writer to the Hebrews, he would have us come ourselves "boldly" and
directly "to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find
grace to help in time of need."

Surely, these Apostles, chosen vessels for conveying the truths of
salvation throughout the world, knew well how the Almighty could best be
approached by his children on earth; and had the invocation of saint or
angel found a place in their creed, they would not have kept so
important a truth from us.

Before leaving this part of our inquiry, I would propose the patient and
unprejudiced weighing of the import of two passages in the New
Testament, often quoted on this subject; one in the Acts of the
Apostles, the other in the Apocalypse.

The holy Apostles Barnabas and Paul, by the performance of a striking
miracle, had excited feelings of religious reverence and devotion among
the people of Lystra, who prepared to offer sacrifice to them as two of
their fabled deities. [Acts xiv. 11-18.] The indignant zeal with which
these two holy men rushed forward to prevent such an act of impiety,
however admirable and affecting, does not constitute the chief point for
which reference is here made to this incident. They were men, still
clothed with the tabernacle of the flesh, and the weakness of human
nature; and the priests and people were ready to offer to them the
wonted victims, the abomination of the heathen. Now, I am fully aware of
the wide difference, in many {54} particulars, between such an act and
the act of a Christian praying to their spirits after their departure
hence, and supplicating them to intercede with the true God in his
behalf: and on this difference Roman Catholic writers have maintained
the total inapplicability of this incident to the present state of