, 1859-05-06


7. Babbingion Maeauiey, new Lord liacanlcy,
the author Of the History Of England, and ne
celebrated British Essayist thus testi6es his
knowledge Of the oathOlic Church:
There Is not, and there mover was on thiscnrth.
0 work Of human policy 50 well deserving Of ex.
animation as the Roman Catholic Church The
history Of that church joins together the two
great ages Of civilization. No other institution
Is left standing which carries the mind back 10
the time when the smoke Of sacrifice rose from
the Pantheon, and when cameleoPards and tigers
bounded in the Favian amphithcalre. The
proadest royal houses arc but Of yesterday rhtn
compared with the line Of Supreme PoLtif,.
That line We trace back in an urb o,:en scr;e..
from he Pope who crowned Nsp9lotn. in fhs
nineteenth century to the Pope alao crowned
Pepin in the eighth; and far beyond The tine of
Pepin the august dynasty extends. til Il Is lost
in the twilight Of fable. The Republic of Venice
comes next in antiquity. But the Republic Of
Venice was modern WHEN compared win panacf:
and the Republic Of Venice Is gone, and Phpacy
rchains. The Papaey remains not in decay
not mere antique, but full Of life and youthful
vigor The Catholic Church is still ssnding forth,
to the furthest ends Of tho world, missionaries as
jealous as those who landed in Kent win Angus
tin; and still confronting hostile kings with fhs
same spirit with which she confronted Aililn.
The number Of her children is greater than in
any former age. Her acquisitions In the New
Word have more than compensated her lsr what
she has lost in the O.d. Her spiritual ascend
ancy extends over the vast countries which lia
between the plains Of Missouri and Cape Hem
eountries which, 4 century hence, may not in
probably contain population as large as that
which now inhabits Europe The members of
her community are certainly not fsucr than
hundred and dfly ions; and twill be difficult
10 show that al other Christian secta. united.
amount to hundred and twenty millions Nor
do we see any sign which indicates thh1 lhe term
Of her long dominion Is approachinE She saw
the commencement Of al the govoTnments, ,1d
Of all the ecclesiastical establishments that now
exist in this world; and We feel no assurance
that she Is not destined 10 sec the and Of them
all She was great and respected bcforo the Saxon
had set foot on Briiain-beforo the Frank hnd
passed the Rhine-when Grecian cloQucnco still
honrished at Antioch idols were still Wor-
shipped ID the temple Of Mecca And she may
still exist in undiminished vig0r when some lfdF-
eler from New Zealand shall, in the midst Of
vast solitude, take his stand on . broken arch Of
London Bridge to sketch tho ruins Of St. paul's.
We often hear Il said that the world 4 constantly
becoming more and moro enlightened, and hat
this enlightening must be hforable to pnoiesi-
antism and unfavoFable 70 Catholicism VoWlsh
We could think so But we see great reason 70
doubt whether this be IA well founded expectation,
We sec that during the last two hundred and
fifty years the human mind has been In no
highest degree actiye-that Il has made great
advances in every branch Of natural philosophT--
that II has produced innumerable inventions tend
ing TO promote the eonvenienccs Of lile-lhat
medicine, surgery, chemistry, engineering, have
been very greatly improved, though pnl b lho
same extent Yet We sec that, during these two
hundred and iay years, Prolestantismhas made
no conquests worth speaking of Nay, We be-
lieve that, as lar as there haa been chnnRo.
that change has been In hyor Of the Church of
Rome We cannot, therefore, feel confident that
the progress Of knowledge VIII necessarily 30
fatal to . system which has, to say he least.
stood lis ground In spite of thsimmcnse progress
which knoEledgs has made since tie dlTs q
Queen Elizabeth"
That was . very singular mistake made b.
Digg atthe wedding, who, whon iplro1s l1lns.
bride wished that She might enio~ manv rrfurnl