The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1866-03-21
The Year 1866 and tbs Fdlfllment
o. Prophecy.
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prophecies which, they say, are unmstaka-
oly foretold in the sacred writings. That
some such occurrence will most assnredly1
happen, and that the year 1866 is the pc
-iod denoted by the Scripture, they all
agree, but as to the particular nature ofthe
occurrence these fanatics hold
to opinions widely differing among Them
selves. ..---.--,.,-...-, -.
For long time it was their opinion that
the millennium was at hand !; and that the
present year would certainly witness the
commencement of the thousand years reign
of Christ and the elect upon this Earth of
ours. They found their millenary idea'
doubtless, on the pretended tradition which!
Papias claimed to have derived from, the,
Apostles themselves, that there was to be-
an actual reign Of Christ on Earth fora
thousand years, preparatory to- the end OF
the world and the, elimination OF the hap
piness of the elect in the world above; a
tradition which, though it deceived for q
while origen, 1renaeus, Justin Martyr and
Others among the wisest OF the early
Fathers, has long since been exploded as
either mistake or wilful misrepresenta-
ton. The millenary bubble has but recent
iy burst, it being agreed on all hands that,
preparatory to the millennium, the savage
passions and instincts of both man and
beast are to be so softened that the lion
and the lamb shall lie down together, and
the sword be turned into the plough.share
and pruning-hook. Since the great Yam
kee nation has but just emerged from one
of the grandest throat.catting spectacles
the world has ever seen, the Yankee theol-
ogians, with whom the millenary theory is
a special favorite, have about given up the
idea that Yankeedom will be prepared for a
millennium as early as the year OF grace
1866. tys M
Unwilling, however, to abandon the idea
that the spirit Of prophecy points to some
grand consummation this year, and unwii'
ling to admit that a Yankee could possibly
be mistaken in anything, from Knowledge
of the secret thoughts and intentions of the
Almighty, down to the setting Off Con
necticut clock, our Puritanic theologians
have racked their brains for some other
probable event, which shall fit their predic.
tions, and be consonant with their peculiar
desires. It is not surprising that, in their
adventures in search Of the fulfllment Of a
prophecy, they should hit upon the Catho'
thc Church, their, "Goga and Magog,'
against which they have ever warred, whose
priests they have outraged and whose Con
vents they have plandered, and point he1
out as the peculiar object on which the
Almighty is to pour out the walls Of his
wrath in the year 1866, amid the enlighten'
ment of the nineteenth century, and the
universal march of New England ideas. :
They say now, that this year is to witness
the downfall Of Papaey, and the eztinguish'
ment of the Catholic religion.
For years it has been the boast Of all
kinds of fanatics that the Catholic religion
is on its decline, and that the world will
soon witness. the agonies Of its dying
throes. The particular reason for this
opinion we have never seen stated, and are
therefore unable to account for it. 1t can
not be derived from actual statistics; for
any one at all conversant with. the facts
must know that the Catholic Church has
ever steadily increased the numbers Of
those included within her communion, both
among civilized and heathan nations, while
Professionalism, which our theologians say
must speedily oyerturn her, has not extend
ed its influence over any country which it
did not embrace fifty years after the RE
formation" I'VE are writing as statistici-
ans, notas theologians, without regard to any
preference between the two sects.) Even
acknowledgment, which our Yankee
neighbors fondly hoped would prove adeath
blow to Catholicity on the American CONT
nent, tended only to its spread persecu-
ton having in that case, as in all Others,
the effect of making proselytes for the per-
secuted party. aa1e ~
But the grand coup d'esa against the
Catholic Church which has been looked
forward to with so much interest by the
Puritan prophets, is the withdrawal of the
French troops from the States of the
Church, fixed for this year by the Conven-
ton between Louis Napoleon and the Ital-
ian authorities. They say that the with
drawal of these troops would be to leave
the Holy Father at the mercy Of Victor
Emanuel, the accommodated King Of
Italy; that it would operate an extinguish-
ment Of his temporal power, and would
necessitate his evacuation of the Roman