The Irish standard., 1897-09-11

queenly empires stamped the human
race with her SEAL the Men of Mcsroim
bowed before the Roman eagles and saw
the traditions Of two thousand years
vanish away before the institutions of
Rome; the Asiatic cities forgot their
pride of birth and Greece yielded up Il
rich heritage OF literary and military
glory; the fire and valor of the Gauls
were surmounted by the incorrigible en-
ergy of Roman intellect; to Rome the
known nations were so many landmarks
that paid tribute through dozen gen.
eraticns; all greatness. beauty. pomp
and e!oquence was swallowed up by the
mighty name Of Rome. But the throne
of the Caesars drifted away. a thing of
the rast; her very pomp and wealth
were the harbingers of her flst-coming
decay. The day that Tarentum, the
richest city on the Adriatic. fell. was
victimized by Roman powess, and when
Paulus Aemilius saw the golden crowns
and sccptrcs of two hundred cities at
his feet. that day Rome. already cor
rupted by the gold of Asia. saw her star
waning, and Seneca told her prophets
cally. WOE to the overweanng Roman
delicacy that cannot set its naked foot
on anything less than precious stones"
Thus it is that no human greatness,
no wt&ldly pomp or power. can lour-
iSh long at the expense of religion and
morality. Mere material prosperity is
not the barometer of Il nations pro-
gross; on the contrary it is an axiom
in civil economy that the richer becomes
a nation in mere material possessions
the nearer it is to decay. Ills but
plethoric ill, and the reason is that in
tcllertlal refinement alone will never
spiritually mold the masses, will never
subdue passion nor preserve national
life and freshness. Man is not a SELF
sustaining splf-s,lliirent being, as many
of our modern rationaIsts would have
us believe, and as the history of Il tot
tering world proves too clearly.
Besides the mind in man there is ii
higher and a noblcr principle on which
all else depends, and without which all
else is naugnt The apothcgm of the
old Gree. sage. know myself" WAS d
dead letter and therefore it was that
the Savior came to show us for this
is the whole knowledge. the proper
study Of mankind in man." Poetry. art,
history philosophy or the sciences, could
never teach that. else the world had
learned ii 1900 years ago, and the urim-
ltive lhcrs would not have persisted.
Even in our own days Christian nations
have turned their backs upon God and
tried to get along With natural virtues;
but the lamcntablc history of bvyone
nations points but TOO clearly to the
goal to which they must inevitably tend;
for those who defy humanity and refuse
to adore God will do as France did when
she Frustrated herself before an ahan-
doncd woman as the high pricstcss on
the apothcsis of reason.
Without the spirituaizing, chasten-
ing influence of religion merely human
ate decay, and we have a striking OK
ample of this in that vast anti-Christian
conspiracy Of modern times made up of
the most eloquent, witty, learned and
Fascinating men of both continents. who
exercise the highest arts to rcpaganize
the world. Look back for a moment at
the revolutions of the last two centuries
that have shaken and undermined the
thrones and nations OF Eurone. and ym,
VII! see at once the effect of religious
indifference and goddess education,
No ruler can rule Il nation nowadays
and appeal to the masoleum of his an
cestors. Public opinion now rules the
ruler Kings and presidents have now
to elect between intelligent and virtu-
GUS opinion on the one side or rcvolu-
tionary passion on the other. Hence the
necessity of Christian education and
even Protestant Russia. which is the
very embodiment of European Protest.
antism soon come to the conclusion
that education, to be any good at all
must be fundamentally religious. And
this does not mean says GuiZot. "that
religious instruction should hold it's
place in popular education, and that the
practices of religion should enter into
1t; for no nation can be properly cdu
Gated by such petty am 'mechanical de-
vices. 1t is necessary that national edu-
cation be given and received in the
midst Of religious atmosphere, and
that religious impressions and religious
observances should penetrate into all is.
parts" Protestants and Catholics alike
have come to the conclusion that mere
instruction without moral training is
not only vain, but pernicious, for ii be-
gets rationalism pure and simple
All the Christian governments of ELL
rope have accepted Guizot's great sys-
tenn and Rudini few weeks ago told
the Romans that his first care in the in
terest of Italy SO disturbed by social