most painful,) it cannot have escaped the observation of those who are conversant with Roman-catholic writings, that irreligion of the worst kind is promoted by the use of relics and images. We say, of the worst kind; because under the specious garb of piety is concealed practical forgetfulness of God. He who is so favoured as to obtain possession of something that is called a relic transfers to it the veneration and trust which he owes to his Creator, and is not a whit superior to the idol manufacturer of old, whose folly is so powerfully exposed in holy writ.* But their at- That part of the decree which relates to images is evidently written with caution. The fathers felt that this is a very vulnerable part of the Roman-catholic system. tempts to defend it were impotent and vain. volumes of sophistry that have been written on the subject, it still remains true, that the veneration of images is nothing less than idolatry. The pagan would make the same excuse as is now made by the papist: he did not worship his image till it of one entire and perfect emerald, said to be that on which our Saviour ate his last supper. It was guarded by knights of honour, and only exposed to view once a year. The French seized it, and most sacrilegiously sent it to a laboratory ! "Instead of submitting it, with its traditional story, to a council of Trent, they handed it over to the Institute of Paris; and chemists, geologists, and philosophers, were called on to decide the fate of that vessel which bishops, priests, and deacons, had pronounced to be too sacred for human investigation, or even for human touch. The result of the scientific inquisition was, that the emerald dish was a piece of green glass!"-Lady Morgan's Italy, i. p. 414. * Isa. xliv. 9-20. In the church of the Escurial, in Spain, there are eleven thousand relics. A few extracts from a Spanish account of them, printed in 1764, will probably amuse the reader :— "We will first begin with the relics of our Saviour, who, as he gave himself to us, left us some of his precious jewels, which are incomparable and divine. “A sacred hair of his most holy head or beard is preserved here with the utmost veneration, in a precious vase; and opportunity can never offer us a better hair to obtain glory by. "Several pieces of his most holy cross, all admirably garnished with gold, silver, and jewels, especially that which is adored on Good Friday. "Thirteen thorns out of his crown, which pierce the soul with their points, when we consider them as in the delicate temples of that most loving King of glory. "Some pieces of the column to which he was bound, and of the manger was consecrated, and then he supposed his Deity to be in some sense present; yet scripture unhesitatingly calls him an idolater. The prohibition in the second commandment is express, and the reason thereof is weighty and solemn: "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them; for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God."* In direct contravention of this command, the Roman Catholic "bows down and serves" his image, sets up his light before it, carries it in procession, anathematizes and persecutes those who refuse to render it any honour. It is very easy to affirm that the reverence is paid to the being represented, and not to the representation; it is equally easy to reply that the distinction is too refined for the mass of the people, and that it does not exist in practice. "Superstition" and "base gains" are prohibited in the decree; but in truth the whole is superstitious and base. It would seem a harmless thing to set up an image or painting of a good and great man, and even to pay it some kind of homage; but "the Lord our God is a jealous God," in which he was born to die for us; which invite hearts to break in pieces through compassion and gratitude. "In the second place, are the relics of his most holy mother, which gladden the hearts of those who seriously consider their incomparable value. Three or four pieces of the habit which adorned that most pure and virginal body, in which was formed that of Jesus Christ our Lord, her son, are placed in one case. Also a piece of the handkerchief with which she wiped her eyes, at the foot of the cross, when those tears, as precious as the gems of Aurora, joining themselves with the rubies of the western sun, incorporated themselves with the treasure of our redemption. "Besides these, we possess a hair, which may be suspected to be that which, flowing down her neck, enamoured her spouse. "We possess also a thigh of the glorious martyr St. Lawrence; it is entire, but the hair is singed; the holes which were made in it by the prongs which turned him on the gridiron are very visible. One of this saint's feet: the toes are entire, though contracted: between two of them is a small cinder, which, in the eye of piety, shines like a carbuncle. "In order to protect the edifice from lightning, there are several relics, especially those of St. Lawrence, its patron, in metal cases, inserted in the balls and crosses which are on the tops of the towers."-Twiss's Travels in Portugal and Spain, p. 105. * Exodus xx. 4, 5. and the oft-repeated denunciations of his word have been amply justified by fact. "Due honour," adoration, and idolatry, are inseparably connected together. Nor should it be forgotten, that in religion the absence of a command is a virtual prohibition. "What thing soever I command you, observe to do it, thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it."* Akin to the worship of images is the use of Agnus Deïs, scapularies, &c. "An Agnus Dei (so called from the image of the Lamb of God impressed on the face of it) is made of virgin wax, balsam, and chrism, blessed according to the form prescribed in the Roman ritual. The spiritual efficacy, or virtue of it, is gathered from the prayers that the church makes use of in the blessing of it, which is to preserve him who carries an Agnus Dei, or any particle of it, about him, from any attempts of his spiritual or temporal enemies; from the dangers of fire, of water, of storms and tempests, of thunder and lightning, and from a sudden and unprovided death. It puts the devils to flight, succours women in child-bed, takes away the stains of past sins, and furnishes us with new grace for the future, that we may be preserved from all adversities and perils, both in life and death, through the cross and merits of the Lamb who redeemed and washed us in his blood. The Pope consecrates the Agnus Dei's the first year of his pontificate, and afterwards on every seventh year, on Saturday before Low Sunday, with many solemn ceremonies and devout prayers." And this in the nineteenth century, and believed and held by Englishmen !+ One who was himself entangled in the yoke of bondage, but has been delivered, thus describes the scapular and its use :"The scapular is a piece of stuff with these letters, I. H. S., on one side, and two hearts on the other. They are the three first Greek letters of the name of Jesus, Inoous. The devil fears very much this terrible weapon, the institution of which was by a great saint [St. Simon Stock], who saw the Virgin Mary in his sleep, (fit time for such a vision.) She appeared holding a scapular, and commanded him to make use of it. * Deut. xii. 32. + See "Devotion and Office of the Sacred Heart of our Lord Jesus Christ," p. 375. : Its diffusion was prodigious, and there are few true Catholics, especially among women, who do not wear round their necks this spiritual collar. In many churches the statues of the infant Jesus and of the holy Virgin have each a scapular hanging round their neck. During the whole time I was a fervent Catholic, I wore one very devoutly, and I believed it had a great part in my spiritual victories. Immense indulgences are attached to it; wonderful miracles are attributed to its mediation. It is not possible to be damned with a scapular round one's neck; the devil has no power on a man scapularised death itself respects him. A pious officer,' says the book written on this subject, 'received in a battle a ball, which was flattened against this best cuirass, and fell at his feet.' 'Another man,' says the same book, 'being drunk, fell into a river, and was prevented from drowning by the scapular, which kept him afloat for a whole night, till some fishermen, seeing him in the morning, saved him, wondering at such a miracle.' The gospel is not more firmly believed than these tales. I believed them myself: I must avow it."* The "Confraternities of the scapular" are associations of persons wearing this talisman, in honour of the Virgin, and in full confidence that she will reward their devotion by rescuing them from purgatory. Privileges and indulgences have been conferred on these devotees by fourteen popes, in as many bulls. One of these, the "bulla Sabbatina," secures to them, by direct promise from the Virgin to Pope John XXII., deliverance from purgatorial fire on the first Saturday after death !† The Rosary is another cunning invention. When the practice of making many prayers became fashionable, some assistance to the memory was evidently desirable, to prevent the account being inaccurately kept. An Egyptian monk, who had vowed to offer three hundred prayers every day, is said to have marked their number by small pebbles, dropping one at every prayer. The Lady Godiva, so well known in the history of Coventry, in the eleventh century, told her prayers on a string of jewels. Beads were afterwards used for the same purpose. The rosary consists of a hundred and fifty small beads, with a large one between each ten; the small ones for * Confessions of a French Catholic Priest, p. 180. Ave Marias, and the large ones for Paternosters, so that when the Divine Being receives one prayer, the Virgin has ten. Like the scapular, the rosary is blessed with privileges and indulgences innumerable, and its use recommended by marvellous tales of deliverances wrought for those who adopt it. The Virgin is as bounteous to the confraternities of the rosary as she is to those of the scapular; the former are connected with the Dominicans, the latter with the Franciscans; and each order contends most fiercely for the superior efficacy of its talisman. "Of all the tools, trinkets, or playthings of devotion, in whichever class we place it, the rosary is certainly the happiest invention. Its mere picturesque effect might have brought it into general use, for beautiful it is, whether pendent from the neck of the young, or in the trembling hands of the aged. Nor is its use limited to the convenience of keeping a prayer account in decimals, and thus facilitating the arithmetic. If the Ave Maria were repeated the whole hundred and fifty times, or even a tenth part of those times, in uninterrupted succession, no human vigilance could prevent the words from being articulated without a thought of their meaning; but by this device, when ten Aves have been said, and ten of the smaller or Ave beads dropt to keep time with them, the Pater or large bead comes opportunely in to jog the memory; sufficient attention is thus excited to satisfy the conscience of the devotee, and yet no effort, no fervour, no feeling, are required; the understanding may wander, the heart may be asleep, while the lips, with the help of the fingers, perform their task; and the performer remains with a comfortable confidence of having added to his good works, and rests contented opere operato. The priests of the Romish church have been wise in their generation; and the structure which they have raised is the greatest monument of human art, as it is of human wickedness, so skilfully have they known how to take advantage of every weakness, and to practice upon every passion of human nature."* For ages has the credit of images and relics, as well as of every other papal invention, been sustained by pretended * Southey's Vindiciæ Ecclesiæ Anglicanæ, pp. 470-506. Pilgrimages offer another fruitful theme for animadversion; but enough of these sickening, |