went out into the world, which lay in wickedness, in sensuality, and in that unbelief of a darkened understanding which sensuality begets; and the victory that overcame the world was their faith. In a word, the Holy Ghost descended on the Mystical Body to bestow upon it 1. The knowledge of the faith. 3. And strength, to fight the good fight of faith. It was henceforth 'full of faith and of the Holy Ghost.' It was a living thing, with an external corporeal oneness, and with an internal life, sentiment, understanding, and will; the oneness of all made manifest by the oneness of speech and action in which all resulted. Where is, But now, let us turn away from Pentecost to the present day, from Jerusalem to London, and inquire and see where is the Mystical Body, this Church of Christ? We are surrounded by bodies, each calling itself a Church, and the Church of Christ. 'Lo! here and which is is Christ! and lo! He is there!' How, amidst the Mystical this Babel of conflicting claims, are we to asnow, in our certain, and know with absolute certainty, to the exclusion of all reasonable doubt, which is the Church of Christ, which is His one Mystical Body, which is animated by the one soul, the one Holy Ghost? Body of Christ days? Well, in the first place, let us purify our intention, and direct our spiritual vision; let us cut ourselves adrift from all entanglements of prejudice, whether of antecedents, or circumstances, of education, or of the temporal consequences which the result of our inquiry may entail. Let us look simply at the one point, Where is, and which is the Church of Christ? He clearly had a Church, and one Church, on earth once; and He, as clearly, has that Church now, or the powers of evil have prevailed, and His promises have come to nought. 'by scholar Secondly, let us put aside all merely human learning, all histories, and all books of controversy. Salvation not But why? For this reason: were the Church ship alone.” to be discoverable and known only in this way, by means of long, learned, and laborious investigation, salvation would be for the few, and not for all. All men have not brains, or learning, or leisure for such an inquiry; nay, more than half the human race cannot even read. Faith, then, is not to be got from books. 'Faith cometh by hearing.' Yes, it must be by signs and notes which are apparent to all; to the Notes or poor as to the rich; to the illiterate and the signs of the Church, the rude, as well as to the clever and the learned; Mystical Boto the apple-woman at the street-corner, guile-dy. The Diless of culture and learning, as well as to the must be easily king in his palace, and to the philosopher in and apparent his study. She has a soul to be saved as well to all. as they; for her, the Incarnate Word laid down His Life, and shed His Blood, as much as for them; and she has, equally with them, a right to know where is the Divine Teacher who will guide her into all truth. vine Teacher discernible, Now, there are two notes of the Church of God, which are amply sufficient for our purpose; the first is her unity, the second is her universality. As to the unity of the Church of Christ, I have already spoken; I shall only add His own words, the words of His prayer to the Eternal Father: 1. Its unity. 'That they all may be one, as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee; that they may be one in Us, that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me.' There was to be a unity so wonderful as to be sufficient evidence to men of His own divine mission; and therefore, and much more, of the divine authority of those whom He had intrusted with the divine message. As to the universality of the Church of Christ, it was to embrace all nations,' and to be co-extensive with 2. Its univer- the whole world.' Those two characteristics These notes Church of England as sality. were undoubtedly stamped upon that Church which our Divine Lord left on earth; let us therefore see whether any body of Christians possesses them now. To begin with those outside the Catholic and Roman Church, let us take the Church of England. applied to the It is one of the largest and most important, socially, politically, and in point of learning. a representa- Is it one? Assuredly it is not so! High Protestant Church, Broad Church, Low Church, and with bodies. infinite subdivisions of those three great parties, each of which contradicts and opposes the other on the most vital questions, in newspapers and on platforms, in the halls of convocation, and before the courts of law. Whatever it possesses, it has certainly not the note of unity. tive of the But has it universality? As clearly, as certainly, as undeniably, no! Its very name defines its boundaries, which are those-not of the world, but of England and her colonies. It is, at most, coextensive with the British empire, and flourishes only within range of British gun boats. Destitute of those two notes of unity and universality, which were stamped on that Church which our Divine Lord left on earth, the Church of England is assuredly not identified with it; and if this is the case with regard to it, with still greater force does the argument avail against the smaller sects, which are at once its offspring and its rivals. We may, then, dismiss it and them from our minds in our inquiry. But there is another Church, from which that Church Applied to of England separated itself three hundred and Roman years ago; and that Church claims now, as it Church. claimed then, and as it claimed for fifteen the Catholic hundred years before, to be the one and only Church of Christ-to possess all His divine authority, His divine mission, and His divine message; to be the one Divine Teacher, by whose teaching the words are verified, 'They shall be all taught of God,' and whose law obliges the conscience of the whole human race. To her, and to her alone, she declares His words apply: 'He that heareth you, heareth Me, and he that despiseth you, despiseth Me.' And now let us put her to the test; let us apply to her those two notes of unity and universality, and see whether she can make good her claim on our obedi ence. Is she one? Undoubtedly and undeniably she is. This is certain, on the testimony of friends and foes alike. Her children know her unity by daily experience; her enemies assert her oneness by their language concerning her, their attitude towards her, their treatment of her. They may deny loudly her divinity, and assert her emanation from the Spirit of Evil, but they cannot deny, even to themselves, her oneness; if they do deny it in words, they contradict their denial by their deeds. They treat her as a person, as a living body, with a oneness of nature, and sentiment, and thought, and will, and action. They may fear her, hate her, despise her, in turn; ridicule her pretensions, or oppose her progress; speak against her, write against her, enact laws against her, persecute and endeavour to extirpate her; but whatever they do, it is always done towards one living body, with one heart, and mind, and will. Here you have the unconscious testimony of cnemies, of the world, and of the devil, to the living corporeal oneness of the Catholic and Roman Church. So also as to her universality. She is the Church of the World, the Church of the Human Race, the Teacher of the Nations; she knows no frontiers; she exists, lives, teaches, acts, in every land. This is also a patent fact, known to all men, to friends and foes alike, which no man can deny. But how do you account for those two undeniable facts, the unity and the universality of the Catholic and Roman Church, save on her own thesis? They are obviously preternatural, and cannot be adequately accounted for on any merely natural hypothesis. Men do not naturally agree. Human minds, since the fall of the human race, tend naturally towards divergence. Put one subject before six men, and you will not be surprised if you have six opinions. Quot homines, tot sententiæ. How, then, do you account for the marvellous, stupendous unity of the Catholic and Roman Church, regarding it simply as a philosophical phenomenon? So also as to her property, and note of universality— repugnant as it is naturally to the innate spirit of nationalism of national prejudices, antipathies, and jealousies. On our hypothesis there is no difficulty; on yours there is no answer. Look at the difference, my dear friend, between you and me, when we say the same words of the Creed, 'I believe one Catholic Church.' You say, 'I believe One.' No, not at all; unfortunately not by any means one: High Church, Low Church, Broad Church, with their internecine warfare, and their endless subdivisions. Catholic.' Alas! again No; unfortunately coexisting only with the British Empire, and fitly termed the Church of England. ( I say, in my turn, 'I believe One.' Yes, perfectly peerlessly, indivisibly, unalterably one. 'Catholic.' Yes, |