The morning star and Catholic messenger., 1878-07-07
Huxley and the Presbyterian.

crueher. And in such dry, ely way. IL
just simply says that Huxley & Co. are
nowhere in comparison with Voltaire IL
Co. That's all, and We should think that
ought to be enough.
What = pity the Presbyterian did not
stop there It always tells q little bit of
truth, and then quits right of and goes
at something else. Thus after snubbing
Huxley 80 aforesaid, It gets off the follow
ing mixture
Another practical confederation on this
question is suggested by the vitality Of Chris
| tianity as o system, in the times in which we
live. All the world-religions in turn wear ont
| aud cease to be an sggre essive force among
eighteen-shall we not rather say thirty five
cen turtles f--s reaching forth its hand in every
direction after new copquests. There is no
new land discovered to which the missionary
does not confidently turn in his labor of love.
There is no amount Of failure, repulse or hos
tiity which can permanently shut him ont
been. In lands where Christianity seems to
have died out, as in France, by what power is
it, IL not divine power. by which 1t revives
with greater promise than everf When Pagan
ism went down, the power of the Empire under
Julian could not restore it.. When Romanism
fell, the power of Jesuitism, added to the
prestige of the Pope, can only secnre at the
popular elections two out of twelve of the
municipal counsellors. Its temporal power
fails, never to rise again. But in priest-ridden.
infidel-rdden Paris the people are now crying
elsewhere. The activity of Christianity and
the sncoesses OF Christianity snow that it is
moving on with powerful strides
We call this mixture, because come of
the statements, if taken by themselves,
would be true, but, taken as intended, are
very erroneous. Thus, the vitality of
Christianity is of itself an uudoubted
fact, but the kind of Christianity to which
the Presbyterian, from further develop
ments, seems to have been abiding is a
bogus concern, and not at all mperishable
In its style of vitality. Professionalism ap
pears to be meant where the word Chris
tianity is peed, whereas every impartial
observer can see that Protestantism is
already q fossil. In Germany it is the
contempt of all intelligent men and the
servile menial OF an impious pagan like
Bismarck. In England it is Huxleyism on
the one hand or silk -robed hunkeyism on
the other. Huxley must win, for his re-
ligion is merely human and charges moth
ing his rival, on the other hand is very
costly and disgusts people by pretending
~ OO OANluo huSu Az 10 no puLC3y
human creation as Huxley's. In the re at
of Northern Europe Professionalism is a
mere creature of the State, and in America
it is now coming into contact with that
spirit of cynical enquiry which has every
where turned it into barren philosophy.
Christianity, says the Presbyterian,
after a life of eighteen centuries is every
rrbara huk
Protestan tism is not doing it after eighteen
centuries of life. The missionaries still
labor in every newly discovered land, says
our neighbor; yes, generally with success
as regards the Catholic missions, while the
Protestant limitations are brilliant ehem
plification of the old adsge "much ado
about nothing"
But what is this about France7 Chris
tianity died outf Revived with greater
promise than everf What an admission
of the vitality of "Popery !" Catholicity
never, indeed, really died out there it
was always alive in the secret hearts of
the people; but Atheism and Revolution
put it under a bloody eclipse for q long
time. And now it is truly "revived with
greater promise than ever" We would
give the Presbyterian credit for candor
here, but-but that we have o faint idea
that it may have some covert meaning
which we have failed to comprehend-a
weakly Huguenotic allusion, or something.
'World religions wear out" says our
neighbor, and the whole power of the
Roman Empire under Julian could not
restore q falling paganism. That is we'll
enough, but where is the parity herein
with "Romanism 2" When did Romanism
fall7 We get the daily papers and glance
over the dispatches but have seen no inti-
nation of that event. Prophecies are
always as plentiful as blackberries that
"Romanism" is about to fall, but We have
never known history to go any further in
that line, unless the above citation from
the Presbyterian can be taken as history.
Al. ID