central and living authority, enjoying full jurisdiction over
all--that is to say, the authority of Peter, ever living in his See,
and speaking, now by the lips of Leo, and now by the lips of Pius, but
always in the name, and with the authority, and under the guidance of
Him who, in the plenitude of His divine power, made Peter the
immovable rock, against which the gates of hell may indeed expend
their fury, but against which they never have prevailed and never can
prevail. "The gates of hell shall not prevail against Thee." That any
one can fail to understand the meaning of these inspired words; that
any one can give them any application save that which they receive in
the Catholic Church, is but another illustration of the extraordinary
power of prejudice and pride to blind the reason and to darken the
understanding.

Without this final Court of Appeal, set up by the wisdom of God, the
Church would disintegrate and fall into pieces to-morrow. To remove
from the Church of Christ the infallibility of the Pope would be like
removing the hub from the wheel, the key-stone from the arch, the
trunk from the tree, the foundation from the house. For, in each case
the result must mean confusion. If such a result could ever have been
doubted in the past, it can surely be doubted no longer. The sad
experience of the past three hundred years speaks more eloquently than
any words; and its verdict is conclusive. It proves two things beyond
dispute. The _first_ is, that even the largest and most heterogeneous
body of men may be easily united and kept together, if they can all be
brought to recognise and obey one supreme authority; and the _second_
is, that, even a small and homogeneous body of men will soon divide
and split up into sections, if they cannot be brought to recognise
such an authority.