The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-01-08 00:00:00

flit by the oval&

7,ree of exc

and commercial world. The expedition, under the
command of Admiral Elliot, we are informed, had
penetrated as far as Pekin,,and after a few days' nego-,
. . _

ciation With the Emperor of China in person, accord-
ing to some accounts, and with a mandarin- of high
rank, according to others,. the demands of the British
government have been conceded in full. Two millions

sterling are to be paid as a compensation to the opium
dealers for the value of the cargoes delivered up to the
Chinese authorities, and one million sterling for the
expenses of the expedition. The privilege of trading
is to be conceded to us upon a broad and satisfactory
basis; and commissioners are to be appointed to ar-

range all minor matters of dispute. In addition to
these concessions, his Excellency Commissioner Lin is
to be delivered up to the British admiral, the Em-
peror, with true diplomatic tact, disowning the late
measures of that functionary, which he assures us
have been undertaken not only without his sanction,
but altogether without hiS knowledge. In the mean
time the British force is to be withdrawn from the.
waters of Pekin and to proceed to Canton, there to
await the progress of the proposed arrangements.
All this, no doubt, may be very satisfactory—so far
as it goes. It may be very just that the smugglers of
opium should be paid the
.value of their deleterious
and contraband commodity by a peaceful nation,
Whose laws they were outraging by its introduction,
and that Great Britain should be remunerated for the-
cost of her expedition, undertaken in defence of that
contraband trade. But have we arrived at the re-
quired consummation ? Are we one whit more assured
of the enjoyment of an intercourse with the Chinese
people than we were before this vaunted expedition
was undertaken ? We humbly imagine not

have penetrated, it islrue, to the capital of China, and
menaced with destruction the seat of government;
yet without even the shadow of security for the pro-
mises held out to us, we are told very civilly—and it is
matter of great congratulation, that we are for the
first time spared the indignity of being addressed as
barbarians—that we are to yield up the advantage of
our position, and to kick our heels at Canton or else-
whete, until it suits the convenience of the Celestial
Empire to cogitate upon our case, and administer
what it may deem a satisfactory remedy. " Procul, oh,
procul este profani" is the request of the sublime
brother to the sun and moon. " Take yourselves
away from my august presence. Hang, draw, and
quarter my Commissioner Lin, by way of recreation,
whilst famine and pestilence takes off your fine
soldiers' and your sea-dogs,' and the elemente
swallow up and scatter, one by one, your floating
palaces."

It does really seem to us that this is a most "lame
and impotent conclusion" to what we fear can only be
considered as the first act of this great international
drama. We have either done too much, or Ave have
achieved too little. if we are engaged in a just quar-
rel, the reparation which we seek should have been a
prompt, an efficacious, and a definite one ; and we
ought not to have retrograded one step until that re-
paration was fully secured. If we are to make war
upon the principles of the buccaneers, we should at
least hold our captives until the ransom is duly paid
down; but if, on the contrary, we seek to vindicate the
national honour and to advance our national and com-
mercial interests, we should have something definite—
something intelligible—sanething more than a mere
promise, the fulfilment of which is dependent for tithe
and extent upon that uncertain thing, negociation, be-
fore we consent to lay down the advantages which a
large expenditure of the public money has given us.
A communication once entered into with the Emperor
of China or with his high functionaries, ought surely
to have been improved and pressed to some practical
and immediate result; and not broken off in a vague
reliance upon the issue of negotiations with that
very class whose interests or prejudices we have
always heretofore found to present insuperable bar-
riers to a proper understanding' with the government
of that singular and incomprehensible people. _
It may be—for we adaiii that the intelligence which
has reached us so far, is of a very interesting character
—tha.t Government is in possession of information
which fully warrants the course which the Admiral in
command of the expedition has taken. We trust that
such is the case; and yet we cannot but doubt the
prudence of that course. The forces engaged in the
expedition, we are assured,rare seriously afflicted with ill
health, and - a great portion of them are daily yielding
to the diseases of the climate. The expenditure at-
tending a protracted negociation, when the expedition,
whose presence alone ensures a successful result, is
imperatively required to remain on the spot, must be
enormous ; and we know sufficient of the character
of the Chinese nation, and especially of its Govern-
ment, to warrant us in the belief that every hour of
delay will serve only to lessen the chances of permanent
advantage.
We cannot then, upon serious consideration, enter
into the sanguine views which we have heard enter-
tained as to our present position in this quarrel. There
has been displayed sa far, by the leaders of the expe-
dition to China, a want of combined action, and of
well directed energy, which cannot materially have
raised us in the opinion of the Chinese people; and
we have seen as yet no result of our arms sufficiently
imposing, to induce that people to abate so much of
their inveterate prejudices as would warrant them in
entering, with good faith and sincerity, into the en-
gagements which are so confidently spoken of. What-
ever may be our desire to witness the restoration of
amicable relations between our own country and China,
we are afraid that we have not yet arrived at such a
restoration; and we would therefore earnestly warn
our readers against giving to the current anticipations
their implicit confidence, until they are confirmed by
some intelligence of a more satisfactory character than
any which we at present possess.

TRIBUTE OF ESTEEM.—The Rev. Peter Browne, assistant
curate to the Rev. Fielding Ould, was presented on the 2d,
instant, with a beautiful pocket communion service, by the
congregation of Immanuel Church, Oswaldtwistle, near
Blackburn, the flock amongst which he recently laboured, as
a testimony of their high sense of his ministerial efficiency.

A VESSEL FIRED INTO AT SEA.---A letter from Cape
Town dated October 13, says :—" The Vixen, Tinley, from
Liverpool, which arrived here on the 10th instant, was fired
into by a brig on the morning of the 31st of August. The
Vixen saw the brig ahead at noon of the 30th of August,
with top-gallant sails just above the horizon, both vessels on
the starboard tack ' • at one a. m. 31st of August, the Vixen
came up with the brig, and it being very dark and squally,
determined to run to leeward some distance and then haul
her wind again ; this was done to avoid giving any uneasi-
ness on board the brig from the near neighbourhood of such
a clipper looking schooner. The brig, however, much to the
astonishment of Captain Tinley, bore up, ran down towards
him, and when within hail fired a small gun from his taffrail
at the Vixen, and on passing under her stern endeavoured
to rake her by firing a very heavy-shotted gun, which very
nearly dismasted her, the shot passing right through the
Vixen's spars. Mem. The Vixen will no doubt be the
schooner which was fired at by H. M. packet Magnet, on
the supposition of her being a pirate."

BRANDY AND SALT.—fn reference to an advertisement
which appears in another column, we have been requested to
insert the following wonderful cure by the use of this com-
pound :—John Beecher, son of Captain Beecher, Catherine-
square, Mason-street, Hail, was afflicted with scrofula for
seven years : he had gone on crutches for the last two years,
had wounds all over his body, and had been given up as in-
curable by several medical men. He did not begin to use
the brandy and salt till the 28th of April last (1810). He
took one tablespoonfull of the remedy in the morning, and
another in the afternoon ; and rubbed himself also with it.
His wounds were so bad that he had recourse to a little
spermaceti ointment to soften the hardened skin, which he
washed off before applying the brandy and salt. He was
cured in three months, and he is now in good health.

ROYAL AMPHITHEATRE.—The past week's performances
at this favourite resort have been exceedingly well attended,
and the pieces most enthusiastically received. Mr. Corner-
sal's personation of Napoleon is excellent. His close resem-
blance, in personal appearance, to that great captain, give
great additional effect to the•character. Mr. Sloan, as Molly
Malony, is also deserving of the highest commendation. The
genuine Irish humour he introduces in this character has
never failed to elicit the warmest plaudits. The horsemanship
has been well received. Mr. James Cook's representation of
"The Fisherman of Naples" is one of the most daring acts
we ever beheld. On Monday, a new piece, founded on the
late war in Syria, will be produced for the first time. It is
from the pen of Mr. H. Beverley, jun., and, judging from
the talent displayed in his former pieces, we anticipate that
it will be well received.

AN UNTOWARD RESULT OF DRUNKENNESS.—The mu-
seum of the Royal College of Surgeons, in Dublin, contains
the picture of a man whose face was eaten ::way by a pig,
while he was lying in a state of intoxication. The entire
nose, both cheeks, and parts of both ears, in fact, all the
most eatable parts of his face, were chewed off by the ani-
mal ; nevertheless, the wounds all healed, and he recovered ;
but, of course, with all the disabilities of enunciation, chew-
ing, and swallowing, attendant on such extensive destruction
of soft parts. He,.notwithstanding, under generous regimen,
contrived, while in hospital, to keep .up a good condition of
body. His principal regret lay in the unavoidable disuse of
his tobacco-pipe. The picture exhibits him, after the,wounds
had all healed, without nose or ears, but with two beautifully
white and perfect rows of naked teeth.—Provincial Medical
and Surgical Journal.

OPERATIVE PROTESTANT
TEA PARTY,

On Wedr

BSOCIATION

and friends of this associa-

Lion assembled iii.the Music-hall, Bold-street, for the pur-
pose of celebrating the advent of the new year by taking tea
together. Between seven and eight hundred persons were
present, and a most pleasing evening was spent. The Rev.
Hugh M`Neile presided, and around him sat a considerable
number of the principal friends of the Protestant cause.
Tea having been served—
__.__

Mr. 11VNE1Lu addressed the meeting nearly as follows :
To those who have put, and to any who may be desirous to
repeat,-the question why I approve of such a meeting as this,
I wish to say I approve of it because I desire to promote
unity and concord and harmonious 'co-operation among Pro-
testants of all ranks in the community. I approve of it
because as a Christian clergyman I desire to communicate
religious instruction in season and out of season, not only in
the pulpit but in the street, in the private family, in the
public meeting at the tea party. (Applause.) I approve of
it because as a Christian friend I desire to bear the senti-
ments of my brethren, and to give and receive pleasure by
any lawful and innocant means in my power. (Hear.)' Ido
not know whether it is at all expedient to argue the question
with any of our friends who may be here against their better
judgment ; but there is one point I think it right to touch
upon, because it will lead us to a statement of our Protes-
tant principles. Some of our poorer brethren were hurt at
the idea of a Protestant meeting connected with a charge for
admission tickets, which charge was beyond their means of
payment, so that they must feel themselves excluded from
our meeting. They will, lam sure, do us the justice to feel
quite satisfied that there was no intention of excluding any
one ; but, if their necessities exclude them, it is a part of
our Protestant principles to know that poverty is no crime ;
that he who is hindered from attending a meeting of this
kind, and the man in moderate circumstances who is hin-
dered from attending a meeting where the tickets would cost
a guinea, are but specimens of that subordination of rank
in the state which it is one of our principles to maintain.
(Hear, hear.) lam confident if our Protestant operative
friends will but think a little of this matter, they will not feel
in the least degree unkind or uncomfortable towards their
brethren in better circumstances, who can afford to give a
shilling for their ticket, and can have their enjoyment for the
same. (Hear.) And I should say they should remember
the meetings we have often had, and anticipate the meetings
we will have again, when the Amphitheatre will be full of
them, without any charge. (Cheers.)
I said that I wished to communicate religious instruction
in season and out of season. My friends, if we would main-
tain Protestant principles, we must know what they are. In
order to know, and to have clearly before us, what those
principles are, we must frequently revert to our original do-
cuments. I propose, therefore, to occupy a little of your
time by reverting to a few of our fundamental Protestant
We principles

. .
The first of our Protestant principles to which I would call
your attention, is the completeness and the exclusiveness of
the Holy Scriptures as a rule of faith. When I say com-
pleteness, I refer to the exclusion of the apocryphal books ;
and when I say exclusiveness, I refer to their sufficiency
without the traditions of men. Here, then, is one of our
great principles, that
" Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salva-
tion : so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be
proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it
should be believed as an article of the faith, or be thought
requisite or necessary to salvation. In the name of the Holy
Scripture we do understand those canonical books of the Old
and New Testament, of whose authority was never any doubt
in the church."

You are aware that the Romish Church reckons amongst the
books of 'Scripture what we call the apocryphal books. It
becomes me to inform you concerning those books, that they
were never in the Hebrew language at all ; that they are ex-
tant only in the Greek, with the exception of one, which was
never in the Greek originally, but is found only in the Latin.
It becomes me also to tell you that they were never recog-
nized by the Jewish Church as belonging to the Scriptures.
There is a remarkable passage in the Jewish historian Jose-
phus, which instructs us as to these books. .

_ .
Josephus says—Contra Appian, lib. l . s. B—"`fie have not
an innumerable multitude of books among us, disagreeing
from, and contradicting, one another, but only 22 hooks, con-
taining the records of all past times, which are justly believed
to be divine. Five of these belong to Moses, which contain
his laws. As to the time from the death of Moses, till the
time of Artaxerxes, King of Persia, the prophets who were
after Moses wrote down what was done in their times, in 13
books. The remaining 4 books contain hymns to God, and
precepts for the conduct of human life. And how firmly we
have given credit to these books of our own nation, is evident
from what we do ; for during so many ages as have already
passed, no one has been so bold as either to add any thing to
them, to take any thing from them, or to make any change in
them ; but it has become natural to all Jews, immediately
and from their birth, to esteem these books to contain divine
doctrines, and to persist in them, and if it be necessary wil-
lingly to die for them."

That is the testimony of the Jewish historian Josephus to
the integrity of the canon of the Old Testament, and to the
exclusion of the apocryphal books. Now these apocryphal
books contain some very curious things. They contain fa-
bles, such as the casting out of demons by fumigation ; that
is, they cast the devil out by smoking him. (Laughter.) It
is no wonder, therefore, that such hooks should be adopted
by Romish doctors, in order to give an appearance of scrip-
tural authority to their fables and lying wonders. Here
is one of our Protestant principles then—to maintain the in-
tegrity of the canon of Scripture, as we have it in the autho-
rised version, to the exclusion of the apocryphal books ; and
I am glad of this opportunity to inform so many of my ope-
rative friends of these simple facts concerning those books :
that they were never in the Hebrew language—that they
were never recognised in the canons of the Jewish church—
that they were never acknowledged by our Saviour, or by
any of the Apostles—and that no reference is made to any of
them, and no quotations from any of them, in any part of
the New Testament. I may also inform you that they were
never recognised as belonging to the Scriptures for 400
years in the rilaristian church—that the first commencement
of the introduction of them, as supplying authority for doc-
trine, was in the sth century, when the errors of Romanisni,
which had been already infecting the church, began to spread.
Upon the subject of the Scriptures we further maintain
their sufficiency to the exclusion of human traditions. The
theory of the Romish church, against which we have to
contend, is this—that Almighty God has not only given us
the Bible, but that he has left an authority in the living clergy
in the church, from age to age, to legislate with divine
authority for the members of the church ; and that that di-
vine authority abides from age to age in living ministers ; and
that, if an assembly of ministers be lawfully convened, and
their enactments be properly made, such decisions of the
church have the authority of a divine commandment.
(Hear, hear.) That is their theory. With that they have a
lever ready to upturn the foundations of Christian society, at
the option of the hierarchy, in any age whatever. I have
read ybu our Protestant principle, and that is, that it has
not pleased God to give such power to fallible men, but that
he has given us a complete canon of divine instruction, to
which no man should dare to add, from which no man ghould
dare to take away, and in which no man should dare to make
a change. (Hear, hear.)
With regard to the traditions of men, ordered to be reve-
renced with-equal piety of mind as the word of God, it is a
fruitful source of error. We have to contend agairst it on
every side •, and it will be useful to you to perceive the right
position which our Christian church occupies in this matter,
in her references to the authority of men. The Christian
ministers who lived near about the time of the Apostles, and
who succeeded the Apostles in the management of the primi-
tive church, were men like ourselves, so far as inspiration is
concerned. They had advantages, as witnesses, with re-
gard to what was going on in their own times ; they knew
the facts as they occurred ; and, as witnesses of those facts,
they are valuable historians. All that men require in.order
to be faithful witnesses of facts, is that they should know
those facts at the time they occurred, and that they should
be honest men to report them. They needed no special in-
spiration of God, above their fellow-men, to be faithful wit-
nesses of facts ; but there is a great difference between wit-
nessing facts and interpreting the Scriptures. In order,that a
man should interpret the Scriptures, so that his opinion
should have more weight than that of his fellow-men, he
must have more inspiration of the Holy Spirit than his
fellow-men ; and in order to interpret the Scriptures,
so that his statements shall have equal authority with
the Scriptures, he must be inspired equally with the
writers of the Scriptures. (Hear.) If the opinions of
those men are to be taken as more than men's opinions, they
are of God's inspiration, and then we have a Bible extended
through folios, and we do not know when to stop. But if
when inspiration ceased, Divine authority ceased, then we
have nothing to go by but the written, inspired, and sacred
Word of God. (Cheers.) Observe, then. When they deny,
as you find Romish writers deny, and some Protestant writ-
ers, too, I am sorry to say, the sufficiency of the Scriptures,
and challenge us to account for certain of our own practices,
in the observance, for example, of the first day of the week,
instead of the seventh ; be prepared with this distinction.
The testimony of antiquity is valid as historical attestation of
facts, it is useful also as the testimony of all Christian men
is useful in its place, for the elucidation of doctrine, but it is
not to be depended upon, as anything more than the private
judgment of the individuals cited. We keep Good Friday,
we celebrate Easter Sunday and Christmas Day ; these are
the old practices of men who lived in olden times, and have
borne witness to the fact that those days were kept ; and it
required no more than an honest man to tell us of the fact.
As fas as these facts throw light upon the Scriptures, we re-
joice in them, and we plead their testimony, but there is a
great difference between this and an authoritative interpre-
tation of the Scriptures ; so be upon your guard, my Pro-
testant friends, and remember this distinction between the
witnesses of facts and the interpretation of doctrine.
There is another of our Protestant principles I should like
to say a few words upon. Again Igo to our original docu-
ments. This is the grand Protestant principle lam going to
announce now—the foundation of our peace with God here,
and of our glory with God hereafter. I will read it to you
from the language of our Protestant church :
" We are accounted righteous before God, only for the
merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by faith, and
not for our own works and deservings : wherefore, that we
are justified by faith only is a most wholesome doctrine and
very full of comfort, as more largely is expressed in the
homily of justification!' - -

The Romish Church maintains that we are justified by a
righteousness put into us and made our own by infusion—
that we are justified by being made personally holy—that we
are justified by being sanctified. That is her doctrine. Now
as no man is perfectly sanctified, so according to them, no
man is ever perfectly justified. They hold that the justifica-
tion of a sinner is an imperfect and a progressive thing, going
on from less to more in this world, unfinished in most cases
even at the point of death, and to be finished after death,
partly by purgatory, partly by prayers and masses in the
church, which masses are to be paid for by their'living friends.
(Hear.) The Protestant doctrine, that is to say, the Scrip-
tural doctrine, protesting against Popish errors, is, that a
sinner receiving God's testimony concerning His Son, is jus-
tified at once by the merits of Jesus Christimputed to him, and
accepted as if he hall done all the righteousness that Christ
did. Thus our Scriptural justification is perfect. From this
results a nearness to God upon the part of the justified person,
in which nearness communion is enjoyed, by which commu-
nion holiness is cultivated ; so sanctification is gradually
advancing though hindered by the flesh, and when the
spirit separates from the flesh, ipso facto sanctification in
the spirit is perfected, and the spirits of just men are made
perfect. So that the very arrival of death is the perfection
of Christian sanctification, Christian justification havingbeen
perfected in the act of faith. In the moment of real faith
justification is perfect, and then sanctification begins : in
the moment of death sanctification is perfect, and the wait-
ing for the resurrection begins ; in/ the moment of the
second advent resurrection is perfect and glory begins for
ever. This is the Christian doctrine opposed to Rome root
and branch. (Hear.)
Bear this in mind then and be upon your guard against all
Romish mixtures, that you may find among Protestants—
nominal Protestants • and instruct not yourselves only but
your friends, your families, and your children in this doc-
trine. Let me inform you, my friends, that this Christian
doctrine of justification is not understood by the bulk of the
members of our Christian church. The Romish doctrine is
entirely adapted to the human heart. It leaves something
of proud self dependence for men to be doing; it leaves
something to be accomplished by self, and something for
the church to accomplish after the man is dead, for which
they are to receive pay. Selfishness is natural, and cove-
teousness is natural, the Romish doctrine of justification,
therefore, is natural, and it cleaves in some measure even to
nominal Protestants. I am sorry to say it has appeared
with a very awful aspect at one of our Protestant universi-
ties. I am not one of those who can consent to smooth or
gloss over fundamental error, because it happens to be
among my party. In our own church we grieve to see these

errors spring up ; we grieve to see this sent-popish, if I
should say semi, doctrine of justification insisted upon by
some learned, clever, and laborious minister of the' church.
They have written it, they have preached it, they have per-
severed in it ; they have glossed it over and explained it
away ; they have puzzled their hearers, and I may say with-
out untruth, they have puzzled themselves in the manner
they have treated this subject. But hold to the beginning—
to the first foundation—of your confidence, my Protestant
friends. (Cheers.)
I have to request you not to be impatient at such an ad-
dress as this. When I said I liked to take all opportunities
of preaching the gospel, both in season and out of season,
you approved of it. I put your patience in this to the test.
Some possibly would prefer more exciting topics—they .would
wish me to touch upon matters which are all in good time ;
but it is more useful to give such instruction as I am giving
you now.

I proceed`to our third grand Protestant principle. I will
gtate it first in the langua,ge of Scripture, and then I will
read you the article of our, church, condemning its opposite.
" God is a spirit, and they that worship him must worship
him in spirit and in truth."

" See that ye make no graven image to bow down to it,
for ye saw no manner of similitude in the day that the Lord
thy God ipake to you in the Mount."
Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven image" * *
thou shalt not bow down to them, nor worship them."
" The Romish Doctrine concerning Purgatory, Pardons,
Worshipping and Adoration, as well of Images as of Reliques,
and also invocation of Saints, is alond thing vainly invented,
and grounded upon no warranty of Scripture, but rather re-
pugnant to the Word of God."

You have already heard the word of God it is repugnant
to ; and you are aware of the practice of the Romish church.
Upon this point we have the singular advantage that the
practice is one that cannot be denied. This is indeed a sin-
gular advantage, for there is scarcely anything we say about
Romanism that is not denied ; but, observe, it is not denied
by themselves. You do not find Romish priests coming
forward and denying what we allege. What we allege is
taken from documents to which, they have sworn. Some of
them venture to disclaim in a newspaper what they have
sworn to at their institution to their benefices, but, generally
speaking, their denials come from their apologists in the liberal
press. (Hear.) If I were to say they worship images, that
would be denied ; and we should hear before the week is out
of this " most base, unchristian, uncharitable, and bigotted
charge against our atholic fellow-subjects," being advanced
by that " everlasting bigot, who will not let the town be
quiet at this winter season, but gets his Protestant fellow-
subjects together to abuse their neighbours." (Hear, hear,
hear.) -And yet, if I were to say that they worship images,
I might be able to defend the saying ; but I am not going to
say that now. I will, however, tell you what lam going to
say, and it will require a man of a brazen front to deny it—
that is, that they bow down to images. (Hear, hear.) They
bow down to them. (Cheers.) The Holy Spirit in the
Holy Scriptures has put the two things—` Thou shalt not
bow down to them, nor worship them." I hope you will all
teach your children the commandments. I hope you will all
teach your children the creed, the Lord's prayer, the ten
commandments, and the church catechism, set forth for their
instruction in the vulgar tongue. lam glad to mention that.
There has been &neglect of this. Let all your young people
know the catechism—every word of it. Gather them about
the fireside every Saturday night before going to bed—make
them stand up—and examine them upon every question in
the catechism from first to last ; and when they have gone
through it, make them change places and go through it again.
(Cheers.) Let me now call your attention to this—" Thou
shalt not bow down to them." The Romanists have a very
curious scale by which they graduate the state of men's
minds in worship. There is what we may call low-water
mark—that is, the subdulia; here, higher up, is the dulia;
and higher up still is the latria. Now the subdulia expresses
a state of mind which it is very proper to give to an image ;
the dulia expresses a state of mind which it is lawful and
right to leave to the Virgin Mary ; and the labia is a state
of mind fit only for God himself. You can imagine a Ro-
manist—John, Thomas, Peter, or any name you please to

.
give him—in the mass-house, upon his knees—it may be his
bare knees—kneeling before the image. If I were to say
" He is worshipping the image," I should be told, " Not
at all ;.he is only giving the image subduila." If 1 were to
say " He is worshipping the Virgin Mary, for he calls upon
her as the Mother of God to have mercy upon him,"
" Pooh !" I should be told, " you are a Protestant bigot :
he is giving the Virgin Mary nothing but dulia ; they never
give any real worship of the latria description except to God
himself." (Hear, hear.) It is hard for any man to get
at the state of another man's mind, but it is easy to
see what he is doing with his body; and in this case the
commandment of God extends to the undeniable attitude
of the body, as well as to the invisible state of the mind.
Who has the hardihood to deny that the Popish worshipper
has been bowing down his body to the image ;—(hear, hear)
and our God, and the God of the whole word has said, as
plain as language can say it, " thou shalt not bow down to
them." (Hear, hear.) So that in the outward act, without
any quibbling about the state oPmind, the whole body of the
Popish people in this town, in the sister island, and in every
country where Popery has come, are in the outward act of
bowing down, deliberately defying and disobeying the living
God ! (Loud cheers.)
I have in my hand now a specimen of the sound Protestant
doctrine put forth for the instruction of your forefathers in
this country at the time of the Reformation or soon after.
I hold in my hand the book of Homilies of the Church of
England, and I will read you in connection with what 1 have,
just said, a specimen of early Protestant preaching upon the
subject of these images :
" What meaneth it, that Christian men, after the use of
the Gentile idolaters, cap and knee, before images? which,
if they had any sense and gratitude, would kneel before men,

carpenters, masons, plasterers, founders, and goldsmiths,
their makers and framers, by whose means they have attained
this honour, which else should have been evil-favoured and
rude lumps of clay, or plaster, pieces of timber, stone, or
metal, without shape or fashion, and so without all estimation
and honour, as that idol in the Pagan poet confesseth, say-
ing, ' I was once a vile block, but now I am become a god,'
&c. What a fond thing is it for man, who bath life and
reason, to bow himself to a dead and insensible image, the
work of his own hand ! Is not this stooping and kneeling
before them, adoration of them, which is forbidden so ear-
nestly by God's word ? Let such as so fall down before
images of saints, know and confess that they exhibit that ho-
nour to stocks and stones, which the saints themselves,
Peter, Paul, and Barnabas, would not to be given to
them being alive; which the angel of God forbiddeth to
be given to him. And if they say they exhWlt sum huiluiu

not to the image, but to the saint whom it representeth,
they are convicted of folly, to believe that they please saints
,with that honour, which they abhor 'as a spoil of God's ho-

pour; for the

greater understanding, and more

more abhor to deprive lama of his due. honour

bth

now like unto the angels of God, do with angels flee to take
unto them by sacrilege the honour due to God : and here-
withal is confuted their lewd distinction of Latria and Duli
where it is evident, that the saints of Go
that as much as any outward worshipping I

not ant(