Journal in France in 1845 and 1848 with Letters from Italy in 1847 / Of Things and Persons Concerning the Church and Education

The Project Gutenberg eBook, Journal in France in 1845 and 1848 with Letters from Italy in 1847, by T. W. (Thomas William) Allies
Transcriber's Note.
The Table of Contents lists the main topics addressed in each page of the introduction, of the journals and letters, and of the conclusion. Minor changes have been made to clarify its structure.
The work is followed by summaries of new works in miscellaneous and general literature from the same publisher. This has been separately printed and paginated, and is preceded by its own index.
BY THOMAS WILLIAM ALLIES, M.A. RECTOR OF LAUNTON, OXON.
LONDON: LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMANS, PATERNOSTER-ROW. 1849.
London: Spottiswoodes and Shaw, New-street-Square.
TO OUR SPIRITUAL MOTHER, THE CHURCH IN ENGLAND, IN THE HOPE THAT ALL HOLY EXAMPLES MAY PROVOKE US TO LOVE AND TO GOOD WORKS.

Of the vast number of English men and English women who have travelled on the Continent in late years, comparatively few, I imagine, have deemed it worth their while to give much thought and attention to the action of the Church in the countries they have visited. Doubtless all have entered the material fabrics of Roman Catholic worship, but generally it has been to treat them as public monuments, rather than as the house of prayer for all nations. But how many of those travellers who enjoy leisure and independence have made it their study to understand those manifold institutions for the education of the clergy or the laity, for the consolation of the suffering, for the instruction of the poor and outcast, or for the advancement of the interior life, by which the Church christianises the world, and lays hold of the heart of humanity? I am not now expressing an opinion whether the whole Roman system be true or false, pure or corrupt; I am looking at it simply as a fact . And in this view, perhaps, there is no object on the face of the earth so worthy of contemplation by the thoughtful mind as the Roman Church. As an English Churchman, I do not think it truthful, honest, christian, or safe, to shut my eyes to such a fact existing in the world. It seems to me that one ought to endeavour to understand it. Those who strive to rekindle ancient animosities, those who take not the trouble to understand doctrines as taught by their professors, but wilfully misconceive and mis-state them; those even who rest contented in a state of separation, do they not sin against Him, who in the days of His humiliation prayed to His Father, that they all may be one, as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us; that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me. Do they in the least realise the fact that the Church of England considers the Church of Rome to be quite as truly a part of the Church Catholic as she is herself?