iples of faith, is evident to every
one conversant with the doctrines of the different Creeds. The
multiplicity of sects in this country, with their mutual recriminations,
is the scandal of Christianity, and the greatest obstacle to the
conversion of the heathen. Not only does sect differ from sect, but each
particular denomination is divided into two or more independent or
conflicting branches.

In the State of North Carolina we have several Baptist denominations, each
having its own distinctive appellation. There is also the Methodist Church
North and the Methodist Church South. There was the Old and the New School
Presbyterian Church. And even in the Episcopal Communion, which is the
most conservative body outside the Catholic Church, there is the
ritualistic, or high church, and the low church. Nay, if you question
closely the individual members composing any one fraction of these
denominations, you will not rarely find them giving a contradictory view
of their tenets of religion.

Protestants differ from one another not only in doctrine, but in the form
of ecclesiastical government and discipline. The church of England
acknowledges the reigning Sovereign as its Spiritual Head. Some
denominations recognize Deacons, Priests, and Bishops as an essential part
of their hierarchy; while the great majority of Protestants reject such
titles altogether.

Where, then, shall we find this essential unity of faith and government? I
answer, confidently, nowhere save in the Catholic Church.

The number of Catholics in the world is computed at three hundred
millions. They have all "one Lord, one faith, one baptism," one creed.
They receive the same sacraments, they worship at the same altar, and pay
spiritual allegiance to one common Head. Should a Catholic be so
unfortunate as contumaciously to deny a single article of faith, or
withdraw from the communion of his legitimate pastors, he ceases to be a
member of the Church, and is cut off like a withered branch. The Church
had rather sever her right hand than allow any member to corrode her
vitals. It was thus she excommunicated Henry VIII. because he persisted in
violating the sacred law of marriage, although she foresaw that the
lustful monarch would involve a nation in his spiritual ruin. She
anathematized, more recently, Dr. Doellinger, though the prestige of his
name threatened to engender a schism in Germany. She says to her children:
"You may espouse any political party