that source of universal evil, man's corrupt nature, which loves" darkness rather than light," and to whose every selfishness, every folly, and every base passion the system addresses itself, with a craft and subtilty equal to its other characterising qualities. For all man's sins there is pardon which may be purchased without repentance, and self-satisfaction which may be gained by the daily heartless will-worship of attendance at the mass; for all his weaknesses there are palliatives and remedies which are willingly offered to his acceptance; for all his scruples, (if he have any,) there are cures in the blind obedience which the system requires, in its kind maternal care of his conscience, which saves him the trouble of thinking for himself, and in the pretended miracles of its juggling hierarchy; for the captivation of his outward senses it has the most enchanting music and the most fascinating mummeries, the lofty aisle,the 'dim religious light,'-the priestly splendour of vestment, and the seraph swell of harmony. It absolves him from oath and from promise; it gives a purchased immunity for sin, whether past, present, or to come; in fine, it adapts itself to every particular of our fallen humanity, and leaving the heart in a death-like sleep of insensibility, and the life in a round of pleasurable indulgence, it drains the purse to further its own aggrandisement, and flagellates the body as the best means of saving the soul! SUCH IS POPERY! X. Q. EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS TO A YOUNG MY DEAR A. FRIEND. No. I. I am anxious to write you a few words on the interesting subject you mentioned in your letter; and am much gratified that you write so unreservedly on the state of your mind, because it enables me to speak more fully to you on the only things that would make our correspondence worth keeping up. I shall be very thankful if I am enabled to say any thing that may help you on, or lead you to think more seriously of your eternal state. And what I shall say, I shall hope to say not of myself, but in dependence on Him who alone can render our intercourse profitable. I quite enter into the difficulties of your situation, and well know of what value are a little Christian sympathy and interest, in such a case as yours. This is an important post for you; and depend upon it, Satan will be ever ready with some of his subtle devices, of which we are not ignorant, to hinder your growth in grace, and establish you as one of his own. Now is your time then to shew whose you are, and whom you serve, and in your own weakness, of which you complain, may God's strength be made perfect! You say the family you are with are not what we should call pious. Then what a doubly interesting situation is yours, with respect to the dear children whom you instruct! How incumbent it is on you to mix something of piety, something of God, with every thing you teach them! And as they are yet very young, who can say that the Lord may not bless the efforts made in his strength? And while you owe this to the children, you owe it to yourself, to the parents, and to your God, that your conduct, as respects the family, should be most uncompromising. Beware of making concessions to the world; show that you have no delight in worldly society; that you cannot make light of Christian duties. Remember that you are not your own, that you are bought with a price. And if you are ever called upon to violate the Sabbath, by devoting any part of it to folly or forgetfulness of God, in a company of worldly people, (for I well know how Sunday evening is spent by many families who think themselves sufficiently religious,) beware of robbing God thus of one single hour of that day which he has sanctified. I write thus, dear A., because these things are nearest my heart; and I would have them still nearer my own, and the hearts of all those in whom I am interested. No. II. M. W. MY DEAR A. I will try, as well as I am able, to answer your letter, which I read with many tears; for I could not bear to think that you should be placed in a situation where heresy is constantly assailing your ears. I do trust, however, that the lessons of better things, taught my young friend under the same roof with myself, may be so blessed to her soul, that these things may only cause her to cleave yet more firmly to Him who is the way, the truth, and the life, and may lead her to pray for those who, while professing Protestantism and Christianity, are under such dreadful delusions. In answering the different points in your letter, my only desire is to lead you to Scripture, and you will see how the positions you have mentioned will stand by the side of that sacred authority. And first, respecting the propriety of praying for the late king; the prayer, you say, was read by mistake, but the reading it was vindicated by the clergyman, because it is believed that the souls of the dead in Christ do not immediately enter into glory.' We have every reason to believe that the righteous, on their death, enter into a state of rest and peace; (Isaiah lvii. 1, 2. Heb. xi. 39, 40.) From these passages it appears that the righteous who have departed this life will not receive the kingdom promised, until all the people of God are gathered into the fold; when Christ shall come, and the dead in Christ shall rise with their bodies, to receive the blessed sentence, according to Matt. xxv: refer to the last few verses. But that "there is no repentance in the grave, or pardon offered to the dead," is also evident, (Eccl. ix. 10. Isaiah xxxviii. 18. Psalm lxxxviii. 10, 11; cxv. 17, 18, &c.); and the contrary declaration not only savours, but is the very principle of purgatory. In Rev. iv. 13, it is said that they who die in the Lord, rest from their labours. This I believe to be the state of the justified after death, until the time of Christ's coming, when all who have died in him, in all ages, from Adam downwards, shall together receive the promise, and together be made perfect. Heb. xi. 40. How does the declaration that religion is too sacred a thing to mix with our every-day affairs, coincide with the following-" Whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." If this is not to mix up religion with every-day affairs, what is? But rather, it is not because religion is too sacred to mix up with every-day duties, but because it is too sacred to countenance Sabbath-breaking, forgetfulness of God, and profaneness, that the persons you speak of wish to drive religion from them. You have doubtless read the well-known hymn by Marriott, On being called a Saint.' "A saint! oh would that I could claim Tho' lowest in the saintly band." 6 Dear A., may you and I, with many who now deride the name, be amongst the number at that great day, when' happy will that man be, who has no other accusation brought against him at the bar of God than that he is a saint.'1 How much I rejoice that you feel a conflict in your heart-the law of sin warring against the law of your mind (Rom. vii.) Oh, how much better it is to feel this striving against sin, even if we resist "unto blood,” (Heb. xii.) rather than to be left to ourselves for Satan to take us captive at his will. There is 1 Howels. |