.... "It is certain that Jesus Christ founded a Church upon earth for the salvation of man; where, then, is it? This is certainly the whole question among the different sects opposed to each other. .... I must necessarily enter the true Church, for I cannot be saved in that which is false. ....
.... "I am persuaded the Catholics do not found their belief on the opinions and interpretations of men; their authority is Jesus Christ, God Himself; certainly that must be infallible, and the reason of man ought to bend to it. They believe in such and such doctrines because Jesus Christ and His Apostles taught them; this is the simple and reasonable motive of their faith. The doctrine of Jesus' and His Apostles is not an opinion, but a fact, which I see so completely proved by an assemblage of facts and circumstances so striking, that, not to be convinced of its truth, would be to renounce all common sense. .... The fact that the Catholic Church is in possession of the true doctrine is a fact proved like all other historical facts; it is proved by a weight of testimony given by persons who saw and heard themselves. Observe, it is not the opinions or interpretations given by those persons which are advanced as proofs, as you suppose in your letter; but all these holy persons have shed their blood to support and defend the truth, not of their opinions, but of what they have seen or heard. I can understand that fanaticism would induce a man to sacrifice his life to support a favourite opinion, but it has never yet been seen that any one would lose his life to prove that he had seen or heard things which he, in fact, had not. Tradition is not, therefore, as you suppose, the opinions and interpretations of the Fathers, but their testimony to what they saw, heard, taught, and practised. In the same way, the general Councils have fixed the sense of Scripture only by declaring the fact that such has been the universal doctrine since the Apostles. It is the assemblage of these proofs that brings conviction to the soul; they must all be seen united and compared, and this is undoubtedly a laborious study.
"The Catholics believe that their Church is in possession of the doctrine taught by Christ, and listen to it as they would to Him. Judge from this how strong and lively must be the faith of a Catholic, how firm and immovable, since the voice of their Church is the voice of their Saviour, and the interval of eighteen hundred years disappears as they every day hear the voice of Jesus. There cannot be any division in this Church. It being an historical fact that the same doctrine has been taught from the beginning by the infallible mouth of Jesus Christ and His Apostles, it follows that all must yield to that authority, and that the rash individual who would dispute, disputes as it were with Jesus Christ, and consequently ought to be driven from the flock. ....
"The Catholics say:—without the Scriptures we should not hear the Saviour speak, but without tradition we should not know what He says. ....
"Why are not our eyes opened—having every day proof that private interpretation is at fault?—let us try. Take your Bible, and read whatever passage you please; I also will read it. Let us both, then, invoke the assistance of God, and do you candidly think our inspirations would agree as to the sense of the passage? I think not. However, should we differ, who is to decide which is in error?
....
"I see by your letters you have not always had the same opinion on all points that you have at this time. ... What warrant have you that you are better inspired now than before? Inspiration does not cause change of opinion.
....
"We have in our country written laws of ancient date. Suppose some persons, even of great learning, were to give them a different interpretation to that hitherto received, would not they be confounded by showing them, by means of history or tradition, that the King himself who made these laws, his ministers and successors, have always understood and executed them in a different sense. That is the way Catholics avoid all difficulty. ....
"You are in error as to the Pope if you suppose that formerly, or now, Catholics give him their faith, as Calvinists do to Calvin, &c. I thought the same. The Pope is simply the chief administrator; the doctrines he has the stewardship of do not come from him or any other Pope, as that of Calvinism from Calvin; it comes from Jesus Christ, from His Apostles, and from their churches throughout the world. An administrator is not the master of the doctrines with which he is entrusted. The Pope and Bishops are charged to preserve the doctrine, to propagate it and defend it against all attacks of the enemies of Jesus Christ.
....
"You interpret the text, 'lo! I am with you always,' that God promised His Holy Spirit to every individual; but that I am inclined by no means to admit. The whole of the passage must be considered. It was not to every one He addressed these words; it was only to His Apostles that He said, 'Go and teach all nations .... behold, I am with you.' From this it is clearly to the Apostles and their successors that He promised the Holy Spirit. I see in these words that they received from God himself the formal order or mission to go and preach, not what they found written, but what He had taught. .... I see also by these words that sovereigns of this world have not received the power of sending ministers to teach the Gospel, and certainly by so doing they usurp the power given to the Apostles and their successors. What we have to find is, to whom God has said, 'Go and teach.' It is physically impossible that it should concern our ministers, since they are established by temporal authority."
About the Reformers she says:—
"Can man reform the work of his Creator?"
"You say you will never claim any name but that of Christian, but still it is not with you a matter of indifference what communion you belong to; therefore, this being the case, it is not sufficient to bear the name of Christian, and say we trust in Jesus; we must be sure that the doctrines we adopt are really his. For it is not being a Christian to embrace doctrines contrary to those given by our Saviour; it is assuming the name of Christian without being certain we are so; we must find if we are in communion with His Church. Without faith there is no salvation; this cannot mean a faith of our own choosing, but what God has been pleased to command we should believe. ....
"Many of our ministers are ignorant or wicked enough to accuse Catholics of idolatry. It is Jesus Christ they adore really present though invisible in the Eucharist. They very loudly exclaim among us against images, &c. All this is nothing; on all sides that Church presents images to render their faith more lively, and to induce them thereby to adore God the more truly in spirit and in truth."