in pantomime. We have heard a great deal of these representations and are glad to have the opportunity of seeing them, which we intend to do in the village of Coyohuacan, where they are particularly curious. Meanwhile, for the last few days, the country has been overrun with Pharisees, Nazarenes, Jews, and figures of the Saviour, carried about in procession; all in preparation for the holy week, a sort of overture to the drama. The first evening we arrived here there was a representation of the Pharisees searching for Christ. The Pharisees were very finely dressed, either in scarlet stuff and gold, or in green and silver, with helmets and feathers, mounted upon horses which are taught to dance and rear to the sound of music, so that upon the whole they look like the performers at Astley's. They came on with music, riding up the lanes until they arrived at the part of the house where we were, which being the principal place hereabouts they came to first, and where the Indian workmen and servants were all collected to see them. They rode about for some time as if in search of Christ, until a full-length figure of the Saviour appeared, dressed in purple robes, carried on a platform by four men, and guarded on all sides by soldiers. The dresses are really rich, the gold all real, and the whole has the effect of confusing the imagination into the belief of its being a true scene."

However congenial to the views and feelings of the carnal mind such exhibitions may be, during the period of health and strength, one would be led to imagine, that on the approach of death, they would be substituted by more sober and spiritual realities. The following passage (page 319) shows the contrary to be the fact; and that the closing scenes of life are in perfect keeping with those extraordinary religious performances common in that country. "As we were passing through the square the carriage suddenly drew up, the coachman and footman uncovered their heads and an immense procession came passing along the cathedral, with lights and military music. There were officers in full uniform, with their heads uncovered, a long file of monks and priests, and a carriage carrying the host, surrounded by hundreds of people on foot, all bearing lighted torches. A band of military music accompanied the procession, all which astonished us as it was no fête day. When at length being able to pass along, we were informed that they were carrying the viaticum to a rich acquaintance of ours, a general who has been indisposed for some time, and whose illness has now exhibited fatal symptoms. For him then, these great cathedral bells are tolling heavily; for him the torches and the pompous processions, the sandelled monks, and the officers in military array; while two bands of music are playing at his door, and another in front of the cathedral, and in the midst of these sounds of monkish hymn and military music, the soul is preparing to wing its flight alone and unattended." Miserable appendages of a dying hour!

The important doctrine of justification by faith is the grand distinguishing truth between the romish and protestant churches: and the abandonment of it, and the substitution of penance, and works of merit, as grounds of salvation by the former, has probably done more to corrupt the church of Rome, than any other error which has crept in among them. It is in Mexico where the corruptions of the priests are seen exhibited to perhaps, as great an extent as are to be found in most Catholic countries, for at noonday the author of the work before referred to, saw one of the fraternity reeling in a state of intoxication through the streets, in the company of an abandoned female, and yet in no other country is mortification and penance, as prescribed by the priests, carried to greater lengths, as the following extracts abundantly prove. A visit was paid to a convent and being shown the refectory she remarks (page 223), "It is a large room with a long narrow table running all round it; before the place of each nun is, an earthen bowl, an earthen cup with an apple in it, a wooden plate, and a wooden spoon; at the top of the

table a grinning skull, to remind them that even these indulgences they shall not long enjoy. They showed us a crown of thorns, which on certain days is worn by one of their number, by way of penance, it is made of iron, so that the nails entering inwards run into the head and make it bleed. While she wears this on her head, a sort of wooden bit is put into her mouth, and she lies prostrate on her face till dinner is ended; and while in this condition her food is given her of which she eats as much as she can, which probably is none. We visited the different cells, and were horror struck at the selfinflicted tortures. Each bed consists of a wooden plank raised in the middle and on days of penitence crossed by wooden bars. The pillow is wooden, with a cross lying on it, which they hold in their hand when they lie down. The nun lies on this penitential couch, embracing the cross, and her feet hanging out, as the bed is made too short, on principle. Round her waist she occasionally wears a band with iron points turning inwards; on her breast a cross with nails, of which the points enter the flesh, of the truth of which I had melancholy ocular demonstration. Then, after having Scourged herself with a whip covered with iron nails, she lies down for a few hours on the wooden bars and rises at four o'clock. All these instruments of discipline, which each nun keeps in a little box beside her bed, look as if their fitting place would be in the dungeons of the inquisition." That human beings can be found possessed of the use of the faculty of reason and of the commonest understanding, who imagine that such "bodily exercises," such punishment of the body for the good of the soul, can by any possibility promote their spiritual welfare, is almost beyond belief, did not the fact stare us in the face. Bad however as is this exhibition, the following exceeds it; and were not the narrator a person of the highest character, and respectability, and if the scene had merely been described to her, and not witnessed by her, we might justly hesitate in giving credence to it. The truth however appears beyond question. "To-day (she remarks, page 213) we attended the morning penitence at six o'clock in the church of San Francisco; the hardest part of which was their having to kneel for about ten minutes with their arms extended in the form of a cross, uttering groans; a most painful position for any length of time. But the other night I was present at a much stranger scene, at the discipline performed by the men; admission having been procured by certain means, private, but powerful. Accordingly, when it was dark, enveloped from head to foot in large cloaks, and without the slightest idea of what it was, we went on foot through the streets to the church of San Augustin. When we arrived, a small side door apparently opened of itself, and we entered; passing through long vaulted passages, and up steep winding stairs, till we found ourselves in a small railed gallery, looking down directly upon the church.

"The scene was curious. About one hundred and fifty men, enveloped in cloaks and sarapes, their faces entirely concealed, were assembled in the body of the church. A monk had just mounted the pulpit, and the church was dimly lighted, except where he stood in bold relief, with his grey robes and cowl thrown back, giving a full view of his high bald forehead and expressive face."

"His discourse was a rude but very forcible and eloquent description of the torments prepared in hell for impenitent sinners. The effect of the whole was very solemn. It appeared like a preparation for the execution of a multitude of condemned criminals. When the discourse was finished, they all joined in prayer with much fervour and enthusiasm, beating their breasts and falling upon their faces. Then the monk stood up, and in a very distinct voice, read several passages of Scripture descriptive of the sufferings of Christ. The organ then struck up the Miserere, and all of a sudden the church was plunged in profound darkness; all but a sculptured representation of the crucifixion, which seemed to hang in the air illuminated. I

felt rather frightened, and would have been very glad to leave the church, but it would have been impossible in the darkness. Suddenly a terrible voice in the dark cried, "My brothers! when Christ was fastened to the pillar by the Jews, he was scourged! At these words, the bright figure disappeared, and the darkness became total. Suddenly we heard the sound of hundreds of scourges descending upon the bare flesh. I cannot conceive any thing more horrible. Before ten minutes had passed the sound became splashing FROM THE BLOOD THAT WAS FLOWING!!"

"I have heard of these penitences in Italian churches, and also that half of those who go there do not really scourge themselves; but here where there is such perfect concealment, there seems no motive for deception. Incredible as it may seem, this awful penance continued without intermission for half an hour! If they scourged each other their energy might be less astonishing. We could not leave the church, but it was perfectly sickening, and had I not been able to take hold of the Senora -'s hand, and feel something human besides me, I could have fancied myself transported into a congregation of evil spirits. Now and then, but very seldom, a suppressed groan was heard, and occasionally the voice of the monk encouraging them by ejaculations or by short passages from Scripture. Sometimes the organ struck up, and the poor wretches in a faint voice tried to join in the Miserere. The sound of the scourging is indescribable. At the end of half an hour a little bell was rung, and the voice of the monk was heard calling upon them to desist; but such was their enthusiasm that the horrible lashing continued louder and fiercer than ever. In vain he entreated them not to kill themselves; and assured them THAT HEAVEN WOULD BE SATISFIED, and that human nature could not endure beyond a certain point. No answer, but the loud sound of the scourges, which are many of them of iron, with sharp points that enter the flesh. At length, as if they were perfectly exhausted, the sound grew fainter, and little by little ceased altogether. We then got up in the dark, and with great difficulty groped our way in the pitch darkness through the galleries and down the stairs, till we reached the door, and had the pleasure of feeling the fresh air again. They say that the church floor is frequently covered with blood after one of these penances, and THAT A MAN DIED THE OTHER DAY IN CONSEQUENCE OF HIS WOUNDS!!!"

The mind sickens at the contemplation of such scenes of self-inflicted, personal outrage, and one is ready to ask if these are real worshippers of that gracious Being who is loving to all his creatures; or the devotees of some foul and cruel Moloch, who gloats upon the sufferings and blood of human creatures, and finds his happiness in their misery! And yet this is the system, denuded for the present of some of its worst features, but which I would no doubt " grow with its growth; " which is now attempted to be established in the national churches of this country; where it is unblushingly asserted that the doctrine of justification by faith, is a dangerous doctrine, and that it must be by mortification, and penance, and attention to the ordinances of the church, that we can alone hope for salvation! * Whatever can be done to expose the true nature of this religion, and thus warn men of the dangers to which they expose themselves by its adoption, becomes a duty which every man owes to his fellows, and this must constitute my apology for sending the present communication.

Leeds.

A SUBSCRIber.

*The Rev. Robert Aitkin, whose present phase is Puseyism, and who has a church in this town, states this broadly and distinctly; and warns his hearers in his usual earnest style, against the delusion, and damnable nature of the doctrine of justification by faith, which he acknowledges he for several years preached, but in igno

rance.

316

ON POPERY AND TRADITION.

WHEN Jesus Christ came down from heaven to promote his religion among men, he illustrated its every precept in the purity of his own character. And unlike all other founders of religious faith, he was actuated by no motive of sordid selfishness, no desire of dominance. And his system, unlike all other systems of religious worship, was bloodless, boundlessly benevolent, and immaculately holy. A system which directly aimed at breaking every oppressive bond of body and soul, and casting down every species of temporal and spiritual tyranny; moreover it was a system suited to the whole world; adapted to all climes and ages, all ranks and intellects; for the rich and for the poor, for the savage and for the civilized, the man of letters and the unlearned. Its distinguishing characteristic was love to God, and benevolence to man; or "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace and good-will towards men. Looking then at the spotless character of its founder, the holy lives of its first promoters, the precepts it enjoined, the pure spirit of benevolence it breathed, and the rapid and extensive conquests it achieved over the hearts and lives of those who had been most inveterately opposed to its progress, its devoted admirers were not prepared to anticipate any diminution of its lustre, eclipse of its glory, corruption of its heaven-born character, or any retarding of its hallowing progress, till the whole earth should be filled with the glory of God. Their wonder would no doubt be excited when they read the apostolic letter, wherein an intimation was given to the contrary. "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their consciences seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from meats which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth." (1 Tim. vi. 1, 2, 3.): and they would often with astonishment enquire, how and when it would come to pass, that men should become so daring as to teach for the oracles of God, doctrines diametrically opposed to these oracles? But that the prediction has already in part had its fulfilment and is still fulfilling, the his. tory of the Romish church-a history written in the blood of martyrs, affords too palpable a proof to be successfully denied. The first step in the progress of this apostacy seems to have been a desire to multiply objects of religious worship or veneration, and that tendency was evidently observable even in the days of the apostles.

The mystery of iniquity which had begun to work in Paul's day, reared its horrid form more particularly in the fourth and fifth century, and arrived at the stature of a full-grown monster in the seventh, when the bloody Phocas, after murdering and seizing the vacant throne of his sovereign, conferred upon Boniface III. the title of pope, universal bishop or master of the world. From this time every pope seemed to out-do his predecessor in grasping after power, until in those very places that were consecrated to the advancement of piety and the service of God, there was little else to be seen than insatiable avarice, pious frauds, intolerable pride, and a supercilious contempt of the rights of the people, with many other vices. Thus both by force and fraud the popes seated themselves on a golden eminence, elevated far above the mightiest potentate, where they as God's received the superstitious venerations of an ignorant and prostrate people, and beheld with cruel joy the liberties of Europe bleeding and, in chains, expiring at their feet.

But some may ask, where at this time was the Bible the charter of our civil and religious privileges? With the Bible in their hands men would not have submitted to be so duped and oppressed, by such a set of hypocritical miscreants, calling themselves the ministers of the Christian religion, and followers of the meek and benevolent Jesus. The Bible, however, had been superseded by the traditions of men, it was discarded as a book not fit to be read by the laity, and hardly fit to be looked upon by the priests themselves. Mosheim states, that "The popes permitted their champions to indulge themselves, openly in reflections injurious to the dignity of the Scriptures, and by an excess of blasphemy, almost incredible, to declare publicly, that edicts of the pontiffs,

and the records of oral tradition were superior in point of authority, to the express language of Scripture." Vol. iv. p. 213. "Owing to the early corruptions of Christianity by philosophy, and the attempts afterwards to conceal and vilify the Scriptures, many of the monks in Scotland were so ignorant of their contents, as to charge Luther with being the author of that wicked book called the New Testament." (Jorton's Life of Erasmus, Vol. i. p. 126.) When such were the ignorance and pride of the priests, what must have been the spiritual condition of the people? Experimental and practical religion could not flourish where the doctrines of the cross were so studiously concealed or so wickedly perverted; the darkness of paganism itself could not be much denser, and the spiritual state of the heathen could not be much worse than that of the professedly Romish christian. It is true they sometimes hear about Christ; but they heard much oftener about the Virgin Mary. It is true the priests sometimes talked about the virtue of his sacrifice on the cross; but they talked more about the efficacy of the sacrifice of the mass, which they offered. It is true they sometimes talked about Christ being the mediator between God and man; but mediators they made by hundreds, some of whom were the veriest wretches that ever existed. It is true they talked about heaven, and the way to it; but that was not the way of faith in the Sent of the Father; no, it was the way of works of supererogation, the counting of beads, the saying of prayers, the bending at the sight of the host, the worshipping of graven crucifixes, the trusting in the priest for absolution, and their paying for it; the implicitly believing themselves in the direct road to heaven because of their penances, self-mortifications, and at certain seasons and on certain days eating fish instead of flesh, while their works of cruelty and of deceit showed they were on the way to hell. It is true the clergy said that they were the keepers of the truth, but they held it in unrighteous

ness.

However, we have not yet got to the end of the evil, for the priests not only discarded the book of God themselves, but also prohibited it to every body else; for if any man dared to read it and talk about it, whether rich or poor, prince or peasant, and it got to the ears of any of these spiritual functionaries-woe be to him! He had either to confess the justness of bearing a hundred penances, as the penalty of his audacity, or go to the torture, the gibbet, or the flames. These pretended ministers of the beneficent religion of Jesus became the ministers of vengeance, terror, or death to all that dared to utter an expression mistrustful of their infallibility, or the infallibility of their traditions. Instead of preaching the Gospel of peace to the nations around them, to bring them to Christ, they sent forth, like swarms of locusts, their fanatical legions with fire, sword, slaughter, and carnage, by which the most beautiful and fertile provinces were turned into bloody and burning desolation, and their peaceable inhabitants, men, women, and children, butchered in the most brutal, barbarous, and fiend-like manner: yes, that was the way in which Rome papal disseminated the doctrine of her infallibility, and which seems, to say the least, to have been the result of leaving the divinely inspired Word for fables. A clever popular writer of the present day, referring to the rise of popery, makes the following just remarks: "The martial tyranny of ancient Rome, which had subdued the world, was coming to an end. But as if the ghost of departed despotism hovered over 'the seven hills,' and sought only a fresh body to arise in a worse shape, a new tyranny commenced in the form of priestcraft, ten times more terrible and hateful than the old-because it was one which sought to subjugate not merely the persons of men, but to extinguish knowledge; to crush into everlasting childishness the human mind; and to rule it, in its fatuity, with mysteries and terrors. Had the devil devised a system for himself, he could not have pitched upon one like popery-a system which pretending to be that of Christ, suppressed the Bible-extinguished knowledge-locked up the human mind-amused it with the most ludicrous baubles-and granted official licenses to commit all species of crimes and impurity. Satan himself became enthroned on the seven hills' in the habit of a priest, and grinned his broadest delight amidst the public and universal reign of ignorance, hypocrisy, venality, and lust. As the priests of Egypt and Greece inclosed knowledge in mysteries, the priests of Rome also wrapt the simple truths of the Gospel in mysteries. They shut up the Bible. The very book given to enlighten the world-the very book which declared of