f "> 

• i y 

THE CHURCH AND SCIENCE. 

T H E 

N N 
US nnnrnp i n 

BY 

YERY KEY. D. E. BARRY, 
O. 8. B . 

| G G . O ' C O N N O R , " N A T I O N " S T E A M P R I N T I N G W O R K S , 

82 AND 8 4 CLARENCE STREET, " 

1889. 

" f " M 
) 3 

C J 





T H E CHURCH AND SCIENCE. 

T H E 

" N E M O " L E T T E R S 
B Y 

YERY KEY. D. F. BARRY» 
O. S. B . 

BBRNARD KING & SONS 
11 LONSIIAJ.E ST EAST 

S f i i m e i ) : 

J . G . O ' C O N N O R , " N A T I O N " S T E A M , P R I N T I N G - W O R K S , 

82 AND 84 CLARENCE STREET. 

1889. 

I 





P R E F A C E . 

THE following letters are given publici ty, in pamphlet form, a t 

the request of those in whose judgment I have more confidence 

than I have in my own. The t i t le of this pamphlet is a misnomer. 

The subject of the " Church and Science " is one of too great a 

range to find any th ing bu t a most meagre exposition wi th in 

t h e l imits of a brochure of a few pages. I t reaches to heights to 

which the writer has no pretension. Whatever l i t t le advantage 

•education may have given him in the way of ecclesiastical lore, 

the boon is still more restricted in regard of science ; and an 

extensive knowledge in the walks of learning—ecclesiastic and 

scientific—would be necessary for the adequate t reatment of 

such a subject as the " Church and Science." I t may s tand in 

par t ia l apology tha t the writer had not the choice of the subject. 

The let ters were wri t ten to meet w h a t seemed a misrepresenta-

tion in mat ters l i terary concerning the Catholic Church, and an 

effort was made to correct i t . The mat ter elicited a criticism 

which the writer had not anticipated, and the correspondence, 

consequent, developed topics more or less relevant with the 

text of the ground first broken. 

The Catholic Church does not encourage controversy. JVon 

in commotione Deus. The Lord is not a God of wrangling. 

Our pulpi ts , press, and platforms, seldom resound with the 

str ife of ecclesiastical polemics. Our great duty is to " teach " 

what we " have received " and to defend it , when necessary, 

against at tack or misrepresentation. If we fai l in the la t ter 

we do so through ignorance of the defensive treasures which 

t h e Church, for such purposes, has hoarded in her granaries. 

In whatever point this effort fai ls to meet an a t tack, i t f a i l s 

f rom a l ike ignorance. 

The first four letters are allowed to s tand, almost identically 

as they appeared, in the Sydney Evening News. The las t two 

papers are added to remind Protestants , who are so ready to 



IV. 

spring to the a t tack, that when put upon their defence, t h e i r 

case does not present a very bri l l iant aspect, and tha t they need 

their strongest armour against the crushing evidences of their 

own part isans. 

I am happy to acknowledge the courtesy of the Evening 

News in the correspondence, and the generosity of the Nation 

in i ts reproduction of the letters and the communications from 

correspondents, incident to the publication. 

D. F. BARKY, O.S.B. 
October 20, 1889. 



THE CHURCH AND SCIENCE. 

LETTER I . 

SIB,—In your leader of J u n e 26 you t ake except ion to t h a t 
port ion of Cardinal Moran 's address a t St. John ' s College, i n 
wh ich h i s Eminence spoke of the Catholic Church as the pro-
moter and encourager of science. I n suppor t of your opposi t ion 
you instance the t r ea tmen t of Gali leo by the Church, and asser t 
t h a t " H e was compel led to curse and ab ju re the doctr ine of 
t he movement of t he ear th , w a s imprisoned fo r the r ema in ing 
port ion of h i s l i fe , and w a s denied bur ia l in consecrated 
ground." I t is not t he first t ime t h a t th i s aspect of t he ma t t e r 
h a s bsen p u t in p r in t . You wi l l , I a m sure, a l low me a l i t t l e 
space i a an effort of elucidation. 

" To l is ten to the pa the t i c reci ta t ions and reflections, 
repeated in h u n d r e d s of productions, ' ' says t he P r o t e s t a n t 
wri ter Mal le t du P i n — " how Galileo w a s sacrificed b y t he 
ba rba r i ty of h i s age, and the enmi ty of the court of Rome — 
how t y r a n n y and ignorance un i ted to stifle h i s science—how 
the Inquisi t ion tr ied to crush a f u n d a m e n t a l t r u t h of a s t ronomy 
in i t s b i r t h — a l l t h i s i s more t h a n a thr ice told tale. Bu t such 
s ta tements ," he cont inues, " are mere romance. Gali leo w a s 
no t condemned as a good as t ronomer , b u t as a bad theologian. 
H e might have made t h e world tu rn as he pleased, had he no t 
mixed t h e m a t t e r up w i t h the Bible. H i s discoveries made 
h i m enemies ; h i s controversies alone ra ised u p h i s Judges , 
and his pé tu lance w a s t he source of h i s annoyance ." 

No celebrated man ever yet stood in two shoes w h o had 
no t h i s f r i ends and foes. Now, l e t us look a t Gali leo a s 
we see h im reflected f rom those t h a t h e loved. Here is 
one | i | Guichardino, ambassador of a g r and d u k e a t Rome. 
I t i s clear f r om the correspondence of Guichardino t h a t 
-Galileo w a n t e d to es tabl ish his sys tem on t h e Bible, and to 
make i t no t only an ar t ic le of science, b u t a lso an a r t ic le of 
f a i th . " H e " (Gali leo) , says h i s pa t ron , " ins is ted in h i s dis-
pa tches of March 4, 1616, t h a t t he Pope and the H o l y Office 
should declare t h a t t h e sys tem of Copernicus w a s founded on t h e 
Bible. On th i s p o i n t Galileo w a s pers i s ten t , and would y ie ld 
no th ing to the advice of f r i ends . " B u t , g r an t ed t h a t the Ho ly 
Office did condemn the sys tem of t he ea r th ' s movemen t a s 
here t ica l , w h e n w a s t he Inquis i t ion or a n y pa r t i cu la r congre-
gat ion of t he Church regarded as t he seat or source of i n fa l l i -
b i l i ty ? Take an example near home : A prela te w a s d ispa tched 
a shor t t ime since to I r e l and by the H o l y See to examine and 
collect evidence on t h e I r i sh quest ion. W i t h w h a t conse-

-quence ? H e r e tu rned and placed t h e m a t t e r of h i s l abours 
before a congregat ion, and on t he resu l t of i t s decision t h e 



6 

Holy Fa the r issued a rescript. H o w was t h a t rescript r e -
ceived P Did anyone a t tach to i t any idea of in fa l l ib i l i ty P None 
a t all . The enemies of I re land welcomed it w i th applause. 
B y the f r iends of I reland it was received wi th respect fu l regret 
and unmistakeable disapproval. 

W h a t t r ibunal of men, as men , is not subject to error? 
Look a t the assemblies t h a t govern the world f rom pole 
to pole. Are they a lways wise, j u s t ? I f , then,] t he con-
gregat ion of the Inquisi t ion condemned the system of 
Galileo as heretical or contrary to fa i th , w h y force the 
acceptance of such a decision on the Universal Church? 
She never pronounced upon i t . No Pope ever pronounced 
ex-cathedra upon the merits or demeri ts of the system. We 
are dai ly told t h a t " Science is bu t in i ts infancy."" And 
a bouncing brat i t is. W h a t was the s tate of science 50 years 
ago compared wi th i ts t r iumphs of to-day ? Go back 300 years 
and ask the question. To condemn the men of such d is tant 
period for not seeing a t once w h a t has become as plain as the 
nose on one's face is to condemn mankind for hav ing passed 
th rough in fancy to manhood. Tha t ne i ther Church nor Pope 
condemned the system is clear f rom the action of the prelates 
and grea t orders of the Church, some siding wi th Galileo, 
o thers agains t h im. If Jesui ts and Dominicans condemned 
h im, Dominicans and Jesuits defended him. From the cloisters 
of schools and monasteries, presided over by il lustrious pre-
la tes and generals, came expositions, defences, etc., of the 
system. As to the t rea tment which the philosopher received a t 
t he hands of Pope and prelate , we had best le t Galileo tel l 
tha t himself . 

" T h e Holy Fa ther , " he writes, " d e e m s me wor thy 
of his esteem I am lodged in the de l i gh t fu l 
Palace of the Trini ty on the Mount. When I arrived a t the 
Holy Office two Dominicans invited me f r a n k l y to make m y 
apology. I was obliged, as a good Catholic, to re t ract m y 
opinion. I n punishment I was forbidden controversy, and 
a f t e r Ave months ' sojourn qui t ted Rome. As the plague was 
rag ing a t Florence, I was assigned for residence the palace of 
m y best of f r iends , Monsignor Piccolomini, Archbishop of 
Sienna, where I am enjoying the utmost t ranqui l l i ty . A t pre-
sent I wr i te this f r o m the Vil la Arcestro, where I brea the the 
purest air in the confines of my beloved country." (Letter 
of Galileo to his disciple, P. Receneri.) 

A t thé hour when most opposed, in 1624,- he w a s 
received, embraced, and pensioned by Pope -Urban V I I I . 
on the sole condition tha t he should be more circumspect 
in the exposition of his system. " The pension given 
by the Pope," eays the i l lustrious Protes tant wri ter , Sir 
David Brewster, in his work on the " M a r t y r s of Science," 
" was n o t o n e of those recompenses t h a t Sovereigns sometimes 
g r a n t to the services of their subjects. Galileo w a s a s t ranger 



in Rome ; the Sovereign of the States of the Church owed him 
no obligation. Thus we must regard tha t pension as a g i f t of 
the Pontiff to science itself and as a declaration to the 
Christian world tha t religion was not jealous of philosophy, 
and tha t the Roman Church everywhere respected and cher-
ished human genius." Such was the decision of a t ru ly great 
man af te r weighing al l the pros and cons in the case in 
question—a witness beyond all suspicion and thoroughly con-
versant wi th the subject upon which his genius was being 
exercised. H i s conclusion makes short work of the curses, 
condemnations, and refusal of Christian burial wi th which t h e 
cant of prejudice and the flippancy of twaddle have surrounded 
the case of Galileo. 

You deem the Cardinal, " in claiming credit for the Papacy 
as a patron of art , was on safer ground." Think you there i s 
ar t without science ? Is there no science in St. Peter's, West -
minster Abbey, " The Graces " of Canova, or the Transfiguration 
of Raphael ? Does the Pope curse with one hand the science in 
the Canto Jvrmo of the Dies irce, Miserere, and Te Deum, wh i l s t 
he blesses wi th the other the ar t of music ? I t is well to under-
stand terms before rushing to conclusions. 

Yours, etc., 
NEMO. 



THE CHURCH AND SCIENCE. 

L E T T E R I I . 

SIB,—If you wi l l k ind ly pe rmi t m e to say i t , I t h i n k you 
h a v e made too m u c h of m y concession t h a t the Inquis i t ion 
•condemned the sys tem of Galileo. If t he Inqu i s i t ion con-
W f f was black, i t seems no t a logical sequi tur to m e 
t h a t i t the reby also condemned w h a t w a s whi te . Ye t t h i s 
appears to me the posit ion you a s s u m e f rom m y admission. A s 
a l ready s ta ted , Galileo's sys tem was condemned, no t because i t 
w a s scientif ical ly sound, b u t because i t w a s theological ly 
erroneous. A s Mal le t du P i n h a p p i l y p u t i t , it' was not h i s 
good science t h a t was condemned, b u t h i s bad theology. Th i s 
y o u appear to admi t , and conclude t h a t t he condemnat ion of 
bad theology involved the condemnat ion of sound scienee. Quod 
erat demonstrandum. ! , 

" A n y w a y , " you say , " he suffered ten yea r s ' impr ison-
men t for say ing the ear th went round the sun." W i l l you 
pardon m e if I say t h a t th i s « t e n years ' impr isonment ," 
w a s all " a ya rn , " and t h a t the I pur si muove ( the ea r th 

- W h m r 6 ) , 8 C r a i C l l e d ° n t h e w a l l s o f H ^ a m y t h , 
w l f 1 ° f f e n c e ' " y ° u a d d > I was technica l ly described a s 
Dad theology or good science, w a s , we suspect , as immate r i a l 
to h im as i t is to us ." Bu t do you n o t t h i n k t h a t a n y t h i n g 
bad deserves to be condemned in proport ion to i t s badnes s ? 
i s i t sound sense or phi losophy t h a t i t should be " immate r i a l 
to us whe the r a t h i n g is bad or good ? Gali leo l ived in an age 
w h e n a man was expected to << stick to h i s l a s t . " Cuique arti 
•sum, every man to h i s t r ade , " w a s as good common sense in 
those days as i t i s n o w , only i t was acted on more then . I t 
w a s in violation of th i s good pr inciple t h a t Galileo go t a s t r ay . 
Bold m a n ! he dared to be h i s own | cobbler ," and p u t h i s foo t 
i n i t . Ihe Church, by a l i t t l e pressure on h i s " p e t c o r n " 
made h i m ex t r ac t i t . This is abou t t h e long and shor t of 
S gnor Galileo s case. This is h is s tory : H e w a s of gen t l e 
bir th , poor. H e w a s p u t to medicine. H e soon d isp layed a 
genius fo r mathemat ics . H e wise ly fo l lowed the bent of h i s 
genius , ,and th rew « phys ic to t he dogs." A t an ear ly aire h e 
7 a S ^ t r u s t e d w i t h t h e chair of ma themat i c s in h i s na t i ve 

¡ f i t T?' . A f . t 6 r flve y e a r s h e Proceeded to a s imi la r pos i t ion 
m the Univers i ty of Padua , a n d t a u g h t there , omnium ap-
l ^ u s u for t w e n t y years . Thousands f rom a l l quar te rs flocked 
to h is bold and e loquent scientific lectures. H i s pa t rons were 
m a n y in Church and State . H i s e n e m i e s - t h e t r i b u t e e n v y 
ever pays to wor th . Dur ing a l l those yea r s of scientific d i s -
™ 7 , w a s a ° i o n l y no t condemned b y Rome, w i t h o u t whose 
•consent he could not have he ld h i s d ip loma a day , b u t he re-
ce ived every encouragement in h i s studies. 



9 

When he eventually resigned his chair, he " would 
write a baok," and soon his troubles began. His 

Dialogue," which caused them, was given to the world 
in, for the time, charming I ta l ian. I n i t , pu t t i ng aside 
his " l a s t , " he went for the omne scibile — " j a c k - o f - a l l -
trades " business — wi th the usual result . He would 
harmonise the system of the world of Ptolemy and Copernicus 
wi th the inspiration of the Bible. Copernicus was himself a 
divine, and avoided the blundet which involved Galileo. I t 
was said of Lord Brougham tha t " he would have known 
something of everything if he had known a l i t t le l a w ! " Galileo 
stood in somewhat similar relation in matters theological. He 
was amongst the anticipated Buckinghams, " who, in the 
course of one revolving moon," would be " p o e t , s tatesman, 
fiddler and buffoon." Yet, if there be one branch of know-
ledge, of l i terature which, like " Lady Common Law, will admit 
only of one bed-fellow," t ha t branch is mathematics. Pope 
assures us tha t— 

" One science only will one genius fit, 
So vast is art, so narrow human wit." 

Nor did he leave unscathed the " Jack-of-all-trades " i n let ters , 
who goes " fooling " around the stars, when his fists would be 
more appropriately employed grasping a plough-handle. 

" The boolcf.ul blockhead ignorantly read, 
With 16ads of learned lumber in his head." 

.Alas! for a Pope to lash the " crams " of the nineteenth 
century, and give us a li t t le d iges t ion! I should regret, 
indeed, if a word I wri te should be construed as mil i ta t ing 
against the noble a t ta inments of Galileo! But he was a 
man of " one genius," and should have confined himself to " one 
science." I t is t rue the shores of t ime are beaconed by a few 
universal geniuses—men 

" So variedjthat" they " seemed to be 
Not one, but all mankind's epitome," 

but so rare as to be of humani ty , the " glory and the shame." 
You admit , I presume, t ha t Christ established a 

•Church. If you can point out to me where tha t Church 
was in the days of Galileo, except as the Church tha t 
had a Pope for supreme paBtor, and the congregation 
of the Inquisition as a portion of i t s disciplinary l ife, I 
will take a back seat and give you a l l the " c a k e . " As the 

•Church of Christ her first commission was docete—" teach." I t 
was the divine imprimatur of her magisterium, and her creden-
tial to the omnes gentes—the nations of the ear th—who were to 
be her harvest and constitute her " crown and her joy." The 
mat te r of her teaching was divine revelation—truth. Irp 
generationem et generationem annuntiabo veritatem tuam ex ore 
meo. " Unto generation and generation I wil l announce t h y 
t ru th from my mouth." Now, on the principle t ha t corruptity 
optimi pessima, the corruption of what is best, is the basest 



10 

corruption, and as theology concerns man's supremest welfare r 
his immortal portion, i t is the office of the Church of God t» 
guard us on this point, even against an " angel f rom heaven." 
Christus instituit ecclesiam svam tanquam bene recteque ordinatam 
rempublicam—Christ ha th established His Church • as a wisely 
ordained and well regulated state—and Peter is the " watch-
man on the tower," qui videct¿ ne quid detrimenti respublica 
capiat, to see that the s tate suffer no detriment. 

How wisely and well t ha t state has been governed 
ages have proved. " T h e r e is not," says Macaulay, " a n d 
there never was on this ear th a work of human policy 
so deserving of examination as the Roman Catholic 
Church. . I t is impossible to deny tha t 
the policy of the Church of Rome is the very masterpiece 
of human wisdom." I t suited Macaulay to regard this " very 
masterpiece of human w i s d o m " as a " h u m a n policy." We 
accept the compliment, but reject the explanation. I t s only 
satisfactory .explanation is the indwell ing . of the ," Spirit of 
T r u t h " tha t was given to her to " t e a c h " the Church " a l l 
things," and " a b i d e w i t h " her " for ever." Anima qua¡ hoc-
corpus vivificat est Spiritus Sanotus. " T h e soul," says St. 
Thomas, " tha t vivifies this body is the Holy Ghoat." " All 
p o w e r " was given to her. " Whatsoever thou shal t loose' on 
earth shall be loosed also in Heaven." " Whatsoever thou shal t 
bind on earth shall be bound also in Heaven." " As the Father 
h a t h sent me, I, send you—go. He tha t hears you, hears me." 
" He tha t will not hear y o u " has placed h imse l f ' wi thout the 
pale of salvation. Power doctrinal, power legislative, power 
coercive, corrective, was here bestowed. Power to direct by 
council, to command by laws, to restrain by judgment , to-
punish by salutary correction in infliction, having one supreme 
end in view—the amendment of the offender. Penance, 
censure, pain, the three degrees of correction. 

I t is ever in virtue, and in the exercise of such office 
t h a t the Church condemns errors and corrects offend-
ers. But the Church punished Galileo. Wha t then | 
True, we are living in the nineteenth century, 
when wo may not shake a rod at an unruly school 
brat . O Témpora! 0 Mores! In the earliest ages of the 
Christian Church, was not her discipline most rigorous ? Did 
not Peter visit wi th the extremity of infliction a " lie ? " Did 
not Paul tel l the Corinthians he would " not spare them if they 
sinned ? " Did he not hand over the " flesh to Satan " to correct 
the " s p i r i t ? " Did not St. Ambrose stand at the door of his 
Cathedral and refuse admission to the great Emperor Theo-
dosius ti l l he did public penance for his transgressions? You 
deem me rash for instancing the testimony of Sir David Brew-
ster. Pardon me if I deem it conclusively pertinent. You say 
t h a t the great writer, " whi ls t establishing the kindness of the 
Pope's personal dispositions towards Galileo, explici t ly s tates 



11 

t h a t the pension and other favours were conferred to induce 
the philosopher to reticence.'- Surely you could not have had 
the words of the great scientist under your eye when penning 
the above ? They enforce • almost the very contradiction of 
your assertion. " Thus," pays Sir David, " we must regard that 
pension as a g i f t of the Pope to science i tself , and as a declar-
ation to the Christian world tha t religion was not jealous of 
philosophy, and tha t the Roman Church everywhere respected 
and cherished human genius." Your readers will decide this 
point for themselves. 

Your remarks on the " Utterances of the Vatican Council 
of 1870" seem to me too vague to form grounds for any 
comment, and I regret tha t in confirmation of your apprecia-
tion you did not ally yourself to better company than 
the perjured monk, Mr. Loyson (Pere Hyacintne), whose 
excerpt as given by you, has about as much reference to the 
question introduced as the moon has to green cheese. How-
ever, you are not alone in thinking the Church retrogressive in 
not put t ing herself in harmony wi th what is called " modern, 
civilisation." When Lord Elgin was ambassador at the Court 
of Pekin, some missionaries requested him to speak to the Em-
peror, in order to secure freer access in evangelisation. He did so. 
" Sir," said his Majesty, " go to your missionaries and tell them 
to return to their •uuntry, and agree amongst themselves what 
Christianity is, and then they will have a batter chance of 
propagating i t here." If all you clever men would only agree 
as to wha t you mean by modern civilisation we might com-
promise, if we could not fuse. Whatever you do mean by th is 
modern civilisation, judging by its f rui ts , i t seems a t least of a 
very mixed nature. 

Mr. Mill found the age very unproductive of great 
men, and grieves over " the decay of individual energy and 
the weakening of the influence of superior minds over the 
mult i tude." Mr. Lecky pronounces the age " venal, unheroic, 
mercenary. I t exhibits a decline in the spirit of self-sacrifice, 
and in the appreciation of the more poetical or religious aspect 
of man's nature." Carlyle thinks " the great men of this age are 
lucky or unlucky gamblers, swollen big." A great French poet 
declares the very air of the age fa ta l to true greatness—mais 
on meurt en votre air. " One would say," wri tes Tocqueville, 
" on looking through the records of our t ime, tha t man is 
unable to effect anything either on himself or those around 
him." " Thou Sodom of the centuries 1" exclaimed a great 
divine in reproach of i ts wan t of puri ty of l i fe in all its social 
relations ; and Lord Lytton termed i t a century of " puffs, 
powders, patches, bibles and billets-doux." 

Now, if these be some of the f ru i t s of " modern civiliza-
tion,' ' and by their f ru i t s you shall know them, do you 
think the Church retrogressive, because she does not raise her 
r ight hand in benediction over such results, such abortions ? As 



Cardinal Moran's address a t St. John ' s College was the occasion 
pf th is correspondence, permit me to say, however insignificant 
the compliment, t ha t I deem the address excellent, the 
very heat given us by h i s Eminence eince he came to the 
colony. Many thanks for your kind words and the concession 
of your valuable space, which could have been more profit-
a b l y occupied than by the contr ibutions of 

Yours, etc., 

NEMO. 



THE CHURCH AND SCIENCE. 

LETTER I I I . 

SIB,—Be good enough, to a l low me to add , t h a t if I sa id 
no th ing of Kepler , i t was no t because there w a s n o t h i n g to say 
—st i l l no t much , on ly th i s : Kepler was a P r o e s t a n t , and w a s 
be ing persecuted by Pro tes tan t theologians for ma in t a in ing t h e 
Copernican system. P ro t e s t an t s , hav ing no divine church to-
f a l l back upon, h a t i n g the " Bible and the Bible only ," deemed 
the Copernican theory f a t a l a l ike to t hem a n d the i r " inspired 
•word." I n h i s hour of danger , Kepler p laced himself under 
t h e protect ion of the Jesui t s , who condemned h i s " bad the-
ology," b u t admired h i s " good science," t h o u g h he remained 
a s tout Lutheran to t h e end. If to she l te r and protect Kepler 
w a s persecut ion, t hen w a s he persecuted b y t h e Church of 
Pome. 

" Bruno," you i n f o r m us , " a n d 32,000 o thers were 
b u r n t b y t he Inquis i t ion ." Balmez declares t h a t " t he Roman 
Inqu i s i t ion h a s never been known to pronounce t h e execut ion 
of capi ta l pun i shmen t , a l t hough the Apostolic See h a s been 
occupied du r ing t h a t t ime b y Popes of ex t reme r igour and 
sever i ty in a l l t h a t relates to t he civil admin is t ra t ion ." " W e 
find in a l l pa r t s of Europe," he w r i t e s , " scaffolds prepared to 
p u n i s b crimes aga ins t religion ; scenes w h i c h sadden the soul 
were everywhere 'witnessed. Rome is one exception to t he 
rule ; Rome, w h i c h i t has been a t t emp ted to represent as a 
mons te r of in to lerance and cruel ty . I t is t r u e t h a t t he Popes 
have not preached, l ike t he P ro t e s t an t s , un iversa l tolerat ion 
b u t t he f a c t s show the difference be tween t h e Popes and the 
Pro tes tan t s . The Popes, armf d w i t h t he t r i b u n a l of intoler-
ance, have scarce spi l t a drop of blood ; P r o t e s t a n t s a n d phi l -
osophers have shed i t in to r ren t s . " A s you have j u s t l y said, 
t hese are ma t t e r s n o w of an t iquar ian research. Pe rhaps i t 
w i l l no t be amiss to give t h e resu l t of t h e most searching and 
most ana ly t i ca l m i n i of Europe w h e n s i f t i ng t h e evidence on 
t h i s .mat ter . 

" The Spanish Inquis i t ion ," wro te Dr. (Cardinal) New-
m a n , " wh ich rea l ly w a s bloody, is confessed b y Pro-
t e s t a n t author i t ies , such as Ranke a n d Guizot, to have been a 
po l i t i ca l—not an eccles ias t ica l—inst i tu t ion ; i t s officials, t hough 
ecclesiast ics, were appoin ted by t h e Crown, and removable a t 
i t s pleasure ; i t h ad indeed been or ig ina l ly author ised by t h e 
Pope (Sixtus IV . ) , who, a t the ins tance of t he civil power, 
g r a n t e d i t a bu l l of e s t a b l i s h m e n t ; b u t , a s soon as i t began to 
ac t , i t s measures so deeply shocked h i m t h a t he immedia te ly 
commenced a series of grave remonstrances aga ins t i t s proceed-
ings ( b y br iefs da ted J a n u a r y 29, 1482, and Augiis t , 1483), and 



14 

bi t ter ly complained t h a t he had been deceived by the Spanish 
Government. The Protestant Ranke dis t inct ly mainta ins , t h a t 
i t was even set up agains t the Pope and the Church, ' as t he 
jurisdiction of the Court,' he says , ' r e s t e d on the royal 
supremacy so i ts exercise was made available for the mainte-
nance of the royal authority. I t is one of those spoliations of 
the ecclesiastical power, by which this Government rose in to 
strength.^ In i ts na ture and i t s object , i t was a pure ly 

political inst i tute. ' Moreover, the Pope, anxious and displeased 
a t w h a t was going on, appointed a new func t ionary to reside on 

. the spot, wi th the office of Judge of Appeals f rom the Inquis i -
tion in favour of t he condemned ; and when this expedient 
was evaded he appointed special Judges for part icular cases : 
and, las t ly , when the cruelty of the Spanish Government and 
i ts officials, l ay and clerical, defeated his second a t t e m p t to 
ameliorate the evil, then he encouraged the sufferers to flee to 
Rome where he took them under his own protection. I n th is 
way i t is recorded by the unf r iendly historian, Fiorente, t h a t in 

° n , e J , e a r ( 1 4 8 8 ) r e 8 C U e d 2 8 0 P e r s o n e a n d 200 Ì another 
. . . . Moreover, the Pope (Paul I I I in 1546 AND 

Pius IV., in 1563) refused to al low the 'Spanish GoveJnme'nt t 
introduce their Inquisi t ion into Naples or the Milanese, which 
then belonged to Spam, from his disapprobation of i t s r iaor » 

Every monstrosi ty of Catholic States in ages gone by is 
placed by bigotry and ignorance a t the door of the Church of 
Rome. How ready the heads of those states were to revolt agains t 
the Church when i t suited their lus t s or ambition we need not go 
beyond England to d i s c o v e r - w i t h such examples before u s I s 
a Wil l iam, a Henry I I , a John, or H e n r y V I I I . To hur l 
boulders a t your neighbour 's weather-board, whi l s t your own 
glass cottage is ju s t on the opposite side of the street 
is not , gen-ra l ly speaking, regarded as an act of supreme 
policy W h e n interested and par t ia l writers cite indi-
vidual cases against the Holy See, they very seldom, or 
never, back up their ci tat ions by quotations f rom the Pope 
or the Church. Now let us look a t " Pope Lu the r " to see w h a t 
his principles and teachings were on toleration in general I n 
his book enti t led « T h e Papacy of Rome ins t i tu ted by the 

P . J there l ays down his principles of toleration. 
The Pope is the devil If I can kill the devil, why not do i t 

the I T H e i s a ravenous wolf, agains t whom 
the whole world should take up arms, wi thou t wai t ing for 
orders f rom magistrates ; in t h i s mat ter there is no place for 
regret , except tha t r . g r e t of not being able to a t once destroy 
him The Pope once convicted by the Gospel, the whole world 
should rush upon him and slay him, wi th a, 1 those t h a t are on 
hia side, kings, princes, and nobles wi thout distinction If 
we punish robbers by the rope, assassins by the sword, and 
heretics by fare, why should we hot do the same to the 
dangerous preachers of c o r r u P t i o n - t o popes, cardinals, bishops, 



15 

and the whole tribe of the Roman Sodom, who incessantly 
poison the Church of God ? Yes ; we should fa l l upon them 
wi th all sorts of arms, and lave our hands in their blood. 
Monarchs, kings, and nobles, who make par t of the Roman 
Sodom, should be attacked wi th every manner of weapon. We 
must wash our hands in their blood."—T. X I I I , p. 233, sq. Such 
is the idea of toleration given us by the first Reformer (?)—-the 
•" Peter of Protestant ism." The following is the Paul 's— 
Calvin's—" As to the Jesuits ," says Calvin, " w h o oppose us, 
we must slay them, or, if t ha t cannot be conveniently done, 
we mus t banish them, or a t least crush them by lies and 
calumnies "—Jesuitce vero, qui , se nobis maxime opponv/nt, aut 
necandi, aut si hoc commode fieri nan potest ejiciendi, aut eerie 
'mendaciis et columniis opprimendi sunt. The above quotations 
would look well f ramed and hung round the neck of the pastor 
of Pitt-street, if the great man will pardon the l iberty. 

Yours, etc., 

NEMO. 



THE CHURCH AND SCIENCE. 

LETTER IV. 
SIB,-T—When you kindly opened your pages to my com-

municat ions I did not anticipate t ha t your generosity would 
have been so heavily taxed. However, as your patience seems 
not ye t exhausted, and as the subject in reference is in te res t ing , 
perhaps you will allow me a few words to mv would-be c r i t i c ! 
i o the gentleman who modestly signs himself " Truth " I 
have very l i t t le indeed to say. Like some of whom Russell 
Lowell, in one of his charming essays, wri tes : " The elasticity 
of his swallow is so expansive " tha t I should fear to bring mv 
boots and breeches within the circumference of his eddy In 
mat ter such as here debated, half-educated people, " like 
half-formed insects on the banks of Nile," only go to ba the 
when the tide is out, and mistake a mud bath for a plunge in 
the briny. We know the consequence of a rub against them— 
Megardez maxs n'y touchez pas. If a good bigot be a good 
thing, " Truth » is a very fine specimen—a species of North-of-
Ireland petrifaction or if of native product, then assuredly 
f rom « Cow Fla t . " One may hope to throw a ray of l igh t 
acroBS the pa th of the genus « Truth." One should be very 
vam to hope for a convert. The task would be about tanta-
mount to the effort to 

" Taich an ould cow paternoster, 
Or whistle Moll Roe to a pig." 

Another gentleman, who appears to " half know everything 
from a cedar to a hyssop," is humble enough to hide the l ight of 
his countenance under the mantle of " J u s t i t i a , " and the 
combination, or outcome, of " Truth and Justice," is a rudis 
tndigestaque moles, quam dixere chaos. « Jus t i t ia " has thought 
fit to travel over a great deal of historical ground. Unfortu-
nate ly for him, as for so many of his kind, the soil is almost 
entirely ecclesiastical, and from its extent, variety and age 
requires more than a rough ploughing to obtain the harvest 

t hh fg* m l t S m " " A U t t l e l e a m i n g " t e r e " i a a dangerous 

Now, wi thout fol lowing " J u s t i t i a " through his » rude 
and indigested heap," le t me take one instance which 
he himself furnishes, to show the " l i t t l e learning, the 
dangerous t h i n g " with which he thrus ts himself upon public 
a t tent ion. He is speaking of the persecution of scientific men 
by the Church, and informs us tha t wha t especially made th is 
persecution atrocious was " t h e a w f u l constitution of the 
Inquisit ion was such tha t i t deliberated on a man's l i fe and 
l iberty in secret. No public prosecutor appeared, no advocate 
to defend, and one of the victims of th is system of iniquity 



H 

-we are told, was " Peter Abelard, 1140." I t is t rue « Just i t ia " 
h a d informed us a li t t le earlier tha t " the Inquisition was 
introduced into France in 1208," 66 years a f te r Abelard's death ! 
But we are, for the moment,' in the middle ages, and this is 
near enough. Besides, perhaps some priest of the day " was' 
paid one hundred pounds " * to bring him back out of Purgatory ; 
and thus Peter Abelard might have been condemned by the 
Inquisition. 

Bom in 1079, Abelard was destined for a career of 
arms. But , as he was of t imid nature and bril l iant intel-
lect, Mars was bowed out by Minerva, and the orrery of 
philosophy was emblazoned by a glowing, if transitory, lumin-
osity. At the age of 20 his dialectical skill was sufficiently 

•cute and cutt ing to measure itself wi th the best blades of the 
age. At the hour the reputation of William of Champeaux 
was a t i t s height in i t s University career, and Abelard became 
a listener, and was filled wi th ambition to surpass his master, 
to whom " shoals of students flocked f rom every coast," and 
whose reputation won for him the proud appellation of 

H Columna Doetorum." To upset such a fame in the most 
renowned school of Europe, in the throng of his admirers, was 
worth endeavouring. He essayed and succeeded, and soon 
became the " admired of all admirers." " I t was a proud 
moment for Abelard when, by the unanimous voice of intellec-
tua l Paris, he was elevated to t ha t dist inguished position 
which he had so long coveted." He became the idol of the 
great capital. Crowds surrounded Pope in his days to touch 
h i s hand. The s tudents rushed from dinner to see Gray pass 
through the quadrangle of the University. " More attractive to 
the Parisians was the fine figure, beaut i fu l countenance, and 
distinguished air of the bri l l iant philosopher of the day." 
Hi s teaching was lucid, clear, sparkling—the simple classic 
of a Greek in the majest ic roll of a Roman—his range 
most comprehensive—" ignorant," i t was said of him, " of 
nothing under heaven except himself." " One Pope," remarks 
Guizot, " nineteen cardinals, and more than fifty bishops and 
archbishops-r—French, German, and Engl ish—and a much 
large,r number of those men wi th whom Popes and bishops and 
cardinals have to contend, were h is disciples." Pray, sir, re-
mark how this poor scientist was persecuted by the " a w f u l 
constitution of the Inquisit ion," as his his tory proceeds. Now 
came his fall . 

. His gui l ty passion for Heloise, and the shameful ven-
geance wreaked upon him by her bruta l father,- Fulber t , 
drove him to the abbey of St. Denis, where the voice of the 
charmer of the schools was joined with the monks in the plain-
tive psalmody of the cloister. But intel lectual contention was 
strong within his soul ; the simple monks were too ignorant 
for him, and to stop his sarcasm and ridicule they had on one 
occaHion recourse to the argumsntum ad baculum, and cud-

* See page 41. 



18 

gelled him. He abandoned the abbey, and retired to a solitude 
near Troyes. But the solitude soon became a thebaid. " Stu-
dents ," he -writes himself , « c a m e crowding to me f rom all 
parts , and leaving the towns and cities were content to live in 
the wilderness. They set up l i t t le tents for themselves, and 
p u t up with wild herbs instead of delicate viands. People 
said one to another , ' Behold the world has gone a f te r him. ' At 
las t , as my oratory would not hold them, they enlarged i t 
bui lding i t of wood and stone." To this dwell ing he gave the' 
name of Paraclete. 

After some for ty years of teaching, and producing 
such works as De Generibus et De Speciebus, Sic et non 
and "Chr i s t ian Theology," i t is not astonishing tha t a 
meteoric mind like Abelard's should have fallen into errors in 
philosophy and theology. However, he was the " e n f a n t 
ga te of his day, and minds of his nature take a lot of 
spoiling. But his crop had been growing in the minds of the 
mult i tudes of b i s disciples, and the time arrived when con-
nivance became participation. A monk, Will iam of St. Thierry 
m his quiet cell, was the first to formally gather from' 
Abelard's works his various errors, and forwarded them cata-
logued to the great St. Bernard, the Abbot of Clairvaux. 
Eventual ly, a case was drawn up agains t Abelard bv St 
Bernard. " W h e n he speaks of the Holy Trini ty," savs-
Bernard, « i t is in the s tyle of Arius ; he is a Pelagian when 

s P e a k s o £ grace, and a second Nestorius when he speaks of 
the person of Jesus Christ. His vanity is such tha t he brags 
as if there was nothing in Heaven or on earth tha t he did 
not know ; and, in t ru th , he knows a l i t t le of everything 
except himself." 8 

The war soon waxed warm. Abelard poured out a 
torrent of abuse on Bernard, and the followers of each 
took their respective side, in which the saint of the age and 
the most bril l iant philosopher were the two chief c o n t e n d e r s : 
the one armed wi th authori ty, the other with r a t i o n a l i s m -
authori ty where reason found her repose, rationalism where 
reason had outstripped her confines. As Rome had to be the 
final arbiter, " w h a t Bernard dreaded most was the bias of 
those bishops and cardinals who had been disciples of 
Abelard, and were now in Rome." A let ter containing the 
accusations was sent by Bernard to Innocent I I . , a copy 
of which was transmitted to Abelard. Af te r due con-
sideration Abelard begged the Archbishop of Sens to call 
a council, promising to appear on the day and meet all 
accusations The Archbishop complied, and summoned a 
Provincial Council for the octave day of Pentecost, 1140. 

The fame of the coming contest drew a migh ty 
crowd in due time to the city. The day arrived, and a 
str iking scene ensued. The great Church of St. Stephen 
is thronged. Louis VII. of France is on the prepared 



19 

throne — Godfrey, Bishop of Chartres, legate of the Holy-
See, presides, a man of great prudence and moderat ion. 
On either side range bishops and archbishops, and p r e -
lates of h igh and low degree, univers i ty scholars of every 
grade, abbots, religious, theologians, men of letters, k n i g h t s and 
barons, i«nd monks of many orders—' twas a grand array t 
There is a subdued murmur of conversation as the h u m of a hive 
in a summer l ime tree. H o w wi l l i t end ? Abelard ! yes, we-
know him. H e has enslaved France by his bri l l iancy. Too 
we l l many of us know, who ventured a lance wi th h im, how the-
moment he got an opening he played wi th u s for an ins tant , and 
gave us our quietus, as were we bu t a baby or a bauble. None-
could hold a lance agains t him. H i s al l is a t stake now, and 
he wil l be wonderful I Bu t th is monk—this Bernard—" there-
was something sadly a w f u l in t h a t noble forehead—in the-
classical turn of those sensitive lips, in the flame of t h o s e 
piercing eyes, and in the movement of t h a t plight f r ame , wasted 
wi th long vigil, w i th terrific penance, wi th burn ing love for t he 
House of God, and wi th t h e ceaseless fr ict ion of a laborious 
l i fe ." 

At a signal f rom the ceremoniere Abelard, in his black. 
Benedictine robe, steps in to the place allotted h im in t h e 
assembly, preceded by his i l lustr ious disciple, Arnold of Brescia. 
H e had no sooner done so than Bernard stood for th to confront 
him. He held in h i s h a n d a scroll ' containing the heresies of 
Abelard, and , in a clear, firm voice, read them out in the h e a r i n g 
of the assembly. " H e then fas tened h i s ca lm eyes on h i s 
antagonis t , and informed h im t h a t he had the choice of three 
courses : To defend the propositions, to amend them, or to deny 
they were his. There was a moment of pause. In an i n s t an t 
a l l eyes were turned on Abelard, and the pulses of t h a t assembly 
quickened whi l s t wai t ing , though for a moment , for the sounds 
of t h a t well-known voice which, had rung out t h e issues of 
many a victory in the arena of intel lectual strife. Abelard 
spoke: ' I wi l l no t answer the Cistercian,' he exclaimed, ' I 
appeal f rom the Council to t he See of Rome.' " The a s sembly 
was speechless wi th a s t o n i s h m e n t ; the bishops looked on each 
other w i th b l ank surprise. And men had ha rd ly recovered 
f rom the shock when they were conscious t h a t Abelard h a d 
turned h i s back upon king, legates, and bishops, and , fo l lowed 
b y his wonder ing disciples, had l e f t t h e church." 

The rest i s soon told. The council condemned 
t h e errors which Abelard himself had not t he courage 
to defend. H e was then 60 years of a g e ; h is career 
was closed. H e retired to the Abbey of Cluny, w h e r e 
Peter the venerable, a lways h i s k i n d f r iend, made the f e w 
ordinary years of h i s l i fe the sweetes t h i s l i f e had known . 
" Never did I see,'' wr i tes the venerable Abbot , " a man more-
humble , whe ther in ges ture , hab i t , or countenunce. He read 
cont inual ly , p rayed o f ten , and kept silence a t al l t imes except 



whea forced to speak ; and af te r his reconciliation wi th the 
H0I7 See offered the holy sacrifice daily, and occupied himself 
only with medi ta t ing or teaching the t ru ths of religion and 
philosophy." Such, sir, is the story of Ahelard, who was perse-
cuted by " the a w f u l constitution of the Inquisition " s ix ty-
six years a f te r his death, " where no prosecutor appeared and 
no advocate to defend "—Ex uno, disce omnes. 

Yours, etc., 

NEMO. 



P R O T E S T A N T I S M A N D L I B E R T Y . 

THE position of Protestantism, during the centuries of its exis t -
ence, towards Catholicity has been one of dire antagonism. I t 
is not a libel on its efforts to say, they have not been bri l l iant ly 
successful. Thè opposition was a t first run on theological 
grounds. Beaten here, Protestantism changed f ront and 
united, wi th every opposing power and force, against Catholicity. 
All means were allowable to tha t end. In this respect Pro-
testantism has been mo9t successful, and the combined result 
of all has been to make modern history in its relations to the 
pathol ic Church l i t t le better, in the words of de Mais tre, than a 
" conspiracy against the t ru th . " . Because she would not allow 
so much liberty to everybody, unt i l there was not sufficient 
authori ty to govern anybody, the Catholic Church was declared 
the enemy of al l l iberty, and her intolerance held up to the 
nations of the earth as an object of universal scorn. 

The eighteenth century may be regarded, from a Catholic; 
point of view, as the century par excellence of misrepresenta-
tion. I t was the century in which Protestantism held most 
sway in Europe. In the ages past the axe or sword " had 
done! the nobler deed." The pen and the press took up the 
running in the eighteenth century, and " a conspiracy against 
the t ru th " w a s the culmination. In t h a t century philosophy 
was the handmaid of Protestantism against Catholicity, b u t i t 
W a s the philosophy of Bollingbroke, of Hobbes, of Proudhon, 
of Spinosa, Fichte, Schelling, Hegel, Voltaire, Rousseau, et hoc 
genus onine. By erroneous theology and falae philosophy the 
Catholic Church was not only accused, she was condemned, 
immolated. As the enemy of liberty she was struck down : 
as the foe of toleration, she was shown none. And she was so 
treated-by Protestantism, which is supposed to hold alof t the 
banner of l iberty, enfolding the principle of toleration. 

L iber ty ! Toleration! Sacred words, which in their t rue 
significance must be cherished and guarded by the Church of 
Christ wherever she in. Liberty, one of the high privileges 
which make man a " little less than the angels." Man, a 
duplex nature, spiritual and temporal. Liberty will follow 
his order, his constitution, for in office i t has a twofold obliga-
tion—to God and Csesar. This distinction must be maintained, 
or liberty will be impaired or lost. I t cost the Church of the 
first centuries torrents of blood to maintain this necessary all-
important distinction. Not one grain of incense would she 
burn in honour of Csesar as Pontifex. The two orders mus t be 
dist inct and separate—true l iberty demands it. This distinction 
has ever been insisted on at all cost by the Catholic Church-



-throughout her entire history. W i t h w h a t resul t ? P u t aside 
-all Catholic witnesses in the m a t t e r ; turn to non-Catholic 
sources. Take two of the greates t minds of their age—Guizot 
and J . S. Mill. Let them give their evidence. 

" One beneficial consequence which M. Guizot ascribes 
to the power of the Church," says Mill, I is wor thy of 
special notice — the separation unknown to ant iqui ty 
between temporal and spir i tual authori ty . He , in com-
mon wi th the best thinkers of our t ime, a t t r ibu tes to 
t h i s f ac t the happiest influence on European civilisation. 
I t was the parent , he says, of l iber ty of conscience. 
The separation of temporal and spiri tual is founded on 
the idea tha t material force has no r igh t , no hold over the 
m i n d , over conviction, over t ru th . Enormous as have been the 
f ins of the Catholic Church, in the way of religious intolerance, 
lier assertion of t h i s principle has done more for human 
freedom than all the fires she ever kindled have done to destroy. 
i t . "—Mil l , Dissertations and Discussion?, "Vol. I I . , p. 243:" 

Now, what has been the action of Protestant ism towards 
t h i s separation of the temporal and spi r i tual—this grea t 
•distinction which the best th inkers of our age regard as the 
" parent of l iber ty of conscience ?" W h a t was i t , bu t the com-
plete surrender of the principle upon which " l iber ty of 
conscience" is founded ! We are a Bri t ish-tongued people. 
W h a t took place in Eng land in i l lustrat ion ? 

Did not Protestant ism hand over to Henry VI I I . author i ty 
sp i r i tua l and temporal? Did i t not a t one blow destroy the 
principle for which the Church had so nobly and a t such 
-enormous sacrifice contended for fifteen hundred years ? the 
principle tha t " material force has no r igh t , no hold over t he 
mind, over conviction, over t ru th . " W a s not the action, the 
conduct of Henry VII I . wor thy t h a t of a Nero or a Commodus, 
the moment Protestant ism gave him back the power wi th 
which the emperor of Pagan Rome was invested P And, if 
"to-day " the King can do no wrong," i t is because one royal 
Protestant head has rolled on a scaffold, and the nation h a s 
snatched f rom the hands of i t s monarch the authori ty wi th 
which Protestant ism had so s lavishly and so wickedly invested 
liim. In this mat te r Parl iament has replaced the Catholic 
Church ; b u t the monarch has been degraded in the transit ion. 
He is no longer a k ing—he is a figure-head ! W h a t has been 
the effect of Protes tant ism on the character of the kings of 
Eng land ? Stand for th Protestant ism—give up your records and 
archives. Where are the k ings of England ? If you ask the 
•Catholic Church for hers, she points to her Alfreds , her 
Edwards , her Richards, her Henrys , her P lantagenets 
her armies, " one half of which could beat ,the whole of 
France while the other half looked on.' Her k i n g s 
were the heroes and the inspiration of divine Shakespeare 's 
«ubl imes t muse. If k ind Providence should ever b less 



118 w i th a second Shakespeare, what trai t , wha t character 
will he find in the Protestant kings of England to 
inspire his verse or engage his genius? Here is the 
first of them painted by the undying words of Macaulay. , 
" A king (Henry VII I . ) whose character may be best 
described by saying t h a t he was despotism itself personi-
fied ; unprincipled ministers ; rapacious aristocracy ; a 
servile parl iament. Such were the instruments by which 
JEngland was delivered f rom the yoke of Rome. The work 
which had been begun by Henry, the murderer of h i s wives, 
was continued by Somerset, the murderer of h i s brother, and 
completed by Elizabeth, the murderer of her guest ."—(Macaulay, 
Edinburgh Review.) And here is the las t of them from the 
Greville Memoirs—" Wil l iam IV. was such an ass tha t nobody 
does anyth ing but laugh a t wha t he says. . . . . Wha t 
can you expect f ronj a man with a head l ike a pineapple ? . . • 
He a lways continued to be something of a blackguard and 
something more of a buffoon."—Qreville Memoirs, Vol. I I I . , pp. 
33-410. W h a t have they le f t to England to challenge the 
admiration of the world ? " There are all the coats he (King 
George IV.) has ever had for fifty years, 300 whips, canes wi thout 
number, every sort of uniform, the costumes of al l the orders 
of Europe, splendid furs , pelisses, hun t ing coats and breeches, 
and among other things, a dozen pair of corduroy breeches he 
had made to hun t in when Don Miguel was here. H i s profusion 
in these articles was unbounded, because he never paid for 
them, and his memory was so accurate t h a t one of his pages 
to ld me he recollected every article of dress, no mat ter how old, 
and tha t they were a lways liable to be called to procure some 
particular coat or article of apparel of years gone by. I t is 
difficult to say whether in great or l i t t le things tha t man was 
most odious and contemptible."—(Greville Memoirs, Vol. I I . , p. 
23.) The English language, in prose and poetry, has pret ty well 
exhausted i ts vocabulary of opprobrium in application to Eng-
land's Protes tant Kings. Byron summed them up in a l ine— 

" Ths fools and oppressors called George." 

Nature finally refused to continue the connection, and 
foreigners were called in horresco referens to relink the l ine of 
the Plantagenets ! This was the effect of Protes tant l iber ty 
and toleration on the once glorious race of England's monarchs. 

W h a t effect on Protes t in t i sm itself had Protestant l iberty 
and toleration F I t became a t jnce the creature and slave of the 
State. Cranmer was i ts first Archbishop, and took his " com-
mission " from Henry VII I . ; and on the death of Henry he 
surrendered his archiépiscopal authori ty to the in fan t monarch, 
Edward VI. , and received i t back at his hands as " the only 
source of all manner of temporal and spiritual jurisdiction 
wi th in the realm." " I t is plain," says the Protestant Collier, 
" tha t the bishops, through the whole course of King Edward 's 
reign, were upon their good behaviour for their office and had 



24 

S ^ y , ? 8 3 f S M °f 'luamd™ jg bene rjesserint as Ion* as t h e v 
r c c a i l t f " 6 S S S S n H B 8 £ p a ^ e D t ' t h a t the king might 
p l e a s e d ^ S f e S ^ S ^ t h e i r ° h a r a o t e r dea<* when he 
S T S . 6 8 0 f L a n f r a n c ' Anselm, Langton and Becket 
such base, such treacherous servil i ty must h«™ ' 
dry bones rat t le in your tombs under ^ s h a d e o f C ^ n L l Z 
Cathedral ! Had these saint ly archbishops cowed bene l th the 
tyranny of the monarchs of their respective t i m e s - t h e « w l ^ ^ n k 
w ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ | g g t a i b k & B 
^ ^ ^ i s » a 
in t f e No^-th Z • H race in our i s l a n d ! and in tne jNoith American continent. How vast is tfc» * 

and they alone, wrestled succcrssfully wi th the despotism of 
the Conqueror, and his descendants to the four th ffeneratZ ^ * 
m a m t a i n i r g amongst us, even in those evil days, 

r ; : ^ " : 1 t r h \ c r r n ' the B r a 
oa£

ndau15E z?is day rer i ns WBm flflfli 
is « S i r ^ m m r i t i e a w i t h w h i e t She has covered and 
S S i l f ' Unchecked by the keen wisdom o f 
S S ^ S a p a t h i e s of the 

, nc> t n e nerce Conqueror would lia™ an g a g g S m H « e g ? = s f l B H K 
Canterbury before the « fierce Conqueror " and t h ^ ' b a d b o l l 

• • « • b P 
When Pope Urban wanted the weight of England '* 

M K r W the anti-Pope Clement, h ! sent the Pallium 
W the I t , 1 ° P I B S t 0 W i l l i a m S ® J ^ be bestowed 
by the k ing on his Archbishop of Canterbury Bnt 

- ° W l D g t h e S H I better than Rome re 
fused the investment a t the hands of the king. TheGal l ium 
was p l a c e d on the high altar of the Cathedral, and I n s e l m 
approached and invested himself with the emblem i j f f f c 
under us, by God's calling and ours," was H e " r ? r e m J e r t 



Cranmer, " the most principal minister of our jurisdiction. ' ' 
And the degrading position was accepted. Caesar was again 
Pont i fex Maximus. 

" Absolute monarchy," says Guizot, " t r iumphed simul-
taneously throughout Europe wi th the Reformation." Barlow 
told Henry VIII . in 1540, t ha t " i f the king 's grace, being 
supreme head of the Church of England, should elect any 
layman to be bishop, without mention made of any orders, 
he should be as good a bishop as the best in England." 
Cranmer was allowed the liberty of recant ing six, and Latimer 
eight times. " Good churches," says Emerson, " are not bui l t 
by bad men." I t is thus Macaulay paints Cranmer : " Intoler-
ance is a lways bad, but the sanguinary intolerance of a man 
who thus wavered in his creed, creates a loathing to which i t 
is difficult to give vent without calling foul names. Equally 
false to political and religious obligations, he was the fit tool 
of Somerset, and then ot Northumberland, ^^hen the former 
wished to put his own brother to death, even wi thout the form 
of a trial , he found a ready instrument in Cranmer." No 
wonder that beneath the influence of such men the al tar , the 
sacrifice, and the priesthood were soon obliterated, and religion 
itself became whatever the State liked to make it. Cujus 
regio, illius religio, a principle subversive of all l iberty of con-
science—the embodiment of intolerance. 

The Ritualistic periodicals of the day compare the 
leading English Reformers wi th Marat and Robespierre. 
The Church News terms Crammer, Latimer, Ridley, Jewell 
and the rest, " apostates, traitors, perjurers, robbers, and 
persecutors;" Dr. Litt ledale, (D.D.) calls them " u t t e r l y un-
redeemed villains and Mr. Baring Gould declares the 
Reformation to have been " a miserable apostacy." If this 
be hard language—rough t rea tment—the Protes tants must 
settle i t amongst themselves—it is all their evidence. 

So much for the effects of l iberty and toleration on 
the Protestant Church. But the end had not ye t come there 
was a " deeper depth " st i l l in store. The source and fountain, 
of ecclesiastical authori ty now is the Committee of Privy 
Council. Of wha t does this Committee of Privy Council consist ? 
Of twelve members, of which three only are ecclesiastics, t h e 
remaining nine may be Dissenters—in fac t , may be anything. 
For a Church—for its final judicial court—this would be a mons-
trosity. For an Establ ishment , probably i t is about the proper 
thing. 

And the nation at large—how fared i t beneath the n e w 
l iberty diffused by Protestantism ? 

" I t is an unquestionable and most instructive fact ," writes 
Macaulay, " tha t the years during which the political power of 
the Anglican hierarchy was in the zenith, were precisely t h e 
yea r s during which national virtue was at its lowest point."' 

Sacrilegious avarice," says Camden (Edward "VI.) " ravenously 



26 

invaded church livings, colleges, chauntries, hospitals and 
places dedicated to the poor, as things superfluous. Ambition 
and emulation among the nobility, presumption and disobedi-
ence among the common people, grew eo ext ravagant tha t 
.England seemed to be in a downright f renzy."—(Camden: 
Introduction to the Annals of Queen Elizabeth.) Burnet t is 
equally forcible: " This gross and insatiable scramble a f te r 
the goods and wealth tha t had been dedicated to good designs, 
wi thout the applying any part of i t to promote the good of the 
Gospel, the instruction of the poor, made a l l people conclude 
tha t i t was robbery, and not for reformation, tha t their zeal 
made them so active. The professors of the people gave their 
enemies great advantage to say tha t they ran away from con-
fession, penance, fas t ing and prayer, only to be under no 
restraint and to indulge themselves in a licentious and dis-
solute course of life. By these things tha t were too visible in 
some of the most eminent among them, the people were much 
alienated from t h e m ; and as much as they were for-
merly against Popery, they grew to have kinder thoughts 
of it, and to look on al l the changes tha t had been made 
as designs to enrich some vicious characters and to let in an 
inundation of vice and wickedness upon the nation."— (History 
of the Reformation.) 

" Churches ran great ly into dilapidation and decay," 
says Stirpe, " and were nasty and indecent for God's wor-
ship. Among the lai ty there was lit t le devotion—the Lord's 
day greatly profaned and lit t le observed; - the common 
prayers not frequented. Some lived without any service 
of God a t all . Many were heathens and a the i s t s ; the 
•Queen s own court an arbour for epicures and atheists, and 
a kind of lawless p lace ; because i t stood in no parish." 
The Westminster Review oi January , 1870, informs u s tha t 
the condition of things in the time of Henry VII I . was of so 
atrocious a na ture tha t | London deserved a thousand times more 
plagues than ever fel l on Tyre or Sidon or even on Sodom and 
Gomorrah." Let i t be remembered tha t this state of th ings 
w a s the result of Protestantism in the flush of i t s vigour. We 
expect the purest water a t the fount—evidently the stream 
was corrupt in i ts source. Clearly the liberty, the toleration 
which Protestantism gave to king, Church and people was a 
l iberty tha t quickly degenerated into licence and a toleration 
tha t permitted a condition it could no louger control. 

" Would I could efface from our annals," says the Protestant 
Fitz william, « every trace of the long series of iniquities which 
accompanied the Reformation in England—the injustice, the 
oppression, the rapine, the murders, the sacrileges there 
stamped. Such were the means by which the inexorable and 
sanguinary ty ran t , the founder of our fa i th , established h i s 
supremacy in the new church, and all who wished to preserve 
the belief of their fa thers and adhere to the authori ty, which 



27 

he himself had t a u g h t them to revere, were t reated as rebels 
and soon became h is vict ims." He was the wor thy introducer 
-of an intolerance t h a t ran through the l ine of h is dynas ty for 
three hundred years, wor th i ly te rmina t ing wi th the execra-
tion by George IV. of the pen wi th which h i s unwil l ing fingers 
signed the Act of Catholic Emancipation—1829. Through the 
whole of those three centur ies there was never a measure 
introduced into the publ ic consideration of the country tha t 
-contemplated the amelioration of the people a t large, b u t was 
opposed by the intolerance of the king, the Tory and t h e 
Church. They were the Trinity of opposition to every boon 
t h a t was , by it9 nature , sufficiently extensive to embrace in i t s 
blessings sub jec t s wi thout distinction. 

And now, if we w a n t to see intolerance in i ts most odious 
.aspect, we have b u t to cross t h e channel t h a t separa tes 
E n g l a n d and I re land. Look a t t he rel igious condit ion of t h e 
la t te r country f r o m t h e day Pro tes tan t i sm assumed t h e 
" Ascendancy." W h i l s t t h e is le of Erin " holds a seat on th i s 
d is t rac ted globe," a geographical po in t under the s tars , of 
heaven , or a record in the a n n a l s of t ime, she is doomed to 
.stand fo r th a monumen t of t h e most ty rannous persecution 
the modern world a t leas t ha s known. Indeed , Dr. Johnson 
.and E d m u n d Burke declare the persecution to have surpassed 
in virulence a n y t h i n g revealed by even the wors t days of p a g a n 
barbar i ty . And w h y ? Because I re land would not accept a 
rel igion a t t h e h a n d s of Henry VI I ! . and h i s successors. The 
•entire province of Ulster was cleared of Roman Catholics a n d 
g iven to Protes tants . The Pro tes tan t Archbishop of Armagh 
—holy m a n — g o t 45,000 acres ; Tr ini ty College, 30,000 ; and 
t h e " skinners," tanners ," and " dry-salters," London t raders , 
received 209,000 acres of t h e r ichest soil of I re land. The 
res t of t h e province was divided between Scotch and Eng l i sh 
Protes tants . 

Then came Cromwell, and fiye mil l ion acres were 
_g'iven to his P ro te s t an t fol lowers , w i t h t h e choice of 
" he l l or Connaught " for t h e Catholics. They chose t h e 
l a t t e r , t h i n k i n g " he m i g h t w a n t t h e former for h imse l f . " 
The ta le is to ld in a f e w words : Catholic I r e l and was to be 
Protes tant i sed or exterminated, and the mos t ingenious sys tem 
t h a t " t he most perverse i n g e n u i t y could inven t fo r t he 
•oppression, impover ishment , t h e degradat ion of a people a n d 
.abasement of h u m a n na tu re i t se l f , " in the l anguage of Burke, 
was p u t in f u l l force for a lmost th ree hund red years , a n d w a s 
sanctioned in t h e name of rel igion. I t w a s t h e re ign of 

Pro tes tan t Ascendancy." I t was a re ign of intolerance, a n d 
w h e n i t f e l l , bu t a f e w years back, i t f e l l by t h e i n d i g n a n t 
hands of i t s own people, whose n a m e h a d been dishonoured by 
i t s b a n e f u l history. 

" The I r i sh Church," said Robert Lowe (Lord Shere-
-brooke), in one of t he final debates on t h e mat te r , " i s 



30 

founded on an in jus t ice ; i t is founded ; on, t he d o m i n a n t 
r igh t s of t h e f e w over the m a n y and sha l l not s tand. . . 
The curse of barrenness is upon i t ; i t ha s no leaves, i t ha s no 
blossom, i t yields no f ru i t . Cut i t down ; w h y encumberetl i 
i t t he ground f" I t was such a deformi ty t h a t Gladstone de-
clared : " If you t ake a w a y i ts abuses, there wi l l be ¡ nothing' 
l e f t . " 

I t was only in 1745, a f t e r t he victory of Fon tenoy 
and invasion of Scotland by Charles Edward , t h a t t h e 
Lord L ieu tenan t of I re land (Lord Chesterfield) al lowed, , 
by proclamation, Catholic chapels , known officially as 
" Mass Houses," to be opened in Dublin. I n 1758, t h e 
Lord Chancellor of Dublin, a t the t r ia l of Mr. Saul, a 
Catholic merchant , la id i t down f rom the , Bench " t h a t 
t h e l aws did no t presume a Papis t to exist in the Kingdom, 
nor could t h e y so much as b rea the there w i thou t t h e conni-
vance of t h e government . " Demoiirier's victory a t Jemeppes . 
t he genera l t r i u m p h of t h e French Republic armies, and the 
execution, of Louis XVI., d ic ta ted a policy of concession to 
Catholics, and the first Catholic Rel ief Bill, of Apri l 9th, 1793, 
was passed. I t was externa l pressure t h a t compelled Catholic 
Emancipat ion in 1829, and the Fen ian insurrect ion t h a t forced 
on the d ises tab l i shment of t he I r ish Church. 

Sir Henry Parkes, in t he course .of h is speech , a t t h e 
Free- t rade Conference, on Augus t 31, hav ing occasion to re fe r 
to t h e I r ish Church, s a i d : : — " T h e crying grievance of t h a t 
es tabl ished Church was enough, one would have t hough t , to 
have shocked t h e common sense of every person who w a s 
acquainted w i t h i t s h is tory ; these churches; were suppor ted 
by the collection of t i thes , which, a t t imes, were collected a t 
t h e point of t h e bayonet ." He knew one case " whe re t h e 
c le rgyman w e n t w i t h t h e soldiery and shot down a widow ' s 
son in t h e collection of his t i thes ." Sir H e n r y summed up t h e 
in iqu i ty as a " monst rous gr ievance." And ye t th i s " monst rous 
grievance," th i s Church " founded on injustice-, cursed with! 
barrenness , w i thou t leaves, blossom, f ru i t , " th i s m o n u m e n t of 
" abuse " pure a n d simple, f ound not only suppor ters—the cry 
of t he " Church in danger " was r u n g th rough t h e land a n d 
shook it to i ts centre. 

One rev. gen t l eman , address ing a large meet ing , declared : 
— " If t h e y da re to l ay unho ly h a n d s on the Church, 200,000 
Orangemen wi l l t e l l t h e m i t sha l l no t be. ' ' And her Majes ty 
the Queen was reminded tha t , if she should sanction disestab-
l i shment , t he re would be danger of her " crown be ing kicked 
in to t h e Boyne." Another ecclesiastic, in similar s t ra in , said : 
— " If t h e Church es tab l i shment be destroyed in Ireland, , 
the re cannot , there shal l not , there mus t no t he peace in 
I r e l and . " At a large meet ing , pres ided over by t h e Duke of 
Manchester , a t Por tadown, I re land, in May, 1868, t he Rev. 
Mr. El l is s a i d : — " We wi l l fight, as men alone can fight who 



29 

have the Bible in one liaiicl and the sword in the other our 
•voices •'•' shal l be echoed and re-echoed f rom earth to heaven 
and from heaven to earth. No Popery ! No surrender !" The 
Rev. Leslie Chanter announced tha t the " Orangemen would 
not al low Gladstone and his crew to t rample on the throne and 
the Protes tant constitution. Only the Channel rolled between 
them, they, the Protestants of the North, would march to 
the House of Commons and compel their enemies to be si lent 
whi le their representatives were speaking. . . Gladstone and 
his co-conspirators might be hang ing as h igh as Haman." 

I t is only fair to the Orangemen to say t h a t a l l these 
choice selections are f rom their rev. representat ives, and were 
applauded to the echo. How easy i t is to t ransfe r th is bigoted 
intolerance and disloyal sent iment f rom England or I re land, 
in 1868, to the Sydney Exhibit ion Building, Ju ly 12, 1889. 
And al l th is f rom the ministers of the Gospel ! " Doff it, doff 
i t for shame, and h a n g a calfskin on those recreant l imbs." 

In conclusion, whenever a Protestant , be he English, I r ish 
or Scotch, hears the word intolerance, le t him th ink of I reland 
and h a n g his head. Protestant intolerance in I re land sinned 
not only in excess—it sinned in principle. T h a t d o c t r i n e 
which does not rest on author i ty should overthrow author i ty 
by l iberty, and should then destroy l iberty by ty ranny and 
oppression—that is the perfection of intolerance. Such is 
Protes tant intolerance. Protestant ism attacked not only the 
religious l i f e of I re land, i t aimed at the destruction of i ts 
civil, social and nat ional l ife. I t was supported in i ts efforts 
by the sympathy and power of the greatest empire the world 
has known. AH t h a t earthly weal th , s ta tus and influence 
could do was done for i t ; and a f te r three centuries tr ial , i t 
was declared to have been " founded on injustice,, cursed w i th 
barrenness, wi thout leaves, wi thout blossom, wi thou t f ru i t—a 
monstrous grievance "—a mass of " abuses." There was bu t 
one conclusion — " Cut it - down, w h y incumbereth i t t he 
ground !" • 



PROTESTANTISM AND LITERATURE 

THE domain of letters, since the rise of Protestant ism, h a s 
been taken so completely under the wing of the non-Catholic-
mind as to constitute a species of Protestant preserve. There 
was ^ a thorough opposition on the par t of Protestant ism to 
admit Catholicity to any participation in the advance and: 
progress of civilisation, as represented by the benign influence 
of letters. Indeed, Catholicity was not only refused claim to 
any portion of enl ightenment , but she was painted as the foe of 
a l l enl ightenment and the home of darkness and retrogression-
Two circumstances tended to confirm this—Germany and 
England , two of the greatest European powers, had become, 
the la t ter especially, so completely Protestantised, and had 
at tacked Catholicity in a l l i t s works and labours so effectually, 
as to leave them l i t t le better t han a heap of ruins. In years 
these ru ins themselves were taken as witnesses of the f a t e 
which the works deserved ; and i t was thence contended t h a t 
Protestant ism had to lay, and did successfully lay, the 
foundat ions of al l the boons and blessings which modern 
society regards as i ts h ighest privileges—not only laid the-
foundat ion, bu t erected the superstructure un t i l i t now stands,, 
in the n ineteenth century, a monument of surpassing merit. 

This is pre t ty well the Protestant story of the matter . But 
i t is not al l t he story. The ruins, a t last , began to be ex-
amined into, Spiritus Domini ferebatur super aquas. A 
breath of l i fe was being infused into the " dry bones." True-
criticism and impart ial investigation were brought to bear,, 
and a t the beginning of the present age commenced an era-of 
exegesis which revived the claims of Catholicity "and sup -
ported them in proportion to the breadth and depth of the 
researches effected. The ruins were not " dead," they were 
bu t " asleep," and when awaked to a l l their significance, were 
found to be f u l l of science, of taste, of intell igence, of 
calculation, of force, of wisdom, of reason, of sentiment , of 
delicacy, and of t h a t especially which breathed through them 
and had been their inspirat ion, their creation, Christian fa i th , 
Christian hope and Christian charity. They were Christ ianity 
personified—the very principle, the v iv i fy ing force which the 
ru ins were supposed to deny. 

Macaulay found them, " not in decay, not a mere ant ique , 
h u t f u l l of l i fe and y o u t h f u l vigour." Stolberg, Schlegel, 
Veith, Molitur, enter the Catholic Church, because they dis-
cover, f rom the examinat ion of the ruins, " t h a t al l t ha t is 
beau t i fu l in a r t and na ture is nowhere to be found except in t h e 
Catholic, Church." The complete temple could be recon-



m 
structed only f rom the ru ins -^and whi le the name of the 
Catholic architect is buried in the oblivion of modesty, some 
modern- Protestant brewer wi l l receive a knighthood for t h e 
expenditure of one hundred thousand pounds in an act 
of reparation.* The Protes tant could do the stone 
work—the design, the creation was Catholic. And when 
the temple was restored, w h a t did i t proclaim ? The 
science, the art , the taste, the refinement, the • indus t ry 
of ages gone ! Science, in i ts construction, i ts statistics, 
i ts mechanism, i ts optics, i ts accoustics, i t s meta l -
lurgy, i ts chemistry ; art , in i ts paint ings , i t s music, i t s 
s ta tuary, i ts mosaics—its sanctuary a dream of beau ty—the 
whole a poem of l i f e—hymning everlast ingly to heaven and 
earth Gloria in excelsis Deo, et in terra pax liominibus. 

" Majesty, 
Power, Glory, Strength and Beauty all are aisled 
In this eternal ark of worship undefiled."—Byron. 

To-day, we study, we admire—we despair ever to rival. 
"When Protestantism took possession of the land, did she 

erect rival temples to show the superiority of her l ight , her a r t , 
her science f She robbed, she plundered them, she beat them 
flat to the earth, she " made a desert and she called i t peace." 

Under the shadow of those glorious Catholic piles, letters 
found their home. There Anselm wrote his " Philosophical 
Meditations," which even Descartes could never fa thom, and 
f rom which he derived all his worth. There St. Bonaventure 
caught the very reflection of the temple, and uni ted in so ad-
mirable a manner the human and the divine, in letters, by his 
" Recluctio Artium Liberalium ad Theologiam " as to win the ti t le 
of "Doctor Seraphicus." There Gerson or Kempis traced the lines 
of a book ( " Imi ta t ion")—the " divinest t h a t ever l e f t the 
hands of man ;" and there Thomas, the angel of the schools, 
bui l t up his sublime " Summa "—the indubitable monument 
of the greatest mind tha t ever blessed God's earth ! In his 
" Summa Contra Gentes," of 400 pages, there is more theological 
and philosophical science than in all the pages tha t ecclesias-
tical Protestantism has ever produced¡ 

And now pass f rom the temple to the school—the home 
and centre of the intel lect . Pu t aside the numerous parochial , 
cathedral and monastic schools t h a t covered the land, and look 
a t the Catholic Universities of Europe, before the bi r th of Pro-
testant ism. Here are some of them, w i th the dates of their 
foundat ions ; and let it be remembered tha t they were a l l t he 
foundat ions of Popes, or helped, encouraged and approved by 
Popes :—Oxford, 895 ; Cambridge, 915 ; Padua, 1179 ; Sala-
manca, 1200; Aberdeen, 1213; Vienna, 1237; Montpellier, 
1288 ; Perouse, 1305 ; Heidelberg, 1346 ; Prague, 1348 ; 
Cologne, 1358 ; Turin, 1405 ; Leipsic, 1408 ; Lorraine, 1425 ; 

* Sir A, Guinness, St, Patrick's, Dublin. 



Glasgow, 1453 ; Pisa , 1471 ; Copenhagen, 1498 ; Alcala, 1517. 
The renown of those of Paris , Home, Lisbon, Naples, Florence 
and Milan need no detai l . There were a l together 63 Catholic 
Universi t ies in Europe before t h e adven t of Pro tes tan t i sm. 
"Where are t h e Universi t ies bui l t b y P ro tes t an t i sm? Echo 
answers , w h e r e ? To t h e Catholic Universi t ies s t uden t s 
c rowded f r o m a l l quar ters—li tera l ly by tens of thousands— 
Oxford a t one port ion of t he 13th Century could boast her 
30,000. A t Paris , 20,000 was p re t ty we l l a common number . 
Pa r i s was t h e " ci ty of le t ters ," and drew to i tself t h e in te l -
lec tual w e a l t h of Christendom. 

" Wha teve r a na t ion h a s t h a t is most precious," wro te 
"William of Br i t t any , au thor of t he Phi l ipide, in honour of 
Ph i l ip Augus tus ; " wha t eve r a people has most f amous—al l 
t h e t reasures of science, a l l t h e r iches of t he ear th, lessons 
of wisdom, t h e glory of le t ters , nobi l i ty of t hough t , ref ine-
m e n t of manners , a l l t h i s is to be f o u n d in Par is ." Pe t ra rch 
l ikened the Univers i ty of Par is to a " baske t filled w i t h t h e 
ra res t f ru i t s of every l and , " and described t h e French as " g a y 
of humour , f ond of society and p l ea san t in conversat ion ; 
t hey make war on care by diversion, s inging, l augh ing , ea t ing 
and dr inking ." " The b e a u t y of t h e city, i t s l i gh t elastic 
a tmosphere , t h e grace and ga ie ty of i t s i nhab i t an t s , 
and t h e society of a l l t h a t was . most choice in a r t 
a n d lea rn ing , rendered i t no less f a sc ina t ing a res idence 
in t h e t h i r t e e n t h century as t he capi ta l of l e a r n i n g t h a n i t 
ha s since become as the metropol is of fash ion ." — (Chris t ian 
Schools a n d Scholars.) 

Dur ing t h e same era, Naples , w i t h i ts t en thousand 
scholars, under t h e re ign of Fieder ick I I . , was a r ival in more 
w a y s t h a n one of Paris. " The city i t se l f , edging the double 
crescent of b lue wa te r w i t h per fec t sky, sea and air ; t hen t h e 
l u x u r i a n t Campagna to the. east , w i t h i ts vi l las, bur ied 
amongs t b ranch ing p ines and groves of orange blossom ; t h e n 
t h e stretch of t he azure Mediterranean, dot ted w i t h gay barges 
of p leasance and dark ga l leys of war', t ended to re lax t h e 
v i r i l i ty of a re l ig ion which teaches t h a t t he road to heaven is 
t h e road of prayer , mortif ication a n d self - res t ra int . Al l 
wr i te rs of th i s period describe Naples, w i t h i ts houses r u n n i n g 
up seven stories h igh , as t he mos t b e a u t i f u l and t h e mos t 
wicked city in t h e wor ld ." The most a n y t h i n g i t was, except 
t h e most s tupid, dolt , ignorant , dark, dismal , dreary abode, as 
i t and a l l i ts k ind have been pa in ted by Protes tant history-Has 
curs ing the ear th w i t h o u t a point of redempt ion, before t h e 
rise of t he " blessed Refor tnat ion." " Frederick I I . represented 
t h e bru te force, in te l l ec tua l l icense and moral depravi ty of t h e 
t h i r t een th century ; h i s en thus iasm for poet ry and le t te rs w a s 
qui te as remarkab le as h i s ambi t ion and tas te for war . H e 
h a d been t h e pupi l of three Popes. He spoke Lat in , I t a l i an , 
Oerman, French , Greek and Arabic. . . . He occupied 



33; 

m a n y of h i s loisure hours in h i s choice ; l ibrary por ing over 
rolls of Greek and Arabic manuscr ipts . . . . So grea t a 
sympa thy did he enter ta in for s t rugg l ing genius , t h a t he sup-
ported two hundred s tudents a t t he Univers i ty out of h i s own 
pr iva te purse—that , they m i g h t t hus have some t inc ture of 
philosophy.. But Frederick was a thoroughly wor ld ly man-
Learn ing did not lead h im to the practice of Christ iani ty. 

. . H i s l i f e amongst t he infidels in the Eas t appears to 
have upse t h i s fa i th . . . . Some say t ha t , no longer 
bel ieving in the rea l i ty of a f u t u r e l i fe , he abandoned himsel f 
to a l l the l icenses of sensual i ty . . . . When in the South , 
he s lept away his t ime w i t h a l l the voluptuousness of a Sul tan 
in h i s harems of Pug l ia and Sicily. His castle Foggia was 
bu i l t in the Moorish style. A t h i s splendid court were col-
lected together , f r o m Germany, I t a ly and t h e East , the h ighes t 
t h a t could be f o u n d a t the day, of courage, eloquence and 
learn ing , t h e flower of chivalry, t he depth of sc ience—kings 
and warriors , t roubadours and mins t re ls , wi t s and beauties^— 
al l t h a t was gayes t and br ightes t , a l l t h a t was gorgeous and 
magnif icent . Here were nu r tu red the grandchi ldren of 
Averroes, the most celebrated of Arabian philosophers. Here 
were seen the swar thy Saracens, w i th the i r s t range costume^ 
s tand ing guard ; g racefu l Mamelukes, a t t en t ive in their s i l en t 
service to every w a n t ; astrologers f r o m Bagdad, w i t h their 
loose garments and flowing b e a r d s ; and Jews, l ea rned a n d 
sedate, t he interpreters of wisdom t h a t l ay concealed in 
precious manuscr ip ts b rought over f rom Arab ia . "—(Li fe of St. 
Thomas of Aquin, by Most Rev. R. B. Yaughan , O.S.B.) 

The bold and searching h a n d of Dr. Vaughan man i f e s t s 
no desire to conceal t he dark spots in Neapol i tan l i f e a t the 
court of t h e Emperor Frederick I I . , in t he th i r t een th century. 
Ext remes h a u n t human i ty , much wea l th , much poverty, much 
vir tue, much vice. The dangers t h a t spr ing f r o m the veri 
ref inement engendered by Christian civil isation can only bf 
guarded aga ins t by Chris t iani ty i tsel f . But here there is not 
decay, l i fe lessness , iner tness , m e n t a l l is t lessness, in fecundi ty , 
n ight , as Pro tes tan ts por t ray the scene. On the contrary, a l l 
is l i fe , vigour, elegance, ref inement , pleasure, genius . W h y , i t 
was a condition of t h ings which should stir to admira t ion the 
soul of Mat thew Arnold—the handsome eulogiser of the court 
and t imes of Marcus Aurel ius—"an epoch akin to our own," and 
held up as a model for t he n ine t een th century. 

" The Catholic Church," says one author , Charles de 
Villers, " he ld the na t ions of t he ear th in s tudied ignorance—-
the f r i end of superst i t ion. Educat ion was rendered a lmost 
inaccessible to the people ; the s tudy of ancient language^ 
was as a monstrosi ty , an idola t ry —the scr iptures were severely 
interdicted." Then comes another Pro tes tan t au thor to assure 
t h e world t h a t a l l th i s is miserable sophism. " All these 
rhapsodies about t he darkness of those t imes are so fami l i a r 



34 

to u s t h a t w e are be t t e r occupied i n p r o v i n g t w o a n d t w o m a t e 
five t h a n i n d e n y i n g t h e m . Y e t t h i s da rknes s , t h i s obscur i ty , 
i s ve ry eas i ly pierced a n d to rn a sunde r . "—(Dan ie l . ' T h e 
Bib le i n t h e m i d d l e ages c. 8, p . 3.) 

T h e Church h a d m a d e such s t r ides in t r ue c iv i l i sa t ion a t 
t h e a d v e n t of P r o t e s t a n t i s m , t h a t w h e n s n a t c h e d f r o m h e r 
h a n d , i t s fo rces became m e a n s of h a v o c a n d des t ruc t ion . By 
w h a t m e a n s were L u t h e r a n d h i s f e l l o w - r e f o r m e r s a b l e to 
assa i l t h e Church, excep t b y t h o s e w h i c h she gave t h e m , if 
t u r n e d to a perverse iise a n d i n t e n t i o n ? I t w a s sa id of Nicholas 
de Lyra , a ce lebra ted professor a t t h e Par i s Unive r s i ty , and of 
w h o s e p roduc t ions L u t h e r ava i l ed h i m s e l f — 

" Si Lyra non lyrasset 
Lutherus non Baltasset." 

I f Nicholas h a d n o t l y r ed , L u t h e r h a d n o t danced . I t w a s 
t u r n i n g t h e cannon a g a i n s t i t s own ci t izens, a n d c l a iming t h e 
g lo ry of t h e science because t h e b a r b a r i a n s k n e w sufficient to 
l a y t h e c i ty in ru ins . 

H o w e v e r , over t h e r u i n s t h e y h e l d t w o benef i t s a l o f t as 
t h e ark i n t h e d e l u g e — t h e B i b l e — t h e Bib le o n l y and p r i v a t e 
j u d g m e n t . Befo re t h e Bible , t h e B ib le on ly , Cathol ic c ivi l i -
sa t ion w e n t d o w n — i t s t e m p l e s w e r e p l u n d e r e d , i t s a l t a r s re -
moved , i t s sacrifice abo l i shed , i t s p r i e s thood proscr ibed I The 
Bib le r e m a i n s ! W h a t w i l l t h e y do w i t h i t ? W h a t t r e a t -
m e n t w i l l i t receive a t t h e h a n d s of L u t h e r h i m s e l f ? 

" W e do n o t w i s h , " w r o t e t h e first R e f o r m e r , " to read or to 
h e a r Moses. Leave h i m to t h e J e w s to serve as mir ror to t h e 
Saxons w i t h o u t e m b a r r a s s m e n t to ourse lves . Moses is t h e 
ve ry m a s t e r of s l a y e r s — n o n e su rpas sed h i m w h e n t h e r e w a s 
a ques t ion of s t r i k i n g te r ror , of t o r t u r i n g , of t y r a n n y . " Of 
Eccles ias tes L u t h e r w r o t e — " Th i s book is t r u n c a t e d ; i t h a s 
n e i t h e r boots nor spurs ; i t m o u n t s in s a n d a l s as d id I myse l f 
w h i l s t a s y e t a m o n k . " Of t h e Gospels , " The Gospel of St. 
J o h n i s t h e o n l y r ea l l y t ende r , t h e o n l y t r u e G o s p e l ; t h e t h r e e 
otherB h a v i n g spoken m u c h more of t h e works of Chris t t h a n 
of H i s words . The Ep i s t l e s of St. Pe t e r a n d 'St. P a u l are 
above t h e o the r t h r e e Gospels ; . . . t h e E p i s t l e of St. 
J a m e s is a ve r i t ab l e ep is t l e of s t r a w . . . . a n d as fo r t h e 
Ep i s t l e to t h e H e b r e w s of St. P a u l h i m s e l f , w e need n o t 
h e s i t a t e if w e encoun te r on our w a y some word , h a y , or 
s tubb le . Le t everyone r ega rd t h e Apoca lypse as h i s m i n d 
sha l l d i c t a t e ; fo r me , m y m i n d r e j ec t s i t , a n d t h a t suffices m e 
to r e p u d i a t e i t . " 

The Bib le w a s to b e " gu ide , ph i losopher , a n d f r i e n d , " 
a n d such is t h e t r e a t m e n t i t received a t t h e h a n d s of t h e 
a rch- re former . A n d ye t , n o t l o n g a i t e r L u t h e r ' s t ime , h i s 
successors t a u g h t t h e i n sp i r a t i on of Scr ip ture to t h e v e r y 
" H e b r e w p o i n t s and accents ." ^ " HaviAg set u p t h e Bib le a s 
t h e i r sole gu ide , ' ' says Dr. Pusey , " in opposi t ion to t h e 
Cathol ics , ' to upho ld i t s en t i r e i n sp i r a t i on , in every word a n d 



85, 

syllable, became a point, not so much of religion, as of>honour 
wi th the party ; and the consequence has been tha t the 
descendants of those very men, who cried up the Bible as 
everything, have now succeeded, as we see, in degrading the 
Bible as almost nothing." " They now," says another wri ter , 
" r e j ec t al l supposition of inspiration, and regard the whole of 
the Scriptures, f r o m beginning to end, as a series of venerable, 
human, and therefore fa l l ib le documents." If Cocceuis found 
Christ everywhere in the Old Testament and Grotius found 
Him nowhere, i t is bu t logical t ha t Straus should find Him in 
nei ther New nor Old. 

This, certainly, was a logical deduction f rom the t reat-
ment of the Bible by Luther himself . Such was the effect of 
the guardianship, of the Bible a t t h e hands of Protes tant 
Germany. I n England the Book of Common Prayer, in the 
t imes of James I., was declared " to differ f rom the t ru th of 
the Hebrew in at least two hundred places." The minis ters 
of the Lincoln diocese, addressing the King , pronounced the 
Engl ish t ranslat ion of the Bible to be " a t ransla t ion which 
is absurd and senseless, pervert ing, in many places, the mean-
ing of the Holy Ghost." Another declared " i t perverted the 
t ex t of the Old Testament in e ight hundred and for ty places." 
On the words " this is My body " no less than two hundred 
different interpretat ions appeared before t h e end of the six-
teenth century ; and " as many distinctions of the Sacraments 
as there were men who disagreed about them." Such was the 
effect of Protestant ism on the l i terature of the Bible. 

The Renaisance, or revival of le t ters , is an orient 
especiallyclaimed by Protestant ism, and the foundation, of 
the claim is the reiteration wi th which i t has been p u t 
forward, and the persistent denial of any share in the meri t , 
by Catholicism. When the matter, has been real ly s i f ted i t is 
found tha t the Renaisance began about a, hundred years be-
fore Protestantism arose, to break the Christian un i ty of 
Europe. 

1 Dante and Petrarch ," says Hal lam, " are, as i t were, t h e 
morning stars of our modern l i tera ture"—the former, termed 
the magnus pliilosophus, magnus theologus, et magnus 
poeta ; philosopher, theologian, poet, and, great in all , was the 
great leader in the revival of letters. . 

The Divvna, Commedia was an outcome of Catholic 
teaching and l i terature ; nor was i ts profound erudition any 
obstacle to i ts conquest over the minds of the age in which i t 
was w r i t t e n ; a sure sign t h a t the age was sufficiently 
advanced to appreciate its merits. I t s first great achieve-
ment was to raise the vernacular in which i t was wr i t ten to 
the digni ty of a language. Chairs were soon established 
throughout the republics of I ta ly for the expositions of t h e 
power and beauties of the Divine Comedy, and Bocaccio and 
Petrarch lent their refinement and polish to the majes t ic , 



86 

mass iv e l a n g u a g e t h a t D a n t e h a d b e q u e a t h e d t h e m . P e t r a r c h 
w a s ca l led to R o m e — w a s c rowned i t s Lau rea t e in t h e Capi tol , 
E a s t e r Sunday , 1341, a n d h u n g u p h i s l au re l w r e a t h i n t h e 
Basi l ica of t h e Apost les . F r o m t h a t h o u r h i s w h o l e soul w a s 
devo ted to t h e r ev iva l of t h e c lass ic l a n g u a g e s of Greece a n d 
Kome, u n d e r t h e m o s t e n c o u r a g i n g p a t r o n a g e of t h e Va t i can . 
J l is own e n t h u s i a s m , a n d t h e h i g h h o n o u r s a n d r e w a r d s t h a t 
c rowned h i s success, i n f l amed t h e des i re of o the r s to imi t a t ion 
and_ n v a l s h i p , a n d to such a n e x t e n t w e r e t h e i r l abour s 
carr ied t h a t a r evo lu t ion w a s ef fec ted in t h e s tud ies of Chris-
t endom, a n d m e a s u r e s even h a d to be t aken a g a i n s t an 
e l emen t i n l i t e r a tu r e t h a t t h r e a t e n e d t h e ex t inc t ion of 
Chr is t ian ideas . A n d w h e n P e t r a r c h a n d Bocaccio p a s s e d 
a w a y , a l t h o u g h t h e y l e f t n o n e to i n h e r i t t h e i r g e n i u s , t h e r e 

came on a race of q u i e t worke r s i n t h e s ame l ine , a race of 
g r a m m a r i a n s a n d cri t ics, sea rchers a n d examine r s , t h a t con-
t i n u e d s u c c e s s f u l l y to w i d e n a n d s o l i d i f y t h e g r e a t f o u n d a -
tion upon w h i c h t h e po l i t e l i t e r a t u r e of a l a t e r Eu rope w a s 
to res t a n d be b u i l t up . 

" I t w a s f r o m I t a l y , " says H a l l a m , " t h a t t h e l i g h t of 
ph i lo log ica l l e a r n i n g sp read over Europe . " I t a l y m a y c la im, 
w i t h o u t d iv is ion , t h e w h o l e g lo ry of t h e rev iva l of l e t te rs . 
At t h e ve ry da t e of L u t h e r ' s revo l t t h e r e sa t in t h e Chair of 
fif ' a . P o P e < L e ° of w h o m E r a s m u s w r o t e - " H e h a s 
t h e g e n i u s a n d v i r t ue s of a l l t h e Leos w h o h a v e p receded 
h i m , a n d to p e r f e c t goodness of hear t , h e u n i t e s a n inc red ib l e 
s t r e n g t h of soul . " ; " T h e r e s u l t m u s t be," says H a l l a m , " to 
convince u s of our g r e a t ob l iga t ions to I t a l y fo r h e r r e n e w a l 
o± classical l ea rn ing . . . . W e h a v e t h e g r e a t e s t r eason 
to doub t w h e t h e r , w i t h o u t t h e I t a l i a n s of those ages , i t w o u l d 
ever h a v e occurred." Nor could H a l l a m overlook t h e m e r i t s 
or t n e -Popes 111 t h e revival . 

. . . . " L e t t ; . e r s h a d no p a t r o n so i m p o r t a n t , " h e says " as Pope 
M c h p l a s V., 1447, no r h a s a n y l a t e r occupan t of t h a t Chair , 
w i t h o u t excep t ing Leo X., deserved equa l p ra i se as a n 
encourager o± l e a r n i n g H e f o u n d e d t h e Vat ican 
Libra ry , a n d l e f t i t enr iched a t h i s d e a t h w i t h five t h o u s a n d 
vo lumes ; a t r easure f a r exceed ing t h a t of a n y o ther col lect ion 
in Europe . E v e r y scholar who. needed m a i n t e n a n c e f o u n d i t 
a t t h e cour t of Rome. . . . I t a l y , t h e g e n i a l soil, w h e r e 
t h e l i t e r a tu r e of a n t i q u i t y h a d been f irs t cu l t i va t ed , s t i l l 
r e t a ined her super io r i ty in t h e fine pe rcep t ions of i t s b e a u t i e s 
a n d in t h e power of r e t r ac ing t h e m b y sp i r i t ua l im i t a t i on . " 

•'. Italia, too, Italia looking on thee 
Full flashes on the soul the light of ages 

The fount of which the panting mind assuages 
Her thirst of knowledge, quaffing there her till, 
t lows from the eternal source of Rome's imperial hill." 

—(Childe Harold, c. iii. c. x.) 



37 

Asm-le t t e r s , so in the cultivation of every branch "that 
tended to the t rue development of modern civilisation I t a ly 
was the « l ight of ages." » If there be a church,",says San 
priest , "p redes t ined to a social mission which, f a r f rom 
throwing obstacles in the w a y of civilisation, has developed 
and fostered i ts . germs, in the focus of a rdent fa i th , the 
Koman Church mus t be recognised by these features . . . . 
Her t rue character was a lways to uni te the main tenance of 
f a i t h wi th the exercises of a l l the human facul t ies , to regu-
la te them al l wi thout proscribing a n y of them. . 
Rome attached to the al tars of Christ the imaginat ion i tself) 
the rebellious slave of reason." When the Church won her 
victory over Pagan Rome, " s h e cursed the idols," says San 
Priest , " and blessed the temples ." 

This has ever been the policy, the action of the Catholic 
Church. Whatever of good, the work and progress of human 
ingenui ty , throughout the whole extent of i t s mult ipl ied combi-
nat ions could achieve, was accepted by the Church, was by her 
blessed. Whatever was bad she condemned ; whatever was 
indifferent, she endured. Wherever she found genius, ta lent , 
whether in the beggar boy of the street, l ike Luther , or in a 
Medici, or Mirandolo, royal by mind and nature, she gave them 
both the same chance. Out of her coffers she made the street 
boy rich as the prince in a l l t ha t was necessary for men ta l 
development ; and profound ta len t was the key t h a t opened 
the way to al l her emoluments - f rom the professor's chair to 
the throne of the Popes. If a! Leo X. filled the Papa l Chair, 
so did a Sixtus Quintus. Her whole domain was the pasture 
of the mind, and her supreme policy—the survival of the 
fittest. 

Her monastic schools were the homes of the needy 
scholar. But they were the homes of culture and ref inement 
—of " p la in l iving and h igh thought . " " Any one Benedictine 
Monastery," says Gibbon, « 'has done more for l i tera ture than 
our two universit ies of Oxford and Cambridge." If a monk 
here or there disgraced his call, was thè parent to be cursed, 
because the son, in spite of care, became a scandal ? Blame 
not the warmth of the bosom tha t fed, but the venom of the 
snake tha t turned and stung. 

When Protes tant ism took possession of Europe, how did 
she act towards these abodes, these homes of « plain l iv ing 
andhigh though t?"—" anyone of which did more for l i tera ture 
t han Oxford and Cambridge together ." How did i t act 
towards every such monument of culture, of progress, of 
i l luminat ion ? I t acted as the Goth, the Hun, and the Vandal 
acted towards the masterpieces of humani ty—laid them 
waste w i th fire and sword ! Science, art , l i terature, civili-
sation went down before their vulgar crucifigatur, w i th a 
hatred and exterminat ion worthy the followers of an Aleric 
or a Totila ! Here is a part of the picture as drawn by the 



38 

h a n d of even a warm par t i san of t h e Reformat ion : ' " I t m u s t 
be confessed," says Charles de Villers, " t h a t t he Re fo rma t ion 
w a s for a t ime the source of retrogression in le t ters , cul ture , 
and science. H o w figure to ourselves t h e indescribable 
devas ta t ions of which Germany was t h e thea t re—the war of 
the peasants of Suabia and Franconia , of the Anabapt i s t s , of 
Munster ,of t h e league of Smalkalde aga ins t Charles. V., which 
lasted to the t rea ty of Wes tpha l i a , and even a f t e r t he t r ea ty 
to the end of t he bi t ter contest . The Empire was changed 
into a vas t cemete ry—the tomb of two generat ions . Cities 
were reduced to ashes ; schools deserted ; fields abandoned ; 
manufac to r ies in flames ; m inds embi t tered , exaspera ted by 
long divisions. Catholics, Lutherans , Calvinists, Anabapt i s t s , 
Moravians, accused each other of t h e bi t ter p lagues of their 
country—torn asunder no t only by her own chi ldren, bu t 
delivered over to bands of Spaniards and I ta l ians , to the 
fana t ics of Bohemia, to hordes of Turks, French, Swedes and 
Danes, who bore everywhere the carnage and desolat ion of 
civil and rel igious war. A long period is necessary to any 
country to recover f rom such a s ta te of commotion a n d ruin. 
I t w a s no t only on i ts na t ive soil, where i ts cause was ma in -
ta ined w i t h such obstinacy, t h a t the Reformat ion produced 
such cruel disasters. France escaped n o t ; bu t t he t roubles of 
th i s country were not of such long dura t ion as those of 
Germany, wh ich was in a most deplorable s ta te when France 
had a l ready cured her wounds , and had even arr ived a t t he 
ve ry apogy of her l i te rary and poli t ical glory. The evils to 
the Low Countries were on a par w i t h those of the rest of 
the Empire. In fine, E n g l a n d saw herself delivered over to 
two intes t ine commotions, r e su l t ing f r o m the same Reforma-
tion. I t is clear, t ha t , since the out-pour ing of t h e barbar ians 
f r o m the North upon the Roman Empire, no event provoked 
in Europe, ravages so long and so universal , as the war 
enkindled on the hea r th of t he Reformat ion. In th i s respect 
i t is only too t rue—it retarded the progress of general 
cul ture ." 

And a l l this in the name of rel igion—reformation 1 True, 
incontestibly true, the manners, the morals of t he age wanted 
reforming. I f , for example, the connubial l i fe of the t imes 
wanted reforming, are we to bel ieve. t ha t Luther and his 
disciples were divinely inspired to such a reform by the per-
mission of two wives to the Landgrave of Hesse Casel, or six to 
Henry VII I .—or s ix ty-s ix to either of them, for tha t mat te r ? 
And if the pur i ty of the priesthood had been inf r inged, was i t 
from a divine source tha t Luther was inspired to reform i t by 
the violation, in his own person, of every vow and obligat ion 
tha t heaven and earth mus t regard as sacred ? Truly m a y i t 
be said of such reforms and reformers 

" Rules for good manners you with care indite, 
Then, show us what is wrong by what yon write," 



SO 

In wha t age is there not room for the reformation of manners, 
mora l s? Reform them, by all means. Bu t woe to the monk 
or the " angel of l i g h t " tha t presumes to reform the Doctrine of 
the Church of Chris t ! 

W h a t a contrast the above presents with the evidence given 
on behalf of Catholic t imes by the ablest men of our age. By 
Guizot, who declares t h a t t he " Catholic Church powerful ly 
assisted in forming the character and of fur ther ing the develop-
ment of modern civilisation tha t her schools and monasteries 
" were philosophical schools of Chr is t iani ty ;" and tha t her 
monks " were active and potent a t once in the domain of intellect 
and in t h a t of real i ty ; t h a t the human mind, beaten down by 
the storm, took refuge in the asy lums of churches and monas-
teries." By Ranke, who declares t h a t " a slow but sure and un-
broken progress of intel lectual culture had been going on 
wi th in i ts (Church's) bosom for a series of ages—all the v i ta l 
and productive energies of human culture were here united and 
mingled." By Lecky—the " Papal Government has had no 
rival and can have no successor ; the Papal power was on the 
whole favourable to l iber ty ; the Catholic Church was the 
representat ive of progress ; Catholicism laid the very founda-
tions of modern civilisation." Of Mr. S. La ing—" the Catholic 
Church and her es tab l i shments were the only asy lums in 
which the spir i t of f reedom and of independence of mind . . . 
were lodged, kept alive and nursed to their present matur i ty ; 
a l l t h a t men have of social, political and religious freedom 
may be clearly traced in the history of every country to the 
working and effects of the independent power of t he Church of 
Rome." " I t wil l remain for ever true," says another, " t h a t 
the genius of invention created the press under the influence of 
the old religion ; t ha t t he genius of discovery sailed to the 
shores of the New World under the shadow of the cross, and 
t h a t the sons of t he middle ages laid the foundat ion of our 
own progress." 

" T h e n ine teenth century," says Professor T y n d a l l , " strikes 
i t s roots in to the centuries gone by , and draws nut r iment f rom 
them." " Not a man in Europe now," wrote Dr. (Cardinal) 
Newman, " who ta lks bravely against the Church, bu t owes i t 
to the Church tha t he can talk a t al l ." Macaulay pu t i t t hus— 
" W e of ten hear tha t the world is constantly becoming more 
and more enlightened, and t h a t this enl ightenment must be 
favourable to Protes tant ism and unfavourable to Catholicism. 
We wish we could th ink so. But we see great reason to doubt 
whe ther this be a well-founded expectation. W e see t h a t 
during the las t three hundred and fifty years the human mind 
has been in the highest degree active. . . . Yet we see 
tha t Protestant ism has made no conquest wor th speaking of. . . 
As fa r as there has been a chaDge, that change has been in 
favour of the Church of Rome. . . . At first the chances 
seemed to be decidedly in favour of Protestant ism, b u t the 



40 

victory remained with the Church of Rome. Nor has Protest-
antism, in the course of two hundred years, been able to 
reconquer any portion of wha t has been lost. . . . During 
the nineteenth century, this fallen Church (Catholic) has been 
gradually rising from her depressed state and reconquering her 
old dominion. . . . Whatever was lost to Catholicism was 
lost also to Christianity. Whatever was regained by Chris-
t ianity . . . was regained also by Catholicism. . , . 
We deem it a most remarkable fac t that no Christian nation, 
which did not adopt the principles of the Reformation before' 
the end of the sixteenth century, should ever have adopted 
them. Catholic communities have since tha t time become 
infidel and become Catholic again, bu t none has become Pro-
testant ." 

Such was the testimony of the bril l iant historian, in his 
splendid review of Ranke's " History of the Popes," of the effect 
of le t ters and enlightenment on the march of the Catholic 
Church. And it is clear as day, tha t the impetus which she 
then received has increased wi th the progress of her years 
uutil she stands before the world to-day—nor need we go out of 
our glorious colony to see i t—with such signs of victory on her 
brow, as entitle her children to believe, tha t she is swif t ly 
and surely marching to the reconquest of more than ever she 
lost, by the blow dealt Christian unity, by the Protestantism of 
the sixteenth century. But the severance was tha t of the 
branch from the " T r e e of l ife." The uni ty remains—the 
uni ty is the spiraculum vital, the " breath of l ife," breathed bv 
Christ into H is Church—accipite spvritum—it is the meaning of 
her power, the guarantee of her victories. 

And the branch—Protestantism—if i t be but a branch, will 
be eventually—when the sap is dry which i t drew from the 
Tree when fal l ing—infecund from wan t of unity—discord will 
be i ts history. Need we pass our own shores to see i t—whether 
in the display over a panel in a reredos or the election of a 
Bishop to a See. 

But the fa ta l disunion is st i l l deeper—is incurable. I t has 
already branded Protestantism, from i ts own lips, as a " hundred 
sects bat t l ing in one church." When Dr. Moorhouse, the late 
Bishop of Melbourne, made an effort to arrest wha t he t ru ly 
termed in his able address " t h e fa ta l progress of division, 
which is breaking the Protestant Church to pieces," th i s was 
his experience : 

" In the face of such a spirit . . . . the a t tempt to 
br ing the Protestant churches a l i t t le nearer to each other, 
seemed to be hoplessly in advance of the age. What could be' 
the value of brotherly advances by one par ty in the Engl ish 
Church, if they were to be accompanied by language so 
i r r i ta t ing f rom another par ty therein. I fe l t tempted to recall 
tha t picture of brothers, hopelessly estranged, which represents 



41 

t h e m as f r o w n i n g cliffs , sp l i t a s u n d e r b y a n e a r t h q u a k e a n d 
severed by t h e i n r u s h i n g sea :— 

' A raging sea now rolls between, 
But neither, rain, nor frost, nor thunder, 

Can wholly do away, I wean. 
The marks of that which once hath been.' 

The scorn of t h e o r ig ina l r i f t appea red to be inef faceable , 
a n d i t seemed t h a t t h e r a g i n g sea m u s t ever w h e l m , b e n e a t h 
i t s b i t t e r w a t e r s of p r ide a n d p re jud ice , every vesse l w h i c h 
s t rove t o bear t h e o l ive-branch f r o m one of i t s shores to t h e 
o ther ; m u s t ever d rown , i n t h e c l amours of i t s s t o rmy pass ions 
every t i m i d w h i s p e r of r e t u r n i n g love." 

No w o n d e r h e fled f r o m such a " vessel " a n d such a 
" sea " to a sh ip a n d a haven secured —not b y t h e p r inc ip le s of 
r e l i g i o n — b a t b y t h e power , l a w a n d e m o l u m e n t of t h e State . 
No w o n d e r Dr. Bar ry f o l l o w e d h i s example . 

F r o m t h e con t ras t of Cathol ic u n i t y a n d P r o t e s t a n t d i s -
sens ion t h e r e was , t h e r e is , b u t one conclusion. Macau lay s a w 
i t a n d a n n o u n c e d i t i n l a n g u a g e , t h e b e a u t y a n d force of 
w h i c h sha l l l ive a s l o n g as i t deserves to l ive —for ever. 

" She (Ciiurch of R j t n e ) s a w the commencement of a l l t he 
Governments and of a l l the Eccles ias t ical e s t ab l i shments t h a t 
n o w exis t in the world ? and we fee l no a s su rance t h a t she is 
n o t des t ined to see the* end of t h e m al l . Sue was g r e a t a n d 
respected before the Saxon set foot in Bri tain, before the F r a n k 
h a d passed the Rh ne , when Grecian eloquence s t i l l flourished 
a t Ant ioch , w h e n idols were s t i l l worsh ipped in the t emple of 
Mecca. A n d she may s t i l l ex i s t in und imin i shed vigour w h e n 
some t ravel ler f rom New Z a l . n d sha l l , in t h e mids t of a va s t 
so l i tude , t ake h is s t and on the broken arch of London Br idge to 
sketch t h e ru ins of St . Pau l ' s . " 

* B E L I G I O U S D I S P U T E A T B \ T H U R S T . — O R A N G E M E N v. B O M A N 
C A T H O L I C S . 

(BY TELEGRAPH.) 

, ®A T"U ,R S T! Monday 15th July .-Regarding the Orange demonstration 
here on Friday last, the Rev. C. .Mead is reported to have said that in this 
colony a man, who was a terrible drunkard, a dreadful swearer and a 
thorough-paced gambler, died with marvellous suddenness, and " his poor 
wife paid t.100 to the priests to get him out of Purgatory." He mentioned 
another c.se where an infant, three years old, died, and its mother, who 
earned a living by sewing, paid £5 to get it out of Purgatory. Mr John 
Meagher has publicly offered that if Mr. Stead proves tfait the priests 
accepted the mouey alle ed to have been paid in either case he (Mr 
Meagher) will place 650 in the hands of the editor of the Bathurst 7 W 

f s i P B i f n M ¿ T d 8 t h e l a J y President of the Poor Relief Society.—Sydney Daily Telegraph. 

[Rev. Mr. Stead failed to take advantage of Mr. Meagher's offer. Ed.] 

J. G. O'CONNOB, "Nation " Steam Printing Works, 82 & 84 Clarence-st.