she fair and lovely, and wearing garments that had the spotless air of belonging to a new bride, came like a startling sunbreak into its gloom. They paused opposite the house where Arthur died, seemed to recall him each to the other, and then walked on silently and more slowly than before; but before they turned the corner I could see Georgie smiling up in Robert's

face, and Robert looking down on Georgie with such a love as never shone in Arthur's cold, spiritual eyes.

For an instant I had a little regret, a little anger against her,— but it passed. Let Georgie live her life, and be happy! Did I not at the first wish that Robert, and not Arthur, had been her choice?

THE Church was founded by our Lord, on the Apostles in general, and upon Peter in particular, and rose into a building that was to endure forever. Having called His twelve disciples together, He gave them power over unclean spirits. These twelve Apostles Jesus sent, commanding them, saying: Go ye into the way of the gentiles, and going preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand (Matthew 10). Amen, I say to you, whatsoever you shall bind upon earth, shall be bound also in heaven; and what soever you shall loose upon earth shall be loosed also in heaven (Matthew 18). And Jesus coming, spoke to them, saying, All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. Going, therefore, teach ye all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world (Matthew 28). Of this foundation we read in the gospel of St. Mark: "Jesus appeared to the eleven, and said to them, Go ye into the whole world, and preach the gospel to

every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be condemned" (Mark 16). Speaking of the Church, St. Paul says: "Built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets" (Eph. 2:20).

The Church has always designated itself apostolical; from the Apostles it has traced its origin, its government, its priesthood, its hierarchy; it has ever declared itself to be the ancient, conse quently the true religious body; and all others that call themselves Christian societies now, consequently false. "We acknowledge the one and only Catholic and apostolic Church, always inexpugnable, though the whole world should choose to war against it; and victorious over every most profane insurrection of the heterodox" (Alexander). The Council of Sardinia thus salutes the bishops: "To the bishops, in all places, and our co-ministers in the Catholic and apostolic Church.” The Church has always opposed its doctrines, as having existed from the beginning, to heresy, which it has condemned for being an innovation. Thus did Irenæus: "This is true knowledge, the doctrine of

the Apostles, and the ancient system of the Church throughout the entire world, and the mark of the body of Christ, according to the succession of bishops, to whom they (the Apostles) delivered that Church, which is in every place." For all these heretics come long after bishops to whom the Apostles delivered the churches. Wherefore those priests must be obeyed who are in the Church, who possess a succession from the Apostles, as we have shown, who, with the succession of the episcopate, have received the unerring grace of truth, according to the will of the Father. But the rest, who depart from the principal succession and gather themselves together in any place whatever, we ought to regard as false and of evil sentiments, or as men who rend the unity of the Church, and as proud men, and men that pursue their own pleasure; or again as hypocrites, that act thus for lucre's sake and vanity. But all these have fallen from the truth. "Where, therefore, the graces or gifts of the Lord are, there it behooves us to learn the truth from those with whom is that succession of the Church which cometh down from the Apostles" (Adv. Hæres 4). The same principles are enunciated by Clement of Alexandria and Tertullian. "This faith (says St. Augustine) the Church possesses, this faith the Church defends, this faith, which she knows to have been delivered through the blessed Apostles. If you could go through all nations in a moment, thou wouldst find, most stupid emperor, that everywhere Christians believe as we do; and that persisting in this our defence, they desire, as we do, to die for the Son of God."

To this character of apostolicity pretensions were made by the Gnostics, who taught that the doctrines of the different Apostles had been preserved in their sect by a secret

tradition. The same claims were asserted by the Paulicians, and other heretical factions. The destructives of the sixteenth century, miscalled Reformers, considered this character as essential to the Church; they acknowledged the necessity of apostolical succession, and if any teacher arose who could not trace this succession in his ministry, they required that he prove his doctrines by miracles. Luther writes: "If he (Munzer) say that God and his Spirit have sent him, as they did the Apostles, let him prove this by signs and wonders, or let him be prevented from preaching; for when God will change the ordinary course of things he always does so by signs and wonders."

The Church is, and remains forever, the Church that was founded upon and by the Apostles. With this one and living fact of the institution and constitution of the Church is connected forever the authority of apostolicity. Whatever was taught and commanded by the Apostles, in the name of Christ, still remains; the power and sacredness that were once imparted to the Church must and do still continue with the Church. From the doctrine and sacredness imparted by the Apostles the Church at the present day exists. An institution which is not apostolical, that is, which has not the Apostles as its foundation and origin, cannot stand by the side of the Church which was founded by the Apostles; it can have no pretensions to the name of a Church. The Church which reposes on the foundation of the Apostles possesses within itself the tradition handed down by them of truth and of grace; it possesses within itself its mission to all nations, extending through all time.

The Sacred Scripture abundantly testifies that our Saviour made St. Peter in particular the foundation

of the Church, and endowed him with a supremacy of authority and jurisdiction. Before the Apostle uttered a word, or performed any action in the presence of his Master, he received a remarkable name, expressive of elevation, firmness, and harmonious unity. The adaptation and meaning of this name (cephas-rock) became developed when Christ laid the foundation of his Church on the Apostle. A reason for this exclusive privilege was given in the fact that Peter's faith was protected against alteration by a special prayer; and the good effects intended were exhibited in the obligation imposed on the Apostle, to confirm his brethren. To prevent any misunderstanding about the appointment of Peter unto a supremacy in the Church, the Saviour used the language and figures then familiar and customary among nations to signify the conveyance of a vicarial sovereignty, saying, "I will give to thee the key of the kingdom of heaven." He also marked out the extent of the jurisdiction conferred, by a charge over the entire fold, including lambs and sheep, with a power of binding and loosing. All that had been granted to Peter was afterwards carried into execution, and practically illustrated by himself in the exercise of his office, and by the Church in its attention and compliance with his testimony and his government. He confirmed his brethren in the faith, by testifying to the resurrection of our Lord. He held together the parts of the building by putting Matthias in the place vacated by Judas in the apostolic ministry. He fed the lambs and sheep, being the first to preach "salvation in the name of Jesus crucified;" and presented to the Council of Jerusalem the first controverted question. Assuming the supremacy of St. Peter to be thus conclusively established, it is a necessary consequence that the

institution of it was not a mere personal gift, but that it is an inherent and integral portion of the organism of the Church of Christ, and accordingly it abides as the property and mark of apostolicity in the successors of St. Peter. It is a maxim of religious teaching that the Church of the living God was substantially the same before the advent of Christ as it was at the time of his visible mission; such it is in the present, and so it will continue till the end of time. "God," says St. Paul, "who at sundry times and in divers manners spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets, last of all in these days hath spoke to us by his Son." So that whatever change may have been effected regarding sacraments and external rites of religion, the substance is the same throughout, becoming more developed, more illustrious. This we are taught by the Saviour, saying, "Do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets, I am come not to destroy but fulfil." Whatsoever then we find to be a substantial leading matter in the constitution of the Church under its oldest form, and as such preserved by the sanction of Jesus Christ, it must continue to the end of time; but such is the supremacy conferred on St. Peter, therefore it must continue to the end of time. The first proposition is a self-evident truth, and the second is demonstrated by irresistible evidence. In the 8th chapter of Leviticus we have an account of the consecration of Aaron as the high priest and chief of the Levitical order. In every passage of holy writ where his name occurs, he is mentioned as one holding pre-eminence of position, and a supremacy of jurisdiction in the sacerdotal ranks. The 17th chapter of Deuteronomy informs us that, in the Mosaic dispensation, God appointed one supreme chief in his Church, to be a judge in matters of religion,

and to decide in all doubtful and controverted matters. In the 3d chapter of Numbers, where the different offices are distinctly enumerated, one chief prince of the Church is pointed out to whom all other rulers are subordinate. There it is written: "And the Prince of the princes of the Levites, Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest shall be over them that watch for the guard of the sanctuary." We have the succession of Eleazar to Aaron placed before us in the 20th chapter of Numbers. This succession is continued in the 20th chapter of Judges, where we read, "Wherefore all the children of Israel came to the house of God, and sat and wept before the Lord, .. and Phineas the son of Eleazar the son of Aaron was over the house." These few testimonies show us plainly and conclusively that, to preserve peace in the Church, to maintain unity of religious belief and harmony of ritual observance, as well as to set aside all harassing controversy, the Lord ordained and continued under the Jewish dispensation, the office of a High Priest, whose decision was to be obeyed, because it emanated from a supreme and divinely constituted authority. All this continued unto the time of Christ. The Evangelist St. John, recording the truthful statement of Caiaphas, "that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not;" says that, "this he spoke not of himself, but being the High Priest of that year he prophesied that Jesus should die for the nation." So that even in a time of great corruption the institution was divinely preserved, and a wick ed man like Caiaphas was gifted to announce infallibly a divine truth, because he was the High Priest.

That a supremacy in the Church was not destroyed but included in the fulfilment brought about by our Saviour is manifest by those testimonies which prove the juris

diction established in St. Peter. Therefore we are forced to conclude that as a supremacy has been appointed by the will of God as a necessary constituent in the organization of his Church, and as such preserved by our blessed Saviour, it must in like manner continue to the end of time. Hence we may infer that all the distinction and authority found in St. Peter passed to his successors precisely as a similar authority passed on from Aaron to Eleazar, from him to Phineas, and thence through numerous links to Caiaphas. Moreover, the same evidence that proves the bestowal of this important office on Peter, proves its continuance and subsistence with his successors, and for the following reasons. Christ, who is the source of all power, most emphatically declared, that the authority with which the ministers of his word were invested was not temporary but permanent; that it was given not only for the erection of his Church, but for its maintenance throughout all ages. "As the Father sent me, so I send you," said the Saviour to his Apostles collectively, therefore whatsoever commission was originally bestowed became authenticated by this declaration, which so very plainly indicates the continuation. of the commission to the end of time. If then the right and duty of teaching and baptizing passed on from the other Apostles to their successors, in like manner, and for the same reasons, the right of governing and confirming the brethren passed from Peter to his successors. The rank and authority bestowed on Peter was for the benefit of the Church, or it was not. To say that it was not, would be accusing Christ of doing a useless thing. That it was for the benefit of the universal Church is plain enough, from the fact that its ostensible object was unity of faith and the pastoral care of the fold; therefore as the Church

is of perpetual duration, always loved and sanctified by the Saviour, who esteems it as his spouse, the benefit originally conferred must be continued. Christ prayed that Peter's faith might not fail, so that he might confirm his brethren. Now, who were his brethren? Are we to say, merely the members of the Church who lived in his day? Certainly not. All the members of the Church who will ever exist come under this designation; therefore this extensive work of confirming in the faith must be performed by persons contemporary with the brethren who are to be confirmed. The necessity for confirming was not diminished, but increased after the death of Peter, and certainly it cannot be supposed that the benefit in question was withdrawn when the brethren increased from thousands to millions. Not only did the Saviour lay the foundation of his Church on Peter-a rock but likewise provided for its stability in the same secure position, throughout all ages, as he declares in those words, "the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Now the power of evil, indicated by "the gates of hell," was exercised not only in the lifetime of Peter, but will be so to the end of time, "the roaring lion always going about seeking whom he may devour." Therefore, as the evil always exists, the protection against it is equally durable, and as the protection was provided in the way agreeable to supernal wisdom, namely, in a concentration of authority, a plenitude of jurisdiction, and a supremacy of government in one chief, the very same method of preservation still exists, and is found in a person holding equal rank with St. Peter. Christ is the same yesterday and today, the same forever, so that his kingdom must be perpetuated to the end of time in the condition of its first existence. In all the descriptions of this kingdom we find

it represented under forms that imply this supremacy. It is called a building, therefore it has a foundation; it is a household, therefore it has a master; it is a vineyard, therefore it has a steward; it is a body, therefore it has a head; it is a sheepfold, therefore it has a pastor; consequently, through a necessity arising out of its perpetual duration, it carries with it those distinctive marks, those essential qualities, manifested in a chief like Peter-a rock, a pastor, a governor with the keys, a steward binding and loosing, a head, confirming and uniting the members of the body. Christ ordered Peter to feed his lambs and sheep without any exception, and thereby we must admit he gave to him a perpetual office, which must continue till the end of time, because all the sheep were not in the fold when Christ spoke; many nations have been converted since that time: "Other sheep I have (says Christ) that are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd." Most assuredly a pastor must be always present to execute the duties of Peter's office in regard to those sheep that are thus being from time to time brought into the fold. Now, we ask, where is this succession found? Who holds the office thus proven to be necessarily existent? Who performs the duties indispensable in the constitution of the Church? Whilst we look to every age and nation, whilst we hearken to the voice of every people, there is no other claimant to be found except the Bishop of Rome. By separatists from the Catholic Church that Pontiff is assailed on account of the possession of this office; he is revered by Catholics, and obeyed, because he is known and believed to perform legitimately its functions. Therefore the divine institution and maintenance of the