cients." And out of Luke x. 16. "He that heareth you, heareth me; and he that despiseth you (the Church) despiseth ine."

Q. May temporal princes and the laity make a holyday? A. With consent and approbation of the Church, they may, otherwise not; because this is an act of spiritual jurisdiction.

Q. For what end doth the Church ordain holydays? A. For the increase of piety, and the memory of special benefits received from God.

Q. If keeping the Sunday be a church precept, why is it numbered in the decalogue, which are the Commandments of God, and the Law of Nature?

A. Because the substance or chief part of it, namely, "That a day be set apart for the service of God," is of Divine Right, and of the Law of Nature; though the determinating this particular day, Sunday rather than Saturday, be a Church ordinance and precept.

Q. Did not Christ, when he confirmed the rest, confirm also this commandment?

A. In as much as it belongeth to the law of nature, he did but not as it belonged to the ceremonial law of the Jews, and was affixed to Saturday, therefore, now we are not bound to keep Saturday.

Q. Why so, I pray you?

A. Because that particular day was a command of the ceremonial law of the Jews, which was abrogated, and ceased to oblige after the death of Christ.

Q. To what are we obliged by this precept?

A. To spend the Sunday in prayer and divine service. Q. What is the best means to sanctify the Sunday? A. By hearing mass, confessing our sins, communicating, hearing sermons, and reading good books.

Q. What is forbidden by this precept?

A. All profane employments, and servile labours, excepting such as are of necessity, as dressing meat, serving cattle, &c. or such as appertain to piety and works of mercy.

Q. Who break this commandment?

A. Such as without necessity spend any considerable part of the Sunday in servile labours.

Q. How else is the Sunday profaned?

A. By spending all the morning slothfully in bed, or vainly dressing ourselves; by missing divine service when we may hear it, or spending a part of the day in drinking, gaming, dancing, or the like.

Q. Is there any thing now in this first table of the law impossible to be observed?

A. No certainly; for nothing can be more easy and delightful to the true servant of God, than the things that are here commanded.

Q. Why do you now divide the tables of the Moral law into three and seven, whereas anciently some Fathers assigned four to the first table, and six to the last?

A. Concerning the manner of limiting the number of commandments to each table, the scripture says nothing, not so much as which is the third, which is the fourth commandment, and therefore it is in itself indifferent: St. Jerome divides them into four and six, which is no where condemned, St. Augustine into three and seven, who is more generally followed; but indeed the matter is of no great importance how we reckon them so we retain them in our books, and keep them in our lives.

Q. But what reason can justify the omission of so great a part of the text, when we transcribe the commandments into our catechisms?

A. Such books being composed principally for the unlearned, are by the pastors of the church abridged into the shortest and easiest method they can, prudently condescending to the weak memories and low capaci ties of the people: nor can the church be accused of the least shadow of corrupting or omitting any part of the commandments, or of God's word; since in no Catholic Bible is there one syllable left out; and whether the first commandment, after this account, be divided, and the two last united; or contrariwise the last divided, and the first united, is not at all material, the whole ten commandments being entirely contained in both, or either way.

THE SECOND TABLE OF THE LAW.

The Fourth Commandment Expounded.
Q. WHAT is the fourth commandment?
A. Honour thy father and mother.

Q. What are we commanded by this precept? A. To love, reverence, obey, and relieve our parents in their wants.

Q. Why to love them?

A. Because, under God they are the chief causes of our very life and being; and do not only bring us forth with much grief and pain, but bring us up with much love, labour, and solicitude.

Q. How are we bound to reverence them?

A. Not only inwardly in our heart, but also outwardly in our carriage and comportment.

Q. Why to obey them?

A. Because they are God's vicegerents, and have received power from him (from whom is all paternity in heaven and earth) both to direct us, instruct us, and cor

rect us.

Q. In what things are we bound to obey our parents? A. In all that is not sin, according to that, "Children obey your parents in all things, for that is pleasing unto God." Col. iii. 20.

Q. What is prohibited by this precept?

A. All sourness, stubbornness, and disobedience to parents.

Q. What is the reward of dutiful children?

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A. Long and happy life; The blessing of heaven comes upon them, and remains to the end of their days." Eccl. iii. 10.

Q. What is the reward of undutiful children?

A. A short and sinful life, accompanied with an untimely death: witness the example of Absalom, 2 Kings viii. 14.

Q. What other proof have you?
A. That of Prov. xxx. 17.

"The eye that mocketh at his father, and that despiseth the travail of his mother in bearing him, let the ravens of the torrent pick it out and the young of the eagle eat it."

Q. What signifies the word Father?

A. It signifies not only our corporal parents, but also our Ghostly Father, and all lawful superiors.

Q. What owe we to the Ghostly Father?

A. Love, reverence, obedience, and maintenance.
Q. Why love?

A. Because they are the fathers and feeders of our souls, and under God and his saints, the instrumental causes of our spiritual good: "For in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel," (saith St. Paul.) 1 Cor. iv. 15. Q. Why reverence?

A. Because they are God's anointed, and represent the person of Christ.

Q. Why obedience?

A. Because God hath appointed them to be our spiritual pastors, guides, and governors.

Q. In what are we bound to obey them?

A. In all things belonging to faith, doctrine, and the government of our souls.

Q. Is any great honour due to priests and ghostly fathers?

A. There is, according to that of St. Paul. "Let the priests who rule well be esteemed worthy of double honour; especially they who labour in the word and doctrine." 1 Tim. v. 17.

Q. Have you any other place?

A. Yes, Eccle. vii. 13, 32, 33, "With all thy soul fear our Lord and reverence his priests, with all thy strength, love them that made thee and forsake not his master; honour God with all thy soul, and honour the priests." And the reason is, for if we owe love, honour, and obedience to our carnal parents, much more to our spiritual, by how much the soul surpasseth the body. Again, as there is none greater than priests, who are empowered to shut and open the gates of heaven, as also to convert the substance of bread and wine, into the most precious body and blood of our blessed Saviour: to no person is greater honour due, than to them who personate Christ himself, so that he who despiseth them despiseth Christ himself, and the disregard of them is the origin of impiety.

Q. How may we sin against priests and ghostly fathers?

A. By disobeying or detracting them, or believing slanderous reports against them, upon mere hearsay, or the testimony of insufficient witnesses, or without witnesses.

Q. What testimony is sufficient against a priest?

A. I will tell you out of St. Paul's mouth: "Against a priest (saith he to Timothy the bishop of Ephesus) receive not an accusation under two or three witnesses." 1 Tim. v. 19, and 21, "I charge thee before God, and Christ Jesus, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing by declining to either side."

Q. Is it convenient to ask a blessing of priests?

A. It is, because they give it in the name and person of Christ.

Q. What warrant have you for it?

A. First out of Mark 14, 16, where "Christ laying his hands upon the children, blessed them."

Secondly, the example of Melchisedech blessing Abraham; upon which St. Paul saith, "without all contradiction, that which is less, is blessed of the better." Heb. vii. 7.

Q. What scripture have you for obedience to priests? A. Heb. xiii. 17. "Obey your prelates, and be subject to them; for they watch, as being to render an account for your souls." And in the old law, disobedience to the priests was punished with death, Deut. xvii. 12.

Q. In what are we bound under sin to obey princes and temporal magistrates?

A. In all things (which are not sin) belonging to the good and peace of the commonwealth.

Q. How prove you that?

A. First, out of Rom. xiii. 1. "Let every soul be subject to the higher powers, for there is no power but of God: he therefore that resists power, resists the ordinance of God."

Secondly, out of 1 Pet. ii. 13, 14. "Be ye subject to every creature for God, whether to the king as ex