Many of the faces turned eagerly towards him seemed more fascinated by those eyes and that brow than anxious to hear his words.
Making no gestures, his hands resting on his knees, be began speaking as follows: "I must first state to whom I speak, for not all here present are of one mind concerning Christ and the Church.

I do not address my remarks to the ecclesiastics; I believe and hope they are not in need of my words.
Neither do I speak to this gentleman seated beside me, for I know he does not need my words.

I speak to no one who is firmly grounded in the Catholic faith.

I address myself solely to those young men who wrote to me in the following terms." He took out a letter and read: "'We were educated in the Catholic faith, and on attaining manhood we--by an act of our own free will--accepted its most arduous mysteries; we have laboured in the faith, both in the administrative and social field; but now another mystery rises in our way, and our faith falters before it.

The Catholic Church, calling herself the fountain of truth, to-day opposes the research of truth, when her foundations, the sacred books, the formulae of her dogmas, her alleged infallibility, become objects of research.