long since expunged this doctrine, or at least suspended the practice of it, and have defrauded their people of that spiritual assistance which the soul of a Christian, upon the verge of judgment and eternity, so strongly and so feelingly demands from the ministers of religion.

HERE ended the Reasons, in the first edition. But finding the most extraordinary prejudices exist in the minds of Protestants against the doctrine of Catholics, on account of the use of a dead language in parts of the Church service, and from confining the sacramental cup to the priesthood only; prejudices which are to be attributed, I suppose, to the Articles of the Church of England, which condemn these practices as repugnant to the word of God;-I wish to offer a few remarks explanatory of these points.

"That the Apostles," says Mr. Berington, "and the first founders of the Christian faith preached the Gospel, and celebrated the holy mysteries, in the language of the several people whom they converted, seems to be a point generally admitted.

I am willing to stand corrected: I have relied upon the best information that came within my reach, and any misapprehension into which I may have fallen, will, I hope, be admitted as an unintentional error.

The languages at that time most predominant, were the Greek, Latin, and Syriac, in which, consequently, the Liturgies, or the forms of public prayer, would be principally compiled; while the Armenians, Copts or Egyptians, Ethiopians, and other less distinguished people, enjoyed also their particular Liturgies. But when, in process of time, from various causes, changes took place, and new tongues were spoken, the old still retained the place of honour, and the Church, ever tenacious of antiquity, judged it proper not to depart from the forms which she had received. The deposite of her faith was intimately interwoven with the primitive expressions of her Liturgies. Thus, when Greek ceased to be spoken in the many nations that formerly constituted, what was called, the Greek Church, and even, as now, was not understood, the language of the Liturgy remained: as was, and is the case, among the Syrians, Copts, Armenians, and Ethiopians. The service is every where celebrated in a tongue no longer intelligible to the people. On what grounds then is it required that the Western Church, of which we are a part, should have followed another rule: particularly as in this Church, in all the countries within its pale, the Latin language, in early ages, was every where sufficiently understood, if not spoken? And when the northern nations were reclaimed to the Christian faith, the established rule was not altered for

this additional reason, that the use of the same tongue in the service might help to unite them more closely to the Old Church, and tend, in some degree, by this approximation, to soften and civilise their manners.

"The general accord, among all nations professing the Catholic faith, not to admit any change in the language of their Liturgies,-though, in many other respects, they were much divided, — is a curious and important fact. And it must have rested on some general motives, equally obvious to all. They saw-what the experience of the day confirmed that modern languages were liable to change; while those that had ceased to be spoken -from this very circumstance, and because, from the valuable works written in them, they were cultivated by the learned -were become permanently stable. They saw, that the majesty and decorum of religious worship would be best maintained, when no vulgar phraseology debased its expression; that the use of the same language which a Chrysostom spoke at Constantinople, and a Jerome at Rome, would unite, in a suitable recollection, modern with ancient times; and that the mere fact of the identity of language would be a convincing proof of the antiquity of the Catholic faith. They saw, that as this faith was every where one, so should there be, as far as possible,

one common language, whereby the members professing it might communicate with one another, and with their ecclesiastical superiors, whether in council, or in any other form of intercourse. And they saw, that though some inconvenience would arise to the people, from their inability to comprehend the words of the Liturgy, this inconvenience would be greatly alleviated, if not almost entirely removed, should all instruction, in sermons and catechism, be delivered to them in their own tongue; all parts of the service be constantly expounded; and not a shade of darkness be permitted to remain. If, with all this caution, ignorance should still be found as it will be found in many -every ingenuous mind would ascribe it to the usual causes of ignorance, and not to any want of knowledge in the Greek or Latin tongues.

"It is certainly gratifying, and highly profitable, from this uniformity of language, when a Catholic travels into distant countries, that he should every where find a service celebrated, to the language and ceremonies of which his ears and eyes had always been habituated. He can join in it; and though removed, perhaps a thousand miles, from home, the moment he enters a Church, in the principal offices of religion he ceases to be a stranger. The Western Church has been particularly attentive that her people might not suffer

from this concealment of her mysteries; and the Council of Trent thus ordains: Though the Sacrifice of the Mass contains great instruction for the it not expedient that faithful, the Fathers judged it should be every where celebrated in the vulgar tongue. Each Church, therefore, will retain its ancient and approved rites. But that the sheep of Christ may not hunger for want of food, and that little ones may not ask for bread, and there be no one to break it to them, the holy synod orders all pastors and them that have the cure of souls, frequently, and especially on Sundays and feasts, to expound some portion of what is read, and some mystery of the holy Sacrifice.'-(Sess. xxii. c. viii. p. 194.) Beside this, and the other instructions which have been mentioned, the whole of the Church service is translated into the language of each country, and, together with a variety of prayers for all occasions and all states of life, placed in the hands of the people.

"Thus is our Western Church one in faith and one in language, united in the same bond of communion, with all the faithful of modern and of ancient times."(")-(Faith of Catholics, pp. 404406.)

(a) It is remarkable that, under the Old law, after the return from the Babylonian captivity, the service of the Temple was continued in Hebrew, which was then become almost a dead language, the people generally only speaking