The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1896-01-25

Talmage Thinks That Religion
May Be Gauged as Other
Things. .-....
| I give you today interviews which l
have just had with two of the greatest
leaders of religious thought in the United
States, writes Frank G. Carpenter. Irefer
to his eminence, James, Cardinal Gibbons
of Baltimore, and Rev. T. De Witt Tai
mage, of Washington. My interview with
Cardinal Gibbons took place in the car
dinal's house at Baltimore This is a big,
gray stone building of many rooms, stu
ated in the heart of the city, just back Of
the cathedral. Cardinal Gibbons is the
head of the Catholic church in the United
States. He has many callers, and his re-
Iception days bring crowds almost equal to
those of the President in the White House.
My meeting was by appointment, and
after a few moments heard the swish OF
the skirts which announced the approach
gown of dark cloth embroidered with red,
which fell from his neck to his feet. A
skull cap of bright red covered the crown
of his head, and upon the third finger Of
the left hand he wore the great sapphire
ring, which is one of the emblems of his
clerical rank He. offered me his hand and
| led me to a seat near the window. AS
he talked had a good chance to observe
strong face. His forehead is high and
narrow, reminding you somewhat of some
of the pictures of Napoleon Bonaparte
taken during his boyhood. His eyes are
blue and kindly, his nose large and
straight, and his mouth strong, but gentle.
He is slender, rather than portly, and his
form is the personifcation of nervous
activity. He is now 81 years old, but he
does not look to be more than so. He is a
man OF ideas and IS full of plain, practical
common sense, He is a patriotic Amer
ican, and no one can. talk with him with
out being impressed by. the humanity and
brotherly love which shows out in his
| features. Our talk was more of chat
than set interview, and I give it much
as it occurred.
! My first question was as to whether his
eminerce thought there would ever be
universal religion. 81, -,
He replied: ri hope So but when it
will come cannot say. The world is be-
coming more Christ:amlike every day,
and we are l hope, gradually nearing the
time when there will be universal
Christianity as45
| l here asked whether he thought that
this universal religion would be the Cath
olic religion. He replied with the same
answer, 81 hope So" and in response to
my questions gave me some reasons of the
wonderful growth Of the Catholic religion.
Said he: "Of course, believe the Cath
olic religion to be the best Of all religions.
It is adapted to all the needs Of mank md
and man.. It is fitted for the elevation of
his soul, for the guidance Of his conduct,
and for the satisfaction of all his spiritual
wants tits fitted for the poor as we'll as
the rich. We welcome the poor, think,
more than do other churches, and there
is no difference in the treatment Of them,
IN the church They kneel at the same
confessional, and, as far as possible, they
are on the same footing in the church. I
do not mean to say that there is not much
good in the Protestant religion, but I
think that nearly every other church is
lacking in some particular. The Catholic
church is complete 1t has the good ele-
ments of all others, and it is lacking in
nothing. These are some of the reasons
of it's permanency and constant growth
! Upon my saying that there were some
differences even among Catholics as to
their belief. the car dinal went OH:
II do not know that there should not
I be differences of belief as to religious
matters. OF course, the main principles
of Christianity are the same, but as long
as men have different minds there will be
different theories as to the details, as to
the lines of policy in the management of
churches, and as to Interpretation of GER
tain parts of the scripture"
As Cardinal Gibbons said this my mind
| went back over his career and / remem-
bered an incident in it where he was a
| humble priest in a small country parish
near Baltimore Smallpox had broken
out in his village and all OF his parish
oners who were able had fled from the
town. One poor old negro who had the
disease lay at the point of death. He
had been deserted by his friends and
/ family, who had left him neither food
nor medicine. The young priest heard
Of the case and, Fastening to the dying
negro's side he remained with him until
the last. Then the question came as to
his burial There was no one who would
raise hand at the risk of his life to aid
| in carrying the corpse to the grave.
| Father Gibbons was left alone with the
! dead. It did not take him long to make
up his mind He determined to be un-
| dertaker as we'll as minister, and SO, hav-
ing obtained a coffin, he placed the body
! in it and in some way or other dragged
| 1t to the grave. He put it in the ground,
performed the last rites of the church.
over it and buried it, and then went on
with his work among the sick.
| AS thought Of this realized that this
mans ideal Of Christian life was higher
than that Of many other religious men I
have known. wondered If there were
many of his kind in the church, and ]
asked. him il he thought Catholic priests
were really Of more value in their work
| in the church than Protestant preachers.
That I cannot answer replied the
Ieardinal. do not want to criticise any
man. only say 4 think they ought to-
be. They have, in the first place, their
whole time to devote to their work. Sup
pose u for instance, had q wife and fam;
| iIy. could not accoln lish as smucha
M 1,fsS a3k fil6seji m E f1S