The Irish standard., 1889-11-23
What Protsstanss Have Said About tbs
Pope

L Il 81 .t 5 : /. /. & 4 e
Roscoe, a Protestant writer, states
that almost all tine Popes were supel ior
to the age in which hry lived, and We're
the projection Of science. Of letters and
OF arts"
Referring to the benpfcient inference
of che PuDes ii, thu middle ages, Ancil-
Ion, learned German Poo e5Jant dl-
vine, saws: ''In the ages when there was
no social order it was the Influence and
power Of tue PUpes that alone saved
Europe from astate Of bArbarism. They
kept up the relations between distinct
nations. They were the Common cen
ire and rallyiug point to all the isolated
states. They formed the supreme tri
bunal, erected in the midst OF universal
anarchy, aud their DEGREES We're as re-.
spectacle as they were respected. It
was their power that prevented and
stayed the despotism Of the emparors;
that replaced the Want OF equilibrium
and diminished the Inconvenience Of
the feudal system"
An able French Presbyterian minis
ter, the Rev. M Coquerel, employs the
following language:
1.-The Papal power, by disposiug of
crowns. hindered despotism from broom
ing atrocious; thus it happened IN times
of darkness We do not meet with any
example of tyranny like that Of Domit-
ian in ancient Rome. A Tlberias was
impossible; the Pope would have
crushed tnm Great despotisms occur.
when kings persuade themselves there
is nothing above them; tnen intoxica
ton of unlimited aggressions
'Solthey, no freud OF the Catholic
Church. says: 'If the Papal power had
not been adapted to the conditions of
Europe, it could not have subsisted II
was the remedy for SC ne Of the greatest
evils. We have to look to the Abyssini
ans and Oriental CHRISTIANS, to see what
Europe would have become without the
Papacy. 1t was morally aud inteileetu-
ally the conservative power of Christeu-
dom. Politically, it was the Saviour of
Europe. For, in all probability, the
West, like the e sst, must h&ye bern
oyerrun by Northumberland, and sunk
in irredeemable degradation if, in that
great crisis Of the world, the Church
had not reused the nations to a united
and prodigious effort, commensurate
with the danger. In the frighJful sta te
of society which som atimes prevailed,
the Church everywhere presented con-
trolling and remedial influence
Robertson, rigid Scotch Presbyter-
ian, states: The Pontifcal monarchy
taught the nations and kings to regard
themselves mutually as compatrAots, as
being both equally subjsct to the divine
sceptre of religion, and this centre of
religious unity has be N throughout
many ages a real benefit to the human
race
The celebrated Swiss historian, SIS
mondi, thus exclaims: ''In tue midst OF
the conflicts of jurisdictions, tue Pope
alone proved to be the defender of the
people, the only paci6er of great dis
turbauces. The conduct of the Pontiffs
inspired respect as their benei cence
merited gratitude"
John Muller, a learned German Prot
estant historian, expressed the opinion
that without the Popes, Rome could
not exist. George, Alexander and limo
cent opposed a dixie to the torrent
which threatened the whole earth
their paternal hands elevated the hier
archy, and alongside Of it the liberty of
every state" ~
Eeibnitz saws: IF all would become
Catholics and believe in the iufallability
of the Pope, there would not be required
any other umpire than that of the Vicar
Of Jesus Christ. If the Popes resumed
the authority which they had in the
time of Nicholas the FIRST, or Gregory
the Seventh, it would be the means Of
obtaining perpetual peace and conduct
ing US buck to the golden age"