between us and that Church of Rome, and like us reject the fundamental article of Popery, namely, the supremacy of the Bishop of Rome over all the churches in the world, our opponents would be constrained to own, that the number of Protestants is much greater than that of the believers in the Church of Rome. And the number of Protestants will still be prodigiously augmented if with the Catholic divines, we enquire how many there are amongst the thirty-one millions of Catholics which France contains, who fast on the days prescribed by the Pope,-how many who confess but once during the year-how many who believe that a priest, (a sinner like other men), can retain and remit the sins of his fellow creatures? From these thirty-one millions I will grant them three millions of children and old women, three other millions of men accustomed to believe without enquiry, and enquiry, and the remaining twenty-five millions of Frenchmen are thus, in fact, Protestants. But for what purpose should I avail myself of this advantage? Supposing, even, that we Protestants were much inferior in numbers to the members of the Church of Rome, would our church be less true for that? For, tell me, ye Romish divines, was the Church of God numerous in the days of Abraham? that church was limited to one single family, and to the kingdom of Salem, of which Melchisadec was king. Was the church of God very numerous in the time of Moses, when it existed only amongst one single nation, wandering from desert to desert? Was it numerous in the days of Elisha, when, with the exception of the two tribes who worshiped at Jerusalem, there were in the remaining ten, but seven thousand men who had not bowed the knee before Baal? Was the Church of God very numerous in the time of Jesus Christ, when it was confined to twelve apostles, seventy disciples, and a few other persons? What a look of contempt would the Rev. Dr. Bellarmin have cast upon this little flock, which possessed neither of those two characteristics by which we should recognise, according to him, the true church, namely, great numbers and pomp. But why dwell any longer upon all these examples, as if the truth of a religion was decided by the majority of votes? This argument is good but for weak minds, for I am certain that no sensible or virtuous man has ever considered it as a clear proof of the truth of a religion. If great numbers were a sure sign of being in the right path, scripture would have vainly said, "follow not the multitude to do evil," Exodus xxiii. 2. And in the gospel according to St. John, vi 66—68. we read, "From that time many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, will ye also go away? If the apostles had followed the teaching of Dr. Bellarmin, they would have answered: "Yes, Lord; we will go In away, because the multitude are not on thy side." the gospel according to St. Matt. xxvii. 20, we read, "But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas, and destroy Jesus." To keep with the crowd, it was then necessary to cry out against the Saviour of the world, "Let him be crucified, let him be crucified." No, no; in spite of Bellarmin, numbers will never be an infallible sign of the Church of God. "Your doctrine is altogether new," say the Romish divines to the Protestants, "you are therefore not the Church of God; as for us, we have antiquity on our side.” Antiquity is not an infallible sign of true religion ; there certainly was a time when the christian religion was a novelty, and then, unquestionably the Jews and the heathens had over it the advantage of antiquity. The principle thing is to ascertain which belief is the old christian faith-that of the Church of Rome, or ours. We will first observe, that a portion of the doctrine of the church of Rome is similar to curs; for example, the articles of the Apostles' creed, as set forth by the first four general councils. To these is added all that we believe, in the matter of faith, that are absolutely necessary for salvation; and nothing is wanting that may be shown to exist in the ancient creeds of the Christian Church. So far, our faith and that of the Church of Rome are of equal antiquity, that is to say, as ancient as Christianity itself. N Thus this enquiry is only connected with those matters upon which our opinion does not agree with that of Rome. Principally upon the nine articles of the creed of Pope Pius the IVth, concerning the sacrifice of the mass, the sacrament of one kind only, purgatory, indulgences, auricular confession, absolution, the worship of saints, of images, &c,, &c. As not one of these dogmas is to be found in any of the primitive creeds generally received in the Christian Church, we deny their antiquity, and maintain that they are so many innovations. As for the negative articles of the Protestant religion, in opposition to the errors and corruptions of the Romish faith, they have become accidentally part of our belief, in the same manner that denying the dogmas of Arianism became a part of the Romish belief, from the commencement of that heresy. In one word, we believe and we teach all the things contained in the creed of the ancient Christian Church, and which were then held necessary for salvation. This is our belief. The Romish Church on the contrary, is an innovation upon the Christian religion, she has thus strangely disfigured it by her various additions, in mat ters both of faith and practice. These additions constitute the Romish religion, and we reject them, inasmuch as they are changes in Christianity, as well as novelties. In this consists the reformation of the 16th century; and if it will gratify the Romish divines, I am perfectly willing to acknowledge, that this reformation is not as old as their corruptions, since every reformation necessarily opposes the existence of error and abuses. AN ADDRESS TO ROMAN CATHOLICS, THIS WORK IS CHIEFLY INTENDED. HAVING made the previous observations, I now address myself to you, my Roman Catholic friends. This little work is not intended to irritate, but to instruct you; and although you may imagine yourselves above seeking knowledge from such an insignificent source, as you may term it, yet remember that whereever truth is to be found, if it be fairly tried, it cannot be overturned. Let not prejudice to opinions and individuals, or fear of being led astray by this work, prevent your giving it a fair trial. Exercise your reason and judgment; and if your cause be right, you need not fear any danger by examination ; and if it be wrong, the sooner you find it out the better. Your immortal souls are of infinite value; therefore a knowledge of the way by which they are to be saved, must be a matter of the greatest importance. God created you rational creatures, for which you must be accountable. Why then should you content yourselves to rest the safety of that |