this divine sacrifice which is celebrated in the mass, that same Christ is contained and immolated in an unbloody manner, who once offered himself in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross; the holy synod teaches that this sacrifice is truly propitiatory, and that by means thereof this is effected, that we obtain mercy, and find grace in seasonable aid." "Wherefore, not only for the sins, punishments, satisfactions, and other necessities of the faithful who are living, but also for those who are departed in Christ, and who are not as yet fully purified (purgatis), is it rightly offered, agreeably to a tradition of the apostles." Session 23rd, Trent Council, 4th December, 1563.-" Whereas the Catholic Church, instructed by the Holy Ghost, has, from the sacred writings and the ancient tradition of the fathers, taught, in sacred councils, and very recently in this ecumenical synod, that there is a purgatory, and that the souls there detained are helped by the suffrages of the faithful, but principally by the acceptable sacrifice of the altar; the holy synod enjoins on bishops that they diligently endeavour that the sound doctrine concerning purgatory, transmitted by the holy fathers and sacred councils, be believed, maintained, taught, and everywhere proclaimed by the faithful of Christ."

2. Pardons or indulgences.-It is admitted on all hands that by pardons are meant indulgences. By an indulgence or pardon is meant the remission of temporal punishment for sin, either in this life or in purgatory, after satisfaction, rendered by the penitent or some one else for him, and it is main tained that the power of granting indulgences was committed by Christ to the Apostles and their successors, in the words, "Whatsoever you shall loose upon earth, shall be loosed also in heaven." The English Church, we have seen, calls the Romish doctrine, concerning these indulgences, "a fond thing, vainly invented, and grounded upon no warranty of Scripture, but rather repugnant to the Word of God."

But the Roman Church holds, in Session 21, chap. ix., "As regards the indul. gences, or other spiritual graces, of which the faithful of Christ ought not on this account to be deprived, it decrees that they are henceforth to be published to the people at due times, by the ordinaries of the places, aided by two members of the chapter, to whom also power is given to gather faithfully the alms and the succour of charity which are offered them, without their receiving any remuneration whatsoever, that so all men may at length truly understand that these heavenly treasures of the Church are administered, not for gain, but for godliness." And again Session 35, chap. xxi. "Decree concerning indulgences." "Whereas the power of conferring indulgences was granted by Christ. to the Church, and she has, even in the most ancient times, used the said power, delivered unto her of God; the sacred holy synod teaches and enjoins that the use of in dulgences, for the Christian people most salutary, and approved of by the authority of sacred councils, is to be retained in the Church, and it condemns with anathema those who either assert that they are useless, or who deny that there is in the Church the power of granting them. In granting them, however, it desires that, in accordance with the ancient and approved custom in the Church, moderation be observed, lest by excessive facility, ecclesiastical discipline be enervated. And being desirous that the abuses which have crept therein, and by occasion of which this honourable name of indulgences is blasphemed by heretics, be amended and corrected, it ordains generally by this decree that all evil gains for the obtaining thereof, whence a most prolific cause of abuses amongst the Christian people has been derived, be wholly abolished. But as regards the other abuses which have proceeded from superstition, ignorance, irreverence, or from whatever other source, since, by reason of the manifold corruptions in the places and provinces where the said abuses are committed,

they cannot conveniently be specially prohibited, it commands all bishops diligently to collect, each in his own Church, all abuses of this nature, and to report them in the first provincial synod, that, after having been reviewed by the opinions of the other bishops also. they may forthwith be referred to

the Sovereign Roman Pontiff, by whose authority and prudence that which may be expedient for the universal Church will be ordained, that thus the gift of holy indulgences may be dispensed to all the faithful, piously, holily, and incorruptly.” (To be continued.)

IN

SPECIAL RELIGIOUS SERVICES THEATRES.-Seventh Series.-" Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind." (Luke xiv. 21.) In accordance with the spirit of this command of their Lord, the committee commenced these services, and they would acknowledge with deep gratitude that now for seven winters they have been enabled thus to proclaim the invitations of the Gospel in the accustomed haunts of the people. Unwilling from a variety of causes as the working classes are to enter our regular places of worship, they have yet from the very commencement of this effort thronged the open theatre, and listened to the words of life. The mere promptings of novelty and curiosity, which may have had some influence at the first, may fairly be considered by this time to have died out, and yet the eagerness to hear remains. Indeed, the universal testimony received is that the services were never better attended than during the past course, and that the congregations have become each year more and more what was desired, and now consist almost entirely of the poor and needy, or the no less irreligious and flashy pleasure-seekers who usually frequent the theatre on week-days.

Encouraged, therefore, alike by past success and the continued generous assistance rendered by the clergy and ministers of the Metropolis, the committee purpose still to prosecute this enterprise, and, if possible, to enlarge the sphere of its operations. It is indeed a

mournful and depressing fact that, with all the new and varied efforts undertaken of late years by the different sections of the Christian Church, in the erection of additional places of worship, London is stated to be in this respect, by those who have carefully inquired into the subject, worse off than it was at the time of the Census of 1851. The following is an extract from an able article which appeared in the British Quarterly Review for January, 1866, and which has since been reprinted :

:

"How far is London evangelized? This great centre, not merely of constitutional government, of civilization, of commerce, but of spiritual light to the distant regions of the earth-is it, in itself, a Christianized capital? Statistics, if they have any value, are useful in this respect-they enable us to apply a series of tests which, if not unerring, do give us in the result a solid basis on which to erect definite conclusions. Here, then, is in the smallest compass the nett result of the effort of all religious bodies in London to meet the permanent wants of its teeming population :

"Places of Worship in London, and their Accommodation.-In 1851 there were 1,097 places of worship, providing 698,549 sittings, with a population of 2,362,236; and a proportion of 30-2 per cent. of population accommodated. In 1865 there were 1,316 places of worship, providing 917,895 sittings, with a population of 3,015,494 (the Registrar-General's estimate for the middle of 1865), and a proportion of 30 4 per cent. of population accommodated. This shows an increase

of 219 places of worship, and 219,346 sittings, with an increase in population of 653,258, and in proportion per cent. of population accommodated of 2. "There has thus been an increase of accommodation in fourteen years of about 31 per cent. Had the increase been threefold, it would only have sufficed to meet the increase of population. Taking 52 per cent., Mr. Mann's estimate, as the maximum number to be provided for, the following result is obtained :

"Deficiency of Accommodation.-Number of persons unprovided for in London in 1851, 669,514; ditto in 1865, 831,387. Increased deficiency, 161,873.

"It would thus appear, that if all the persons in London who are not physically disqualified, or for any legitimate reasons, were to attend church or chapel at the same time, 52 per cent., or more than one-half of the population, would be shut out for want of room. But a worse feature of the case is, that 161,873 more persons would now be excluded, notwithstanding the considerable augmentation of places of worship, than in 1851. Therefore, although the percentage of sittings, as compared with population, has slightly improved, the actual deficiency has increased. It is estimated, as we have already said, that 45,000 souls are annually added to the population of London. To meet only this increase would require some fortyfive new and commodious churches every year; whilst the average accretion yearly since 1851 of places of worship of all sizes has been no more than sixteen."

Although it was not with a view so much of lessening the acknowledged deficiency of accommodation for religious worship that the committee originated this movement, but rather to overcome those social and other obstacles which generally existed in the minds of the working classes to the use of those buildings already provided, the above statistics yet show the absolute need of such special efforts as these services to supplement the ordinary

methods of meeting the spiritual wants of the rapidly increasing population of this great city.

Since the publication of their last report, one of the clergymen who has rendered repeated and valued aid in carrying on these services in the Eastend of the Metropolis has published a short account of his experiences and impressions in connexion with this work, from which the committee make the following extract :*

"The theatre assigned me was in one of the most degraded portions of the Metropolis. The reader may imagine what the neighbourhood is, if he can imagine rooms, small and confined rooms, tenanted by sixteen grown-up persons of both sexes, and perhaps in some cases by more; if he can imagine large houses, once respectable, and still in their decay retaining a look of better days, turned into absolutely swarming nests of thieves and prostitutes; if he can imagine huge gin-palaces crowded with drinkers, and throwing out their flaming light into the street, almost every forty paces he takes. The theatre itself is said to contain five thousand persons, but in reality, I should think, is capable of seating some three thousand. I was alarmed, at first, at the idea of speaking in a building of such size; but I found that in this instance, as in so many others, the children of the world show far more shrewdness than the children of light, and that a theatre, as a place for speaking in, and for seeing and hearing in, is far more convenient and manageable than the average church.

"There is a large screen, and in front of it a table with a lamp, a Bible or two, and a quantity of single-sheet bills of hymns, to be sung at the service, which said single-sheet you will notice in the hands of all the congregation. Behind the table a row of some eight or ten chairs, at which are kneeling now in earnest prayer the Christian friends who have come to strengthen the minister's hands.

* Christian Advocate, for January, 1866.

"They rise, and the service begins. First a hymn is given out and sung— well sung, too, and heartily, if the tune be easy and well known. Then the preacher advances in front of the desk, pocket Bible in hand, and reads a portion of Scripture, and after it, offers up a brief extemporaneous prayer. Then another hymn is sung; and when the people are well settled down in their places, the text is announced, and the address begins. After the address, another hymn and a prayer conclude the service, the whole being brought within the compass of an hour and a quarter. Such at least was the plan which I adopted, and which I believe is pretty generally adopted by the preachers at these theatre services.

"Now, I had expected a few interruptions and annoyances. I thought it just possible, considering the character of my audience, that some jocose or uncomplimentary remarks might be made either upon my discourse, or my personal appearance. But I was most agreeably disappointed. I preached I preached what I call a long sermon-i.e., a sermon of some forty or forty-five minutes' duration; but never, from any congregation I have ever preached to, did I receive a more profound and respectful attention. At times the hush was so oppressive as to be almost painful; and a gentleman who sat behind me on the stage, and who had more leisure to scan my hearers narrowly than I had, told me afterwards that they seemed to be 'straining to listen,' so earnest was their manner. It must not be supposed, however, that there was anything remarkable about the sermon; for it was simply a plain, intelligible discourse, made as pictorial as possible by anecdote and word-painting, and aimed right at the hearts and consciences of the hearers. It was nothing more than this, and would not have endured the handling of even a good-natured critic. But it was listened to attentively; partly because the old story of the cross, with which we have been familiar from childhood, is really news to these

neglected fellow creatures of ours; partly, I think, because they are touched at the sight of a preacher, who will take his stand beside them on the platform of a common humanity, and speak of a sinfulness, and a difficulty, and a danger, and a temptation, in which he shares with all those whom he addresses; but more than all, because He who is the true Master of assemblies-aye, even of irregular and uncanonical assemblies like these gives the people a spirit of attention and hearing.

"Let me say here, that I noticed the attention to be as great, and the silence as profound, during the prayers, as during the preaching.

"Now what was the audience composed of? The pit was crowded with men; scarcely a woman was to be seen among them. In the boxes and gallery the sexes seemed to be pretty equally divided. There was the inevitable baby, of course; and the old man with the cough, of course; but both behaved remarkably well, considering, and were not much heard of throughout the

service.

A

"Were your hearers of the right sort? Assuredly-i.e., they were of the sort it would be almost hopeless to expect to get, at present, within the walls of a church, or a chapel, or even of a decent school-room. When the movement was young, sermon hunters, excitement hunters, would come-men and women who ought to have known better, and kept to their own places of worship; but that state of things has passed away, and the right sort of people remain. clergyman, who has preached at several of these services, told me that on one occasion he slipped out by a back way after the service was over, and coming round to the front stood unrecognized in the street, watching his congregation emerge from the door. He was perfectly satisfied with the scrutiny. They were the very people he wanted to reach. Men and women, as they came up, bore the brand upon them. Undoubtedly they were publicans and sinners; and undoubtedly he felt then that he had

been doing his Master's work in preaching to them, and calling them to repent

ance.

"After the service is concluded, an invitation is addressed to the multitude to remain to a short twenty-minutes Prayer-meeting. I am not able to be present, for I am well-wearied with the service, and have five miles to go before 1 reach home. But I understand that the invitation is usually accepted by about a couple of hundred persons.

"As I said at the beginning of this paper, I can see that the movement is open to objection; and I can quite understand the feelings of some excellent Christian people who withhold their countenance from it. But the best answer to the difficulty is, I think, found by those who go themselves down and see the population whom those services are intended to reach. The neighbourhood to which I went was degraded enough in all conscience; but our huge London has still worse degradation to show. There are localities in which, as I have been informed by those who know them well, English men and English womenChristians so called-live in such a state that they seem to have lost everything but the mere outside appearance of humanity. The whole moral being is laid utterly waste, and the degradation is something inconceivable. Ah! my brother, are we to leave these alone, to fester and die in their sins? Are we never to speak a word to them, if we can get them together? church; the mission-room; the clergyman; the Scripture-reader; the districtvisitor; the Bible-woman-blessed as these agencies are, and owned of Godcannot reach and overtake the work. They do much, but they cannot accomplish all. They are lights shining in a dark place; but alas! there stretches out beyond them a vast dense surface of unpenetrated gloom-of worse than Egyptian darkness. Now I can get some of these 'lost' ones into a theatre. In the winter months, some 1,500 or 2,000, or more, will come to meet me-each with

The

an immortal soul within him, and will hear patiently, attentively, earnestly, what I have to say about the great theme which you and I love Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Knowing this, shall I refuse to go? Shall I relegate these poor fellow-creatures of mine to the haunts of sin from which they came, without speaking a word which may, perhaps. by God's blessing, win them, some of them, to a better life? Not so. I like irregular ways as little as most men; but a fearfully abnormal state calls for a departure from ordinary ways of proceeding. And, seeing how we stand in London, I cannot help thinking that, in carrying on this movement in faith and prayer, we are not acting in opposition to the character or will of Him who ate with publicans and sinners; and who came to 'seek and to save that which was lost."

The following buildings were opened by the committee during the past course of services: Surrey Theatre, Blackfriarsroad, with an attendance varying from 2,000 to 2,500; Pavilion Theatre, Whitechapel, ditto, 1,500 to 2,000; Standard Theatre, Shoreditch, ditto, 1,500 to 1,800; Sadler's Wells Theatre, Clerkenwell, ditto, 1,300 to 1,500; Alhambra Palace, Leicester - square, ditto, 1,400 to 2,000; Regent Music Hall, Westminster, ditto, 400 to 800.

During the past series, the committee are able to report that 122 services have been held, attended by about 190,000 persons, making in all, from the commencement of this effort, 903 services, attended by 1,357,100 persons. Through the liberality of the committee of the Religious Tract Society, in making them six grants of tracts, of the value of 101. each, and also in allowing them to purchase at subscribers' prices, the committee have likewise been enabled to distribute, in all, 810,800 handbills, containing, with a notice of the services, a brief statement of some leading Christian truth.