The morning star and Catholic messenger., 1875-09-19
kl~,s,u4 star and Catholic Messsnger.
xEw oRLEAs-. sUaLAY sEPTEhBEE - Is7s
Apples Of sodoln
rphgAas,pLla STANDARD I

lures them with the promise Of crafty
ing come Predominant passion. and the
prospect seems generally TO be TeaiZFd'
bat 10 its very realization there is always
litter disap pOintment. No matter with
what cxp4ciatiObs mankind forsake God
and engsg- IN the ssTyice OF TIE devil.
sbey fCd Il at TIE very sctualizatIon OF
their expectations becomes in sts utter des
htntion Of all real good, source Of mIsery
and means ri punishment.
In the prssent age Nammon worship is
ihe form under which the devil seduceH
mankind. The great end towards which
she scientific activity, the industrial energy,
and, in fact. all the forces Of modern civil
jZation seems 20 be directed, Is the accum-
niation of wealth.
The rapidly with which this is effected
IL accepted a. certain and indubitAbie
;est Of real prosperity. BY this. the po-
sition Of every country, as regards civiliza
ton, is nov determined. II factories and
furnaces dot its face; If vessels crowd it's
ports If railroads penetrate every rook
and corner Of tho land, and the capital &C
simulated ~ ISs banks can be counted by
billions, the country Is, by universal acc!a-
nation, promo lnced great, and the nation
proBpeTOuE.
II, on the contrary, country il unable
20 boast OF pre- eminence ia these respects,
1t IL set down as behind the age, and as oc-
cnpying al !Itcrior place in hnman civil
sEAtiOn.
The people may be simple IN inded, viz
tnOns, and contented. Extreme poverty
may be almost unknown amongst them,
ind where it does exist, may entail but
little suffering, owing to the few wants of
.he people aud the universally and effect
iyeness of the appliances to relieve abso.
lutte destitution. All this is regarded as of
no account.
Indeed ia not only not accepted as
condition TO be desired, but is condemned
NJ In itself wrong. Poverty is practically
treated as q crime, and those who are des
situte of the means of living are treated
Tith less consideration than forgers or
Turn to England, of all countries in the
world that in which the "sdvanced ideas"
Of the age as regards material improve
nents and the accumulation of wealth are
working them selves out to their legitimate
practical conclusions. England is Pro
teAtaut; EDg Ian dis eulighte ned )" England
is commercially prosperous and powerful,
We are constantly told, beyond all other
countries on the globe. We admit it. And
yet we are sold fogy" and "unenlightened"
enough to look on all this accumulation
of wealth and commercial power in Eng
land not only without admiration, but with
reprobatioD. There are those who admire
greatness without regard to the manner
in which il has been achieved or the
stfects it has produced. They are carried
away with the exploits of Cesar, or Cen
ghis Khan, Tamerlane, or a Bonaparte,
Torgetful of the unspeakable misery which
attended their every step toward glory
and "power." ApyIamid of human skulls
may be impoAng In it's magnitude; but
nevertheless it is not au attractive object
TO look upon and if it be composed of the
skulls OF victims murdered for the gratifi
saticn OF human ambition or of those whC
have died through the neglect or heart
lOsSness of otherP, it IL IL monument
simply of infamy. Very much with thi
feeling look on England and accep
her AS the type Of what material improve
5oeDt impelled and directed by advanced
jdeAS" ia dong to day. Her commercial
greatness, her industrial activity, ar
achieved at the expense Of the comfor
and Of the well being, for time aid eter
nity, of the millions of her people.
1t is all very pleasant to think Of he
sields, which are gardens of beauty, q
her stately palaces and mansions, her cul
iiVated nobility and gentry, her merchan
princes, her cotton lords and iron king,
Of her parks and museums and liberarieF
Of her warehouses filled with preciou
eOmmodities from every land beneath tn
sun, of her banks through which Ia dis
buTRed the capital of the world.
But look beyond this, for moment
and II not blinded by the glamour Of a
these evidencGR, real or imaginary Of pros
perity, you will see enough to cOnvinc
you that there are other forms of huma
in the garb Of bcnevolence, ard make lou
professions Of philanthropy and zeal for hu
man improvements, but which are not lea
selfish, and pot less cruel, than that whic
inspires th" conqucror to climb tho steep
of fame over corpses butchercd on the bat
tic field.
1t is common thing to read n histor
Of ambitious rulerR, who attained
power and tyranized over tho Ieopic,
the name of the people, and ostcnsibly f,
she peoples't good.
To day this artiice il successfully l,
sorted to by those who worship wealth an
material improvement. Tho people AT
called upon TO do honor to them az I'll
worlds beuelAct"rs. In reality they AZ
often it's oppressors.
England ia an example of this to-day
go into its mines, itE factories, its mI!h
Go into its agricultural disnicts. Th"
penetrate, if you can bear the sightR an
Snells, the sQaaiidncss and hlth, into I'll
dens, miscA.ird hOmes of tho poor of III
ont pif F'#..F, ,ait lhrNt 4tnr