The Irish standard., 1894-12-01
AN Il AROUND THE CITY.
THE REFORMATION

Father Cleary spoke to full house at
st. Charles Church last Sunday even
ing, says the Daily Times. HIS die.
course was the second in the series
which he has begun on the reformation
and the interest awakened is keen and
widely exten led. This brief synopsis
gives q fair understanding of his argu-
ment:
"In the name of God the DEVILS work
is often done. In the name of liberty,
despots have committed the greatest
crimes against human freedom. In the
name of religion the most impious cruel
ty has been inflicted on the weak, by
heartless monsters, such as Cromwell or
an Elizabeth. In the sacred name Of
conscience, the dearest rights of others
have been trampled in the dust, as in
the case of Henry the Eighth his faith
full wife, Queen Catherine. In the name
of reform Luther began. his revolt
against the church and the existing
order Of things.
"The watchword Of reform has al
ways had an attractive sound to the
human ear ever alert for new and excit-
ing sensations. The scoffer at religion,
for example, invariably processes a de-
sire to reform the beliefs of mankind by
undermining the sacred traditions and
unsetting the convictions Of mon. His
motive is not 80 much reform or i'm
provement, as 1t is the complete over
turning of whatever opposes his peculiar
whimsical and uncertain fancies. At
the time of Luther an improvement, or
reform in the conduct Of human society,
was longed for by all earnest friends of
humanity's welfare. Abuse in the
church and in civil society had become
so wide spread and odious as to demand
their restriction and repression by severe
and stringent methods. In no age of
the worlds history have men been 80
perfect and SO eminent in virtue as not
to be in some need of reform or improve
ment. The world is never so good that
it cannot be made better. The age in
which Luther lived was no exception to
this general rule. It was an age of the
revival Of learning. of love for the fine
arts and intellectual culture. Raphael,
the unrivalled master of the painters
art, was born in the same year with
Luther, and died in 1910, the year in
which the disobedient monk began his
defiant assault on the papacy, having
filed the world for all time with the re-
nown of his unequalled genius. Michael
Angelo Bounarotti, the inspired archi-
tect, sculptor and painter, was at the
zenith of his marvellous fame when the
Saxon revolutionlsts kindled the fires Of
religious warfare in Northern Germany.
Pope Leo sat at the chair of Peter and
as the generous patron of art and OF let
ters gathered around the papal throne
an array of genius, which has fascinated
the admiration of the world for over 800
years, but which has never been equalled
in the annals of human glory. The art
printing, invented but few years pre-
vioue, and still in it's infancy, placed in
the hands of human activity the might
lest power for good aud evil the word
had ever seen or dreamed of.
"Tbe church, divine organization,
equipped with divine authority and di-
vine energy by divine founder, con-
tanned within herself the elements f
reform and the necessary force to eman-
cipate herself from the debasing influ-
ences of long standing abuse. The
church was not unmindful of the need
of reform, and had not failed to take
steps to correct prevailing abuse.
Society had just emerged from barbar-
ism, thanks to the tireless and heroic
energies of the church. Kings and
petty princes invaded the domain Of the
church's authority, and many abuses
had crept in, owing to the interference
of civil rulers in the selection of bishops,
and the distribution OF ecclesiastical
patronage. Luther's mistake consisted
in attempting to overthrow authority,
which alone was competent to correct
abuse, instead of bending his giant ener-
gies to the overthrow of the abuses
themselves. Having once made the
fatal misstep Of assailing lawful author
ity, he fell into further perplexing
blunders, and came to imagine that the
abuses were the result OF doctrines, in
stead of departure from them, as they
were. The teachings of the church
were no more to blame for the corrup-
tion of morals, that was a departure
from doctrine, than it was for I.uther's
sad fall and sinful life after he rebelled
against it's authority. His life was ex-
emplary while he remained obedient to
her precepts and councils; it became the
scandal of his age after his rebellion
against her. Sampson-like he tore
away the pillars that upheld the temple,
4 81 1cr4 n