ifferences are comparatively of little account, but in even the
most momentous and fundamental doctrines, such as the necessity of
Baptism, the power of Absolution, the nature of the Holy Eucharist,
the effects of the sacrament of Holy Orders, and so forth. Were it not
for the iron hand of the State, which grasps her firmly, and binds her
mutually repellent elements together, she must have fallen to pieces
long ago. Now, we must beg our readers to consider well, that from the
very terms of the institution such a deplorable state of things as we
have been contemplating is absolutely impossible and unthinkable in
the Church (1) which _God-incarnate_ founded, _for the express
purpose of handing down His doctrine_, pure and undefiled to the end
of time; and (2) with which He promised to abide for ever; and (3)
which the Holy Ghost Himself, speaking through St. Paul, declared to
be "the pillar and ground of truth" (1. Tim. iii. 15). Nevertheless,
if the Catholic Church, numbering over 250,000,000 of persons, is not
to fall into the sad plight that has overtaken all the small churches
that have gone out from her, she must not only desire unity, as, no
doubt, all the sects desire it, but she must have been provided by her
all-wise Founder with what none of them even profess to possess,
_viz._, some simple, workable, and effective means of securing it.
This means, as practical as it is simple, is no other than one supreme
central and living authority, enjoying full jurisdiction over
all--that is to say, the authority of Peter, ever living in his See,
and speaking, now by the lips of Leo, and now by the lips of Pius, but
always in the name, and with the authority, and under the guidance of
Him who, in the plenitude of His divine power, made Peter the
immovable rock, against which the gates of hell may indeed expend
their fury, but against which they never have prevailed and never can
prevail. "The gates of hell shall not prevail against Thee." That any
one can fail to understand the meaning of these inspired words; that
any one can give them any application save that which they receive in
the Catholic Church, is but another illustration of the extraordinary
power of prejudice and pride to blind the reason and to darken the
understanding.

Without this final Court of Appeal, set up by the wisdom of God, the
Church would disintegrate and fall into pieces to-morrow. To remove
from the Church of Christ the infallibility of the Pope