ed in the following brief declaration of the Council of Trent: "There is a purgatory, and the souls detained there are helped by the prayers of the faithful, and particularly by the acceptable sacrifice of the altar."* St. Chrysostom, the light of the eastern church, flourished within 300 years of the age of the apostles, and must be admitted as an unexceptionable witness of their doctrine and practice. Now he writes as follows: "It was not without good reason ORDAINED BY THE APOSTLES, that mention should be made of the dead in the tremendous mysteries, because they knew well that these would receive great benefit from it." Tertullian, who lived in the age next to that of the apostles, speaking of a pious widow, says: "She prays for the soul of her husband, and begs refreshment for him." Similar testimonies of St. Cyprian, in the following age, are numerous. I shall satisfy myself with quoting one of them; where describing the difference between some souls, which are immediately admitted into heaven, and others, which are detained in purgatory, he says, "It is one thing to be waiting for pardon; another to attain to glory: One thing to be sent to prison, not to go from thence till the last farthing is paid; another to receive immediately the reward of faith and virtue: One thing to suffer lengthened torments for sin, and to be chastised and purified for a long time in that fire; another to have cleansed away all sin by suffering," namely, by martyrdom. It would take up too much time to quote authorities on this subject from St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Eusebius, St. Epiphanius, St. Ambrose, St. Jerom, St. Augustin, and several other ancient fathers and writers, who demonstrate, that the doctrine of the church was the same that it is now, not only within a thousand, but also within 400 years from the time of Christ, with respect both to prayers for the dead, and an intermediate state, which we call purgatory. How express is the authority of the last-named father, in particular, where he says and repeats: "Through the prayers and sacrifices of the church and alms-deeds, God deals more mercifully with the departed than their sins deserve!"|| How affecting is this saint's account of the death of his mother, St. Monica, when she entreated him to remember her soul at the altar, and when, after her decease, he performed this duty, in order, as he declares, "to obtain the pardon of her sins !"¶ to the doctrine of the oriental churches, which the bishop signifies is conformable to that of his own, I affirm, as a fact which has been demonstrated,** that there is not of them which agrees * Sess. xxv. De. Purg. ↑ L. De Monogam. c. 10. || Serm. 172. Enchirid. cap. 109, 110. + In cap. i. Philip. Hom. 3. As ** See Confession of the different Oriental churches in the Perpetuité, &c. with it, nor one of them which does not agree with the Catholic Church, in the only two points defined by her, namely, as to there being a middle state, which we call purgatory, and as to the souls detained in it being helped by the prayers of the living faithful. True it is, they do not generally believe, that these souls are punished by a material fire; but neither does our church require a belief of this opinion; and, accordingly, she made a union with the Greeks in the Council of Florence, on their barely confessing and subscribing the aforesaid two articles. III. I should do an injury, reverend sir, to my cause, were I to pass over the concessions of eminent Protestant prelates, and other writers, on the matter in debate. On some occasions Luther admits of purgatory, as an article founded on Scripture.* Melancthon confesses that the ancients prayed for the dead, and says that the Lutherans do not find fault with it.† Calvin intimates, that the souls of all the just are detained in Abraham's bosom till the day of judgment. In the first Liturgy of the Church of England, which was drawn up by Cranmer and Ridley, and declared by Act of Parliament to have been framed by inspiration of the Holy Ghost, there is an express prayer for the departed, that "God would grant them mercy and everlasting peace." It can be shown that the following bishops of your church believed that the dead ought to be prayed for: Andrews, Usher, Montague, Taylor, Forbes, Sheldon, Barrow of St. Asaph's, and Blandford. To these I may add the religious Dr. Johnson, whose published Meditations prove, that he constantly prayed for his deceased wife. But what need is there of more words on the subject, when it is clear that modern Protestants, in shutting up the Catholic purgatory for imperfect just souls, have opened another general one for them, and all the wicked of every sort whatsoever! It is well known that the disciples of Calvin, at Geneva, and, perhaps, everywhere else, instead of adhering to his doctrine, in condemning mortals to eternal torments, without any fault on their part, now hold that the most confirmed in guilt and the finally impenitent shall, in the end, be saved:¶ thus establishing, as Fletcher of Madeley observes, "a general purgatory."** A late celebrated theological, as well as philosophical writer of our own country, Dr. Priestley, being on his death-bed, called for Simpson's work on the duration of future punishment, which he recommended in * Assertiones, Art. 37. Disp. Leipsic. † Apolog. Conf. Aug. Inst. l. iii. c. 5. § See the form in Collier's Ecc. Hist. vol. ii. p. 257. || Collier's Hist.-N. B. The present Bishop of Exeter, in a sermon just published, prays for the soul of our Princess Charlotte," as far as this is lawful and profitable." Encyclo. Art. Geneva. ** Checks to Antinom. vol. 4. these terms: "It contains my sentiments; we shall all meet finally we only require different degrees of discipline, suited to our different tempers, to prepare us for final happiness."* Here again is a general Protestant purgatory: and why should Satan and his crew be denied the benefit of it? But to confine myself to eminent divines of the Established Church. One of its celebrated preachers, who, of course, "never mentions hell to ears polite," expresses his wish, "to banish the subject of everlasting punishment from all pulpits, as containing a doctrine, at once improper, and uncertain ;" which sentiment is applauded by another eminent divine, who reviews that sermon in the British Critic. Another modern divine censures "the threat of eternal perdition as a cause of infidelity."§ The renowned Dr. Paley, (but here we are getting into quite novel systems of theology, which will force a smile from its old students, notwithstanding the awfulness of the subject,) Dr. Paley, I say, so far softens the punishment of the infernal regions, as to suppose that, "There may be very little to choose between the condition of some who are in hell, and others who are in heaven!"'|| In the same liberal spirit the Cambridge Professor of Divinity teaches, that "God's wrath and damnation are more terrible in the sound than in the sense!¶ and that being damned does not imply any fixed degree of evil."** In another part of his Lectures, he expresses his hope, and quotes Dr. Hartley, as expressing the same, "that all men will be ultimately happy, when punishment has done its work in reforming principles and conduct." If this sentiment be not sufficiently explicit in favor of purgatory, take the following from a passage in which he is directly lecturing on the subject. "With regard to the doctrine of purgatory, though it may not be founded either in reason or in Scripture, it is not unnatural. Who can bear the thought of dwelling in everlasting torments ?-Yet who can say that a God, everlastingly just, will not inflict them? The mind of man seeks for some resource it finds one only; in conceiving that some temporary punishment, after death, may purify the soul from its moral pollutions, and make it at least acceptable, even to a Deity infinitely pure."‡‡ IV. Bishop Porteus intimates, that the doctrine of a middle state of souls was borrowed from pagan fable and philosophy. *See Edinb. Review, Oct. 1806.. † Sermons by the Rev. W. Gilpin, Preb. of Sarum. British Critic, Jan. 1802. Let. to Dr. Hawker. || Moral and Polit. Philos. ** Lect. vol. iii. p. 154. Rev. Mr. Polwhele's tt Vol. ii. p. 390. It is to be observed that the doctrine of the final salvation of the wicked is expressly condemned in the 42d Article of the Church of England. A. D. 1552. #Vol. iv. p. 112. In answer to this, I say, that if Plato,* Virgil, and other heathens, ancient and modern, as likewise Mahomet and his disciples, together with the Protestant writers quoted above, have embraced this doctrine, it only shows how conformable it is to the dictates of natural religion. I have proved, by various arguments, that a temporary punishment generally remains due to sin, after the guilt and eternal punishment due to it have been remitted. Again, we know from Scripture, that even the just man falls seven times, Prov. xxiv. 17, and that men must give an account of every idle word that they speak. Matt. xii. 36. On the other hand, we are conscious that there is not an instant of our life, in which this may not suddenly terminate, without the possibility of our calling upon God for mercy. What, then, I ask, will become of souls which are surprised in either of those predicaments? We are sure, from Scripture and reason, that nothing defiled shall enter heaven, Rev. xxi. 27; will then our just and merciful Judge make no distinction in guiltiness, as Bishop Fowler and other rigid Protestants maintain ? Will he condemn to the same eternal punishment the poor child who has died under the guilt of a lie of excuse, and the abandoned wretch who has died in the act of murdering his father? To say that he will, is so monstrous a doctrine in itself, and so contrary to Scripture, which declares that God will render to every man according to his deeds, Rom. ii. 6, that it seems to be universally exploded. The evident consequence of this is, that there are some venial or pardonable sins, for the expiation of which, as well as for the temporary punishment due to other sins, a place of temporary punishment is provided in the next life; where, however, the souls detained may be relieved by the prayers, alms, and sacrifices of the faithful here on earth. O! how consoling are the belief and practice of Catholics in this matter, compared with those of Protestants! The latter show their regard for their departed friends in costly pomp and feathered pageantry; while their burial service is a cold disconsolate ceremony; and as to any further communication with the deceased, when the grave closes on their remains, they do not so much as imagine any. On the other hand, we Catholics know, that death itself cannot dissolve the communion of saints, which subsists in our church, nor prevent an intercourse of kind, and often beneficial offices, between us and our departed friends. Oftentimes we can help them more effectually, in the other world, by our prayers, our sacrifices, our alms-deeds, than we could in this by any temporary benefits we could bestow * Plato in Georgia, Virgil's Æneid, 1. 6, the Koran. + Calvin, l. iii. c. 12. Fowler in Watson's Tracts, vol. vi. p. 382. See Dr. Hey, vol. iii. pp. 384, 451, 453. upon them. Hence we are instructed to celebrate the obsequies of the dead by all such good works; and, accordingly, our funeral service consists of psalms and prayers, offered up for their repose and eternal felicity. These acts of devotion pious Catholics perform for the deceased, who were near and dear to them, and indeed for the dead in general, every day, but particularly on the respective anniversaries of the deceased. Such benefits, we are assured, will be paid with rich interest, by those souls, when they attain to that bliss, to which we shall have contributed; and if they should not be in a condition to help us, the God of mercy, at least, will abundantly reward our charity. On the other hand, what a comfort and support must it be to our minds, when our turn comes to descend into the grave, to reflect that we shall continue to live in the constant thoughts and daily devotions of our Catholic relatives and friends! I am, yours, &c. JOHN MILNER. LETTER XLIV.—TO THE REV. ROBERT CLAYTON, M.A. REVEREND SIR EXTREME UNCTION. THE Council of Trent terms the sacrament of extreme unction the consummation of penance; and, therefore, as Bishop Porteus makes this the subject of a charge against our church, here is the proper place for me to answer it. His lordship writes a long chapter upon it, because his business is to gloss over the clear testimony which the apostle St. James bears to the reality of this sacrament; in return, I shall write a short letter, in refutation of his chapter, because I have little more to do than to cite that testimony, as it stands in the New Testament. It is as follows: "Is any man sick among you, let him bring in the priests of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil, in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith shall save the sick man; and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he be in sins, they shall be forgiven him." James, v. 14, 15. Here we see all that is requisite, according to the English Protestant Catechism, to constitute a sacrament;* for there is an outward visible sign," namely, the anointing with oil; there "is an inward spiritual grace given unto us, namely, the saving of the sick, and the forgiveness of his sins. Lastly, there is "the ordination of Christ, as the means by which the same is received:" unless the bishop chooses to allege *In the Book of Common Prayer. |