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Ladies and Gbntlbmbn, — For some years past I have been before my countrymen in public life. I am not unknown in Great Britain, and I may claim to be well kuowr in Ireland. Many and many a time in '* thai old kingdom by the sea," I have stood side by side with men of Irish birth, defending the honor of, or battling for, the Fatherland. I always rejoiced when I could raise my voice and exercise ray mind in defence of the old, old cause, doing, I hope one man's share in the effort to make my country a nation once again. Throughout many a stormy chapter in the history of the last decade, I have taken mj share of glorious toil, and have been more than rewarded by the generous confidence and constituted trust of my countrymen at large* The ever changing current of evt nts produced a change in the spirit of my dreams, and some time 8inc3 I found myself in Canada, here to seek a peaceful occupation and a home. At the hauc } of my countrymen here I received that cordial wel- come which I ieterpreted as an endorsement of the policy I advocated in the old land, and as en- couragement to pursue a somewhat similar policy here. I came h-re to be loyal to your laws, obedient to the constitution, and desirous of living in peace with Protestants and Catholics, Jews and Gentiles alike. If I am proud of my own land, and proclaim her glory fiom the house tops, if I occasionally d^ell upon the time when Ireland was the land of T scholars and the nurse of arms; if now and then I like to picture anew^ the time when th^ genius of Irishmen shone like a beacon light from pole to pole, and the virtue of whose daughters hasfoi ages been the theme of universal admiration, then I only express myself as Deakman did when he wrote ♦' Our Fatherland I Who speaks the name of Fatherland without a tear? The voice of love, the voice of fame, . The voice of all we hold most dear, Tell us to love our Fatherliv.id." But as I have been all my life an Irishman, so have I been all my life a Catholic ; and as I have oftea battled for the old land, so do I now fiad my- self battling for the Faith. To-night I come before you in a new character — placing for awhile hvland and her cause aside— I am here to-night to defend the Catholic Church. I neither sought nor desired this quarrel. I, as one member of that "Romish'' Church which has been so much calumniated, had no wish to measure weapons with a foe. I certain- ly never would have commenced the assault, nor have stirred up religious feads, which, in my opinion, have done much to retard tbe progress of Christian communities. But the worm has been trod upon and it has turned to sting. Uafortunately, perhaps^ I am not of too amiable a mould, and when I am slapped upon one side of the face, I never turn the other to receive a like cast'gation. I generally try to give back blow for blow, and in self-defence to fight my corner as viciously and as determinedly as an Irishman can. I am by nature a hater of bigotry in any and in every form, and I care not from whence it comes, bigotry is to me a thing accursed, Christ died to save mankind — He suffer- ed for us all, and while believing: in no theory about a universal religion, such as Emerson desires, yet I hope to d<» my btiFt to cultivate a kindly and a friendly feeling towards those who differ from us in len I IS of le to ap:e8 only •? matterfl of dogma or Faith. I am a friend to civil and religious liberty all the world around, and would defend my princi(>le?i, I hope, if needs be, at any sacrifice. It is well indeed for us all that tolera- tion is becoming universal and that men are ceasing to hate each other f()r His sake, and that a good and Christian spirit is day by day fiudint? itself into men's hearts and understandings. But like the rest of those things which man disposes, there are exceptions to the rule, and one; of those exceptions is I fear, the Rev. Mr. Bray, of Zi<»n Church, Mon- treal. Like myself he is a new comer to Canada, and like myself he too was here before he thought that in Zion Chuichht; would make a name, and ia its precincts, find a local habitation. This gentle- man then has attempted to hea^ ridicule and con- tempt upon the Church of Rome, and in my hum- ble way I am here this evening with Defence and not Defiance as my motto. I see around me too such B gathering of the clans that I feel I am not alone, and that the Catholics of Montreal, one and all, say with me that the pastor of Zion Church has grossly and gratuitously insulted our Faith. Our Church was "despotic" and " Romish," and "used every weapon that would s< rve for the hour." In the person of our Church, "the flesh and the devil had taken holy orders." It was " Popery " and " Priest- craft." The Pope although Infallible, "was not happy" and the Church again " was a colossus of crime." The Papal court at Avignon was the "most voluptuous in Europa," the Jesuits should be turned out of Canada, and the priests in Spain would soon leavrt "her ancient halls of chivalry" because there was not much spoil to get there. The clergy had "bestial passions " they " broke marriage vows," " invented miracles," and*' spared nothing*' in order that they might wallow in riches. And yet, this gentleman said that he had no intention of of- \ fendlnpf his '* Bom&n Catholic friendB " and even after the lecture profesHed a kindly feeling towards we " Bomish " men, and almost pitied us for the darkness which overshadowed our minds. Now let us look at the question. Our Church ridiculed, onr priesthood helied and insulted, extermination to the Jesuits, and the people branded as priest- ridden, and yet no insult intended gentlemen — no insult. O yes, insult was intendt'd, and has been accepted, and this magnificent assemblage of the wealth, and Who, in the winter's night, Soggarth aroon, ^ When the could blast did bite, Soggarth aroon, Came to my cabin-door , , And, on my earthen-flure, * Knelt by me, sick and poor, Soggarth aroon ? Who, on the marriage-day, Soggarth aroon, Made the poor cabin gay, Soggarth aroon — And did both laugh and sing, Making our hearts to ring, At the poor christening, Soggarth aroon ? Who, as friend only met, Soggarth aroon, Never did flout me yet, Soggarth aroon ? And when my hearth was dim, Gave, while his eye did brim, What I should give to him, Soggarth aroon ? Och ! you, and only you, Soggarth aroon I And for this I was true to you, Soggarth aroon; 2n love they'll never shake. When for ould Ireland's sake, We a true part did take, Soggarth aroon ! Men who insult the Catholic priests insults the Catholic man. Protestants should not estimate their feelir g toxvards their clergy, as if we felt the same way towards ours. There is a vast differeoce. We reverence oui' priests, while I am sure I do not offend when I say that Protestants do not always even respect the clergymen of their creed. yes there is a great difference in the way they are treated, and if we ftre quick to resent an insult heaped \ \ T upon them, it Is only becinse of the respect we owe to them, and the atfuctioti in which they ere held* Yvs the priestH of the old Church, the old Faithi like nn aged ship firm in (>lutik and htading towards the sea, toHBes off the Hticcessivo asRaults upon its bulwarks, as spray U thrown off in oft repeated BhowcrH fiom her impenetrable sides. I claim ther«;fore to have come to Montreal on a mission of peace, and I contend that the Rev. Mr. Bray, from the commencement, dt-clared his in- tention of ci>ming on a mission of war. I have heaid that Wueu he was here some twelve or eigh- teen months ago, that he delivered what was de- scribed to me as a " splendid lecture or sermon" on "the Prodi^'al Son." So far po good. At the end of the sermon or lecture however, the demon of bigot- ry brnke forth and he expressed himself pleased with everything lie saw in Canada — t xcept the " Popery." He returned to Eiiglan(i and he came here again, this time as Pastor of Zion Church. I have heard that one ol his very first sermons here was a declaration of war upon the " dominant relig- ion" — that threat he has carried out, and now it is war indeed. Well within the precincts of Zion Church the Rev. Mr. Bray has a right, if he thinks fit, to rea^^onably and argnraentatively combat the '* dominant" religion. That may be his special callina:, &< it c? rtainly is his special riiiltgious freedom, may be clearly traced, in the history of every country, to the working and efforts of the independent power of the Church of Rome.'' Yes, " Rome did much for civilization" but Chrifitian Rome did far more than Pagan Rome to advance thought and consolidate freedom. Lecky too, who was a non Catholic, substantiates Laing, for he says that the beneficial works of the early Church of Rome: " Constituted to gather a movement of philosophy which has never been paralled or approached in the pagan world." Yes, it wan the Catholic C»iurch that saved civil- ization to the wt«rld ; or, as Gnizo* sayw : " Powerfully assisted in forming the character and in furthering the development of modern civilization, whose innumerable monasteries, with active monks and clergy potent at once in the dominion ot intellect and in that of reality, and wliose glorv is that the human mind beaten down bv storms took refuge in ttie asylum of Churches and Monasteriej." '^ Who wds it th"n that in the dark age of ruiu and dismay, whtm the light uf learnuig ^^asput out) w the fire of literature and inquiry quenched, barhar- isif triumphant, and civiliz^iion destioyed ; who was it but the Catholic Church that rescued the world from anarchy and decay ? Let a Protestant again reply : ' ' ' j - ■ "If the Catholic Church had done nothing more than to preserve for us, by painful solicitude and Uiirtwardtd toil, the precepts and intellectual treasurts of Greece i\pd Rome, she would have been entitled to our everlasting- gratitude. But iier hierarchy did not merely preserve these treasures. They taught the modern world how to use them. VV e can never forget that at least nine out of every ten of all the great colleifcs and universities in Christendom were founded by monks or priests, bishops or aiciibisnops. This is true of the most famous instituiions in Protestant as well as in Catholic countries. And equally undeniable is tlie fact, that tiie greatest discoveries in the sciences and in the arts (with the sole exceptiim of Sir Isaac Newton) have been mads either by Catholics or by those who were educated by them. Our readers know that Copernicus, the aullior of our present systen. f»f astronomy, lived and died a poor priest, in an obscure villaufc ; and Gaklec. livtd and died a Catholic* ♦ The great Kepler, although a Protestant himself, always acknowledged that he received the most valuable part of his education from the monks and priests. It were easy to add to these illustrious names many equally renowned, in other depirlmenls of science, as well as literature and ihe arts, including those of statesmen, orators, historians, poets and artis':s." yes, ihe Catholic Church wag the pnviour of civilization the emancipator of the world. She was so during the firs*", four hllndr^'d years of her exiat^-nce and shu was bo during what is called the " dark ag'^rf." Th^Rev Mr Bray t-ays the Catholic Chnn h was a "coIoprur of crime " — that for long agP8 her ^opea '' were guilty of almost every crlni'i under heaven," and that ••th-^ immorality of her pri«^sthood was largely ins^^rumentil in her ruin '» He said too that the alliance of Church and State was brought about for "the aggrandise- ment of the Church and for the suppression of liberty." I ohallecge one and all of tboao isaaei. 1 #« ^t The Church was never go free, the people never so happj\ as wht-a the Pop-fS exercised the temporal powfr. Italy does not now, nor n«!ver did, enjoy so much lihrtrtv as she did during the days of the Republics of G^ioa, Pisa, Lucca, a»id Florence. H tw is it p^s^ible that a Church that has civilized the countrit-s which t^mb'aced it, can b^^ opposed to lib-^rty, fa* civilizttioa and liberty must of n'^cessity go han make hypocrites. Grant civil liberty to all, not in approvins^ everythinif as indifFer, ent, but in tolerating vvit'.i patience whatever .Vl mighty God . tolerates, and endeavv)urin^ to CJnvirt men by mild per suasions." .■-,____,.,.::' :\^, ,/\ .,,-., „, Do we not remember what Dr. Brownson, who wm At that tim"^ a Protestant,— do we not remembor ■ ff 1*1 hie thanking God that there was a power oh earth-^ moaning thereby the Temporal Power of the Church of Rome— that could stand like a wall of iron agains the tyranny of earthly sovereigns. No the Catholic Chmch has been the friend of civil lioerty all over the earth. Who told the Emperor Theodosius not to enter the sacred portals of the Cathedral at Milan because the blood ot his subjects was on his hands, who but the intrepid St. Ambrose, Archbishop of Milan. Who wrung from King John the Magna Ckarta of British liberty, and upon the plains of Runny ruede, made a reluctant monarch grant civil liberty and Habeas Corpus to his subjects— who but Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury. Was not European liberty developed when Catholicism was triumphant? I grant that since the Luthf^ran secession liberty in Europe has advanced. I freely grant that before that secession the progress of liberty may have been somewhat sluggish. But what was the cause ? Was not feudalism already being destroyed by the Church? Was not the ad- ministration of justice moral, rational, and epuitable. Were not States becoming larger and the grievances of muncipalities being ameliorated. I gran*^ that the organisation of society, and civil liberty was not the same in the sixteenth century as it is now, but it is abt>urd to com- pare the lib Mty of the subj.ct thr«-e hundred yenrs ago with the libi^rty of the 8ul»j ct todty, a« it would be to compare the lib-rty and secur ity enjoyed iu tht t-ixtcenth with that enjoyed in th«- thirtt^« nth century. Th«- t mp'»rHl po'ver of the Pt pe> WHS never nui vernal, therefore, th< y can- D' t b chaig«d with the Blown* 8>- of civilizitiou and libeitv, outhidt' th?ir own (^dnmin. When Mr. Brny h'\}H t>.at that pu^er was usurped, h«" ustn uiit m» ndy an inacouraiy, but h uses an AnHchronism The temporal power ot thr P.>pe« was the salvuiioa ■a m of Society, In Borne alone was the Inquisition never used to put a human being to death, while the rest of Europe was reeking with blood. In Rome alone did the people enjoy more civil and religious liberly than they did in any pa.*t of the world, as the spirit of the Catholic Church opposed to servitude and iojastice, brought comfort to the afflicted and threw the mantle of its protection over the persecuted of the earth. Thither fle«r the Jews when there was a price upon their heads, and there, aye, under the shadow of the temporal power, under the guardianship of that religion, which they had attempted to destroy ; therein Bome I rejoice to know — yes, I glory in knowing, — that there alone was civil liberty secure, and men— J 'W and Gentile possessed more freedom than they did in any part of the civilized globe. " Ah, yes," says the Bev. Mr Bray, " all very well, I grant there was a time when the Church was good, but it after- wards becomes a 'colossus of orimn,'" The clergy were for the most part profligate and the eiitire re- cord of the *' Bonaish ' Church for whole centuries was but the record of " social and political crime." Sweeping charges and liberally applind. At one time, he said, "a million swords would have been taken from tho scabbard at its call : now only a few hundred French, and Belgians and Irish would respond to her appeal for martial help." Not so sir, not so 1 Now as then a million oi swords would spring out of the scabbord at her call for martial help, if the Faith was assailed. Yes, millions of Catholics would jo>ously take their places in line, and at a moments call if the Church or the Faith required it. We might not all battle' for the restoration of "^he temporal power, but God forbid that the Pontiflf— the aged and venerable Pontiff, God bless him — or his suc- cessor should find it necessary to call the Catholics mm of the world to his standard in defence of the Faith. It that day ever com' fi and if the Eev. Mr. Bray lives to see it, I promise hirn that he will see his. tory repeat itself and will witness raiilions of swords flashing from the scabbards, millions of biyonets glittering in the sunshine, and millions of men ready to march to death with military glee. He glories in the fall of the Papacy as a temporal pDwer, yes, so did irs enemies since the day^ of Cornelius to Pins IX. but it stands still as power- ful as ever. The succession never failed, and 200,- 000,000 of faithful subjects give allegiance to its decrees. But I must go on. The Rev. Mr. Bray describes the trial of ^kill bet^'/een Hildebrand and the King of Germany. But he gave a diff.^rent ac- count of the cause of that contest to what I have been in the habit of reading. Protestant historians too give a diffi^rent version of the story. I read that Hildebrand was defending the liberty of the people, and opposing the heresy of the king. We know on the authority of Voltaire, Wheaton, and Kent, that the Popes were reco^oised as a power in Eutope, and had a spiritual right to interfere in the internal affairs of other nations. Henry appointed a mock Pope, ordered Hildebrind, the elected of the Cardinals and the choice of the people, to abdicate, sent his sol- diers into the Churches and acted the tyrant over the defenceless Hildt^brand. But with the spirit of a true pastor, the Pope still held out for the people until at last the King and Pope met at Canossa, and the Pope challenged the King by the body and blood of Christ, to swear as he svvom^ that he had never acted save for the good oj the Church and the benefit of the people. Tlie conscience-btrickeu King recoiled from the terrible ordeal, he could not take Ihe oath, and the Pope, as champion of the people and de- fender of the Church, triumphed over the tyranny and the despotism of the King. Voltaire, Do Maistre, Bellarmine, and many Protestant writers, support the Pope, and rejoice that despotism received 80 severe a shock as it did at Canossa in the year of our Lord, 1075. Yes sir, the Popes whom you Lave so much abus d have ever been the cham- pions of liberty in Europe. They rescued it wh^n the Saracens brought ruin in their wake and upon the plain of Poictiers the cresent went down before the emblem of man's redemption. Was that not the doings of Gregory III and Charles Martt^l ? You say the Church broke marriage vows. Was it not the much abused Popes who preserved the sanc- tity of Dinniage and in ppire of threats and de- nunciations from Philip Augustus of France or from Henry VJIl. of England held on^tliroiitih all those dark ayes to the prt-cept that man shall not separate what God has j tined. Inti xibly the Popes have resisted all thriMiiih history, as they resist jiow— the immoral teachings of the divorce court. But says the Rev. Mr. Bray when the Court left Rome and went to Avignon, it b came the most "voluptuous" Court in Ear>p\ Hi-rds words Sir, very hards word-^, — and let us see how true The Papal Court left Rome for Avignon in 1309. Of the Popes at Aviirnon Platiua tells us that one of them Benedict XI [. was a gof>d man, " tu «t he lovt d and sought out the good, but r^pell-d the wick'd." Again St. P^trr Tnoiuas ot Aqnit^iu' celebrites the merits of anoth»-r ot the P.»p h who liv. d at Aviiiuon — Clement Vf — whil- F< Her exposes tbe calnmnins of Fl'Ury ab tut tne sam P.Miri,*}' Aifain we tiid N^.i\r'>f K ,sa\ in=f of anotbtM' of ttie Avignoii. Popes — J hn XXll. that '• h«* carri' d grrat C xistattcy inti> his enterprise H'S rnind wag sound Kiid sagaci •u-', his heart raagn iuimou-i, and his prudence t,onsuinmate. He was wnuwuto be eloqti •nt, sob<-r, frug d, humble and j ist." Another of the Aviguon Popes — Innocent Vi. is said to have "W " loved uprightness and justice. His own life was upright and his seal for religion unalterable." Of an- other, and the last but one of the Avignon Popes- Urban V — that he was "adorned by the finest virtues, and that his memory was so much respected that the King of France for a long time exempted from taxation the place where he was born." And this is all. Here are all the Popes who were at the " voluptuous" court at Avignon. Ah but this is not all. Why did not the Rev. Mr Bray tell the con- dition of Rome in 1308 and its condition when the Popes returned in 1371? Why did he not tell that in 1309 — the marts were full of merchandize, the libraries full of books, and Romn looked as if she was about to equal the splendour of the age of Augustus. Where were the 150,000 souls which the Popes left in Rome in 1309, where were they when they returned in 1371. Gone, gone nearly all gonel Of the 150,000 only 17,000 remained. Grass, says De Maistre, was growing in the streets, the cattle were brov^sing in the thoroughfares, com- merce had fled the marts, while literature was al- most destroyed, and science was no more. Gone, gone, all gone. The people were half starved, and yet the Pope left the "voluptuous" court at Avignon, and gave up its seductive pleasures for the misery of Rome ; they abandoned the limpid waters of the Rhone, for the muddy freshet of the Tiber. I am not prepared to £ay that the Court at Avignon was all it might be, but take it all in all I deny that history sustains the charge that it was " the most voluptuous in Europe." I grant that some of the Popes were not the best of men, but what had that to do with the purity of the many. Was the sanctity of Christ in any way sullied by the presence of Judas in the apostolic college ? Of the 250 Pon- tiffs who have been head of the Church how many were bad ? What line of Kings in the world can show 80 clear a record. Can England or France, Ger- many or Spian, Russ or| Sultan point to so pure and virtuous a Ruccesfiion, — a succession which has sup- plied the world with testimonies of virtue and piety, and has left a record, take it all in all, a history to which civilized nor Pagan history famishes a par allel. if I chose to dwell upon the monarchs of merrie England and compare them with the Popes, but I am here to-night simply to defend and I shall not be betrayed into a single word that would hurt the feeliags of the moat susceptable Protestant in Montreal. But I allow Toltaire, who cannot be accused of kindly feeling to\ ardp the "Romish" Church to give his testimony of the Pop js of Rome he says : — ••The wealth which the Popes acquired was spent not in satisfying' ther own avarice and ambition, but in the most laudable works of chari*" und religion. They expended their patrimony in sending missionaries to evangelise pagan Europe, in giving hospitality to exiled Bishops at Rome, and in feeding the poor. And 1 may here add that succeed- ing Popes have generously imitated the munificence of the early Pontiffs." Yes the ^lory of our Pontiffs has been attested to in. a thousand ways. All the world has been forced to witness their piety and their zea'l. The in- fidel Gibbon says of them that : — *• The Pope's temporal authority, is now confirmed by the reverence of a thousand years, and their nobl- est title IS the free choice of a people whom they have re- deemed from slavery." Yes, whatever abuses found, for a brief while, re- fuge in your rauks, thev were quickly reft)rmecl, and the history of the Pontificate stands the proud monument of your virtue. You sent reformers over Europe — you sent missionaries to civilize mankind, and to-day you find a grateful and obedi- ent people the testimony to your virtue and to your zeal. You sent forth your missionaries to preach God's truth in every corner of the earth, and tl^e Gospel was carried wherever mankind foand a re- fuge or made a home. But I must go on. I come to th« Lutheran seces- sion, and I fincJ the Rev. Mr. Bray saying that Luther bared the iniquities of the Church of Rome to the world. Now I shall say nothing of Luther to-night. I shall let him pass. I shall not to- night rake up counter charges against the Protest- ant Church, nor shall I revert to the persecutions which Catholics sulfered in every country in the world, where the Lutheran secession became triumphant. My position to-night is purely de- fensive, and I have no desire to leave behind me any painful record of this lecture. There is now, at this momest, abundant chances of striking home at the reformers of the time, but I shall allow it to pass, and I sincerely hope that I shall not be com- pelled, in strilf defence, to bare the doings to which the Catholic Church was subjt^cted at the hands of Luther and his followers. But I may however sp: ak of the Lutheran Sece>^h[. Yes, the worhi was fast becoming uhristi tn wh«n the Lutht^ran sec ;ssioa miy liavr) rut;irdiined Cathjlic, it would in all probability have triumphed over Islamism in Asia. Yes, the Lutheran secession probably retarded the progress of civiliza- tion. Abou that tinae CAth^lic Europe was f)utting forth gigrautic eiforta to civilizt; the world. De Gin>a had doubled the Cape, Columbus had dis- covered America, Cortez penetrated a new world and took possession of its Capital, Magellan found a new passage to the Pacific — the spirit enterprise was everywhere abroad — Catholic Europe laid her right hand on th-; East and her left on the West, — the land of Tasso was joyous — and a Catholic Navigator, Sebastian U'Elcano, had made a tour of the Globe. But the Lutheran secession brought re- ligious wars, th^ nations were divided, civilization became paralyztjd, and from that day to thi^ it has been a social war between the different schisms which have sprung up all over the world. I do not say that civilization has bden permanently retarded by the Lutheran secession, but I say it was for a lime paralys d, and that the progress made by the Catholic Church in the past warrants us in say- ing that the world might have been more advanced ; if that secession had never taken place I new come to another theme which the Rh;v. Mr. Bray calls the curse of the "R)mish" Church — the plotting Jesuits. The poor Jesuits — terrible men — they • always come in for theii full share of denunciation. They have often been persecuted, and even for a time suppressed. In the last century Pombal of Portugal, the Bismarck of his time, was their bitter foe, just as the Bismarck of to-day is their unre- lenting enemy. They were expelled Portugal, as they have been expelled Geimany, and, like the Popes, when they were expelled from Rome, they w I "■"*... hftve alway had an unhappy knack of coming back afjain. The " wicked, plotting" Jesuits have af- fordei our opponentn a wondrous fund of small talk, and I was not at all surprised that the Rev. Mr Bray should have taken tht?m into his keep, ing. Whether the Jesuit is in Pckin, directing the ob8ervator\, or within the Arctic Circle, living on blubber and tallow candles, collecting manuscripts at the VaMcan, or furnishing a meal tor the frolic- seme natives of New Zealand — whether he is kid- napping Indians on the prairies or savages on the pampas, it is all the same, th^re he is the plotting, terrible Jesuit. But let us look into what they have done. In no county in the world had the ordf-r of Jesuits, so much powt-r as it had in Para- guay Tht re they were found in all their terrible au- thority — and what do we find as the result. Listen to what D'Alembtat, who certainly was no friend to the order ; but listen to what he says of thoso " plotting Jesuits" in Paraguay : — " The Jesuits have acquired a monarchical author;. y in Paraguay, founded solely on opinion and on the mildnc's ot heir government. They make the people who obey them happy. What we know of their administration is Its best eulogium, and perhaps makes it desirable, il what is said is true, that otht r barbarous countries where the people are oppressed and unhappy, should have the Jesuits for apostles and masters." Raynal, a non-Catholic, writes in his " Histoire Philosophique " : " Nothing equals the purity of morals, the mild and tender zeal, the paternal care of the Jesuits of Paraguay Each Jesuit is at once the real father and jguide of his parishioners. This authority is not felt, because he neither commands, forbids, nor punishes anything save what is commanded, forbidden, or punished by the religion that they all adore and cherish as he does himself." Buflfon, the infidel, writes : "The missions have made more Christians among these barbarous nations than the victorious armies of the princes r)g back lare af- small he Rev. rt keep . ing the ving on iHcripts u frolic- JH kid- on the otting, fit they lad the n Para- ibleaii- result. was no 'ays of ldnf#s ot •ey them Its best < said is iple are apostles [istoire 1 tender h Jesuit ;. This forbids, bidden, rish as ^ these princes ■':? subjupnted them ; they conquered Para j?uay; mildness, g^ood exiiniple, chanty, and tlje constant practice ot virtue opened for the missionaries a path to the heart of the savage ; they possessed their confidence after havini; tamed their ferocity Nothing- redounds more to the honor of relieion than t > have civilised these nations and laid the foundations of an empire without other arms than those of virtue." Don Juan (i'Ulloa writes a glowing eulogi> na of the Paraguay raisKion in his " Voyage de I'Atner- iqne meridionale." The English historian Robertson avers that " it is in the New World the Jesuits have exercised their talents with the most eclat and in a manner the most ben (t>t;ial to humanity," and, like Don Juan d'UlIoa, he pronounces a long and magnificent eulo- ^ium on them. The illustriou B Muratori concludes his excellent *' Relation des Missions du Paraguay " in the follow- ing words : ' " I wish that some of these enemies of the Roman Church who push their hatred of tiie Jesuits so far as to decry the zeal of these adiuirable missionaries, and the purity of their intentions in the painful ministry they exercise among in- fidels, would consent for a space to become tlie companion of their apostolic voy ges, and thereby witness and examine all the sufferings they undergo for the salvation of souls. He would soon return minus his prejudices, and perhaps that view would suffice ti draw him out of error, which can neve*" boast of such apostles as are to be found within the Catholic Cimrch." Connr Feirind, pincludes with these worrls ; " VN hen, after having read the sanj-iiiary an'ials of Atnc-ica, we come to the history of Para-^'uay, we imayine ourselves ell vated to a higher region and a purer, and in re vivifying atmosphere. What would have been tlif. re»n!l hi>d the un' happv In iians been treal<'d throughout al' America the same as in that privile,'ed land .'" Wh^t a ljo frir when he threatens them with expulsion from Canada. Take care sir, you broach on dangerous grounds, and you will fiud that those pluttiDg Jesuits have friends in couit.eveu as terrible as they are represented to be. Let us not forget that Bacon, in i-puakiug of the best art of tiaining youth, says that *' the short* st metiiod to do so would be to consu t the teachings of the Jesuits," and as he afterwards adds " among all that has hitherto existed there is none better." These men — these terrible men are likely to have friends a:ound them, and it is a dangerous policy to advocate their expulsion from Canada. liike the Ch.irch, they have survived pers cution in every land, and they are even lik ly to survive the hostility of the pastor of Zion Chuich, Montreal. I can imagine onu of tnose bad men — the Je- pnit.K — qtiotint; Snakespeare in reply to tb|i ttev. Mr, Bray, and sa> ing :— There is no terror in your threats, For I am arm'd so strong in honesty. Th;it they pass by me as idle wind, Whic'' I respect not. But T must again p ;ss on, and once more cross spears wit'i the Rev. Mr. Biay, when he says that the Ctiuroh of Rome was a political institution dt fying the Government of the people. You are v^roDg again, Rtv. Sir. The Church claims to be no such tbiDg. ^he ezerciisies no more authority I res, tnoy n'ir time. aio htill brnss be- 3^ai)ant8. e r ftson ppositicn ■ir s^eel threatens re sir. you will find (>Ult,eVeQ Let U8 test Hit of letiiod to gs of the uoug all betttr." y to have IS policy a. Like I in evf ry tvive the )ntreal. — the Je- i ttfv. Mr. ore cro88 3a J a that utioa dt You are QS to be authority •-■; 25 than other churches efatm as b^^longing to the bodies that govt-rn thein. Yen, I shall pin you down t(» your asKt-rtion, an asstrtion vhich T chal- lenge you to prove and in which I know you are mistaken All the Church claims is suprtme spiritual suthorify. The C'lnrch no more claims to " df fy the S^atH," than it does to dify the moon, I could quotv' from the Reforratd Dutch Church ; the Wrslmins-ter confessions, still believed in by Prt-^bytriians, from the book of di^cipiine o^ the Church of Sc<»tlaiid ; fn m the Book of Crrcmon Prayer of the Church of England, in the thirty nine Article; from the Act of P-nliamtnt "f Henry VILf ; from the hook of Concord, and numerous otht^r wo'ks to prove that the Cath<'lic Church claims no more, nor less thH,n other denominations claim as their privi- lege and their right. The Catholic Church — as a Church — has no temporal power. She never had suoh a power, and she n^ver claimed it. Will you take the authority of Cardinal Manning when he says. *' The authority which the Church has from God is not temporal but. spirit'ial.^' And again '• In all things which are purely temporal, and in extra finem ecchsise, outside the Church, it neither claims nor has jurisdiction; In all things which either pro- mote or hinder the eternal happiness of men, the church has a p twer to judg^ and enforce." I ft id the same in a hitther authority — Pope Innoot-ntlll Sanre?; and Bellarraine Fay the same, while the Bull of B')nifacrt VllI, so oftt-n quoted atfainsfc us, is pr)v^d to rt-fr purely to temp >r>il au- thority — by the words — de necessitate S'tfutis — No, no, the Cathrdic Church never cUimed temporal authority, she never exercised it, but vigi- lant of the spiritual wants of her flock, she jealously guarded them, and con8tiruti<»nal y re- sisted, such temporal power as was liktly to en- danger thf safety of her cblldreo. Otker 26 'it I cburohes elatm as much powers as the Catholic Church, but none of them, per- haps, exercise so much vigilance in defending it. If individual cases of excess occur then they must stand upon their own merits ; they do not make up theOhurch. No, no the Church claims no tem- poral power whatever, hit so far as her " spiritual " authority is concerned — like the old French Guards "They die but never surrender." Yes she has guarded the spiritual wants of her children, from the saintly Pontiff who still remains in ibe Vatican, down to the time when her authority is almost lost in the haze of fable. She has guarded it in tho twilight of civilization, and she guards in the zenith of its glory. She has guarded it in the Old World, she is guarding it in tho New, where the losses she sustained in the one a.'e more than compensated for by the victories she obtained in the other. She guards it here in Canada, and we the loyal children of her Faith staad to-night the defenders of her honour, the champions of her fame, and the repeller of the calumnies which have been heaped upon her name. But insult follows insult. They come not in sing' 3 files but in battalions. Our priesthood were "immoral" the temporal power was "usurpation'' — " miracles " were " inv -ated." The Pope was "infalli>>lft but still he was not happy" and for " Cv^nturies the Church was guilty of almost every crime und<'r hfave'i." Yea every insulting phrase which couM with the commonest decen y be used upon a public platform wis hurled at onr head-*. Our youne xr''B not Brewster say ofthi^that: — "It must be regarded as a donation to science itselt and as a dechiralion to the christian world, that reliiii' n was not jealous of philosnplw, iirid tl)at the Clnirch of Rome was willing to respect and foster ''^e genius of its enemies." Ttte Church, ' the trir-nd of popular ign< ranee ! " Whf) appointeH K' pi r — a IjUfhtrHn to a chair of ' a^.troMomy in Rv.m\ after he ha'i been p rsecuted at home, 5»nd the theory of the earth's motion as taught by him condemued by the diviues of wmmmmlm Tubingen &s "damnable and contrary to the Bible ?" Wlio but the Church of Rome, " the friend of popular ignorance." My authority for this is the Protestant Wolfgang Wenzel. But even then had not Rome her lieonardo de Veveirs, her Fra- castori, and her Casilpin ? Was not the Lyncaei established 50 years before the Royal Society in London or >he French College in Paris ? And after all did not great men in those days — as Hume tells us, Lord Bacon among them, reject the theory of Copernicus "with positve c'isdain." The Church of Rome " the friend of popular ignorance " indeed. The Church carried the torch of enlightenment over the whole world — and diffused the knowledge which she possesssed over every corner of the Globe. Aye, here too, in Canada, must the Rev. Mr. Bray say the Church has been and is " the friend of popular ignorance." Here he said the Church of Rome " had a most expensive system of education doing nothing," that Catholics were •* unfitted for trade" and that " Scotchmen would get rich while Roman Catholics would remain poor." Calumny after Calumny until I approach the end. And now let us see what truth there is in this remark. When I saw it I knew it could not be true and I went to work to expose the calumniation. And what did I find? I found the Durham Despatch. Most of you are aware that Lord Durham came to this country armed with excepti' jally great powers, and now I shall quote frotii his d^^spatches in ord' rto place before you the opinion of a Protestant noble- man in opposition to that of the Rev. Mr. Bray :— m ..► " I am grieved— he writes— to be obliged to remark tha* the British Government has since its po5=session of the Prot vince done, or even attempted, nothing for the pro- motion of general education. Indeed the only matter in which it has appeared in connection with the subject is by no means creditable to it. For it has applied the Jesuits Estates ^ tha- Prot pro- ;er in by no states part of the property destined for education to supply a species of fund for secret service.^* Again he eayp :— " It is the Catholic clergy to whose exertions the French and Irish population of Lower Canada are indebted for what* ever means of eaucation they have ever possessed.'' What does the Rev. Mr. Bray think of that? But that is not all. The same nobleman says again that : — '•The Catholic priesthood o* this Province have to a re- markable degree cultivated the good will of persons of all creeds, and I knov\^ of no parochial clergy in the world whose practice of all the Christian virtues and zealous discharge of their clerical duties is more universally admitted and has been productive of more beneficial consequences. They are the effectual guardians of the morals of the people." And still more from the same nobleman : — ir ** I know of no people among whom a laiger provision exists for the hi^'icr kind of elementary education or among whom such education is really extended to a larger propor. tion of the population. And now I shall take another authority Mr. Samuel Laing, the J^cotch Presbyterian : — "The education of the Catholic clergy," says Laing, ** is perhaps positively higher and beyond all doubt comparative- ly higher than the education of the Scotch clergy." I could quote authority by the yaid if time per- mitted, all refuting the untruthful charge that the Catholic Church is " the friend of popular igno- rance." But I shall too give you an extract from the Montreal Gazette when writing of the report of the Catholic School Commissioners. In a leading article on the subject the Gazette admits that the :— " Catholic School Commissioners are in no way behind and are in fact as to one of their schools particularly rather in advance of their brother Commissioners having charge of the Piotestant Schools." I may, however, add that since that was written the Protestant School Commissionerb are making laudable efforts to surpass their Catholic friends and, in such an effort, I hope that a generous emalatlon will iaspire both one side and ttie other. Is not this strong testimony — written in a Pro- testant journal but written by a man who is not blinded by bigotry or hatred or Popery and all its belongings, " An expensive system of education doing nothing," says the Rev. Mr. Bray. In all there are 21,000 children being educated out of a Catholic population of about 90,000, and that ig "doing nothing." In 1867, the number of children at school was only 13,000 odd, and to increase to nearly 21,000 in ten years " is doing nothing." In 1872, the lay eoramissioners had only 2,500 chil- dren under their jurisdiction, while in 1876 they had 6,088 " doing nothing." Then there are 13 young men who have been educated at the Catho- lic Commercial School, in the Banks of Montreal, " unfitted for trade." As to the wild asser- tion about a teacher who was desirous of making an application for an increase of salary, but could not write a letter, I challenge Mr. Bray to prove that assertion, or he must allow the stigma of being the " willing victim" of a rni^representation to be attached to his name. The Catholic and the Pro- testant School Commissioners have always worked 'harmoniously together, and all the enemies of ' popular ignorance" will do their best to secure a continuance of that good understanding in the future. Ho said, too, that there was a Mechanics' In- ititute anl literary and debating society in Montreal at one time, but " the priests fiudiug thH good they were doing the masses, would not have them, for the peoplM got t J knew something, so they killed off the institute and put in th» ir places card, billiard, and drinking saloons." Into what excesses will bigotry carry one, and into what errors it causes the unfortunate to pliingr^. The ** Institute" referred to belonged to the Catholic School Commissioners. .y 1 93 :\ i I The Commissioners were removing to better quar- ters— tiio magaifioent building in Plateau Rtreet. Their old building was put up to the highest b'dders, and was purchastd by a society of Cacholic young men, for the purposes of a club. The club was well cond noted and respectable, a place of recreation, of amusement, and of instruction, but what mocking demon pursues this man's soul that he could thus construe this commercial dealing to the wickedness of our clergy. Would not the Catholics of Montreal be ashamed to hold the Protestant clergy respons* ible for the uses to which some of their houses of worship have been turned ? Are there not a few places now in Montreal — places which are a disgrace to the city, and were they not once dedicated to Pro- testant worship. And would not every respectable Catholic in the city blush to hear Protestant clergy- men held responsible for the late uses to which some of those buildings had been turned ? And now Rev. Mr. Bray — man of unclean lips — I leave you. You have wantonly and without b^^ing provoked thrown the brand of discord among the citizens of Montreal. You have heaped insuU after insult upon the Catholic people, and I leave you to the mercy of all impartial and peace abiding men. Your mission is war upon the " dominant" religion, and calumny and bigotry are your wea- pons of assault. There was a time in Montreal a time that even the pleasure of reading about, con- jures up far diflferent and more Christian emotions than those that are likely to be awakened by the Rev. Mr. Bray. I have heard that in the days of the late Metropolitan — the revered, venerable and beloved Dr. Fulford — peace was the order of the day. I have heard that earlier still when this Colony was emerging from its struggle with the wilderness, when here in Montreal in the Chvrch of the Recollect Fathers in Notre Dame St. there was u mass for tbe Catholics in the mornirg, service fot the Church of England in the forenoon, and wor- ship of the Presbyterians in the afternoon. Tes, these were Christian times— times when men were guided by Christian and charitable Tirtues, and tbe nobler impulses of the mind swayed the conduct of all. But they say "old times have chaoged, old manners gone" •— and in some respects more's ' the pity. But of that old old CathoUo Church — that rock of ages — which has seen the dynasties of the earth, crumble in de- cay — beside which Greece and Rome, Sparta and Athens, Saxon and Celt have vanished like " ihe baseless fabric of a vision " — against whose sides schism and infidelity have dashed themselves in vain-— stando to-day the glorious re cord of Catholic piety and Catnolic progress, all the world around. As Antous of old gained fr^sh strength when he touched his mother earth, so you, old Catholic Church, inspire your faithful fol- lowers with zeal, when they seek refuge ia your bosom. yeE, old Church— 200,000,^00 of faithful souls sfe^nd by you to-day, and glory in that new re- surection which appears to be awaiting you, and as the horizon predicts the remrgam of your glory, we hail you in the fulness of our joy, — old Church— In. fallible— Indistructible and One. ^: i