e Church is misrepresented in so-called Histories like Foxe's Book of
Martyrs. It is true that he has been successfully refuted by Lingard and
Gairdner. But, how many have read the fictitious narratives of Foxe, who
have never perused a page of Lingard or Gairdner? In a large portion of
the press, and in pamphlets, and especially in the pulpit, which should be
consecrated to truth and charity, she is the victim of the foulest
slanders. Upon her fair and heavenly brow her enemies put a hideous mask,
and in that guise they exhibit her to the insults and mockery of the
public; just as Jesus, her Spouse, was treated when, clothed with a
scarlet cloak and crowned with thorns, He was mocked by a thoughtless
rabble.

They are afraid to tell the truth of her, for

"Truth has such a face and such a mien,
As to be loved needs only to be seen."(1)

It is not uncommon for a dialogue like the following to take place between
a Protestant Minister and a convert to the Catholic Church:

MINISTER.--You cannot deny that the Roman Catholic Church teaches gross
errors--the worship of images, for instance.

CONVERT.--I admit no such charge, for I have been taught no such doctrines.

MINISTER.--But the Priest who instructed you did not teach you all. He held
back some points which he knew would be objectionable to you.

CONVERT.--He withheld nothing; for I am in possession of books treating
fully of all Catholic doctrines.

MINISTER.--Deluded soul! Don't you know that in Europe they are taught
differently?

CONVERT.--That cannot be, for the Church teaches the same creed all over
the world, and most of the doctrinal books which I read, were originally
published in Europe.

Yet ministers who make these slanderous statements are surprised if we
feel indignant, and accuse us of being too sensitive. We have been
vilified so long, that they think we have no right to complain.

We cannot exaggerate the offense of those who thus wilfully malign the
Church. There is a commandment which says: "Thou shalt not bear false
witness against thy neighbor."

If it is a sin to bear false testimony against one individual, how can we
characterize the crime of those who calumniate three hundred millions of
human beings, by attributing to them doctrines and practices which they
repudiate and abhor. I do not wonder that the Church is hated by those who
learn what she is from her enemies. It is natural for an honest man to
loathe an institu