reality for what? at such a period what a glorious thing it is to look around and behold that the manner in which these men act, produces an effect quite contrary to their own vile interested intentions: that all that is liberal, all that is candid, all that is intelligent, is, after unprejudiced enquiry, stepping out from among Protestants, and ranging itself under the banners of Catholicism.

Of the truth of this assertion we cannot have a more splendid instance than that of the Rev. Mr. Mason, of Stourbridge, who, from a zealous and truly sincere preacher among the Methodists, has lately become a most devoted Catholic clergyman. The pamphlet which this gentleman has published, is one of the most eloquent and convincing which we remember to have ever read. No man ought to be without it, whatever may be his present sentiments. It is always worth while to examine for what reasons a man, who plainly sacrifices his worldly interests by so doing, is induced to change his religious opinions; it is particularly so when the opinions which he embraces are persecuted opinions, reviled and calumniated opinions, and to discredit, and if possible to crush which, by every unworthy means, the nation appears to have entered into one grand conspiracy. When, in opposition to all these, a man espouses such opinions, and in addition, tears himself from his nearest and dearest relations, renounces his friends and acquaintance, in fine, gives up all in this world that men esteem valuable, that he may be free to pursue the path, which he has, after much deliberation, chosen; the reasons of that man, if ever any man, are entitled to our deepest, our fullest, and our most serious consideration. But let the reader judge by the following passage.

Mr. Mason speaks of himself:

"There are few things, indeed, in which I can presume to compare myself to an Apostle-but in these, if any man may boast, I can boast also. To whom have I been chargeable—of whom did I receive any gain? These hands have ministered to my necessities out of my own stores; and I counted it all joy to spend and be spent for you. Ye people of the Ashby de la Zouch circuit, where I began my toil-of parts of the Leicester and Loughborough circuits, where I have occasionally laboured-of the Burton on Trent circuit, where I followed Mr. Chettle, and witnessed the effects of his spirit on the people of Alrewas-of the Burslem circuit, where I have also laboured-of Lichfield where I was the first Methodist Preacher, I believe, that ever addressed a Methodist audience; where I found but one person a Methodist, where I preached the first sermon to a few persons in the house of my old friend, Mr. Joshua Ridger, at the wharf, and where I left a chapel, and twenty-three in society-finally, in the Wednesbury circuit-in the numerous places of which I have laboured by day and by night-I challenge you all to say, whom I have

;njured, of whom I have taken gain, whom I ever wilfully neglected, or ever brought a scandal on your cause.

"It was while I was in the habit of filling that same pulpit which Mr. Chettle now fills, that the Catholic religion came more immediately under my notice; and upon this subject I had the happiness and honour to meet the Rev. Gentleman whom Mr. Chettle has met, and whom he so unjustly vilifies -and a more candid, honourable, and respectful antagonist I never met, or hope to meet again. I considered that it was but just to hear each side of the question, to suffer a Catholic clergyman to explain his own religion, to believe him on his word, and particularly when corroborated by other collateral evidence. I gave the Catholic religion a candid examination, and the result was a painful, but entire conviction of its truth. On that conviction I embraced it, contrary to the habits of my former life, contrary to the dispositions of my nature, which love domestic comfort and personal independence, and contrary to all the ties of interest and friendship. My conversion to the Catholic religion rendered me morally dead to all my former companions and associates; broke the spell that had hitherto rendered life a pleasing dream; stripped me at once of all that patronage and support in the way of trade I formerly enjoyed; and, like a shipwrecked mariner, drifted me on a foreign land, where I possess nothing, and gain little more per annum for my personal wants, than I could save before at the end of the year.

"Since my conversion I have been reduced by affliction, and placed on the verge of the grave. My old friend above named, whom I shall ever esteem, came eleven miles to see whether the prospect of eternity would not shake my constancy, and alarm my fears; but he found it quite the reverse, and departed expressing himself satisfied. And, indeed, may I not ask any of you as reasonable men- -Why should I be in love with damnation, and post to hell with my eyes open? Is it disgust, or revenge, or interest? If any of these had been my motive, they all would have lost their powerful charm in that important moment, when all appeared lost to me in time, and my next pulsation seemed likely to launch my soul into a boundless eternity, and hurry it to the presence of its judge. And, indeed, setting aside the awful consequences of violating my conscience, I should have acted a foolish part to have espoused the Catholic church, with all its restraints, its inconveniencies, its obloquy, poverty, and labours, with the loss of the favour of all among whom I lived, and to be deemed a renegade, an apostate, in fine, a lost soul by all whom I prized in this world. Did Mr. Wesley do so when expelled from the churches? Did Alexander Rilham do so when expelled the Methodist connexion? Did Mr. Cook do so, when called to an account for his true opinion respecting the direct witness of the spirit? Finally, did Mr. Clues and his party do so, when restrained from holding camp meetings? And if they did not do so, through disgust and expulsion, should I have acted wisely in voluntarily resigning my office among you, and going over to the Catholic church, when so many other sources were open to me, attended with no ignominy, no -privations, but where I might still have retained my office, the favour and support of all kinds of Protestants, and have had the pleasures of Hymen into the bargain? Mr. Bridgnell, the then superintendent, and who is the very reverse of Mr. Chettle, in every thing amiable as a man, a friend, and

‘a preacher, exclaimed, on mý résigning my office, my papers, and class money to him in my own parlour : 'O! Mr. Mason, you astonish me: you will become a Catholic, and I had rather you would become any thing else.' Mark, reader-a Jew, Turk, Heathen, Atheist, or any thing, rather than go back to that church which has existed from the beginning-which converted our Saxon ancestors from heathenism to the Christian faith-which built our churches, established our national liberties, and of whose faith and communion all our fathers were for near 1,000 years.

"But if Mr. Bridgnell was astonished at my conversion, and very good reason he had for astonishment, how much more must his wonder be increased when he is told, that that aged parent, who had been a constant member of the Methodist society, without a broken link, for more than forty years, and whose steady principles, and upright deportment gained her the esteem of all who knew her, and who was frantic with grief, and pined with anxiety at my conversion, is now a Catholic. That that sister, who hung upon him on that memorable occasion as a child on its parent, venting her grief in sad complaint, and bitter invective against the Rev. Gentleman who was the cause of what was considered the greatest misfortune our family ever experienced; that this sister is now a convert, and her husband, a sensible and respectable preacher for some years, is a convert too.

"And what can explain this wonderful change, but that common well known maxim, 'Truth is powerful and will prevail?' Here I am now at Stourbridge, a poor priest of the Catholic church, and, however poor my situation, or despised my office, I can lay my hand upon my heart and say, I would rather be the poorest Catholic priest, than the emperor of the world! Yes, my God, I esteem it to be the greatest honour and happiness you could have called me to, to be accounted worthy to minister at the meanest of your altars; and trust, by your holy grace, when called upon, to be ready to seal thy truths with my blood. On you, my Methodist brethren, whom I have left behind, I often look with affectionate sorrow. You think I have erred, I think you are erring. Nay, I am sure of it, if God be God, and truth be truth."

After this, the veriest sceptic cannot doubt the sincerity of the writer. The language speaks for itself; plain, simple, unadorned, but supremely eloquent, it goes immediately to the heart, and even prejudice gives way to its tone of candour and conciliation. We will not follow Mr. Mason through his chain of reasoning, but pass immediately to his affecting appeal to his Methodist brethren, with which we shall conclude.

"Come, then, my Methodist brethren, follow my example. Abandon that self-authorized, self-interested, and dangerous association called the Conference. As Christians you ought to do it-as Englishmen you ought to do it-as fathers of your families you ought to do it--and as members of the body politic you ought to do it. There are no interests which can be a sufficient reason for supporting that assumed dominion. No spiritual benefits which you cannot enjoy separated from her. You have nothing to lose by abandoning her, but you have every thing to gain by doing it. Do not be affrighted

by her cries of perdition, or deceived by her pretensions to a divine inspiration. Like the old Saxon warrior, strike your javelin through the walls of the enchanted temple, and bid defiance to its sombre brow. You may think I dream of danger; but remember, I say again, what the Puritans have done. Remember what the Presbyterian Covenanters have done. Remember what the French philosophers have done. And what has been the result of less pretensions, and far less organized bodies, may be done again. Remember what you owe to your country, your families, and your neighbours. If you are afraid of following me into the Catholic church, then, I say, go back to the church of England; or, at least, adopt some form more congenial with our liberties. To rally round the standard of the Church of England will not betray us into the power of this dangerous body-it will at least continue our rights and liberties. But though I have not asked you to follow me into the ranks of the Catholic church, which our fathers filled for so many centuries, yet I will say, follow me so far as to examine with candour and honesty the doctrines and claims of this church. This you are bound to do, or you will be speechless when God interrogates you. I have explored the way before you, and I recollect some of my most candid friends amongst the Methodists used to say, He is deceived, let him alone for a time, he will see the evils of Popery, and will return. To such persons I am a debtor, and I thank them kindly for their candour. But I will tell them what, by this time, they ought to know-I have examined Popery-I have been within the veil-I have turned over its foldings-traced its labyrinths-proved its machinery-and every day demonstrates that it is wrought of God. So completely am I a Papist, and wish to be so, that could I discover one fibre of Methodism, I would tear it from my heart. And if you will not believe or rely on one example, look at the thousands of Catholics from all parts of the world that seek our shores. If the Catholic religion was so tyrannical-so slavish and hostile to the rights and liberties of men-so evil in itself-so ruinous in its effects-Why do these men cling to it with fond embraces?-why so staunch, and steady and persevering?-and that in a country where every encourage. ment is given to their apostacy, and every insult heaped on their profession, My brethren, it speaks for itself! No man that loves order, and conscience, and virtue, is ever weary of the Catholic religion. Nay, more, scarcely one in ten thousand, even of the vicious part of these straying foreigners, ever repudiates his religion from his breast. They are unalterable in the midst of unfaith. fulness. Catholicity, I love thee! The joy of the whole earth is Mount Sion. • Go round about her-count her towers-mark well her bulwarks-declare it 'to the generations to come, God is known in her palaces for a refuge.'

"Be not you, therefore, my Methodist brethren, like the man who would sooner go to hell than be a Catholic. Examine this faith and church, and examine it in its proper sources, with sincerity and truth. Form your views not from the mis-statements of her enemies, but from the church herself, who alone is capable of explaining to you her own doctrines; and you will find that this church has all the marks of the true church of Christ. She was instituted by him: to her he gave his promises that he would build her upon a rock, and that the gates of hell should not prevail against her; that he would give to her his spirit to guide her into all truth, and remain with her for ever. C. M.-VOL. VIII. NO. 67.

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On her authority you are obliged to depend for the authenticity and inspiration of the New Testament. She alone is one in doctrine and unity of members. She is holy in doctrine and in many thousands of her children. She is Catholic or Universal in duration and extent; teaching all nations in all ages. She is apostolical; having her doctrine, her orders, and her mission from them. The tree, therefore, is good-so is its fruit. Look at the noble army of martyrs in this church-the holy company of saints who have illustrated her. Look at the toilsome labours, and painful sufferings of her ministers and missionaries. Read the instructions and devotions which she gives to her children, and examine the lives of all who conform to her dictates. You may not find them proclaiming these virtues in love-feasts and class-meetings, but you will find them practising them in an heroic manner, and thus confounding the calumnies of wicked men. In short, you will find her realizing in every age the declaration of God by the prophet: No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper, and every tongue that shall rise in judgment against thee thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of 'the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord””

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The Faith of Catholics confirmed by Scripture, and attested by the Fathers of the Five First Centuries.

THE REV. Jos. Berington has been long known and esteemed by Catholics as one of the most learned scholars and elegant writers in their body. To him, indeed, may be fairly ascribed the merit of having made the study of the beauties of his native language an object in the literary pursuits of the English Catholics. Before he appeared amongst us, our divines were as profound as those who have succeeded to them; but the writings of all, not excepting those of Bishop Challoner, continually present to the eye of the educated reader, violations of the classical purity of the language. But Mr. Berington, as we are informed, first imparted a different spirit to the students at Douay, and has subsequently set them an example, which the writings of very many of our Catholic brethren at the present day prove to have been followed with eminent success. We need only refer our readers to the terseness and logic of Butler, the energy and perspicuity of Milner, the profound philosophy of Fletcher, and the union of all with his own peculiar elegance and wit, in Dr. Lingard. The English Catholic student cannot, therefore, be insensible to the claims of Mr. Berington upon his gratitude, for the treasures which he has contributed to the language. We would not, however, be supposed to insinuate that it is only, or principally, through the instrumentality of others that he urges this claim. It is not our intention, however, to examine at present the other works for which we are indebted to Mr. Berington, but to confine our attention to