The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1902-08-02
QncIe Jack and
BIS nepbew. By ys Srss,'s H.

Evils that we see impress us more than
those we merely read OF. And the vir-
tues of past ages loom up in our view
far larger than those which are prac-
ticed half in secret in our own times.
We forget the evils of the past in the
contemplation of those of the present,
and the virtues of the present in the
contemplation of those of the past.
What if, when considering the worth
OF past times and the evils of the pres
ent, We speak out as we feel, without
stopping to see whether, if a just BAL
ance were struck, the two periods might
not upon the whole, appear equal?
Moreover, when l contrast the nine
teenth century with the thirteenth, 1
am really only ntrasting your Pro-
testantism with my Catholicity. Cath
olicity has not changed, and real Cath
olics are substantially now what they
were then. Some things they have lost
which 1 regret. Oothers they have
gained, which may, perhaps, upon
general average, compensate for what
they have lost. But this age, regarded
as distinct from what is purely the
church, is Protestant. and the literature
which is its exponent is non Catholic.
1t is of our age in that it is nOnCath-
lie [ speak, when l contrast it with past
times. 1t is in so far as it has re-
for sensitive love, charity for philan-
thropy, law for rebellion, authority for
anarchy, the church for humanity, God
for the devil, that | speak of, and tell
you its real character and tendency.
l wish to show you the shallow and de-
structive nature of the principles and
maXimS of this non Ca tholic age, which
young men like you mistake for truth
and wisdom, and by which you are Sc
duced from all good, and involved in
misery and wretchedness."
You speak of us, uncle. as seduced,
and warn us against the fatal tendency
of our principles and maxims; but you
forget that the world has been gov
erned for six thousand years on your
principles and maXims, and that dur
ing all that period vice and crime, mis-
cry and wretchedness have abounded.
The whole world rises UP in witness
against your kings, priests and nobili-
ties. You have had your day and done
your best; let us now have ours. We
can hardly make worse work of it than
you have DONE
Spoken like philosopher of the
nineteenth century or a foolish young
man, my dear Dick. If, with the prin-
ciples and maXims which have formed
the basis of moral order in the past.
so much iniquity has abounded, and
so much misery has been suffered, what
would the world have been without
them? If the priests and rulers of the
world have been so wicked and wretch
ed, what would it have been if it had
had none? You are mistaken that the
world has been in the past really gov
erned by the principles and maxims L
contend for. They have always beeen
asserted but they have not always
been obeyed. Indeed, only a small mi
nority of mankind hive been uniform
ly faithful to them Though admitted
in theory, the majority have generally
violated them in practice, and yielded
to the seductions of the flesh, instead of
walking according to the spirit. But in
so far as mankind have been faithful
to the principles you and your party
reject, they have been virtuous, pros
porous and happy. The evils which
they have done or suffered. have uni
formly resulted from disobedience to
them, not from obedience. Your OBJ
jections to the religious world is shall
low, and your excuse for yourself is of
no avail"
But you ask me, Uncle Jack, to EN-
brace your church. You tell me that she
is the divinely instituted medium for
the regeneration of man and society.
You claim for her supernatural
power, and hold that her omnipotent
founder, he- celestial bridegroom, is
always with her. to aid her in accom-
plishing her work. And yet 1 find that
political and social evils have always
abounded in the Catholic countries.
There have been in Catholic countries
kings and aristocrats, tyrants and op-
pressors, the distinctions of the no3e
and the ignobIe, and of the rich and
poor. The history of professedly Cath
Ollie nations presents the same monot-
onous picture of vice and crime, vio
lence and bloodshed, war and rapine,
public and private miseries. presented
by that of heretical and infidel nations.
Whence comes this, if your church be
what she processes to be? Why does
she not use her power to make her SOW
ereigns rule justly? Why does she not
assert the equality of all men, and COM
pei all to live together as brothers? L
listen to her magnificent. promises, and
my imagination, if not my heart, is cap
tivated turn over the records of her
history in vain to find their fulfill
ment."
CTo Be Continued)