Prayers for the Dead.
The progress of Popery in our land is to be seen in the boldness with which prayer for the dead is advocated. A few months ago we observed an “In Memoriam” paragraph in the Scotsman with reference to officers and men of the 5th Battalion of the Royal Scots, “who gave their lives for their country” during the Gallipoli campaign. The paragraph finished up with the following grossly unscriptural and Popish prayer:—”Grant, O Lord, that the souls of thy servants, whose anniversaries we commemorate, purified by their most excellent sacrifice, may obtain pardon and everlasting rest.” To all appearance this prayer was dictated by nominal Protestants. Let it be distinctly remembered that according to the Scriptures the only sacrifice that can purge from sin is Christ’s. “The blood of Jesus Christ,” God’s Son, alone “cleanse us from all sin.” Though all sinful human blood from the beginning to the end of the world should be shed in sacrifice, it would not atone for, or purify from, one sin. Unless, therefore, the souls of the brave Royal Scots referred to were pardoned and purified before they entered eternity—we earnestly trust that at least some of them were—they have passed beyond the possibility of salvation, and all the superstitious prayers in the world can avail them nothing now.
A New Romish Practice Proposed.
It is reported that a clergyman of the Church of England, Prebendary Eck, London, has started a movement in favour of erecting crosses or crucifixes by the wayside, after the French fashion, in memorial of dead soldiers. We earnestly hope that the Most High in His mercy will check this new inroad of idolatry. It ought not to be encouraged or tolerated for a moment in a Protestant country. What a scandal that a cleric in a professedly Protestant denomination should be the leader in such a movement!
New Envoy to the Pope.
Sir Henry Howard, Envoy to the Vatican, recently resigned his post, and was honoured by the King. We regret to say that a successor was appointed in the person of Count de Salis, a Popish nobleman of Irish connection. Such is the persistence of the Government in its ruinous policy of recognising and honouring the Pope.