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"CATHOLIC: "

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AN ESSENTIAL AND EXCLUSIVE ATTRIBUTE OF
THE TRUE CHURCH.

BY
c c....r-11t '<SW\.
.J

IGHT ;EVD. MONSIGNOR CAPEL, D. D.)
Domestic Prelate of His Holiness, Leo XIII., happily reigning,
:\Iember of the Roman Congregation of the Segnatura,
Priest of the Archdiocese of '\Vestminster.

'L''L,7
\ ( 0

" Christianus mihi nomen est; Catholicus vero cognomen." s. Pacien. A. D. 373.

> IBRARY ST. MARY'S ( LLEGE

NEW YORK:
WILCOX & O'DON
ELL Co., PUBLISHERS, ]31 William St.

D. & J. SADLIER & Co., 31 Barc1ay St.
1884.

12030

Copyright,
D. & J. SADLIER,
188 4.

TO THE
IElVIBERS

OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CONVENTION,
HELD AT PHILADELPHIA IN THE YEAR OF GRACE 1883,

AND TO THOSE \VHOM THEY REPRESENTED,

IS THIS LITTLE WORK DEDICATED

BY THEIR SERVANT IN XT,

THE AUTHOR.

CHRISTIANUS :\IIHI NOMEN EST; CA THOLICUS VERO COGNOMEN

ILLUD ME NUNCUPAT, ISTUD OSTENDIT;
HOC PROBOR, INDE SIG NIFICOR. *

LIBRARY ST. MARY'S COLLEGE

* St. Pacien, Bishop or Barcelona
A. D. 3;3.

PREFACE.

The God of Truth cannot have revealed contradictory
doctrines. Sects proclaiming contradictory doctrines can-
not all be right, though all may De wrong. In like
manner the same essential attribute cannot be predicated
in the same sense of two religious societies having funda-
mentally different principles of belief and of worship.
" Catholic" was decreed to be a note of the Christian
Church fifteen hundred years ago by its teachers assembled
in General Council.
U The Protestant Episcopal Church" in the United States
created in the year 1789, now lays claim to the name
Catholic. But this is already in the possession of the
Roman Church. To try and establish who is the lawful
possessor, is the object of this little work.
The importance of the issue will be seen from the fol-
10wing passage written by St. Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage,
no less than fifteen hundred and thirty years ago.
"The Church is likewise one, though she be spread abroad,
and multiplies with the increase of her progeny; even as
the sun has rays many, yet one light; and the tree boughs
many, yet its strength is one seated in the deep-lodged root;
and as, when many streams flow down from one source,
though a multiplicity of waters seem to be diffused from the
bountifulness of the overflowing abundance, unity is pre-

erved in the source itself. Part a ray of the sun from its
orb, and its unity forbids the division of light; break a
branch from the tree, once broken it can bud no more; cut
the stream from its fountain, the remnant will be dried up.
Thus the Church, flooded with the light of the Lord, puts
forth her rays through the whole world, with yet one light,
which is spread upon all places, while its unity of body is

not infringed. She stretches forth her branches over the
universal earth, in the riches of plenty, and pours abroad her
bountiful and onward streams; yet is there one head, one
source, one mother abundant in the results of her fruitful-
ness. . Whoever parts company with the Church and
joins himself to an adultress, is estranged from the promises
of the Church. He who leaves the Church of Christ attains not
Christ's rewards. He is an alien, an outcast, an enemy.
He can no longer have God for a Father who has not the
Church for a Mother."
Calm, honest investigation of the matter cannot be other
than an olive branch of peace, leading prayerful, earnest
souls into the Ark of Salvation.
For the advantage of those who have not a library of the
Fathers, there have been appended the Treatise of St. Cyp-
rian on the Unity of the Church written in 25 I; the eighteenth
of the Catechetical Instructions of St. Cyril of Jerusalem,
written in 347, and the letter -of St. Pacien, Bishop of Barce-
lona, on the name Catholic, written in 373.
It is thought these treatises, of a dogmatic nature, repre-
senting Africa, Asia Minor, Western Europe, and emanating
from Saint Bishops of the "Undivided Chu!ch," will prove
to be voices to which a deaf ear will not be turned. The
Oxford translations have for obvious reasons been selected.
To these authors have been added the strong opinion of
Lord Macaulay. His wùrds have weight inasmuch as he,
a Protestant, sees in the Roman C..ltholic Church, merely
a human Body Politic.
PENTECOST-DA Y, 1884.
NEW YORK.

P.A.R T 1.
THE ARGUNIENT.

CATHOLIC:

AN ESSENTIAL AND EXCLUSIVE ATTRIBUTE OF THE TRUE
CHURCH.

The Protestant Episcopal Church held its Convention, in
October last, at Philadelphia. \Vhile in session, among other
questions discussed, was that of changing the title of the
Book of COlnmon Prayer "according to the use of the Pro-
testant Episcopal Church in the United States of America."
It was proposed that the words" Protestant Episcopal ., be
struck out, and that in lieu thereof, the \yords " Holy Cath-
olic" be inserted. To this was made an amendment, to
sa ppress "Protestant Episcopal" and merely leave "The
Church. "
The an1endment was lost. The original motion was then
put and was defeated by 252 nays against 2 I yeas. This
decision of the House of Deputies, sitting as Commit-
tee of the whole House, together with a report thereon
,vas carried to the House of Bishops. Their Lordships de-
cided, in face of the vote, that it was inexpedient to alter
the title p2.ge of the Book of Con1rnon Prayer.
The discussion was animated, and was n1arked, as is usual
whenever any Protestant sect holds an assen1bly, by sundry
thrusts at the "errors of the Roman Catholic Church," or as
one of the speakers described it "that foreign body which
in1pudently called itself the Catholic Church." However
painful such assertions may be, they ought not to warp the

judgment, or lessen the charity and interest of those who

10

sincerely believe in the J\Iaster's words: "Other sheep I
have that are not of this Fold, them also I must bring, and
they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one Fold and
one Shepherd. "1
'fhat in the representative body of the Protestant Epis-
copalians, there should have been found one-twelfth of its
members claiming the name, '
Catholic," for their religious
Society, is a remarkable sign of the times, and one ,vorthy
of the most earnest consideration.
It has increased importance if there be added the undeni-
able fact that the so-called High Church movement has
gained a sure footing, and is Inaking steady progress among
the Protestant Episcopalians. The doctrines of the Sacrifice
of the
lass, of the Real Presence of Jesus in the Blessed
Sacrament, of Confession and Priestly Absolution, of prayers
and honor to the Saints, more especially to the Queen of
Saints: are now more or less openly taught in a number of
the Episcopalian Churches."2
"\Vhy the teachers and believers in such doctrines do not

1 St. John X. 16.
2 'Vhile passing this work through the press, the following appeared in the New
York Herald of Mar 5th: .. This Church of ours, said the new pastor of St. Igna-
tius, Fortieth street, In thi
city, is the Catholic, and there is a vast difference between
the spirit of the Catholic Church and the spirit of Protestantism. In the Protestant
Church the all-important factor of successful work ic- the personal power of the minis-
ter, but in the Catholic Church it is the faithful .ninistermg of the means of grace
that gives our power." .
In speaking of auricular confession and the sacrifice of the mass, he said: .
What
we believe of the blessed Sacrament is that in it the Son of God is present in the very
flesh which he took of the Virgin Mary, His mother, and in the very blood which He
pours out so freely for us upon the cross, and we believe that he will abide there
under the sensible form of bread and wine as long as this world shall last. And of
the confessional, we believe that our auricular confession is a part of the preaching
of God's ministers. I should be unfaithful to my trust if I held back from pro-
claiming by my words and by my practice that confession is necessary to salvation,
apd that God's ministers have the power to forgive sins."

II

return to the Old Church, seeing that these were the very
doctrines repudiated at the so-called Reformation, as the
Thirty-nine Articles and the Book of I-Iomilies shew, is to
any intelligent mind inexplicable.
Naturally with belief in these doctrines, have come prac-
tices which were unknown to the Episcopalians of the past
generötions; such as reservation of the sacrament, auricu-
lar confession, the use of vestments, ritual, confraternities of
the Blessed Sacrament and of the Blessed Virgin, proces-
sions, blessings of palms, and many other practices, some
of which are in plain language, devotions generated in the
Roman Church in the last few centuries. In like manner
our books of piety and Catholic works on the spirìtuallife
even of the post-refonnation period are, after excision and
adaptation, appropriated by the High Church party.
rrhere is no city of any size in the States where such re-
ligious belief and practices have not a fair, sometimes even
a large following. And if the descriptions of the press be
accurate the conformity with ROlnan Catholic liturgy and
doctrines is complete. t
Of those who do believe and so practise, the greater num-
ber are verily convinced their Church is not Protestant but
Catholic. They are in simple honest faith; they act with
good conscience, and accordingly they receive of God grace,
and joy, and peace.
This memorable movement, begun some forty-five years

1 t;ide the local papers of the next morning on the la.st Palm Sunday and Good FrIday
iervlces in St. Clement.
Chqrch, Philadelphia,

12

ago in the Established Church of England, has been the
means of turning the minds of many to the Faith of their
Forefathers, to the belief in a Sacramental System, to
sounder knowledge of the great truths of the Christain
religion, to more accurate ideas concerning the Church
and Church authority, to the proper administration of bap-
tism, to some idea of the Christian Altar and Sacrifice and
above all to a truer knowledge of the Incarnation.
If in half a century so great a change has been brought
about ,vhere protestant bigotry was rampant, ,vhat may not
be expected in the next generation of those who will suc-
ceed the present holders of High Church teaching, many
of whom are now validly baptized.
Personally I feel that God's providence created, and is
directing the movement, and that it is leading souls un-
consciously but none the less certainly to the One Fold
under the One Shepherd. And in venturing to treat
the question "Catholic: an essential and exclusive attri-
bute of the True Church," I am anxious to contribute,
however modestly, to advancing the movement to its true
goal-the One Holy Catholic Apostolic and Roman Church.
In doing this I have no contentious or .controversial spirit.
And ,vhen it was suggested in November last, by the public
press that I was to make an attack on the Protestant Epis-
copalians, I felt it wiser to postpone till later the publication
of the question no". to be treated. Unity of mind and
heart is far more easily produced by frank explanation
than by heated contention. Many misunderstandings would

13

disappear if men would state precisely their respective posi-
tions.
To do so in this case it is proposed to treat in outline:
(i) of the nature of the Church; (ii) of the true idea of
Catholicity; (iii) of the formation of the Anglican Commun-
Ion; (iv) of the Protestant Episcopal Church in America.

1.

It is of paramount importance that a clear idea be ob-
tained of the nature of the Church of Christ. Of the sacred
writers, one only, St. Paul defines the Church. \V riting to the
Colossians the Apostle says: "He (Christ) is the Head of
the Body, the Church," and in the san1e Epistle: "I fill up
those things that are \vanting of the sufferings of Christ in
my flesh for His Body which is the Church." To the Ephe-
sians he writes still more explicitly: "He hath put all things
under his feet, and hath made Him Head over all the Church
'which is His Body and the fulness of him who is filled all in
all." 2 In each instance St. Paul writes in the Greek lan-
guage which has not the figurative expression Body; nor is
Body used therein ambiguously as it is in English. 'fhe
Apostle whenever he so defines the Church, invariably selects
the word ÕWJ1cx which is never used in Greek to express
mere association, or aggregation, but usually implies the
superadded idea of an organism. The full meaning of St.
Paul will be realized in the passage given above from the

(1), Eph. i,
. (2),2 Colossians i, 18 and 21.

14

Ephesians, where Christ is described as the "Head" in which
](ECP aÀ ll) is used, as the context sho,vs, not merely in the
sense of chief, but as the source of life to this Organism,
His Mystical Body.
What the Apostle so accurately defines, he as vividly de-
scribes, and always in the same sense. Having stated the
purposes for which the Church exists, St. Paul continues:
"But performing the truth in charity ,ve may in all things
grow up in Him who is the Head Christ: from whom the
whole Body compacted and fitly joined together, by what
every joint supplieth, according to the operation in the meas-
ure of every part, making increase of the Body unto the edi-
fying itself in charity." 1.
"No man," says the salue Apostle, "ever hated his own
flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, as Christ doth the
Church; for we are members of His body, of His flesh, and
of I-lis bones." 2. And therefore to the Gal atians is he
able to write:" "For as many of you as have been baptized
in Christ, have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor
Greek; there is neither bond nor free; there is neither male
nor female. For you are all O
E in Christ Jesus." 3. l\nd
in siluilar strain does St. Paul address the Romans: "For
as in one body we have many members, but all the rnembers
have not the sa
e office: So we being luany are one Body
in Christ, and each one 111elubers one of another." { And
to the Corinthians does he express this even more explicitly:

1, Eph. iv, 15. 2, Eph. v, 29. 3, Gal. iii, 27.

4, Rom. xii.. 4.

15

"For as the body is one and hath many Inembers, and all
the nlembers of the body whereas they are many, yet are
one body; so also in Christ. For in one spirit were we all
baptized into one Body. . .. God hath tempered the body to-
gether, giving the more abundant honor to that which wanted
it, that there might be no schism in the body, but the mem-
bers might be mutually careful one for another. And if one
member suffer anything all the members suffer with it ; or if
one of the members glory all the members rejoice with it.
N ow you are the Body of Christ and members of member.
And God indeed hath set some in the Church, first apostles,
secondly prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then
the graces of healings, helps, government8, kinds of tongues,
interpretations of speeches." 1.
These plain declarations of St. Paul shew that he regarded
the Church as a Visible and Organic Body, divinely consti-
tuted with organs having their special functions, and receiv-
ing life through the Head, Christ. The minute description
given in the fourth chapter of the Ephesians puts this be-
yond doubt.
The Apostle therein begins by a very precise statement
of the unity which obtains: " ONE BODY, and One Spirit; as
you are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one
Faith, one Baptism; one God and Father of all, 'who is
above aU, and through all, and in us all." He then enu-
n1erates the several parts of the Organism: "And some

.

1 1 Cor. xii., 12-28.

16

He gave to be apostles, and some prophets, and others evan-
gelists, and others pastors and teachers." He specifies the
purpose for which the power is conferred: (I) ((for the perfect-
ing of the saints," (2) "for the work of the ministry," (3) "for
the edifying (i. e. building up) of the Body of Christ." And
this is to be continued "till we all meet in the unity of faith
and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man
unto the measure of the age of the fulness of Christ," in order
that we may not be " children tossed to and fro, and carried
about by every wind of doctrine, in the wickedness
of men, in craftiness by which they lie in wait to decieve." 1.
From these descriptions and definitions of St. Paul we
may turn to the deeds of Jesus Christ the Head of the
Church.
After He had gathered about Him a certain number
of disciples He chose fron1 among them twelve, 'whom He
sent forth by two and two to preach the Kingdom of God
and heal the sick. "Go not, said the I\laster, into the way of
the Gentiles, and into the cities of the Samaritans enter
not; but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."2
Later other seventy are appointed, and "He sent
them two and two before His face into every city and
place whither He Himself was to come." 3. Of the twelve,
Simon who is called Peter, was chosen to be the Rock on
which the Church was to be built; to him exclusively was
given the I{eys of the Kingdon1 of Heaven; he received

1 Eph. iv, 11-14. 2 Matt. x, 5. 3 Luke x, 1.

17

seþarately and in its þlenitude that power of binding and loos-
ing which subsequently was given to the twelve collectively
. 1
he was selected specially to be the Confirmer of the faith 0 f
all his brethren; 2 and to him alone was given the fulness
of authority to feed the lambs and the sheep-the whole Flock
of Christ. Thus was the unalterable Constitution of the
Church formed. _ \.ll teaching power was in Jesus Christ,
the Head, who imparted it to the Apostolic College, reser-
ving special offices to Peter, the Visible Head.
It is well to bear in mind the distinction of meaning in the
word' Head' as applied to Christ, and as appli
d to Peter.
From the invisible Head Christ, does the 1Iystical Body
receive its spiritual life, imparting feeling and motion to the
members. Peter is constituted by Christ visible Head to be
the spring, origin and source of external communion and
government in the Visible Church. So that "IN him," as St.
A.ugustine has it, "being one, He forms the Church-in quo
uno (Petro) fortllat Ecclesia1Jl;" to which St. Jerome's words
may be added: "For this reason out of the twelve one
is selected, that by the appointment of a Head, the occasion
of schism may be taken away."
To these teachers did Jesus before ascending to heaven make
known the whole of that doctrine which He had received of
His Father, and in doing this He completed and closed the
Revelation made to man. He made the Apostles partici-
pators in His power of signs and wonders; cooperators

1 Matt. xvi 18. 19. 2 Luke xxvii, 31.

IS

with Him in pardoning sin by baptism and the sacrament
of reconciliation; to them He imparted the power to con-
secrate: "Do this in commemoration of me." And as the
Father had sent Him so did He send them to preach IIis
Gospe1.
This 'Ecclesia docens' or Teaching Body was thus fitted
with divine powers for the i\linistryof the Gospel, and was
duly commissioned by divine authority to 'go and teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.'
Yet these teachers were commanded by Jesus at the mo-
ment of His Ascension that "they should not depart from
Jerusalem, but should wait for the promise of the Father
which you have heard, said He, by my mouth." .A.nd He
continued: "It is not for you to know the times or mo-
ments which the Father hath put in His own power; but
you shall receive the power of the Holy Ghost coming upon
you, and you shall be ,vitnesses unto me in Jerusalem and
Samaria and even to the uttermost part of the earth.". 1
The promise herein referred to was made at the last sup-
per in these words : "And I will ask the Father and He
shall give you another Paraclete (Comforter) that he l1lay
abide with YOlt forever.j the Spirit of Truth, whom the world
cannot receive, because it seeeth him not nor knoweth Him;
but you shall know Him, because He shall abide with you,
and shall be in you. * * * * * The Paraclete (the

1 Acts i, 7,

19
Comforter), 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 * * *
* * \Vhen the Paraclete (the Comforter) shall come whom
I will send you from the Father, He sflall give testimony of
me. * * * * It is expedient for you that I go; for if
I go not the ParacIete will not come to you; but if I go I
will send Him to you. And when He shall come, He will
convince the world of sin, and of justice, and of judgment.
* * * * * "Then He, the Spirit of Truth, shall come
He will te(tch )'Olt all truth, for He shall not sþeak of HÙllself,
but what things soever He shall hear, He shall speak; and
the things that are to come He will shew you." 1.
It is plain the promise refers to a ne1f.1 office which .would
be superadded to that which the Holy Ghost already holds.
He was the inspirer of Prophets. He is the Sanctifier of
Men. But the promise declares hilTI to be from that time
and forever the Vivîfier of the Body of Christ.
The pronlÌse thus 111ade was fulfilled ten days after the
Ascension: "Suddenly there came a sound from heaven as
of a mighty wind coming and it filled the whole house where
they were sitting. ...\nd there appeared to them cloven
tongues as it were of fire; anù it sat upon each of them,
and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they be-
gan to speak with divers tongues according as the Holy
Ghost gave them to speak." 2.

1 John xh., 1(j-26; xvi, 7 and 13. 2 Acts ii, 2-4.

20

So was born the Church of the living God: Pentecost day
is her birthday. Her organization
vas conceived and fash-
ioned by dÙJÙle \visdom; She receives a dizlille life; She has
to fulfill a divine mission; She is possessed of dh"ùu' power;
She is the appointed guardian of the dit,Ùle revelation. From
that moment and henceforth to the consulnmation of ages is
this Human-divine Society to have a continuous life irl this
world. No pow'er of earth or of hel1 can destroy it, for
Jesus is its invisible Head, the Holy Spirit its invisible and
active principle of life, and God's power is pledged that
" against it the gates of hell shall not prevail."
Indestructible because of the divine element ,vithin, yet
composed of human beings without, it bears outwardly the
manifestation of man's weakness. Hence is the Kingdom of
Heaven likened to ten v"'irgins, five of ,vhom ,vere foolish;
to a Net ,vherein are the clean and the unclean; to a Mar-
riage feast at ,vhich all have not on a marriage garment. In
other ,vords in the outward visible body of the Church the
good and the bad \vil1 ever be commingled till the harvest
come. But this destroys not her divine life no more than
sickly or delicate flesh destroys the life of the human being.
In the language of Origen we affirm that' the Sacred Scrip-
tures assert the \vhole Church of God to be the Body of
Christ, endowed with life by the Son of God. Of this Body,
which is to be regarded as a ,vhole, the members are individ-
ual believers. For as the soul gives life and motion to the
body, ,vhich of itself could have no living lTIotion, so the
'V ord giving a right motion and energy moves the ,vhole

21

Body, the Church, and each one of its members." 1.
On Pentecost night this Visible Human-divine Society
having perfect organization was commensurate with Chris-
tianity. N one other save itself had the doctrine of Christ ;
it alone was the duly appointed Organ for teaching Revela-
tion to men and for dispensing the 1fysteries of God. Or
as Klee well puts it, "the Church considered internally
-natura naturanjo-is Christianity. Christianity considered
externally-naturtt 1zaturata-is the Church. The Church
and Christianity are Christ in us, and we in Christ. The
creature is therefore a Mystical Body, animated by the Spirit
of Christ." 2 This is the Kingdom of Christ, the City seated
on a Mountain, the Pillar and Ground of Truth, the Temple
and Church of the living God, the Bride of the Lamb.
The law of her growth is fixed by God, it is by incorpora-
tion, not by accretion. Of the food taken by the human
body, are blood, bone and tissue made ; these by assimilation
expand or augment the already existing members. So the Mys-
tic Body of Christ absorbs by holy baptism the souls of men
receiving them by ones or in numbers. But these additions in-
crease without altering the organization; they are assimilated
to the Body of the Church. Thus is preserved the identity
of her being, although the individuals composing the visible
body are ever varying by death and by spiritual birth. As
truly as man, notwithstanding the varying change of the
particles of his body, is able to say EGO of every day of life,

1 Ocigen c Celsum VI., 48. 2 Klee, Rist. Christ. Dog. C. on Church.

22

so too can the Church, the Spouse of Christ speak of
her unchanging quasi-personality.
With the growth of her disciples, there was necessarily a
growth of her ministers, the ecclesia docells.; but here again
it is by a fixed la\v. "How then shall they call on him in
whom they have not believed? Or how shall they believe
Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they
hear \vithout a preacher? And how can they preach unless
they be sent." 1 As the Father sent the Son to preach the
Gospel, so did the Son send the Apostles ; they in turn
sent others, bishops and priests and deacons, commissioned
with the same divine authority to preach and fulfill the IVIin-
istry. Accordingly St. John speaking of himself and other
pastors could say: "'Ve are of God; he that knoweth God
heareth us, he that is not of God heareth not us: in this we
know the Spirit of truth and the Spiri
of error." 2 And St.
Paul in like manner says: "'Ve are ambassadors for Christ,
God as it \vere exhorting by us." 3 To the chief pastors at
Ephesus does St. Paul address these words: "Take heed to
yourselves, and to the whole flock wherein the Holy Ghost
hath placed you bishops, to rule the Church of God."
.And
the Apostles acting in their corporate capacity could pro-
claim their decree in the name of themselves and of the
Holy Ghost.
Knowing that they were possessed of this divine authority
in virtue of which Christ had said: "He that heareth you

1, Romans X.t 14. 2, 1 John IV., 6. 3. 2 Cor. V., 19. 4, Acts XX.t 28.

23

heareth me; he that despiseth you despiseth me;" the pas-
tors were able to speak as men having power and to exact
subjection to their teaching and government in things
spiritual. Their l\Iaster's words were in their minds: ""\Vho-
soever shall not hear you or receive your words when you
depart out of that City, shake off the dust from your feet;
verily, I say unto you it shall be more tolerable for the land
of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for
that city." Hence could St. Paul say: "Remember your
Prelates who have spoken the word of God to you, whose
faith follow,"1 and again: "Obey your Prelates and be sub-
ject to them, for they watch as being to render an account
of your souls." 1
It will be ren1arked that in appointing these pastors there
was (I) 'imposition of hands;' and (2)' the being sent.' 2 For
instance, when the seven deacons were chosen they
"were placed in the presence of the apostles, and they pray-
ing imposed hands on them." 3 Appointed at first stew-
ards of the Church and distributors of her goods, a part of
their office was attendance on the Priests at the divine
offices. Later, as we learn, of the seven Stephen was sent
to preach; and Philip both preached and baptised.
The' imposition of hands,' is the sacrament of Orders, and
in common with the other sacraments, its effect is conferred
direct by God. For this reason, could St. Paul write to
Timothy: "I admonish thee that thou stir up the grace of

1, Heb. XIII, 7 and 17 2. Acts XIII. 3, Acts VI., 6.

24

God which is in thee by the imposition of hands." But the
" Commission JI or I' being sent" is derived direct from the
Apostles. It specifies where, how, and when the divine
authority is to be exercised by the individual pastor. " For
this cause," writes St. Paul to Titus, "I left thee at Crete,
that thou shouldst set in order the things that are ,vanting,
and shouldst ordain priests in every city, as I also appointed
thee. '0 1 These two powers are distinguished as the po'\ver
of Order, the power of Jurisdiction. Both are of God: the
one comes direct through the sacrament of Orders; the
other indirectly fronl God through the Church by Ap-
pointment. In the early church they were often conferred
simultaneously; still they were looked upon as distinct
operations. The power of Jurisdiction is not necessarily
attached to Orders; though for some acts, such as absolution
from sin, both are necessary. The Apostles and the Seven-
ty, who were sent out at first two and two, had jurisdiction
but not orders. A man may be a bishop and yet not be a
bishop of a diocese. On the other hand, a duly and canon-
ically confirmed Bishop Elect possesses jurisdiction '\vithout
the Episcopal power to confirm and to ordain; a deposed
bishop is still possessed of his Episcopal power derived from
consecration, but he is deprived of jurisdiction or cure of
souls. His ordinations would be valid; his absolutions null
and void.
The power of order gives capacity; the power of jurisdiction

1. Titus 1.. 5.

25

permits the use of authority. The distinction between 'can'
and 'Inay,' the former expressing inherent, the latter deþende1lt
power-affords a good illustration of the subject. The dis-
penser of the power of order is but an instrument;. the grantor
of the power of jurisdiction exercises authority and dominion.
The first coming directly from Christ is abiding, unchangeable
and is conferred in equal measure on each priest or bishop.
The second not coming immediately but through the Church
from Christ to individuals, is conferred in varying propor-
tions as may be deemed expedient for the good of souls.
In the instances mentioned above, Timothy and Titus had
neither more nor less of Episcopal character than had any of
the Apostles: as bishops they ,vere equal. But the Apostles
had universal jurisdiction directly from Christ. Timothy and
Titus received their commission from the Apostles; it
was restricted to the Church at Ephesus, and to the Church
in Crete; and it ,vas neither sovereign nor independent.
Timothy and Titus were consecrated bishops, but
the Episcopate of Authority, in which they were partici-
pators, was one, indivisible, sovereign, and independent.
It was given first in its fulness to Peter seþarately./ later
the power of binding and loosing was given collectively
to the Apostolic College. Thus was granted to the Head
'fulness of supreme power, ordinary and immediate, over all
and each of the pastors and of the faithful' in the whole
Church, while immediate and ord inary j urisdictton apper-
tains to each bishop in his diocese, but in unIon and sub-
ordination to the Head. By the existence of such

U RA
Y
T. MARy/S COLLEGE

26

One Episcopate is secured, the living cohesion of the
Church consisting: "first, of its U11icity by which there
is not, and cannot be a plurality of Christian or co-
ordinate churches. Secondly, of its oneness, according to
which the Church in all its members and parts form one en-
tire connected whole." 1 It is not a large crystal, con-
structed of smaller crystals, but a living organism. The
parable of the Mustard Seed and the metaphor of the Vine
admirably illustrate the point. "I am the vine, you the
branches: he that abideth in ßfe, and I in him, beareth much
fruit; for without 1Ie you can do nothing. If anyone re-
maineth not in Me, he shall be cast forth as a branch and
shall wither."

The authority to be 1'eachers in the Body ot Christ, im-
plies proclaiming the Gospel taught by Christ. He said of
Himself that He came to teach not His own doctrine but
the doctrine of Hilll that sent Him. And again, whatever
the Father had made known to Him did he communicate to
the Apostles. The Spirit of God \vas to bring to their
minds all things whatsoever He had taught them.
These doctrines, and these alone were they to teach;
even were "an angel from heaven" to bring any other he
\vas to be anathematized. As there is but One Lord, and
one baptism, so is there but one faith says S1. Paul. And
writing to the Romans 2 "Now I beseech you brethren to

1, Klee on the Church. 2, Rom. XIV. 17.

27

mark them who make dissensions and offences contrary to
the doctrines which you have learned, and to avoid them."
St. Jude writes his Epistle "to beseech the faithful to contend
for the faith once delivered to the Saints," and in the strong-
est language condemns the wickedness of those who corrupt
this true faith by false doctrine. And 81. Paul is able to
say: " We have received not the spirit of this world, but the
spirit of God: that we may know the things that are given
us from God: which things also we speak not in the leav-
ened words of human wisdom, but in the doctrine of the
spirit, comparing spiritual things with spiritual." 1
Indeed, this is the very raÙoJ1, d' elre of the Church: to
dispense the mysteries of God; to conserve in all its purity
the deposit of faith; to preach it with divine authority to
all of the sons of men. She is the sole divine and there-
fore unerring interpreter of Revelation. Hence, when
considerable discussions arose at Antioch between the
Jewish and Gentile converts concerning the obligation
of being circumcised according to the law of Moses, it
was determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain others
of the other side should go up to Jerusalem. And on their
arrival" the Apostles and ancients came together to con-
sider of this mat
er." The question was fully discussed,
and finally the decree was drawn in these words: "it hath
seemed good TO THE HOLY GHOST AND TO US to lay no fur-
ther burden on you than these Ii
cessary things: that you

1 Cor. ii., 12.

28

abstain from things sacrificed to idols, anù from blood, and
from things strangled, and from fornication: from which
things keeping yourselves you shall do well. Fare ye well." 1
The decree was then sent to the brethren of the Gentiles
that are at Antioch, and in Syria and Cilica by the hands of
Judas and Silas chief nlen among the brethren who accom-
panied Barnabas and Paul. 'These who had been sent re-
ceived jurisdiction to tell by word of mouth the same things.
In making this decision there was made no addition to
the Faith; the true interpretation of the Revelation already
given was alone proclainled, and this not by the wisdom of
the Apostles, but by the influence of the Holy Ghost \Vhom
they declared to be with thenl. And so has it ever been :
the decisions concerning the Divine personality of Jesus
Christ, the procession of the Holy Spirit, the two na-
tures of the Son of God, are not revelations nor additions
to the Christian Religion: they are but explicit declara-
tions of what that Faith contains; they do but disclose in
detail the Truths of Revelation.
It will be remarked that Judas and Silas were to confirnl
by word 0/ 1/touth the decision. This was at first the way in
which Christianity was propagated. The Church sent forth
her ministers who preached the faith. Six years elapsed
before the earliest gospel, that of St. l\fatthew, was written,
and some sixty-three years had passed by, when the Gospel
of St. John made its appearance. All teaching was viva

(1) Acts xv., 28.

29

voce.; and the inspired books of the New Testament were ad-
dressed to those who were already Christians and who had
received "the faith once delivered to the Saints." In other
words the Gospel \vas propagated by TRADITION.

Scarcely had the Church been born, before there were
found those who revolted against her authority and her doc..
trine. Such revolt in either case severed individuals
from the communion of the Church. They took with them
fragments of Christian teaching. Their revolt was con-
sidered the greatest of crimes. It is numbered among
the sins which exclude from the Kingdom of Heaven. Per-
haps no stronger condemnations can be found in the K ew
Testament and the very earliest Christian writers, than
those directed against schiS1l1 which is revolt against the
authority of the Church and heresy which destroys the one-
ness of faith. ".A man that is a heretic, after the first and
second admonition avoid: knowing that he that is such a
one is subverted and sineth, being condemned by his own
judgment." 1 So writes St. Paul guiding Titus. The same
A postle writing to the Galatians 2 groups these crimes with
'murders, fornication, and generally the works of the flesh.'
And the tender Apostle of love, St. John writes: " For
many seducers are gone out into the world, who confess not
that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh; this is a seducer and
an anti-Christ. Look to yourselves that you lose not the

1 Titus iii., 10. 2 Gal. v., 19.

3 0
things which you have wrought; but that you may receive
a full reward. Whosoever receiveth and continueth not in
the doctrine of Christ hath not God; he that continueth in
the doctrine, he hath both the Father and the Son. If any
man come to you and bring not this doctrine, receive him
not into the house nor say to him God speed you. For he
that saith to him God speed you communicateth with his
wicked works" 1
St. Clement, whose name St. Paul says is written in the
book of life writes to the Corinthians: "\Vherefore are
there contentions, and swellings, and dissensions, and
schisms and war among you? 'Have we not one God and
one Christ, and one Spirit of Grace poured out upon us, and
one calling in Christ? \Yherefore do we rend and tear in
pieces the members of Christ and raise a sedition against
our own body, and come to such a height of folly as to for-
get that we are members one of another?" 2
St. Irenæus, disciple of St. Polycarp, whose master was
the Apostle St. John, writes: "He will also judge those
who cause schisms-men destitute of the love of God, and
who have in view their own interest, but not the oneness of
the Church; and who, on account of slight and exagger-
ated causes, rend and divide, and, as far as in them lies,
destroy the great and glorious Body of Christ; men who
have peace on their lips but war in their actions; who
truly strain at a gnat but swallow a camel. But no correc-

1,2, John 7. 2, The citations from the early Christian writers are throughout taken
from "The Faith of Catholics,"

3 1

tion can be effected by them so great as is the pernIcIous-
ness of schism." 1
The same Apostolic Father says: "The Church, though
spread over the whole world, to the earth's boundaries, hav-
ing received, both from the Apostles and their disciples, the
faith in one God, the Father Almighty * * * and in
one Christ Jesus, that Son of God, who was made flesh for
our salvation, and in the Holy Spirit * * * having, as
I have said, received that preaching and this Faith, the
Church, though spread over the whole world guards (it)
sedulously, as though dwelling in one house; and these
truths she uniformly holds as having but one soul, and one
and the same heart ; and these she proclaims and teaches,
and hands down uniformly, as though she had but one
mouth. For though throughout the world the languages
are various, still the force of the tradition is one and the
same. And neither do the Churches founded in Germany,
nor those of Spain, in Gaul, in the East, in Egypt, in Africa,
nor in the regions in the middle of the earth, believe or de-
liver a different faith; but as God's handiwork, the sun, is
one and the same throughout the universe, so the preach-
ing of the truth shines everywhere, and enlightens all men
that wish to come to the knowledge of the truth. Nor does
he, who amongst the rulers in the Churches is more power-
ful in word, deliver a different doctrine from the above (for
no one is above his teacher) nor does he who is weak in

1 Adv. Hoer. Bk. iv. c.33.

3 2
speech weaken the tradition. For the Faith being one and
the same, neither he whò has ability to say much concerning
it hath anything over, nor he that speaketh little anything
lack." 1
St. Cyprian, A.D. 25 I, \vrites in his treatise on the Unity of
the Church :-" The Enemy has made heresies and schisms
wherewith to subvert faith, to corrupt truth, and rend
unity. 1'hose whom he cannot detain in the blindness of
the old way he compasses and deceives by misleading
them on their new journey. He snatches men from out of
the Church itself. * * * *
" He who holds not this unity of the Church, does he
think that he holds the faith? He who strives against and
resists the Church, he who abandons the Chair of Peter, upon
whom the Church was founded, does he feel confident that
he is in the Church?

*

*

*

*

" He is an alien, he is an outcast, he is an enemy. He can
no longer have God for a Father who has not the Church
for a Mother." "If anyone was able to escape who was
without the ark of Noah, then can he escape who is out of
the doors beyond the Church.
* * * *

" There is one God and one Chri
t, and His Church is
one, and the faith one, and a people one, joined into a
solid oneness of body by a cementing concord. Unity

t Serm. ) ohn xvii, 20.

33

cannot be sundered, nor can one body be divided by the
dissolution of its structure, nor be cast piecemeal abroad
with vitals torn and lacerated. 'Vhatever is parted from the
womb cannot live and breathe in its separated state; it loses
its principle of life."
Such then is the nature, the constitution, the principle of
life, and the law of growth of that Body of Christ divinely
appointed to be the Sole Guardian and Teacher of the
Christian Revelation. A living Divine Organism whose unity
is to be the criterion of the mission of Jesus, and a visible
mark whereby his disciples might be known; "And
not for them only, do I pray, but for them also who
through the,,7 r word shall believe in me; that they all
may be one, as thou Father in me and I in thee: that they
also may be one in us ; that the world may believe that thou
hast sent me. And the glory which thou hast given me, I
have given to thetn; that they may be one, as we also are
one." 1.

Fashioned during our Lord's Public Life, as to its exter-
nal organization; born, \vith its divine internal principle
of life, on Pentecost day, the Church is ever to live, sitting
in the midst of the nations, day by day instructing and train-
ing souls in the way of salvation. Thus is her Life to be l:n-
defectible, her Voice infallible, and her Presence viSible.
In glowing terms does the late Archbishop Spalding
state what her life has been, during the past eighteen cen-

1, John xvii., 20 and xiii., 35.

34

turies and a half. "The Church has triumphantly stood
the test of Gamaliel. * Empires have arisen, flourished for
a time, and then crumbled into ruin, along her pathway
in history. Dynasties have changed and been extin-
guished; thrones have tottered and fallen; sceptres have
been broken; crowns have tnouldered into dust; but she
has survived all; and she still stands up erect and
vigorous in the world, not an antique, but a living and
breathing existence, having a vitality not sickly, not
waning but superabundant; not only living herself, but
bountifully bestowing of her exuberant life upon the nations
of the earth, and giving without losing any of it herself;
even as the sun giveth forth his light and heat, without im-
pairing his own exhaustless store. She lives, and she will
live, all days even to the consummation of the \vorld." She
lives, the only divine and immortal institution of the earth.
Christ is Head, and Christ is God, and He stands pledged
that she shall share in his own immortality. Christ is
Her Bridgroom, and she is His chosen Bride, with-
out spot, without ,vrinkle, all glorious and undefiled;
a divine and blooming Bride, who knows no old age and
feels no decay, doomed to death, but fated not to die. She
has walked the ,vorld patiently and ]ongingly, bearing her
crown of thorns like her heavenly Bridegroom; She has
been often scourged through it as He was; but like Hitn,

* Opposing the persecution raised by the Jews he said of the Christian Church:
" If this work or design be of men, it will fall to nothing; but if it be of God, you are
not able to destroy it, lest, perhaps, you are found to oppose God." Acts v.. 38.

35

She bears a charmed life; and cannot be conquered by
death. Immortality is written upon her brow, and She will
Wear the Wreath for ever more, in spite of the world, the
devil, and the flesh! A pilgrim of faith and love with her
home in the heavens. She asks only a free passage through
this world; and her Omnipotent Bridegroom will see that
She obtain it, whether men will it or not." 1

II.

The Redemption is limited to no one people. The Pre-
cious Blood ,vas shed for all the sons of men. And through
its infinite merit every man receives grace sufficient to work
out his salvation. To Jesus our Redeemer was given the na-
tions as an inheritance. "A child is born to us. * * *
He shall be called 'Vonderful, God the Mighty. His empire
shall be multiplied. He shall sit upon the throne of David
to establish it and strengthen it with judgment and with jus-
tice, from henceforth and for ever." 1 The prophet Daniel
says: "In the days of those Kingdoms, the God of heaven
win set up a Kingdom that shaH 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 shaH stand for ever." 2 And the Evan-
gelical Prophet declares, "And in the last days the moun-
tain of the House of the Lord shall be prepared on the top
of mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills, and all

1 Introduction to Darras General History of the Church.
1 Isaiah ix., 6, 7'. 2 Dan. ii., 35-44.

3 6

nations shall flow into it." 1 And Micheas says: "And it
shall come to pass in the last days that the mountain of the
house of the Lord shall be prepared on the top of mountains
and "high above the hills, and people shall flow to it. And
many nations shall come in haste and say: Come, let us go
up to the mountain of the Lord and to the House of the
God of Jacob." 2 ..
So spoke the language of prophecy in clearer and clearer
notes as the time approached for the coming of the Saviour.
His own presence is ushered in almost the same words by
the Angel Gabriel: "Thou shalt call his name Jesus. He
shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High,
and 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." 3
And as Lactantius wrote fourteen centuries ago: "From
all this it is manifest, that all the prophets foretold of Christ,
that the time would come that being ùorn in the flesh of
the family of David, he would build up to God an everlast-
ing temple called the Church, and would summon all na-
tions to the true religion of God. This is the faithful
house, this the immortal temple, \vherein if a man sacrifice
not, he shall not have the reward of immortality. Of which
great and everlasting temple, since Christ was the builder,
the same must needs have therein an everlasting priest-
hood. "{

(1) Isaiah ii.. 2. (2) Mich. xiv., 1. 3 Luke i, 31-33. 4 Divin. Inst., lib. iv., c.14.

37

And after having spent three and a half years in laying
the foundations of the Kingdom, Jesus sent those whom
he had selected and appointed to extend and rule it. " All
power is given to me in Heaven and in earth. Going there-
fore teach ye all/lations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching
them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded
you, and behold I am with you all days even to the consum-
mation of the world." 1 Thus was it they were to "go into
the whole world and preach the gospel to every creature." 2
And as our Lord said to them: " You shall be witnesses
unto me in. Jerusalem, and in all J udea, and Samaria, and
even to the utterl1lOst þarts of the earth." 3
These Scripture statements bear ample evidence that the
Church, the Kingdoln of Christ, is to be (I) universal in
time or duration, (2) universal in extension, (3) universal in
doctrine. In these is the Catholicity of the Church.
The Universality in time flows from the identity of life of
the quasi-personality of the Church from the moment of
birth onwards throughout time. So that of necessity, it can
only appertain to the Human-Divine Creature that was born
on Pentecost-day to which perpetual duration is promised.
The Universality in extension is the consequence of the
Church's 1Jlission to teach all nations. That for which she
has to labor to the end of time, is to bring all men to the
light of truth. And were this accomplished she would have

1 Matt. xxviii., 18.20. 2 l\
ark xvi. 1, 5. 3 Acts i, 8.

3 8

an actual total and absolute physical universality. But she
needs time for growth, and unceasing labor to effect con-
version and thus extend over the whole world, while
conserving her living union in every part. On Pentecost
evening she ,vas Catholic, though probably she numbered
only sonle three thousand five hundred souls. They \vere
all converts froln Judaism, but they joined not a national
movement, they had become members of an organization
which, in þosse, though not ill esse was world-wide.
The Universality in doctrine follows from the Church
being the depository and guardian of the \vhole of tha t Gospel
or Deposit of Faith which was in Jesus Christ, and which He
committed exclusively to the Human-Divine Creature born
on Pentecost day, "to be preserved throughout the ages in
its unity and integrity, in its completeness and its purity." 1

The members of the Church received a name for the first
time at Antioch, where, the Scripture narrates, they were
called" Christian." This may have been done in derision
by the Jews or Romans, or it may have been the name
chosen by the Disciples themselves. The outer world called
the children of the Church N azarenes, Galilæans, J esseans,
Therapeutæ; and in the writings of the first Fathers are
they spoken of as the Believers, the Saints, the Elect. But
of all their titles that of Catholic was applied to them from
the earliest period, and has remained to them as an excl us-
ive and inalienable name.

1 Humphrey "Other Gospels, n p. 62.

39

Long before the formal symbol of the Councils of Nice
and Constantinople-"I believe in the One-Holy Catholic
and Apostolic Church "-had the nalne Catholic been used.
Before the Apostles died, their sound had gone forth to
the furthermost parts of the earth, and the Church had ex-
tended far and wide throughout the Roman Empire from
the very household of Cresar wherein the bonds of St. Paul
were manifest in all the palace. 1 And Tertullian, whose
death is put at the latest A. D. 240 is able to write: "I\1en cry
out that the State is beset, that the Christians are in their +-
fields, in their forts, in their islands. They mourn, as for a
loss, that every sex, age, condition, and now even rank, is
gone over to this sect." 2
It is not surprising, therefore, that the name Clllhol/c
should, of all others, have been applied to them. It appears
for the first time, so far as can be ascertained, in a passage
of a letter of St. Ignatius: "'Vhere the bishop is, there let
the multitude of believers be; even where Jesus Christ is,
there is the Catholic Church." And this same writer, in
the Introduction to the :rvlartyrdom of St. Polycarp, writes:
"The Church of God which dwelleth in Smyrna, to the
Church of God which d\velleth in Philomelium and all the
districts in every place of the Holy and Catholic Church
mercy, peace and love from God the Father and our Lord
Jesus Christ." In the body of the piece occurs twice the
same phrase: "After he had done praying having made

1 Phil. iv., 2"2 and i, 13. 2 Apol. n. i, p. 2.

4 0

mention of all with whom he had ever met, great and small,
noble and obscure, and after the whole Catholic Church
throughout the world" (n. 8). "He Christ is both the Gov-
ernor of our bodies and the Shepherd of the Catholic
Church throughout the world (n. 19). This document is
written about A. D. 147." 1
St. Irenæus ,vrites in the same century in his work against
Heresies: "When they believed not, last of all he sent his
Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, ,vhom, when the wicked hus-
bandmen had slain, they cast him out of the vineyard.
Wherefore did the Lord God deliver it, now no longer
fenced in, but opened unto the whole world, to other hus-
bandmen, who give in the fruits in their season; the tower
of election being everywhere exalted and beautiful. For
everywhere is the Church distinctly visible, and everywhere
is there a wine press dug; for everywhere are those \vho
receive the Spirit." 2
S. Cyril of Jerusalem A. D. 347, in his Catechetical Dis-
courses, says: "When you go to any city do not ask merely
for the House of God or for the Church merely for all
heretics pretend to have this: but ask which is the Catholic
Church, for this title belongs to our Holy Mother alone. 3 "
And again: "The faith which we rehearse contains in
order the following: 'And into one baptism of repentance
for the remission of sins, and into one holy Catholic Church.'
. . . N o,v it is called Catholic, because it is through-

1 Faith of Catholics, Vol. I. p. 288. 2 Ibid. 3 Cat. Dis. XVIII, 27.

4 1
out the whole world, from one end of the earth to the other;
and because it teaches universally (catholically) and com-
pletely all the doctrines which ought to come to men's know-
ledge concerning things both visible and invisible, heavenly
and earthly; and because it subjugates unto godliness (or,
to the true religion) the whole race
f men, both governors
and governed, learned and unlearned, and because it uni-
versally treats and heals every sort of sins committed by
soul and body, and possesses in itself every form of virtue
which is named, both in deeds and words, and every kind
of spiritual gifts. And it is rightly called Church, because
it calls forth and assembles together all men."
Eusebius, the Ecclesiastical Historian, writes in the same
century: "The false accusations invented by our Pagan
enemies quickly disappeared self-refuted, whilst fresh sects
sprang up anew upon sects; the first always passing away,
and corrupted, in a variety of ways, into other views of
many modes and forms. But the splendor and solemnity
and sincerity and liberty of the Catholic and alone true
church,-a church always holding uniformly to the same
things,-still went on increasing and magnifying."
St. Pacian, Bishop of Barcelona, fifteen centuries
ago wrote a short treatise on the name "Catholic."
Therein does he use these words: "Iv1 Y brother, fret not
yourself; Christian is my name, but Catholic my surname.
l' hat names me, this describes nle; by this I am approved;
by that designated. And if at last we must give an
account of the word Catholic, and express it, from the Greek

4 2

by a Latin interpretation, "Catholic is everywhere one, or as
the more learned think, obedience in all "-all the command-
ments of God. Therefore he who is a Catholic, the
same is obedient to what is right. He who is obedient, the
same is a Christian. .A.nd thus the Catholic is a Christian.
'Vherefore our people, when named Catholic, are separated
by this appellation from the heretical name. But if also the
word Catholic means 'everywhere one' as those first think,
David indicates this very thing when he says: 'The Queen
stood in a gilded clothing, surround with variety, (Ps. xliv,
10), that is one amidst all.' .Amidst all, she is one,
and one over all. If thou askst the reason of the name, it is
manifest. "
And not to weary with extracts, the following from the
great St. .A.ugustine will suffice; "In the Catholic Church,
not to mention that most sound wisdom, to the knowledge
of which a few spiritual men attain in this life, so as to know
it in a very small measure, indeed for they are but men, but still
to know it without doubtfulness-for not quickness of un-
derstanding, but simplicity in believing, that make the rest of
masses most safe-not to mention therefore this wisdom
which you Manichees do not believe to be in the Catholic
Church, many other reasons there are which most justly keep
me in her bosom. The agreement of peoples and nations
keeps me; an authority begun with miracles, nourished with
hope, increased with charity, strengthened by antiquity, keeps
me; the succession of priests from the chair itself of the Apos-
tle Peter-unto whom the Lord after his resurrection COffi-

43

mitted His sheep to be fed-down even to the present bishop,
keeps me; finally, the name itself of the Catholic Church
keeps me-a name, which in the midst of so many heresies,
this Church alone has not without cause so held possession of,
as that, though all heretics would fain have themselves
called' Catholics,' yet to the enquiry of any stranger 'where
is the meeting of the Catholic Church held?' no heretic
would dare point out his own basilica or house. Those,
therefore, so numerous and so powerful ties of the Christian
name, ties most dear, justly keep a believing man in the
Catholic Church, even though through the slowness of our
understanding or the deservings of our lives, truth shew
not herself as yet in her clearest light. 'Vhereas, amongst
you, where are none of these things to invite and keep me ;
there is only the loud promise of truth."
\V ondrous delineation of the great Bishop of Hippo,
though written fifteen centuries ago, it is as fresh in its
truthfulness as if it were but of yesterday. Newman's
words do but re-echo the touching words of St. Augustine:
"There is one, and only one religion such (i. e. having
priests and sacrifices, and mystical rites, and the monastic
rule, and care for the souls of the dead, and the profession
of an ancient faith, coming through all ages from the Apos-
ties): it is known everywhere; every poor boy in the street
knows the name of it; there never was a time, since it first
was, that its name was not known, 3.nd known to the multi-
tude. It is called Catholicisl1l, a world wide name, and in-
communicable; attached to us from the first; accorded to

44

us by our enemies; in vain attempted, never stolen from us,
by our rivals." 5 Both writers must have had in mind the
inspired passage of the prophet Isaias: G "My spirit that is
in thee, and my words that I have put into thy mouth, shall
not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy
seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the
Lord from henceforth and for ever."

III.

Distant as were the British Isles from the seat of the gov-
ernment of Imperial Rome, yet at an early period in the
History of the Church was the Gospel proclaimed to their
inhabitants. Venerable Bede informs us that as early as the
second century, a British King, Lucius by name, sent to
Pope Elutherius, then governing the Church, to ask for in-
structions in the Christian law. Missioners were accord-
ingly sent, and the Church was planted in Britain. The
same historian tells us that "Palladius was sent by Celestine,
the Roman Pontiff, to the Scoti, who believed in Christ, to
be their first Bishop." This statement is confirmed by St.
Prosper, in his Chronicle, A. D. 429, who further adds that
when the Christian faith was endangered by the heresy of
the Pelagians, the same Pope Celestine sent as his deputy,
or his representative, or in his stead, Germanus, Bishop of
Auxerre, accompanied by Lupus, bishop of Troyes, into

1,2,3,4. See" Faith of Catholics;" Chaps. on Church. 5 Occ. Serm., p. 118.
6 C. Iix..
1.

45

Britain to defend the faith and arrest if possible the grow-
ing evil.
Of the success of that mission Venerable Bede gives tes-
timony that "the triumph of orthodoxy was complete,
and Germanus before he quitted the scene of victory visited
the tomb of S. Alban, where he deposited a small box of
relics that he brought with him from Gaul, taking in ex-
change a handful of dust from the grave, that he might
place it in a new church at Auxerre which he afterwards
dedicated in honor of the British martyr." 1
It is well known that at the Council of Arles, France,
held in 314, three British Bishops,York, Lincoln and London
wcre of the asselnbled fathers, they shared in the delibera-
tions of the Council, took part in the Acta, and signed the
Synodal letter addressed to the Pope, wherein it is declared
the chief part of the government of the Church devolves
according to ancient usage on the Roman Pontiff.
A.nd S. Athanius tells us 2 that at the Council of Sardica,
held in 347, in which he himself was so prominent a figure,
there were Bishops of Britain who participated in its work.
They, with the other bishops, addressed Pope Julius in
these words: "It will seem to be best and most proper if
the bishops from each particular province report to the
Head, that is to the See of Peter the A postle." S
But however incontrovertibly these and similar facts bear
evidence that the Church in Roman Britain received its

I 1 Beda, i. c. 18. 2 Apol. c. Arian, i. vol. i, p. 123. 3 Ep. Synd. Sard., Hard. Co!.
can. Vol. I.

4 6

doctrine from the Holy See; that it was subject to the au-
thority of the Pope; and that it was in full communion
with the Universal Church, still it must be remembered the
present Anglican Communion can claim no descent from
the British Church. Its parentage, like that of the English
nation, is Anglo-Saxon.
For when the barbarous hordes of Angles, Jutes and Sax-
ons in the fifth century invaded Britain, they drove the in-
habitants into the western parts of the island, and then
located themselves on the depopulated lands. The Britons
with their Catholicism were driven to the mountainous dis-
tricts of the 'Yest. England was once more a land of
heathens. Its conversion was to be effected a second time.

Again did Ronle undertake the arduous work. S1. Gregory
the Great sent in 596 S1. Augustine to convert the Anglo-
Saxons to the true and living God. The zealous Apostle
found the whole of the Saxon part of the country in a state
of paganism, and the conquered Britons in the 'Vest under
the rule of one Archbishop and seven Bishops. In a few
years Christianity made such progress that the Hierarchy
was established with St. Augustine as the first
\.rchbishop
of Canterbury. At the commanrl of St. Gregory the Great,
Augustine received Episcopal COllsecration from Virgilius the
Primate of .ArIes; but the Archiepiscopal jurisdictioll, and
mission in the See of Canterbury Augustine received from
Pope Gregory himself. A little later the same Roman Pon-
tiff empowered Augustine to erect two provinces, Canter..

47

bury and York, each with its suffragan Bishops. Thus
was the Hierarchy of the Church in England fashioned by
the hand of Pope Gregory the Great, and maintained by
him. 'Vhat was given in the first instance by Gregory was
granted to each Archbishop of Canterbury by the Roman
Pontiffs, successors of St. Gregory. And so mission and
jurisdiction to govern the whole Church in England pro-
ceeded perpetually from St. Peter's Chair.
The isolation of the British Bishops caused by the Saxon
invasion had, as Gildas, a British author of the middle of
the sixth century, informs us, brought about the most de-
plorable results; hence, in instituting Augustine Arch-
bishop, Pope Gregory the Great writes; "\Ve comlnit to
your brotherly care all the Bishops of Britain, that the un-
learned may be taught, the weak strengthened by persua-
sion, the perverse corrected by authority." 1 And later the
Pope writes: "\Ve give you no authority over the Bishops
of Gaul, because from the ancient times of my predecessors
the Bishop of Aries received the pallium, whom we must
not deprive of the authority with which he is invested." 2
By the way, these acts and statements of St. Gregory the
Great throw much light on the sense in which he rejected
the title of "Universal Bishop." He himself tells us because
it appeared to imply the idea that he alone was bishop:
"Solus conetur appellari Episcopus." But this did not pre-
vent him believing and acting on tIle belief as we here see,
that as Pope he was Bishop of Bishops.

1. Bede, i, 27. 2. Ep., lxiv.

1.'
n

Y ST.
\.ARY'S COlL1:tt

4 8

The work begun under Pope Gregory was completed in
little more than half a century later by Theodore the Greek
110nk nominated Archbishop by Pope Vitalian. "'Ve learn
your desire," says Vitalian, "for the cO/ljirlllation of the dio-
cese subject to you because you desire to shine by our
privilege of apostolic authority. 'Vherefore we have thought
good at present to cOln/nena to your 1/l0st wise Holiness all the
Churches ill the Island of Britain. But now by authority of
Blessed Peter, Prince of the Apostles to \vhom power was
given by our Lord to bind and to loose in Heaven and on
earth, we however unworthy holding the place of that same
Blessed Peter who bears the keys of the Kingdom of
Heaven, grant to you Theodore and your successors, all
that from old time was allowed, forever to remain unim-
paired in that, your l\Ietropolitan See in the City of Canter-
bury." 1
The Church of England thus was duly organized and re-
ceived the Episcopal and Parochial form which the Angli-
can Communion retains till this day. So solid were the
fruits of Archbishop Theodore's labors that as Stubbs, the
distinguished living Protestant historian says: "In a single
century England became known to Christendom as a foun-
tain of light, as a land of learned men, of devout and un-
wearied missions, of strong and pious Kings."2 And another
Protestant historian, Guizot, says: "As to the Anglo-Saxon
Church, you know that having been founded by the Popes

1 Mansi, vol. xi.. 24. 2. Const.. Hist., Vol. i, 251.

49

themselves, it was placed from the commencement under
their most direct influence."l
Sixty-eight Archbishops succeeded St. Augustine in the
See of Canterbury. Each received the pallium-the em-
blem of Metropolitan power-from the Pope of Rome.
" Pope .A.gatho limited the number of bishops to one l\1etro-
politan and eleven Suffragans. Leo II established a
second lvletropolitan at York; Adrian a third at Lichfield,
and confirmed to the Church of Canterbury that preced-
ence of rank and autho
ity which it has since possessed
down to the present day. "2 From this fountain-head of
jurisdiction, spiritual authority flowed through the hier-
archy of the Church to the people of England. In
disputes concerning doctrine or ecclesiastical disci-
pline, the English Kings, Bishops and people had recourse
to the Holy See as the final court of appeal, and to the
Roman Pontiff as the Vicar of Christ and Supreme Judge
on earth in matters ecclesiastical. The famed case of S.
"\Vilfred, appealing in 676 from his
Ietropolitan, Theodor

to the Pope, is known to every student of history.
There were, it is true, at times, conflicts with Rome.
Sundry acts in the Statute Book bear evidence that the
English nation resisted claims made by some of the Popes
to interfere in the civil affairs of the country, to certain
revenues, to the appointment of foreigners to benefices,
and the like. Such claims clearly enough sprang not from

1. Cours d' Histoire Modern, iii, p. ð7. 2. Lingard, Ant. of Ang-Sax. Ch. Vol. i,
c,3.

50

the Divine and essential character of the Papacy, but from
the civil position and rights created by the nations of
Europe, and conferred by them on the Sovereign Pontiff
in the
Iiddle Ages at a tin1e when Feudalism was the
governing spirit, and the Pope was not only held to be the
divinely appointed Head of the Church, but also was the
unanimously elected Father of the Christian nations. The
English people knew ,veIl how to separate the Spiritual
from the Temporal .A..uthority of the Pope, and, while ques-
tioning some of the feudal claitns of the latter, rendered
dutiful and filial obedience to the fOrIner. 1'he English
people knew, as Venerable Bede said: "Gregory was in-
vested with the first, that is, Slt}rellle þOlltJ:ficate, in the 1eJhoie
'leJorld, and was set over the Churches converted to the true
Faith, he made our nation, till then given up to idols, the
Church of Christ."1 .A.nd in the prayer of their Anglo-
Saxon Pontifical for the consecration of a new Pope, he is
described as "This Thy servant wholn Thou hast made
Prelate of the Apostolic See, and Primate of all the priests ill
the world, and Teacher of Thy Universal Church, and whom
Thou hast chosen for the ministry in the High Priesthood."
During the rule of these sixty-nine Archbishops of Can-
terbury, monasteries were founded in every part of Eng-
land. Public schools and univer:;ities, guilds and charitable
institutions \vere called into existence. Every parish had
erected its church, every diocese its cathedral: these still

1 Bede Hist., ii, c. I.

51

remain living monuments of the generosity and faith of our
Catholic Forefathers.
In such Temples of the living God, under the invocation
of the Blessed Virgin or some Saint, were the altars on
which was offered the propitiatory sacrifice of the Mass for
the living and for the dead. There ,vas the Tabernacle in
which dwelt the Holy of Holies under the sacramental spe-
cies. From the pulpits of such Temples One same Faith
was preached with spiritual and divine authority by those
duly commissioned, directly or indirectly, by Rome. The
people held living communion with Christendom, and, as is
witnessed by the Chantry and Ladye Chapels of the Sacred
Edifices, they held practical communion with the Souls in
Purgatory and with the Saints in Paradise.
Begotten by Pope Gregory the Great, nurtured and gov-
erned by Papal Power, the Church in England covered the
whole land and grew for nine hundred and sixty years. Its
independence of the State was secured by
Iagna Charta,
in these words: "The English Church is of Divine right,
free, and its laws and liberties are not to be violated."
Church and State grew side by side in harmony, render-
ing mutual aid, and formed" Merrie England." So was it
until the accession of the Tudors, under whom a mighty
and radical change was effected.
With the \Vars of the Roses ended in great measure the
power of the nobles. Henry V II and his successors de-
termined to hold absolute power. "\Vhat the first of the
Tudors," says the late distinguished historian, Green, a

52
clergyman of the Church of England, "had done for the
political independence of the Kingdom, the second was to
do for its ecclesiastical independence. * * * * The last
check on Royal absolutism which had survived the \Vars of
the Roses, lay in the ,vealth, the independent synods and
jurisdiction and claims of the Church; and for the success
of the new policy it was necèssary to reduce the great eccle-
siastical body to a mere dtþarl1llellt of tIle State, ill 1(.'hich all
authority should flUllJ frolll tile s011treigll alone, his 'will be the
Ollly la1lJ, his decision the Ollly test of truth."
Most thoroughly was this accomplished. To attain the
end, separation from Rome, the fountain of Spiritual gov-
erning power vIas absolutely necessary. At the outset the
movement appeared to be but an individual act inspired by
Cromwell; the divorce of Queen Catherine ,vas but a pre-
text for it; the real purpose in establishing the Royal Su-
premacy was to make the sovereign absolute. How this
was effected we shall now see.
In 1533 an Act of Parliament was passed in which it was
declared that the King" is Supreme Head of the Church of
England, as the Prelates and Clergy of your Realm repre-
senting the said Church in said Synods and Convocations
have recognized." 1
And again:
The King "is the Supreme Head of the Church of Eng-
land, and so is recognized by the Clergy of this Realm in

1 Henry VIII., 21.

53

this Convocation" 1; and the Statute declares that as Head
in Earth of the Church of England, the King has all "pre-
eminences, jurisdictions, privileges, authorities to the said
dignity belonging, and especially full power to repress, cor-
rect and amend all heresies and abuses which by any man-
ner, spiritual au.thority or jurisdiction, ought to be repressed,
corrected or amended." And later still was it asserted by
Parliament: "Archbishops, Bishops, Archdeacons and other
ecclesiastical persons have no manner of jurisdiction eccle-
siastical, but by, under and from your Royal 11ajesty." 2
These atrocious claims were put forward by the King;
and a time-serving Parliament assigned his behests. To the
honor of the English people, be it said, they took no part in
the matter. Then and throughout they were robbed of
their Faith and of the Church, their birthright. The aris-
tocracy had been almost annihilated, and the power of the
people had not been developed. The new order of things
was thrust upon them, and, as has been well said, "Henry
VIII fixed his supremacy on a reluctant Church by the axe,
the gibbet, the stake, and laws of premunire and forfeit-
ure." Bishop Burnet, the laudatory historian of the
so-called reformation, confessed that all the efforts of
the Government to overcome the dislike of the people to
Protestantism had been in vain, and that a troop of German
mercenaries had to be brought over from Calais in 1549 to
conquer their resistance. "'Vitt eleven-twelfths of the peo-

1 26 Henry VIIL, 3. :l 87 Henry VIIL, 17.

54

pIe," said at that time Paget to the Duke of Somerset the
Protector, "the new religion has found no entrance." There
were men who would not bend their knee to Baal, and died
martyrs because they could not accept Royal Supremacy,
but stood true to the supreme authority of the Pope in
things spiritual. Among them Fisher, Bishop of Rochester,
and Sir Thomas Moore, the Chancellor. "This indict-
ment," says the latter in his memorable defence, "is ground-
ed upon an Act of Parliament directly repugnant to the
laws of God and His Holy Church, * * * * and there-
fore, my Lord, I do not think myself bound to conform my
conscience to the counsel of one Kingdom against the gen-
eral consent of all christendom."
The Archbishop of Canterbury, in his commendatory let-
ter, introducing the Bishop of Rochester from England to
the last Convention at Philadelphia as the successor of the
first Bishop of Rochester, ought in common honesty, to have
added--but with Bishop Fisher of Rochester beheaded in
1535 under Henry VIII for boldly upholding the faith
and authority of the first Bishop of this See, ended the suc-
cession in doctrine and jurisdiction brought from Rome.
The Bishops of Rochester since have been mere agents
of the English Sovereign.
Commenting on the Statute 26 Henry VIII, assigning
the King the Headship of the Church of England, Coke
and Blackstone say that by it "all that power which the
Pope ever exercised within the realm in spirituals is now
annexed to the Crown." Henry determined it should be so,

55

and exacted an Oath of Supremacy of his subjects, whereby
they "from henceforth utterly renounce, refuse, relinquish
or forsake the Bishop of Rome his authority," and" shall
accept, repute and take the King's l\Iajesty to be the only
Supreme Head in Earth of the Church of England."
The boy King, Edward VI, walked in the steps of his
father, re-asserted the spiritual claims of his parent, and
acted on them. Listen to the words of his Parliament:
"His Highness * * * * hath appointed the Arch-
bishop Qf Canterbury, and certain of the most learned and
discreet Bishops, and other learned men of the realm to
* * * * make one convenient and meet, order, rite and
fashion of comn10n prayer." 1 Read His Majesty's patent
or the appointment of bishops: "We name, make, create,
constitute and declare N Bishop of N, to have and to hold
to himself the said bishopric during the term of his natural
life, if for so long a tin1e he behave himself well therein;
and e1Jpo'li 1 er hilll to confer order, to institute to livings, to
exercise alll1la1l1ler of jurisdictioll, and to do all that aþþer-
tains to the eþiscoþalor þastoral office, over and above the
things known to have been committed to him by God in the
Scriptures, ill þlace of us, ill our nallle, and by our authority."
The Statutes of Henry and Edward, levelled at Papal
jurisdiction, and attributing all ecclesiastical authority to
the Crown, though repealed under 1Iary were at the very
outset of Elizabeth's reign re-enacted and enforced in all

1 Edward VI.. 1.

56

their vigor. Her Majesty's obsequious Parliament declared
in different acts that the spiritual authority of every foreign
prelate within the realm should be utterly abolished; that
the jurisdiction necessary for the correction of errors, here-
sies, schisms and abuses should be annexed to the Crown,
with the power of delegating such jurisdiction to any person
or persons whatever at the pleasure of the Sovereign; that
the penalty of asserting the Papal authority should ascend
on the repetition of the offence from the forfeiture of real
and personal property to perpetual imprisonment, and fron1
perpetual imprisonment to death. And that all clergyn1en
should, under pain of deprivation, take an oath declaring
the Queen to be Suprel1le Governor ill all ecclesiastical and
spiritual things Í1z causes, renouncing all foreign, ecclesiasti-
cal, and spiritual jurisdiction or authority ,vhatsoever
within the realn1." 1 'Ve have thus ample proof that the
jurisdiction and authority of the Pope were denied, rejected
and repudiated by Acts of Parliament, and that the Civil
Power reduced the Church ill England to be the Church of
England. Thus was it made a Departn1ent of State, deriv-
ing its authority and jurisdiction from the Crown, just as do
the Army and the Judges.
Ever since that power was asserted to be conferred on
Elizabeth in 1558 by the Parliament, every clergyman of
the Established Church who has received ecclesiastical pre-
ferment, or has graduated at the universities, has indirectly

1 I ves: Trials of a Mind, p. 139.

57

approved of these claims to spiritual authority made and
acted on by Henry, Edward and Elizabeth. For every such
clergyman takes the Oath of Supremacy, wherein he sol-
ellUlly declares that the Sovereign of the British Isles" is the
only SUþreme Gover/lor of this Realm and of all other of
His Highness dominions and countries as well ill all sþirit-
ualor tcclesiastical things or causes as temporal." The taker
of such an oath ought to know that such a claim to Spirit-
ual jurisdiction has the warranty neither of Scripture nor of
Tradition. To the Apostles and their successors, but not to
Kings and Rulers was it said by Jesus Christ: "As the
Father hath Stilt me so send I you;" "Go teach all na-
tions." Therefore no Act or Acts of Parliament could con-
fer on the Sovereign, power in things Spiritltal- 'Vhat would
be thought of Congress declaring the President to be pos-
sessed of ecclesiastical jurisdiction?
Of this, then, there can be no doubt, even from the few
facts adduced, that as truly as the American Colonies with-
drew their allegianee from the Sovereign of England and
created a new government and centre of authority, so as
truly did the Tudor Sovereigns, aided by a subservient Par-
liament, compel the Church ill England to reject allegiance
to the Roman Pontiff, and made it the Church oj England,
insisting that ,vhatever ecclesiastical or spiritual power it
had, flowed from the Crown of England, to which conse-
quently the Church became subject, as in any other depart-
ment of State. Hooker says: "There is required an uni-
versal power which reacheth over all, imparting supreme

58

authority of government over all courts, all judges,
all causes, the operation of which power is as ,veIl to
strengthen, maintain, and uphold particular jurisdictions,
,vhich happily might else be of small effect, as also to rem-
edy that which they are able to help, and to redress that
wherein they at any time do otherwise than they ought to do.
This power being some time in the Bishop of Rome, who by
sinister practices had drawn it into his hands, was for just
considerations by pub1ic consent anpexed unto the King's
Royal Seat and Crown." 1 Making every allowance for Hook-
er's extraordinary hallucination in not apparently realizing that
civil power appertains to the State and Spiritual power to
the Church, his statement of the Royal Supremacy in things
Spiritual is lucid, and coming from so distinguish an Angli-
can, has additional weight. It clearly expresses separation
frOJll and þrotest against the spiritual jurisdiction of the
Roman Pontiff. \Vhether the Bishop of Rome had drawn
this spiritual power by sinister practice into his own hands,
,ve have examined previously.
It is unnecessary to follow the efforts made to pervert the
doctrines of the Church during the period beginning in
1534, when Henry VIII was voted Spiritual Head of the
Church, and ending with 1558, when by Act of Parliament
the said Headship was decreed to be perpetual in Elizabeth
and her successors. It is sufficient for our purpose to see
the decisions concerning faith made in the first Convocation

1 Eccles. Pol. VIII., 8, 4.

59
after the Church of England had been fully established by
law.
As Supreme Governor in matters spiritual and ecclesiasti-
cal, Her
Iajesty, Queen Elizabeth, convoked the Arch-
bishops and Bishops. They accordingly met in London
from both provinces and \vere presided over by Parker, the
Archbishop of Canterbury. Parker had been instituted and
invested with metropolitan power by the Queen. The Con-
vocation was therefore duly summoned, it was composed of
the teaching body of the Church of England, and it pos-
sessed in its plentitude, subject to the Sovereign's final
approval of its deeds, whatever authority the Cro\vn could
confer.
The Articles of Doctrine were taken into serious consid-
eration, they were duly discussed; and finally the Thirty-
nine Articles almost in their present form were adopted by
Convocation in 1562. They became the legal standard of
doctrine, symbol of the newly establ ished Church. Sub-
scription to them by the Clergy was enacted by Parliament
in 1570; and the Laity are obliged by the 5th Canon of
tþe Church to abstain from asserting that "any of the
Nine and Thirty Articles are erroneous or such as may
not be subscribed to with a good conscience." By the 36th
Canon 1603, the Clergy are required to declare their assent
not only to all the ...-\.rticles and to the Supremacy, but like-
wise to the Book of Common Prayer; and finally, by Act of
Parliament passed in 1662, all beneficiaries are to declare
their "unfeigned assent and consent to the use of all things

60

therein contained and prescribed." "His 1Iajesty's Declar-
ation," standing as preface to this new symbol, asserts:
"that the Articles of the Church of England do contain
the true doctrine of the Church of England agreeable to
God's Word: which we do therefore ratify and confirm, re-
quiring all our loving subjects to continue in the uniform
profession thereof, and prohibiting the least difference from
the said articles."
Now, interpreting each of the Thirty-nine articles as pre-
scribed in the Declaration of Charles the First, "in the
plain and full meaning thereof. and not to put one's own
sense or comment to be the meaning of the Article, but
take it in the literal and grammatical sense," we see how
thoroughly they are at variance with, and in opposition
to the doctrines taught by St. Augustine which were held
by the Church in England during the nine and a half
centuries preceding the accession of Henry VIII.
In this new Code, the þrinciple of an infallible authority
and unerring testimony on which heretofore Christian Rev-
elation had been accepted is rejected, and there is substi-
tuted private judgment. The field of Revelation is re-
stricted to the \Vritten \Vord without Apostolic Tradition.
The Sacrifice of the Mass is henceforward to be regarded
as "a blasphemous fable and a dangerous deceit." Its
correlative doctrine of the Real Presence of Transubstan-
tiation is to be held as "repugnant to the plain words of
Scnpture." The Sacraments are reduced to two, the other
five being discarded as rather" of the corrupt following of

61

the Apostles" than as" Sacraments of the Gospel." The
worship of the Blessed Virgin, of the Saints, of Relics, and
the doctrine of Purgatory are all summarily repudiated as
"fond things vainly invented."
The Book of Common Prayer, first put forth in 1549 and
settled in its present form in 166
, became the Liturgy of
the Church established by Act of Parliament. Compiled in
the main from Catholic Missals, it is necessarily saturated
with Catholic teaching and is accordingly oftentimes in open
contradiction with the Thirty-nine Articles. On one funda-
mental question, that of a Sacrificing Priesthood, the decla-
rations of the Articles prevailed. In the Book of Common
Prayer the Mass became a Communion Service, the Altar a
Communion Table and the Real Presence of Christ in the
Blessed Sacrament explicitly and formally denied in the
so-called Black Rubric in these terms:
"Whereas it is ordained in this Office for the Administra-
tion of the Lord's Supper, that the Communicant should re-
ceive the same kneeling; (which order is well meant, for a
signification of our humble and grateful acknowledgement
of the benefits of Christ therein given to all worthy Receiv-
ers, and for the avoiding of such profanation and disorder
in the holy Communion, as might otherwise ensue); yet, lest
the same kneeling should by any persons, either out of ig-
norance or infirmity, or out of malice and obstinacy, be mis-
construed and depraved; it is hereby declared, That thereby
no adoration is intended, or ought to be done, either unto
the Sasramental Breaà or Wine there bodily received, or

62

unto any Corporal Presence of Christ's natural Flesh and
Blood. For the Sacramental Bread and \Vine remain still
in their very natural substances, and therefore may not be
adored; (for that were Idolatry, to be abhorred of the faith-
ful Christians); and the natural Body and Blood of our
Saviour Christ are in Heaven, and not here; it being against
the truth of Christ's natural Body to be at one time in more
places than one."
From the forms for "the ordering of priests and bish-
ops," the words expressing the essential \vork and office of
a priest namely, the offering of sacrifice were deliberately
expunged. It is true that a century later, Convocation did
insert in the form of ordination" for the office and 100rk of
a Priest .j" "for the office alld 1f.1ork of a Bishop." But this
addition could not resto.re the lost succession of a Sacri-
ficing Priesthood; nor did it as a matter of fact prevent the
utter destruction in the Established Communion, and in the
minds of the People of England, of the idea of the Christain
Sacrifice and Altar.

To justify the assumption of Spiritual Supremacy by
Henry VIII, it is asserted that the Pope of Rome had d ur-
ing successive ages usurped the universal headship in spirit-
ual matters. To justify the rejection of doctrines held by
the Roman Church and by the Greek Sects, it is necessary
to say that the Church had corrupted the Gospel; or in the
graphic but horrible words of the Homilies: "Laity and
clergy, learned and unlearned, all ages, sects and degrees of

63

men, women and children of the whole of Christendom had
been at once drowned in abominable idolatry; and that for
the space of eight hundred years and more." It ,viII be
remarked that this proves too much; for if it be accepted,
then did" the Gates of Hell prevail against the Church,"
and Christian Truth was destroyed. See to what straits
men are driven to justify their evil deeds and their
revolt.
Henceforth to profess the Faith planted by Augustine was
penal; it could only be done at the loss of civil rights. It
,vas felony for a foreigner to teach the Faith of our
Fathers, and High rrreason if it were done by a subject of
the Realm. These and sundry other penal laws remained in
force till the Emancipation Act of 1829.
They had sent many a martyr to heaven. In the reign
of Elizabeth alone, 12 9 priests, 59 laymen, and 3 women
sacrificed their lives rather than deny the Old Faith.
Clearly the Church of England rejected, repudiated and
protested against the Faith of Rome as formally as she did
against Rome's Spiritual Jurisdiction. Rightly therefore
is she designated PROTEST ANT. She broke with Rome on
Authority and on Doctrine. By her separation she severed
herself from the divine jurisdiction of the Catholic Church
and lost every claim to Catholicity. " \Ve see," says
Cardinal Newman, "in the English Church, I will not
merely say no descent froln the first ages, and no relationship
to the Church in other lands, but we see no Body Politic of
any kind, we see nothing more or less than an Establishment,

64

a department of government, or a function or operation of
the State-without substance-a mere collection of officials
depending on and living in the supreme Civil Power." t
Engendered by Henry VIII and brought to maturity in
the early years of Elizabeth's reign the State Church retained
the Cathedrals and Churches and the present divisions into
dioceses and parishes. Outwardly the form was that of the
Old Church, but inwardly the living divine authority was
substituted by that of the human power of the Crown of
England. It was a new creation-the "Church of England."
The Anglican Conlnlunion became one aspect of the State
or mode of civil government; it is responsible for nothing;
it depends on the will of its supreme power whom it repre
sents. The consequence is, it has no identity of existence
nor unity of faith.
And as Newman aptly remarks the Church of England
"is as little bound by what it said or did formerly as this
morning's newspaper by its former numbers except as it is
bound by La\v. * * * * * Elizabeth boasted that she
tuned her pulpit; Charles forbade discussions on Predesti-
nation; George on the Holy Trinity; Victoria allows differ-
ences on Holy Baptism." To this may be added that the
Queen permits irreconcilable divergencies concerning the
Inspiration of Scripture, the Presence of Christ in the Eu-
charist, and the practice of Confession--all of which, may
be taught or rejected in the Church of England without
danger of expulsion.

:j: An
lican difficulties, p. 5.

65

Three dynasties, the Tudor, the Stuart and the Hanover-
ian have ruled England since the Establishment was born,
and what naturally might have been expected has come to
pass. It has been well said, "under the Tudors royal
authority predominated, under the Stuarts episcopal; Cran-
mer was type of the one, and Andrewes and Overall of the
other. * * * * Elizabeth was despotic, the Stuarts
Anglo-Catholic, their successors essentially Protestant.
The Tudors required all persons to agree with themselves,
the Stuarts with their Bishops, and vVilliam of Orange was
indifferent what men b
lieved so long as they differed from
the Pope."
Her present gracious Majesty, aided by her Privy Council,
has on different occasions decided grave controversies of
Faith-notably on Baptism, the Eucharist and Confession.
By Letters Patent, like Bulls of Popes, has the Queen
created Ecclesiastical hierarchies in her own dominions.
Not content with this, beyond the limit of her own dominions
has she erected the Anglican Bishopric of Jerusalem, and
some other ten missionary bishoprics. In virtue of Her
:\Iajesty's Commission the Anglican Bishop of Gibraltar ex-
ercises a roving jurisdiction on the seaboard of countries
around the Mediterranean. Similarly by virtue of the same
royal authority, the Archbishop of Canterbury exercises pas-
toral care over the Anglican communities scattered through
Northern and Central Europe. By 5 Victoria, Cap. 6, it is
enacted that the Archbishop of Canterbury and York may
consecrate British subjects or foreigners to be Bishops in

66

foreign countries and it is declared that such "Bishops so
consecrated may exercise, within such limits as may from
time to tilne be assigned for that purpose in such foreign
countries by Her Majesty, spiritual jurisdiction over the min-
isters of British congregations of the United Church of
England and Ireland, and over such other Protestant con-
gregations as may be desIrous of placing themselves under
their authority." Even were the Queen possessed of such
divine spiritual power, this enactment is made ignoring that
the intrusion of bishops into the dioceses of others is
fonnally condemned by the first Ecumenical Council of the
Church, held at Nice in 325.
The action of the Queen in our own day is a tangible proof
that the Supremacy claimed over doctrine and in jurisdiction
by thé 'I'udors in the 16th century is vigorously acted on
by the Hanoverians in the 19th century.
'fhis exercise of Spi
itual Supremacy is by no means an en-
forced imposition on the Protestant Bishops of England.
Assembled in Convocation in 1854, their Lordships voted an
address to her present l\lajesty, Queen Victoria, in these
,vords: "we /lot Ollly recog ,Ûze but higllly þrize your .J:f ajesty' s
Suprelllacy ill all causes ecclesiastical over all persons, and
every part of your l\lajesty's Dominions, as it ,vas maintained
in ancient times, against the usurpation of the See of Rome,
and was recovered and re-asserted at the Reformation."
The Anglican Communion remains as it ever was the
Creature of the State, begotten by .A.ct of Parliament, ani-
mated by the civil authority of the Crown, and at the mercy

67

of Act of Parliament for the continuance of its life.
Here is Cardinal Newman's opinion of it, given In his
Apologia: 1 " I am bound to confess that I felt a great
change in my view of the Church of England. I cannot
tell how soon there came on me
but very soon-an extreme
astonishment that I had ever iInagined it to be a portion of
the Catholic Church. For the first time I looked at it from
without, and (as I should myself say) saw it as it was. Forth-
with I could not get myself to see in it anything else, than
what I had so long fearfully suspected, from as far back as
I836-a mere national institution. As if my eyes were sud-
denly opened, so I saw it-spontaneously, apart from any
definite act or reason or any argument; and so I have seen
it ever since. * * * * When I looked upon the poor
Anglican Church, for which I had labored so hard, and
upon all that appertained to it, and thought of our various
attempts to dress it up doctrinally and æsthetical1y, it seemed
to me to be the veriest of nonentities. Vanity of vanities, all
is vanity. * * * * I am not speaking of the Anglican
Church with disdain though to people I seem contemptuous.
To them it is of course" Aut Cæsar aut nullus, but not to me.
It may be a great creation though it be not divine, and this
is how I judge it. * * * * I recognize in the Anglican
Church a time honored institution of noble historical mem-
ories, a monument of ancient wisdom, a momentous arm of
political strength, a great national. organ, a source of vast

! Apologia p. 339,

68

popular advantage, and, to a certain point a witness and
teacher of religious truth. * * * * But that it is some-
thing sacred, that it is an oracle of revealed doctrine, that it
can claim a share in St. Ignatius or St. Cyprian, that it can
take the rank, contest the teaching, and stop the path of the
Church of St. Peter, that it can call itself the' Bride of the
Lalub,' this is the view of it which simply disappeared from
my mind on my conversion, and which would be almost a
miracle to reproduce. 'I went by and 10! it was gone; I
sought it but its place could no\vhere be found;' and noth-
ing can bring it back to me. And as to its possession of an
Episcopal succession from the time of the Apostles, well, it
may have it, and if the Holy See ever so decide, I ,vill be-
lieve it as being the decision of a higher judgment than my
o,vn; but, for myself I must have St. Philip's gift, who saw
the sacerdotal charactor on the forehead of a gaily attired
youngster, before I can by own wit acquiesce in it, for anti-
quarian arguments are altogether unequal to the urgency of
visible facts."
To sum up :-
I. The Established Church of England rejected the
divine and spiritual authority of the successors of S1. Peter;
took in its stead human authority from the Sovereign of
England, and so constituted itself a State Department of
the Crown.
II. The Established Church of England rejected the
divine and therefore infallible teaching authority of the
Church; it substituted private judgment; it created the

.

69

Thirty-nine Articles as the boundary and symbol of its
doctrine; it accepted the Crown, aided later by the Coun-
cil, which may be composed of men of any or no religion, as
the ultimate judge of its doctrine.
III. The result has been that England which for nine
centuries believed in one Church and had Olle faith, is at
present, according to \Vhitaker's Almanac for this year,
split up into some olle hundred alltl fifty sects. The Church
of England herself boasts of a comprehensiveness ranging
from the most attenuated latitudinarinism to the extremest
ritualistic doctrine; and were it not for the iron hand of
the State, which grasps her finllly, she would fall to pieces
by the warring elements of High, Low and Broad existing
within.

IV.
The Protestant Episcopalian Church in the United States
is daughter of the Church established by Law in England.
The daughter has the same symbol of Faith, the Thirty-nine
Articles; the same Liturgy, the Book of Common Prayer,
toned down by allowing the article in the Apostles' Creed on
the Descent into Hell, to be considered unimportant, by the
omission of the Athanasian Creed, as ,veIl as of every trace
of auricular confession, together with the suppression of the
form of absolution from the office of the Visitation of the
Sick, and augmented by sundry" Enrichments." She has her
doctrine, her discipline, her worship from the English Es-
tablishment. In con1mon with her 1Iother she þrotests

7 0

against the supremacy of St. Peter and his successors;
she protests against the teaching brought from Rome by
Augustine. Rightly therefore does the daughter bear the
name PROTESTANT. She holds uo communion with Rome;
she has no jurisdiction from the See of Peter; consequently
she fonns no part of the Organic Body of Christ, nor
indeed of any other organism, for, like her Mother, and
apart from that Mother, she forms a separate and inde-
pendent Corporation possessed of human authority and
bereft of every shred of the divine jurisdiction which
appertains to the Catholic Church.
There are of her pastors a limited but increasing number
who, relying on the Book of Common Prayer and ignoring
the Thirty-nine Articles to which they ex allÙ/lo pledged
themselves by oath, teach in contradiction to the Doctrinal
Code of their Communion, the characteristic doctrines of
the Catholic Church. 1'hese clergymen insist on a blind
obedience to their teaching and direction, the like of which
is unknown in the Church which claims the gift of infallibil-
ity. These call themselves Catholic, and stigmatize as Prot-
est3.nt their brother clergy and bishops who are pleased to
follow the more logical procedure of taking doctrine from
the Articles, to explain the d
votional expressions of the
Prayer Book. But tQ arrogate the nanle Catholic does not
generate Catholicity. None are louder in their denunciation
of an "Infallible Pope" than are holders of these tenets.
Surely they ought to realize that they themselves act as
though they are the unerring expounders of the Book

7 1
of Common Prayer and of the Articles. They o11ght to
know that Bishops and not priests constitute the "Eccle-
sia docens." The words of St. Ignatius, of the second
century, are as true now as then. He says: "Apart from
the Bishop it is neither lawful to baptize nor to hold an
agape; but whatever he judges right, that also is well
pleasing unto God, that all which is done may be safe
and sure."i Clergymen who act otherwise must not be
surprised that men of common sense finally prefer subjec-
tion to one canonically elected Pope, instead of to many
self-constituted Popes.
In one particular the absence of Catholicity in the Prot-
estant Episcopal Church of the United States is more pa-
tent than in her Mother. For the English Church at least
claims authority, whatever be its nature, from the Sover-
eign; but her American daughter draws hers from no-
.where. She is an authority to herself. Allow for the sake
of argument that her Orders derived from Scotland and
England are valid-a fact extremely dubious, seeing that in
our own day a large number of the Anglican clergy holding
benefices in England, alarmed by the evidence brought
against their Orders, have been not only re-ordained but
conditionally baptized, re-confirmed, and have secured some
five properly consecrated bishops who actively continue this
work of re-ordination. Admit the validity of the orders,
whence does the Protestant Epi;:,copal Church of the United
States derive its mission and jurisdiction?

1 Ep. ad Smyr. n. 8.

7 2

The Sovereign of England claimed a century ago to
be the fountain head of spiritual jurisdiction only within the
British Realm. In the reig"n of the present Queen, Parlia-
ment has given greater extension to this claim. Previous to
the Independence there were no Anglican bishops in the
present United States. 1"'he only supervision of the clergy
,vas done by the Bishop of London, appointed by the Sov-
ereign of England to be overseer of the Colonies. Eight
years elapsed before Dr. Seabury was elected to be the
first bishop and was consecrated by certain bishops in Scot-
land. Three years later two others, Dr. White and Dr.
Provost, consecrated in England, were added. It was not
till 1789 that the union and settlement of the Protestant
Episcopalians into one ecclesiastical corporation was ef-
fected. The time of its creation is thus determined to
be seventeen and a half centuries after the birth of the
"Body of Christ." It could not have received jurisdiction
from England; there is no pretension that jurisdiction was
obtained from the President of the United States, who by
the way has as much right to accord it as has the Sover-
eign of England; clearly therefore the authority of
the Protestant Episcopal Church has no origin outside
of itself. It is a corporation possessed of such authority
as its own members may create, define and accept. This
authority is but human, and depends for extension, restric-
tion, existence and validity on the will of the majority.
The complete autonomy of the Protestant Episcopal Church
is secured; it is not one in government with its mother,

73

for in an evil moment it introduced lay representation, " an
unfortunate example, set in a bad time," wrote the late
Doctor Pusey. This isolation of the" Protestant Episcopal
Church" deprives it of Catholicity, and makes it stand to
the Church of Christ in the same relation that the United
States do to England, namely, separated and independent.
The position of the" Protestant Episcopal Church" is, so
far as self-government is concerned, one with that of the
"Methodist Episcopal Church." John 'Vesley was but a
presbyter of the Anglican Communion. He without any
sanction of the Established Church, and much against his
will, called into existence another corporation or sect differ-
ing in doctrine and discipline. The Church of England
had been separated from Rome not more than two centu-
ries, and already were the poor neglected and the lniddle
class lost to the National Establishment. And indeed it has
to be added, they have never been regained. \Vesley was
deeply moved by their spiritual wants. He labored very
earnestly and was pre-eminently successful. It is said that
before his death his followers numbered 80,000.
'Vesley perceived that the consequence of American Inde-
pendence to his followers would be the formation of an inde-
pendent Society. To meet the elnergency \Vesley convinced
himself that presbyter and bishop were one and the saIne
order in the early ages of the Church. And thereupon he
laid hands on, and set aside COKe as bishop of the nascent
community of Methodists in the States. Of this mode of
creating Episcopal orders, there is no need of discussion

74

here. F or our purpose it is sufficient to know that Coke
came in 'Vesley's name and with 'Vesley's authority to the
Conference at BaltilTIOre in 1784 to announce that a separate
and independent l\Iethodist Church might be created under
Episcopal rule.
The organization \vas formed, the body has grown and
prospered. It has numerically threefold more clergy
and laity than have the Protestant Episcopalians. The
spiritual authority to which it lays claim, is derived from no
external source, it was begotten by its own clergy, and can
be restricted, extended or destroyed by the acts of the Body.
The authority is indubitably human.
The" Protestant Episcopal Church" of the United States
has no other title to its authority in things spiritual. It
cannot produce any credentials to show that it derives au-
thority from the living Mystic Body of Christ.
In common \vith its Methodist sister it can claim only that
authority which was created by its members, an authority
purely human, not divine. At the Convention one of the
speakers, l\Ir. Stewart, is reported to have said: "Is this
Church to call itself 'the Catholic Church' of the United
States ? Was it universal? He thought that the proposition
savored a good deal of vanity. He thought that it would be
an act of assumption \vhich would render them ridiculous in
the eyes of the religious and civilized world."
Rev. Dr. Fulton, in the course of the same debate is re-
ported to have said that "He lived in a city of 350,000 in-
habitants, and he did not think the church had more than

75

2,500 communicants there. Honestly computed lIe sup

posed that the whole membership of the Protestant Episco-
pal Church in this country was not more than /1.(10 þer cellt.
of the population. It might be three per cellt. but he
doubted it. * * * * In view of the single fact which
he had mentioned, would it be modest or truthful to call the
Protestant Episcopalian The Holy Catholic Church of the
United States of America."

" The Holy Catholic Churclt" universally admitted to be
the 1Iother and 1Iistress of Churches, which planted the
Faith in England and established there thirteen centuries
ago a Hierarchy of Order and Jurisdiction, and which a
second time, in 1850, erected the Hierarchy for the small
remnant who stood true to the Old Faith, did, as soon as
America was discovered, duly commission her Priests to
bear to the new continent the light of the Gospel. The proc-
lanlation made to the natives by the discovering Spaniards
bears these renlarkable words: "the Church: the Queen
and Sovereign of the W odd."
Columbus and his crew having been absolved after con-
fession, received the Blessed Sacralnent, heard Holy I\Iass,
and embarked in the Santa Maria and two small vessels.
Night and morning from off the unknown deep did they
chant Ave Maris Stella. 'Vhen the long-looked for land
hove in sight, the indomitable Columbus and his now joy-
ous crew on bended knee sang Te DeulIl to God the
Mighty. N ext day, Oct. 14, 1492, Columbus as Lord

7 6

High Admiral, and bearing the Royal Standard of Spain,
landed, and in the beautiful words of Washington Irving,
"threw himself upon his knees, kissed the earth and re-
turned thanks to God with tears of joy. Then rising, he
drew his sword, displayed the royal standard and took pos-
session in the names of the Castilian Sovereigns.
' The
soil and island he consecrated with the name of the Holy
Redeemer, San Salvador.
Columbus returned to Spain, and on his next journey
across the Atlantic, he brought with him a Vicar-Apostolic
and twelve priests. These erected their first church at
Isabella, Hayti in 1494. This nlay be regarded as the oc-
casion when' the Church, One, Holy, Catholic and Roman'
was planted in America. She is the oldest institution in
the new continent, and from the day of her establishment
has ever increased.
Along the seaboard, from the \Vest Indies down to Cape
Horn, thence up the whole of the Pacific Coast to Beh-
ring's Straits, inland into South America, into
Iexico and
among the Aborigines, did missionaries armed with the au-
thority of Rome, erect the cross and preach the glad tidings
of salvation. The very names of the towns bear evidence
to the faith of the colonists. "The Dominicans, Francis-
cans, and Jesuits of Spain shJ.re between them the South
from Florida to California; the Recollects and Jesuits of
France traverse the country in every direction, from the
mouth of the St. Lawrence to the shores of the Pacific,
and from the Gulf of i\Iexico to Hudson's Bay; and finally,

77

the English Jesuits plant the Cross for a time amid the
tribes of :J\Iaryland, during the short time of Catholic
supremacy in that colony. The Spaniards were the first to
preach the Gospel in the territory now actually comprised
in the United States." 1
'Vithin fifty years of the discovery, America could count
her martyrs, her bishops and dioceses. In 1529 the See of
Sta. 1Iarta in New Granada was erected; in 1531 that of
Caraccas in Venezuela; in 1539 that of Lima; in 155 I that
of Chiquisca in Bolivia; in 1561 at Santiago; in 1561 at Bahia
in the Brazils; in 1570 at Cardova. In North America the
soil was well purpled with the blood of martyr missionaries,
and as usual the Church increased. The conquest of 1\Iex-
ico was followed by the formation of a diocese. \Vith the
expedition of Narvaez in 1528 into Florida were mission-
aries, one of whom was Juan Juarez, appointed by the
Pope, Bishop of Florida, the first Bishop in the States. Sees
were erected in Montreal and Quebec in 1659 and 1674.
It will be remembered that the Church of England was
established or created in I533,-that is jii'e )'ears after tile
first Bishoþ was appointed to Florida, and the "Protestant
Episcopalian Church" does not appear as a corporate body
till two hundred and sixty years later. An English expedi-
tion landed at the site of the present J amestown,
Iay 13,
160 7, on which occasion Revd. Dr. 1Iay, a member of the

.1. See
Ir. Gilmary Shea's most interesting "New Hist. of Cath. Ch. in the
United States," and Mr. 'v. H. Sadlier's admirable School History of the United
States.

7 8

party, and clergYlnan of the Church of England, adminis-
tered comn1union ; probably the second time the Anglican
rite was performed on American soil. The first occasion was
by Master ,V olfall in Frobisher's Expedition of 1578, which
failed to get a footing. After the settlen1ent of Virginia, Sir
George Yeardly convened the first Legislative Assembly.
It enacted inunec1iately tha.t the Church of England should
be established in the colony; and measures were taken
for the formation of a convention of clergy. The first was
held in 162 I, and from the account left, there were in the
whole colony only five clergymen. The Bishop of Lon-
don, England, undertook to procure others. And as was
said previously, it was not till 1784 that the Protestant
Episcopalians had bishops, or dioceses, and a corporate ex-
istence in 1789.
The current of immigration has brought a host of Catho-
lics to the Eastern seaboard of North America fleeing before
persecution, or seeking in a new land the fortune denied
them in their country. Of all nations and tribes, and peo-
ples, yet one in the blessed gift of Faith, they are inde-
pendent witnesses from every clime of the uniform doctrine
of the Roman Church, though taught in many tongues.
It is said that in the two Americas there are at present
fifty-five million Catholics under the spiritual government of
one hundred and ninety Bishops or Vicars Apostolic. Of
these about eight millions are in the United States. They
are governed by Pastors constituted by the Roman Pontiff
in hierarchical order. The first diocese was created in
1789 ; and now ten archiepiscopal provinces having seventy-

..

79

one Bishops and six thousand eight hundred Priests, form
the great and ONLY ARTERY through which divine spirit-
ual authority in faith, morals and discipline flows from the
fountain-head, the See of Peter, to the inhabitants of the
United States.
...
s citizens of the great American Republic joyfully do
Catholics render obedience, for conscience sake, to the au-
thorities that be. They rejoice and gratefully acknowledge
there is neither let nor hindrance in the exercise of their re-
ligion. In their conduct they show that while permitted to
render freely to God and His Church, their service, they
the more heartily render to Cæsar the things that are Cæsar's.
They are for this very reason a solid moral power in the States.
On the other hand, their unity of faith, their obedience to
pastors, their attachn1ent to Holy Church, their many insti-
tutions founded mainly by the generous sacrifices of the
poor, their undying efforts to secure religious education:
are so many tongues loudly proclaiming to all the presence
and the living power of the Church One, Holy, Catholic and
ROlnan in the United States. *
The hearts of these millions of Catholics earnestly long
and pray that all their fellow-citizens may enter the One
Fold. Faithful Catholics, masters and servants, poor and
rich, day by day appeal to the Throne of Mercy that light
to know the truth, and strength to follow it, Inay be given to
all Americans, but more especia!ly to those with whom they
are brought in personal contact.

* The Methodist Convention now sitting pas
ed:a resolution to
end MiS$ionaries
among these as among the heathen !!

80

The pastors of the nascent church In the States placed,
with the approval of Rome, the country under the patron-
age of Mary Imtnaculate anxious that her Son Inay be
served in spirit and in truth on a soil which is not sullied
by its people having revolted against the Church and
her doctrine. They repeat to the Episcopalians of the
United States as S. Augustine of Hippo, did to the Do-
natists of North Africa, who prided themselves on their
religious national unity, and relied on the number and
succession of their Bishops: "Come, brethren, if you wish
to be inserted in the vine; for ,ve grieve when we see
you lie thu3, cut off from it. Number the Bishops from
the very Seat of Peter, and in that list of fathers see what
has been the succession; this is the rock against ,vhich
the proud gates of hell do not prevail."
The world without stign1atizes this Church as "Roman-
ist," and, therefore, fortlgn. It is an appeal to the passions
of the people. Do those who so speak forget that Jesus
Christ and his twelve Apostles were of the Jewish race,
and therefore foreIgners? Obedience of the children of
the Church in matters spiritual to the fountain-head of
authority, the Holder of which may be of any nationality
residing in Rome, is no more forelgll than is obedience
to the Apostles, who abode in Palestine. As we have
seen, the Church of Christ is to be universal, and not
national; therefore to it nothing can be foreign.

1 P::;ahn C. Don S. Au
1 and 7.

81

In calling the Church R01/lan it is not by way of con-
trast to "Protestant Episcopal," to "English," to "l\Ieth-
odist," to " Anglo or Old Catholics." The term is used to
express the source whence all divine authority flows to
every part of the Church. As the historian Lingard has
well said: "There is nothing offensive in this appellation,
as in other names with which we are frequently honored.
If, then, we refuse to adopt it, the reason is, because it
imports what is irreconcilable with our principles, that
Churches which have separated from the ancient Catholic
Church may still have a right to the title of Catholic."l
A.nd it has to be remembered" Roman" is not of yester-
day, though persecution has necessitated accentuating the
name in certain countries in our times.
" It will be anticipated," 2 says Newman, "that the dura-
tion of error had not the faintest tendency to deprive the
ancient Church of the 'Vest of the title of Catholic; and
it is needless to produce evidence of a fact which is on the
very face of the history. The Arians seem never to have
claimed the Catholic name. It is Illore than relnarkable
that the Catholics during this þeriod" (that is, from the be-
ginning of the fifth to the end of the sixth century)
"'were denoted by the additional title of 'Rolllalls.' Of this
there are many proofs in the history of St. Gregory of
Tours, Victor of Vite, and the Spanish Councils. * * *
This appellation had t\vo meanings; one which will readily

1 Catechism, p. 35. 2 Development, p. 729.

82

suggest itself, is its use in contrast to the word 'bar-
barian' as denoting the faith of the Empire, as 'Greek'
occurs in St. Paul's Epistle. In this sense it would more
naturally be used by the Romans themselves than by
others. * * * * But the word certainly contains also
an allusion to the faith and communion of the Roman
See. In this sense the Emperor Theodosius, in his letter
to Accasius of Beræa, contrasts it with N estorianism, which
was within the Empire as well as Catholicism; during the
controversy raised by that heresy, he exhorts him and oth-
ers to shew themselves' aþþroved þriests of the R01Jlall reli-
gion.' " Newman continues citing facts and phrases from
several authors, among others the Elnperor Gratian and St.
Jerome, so as to support his statement. It would be too
long to q
ote these in full; the following will suffice for
the purposes of this pamphlet.
"The chief ground of the Vandal Huneric's persecution
of the African Catholics seems to have been their connec-
tion with their brethren beyond the sea, which he looked
at with jealousy as introducing a foreign þ01ver into his ter-
ritory. Prior to this he had published an edict calling on
the Homöusian Bishops (for on this occasion he did not
call them Catholics) to meet his own bishops at Carthage,
and treat concerning the Faith that' their meetings to the
seduction of Christian souls might not be held in the pro-
vinces of the Vandals.' Upon this invitation Eugenius of
Carthage replied that all transmarine Bishops of the Or-
thodox Communion ought to be summoned, 'in particular

83

because it is a matter for the whole world, not special to
the African provinces,' that' they could not undertake a
point of faith sine ul1iversitatis assensu.' Huneric answered
that if Eugenius would make him sovereign of the orbis
terrarU1Jl he would comply with his request. This led
Eugenius to say that the orthodox faith was 'the only
true faith;' that the king ought to write to his allies
abroad, if he wished to know it; and that he himself
would write to his brethren for foreign bishops,' who,'
he says, 'may assist us in setting before you the true
faith, common to them and to us, and especially to the
Roman Churcll, which is the head of all Churches.' 1Iore-
over the African Bishops in their banishment to Sardinia,
to the number of sixty, with S. Fulgentius at their head,
quote with approbation the words of Pope Hormisdas, to
the effect that they hold on 'the point of free will and
divine grace what the R011lan, that is the Catholic, Church
fol1ows and preserves." * * * *
" Nor was the association of Catholocism with the See
of Rome an introduction of that age. The Emperor Gra-
tian, in the fourth century, had ordered that the Churches,
which the Arians had usurped, should be restored (not to
those who held' the Catholic faith,' or 'the Nicene creed,'
or were' in communion with the orbis terrarum ') but' 'who
chose the c011lmunion of Da1JlaSUS,' the then POþe. It was St.
Jerome's rule also in some well-known passages. \Vriting
against Ruffinus, who had spoken of 'OUR FAITH,' he says:
'Vhat does he mean by 'his faith '? That whiçh is th

84

strength of the R01!lan Churcll, or that which is contained
in the works of Origen? If he answer (the Romlln,' then
we are Catholics who have borrowed nothing of Origen's
error; but if Origen's blasphemy be his faith, then while
he is charging me with inconsistency he proves himself
to be an 'heretic.' The other passage is still more ex-
..
actly to the point, because it ,vas written on occasion of
a schism. The divisions at Antioch had thrown the Cath-
olic Church into a remarkable position; there were two
bishops in the See-one in connection with the East, the
other with Egypt and the \Vest-with which was there
'Catholic Communion.' St. Jerome had no doubt on the
subject. \Vriting to St. Damasus he says: 'Since the East
tears into pieces the Lord's coat, * * * therefore by
me is the cllair of Peter to be cOJlsulted, and that faith
which is prized by the Apostle's mouth. * * * Though
your greatness terrifies me, yet your kindness invites me.
From the Priest I ask the salvation of the victim, from
the Shepherd the protection of the sheep. Let us speak
without offence: I court not the Roman height: I speak
with the successor of the Fisherman and the disciple of
the Cross. I who follow none as my chief but Christ, alll
associated Ùl COlnmll nion 'with thy blessedlless, that is, 'with the
Stt of Peter. On the rock the Church is built. Whoso
shall eat the Lamb outside tllat Holtse t"s profane. * * *
I know not this Vatalis' (the Apolinarian); 'Meletius I re-
ject; I am ignorant of Paulinus. 'Vhoso gathereth not
with thee, scattereth; that is, he who is not of Christ is of

85

Anti-Christ.' Again:' The ancient authority of the monks
dwelling round about, rises against me; I meanwhile cry
out, if allY be joilled to Peter's chair he Ù 11iÍ1le.'"
" Here was what may be considered a dignus vindice 1lOdus,
the Church being divided, and an arbiter wanted. Such a
case had also occurred in Africa in the controversy with
the Donatists. Four hundred bishops, though in but one
region, were a fifth part of the whole Episcopate of Christen-
dom, and might seem too many for a schism, and in them-
selves too large a body to be cut off from God's inheritance
by a mere majority, even had it been overwhelming. St.
Augustine, then, who so often appeals to the orbis terraru111,
sOlnetimes adopts a more prompt criterion. He tells cer-
tain Donatists to whom he writes that the Catholic Bishop
of Carthage" was able to make light of the thronging mul-
titude of his enemies, when he found himself by letters of
credence joined both to the Roman Church, Ùz which ever had
ftourÙhed the þrÏ1zcipality of the Aþostolical See, and to the
other lands whence the gospel came to A.frica itself."
And N eWlnan concludes: "There are good reasons then
for eXplaining the Gothic and Arian use of the word' Ro-
man,' when applied to the Catholic Church and faith, of
sOlnething beyond its mere connection with the Empire,
which the barbarians were assaulting; nor would' Roman'
surely be the most obvious word to denote the orthodox
iaith, in the mouths of a people who had learned their her.
esy from a Roman Emperor an
Court."
In unnlÏstakable terms do the voices of these great ser-

86

vants of God come to us from the fourth and fifth centuries
declaring the One Holy Catholic ...t\postolic Church to be
ROllzall.
And the Old Church of St. Augustine planted in England
gives no uncertain note. The voice of St. Aldhelm, first
Bishop of Sherbun in England, who died 709 proclaims:
"To conclude everything in the casket of one short sen-
tence. In vain of the Catholic faith do they vainly boast,
who follo\v not the teaching and rule of St. Peter. For the
foundation of the Church and ground of the faith prilnar-
ily in Christ and then in Peter, unrocked by the stress of
tempests, shall not waver, the Apostle so pronouncing (I Cor.
iii, I I ; ) other foundation no one can lay besides that which
is laid, which is Jesus Christ. But to Peter has the Truth
thus sanctioned the Church's privilege (Matt. xvi.) 'Thou
art Peter, and upon his this Rock I will build my Church."
And Alcuin the most distinguished English scholar of the
latter half of the Eighth century writes: "Lest he be found
to be a schismatic or a non-Catholic, let him follow the most
approved authority of the Roman Church, that whence we
have received the seeds of the Catholic faith that we may
find the exemplars of salvation, lest the members be severed
from the head, lest the Key-bearer of the Heavenly King-
dom exclude such as he shall recognize as alien from his
teaching." 1
And St. Anselm, the famous scholastic philosopher and

1 Ep. 75.

87

Archbishop of Canterbury, who died in 1089, informs us:
" It is certain that he who does not obey the ordinances of
the Roman Pontiff, which are issued for the maintenance of
the Christian religion, is disobedient to the Apostle Peter,
whose Vicar he is, nor is he of that flock which was given
to hin1 (Peter) by God. Let him then find some other gates
of the Kingdom of Heaven, for by those he shall not go in,
of which the Apostle Peter holds the Keys." 1
And the holy abbot of Ridal in Yorkshire, St. Aelred,
whom Butler says died in 1167, earnestly exhorts: 2 "Breth-
ren, let no one seduce you with vain words. Let no one
say to you, Lo here is Christ, or there, since Christ ever
abides in the faith of Peter, which the Holy Roman
Church has especially received from Peter, and retains in
the Rock, which is Christ. * * * Of this Church Peter
was the first Prince, to whom it was said, 'Upon this Rock
I will build My Church;' and again,' Feed My sheep;'
and again, 'To thee will I give the keys of the kingdom
of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth
shall be bound too in heaven,' and the rest. This is the
Church which the Holy Apostle calls of the first-born, the
plentitude of whose power in the person of its Prince
passing over from the East to the West by the authority
of the Holy Spirit established itself in the Roman Church.
* * * This is the ROlnan Church, with whom he who
communicates not is a here6c. To her it belongs to ad-

1 Lib. iv., Ep. xiii. 2 Serm. 23-cited from Ryder's Catholic Controversy.

It ,t;
\{ S" . /.
Y'S C LLEGE

88

VIse all, to judge of all, to provide for all, to whom in
Peter that word was addressed, 'And thou, some time con-
verted, confirm thy brethren.' \Vhatsoever she decrees I
receive; I approve what she approves; what she condemns
I condemn."
In the nineteenth century in the days in which we live
the Roman Church is Olle. (I )-All her members, though
of all tongues, and political parties, and forms of govern-
tnent, are united in closest comn1uniol1 under the Visible
Head, who, together with the one Episcopate held by the
successors of the Apostolic College-the Bishops dis-
persed through the whole communion, whom the Holy
Ghost appoints-rule and govern this Body Politic, this
living Organization. (2)- There is one and the same prin-
ciple of faith, namely, divine authority and testimony for
one body of doctrines held by her pastors and people
individually and collectively. (3)- There is one sacra-
mental system and worship, receiving the same explanation
and producing the same effects in the possession of all
her children.
The Roman Church is Holy: (I) Because her doctrine is
in itself holy, ever inviting men to ascend higher and higher
in virtue. (2) She is holy because she has begotten a mighty
army of heroic saints. and martyrs, and virgins. On every
soil has she planted and founded institutions created and
directed by those who wishing to be perfect, give up home
and wealth to labor for their Master in suffering humanity.
(3) She is holy because consumed by the desire to enkindle

89

the fire of divine love on earth; she is instant in season,
and out of season in preaching the gospel to those who are
in sin or in darkness. The glory of converting Pagan na-
tions is hers. This no Protestant sect, backed by illilnited
wealth or the greatest political power, has ever been able
to effect.
The Roman Church is Catholic: (I) because she is of no
one nation and in her constitution and her teaching she is
fitted to all people and forms of government. (2) Because her
principle of faith is applicable to all, young and old, learned
and unlearned. (3) Because her identity of existence from
Pentecost day till now can be plainly traced. (4) Because
she alone has the whole of Revelation-the Faith delivered
to the saints. Circumstances have obliged her to formu-
late the Faith in dogmatic decisions and creeds so as to
bear witness to what is contained in the deposit of faith;
but such authoritative declarations are no additions to the
Faith, they åo but unwrap what it contains and explicitly
expose its separate doctrines. (5) Because she admits of no
rival; she is ever aggressive, condemning schism and her-
esy; by friend and by foe she is known as THE CATHOLIC
CHURCH.

The tide of indifference, of agnosticism, of infidelity, of
socialism, of civil disorder is rapidly rising. God's Church
can alone stem it. Numbers and influence and wealth co-
operating with the Spouse of Christ can help to do great
things to aid in saving humanity from the growing ills.

9 0
She is the Church of your Baptism, to whom you owe
allegiance and obedience; for the saving waters of regen-
eration are the portal to but one Church. They made you
not members of Protestantism, but children of the Church
of God.
To you then who fondly believe your religious society
to be Catholic, and wish . t to be so called, allow me to
address, in sincerest affection, the earnest Apostolic words
of Pius IX. of glorious n1emory :
"'\Ve conjure and beseech you, with all the warmth of our
zeal, and in all charity, to consider and seriously examine
whether you follow the path marked out for you by Jesus
Christ our Lord, \vhich leads to eternal salvation. Noone can
deny or doubt that Jesus Christ himself, in order to apply the
fruit of His redemption to all generations of men, built His
only Church in this world on Peter; that is to say, the Church,
One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic; and that He gave to it
all the necessary power, that the deposit of faith might be
preserved whole and inviolable, and that the same faith
might be taught to all peoples, kindreds and nations; that
through baptism, all men might become members of this
l\lystical Body, and that the new life of grace without which
no one can ever merit and attain to life eternal might always
be preserved and perfected in tnem; and that this same
Church which is His Mystical Body might always remain in
its own nature, firm and immovable to the end of time; that
it might flourish and supply to all its children all the means
of salvation.

9 1

" N O\V, whoever will carefully examine and reflect upon
the condition of the various religious societies, divided
among themselves, and separated from the Catholic Church,
which from the days of our Lord Jesus Christ and his Apos-
tles, has never ceased to exercise by its lawful pastors, and
still continue, to exercise, the divine power committed to it
by this same Lord; cannot fail to satisfy himself that neither
anyone of these societies by itself, nor all of them together,
can in any manner constitute and be that One Catholic
Church which our Lord built and established, and willed
should continue; and that they cannot in any way be said
to be branches or parts of that Church, since they are visi-
bly cut off from Catholic unity.
"For, whereas such societies are destitute of that living
authority established by God, which especially teaches men
what is of faith, and what the rules of morals, and directs
and guides them in all those things which pertain to eternal
salvation; so they have continually varied in their doctrines,
and this change and variation is ceaselessly going on among
them.
" Everyone must perfectly understand, and clearly and
evidently see, that such a state of things is directly opposed
to the nature of the Church instituted by our Lord Jesus
Christ; for in that Church truth must always continue firm
and ever inaccessable to all change, as a deposit given to
that Church to be guided in its integrity, for the guardian-
ship of which the presence and aid of the Holy Ghost have
been pronlised to the Church forever."

PART II.

1. ST. CYPRIAN, BISHOP OF CARTHAGE,
" On the Unity of the Church." A. D. 2S I.

2. ST. CYRIL, BISHOP OF JERUSALEM,
Lecture 18, "On the Catholic Church." A. D. 347.

3. ST. PACIAN, BISHOP OF BARCELONA,
" On the Name Catholic." A. D. 373-

4. MACAULAY,
Extracts from Essay on Ranké. A. D. 18 4 0 .

I.

ST. CYPRIAN

ON THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH.

For as much as the Lord warns us, saying, Ye are the salt
of the earth, and bids us to possess an innocent simplicity,
yet being simple, to be also prudent, is it not befitting,
dearest brethren, to hold ourselves in wariness, and hy
keeping watch with an anxious heart, to become forewarned
and withal forearmed, against the snares of our subtle ene-
my? lest we, who have put on Christ, the Wisdom of God
the Father, should yet be found to lack wisdom, for the
making sure of our salvation. That persecution is not the
only one to be feared, which advances by open assault to
the ruin and downfall of God's servants; caution is easy,
where the danger is manifest; and the mind is in readiness
for the battle, when the enemy makes himself known.
More to be feared and more to be watched is a foe, who
creeps upon us unawares, who deceives under the image of
peace, and glides forward with those stealthy movements,
which hath given him the name of Serpent. Such always
is his deceitfulness; such the dark and backward artifices,
by which he compasses man; thus in the first beginning of
the world he wrought his deceit, and by lying words 0 f
flattery, led away unformed souls in their incautious cre-
dulity. Thus when he would tempt the Lord Himself, he
came unawares upon HimJ as if to creep on him a second

II

time and deceive; yet he was seen through and driven
back: beaten down was he, by reason that he was discov-
ered and exposed. Herein is the example given us, to flee
from the way of the old man, and to tread in the footsteps
of Christ who conquered; lest we slide back by incaution
into the toil of death, instead of, through foresight of dan-
ger, partaking the immortality that has been gained for us.
Yet how can we partake immortality, unless we keep those
commandments of Christ, by which death is taken prisoner
and overcome? For Himself admonishes us, and says, If
thou, ulÍll enter into life, keeþ the com1nandments.J. and again,
If ye do the things I cOlnmand you, henceforth I call you 110t
servants but friends. It is such persons, in fine, that He
declares to be stable and enduring; founded in massive
strength upon a rock, and settled with firmness untroubled
and untouched, amidst all the storms and winds of this
world. Whosever, saith He, heareth these sayings of .lI1int
and doeth thun, I will liken hÍ1Jl unto a wise 1llan, that built
his llOuse uþon a rock.J. the rain descended, the floods came, tIle
winds ble1o, a11d beat uþon that hOl/se, and it fell not, for it
was founded uþon a rock. '\Ve ought therefore to have our
footing in His words, to learn and to do all that He taught
and did. But how can he say he believes in Christ,
who does not that which Christ has bade him do? or how
come to the reward of faith, ,vho ,vill keep no faith with the
commandment? Needs must he totter and fall astray;
caught by a spirit of terror, he wiU be wafted up like dust

III

in a whirlwind; nor will his walk lead forward to salvation,
who does not hold the truth of the saving way.
2. \Ve must be warned then, dearest brethren, not only
against things open and manifest, but also against those
which deceive us, through the guile of craft and fraud.
\Vhat now can be more crafty, or what more artful, than for
this enemy, detected and downfallen by the advent of
Christ, now that light is come to the nations, and the beams
of salvation shine forth unto the health of man, that the
deaf may hear the sound of spiritual grace, the blind may
open their eyes upon God, the sick regain the strength of
an eternal healing, the lame run to church, the dumb lift
on high their voices to speak and worship, for him, thus
seeing his idols left, his seats and temples deserted by the
manifold congregation of believers, to invent the new de-
ceit, whereby to carry the incautious into error, while re-
taining the name of the Christian profession? He has made
heresies and schisms, wherewith to subvert faith, to corrupt
truth, and rend unity. Those whom he cannot detain in
the blindness of the old way, he compasses and deceives by
misleading them on their new journey. He snatches men
from out the Church itself, and while they think themselves
come to the light, and escaped from the night of this world,
he secretly gathers fresh shadows upon them; so that stand-
ing neither with the Gospel of Christ, nor with His ordi-
nances, nor with His law, they )
et call themselves Chris-
tians, walking among darkness, and thinking that they have
light; while the foe flatters and misleads, transforms him-

IV

self, according to the word of the Apostle, into an Angel of
light, and garbs his ministers like ministers of righteous-
ness: these are the maintainers of night for day, of death for
salvation, giving despair while they proffer hope, faithless-
ness clothed as faith, Antichrist under the name of Christ;
that by putting false things under an appearance of true,
they may with subtilty impede the truth.
3. This will be, most dear brethren, so long as there is
no regard to the source of truth, no looking to the Head,
nor keeping to the doctrine of our heavenly
Iaster. If
anyone consider and weigh this, he will not need length of
comment or argument. Proof is ready for belief in a short
statement of the truth. The Lord saith unto Peter, I say
unto thee, (saith He) that tholt art Peter, alld uþon this rock I
'iflltl build Jlry Church, and the gates of .EIell shall not þrevail
against it. A 11d I 'lvill give unto thee the keys of the kingdolll
of heaven, and 'lifhatsoever tholt shalt bind 011 earth, shall be
bound also in heaven, and 'lilhatsoever tholt shalt loose Oil earth,
shall be loos
d ill heaven.
ro him again, after His resurrec-
tion, He says, Fe
d My sheep. Upon him being one He
builds His Church; and though He gives to all the
\pos-
tIes an equal po\ver, and says, As .Afy Father seld fife, eZ'e//'
so send I you.; receive J'e the Holy Ghost: 'lllhosoever sins )'C
rellzit, they shall be renlÍtled to him, and 'iiJhosoever siJls ye re-
tain, they shall be retained .j-yet in order to l11anifest unity,
He has by His own authority so placed the source of the
same unity, as to begin froIl1 one. Certainly the other
Apostles also were what Peter was, endued with an equal

v

fellowship both of honour and power; but a commencement
is made from unity, that the Church may be set before us
as one; which one Church, in the Song of Songs, doth the
Holy Spirit design and name in the Person of our Lord:
My dove, lIIy sþotless one, is but one J. she is the only one of her
"lo/her, elect 0./ her that bare her.
4. He who holds not this unity of the Church, does he
think that he holds the faith? He who strives against and
resists the Church, is he assured that he is in the Church?
For the blessed Apostle Paul teaches this same thing, and
manifests the sacrament of unity thus speaking; There is
Olle BoJ.,.v, alld Olle Spirit, e'l'ell as ye are called ill One Hope of
YOllr callillg J. OJle Lord, Olle Faith, One Baptism, One God.
This unity firmly should we hold and maintain, especially
we Bishops, presiding in the Church, in order that we may
approve the Episcopate itself to be one and undivided. Let
no one cleceive the Brotherhood by falsehood; no one cor-
rupt the truth of our faith, by a faithless treachery. The
Episcopate is one; it is a whole, in which each enjoys full
possession. 'rhe Church is likewise one, though she be
spread abroad, and n1ultiplies with the increase of her pro-
geny: even as the sun has rays many, yet one light; and
the tree boughs Inany, yet its strength is one, seated in the
deep-lodged root; and as, when Inany streams flow down
fron1 one source, though a multiplicity of waters seems dif-
fused from the bountifulness oí the overflowing abundance,
unity is preserved in the source itself. Part a ray of the
sun from its orb, and its unity forbids this division of light;

VI

break a branch from the tree, once broken it can bud no
more; cut the stream from its fountain, the remnant ,vill be
dried up. Thus the Church, flooded with the light of the
Lord, puts forth her rays through the whole world, with yet
one light, which is spread upon all places, while its unity of
body is not infringed. She stretches forth her branches
over the universal earth, in the riches of plenty, and pours
abroad her bountiful and onward streams; yet is there one
head, one source, one :\fother, abundant in the results of
her fruitfulness.
5. It is of her womb that we are born; our nourishing is
from her milk, our quickening from her breath. The spouse
of Christ cannot become adulterate, she is undefiled and
chaste; owning but one home, and guarding with virtuous
modesty the sanctity of one chamber. She it is who keeps
us for God, and appoints unto the kingdom the sons she has
borne. 'Vhosoever parts company with the Church, and
joins himself to an adultress, is estranged from the promises
of the Church. He who leaves t e Church of Christ, attains
not Christ's rewards. He is an alien, an outcast, an enemy.
He can no longer have God for a Father, who has not the
Church for a Mother. If any man was able to escape, ,vho
remained without the ark of Noah, then will that man escape
who is out of doors beyond the Church. The Lord \varns
us, and says, .lIe 7t,ho Ù /lot '{,-,ith JIe Ù against ..lIe, and he
w.,ho gathc:reth /lot 'with .lift', scat/ereth. He who breaks the
peace and concord of Christ, sets himself against Christ.
He who gathers elsewhere but in the Church, scatters the

VII

Church of Christ. The Lord saith, I a1ld the Father are one;
and again of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, it is
written, and these three are olle J . and does any think, that one-
ness, thus proceeding from the divine immutability, and co-
hering in heavenly sacraments, admits of being sundered in
the Church, and split by the divorce of antagonist wins? He
who holds not this unity, holds not the law of God, holds
not the faith of Father and Son, holds not the truth unto
salvation.
6. This sacrament of unity, this bond of concord insepar-
ably cohering, is signified in the place in the Gospel, where
the coat of our Lord] esus Christ is in no-wise parted nor
cut, but is received a whole garment, by them who cast lots
who should rather wear it, and is posessed as an inviolate
and individual robe. The divine Scripture thus speaks, But
for the coat becaltse it 'was 1/ot sewed, but 'woven from the toj
throughout, they said one to another, Let us 110t rend it, but cast
lots 'whose it shall be. It has with it a unity descending from
above, as coming, that is, from heaven and from the Father;
which it was not for the receiver and owner in any wise to
sunder, but which he received once for all and indivisibly
as one unbroken whole. He cannot own Christ's garment
,vho splits and divides Christ's Church. On the other hand,
when, on Solomon's death, his kingdom and people ,vere
split in parts, Abijah the Prophet, meeting king Jeroboam
in the field, rent his garment into twelve pieces, saying,
Take thee ten þÙces, for thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will
rend the kiJlgdo1l1 out of the hand of Solomom, a11d 'will give

VIII

tell tribes u1110 thee J. and two tribes shall be to lzi1l1, for lilY ser-
vant David's sake, and for Jerusalelll, the city whicll I have
chosen to þlace lIfy Nallte there. '\Vhen the twelve tribes of
Israel were torn asunder, the" Prophet Abijah rent his gar-
ment. But because Christ's people cannot be rent, His coat,
,voven and conjoined throughout, was not divided by those
it fell to. Individual, conjoined, coentwined, it shews the
coherent concord of our people who put on Christ. In the
sacralnent and sign of His garment, He has declared the
unity of his Church.
7. Who then is the crilninal and traitor, who so inflamed
by the madness of discord, as to think aught can rend, or
to venture on rending, God's unity, the Lord's garment,
Christ's Church? He Himself warns us in His Gospel,
and teaches, saying, And there shall be olle flock, and one
Shepherd. And does any think that there can in one place
be either many shepherds, or many flocks? The Apostle
Paul likewise, intimating the same unity, solemnly exhorts,
I beseech )'0/1, brethren, by the Nallie of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that ye all sþeak the Sll1l1e thillg, and that there be 110 schislllS
a111011g )'011 J. but that ye be joilled together ill the Sa1Jle lnind, and
and in the sanle judg111ellt. And again he says, Forbearing
olle another in love.; endeavorillg to keep the unity of the Spirit
ill the bOlld of þeace. Think you that any can stand and
live, who withdraws from the Church and forms himself a
new home, and a different dwelling? Whereas it was said
to Rahab, in whom was prefigured the Church, Th.y father,
and thy IJlofher, and thy brethren, and all the hOllse of th}'

IX

father, tho1/, shalt gather unto thee into thine house.j and
it shall conte to þass, 1()hosoever shall go abroad beyond the
door of thÙte hOllse, his blood shall be on his ()'wn head. And
likewise the sacrament of the Passover doth require just
this in the law of Exodus, that the lamb which is slain for a
figure of Christ, should be eaten in one house. God speaks
and says, In Olle holtse shall ye eat it.j )'e shall not send its flesh
abroad frol1l the hOllse. The Flesh of Christ, and the Ho
y
Thing of the Lord, cannot be sent abroad; and believers
have not any dwelling but the Church only. This dwelling,
this hostelry of unanimity, the Holy Spirit designs and be-
tokens in the Psalms, thus saying, God 'who lIlaketlt men to
d1vell with one 1IlÙld ill all house. In the house of God, in
the Church of Christ, men dwell with one mind, in concord
and singleness enduring.
8. For this cause the Holy Spirit caIne in the form of a
dove: a simple and pleasant creature, with no bitterness of
gall, no fierceness of bite, no violence of rending talons:
loving the houses of n1en, consorting within one home, each
pair nurturing their young together, when they fly abroad
hanging side by side upon the wing, leading their life in
mutual intercourse, giving with the bill the kiss of peace in
agreement, and fulfiling a law of unanimity, in every way.
This singleness of heart must be found, this habit of love
be attained to in the Church; brotherly affection must make
doves its pattern, gentleness and kindness must emulate
lambs and sheep. What doth the savageness of wolves, in
a Christian breast? or the fierceness of dogs, or the deadJy

x

poison of serpents, or the cruel fury of wild beasts? 'Ve
must be thankful when such become separate from the
Church, that so their fierce and poisoned contagion may not
cause a havoc among the doves and sheep of Christ ; there
cannot be fellowship and union of bitter with sweet, dark-
ness with light, foul ,veather ,vith fair, war with peace,
famine with plenty, drought with fountains, or storm with
calm.
9. Let no one think that they can be good men, ,vho leave
the Church. 'Vind does not take the wheat, nor do storms
overthrow the tree that has a solid root to rest on. It is
the light straw that the tempest tosses, it is trees emptied
of their strength that the blow of the whirlwind strike down.
These the Apostle John curses and smites, saying, They
'lfJellt forth fro1Jl US.j but they were 1lOt of us.,. for if they had
been of us surely they 'lllouid have re111aÍ1zcd with us. Thus is
it that heresies both often have been caused, and still
continue; while the perverted mind is estranged from peace,
and unity is lost amongst the faithless discord. N everthe-
less, the Lord permits and suffers these things to be,
preserving the power of choice to individual free-will, in
order that while the discrimination of truth is a test of our
hearts and minds, the perfect faith of them that are ap-
proved may shine forth in the n1anifest light. The Holy
Spirit admonishes us by the Apostle and says, It is needful
also that heresies should be, that they 1i.'hich are aþþroved 1/la)'
be 1Ilade ?/lallifest a1Jlollg you. Thus are the faithful approved,
thus the false detected; thus even here, before the day of

XI

judgment, the souls of the righteous and unrighteous are
divided, the chaff separated from the wheat.
10. These are they who, with no appointment from God,
take upon them of their own will to preside over the presump-
tuous persons they have brought together, establish themselves
as rulers without any lawful rite or ordination,and assume the
name of Bishop, though no man gives them a Bishopric.
These the Holy Spirit in the Psalms describes, as sitting in
the seat of pestilence, a plague and infection of the faith, deceiv-
ing with the mouth of a serpent, cunning to corrupt truth,
vomiting out deadly poisons from pestilential tongues.
'Vhose words spread as doth a callker: whose writings pour
a deadly poison into men's breast and hearts. Against such
the Lord cries out; from these he curbs and recalls His
straying people, saying, Hearkell 110t ZOltO the words
of the Prophets 'which prophesy falsely, for the vision of
their heart 1Jlaketh them vain. They speak, but not out
of the mouth of the Lord.; they say to those 'll./ho cast away
the 'lRlord of God, Ye shall have peace.}. alld el'ery one
that 'lüalketh aftrr the imagination of his 011/11 heart, 110 evil
shall come uþon him. I have not spoken to them, )'et they proPh-
esied.}. if they had stood Í1l 11lY substance alld heard My words,
and taught My þeople, I 'lllOuld have turned thel1l fro1J1 their evil
thoughts. These same persons the Lord designs and signi-
fies, saying, They have forsake", Me, the fOllntaill of livi11g
'll.1ater, alld he'l1Jed thC1Jl out brok,; 1 cisterns, that call hold no
'loafer. While there can be no Baptism save one only, they
think that they can baptize. They forsake the fountain of

XII

life, yet promise the gift of a vital and saving water. Men
are not cleansed by then1, but rather made foul; nor their
sins purged away, but even heaped up: it is a birth that
gives children not to God, but to the Devil. Born by a lie,
they cannot receive the promises of truth. Gendered of
misbelief, they lose the grace of faith. They cannot come
to the reward of peace, ..because they have destroyed the
peace of the Lord, in reckless discord.
I I. Neither let certain persons beguile themselves by a
vain interpretation, in that the Lord hath said, IVheresoever
f'wo or tllree are gatllered together in .Afy Na1lle, I alll 'lvith
them. Those who corrupt and falsely interpret the Gospel,
lay down what follows, but omit what goes before; giving
heed to part, while part they deceitfully suppress; as them-
selves are sundered from the Church, so they divide the
purport of what is one passage. For when the Lord was
impressing agreement and peace upon His Disciples, He
said, I say unto )'Olt, that if t100 of )'Oft shall agree on earth,
tOllching any thing that he shall ask, it shall be given you by
.Afy Father 'lvhicll is ill heavell. For whercsoez'er two or three
sllall be gathered together in .L1Iy N anle, I aln 'lvith the"l.
Shewing that most is given, not to the many in number
when they pray, but to oneness of heart. If, He saith, two
of you shall agl ee together OIl et rill.; He places agreement
first; hearts at peace are the first condition; He teaches
that we must agree together faithfully and firmly. Yet how
can he be said to be at agreement with other, who is at dis-
agreement with the body of the Church itself, and with the

XIII

universal brotherhood? How can two or three be gathered
together in Christ's name, who are manifestly separate froln
Christ and fronl IIis Gospel? 'Ve did not go out from
thenl, but they went out from us. And whereas heresies
and schisnls have a later rise, frOln men's setting up separate
meetings for worship, they have left the fountain head and
origin of truth. But it is of IIis Church, that the Lord is
speaking; and in respect of those who are in His Church,
lIe s
ys, that if they are of one Inind, if according to what
he bade and admonished, two or tþree though they be, they
gather together with agreelnent of the heart; then (though
but two or three) they will be able to obtain from the
majesty of God the things which they asked for. TVherez'er
(1C'0 or three are gathered together ill llIj' Nal/le I, saith He,

'J! 'with them: that is ,vith the single-hearted, and them
that live in peace, fearing God and keeping his command-
ments. "\Vith these though they be two or three, He has
saiJ that lIe is. So was He with the Three Children in the
fiery furnace: and because they continued in singleness of
heart toward God, and at unity with themselves, He re-
freshed then1 in the midst of the encircling flames ,vith
the breath (Jf dC'Zo. So too was He present when the two
_.o\postles who were shut in prison, because they continued in
singleness and agreement of heart; and undoing the prison-
bolts, He placed them again in the market-pl
ce, that they
might deliver to the multitude tÌl.1t ,V ord which they were
faithfully preaching. 'Vhen therefore He sets it forth in
His comnlandment, and says, Trhere 11(10 or three are

XIV

gathered tùge/her lil AIj' Name, I am 7oÙ'h thClIl, He does not
divide men frOll1 the Church, Himself the institutor and
maker of it, but rebuking the faithless for their discord, and
by His voice cOlnmcnding peace to the faithful, He shews
that He is Inore present ,vith two or three which pray with
one heart, than ,vith many persons disunited from one
another; and that more can be obtained by the agreeing
prayer of a few persons, than from the petitioning of many
where discord is amongst them. For this cause when He
gave the rule of prayer, He added, IV"hell ye stand þra)'ing,
forgive if J'C ha'i'c ollght against allY, that J'our Father also
'lohich is ill hea7}eJl l/lay fOJxivc )'0/1 )'Ollr tressþasses.J. and one
\vho comes to the Sacrifice with a quarrel He calls back
from the altar, and commands Him first to be reC01lciled with
his brother, and then, when he is at peace, to return, and
offer his gift to God; for neither had God respect unto
Cain's offering; for he could not have God at peace with
. him, who through envy and discord was not at peace with
his brother.
12. Of what peace then are they to assure themselves,
who are at enmity \vith the brethren? 'Vhat Sacrifice do
they believe they celebrate, who are rivals of the Priests?
Think they Christ is still in the midst of them when gath-
ered together, though gathered beyond Christ's Church? If
such men were even killed for confession of the Christian
N arne, not even by their blood is this stain washed out. In-
expiable and heavy is the sin of discord, and is purged by
no suffering. He cannot be a NIartyr, who is not in the

xv

Church; he can never attain to the kingdom, who leaves
her, with whom the kingdom shall be. Christ gave us
peace; He bade us be of one heart and one mind; He com-
manded that the covenant of affection and charity should
be kept unbroken and inviolate; he cannot shew himself as
a Martyr, who has not kept the love of the brotherhood.
The Apostle Paul teaches this, thus witnessing; And though
I have faith, so that I call relllO'Z)e JJlOUlltaills, and Ilave not
charity, I allt /lothing: and though I give alllJty goods to feed
the poor, and though I give 1Jty body to be burned, and ha'Z)e 110t
charifJ', it profiteth llle nothillg. Charity suffereth long and is
killd.; charity l'ILZ,ieth ?lot, charity acteth 110t vaÙlly, is not puffed
lIþ, Ij
?lot easily provoked, thinketh 110 evil
. is Pleased with all
things, believeth all things, 110þeth all thÙzgs, endureth all things.;
charity nez'er faile/h. Charity, he saith, never faileth.J. for
she will reign for ever, she will abide evermore in the unity
of a brotherhood which entwines itself around her. In the
kingdom of heaven discord cannot enter; it cannot gain the
reward of Christ who said, This is iffy commandment, that )'e
IOl'e olle aJ/other, as I have 10'l'ed )'ou. It will never be his to
belong to Christ, who has violated the love of Christ by un-
faithful dissension. He who has not love, has not God. It
is the word of the blessed Apostle John, God, saith he, is
10l)e.J. alld he that d1i:.'elleth ill lo've, ézüelleth Í/l God, and God ill
lzim. They cannot dwell with God, who have refused to be
of one mind in God's Church; though they be given over
to be burnt in flame and fire, or yield their lives a prey to
wild beasts, theirs will not be the crown of faith, but the

ì tlA" y 1. MARyì S èõiiËG

XVI

penalty of unfaithfulness; not the glorious issue of dutiful
valour, but the death of despair. A man of such sort may
indeed be killed, crowned he cannot be.
13. He professes himself a christian after the manner In
which the Devil oftentimes feigns himself to be Christ, as
the Lord himself forwarns us, saying, JIll1!)' shall CONIC in 11!)'
Nal1le, sa.,villg, I aJll Chris, and shall deceiz'e 1Jlan,Y. No more
than he is Christ, though he deceive beneath His Name,
can he be looked upon as a Christian, who does not abide
in the truth of His Gospel and of faith. To prophesy, to
cast out devils, to perform great miracles on earth, is a high,
doubtless, and a wonderful thing; yet the man ,vho is found
in all these things attains not to the heavenly kingdom, un-
less he walk in an observance of the straight and righteous
,yay. The Lord speaks this denunciation; .JIa1!)' shall Slry
to .JIe in that da)', Lord, Lord, ha'l1C 'lc/e /lot proPhesied ill Th.y
Na1Jle done /Jla/!)' 'li'onder.flll 'It.'orks? And thell 'wzïl I þro.fess
unto thcm, I 1Ie'l'er klle'lf.J you.J. deþart .from .LlIe, ye that 'work
iJ1iq u it),. Righteousness is the thing needful, before anyone
can find grace with God the Judge. \Ve must obey his in-
structions and warnings, in order that our deserts may
receive their reward. 'Vhen the Lord in the Gospel \vould
direct the path of our hope and faith in a summary of
words; The Lord th)' God, He s3ith, is O/le: alltl thol shall
love the Lord th)' God'lf.'ith all thy heart, (lilt! '[(lith all th)' sOIlI,
alld 7c,ith all tit)' strengtll. This is the first C01111/111IUb/lellt.J. alld
the second is like U11tO it.J. Tholl shall loz'c thy 1leighbour as
th)'sclf. Oil these I'lfIO co IJlIn a /ldments hangs all the La7(1s and

XVII

the Prophets. Unity and love. together IS the instruction
which He teaches us; in two commandments He has in-
cluded all the Prophets and the L3.w. Yet what unity does
he keep, ,vhat love does he either maintain, or have a
thought for, who, maddened by the heat of discord, rends
the Church, pulls down faith, troubles peace, scatters char-
ity, profanes the sacrament?
14. This mischief, dearest brethren, had long before begun,
but in these days the dire havoc of this same evil has been
gaining growth, and the envenomed pest of heretical per-
verseness and of schisms is shooting up and sprouting
afresh; for thus must it be in the end uf the world, the
Holy Spirit h3.ving forespoken by the Apostle, and fore-
warned us. III the last days, saith I-Ie, perilolls times shall
come, for men shall be 1000fers of their 01011 selves, proud, boast-
e
s, cO'l'etous, blasphemers, disobedie1lt to parellts, unthankful,
unh00', 1(Izthout natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers,
Ï1/continent, fierce, despisers of the good, traitors, head)', high
minded, lovers of pleasures 1Jlore thall IOl'ers of God, havi1lg a
for1l1 of godliness, but dozying the pOliter thereof. Of tlds sort
are they which creep i1lto hOllses, and lead captit:e silf;' li10meJl
lade1l ulith sins, led aUIay 'lvith dà/ers lllsts./ ez'er learlling, alld
/lever coming to the knowledge of the truth. l\
01(1 as Ja1l1lleS
and _1falnbres 'loithstood .l.lfoses, so do these also resist the truth.}'
me1l of corrupt 1Jlinds, reprobate cOllcernillg the faith.}. but the)'
shall þroceed no further, for the/r- folly shall be 1"allifcst UlltO
all mOL, as theirs also 'li'as. 'Vhatever things were predicted,
are in fulfilment; and, as the end of time draws nigh, the)"

XVIII

have come to us in trial both of men and tilnes. As the
adversary rages more and more, error deceives, haughtines

lifts aloft, envy inflames, covetousness blinds, unholiness
depraves, pride puffs up, quarrels embitter, and anger
hurries men headlong. Let not however the extreme and
headlong faithlessness of many move and disturb us, but
rather let it give support to our faith, as the event was ùe-
clared to us beforehand. As some have become such, be-
cause this was foretold beforehand, so (because this too was
foretold beforehand) let the other brethren take heed against
them, according as the Lord instructs us and says, But take
ye heed
. behold, I haz'e told )'Olt all things. 1)0 ye avoid such
n1en, I beseech you, and put away from beside you, and
from your hearing, their pernicious converse, as though a
deadly contagion; as it is written, Hedge thine
ars about
'li,ith thorns and refuse to hear a ulicked tongue. And again,
EZIlI cOJJl1nunicatiollS corrl/pt good l!lallllers. The Lord
teaches and warns us, that ,ve must withdraw ourselves
from such. Thty be blind, saith He, leaders of the bliJld
. and
if the bli1ld lead the blind, botll shall fall into the ditch. \Vho-
soever is separated from the Church, such a man is to be
avoided and fled from. Such alt one is subverted and sÙlneth,
being conde1Jl1zed of hÍ111self. Thinks he that he is with
Christ, ,vho does counter to _he Priests of Christ? who
separates himself from the fellowship of His clergy and
people? That man bears arms against the Church, he with-
stands God's appointment; an enemy to the altar, a rebel
against the Sacrifice of Christ, for faith perfidious, for

XIX

religion sacrilegious, a servant not obedient, a son not pious,
a brother not loving, setting Bishops at nought, and desert-
ing the Priests of God, he dares to build another altar, to
offer another prayer with unlicensed words, to profane by
false sacrifices the truth of the Lord's Sacrifice. He is not
permitted to a knowledge of what he does, since he who strives
against the appointment of God, is punished by the divine
censure, for the boldness of his daring.
IS. Thus Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, who endeavoured
to maintain to themselves the privilege of sacrificing, in op-
position to l\Ioses and .A.aron the Priest, forthwith paid
penalty for their attempts. The earth burst its fastenings,
and opened the depth of its bosom; standing and alive, the
guilt of the parting ground swallowed them. Nor those only
who had been movers, did the wrath of an angered God
strike; but the two hundred and fifty besides, partakers and
companions of the same madness, who had mixed with them
in their bold work, a fire going out from the Lord with
speedy vengeance consumed; warning and manifesting, that
that is done against God, whatsoever evil men of human
will endeavour, for the pulling down of God's ordinance.
Thus also Uzziah the king who bare the censer, and con-
trary to God's law, did by violence take to himself to
sacrifice, refusing to be obedient and to give way when
Azariah the Priest withstood him, he being confounded by
the wrath of God, was polluted by the spot of leprosy upon
his forehead ; in that part of his body was marked by his
offended Lord, where they are marke
who have the grace

xx

of the Lord assigned them. The sons of Aaron also who
put strange fire upon the altar, which the Lord had not
commanded, were speedily consumed in the presence of
their avenging Lord. All such are imitated and followed
by them, who, despising God's tradition, lust for strange
doctrines, and give inlet to ordinances of human imposition;
these the Lord rebukes and reproves in I-lis Gospel, thus
saying, JTe reject the COllilllal/dlJlellt of God, that J.e 111ay
establish your O'l('n traditioJl.
16. This crime is worse, than that ,vhich the lapsed ap-
pear to commit; who, at least, when in the condition of
penitents for their offence, seek their peace with God, by
full satisfactions. In this case the Church is enquired after
and applied to; in the other the Church is resisted: here
there may have been compulsion in guilt; there free choice
is involved: the lapsed harms only himself, but one who
undertakes to raise heresy and schism, is a deceiver of
many, by leading them along ,vith him. The one both un-
derstands that he has sinned, and laments and mourns it ;
the other, puffed up in its wickedness, and finding pleasure
in his own offences, separates sons from the Mother, entices
sheep from their shepherd, and disturbs the Sacraments of
God. And whereas the lapsed has committed one offence,
the other is an offender every (:ay: lastly, the lapsed, if he
be admitted to n1artyrdom afterwards, may reap the prom-
ises of the kingdom; the other 1 if he be killed out of the
Church, cannot attain to the Church's rewards.
17. Neither let anyone ,vonder, dearest brethren, that

XXI

sonle, even from among Confessors, adventure thus far:
that even fronl among them there are those who sin thus
greatly, and thus grievously. Confession does not make a
man safe from the crafts of the Devil, nor, while he is still
placed in this world, encompass him with perpetual security
against its temptations, and dangers, and assaults, and
shocks; were it so, we should never witness in Confessors
those after commissions of fraud, fornication, and adultery,
which we now groan and grieve at seeing in some of them.
'Vhosoever any Confessor may be, he is not a greater man
than Solomon, nor a better, nor one more dear to God:
who, nevertheless, so long as he walked in the ways of the
Lord, continued to be gifted with that grace which from
the Lord he obtained; but when he deserted the way of the
Lord, he lost the Lord's grace; as it is written, And the
Lord raised up the Adz'ersary against Solo/noll. It is for this
cause written, Hold that fast 'which thou hast, that no Juan
take thy Cr01i/1l. This the Lord would not threaten, that the
crown of righteousness can be taken away, except becatise
when righteousness goes from us, the crown must go frorn
us also. Confession is the beginning of glory, not the full
price of the crown; it is not the perfection of our praise,
but the entrance upon our honour: and whereas it is writ-
ten, He that elldureth to the elld shall be saved, all that is be-
fore the end, is the stepping whereby one mounts toward
the height of salvation, not t 1 le close at where the full
summit is gained. If any is a Confessor, then his danger IS
the greater'after confession, because the Adversary is lnore

XXII

provoked; if he is a Confessor, he ought the l110re truly to
stand with the G-ospel of the Lord, since through the Gospel
he has gained his glory from the Lord: for the
ord says,
To 7f,holl1 II/lich is gÏ7.1(,1l, of hÙII shall IllllCh be required.; and to
'll1hOIlI lIlfJre d(!{1lÍ
Y is ascrib('d, oj' hÍ1n 1110re s('r7.'ice is exacted.
Let none ever perish through a Confessor's example; let
none learn injustice, insolence, or misbelief, from the man-
ners of a Confessor. If he is a Confessor, let him be humble
and quiet; let hin1 exercise in his conduct the modesty of a
disciplined st3.te, and being called a Confessor of Christ, let
him imitate Christ whom he confesses. For since He says
,
IVhosoC'lJer shall e
'\'alt hillls('lj'shall be abased, and he that shall
11IJJllbie híl11selj' shall be exalted". and since Himself has been
exalted by the Father, because being the Word, and Power,
and Wisdom of God the Father, He humbled Hitnself upon
earth, how can He love exaltation, having both commanded
humility from us by His la\v, and I--lirnself received from the
Father a most excellent Name, as a rewarù of His humilia-
tion? If any is a Confessor of Christ, he is such no more, if
the majesty and dignity of Christ is afterwards blasphemed
through him. The tongue that has confessed Christ, must
not speak evil only, not be clamorous, not be heard dinning
with reproaches and quarrels, nor, after words of worship,
dart serpent's poison against the Brethern and Priests of
God. But if a man afterwards becomes guilty and hateful,
if he is ,vasteful of his confession by an evil conversation,
and blots his Iife by a vile unholiness; if, in fine, deserting
that Church in which he had become a Confessor, and rend-

XXIII

ing the concord of unity, he transforms what was faith
before, into faithlessness afterwards, he must 110t flatter
himself on the score of his Confession, that he is one elected
to the reward of Glory, since the desert of punishment is
rendered greater on this ground; for the Lord chose Judas
among the Apostles, and yet Judas afterwards betrayed the.
.
Lord.
18. The faith and finllness of the Apostles did not there-
upon fall, because the traitor Judas was a deserter from
their fellowship; and thus neither here is the sanctity and
dignity of Confessors forthwith inlpaired, because the faith
of certain of them is broken. The blessed Apostle in his
Epistle thus speaks; For 10hat if SOllle did ?lot believe? shall
their unbelief make the faith of God 'without effect 7 God for-
bid: )'ea, let God be true, but every 1/lall a liar. The larger
and better part of the Confessors stands in the strength of
their faith, and in the truth of the law and discipline of the
Lord. Neither do they depart from the peace of the Church,
who bear in tuind that in the Church they gained grace
fro In God's bounty; but hereby they reach a higher praise
of faith, because that separating from the faithlessness of
persons, who were fellows with them in Confession, they
withdrew froin the contagion of guilt; and illuminated by
the true light of the Gospel, overshone with pure and white
brightness of the Lord, they have praise in keeping Christ's
peace, not less than their victory,. in combating the Devil.
19. It is Iny desire, dearest brethren, it is the end both
of illY endeavours and exhortations, that, if it be possible,

XXIV

no one of the Brethren Inay perish, but our rejoIcIng Motner
Inay fold within her bosom the one body of a people agree-
ing together: but if saving counsel cannot recal to the way
of salvation certain leaders of schisms and authors of dis-
sensions, who abide on in their blind and obstinate mad-
;1ess, yet do the rest of you who are either betrayed through
simplicity, or drawn on by èrror, or deceived through some.
artfulness of a cunning craftiness, release yourselves from
the toils of deceitfulness, free your wayward steps from
their wanderings, submit to that straight path which leads
to heaven! It is the word of the Apostle uttering witness;
TVe c01n1Jla1zd )'011, he says, in the .J.Va111e of our Lord Jesus
Christ, that )'e 1iJithdra'lf. I yourselves fronl every brother that
1R.Jalketh disorder!.;', a11d /lot after the traditio1l he hath received
froNl us. And again he says, Let no 1JZan deceive you 'If.lith
1'ain 'luords J' for because of these things c01Jzeth the 'lDrath of
God uþon the childrell of disolxdiellce. Be 1l0t ye therefore
partakers 'lulïh the111. 'Ve must ,vithdra\v from them that go
astray, nay rather must flee from them, lest any joining
hiItlself \vith those ,vho \valk evily, and going in ways of
error and guilt, should himself lose the true path, and be
found in an equal guilt. There is One God, and One
Christ, and His Church One, and the Faith One, and a
people joined in solid oneness of body by a cementing con-
cord. Unity cannot be sundered, nor can one body be
divided by a dissolution of its structure, nor be cast peace-
meal abroad with vitals torn and lacerated. Parted from
the womb, nothing can live and breathe in its separated

xxv

state; it loses its principle of health. The Holy Spirit
warns us and says, lT 7 hat 1/UlIl is he that lusteth to lizJe, and
7vould fain see good days I Refraill thy tongue fr01/l evil, and
thy lips that they sþeak 110 guile. Esche1c' evz1 and do good,
seek þeace and ensue it. Peace ought the son of peace
to seek and ensue; he who understands and cherishes the
bond of charity, should refrain his tongue from the evil of
dissent. Amongst His divine commands and saving instruc-
tions, the Lord now nigh to passion spoke this beside ;
Peace I leave with you, .AIy þeace I give 1I,"zto you. This is the
legacy which Christ has given us; all the gifts and re,vards
which He foretokens to us, lIe promises to the preserving of
peace. If we are Christ's heirs, let us abide in the peace of
Christ; if we are sons of God we ought to be peacemakers;
Bkssed, He says, are the þeaceJ1/akers, for they shall be called
the SOilS of God. The sons of God ought to be peacemakers,
mild in heart, simple in words, agreed in feelings, faithfully
entwining one with another by links of unanimity. Under
the Apostles of old there was this oneness of mind ; it was
thus that the new congregation of believers, keeping the
commandments of the Laid, preserved its charity. Divine
Scripture proves it, which says, The Jlutltitude of the111 that
belie'i'ed'li.'ere of olle heart alld of olle sOIlI: and again; These
all cOlltillued 'with olle milld ill þrayer 'lI.,ith the 7001JZell, alld
JIll})' the llIother of Jesus, alld 1..,ith His brethren. There-
fore they prayed with effectual prayers, and were with
confidence enabled to obtain whatsoever they required of
the Lord's mercy.

XXVI

20. But in us unanimity has as greatly fallen away, as has
bountifulness in works of charity decayed. Then they gave
houses and lands for sale, and laying up for themselves
treasures in heaven, offered the price to the
\.postles to be
distributed for the uses of the needy. But now we give not
even the tithes from our property, and \vhile the Lord bids
us to sell, we rather buy and .heap up. It is thus that the
vigour of our faith has \vaxed faint, and the strength of the
believers has languished; and hence the Lord, looking to
our times, says in His Gospel, IT
hell the SOil of Mall
conteth, shall He find faith Oil the earth? 'Ve see come to pass
that which He foretold. In the fear of God, in the law of
righteousness, in love, in good ,vorks, our faith is nought.
No man fronl fear of things to come, gives heed to the day
of the Lord and the anger of God ; none considers the pun-
ishments which will come on the unbelieving, and the
eternal torments to the faithless. 'Vhat our conscience
would fear if it believed, that, because nowise believing, it
fear not: if it believed, it would take heed; if it took heed,
it would escape. Let us awaken ourselves, dearest brethren,
what we can, and breaking off the slumbers of our slothful-
ness, let us be watching, for observance and fulfilment of
the Lord's commands. Let us be such as He bade us be
when He said, Let your 10iJls be girdt-d about, and your la11lþs
bur/zings and )'e yourseh 1 es like Ul1to to 1/zen that wait for their
Lord, whell He will return, froJJl the wedding, that whe1l He
conletlt and knocketh, they 1JZay oþell unto Hinz: blessed are
those scrZ 1 al1ts, 74JhOlJl their Lord, 7(.'hen He cometh shall find

XXVII

'lva/ching. \Ve need not be girded about, lest when the day
of march cometh, He find us hindered and itnpeded. Let
our light shine in good works, let it so beam forth, as to be
our guide out of this night below, into the brightness of
eternal day. Let us ever in anxiety and cautiousness be
awaiting the sudden advent of the Lord, that when He
knocketh our faith may be on the watch, and gain from the
Lord the reward of its watchfulness. If these command-
ments be observed, if these warnings and precepts are kept,
we can never be overtaken in slumber by the deceit of the
Devil, but shall reign, as servants who watch, in the king-
dom of Christ.

II.

ST. CYRIL.

CATFCHETICAL LECTURE 1&

"The Faith which we rehearse contains in order the fol-
lowing, 'And in one Baptism of repentance for the remis-
sion of sin; and in one Holy Catholic Church; and in the
resurrection of the flesh; and in eternal life.' Now of
Baptism and repentance I have spoken in the foregoing
Lectures; and my present remarks concerning the resur-
rection of the dead have been made with reference to the
Article, ' In the resurrection of the flesh. ' Now then let me
finish what remains to be said, in consequence of the Article,

XXVIII

'In one Holy Catholic Church,' on which, though one
might say many things, ,ve will speak but briefly.
N ow it is called Catholic because it is throughout the
world, from one end of the earth to the other; and because
it teaches universally and completely one and all the
doctrines which ought to come to men's knowledge, concern-
ing things both visible and invisible, heavenly and earthly;
and because it subjugates in order to godliness every class
of men, governors and governed, learned and unlearned;
and because it universally treats and heals every sort of sins,
which are comlnitted by soul or body, and possesses in itself
every form of virtue which is named, both in deeds and
words, and in every kind of spiLtual gifts.
And it is rightly nalned Chlh.ch, because it calls forth and
assembles together an men; according as the Lord says in
Leviticus, Alld llsseJJlble thou all the cOJ/gregatioll to the doors
of the tabernllcle Of'lilil1zess. And it is to be noted, that the
word asseJllble, is used for the first time in the Scriptures
here, at the time when the Lord puts Aaron into the High-
priesthood. And in Deuteronomy the Lord says to
loses,
Asselnble to .Jfe the þeople, and I l(111l 1Ilake tkoll hear .Afy
'lfJOl ds, that thc)' shall !carll to fcar lilt. And he again men-
tions the name of the Church, when he says concerning the
Tables, A Iltl Oil thelll 'l(.!llS 'lorjttellllccordjllg to all the 'words 'b.,hich
the Lord spake 'Z(,ith )'011 ill the mOllllt of the midst of the fire ill
the da)' of the ASSC1l1bly.J' as if he had said more plainly, in the
day in \vhich ye ,vere called and gathered together by God.
.ånd the Psalmist says, I1(,ill gÙ-,c Thee tha Ilks ill the great
Asst'lllbl.J'.J. I will þraise Thee aJllOllg 'JJllich people.

XXIX

Of old the Psalmist sung, Bless ye God ill the Chlln,-h, even
thc Lord, from the fouJltaill of Israel. But since the Jews
for their evil designs against the Saviour have been cast
away from grace, the Saviour has built out of the Gentiles a
second Holy Church, the Church of us Christians, concern-
ing which He said to Peter, .And uþoll this rock I10ill build
A(v Church, aJld the Kates of hell shall I/ot þre'l'ail against it.
And David prophesying of both, said plainly of the first
which was rejected, I ha.l'c hated the Church of the evil doers.;
but of the second which is built up he says in the same
Psalm, Lord, I ha7'e lOl'ed the hal1itatioll of Thille house
. and
immediately afterwards, III the Churches 'will I bless the Lord
'
F or now that the one Church in J udæa is cast off, the
Churches of Christ are increased throughout the world; and
of them it is said, Sillg UlltO the Lord a I/{'W song, alld His
praise Ùl the Church of the Saints. Agreeably to which the
Prophet also said to the Jews, I haz'e 110 þleasure ill you saith
the Lord of I-Iosts
' and immediately afterwards, For fro111
the rising of the SUIt even unto the goi1lg d01011 of the same, My
11ame shall be great among the Gentiles. Concerning this
Holy Catholic Church Paul writes to Timothy, That thou
1Jlayest kllo7.o ho'w thou o/l.ghtest to beha'lJe thyself ill the house of
God, which is the Church of the /i'l/ing God, the pillar and
ground of the truth.
But since the word Church or Assembly is applied to
different things, (as also it is written of the multitude in the
theatre of the Ephesians, And 10hell he had thus sþoken, he
dismissed the Asse1l1blJ', and since one might properly and

xxx

truly say that there is a Church of the evil doers, I mean the
meeting of the heretics, the Marcionists and Manichees, and
the rest) the Faith has delivered to thee by ,vayof security
the Article, , And in One Holy Catholic Church; , that thou
mayest avoid their wretched Ineetings, and ever abide with
the Holy Church Catholic in which thou wast regenerated.
And if ever thou art sojoorning in any city, inquire not
simply where the Lord's House is, (for the sects of the pro-
fane also make an attempt to call their own dens, houses of
the Lord), nor merely \vhere the Church is, but where is the
Catholic Church. For this is the peculiar nanle of this Holy
Body, the mother of us all, which is the spouse of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the Only-begotten Son of God, (for it is writ..
ten, A.r Chrisl a/so loz'üllhe Church, aud gave Himself for ii,
and ali the rest), and is a figure and copy of Jerusalem
above, 'l(lhich is free, and the Iltolhel of us all.; ,vhich before
barren, but now has many children.
For when the first Church was cast off, God, ill the second,
which is the Catholic Church, hath set first Aþostles, second-
arily ProPhets, thirdly tt:llchers, after that Illiracles, then gifts
0/ Jzealillgs, helps, gO'i'Crll1/lclits, diversities of tongucs, and
every sort of virtue; I mean wisdom and understanding,
temperance and justice, alms-doing and loving-kindness, and
patience unconquerable in persecutions. She, by the arllloltr
0/ righteousness Oil the right hand alld 011 the left, by honour
.
alld dishollour, in former days amid persecutions and tribu-
13tion5 crowned the holy martyrs with the varied and
bloon1Ïng chaplets of patience, and now in times of pC;lce

XXXI

by God's grace receives her due honours from pri:.1ces and
nobles, and from every rank and kindred of man. And
while the kings of particular nations have bounds set to their
dominion, the Holy Church Catholic alone extends her
illimitable sovereignty over the whole world ; for God, as it
IS written, hath 1/lade her border þeace. But I should need
many more hours for my discourse, would I speak of all
things which concern her.
In this Holy Catholic Church receivIng instruction and
behaving ourselves virtuously, we shall attain the kingdolD of
heaven, and inherit eternal1ife; for which also we endure
all toils, that we may be made partakers of it from the Lord.
For ours is no trifling aim; eternal life is our object of
pursuit. "

III.

ST. PACIAN.

ON THE CATHOLIC N A:\IE.

Pacia1l to S)'JIzþro71ia7l his brother, greeting.

I. If it be not a carnal intention, my lord, but as I judge,
a calling of the Spirit, that thou enquirest of us the faith of
the Catholic yerity, thou, before all, taking thy rise as far as
appears; from a streamlet at a å
stance, and not holding to
the fountain and source of the principal Church, shouldest,
in the first instance, have shewn what or how different are

XXXII

the opinions which thou followest. Thou shouldest unfold
thyself as to what cause more particularly had loosened thee
from the unIty of our body. For those parts, for which a
remedy is sought, should be laid bare. 'Vhereas now (if
I n1ay so say) the bosom of correspondence being closed,
we see not on what Inembers more especially we have to
bestow our care. For sucþ are the heresies which have
sprung forth froln the Christian head, that of the mere
names the roll would be immense. F or to pass over the
heretics of the Jews, Dositheus the Samaratan, the Sad-
ducees, and the Pharisees, it were long to enumerate how
many grew up in the times of the Apostles, Simon l\fagus

and
Ienander, and Nicolaus, and others hIdden by an in-
glorious fame. ''''hat again in later times were Elbion, and
.Apelles, and 1Iarcion, and \r alentinus, and Cerdon, and not
long after them, the Cataphrygians, and N ovatlans, not to
notice any recent swarms!
2. '\Vhom then in my letters must I first refute? W ould-
est thou the mere nan1es of all, my paper wIll not contain
them; unless indeed by your writings every way condem-
natory of penance you declare your agreement with the
Phrygíans. But, most illustrious Lord, so manifold and so
diverse is the error of these very nlen, that in them we have
not only to overthrow their peculiar fancies against pen-
ance but to cut off the heads, as it were, of some Lernæan
Inonstcr. A.nd, in the first place, they rely on more found-
ers than one, for I suppose Blastus the Greek is of them;
Theodotus also and Praxeas were once teachers of your

XXXIII

party, themselves also Phrygians of some celebrity, who
falsely say they are inspired of Leucius, boast that they are
instructed by Proculus. Following 1Iontanus, and
Iaxi-
milla, and Priscilla, how manifold controversies have they
raised concerning the day of Easter, the Paraclete, Apostles,
Prophets, and many other disputes, as this also concerning
the Catholic name, the pardon of penance.
3. \Vherefore if we ,vould discuss all these points, thou
hadst need been present and teachable. But if on those
points merely 011 which thou writest, my instruction should
not be sufficiently full, yet as it is our duty to serve, in
whatsoever way we can, those ,,,ho solemnly adjure us, we
now, for the sake of informing you, discourse with the sum-
marily, on those matters about which thou hast deigned to
write to us. If thou wouldest have fuller knowledge on
our side, thou must on thine declare thyself more unreser-
vedly, lest by sonlewhat of obscurity in thy enquiries, thou
lea \.e us uncertain, whether thou art consulting or censuring.
4. ::\Ieanwhile (and this concerns our present corres-
pondence) I ,vould above all entreat thee not to borrow
authority for error from this very fact that, as thou sayest,
throughout the whole world no one has been found, who
coulë convince. or persuade thee contrary to what thou be-
lievest. For although we be unskilled, most skilful is the
Spirit of God, and if we are faithless, faithflll is God, IT
ho
can1lot de1l)' Himself. Then, also, because it was not allowed
the Priests of God to contend long with one who resisted.
TVe, says the Apostle, have 110 such cust0111, 1zeither the

XXXIV

churches, 01 God. Altel olle adJJlOnitioll, as thou thyself
knowest, the contentious is þassed by. For who can persuade
any of anything against his will? Thine own fault was it
therefore, hrother, and not theirs, if no one convinced thee
of what in itself is most excellent. For at this day too it is
in thy power to despise our writings also, if thy hadst
rather refute than approve them. Yet very many resisted
.
both the Lord Himself, and the Apostles, nor could any
ever be persuaded of the truth, unless he consented to it by
his own religious feeling.
5. Therefore, Iny Lord, neither have we written with that
confidence as though ,ve could persuade thee, if thou re-
sistest, but in that faith by \vhich we would not deny thee
an entrance to wholly peace, if thou willest. 'Vhich peace
if it be after thine own soul and heart, there ought to be no
contest about the name of Catholic. For if it is through
God that our people obtain this name, no question is to be
raísed, when Divine authority is followed. If through man,
you must discover ,vhen it was first taken. Then, if the
name is good, no odium rests with it; if ill, it need not be
envied. The N ovatians, I hear, are called after N ovatus or
Novatian; yet it is the sect which I accuse in them, not the
name: nor has any nne objected their name to Montanus
or the Phrygians
6. But under the .i\postles, you will say, no one \vas
called Catholic. Be it thus. It shall have been so. Allow
even that. 'Vhen after the Apostles heresies had burst
forth, and were striving under various names to tear piece-

xxxv

meal and divide the Doz'e and tIle Queen of God, did not
"the Apostolic people require a name of their own, whereby
to mark the unity of the people that were uncorrupted, lest
the error of some should rend limb by limb the undefiled
'l,irgÙz of God? 'Vas it not seemly that the chief head
should be distinguished by its own peculiar appellation?
Suppose, this yery day, I entered a populous city. "\Vhen
I had found 1\Iarcionites, _\pollinarians, Cataphrygians,
N ovatians, and others of the kind \vho call themselves
Christians, by what name should I recognize the congrega-
tion of my own people, unless it were named Catholic?
Come tell me, who bestowed so many names on the other
peoples? 'Vhy have so many cities, so many nations, each
their own description? The man who asks the meaning of
the Catholic Name, will he be ignorant himself of the cause
of his own name if I shall enquire its origin? 'Vhence was
it delivered to me? Certainly that which has stood through
so many ages was not borrowed from ll1an. This name
"Catholic" sounds not of Marcion, nor Apelles, nor of
Montanus, nor does it take heretics as its authors.
7. Many things the Holy Spirit hath taught us, 'Vhom
God sent from Heaven to the Apostles as their Comforter
and Guide. ß'Iany things reason teaches us, as Paul saith,
and honesty, and, as he says, nature herself. 'Vhat! is
the authority of Apostolic men, of Primitive Priests, of the
most blessed
lartyr and Dr. Cyprian, of slight weight w'ith
us? Do we wish to teach the teacher? Are we wiser than
he was, and are we puffed up by the spirit of the flesh

XXXVI

against the man, whom his noble shedding of blood, and a
crown of most glorious suffering, have set forth as a wit-
ness of the Eternal God? \Vhat thinkest thou of so many
Priests on the same side, who throughout the whole worlel
were cOlnpacted together in one bond of peace with this
same Cyprian? 'Vhat of so many aged Bishops, so many
Martyrs, so many Confesso.rs? Come say, if they were not
sufficient authorities for the use of this name, are we suffi-
cient for its rejection? And shall the Fathers rather follow
our authority, and the antiquity of Saints give way to be
emended by us, and times now putrifying through their sins,
pluck out the grey hairs of Apostolic age? And yet, my
brother, be not troubled; Christian is my natne, but Catholic
my surname. The former gives n1e a name, the latter dis-
tinguishes Ine. By the one I anl approved; by the other
I am but n1arked.
8. And if at last we Inust give an account of the word
Catholic, and draw it out from the Greek by a Latin inter-
pretation, "Catholic" is 'every \vhere one,' or (as learned
men think,) "obedience in all, i. e. all the commands of
God. 'Vhence the Apostle, IVhether )'e be obedielll ill all
things: and again, For as by one 1/lan'S disobediellce lila/I)'
'ltlere 1Jlade sinncrs, so /J,)' the obediellce of Olle shall lJlaJlY be
lJlade righteous. Therefore he wno is a Catholic, the same
man is obedient. lIe ,vho is obedient, the same IS a
Christian, and thus the Catholic is a Christian. 'Yherefore
our people when named Catholic are separated by this ap-
pellation from the heretical name. But if also the word

XXXVII

Catholic means 'every where one,' as those first think,
Dayid indicates this very thing, when he saith, The queen
did stand ill a 'l'esture of gold, 1('rought about 10ith divers
colours: that is, one amidst all. And in the Song of Songs
the Bridegroom speaketh these words, JIy dO'lle, .JIy unde-
filed i.r bllt OJ/e.,. j-he is thl' (}Jl
V one of her 111Othcr J . she i.r the
choice olle of ho' that bare her. Again it is written, The
'l'irgills shall be brought Zlnto the king after her. And further,
l
irgills 1;.,ithout 1111111ber. Therefore amidst aU she is one,
and one over
11. If thou askest the reason of the name, it
is evident.
9. But as to penance, God grant that it may be necessary
for none of the faithful; that no one after the help of the
sacred font may fall iJ/to the pit of death, and that Priests
may not be compelled to inculcate or to teach its tardy con-
solations lest, whilst by rel11edies they soothe the sinner,
they open a road to sin. But ,ve lay open this indulgence
of our God to the miserable, not to the happy; not before
sin, but after sins; nor do we announce a nledicine to the
whole, but to the sick. If spiritual wickednesses haye no
power over the baptized, none, that fraud of the serpent,
which subverted the first man, which hath printed on his
posterity so many marks of condenlnation; if it hath retired
from the world, if we have already begun to reign, if no crime
steals over our eyes, none over our hands, none over our
minds, then let this gift of God be cast aside, this help
rejected; be no confession, no groans, heard: let a proud
righteousness despise every remedy.

XXXVIII

10. But if the Lord I-limself hath provided these things
for His own creature man, if the same Lord 'Vho hath
bestowed remedies on the fallen, hath given rewards to them
that stand, cease to accuse the Divine goodness, to erase by
the interposition of your own rigour so many inscriptions
of heavenly mercy, or by Inexorable harshness to prohibit
the gratuitous good gifts of the Lord. This i.5 not a largess
from our own bounty. Turn )'e, saith the Lord, êZ'ê/l to .ilIe,
a/ld 'i(lÙh fasting, alld'ii.'ith 'lvcepillg, and 1(1itll JluJllrllil/g: alld
rend )'our heart.; and again, Let the 1t.icketl1J/11 It kaz'e his 1CH1}'S,
and the unrighteol/s 1Ililn his thollght
. alld tltrll 1Into the Lord,
and he shall obta Ùl II/ere)'. And also after this manner crieth
the Prophet, For .lIe is graciol s, and 1llerciflll, slo7c' te) anger,
and. of great kindness, and repcllteth Hilll of the Ci'/"/. Hath
the serpent so lasting a poison, and hath not Christ a
remedy? Doth the Devil kill in the world, and hath
Christ no power here to help? Be we indeed ashamed to
sin, but not ashanled to repent. Be we ashamed to hazard
ourselves, but not ashamed to be delivered. 'Yho will snatch
the plank from the shipwrecked, that he escape not? \Vho
will grudge the curing of a wound? Doth not David say,
Every 1light I 1lJill 'lvasll 11/.1 bed, I 'it)l?l 'It.'llter Ilry couch
with 1Jty tears.,. and again, I aCkllO'llJ/edge 111)' Sill, alld 1/line
unrighteouslless have I /lot hid.,. aud yet more, I said, I 'lolÏl
confess llzy Sill Ullto the Lord, alld so Thou forgaz'est the
'ifJickedness of 1'l)l heart. Did not the Prophet answer him
when, after the guilt of Inurder and adultery, penitent for
Bathsheba, The Lord also hath put a 'ZUl l)' from thee thy sill ?

XXXIX

Did not confession deliver the King of Babylon, when con-
'.
emned after so many sins of Idolatry? And what ís it that
the Lord saith, Shalt he 'who has fallell /lot arise and, and he
'who has turned ?lot returll .'1 'Vhat answer give the subjects
of those many parables of our Lord? That the woman
findeth the coin, and rejoiceth when she hath found it?
That the shepherd carrieth back the wandering sheep?
That when the son was returning, all his goods wasted in
riotous living with harlots and fornicators, the Father wíth
kindness met him, and, assigning the grounds, chídeth the
envious brother, saying, This 1/
V son 10as dead, and is ali'iY
agaill, 10llS lost and is foul/d. 'Yhat of him who was
wounded in the way, whom Levite and Priest passed by?
Is he not taken care of?
I I. Ponder what the Spirit saith to the Churches. The
Ephesians lIe accuses of h3.ving forsaken their love; to them
of Thyatira lIe imputeth fornication; the people of Sardis
I-Ie blan1eth as loitering in the work; those of Pergamus as
teaching things contrary; of the Laodiceans He brandeth
the riches; and yet lIe calleth all to penance and to satis-
faction. 'Vhat Ineaneth the Apostle, when he writeth to the
Corinthians thus, Lest, 1tJ/ICIl I bczoaillllllny 'Z{Jhich have sinned
already, and have /lot reþcnted of the lt1lClealllÍ1lcss, and forni-
catioll, alld lasciz,iousllcss 7f,hich thc)' have cOllllnitted? \Vhat,
when again to the Galatians, If a ma'll be overtaken in a faltlt
(i. e. any whatever,)}'c 11,ho are spiritual re.).tore such an one
in the spirit of 1lleekness, cOllsiderillg thyself, lest thou also be
tempted. Does then the master of the family in a large

XL

house guard only the s
lver and golden vessels? Does he not
deign to guard both the earthen and the wooden, and some
that are put together and repaired? N01(, I rejoice, saith the
...t\postle, that J'e sorr01ocd to repentaJlce: and again, for godly
sorro.w loorketh repentance UlltO enduring salvati Oil. But pen-
itence you say was not allowed. No one enjoins a fruitless
labour; .For the labourer is 7IJorthy of his IÛrl'. N ever would
God threaten the impenitent, unless He would pardon the
penitent. This, you will say, God alone can do. It is true.
But that also which He does through His Priests, is His own
authority. Else \vhat is that he saith to the Apostles, IVllat-
soever l'e shall bind Oil earth, shall be bound ill heaven, alld
7i1hatsoever ye shall loose on earth, shall be loosed ill heaven?
"\Vhy said he this, if it was not la\vful for men to bind and
loose? Is this allowed to Apostles only? Then to them also
is it allowed to baptize, and to them only to give the Holy
Spirit, and to them only to cleanse the sins of the nations;
for all this was enjoined on none others but Apostles.
12. But if both the loosening of bonds and the power of
the Sacrament are given in one place, either the whole has
been derived to us from the Apostolic form and authority, or
else not even this rela>..ation has been made from the decree.
I, he saith, hll'l'e laid the foul/datiol/, alld another buildeth
thereon. This, therefore we build up, \VhlCh the doctrine of
the Apostles laid as the foundation. And, lastly, Bishops
also are named Apostles, as saith Paul of Epaphroditus, .Jfy
brother and fello'w-soldier but )'our Apostle.
13. If, therefore the power of the Laver, and of the An-

XLI

ointing, gifts far greater, descended thence to Bishops,
then the right of binding and of loosing was with them.
Which although for our sins it be presumptuous in us to
c1ainl, yet God, 'Vho hath granted unto Bishops the name
even of His only Beloved, will not deny it unto them, as if
holy and sitting in the chair of the Apostles.
14. I would write n10re brother, were I not pressed by
the hasty return of the servant, and were not reserving a
fuller account for thee when either present, or n1aking con-
fession of thy whole purport. Let no one despise the Bishop
on consideration of the man. Let us remember that the
Apostle Peter hath nalned our Lord, Bishop. BlIt are now,
he saith, returlled Ullto the Sheþherd, and Bishoþ of J'our
souls. What shall be denied to the Bishop, in whom
operateth the Name of God? He shall indeed give an
account if he have done anything wrong, or if he shall
I
have judged corrupt and unrighteous judgment. Nor is
God's Judgment forestalled, but that He may undo the
work of a wicked builder. In the n1ean while, if that his
ministration be holy, he abideth as an helper in the work of
God. See the A postle writeth to Laity: To 'WhOIII ye forgive
a1l),thillg, I forgÍ'iJe also: for if I forgave anything, to 'whom
I forga'l)c it, for )'Oltr sakes forgaz'e I it ill the þerson of
Christ.7. lest Satall shollld get all advantage of us: for we
are 1l0t ignorant of his devices. But if what the Laity
forgive, the Apostle saith that he hath forgiven, what a
Bishop hath done, in what character can it be rejected?
Therefore neither the Anointing, nor Baptism, nor remis-

XLII

sion of sins, nor the renewing of the Body, were granted to
his sacred authority, because nothing was entrusted to him
as assumed by himself, but the whole has descended in a
stream from the Apostolic privilege.
15. Kno,v, brother, that not indiscriminately to all is this
very pardon through penance granted; nor until there shall
have been either some indication of the Divine will, or per-
chance some visitation, many men be loosed.; that with
careful ponderance and much balancing, after many groans
and much shedding of tears, after the prayers of the whole
Church, pardon is in such wise not refused to true penitence,
as that no one thereby prejudgeth the future Judgment of
Christ. If, brother, thou wouldest write thy sentiments
more openly, thou shalt be more fully instructed.

IV.
l\1ACAULAY.

ESSAY ON RANKE'S HISTORY OF THE POPES.

, There is not, and there never was, on earth a work of
human policy so well deserving of examination as the
Roman Catholic Church. The history of that Church joins
together the two great ages of
uman civilization. No
other institution is left standing which carries the mind
back to the times when the smoke of sacrifice rose from the
Pantheon, and when camelopards and tigers bounded in the
Flavian amphitheatre. The proudest royal houses are but

XLIII

of yesterday when compared with the line of the supreme
Pontiffs. That line we trace back in an unbroken series
from the Pope who crowned Napoleon in the nineteenth
century, to the Pope who crowned Pepin in the eighth; and
far beyond the time of Pepin the august dynasty extends
till it is lost in the twilight of fable. The Republic of
Venice came next in antiquity. But the Republic of Ven-
ice was modern when compared to the Papacy; and the
Republic of Venice is gone, and the Papacy remains. The
Papacy remains, not in decay, not a mere antique, but full of
life and youthful vigor. The Catholic Church is still sending
forth to the farthest ends of the world missionaries as zeal-
ous as those who landed in Kent with Augustine, and still
confronting hostile kings with the same spirit with which
she confronted Attila. The number of her children is
greater than in any former age. Her acquisitions in the
New World have more than compensated for what she has
lost in the Old. Her spiritual ascendency extends over the
vast countries which lie between the plains of the Missouri
and Cape Horn, countries which, a century hence, may not
improbably contain a population as large as that which now
inhabits Europe. The men1bers of her communion are
certainly not fewer than a hundred and fifty millions; and
it will be difficult to show that all other Christian sects
united amount to a hundred and twenty millions. Nor do
we see any sign which indicates that the term of her long
dominion is approaching. She saw the commencement of
all the governments and of all the ecclesiastical establish-

XLIV

ments that now exist in the world; and we feel no assur-
ance that she is not destined to see the end of them all.
She was great and respected before the Saxon had set foot
on Britain, before the Frank had passed the Rhine, when
Grecian eloquence still flourished at Antioch, when idols
were still worshipped in the temple of Mecca. And she
may still exist in undimiuished vigor when some traveller
from New Zealand shall, in the midst of a vast solitude,
take his stand on a broken arch of London Bridge to sketch
the ruins of St. Paul's.'
, \Ve often hear it said that the world is constantly becom-
ing more and more enlightened, and that this enlightening
must be favorable to Protestantism, and unfavourable to
Catholicism. 'Ve wish that we could think so. But we
see great reason to doubt whether this be a well founded
expectation. 'Ve see that during the last two hundred and
fifty years the human mind has been in the highest degree
active, that it had made great advances in every branch of
natural philosophy, that it has produced innumerable inven-
tions tending to promote the convenience of life, that
medicine, surgery, chemistry, engineering, have been very
greatly improved, that government, police, and law have
been improved, though not to so great an extent as the
physical sciences. But we see t:lat, during these two hundred
and fifty years, Protestantisln has made no conquest worth
speaking of. Nay, we believe that, as far as there has been
a change, that change has, on the whole, been in favour of
the Church of Rome. We cannnot, therefore, feel confident

XLV

that the progress of knowledge will necessarily bE. fatal to a
system which has, to say the least, stood its ground in spite
of the imlnense progress made by the human race in knowl-
edge since the days of Queen Elizabeth.'
* * * * * *

*

.,
....

.,
....

'The history of Catholicism strikingly illustrates these ob-
servations. During the last seven centuries the public
mind of Europe has made constant progress in every de-
partment of secular knowledge. But in religion we can
trace no constant progress. The ecclesiastical history of
that period is a history of movement to and fro. Four
times, since the authority of the Church of Rome was estab-
lished in 'Vestern Christendoln, has the human intellect
risen up against her yoke. Twice that Church remained
completely victorious. Twice she came forth from the con-
flict bearing the marks of cruel wounds, but with the
principle of life still strong within her. When we reflect on
the tremendous assaults which she has survived, we find it
difficult to conceive in what way she is to perish.'
* * * * * * * * *

'It is impossible to deny that the polity of the Church of
Rome is the very Inasterpiece of hun1an wisdom. In truth,
nothing but such a polity could, against such assaults, have
borne up such doctrines. The experience of twelve hun-
dred eventful years, the ingenuity and patient care of forty
generations of statesmen, have "improved that polity to such
perfection that, among the contrivances which have been
devised for deceiving and oppressing mankind, it occupies

XLVI

the highest place. The stronger our conviction that reason
and Scripture were decidedly on the side of Protestantism,
the greater is the reluctant admiration with which we re-
gard that system of tactics against which reason and Scrip-
ture were employed in vain.'
* * * * * * * * *

, It is not strange that, in the year 1799, even sagacious
observers should have thought that, at length, the hour of
the Church of Rome was come. An infidel power ascend-
ant, the Pope dying in captivity, the most illustrious prelates
of France living in a foreign country on Protestant alms,
the noblest edifices which the munificence of former ages
had consecrated to the \vorship of God turned into temples
of Victory, or into banqueting-houses for political societies,
or into Theophilanthropic chapels, such signs might well be
supposed to indicate the approaching end of that long
domination. '
, But the end was not yet. Again doomed to death, the
milk-white hind was still fated not to die. Even before the
funeral rites had been performed over the ashes of Pius VI
a great reaction had commenced which, after the lapse of
more than forty years, appears to be still in progress. An-
archy had had its day. A new order of things rose out of
the confusion, new dynasties, new laws, new titles, and
amidst then1, the ancient religion. The Arabs have a fable
that the Great Pyramid was built by antediluvian kings, and
alone, of all the works of men, bore the weight of the flood.
Such as this was the fate of the Papacy. It had been buried

XLVII

under the great inundation; but its deep foundations had
remained unshaken; and when the waters abated it ap-
peared alone amidst the ruins of a world that had passed away.
The Republic of Holland was gone, and the empire of Ger-
many, and the great Council of Venice, and the old Hel-
vetian League, and the House of Bourbon, and the parlia-
ments and aristocracy of France. Europe was full of young
creations: a French empire, a kingdom of Italy, a Confed-
eration of the Rhine. Nor had the late events affected only
territorial limits and political institutions. The distribution
of property, the composition and spirit of society, had,
through great part of Catholic Europe, undergone a com-
plete change. But the unchangeable Church was still there.'

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