The Nevada journal., 1859-04-22
The Rock of Ages.

Macdu y, the autnOr OF tue Hiotoiy VI
England, and the celebrated British Es-
sayist, thus testifes his knowledge of
the Catholic Church
"There is not, and there never was
on this earth, work of human policy so
well deserving of examination 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 to the time when the
smoke of sacrifice rose from the Pan
theon, and when camel-leopards and
tigers bounded in the Flavian amphi.
theatre. The proudest royal houses
are but of yesterday when compared
with the line of Supreme Pontiffs. That
line we trace back in an unbroken Sc
ries, from the Pope who crowned Ma
poieon in the nineteenth century, to the
Pope who crowned Pepin in the eighth;
and far beyond the time of Pepin the
august d ynasty extends, till it is lost in
the twilight of fable. The Republic of
Venice comes next in antiquity. But
the RepublicI of Venice was modern
when compared with Papacy; and the
Republic of Venice is gone, and the
Papacy remains. The Papacy remains
not in decay-not mere antique, but
full of life and youthful vigor. The
Catholic Church is still sending forth to
the furtherest ends of the world, mis-
siUnaries as Jealous as those who landed
i'll Kent with Augustin: and still con-
fronting hostile kings with the same
spirit with which she confronted Attilla.
The number of her children is greater
than in any former age. Her acqui-
sitions in the New World have more
than compensated her for what she has
lost in the Old. Her spiritual ascen-
dency extends over the vast countries
which lie between the plains of Missouri
and Cape Horn-countries which,
century hence, may not improbably con-
tain population as large as that which
now inhabits Europe. The members of
her community are certainly not fewer
than hundred and fifty millions; and
it will be difficult to show that all other
Christian sects united. amount to hum
dred and twenty millions. Nor do we
see any sign which indicates that the
term of her long dominion is approach
ing. She saw the commencement of
all the governments. and of all the &C.
clesiastical esta blishments that now
exist IN the world and we feel no assu-
rance that size is not destined to see the
end of them all. She was great and
respected before the Saxon had set foot
on Britain-betore the Frank had pass
ed the Rhine-when Greci;,n eloquence
still fourishcd at Antioch-when idols
were still worshpped in the temple of
Mecca. And she may still exist in un-
diminished vigor when some traveller
from New Zealand shall, in the midst of
vast solitude, take his stand on bro
ken arch of London Bridge to sketch
the ruins of St. Pauls
g.I - A.,
world is constantly becoming more and
more enlightened, and that this enlight-
ening must be favorable to Protestanism
and uhfavorable to Catholicism. We
wish we could think so. But VIC see
great reason to doubt whether this be a
we'll founded expectation. We see that
during the last two hundred and fifty
years, the human mind has been in the
highest degree active-that it has made
great advances in every branch of nat
ural philosophy-that it has produced
innumerabie inventions tending to pro-
mote the convenience of life-that med
icine, surgery, chemistry, engineering,
have been very greatly improved, though
not to the same extent. Yet we see
that during these two hundred and fifty
years, Protestanism has made no con-
quests worth speaking of. Nay, we be-
lieve that, as far as there has been
change, that change has been in favor
Of the Church of Roman. We cannot,
therefore, feel confident that the prog
ress of knowledge will necessarily be
fatal to system, which has, to say the
least, stood its ground in spite of the
immense progress which knowledge has
made since the days Of Queen Eliza
BETH"
The PROSPECT OF EURoP EAN WAR.
The New York Evening Post, of the