24 MAY 1856, Page 19

Itttrrs in t4r fititar.

DOCTOR JOHNSON AND MACAULAY.

Allenby, Cumberland, 20th May 1856. In tracing the character of George Fox, founder of the Society of Friends, Macaulay, in the 4th volume of his History, p. 29, observes—" Thus, we frequently see inquisitive and restless spirits take refuge from their own scepticism in the bosom of a church which pretends to infallibility, and, after questioning the existence of a Deity, bring themselves to worship a wafer.'

Dr. Johnson meets this case. Boswell—"And, Sir, what do you think of the idolatry of the mass' ? " Johnson—" Sir, there is no idolatry in the mass. They [the Catholics] believe God to be there, and they adore him."