restored to the communion of the church, t?ongh the entrearies or letters of' mar?rs.* But ell this is wide of the mark; and we proceed to prove, from Romanists themselves, that indulgences are a perrat- sion, and a substAute for the ancient cam? Dens, speaking of the canon/c?/ penance.?, says, "Which AeROOATED, the use o� indulgences became more common, and suc- ceeded, as it were, in their place: and thus the mode was introduced of measuring or determining indulgences, not according to months or weeks, but by days and years, just as the canonical penances were appointed."?' The same author also acknowledges that the use of indul- gences abrogated the primitive discipline. This appears, ?rom what he says in the number of his work following that already quoted, and is as follows: "But the use of indulgences began to be more common when the rigour of the canonical penitentials was relaxed, to the abr0- gation of which this use gave occasion.":? Thus Roman Catholics are compelled to acknowledge that' this article, which they deem neces- sary to salvation, was not originally in the church, but succeeded the ABROOATXOS 0� the primitive discipline. Overwhelming testimonies could be added to the above, were this necessary. It will be proper, however, to trace out the origin and establishment of the anti-scriptural traffic of indulgences. The follosving quotation from Mosheim will give us a correct view of the orion and sale of indulgences. He draws his information from Catholics themselves, passing designedly over the Protestant writers: "The bishops," says he,�hen they wanted money for their pri- vate pleasures, or for the exigencies of the church, granted to their Hock the power of purchasing the remission of the penalties imposed upon transgressors, by a sum of money, which was to be applied to certain religious purposes: or, in other words, they published gentes, which became an inexhaustible source of opulence to the epis- copal orders, and enabled them, as is well known, to form and execute the most difficult schemes for the enlargement of their authority, and to erect a multitude of sacred edifices svhich augmented considerably the external pomp and splendour of the church. "When the Roman pontiffs cast an eye upon the immense treasures that the inferior rulers of the church were accumulating by the sale mdu/gvnce?, they thought proper to limit the power in remitting the pe- nalties imposed on transgressors, and assumed almost entircly this profitable tr?Hc to themselves? In consequence of this new measure the court of Rome became the general magazine of indulgences; and the Pontiffs, when either the wants of the church, the emptiness of their coffers, or the demon of avarice, prompted them to look out for new subsidies, published, not only universal, but also a complete, or + (3y?.rian, lib. iii, epist. t�lso, Tertul. lib. ad Martyre?, c. i. ? Qutbus (canonicis pmnitentiis) ebrogaffs, cmpit indulgentiarum usus ease eommu- nior, et in earurn 1ocum quasi successit: et ira modus inductus est rnensurandi deterrninandi indulgentias, non secundum menses aut heMomndas, sed petdies et annos, quern admodurn pcenitentiee canonicee prmscribebantur.?/?/nda/?., No. vol. vi, pa?e ?5g. � ?: Cmp?' 't-autem ustm indulgenfiirum esoe communior, quiltdo rigor canonurn poem- teutialinm relaxatuo e?t, cui abrogationi usu9 file occasionera ded/t."?I&m, No.'?BS, vol. vi, page ?s4. ? Eccl. Hist., cent. xii, part if, chap. iii, sec. fii.
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