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PREFACE.

THERE are many circumstances in the times in which we live, that seem to call for new statements of the principles upon which the Reformed Churches originally separated from Rome, and continue still to reject her authority.

In general, it is to be feared that Protestants, are very ignorant of the present state of the Church of Rome, and it is, perhaps, to be attributed to this cause, that an impression seems to have become widely disseminated, that the Popery of the present day is essentially different from that professed in former times. The author of these pages believes this impression to be both erroneous and dangerous, and in order to show what the Romish Church now is, he has endeavoured as much as possible to draw his information from the more recent statements of the doctrines and worship of that Church.*

* Since this volume was sent to the Press, I have met with a Work in two volumes, which I understand to be of high authority among the Papists in this Country. Its title is, "The "Sincere Christian instructed in the Faith of Christ from the "written Word." If I had seen it at an earlier period, I should have taken some notice of its contents in these pages.

Another idea seems to have gone forth, that all danger from the Church of Rome is past: It is to be feared, that this opinion also is not correct. The author indeed believes, as he has endeavoured to prove in another place,* that the final destruction of that Church is near at hand. But he must, in candour, state, that many able and pious Protestants do not agree with him in this sentiment. He will also add, that the same Scriptures from which he has deduced this inference, lead him to anticipate that Rome may make an expiring effort to regain her lost authority. This expectation seems to be confirmed by what is now passing in the world. In every part of the United Kingdom, we hear of the rapid increase of Popery; and the danger which may yet arise from this source, is already far more formidable, than the great body of the public are at all aware of. The information contained in the following extracts from a literary journal of last year, will probably be new to many of the readers of this volume, and if they possess any zeal for the interests of true religion, it will not fail to awaken them to the necessity of more than ordinary vigilance.

"Our immediate forefathers, who witnessed "the suppression of the order of the Jesuits, and

* See my Dissertation on the Seals and the Trumpets of the Apocalypse, and the Prophetical period of 1260 years.

"who know but too well the satisfactory evidence "on which it was founded, would have wept in

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pity, mixed with indignation, if they could "have suspected, that the lapse of less than half "a century, would have effaced from the minds "of their children, the conduct and principles "of this iniquitous fraternity. We seriously be

lieve, that there is no professedly religious so"ciety whatever, the formidable office of the In"quisition by no means excepted, which has "done so much injury to Christianity and the "world at large, as that now under consideration. "United together by indissoluble ties, and go"verned by the most artful and impious system "of rules, the Jesuits want nothing but a fulcrum "to move and unhinge the moral world. This "important datum has been once more conceded; "the head mechanist at Rome has provided the "lever, and furnished the motive power, while England among other nations has, with its usual

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good nature, provided a place on which the "Jesuits may conveniently stand to conduct their "experiments.

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"Those of our readers who have watched the operations of this insidious order, will easily perceive, that we allude, among other circum"stances, to the attempt which has been too suc"cessfully made to set up a Jesuit college within "the home dominions of his Britannic Majesty, " and the immediate limits of the English Church.

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"If we have not wholly mistaken the character "of the Jesuits, such an institution is pregnant "with the greatest dangers to any Church or State, into which it is admitted; and we, there"fore think it most highly important, that the public should be fully on their guard with respect to the subtle adversaries with whom they "will soon have seriously to contend."-" We "have already intimated, that a large Jesuit col"lege at this moment exists in the very heart of "the British dominions. The place where this “innovation on Protestant discipline, and this "experiment on Protestant forbearance, were to "be tried, was Stonyhurst, near Preston, in Lan«cashire; where, for thirty years past this power"ful order has possessed a spacious college, amply provided with all the machinery of Jesuitism. "The studies of the place are stated to be con"ducted upon the same system with those of the "Roman Catholic universities abroad; and there

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are regular professors in all the usual branches "of scientific and scholastic education. The college, which is a very extensive building, has "room for four or five hundred pupils, independ"ently of the professors, managers, and domestics, "and is said to contain at the present moment, "five hundred or more individuals of various

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descriptions. It is surrounded with suitable "offices for tradesmen and artizans of every "description, proper for rendering the establish

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