6 and I do solemnly, in the presence of GoD, profess, testify, ' and deelare, that I do make this declaration, and every part thereof, in the plain and ordinary sense of the words of this 'Oath, without any evasion, equivocation, or mental reserva'tion whatsoever. So help me GOD. The Name of the Sovereign for the Time being to be used in the Oath. III. And be it further enacted, that wherever, in the Oath hereby appointed and set forth, the name of His present Majesty is expressed or referred to, the name of the Sovereign of this Kingdom for the time being, by virtue of the Act for the further limitation of the Crown and better securing the rights and liberties of the Subject, shall be substituted from time to time, with proper words of reference thereto. No Roman Catholic capable of sitting or voting until he has taken the Oath. IV. Provided always, and be it further enacted, that no Peer professing the Roman Catholic religion, and no person professing the Roman Catholic religion, who shall be returned a Member of the House of Commons after the commencement of this Act, shall be capable of sitting or voting in either House of Parliament respectively, unless he shall first take and subscribe the Oath herein-before appointed and set forth, before the same persons, at the same times and places, and in the same manner as the Oaths and the declarations now required by law are respectively directed to be taken, made, and subscribed; and that any such person professing the Roman Catholic religion, who shall sit or vote in either House of Parliament without having first taken and subscribed, in the manner aforesaid, the Oath in this Act appointed and set forth, shall be subject to the same penalties, forfeitures, and disabilities, and the offence of so sitting or voting shall be followed and attended by and with the same consequences as are by law enacted and provided in the case of persons sitting or voting in either Houseof Parliament respectively, without the taking, making, and subscribing the Oaths and the declaration now required by law. Roman Catholics may vote at Elections, and be elected, upon taking the Oath. V. And be it further enacted, that it shall be lawful for persons professing the Roman Catholic religion to vote at Elections of Members to serve in Parliament for England and for Ireland, and also to vote at the Elections of Representative Peers of Scotland and of Ireland, and to be elected such representative Peers, being in all other respects duly qualified, upon taking and subscribing the Oath herein-before appointed and set forth, instead of the Oaths of Allegiance, Supremacy, and Abjuration, and instead of the declaration now by law required, and instead also of such other Oath or Oaths as are now by law required to be taken by any of his His Majesty's subjects professing the Roman Catholic religion, and upon taking such other Oath or Oaths as may now be lawfully tendered to any persons offering to vote at such elections. Oath shall be administered in the same Manner as former Oaths. VI. And be it further enacted, that the Oath herein-before appointed and set forth shall be administered to His Majesty's subjects professing the Roman Catholic religion, for the purpose of enabling them to vote in any of the cases aforesaid, in the same manner, at the same time, and by the same officers or other persons as the Oaths for which it is hereby substituted, are or may be now by law administered; and that in all cases in which a certificate of the taking, making, or subscribing of any of the Oaths or of the declaration now required by law is directed to be given, a like certificate of the taking or subscribing of the Oath hereby appointed and set forth shall be given by the same officer or other person, and in the same manner as the certificate now required by law is directed to be given, and shall be of the like force and effect. Persons administering Oaths at Elections to take an Oath duly to administer. VII. And be it further enacted, that in all cases where the persons now authorised by law to administer the Oaths of Allegiance, Supremacy, and Abjuration to persons voting at Elections, are themselves required to take an Oath previous to their administering such Oaths, they shall, in addition to the Oath now by them taken, take an Oath for the duly administering the Oath hereby appointed and set forth, and for the duly granting certificates of the same. So much of any Acts as require the Formula contained in 8 & 9 W. 3 c. 3. (S.) to be tendered or taken, repealed-Roman Catholics may elect and be elected Members for Scotland. VIII. And whereas in an Act of the Parliament of Scotland made in the eighth and ninth session of the first Parliament of King William III., intituled, An Act for preventing the growth of Popery, a certain declaration or formula is therein contained, which it is expedient should no lon er be required to be taken and subscribed: be it therefore enacted, that such parts of any Acts as authorize the said declaration or formula to be tendered, or require the same to be taken, sworn, and subscribed, shall be and the same are hereby repealed, except as to such officers, places, and rights as are herein-after excepted: and that from and after the commencement of this Act it shall be lawful for persons professing the Roman Catholic Religion to elect and be elected Members to serve in Parliament for Scotland, and to be enrolled as Freeholders in any Shire or Stewartry of Scotland, and to be chosen commissioners or delegates for choosing Burgesses to serve in Parliament for any districts of burghs in Scotland, being in all other respects duly qualified, such persons always taking and subscribing the Oath herein-before appointed and set forth, instead of the Oaths of Allegiance and Abjuration as now required by law, at such time as the said last-mentioned Oaths, or either of them, are now required yq law to be taken. (To be continued.) NOTICE TO CORRESPONDENTS. The Editor begs to acknowledge the receipt of Mr. Jefferson's circular, pamphlet, and letter, on the "Peace Convention," and suggests that the "best means to promote permanent and universal peace,' by preaching the Gospel of JESUS CHRIST. (Acts, x, 36.) "There is no peace, saith my GOD, to the wicked." (Isaiah, lvii, 21.) CHRISTIAN WATCHMAN, AND MIDLAND COUNTIES' PROTESTANT MAGAZINE. THE CHARACTER AND TOKENS OF THE TRUE CATHOLIC CHURCH. BY THE REV. RICHARD WALDO SIBTHORP, B.D. (Late Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford) (Continued from page 5.) 1st. then UNITY is a mark of the true Church. This, say the Roman Catholics, consists in the being under one head, not only heavenly, which is JESUS CHRIST, but an earthly head also, which is the Pope or Bishop of Rome, the Vicar of CHRIST:in the holding one faith, (which is summed up in the profession of Faith, published by Pope Pius IV. or contained in the decrees of the Council of Trent, and received as essential to Salvation :) and in having one Communion. And that I do not mis-state the sentiments of the Roman Catholic Church respecting herself, and that unity which is to characterize her, I refer, in addition to the two Books already quoted, to the "Abridgment of Christian Doctrine," being an exposition, in question and answer, of the chief points of faith and practice, and set forth by the authority of all the present* Vicars-Apostolic in this country.† You will clearly perceive from it, that Roman Catholics not only identify their Church with the Holy Catholic *Preached in 1827. +The following questions and answers are found in p. 15. Q. What is the NINTH Article of the Creed? A. The Holy Catholic Church; the Communion of Saints. A. All the faithful under one Head. Q. Who is that Head? A. CHRIST JESUS our LORD. Q. Has the Church any visible Head on earth? A. Yes, the Bishop of Rome. C Church, with that Church which is designated in Scripture, the Body, Household, Spouse, and Fold of CHRIST, but also make her unity to consist in the three particulars I have specified. From this statement we Protestants in our view of the unity of the Church do in the main dissent: in part we assent to it. We believe the Church to be one body, having one Head, Divine, Heavenly, Spiritual, the LORD JESUS CHRIST; ruling and instructing it in every place and age visibly by his servants, the pastors and ministers of the Church, and by his written laws contained in the SACRED SCRIPTURES; the one being enlightened and guided, the other unfolded and explained, by the grace of the HOLY SPIRIT. But of such visible and earthly Head as the Pope, we know not, neither can allow it to be in any wise essential to the Church's unity: and that, because we no where find it mentioned in HOLY SCRIPTURE, "which, (as St. Chrysostom says) contains the only method to discover the true Church of CHRIST:" nor in the most ancient Confessions of Faith, nor (in the sense in which Roman Catholics understand it) in the works of the early fathers. Much is said in the writings of the Apostles respecting the Church, and much which declares, or necessarily implies its unity, as where it is compared to a Body, a Wife, a Household, for these figures properly involve the idea of unity. Yet no where is there the slightest reference to any visible or earthly head as part of, or essential to that unity. We read there is one body and one SPIRIT, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one LORD, one faith, one baptism.* He (i. e. CHRIST) is the head of the body the Church. Who is Q. Why is the Bishop of Rome the head of the Church? A. Because he is the successor of St. Peter, whom CHRIST appointed to be the head of his church. Q. What is the Bishop of Rome called? A. He is called the Pope, which word Pope, signifies Father. Q. Is then the Bishop of Rome our spiritual Father? A. Yes; he is the spiritual Father of all the Faithful. Q. Has the Church of CHRIST any marks by which you may know her ? A. Yes; she has these four marks; she is one,-she is holy,—she is catholic, she is apostolical. Q. How is the Church ONE? A. Because all her members agree in one faith, are all in one communion, and are all under one head. * Eph. iv, 4, 5. |