Nashville union and dispatch. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1866-1868, 1867-10-23
THE EUROPEAN SITUATION.
The Pope and GarabaIdi.


From the New York World. Oct. 10th
As the germ of the oak is to be found in
| the bursting acorn, its life being the iden-
teal life Of the developed tree, so the
spirit Of Garabaldi on the one side, and
that Of Pope Plus TX, on the other, con-
tain the seminal principles of the rising
contest, however colossal may be its con-
sequences. Garabaldi represents what is
most aggressive ia innoyating modern ten
denotes the Pope what is most ancient in
existing civilization. The Papacy is the
oldest and most time-honored Of ali extant
institutions. As spiritual power it is
very far from being effete; indeed there
are symptoms that it is extending its hold
upon the conscience and religious sympa-
thies Of the world. Professionalism has
made no relative gains since the era of the
reformation. Every country of the old
world which remained Catholic after the
great struggle in the sixteenth century, is
Catholic still, while in the new world
every country south of our own acknowl-
edges spiritual allegiance TO the Holy See.
In our own country originally settled
by Puritans and Episcopalians, the Catho-
lies rank among our largest and most
growing sects while in Canada, besides
the adherence of the old French inhabitants
TO the Catholic faith, that Church has con-
siderable strength among those who speak
the English tongue. Moreover, there is in
England and the United States percepti-
BILE Remaining tendency in the bosom of
Professionalism. 1t is exhibited in the
activity and influence of what is called
high churchism, and latterly in the out
break of ritualism. As compared with
Professionalism, Catholicity is not on the
decline, and has not been for two centuries.
There is indeed a general decay of faith by
which all forms OF Christianity suffer, but
the Catholic the least of any. lnthis coun-
try, where we have opportunities of obser.
walton, there is out of the Episcopal Church
and its Remaining tendencies, a grow
ing spiritual torpor and a constant ebb of
religious interest The majority Of our
Protestant clergy retain their hold on the
public mind by their activity in various
humanitarian, reiormatory and political
schemes, and by trying TO outbid each other
in matters which interest the public more
deeply than religion. The Catholic clergy,
on the other hand, here and we suppose
the world over, devote themselves to the
spiritual wants of their focks. In our
larger towns they keep open almost the
only places where the poorer classes may
worship without feeling themselves over
borne by the spirit of caste or excluded
by expense. We conclude therefore, that
the spiritual influence of the Papacy suf-
fers no decay, except from the scepticism
and secular preoccupation which are I'M
dermining all religion, and that it loses
less from these causes than the rival forms
of Christianity
If the Pope, az a temporal sovereign,
represents the most ancient, venerable and
longest-lived of all existing institutions,
Garibaldi, on the other side, is the embodi-
ment Of whatever is most headlong and az
gressiye in the modern spirit. 1t il his i'm
practicable and opinionated zeal which has
precipitated the present crisis, and the Wig
orous and admiring sympathy he excites is
what renders it formidable. 1t seems to
81 ,rif Heside the ri.sfs, - ssisseF, q Slsfi-
baldi's narrowness, his impoiitic zeaiotry,
his unreasoning contempt Of the advice Of
superior men. These are the very quail
ties which make him strong. A sledge-
hammer is a rude and simple instrument,
but if its vigorous blows be delivered upon
a single point, il will break the hardest
stones. Garibaldi is in some respects a
political force Of the highest order.