and execrable, being contrary to the known laws of God and nature.

10. Personal misdemeanors, of what nature soever, ought not to be imputed to the body of Catholics, when not justifiable by the tenets of their faith and doctrine; for which reason, though the stories of the Irish cruelties or powder-plot had been exactly true (which yet, for the most part, are notoriously misrelated), nevertheless Catholics, as such, ought not to suffer for such offences any more than the eleven apostles ought to have suffered for the treachery of Judas.

II. It is a fundamental truth in our religion that no power on earth can license men to lie, to forswear or perjure themselves, to massacre their neighbors, to destroy their native country, on pretence of promoting the Catholic cause or religion. Furthermore, all pardons or dispensations granted, or pretended to be granted, in order to accomplish any such ends or designs, could have no other validity or effect than to add sacrilege and blasphemy to the above-mentioned crimes.

12. The doctrine of equivocation, or mental reservation, however wrongfully imputed to the Catholic relig. ion, was never taught or approved by the Church as any part of her belief; on the contrary, simplicity and godly sincerity are constantly inculcated by her as truly Christian virtues, necessary to the conservation of justice, truth, and common security.

Section III.

1. Every Catholic believes that when a sinner repents of his sins from the bottom of his heart, and acknowledges his transgressions to

God and His ministers, the dispensers of the mysteries of Christ, resolving to turn from his evil ways, and bring forth fruits worthy of repentance, there is then, and not otherwise, any authority left by Christ to absolve such a penitent sinner from his sins, which authority Christ gave to His apostles and their successors, the bishops and priests of His Church, in these words, when He said: "Receive ye the Holy Ghost; whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven unto them."

2. Though no creature whatsoever can make condign satisfaction, either for the guilt of sin or the pain eternal due to it, this satisfaction being proper to Christ our Saviour only, yet penitent sinners, redeemed by Christ, may, as members of Christ, in some measure satisfy by prayer, fasting, almsdeeds, and other works of piety, for temporal pain, which, in the order of Divine justice, sometimes remains due, after the guilt of sin and pain eternal have been remitted. Such penitential works are, notwithstanding, not otherwise satisfactory than as joined and applied to that satisfaction which Jesus made upon the cross, and in virtue of which all our good works find a grateful acceptance in the sight of God.

3. The guilt of sin, or pain eternal due to it, is never remitted by what Catholics call indulgences, but only such temporal punishments as remain due after the guilt is remitted, those indulgences being nothing else than a mitigation or relaxation of canonical penances enjoined by the pastors of the Church on penitent sinners, according to their several degrees of demerit; and if abuses and mistakes

have been sometimes committed, either in point of granting or gaining indulgences, through the remissness or ignorance of particular persons, contrary to the ancient customs and discipline of the Church, such abuses or mistakes cannot reasonably be charged on the Church, or rendered matters of derision, in prejudice to her faith and discipline.

4. Catholics hold there is a purgatory, that is to say, a place or state where souls departing this life, with remission of their sins as to the eternal guilt or pain, but yet obnoxious to some temporal punishment still remaining due, or not perfectly freed from the blemish of some defects or deordinations, are purged before their admittance into heaven, where nothing that is defiled can enter.

5. Catholics also hold that such souls so detained in purgatory, being the living members of Jesus Christ, are relieved by the prayers and suffrages of their fellow-members here on earth; but where this place is, or of what nature or quality the pains are, how long souls may be there detained, in what manner the suffrages made in their behalf applied, whether by way of satisfaction or intercession, efc., are questions superfluous and impertinent as to faith.

6. No man, though just, can merit either an increase of sanctity in this life, or eternal glory in the next, independently of the merits and passion of Christ Jesus; but the good works of a just man, proceeding from grace and charity, are so far acceptable to God as to be, through His goodness and sacred promises, truly meritorious of eternal life.

7. It is an article of the Catholic

faith that, in the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist, there is truly and really contained the body of Christ, which was delivered for us, and His blood, which was shed for the remission of sins; the substance of bread and wine being, by the power of Christ, changed into the substance of His blessed body and blood, the species or appearances of bread and wine still remaining; but,

8. Christ is not present in this sacrament according to His natural way of existence, that is, with extension of parts, etc., but in a supernatural manner, one and the same in many places; His presence, therefore, is real and substantial, but sacramental, not exposed to the external senses, or obnoxious to corporal contingencies.

9. Neither is the body of Christ in this holy sacrament separated from His blood, or His blood from His body, or either of them disunited from His soul and divinity, but all and whole living Jesus is entirely contained under each species; so that whosoever receives under one kind is truly partaker of the whole sacrament, and nowise deprived either of the body or blood of Christ. True it is,

10. Our Saviour Jesus Christ left unto us His body and blood under two distinct species or kinds, in the aoing of which, He instituted not only a sacrament, but also a sacrifice,—a commemorative sacrifice distinctly showing His death and bloody passion until He come; for, as the sacrifice of the cross was performed by a distinct effusion of blood, so is that sacrifice commemorated in that of the altar by a distinction of the symbols. Jesus, therefore, is here given not only to us,

but for us, and the Church is thereby enriched with a true, proper and propitiatory sacrifice, usually termed the Mass.

II. Catholics renounce all divine worship and adoration of images or pictures. God alone we worship and adore; nevertheless, we place pictures in churches, to reduce our wandering thoughts, and enliven our memories toward heavenly things. Further, we allow a certain honor to be shown to the images of Christ and His saints beyond what is due to every profane figure; not that we believe any divinity or virtue to reside in them, for which they ought to be honored, but because the honor given to pictures is referred to the prototype or thing represented. like manner,

In

12. There is a kind of honor and respect due to the Bible, to the cross, to the name of Jesus, to churches, to the sacraments, etc., as things peculiarly appertaining to God; also to the glorious saints in heaven, as the friends of God; and to kings, magistrates and superiors on earth, to whom honor is due, honor may be given, without any derogation to the

majesty of God, or that divine worship which is appropriate to Him. Moreover,

13. Catholics believe that the blessed saints in heaven, replenished with charity, pray for us, their fellow-members here on earth; that they rejoice at our conversion; that, seeing God, they see and know Him in all things suitable to their happy state. But God may be inclined to hear their requests made in our behalf, and for their sakes may grant us many favors: therefore, we believe it is good and profitable to desire their intercession, and that this manner of invocation is no more injurious to Christ, our Mediator, than it is for one Christian to beg the prayers of another in this world. Notwithstanding which, Catholics are not taught so to rely on the prayers of others as to neglect their own duty to God in imploring His divine mercy and goodness; in mortifying the deeds of the flesh; in despising the world; in loving and serving God and their neighbor; in following the footsteps of Christ our Lord, who is the way, the truth, and the life, to whom be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.