Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1895-12-07

N" a,rmer article we spoke Of the
H a.,l,h Of the Medieval Church
g'" .o;rted out the fraud by which
'nu n that wealth was accumulated
iip'r .e,,ionei also that the dominant
We ,.,on of the Church was to obtain
ip,y ., and promised that at some future
o.. we might, peradveniure, hnd
un' 80 leisure in which to consider
no" sh,se Of her past history. Now
w. w., nolitieal excitement is over ior one
'D- ~. season. we will take advantage OF
Ivy s,s,,bing spell andpeep for moment
'.,o the past to view the ambitions that
ivy ..,,,,d and oppressed men thousand
.go For Il we seek we shall find
,ye are not the only race or age
' ~ has been harassed by political or
r,ioos passions. Close upon the foot
~. ,s,s ol the Music Of History, so Tar as
can trace them ever since the fall OF
,s,m lie, the story OF mans allure
so,s and disappoin,menis; the on
.ln,bt Of his evil, the continued til.
..,,b Of his good; the slow but sure
s',r Of the forces Of ormizd against
Nv 6.fee atraeks OF Ahnman, the
..i,rpb OF the faithful Jealous Gabriel
Inst the ambitious hosts Of Lucifer.
"a ve shall find that so closely to-
The, lie the tangled threads Of good
nd evil as to all but battle mans
,,,ious endeayor to wind them into pro-
-, shape. What then, may we expect
!, 6pd in the situation when ignorance,
,pss,ition, avarice, bigotry. oppression
1, one word unrighteousness-are the
ices that steer the helm OF history
rh,.s we lind the dominant charaoteris'
t,,of the dark ages TO have been not a
,ls,,ant prospect, not such a view as
4. soul seeks to assure her peace, 1t Is
,,us. but such as it is, It's contemplation
r,ll, perhaps, provide a lesson.
Ne will now proceed to investigate
be judicial phase OF the Catholic church
The centuries extending from about,
cav the sixth to the twelfth alter Christ
Ne ind that the clergy were early
exempted from the jurisdiction OF the
,iv courts but that they, however.
l,,ouently trespasscd upon the preroga-
,,yes of the latter. The statutes OF
m,,inian and Chaflemangne forbade the
mi OF ecclesiasucs by temporal magis.
,r.tes except in cases oil crime, and
wen then they could not be sentenced
without the concurrence Of their bishops
or By an appeal to the emperor. But
even this was yielded In time and the
episcopal courts usurped, little by little
md under various pretenses. almost all
judicial functions, presuming to leglslates
10 councils, beyond ecclesiastical matters
and invading the province OF the State.
We must not evade nor belittle any
alternating phases OF what may, at
fr,t blush, appear wholly condemnable.
It is true that In studying the history Of
these usurpations we find much to blame
but much may also be found to eNtenuate
these ecclesiastical interieTences. The
clergy (which about the sixth century
cane TO include the monastic orders)
we're alone familiar with letters and
we're therefore appointed to perform
political correspondence and to draw up
ioms Of law. Their exclusive knowl.
edge OF the arts and sciences introduced
them to the notice OF the royalty and
nobility whose households they entered
as tutors; aud their general intellectual
superiority gave them precedence as
eounselors and ministers to kings. This
was largely true as early as the times OF
tie Roman emperors. II was but natural
that this intellectual prestige should in.
crease with the increase Of intellectual
darkness that flooded the world after
the disruption Of the Roman empire by
the barbarian invasions.
Some writer's find nothing but evil In
the work and authority usurped by the
church Of Rome In the middle ages.
Others ind much good. Each sees
according to his point OF view and the
faith that is within him. The protestant
aud liberty, loving spirit Of our age and
land hnds the search for good, much as
ne seeking after needle In a straw
Stack Even that which we have just
pointed out as deserving to be placed TO
the credit" side OF this account, we
md so profound and eminent a writer as
the Rev, John Todd denouncing In no
measured terms. Another striking in
stance" says he, "oi the perversion oil
mind and the abuse oil the human in
lsIiecl and heart, is the RomiSh church.
No one created mind, apparently, could
ever have invented a scheme oi delu-
sion, OF degration Of the soul, the in.
ltlleCt the NhDle man so DefleCt and