The Sun.
London, England, 1865-06-12 00:00:00

therefore, committed the care of the flock not to His angels,
who excel in strength, but_ to us who must first be washed
in His most precious Blood ; that so, we may have com-
passion upon those who sin and are out of the way.
In such a land as this, reverend and dear brethren, we
have especial need to bear in mind this provision of His
mercy. It is not enough for us to wield in our hands the
perfect truth; we must also bear in our hearts the more
perfect charity. "-More truth, more charity,"_ is an axiom
of the science of Jesus. Truth without charity wounds,
inflames; and repels. Truth spoken in charity illuminates
heals, and subdues. Truth is keen and severe in itself,
and woe to us if wo poison its edge by human passion or
controversial bitterness. In such a land as this, and in the
midst of such spiritual confusions, the mere enun-
ciation of the one - holy Faith, out of which
is no salvation, is sharp and wounding. to the
susceptibilities and prejudices of men. But in this
we have no choice. " A necessity lieth upon me, for
woe is unto me if I preach not the Gospel." They will
impute to you the sharpness which belongs to your
message. Speak as you will, with the gentleness
of S. Francis of Sales, or the sweetness of S. Philip Neri,
they will arraign you of bitterness. Only let us, then, give
no occasion by personal heat, or biting words, or asperity
of tone. Charity and patience, with an inflexible witness
to the presence and voice of a Divine Teacher, Who calls
on all men to submit as disciples to His guidance, will at
last win souls on whom all the gifts and cultivation of the
natural order fall powerless. We have this en-
couragement. The work of God in England can-
not be stayed. " Verbum Dei non est alliga-
turn." " The Word of God is not bound." No
chains can bind it, no human arrest its expansion.
The perfect revelation of the Day of Pentecost, with its
proper motives of credibility, has once more fairly entered
into the intelligence of the English people. It is possess-
ing itself gradually and irresistibly of a large sphere in pub-
lic.opinion. It manifests itself not only to those who, day
by day, submit to it in faith, but even to those who hesi-
tate, gainsay, resist, and reject it. A generation ago, who
ever heard of the Catholic doctrine but a few retired men
among their books, or here and there some simple
person converted as by a special providence of God ?
Not so now. The work of the 'faith in England
is not the work of individuals upon individuals; but
of the Church upon the intelligence of English-
men. Multitudes who are separated from the Catholic
Church, and actively opposed to it, are daily becoming con-
scious of its presence, of its voice calling them to faith, of
its doctrines, above all of its unity in the midst of their di-
visions, and of its expansion in the Midst of the advancing
dissolution of all other religious systenis. It is surely by
a disposition of the Divine Head of the Church, that in the
heart of the nineteenth century, when both the intellects
and the wills of men have reached an excess of unbelief and
of licence in matters of revelation, of morals, and of poli-
tics, that the Vicar of our Lord, the Teacher of all Chris-
tians,—as the Council of Florence entitles him—should
twice in these last years, have spoken with the voice
infallible Truth ; thereby testifying not only to
the singular prerogative which, as the first fruits of grace
was bestowed upon the Immaculate Mother of God, and to
the great constructive principles of morality and jurispru
deuce on which the Christian world is founded, but also to
the perpetual assistance of the Spirit of God, by whose
light the Church and its Pontiffs, in all ages, now as in
the beginning, discern and declare the limits of falsehood
and of truth. The Dogmatic Bull of the Immaculate Con-
ception, and the Encyclical of last year, will, we believe,
mark an epoch in the reconstitution of the Christian order
of the world. The wise and learned may deride us. We
can well afford to wait till the derision of the nineteenth
century is buried with the heresies of the last eighteen.