formed him, had, since his execution, supported the weight of his body, and was still holding him up at that moment. Not to prolong the necessity of supernatural assistance, Peter was cut down without delay. Of the pleasures he had experienced while hanging, he used always to speak in raptures; notwithstanding a wry neck, and an habitual paleness for life, which the Virgin allowed him to keep, in remembrance of her assistance. It seems that, omitting the rope and the beam, the scene of suspension was often repeated between Peter and his glorious prop; for the Breviary informs us that he frequently was seen raised in the air, uttering "the sweetest words," in answer to questions which the bystanders heard not, but conjectured, most rationally, to proceed from the Virgin.

"May I not ask," says the author of the Book of the Roman Catholic Church, "if it be either just or generous to harass the present Catholics with the weaknesses of the ancient writers of their communion; and to attempt to render their religion and themselves odious, by their unceasing and offensive repetitions ?" This complaint should be addressed to the Pope, and the Roman Catholic Bishops, by whose authority, consent, and practice, these weaknesses are unceasingly repeated, for the instruction of the members of their communion. We can sympathize with the feelings of the author; we can easily conceive how galling it must be for a modernized Roman Catholic, in this country, to be constantly suspected of being a Roman Catholic indeed, and according to the Pope's heart.

The truth is, that the Protestants have nearly forgotten the monstrous heap of falsehood and imposture from which Rome daily feeds her flock. But the offensive repetitions resound on the ears of their harassed apologists, from the tongue of every Bishop, Priest, Deacon, and Subdeacon of their communion; they are chaunted incessantly in every Roman Catholic Ca

thedral, in every convent of males or females; they are translated into popular tracts; they are heard and read with avidity by the mass of straightforward, uncompromising Catholics, and cannot be scouted by the more fastidious, without a direct reproach on the most constant, solemn, and authorized practice of their Church. In vain would the suffering scholar, the harassed man of refinement, attempt a distinction between the miracles of dark ages, and those of more modern times. In vain would he venture a smile on the Golden Legend, and the Patrician Metaphrastes. His Mother Church has thrown her mantle over them, by borrowing from them all for her own peculiar book, her own corrected work, the task-book of all her Clergy. He must remember that the weaknesses, for which he implores the benefit of oblivion, are no longer imputable to their original and ancient sources, but to the Pope, who republished them at the Vatican, in 1631; to the Church which, with one accordant voice, repeats them to the faithful of all climes and languages.

The lessons are taken partly out of the Old and New Testaments, and partly out of the Acts of the Saints, and writings of the holy Fathers. The Lord's Prayer, the Hail Mary, or Angelical Salutation, the Apostles' Creed, and the Confiteor, are frequently said. This last is a prayer, by which they acknowledge themselves sinners; beg pardon of God, and the intercession, on their behalf, of the angels, of the saints, and of their brethren upon earth. No prayers are more frequently in the mouth of Roman Catholics than these four; to which we may add the Doxology, repeated in the office at the end of every psalm, and in other places. In every canonical hour a hymn is also said, often composed by Prudentius, or some other ancient Father. The Roman Breviary contains also a small office, in honour of the blessed Virgin, and likewise what is

called the office of the Dead. We there find, besides, the Penitential and the Gradual Psalms, as they are called, together with the Litanies of the Saints, and of the Virgin Mary of Loretto, which are the only two that have the sanction of the Church.

CHAPTER IV.

BAPTISM, &c.

REGULARLY Speaking, Baptism should be administered in churches, and in churches which have fonts, the waters of which are, according to Apostolical tradition, solemnly blessed, every year, on the vigils of Easter and Pentecost. From the history of the earliest ages of this Church, we are informed, that it was the practice to bless all inanimate things destined for the use of man, and particularly such as were used for the service of religion. Thus a blessing was pronounced over the water and oil, used in the administration of the sacraments. Besides this, water used with salt, that had been blessed, was placed at the porch of the churches, with which the faithful washed their hands, and signed their foreheads, as they entered, and with the same water they, and other things, were often sprinkled by the Minister. "Of this ancient practice, much," says Mr. Berington, "still remains in the Catholic Church, laudably tenacious as she is of antiquity, influenced as she is by religious motives, which, in this and other concerns, actuated the founders of her discipline. Salt, mingled

with the water, is deemed the emblem of prudence and incorruption; and the water denotes purity and innocence of heart; while he that enters the place of worship, and applies it, with the sign of the Cross, to his forehead, is admonished by the action, with what cleanliness of heart and hand he should appear in the presence of his Maker."

"One thing,” says Middleton, "that will, of course, strike one's imagination, is their use of holy water: for nobody ever goes in or out of a church, but is either sprinkled by the Priest, who attends for that purpose on solemn days, or else serves himself with it from a vessel, usually of marble, placed just at the door, not unlike to one of our baptismal fonts. Now this ceremony is so notoriously and directly transmitted to them from Paganism, that their own writers make not the least scruple to own it."

When an adult person is to be baptized, he must first stop at the door of the church, where the Priest meets him, and asks his name, (which, among Roman Catholics, is generally the name of a saint, whose virtues they may imitate.) He then inquires what he wants of the Church of God; and on being answered, Faith,-i.e., Christianity, that he may obtain life everlasting, the Priest puts him in mind that he must keep the commandments, and love the Lord God. He then breathes three times upon him, commanding the unclean spirit to depart, and give place to the living God. This ceremony is followed by signing the Catechumen with the sign of the Cross, and some prayers in his behalf. The Priest then blesses some salt, and puts a little of it into the mouth of the catechumen, to signify the salt of wisdom, discretion, and grace. The Priest then proceeds to several exorcisms, which were formerly made on different days. This done, the Priest introduces the catechumen into the church, and, jointly with him, repeats the

Apostles' Creed, and Lord's Prayer; after which, in imitation of what Christ did to the man born blind, and to the deaf and dumb man possessed by a devil, he touches the nostrils and ears of the catechumen with a little spittle. Then follows the solemn denunciation of Satan, his works, and pomps; which includes a promise, a vow, and a covenant of serving God. In the next place he is anointed on the breast, and between the shoulders, with oil, previously blessed by a Bishop,-an unction intended to represent the anointing of the soul with grace, whereby we are enabled to act manfully in the cause of God, and to bear adversities patiently. The catechumen then professes his belief of the principal doctrines of Christianity, in answer to questions on this head. the covenant of baptism, viz., the covenant of faith, in an obligation of believing and practising Christianity. After all these preparatory ceremonies, follows the sacred action of baptism itself; after which, the Priest anoints the person baptized, on the crown of the head, with holy chrism, to signify that he partakes in the spiritual unction of Jesus Christ, from whence comes the name of Christianity. Then he puts upon him a white robe, and exhorts him to carry it without stain to the tribunal of Jesus Christ,-that is to say, to preserve to his death the grace he has received. In fine, he puts into his hand a lighted candle, with a recommendation to the same effect.

This implies another part of

In the place of the simple application of water to the body, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, there are, in the first place, certain persons, called sponsors, or godfathers and godmothers, who are to be interrogated. These having promised to live and die Catholics, presently demand for the infant the gift of "faith." The Priest then breathes three times on the face of the child, uttering these words: