nd practised, and which the primitive Church enforced?

The Church, as every one must know who is acquainted with her history,
never exempts her children from the obligation of doing works of penance.

No one can deny that the practices of mortification are more frequent
among Catholics than among Protestants. Where will you find the
evangelical duty of fasting enforced, if not from the Catholic pulpit? It
is well known that, among the members of the Catholic Church, those who
avail themselves of the boon of Indulgences are usually her most
practical, edifying and fervent children. Their spiritual growth far from
being retarded, is quickened by the aid of Indulgences, which are usually
accompanied by acts of contrition, devotion, self-denial and the reception
of the Sacraments.

But, do what we will, we cannot please our opponents. If we fast and give
alms; if we crucify our flesh, and make pilgrimages and perform other
works of penance, we are accused of clinging to the rags of dead works,
instead of "holding on to Jesus" by faith. If, on the other hand, we
enrich our souls with the treasures of Indulgences we are charged with
relying on the vicarious merits of others and of lightening too much the
salutary burden of the cross. But how can Protestants consistently find
fault with the Church for _mitigating_ the austerities of penance, since
their own fundamental principle rests on _faith alone without good works_?

But have not Indulgences been the occasion of many abuses at various
times, particularly in the sixteenth century?

I will not deny that Indulgences have been abused; but are not the most
sacred things liable to be perverted? This is a proper place to refer
briefly to the Bull of Pope Leo X. proclaiming the Indulgence which
afforded Luther a pretext for his apostasy. Leo determined to bring to
completion the magnificent Church of St. Peter, commenced by his
predecessor, Julius II. With that view he issued a Bull promulgating an
Indulgence to such as would contribute some voluntary offering toward the
erection of the grand cathedral. Those, however, who contributed nothing
shared equally in the treasury of the Church, provided they complied with
the essential conditions for gaining the Indulgence. The only
indispensable conditions enjoined by the Papal Bull were sincere
repentance and confession of sins. D'Aubigne admits this truth, though in
a faltering manner, when he observes that "in the Pope's Bull so