short, as accounts they are extremely imperfect. I have already mentioned exceptions to this censure, and there are more of them, but as a rule, what I have stated holds good."

In ordinary cases such maladministration would meet with immediate censure, and we trust such a statement as we have now quoted will be brought before Parliament, and especially before the Committee of the Privy Council. Such disclosures tend to show that no confidence can be placed in the management of Roman Catholic Schools, and that a national system of scriptural education, with thorough supervision, is the only way by which such practices can be brought to an end, and the country properly educated.

A RITUALIST DESCRIBED.

Answer to the late Lord-Justice Knight Bruce's question, "What is a Puseyite?" WHAT a Puseyite may be is somewhat hard to show

1867.

A smooth and crafty Jesuit's the nearest type I know!

A semi-Popish clerical, of grave and solemn mien,

With downcast eye, hands duly cross'd, with crucifix between ;
Now moving onward, as if in misty thought profound,

Heedless of the passer by, or the charms of life around,--
In priestly garb array'd, closely buttoned to the chin,
A gentle lamb without, but a ravening wolf within.
He seems to be a man of other days, remote and old,
Of Romish cut without,—within, all passionless and cold ;
Although a celibate, he strives, in various ways, to steal
The hearts of generous women, who, inflamed with pious zeal,
Are ready to forsake the world, and sisterhoods endow,
Go forth to tend the sick, or take some new religious vow,
Come to confession oft, and strict austerities endure,
To mortify the truant flesh, and keep the spirit pure.
He mutters o'er the prayers, with many a bow and turn,
Whilst, on what he terms the "altar," the waxen candles burn ;
Above, a floral cross is placed, by dainty fingers made,
And braided, colour'd cloths are on the holy table laid;

Strange contrast to the touching scene, it may be well conceived,
When, in an upper room," the ordinance was first received!
The "real presence," he insists, with the elements combine

To form a bloodless sacrifice, through agency divine:

And o'er "the mystery," to cause bewildering surprise,

He makes thick clouds of incense from the burning censers rise;

He fancies that in England yet, fair truth shall find a home,

And our protesting Church, ere long, be merged in that of Rome!
To further such a traitor scheme, he every effort tries,

And in seductive lures, the modern Jezebel outvies;

Thus Puseyites and Ritualists on weaker minds impose,
Make toy-shops of their churches, and delight in silly shows.
What steps do our lord bishops take, these evils to suppress?
'Tis little they can do at best, they candidly confess :
They close their eyes to coming ills, and, as in days of yore,
Leave matters as they found them, or quietude implore.
This will not do! the call for action echoes loud and clear,
And many put the question, that their lordships soon must hear,
Of what great use are bishops, if they cannot act at all,
Or save a Church already split, and verging to its fall?
It was not thus, when aged Paul did Timothy direct
The early Church's discipline to order and protect,
When bishops did her purity so gloriously maintain,
And, for the sake of gospel truth, submitted to be slain.

No love of ease, or worldly rank, those pious martyrs sought,

But did their duty fearlessly, as godly bishops ought;

And, when the hour of death approach'd-their earthly warfare done-
The crown of victory could claim, which patient faith had won.

A COLONIST.

PREPARATIONS FOR BURNING BISHOPS LATIMER AND RIDLEY AT OXFORD.

HE following affecting account of the martyrdom of Latimer and all

Britain, as Rome is eagerly thirsting for a renewal of similar

tragedies.

"On the morning of October 16, 1555, Latimer and Ridley were led to the place prepared for their burning, in the front of Baliol College, at Oxford. They kneeled down and prayed separately, and afterwards conversed together. A sermon was then preached, in which their doctrines and their characters were aspersed, but they were not suffered to reply. 'Well,' said Latimer, there is nothing hid but it shall be opened.' The jailor then took off their upper clothes, to prepare them for the stake, when it was seen that Latimer had put on a shroud as his under-garment; and although he had appeared a withered old man, his body crazed and bent under the weight of years, he now stood upright, as comely a father as one might anywhere behold.'

"All being prepared, a lighted fagot was brought and laid at Ridley's feet. Latimer then turned and addressed his fellow-sufferer in these memorable and emphatic words: Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man: WE SHALL THIS DAY LIGHT SUCH A CANDLE, BY GOD'S GRACE, IN ENGLAND, AS I TRUST SHALL NEVER BE PUT OUT.' The fire burned fiercely; Ridley suffered much with great constancy, but Latimer was soon delivered. He exclaimed aloud, O Father of heaven, receive my soul.' Bending towards the flames, he seemed to embrace them, and bathe his hands therein, and speedily departed. When the fire was burned low, the spectators crowded round the dying embers; they beheld his heart unconsumed, and a quantity of blood gushed from it, reminding them of his prayer already mentioned. He had indeed shed his heart's

blood as a testimony to the truth of the doctrines he preached."

ROMISH POLICY.

GNORANCE, being darkness, is full of false fears. In the night-time

"Men think every bush a thief. Our forefathers, in time of ignorance,

were frighted with everything; therefore it is the policy of Popish tyrants, taught them from the prince of darkness, to keep the people in darkness, that so they might make them fearful, and then abuse that fearfulness to superstition; that they might the better rule in their consciences for their own ends, and that so having entangled them with false fears, they might heal them again with false cures."-Sibbes' Soul's Conflict.

A

PAROCHIAL INSTRUCTION IN PROTESTANTISM.

$ Romanists are now to be found in almost all districts of the country, it is of vast importance that Protestants should be prepared to answer the plausible objections which they are all trained to make to Bible truth. For this purpose, we do not know any better plan than to offer prizes to those who will study most thoroughly the Romish controversy.

* Lives of the British Reformers. London: Tract Society. 1836. Pp. 214-15.

In this respect the following plan, which has been adopted by Miss Scott Makdougall of Makerstoun, seems to us most worthy of universal imitation :

TO THE PARISHIONERS OF MAKERSTOUN.

Miss Scott Makdougall of Makerstoun, having given a most handsome contribution to the Scottish Reformation Society, that Society hereby offer four prizes-the first of £2, the second of £1, 10s, the third of £1, and the fourth of 10s.-to the parishioners of Makerstoun, who will stand the best oral examination on the Society's permanent tract No. I., entitled, "Popery Completely at Variance with the Bible." The examination will be held, God willing, in Makerstoun House on the evening of the first Tuesday of March, (March 3,) at seven o'clock. All who reside in the parish are at liberty to compete, young and old, male and female, and they are earnestly invited so to do. Copies of the tract will be supplied free by applying to Mr Laird.

N.B. The texts of Scripture quoted in the tract ought to be carefully committed to memory, and the other texts referred to ought to be carefully examined. There are about 120 texts quoted; and the young people especially are earnestly recommended to commit to memory one of those texts every day, and thus, with frequent revision, by the blessing of God, any of the texts may be accurately repeated at the examination. G. R. BADENOCH, Gen. Sec.

SISTERS OF MERCY; OR, POPERY AND POVERTY.

"BL

By the late Rev. DR HETHERINGTON.

This is a

LESSED are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." beautiful characteristic of the subjects of the kingdom of heaven, as declared by its heavenly King. And nowhere on earth has mercy its natural home more truly than in the heart of woman, especially of a Christian woman.

The kingdom of Antichrist is the exact counterpart of the kingdom of heaven; and the depth and subtlety of Papal Antichrist is shown in the marvellous skill with which it seizes on every true principle of grace or of nature, and so perverts and misapplies them as to render them instruments of evil, working ruin to mankind.

We love to look on deeds of mercy, and we love them most when they are wrought by woman's gentle hand. Must we not, therefore, delight to see those females who move about among the abodes of the poor, as if on errands of benevolence, bearing the attractive title of "Sisters of Mercy;" and must we not think well of the system which provides and employs such kindly visitants to alleviate human suffering? Such is the design and expectation of Popery, and that she has been largely successful is but too evident from the praises bestowed on the "Sisters of Mercy," and similar agencies of the Nunnery system, by unreflecting and deluded Protestants.

But let us inquire more closely into the subject, and ascertain the true character and consequences of the system, even in this its most attractive and seemingly benevolent aspect.

The whole Papal theory respecting works of mercy rests upon the unscriptural principle, that such works are works of merit, and that the persons who do them deserve the favour of God. Yet, what our Lord says is, that the merciful are blessed, because they shall obtain mercy. Their blessedness consists in what they receive, not in what they give. The very word mercy excludes the idea of merit. Favour, approbation, love, are due to merit; but mercy is shown in sparing the guilty. There is, there

fore, both opposition to Scripture and self-contradiction in the Papal theory, that works of mercy are works of merit. But there is a gracious and holy harmony in the Scripture principle, that when God mercifully, through Christ, forgives men their trespasses, He teaches them also to forgive those who trespass against them-to be merciful, because they have received mercy. Daily they become the more fit recipients of God's daily mercy and abounding grace, and the more kindly diffusers of that mercy on all around them, like sweet flowers diffusing fragrance most when softened with the dews of heaven.

All this the Papal theory reverses. The "Sisters of Mercy" are taught not to depend on God's undeserved mercy, but on their own good works. Their charitable deeds are done, neither from pity to the suffering nor from love to God, but as the price paid for salvation to themselves. The principle from which their works of mercy spring is self; the result to which they tend is self-righteousness. It seeks neither good to mankind, nor glory to God; but a relief from guilty fears, and from dreaded purgatorial sufferings, and a self-righteous plea of merit, on which to claim admission to future happiness.

As the aim of this system is inconsistent with grace, its plan is inconsistent with nature. Where love dwells, mercy has its home. Love dwells in the heart of woman, fitting her naturally for the loving and merciful duties of the mother and the nurse. But the "Sister of Mercy"

must undergo a special training before she can be fit for her peculiar duties. She may be a high-born, cultivated, refined, and delicate maiden, bright as a sunbeam, loving as a dove, gentle as a dewy violet, and glowing with the most sensitive emotions; yet she must begin her course of training by abandoning her parents and her home, by yielding her whole being to the absolute will of another, and by assuming the plainest and even coarsest attire, which she must not change till it be worn to shreds and infested with vermin; she must submit to the meanest drudgery, in the most menial offices; she must toil beyond her strength, spent with fastings, and watchings, and penances, till the fatigue and languor of exhausted nature have either reduced her to imbecility, incapable of thought, or will, or action of her own, or hardened her to unfeminine severity and sternness qualifying her to become, in due time, a Lady Superior, a female tyrant, with artificially mild voice, but heart of stone and will of adamant. Then, in the former and most common case, when she has been reduced to a state of broken-hearted tranquillity, without mind or conscience, she is fitted to become a "Sister of Mercy.". At the command of her Superior, she can put on her grave attire, and move about with silent step and ghost-like gliding motion, and pale cheek and downcast eye, among the dwellings of want, and immorality, and disease, bestowing there the alms which it is her mechanical function to convey.

Poor wreck of crushed womanhood! Her sunk eye brightens not with looks of love; her dead heart feels no throb of genial humanity; no sympathy has she with a mother's joy, or an infant's crowing gladness! Swathed up in her ascetic vows, she is a living mummy, holding in her open hand what has been put there as the price of her admission into heaven. She gives; but not in mercy, or for mercy's sake. She gives; -nay, she but barters her own crushed heart, and weary, woe-worn life and womanhood, for a delusive dream of future rest. And yet such victims of Papal cruelty and deceit are delusively designated "Sisters of Mercy!".