The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1899-12-30

] the next we are informed that lnlS
same "Romanisnl' is staggering to-
wards its final overthrow. The over
throw of imperialism in France, the
destruction of the temporal power the
humiliation "of papal iniquities in
Mexico" All this presages the speedy
downfall of "Romanism. Well, if this
be true, why in the world did King
write his book? We shall find the
answer to this question later. The
reason he wrote it, as we shall see
was an unrighteous and ungodly one.
1t matters not to Mr.. King that it is
illogical to say the Catholic Church
cannot hold the common people, and
yet its hierarchy making government
can do whatsoever it wants. in all
countries on the globe. 1t undermines
the press, it cajoles the people, and is
everywhere Organizing a Jesuitical po-
litical force.
From one point of view, James NJ.
Kings book is a greater insult to the
Protestants of the United States than
to the Roman Catholics 1t is q, poor
opinion he has of the average Amer
leans good sense that only he and his
kind can see straight. The strength
of politico-ecclesiast "Romanism. -
according to King, is due to the ignor-
ance of American history, and the
sources of our civilization on the part
of the American peope, who are indif-
ferent to the underlying principles of
our government and our liberties. 1.-The
pusillanimity of many of our citizens"
says King, inspired by ignorance and
sloth, constitute elements Of strength
to Romanism, and of peril to our in
stitutions. And this class of people
call themselves liberal and wish to be
| counted smart and conservative 1t
is the conservatism of persistent ig-
norance and the Smartness of tnrea-
soning egotism." What a splendid
opinion this is, truly, Of 100000 of
American people who are willing to
accord religious liberty to all loyal cit
! liens! We cannot but express wonder
and ask. if this be true, what has kept
our government on the right path so
long?
Mr. King tears his hair and hysteric-
ally complains that Catholic nations
have prosecuted. To this we calmly re-
/ ply that Protestant nations have done
| likewise, and neither statement has
any value except to prove that men
are human. Outbreaks of prosecuting
! spirit were but occasional and mainly
political. These outbreaks were found
frequently in the much-lauded Amer
lean colonies, the sources of Mr.. Kings
vaunted American civilization.
Mr. King. says: England gave Magma
Charta and America gave the liberty
| of religion and its free exercise to
! Christian civilization" To this we
would gently reply that Catholic Eng
land gave the Magma Charta, and
Catholic colony was the first to give
liberty of religion and its free exercise
to Christian civilization in America.
We presume Mr.. King has overlooked
this fact
Much, over much, is made by Mr.
King of the Spanish Inquisition, and
it is attempted to make it appear that
the Spanish Inquisition owed its ORR
gin to Catholicism, which had a strong
/ hold in Spain. Now, Catholicism was
equally strong in Italy. Why did not
the Inquisition get a foOthold there?
The reason of the InquisitiOn may be
found in the character of the Span
iards, made brutal by the Moors. Spain
was for centuries the state which stood
between Christianity and barbarism.
She received the onslaughts Of the I'M
believer, and it is no wonder if she
came to believe in persecution for re-
ligion's sake. The Spanish are not
typical Catholics any more than the
Germans, the Irish, the Belgians, the
French, the Italians-yet these did not
prosecute like the Spanish. Spain had
for years to beat back the flood of Mo-
hammedanism and consequently. grew
" OCllNNC blloN pElSCN0b1OAi 1O1 1Cl4S
sake was a virtue. Remember the bat
tie of Tours, the sigh of relief that
went up all over Christian Europe
when the heather on-rush was stopped.
If Spain had not leaped into the breach
Europe would have Succumbed to the
Turks. Let us be fair and give Spain
credit for that. Yet the limitation of
this virtue was what confirmed Spain
in the prosecuting habit. This is the ex-
PLANTATION given by the historians in
face of the fact that other Catholic
nations abhorred the Inquisition. Hence
this cannot be said to be Catholic. ex-
cept so far as Spain is concerned.
Catholic and Spaniard are not inter
changeable terms
The Inquisition owed its origin to
human nature, and not to religion.
In order to enlighten the author Of
Facing the Twentieth Century" if |
such a thing is possible, on the i'm |
pulses of human nature, we commend |
to his consideration the following para |
graphs, taken from an editorial on
lynching in the New York Evening |
Post, Dec. Z, 1899:
How many unfortunate wretches |
must thus have been done to death |
whom even a slight judicial inquiry |
Baptists among us hold up their hands
in horror over the atrocities of the |
Inquisltion in Spain and of arbitrary
power everywhere; but what were the
atrocities of the Inquisition in Spain,
and what are the atrocities of arbitrary
power anywhere, compared the the
atrocities Of lynching mObs among US?
The Inquisition at least gave the vic
tim the form of a trial. and there is
no arbitrary power except Turkey dur
ing a rebellion which does not favor its
victim with a drum-head court-maTtial.
But fancy being dragged to death by
a roaring mob, often in the darkness
Of the night, whom no prayers would
pierce and no evidence convince, for
they must have their diabolical excite
ment!
I'VE have allowed this to go on,
year after year, with slight notice from
the authorities, and not much from the
press, which may be said
to have adopted for its motto the ltal-
ian inscription on the sun-dial: Mes
sun ore ricordo, che lie serene which
may be freely translated, I speak only
Of pleasant things -
The tJesuitS-ah the poor Jesults!-
furnish Mr.. King an opportunity of
picturing in glowing terms the evils
and dangers which Turk deep in the
soul of every Jesuit priest. The best
that King seems able to do is to print
q TRADE from Thomas Carlyle, to off
set which we give space to the follow
ing from Buclefs History of Civiliza-
lion in England: In the sixteenth
century the Jesuits were the great mis- I
;ionaries of knowledge They organized {
4 system of education far superior to
any vet seen in Europe. In no univer- Y
sity could there be found a scheme of I
so comprehensive as theirs: t
and certainly nowhere was displayed G
such skill in the management of youth, {
lr such insight into the general oper- {
atoms of the human mind. 1t must, in {
Justice. be added that this lustrious So 9