knowledge could not stand its ground against the well-founded arguments of his friend; he was obliged to give way to one point after the other, and he, at Jength, began to think that he had only in Rome found the True Church. The priest soon penetrated his artless mind, and, for the first time, dropped a few words on a change of creed, to which an unsought occasion was given by the late conversion of a Protestant artist in Rome, who had wished to obtain the patronage of a cardinal. It was not difficult to convince Henry, that where gross error had existed, change of faith became a matter of conscience. This was the foundation on which Rossi continued to build. He ventured now to lament that his friend was so far removed from the true Church, and to intimate to him, the delight with which the possibility of Henry's return to its bosom would inspire him, and, finally, to express this idea as the fondest wish of his heart.

Although Henry, in his conversations with his friend, had not been able to dispute the superiority of the Roman Catholic Church, yet the importance of the step to which Rossi invited him, caused him to feel doubt and hesitation. But even these subsided, the longer the dwelt on a change of faith. He had once confided to his friend, how he was agitated by doubts whether he possessed sufficient faith in the merits of Christy to be sure of his justification and salvation. Rossi, far from removing this doubt, increased it, by remarking, that this uniform strength of faith was certainly a very dubious point, as the human heart is not always the same, and even a doubt, which the very best intentions could not prevent, might destroy all confidence, and with it all the saving power of faith. "We, Roman Catholics, certainly," added he, as if accidentally," cannot be agitated by such doubts, as we, even under the most decided doubts, remain perfectly secure of our salvation." Whence this security proceeded, he did not explain, till Henry himself, on the following day, begged him for an explanation.

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"We Roman Catholics," observed Rossi,off possess all that is good and Christian in common with the Protestants, for these have received it from us and have transferred it to their Church. We, like you, possess the Holy Scriptures, and regard them as the first source of all Christian knowledge, and it is the Catholic Church, upon whose testimony you consider the sacred writings, and particularly the New Testament, as genuine. You possess the Apostolic, the Nicean, and the Athanasian Creeds; we also; and you have received them from us. You have Baptism and the Lord's Supper; we also. You teach the Mystery of the Trinity, the Incarnation of the Son of God; you believe in Original Sin, the condemnation of all mankind proceeding from thence, and in the repeal of this condemnation through the all-sufficient Sacrifice of a God-man; and this is also our doctrine, All, therefore, that you possess, we have also but we have more, that is wanting to you; and because you have rejected this, you are not secure of your salvation. The Catholic Church, as a tender mother of the faithful, and mindful of the frailty of man, has made the efficacy of expiatory rites not dependant on the faith of the layman, (which, as you yourself lament, is not to be relied on,) but upon the power of the priest, and the nature of the expiatory rite itself, which works out our salvation, ex opere operato, as we say that is, through the mere performance of the rite; it matters not whether the Christian accompanies it with true faith or not. The Catholic need not, therefore, torment himself with the question, whether he possess sufficient faith, or the true faith, to obtain the grace of God. It suffices that the priest absolves, and celebrates mass for him. For the same reason, the Roman Catholic Church has not made reconciliations with God dépendant on the internal act of faith, but on external rites, which, if duly performed, secure pardon to the sinner. You Protestants have only the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, of which you partakedtwo or three times a

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year; we have the daily celebration of mass for all sins; we have confession and absolution, indulgences, a catalogue of good works, such as fasting, the angelic salutation, pilgrimages, sanctuaries peculiarly endowed with the power of remitting sins. The Catholic Christian lives, therefore, in blessed peace and security with regard to his eternal salvation. Whatever scruples of faith he may entertain, whatever sins he may commit, if he only avails himself of confession, mass, and absolution, they do not endanger his salvation. The human heart is frail and unstable in faith and virtue; it is, therefore, necessary to ground salvation on a firmer and more immutable basis than internal faith, and thus to come to the aid of frailty For this frailty, the Protestants have nothing, we every thing."

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In this manner Rossi endeavoured to persuade his friend that he would become both happy and tranquil, if he availed himself of the means of expiation which the Catholic Church offers to the Christian. When this idea had taken root in Henry's mind, Rossi went still farther, and began to prove to his friend, that the Protestant Church consists of nothing but confusion, insecurity, unbelief, and error; that she is not the True Church, has no real priesthood, and no efficacious sacraments. It was easy to persuade Henry of this, as he had already begun to consider the Roman Catholic as the only True Church. It was a natural consequence, which Henry could the less resist, as he had hitherto been perfectly unacquainted with the subs ject, and had never heard the decisive arguments against these assertions, which the older Protestant divines have so ably established. Convinced, at length, that the Roman Catholic Church is the only True Church, which alone can, through the power of her expiatory rites, secure acceptance with God, Henry, six months previous to his return to Saxony, deposited his Catholic confession of faith in Rossi's hands.nl gelatina

He wrote of this immediately to his father, with all the warmth of a new convert, and observed, that this step would certainly obtain his approbation, as soon as he should personally lay before him the grounds of his conversion. On so important a step, Henry ought certainly to have consulted the opinion of his father, or of some intelligent friend. But Rossi urgently dissuaded him from this, and represented to him, that it would only lead to opposition on the part of his parents, which might impede his admission into the True Church, which alone was capable of conferring salvation. He did, as many do, who separate theme selves from our communion, he sought the advice of no intelligent person. He had such confidence in his own penetration, that he thought he stood in nó need of the council of others. Rossi had so ably ex plained to him the grounds of his conversion, that he believed himself able to justify this step to any person whatever; and he even conceived the hope of being able to lead his parents to the bosom of the True Church,

He resigned himself to this hope the more easily, as his father, in his answer, did not express any disapprobation His father, in his letter, only urged his immediate return, and Henry instantly complied with this injunction, although Rossi earnestly dissuaded him from it, and even intimated, that disobedience in an affair relating to his eternal salvation, was merito

made this short observation, that they would discuss the subject, orally, at home, and that he hoped Henry had not become a Roman Catholic from impure motives. As Henry was not conscious of this, he set out on his return in good spirits.

These spirits continued as long as the air of Italy breathed around him, but when, from the summit of the Alps, he again looked down upon the sky of Germany, it seemed as if his courage would fail him, and the further he continued his journey, the more depressed he became. Displeased with himself, that his heart should misgive him, when his understanding could not reproach him, he recapitulated all the arguments by which Rossi had made him a conscientious Catholic, and thus endeavoured to recover sufficient confidence to allay the agitation of his mind. He succeeded for a time, but his palpitation of heart returned, the nearer he approached home; and the only effectual ground of tranquillity which he finally found, was the consciousness that he was so sincerely be loved by his parents, that he might still hope for their indulgence, although he might not be able to justify his change of creed to them. To arm himself against the objections which he had reason to expect at home, he "staid a week at Frankfort-on-the-Maine, and availed himself of this respite to commit to writing the grounds of his conversion, which were as many accusations against the Protestant Church. He could, by this means, view his arguments in connexion, and have them readily at hand. za Lei - His arrival was expected at his father's house with an unpleasant constraint. His family had not, like him, to reproach themselves with weakness and pres cipitation, but they were agitated by a feeling of dis trust towards the proselyte, and of painful uncertainty, lest his character had altered with his change of faith, and lest their former ties of affection had been severed. oil to ibig 9 ) arad qu to goitel While Henry remained at: Frankfort to compose

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