granting a remission of the temporal punishment due to him, on such terms and conditions as he may choose to prescribe. This may be limited, in which case the indulgence is granted for a specified number of years; or plenary, releasing the individual from all the pains and penalties incurred by him up to the time of receiving the boon. The efficacy of these indulgences reaches, as has been before observed, even to the souls in purgatory; and a kind relative or friend may enjoy the satisfaction of procuring the release of those he loves, or at any rate some considerable remission of the period of their sufferings. The terms vary, according to times and circumstances; sometimes, as we have seen, a devotional exercise is sufficient; on other occasions, money is the sine quâ non. But it will be fair to let the Pope speak for himself. Leo X. thus explained the doctrine:

"The Roman church, whom other churches are bound to follow, as their mother, hath taught that the Roman Pontiff, the successor of Peter in regard to the keys, and the vicar of Jesus Christ upon earth, possessing the power of the keys, by which power all hindrances are removed out of the way of the faithful,—that is to say, the guilt of actual sins, by the sacrament of penance,—and the temporal punishment due for those sins, according to the divine justice, by ecclesiastical indulgence; that the Roman Pontiff may for reasonable causes, by his apostolic authority, grant indulgences, out of the superabundant merits of Christ and the saints, to the faithful who are united to Christ by charity, as well for the living as for the dead; and that in thus dispensing the treasure of the merits of Jesus Christ and the saints, he either confers the indulgence by the method of absolution or transfers it by the method of suffrage. Wherefore all persons, whether living or dead, who really obtain any indulgences of this kind, are delivered from so much temporal punishment, due according to divine justice for their actual sins, as is equivalent to the value of the indulgence bestowed and received."* Excommunication is denounced against all who deny this doctrine. The decree passed at Trent was thus expressed :"Since the power of granting indulgences has been bestowed

by Christ upon his church, and this power, divinely given, has been used from the earliest antiquity, the holy council teaches and enjoins that the use of indulgences, so salutary to Christian people, and approved by the authority of venerable councils, shall be retained by the church; and it anathematizes those who assert that they are useless, or deny that the church has the power of granting them. Nevertheless, the council desires that moderation be shewn in granting them, according to the ancient and approved custom of the church, lest by too much laxity, ecclesiastical discipline be weakened. Anxious, moreover, to correct and amend the abuses that have crept in, and by reason of which this honourable name of indulgences is blasphemed by the heretics, the council determines generally by this present decree that all wicked gains accruing from them, which have been the principal source of these abuses, shall be wholly abolished. But with regard to other abuses, proceeding from superstition, ignorance, irreverence, or any other cause whatever; seeing that they cannot be severally prohibited, on account of the great variety of evils. existing in so many places and provinces, the council commands each bishop to procure a careful account of the abuses existing within his own jurisdiction, and lay the same before the first provincial synod; that when the opinion of other bishops has been obtained, the whole may be immediately referred to the supreme Pontiff, by whose authority and prudence such enactments will be made as are expedient for the universal church; so that the gift of holy indulgences may be dispensed to the faithful in a pious, holy, and incorrupt manner."

The reader will observe that this decree provided no effectual remedy for the monstrous practices connected with the distribution and sale of indulgences. "Wicked gains" are indeed forbidden; but what priest or Pope would ever confess his gains to be of that description? And if the office of papal collectors, as formerly administered by such men as Tetzel, was abolished, the same duties are now performed by the bishops or those appointed by them. As for the enactment respecting abuses, it required no sagacity to predict that it would be entirely nugatory. And, in truth, indulgences continue to the present day to form an important article of

papal revenue, and a prime support of the superstitions of the church of Rome.*

These blessings are not confined to such countries as Italy

*"Plenary indulgence and remission of sins' are offered here [at Rome] on very easy terms. I was at first rather startled with the prodigal manner in which that full pardon of all transgressions, which the gospel promises only as the reward of sincere repentance and amendment, was bestowed at Rome, in consideration of repeating certain prayers before the shrine of certain saints, or paying a certain sum of money to certain priests.

"I was surprised to find scarcely a church in Rome that did not hold up at the door the tempting inscription of Indulgenzia Plenaria. Two hundred days' indulgence I thought a great reward for every kiss bestowed upon the great black cross in the Colosseum; but that is nothing to the indulgences for ten, twenty, and even thirty thousand years, that may be bought at no exorbitant rate, in many of the churches; so that it is amazing what a vast quantity of treasure may be amassed in the other world with very little industry in this, by those who are avaricious of this spiritual wealth, into which, indeed, the dross or riches of this world may be converted, with the happiest facility imaginable."

"You may buy as many masses as will free your souls from purgatory for 29,000 years, at the church of St. John Lateran, on the festa of that saint; at Santa Bibiana, on All Souls' day, for 7000 years; at a church near the Basilica of St. Paul, and at another on the Quirinal Hill, for 10,000 and for 3000 years, and at a very reasonable rate. But it is in vain to particularize; for the greater part of the principal churches in Rome and the neighbourhood are spiritual shops for the sale of the same commodity."-Rome in the Nineteenth Century, ii. PP. 267-270.

Spain, as usual, is peculiarly favoured. Four special bulls, bestowing various indulgences and immunities, are annually sent to that country; copies are eagerly bought at prices suited to the circumstances of the purchasers; and the spoil is divided between the Pope and the king. One of these is called the compounding bull. "By possessing one of these documents, and giving a certain sum, at the discretion of any priest authorized to hear confessions, to the fund of the holy crusade, any property may be kept, which having been obtained by robbery and extortion, cannot be traced to its right owners for restitution. This composition with the Pope and the king is made by depositing the sum appointed by the confessor in an iron chest fixed outside the doors of the churches: a comfortable resource indeed for the tender consciences of speculators and extortioners, two very numerous classes in Spain.".... Another is called the defunct bull. "The name of any dead person being entered on the bull, a plenary indulgence is, by this means, believed to be conveyed to his soul, if suffering in purgatory." It is a common practice to bury these bulls with the corpses of those whom they are intended to benefit. A copy of the Bula Crusada, another of these profitable impostures, is inserted in Mendham's Memorials of the Council of Trent, pp. 344-359.-Practical and Internal Evidence against Catholicism, p. 84.

and Spain. The Roman Catholics of England enjoy a liberal grant of plenary indulgences, which may be obtained, on easy terms, at eight distinct periods in every year. By confession of sin to the priest, with sincere repentance; by worthy reception of the eucharist; by giving some alms to the poor, or at least being "in readiness of mind" to do it; by frequenting catechisms and sermons, as often as it may be done "without great inconvenience;" by affording assistance to the sick or such as are near their end; or by offering prayers to God for the whole state of the Catholic church throughout the world, the general peace of Christendom, the blessing of God upon this nation, the conversion of infidels and heretics, and the free propagation of the holy faith, full remission of the temporal punishment said to be due to sin is secured.*

The immense profits accruing from indulgences induced the appointment of the centenary jubilee, which was first celebrated in 1300, under the pontificate of Boniface VIII. It was subsequently shortened one-half, (doubtless for pecuniary reasons,) and finally reduced to twenty-five years, at every return of which period, plenary indulgences may be obtained during one year by all the faithful who shall visit certain churches at Rome, and perform the religious exercises enjoined for the occasion. The last jubilee was in 1825, “the year of expiation and pardon, of redemption and grace, of redemption and indulgence;" at least, it was so styled by Pope Leo XII. in his bull, announcing the jubilee. "During this year of jubilee," said his holiness, (profanely asserting that he acted "by the authority of Almighty God,") "we mercifully in the Lord grant and impart the most plenary and complete indulgence, remission and pardon of all their sins, to all the faithful in Christ, of both sexes, who are truly penitent, and have confessed, and who have likewise refreshed themselves with the holy communion." The conditions were, visiting the churches specified, and "pouring forth pious prayers to God for the exaltation of Holy Church, the extirpation of heresies, the concord of Catholic princes, and the salvation and tranquillity of Christendom." The benefits of this jubilee

*Garden of the Soul, pp. vii.-ix.
+ Mosheim, Cent. XIII. part 2. ch. 4.

were extended to other countries in the following year, and continued six months after the publication of the bull in each diocese: the conditions were similar, certain churches being appointed to be visited in each district, and confessors being invested with ample power of absolution, even from reserved cases and censures.* It must be confessed, that whatever advantages the Roman-catholic community in general derived from the jubilee were vastly inferior to the accession of power and influence by the priesthood; to them it was a jubilee indeed; how many confessions were to be heard, and absolutions to be granted, often, doubtless, with much affected difficulty, and penances to be imposed, entirely at the discretion of the confessor! The whole church lay prostrate at the feet of the priests, receiving from their hands "the grace of their absolution and pardon, the grace of their re-instatement in the favour of God, and of their restoration to their lost title to the kingdom of heaven."+

Roman-catholic writers are very angry with Protestants, for saying that their church "gives leave to commit sin, and grants anticipated pardon for sins to come by indulgences."‡ But their anger is causeless. For though it be not asserted that the Romish church actually gives licence to sin, it cannot be denied that the doctrine of indulgences, so far from repressing evil, powerfully tends to blunt the moral sense, and

*"Instructions and directions for gaining the grand Jubilee" were published by the "Vicar Apostolic of the London District." Take a specimen or two:" Embrace, dearly beloved, the benefit that is offered you by the indulgence of the present jubilee. This present life is a time granted you to prepare for heaven. Only sin can exclude you from that kingdom; only the debt of temporal punishment incurred by sin can retard your entrance into glory. Persevere in your career of penance to the end. Avail yourselves of every means of discharging your debt to divine justice. As no man knows whether he be worthy of love or hatred, no man knows what punishments he may still be liable to on account of his sins. The effect that each one will receive from the plenary indulgence will be in proportion to the perfection of the dispositions with which he prepares himself for it.". . . . " Enter, enter now, dearly beloved, into the most perfect sentiments of salvation. Spare no pains to prepare yourselves for the remission of your sins, and for the benefits of this plenary indulgence. The happy effects of it will be felt by you in that peace of soul and spiritual joy which the world could never give; and in a well-grounded hope of eternal happiness.”—pp. xxi., xxii.

+ Ibid.

Declaration of the Roman-catholic Bishops, p. 12.