way; as if they were only the external signs of grace or righteousness received by faith, and marks of Christian profession, whereby the faithful are distinguished from unbelievers :* let him be accursed.

"7. Whoever shall affirm, that grace is not always conferred by these sacraments, and upon all persons, as far as God is concerned, if they be rightly received; but that it is only bestowed sometimes, and on some persons: let him be accursed.

"8. Whoever shall affirm, that grace is not conferred by these sacraments of the new law, by their own power, [ex opere operato ;] but that faith in the divine promise is all that is necessary to obtain grace: let him be accursed.

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9. Whoever shall affirm, that a character-that is, a certain spiritual and indelible mark, is not impressed on the soul by the three sacraments, baptism, confirmation, and orders; for which reason they cannot be repeated:† let him be accursed.

"10. Whoever shall affirm, that all Christians have power to preach the word and administer all the sacraments: let him be accursed.

11. Whoever shall affirm, that when ministers perform

"They [the sacraments] possess an admirable and unfailing virtue to cure our spiritual maladies, and communicate to us the inexhaustible riches of the passion of our Lord."-" The principal effects of the sacraments are two, sanctifying grace, and the character which they impress." Of the former it is observed, "how so great and so admirable an effect is produced by the sacraments, that, to use the words of St. Augustine, water cleanses the body and reaches the heart;' this, indeed, the mind of man, aided by the light of reason alone, is unequal to comprehend. It ought to be an established law, that nothing sensible can, of its own nature, reach the soul; but we know by the light of faith that in the sacraments exists the power of the Omnipotent, effectuating that which the elements cannot of themselves accomplish.”—Catechism, p. 152, 155.

+ "When the apostle says, 'God hath anointed us, who hath also sealed us, and given the pledge of the Spirit in our hearts,' he clearly designates, by the word 'sealed,' this sacramental character, the property of which is, to impress a seal and mark on the soul. This character is, as it were, a distinctive and indelible impression stamped on the soul.".... It "has a twofold effect-it qualifies us to receive or perform something sacred, and distinguishes us one from another."-Catechism, p. 154. Calvin says of it, "Magis consentaneum est incantationibus magicis, quam sanæ Evangelii doctrinæ."— Antidot. p. 257.

and confer a sacrament, it is not necessary that they should at least have the intention to do what the church does :* let him be accursed.

"12. Whoever shall affirm, that a minister who is in a state of mortal sin does not perform or confer a sacrament, although he observes every thing that is essential to the performance and bestowment thereof: let him be accursed.

"13. Whoever shall affirm, that the received and approved rites of the Catholic church, commonly used in the solemn administration of the sacraments, may be despised, or omitted, without sin, by the minister, at his pleasure; or that any pastor of a church may change them for others: let him be accursed." It will be seen that the decree contains no definition of a sacrament. This deficiency is supplied in the catechism, where it is asserted that a sacrament" is a thing subject to the senses, and possessing, by divine institution, at once the power of signifying sanctity and justice, and of imparting both to the receiver."+ As the administration of the sacraments is the prerogative of the priesthood, it will be observed how admirably this doctrine is adapted to exalt the sacerdotal order, which, by the way, is one of the leading principles of the Roman-catholic system. The religion of the New Testament consists of faith and holiness: "faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God;" and faith "purifieth the heart." Here is beautiful simplicity; but what a complex affair is the religion of Rome, (if it be not a prostitution of that venerable name to apply it in this connexion!) We find baptism and the Lord's supper

*"Representing, as he does, in the discharge of his sacred functions, not his own, but the person of Christ, the minister of the sacraments, be he good or bad, validly consecrates and confers the sacraments, provided he make use of the matter and form instituted by Christ, and always observed in the Catholic church, and intends to do what the church does in their administration."-Catechism, p. 150.

"Si necessaria est ministri intentio, nemo est nostrum, qui certam baptismi sui fidem facere sibi ausit, qui certa fiducia ad sacram cœnam accedat."... Ego vero sacro sanctæ Christi institutioni tantum defero, ut si Epicureus quispiam, intus totam actionem subsannans, mihi cœnam ex Christi mandato, et secundam regulam ab eo datam, rituque legitimo administret, non dubitem panem et calicem illius manu porrecta, vera mihi esse corporis et sanguinis Christi pignora."-Calvin. Antidot. ut sup.

+ Catechism, p. 141.

in the word of God; the one an initiatory ordinance, the other commemorative; as for the remaining five sacraments, so called, scripture knows nothing of them as such, and to affirm that they were all instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ is to be guilty of glaring falsehood.

Baptism was the subject of the second part of the decree.

"Canon 1. Whoever shall affirm, that the baptism of John had the same virtue as the baptism of Christ let him be accursed.

"2. Whoever shall affirm, that real and natural water is not necessary to baptism, and therefore that those words of our Lord Jesus Christ, Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost,' (John iii. 5,) are to be figuratively interpreted let him be accursed.

"3. Whoever shall affirm, that the true doctrine of the sacrament of baptism is not in the Roman church, which is the mother and mistress of all churches: let him be accursed.

"4. Whoever shall affirm, that baptism, when administered by heretics, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, with the intention to do what the church does,+ is not true baptism: let him be accursed.

* "The pastor will teach that water, which is always at hand and within the reach of all, was the fittest matter of a sacrament which is essentially necessary to all; and also, that water is best adapted to signify the effect of baptism. It washes away uncleanness, and is therefore strikingly illustrative of the virtue and efficacy of baptism, which washes away the stains of sin. We may also add, that, like water, which cools the body, baptism in a great measure extinguishes the fire of concupiscence in the soul." ... “Our Lord, when baptized by John, gave to the water a power of sanctifying. Should we, however, ask how our Lord has endowed water with a virtue so great, so divine; this indeed is an inquiry which transcends the power of the human understanding. That when our Lord was baptized, water was consecrated to the salutary use of baptism, deriving, although instituted before the passion, all its virtue and efficacy from the passion, which is the consummation, as it were, of all the actions of Christ—this, indeed, we sufficiently comprehend."-Catechism, p. 160, 165.

† Bellarmine expounds it thus: "By the church' is not meant the Roman church, but the true church, as understood by the administrator; so that when a minister of the church of Geneva, for instance, baptizes any one, he intends to do what the church does,—that is, the church of Geneva,—which he holds to be the true church."-De Sacramentis in Genere, l. i. c. 27. There was a reason for this apparent liberality; see note †, p. 120.

“5. Whoever shall affirm, that baptism is indifferent, that is, not necessary to salvation:* let him be accursed.

"6. Whoever shall affirm, that a baptized person cannot lose grace, even if he wishes to do so, how grievously soever he may sin, unless indeed he becomes an infidel: let him be accursed.

"7. Whoever shall affirm, that the baptized are by their baptism brought under obligation to faith only, and not to the observance of the whole law of Christ: let him be accursed.

"8. Whoever shall affirm, that the baptized are free from all the precepts of holy church, either written or delivered by tradition, so that they are not obliged to observe them, unless they will submit to them of their own accord let him be accursed.

"9. Whoever shall affirm, that men are so to call to mind the baptism they have received as to understand that all vows made after baptism are null and void, by virtue of the promise made in that baptism; as if by such vows any injury were done to the faith which they professed, or to their baptism itself: let him be accursed.

"10. Whoever shall affirm, that all sins committed after baptism are forgiven, or become venial, solely by the remembrance of that baptism, or faith therein:† let him be accursed.

11. Whoever shall affirm, that baptism, truly and regularly administered, is to be repeated when a man is brought to repentance, who has denied the faith of Christ, after the manner of the infidels : let him be accursed.

"12. Whoever shall affirm, that no one ought to be baptized but at the age at which Christ was baptized, or in the article of death: let him be accursed.

"13. Whoever shall affirm, that children are not to be reckoned among the faithful by the reception of baptism, because they do not actually believe; and therefore that they

* "The law of baptism, as established by our Lord, extends to all, insomuch that, unless they are regenerated by the grace of baptism, be their parents Christians or infidels, they are born to eternal misery and everlasting destruction."-Catechism, p. 171.

It is obvious that this canon is directed against those who deny the necessity of penance.

are to be re-baptized when they come to years of discretion; or that, since they cannot personally believe, it is better to omit their baptism than that they should be baptized only in the faith of the church :* let him be accursed.

"14. Whoever shall affirm, that when these baptized children grow up, they are to be asked whether they will confirm the promises made by their godfathers in their name at their baptism; and that if they say they will not, they are to be left to their own choice, and not to be compelled in the meantime to lead a Christian life, by any other punishment than exclusion from the eucharist and the other sacraments, until they repent:† let him be accursed.”

* "That when baptized they receive the mysterious gifts of faith cannot be matter of doubt; not that they believe by the formal assent of the mind, but because their incapacity is supplied by the faith of their parents, if the parents profess the true faith; if not, (to use the words of St. Augustine,) 'by that of the universal society of the saints; for they are said, with propriety, to be presented for baptism by all those to whom their initiation in that sacred rite was a source of joy, and by whose charity they are united to the communion of the Holy Ghost."- Catechism, p. 173..... "Insane persons, who are favoured with lucid intervals, and during these lucid intervals, express no wish to be baptized, are not to be admitted to baptism, unless in extreme cases, when death is apprehended. In such cases, if previously to their insanity, they gave intimation of a wish to be baptized, the sacrament is to be administered; without such intimation previously given, they are not to be admitted to baptism; and the same rule is to be followed with regard to persons in a state of lethargy. But if they never enjoyed the use of reason, the authority and practice of the church decide that they are to be baptized in the faith of the church, on the same principle that children are baptized, before they come to the use of reason."-Ibid. p. 175.

"Every member of the church of Rome is bound to believe that all baptized persons are liable to be compelled, by punishment, to be Christians; or, what is the same in Roman-catholic divinity, spiritual subjects of the Pope. It is indeed curious to see the Council of Trent, who passed that law, prepare for the free and extended action of its claims by an unexpected stroke of liberality. In the session on baptism, the Trent Fathers are observed anxiously securing to Protestants the privilege of true baptism;" [see Canon 4.] "Observe now the consequences of this enlarged spirit of concession, in the two subjoined canons;" [see Canons 8 and 14.] Thus the council "has converted the sacrament of baptism into an indelible brand of slavery; whoever has received the waters of regeneration is in the thrall of her who declares that there is no other church of Christ. She claims her slaves wherever they may be found, declares them subject to her laws, both written and traditional, and by her infallible sanction, dooms them to indefinite punishment, till they shall acknowledge her authority and bend their necks to her yoke. Such