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of the promise made to St. Peter, under the figure of the keys. A Key is an emblem of power. The giving of the keys therefore was clearly symbolical of the authority of the receiver, to open and shut, to admit and to exclude, and in general to manage, and superintend the spiritual interests of the church. The same power was given to the twelve, without the use of the symbol; when at Capernaum, our Lord assured them,-"Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven;" and the declaration was confirmed in that grand commission to remit and retain sins, conferred by Christ, after his resurrection, upon Peter and the apostles in general, and transmitted through them to the perpetual succession of the priesthood. This power to remit and retain sins, was ministerially exercised by the apostles, in many striking instances, and it is exercised now by every priest, in the dispensation of the sacraments, and the use of ecclesiastical discipline, in the exclusion of scandalous and heretical persons, from the communion of the church, and in pronouncing, or refusing to

pronounce, upon just grounds, that beautiful form of sound words, adopted in the liturgy, as declarative of pardon and forgiveness of sins, to all those who truly repent and believe the gospel.

The ministers of Christ are enjoined to inculcate the duties of morality, and publish the requisitions of the christian covenant. The apostles were commanded" to go into all the world, and to preach the gospel to every creature," and every priest of the church of England, has solemnly engaged, "out of the holy scriptures to instruct the people committed to his charge, in all things necessary to their salvation," (office of ordination.) In particular, he is bound to declare from the word of truth, the terms on which God is graciously pleased to admit men to his favour, and what are the conditions, without the performance of which, they shall be excluded from it. The terms on which God under the covenant of Grace remits or retains sins, are unalterably fixed, and they are expressly revealed in the gospel.-The terms are these-God pardons and absolves all true penitents, and sincere believers, and will give

everlasting life to all his faithful and obedient servants, but the impenitent shall perish.-The unbeliever shall die in his sins. Indignation and wrath shall be the portion of the disobedient. The office therefore which by the appointment of God, the priest is to perform, is not judicial, but ministerial, and the church thus describes it-" He hath given power and commandment to his ministers, to declare and pronounce to his people, being penitent, the absolution and remission of their sins." To those "who earnestly repent, and are heartily sorry for their misdoings," the priest becomes the minister of remission, and the absolution is operative and efficacious. Should there, in a mixed congregation, be any hypocritical worshipper, whose faith is feigned, and whose confession and penitence are insincere, to him the absolution gives no encouragement-it simply declares to him, that there is forgiveness with God, but that, while he continues hardened and incorrigible, his sin remaineth.*

*It is one of the tenets of the Roman church, that pardons or indulgences for sins, may be purchased by alms, or extraordinary services, (Catech. Rom. p. ii. c. 5.) The oldest indulgences we meet with, are those which

But if all share in the apostolic autho rity, what distinction was conferred upon St. Peter? Let us refer to the life of the apostle, and observe how the promised honor

were granted by Anselm, bishop of Luca, legate of Gregory VII, to those who fought against Henry IV, in which, as Baronius relates in his Penitentiary, was promised remission of all their sins. A similar indulgence was granted by Victor, to those who fought against the Saracens in Africa. After him followed Urban, who gave a pardon of all their sins to those who enlisted in the war, to the holy land, and as Tyriús states, expressly mentioned those sins which the scripture saith, exclude from the kingdom of God, such as murder, theft, &c. and it is well observed by Morinus, that these indulgences cannot be understood of a mere relaxation of canonical penance, because such a remission of all sins is granted, as will ensure eternal life.

This practice of indulgence, was too beneficial to be ever abandoned. Indulgences were offered according to the bounty of the applicant, by Gelasius, to all those who gave money for the building of the church of Saragosa, A. D. 1118, and the same system was adopted by other bishops, and Morinus is of opinion, that Mauricius built the church of Notre Dame, at Paris, by this very expedient. Cæsar Rasponi (vid. de Baselica Laterananensi, c. 2. c. xiv. p. 204.) tells us, that at the dedication of the Lateran church, if a man first made confession, he might purchase, if a Roman, plenary remissions for 1000 years, if a Tuscan, for 2000 years, and if he came from

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was realized. When the Lord was risen from the dead, who of the apostles was favoured with his first appearance? St. Peter. Who proposed and managed the filling of the va

beyond the seas, for 3000 years. Now were these indulgences honest contracts, or spiritual delusions? Some Romanists have confessed that they were pious frauds, to induce men to do charitable acts, " as a mother promises a child an apple, upon his good behaviour, which she never gives him when he has obeyed her commands," Vid. aquin. suppliment. Sum. p. 25. art. 2. Benavent in sent 44. dist. 20. p. 6. & greg. De Valent. Indulg. ch. 2. Wisselus Groningensis, incomparably the best scholar of his age, and therefore called lux mundi, (the light of the world,) tells us, that no popes could grant indulgences for an hour, and that it is ridiculous to suppose, that for the same crime, an indulgence could be granted, some times for 7 years, sometimes for 100, sometimes for 1000, and sometimes for ever, by a plenary remission, that there is not the least foundation in scripture, for the doctrine on which indulgences are founded, that the grant of them was entirely intended to enrich the treasury of the church, that it was impossible for God himself (consistently with his divine attributes,) to give a licence to sin, and therefore the Pope could not possess any such authority, (Wisseli Groneng. oper. p. 861.) We are warned by the prophet Ezekiel, that if the people perish through the minister's neglect, their blood shall be required at the watchman's hands. I do not know upon what terms, or to what extent, indulgences are granted,