rendered the besieged more desperate, their defence was successful. It is natural enough for Papists of the p sent day to disclaim transactions, which h cast a shade of indelible disgrace upon t church; but when these events occurred, Romanists were so far from denying the they took in the bloodshed and devastat which reduced the fairest provinces in Fra to a desert, that they gloried in their sha and proclaimed aloud their pre-eminence in transactions of that reign of terror, as if number of the lives they were enabled to sa fice, was a proof that Heaven smiled upon t cause. Baronius, among his signs of the as recorded in the annals of Hoveden, and cited by Baronius. We believe," said they, "that there is one only God in Three Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; and that the Son of God has taken our flesh upon him; that he was baptized in Jordan; that he fasted in the wilderness; that he preached our salvation; that he suffered, died, and was buried; that he descended into hell, that he rose again the third day; that he ascended into heaven; that he sent the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost; that he shall come at the day of judgment, to judge both the quick and the dead, and that all shall rise again. We know also, that what we believe with our heart, we ought to confess with our mouth. We be-church, has placed the triumph of the Bis lieve that he is not saved, who doth not eat the body of Jesus Christ; and that the body of Jesus Christ is not consecrated but in the church, and by the priest, be he good or bad. We believe also, that none can be saved but those that are baptized, and that little children are saved by baptism. We believe also, that man and wife are saved, though they be carnally joined; and that every one must repent with his mouth and his heart; and that if more could be shown us from the Gospels and the Epistles, we will believe and own it." This explicit and Christian confession was not enough to satisfy the Romanists: the Albigenses were condemned as heretics, excommunicated, and anathematized; and all Christian powers, whether civil or ecclesiastical, were exhorted and commanded by the pope to exterminate a race of people, whose principles as the bull of extermination set forth, were subversive of all religion, natural and revealed, and of every moral tie. But the princes and magistrates, and the temporal authorities of Languedoc, were still unwilling to carry this barbarous edict into execution against peaceable subjects, who had given no offence to them. They remonstrated, they pleaded in favour of the proscribed, and finally refused to be their executioners. The animosity of the Church of Rome now burst forth in all its violence and malignity; and the records of the proceedings against the Albigenses leave not a doubt behind, that it was the quarrel of the church, and not the complaints of the state, which involved them in ruin. It may be seen, that the thunders of the Pope were directed indiscriminately against all who protected, favoured, or held intercourse with them, as rebels of the Roman see; and there was no declaration of war, no suspension of hostilities, no treaty, or violation of treaty-there was not a battle fought, a city taken, a massacre executed, or a confiscation awarded-in short, there was not a stratagem employed, or a force applied, during the whole of those crusades, which ended in the total extirpation of the Albigenses,-but the Pope, his legate or a Romish prelate or priest, was the moving power. When siege was laid to the capital of Languedoc, in 1217, Cardinald Bertrand, the legate and representative of the Pope, uttered a solemu prediction, by way of encouraging the soldiers of the cross, that the city would fall, and added a vow, that "neither man nor woman, boy nor girl, should remain alive, nor one stone be left above another." This horrible oath of Rome over the Albigenses, and has st the slaughter of sixty thousand heretics single day, to be a convincing proof that was with the Papal banners. The affed circumstance, that Raymond the Sixth, C of Thoulouse, himself a Romanist, exp himself to all the penalties and terrors of communication, and consented to share the of his Protestant subjects, rather than de them up to the tender mercies of the Ro Church, is of itself a convincing proof tha Albigenses were guilty of nonconformity and that they had not trespassed against s or international laws. When this prince besieged in Thoulouse, by the crusaders, a soldiers of the church in this horrible war called, the citizens made so resolute a def that the assailants refused to return to th sault, and Simon de Mont ford would have re from the place, but for the following und tian exhortation of the Pope's legate: " nothing, for in a short time we shall tak city, and put to death and destroy all th habitants; and if any of the soldiers o cross shall die in this expedition, they pass to Paradise as martyrs, and of this may confidently persuade themselves." of the principal leaders, who heard this im counsel, could not refrain himself, but this answer, "My Lord Cardinal, you talk great assurance; but if this Count believe it will be little to his profit: for you an other prelates, men of the church, have the cause of all this evil and ruin, and w the cause of yet more." This anecdote is from the work of Peter, the Monk of Cernay, entitled, "Historia Albigensiu sacri belli in eos suscepti." Peter, as I tioned before, was the eulogist of the gen the crusaders, and it is from the relation churchman that most of the informat gathered which we possess concerning ti against the Albigenses. The authority eye-witness and of an adversary cannot puted; and we require nothing more th pages of the Monk of Vaux Cernay, to es the innocence of the Albigenses. When Innocent the Third found that not enough to excommunicate Raym Thoulouse, and to lay his territories un interdict, he resorted to a measure bigotry has ever found to be much more tual than preaching or persuasion. He mined to hasten the work of conversion and sword. For this purpose he first ins the Inquisition, and commissioned the m of that execrable tribunal with full powers, to search out, and to denounce, as infidels deservng of death, all such as should dispute the auhority of the Roman see. He then enlisted the very worst passions of men in his service: e promised the pardon of sins, the property of the heretics, and the same privileges which had been granted to those who fought against the Saracens in Palestine, to all who would "take the cross against the Albigenses." The Pope's bull, according to our Romish historian, ran thus: "In conformity with the canonical sanctions of the holy fathers, we must observe no faith towards those who keep not faith with God, or who are separated from the communion of the faithful; therefore we discharge, by apostolical authority, all those who believe themselves bound towards the Count of Thoulouse, by any oath, either of allegiance or fidelity; and we permit every Catholic, saving the right of his principal lord, to pursue his person, and to occupy and retain his territories, especially for the purpose of exterminating eresy." The same bull invited strangers from all regions to come to the accomplishment of the holy work, and to consider themselves as in the enjoyment of plenary indulgence, and of exemption from the jurisdiction of all earthly tribunals, as long as they should be fighting in the service of the church. The prospect of absolution, of booty, and of unrestraint, and the barbarous superstition of the times, brought hordes of relentless savages upon the devoted Albigenses, and Simon de Montford, by general consent, was put at the head of the crusaders. An army so disorderly, so eager to shed blood, so merciless, so irresistible, never took the field. "A fire devoured before them, and behind a flame burned. The land was as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing escaped them." Prodigies of valour could avail nothing in the face of an enemy, whose losses in leaders or followers were constantly filled up by new adventurers. Submission was of no use, where men came not to wage a war of honour or chivalry, but of destruction--not to obtain glory, but blood and pillage. It was meritorious to kill and to spare not, and the slaughter of an heretic was considered as a step to Paradise. Chassineuil was one of the first places that fell before the invaders. It capitulated. The garrison was permitted to march out, but the inhabitants were left to the sentence of the Pope's legate. He pronounced them to be heretics, and all were committed to the flames. Beziers was attacked next. It relied upon the strength of its walls and the courage of its defenders; but the multitude of its assailants was such, that "it appeared as if the whole world was encamped before it." The city was taken at the first assault, and some of the crusaders, thirsting after heretic blood only, desired the rians differ as to the number that perished at Beziers. Some say, sixty thousand; others, forty thousand. The legate himself, in his letter to Pope Innocent the Third, reported it, to be fifteen thousand. Fifteen thousand human beings, then, were massacred at the word of one who called himself the servant of God! The forces of de Montford marched on in triumph to invest Carcassone. Strong intercession was made to the legate in favour of the young Viscount, who was shut up with the citizens of Carcassone; and the terms of mercy offered to him were, that he might quit the city with twelve others, upon condition of surrendering up the rest of the townsmen and soldiers to the pleasure of the besiegers. "Rather than comply with the demand of the legate," replied the heroic youth, "I would give myself to be flayed alive." The people of the city afterwards escaped by a secret passage. The legate took possession of Carcassone "in the name of the church," and in malignant resentment at the thought of so many victims having escaped his fury, burnt or hanged three hundred knights who had previously capitulated, upon the guarantee of his solemn oath that they should not be put to death! By this time, the dread of the invading army had extended far and wide over the provinces of Provence and Languedoc, and princes and people would have been glad to accept any honourable conditions; but none were offered: the crusade was still preached through the whole of France, and every year brought thousands of fanatics to the harvest of slaughter and spoliation. In many cases, torture was added to the infliction of death. A hundred of the inhabitants of Brom had their eyes torn out, and their noses cut off. Intimidated by this example, the people of Minerva would have surrendered upon condition of having their lives spared. De Montford, to whom the application was made, referred them to the legate, who desired," says the Monk of Vaux Cernay, "that all the enemies of Christ should be put to death, but he could not take upon himself to condemn them, as being a priest and a monk." The churchman contrived to break off the capitulation. The place was taken by assault, and all but three perished by the sword or in the flames. Lavaur was one of the cities which made the most memorable defence. By their frequent sorties, their perseverance in repairing the breaches, their intrepid exposure of life upon the walls, the Albigenses showed, upon this and all other occasions, a generous courage, which would have secured success to the cause, if the ranks of their enemies had not been filled up by hosts of new levies, as fast as they were thinned by the casualties of the war. In the year 1212, the army of the crusaders was four times renewed; and so universally was it understood to be the quarrel of the were entirely swept off from the face of earth, and not a vestige of them left. Albig sian principles indeed, never failed, even in I guedoc, the scene of persecution; but the A genses, or the communities properly so cal and known by this name in the thirteenth c tury, were utterly destroyed. In the langu of the translator of Sismondi's narrative of crusades against the Albigenses, which been no small assistance to me in drawing this article, "Their church was drowned blood, their race had disappeared: hundreds their villages had seen all their inhabita massacred with a blind fury, and without crusaders giving themselves the trouble examine whether they contained a single he tic. No calculation can ascertain with precision, the dissipation of wealth, or the struction of human life, which were the co ticable breach was soon made in the walls, and the monkish historian was blind and savage enough to relate at full length the part which he bimself, and the rest of the Romish priesthood, who followed in the train of Simon's army, took while the massacre was going on. He affirms, that the bishops, the Abbot of Courdieu, who exercised the functions of vice-legate, with all the priests, clothed in their sacred vestments, gave themselves up to thanksgiving when they saw the carnage beginning, and sung the hymn, Veni Creator. He explains, too, with all the minute detail of one who exulted in the event, that, when the castle of Amery fell, eighty knights were taken, and condemned to be hanged; but as this process was too slow, an order was given to destroy them en masse; that the order was "received by the pilgrims with avidity, and that they burnt the heretics alive with great joy."quences of the crusade against the Albigen This expression, "burnt them alive with great joy," [in the original, "cum ingenti gaudio,] is of frequent use with the priestly historian, who was literally, with the rest of those engaged in this accursed war, "drunk with the blood of the saints." It is painful to follow the historians of the day through the scenes of carnage which they describe, and more particularly as we cannot find in their relation, that the Albigenses had offended in any thing, but their refusal to conform to the faith and discipline of Rome. At length, this horrible war ended as it began, by cominand of the sovereign pontiff, because all open resistance to his will was put down, and Popish ascendancy was finally established in a quarter, where the right of liberty of conscience had hitherto been claimed from the first introduction of the Gospel. The church had gained her object by the total destruction of all who had dared to oppose her. There remained no Albigenses to slaughter, or at least there were none left in the South of France bold enough to preach their doctrines, or administer their forms of worship. Some of the more fortunate had fled to other countries, where they preserved and kept alive the lamp of truth amidst the surrounding darkness. The extirpation was so complete, that in less than thirty-three years from the beginning of the crusade, the Albigenses were no more; and when Protestantism reared its head again in Provence and Languedoc, after an interval of three centuries, it was recognized under another name. This is the more extraordinary, and the more clearly indicative of the ruthless edict of extermination which had gone forth, from a comparison between the state of things in Piedmont, and that in the South of France. The Protestants of the former country have never been entirely cradicated, although they have been reduced from two hundred thousand to twenty thousand; and from century to century a remnant of them have still preserved their inheritance in the valleys of their forefathers, and their distinguished denomination, Vaudois or Waldenses. But the unhappy Albigenses, from the situation of the country, were more exposed to that foreign aggression which the Romanists stirred up: and, not possessing the same natural fastnesses and mountain retreats as the Waldenses, Every species of injustice, and persecution every kind had been heaped on the heads of unhappy Languedocians, whom, since the sade, it had been the custom to compreh under the general name of Albigenses." From the Spirit and Manners of the Age HEAVEN is the land where troubles cease, The sunny clime of rest and peace, Where cares distract no more, Heaven is the home where spirits dwell The morning of eternal light. Heaven is the everlasting throne, Shall crown his head with songs of praise. From saints on earth ascends; The dwelling of the Spirit, whence His influence descends His children in the wilderness. Heaven is the dwelling-place of joy, -And ransomed souls, above W. S Causes of the Prejudices of Worldly Men against Religion. 'rom the Spirit and Manners of the Age THE CAUSES WHICH INCREASE HE PREJUDICES OF WORLDLY 1EN AGAINST RELIGION. T is impossible for any one who truly loves, braces, honours, and defends Christianity, remain indifferent while he beholds her cored with reproach and contempt. He sees, th deep regret, the operation of those causes, ich excite and inflame the enmity of the nal mind. He sighs, and sheds many a ir in secret, when he finds religion wounded the house of her friends. The latent aversion of the depraved heart to ery thing spiritually good, will easily acunt for much of that opposition which orldly men manifest to vital godliness; but I deserves inquiry, whether their antipathies re not augmented by the conduct of ChrisLians themselves. The poison every where exists, and often lies in a dormant state; but the virulence of its action, the rage with which it spreads and operates, may, in general, be traced to certain excitements. 1. We have reason to believe that many Christian professors increase the prejudice of worldly men, by a coldness and gloomy reserve in their manners. Though religion is the only source of solid comfort and lasting joy, we must confess, that not a few individuals, avowedly and perhaps sincerely attached to it, give little proof of its happy influence upon themselves. Their fears predominate, their com forts are outweighed by their troubles, they are oftener walking in the chilling shade than in the cheering sunshine, and their sighs are more commonly heard than their songs. Persons of this character may be serious and conscientious, may even at times feel an earnestness and deep interest in the sacred engagements of closet-devotion, but their social intercourse is flat and insipid. Whether they are ill-informed with reference to the grand doctrines and gracious provisions of the Gospel, and as yet detained in partial thraldom; or whether constitutional temperament gives a tinge of melancholy to the mind; or whatever cther cause may be assigned, religion in their deportment has a meagre and uninviting aspect. Their language is uncouth, harsh, repulsive, full of censures and complaints; their life is a dull routine of tame and tiresome formalities. Is it surprising, that persons of this description should raise in the minds of worldly men an unfavourable idea of religion? The system is charged with the faults of those who espouse it. Hence the hasty conclusion is drawn, that Christian principles darken the lustre, and damp the vivacity of youth; that they infuse a leaven, which sours both the mind and the manners which yield to their influence. Such reasoning is, indeed, unfair, for examples of cheerful and attractive piety are always to be 13. uniformly kind and courteous; spreading the charm of a winning affability and benevolence over all the social circle in which it is their lot to move. By ease, freedom, cheerfulness, and suavity, under the control of a vigilant discretion, they will be able to adorn and recommend the doctrine of God their Saviour, and silence the clamour of many of its enemies. 2. Many professing Christians increase the prejudices of worldly men by the inconsistencies they betray in their commercial dealings. One is hard and rigid in the bargains he makes, in the conditions he prescribes, yet lax and remiss in fulfilling the engagements into which he has entered; another is mean and mercenary in trifles, though upright and ho-. nourable in matters of prime importance.-. Hence is seen a spirit of speculation and eager competition, which breaks down every mound of prudence and moderation; there a gross want of diligence, order, and punctuality, which brings embarrassment and ruin. "These are your religious people," crics the scoffer, with an air of exultation and triumph. It cannot, and must not be disguised, that numbers have assumed a Christian profession for selfish and sinister purposes. To this concession should be subjoined the fair and legitimate inference it warrants, namely, that if religious principle did not generally raise and improve the tone of morals, such instances of hypocrisy would be unknown; there would, in fact, be neither grounds to sustain, nor motives to produce them. But the culpable manner in which even some sincere Christians carry on trade, may greatly dishonour and injure the religion they profess. It ought, therefore, to be every good man's prayer and aim, to manage his business with such clear rectitude, exact punctuality, and uniform consistency, as shall shut out occasion from those who are eagerly seeking occasion to cast scandal and reproach on the cause of God. Frequent omissions will have an effect nearly as bad as direct and palpable violations of moral duty; and the want of consideration be readily confounded with the want of principle. "What do ye more than others?" is a taunt thrown at the servants of God, whenever any negligence on their part opens a tempting avenue for it. 3. Many professing Christians increase the prejudices of worldly people by their injudicious zeal in supporting or defending those noble institutions, which at once do honour to our own country, and bless the world at large. They are seen stepping out of their own sober and proper course, to attempt a career, for which they are neither qualified by talents nor influence. Their measures are rash and illjudged; their movements wild, irregular, impetuous and offensive. Whether opposed or encouraged, they are sure to run into extravagancies and absurdities. A Christian of enlarged mind and candid spirit will make every ry, the men of the world are not disposed to make any allowances. They assault the vulnerable points of such warm hearted but weak advocates of a good cause, with the keenest promptitude and the highest exultation. Having culled a few instances of a kind suited to their purpose, they hold up these fanatics as specimens and fair average samples of the religious world. Now as the disposition of multitudes to misrepresent and degrade the Christian character is so clearly evident, how watchful and circumspect ought they to be, who profess themselves the zealous followers of our Lord Jesus Christ! How amiable and engaging in their manners, how fair and equitable in their dealings, how cautious and considerate in their benevolent exertions! It is not enough that their motives be right; they must shun the very appearance of evil. The end does not, according to an old exploded maxim, justify the means. A good object, pursued in a bad temper, or in a violent and indiscreet manner, cannot really advance the interests of religion. It should therefore be the constant study, the ardent and unwearied endeavour, of pious men, to hold forth the word of truth in their conduct, and to exhibit to the eyes of all, those fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God. From the Amulet. R. CHRIST STILLING THE TEMPEST. But One was there, who rose and said And the wind ceased-it ceased--that word And slumber settled on the deep, And silence on the blast, When death's fierce throes are past. Thou that didst bow the billow's pride, From the Christian Observer. THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST, particularly in its Lutheran Branch, from the Diet of Augsburg, A. D. 1530, to the Death of Luther, A. D. 1. intended as a Continuation of the Ch History, brought down to the Commencer of that Period, by the Rev. Joseph Mi M. A. Vicar of Holy Trinity, Hull, and Very Rev. Isaac Milner, D. D. F. R. S. I of Carlisle. By John Scott, M. A. Vica North Ferriby, and Minister of St. Ma Hull, &c. London: Secly. 1826. THIS is, in many respects, a very impor volume. It is well written; and the subje full of instruction, and could scarcely have b brought before the notice, of the public more seasonable period. Inquiries after real doctrines of the Reformation are now gerly made; a revival of primitive Christia is rapidly advancing, especially in our church; and all eyes are intent on the eff of this revival in the purifying of the gen body of nominal Christians, and in the m plication of means for the conversion of world. At such a juncture, a work like present deserves a peculiar share of reg and it is the more useful since it takes mind off from controversy and mere argum and directs it to the unanswerable test of ex rience. It teaches by facts; it brings be us the noble army of martyrs and reform not in the miserable disguise with whic corrupt theology invests them, but in their native simplicity, speaking their own se ments in their own language, and confess the pure doctrines of the Gospel of Christ the risk of every thing dear to them, before apostate world. Such a history cannot convince a candid reader that the whole fal of the Reformation was reared on the doctri of the fall of man and the entire corruption his nature; and of his recovery by the one ritorious sacrifice of the death of Christ, by the sanctifying operations of the H Ghost-doctrines which it has been our end vour to vindicate in this miscellany, dur more than a quarter of a century. At the sa time, the volume before us exhibits the tr Christian moderation which distinguished chief reformers, and which led them, wh contending for great and acknowledged tru to avoid doubtful and less important matte to guard jealously against enthusiasm and cess, and to unite discretion and meekness w an undaunted boldness in the cause of Chr We consider, therefore, a simple narrative I that of our author, to be more likely to adva the interests of vital Christianity amongst in its mighty principles and stupendous re lation of mercy, and to guard these intere from the intermixtures of human folly, than thousand volumes of controversy. The present publication, we have before s ted, is happily timed; and of its wide circu tion we can entertain no doubt. The pre ding volumes by the venerable Milners ha long been, not only in almost every conside ble library, but among the few select volum of the theological student and private Chr tian; and in proportion to the length of ti which has elapsed since the appearance of t last volume (seventeen years), and the ackno ledged difficulty of finding any competent p to continue the history, is likely to be the |