A PARABLE BY ST. BERNARD. A certain man of the meanest lineage was accused of high treason, and being convicted of having conspired against the state, and the person of his sovereign, was condemned to death, and the king swore he would not revoke the sentence; but that his blood should flow to repair the insult. traditions. He answered, if he is a man of God, follow him. But how shall we know that, said they? He replied: our Lord saith, take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly of heart. If, therefore, that Augustin is meek and lowly of heart, it is to be believed that he has taken upon him the yoke of Christ, and offers the same to you to take upon you. But if he be stern and haughty, it appears that he is not of God, nor are we to regard his words. They insisted again. And how shall we discern even this? Do you contrive, said the anchoret, that he first arrive with his company at the place where the synod is to be held, and if at your ap. proach he shall rise up to you, hear him submissively, being assured that he is the servant of Christ; but if hesistible desire to save his life, and resolved to rescue him shall despise you, and not rise up to you, whereas you are more in number, let him also be despised by you. They did as he directed; and it happened that when they came, Augustin was sitting on a chair; which they observing, were in a passion, and charging him with pride endeavoured to contradict all he said. He said to them, you act in many particulars contrary to our custom, or rather to the custom of the universal church. And yet if you will comply with me in these three points, viz., to keep Easter at the due time, to administer baptism, by which we are again born to God, according to the custom of the holy Roman and Apostolic Church, and jointly with us to preach the word of God to the English nation, we will readily tolerate all other things you do, though con. trary to our customs. They answered that they would do none of those things, nor receive him as their archbishop; alleging among themselves, that if he would not now rise up to us, how much more will he contemn us as of no worth, if we shall begin to be under his subjection. Το whom the man of God, Augustin, is said to have foretold in a threatening manner, that in case they would not join in unity with their brethren, they should be warred upon by their enemies; and if they would not preach the way of life to the English nation, they should by their hands undergo the vengeance of God. All which, through the dispensation of the divine judgment, fell out exactly as he had foretold." This is holy Bede's relation of the two unsuccessful conferences St. Augustin had with the British bishops; in the first of which he proved the divinity of his mission, and the truth of his doctrine, by that incontestable and celebrated miracle of restoring in a moment by his prayers a blind man to the perfect use of his sight, which, though it was attended with the public acclamations of all the spectators, and even drew an acknowledgement from his British adversaries that it was the true way of righteousness which Augustin taught, yet it could not overcome the prepossession and obstinacy under which they so fatally laboured. Hence we find that though their judgments were convinced, their obdurate and exulcerated hearts continued to rebel against the truth. This monarch had an only son, the darling object of his most tender and paternal love, and heir apparent to the crown. The young prince being apprized of the inevitable fate of this unfortunate wretch, and that he was on that same day to be led to the scaffold, felt in his soul an irre by dying in his stead. His bosom glowing with this design, he goes to his father, and after having obtained from him a solemn promise, confirmed by an oath, not to refuse his request, declares his project, and conjures him to concur in it. The king, petrefied with horror and amazement at such a demand, weeps, and his heart is torn with inexpressible anguish; but he is bound by a double oath; he cannot leave the crime unpunished, neither can he refuse to his son the life of the traitor; thus is he con. strained to give an assent which pierces his soul with a sword of sorrow, and fills his bosom with the most oppressive woe. The generous prince asks yet another favour, which his father, notwithstanding the extreme repugnance he feels, cannot refuse; it is to adopt the culprit, and bequeath to him his kingdom. The young victim, overjoyed at the success of his project, departs instantly, and announces to the real criminal that he is come to die in his place, and thus procure his reprieve; moreover, his certain right to the throne, requiring no other acknowledg ment for so signal a benefaction than sometimes to think of him, and to repay such unbounded tenderness by a just tribute of love. The wretch, unmindful of the fate that awaited him ̧ was at the moment occupied with his associates in jesting at his captivity: he scarcely deigns to listen to the glad tidings which are announced to him, much less to the title of son to the king, which is insured to him, but utters a thousand imprecations against his benefactor. Released from his fetters, he flies with the crowd to the public square, and there beholds with tearless eyes his deliverer, who to save his life is on the point of sacrificing his own; he joins those who insult him, and exceeds all in the insolence of his abuse; he even goes so far as to take the place of the executioner, and has the inhumanity to give the stroke of death to his Saviour. Tender sympathizing souls, you will doubtless exclaim against the probability, or even possibility, of this parable; you the bounds of human depravity. But suspend, we entreat, your judgment for a moment; tear off the veil from the figure; break the shell which conceals the reality, and you will with facility discover who this munificent ben will declare that so monstrous an ingratitude exceeds Those who cry the loudest have generally the least to factor is, and also who that wretched being is, whose sell. conduct excites such feelings of horror in your mind; and The young should learn what they ought to practise then decide whether what you have just read is a real when they arrive at maturity. truth or merely A PARABLE, MARTIN LUTHER ON THE HOLY SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. The august and holy Sacrament of Penance, that abundant source of grace, is the only means which the divine mercy selected, to pour grace and consolation into the heart of the sinner, when the keys were given to Saint Peter, the representative of the whole Christian Church, Christ saying to him, "Whatsoever you shall bind upon earth, shall be bound also in heaven; and, whatsoever you shall loose upon earth, shall be loosed also in heaven." Luther, vol. i. p. 63, b. Jena. LUTHER'S AVOWAL RELATIVE TO CONFESSION. We most willingly admit that Penance, with the power of absolving, or, the power of the keys, is a Sacrament, because it is founded on the promise of Jesus Christ, and grants the remission of sins in His name. Luther, vol. viii. p. 382, a. Jena. In the year 1546, Moreover, Doctor Eck mentions in his writings that I reject and look upon contrition as useless, and, that I take from the Sacrament of penance satisfaction, and other important matters, all which is quite untrue, for my works prove the contrary. In order to prevent any one from accusing me of being opposed to good works, I declare that we ought seriously to be contrite, and to go to confession, and to do good works. THAT CONFESSION IS OBLIGATORY AND NECESSARY. It follows, consequently, that auricular confession only extends to positive mortal sins, which from time to time awaken and disturb the conscience, for if it were necessary to confess every sin without exception, we should be obliged, every moment, to go to confession. Nevertheless it tends very much to christian perfection to confess even our less weighty sins, especially if our conscience does not reproach us with mortal sins. Luther, vol. i. p. 341, a. p. 65. b. 66, b. Jena. For it is true that man is not damned for venial sin. Luther, vol. iv. p. 27, b. Jena. In the year 1525. V. TO PARSON STOWELL. Sir,-In our last we noticed the very ungentlemanly and dishonourable manner in which your celebrated champion Lesley, in the "Case Stated," conducted the discussion of the Infallibility. We shall now give you a very remarkable instance of Lesley's dishonesty. At page 45, of the first edition, he makes the Catholic Lord speak thus: "but Christ being come he was then the Church;" which Mr. Lesley refutes very learnedly after this fashion; "Christ was not the Church, for he came to redeem the Church; he did not come to redeem himself." We are wholly of Mr. Lesley's opinion, and we pity his lordship's blunder. But we have no sympathy for Mr. Lesley nor for his Church, which stands in need of so much low and contemptible sophistry for its support. Again, at page 95, we find that Mr. Lesley after having harangued for more than five pages together, without any interruption from his peaceable Lord, concludes with this vehement interrogation,-" And what difference is there between having no guide, and one you cannot find ?" To which his lordship answers very wisely thus: "If I cannot find him, I have him not, and that is all one as to have none." What a very wonderful discovery! What a clever man his lordship was, since he actually found out by some means, that not to have a guide, and to have no guide, are all one! Oh! the darkness of Popish ignorance. Oh! the brilliancy of Protestant enlightenment. When his lordship had arrived thus far, he exclaims;-" Miserable man! if he has no infallible guide, and is fallible himself! And yet upon his going right depends either his eternal happiness or misery." Mr. Lesley here makes the Lord fairly give up the cause of Catholicity, as utterly hopeless and indefensible; and he is foolish enough to suppose, that all his readers will here conclude nemine contradicente, that the whole Catholic Church is nonplused in the person of her noble disputant. However, we exhort his lordship not to be faint-hearted; for we assure him and the public too, that the cause is not by any means so desperate as he imagines; and we hope with the blessing and permission of heaven to shew, that the Church stands even now, as firmly as the rock upon which she is built. The weapons which her enemies dart against her, can effect no execution,the guns which they fire off at her are only charged with powder; a great noise is made but no damage is done. In the second place we observe, that Mr. Lesley has not HOW MUCH LUTHER ESTEEMED THE HOLY quoted any one of the ancient Fathers to patronize his SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. I esteem auricular confession, as well as virginity and chastity, as most precious, and most salutary. Ah! what would be the affliction of the Christian, if there were no anricular confession, and, how great therefore should be his gratitude to God for having handed it down to us! Auricular confession is an abundant treasury of graces, wherein God preserves for us, and offers for us, perpetually, his mercy, and the remission of all our sins. CORRESPONDENCE. TO THE EDITOR OF THE MANCHESTER ILLUMINATOR. nator since it appeared before the public. You promised HUGH CONNOR. fallible Church. Now we take this as a tacit confession, that antiquity is against him. For we cannot believe for one moment, that a man of such profound learning, so weil acquainted with the writings of both modern and ancient authors, would have neglected so considerable an advantage, if he had found anything in the latter that could help his cause. The fact and truth of the matter clearly point out that we can discover only one sort of antiquity favourable to him,-viz. the old condemned heretics, such as the Donatists, and others of that respectable family. And here a very remarkable circumstance presents itself,-for Mr. Lesley does not quote a text (one only excepted, which is the least to the purpose amongst them) that was not objected by the Donatist heretics against the Infallibility of the Catholic Church, and powerfully answered by the Illustrious Doctor of the African Church, St. Austin, as we shall clearly shew by and by. Thirdly, We observe, that Mr. Lesley very uncandidly, like too many of our co-temporaries, affects very often to appear wholly ignorant of what we mean by the Catholic Church, or, as he expresses himself, by the Roman Catholic Church,-and he appears always anxious to confound it with the particular Church or Diocese of Rome, p. p. 28, 30, 43, &c. Now, by means of this fallacy, several truths, which have no relation but to the Church in general, being applied to the particular Church or Diocese of Rome, are not only false but absurd; and this we presume was what Mr. Lesley particularly aimed at. For we have not charity enough to think that he fell into an involuntary error. This manner of stating things wrong, and then charging one's adversary with all the absurdities that follow from it, is, in our opinion, a most dishonourable and disgraceful proceeding; and yet we find it to be very customary among Pretestant writers, and particularly in reference to the matter now under discussion. But if it be done through design, nothing it is clear can be more unfair; if ignorantly, it deserves no milder censure than to be called a downright blunder. We shall, therefore, tell you and Mr. Lesley, once for all, and in the clearest terms in which we can express ourselves, that when we speak of the Roman Catholic Church, and maintain it to be that Infallible Church which Christ has established upon earth, and to which all his promises of a perpetual assistance were made, we mean not the particular Church or Diocese of Rome, which, as a Diocese, has its jurisdiction limited, and is no more the universal Church, than the Diocese of Armagh, or Dublin, or Paris, or Toledo, or Genoa; because a part is not the whole ;-but we mean the whole diffusive body of Catholics, or, to use your phraseology, of Roman Catholics, to whatever country or diocese they may belong, professing the same faith, and living in communion with the Bishop of Rome, whom they acknowledge to be their supreme pastor, or the head of their Church on earth. This is plain English; and if Mr. Lesley or you Mr. Stowell will not understand it, but will persist in your real or pretended ignorance, and impose upon your readers with a manifest equivocation, we can say no more to render you sensible of your mistake. Fourthly. We observe, that Mr. Lesley has sometimes a great desire to shift the state of the question from the Infallibility of the Church to that of the Pope; and we find that you are sometimes his servile copier. He even goes so far at p. 23, as to tell his lordship in plain terms, that "not to place the Infallibility in the Pope is giving up our whole foundation." We are sorry that Mr. Lesley for his own sake is so badly informed respecting the doctrine of the Catholic Church, on this subject; and that like you, and theother "No Popery" spouters, he betrays his unfitness for opposing us; he ought by all means to have studied our principles better, before he attempted to attack them in print. What we say to him we say also to you; you are both embarked in the same cause, you sustain it by the same methods, you are ignorant, and consequently privacy, and not publicity, should have been your choice and your position. Mr. Lesley, as a controvertialist, ought only to dispute against articles of faith fairly stated, and not against private opinions. Now the Infallibility of the Pope is one of these; some Catholic Divines are for it, and many against it, without any breach of communion with the See of Rome. And therefore Mr. Lesley shall have the liberty, or in his absence, you and his living admirers, of talking alone upon the subject, as much as it may please you all; for we are not bound to answer anything in which the article of faith In defence of which we write, is not concerned. Lastly, we observe, that Mr. Lesley has made great use of a certain old stratagem, to stop his lordship's mouth, and eat him off short, when he only mentioned the proving of the authority of the Church from the Scriptures. We mean, the putting him into a panic terror of running round in a circle, p. 35. We have already filled up our space; next week we shall treat of the vicious circle. We shall reply to Lesley's and your sophistry on this subject, and fasten you up so firmly in the "circulus vitiosus" that you will never be liberated until you can prove from the Bible, THAT HERESY IS NO SIN.-I remain yours, &c. Manchester, March 23rd, 1850. THE EDITOR. PRINCIPLE IN LITTLE THINGS.-Principle should always be unfolded, and, especially, in connection with little things, for if there be no principle in things which are small, sure we are, there will be none in things which are great. POETRY. HYMN OF ST. BRIDGET. "The bright lamp that shone in Kildare's holy fane."-MOORE. The midnight wind roar'd thro' the oaks of Kildare, Transfigur'd in flames of ecstatic desire. Debar me from drinking thy blood as it flows; Or unfetter my soul from its prison of clay, For thy full-flowing brightness, ineffable Lord, Consumes me too fiercely in raptures away. Spring of contrition! a penitent cries, Oh! sprinkle our souls with the sorrowful dews That burst from thy brow and that stream'd from thine eyes When they crown'd thee on Calvary, "King of the Jews." When the ruin shall come, that mine eyes may not see, Upon cloister and shrine, where thy name was ador'd, And the temples and thrones of our island shall be As thou guided our fathers triumphant away, And roll round their march the Red Sea of thy gore! Crush out from their bosoms thy spirit divine. And liberty's bow thro' the tempest appears; D. D. S. THE EDEN OF THIS WORLD.-Disobedience lost us an Eden of flowers, but God has replaced it by an Eden of love! We sometimes wander from its shades; but, when weary and worn by the conflicting cares of this world, we creep back again with thankful hearts to that one spot, for ever green in the great desert of life-our Home. Notices to Readers and Correspondents. Mr. R. (Stalybridge) is respectfully informed that an accident prevented the "History of the Reformation" from appearing last week. It is now on sale at the booksellers, and the second number will appear on next Saturday, March 30th. AGENTS. Manchester-Mr. A. Heywood, Oldham-street. Ashton-under-Lyne-Mr, Kerrison. Bolton-Mr. James Mather, Derby-street. Bury-Mr. R. Bates, 33, Pretty Wood. Stalybridge-Mr. Ridle; Mr. Harrop. Printed and Published by EDWARD STAVELEY, at No. 183. Great Jackson-street, Hulme, in the borough of Manchester.-Saturday, March 23, 1830. 士 MANCHESTER ILLUMINATOR, No. 16, Vol. I. AND GENERAL CATHOLIC RECORD. SATURDAY, MARCH 30, 1850. THE JUST PUNISHMENT OF ENVY. SAINT ELIZABETH, QUEEN OF PORTUGAL. (Concluded from our last.) A war being lighted up between her son Alphonsus IV., surnamed the brave, king of Portugal, and her grandson, Alphonsus XI. king of Castile, and armies being set on foot, she was startled at the news, and resolved to set out to reconcile them, and extinguish the fire that was kin⚫ dling. Her servants endeavoured to persuade her to defer her journey, on account of the excessive heats; but she made answer that she could not better expend her health and her life than by seeking to prevent the miseries and calamities of a war. The very news of her journey disposed both parties to peace. She went to Estremoz, upon the frontiers of Portugal and Castile, where her son was; but she arrived ill of a violent fever, which she looked upon as a messenger sent by God to warn her that the time was at hand wherein he called her to himself. She strongly exhorted her son to the love of peace and to at holy life; she confessed several times, received the holy viaticum on her knees at the foot of the altar, and, shortly after, extreme unction; from which time she continued in fervent prayer, often invoking the Blessed Virgin, and repeating these words: "Mary, mother of grace, mother of mercy, defend us from the wicked enemy, and receive us at the hour of our death." She appeared overflowing with heavenly joy, and with those consolations of the Holy Ghost which make death so sweet to the saints; and in the presence of her son, the king, and of her daughter-in-law, she gave up her happy soul to God on the 4th of July, in the year 1336, of her age sixty-five. She was buried with royal pomp in the church of her monastery of poor Clares, at Coimbra, and honoured by miracles. Leo X. and Paul IV. granted an office on her festival; and in 1612 her body was taken up and found entire. It is now richly enshrined in a magnificent chapel, built on purpose. She was canonized by Urban VIII. in 1625, and the 8th of July appointed for her festival. The characteristical virtue of St. Elizabeth was a love of peace. Christ, the prince of peace, declares his spirit to be the spirit of humility and meekness; consequently the spirit of peace. Variance, wrath, and strife are the PRICE ONE PENNY works of the flesh, of envy, and pride, which he condemns, and which exclude from the kingdom of heaven. Bitterness and contention shut out reason, make the soul deaf to the motives of religion, and open the understanding to nothing but what is sinful. To find the way of peace we must be meek and patient, even under the most violent provocations; we must never resent any wrong, nor return railing for railing, but good for evil; we must regard passion as the worst of monsters, and must judge it as unreasonable to hearken to its suggestions, as to choose a madman for our counsellor in matters of concern and difficulty; above all, we must abhor it not only as a sin, but as leading to a numberless variety of other grievous sins and spiritual evils. Blessed are the peacemakers, and all who love and cultivate this virtue among men, they shall be called the children of God, whose badge and image they bear. TRUTH. ST. POLYCARP, BISHOP OF SMYRNA, M. St. Polycarp was one of the most illustrious of the apostolic fathers, who, being the immediate disciples of the apostles, received instructions from their mouths, and inherited of them the spirit of Christ, in a degree so much the more eminent, as they lived nearer the fountain head. He embraced Christianity very young, about the year 80; was a disciple of the apostles, in particular of St. John the Evangelist, and was constituted by him bishop of Smyrna, probably before his banishment to Patmos, in 96; so that he governed that important see seventy years. He seems to have been the angel or bishop of Smyrna, who was commended above all the bishops of Asia by Christ himself in the Apocalypse and the only one without a reproach. Our Saviour encouraged him under his poverty, tribulation, and persecutions, especially the calumnies of the Jews, called him rich in grace, and promised him the crown of life by martyrdom. This saint was respected by the faithful to a degree of veneration. He formed many holy disciples, among whom were St. Irenæus and Papias. When Florinus, who had often visited St. Polycarp, had broached certain heresies, St. Irenæus wrote to him as follows: "These things were not taught you by the bishops who preceded us. I could tell you the place where the blessed Polycarp sat to preach the word of God. It God. The good principle, God the Father, is purely and is yet present to my mind with what gravity he everywhere (To be continued in our next.) FALSEHOOD. MANICHEISM. (Continued from our last.) The fundamental doctrine of the Manichean system is the dualism, which arose from the question-what is the original of evil? Two independent beings, the rulers of two eternal and conflicting kingdoms, stand opposed to each other. This harsh dualism was from the beginning in some degree softened, by the concession of a superiority of the good over the evil kingdom: for the Manicheans wished not to give to the evil principle the appellation of essentialy spiritual. light uncreated in his kingdem, which his kingdom, and to repel the attacks of the byle, the God But the hyle could be overcome only by being mingled |