the Roman Catholic Church
exposes her members; and willingly repeat my disclaimer of any wish or
intention whatever to fasten and filiate upon the Church of Rome the
doctrines or the practice of individuals, or even of different sections
of her communion. Still, in the same manner as I have referred to the
extravagancies which offend us in many parts of Christendom now, I would
recall some of the excesses into which renowned and approved authors of
her communion have been betrayed. I seek not to fix on those members of
the Roman Church who disclaim any participation in such excesses, the
folly or guilt of others; but when we find many of the most celebrated
among her sons tempted into such lamentable departures from primitive
Christian worship, we are naturally led to ascertain whether the
doctrine be not itself the genuine cause and source of the
mischief;--whether the malady be not the immediate and natural effect of
the tenet and practice operating generally, and not to be referred to
the idiosyncrasy of the patient. A voice seems to address us from every
side, when such excesses are witnessed, Firmly resist the beginnings of
the evil; oppose its very commencement; it is not a question of degree,
exclude the principle itself from your worship; give utterance to no
invocation; mentally conceive no prayer to any being, save God alone;
plead no other merits with Him than the merits of his only Son. Then,
and then only, are you safe. Then, and then only, is your prayer
catholic, primitive, apostolic, and scriptural.

The[92] most satisfactory method of conducting this {245} branch of our
inquiry seems to be, that we should examine the Roman Ritual with
reference to those several and progressive stages to which I have before
generally referred; from the mere rhetorical apostrophe to the direct
prayer for spiritual blessings petitioned for immediately from the
person addressed. I am neither anxious to establish the progress
historically, nor do I wish to tie myself down in all cases to the exact
order of those successive stages, in my present citation of testimonies
from the Roman Ritual. My anxiety is to give a fair view of what is now
the real character of Roman Catholic worship, rather than to draw fine
distinctions. I shall therefore survey within the same field of view the
two fatal errors by which, as we believe, the worship of the Church of
Rome is rendered unfit for the family of Christ to acknowledge it
generally