The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1869-09-05
lsuRnMa srAR AND CATHOLIC MESSENGER
TrW oRIEANa eUNpxYn sEPTI1FDER s. 1902
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Ths Failure, n Rfsssatantism. re 80

1t is time that ProtRS fantisrn shopld be citen
aeeonnt so Of Itself end Its 81 shepoor
ana of the working ctnsses 81 our large towns,
and in the agTicalts miains and maas 1sS
WHETHER fer good or evil, are no longer blinded
by religious pref udices fapptieisuii is relegated
to hGlss smq Il Ssee anS
vim and Cts anier inspire NO reverence, tbet
time theref ire, is fayorabl for q fair and caIi
the masses Of the people Of England hy the
religion shich these men set up IN orr country
more the q three hundred years ago. Protes-
of Syea Hh pre-erninence in the State, Of learn
ing, OF the possession of glorious cathedrais
and parish Churches torn from our Catnolc
ten and as 4, school Of thought dead failure
Orc evidence OF this failure which must strike
ersery dispassionate observer is that the poor Of
is confessed on all hands that the working
-nnen, women and children in our large cities
They have not had the Gospel preached to
them. The Church of England IN the hIst
: place, is called upon to give an account OF the
Stewardship of souls which it has SO long
usurped and which il has SO long abused The
day of reckoning is come The people are be-
bbsnSh f ssn the people
taught, the poor visited; where is unity OF faith
and where is consistency of Worship. They
know that nothing of this 10 to be found in the
Establshed Church. The poor, the laboring
Glasses, shrink from entering Church door as
they would from intrusion into gentieIaanis
hoyse. 1t is no house of theirs, nor OF Gods
to them it is nothing moro than house OF
parade and fashion for rank and wealth This
complete alienation from religion which is at
last beginning to excite inquiry and anxiety.
Who is responsible for such state OF thin gs
Not the Catholic Church; for during the three
hundred years it was excluded and prosecuted
to the death by triumphant and sanguinary
,Prutestantism. Not the State; for it confided
to the State Church ample power, privileges
and endowments, in order that Professionalism
should be taught to the people. Why, then,
were the masses of the nation not taught 7
ism has fourishcd for three hundred years, the
name or divinity of our Lord is as much I'M
kn0wn. to the majority of the working Glasses
OF our large cities as it is to The Pagan peopIess
PnbIic opinion is entitled to call Protestant-
ism to account for this tremendous dereliction
OF duty. An apostaey sd general among the
working classes as to reuse national attention
10 the absence of faith as distinguished from
opinion in the educated classes but we must
confiae ourselves simply to facts regarding the
religious state of the laPoring population
The facts We are about to cite showing this
state are taken from the official reports of the
3 commissioners of the 'sChildfeifs Employment
Commissions" presented to both Houses of Par
Lament. We haye only space in orr .colltmHs
for one or two extracts, but they viii suffice at
least to arrest attention. Bf. White, one Of the
Assistant Commissioners, In giving INSTANCES,
ELECTED by his questions, of the stateof ignor-
sazaee among very large numbers oe/tlie young
upon religion, says vi very many: .a
The state of Inil,d as regards the simplest
1t is not too much to say that to many God, the
-BibEe the Sdrioar, Ce1isHaa even q Jntu'e state
zire ideas entirely or atl I6ate ankBpca God is q
good man. OF stre/ man in Heaven I've
heerd that Christi but don't know tchati is.
Nor do others know where He lives about the
world being made, or who made it, or of the
-Bkbla; 10 Is rot n hook = thave not heard of
hase heard nsp Bout ao but It's long
or I'VE wSas 1 Isl OF but all
poodle are So Heaven was heard OF only
when father died long ago mother said that
good go there alike or, on the other hand, that
Then as IS wicked shall be worshiped that
means, shall all go 70 hell or, again, that when
people die, they be buried; baint they-their
souls as we'll as their bu1ieB7f> all go IN the
I,it-hols, Hhesa them be buried, they never get
ont or live again they have not soul have
rot one The soul does not live afterwards it
is quite an end of all people when they die
The devil isHa good person i don't know
where he lives Christ was a wicked man. ?"
The report then states: g In reference to the
nature of the answers above quoted or referred
nos and the conditions of mind they portray,
they might be Thought exceptional, or not so
remarkable; but their importance lies IN tbeic
sttrhev There may or may not he worse cases
same kind might be added" 81
- Through six volumes (vrites another com
Iuissioner), from the mouths of master and
workman parent and child, of schoolnfaster
and CLERGYMAN. in scores OF cities and towns
and villages through the length and breadth Of
England, there runs ono noElpie, SuasLiy talS
of utter ignorance of God, of children stepped
in immortality, Of entire neglect-oa tho part OF
the 1saRents Of ayaEioe and drunkenness, and
blasphemy and filth, of homes which not
homes at MI; but mouths of hell
~ A2ciergyman in his evidence (Report VI p.
9I). speaking of the agricultural gangs says
al shonld think that fully % per cent. of those
who work in gangs never go to any place of
xrership the fact being that the system so bru-
ataliEad and democrat lied the character thattiley
had no taste For a. place of worship. They
needed to be ciVfifzed before they could bc
- Chfistianized. T.have been to Stern Leone,
hut have seen shameless wickednessSin ------
such as neMog VITA essed in Africa" X
From these official reports, to which We refer
any who doalos the extent of the immortality,
aud of the utter absence of religion inEthe i'm
nnense majority of the laboring population, it
is evident that Professionalism has failed ia the
primary eduty OF teaohiDg Christianity to the
immense majority 81 the nation. 1t has unhap-
ply been in possession of the country for three
hundred years, and now ve have right to ask