WHIT

POPERY AT PERTH.

HILST the Churches of Scotland are very much asleep in regard to the aggressions of Popery, the old enemy is untiring in his efforts to regain supremacy. A great Popish monastery has just been opened, with much ceremony and pomp, on Kinnoul Hill, immediately above Perth. In the sermon preached by the Rev. Dr Smith of Oakley in connexion with this event, the true spirit, object, and hopes of the Papacy in Scotland were clearly set forth as follows, as reported in a local paper for May 28th. It is surely high time that the people of Perth were thoroughly enlightened on the whole subject. Priest Smith is reported to have said :

:

"On the whole, I cannot help looking upon this day as a new era in the history of the Catholic Church in Scotland. For a long time, alas, Scotland has been sadly alienated from the Church, and, like Israel of old, she has sat many days without sacrifice, without altar, and without ephod. But, as it was said of Israel, 'Thou shalt one day return to seek the Lord thy God, and David thy King,' so may we also hope for the return of our beloved country, under the auspices of her whose festival we this day keep. That there is even now a strong reflux of the waters, is manifest from the contrast presented by the proceedings of this day, and the events that took place in this city of Perth, in this very month, some 300 years ago. It was then that from the place which at the present day is dedicated to St John, Knox pronounced that calumnious tirade against the Church of Rome which led to the despoiling and the destruction of the religious monuments in the city. It was then, in that church of St John, that the shrine of the ever blessed Mother of God was shivered to pieces, and everything which in the sacred edifices was fancied to savour of idolatry destroyed. The headlong fury of the mob, whom the very men who inspired them characterised as 'the rascal multitude,' drove them to the religious houses of the Grey and Black Friars, and in a few hours those magnificent edifices were destroyed with their riches, their altars, their confessionals, and every hallowed relic of antiquity. The same fate was experienced by the Charterhouse of the Carthusian Monastery; and that day's work was the prelude to many similar excesses perpetrated at Scone, Cupar, Dundee, St Andrews, and other places. How consoling it is at last, after 300 years, to find us assembled peacefully to-day in the township where these scenes of iconoclastic vandalism were perpetrated, to open such a church as this, built by the genius of a distinguished local architect, with the friendly co-operation and the best wishes of the citizens of the town which, 300 years ago, disowned so strongly the worship of the Catholic Church. This noble pile is indeed an honour to all the citizens who have had to do with its erection, who have thus done their best to wipe away the ancient stain that tarnished the beauty of the Fair City. And while we look down on the gorgeous landscape that stretches beneath us, what a rush of feeling there comes over the reflective mind! We stand almost in the very centre of the land, as Abraham did in Canaan, when he erected his first altar in Bethel. Stretching out far and wide around is the lovely vale of Perth, hemmed in on all sides by a glorious amphitheatre of hills. In the distance rises the rugged chain of the Grampians, and near at hand is Scone of wizard legend, and encircling us on every side historic ground and reminiscence of the glorious days of ancient Scotland. May the sight of these beauties, and the memory of olden story and witchery of romantic tale, combine, with the grace of heaven, to stir up in the bosom of the Fathers who reside in this lovely spot, that spirit of zeal and love and perseverance which is necessary to inspire them with the energy required for the arduous work of sanctifying those that are within the kingdom of God, and gathering in those that are without."

I

SIX LECTURES DELIVERED BEFORE THE PROTESTANT EDUCATIONAL CLASSES OF LONDON.

By the Rev. ROBERT MAGUIRE, M.A., Vicar of Clerkenwell.

No. II.

THE RULE OF FAITH.

REMEMBER when, some two or three years ago, I visited Rome, and first crossed the threshold of St Peter's, I had my attention called to certain letters of brass inserted in marble slabs at intervals along the vast floor of that vast cathedral. These inscriptions professed to indicate the respective lengths of the largest cathedrals of Europe. First of all, nearest the entrance, was inscribed the length of St Peter's itself, 837 feet; then came our own St Paul's, in London, 710 feet; next, the Duomo, of Florence, 669 feet; then, Milan Cathedral, 606 feet; then, the Roman St Paul's, in the Ostian Way, 572 feet; and, last of all, the Church of St Sophia, in Constantinople, 492 feet.

Some persons might say that this was not much to see; but it suggested at least a thought or two. It occasioned me to inquire as to how it was that these dimensions had been ascertained. Was it by guess-work or common rumour ? or, Was it by actual measurement? The natural conclusion I arrived at was that the measuring rule, in somebody's hands, had spanned the floors of these great cathedrals, and taken the measurements accordingly. Rome herself, with all her infallibility, could not have guessed the true proportions! This must needs have been the work of the measuring rule.

I then, further, thought with myself, Are material things the only things that need accuracy of measurement-the only things that need a measuring rule to ascertain and indicate proportions? I know that a "rule" is, in everyday life, an invaluable, yea, an essential instrument. Straight lines are drawn by the use of the "rule," and crooked lines are detected by the same. Height is measured, depth is fathomed, length and breadth are spanned, by the measuring "rule," and without it all attempts at measurement must be merely guess-work, uncertain, unsatisfactory, insecure, and undependable.

Well, then, as in natural things, so in moral things; as in the world of matter, so also is it in the world of mind. There are such things as moral rectitude and moral depravity; such things as moral uprightness and moral obliquity. These, too, must be measured, and to this end require a "rule." If right lines are, by the application of a "rule," distinguishable from crooked lines, then, as there are also true doctrines and doctrines that are false, there must, surely, be some means by which these shall be ascertained respectively. Hence the need of a "rule" of faith. As the weights and measures are to the market; as is the compass to the ship; as the science of figures is to all sound calculations, so is a Rule of Faith" to things that are to be believed.

The definition that I would give of a Rule of Faith is this-Anything and everything that is divine. Whatever word exists of proved divine authority, that is a guide and rule of the faith and practice of men.

Hence, our Rule of Faith is THE BIBLE. This is the only book that professes to be divine; it is the only book that is divine. And this

is admitted even by Roman Catholics themselves. The Roman Catholic owns and acknowledges the Holy Scriptures to be divine, and also a "rule;" but they differ from us, and depart from truth, by urging that the Bible is only a "rule;" they will not admit that it is the "rule," the only and sufficient Rule of Faith to men. The Roman Catholic demands more, and accordingly more is added; and the additions are made up of the works, and writings, and traditions of men. Now, even though these were according to the Holy Scriptures, they would not be a 66 Rule of Faith," inasmuch as they are but human, and not divine; much more when these works, and writings, and traditions of men are wholly contrary to the Holy Scriptures.

Moreover, a Rule of Faith, to be of any use, must be distinct, defined, and accessible to all. It must be in itself infallible and unerring. I do not mean that in the use of it mistakes must never occur, for ofttimes mistakes are made in the use of the most correct rule; but the mistakes are in those who use, or misuse, or abuse the rule, and not in the rule itself. Men may misrepresent or misunderstand the Scriptures, but the Bible itself is infallible and unerring, for it is the expression of the mind of God.

Now, all these requirements meet, and are fully satisfied, in the Bible, as the rule of a Christian man's faith; and no better expression of this can I offer to you than that of the sixth of the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion, which is as follows:-"Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation: so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as an Article of the faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation."

The Church of Rome, departing from this complete "rule," voting it incomplete and insufficient, causing additions to be made and supplemental elements to be thrown in, I desire, in this lecture, to inquire, "What does the Church of Rome gain by this? what of certainty, and truth, and guidance, and security? The Church of Rome is the most boastful of all Churches; I propose to test her confidence by a review of her Rule of Faith. I shall do this by a series of inquiries, nine in number; and shall ask you to be so good as to follow me throughout my review, so that you may arrive at a better understanding of the Roman Catholic "position of affairs" in this respect.

I proceed, then, to my series of questions; and, first of all, I make this preliminary inquiry

То

I. What is the Roman Catholic Rule of Faith ?-What is it? this question no uniform answer will be given. Some will say it is the Church, and some the Pope, and some Tradition. A Roman Catholic priest (the Rev. John Bonus) once informed me, in answer to this question, that he was himself the Rule of Faith to his own people! And, indeed, considering everything, this was about as true a reply as could well be given from the Roman Catholic side of the question. For, how is any individual to consult "the Church"? or, how is the Pope to be popularly consulted? and how are individuals to acquaint themselves with the numberless traditions, written and unwritten? For all practical purposes a Roman Catholic simply consults his individual priest; and there, generally, the matter ends.

But it would not suffice for us, in these Educational Classes, to con

tent ourselves with the private opinions of individual Roman Catholics. We must get to the authorised statements of the Roman Catholic system. Still, as a practical test, this popular diversity of opinion is of great value in this controversy; and each of you can try the experiment for himself, to-morrow or next day. On this wise: you have, perhaps, half a dozen Roman Catholic friends in your house of business, or in your circle of acquaintance. Take six slips of paper; write on each this question, "What is your Rule of Faith? Let there be no collusion in the matter of the answers, but let each answer separately and apart. I will venture to say that no two answers will be alike. But, on the other hand, do we not know that if the same question should be asked of any six of ourselves, we would all return identically the same answer, as in the words of the learned Chillingworth—" The Bible, the Bible only, is our Rule of Faith!"

But to the more authoritative statements on this subject. The "Theology of Dens" (a class-book at Maynooth, and in many Roman Catholic Colleges), supplies a treatise on this subject, headed thus-" De regulis fidei;" (the word "regulis" is plural)-" concerning the Rules of Faith." So Dens makes them to be many, thus :—

"There are five rules of this kind, whereof two are dead, and three alive. The dead rules are Holy Scripture and Divine Tradition. The living rule is threefold, viz., The Church, the General Council, and the Supreme Pontiff, defining from the Chair."-Dens' Theol., vol. ii., p. 93.

It is a remarkable fact that in this definition, the only parts that are accounted "dead," are those parts that are "divine," that is " Holy Scripture and Divine Tradition!" But how absurd is this five-fold rule! How complex, and how impossible to gather into one tangible and palpable existence, for use and exercise!

Then there is, again, the authoritative statement of the Creed of Pope Pius IV. The first and second of the twelve novel articles of this creed are occupied on this question, as follows :—

"Art. I. I most steadfastly admit and embrace Apostolical and Ecclesiastical Traditions, and all other observances and constitutions of the same Church.

"Art. II. I also admit the Holy Scriptures, according to that sense which our Holy Mother, the Church, has held, and does hold, to which it belongs to judge of the true sense and interpretation of the Scriptures; neither will I ever take and interpret them otherwise than according to the unanimous consent of the Fathers."

It is very evident, from the mere wording of these Articles, that Roman Catholics receive the Holy Scriptures less cordially than they do Traditions. They simply "admit the Holy Scriptures," and even that under stringent limitation and reserve; but they "most steadfastly admit and embrace" Tradition, and without any limitation or reserve

* Just after I had written out this portion of my Lecture for the Bulwark, I was accidentally looking over a few odds and ends of controversial pamphlets, and I came upon the "Authentic Report of the Castlebar Discussion, between the Rev. W. B. Stoney, Rector of Newport Pratt, Co. Mayo, and the Rev. James Hughes, Roman Catholic Priest." In the opening of Mr Hughes' first speech, I find the following:- "But before I proceed further, I call on Mr Stoney for his Rule of Faith. This (holding up a book) is the Council of Trent. This is my Rule of Faith. I now call on Mr Stoney for his!" So, here is yet another opinion, and a further diversity of reply to our question-" What is the Roman Catholic Rule of Faith ?"