{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_64732/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_64732","id":"gutenberg_64732","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/64732","summary":null,"tags":["Bible -- Sermons","Bible. Jeremiah XXXVI, 22, 23 -- Sermons","Category: Essays, Letters & Speeches","Category: History - Modern (1750+)","Category: History - Religious","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Catholic Church -- Controversial literature -- Protestant authors","Church of England -- Sermons -- 19th century"],"text":"Transcribed from the [1848] Hamilton, Adams and Co. edition by David\nPrice.\n\n\n\n\n\n                              Bible-Burning:\n\n\n                                   THE\n                          SUBSTANCE OF A SERMON\n\n                               PREACHED IN\n\n                     ST. MARTIN\u2019S CHURCH, BIRMINGHAM,\n\n                    ON SUNDAY EVENING, DEC. 10, 1848;\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                  BY THE\n\n                       REV.  JOHN C. MILLER, M.A.,\n                         RECTOR OF ST. MARTIN\u2019S.\n\n       IN CONSEQUENCE OF THE BURNING OF A SCHOOL GIRL\u2019S COPY OF THE\n              AUTHORISED VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, BY A\n                      PRIEST OF THE CHURCH OF ROME.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                 LONDON:\n            HAMILTON, ADAMS, AND CO.; WERTHEIM AND MACINTOSH.\n                        BIRMINGHAM: BENJAMIN HALL.\n\n         _Price Threepence_, _or Sixteen Shillings per Hundred_.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n\n\n\nBY THE SAME AUTHOR.\n\n\nVISITATION SERMON\u2014Neglect of the Holy Spirit a Main Hindrance to\nMinisterial Success.  Published by Request.  Price 2d., or 8s. per\nhundred.\n\nVISITATION SERMON\u2014Preaching: a Sermon preached in St. Philip\u2019s Church,\nBirmingham.  Published by Request.  Price 2d., or 8s. per hundred.\n\nSERMONS (TWENTY), preached at Bexley Heath Episcopal Chapel.  8vo.  Price\n10s. 6d.\n\n\u201cTHY KINGDOM COME!\u201d a Sermon preached in obedience to the Queen\u2019s Letter,\nfor the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts.\nPublished by Request.  Price 6d.  8vo. 1s.\n\n\u201cHOLINESS UNTO THE LORD,\u201d UPON THE BELLS OF THE HORSES: a Sermon on\nZechariah xvi. 20.  Price 6d.  8vo. 1s.\n\n\u201cGIVING THANKS ALWAYS FOR ALL THINGS;\u201d a Sermon on Ephesians v. 20.\nPublished by Request.  Price 6d.  8vo. 1s.\n\nTHE \u201cLITTLE MAID;\u201d a Sermon on 2 Kings, v. 2\u20134.  Published by Request.\nPrice 6d.  8vo. 1s.\n\nSERMONS (FIFTEEN), preached at Park Chapel, Chelsea.  1 vol. post 8vo.\nPrice 6s. 6d.\n\n\u201cTHE SIMPLICITY THAT IS IN CHRIST;\u201d a Sermon on 2 Corinthians, xi. 3.\nPreached at Park Chapel, Chelsea.  Published by Request.  Price 6d.  8vo.\n1s.\n\nPSALMS AND HYMNS for the Sanctuary, Family Altar, and Closet.  12mo. 2s.\n\n\n\n\nJEREMIAH xxxvi. 22, 23.\n\n\n    \u201c\u2014_And there was a fire on the hearth burning before him_.\n\n    \u201c_And it came to pass_, _that when Jehudi had read three or four\n    leaves_, _he cut it with the penknife and cast it into the fire that\n    was on the hearth_, _until all the roll was consumed in the fire that\n    was on the hearth_.\u201d\n\nIF among the vast multitude which is now thronging this sacred building,\nthere be one who has come up hither with the expectation that it would be\nmy object to excite or fan a flame of bitter hostility against the\nmembers of the Church of Rome, I trust that he will be disappointed.\n\nIf there be any who have come up hither from a feeling of idle curiosity,\nit is my earnest prayer that they may not leave this Church without\nobtaining a blessing, though unsought by themselves.\n\nIt _is now_, my beloved Brethren, and it _has been_ this day, my earnest\nand heartfelt prayer that, while I discharge what, perhaps mistakenly,\nyet conscientiously, I feel to be my bounden duty, I may not forget that\nI am called upon as a minister of Christ to manifest the spirit of my\nMaster; and that while I speak _the truth_, I may do it _in love_.  And\nif, at the close of this discourse, my memory should recall one bitter\nexpression towards the members of that Church whose corruptions I feel it\nmy duty to expose, no one in this congregation could deplore it more than\nthe preacher himself.\n\nMay God, in His infinite mercy, send down His blessing on my present\nendeavours!  May He send on us the spirit of candour, the spirit of love,\nthe spirit of faithfulness, that while we strive, as far as in us lies,\nto \u201clive peaceably with all men,\u201d we may not forget that there is one\nthing dearer than peace\u2014HIS TRUTH!\n\nI shall say but little on the text itself.  The roll which is here spoken\nof as having been cut and consumed by Johoiakim was written, as you will\nobserve from the previous context, by Baruch, at the dictation of\nJeremiah, a prophet inspired of God; and contained God\u2019s threatenings\nagainst the corrupt and degenerate Jews.  When this roll had been read in\nthe hearing of the king, his conduct was that which is narrated in the\ntext.\n\nWithout further reference to my text, I conceive that the most open and\nhonourable manner in which I can proceed is, first to read to you the\nsimple account of the circumstance which has given rise to the delivery\nof this discourse.  Some of my own dear people will remember with\ngratitude the ministrations of one of the Clergy in this town, now the\nIncumbent of St. Peter\u2019s Church, who was for some months the senior\nCurate of this parish.  That gentleman, I need not say to you, is of such\nunimpeachable integrity and Christian character as not to admit of any\ndoubt of the truth of his public statement.  A little girl attending the\nFree Industrial School which has been set on foot by my beloved and\nzealous brother the Rector of St. Philip\u2019s, became possessed, it does not\nappear by what means, of a copy of the Protestant authorised version of\nthe New Testament.  To this Testament Mr. Greaves\u2019s Letter has reference.\n\n                       TO THE EDITOR OF ARIS\u2019S GAZETTE.\n\n    SIR\u2014I see in your paper of last Monday a statement that a Testament\n    was burnt by a Priest of the Church of Rome in a house in London\n    \u2019Prentice-street, in this town.\n\n    I had written you a letter on the subject immediately on its\n    occurrence; but upon consulting with the Hon. and Rev. Grantham M.\n    Yorke, Rector of Saint Philip\u2019s, in whose Free Industrial Schools the\n    Testament in question had been given to a little girl, I determined\n    first, if possible, to obtain the admission of the Priest to what\n    passed between us in conversation.  As, however, publicity has been\n    given to the occurrence before I have had time to carry out my plans,\n    I think it best, as the Minister of the district in which London\n    \u2019Prentice-street is situated, to write to you at once, and say that\n    the statement is strictly true.  The Priest acknowledged to me that\n    he burnt the Testament, and also declared that he would burn every\n    Bible or Tract which he found in the houses of any of his people.  He\n    also charged me never again to enter the house of a Romanist in my\n    district; and upon my assuring him that I should pay no attention to\n    his command, and that the law of the land would protect my person, he\n    said he would order his people to use \u201cscurrilous\u201d language towards\n    me, and to offer me insult, if I ventured to pass their doors.  Upon\n    my appealing to him, and asking \u201chow he dared to burn the Word of\n    God?\u201d he told me \u201cto go and preach in my pulpit, and not to preach to\n    him.\u201d  I merely state facts, and leave your readers to draw their own\n    inferences from them.\n\n                    I remain, Sir, your obedient servant,\n\n                                                           JOSHUA GREAVES,\n                                     Incumbent of St. Peter\u2019s, Birmingham.\n\n    November 29, 1848.\n\nNow I have no desire to act dishonourably or uncandidly, and therefore I\nfeel it to be my duty to read a document put forth by the body of Roman\nCatholic Priests in this town, in reference to the above letter.  It was\npublished in our local paper of yesterday morning.\n\n    \u201cWe, the Catholic Clergy of Birmingham, having seen it stated in a\n    letter from the Rev. Joshua Greaves, that one of our body had burnt a\n    copy of the Protestant version of the New Testament, found in the\n    house of a Catholic, have no hesitation at once to admit the fact;\n    but wish at the same time to add that the act was regretted\n    afterwards by the Clergyman by whom it was done, and strongly\n    disapproved of by his brother Clergy, as soon as known.  Justice,\n    however, requires us to state that the Catholics of Birmingham had\n    suffered constant and great annoyance from the interference of\n    certain Protestant Clergymen or others, their agents, who frequently\n    intrude themselves into the houses of poor Catholics, unsought for\n    and uninvited, for the purpose of perverting their faith.  It was\n    with the knowledge that such a system was going on, and under the\n    excitement of the moment, that the act, which it is not attempted to\n    justify, was done.  We take this opportunity of stating that the\n    Catholic version of the Sacred Scriptures is considered by us as the\n    only one authorised for circulation amongst our own people.\n\n                 BERNARD IVERS, THOS. M. LEITH, WM. MOLLOY.  _St. Chad\u2019s_.\n                     GEORGE JEFFERIES, MICHAEL O\u2019SULLIVAN.  _St. Peter\u2019s_.\n                                J. P. BURKE.  _St. Mary\u2019s_.  _Handsworth_.\n\n    St. Chad\u2019s, Birmingham, Dec. 7, 1848.\u201d\n\nThe signatures include that of the priest who burned the Testament. {5}\n\nNow I have no doubt that two objections to my sermon will arise in many\nminds.  First, I can quite imagine that some persons who are here, and\nmany more perhaps who are absent to-night, may be disposed to say, \u201cIs it\nnot unfair\u201d\u2014(I am now speaking of an objection which might have been\nurged previous to the published statement of the Priests,) \u201cIs it not\nunfair to charge a whole body with the act of a solitary individual?\nWould it be fair to the Church of England to identify her, as a body,\nwith the indiscretion or sin of any one of her ministers?\u201d\n\nIf it were true that there were nothing in the doctrines or laws of the\nChurch of Rome to identify her with this act, then I should acknowledge\nthe force of the objection; I should fully acknowledge that it would be\ngrossly unfair to charge on any body the act of an isolated individual,\nunless there were something in the principles, in the laws, or in the\npractices, of that body which accorded with it.\n\nBut a still stronger objection may occur to your minds, after the\nacknowledgment of the Romish Priests.  You may say, \u201cIs not this document\nsigned by the priest who burnt the Testament?  Would it not therefore be\nmore generous and more Christian, when he who has done wrong acknowledges\nhis error and expresses his sorrow, to accept his apology and be silent?\u201d\nThis objection, I feel, must be answered.\n\nNow with regard to the reply of the \u201cCatholic Clergy\u201d as they style\nthemselves, it admits the fact, namely, that a New Testament was burnt.\nAnd in candour we are to take it for granted that the Priest expresses\nhis regret for having said he would burn other Bibles at any future time.\nYou will remark however, by the way, (though I shall not now dwell upon\nit,) that there is not a word of regret for the utterance of the threat\nof scurrilous and abusive language.  Not one word is said in reference to\nthis point\u2014that a man calling himself a minister, not of _a branch_ of\nChrist\u2019s Church, but of _the Catholic_ Church, tells a Protestant\nClergyman, in the precincts of his own parish, in the house of one of his\nparishioners, that though he shall not advise any to resort to violence\nagainst his person, he shall encourage them to use scurrilous and\ninsulting language towards him, if he attempts to pass the door.\n\nBut to return to the burning of the Testament.\n\nMaking every allowance for the members of a Church who regard the\nProtestant version as erroneous, I am prepared to show you that this is\nnot a solitary instance of such proceedings in the Romish Church.  And\ntherefore it is that, notwithstanding the public expression of regret now\nread to you, I feel justified in dwelling upon this point.  During the\npast week I received a visit from a Protestant Clergyman from Ireland.  I\nwas mentioning this incident to him, and he began to narrate to me one or\ntwo other facts of a similar kind.  I appeared interested in the subject,\nand, without any solicitation on my part, yesterday morning, as I was\nreading the apology of the Priests, the post brought me a letter from\nthis gentlemen, wherein he narrates the circumstance which occurred in\nthe parish of which he was once Curate.  I should say, that I have the\nnames of place and persons in my hand and am quite prepared to give them\nup if necessary.  He says\u2014\n\n    \u201cWhen I was curate in the parish of \u2014, diocese of Cork, my esteemed\n    rector the \u2014 established a scriptural school in the parish of \u2014 which\n    was attended by a considerable number of Roman Catholic children.  A\n    Father \u2014 the parish priest, visited the house of a man named\n    Sullivan, whose daughter went to our school.  Mr. \u2014 asked how the\n    little girl was improving, and said he wished to hear her read.  She\n    brought him her Bible, which he no sooner saw than he made a rush at\n    her, snatched it out of her hand, called in the neighbours to warm\n    themselves by the light of a \u201cBible fire,\u201d and then burned it, and\n    heaped the fire to make the blaze the brighter.\u201d\n\nIf any person present wishes to see the names he is perfectly at liberty\nto do so to-morrow morning at my house.  I merely mention the\ncircumstance, to show that the Bible-burning in St. Peter\u2019s district is\nnot a solitary instance.\n\nBefore however I go to the main line of argument which I shall endeavour\nto pursue, I will mention a fact which occurred in my own parish, not a\nhundred yards from this spot, the truth of which a person present is\nprepared to substantiate on oath.  One of my Scripture Readers, in the\ncourse of his visits among the poor Irish, found a considerable number of\nthem almost or entirely unable to read.  He came to me (though teaching\nthem to read was no part of his duty, but merely to read to them) to ask\nwhether I should have any objection to his teaching them to read as they\nseemed willing to learn.  I allowed him to purchase a few elementary\nreading Books; not Testaments or Bibles.  He went three or four Sundays,\nand some of his scholars seemed willing and thankful to avail themselves\nof the privilege.  At last he found they began to look somewhat shy on\nhim.  He told them to show the Priest the books from which they were\nlearning to read.  The books were produced, and the priest said there was\nno harm in the books themselves but _they would lead to the Bible_.  And,\nas if to form a complete counterpart to the case in St. Peter\u2019s district,\nas if scurrility and insult were to be added to the burning of God\u2019s\nWord, my Scripture Reader was actually kicked, not by a Priest, but by an\nIrishman, as he went out of the Court, who used the strongest language,\nand exclaimed \u201cBreak his neck!\u201d  \u201cIT WOULD LEAD TO THE BIBLE!\u201d  And these\npoor Irish are doubtless still unable to read, though had my Scripture\nReader been permitted to pursue his labours, there is no doubt that by\nthis time they would have been fully able to do so.\n\nBefore I pass on to the views and conduct of the Church of Rome in\nreference to her own versions, I would bring before you the language in\nwhich Rome speaks of _our_ endeavours to circulate our Scriptures.\n\nYou are invited to-night by a seasonable coincidence, to attend a Bible\nMeeting in the School Room of the very District in which the circumstance\nwhich gives rise to this discourse occurred; and I trust if any of you\nare lukewarm about the Bible Society, you will feel that it is high time\nfor us to meet to circulate the Word of truth, when Priests are burning\nit.  Now what is the language of Rome towards the Bible Society?\n\n    Pius VIIth calls the Bible Society \u201ca most crafty device by which the\n    very foundations of religion are undermined\u2014a pestilence\u2014a defilement\n    of the faith most imminently dangerous to souls.\u201d\n\n    Leo XII. declares of it \u201cThat it strolls with effrontery through the\n    world, contemning the traditions of the Holy Fathers, and contrary to\n    the well-known decree of the council of Trent, labours with all its\n    might and by every means to translate or rather pervert the Holy\n    Bible into the vulgar language of every nation, from which proceeding\n    it is greatly to be feared that what is ascertained to have happened\n    to some passages may also occur with regard to others: to wit that by\n    a perverse interpretation the gospel of Christ is turned into a human\n    gospel, or what is still worse into the gospel of the DEVIL.\u201d\n\nTo the same effect is the language of the present Pope in one of his\nEncyclical Letters. {8}\n\nBut I acknowledge that all this does not apply to the main point which I\ndesire to urge this evening.  The question that now presents itself is\n\u201cwhat is the practice of the Church of Rome in reference to the\npossession of the Scriptures by their people, even in their own received\nversions.\u201d  And one of the reasons why I am not satisfied with this\ndocument issued by the Romish Priests, is, that it would seem to imply\u2014(I\nacknowledge it is not _stated_, but I ask any man of common sense what\nwould be the impression produced on his mind on reading this\nacknowledgment) that the Church of Rome does circulate the Scriptures\ngenerally?  I ask any candid man, would not you conclude and infer from\ntheir words, that the only objection of the Romish Church is to the\ncirculation of _what they consider erroneous versions_, _but that they\nare endeavouring to circulate their own_?  I appeal to your judgments\nwhether what I say is not a fair and legitimate inference from their\nlanguage.  I believe, in my conscience, that it is intended to convey\nthat impression.\n\nNow let us examine carefully\u2014and I earnestly crave _your_ attention to\nthis point, my Roman Catholic hearers\u2014what is the language of your\nChurch?  You shall not have _my_ words.  I will give you the words of\n_your own Church_.  And I presume I am not saying anything which a member\nof the Church of Rome will deny.  Nor am I relying on an authority which\nthe Church of Rome can now repudiate.  For before I read the extract\nwhich I am about to read to you from an Italian writer, it is necessary\nthat I should prove to you that the writer is one fully recognised and\nendorsed by the Church of Rome.  It appears that on the 26th of May,\nbeing Trinity Sunday, 1839, Alphonsus Liguori was canonised at Rome, that\nis to say, he was admitted into the muster roll of the Saints of the\nRoman Catholic Church.  On the 18th of May, 1803, Pius VII confirmed the\ndecree of the sacred College of the Jesuits, which declared that all the\nwritings of St. Alphonsus had been most rigorously examined, and I beg\nyou to mark what follows\u2014\u201cThat not one word\u201d (after this rigorous\nexamination) \u201c_not one word had been found worthy of censure_.\u201d  I think\nthen what I can bring forward from writings thus examined, from writings\nwhich have been thus broadly endorsed and declared free from censure,\nfrom the writings of a man who has been recently canonised, may safely be\ndealt with as recognised by the Church of Rome.\n\nMany of you are aware that certain books are prohibited to her people.\nThere is a congregation called the \u201cCongregation of the Index,\u201d appointed\nto examine books to put them into the class of prohibited works.  Will\nyou believe the fact that \u201cTHE WORD OF GOD\u201d\u2014Protestants!  Romanists! let\nit sink deeply into your hearts\u2014THE WORD OF GOD!\u2014not in the Protestant\ntranslation, not in a heretical version, but the WORD OF GOD as received\nby the Church of Rome\u2014is IN THE ROMISH INDEX OF PROHIBITED BOOKS!  I do\nnot ask you to take my word for a fact so incredible.  Rome shall speak\nfor herself.  Here are the words of the Index.\u2014\n\n    \u201cSince it is manifest by experience that if the Holy Bibles are\n    allowed everywhere without difference in the vulgar tongue, more harm\n    than good would arise from it on account of the rashness of men.  Let\n    the judgment of the Bishop or inquisitor be abided by in this matter,\n    so that with the advice of the parish priest or confessor _they may\n    grant_ the reading of the Bible in the vulgar tongue, translated by\n    Catholic authors to those whom they shall have ascertained to be\n    likely to derive no harm, but rather an increase of faith and piety\n    from this sort of reading, _which permission they must have in\n    writing_; _but if any one shall presume to read or possess them\n    without such permission_, _he may not receive absolution of his sins\n    unless he first deliver up the Bibles to the ordinary_.\n\n    From Pope Pius 4th, we have the following cautionary rule\u2014That since\n    it is manifest from experience that if the Bible be indiscriminately\n    permitted in the vulgar tongue, more injury than benefit will result\n    through the rashness of men, the use of Catholic versions _shall be\n    granted_ by the voice of the priest or confessor to those alone who\n    it is understood will not be hurt by the reading of them, but will be\n    advanced in faith and piety.\u201d\n\n\u2014\u201c_they may grant_\u201d\u2014\u201c_shall be granted_!\u201d\u2014Man giving permission to read\nthe Bible!  That is, on Romanist principles, if one of you, my\nparishioners, wants to read the Bible, he must come to me, as his Rector,\nfor permission\u2014for a written certificate!\n\nMark also the _condemnation_ by Pope Clement XI of a proposition made by\nan eminent writer (Quesnel) of the Romish Church.\n\n    \u201cIt is useful and necessary in every time, in every place, and for\n    every degree of persons, to study and to know the spirit, and piety,\n    and mysteries of the Sacred Scriptures.\u201d\n\nThis was laid down by Quesnel, and Pope Clement condemned it.\n\nBut I ask \u201cIs it a fact that in this very town, where we have a\nconsiderable number of Romanists, the Scriptures are disseminated _in the\nRomish version_?\u201d  One of the excuses which might be urged for the Priest\nis, that the Testament which was burnt by him was not the authorised\nversion.  Two or three weeks have elapsed since he burnt that one, but\nhas he given, in its place, one of his own Testaments?  He had not done\nit up to yesterday morning.  What! has he burnt the Testament of a little\nchild without the slightest restitution?  Had I taken away what I deemed\nan erroneous version, at least I should have gone to the first Bible\ndepository and should have said \u201cAt any rate, if I take away what I\nconsider erroneous _I must supply what I think is right_.\u201d  On his own\nshowing, he was bound to have given the child a New Testament _according\nto the Romish version_.\n\nBut it will be said, \u201cThere are many towns where you can buy the Romish\nversion of the Scriptures at their booksellers.\u201d  I can attribute this to\nnothing else than that Rome skilfully accommodates herself to\ncircumstances of time and place.  This remark will be deemed uncharitable\nby many.  Brethren, it is not very easy to avoid the appearance of\nuncharitableness when speaking of the practises of the Church of Rome.\n\n    \u201cDr. Dens, having given the Fourth Rule of the Index, and stated that\n    it is strictly binding in Romish countries, says\u2014\u2018Yea, rather\n    according to Steyaeret, the law (4th rule of Index) was received and\n    hitherto observed (with some variety, according to the peculiar\n    genius of nations), in by far the greatest portion of the Catholic\n    world, nay, in the whole of that part of the world which is\n    completely Catholic: _it was more dispensed with only where Catholics\n    lived among heretics_.\u2019\u201d {11a}\n\nWhere the Protestant Bible is extensively circulated, there you will find\nthe Romish Scriptures may be purchased.\n\nBut, in the face of the hundreds here to-night, I state it as a fact\nwhich may be substantiated by superabundant evidence, that the Church of\nRome is still, as by her own showing she is not ashamed to own, opposed\nto the general circulation of the Word of God in the vernacular tongue,\neven according to her own received version. {11b}  And now let us inquire\ninto the reasons for this conduct.  The first is, as the words just\nquoted bear me out in asserting that _they consider that danger and\nmischief would arise from the general circulation of the Word of God\namong the masses of the People_.  Men and Brethren! I desire to put a\nbridle on my spirit and on my tongue to-night, but when I hear a man\ntelling me that the Word of the living God\u2014that that revelation which our\nHeavenly Father has graciously given to us his fallen sinful creatures,\nto tell us of his love, to make known his will, and to declare the way of\nsalvation\u2014that this is to be denied to the masses of the people, I feel\nwithin me (I trust a _holy_) indignation.  Why is it not the very glory\nof the Word of God\u2014is it not one of the best evidences of its adaptation\nto the wants of man\u2014that while there are mysteries which neither a Bacon,\nnor a Newton, nor a Locke could fathom, and into which even an archangel\ncan but desire to look\u2014there are lessons which the simplest can fully\nunderstand, which a Timothy may learn at his mother\u2019s knees.  Is it not a\nblessed and irrefragable proof of the fact that God intended _all_ to\nhave the Bible\u2014that the Bible in its great and vital truths (I do not say\nits every mystery) is open, under the teaching of the Holy Spirit, not\nmerely to the Priest or to the scholar, but to the most ignorant of men?\nAnd I will venture to assert that, so far from the Bible being above the\ncomprehension of an uneducated man, whenever you find such an one become\na humble, prayerful, reader of the Bible, it expands and strengthens the\npowers of his mind.  Yes!  You will find in the courts and alleys of this\nvast town, many a man who could not discourse to you of this world\u2019s\nlore, but his eye would kindle, his mind would be all intelligence, and\nhis tongue all fluency, as he began to talk of the wondrous themes of the\nWord of God.\n\nIt is to me one of the strongest proofs that the Bible is the Word of\nGod, that the mind of the most ignorant cannot come into contact with it\nwithout becoming elevated thereby:\u2014_The testimony of the Lord is sure_,\n_making wise the simple_:\u2014_The entrance of thy words giveth light_; _it\ngiveth understanding unto the simple_.\n\nBut a second reason for the non-circulation of the Written Word by the\nChurch of Rome, is that _she does not regard it as the alone standard of\nfaith and practice_.  Hear one of her champions.  You will not find that\nthe Church of Rome repudiates Dr. Wiseman.  He plainly says\u2014\u201cThe\nProtestant asserts, and the Catholic denies, that God intended the\nScriptures to be the rule of faith.\u201d\n\nHear also the decree of the Council of Trent\u2014\n\n    \u201cHaving constantly in view the removal of error and the preservation\n    of the purity of the gospel in the church, which gospel promised\n    before by the prophets in the sacred scriptures, was first orally\n    published by our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who afterwards\n    commanded it to be preached by his Apostles to every creature, as the\n    source of all saving truth and discipline, and perceiving that this\n    truth and discipline are contained both in written books and\n    unwritten traditions which have come down to us, either received by\n    the Apostles from the lips of Christ himself, or transmitted by the\n    hands of the same Apostles under the direction of the Holy Spirit,\n    following the example of the orthodox fathers, this Council doth\n    receive and reverence, _with equal piety and veneration_, all the\n    books, as well of the Old as of the New Testament, the same God being\n    the author of both; _and also the aforesaid traditions_, pertaining\n    both to faith and manners, whether received from Christ himself, or\n    dictated by the Holy Spirit, and preserved in the Catholic Church by\n    continual succession.\u201d\n\nThank God for the contrast which we can present between Rome and our\nProtestant Church!  What then is the language of our own Church?\u2014\u201cHoly\nScripture containeth all things necessary to salvation: so that\nwhatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be\nrequired of any man, that it should be believed as an article of Faith,\nor be thought requisite or necessary to salvation.\u201d\u2014ARTICLE vi.  And then\nagain in the XXth Article she says\u2014\u201cThe Church hath power to decree rites\nor ceremonies, and authority in controversies of faith,\u201d\u2014(the word\n\u201cauthority\u201d is rendered in the Latin Articles not by a word signifying\n_imperial_, _absolute_, authority, but _weight_, _influence_,)\u2014\u201cand yet\nit is not lawful for the Church to ordain anything that is contrary to\nGod\u2019s Word written, neither may it so expound one place of Scripture,\nthat it be repugnant to another.  Wherefore although the Church be a\nwitness and a keeper of Holy Writ, yet, as it ought not to decree\nanything against the same, so besides the same ought it not to enforce\nanything to be believed for necessity of salvation.\u201d\n\nMen and Brethren beloved! let this be distinctly impressed upon your\nminds\u2014that the universal right of the laity\u2014yes, of the uneducated part\nof the laity\u2014to the Word of God, in their own tongue, is a distinctive\nprinciple of the blessed Reformation.  As it was the Bible which\ncontributed mainly to enlighten and emancipate the mind of the great\nLuther, so have the translation and circulation of the Bible in the\nvulgar tongue been co-extensive with the progress of true religion in\nthis country, since the Reformation.  From the time when the large Bible\nstood in the Parish Church, with its chain to secure it; when the\nmultitudes who wanted to read the Word of God had to flock there and to\nwait in turns to get to the sacred treasure, or one had to be the reader\nfor the rest; from that time down to the present, when the Christian\nKnowledge Society, the British and Foreign Bible Society, and other\nInstitutions have successively given their aid, the Word of the Lord has\nhad free course and been glorified.\n\nAnd now I submit that I have proved, my case against the Church of Rome.\nI have shown that the act which, notwithstanding the explanation of the\nPriests, has excited the astonishment and indignation of Protestants\nthroughout this town, does not stand alone.  And more, that even the\nversion which is authorised by the Romish Church is not permitted to be\ngenerally read, without the permission of a Priest or authorised person.\n\nWithout saying one word which is not entirely consistent with Christian\ncharity, I now ask of you, whether that Church is more in accordance with\nthe will of God, which tells you that, before you read his Word in\nprivate, you must have the written permission of the Priest\u2014or that\nChurch which, without exception or reserve, puts into the hand of her\nevery member the written Word of God?  What, I would ask, was the\nlanguage of David?  He was not a Priest\u2014\u201cO how love I thy law! it is my\nmeditation all the day.\u201d  The poor Romanist, unless he has the written\npermission of his Priest cannot, amid his troubles and his sorrows, say\nwith David, \u201cThy statutes have been my songs in the house of my\npilgrimage.\u201d\u2014(PSALM cxix. 54.)  Remember too what is said of the Bereans,\nwhen they heard Paul preach\u2014\u201cThese were more noble than those in\nThessolonica, in that they received the word with all gladness of mind,\nand SEARCHED THE SCRIPTURES DAILY, whether these things were so.\u201d\u2014(ACTS\nxvii. 11.)  No Romanist will assert that his Priest is superior to St.\nPaul.  But what did the Bereans do when Paul preached to them?  They\n\u201cSEARCHED THE SCRIPTURES DAILY\u201d to see whether he was preaching truth.\nAnd I tell you that if St. Paul himself, yea, if an angel were to preach\nto me, I would do the same.  But what would be said to a poor Irishman\nwho should go to his Priest and say \u201cI have been looking to my Bible to\nsee what is said there about what you told us yesterday, and I find that\nwhat you taught us is not according to the Word of God?\u201d  And what does\nSt. Paul say when warning Timothy in his second Epistle (iii. 14, 17)\nagainst \u201cperilous times\u201d and evil men?  \u201cAll Scripture is given by\ninspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for\ncorrection, for instruction in righteousness, that\u201d\u2014_Who_? the\npriest?\u2014the scholar?\u2014No!\u2014\u201cThat the MAN OF GOD\u201d\u2014whether priest or layman,\nwhether scholar or no scholar\u2014\u201cmay be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto\nall good works.\u201d  And contrast his language to Timothy with the case of\nthe little girl from the Industrial School\u2014\u201cFrom a child thou hast known\nthe holy scriptures which are able to make thee wise unto salvation,\nthrough faith which is in Christ Jesus.\u201d\u2014There were no Bible-burners in\nSt. Paul\u2019s days.  The little girl in Birmingham receives a Testament, and\nit is not only taken away, but is burnt by the Priest.  We read in the\nEpistle for this morning\u2019s service \u201cWhatsoever things were written\naforetime _were written for our learning_, that we through patience, and\ncomfort of the scriptures might have hope.\u201d  It is evident therefore that\nthey were not written to be kept back from the people, but that they were\n\u201c_written for their learning_.\u201d {15}  Yet the Church of Rome which\narrogates to itself the title of the only true Church puts the Bible into\nthe Index of prohibited books.  One more example which the Scriptures\nfurnish\u2014the example of the Ethiopian Eunuch. (Acts viii. 27, &c.)  He was\nsitting in his carriage, reading his Bible, and God sent his minister to\nhim saying\u2014\u201cUnderstandest thou what thou readest?\u201d  Beautiful\nillustration of a minister\u2019s place!  It is to explain the Scriptures.  He\ndid not say \u201cYou cannot understand them\u2014You ought not to be reading\nEsaias the prophet.\u201d  If he took it out of his hands, it was not to throw\nit either into the fire or into the water, but he took the book from him\nand \u201c_began at the same scripture and preached unto him Jesus_.\u201d  And\nthis is our office now, not to stand between the people and the Bible,\nbut to open up the Bible to them, grounding our every sermon, our every\nlecture, our every lesson, upon it.\n\nI proceed, Brethren beloved, to draw from this mournful occurrence\npractical lessons, and, in doing so, I trust I shall not violate the rule\nwhich, in perfect sincerity, I laid down at the commencement.  Of course,\nthe Romanist will think I am violating it, as will some latitudinarian\nProtestants.\n\nBut, I urge, learn from this transaction in our town the _true unaltered\ncharacter of Popery_.  Yes\u2014though many haply do not like that statement,\nI repeat it\u2014_the true unaltered character of Popery_.  We are _bigots_\nforsooth! which was the bigot?\u2014the man that gave the _Bible_ or he that\nburnt it?\n\nMark the published statement of the Priests.  I am to be told that, put\nas I am, in some measure, at least, in charge (in accordance with the\nlaws of this country,) over the souls of the people in my parish without\nexception, I am not to go into the houses of some of my parishioners; or,\nif I do so, I am to be treated with _scurrility_ and _insult_!  Let me\nask you, does any man or woman here believe that there is a Protestant\nClergyman or a Dissenting Minister who would have said that if any Romish\nPriest came into the house of one of his people he was to be treated with\n_scurrility_ and _insult_?  I can only say from the depth of my heart\nthat I should be utterly ashamed of any Protestant Clergyman who so\ndisgraced himself.  We are told however by the Priest that if we venture\nto pass the door of a Roman Catholic we shall be treated with\n\u201c_scurrility_ and _insult_\u201d\u2014I repeat the words because I was careful to\nask the Incumbent of St. Peter\u2019s for _the very words_ employed.  But are\nwe to receive this doctrine? is there any man in this country except the\nowner of the house or tenement\u2014be it among the humble tenements of London\n\u2019Prentice-street, or the villas of Edgbaston\u2014who has the power to say to\nme that I shall not enter that house?  Is it come to this, that, in these\ndays of freedom, in the 19th century, I am not to be at liberty to enter\nthe house of one of my parishioners, whether he be a Roman Catholic or\nProtestant, (so long as the householder permits my visit) without\nreceiving scurrility and insult at the instance of a Priest!  I, for one,\nunhesitatingly declare, and I believe I shall be supported in the\ndeclaration by the body of my brethren, that I do not mean to abide by\nany such rule.\n\nBut the Priest was provoked, forsooth, by the conduct of certain\nProtestant Clergymen and their agents who enter the house of the poor\nRomanist, to pervert his faith!  The charge is that we are making\nproselytes.  If by this it be meant that we are trying to get people over\nfrom one Church to another, I demur to it.  It is my object, with God\u2019s\nassistance, to make them Christians, to draw them to Christ, but I wish\nto make them _converts_ and not _proselytes_.  I wish indeed to see them\nChurch of England Christians, because I believe that my own dear Church\nexhibits Christ in her Articles and formularies, and is a truly\nScriptural Church.  But I confess that I was almost provoked to a smile\nwhen I read of _the complaints of Rome_ that we are seeking to\nproselytise!  Rome which is literally setting wife against husband,\ndaughter against father, by the most insidious artifices; perverting\nProtestants, and even the children of Protestant Clergymen, by artifices\nthe most subtle!  Rome which is not content with contesting the ground\nwith us in our own land but in heathen countries also, as well as in our\ncolonies!  The charge of proselytising comes with a very bad grace from\nthe Church of Rome!  Let me however say that though I do not wish to\n_proselytize_ but to _convert_, I will not undertake to keep my Scripture\nReaders out of any house at the dictation of Priest or Pope.  I will not\nundertake to leave men in error and darkness.  Let us use lawful, open\nhanded, means, let us not have recourse to subtle artifice.  Let us have\nall as open as the day, and I have no fear for the ultimate progress of\nthe truth.  And we ask all members of the Church of Rome to confine\nthemselves to honourable, straightforward, proceedings.\n\nIt will perhaps be said that in what I am now about to urge I am\ntrenching on party politics.  I appeal to my two years\u2019 ministrations in\nthis town, whether I have at any time been guilty of advancing anything\nin the shape of party politics.  But there are some questions in which\npolitics and religion are so intimately blended, that I hold it to be\nfalse delicacy to abstain from the bold avowal of our sentiments.  I put\nit to you\u2014are we prepared to pay money to the Romish Priests for burning\nBibles in Ireland or in England, without a manful, constitutional,\nstruggle?  I know that if you deviate from the simple ground of\nprinciple, and begin to talk of _expediency_, a strong case may readily\nbe made.  On grounds of expediency, I myself should be disposed to yield,\nbut _as a sworn minister of the Church of England_, _I have proclaimed\nRome to be_ IDOLATROUS; _and if you are ashamed of your Church_, I AM\nNOT; and I will not consent, either directly or indirectly, to support\nidolatry\u2014I will not consent to pay money for a Priest who goes into\nLondon \u2019Prentice-street or into Ireland to burn the Word of God.\n\nBut bear with me awhile, while I advance my _second_ lesson.  _Be\nthankful for the Protestant Reformed Church of England_.  We are not half\nthankful enough for the Church of England.  And though some of our\nDissenting enemies desire to pull her down, they little know how much\nthey risk.  They little know what a protective position the Church of\nEngland occupies between them and the tyranny of Rome. {18}  Whatever the\nChurch of England may have been in times gone by, and I do not say that\nthe bitter weed of bigotry is entirely eradicated, yet she is now\npractically a tolerant Church.\n\nBut it is the fashion of the day to decry _Protestantism_, \u201cProtestantism\nis a mere negation!\u201d  We do not mean to say that Protestantism will take\na man to heaven.  But we _do_ say that it is the glory of our Church\nthat, when the truth of God had been overlaid with error and corruption,\nshe came out of the corruption herself, and made a bold protest against\nit.  Let us not be ashamed of the name Protestant.  We want not\nProtestantism as a mere toast at a jovial dinner\u2014as the mere shibboleth\nof a party.  Our Protestantism is a _holy_ thing.  It is a protest\nagainst the corruption of the truth of God.  And, if you love\nProtestantism, _dally_ not with _Popery_.  Don\u2019t go to Roman Catholic\nChapels to hear the pretty music!  Don\u2019t let your children have tales and\nnovels which contain poison, simply because they are nicely got up and\nillustrated.  A man may drink poison out of a golden cup; but it is\npoison still.  Your only safety is to have nothing to do with it.  Touch\nnot the unclean thing.\n\nThirdly.\u2014_Circulate the Scriptures_.  If you cannot do it by your own\nindividual exertions, join those Institutions which are established for\nthis purpose.  Join the Christian Knowledge Society; join the British and\nForeign Bible Society.  Support our Parish Scripture Readers\u2019 fund; and\nif the emissaries of Rome are going up and down in our town, let us at\nleast be equally diligent; and ask whether we ought not to determine to\nhave an enlarged band of Scripture Readers to counteract their efforts.\n\nFourthly.\u2014Remember the solemn privilege and responsibility of possessing\nthe Bible.  It is a privilege to possess the Bible; but that privilege\nentails an awful responsibility.  For when the Lord Jesus shall come a\nsecond time, to judge the world, he will demand an account, not merely\nfrom the Priest who burns the Bible, but the Protestant who neglects it.\nA neglected Bible is as bad as a burnt Bible.  At the last day, it would\nbe better for us to have been members of a Church which withheld the Word\nof God from its people, than, having the Word, to have neglected and\ndespised it.  All you that have the Scriptures in your houses, first\ngiven perhaps by some affectionate parent, now no more\u2014Servants, to whom\nsome kind and pious Mistress has given a copy of the Word of God, which\nyou have left unread\u2014you little Children who have received a copy of this\nHoly Book in the Sunday or the National School\u2014beware lest the Word of\nGod neglected and despised should rise up against you at the last great\nday.  Beware, lest, being Protestants in name, ye be wanting in Bible\nfaith, Bible hope, Bible lives.\n\nBefore I sit down, I desire to address another portion of the\ncongregation to-night.\n\nMy Roman Catholic hearers, you have not often listened to a Protestant\npreacher.  Perhaps you may never listen to another.  And perhaps from\nwhat you have read of speeches and sermons against Romanism, you think\nthat we are one and all fire-brands, cherishing and indulging bitter\nanimosity against you.\n\nI am free to acknowledge, and I say it with all honesty, that I much\nregret the way in which some persons talk about Romanists.  I believe\nthat a great many rash and bitter words have been employed; much that is\ninconsistent in the sight of God with Christian charity.  I admit this,\nbut let me also say that you must learn to distinguish between language\nagainst _your system_ and language against _yourselves_.  We _do_ believe\nyour system to be idolatrous.  We _do_ believe it to be opposed in many\nessential points to the Word of God.  And though there be some traitors\nin our camp who eat our bread and want to fraternize with you, we tell\nyou that the great body of the Protestant Churchmen of England have no\nsympathy with these traitors.  But I earnestly invite your candid\nattention while I solemnly ask you one question.  _Does your Church\ncirculate the Word of God_?  I do not say does your Church, in some\nparticular cases, withhold her objection? but as a Church is it a\n_Bible-circulating_ Church?  I am dealing with fellow immortals, fellow\nsinners.  Let me a moment put aside the distinctions of Protestant and\nRomanist.  Let us, my Roman Catholic hearers, recollect that we are both\npoor worms of the earth\u2014with immortal souls\u2014passing into an awful\neternity\u2014an eternity into which you and I may be plunged speedily.  I say\nunto you then, as dying men and fellow sinners, that all is not right, if\nyour Church or your Priests stand between you and the Word of God.  I say\nto you, though the Pope himself preach to you, \u201c_Search the Scriptures_\u201d\nfor yourselves; assert the right of examining the Word of God.  I do not\nsay to you \u201cBecome a Protestant,\u201d \u201cBecome this, become the other;\u201d all I\nnow say is \u201c_Search the Scriptures_\u201d with honest, hearty, humble,\nchildlike prayer.  Search them \u201c_daily_.\u201d  They will enable you to test\nthe rules and doctrines of the Church of Rome.\n\nWhen you turn to your Bibles, you will find the _Virgin Mary_ there.  You\nwill find her there as \u201chighly favoured\u201d and blessed among women\u2014but you\nwill _not_ find her as a mediator between yourself and her Incarnate Son;\nyou will _not_ find her as the object in any sense or measure, of\nreligious worship.  And when you turn to your Bibles, you will find\n_Confession_ there\u2014but you will _not_ find confession to your priest\nnecessarily enjoined; you will _not_ find that, in order to absolution,\nyou are bound to open to a fellow man all the secrets of your inmost\nsoul.  On Calvary alone, and at the foot of the cross, must you confess\nyour sins.  And when you turn to your Bibles, you will find _Good Works_\nthere\u2014but you will not find good works to have in any measure an atoning\nefficacy\u2014but that we are justified by faith without the deeds of the law.\nAnd when you turn to your Bibles, you will find in them the blessed truth\nthat the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross for sinners\u2014but you will\n_not_ find the doctrine of the mass there.  \u201cChrist was _once_ offered to\nbear the sins of many.\u201d\u2014\u201cBy _one_ offering he hath _perfected for ever_\nthem that are sanctified;\u201d and that offering is never to be, and never\ncan be, repeated.  When you turn to your Bibles you will find that in the\nSacrament of the Lord\u2019s Supper we do, in a _spiritual_ sense, by faith,\neat the body and drink the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ\u2014but you will\n_not_ find that by the prayer of the Priest, common sense is\ncontradicted, and the bread, and the juice of the vine, turned into the\nbody and blood of the Son of Man.\n\nBeloved, all I ask of you is to test these things by Scripture, and when\nyou have done this, compare the Church of England with that of Rome, and\nmay the Spirit of God be with you as your helper and your guide!\n\nThis congregation is now about to separate.  The Roman Catholic who is\nhere, will perhaps never more set foot within these walls.  But remember\nwe shall meet again at the last great day.  On that solemn day no priest\ncan stand in your stead; no Church doctrines or dogmas can be put in as\nyour plea or excuse before your Judge.  You will stand in the presence of\nHim who made you and hath redeemed you.  And if I have seemed to speak\nbitterly, believe me, in these last words, it is my soul\u2019s inmost prayer\nfor every Romanist here present to-night, that, if he be not brought out\nof that Church before that solemn hour when the wood and hay and stubble\nshall be burnt up by the judgment-fires, he may yet, spite of his\nRomanism, be so found on the ONE FOUNDATION\u2014even Jesus\u2014as that we may\nmeet in the Church in glory!\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                B. HALL, PRINTER, HIGH-STREET, BIRMINGHAM\n\n\n\n\nFOOTNOTES.\n\n\n{5}  I subjoin the following documents, issued since the preaching of\nthis Sermon:\u2014\n\nAt a Meeting of the Committee of the Birmingham Auxiliary to the British\nand Foreign Bible Society, held December 11th, 1848.\n\n    _It was unanimously resolved_:\n\n    That the object of the British and Foreign Bible Society being the\n    circulation of the Word of God without note or comment, this\n    Committee cannot pass unnoticed the dishonour done to the Word of God\n    by the act of a Roman Catholic Priest in this town, who, during the\n    last month, burned a copy of the New Testament; nor the attempt made\n    by his coadjutors and himself in repudiating that act, to excuse it\n    in some respect, inasmuch as that excuse rests upon principles which,\n    carried out to their legitimate conclusion, would infringe upon our\n    undoubted right to circulate the Word of God, wherever parties of any\n    and of every creed are willing to receive it.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                       TO THE EDITOR OF ARIS\u2019S GAZETTE.\n\n    Sir\u2014It is with much regret that I am obliged again to come before the\n    public on the subject of the Testament which was burnt in London\n    \u2019Prentice-street, in this town, by the Rev. W. Molloy, a Priest of\n    the Church of Rome, but the cause of truth demands it of me. It is\n    stated in the apology put forth by that Rev. Gentleman and his\n    coadjutors, \u201cthat the act was regretted afterwards by the Clergyman\n    by whom it was done, and strongly disapproved of by his brother\n    Clergy as soon as known,\u201d and that it was \u201cunder the excitement of\n    the moment that the act, which it is not attempted to justify, was\n    done.\u201d\n\n    Now Sir, I ask you, as I ask the public, are these statements\n    consistent with the following facts:\u2014The Testament was burnt on\n    Thursday, Nov. 16, about two o\u2019clock p.m., and it was not till the\n    following Saturday, about midday, that I had any conversation with\n    the Priest upon the subject.\n\n    Being in London \u2019Prentice-street on the Saturday, Mr. Molloy sent for\n    me to the house where he had burnt the Testament, to ask if I\n    supposed that the woman to whose daughter the book had been given was\n    a Protestant, because he had heard that I had visited her the day\n    before.  It was upon that occasion that I enquired of him whether or\n    not he had burnt the Testament; he told me that he had, and would\n    burn every Bible and Tract he found in the houses of his people.  I\n    warned him that I should make his words public, and he told me I was\n    perfectly welcome to do so.   I further remember saying that I had\n    often been told that I had unjustly charged the Romish Priests with\n    denying the Bible to their people, and his reply was to this\n    effect\u2014\u201cYou have stated the truth, and are perfectly welcome to state\n    it when you will; you are furthering our objects by doing so.\u201d  There\n    are several other points in the apology on which I should much like\n    to dwell, but I think it best simply to state facts, and leave the\n    public to judge for themselves whether the apology that this act was\n    done in the excitement of the moment can apply to Mr. Molloy, who,\n    after the reflection of two days, threatened to repeat the act again\n    and again.\n\n                    I remain, Sir, your obedient Servant,\n\n                                                           JOSHUA GREAVES,\n                                     Incumbent of St. Peter\u2019s, Birmingham.\n\n    December 14, 1848.\n\n    {8}  \u201cHopes had been raised of a new order of things, as a new Head,\n    of a widely different character from any of his predecessors,\n    ascended the Papal Throne.  Yes\u2014rail-roads and gas-lights shall be\n    admitted for the first time in the dominions of Him of Rome: but, not\n    the Bible Society; that shall be denounced with as loud a voice of\n    thunder, as ever proceeded from the City of the Seven Hills.  That\n    voice of thunder has been re-echoed by Cardinals and others, in\n    France, Holland, and elsewhere; and so re-echoed, that many a faint\n    heart has quailed; and some, who before stood half-prepared to\n    encourage the dissemination of the Scriptures, have drawn back and\n    closed the door before half-opened.  And yet, even among Roman\n    Catholics, the distribution of the Scriptures has proved as large as\n    ever.\u2014In no previous year has the Society been counted worthy of\n    suffering a fiercer vituperation from this quarter than during the\n    past.  Take as an example, the following paragraph from a famous\n    Encyclical Letter, and see with what company the Society is\n    associated:\u2014\n\n    \u201cYou are already well acquainted, Venerable Brethren, with other\n    monsters of error, and the frauds with which the children of the\n    present age strive bitterly to beset the Catholic religion and the\n    Divine authority of the Church: to oppose its laws, and to trample on\n    the rights of the sacred as well as of the civil power.  To this\n    point tend those guilty conspiracies against the Roman Chair of the\n    blessed Peter, on which Christ laid the irremovable foundations of\n    his Church.  To this point tend the operations of those secret\n    Societies, emerging from their native darkness for the ruin and\n    devastation of the common weal, as well sacred as social, who have\n    been again and again condemned with anathema by the Roman Pontiffs\n    our predecessors, in their Apostolic Letters, which we, in the\n    plentitude of our Apostolic power, confirm, and command to be most\n    strictly observed.  This also is the tendency and design of those\n    insidious Bible Societies, which, renewing the crafts of the ancient\n    heretics, cease not to obtrude upon all kinds of men, even the least\n    instructed, gratuitously and at an immense expense, copies in vast\n    numbers of the Books of the Sacred Scriptures, translated (against\n    the holiest rules of the Church) into various vulgar tongues, and\n    very often with the most perverse and erroneous interpretations; to\n    the end that (Divine tradition, the doctrine of the Fathers, and the\n    authority of the Catholic Church being rejected,) every man may\n    interpret the revelations of the Almighty according to his own\n    private judgement, and, perverting their sense, fall into the most\n    dangerous errors.  Which Societies, emulous of his predecessor,\n    Gregory XVI., of blessed memory, (to whose place we have been\n    permitted to succeed, without his merits,) reproved by his Apostolic\n    Letter (16) and we desire equally to condemn.\u201d\u2014_Forty-third Report of\n    the British and Foreign Bible Society_.\n\n{11a}  \u201cAwful Disclosure, being Extracts Translated from the Moral\nTheology of Alphonsus Liguori,\u201d by Rev. R. P. Blakeney.\n\n    {11b}  \u201cWhen Drs. Doyle, Murray, and Kelley, the Irish Roman Catholic\n    Bishops, were examined before a committee of the Parliament, the\n    following confessions were made by them:\u2014(_Question to Dr.\n    Doyle_)\u2014You were educated in Portugal?  Yes.  Did you ever see in\n    Portugal any translation (of the Scriptures) into the vulgar tongue,\n    whether allowed or not?  No, I did not.  (_Question to Dr.\n    Murray_)\u2014You were educated in Salamanca?  I was.  Can you give any\n    information as to any authenticated version of the scriptures in the\n    Spanish language?  I did hear that there was a Spanish version of the\n    Holy Scriptures, but I do not happen to know the fact.  Have the\n    Scriptures any practical circulation in the vulgar tongue in Spain?\n    They had not then.  Have the people seen the Scriptures in a language\n    they could understand?  I believe they were not generally read by the\n    people.  Do you imagine that any material portion of the people have\n    so much as seen the Scriptures in a language they could understand?\n    I do not know that they have.\u201d\n\nHear again extracts from the evidence of these Roman Catholic Bishops\nbefore the Parliamentary Commissioners, 1825\u2014\n\n    \u201c_Ques._  Are the Commissioners to collect that you think it improper\n    for the children to read through the Gospels and Acts?  _Ans._\n    Without explanation I think it is improper; I think no portion of\n    scripture ought to be read without being accompanied with explanation\n    and instruction.  _Ques._  Is it a venial or a mortal sin in an adult\n    peasant to persevere in reading the New Testament in the authorised\n    version of the Church of England, after his priest has forbidden it?\n    _Ans._  I should feel great delicacy in fixing the amount of guilt\n    which constitutes the one or the other.  _Ques._  Would you allow any\n    of the peasantry of Ireland who might persevere in reading the\n    Scriptures in the authorised version, after having been prohibited by\n    your clergy, to be received to the Sacrament?  _Ans._  No, I\n    certainly would not.  _Ques._  Should you think it improper for such\n    an individual to bury the Word of God?  _Ans._  I should be highly\n    amused with such a proceeding.  _Ques._  Would you think him highly\n    deserving of approbation?  _Ans._  I do not know but I would: it\n    might show a disposition which I would prize highly, though I do not\n    think the act a very laudable one, but attending to the disposition\n    more than the act itself, I would reward the man.  _Ques._  You would\n    consider it in the man a proof of orthodoxy?  _Ans._  Yes, a proof\n    that he was filled with a right faith, only pushed to an extreme.\u201d\n\nNow compare with these answers what Dr. Doyle said in his evidence\nrespecting the authorised version.\n\n    \u201cThough it has many errors I consider it one of the noblest of\n    works\u2014one of the ablest translations that has ever been\n    produced.\u201d\u2014_See No. IV. Tract of the British Reformation Society_,\n    _pages_ 5, 6, 7.\n\n    {15}  \u201cDo we still then ask why the Holy Scriptures were given to us\n    by Divine Providence?  That question I conceive admits only of the\n    following answer. They are a gift to us and to our children,\n    collectively and individually, that we may lay them to our hearts,\n    that they may be to us our rule of life, and that by following their\n    precepts we may daily approach nearer and nearer to God.  This I\n    repeat must be their great and primary object.  They are not then,\n    nor were they ever intended to be, a hidden treasure, hoarded up in\n    the sanctuary of the Church, to be visited only on solemn occasions,\n    to be held up at a distance to the veneration of the multitude, to\n    serve only as a test of the accuracy of our oral teaching, but they\n    are at once the individual possession, the personal friend, the\n    monitor, the familiar oracle of every servant of Christ.\u201d\u2014_Dr.\n    Shuttleworth\u2019s Not Tradition but Scripture_.\n\n{18}  Greatly should I rejoice, were those of our Dissenting Brethren who\nrefuse to take part in such proceedings as those of the Anti-State Church\nAssociation, publicly to repudiate, at least, their language and spirit.","title":"Bible-Burning: the substance of a sermon preached in St. Martin's Church, Birmingham, on Sunday evening, Dec. 10, 1848","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":10004}