The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1874-11-22
TIN OHunoH QUESTION IN EunopE. :

TH1 CHURCH QUESTION IN EUROPE. -
Il any proof, in addition to the uni
ve1sal and intense consciousness OF the
fact, we're needed that the religious
question ID again rising, az it has risen
IN timee past. TO q pre.emiuence over
other public questions in Europe, that
proof 10 at hand in the coutro yer.y
between Mr.. Gladstone and Arch.
b3shop Manning; and II any
thing weEe needed to prove what
q vast advantage the Catholics
have gained in England during the
hst thirty yea.s, Il il furnished ii the
pers0n OF tne seo0nG psriy 80 this in-
teresting dispute. Ever since that
deadly quarrel between tae English
Kings and people and the Pope 800
years ago. the Catholic Church has
been known in England only as the
''Romish" Church; aud up to thirty
years ago the national recollection OF
that quarrel was 80 truoulent and in
tolerant that an English churchman
who became . Catholic Was regarded
almost al o traitor. Even when Oar
dinAl Wlseman was appointed to the
spiritual sovereignty over England,
there vas q sturdy old- fashioned ont.
burst Of wrath at the sudacity OF what
was considered. and really was, the
beginning OF an attempt to regain the
English people to the Catholic Church;
a11 il was proposed shs. The Govern.
mept resent the appointment Rs an
usurpation. Yet here is Cardinal
WisemAn's successor boldly claiming
the English people - the spiritual
liegemen OF the Popc. gathering in his
fetinoe one after another OF the an.
cient Protestant houses of the empire,
and making 30 profound an impress
SION on Engiish society by the
ssoetio purity Of his life, the power
OF bis sermons and The startling
boldness Of his demands, that the
eblest statesman and churchman OF
The kingdom ia brought forth to com-
bat him. Mr. Gladstone and Arch
bishop. Manning are the two foremost
men Ia England. sud IL can be no
trivial controversy that brings them in
collision - leading disputants. In
deed. Mr.. Gladstone. who is the most
cautions public man in Europe. be-
trays his alarm by placing the dispute
on the ground of Papal scheme to
regain such temporal authority over
England as uas attempted under the
management OF Philip III, aud he ap.
peals to 'Euglishmen of the nine-
teenth cantury to initiate the example
OF their fosefsthers Of the sixteenth
EAe1 ss.Tshsis1 &C -es;s. .he e:E=da."
This appeal to the most exciting aud
desperate event In English history
gives us hint Of the character OF the
approaching struggle.
It Ia the samo dispute, in Q some-
what different form, % that which has
been going on between Bismarck and
tho Pope. In the other great Protestant
country of Europe. Six months ago,
Lord John Russell, another English
ex-fremieF, Recognised the nature OF
the quarrel In Germany. and the pro.
liability CT Englishmen becoming
party in it. by writing q letter to
Emperor William, applauding the
severe penal messures with which he
was conducting IL. aud assuring him OF
the moral support OF Protestant Eng.
land in the trouble.
The calling OF an International Ca.
tholie Congress to meet in London is
not the least interesting incident Of
this controversy. This Congress. it is
said. has been called under instruc-
tions from the Vatican, and some of
the highest dignitaries in the church
will take part in 1.-THE object being
to "maintain the dogma OF Papal in
fallibility, re-Rssert the Pope's right to
temporal as we'll as spiritual power,
aud proclaim the bounden duty of all
Chrisliahs to return to allegiance to
Rome" 10 connection with the call.
Archbishop Manning declared that SIT
was necessary to assert tho peoples
right to worldwide allegiance" aud
limited that the approaching contest
between the Church and the State
would be zone OF the mightiest the
religious world had ever seen."
6uoh intimations az these prepare
Us for events of the highest import
ance. and force US to watch tho ap
proach OF the struggle with intense
interest. We know too little about
the forces at work and the direction
they are taking to trace the ultimate
phase OF the conflict There is reason
to coujeoturo that while it may be
contest between the Church and State,
it will be something else besides. The
largely suocessfnl efforts Of the singu-
lar partnership between men OF science
and com mmonists to destroy the au-
thority OF religion over people'a minds
and psettIe tho basis on which ohe.