The Irish standard., 1900-05-19
He Found 1t In His journey. But
Passed Carelessly On
AND CAME BACK TO HIS OWN FLOCK
The Cropping in the Dark of the
Protestant Gentleman.

A spirit OF unrest pcrvadcs the whole
Protestant world-a vain ycarnine for
that unity which exists only in the
Catholic church. Hence has dcycloned
that indiffcrentism which saws cone re-
I'glon is as good as another" and from
it the so-caled "Ecumcnical Confer
cnce' for the division of the foreign
mission fields among tho sccts. Hence.
100, comes the demand for revision Of
the creeds OF the so-caled Reformers,
an effort which an esteemed contcrn-
porary not inaptly terms an "aim to
flnd out not what God has revealed, but
what men will believe" Catholics look
on these movements with confidence as
to the outcome. They know that op-
position to the church is the only thing
on which the sects can unite. They
know that the ministers OF each sect
look with scorn upon the claims OF the
others and question even their own
creed. Catholics know that out of this
Babel will come the grace of the true
ialth to many who, like the late Cardi-
nal Newman, sincerely pray, Lead,
Kindly Light" and who will have that
prayer heard, says the Philadelphia,
Standard and Times.
10 have heard Father Xavier Sutton,
c. p, i'll his mission to non Catholics.
and Rev. William J. Stanton, S. T.. at
the Cathedral mission, preach against
lndlftcrcntism was not surprising, but
to have this powerful battery reinforced
one week later by no less a person than
Rev. c. H. Wooston, OF the East Bap-
tlst church, was something different.
He has not generally been suspected of
Ia desire to give aid and comfort to
Catholicity and its friends The rev.
crcnd gentleman has won an uncnvablc
reputation as an intolcrant anti Catho-
lie, but perhaps he has reformed. In
his own denomination he is considered
rather sensational, having engaged in
some tours Z Ia Parls!i;,rst and having
stcrcopticon sermons as a running at
traction at his meeting house" 1t was
no surprise then to learn that "The
Shadows OF Great City," la "Old
Homestead and the paris Exposi-
ton" with the latest views, would be
the gospel OF the night there on Sunday
evening But it was somewhat alarm
ing to find in the morning discourse
such radical departure from these soul
stirring subjects as "Scarch for the
True Church. 1t is just possible that
ii this thing keeps on the people OF that
congregation will begin to think scri-
ously OF the things Of the next world,
and there will be decrease in the men,
bershlp and consequent addition to
the already large hocks at St. Miclaers
and the Immaculate Conception.
The lesson OF the day was St. Mat
thew xvi, 10 to 20, which included the
text Thou art Peter and upon this
rock l will build My Church, and the
gates OF hell shall not prevail against it;
and l will give unto thee the keys of the
kingdom Of Heaven, and whatsoever
thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound
III heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt
loose on earth shall be loosed in heav-
en-" This seemed somewhat startling.
Is it possible that the reverend doctor
is going to announce his conversion to
| Rome, or are we to have an extraordi-
nary effort to explain away a difficult
text? The prayer followed. The Lord
was thanked that Eve were born in a
land that never saw religious darkness;
where we never had to throw off the
bonds OF superstition" Thanks were
also rendered for the lessons learned
at our mothers knees" and the belief
expressed that "at the last day we shall
be judged for what VIC believe as we'll
as what we do. II we are taught er-
ror we shall be held accountable for it,"
Help us to be honest and to accept the
truth without reference to man-made in
stitutions." That was very good pray
cr, but it was based on some miscon-
ccptions. If this land never saw reli-
gious darkness there is something
wrong with the statistics of church ff,em-
bershp at present, and there must not
have been anything the matter with the
beliefs of the Indians who preceded US.
The concluding phrase regarding ac-
countability for religious belief was all
right, the only amendment that might
| be suggested being that teachers of