come acquainted with at least the letter of the Scriptures, the latter, like those whom the Apostles instructed, and to whom, eventually, but long after their conversion, were committed some inspired writings, reads the Scriptures already believing. This belief lights him on his road. He already knows what the revelations of Christ are, and hence in each page he readily detects, sometimes references to, and principles of faith, whilst at other times, he finds the doctrines of his religion expressed in language, the clearest and the most emphatic. As instances, in point, I will draw the reader's attention to the following passages of Holy Writ.

First, then, what is the description which our Saviour gives of the Church which he was about to establish? Is it of a building which is badly founded, and which is quickly to pass away-hurled down by the fury of conflicting elements? No. The building is founded upon a rock: "On this ROCK I will build my Church." The Church's foundations are not laid upon sand; for had they been, when the winds blew, and the rains fell, and the floods came, the fabric would have fallen; but they are based upon a rock, in order that when "the rains fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and they beat upon that house, it might not fall." The builder was indeed the wise one of the Gospel, and his work was to give evidence of his wisdom. Nor was our Saviour content with emphatically declaring, "I will build my Church upon this rock," he distinctly promises that his Church shall not be overthrown: " the gates of hell," he adds, "shall NOT prevail against it." 3 The promise is absolute; 2 Ibid. vii, 25, 27.

1 S. Matthew, xvi, 18.

3 C'est à dire, que l'Eglise ne périra jamais. Beausobre, Nouveau Test.

and the existence of the Catholic Church, notwithstanding all the defections and trials of eighteen hundred years, is the standing proof of the wisdom and power of him who made the promise. It exists, not in decay, not as a mere antique; but it exists full of life, and full of youthful vigour. "The Catholic Church," as Macauley observes, "is still sending forth, to the farthest ends of the world, missionaries, as zealous 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 ascendancy extends over the vast countries which lie between the plains of Missouri and Cape Horn, countries which, a century hence, may, not improbably, contain a population as large as that which now inhabits Europe. The members 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 establishments that now exist in the world; and we feel no assurance 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 French had passed the Rhine, when Grecian eloquence still flourished in Antioch, when idols were still worshipped in the Temple of Mecca: and she

vol. i, p. 70, in 1. Ed. 1741. For the meaning of the words "gates of hell," see Rosenmüller, in 1.

may still exist in undiminished vigour, 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." "Four times, since the authority of the Church of Rome was established in Western Christendom, has the human intellect risen up against her yoke. Twice that Church remained completely victorious. Twice she came forth from the conflict bearing the marks of cruel wounds, but with the principle of life 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." 1

Ye winds and rains, ye proved her; yet she stands.

Yes, the Church stands; why or how, the wisest separatists cannot tell. She ought to have perished, but she has not -she exists, strong and full of vigour. Why this is, the Catholic only can tell; the Catholic child may teach the puzzled historian and philosopher a lesson. One word explains the whole mystery: the Church is, because Christ founded her on the rock, and promised, that not even the mightiest power, the power of infuriated demons, should prevail against her. Such is the plain word of Scriptureplain to the enlightened-relative to the establishment and perpetuity of the Church. When Christ actually sends forth his Apostles, to build up the Church on the rock which he himself had selected, as the basis, the foundation of the heavenly structure, his words are equally clear and emphatic: "All power," he says, "is given to me in heaven and in earth. Going therefore, teach (palYTEÚσATE) all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and

1 Review of Ranke's History of the Popes, pp. 4, 5, 10, 11, Ed. 1851.

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of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching (didáσnovtes) them to observe all things, whatsoever I have commanded you; and, behold, I am with you all the days, even to the consummation of the world." The ministerial line has begun; it has been sent forth by him who is omnipotent; it has been sent forth to teach authoritatively all the nations of the earth. The task is an arduous one, but the teachers are cheered by the assurance that he who has all power in heaven and in earth, will be with them. This word strengthened Isaac during his sojourn in Gerara,2 and secured to Moses God's assistance, when sent forth on his arduous task of confronting Pharaoh, and leading the Israelites through the wilderness; as it also did to Moses' successor, Josue ; it cheered the ever Blessed Virgin, when an angel announced his important mission;5 and now it gives confidence to the Christian minister. Not for a short while is this assistance promised, it is promised “ for every day,” ἐγὼ μεθ' ὑμῶν εἰμι πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας, “ even to the end of time." Then shall all the nations of the earth have been evangelized, and when this has been done, time shall be no more. Every word bears out the one idea of Christ, expressed in his promise: interpret the passage thus, and all is consonance; affix another interpretation, and Christ's rock is only a quicksand, and his promise of unceasing assistance, an idle boast. If he has not promised to guard, support, secure his Church 2 Genesis xxvi, 2, 3.

3 Exodus iii, 11, 12, and Deut. xxxi, 7, 8.

4 Josue i, 5, 9.

5 Luke i, 28. The phrase, I am with you, uniformly signifies a promise of efficacious assistance. Cf. Genesis xxxi, 3, 5; xlvi, 3, 4; Jeremias i, 17, 19; Acts xviii, 9, 10; and the passages referred to in notes 2, 3, 4, 5.

for ever, in the words adduced, in vain shall we search. for any doctrinal statement, in any other words of Christ: the Trinity in Unity, as well as the procession of the Holy Spirit, and the consubstantiality of the Son, will assuredly remain without so much as the shadow of a proof. To return to our text. The words of our divine Saviour, as interpreted, contain the verification of former prophecies. When the angel described the characteristics of the Messias, he used the following language: "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." 1 These words are little more than a repetition of the prophecy of Daniel: "The stone that struck the statue became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. But in the days of those kingdoms, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall 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 shall stand for ever." "I beheld, therefore, in the vision of the night, and lo! one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and he came even to the Ancient of days, and they presented him before him. And he gave him power, and glory, and a kingdom: and all peoples, tribes and tongues shall serve him: his power is an everlasting power, which shall not be taken away, and HIS KINGDOM, THAT SHALL NOT BE DESTROYED. And all that the prophets foretold, has been further confirmed by St. Paul. Contrasting, in his Epistle to the Hebrews, the 2 Ibid. ii, 35, 44.

1 Luke, i, 31, 33.

3 vii, 13, 14; Cf. Michæas iv, 6, 7.

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