The New York herald., 1874-08-09

/ seventy seats to be filed exclusively from the
European BationaliJiAs and adding a stated mum.
ber I0r America. or TO assign certain proportion
OF the existing seventy TO the natonallties Of the
That some change like this may DO suggested
ana carried out among the disciplinary and re-
%acan connc not #
PROBABLE that such change Will be made till then.
any rate we Know tnas Inc DEGREES OF the Coan-
direct that the cardinals chosen far as poss-
BILE, from al nations. Thus the great Catholic
principle and rule has been established long ago,
1t will be for the adjourned Vatican Council wnen
it meets, to apply this principle to America
Having dismissed this subject for the present
there Is another OF entreme interest TO which the
attention OF your readers has not been at all
! directed, namely, the claims oil the Biscay ans and
| Cataionians, now In arms, 80 the sympathy of
every liberty loving man.
lovers OF ancient freedom that their cause should
be identified or coniounded with that Of Don Car
| los. But we at least here in America owe 1t to
ourselves to the cause OF true liberty-nay to the
simple truth, TO dispel this confusion,
Don Carlos Is lighting TO recover throne; but
Basques and CatalOnians are lighting with him
against common enemy, only to recover the
rights and liberties OF which they were deprived
and which the republics OF Castelar, and Serrano,
refuse to restore to them.
| The battle main ntained by these heroic popula-
tions 'or liberties and institutions not inferior to
our own and far older, Is an old, old story. Let US
recall its main incidents, and begin to understand
struggle which IS far more one for repubncanlsm
than absolute monarchy. Basques and Catalon-
against the wnoe might Of the Roman Empire
their native freedom. Their social condition TO-
s o sser Was e. ss
and communes. governed by their own chosen
o11cers. No King or emperor mas ever been allowed
with impunity to interfere IN tnelr communal or
provincial administration. Their Jueros, or
written charter OF rights and customs, embody the
teotsd against the Romans, against the Goths,
sgsioss the s.,v saracens as well as against
have ss ruled IN SPAIN. situated between 'eas
Navarro and CASTLE they remained absolutely in
they allied themselves, at that time. with Castlle'
without becoming incorporated with It, solely for
% tSss
or contributions Of any KIND among them, and
every member Of their nationality claimed and en-.
tions and privileges as spain's highest nobility.
Every Basque is nobleman, and thinks himself
sisted hercely and successfully the Introduction
Of French & a6solatism 10 the person Of Philip ".
widely the blight Of tyranny fell on the rest OF the
Spanish monarchy, 1t did not touch the free hills
ton Of isia in vain aecreea that the Basques and
sss1 ysi sp .sms ws as sSs rest Of ss
them down till 1874, wnen the government Of isa-
bella offered them su1cient guarantees for the full
The arst Cardst war, be it Wen understood. was
not, any more than the present, war lor absolute
alliance with him to wrest from common foe
guarantee ior their own ancestral freedom.
own selnsh vtews but the brave men Who fight
with him hate aespotism with an undying hatred,
snd love liberty aS % WITH love unparalleled in the
There Is another reason why they tight against
the radical republic Of CASTELAR, az they fought
deadly loes OF their religion And il there be one
dom which is the breath OF lie to him, it is the
Catholic religion yhat, too, he will have free at
any price. PRUDENTUIS.
Abelard Answereii-Unity and CathoIi-
city Not signs OF the True Church.
To THE EDITOR OF THE HERALD
In the WEEKLY HERALD Of August are two COM
municattons in defence Of Catholicism and an i'm
Piled condemnation of all else that claims to be
religious. One OF these Is signed "Prudentius,"
and is an apology for the Pope's Indifference to
these United States in the matter Of the appoint
ment here Of cardInal-an Indifference very prop
erly and more than once noticed by the HERALD
The other communication Is signed "Abeard,"
and to this only propose to reply.
The writer makes an efi0rt to prove that unity
and catb0icity, as evidences OF the true Church,
are peculiar to the Church OF Rome, and prove her
to be ..divne nstitutiOnn-one outside the pale
of which, ST. Augustine is quoted as saying, any
thing except salvation can be found. This writer
thinks that the exclusive right of the Roman
Catholic Church to the title of 'Catnolic"
is almost obvious from the fact that 1t
Is 80 called by everybody, "Ask," he
says, "a shoeblack where is the Catholic
church, and ask the President, Mr.. Grant,
the same question, and he Will give you the same
information you got from the shoeblack. In like
manner, when you speak OF the Catholic Church
you must not expect to be understood to mean Mr..
Mackonockies church nor Mr.. Spurgeon's" This
same argument ~ was put forth IN better lam
guage by the once celebrated Bishop Miner (''End
vi COntroversy') but child can see tnat IL per-
lectly wOrthess for what could president, q
stranger intend except | To- direct sacS stranger to
church edlnce where people called Catholics
Catholcs are great sticklers for this ecclesiasti-
cal destination, thinklng that II tney can estab-
lish their exclusive rgat to It their work OF de-
Is done; but tney deceive themselves Tor deceit,
lying, injustice and war are tar more catholic or
universal than the Catholic religion ts Are they,
therefore, divine institutionsY In the days or
Christ and HIS apostles the Church was nOG catho-
nc unless very snat m Up pece 81 serrory near tae
the whole world, nor was IL called catholic by any
one. Ii 1t was divlne institution IL could NOT
then be such by reason Of quality which 1t did
not possess. IL spread, indeed, to many parts OF
the world; but Us to time, place and numbers, 1t
was not an9 1s not now catholic In an absolute
Hs 20 the unity Of faitn spoken Of by "Abelard,"
and by all Catholics so constantly and proudly
boasted OIL the thing IN the only sense IN which 1t
could possess value does not exist, did not GER
tainiy IN the Apostolic Churcn; and, what is more.
/ wrought by the Creator In the mentality OF the
race. Among Catholics all over the world free
thought on questions OF their theology Is dis
couraged-lrowned down Evea that fortress Of
SAFETY tho human family, doubt, Is by the Catno
! lie Church denounced and cursed az q mortal sin.
Hence, among the Catholic masses no discussions
respecting any points OF their religion ever take
piace-tne silence OF the grave prevails there l0r-
ever. This silence results not rom the inteI-
gent and Tree acceptance OF q religion proved to
| be true, but from the servie tear OF attempting
any examination which might betfay the terrible
| OF doubt. An external unity oil fa1th thus
brought about and set up as Q mark o. truth il
simply vaueless There are other causes for the
apparent unity Of faith among Catholics-with
! some, the love OF quiet and popularity; with
Others the love OF place and power; with manga
perfect indifference t0 the whole subject; and
with ALL the force Of education. It is not 70 be de.
MED that there are thousands OF sincere believers
among Catholics; but this concession, since 1t can
! not come from absolute knowledge, Is, Of course
| Of no value to "Abelardn or his Church; we may