against them? That the doctrine of vicarious atonement and justification not founded upon a man's own merits, finds no support in Holy Writ, is clear from the following quotations: "Thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men, to give to every one according to his ways, and according to the fruits of his doings." Jer. xxxii. 19. “Say ye to the righteous that it shall be well with them, for they shall eat the fruits of their doings: woe to the wicked, for it shall be ill with him, for the reward of his hands shall be given him." Isaiah iii. 10, 11. And Moses clearly makes the salvation of his people dependent, solely and exclusively, on the fulfilment of the laws prescribed in the Pentateuch, without even hinting at any other means as being concurrent therewith. Deuteronomy xxx. 10, 13—19. "Hitherto, our religious conviction has imposed on us the painful necessity of differing with the views of the Christian Lady's Magazine, notwithstanding our personal esteem for its straight-forward Editress; now, however, we are happy in being able fully to concur in the remainder of the article under notice-we too, hear the voice from heaven, saying: And the glorious promises that we transcribed from Isaiah, are repeated: and a fervent Amen given to our concluding prayer. Now we never sat down to our desk with so full a heart as on this occasion. Called on by a Hebrew, evidently a leading man, to defend ourselves from the charge of uncharitableness, and, as regards Christianity, from sad inconsistency, in our condemnation of the creed of Rome, our natural impulse would be to shrink from so unequal a contest, and to relinquish to an abler pen the task to which a woman cannot be deemed competent. We might do so, without acknowledging it, but God forbid we should forfeit the epithet bestowed on us, and which we prize beyond any that could possibly be applied to us. The straight-forward Editress will, by God's grace, be straight-forward still; and if we fail in showing cause for what our Hebrew friend condemns, let it be attributed to the weakness and insufficiency of the pleader. We have not in this matter asked counsel of man; and the only books to which we have referred, or shall refer, are those now on our table: viz: the Bible, the Prayers of the Synagogue, and the Romish Missal. Moreover, as the Editor of the Voice of Jacob desires to confine himself to those scriptures which he terms "the primitive and peculiar inheritance of Israelites," we will appeal to no others. Though we be but as a babe in the matter, we will not be discouraged; for it is written, (Isaiah xxviii. 9.) "Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall be make to understand doctrine? Them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts." Wheresoever we are wrong, may God, who "to them that have no might increaseth strength," teach us true knowledge, and make us rightly to understand the doctrine that giveth life! We shall not say much on the first head, that of image-worship: the whole question between us hinges on the point of its being, or not being, worship, which the Romanist pays to his image. True we have a disclaimer, subtilly put forth, in the form of a distinction between the reverence paid to the image and the service rendered to God, but the broad FACT stares us in the face, that the second commandment, which forbids the making of any representation for the purpose of idolatrous homage, is EXPUNGED from the tables of the law, in the catechisms of the Romanists, and the number ten completed by splitting the last commandment into two. Is it not notorious, too, and undeniable, that the Romanist on entering his place of worship, actually prostrates himself before a graven image; and that he likewise adores as God, a cake, or wafer, fashioned by man's hand no less than was the golden calf, and bearing on its surface the representation of a human figure? The language addressed to these objects place still farther beyond a doubt the flagrant idolatry committed. We read in the "Roman Missal for the use of the Laity," published by Keating and Brown, the following, among many other proofs. In the rubric, or directions, page 35, 36, we find, After pronouncing the words of consecration, the Priest, kneeling, ADORES and elevates the sacred host;' that is, the cake before described, bearing the figure of a man. Again, 'Here, also kneeling, he ADORES and elevates the chalice.' people, all prostrate in front of the (so-called) altar, on which these things are placed, sing as follows, addressing the before-mentioned cake, or wafer, which when consecrated is called the host. 6 "O saving Host! that heaven's gate Intestine wars invade our breast; Be thou our strength, support, and rest." The We ask, solemnly, if this is not a parallel to the case of the golden calf, as stated by the Editor of the Voice of Jacob? Does not the Priest make these infatuated people a god out of materials of much less value than the golden ear-rings of the Israelites? Does he not both by word and action, say of the senseless idols, the cake and the chalice, which he separately adores, "These be thy gods," teaching them to ascribe to the miserable counterfeit a deliverance from wrath, and to supplicate from it what the Eternal One alone can bestow? They have also a parting hymn to the altar and its appurtenances, commencing, To this mysterious table now, Our knees, our hearts, and sense we bow: To nobler elements of grace,' &c. In page 295, there is a hymn sung in adoration of the wood of the cross, which also bears on it the representation of a human figure, carved likewise in wood, beginning, 'O faithful cross! O noblest tree! In all our woods there's none like thee,' &c. Once more, in the Church of St. Francesca a Ripa, at Rome, a prayer is hung up at the altar, and copies given away to all devout comers, entitled ' Preghiera da farsi avanti l'Imagine della Madonna SSma della salute venerata nella Chiesa di S. Francesca a Ripa.' In English,‘A prayer to be offered BEFORE THE IMAGE of the most Holy Madonna of salvation, venerated in the Church of St. Francesca a Ripa." It commences, 'O true source of life, O perennial fountain of all our salvation, GREAT QUEEN OF HEAVEN, Most Holy Mary,' - We shall not pollute our pages with any more of this hideous blasphemy. Oh, can it be that we are writing to justify in the sight of ISRAELITES our horror of such abominations? Can a doubt exist as to the purpose for OCTOBER, 1842. 2 A which the graven images are formed? Are they not expressly provided to be bowed down to, and worshipped? Was it not for addressing prayers to "the Queen of heaven" that God carried away his own people into captivity, and afflicted them for seventy years? Let any of our Jewish friends, who see no impiety in crowding a church with the images of men and women, for the purpose of rendering them homage, put up a bust, a statue, or a portrait of Sir Moses Montefiore in any synagogue, and require those who enter to honour that excellent individual by a prostration or two before his image, and we should soon see what is the mind of the nation on this point. We cordially assent to the principle, that to revenge or to hate is wholly contrary to the spirit of God's word: but if we abhor the disease that is destroying a brother, and use every means to detect and to banish it, are we therefore guilty of hating him? Popery is the disease, the poor Papist is its victim; and against Popery we do, we will bear an unflinching testimony. Our Hebrew friends, considering us all to be in the wrong, see no ground, perhaps, to prefer one creed before another; but let them bear in mind that creature-worship is as abhorrent to our faith as to theirs; that we bring every article of our belief "to the law and to the testimony," as contained in the writings of Moses and the prophets; and that if we did not there find the doctrine of a three-fold manifestation, perfectly consistent with the sacred confession, "Hear, O Israel, the Eternal our God is a Unity," we would not receive it, though brought by an angel from heaven. But in what part of the ancient scriptures do we find a warrant for looking |