Daily Los Angeles herald., 1884-03-25
lvrmsa AND TINE auroaaaArlom
Archbishop Riordan Lectures to q
Large Audience Sunday Night
Mastery Treatment OF an Interest
ing Theme.

ing Theme.
A large audience gathered in the Ca
tbedral Of st. vibiana Sunday night to
hear the coadjutor Archbishop of San
Francisco, Most Reverend Archbishop
Riordan, deliver his famous lecture on
Luther and the Reformation. The in
tellsctual treat of the evening was pre-
luded by some sacred music, vocal and
instrumental. in which Mrs. o. w.
Childs and Prof. Knell participated. The
ohancel was well filed by olergymen Of
the diocese, while the large and appre-
ciative audience was by no means strict.
ly ssctsrian in character, Protestant.
Catholic, Hebrew and Free Thinker
figuring in its composition. Archbishop
hiordan is gentleman who does not
look to be over thirty-fvs or six years of
age, although presumably, from the ex-
altsd hiefarchical dignity to which he
has attained, he is past forty. He has
been endowed by nature with a frank
and pleasing face, tall and command
ing figure, and has been trained in elo-
cutionary methods in which contain.
mont, dignity and incisiveness are the
leading features. His information is
marked by great refinement and much
of the clear-cut precision which was
such charming distinction of the late
Wendell Phillips. Those who came to
hear him utter TRADE either against
the Reformation or Martin Luther were
much disappointed. Throughout, his
discourse was calm and logical, and it
partook of the obvious harmony and bal
ance of the speakers temperament His
voice is melcdious and well modulated,
and he held the interest Of his large au-
dience through the hour and half COW
cred by his lecture.
1t is of course impossible, in the com :
pass Of the brief space permissible to 9
daily paper, to give more than . mere
skeleton Of the Archbishop's effort, and
even that must be grossly imperfect.
The idea underlying his remarks was
that the so-called reformation brought
about by Martin Lnther was rather re-
ligious revolt than q religious reforma-
tion. 1t was development of the age;
and il Luther had not been it's fugleman
some other person, called by some other
name. would have been. It was q po-
litical rather than a sacerdotai move
ment. II il had been religious refor-
nation, under divine inspiration, there
would have been attendant upon It some
striking improvements in both Christian
morality and dogma. The Archbishop
quoted Hallam. Hume, Guizot, and
other eminent Protestant writers. to sus-
tain his postulate that Luther had cer-
tainly added nothing to the morality of
his age. Frederick the Great, with the
directnsss Of q soldier. had given an
analysis of the true origin Of the refor-
nation. He said that It had been
brought about in England by lust, in
Germany by self-interest and in France
by love Of novelty. Luther had nailed
his thesis to the doors of the church in
Guttenburg on the 3lst day of October,
1917. and fifty years after that date
Professionalism had achieved its last con
quest. Precisely the nations that were
Protestant then are Protestant now.
The nations that remained Catholic then
are Catholic now.
The Archbishop next entered into q
somewhat extended dissertation upon
the political causes which had evolved
the so-ealled Reformation. The See of
Rome had undergone number Of polit-
ical influences since its Divine Founder
had left it the body Of doctrine which it
has always taught. Feudalism began
under the first Charles. The church
had been identified withit. Shortly be-
fore the advent Of Luther causes were at
work which tended to the dev vslopment
Of great centralized monarchies, o which
the church was opposed.
During the course Of his quite lumin-
Gus lecture the Most Reverend gsntls-
man took up the often vaunted claim
that Luther had struck the shackles from
the human mind and had made the Bible
free to every German by translating it
into the vernacular. He gave number
of interesting statistics which showed
that, under the supervision of the Ro-
man Curia, the Bible had been repeated
ly translated into the vernacular Of the
several nations Of Europs. It was not
very generally circulated. II is true, be-
cause before the invention Of the art Of
printing. which popularized letters. IL re-
quired . small fortune to procure .
copy.
Catholics, equally with Protestants,
concede that prior to aud at the reforma-
tion there were abuses in the church
which required to be remedied. The
very opening words of the Council of
Trent admitted the necessity of remedy
ing gross disorders in both the clergy
and the laity. Catholics did not claim
impeccability. II was only under Profess
| tant Establishment that select bodies of
men could be found who claimed pcrfec-
tion. However pure the doctrine Of the
church might be, its agents were neses-
sariIy human and sinful. The speaker
reminded his hearers that Christ came to
save sinners rather than the just. The
church which he established still holds
to the doctrine that its principal duty is
to save sinners.
During his lecture Archbishop Rior-
dan had occasion TO analyze the personal
character Of Luther. His estimate of the
man was temperate and even kindly.
He gave him credit for great eloquence,
learning and force. He knew how to
speak the words which went to the
hsarts Of the people. Yet even his own
most devoted partisans dared not deny
that his writings were often obscene and
gross. No Protestant minister would
dare to read from the pulpit or the ros'
trum much of the matter which the
author of this pseudo reformation wa
not ashamed to write.
Recurring to his argument that ths
reformation was religious revol
founded in political motives and utterly
lacking in Divine inspiration, the lecturer
called attention to the fact that when
Melancthon. Luthera co-laborer, pre-
pared the Augsburg confession of faith
that instrument contained much that
Luther did not approve of, He adopted