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Show "THE PRINCE OF THE APOSTLES." I J he J lev. IV.ul .1 tunes Francis. S. A., and the ! Ki-v. Spencer .!ijics. ... A., have in oolaboratiou I written a hook, entitled "The Prince of the Apos- 1 l' lies' (Lamp Piihlihiug Co.. Garrison, N. Y.) J The authors of this scholarly volume are ae- ! credited clergymen of ihe Anglican or Episcopal I ' church, and have brought to the compilation of I , their work an impartiality and erudition rarely to I he met with in historical and controversial books. 1 - Ihe authors, sifter an impartial examination of I ihe legal documents, a critical study of the four I gospels am! the acts of the Apostles, after thor- I . oughly tdfting and examining' the evidence sub- I ! : mittcd by the Fathers and the decrees of the post- I Niccno Councils, are more than persuaded they ;sre convinced tliat the primacy of Teter and his MicTf.s!rs. the lo'inan pontiffs, anionfr ihe bishops of Christendom, is an established fact. We trust we arc not taking liberties with their own views, or ' with th" work with which they are very familiar, if we add ihat the authors have proved, for the IIo- man poi tiffs. n,,,t only 1 he primacy, but the suprem- Iacy ami mfallability. aud in the supernatural order. , the ic-e.-iiy of-ill three. They have abo shown : - - i11 'be divine economy ihe wisdom of this triple V alliani-e. : Ti is impossible, ,.r seemingly so, for any hon est man to read carefully Count Joseph dc Maisfre's ! learned work, "Le Pape." nnd.this last and erudite contribution towards Christian union, "The Prince of the Apostles." without being satisfied that th'j verdict of impartiality is delivered and the case ' closed in favor of the popes. The reverend gentle- - men modestly term their book, with its aceumula- ' tion of facts and logical argument. "A study.". It !! 1 is more. It is a learned compilation, it is a con- . solidation of proofs, a digest of the voluminous writings on i"he position of the successor of .St. . , Peter face to face with all heresy and schism. The )' aim of the writers is directed towards a corporate reunion of Christians doct finally and morally, but ; ' the main purpose in the mind of the authors, we take it, is to help in ihe return of the Church of England to her old allegiance. Aud they are right. If the great heart, briglit brains and strong j arm of the manhood of ihe Church of England I would return to the one fold and one shepherd, .it I would, under God, be of incalculable help in the j ., . . tierce war now raging between the forces fight- j ing in defense of an undivided Christianity against I t be troops .of an organized and oath-bound atheism. I All heresy, all infidolilv. consciously or not, is an ally 'f alheism. The historic and imperishable I Catholic church the Rock of Ages alone, for if nearly two thousand years, has saved Europe from submergence and flung back the tidal waves of the sea of human passions and human errors. Remove Re-move 1 he rock and all is lust. There would have to occur ah impossibility, a second Redemption. I After more than three centuries of irritation,, I i-5 time that England and Rome should come to I an understanding. . I It is impossible that men of the sincerity, the I honesty and intelligence of the advocate of this Providential movement towards reconciliation and unity can remain forever away from their own home. Ji is noL ihe will of God or the prayer of "ur divine Lord would be above our understanding. The one fold is theirs as much as it is ours; for j 1be one shepherd gave his life for us all, that wc -all may bo one: "As thou. Father in me" and I i 3Ti Thee, that they also may be one in Us." The primaev of Teter is proved, and unless Owl himself returned t earth we cannot add anything i: aaore lo a fact that has been with the human Xaec j for nineteen hundred years. The existence of the chair of Peter for nineteen centuries ought alone to convince the intellect of honesty that it is no, human institution. Digitus Dei est hie (The hand of God is here.) 1 So wonderful a thing, calculated to arrest attention at-tention everywhere, ought to particularly impress itself on the Anglo-Saxon mind.. to which repose is punishment. During this period of long duration the Church of God enjoyed' not one day's peace; she was the target for syllogism in the last century, she is the butt for epigram in this. In every century, cen-tury, in Europe, and on the fields of foreign missions, mis-sions, the victims for the scaffold, the stoke and the fire were lorn from her side. "And vet," writes James Anthony Froude, in his "Revival of Romanism," Roman-ism," ''in spite of all this, perhaps by means of it, as a kite rises against the wind, the Roman Catholic Cath-olic church has once more shot up into visible aim practical consequence." God speed you, gentlemen, in your most meritorious meri-torious work. As you know, better perhaps than me, heresy is dissolving . into materialism, much of it has decomposed in our own day. God and His imperishable church are calling all sincere, an upright and honest men to ihe war which is now on between Christianity in its integrity, and unbelief un-belief in its solidarity. Give us back the Anglican church, with its manhood, its learning and its manly man-ly clergymen, and we'll conquer the world Tor Christ. - |
