physics had unfortunately started long before the reformation, and even before the publication of Christianity: they may observe different ceremonies, and adopt different views of church hierarchy and discipline; but their spirit is the only one which deserves the name of Catholic in the genuine sense of that word; the only spirit, indeed, which can produce, even on earth, an image of the glorious church which will exist for ever in one fold, and under one shepherd.

LETTER V.

Moral character of the Roman Church. Celibacy. Nunneries.

THE attempt to describe the moral character of a collective body, which, constantly changing its composition, can seldom consist of the same elements for any considerable portion of time, will probably appear rash and invidious. A long familiarity with the subject which I have in hand, has, however, convinced me, that if there be any truth in the general observation, that men who act under certain laws and interests, in collective bodies, are swayed by a peculiar influence, which, without borrowing a foreign phrase, might be called Corporation Spirit; the church of Rome presents the strongest and most marked instance of that moral phenomenon. Its great antiquity, and the gigantic power which it has enjoyed for ages, are the natural and intelligible causes of those fixed views and purposes which, existing at all times in the mass of its living members, must

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.

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 sacra

ment, 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