Page:Guatimala or the United Provinces of Central America in 1827-8.pdf/126

Rh salvation but through the See of Rome. In it he alludes to the wish of some to separate the Americas from the Pope; warns them against following the wicked example of Henry VIII. and Luther, the two great reformers, and quotes thirty confessions of learned Protestants, who acknowledge salvation may be found in the church of Rome: from whence he shrewdly argues, that since Protestants allow this fact, while Catholics assert salvation to be impossible out of their fold, it must be good policy in all to abide within the pale.

He then concludes thus: “O, priests of the Most High! now that you have heard from the mouth of your enemies, that most interesting of all acknowledgements, that there is salvation in the church of Rome, remain firmly seated in the ship of Peter, which can never sink; be united and obedient to the chair of Peter, which can never err; stand firm upon that Rock which can never be moved, the only anchor of our faith, and of our eternal safety. My brethren, venerable for your faith, piety, doctrine, veneration, and obedience to the vicar of Jesus Christ, and successor of St. Peter, announce these truths to your people, that they may be preserved from the flood of heresy which inundates the earth, in this only ark of Noah. Think upon, then, and preach these sayings, that following the voice of the only