46 State of Public Worship at the time of the Reformation. "1. The Right Reverend Father in God, Laurence,* Bishop of Assaven, hath granted forty days of pardon to all them that devoutly say this prayer in the worship of our blessed Lady, being penitent, and truly confessed of all their sins. Oratio, Gaude Virgo, Mater Christi,' &c. Rejoice, Virgin, Mother of Christ.' "2. To all themt that be in the state of grace, that daily say devoutly this prayer before our blessed Lady of Pity, she will show them her blessed visage, and warn them the day and the hour of death; and in their last end the angels of God shall yield their souls to heaven; and; he shall obtain five hundred years, and so many Lents of pardon, granted by five holy fathers, Popes of Rome. "3. This prayers showed our Lady to a devout person, saying, that this golden prayer is the most sweetest and acceptablest to me: and in her appearing she had this salutation and prayer written with letters of gold in her breast, Ave Rosa sine spinis'-Hail Rose without thorns. 6 “4. Our holy Father,|| Sixtus the fourth, pope, hath granted to all them that devoutly say this prayer before the image of our Lady, the sum of XI.M. [eleven thousand] years of pardon. Ave Sanctissima Maria, Mater Dei, Regina Coeli,' &c.-Hail most holy Mary, Mother of God, Queen of Heaven. 5. Our holy Father,¶ Pope Sixtus, hath granted at the instance of the highmost and excellent Princess Elizabeth, late Queen of England, and wife to our sovereign liege Lord, King Henry the Seventh (God have mercy on her sweet soul, and on all Christian souls), that every day in the morning, after three tollings of the Ave bell, say three times the whole salutation of our Lady Ave Maria gratia; that is to say, at 6 the clock in the morning 3 Ave Maria, at 12 the clock at noon 3 Ave M., and at 6 the clock at even, for every time so doing is granted of the SPIRITUAL TREASURE OF HOLY CHURCH 300 days of pardon totiens quotiens; and also our holy Father, the Archbishop of Canterbury and York, with other nine Bishops of this realm have granted 3 times in the day 40 days of pardon to all them that be in the state of grace able to receive pardon: the which begun the 26th day of March, Anno MCCCCXCII Anno Henrici VII.** And the sum of the indulgence and pardon for every Ave Maria, VIII hondred days an LX [eight hundred and sixty] totiens quotiens; this prayer shall be said at the tolling of the Ave bell, Suscipe,' &c. Receive the word, O Virgin Mary, which was sent to thee from the Lord by an angel. Hail, Mary, full of grace: the Lord with thee, &c. Šay this 3 times, &c. "6. This prayer was showed to St. Bernard by the messenger of God, saying, that as gold is the most precious of all other metals, * Fol. 35. This was Laurence Child, who, by papal provision, was made Bishop of St. Asaph, June 18, 1882. He is called also Penitentiary to the Pope. Le Neve, p. 21. Beatson, vol. i. p. 115. + Fol. 38. The language in many of these passages is very imperfect; but I have thought it right to copy them verbatim. || Fol. 42. ** Fol. 41. Henry VII. began to reign 1485. Fol. 44. State of Public Worship at the time of the Reformation. 47 so exceedeth this prayer all other prayers, and who that devoutly "7. Our holy Father,* the Pope Bonifacius, hath granted to all them that devoutly say this lamentable contemplation of our blessed Lady, standing under the cross weeping, and having compassion with her sweet Son Jesus, 7 years of pardon and 40 Lents, and also Pope John the 22 hath granted three hondred days of pardon. 'Stabat Mater dolorosa.' "8. To all them + that before this image of pity devoutly say 5 Pat. Nos. and 5 Aves, and a Credo, piteously beholding these arms of Christ's passion, are granted XXXII.M.VII hondred, and LV [thirty-two thousand seven hundred and fifty-five] years of pardon; and Sixtus the 4th, Pope of Rome hath made the 4 and the 5 prayer, and hath doubled his aforesaid pardon. "9.Our holy Father the Pope John 22 hath granted to all them that devoutly say this prayer, after the elevation of our Lord Jesu Christ, 3000 days of pardon for deadly sins. 10. This prayer § was showed to Saint Augustine by revelation of the Holy Ghost, and who that devoutly say this prayer, or hear read, or beareth about them, shall not perish in fire or water, nother in battle or judgment, and he shall not die of sudden death, and no venom shall poison him that day, and what he asketh of God he shall obtain if it be to the salvation of his soul; and when thy soul shall depart from thy body it shall not enter into hell.' This prayer ends with three invocations of the Cross, thus-O Cross of Christ + save us, O Cross of Christ † protect us, O Cross of Christ † defend us. In the name of the † Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.' "11. Our holy Father || Pope Innocent III. hath granted to all them that say these III prayers following devoutly, remission of all their sins confessed and contrite. "12. These 3 prayers ¶ be written in the chapel of the Holy Cross, in Rome, otherwise called Sacellum Sanctæ Crucis septem Romanorum; who that 'devoutly say them shall obtain X.C.M. [ninety thousand] years of pardon for deadly sins granted of our holy Father, John 22, Pope of Rome. 13. Who that devoutly beholdeth ** these arms of our Lord Jesus Christ, shall obtain six thousand years of pardon of our holy Father Saint Peter, the first Pope of Rome, and of XXX [thirty] other Popes of the Church of Rome, successors after him; and our holy Father, Pope John 22, hath granted unto all them very contrite and truly confessed, that say these devout prayers following + Fol. 58. • Fol. 47. + Fol. 54. Fol. 63. Fol. 66. $ Fol. 62. Fol. 68. in the commemoration of the bitter passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, 3000 years of pardon for DEADLY SINS, and other 3000 for venial sins.' "I will only add one more instance. The following announcement accompanies a prayer of St. Bernard: Who that devoutly with a contrite heart daily say this orison, if he be that day in a state of eternal damnation, then this eternal pain shall be changed him in temporal pain of purgatory; then if he hath deserved the pain of purgatory it shall be forgotten and forgiven through the infinite mercy of God.' "It is indeed very melancholy to reflect that our country has witnessed the time, when the bread of life had been taken from the children, and such husks as these substituted in its stead. Accredited ministers of the Roman Catholic Church have assured us that the pardons and indulgences granted now, relate only to the remission of the penances imposed by the Church in this life, and presume not to interfere with the province of the Most High in the rewards and punishments of the next. But, I repeat it, what has been in former days may be again; and whenever Christians depart from the doctrine and practice of prayer to God alone, through Christ alone, a door is opened to superstitions and abuses of every kind; and we cannot too anxiously and too jealously guard and fence about with all our power and skill, the fundamental principle, one God and one Mediator."-Part II. c. i. Sect. 1. ACCOUNT OF THE VERBETERING HUISEN, OR HOUSES OF DOMESTIC REFORMATION IN HOLLAND. THERE are, in most of the large cities of Holland, one or more institutions thus called, the object of which is to confine and restrain any person, male or female, whose conduct is marked by ruinous extravagance and many a family have been preserved from total ruin by their salutary operation. They are placed under the immediate superintendence of the magistracy, and such obstacles are opposed to the abuse, that it is not possible to place any individual in one of those houses without shewing ample cause for the coercion. Mynheer Van Der―, who lived in 1796, lived in high style on the Keizer Gragt, in Amsterdam, had a very modest wife, who dressed most extravagantly, played high, gave expensive routs, and shewed every disposition to help off with money quite as fast as her husband ever gained it. She was young, handsome, vain, and giddy; and completely the slave of fashion. Her husband had not the politeness to allow himself to be ruined by her unfeeling folly and dissipation; he complained of her conduct to her parents and nearest relations, whose advice was of no more avail than his own. Next he had recourse to a respectable minister of the Lutheran Church, who might as well have preached to the dead. It was in vain to deny her money, for no tradesman would refuse to credit the elegant -the fascinating wife of the rich Van Der―. Involved as the young lady was in the vortex of fashionable dissi pation, she had not yet ruined either her health or reputation: and her husband, by the advice of a friend, determined to send her for six months to a Verbetering Huis. With the utmost secrecy he laid before the municipal authorities the most complete proofs of her wasteful extravagance and incorrigible levity; added to which, she had recently attached herself to gaming with French officers of rank, who lay under an imputation of being remarkably expert in levying contributions. She was already in debt upwards of thirty thousand florins to tradesmen, although her husband allowed her to take from his cashier a stipulated sum every month, which was more than competent to meet the current expenses of his household; whilst to meet a loss which occurred at play, her finest jewels were deposited in the hands of a benevolent money-lender, who accommodated the necessitous, upon unexceptionable security being previously left in his custody. Her husband was full twenty years older than his volatile wife, of whom he was rationally fond, and at whose reformation he aimed, before she was carried too far away by the stream of fashionable dissipation. Against his will, she had agreed to make one of a party of ladies who were invited to a grand ball and supper at the house of a woman of rank and faded character. Her husband, at breakfast, told her she must change her course of life, or her extravagance would make him a bankrupt, and her children beggars. She began her usual playful way of answer; said, "She certainly had been a little too thoughtless, and would soon commence a thorough reformation." "You must begin to-day, my dear," said her husband, "and, as a proof of your sincerity, I entreat you to drop the com. pany of, and to spend your evening at home, this day, with me and your children.' "Quite impossible, my dear man," said the modest wife in reply: "I have given my word, and cannot break it." "Then," said her husband, "if you go out this day dressed, to meet that party, remember, for the next six months these doors will be barred against your return. Are you still resolved to go?" "Yes," said the indignant lady, "if they were to be for ever barred against me!" Without either anger or malice, Mynheer Van Der told her "not to deceive herself; for, as certain as that was her determination, so sure would she find his foretelling verified." She told him, "if nothing else had power to induce her to go, it would be his menace." With this they parted, the husband to prepare the penitentiary chamber for his giddy young wife, and the latter to eclipse every rival at the ball that evening. To afford her a last chance of avoiding an ignominy, which it pained him to inflict, he went once more to try to wean her from her imprudent courses, and proposed to set off that evening for Zutphen, where her mother dwelt; but he found her sullen, and busied with milliners and dressers, and surrounded with all the paraphernalia of splendid attire. At the appointed hour, the coach drove to the door, and the beautiful woman (full dressed, or rather undressed), tripped gaily down stairs; and, stepping lightly into the coach, told the driver to E stop at - on the Keizer Gragt. It was then dark, and she was a little surprised to find the coach had passed through one of the city gates; the sound of a clock awoke her as from a dream. She pulled the check-string, but the driver kept on; she called out, and some one behind the coach told her, in a suppressed voice, that she was a prisoner, and must be still! The shock was severe; she trembled in every limb, and was near fainting with terror and alarm, when the coach entered the gates of a Verbetering Huis, where she was doomed to take up her residence. The matron of the house-a grave, severe, yet a well-bred person-opened the door; and, calling the lady by her name, requested her to alight. "Where am I?-in God's name, tell me; and why am I brought here?" "You will be informed of every thing, madam, if you please to walk in doors." "Where is my husband?" said she, in a wild affright; "sure he will not let me be murdered!" "It was your husband who drove you hither, madam; he is now upon the coachbox!" This intelligence was conclusive. All her assurance forsook her. She submitted to be conducted into the house, and sat pale, mute, and trembling; her face and her dress exhibiting the most striking contrast. The husband, deeply affected, first spoke: he told her, "that he had left no other means to save her from ruin, and he trusted the remedy would be effectual; and, when she quitted that retreat, she would be worthy of his esteem." She then essayed, by the humblest protestations, by tears and entreaties, to be permitted to return; and vowed that never more, whilst she lived, would she ever offend him. "Save me," said she, "the mortification of this punishment, and my future conduct shall prove the sincerity of my reformation." Not to let her off too soon, she was shewn her destined apartment and dress, the rules of the house, and the order of her confinement during six months! She was completely overpowered with terror, and fell senseless on the floor. When she recovered, she found her husband chafing her temples, and expressing the utmost anxiety for her safety. "I have been unworthy of your affection," said the fair penitent, "but spare me this ignominious fate; take me back to your home, and never more shall you have cause to reproach me." Her husband, who loved her with unabated affection, notwithstanding all her levity, at last relented; and the same coach drove her back to her home; where not one of the domestics (a trusty man-servant excepted) had the least suspicion of what had occurred. As soon as her husband led her to her apartment, she dropped on her knees, and implored his pardon; told him the extent of all her debts, and begged him to take her to Zutphen for a few weeks, and promised so to reduce her expenditure as to make good the sums she had so inconsiderately thrown away. Allowing for the excessive terror she had felt when she found, instead of being driven to 's rout, she was proceeding round the ramparts, outside the city gates, which she could not wholly overcome, she spent the happiest evening of her life with her husband: and, from that day, she abandoned her former career of dissipated folly, |