opinion is favoured by the liturgies, in which God is entreated to deliver those souls from the lion's mouth "." Cardinal Bellarmine observes that the doctrine is uncertain, because the schoolmen with St. Thomas, deny it; but "on the other hand, that the souls in Purgatory are tortured by devils, is taught by many revelations, as that of St. Furseus in Beda, lib. ii. c. 19, and in Dionysius Carthusianus," &c.

IV. I have now only to add that it is the doctrine of the Roman Church and of all your theologians, that Purgatory receives only the souls of the just, i. e. of those persons who die in a state of justification and grace, free from the guilt of mortal sin.

The Council of Trent distinctly intimates that "after the grace of justification is received," temporal penalties for sin remain to be endured in this world or in Purgatory'. The Catechism of the Council describes it as "a fire in which the souls of the pious, being tortured for a certain time, are expiated "." Bossuet says that "those who depart

.

P Bouvier, p. 286.

¶ Bellarminus De Purgatorio, lib. ii. c. xiv.

• Si quis post acceptam justificationis gratiam, cuilibet peccatori pœnitenti ita culpam remitti, ut reatum æternæ pœnæ deleri dixerit, ut nullus remaneat reatus pœnæ temporalis exsolvendæ vel in hoc sæculo vel in futuro in Purgatorio, antequàm ad regna cœlorum aditus patere possit; anathema sit. Conc. Trid. Sess. vi. can. 30.

s Præterea est purgatorius ignis, quo piorum animæ ad definitum tempus cruciatæ expiantur, ut eis in æternam patriam

this life in the state of grace and charity, but without having discharged their debt of temporal punishment reserved by the justice of God, suffer that punishment in the other life t." Perrone says:

"By the word 'Purgatory' we mean a state of expiation, to endure for a time, in which just souls ... are detained "." Tournely, Bouvier, Delahogue, and all your other Divines, employ exactly the same language.

Having thus ascertained what doctrines on the subject of Purgatory are received, approved, and authorized in the Roman Communion, though they have not been formally defined by the Council of Trent, we are in a position to explain to you the reasons for which the public in this country so strongly object to the doctrine in question.

"what

"I am at a loss to conceive,” you say, can be considered in it repugnant to the justice of God, or to the ordinary ways of Providence; what can be found therein opposed to the moral law, in the remotest degree. The idea that God, besides condemning some to eternal punishment, and receiving others to eternal glory, should have

ingressus patere possit, in quam nihil coinquinatum ingreditur. Cat. Conc. Trid. pars i. art. v. c. 5.

t Bossuet, Exposition, c. vii.

u Perrone, Præl. Theol. vol. iii. p. 308. ed. Lovan. 1839.

been pleased to appoint a middle and temporary state, in which those who are not sufficiently guilty for the severer condemnation, nor sufficiently pure to enjoy the vision of His face, are for a time punished and purged, so as to be qualified for this blessing, assuredly contains nothing but what is most accordant to all we can conceive of His justice. . . . What then, in God's name, is there in this doctrine, viewed simply in itself, that can make it so popular a theme of declamation against Catholics? The anti-Scriptural doctrine of Purgatory, as it is termed, is more frequently than almost any other of our less important dogmas, the theme of obloquy and misrepresentation."

Let me endeavour to account to you for the feelings of which you complain, and at the same time to shew that they are just and well-founded.

In the first place, then, I would again draw your attention to the fact that Romanists most positively assert, that none but the just or righteous are admitted into Purgatory. Its punishments are reserved exclusively for those who die without the guilt of mortal sin, and in a state of justification. The pains of Purgatory are supposed to be inflicted in order to satisfy the justice of God for the temporal punishment still remaining due for remitted mortal sin, or for venial sin still remaining. You will not dispute the correctness of this statement. In the second place, let us consider what you

x Wiseman, Controv. Lectures, ii. p. 52, 53.

believe to be the relation of the just to God, or what is implied in justification. According to the Council of Trent, then, "Justification is not merely remission of sin, but sanctification, and the renewal of the inner man by the voluntary reception of grace and Divine gifts; so that he who was unrighteous is made righteous, and the enemy becomes a friend, and an heir acording to the hope of eternal life.... When a man is justified, and united to Jesus Christ, he receives, together with the remission of sins, the following gifts bestowed upon him at the same time, namely, faith, hope, and charity."

Thus justification includes the gift of sanctifying grace; and according to Perrone, whose theology is taught in the University of Rome, "Sanctifying grace, which is usually called 'habitual,' is commonly defined as 'a supernatural gift of God, permanently inherent in the soul, by which a man is immediately and formally rendered holy, just, pleasing to God, the adoptive Son of God, capable of doing works deserving of eternal life, and an heir of the same.' From this definition the whole system Catholic doctrine, with regard to the nature of

this

grace and its effects, is collected; as, first, that it is intrinsic to our souls, or closely adherent to them; secondly, that it washes the soul from its defilement, and makes it refulgent with a sort of Divine beauty; thirdly, that this sanctifying grace is inseparable from justification, which depends on

y Concil. Trident. Sess. vi. cap. vii,

it, since a sinner is, by one and the same act, made just and holy"."

When, therefore, you speak of a just man-of one who has received the grace of justification, you mean that he is reconciled to God; holy; full of faith, hope, and charity; full of all-sanctifying grace; free from the defilement of sin; refulgent with the beauty of sanctity, a child of God, an heir of salvation, well-pleasing to God, united to Jesus Christ. There is in short no term applied by Scripture to the holy objects of God's love, which you do not believe applicable in all its fulness to the just. And yet, Sir, you hold that God consigns these his beloved children to the tortures of HELL, for a period, the extent of which you cannot in any way calculate! You believe that they are, perhaps for thousands of years, tortured in the same fire which torments the lost spirits; that they are enveloped in darkness, struggling in anxiety of mind; and in fine, perfectly "miserable." And this, Sir, is the representation you give of the mercy and the justice of God. The mercy of God is, according to your doctrine, exhibited in demanding payment "even to the last farthing" for venial sins, and plunging the objects of His love into the torments of the damned, because they have departed this life without satisfying for some trivial fault. The justice of God is shewn by His exacting payment "even to the last farthing" for z Perrone, Præl. Theol. t. v. p. 210.

B