which result from my observations on the sacred text in a for mer letter to you. In the mean time, let your visiter rest as sured that the Catholic Church will proceed in the old and suc cessful manner, by which she has converted all the Christian people on the face of the earth; the same which Christ deliv. ered to his apostles and their successors: "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." Mark, xvi. 15. On the other hand, how illusory the gentleman's hopes are, that the depravity of this age and country will be reformed by the efforts of the Bible Society, has been victoriously proved by the Rev. Dr. Hook, who, with other clear-sighted churchmen, evidently sees that the grand principle of Protestantism, strictly reduced to practice, would undermine their establishment. One of his brethren, the Rev. Mr. Gisborne, had publicly boasted that, in proportion to the opposition which the Bible Society had met with, its annual income had increased, till it reached near a £100,000 in a year. Dr. Hook, in return, showed by lists of the convictions of criminals during the first seven years the society's existence, that the wickedness of the country, instead of being diminished, had almost been doubled!* Since that period up to the present year, it has increased three-fold, and four-fold, compared with its state before the society began.

of

POSTSCRIPT.

I HAVE now, dear sir, completed the second task which I undertook, and therefore proceed to sum up my evidence. Having then proved in my twelve former letters, the rough copies of which I have preserved, that the two alleged rules of faith, that of private inspiration, and that of private interpretation of Scripture, are equally fallacious, and that there is no certain way of arriving at the truth of divine revelation, but by hearing that church which Christ built on a rock, and promised to abide

* List of capital convictions in London and Middlesex in the following years, from Dr. Hook's charge and the London Chronicle :

In the year 1808 1809 1810 1811 1812 1813 1814 1815 1816 1817

Convictions 728 863 884 872 998 1012 1027 2299 2592 3177

It appears, by a return made to the House of Commons, in obedience to their order, June 5, in the year 1818, that the number of criminals committed for trial, and of those sentenced to death, during the last thirteen years, nearly corresponding with those of the Bible Society's progress, has been about tripled, namely:

*

with for ever, I engaged, in this my second series of letters, to demonstrate which, among the different societies of Christians, is the church that Christ founded and still protects. For this purpose I have had recourse to the principal characters or marks of Christ's church, as they are pointed out in Scripture, and formally acknowledged by Protestants of nearly all descriptions, no less than by Catholics, in their articles, and in those creeds which form part of their private prayers and public liturgy, namely, unity, sanctity, catholicity, and apostolicity. In fact, this is what every one acknowledges who says, in the Apostles' Creed, I believe in the holy Catholic Church; and in the Nicene Creed, I believe one Catholic Apostolic Church. Treating of the first mark of the true church, I proved from natural reason, Scripture, and tradition, that unity is essential to her; I then showed that there is no union or principle of union among the different sects of Protestants, except their common protestation against their mother church; and that the Church of England, in particular, is divided against herself in such a manner, that one of its most learned prelates has declared himself afraid to say what is its doctrine. On the other hand, I have shown that the Catholic Church, spread as she is over the whole earth, is one and the same in her doctrine, in her liturgy, and in her government; and, though I detest religious persecution, I have, in defiance of ridicule and clamor, vindicated her unchangeable doctrine, and the plain dictate of reason as to the indispensable obligation of believing what God teaches; in other words, of a right faith. I have even proved that her adherence to this tenet is a proof both of the truth and the charity of the Catholic Church. On the subject of holiness, I have made it clear, that the pretended Reformation everywhere originated in the pernicious doctrine of salvation by faith alone, without good works, and that the Catholic Church has ever taught the necessity of them both; likewise that she possesses many peculiar means of sanctity, to which modern sects do not make a pretension; likewise that she has, in every age, produced the genuine fruits of sanctity; while the fruits of Protestantism have been quite of an opposite nature finally, that God himself has borne witness to the sanctity of the Catholic Church, by undeniable miracles, with which he has illustrated her in every age.-It did not require much pains to prove that the Catholic Church possesses, exclusively, the name of CATHOLIC; and not much more to demonstrate that she alone has the qualities signified by that name. That the Catholic Church is also APOSTOLICAL, by descending in a right line from the apostles of Christ, is as evident as that

* See the Communion Service in Common Prayer.

she is Catholic. However, to illustrate this matter, I have sketched out a genealogical, or, as I call it, the apostolical tree, which, with the help of a note subjoined, shows the uninterrupted succession of the Catholic Church in her chief pontiffs, and other illustrious prelates, doctors, and renowned saints, from the apostles of Christ, during eighteen centuries, to the present period, together with the continuation in her of the apostolical work of converting nations and people. It shows also a series of unhappy heretics and schismatics, of different times and countries, who, refusing to hear her inspired voice and to obey her divine authority, have been separated from her communion and have withered away, like branches cut off from a vine, which are fit for no human use. Ezek. xv.-Finally, I have shown the necessity of an uninterrupted succession from the apostles, of holy orders and divine mission, to constitute an apostolical church; and have proved that these, or at least the latter of them, can only be found in the holy Catholic Church.Having demonstrated all this in the foregoing letters, I am justified, dear sir, in affirming that the motives of credibility, in favor of the Christian religion in general, are not one whit more clear and certain, than those in favor of the Catholic religion in particular. But without inquiring into the degree of evidence attending the latter motives, it is enough for my present purpose that they are sufficiently evident to influence the conduct of dispassionate and reasonable persons, who are acquainted with them, and who are really in earnest to save their souls. Now, in proof that these motives are, at least, so far clear, I may again appeal to the conduct of Catholics on a death-bed, who, in that awful situation, never wish to die in any religion but their own. I may also appeal to the conduct of many Protestants in the same situation, who seek to reconcile themselves to the Catholic Church. Let us, one and all, my dear sir, as far as in our power, adopt those sentiments in every respect now, which we shall entertain when the transitory scene of this world is closing to our sight, and during the countless ages of eternity. O the length, the breadth, and the depth of the abyss of ETERNITY! "No security," says a holy man, 66 can be too great where eternity is at stake.'

I am, &c.
JOHN MILNER.

"Nulla satis magna securitas ubi periclitatur eternitas."

END OF PART II.

THE

END OF RELIGIOUS CONTROVERSY.

PART III.

"It is a shame to charge men with what they are not guilty of, in order to make the breach wider, already too wide."-Dr. Montague, Bishop of Norwich. Invoc. of Saints, p. 60.

"Let them not lead people by the nose to believe they can prove their supposition, that the Pope is Antichrist, and the Papists idolaters, when they cannot."-Dr. Herbert Thorndyke, Prebendary of Westminster. Just Weights and Measures, p. 11

"The object of their (the Catholics') adoration of the blessed sacrament is the only true and eternal God, hypostatically joined with his holy humanity, which humanity they believe actually present under the veil of the sacramental signs; and if they thought him not present, they are so far from worshipping the bread in this case, that themselves profess it to be idolatry to do so."Dr. Jeremy Taylor, Bishop of Down. Liberty of Prophesying, chap. xx.

ON RECTIFYING MISTAKES CONCERNING THE

CATHOLIC CHURCH.

LETTER XXXI.

FROM JAMES BROWN, ESQ., TO THE RT. REV. JOHN MILNER.

INTRODUCTION.

REVEREND SIR

THE whole of your letters have again been read over in our society, and they have produced important, though diversified effects on the minds of its several members. For my own part, I am free to own that, as your former letters convinced me of the truth of your rule of faith, namely, the entire word of God, and of the right of the true church to expound it in all questions concerning its meaning; so your subsequent letters have satisfied me, that the characters or marks of the true church, as they are laid down in our common creeds, are clearly visible in the Roman Catholic Church, and not in the collection ofProtestant churches, nor in any one of them. This impression was, at first, so strong upon my mind, that I could have answered you nearly in the words of King Agrippa to St. Paul:

Almost thou persuadest me to become a Catholic. Acts, xxvi. 28. The same appears to be the sentiments of several of my friends: but when, on comparing our notes together, we considered the heavy charges, particularly of superstition and idolatry, brought. against your church by our eminent divines, and especially by the Bishop of London, (Dr. Porteus,) and never, that we have heard of, refuted or denied, we cannot but tread back the steps we have taken towards you, or rather stand still, where we are in suspense, till we hear what answer you will make to them. I speak of those contained in the bishop's well-known treatise, called A brief Confutation of the Errors of the Church of Rome. With respect to certain other members of our society, I am sorry to be obliged to say, that, on this particular subject, I mean the arguments in favor of your religion, they do not manifest the candor and good sense which are natural to them, and which they show on every other subject. They pronounce, with confidence and vehemence, that Dr. Porteus's charges are all true, and that you cannot make any rational answer to them; at the same time that several of these gentlemen, to my knowledge, are very little acquainted with the substance of them. In short, they are apt to load your religion, and the professors of it, with epithets and imputations too gross and injurious for me to repeat, convinced as I am of their falsehood. I shall not be surprised to hear that some of these imputations have been transmitted to you by the persons in question, as I have declined making my letters the vehicle of them; it is a justice, however, which I owe them to assure you, reverend sir, that it is only since they have understood the inference of your arguments to be such, as to imply an obligation on them of renouncing their own respective religions, and embracing yours, that they may have been so unreasonable and violent. Till this period, they appeared to be nearly as liberal and charitable with respect to your communion as to any other. I am, rev. sir, &c.

JAMES BROWN.

LETTER XXXII.-TO JAMES BROWN, ESQ., &c. .

ON THE CHARGES AGAINST THE CATHOLIC
CHURCH.

DEAR SIR

I SHOULD be guilty of deception, were I to disguise the satisfaction I derived from your and your friends' near approach to the house of unity and peace, as St. Cyprian calls the Catholic