inevitably be imparted to its successive recruits. The character of no one man can be more indelibly stamped by a long life of consistent, systematic conduct, than that of a collective body which, for many centuries, has practically learnt the true source of its power. If, on the other hand, it should appear that, in describing the moral character of that body which Catholics consider as the only depositary of divine authority on earth, I bring a charge of guilt against the whole succession of men who have composed, and compose it at present; I must observe, that individual conduct, modified by corporate influence, cannot be judged by the common rules which guide us in estimating private character. That every true Roman Catholic, every man whose religious tenets are in strict conformity with those of Rome, must partake the spirit of his standard of faith, in proportion to his sincerity; my own experience would compel me to aver, independently of any theoretical conviction. But the same experience teaches me that the natural disposition of every person, has a certain degree of power to modify, though not to neutralize, the Roman Catholic re

ligious influence.-This being premised, I will openly, before God and man, declare my conviction, that the necessity of keeping up the appearance of infallibility, makes the church of Rome, essentially and invariably, tyrannical; that it leads that church to hazard both the temporal and the eternal happiness of men, rather than alter what has once received the sanction of her authority; and that, in the prosecution of her object, she overlooks the rights of truth, and the improvement of the human understanding.

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In the proof and substantiation of these charges I will strictly observe the conditions proposed for similar cases by the author of the Book of the Roman Catholic Church. "I beg leave to suggest," says Mr. Butler, “ that, in every religious controversy between Protestants and Roman Catholics, the following rule should be observed: THAT NO DOCTRINE SHOULD BE ASCRIBED TO THE ROMAN CATHOLICS AS A BODY, EXCEPT SUCH AS IS AN ARTICLE OF THEIR FAITH*." Now, it is agreed on all hands, that a canon of a general council, approved by the Pope-i. e. a rule

* Book of the Roman Catholic Church, p. 9.

of belief delivered to the people, under the fearful sanction of an anathema, leaves no other alternative to a Roman Catholic but embracing the doctrine it contains, or being excluded from his church by excommunication. By one, then, of such canons, every member of the church of Rome is bound to believe that all baptized persons are liable to be compelled, by punishment, to be Christians, or what is the same in Roman Catholic divinity, spiritual subjects of the Pope. It is, indeed, curious to see the council of Trent, who passed that law, prepare the free and extended action of its claims, by an unexpected stroke of liberality. In the Session on Baptism, the Trent Fathers are observed anxiously securing to Protestants the privileges of true baptism. The fourth canon of that Session fulminates an anathema or curse against any one who should say that baptism in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, conferred by a heretic, with an intention to do that which the church intends in that sacrament, is not true baptism *. Observe, now, the

* Si quis dixerit baptismum, qui etiam datur ab hæreticis in nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti, cum intentione

consequences of this enlarged spirit of concession in the two subjoined canons.

"If any one should say that those who have been baptized are free from all the precepts of the holy church, either written or delivered by tradition, so that they are not obliged to observe them, unless they will submit to them of their own accord, LET HIM BE ACCURSED

Having soon after declared the lawfulness of infant baptism, they proceed to lay down the XIV. Canon.

"If any one should say that these baptized children, when they grow up, are to be asked whether they will confirm what their godfathers promised in their name; and that if they say they will not, they are to be left to their own discretion, and not to be forced, in the mean time, into the observance of a Christian life by any other punishment than that of keeping them from the

faciendi quod facit ecclesia, non esse verum baptismum, anathema sit.-Concil. Trident. Sess. VII. Can. IV.

* Si quis dixerit, baptizatos liberos esse ab omnibus sanctæ Romanæ ecclesiæ præceptis, quæ vel scripta vel tradita sunt, ita ut ea observare non teneatur, nisi se sua sponte illis submittere voluerint, anathema sit.

reception of the eucharist and the other sacraments till they repent, LET HIM BE ACCURSED*."

Now, "it is most true," says the author of the Book of the Roman Catholic Church, "that the Roman Catholics believe the doctrines of their church to be unchangeable; and that it is a tenet of their creed, that what their faith ever has been, such it was from the beginning, such it now is, and such it will ever be." Let him, therefore, choose between this boasted consistency of doctrine, and the curse of his church. The council of Trent, that council whose decrees are, by the creed of Pius IV., declared to be obligatory above all others; that council has converted the sa

* Si quis dixerit hujusmodi parvulos baptizatos, cum adoleverint, interrogandos esse, an ratum habere velint quod patrini, eorum nomine, dum baptizarentur, polliciti sunt, et, ubi se nolle responderint, suo esse arbitrio relinquendos, nec alia interim pæna ad Christianam vitam cogendos, nisi ut ab eucharistiæ, aliorumque sacramentorum perceptione arceantur donec resipiscant, anathema sit. Can. VIII. et XIV. de Baptismo.

+ "I also profess and undoubtedly receive all other things delivered, defined, and declared by the sacred canons and general councils, particularly by the holy council of Trent, &c. &c." Creed of Pius IV. in the Book of the Roman Catholic Church, p. 8.