which they became infected, and the new order of things which grew up within the republic of Christendom, justly deprived them of it.

It was the only religion that could ever boast of the miraculous attestations of heaven in its favor, and which, in every age, has gone forth, and the signs have followed, casting out devils, speaking strange tongues, healing the sick, curing the lame, giving sight to the blind, and raising the dead to life.

It was the only religion that has ever sung the song of triumph over the solitary grave of a martyred missionary among the trackless deserts of the new world; and which, imparting fresh energies to their zeal, has carried the messengers of God with an heroic perseverance onwards in their enterprise, till, after incredible efforts and sacrifices, they at length reduced within the boundaries of civilization whole tribes of savage wanderers, almost as impatient of control as the wild beasts of the forests in which they dwelt, and converted them into a Christian republic, the most perfect that ever graced the annals of the human

race.

It was the only religion that has ever carried the glad tidings of a crucified Redeemer among the empires of the east; among a people as singular for their civilization, as for their obstinate repugnance to the light of the Gospel, and where religion, after struggling under alternate destinies for three hundred years, fertilizing the fields of Christianity with the blood of one hundred thousand martyrs,-numbers of them immolated under the most excruciating torments, still presents attractions to the pious zeal of the missionary, who, at the peril of his life, brings succor to the persecuted and dispirited remnant of what were once so many flourishing provinces of the kingdom of God upon earth.*

It was the only religion, which, by its love of labor, and its patient industry, has

* In 1596, there were in China about half a million of Christians, with more than two hundred and fifty churches; and in Japan, in 1715, three hundred thousand Christians, and three hundred churches, all through the indefatigable labors of the Dominicans, Franciscans, and Jesuits.

ever converted an arid desert into a fruitful garden, and reared the standard of the cross among the mountain tops,-that cross, "whose breadth is charity, whose length is eternity, whose height is almighty power, and whose depth is unsearchable wisdom," hallowing even the rugged summits of some desolate rock, by transforming it into the abode of piety and virtue; or, which planting the sacred emblem of our redemption along the common thoroughfare, invited the weary pilgrim to offer up his sorrows on the altar of Calvary, to drop a tear of compunction for his share in that tragedy of wo, to slake his thirst at that fountain of life, and gather strength and joy through the merits and sufferings of his Saviour.

It was the only religion that ever enlisted a society of volunteers in the cause of charity, to do daily duty amidst the dreary regions of the Alps, within the limits of eternal snows and incessant storm, beyond the habitation of man and the boundary line of vegetation-a society which a thousand years of ceaseless labor, has not robbed of the fresh vigor of its youth, and which still affords shelter and protection from the daugers of those inhospitable climes to all who need it, let their creed or color be what it may.

It was the religion which alone has adorned the calendar with its thousand saints, with an Anthony, a Benedict, a Bruno, a Bernard, a Dominic, a Francis, an Ignatius, a Xavier, a Vincent of Paula, a Borromeo, a Francis of Sales, and Philip Neri men who are despised and dishonored by the world, but who, if we estimate greatness by the only true criterion, the benefits conferred upon mankind, are infinitely superior to those who contemn them; so that well may we apply to them and to ourselves those prophetic words of wisdom, "We fools esteemed their life madness, and their end without honor: behold how they are numbered amongst the children of God, and their lot is among the saints!"

It was the religion in which "the covenant of the priesthood" has alone remained for ever in one unbroken line, verifying the promises of God to Peter, and through Peter, to Peter's successors, "Thou art Pe

ter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it; and to thee will I give the keys of the kingdom of heaven, whatever ye shall bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven, whatever ye shall loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven," and then confirming the everlasting compact by the assurance "that heaven and earth should pass away, but that His word should not pass." Look at the singular verification of this great covenant in that eternal and mysterious city, which, serving for a thousand years as the capital of the last and most powerful of the five great empires, was appointed also as the spot wherein the grain of mustard-seed was to take root and grow into a tree, which, nourished by the blood of martyrs, soon covered with its shadow all the limits of the earth: a capital, which, after the lapse of a few ages, in which the rising religion had to struggle for its ascendancy with all the powers and principalities of this world of pomp and vanity, and of the world of darkness and of Satan, was transferred to the sovereignty of him whose only claim was his rightful heritage from the poor fisherman, Peter, who, in the pride of her imperial sway, had been barbarously and ignominiously crucified as a worthless and ignorant impostor. The heir of Peter he was the only lawful depository of the "perpetual covenant," and which, for its blessed fulfilment under an over-ruling and Almighty Providence, he has faithfully transmitted to every succeeding generation; while the covenant itself, in eternal memorial of its divine origin, like that to which it had succeeded, written, as it were, upon the tablets of heaven by the finger of God in the great cathedral of Christendom, "the house of prayer for all nations!" (Isaias lvi, 7) hangs suspended over the tomb of Peter,-over the very relics of the simple, unlettered fisherman, to whom that covenant was made, with all the splendor of art and nature collected around to honor and adorn the most gorgeous temple ever erected to God, or the most superb monument ever raised over the remains of man! Can any one doubt then of the accomplishment of the prophetic

pledge? Behold it verified to the letter in the material Church; while history, and the attesting faith of one hundred and fifty millions of Christians dispersed throughout the universe, yet all professing allegiance to this same successor of Peter,with those who first afflicted her bowing down to her, and those who slandered her worshipping the steps of her feet, and calling the city of Peter, the city of the Lordall proclaim its verification in the spiritual! (See Isaias lv, 14.)

Such being the characteristics of the religion which prevailed in these islands previous to their fatal separation from the centre of Christendom, it is clear that we must look to other causes for the miseries which, even then, too frequently afflicted the land: nor need we go far in our investigation for the discovery. For it was not the Lord who had "deceived this people, saying: you shall have peace: and behold the sword reacheth even to the soul." (Jeremias iv, 10.) Sin alone will account for all. It had driven our first parents from a paradise of happiness into a wilderness of sorrow; had so dimmed the knowledge of good and evil, that it was with difficulty discerned by a generation now become the children of wrath, and whose corruption at length was such, that only a universal deluge could cleanse the earth from the foul pollution. Notwithstanding this signal vengeance of a repenting Maker upon a whole world, sin again recommenced its ravages, and the depravity was so spread that even the chosen people of God were too often infected with the leprosy, and too often became obnoxious to the devastating scourge of hea ven. Levi himself was "a vessel of iniquity;" from him descended Aaron and the priesthood, which, in the end, crowned the measure of their crimes by condemning and crucifying the Messiah, who had won a title to their faith by the most stupendous miracles, and whom it was their duty to acknowledge and proclaim as their king and

ven even the race most favored by God into bondage, delivered them into the hands of the spoilers, and cut them off to a mere remnant, that had all but reduced man to the condition of the brute beast, that had called down fire and brimstone from heaven to make a smoking holocaust of whole cities to appease the excited vengeance of the Most High, that had caused innumerable wars, and all their attendant miseries,—that had raised the vanity of one man to be expiated by the destruction of seventy thousand of his people, that for three whole years had denied rain to the earth, so that there was a grievous famine,—that had destroyed the temple of God, and profaned the sacred vessels in the service of Baal, and which, after immolating the Son of God in its impious fury as a blasphemer against heaven, adored an idol of Jupiter on the very spot on which he rose from the dead, and erected a statue of Venus on the site on which the Creator of mankind was crucified for the sins of men! Neither did the expiation of past sins check the multiplication of new ones; and, ever since the birth of Chris

tianity, the history of the world has still been but a succession of offences against heaven, and a series of just chastisements from God. We have still seen "in the place of judgment, wickedness, and in the place of justice iniquity;" we have still "walked in the way of the nations which the Lord had destroyed;" we have still been an obdurate and stiff-necked people, turning away our hearts and deceiving ourselves with error; we have still seen the people of God oppressed, and good "men fall before the children of iniquity;" we have ever been the friends of this world, and the enemies of Christ, and the obedient servants of sin unto death-so that there has been no cessation from crime, but for ever the same abundant cause for that beautiful and pathetic prayer of Tobias and Sara: "O Lord, take not vengeance of our sins, neither remember our offences, nor those of our parents." What marvel then, that from time to time the hand of God fell heavy on us, and that evils and afflictions found us? It would indeed have been an undeserved mercy if they had not.

MY CHRISTIAN Brethren,

HOEVER is familiar with the sacred

Scriptures, must have noticed how constantly the Church of Christ is spoken of as a great kingdom or universal empire. In this character it is almost invariably described by the prophets, a circumstance which led the Jewish nation, whose national vanity, and inordinate love of this world blinded them to heavenly things, to believe that the promised Messiah was to be the greatest of earthly conquerors, and Jerusalem the seat of his empire. "He shall rule from sea to sea," sung the royal prophet," and from the river to the ends of

the earth,"" all the kings of the earth shall adore him, all nations shall serve him." (Ps. lxxi.)-" All the ends of the earth shall remember and be converted to the Lord, and all the kindreds of the Gentiles shall adore in his sight; for the kingdom is the Lord's, and he shall have dominion over the nations." (Ps. xxi.) The prophet Daniel is even more explicit, comparing the empire of the Messiah with the four great universal empires, viz., the Babylonian, the Persian, the Grecian, and the Roman, and pointing out one essential difference between it and them, viz., that it

should never be destroyed, but should stand for ever. In the days of those kingdoms, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, and his kingdom shall not be delivered up to another people; and it shall break in pieces, and shall consume all these kingdoms, and itself shall stand for ever." (Dan. ii, 44.) In exact conformity with these predictions was the declaration of the angel Gabriel, when he announced to Mary the birth of her divine Son. "The Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father, and he shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end." (Luke i, 32, 33.) Hence, our blessed Saviour himself, being accused by the Jews of aspiring to royalty, when asked by Pilate if he were a king, answered positively that he was, but that his kingdom. was not of this world. For this was I born; and for this came I into the world, that I should give testimony to the truth. Every one that is of the truth, heareth my voice." (John xviii, 37.) As if He had said, mine is the empire of eternal truth, to which all who love the truth must belong. Throughout the Gospels, our Blessed Saviour constantly speaks of his Church as "the kingdom of heaven" and "the kingdom of God." Thus, when speaking of its rapid progress, he says, "the kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed,” and, when predicting the exclusion of the Jews and the vocation of the Gentiles, he says, "the kingdom of heaven is like to a king who made a marriage feast for his son."

The constant repetition of the assertion, both in the Old and New Testament, that the Church of Christ is a kingdom, can leave no doubt of its literal truth. But if any one will contend that the language is in some degree figurative, still it cannot be denied, that in all essential properties, the Church of Christ must bear a marked resemblance to a kingdom.

What, then, is a kingdom? It is a society of men united together under the government of a sovereign. But as the sovereign cannot be every where present, nor discharge all the duties which the office of a supreme ruler implies, he has under him

magistrates and officers of different grades, who perform various offices in his name. And, that all the subjects may know what their social duties are, and not be the sport of the passions or caprice of their immediate rulers, a code of regulations, or laws, common to all, are an essential appendage of every government. But as laws would be of little use unless there were authorities to explain their meaning and enforce their observance, hence, in every kingdom there are bodies of men set apart for these express purposes. Such were all the ancient kingdoms and monarchies which the sacred writers must have had in view when they spoke of the Church of Christ as a kingdom. In fact, no kingdom of any extent ever did, or ever could exist without the appendages above mentioned, viz., a sovereign, a code of laws, and an authority to explain and enforce the laws.

If it be said, that the kingdom of Jesus Christ" is not of this world," this can only mean that the objects it has in view are not of this world. The objects of earthly kingdoms are the peace and happiness of man in this life; those of the kingdom of Jesus Christ, their obedience to the divine law in this life, and their eternal happiness in the next. But the subjects of both kingdoms are the same, viz., men living in this world, and consequently their sovereign, their magistrates, their judges, and administrators of the laws, must also be men living in this world.

The kingdom, then, of Jesus Christ, is like its divine Founder and Sovereign, partly divine, partly human; partly spiritual, partly corporeal; partly internal, partly external. Divine, inasmuch as it regards the things of God, has God for its author, and tends to unite man eternally with God; human, inasmuch as the supreme Sovereign himself, the God-man, is human, and all his earthly subjects human spiritual, inasmuch as it regards the souls of men, regulates their moral and religious conduct, and enforces the observance of the divine laws, with a view to the perfecting of man's spiritual nature here, and the salvation of his soul hereafter; corporeal, inasmuch as the soul being intimately and inseparably united

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with the body, cannot, ordinarily speaking, be approached, governed, controlled or directed, but through the medium of the body: internal, inasmuch as the conviction of the truths of religion, and the obligation of obedience to its laws, as well as the graces by which alone its duties can be fulfilled, are internal; external, inasmuch as neither the ignorant can be instructed, nor the obedient encouraged, nor the rebellious reproved, but by external means. In this view of the kingdom of Christ, we perceive how perfectly consistent are his divine declarations, when at one time he says to all," the kingdom of God is within you," and at another, to his apostles, "Go teach and baptize,❞— "he that hears you, hears me, and he that despises you, despises me."

Now, if this be a true description of the kingdom of Christ, we shall most likely find some vestiges of it in the Sacred Scriptures, and in the Church itself we must necessarily find it in full operation. For, as Jesus Christ expressly promised that he would remain with his Church for ever, we are sure to find in it at all times, whatever is essential to its legitimate constitution.

And in the first place do the Scriptures give any hint of a sovereign being appointed by Christ to govern his visible kingdom when he should be removed from it? For the most essential characteristic of a kingdom or monarchy, is undoubtedly a sovereign or monarch. On this head we have the most satisfactory information, both in the Scriptures and in the history of the Church. You know the commission given by Jesus Christ to his apostle Peter, after the latter had made his solemn profession of faith—“Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God." Our Blessed Saviour had, upon his first acquaintance with this apostle, changed his name from Simon to Peter, which signifies a rock. He now assigns the cause: "I say to thee that thou art Peter, and upon this rock will I build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it and I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven." (Matt. xvi, 18, et seq.) As the Apostle St. Paul, assures us, and as it is in itself clear, that Jesus Christ is himself the " chief corner stone," or foundation

of his Church, Peter can be so in no other sense than as his representative on earth. In like manner as Jesus Christ will not surrender to his Eternal Father the kingdom of his Church, till he shall, at the day of judgment, "have put all things under his feet" (Cor. xv); so, in constituting Peter the supreme governor of his Church, under the usual formality of the delivery of the keys, he could intend to constitute him so only as his vicegerent or vicar on earth.

But on this occasion, our Blessed Saviour only makes the promise to Peter of the supreme vicariate of his universal Church. Does he afterwards fulfil this promise? Yes; but not till the moment when he himself was about to withdraw his visible presence from the world. It was after his resurrection, when Peter and some of his fellow disciples, having spent a wearisome night in fishing on the sea of Tiberias, without the least success, Jesus, in the dawn of morning, appeared on the shore, and, calling to the boat, "bade them cast the net on the right side of the ship," promising that they should be successful. They did so, "and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes." (John xxi.) This was not the first time in which the divine Saviour had given his disciples to comprehend, by this practical illustration, their own natural helplessness in the conversion of nations, and their wonderful efficacy in this superhuman work, when commissioned and aided by him. Jesus was pleased to premise it on this occasion to his official and final commission to Peter. He then proceeds to ask him, "Simon, son of John, lovest thou me more than these ?"— as if he had said; For, as I am about to confer upon thee greater authority than upon thy fellow disciples, I demand in return a greater love. Peter answered, "Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee," not daring, as an ancient Father observes, after the sad experience of his recent fall, to say that he loved him more than his fellows. This was enough, and better indeed than more; for this bespoke humility, and more would have betrayed presumption. Jesus saith to him, Feed my lambs. He saith to him again: Simon, son of John,