power of changing, if he please, the substance of the bread and wine, into the substance of his body and blood, preserving, still, the sensible qualities of the bread and wine. I have, thus, I trust, removed from the minds of all sincere enquirers after the truth, those obstacles, which a blind and unreasonable enslavement to the impressions of their senses, throws in the way of that calm consideration, with which they are bound to hear the words of Omnipotent Truth. If, then, I shall now make plain from the sacred writings, that the Redeemer of mankind has been pleased to perform this wonderful change; that he has, in the most positive, express, and literal manner, declared, that the bread is changed into his body, and the wine into his blood; no one, who admits his powerno one, who believes his divinity-no one, whoreceives the scripture as the word of his truth-can refuse to bow down, with the Catholic Church, and adore the body and blood of Jesus Christ, substantially existing in the blessed sacrament of the altar, under the outward appearance of bread and wine.

I say, then; if our opponents admit, as they must, the possibility, how can they deny the fact? In Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Paul, Christ says: "Take and eat this is my body, which shall be delivered for you.-Take and drink, this is my blood, which shall be shed for you." In John, he says: "Amen, amen, I say unto you, unless you eat the flesh of the son of man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you, for my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed," Paul

again says: "The chalice of benediction which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? And the bread which we break, is it not the partaking of the body of the Lord?" And in another place: "Wherefore, whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord. But let a man prove himself; and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of the chalice. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment to himself, not discerning the body of the Lord."

There are some things, my brethren, so clear and evident, that an attempt to demonstrate them, only serves to involve them in a factitious obscurity. Who would undertake to prove, that the sun shines at noon-day? Could any argument of his, add light to the lustre, by which the luminary makes known its own presence? After I, for instance, who am but a mortal, had, repeatedly, and with the most solemn asseverations, stated a fact, would I feel complimented by a person, who should, as repeatedly, tell me, that I did not mean what I said; that I spoke metaphorically; when I cautiously avoided the least appearance of metaphor? Would I make a distinction between such a caviller, and a man who should, roundly and plumply, tell me I lied? The latter, in fact, would only be expressing, (in a very uncourteous way, it is true,) his disbelief of my words; but the former, while he equally disbelieved me, would be aggravating the insult, by wishing to persuade me, that I was, not only a knave, but a fool.

Yet, such is the treatment, which Jesus Christ receives from those, who, with his scriptures in their hands, and his words in their ears, still deny, that he changed bread and wine into his body and blood!

Were I-a Catholic, believing, as I do, in transubstantiation-were I to have been so blest, as to sit among the apostles at the last supper; were I there anxious, that Christ should make use of words, which should leave no room for doubt, which should silence all possible cavil upon the truth of this dogma; were I allowed to suggest, to the Saviour of mankind, the very terms of the institutional form-could I, could ány man, could any apostle, could any angel, could the God of eternal wisdom himself, have selected words more expressive, or so expressive of the miraculous change he was about to effect, as those which he actually did use: "This is my body?" When I now say that it is his body, no one dares to tell me, that I do not mean that it is his body; and when Jesus himself says that it is, shall any one, calling himself Christian, or even pretending to understand the most simple and obvious words within the range of human speech, dare to contradict the Son of God, and tell him that it is not his body? that it is only a sign, a figure, a representation, an-I know not what-which he has pawned upon mankind, declaring it to be his body? and that, with an "Amen, amen, I say unto you?" and-to keep up the solemn imposture-carefully avoiding the most distant allusion to sign, figure, or representation of any kind?-Oh blasphemy !-Why, thy very mur

derers, O Divine Victim! who were to hang thee upon thy cross on the morrow-the very Jews, though they called thee seducer and impostor, never charged thee with an imposition so gross as this!

Well, Calvinists; will you still persist in telling your Redeemer, that he does not mean what he says? Will you still contend, that it is not his body, after he has, so expressly, so repeatedly, assured you, that it is? What shall I do to remove your obstinacy? for, it is so absolutely void of the slightest shadow of common sense, that I cannot even palliate it with the name of delusion. Perhaps, the Son of God himself, if he were to address you in person, might succeed in convincing you. Let us see. Suppose, then, that Jesus Christ should descend, once more, from his heavenly throne, and standing, in my place, should invite you to question him on the subject. Would you not rejoice at the opportunity, thus given you, to dispel your doubts for ever? Would you not eagerly ask him, whether the sacrament was really his body? And, if he most solemnly assured you that it was, would not that be enough? would you not instantly bow to his infallible word, and believe, though you do not comprehend? Yes; if you deserve, at all, the name of Christians, I am convinced you would. But, I will push my supposition still further; I will suppose the extremest possible case; namely, that, in spite of this soJemn asseveration, thousands of you were, not only, to persist in your unbelief, but to turn your backs upon your Jesus, and abjure him

for ever, as a liar and impostor! How, think you, would your Saviour act in this emergency? Would he let you go, when a word would keep you? Would he, who came to teach you to die for you-would he suppress the truth, and by that suppression, leave your souls to ruin? Would the lover of souls do this? Nay, more; would he, again and again, tell you, that you should eat his flesh and drink his blood;" and that too, with the threat of your "not having life in you," unless you did it? did it? Would Christ say this, if the truth did not oblige him? Would he say this, if, at the same time, he only meant, that you were to eat bread and wine, as the figures of his flesh and blood? and when, by candidly telling you so, he could remove all your diffi culties, at once, and save you from the perdition of infidelity? Would, in a word, the Lamb of God be guilty of so gratuitous, so cruel an imposture? Now, then; suppose, as I was saying, that, standing in this very pulpit, he were to act in the very manner I have just described. Would this, O Calvinists, be sufficient for you? would this remove the obstinacy of your unbelief?

"It would," you reply; "but the supposition is absurd; Christ could not act so."-I deny it. He has acted so. Read the sixth chapter of John. He, there, for the first time, said: "The bread which I will give, is my flesh for the life of the world." No sooner had the word passed his lips, than the Jews questioned its possibility, debating among themselves, and saying: "How can this man give