without disguise or circumlocution; for instance,' in the confiteor of the mass, where the people say these words:" Therefore, I beseech Mary, always a Virgin, the blessed Michael the Archangel, the blessed John the Baptist, the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and all the Saints, and thee, O Father (addressing themselves to the Priest) to pray for me to our Lord God.”

The English Prayer Book has thrown overboard the Saints, but kept the Priest, as in this Rubric of the morning and evening service," the absolution or remission of sins to be pronounced by the Priest alone, standing; the people kneeling." The people are to be on their knees whilst the Priest absolves them from sin in the attitude of a superior, a gross institution of Popish usurpation, and a part of that tree of evil, the ripe fruit of which is to be seen in the elevation of the Host. It should moreover be noticed that if the officiating clergyman should happen not to be in Priests' orders, as they call it, he must not presume to pronounce the absolution, but must content himself with a collect in its place.

Some persons wish to do away with the force of this superstition by pleading, that the absolution is, after all, only a declaration of a Gospel doctrine; but if this be the whole truth in the matter, why then may not the Deacon declare a simple Gospel truth as well as a Priest? And what mean the words addressed to the Priest at his ordination,

"whose sins thou dost forgive, they are forgiven, and whose sins thou dost retain, they are retained ?"

There is, however, a grosser superstition still in the Prayer Book; for in the Visitation of the Sick, the Priest is directed to absolve the sick person in this form of words:- 66 By the authority of Jesus Christ, committed to me, I absolve thee from all sins, in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."

If a clergyman believes he has this power, he certainly ought to seek orders in the Roman Catholic Church.

I know very well that the Evangelical Clergy plead that they never use this formulary. "We disapprove of it," they say; "we never think of pronouncing these words to the sick whom we visit: unless it can be proved that we do, it is unhandsome to charge us with a doctrine which we reject."

The answer to this subterfuge is obvious; for if the Evangelical clergy disapprove of this formulary and never use it, then must they be guilty of a gross falsehood; for besides the subscription to the three articles before ordination, wherein they solemnly promised never to use any other form of prayer than that which the Prayer Book prescribes, they did also make this declaration on taking possession of their benefices,-"I, A. B., do hereby declare my unfeigned assent and consent to all

and every thing contained and prescribed in the Book of Common Prayer, and administration of sacraments, and other rites and ceremonies of the Church of England." The words of this declaration are so strictly drawn, that it is impossible by any ingenuity to evade them; the persons who framed it knew what they were about; their object was to make a trap from which no conscience, however slippery, should be able to escape: if, therefore, a clergyman do not approve and use the rites prescribed in the Prayer Book, he is unquestionably practising a deceit; he shows by his conduct that he rejects that which he solemnly declared he received with unfeigned assent and consent; and in truth every clergyman who thus sets aside the Prayer Book not only is a Dissenter but a traitor to his Church, and should be ejected from the priesthood, and deprived of his benefices. I may have more to say in another letter on this "Declaration," but my present business is only with the absolution prerogative, that great test of the mediatorial character with which our clergy are invested.

I have said that there is no authority for the term "spiritual persons" as applied to a Christian caste of Priests; no term, however, is more in vogue amongst us, though the origin of the phrase is to be found in the court of Rome, and not in the word of God. By Scripture testimony, those and those only are spiritual persons who are

"born of the Spirit," and who are taught of God to walk in the Spirit, that they may not fulfil the "lusts of the flesh;" "for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God," and "if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his ;" and Peter, speaking generally to believers says, "Ye are built up a spiritual house.” Thus in numerous passages of Scripture it is declared that all believers are spiritual persons, but not the most remote hint is given us that there is to be a clergy called "spiritual persons," as distinguished from the laity. In fact, the words clergy and laity, in the sense we use them, are Popish and Brahminical terms, full of darkness and lies.

Thus, in a similar manner, whilst I can find that believers are the only spiritual persons recognised in Scripture, so also can I see no other priesthood in the Gospel than such as is attributed to the whole company of the faithful. The Apostle Peter says to the Church generally, "Ye are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices ;" and so of the Church triumphant we read in the book of Revelations the following testimony," Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection, on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be Priests of God and of Christ." In vain shall a man look for any other priesthood than this in the Gospel; so that whilst the Scriptures declare that

all believers are Priests by spiritual designation, and never once teach us anything about the clergy and their priestly prerogatives, is it not amazing to see men in these days who profess to derive their creed from the Bible not only setting aside the true priesthood recognised in Scripture, but submitting themselves to another caste of Priests invented by superstitious men in the days of darkness and ignorance?

The Epistle to the Hebrews is mainly written on the subject of the priesthood, but keeps a profound silence about Priest's orders, absolution from sin, and a priestly administration of sacraments. How strange then is this omission! who can account for it? When the matter in hand was the true priesthood of the Church, how wonderful to pass over entirely our priests, with their oaths of canonical obedience and prelatical consecration! With us and the Papists, the clergy conduct the whole worship of God; but in the inspired book which treats of the priesthood they are never once mentioned-never once thought of-not so much as a passing word in their favour!

The Apostle Paul says, "for the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law." Here one would think our clergy are sure to be mentioned, for if the levitical priesthood is changed, it follows of necessity that the priesthood now in fashion must be brought forward, otherwise they cannot be a true