The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1876-08-27

they should say /; they have confronted the ex
ecutioners sword, and dared to stand up bold
| IN presence OF the dread f4sces of the Roma
Republic. Heirs of that strength that Jesu
Christ had promised to weak humanity, the,
were Permeated with that generosity Of char
acter which ID quite superhuman.
And in these latter days. who has saved us
| Call to mind the
END OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY:
recall the condition of Christianity at tina
| memorable epoch which we call Eighty
nine" Let us study little the history of tina
| period, since it was the last time that Chris
| tlanlty was called upon to show q greatness Of
character, and to save itself by that very great
ness. What was this 18Th century, 1t was
conspiracy entered into between the princes Of
earth and the princes of thought, against Jesus
Christ. There has been a time when words
like these could not have been uttered We
would not have dared to say "princes of earth
and princes of thought" for fear of giving of.
fence to princes who would thereby find them
selves occupying only the second rank of ma
tests, words that had once been heroic, have
now become common place, and may be uttered
every wherefore above all.
There was then conspiracy of the princes
OF earth and the princes of thought-conspi-
racy of the princes of the earth, to diminish
the rights of the Church, to despoil her and to
trample her under foot-conspracy of the prin-
ces of thought, to dishonor her wherever they
should meet her-in history or in the writings
of her Fathers or her Doctors.
We were nothing but church with a rich
CIo"u, d CuuTCu WNOS6 QaDQ6 were full OF gold,
q church of magnificent appearance,-but
soiled, despised, dishonored, because, since a
period shall not name, we had had no oppor-
tnnity to show forth the greatness of christian
character God seeing that the time had ar
rived, poured out-as the scriptures say when
speaking of the first food-a mighty torrent
Some torrents are of water-others of blood.
Before Christ, nature was the victim; since
Christ humanity has become the vctim-and
when G ID wishes to elevate it through punish.
ment. he does not send what the scripture Gale
the force of mighty waters" he sends tor
alize that humanity which he has regenerated
and saved.
The Church of France was one of the great
est Offenders, because the conspiracy was
chiefly nourished in her bosom. But the French
Church willingly relrnquished it's possessions
when called upon; went cheerfully, when Or
dered, into exile and as cheerfully offered her
head to the execution rs when commanded
and thus in few days she had preserved the
faith in your fathers and in yourselves who are
their heirs. The unhappy wretches who had
aimed their blows at Christianity, thought to
ind therein but herd of cowsrdly slaves !; but
they found the courage of the catacombs and
were themselves reduce to nothingness in-the
with which God had been pleased TO
invest u.s.
Most of all the Holy See had suffsred-in
virtue of her being the head of all: for as the
head is entitled to the crown of glory, so must
the head expect to bear the crown of ignominy.
BOD brought forward a man, upon whom he
bestowed great power-he was called q great
nan, but alas he was little enough to misuse
lis power. He opened and kept up for many
ears contest with the old man of the Vati- |
IAN, and when at the summit of his conuuests |
t turned out that the old man was victorious |
When be returned to his capital after this |
treat triumph, Rome arose from the midst of |
olitude and exhibited herself to the gaia Of |
n astonished world in all the pomp Of re- |
Papacy! |
Spain who had cora 1ered the two Indies and |
lad plan ted there the stand ard of the Faith
hristian Spain had not yet recovered from the |
isgrace inflicted upon her by the despotism of |
hat too we'll known monarch, Philip II.-Poor |
pain was PROSTATE on the ground, like o tree |
till wrapped in the mantle of its late glorious |
oliage, bat unable any longer to send forth |
lew and vigorous vegetation. The mau of |
whom spoke just now, was pleased to take
of that country. by virtue of the So
allied right of conquest. When some one said
Take care how you attack those people," he
eplied Bah that is nation M de by monks,
nd all nations made by monks are towards"
It the foot of the Pyrenees he encountered |
hose christi ans made by the monks: and his
7arriors, who declared that from the Pyra-
lids to the Baltic they had encountered moth
og but ohildren-these warriors now con-
sssed, in their energetic, soldier style, that
aese were more than men, that this was wag-
lg war against gtAntS! Aud Spain had the
onor OF being the first cause of the downfall
this man, and the deliverance of the world.
ions she as a sheAf of wheat beaten down
y the blows of powerful fail. After three
enturies she produced man of large soul-a
ian who, after Plus VII, was the second soul
n earth. Daniel OCcnnel! After a thirty
ears war Of eloqueuce and law unparalleled
/ history, By the force Of his irresistible gen.
IS and perseverance, he compelled Great Bril-
ain TO yield Catholic eInsn sipstion throughout
be empire.
Belgium, a small territory annexed to the
Low Countries, also threw off the
oke and took political position which she
as maintained through all the changes of our
lmes; and this Church, although few in num- |
ers, appears really great people by the sta
ility of it's institutions and by it's character of
1yalty and fidelity.
Need speak of Westphalia and the rest of
GLAND resusctating their honor, if not their
atonalityf
Finally, in these latter days, when our own
eople were ready, in their delirium, to tear
own and destroy all that they had so heroic
lily built up, Monsignor Affre presented to the
,atrioidal bullets his own bosom, and by this
tting climax, closed that magnificent era of
be resurrection Of christian greatness of Cha
Boter.
Thus have we been saved as were our faith