for the avoiding of diversities of opinions and for the establishing of consent touching true religion." In short, they are nothing more than the expression of an English synod, as to certain controverted doctrines and certain general principles, without subscribing to which ecclesiastics are prohibited by the English bishops from officiating within the boundaries of their jurisdiction. That our Church is not to be identified with a reception of the thirty-nine articles is clear from this fact, that the Church of Ireland was in full communion with the Church of England during the reigns of Elizabeth and James, although it was not till the reign of Charles I. that the articles were subscribed by the clergy of the former country 1; and the same may be said of the Episcopal Church of Scotland, by which they were only adopted at the close of the last century. Thus our articles are not what the articles of the Council of Trent are, additional articles of faith, we do require our teachers and preachers to pledge themselves not to preach or teach doctrines contrary to what are therein contained, but we do not require their adoption as the condition of communion,—we do not say, as the Papist does, with reference to the articles of faith adopted in 1545 by the Council of Trent, that without professing them, no man can

1 1634. Leland, vol. ii. pp. 27, 28.

be saved. But while the objection of the Papist thus falls to the ground, we may, in our turn, take an offensive attitude, and demand whether the primitive Catholics of Ireland, the predecessors of the present Protestant clergy, received the Creed of Pope Pius IV.-the distinguishing Creed at the present time of Romanism? The answer may be given at once, by reference to what has been before stated in this discourse1.

1

The Creed of Pope Pius IV., the distinguishing creed of the Roman Church-the enforcement of which creed has separated that Church, in fact, from the Catholic Church of Christ— was not published till the year 1564, two years after the date of our Thirty-nine Articles. In this Creed all the corrupt opinions against which we protested and legislated, are adopted as Articles of Faith. Many things may have been taught in the Church before the Reformation, which we now know to be erroneous--but they were not insisted upon as Articles of Communion, till the Council of Trent. It was then that Romanism assumed the sectarian character. The following are the Articles appended to the Nicene Creed by Pope Pius IV." I most firmly admit and embrace Apostolical and Ecclesiastical traditions, and all other constitutions and observances of the same Church. I also admit the sacred Scriptures, according to the sense which the Holy Mother Church has held, and does hold, to whom it belongs to judge of the true sense and interpretation of the Holy Scriptures; nor will I ever take and interpret them otherwise than according to the unanimous consent of the Fathers. I confess also that there are truly and properly seven Sacraments of the New Law instituted by Jesus Christ our Lord, and for the salvation of mankind, though all are not ne

In like manner, when it is asked whether the primitive Catholics of Ireland used one common

cessary for every one; viz. baptism, confirmation, eucharist, penances, extreme unction, orders, and matrimony, and that they confer grace; and of these baptism, confirmation, and orders cannot be reiterated without sacrilege. I also receive and admit the ceremonies of the Catholic Church received and approved in the solemn administration of all the above said Sacraments. I receive and embrace all and every one of the things which have been defined and declared in the Holy Council of Trent, concerning original sin and justification: I confess likewise that in the mass is offered to God, a true, proper, and propitiatory sacrifice for sin, the living and the dead; and that in the most holy Sacrament of the Eucharist there is truly, really, and substantially, the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ; and that there is made a conversion of the whole substance of the bread into the body, and of the whole substance of the wine into the blood, of Christ, which conversion the (Roman) Catholic Church calls transubstantiation. I confess also, that under either kind alone, whole and entire, Christ and a true Sacrament is received. I constantly hold that there is a purgatory, and that the souls therein are helped by the suffrages of the faithful. Likewise that the saints, reigning together with Christ, are to be honoured and invocated; that they offer prayers to God for us, and that their relics are to be venerated. I most firmly assert, that the images of Christ, and of the Mother of God ever Virgin, and also of the other Saints, are to be had and retained; and that due honour and veneration are to be given to them. I also affirm, that the power of indulgences was left by Christ in the Church, and that the use of them is most wholesome to Christian people. I acknowledge the Holy Catholic Apostolic Roman Church, the

Prayer and Liturgy, we can answer in the first place, that we may be sure that whatever prayers they used, they prayed in the vulgar tongue, not only because it was the universal practice, but because so late as the thirteenth century it was decreed in a council at Rome itself," that because in most parts within the same city and diocese, the people of divers tongues are mixed together, having under one and the same faith, divers ceremonies and rites, that the Bishops of such cities and dioceses should provide men fit, who may celebrate Divine service according to the diversity of cere

mother and mistress of all Churches; and I promise and swear true obedience to the Roman Bishop, the successor of St. Peter, Prince of the Apostles and Vicar of Jesus Christ. I also profess and undoubtedly receive all other things delivered, defined, and declared by the Sacred Canons and General Councils, and particularly by the Holy Council of Trent; and likewise, I also condemn, reject, and anathematize all things contrary thereto, and all heresies whatsoever condemned and anathematized by the Church. This true Catholic (Roman) faith, out of which none can be saved, which I now freely profess and truly hold, I, N, promise, vow, and swear most constantly to hold and profess the same whole and entire, with God's assistance, unto my life's end. Amen." I have transcribed this Creed of 1564 as translated by Mr. Butler, p. 9, that the reader may have before his eyes the new articles of faith and communion which the Roman Church has added to the old Creeds, that we still retain, but which were unknown to the original Catholic Churches of these islands.

1

monies and languages, and administer the Sacraments of the Church, instructing them both by word and example '.' Now this clearly shows

that even at Rome itself, the manufactory, the storehouse, the foundry of all modern innovations, the innovation of prohibiting the use of the language understood by the people had not as yet taken place; and if not there, then we may be sure that it prevailed no where else.

We can answer, in the next place, in the words of our most distinguished Ritualist: "The English Prayer-book was not composed in a few years, or by a few men: it has descended to us with the improvements and approbation of many centuries; and they who truly feel the value and sublime elevation of our hymns and prayers, participate in the spirit of primitive devotion. The great majority of our formularies are actually translated from Latin and Greek Rituals, which have been used for the last fourteen or fifteen hundred years in the Christian Church: and there is scarcely a portion of our Prayer-book which cannot in some way be traced to ancient offices"." We may

answer thirdly, that we know it as a fact that the Roman offices, (differing though they did then from what they are now,) were not adopted in Ireland till the year of our Lord 1171, and that

Bishop Taylor, x. 170.

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Palmer, vol. i. Preface.