The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1881-01-05

separated brethren, to declare his con-
fidence in the honesty of their convic-
tions, the sincerity of their desire to serve
God, and the earnest though misguided
efforts they are making to attain to ever
lasting life. 1t is true that once in a
while by way of little variety he un-
dertakes to animadvert upon certain min
listers in Petersburg, and then wakes Just
little warm, using such mild phrases as
lies, ISLANDERS, calumnies, etc., but
that is only when we pin him up too
closely about that Canon of the Council
OF Trent which forbids the free use of the
Scriptures, and then, being unable to an
swer with arguments, he resorts to that
other method so customary in his Church.
Besides it must be borne In mind that
these Protestants Of whom he speaks so
lovingly are present and he is speaking
to their faces, while those ministers, of
whom he speaks so severely, are absent
and he is speaking behind their backs,
and that makes great difference. And
then again those Protestants of whom he
speaks so lovingly are the ones so charita-
bly, disposed towards the Roman Catholic
Church that they think it great shame
the ministers towards whom he uses such
harsh words are the men who dare to
warn the people against those doctrines
of the priesthood, and the Mass, an the
worship of saints, which Roman Catholic
writers are so zealously disseminating
amongst us.
Now | am an admirer and an advocate
OF true charity-that which has regard
for the person of an opponent but not for
MS errors. have the utmost charity for
the members of the Roman Catholic
Church; | have never written or spoken
a word which | thought inconsistent with
it, But l have no charity for the errors
of the Roman Catholic system. l believe
them to be dangerous and deadly and for
this reason [ lift up my voice against
them like trumpet.
But what l complain of is that whilst
the Roman Catholics, when speaking face
to face with Protestants are so charitable
and loving, they are so uncharitable and
unlovlng IN what they write when they
are behind their backs. Here is Father
Muller" for instance, this so much lauded
mouthpiece of the Roman Catholic Church
in this country. l have already called
attention to the fact that IL his Cate
oh,smsmoateohisms C n;na rsasela in use olni-
tant parents-the child is taught to say
that " Protestants make liars OF the Lord
Jesus Christ, and OF the Holy Ghost, and
OF the holy apostles,' and that they will
"h have their portion with Lucifer in hell
who first rebelled against Christ, and who
ls the father of liars. And / respect
fully submit that it is not exactly the
thing for an honest man to do, to 90
around the State talking so lovingly of
g our separated brethren, honest but mis-
guided, and all the time be secretly stab
bing their characters in the dark, by
teaching in the parochial schools under
his control such tenets as these of Faith
er Muller, No 8.
But this is not by any means the only |
instance of this kind Of teaching In this
book 1.-The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass,
so earnestly commended to all the faith
tul, and every page declared to be worth |
the price Of the whole volume, occur two
passages to which | deem it due to call
the attention of those separated breth-
rem" who may be disposed to look with |
favor upon the Bishops loving advances.
The first OF these passages has refer
ence to the order of Free Masons many
Of the honored representatives of which
are among those separated brethren
towards whom the good Bishop is so
gracious. The passage will be found on
page 6l8. Speaking of certain "pious
confraternities' of the middle ages from
which, as he says, Freemasonry took its
rise, he adds, They have been succeeded
by the so-called Free -Masons-those dlo-
boljcal confraternjtteS, a0hoSe object Is to
destroy all belief IN God, and to assist the
deUJ 10 regain dominion oycg u1onkjnd. "
| commend this language to the notice of
such Of our Christian men as are mem
bers of the Masonic fraternity. This is
the declaration of a man living in the
midst of American Freemasonry, a de-
olaration endorsed by the highest author
tiles Of the Romish Church in this coun-
try
But it is not only Free-Masons, but
Protestants generally, Of which the au-
thor gives us the true estimate held by
the church which he repreaents. Take
the following as an example On page
492 of the work we are quoting, the au-
thor in treating Of the consequences Of
giving up the doctrine Of the Mass, says
of Protestants (and his language applies