nEi IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (AATS) ^< w/ :/. ^ /*5 !■; *^ -& LO ife Ilia ^^ IM u IM I.I ||M 22 1.8 !.25 14 III 1.6 ^ # *% .V w W o w Photographic Sciences Corporation s. ^^ % ^ #s V '% ^^ ^.> «^ vi '^A^ ^\^^ ^1? > le, commands me under pain of eternal damnation to believe all that he has taught, he must give me the means to know what he lias taught, for (Jhrist coiild not condemn me for believing a thing I do not know. Christ is a good and just God, loves ns and desires our salvation, and will not condemn us for not doing a thing we do not know to be his will — for not believing a thing we do not know to be his teaching or revelation. If, therefoi-e, Christ commands me upon pain of eternal damnation he is l)ound to give me the means of knowing what he has taught ; and the means Christ gives us of knowing this must have been at all times within the reach of all THK ONLY THUK ClirRiU «»K UOD, >n.s if ' Mio ltiu<5 t ) Ito siLs a my pooi»le ; for, as all poopiii luivo a riglit to Halvaiioii, mo liavc^ thoy a ri<,'ht to tho inoau.s of Icai-uiu*; v/liat God lias taii;^'Iit, and Itclirvo it to savc! their souls. Sfcoiidly, tlio means (liat (Jod <,dv('s us to kno\v wliMt He has tau<,dit must, In; a means adapU^l to the capaeities of all iutellocts— ev«Mi the dullest. !<\)r oven those with tlie dullest of uud(u-standin^'s, have a rii^dit to salvation, and, consetpiently, they have a rijjfht to t\\'>, means wlierehy they shall learn the truths tluit Cnxl has ta)i<,dit, tli'.t th(>y niay helieve them and ]h' saved. The means that (Jod reaostieH there were written inauy false gospels. Ther*! was the tiospel of Simon, the Gospel of Nicodemus, of Mary, of Barnal'as, and the (iospel of tiie Infancy of Jesus ; and all of these gosjiels were spread iunong the i)eople, and the jteople did not Viiow M'hioh of these was inspired, and which false and spurious. Kven tlic learned themselves were disputing whether )>refoience should be gii'en to the Gospel of Simon or that of Matthew, to tlie Gospel of Nicodemus or the Gospel of Mark, the Gos[)el ot Mary or that of Luke, the Gospel of the Infancy of Jesus or the Gosi)el of St. John, And so it was in regard to the ej)istles : there -were mai-y si)urious epistles written, and the peoi)le were at a loss for over thrcse huiulred years to know wiiich gospel was false or spurious, or which inspired ; and, therefore, they coukl not take the Bible for their guide for tliey did not know what constituted the books of the Bible. It was not until the fourth century that the Pope of Home, the Head of the (Jhurch, the succes- sor of St. Peter, assembled together the bishops of the world in a council, and there in that council it w as decided that the Bible, as wo Cytholicshave it now, is tho Word of God, and that the Gospels of Simon, Nicodemus, Mary, Tho Infancy of Jesus, and Barnabas, and all these other ejiistles were spurious, or, at least, iniauthentic ; at least, that tliere AVas no evidence of their inspiration, and that the Gospels of St. Luke, Matthew, Mark, and John, and the Book of lievelations, were ins})ired by God and the spirit of the Holy Ghost. Up to til it time the whole world, for three hundred years, did not know wliat was the Bible ; hence they could not take the Bible for their guide, for they did not know what constituted the Bible. \y©uld our Divine Saviour, if he intended man to learn his religion from si book, have left the Christian world f*iS without that book ? Most assuredly not. Not only for three hundred years the world was left without tlie l)ible, but for one thousand four hun- dred years the christian world was left without that sacred book. Before the art of printing was invented, Bibles were rare things ; Bibles were costly things. T > »w, you must all be aAvare, if you have read history at all, that the a ♦} of printing was invented only a little more than four hundred vears ago, about the middle of the 15tli century, and about one hundred years before there was a Pro- testant in the workl. As I have said, before printing was invented books were rare and costly things. Historians tell us that in the 11th century — eight hundred years ago — bibles were so rare and costly that it took a fortune, a considerable fortune, to buy oneself a copy ; it took the lifetime of a man to make oneself a "copy of the Bible ! Before the art of printing everything had to be done with tho jien upon parchment or sheep-skin. It Avas, therefore, a tedious and slow operation — a costly operation. Now, in order to anive at the ■; -.fV" w I! i ; f fi ! :\ \ 8 THE CATHOLIC CIU'RCn ])robable cost of a Bible at that time, let us suppose that a man shouhl work ten years to make a copy of the Bibk', and earn a (k)nar a ckxy ; well, then, the cost of that bible would be §.'},G50 ! Now, let us sup- pose that a man slioukl work iit the copying of the Bible for twenty years, as historians Siiy it would have taken him at that time, not having the convenience and improvements to aid Itim that we ha\e now ; then, at a dollar a day, for twenty years, the cost of a Bible would be nearly .*8,000. Suppose I came to Ottawa and said to you my dear ])eopki save your souls, for if you lose your soul all is lost. You would say, " sure ei.ough, that is tru<^ \ ' You would ask, what are we to do to save our souls 1 The Protestant preacher would say to you. *' you must get a Bible ; you can get one on Sussex Street, at such a shop, so many doors beyond Murray l^*treet." You would ask the cost and be told it was $8,000. You would be likely to exclaim, " the Lord savf> us ! and cannot we go to heaven without that book I" The answer would be, " No ; you must have the Bible and read it." You murnnir at the price, but are asked, is not your soul worth .^8,000. Yes, of course it is, but yoii say you have not the money, a)id if yoir cannot get i^ Bible, and that salvation depends upon it, evidently you would have to i-emain outside the Kingdom of Heaven. This would l>e a hopelesf, condition, indeed. For 1,1:00 years the world was left without a Bil)le ; not one in ten thousand, not one in twenty thousand, before the nrtof ])rinting was invented, had the Bible ; and would oin- Divine Lord have left the woi'ld Withovtt tlmt book if it was necessary to man's salvation < Most assuredly not. Bat, let iis sup- pose for a moment that all had Bibles, that Bibles wo-e writtcin from the beginning, and that every man, woman, and child had a copy, what good will that book be to people who do not know how to read"? It is a V)liud thing to such persons. Even now, one half the inhabi- tants of the eai'th cannot i-ead. Moreover, as the Bible was written in the Greel: and Hebrew, it would be necessary to know these languages to be able to read it. But. it is said we have it translated now in Fi-ench, English, and other languages of the day. Yes, but are you sure you have a faithful translation 'I if not, you liave not the word of (lod. If you have a false translation, it is the work of mar.. How shall you ascertain that '? How find out tha* you have a faitiiful translation from the Greek audi Hebrew'? I do not know Greek or Hebrew says my separated friend ; for my translation I must de[)end upon tlie opinion of the learned — upon their decision. Weil, then, my acher. What a teacher, with 30,000 errors I The Loi-d spve us ^rom such a teacher ! One error is bad enough, but 30,000 is a little too much. Another preacher .stood up in that convention, I think he was a Bai)tist, and lu-ging the necessity of giving a new translation of the Bible, said for thirty 3'ears past the v>^orid is without the word of God, for the Bible we have is not the word of God at all. Here are your own l»reachers for you. You all read the newspa;)ers, no doid)t, my friends, and must know what is going on in England at present. Some time ago they sent in a petition to parliament for an allowance of a few thousand pounds sterling for the i>urpose of getting up a new translation of the Bible, and that movement is being headed and carried on by Protestant Bishops and Clergymen. I guess the new Bible will be a lit^e woi'se tlian the old one. But my dear peoj)le, how can you be Itire of your faith 1, You say the Bible is your guide, but you do not know if you have it. Let us suppose for a moment that all should have a Bible ; should all read It and have a faithful 'translation, even then it camiot be the guide of man, because the })rivate interpretation of the Bible is not infallible, but on the contrary, most fallible ; the source and fountairi of all kinds of errors and heresies, and ;'ll kinds of blasphemous dojtrines ! Do not be shocked my dear friends, just only keep calm and listen to wxy arguments. There are now 350 difierent Protestant denominations or churches — I make a mistake, I should have said 352, for about eighteen months ago, in Chicago, they made two new Protestant churches, and in New York, at })resent, there is a woman trying to establish another Protestant church. She preaches the doctrine ot free love, and attem])ts to prove from the Bible that every womaji is entitled to send her husb.md i float and take another when she likes, and that every husband could do the same thing — send his wife away and take another, and next day if she did not suit him take another, and so on, and from the Bible attempts to })rove that every day in the year he could have a new wife. No>r, then, I say there are 352 different Protestant denominations or churches, and all of them say the Bible is their guile and teacher, and I sup]>ost! they are all sincere. Are all of them true churches ? This is an ini[»ossibility. Truth is one as God is one, and there can be no contradiction. Every <9m n :i !! '.\ li 10 THE CATnOIIC CHUIU'H man in ]ii« sciiscs scps ovci-yoiio of tlioin cannot \>v tiiu^, for they (lilier and contradict one i.i.utlier, and cannot, llu'reforo, be all true. The Protestant says the nian that read« tlic Bible right and, prayer- fully has tiuth, an a nuin for a CJod, \\l\o is/no (Jed at all, aiid he gives several texts from the Bible to prove it, while the others are stopping theii- ears that they may not hear the blasphemies of the Unitarian ; and they all contend they have the true meaning of the Bible. Next comes the Methodist, and he says, " mv friends, liave you got any religion at all " says he, " of course we have '' say they, " Did youi ever feel religion " says the Methodist, *' the sj)irit of God moving within you ;" " Nonsense" says the Protestant, *' we are guided by our reason and judgment." '* Well," says the Methodist, ^' if you never felt ]-eligion, you never had it, and will go to hell for all enternity." The Universalist next comes in, and hears them talking and threatening one another with eternal hell lire. " Why," says he, " you are a strange set of people ; do not you understand the Word of (Jod ; there is no hell at all, says he, " that idea is good enough to scare old women and children," and he ])roves it from the Bible. Next comes in the Quaker ; he reconunenils them not to be quarelling, and advises that they do not baptize at all. lie is the sincerest of men, and gives the Bible for his faith. Another comes in, and snys, bapii/.e X\w, men and let the women alone ; for the Bible says, unless a man bo loin agaiu of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven ; *' So," says he, '* the women are all right, but baptize the men." Next comes in the Shaker, and says he, ''you are a presumptions people" says he " a presumptions set of peo])le ; i'ayerfiil 1 evident < j)riests, church, eads tli(! lops but liaii, and yt.t both jmcH in : ''ell, «ays : Episco- byterian rinkling, uhe river ^ives the Baptist, lie LTni- nitarian, rs, says at all, ^'hile the sphcmies meaning r friends, ave '' say he s})irit rat, '' ^^■o says the I will go iiid hears hell lire, not vou e. '' that B proves lils them all. Ho Another ; for the Iv Ghost, he, " the 3 in the ^s he " a ' that the Bible tells yt)U, you must work out your salvation in fear and trembling, and you do not tremble at all. JNIy l>rethren, if you want to go to Heaven, Shake, my brethren, Shnke." I liave here brought together seven or eight denominations, dilfering from one another, or understanding the Bible in different ways, illustrative of the fruits of private interpretation ; what then, if I brought together the 352 difterent denominations, all taking the Bible for their guide and teacliing, and all differing from one another. Are they all right '( One says, there is a. hell, and another says there is no liell. Are both 1 ight % One says Christ is CTod, another says ho is not. One say.s Bishops are necessary, another says they are imessential. One says, baptism is requisite, and another says it is not ; are both true \ This is an impossibility, my friends, all cannot be true. Who then is true \ He that has the tnie meaning of the Bible you say, but the Bible does not tell us who that is — the Bible never settles the (piarrel. The Bible is not the teaclicr. The Bible, my dear people, is a good ])ook ; we Catholics allow that the Bible is the Word of Crod, the language of inspiration, and every Catholic I's exhorted to read the Bible, but good as it is the Bible, my dear friends, does not t^xplain itself; it is a good book, the Woid of God, the language of inspiration, but your explanation of the Bible is not the language of inspiration; your understandijig of the Bible is not inspired — for surely you do not pretend to be inspired I Now then, what is the teaching of the Church upon the subject ? The Catholic Church says the Bible is the Book of God, and that God has appointed an autho- rity tfe give as the true meaning. It is with the Bible as it is with the constitution of the United States. When George Washington and his associates wrote the constitution and the supreme law of the United States, they did not say to the people of the States, let every man read the constitution and make a government to himself, Itit everv man make his own exnlanatiou of the constitution. If Washington had done tliat, tlicre never v.'ould have been a United States. The people would all ha/e been divided among themselves, and the country would have been cut up into a thousand different divisions or governments. What did Washington do '\ He gave them the constitution and the Supreme Law, and appointed his Supreme Court and Suprenio Judge of the constitution ; and that Supreme Court and Supremo Judge is to give tho true ex- })lanation of the constitution to all the citizens of the Unitad States — all without exception from t!ie President to the beggar. All are bound to go by the decisions of this Supreme Court and it is this and this alone that can keep the people together and preserve the union of the United States. The moment the people take the interpretation of the Constitution in their own minds, that moment there is an end of union. And so it is in every government, so it is here and in England and cverj'where, there is a constitution, a Bupreme court, or la\v, a supreme judge of that constitution, and and that supremo Court or Ciiurch is to give us the meaning of the v| -P^ -^ -= THE CATHOLIC CHURCH Constitution anil the Law, In every well ruled couiitry there must be s.jch a thing as this — a sujtrejne Law, supreme Court, Kui)reme Judge that all the peoj)le are bound to abide by. There is in every Country a supreme Law, supreme Court, supreme Judge, and all are bound by its decisions and without that no government could stand. Even among the Indian tribes such a condition of affairs exists. How are they ke])t together ] By their Chief xv^ho is their dictator. So our divine Saviour also has established his supreme Court, his supreme Judge, that is to give us the tnu^ meaning of the Scriptures and that is to give us the true revelation and doctrines of the word of Jesus. The Son of the living God has pledged his word that that supreme Court is infallable, and therefore the true Catholic never doubts. '* I believe " says the Catholic, " because the church teaches me so, I believe the church because God has commanded me to believe the church ; He said' ' hear the church, and he that does not hear the church let him be to thee as a heathen and u publican." He that l)elieveth you believeth me said Christ, and hethat desjaseth you despiseth me. Therefore the Catholic believes because God has spoken and upon the autliority of a God. But our Protestant friends say " we believe in the Bible." Very well, how do you understand the Bible 1 " Wel^," says the Protestant, to the best of my opinion and judgement that is the meaning of the text : he is not sure of it but to the best of his opinion and judgement. This my friends is only the testimony of a man— it is only human faith not divine faith. It is divine fsiith alone by which we give honor and glory to God, by which we adore his infinite wisdom and veracity, and that adorati(Jn and worship is necessary for salvation. I have now proved to you that toe ])rivate interi»retation of the Scriptures cannot be the guide or teacher ot man. On Saturday evening I shall prove that the Catholic Church is the only true Church of God and that there is no other. MONDAY EVENING. " He that believeth and is baptized Hhall be saved, but he that believeth not hhall be condemned." St. Mark, 17th ch., IGth verse. My dearly beloved christians, on Thursday evening last, froni these words of our Divine Savioiu' I proved to you that faith is necessary for salvation, .'uul withouit faith there is no salvation, without faith there is eternal damnation. Bead your own Protestant bible, IGih chapter and IGth verse of St. Mark, and you will find it stronger there than in the Catholic bible. Now, then, what kind of faith must a man have to be saved Will any faith do? Why, if any faith will do the devil l^imself will be saved, for the bible says the devils believe and tremble. '■if THE CATHOLIC CHURCH 13 ero must Hiij)rt'me re is in Ige/ and nt could >f affairs is their supreme f of the trines of lis word Catholic I church ided me litt does iblican." [es})i.setli Tod has t friends ilerstand 0}iiaion Lire of it s is only ith. It jrod, hy ti 01 land ou tliat ;uide or Catholic her. veth not b, from faith is iVation, •testajit il you Now, saved ( devil •emble. It is, therefore, not a matter of indifference wh:it religion a man professes ; he must profess the right and true religion, and without that tliere is no ho]K) of salvation, for it stands to reason, my dear people, that if God reveals a thing or teauhes a thing hn wants to be believed. Not to believe God is to insult God. Doubting his word, or to believe even with doubting and hesitating, is an insult to God, because it is doubting his sacred word. We must, thei-efore, believe without doubting, without hesitating. I have said, out of the Catliolic Church there is no divine faith — ci .1 be no tlivine faith out that Church. Some of my Protestant friends will be shocked at this, to hear me say that out of tlie Catholic Church there is no divine faith, and that without faith there is no salvation, but damnation. 1 will prove all I have said. 1 have said that out of the Catholic Church there can 1)0 no divine faith. What is divine faith] When we believe a thing ii[)on the authority of God, and b:dieve it without doubting, witliout hesitating. Now, all our separated brethren outside of the Catholic (Jhurch take the private interpretation of the bible for their gtiide ; but the private interpre- tation of the bible can never give them divine faith. Let nn for instance, suppose for a moment here is a Presbyteiian ; he reads his bible, from the rt^ading of his bible he comes to the conclusion that Jesus Christ is God. Now, you know this is the most es.sential of all christian doctrines — the foundation of all Christianity, From the reading of his bible he comes to the conclusion that Jesus Christ is God ; and he is a sensible man, an intelligent man, and not a presumptions man. And he says, here is my Unitarian neighboi-, who is just as reasonable and intelligent as I am, as honest, as learned, and as prayei-ful a man as I am, and from the reading of the bible he comes to the conclusion that Christ is not God at all ! Now, says he, to the l)est of my opinion and judgment I am' right, and my Unitarian mdghbor is wrong; but after all sayr} he, I may be mistaken ! perha])S T have not the right meaning of the text, and if I am wrong, perhaps he is right after all ; but, to the best of my o}iinion and judgment, I am right 'and he is Avrong, On what does he believe ? On what authority? On his own opinion and judgment. And what is that 1 A human opinion — human testimony, and, there- fore, a human faith. He cannot say positively " I am sure, positively sure, as sure as there is a God in heaven — that this is the meaning of the text, therefore, he has no other authority but his own opinion and judgment, and what his preacher tells him ; but the preacher is a smart man. There are m-any smart Unitarian pre- achers also, but that proves nothing — it is only human authority, and nothing else, and therefore only human faith. What is human faith 1 Believing a thing u[)on the testimony of n)an, and Divine faith, be- lieving a thing on the testimony of God. The Catholic has Divine faith, and why 1 Because the Catholic says I believe in such and sucli a thing. Why 1 Because the Church teaches me so. And why do I Sl^-'^WliP^ ^HT !W-. 14 THE ONLY TRUE CHURCH OF GOD. 1 1 ni k m\ believe the Church ? Bjcause God has commandod mo to believe the teaching of the Churcli ; and God has threatened me with damna- tion if I do not belif •• j th? Church ; and, wo are taught by St. Peter, in his f'pisti.% that there is no jxivatL's prophecy or in- terpretation of the scriptures : lor the unlearned and unstable, wrest the very scriptr.res — the bible — to their own damnatio) . That is strong language, my dear people, but that is the language of St. Peter, the liead of the apostles. The unlearned and unstable wrest the bible to their own damnation ! And yet after all the bible is the book of God, the language of inspiration — at least when we have a true bible as we Catholics have, and you Protestants have not. But, my dearly beloved I'rotestant friends, do not be ofteuded at me for saying that. Your own most learned preachers and bishops tell yo\i that, and some have written whole \olumns in order to prove that the English translation, whicli you liave is a very faulty and false translation. Now, therefore, I say the true bible is as the Catholics have it, — the latin vulgate — and the most learned among the Pro- testants themselves have agreed that the Latin vulgate bible which the Catholic Church always makes use of, is the best in existance; and, therefore, it is, as you may linve percieved, that when I preach, I give the text in Latin, because the Latin text of the vulgate is the best extant. Now, they may say that Cacholics acknowled_ge that the bible is the word of God — that it is the language of inspiration ; and that, therefore, we are sure that we have the word of God ; but, my dear peo- ple, the very best thing may be abused — the very best thing, and there- fore our Divine Saviour has given us a living teacher, that is to give us true meaning of the bible. And ho has provided a teacher with infali- bility ; and luhis was absolutely necessary, for without this — witliout infalibility — we could never bo sure of our faith. There must be an in libility ; and we see that in every well ordered government, in every government — in England, in this dominion, in the United States, and in every country and empire, and every republic there is a constitution and there is a supreme law. But you are not at liberty xo explain that constitution and supreme law ;>s you think pi-oper, for, then, there would be no more law if every man was allowed to ex})lain th(^ law and consti- tution as he should think proper. Therefore, in all govo.''nments there is a supreme judge, and a supreme court, and to the supreme judge is referred all different understandings of the law and of the constitu tion. By the decisions of tlie supreme jut^^e all have to abide, and if they did not abide by that decision wIp, , my dear people, thero would be no law any more, but anarchy, disorder, anil confusion. Again, suppose for a moment that the Blessed Saviour hle is the v'o have a ot. But, it me for s tell you rove tliat aiul ffilse Catholics the Pro- le which -nee; and, eh, I give s the best I the bible and that, dear peo- nd there- to give lis ith infali- —without fc bo an in , in every tates, and istitution dain that, ire would id consti- ;s there is judge is constitu 'ide, and lo, there ision. iour has . pro V id r of the I'er have istablish- 13 living OS alike acknowledged, that Christ hr.s establishod a churoli ; and, strange to say, all our Protestant IViends acknowledge, too, that He has estab jished bnt one church but one cliurch for wjienercr (Jhrist speaks of His churcli it is always in the singnhu-. l>ible reach'rs nni^mber that, my Protestant friends pay attention. He says: " ]Tear the ( 'hni'ch," — not hear the churches — "T havt; built my clnuvh upon a lock" -not my church('s. Whenever he speaks, whethei- in ligures or parabl(!S of his Church, he always c nionu- 3 nations lers and C'Uircli England, tliey will d if you e church bliis they as fallen sh a new ^er : that le is true or Jesus say that ' the true :hou hast leak the in thisl L ! I wil oen once the true of time, 1 against that the peophi if lell have I against ' jived us, [n])ostor, ity is a nd XIX Go ye of the :lie:n to 'sus, the nn wit!i olomuly of time, in with :', there- , as our ed her ; u if so, He has broken His oath ; if He has broken His oatli He is a jHjrjurer, and tluM'(; is no (Christianity at all. Again, our Divine Saviour, St. John, 11th chapter, has jtromised th.it He would send to His church the Spirit of Truth to al)ide with her for ever. If, tluMi. the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of Truth, teaches tlie church all truth and taaches lier all truth forever, then there never lias been and never can ho one single error in tin; chui liof God, foi- whcn-e tlierv is all tini^li there is no error whatsoever. Christ has sohMunly promised that He will send to the church the Sj»iiit of Truth who shall teach all truth for ever, therefoi-e, there never has been a single error in the chui'ch of God or (Christ has failed in His promises, if there has. Again, Christ commands us to hear and believe the t(!aching of the cluu'ch in all things ; at all tiuK's jud in mII places. He d(»es not say hear the church for a thousand years or for 1,500, Imt hear the church, without any limitation, without any reservation, or any restric- tion of time wh: *^soev ^v That is, at all times; in all things until the end of time, and he tuat does not hear the church let him l)e unto thee, says Christ, as a heathen and as a ]>ul)lican. Therefore, Christ says, that those who refuse to hear the church must be looked upon as heathens ; and what is a heathen ? One that does not worship the true God; and a jtublican is a public sinnei-. This ''s. stroncj lanofuage. Could (^hrist command me to believe the church if the church could luive h-d me astray-- could lead me into error ? If the teaching of the church l)e corrup tion, could He, the God of truth command me without any restriction or limitation to hear and believe the teaching of the church which he had established ? Again : (^ur Divine Sjiviour commands me lo hoar and believe the teaching of the church in the same manner as if He himself were to speak to us. " He that heareth you " says He in his charge to the Apostles " heareth me, and he that desi)iseth you despiseth me." So then, when I belive what the clmrch teaches I helieve what God teaches. If I refuse what the church teaches I refuse what God teaches. So that Chiist has made the church the organ by which he s))eaks to man, and tells us j)Ositive]y that we nnist belisve the teaching of the church as if H(^ himself were to speak to us. Therefore, says St. Paul in hi.s Epistle to Timothy " the church is the ground — that is the strong foundation — and the pillar of the truth. Take the ground or foundation ot this edifice away, and it crumbles down ; so with regard to these pillars upon which the roof rests, take them away and the roof will fall in ; so Paul says the church is the ground and the pillar of the truth, nnd the moment you take away the authority of the Church of ('od you induce all kinds of errors and hlas])hemous doctrines. Do we not SCO it ? In the sixteenth century Protestantism did away with the authority of the church and constituted every man his own judge of tlie Bii>le, and what was the consequence '? Religion upon religion, church upon church, sprung np into existence, and has never stopped springing up new religions and churches to this day. When I gave 4 IS THE ONLY TRl'E (UlRt JI OF GOD. my mission in ["'lint, Micliigaii, I iiivitoH, ns I liiive done here, my Protostiint fiionds to conic and h(io me. A j^food and intelli- gent man came to me and snid ** I a\'ail niy.stdf of this opportunity to oonverso with yoM." What rlinrcli do yon I'fdon^ to my IViond ? Kai now! Agahi : 8i. Paul in his Epistle to* the Galatians says : ** though we apostles, or even an angel fi-om lieaven were to come and preach to you a different gospel from what wo have preached let them he anathema," says St. ran). What is the mean- ing of that? JiOt them be damned, says St. Paul. If any one shall dare to preach a different doctrine from what we have preached, let them be damned. That is the langungo of St. Paul, because my dearly beloved j.'eoplo religion must come from God, not from man. No man has a right to establish a religion; no man has a right to dictate to his fellow man what he shall believe and what he shall do to save his soul. Religion must come from God, and any religion that u not established by God is a false religion, a human institution, and not an institution of God; and therefore did St. Paul say in his Epistle to the Galatians "though we a[)ostles or even ail angel from heaven were to come and preach to you anew gos})el, a new religion, let them be anathema." You see then my dearly beloved people, from the texts of the scripture I liave quoted that if the Catholic Church has been once tlje true church, then she is yet the true chui'ch. You have also seen from wliat I iiave said that tlie (Vitholic Church is tlie institution of God, and not of man, and this is a fact — -a fact of history, and no fact of history so well supported, so well proved as that the Catholic Church is the first, the church cs- tal)lished by Jesus Christ. So, in like manner, it is a historical fact that all the Protostant churches are the institutions of man — every one of them. And I will give you their date, and the name of their founders or iustitutors. In the year 1520 — 3ol years ago — the first LVotestant came into the world. Pefore that one there was not a Protestant in the world, not oik^ on tlie face of the whole earth ; and that one, as all history tells us, wa:^. Martin Luther, who v/as a Catliolic Priest who fell away from the church through pride, and married a iXun. He was excommunicated from the church, cut off, I THE CATHOLIC CHURCH 19 e doiio • I intclli- nrtunitv ■ 1 Viond I I : Ila : frit' ml, say slit", y iVicnd 1 to tho )rcach('r, ml tliat, •mcra of -'tirs jigo. Pl slu'wii Aviiulovv nco any iiiak'ir's rulatiau.s were to ^0 havo > men li- my one •eached, use my in iiiaii. right to bo shall nd any humnii did 8t. or even gospel, dearly that if ; is yot ihat the this is a •ted, so i'('h cs- cal fact —every »f tlieir ,he first IS not a earth ; was a le, and ■ut oir, hanished, and ho made a new religion of his own. Beforu Martin Luther there was not a Protestant in the world; ho was the first to raise the standard of rohellion and revolt against the Church of God. H> suid to his daseiplos that they should iuko the Bihlo for tlhiir guido, and they did so, hut they soon (|uarrelle(l with him. Zuinglus, and a innnher of others, and ever^'one of ihrMi slarttxl a new religion cf his own. After the desciples of Martin Lnthfr eanie John Calvin, who in Geneva estahlished the Pivshytfrian religion, and honco almost all of tlioso religions go by the nanu) of their founder. I ask the Prote.stant "Why are you a Lutheni, my friend I " Well," .s.-iys he, " hecau.se I helieve in the doctrine of good Martin Luther; heiioe not of Christ, but of man — Martin Lutlier. And what kind of a man was he 1 A nrin who had broken the solemn oath he had mude a* the altar of God, at his ordination, ever to lead a pure, single, and virginal life Tie broke that solemn oath, and marri-Ki a Sister ('atharine, who had also taken the same oath ofcrhastity and virtue. And this is the hrst founder of Protestantism in the world. The very name by which they are known tells you they came fnmi Martin Luther. So the Presbyterians are sometimes called Calvinists becaiTso they came from, or profess to believe as John (,'alvin. After thcni came Henry the VIIL He was a Catholic, and defended the Catho- lic religion ; he wrote a book against Martin Luther in defense of the Catholic Doctrine. That book I have myself seen in the library of the Vatican at Rome a few years ago. Henry the VlLl defend(3d the religion, and for so doing was titled by the Popo, " Defender of the faith." It came down with his snccessors, and tlie good Quon Victoria inherits it to-day. He was married ti Catherine of Arrogoi ; but there was at his court a maid ofhonor to the Queen named Ann JJo- leyn, wlio was a beautiful woman, and captivating in a[)pearance. Henry was determined to have her. But he was a married man. Ho put in a petition to the Po[)e to be allowed to marry her — and a fooli-otition it was for the Popo had no power to grant the praye: of it. The pope and nil the bishops in the world cannot go against the will ot God. (Jhrist says : if a man putteth away his v, if(j, and marrieth another, he eommitteth adultery, and he that marrieth her who is ])ut away eommitteth adultery also. As the pope would not grant the prayer of Henry's ])etition, ho took Ann Boleyn anyhow, and was excommunicated from the church. After a while there was another mai:l of honor, prettiei- than the first, more beautiful and charming ill the eyes of Henry, and he said he must have her, too. He took the third wife, and a fourth, lifth and sixth followed. Now this is tlie founder of the Anglican (yliurch, the (Jlnirch of England : and therefore it is that it goes by the nameof the Church of England. Our Episcopalian triends are making great etforts nowadays to call themselves Catholics, •'ut they shall nevercome it. They own the name Catholic is a Glorious one and would like to possess it. The apostles said "I believe in the Holy Ghost the holy Catholic Church" — th(;y never said in the Anglican church. The Anglicans deny their i-eligion, for they say thqy .T 20 THE ONLY TRUB CHURCH OP OOD. ii Ijoliovo ill t lie 1 (oly Gliost,the holy Catholic clmivli. AhW tliom uro thoy Catholics, and they Hay y«'M. hut not Romuu Catholics. Wo arc lOn^lish Catholics. What is tho iTicatiiii;^ of the won! Catholic} It eomes from the Urock word C.itholicus — univorsal — sprMjid all over the earth, and -'wry whore the same. Now, tirst of all, the An;;lieaii Church is not sjiread all over tho earth ; it only existH in a few countries, and chielly only wlun-e the Koji^lish lanj^uaj^'c is Hjiokeii. Secondly, they are not the '^amo all over the earth, for there are now four to the present day. Now, then, they have not heeii in existence from the time of ( 'hrist. There never was an Kj)isco ])alian Church or an An;L,dican Church hefore Itenry VI f I The Catholic (!hurch h \d already existed 1,000 years before thr Episco- palian (*iiurch came into the world. Aftei* Episcopalianism diilei-cMit other Cihurches spranj; up. Next came the Methodist, about l.'iO years ago. It was started by John Wesley, who was at first a member of the Ej)iscopaliaTi Church, subsequently joined the Moravian bi-ethren, but nut liking them he made a relicrion of his own — tho ]Methodist ( 'hurch. After John Wesleyseveral otluus s])ran<( U[) ; and finally came the Camj)btdlites, about forty-tive years ago. Tins church was ostaliiished by Alexander Campbell, a Scotchman. Well, now, my dear beloved ]>eople, you may think that tho act of the twelve apostles of Iiidiaunia was a ridiculous one, l)iit they had as much I'ight to establish a Church, as had Henry thr VI IE or Martin Luther or John Calvin. They had no right at all, and neither had Henry the VIII or the rest of them any right whatsoever. ( 'hrist had established Ili^ Church and given His solenm oath that His Ciiurch should stand to the end of time : ])romised that He had built it upon a rock, and that the gates of ludl should never prevail against it— hnice, my dear people, all tho.se dilferent denominations or religions are the inventions of man, and I ask you can man save the soul of his fellow man by any institution he can make ? Must not religion come from God ] And, therefore, my dearly beloved separated brethern, think over it seriously. You have a. soul to save, and that soul of yours nnist be saved or damned ; either one or the other, either dwell with God in heaven or with the Devil in hell ; therefore seriously meditate upon it. When I gave my missions in Brooklyn, New York, several Protestants became Catholics. Among them there was a very highly educated and intelligent Virgianian, He was a Presbyterian. After he had listened to my lectures, he went to seeh is minister, and he asked him to be kind enough to explain a text of the bible. The minister gave him the meaning. *' Well, now," said the gentleman, " are you positive and sui-e that that is tlie meaning of the text, for several other Protestants explain it differently '?'' " W^hy, niy dear young Ih THE CATUOLlr flllTRrn 21 ^ni aro thoy ire Kiij^lish It roinoH I ovfi" the Auj^liciiii ill a few ig spoken . there are the High Catholicus eartli au«l , the same, i not ]»een an KjtiHco II r The hr K|)isc'0- lu (litlri-tMit about mo at first a oined the ;i()u of his leis Hprant^ years a»i;o. leotcliinau. that the R, bi;t thev lie VIII or at all, aiul diatsoever. oath that lat II«! had ser [)r(nail oniinations 1 man save ce ? Must ly beloved >ul to save, one or the ^'il in hell ; nissions in Oatliolic'i. intelligent (1 listened asked him iiister gave *' are you for several lear young lUJin," says (h<' preacher, "we never can^n' eertain <•!' our faith.'* "Well, then," says the young man, *'go«)d l>yo to you; if I cannot be sure of my faith in the Protestant Churcli, I will go to wheie T can," ami he Itccame a Cath<»lic. We are sure of oiM" faith in the Catholic Church, iind if our fuith is not true Christ lias deceived us. I would thcicfoi-e beg of you, mv si'iiarated brethren, to procure yourselves Catholic liooks. You lui\o read a great deal against the Catholic Church, now read something in favor of it. You can never pass an imi)artinl sentenc(! if you do not hear both sides of the question. What would you think of a judge hefore whom a policeman would bring a poor ollender, and who on the charge of the policeman, "without luaring tlu! i)rihoner, woidil order him to bo hung? ** Give mo a hearing," says the poor man, ** and I will prove my innocence : I am not guilty,' say:; ho. Tho ))oliceman says he is guilty. " Well, hang him any how," says the judge. What would you say of thatjudge? Criminal judge I unfair uian ; you are guilty of tln^ bhotl of tlu; innocent. ^V<)uld not you say that? Of course you would. Well now, my dearly beloved Pro- testant friends, that is what you have been doing all along ; you liavo been hearing one si(h» of the (piestion and ct)ndemning us ('utholics us a superstitious lot of jx'Ople, ]>oor ignorant jieople, ich^latrous people, nonsensical j.cople going and telling their sins to the ju-iist, and what, after all, is the priest more than any other man. My.dear fiiends have you examined the other side of the (pie.stion. No, you do notthink it worth your svhile, but this is the way the Jews dealt with our Lord and Saviour Jcj.sus Cln"ist : and this is the way tlu; Pagans and Jews dealt with the a[)OStles, tho minisjjt'rs of the chui'ch, au(' witii the j)riniitive Christians. Allow me to tell you my friends that you have becT treating us precisely in the same way the Jews and Pagans treated Jesus Christ and his a})Ostl(!S. I have said this evening hard tilings, but if St. Paul were here to-night, in this pu]]>it, ho wotdd liave said harder thiny;s : and if Christ himself had been here he Avould have said harder things still. I have said them, however, not through a spirit of unkindiiess, but through a sj)irit of love, and a spirit of chai-ity, in the hope of o[>ening your eyes that your souls mav be saved. It is love for your salvation mv dearly beloved Protes- tant Brethren, — for which I would gladly give my heaii's l)lood — my love for your salvation that has made me preach to you as I huvt; done. Well say my Protestant frielids, "if a man thinks he is right would not he be right ? Let us suppose now a man in Ottawa, who wants to go to Chicago but takes a car foi New York, the conductor a.sks for his ticket, and at once says, your are in the wrong ?ar, your ticket is for Chicago, but your are going to New York, well, what of that says the passenger, T mean welj, your meaning "will not go well with you in the eiid^ :^;V^^» the- coi(dijcVJi* •;*ibr 'y-ow will come out at New York in'steact ' ^ of.' Chlijagu.".^ .* ^^i say you mean well, mv deaV'.lrionds birt-let me tell you' {fiat 'inoaning v.-ell will not take you 16 lioavea j yoli must do'i^velj Alfjo'/^SHI) that doeth •^s on THE ONLY TRUE CIIURCII OF GOD. the will of iny father " savs Jeftus, '* lie alone shall be saved." There aro millions in liell that m.-ant well. You must do well, and be sure you are doing well, to, l)e saved. Therefore, niy dearly beloved separated brethren, 1 would advise you to j)rocure, at the Mission store, on Sussex street, a book calied " Points of Controversy." Road it attentively, and you won't rea