f the Church; it means, practically, by the voice of the
first priest he meets. Every priest is the voice of the Church. This is
quite intelligible. In matters of doctrine, he has faith in the word of
any priest. But what, where, is that 'word' of the Church which the
persons you speak of believe in? and when do they exercise their belief?
Is it not an undeniable fact, that, so far from all Anglican clergymen
agreeing together in faith, what the first says, the second will unsay?
so that an Anglican cannot, if he would, have faith in them, and
necessarily, though he would not, chooses between them. How, then, has
faith a place in the religion of an Anglican?"

"Well," said Charles, "I am sure I know a good many persons--and if you
knew the Church of England as I do, you would not need me to tell
you--who, from knowledge of the Gospels, have an absolute conviction and
an intimate sense of the reality of the sacred facts contained in them,
which, whether you call it faith or not, is powerful enough to colour
their whole being with its influence, and rules their heart and conduct
as well as their imagination. I can't believe that these persons are
out of God's favour; yet, according to your account of the matter, they
have not faith."

"Do you think these persons believe and practise all that is brought
home to them as being in Scripture?" asked his companion.

"Certainly they do," answered Charles, "as far as man can judge."

"Then perhaps they may be practising the virtue of faith; if there are
passages in it to which they are insensible, as about the sacraments,
penance, and extreme unction, or about the See of Peter, I should in
charity think that these passages had never been brought home or applied
to their minds and consciences--just as a Pope's Bull may be for a time
unknown in a distant part of the Church. They may be[1] in involuntary
ignorance. Yet I fear that, taking the whole nation, there are few who
on this score can lay claim to faith."

[1] "Errantes invincibiliter circa aliquos articulos, et
credentes alios, non sunt formaliter haeretici, sed habent fidem
supernaturalem, qua credunt veros articulos, atque adeo ex ea
possunt procedere actus perfectae contritionis, quibus justificentur
et salventur."--_De Lugo de Fid._, p. 169.

Charles said this did not fully meet the difficulty; faith, in the case
of these persons, at least was not faith in the word of the Church. His
companion w