Members of the Church of Rome, and members of the Church ofEngland, have too long entertained towards each other feelings ofhostility. Instead of being drawn together as brethren by the cordsof that one faith which all Catholics hold dear, their sentimentsof sympathy and affection have been absorbed by the abhorrence withwhich each body has regarded the characteristic tenets of itsadversary; whilst the terms "heretic" on the one side, and"idolater" on the opposite, have rendered any attempt to bringabout a free and friendly discussion of each other's views almosthopeless.
Every Christian must wish that such animosities, alwaysill-becoming the servants and children of the God of love, shouldcease for ever. Truth indeed must never be sacrificed to securepeace; nor must we be tempted by the seductiveness of a liberality,falsely so called, to soften down and make light of thosedifferences which keep the Churches of England and Rome asunder.{Pref 5} But surely the points at issuemay be examined without exasperation and rancour; and the resultsof inquiries carried on with a singleness of mind, in search onlyfor the truth, may be offered on the one side without insult oroffence, and should be received and examined without contempt andscorn on the other.
The writer of this address is not one in whom early associationswould foster sentiments of evil will against members of the Churchof Rome; or encourage any feeling, incompatible with regard andkindness, towards the conscientious defenders of her creed. Fromhis boyhood he has lived on terms of friendly intercourse andintimacy with individuals among her laity and of her priesthood. Inhis theological pursuits, he has often studied her ritual,consulted her commentators, and perused the homilies of herdivines; and, withal, he has mourned over her errors and misdoings,as he would have sighed over the faults of a friend, who, with manygood qualities still to endear him, had unhappily swerved from thestraight path of rectitude and integrity.
In preparing these pages, the author is not conscious of havingbeen influenced by any motive in the least degree inconsistent withsentiments of charity and respect; at all events, he would hopethat no single expression may have escaped from his pen tending tohurt unnecessarily the feelings of any sincere Christian. He hasbeen prompted by a hope that he may perhaps {Pref6} induce some individuals to investigate with candour, andfreedom, and with a genuine desire of arriving at the truth, thesubjects here discussed; and that whilst some, even of those whomay have hitherto acquiesced in erroneous doctrines and practices,may be convinced of their departure from Christian verity; others,if tempted to desert the straight path of primitive worship, may besomewhat strengthened and armed by the views presented to themhere, aga