St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-02-16
Thought Urged by a Church
Which Does the Think
ing Itself.
The Preacher Thinks This Ar
gument Would Wreck q
Catholicism. -
Style of Newman Contrasted
With That of Ireland and 2
Gibbons. n

by Rev. W. S. Vail in his sermon Sun
day morning in the Grand opera house.
In opening he gave description of the
visit of the missionary troupe to Phil
lipi; described their ascent of the
mountain ridge from the sea; pointed
out the objects of interest that met their
eyes-the buffalo in the reedy lake, the
bees gathering honey from the rich
cluster of flowers, the landmarks that
recalled the battle of a hundred years
before when the forces of Brutus and
Casslus met those Of imperial Rome,
and when the waters of the GangiteS
Redeemed with blood. To this place so as
full of historic Renaissance came the
great apostle and his companions. Their
preaching produced two results, one inn
mediate and one remote. They stirred
up their antagonists and were beaten
with rods by the Roman lictorS. They
retired from the city in disgrace, SO far
the opinion OF the mob was concerned.
They made a friend of wealthy lady,
a seller of purple from Thyateri, now
resident in Phillip, and the seed grew
and spread in influence long after the
memory of the mob and the tiagelation
had been forgotten.
The preacher claimed that this fact of
double influence from the serious
preaching of an earnest man was fully
illustrated by the preaching of John
Knox. Never was man more pathet'
ically sincere. In the pulpit he held
the Bible up to his people as Il docu-
ment inspired with infallible instruc-
ton in every line. He pointed to it and
vehemently urged ''the open Bible to
take the place Of the infallible church.
At the same time he talked about lib
erty of conscience. He established. as
did all his associates, the idea that pri
vate Judgment was to come in for the
decision OF all questions. That was IN
direct contradiction to his first princi-
| pie. These two lived together long
| time, but in the course of years the the;
| DRY of the rights of private judgment
| came more to the front, and they have,
| even in the most rigid orthodox
| churches, acted as miners and SapperS,.
and are now the reality of the churches
| rather than the accidental Or unimport-
| ant utterance. This was considered a;
very important fact and one it would
| do people good to go home and think
| about.
The ArchbishOp's Sermon.
Here the preacher came to the center
of his theme. The archbishop Of st.
| Paul had recently preached sermon
that attracted much attention both from
| Professionals and Catholics. 1t had been
spoken of as different from the ordinary
run of sermons preached in cathedral
churches. When the great Cardinal
| Newman was asked about the evidence
regarding miracles he said that the
| church produced them to-day, and there
| in lay the evidence establishing their
| existence. He claimed that the Roman
| church was a living organism. showing
| forth the will of God to man; visible,
| tangible, able to give dissolution, to adj
minister comfort, to speak with author
| ity. 1t seemed to the preacher that this
was fair. unbiased representation.
| The archbishop preached against the
prevailing agnosticism OF the day. The
| quotations of the sermon were largely
made from Huxley, Tyndall and Spen-
| Ger and men who stood in like position
| The sermon appealed to the understand.
ing and the sense of right. 1t was as
clearly an argument as any that has
been addressed to a jury in any recent
session of our courts. The preacher
was not here to criticise the sermon.
but to look at the results it was sure to
| produce.
|
| which is an appeal to the reason, what
are we to expect as result of its influ-
ence? The archbishop is a man VIII is
| held in high esteem both inside and out
| side of his church. He has been asso-
ciated with all the men who have assist
ed in making the state, and SO COM
pletely has his interest been identified
with the growth of the commonwealth
| and the growth of the city, that few
| men have so large circle of admirers
within our borders. Among his own
people he is held in
The Highest Regard.
1t were easy then to imagine the
humble in the great throlg that listened
| to the sermon as if spellbound. and fully
| assured at the close that no sermon ever
| preached had done the church more
good. 1t is easy to see that the docU-
ment would be eagerly sought by the
bright young layman who was appealed
| to to allow his reason to decide for
| him as to the merits of the
| case. 1t would be easy to
| imagine thousand homes where the
words spoken that night we'd be vel
coined as the strongest and brayest
| spoken for the interest of the church by
any one for a long time past. But is
such conclusion justified? In order to
answer this we must take a larger view
of the subject and ask the question.
what is the future of Catholic laymen
in American"
What is the Catholic layman? He is
man. He is like other men. If you
were sick On the desert he would share
his last draught of water with you. Ii
you were dying Or the battle field he
would hold your head on his knee, and
take your last message to loved ones.
He has the same kind of feelings that
you have. AS musician he has
charmed the world. As an orator he
has most eloquently pleaded the cause
of temperance. He has written the
most charming memories of liberty, and
urged the strongest appeals for the re-
lief of suffering man. lie marched in
the armies of his adopted nation. He
rode from Winchester and turned back
ward the tide of defeat. All through
he is like other men. He has the same
fundamental nature that other men
possess.
The Catholic layman changes his
opinions. 1t has been claimed that. if
you give the priest control of the boy
until he is ten, no change can ever be
made. There
Never Was a Greater Mistake.
How then, came Luther's reformation?
How, then, came all the Protestant
churches? How, then, came the polit-
ical changes in Italy. when the Catholic
population voted ten to one to join
United Italy rather than the fortunes
OF the pope? When the time comes for
great movement there is Greater
than prince CT church who broods over
the hearts of the people. and no matter
what they may believe before, they
change. | consider this most i'm
portant fact.
| The present day is the day of transi-
ton. In this century and in the next
we are face to face with influences that
are silently working OH the minds OF