what scenes of beauty and purity, of majesty and glory, burst upon our astonished gaze! The altar is there, the cross in which we glory; the sacrifice is there, the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world; the Priest is there, the Great High Priest, Jesus, the Son of God; the incense is there, the prayers of the saints; the holy water is there in the laver of regeneration; the spirits of the departed saints are there, ministering with angels for the heirs of salvation; the Holy Spirit is there, like a dove, hovering over the whole scene, and sending forth his gentle and sanctifying influences upon the assembled worshippers "Holiness unto the Lord" is written over the altar; and on one side we read the inscription "Glory to God in the highest," and on the other side-"Peace on earth, good-will towards men." And now we are to inquire "WHO IS THE HEAD OF THIS CATHOLIC CHURCH?"

The way to the solution of this question has been so completely paved by our previous investigations, that a few plain steps will lead us immediately to it. "Who is the Head of the Catholic Church? The text answers the question, and I read it again :-" And He is the Head of the body, the Church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he may hold THE PRIMACY."

Protestants assert that CHRIST is the One Head of the Catholic Church; Roman Catholics, as we have already seen, assert that there are two Heads; 1st, Christ in Heaven; 2d, His Vicar, the Pope, on earth.

I wish to read to you an extract from a well known

Roman Catholic work, "Ferraris Bibliotheca Prompta," which is an authorised standard of Roman Catholic divinity. The extract may be found in the Frankfort edition, printed in 1783, under the word "PAPA."

"The Pope is of such dignity and highness, that he is not simply man, but, as it were, God, and the Vicar of God. Hence the Pope is of such supreme and sovereign dignity that, properly speaking, he is not merely constituted in dignity, but is rather placed on the very summit of dignities. Hence also the Pope is Father of Fathers;' and he alone can use this name, because he only can be called Father of Fathers,' since he possesses the primacy over all, is truly greater than all, and the greatest of all. He is called 'most holy,' because he is presumed to be such. On account of the excellency of his supreme dignity, he is called Bishop of Bishops, Ordinary of Ordinaries, universal Bishop of the Church, Bishop or Diocesan of the whole world, divine Monarch, supreme Emperor and King of Kings.' Hence the Pope is crowned with a triple crown, as King of heaven, of earth, and of hell. Nay, the Pope's excellence and power is not only about heavenly, terrestrial and infernal things, but he is also above angels, and is their superior; so that if it were possible that angels could err from the faith, or entertain sentiments contrary thereto, they could be judged and excommunicated by the Pope. He is of such great dignity and power, that he occupies one and the same tribunal with Christ; so that whatsoever the Pope does, seems to proceed from the mouth of God, as is proved from many Doctors. The Pope is, as it were, God on earth,

the only Prince of the faithful of Christ, the greatest King of all Kings, possessing the plenitude of power, to whom the government of the earthly and heavenly kingdom is intrusted. Hence the common doctrine teacheth, that the Pope hath the power of the two swords; namely, the spiritual and temporal, which jurisdiction and power Christ himself committed to Peter and his successors: To thee will I give the keys of the kingdom of heaven,' &c.: (Matt. xvi.:) where Doctors note that he did not say 'key,' but 'keys,' and by this comprehending the temporal and spiritual power: which opinion is abundantly confirmed by the authority of the holy Fathers, the decision of the canon and civil law, and by the apostolic constitutions."

Protestants deny that there is any authority in the Word of God for these assumptions. The passage upon which rests the whole claim of the Pope and Church of Rome to so pre-eminent a dignity is found in the sixteenth chapter of the Gospel by St. Matthew, at the eighteenth and following verses:-"I say to thee that thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven." Upon this passage I desire to make two or three

brief observations.

(1.) It is conceded on all hands that the literal meaning of the text is, "Thou art a stone, and upon this rock," &c. The two words are different-one is

Terpos which means a small stone or pebble-the other is zerpa which signifies a rock. The vulgate so far as the Latin language enables it to do so, maintains this distinction. "Tu es Petrus, et super hanc Petram." If our Lord had said thou art a rock, and upon this rock, or, thou art a stone, and upon this stone, we might be ready to allow that the literal interpretation of the words would favour the meaning that Jesus Christ intended to affirm that he would build his church upon Peter.

(2.) Observe, that this is withal a figurative expression, and one, therefore, upon which alone a vital doctrine ought not to be made to rest.

(3.) Observe, again, that the Lord Jesus renewed this commission of Peter to all the apostles after his resurrection.-(St. John, ch. xx. 22.)

(4.) Observe lastly, that neither our Lord nor Peter's apostolic brethren, by their conduct at least, put such a construction upon the words, as is sought to be applied to them. When the mother of Zebedee's children made a request on behalf of her two sons, you remember how that the other apostles were filled with indignation against the two brethren. And what said their Divine Master?" You know that the princes of the Gentiles lord it over them, and they that are the greater exercise power upon them. IT SHALL NOT BE SO AMONG YOU." This was spoken after the declaration concerning Peter, and I ask, was it possible for the Great Teacher so to express himself if it had been his intention to make Peter the chief and prince of the apostles? We have already seen that in the first apostolic council that was held,

Peter exercised even less power and authority than James. Surely the apostles would have conceded all authority to Peter, had they understood that he was constituted by Christ their prince and leader, and if they had understood him to be placed in the stead of Christ, would have paid him that deference which they owed to Christ. And now I must beg you to look with me into the epistle of St. Paul to the Galatians, and to read from the Douay Bible a few verses in the second chapter.

"9 And when they had known the grace that was given to me, James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship: that we should go unto the gentiles, and they unto the circumcision:

"10 Only that we should be mindful of the poor: which same thing also I was careful to do.

"11 But when Cephas was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed.

"12 For before that some came from James, he did eat with the gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them who were of the circumcision.

"13 And to his dissimulation the rest of the Jews consented, so that Barnabas also was led by them into that dissimulation.

"14 But when I saw that they walked not uprightly unto the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all: If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of the gentiles, and not as the Jews do, how dost thou compel the gentiles to live as do the Jews?"