them as faithful witnesses of the doctrine and discipline of the church in their respective times. It is chiefly in the latter character that I am going to bring a certain number of them forward, namely, to prove that during the five first ages of the church, no less than in the subsequent ages, the unwritten Word, or tradition, was held in equal estimation by her with the Scripture itself, and that she claimed a divine right of propounding and explaining them both

I begin with the disciple of the apostles, St. Ignatius, bishop of Antioch it is recorded of him that, in his passage to Roine, where he was sentenced to be devoured by wild beasts, he exhorted the Christians, who got access to him, "to guard themselves against the rising heresies, and to adhere with the utmost firmness to the tradition of the apostles." 91* The same sentiments appear in this saint's Epistles, and also in those of his fellow martyr, St. Polycarp, the angel of the church of Smyrna.†

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One of the disciples of the last mentioned holy bishop was St. Irenæus, who, passing into Gaul, became bishop of Lyons. He has left twelve books against the heresies of his time, which abound with testimonies to the present purpose; some few of which I shall here insert.-He writes, "Nothing is easier to those who seek for the truth, than to remark, in every church, the tradition, which the apostles have manifested to all the world. We can name the bishops appointed by the apostles in the several churches, and the successors of those bishops down to our own time, none of whom ever taught or heard of such doctrines as these heretics dream of." This holy father emphatically affirms that, “In explaining the Scriptures, Christians are to attend to the pastors of the church, who, by the ordinance of God, have received the inheritance of truth, with the succession of their Sees." He adds, "The tongues of nations vary, but the virtue of tradition is one and the same everywhere; nor do the churches in Germany believe or teach differently from those in Spain, Gaul, the East, Egypt, or Lybia."-" Since it would be tedious to enumerate the succession of all the churches, we appeal to the faith and tradition of the greatest, most ancient, and best known church, that of Rome, founded by the apostles, SS. Peter and Paul; for with this church all others agree, in as much as in her is preserved the tradition which comes down from the apostles."T- "SUPPOSING THE APOSTLES HAD NOT LEFT US THE SCRIPTURES, OUGHT NOT WE STILL TO HAVE FOLLOWED THE ORDINANCE OF

Euseb. Hist. 1. iii. c. 30 SL. iv. c. 43.

+ Revel. ii. 8. ⇓ L. i. c. 3.

‡ Advers. Hæres. 1. iii. c 5. ¶ L. iii. c. 2.

TRADITION, which they consigned to those to whom they committed the churches? It is this ordinance of tradition which many nations of barbarians, believing in Christ, follow, without the use of letters or ink."

Tertullian, who flourished two hundred years after the Chrisțian era, among his other works, has left us one of the same na. ture. and almost the same title with that last cited. In this, speaking of the contemporary heretics, he says, "They meddle with the Scriptures, and adduce arguments from them: for, in treating of faith, they pretend that they ought not to argue upon any other ground than the written documents of faith: thus they weary the firm, catch the weak, and fill the middle sort with doubt. We begin, therefore, with laying down as a maxim, that these men ought not to be allowed to argue at all from scripture In fact, these disputes about the sense of Scripture have gener ally no other effect than to disorder either the stomach or the brain. It is, therefore, the wrong method to appeal to the Scripures, since these afford either no decision, or, at most, only a doubtful one. And even if this were not the case, still, in appealing to Scripture, the natural order of things requires that we should first inquire to whom the Scriptures belong? From whom, and by whom, and on what occasion, and to whom, that tradition was delivered by which we became Christians? For where the truth of Christian discipline and faith is found, there is the truth of Scripture, and of the interpretation of it, and of all Christian traditions.' He elsewhere says, "that doctrine is evidently true which was first delivered on the contrary, that is false which is of a later date. This maxim stands immoveable against the attempts of all late heresies. Let such then produce the origin of their churches: let them show the succession of their bishops from the apostles, or their disciples.-If you live near Italy, you see before your eyes the Roman church: happy church! to which the apostles have left the inheritance of their doctrine with their blood! Where Peter was crucified, like his Master; where Paul was beheaded, like the Baptist!-If this be so, it is plain, as we have said, that heretics are not to be allowed to appeal to Scripture, since they have no claim to it.-ilence it is proper to address them as follows: -Who are you? Whence do you come? What business have you strangers with my property? By what right are you, Marcion, felling my trees? By what authority are you, Valentine, turning the course of my streams? Under what pretence are you, Apelles, removing my land-marks! The estate is mine: I have the ancient, the prior possession of it

1. iv. c. 64 + Praescrip. Advers. Hæres. edit. Rhenan, pp 36, 37

have the title deeds delivered to me by the original proprietors I am the heir of the apostles; they have made their will in my fa vour; while they disinherited and cast you off, as strangers and nemies."* In another of his works,f this eloquent father proves at great length, the absolute necessity of admitting tradition, no ress than Scripture as the rule of faith, inasmuch as many important points which he mentions, cannot be proved without it.

1 pass by other shining lights of the third century, such as St. Clement of Alexandria, St. Cyprian, Origen, &c. all of whom place apostolical tradition on a level with Scripture, and describe the church as the expounder of them both: I must, however, give me following words, from the last named great Biblial scholar. He says, “We are not to credit those, who, by ating real canonical Scripture, seem to say, behold the Word is ts your houses: for we are not to desert our first ecclesiastical traiuion, nor to believe otherwise than as the churches of God have, in their perpetual succession, delivered to us."

Among the numerous and illustrious witnesses of the fourth age, I shall be content with citing St. Basil and St. Epiphanius. The former says, "There are many doctrines preserved and preached in the church, derived partly from written documents partly from apostolical tradition, which have equally the same force in religion, and which no one contradicts who has the least knowledge of the Christian laws." The latter of these fathers, says, with equal brevity and force, "We must make use of tradition for all things are not to be found in Scripture."§

:

St. John Chrysostom flourished at the beginning of the fifth century, who, though he strongly recommends the reading of the holy Scriptures, yet, expounding the text, 2 Thess. ii. 14. says, "Hence it is plain that the apostles did not deliver to us every thing by their Epistles, but many things without writing. These are equally worthy of belief. Hence, let us regard the tradition of the church, as the subject of our belief. Such and such a thing is a tradition: seek no farther."—It would fill a large volume to transcribe all the passages which occur in the works of the great St. Austin, in proof of the Catholic rule, and he authority of the church in making use of it let therefore two or three of them speak for the rest.--" To attain to the truth of the Scriptures," he says, we must follow the sense of them entertained by the universal church, to which the Scriptures themselves bear testimony. True it is the Scriptures themselves cannot deceive us; nevertheless, to prevent our being deceived in the

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*Praescrip. Advers. Hæres. edit. Rhenan, pp. 36,37 † De Corona Milit In J.ib. de Spir. Sanc. § De Hæres. N. 61.

question we examine by them, it is necessary we should advise with that church, which these certainly and evidently point out to us. "This (the unlawfulness of rebaptizing heretics) is not evidently read either by you or by me; nevertheless, if there were any wise man, to whom Christ had borne testimony, and whom he had appointed to be consulted on the question, we could not fail to do so: now Christ bears testimony to his church. Whoever, therefore, refuses to follow the practice of the church resists Christ himself, who by his testimony recommends this church." Treating elsewhere, on the same subject, he says, "The apostles, indeed, have prescribed nothing about this; but the custom m'ist be considered as derived from their tradition, since there are many things, observed by the universal church, which are justly held to have been appointed by the apostles, though they are not written." It seems doing an injury to St. Vincent of Lerins, who lived at the end of the fifth century, to quote a part of his celebrated Commonitorium, when the whole of it is so admirably calculated to refute the false rule of heretics, condemned in the foregoing testimonies, and to prove the Catholic rule, here laid down: still I can only transcribe a very small portion of it. "It is asked," says this father, “ as the Scripture is perfect, what need is there of the authority of church doctrine? The reason is because the Scripture, being so profoundly deep, is not understood by all persons in the same sense, but different persons explain it different ways, so that there are almost as many meanings as there are readers of it. Novation interprets it in one sense, Photinas in another, Arius, &c. in another. Therefore it is requisite that the true road of expounding the prophets and apostles must be marked out, according to the ecclesiastical Catholic line.

"It never was, is, or will be lawful for Catholic Christians to teach any doctrine, except that which they once received; and it ever was, is, and will be their duty to condemn those who do so. Do the heretics then appeal to the Scriptures? Certainly they do, and this with the utmost confidence. You will see them running hastily through the different books of Holy Writ, those of Moses, Kings, the Psalms, the Gospels, &c. At home and abroad, in their discourses and in their writings, they hardly produce a sentence which is not larded with the words of Scrip ture, &c.; but they are so much the more to be dreaded, as they conceal themselves under the veil of the divine laws. Let us however, remember, that Satan transformed himself into

* L. i. contra Crescon.

De Bapt. contra Donat. 1. v.

+ De Util. Credend.

angel of light. If he could turn the Scriptures against the Lord of Majesty, what use may he not make of them against us poor mortals?—If then Satan and his disciples, the heretics, are capable of thus perverting holy Scripture, how are Catholics the children of the church, to make use of them, so as to discern truth from falsehood? They must carefully observe the rule laid down at the beginning of this treatise by the holy and learned men I referred to: THEY ARE TO INTERPRET THE DIVINE TEXT, ACCORDING TO THE TRADITION OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH."*

It would be as easy to prove this rule of faith from the fathers of the sixth as the former centuries, particulary from St. Gregory the great, that holy Pope, who at the close of this century, sent missionaries from Rome to convert our Pagan ancestors: but, I am sure, you will think that evidence enough has been brough to show that the ancient fathers of the church, from the very time of the apostles, held this whole rule of faith, namely, the word of God unwritten as well as written, together with the living speaking tribunal of the church to preserve and interpret both of them. I am, &c. J. M

DEAR SIR,

LETTER XI.

To JAMES BROWN, Esq. &c.

THE TRUE RULE.

THE all-importance of determining with ourselves which is the right rule or method of discovering religious truth must be admitted by all thinking Christians; as it is evident that this rule alone can conduct them to it, and that a false rule is capaole of conducting them into all sorts of errors. It is equally clear why all those who are bent upon deserting the Catholic church, reject her rule, that of the whole word of God; together with her living authority in explaining it: for, while this rule and this authority are acknowledged, there can be no heresy or schism among Christians, as whatever points of religion are not clear from Scripture are supplied and illustrated by tradition; and as the pastors of the church, who possess that authority, are always living and ready to declare what is the sense of Scripture, and what the tradition on each contested point which they have received in succession from the apostles. The only resource

* Vincent Lerins Commonit. Advers. Hær. edit Baluz. An Englisk translation of this little work has lately been published.