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sound words derived to them from the Apostles, through the channel of their immediate predecessors, 2 Tim.. i. 13. And in order to preserve this Doctrine pure through all ages, and entirely free from errors, our Saviour promised to his Apostles and their lawful Successors, that he himself would always abide with them; and moreover that he would send them another Comforter, even the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of Truth, to be their Guide, to guide them into all Truth, and to continue with them for ever. Behold, says he, Matth. xxviii. 20. I am with you all days, even to the end of the world. And, John xiv. 16, 17. I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever, the Spirit of Truth. It is in consequence of these promises of divine assistance and direction, that St. Paul calls the Church of God, the Pillar and support of Truth, 1 Tim. iii. 15. And our Saviour Jesus Christ having promised thus to support, assist, and direct his Church and its Pastors, said to them, Luke x. 16. He that heareth you, T

heareth me: and he that despiseth you, despiseth me: and he that despiseth me, despiseth him that sent me. But, notwithstanding the express command of Christ for keeping this unity of Faith; notwithstanding the constant endeavours of his Ministers to inculcate and maintain this unity and notwithstanding the solemn promise Christ has made of sending his Holy Spirit to guide his Church into all Truth, and to preserve it from error: yet many men full of pride, self conceited, and impatient of subjection, have presumed to deny the fulfilling these divine promises, and to impute Errors to those who have legally succeeded the Apostles as Pastors of the Church, and who in consequence of these promises are evidently shewn to be infallible in the Doctrine they teach. They have also arrogantly presumed to put their own private and unwarranted interpretations upon the Christian doctrine, the Word of God, and to preach a faith different from and contrary to that which was once delivered to the Saints. Jude 3. And thus, these teachers of new doctrines, by

rejecting the authority of God, and his promises, have departed from the Church of Christ, and from the Unity of its Faith: and by abounding in their own sense, and following the vicious inclinations of their own hearts, have framed a multitude of different Religions, and bewildered themselves in labyrinths of error:

From this view of the general state of Religion, you have reason to rejoice at your happiness, in having discovered the true path that leads to salvation. You have reason to acknowledge the goodness of God, in shewing you the errors in which you was engaged, and in imparting to you the Light of Faith. What thanks then and returns of gratitude ought you to make to your merciful God, when you reflect how great is the multitude of those whom in his unsearchable judgments he thinks fit to leave in the darkness of illusion, and in the way of perdition; while out of his infinite goodness, he has looked upon you with a more favourable eye, and singled you out to bring you into the path of life. Acknowledge then the goodness of

God to you; be sensible of your present happiness: and now make an open profession of the Catholic Faith, with a full conviction of its truth, a resolution of firmly adhering to it till the last moment of your life, and with a heart raised up to God with the warmest sense of devotion.

Exhortation after receiving a Convert into the Church.

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Congratulate you, my dear Brother [or Sister], in having been by the mercy and goodness of God drawn out from the darkness of infidelity and error, and blessed with the light and knowledge of his saving Truths. Corresponding with this mercy and goodness of God, you have now made a full and open profession of the Catholic Faith, and according to your earuest desire are now admitted as a true member of that One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church which Christ himself first founded, which the Apostles, açcording to his command, propagated

in all parts of the then known world, and which Almighty God in a mul titude of places in the holy Scriptures, has promised should continue to exist as long as the Sun and Moon shall endure. We read in the Acts of the Apostles, that to this Church the Lord added daily such as should be saved, Acts ii. 47. And what was then daily done has been done since continually. Christ never appointed two ways to heaven: nor did he establish a Church to save some, and make another institution for other men's salvation. There is no other· name under heaven given to men whereby we must be saved but the nume of Jesus, Acts iv. 12. and that name is no otherwise given under heaven, than in the Catholic Church. As none were saved from the deluge but such as were within the Ark of Noah, framed for their reception by the Command of God: as none of the first-born of Egypt lived, but such as were within those habitations, whose door-posts were sprink led with blood by the appointment of God for their preservation: as none of the inhabitants of Jericho

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