The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1868-01-25 00:00:00

LECTURE BY TIIE Ri.N. T. H. GREGG,

OF CRADLEY.

On Tuesday evening but, a leeture wee delivered by
the above•natued gentleman in It. John's Sehnal•room.
The 111.1biovt was "No Peace with None." The chair
woe 0C.11,10,1 by the Rev. T Wiiliarn, Inenrnhent of St.
John's Church. and tee sehool•room WWI crowded to es•
neer by a.large and reepeetsble audience.

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The Omni:tom oleid the pr.-et-thew by reading a
purlieu of the Scriptures, and prayer ; after which he
made a few remarka to the effect that the leder., did
not mean and hostility to. Boman Catholice, by his eab•
led, but mutely 110 coinpromine with the doctrines of the
Church of 'tome ; and would advise the Stontbridge
Protestant Alliance to carry on the controversy with
great custom. He enpeeially cautiened them ageing
opening their earn to any idle talee that might be eine'.
leted with regard to Roman Catholics. He was glad to
*ay that Proteetantiein watt on the move in Ireland, and
whole aoegregtitionn were become tioevcrte train Romen•
late. Tlie speaker then introdtmed the lecturer.
The llov. geetlesuati, in introducing hie subject, load
that had been a matter of mime ditileulty to get hint an
Isis feet. but now that lie was on his feet it would be very
difficult to get hits off them. He was prepared to speak
for longer then they were prepared to Hewn —(No, nod
e—lisetaties he had gut a eubjeet that Win laexheustible,
aud hie Protestaut hotel hot reached bodies{ polut, and
he most give vent—(oltecre). lie wanted them to under.
stand what lie Meant by his subject, and wt.?, he took it.
He took it beceuee it gave him all illde11:11te field, and lie
meal say what he liked without leaving his subject.
What he meant by it was • certain eystern of religion
which was called Popery from the name of the Pope,
which system was opposed t the Word of (fol. He
sod " No peace with 'tome" because he professed to be
Proteetaut. Now he had a Lill (showing a placard)
aunouncing a soiree and Chrietwas-tree, ell voy hue ;
tort he found savory "Ass aid of the Cathie.
lie poor schools." lly eneouraging this, the people of
Stourbridge were nursing in their midst a power which
if IL got the upper hand aught come upon them end say,
•• Either be • Papist or you die "—(Load cheers). He
believed he wan the first clergyman in that neighbour-
hood who had come forward Oki:time under the auspices !
of the Auxiliary Protestant As...dation, but Ile hoped he !
would not be the last —(cheers). He would cull their at.
tention that night to four leading points of the Ito man
Catholic ayatem, sot lie was prepared to show them
there from their own Woks. He would tell them what
the Church of Room was from its owe legal doeuments ;
and tie should bring forward not only these four points
about the Beast, but his image named Pusearism—(loud
cheers). The first punt to which he would call their
attention was the Sacrifice of the Mass, commonly known
an tranatihstantiation. In the eettousi canon of the M 896
he read, "If any shall say that the weed., • Do this in
remenibratiee of me,' that Christ did nut appoint sticrifi-
clog priests and did not ordain that there is present Hie
, very Hedy and Blood, let him be accursed." quoting
! further he read," Whoever shall deny that these are
! truly, really, and subattautially contained the Body and
' Blood of our Lord Jeaut Christ, together with His Soul
tint Divinity "—consequently Christ entire—'• but shall
anion they are present therein only in a sign or a figure,
let him le accursed." The Catechism of the Council of
Trent also enjoined teat the troelor shall explain that
not only the body, but whatever belongs to the constitus
tion of a body, as the bones and sinews, is contained in
the sacrament, end the whole of the Divine nation, and
whatever is included in the idea of both. Mr. Gregg
then read from tilt:creed of Pope Pius IV. some nauseous
and very minute direetions as to what the priest was to do
io case 110 should happen to vomit the saerameet ; after
which he reed another extract, to the effect that there
was no room to deal that all the faithful were to vene-
rate the seerement with the worship called /Adria. it IPA
dignified, 18 ROOlBBl Catholic theology, the worship that
Win duo to Almighty God—)" Shame"). Ile thought
when they heard those things they would he, 88 11V teas,
Pilled with feelings of shame timt they did so little to
teach the poor Catholiee a purer belief and a purer worn
ahip—(cheere). Proceeding to speak of the "'evocation
of Mary," he staid that he read in the Psalter of the
Biessed Virgin of dt. Bonaventura, "'lust Chid Blinn
Him face towardd me, thanks to thy merits, 0 Mary, al-
ways Virgin." " Honour the Virgin Mary, and you will
find life and eternal salvatiou." The Lord said to Our
Lady, ' My Mother, sit as my right band till I snake
thine enemies thy footstool.'" He then proceeded to
read a portion of the mlaptation of the H hciron to the
praiee of the Virgin Mary from the some book, and after-
wards quoted the following from an imitation of the
Athanetsian Creed :--,"ritis is the faith concerning the
Virgin Mary, whteh except one cloth believe faithfully
and firmly he cannot be saved." In a book by St.
Alphensus Liguori, who was a great authority in the
Roman Catholic Church he read that one " heard our
Saviour say to Marv, 'You would show mercy even to
the devil, if he were to ask it—(laughter)—with
lity.'" If they had clergymen in the Church of Eng-
dind teaching such things, would they not say that Popery
Ins! come again? Yet there were man in the Church
who taught doctrinee identical with these. Their condi.
lion was that not only had they enemies without but they
had traitors within ; and one traitor within was worse
than ten thousand foam outside the rampart.--(loud
cheers). After other quotations setting forth that Mary
wu "the only hope of sinners," as having so " loved us
that she gave her only begotten son' as • sacrifice for as,
as the "Mother of God," and the "couch of the Holy
Trinity," the lectures proceeded to treat of Pargatory.
I. the belief of Itomanists, he said Purgatory was a
plate of muidcation ; and it was not thither that bad
people went at death, but good people. The had went
Crud to loll; tha good watt to purgatory. La a book

culled the " Milli of November." dedicated "to the
stela in purgatory "—(laegOter)—he found it set forth
" that the tormenta kill:tad there were incomparably
greater than nil the most vinTent dicencee Some per.
coca who appeared n few lin-ra after their death declared
that they thought themeelven to it for yewts." "It hes
b sun revealed td holy men that some are admitted for
HA years. some for TOO Team, and many more till the
day of judgment' " What," it was asked. "meat that
pant 'soul have undergone that lathe oldest inhabitant of
this place of tartar,'" (Langhter). Having got per.
gatory into the creed, it was necessary to devise come
way of getting souls out of it ; and it was hardly acres.
tdry foe him to say that if the priests could peracade
man that they could get hie brother out of purgatory
they had got a good hold not ouly of his purse, but of
the contenta of it—(iheera and laughter). Indulgences
had accordingly been invented. Now, hardly one in a
hundred, even among Roman Catholics, could tell what
indulgences were. Holy indulgencem, then, abridged the
pain that must be suffered in purgatory. Therefore, On
, man had purse long enough, he could easily knock off
, a thousand year. or so from the torments he would have I
to suffer in purgatory. So late as the year 1810 the
Pope published an indulgence of 100 Beira to every one
' who would read • prayer which tha leihrer read. After
noticing the superstition connected with the Scala Sancta
at Rome, and citing some passages from the sermons of
High Churchman in London condemning the doctrine
of justificatien by faith, as held by Luther, Mr. Gregg
went on to speak of the Confession and Absolution.
Following the plan adopted throughout the lecture, he
quoted from authoritative book, of the Roman Catholics
to show what was meant by Confeasion and Absolution.
From the Catechism of the Council of Trent he read the
following:' In the minister ol God who sits in the
, tribunal of the Confessional the penitent venerate, the
person of our Lord Jesus (Theist, because the priest
represents the character and discharges the functions of
Jesus Christ." From Deus Theology be read an extract
concerning an obligation on the part of the priest to
maintain inviolable secrecy as to what mime to his
, knowledge under the "seal of Confession" If, there.
fore, a man joined in the Feniaa comminacy, and went
and eonfessed to the priest that lie belonged to it and
that he intended to slay onr noble Queen, what should
the Confessor answer if ho was asked about it That he
did not know, end if necesaary he should &mama the
same by an oath—(sharne). He could take en oath that
he knew nothing at all about it, though he had been told
all about it in the Conferaint, 1101 rie (Sfe. Gregg)
should say nothing about the Uonfeision al to shock their
modesty. He treated lie knew his position as a gentle,
man an I a Christian better than do that; bat if there
was a clergyman who would take the ()hair either in that
town Or in Birmingham, he would undertake to give
'Peter@ on the Confessional Unmasked to men of a suit.
able age only—,lonal cheers). Dr. McNeill, of Liver.
1,61. Isoil suit that time will corns when it will he our
hoanden. though painful duty. L., rouse the indignation
of knglishinen, awl translate and circulate the direction,
to the priest in the Confea,ional. After quotations front
Bayley's Tue ii g.ty, deflniog how great must ha the
quantity of things stolen to make staollo e mortal din,
thu potarnr tongratalated them on the fdrinatien of the
Protestant Ancillary Alliance in Stotirbridge. That
alliance had been formed for the purpose of defending
the seriptural doctrines of the Reformation, and to
awaken British Chriatiaoa to the enernaehmenta of
Nohery. If they were real, 0.-elly Christiana, they
w mid rouse the people aroind them. A great many in.
fleences were brought to bear to prevent a man coming
out and saying boldly what ho thought. It was often
asked. " What will people think?" AWNV with what
people thought about them let them consider only what
God th.t,eht nf their course The Alliance further
counselled *nem to ke p minor and pol Veal differences
in subordination, and to suite Protestants throngliont
Great Britain In • firm and °emceeing demand that
national support and encouragement alma not lie given
to Po'nery. Let him remind them that £wo a year
wall glean to Mayntioth te teach the rithltiall lie had been

reading to them: and that sio lose then t 311,0) • year
come out of the Protestant Treasury of England to
maintain the ahominelile doctrines of the Papery. What
was the election they should iok members of Parlim
merit f Not "Are you Redieal, Whig, or Tory " but.
Will you oppose the Meynonth grent ; and aid you
rote for the hispnetion of nunneries 9 (Loud cheers).
If he had a brindred thousand votes he would give them
all to members who would vote for the abolition of the
Maynooth front, and the inspection of nunneriee—
(cheers). He would not en.re who lie was or whet he woe,
but toe man who would oppose the encouragement givon
to Popery in this country Woo the MI lie noilt,t make.
your to send to Parliament. To keep down the eoeour.:
*gement g,ven to Popery, lie was sorry to say it, tau
"lust look to the bitty ; end it behoved the laity to do
their cluty—(cheersl. He had intended to show them
, some of the doetrinet of the Paievito party in the
: Church of England, bet he wee afraid time would not
permit —refl.. of " 'on.' it was then put ti the
meeting whether the lecturer should proceed or not, and
the affirmative was carried unanimously. The leetiirer
than proeeedwi Archbishop Whit.loy, ho 00.1. hut iV/1.1
black coats of which he was very fond. They wore an
much alike that it was herd to distingokli the one from
the other ; and the venerable Archbishop rolled one of
them Popery, and the other Poseyieui—ilond laughter).
He held in his bend n pan:plilet written by the Bev. Erl•
ward Husband, curate of Atherstone This gentleman
adv:icated the Contessionel, and suggested that the de-
tailing of the experie Ce by the Wesle3 an MetliodiAs in
their class meetings with an imitation of the Confessions].
"But," he asked. "should we not minfeing to God 54 well
ac to the pried Yini, mid we do on when we confeia to
the priest, because he is the one ti whom God fits dele-
rpited the power of bind ng and 100.,ing." `• rho priest
is but the channel through atomm the grace of absolution
flowu to the soul of the penitent sinner " were
ante qU dations from what Hituslista said ; but what
said one of the homilies: "The priest is Sc much hound
hi ronfiou to a e laity as the laity are to ronfesa to the
ori,st " Vet was whet was;autlioritatively I.dd dawn for
their guidence in the Church ; and thot was what thy
might rat from their puilpits every Sundey if they
thought at. He wouid now tell them what lie beard a

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rector belonging to a parish not ten miles frnm Stour.
bridge say lately. He heard the rector in question talk-
ing with a gentleman in the train on the way to Bir-
mingham. and he was ready if called anon to came for-
ward and give his name The conversation was upon
toe union of Christendom, and the rector”id they could
not unite with the Church of Rome in regard to the to-
n, cation of S ditts—thsy must first have purity, and then
pesee ; hut upiin the subjects of transubstantiation and
porgatory no man bad a right to dogmatise. Ito (the
',timer) could not punts the exact fiords, hut that was
the purport. Tins Church of England, lw forth, said,
did aeknowhdge a purgatory of sonic kind, for we must
admit that Old Testament saints us re not pet fact ; but
we knew they were in Heaven, therefore they toast have
gone though some process of purfication, Mr. Gregg
contended iii it the rector in question woe ignorant of tho
doctrine of Substitution ; and against the assertion that
the CI urelt of lingland acknowledged a Purgatory of
50/00 kind, he read the Article in which the doctrine of
Purgatory SS condemned, and spoken of as a "vain and
fond" delusion. After reading the Article n,gainsi. Tren•
substantiation, Mr. Gregg concluded by quitting sonie
lines from the lISIT Evangelical paper, called Tke 11,ek,
and resumed his seat admit' loud applause.
Mr. Hodgetts moved a vote of thanks to the lecturer,
which was seconded by the Rev. A. Rogers, AI. A.