if he eat, because he eateth not of faith, for whatsoever is not of faith is sin. We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.”... Thus the meanest capacities may comprehend that a scruple becomes a matter of conscience, and should therefore be attended to most strictly. Wise men of all nations, see into the true sense and meaning of things; but the vulgar go no further than superstition carries them. A well-informed Dean of St. Patrick's tells us of a French Gentleman, a member of the Romish Church, who, dining with some company on a fast-day, called for some eggs and bacon. The rest were very angry and reproved him for so heinous a sin: whereupon he wrote the following lines extempore; which prove him, at all events, to be a man of ability. PEUT on eroire avec bons sens, THUS INTERPRETED IN ENGLISH. Who can believe, with common sense, And St. Paul himself has sanctioned the doctrine, by the following confession in his Epistle to the Romans il god of idoso pnest, su od "I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean.” And again, to the Corinthians he expressly says, "Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, that eat, asking no question for conscience' sake: for the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof. If any of them that believe not, bid you to a feast, and ye be disposed to go, what soever is set before you, eat; asking no question for conscience' sake." So far, then, are those who have no scruples on the subject, authorized by St. Paul to partake of whatsoever is set before them, without risking God's anger. Should they consider the fastings of their brethren as mere superstition, let them reflect 'tis a superstition that injures no one; and that liberty of conscience is allowed equally to the one and to the other. It is even related of a certain Pope, that he was so delighted with Montesquieu, that, in order to give him the highest mark of satisfaction, he dispensed him from fasting in Lent, and permitted him to eat meat all the year round. A proof that his Holiness did not conceive it to be a point of very great importance. Accordingly a brief was prepared in Apostolic Chancery to this effect, and Montesquieu was called upon to pay a considerable sum for the fees. But he had too much respect for his Holiness to think that necessary, and therefore declined it, saying, "His Holiness's word is quite sufficient for me, and my asserting that he has given it, will perfectly satisfy the Curé of my parish, so that I have no occasion for any parchment documents." The effects, however, of giving way to absurd infatuations, and seducing spirits, are dangerous and sometimes fatal, not only to individuals, but to whole kingdoms; for instance→→→ ་་ In the time of Cadwalladar, King of the West Britons, there was so great a famine, which continued eleven years, that the land became in a manner desolate: insomuch that the King and many of the Lords were driven to forsake their native country; and Cadwalladar himself went to his Cousin Alan, King of Little Britain in France. During which time, the Saxons, taking advantage of his absence, came over in swarms, and dispossessed the forlorn Britons of what they had, and shared it among themselves. Whereupon Cadwalladar, obtaining assistance of his Cousin Alan, was coming over to restrain their insolencies; when, making prayers to God for success, he imagined he heard a voice that forbad him the enterprise; declaring that it was not God's will that the Britons should rule this land any longer, and therefore, bade him depart to Rome and receive of Pope Sergius the habit of religion; wherein he should die and rest in peace. Accordingly he obeyed the voice, was shorn a Monk, and abandoned Britain to its unhappy fate; which soon after became a colony of Saxons, who, in process of time, divided the Island into seven kingdoms, and formed the Saxon Heptarchy. Such was the effect of Cadwalladar's superstition. Christianity, which had hitherto been exercised in all its native purity, was severely checked by these invaders; who were making rapid strides to enslave the country in its ancient Paganism. And thus was the happiness of a people destroyed, and the welfare of their soul and body involved, through the weakness of one infatuated devotee. How different was the religion of our illustrious Monarch George III. He was a Christian in every sense of the word; feeling the most awful reverence for the holy ceremonies of the Church and Divine Institutions. It was never, perhaps, more strongly manifested than during the preparations for the installation that took place in 1805. “A Nobleman, high in favor," it is reported, "having asked in an apparently negligent manner, whether the new Knights would not be obliged to take the Sacrament previous to the installation? The King instantly marked his feelings by a change of countenance; and, with some severity, said—No! That a religious institution is not to be mixed with our profane ceremonies. Even at the time of my coronation I was very unwilling to take the Sacrament; but, when I was assured it was indispensable, and that I must receive it; before I even approached the Communion Table, I took off the bauble from my head. The Sacrament, my Lord, is not to be profaned by our Gothic institutions !" And His Majesty's reply to the first Lord of the Treasury, when pressed to consent to bringing in the proposed Bill respecting the Roman Catholic Question, in the year 1807, is sufficient to testify how religiously he felt the obligation of an oath. 66 My Lord," said he, "I am one of those who respect an oath. I have firmness sufficient to quit my throne and retire to a cottage, or place my neck on a block or a scaffold, if my people require it; but I have not resolution to break that oath which I took in the most solemn manner at my coronation," |