Such is the folly of praying to saints and angels. But saints are not only worshipped by praying to them, but, also, days are set apart, called holy days, for their particular service. These days are published on the sabbath preceding each of them; and although some of you should forget to be sober and peaceable, yet you will not forget, as you say, to "Keep the holiday." You go to Mass on some of these days, and as soon as it is over, some of you go to alehouses, and spend your time, money, and senses, in " "Keeping the holiday:" others go to places of public wickedness; such as gambling, horse-races, cock-fights, and other criminal pursuits. What great evil is occasioned by the observance of these days! Idolatry is committed by dedicating the days of the Lord to the worship of his creatures; his commandment is disregarded, in which he leaves no apology for the appointment or observance of these days, saying, "Six days shalt thou labour." You may be ready to say, that "This commandment is limited, as there are many in the world who do not labour on any day; and if so, they cannot break the sabbath. But this commandment is not limited; for God never made any person to be idle:

: every one of maturity and reason, should occupy some office in which they may be useful.

You may again ask, "Is not the observance of Christmas-day and Good-Friday, amongst protestants, a violation of this commandment, as well as the keeping of holidays by Roman Catholics?" I answer, no; no more than the changing of the sabbath from the last to the first day of the week;

(Matt. xxviii, 1;) for it is done not in honour of any saint, but of Jesus Christ. Good-Friday is observed in commemoration of his birth, his sufferings, and death; and the change of the sabbath, of his resurrection. Another evil occasioned by the dedication of days to the service of saints, is idleness: work is neglected, money is spent, and poverty is the natural result thereof, besides, the dishonour of God by idolatry, and sometimes the disturbance of the peace by immorality; and all this is occasioned by "Keeping the holiday."

Above all the superstitious practices by which you are enslaved, the prohibition of the use of flesh-meat on Fridays, Saturdays, and rogationdays, is the most strictly observed, and conscientiously attended to. You would violate the commandments of God with far less sense of guilt, than you would this commandment of your church. I have heard some glory in the shame of intoxication, and boast how much liquors they could drink at once; and yet these very persons would almost submit to suffer martyrdom rather than eat meat on a Friday. What a wicked inconsistency is here! The commandments of God are violated and disregarded, whilst the commandments of men, which are in direct opposition to his, are strictly attended to. This abstinence from meat is a visible mark of that apostacy and heresy of which St. Paul speaks, by the Spirit of prophecy, when writing to Timothy, saying,"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of

devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth." 1 Tim. iv, 1, 2, 3.

You cannot deny that this prophecy answers well to the conduct of your own clergy, who, contrary to the design of God, wickedly forbid the marriage of priests, friars, monks, and nuns, and command you" to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth; for every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving:" that is, every creature which God has made for man's nourishment, is good for that purpose, and to be thankfully received whenever necessary for the support of human life; and nothing of that sort is at any time to be refused, rejected or despised, on account of days or seasons. Although God has commanded these things to be received, yet it appears that the pope thinks he can do as he pleases; for in some seasons of Lent he gives you liberty to eat meat on certain days, and on others none at all.

This is something like "Sitting in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God." You believe him rather than Jesus Christ, who says, "Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man. But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart, and they defile the man; for out of the heart pro

ceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: these are the things which defile a man." Matt. xv, xi, 18, 19, 20. But some of you would commit most of these evils with an easier mind than you would disobey the pope, or violate your superstitious principles, by eating meat on a Friday, although Christ has declared that such does not defile a man.

You may now be ready to use your old argument, and say, "If what goes into the mouth does not defile a man, then it can be no evil to get intoxicated, or take a draught of poison." This is silly reasoning! May not any person in the exercise of common sense know that God never designed food to be taken to excess, nor poison to be taken for food? for Christ spoke in direct reference to the victuals taken for the support of the body, when he uttered the words in question...

You may farther argue by saying "It is not in eating meat that the evil is, but in breaking the commandment: it was not in the fruit that Adam found the evil, but in disobeying the law." You cannot plead your cause from this point, as Adam's case and yours are quite different in this matter. He had God's commandment, but you have the pope's, which is without true foundation or authority, and contrary to the will of God, who has declared that such food as he has appointed for the use of man, when taken in moderation, at any time, does not defile him; and those who eat without scruple in reference to kind or time, are said to Believe and know the

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truth;" (1 Tim. iv, 3.;) whilst those who forbid it are declared to be such as "depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils." And he who warns his brother or fellow-creature of the evils of these things, is called "a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith, and of good doctrine, whereunto he has attained."

St. Paul exhorts you to "refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise yourselves rather unto godliness." Lay aside the legends of the Missal, and embrace the truths of the Bible: obey the commandments of God, and not the commandments of men which are contrary to truth and safety.

Do you not see the sandy foundation on which you are building, and the false props by which you support your edifice? I have endeavoured to shew you your error and danger, so far as simple experience and a knowledge of divine truth have enabled me. You see my simple reasoning, and strong proofs from scripture; you cannot deny or refute them; and if you disregard, or endeavour to disbelieve, what is here laid down to you, you are wilfully culpable, and must be accountable for the knowledge you might have received. You rest the salvation of your soul upon mere shadows, which can never support you. Your works can never atone for your sins, the priest cannot forgive them, supposed purgatory cannot cleanse them; and if you die in them, God declares that where he is you can never come; and still you run the race of superstition till you reach the end,