eral can
be entirely founded on a mistake. Those who admit the bare orthodoxy of
our doctrine will, under the circumstances, naturally conclude that in
our way of holding or expounding it there must be something new and
strange, unfamiliar and bewildering, to those who are accustomed to the
prevalent spirit of Catholic literature; something which our
fellow-Catholics are not prepared to admit; something which can
sufficiently explain misgivings so commonly and so sincerely
entertained. Others may perhaps imagine that we are unconsciously
drifting away from the Church, or that we only professedly and
hypocritically remain with her. But the Catholic critic will not forget
that charity is a fruit of our religion, and that his anxiety to do
justice to those from whom he must differ ought always to be in equal
proportion with his zeal. Relying, then, upon this spirit of fairness,
convinced of the sincerity of the opposition we encounter, and in order
that there may remain a distinct and intelligible record of the aim to
which we dedicate our labours, we proceed to make that declaration which
may be justly asked of nameless writers, as a testimony of the purpose
which has inspired our undertaking, and an abiding pledge of our
consistency.

This Review has been begun on a foundation which its conductors can
never abandon without treason to their own convictions, and infidelity
to the objects they have publicly avowed. That foundation is a humble
faith in the infallible teaching of the Catholic Church, a devotion to
her cause which controls every other interest, and an attachment to her
authority which no other influence can supplant. If in anything
published by us a passage can be found which is contrary to that
doctrine, incompatible with that devotion, or disrespectful to that
authority, we sincerely retract and lament it. No such passage was ever
consciously admitted into the pages either of the late _Rambler_ or of
this Review. But undoubtedly we may have committed errors in judgment,
and admitted errors of fact; such mistakes are unavoidable in secular
matters, and no one is exempt from them in spiritual things except by
the constant assistance of Divine grace. Our wish and purpose are not to
deny faults, but to repair them; to instruct, not to disturb our
readers; to take down the barriers which shut out our Protestant
countrymen from the Church, not to raise up divisions within her pale;
and to confirm and deepen, not