love the Roman Catholics, and my heart's desire and prayer to God is, that they may be saved. Mrs. Vernon joins me in best regards to your brother and sister, and to yourself, and,

"Believe me, dear Miss Aylmer,

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Very faithfully yours,

"LIONEL T. VERNON."

Millicent perused this letter with little interest, and with very considerable prejudice. "Poor man!" said she, handing the letter to her sister; "it was very kind of him, however, certainly, to write this very long reply he is a good, though mistaken man."

"There seems very little, indeed no news in it," said Mrs. Kenyon, scanning its pages hastily; "it really is by much too long for so good a Protestant as I am to read. Millicent, you must excuse me. And here comes Count d'Este; I hope he may prove a more amusing companion." As she said this, the count entered the room.

"You are most laboriously employed," said he to Mrs. Kenyon, pointing to Mr.

Vernon's letter, which lay scattered on the floor; "quite a diplomatist, I perceive."

"Pardon me, an ecclesiastical affair," replied Mrs. Kenyon.

"Ah, indeed! some expostulation, I make no doubt, to your sister," said M. d'Este." Rightly divined," answered Mrs. Ken

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yon.

"And is the cause well-advocated?-at least, I mean as well as Protestantism can be advocated ?"

"Oh! it is very well written," answered Millicent, "by a very able man, but still I think it far from satisfactory, and full of the prejudice so common to Protestants."

"Then, if such be the case, do me the favour to permit me to peruse it. I am anxious to obtain all the information I can get together for a friend of mine, who certainly is strongly tinctured with heresy. It might be of service to show him how untenable is the position of Protestants. Will you do a very old friend the favour of granting this request?-will you, Miss Aylmer ?"

Millicent hesitated.

"You are unwilling then to part with it," Isaid the Count d'Este.

"No; that is not exactly why," answered Millicent; "it is possible that this letter might do harm to our holy religion, and perhaps we ought not to risk it, at least not without authority from the church."

"Oh! that is being very scrupulous, indeed; these notions, I assure you, are quite exploded amongst even very strict Catholics the spirit of inquiry is so much abroad, that it must be gratified: people do not, and will not, in these days, believe everything that is said to them, just because a priest tells them they ought to do so."

"Then that spirit surely ought not to be encouraged," said Millicent; "the church is directly contrary to it."

"Yes, it certainly has been; but I do think she is considerably relaxed,” answered Count d'Este. "You would be quite surprised if I told you how much some of the priests of our church wish to conciliate Protestants, and how much they seek their society, and, forgetting all the little existing

differences, really are most friendly to each other."

"I would not call their difference so slight as you would imagine," replied Millicent; "the points at issue have been my study now for a considerable time, and they are very great. I think I think you will find, upon investigation, the two creeds are quite irreconcilable."

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They may be so in some respects; at the same time, we must hail, as a good omen, the kindly feeling that exists towards Catholicism it augurs well for our church. The strong prejudice against it in England is fast wearing away. On a late visit, I lately saw not a few Catholic works read there, and even a Catholic historian greatly prized, and his authority quoted in opposition to Protestant writers."

"Oh! we have very little cause to fear," said Mrs. Kenyon; "Protestantism is very safe; I am sure there is not a clergyman who does not speak of the superiority of our liturgy."

"I fear that will not do much for you,"

M

said Count d'Este, smiling; "Protestants should rather be persuaded to take more pains to prove their assertions. If they would inform themselves better upon our religion, its councils, decrees, its distinguished men, its polemical and other writings, the case would be very different; but, generally speaking, the ignorance prevalent amongst Protestants with regard even to the most prominent of our tenets is notorious. To treat as a system of the most palpable folly, and, with one bold sweep of words, to attack everything connected with Catholicism, even to the foundation, is very unfair. I assure you, the notions I have heard given as our creed by some Protestant clergymen, betrayed a degree of ignorance I could scarcely have believed possible. Calmly and deliberately let them discuss the contested points; but I do plead that they argue from solid information, deduced from the most authentic sources, and not the garbled statements of a few bigoted and superstitious of our church, whom chance may have thrown in their way."