Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1874-12-04
The DEGREES OF the Vatican.

Inc non. W M. l.. TIaustonc, idte pre-
mier of England, has thrown bombshcll
into the Catholic world in the shape of II
pamphlet entitled The DEGREES of the
Vatican" in which the writer undertakes
to show that the effect of the decree of the
recent Ecumenical Council held at Rome
proclaiming the infallibility of the Pope
must be disloyalty to temporal govern
ments, and therefore he warns the people
of England against the danger Of joining
the Church of Rome. The pamphlet is
one of the most brilliant literary produc-
| tions of modern times, and fully sustainS
the high character for cminencc in this
respect which its distinguished author had
already gained by his Church and State"
and other productions of less note. But
whilst this paper sus;ains the character OF
its author in this respect it at the same
| time conclusively shows, that whilst he is
great as 4 polemic, he is not either Il sound
statesman or politician. These latter do
not waste time in discussing distractions
Nor would sound sta;esmanship seek to
drag religion into politics. Practically
the answer to Mr.. Gladstone 10 the daily
life of the many thousands of Roman Ca
tholics, who, by their patriotism and devo-
ton to English institutions, give fiat
contradiction to his fine spun theories
Here in this country there is no possibility
of there ever being the slightest conflict
between the government and the papal
authority, even by the way of theoretical
controversy, and therefore we can look at
this matter from disinterested point of
view and see that there is nothing in it,
We believe in the right of every man To-
worship God in his own fashion and after
his own belief being responsible only to
Him according to the light which lie has
had the means of acquiring. Holding this
perhaps lattudinarian view, We never
could understand why it i. that people
should concern themselves SO industriously
about the religious belief of other people.
If they would attend TO their own they
would have enough to occupy all of their
spare time more protitably than to be dis
cussing subjects which probably they do
not and cannot understand. If the Pope
choose 10 proclaim himself intallible when
speaking or cdthedrd, who is to stop him
And il the members of the Roman Catholic
Church choose to acquiesce, whom does
it hurtl 1t is q sentiment after all only
binding on those who accept it. We do
not see that this dogma of papal infslli-
bility, when speaking or cathedra, differs
much from what is taught by every church.
Every clergyman who breaches that Christ,
the Lord, rules heaven and earth, and that
he is Christs minister, is preaching the
doctrine of infallibility. Infallibility is
but truth, and fallibility is error There
fore any priest or minister who believes
he is preaching the truth is upholding his
own and his church's infallibility. Wecan-
not see for the life of us how such an as
sumption can in any way derogate from
the powers of the State or ALLEVIATE a
citizen from his allegiance. When Mr..
Gladstone seriously claims that it does, it
looks as if he was conjuring up an imagi-
nary fear for the purpose of arousing the
prejudices of Protestant England in order
to restore himself and party to power.