To instruct persons so worthy of all sympathy, particularly among the humbler and less-educated classes, seemed one of those "spiritual works of mercy" which fell distinctly within the province of the Brotherhood of St. Vincent of Paul, an association especially devoted to the service of the poor, and which in France had already entered upon a similar field of exertion. The work was accordingly undertaken with the warm approval of his Lordship the Bishop of Clifton, to whom the plan was submitted by the two brothers on whom the editorial responsibility devolved, and with the encouraging sanction of all the Catholic Bishops of England. The General Council of the Brotherhood in Paris, on being informed of the intended series of publications, manifested a cordial interest in the undertaking, and with Christian zeal and charity testified their desire to aid in its promotion by noticing the numbers in their monthly Bulletin. The Editors have also the gratification of being able to add, that his Holiness the Pope, unsolicited, was graciously pleased to send them his benediction upon the work; a boon in which they gratefully behold, not only the highest sanction which it is possible for them as Catholics to receive, but the surest pledge of the success of their labours. The numbers already published have been collected into a volume, in compliance with a desire expressed by many of possessing them in that form; but the Editors wish it to be understood, that they adhere to their original design of binding up the Tracts in appropriate sets; and their attention will be directed to the completion, at as early a date as possible, of the several subjects which have been com enced, e. g. The Reformation in England,' The Church of our Fathers,'' Holy Days and Seasons,' The Church and the Scriptures,' 'The Seven Sacraments,' 'Rites and Ceremonies,' The Pope and Modern Europe,' &c. The Editors take this opportunity to repeat their thanks to those individuals who have so kindly assisted them by their contributions, without the aid of which it would have been impossible for them to meet the expenses of publication. They are happy to say that the sale of the Tracts has hitherto been such as gives them every encouragement to proceed. But were every other earnest of success wanting, they might find one very promising sign in the treatment which the series has met with at the hands of certain unscrupulous writers, who employ imputation instead of confutation, and, evading the main argument, to which, however, they affect to address themselves, fasten upon some incidental statement or subordinate detail, in the hope, as it would seem, of diverting attention from the real point at issue. With such adversaries they have nothing to do, nor indeed with individual controversy in any shape. In arguing with Protestants, they desire to deal with broad and general principles, not to combat this or that man's opinion. It is Protestantism they assail, not the thousand varieties in which the so-called Protestant religion exhibits itself, or the ever-varying and contradictory arguments with which each man may be inclined to support his particular sect or view. Neither will they be drawn aside from their purpose to enter into a fruitless contest with those who dispute for mere disputing's sake. Their mission is to the thoughtful, the earnest, the single-minded, and the conscientious; who, not content to be seekers all their life, desire to find the truth (2 Tim. iii. 7), and having found it, are ready to embrace and confess it at any cost. |