The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1873-03-30

- the savage hordes of external foes, IL ne
- enance they stepped forward for q nom 81
: rom their native darkness. Very fe
). order. That same Gaui whioh ia is6
required 626,000 arnsa Nor to pressrv
i, intersal order and for external security i
n Nme OF peace, had a garrison of only ] 90
! mon IN the days of old Rome. Well the
may Piiny and the old Roman author
, speak with such adniratiou Of the "im
mensa Rousae pacis msjestas." Nothin,
aad ever been seen on the earth SO impos
ing and 40 grand. No empire had eve
existed with ouch boundiess sway, suct
wonderful internal organization, such q
AMEN of strength, such csmpactness o.
power, and such AN awe inspiring name
And st the time of Asgustss there was nc
sign OF decay or deterioration. Rome was,
on the contrary, rising higher aud higher
In cultivation and ref mest. We may here
quote the words Of Tertulliae in his treat
beautiful picture Of the Roman Empire OF
his day. "The world ITSELF" he says. sis
! opened up, ssd becomes fron day to day
oore civilized, osa increases the sum of
human enjoyment. Every place is reached
10 become known, is full Of business. Sell
aspects under the richest cultivation, The
plough has lovslled forests, and the beasts
that prey on man have given place to these
that serve him. Corn waves on the sea-
shore, rocks are opened out into roads
marshes are drained, cities are more uum-
The island has lost its savageness, and the
ehH Its dosolation. Houses spring up
every where, and men to dwell in them. On
All sides are government and life" And
40 we might go on Indefinitely; describing
Reme's power and riches, and civilization,
ana never succeed in giving an idea equal
to the great reality. Then, as we think of
an this, we are led to ask ourselves, How
10 this mighty empire ever to fall Z Other |
empires, we know, rose and fell, but at their |
highest point Of greatness they could not
he compared to the Empire of Rome. All |
that they had of might and majesty and
durability Rome has, and inmeasurably |
mere. Men have not known how to quail
~ her power, nor how to designate her OK.
cept by calling her External Rome"
where, then, can another power come from
that shall be able to cope with her She
looked as durable as the very armament
which God had set on immovable pillars,
more lasting than the rock-built earth on
winch she had grown and developed for
neari y thousand years. Her existence
was uncomfortable before she began to be
her ceasing to exist was as incOnceivable
afterwards. 1t seemed as if to destroy her
would be to split the earth itself on which
NE was based, or 10 shiver the universe,
Th1ch she seemed to embrace in her
mighty arms. OF her capital itself a
;reat living writer says "Look at
he Palatine Hill, penetrated, traversed,
ased with brick-work, til il appears a :
york of man, not of nature run your eye :
long the cliffs from Ostia to Terracina, ,
overed with the debris of masonry gaze :
round the bay of Bain,, whose rocks !
ave been made to serve as the foundations i
nd the walls of palaces; and in those =
acre remains, lasting to this day. y"u Will +
ave type of the moral and political t
trength of the establishments of Rome. =
'hlnk of the aqueducts making for the- n
imperial city for miles across the plain
hink of the straight roads stretching off f
gain from that one centreooeo the ends of +
he earth /; consider that vast territory Ii
ound about it, strewn to this day with e
Duntless ruins follow in your mind its o
4 burbs, extending along its roads for as a
luch, at least in some directions, as forty G
tiles and nam Der np its Continuous mi ass a
population, amounting, as grave authors d
", to almost six million and answer the O.
nestion, How was Rome ever to be got b.
d Of 7 Why was it not to progress HI
my was 1T not to progress for ever : I'll
here was that ancient civilization t. b,
I'd 7" After looking at Rome with q hui at
an eye, this is the way we should speak !; W
ese are questions we should ask. To the oil
imam eye, Rome was based on everlasting
undations, and was to be immortal.
here was no power-there could be no
'wer sufficiently mighty to move her from DC
"a eea1' Due lOoklDS aG neT from Lne SO
andpoint of tho great Catholic principles br
history we shall use language very diff te
rent. We shall say that Rome, however fri
1ghty and well based, will last no longer nc
an serves the wise designs of Gods pro- wi
dence. He raised her up, as he has tn
ised other empires, for mission when M
ut mission is fulfilled, he will say to her in
'etish," and she will witber away and be
adually die, or, if 30 be his pleasure, pr
g will be swept as by the fury of to
'rm, from the face of the earth. It was Fri
3 latter judgment that actually fell Sn
on her, and we have to see in the course is
this essay witd what terrible reality ct,
was carried ont. no
Mighty az Rome was, go was she intend he
for n mighty mission. She had sub as
I'd the world, and the world was at her in,
It. Her great highways cut through her an
snehse empire in every direction. BY wi
,se broad roads the riches of the pro- wi
ices were carried to her bosom, and by SUI
,se roads went forth her legions to guard br
distant fin!It:cr. Size had given her sig
n language to the various races which An
} had bent under her sway, 80 that her dis
I'd of command was understood and obey an