such as I endeavoured to describe it, at our last meeting, and have partially, although I trust so far satisfactorily, proved it to-night, it must seem to be precisely what, in the nature of things, we should expect to find it. For, we cannot fail to observe, that the system pursued by the Almighty in every other case, where it is His intention to mould or form men for any certain condition of mutual relation-where He intends to prepare their minds for any state requiring uniformity of purpose and of action, is to bring them unto it through the principle of authority. On what principle has he grounded the domestic society but on that of subjection and obedience? Is it not an instinctive feeling inherent in our nature, that the child who has to learn, could not do so unless a scheme of rule and of submission existed in the little republic of each family? And if he be not so placed under the instruction and direction of his parents, or other masters, and by them formed and trained to those domestic virtues which it is the intention primarily of domestic order to instil and perfect, does not experience prove that the mind will be untutored and wild, devoid of the best affections, and open to the occupation of every passion, and the dominion of every vice? And as the domestic virtues are the stock, whereon are ingrafted our social qualities, never could we expect, that by any other system, the youth of any country could be brought to the adoption of the same moral, and social feelings, and pursuits, than by the natural course of youthful discipline and restraint, whereby the mind gains that self-command and love of principle which can alone well direct it.

And is it not so, likewise, in the course followed by Almighty Providence, for the preservation of social order? Who ever heard of a society held together but by the principle and tie of authority and lawful jurisdiction? Can we conceive men enjoying the benefits of the social state, acting towards one another on certain fixed rules and principles, united for the great purposes of public co-operation-be it for peace or for war, or for their mutual support in private life, or the great and more general wants of human nature-otherwise than

when united upon a system of proper authority and control? And not only so, but must they not have among them a living authority fully competent to prevent every infraction of the law, and to secure the state against the corruption which results from the private opinions of men?

And, although it may appear perhaps somewhat foreign to the subject, yet I cannot help making a remark connected with this observation; that such is peculiarly the nature of our own constitution. It is singular, that we have a letter addressed by one of the oldest Popes to a Sovereign of this Kingdom, which, even if it be not allowed all the antiquity attributed to it, must yet be considered anterior to the Conquest; in which he expressly says, that the constitution and government of all the other nations of Europe are necessarily less perfect than that of England, because they are based on the Theodosian, or an originally heathen code, while the constitution of England has drawn its forms and provisions from Christianity, and received its principles from the Church. It is remarkable that, perhaps, no other country has such a steady administration of the laws, in consequence of the admission into it of that very principle, which corresponds to the unwritten or traditional code of the Church. For, besides the Statute Law of the Kingdom, we have also the Common Law, that law of traditional usage now recorded in the decisions of Courts, and in other proper and legitimate documents, precisely in the same manner, as the Church of Christ possesses a series of traditional laws, handed down from age to age, written, indeed, now in the works of those who have illustrated her constitution and precepts, and demonstrated every part of her system, but still differing from the Scripture much in the same way, as the unwritten, differs from the written law. This may be sufficient to show, how far from unreasonable our system is, and how far remote from any tyranny or oppression, or unjust restraint of men's minds, wherewith it is so often charged.

I trust, my brethren, that I have now shown you how consistent with sound reason, and how strongly confirmed in

When you behold a majestic

Holy Writ is the rule of faith which the Catholic holds, in the authority of the Church. I trust, too, that you will have seen how beautifully it harmonises through all its parts, from one extreme to the other, so as to be worthy of being considered the work of God's hand. tree standing in the field, which has darted its roots far and deep into the earth, and spreads its branches wide around it, and produces, year after year, its store of leaves, and flowers, and fruit; you might as well imagine it to be the fashioning of man's hands, an ingenious device and artifice of his, which he feeds and nourishes, as suppose the same of the system I have described; which, as you have seen, entwines its roots through all the shadowy institutions of the elder dispensation, and standing tall and erect in the midst of the new, defies the whirlwind and the lightning, the drought and scorching sun, burgeoning widely, and, like the prophet's vine, spreading its branches to the uttermost parts of the earth, and gathering all mankind underneath its shade, and feeding them with the sweetest fruits of holiness. For, I have yet to show you much of its fairest graces and mightiest influences. Yes, and of it we may well exclaim with Peter, in this day's gospel, Lord, it is good for us to be here." Under its branches we have done well to make unto ourselves a tabernacle, where, with Moses and Elias, as the bearers of evidence from the old law, and with Jesus and his chosen apostles, as our vouchers in the new, we repose in peace and unity, in joy and gladness, in the security of faith, in the assurance of hope, and in the firm bond of charity.

LECTURE V.

THE CATHOLIC RULE OF FAITH FURTHER PROVED.

1 TIMOTHY, iii. 15.

'Know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the House of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and the ground of Truth."

HAD you, my brethren, seen the exact and finished design for some sumptuous building, such as it proceeded from the hands of one, all whose works are necessarily most perfect, and who has the power to accomplish whatever he designeth, and did you know that it had been put by him into the hands of zealous, and willing, and competent workmen, by whom it might, under his superintendence, be brought into execution, I am sure you would consider it superfluous to inquire, whether the command had been fulfilled, and whether that which was so beautiful in its design was not confessedly more so, and endowed with ten-fold perfection, when in work accomplished. Now, such, precisely is the position wherein we stand with regard to the present inquiry. I have endeavoured, by the simplest course possible, to trace out from the beginning the plan by Divine Providence manifestly laid down, for the communication of truths to mankind, and for their inviolable preservation among them.

After having, in my preliminary discourses, explained to you the different systems adopted, by us and by others, regarding the rule of faith; after having shown you the complicated difficulties which arise incessantly in the one, and the beautiful simplicity and harmony which reign throughout the other; I endeavoured, commencing with the very first and less perfect system adopted by God in His communications with man, to show you what would be naturally and neces

F

sarily required, to give at once consistency and perfect beauty to the course which He had commenced, and what would be necessary to give solidity and reality to the typical and symbolical method pursued of old. I essayed, also, with the clear and explicit words of prophecy, to construct, in a manner even before its appearance, that fabric of religion which the Son of God came down from heaven to establish; and then, unfolding before you the Sacred Volume, I endeavoured, to the best of my power, to discover the exact tally and correspondence between the two, to show how that which was most beautifully foreshown, was much more beautifully fulfilled; so that we might conclude it impossible to construct any other system, but that which the Catholic Church maintains and teaches, competent to fulfil either the prophecies of the Old Testament, or the institutions of the New.

And having thus, therefrom deduced what was the work placed in the apostles' hands, what the commission entrusted to their care, what the ground-plan on which they were to erect God's Church, it must, I am sure, appear an almost needless search, to ascertain how far these faithful followers and dutiful disciples carried into execution, the plan committed to them for these purposes. But still, my brethren, it must be interesting and useful too, to follow the same course as I have begun, and ever going simply forward, in the form of historical investigation, see the full and final completion of that which had been foretold and instituted, and trace, in the conduct of the apostles and their first successors, clear evidences of the impossibility of any other rule of faith having then been adopted, save that which the Catholic Church maintains at present. And such is the simple inquiry through which I am anxious to conduct you this evening. The investigation will merely consist in the statement of a few historical facts; and I shall be careful to support it by what must be considered incontestible authority; indeed, to base it on such admitted grounds, as, I trust, will leave no room for cavil or objection.

Christ, then, in completion of the work which He had begun,