viction, that either weakness of judgment or fickleness of character, had been the only source of my errors. But though I am not at liberty to mention individual cases, I do attest, from the most certain knowledge, that the history of my own mind is, with little variation, that of a great portion of the Spanish clergy. The fact is certain: I make no individual charge: every one who comes within this general description may still wear the mask, which no Spaniard can throw off without bidding an eternal farewell to his country. Now, let us pause to examine this moral phenomenon: and, since I am one of the class which exhibits it, I will proceed with the moral dissection of myself, however unpleasant the task may be. Many, indeed, will dismiss the case with the trite observation that extremes generally produce their opposites. But an impartial mind will not turn to a common-place evasion, to save itself the labour of thinking. When I examine the state of my mind previous to my rejecting the Christian faith, I cannot recollect any thing in it but what is in perfect accordance with that form of religion in which I was educated. I revered the Scriptures as the word of God; but was also persuaded that without a living, infallible interpreter, the Bible was a dead letter, which could not convey its meaning with any certainty. I grounded, therefore, my Christian faith upon the infallibility of the church. No Roman Catholic pretends to a better foundation. "I believe whatever the holy mother church holds and believes," is the compendious creed of every member of the Roman communion. Had my doubts affected any particular doctrine, I should have clung to the decisions of a church which claims exemption from error; but my first doubts attacked the very basis of Catholicism. I believe that the reasoning which shook my faith is not new in the vast field of theological controversy. But I protest that, if such be the case, the coincidence adds weight to the argument, for I am perfectly certain that it was the spontaneous suggestion of my own. mind. I thought within myself that the certainty of the Roman Catholic faith had no better ground than a fallacy of that kind which is called reasoning in a circle; for I believed the infallibility of the church because the Scripture said she was. PRACTICAL AND INTERNAL EVIDENCE AGAINST CATHOLICISM, ETC. LETTER I. The Author's account of himself. The Ir a man be at any time excusable in speaking of himself, it must be when he finds it necessary to address those to whom he is unknown. name and designation of a writer are, indeed, sufficient in most cases, and even unnecessary in some, for the purposes to which the press is commonly made an instrument; but the occasion of this address requires a more intimate acquaintance with my personal circumstances. Before I proceed, however, I beg you to observe the word impartial, by which I have qualified Roman Catholics.-From such Roman Catholics B as renounce their intellectual rights, and leave the trouble of thinking to others, I cannot expect a hearing. To the professed champions, in whom the mere name of discussion kindles the keen spirit of controversy, I can say nothing which they are not predetermined to find groundless and futile. Among those who, bound to Catholicism by the ties of blood and friendship, make consistency in religious profession a point of honour, I am prepared to meet only with disdain. But there must be not a few, in whom the prepossessions of education and parentage have failed to smother a natural passion for truth, which all the witchery of kindred, wealth, and honour, cannot allure from its object. To such, among the British and Irish Roman Catholics, I direct these letters; for, though the final result of their religious inquiries may be diametrically opposite to that which has separated me from my country, my kindred, my honours, emoluments, and prospects; I trust that in the following account of myself they will readily recognise an intellectual temper, for which no difference of opinion can prevent their feeling some sympathy. I am descended from an Irish family, whose |