New-York tribune., 1870-02-01

neutrai'Hin" claims of Alexandria and Constantine
pie, IN ne West the game would seem to have been
IN her own hands.
nd yet il was not So stubborn was the sense OF
independence in the churches jealous their regaru
for individual rights and dignites, SO tne
watch against encroachments and usurpatlons, tha'
the movement of Rome toward the primacy was
checked at every turn. Even for her natural we
may call them her just her inevitable prerogatNes
she had to fight inch by inch. Repeatedly she was
withstood again and again she was thwarted; |;
many times her boldest plans were frustrated; her
actions were repudiated, or scornfully passed by
She was compelled to begin over and over, to re-
hearse to practice for ages. Emperors crossed her
purposes: communities dlsregarded her DEGREES All
her natural advantages were insufficient to secure
the prominence that she seemed destined for, and
but for two three surprisingly able men she might
never have obtained it at ALL
Victor's threats to excommunicate the bishops Oh
Asia for their irregular mode of celebrating Easter,
were disregarded in the second century. The Second
General Council held at Constantlnope In the fourth
century expressly forbade any prelates interference
with the concerns of bis brethren. The Council OF
Mecca reserved to each province the privileges OF
it's church. The Council of Chalcedon, in the fifth
century bestowed the title of Gcumenical Patriarch
share it with the Bishop of Constantinople. In the
sixth century the Archbishops of Ravenna put on
airs of equality in consequence of the residence there
of the Imperial Exarchs and the clergy OF Mian as
late as the eleventh century, repudaed the authority
of the Popes defed their power, and only after
long conflict were reduced to obedience. III the
Bishops of Rome owed much of their success to their
audacity, they owed much of it also to their pru-
dence They knew how far it was safe to venture
both in regard to the temporal and the ecclesiastical
powers, and when it appeared that they had Tres
passed on the limits of good judgment they retlred
and were ready to bde their time. More than once
their supremacy was taken away from them at the
very moment it seemed within their reach. The
early attempts TO give practical validity to the False
Decretals met with no success whatever. Formld-
able as such weapon was in those ages, the hands OF
man noless powerful than Innocent Ill, aided by the
distractions Of his age were required to extort from
reluctant peers an acknowledgment of the appellate
jurisdiction of Rome.
To the philosophical student Of human affairs the
history of this great conflict is OF the deepest IN
teres; for it reveals the cOmpeXity of the causes
that bring to pass the results which on the preface
look so simple and so massive The old proverb that
God hangs the heaviest weights on the smallest wires
finds perpetual illustration. Thus, for example, the
to their prelates az q mark of dignity. The Popes
presently adopted the plan of granting its use to pr
mates and apostolic Wears, as token of their pos
sessing certain principles in return for which they
were expected to render peculiar obedience to the
Holy See This association Of ecclesiastical with i'm
peral power rendered the bestowal of the palliuIn
an affair of gravest moment. The cope became
powerful empire of patronage and ofsway.
We cannot attempt to give so much as an outline,
TO mention the main crises of the struggle TO
prevent the supremacy of Rome. That it was at
length established we all know. We all know the
effects of its establishment whetherwe deplore them
as Protestants Romanists approve of them. On
a point like this judgments will differ, even when
the differing minds have beyond them precisely the
same statements Of fact. STILL impartial present
alton of the facts is of the utmost consequence in af
fecting the tone of the judgments although the final
verdict should remain unatered. The careful reader
of Mr. LEAFS book will get about as near to the his
orcal truth is at present possible to any but pro-
fessed and profound students much nearer than any
partisan writer in either the Romanist the Protest
ant interest will lead him. If he is instructed
in the part that fraud, chcanery hypocrisy and am
bition play in the drama of human development, he
Will be more impressed by the working of great laws
which those ugly spirits must cOnspire with if they
hope for victory and by which they as likely to
be frustrated as furthered.
AS a controversial work Mr.. Lea's book possesses
no particular value. for it lends itself to neither
party and it throws no penetrating light on any of
the special matters under debate. Its signifi.
cance is better than this 1t suggests that the con-
troversy be removed from the plain of history to the
field of spiritual and social necessity. He reminds
us that it is of little consequence to by what
means the Romsh Church reached its supremacy.
Those means were human, we'll provdential,
and were of course of mixed quality. If the Protes
tant challenges the Church a usurpation, the
Romanist may claim for it the authority of inevita-
bic fact. At all events hero it Isa product of the
past. The question to be answered is does it meet
the exigences of modern society," The oak tree has
fairly earned its right live thousand years. but
does that fact alone enttle it live thousand years
mOre1