mean, that she can add to the revelations of God, and will be infallibly correct in this addition.

But man is bound to believe what God teaches. Yet, as man is a reasonable being, and must have a sufficient motive for his assent or belief, he is not required to believe without evidence. Thus, for his faith, evidence is necessary, otherwise his belief would have no foundation upon which it could

rest.

We next ask, what evidence is required. Certainly, if our reason could discover the truth of the doctrine submitted to our minds, it would be quite superfluous for God to teach what we could discover without his teaching. Did we discover the truth of this doctrine, without the teaching of God, and solely by the exertion of our own intellect, our belief would be founded upon the evidence of reason, and further evidence would be superfluous. But, if we did not make the discovery by our own exertion-if no exertion of our minds could reach so far and we received sufficient testimony of the truth from some persons who had seen and known and testified;-and, moreover, this witness was as incapable of deceit, as he was beyond its influence;-this testimony would be, to us, sufficient evidence of the truth of this doctrine.

We would, then, require evidence that such a witness gave such testimony,-and that evidence would be the sure foundation of our faith. Our belief would then be rational.

It will not be questioned that God is such a witness. It will be admitted that his knowledge is more extensive than ours; that his knowledge is not merely rational conjecture, [or] high probability, but is undoubted, certain assurance of fact; and, that it is unalterable;-so that what He once asserts as truth, will be truth-forever.

These principles are manifestly true. We come now to matter of fact and deduction. God did reveal his knowledge. They to whom he revealed it had evidence of the fact. They were bound. Why? Because they had an infallible certainty that the Lord spoke, and an infallible certainty of what he said. Thus, the principle of obligation is founded in the infallible certainty of God's

declaration.

lible certainty that God made a revelation— and upon an infallible certainty of what that revelation was. Suppose we ascertain that he spoke; and, moreover, that he revealed the contents of a certain book; but great doubts arise as to the meaning of certain passages of that book, and learned men give to the same passage contradictory meanings; so that, of these words—“ Behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world," one division asserts the meaning to be, that Christ would preserve the visible body of his Church, who were teachers of his doctrine, in his truth, all days, to the end of the world; and other divisions assert that such is not the meaning, but that, dur ing ages in succession, long before the end of the world, this visible body would be false guides and teach the doctrines of Antichrist. Suppose an hundred such passages can be produced, upon which there are flat contradictions. Suppose the very copies were so called into question, that several passages of a most important nature, are by learned men said to have been introduced in dark and superstitious times, by cunning priests, to impose upon the credulity of a besotted people, and to bring persons to believe that God had taught what he never had revealed. Suppose equally learned and equally numerous and zealous men assert these passages to be genuine. We are left without any infallible guide to give us certain evidence. Upon what will our faith rest? Thus, we repeat, there is an indissoluble connexion between faith and infallibility.

This leads us to a correct view of what we hold, in the Roman Catholic Church, vizthat when God required man to believe mysteries upon his testimony, He furnished man with an infallible mode of knowing exactly what he taught, and what man was to believe; in other words, that God gave to man evidence, as the foundation upon which his faith should rest. And, if God did not furnish man with an Infallible Guide, it would be unreasonable to make faith neces sary for salvation. It would be, as if God should say to man: " You must believe firmly all that I teach; but, although I can establish several modes by which you can know my doctrine with infallible certainty, still, I will not furnish you with an infallible guide. I shall leave you to conjecture, to probability, to speculation, and to doubt.

"Let even the Catholic be invited to the holy work. We all agree that the Book contains the Word of God; so does he. Let each take and read it for himself—let us have no strifelet us send it to the Mahometan, to the Jew, to the Pagan, to the poor, benighted Deist. Let each read for himself-let each interpret for himself-let each believe as he likes-we will all be Christians-we will all agree. It contains one precept which we can all practise, 'Love one another, this is enough."

"Now," said the Deist, "there can be no necessity of a Bible: 'love one another,' is, it appears, all the necessary part of its contents; why print any more?"

"Why," said the Mahometan, “there is the great principle of Freemasonry. I have learned this in my Lodge; the Koran teaches more than the Bible. Alas! how ignorant are those Christian dogs!"

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"And, brother," said the Jew to the Pagan, you know that in our Lodge we teach that Pythagoras, and Hiram, and Solomon, knew this principle as well as any sublime Master since the day of Noah, or even of Adam. Of what use, then, is Christianity?”

To be serious: we must choose between an Infallible Guide to Truth, who can speak and decide, or we must give up the cause of Christianity, of Divine Revelation; and though it is fashionable to profess to be a Christian, we unhesitatingly assert, that a vast portion of the more intelligent and enlightened of those who make this profession cannot see their way through the difficulties which surround them, any more than could the Jew, or the Pagan, or the Mahometan, know what sect they should join, in the contest-and the peaceful plea of distributing the Scripture, leaving to all the interpretation, is but, in other words, making a very rational compact not to fight about what they do not understand. But this sentence destroys the authority of Revelation.

We want an Infallible Guide:-the Bible is not, and cannot be that Guide; because, although it contains the Words of Truth, those Words are susceptible of contradictory interpretations, and, in fact, are interpreted contradictorily.

We stated that we could leave unquestioned the fact that this book, which is thus triumphantly appealed to, was the communication of God's will to man. But why should we assume or admit this fact without evidence; and, if we have no Infallible Witness to testify this to be such a Divine Communication, how shall we have this evidence? Several of those divisions [above enumerated] contend, that this Book differs in several places from the original which is supposed to have been given. Several assert that it contains books

never given by God. Several contend that it is quite defective. What authority have we to assert with one, in preference to the other, unless we have some motive superior to those which they adduce? They adduce opinion. We want fact; and fact which will be fully, indisputably established by infallible authority: because, if our authority be fallible, we might be led into error; and, if we are liable to be led into error, we have no certainty that we are not so led.

This view of the want of foundation for Christianity, leaves it as baseless as any chimerical vision of fancy. This view has produced, and still produces, more infidelity than any other cause that we know of. We avow, that if we had nothing more substantial than opinion to rest upon, we would not be Christians.

What, then, is our view?

We find an unquestioned fact; and upon that fact we build.

The fact is, that there now exists in the world, one very large Society of Christians, spread through all its nations, and forming but one body.

We build upon this fact, by a series of others, equally plain.

Fact 2.-That body has now an uniform code of doctrine.

Fact 3.-That body has existed during several centuries.

Fact 4.-All the other divisions of Christians have gone out from this body, either by separating from it, or by sub-dividing from some division which had previously separated.

Fact 5.-These divisions all oppose each other upon the matter of doctrine, i. e. respecting the fact of what God told man to believe and to practise.

Fact 6.-Though they all agree in asserting that the great body from which the separation has been made, did err in faith, no two of them are agreed, as to what those errors precisely are, though many of them concur in stating that the doctrinal errors of this great body are, in teaching a variety of articles which they contradict; yet, one of them will always assert that what the other calls error, is truth, in the doctrines of the original code which God has revealed.

Fact 7.-They all assert that her errors consisted in changing from what was originally given by God.

Fact 8.-They have never been able satisfactorily to point out the date of those alleged changes, nor, that at the period of such alleged change, there continued together any large body of Christians who condemned this alleged change, and who preserved the True Doctrine.

Fact 9.-This great body has clearly pointed out the date of all the changes which she alleged the separatists to have made in doctrines; also, the special doctrines, the author of the change, and all the circumstances of the separation.

Fact 10. This great body traces its unbroken existence to the days of Jesus Christ. Fact 11.-Such of the separated divisions as attempt to do the same, are obliged to graft themselves upon the stock of that great body, at the time that is pointed out as the period of their separation.

Fact 12.-Those bodies have at different times since their separation changed their doctrine; that is, at one period, they stated that [God] did not reveal what, at another time, they stated he revealed; and, no one of them lays claim to be infallible in showing what God taught.

Fact 13.-This great body alleges that it has never altered its doctrine, and that, at this day it holds to every doctrinal declaration which it has made during eighteen centuries; and that, it will infallibly teach what God has revealed: and, an imputation which other divisions frequently make upon it, and which it acknowledges to be-to itself-a source of gratification, is, that it obstinately holds to what it first taught, and will make no reformation in its doctrine, to suit the change of times and the progress of science.

We next view another body of facts, which are in full evidence, respecting which there can be no doubt.

Fact 1.-JESUS CHRIST existed, and was put to death in Judea, about eighteen centuries ago.

Fact 2.-He proved by miraculous works that he had a divine mission.

Fact 3.-He wrote no book of doctrine; but he instructed a number of persons whom he had selected; and he, in a special manner, gave particular instructions to some whom he had chosen from amongst these disciples.

Fact 4.-He commissioned them to teach his doctrines to all mankind.

Fact 5.-They did teach; and they, too, wrought miracles.

Fact 6.-They instructed vast multitudes of others; some of whom they selected and commissioned as teachers, and associated with themselves.

Fact 7.-Their mode of instruction was not by giving to the people a book, which, they said, contained God's Word, and telling them to interpret for themselves; and that whatever they thought to be the meaning of the book was to be followed, though that meaning should be contradictory, as the opinions of the readers might be contradictory.

Fact 8.-A few of them wrote abridged histories of the acts and sayings of Jesus Christ, the copies of which were very scarce; others wrote some Epistles on particular occasions; and an imperfect history of some of the Acts of the Apostles was also written; together with a long and darkly mysterious history of a prophetic vision; but, of all these, the copies were few, and the circulation very limited.

Fact 9.-Several other histories, epistles, and visions, were also circulated, which have been generally acknowledged, long since, to be compilations of falsehood, and many of them of folly; and have been rejected as such.

Fact 10.-During more than two centuries, these productions continued to circulate, without any public distinction having been generally made between them.

Fact 11.-There was a dispute amongst the early Christians, in the days of the Apostles, as to what was the doctrine of Christ, respecting the observance of the law of Moses, and several other subjects.

Fact 12.-This dispute was terminated, not by referring persons to any books of authority, and leaving the individuals to judge for themselves, but by the authoritative decision of the teachers, who gave a judgment, in which they asserted they had the aid and co-operation of the Holy Ghost.

Fact 13.-The persons who would not submit to that judicial decision, were cut off from the Church.

Fact 14.-All other disputes were terminated in like manner; and all who would not submit were cut off in like manner, and thus formed new sects, calling themselves Christians, but not recognized by the great body.

Fact 15. More than three centuries elapsed, before the books which are recognized as containing the Word of God, were separated from those which were spurious.

Fact 16.-This selection was made by the successors of the Apostles, and was an act of judicial, authoritative declaration.

Fact 17.-Hitherto, those successors and their predecessors had been considered as the only authority, through which men could certainly know what Jesus Christ had taught.

Fact 18.-Their recognition of the truth of what the selected books contained could not and did not destroy any authority which they previously had, and which they and their successors were to have to the end of the world.

Fact 19.-After this selection, they continued to exercise their authority as before.

Fact 20.—At this period, several nations, containing several millions of Christians,