l mortal, and too often corrupted with wine and licentiousness,--his
standard of character is lowered, and he is defiled in consequence. His
thought of God is degraded to the likeness of fallen humanity; for the
priest stands as a representative of God. This degrading confession of man
to man is the secret spring from which has flowed much of the evil that is
defiling the world, and fitting it for the final destruction. Yet to him
who loves self-indulgence, it is more pleasing to confess to a
fellow-mortal than to open the soul to God. It is more palatable to human
nature to do penance than to renounce sin; it is easier to mortify the
flesh by sackcloth and nettles and galling chains than to crucify fleshly
lusts. Heavy is the yoke which the carnal heart is willing to bear rather
than bow to the yoke of Christ.

There is a striking similarity between the Church of Rome and the Jewish
Church at the time of Christ's first advent. While the Jews secretly
trampled upon every principle of the law of God, they were outwardly
rigorous in the observance of its precepts, loading it down with exactions
and traditions that made obedience painful and burdensome. As the Jews
professed to revere the law, so do Romanists claim to reverence the cross.
They exalt the symbol of Christ's sufferings, while in their lives they
deny Him whom it represents.

Papists place crosses upon their churches, upon their altars, and upon
their garments. Everywhere is seen the insignia of the cross. Everywhere
it is outwardly honored and exalted. But the teachings of Christ are
buried beneath a mass of senseless traditions, false interpretations, and
rigorous exactions. The Saviour's words concerning the bigoted Jews, apply
with still greater force to the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church:
"They bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's
shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their
fingers."(1002) Conscientious souls are kept in constant terror, fearing
the wrath of an offended God, while many of the dignitaries of the church
are living in luxury and sensual pleasure.

The worship of images and relics, the invocation of saints, and the
exaltation of the pope, are devices of Satan to attract the minds of the
people from God and from His Son. To accomplish their ruin, he endeavors
to turn their attention from Him through whom alone they can find
salvation. He will direct them to any object that can be sub