THE TRUE CHURCH OF CHRIST.-The Church, which is in communion with the see of Rome, and known by the name of Catholic, is exclusively the TRUE CHURCH OF CHRIST.

Ir has been shewn that unity, and universality, are essential properties, and characteristic marks of the true church of Christ, and that these characteristic marks are found exclusively in that church, which is in communion with the see of Rome. It follows, therefore, as a necessary consequence, that the Catholic church, in communion with the see of Rome, is exclusively the true church of Christ.

This church alone has had a visible existence, as the spitual kingdom of Christ, through all ages, from the time when he himself established his church, and gave to it its consti tution. It exhibits an uninterrupted succession of supreme pastors, or spiritual sovereigns, from St. Peter down to the present sovereign pontiff, Leo XII. It still retains, in all places, the same form of government, the same law of faith, and the same sacred institutions, which were given to it in the beginning, by its divine founder. Though extended over all nations, all its parts are united together as one kingdom, by the unity of its faith, by a community of spiritual interests, and by a subordinate subjection of all to one supreme authority. No temporal kingdom on earth can half so evidently shew the unity of its government, or the duration and extent of its dominion, as this spiritual kingdom of Christ, of which Rome, the see of Peter, is the capital and centre.

This church, perpetually executing the commission given by Christ, "teaches all nations to observe all things whatsoever Christ commanded." It every where teaches, in a definite manner, what Christ commanded all to believe and to do, that they may obtain eternal life through him.. It pro

CHURCH; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (Matt. xvi, 18.)

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Where, then, shall we find, among the churches separated from the church of Rome, that unity and universality in faith, communion, and ecclesiastical government, which are essential to the true church, as instituted by Christ?

That they are not to be found in the collection of the different churches and sects, which have been formed since the beginning of the Reformation, or in the heterogeneous mixture of Lutherans and Calvinists, of Presbyterians and Episcopalians, of Anabaptists and Quakers, of Moravians and Independents, of Metbodists and Socinians, of Unitarians and Members of the Church of England, &c. all divided in faith, all unconnected in communion, all independent of each other in ecclesiastical government, and all of recent origin, is most evident and certain.

That no particular church amongst those which originated in the Reformation, and are now separated from the communion of the see of Rome, can substantiate its claim to these essential characters of the true church of Christ, appears equally certain. Which of these churches can produce facts in proof of its unity and universality in faith, communion, and ecclesiastical government? The real fact is, that all these churches, already divided, are becoming daily more and more divided in belief, by the operation of the principle of private judgment. And where there is no unity there can be no universulity; for whatever is universal, must be one and the same throughout the whole.

Facts are certainly wanting to shew the conformity of the faith, form of worship, and discipline, of any one of these ehurches with any church, that ever existed before the period of the Reformation. Even that church, which, in certain external forms, approaches the nearest of them all to the rites and discipline of the church, which had existed for 1,500 years before the Reformation, can shew its conformity with antiquity in those points only, in which it retains a conformity with the church, which is in communion with the see of Rome..

But if we take into consideration the whole of what is merely spiritual and purely ecclesiastical in the church alluded to, abstracting entirely from its civil establishment and from every accessory attribute which it, derives from the state, it is true to

say, that facts are wanting to shew, that there ever existed a Christian church, from the times of the Apostles to the period of the Reformation, which in its doctrines of faith, in its liturgy, in its sacraments, and in every essential part of purely ecclesiastical discipline, was the same as the church in question. From what genuine ecclesiastical documents, from what synods, from what liturgies or rituals, from what histories of the conversion of nations, can this be shewn? Where did a Christian church ever exist, before the Reformation, which denied the doctrines of transubstantiation, of the invocation of saints, and of a middle state of souls, which excluded the sacri, fice of the mass from the form of public worship, which admitted no more than two sacraments, as instituted by Christ for the sanctification of the souls of men, and which denied the purely spiritual and purely ecclesiastical authority of the Pope in every part of the church of Christ ?

Public liturgies are authentic documents of the faith and form of worship professed and observed by the church in the ages and countries in which they are used; and it is a fact, that there is not one liturgy, that was ever used in any Christian church before the Reformation, from which the liturgy of this church does not essentially differ. There is not one, in which the oblation of the body and blood of Christ, under the external forms of bread and wine, is not exhibited as a sacrifice offered to God; there is not one, in which the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and of the holy martyrs is not solemnly invoked, and in which prayers are not offered for the repose of the souls of the faithful departed. These articles are positively excluded from the liturgy of this church.

But, can this church, considered as a church, and solely in its spiritual and purely ecclesiastical qualities, be shewn to have, at present, that unity in faith, which is essential to the true church of Christ? Are the same doctrines every where taught by all the ministers, or believed by all the members of this church, as the revealed doctrines of Christ? If they are not, this church is not distinguished by unity in faith, nor, consequently, by universality.

There are doctrines revealed by Christ, of which he said, "He that believeth not shall be condemned." (Mark xvi.) It is therefore of the highest importance to all, who desire to be saved, to know for certain what these are, and also to

know all those things which Christ commanded to be believed and to be done, as the conditions of salvation. Does then this church, in fact, teach what all these things are, with such decisive certitude, as is required by every reasonable and serious person, in such a concern of eternal consequence? Does it not rather direct the people to "search the scriptures," which are liable to various and contradictory interpretations, that they may learn from them, what they are to believe, and what they are to do, in order to obtain eternal life? Does it not direct, or, at least, leave every man to interpret the Scripture according to his own private judgment? And what, in fact, has been the consequence of this rule, but endless divisions in faith, contradictory doctrines, incertitude and indifference in matters of religion, and the introduction of every species of infidelity and impiety?refi

Can it therefore be said that the church in question, considered in its spiritual and purely ecclesiastical qualities as a church, is distinguished by that unity and universality, which are essential to the true church of Christ? Can it be said that it is that church which, continuing to perform the commission that Christ gave to the ministers of his true church, "teaches all nations to observe all things whatsoever Christ commanded?" Can it, in fact, shew that it has a stronger claim to the title of being exclusively the true church of Christ, in which the faith and all the means of salvation which he left to his church are to be found, than any other particular church, that has been formed out of the divisions of the Reformation, which began in the sixteenth century?

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THE TRUE CHURCH OF CHRIST. The Church, which is in communion with the see of Rome, and known by the name of -Catholic, is exclusively the TRUE CHURCH OF CHRIST.

Ir has been shewn that unity, and universality, are essential properties, and characteristic marks of the true church of Christ, and that these characteristic marks are found exclusively in that church, which is in communion with the see of Rome. It follows, therefore, as a necessary consequence, that the Catholic church, in communion with the see of Rome, is exclusively the true church of Christ.

This church alone has had a visible existence, as the spitual kingdom of Christ, through all ages, from the time when he himself established his church, and gave to it its constitution. It exhibits an uninterrupted succession of supreme pastors, or spiritual sovereigns, from St. Peter down to the present sovereign pontiff, Leo XII. It still retains, in all places, the same form of government, the same law of faith, and the same sacred institutions, which were given to it in the beginning, by its divine founder. Though extended over all nations, all its parts are united together as one kingdom, by the unity of its faith, by a community of spiritual interests, and by a subordinate subjection of all to one supreme authority. No temporal kingdom on earth can half so evidently shew the unity of its government, or the duration and extent of its dominion, as this spiritual kingdom of Christ, of which Rome, the see of Peter, is the capital and centre.

This church, perpetually executing the commission given by Christ, "teaches all nations to observe all things whatsoever Christ commanded." It every where teaches, in a definite manner, what Christ commanded all to believe and to do, that they may obtain eternal life through him. It pro