Spirit of the times. [volume] (Ironton, Ohio) 1853-1858, 1854-11-07
MACAULAY ON CATAoLiCIsM.

1 "sAhOssO AsAA OAv 0sA AeASASsSss'As
There 10 not, and never tas. on this earth.
o work Of human policy 20 well deserving oi
examination as the Roman Catholic Church.
two great ages OF human civilization; M
other institution Is len standing which carries
the mind back 10 the times when the smoke Of
sacrifice rose from the Pantheon, and whed
the csmelopaTds and tigers bounded In the
Flnvian amphitheatre. Tho proudest Toya!
houses are but Of yesterday when compared
with the line Of Supreme PontifIs. That line
we trace back 10 an unbroken series, from the
Pope who crowned Napoleon int the nineteenth
century 10 the Pope who crowned Pepin In the
eighth and far beyond the time Of Pepin the
august dynasty extends, till it 10 lost IN the
twilight Of fable. The republic Of Venice ia
next in antiquity. But the republic Of Venice
was modern when compared with the Papacy
and the republic Of Venice is gone, and the
Papaey remains. Tho Papacy remains. not III
decay, not mere antique but full Of life and
youthful vigvur. The Catholic Church 10 still
sending forth TO the furthest ends Of the world
missionaries as jealous ns those who landed in
Kent with Augustiu and still confronting hos
tile kings with the same spirit with which she
confronted Attilla. The number OF her chill.
dren is greater than in any former age. Her
acquisitions in the New World have more than
compensated for what she has lost in the Old.
Her spiritual ascendency extend over the vast
countries which lie between the plains of the
Missouri and Cape Horn-countries which, q
century hence, may not mprobably contain o
population as large as that which now inhabts
Europe. The members Of her community are
certainly not fewer than q hundred and fifty
millions. Nor do we see any sign which indi-
Gates that the term of her long dominion is ap.
preaching. She saw the commencement Of all
the governments, and of all the ecclesiastical
establishments, that now exist in the world
and we feel no assurance that she is not destn-
ed TO see the end VI them all. She was great
and respected before the Saxon had set foot on
Britain-before the Frank had passed the
Rhine-when Grecian eIoquence still flourish.
I'd at Antioch-when idols were still worship.
ped in the temple of Mecca. And she may still
exist in undiminshed vlgour when some ira.
yeler from New Zealand shall, invthe midst OF
vast solitude, take his stand upon broken
arch of London bridge to sketch the ruins Of
ST. Paups.
| We often hear il said that the world is con.
stantly becoming more and more enlightened,
and that this enlightening must be favourable
to Protestantism, and unfayourable to Catholi.
cism. We wish that we could think so. But
|
we'll founded expectation. We see that du-
ring the last two hundred and fifty years, the
human mind has been in the highest degree &C.
tive-that It has made great advances IN every
branch of natural philosophy it has pro-
duced nnumerable inventions tending to pro.
mote the convenience of life-that medicine,
surgery, chemistry, engineering, have been
very greatly improved-that government, po-
lice, and law have been improved, though not
quite to the same extent. Yet we see thot
during these two hundred and fifty wears, Pro.
tcstantism has made NJ couquests worth speak
ing of. Nay, we believe that, as far as there
has been-a change, that change has peen in fa.
YOUR of the Church of Rome. We cannot.
therefore, feel confident that the progress Of
knowledge will necessarily be fatal to system
which has, TO say the least, stood its ground in
spite ofthe immense progress which knowledge
has made since the days Of Queen Elizabeth.
Indeed, the argument which we are consi-
derng seems to us TO be founded on an entire
mistake. There are branches of knowledge,
with respect to which the law OF the human
mind is progress. In mathematics, when once
proposition has been demonstrated, tits never
Afterwards contested. Every ireSh story Is a
sol1 basis Ior new superstructure as The
Original foundation was. Here, therefore, there
~ So.'ssu'ss ~"asio" " WV StOSh VI IAushs -
the inductlve sciences again, the law is pro
gress. Every day furnishes new facts, and thu!
brings theory nearer and nearer to perfection.
There IS no chance that eitherin the purely de
monstratlve, or in the purely experimental
sciences, the world will ever 60 back or ever
! remain stationary. Nobody ever heard OF re
actloh against Taylors theorem, or Of reac
tlon against Harvey's doctrine oi the circula
tlon oil the blood.
but with theology the case is very different
AS respects natural religion-revelation beinl
Tor the present altogether left out OF the ques
toh-t Is not easy to see that philosopher o
the present day IS more favourably situated
man Thales or SmonIdes. He has before hin
Just the same evidences Of design in the struc
ture of the universe which the early Greek
had. We say just the same for the discover
les Of modern astronomers and anatomists hav
really added nothing to the force Of that argu
ment which rejecting mind finds in ever
beast, bird, insect, fish, leaf flower and shell
The reasoning by which Socrates, in Keno
phon's hearing, confuted the little atheist Aris
, todemus, is exactly the reasoning of Palev,
Natural Theology" Socrates makes - nrec;sel s
the same use Of the stotues of polvcIetus nm
the pictures of Zeuxis which Polev makes
the watch. As to the other preat Question
the nues,;ou. What becomes nj man ofte
deotI,2-we do not se., tb,t n hiyh,v edrca,a
Enronean. left to his unassisted reason. Is mn,
likelv to he in tLe right than . BIockfoot Ir
dian. MOI single one of the many s,,;crc,
: in which we sHrposs the BIackfoot India,
throws The smallest LIGHT nm the state of :,
soul after the animal life is extinct. In TINT y
all the philosophers. ancient and modern. WI
have atiempte1. without the helm of reveiat;o
10 move me immortality of man. frnm pis
, down to Franklin annear tn No to have a;i.
| denlorabIv. - ~ ~ '"''>
: