in the dust. All, without exception, have reference to the living. That the living may grow in grace, and increase in happiness, we have, thank God, an abundance of precepts to assure us, and of examples to encourage us; but that the departed spirit in the intermediate state can increase in sanctification, or progress towards perfection in happiness and glory, the Scriptures contain no intimation.' Prayer to this end, therefore, will rather partake of the nature of " will-worship," than of christian obedience to the dictates of holy writ; and, if on that account alone, it should be avoided. If, indeed, the feeling were indulged, it would be difficult to place bounds to its exercise. Why might we not, with like feelings of charity, extend our prayers to the damned in hell, whose doom the Scripture has positively determined to be as lasting as the glory of the saints in heaven?

Warned, indeed, by those awful instances of abuse in praying for the dead, to which the practice has led in the fallen and apostate Church of Rome; and perceiving, at the same time, that it is entirely destitute of sanction, either by precept or example in the word of God, it is the wisdom, it is the duty of every sober Christian to bow to

1

"This life is given unto men to work out their salvation with fear and trembling: but after death cometh judgment, reflecting on the life that is past, not expecting amendment or conversion then." Bishop Pearson on the Creed, art. v. p. 244. London, 1715.

X

his only unerring guide; and, instead of consuming his energies and his christian sympathies upon those for whom they will not avail, to devote his brief span of existence to the avoidance of the vices, and the imitation of the virtues, of those who have preceded him in their exit from this transitorv world?

307

NOTES TO CHAPTER VII.

Note A, p. 279.

Si rebus viventium interessent animæ mortuorum, et ipsæ nos, quando eas videmus, alloquerentur in somnis; ut de aliis taceam, meipsum pia mater nulla nocte desereret, quæ terra marique secuta est ut mecum viveret. Si autem parentes non intersunt, qui sunt alii mortuorum, qui noverint quid agamus quidve patiamur? Ibi ergo sunt spiritus defunctorum, ubi non vident quæcumque aguntur aut eveniunt in ista vita hominibus. August. de cura gerend. pro Mort. ch. 13, sec. 16, tom. vi. col. 526, B.D.G. Paris, 1685.

Note B, p. 281.

Non solum ecclesia, quæ est in terris, communicat bona sua cum omnibus membris sibi conjunctis, sed etiam communicat suffragia ecclesiæ quæ est in Purgatorio; et ecclesia, quæ est in cœlis, communicat orationes et merita sua cum ecclesia quæ est in terris. Bellarm. in Symbol. art. 9, p. 123.

Note C, p. 282.

Interpellat pro sanctis; id est, interpellare facit sanctos. August. de Anima et ejus Origine, lib. iv. c. 9, tom. vii. col. 1193, D. Basle, 1569.

"Maketh intercession for the saints; that is, causes the saints to make intercession."

Interpellat pro sanctis. Quod non sic est intelligendum, ut existimemus sanctum Spiritum Dei, qui in Trinitate incommutabilis Deus est, et cum Patre et Filio unus Deus, tamquam aliquem, qui non sit Deus, interpellare pro sanctis. Interpellare itaque sanctos facit gemitibus inenarrabilibus, inspirans eis desiderium etiam adhuc incognitæ tantæ rei, quam per patientiam expectamus. August. Epist. cxxx. ad Probam. c. 15, sec. 28, tom. ii. col. 394, B. Paris, 1688.

"Maketh intercession for the saints. This is not to be so understood as to lead us to suppose that the Holy Spirit of God, who in the Trinity is an unchangeable God, One with the Father and the Son, intercedes with the saints as one who is not God. He causes, therefore, the saints to make intercession with groanings that cannot be uttered, inspiring them with an earnest desire of that great advantage which, though yet unknown, we expect to obtain by patience."

Note D, p. 290.

Hic jacet corpus Herberti Thorndike, &c. Tu, lector, requiem ei, et beatam in Christo resurrectionem, precare.

Note E, p. 290.

Exuviæ Isaaci Asaphensis Episcopi, &c. O vos transeuntes in domum Domini, in domum orationis, orate pro conservo vestro, ut inveniat misericordiam in die Domini.

Note F, p. 299.

In 1509 the Manuale sec. usum Eboracensem contains the fol lowing: -"Ye shall make speciall prayer for all the sowles that byde the great mercy of Almighty God in the bytter peynes of Purgatory."

In 1513 special prayers were to be made for "the three estates, concerning all christian people, i. e. for the spirituality, the temporality, and the souls being in the pains of Purgatory."

In 1534 prayer was ordered to be made "for the souls of all them that be dead, and especially for such as it shall please the preacher to name."

In 1536. "Ye shall pray for the souls that be departed, abiding the mercy of Almighty God, that it may please him rather, at the contemplation of our prayers, to grant them the fruition of his presence."

In 1537. "Ye shall pray for all those that are departed out of this transitory life, and now sleepe in the sleepe of peace, and rest from their labors in quietnesse and peaceable sleepe, faithfully, lovingly, and patiently, looking for that that they clearly shall see, when God shall be so pleased."

In 1550.

"I commend unto you the souls departed this life in

the faith of Christ, that ye remember to give laudes, prayer, and thankes to Almighty God for his great goodness and mercy shewed unto them in that great need and conflict against the devill and sinne, and that gave them, at the hour of death, faith in his Sonnes death and passion, whereby they might conquer and overcome, and get the victory."

In 1554, Mary's reign, prayer was again to be made for "souls departed this world, in the faythe of Christ, aby dinge the mercy of God in the paynes of Purgatory."

In 1559, Elizabeth's reign, the prayer was again altered to the following form: "Let us pray God for all those which are departed out of this life in the faith of Christ, and pray unto God that we may have grace soe to direct our lives after their good example, and that after this life we with them may be partakers of the glorious resurrection in the life everlasting."

See a Collection of the "Forms of Bidding Prayer, with Introduction and Notes." Oxford, 1840.

Note G, p. 301.

Si quis dixerit, baptismum liberum esse, hoc est, non necessarium ad salutem: Anathema sit. Concil. Trid. sess. vii. can. 5, p. 51. Romæ, 1564.

"Whoever shall affirm that baptism is a matter of indifference, that is, not necessary to salvation let him be Anathema."

Nihil magis necessarium videri potest, quam ut doceantur, omnibus hominibus baptismi legem a Domino præscriptam esse, ita ut, nisi per baptismi gratiam Deo renascantur, in sempiternam miseriam et interitum a parentibus, sive illi fideles sive infideles sint, procreentur.

"Nothing can be apparently more necessary, than that the faithful should be taught, that the law of baptism was ordained by the Lord for all men; so that unless they be regenerated by God, through the grace of baptism, they are begotten by their parents, be they believers or unbelievers, to everlasting misery and perdition."

Cum itaque, per Adæ peccatum, pueri ex origine noxam contraxerint, multo magis per Christum Dominum possunt gratiam et justitiam consequi, ut regnent in vitam: quod quidem sine baptismo fieri nullo modo potest.