up
to the speaker as he could with his asses, on the backs of which he and
Karl were mounted. The preacher wore a monk's dress, but instead of a
crucifix he held a book in his hand, which Moretz and Karl guessed
rightly was the Bible. He argued that it being God's revelation to man,
it was sufficient for all that man requires to show him the way by which
he might get out of his fallen state and obtain eternal happiness. "Are
we then," he asked, "to be guided by this book, or to be directed by men
who say things directly opposed to this book? The priests have taught
you that there is a purgatory. It was a notion held by the heathen
nations, but God's ancient people, the Jews, knew nothing of it, and
this book says not a word about it. A man has been going about the
country, sent by the Pope, selling bits of paper, which he tells the
people will get the souls of their friends and their own souls out of
this purgatory. He makes them pay a somewhat high price for these
pieces of paper, and if we look at them at their real value, a
prodigiously high price. Now the Bible says, `The soul that sinneth it
shall surely die.' `Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be
saved.' It nowhere says if we are ever so great sinners, and die in our
sins, our friends may buy the means by which we can escape the
consequence of sin. It does, however, say that however great a sinner
you are, if you turn to Jesus Christ, and trust to Him, you will be
saved; and it gives us the account of the thief on the cross, who, even
at the last moment, trusting to Jesus, was saved."

Thus the preacher continued arguing from the Bible, showing from it
numberless falsehoods put forth by the Church of Rome. Then he put very
clearly and forcibly the simple gospel before the people,--man's fallen
state; the love of Christ which induced Him to come on earth to draw man
out of that fallen state, if he would accept the means freely offered to
him. Still, unhappily, man continued to "love darkness rather than
light, because his deeds are evil;" and thus do the cardinals and
bishops and priests, who are the ruling powers of the Church of Rome,
endeavour to keep the minds of people in ignorance, that they may draw
money from the pockets of their dupes, and continue to live on in
indolence and vice.

CHAPTER FOUR.

While he was speaking a large body of people, led on by a man on
horseback, and accompanied by several priests, were seen adva