The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-02-25

Jesus Her earliest canon law included tho
order OF deaconesses. the hrst Sisters OF
Charity. Her drst with sses and messengers
and enthusiastic proselytizers were women.
OF them Renan says In his "St. Paul" that they
were. after the Apostles. tho roal iounders OF
Christianity. II II be true that. almost
without exception. the Gospel women are
mentioned In terms Of praise. It 10 also true
that the primitive Church held In high
est honor It's female MARTYRS Agnes,
C,rcilia. Agatha. Perpetua. Felicitas. and so
many others. Their annual remembrance
through the middle ages. oil over Europe. hns
dono much TO create the high. semi-anRelic
type OF womanly perfection that IL peculiar to
the medlmval world. and Il Is yet not lost to us.
Ffthly-The canon law provides that woman
shall not appear as a witness against her will In
courts OF law nor generally in such courts.
This was often a protection rather than a dis
ability. IL Is provided. however, that u notary
or the Judge shall visit such witness at home
for the purpose OF receivinA her evidence, She
was also excluded from civil offices like those
Of Judge. Magistrate. lawyer. advocate. and
such hie. quite In keeping with Ulpian's de-
cision In the same matter. But the great com
mentator o. the Theodosian Code. Gothofrodus.
says this was done through reverence for
'ht w H"IffsliffH SfF"S. w ~
diam et stolG mdrond'is decus." The
samo reason Is alleged for her exclusion
by the Napoleonic Code IS a wit
ness In civil acts. Nevertheless. women
could hold throughout Europe such important
Offices as that OF Abbess. which very often on
tailed grave responsibilities. not only OF an
ecclesiastical. but also of a civil character. II
Is worth remembering that the Abbess was
usually elected. and that no male was allowed
a vote. however high his Office or great his
interests might be; also that tho nuns could
not leave to the Bishop the selection OF their
Abbess, In the matter Of romans social con-
dition. a comparison OF QUO Nadis" and via
Crucis" is instructive.
Sixthly-lt Is always true that the Iurisprud.
eDce or legislation Of a period reveal its true
conditions. There are modifying elements and
conditions not written in the laws. often not
written anywhere. but lived out. acted out. in
daily existence. So II was In the middle ages
Lecky says in his History Of Iationalism."
that the world Is governed by its ideals. and
that seldom has one exercised . moro pro.
found and ~salutary in influence than the mdirval
ideal Of the Blessed Virgin. In the person OF
the Virgin Mother woman rose into a new
sphere and became the object Of a revorential
homage of which antiquity had no conception.
Thus to tho old and sinful Eve, rot the
cause" but the occasion. OF mans fall, was
opposed a new woman. n new Eve. all
glorious and perfect. The moral charm |
and beauty OF female excellence were
thus. for tho first time. realized. "All
that was host in Europe clustered
around II. and il was the origin Of
many ofthe purest elements Of our clviliza.
ton" This ideal flowers ont in the meliTyal
hymns, in the paintings, tho church windows.
and In the strangely beautiful female tgures
that we often see sculptured on the msaiRval
cathedrals. where the Christian artist manages |
to get the spiritual even into dull semi pagan
stone, An old writer tells us that there are
many influences in life "Qur ertrd publcds
tdJn'ds Sult.' not written down in codes Of
law. One OF these influences is personality. |
The middle ages made way In a striking de-
gree for the personality Of good women. In
his account OF st, Theresa. Macaulay calls at
tention TO this fact, Thus st. Catharine OF
Siena was allowed to preach before the Car |
dinals. st. Hillegard and st. Gertrude. st.
Elizabeth Of Hungary. 81. Margaret OF Scot |
land. st. Bridget OF sweden. st. Theresa OF |
Spain, left a remarkable impress on their own
lands and times: nor was their social activity |
decried or their merits suppressed.
hV'NiiNlh w I VI Ndlullil NluDOnS dTt 1
true. not only for pagan lands before the Chris
tian era. but for all pagan and non.Chri,tian
lands since that era. No ore will deny that the
condition OF woman is unspeakably wretched
in Mussulmanic lands. in non. Christian India. |
among the Chinese and the japanese. In the
last land alone. out OF 1925. 900 annual mar
riagcs. there are ll2,OO0 divorces, Right here
we touch the reason why woman owes to the |
Christian Church, and 10 the canon law hv |
which II operated. an endless debt Of gratitude. |
This law renders absolute divorce impossible. |
Alone II has stood up for that cornerstone OF |
society. the ~permanency OF the monogamic |
union. 1t is pleasant to read the following |
words in n recent dissertation 1897 OF Prof. |
Wilcox Of Cornell University: Nothing |
was found in an extensive course Of modern |
reading to shake my conviction that the pol- |
icy OF the Catholic Church refusing remarriage |
in all cases Is the ideal one for a State to
adopt"
The vague statement OF your correspondent |
concerning the encouragement of vice by tn.
Catholic Church. when performed according TO |
her dictatIon. Is scarcely worth attention. |
What are the vices that she dictates? And
where are her DEGREES In favor OF vice? For |
resistance TO the wees. both OF peoples and OF
princes. that Church has lost much from a
temporal point Of view. as any one may SEQ by
the reading OF Cardinal Herfenroether's |
"Chur"h and State" 1T was the Pope" says
the Protestant Swiss historian. Mueller, who
restrained and governed BY means OF the prin-
ciples OF religion and the fear OF God the bold,
youth Of our modern nations"
THOMAS J. SHAHAN.
WASHINGTON. Feb. %.