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addressed to the Almighty himself; it is through him that we cherish a veneration for the remains of those whose lives have been passed in his service, and whose death has been precious in his sight: in him it originates,—to him it is referred; -and to his honour and glory it is ultimately, though not immediately, directed.

Having shewn that we are not superstitious in our veneration of relics, I trust also to prove that we are not idolaters in our respect for images, and in the manner in which we use them. The answer in our English Catechisms to the question, Do Catholics pray to images? is this; No, by no means, for they can neither see, nor hear, nor help us. A similar answer, together with the most pointed condemnation of every species of idolatry, is to be found, without one exception, in all the catechisms in use in Italy, France, Spain, Flanders, Germany; in a word, in every portion of the Catholic world, in every language in which Christianity is preached, and in every clime in which the name of Jesus is known. Now, if we consider the diligence with which the Catholic clergy inculcate the study of the catechism, the earnestness with which they impress it on the minds of children, the clear and familiar manner in which they explain it, and the assiduity and frequency of these explanations, we ought at least to hesitate before we pronounce that those who receive and

believe these doctrines, receive and believe them in one sense, and practise them in another. It should also be observed that the clergy are nowise interested in keeping up any delusion upon this point; while the common instinct of man, every principle both of natural and revealed religion, conspire to direct his adoration to the sole object worthy of it-to the great Creator and Disposer of all things. If, with all the checks and precautions employed, some abuse or extravagance should partially and occasionally exist, it must, in justice, be attributed rather to the perversity of human nature, than to any thing radically vicious in the system.

When the Almighty commanded cherubim," who are his creatures as much as man, to be made for the ornament of the ark of the covenant, he did so without fear that the Israelites, prone as they were to idolatry, would transfer those divine honours to them which they owed to himself alone.

(b) Upon the Propitiatory stood two Cherubim, face to face, with their wings expanded and spread, so as to cover the Ark, forming, as it were, a throne for the God of all Sanctity and Majesty. Hence comes the expression often met with in the Sacred Writings, of God sitting upon the Cherubim. It is in imitation of this, that Cherubim are not unfrequently placed to ornament the altar of the blessed Sacrament, where the Almighty deigns to be visibly present.

Indeed, when the Jewish people fell into this most abominable of all crimes, the idolatry was generally meditated first, and the idol raised afterwards: so far were they from being led astray by the use of images in their worship! Yet, be it remembered, that, though we are bound to pay a due respect to the images of Christ and of his saints, when used, we are not bound to use them. They are not necessary appendages to our service, and may be dispensed with, whenever it is judged proper. Except the Crucifix, an image is hardly ever seen in our Chapels in England, for fear of giving scandal to our Protestant brethren: in this we act in conformity to the advice of St. Paul, who recommends us to concede to the weaknesses of others, when concession is no sacrifice of our duty. The Clergy of Catholic countries are the best judges how far the use of images is liable to be abused, and whether any mischief arises from the toleration of them; and, as they are not condemned, where there can be no sinister motive for continuing them, it is but charity to suppose, that they are not worthy of condemnation. In England we (c)

(e) That it is in itself no impiety to pay religious veneration to inanimate objects, is to be deduced from the commands of Almighty God himself, in the Old Testament. Moses was ordered to put off his shoes on Mount Horeb, and walk barefoot, because it was holy ground. The Israelites were, in several instances, commanded to

pray to saints, without their images before us, and we invoke the assistance of the Mother of God, without the aid of a picture to enliven our devotion. Protestants take off their hats out of respect before a sinful man; they pay homage to the portrait of their sovereign, in the halls of his ambassadors, and to the empty throne in the house of peers; they rise from their seats, and stand uncovered, during the performance of music in honour of the King; they bow the head to the altar, and to the name of Jesus, when it is pronounced; they kiss the Bible, when they have sworn by it; they decorate their Churches with images painted upon glass; they even kneel before their consecrated bread and wine, " mere bodily elements, of earthly manufacture;"(and all this without incurring the guilt of idolatry. But why similar marks of respect and veneration may not be shewn to the image of the Mother of God, or of the Prince of the Apostles, without subjecting

shew a high respect to the Ark of the Covenant, and severe punishments were inflicted upon those who either touched it, or looked upon it with irreverence or inattention. In the New Testament we are commanded to bend the knee at the name of Jesus; and why may we not pay the same mark of respect to the representation of his sufferings, without the imputation of idolatry? By both we only honour the Redeemer of Mankind.

(d) Bishop of Durham's Charge.

those who shew them, to the odious imputation of superstition and idolatry, is only conceivable to the minds of men who come forward with so groundless and uncharitable a charge. It evinces a degree of ignorance and credulity, equalled only by the want of charity which it betrays. Those who see with a superficial eye, and without a due knowledge of the circumstances, may doubtless be scandalized: the Jews were even scandalized at our Saviour, whom, in the ignorance and the blindness of their hearts, they called a drinker of wine, and the companion of publicans. Idolatry is an act of the mind, and not of the body: and it is a crying injustice to presume that a Catholic is praying to an image, because he is praying before it."

(e) "Were the Israelites idolaters, when they turned their eyes devoutly towards the sanctuary in which were deposited the Ark and the Cherubim? or when, in the posture of suppliants, they cast an eye of confidence and hope upon the brazen serpent? Were Joshua and all the ancients of Israel idolaters, because they religiously fell prostrate on the ground before the Ark of the Testament? Was David an idolater, when he brought back the Ark of God with all the pomp and solemnity mentioned in the Scripture?"-(Amicable Discussion, vol. ii. p. 291.)

The second council of Nice, convoked by the Empress Irene and Pope Adrian, discussed the question most maturely, and defined: "That pictures and images are set up in Churches and other places, that, at the sight of them,

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