sins; but at the same time, he knows, that _God_ can forgive sins, and
that God, _can_ give that power to _man_; for the Apostles were men, and
yet, Jesus Christ (as I shall shortly shew) gave his Apostles, a power to
forgive sins. You know, that our Saviour, was both God and man, and that
he acted, sometimes as God, and sometimes, as man. Now, if you will read
the ninth chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel, you will find, that our
Saviour worked a miracle, to prove that He as man, (but mind assisted by
his heavenly Father) had power to forgive sins, even on earth. Now, he
gave this power, also to his Apostles, for we read in St. John's Gospel,
(chap. xx. 22,) He "breathed upon them," and said, "Receive ye the Holy
Ghost: whose sins, you shall forgive, they are forgiven; and whose sins
you shall retain, they are retained." Now, why was not this power of
forgiving sins, to extend also to _future_ ages? Are not God, and Jesus
Christ, as good and as kind, _now_, as they were, in the _time_ of the
Apostles; and are there not, as many sinners _now_, as there were _then_?
If therefore, God, and Jesus Christ, in their infinite mercy, gave this
power of forgiving sins, _to the Apostles_, for the good of mankind then,
and if there are, as many sinners _now_, as there were _then_, in the
name of common sense, why was not this power of God, given to the
Apostles for the benefit of mankind _then_, why was it not, to extend
also to all _future_ ages, for the benefit of mankind _afterwards_? No
such things, cries out the Lay Metropolitan of England. Such doctrine,
would lead the people, step by step, to the very verge of the precipice.
But of what precipice? Would you believe it? to the recommendation of
Auricular Confession, and Absolution, as laid down, in the _Church of
England Prayer-book_.
In the Church of England form of Ordination, the Bishop says, to the
candidate for the priesthood: "Receive ye the Holy Ghost: whose sins ye
shall forgive, they are forgiven, and whose sins ye shall retain, they
are retained." These words, most Reverend Gentlemen, were said over each
of you, by your Bishops, when you presented yourselves candidates, for
ordination. Now, did you receive any spiritual power, or was this a mere
form? If you answer, it was a mere form, you then have no more power, in
this respect, than a mere layman; but if you answer, you did receive a
power, it must have been, either a _declaratory_, or a _judicial_ power
to forgive sins; if it was only a _declaratory_ power, viz., to declare,
that the sinner, would obtain forgiveness if he truly repented, then,
_any layman_, possesses this power _without ordination_; for any layman,
can confidently declare, that _penitent_ sinners are pardoned; but if you
received a _judicial_ power, to forgive sins, then, this is popish
doctrine, and this would lead you, and your flock, step by step, to the
very verge of the precipice. But to the verge of what precipice? Why your
Protestant common prayer-book, shall now tell you. Really, most Reverend
Gentlemen, I am afraid of quoting this passage, from your prayer-book;
for it will not _merely lead_ you to _the verge_, but it will _hurl_ you,
all headlong, down the precipice of the popish doctrine, of Auricular
Confession, and Absolution.
But we had better, go step by step, and therefore, I will quote a _choice
piece_, that occurs in your Protestant common prayer-book, just before
the recommendation of Auricular Confession, and Absolution. Your godly
prayer-book, says, in the visitation of the sick, "the ministers shall
not omit, earnestly to move, such sick persons, as are of ability, _to be
liberal to the poor_." It is a pity, O godly Church, that thou didst not
give this advice to thyself, at the Reformation, when thou stolest, so
much money from the poor, and then, made the nation make up, by
church-rates and poor-rates, for what thou hadst stolen. Thou art really
a very disinterested spiritual physician, for thou art most solicitous
about thy children, practising the virtue of _charity themselves_, but as
for _thyself_, thou will practise charity, as soon as it is convenient,
or as soon as the spirit moves thee, or the nation makes thee.
But what comes next, in your godly prayer-book? Why, rank, and downright
Popish doctrine, of auricular confession, and absolution. In the
visitation of the sick, your prayer-book thus says; "Here shall the sick
person be moved to make a SPECIAL confession of _his sins_, if he feel
his conscience, troubled with any weighty matter. After which
_confession_, the Priest shall absolve him (if he humbly and earnestly
desire it) after this sort: Our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath left power to
His Church, to absolve all sinners, who truly repent, and believe in Him;
of His great mercy, forgive thee thine offences: and by His authority
COMMITTED TO ME, I _absolve_ thee from all thy sins, in the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen." Really, most
Reverend Gentlemen, if all this, is not rank popish, auricular
confession, and absolution, I know not what is; and _mind_, standing as
large as life, in _your_ Church of England, Common Prayer-book, which was
made by act of parliament, by "the aid of the Holy Ghost, and for the
honour of God." Really, what are you, and Lord John Russell to do _now_,
when your Protestant godly Prayer-book, has not only _led_ you to _the
verge_, but _hurled_ you all headlong down to the _very_ bottom, of
popish Auricular Confession, and absolution? Why, you must either
renounce your Protestant prayer-book, and declare, it is _not_ a work of
the Holy Ghost, nor made for the honour of God; or your orthodox
stomachs, must swallow, by wholesale, _this abomination of desolation_,
of popish auricular confession, and absolution; and thus, allow the
dreadful enemy, to remain "within your gates," an enemy more terrible
than an hostile invasion by foreign powers.
(6th. The administration of Penance.) This, most Reverend Gentlemen, is
the sixth error, in Lord John Russell's catalogue, of seven errors, but
the last, which I have to answer, as I have already, included the
seventh, in the fifth error. If Lord John, wishes to intimate, that
Catholics teach works of penance, to be of _themselves_ a _sufficient_
compensation for sin, Lord John has yet, to learn, the _first_ rudiments
of the Catholic creed; but if he means, that Catholics consider the works
of penance, as one of the conditions, on which our Saviour, is willing to
communicate the merits of His death and passion, to the soul of the
sinner, Lord John's meaning is just. But does Lord John, seriously
condemn this doctrine, founded, as it is, on the plainest evidence of
scripture, and confirmed by the practice of the earliest ages? If I
understand Lord John rightly, he certainly does. Lord John, is perhaps
the zealous champion of the all-sufficiency of Christ, and in his
opinion, to do penance for sin, after the great sacrifice consummated on
the cross, is to lead the people, step by step, to the verge of an awful
precipice. If this, is Lord John's creed, it must, at least, be a very
consoling one. Indulge your passions, it exclaims, to the sinner, indulge
your passions, and cease to sin, when you can sin no longer; fear not the
rigours of penance; to weep and pray, to fast and give alms, to repent in
sackcloth and ashes, are external ceremonies, which are confined to the
popish creed; but to practise them, in our _new_ dispensation of _free_
grace, _as by law established_, would be, to lead the people, to the very
verge of the popish precipice. It is curious to observe, how Lord John's
liberation from penance (if I understand him rightly,) has improved, on
the rough sketch, which was delivered by our forefathers. St. Paul, was
accustomed to keep under his body, and to bring it under subjection by
acts of penance; and I have no doubt, he thought he was acting in a
manner, pleasing to Christ, and yet, we learn from Lord John's doctrine,
(if I understand it rightly,) this great apostle, was leading the people,
step by step, to the very verge, of the awful precipice of penance. The
penitents in ancient times, often spent whole years in works of penance;
they fasted and prayed, they lay prostrate at the porch of the Church,
they solicited the intercession of their less guilty brethren. By these
penitential austerities, they hoped, they were fulfilling the will of the
Redeemer, and yet, alas! according to Lord John's doctrine (if I
understand it rightly) they were going, step by step, to the very verge
of the awful precipice of penance. Even the learned men, who compiled the
Church of England, Common Prayer-book, appear to have been involved in
this awful error. "There was formerly," they tell us, "a godly
discipline, that at the beginning of Lent, such persons, as stood
convicted of notorious sins, were put to open penance, and punished here,
that their souls, might be saved at the day of the Lord; and it were much
to be wished, that this said discipline, may be restored." (Church Eng.
Com. Pray. book.) Little did they imagine, that this godly discipline of
penance, by means of which the souls of sinners, were to be saved in the
day of the Lord, would be reproved by a Protestant layman, as an error,
which would lead people, step by step, to the verge of an awful
precipice. Yet so (if I understand his meaning) says Lord John Russell,
and he is lay Metropolitan of all England.
I think I cannot better take leave of Lord John, than by addressing him
in the words of the Reverend Mr. Bennett, under whose Puseyite teaching,
he sat for some time. "If my course was insidious, (Lord John), why did
you take part in that course? If I so muttered the liturgy, as to
disguise its language, why did _you_ join in so glaring a profaneness,
for nearly seven years? If I practised 'mummeries and superstition,' why
did _you_, come to join in them, for nearly seven years? Why did _you_ so
far and so deeply join, as to receive at my hands, so late as Ash
Wednesday, 1849, the holy Eucharist, yourself and your family? If I were
one, of those designated in your letter, as bringing a greater danger,
than the Pope, why then, my lord, was it, that _you_ said not all this
before?" (Rev. Mr. Bennett's Letter to Lord John Russell.)
In conclusion, I can only say, that I am afraid Lord John Russell's
letter, has been a most _unfortunate one for himself_; and as such, I
regret it exceedingly. It has certainly placed him, in the opinion of
sensible Englishmen, in a very ridiculous point of view; and how it will
be received by future ages, it is not for me to divine.
My dissenting Brethren, to you who have honourably come forward, and
assisted us Catholics, in the late hurricane of bigotry, and of insults,
I return you my mead of sincere thanks. Your conduct shows, that you have
acted the part of consistent men, that you are true supporters of civil
and religious liberty, and that you have not forgotten the former noble,
and disinterested exertions of the late Daniel O'Connell, in your cause.
You cannot but remember, that the late Daniel O'Connell, nobly and
disinterestedly, battled for _your_ rights and privileges, on the field
of civil and religious liberty, _even before_ he had gained those rights,
either for the English Catholics, or for his dear country, poor
Ireland.[Q]
But what shall I say of those dissenters, who have joined with the
Protestant Church, in the late fury and tirade against us Catholics? Can
I call _them consistent_ men? Consistent men indeed! Do not all the
dissenters, the Presbyterians, Methodists, Independents, Baptists,
Unitarians, and Quakers, do not all these dissenters deny, as well as we
Catholics, the spiritual supremacy of the Queen? Nay, do not all these
dissenters, claim _their_ spiritual rights and authority, _independent of
the Queen_? Why, therefore, will you refuse the exercise of their
spiritual rights, to your _Catholic_ fellow creatures? Why will you
unjustly deprive _them_ of those privileges, which are the _birth-right_
of _every_ Englishman; nay, of every human creature in the world? Does
not the scripture, which you so often extol, tell you, "that you ought
not to do unto others, that which you do not wish others to do unto you?"
What, then, are we to say of those dissenting ministers, or minister, who
on one day are seen claiming the power to give spiritual ordination to
others, then, shortly after, attending an Anti-Protestant Church meeting;
and, lastly, see them or him, arranged by the side of the _Protestant_
Church, for the express purpose, of refusing to the _Catholic_ Church,
the exercise of those spiritual rights, which they, or he, had not long
before deemed it their, or his right to assume? Nay, what is still worse,
he had _even_ wished to refuse them the rights of a base criminal, viz.,
that a charitable dissenter should not be allowed to speak, or merely ask
a question, in defence of the Pope, and of the benighted papists. Really,
was not _this_, a most inconsistent, "extraordinary and presumptuous
movement," of this dissenting minister? Well, I can only say, if the
_religious_ creed of this minister, be not _more consistent_ than his
_political_ creed, I really envy him not the possession of it, and I
think I cannot do better, than address him in the words of the poet:
"His notions fitted things so well
That, which was which, he could not tell,
But oftentimes, mistook the one
For t'other, as great clerks have done."
I must now say a few words to the English, in general, and make a few
remarks on the unjust manner, in which the Catholic religion, has in
general been hitherto, treated and abused. That you may the better
understand this, I will make use of the following supposition. Let us
suppose, for a moment, that we were in a court of justice, that a person
was going to be tried, that some of you were witnesses against him, that
the rest of you, were to form the jury, and that I was to be the judge.
Now, if we were to examine, _only_ the witnesses who were _against_ the
accused, and _not_ allow a _single_ individual to speak for him, if we
were not, to allow the poor man to speak a word in his _own_ defence, and
were the jury, and the judge, then to pronounce him guilty, do you think,
we should treat that man _fairly_? _However innocent_ he might be, he was
sure to be brought in _guilty_. And why? Because the witnesses were
against him, the jury was against him, and the judge was against him; and
not a single word was allowed to be spoken in his defence. Now, ye honest
men of England, would you not think that man was treated very _unfairly_?
Would you not feel for such a man? And would you not pity his case? I am
sure you would, and all with one voice exclaim, "Let the poor man have
_fair play_, and let _us_ 'do to _him_, as _we_ would be done by.'"
Now, my friends, let us apply this example, to the Catholic religion.
Have you not read books, that gave you the most horrible account of the
Catholic religion, have you not heard people, tell the most infamous
things against this religion, and have you not, _even_ in places of
_worship_, heard this religion, most _cruelly_ called, and abused? But
did you ever ask yourselves, whether all that you then read or heard, was
_really_ true? Did you consider, that abuse, is no argument, declamation,
no evidence, accusation, no verdict? Did you examine the witnesses on the
_other_ side? Did you read any _Catholic_ book, or consult any
well-instructed _Catholic_ layman, or minister on these subjects? Did you
not condemn the poor Catholics, _unheard_, and without giving them a
_fair_ trial? But mind, I am not blaming _you_, nor the _public in
general_, for this ignorance of our religion, nor am I surprised at it.
No, considering what has been the state of things, I cannot conceive how
it could have been otherwise. For these misrepresentations, and false
statements against our religion, have been often made by very
_respectable_ persons, and often repeated to the people, either from _the
pulpit, where_ nothing but the _truth_, should be spoken, or in tracts,
and books, which either _are_, or _profess to be_ written by _learned_
and _sincere_ members of society. Thus hearing these statements, and
accusations, from _these_ sources, the people very natural enough
conclude, that all that is said against the poor _benighted_ Papists,
_must be true_. But my friends, I beg of you that _in future_, you will
always remember, that the law of England, strictly forbids any one, even
the _basest criminal_, to be condemned _before_, he has had a _fair_
trial, that it is an excellent maxim in life, "hear _both_ sides _before_
you _judge_," and the Scripture expressly says: "Thou shalt not bear
_false_ witness against _thy_ neighbour." Why should not then the _same_
principles, be adopted in _judging_ of the _Catholic_ religion? When
then, in future your hear any abuse, or accusation against the Catholic
religion, I beg of you to ask yourselves two questions: _First, am I
certain_ that the _Catholic_ Church maintains _such_ doctrine? and
_secondly, if it does_, have I heard the _proofs_, which may be advanced,
_in confirmation_ of _that_ doctrine? Oh! would only all Englishmen,
grant the Catholics this common boon of justice! how soon would that
dark, and heavy cloud of prejudice and misrepresentation, which has so
long hung over our religion, immediately burst, and as the sun, after
having been shrouded in clouded majesty, amidst the terrific storm,
bursts forth with more transcendent brightness, so would the Catholic
faith, after having been so long darkened with the mist of false
representation, burst forth, with a lustre and brightness, which could
not help attracting the eye of every sensible, and thinking mind.
One or two more remarks to you Englishmen, and then, I really must for
the present bid you farewell. You cannot be ignorant of the many
Protestant clergyman, who, are either returning in _many_ respects to the
Catholic faith, or who have _already, publicly_ renounced the
_Protestant_, and embraced the _Catholic_ faith. Now, with all these
venerable examples before _you_, ought not _you laity_, to begin to
think, that _you also_, have a right, nay, that it is _your duty_, to
examine how religious affairs, stand in England? You cannot read, without
feelings of interest, and surprise, the account of the _numerous_
conversions, of these _Protestant_ clergymen, to the _ancient Catholic_.
Although you may condemn the change, still you cannot but admire the
singleness of their purpose, and the strength of their minds. The
Catholic Church, has no _earthly_ treasures (for the Protestant Church
got all these long since) to offer these ministers for the great
sacrifice of wealth, of friendship, and other worldly interests, which
they have to forfeit, for _renouncing_ the _Protestant_, and _embracing_
the _Catholic_ faith. On the other hand, your rich, but poor in spirit
Church, lays before them _golden_ prospects, some of the best, and
highest preferments of your Church. But, they have turned their backs
upon them all, either to accept the lowly charge of a Catholic Priest, or
to sink into some despised, and humble situation in life. To many of you,
these sacrifices may appear folly; but remember these converts, have
lately studied in the school of St. Paul, who "suffered the loss of all
things, and accounted them as dung, that he might gain Christ." (Phil.
iii.) Thus, they have cheerfully renounced the riches, and honours of
this world, to associate themselves in faith, and worship, with those
holy, and illustrious members of the Catholic faith, who, in every age,
and clime, have made it their aim, and glory, to bring their dear, but
erring brethren, to this one fold, of the one Shepherd, Jesus Christ.
I can only say it appears to me strange, passing strange, that if
Catholicity be such a monster, as some would gladly persuade the world,
it appears very strange, that there should be such an inclination in
England, of late years, to return to this ancient faith. Every one must
acknowledge, that the march of intellect in England, during these late
years, has been immense; but if Catholicity be such a monster, as our
enemies _charitably_ represent it, what is the reason, so many are
beginning to enter into its fold, and what is the reason, Catholicity in
England is so much in the increase? This great increase, is acknowledged
even by our enemies. One would _reasonably_ think, that if Catholicity be
such a monster, the march of intellect would have _naturally_ guarded the
people against it. It surely will not be said, that the people have not
been sufficiently warned against it. What! not sufficiently warned
against it! Have they not been warned against it, these three hundred
years at least? Have they not been warned against it, in books of all
descriptions, from the large folio to the penny tract? Have they not been
warned against it, in almost every pulpit (except Catholic) in England?
Have they not been warned against it, again, and again, in the House of
Lords and Commons? Have they not been warned against it, in almost every
rank of society? In short, have they not been warned against it by every
means, that human ingenuity could devise? But surely, we shall not be
told, that this inclination to Catholicity, is owing to the want of
scriptural knowledge in England? Want of scriptural knowledge indeed in
England! Have not millions of money, been subscribed for the printing of
the scriptures, have not millions of bibles, been printed and circulated
in England? In short has not almost every one a bible, to which he
confidently appeals as his word of life? And yet notwithstanding all this
_warning_ against Catholicity, notwithstanding this immense diffusion of
bibles in England, Catholicity is rapidly increasing, to the great dismay
and "horrification" of our enemies. What then, can be the reason of this
late increase of Catholicity in England? Why, I will tell you, the people
of England, can now most of them read, and the march of intellect is
abroad, and by these means the people begin to find out, that their
Catholic fellow creatures, have been long, an unjustly abused, a
shamefully treated, and basely calumniated body of Christians. The
people, therefore, naturally begin to feel for them, and are now
unwilling to be deceived, by the idle rant of those misinformed, but
positive writers and preachers, who
"Without the care of knowing right from wrong,
Always appear, decisive, clear, and strong,
Where others, toil with philosophic force,
Their nimble nonsense, takes a shorter course,
Flings at your head, conviction in a lump,
And gains remote conclusions at a jump."