thereby impaired its circulation: and this consideration induced him to abandon the idea. How far the lecturer has succeeded in carrying out these intentions, or whether he has succeeded at all, it will be for others to decide. He is conscious that his work is deficient in many respects; and he was induced to publish it chiefly by the solicitations of many kind friends. A lingering illness and a consequent feeble state of health, while they delayed the publication, have prevented him from bestowing as much labor on the preparation of these Lectures for the press as he could have wished. This circumstance is mentioned, not so much to bespeak indulgence or to deprecate criticism, as in order that a good cause may not suffer from an imperfect advocacy. The faults of the book, whatever they are, are all his own; the cause he has endeavored to maintain is, he firmly believes, that of truth and of God. Deeply impressed with this latter conviction, the lecturer has spoken plainly and earnestly; but he hopes that he has said nothing to give reasonable offense to any one, or to wound the most delicate sensibility. Charity, the queen of Christian virtues, requires us to respect the feelings of others whom we may believe to be in the wrong; but it also demands of us to labor strenuously for the maintaining of the truth, for which the God of charity died on the cross. It is one redeeming feature in the religious controversy of the present day, that it has lost much of its former asperity, and that humble and earnest prayer is often blended with religious inquiry. This is as it should be. Saving faith is a gift of God, which is vouchsafed only to the humble and the prayerful. Entering somewhat into this spirit, he has closed each Lecture with a short prayer to God for light and guidance. The evidences of Catholicity here unfolded, examined in the spirit just indicated, are those substantially which have led to the bosom of Catholic unity many of the most gigantic intellects and profound reasoners of the present century: the Schlegels, the Stolbergs, the de Hallers, the Hurters, the Davys, the Newmans, and the Brownsons :-they are, then, surely worthy the most attentive examination of all the sincere lovers of Christian truth. There must be something very attractive and persuasive in a Religion, which has won or extorted the homage of such men, and which has caused them to embrace it almost in spite of themselves, and against every consideration of worldly interest. The day is happily dawning upon us, when Catholic truth, so long misrepresented or misunderstood, is already emerging from the cloud, and is beaming full upon the countenances of men. In a work of the kind some repetitions were almost unavoidable. The same facts and illustrations, viewed under different aspects, may often serve to throw light upon different branches of a subject. In order to make each Lecture as complete in itself as the na ture of the case seemed to admit, and not to embarrass the reader with too many references to what had been previously stated or proved, the lecturer has thought it expedient occasionally to repeat the same things. In a course of popular Lectures something may be pardoned, which would not be so readily excused in a regular scientific treatise. It may be proper to add, that, in order to complete the series, two Lectures-the fourth and sixth-have been added to those actually delivered in the cathedral of St. Louis. In conclusion, the lecturer humbly and cheerfully submits whatever he has here written to the judgment of those chief pastors of the Church, who, as the successors of the apostles, are the divinely appointed witnesses and guardians of the faith, "once delivered to the saints." LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY: EASTER-MONDAY, 1847. CONTENTS. The few misprints which escaped the proof-reader will be easily correct- Page 26, line 2, for voyager, read traveller; P. 45, 1. 30, for them, read the God earnestly desires the salvation of all mankind-And has provided suffi- cient means of salvation for all-His goodness and mercy-Grace and free- will-Why some are saved and others lost-Saving truth-Contained in the Religion of Christ-State of the world before its establishment-Pagan phil- osophy powerless-Man a slave-Freed only by the Christian Religion-Its nature, properties, and objects-Theory of fundamental and non-fundamental doctrines-Christianity rests on a fact-Summary evidences of this fact- Leading characteristics of the Christian Religion-Four great guiding princi- ples developed-Will heathens be saved?-Recapitulation-The Church-Its nature, office, and purpose-Object of these Lectures-Importance of the in- vestigation-Prayer. The commission-Its general scope-Its objects most difficult of attainment- Its four leading features-It embraces two things-The argument stated-Its positions evolved-Division of the subject-The inquiry narrowed down to a simple question of fact-The Rule of Faith-The Protestant and Catholic Rules stated-Strong presumptive evidences against the former-Its positive difficulties-The scriptural arguments in its favor examined-A popular theory exploded-The inspiration, canon, version, and interpretation of the bible- What is faith? Can an act of faith be made consistently with the Protestant Rule? The vicious circle-Scriptural proofs of the Catholic Rule-Both rules tested by the four great principles laid down in the previous Lecture-Recapit- ulation-The conclusion reached-The first evidence of Catholicity. |