Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-09-01

shortest distance between two points. In this
and similar statements, not only IN science, put
in every department OF knowledge, the intel
lect has no freedom of choice. It assents at
once and from its very nature cannot do other
wise. 1t is not free to dissent. Indeed, properly
speaking, freedom does not belong to the
mental faculty.
In this respect it is important to bear in mind
the difference between the intellect and the
WILL In this life the will cannot be necessi'
tated by any individual good or advantage
however great, because no created goo1 can
fully satisfy the capacity of our nature. With
the mind, on the contrary, truth, whenever
clearly perceived is irresistible. The acts OF
our mind follow of necessity; Just as on tne
other hand those same acts of the mind are
necessarily withheld whenever intrinsic OF eA-
trinsic evidence does not place truth WITHIN
the horizon of our mental vision. Ii In the iat-
ter case
JUDGMENT BE PRONOUNCED
it is because the will acts upon the mind and
makes it adhere with more or less foundation
to one statement rather than to another. by
analogy we are in the habit of calling this pro-
cess OF our minds liberty, by a certain deriva-
tion from the liberty of the will. Now if We
admit this liberty with regard to everything as
the system under consideration requires, we
must admit likewise that the mind never sim
ply perceives truth, or that truth is never SO
perceived as necessarily to claim intenectuai
assent. This once admitted, the foundauon OF
only religion, but science itself, falls 10 the
ground. Free thought therefore, cannot stand
the test Of philosophical scrutiny.
Second, as system it rests untenaoie sup
positions. The moment we raise the panner OF
free thought we must hold by the very IacI
that the Christian creed rests on no sollo
foundation; that All the reasons wnicn M aIns aaIm
by which it was promulgated were the work OF
fraud and impostuye. -
If free thought te accepted, either the Chris.
or these truths thus revealed cannot claim the
assent of our intellect In other words,
reasonable being must either examine the Gre
dentials of Christianity and refute them or, ad-
mitting that it is
A DIVINE RELIGION,
still refuse to adopt it Neither conclusion is
tenable; the first, as involving difficulty even
the other as inconsistent with right reason.
Third, finally liberty OF thought implies liberty
of action, SO that moral and physical liberty be-
come distinct only in name Man, therefore,
may deem morally right whatever he can
physically perform. 1t is needless to say how
pernIcious in its consequences would be the
practical application of such doctrine. Now,
If 1t be lawful to think as we please, why can
names? That property is robbery? That
modesty and decorum are but prejudices of
educationf That treason, self-indulgence, in
justice are to be placed op the same level with
patriotism, temperance and righteousnessf
Since. therefore, our exterior actions are
prompted and guided by our inward thoughts.
witt, with principles like those suggested BY free
world? What will become of the familyf
What of civil society itself? Mere material
force, illogically used in similar contingencies,
will not suffice to avert threatening evils or
check their baleful progress. Freedom of
thought is therefore fountain of woe in its
practical application and its logical results.
And nov, dear brethren, the grosser the results
m Ta0rd tho
and devoted in proportion ought to be our love
for Him and our care not to offend Him our
selves. In our day and generation one of the
most fatal snares laid for the faithful is
afhliation with
SECRET SOCIETIES,
that are based on mere naturalism in exclusion
of, and by inference at least, in opposition to
our Divine Redeemer The harm that has come
to religion In the eternal city during the past
20 years is attributed mainly to the workings of
secret societies. In our land of freedom there
is no need of burrowing in the dark. Much
less ought Catholics patronize associations in
which the Christian faith and the divinity Of
Christ, our Savior, are ignored.
Our sympathy also goes out to the vicar OF our
Lord on earth. We grieve with him Tor the
outrages inflicted on religion. We grieve that
Rome, sanctiied by the blood of myriad mar
tvrs has seen the standard of the Evil One
faunted through her streets in memory of an
apostle whose sole merit was to repeat with
1ucifer of old, II will not serve" In the pain
and insult offered to the head all the men,
bers necessarily share. In the wrongs done to
the sovereign pontif the faithful of the whole
world are assailed; and against such indignities
continued now for l9 years. all of us, as Cath
olics utter our indignant protest.
Finally let us redouble our supplications to
the Most High. that He may make the light of
His countenance to shine upon us and have
mercy on us; that He may pour his grace into
the hearts of the wayward and the ignorant
that they may know Him, the only true God
and Jesus Christ whom He has sent