remained mute and confounded? Because they emanate from Authority-an Authority to which you are obliged to submit. You have asked for some proof that the Virgin Mary is authoritatively put forward in your Church instead of the Trinity; and I believe you have received a sufficient

answer.

I pass over another passage of the same revolting character at the conclusion of the Encyclical Letter, and proceed to other proofs which will further establish the character of the authoritative teaching in your Church. You will not deny the authority of the Litany of the blessed Virgin, printed at the end of the Roman Catechism compiled by Cardinal Bellarmine, and to the repetition of which, Indulgences were attached by Sixtus V, Benedict XIII, and Pius VII. At the conclusion of this is the following prayer. "We fly to thy protection, Holy Mother of God, despise not our prayers in our necessities, but "deliver us at all times from all evils, glorious and "blessed Virgin." The holy Psalmist placed his trust in God. "THE LORD will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble." (Ps. ix. 9.) He consoled the afflicted of Israel by the hope that THE LORD "will regard the prayer of the

Sub tuum præsidium confugimus, sancta Dei Genetrix, nostras deprecationes ne despicias in necessitatibus nostris; sed a periculis cunctis libera nos semper, Virgo gloriosa et benedicta.

destitute, and not despise their prayer." (Ps. cii. 17.) Our Lord himself taught us to pray to our Heavenly Father to "deliver us from all evil." And yet, in spite of all this, the Popes grant indulgences for the repetition of prayers which express the very same sort of confidence in the Virgin as the Scriptures teach us to feel towards God.

I will here mention another prayer to the Virgin, to the repetition of which Pius VI. in 1786 granted Indulgences. It is as follows: " Condescend to permit me to praise thee, sacred Virgin. Grant "me strength against thine enemies. Blessed be "God in his Saints "." The Stabat Mater," which has indulgences annexed to its repetition by Innocent XI, is full of similar petitions'. But I will not dwell further on this branch of the subject.

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"best

You wish for some proofs from your writers," or any of them, that the Virgin Mary is presented instead of the Trinity, and that she is regarded as the dispenser of mercy. You will readily admit the eminent learning and piety of Cardinal Bona. Hear then the following prayer extracted from his writings.

"Oh most sweet Virgin Mary, Mother of God "and our Lord Jesus Christ, refuge of sinners, " and mother of Mercy, I commit myself this day "and evermore to thy peculiar protection with most

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• Bouvier, Traité des Indulgences, p. 244.

"humble devotion.

Place me near unto thee, and "protect me from all my enemies visible and invisible. Say unto my soul, I AM THY SALVATION. Direct

me thy servant in all my ways and actions. Con"sole me in all my griefs and afflictions. Defend "and preserve me from all evils and dangers. "Turn thy face unto me when the end of my "life shall come; and may thy consolation, in "that tremendous hour, rejoice my spirit. Thou "canst do all that thou wilt in heaven and earth,

nor can any resist thy will, for thou obtainest "from the Almighty whatever thou seekest. Hear "therefore and receive my prayers, and despise

me not when I confide in thy mercy. Behold "I fall down before thee, most gracious Virgin, "I fall down and worship IN THEE thy Son, and "I implore thy suffrages to obtain that my sins

may be blotted out, to reconcile the heart of thy "Son to my heart, that He may possess me, and "make me a man according unto his heart 5."

If this prayer does not ascribe to the blessed Virgin the Divine attribute of " dispensing mercy," I know not what words can do so. She is addressed exactly in the terms which we should use in pray

"In hora illa tremenda consolatio tua lætificet spiritum meum. Omnia potes quæcumque vis in cœlo et in terra, nec est qui possit resistere voluntati tuæ.... Ecce procido coram te, benignissima Virgo, procido et adoro in te Filium tuum,” &c. Jo. Bonæ Presbyt. Cardinalis, Horologium Asceticum, §. 2. Opuscula Spiritualia, t. i. p. 13.

ing to the second or third Persons of the Holy Trinity. We see in it the same feeling of confidence in the protection of the Being addressedthe same degree of worship which is offered to Jesus Christ. "I fall down and worship IN THEE

thy Son." The Virgin Mary is worshipped with the honour due to God! You will not, I venture to say, express any disapprobation of this prayer, any more than of the sentiments of Gregory XVI. or of the authorized and indulgenced prayers which I have cited above. You will be satisfied to say, that such things are not enforced upon your consciences by the Decrees of the Council of Trent. Then if they are not, your guilt is so much the greater in practising them. By your own confession, such idolatrous invocations are not compulsory on you. They are therefore voluntary ; and you are wholly without excuse or justification. It is in vain to allege that they are not universally approved or received. What proofs can you afford of this assertion? When have you yourself protested against them? Who amongst you lifts up his voice against them? You content yourselves with general disclaimers of superstition and idolatry, but you will never venture to lay your finger on any specific case amongst the thousands which are authorized amongst you.

But I have not concluded this branch of the subject yet. I have to adduce a third branch of evidence, the authority of which you, at least, will scarcely deny.

I allude to the "Lives of St. Alphonsus Liguori, St. "Francis de Girolamo, &c. whose canonization took "place on Trinity Sunday, May 26, 1839." Of this publication you are the reputed Editor", and if you are unwilling to avow your connection with it, you cannot hesitate to admit the authority attached to the actions and sentiments of Saints recently canonized, after the strictest and minutest investigation of their lives and conduct by the highest tribunals in the Roman Church-actions and sentiments which had been brought under the special notice of those tribunals, and which are now published (probably by yourself) for the general edification and imitation of Roman Catholics. Let us then see what is thus authorized by your Church. I extract the following from the Life of St. Alphonsus Liguori.

"His loving patroness, our blessed Lady, re"warded his zeal in the cause of charity and "devotion by appearing to him in the sight of an "immense crowd of people collected in the Church "of Foggia to listen to a discourse upon his fa"vorite subject, the intercession and patronage of Mary. From her countenance a ray of light,

At the end of the Catholic Directory and Annual Register for the year 1841, I find in the Catalogue of Books of “ F. A. Little, Catholic Bookseller and Stationer," the following:

WORKS BY THE REV. DR. WISEMAN.

The Lives of St. Alphonsus Liguori, &c.