charge, he asserts, that the Church of Rome 'had not announced a miracle for many years.' This only proves, that his ignorance of what is continually going on in the Church, is equal to his bigotry against it. The same ignorance and bigotry are manifested in the ridiculous story concerning Sixtus V. which he copies from the unprincipled Leti, as also in his account of the exploded and condemned book, the Taxe Cancellariæ, &c. (1) Towards the conclusion of his work, he expresses a doubt whether I have read Bishop Douglas's Criterion, though I have so fre quently quoted it; because, he says, if I had read it, I must have known that Acosta proves that St. Xaverius wrought no miracles among the Indians, and that the same thing appears from the Saint's own letters. Now the only thing, Dear Sir, which these assertions prove is, that Mr. Roberts himself, no more than Bishop Douglas, ever read either Acosta's work, or St. Xaverius's letters, notwithstanding they so frequently refer to them; for this is the only way of acquitting them of a far heavier charge. I am, &c. J. M. LETTER XXV. To JAMES BROWN, Esq. &c. ON THE TRUE CHURCH BEING CATHOLIC. DEAR SIR, IN treating of this third mark of the True Church, as expressed in our common Creeds, I feel my spirits sink within me, and I am almost tempted to throw away my pen in despair. For what chance is there of opening the eyes of candid Protestants to the other marks of the Church, if (1) Euseb. Eccles. Hist. 1. vi. c. 15 they are capable of keeping them shut to this! Every time they address the God of Truth, either in solemn worship or in private devotion, they are forced, each of them to repeat, I believe in THE CATHOLIC Church, and yet if I ask any of them the question, Are you a CATHOLIC? he is sure to answer me, No, I am a PROTESTANT!— Was there ever a more glaring instance of inconsistency and self-condemnation among rational beings! you At the first promulgation of the Gospel, its followers were distinguished from the Jews by the name of Christians, as we learn from Scripture, Acts, xi. 26. Hence the title of Catholic did not occur in the primitive edition of the Apostles' Creed; (1) but no sooner did heresies and schisms arise, to disturb the peace of the Church, than there was found to be a necessity of discriminating the main stock of her faithful children, to whom the promises of Christ belonged, from those self-willed choosers of their articles of belief, as the word heretic signifies, and from those disobedient separatists, as the word schismatic means. For this purpose the title of CATHOLIC, or Universal, was adopted, and applied to the True Church and her children. Accordingly, we find it used by the immediate disciples of the Apostles, as a distinguishing mark of the True Church. One of these was the illustrious martyr St. Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, who, writing to the Church of Smyrna, expressly says, that Christ is where the 'Catholic Church is.' In like manner, the same Church of Smyrna, giving a relation of the martyrdom of their holy Bishop St. Polycarp, who was equally a disciple of the Apostles, addresses it to 'The Catholic Churches.' (2) This characteristic title of the True Church continued to be pointed out by the succeeding Fathers in their (1) See four collated copies of it in Dupin's Bib. Ecel. tom i. 6 writings and the acts of their Councils. (1) St. Cyril, Bishop of Jerusalem, in the 4th century, gives the following direction to his pupils: If you go into any city, do not ask merely Where is the Church, or House of God? because the here'tics pretend to have this; but ask, Which is "the Catholic Church? because this title belongs 'alone to our Holy Mother. (2) We,' says a Father of the 5th century, are called Catholic 'Christians.' (3) His contemporary, St. Pacian, describes himself as follows: 'Christian is my name, Catholic is my sirname: by the former I am called, by the latter I am distinguished. By the name of Catholic, our society is distin'guished from all heretics.' (4) But there not one of the Fathers or Doctors of antiquity, who enlarges so copiously or so pointedly on this title of the true Church, as the great St. Augustin, who died in the early part of the 5th century. Many things,' he says, detain me in the bosom of the Catholic Church- -the very name of 'CATHOLIC detains me in it, which she has so happily preserved amidst the different heretics; that whereas they are all desirous of being * called Catholics, yet, if any stranger were to ask 'them, Which is the assembly of the Catholics? none ' of them would dare to point out his own place of 'worship.' (5) To the same purpose he says elsewhere, We must hold fast the communion of that Church which is called Catholic, not only by her own children, but also by all her ene'mies. For heretics and schismatics, whether they will or not, when they are speaking of the 'Catholic Church with strangers, or with their own people, call her by the name of Catholic; 'inasmuch as they would not be understood, if · they did not call her by the name by which all (1) SS. Justin. Clem. Alex. Appolin. 1 Nicæan, can. 8. 1. C. P. can. 7. &c. (2) Catech. 18. (3) Salvia de Gubern. Dei, 1. iv. (4) S. Pacian, Dp. i. ad Symp. (5) Contra Epist. Fundum. c. 1. 'the world calls her.' (1) In proportion to their affection for the glorious name of Catholic, is the aversion of these primitive doctors, to every ecclesiastical name or title derived from particular persons, countries, or opinions. What new heresy,' says St. Vincent of Lerins, in the 6th century, 'ever sprouted up, without bearing the name of its founder, the date of its origin? &c. (2) St. Justin the philosopher and martyr, had previously made the same remark in the 2d century, with respect to the Marcionite, Valentinian, and other heretics of his time. (3) Finally, the nervous St. Jerom lays down the following rule on this subject: We must live and die in that Church, which, having been founded by the Apostles, continues down to the present day. 'If, then, you should hear of any Christians not deriving their name from Christ, but from some other founder, as the Marcionites, the Valentini6 ans, &c. be persuaded that they are not of Christ's society, but of Antichrist's.' (4) I now appeal to you, Dear Sir, and to the respectable friends who are accustomed to deliberate with you on religious subjects, whether these observations and arguments of the ancient Fathers are not as strikingly true in this 19th century, as they were during the six first centuries, in which they wrote? Is there not, among the rival churches, one exclusively known and distinguished by the name and title of THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, as well in England, Holland, and other countries, which protest against this Church, as in those which adhere to it? Does not this effulgent mark of the true religion so incontestably belong to us, in spite of every effort to obscure it, by the nick-names of Papists, Romanists, &c. (5) that the rule of St. Cyril and St. (1) De Ver. Relig. c. 7. (3) Advers. Tryphon. (2) Common. Advers. Hær. c. 34. (5) St. Gregory of Tours, speaking of the Arians, and other contem 1 Augustin is as good and certain now, as it was in their times? What I mean is this: if any stranger in London, Edinburgh, or Amsterdam, were to ask his way to the Catholic Chapel, I would risk my life for it, that no sober Protestant inhabitant would direct him to any other place of worship than to ours. On the other hand, it is notorious, that the different sects of Protestants, like the heretics and schismatics of old, are denominated either from their founders, as the Lutherans, the Calvinists, the Socinians, &c. or from the countries in which they prevail, as the Church of England, the Kirk of Scotland, the Moravians, &c. or from some novelty in their belief or practice, as the Anabaptists, the Independants, the Quakers, &c. The first father of Protestants was so sensible that he and they were destitute of every claim to the title of Catholic, that in translating the Apostles' Creed into Dutch, he substituted the word Christian for that of Catholic. The first Lutherans did the same thing in their Catechism, for which they are reproached by the famous Fulke, who, to his own confusion, proves that the True Church of Christ must be Catholic in name, as well as in substance. (1) I am, &c. J. M. LETTER XXVI. To JAMES BROWN, Esq., &c. ON THE QUALITIES OF CATHOLICITY. DEAR SIR, To proceed now, from the name Catholic, to the signification of that name: this is to be gath porary heretics of the 6th century, says, 'Romanorum nomine voci. tant nostræ religionis homines. Hist. 1. xvii. c. 25, (1) On the New Testament, p. 378 |