"nmBH^nBRHpHF ^ A^. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 1.1 i5o *^^ MHH ut 1^ 12.2 :^ 11° 12.0 I' 1^ IMi III'-' fo 3 Science Corporation 23 WIST M>.«.IN STRKT WIUTIR,N.Y. U5M (716)t72-4S03 ^^^^ '^ Pa CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHIVI/iCIVIH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microraproductions / Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques ^ ^ ©1984 Tachnical and Bibliographic Notas/Notas tachniquaa at bibiiographiquaa Tha instituta haa attamptad to obtain tha baat originai copy availabia for filming. Faaturaa of thia copy which may ba bibliographically uniqua. which may altar any of tha imagaa in tha raproduction, or which may significantly changa tha usual mathod of filming, ara chackatf'balow. 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Tl tc Tl P' 01 fi b( t» si o\ fi si 01 Tl si Tl w U dl ai \n ri{ ra IT This item is filmed at tha reduction ratio checked balow/ Ce document est f ilm6 au taux da rMuction indiquA ci-daaaoua. 10X 14X 18X 22X 2SX 30X J 12X 16X aox 24X 28X 32X Th« copy film«d h«r« has b««n r«produc«d thanks to th« ganarotity of: Library of tha Public Arcliivaa of Canada L'axamplaira fiimA fut raproduit grAca A ia ginArosit* da: La bibiiothAqua dat Arcliivas pubiiquas du Canada Tlia imagaa appaaring hara ara tha baat quality posaibia conaidaring tha condition and iagibiiity of tha original copy and in kaaping with tha filming contract apacif ications. Original copiaa in printad papar covara ara filmad bagikining with tha front covar and anding on tha laat paga with a printad or llluatratad Impras- sion. or tha back covar whan approprlata. Ail othar original copiaa ara filmad baginning on tha first paga with a printad or llluatratad impraa- sion, and anding on tha laat paga with a printad or llluatratad Imprasalon. Tha laat racordad frama on aach microflcha •hail contain tha symbol -^ (moaning "CON- TINUED"), or tha symbol y (moaning "END"), whichavar applias. Laa imagaa auivantas ont AtA raproduitas svac la plua grand soin, compta tanu da la condition at da la nattatA da I'axampialra film*, at an conformity avac !as conditions du contrat da filmaga. Laa axamplairas originaux dont la couvrrtura an papiar ast imprimta sont fllmAs an commandant par ia pramiar plat at an tarminant soit par la darnlAra paga qui comporta una amprainta d'imprassion ou d'illustration, soit par la sacond plat, salon la cas. Tous las autras axamplairas originaux aont filmfo an commandant par la pramlAra paga qui comporta una amprainta d'imprassion ou d'lllustratlon at an tarminant par la darnlAra paga qui comporta una talia amprainta. Un das symbolas suivants apparattra sur la darniAra imaga da chaqua microflcha, salon ia ' cas: la symbols -^ signifia "A SUIVRE", la symbols ▼ signifia "FIN". IMaps, platas, charts, ate, may ba filmad at diffarant raduction ratkM. Thosa too larga to ba antlraly Includad in ona axpoaura ara filmad baginning In tha uppar iaft hand cornar, laft to right and top to bottom, aa many framaa aa raquirad. Tha following diagrams illustrata tha mathod: Las cartas, pianchas, tablaaux, ate, pauvant Atra fiimte A das taux da reduction diff Arants. Loraqua la documant ast trop grand pour Atra raproduit an un saul clichA, 11 ast film* A partir da I'angla aupAriaur gaucha, da gaucha A droita, at da haut an has, on pranant la nombra d'imagas nAcassaira. Las diagrammas suivants illustrant ia mAthoda. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 g r-^ THE rOLITICAL CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF I'JV rT-OirS'l ANT "BEEORMATIOI:" A LCCTUFtE. BY THOMAS BAKCY McGEE. (I'LIU.ISIIICU DV OltliKIl OF Till: CATirOT.IC INSTITlTn OF Ni:W YCIllC, BnFOKK WHOM IT WAS Di:i,ivi.iiKn AT Tin: taukunai i.i:, hkoahwav, januauy ^Gtii, 1S53.) ^ * "Tlic liift rtvoluUon of dcclriiic nr.d tl'icry, nl.lcli lir.s l.npjriiivl In Euroi-r, i? Ihc ncfomirit'on I •••••• Tiio enVct WHS to Intiodiicc oiiicr Interests into all cdiiiitiiostilinn. ^ tlinsc wlilcli aroFt! froui tliclr Ii.Ci.lily i ml iiiiiui:.! tiicunii^itmcts."— IIirki;.— '• Tlioii<;hts un I'roiai .IJfaii-s in nai." '31 r III \^ D r It : rUBLISHED BY D. it J. SADLIER .t CO., ICl WILLIAM STIIF.KT. 185JJ. GEOKGE W. WOOD, MINTEU, KO. 2 DUTCH-STREET. ■( I I III m«m ^ mm^^^^mmfmmmmm^mmmmmmmmmms!!!^ ^mm V THE POLITICAL CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF THE PROTESTANT "EEFOEMATION:" A LECTURE. BY THOMAS DAECY McGEE. (PUBLISIIKD BY OanStt OV THE CATnOUO IN8TIT0TK OF NEW YORK, BKFOSK WBOU IT WAS DKLIVBBKD AT TUK TABUNACLB, BEOAOWAY, JANUARY 26TU, 1853.) oThelutrevolullonofdoctrinoand theory, which has happened in Europe, Is the Reromtntion. ****** The elTuct was to introduce other iutcreits into all countries, thnn those which arooe from their locality nnd natural circumstances."— Burk«.—"7'Aoi/^/i£» on t'rtnch jiJjrair#i«17ai." • f jffl ^nrk: PUBLISHED BY D. r the Reformation," as describing another and a very diilerent state of facts. One would suppose a subject so much talked of ought to be well understood, yet such, I venture to assert, is not the case : — ninety-nine out of every hundred, who discourse so fluently of this great event, by all I could ever learn from their language, seem to be entirely ignorant of the circumstances under which it transpired, of the motives, the men, and the results, of what they call " The Reformation." In what I shall say, Ladies and Gentlemen, I propose to avoid theological matter altogether. I trust I know my place as a lay. m.in .'iiirl a mere stmlcnt of liistorj, well enough to avoicl treating the doctrinal (lucstions, even iC I were able to ilo so, w'^ieh I am not. I propose only to eonsitlcr the exterior ct)nditionfl, the vis- ible biilli, p;iront:iL;e, and j'oliey, of the .{{elbrni -to treat it as a tenjporal fact of human origin — as an insurrection of the worldly ])as.sions and })iirposes of men, aided, eneouraged and established by an extraordinary eonjunetion of worldly eircutnstaui-es, center- in^i^ on the suil of Kiiropo in the sixt(HMith century. I believo that it must forevern'miiin incxj^lieabh*, except it is considei'eil as a Gerniani'' Hcvolution -a resurreetion of barbariaji pride and ix^lilirs jitj-ainst the Divine Law and its Apo.stolie, l'aj)al, Kxecu tive. Wlirn I use the t(>rin politics^ I use it in its best original sense. I am Will aware it is capable of being degraded into the basest of trades, but I also believ(! it is capable of being exalted into the sublin\''st of sciences. ]V)lities, the science of law, of government, of society, (next to theolo,!iy, the science of salvation,) is the wor- thiest studv of the created intellect. It is in this sense 1 iMidt^avor to use it, and whoever woidil not be the mere mechanical rej)eater of the editors, or tlu> diMnagogues of to-day, whoever scorns to fetch anr men. It was nut their fault, if every sordid j^assion, reared its evil head, and rushed u])on the dis- coveries they had consecrated in the name of Christendom and the Cross, l^ut such was the sad result: this sudden influx of l^haniician fortune, raised commercial over Christian objects — weakened by abrui>t expansion the ancient bonds of Christian unity— created a desire lor a true, trading religion, whose easy morality might be left to the private interpretation of the mer- chant, and the jiractiee of sea-cai)tains. In all cases wc find the great trading citic^s, the schools, or the strongholds of this new six- teenth century religion. About the middle of tin; century I speak of, it was plain that the j)rinccs and statesmen discovered a new world of ])olicy, hitherto mdvnown to Christendom. Crusades were no longer possible, the Council of Florence appealed to the chivalry of the West, in vain, and a few years later Constantinople fell, without a latin lanec brokcm in its defense. When, in 15-45, Pope Nicholas V. made the Christian alliance at Lodi, for another Crusade, Venice, nine days after, made a s;.'erct compact with Mahomet, and the King forbade the Crusade to be preached in France, Ten years later the immortal Pope, Pius II. could not find a single Prince ready for the Holy war. He w; s obligi d to bo his own captain, or to let Italy share the fate of Constantinople and of llhodcs : carried G in liis litter towards Aiicona, lu» died in si^ht of the gftlloys, in wliii!li ho wns to (MribaiU, but from which no royal banner IJoalod over tlie sen. The good old phrases "Christ's Kingdom," and "the Kepublio of dod," had lost their meaning for the wor'dlings, who struggled for the tn^isures of the ocean and the earth, and this publie indif- ference was nceompanietl by gross private immorality. Whether wo examine the Itepublics or the KingdoniK, we lind little elso but assasinations and adulteries, among tiie ])owerful familea: eonsj)ieuous as these horrid vices are, in the high plueei* of that time, it is i'([ual]y certain, that the politicians, «<> eriminal in tlieir own lives, were all signalized by " independence" of liome. The Italian politicians had borrowed the theory of "a balancio of ])ower, " iVoni the prevalent study of (Irecian j)olitics. (iradually the chief Eur(j|tean Courts accepted it, and the league of Cambray, for tiie j^artition of Venice, formed in jr)08, is tho type of jiM tho Holy Alliances since projected. One of the chief parties to that com))act, had publicly exjtressed a hope that the then " J'upc would be the last of them," for "like all the rest, ho wa.s a scoundrel ;" another struck a medal to reeonl his hatred of Rome, with the motto — "IVrish tho name of liabylon." These personages were tho most Christian King of Francie, and the Apostolic Empeior Maximilian, who may be reckoned, says D'Aubigne, "among those who ])repared the way for the reforma- tion." Compare the league of Cambray, with ayy of the Crusades, if you wish to see how I'ar worldly interests had encroached on Christian ])rineiples in European politics. "The balance of power," or "sy.stem of e(piilibrium," was cer- tain to take from tho ]\:)2)es, the arbitremont of the internal dis- putes of Christendom, and to throw it into the hands of coalitions of princes. But this scheme could not work, so long as the bulk of their sul)jects were truly Catholic ; a Ihet which the Jubilee of 1450, established. The moral jiower of tho Poj)0 was necessarily the highest political power so long as Europe remained one in faith, loyally bound to the presidential chair of Peter. It is there- fore obvious, that })rinces and communities deeply interested in the new system of l)olicy, and the new proj(;cts of conmieree, would become natural patrons of Protestantism, as a ])olitieal agent, as a counterpoise to Home, and a basis of foreign coalitions. As if to complete tlie conspiracy against the Church, the liter- ature of the age, both popular and professional, had grown as immornl as the princoa and morchants. The hallada of Provonoo were as iiiij)urc as tlu« (Inu'k odes ^A' Italy. By t\w fall of Con- Htantinoplc, a school of subtlo nsfnpccs liad been let loose upon tho West — a school of aliens, in every case, to Cathmn.)n, and another called iVchiiles, both in high olliec; thus, in (Jcrniany, Gerhard becomes Erasmus, Schwarz- crd biTomes Melanethon, Kuhorn is changed to Uucer, and llaus- ohien to (I'^colampadius. AVIu>n Professor Luther entered the no- vitiate at Krfurt, after s])ending the evening at the Tavern, lie brought oidy lUaulus and Virgil in with him — a pretty pair of Pagan companions for a novice of the Order of St. Augustine! Long afterwards he said he never was a true monk at heart — one of the few true things he ever said. Tho chief result of the oceanic discoveries, on the schools and studies of the Kurojieans, was to draw the most active minds to physical and from metaphysical inquiries. The observations made, and materials brought from, Africa aiul America, gave constant ap- petite and food for aiudogieal reasoning. The ancient ideas of earth and ocean, once exploded by exj-eriment, the unmoored mind drilU'd from trai" "on to conjecture — from faith to skepti cism. Every innovator pleaded the precedents of Columbus and Do (Jama ; (a famous anatomist at Bologna was styled, by way of distinction, " tho Columbus of the human body ;") that desire to demonstrate every science to tho satisfaction of the senses then grew u]>, which llowcred in the system of Lord Bacon, and has since produced such perilous fruits of false science. The art of print- ing, in Luther's youth, was preparing men's minds, by these new studies, for innovations still more immoral. These were some of tho general conditions of ]<]uropc immedi- ately " before the llcformation." Bearing them in mind, it will not a})pear to you so strange why the Keformation succeeded at the time it did, and no sooner. Wo have still to consider why i- broke out in Germany and not at Eome itself, or in France, or mmmm 8 Spain, or at a point farthest from Rome. If it was a real Reform- ation, one would suppose that it would have begun at the head, as Christianity did at Pagan Rome — or among the freest and sim- plest populations of some country furthest removed from Roman influence. Why Germany should begin it, why the first quarter of the 16th century should be the time of beginning, and why Saxony should be the first country — all these arc important con- siderations. Without disparaging German scholarship, it was then certainly inferior to that of France and Italy ; without overrating the insti- tutions of old Spain, they wore, before the centralization, the freest in Europe. Without denying that there were pious people in Ger- many, it is quite certain that the Hungarians, Tyrolese, and Poles were proverbial throughout the continent for their devotion. Sax- ony — the State of Germany which first became Pro*;cstant — was most famous for good living. She had not as yet produced any eminent scholars, and had long cea.sed to contribute saints to the calendar. If it was a work of pure faith, or pure intellect, one would certainly not look first to Germany, and in Germany not fir.st to Saxony. If it was a question of cookery or war it might be different, but it was not. Protestantism, as I maintain, was a politician from the first* Germany, with " its anarcliieal constitution," was the most active field of I'iuropcan polities, while its emperors were elective, and in Germany the spiritual and temporal powers met in marked eon- junction. The emperors of ( icrmany, claiming the title of " lio- niiin and Apostolic,"' were crowned by the hands of the Popes. This title, the first in dignity in Europe, was supposed to derive from the Holy Fatlicrs, and to be a defective title until confirmed at Rome. (In speaking of such coronation we should always re- member that it was only a ceremony, a very august ceremony, to be sure, but still far bcncatli the dignity, the responsibility, and the .sanctity of a sacrament.) Now, these emperors, elected by one power, and confirmed by the other, were .sometimes at war with those who ciiose, sometimes with those who confirmed them. Generally speaking, as the Church and the world are opposed, and as the human heart since the beginning is prone to pride and to error, so the emperors came oftenestinto oilision with the Popes. The controversy "of the investitures"— whether the cm^Lcror had the right to invest bi.shops with "ring and crozier," and hold their sees to be t'lbject 'of fiefs, to bp presented by the sovereign, occasioned the most serious quarrel Germany had with Rome, and its tradition had constantly goaded German pride, untii the lleformation gave a revenge to the empire, which Maximilian was not slow to take. This I consider the reason why the Reformation ripened first in that empire. Why Saxony waf the precise place, may be ac- counted for from the fact that in the first years of the I'^th centu- ry, the balance of Germany turned upon the will of Saxony, which will, also, included protection to Dr. Luther and his cause. Frederick of Saxony found Protestantism in the streets, and raised it to the level of his own throne. Having foimdod a uni- versity in his town of Wittemberg, he in 1508 called Martin Lu- ther (then in his 25th year) from the Convent of Erfuth to a pro- fessor's chair. Tliis Frederick was a great politician, in the mean- er sense. His professor made a party in and beyond the bounds of Saxony, and he used the party when it was made. Luther un- derstood and despised liim, but like an adroit manager, was wil- ling to be used, provided he might use others in turn. The rela- tion between the professor and the prince is a curious example of clever diplomacy on both sides. They carry on their corres})ond- ence through a third party ; the elector disclaims Luther's violence in public, but furnishes him hints in private. Luther complains of his patron's selfishness and worldlines in private letters, buu exalts him in public as the hope of Germany and the saviour of religion. And this double meaning and dishonest intercourse charactoiizes all tlie acts and words of the two leading Relormers. Now, Elector Frederick was the candidate for the em})ire, pre- ferred (in the event of old Maximilian's death) by the native Ger- man party, who o|)posed Cliarles V. as a stranger and a Spanish prince, Maximilian devoted his last years to securing the succes- sion to this grandson, and consequently paid all court to the prince, who alone could decide the election. Finally Charles Y. was elected by Frederick resigning inhis favor, and bringing his friends to vote for him. Tlius, in the last years of Maximilian and first of Charles, Luther's patron and ally was the most powerful and active politician of Germany. It was precisely in these critical years that Protestantism, hovering about the political balance, formed its party, and began to exercise its evil influence in the political order. It is usual to consider Luther as a headlong, rash man, fearless of consequences. Nothing can be less correct. It is very true that he had a hot temper, and a vituperative style, but 10 all liis essays and letters prove him to have been a capital party manager, one who used every sort of material that came to hand, and resorted to every stratagem to effect his object. He began by attacking Tctzel, whose patron had an liereditary quarrel with hia patron ; he used in turn the knights, like llutten, against the no- bles ; the peasants of Swabia against both, and the nobles against the peasants and the Anabaptists. "When he had established his short-lived Primacy at Wittomberg, and declared " that church and school " the centre of Protestant unity — he allowed every lib- erty to those who bowed to his chair, whether they were Bohemi- ans, Moravians, Zwinglians, Bigamists, like Philip of IIcsso, or public plunderers, like that Archduke Albert, who built the Prus- sian throne on the spoils of the Teutonic order, of which he was the foresworn Grand Rfastor. Another proof that Protestantism was in its origin political, is the foct that it has taken its generic name from a mere political protest^ made by the Scceders from the Diet of Spires. That pro- test, signed Ijy six Imperial Electors, near a hundred nobles, and a large number of free cities, is as strictly a State paper as a Pres- ident's message, a Queen's speech, or a Parliamentary j)rotest against a new law. It eml)odies the principles of the Reformation, but it does so logically ; it asserts them as against the Diet and the emperor — it asserts them in the political order, ui)on grounds strictly ])olitical. To prove that the signers so xmderstood it, we have only to remember that they retired from Spires to Smalkalde, made the first Protestant league there, drew up the plan of a cam- paign, dispersed to recruit their forces, and a.sserted their private judgment sword in hand. To see more clearly the diflerence between Protestantism and Christianity, in their birth and in their growth, we have only to compare these indisputable I'acts with the early history of the Chris- tian Church. Pope St. Peter entered Rome on foot, in the reign of Claudius, and descended into the catacombs. There, like coral insects in the sea, the hunted, nameless Christians wrought invisibly on the foun- dations of the Church. They disclaimed with energy all designs against the State. Nothing could be more noiseless or inoffensive than their social attitude — nothing more resolute th?n their an- swers when questioned as to the faith — nothing more consistent than their whole conduct. From proconsuls and princes they re- ceived only abundant stripes and sccrn, and gall and vinegar for f;l! 11 ? il party ,o hand, 3gan by ■with ilia tlie no- against slied liis t cliurch ^ery lib- Bolicnu- lesso, or lie Prus- i he was litical, is pohtical rhat pro- blos, and s a Pres- r protest )rination, t and the grounds od it, wo lalkaldo, •f a cam- • private usm and only to le Chris- landius, 3ts in the he foun- dosigns oftensive heir an- Dnsistcnt they re- cgar for gry thanksgiving, their refreshment. The cradle of Christianity was rocked aniid the horrors of the cathcombs — its infant eyes opened on tunnels of darkness, heaped with graves — its limbs were trained for the rack and the gibbet by the discipline of the doscrt, and all the rigors of primitive penance. Did the lion of the Amphitheatre howl of hung(>r? Ilis Christian food was always at hand. Was liome burned ? The Christians did it. AVas the cit}-- out of humor ? A Christian sacrifice was grateful to the people or "the gods." Did the army suffer defeat? A Christian sacrifice propitiated the an- deities. Did it triumph ? Tlicy were olFercd up for a Hated by the powerful — maligned by the philoso- phers — despised by the men of pleasure — assailed by the men of trade — Christianity made its way into the world. Unlil: ; Protest- antism, it had neither a Frederick of Saxony, a lieuclilin, an Erasmus, a Philip of Ilesse, nor the magistrates and merchants of the free Imperial cities to form a girdle round i:, and fight its bat- tles with the sword. It addressed itself to the slave, the convict, the sailor in his gal- ley, the wayfarer on the road, the women, the children ; it won its recruits one by one — except on miraculous occasions — it changed the individual first, then the famil}', then the congregation, then the city, and finally overspread the world, without a 2^rotest, or a battle fought on its account. It did not wait on Providence in the antechamber of kings; it promised mankind not new liberties but new restraints; it hehl out no secularization of Pagan property ; it asked no treaty of Westphalia to recognize its existence in the civil order; it had itself, by its wondcr-wor^'ing spirit, reconstruc- ted Rome and absorbed the Gothic deluge. All the dross of poor humanity had been poured, in successive ages, into its lap, and in the divine alembic of its infinite charity, the Church had turned it to pure gold, and virtue,' and order. Grateful Europe in the age of Charlemagne beheld a " true pro- gress " of humanity un first Apostles disclaimed in the ]*agan world, was forced upon their ivmote predecessors by the grateful and much indebted Christian generations. And in this there is no inconsistency between St. Peter and St. Gregory. Before and after an event, the conduct of the same person may be very dif- ferent and yet quite consistent with the rigid rule of duly. The beaten soldier may retreat with honor, the betrayed people may resict with justice, the outraged wife may leave her husband, and the abused child her father — upon ceVtain grave contingencies, arising in each case. The Church of the Feudal A;;( after a thousand years of civilizing servicv^s, could very consistently wield the temporal powers which tho Primitive Church disclaimed. It docs seem th(,,t there was no other alternative open fo^ the Popes, consistently with Christian interests. The unanimous voice of Europe, both princes and people, hailed the Pope as vicar of Christ, and father of all true Christians. Could the father refuse to heal family quarrels? Could the chief who alone all agreed to honor, refuse to summon Christendom together in great councils, for the maintenance of order and law, or the common defense against i \ T 11 was a 3sy than ; against calcd to •c points and tho •icncy of >f the in- lility on li of Ma- ll of Spi- ipon, and 1 Saviour ;count of lono, that iitimatcly ?m to tho s on tho rds of the )Ower bc- Thcpo- hc Pagan grateful s there is eforo and J verv dif- iiy. ' The oplc may band, and intreneica, after a ntly wield iincd. It the Popes, 1, voice of of Christ, ise to heal to honor, Is, for the se against 13 the barbarians and Mahomet? Papal interests were, by necessity, general interests ; a Catholic in Ireland was as near and dear to the Pope as a Catholic in Italy ; his interests were pacilio as to tho intcfiuil affairs of Christendom, aggressive only against the ene- mies of God and his gospel ; his authority was solely moral, and to execute its own ordinances, had need to be always in the right. Where — I ask the crccdless theorists of to-day — where would law, or letters, or civilization have been, but for that august succession of the chiefs of the Church? Tliesi; gentlemen who now use their pulpits, or desks I should say, and their printing presses, and their lecture rooms, to defame the holy head of the only Christian Hie- rarchy on earth, would be like their Anglo-Saxon ancestors, who were in Ca'sar's time the ugliest slaves in the Koman market, but whom the Popes of liomc changed from angles into angels. I do not deny the modern progress of mankind in many useful arts, but I question whether many theories of social progress now BO rife, arc really sound, and I believe the direction pointed out to us is wrong. I am for progress with all my heart, but I want to know who is at the helm, and whether or not the steersman can " box tho compass." 1 am certainly not going to sea with a crew of landlubbers, and a pilot who cannot tell how many points there arc between S. S.W. and N. N. E. I am anxitms to have a wise, experienced, and authoritative head and hand, in the leader of our progress noAV, and I am well content that that hand should be unlettered, and that head be crowned with the shining circlet of authority. All true Christians should act to-day, as Charlemagne did u thousand years ago, by the lawful head of Christendom, and in- Btead of limiting, or begrudging the authority of our great Leader, we should keep as a motto forever before our eyes and those of our children, this short sentence — More poivcr to (lie Pope. For 1 verily believe that if the ratio of right progress which pervaded the middle ages, from the age of the Barl)arians to the Age of Chivalry — I verily believe if that ratio had not been checked by the German rebellion against Kome — that the Christian world would be to-day far more virtuous, more pcacei'ul, more free, and more hajipy, than it is And we have no right to assume that the ratio of Feudal progress would not have increased if the Rc- Ibrmation had never happened. The church could not have shut up the Indian Ocean or tho Atlantic, or have obliterated tho art of printing. All these discoveries were n ade before Luther, and were established facta before the Proteat. All we can say is, that 14 Catholi""ty might have given these motivea a difTerent direction and hiw ; but they were in the world, brought into it by her sons witli lior sanction, and a new direction and a hiw is the admitted want of modern progress. Protestantism haa been the active guide of lOth Century ideas of progress, and where has it led us? To liberty ? To peace? 'IV) the equalization of rights or fortunes? To the concord of nations? To the love and reverence for law? To the conquest of Mahomet ? To the civilization of barbarous races ? No ! to none of these triumphs. Is it not clear then that Protestant progress is not a true but a false progress, and must, sooner or later, be exploded and abandoned. Europe, before Protestantism, bears some general resemblance to this Federal Union, The })rinces could not be said to be subor- dinate to the Pope, though he naturally took precedence, and held in certain eases the initiative. As the Governors of New York stand related to oiir Presidents, so did the princes to the PontilVs. A requisition from Komc, by the common law of Christendom, was respected at Vienna or London, as requisitions i'rom Washing- ton arc at llarrisburgh or Albany. Our doctrine of State-rights as against Federal authority, was often asserted in European Chris- tendom ; the interdict and the forces of the States loyal to the Union were sometimes used against the Nullifiers ; in every ease before the Reformation, the Disunionist failed in the end, and the per- manent politics of that continent from the 9th to the 15th Century, were decided by the supreme court at Home. Those were highly hopeful ages of Europe, before her house- hold was divided or her faith in God grew cold. Tiiosc were the ages when she took full grown barbarism to her bosom, and set it down clotliod with the red cross and the knightly vows of continence, obedience, and the protection of the poor. Those were the ages of the brotherhood of scholars, when all literature spoke one language, and the scholar might traverse every country and be everywhere at home. Those were the ages before the Crescent and the Koian were defended by apostate governments like that of England. Ages full of ardor, enthusiasm and prom- ise, and not devoid of noble perforr ances. Compare the savage that followed Pharamond, or RoUo, with the Christian burgher or knight of tho l-ith Century, and compare that burgher or knight with a European citi-^en or ofTicer of our day, and tell me in which period true progress is most marked? You have specimens in New York of European officers of some rank, and citizens 15 Urection her sons idmitted ve guide IS? To )rtunes ? for law ? irbarou3 hen that id must, mblance )c subor- and held iw York PoutilVs. stcndorn, Vashing- ite-rights im Cliris- le Union sc before tlie por- Century, r liousc- kverc the )m, and vows of Those iterature country fore the ^rnments id prom- e savage rgher or r knight in which imens in citizens who arc considered educated — you can make the comparison when you please — I am noL afraid that you will disagree with me, when I argue that true social progress has had no worse enemies, than the Keformer's who changed the channel and turned the stream aside, from the Koman direction. The record proves that the political consequences of the Re- formation were Christian disunion, partial anarchy, national cen- tralization, standing armies, despotism, increased functionarism, excessive taxation, the wider separation of classes, ' revolution," and, finally, socialism. Even in the brief limits of a single lecture, I think I can show how every one of these unhappy characteris- tics of modern Europe, is the natural oftspring of " the religious revolution," as it is sometimes called, of the sixteenth century. As to our o\Yn country, I think I can show that our noble con- stitution owes absolutely nothing to the politics of the Reformers; that it is the product of the natural and local circumstances of North America and its first settlers, in entire harmony with Catholic principles, and hiis no enemy to fear so much as Protest- antism carried into politics. As to fallen Asia and the barbarian world, I hold that the re- storation of the Christian religion in the one, and its propagation in the other region, has bcren seriously retarded by the Reforma- tion and its consequences. With this last argument I shall close, preferring not to drag you round the world, to that paradise of parsons, the Sandwich Islands. To begin with Europe — where the subject itself begins : That "the Reformation" divided Christian Europe into two great camps, and so destroyed the unity of Christendom, is self- evident. The Diets of Worms and Spires, the Iloly Council of Trent, Bossuet and Liebnitz, and other good and great men, have labored in vain to restore unity to Christendom. Whatever vir- tus there is in unity, whatever strength, whatever safety. Pro- testantism took away at the very outset. We, in America, are in a good position to judge the merits of a Reform, of which disunion is the first requisite. We live on a continent larger than Europe ; we have one official language ; we are divided into many independent states containing various races, of unequal political powers ; we are united under a federal head, who can do nothing for a state, except what it cannot do for it- self; we have opposite sectional interests to conciliate, com- promise, and keep together. 'Iherc are among us also Reformers 19 i — the legitimate successors of Professor Luther, whose pe^i^'reo I could give were it necessary — and these lieformers speak of the unity of the government, as a thing that ought to bo sacrificed to a larger liberty ; they speak of tlio President, the Congress, and Acts which were necessary in order to execute provisions of the Constitution, much as Luther and his imitators spoke of Rome and the sacred College, in tlie sixteenth century. Suppose they succeeded in separating one-third of the States from the Union, what would be the consequence ? Disunion would produce par- tial anarchy ; rivalry and estrangement, would recpiirc armed frontiers and internal centralization ; the small States would bo incorporated by tlio great ones-; these would require increased taxes and functionarism ; classes would be created ; social en- mities would arise ; and a succession of armed insurrections would probably follow. As a matter of fact, what did the Disunionists do for Kuropc ? It is .sometimes said they enlarged its civil liberties. I ask when and where did they do so ? Did the countries that continued Catholic become more free ? Were not Italy and Spain, as free in the fourteenth as in the seventeenth century .'' Did the countries which became wholly Protestant, derive new liberties from the change ? Did Sweden and Denmark ? Did Ilolland ? Did cen- tralized England, the slave of London ? On the contrary you will find the hands of the dynasties strengthened in all these countries, municipal liberties abridged, provincial parliaments suj)pressed, direct taxation abolished, standing armies raised, great cities swollen with unnatural fullness, sj^ontaneous local loyalty ex- changed for stipendiary officials — for a standing army in colored clothes, who are fed out of the excessive taxes of each separated State. As the history of our own century is characterized by the word revolution, so that of the century after Luther, is expressed in the word, centralization. As the spendthrift succeeds to the miser's estate, so the men who opposed all state authority, were the true heirs of those who claimed everything for the State. You may ask, how Protestantism caused this state of things, especially in Catholic countries? It was thus: When "the Reformation " rendered the Roman Medium powerless for arbi- tration, or compromise, it made centralization a State necessity to every European power. The Presidential power of the Popes, depended on the common consent of the Christian states: when Germany, England and Holland revolted, the Presidency was 17 (^igrco I <. of the iccd to a rsa, and 3 of the f Rome osc they ! Union, nco par- j armed 'ould bo iicroascd )oial en- is would 'opc ? It hen and Catholic in the 3ountricH from the Did ccn- you will ouiitrics, pressed, Hit cities alty cx- colorcd cparated d by the xprcssed s to the ity, were ite. things, en "the or arbi- ccssity to Popes, : when cy was abolished, not only for them but for Franco, Spain and Austria. There was no longer any use in one party referring to Rome, when the other refused to acknowledge the authority of the tri- bunal. Each State had now only to depend on its own internal forces; whoever could raise and keep up the largest standing army, had greatest power; the strong hand, as in the days of the barbarians, became the sole safeguard to Catholic as to Protestant Princes Each had to do as their neighbors did, in order to meet force with force. Thus we will ilnd the Tudors and Stuarts, the Viisa in Sweden, the house of Orange in Ilolland, the house of Brandenburgh in Prussia, as intent on arbitrary power, as Tiouis XIV. or Charles V. Protestantism made internal centralization a state necessity — drove the Kings and Cubincts on in that direc- tion — a direction they were eager enough to tak' in former times, but which the common law of Christendom, and the easier resort to a Supreme Court at Rome, gave them no opportunity of sei/,ing in the ages of Catholic unity. (When I speak of those ages, I do not wish to be understood as having any particular reverence for their practical politics. Politics then as now was often a game played by the few at the expense of the many; men of the world were then, as now, hard-hearted and self-seeking; there were oppressions, miseries and crimes enough. But there was among ])oliticians, even tl»e worst and most worldly, a sense of responsibility to a powerful tribunal ; there was, throughout the governed, a latent conviction of fellow- ship capable on great occasions of great generosity ; there was a sanctuary where the collared serf might rest in safety while his coroncted master thundered in vain at the gate ; tlicre was a Supreme Court, where tyrants could be impeached, as Donald O'Ncil impeached the Plantagenets: to say all in one sentence, moral power had gradually subdued the barbarian power of brute force, had given mankind a right direction, a progress with a head to it, that knew where it was going and what it wanted, not like the giddy, undirected chimera which calls itself progress in these days.) The exclusion of the Popes from the moral government of Christendom, left a great void in ite stead. The Netherlands, that common cock-pit of Europe, felt this want most, and accordingly the low Dutch jurists invented the code now known as " the Laws of Nations.'' As the peace Congress feels in our age, so Grotius 2 18 iil: W: iV I Barbcyrac, and dc Punciidorf', Celt in Uicirp, how bare and lawlcM Fairope was witliout an jirbitrator. They compiled their codo, which deiived a certain authority from their honored names, but, it wanted the lo^jfical eomj>lcnient of every code, au executive to enforce itd provisions : to entertain conflicting claims — to act upon cases for which there is no iireeedcnt — to overcome discontented parties — to protect the weak Avho arc right, against the strong who arc aggressors — there must be an executive. The first writers on the law of nations felt that it was a dead letter, without an inter- national executive. Grotius, though a Protestant, boldly declares the necessity for a Suj^reme Court at Home, and ho quotes, Mel- .inethon as one of his authorities; Leibnitz quotes and defends this opinion of Grotius ; Seekenberg, of the same school, maintains in his .InriKjtriitlviu'c that " it is right there .should be a svstem of government among Ciiristian.s, and it is right that there should bo a head to preside over it; and none else can be more qualified for this ofliee than the Viear of Jesus Christ, the representative of the blessed Peter, ihrough an uninterrupted succession of Apostles." It is very demonstrable th;it this absence of an international executive has led to those sinister coalitions of great State.", known as Congresses ; that it has helped to the j)artition of Italy, and the jiartition of Poland ; that it has been a diversion in favor of Mahometanism, which it secured in Asia long after its pro- .sclytizing force was i-pent ; that it has prolonged the African slave trade ; that it tended to mak(! war more conmion and more deadly ; ])rodu(!ed French fraternities, and all the irregular inter- ference by one people in the alfairs of another, so much to be dej^lored in modern polities. The military history of modern Europe is an additional argu- ment in favor of au International Executive. No State can now aHbrd to reduce its standing army, fearing lest others will not disband. The modern motto among Christians is — "In time of peace prepare ibr war." No nation can trust another's good faith ; and the solemn invocation " in the name of the Most Holy Trinity," with which treaties still begin, is considered a mere form, not bind- ing beyond the hour of convenience or necc.«.sity, and to which even Unitarian envoys might sign their names. If a casus belli arises, to strike the first blow — a most anti-Christian sentiment — seems the first thought on both sides. Look at the war-debts, and military memoirs of Europe, since the Germans in Bourbon's army nd lawless their code, aincs, but, xcutivo to ;o act upon acontcntcd itronj? who writers on it an inter- ly declares uotea, Mcl- nd defends I, maintainH [I system of ^ should bo ualificd for itive of the Apostles." iternational -cat State?, on of Italy, on in favor tor its pro- 10 African i\ and more gular inter- nu(^h to be ional argu- e can now rs will not In time of good faith ; ly Trinity," , not bind- d to which I casus belli lentiment — -debts, and bon's army n 19 proclaimed Luther at Home, amid the terrors of a barbarous pillage. Look at the Tiiirty Year's War, the Wars of the Succession, of Louis XIV., and of the French Uevolulion. Three similar centu- ries were never siicn in the old *' I hiitiul States " of Kurope. From the rei;^Mi of Constanline to that of Charles V., a general internal war was unknown in ('hristendum. The border wars of France, and Fngland, France, Spain, the Itiiiian States, and the emperors, were mere tournaments compared to those horrid slaughters which Wallcnstein, Marlborough, Fredcriek, and Napoleon din;ctcd. " In the bloodiest buttle of the loth century,". says Michelet, " there were only one thou.sand uwn killed." The whole ener'nes of Christendom then were used, nut in internal wars, but chiefly against exti-rior Paganism and Ilealhcnlsm, the believer in Odin, and the belii'vcr in Mahomet. 'JMie great battles were fought by united Christian chamj)ions in the plains of Palestine, on tlie vega of (Jranadii, about the iron gate of the Danulie, or on the sands of Africa, wliere the crescent was so often trodden out under the burning feet of Christian com^uerors. How great the change in Furopc since those ages, miscalled dark ! They were meditative rather than speaking ages; they wero ages of social contentment r.nd sim])lr ])leasurcs; mtm, like Danto and St. Thomas, thought less of fame than of duty in their works, and by that very means secured the noblest wreaths of fame — for those laurels only arc ])ereimial on which religion breathes her beatif)'ing breath. liy appealing to that barbarian pride which the Cliurch had long held in cheek, social contentment was rooted out; every man thouglit himself the best man; every prize was held out for every hand to pluck at. Great cities sprung up like Jonah's gourd; country life was thrown into the shade; tlic new doctrine of marriage left the door of divorce always on the jar ; poverty became a criminal, and was locked up, lest its importuni- ties should vex the prosiierous })Coplc of the world, or interrupt merchants in the market-place. A trading theology and a Pagan philosophy went hand in hand through the world, displacing the ancient unity of duties and rights; the })olitieal consequences have been, as I said, disunion, partial anarchy, centralization, and coun- ter-centralization; lastly, those lamentable European revolutions, of which, I trust in God, we have heard the last in our time. Let me sum up the case as to Europe. Germany, the first of- fender against Christian unity, has been a]>propriatcly punished by 20 He own dis-unity. It has lived in a perpetual vortex, devoured by its own disonMed activity. A pntlu;tic (lernmn voico has aakcd — "Where is the (iciiiuin's fatlierland?" And tho only answer the poet could lind was this: — " Whcro'or reKouncln tlio (Jormftn tongue, Wliero (Jormun liymiiH to (Juil uro Hiiiiff, Wlu-ru (icrniai) it the iiamu tor friend, And rriMiclinian in tliu name for fiend, There (gallant brother take yonr Btand, Thttt is the (lormnn'H farlherland." '!■] it ^ But hymns and hatred will not d(>line a political existence, so this answer is no answer. I could have told Dr. Arndt where his fatherland is : it was murdered at Wittemberg, buried at Augs- burgh, and the inscription on its tomb was the treaty of Westpha- lia. I can tell him besides who were the murderers. They were Professor Ijuther and his brotherhood of assassins. Tho lleformation early (>ntered Switzerland : in 1520, by the compact of Berne, it divided the Swiss people with a gulf never since cIoscmI. J''rom the attraction of opposing influences, Switzer- land has kept a foothold on her Alps, but what is her interior liis- tory? Canton against canton, league against league, and city against city. Kvery true Switzcr is born in fear, lives in doubt, and dies in anxiety, for his country. When the descendants of Zwinglius and Calvin go up in tears and sackcloth to the shrine of St. Gall, or to the chapel oC William Toll, and do penance there, Switzerland may recover her unity, but she never can otherwise. In 1535, the lleformation entered England. For three hundred years, it has h;id everything its own way in that State! Where now is the old Saxon constitution, the courts leet and baron, tho assemblies of Durham, York, Lanca.stcr, Chester, and Cornwall? All absorbed by London — that great central sponge, which lies in the heart of the empire, drinking through its thirsty pores all tho energies of the provinces, and giving nothing out, except under the strong pressure of democratical agitation. AVhat arc tho estates of England to day ? The crown is a mere sign-board, the House of Lords an old curiosity shop, the Com- mons, a club of men well to do in the world. The Bank of Eng- land is the true government of England — Manchester is tlfc lieart of the nation — the yard-stick is the true sceptre, the ledger, cash- Icvourcd ins asked y answer stoncc, so kvhero his at Augs- Wcstpha- iiey were 9, by the ulf nevor I, Switzcr- tcrior his- und city in doubt, id ants of he shrino nee there, herwise. 1 hundred Where iiron, the ornwall ? ;h lies in cs all the .pt under is a mere the Com- : of Eng- Ife lieart ^er, eash- SI book, day-book, and blotter, the four gonpols of tliis now ch()S(!n people — these siililime miHsionarios of a ealieo eivilization. Moreover, as Dr. Jb'own.son lias well said — "England, economi- cally eoiisifliTed, ineludcs Freland and India" — tlu; establi.siinient kept up by i)iiyon,'ts, and tlie ear of .Inggtrnaul, iho r/yo^ starv- ing amid hi.*j riee, and the cutlur perishing in the furrow of tho field, whieh Enp;Hsh law has dt'en'(;d shall bear no other harvest but rents, tithes, and taxes. No inij»artial ob.server — no student of tho Hourees of our information — none but a seeond-hand re- peater of u man, will venture to hold up I'higlaiid as a sample of the salutary eonsiMpiences of I'roteslant polities. Shall I invite you to the Haltie. t'tumtiies— tin; eoldesl and most lieentious in Kurope. It is ciu)ugh to refer you to the authority of a gifted Seolehnian — a sound and manly thinker, and a candid reporter of what ho has seen — 1 mean Malcolm Laing's book on Sweden and Norway. Need T speak of Holland, that sand-bank snatched from the sea by Catholie generations, now sinking out of sight under the ineu- bus of its own intolerance ? Was it Spanish or Orange oppr(*ssiou that sent the De Witts and Barnaveldts to theseallbld? AVas it Spanisli oj>pression cau.sed IV'lgium to separate her fate from her natural associate? In Holland, also, wi' are disappointed when we look for the Protestant regeneration of the lununn race. The Reformation entered Franec; with Calvin, Coligny, and Hen- ry IV. It made a powcrfid i)arty, and caused many years of war. Iciclielieu e.Ktinguislied it only by extinguishing the provincial liberties, whieh it had excited even to anarchy. He centralized Kraiiee to save France; I'entrali/.ation of course led to abuses, to luxury, to skepticism, to tlu^ encyelopediii, to the guillotine revo- lution. "Sire," siiid a wise minister to Louis XV., "the philoso- ])liers are ruining I''rance." Who were these philorfoi)hers? Tho legitimate; odspringof Switzerland and Geimany. They were at home in (Jeneva and Herlin, and in their own rapid way they car- ried out, in France, the princi})les whieh the slower Saxons and Swiss had been centuries in developing. "Tlie most perfect Pro- testant,'' as l^urke observes, " is iu; who protests against the whole CIiristi;in religion " — the Freneh Deist is, therefore, the most con- sistent Protestant. Voltaire and his school completed what Lu- ther and his school eommenced. lleason was deified in Paris, and lia*ionah4•»^ iu Germany ; the only dilfercnce on the opposite sides I ',i- iV^ lit m M 22 • of the Rhine w-is between an idea and its form — the French cm- bodied unbelief like artists, while the Germans left it in a dense metaphysical fog, hanging somewhere over the Black Forest of their own pathless and melancholy sijceulations. To sum up in one sentence — tiie worldlings of Europe, in the 1600th year after Christ, rose against His Church. They would have liberty without authority^ — they got it; they would have pro- gress without conscience — they got it ; they would undo the bonds of unity, and as a providential punishment they have supped full of the horrors of anarchy. Like the Theban ilirmer, who prayed to Jupiter to have his own will of tlic woatlier, and when he got his request knew nor, >yi:at to do with what he so much desired, so also the I'rotestuut part of Christendom, if they ever will be Avise, ought now to see that God's Anointed are the only safe deposi- tories of the power to teach, to subdue, and to govern the mob of passions and propensities which grows up in o/ery new genera- tion of mankind. I come now to a topic nearer home — to inquire whether our American liberties oayc their origin to Protestantism or not. But before I do so, let me say here that them seems a disjiosi- tion in certain quarters, among certain editors and orators, whom I do not name, because current i^ames would but distract our at- tention from the great subject, there seems a disposition to charge us, Avho arc loyal Catholics as well as loyal citizens, with a eold- ,ness, or even an enmity, to the institutions of the United States. Some gentlemen, who ought to be with us and of us, instead of lluttcring over tlic balance of an uncertain liberalism — have given a sort of sanction to this — I will call it — this fabrication of fully mixed with maUce. Because our religion informs us that })olitieal duties are conscientious duties ; because conscience and common sense forbid us to believe in ;'uy patent form of government fit for every peoiilc under tlic sun ; because we cannot bow down be- fore the idol of the hour, whose front of brass dazzles those who do not look at his feet of clay ; because we cannot eni'se the man who has saved societ}- in France, and given her the first i>rincijile of all government, Aulhoritij ; licause we onnnot shoul hosanna;' after dcrnocmcy with a feather in its hat t.nd a sentry at its door — therefore we are indilTercnt republicans. 1 ask your jiardon for this allusion to a charge so very absurd and so very false, that it really deserves no other answer than to be silently spat ujiou. In considering the origin of American libert/ , I think suffi- " ench cm- n a dense Forest of pe, in tho cy would have pro- the bonds ippcd lull 10 prayed m he got lesired, so 1 be wise, fc dcposi- tlic mob \v gencra- ictlier our not. a disposi- )rs, whom ct our at- to charge th a cold- ed States, nstead of ave given n of folly ,t j)olitieal common jinic'ut fit down be- ll ose who }. the man j.rinciple liosanna:? it its door ardon for •^c, that it U])OU. link suffi- 28 Gient attention has not been paid to tho influence of tho circum- stances of the first colonists : coming from England, they would naturally bring with tiiem the general idea of representative government; but standing in the presence of the northern wilder- ness, they necessarily learnt the lessons of self government. Tho monarchy did not emigrate here as to Brazil ; the aristocracy did not emigrate as to Cuba and ^Mexico ; the working men alone emigrated. There was from the first, a natural ec^uality among them : the best shot, the best craftsman was the only an'sto possi- ble in the forest of the North. In the smallest towiisliip, a? now in the greatest State, there existed the principles of the Republi- can system — tlie^ Elected their select men, reeves and path-mas- ters, as you do your Afayor, President, or Legislators. American Democracy began Avith the beginning of the country, it is a native here, its constitution is formed to the climate, its irrowth was regular and orderly — it is never to be confounded with the ferocious and chimerical Democracy of old monarchical States. In the European sense there was no Ami^riean rcuolutiofi, for the Euro])ean term means a double act, an undoing and a doing, a tearing down of the old, to make room for the new, as if a nationality was an old house or an old boiler, that could be taken asunder in such a fashion : the American revolution means only that, the King who never was here, never was a practical part of the colonial system, having innovated on the native, necessary rights of the per-ple — that they rose up, completed the fabric of their iueoniplcto liberties, and told the King of Enghmd to manage his own country, as they meant in future to manage theirs. The word rcvolutinn. so stinks in the nostrils of every sane man, that it is necessary frequently to repeat this distinction between its American and Euro}>can sense, in order to take the illustrious authors ol' our constitution, out Oi the bloody and ignominious catalogue of Euroi)ean radicalism. But if northern democracy grew in the woods and ran in the rivers, Avhy did it not do so in J^outh Ain(M'iea? This habit of comparing dissiniihir things is one of the leading delusions of our times. Let us look at the facts by themselves, Martin Alon5:o Pinzon advised Columbus to .sail south with tlie Culf Stream instead of north, and so, for ends knovv^n only to Providence, the Spaniards struck the tropical region of America. Tiicy settled under a sky which clothed all under it. on a soil bursting with the precious metal.-?. The aborigines they encountered were a semi-civilized ■m: "li- 1: m¥ •lu m II ■ K-li 24 people with whom, at least, the common Spaniard might, without disgrace, intermarry ; a great many young Don's of better family than fortune, got royal grants in the colonics, and thus entailed a military aristocracy upon the new country. Better for the Spanish settler he had never landed with such captains on a soil so rich in minerals, or under a climate so luxurio usand enervating ! But, as if to complete their unhappy experience, the frenzy of the 18th century seized them, and they too should iuive their paper repub- lic. They rent their green branch untimely from the parent tree — they planted their olives too much to the north — " they were rotten before they were ripe " — they rebelled without suHicicnt cause, and have lived ever since without law orgovprnment. South America wants a man — v/ants a master, and for her own sake I hope she may g(^t one soon, not from abroad, but from among her own gifted childrcu. A very few words as to Protc- iintism in relation to Asia and the barbarian world. Who divided Europe at the very hour the Turks were concentrating upon it? The Luthers who cried with the Dutch democrats of to-day — " The Turk rather than the Pope." Who has kc])t the Crescent and the Koran where they are these last two centuries? IVotestant England. To go further, who has made the Christian name odious in India and China? England, the opium-seller. Who tramples on the cross annually in Japan ? The Dutch, who alone had an entry there for two centuries. Wiio pensions Ji'ggernaut in India, and makes the faithless Cliris- tian blush in the presence of honorable Turks? I^rotestant Eng- land. Has any I'rotestant government since the Reformation, made a solitary effort to rescue the holy places in Palestine from pollu- tion? Not one. With all their boasted love for the Bible, have they not suH'ored the land of the Bible to remain a prey to the Heathen, and tlic monuments of the Biljle to be, in many cases, destroyed or defaced? France alone in our davs has attempted to rescue and redeem tlic Holy Sepulchre. Protestantism could arm for tlie city of Pericles and Demosthenes, but it had no care for tlic city over which " Jesus wept ; " the modern Pagan turns fondly to Athens as to his mother, but if he visits the city of David, it is to carve his worthless name upon the trees that grow in the Garden of (ietheseminai, or to take out his telescope and "survey the country " from Mount Calvary. 26 it, without iter family entailed a LC Spanish so rich in ig! But, f the 18th )er repub- arent tree hoy were suflicicnt nt. South vn sake I in among Asia and • hour the jried witli ,he Pope." arc these her, who England, n Japan ? ies. Who ss Cliris- tant Eng- 1, made a oni pollu- l)lo, have !y to the my cases, itloinptcd sm could J no care fan turns 3 city of lat grow cope and .« Not only has the Reformation made a successful diversion in favor of Mahomet and Buddha, but it has no charm to lure the savage from his lair. Not to speak of remote and obscure regions, look at its consequences to our own Indians. It is the disgrace of our present civilization that we have never rescued one savage from the wilderness. We have destroyed, we could not convert. And why? We began with the rcdman's clothing, his manners, and his language. Instead of beginning as Toth and Cadmus, and Numa of old, with his religion; instead of doing as St. Gregory did with the Saxons, and St. Leo, with the lluns — beginning with a religion. If the inner Indian was changed, the costume would have come of itself. But those who preceded us in j'..merica, seemed to consider a sack coat, a round hat, and a gloved hand, the outward and visible marks of a true Christian. There was, at one period, a prospect of the redemption of the redmcn — re- demption which all who believe ' unn to have souls, must admit was possible. The Jesuits understood them, but the civilized savage ordered the Jesuits out of the wilderness, denied them the luxury of the scalping-knife and the burning stake, and because the Jesuit was hated, the Indian was lost. I do not deny that attempts were made in good faith by Pro- testants to reclaim the rodmen, but it is a fact, that the Protestant merchant, with his rum and his rifle, was too powerful for the Protestant missionary, and that nothing permanent was done. I have now, ladies and gentlemen, described the outline of this Siibject, and must leave to the unconvinced or the curious to fill up the details. It would require not one, but a course of lectures, fully to illustrate the poll*' ^ causes and consequences of the Pro- testant Eeformation. Before I close, let mo say a word to those friends (some of whom I see here) who remember when I maintained some o}:)inions dil- ferent from those I have expressed. Some years ago I went into the discussion of great questions, of government and revolution, with all the rasli confidence of ouc-and-twenty. I deeply regret that I did so. I fear I gave offence where I should have rendered obedience, and pain where I should have given pleasure. I may have misled others, since I so misguided myself. What excited my apprehension was, that those whom I knew to be the social enemies of our religion and race, applauded my career. I hesita- ted — I reflected — I repented, I then resolved never again to i :l .■>■ A if If w speak or write upon such subjects, without a careful and conscien- tious study of the facts and principles in each case. If perplexi- ties arise as to principle, then we have the Christian doctrine, or the living voice of the Church, to roicr to for the decision of our douLts. In this spirit I have of late read history, and in this si)irit I have meditated upon the subject, which I have had the honor to j)rcsent to you to-night. I am convinced that no great historical or human interest, can now bo safely discussed witliout the exposition of first principles, of Catholic principles. It is an age which takes nothing for granted, except its own self-sufliciency : it cannot be too often brought to the touchstone of theological science. I am convinced there is such a science as Christian politics; I am certain tluit it is the science of true progress, of general peace, of legal liberty. I am equally convinced that the constant repe- tition round us of English, German, and Parisian ideas — which are at bottom Protestant ideas — have misled many Catholic young men into adopting rules and maxims of private and public life which they cannot defend by reason, or in conscience, and which religion emphatically condemns. I believe, further, that to hold and talk polities, which are unreasonable and irreligious, is un- worthy of any man who calls himself a Christian, and most un- worthy of all in an Irish Catholic. For we are of the soil that once produood the harvest of saints every year; we have in our hearts a kindred l)lood, purified through their holy lives. Our fathers in the days of Henry, of Elizabeth, of Anne, would dis- own us as their descendants, if they heard us parrot the wretched politics of revolutionary Protestantism. They would, I think, arise from their graves, if Providence permitted, to point out to us the lost path of our inheritance — the path beside which the Holy Well gushes up to meet the thirsty traveller's lip, and where the way-side cross beckons him to kneel down and pray. These fathers were sorely tried in their day, but they never equivocated one hair's breadth. Theirs was no thistle down faith, that any passing puff might blow away, but a hardy laurel, that drank of the blood of the martyrs, and b "ame as immortal as its food; which neither summer's heat could parch, nor winter's cold could chill ; it struck root in the rock, it l)los3omed in darkness, it waved like a triumphant banner above the ruined breach at Drog- heda and Limerick. Our fathers left us this divine faith for our h'T 27 sole inlioritanco— it ia at once our history, our consolation, and our glory. " They left us a treasure of pity and wrath, A epur to cur cold blood set, And we'll tread their path With n spirit tluit hath Assurance of victory yet," If 'I >l &