The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1894-10-21
lro 1III AND rHE ANGLIcANs.


C.,rch-what the Pope viii OEer.
pour Oct. THE apostolic letter rrr-
,ioro Of which had the honor to
,pesk TO you before It appeared. has made
an impression on all intelligent minds al
most as Of a new gospel. IL has resounded
throughout the intellectual world like q letter
Of ~. Paul From all regions where dwel's tho
Thought OF social and religious harmony faith
has echoed back the apostolic wish OF his Holt
ness. With an eagerness arising from long-de-
layed hopes, Leo XIII. has tried 10 ascertain
what mark his appeal has made on mems souls
For this document, with which he has been
busted for q whole year, Is the summing up, the
eliminating point Of reign in which he has
Gown many thoughts that have a future. Open
50 every wave Of thought OF the century, to
"a, .yailing as we'll as TO its shouts Of JOY,
its dependency as well as its optimism, bold as
a hunter of souls and tender "a woman; al
WAYS READY TO unite 10 conciiiate, and 70 heal;
= historical parsonage who, like all great men,
wishes to leave name In history ana
mako humanity take one step further In
the path Of right and truth; Leo Mi. keeps
rigidly bent over mankind TO listen TO the beat
ings Of its heart. He knows the malsdy Of the
Are and homes 10 cure IL. Neither sacrifices nor
labor daunt his iron soul. The daimon Of
Socrates breathes in him; he will not rest from
his giants toll till he lies under the cold slabs of
St John Iateran.
/, Ia from England and the United States that
a, xIII has receiyed the most marked en-
enlargement From Germany, where Luther
.nI.,, 4. uaspine out its last breath the echo
from mems hearts was not so loud. Tho Angli-
can Church had not waited for this call for
union to seek the points where II was In touch
with Roman Catholicism. For some time high
,h,nlinv minds had entered into communica-
t. T. a
clearing of the way for closer connection. A
Frcnch prIest. under the pseudonym Balbus,
had raised the great question Of the
yaI,di,v Of Anglican ordination. Though
M. conclusion was that IL was not
valid. his language was SO sympathetic,
ne shorsd the possibility OF a compromise In
nractice so reasonable. that the high dignitaries
~ IN. Anglican Church took notice of his pacIfy-
inc work IL Ia worthy of notice that the
Caihol,c press and theological science gave this
.s,ny A most aattering reception. Soon the
No,rcau Moniteur of Rome published study by
Abba Duchesne. professor of tho Catholic In
s,i,ute Of Paris in which that celebrated critic
concluded that Anglican orders were valid.
Benp published by an organ of the Vatican, the
article made A sensation The heads OF the An
ulcan Church and the newspapers have looked
an this work as significant and happy omen.
The commotion has not been fruitless know
hat par,eys that exchanges Of opinions, have
taken place between Anglicans and Catholics.
The pope. very eager for all news concerning IL,
had A vell.informed person come to Rome in
order TINT he might find out all that wa. said
done. and prepared. Startled by what he learned,
and by these new currents OF thought. he began
n broad inquiry into the manner OF entering
into relations with the Anglican Church. From
this INQUIRY will come document In the form
ct a special appeal to Euglishmsn separated
from Rome.
In n matter so delicate when the slightest
erstanding miuht put an end to this pre-
lude to an agreement, | should not like to ex-
nrsss an oninion. which might be- a bold guess
I am n mirror. not n Judgment seat. 1 relate
only; draw no conclusions. But what know
IA that the nobest mipda, the most sterling char
scters on either side are watching the course of
his episode with intense interest. II is now two
centuries since any voice in any camp has
been able, or has dared. to make an appeal
for the reconciliation of the opposing forces.
1t seemed AZ though the religious COM
II l may use a phrase which
belongs to a different order of things, had
be,ome n desert, All long contests bring with
them long silenoes, and this long silence
of Christian hearts has been q mystery. q
strange fact: one of those lapses from the ideal
which history shows us occur at the beginning
of all great moral revolutions. Hatreds, misun-
the rabies theologicd, polemical
writings. doctrinal differences. the divereenoes
in service, have worn an impossible gulf be-
tween the churches whore Christ Is worshipped
This silence or this struggle has brought TO our
century an exhaustion of the religious element
In its social organization. and the moral atrophy
ia one NJ the causes of national. political, and
economic dlsruption. With knowledge of this
wasting away of the blood of Christianity.
ISOLATED cries have been uttered which were
.wept away in the whirl of public opinion,
nd buried under the lev breath Of Indifference.
10 lift and rend a century's shroud there was
need ~ a central man. OF what Tains in hi,
psychology Of letters calls "ths representative
~ the SURROUNDINGS There was need ~ a
genius who oonld captivata the imauinations Of
men and who a, the same time had delegated
IN him an extraordinary authority tina, could
oyercome the combination Of all nreiudIces and
,he coniunctIon Of ali onnosit,ops That man \,
I en- XIII A comn,ebsn.iva in,sI,act takIry In
ever, breath from withou, a conciliatino and