The Shasta courier., 1859-01-29
The Rock OF Ages.

I. Babbngton Macauley, the author of the His
tory of England, and the celebrated British Es-
sayist, thus testi6es his knowledge Of the Cath
olic 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 human civilization. No other
institution is left standing which carries the
mind back to the time when the smoke Of sacri-
fee rose from the Pantheon, and when camel
leopards and tigers bounded in the Flarian am
pitheater. The proudest royal houses are but
OF ofyesterday, when compared with the line of
the Supreme Pontffs. That line we trace back
in an unbroken series, from the Pope who crown
ed Napoleon in the nineteenth century, to the
Pope who crowned Pepin in the eighth and
far beyond the time of Pepin the august dynasty
extends, till it is lost in the twilight of fable
The republic of Venice came next in antiquity
But the republic of Venice was modern when
compared with the Papacy and the republic of
Venice Is gone, aud the Papacy remains. The
Papacy remains not in decay, not mere an
tique but full Of life and youthful vigor The
Catholic Church is still sending forth to the
furthest ends OF the world missionaries as zeal
GUS as those who landed in Kent with Augustin /;
and still confronting hostile kings with the
same spirit with which she confronted Attila
The number of her children is greater than in
any former age. Her acquisitions in the New
World have more than compensated her for
what she has lost in the Old Her spiritual as
cendancy extends over the vast countries which
lie between the plains of Missouri and Cape
Horn-countres which century hence, may
not improbably contain population as large as
that which now inhabits Europe. The members
of her community certainly not fewer than
l n nd ftv MILL md will 4
hcult to show that all the other Christian sects
united, amount to hundred and twenty mil
lions. 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 gov
ernments, and OF all the ecclesiastical establish
ments, that now exist in this world: and we
feel no assurance that she is not destined to see
the end ofthem all. She was great and respect
ed before the Saxon had set foot on Britain
! before the Frank had passed the Rhine-when
Grecian eloquence still hourished at Antioch
when idols were still worshipped in the temple
of Mecca And she may still exist in undmin-
ished vigor when some traveller from New Zea-
land shall, in the midst of vast Solitude take
his stand on broken arch of London Bridge
to sketch the ruins of St. Paul,s.
We often hear it said that the world is con-
/ stantly becoming more and more enlightened,
and that this enlightening must be favorable to
Professionalism, and unfavorahle to Catholicism.
We wish we could think so. But we see great
reason to doubt whether this be well 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 natural
philosophy has produced innumerabe
inventions tending to promote to the convent
ence of life-that medicine, surgery, chemistry,
engineering, have been very greatly improved,
though not quite to the same extent. Yet we
see that during these two hundred and fifty
years, Professionalism has made no conquests
worth speaking OF. Nay, we belire that, as far
as there has been change, that change has
been in favor of the Church of Rome. We can
not, 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 of the immense progress which knowledge
has made since the days of Queen Elizabeth"