The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1900-05-05
ST. GEORGE MoVART.

Up to this time we have refrained
from commenting on the untimely
death of the distinguished English
scientist whose name heads this arti-
Gle. for the circumstances that sur
rounded his death were inexpressably
sad. DR.. Mivort died. nominally. out
side the Church. but we believe at heart
! he was inside the Church spirit.
There was, it seems to US, q. personal
/ feeling that acted on man of his ma
ture in a manner that time would have
softened to a degrees at least compat-
ible with his earlier professions
He undoubtedly deeply resented the
reply which Cardinal Vaughn made to
his request for information-and it
must forever be a cause of deep regret
that the Cardinal Archbishop of West
minister did not deal personally with
DR.. Mivart, instead of referring him to
a more or less obscure priest. But be
this as it may, we hope and pray that
St. George Mivart died in a spirit that
will rebound to his eternal salvation.
The following estimate of this man
distinguished in the world of science
is from the pen of Catholic and pub
lished in the London Outlook:
An interesting chapter in the his
tory of Roman Catholicism ends with
the death of DR.. St. George Mivart.
Some thirty years ago his opportunity
came to him. The Vatican Council had
alienateG some and chilled many: the
crrao4 AcbiIlcs- A., ,,,,,.o,,.ol r
tent at Edgbaston. the Origin of spe-
cies was "A fashiona Bile gospel: and men.
not otherwise dull. wondered if Plus
IL was to be the last of the Dones.
Grotesque as it seems. many really be-
lieved that the old creeds were DIVING.
and we were solemnly reminded that
we lived in a scientific age. Mivart
appeared as the providential man to
save orthodoxy in its last trenches. He
started with the advantage of being
able to understand his opponents posi-
ton. Sweeping away the folly of
Liberatore and his like (who has~dis-
missed the new theories as absurd, |
Mivart adopted scientific methods in |
his Genesis of Species, his Origin of /
Human Reason, his Man and Apes, his
Evolution, and was soon
recognized as a ffrst-rate fighting man. /
He examined. weighed, pleaded, re-
futed; brought his immense special /
knowledge into action; picked small /
holes in his enemies armor; did all
that destructive vriticism can do His /
Dertinacity and skill We're as constant /
as his courage and courtesy With
candor and generosity.
Darwin accepted many corrections on
minor points, and warmly praised his
,ritic's ability. Delighted at seeing the
zoe met on his own ground, and mag
lifying a series of skirmishes into so
many pitched battles Catholics hailed
he new st. George as an authentic
champion; a papal degree was confer
ed on him, and the reconciliation be-
.ween science and religion was regard
I'd as complete. During the reaction
which followed the golden age when
Newman, Alimonde and Gibbons were
made Cardinals, Mivart grew more and i
more uneasy; at last he disowned tho
official hermeneutics and was himself
lriven out into the desert. There wa,
Encouragement and .indiscretion ON
10Th sides. Illness and age BETRAYED
divart into saying more than was de-
ensible, and the witch-smellers went
Ipon his track.