affirmed that it matters little what a man believes, provided that he is sincere. The notion is that sincerity in some way or other is the equivalent of faith, and as saving to the man who exercises it. Far be it from me to make light of sincerity, but I strongly object to the common practice of confounding things which differ. Sincerity at its best is a manly virtue, a quality which pertains to man, and speaks his praise. Faith relates to man's need as a transgressor, and is the expression of personal confidence in Christ Jesus the Saviour. The statement, "saved by faith only," unless the intention be that of opposition to the deadly error of salvation by works, is untrue and misleading. Faith, apart from its object, is a misnomer. Thousands of those who are anxious about spiritual things are held fast at this very point. They are constantly searching for faith or some happy feeling as a possession within themselves, instead of resting with confidence upon Christ Jesus, who is the object of faith without. The faith of Christ assumes that every man is a sinner; such a character and condition is the very opposite of the meaning of the word sincere. To speak of a man as a sincere sinner is a contradiction in terms, and brings out the absurdity of the expression very clearly.

This absurdity is precisely what is involved, though it is not recognized. What folly to speak of sincerity as a saving quality in the man who exercises it! Many things are

sincerely believed which are not true. Wherein is the profit of sincerity in such cases? A man sincerely believes that a train will convey him safely to a certain destination. His sincerity cannot well be questioned, for has he not adventured himself? but the train is wrecked, he is seriously injured, perhaps killed. I ask, Wherein availed his sincerity? Certainly it did not save him from overthrow and catastrophe. Illustrations might be multiplied, but they are unnecessary. The point is settled conclusively-sincerity must not be mistaken for or accounted a Saviour. More than this, it not unfrequently happens that the more real a man's sincerity

the more liable he is to be deceived.

Those who in the

ordinary meaning of the term are sincere are not usually suspicious, and as the world goes at present, not seldom do they fall into the toils of the workers of iniquity. I protest against putting sincerity in place of the exercise of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. To do this is nothing less than to make a fatal mistake, a blunder which eternity cannot rectify.

To bring out the vital importance of the difference which exists between the strongest sincerity and the weakest faith, I suppose that we undertake a voyage to India. One of the largest and best steamers is selected, we go on board, the day of departure arrives. We reach Aden en route for the " sunny clime" in safety, but in the Indian Ocean the mainshaft snaps, the screw no longer revolves. Now at the mercy of winds and waves we are drifted along, and finally wrecked. Our sincere belief in the stability and worthiness of the steamer does not undo the mischief, speak we never so strongly of its reality. The glory and excellency of the faith of Christ is that it involves the personal union of the believer with his Lord. Herein is the vital distinction between confidence in mere sincerity and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. His presence, power, strength, and perfection mean this, that here there is no mainshaft to snap. It is noticeable that whilst our Lord seeks to develop the confidence of men in Himself, and rejoices greatly when that faith is strong, He adds, "If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed,"-evidently intending to impress upon His disciples the importance of confiding in His power to whom they appealed, rather than in the strength of the faith which they exercised. Faith which is intelligent and scriptural deals with our Lord Himself; links to His power; trusts His grace, redemption, and advocacy; abides in Him who yields confidence her strong fortress; believes not in faith, but in Him who is the rest and reward of the believer. Melancholy beyond expression is the condition of those whose minds are filled with the supposed merit of their personal sincerity.

Turning in upon themselves, occupied with their fancied goodness and sincerity, they see not, neither do they desire His perfection, who of God is made unto the believer "Wisdom," "Righteousness," "Sanctification," and "Redemption;" that, according as it is written, "He that glorieth, let Him glory in the Lord" (1 Cor. i. 30-31).

The Wesleyans and the Vatican.-Right glad was I to see the dignified protest of our honoured Wesleyan brethren during their recent Conference, against the subtle working of the Church of Rome. I observed that a part of the press, under the guise of Liberalism, contended that the action of the Wesleyan Committee was narrow and bigoted. I have no sympathy with such statements, neither are they true. The Church of Rome is not now a tyrannical and persecuting Church, but why? Simply and only because she is destitute of the power. She is prepared to move heaven and earth in order to get back her temporal and political power. I have no confidence in her, nor sympathy for her. We are bound to war against the Church of Rome, which, to use the testimony of the Word of God concerning her, "Is drunk with the blood of the saints." English men and women, English boys and girls, remember this, recall it, and pass it on to the generations following. The Church of Rome has put to death by torture, drowning, imprisonment, burning, and every fiendish device, fifty millions of our fellow-men, vast numbers of these for no other reason than that they were believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. Think of this awful fact— more than twelve times the number that people this vast city. It is important to bear in mind that so recently as the year 1870 the dogma of the infallibility of the Pope was carried in Rome. It seems scarcely possible that a body of intelligent men should dare to affirm that the atrocious crimes which have been committed by the Popes and the Church of Rome were of divine sanction and authority, yet such was the case. No greater wickedness was ever committed. By this dogma of

the Pope's infallibility the horrible persecutions referred to above are distinctly declared to have been of God.

Read what Pope Celestine III. did.-In crowning Henry VI., Pope Celestine III. expressed in action his sense of his own superiority to all monarchs. "The Lord Pope sat in the pontifical chair, holding the imperial crown between his feet; the Emperor bending his head, the Empress received the crown from the feet of the Lord Pope. But the Lord Pope instantly struck with his foot the Emperor's crown and cast it upon the ground, signifying that he had the power of deposing him from the empire if he were undeserving of it. The cardinals then lifted up the crown and placed it upon the Emperor's head." "Is not the King of England my bond slave?" said Innocent VI. "Hath not God set me as a prince over all nations, to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to build?” asks Boniface VIII. Such were some of the blasphemous utterances of the Popes when in power. Protestant England must not forget this-no, nor the horrible imprecations promulgated by this organised spiritual iniquity, which follow.

An Authorized Romish Pontifical Curse.-The following is one of the authorized curses published in the Romish Pontifical to be pronounced on heretics by Romish priests. It seems scarcely credible that such atrocious language could be used in the name of the Blessed God, but to such lengths has the Church gone which God describes as the Mother of harlots and abominations of the earth. "May God Almighty and all His saints curse them with the curse with which the devil and his angels are cursed. Let them be destroyed out of the land of the living. Let the vilest of deaths come upon them, and let them descend alive into the pit. Let their seed be destroyed from the earth; by hunger, and thirst, and nakedness, and all distress, let them perish. May they have all misery, and pestilence, and torment. Let all they have be cursed. Always and everywhere, let them be cursed.

Speaking and silent, let them be cursed. Within and without, let them be cursed. By land and by sea, let them be cursed. From the crown of the head to the sole of the foot, let them be cursed. Let their eyes become blind; let their ears become deaf; let their mouth become dumb; let their tongue cleave to their jaws; let not their hands handle; let not their feet walk. Let all the members of the body be cursed. Cursed let them be standing and lying from this time forth for ever, and thus let their candle be extinguished in the presence of God at the day of Judgment. Let their burial be with dogs and asses. Let hungry wolves devour their corpses. Let the devil and his angels be their companions for ever. Amen and amen, so be it, so let it be." And this, without a single word of addition, is the horrible imprecation issued by the Pope, who blasphemously declares that he is Christ's representative on earth. Can any one wonder at the infidelity of France, Italy, and Central Europe, when such statements are issued in the holy name of that loving Saviour who "came into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved ”?

Modern Blasphemy.-The arrogance of Roman Catholic assumption is well put in the following quotation from a recent sermon by Archbishop Manning, the principal representative of the Pope in England. Defending the modern dogma of the Papal infallibility, he puts the following language into the mouth of the Pope :

"You tell me I ought to submit to the civil power, that I am the subject of the King of Italy, and from him I am to receive instructions as to the way I should exercise the civil power. I say I am liberated from all civil subjection, that my Lord made me the subject of no one on earth, king or otherwise; that in His right I am Sovereign. I acknowledge no civil superior. I am the subject of no prince, and I claim to be more than this. I claim to be the Supreme Judge and director of the consciences of men; of the peasant that tills the