194
ESSAYS ON LIBERTY
enough to be purchased by such sacrifices. Vle must be prepared to do battle for our religious system in every other sphere as well as in that of doctrine. Theological error affects men's ideas on all other subjects, and we cannot accept in politics the consequences of a system which is hateful to us in its religious aspect. These questions cannot be decided by mere reasoning, but \ve may obtain some light by inquiring of the experience of history; our only sure guide is the example of the Church hersel( " lnsolentissima est insania, non modo disputare, contra id quod videmus universam ecclesiam credere sed etiam contra id quod videmus earn facere. Fides enim ecclesiae non modo regula est fidei nostrae, sed etiam actiones ips ius actionum nostrarum, consuetudo IpSlUS consuetudinis quam observare debemus. "1 The Church which our Lord came to establish had a twofold mission to fulfil. Her system of doctrine, on the one hand, had to be defined and perpetually main- tained. But it was also necessary that it should prove itself more than a mere matter of theory,-that it should pass into practice, and command the will as well as the intellect of men. It was necessary not only to restore the image of God in man, but to establish the divine order in the world. Religion had to transform the public as well as the private life of nations, to effect a system of public right corresponding with private morality and without which it is imperfect and insecure. I t was to exhibit and confirm its victory and to perpetuate its influence by calling into existence, not only works of private virtue, but institutions which are the product of the whole life of nations, and bear an unceasing testimony to their religious sentiments. The \vorld, instead of being external to the Church, was to be adopted by her and imbued with her ideas. The first, the doctrinal or intellectual part of the work, was chiefly performed in the Roman empire, in
1 .. It is the maddest insolence, not only to dispute against that which we see the universal Church believing, but also against what we see her doing, For not only is the faith of the Church the rule of our faith, but a]so her actions of ours, and her customs of that which we ought to observe" (Morinus, Comme1lt, de Discipl, in admin ist, Poenitentiae, Preface).
