to understand the secret of such a preacher’s

spell. Mr. Price Hughes does not mince matters in dealing

with the lawlessness, the Mammon-Worship, and the social

disorders of the times; and the tones in which he speaks are

far-reaching and persuasive, because they are brotherly and

full of faith and hope.”—_Leeds Mercury._

“These vigorous sermons are an attempt to show that what

must be called the social failure of Christianity is not the

fault of Christianity or of Christ, but rather the result of

Christians having been selfishly individualistic. The great

evils of our day, and especially those of our own country,

are brought to view with much directness, and the duties and

responsibilities of disciples of Christ are enforced with

plainness and power. Whether the subject be social distress,

the administration of justice, Christ’s authority, or the

problem of unbelief, we find these pages uniformly practical

and in a high degree instructive.”—_Christian._

“These sermons are full of good, manly, vigorous teaching of a

stout, practical kind.”—_Star._

“While the ordinary volume of sermons sends people to

sleep, this will assuredly keep them awake; and it

will, moreover, keep them awake by perfectly legitimate

expedients.”—_Manchester Examiner._

THE ATHEIST SHOEMAKER: A Story of the West End Mission. By the Rev. HUGH

PRICE HUGHES, M.A. Crown 8vo, cloth, price 1s. 6d.

JOHN G. PATON: An Autobiography. Second Part. Edited by his Brother, the

Rev. JAMES PATON, B.A. Sixth Thousand. Crown 8vo, cloth, price 6s.

JOHN G. PATON, Missionary to the New Hebrides. An Autobiography. Edited

by HIS BROTHER. With Portrait. Fifth Edition, completing Eleventh

Thousand. Crown 8vo, cloth, price 6s.

The Rev. Dr. PIERSON, author of “The Crisis of Missions,” says:

“I consider it _unsurpassed_ in missionary biography. In the

whole course of my extensive reading on these topics, a more

stimulating, inspiring, and every way first-class book has not

fallen into my hands. Everybody ought to read it.”

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.

“A more fascinating and thrilling bit of Missionary history has

seldom been given to the public.”—_Christian._

“Intensely interesting; indeed, often quite

fascinating.”—_Christian Leader._

“Let the people who tell us that the romance of missions is

passed, read this manly and thrilling narrative.… No fiction

can exercise a stronger spell than the story of this brave

Cameronian missionary’s life.”—_Baptist Magazine._

“The story of Mr. Paton’s years of residence among the

Tannese, amid many perils and great discouragements, is quite

as fascinating in some parts as many a romance. The author,

indeed, seems to have passed through dangers and difficulties

which it would be hard to believe were the veracity of the

writer not beyond question.… An autobiography recording the

life and work of a missionary in some respects not unlike his

great prototype—David Livingstone.”—_Scotsman._

“He has a story to tell that is well worth hearing, and that

at not a few stages will compare handsomely with most books of

adventure.”—_Scottish Leader._

“We recommend it to all our missionary societies as a most

convincing testimony to the value of Gospel work among the

heathen.”—_Methodist Times._

“Simplicity and godly sincerity are stamped on every

page.”—_Leeds Mercury._

“This is a book far beyond our praise. It will take its place

with the classics of missions—with the Lives of Brainerd and

Martyn, and the other records which will endure as long as

Christ is preached. Great as has been the missionary work

accomplished by the author, we believe it will be found in

the end that his greatest work has been the writing of this

volume. It is a book which cannot be read without indescribable

emotion.… It must surely, now and in days to come, kindle in

many souls something of the writer’s own lofty and fervent

love. More than any argument it will silence the faithless

clamour against missions; and no one, Christian or sceptic,

will peruse it without feeling that there is amongst us still

at least one truly Apostolic man.”—_British Weekly._

CHARLES STANFORD, D.D.: Memories and Letters. Edited by HIS WIFE. With

Etched Portrait by MANESSE. Crown 8vo, cloth, price 5s.

THE PREACHER’S COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF ST. JOHN. A Series of One

Hundred and Thirty Homiletic Sketches. By the Rev. GEORGE CALTHROP, M.A.,

Vicar of St. Augustine, Highbury. In crown 8vo, cloth, price 3s. 6d.

“His general method of describing and drawing lessons from the

events of our Lord’s life is vivid and interesting.”—_Guardian._

“A very suitable handbook for suggestions in a course of

sermons or lectures on the fourth Gospel.”—_Ecclesiastical

Gazette._

THE BRITISH WEEKLY PULPIT. Vol. I. 624 pages, 8vo, handsomely bound in

cloth, red edges, price 6s.

Contains only first-rate matter, having regard not to quantity,

but quality, and includes Sermons, etc., from the Provinces,

Wales and Scotland, as well as from Ireland; and numerous

articles of varied interest and importance, and sermons by the

following and many other preachers:—

Revs. J. B. Meharry, C. H. Spurgeon, G. Matheson, D.D.,

Principal Fairbairn, D.D., A. Martin, M.A., Professor Godet,

D.D., Dr. Oswald Dykes, A. Mursell, Prof. R. Flint, D.D.,

Dr. Dallinger, T. Champness, A. Whyte, D.D., Prof. Knight,

LL.D., Joseph Parker, D.D., A. Maclaren, D.D., Principal T. C.

Edwards, D.D., Jno. Pulsford, D.D., Bishop Alexander, D.D.,

John McNeill, Adolph Saphir, D.D., W. C. Smith, D.D., John

Watson, M.A., Dr. MacGregor, Prof. Elmslie, D.D., J. Culross,

D.D., W. B. Robertson, D.D., R. W. Dale, LL.D., C. A. Berry.

THE INDUSTRIES OF JAPAN. Together with an account of its Agriculture,

Forestry, Mining, Arts, and Commerce. By Prof. J. J. REIN, University of

Bonn. Illustrated by Woodcuts, Lithographs, and Native Fabrics. In one

Handsome Volume. Royal 8vo, price 30s. With Forty-four Illustrations and

Three Maps.

“Professor Rein is equally exhaustive whatever subject or

branch of a subject may be under review, and his book is a

perfect mine of information of a most valuable and interesting

kind.”—_Scotsman._

JAPAN. Travels and Researches undertaken at the cost of the Prussian

Government. With Twenty Illustrations and Two Maps. By the SAME AUTHOR.

Second Edition. Uniform in Size and Type. Price 25s.

“No existing work on Japan can pretend to vie with the present

one in the fulness and accuracy with which the physiography,

natural history, and topography of the country—subjects which

Dr. Rein has made specially his own—are treated; and for a long

time to come it must rank as the standard authority in such

matters.”—_Spectator._

“It is the most important and exhaustive work that has yet

appeared on the physiography of that interesting land. The work

of translation is excellently done under the supervision of the

author.”—_Westminster Review._

* * * * *

_WORKS BY THE REV. PROF. A. B. BRUCE, D.D._

I.

THE MIRACULOUS ELEMENT IN THE GOSPELS. In 8vo, cloth, price 12s.

“It displays minute acquaintance with the modern literature of

the subject, and all forms of attack to which Christian belief

in the supernatural has been subjected. The defence is able all

round; and the closing chapters—in which the miracle implied

in the character of Jesus is dwelt on, and where the defence

is for a moment changed into attack—are full of spirit and

fire.”—_Methodist Recorder._

II.

THE CHIEF END OF REVELATION. Third Thousand. In crown 8vo, cloth, price

6s.

“Dr. Bruce has given us a contribution of very great value.

Like everything else that has come from his pen, this series of

lectures has the conspicuous excellence of boldness, vigour,

breadth, and moral elevation.”—_Professor Salmond._

III.

THE PARABOLIC TEACHING OF CHRIST: A Systematic and Critical Study of the

Parables of our Lord. Second Edition. 8vo, cloth, price 12s.

“Professor Bruce brings to his task the learning and the

liberal and finely sympathetic spirit which are the best gifts

of an expositor of Scripture. His treatment of his subject is

vigorous and original.”—_Spectator._

IV.

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM DENNY, Shipbuilder, Dumbarton. With Portrait. Second

Edition. 8vo, cloth, price 12s.

“A most interesting biography.”—_Academy._

“Dr. Bruce could not have found a worthier subject for his

first essay in biography, and William Denny could not have had

a more congenial biographer.”—_British Weekly._

“Professor Bruce has shown remarkable skill … this admirable

‘Life.’”—_Scotsman._

* * * * *

CHRISTIAN CONDUCT. Sermons delivered in the Chapel of Mill Hill School by

the Headmaster, C. A. VINCE, M.A. Crown 8vo, cloth, price 5s.

PRECIOUS SEED SOWN IN MANY LANDS. Sermons by the Rev. A. N. SOMERVILLE,

D.D. With a Biographical Sketch and Portrait. Crown 8vo, cloth, price 5s.

IRELAND AND THE CELTIC CHURCH. A History of Ireland from St. Patrick to

the English Conquest in 1172. By Rev. G. T. STOKES, M.A., Professor of

Ecclesiastical History in the University of Dublin, and Rector of All

Saints, Blackrock. Second Edition. Crown 8vo, cloth, price 9s.

“Any one who can make the dry bones of ancient Irish history

live again may feel sure of finding an audience, sympathetic,

intelligent, and ever-growing. Dr. Stokes has this faculty

in a high degree. This book will be a boon to that large and

growing number of persons who desire to have a trustworthy

account of the beginning of Irish history, and cannot study

it for themselves in the great but often dull works of the

original investigators. It collects the scattered and often

apparently insignificant results of original workers in

this field, interprets them for us, and brings them into

relation with the broader and better known facts of European

history.”—_Westminster Review._

FORESHADOWINGS OF CHRISTIANITY. By JOSEPHINE PECKOVER. With Preface by

ANNE W. RICHARDSON, B.A. In crown 8vo, cloth, price 5s.

RAYS OF MESSIAH’S GLORY; or, Christ in the Old Testament. By DAVID BARON.

Second Edition. Crown 8vo, cloth, price 3s. 6d.

HUMAN DESTINY. By ROBERT ANDERSON, LL.D., Barrister-at-Law, Assistant

Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis. Second and Cheaper Edition.

Price 3s. 6d.

“It is seldom that we take up a book of which we wish that

it had been longer, but Dr. Anderson’s is such a book. It

summarises the conflict through which the writer passed in

studying the question of the destiny of the lost. It is

refreshing to read a work which goes fairly to the very root of

each theory in turn, and so states the issues involved in it

that the reader can easily form his own conclusions. His book

contains much that is valuable, and is loyal throughout to the

teachings of Scripture.”—_Record._

THE COMING PRINCE: The Last Great Monarch of Christendom. By the SAME

AUTHOR. Third Edition. Crown 8vo, price 5s.

“The clearest exposition of the Seventy Weeks of Daniel that we

have ever read.”—_Gospel Watchman._

“Deeply interesting from the first page to the last.”—_Home

Words._

* * * * *

_WORKS BY REV. MARCUS DODS, D.D._

I.

MOHAMMED, BUDDHA, AND CHRIST. Fifth Thousand. Crown 8vo, cloth, price 3s.

6d.

“His materials have been carefully collected from the best

sources, have been thoroughly digested in his own mind, and are

here given forth to his readers in well-arranged, clear, and

precise language.”—_Scotsman._

“Its general truth few reflecting Christians will doubt, and

its elevating tendency nobody, Christian or unbeliever, will

deny. To us this book is specially welcome, as an evidence, in

addition to many others, of a new outburst of earnest religious

thought and sentiment.”—_Spectator._

II.

ISRAEL’S IRON AGE: Sketches from the Period of the Judges. Fourth

Edition. Crown 8vo, cloth, price 5s.

“Powerful lectures. This is a noble volume, full of strength.

Young men especially will find in it a rich storehouse of

prevailing incentive to a godly life. Dr. Dods searches with a

masterly hand.”—_Nonconformist._

III.

THE PRAYER THAT TEACHES TO PRAY. Sixth Edition. Crown 8vo, price 2s. 6d.

“A warm welcome will be given by many to this little

book. It is a book to be read in the closet, and from

the perusal of which no one can rise without a quickened

spiritual life. Unquestionably it will add to the author’s

reputation.”—_Literary World._

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for quiet personal use.”—_Clergyman’s Magazine._

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THE PARABLES OF OUR SAVIOUR EXPOUNDED AND ILLUSTRATED. In crown 8vo,

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so thoroughly as this condense within their covers the best

teaching contained in the various commentaries written to

elucidate their meaning. Dr. Taylor is not, however, a slavish

imitator of any master in Israel; he has thought out his

subject for himself, and gives us a real exposition in eloquent

language, such as will be valued by Bible students.”—_English

Churchman._

THE LIMITATIONS OF LIFE, AND OTHER SERMONS. Second Edition. Crown 8vo,

cloth, price 7s. 6d.

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CONTRARY WINDS, AND OTHER SERMONS. Crown 8vo, price 7s. 6d.

JOHN KNOX. Price 1s.

“A short biography, which has two great merits—it presents

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* * * * *

VENI CREATOR: Thoughts on the Holy Spirit of Promise. By the Rev. H. C.

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TOWARDS FIELDS OF LIGHT: Sacred Poems. By the late Rev. EDWIN HATCH, D.D.

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THE MAKERS OF MODERN ENGLISH. By the Rev. W. J. DAWSON, Author of “The

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_CONTENTS_—INTRODUCTORY—THE INTERVAL BEFORE THE DAWN—ROBERT

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UNTIL THE DAY BREAK, and Other Hymns and Poems. By the late Rev. HORATIUS

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A VALUABLE TEXT BOOK.

OUTLINES OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE. By the Rev. H. C. G. MOULE, M.A.,

Principal of Ridley Hall, Cambridge. Third Edition, with new Indexes.

Fcap. 8vo. Price 2s. 6d.

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of information into a small compass. It is perhaps superfluous

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the first page to the last. At every point the reader feels

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the writer. In the more strictly theological part the summary

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_Crown 8vo, cloth, price 7s. 6d._

LIFE INSIDE THE CHURCH OF ROME.

By M. F. CLARE CUSACK, “The Nun of Kenmare.”

NOTICES OF THE PRESS.

“Miss Cusack has a great deal to reveal, and she speaks with no

hesitating sound. The book before us is something more than a

revelation to the Protestant world; it is also a controversial

treatise, in popular form, in which the doctrinal errors of the

Papacy are considered from the highest standpoint—the written

Word of God. It is a book which should find a place on every

Protestant family’s bookshelves.”—_English Churchman._

“Deserves to receive the earnest consideration of all who

have any care whatever for the welfare of their country. More

than anything else its pages ought to open the eyes of the

ritualists.”—_City Press._

“We are not aware that there has been published any work which

has exposed the inner life and working of the Roman Church as

does the present volume. It is surprising to see what a keen

insight Miss Cusack has into the whole Romish system—political,

social, and literary.”—_Rock._

“This most interesting, important, and even sensational book.…

We heartily commend it, and thank most heartily the talented

authoress for her faithfulness in revealing the hidden evils of

Romanism.”—_Protestant Observer._

“Some of the instances related by Miss Cusack are heartrending.

The Romish Church to-day, as ever, is built on lies, forgeries,

shameless misrepresentations of history and the positions of

opponents, and suppressions of the truth.”—_Christian World._

“If there be any belated Protestant in the present day who

thinks that the Papal Apostasy is a branch of the true Church

of Christ, and that it is capable of being used by God as an

instrument for the elevation of mankind, we would advise him

to read the Nun of Kenmare’s new book. Miss Cusack, like many

others, was beguiled for a season, but painful experience

opened her eyes to the true nature of this cleverly devised,

but corrupt and tyrannical organisation. It is clear from her

recital that the continued existence of Popery as a religious

(or rather, irreligious) system, rests on the dense ignorance

of its votaries. Even a slight knowledge of revealed truth

would be fatal to the pretensions of the Papacy. The author

tells us that the best educated of Roman Catholics are entirely

ignorant of the Bible. The great duty of the hour is to

enlighten these unhappy people as to the true nature of the

system that enslaves them. Under the circumstances, that is

no easy task, but we are hopeful that it is being gradually

accomplished; and Miss Cusack’s book would go far to bring it

about if the mass of Romanists could have the opportunity of

reading it.”—_Christian._