only one that can afford people reasonable grounds of certainty with regard to their faith?

Every one knows that the grounds of certainty a Roinan Catholic has fo: his faith, is that authority of the Church which we have just been speaking of; whereas the grounds of certainty any other person has, is only his own judgment, or what is the same thing, that interpretation of Scripture, which in his opinion is the true one. Now the Roman Catholic is certain that the Church will not mislead him; but a person of any other religion has no reason to be certain but he may be misled by his own opinion or judgment; wherefore the former has reasonable grounds of certainty with regard to his faith; the latter has not.

But how do you show that the Roman Catholic has every reason to be assured the Church will not mislead him?

From the very nature of religion, the Roman Catholic sees the necessity of an authority, in order to decide all controversies that may arise, and to preserve union :-he knows, that without subordination there can be nothing but confusion in either church or state, and that, without an authority, which all are bound to acknowledge, there can be do subordination;-he sees, that shaking off the yoke of authority to become one's own guide in the affair of religion, must directly tend to pride, to obstinacy, and to every species of religious phrenzy ;-he sees that those famous heresies which heretofore distracted the Christian world, have all arisen from this want of submission; that it is the essential character of every heresy, to be maintained in opposition to the Church's authority; which gave St. Augustin occasion to say, that he might err, but would not be a heretic;* meaning, that he was secured from heresy by his disposition of ready obedience to the Church. The Romar Catholic further sees, that the bulk of mankind through their ignorance, their weakness of understanding and their several avocations, being incapable of examining their Scriptures, or of judging for themselves, must unavoidably rely upon authority.

From these motives of plain reason and common sense, the Roman Catholic is sufficiently convinced, that to be guided by authority is his indispensable duty; if it be his duty, it is therefore what God requires of him; and surely by doing

* A heretic is one who has an opinion, for such is the etymology of the word. What is understood by having an opinion, is following one's own fancy and particular sentiment. A Catholic without maintaining any particular sentiment, follows unhesita tingly the doctrine of the Church, which Christ has promised to be with all days, a sen to the end of the world.

what God requires of him, he cannot go astray Thus, even without any help from Scripture, the Roman Catholic is as sured he cannot be misled by following the authority of the Church.

This conviction of his mind, already so well grounded in reason, is fully strengthened and confirmed when he comes to read those clear and positive texts of Scripture, which show-That Jesus Christ himself gave his authority to the Pastors of the Churcht-that he commanded all to hear and ooey them as himself-that he would take as offered to himself any contempt or disobedience shown to them-that in their functions of teaching and instructing, he himself would remain with them for all days until the end of the world. That he would send them the Spirit of Truth, who should abide with them and teach them all truthf-that whoever would not hear the Church should be considered as a heathen and a publican-that the gates of hell should not prevail against the Church-that the Church is the Pillar and Ground of Truth.

By these passages of Scripture, and many others that might be alleged, the Roman Catholic has, from the word of God himself, an entire and evident confirmation of what his own reason had already told him of his Church's Authority: whence with the fullest confidence he may rest assured that he cannot go astray under her guidance. Such are the grounds of certainty a Roman Catholic has with regard to his faith; and every person of candour must acknowledge they are just and reasonable.

* "Peace be to you: as the Father hath sent me, I also send you.

"When he had said this, he breathed on them, and he said to. them: Receive ye the Holy Ghost.

"Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them: and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained." St. John xx. 21, 22, 23.

t "He that neareth you, heareth me; and he that despiseth you, despiseth me; and he that despiseth me, despised him that sent Ine." Luke x. 16.

"And I will ask the Father, and he shall give you another Paraclete, that he may abide with you for ever.

"The Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because It seeth him not, nor knoweth him but you shall know him, be cause he shall abide with you, and shall be in you.

"I will not leave you orphans." John xiv. 16, 17, 18. "The Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring all things to your mind, whatsoever I shall have said to you.” Ibid. 26.

"The House of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the trutai.' 1 Tim. iji. 18

Well, and how do you show that a person whe differs from the Roman Catholic Church has reason to fear being led astray, by nterpreting the Scripture according to his own opinion and judg

ment

He surely has every reason to fear it, when he considers. chat to mistake an opinion is what daily happens to thousands and thousands, in other less difficult matters as well as in religion. Is not this even what he himself must say of all those who, following their own opinion as he does, yet differ from him? Is it not even the nature of man, to be liable to error of judgment? And what privilege can he plead, to be exempt from the common lot of mankind? Is it that he seeks the truth with more candour and sincerity than others do? Such a notion, however he may flatter himself with it, must appear presumption and folly in the eyes of others. Moreover, by persuading himself he cannot go astray in his own interpretation of Scripture, he assumes to himself that infallibility he denies the Roman Catholic Church. Besides all this, he has to encounter against the certainty of his opinion, an argument which cannot possibly fail to make the deepest impression on an unbiased person. I mean, that the sense he gives the Scripture is contrary to the sense in which it is understood by all the wise and learned men the Roman Catholic Church comprises within its pale, and contrary to what is acknowledged to have been believed by all Christendom at least for several ages. If, after all this, ne persists in saying that he is sure he is right in following his own opinion and judgment, we can only beseech God to give him what Solomon begged of the Almighty for himself, that is, a docile heart. But it is sufficiently plain to whoever is open to conviction, that he has no just cause to be assured he does not mistake in his opinion, and of course that he has no reasonable grounds of certainty with regard to his faith.

To sum up all in a word: Faith is of its own nature certain and infallible-opinion is not whatever persuasion therefore is built on opinion, cannot be faith; hence there can be no true or real faith, but what is grounded on authority; that is, not only the authority of God revealing, (which all sects pretend to,) but also the authority of the Church, as the only sure channel through which the sense of revelation is conveyed to us.

How do you show, that the Roman Catholic Religion is the only one whose method of instructing is adapted to the nature of man?

The Roman Catholic Religion instructs by the methou of authority and it is sufficiently clear, from what has been

said in the answers to the foregoing questions, that this is the only method whereby,

First, The ignorant, the dull of apprehension, and those who have not leisure to examine the Scriptures, that is to say, the greater part of mankind, can be at all instructed; whereby,

Secondly, The learned themselves can be so instructed as to remove all fluctuation and doubt from then minds; whereby,

Thirdly, Both learned and ignorant are furnished with the same motives of belief, and the same foundation for their faith; whereby,

Fourthly, All heresies, schisms, and dissensions about religion are prevented; whereby,

Fifthly, The spirit of peace, of meekness, of humility, of diffidence in ourselves, of submission and obedience, that is to say, the characteristic virtues of a disciple of Christ, are inculcated, and are formed in us; whereby that pride and presumption of the human heart, which, as St. Paul says,* exalted itself against the knowledge of God, is beat down and subdued, and bringeth_into captivity every understanding to the obedience of Christ. Whereby we are guarded against the wildness of imagination, the illusions of self-love, the spirit of party, the bias of education, the influence of prejudice, and so many sources of error and vice; whereby, in short, that holy, that rational, that amiable religion, which Jesus Christ brought down from heaven as a blessing to mankind, can be taught, can be enforced, and can be constantly maintained. Now as the method of instructing by authority, is that which answers all these heavenly purposes, and leads man to virtue and happiness in a manner conformable to his nature; and as the contrary method, whereby people are desired to shake off authority and judge for themselves, naturally leads to so great evils, and is so ill suited to the state and condi tion of mankind: it follows that the Roman Catholic Religion, which is the only one that instructs by authority, is also the only Religion whose method of instructing is adapted to the nature of man.

But does not this doctrine, which enforces the necessity and the obligation of being guided by Church authority, tend to make people the vassals and slaves of churchmen? Are we to hoodwink our reason, and blindly to follow whatever the clergy say? Are they not men as well as others, and as such, are they not liable to error? Might they not pervert their authority to bad purposes, and make us their dupes?

Objections of this sort, which indeed we but too often hear

* 2 Cor. x à

proceea orly from ignorante, pride, or passion;--they mus immediately vanish, if we but calmly listen to the voice of reason. The authority we are obliged to submit to, is not that of any clergyman speaking or acting from himself; but it is the authority of the entire body of the Pastors of the Church. Each clergyman, in the discharge of his functions, acts as the Church's deputy. It is in her name, and by her authority, he instructs and guides the faithful committed to his care. The submission and obedience paid him in this capacity, is paid to the Church itself; and in cheving the Church, we obey Jesus Christ. Can this reasonate obedience (which regards only the concern of our souls) be called vassalage or slavery to churchmen? Or is it hoodwinking our reason, to submit to what is in fact the autho rity of God himself? That clergymen are only men, like others; that as such, they are liable to error; that they might possibly pervert their authority to bad purposes; all this is certainly true. But though they be of themselves liable to error, and capable of abusing their authority, we have nothing to fear by giving ourselves up to their guidance, as long as they preach only the doctrine of the Church, and confine their authority to spiritual matters, for which alone it was given. If, indeed, any clergyman should happen to prove such a traitor to his trust, as to give out a doctrine different from that of the Church, (a matter which would immediately spread an alarm,) or if he should be imprudent enough to enforce his authority, which is spiritual, in matters that are merely temporal, every one knows, that in the former case he must, and in the latter he may be disobeyed; because he then ceases to be invested with the authority of the Church and of Jesus Christ; and thus we are secured from the danger of being (what the enemies of our religion are so apt to call us) dupes of the clergy.

However, from all that has been said on this subject, no one can doubt but that, whilst a clergyman goes on in the ordinary course of those functions the Church has cut out for him, he is entitled to the respect and obedience due to the minister of the Church of Jesus Christ; this quality is never to be overlooked, on account of any frailties of the person; and obedience cannot be refused without over turning the very foundations of faith: hence a disposition of revolt against the clergy, of disobedience to their authority, of aversion and contempt of them, carries with it all the malice and guilt of heresy; for by such a disposition every heresy is already formed in its cause; and from thence each particular heresy flows as a stream from its source.

How do you show that the Roman Catholic Religion is ha