NOTES.

Note A. (P. 17.)

During the evenings of the late winter months a series of scenic representations, twice in every week, was displayed in the school-room, which is near the church; and the admission being free, they were attended by large numbers of the poorer class, Roman Catholic and Protestant. On these occasions the priest always attended, and explained the subjects represented, which were uniformly taken from the Scripture. And he lost no opportunity of inviting his audience to hear the same subjects enforced in the church which thus interested them in the school-room.

The following extracts from some of these tracts, which are all announced upon a large printed placard in the window of the house where they are sold, as having received

The “approbation of his Eminence Cardinal Wiseman and all the Catholic Bishops,”

will justify, it is presumed, without a comment, the epithets here applied to them, as describing their character and tendency. They are either untrue, unfair, or ironical.

Extracts from a tract, entitled, “Protestantism weighed in its own Balance, and found wanting. No. 1. The Bible, and the Bible only.”

“It is worth observing that this rule of faith, as well in its short and popular form, as also when more fully drawn out and explained, is rather negative than positive. Those who use it are more careful to say what they do not than what they do. They insist upon ‘the Bible only’ to the exclusion of everything else, but they are not equally jealous about receiving the whole Bible, every part of it. They say that nothing is to be required of any man that it should be believed which is not to be found in the Bible, or at least may not be proved thereby; but they do not with equal distinctness insist upon the duty of believing everything which is read in that sacred book or may be proved by it. This is no idle assertion, but is plain matter of fact.”—P. 1.

“There are many texts even then which they do not really receive; some which are to them as an unknown tongue, without any meaning at all, and which they therefore make no use of whatever; others which seem to be opposed to their own creed, and which they therefore try to escape from and to explain away; lastly, there are others which they even boldly contradict.”—P. 2.

“If God did not intend the Bible to be man’s only guide and teacher in matters of religion, but appointed His Church for this very purpose, that she should fulfil this office, and promised her His guidance, so that she should never be deceived in proposing anything to our belief that was not true and had not been revealed by Him, then of course, not only is the Catholic Church right upon this point, but also of necessity right upon every other point also.”—P. 6.

“The Protestant professes that the only sure way of knowing God’s will is for every man to read the Holy Scriptures for himself. I take up the Holy Scriptures, therefore, for this purpose, and I find there that our Lord appointed, and the apostles practised, quite another way of learning God’s will and the right road to heaven. I find that our Lord sent, not a message, but messengers; not a book for men to read, but apostles for men to obey; and in like manner I find that the apostles do say not a word about the necessity of not believing anything that is not written in a certain book, but on the contrary, that they distinctly say, Believe all that you have been taught, whether written or unwritten.”—P. 9.

“It is plain that our Lord did not use the words, ‘Search the Scriptures,’ in the sense in which the Protestants use them. He did not refer His hearers to the Scriptures in the same way that the Protestant refers you. For if so, why did they need His further teaching? He made the same use of the Scriptures as Catholics do in speaking to Protestants at this day. The Catholic says to Protestants, ‘Search the Scriptures,’ for these are they which testify of the Church as well as of her Head. They expressly command you to ‘hear the Church’ (St. Matt, xviii. 17).”—P. 11.

“A Catholic priest at the present day might follow the example of St. Paul, and show that Jesus whom he preached was Christ; that the Church which he preached to them was in very deed the society to which such high and noble privileges were promised in Holy Scripture. And every one who should give heed to his preaching in the same way as the Bereans did, would not fail to meet with the same reward. He also would ‘believe;’ believe not only the one doctrine which had been thus proved to him from Holy Scripture, viz. that the Church was the appointed teacher of mankind, but also every other doctrine which the same teacher might propose to his belief, whether written in the Holy Bible or not.”—P. 14.

Extract from another tract, entitled, “The Church, the Guardian of Scripture, or, How does the Bible come to us?”

“People are apt to think of the Bible, as if it were a whole without parts, indivisible, self-existent, in short, a kind of divinity; or, at least, as if it had come down from heaven precisely such as we now have it, ready bound to our hands, if not with the Bible Society’s stamp upon it.”—P. 7.

Extract from another tract, entitled, “The Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, or, The use of the Beads no vain Repetition.”

“Perhaps you find something that shocks you in the fact of the ‘Hail Mary’ being repeated so much oftener than the Lord’s Prayer; and it may be that there is in this a fresh instance of that unhappy creature-worship which disfigures every part of the Catholic religion. Now do not suppose that the reason of this is, that we consider prayers addressed to the Blessed Virgin better than prayers addressed to God. We do certainly think her prayers for us are better, and more likely to be heard and answered than our own; because we know that she was ever perfectly free from all stain of guilt, and is now nearest to God in glory; and we feel ourselves full of the defilement of sin.”—P. 10.

“Christ has entered into His kingdom, and His saints are reigning with Him. Which of them shall be nearest to Him in glory as once in suffering, but her through whom He joined our human nature to Deity itself? The anguish over, the grace and virtue crowned, the glory never to pass away; surely, well may we again call the Queen of Heaven, ‘Blessed among women!’ and more than ever trusting in the power of her intercession, more than ever call on her, ‘Holy Mary, mother of God! pray for us sinners, now, and at the hour of death.’”—P. 14.

SECOND AND FOURTH OF THE FIVE SORROWFUL MYSTERIES.

“2d. The scourging of our Blessed Lord, at the pillar by soldiers, in Pilate’s house; the number of stripes they gave him being above five thousand.

“4th. The carrying of the Cross; in which our Lord Jesus Christ, being sentenced to die, bears with most amazing patience the cross which is laid upon Him for His greater torment and ignominy, meeting His blessed mother by the way.”

FOURTH AND FIFTH OF THE FIVE GLORIOUS MYSTERIES.

“4th. The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin; in which after her death, twelve years after the Resurrection, she is assumed into heaven by her Divine Son accompanied by the holy angels.

“5th. The Coronation of the Blessed Virgin; in which, amid the great jubilee and exultation of the whole court of heaven, and to the particular glory of all the saints, she is crowned by her Son with the brightest diadem of glory.”—P. 16.

Extracts from a tract, entitled, “Our Parish Churches as they were and as they are. 1. Old stones tell tales.”

“I declare, it seems to me that the very idea of worship has almost died out in England. Do you think that if people really felt they were speaking to Almighty God, they would sit at their ease, or look over a book, and never do more? Church of Englandism has such a comfortable look about it; it is the religion of people well to do in the world, and have too much business to transact to turn their minds thoroughly to anything else. It is a one day a week religion. Every thing about it is so formal, so decent, so sober, so proper and respectable. It would look so odd to seem in earnest; to be on your knees in prayer before so many well-dressed people, as though you had a soul to be saved. Church of Englandism is such a human thing; it smacks so much of the world and of ‘good society.’ It makes a poor man feel awkward, just as he does when he finds himself in a gentleman’s drawing-room.”—P. 10.

“The Church of England would never have built such churches, though it is very proud of them now it has got them, and lately has taken to making a few others in imitation of the old ones. People never seem to think of this. They are always bragging about their fine old parish churches, and their venerable cathedrals, and all the while they were built by the Papists, as they call them; and if it had not been for the Papists they would never have had them to brag of. The sparrow stole into the martin’s nest, and said, See what a nice warm house I have got. He couldn’t say he had made it, but he was quite as cocky as if he had.”—P. 11.

“‘And what is this?’ said I again; and I pointed at a curious sort of niche with a hole at the bottom of it. ‘That,’ said he, ‘is a piscina; it was for pouring the water away after the priest had washed his hands.’ ‘Why should he wash his hands,’ said I, ‘more than our ministers?’ ‘Because,’ said Peter, ‘he had to touch the body of the Lord, and to lift Him up, as when He was raised on the cross. And your ministers have no need to wash theirs, because they have not got the body of our Lord there at all.’”—p. 14.

“‘What was the use of saying mass for him,’ said I, ‘when he was dead and buried?’ Peter smiled, and answered, ‘It is said in the Scriptures, that it is a good and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, and it certainly must be so.’”—P. 15.

Extracts from a tract, entitled, “The Church of our Fathers.”

“St. Peter, the prince of the apostles, to whom our Lord himself gave the name of Peter, which signifies a rock, and told him at the same time that on that rock He would build His Church, and that the gates of hell should not prevail against it,—this same Peter went to Rome and became its Bishop; and from that time the Church of Rome, as being the See of St. Peter, has ever been looked upon by the faithful as the mother and mistress of all churches, and each of his successors in turn as the visible head of the Church on earth.”—P. 5.

“It is generally believed that Caractacus settled in Rome with his family; that his daughter was called Claudia, and that she married a noble Roman called Pudens, who, together with herself, afterwards became Christian; that they had a daughter who was afterwards celebrated as a saint under the name of St. Pudentiana; and that this Pudens and Claudia, whom St. Paul mentions in his Epistle to Timothy (2 Tim. iv. 21), were no other than these. It is said also that this noble British household gave shelter and hospitality to St. Peter, while he lived as Bishop in Rome; a retired room in the house being set apart as his chapel. A church was afterwards built on the site of this house, which having been since twice rebuilt, is still known by the name of St. Pudentiana; and it is this church which, from its connexion with the history of our country, has been assigned to Cardinal Wiseman as the church from which he takes his title.”—P. 7.

“Several miracles attended the death of this our first martyr (Alban). When on his way to death, he came to a river which divided the town from the hill where he was to suffer; the people thronged the bridge over it in such multitudes that he feared he should not be able to pass all that day, and longing for his crown, raised his eyes to heaven and prayed. And God straightway divided the waters as for His people of old, so that he walked through dryshod.”—P. 9.

“The next thing that we hear of the Church in Britain is, that two bishops from Gaul, Germanus and Lupus, were sent over here to preach to the people, many of whom had been perverted by false teachers; but all gladly listened to the preaching of these holy bishops, and returned to the way of truth. They were the more easily persuaded, because the preaching of these men was also accompanied by the working of miracles. After a public conference, in which the heretics had been completely put to silence by the eloquence of the bishops, an officer in the Roman army stepped forward with his little daughter who was blind, and begged that they would bestow such relief upon her as they were able. The bishops desired him to try first the powers of those false teachers who had been just now disputing against them. But these declined the trial, and united with the officer in begging her cure at the hands of Germanus and Lupus. Upon this Germanus offered up a short prayer, and invoking the Holy Trinity, pulled from his bosom a little box of relics which he always carried about him. This he applied to the girl’s eyes, and her sight was immediately restored.”—Pp. 9, 10.

Extracts from a tract, entitled, “How Antichrist keeps Christmas; or, A Peep at Christmas in a Catholic country.”

“It is true, indeed, that Christmas is a festival of such universal gladness, as to thaw for a moment even the icy heart of Protestantism; sending a ray of joyousness down into the cold depths of the population of this country, where all is so smooth and smiling on the surface, all so chill and joyless underneath. At Christmas I really believe a thrill of gladness darts through the heart of the great majority of the people. Churches and chapels are made gay with shining leaves and scarlet berries; carols are sung in the streets; the words, ‘A merry Christmas to you!’ pass from mouth to mouth; and beef and pudding, the outward form which joy is wont to put on in this cold, hungry climate, smoke on many a board to which, alas! for every other day in the year they are utter strangers. Nay, it is to be hoped that even in union workhouses there is an intermission of gruel for Christmas day.”—Pp. 4, 5.

“Abundant food is a necessity of our climate, and a condition of our physical well-being to a degree that the people of the South cannot understand. We are told of our Saxon forefathers, whom I have before mentioned, that their frames, though so tall and well-formed, were neither so patient of labour nor of hunger as might be expected from their apparent strength. Alas! for the necessity which grinds down our poor to the endurance of both to such a hurtful degree. But to return to Christmas. The difference between Catholic and Protestant Christmas is this, that both love Christmas, but Catholics love it far more distinctly and consciously for Christ’s sake. The very name of the festival is theirs, Christ’s Mass; to Protestants one part of the word has confessedly lost its meaning, and the other is a dim vision. Look at the professedly religious part of the observance of this feast, and see what it amounts to. In the churches of the English establishment, except the holly boughs, what is there to tell of the Lord’s birth? Of course the lesson from Scripture recounting that event is read; so also are certain Psalms which prophetically relate to it; and a sermon on the Nativity is (sometimes) preached. But otherwise the ordinary routine of the service goes on the same as usual. ‘Dearly beloved brethren,’ holds on the even tenour of its way, with dulness scarcely mitigated; and there is really nothing either peculiarly to draw out the devotion of those assisting at it towards their infant Lord, nor, which is more to our present purpose, any special outpouring of such devotion on the part of the Church herself.”—P. 6.

Note B. (P. 17.)

It is hoped that the following brief summary of the leading doctrines held by the two Churches of England and Rome, with the authorities on which they respectively rest, may prove useful to some of the readers of these pages, whether as promoting their inquiry, or confirming their faith.

Doctrines maintained by the Members of the Church of England and of the Church of Rome, with the authorities claimed by each in their support.

CHURCH OF ENGLAND. CHURCH OF ROME.

I. Holy Scripture containeth all things that are necessary to salvation: so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as an article of the faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation.—6th Article of Religion. See Deut. iv. 2; Isa. viii. 20; Rom. xv. 4; 2 Tim. iii. 15–17; Rev. xxii. 8. I. All saving truth is not contained in the Holy Scripture, but partly in Scripture and partly in unwritten traditions, which whosoever doth not receive with like piety and reverence as he doth the Scriptures, is accursed. If any one doth not receive all these books (viz. the apocryphal mixed with the genuine and canonical books), with every part of them as they used to be read in the Catholic Church, and as they are contained in the ancient vulgar Latin edition, for holy and canonical, and shall knowingly contemn the aforesaid traditions, let him be accursed—Decrees of the Council of Trent.

II. We are accounted righteous before God, only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by faith, and not for our own works or deservings.—11th Article of Religion. See Ps. cxliii. 2; Luke xvii. 10; Rom. iii. 22–24, 27, 28. II. If any man shall say that the good works of a justified man are in such sense the gifts of God, that they are not also his worthy merits; or that he, being justified by his good works, which are wrought by him through the grace of God and the merits of Jesus Christ, of whom he is a living member, does not really deserve increase of grace, eternal life, the enjoyment of that eternal life, if he dies in a state of grace, and even an increase of glory, let him be accursed.—Decrees of the Council of Trent.

III. The offering of Christ once made is that perfect redemption, propitiation, and satisfaction, for all the sins of the whole world, both original and actual; and there is none other satisfaction for sin, but that alone.—31st Article of Religion. Gal. iii. 13; Heb. vii. 26, 27; ix. 12, 22, 24–28; x. 14; 1 John iii. 1, 2. III. If any one say that in the mass there is not a true and proper sacrifice offered unto God; or, that to be offered is nothing else but for Christ to be given us to eat, let him be accursed!—Decrees of the Council of Trent. I further profess, that in the mass is offered to God a true, proper, and propitiatory sacrifice for the quick and dead.—Creed of Pope Pius IV.

IV. The Romish doctrine concerning purgatory, pardons, worshipping, and adoration, as well of images as of reliques, and also invocation of saints, is a fond thing vainly invented, and grounded upon no warranty of Scripture, but rather repugnant to the word of God.—22d Article of Religion. Texts opposed to the doctrine of purgatory: Eccl. ix. 5, 6; Isa. xxxviii. 18; St. Luke xxiii. 43; Heb. ix. 27; Rev. xiv. 13. Texts opposed to the doctrines of the worship of images and the invocation of saints: St. Matt. iv. 10; Acts iv. 12; x. 25; 1 Cor. iii. 11; 1 Tim. ii. 5, 6; 1 John ii. 1, 2. IV. It is lawful to represent God and the Holy Trinity by images; and the images and relics of Christ and the saints are to be duly honoured, venerated, and worshipped. And in this veneration and worship those are venerated which are represented by them.—Decrees of the Council of Trent. I most firmly assert that the images of Christ and of the Mother of God, who was always a virgin, are to be had and retained; and that due honour and worship are to be given to them.—Creed of Pope Pius IV. I constantly hold that there is a purgatory; and that the souls detained there are assisted by the prayers of the faithful.—Creed of Pope Pius IV.

V. There are two Sacraments ordained of Christ our Lord in the Gospel; that is to say, Baptism, and the Supper of the Lord. Those five commonly called Sacraments, that is to say, Confirmation, Penance, Orders, Matrimony, and Extreme Unction, are not to be counted for Sacraments of the Gospel, being such as have grown partly of the corrupt following of the apostles, partly are states of life allowed in the Scriptures; but yet have not like nature of Sacraments with Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, for that they have not any visible sign or ceremony ordained of God.—25th Article of Religion. St. Matt. xxviii. 19; xxvi. 26; St. Mark xiv. 22; St. Luke xxii. 19, 20; 1 Cor. xi. 24. V. Whosoever shall affirm that the Sacraments of the New Law were not all instituted by Jesus Christ our Lord; or that they are more or fewer than seven; or that any of them is not truly and properly a sacrament, let him be accursed.—Decrees of the Council of Trent. I profess also that there are truly and properly seven Sacraments of the New Law instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ, and necessary for the salvation of all men, (though not all of them to every one,) viz. Baptism, Confirmation, the Lord’s Supper, Penance, Extreme Unction, Orders, and Matrimony.—Creed of Pope Pius IV.

VI. It is a thing plainly repugnant to the word of God, and the custom of the primitive Church, to have public prayer in the Church, or to minister the Sacraments in a tongue not understanded of the people.—24th Article of Religion. 1 Cor. xiv. 3, 6, 14, 16, 19. VI. Although the mass contain great instruction for the faithful people; yet it has not appeared expedient to the Fathers, that it should be everywhere celebrated in the vulgar tongue.—Decrees of the Council of Trent.

VII. The cup of the Lord is not to be denied to the lay people: for both the parts of the Lord’s Sacrament, by Christ’s ordinance and commandment, ought to be ministered to all Christian men alike.—30th Article of Religion. St. Matt. xxvi. 26–28; 1 Cor. xi. 28. VII. Whosoever shall affirm that all and every one of Christ’s faithful are bound by divine command to partake the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist in both kinds as necessary to salvation, let him be accursed.—Decrees of the Council of Trent. I confess also, that under one kind only is received the whole and entire Christ, and the true Sacrament.—Creed of Pope Pius IV.

Note C. (P. 17.)

It is confidently believed by those persons who are most familiarly acquainted with the state of the property adjacent to the new Romish Church, that within a very few years nearly the whole of it will be covered with new buildings. And it is so far removed from the churches and National schools at Fulham and Walham Green, where the population has also increased of late very considerably, that it is easy to foresee the necessity which will arise for some new provision for the spiritual instruction of such a district, growing up nearly in the centre of the parish of Fulham. In such cases, all experience teaches that it is far wiser to anticipate the measures that may be required for meeting the exigency, than to adopt them after it has occurred. And the Vicar, therefore, deems the present a suitable opportunity for making it known, that the promise has been secured of a most eligible piece of land, near the locality here described, and containing rather more than the third of an acre, which would be well calculated, either now or hereafter, for the erection of school-rooms, or a church adapted to the wants of this growing population. The owner of the land, knowing the important object for which it has been wished to obtain it, has liberally consented to accept a price considerably below that which its marketable value would command, and the Bishop of London has kindly given his sanction to the measure. To those persons whose interest in the spiritual edification of their poorer neighbours may induce them to promote it, the Vicar will be thankful to afford any information that may be wished, in reference to this object, and to receive from them any amount of pecuniary assistance that will be needed to meet the expense, which of course must be considerable.

Note D. (P. 18.)

To those members of the congregation at All Saints, who have not yet introduced into their families the practice of domestic prayer, and who may possibly feel the want of some suggestions as to the books best adapted for conducting it, the Vicar would desire to recommend one or other of the following publications, according as they may find them most eligible for their own use. The different prices named would bring the books within the means of every class of his people; and he ventures to urge the adoption of the practice equally upon all.

s. d.

Bishop of London’s Manual of Family Prayer, from 1d. to 1 0

Family Prayers, by the late H. Thornton, Esq., M.P. 3 0

Family Prayers, by the late W. Wilberforce, Esq. 1 6

The Churchman’s Book of Family Prayer, by the Rev. J. H. Swainson, Rector of Alresford 1 6

A Manual of Prayer for Family and Private Devotion, by the Rev. C. A. Heurtley 0 1

Note E. (P. 19.)

At a time when books of the most valuable and interesting character are published at prices far below any former precedent, it seems to be little less than the duty of every master of a Christian household to furnish to his servants a collection, however limited, of such works as would be at once most useful and acceptable to them, which a few shillings annually would serve to keep up or to extend. The Vicar would wish to recommend The Churchman’s Monthly Magazine as one publication, which might, in any case, be added with advantage to such a library. It has now extended to five small volumes, and is continued periodically.

The following Table shows the result of the former decennial inquiries into the population of the parish of Fulham:

NUMBER OF HOUSES. Males. Females. Total.

Occupied. Empty. Building.

1801 723 15 . . . 2086 2334 4420

1811 885 14 15 2714 3189 5903

1821 987 46 13 2949 3542 6491

1831 1163 111 52 3432 3885 7317

1841 1441 52 9 4189 5230 9419

R. CLAY, PRINTER, BREAD STREET HILL.