the bible may be lying shut on a desk or table, and if I should open it not knowing what book it might be, then my promise would be broken." "Well, but," said he, "would not you know it by the squares in it?" (I suppose the Rev. Gentleman meant the columns.) "But, sir," said I, “how could I see them until I should first open the book?" He was very much displeased with me for my disobedience, but hoped to reclaim me again, as he thought; for he warned me to come very soon to confession to him. I was much afraid of him, as I was then young and tender, and not altogether convinced of all the errors of the church to which I at that time belonged: yet I was more afraid of God, and the loss of my own soul, than of any thing else; and this, with divine aid, and repeated reading of the scriptures, endued me with fortitude to submit to all privations and persecutions, which were not a few.

I am ready and willing at any time to answer any enquiry that may be made, respecting the truth of what is here stated; and I think Mr. Macdonald can find no apology here by saying they don't do so in England, after advocating the existence of union in their church; for if such a union exists as he endeavoured to prove does exist, then we must think their church should be the same all over the world. If so, then he has either violated that union, by differing from the priests in Ireland, or spoken contrary to his own conscience, knowledge, and the established rules of his church of union, by denying the restrictions of the laity to read the scriptures.

If the Pope pretends to be wiser than our Lord, by endeavouring to disannul his commandment, in allowing none to read the sacred volume but the clergy, he ought not to be regarded, because it is the duty and privilege of all to read the scriptures, as appears from the words of truth, to which we have already referred. All cannot receive holy orders; therefore some must either disobey Christ or the Pope; because poverty is a prevalent difficulty amongst the lower classes of people, and is a barrier to education, the preliminary and essential qualification for ordination: therefore they may abide by their lot, for they shall never read the scriptures; and whether poverty or riches prevail, woe unto the female sex, for they are entirely excluded from all hopes of ever being ordained; therefore they must never open the bible, on pain of becoming heretics! But what does God say to his professed pastors in reference to this subject? "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me; seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God." Hos. iv, 6. But what an unspeakable blessing it is, that the Romish Clergy cannot keep the bible from all! for the Lord has raised a Wickliffe, a Luther, and many others, who, with christian zeal and undaunted fortitude, have plucked the sacred volume out of the jaws of the devouring dragon; and now the Moors and Hottentots are tasting its delicious fruit, and the children of Indians and Europeans are learning to lisp the sacred name of Jesus, by its happy influence: and we trust soon

to see the arrival of that auspicious day, "when all flesh shall see the salvation of God."

The doctrine of creature worship considered.

As Jesus Christ is partially rejected, as the atonement for sin, and Saviour of mankind, by the members of the Church of Rome, they also reject him as their Advocate, and introduce in his stead saints and angels; and whatever they may say to the contrary, they pray ten times to the Virgin Mary, for once to God, in the prayer called the Pater and Avea, which they most commonly use; the conclusion of which is this: "Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and in the hour of our death,-Amen." Let none deny this, for thousands of times I repeated this prayer, and heard others do so too. And in the Litany of the Saints, which is inserted in the Manual, there is a long catalogue of the names of different saints, and the name of each of them is mentioned separately; at the conclusion of which is said," Pray for us.

Now, is any thing clearer than that these are made mediators instead of Christ? and yet the ingenious Pastors of the Church of Rome, (whose extraordinary faith, and superior power, enable them to imagine that they can change any thing into every thing or nothing,) meet with no difficulty in denying this, when the impropriety of it is questioned and found to be too shameful to admit of any defence, although their prayer-book exposes it to public investigation. Some of them endeavour to justify this practice, by saying, "We

don't worship the saints, we only pray to them to pray for us. But this apology makes the case no better, because it is putting them in the place of mediators, which is the office of Jesus Christ. For the apostle says, "There is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus." 1 Tim. ii, 5.

But the practice of praying to the Virgin Mary, and the saints, is generally defended and justified in the following manner: "Suppose we had offended a certain individual, and from a motive of selfinterest desired terms of reconciliation; if we could form an intimacy with the mother, or some other friend of the offended individual, to plead for us, we should entertain every hope of success; and ought we not to avail ourselves of such an advantage?" But, by the same rule of reason, we may argue, that if that individual had a son, who had already made reconciliation for us for what was past, and stood at the hall-door soliciting our approach, to partake of the choicest treasures which he had purchased for us, would it not be madness and folly of us, as well as the grossest insult to him, to disbelieve and disregard what he said, and sneak round to the kitchen, to beg of the servants to plead for us? This is just the case with those who pray to the Virgin Mary; for it dishonours Jesus Christ for them to discredit what he says, and trust more to his servants for what they need than to him, because they are no more than servants of Christ in their highest stations of dignity. Some say that we despise the Virgin Mary; but this is not true, for we allow that she ought of all nations

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to be acknowledged blessed, but no object of divine worship or adoration: nor ought any other saint whatever. And the practice of worshipping saints or angels, is not only forbidden by Almighty God himself, but also by one of those angels who appeared to John the divine, in his sacred vision; when in his refulgent appearance he exhibited so much of the glorious splendour of the heavenly world, that the apostle fell down to pay him divine homage. The angel immediately forbad him, by saying," See thou do it not: I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God." Rev. xix, 10.

Where then is the authority for worshipping saints and angels, when not only they forbid it, but also Christ himself, when Satan tempted Christ to idolatry of the basest kind, taking him up to an exceeding high mountain, and shewing him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them, and said unto him,-"All these things will I give unto thee if thou wilt fall down and worship me?" Then Jesus said unto him," Get thee hence, Satan, for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Matt. iv, 8, 9, 10. Mark the expression! him only this cuts off every vain apology for praying to saints and angels; for who dares contradict the words of Jesus Christ?

It appears that this great evil was practised, also, by some in the days of primitive christianity; for St. Paul warns the christians at Colosse against it, in the Epistle which he wrote to them from Rome, saying, "Let no man beguile you of your reward saying,-"Let