bishop of Dublin. The Most Rev. His Grace the Lord Archbishop of Tuam. The Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of Salisbury. The Hon. and Rt. Rev. the Lord Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry. The Rt. Rev. the Lord Bishop of Elphin. The Right Hon. the Earl of Winchelsea. The Right Hon. Viscount Lorton. COMMITTEE. Right Hon. Sir George Rose, M. P. Colonel Le Blane. Henry Maxwell, Esq. M. P. George Grey, Esq. J. Colquhoun, Esq. Hon. Granville D. Ryder. Henry Pownall, Esq. Capt. Frederick Vernon, R. N. Gen. Neville, R. N. John Wells, Esq. M. P. Colonel Latter. David G. Donald, Esq. And all Clergymen and Dissenting Ministers TREASURER. ROBERT WILLIAMS, Esq. M. P. J. E. GORDON, Esq. In their address to the public, the committee state that, from the degree of public countenance with which the Society was favored at its first formation, they feel warranted in anticipating the support of the kingdom at large. It is not their wish to interfere with the operations of other societies, but rather to second those operations, by pursuing objects which do not come within the province of existing associations. "The following statement of these objects will explain the nature of the Society's intentions, and will point out the field which it proposes to occupy. OBJECTS OF THE SOCIETY. 1. To enable Clergymen, and others engaged in promoting the Reformation in Ireland, to purchase such quantities of Bibles, Testaments, and Tracts, as the increasing wants of their respective parishes and districts may require. 2. To supply individuals and associations with the means of circulating such instruction and information as may best meet the present circumstances of Ireland. 3. To enable the friends of the Reformation to defray the expences incurred by meetings for religious discussion, and by the publication of their proceedings, for which no society at present provides. 4. To collect and circulate authentic intelligence respecting the of the Reformation. progress 5. To promote such modes of instruction as are best suited to the condition of the lower orders of the Roman Catholics throughout the Empire." "The indispensable necessity of adopting such means, under the present circumstances of Ireland," the committee state, "is attested by those who are best acquainted with her spiritual wants, and will be admitted by all who duly consider the nature of those efforts to which, under the divine blessing, we must trace the religious privileges which we ourselves enjoy. Under a deep sense of the responsibility which attaches to the pre fessor of the Protestant faith, the Reformation Society proposes to occupy this important field of exertion; and whilst its aim will be to contrast, in every fair and open way, the doctrine and practice of the Church of Rome with the revealed will of God, its committee trust that they shall be enabled to discharge this duty, not less with meekness and affection, than with Christian fidelity and Christian wisdom. They desire to persuade their Roman Catholic Brethren, by their conduct, as well as by their professions, that, in exposing what they deem the pernicious errors of the Roman Catholic religion, they are influenced solely by the interest they feel for their present and eternal welfare, and by a humble desire to promote the glory of God." "From the above statement, the public will perceive that the British Reformation Society will hold out no secular inducement to their Roman Catholic countrymen, for the purpose of accomplishing their objects; it will be equally obvious that the views of the Socie y have no connection whatever with politics. Their high and holy aim is, to diffuse religious truth, and religious truth alone, and to leave the result in the hands of that God who has said, "My word shall not return unto me void." For the support of an object so unexceptionable, and pursued by means so simple, the Society would earnestly solicit the help of the Christian Philanthropist of every Protestant denomination: and they trust their appeal will not be in vain." It appears that an Institution for the promotion of similar objects, has been formed in Dublin. With this Institution, the committee of the British Society are already in friendly correspondence, and they propose to make it the principal channel of communication between themselves and Ireland. Associations which embrace many of the peculiar designs of the British Society, have been set on foot in several other parts of that country. In the first number of Quarterly Extracts, the committee state" that four kindred associations have already been established. These have been formed under the respective names-the "City of London Auxiliary," the "St. Giles's Auxili-, ary, ," the "Long Acre Chapel Association, and the " County of Kent Auxiliary." At the forma tion of the last-named Auxiliary, a public meeting was held in the Town-hall, Maidstone, at which. the Earl of Winchelsea presided. The sum of £100. has been remitted to the Parent Society, as the result of this first county meeting, in aid of the British Reformation Society. The following changes are also notified, connected with the management of the Society. Mr. Calcraft has resigned his situation as one of the Honorary Secretaries, and in token of their sense of his valuable services, at the formation and commencement of this Institution, the committee have gladly placed his name upon the list of Honorary Life Governors. In consequence of the increasing correspondence and general business of the Society, the committee have judged it important, to secure the constant attention of an efficient member of the Society, to the details of management; and they have therefore offered the situation of Secretary, with a salary of £200 per annum, to the Rev. Henry Owen, to which offer Mr. Owen has kindly acceded. The committee have likewise requested Mr. Gordon and Captain Vernon, R. N. to proceed to Ireland as representatives of the Society in that country, and with the special object of forming Auxiliary Institutions in those counties and towns where their co-operation is desired by the friends of the Reformation Society. They trust it will soon be in their power to communicate important information with respect to the proceedings of this Deputation. An expectation had been entertained of securing for the "Reformation Society" the services of an eminent dissenting Minister as Secretary in conjunction with the Rev. H. J. Owen, but the various and important duties of that gentleman did not permit him to accept the situation. In reference to the operations of the Society, it is observed “that during the short period of its existence, it has authorised the appointment of nine Scripture Readers at a salary of £20. each; distributed in various ways upwards of 70,000 Tracts, besides a number of Bibles, Testaments, and Addresses, and made other general disbursements in aid of its objects. These efforts, which may be considered as the first fruits of the Institution, it is hoped will be a means of stimulating its friends to greater exertions, so that the zeal and activity conspicuous at its formation, in due time may produce an abundant harvest to the glory of God, and the welfare of mankind." IGNORANCE and bigoTRY OF THE LOWER ORDERS OF ROMAN CA THOLICS IN LANCASHIRE. We have received from the clergyman of a large and populous parish in Lancashire, the following account of a case which recently occurred in the course of his ministerial visits. "I was summoned a few weeks back to attend the sick bed of one of my parishioners. You may imagine my surprise at being interrupted in the performance of the solemn duty in which I was engaged by the mistress of the house, a Roman Catholic, who came to tell me, that I must not come again, for that she was determined to send for the priest in my stead. The sick man begged her to be quiet and said he would have nothing to do with the priest. I expostulated with her on the cruelty of her conduct, and represented how much she would be hurt if the visits of a Protestant Clergyman were forced upon her contrary to her express wish. She said, however, that the priest should come for he was next to God. I asked her what she thought of Jesus Christ; she answered"I think nothing of him." The priest, she said, had more power than I had, for he could lay a spirit. I asked her how she knew that; she said the priest himself had told her so. She told me also in the course of the conversation, that she thought nothing of the Bible. I found, in short, that the priest was to her instead of Christ. was unable to persuade her to listen to reason, and the priest, in spite of the wish which the poor man expressed to be left to the direction of a Protestant Clergyman, visited him instead of me." ERRATUM....Page 152, for Dor read Dn. NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS, &c. We have received the papers of "Junius," and "A Clergyman ;" an Extract from the Life of St. Martin; and Mr. Faber's reply to Mr. Corless. THE PROTESTANT GUARDIAN. FEBRUARY, 1828. THE ARGUMENT OF THE UNCERTAINTY OF SALVATION RETORTED. We noticed in our last number, among the objections urged by Roman Catholic controvertists against the Holy Scriptures as the rule of faith, the argument, that the salvation of most Protestants is made to rest on the uncertain ground of fallible interpretations of the Scriptures. We shall now lay before our readers Chillingworth's retort of the argument; and we leave them to judge whether the salvation of the members of the Church of Rome, according to her own showing of what is necessary to it, can be assured by any such evidence as that which supports the faithfulness of long received and generally accredited translations of the Scriptures. We allude to the alleged necessity of the intention of the Minister to the validity of the sacraments. The Council of Constance, according to Cardinal Brancati, declared the necessity of the intention of the Minister of the sacraments to make them effectual.-Eugenius IV. after the Council of Florence, says in the Decree of Faith prescribed to the Armenians, that the sacraments are performed by three things; by the things themselves, as the matter; by the words, as the form; and by the person of the Minister, who confers the sacraments with intention to do what the Church doth. The Council of Trent confirmed this dogma in the eleventh Canon de Sacramentis of the seventh Session:-"If any one shall say that at least the intention of doing that which the Church doth, is not requisite in the Ministers whilst they administer the sacraments, let him be anathema." "This objection," viz. the making men's salvation depend on uncertainties-says Chillingworth in answer to the author of Charity Maintained,' "may seem to do you great service for the present, yet I fear that you will repent the time that ever you urged it against us as a fault, that we make men's salvation depend upon uncertainties, for the objection retorts upon you many ways, as first thus ;-the salvation of many millions of Papists (as they suppose and teach) depends upon their having the sacrament of penance truly administered unto them. This, again, upon the Minister's being a true Priest. That such or such a man is Priest, not himself, much less any other, can have any possible certainty, for it depends upon a great many contingent and uncertain supposals. He, that will pretend to be certain of it, must undertake for a certain all these things that follow. First, that he was baptized with due matter. Secondly, with the due form of words, which he cannot know unless he were both present and attentive. Thirdly, he must know that he was baptized with due intention, and that is, that the Minister of his baptism was not a secret Jew, nor a Moor, nor an Atheist (of all which kinds, I fear, experience gives you a just cause to fear, that Italy and Spain have Priests not a few,) but a Christian in heart as well as profession; (otherwise, believing the sacrament to be nothing, in giving it he could intend to give nothing,) nor a Samosatenian, nor an Arian, but one that was capable of having due intention, from which they that believe not the doctrine of the Trinity are excluded by you, and lastly, that he was neither drunk nor distracted at the administration of the sacrament, nor out of negligence or malice omitted his intention. Fourthly, he must undertake to know that the Bishop which ordained him Priest, ordained him compleatly with due matter, form, and intention: and, consequently, that he again was neither Jew, nor Moor, nor Atheist, nor liable to any such exception, as is inconsistent with due intention in giving the sacrament of Orders. Fifthly, he must undertake to know, that the Bishop which made him Priest, was a Priest himself; for your rule is, Nihil dat quod non habet: and, consequently, that there was again none of the former nullities in his baptism, which might make him incapable of ordination, nor no invalidity in his ordination, but a true Priest to ordain him again, the requisite matter and form and due intention all concurring. Lastly, he must pretend to know the same of him that made him Priest, and him that made him Priest, even until he comes to the very fountain of Priesthood, For, take any one in the whole train and succession of Or |