prosy. These wanted a true Catholic revival; they needed new lifeblood infused into their veins.

G. So it would seem that the 483 clergymen thought who petitioned the bishops for the appointment of father confessors. Now this proves my words about going too fast. See what has come of it. The country is stirred up against these men and their movements; and the bishops

M. The bishops! Of course, you refer to their charges and remonstrances; but what of this? It amounts to nothing. It's confined to words; scarcely one takes action. The Ritualists are heart and soul with us. They are true Catholics; and, although working insidiously, they, at the same time, are working far more effectively than if avowed Catholics. And, whatever may have been said against them, nothing has in the least wise stayed their progress.

G. I admit the force of your argument, and, as far as it goes, your reasoning is sound. Still, I would have you remember that you speak only of one section of the community, and that a comparatively small section. Even supposing that you had the entire aristocracy with you, the nation at large is Protestant, and therefore antagonistic to your views

M. Our opposers are not so numerous as you imagine. In the first place, there is a very large proportion of the community who are altogether indifferent about the religious question at all. Whatever conduces to their worldly interests they are prepared to support.

G. Admitted; but you must not lose sight of the fact that the Nonconformists are a very powerful body in this country, and they are thoroughly Protestant.

M. Not to the extent you suppose. This difficulty was long ago foreseen and prepared for. It was known that those remnants of the old system which had been left in the Church of England would afford ample material to work upon, as far as the Establishment was concerned; at the same time, it was clear that, if the latent prejudice upon the part of dissent could be nurtured and intensified—and thus class set against class—the common bulwark against Catholicism would be materially weakened. Now, as you are well aware, the plea for the removal of all religious disabilities, and the equalization of all creeds, is a bait that has taken admirably; and this recent education question for the promotion of simply secular teaching has furthered our cause immensely. G. But I thought you were a most strenuous advocate for religious instruction.

M. So, in reality, I am, for how are Catholic interests to be forwarded without it? But I appear to dogmatise for religious teaching, that others may imagine that Catholics took no prominent part in their compulsory education measure, whereas they were the chief promoters of it; so that the hostile feeling of Dissenters against the Church might be strengthened, and Catholic interests furthered thereby.

G. This, I see, accounts for that wider breach between Church and dissent which I have of late contemplated.

M. Precisely so; and this was foreseen must be the ground to work upon. Hence our agents are distributed* among the various branches of

* The writer has lately heard of two cases in which Jesuits were acting in disguisethe one in the house as a page, the other in another as a nurse, she being highly complimented for her devotion to the beloved invalid, and for the careful, but ready, way in which she was lifted in and out of bed. Upon being recognised by visitors, both immediately absconded.

the dissenting community, in order that they may thoroughly rouse any jealousy against the Church which may for a season have lain dormant, and, in their antagonism, prompt them to advocate measures which must ultimately advance Catholicism. In plain terms, we are making Dissenters our cat's-paw." Our object once attained, they, as well as others, shall know that the true Catholic Church must and shall be supreme.

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G. It astounds me that Dissenters have become willing to set aside the Bible as an indispensable feature in their daily teaching.

M. I am free to confess that herein I saw the greatest difficulty with which we should have to contend. We well know their extreme tenacity upon this point; but, notwithstanding, the bait has answered-separate times and other teachers for Bible instruction. This, however, between ourselves, is a mere ruse, for what child would be willing, or what parent insist upon, additional drilling after the labours of the day, especially when the waywardness and self-will of children are marked features of our times? Rely upon it, there is not one child in twenty would remain, after the secular work, for any such ordeal.

G. You have confined your remarks to the religious bearing of the times; but what think you of the political aspect, and of my prospects? M. Why, to be candid, I had grave fears some time since that your popularity was waning. A counter movement was but too plainly evident. The commercial world was disturbed, and, though, I acknowledge, it was a part of Catholic policy to stir up certain prejudices, and set class against class, even in a worldly point of view, yet I feared a storm was rising the which you would fail to quell. When, however, I heard of your proposal to dispense with the income tax-that bane to the English mind-I at once came to the conclusion that it would not only adjust any little difference of feeling or opinion, but prove a very climax of shrewdness and sagacity. I trust, therefore, that you will steadily keep this in view. Let all other considerations yield to this. By so doing you will establish yourself, strengthen the hands of your Ministry, carry the forthcoming elections, and further the great Catholic cause.

THE PROTESTANT'S STRONGHOLD.

CALVINISM is, as your correspondent remarks in the article on the Bath Congress, the bone and sinew of Protestantism. The Tablet, a Roman Catholic organ, from which he quotes, pays a high tribute to the memory of John Calvin, the great reformer. "But for him Luther's movement would probably have died out with himself and associates," and "the only form of Protestantism that still shows any signs of life and vigour is unquestionably Calvinism," and, further, "Calvin organised it, gave it form and consistency, and his spirit has sustained it to this day.' This is what Roman Catholics tell us, and we ought to feel grateful to them for pointing out our stronghold. But the information is new to me, and possibly may be new to many readers. It were as though our opponents said, Calvinism is your most formidable weapon, and, if you are wise, you will not let it slip out of your fingers. We may sometimes learn much from an enemy, but it is very rare indeed that a foe will take the trouble to tell you where your strength lies, and what the nature of the instrument which will penetrate the joints of the harness.

The subject is suggestive. Is Calvinism the dread of Popery? If so, let us stand by it and rally round the good old flag. And were not other great teachers and Christian reformers Calvinists? Martin Luther and John Knox, for instance? And do not their labours triumphantly refute the charge of exclusiveness so often brought against them and their adherents? As we look at their efforts for the good of humanity we are inclined to believe, that, all religion aside, and measured by the standard of philanthropy, they would favourably compare with the most celebrated philanthropists of any age. They lived and laboured for the common good, and, although not politicians, as we understand the term, their pulpit-teaching was reflected in the legislature of the time. It was the leaven permeating society. This was especially so in Calvin's case. The city of Geneva, as he entered it, was a hot-bed of vice, but ere his great work was done the sluices of her iniquity were dammed up, the gamesters had abandoned their tables, and, instead of the song of the drunkard, there arose, like pure incense to heaven, the praises of the ransomed, and when Calvin died Geneva wept and clothed herself in sackcloth. When opponents tell us that such a doctrine must necessarily conduce to apathy, foster a spirit of indolence, and enfeeble the natural energies, let us point them to this great preacher, and call to mind the last chapter. As he drew near to his end, he worked the harder; he did not take off his harness, but kept it on, and died in it; and his reply to the friend who remonstrated with him for continuing his labours is well known, "Would you have God find me idle ?"

But this "high" doctrine-for as such some are pleased to term it-is plainly laid down in the Articles-that body of divinity so little read. Article XVII. reads, "Predestination to life is the everlasting purpose of God, whereby (before the foundations of the world were laid) He hath constantly decreed by His counsel secret to us, to deliver from curse and damnation those whom He hath chosen in Christ out of mankind, and to bring them by Christ to everlasting salvation, as vessels made to honour. Wherefore they which be endued with so excellent a benefit of God be called according to God's purpose by His Spirit working in due season; they through grace obey the calling: they be justified freely: they be made sons of God by adoption: they be made like the image of His only-begotten Son Jesus Christ: they walk religiously in good works, and at length, by God's mercy, they attain to everlasting felicity."

Many clergymen, instead of preaching the great truth this Article involves, quietly shelve it, and put FREE WILL in its place; so they turn their heels on their own solemn vows, and undermine what they should defend. Men of the world are to be found, with not an atom of religion in them, who will refuse a lucrative appointment rather than do something their conscience forbids; but no such scruple would seem to stand in the way of those who enter the Church on the condition that they shall stand by her statutes, which statutes they ignore.

The

The Christian's life is in Holy Writ compared to a warfare. Chistian is a soldier fighting under the banner of his Captain, Jesus Christ. But to combat ceaselessly against the world, and sin and Satan, and a heart ever prone to evil-to combat daily, hourly, ever with no prospect of a flag of truce, no prospect of a lull in the hurricane of sin and sorrow, no respite whatever till death-is such hard work that no man by his own natural strength ever went through it to the end. Some begin well, but breasting the stream does not do, so they quietly float

down with the current and desert, as did Pliable, in "Pilgrim's Progress." In our Church there are too many of these deserters.

In our army all deserters are branded with "D;" in our Church we give them comfortable livings, and persecute all those who are true to their colours-true to the Articles, true to their ordination vows.

The advocates of the free will theory must be certainly blind, when in their own Bibles they can read the first sermon which the FOUNDER of Christianity ever preached, and which is illustrative of Calvinism so "extreme," to use their own words, as to completely throw into the shade any page of Calvin. But as the free will theorists may not have read the sermon, or they may have cut it out with a pair of “ religious scissors, we lay it before them: "Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country. But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land: but unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian" (Luke iv. 24-27). This discourse was preached in the synagogue of Nazareth, where were gathered together many "pious " persons and "class" leaders, but with what results the context plainly tells us: "And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, and rose up, and thrust Him out of the city, and led Him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast Him down headlong" (verses 28, 29). A moment or two before this His hearers, we are told, wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth; but, as soon as the Preacher drew that line of demarcation from the Old Testament, they became furious and responded to His teaching with yells and execrations.

'High" doctrine was unpopular then, and is as little in favour at this hour; but truth is truth in every shade, whether in the sciences or in the arts, and, whether popular or unpopular, can never be destroyed. Truth may not be very attractive in certain forms; perhaps she may be like those excellent characters in the world whom we do not like at first sight, but who improve on acquaintance; and with these latter may we not put Calvinism as seen in the robes of the Swiss reformer?

Now, thousands of our Protestant brethren, who regularly attend church, would be surprised if you were to tell them that, to be consistent churchmen, they ought to be Calvinists to the back-bone; for so is the "Article" quoted; but, then, many of these never read the "Articles of Faith," and, if you asked them what they believed, they could not tell you, because they do not know, and going to a Mormon meeting-house, or to the hut of a "medicine man " of the Ashantees, or to a Turkish Mosque, would be the same thing to them. If, like Pilate, they ask what truth is, like Pilate they hurry off without waiting for an answer.

But if Article XVII., on "Predestination and Election," is most clear, not less clear is Article X. on “Free Will." "The condition of man after the fall of Adam is such that he cannot turn and prepare himself, by his own natural strength and good works, to faith and calling upon God.. Wherefore we have no power to do good works pleasant and acceptable to God, without the grace of God by Christ preventing us, that we may have a good will, and working with us, when we have that good will." Many passages in the Scriptures prove this; but one only, spoken by

Christ Himself, ought to be conclusive, "Without me ye can do nothing." Let us bear constantly in mind that free will is the mainstay of every Pagan system, and of Popery, and of every other modern heresy. Where the Calvinist has no faith whatever, i.e., in his own doings, all their hopes are centred. This is so in all Pagan mythologies; in the worship of Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto by the Greeks; of Brahma, Vishnu and Siva by the Hindoos; of Osiris, Horus and Typhon by the Egyptians; of Ormuzd, Mithras and Ahriman by the Persians; of Menimus, Azez and Ares by the Syrians; of Baal by the Cananites; of Odin, Vile and Ve by the Goths; of Aponti, Churunti and Intiquoaqui by the Peruvians; and of Mexitle, Tlaloc and Tezcallipoca by the Mexicans-the base of each of these Pagan systems was free will. They may have differed as to the nature of the paradise promised their votaries, but the road that led to it was the same-GIVE, GIVE, and GO ON GIVING. This was all they had to do; the priests would do the rest-give the spirit a free pass over the dark valley to the bright world beyond. The priests found the business profitable; they required no capital and no stock, save a few incantations, and oracles, and mysteries. Pilgrimages to this or to that place were encouraged; and, as each pilgrim deposited something in the sacred coffers, their temples were gorged with wealth, and Diodorus Siculus states that the treasures of Delphi alone amounted to £2,250,000! It is evident from this, and much more might be adduced in proof of it, that free will is a paying creed. Arminius gets on his legs and shouts aloud to his fellow-craftsmen, "Sirs, ye know that by this craft we have our wealth." Of course if you can make a creed pay, you are certain to muster pretty strong. It is fashionable to be " 'pious,' or to appear so, and not to be it is not to be respectable. Free will is a respectable creed; it is admirably suited to the man of business, for it enables him to cling fast to the world with one hand and to religion with the other. He can go to heaven squinting, that is to say, with only "half an eye" to Christ. The dogma was severely handled by the late Joseph Irons, of Camberwell, who, in a sermon preached November 10th, 1850, thus speaks of it :-"Free will, which is the life-blood of Popery, the very Jezebel which feeds Baal's prophets at her own table, is guilty of high-treason against the God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel; it rejects the sovereignty of God the Father, it usurps the throne of God the Son, and claims His diadem, yea, it contemns the office and work of God the Holy Ghost by setting poor fallen man to do His work, so that we must rank its advocates among Baal worshippers, and not among the worshippers of our God. It is somewhat remarkable that Arminianism is the religion of all classes of unregenerate persons. If you converse with the most depraved characters who crowd our prisons, you will find them all free-willers; they will tell you there are others worse than they, and that they mean to be better and to make amends for all that is past. All the thieving, cheating, lying, and swearing; yea, even all the murders committed in the land, are the outbreakings of man's unrestrained free will. On the contrary, all the excellencies which the mind of man can develop, all the devotion he ever breathes, and all the Christianity that saves his soul, are the gifts and operations of God's free grace."

But no creed is saving. No man will be saved by it. Creed is the effect, but not the cause of faith. Paul, writing to Timothy (chap. i. 13) says, "Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus." He exhorts him to hold fast