The morning star and Catholic messenger., 1876-09-24
MIR. FROUDE'S TRIBUTE TO THE ROMAN
C4THOLIC CHURCH.

The following is. baaes public address of
Mr.. Anthony Fro srpeal i,ich appeared in
the Manchester Times and Examiner:
"Never in all history, in ancient and
modern times, that the world knew of, had
mankind known out Of themselves any thing
80 useful, beautiful as the Catholic Church
once was. In these our times, we'll regu
lated selfshness was the recognized rule of
| action-every one was expected to look out
for himself and take care of his own inter-
ests. At the time he epoke of, the Church
ruled the State with the authority of con-
science, and self interest as a motive of nc-
tion was only named to be abhorred. Wis
dom, Justice, selfdenial, nObleness, purity,
high. .mindedneas-tbese were the Qualfica
tions before which the free born races of
Europe had been contented to bow, and in
no order of men were such qualities to be
found as were found six hundred years
ago in the clergy of the Catholic Church.
They called themselves the successors of
the Apostles, they claimed in their Masters
name universal spiritual authority, but they
made good their pretentions by the holiness
of their lives. They were allowed to rule,
because they deserved to rule, and in the
fulness of reverence kings and mobiles tent
before u power which was nearer to God
than their own. Over prince and subject,
chieftain and serf, body of unarmed and
defenceless men reigned supreme by the in
huence of sanctity. He did not pretend that
the clergy was perfect-tEey were very far
from being perfect at the best of times, and
the European nations were never compile
tely submissive to them; it would not have
been well if they had been. The business
of human creatures in this planet was not
summed up in the most excellent of priestly
catechisme; the world and its concerns con-
tinued to interest men, though priests insist
on their nothingness. They could not pre-
vent kings from quarreling with each other;
Al, i,S- cod
and civil feuds, wars, and political conspir-
acies; what they did was to shelter the weak
from the strong. In the eyes of the clergy,
the serf and his lord stood on the common
level of sinful humanity. Into their ranks
high birth was no passport. They were for
the most part children of the people, and
the son of the artizan and peasant rose to
the mitre and the triple crown, just as now
a days, the rail-splitter and tailor, became
President of the Republic of the West. The
monasteries of the Catholic Church are
another vast feature of the Middle Ages,
when they were inhabited by fraternities of
men who desired to devote themselves to
goodness, and who, in order to do so, took
VOWS of poverty, that they might not be en-
tangled with the pursuit of money and of
chastity, that they might not be distracted
with the cares of a family. Their DAYS
or in visiting the sick at night they were
on the stone floors of their chapels, holding
up their withered hands to heaven, inter-
ceding for the poor souls in purgatory. The
system spread to the farthest limits of Chris
tendon. The religious houses became
places of refuge, where men of noble birth, |
kings and queens, and emperors, and war
riors, and statesmen retired to lay down
their eplendid cares and end their days in !
peace. Those with Svhom the world had
dealt hardly and those whom it had
eurfeited with its unsatisfying pleasures,
- IiaQnnninta6 With aaFkh |
and those who were filed with passionate !
aspirations after heaven alike found q
haven of rest in the quiet clOisters. Grad |
ually lands came to them, and wealth and |
social dignity--all gratefully extended 20 |
men who deserved well Of their fsllows; ]