The sun., 1897-07-20
r1rHSR uroKER.
his Yankee Type or Character ana the Erench
Catholics.

AZ THE bbITUH OF 1hH OON-oTs Ab N hos
little significant to note with what eagerncss
many thinkers in Europe arc Watching tho de-
velopment Of American thought especially In
religious matters, and aro looking TO tho fresh
vigor Of our younger civilization for their In.
spirations. Leo XIII. has made no secret OF
the fact that not few of his progressive idcas
as we'll as his broad humanitarian notions no
has acquired from American sources. Ho
owns up to carefully reading o copy Of the Con-
stitution OF the United States given TO him by
President Cleveland some time ago, ana It gives
him not little delight to buttonhole some
American prclato or publlcist and, whilo tell
ing him how much he loves America, to
gather all the knowledge he can Of American
idoas ana the trend of American thought
Formerly tho wise men came from the East;
his wise men come from tho West. Leo In
this capacity represents q large and growing
class among tho thinkers OF Europe.
A notable instance of the same spirit 10 found
In the publication lntoly Of two appreciative
articles on Father Hecker in Lie Corrcspon-
ddnt by the Count de Chambrun and now there
appears translation into French Of tho life Of
Father Hecker, apropos of tho publication.
Abbe Klein, Professor at the Catholic Institute
Of Paris, summarizing the intellectual position
OF Hecker. speaks Of him as the prophet Of tho
future-the one who has bazed tho way to the
best progress in religious matters.
Abbe Klein is one Of the stoutest exponents
OF the Leonine policy In France, and, like Leo,
he is q strong believer in the vitality of ideas.
He says Of Hecker's Life that mo book
has appeared within 1fty years which casts
more vivid light upon the present condition Of
humanity or the religious evolution Of the
world, on the intimate relations Of God with
the modern soul, or on the existing conditions
| of the Church's progress"
Tho typo OF Yankee character he finds in
Hecker Is 80 unconventional and at tho Same
! time so refreshing full Of straightforward
simplicity and guilelessness, 30 utterly lack.
| ing In that peculiar French trait, diplomacy,
that ho falls in lovo with 1t at once. Still he
| does not fail to see the far-reaching influences
Of Hecker's ideas and he realizes that like all
pioneers in intellectual or spiritual movements
Hecker will be appreciated fifty years from
now far moro than he is oday He says:
Nothing is SO affecting as to follow the intel.
lectual, moral, and religious evolution Of this
terror drama ono behoids God taking irresisti.
Bile possession of his soul and leading It by
fection. With tho difference which belongs to
their ,epochs he reminds one Of st. Augustine.
rupt life. Hecker was profoundly moral, fiiled
with strenuous desire for the light, but with
e of be s
ances which Catholics retained from an age
gone gone, BY Ho has trayersed @ IL the whole space
|
kee unembarrassed by the accidental institu-
tions OF the past
thrown on tho difficulties which ultimately cui.
minated in the institution Of the first American
ists. one Of the Canadian Bishops said W to Plus %
IN: Holy Father, ! should not be at all sur
Prisesd PSs II S, you were to S canonize one OF these
The applications % oe Of The inventive genius to
arts te wor ss 5
| years than were formerly made In several cen
turies Such changes In the social world do
moral condition of humanity. They require,
and, in certain measure. they call into being
denco, moro Initiative and a greater change Of
the conditions under which one lives; and all
cal problems which constantly demand solution
In public life as well Ms settlement In private
honor of an epoch in Sheh ONE had % only to
SerS thsS the ETS way
| cause OF morality cannot stand.
In these S oondons md heceE had the
the trend of, all these movements was in the
ccnrtail liberty and Intelligence, lest perchance
them. y Not % few Wv We're re p possessed Of W the idea
that religion was a huge central despotism In
was to repress the legitimate aspirations Of the
heart for what are the idols OF modern life
hs s snSns' wns the f fn 9'
rsh rspnted But the Of
piration for what Is good is from the interior
seFon 8 Simply o0 to f@s 3
ually to the guidance Of the Holy, Spirit. The
must be merely the standard by which We
action-the track on which the train is to run,
While the mUye power Is in the engine The he
he principle Of authority outside of ones self.
Where this is looked to and depended upon
s1 Us The c B Bat uR OF s4SwS S Ss
from within, % & as the tree grows by life all its
the man. an the the Better tho Christian. "TSe i. in.
or his liberty too great when he is guided BY
very principles have been enshrined IN the
latest enGyolieal letter Of Leo on the Mission
been mt taken f Of ph these luminous @ n % armstions % Of
the great Watchman @ on the tower Of 1a Israel. ..
ramparts Of the citadel of her power.the exter;
uhor This y"9G,n 9Fs found If sS
ned walls; Now, says leo. the battle Of three
flying and sanctiacation Of souls.
| Heckers life had been tho practical studying
out Of all these vital principles, and he burned
with the most intense desire to tell his country
men that tho Catholic Church gives them q
flight to God thousand times more direct than
they ever dreamed Of They think the author
ty OF the Church will cramp their limbs. He
was eager to explain to them that 1t sets them
free. clears the mind Of doubt intensifes con-
viction into instructive certitudc and quickens
the intellectual faculties into an activity
whose force IL unknown among those who are
always inquring for and never gaining the
truth. And with his profound confidence in
the future Of the religious life In America, he
believed that the Latin race with Its predilection
for external institutions and monarchical forms
OF government had crowned Its religious work
In the Vatican Council and that 1t was given to
| other races to lead In the development OF the
| interior virtues of religion.
Able Klein has assimilated these new and
| vigorous ideas in wonderful way for n French
man. and his yoicng Of them in French for the
| religious thinkers OF his own people Is like a
strain of sweetest music from another land
i What is the matter with French Catholicism
Why is the practice Of religion so formal, obedi
cncc so seryilc. and the Church sterilci Re-
| camso SO little has been made Of the interior