Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1872-05-13

and lectures In his own eloquent way as
opportunity offers. Just now he is
speaking to crowded houses. Last Sun
day night he preached an abe sermon
on the text: "God is spirit and
they that worship Him must worship
Him in spirit and in truth. The first
half-hour he spoke very much as any
able and earnest minister would be like
ly to speak from the same text. Then
he turned to speak of the theory and
practice of the Roman church In each |
of the particulars he had enumerated.
Eloquence, sarcasm, pathos followed each
other in quick succession. The unchris-
tian, anti-christaln, idolatrous nature of
Romanish worship was shown up most
terribly; and even the Americans pres
ent could scarce forbear to cheer at times,
though the disposition did not proceed
further than the manifestations charac-
terized by reporters as (''sensatlon.
Those who heard him in his broken En-
glish eighteen years ago, may form some
idea of what his eloquence may be in his
own language and in the midst of this
Romanism. He hopes to come to the
meeting of the Evangelical Alliance. at
New York, in 1878. and trust he and
you may not be disappointed.
The event of the past month here has
been the public discussion between the
Catholics and "Evangelicals," of the
question of St Peters presence in Rome
1t was reported in the daily and weekly
papers. The comic papers have been
caricaturing the priests about it for three
successive weeks, and three thousand
copies of the pamphlet report were sold
from the news-stands the first day of
its issue.
The question of itself, perhaps, is of
secondary Importance but the discus
sion showed on what frail foundation
the assertion of the papacy rests.
Signor Sciarelli, the Methodist evan
gelist, began it by showing from the
dates given in the Acts of the Apostles
and the Epistles, as we'll as from the
Fathers that, in consistency with these,
St. Peter must have been elsewhere dur
ing the time Catholics assert that he was
Pope of Rome. 1t was an attempt to
prove an abb, and was much more sue
cessful than one who had not studied
the subject could foresee.
He was followed, on the other side,
by Prof. Fabiani, who said that these
arguments did not attempt to account
for euery dag of the twenty-five years
during which the tradition asserts that
St. Peter was at Rome and that if he
could prove that he was here for one
dag, it was enough for the purposes Of
this discussion, the Evangelicals having
undertaken to show that he was neUer at
Rome This statement was true but
it was such coming down from the as.
sumption of a twenty five years papacy
that it caused marked sensation. He
:. went on to assert the uniformity of the
tradition on this subject. and cited tn,
names of some fifty authorities, Catholic
I and Protestant, on his side He expires
l sed the opinion that the statement O
I the German Catholic Ellendorf, to tn,
: contrary. cited by Sciarelli, was incor
t rectly stated and replied in detail t
n the other arguments which had beel
e advanced.
:, The Waldensian evangelist, Ribetti
e followed with an impassioned, earnes
0 address. in which he asserted that th
Catholics could not argue simply, be
It cause they had been accustomed to boy
q to the decision of an infallible Pontif
IS and dared not doubt, even on such
e point as this; that they were true to thei
7, uniform habit to put more in the conclu
s. sion than was warranted by the premises
10 and so to conquer by insinuation, insir
Is uation, always by insinuation. He show
= ed instances of what he asserted, an
l, spoke with great earnestness, carryin
rs his audience largely with him.
u Priest Cipalla followed in a brief di!
l. course, principally urging the existenc
l. and power of the papacy as might
re fact for so many centuries, and a fac
Sc utterly unaccountable, nay, impossible
n on any other assumption than the trut
s. of the tradition that St. Peter was F.;
e, Rome
K Gavazzi followed with one of his I'll
i paralleled discourses, in which he shoy
ne ed the fallacy of such argument by al
rs illustrations, asserted that St. Lul
G. wrote history Of the Acts of the Apo
We ties for the church in all ages, and TIL
I'll if St. Peter had been Pope of Rome f
Id years, he knew it for he was here vii
~ St. PauD and ought to have said it. N
ry to say it, if true, in a Justification hi
tory. etc.,et
Priest Guidi, in conclusion, gave
summary of the arguments from h
tand-point, the disputants shook hand
and the audience departed.
The discussion throughout was mo