of a saint is held in veneration, that which is called the very body of Christ, and is held as the same substance, is adored. "Hence, those rich and splendid receptacles, that were formed for the residence of God under the new shape, and the lamps and other PRECIOUS ornaments that were designed to beautify the habitation of the deity. And hence the custom that still prevails of carrying about the divine bread in solemn pomp through the public streets, when it is to be administered to sick or dying persons, with many other ceremonies of a like nature, which are dishonourable to religion, and opprobrious to humanity."* It is to this day the avowed doctrine of the church of Rome that the consecrated bread, or wafer, is transubstantiated, or transformed into the very body of Christ; and that the sacrifice of the mass is the actual offering up, on the part of man, of the eternal Son to the eternal Father, and the "unspotted Host" is offered" to the living and true God. When the Host is elevated, or is presented to view, or is carried by, papists bow down as devoutly as ever pagans knelt to the image of Jupiter. And yet the oblation is made, not only "in memory of the passion, resurrection, and ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ," but also "in honour of the blessed Mary," &c. and of all the saints, that it may be available to their honour, &c.† The Mahuzzims a god whom his father knew not-and a strange god-whom the king who magnified himself above all, was to honour, acknowledge and increase with glory-are not merely the symbol, but form the identity of the worship of the church of Rome, such as it has been set forth before the world for ages. *Mosheim, Cent. xii. c. iv. sect. 2. Of the honour paid to the saints, and of the lavish prodigality, to the exalting and enriching of the Roman Catholic church,-in gold, and silver, and precious stones, and pleasant things, with which their worship was combined, their protection sought, and their shrines adorned-it were needless to write; for the history of the Romish church, wherever it has been established, is an illustration of the fact and it were vain to attempt the task; for the details, or even the substance of thousands of volumes, cannot be compressed in a single page. St. Peter's, St. Paul's, Notre Dame (our Lady), St. Sophia's, are some of the thousands of strongholds, called by the names and consecrated to the honour of saints. To have entered an abbey, a priory, or a monastery, a cathedral, a church, or even a chapel, in the palmy days of papal domination, was to be dazzled with splendour, and, while yet the mind was in darkness, to be cheated into the belief tha human grandeur was divine glory, and that the true dignity of saints, like the honour that was paid them by man, consisted in the abundance of precious things, with which their shrines and images were loaded.* That the belief in the miraculous power and mediatorial intercession of the saints, and the consequent trust that was reposed in their protection, was actually as well as naturally combined with rendering them HONOUR, is attested not only by the frequent repetition, as seen by the preceding extracts of the very word in the breviary, but there is the clearest evidence that the pope had part and lot in the mat *An instance may be adduced from the history of England. The riches of the shrine of Thomas A'Becket, commonly called St. Thomas of Canterbury, were inconceivable: when broken down, the gold with which it was adorned filled two large chests, that eight strong men could scarcely carry out of the church. Six hundred and forty-five monasteries were at the same time suppressed in England. な ter. In the formula of canonization, even on its first institution, the same term, as if drawn from the prophecy, is used by the pope in constituting a saint, as by the humblest catholic in the sacrifice of the mass. He indeed was to exalt himself above all; and never did any man magnify himself more, than did he, in assuming a prerogative, like that of infallibility, which belongs to Omnipotence alone. He who deprived kings of earthly honours, conferred on dead men the right to celestial glory; but the deposition of monarchs was a light matter to that acme of pride,.presumption, and blasphemy, the canonization of saints. We may here again refer to a Roman Catholic historian; quoting from the English translation, printed in 1698. "In this (the tenth) century we find the first example of the solemn canonization of a saint by the pope. This pope is John XV. who placed St. Ulric in the rank of the saints, in the year 995, at the request of Lintolphus, bishop of Augsburg. We shall here subjoin the act itself, which was drawn up on that occasion: John, Bishop, servant of the servants of God, to all archbishops, bishops, and abbots of France and Germany, greeting, and the apostle's benediction.. Having held an assembly in the palace of the Lateran, on the first day of January, John the most holy pope, sitting with the bishops, priests, deacons, and clergy standing, the most reverend Lintolphus, bishop of Augsburg, rising up, said, 'Most holy bishop, if it may please you and the rest of the reverend bishops and priests here present, to give leave to read in your presence the book which I hold in my hand, concerning the life and miracles of St. Ulric, who was sometime bishop of Augsburg, to the end that you may afterwards ordain what you shall think fit.' Then the life of that saint being read, they proceeded to the miracles which were performed by him, either in his lifetime, or after his death, as the restoring of sight to the blind, the exorcising of devils out of possessed persons, the curing of others inflicted with the palsy, and several other miracles which were not committed to writing. These things being thus related, WE HAVE RESOLVED AND ORDAINED, that the memory of St. Ulric ought to be HONOURED with a pious affection and a sincere devotion, by reason that we are obliged to HONOUR and show respect to the relics of martyrs and confessors, in order to adore Him whose martyrs and confessors they are; we honour the servants, to the end that this honour may redound to the Lord. It is our pleasure, therefore, that the memory of Ulric be consecrated to the honour of the Lord, and that it may serve to celebrate his praises for ever. Then follows the anathema against those who shall act any thing contrary to this decree, with the seals of the pope, of five bishops, of nine cardinal priests, and of some deacons." Such was the first formal act of canonization, the result of an authority previously acquired and acted on, though in a manner less direct. The term canonization was, however, only adopted for the first time, when Edward I. of England was exalted to a higher glory than that of an earthly crown, by a similar act and ordinance of Pope Alexander III. Saints were constituted by regular statute. Their memory was to be honoured with sincere devotion. And a curse was denounced against those who, in any thing, would act contrary to the decree to which the pope, bishops, and cardinals had set their seals. New causes of persecution arose in the church, exactly analogous to the idolatry of heathens. And the saints of the Most High, who knew their God, were tried and afflicted the more, in proportion to the increase and prevalence of gross superstition. * Du Pin's Eccles, Hist. vol. viii, p. 69, Cent. x. From the time that the magnificence of ceremonies was substituted for the purity and simplicity of the Christian faith, men, instead of being themselves thoroughly furnished unto all good works as temples to the Holy Ghost, as the true church of Christ, deemed it to be the highest act of piety to erect splendid edifices, and adorn them with a prodigality of ornaments; as if the eye of God, which is over all his works and discerns the spirits of all flesh, were like unto the eye of man, which sees only the outward appearance. Religion became a thing to look at, or a form to pass through; and piety was reckoned at a price. Instead of imitating the virtues of saints and martyrs, men searched for their bones. And instead of copying the ornament of minds like theirs, they enclosed their relics, whether real or imaginary, in coffers of gold and of silver. Churches became the holds of the sacred depositories, and the consecrated stations for images. The presumed virtue of these rose with the riches of their adornments; and the fancied protection which they afforded to each votary was a ceaseless call for the accumulation of new gifts in honour of the saint and for the good of the church. The ancient gods of the hills and of the vallies virtually re-appeared on earth; under new names, temples were dedicated to their honour; and, sacrifices being abolished, the intercessory divinities were there propitiated by offerings. The saints, as if they never had been crucified unto the world, or as if the love of money held possession of their disembodied spirits, were honoured with gold, and silver, and precious stones, and pleasant things. And the service of the sanctuary gradually degenerated into a show. But when the pope, still magnifying himself above all, assumed the exalted and marvellous privilege of installing tutelary divinities into the rights of devotion; and when the honouring of them was thus |