Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1888-01-04

ostrich, in the sand at the approach OF
these modern inventions and discoveries
For if Christianity was propagsted to the
uttermost bounds of the earth at time
when we had no other ships but frail Ca
noes, no other compass but the naked eye,
no other roads but eternal SHOWS and virgin
forests and desert wastes, how much more
now can we effect by means of railroads
and steamships! Yes, we bless you, oh men
of genius; we bless your inventions and dis
coveries, and will impress you into the SER
vice of the Gospel, and we will say,
'Lightnings and clouds, bless the LORD;
fire and heat, bless the Lord; all ye works
of the Lord bless the Lord, praise and exalt
Him above all forever
"But may not the light of Christianity
grow pale and be utterly extinguished be-
fore the intellectual blaze of the nineteenth
century? Have We not much to fear from
the arts and sciences and literature? We
have nothing to fear, but everything to
gain, from intellectual development. The
church has always been the patroness of
literature and the fostering mother of the
arts and sciences. At no period of the his
tory of Christianity did the Popes WELD a
greater power than from the twelfth to the
sixteenth century. They exercised not
only spiritual power, but also temporal
jurisdiction, and had great influence with
the civil rulers of those days. Now at no
period did the human intellect revel in
greater freedom in pursuit of speculative
knowledge of every kind than in those
times. This was emphatically the age of
universities. Forty-one universities sprang
up during these four centuries in France,
Germany, Belgium, Italy, Spain, England,
Scotland and Ireland. There can be no
conflict between science and Christianity,
for the same God is the author of all re-
vealed truth and of all scientific truth
Science and religion, like Mary and Martha,
are sisters, because they are daughters of
the same Father. Only they serve the
Lord in a different manner. Science, like
Martha, is laboring among the things of
material creation. Religion, like Mary, is
kneeling at the feet of the Lord.
"But has not the Papacy much to fear
from the progress of liberty? Give US lib
erty; this is all we ask-a fair field and no
favor. The church is always hampered in
her operations wherever despotism casts its
dark shadow. She always blooms and ex-
pands under the genial air of liberty
Amidst the changes in human institutions
| the Papacy is one institution that never
changes. 1t has seen the birth of every
existing government in Europe, and it is
not impr. bable that it may witness the
death of some of them, and chant their re-
QUEEN. 1t was one Thousand four hundred
years old when Columbus discovered
America, and our own government is but
of yesterday as compared with it.
"The present illustrious pontiff, Leo
| XIII, is worthy successor of the Gregg
ries, the Innocents, the Pulses, and of the
long line of Leos that have preceded him.
For ten years he has occupied the chair OF
Peter, a spectacle to the world, to angels
and to men. And during all that time he
has excited the admiration of the civilized
world by his luminous intellect, bis broad
craftsmanship, his strong Judgment, his
keen appreciation of things, by his con-
ciliatory disposition, his personal integrity
and purity of life, and by his great be
nevolence of character. Leo XIII is to.
day, perhaps, the most popular man In
Europe, if not in the world
"And this is the secret of his popularity
He understands the times in which we
live : he appreciates the fact that we are
living in the nineteenth century. and not il
the ninth. He adapts himself to time;
and circumstances without compromising
the eternal principles of justice. He under
stands the wants of the people, and sympa
thizes with their legitimate aspirations
while at the same time he is always the
promoter and vindicator of law and order
and legitimate government everywhere
He has found the key to the hearts of the
people, and has entered there. Let us
hope that this great luminary whom the
Lord has set over His church may long
linger above the horizon to enlighten us by
his wisdom and to cheer us by his example
and, when his course is run and his light
on earth ia axtinUuished NAV he shine for
all eternity in the Kingdom of our COM
mon Father, the source Of all light and the
auther Of all justice" The Cardinal
closed by an eloquent invocation of blessings
upon .'our beloved country and upon the
President and others in authority, and
that all, after blessings upon earth, may be
blessed through all eternity,