Herald and tribune. [volume] (Jonesborough, Tenn.) 1869-current, 1875-09-23

ter as queen o! s'iuts aud angels, she
would be Inferior to Elips aud the angels
Il her body like ordinary mortals was j..
ing in the grave. He was calm IN his
delivery, yet all the time commanding at
t%ention. lie closed BY reunrking that at
at one time there were eve J where in
England shrincs aud images Of Christ aud
Mary as in the cpniircnt, Che referred to
those borrid xn6den images o. the cruci-
fiction, aud Of Mary which pain and dis,
gust the Protestant traveller, in many
parts Of Europe. But now he eaid these
are not to be seen. England was then
called Mary's dover. That dover has
been taken away frsm her it must be given
lack. As be said hat as my eye caught
upon the side Of the church wall the
Papal flag, | thought surely Gladstone is
right. 1t is the Pope first, the civil Cow
ornment second. There is an ir~recopcili.
able %aHtagonism between Pspal claims
and civil governments. There is coming a
conflict. the clear far seeing Stateasn of
England sees it, Will not that conflict
be in our eotntry as well? We have a
Prince and Cardinal as we'll as England.
The spirit of he Papacy is the same to
day as Of old, in the days Of Luther. At
Rome We saw written over all the
churches, full indulgence granted. The
right and privilege Of SHINING is sold there
to-day. Does any one doubt this p
While there l visited among other places
the holy Stairway as it is called, the story
which the priest tell is that it is the very
one which Christ descended from that
Pretorium or Pilates house I; that the
stones were brought from Jerusalem. l
suppose it is the one which Luther partly
climbed upon his knees. While staining
at the base a priest approaching gave me
a tract in English, stating that there were
twenty>six steps. aud if would climb
them devoutlS upon my knees | Should,
by Papal authority. have, for every step
nine years Of indulgence 10 sin. | called
in my arithmentic aud found / could
gain BY such an easy effort two hundred
and thirty.four years Of indulgence in sin.
| considered that would be more than
wanted But the tract further stated
that tho surplus could be applied 10 any
friend in purgatory. One would harily
believe that this system which undermines
lot only religion but morals aud society
is carried on, and yet it is true. | do not
know that is SO boldly presented in the
United States and England, yet the same
thing is implied In the confessional. The
essence aud aim of the Papacy is the
same in every age aud every land. To
these statements we have been LED by
hearing Cardinal NJ. We may as well
take another observation which we have
made. The most vigorous part Of Ro.
manism is in England and America. In
Italy it is the least vigorous. There i,
there reaction against Papacy, not 10 "a
vor Of Professionalism, rather toward in.
fidelity. Very few attend tie splendid
churches in Rome. 1t is no uncommon
sight to witness a priest and boy going
through a service with rot q single wor,
shipper. An intelligent Italian lawyer
said to me. 1--WE, the middle clsss, have
lost faith ia the church, seeing the de-
muralzing effect Of her teachings upon
society, assured that the priesthood from
the Pope so the parish priest are ignor-
ant and many of them bad we say We
will not be ~bumbugged any longer
The farther yc have come from Rome
the larger the numbers we have found
in the churches. Papal Rome looks with
hope to the West. Is our Protestantism
ready for the contest in the future p
There i, evidently here in England, q
vigorous activity on the part Of Romanists
and a general feeling Of anxiety and
agitation on the part Of Professionals
Some very bitter >peeches have been
delivered and are circulated in the form
Of tracts sgSiust Romish aggression
Gladstone writes against i. ss a political
enemy, P~rotestanis against il as a spiritua'
foe. The agitation may lie exaggerated
and tho danger may be less, yet there i.
alarm on the part Of the English Protest
ant churchman and the non conformist
for | have not been in a religious service
in England where there has been n,
reference to tie conflict. But my lettel
il already too long | fear, 80 | will Close
abruptly.
Yours truly,
j, g. Mason.