If li 8^^^ M Ifsss :#: ^r% <<-i~-h Vy }S.J. 87JEFFtR . LOUISTILLE. XY. i GETHSEMAN! ABBEY, 6ETHSEMANI. P.O. KY. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2008 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/alethaurionshortOOmoorrich avr ALETHAURION. (SHORT PAPERS FOR THE PEOPLE.) BY THOMAS C. MOORE, A. M. T. S. D. Sed quo sis, Africane, alacrior ad tutandam Rempublicam, sic habeto: omnibus qui patriam (ecclesiam) conservarint.adiuverint, auxerint, certum esse in coelo definitum locum ubi beati aevo sempiterno fruantur. Nihil est enim illi principi Deo, qui om- nem hunc mundura regit, quod quidem in terris fiat, acceptius quam concilia coetus- que hominum iure sociati, quae civitates appellantur : harum rectores et conservatores hinc profecti hue revertuntur. Cicero. De rep. iv. 13. GETHSEMANI ABBEY, GETHSEMANI, P 0. KY. LEAVENWORTH, KAN.: KeTCHESON & HUBBELL, PRINTERS AND BINDERS. 1883. fc TO THE MEMORY OF Rt. Rev. GEORGE A. CARRELL, D. D., First Bishop of Covington, This work is affectionately dedicated by THE AUTHOR. LOAN STACK Copyrighted 1882 By THOMAS C. MOORE. All rights reserved. lo 9 :? ^TS.Zf^'M'^"^ CONTENTS Chapter. Page. I. The Church < . . . . 5 II. The Church more ancient than the New Testament 10 III. The Constitution of the Church 16 IV. The body of the Church 22 V. The body of the Church, how organized 28 VI. The Hierarchy 33 VII. The Seven Deacons 39 VIII. How to find the true Church 43 IX. Catholic unity— Sectarian divisions 47 X. All Catholics believe alike 51 XI. The true Church is holy .')5 XII. Holiness a mark of the true Church 59 XIII. Holiness a mark of the true Church 64 XIV. Catholicity a mark of the true Church 69 XV. Catholicity a mark of the true Church 73 XVI. About names " 78 XVII. About names 82 XVin. About names , 87 XIX. About names 02 XX. About names 96 XXI. Apostolicity 100 XXII, Simon Magus 103 XXni. The rise and fall of Simon Magus 107 XXIV. The errors of Simon Magus 112 XXV. The followers of Simon Magus 117 XXVI. Basilides 121 XXVII. Cerinthus 127 XXVIII. The Millennium 132 XXIX. The Millennium .♦ 136 XXX. Ebion and Necholaus HO- XXXI. The Virgin Mary 144 XXXII. Simon Peter 148- XXXIII. The public life of St. Peter 152 XXXIV. The public life of St. Peter 156 XXXV. The trial 160 XXXVI. Ananias and Saphira 164 XXXVII. Tabitha 168 XXXVIII. Cornelius ; .172 XXXIX. Herod * 176 XL. The triumphal entrj' of the Word into Babylon 180 XLI. The Scrimmage 183 XLII. Fossils 187 XLIII. Liberius 190 05C1 CONTENTS. Chapter XLIV. XLV. XLVI. XLVII. XLVIII. XLIX. L. LI. LII. LIII. LIV. LV. LVI. LVII. LVIII. LIX. LX. LXI. LXII. LXIII. LXIV. LXV. LXVI. LXVII. LXVIII. LXIX. LXX. LXXI. LXXII. LXXIII. LXXIV. LXXV. LXXVI. LXXVII. LXXVIII. LXXIX. LXXX. LXXXI. LXXXII. LXXXIII. LXXXIV. LXXXV. LXXXVI. LXXXVII. LXXXVIII. LXXXIX. XC. XCI. XCII. XCIII. XCIV. . XCV. XCVI. XCVII. Babylon Babylon the mystic. Hugo de Groot Clement Ignatius Let loose the lions. . Papias '•..•••'' Caius Bacchus Dionysius.. Ireneus Footprints . Tracks Landmarks Saul Tnxr St. Paul Flight in a basket The Wanderer : Saul's ordination Concerning magic Necromancy Charms Enchantments ; Miracles * Miracles Miracles Miracles Miracles Apparitions Theophany The Angels The Devil Concerning Hell Concerning Hell *. Hell — its location The punishment of the damned Dante's poetical Hell ; Dante's poetical Hell Hell's torments are eternal Answers to some of the objections against the eternity of punish- ment Where unbaptized infants go after death Concerning Purgatory The resurrection of the body The character and qualities of the body after having arisen from the dead Divination, or Fortune telling Oracles On the subject of dreams " Concerning those that are possessed or beseiged by the Devil Animal magnetism Paul and the Island of Cyprus St. Paul preaches at Iconium and Derbe.. The Council of Jerusalem Bird's eye view of the General Councils Bird's eye view of 'the General Councils Pagk. 19S 196 200 201 208 212 216 220 224 22.S 232 236 240 243 246 24ii 252 256 259 26:5 266 270 275 278 282 286 290 294 310 316 320 325 329 334 338 84;^ 847 352 356 362 372 376 380 401 405 409 413 CONTENTS. HI Chapter XCVIII. XCIX. C. CI. CII. cm. CIV. cv. . cvi. CVII. CVIII. cix. ex. CXI. CXII. CXIII. CXIV. cxv. CXVI. CXVII. CXVIII. CXIX. cxx. CXXI. CXXII. CXXIII. CXXIV. cxxv. CXXVI. CXXVII. CXXVIII. CXXIX. Page. Bird's eye view of the General Councils 419 Bird's eye view of the General Councils 422 St. Paul visits the Churches of Syria and Cilieia— he carries the good tidings into Macedonia 420 St. Paul at Thessalonica and Berea 430 St. Paul at Athens 434 St. Paul at Corinth 438 St. Paul at Ephesus 443 Diana of the Ephesians 447 Societies 451 St. Paul leaves Ephesus— the Church of the twelve farmers 456 More about the Church of the twelve farmers 460 Each Apostle preached a greater number of specific truths than he committed to writing 464 The Written Word alone is not a sufflcient guide to lead one to Heaven 467 Whether any one who has read the Bible and thinks he under- stands it, can lawfully profess himself a minister of Christ and a dispenser of the mysteries of God 437 Some speculations regarding the extent to which a layman is a minister of Christ, and a dispenser of the mysteries of God 478 St. Paul at Jerusalem for the last time 482 Secret Societies and kindred subjects 486 St. Paul at Ccesarea 491 St. Paul enters Rome — his death 494 Synoptical view- of the lives of the Apostles 498 The prerogatives of the Church 503 Indefectibility of the Church 508 A changeable element in the Church 512 A changeable element in the Church 517 Some changes in the mode of public worship 522 The use of Latin in the public worship 527 The use of sacred vestments in the public worshi]) 531 Description of a Camp Meeting 535 The infallibility of the Church 540 Some objections proposed and answered 54') The Church is the guardian of revelation 551 The infallibility of the Pope 560 PREFACE. In presenting this volume to the public, it may be proper to state the cause to which it mainly owes an existence. For half a dozen, or more, of the earlier years of my life, I happened to live in a com- munity that was almost exclusively non-Catholic. And, as religion seemed to be a favorite topic for discussion, at all times, I had two ways open before me. One, to remain silent, whenever a question of the kind was introduced ; the other, to defend, to the best of my ability, that system of belief with which I felt myself identified. I usually chose the latter ; for it seemed to me the better course. But, while searching for suitable arms, with which to fight those intellect- ual, and, indeed, almost invariably, friendly battles, I experienced some difficulty. I read works explanatory of the faith, and some that were controversial. Yet, I was not entirely satisfied with either, for the authors seemed to have addressed themselves to theologians, rather than to such as myself. The consequence was that, after having picked and shoveled my way through not a few of such books, I felt weary of the subject; I was like David in Saul's armor, incapable of quick action, and, indeed, scarcely able to move under such a weight of erudition. It then occurred to me that, if I could secure some lighter and sharper weapons, it would be well. I wished for a book that would interest, to such a degree that it could be read without a strain on the mind ; one whose narrative and arguments would be strong, but not stilted; trenchant, but not murderous; witty, but not uncharitable. With this object in view, I began, in the year 1873, to publish, through the columns of the Catlwlic Advo- cate^ the series of essays included in this volume. But as I advanced, iv Preface. I found my task not so easy as I had imagined. What to select, and what to leave behind, in moth-eaten tomes, was not always clear to my mind. The style of writing was also a source of an^fiety. It occurred to me that some might find fault with the attempt to clothe grave subjects in a light and airy dress. And, indeed, to do so, and say nothing offensive to pious ears, was one of the main barriers I had to surmount. But, with all this, thirough the encouragement of some friends, on whose judgment and literary taste I placed a high estimate, I persevered. And now, in January, 1883, ten years after the first was written, these essays are given into the hands of the publishers, to be put into book form, and sent forth into an arena, where only what is fit can have the least hope to survive. THOS. C. MOORE. GETHSEMAN! ABBEY, "GETHSEtViANK P'O. KY. CHAPTER I. THE CHURCH. The word church is said to be a compound of the Greek, kurios, a lord, and oikos, a house. By uniting these, and making the changes required by the hiws of euphony, we get kuriakon. The Scotchman took hold of this, and, ndt being able to surmount the difficulty of pronunciation, snapped it off at "kirk." The Englishman tried the same feat, and, in the attempt to get over, let his tongue drop, and flattened the word into "church." Hence, if we look to its derivation, the expression means the House of God ; any of those material edifices in which the faithful are accustomed to meet, in order to pray, and assist at the great sacrifice of the new law. The word, however, has another signification, and it is to this we desire to draw attention. It means the society, established on earth by Christ, to preserve and propagate those doctrines He wishes men to know and believe. Now, there are persons Avho deny that Christ founded any organized society. With these, to be a Christian, means nothing more than to believe in Christ, read the Bible, and practice its* teachings. To belong to any visible organization, they say, is a matter of indifference. This idea, or something akin to it, appears to be afloat in the minds of most of the non-Catholics of this country. Even amonor those who belong to the various sectarian conven- tides, it will be found that the majority acknowledge a dis- 6 ALETHAURION. tinction between the teaching of their church and Christi- anity. They will sometimes say, we believe ours is the best way, but we do not deny, we freely admit, that persons belonging to other churches may also be saved. It requires not deny, w^e freely admit that persons belonging to other churches may also be saved. It requires only a little reflection to see that such modes of thought and expression come from the idea alluded to that all Churches are of men, and none co-extensive w^ith Christianity. The idea seems to be that a man may be a first-rate Christian gentleman and not belong to any Church. To illustrate the conception that many Protestants have of the Church, we may use the fol- lowing example : There is attached to a certain parish Church in Blank City a benevolent society, whose name we will not mention. John Smith, a good and consistent Catholic of the same parish, is asked to join. He persistently refuses to do so, on the ground that it is enough for him to obey the general laws of the Church, and that he can, on his own hook, as the saying goes, perform acts of benevolence, with- out being a member. The idea that Smith has of the be- nevolent society, is that held by most Protestants of Church organizations, i. e., it may be good to belong to one, but not at all essential to man's happiness either here or here- after. Hence the facility with which they transfer them- selves from one Church to another. And in this they are consistent, for, on the principle that no Church is co-exten- sive with Christianity, and none essential, the right of choosing looks rational ; and change from one to another docs not differ from the action of a man at a menagerie, who, instead of gazing the whole day at the lion or grizzly, takes a peep at ail — including the baboon. Let us now lay down one or two Catholic principles, and meditate briefly on them, * if we would soar above such vagaries. ALETHAURION. 7 Firsts It is a truth that Christ established here, on earth, a Church as a regularly organized society. This society is, so to speak, a continuation of the incarnation, and does now what the Saviour did while he was among men, i. e. teach the way of salvation. Second, It is a principle that the teaching of the Church is co-extensive with that of Christ ; all He taught, she teach- es, where He was silent, she is. Let us see whether these assumptions correspond with facts. Did Christ establish a Church? That He did so, may be shown in two ways : First. Because a society exists at the present day, the members of which claim Him as its founder. It will be readily understood that allusion is made to the Catholic Church, alongside of which, every other sinks into insignifi- cance. It forms a network that surrounds the globe ; its members are found in every zone ; and its influence extends from pole to pole. Nor is it less worthy our consideration from the magnitude of its proportions than from its perfect organization. It has but one visible head on earth to whose authority all submit. Its superior officers are found in every land. Its subaltern, in almost every hamlet in the civilized world. Its members are counted by millions of the most enlightened and refined of the human race. So wonderful is this great organization that, after meditat- ing on its vast proportions and variety of action, athought- ful infidel once exclaimed : **If there is such a beini]^ as the devil his ingenuity must have been taxed to the utmost when he planned the Catholic Church." We, who are blessftd with the light of faith, see in all this the finger and wisdom of God and we say that such or- der could never have come from the father of lies. Such, then, is the fact, patent to the eyes of all. We have in the world a society, wonderful as a whole, equally no in all its parts. 8 ALETHAURION. Now there is no effect without a cause. When did this society begin, and who was the prime mover? It certainly came not into existence to-day nor yesterday. Its influence has been felt and acknowledged in the world for eighteen centuries, and if we wish to lay hand on its founder we will search the pages of history in vain till we go back to Jesus of Nazareth. The same conclusion at which we arrive, from a consider- ation of the Church as it stands at present, we will also be forced to admit, after having examined the earliest records of the rise and progress of Christianity. If we take the New. Testament, merely as a history^ we will find ample proofs therein, showing that the Saviour established a Church in form of a regularly organized society. We read in the sacred writings that He called twelve men to aid Him in carrying out the great scheme of man's re- demption. He charges these to go and teach all nations what they had heard from Himself. We behold this little society growing with marked rapidity till, within half a cen- tury after the Saviour's ascension, His name became a house- hold word through()ut the Roman Empire. Now comes the question : Was there any subordination between those original Disciples? or was each independent or at liberty to follow such views as might have been most pleasing to his individual self? A great English poet has said, wisely and well, that Order is Heaven's first law, and tliis confessed. Some are and must be greater than the rest. In all the works of God we have evidence of order. This globe on which we live is proof enough without going fur- ther ; there is not a particle of it but tends to a common center. Even in the works of intelligent men we notice the same principle. In each country there is always some one person whose jurisdiction is admitted to be above all others. If this were not so mankind would soon become a mere ALETHAURION. 9 herd. Hence, from the nature of the case, and by compari- son with the other works of God, we are naturally disposed to look for the precedence of some one over the rest of the Apostles and Disciples. The scriptures bear testimony showing, that what each rational man thinks ought to have been done, is what in re- ality was done. Hence, wherever the Apostles are spoken of Peter is mentioned first and Judas last. This is impor- tant to be observed, for it shows the evangelists acknowl- edged the supremacy of Peter, otherwise they would not upon all occasions have put his name at the head of the list. Be- sides we read in the xvi chapter of St. Matthew's gospel, words addressed to the Apostle in question which clearly shows a primacy : *'Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Peter is the rock on which the Church is built, and as the foundation is that which principally gives solidity to a building, so Peter was chosen as the Apostle who was to give strength to the future spiritual edifice. So, also, in the xvi chapter of St. John's gospel, Peter receives the commission to feed the sheep and lambs of the flock. By feeding we may understand ruling and teaching, for such is the force of the word in the original. From all this it will be seen that, in the twelve Apostles, we have a perfect image of the Church teaching, even as it is now. We have a Pope in the person of Peter, and bishops in the persons of the other Apostles. And, on the day of Pentecost, when the three thousand were converted to the faith, we have the Church teaching, and the Church taught, as at pres- ent. Hence, whether we begin with our times, and trace Chris- tianity up the stream, or begin with Christ and sail down the current, the conclusion must be that Christ established a Church as a regularly organized society ; and, furthermore, that the Church established by Him is identical with that of which Pius IX is to-day the acknowledged visible head. 10 ALETHAURION. Now, the sects claim Christ as the founder of their sev- eral Churches just as we do. But, when asked for proofs, they proceed by different ways to establish their claims ; some of them, as for example the Episcopalians, pretend to have apostolic succession through the Catholic Church, be- fore the time of the reformation ; others, such as the Bap- tists, i)retend to be able to trace themselves up to the time of the Apostles through the various primitive and medieval heretical sects ; others again, such as the Campbellites, care nothing for apostolic succession, just as the fox that lost his tail in a steel trap cared nothing for such an appendage ; yet, they also claim Christ as the founder of their Church, on the ground that they believe what He taught. The claims of these various sects we will ventilate more freely in future articles. But, from the tenacity with which the members of each sect claim Christ as the found- er of their society, we are warranted in saying that the be- lief that He established a Church here upon earth, is one of those points upon which nearly all agree ; though, as was said at the beginning, the ideas of most non-Catholics in this country, are misty and uncertain on the subject. In the next we will show that the Church of Christ was organ- ized and in full working order, before a word of the New Testament was written. CHAPTER n. THE CHURCH MORE ANCIENT THAN THE NEW TESTA3IENT. Whether the Church of Christ was organized and per- fected before the scriptures of the New Testament were written, is a question of fact, and must be treated like oth- ers of its kind. Thus, when one wishes to know which is the more ancient, as an historical personage, Julius C^sar ALETHAURION. 11 or Alkxand*:r THE Great, all he has to do is to get a his- tory and, if he knows how to read, he will soon find out. It is nuu'h the same as regards the relative claims to antiquity of the Church and the New Testament. The Church, as was said in a previous article, began to exist on the feast of Pentecost, fifty days after the Saviour's death ; though its teaching portion had already been organ- ized, with the Apostle Peter as visible head. But, for present purposes, it will be sufficient to go back only as far as Pentecost. Now, that we have determined when the Church began, let us next take up the New Testament, and see what history says of it. This done, there will be no further need of logic ; and all that remain will be a few easy sophisms, partly from infidel and partly from heretical sources. On opening the New Testament, the first portion thereof that meets the eye is the gospel of St. Matthew, so called from the name of its author. Matthew, before having been called to be an Apostle, was a publican, or collector of the state revenues. This office was considered honorable among the Romans ; but, to a Jew, the profession and looks of a publican were detestable. The notorious infidel Renan, says, with apparent satisfaction, in his *'Life of Jesus,'' that Matthew was an officer of inferior grade. This observa- tion was, no doubt, made to show that he did not resign much, when he left his post and its duties, to follow Christ and preach His gospel. Matthew is the first of the Saviour's followers who com- mitted any portion of His teachings to writings. Papias, Origen and Irenius, writers of the first and second centu- ries, as also EusEBius, the father of Church history, tell us that he wrote in modern Hebrew, or Syro-Chaldaic,* the language spoken at that time by the Jews. The original text has been lost ; the oldest copy extant being in the an- cient Greek. As regards the date of its first publication, it is sufficient to observe that none of the Fathers make it 12 ALETHAURION. earlier than the year 41, that is eight years after our Lord's ascension. Here, then, we have the Church in existence, and under full sail, for eight years before one word of the New Tes- tament had been written. The Apostles and its other bish- ops preached the gospel, baptized, changed the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ, and annointed the sick with oil before any one thought of taking up the pen. Hundreds believed, confessed their sins, did penance, and departed this life in peace without having had an oi)portuni- ty of practicing that hobby doctrine of modern sectarians — hible reading. We might drop the question just here, for enough has been said to establish all we undertook to prove. But the nature of the subject tempts us to go farther and give a brief view of other parts of the gospel along with some contemporary facts. Eight years after Matthew, and consequently sixteen af- ter the Saviour's ascension, Mark wrote his gospel. EusEBius, in the second book of his Church history, tells us that he undertook it at the request of the faithful of Rome. The Romans wished to have in writing a part at least of what they had heard orally from Peter. Mark was not an Apostle, nor is it certain that he was an immediate disciple of the Saviour. The probability is that he was converted to the faith after the ascension. Yet, the fidelity of his writing has never been questioned, because af- ter his gospel had l)ecn written it received the approval of Peter, of whom Mark was a disciple and follower. The Church of Alexandria, in Egypt, that remained for centuries in so flourishing a condition, and gave us so many eminent not only for sanctity but also for learning, was founded by him. After a ministry of nineteen years he suffered martyrdom and was buried in that city for whose spiritual welfare he had so long and so earnestly labored. In the beginning of the fourth century, a church was built AtETHAUEION. 13 over the sp6t where he was buried and his relics placed un- der the principal altar, where they remained till about the middle of the eighth when they were taken to Venice. The Venetians also claim they have the original manu- script of Mark's gospel, but so injured by time that not even a sinirle letter can be distinijuished. The third of the gospels, in the order given, is that of Luke. This evangelist was born in Antioch, and was, be- fore his conversion, a physician. Having embraced Chris- tianitjs he did not abandon the healing art but still practiced, though in a higher s]3here, and agreeably to the teaching of Christ, the great physician of our souls. He was the com- panion of Paul in most of his voyages and labors ; but after the death of the great Apostle, little is known with certainty, of his subsequent career ; nor has the name of the place nor the time and manner of his death been handed down. Luke wrote his gospel in the year 53, twenty after the Saviour's ascension, and the Acts of the Apostles ten years later. Let us now advert to the fourth and last of the gospels, which is that of John, the Disciple so beloved by the Saviour. It was to him that He entrusted His Blessed Mother on the summit of Calvary before He closed His eyes and slept . John is the only one of the Apostles that lived to see the end of the first century. All the others had, long before, fallen victims to their zeal and gone to drink anew the fruit of the vine with Christ in the Kingdom of His Father. It is be- lieved that he lived at Ephesus and governed the Church in that city till about the yesiv 104. He wrote his gospel in the year 96, sixty-three after the ascension. It would take us too far from the main question to go into details regarding the periods at which other portions of the New Testament were written. Let it suffice to say that none save the book of Revelations, is of more recent date than the gospel of St. John, and none earlier than that of St. Matthew. Let it be remembered then, that it was not 14 ALETHAURION. till the sixty-fourth year after our Lord's ascension, that all the books of the New Testament had been written. A little meditation on these facts and figures will not only convince us that the Church is more ancient than the New Testament, but also teach the important lesson that to it was confided the task of keeping pure and of propagating the religion of Christ. This lesson has never been rightly studied nor learnt by the heretics of any age, and hence their mouthings about reading the bible. Furthermore, let it be observed, that though all the books of the New Testament were completed within a pe- riod of sixty-four years after the ascension, still, it was not till some time later on, they were collected into one vol- ume. Had there not been the Church during that period, to teach men the way of salvation, how few would have heard of the Babe of Bethlehem, or of the victim of Calva- ry ; and how still fewer would have been able, in the multi- tude of conflicting opinions, to determine exactly what the Saviour wished men to believe. Before dismissing these questions regarding the written word, it may be asked, whether Christ wrote anything. Almost any one, whose mind is not a blank, would readily answer in the negative. They mean He wrote no part of the New Testament ; and thus far the answer is correct. Yet, though not generally known, there was quite a contro- versy among the learned, regarding the genuinity of a cer- tain letter, which He is said to have written, with His own hand, to Abgarus, King of Edessa. The circumstances of the case are about as follows : Abgarus, having heard of Christ and of His great mira- cles, sent one of his servants into Judea with a letter, in which he requested to be delivered from an infirmity under which he was laboring. The letter also contained a profes- sion of faith in the divinity of Christ. "When T heard of the gi-eat works performed by Thee," says the King, "I thought that one of two things must he true ; either Thou art God ALETHAURION. 15 descended on earth from the highest place in Heaven, or Thou art the Son of God, because of the splendid miracles wliich Ttiou dost perform." In another portion of this letter he invites the Saviour to come and live in his dominions. "I have heard," says he, "all Thou hast done and what Thou hast suf- fered from the reprobate and ungrateful Jews ; come, therefore, hither and make lliy home in our midst," EusEBius, the historian in book I, chapter XIII, gives us this letter as an authentic document, and tells us, moreover, that he found it in the archives of Edessa, and did himself translate it from the Syraic into Greek. In the same book and chapter he gives the Saviour's answer. Christ praises the faith of Abgarus in these words : *' O, Abgarus, blessed art thou, who without seeing, hast believed in me; for of me it is written, that those who have seen did not believe; that they who have not seen may believe and have eternal life." Further on, He promises to send one of his Apostles to Edessa, to preach the gospel and rectify whatever might be amiss. The genuinity of both of those letters has been among learned men, a matter of contention. Those who deny their authenticity say, that it is unreasonable to think that a docu- ment written by the Saviour Himself, should have been for- gotten till late in the fourth century. The others reply that this is no more strange than that the cross itself, on which He died, should have remained so till the time of the Empress Helena ; and besides, that after the death of Abgarus, to whom the letter was sent, His successors had not the same faith in Christ, and took not the same interest in His letter ; hence it remained for- gotten in the archives. Again, one party says, if the letter of Christ had been genuine, it Avould have been put with the inspired writings ; but, on the contrary, Pope Gelasius, when forming the catalogue of inspired books, rejected it as not authentic. The other answers, it is not certain that Pope Gelasius is author of the catalogue that bears his name. Moreover, say 16 AT.ETHAUKION. they, scripture is scripture, not so much because of its au- thor, as by reason of the authority of the Church which determines the question of its inspiration. Then again says the first party, how does it happen that both letters were found at Edessa ? One at least ought to have been in Judea, where Christ lived. This could very easily have happened, answers the other. Christ could have given the king's letter to the courier, along with His own answer, and thus both would naturally have been found at Edessa. We shall not pursue this question farther ; though several other reasons are given for and against its authenticity. Catholic theologians at the present day, regard the letters as not genuine, and explain what Eusebius, St. Ephrem and others of the ancient fathers have said on the subject, by saying they were deceived by some scribe who counterfeited both letters and wished to have them pass as genuine. In the next chapter we will speak on the constitution of the Church, and while so doing will attempt to define who its members are, and what is to be thought of the prospects in the next life of those who will not enter the true fold in this. CHAPTER III. THE constitution OF THE CHURCH In previous chapters we demonstrated the two important principles ; that the Saviour established a Church ; and, that this was done before the New Testament was written. We also spoke, in general terms, of the progress of Christianity, and of the vast proportions it had assumed, even before the end of the first century. There is surely a temptation to dwell on such thoughts ; the same we experience on beholding, for the first time, a ALETHAVRION. 17 magnificent palace, or the peaks of a lofty and majestic momitain. The mind feels it has something worthy its con- templation, and expands, to grasp the entire grandeur of its object. But there are few who can take in so much at a glance ; and, ■when gazing at, or meditating on things colossal, either in the physical or moral order, we instinctively feel the need of more extended faculties. Hence, it is only by taking one part at a time, and observing how perfectly it answers its purposes, and how well it harmonizes with the whole, that we can form anything like an adequate idea of the wisdom displayed in the formation of the Church. Let us meditate on its constitution, and determine who its members are. The Church has been compared to a city, situated on a hill, that cannot be hidden ; it has been likened to a ship, set afloat on the sea, tossed about by the winds and waves ; but with its prow ever pointed towards the heavenly Jerusa- lem, and in no danger of being submerged, till it shall have passed to the golden gates of the celestial city, and laid its caro'o before the throne of God.. It is not, however, under any of these appropriate but highly poetical similitudes we wish to speak of it in the present chapter, but rather as an organic society, or moral person. Now, it is a truth of the faith that we profess, a motive which lies at the foundation of each religious act we per- form, that, along with these bodies of ours that will soon return to dust, each one has a soul that will never die. It is thus, also, with the Church. It has a soul and body, united in a mysterious w^ay, and acting, one upon the other, in a manner similar to those two component parts of each individual man. Some theologians have gone so far as to call the Church a contiimation of the incarnation ; by which is meant that Christ wished to leave in it a perfect image of Himself ; so 18 ALETHAURION. that He may be said to live and converse with us, even after His visible ascension into heaven. This idea, properly understood, is consistent with sound doctrine. But we must not lose sight of the truth, that the individuality of Christ is distinct from that of the moral person we call the Church. With these observations, let us proceed a step farther, and define what we mean by its soul and body ; for, on the proper understanding of terms will depend, in a great meas- ure, the gaining of a true conception of any question. By the soul of the Church, we mean sanctifying grace ; by which men are intimately united with God ; and by aid of which they may bring forth fruit worthy of the Christian name. Faith, hope, charity and those admirable gifts, be- stowed upon men of heroic sanctity, may also be included. Now, as the soul that is within us, enlivens the mortal por- tion of our being, so does sanctifying grace, and the virtues and gifts spoken of, vivify the body of the Church; and hence, writers on theology have very appropriately called them its soul. This division of the Church into soul and body, is one whose propriety most sectarians willingly admit. Some even maintain, that the Church of Christ is all soul and no body. The reason for such an opinion will become evident, when we reflect on the difficulty met with in answering the question : where was Protestantism before Luther ? If he who attempts the solution, is a man of parts he knows it will not do to admit it had no being. To say that it existed in the sects, excommunicated before Luther's time, would be going too low, and would not help, even if one should descend so far. Hence the necessity of either admitting that the Catholic Church represented Christianity till the sixteenth century, or, of having recourse to the idea of an inorganic and invisible Church, composed of all who lived piously and justly from the days of the Apostles to the date of the so-called Reformation. We do not mean to say that this notion of an invisible ALETHAURION. 19 Church is, held by all sectarians, for they have as many dif- ferent theories as they have heads. It serves as a means of escape when pressed by such questions as the one we have given, and expresses well what ive understand by the soul of the Church in the concrete^ of which all and only the just are members. By the just, we do not mean the predestined, but all who are free from the guilt of mortal sin. We must carefully distinguish between the two classes of persons ; for, if the wovd predestined were substituted for just in the proposition given above, it would be as unsound and heretical as any that Luther ever wrote. To illustrate our meaning more fully, let us take an ex- ample. We have in this country, at the present day, two sects : the one called the Presbyterian, and the other the Hard-Shell Baptist Church. Now, these two are peculiar. They hold what are called Calvinistic doctrines ; one of which is, that the Church of Christ, on earth, is made up entirely of the predestined ; and that, when a man becomes once the friend of God, or, as they say, **get8 religion," and joins the Church, he is safe for all time, and for eter- nity ; because he cannot sin any more. But experience seems, often, to contradict the assumption. Thus, it sometimes happens that a member of the Church gets caught and convicted of theft, or gets into the State's prison for illicit distilling. When his brethren are asked to arise and explain how one of the elect got into such an in- eligible place, they readily answer, that their fallen brother was either never truly converted, or, if so, the crime of theft is by no means imputed to him by the Saviour. Secular judges do not always understand such nice and subtile points of Calvinistic theology, and the consequence is, that sometimes a Church member to whom the Lord has imputed no sin goes to the gallows for what the unregene- rate are pleased to term the crime of murder. But it is not alone the secular judges that find difficulty 20 ALETHAURIOX. in distinguishing between the elect and the reprobate. The Presbyterians and Hard-Shells themselves freely admit that it is no easy matter to tell when a man is really and truly converted, or in other words '* gets religion for good." The following, however, may be taken as a case about which there can be no two ways of thinking : Some few years ago, whilst a resident of the town of R., the court-house bell one evening began to chime forth with a vehemence that left no doubt that something of import- ance was then going on, or else about to be commenced. The ringing we took to be a call for a proposed railroad meeting, and curiosity directed our foot-steps to the scene of action. We found on arriving not a railroad, but a religious meeting in progress. A tall, extremely pious-looking 'man dressed in black but having on a white neck-tie, stood where the judge generally sits in court-houses. His eyes were raised in jDrayer, and the whites were glassy from gazing so long in one direction. It was mid-summer and the doors stood wide open, so we thought we would wait t)utside and see what was to come. After some prefatory remarks, the preacher gave his hearers an account of the manner of his conversion, as nearly as we can remember, in the following words : " I was" said he, " in my youth very wild and inconsiderate, resisting like Saul, the grace of the Lord, and refusing to bend my stubborn neck to the sweet yoke of Jesus. Finally one day at a camp -meeting I heard a very powerful sermon on the wickedness and propensity to evil of the human heart, which so convicted me of sin, that I fell down where I stood with my face to the earth. I sank my lingers into the loose clay and tore it up like an ox. I cried out in the presence of all that I was a filthy sinner, I halloed to the Lord for mercy, I rolled over, I cried Hke an infant and I kicked. When they raised me up" said he, "I felt I was a changed man, and ever since then I have had no misgiving on the cer- tainty of my calling and election to glory." No doubt. We have introduced this case in order to give some idea of what a member of the Church is, or ought to be, according ALETHAURION. ^ 21 to Calvinistic notions. He must be one of the elect, a man whose salv^ation is a fixed and unalterable fact. This doctrine may appear to the casual observer similar to that held by us regarding the soul of the Church, but on closer examination it will be found totally different. Not all the elect beloug to the soul of the Church, for some, though predestined to eternal life, may nowbe in sin ; so too, not all who belong to the soul of the Church are predestined, for some, though at present in a state of grace may fall into sin and never rise therefrom. To one who understands all that has been said respecting the soul of the Church, the question naturally suggests it- self : May not many Protestants be members of it, and thus be in the way of salvation, even though they may not belong to the body or visible portion ? In reply, we say first of all, that we have no interest whatever in trying to keep Protestants or any one else out of heaven. We believe that in our Heavenly Father's house there are mansions enough for us all. Yet, the in- terest of truth obliges us to say, that, in our opinion, the number of those who belong to the soul of the Church, and are not members of its body, are few. Yet there may be some, but God alone knows who they are. We have heard persons say : **Well, Protestants believe they are right, just as we do." Now, even granting that such is the case, what follows? That they will be saved? By no means . Catholics , one and all believe and know they are right and yet, only those w^ho observe the moral law will be saved. Protestants are bound to observe the moral law just as Catholics are ; they are men subject to and sur- rounded by the same temptations and dangers that we have to guard against. But they have not the same means of vanquishing the enemy. The Catholic, after having fallen, being still a member of the body of the Church, has the ad- vantage of the Sacraments, those medicines left by Christ to cure the sickly soul. The other has only an undefined 22 ALETHAUEION. and vague trust in the mercies of the Saviour. The Catho- lic, on his death-bed, is visited by his spiritual physician who exhorts him to repent and pronounces over him, by the authority of Cheist, words of absolution. He is made par- taker of that bread which came down from heaven, of which, says the Saviour, he that eats shall live forever. He is annointed with oil in the name of the Lord and the prayer of faith is said over him, which we are told will save the sick man. The other has none of these advantages, though during life, he has had the same temptations. Let Catholics not undervalue the favors God has confer- red upon them in making them members of His Church, nor blaspheme the efficacy of the Sacraments instituted by Chkist for man's salvation by saying that heaven may be gained as easily without as with them. Let them not stultify themselves by giving sectarians to understand that they will be saved outside as well as inside the visible Church. Foi*, if that be true, millions have shed their blood in vain ; and the teachings of all the truly good and wise for eighteen centuries are falsehoods. Above all let Catholic parents show their appreciation of God's fa- vors to themselves by giving their children a Christian edu- cation. In the next chapter we will speak of the body of tl^e Church CHAPTER IV. THE BODY OF THE CHURCH. In our last, we considered what is to be understood by the soul of the Church, and touched on the question regard- ing the character of those who belong to it. In the present we confine our remarks to what is taught, and ought to be known of its body. By the body is here meant the external or visible portion ; ALETHAUBION. 23 which, for the better understanding of what follows, we may define, in the words of the illustrious Bosuet, as *' a society of men, sojourners in the world and professing the true doctrine of Christ." This definition was given in the conference with M. Claude, and is one that cannot be objected to by any who admit a visible Church. We accept it for the present, though a little farther on we will take the liberty of giving another, more specific. With this idea, let us advance a step, and inquire who are the members of the body of the Church. As hinted in a previous chapter, there is under this heading much loose thought and uncertainty among sectarians. The writer has found even Catholics, living in out of the way places, who spoke in strange and uncouth, not to say heretical terms-, about church membership. Such a style of speaking, whether from ignorance or affectation, is highly improper, and should be avoided. We shall not attempt to define the conditions required for membership by the various sects, scattered over the country. For, though it might amuse the reader to do so, it would be tedious to a writer. Let it suffice to lay down what the Catholic Church teaches on the subject, and this, rightly understood, will be a criterion by which to judge of the various grades of deformity in the teaching of the sects. Should the question be asked : Who are members of the Church in the Catholic acceptation of the phrase ? We reply in general terms : They are all persons who have received Christian baptism. Now baptism may be validly conferred by any one, whether believer or infidel, who has the proper intention, and uses the prescribed form and matter in* the administration of it. Hence, not only we, who admit the jurisdiction of the Pope, are members of the Catholic Church, but all schismatics and baptized heretics belong to it. By keeping this view of the case before the eye, one 24 ALETHAURION. catches the force and meaning of the words lately used by the Holy Father, in his letter to the Emperor of Germany, in which allusion is made to the fact that all baptized per- sons belong, in a certain sense, to the Pope. The writer has heard bishops use the same language with regard to the Protestants wdthin their jurisdictions. But to most Catholics such language sounds paradoxical. They naturally ask : Does the bishop mean to say these Protest- ants are members of his flock ? We reply, that is what is meant. And, that we may not be misunderstood, some principles need be laid down and explained. First of all, let it be remembered, that Heaven recognizes only one Church on earth. All others are delusions, mir- ages of Satan, that have no reality. The Church to which we allude is the Catholic — the Kingdom of Christ upon earth. Men become citizens of it being born again of water and of the Holy Ghost ; and, when once their names are registered, they can never more leave the kingdom, for it is co-extensive with the world. ''■Ask of me," says lioly David, speaking in the person of the Eternal Father, to His only begotten Son, ''and I will give Thee the nations as Thy inheritance, and Thy possessions the limits of the earth." — [Ps. ii. v. Neither is it possible for a citizen of this kingdom to transfer his allegiance to any other sovereign ; for there is no other to whom it can be lawfully given. Hence, he may become rebellious, ])ut does not cease to be a subject. Now, St. Paul tells us there is one baptism, and this is the one and only entrance to the kingdom of Christ, and, since this gate can be thrown open by any one, hence it hap- pens that thousands enter the Catholic Church, without be- ing aware of the fact. The Methodist preacher baptizes a man, the Campbellite dips a believer in the stream — the one believes he has initiated his subject into the Methodist Church, the other thinks he has made a Reformer of his. Both are mistaken, for their ALETHAURION. 25 men, by baptism, enter the one and only Church to which the sacrament gives initiation. Baptism is the door that leads into the Catholic Church, and, when one goes through it, he is in the Church, whether he Jikes it or not. And, after he is once in, he can never come out, for he cannot unbaptize himself, nor remove the character impressed on his soul. This is why we do not re- baptize the sectarians that join us. They are already in the Church, and all we require of them is to admit the authority, and be guided by the counsel of its rulers. By keeping these facts in mind, it will be readily under- stood how all schismatics and heretics belong to the Pope. But, some one may say, if all such are members of the Catholic Church, why are they not treated as brethren in the faith? The reason is, because they are in rebellion against the lawfully constituted authority. Hence we do not admit their fellowship, nor call them members, except in the sense al- ready explained. Before proceeding further, we may observe that, just here, comes in the question of conscience and good faith. There may be sectarians who are not aware that they are in rebellion against Christ. Such persons, in good faith, will be saved, if they observe the moral law, and act accord- ing to the light that is given. The fact that they stand on the side of the rebellious will not be imputed, for sin pre-sup- poses a knowledge of its evil, and a will to commit it not- withstanding. "Without presuming to say whether the number of per- sons who belong to the sects, and are in good faith, be great or small, we take occasion to remark that their chances for sal- vation are slender, for they have not the aid of the Sacra- ments, and when the soul becomes sick by sin, they have neither the physicians nor the medicines to help along recovery. Let us now proceed a step and define what we mean by 26 ALETHi^URION. the Church in the limited and ordinary acceptation of the term. The true Church may be defined in the following words, or in others of similar import : An assembly of men, sojourners in the world who believe in Christ, participate of the Sacraments instituted by Him, live subject to legitimate pastors, and. more especially to the Bishop of Kome, Vicar of Christ upon earth. By this definition we exclude at once all schismatics and heretics of every grade. It will also now be seen how a member of this body may be cut off or excommunicated. Such persons do not cease being subject to legitimate pas- tors but are separated from the flock, lest, by their evil in- fluence, they may be led astray. In chapter III, speaking of the soul of the Church, we said that all and only the just belonged to it. Of the body on the other hand, sinners as well as the saints are full and recog- nized members. This important truth was denied in ancient times by a sect called the Novations, who maintained that as soon as a man had sinned, he ceased to belono; even to the bodv of the Church. John" Wickliffe, the English heresiarch, taught pretty much the same doctrine. But we take occa- sion to state, once for all, that, when speaking of heretics we can rarely, if ever, say, without qualification, that one taught as another did. A heretic is a man that chooses for himself what he wishes to believe ; and, as the wishes of no two men are alike, or, if they are, will never remain long so, hence the differences in the opinions of those who will not listen to authoritative teaching. Revelation to a heretic is like a wax nose that be- comes aquiline or pug as he pleases. We have said that all the faithful, whether saints or sin- ners, belong to the body of the Church. That such is the case, may be seen by adverting to a few passages of scripture. In Matthew iii, 12, the Church is compared to a thresh- ing floor where the grain and chaff are mingled together. By ALETHAURION. 27 the grain, the just are evidently meant, and by chaff, those in mortal sin. In chapter xiii, 47, of the same gospel, the kingdom of heaven, ^. e. the Church, is likened to a net cast into the sea, gathering together all kinds of fishes, both bad and good. Again, in chapter xxii, the Church is a nuptial feast, to which good and bad sit down, and at which there was found a man who had not on a weddins: srarment. But it is useless to multiply texts since those given are so clear and explicit. Let one other suffice : In i Cor. v. 3, St. Paul commands the incestuous Corin- thian to be expelled from the Church. Now, up to the moment of his expulsion, this Corinthian, though in sin, was a member. Let us by way of conclusion, propose to ourselves a few objections : 1. In the Apostles' Creed, the Church is called holy. Could it be justly called so if a portion of its members were sinners ? 2. If sinners belong to the Church, would not the king- dom of Christ be made up in a great part of that of Satan ? 3. St. Paul, Ephesians v, 25, makes use of the following words, which do not seem to favor the idea of a Church with sinful members : ** Christ also loved the Church and de- livered Himself up for it, that He might sanctify it, cleans- ing it by the laver of water in the word of life, that He might present it to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot or winnkle nor any such thing, but that it should be holy and wWiout blemish.''^ Let us briefly reply to these objections . First, The Church ought to be holy, and truly is so we grant — to the exclusion of sinners, we deny. The Church is called holi/ in the creed by reason of its soul, which as we said in the previous chapter, is made up entirely of the just. It is holy by reason of its head Jesus Christ, whose sanctity will not be questioned here. It is so by reason of its docv trines, and of the other means it employs to save mankind . 28 ALETHAURION. In fine, it is holy, because of the heroic sanctity of so many thousands of its members. We have here several titles, on the strength of any of which the Church might prove its right to' be called holy. Second, If sinners belong to the Church, the kingdom of Christ is made up in a great part of that of Satai^ . We re- ply, sinners may in one respect belong to Satan, i. e. inas- much as they sin, but they also belong to Christ, inasmuch as they acknowledge Him as their head, and live subject to legitimate pastors. In this there is no contradiction. Third, As regards the words of St. Paul, we may answer \Y\th. his most celebrated commentator, Estius, tha^ Christ cleanses and sanctifies His Church by the sacraments in this world, that He may present it to Himself a glorious Church hereafter in heaven. In the next we will speak of how the body of the Church is organized. CHAPTER V. the body of the church — HOW ORGANIZED. In the last chapter we defined the body of the Church as an assembly of men, sojourners in this world, who believe in Christ, participate of the sacraments instituted by Him, live subject to legitimate pastors, and especially to one, the Bishop of Rome, Vicar "of Christ upon earth. In this is contained the germ of all we propose saying in . the present chapter. Let us meditate on how this visible portion of the Church is organized. We may define our position in the following words : The body of the Church is made up of a divinely instituted hier- archy, consisting of bishops, priests and deacons ; and of the laity. Thus, it will be seen that the visible portion of the Church is made up of two distinct parts — the one active, ALETHAUKION . 2d the Other passive ; the one ruling, the other governed ; the one teaching, the other taught. We have used the words divinely instituted hierarchy^ by which we mean to convey the idea that it was organized by Christ himself, and that those who compose it do not de- rive their right to rule and teach from the governed, but from the Saviour. We have said, also, that the hierarchy is the teaciiing por- tion, and the laity, the portion taught. By this we do not mean that a lavman oua^ht never teach nor give relisjious in- struction, but that it is the duty and privilege of the hier- archy alone, to explain authoritatively the true sense of the scriptures, to preserve pure the divine traditions, and, as occasion requires, to take from the mass of revelation one or more truths and formulate them into articles of faith. This done, any one may teach it, w^ho knows whereof he speaks. In our definition, we make no mention of the Roman Pon- tiif. Neither do we include patriarchs, primates, arch- bishops, arch-priests, and cardinals ; because these latter are of ecclesiastical, as distinct from divine origin. A patriarch, or primate,, is not higher than a bishop, so far as orders are concerned, but his jurisdiction may be, and often is, more extensive. With these observations, let us now see if Chkist made the distinction we speak of. This is one of the points of difference between us and the Protestants, who deny such a distinction drawn by the Saviour. But, the scriptures are so clearly in our favor, that all we have to do is appeal to them and the question will be at once satisfactorily decided. Let us take a few texts and briefly explain them. Iii Matthew xviii, Christ gives to the Apostles alone the power of loosing and binding, ^. e. the power of remitting or retaining sin. **Amen. I say unto you, whatsoever you shall bind upon earth, shall be bound also in heaven; and 30 ALETHAURION. whatsoever you shall loose upon earth, shall be loosed also in heaven." Now the Saviour, besides the twelve Apostles, had also seventy-two Disciples, and yet this power of loosing and binding is given only to the Apostles. Here is a distinction made by the Saviour himself, the same that we Catholics maintain there is to day between the clergy and laity. Again, Matthew xxvi, the Saviour gives the Apostles alone the power of consecrating the Eucharist. **Do this," says He, *'in commemoration of Me." The Apostles alone were present with Him at the Last Supper, when He instituted the Sacrament of the Eucharist. Why, might we ask, was not His Blessed Mother, or some one of His Disciples there, also, on so important an occa- sion ? The reason is clear enough ; because the Saviour, on that occasion, was going to institute the priesthood of the new law, and draw a line of demarkation that was to remain till the end of time. Hence, only the Apostles were present, and each and every one of them became a priest of the new law, just as soon as Christ had pronounced the words, *'Do this in Commemoration of Me." Again, in Matthew xxviii., He commands the Apostles to go and teach all nations, promising that He would be with them, and their successors, till the end of time. *'Go ye, therefore," says He, *' and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you ; and behold, I am with you always, even to the consummation of the world." Now, one must be necessarily very short-sighted not to see in these several texts a broad line of distinction, drawn between the Apostles and their successors in office, and the rest of the faithful. Protestants maintain that the Saviour established no external priesthood, and, consequently, deny that the clergy ALETHAURION. 31 and laity are, by divine idght, distinct bodies of men. They assert that every one, by baptism, becomes a priest, and that all Church authority is vested in the people. The members being thus on a perfect equality, no one has the right to assume authority, nor teach publicly, till duly elected to office by his associates. When chosen, he preaches and teaches by the authority of the Church that chose him. This he may continue to do till another is elected in his stead, in which case all the authority given to him returns to those by whom it was originally granted, and the pastor that ivas becomes a sim^jle sheep, in no respect different from the other members of the flock. Kow, though every Protestant may not be able to formu- late this idea as we have, still, to an attentive observer, it will appear evident that it lies at the foundation of their thoughts, words and actions on Church affairs. To its influence we may trace that disrespect with which the members of Protestant churches treat those of their preachers whom they conceive guilty of some misdemeanor. The public prints are occasionally full of the det^ails of how this, that, or the other minister, was chased off by the members of his flock. The reason of all this is because they do not regard their pastor as a man sent by God to rule and direct them, but rather as a servant, of whom they expect so much work in consideration of so much pay. We may now bring forward some passages of Scripture, to show that the authority of the pastors of the Church is not derived from the people, but directly from Christ. In Matthew xxxviii, the Saviour says : **A11 power is given to -me in heaven and on earth, go ye, therefore, teach all na- tions.'' I find no trace here of the Protestant doctrine, that ministers receive their authority from the Church. Agarin : John xx : *'As the Father hath sent me, so, also, I send you." Christ was sent directly by the Father : and He sends His Apostles in the same way. Add to all this, that the OZ ALETHAURION. Church did not begin to exist, in a formal manner, until no the day of Pentecost. How, then, could the Apostles have received their authority from it ; when as yet it had no ex- istence? Now, if the power had been given to the Church, to be transmitted to the minister, as the Protestant principle reads, every one must see that the Apostles, before begin- ning to preach and to administer the sacraments, ought to have asked for, and waited until they had received, the per- mission and authority of the Church. But they neither did so, nor was such a thing thought of in those days. The faithful looked to them for instruction and guidance, instead of presuming to give it. To these texts of scripture that we have given, many oth- ers might be added, if necessary, in support of the Catholic principle ; that the minister has his authority, not from God, through the people, but from Him directly. We do not mean, however, to assert that each one receives the right to teach and administer the sacraments immediately from GoD,^ as Quakers do ; who quake and dance only as they are moved by the spirit. By the word directly, we wish it understood that the power is given by God to the individual, and by him to another in- dividual and so on in direct line always through the individual. It is not diffused among the members of the Church, and concentrated in one man as occasion requires, by means of an election. In the next chapter we will state more fully how the body of the Church is organized, and will answer the objections that may be raised against all we have said in the present. ALETHAURION. 33 CHAPTER VI. THE HIERARCHY. We have shown that the body of the Church is made up of two parts, by divme right, distinct, viz : Of the hierarchy consisting of bishops, priests and deacons, and of the laity. A Tvord about these terms before proceeding any further. By the hierarchy ^ most persons suppose the bishops only are meant. This idea, which is incorrect, no doubt has its origin in confounding the first two syllables of the term, with the word higher. All Catholics understand that the office of bishop is of more exalted grade than that of priest or deacon ; hence the tendency, because of the sound, to call the assembly of bishops the hierarchy. As to the priests and deacons, the majority take as granted that there is no word as yet invented for them ; though loiverarchy would appear the most suitable, if it could only be brought into general use. Such popular notions of higher and lower archies rest on a false assumption ; and, are not only inaccurate, but directly contrary to an article of faith, defined in the Council of Trent, Sess. xxiii, can. vi., in which the hierarchy is made to consist of bishops, priests and deacons or ministers. The word is a compound, and of Greek origin, being made up of hieros, sacred, and archia, authority. Hence, it expresses well that portion of the Church militant, whose right to command is sacred, because of divine institution. It will now be readily observed, that the antithesis lies, not between the ideas of higher and lower, but between those of sacred and profane. The term bishop, as applied to an officer in the Church, is one whose meaning all understand. It comes from the Greek episJcopos, an overseer. Few would recognize the 34 ALETHAURION. original in its English dress, for words, like battalions of soldiers, are changed mightily by a long term of service. So, at least, it has happened to that of which we are speak- ing ; it has lost a third of its letters, and half of its syllables. The word is employed once in the Old Testament, ii. Es- dras, xi, 22. The officer spoken of there, though called a bishop, is of course, different from one in our sense. In the New Testament it occurs five times ; used in each case as at present. Priest, as the name of the officer, by divine appointment, next to a bishop, is also of Helenic origin ; but, like Hec- tor's ghost, so changed, that but few would recognize in it now, the long and sonorous presbytey^os of the ancient Greek. Yet such is the case. The Roman was first, this time, in the work of mutilation. He took off the final syllable, and made it presbyter. The Frenchman took away another, and shuffled what was left into pretre. John Bull staggered up, with too much brown stout in him to get more than one syllable out, and so the word presbyteros, an elder, has become shortened into priest. Presbyter, or priest, occurs six times in the New Testament, and is in all cases, applied to certain officers in the Church. Some of the sectarians call their preachers elders y mean- ing thereby to be exceedingly scriptural. We have all, however, long since learned that a walnut cannot be changed into an orange by calling it so. Neither will calling Pro- testant preachers elders make them so, in the scriptural meaning of that word. It is required that some one, who has authority, should first impose hands on them, and grant certain powers, before we can allow those preachers to take seats among the old folks in the Church of God. This same word, presbyter, or elder, has also afforded a base of operations to those who deny that there is offered in the mass a real and true sacrifice. The word 'iereus, say they, which means a sacrificing priest, is nowhere applied in the New Testament to the ministers of religion. ALETHAURION. 35 If, as Catholics maintain, there is offered to God, in the Mass, a real sacrifice, then the word 'iereis, and not pres- huteroi, would have been used by the Evangelists. We reply, the Apostles and Evangelists knew pretty well what they were about, whether they spake or wrote ; neither did they ask for, nor require, the aid of heretics to enable them to make a proper selection of words. In fact, if we look well into the circumstances of the case, we will see the wisdom displayed in using the word elder or presbyter, for, if the term ^iereus, or sacrificing priest, had been taken, the oflacers of the new Church might, in the vulgar mind, be confounded with the Jewish priests, who offered bloody sacrifices in Jerusalem, or with the pagan, who were to be found in all the principal cities thoughout the Roman Empire. Furthermore, it is false that the term Hereus is never applied in the Scriptures to the officers of the Church of Christ. In Chapter v. of Revelations, as may be seen by consulting the original, that those four and twenty elders, who, in verse 8th, are called preshuteorij in verse 10th receive the appellation of '^ere^s, sacrificing priests. Of deacons, mention is made only three times in the New Testament. But, in Chapter vi. of Acts, we have a cir- cumstantial account of their election, and of the duties they were required to perform. These three grades of officers, taken along with the laity, or people, constitute the body of the Church. We have intentionally erased from our list all cardinals, patriarchs, archbishops, archpriests, archdeacons, and such like, for these titles are of human origin. Kow that we have taken a view of the body of the true Church, and gained some idea of how it is organized, let us pass beyond the walls, and pay a visit to the outsiders. Dean Swift, and before him, Erasmus, said that when the Pope weeds his garden, he throws what he has plucked up over the fence. By outsiders we mean such weeds. We 36 ALETHAUEION . may divide them into two principal classes, schismatics the one, and heretics the other. A schismatic is a man who, while retaining, in great part, and believing what the Church teaches, resists, neverthe- less, the authority of the chief bishop. In other words, he is a man that aims at dividing the Church. A heretic chooses for himself w^hat he wishes to believe of all that God has revealed, and resists authority, along with assuming, impiously, the liberty to discriminate. Thus it will be seen that a heretic is much lower in grade than a schismatic. But, as Shakspeare says of rotten apples, there is small choice between them. Of those called schismatics, we do not wish to speak at any length in the present chapter, for, though they refuse to acknowledge the Pope's jurisdiction, still, in other respects, their Church organization does not differ from ours. Of heretics, properly so called, we make exception of the Anglicans also. They keep up, at least, the appearance of Apostolic succession. Hence Dryden has said of the An- glican Church, that it is ''the least deformed^ because the least reformed. ' Our business is with the Lutherans and Calvinists, and their imitators of lesser notoriety. Now, it is amusing to read the cock and bull story, given us by Mosheim, of how the ecclesiastical hierarchy began and progressed. In part ii, chapter v, of his Church History, this great light of Lutheranism says, that, in the first century, and from the time of the Apostles, the government of the Church was purely democratic, the entire authority having been in the hands of the people ; there were, according to him, no bishops, superior to the elders or priests, in each Church. We refuted one part of this statement in the last chapter, by showing that Christ gave the power directly to the pastors and not to the people. As to there having been no bishops, superior to the elders, in each Church : if our great light ALETHAURION. 37 had read over carefully, i Timothy v, 19 he would never have made so groundless an assertion. In the scripture we allude to, St. Paul addressing' Timothy, whom he had made bishop of Ephesus, says to him, **and against a priest, receive not an accusation, but under two or three witnesses." If he who has the right to examine witnesses, and judge the conduct of elders, be not the superior in office, then we confess inability to imagine in what official superiority can consist. Our great light goes on to say, in the same work, i Gen. i part chapter 2, that, about the middle of the second century, the councils changed entirely the face of the Church ; diminished the privileges of the people, and increased the authority of the bishops. The latter, says Mosheim, now assumed the right to ma^e laws without consulting the people. These pretensions were greatly increased in the third century, when the bish- ops took away a good deal of the power which the priests or elders in the Churches had possessed. He regards St. Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, as the principal author of these changes. Now, if MosHEiM had brought forward proofs to sustain his position, he might deserve some attention ; but when he gives his word only, we can VQ^\y ^Hestimonium unius, tes- timonium nuUius,'' the testimony of one, the testimony of none. We may ask, however, before dismissing him, what about the promise made by Christ to the Apostles, and their suc- cessors, that He would be with them even until the consum- mation of ages ? We are inclined to think that promise must have failed, if Mosheim's testimony be true. We would like to know hovrthe bishops of Asia, of Syria, of Egypt, of the coasts of Africa, of Italy, could all have conspired to change the government established by the Apostles? Let MosHEOi, or anyone who believes as he, tell us how it happens that the government in all those 88 ALETHAURION. ancient Churches is episcopal; in no essential manner dif- ferent from what it is in the Catholic Church of these Uni- ted States. Certainly the bishops of one and all those different Churches could not have been ambitious, nor is it reasona- ble to think that the people everywhere would have suffered with docility to be deprived of rights and powers inherited from their ancestors in the faith. When our friends, who so much dislike episcopal rule, give us satisfactory answers to these few questions, we will then bring up positive proofs from the writings of St. Cleivient, St. Ignatius and others who lived before the end of the first century, showing that in their day, the govern- ment of the Church did not differ from what we find it in ours. The Presbyterians and Lutherans cannot bear the idea of a hierarchy, and yet, in practice, they each have one. Among the Presbyterians of Scotland, e. g.\ each minister has under his control the elders of his Church. Twenty- four ministers form a presbytery or synod, at whose head there is a president. This president has a right to visit the parishes, admit aspirants to the ministry, suspend ministers, excommunicate, and decide upon all Church affairs. It is about the same amonsj the Lutherans ; the onlv^ dif- ference is that, instead of calling their chief man a presi- dent, they dub him superintendent. In this country all the Protestant Churches, with the exception of the Episcopal and Methodist sects, follow the Lutheran and Calvinistic system of Church government, sometimes modified in par- ticular cases. They elect their officers and pretend to have scriptural precedent in the election of the seven deacons spoken of in Acts vi. But they ought to know that, though the deacons were elected by the people, they had to be ordained l)y the Apostles. The people may render testimony to a man's ALETHAUKION. 39 fitness ; but ouly those who are successors of the Apostles can ordain him. In the next chapter we will consider more fully the case mentioned in Acts vi, of the election of the seven deacons, and attempt to define what the rights of the people may be on the subject under consideration. CHAPTER VII. THE SEVEN DEACONS. We read in chap, vi of Acts, that when the number of the faithful had greatly increased in Jerusalem, there arose at the same time certain jealousies among them. The Apostles were far from approving of such, but they sought to remedy the evil by mild means, instead of rebuking the principal actors. To understand the disagreement, it must be borne in mind that, in those days all things were in common among the faithful. When one, possessed of wealth, had embraced Christianity, he sold his worldly goods and gave the proceeds to be used in supplying the wants of all indiscriminately. At the time, not only a multitude of Jews, but also many Grecians had professed belief in Christ, and, it was from the latter came the trouble that occasioned the election and ordination of the seven deacons. The Grecians thought that more attention had been paid to the wants of the Jewish or- phans and widows than to their own. So, when the Apostles became aware that there was mur- muring, they sought to remedy the evil at once. The multi- tude having been called together, they explained, that the preaching of the word and the administration of the sacra- ments, being of the first importance, they had not time to give special attention to the public tables. At their request, the assembly chose out seven, who were to attend to this business, and see that an impartial use was 40 ALETHAURION. made of the public money. Their names were Stephen, Philip, Prochoras, Nicaxor, Timox, Parmexas and Nich- OLAUS. These have Greek names, and we suspect that most of them were of the same oris^in. In this truly apostolic way was the danger of schism averted, and peace again restored. Such is the account given in Acts vi, of the election of the seven deacons. Now, in previous chapters, we mentioned that in our own country most of the sectarian Churches elect their officers, and hold the principle that all power is vested in the people. In support of these views, they point to the election spoken of. Before we are through, we hope to make it appear that neither from this, nor any other portion of scripture, can it be. proved that the right of electing Church officers is essen- tially and by divine right vested in the people. And, fur- thermore, that something else is required besides election, before one can be rightly called a minister of the Church of Christ. As but few, if any, of the sects have a well defined system of theology, we shall not waste time nor ink in attempting to condense into a tantJ^ible form their vacrue theories and practices in the election and inauguration of ministers. When we have defined what the rights of the people are, according to the scriptures and fathers of the Church, the reader will then have a rule by which to measure the merits of any particular case to which his attention may be called. We may state our position* in the following words : From the election of the seven deacons, it may be inferred that the people have the right to nominate candidates for sacred orders, and render testimony concerning their merits at ordination. This is the first part. Its truth will become evident by even a cursory glance at the scripture of which we are speak- ing. But if any further proofs be needed, they may be found in the writings of the Fathers, which show that the ALETHAURION. 41 rights spoken of, on the part of the people, were freely ex- ercised in the primitive ages ; as they also are at the present day, though, in a manner to correspond with the diversity of circumstances. Clement, third Pope after St. Peter, in his letter to the Corinthians, writes as follows : •* The Apostles, through Jesus Christ, knew the contentions there would be on the score of election to bishoprics. For this reason, being possessed of perfect fore -knowledge, they ordained bishops, and then gave form by wliich they (the bishops) being called away by death, others of approved lives, might succeed to their ministry; the entire Church testifying its pleasure." , From these words we gather, that it was by the judgment and choice of the Apostles bishops were first constituted ; and after them, only such were to be raised to the dignity who had good testimony with the people. Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, epistle 69, uses the follow- ing pointed language on the same subject : ••' For which reason the people, obeying the precepts of the Lord, and fearing God, ought to separate themselves from a sinful prelate, and take no part in the sacrifice of a sacrilegious priest ; since they have the power of choosing u'orthy priests^ and of refusing umcorthy ones.'''' From these words we see the right of the people to re- ject unworthy and select worthy ministers, was fully acknowledged in the third century, and by the great saint and martyr, Cyprian. The Catholics of Germany have lately exercised the same rights in the case of Dolinger, Reinkins, and others, who proved themselves undeserving of confidence. We have said that the voice of the people is taken into consideration in ours, as in ancient times. This is truly the case, but it is done in a manner to correspond with present circumstances. Let us take a few examples. The Pope is elected by the cardinals, who represent the people of Eome, each cardinal being the titular head of one of ancient parish Churches of the city. Hence, he votes for the Pope in the name of the people, just as a member of the legislature votes for United States Senator. A2 ALETHAUEION. Bishops, according to the canon law, are elected by the cathedral chapter, composed, in great part, of the parish priests of the diocese. These are presumed to know the wishes of the people and vote accordingly. When a person is about to be ordained priest, there is one present who an- swers, in the name of the people, that the candidate is worthy. We have now stated the rights of the people, regarding the election and ordination of ministers; Secular princes, being at the head of the nation, sometimes ambitiously claim the right of speaking in its name, and of accepting or rejecting prelates appointed by the Holy See. This is what Bis3IAECK and Victor Emmanuel are trying to do. We shall not wait to discuss the question, whether the wishes of these gentlemen can be said to represent those of •the Catholic people over whom they rule. We go deeper, and establish a principle that will at once draw the prop from their pretensions. The people themselves do not possess by divine right, but only by apostolic concession, the privilege of proposing candidates for orders, and of rejecting ministers whom they do not like. The truth of this proposition will be evident from the following considerations: **Letno man," says St. Paul, speaking of ministers, **take to himself this honor, but he who is called of God, as Aaron was." — [Heb. v. Now, Aaron was chosen by Moses alone, without the counsel or assent of the people. Christ sent His Apostles without consulting the people. Paul made bishops of both Titu^ and Timothy, without having asked the consent of the people. Hence, if the voice of the people be essential, that is, of divine right, in the election of ministers, Paul would have gone beyond his powers, which no sane Chris- tian man will affirm. Furthermore, in Acts vi. we see a concession, on the part of the Apostles, not the " acknowledgment of a right. ALETHAUKION. 43 "Therefore, brethren," said they, **look ye out among you seven men of good reputation, whom we may appoint,'^ The Apostles did .the appointing and laying on of handSy without which those elected by the people would have had no powers. From all this we may infer that the rights spoken of are not inherent in the people, but are concessions of the Church to avert schism. Let us, also, in conclusion, reflect on the hollo wness of sectarian pretension. They may, indeed, elect their officers, but have no one with authority to ratify the election, and give the chosen ones the power required for the office. This can only be done where there is a line of bishops coming down from the Apostles. If one link of the chain were broken, the whole world could not mend it. How futile, then, are the pretensions of sectarian ministers to pastoral authority, who do not possess a link at all of that golden chain that con- nects the Church of to-day with that of the Apostles, the Church of the Apostles with Christ, and, through Him, unites the whole to the throne of the living and eternal God, from whom all righteous authority emanates. In the next, we will tell how to find the Church that has the Apostolic succession. CHAPTER VIII. HOW TO FH^D THE TRUE CHURCH. We have at the present day, and have had from Apostolic times, various Christian denominations. Each pretends to be the true Church, and maintains that all the others are so many synagogues of Satan. Such being the state of affairs, all, we think, will see at a glance the necessity of certain marks by which to distinguish the Church of Christ from all others. Each farmer or trader has some particular 44 ALETHAURION. brand by which he knows his stock among those of other people. If he had not, in case one strayed, he would search for it in vain. It is thus, too, in regard to Church organizations. There are so many that, before beginning search for the true one, we must determine if it has any peculiar marks, and, in case it has, what these are. Now, God requires impossibilities of no man ; hence, when He imposed the obligation of belonging to the true fold. He also arranged things that any one who seriously inquires may easily find it. He has impressed upon it cer- tain characters or marks Which belong to it and to no other. These are unity, holiness, universality and apostolicity . At present, we will confine our remarks to the first on the list. Unity is an essential feature of the Church of Christ. The reader may wish to know what we mean by the expression. An essential property is that by which a thing is what it is, or that, which being taken away, the thing can no longer be conceived. Thus, it is essential to a circle, that each and every point of the circumference be equally distant from the center. Any figure, no matter how round it may appear to us, is not a circle, unless it has the property we allude to. So, when we say that unity is an essential feature of the Church of Christ, we mean that, without it, you can no more have a true Church than you can have a square circle. The unity we speak of is of two kinds : Unity in subsisting, and unity in teaching. It will now be in order to show, from the Saviour's words, that the Church is one in its mode of subsisting. Our scrip- tural texts are ready and at hand. In Matthew xiii, 47, the Church is called a kingdom. Luke xiv, 23, it is called, by similitude, a house. John x, 16, it is styled a sheep/old. The singular number is always employed in speaking of it. Now, let us bear in mind that the Saviour came from heaven, not only to redeem us, but also to teach the human O ALETHAURION. 45 race, by example and by word. No expression of His was superfluous ; no similitude inappropriate. In fact, just as the microscope reveals wonderful perfections, even in the smallest works of God, so will a little reflection show the great wisdom displayed by the Saviour in the similitudes He employed. Take the expressions, kingdom^ house, sheepfold. Why use these in connection with the Church ? Was it by chance that He took them from the scores of others? Verily not. Our illustrations are sometimes badly chosen ; His never, for He comprehended the present, and He knew all that was and is to happen until the end of time. Let us see then, what there is remarkable in a kingdom that made him liken His Church to one. There is this, and it is worthy of consideration, that only one king is admis- sible at a time. '' Two stars keep not their motions in the same orbit, nor can one England," says Shakspeare, "brook the double rule of Harry Percy and the Prince of Wales." As far as we have read in history, we have never yet learnt the name of a kingdom that was large enough for two kings, at once. Ancient Sparta had something of the kind, but, omitting to mention the animosities that always existed between the reigning families, we must remember that neither was king in the strict sense, for the sovereign power was really in the hands of the senate, composed of twenty- eight members, and of the ephori, five in number. Sparta was a republic ; and the kings were nothing more than her- editary consuls, with far less power than those of Kome. Now, besides there being only one sovereign in every kingdom, what else do we find peculiar in it? That all who hold office in the realm, do so, either directly or indirectly, by the king's authority. The general commands araiies, the admiral steers fleets, the judge sits on the bench, and administers justice, all in the name of the sovereign. What we have said of a kingdom, may be repeated of a house. In each well ordered family, there is one head. 46 ALETHAURION. whose authority is above that of all others. As to a sheep- fold, not to speak of the shepherd, it is a well known fact that in each flock there is one leader, and where he goes the rest follow. This has been noticed by almost every one, and needs only to be alluded to. From these similitudes, we see that the Church of Christ must have unity, must have some one at the head, for other- wise it would not be a kingdom, nor a house, nor a sheep- fold. The other kind of unity, which forms a mark of the true Church, is that of belief. Christ taught one system of truth. Hence, wherever His followers are, their belief is the same. There will be found among them no jarring opinions, at least, on the score of religion. In conclusion we say : Should these lines fall into the haiids of one who has not as yet embraced Christianity, but desires to do so, yet is uncertain, in the multitude of con- flicting sects, which is the right way ; to such a one, we would in Christian charity suggest, to choose that Church which has the mark of unity ^ which is a house, a kingdom, a shee/pfold, for it alone bears upon it the divine seal, the character impressed by the Saviour, by which He wishes you to know it. And should any member of an heretical sect see this, let him reflect, and ask himself the question : Is there any one in my Church, who holds a place analogous to that of a sov- ereign in a kingdom, to that of a father in a family, to that of a leader in a flock? If not, then let him know that he is in the wrong fold. It will not do to say that Christ is the head of the Church, and that no other is necessary. True, He is its in- visible head, but He is also the head of all earthly realms, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. But who will on that account, say that earthly sovereignty is an usurpation? The Church of Christ on earth, being a visible body, must have a visible head. It would be a monster if it had not. ALETHAURION. 47 In the next we will show that the organization known as the Catholic Church has the unity we speak of in its mode of subsisting. CHAPTER IX. CATHOLIC UNITY — SECTARIAN DIVISIONS. We saw, in the last chapter, that unity is one of the marks by which the true Church may be distinguished. In the present, our purpose is to show that the Catholic Church, and no other, has impressed upon it, the mark in question. Let us at once proceed to the work. The Church of Christ is a kingdom ; and, in every king- *dom there is one, and only one chief. In the Catholic Church there is one, and only one visible head. Thus far the analogy is perfect. In a kingdom, all who exercise au- thority, are appointed, either directly or indirectly, by the sovereign. In the Catholic Church all admit the Pope to be the source of ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Thus, for example, in the Western Church, all bishops, whether elected, according to canon law, or appointed by concession of the Holy See, must await the pope's con- firmation before assuming direction of the affairs, whether temporal or spiritual, within those dioceses to which they have been elected or appointed. As regards the Oriental countries, though the system is somewhat different in practice, it is the same in theory. In the East there are five patriarchs, each of whom has the power to choose and consecrate bishops, without consulting the Pope. Yet, those very patriarchs themselves must, be- fore assuming authority, get the consent and receive the confirmation of the Holy See. We have now said enough to show that in the Catholic Church there is one, and only one head. This is a point that 48 ALETHAURION. needs no great marshaling of arguments to sustain it, for almost every one knows that Catholics, every where, admit the Pope's supremacy. Let us now cast a glance over the way toward the camps of **our separated brethren," as some good natured people call the heretics of our times. Let us observe if all, or any one of the sects, can be said to have that unity in subsisting, which is so prominent a feature in the Church of which we are members. To speak of the sects collectively would be useless, for, it is well known, there is no man on earth w^hom they acknowledge as head. It is vain then to say that all, taken together, constitute the Church of Christ. They do not convey to our minds the idea of a kingdom, and very far are they from giving us that of a house. Each sect is independent of all others, each congregation perfectly free to follow its own fancies, and each individual, as occasion requires, will let it be known, that he too has a head of his own. Taken collectively, the sects present a most deplorable picture of confusion. One is pulling in this way, another in that, and, like a gang of imperfectly broken oxen, yoked together, they go in for cracking necks without mercy. As we fail to distinguish anything like unity among them, taken as a body, let us single out some one, and ex- amine its claims. The organization known as the Episcopal Church will best suit our purpose, because it is, compara- tively speaking, the most perfect of them. Has the Epis- copal that unity, which, as we have seen, is a mark of the true Church of Christ ? Is it a kingdom? If so, who is sovereign ? We know who is its head in Kentucky, and in some of the other States of this Union. But that is not enough to give us the idea of a kingdom. Who is head of the Epis- copal Church for the entire world ? The only answer to this question will be — there is none. What follows? That ALETHAUKION. 49 in the most perfect of all sects there is a palpable lack of unity in its mode of subsisting. Take another case, or, rather, a different view of the same one. Consider the claims of the Church of England. Do we find unity there? It must be confessed we do, if not in the belief of its members, at least in its mode of subsisting. The Queen is the head of it, and all Anglican Bishops hold their places by her authority. Each sovereign of England, from the days of Henry VIII., is the head of the Church and of the State. During the reign of Eliza- beth the pretensions of Henry were more fully carried out. To such an extent was this the case, that each Bishop within the realm who wished to retain his See was obliged take the following oath : *' I declare, in conscience, that the Queen is the sole, supreme govern- ess of the Kingdom of England, not less in spiritual matters than in tem- poral, and that no foreign prelate or prince has any ecclesiastical au- thority in the kingdom. Hence, I altogether renounce all foreign powers." By this declaration, it will be observed, that the sovereign of England is acknowledged the head of the Church. Hence, to outward appearance, there is as much unity in the Church as by law established in the British dominions as there is in ours. But is this unity of the risrht kind? Is it such as Christ established? We think not, and, in sup- port of our opinion, we would call attention .to Matthew xvi., where the Saviour says to one of His Apostles : "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell £hall not prevail against it." From this passage alone, not to speak of what is said in John xxi., we see that Peter was made the earthly head of the Church, and men, after having once sworn allegiance to Christ, were bound in conscience not to break off com- munion with His vicar We would like to know if Victoria is the successor in office of St. Peter. If so, we have never seen any proof of the fact, nor any attempt at it. 50 AT.ETHAURION. Does she pretend to be the head of Christ*s Church hi such a manner that all who refuse to obey her in spiritual things commit a sin? We think not ; it would be folly on her part to make such iwetensions. For, who has given her the right to command in the Church of God? Cer- tainly it was not the Saviour, for the kings and queens of England were not dreamt of when the Church was first founded. She has, therefore, no divine right to com- mand, and, by consequence, no one is bound in con- science to obey her in spiritual things. For, when God gives not the right to command, he does not impose the obligation to obey. Moreover, Christ intended that His Gospel should be preached over the entire world, and as a consequence that His Church should have equal exten- sion. Hence, if the Queen of England is the head of the Church of Christ, at all, she must be so everywhere. But, how heartily Bishop S^iith, of this State, would laugh if Victoria should send him a letter informinsr him that he o was suspended from office, and that she had in her apostolic solicitude, appointed another in his stead. The head of the Church would be apt to get a back answer. Thus, we have taken the most perfect of all the sects and have searched it for unity in vain. We only found a coun- terfeit, that even a child may detect. Of the small sects, scattered throughout the country, we do not think it worth while to speak. They are like fishing worms — the heads and tails are all alike. In our next we will take up the question of unity in belief, and show that, in the Catholic Church, the faithful be- lieve not only alike, but that it is impossible there should be differences of opinion, on any question essential to man's salvation, among them. ALETHAURION. 51 CHAPTER X ALL CATHOLICS BELIEVE ALIKE. That unity of belief amongst its members is a mark of the true Church few reflecting persons will deny. The Saviour taught one, and only one, religious system, and wished his followers to believe each and every article of it. All who embrace this system believe alike, because truth is every- where consistent with itself. If there were a di:fference, it would result from the fact that ane or the other believed less or more than the Saviour taught. We may then say with truth, that even a general knowl- edge of who Christ was, and what He came on earth to ac- complish, would, of itself, convince us that the belief of His followers must be one and the same. What right reason may gather from the consideration of a few general princi- ples, revelation renders yet more clear. Let one passage, with a short explanation of it, suffice : Eph. iv. 5. Paul, exhorting the faithJ^ul to continue in unity, makes use of these expressive words : "One Lord, one faith, one baptism." To understand more fully the force of this saying of the great Apostle, we must bear in mind that the word faith has a triple meaning. By attending to this, we may avoid con- fusion of thought, and set to right expressions we fre- quently hear use made of by heretics. The latter speaking of faith, often mean by it, nothing more than a certain con- fidence in the Saviour's merits. This corresponds exactly with what we mean by presumption ^ as used in the cate- chism. The writer has often heard the expression, ** he died with great faith in Jesus,*' in connection with the name of some hardened old sinner, who after having spent nearly his whole life in the service of the Devil, and well feathered his 52 ALETHAURION. earthly nest with illicit gain, at last joined some sectarian conventicle, in order to ease his conscience, or else, may be, to die in the fashion. By joining the Church, such old hypocrites imagine that Jesus takes upon His own shoulders all their iniquities, and squares their debt at a blow — so glad is He to get hold of so much respectability. They die, generally, ** with great faith in Jesus," which means in simple terms, that they pass out of this world with a foolish expectation of salvation, without making proper use of the means to obtain it. That we call, not faith, but presumption of God's mercy, which is a sin against the Holy Ghost. In the second place, the word faith is used to express that divine virtue infused into our souls, by which we believe all that God has revealed, and the Church proposes for belief. Finally, faith or the faith, means the aggregate of those truths taught by Christ of the Apostles. Now comes the question, to which we desire to invite attention. When Paul says faith is one: In which of the three senses does he use the word? A little reflection will show, that it is in the last. He mentions it in connection with Baptism, and God, which, to us, are objective ideas. The conclusion we draw is, that, according to Paul, objec- tive faith is one, a unit, cmd all who belong to the Church of Christ must hold it as* such. It will not do to say, as once did a sectarian deacon to the writer, when speaking on the subject of the Real Presence. '* Well," says Mr. Deacon, when argument had failed, *' it appears to me that a great many of these things are merely matters of indiffer- ence, and provided one has faith in the Lord, I think he will be saved, no matter what denomination he may belong to." We were not prepared to coincide with his liberal views, considering what the Apostle says about being ** careful to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace till we all meet in the unity of faith," Eph. iv. 3, 13. We suspect that enough has been said to establish the fact that unity of belief, among the members, is a mark of Christ's ALETHAURION. 53 Church. We will next proceed to investigate which of the various existing denominations has the unity we speak of. Let us take, at first, the Catholic Church. Now, as we can- not see men's thoughts, we must judge by such facts as are patent to all, and by principles which are called a priori by logicians. We see in these United States, almost every day, occur- rences that might well open the eyes of Protestants. When a German, a Frenchman, Englishman, or Belgian, comes to this country, he does not find the Catholic Church different from what it is in his own. He finds here Catholics believing just the same as there. It would not be different were we of America to travel in Europe, Asia or Africa ; our religious opinions would suffer no shock at hearing them speak of the Church. But, it is not alone of the fact, that we wish to speak, but also of the principle on which it is based. Catholics, as long as they wish to remain so, cannot help believing alike, for, with us, it passes for a principle, that Christ established in His Church a living teaching authority, ac- cording to whose lessons must be squared the belief of each individual. This authority, of which the Pope is chief representative, is neither dead nor dunib, but stands ever ready to admon- ish and direct the faithful, and not alone that, but to condemn whatever is contrary to faith and morals. Hence it is that, in the Catholic Church, not only have w^e unity of belief among its members but also the principal by which it is maintained — authority. We will next briefly consider the question of unity of belief outside of the true fold Here also, a difficulty presents itsielf at the very threshold. We cannot take a heretic in each hand, and, holding them up between us and the light, say this one's liver is of a different color from that one's. We can only judge from eternal facts, and a priori principles, also, in this case, as in that of Catholics. The facts, however, are of a 54 ALETHAURION. nature quite satisfactory for our purpose. We need not quote Scripture, nor the Fathers, to show that Presbyter- ians do not beheve as Episcopalians. That Methodists and Campbellites won't agree. That Hardshell and Missionary Baptists won't pull together. That, though Quakers may shake and Shakers may quake, yet, the shake of the Quaker is not the shake of the Shaker nor the quake of the Shaker that of the Quaker. Now, as regards the belief of the members of some one particular sect : In those cases where books on Theology have not been published, it would be difficult to show how the belief of one differed from the others. But, as far as the old sects are concerned, the job has been done, in a masterly manner, by the illustrious Bossuet, in his work entitled Variations. However, should any Catholic for amusement sake, desire to find out the diversity of opinion among the members of some of our modern sects, let him carry out the following plan, and he will succeed to a miracle. Let him, in his own mind, single out some ten or a dozen of the more in- telligent members of some sect — let him then, without exciting suspicion, ask each one separately, if he believes all his preacher has said from the pulpit for the last six months. We are greatly mistaken, if nine out of ten don't answer in the negative. The experiment is an amusing one, and ought to be tried. Now the cause of this entire lack of unity in belief among Protestants, is the want of the principle of authority. If we were to remove that, even in the Catholic Church, the passions and private interests of men would turn it, also, into a babel, as confused as that of any of the heretical sects of our day. According as each heresiarch broke off from the true Church, he denied the principle of a teaching authority ; and established, in its stead, that of private interpretation. The consequence has been deplorable, for we have now, ALETHAURION. 55 outside of the true fold almost as many religions as there are heads. In the next we will consider holiness as a mark of the true Church. CHAPTER XI. THE TEUE CHURCH IS HOLY. In Ephesians V, we read, that Christ suffered and died that He might sanctify His Church ; and in the same epistle chap. i,PAUL says, that Christ **chose us that we might be holy and immaculate." Furthermore, in his epistle to Titus, the same Apostle, speaking still of Christ, says: '*He gave himself up for us that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and that He might cleanse for Himself a people acceptable, and follower of good works, ii, 14." From these texts, and from others which could be readily brought forward, it will be seen that the Church must be holy; that sanctity must form a peculiarity distinguishing it from all spurious sects, that pretend to be, but are not Churches of Christ. In fact, there is no man professing Christianity so lost to all sense and reason that pretends to say that the true Church of Christ can be otherwise than holy. The difficulty, if there be any at all, is in regard to the manner in which this mark, inasmuch as it is a visible one, distinguishes the true fold from all synagogues of Satax. In the present, and also in a future article, we intend to show that the mark of holiness belongs to the Catholic Church and to no other. Let us, in the first place, observe the distinction that must be drawn between the holiness of an individual and that of the Church. When speaking of any particular person living at present in the world, we cannot say with absolute certain- ty whether he is or is not holy in the sight of God. We 5 6 ALETHAURION . may have what is termed moral certitude in his regard, but to know absolutely that such or such a person is in a state of grace at a given time, without a special revelation, is im- possible. ''There are just and wise men," says the Scrip- ture, Eccl. ix, 1, ''and yet no one knows whether he is wor- thy of love or hatred." If a man, then, cannot tell, with absolute certainty, whether he be the friend or the enemy of God, for a much stronger reason he cannot say whether his neighbor is or is not in the state of grace. Why so? Because it is not necessary for a man's salva- tion that he should know the spiritual condition of his neighbor ; hence God has placed no external marks on any person by which we can tell the state of his soul. But, with the Chui-ch it is different. To belong to the true one has an important bearing on our salvation ; therefore God has given us connecting links, by which we may, with cer- tainty tell whether the Church to which we belong is or is not holy. What these means are we will now proceed to investigate. How, then, is the Catholic Church holy? It is so, pri- marily, by reason of its founder Jesus Christ — by reason of the doctrines which it teaches, and of the heroic sanctity of so many thousands of its children. The Church is holy by reason of its founder Jesus Christ. Let us pause here and consider the force of these words. There are contained in the sentence, two propositions. First, that Christ is the founder of the Catholic Church ; and secondly, that He was holy. Let us examine each separately. Christ is the founder of the Catholic Church. How do we know this? From history. Starting from our own day we have a con- tinuous chain of writers until we go back to the earliest times even to the birth of Christianity. These, as occasion requires, make mention of a Catholic Church, founded by Christ. Thus, at the present 'day, we have, among others, the celebrated theologian, Perrone. Li his works he speaks of a Church founded by the Saviour. Going back to the ALETHAURION. 57 sixteenth century, we find Cardinal Bellarmixe bearing the same testimony. Going still farther, we have for the tenth century, a Bernard. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, gives testimony for the fourth century ; Tertellian for the sec- ond. Thus, we get among the Apostolic Fathers. One of the latter, Clemext, was the companion of Paul, and fourth Pope of Ronxg. It is of him the Apostle speaks, Phillip iv, in these words : *• I pray thee also, thou faithful companion of my labors, to aid those women who have labored with me in the gospel, along with Cle3IENt, w^hose names are in the Book of Life/' All these whose names we have mentioned, either directly or indirectly, speak of a Church founded by Christ, identi- cal with the Catholic Church of to-day. Besides these, there are also scores of others, forming we may say an unbroken chain of evidence, reaching from our own day to the time when Christ lived here on earth. Another way of showing that Christ is the founder of the Catholic Church, is by taking the succession of the Popes. It is an indisputable fact, that there have been Popes in Rome since the time of the Apostles, and, each not only declared himself successor of St. Peter, but was ac- knowledged as such by the whole world. The Popes iden- tify themselves w^ith the Catholic Church, and give it that relation to Christ that effect has with cause, for one of his Apostles, viz : Peter, stands first on the list of the Bishops of Rome. It will be seen, from these various considerations, that the Catholic Church goes back as an organized society to the time of Christ, and bears that relation to him to that an effect does to its cause. The other proposition, of which we spoke, viz : that Christ is holy, needs no proof here. We believe that He is the Son of. God, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, and, consequently, incapable of sin. Having shown that the Catholic Church is holy by reason 58 ALETHAURION. of its founder, let us next consider whether any other religious denomination can claim sanctity on the same ground. We have at the present day various sects, some of which, such as J^estorians, go back to a very remote period — not however, by some hundreds of years, to the time of Christ. But those we have dealings with in America are quite mod- ern. None of them go back as organized societies beyond the sixteenth century. Not a few, such as the Meth- odist, Campbellite and Mormon, do not go even that far. Yet strange to say, nearly all claim the Saviour as thei^ founder. But how Christ could have founded a society fif- teen or sixteen hundred years after his death is not easily understood. To illustrate we will take an example. Suppose some man in Ireland, should at the present day, organize a society, whose aim was to free the country from the tyranny of the English, and should, after having done so, give out that George Washington was the originator of the society in question. Do you suppose he would get many to believe what he said ? We think not. The first question asked, would be this : Can you prove from history that this organization of yours goes back to the time Washington lived? can you show that it has the relation to him that ef- fect has to cause ? Unless you make clear these two points you will succeed in persuading only the uninformed that your society came from the brain of Washington. Now, the members of the sects are in the same predica- ment. Can any of them prove that their organization goes back to the time of Christ ? Can they show connection with him as effect w^ith cause ? We have seen some attempts at it, but none which a can- did man would not at once throw aside, as either unintelligi- ble or dishonest. The sects may pretend that they teach the doctrines of Christ, but they cannot in reason claim him as a founder, unless they first make clear the two items to which we have alluded. From all this we may gather, that Christ is the' founder alone of the Catholic Church, and. ALETHAURION. 59 consequently, that it alone has the mark of holiness because of its founder. In the next we will pursue, a little farther, this same question. CHAPTER XII. HOLINESS A '^L\RK OF THE TEUE CHURCH. In Chapter xi, after having shown from the Scriptures, that holiness is a mark of the Church of Christ, we consid- ered the claims of the Catholic Church to the mark in ques- tion. We referred to the fact that, of all the denomina- tions existing at present in the world, and claiming Christ as their founder, it alone can fearlessly appeal to history. It alone had an origin contemporary with the Apostles. We can easily name the time when each and every one of the others began, and can lay a finger on the men who first ororanized them. Where was Protestantism in oreneral be- fore Luther? Where was Episcopalianism before King Henry ? Where was the Baptist society before the time of Storck and Muncer? Where was Methodism before Wes- ley? Where was Campbellism before Campbell? They were all where Job's boils were, before Satan got permis- sion to afiiict him. They were in the possibility of hell, but no where else. Hence the Catholic Church is positively the only one that goes back, as an organized body, to the the time of Christ. It is the only Church that can, with any sKow of reason, claim Him as its founder. This is a fact that any one may find out who is ignorant of it, but will- ing to make use of even a part of the diligence in searching for truth, which men are accustomed to employ almost every day in things of less importance. There may be some men of limited education, who do not know all we have said concerning the divine origin of the Catholic Church ; but this ignorance will not excuse them j €0 ALETHAURION. because they can very easily find out, if they feel really in- terested in the matter. We may then say, in all truth and sincerity, without fear of contradiction, that the mark of holiness, hy reason of its founder alone, is so clearly stamped upon the Catholic Church that even he who runs may see it. Now as it would be clearly ridiculous in any of the sects to claim Christ as immediate founder, and consequently unreasonable that they should pretend to the character of holiness, exactly on the same grounds that we do, hence they get around the difficulty, in a manner that may be sat- tisfactory to ignorant and unread people, but not so to him ^who is willing and able to investigate the truth, and equally prepared to accept it, when discovered. They say : we don't deny that the Catholic is the oldest Church ; that it was founded by Christ, if you will ; but, we maintain that, in the course of time, it fell away from its original purity — it became corrupt. This being the case, God raised up such men as Luther, Calvin, Henry VIII, and others to reform it ; or, at least, to lead forth God's people from it — pretty much in the same way that Moses once rescued the people of Israel from the bondage of Pha- raoh. This is, substantially, the plea they go on. They make use of the Catholic Church as abridge, whenever they want to establish a connection between themselves and Christ, but, when that is not the question under considera- tion, they speak of it as an institution altogether rotten and unsafe. We will now take up this idea, and, after having venti- lated it somewhat, each candid man will see how exceedingly false and fallacious it is. First, they say the Catholic Ghurch became corrupt, second, that Luther, Calvin and others were sent to reform it. Both the one and the other of these assumptions are untrue ; the Church of Christ, can- not by any possibility, lose its purity. ** You are the salt of the earth,'' says the Saviour to the Apostles. Now it is ALETHAURION. 61 a well known fact that you may take a handful of salt and bury it in the ground for fifty — a hundred — a thousand years, and at the end it will still be salt. It will not decom- pose like other substances. It is thus with the teachings of the Apostles and their successors in the ministry. The salt will not lose its savor. But, as w^e w^ill have occasion to speak on this subject, when treating of the indefectihility of the Church of Christ, we merely for the present allude to it. Christ made His Church to last till the end of time. He was a good workman, and He has warranted His work. "Behold," says He to the Apostles and their successors, *' I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world." Hence there was no need at all that such botches as Martin Luther, John Calvin and others should set about remodeling what the Omniscient had fashioned. We would say, further, that it was on their part an act of blasphemous impudence. The Church of Christ can never need reforma- tion in her doctrines touching faith and morals; for reformation supposes previous deformation, and the spouse of Christ cannot become deformed. There is in the museum of the Capitol at Rome a celebrated statue, known under the name of the Dying Gladiator^ about which Lord Byron wrote those beautiful lines found in the IV Canto of Childe Harold, and familiar to almost every school-boy. The statue is regarded by the best sculp- tors as a master piece. As a work of art, humanly speaking,, it is perfect. Any changes made on it would certainly be for the worse. Now let us suppose that some third or fourth class artist, on seeing this wonderful piece of workmanship, should take it into his head, that, after all, it is not so per- fect as people think it to be. Suppose he took the resolution to remodel, according to his notions, the first opportunity he got. Would not every one regard such an artist a fit subject for bedlam ? But, take for granted, that this same botch should carry his folly to such an extent, as to come into the very room 62 AT,ETHAUKIOX. Tvhere the statue is, and mallet and chisel in hand, should hegm the wovk of toucliing off. What would the guardian be likely to say, on finding such an individual at such work? Let us now apply this to the case of which we have spoken. The Church of Christ is a masterpiece, chiseled out and made perfect by no less a personage than the Son of God. What folly, then, that such men as Luther and Calvin should have taken it into their heads to retouch what Christ himself had modeled and finished. Hence, we find the Popes of every age, the faithful guardians of that most noble piece of workmanship, whip in hand, ready to scourge from the sanctuary all who, through malice or culpable ignorance, conceived, and sought to put into execution their designs of changing it. But, may be some one will say, that the reformers of the sixteenth century, having had authority direct from God, were not bound to pay attention to man's prohibition. Let us examine a little into this case. Were Luther and Calvin sent by the Almighty to remodel the Church ? We may answer, that, at least, both were not sent. Why? Because their testimony did not agree. If both had been sent by God they would have told the same story. But, was either of them sent? We hope, before con- cluding, to show thtxt neither the one nor the other had a divine mission to reform the Church. A mission to reform or modify the Church is either extraordinary or it is ordin- ary. An extraordinary mission is where one is sent directly by God Himself. The Saviour, Moses, and the Jewish prophets had extraordinary missions ; they proved it by miracles, and by most holy lives, which are the signs that accompany that kind of mission. Any man who pretends to have a divine extraordinary mission, without miracles and a saintly life, is an impostor. As to an ordinary mission, it is one which comes directly from God, through that authority which He has established in His Church here on earth. ALETIiAUEION. 63 Now, Luther had neither an extraordinary mission nor an ordinary one to reform the Church. He worked no miracles, besides his morals were very corrupt. Calvix once took it into his head to perform a miracle. He hired a man to play dead, that he might, at the proper time, raise him to life. When all things were ready for the miracle, and the crowd stood by, gaping at the dead man, Calvix arrived on the ground, and, after some prelimina- ries, he looked solemnly up to Heaven, then at the bogus dead man and called out, **/7i the name of Jescs Christ, of Nazareth, I say unto thee, arise,'^ But the wretch did not arise ; the justice of God had overtaken him, just as his accomplice had pronounced the words. These are the miracles worked by the Reformers. Christ and the Apostles restored men to life bodily and spiritually. Our Geneva Apostle took away the life of the body, at least in this case ; and destroyed the souls of many by his pernicious doctrines. Erasmus, in his own witty way, said of the Reformers that, so far from raising men to life were they, not one of them was known to have ever cured even a lame horse. From all this it will appear that those men had not extra- ordinary missions. But neither had they an ordinary one, for both were excommunicated by the existing authority. We shall not, at present, dwell further on this subject. But, by a little reflection on all we have said, it will be seen how fallacious is the idea, that lies at the bottom of secta- rian thought on the Church, viz : that the Reformers of the sixteenth century had their commissions from God. Let us hence conclude, that each and every one of the Reformed Churches, far from being able to connect themselves with Christ through the Catholic Church, are nothing more nor less than counterfeits, base impositions put in circulation by unscrupulous agents of Satan, calculated to deceive, and effectually doing so everyday. If we take this view of the matter, which is, in fact, the only one that can with reason 64 ALETHAUPJON. be taken of it, we will readily see that, instead of the mark of holiness, each and every one of them has impressed upon it the brand of imposture and deceit. In our next we will consider the claims of the Catholic Church to the mark of holiness by reason of the doctrines, and the eminent sanctity of so many thousands of its chil- dren. CHAPTER XIII. HOLINESS A 31xiEK OF THE TEUE CHURCH. In the two previous chapters, our main object was to throw into relief the fact that the Catholic Church was founded by Christ, the Saviour. This point, once fairly established, the rest follows as a natural consequence. Were we writing for the instruction of Turks or heathens, before undertaking to prove the holiness of Christ's Church, order and right reason would require that we should first establish on a firm basis the sanctity of Christ himself. But, as our efforts are principally for the. benefit of those who admit the Saviour's divine mission, we prove the holi- ness of the Catholic Church by showing that it is His work. Having done so, we might let the matter rest, and turn our attention to some new questions. We are convinced, however, that in a work like this it is better not to be too brief, lest we at the same time become obscure. The pro- position, Christ founded the Catholic Churchy and, there- fore, it is holy, niay be clear enough and sufficient for a theologian, but not so to others, whose pursuits in life may be such as not to afford time to draw out truths to their full extent. We will, therefore, in the present chapter, bring forward some other reasons that go to confirm all that we have said about the Church being holy, because of its founder. , ALETHAURION. 65 The Catholic Church is holy by reason of its doctrines. We cannot, as a matter of course, take up each point of our holy faith and show its conformity with right reason and revelation. This would be a lengthy task, and though an attempt at it would be out of place here, it is well to know that it has been done most effectually by scores of our the- ologians. Let it suffice to say that not even our ablest and bitterest enemies have ever succeeded in showing, in a satis- factory manner, that the teachings of the Church is con- trary to revelation and sound morals. When an attack is made, recourse is had to misrepresentation. And to the shame of many sectarians be it said that whereas they are willing and read^^ to listen to, and even applaud, the monte- bank who comes before them to vomit his abuse, they will not, with the same readiness, come to hear a refutation of the calumnies uttered. But we lay no particular stress here on the doctrines of the Church, taken separately, as a mark of holiness, because a mark of the Church ought to be such as not to require much investigation to discover it. There is one doctrine, however, that may and ought to be spoken of in this connection. We refer to that regarding the necessity of confessing one's sins. This, in itself, cannot fail to impress any candid mind with the idea that the Church, Avhich advocates and enforces it, has no slight claims to sanctity. Besides it is a practice that is well known to the most isrnorant heretics. We have never yet met a Protestant that had not some idea, however distorted, of the fact that in the Catholic Church people had to confess their sins. To illustrate more fully our meaning, and show how this one doctrine is holy, and at the same time no small proof of the sanctity of the Church which puts it in practice, let us take an example : John Smith, a nominal Catholic, has, we will say, for ten years been in the service of William Brown, and during that time, at different periods, has taken from his employer 66 ALETHAURION. money to the amount of one thousand dollars. At the end of the ten years Smith falls sick, and feeling that his last day is approaching, he asks for the consolations of religion. A priest is sent for, who hears his confession, and in the progress of it inquires whether he has wronged any one in money matters. Then he says: ** Unless you restore to Brown the money you have taken from him, I cannot absolve you, neither will God forgive your sins." The consequence of this is the restoration of the money to its lawful owner. Where among other sects can we find a doctrine or prac- tice like this? \yhere is the preacher, at the bedside of a rich heretic, who would dare tell him, witti the knowledge of his heirs, that unless he restored to the rightful owners all ill-gotten goods, God would not receive him into his friendship. We have never heard of a preacher that made any great ado about such a matter. Neither have we known a case of where one refused to preach a rich man into heaven, simply from the fact that he had, at the time of his death, some few thousands belonging to his neighbor, and refused to part with them. They tell a story of an old negro woman who had stolen a goose from her preacher. On the following Sunday she came up along with the others to receive the '^sacrament.'' **Aunt DixAH," said the preacher, **ain't you forgot 'bout dat goose?" **0h, you jist git out," said Aunt Dixah, *' think I's gwine to let an old goose stand twixt me'n de Lord ! ' It is a good deal the way outside the Catholic Church. No one thinks of refusing to fly to the arms of Jesus on account of a few miserable dollars that stand between. Straws show which way the wind blows, and tvhen thrown on the water, they indicate the course of the stream. Let us then take notice of a little fact whose truth will not be questioned. It may be compared to the straw, unimportant in itself, yet to the reflecting mind it tells a tale. ALETHAURION. 67 The State of Kentucky is the happy possessor of a num- ber of excellent turnpike roads, the property, in most cases, of private companies. Along with being a convenience to the pubUc, these roads are a source of emolument to the stockholders, and, of course, they try to make as much out of them as possible. Now what significant fact do we find in connection with these same **pikes?" Fully five-sixths, and probably a higher average, of the toll-gate keepers are Catholics. Why is this? Are the Catholics chosen because especially beloved by the stock- holders? Not at all — but the companies find out, by experi- ence, that more money is handed in at the end of the month by the Catholic toll-gate keepers than by others. Hence, they get the preference, for the children of this world are wise in their generation. When there is a question of gain- ing a few dollars, they have no trouble in recognizing the true Cliurch by the honesty of its children ; but when there is a question of saving their own souls, they become at once short-sighted. Does not this fact alone tell a tale, and who will, after consideration of it, dare aflSrm that the heretics of this State are in ignorance invincible on the subject of the true Church ? Let us now consider, briefly, another striking proof of the holiness of the Catholic Church. It will not be denied that voluntary poverty^ perpetual chastity and entire obedience are strongly recommended in the New Testament. Christ, the Saviour, during his mortal life gave an example of each of them. His Apostles followed in His footsteps, and recommended to the faithful to strive in the same direction. Now, in which of the existing forms of religion do we find these counsels carried out in spirit and in truth? Where have you ever seen a heretic that was poor from choice ? Where have you met one that led a single life for greater perfection's sake? We have seen plenty of heretical old bachelors, and old heretical maids, too, that pretended to 68 ALETHAURION. lead lives of celibacy from choice. But people generally choose to doubt their sincerity. As regards entire obedience, it would be difficult to ascer- tain, with certainty, whether **our separated brethren " obey the laws of the land, for conscience sake, or whether it is, because the sheriff bears not the halter in vain. We may say, however, of all heresies, from beginning to end, that they are only so many rebellions against lawfully constituted authority. The bloodshed in Germany, during the war of the peas- ants, and that which flowed on the feast of St. Barthole- MEW, in France, w^ere both occasioned by that turbulent and rebellious spirit, infused into their deluded followers by the early Reformers. Hence, when there is question of the practice of the Evan- gelical counsels, we will seek for it in vain among the sects. On the contrary, in the Catholic Church, there are thous- ands of men and women, in religious orders, who live long lives in the daily practice of them. We have said nothinoj like this could be found amonor the sects — a mistake — there are the Shakers. But, ye powers ! What a parody on the religious orders of the Catholic Church. Take a Shaker and place him along side a Jesuit or a Bene- dictine, and what have you? A Muscovy drake along side of an eagle — Diogenes by the side of St. Paul. Another proof of the holinesss of the Catholic Church is the fact that, whatever nations have been converted to Chris- tianity from Paganism, were so converted by her mission- aries. The tree may be known by its fruit. And the fruit of that old tree, which the Saviour planted, has been abun- dant. But, what has Protestantism done for the spread of Christianity? Nothing. The day is fast approaching when it shall be hewn down and cast into the fire, for such will be the fate of every tree that brings not forth good fruit. In our next we will speak of universality as a mark of the true fold. ALETHAURION. 69 CHAPTER XIV. CATHOLICITY A MARK OF THE TRUE CHURCH. The English word catholic is a modification of the Greek adjective katholikos, which means universal. The Catholic Church then, in pkiin English, means the universal Church. How it came to be so called we will explain in a future chap- ter. Our present purpose is to show that universality is a mark of the true Church. Let us examine the Scriptures and take note of what they say on the subject. In chapter xxii, verse 18, of the book of Genesis, we find a remarkable promise, made by God to Abraham, in these words : '•And in thy seed shall a ZH/ie nations of the eartWbQ blessed, because thou hast obeyed my voice." This promise was fulfilled in no other than the Saviour, who was descended from Abraham, according to the flesh. Now, the religion of Christ is the means by which men are blest, and as all nations were to come in for apart of it,^^ e, of the promised blessing, it follows that the means were to be co-extensive with the nations. In other words, the re- ligion of Christ was to be co-extensive with the earth. Parallel to this, is what we find in the ii Psalm, where holy David, speaking in the person of God, the Father, to the only Begotten Son, saj^s : *'A>k of me, and I mil give thee the nations as thy inheritance, and as thy possession the confines of the earth.'"' These, and similar texts of the Old Testament, have, as all admit, reference to the future Messiah, and the kingdom which He was to found. A kins^dom not confined within the limits of Palestine, but taking in all nations, tribes and tongues. The New Testament also bears testimony to the fact that the religion, or Church of Christ was to be universal. In 70 ALETHAURION. Matthew xxvi, we read that, when ]VL\ry Magdalene had poured the ointment on the Saviour's head, he declared that, wherever this gospel is preached over the ivhole worlds that also which she had done would be told as a memorial of her. In chapter xxviii of the same gospel, we read that the Saviour sent his Apostles to teach and baptize all nations. That the Apostles carried out these commands ^vith fidelity and success, we learn of St. Paul, (Coloss. i, 6,) where, speaking of the gospel, he says : " It is in the whole vforldy and bears fruit and grows, and among you." All the ancient Fathers regarded universality as a mark of the true Church, and made use of the fact, as an argument to show that the heretical sects of their times were not Churches of Christ, because they lacked the mark in ques- tion. As we do not wish to burden these pages with long quotations, let one, from the celebrated Origin, suffice : "We are called Catholics^'" says he, *' because we believe as the whole ivorld believes." We have said enough to show that universality is a mark of the true Church ; by the knowledge and aid of which any one, really in earnest, may find it. So persuaded, in fact, are men of the importance of universality, that there is not a sect within the length and breadth of these United States that does not spend yearly vast sums in order to gain it, and at the end they are as far off as ever. Like the frog that wished to swell himself up to the dimensions of a bull, and burst, so the sects, in trying to rival the magnitude of the Catholic Church, take in too much foul air, and explode. But, as some of these sects retain the Apostle's creed, and pretend to be portions of the '* Holy Catholic Church," it is right that we should draw a clear line of distinction between genuine catholicity, and ihut spurious article, which is huckstered around by some of their leading men. William Palmer, a clergyman of the Church of England, and Fellow of the University of Oxford, in a woik on the Church, published some years ago, regards catholicity as ALETHAUEION. 71 one of the marks of the true faith, and then he goes on to explain what he means. His theory seems to be, that the Church of Cueist is composed of all who believe in Him. This opiaion wc took occasion to refute, when speaking of the mark of unity. The Lutherans and Methodists also re- tain the Apostle's creed, and no doubt, give, substantially, the same explanation to the word Catholic found therein. It will now be in order to define the nature of the catho- licity which forms a mark of the Saviour's Church. We may state the case thus : No religious organization can rightly lay claim to the mark of catholicity that is not universal in point of time, i. e., it must have existed as an organization from the days of the Apostles to our own. It must be universal in point of space, i. e., it must be, morally speaking, extended over the world. It must be universal, in point of belief, i. e., its members must all believe alike. Let us now examine into the claims of some of the exist- ing Christian denominations. We take first of all, the Roman Church, by which we mean the organization of which Pius IX is at present the acknowledged head. Is it catholic, in point of time ? We have been for many years past, under the impression that it is, and our reading of history has greatly confirmed us in the notion. We would, in fact, be charmed with the acquaintance of any one who could name a period of ten years from the time of St. Peter, within which it has not had a living representative head. The succession of the Popes of Eome, in direct line from the Prince of the Apostles, proves the catholicity of the Roman Church, so far as time is concerned. We are not ignorant, however, of the fact, that, for the space of seventy years, the Popes resided at Avingnon, in France; but we know, at the same time, that they always retained the title of Bishops of Rome. But is the Roman Church catholic, in point of place? 72 ALETHAURION. Let US begin with our own country. What State, or even considerable town of this Union can you find, that has not Catholics in it? In most of the large cities, the population is nearly equally divided between Catholics and non-Catho- lics. The Catholic Church in this country, as in the days of the Apostles, begins with the large cities, and gradually extends its civilizing influences to the small towns and country places. Out of a population of thirty-eight mil- lions, we have six, and it may be doubted whether all the sects put together can marshal such a membership. It must be rememl)ered that vast numbers of the American people have' never been baptized. Even thousands who join the various sectarian conventicles in the hurry and flurry of a camp-meeting or revival, drop off again as soon as the excitement is over. It would, on that account, be diflScult to tell, with certainty, the number of sectarians in this country at a given time, From here let us pass over to Europe, that we may see whether the Church of Kome is catholic there. We will not introduce such countries as France, Ireland, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, the Austrian Empire, Bavaria, and Italy, where the population is Catholic, almost to a man. Take England and Scotland. Now, there are in these countries fifteen bishops and seventeen hundred and twenty-seven priests. They, of course, represent a large Catholic popu- lation. In Prussia, there are fifty-six Catholic Members of Parliament. We take for granted that these fifty-six members are elected by Catholic votes. Our experience teaches that, however anxious non-Catholics may be to get into office by means of the Catholic vote, they will not, save in the rarest cases, support one for an office of trust, or emolument, in this country. We presume it is the same, and even worse, in Germany. The children of this world are wise in their generation, and they know well the impor- tance of having one of their own party in power. What ALETHAURION. 73 a pity that Catholics do not learn a little of them in this particular. Now, as regards the other countries of Europe, and those of Asia and Africa, we certainly have not government statis- tics to go on. Nevertheless, we know that vast numbers of Catholics can be found in them. Having been a student for some time in the College of the Propaganda at Rome, we had the pleasure of becoming acquainted with Catholic young men from the following places : Albania, Georgia, Greece, Armenia, Chaldea, Persia, Mount Libanus, Egypt, China, Hindoostan,Cape Colony, Australia, Senegambia, Asia Minor. But we have said enough to establish the fact that the Eoinan Church is, in reality, what it pretends to be Catholic or Uni- versal. Each of these students represented a large Catholic jDopulation in his own country, for only one or so out of a million can secure a place in the Propaganda. In our next we will consider the universality of belief in the Catholic Church, as well as other items connected there- with. CHAPTER XV CATHOLICITY A MARK OF THE TRUE CHURCH. In the last chapter, after having demonstrated, from the scriptures, both of the Old and New Testament, that the Church of Christ was to be extended over the whole world, we explained somewhat the nature of the universality it was to have. We said that it was to be universal in point of time, in point of place, and in the belief of its members. The claims of the Roman Church were then taken up and measured. It was found that, so far as time is concerned, it may well claim the mark of universality, since, without doubt it goes back as an organized society to the period when the Saviour lived on earth. 74 ALETHAURION. So far as place is concerned, we showed, to use a scriptural phrase, that *^it is in the whole world." Before examining into the question of the sameness of belief, let us compare its numbers with those of the other religious societies that pro- fess belief in Christ, but will not admit the authority of His Vicar. We have at the present day in the world a Eoman Catho- lic population of about 200,000,000. Some say this num!)er is too small, and maintain that there are fully 25 or 30 millions more of Catholics. But, for the present, we will take the low- est average, and then compare with the sects and schismatics. Now, the Greek schismatics, taken along with those of the Kussian Church, may be set down at about 30,000,000, so that there are nearly seven times as many Catholics as there are of Greek and Kussian schismatics put together. Add to these 30,000,000, the Nestorians, Jacobites, Armenians, Copts, Abysinians, and others, still found in the Oriental countries, and you will have an aggregate of 41,000,000. Hence, there are nearly five times as many Catholics as there are schismatics of all classes. The Protestants of Europe are said to number 46,000,000. In this country it would be a fair estimate to say that the various sects taken togeth- er could marshal a membership of 8,000,000. This is prob- ably too high ; for it must be remembered that there are thousands in the United States who do not belong to any Church. They may be compared to abandoned cattle ; and become the property of the Church that first succeeds in laying hands on them. By adding to the number of Protestants already spoken of those that are to be found in Australia, and in the Brit- ish possession of North America, we get an aggregate of about 60,000,000. According to these figures we have about three and a third times as many Catholics as there are Protestants of all sects. Now, by adding to these 60,000,- 000 of heretics, the 41,000,000 of schismatics, spoken of above, we get altogether 101,000,000. Thus we see that ALETELVUKIOX. 75" the Roman, or Catholic Church has a membership nearly twice as large as all others — horse, foot and artillery put together. We have been induced to go into arithmetic in our pres- ent chapter, from a knowledge of the fact that, in many of the smaller towns of this State, you may find people who really think there are only a few Catholics in the world. We trust, should this article find its way into their hands, it may serve a good purpose by opening their eyes to the truth. We will now proceed to lake into consideration the third element required in the mark of universality, viz : Sameness of belief. Do all Catholics believe alike? We answ^er, most emphatically, they do. We have in the Church a liv- ing, teaching authority ; a tribunal, whose decisions, on all questions touching the eternal interests of the human race, are infallible. Hence, if any one, knowingly, refuses to admit its authority, or abide by its decisions, he ceases at once to be a living member ; and only waits the pruner*s hook, by which he is cut off as a withered, dry and fruitless branch. To become a member of the lifeguards of Queen Victoria^ a certain height is required in the applicant. He may be in other respects a specimen ; but, unless the crown of his head stands six feet above his heels, he will not do. We have also in the Church a certain standard — a chalked line — and he who falls under it, will not do. He may be a learned man, may have written books, may have had his name in print for years. But, if he will not say from his heart, without reserve, **I believe in the Holy Catholic Church, and in all it teaches," we brand him, and bid him stand aside with the condemued. But, some one may say : Since the Catholic Church has a membership of 200,000,000, and these scattered over the whole world, may there not be scores of men and women going on for years in the belief and practice of heresy, and 76 ALETHAURION. the Pope and bishops be none the wiser? This supposition is groundless. The organization of the Church is such as to make it impossible. Take the example of a man who treads on a thorn and wounds his foot. How long does it take the head to become aware of the fact? Not long ; for the nerves will almost in an instant, communicate a knowl- edge of it to the brain. It is thus in the Church. It too has a nervous system, and the evil that any member suffers is speedily communicated to the head. Let us suppose that a certain member of one of the parish Churches in Blank City, should publicly deny his belief in the infallibility of the Pope, or in the power of forgiving sins claimed by the priests. What would be the consequence? He would excite the indignation of his fellow Catholics, and the thing would soon come to the rector's ears. If, after admonition, l.e still continued in his ways, leaving on the people's mind a wrong impression what Catholic doctrine is, the pastor would, in all probability, request him to make a public re- traction, and, in case he refused, excommunicate him, as a punishment for his offences and a warning to others. He might then talk as much and as stupidly as he pleased about infallibility and confession also. Should even a bishop, yielding to the temptation of Satan, resist the teaching authority of the Church, it would not be long before the fact became generally known, and the Pope, who has the care of all the Churches, would force him either to abandon heresy, or resign his charge. As to the Pope himself, we know that, by the mercy of God, in matters ap- pertaining to faith and morals, his teaching can never become tainted with heresy. Thus it is in the true Church. All who are capable of €rring, can and will, in case of error, be easily detected. Take the case of that unfortunate man, Hyacinthe. How quickly his defection was discovered, and himself branded. While yet high in favor, he made a speech in Paris, in which he said, there are at present three religious systems in the ALETHAURION. 77 tvorld, viz: the Catholic , the Protestant and Jewish, and these three are equal in the sight of God. Scarcely had the words been pronounced, when a man rose in the assembly and said he spoke falsehood — that a priest of the Church ought not to use such language. The matter did not end there. Hyacixthe was commanded by his superiors to retract. He refused, and was cut oft'. What we have said of Hyacixthe may be repeated of Dol- LixGER. While the Ecumenical Council was in session, he was, though secretly, at the head of a party in Germany opposed to the declaration of the Pope's infallibility. But his scheming did not avail. The Fathers of the Council^ following the light of the Holy Ghost, declared that the Pope's infallibility is a truth revealed by God, and hence- forth to be believed by all Catholics as an article of faith. It remained to be seen whether Dollixger would submit. But the demon of pride got the better of him. He said '* I will not believe," and he ceased to be a Catholic. He was, nailed to the tree of heresy. From all this it will appear how difficult, even impossible, it is for a man, who pretends to be a Catholic, to remain in the Church and publicly profess^ doctrines which it condemns. There is always at hand an authority that forces him either to one side or the other. We have now seen that the Roman Church is Universal in point of time and place, as well as in the belief of its members : It remains that we examine the claims of some of the sects and schismatics. This will not take long. On the score of time, there is positively no sect nor schismatic society, that goes back, as an organized body, to the time of Christ. On the score of place, it is well known there are no Protestants, we mean natives, nor Protestant Churches ^ in most countries of Asia. You might travel through Persia, Armenia, Syria, in fact through the greater part of Turkey, and not find a Protestant Church, and no Protestant, except may be Brother Bibles, the English missionary, with his 78 ALETHAURION. ivife and family of children. What we have said of Pro- testants, in the Oriental countries, maybe said of the Greeks and other schismatics in the West — none universal in point of place. We deem it altogether unnecessary to mention the name of any particular sect, for Protestantism in gene- ral is more extended than any one of its sects. Hence, when the whole does not fill the bill, a part cannot. As to sameness of belief among sects, we know that a fundamen- tal principle held by all,* destroys even the hope of such a thing. In our next we will consider how the true Church got the name of Catholic. CHAPTER XIV. . ABOUT NAMES. > In the past chapter we considered the third mark of the true Church, viz : umversaUty or catliolicity , We inquired into its nature, and found that any Church laying claim to it, must be catholic in point of time, in point of place, and in the belief of its members. We then took occasion to show that the Roman Church goes back, as an organized society, to the days of Christ and the Apostles. This proves it to be catholic, in point of time. So far as place is concerned, we found it spread over the whole world. As to the belief of its members, they must agree or cease to be Catholics. There is in it a su- preme, infallible tribunal commissioned by God to direct men in the way of salvation, and to its decisions all must bow who would be saved. No other Church is thus universal. They all began to exist at periods subsequent to the time of the Apostles. Neither is any one of them spread over the whole world. We have, in fact, some sects in this country that do not go ALETHAURION. 79 a stone's throw beyond the length and breadth of the United States. There are others that have members in the British dominions ; in this country, and in parts of Germany ; but no where else. But it is useless to repeat what every one knows to be a fact. TJieye never was, there is not, and there never luill he a universal heretical sect. Universality belongs, alone, to that Church which Christ founded. It alone sub- sists in all ages, teaches all nations, maintains all truth. Now, before passing on to consider the fourth mark, viz : Apostolicity , it may not be out of place nor uninteresting, that we make a digression. We desire to ventihite certain questions respecting the name of the true Church. These are : First, How does it happen that the Church, founded by the Saviour, is called the Catltolic? Second, When did it, for the first time, receive that name, and who gave it? Third, Is the name Catholic, an appropriate one? Fourth, Could not another, and a more expressive one, be chosen? Let us take these points up, separately, and examine them at our leisure. First, How does it happen that the Saviour's Church is called Catholic^ In order to understand this, it will be nec- essary to take a glance at the history of Christianity, towards the latter part of the first and the beginning of the second centuries. Now, most persons, not read in history, are apt to think, that, before Luther, the Catholic Church was the only one in existence. We speak here of Christian organi- zations. This idea is true in a general sense, but false, if we wish to be accurate. That, before Luther's time, there was no other but the Catholic Church is true, in the same sense that we now say, France is a Catholic nation. We mean, thereby, that the vast majority of its people profess the Catholic faith, and that the influence of its government goes to support principles advocated by the Catholic Church ; 80 ALETHAURION. but we do not deny thereby, that in France there are many infidels and heretics. It is in the same sense, we say the Catholic was the only religion before the sixteenth century. We do not at all deny there were, even then, heretical sects ; but they w^ere obscure, and now scarcely deserve mention. The truth is, that, even from the days of the Apostles, and while they were yet living, side by side with the good grain, and flourishing in patches here and there, could be found also the cockle of heresy. But, T^e can imagine some one in surprise, asking, What I Is it possible that there were heretics even while the Apos- tles were yet living? Well ; what foolish people they must have been ! Why did they not go to Peter, Ja3IES or John, and learn of them. Yes. It was not only possible«for men to run into heresy in the days of the Apostles, but it is a fact that several did. But, what pretext did these men urge for differing with the Apostles ? The very same that every heretic from Simon Magus to Dr. Dollinger, has found ready and at hand — the right to think and decide for themselves on all religious questions ; the right of setting up their own private judgment against the authority of the Church. Those heretics that lived in the days of the Apostles, gave as reasons for differing with them, that the Apostles being simple, ignorant men, did not understand thoroughly what Christ taught. It so happened, however, that though the Apostles, in the opinion of these wise heretics, were sim- ple and ignorant, by far the greater number, •converted from paganism as well as Judaism, stood with them, whereas our heretical Solomons had but few followers. Now, as difference in belief naturally gives rise to destinc- tions in name, hence, even at this early period, there was call for a term, to distinguish the assembly of the faithful from those vain and conceited heretics. What name then was best to be chosen? That of Christian would not do, for the ALETHAURION . .81 f heretics pretendQcl also to be Christians, and were so called by their pagan neighbors. The name Disciple would not do, for the same reason. The heretics contended they were, themselves, the true Disciples of the Saviour, because they understood the true meanins; of his doctrines. Hence, there was need of a icord^ one that would, for all time to come, distinguish the Saviour's Church from every human institution. That loord should express a peculiarity of the true fold, that no sect could lay claim to without a manifest lie. Now, what was there about the Church that acknowledged the Apostles as teachers, which none of the sects of that day could pretend to ? It was this. The Church of the Apostles was spread over the civilized world, whereas, the heretical sects were confined to particular kingdoms, or single cities. Hence, from the very nature of the case, the Church that held to the Apostles was called the Universal or Catholic Churchy whereas each sectarian conventicle was called by the name of its founder, or after the town or city where it first started, or had the greatest number of members. This was how it happened that the true Church received the name of Catholic. Now, we may wonder exceedingly how men, in the days of the Apostles, could have been guilty of such folly as to turn their backs on Sts. Peter and Paul, and others who worked miracles and led most holy lives, to follow monte- banks like Simon Magus, and other heresiarchs of primitive times. Yet on reflection, this is no more strange than what takes place at the present day, under our own eyes. Do not men now become Free Masons, Mormons, Campbellities, Methodists, Presbyterians, Baptists, etc., even though they have had the experience of eighteen centuries before them, and the most refulgent proofs of the divine origin of the Catholic Church shining wherever the eye is turned ? In the next chapter w^e will take up point No. 2, viz : When and by whom the true Church was called Catholic. 82 ALETHAURION, CHAPTER XVII. ABOUT NAMES. When, and by whom, was the true Church called Catho- lic? We have already partly answered this in chapter xvi. It was so called by the Apostles. But, have we any posi- tive proof of the fact from history? We have. It is found in the Creed, and, every time we repeat it, we come over the words, "I believe in the holy Catholic Church.''' Now, though all know the Apostle's creed, but few, prob- ably, while repeating the words, reflect upon its historical importance. The creed of the Apostles, is so called for two reasons : First, To distinguish it from that of St. Athanasius, as also from the Nicene creed. Second, Because the Apostles composed it. Should we succeed in establishing this fact, we would have no further need of proof to show that they gave the name of Catholic to the true Church. As to whether the Apostles were the authors of the creed, or not, is a question of fact, and we may weigh it in the bal- ance, as we would others of the same kind. The proofs for or against the genuinity of any document, may be chissed under two heads, viz : Intrinsic and extrinsic evidences. Intrinsic evidence, is that found in the document itself. Thus, if one should, at the present day, find an old manu- script letter in bad Latin, with Cicero's name to it, the fact of the Latin being faulty would be an intrinsic proof that Cicero did not write it. Extrinsic evidence of a fact is that which is gathered from the writings of contemporary authors, or other public monu- ments. Thus, that Lord Nelson fell at the battle of Tra- falo^ar, we know from writers who lived at the time he died ALETHAURION. 83 and from monuments erected to his me|;nory, that bear tes- timony beyond all suspicion, to the fact. So far as instrinsic evidence is concerned, we certainly can not prove the Apostles wrote the creed, which goes by that name. It could have been composed a century after their death, by any one who knew what they taught. But, while we willingly admit this, we, at the same time, maintain there is nothing in the creed itself to show that they did not com- pose it. On the contrary, its doctrines are the same as those set forth in the Scriptures of the New Testament, of whose authority there never has been a doubt. What we may not be able, however, to effect by intrinsic we may very readily accomplish by extrinsic evidence. To this we now invite attention. The first whose testimony we introduce is Irexeus. He was a disciple of Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, and consequently had abundant oppor- tunities of knowing the exact truth of that whereof he spoke, for Polycarp was the companion and disciple of the Apos- tle JoHx. Irexeus suffered martydom in the year 202, hence his testimony belongs to the latter half of the second century. He wrote a treatise, in twenty-four books, against the heresies of his day, and we quote his words found in book 1, chapter 2, of this work : '•The Church planted throughout the whole world, even to the ends of the oiirtli, has received from the Apostles and their disciples, that belief, which is in one God, Father Almighty, ^^ etc. No one requires to be told that the words given in italics are those of the creed. The next from w4iom we quote is Tertulliax. He was a priest of Carthage, and died about the year 245. He wrote treatises on a variety of subjects, from one of which, de Prescrip Hoer, chapter 37, we take the following : "We walk by that rule, which the Church, from the Apostles, the Apos- tles from Christ, Christ from God, has given." Now, by the word rule^ regula, Tertullian means the creeds as he explains in portions of his other works. See 84 ALETHAURION. Chap. I, de Veland. Yirg. As we do not wish to multiply quotations from the Fathers in short and elementary essays like these, we must content ourselves with giving only one more, which we clip from the works of Ambrose, Bishop of Milan. In his seventh epistle, which is to Pope Siricius, he says : '*The creed of the Ajjostles, which the Roman Church always guards and preserves pure, is to be be- lieved." This testimony belongs to the latter half of the fourth century. We could give scores of other quotations from the Fathers, all going to show that the belief of the Church from the beginning is, that the creed, of which we are sjDcaking, was composed directly by the Apostles. Since, then, the Apostles are the authors of the creed, it follows that it was they, and no others, gave the name of CatJwUc to the Church. Now, if any one should deny that the creed was composed by the Apostles, historical fairness would require that he should give a satisfactory explanation of how it came to be universally believed in the Church, from the earliest times, that they were its authors. We have given the names of only a few of the more an- cient waiters who mention it, and these merely allude to a fact, that appeared to have been well understood, and universally received in their day. We could give the testi- mony of other writers, such as that of Ruffinus, much more explicit, but we prefer the more ancient. Now, some one may say : Do we not read in the scrip- tures that the Disciples of our Lord were first called Christians at Antioch? Consequently, the Church founded by the Saviour must have been called the Christian Church. Why, then go on saying it was called Catholic by the Apostles, when there are such clear scriptural proofs to the contrary ? We trust, with a little patience on the part of the reader, to make it clear that there is nothiiig, whatever, in the. scripture that contradicts what we have said. ALETHAURION. 85 The word Christian occurs three, and only three, times in the New Testament. Let us take up these passages and consider the circumstances of each case. First — In Acts xi, 26, mention is made of the fact that Paul and Barnabas, having remained a year at Antioch, taught so great a multitude, that the Disciples were there, for the first time, called CJunstiaiis, Now comes the question : By whom vfQVQ ihey so called? Was it by the Apostles? Evidently not. For, if they had given the name, it could not have been said the Disciples were called, but they took the name Christians. "Who then gave the name? It must have come from either a Jewish or a Pagan source. The Jews would never have given it, for it would have been a clear acknowledgement that Jesus was the Christ. A fact which they did not then admit, nor do they now. It was no other than the Pagan Greeks of Antioch that succeeded in fastening the excellent nickname, as they thought, of Christians, on the followers of the Saviour. The idea was to bring ridicule and disgrace by that name, on the assembly of the faithful. Crucifixion, in ancient times, was a punishment inflicted only on the worst criminals and the meanest slaves. The Pagans of Antioch knew that Christ had been crucified by the Jews ; hence, as they heartily hated his followers, they wished them to be generally known by the name of a public malefactor. Let it be borne in mind then, that it was not the Apostles but the Pagans that first gave the name of Christians to the Saviour's Disciples. It does not even appear, from this place that the name was accepted by those to whom it was given. The second ^Dassage of scripture in which the word Chris- tian occurs is to be found in the same book of Acts, xxvi, 27. Paul there explains, in the presence of King Agrippa, how he became a follower of Jesus of Nazareth. Towards the close of his discourse, the King said: "Thou almost persuadest me to become a Christian.'' Let it be observed, 86 ALETHAURION. also, that it is an unbeliever who here makes use of the word. Neither have we any evidence going to show that Paul accepts the name given, by this King, to himself and hi^ brethren in the faith. **Would to God," said he, "that in little and in much not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, should become as I also am, except these chains." The natural way of answering the King's remark, on this occasion, would have been, to say ; *' I would to God that not only thou, but all, etc., would become Christians.'^ But Paul knew in what sense the King, and the pagans gener- ally, used the word, hence he does not repeat it. It must be admitted, however, that after this name of Christian had got into general use among the pagans, the Apostles accepted it, in what we may call its generic sense. This will appear evident from a glance at chap, iv, 1st Ep. of Peter. After exhorting the faithful to lead holy lives, he says: *'Let none of you suffer as a homicide or as a thief, but if as a Christian let him not blush, but let him glorify God in that name." Here also plain allusion is made to the pagan use of the word. From all this it must appear evident that there is nothing whatever in the scriptures that, in the least, contra- dicts what we have said about the true Church having been called Catholic by the Apostles. The truth is, that, from the very commencement, the true Church has had two names ; the one Christian, given by the pagans, it enjoys in common with the heretical sects ; the other, Catholic^ given by the Apostles, it never has, and never will share with any other. In our next we will consider the question : Is the name Catholic an appropriate one for the true fold. ALETHAURION. 87 CHAPTER XVIII. ABOUT NAMES. Is the name Catholic an appropriate one for the true Church? We took occasion to show, in the chaiDterxvii, that it was the Apostles who first gave it. From this alone, we may, with the utmost confidence, conclude that it must be a good one. We, Catholics, do not seek for any better authority than that of the Apostles. What they did and said, is law and gospel to us. We might, then, after having shown that the Apostles gave the name, let the matter rest. But, that the reader may catch a glimpse of the wisdom displayed in the selection of this peculiar word, we will state a few facts and principles connected with the system of nomenclature in general. About the first example in history, of the giving of names, is to be found in the second chapter of Genesis. It is there said that God caused all the animals, which He had created, to pass before Adam, and that he gave each a name. Now, though not stated for fact, it is probable that Adam did not give names that were arbitrary. It is more than likely that the term chosen by him, as the name of each animal respect- ively, expressed a peculiarity or distinguishing trait thereof. Thus, we should suppose he gave the lion a name expressive of courage and strength ; the fox one expressive of cunning. That this w^as the system adopted, may be gathered from the fact, that, a short time after, he gave the name of Eva to the woman that God had created as his helper and companion. Now the word Eva^ in the Hebrew and Chaldaic languages, signifies living, and, it is stated, in express words, verse 20, chapter iii, of Genesis, that she was so called, ** because she was the mother of all the living.'* 88 ALETHAURIOX. Moreover, we know that most of the names given to men, in the Old Testament, especially in the primitive ages, are not arbitrary, but rather expressive of some circumstance of their birth, or destiny they were to fulfill. Thus, the great Jewish lawgiver, Moses, was so called, because saved from the waters of the Nile. The word Moses signifies saved froin water. Isaac, which means laughter, was the name given the son of Abraham, because his mother laughed, on hear- in": from the ans^el that she should brins: forth a son in her old age. Jacob, which means supplanter, was the title given the second son of Isaac, because he supplanted his brother Esau. Omitting scores of the other names found in the Old Tes- tament, which are expressive of facts past, or future des- tinies, we know from the New Testament, that the venerable name of Jesus, meaning a saviour, was given to our Lord, because He was, by his death and passion, to redeem and save mankind. Not only among the people of God was this system of no- menclature followed ; wo find it also greatly in vogue among the pagans. The celebrated Ronnin dictator, Cincinnatus, was so called because he was a curly head. The great epic poet of Greece, who was at one time called Hermogexes, had his name changed to Homeros, by his countrymen, after he had grow^n old and ran blind. O Meros, in Greek, sig- nifies the blind mail. This system of name -giving, which is in fact the most perfect, arising as it does from the nature and circumstan- ces of each case, has never been totally abandoned. Yet, in modern times, a more arbitrary system has generally been adopted. Nevertheless, even now, the old svstem of nomenclature is carried out in what are called nicknames. These are, in many cases, very expressive and truly amus- ing. Some years ago, while the writer of this was a student at a certain college in this country, there was in the institution ALETHAURION. • 89 at the same time, a young man who wont by the name of jS7U2)e. It was impossible to look at him and not laugh. His nose, which was by far the most conspicuous of his fea- tures, was long, thin, and pointed. His eyes, head, and neck also looked snipish. After a time, we learned that his real name was Smith, which same bit of knowledge was a great relief, considering the fact, that we could never look the fellow straight in the face, and sny Mr. Sxipe, without bursting. Now, this young man. Smith, struggled manfully for from five to six months against the name. But all to no purpose ; like the fly in the spider's web, the more he •struggled against it, the closer it stuck to him. He finally had to yield, so that, in our time, he would answer to no other name than Snipe. As it happened to this young man, so has it to most of the sects of our times. Nearly all of them wear nicknames. They go by titles which the malice of their enemies first im- posed on them, and which they were themselves, in the coarse of time,- by the logic of facts, obliged to accept. Let us take a few examples. The members of the Church of England are, at the present day, called Episcopalians. Now, in the beginning, they greatly desired to be called (Jatholics, and were opposed to any other name. When Hexry Vni quarrelled with the Pope, he did not wish to change his own religion, nor that of his subjects. All he aimed at was to cut off the Pope, and become head of the Church in England. But Hexry attempted an impossibility. No one can be a Catholic who does not admit the Pope's jurisdiction. Hence, as there arose a difference in faith, a different name came also into existence. At what exact time the Church of England got the name of Episcopal, we are not now prepared to say. It was probably not until there arose dissenters, who denied the authority of the bishops, and modeled their Chui^h government according to the Presby- terian plan. 90 ALETHAURION. As to the word preshyterian, applied to one of the hereti- cal sects of our time, it comes from the Latin word presbi/- ter, a priest. The members of the sect in question main- tain that a priest is the highest officer in the Church, and, because they made such a noise about it, they were nick- named Presbyterians, a title which stuck to them, as Snipe did to Smith. The Methodists are so called, on account of the methodi- cal life, said to have been led by the founder of the sect, John Wesley. In 1729 Mr. Wesley, who was then one of the Fellows in Lincohi College, Oxford, took it into his head that, so far as religion w^as concerned, the whole world had gone, and was going wrong. So, in company with fourteen others, he began to lengthen his face, turn up the whites of his eyes, and give other indications of religious plethory. Their strict deportment soon attracted the atten- tion of the students, and this little squad of fourteen was christened ^'the godly dub.'' This name, however, did not cling, for they soon got that of Methodists ; the one by which their followers are known at the present day. There is, also, a sect that counts a good many members in the State of Kentucky, in the mountains of Virginia, and in Missouri, that does not, as yet, appear to have a fixed name to go by. The one we allude to, is called by some, the Reformed Church ; by others the members are dubbed Campbellites ; others, again, call them disciples ; they, them- selves, prefer to be called Christians. This sect, as an organization, dates back as far as the year 1827. An Irishman, named Alexander Campbell, with his father, Tho^sias Campbell, Walter Scott, W. B. Stone, and some others, appear to have been the founders. Campbell was first a Presbyterian ; but after having immigrated to this country, he joined the Baptists, with whom he did not long remain. But, whether the Baptists excommunicated him, or he the Baptists ^are questions, that. ALETHAURION. 91 up to the present time, we have not had the leisure to in- vestii>:ate. The followers of Mr. Campbell object to being called Campbellites. Yet, we give it as our opinion, that if the sect should exist for any considerable time, say from fifty to seventy-five years, that is, in all probability, the name by which it will be known. Most of the members of the other sects appear to have taken a fancy to that name, and, as in the case of the boy Snipe, they will in the end succeed in fastening it where it belongs. With these general observations, on the philoso- phy of naming, we return to the original question : Is Catholic a good appellation for the Saviour's Church? We reply, a more appropriate one could not possibly have been selected. It is in accordance with the oldest and most perfect system of nomenclature. It expresses a destiny which the true Church was, and is, to fulfill, viz : To teach all nations, and to remain in existence until the end of time. *'Going forth," says the Saviour to its first bishops, *'teach all nations, * * * I am with you all days, even to the con- summation of the world." — Matthew xviii, 20. The name Catholic, moreover, is such that no existing sect can lay claim to it, and have even the shadow of reason on its side. They all began at various periods subsequent to the time of the Apostles. We speak of the sects now in existence; Hence there is a want of universality, in point of time, and no possibility of remedying the defect. As to universality in point of place, judging from the past, sooner will we hear Gabriel's trump than the news of a universal sect. In our next we will consider the question, Could not a name more appropriate than Catholic, be found for the true Church? 92 ALETHAURION CHAPTER XIX, ABOUT NAMES. Could not some other name more appropriate than Cath- olic^ be found, as an appellation for the true Church? Let us examii^e the scriptures of the New Testament and see if we cannot find a better. Now, in the xv chap, of St. John's gospel, we read that the Saviour called the Apostles Friends: "I will not call you servants," says He, '*for the servant knows not what his master doth, but I have called you friends, because all things whatsoever I have heard of my Father, I have made known to you." Here then we have a name, given by the highest authority that was ever on earth, to the assembly of the faithful ; composed at that time of the Apostles. Would it not be proper, then, that we should drop the word Catholic and call ourselves the Society of Friends. There is, in fact, a sect, the members of which desire to be called by that name. But the malice of their enemies has fastened on them that other one of QuaJcers, by which they are most generally known. A slight examination, however, of the text in question, will convince us that the Saviour, on that occasion, had no intention of giving such a name to His Church. I. call you friends, says He to the Apostles, because all things 1 have heard of my Father I have made known to you. The words were evidently addressed to the Apostles exclusively. Be- sides, we know that He called Judas His friend, even after the wretch had betrayed Him. Now, as a name ought to be such as to include all, and as the word friends is applied only to a few, via : those to whom the Saviour had in a spe- cial manner revealed the will of His Father, it is evident that He did not intend it as the word by which His follow- ers, one and all, were to be known. ALETHAURION. 93 Moreover, the name is too indefinite. All who believe in Christ pretend to be his friends. There is another word, also frequently used in the scrip- tures, especially in the writings of Paul, to designate the assembly of the faithful. It is that of Saints. In Philip- pians iv, the Apostle says: ** All the saints salute you." Why not follow the example of Paul and call ourselves Saints, instead of Catholics? There are others of our day who are far ahead of us in this particular. We refer to the Mormons, who call themselves Saints of these latter days. Before deciding on a change, however, we should bear in mind that the name of any society ought to be such as to exclude none who really belong to it ? Now, are all the mem- bers of the true Church saints? We think not. All, are indeed called to be saints. But there is a vast difference between being called to be saints, and being saints. Neither the Saviour Himself, nor any of his Apostles, has given us^ to understand that all the members of His Church militant would be entirely sinless. "The kingdom of heaven is lik- ened to a net cast into the sea gathering together all man- ner of fishes." Matt, xiii, 47. As in that net there were bad and good fishes, so in the Church, there will be saints and sinners until the end of time. Daily experience shows us how liable to fall are even men of the best intentions. They may be compared to old garments — one rent is scarcely patched up when a new one calls for attention. And blessed is the man who, like the publican in the Gospel, calls himself a sinner, and asks God to be merciful to him, whilst ac- cursed is he, who, like the proud pharisee, esteems himself a saint, when God at the same time may have rendered quite a different judgment. We pass by many other names mentioned iu the scriptures, such as Church q/GoD, Church of the living God, doers of the word^ <&c. Let us consider briefly the name Disciples^ or Disciples of Christ. The word Disciples occurs 259 times in the New Testament, and is used to desi come across such words, from a man like Ignatius, who lived in apostolic times, we are curious to know what direc- tion their thoughts take. They cannot advance the same reasons for denying the real presence as did Basilides and his followers. Those ancient heretics did not admit the mys- tery of the Incarnation, and hence, their refusal to admit the real presence was logical. Whereas, our modern here- tics, though admitting the Incarnation, still deny the real presence of our Lord's flesh and blood in the Sacrament. i We conclude, with a brief notice of the personal appear- ance of our hero. In stature, Balilides was considerably 126 ALETHAURION. above the middle hight. His head, which appeared to rest immediately on a pair of broad shoulders, was small and round, well protected from cold in winter, and the sun's heat in the summer season, by a matting of red hair that grew down almost to his eyebrows. His eyes were placed far apart, and under ordinary circumstances, looked dull and meaningless. When excited, however by any want of respect on the part of his disciples, they assumed a savage and truculent glare. His nose was short and elevated at the point, but his mouth was enormous, and drawn down at the corners. The Pagan inhabitants of Alexandria, like those of An- tioch, were remarkable at giving nicknames. Hence, it was not likely that a surly, ill-favored clown, like Basilides, could have long escaped the notice of his countrymen. Ac- cordingly, after he had brought himself into public notor- iety, partly from the fact that he was continually calling all who did not belong to his sect, dogs and swine, but more especially, on account of his personal appearance, he received the name of Dioskyon; which translated into good English, would mean Jupiter's hull pup. The errors of Basilides were refuted by Ignatius mar- tyr, partly in his epistle to the faithful of Tralles, and partly in that addressed to the faithful of Smyrna. Besides Igna- tius, Castor Agrippa, Irencus, Clement of Alexandria, and Epiphanius, each in turn, applied the scourge until there was nothing left of the heretic but a name and an odor. In the next we treat of Cerinthus. ALETHAUKION. 127 CHAPTER XXVII. CERINTHUS. According to promise, we come to speak now of Cerin- THUs." He is the fifth in order from Simon Magus. Many of our readers, in all probability, have never before seen his name in print. Yet he was a sturdy dog in his day, and made some noise in the world. Few, indeed, of those prim- itive heresiarchs are now spoken of, or even thought about, by the average student of history. As soon as the sects which they originated ceased to exist, their names sank, in a manner, into oblivion, descended to the vile earth from which they sprung, unwept, unhonored and unsung. The names of the Apostles, on the other hand, and of many of the early martyrs of our holy faith, whose lives the Pagans and heretics esteemed a madness, are still in benediction among men, and will remain so to the end of time. It ought to be thus. The notoriety that heresiarchs gain is purchased at a cheap price, and does not wear well. They ascend withcut labor, and descend without honor. Cerinthus, the subject of this chapter, studied philosophy at Alexandria, in Egypt. By philosophy, may be here understood, learning in general. How long he thumbed his books, we are not informed. Most probably, long enough to have acquired a little learning^ which the poet tells us is a dangerous thing. It proved so in his case. Scarcely had he declared his independence of the ferrule, when he began to think himself wiser than the Apostles. He got so bold as, frequently, to resist them face to face at Antioch, Csesarea, and Jerusalem. This conduct reminds us of a young stripling nam^ed Smith, who, a couple of years ago, on finishing his course at a sectarian seminary in this State, delivered himself of an 128 ALETHAURION. oration, in which he informed the assembled lawyers, doc- tors and grangers, that, after having studied the bible thoroughly, and moreover, having convinced himself that there was nothing more for him to learn in regard to it, he had, nevertheless, come to .the settled conclusion, that it was all nonsense. A murmur of the old women arose when he had spoken (Jiat word, because they all thought him "smart," and it was currently reported in the town, of which he was the hero, that he was going to become a preacher. The lawyers and rustics were-also amazed, and the doctors thought he needed pills. Yet, notwithstanding all this, the earth did not stop turning on its axis, and the sun arose next morning at the usual time, as if nothing extraordinary had occurred. A little science often leads astray, whereas, deep research draws men to the truth, if their hearts are not bad, and their morals not corrupt. It was no other than our hero Ceeixthus who raised the commotion at Antioch, of which mention is made in Acts XV. He asserted that Christians were bound to observe the ceremonies instituted by Moses along with those of Christ. Paul and Barnabas, w^ho were in Antioch at the same time, expostulated with him on the errors of his ways. But, when was a heretic ever known to care a whit for St. Paul, or any other saint, when their teaching ran counter to his theories ? The question at issue was finally referred to the Apostles in Jerusalem ; and Cerinthus was invited to go thither and defend his opinions. Ever since, it has been customary to invite heresiarchs to be present at councils, that they may state their view^s be- fore the assembled fathers, and defend if they choose. But the errors of Cerinthus could not stand the scrutiny. Hence, when. Peter, the first Pope, arose in the assembly and cast a withering glance toward the heretics, saying at the same time : ''"V^Thy tempt yoii God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the Disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to hear?"— Acts xv, 10. ALETHAURION. 129 They held their peace. Cerinthus and his men had not a word to say ; they were calmed down, mute as mice — sub- dued. No doubt that case of Ananias and Saphira was yet fresh in their memories, and they thought it best not to arouse the lion's wrath, lest there might be another funeral. But Cerinthus, on having been allowed to retire, re- gained his former contumacy as well as hypocrisy, which latter comes as natural to a here^iarch, as the art of swim- mins to a goslino^. He continued to teach his errors, and to infuse a hatred of the Apostles into the minds of his gang of apostates. This same spirit of hatred toward those who, at the present day, hold the places of the Apostles in the Church, is a noticeable feature amonj? sectarians. Having: little or nothing to offer capable of giving peace and true consolation to the souls of men, the ministers of heretical sects, not unfrequently vent their impotent rage in frothy, often filthy declamations against the Pope, the bishops and priesthood of the Catholic Church. Even as we write, there is here in Newport, a driveling, straggling, nincompoop preacher, telling people what he says he knows about the confessional. The errors of Cerinthus, as given by Ireneus, book i, chap. XXV, of Heresies ; Theodoret, book ii, chap. 5, Haeretic Fab. ; St. Augustine, Treatise on Heresies ; Eusebius, book iii. Church history, may be summed up as follows : He taught there was but one God ; and, so far, he was right. But men of his class can never stop at the exact truth. They go beyond it, and get themselves entangled in false notions and theories of their own. According to Cer- inthus, the supreme God did not create the heavens and the earth. This was done by other inferior, yet independ- ent powers. He also taught that the Saviour, before His baptism in the Jordan, was but a mere man, the son of Joseph and Mary. He remained so, until the time spoken of, when the Holy Ghost descended upon Him, and thenceforth, until 130 ALETHAURION. immediately before His passion and death, He was, in truth, a divine personage. At the commencement of His passion, the divinity again left Him, so that it was Jesus, a mere man, and not Christ, the son of God, whom the Jews crucified. This error contradicts the mystery of the Redemption. If He who was crucified was only a man, the infinite debt, con- tracted by Adam, remains still unpaid to the Divine Justice. How much more consoling to us, children of Adam, is the truth on this point. We admit the debt was, in a manner, infinite ; but, we maintain it was cancelled by a sacrifice infinite in value; because the victim offered was no other than God himself. A favorite practice with heretics in all ages, has been to deny the authority of certain portions of the Scripture, and change those retained to suit their notions. Cerixthus was not at all backward in taking that liberty with the written word, which men of his ilk have, from time immemorial, regarded as a birthright. He mutilated the gospel of Matthew, rejected all the epistles of Paul, and condemned, outright, the Acts of the Apostles. We are not surprised at his condemnation of Acts. Cer- ixthus, no doubt, had a good opinion of his own abilities. All heresiarchs have. Now, in the book we speak of, his name does not occur once, whereas, that of Paul, his great opponent, is frequently to be found. What more natural, then, than that he should have condemned so one-sided a history as the book of Acts must have appeared to him. Cerixthus had not only his own natural ability to help him along, but also frequent and important revelations from an angel. This was, in all probability, the very same one, at whom Luther threw the ink bottle. He differs from the others we read about, inasmuch as he has the wings of a bat instead of a bird Along with the errors and follies spoken of, Cerixthus taught his Disciples that, after the last judgment, Christ would not ascend with the just to heaven, but would change ALETHAURION. 131 this earth into a paradise for their benefit. The capitol was to be Jerusalem, where the Saviour was to take up his abode with the elect for a thousand years. During this period, feasting, revelling and promiscuous gaiety was to be the order of the day. But, whither the revellers were to betake themselves after the time was up, he did not explain. The manner in which Cerixtiius took leave of this world and its vanities is peculiar. After having traveled through several of the oriental countries, in youth, he turned his face westward, in the evening of life, and landed like his great prototype Simox, in the city of the C.^sars. As he was one day gyrating through the streets of the great capitol, he met St. John, the beloved Disciple of our Lord. '' Do you know me?" said Cerixthus to him. *'Yery well," rejoined the Apostle. '*You are, if I mistake not, the oldest living son of the devil.''' This was rather unkind language on the part of St. JoHX. One of our modern liberal Catholics could have taught him to be more polite to a gentleman like Cerixthus. But then, the Apostles were a rough kind of men, and did not understand the good service they might have got out of heretics, by treating them with lofty con- sideration. The conference ended abruptly. St. Johx went away in another direction. He wished to teach by ex- ample what St. Paul had done by word, to ^' avoid an heretical many Tit. iii, 10. Cerixthus was cut to the quick, and followed the Apostle and his companions into one of the public baths, intending to offer insult and personal vio- lence to the Evangelist. But God had numbered his days and finished them. On seeing him, St. Johx said to those with him : *'Let us fly from this house that holds Cerix- thus, lest falling, it may oppress us." Scarcely had they passed the threshold, when an earthquake reduced the edifice to a heap of ruins. The unfortunate man, on finding that his day had come, gave one fiendish shriek, in which rage tspair strove for the mastery. Then his soul, polluted 132 ALETHAURION. with many crimes, sped on its way to Pluto's realms of sorrow, where we leave him. Our next, will treat of the Millennium, CHAPTER XXYIII. THE MILLENNIUM. In the last chapter we spoke of the heresiarchCERiNTHus. Among the other errors and the follies taught by him, was that concerning the Millennium. The reader, no doubt, wishes to learn something about this word, and the idea it is intended to express. Millennimn is a compound, made up of two Latin words, mille, which means a thousand, and annus, which signifies a year. Hence, taken by itself, apart from historical connection. Millennium means nothing more nor less than a period of a thousand years. Many, who have heard, and maybe used the expression, have, without doubt, connected with it ideas of a state of happiness and security, similar to that enjoyed by our first parents before the fall. The word certainly, by reason of its historical associations, has acquired the latter significa- tion. How it happens to be thus, we now hasten to tell. Among the greater portion of the heretics of the first cen- tury, drunkenness, gluttony, and the indulgence of lustful desires were carried to a shocking excess. Having had no well-grounded hope of a felicity beyond the tomb, they sought it here, by giving loose reins to those propensities that are reputed vile and beastly. But, as the free indulgence in such pleasures failed to give that happiness they had expected ; as, on the contrary, after years of dissipation and debauchery, they found them- selves the victims of loathsome diseases, and of despair ; they fondly imagined that, hereafter, there would be a blessed period, within which they could indulge their wicked ALETHAURION. 133 desires, without any of the sad consequences that follow the continued infringment of those physical laws that govern man in his present state. Such ideas were, at the commencement, vague and unde- fined in the minds of those wretched heretics. It is proba- ble that the impostor Mohammed, at a later period, bor- rowed from them the conceptions of the future state of bliss which he promised as a reward to all his faithful followers. We have said that such ideas were, at first, somewhat undefined. Hence, some ingenious inventor of lies was required, to give definite shape and a name to that vain thought. Cerinthus was the man, being adapted by nature, and by years of self -training for the work. Though miserable and haggard in his appearance, with club feet and a with- ered left hand, he had qualities of mind that insure success, and even admiration to their possessor, among heretics. Without apparent preparation, he could, at any time, entertain his hearers, for an hour or more, with a tissue of circumstantial falsehood, that appeared, at first hearing, to possess the coherence of truth itself. It was he first fossi- lized the folly of the multitude in the word, millennium. The following is the manner in which things were to be arranged. After the last judgment, the wicked, viz : All those who did not belong to his sect, were to be chased by the demons with thunder and lio:htninor into the lake burn- ing with fire and brimstone. Then Christ would change this earth into a paradise, of which the New Jerusalem was to be the capitol city. Here, for the period of a thousand years, the time would pass gaily in nuptial feasting, and in the unrestrained indulgence in all the animal passions. Such ideas of future felicity are so repugnant and foreign to our notions of the pure enjoyments of heaven, and so contradictory to all we know of the life and teachings of our Divine Redeemer, that they scarcely deserve a refuta- tion. 134 ALETHAURION. Nevertheless, we may bring forward here a few texts of scripture that plainly contradict the millennial theory, as advocated by Cerinthus. In Matthew xxii, 30, we read these words of the Saviour, addressed to the Sadducees, who had been questioning him on the subject of marriage, in the next life : "In the resurrection," said he, "they shall neither marry, nor be given in marriage, but shall be like unto the angels of God." This text sets aside all notions of those £:ross and carnal pleasures dreamed of by the heresiarch, as peculiar to the Millennial period. Secondly, the Millennium, according to Cerinthus, was to come after the last judgment, and was to continue only for a thousand years. Now these two notions are clearly at var- iance with plain and well understood passages of the sacred writings. In Luke i, 32, 33, the angel, when addressing the Blessed Virgin, and speaking of the son which she was to bring forth, says : " He shall reign in the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end^^ From these words we may rightly infer that the future kingdom of Christ is to last, not alone for a thousand years, but for all eternity. A terrestrial paradise, after the last judgment, is also very clearly set aside by what we read in Matt, xxv, 34, where are given the words with which Christ will receive the elect on the day of final retribution : " Come ye blessed of my Father, possess the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.'''' Hence, the good, after judgment day, will possess a king- dom, prepared not then, but one created from the founda- tion of the world. Now, that we have given the reader a statement of the Millennium, as planned by Cerinthus, and adduced passages of the scriptures that at once pulverize such a monstrous air- castle, we do not think it would be just to withhold the ALETHAURION. 135 knowledge of the fact that even many of the more ancient Fathers were also believers in an earthly paradise, to last a thousand years. After which the blessed would be trans- lated to heaven, there to enjoy the beatific vision and be happy for eternity in the possession of God. It must be borne in mind, however, that they did not knowingly borrow the idea of Cerixthus. The Fathers of the Church, in ancient times, were aware of the fact that they had nothing to learn from heretics. They knew that in the scriptures and the divine traditions of the Church were contained all the truths necessary for man to know, in order to be saved. Hence, unlij^e some of our modern chivalrous doctors, they did not in their writings pull the sting out of the truth, lest it might wound the feel- ings of the heterodox. They did not spare the lash, because they did not value the praises of those whose backs required it. They did not squint after puffs from heretics, because they knew that ''the approbation of fools is ignominy." — Prov. Ill, 35. The writer willingly confesses that he has not read all that the Fathers have written. But, of those portions that he has read, he can safely say that he has found nothing in them that might lead him to suppose that their authors had even the remotest idea of attempting the difficult feat of catching two hares at once, in an open field — of stating the truth, and giving satisfaction to the enemies of the Church at the same time. When an heretical man, who is not a simpleton, praises the writings of a Catholic divine on a controverted point, it is a clear proof that the said writings are worthless. A wild goose can never be taught to admire the flap of the eagle's wing, and a man has an instinctive dislike to what he feels is really damaging to a cause with which he is indentified. Luther hated the 8umma TJieologica of Thomas Aquixas. We doubt very much whether any one of our readers has ever seen in a Protestant newspaper, or heard from the lips 136 ALETHAUKION. of a Protestant preacher, a single word in praise of an allocu- tion or encyclical letter of Pius IX, But we have read extravagant encomiums from Protestant pens of a couple of works of these latter days, which we believe have been of about as much service to the cause of truth and the Church, as a jDainted wooden sword would have been to the cause of Grecian liberty at the battle of Marathon. We have been led to these digressionary remarks with the view of showing that the Fathers of the Church, in prim- itive times, were not the men to copy or imitate the follies of heretics. Hence, if we find some of them entertaining notions about a Millennium, we are not to suppose for a moment that they were borrowed from Cerinthus, but that they had an origin altogether distinct. What this origin w^as, we will explain in a future chapter. CHAPTER XXIX. THE MILLENNIUM. In our last chajJter we spoke of the Millennium, as advo- cated by Cerixtiius. We saw that the ideas entertained by him of this ble^ssed, but imaginary period, were inconsistent with certain plain pat^sages of the inspired writings. Hence, we rejected the entire story as an heretical fable. There is, however, another very ancient belief on this subject, w^iich, though likewise false, is yet deserving of more respect, on account of the good names connected with it. Certain it is that several of the most ancient Fathers, such as Justin Martyr, Ireneus, Tertullian and others, were believers in a Millennium. Theirs, however, was different from that dreamt of by Cerinthus. In the opinion of the Fathers, of whom we have spoken, the jMillennium would ALETHAURION. 137 be the one thousand years immediately preceding the day of general judgment. At the beginning of that period Christ, the Saviour, was to come on earth again, and live among men in a visible manner. All wars would cease, and justice, peace and happiness be the lot of man. Thus the good would have a foretaste, on earth, of the things that were in store for them beyond the skies. This idea of a Millennium is certainly a pleasing thought to dwell on, nor should we tread otherwise than lightly on the graves of those venerable men, our ancestors in the faith, who fondly looked for such an epoch of peace and blessed- ness on earth. Yet the interest of truth requires us to state that such an expectation, on their part, was indeed a vain one. The life of man will always be, as it was in the days of holy Job, a warfare upon this earth. Job. viii, 1. It is only after the Archangel shall have stood, with one font upon the sea and one foot upon the land, and shall have sworn, by the authority of God, that time shall be no more, that the children of Adam will enjoy that peace and happi- ness of body and soul so fondly hoped for by the millennial Fathers. Papias, the bishop of Hierapolis, appears to have been the first of the ancient Fathers who believed in a Millennium. He was the Disciple of Joiix the Elder ( not the Apos- tle), and like the vast majority of those bishops of the l^rimitive days, was a man of rare and solid piety, united with a zeal that death alone could extinguish. He had, however, a propensity, which, though innocent in itself, is apt to lead its professor estray, if not regulated by good judgment. He was untiring in his efforts to learn all about the Apos- tles. Old men who had seen and conversed with them were always welcome visitors at his house. They were invited to tell all they knew, and our good bishop took down carefully 138 AI.ETHAUEION. the substance of what he had heard, without ever questioning the veracity of the author. His own goodness of heart and truthfulness, united with a proclivity for listening to marvelous stories, seemed to have prevented the idea from once entering his mind that people will sometimes exaggerate, and even descend to falsehood. The upshot of all this misplaced confidence was that in the book written by him, and entitled : ''An Exposition of the Words of our Lord," he got bad, good and indifferent things hopelessly mixed. One of these items was that reffardinsr a Millennium. We remarked in the previous chapter that those of the early Fathers, who were believers in the Millennium, did not get the idea from heretics. That is true of all those who came after Papias. They appear to have been led into the mistake by his book. But, so far as Papias himself is con- cerned, the matter is not as clear. We know that heretics are very uncertain quantities. Hence, it is just possible that some old gray-headed follower of Cerixthus might have palmed himself off as a good Catholic on such an innocent and unsuspecting man, and told him a long tale about the Millennium, as something he had heard from the Apostles. Papias was always open to conviction, especially when loud sounding stories were told him. We can easily imagine we see the good man, all eyes and ears, with his parchment extended before him on the table, taking down all the facts and circumstances of the wonderful tale, as they came from the lips of his oily, but unscrupulous guest. Eusebius, the Father of Church history, while praising the simple piety and zeal of Papias, confesses, nevertheless, that he was a man of very slender intellectual powers {ingenii quidem pertenuis). We can well admit that there must have been a deficiency, somewhere or other, in the mental faculties of a man who was so unreasonably credulous. Though Papias is justly blamed by the historian for too ALETHAURION. 139 much credulity, yet we do not wish to conceal a circum- stance that may be urged in his favor. His surmises about the Millennium may not have been based altogether on the mere heresay of persons whose authority was questionable. There is, in fact, a very obscure passage in the Book of Revelation that could easily have been twisted by himself, or by others for him, into a prophecy of a future Millennium. We give the entire passage, and an explanation of it, which we have taken, substantially, from St. Augustine, De Civi- tate Bei, book xx, ch. 7, 8, 9. The passage reads as follows : " Aud I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, the old serpent, which is the devil and satan, and bound him for a thousand years. And he cast him into the bottomjess pit and shut him up, and set a seal on him, that he should no more*educe the nations, till the thousand j^ears be finished : and after that he must be loosed a little time." (Rev. xx.) The thousand years spoken of, during which Christ is to reign with the saints, mean, according to St. Augustine, not the Millennium of Papias, but the entire period from the Saviour's death to the coming of Antichrist. The word, a thousand, is often taken in the scriptures to signify a very large, but indefinite number. Pss. 104, 89 ; Job 9. The angel that descended from heaven and bound Satan, is no other than the Saviour, who by His death and passion broke the power of Satan. '* And he cast him into a bottomless pit." By the bottomless pit we may undei- stand the hearts of impious men, such as that of Bismarck. He is said to be cast into the bottomless pit, not because he did not exist there already, but, being forbidden from taking possession of true believers, he takes, on that account, more formal possession of the wicked. In other words, being cast OMt oi the man, he takes control of the sicine, and urges them on to the precipice. Bismarck, for example, may be said to be now more perfectly possessed by the devil than he was before he began to persecute the followers of the 140 ALETHAURION. Saviour. <*And set a seal upon him that he should no more seduce the nations, till the thousand years be finished." That is, the Saviour restricted the power of Satan, and pre- vented him from any longer seducing the predestined. The seal was set that it might not be known in this world who those are that appertain to Satax, and who do not. *'And after that he must be loosed for a little while." That is, when the tliousand years are finished, in other words, when the end of the world is about to come, or about three and a half years before the day of general judgment, Satan will again be let loose, and by means of Antichrist, will raise such a persecution and commotion in the world, as shall not have been seen since time began. Now, though this passage of scripture, rightly understood, is far from proving that there will be a Millennium, yet it must be confessed there is enough in it to have strengthened in his belief such a man as Papias. In our next we will treat of Ebion and the N'icJiolaites, CHAPTER XXX. EBION AND NICIIOLAUS. We now approach the close of the first century of the Christian era, and have to notice only two more heresiarchs. The one was called Ebion, and the other rejoiced in the cog- nomen of NiCHOLAUS. Ebion comes first, in order of time, and we give him the same place in this notice. The origin of this wretch is involved in obscurity. The following facts, however, regarding him, are gleaned from ancient writings. He was by race a Jew, and appears to have been a man of little or no education. Whether this hap- pened by reason of neglect, or because his intellect was such as not to admit of polish from books, we are unable to state with accuracy sufficient to make a record of it here. ALETHAUEION. 141 His name, Ebion, signifies in Hebrew a beggar. But, whether he got the title on account of extreme poverty, or because of his naturally low and sordid nature, it would be hard to tell at this late day. In person, Ebion was rather below the middle size, but he had an iron constitution. His hair, which he allowed to flow down on his shoulders, was gray from early youth. Yet there was nothing venerable in his countenance, nothing that called forth the respect of those who happened to come into contact with him. Quite the contrary. His face lacked every manly trait. His chin was short, and so shaped as to give the mouth a form like that of a half opened clam. The forehead was receding and narrow, the eyes dull and bloodshot, looking as if they had been taken out and boiled, at some period of his»life, and then carelessly reset. How such a man, deformed in features, with intelligence scarcely superior to a baboon, could have succeeded in becoming the author of a sect, may well excite wonder. The heart of man is certainly a mystery. Yet if we look into the matter, it will not appear more strange that Ebiox should have had followers, than that men, otherwise intelli- gent, among the Pagans, should have adored idols of wood and stone. Heresy and all false religions are species of idolatry. They spring from human pride, and are so many rebellions against God, and the order which He has estab- lished here on earth. Without going all the way to the dominions of Beelzebub to find a reason for their existence, we may discover one nearer home. It may be found, in germ, in the heart of every man whom vice has depraved. Take any one, whose pride and self-conceit are inordinate, and he will with great difficulty give due honor to his equals. Not only will such a one refuse to recognize the merits of an equal, he will try to diminish the glory of a superior, because in every one that is exalted above him, he sees an obstacle to the recognition of his own supposed merits. 142 ALETHAURION. What more natural, then, than that the Pagans of old, inflated as they were with pride, should, in the words of St. Paul: '^ Have changed the glorj' of the incorruptible God into the likeness of the image of a corruptible man, and of birds, and of four-footed beasts, and of creeping things." Komans I, 23. By doing so, they placed themselves above what they worshipped. Every time Julius Caesar took a censer into his hands before the statue of Hercules, his pride, instead of being diminished, was greatly increased, because he felt his own superiority to the statue that he affected to adore. Man, by idolatry, places himself above God, and this is why the worship of an idol is the greatest sin a man can commit. There is more genuine malice in it than in- any other crime. The heretic, too, offers incense to a statue, and thinks he glorifies himself. But he glories in his shame. DoLLixGER, Reinkins, tt ill. II, could iiot bear the mild and heavenly authority of Pius IX, and yet they lick the dust before Dagon Bismarck. We have seen heretics won- dering, more than once, at the respect and love shown by Catholics toward the bishop and priests of the Church. We have heard them making light of it. Yet if such persons had only enough of intelligence, they would see at once that the Catholic, in honoring the priest or bishop, does so because he recognizes in them the representatives of God. But how is it with the heretics. They get on that pedes- tal, which they call the pulpit, some idol of a preacher; they offer him incense, but never the respect nor submission that Catholics entertain for their prelates ; but just as soon as their idol begins to be anything else but an idol, they break and pitch him out of doors. These observations may throw some light on Ebion's case. The driveller got followers from among men imbued with the spirit of heresy, on the same principle that dogs and cats had worshippers at Memphis. ALETHAURION. 143 Let us now consider some of his errors. Ebiox taught his followers that Christ was only a mere man. Yet not all his Disciples believed this. Some of them admitted that Christ w^as indeed conceived by the Holy Ghost, yet denied that He had a being prior to His conception. St. Jerome, m catal script eccles^.says it was to refute this error that St. Johx w^rote his gospel. Hence, at the beginning, the Evangelist lays down the doctrine that the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Ebiox also taught that the Mosaic rites and sacraments were to be observed, along with those instituted by Christ. He appears to have copied this, along with some other bright ideas, from his predecessor or cotemporary, Cerinthus. He rejected all the gospels, except that of Matthew, which he called the gospel according to the Hebrews. Our hero could not bear to hear the name of Paul men- tioned. He rejected all the letters of the great Apostle, and called him an apostate. This reminds us of an Episcopal minister we once met, who called the Pope a heretic. St. Paul appears to have been particularly hateful to most ■of those primitive heretics, and we may presume he often gave them cause. Modern heretics affect to be very fond of him and his teachings. But, were he to return to earth, he would make their ears tingle in such a manner that they would stand aside and despise him. Heresiarchs have always been notorious liars. Hence, we must not wonder at learning that our hero was also a good hand at the business. He put a report in circulation that both the father and mother of St. Paul were Gentiles. This he did to raise prejudice against him among the Jews. He further stated that St. Paul, having come to Jerusalem, had stayed there a long time before embracing Judaism, and might never have done so, if he had not fallen in love with the daughter of the high priest. According to Ebiox, it was in hope of receiving her hand in marriage that Saul or St. Paul gave up idolatry. But, 144 ALETHAUEION. on being refused by the high priest, he got angry, and undertook to demolish him and his reh^ion. Ebion is said to have died in a drunken fit. He was succeeded in the heretical primacy by one Nich- OLAUS. Whether he is the same who w^as elected one of the seven deacons, is a question not yet decided among histori- ans. The probability is that he was a different man. NiCHOLAUS taught nearly all the errors and follies of those who had preceeded him. The morals of his followers were most corrupt. Hence, in Revelation, chap, ii, the angel of the Church of Ephesus, i. e., the bishop, is praised, because, says the Holy Ghost: "Thou hast hated the deeds of • the Nicholaites, which I also hate." This was the last heresy of the first century. The reader must not suppose that those of which we have been speaking all ended Avith their founders; such is, by no means, the ease. Many lasted until late in the third century, and even to the beginning of* the fourth. But, like the sects of our day, they were continually changing from one belief to another. CHAPTER XXXI. THE VIRGIN MARY. We now willingly turn away from the heretical labyrinths of the first century, and invite the reader to a stroll, not through the bone-yard of outcasts, but along paths made sacred by the footprints of the incarnate Word, and of those chosen by Him to co-operate in the work of saving mankind. We intend, in a word, to hold up the mirror to the first century of our era, and give a reflection of the men and women who then lived, and of the deeds done, in days long ago, by our ancestors in the faith. In so doing, we desire to present a picture, which may be ALETHAURION. 145 hung up alongside of that other already given, of those heretics and fantastic errors, which, like brandy blossoms on a boy's, face, have excited our disgust by their precocious depravity. Let us bejjin with a notice of her, "above whom there is nothing but God, and beneath whom is ^\\ else that is not God," — the Blessed Virgin Mary. We shall, however, confine our remarks to what is simply historical, in regard to her earthly pilgrimage, and refer the reader, for further edification, to iier "Glories" written \)y that latest of the doctors of the Church — St. Alphoxsus LiGUORi. We may observe in passing, however, that in the work alluded to there are many things which the infidel and the scoffer wrest to their own perdition, as they do the best gifts of even the Creator. The Blessed Virgin was of the tribe of Juda, lineally descended from David, King of Israel, as we are taught by Matthew and Luke, in their respective gospels. The writer has read, somewhere, a sermon in her praise, in which considerable ado was made over the fact that she was of royal stock, insinuating thereby that it was honor- able to the Saviour to have been the descendant of an earthly king. Such a style of speaking or writing does but little good, and the attempt to make our Saviour eminently respectabUy by reason of his earthly lineage, betokens the court lackey rather than the Apostle. From what we read in the scriptures, it does not appear that either St. Joseph or the Blessed Virgin were held in any special esteem among their neighbors, because of their descent from King David. There were, no doubt, many others living in their day, w^ho could have made good their claims to such an honor, did they esteem it worth contend- ing for. The veneration justly due the Blessed Virgin, is (founded on a far higher title. 146 ALETHAURION. Men are great only so far as they are chosen by God for the accomplishment of exalted purposes. She was chosen for the highest of which a creature is capable. A patent of nobility, thus gained, out-weighs and dims all others. From the moment the angel had said to her, ** Be- hold thou shalt conceive," the glory borrowed of King David was lost in superior' effulgence, reflected from the face of the Most High. The parents of the Blessed Virgin were Joachim and Anna, whose names signify, respectively, "The Preparation," and '*The Grace of the Lord." Of their history we know but little that rests on a solid basis. So excellent an opportu- nity, however, of giving play to the imagination could not have escaped the keen vision of the versatile and romantic Greek. Hence the existence of the hook, ^^ De ortu Vir- giniSf'' in which miracles and other things extraordinary abound, and in which there is contained a vast amount of information, that might be valuable if true, or at least in- teresting, if probable. St. John, in chap, xix of his gospel, speaks of a !Mary of Cleophas, the sister of the Virgin. With this exception, we have no evidence going to show that the mother of our Lord had, according to the flesh, any other sister or brother. It is uncertain how long she lived on this earth ; neither do we know the place of her death. Some say she accom- panied St. John to Ephesus ; others maintain that she con- tinued to reside in Jerusalem, where, about twelve years after the Saviour's ascension, surrounded by the Apostles, drawn from distant lands miraculously together by her bed- side, she surrendered her pure soul into the hands of God. Her body was laid in a tomb in Gethsemane, where it rested for three days ; but before it had seen corruption, it was reunited with her soul, and both were gloriously assumed into heaven, accompanied by the choirs of blessed spirits, who sang her praises, until, kneeling at the foot of the ALETHAURION. 147 throne, she was crowned queen of angels and of men, with the brightest diadem that even heaven could afford. Respect for the Virgin Mother of the Saviour is one of those marks by which we may easily distinguish the true believer from heretics. The persistency of the latter in trying to depreciate the Virgin has often elicited our surprise, not to say enkindled our wrath. Though no admirers of what is called muscular Christianity, we may smile, at least, at the burning zeal of that Hibernian, who, during Know-Nothing times in Cin- cinnati, held a man by the seat of his pantaloons, from a third story window, until he had duly repented of his im- pertinence, and at Mike's suggestion, piously and piteously invoked the protection of the Virgin, three distinct times. All this agrees with what Ned O'Hara, the blacksmith, told the Methodist preacher, years ago, in Kanturk, Ireland. Ned was, at the time, shoeing a mule that had a stiff neck, but was limber about the legs. " Now, Mr. O'Hara," said the sivaddler, '* I can prove to you by a half dozen texts of scripture that the Virgin Mary was no better than your mother or mine." Ned dropt his hammer and bounced some ten feet aw^y from the mule. *' While you are talking," said he to the swaddler, <* let's keep at a safe distance from the business end of that animal. I have noticed that when any one begins to blaspheme near him, he always begins to kick." When the preacher had finished, he waited for Vulcan's reply. ** Well," said Ned, as he picked up his hammer, '*you may have proved, to your own satisfaction, that the Virgin is no better than your mother ; yet, of one thing I am very certain ; there is a vast difference between their children — between her son and your mother's." Ned struck the nail on the head that time, and clinched it by recommending the preacher never to set foot in his shop again, while that mule was around. <'He has," said Ned, 148 ALETHAURION. *«a strange habit of shaking the dust of his heels off against bhisphemers." It has often been a puzzle to us why heretics hate the blessed Virgin. They admit the Saviour's divine mission, and place all reliance on His merits, as we do, yet, they can- not endure His mother I After much reflection on this subject, we have come to the settled conclusion that the old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, is at the bottom of it all. This view of the case will appear reasonable after considering what we read in Genesis iii, 15. Jehovah, addressing the ser- pent, says : "I will place enmities between thee and the woman, between thy seed and her seed ; she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel." This is evidently a prophecy. The ^^woman'' here spoken of can be no other than the Blessed Virgin. Eve certainly is not meant, for she was crushed by the serpent. It is stated that there shall be enmity between the woman and the serpent ; that the serpent shall lie in wait for her heel, etc. Now, as the power of the Devil does not, and never did, extend to the person of the Blessed Virgin, hence he tries, by his agents, the heretics and unbelievers, to diminish her earthly glory. This appears to us the only true solution of that blind hatred which heretics manifest towards the ever blessed and venerable mother of our Saviour. Our next will be about St. Peter. CHAPTER XXXII. SIMON PETER. Almost nineteen hundred years have now been unwrapt from the spool of time since there lived in a small house on the shore of the sea of Gallilee, a veteran fisherman, ALETHAURION. 149 Jonah. He is not identical, however, with that other, who had the misunderstanding with the whale. The Jonah of whom we speak, was a fisherman, but not a whaler. He was a Jew of strict observance, and the grunting of swine was as odious to his ears as the aroma of Cincinnati ham is agreeable to the olfactories of the modern degenerate sons of Abraham. Though, on account of poverty, he was not a burning and shining light in the synagogue of his native town, yet he deserved, and retained until death, the esteem of his countrymen. Jonah was an unsophisticated Jew ; a man without guile, who readily overlooked the short-comings of those who represented Judaism in his day, and prayerfully awaited the coming of the Messiah, who would make straight the crooked paths of the Lord. It was not granted him to see in the flesh, the Desired of all nations; for he was gathered to his fathers before the fame of Jesus had passed beyond the confines of Nazareth. Jonah left behind him two sons, sole heirs to his fishing bark and nets, us well as to his many virtues. The first received the name of Andrew, and the other was called Simon. After having deposited, along with many tears, the re- mains of their aged father in the tomb, they followed the profession to which they had been raised — that of fisher- men. At this laborious, and sometimes dangerous occupation, they spent several years of their early youth and manhood. Tliough obliged, by their calling, to often steer many leagues from home, yet on no Sabbath was either found absent from the synagogue ; for propitious winds or good muscle brought them in sight of their native Bethsaida invariably on the day previous. One might suppose that such simple piety and fidelity to the call of duty would have gained them the esteem, even the admiration of the Pharisee who read the law and 150 ALETHAURION. conducted the public worship of Sabbath days in the syna- gogue. It was just the reverse. The two sons of Jonah were not favorites with the proud and ostentatious Rabbi. An incautious expression of Simon's had greatly tended to widen the breach. When asked one day, why he did not, like others, go frequently to pay his respects and offer his homage to their good and holy Rabbi, he replied : ** The God of our father is better honored by pure love of heart, and by righteous works, than by that feigned zeal for the law which idolizes those who have seated themselves on the chair of Moses." This saying was reported to the Pharisee, who construed it, at once, into an impertinent attack upon his own dignity. The others felt it to be a most withering rebuke of their own subserviency and smallness. Yet it did not keep them from vicing with one another in offering the Rabbi incense, to gain their personal ends. Our good Rabbi went off into a towering rage, at the thought that an ignorant fisherman should have presumed to find fault ; should have even gone so far as to express an opinion about what was pleasing in the sight of the Lord. He was somewhat calmed down by an expression of his first scribe, who said that the ** contamination arising from con- tact with Gentilism would soon destroy the hedge around the law, and all legitimate authority would be overwhelmed by a deluge of Gentile liberalism, unless strong measures were taken, and opposition put down.'' ** My opinion," said another scribe, older and of a more serious turn, ** is, that we can best sustain our authority by first beginning to re- form our own lives, and — " ** Stop, at once, and leave my presence forthwith," said the irate Rabbi ; **I see thou art also tainted." After these things Simon held his peace, though inter- nally he wished for authority to say to that pompous Phar- isee, *' Now, why tempt you God to put a yoke on our ALETHAURION. 151 necks which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? Why seek to put yourself in the place (jOD alone should hold in man's heart? Why seek to be idolized? " Being, however, a truly conscientious man, he doubted whether he would be justified in showing any disapproval of the acts of those who stood above him for fear that he misrht lessen their authority and power of doing good among the people. He referred the whole matter to God, satisfied that He would in His own good time, provide a remedy for the evils that appeared almost incurable. Not many years after his doubts were dissipated, when he had heard from the lips of Him who spoke, as did man never before nor since, the most scathing denunciations against those same Pharisees. It was with a satisfaction, mingled with pity, that he saw their hypocrisy laid bare — that he heard them called " blind and leaders of the blind ; a generation of vipers and whited sepulchres." Some time after these events, news came to Bethsaida, and the surrounding country, that agreat Prophet had arisen in Israel, and that God had visited His people. This extra- ordinary man was called John. Thousands flocked from all quarters to hear his preaching ; and being moved to repent- ance, were baptized by him in the Jordan. As the scepter had passed from the hands of Juda, and the seventy weeks of the prophet Daniel were nearly or quite at an end, many thought this extraordinary man might possibly be the Messiah. The innocence of his life coupled with his great zeal and eloquence, procured him many dis- ciples. Among the latter was Andrew, son of Jonah. Simon, having married a wife, remained at Bethsaida. On the return oi his brother from the banks of the Jordan, he was noticeably affected by the recital of all that Andrew had seen and heard. Simon felt persuaded that the Messiah had come, and that he was no other than this wonderful 152 ALETHAURIOX. man. *'No," said Andrew — *'He said 'I am not the Mes- siah — There will tome a man after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to loose; him you shall hear." John 1, 27. From this time forward, these two good men anxiously awaited the developement of events. But one thing forced itself upon their observation, viz : That JoHN^sought no intimacy with the Scribes or Phar- isees ; on the contrary, he reproved their vices, and bade them beware of the wrath to come. Thus the time passed on, until one day, as they were preparing to cast their nets into the sea, they saw a man on the shore, not far off from where they stood. He appeared the very perfection of humanity in form and feature, dressed in a crimson toga that swept the ground ; his rich auburn locks descended in rinirlets far down his azure man- tie. His beard parted naturally and gracefully at the point of his chin. The expression of his face was extremely mild; some might call it sad and thoughtful. But a fire darted from his eyes, that inspired the beholder with un- dying love and veneration, or else moi'tal dread and hate. This man was Jesus of Nazareth, the only begotten Son of God. He had come to call that poor unknown fisherman to fill an ojffice that is the most exalted on earth — to be the founder of a dynasty that is to last forever. Our next will be about the public life of St. Petek. CHAPTER XXXHI. the public life of ST. PETER. Having, in the last chapter, spoken of the hidden life of Simon Peter, we think it opportune, in the present, to give a synopsis of his public career. ALETIIAURION. 153 The writer will not attempt to portray, in his own words, that' portion of the life of the PiHnce of the Ajyostles, which was spent in company with the Saviour of mankind. The narration of all that was done and said during that eventful period, he believes it best to leave with the Evan- gelists, inspired by the Holy Ghost, and with such impious Frenchmen as Ernest Rexan. All that was necessary of the life of Christ arfd His deal- ings with the Apostles was written once by the Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and we see no necessity of attempting to improve on what the Holy Ghost inspired them to say. An ancient philosopher was once asked to give a definition of God. He requested one day to prepare hn answer. When the day was up, he wanted a week. When the week had passed, he declared that a year would scarcely suffice to formulate a proper reply. The philosopher was no ordinary man ; his hesitation proved it — though a super.cilious editor of one of our daily newspapers would have got through the work with one scratch of his pencil. Those who attempt to write the life of Christ ought to learn a lesson from the philosopher. Written by an uninspired man, the life of the Saviour is either i7npious or Jlat . Even men of ability misunderstand altogether, very frequently, the character of those they at- tempt to describe. How much greater will the failure not be, when pygmies attempt to measure the '* uncreated wis- dom of the Father." Hence, we forbear going farther back into the public life of Peter, than to the period of the Saviour's ascension into heaven. This, however, shall not prevent us from taking up, in future articles, some plain texts of scripture and. showing therefrom that Christ gave to him an authority and jurisdic- tion over His entire church. 154 ALETHAURION. After the bloody tragedy on Mount Calvary, and the glori- ous resurrection of our Lord from the tomb, the gospel in- forms us that he appeared to His Apostles and Disciples, at various times, for forty days. During that period he gave them instructions concerning all they should do and say, after He had ascended to the Father. When the mystic days had passed. He gathered them to- gether, and in their company, proceeded to the top of Mount Olivet, not far outside the city of Jerusalem. There, with His face turned toward the setting sun, He bade them adieu Then, raising His eyes and his arms at the same time to heaven, he was wafted by an unseen force into the domin- ion of the stars. The Apostles and Disciples remained, as it were, in a dream for some time. Almost the whole truth had flashed upon their minds. That mysterious being, with whom they had walked and conversed for upwards of three years, had vanished from their o^aze — had ^eft them to the ordinarv^ course of providence. The Italian poet, Daxte, many centuries after, expressed well what we may presume to have been their feelings on the occasion : Nessun Maggior dolore Che ricordarsi del tempo felice Nella Miseria . While they were thus overwhelmed with sadness, tw^o- angels stood beside them and said: "Ye men of Galilee, why stand you looking up into heaven? This Jesus who is taken up from you into heaven, so shall He come, as you have seen Him going up to heaven." Acts 1, ii. They were thus awakened from their dream, and slowly and sadly descended from the mount, to take up their abode in an upper chamber of a house in the city. Simon Peter was now looked upon by all as foremost man of the band. Mysterious words, spoken months be- ALETHAUKION. 155 fore by Him who had just left them, now came back to their minds. They remembered that it had been said, on one occasion, to Simon : •'Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed also in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shallbe bound also in heaven." Matt. xvi. Knowing these things, all lent him a willing ear. Hence, when he spoke of the necessity of electing anotlier, in the place of Judas, all listened, and proceeded to the work, by which Mathias was numbered an Apostle, with the eleven who had remained faithful. Those were days of doubt and perplexity. But, after the Holy Ghost had descended upon them, on the day of Pentecost, doubt gave way to certainty, and prayerful in- activity, to much energy in the Lord. There were many at that time, in Jerusalem, Jews, de- vout men of every nation under heaven, and though using different tongues, yet each and every one of them under- stood the Apostles, who spoke only in the Syro-Chaldaic language. Some of the most hardened, on perceiving this wonderful fact, were loath to believe their own ears, and began to say that the Apostles were drunk with new wine. But Peter, with that courage and lofty bearing, for which we shall henceforth see him distinguished, refuted the silly assertion by reminding those who had made it that it was too soon in the day. He preached to the multitude on the divinity of Jesus of Nazareth. Nor did he preach in vain. That same day no fewer than three thousand persons were converted to the faith and baptized. Let the Baptists and Campbellites, who believe in ducking ^ arise and explain how so many persons could have been immersed in so short a time. Our next will be a continuation. 156 ALETHAURION. CHAPTER XXXIV, THE PUBLIC LIFE OF ST. PETER. There was in the temple at Jerusalem, a certain gate, which, by reason of its architectural grandeur and elaborate finish was called, by excellence, The Beautiful. That portion of the hill of Zion which lay in front of it had become, at the time we speak of, the favorite resort of all those who felt piously inclined, or had nothing else to do. Strangers visiting the holy places, would no more have thought of returning home before having seen that beautiful srate, than a modern Bels^ian would dream of settinir out from Lourdes until he had tasted of the holy waters, and filled a bottle or two, to comfort and protect him on the way back Along with troops of native and foreign idlers, there were also to be found, almost at any hour of the day, not a few beggars near the beautiful gate. Some of these were blind of an eye, others in both, many were paralytic, and several club-footed from infancy. On great feast days these wretched creatures reaped an abundant harvest. Mostly all who went into the temple, first sought the favor of God by contributing a little to alle- viate the miseries of His suffering children. The Scribes, and more especially the Pharisees, were liberal contributors on such occasions, and the larojer the gathering the more did they disburse. There was this difference, however, between their way of giving and that of others. A Pharisee or Scribe never contributed anything as he passed into the temple. He was always in a hurry. His anxiety to gci into the presence of the Lord was such that he could not think of stopping on ALETHAURION. 157 the way to look at beggars. But, on coming out, the most approved system was to pass some distance beyond, as if wrapt in profound meditation, and then sling back over the left shoulder what each wished to give. The distance ^as also reguhited by custom. ^ A common Scribe of the lowest grade, was not allowed to pass more than one rod beyond the object of his pity ; whereas a Pharisee, by reason of superior dignity, could cover five rods and three quarters. There was, as a matter of course, a scramble among the idlers for the money thus thrown. The pushing and kick- ing that resulted, and the fights that sometimes arose, are said to have been highly refreshing to the vanity of the Pharisees. They did not care whether the right one got the money or the wrong one took possession of it. They wished the assembly to know that they were charitable to the poor^ and that sufficed. The writer of this has heard some one say that the de- scendants of the Pharisees are numerous, even in our own day and generation ! It may be so. And it may further account for facts that we sometimes read of in the newspa- pers. We hear of men giving large sums to found or en- dow charitable or educational institutions, and then taking no further care or thought upon themselves of how mat- ters are managed. They throw their money back over the left shoulder, and let the strongest and most rapacious get it. These facts and observations bring us to a circumstance in the life of the Prince of the Apostles, which we now hasten to lay before the reader. Not long after the events, related in the last chapter, Peter and John went up to the temple to pray. It was three o'clock in the afternoon as they entered by the Beautiful Gate^ where sat a man who had been lame from his birth. He had not a regular stall inside the porch, because his friends were too poor to get him one. The reader must 158 ALETHAURION. know that a beggar's stall, in a good location near the tem- ple, was equivalent to a small fortune. This wretched man, who had a seat outside the porch, was scarcely accounted worthy to sit even that close to the aristocrats within ; for there are more grades of distii^ction among beggars than among kings. Peter looked at him, and having observed that he did not belong to that sturdy class who begin to curse after they are refused, said, "look upon us." The man was surprised that any one should have spoken kindly to him or taken an interest in his welfare. He gazed earnestly into their faces, ** hoping he should receive something from them." Then Peter said to him, " I have neither gold nor silver to bestow, but I will give you what I have." By this time the painful expression on the man's face had changed. The memory of miirhty works, said to have been done by Jesus of Nazareth, had flashed across his mind. Hence, when Peter held out his hand and said : "In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, arise and walk ;" his faith received the finishing touch, and he leaped to his feet. When those who stood near saw this wonderful miracle there w^as much confusion, and rushing to and fro. Many rejoiced. But there were some of the Sadduces present who had seen Peter and John along with the Saviour. These were not pleased. " That Gallilean is not yet dead !" said Rabbi Kinchi. " I am afraid," said Rabbi Ben-Ezra, "that this will become known to every one in Jerusalem." " The case is too plain, and we can't deny it," said the Scribe Habakuk — " we must use our authority to put the actors in this matter down at once — that unfortunate crip- ple has been the cause of it all ; he too must be put out of the way." "I do not esteem him as worthy of a moment's consider- ation," replied Rabbi Ben-Ezra. "He is but a short horse, and it will not take long to curry him. But there ALETHAURION. 159 is that curly-headed fisherman, from Galilee, who, in these past few days appears to have changed entirely. He seems to have taken on himself a degree of authority that makes me nervous." ** We must find some means to set limits to his annoy- ance." *' There is no further use," he added after a pause, *' in threatening them with expulsion from the synagogue. They don't appear to regard our menaces. We must become yet more friendly with the governor, and through him, we may get the thumb-screws fairly on them." '* These Gen- tiles, after all," said the good Eabbi, *'are great fellows. If we keep at the right side of them, we can get them to do almost any thing we want done." '*I doubt," said Rabbi Kinchi, *« whether the governor himself can frighten them. That deceiver, whom we lately put out of the way, appears to have succeeded to a miracle in infusing his own ungovernable spirit into all he came in contact with. Moreover these fanatical men are dangerous on another account. Did they simply refuse to obey us and go quietly to perdition, it would not matter — the Gentiles do not heed us, and we get along without them. But these madmen not only do not listen to our instruc- tions, they even go so far as to assume authority over ourselves, and our good, simple, obedient people. " The worst feature of all," said Rabbi Kixchi, '* is that their lives seem to be entirely blameless, yet they resist our authority with the precision of destiny, and the people .appear inclined to go with them. Before taking ex- treme measures, we must threaten them. Legal proceed- ings have a terror for men of rustic mold which the refined can scarcely appreciate. Yet, with all this something tells me we are undone. It is true, we have concentrated all power in our own hands, but the people, and even the in- ferior officers, appear more and more ready, every day, for revolution. They have no confidence in us." 160 ALETHAURION . While the foregoing conversation was passing between those limbs of Beelzebub, a great crowd had followed the two Apostles to that part of the temple called Solomon's porch. There Peter again addressed the multitude, and con- verted five thousand. No doubt they were also baptized, then and there, as the three thousand had been, on the previous day. But they were not permitted to continue the good work unmolested. Our three zealous friends had matured their plans, and the consequence was the arrest of the Apostles. The man who had been lame got orders to scamper off home, and not come back until called for. The result of the trial, and also the subsequent course of St. Peter, we will see in a future chapter. CHAPTER XXXV, THE TRIAL. In the last chapter we related how Peter and John cured the cripple of forty years' standing, whom they had found at the gate of the temple, called The Beautiful. The people who saw this were greatly moved thereby ; and the idea that they who could work such miracles were really and truly ministers of God, began rapidly forming in the minds of all. There is no argument against a miracle. It is a clean, and should be a convincing proof, that he who works it is an authorized agent of the Divinity. The Scribes, Pharisees and other officers of the temple, knew this. Hence, instead of attempting to refute the Apostles, they wanted to cloak the matter up, and frighten Peter and John by having them arrested. The case is similar to that which happened years ago, in this same land in which we live. While the Blue laws were in force in the ALETHAUEION. 161 States of Connecticut and Massachusetts, priests were for- bidden, under pain of death, to teach or publicly exercise their ministry. The Puritans, a name synonymous with all that is small and pusillanimous in human nature, thus ac- knowledged the weakness of their cause, wiaich could not bear the light of day nor ventilation at the hands of those harbingers of truth. The disposition to persecute is one of the marks of heresy. When manifested by a true believer, it is a sign that duty has been neglected and vice indulged. This spirit of persecution, inherent to religious error, is manifested, even at the present day, in the public school system. Years ago it became apparent to the more acute and far seeing of the sectarians, that it would be useless to attempt to compete, either single-handed or combined, with the Catholic Church, in the matter of education. They saw Catholic schools and colleges springing up over the land, as by the touch of the magician's wand. Heretical youths and maidens were received on equal terms with the children of those who had borne the burden of the day and the heat. Many having, under good training, gained a knowledge of the truth, abjured their errors, and pushed forward with an energy equal to that of Catholics to the manor born. Having been made free by the truth, they looked back with con- tempt on the flesh-pots, the onions and the garlic of Pro- testantism. Such good and holy results could not long have escaped the observation of the ministers of false religions ; and knowing that in a fair fight on the educational question, they stood little chance against the trained battalions of the Church, they sought, as heretics always do, an alliance with the State. Thus has the system of public schools been put as a yoke on the necks of the people. It was intended to fetter the action of the Church in the matter of sound Christian education. It was a new attempt to arrest Peter and John ; to keep them from preaching the truth. The I 162 ALETHAURION. system is becoming, however, daily more and more op- pressive, even in the estimation of Protestants ; nor can incense, much longer, counteract its offensive odor. But let us return to our Apostles. They were arrested late in the afternoon, and spent the night in prison, which for a wonder, inclosed no others but themselves. The Scribes and Pharisees were, as a rule, great patrons of the jail. The poorer and more defenceless of the inhab- itants knew well that any little act of disrespect to a Rabbi would entitle them to free lodgings in quarters, where, for the time, they would be safe from mad dogs. That Pres- byterian minister, who hung his cat for killing a rat on the Sabbath day, was not near so fervid as the Pharisees. The Lord was to be honored in and through them, and insult to them was the same as impiety towards God. Peter and John, finding themselves within walls, were not disheartened. They even felt happy that they had been thought worthy to suffer for Christ. Neither were they solicitous in regard to what the decision might be. For not to speak of the fact that they were prepared to die, they knew that justice could not be so outraged as to con- demn them without a shadow of reason. Early in the morning there was much activity among the Scribes and Pharisees. Moses Hadder-Scan, surnamed the mouse, on account of his prying and furtive habits, was making himself quite busy hunting up evidence against the Apostles. He went to the high priest to make inquiries about a certain Malchus, who was reported to have had an ear am- putated by a cut from a sabre in the hand of Simon Peter, not many weeks previous. **He is just my man," chuckled the mouse to himself ; "having lost one of his ears, he will try to be avenged by bearing testimony against them." Hadder-Scan, however, did not care, in his heart, whether the Apostles were punished or let go. He had, with all this show of zeal, quite another object in view. ALETHAURION. 163 There was at that time an important vacancy in the city which the high priest had the right to fill. Our friend Hadder thought that, to go and look for Malchus would form an excellent pretext to get better acquainted with the high priest, and thus advance his suit. When he had told his story, the high priest drew his brows tofi^ether, until the skin on the back of his head be- came tight. "My advice to you, sir," said he, ** is to let Malchus alone and mind your own business. It was such other shallow creatures as you ordered the arrest of those men on yesterday ; now the case is worse than ever, for we cannot punish them, and to let them off is to acknowledge a fault. The governor himself is in the city," said the high priest in soliloquy; *' he looks melancholic, as if he fore- boded evil. At present, to attempt their conviction by our own witnesses would be dans^erous." '* Go," said he to the mouse^ "and tell Caiphas and JoHX, and Alexander with the others of the priestly race, that at the third hour the trial will begin." Hadder-Scan bowed himself out, backward, and departed. "I see," said he to himself, "that I made a mistake. I should have waited until after dinner when he is mellow and in good humor — but 1 may succeed yet." At the third hour, the officers, with Annas and Caiphas at their head, were assembled in the judgment hall. The heavy clanking of chains soon announced that the prisoners were also on hand. They were told to be seated, in the center of the semi-circle formed by their judges. As there were no witnesses to be examined, and, it being now fur- thermore evident that nothing could be made out of the case, the High Priest, Annas, for mere formality, asked by whose authority they did these things. This gave Peter an opportunity to preach about the Saviour, whom they had crucified. But they wondered ex- ceedingly that a man, whom they had hitherto regarded as 164 ALETHAURION. uncultured, should now speak so learnedly and with such eloquence. In the meantime the cripple came into the hall of judg- ment, and this filled them with fresh rage. **You may go," said the high priest to them, **this time, but on the next occasion we will not be so indul- gent." ** We make no promises," answered Peter, '*to desist from what we have been doing, for it is expedient that we should obey God rather than you." In our next we will speak about Ananias and Saphira, and make some observations on their conduct. CHAPTER XXXVI. ANANIAS AND SAPHIR/. . Among the shining qualities possessed by the Pharisees and Scribes, about the period when Christianity made its appearance in the world was the following : They were complacent, to even a painful degree, toward the rich, and harsh in proportion to those who were not the favorites of fortune. In recognition of this flattery, they received the backing and support which wealth is able to give, and to neutralize the feelings of meanness which the consciousness of subser- viency produces in the soul of a man, who is not born a serf, they assumed lofty and insolent airs towards the poor. It is true, by far the greater portion of their revenues came from the rank and file, yet^ as the amount contributed by each was but small, no thanks were expected, and none given by the Pharisees. This line of policy, which had been at work for years, produced a disaffected class. The members thereof felt that they had no one to take an interest in their welfare. •^ ALETHAURION. 165 Hence, they were prepared to enlist under the banner of any one who had the force of character necessary to be a leader. There are certain rights, to the loss of which men will become reconciled for a while, the re-acquisition of which they will rarely, if ever, abandon in hope. When those whose duty it is to lead and direct popular aspirations act as mill-dams, the current will finally either pass over them all tosrether, or seek some new channel. The Saviour was the beau-ideal with the class of Jews most despised by the Pharisees. His teachings pleased the people, and they recognized in him what they had sought for in vain among the rulers of the synagogue — a leader worthy of their respect. They followed him in crowds, and it was only by an aberration, altogether human, seconded by the cunning of His enemies, that they were goaded on to call for his cruci- fixion. He upraided the rich because of their pride, and declared that sooner would a camel pass through the eye of a needle, than one of them should enter the kingdom of heaven. The poor appeared to have been his special favorites, and to them he willingly preached his gospel. The Apostles also, following in his footsteps, sought to elevate the masses ; and it so happened that the greater number of those who lent them a willing ear were from the more humble walks of life. There were, however, many, who though possessed of wealth, were yet clean of heart, and these, too, became associated with the faithful. Now, as tyranny and bitterness of spirit were elements that entered largely into the composition of the Pharisees, and as they exercised an extensive patronage, it happened that many, after having embraced Christianity, lost posi- tions from which they had gained a meager yet sufficient livelihood. 166 ALETHAURION. Such a state of affairs brought about the necessity of providing for these indigent members. But the zeal and true Christian charity of those possessed of wealth soon settled the difficulty. They sold their lands and whatever else they had, and having returned, laid the proceeds at the feet of the Apos- tles, to be used for the benefit of the entire community. Now there are a few sects in this State that have no rule of faith to direct their belief and practice but the *« Bible, and the Bible alone." We should very much like to know why these do not carry into execution a custom so evidently apostolic in its origin. Why does not Deacon BuLLFRpa sell his thousand acres of land and divide with Brother Barebones? ^' Aye, there's the rub." Taking the New Testament, without an infallible judge to interpret its sense and meaning, can the sects show that a community of goods is not one of the essentials of Chris- tianity? We think not. Besides the zeal of the first Christians, there was another cause that contributed to the effect spoken of. There was a somewhat vague and undefined belief in the minds of many, that the end of the world was then near at hand. Hence there may have bsen a little of the human commingled with what otherwise mi^jht be res^arded as a heroic act. Under the impression that all things would soon be reduced to nonentity, it probably was not more difficult to resign the goods of this world, than it would have been to a Georgia planter, towards the close of the war, to have sold his cot- ton pickers at half price. This idea of the world's coming to an end, has, more than once, exercised a marked influence over the actions of men. It is related by some writers of the eleventh century, that towards the close of the preceding one, many gave up the active pursuits of life for the seclusion of the monasteries. The thousand years spoken of in the book of Revelation, were evidently about to expire, and a little eloquence, ALETHAURION. 167 coupled with some leaning after pelf, was siiflScient to con- vince the imaginative and timorous that themselves and what they possessed would be safer within the sacred enclosure of a monastery. Even in our day there is not wanting a race of croakers, who speak as confidently on the proximity of the great catas- trophe, as if specially sent of God to announce the fact to men. Not long ago, in a city *' Out West," the members of a sect, known as the Second-Adventists, remained all night in one of their conventicles to receive the Saviour, who, according to a prophet, powerful in word and deed among them, was to make his second appearance that very night, at exactly nineteen minutes past two a. m. It was in the month of August ; and as there were no earthquakes nor roarings of the sea nor flashes of lightning, instead of with- ering away through fear and expectation, the party went into a nap, each on his own responsibility. Nor did they awake until morning put her rosy fingers through the chinks in the walls of the building wherein they slept. That sow that meant to get into the clover-field by creep- ing through a hollow log, and landed in the mule-lot, on ac- count of the log being crooked, was not more surprised at her mistake than were our friends at theirs when morning dawned. But it is not alone fanatical heretics that indulge in such speculations ; their follies we may attribute to the nature of the beast, and pass on. When, however, a Catholic author steps out of the ranks, and gets, like Saul, mixed up with the prophets, the case assumes a different complexion. Not many weeks ago we read a book called ** The Chris- tian Trumpet," the author of which was either too modest or too wise to favor us with his name. We found it there stated, with the utmost gravity, that Antichrist is already born, and at this present writing, must be quite a likely lad. Some old woman over in Italy is said to have got a peep at .168 ALETHAURION. Mm. But, by what means she identified the monster, is not stated. The author further remarks, tliat many of us now living, will, ere we die, see things not pleasant to look at. Such assertions can come only from a disordered brain, and they strongly remind us of the presumption of that old English woman, who in a fit of piety, attempted to fly like an eagle from a second story windts^ but landed head fore- most ill a pile of ashes — ^^spraining ooth ankles by the con- cussion. She has since come to the conclusion that flying is either one of the lost arts, or that the Church of England is not of a character to encourage such exercise. Ananias and Saphira were also under the impression that the world would soon have come to an end ; but they did not feel quite as sure of it as the English hag did of her ca- pacity to navigate in air. Hence, they did not like to risk too much on the event. Having sold their possession Ananias brought a part of the proceeds to Peter, and gave the rest to Saphira, to keep. Peter knew, by divine relation, the agreement they bad made, and as an example to all future generatiotv.s, he slew them for lying to the Holy Ghost. Our next will embrace the public acts of St. Peter, from the death of Saphira to the raisino^ of Tabitha to life. CHAPTEE XXX Vn. tabitha. In our last we saw how Ananias and Saphira were snuffed out by St. Peter for having lied to the Holy Spirit. Their's was a case of simple pusillanimity. They wished the cause success, but on account of the littleness of their souls, they were afraid to risk what they had in the move- ment. ALETHAURION. 169 The Fathers of the Church are of opinion, that the trans- gression did not amount to more than a venial sin, at most. Hence, having come to an untimely end here, we may pre- sume that, with a little scorching for good measure sake in the other world, both escaped that eternal punishment due only to mortal sin. Heretics, of course, will not agree with us in this lenient interpretation. As they do not admit the existence of a Purgatory, they must hold that the soul of AxAXiAS sped on its way, like a bomb from a Krupp gun, to the bosom of Beelzebub. But let us try to find out a reason why the hand of the Lord was laid so heavily on these two unfortunate people. Judas betrayed the Saviour, and yet was allowed to live until he put an end to his own wretched life with a rope. Annas and Caiphas suborned false witnesses against the Just One, and their envy was not quenched in g*)re. The city of Jerusalem failed to rejoice in the day of its visita- tion, yet many years had passed ere the Roman soldier wr-eathed its temple with flames. Why were Ananias and Saphira struck down at once, when others, far more guilty, were allowed to escape? The providence of God in the government of this world, is certainly a great mystery. But, may we not say that He often strikes the less guiljty in the eyes of men, and then saves them before the angels, in order to warn the 'more hardened that they may repent and have life ? Ananias and Saphira have been regarded by spiritual writers as types of those who conceal their mortal sins in confession. By telling a lie to the Holy Ghost, the latter also bring upon themselves a spiritual death, which is that of the soul. Not long after the events related above, news came to the Apostles in Jerusalem, that many of the inhabitants of Sa- maria had, through the preaching of Philip the deacon, em- braced Christianity, and Peter and John were sent by the 1 70 ALETHAURION . other Apostles to lay hands upon, that is to confirm, those whom Philip had baptized. Those who deny that St. Peter received from the Saviour a jurisdiction over the entire Church, make capital of the fact, stated in chapter viii, 14, Acts, viz : that the Apostles sen^ Peter and John. He who has the right to 5en(7 an- other on an errand of , any kind, say they, is superior in, authority to the one sent. The Apostles sent Peter and John, therefore, etc. We will endeavor to knock the loo^ic out of the foresoinoj syllogism, when w^e come to speak of the primacy of Peter. Let it suffice for the present, to have called attention to the fact. The next glimpse we get at the Prince of the Apos- tles, through the earliest records on these subjects, repre- sents him to us at Lydda, in the house of one Eneas, whom he raised, miraculously, from a bed to which he had been confined for eight years with the palsy. Just here while speaking of these miracles performed by the Apostles, we may ask ourselves the question, whether the power of working them was given in such a manner that it could be exercised at any time, and under all circum- stances ; or was there a special illumination required for each particular case. No doubt a great deal may be said on one §ide and on the other of this question. The very fact that their shadows in passing were known to have cured the infirm, would seem to indicate the pres- ence of a power of that kind permanently abiding with them. Such also appears to have been the belief of the faithful who lived in the days of the Apostles. They ap- pealed to them for relief from their infirmities, with what appears to have been an entire and perfect confidence. This is very strikingly illustrated by the following cir- cumstances : At Joppe, a town of considerable size, situated on the seacoast of Palestine, there lived, in the days of the Apostles, a certain woman, a believer, named Tabitha. ALETHAURION. 171 This woman was wealthy and she freely expended no incon- siderable portion of her revenues in works of charity. She did not, however, go around like some of our modern Dor- cases, seeking audiences of St. Peter, and then get some slippery Dick to publish abroad the fact, to let the world know how important she was. The praises of Tabitha were principally in the mouths of the widows and orphans whom she had clothed and supported. The poor did not find out from the Apostles what a good woman she was, because in doing charity she sought only the glory of God, and carefully avoided all worldly noto- riety. But even the just and holy must, after a time, go the way of all flesh. Tabitha, or Dorcas as she was sometimes called, having ran her godly race, was numbered with the dead. A crowd of weeping friends lingered at her bedside ; one closed her sightless eyes, another prayed for her eternal re- pose, a third laid the cross upon her breast. Sadness had taken possession of all, until some one announced that Peter was in Lydda, and that he had cured Eneas of the palsy. A messenger was at once dispatched, with the request that he would come to Joppe. On his arrival many poor and helpless widows brought to him the coats and garments which Dorcas had made them, with the request, that he would again raise her to life. He yielded to their entreaties, and having ordered all to retire from the room, knelt down and prayed that God, for His own greater glory and for the exaltation of His Son's name, would send back the spirit to repossess its earthly casket. His prayer was answered and Tabitha restored to weeping friends, who now for joy wept all the more. The circumstance of Peter's requesting the others to withdraw, and of his praying before proceeding to work the miracle, may tend to make us believe that even the Apostles did not feel within themselves an abiding power to perform 172 ALETHAURION. miracles ; but that in each particular case they awaited a special permission and inspiration of the Holy Ghost. Yet, of one thing we are quite certain, that there is no case on record where an Apostle willed to do a miraculous work without having had his wish granted. ** Whatever you shall ask the Father in my name, He will give it to you/' John XV, 16. The conversion of Cornelius will be our next subject. CHAPTER XXXVIII. CORNELIUS. There are few things so flattering to man's pride as dominion over others. It pleases corrupt human nature to have it to say to one's self, I am above such and such persons ; and no matter what they may do that is good or glorious, still the law recognizes me as their superior in social life, or at least their equal. Such reflections have, no doubt upheld the courage of many a princely dunce ; may be, lessened his envy. The tenacity with which the slave-holder in the South clung to Sambo is evidence enough of the truth we have laid down. It was not so much because the black was valuable as a farm hand that he was prized ; no, it was because it flattered his master's pride to see creatures like himself tremble when he whistled. The average revival nigger, before the war, stole more in bacon and chickens than his wages now would suffice to buy. We speak here of course of those bhicks who are not in "Con.irress, nor appointed to agencies by the Government. The persistency with which men seek authority over others, and the tenacity with which they hold on to it, is often mysterious, sometimes ridiculous. There lives in the town of , in this State, a dry goods ALETHAUBION. 173^ merchant, who, on a certain day during the past summer, desired to have cut, for cooking stove purposes, a few cords of wood that lay in the alley behind his residence. He procured the services of an African gentleman of the purest blood, with large white eyes, and lips that might lead the casual observer to suspect that he had passed the previous night in a bee-hive. Sam agreed to cut and split the wood for a certain consideration, part in money, and the rest in calico for his wife, Dinah. Now there lived in that same town, at the time we are speaking of, a good, industrious Englishman, who went by the name of John Bull. Bull was a jack of all trades, and did choring around hotels, saloons and barber shops, to the great pleasure and entire satisfaction of his employ- ers. John was, in fact, a reliable draughthorse, and had none of that skittishness and uncertainty peculiar to the racer, about him. He came across the black, and made a trade, by which Sam was to give him twenty-five cents more for cutting the wood than he had himself agreed to do it for. Cliff Sutherland, another African, overheard the trade, and reproached Sam with being such a fool. Sam thought he had done a wise thing nevertheless. *'You nappy-headed nigger," said he to Cliff, <'you don't know nothin' ; ain't it worth more'n a quarter to sit in the shade and boss a white man." This principle, expressed by the darkey in such forcible terms, has been taken advantage of by the witty and the wise of every age. Romulus, the founder of Rome, with that intuitive know- ledge of human nature peculiar to all great men, was not slow in turning it to account. When the gang of robbers, of which he was chief, had, to some extent, laid aside their predatory habits and began a more settled mode of life, in order to strengthen his own authority, and give greater 174 ALEtHA URION . stability to his government, he divided the people into two distinct classes. A difficulty met him at the very threshold, shortly after having conceived this idea. As all taken together were nothing but a lot of thieves and cut -throats, he found it not an easy task to discover where to draw the line of demarkation. His genius, how- ever was equal to the occasion ; and he chose out the biggest rascals and most rapacious scoundrels, and called them patricians. Only those who were thought incapable of giving annoyance were left among the plebians. Romulus thought of governing the State through the patricians or privileged class, and in this he succeeded well for a time ; but, in the end, it proved detrimental to the peace and happiness of the republic. He had vast power of organization, and, if his moderation had been on a par with his general ability, he would not have come to a violent death. But we are drifting from our subject ; let us, therefore, return once more. Among those selected to be patricians there was one family, or geMS, as it is called in the Latin language, that from the very beginning, appeared to have been above most, if not all, others. It was the Cornelian gens. To write its history would be the same as to go over again the palmiest days of the Roman republic. It was a member of this celebrated family that set limits to the pretensions of Car- thage, and defeated Hannibal, her best and bravest general, on the plains of Zama. But, at the time of which we are now speaking, a great deal of the ancient glory of the Cornelian gens had departed. Many who bore that proud name were willing to accept the position of even centurion in the Roman armies. The higher offices were, as a matter of course, filled by the members of the Julian family, and by their friends or favorites. Cornelius, the subject of our present paper, gladly left ALETHAURION. 175 the capital, where all was vice and venality, to take com- mand of one of the Roman garrisons in Palestine. He was one of the gens Cornelia, which fact was, at this time, rather prejudicial than otherwise to his advancement. But he sought not worldly renown. After a residence of some years in Palestine, he gained a knowledge of the true God, whose will he greatly desired to know more perfectly, in order that he might worship Him in spirit and in truth. His prayers were at length heard and his good deeds rewarded. As he sat in his house, there appeared to him one afternoon at three o'clock, an angel of the Lord, who bade him send for one Simon Peter, who lived in Joppe, and that from him he should learn what to do in order to be saved. Peter, in the meantime, had been admonished by the vision of clean and unclean beasts, that the Gentiles were made co-partners with the Jews in the redepiption purchased by the Saviour, and consequently might be received into the Church. In this conversion of Cornelius, we have an answer given to a question that is sometimes asked by the unrea- soning and unreflecting, viz : What is the use for Protestants to do any good works in this life? They will all be lost any how, for they have not faith, without which it is impossible to please God. We may reply : True, if they remain in heresy they will be lost, but by their good works God may be moved to open their eyes to their errors, and bring them, in His mercy, to the knowledge of the entire truth, as He did Cornelius, who was probably not nearly so well instructed in regard to the things of the next world as the majority of heretics appear to be. Hence, though heretics should obstinately refuse t© em- brace the truth when presented to them, it is still right and proper to exhort them to the practice of good works. And many, no doubt, of those who yearly enter the true fold 176 ALETHAURION. are brought around more on account of some good deeds they have performed than by the eloquence or logic of those who preach to them. In our next we will go as far as St. Peter's journey to the City of the Seven Hills. CHAPTER XXXIX. HEROD. In our last we spoke of the conversion of Cornelius. He was the first of the Gentiles who had the happiness of being received into the true Church. With all the preju- dices of early training resting on his shoulders, he had never- theless, the courage and the manhood to throw aside the vain trumpery of paganism and embrace the truth when pre- sented to him. Cornelius paved the way to his conversion by a good life. And it is highly probable that he was the friend of God, that is, free from mortal sin, even before he had seen Peter. His conversion to the true faith appears to have been easily brought about. Though, no doubt, a man of considerable learning for those times, with a just appreciation of the ancient glory of his ancestors, and of his own standing in society, yet we do not read that he had any considerable dis- cussion with Peter, on the relative merits of Paganism and Christianity. An heretical village cobbler would give an archbishop more trouble at the present day, to convince him of the truth of the Catholic religion, than Cornelius gave Peter. When we consider the fact, that at the time of which we are speaking, the Komans had, by their valor in war and wisdom in peace, become masters of the whole world, or at least of all that was worth possessing of it, we can hardly over-rate the nobility of Cornelius' character. For, by ALETHAURION. 177 this one act, he cut himself off from past and glorious tra- ditions, and from all hope of future promotion. The Romans despised the Jews, more probably than they did any of the nations that had ever succumbed to their arms. And as the distinction between the early followers of the Saviour and the Jews was not very clearly defined, the fact of a man of patrician rank becoming a Christian was tanta- mount to a voluntaiT degradation of himself in the eyes of his countrymen. But what Corj^elius lost in the estima- tion of his cotemporaries has been abundantly restored by the common consent of the good and wise for the past eighteen centuries. What a contrast have we not presented to our eyes, be- tween his lif'e and heroism, and that of the cowardly sneak and lackey, whose name stands at the head of this chapter. Herod was in every way the opposite of Cornelius. Base of instinct, and a swine in gluttony, his elevation to power, if not a freak of fortune, may be taken as an evidence of political corruption. He was neither a Roman nor a Jew, but he had the arrogance of the one and the sordid avarice and bitterness of the other. He had, besides, a species of low vulpine cunning, which those flatterers that he kept about him, called genius, and in which he did himself take great delight. The fact that God sometimes permits wretches, like Herod, to appear in His name here on earth, and exercise power which is from Him, may have a tendency to make thos€ that have not the faith, disbelievers in a direct pro- vidence. Bad or incompetent rulers will, no doubt, have a meaning in our eyes, when, in another life they are opened more fully, and are permitted to see more cleai-ly the de- signs of God here below ; but at present it would be a vain task, and full of risk to attempt to state, in express terms, the whys and wherefores of their being. Whether it is the wish of the Supreme Being that men should endure a worthless ruler, is also a question that 178 ALETHAURION . might challenge inspection. When the Tarquins of Rome proved themselves unfit for their position, the people arose and drove them out, and posterity has regarded this act as not only justifiable, but even glorious. When Louis XVI and the nobility of France, had carried their empty pride and conceit to such an extent that the peasantry were, in some cases, not allowed to manure their lands lest it might interfere with the flavor of the quails and partridges, on which the nobility feasted, they experienced a fall ; and others more worthy to rule took their places. We have no hesitancy in saying, that when a ruler has clearly demonstrated his incompetence, it is not only a privilege, but may sometimes become even a duty, that the people over whom he rules should require his abdication. The divine right of a king, or of anyone else, to do wrong, is very justly regarded as a silly assumption ; and that for- bearance that stands, with folded arms, while a tyrant or a fool is making havoc with what men do, and ought to regard as dear in this world, may be esteemed as one of the virtues of a slave. When a king, like the present ruler of Italy, proves himself to be first a robber, and second, the friend and protector of error in some of its most malignant forms, we do not esteem it a paradox to say, that the good and true among his subjects could lawfully unite, and bring to bear upon him a moral pressure that would force him to resio:n a throne that he has disijraced. But, as it has been in the past, so it is likely to be in the future — lazy pol- troons will still put off until the day of judgment the settlement of grievances that ought to be choked on this side of the tomb. The facts of history, which are the footprints of the Almighty, show that God does not often come, in a direct manner, to the aid of 'those who receive upon their necks, without a struggle, the yoke of injustice. If the millions of India had arisen years ago, and had driven Warren, Hastings, Clive, and their followers into the sea, or had ALETHAURION. 179 smothered them in the Ganges, they would not have had to witness the dissrustins: sio^ht of seeins: their w^omen draofsed by the hair of their heads through the streets of Calcutta, by the red-faced and thick-necked minions of the nation of shop-keepers. But, may be wicked rulers are given to worthless people ; and it is only on this hypothesis that we can explain the fact that our Herod, the lineal descendant of his grandfather, who killed all the children in Bethle- hem, -got astride of a throne. He was, in a manner, worthy of the degenerate race of Jews that lived in his day. Having had in himself nothing magnanimous, nor capable of winning the respect of the people, he sought their forbearance by making war on the Apostles, and other early followers of the Saviour. Th^re appears, under certain circumstances, to bo a kind of sympathy between thieves, that we cannot easily explain, but it is a fact nevertheless. Herod and the Pharisees got as thick as pick-pockets, and apparently, as sincere in their friendship as two retired merchants, who had both been recognized college dunces in their youth. Herod's first act, by which he hoped to please the Pharisees, was the murder of James the Apostle, and seeing that he had suc- ceeded well, he next arrested Peter and cast him into prison, intending, when the proper time came, to treat him as he had James. But Peter's day had not come ; he had yet great labors to perform, great enemies to subdue ; he had yet to visit that mighty city which had sent its conquer- ing legions to the ends of the earth, and preach the name of Jesus of Nazareth where the capitol raised its proud head, crowned with the laurels of centuries. In our next we will accompany him to the city of the Caesars. GETHSEMANI ABBEY, 6ETHSEMAN1.P.0, KY. 180 ALETHAURIONc CHAPTEKXL. THE TBIUMPHANT ENTRY OF THE WORD INTO BABYLON. When, in 1870, Generals Cadorna, Bixo, and other small heroes of young Italy led a portion of Victor Emanuel's army through the breach at Porta Pi a, they brought with them, or there followed soon after, a number of those who had been exiled for their wickedness by the government of Pius IX. Along with these came also many others, who regarded Rome, under the Pope, as not a safe place to ped- dle around their infidel nonsense, or make a display of their immorality. Among the latter was that incorrigible apostate, the noto- rious Father Gavazzi. He also came through the breach at Porta Pia, but in a manner altogether novel and peculiar. He lead over the ruins with a halter at a slow pace, a huge, ungainly jack, laden with bibles in panniers, one on each side. Some heretical ministers followed the donkey on foot singing psalm^. At the interludes they turned up the whites of their eyes and spoke of this as the triumphal entry of the Word into Babylon. A large concourse of half grown boys and some roughs brought up the rear. The children had tin pans which they beat with dexterity and the roughs had small bugles which they sounded at inter- vals. As soon as this noisy crew had passed within the gates of the city, the police, as a matter of course, dispersed the rabble. They threatened the children with stripes and the jail and took their bugles away from some of the others, whose ears they boxed as mementoes of the occasion. Gavazzi, the donkey and the preachers were allowed to ALETHAURION 181 continue their march without further molestation, by way of Monte Cavallo, as far as the Piazza Navona. Piazza Navona is the largest market place in the city and enjoys a reputation for chaste and temperate language, sim- ilar to that of Billingsgate, in London. Here the donkey bucked his panniers and began to grow obstinate. One fishmonger accused another of having poked the animals in the ribs as he passed by the stall. The bibles were picked up and distributed gratuituously to all who showed the least anxiety to receive them. By far the greater part was taken immediately, or afterwards bought up from children, for a copper or two, by those who sold maccaroni, ciambelle, or soap in small quantities. We may observe here, in passing, that the Romans have a great respect for the scriptures ; but they do not, any more than we, regard it as a desecration to turn to profane uses, those corrupt versions of the bible, which heretics scatter around, in order to deceive the unwary. A garbled copy of the scriptures, such as heretics use, is not the word of God. Gavazzi, seeing that he had failed in creating, by his bible demonstration, even a respectable ripple on the placid surface of Roman society, looked around for some new rsource of excitement. He could not take up the doctrine of indulgences, for Luther had exhausted the subject ; and the world had become as tired of his mouthings as an old circus man of the extravagant pranks and stale jokes of the clown. The doctrine of the temporal power of the Popes was not in the programme just then ^ for those in authority, whom Gavazzi greatly respected, wished for no discussion on the subject. He shied around for a time, waiting for some- t thing to turn up. Finally a bright idea presented itself. " I will deny," said he, " that St. Peter was ever in Rome and that will arouse them if anything under the moon is Sipable of doing it." 182 ALETHAURION. The next day, in some of the most frequented places in the city, there was to be found a challenge, in large letters, to the cardinals, bishops and priests, of the city of Rome. It was to the effect that, Gavazzi was ready to discuss pub- licly, with any. one of the aforesaid, the historical question as to whether the Apostle Peter was ever in the city of Rome or not. Our Holy Father, Prus IX, soon after the discussion, refuted, by one sentence, the assumptions of Gavazzi, more effectively than his opponents had done with all their weight of learning. ** I am," said Pius IX, *' the successor of St. Peter, Prince of the Apostles." His pre- decessors, for eighteen centuries, past, had made the same declaration ; and the writer of this confesses that, never before, did the importance of asserting a great truth strike him with such force , As bur efforts, in these papers, are for the benefit of the rank and file, it may not be out of place; to state wherein consists the importance of this question. The coming of Peter to Rome, and* his death there, as bishop of the cit|^- are what theologians call dogmatic facts; that is, they are not simple historical facts, such as that Brutus killed Caesar, Napoleon died in exile, or that Grant owned a pair of bull- dogs. A (iogmatic.fact., is one so intimately connected with a doctrine of the Church, that, if one should succeed in prov- ing the assumed fact untrue, the doctrine or doctrines founded on it would also become untenable. Now, the Pope of Rome claims a primacy, not only of honor but also of jurisdiction, in matters appertaining to faith and morals, over the entire Church. That is, he as- sumes the right to make laws for the government, in spirit- ual matters, of all baptized persons throughout the whole world. This he claims on the ground that he, as bishop of Rome,, is the successor of ' Peter, to whom our Saviour gave the powers alluded to,^to be used by him, and by his successors in office, for all time. Now it is evident, that, if Peter never came to Rom^ ALETHAURION ^ 183 Pius IX would have no more right to call himself Petee's successor than the King of the Cannibal Isle^ to pretend that he is the successor of General Washington, first Presi- dent of the tFnited States. Consequently with the disproval of the fact, all the -claims and pretensions of the Pope of Rome would vanish, at once , into the air. It would be like breaking the main pipe just at the water- works ; like a Turkish bath to a collier ; or a swim in the surf at Long Branch to a white-washed African. The reader may now see more clearly what Gavazzi was aiming at. In order to add greater importance to the dis- cussion, he procured the services of two straggling preachers, named Sciarelli and Cipolla. Gavazzi 'knew, as a matter of course, from the start, that he had no chance of succeeding ; especially in a city like Rome, where there are men who have explored every nook and corner of history and theology. But, he thought it im- probable that any one would even mke the pains to demol- ish him. Then he could boast that he had challenged Rome, and Rome was afraid to pick up the gauntlets. In case of acceptance, he hoped by swagger and effrontery, to save appearances, in one or two speeches, and then wriggle out of the difficulty. In our next we will see more about the interesting §cri*nmage. * <•,. '■ CHAPTER XLI. THE SCRI3«OIAGE. As soon as the fact had become generally known that Gavazzi had challenged the clergy of Rome to dispute on the subject of the coming of Peter to the city, the number of those who showed a willingness to buckle on the sword was simply immense. 184 AT.ETHAURION. These were, however, principally from the younger por- tion of the ciergy ; each of whom, no doubt, thought that this would be an easy way of gaining an honorable promi- nence among his cotemporaries. There was an evident itch- ing among the young folks to knock the horns off an old stag like Gavazzi. But there was another question also to be taken in con- sideration. Would it be the proper thing to give such a man the honor of even demolishing him, under the circum- stances. Cardinal Axtoxelli and others, distinguished no less for learning than piety, were of the opinion that Gavazzi should be treated with silent contempt. All that he could say on the subject had been answered dozens of times already ; and Gavazzi knew it. Hence, it appeared to some, that it would be giving him undue promi- nence to take any notice whatever of him. On the other hand, as above stated, there were not a few, of the more youthful of the clergy, who were actually spoiling for a clip at the old buck. They looked on it as a piece of degeneracy, to let a donkey beard the lion in his den, without leaving him, for future reference, some me- mento of his foolhardiness. Thus a pressure was brought to bear on the Holy Father, by which he consented to let the dispute take place. Father Fabiaxi, a distinguished Roman priest, with two others, represented the Catholic side ; and Gavazzi, with his brace of preachers, stood up for the opposition ; Scia- RELLi opened the discussion, with a series of what logicians call negative arguments. That is he attempted to show various data that Peter could not have been in Rome at the time Catholics maintain he was. These arguments were all taken, substantially at least, from a work published at Turin, in the year 1861, by an anonymous author — no doubt an apostate, or one on the road to apostacy. Shortly after the work spoken of, had seen the lisjht, it was taken up paire by page and refuted in - . ■ . ALETHAURION. 185 a most learned and satisfactory manner, by tke celebrated Jesuit theoloofian, Father Perkoxe. Hence Sciarelli, who had read both the works and its refutation, knew very well from the start, how the discus- sion was going to end. Fabiaxi replied to the heretic, by bringing to bear on him some facts of history, that were unanswerable ; and finished his discourse by brushing away, as if they had been col)webs, those little chronological difficulties that constituted his stock and trade. The whole affair might remind one of two amateur chess- players, going through again, for amusement sake, one of Morphy's celebrated continental games ; where each move and reply are already known to both players ; because writ- ten on the book before them. The discussion ended where it had begun. There was no additional light thrown on the subject. The question, in fact, is one about which there can really, among men of learning, be no dispute at the present day. It has long since been settled for good. However, for the instruction or amusement of the reader, we propose to go over it again ; and give the reasons, taken from sacred and profane history, which go to show that Peter not only came to Rome, but that he died there, as bishop of the city. The first man who ever denied it was Marsilius Menan- DRiNUS, a native of Padua, in Italy. He lived in the begin- ning of the fourteenth century ; and was condemned, for this and other errors, by Pope John XII, in the year 1327. About the same time Johx Janduxus, also an Italian, and a native of Perugia, fell into the same errors, and was like- wise condemned. These two men were politicians rather than theologians, and more attached to the philosophy of Aristotle than to the teachings of the Saviour. It was not out of love for truth they wrote, but rather with the view of gaining favor % 186 ALETHAUEION. with Louis, the Duke of Bavaria, who was, at the time^ head of a schism and at war with the Pope. From the death of these two lights to the time of Luther, there was no other person found reckless enough to deny this truth. From the sixteenth to the eighteenth century many Protestant writers labored strenuously to prove Peter was never in Rome. The most celebrated of these was Fred- erick Spanler, a German, who showed considerable research in a dissertation, entitled, " About rashly believing that the Apostle Peter came to Rome." Towards the beginning of the eighteenth century, the face of things became entirely changed. Protestant authors of any name, not only ceased to contend against the truth, but willingly confessed that it was useless to impugn it. Amono^ those who have made the foreo^oins: admission, we may mention Pearson, in his book on the succession of Roman Pontiffs, chap. 6 ; Willia31 Cave, George Vale- sius. Hist, of the Church, first century ; Samuel Basxage, Ecclesiastical Annals, year 64. Let it suffice to srive from these heretical authors a single quotation, which is from the one last mentioned. Basnage says : "Neither has there ever been a tradition supported by a greater number of witnesses than that Peter came to Rome ; the fact cannot be denied without tearing up the very foundations of history." We do not, of course, take at par, what heretics have to say on questions of history and theology ; we know how their brilliant imaginations run far ahead of the order of events, and how they are disposed to mistake future contin- gents for past facts. All these things are well kno\vn to us. But when one of their number, like Basxage, shows some research, we may be permitted to give what little he has grubbed up, by way of confirming what we already know from orthodox writers. CHAPTER XLII. ALETHAURION. 187 In our next we will take up and examine the earliest records on this interesting subject. FOSSILS. ^^ "Cin^r After having spoken in the last chapter of how the apostate Gavazzi was picked off his high trotting horse, in the passage at arms between him and Father Fabiani, we deem it expedient before descending into the pits of ancient history and tradition, to make a few observations on what has already been said. First of all, let it be observed that fully thirteen centuries had passed into the ocean of years, before any one thought of questioning the fact that Peter came to Rome, and was crucified there. During all that time, the Popes, one after another, had declared themselves his successors, and Chris- tendom nodded the head in acknowledment of the fact. Is it likely that such a declaration would have passed unchallenged for so many ages, if it had not had upon its forehead the mark of truth? Is it conceivable that the Greeks and other Oriental schismatics would have passed by unnoticed, a point in theology that would have served their purpose to a nicety ? Yet, though the Greek schismatics have had among them such men as Photius, Michael Cerularius, and others, distinguished no less for their hatred of Rome than for their general depravity, still the fact stands out in bold relief, that not one of them ever thought of opposing the Pope, on the plea that he had usurped the title of the ''successor of the Prince of the Apostles." It is a circumstance worthy of consideration that Marsi- lius Paduanus and Johx Jaxdunus, who were the first to denv that Peter came to Rome, were both tainted with 188 ALETHAURION. schism. Moreover, all they have to say on the subject when taken apart and examined critically, does not appear to have much solidity in it. Neither Marsilius nor John brought forward any public document^ nor other monuments from antiquity, in support of their views. Hence we may treat them as we do Gavazzi and others of his ilk, at the present day. Possession is nine points in law ; and the Eoman Church is to-day, and has been for eighteen centuries, in possession of the fact that St. Peter was the first bishop of the city. Whoever should desire to invalidate her claims must brin2: forward reasons that will bear to be examined by sun-light. This has never been done, and until some new and hitherto unheard of documents are discovered, it cannot be. As well might one attempt to pulvei-ize the rock of Gibraltar, by pitching nutmegs at it, as try to disprove, in the light of such historical evidence to the contrary, that St. Peter came to Rome. But let us begin with our positive proofs taken from traditions and from authentic history. Those of our readers who have visited the Eternal City may remember to have seen the Church of St. Paul, outside the walls, on the Ostian Way. After having admired the altar, built of alabaster, mal- achite and other rare stones, as also the forest of marble columns that so much attract the eye of the tourist, they may remember to have noticed about half way between the floor and ceiling, a number of portraits, all in mosaic. The first of these has under it the inscription St. Petrus, and the last, Pius IX. These are, in fact, the portraits of all the Roman Pontiffs from St. Peter to Pius IX. Whether good ones or not, does not interfere with our pres- ent argument. The writer could judge of the correctness of one only, and he feels justified in saying that it is cer- tainly capital. Now, this series of portraits we know, as a matter of au- thentic history, was begun during the pontificate of Pope ALETHAURION. 18f^ Leo I, suriiamed the Great, who was born in Rome about the year 390,. and died in the same city, April 11, 461. Here we have, at once, a pretty respectable antiquity es- tablished for the belief that Peter came to Rome. We are not ignorant of the fact, however, that a few days before the death of Pope Pius VII, which happened in the year 1823, the above named church was burned to the ground, in consequence of the carelessness of some workmen employed in repairing its roof ; yet we know also that the portraits were again restored, as nearly as possible, as they had been before the conflagration. Here then we have, in these portraits alone, an historical monument that fixes and makes certain the fact that, in the city of Rome in the year 490, there was a firm belief that Peter was the first Pope. But did the belief in this com- mence at that time? It is quite evident to any one, not an idiot, that if the Popes had begun so late to pretend they were the successors of Peter, some one would have been found who would have exploded the whole thing as an inno- vation. Suppose that General Grant should declare publicly that he is the successor in office of NapOleon ; would not the people come to the conclusion, at once, that too much old rye had made him cracked ? It would have been just so in the days of Leo I, if there had not been a belief among the peo- ple, to the effect that he was the successor of Peter. As the existence of the round towers, in Ireland, is proof of an advanced state of civilization in that island at a period more remote than that to which our present histories go, so the presence of a series of portraits of the Popes, with Peter at the head, in one of the Roman Churches, indicates a belief in the public mind that he was there at a time pre- vious to the commencement of said series. We finish the present chapter with a quotation from the catalogue of Roman Pontiffs, published during the pontifi- cate of Pope LiBERius. In this we read the following words : 190 ' ALETHAURION. " Peter reigned 25 years. 1 month and 9 days. He lived in the time of Tiberius C^sar, and of Caius Caligula, and of Tiberius Clau- dius, and of Xero. He suffered martyrdom, along Avith Paul, on the third day before the kalends of July (29th June,) under the consuls afore- said, Xero being emperor.*' In our next we will explain the entire significance of this quotation. CHAPTEE XLIII LIBEKIUS. Pope LiBERius began his pontificate on the 22d of May, in the year 352, and continued to steer the bark of Peter until the 24th day of September, A. D. 366. He then took leave of the things of this world, and went to receive what he deserved in that other state of existence, to which popes, kings, emperors, and all of us, are marching with solemn and certain tread. LiBERius was held up by those who denied papal infallibil- ity, as an example of a Pope who fell into error, by ap- proving of the Arian heresy. The learned and profound BossuET tried, in his day, to make as much out of the case as he possibly could, in favor of Gallicanism. But that great and good man was, in this particular in- stance, laboring under a delusion. He confessed, however, to his secretary, towards the end of his life, that, notwith- standing he had studied the question thoroughly, still, he did not find any thing in the case of Pope Liberius that was entirely satisfactory, or a convincing proof to his own mind, that the Pope in question had really endorsed the Arian heresy. What we desire to call particular attention to, is the cata- logue of the Popes, published during the reign of the in- dividual of whom we are speaking. This catalogue is noth- ing more nor less than a list of all the Popes up to that ALETHAURION. • 191 time, with a short account of what each did, or had done to him. In this document we find it stated that Peter, the first on the list, was Bishop of Rome 25 years, 1 month and 9 days ; that he was put to death on the same day with Paul, during the reign of the emperor Neeo ; and in it Liberius, whose name occurs last on the list, declares himself succes- sor of St. Peter, Prince of the Apostles. This testimony is more ancient, by fifty years, than that of which we spoke in the last chapter, viz : the series of portraits in the Ostian basilica. But, we have not yet, by any means, got to the end of those testimonies that ancient writers have seen fit to leave us on this interesting subject, ^^either will we have finished until we shall have heard from the mouth of Peter himself a full confession of the fact. Our next argument we take from a tradition, altogether special from the city of Rome. There has been among the Romans, from the very earliest times, a tradition, to the effect that the Evangelist Mark wrote his gospel in their city ; and having been the interpreter of Peter, put on parchment simply what he had heard from the Apostle. We give as vouchers for the existence of such a tradition, the following names, Irexeus, Against Heresies, book ii, chap- ter 8. He w^as bishop of Lyons, and, having suffered mar- tyrdom at quite an advanced* age, in the year 202, we may regard what he has said as almost coming from the mouths of the Apostles themselves. He was, in fact, the disciple of PoLYCARP, who was the disciple of St. John, the Evan- gelist ; hence, he had a good opportunity of knowing some- thing about the labors and voyages of St. Peter, and the talk of the town concerning him. Tertullian, who lived for a long time at Rome, in book iv, chapter 5, Against Marcion^ bears testimony to the exis- tence of the same belief, among the people. EusEBius, the Church Historian, in book iii, chapter 39, is another witness to the existence of the aforesaid tradition. 192 ALETHAURION. Now, admitting that the Saviour lived here on earth, as is generally supposed, about thirty-three years, and that St. Peter, before coming to Eome, was bishop of Antioch fur a period of seven years ; taking the testimonies of Irexeus and Tertulliax as belonging to about the middle of the second century, we have the duration of this oral tradition narrowed down to little more than a hundred years. Is it, then, anything wonderful that the Christians of Rome should have kept alive, by oral tradition, for so short a period, the knowledge of so important a fact as the coming of St. Peter among them, and of his labors as first bishop of the city ? Let us suppose that some grand duke, or earl, should visit the United States this centennial year, and, in the course of his peregrinations through the buildings at Phila- delphia, should happen to ask the average Yankee lad, who the first President of the United States was. The boy would most likely " guess" and '' calculate" that this tassel of royalty did not know much anyhow. Then he would say to him : '* My dear fellow, here, in America, we are taught by our mothers these primary facts of history, while we are yet nothing but pug-nosed babies." The Roman matron, also, told her boy of how the first and greatest of the Apostles came to the city, and, how, after twenty-five years of labors and dangers, he was at last so narrowly pressed by the spies of the emperor, that he sought safety by flying at night from the city. She took him outside the walls to the spot where that same Apostle, in his flight saw, by the uncertain light of the moon, the shadowy figure of a man bearing on his shoulders a heavy cross, and explained to him, that here words were spoken which convinced Peter that the time had come, when he was to seal with his blood as a testimony for all coming gene- rations, the truth of what he himself had taught the Ro- mans, and of what, in the persons of his successors, he was to teach the entire world. ALEXHAURION. 193 Tradition on doctrinal points is not always reliable, unless, as in the case of the Catholic Church, there be a living teaching, infallible authority, to keep it pure. But, on ques- tions of fact, of public importance, and for a comparatively short time, the testimony of an entire city may be regarded as satisfactory. We conclude this chapter with an extract from the writ- ings of St. Jerome, who died, at an extreme old age, in the year 420. He was reputed the most learned man of his day, and was consulted by even one of the Popes. In his work, On illustrious Men, chapter 8, we read the following: " Mark, the disciple and interpreter of Peter, having been asked by the bretliren at Rome, wrote a short gospel, putting on record those things which he had heard from Peter. On hearing which, Peter tip- proved his gospel and gave it, on his authorty, to be read in the Churches." This quotation goes to establish more firmly all we have said on the subject of the special tradition among the Ro- mans, that Peter came to their city. We could give other testimonies from the ancient Fathers, but let those we have selected suffice for the present. In our next we will prove from the scriptures themselves what we have in this chapter established by tradition only. CHAPTER XLIV. BABYLON, Take down your bible and look at verse 13, chap, v, of Peter's first epistle. There you will read the following words ! ' " The Church which is in Babylon, elected together, saluteth you ; and so does my son Mark." This is the passage of scripture to which we alluded to in the last chapter. By it is established, beyond all^cavil, the fact that the Prince of the Apostles not only came to Rome 194 ALETH AURION . but that he gave his first instruction in writing to the faith- ful from that renowned metropolis, then of paganism, now of true Christianity. But let us proceed slowly, and speak first of Babylon, in the literal sense, and then we will better understand the full drift of our text. Babylon is the name of a city renowned in sacred and profane history ; it was situated on both sides of the Euplirates, about three hundred miles above its junction with the Tigris. Its founder was Nimrod, the great-grand-son of Noah, who, as the scripture informs us, was a *' mighty hunter before the Lord," and no doubt, a man of barbarous and wicked instincts. He began by measuring strength with the wild beasts that infested the country, and having succeeded well, he turned his hand against his own species, founding his empire in blood. Babylon was pro- bably the greatest city ever built by man. It stood in the center of an exceedingly fertile tract of country, and was watered by the Euphrates, which divided it into two equal parts. Its walls, which formed a perfect square, were three hundred feet high, eighty-seven feet thick at the base, and wide enough on top to allow four chariots to run abreast. It had one hundred brazen gates, and according to some writers, two hundred and fifty towers rising still higher than the walls, as means of defence against its foes. These dimensions appear to us almost incredible, yet they are vouched for by some of the greatest historians of antiquity. Babylon having been the first city built after the deluge, and being so strongly fortified, soon became the home of all the great and powerful of the surrounding country. For the Babylonian millionaire had as much confidence in his walls, as a means of protection to himself and his money, as any modern banker, in his wrought-iron and burglar-proof safe. The consequence of all this wealth, and feeling of security in the enjoyment of it, was, that the ALETHAURION. 195 kings and people of Babylon became exceedingly proud and puffed up with their own consequence. Hence it became, and remained for ages, the home of luxury and iniquity, and the nest of many an unclean bird, until finally, the vices and wickedness of its people drew down upon it the wrath of Him, against whose powerful arm no walls of brick nor gates of brass afford protection. Cyrus, the king of the Medes and Persians, marched against it, at the head of a mighty army, took the city by a strategem, killed its monarch, and relieved its people of much of their surplus wealth as well as conceit. This event happened in the year 538 before Christ, and, from that time the great city began to decline. Two hundred years later, Alexander, the son of Philip, having, in the three great battles of the Granicus, Arbela and Issus^ dashed the Persian monarchy to the earth, desired to restore Babylon to its ancient splendor. But great and con- tinued success had now demented the hero and conqueror, who, despising the humble lot of man, sought the honors of a god. His officers, while admitting, what posterity has fully endorsed, that no such a warrior had ever before ap- peared in the world, were loth, notwithstanding to believe him an immortal being. And he who, so ambitiously aspired to pass for a god, is said to have died a death unbe- coming a man. After the death of Alexander, the city of Babylon went fast to decay, until now its desolation is so complete that the place where it once stood is a matter of specula- tion. Thus far we have spoken of Babylon in the literal sense. The name of that proud city has become a synonym for worldly pomp and moral depravity. It was by excel- lence the city of Satan, as distinguished from Jerusalem, the city of God. No other city of ancient times approached the power and magnificence of Babylon, except pagan Rome, and if 196 * ALETHAUBION. the scriptures were silent, we might doubt to which the palm of temporal greatness and wickedness ought to be awarded. But, inasmuch as the head of gold, in Daniel's vision, was superior to the legs of iron, so we may conclude that no greater, certainly no more wicked than the Babylo- nian empire ever existed. We now come to speak of that mystic Babylon, which is no other than pagan Eome. Rome, situated on the river Tiber, in Italy, about sixteen miles from its mouth, was founded by a notorious robber, named Romulus, about TSS- years B. C. Unlike Nimkod who made war on wild beasts, and was in consequence dreaded by them, Romulus received his first nourishment from the dugs of a she wolf, that found him exposed on the banks of the Tiber. After having founded the city, one of his first exploits was to murder his own twin brother, for having leaped over the walls. And in two thousand five hundred years, few, if any, have accomplished the feat and failed to experience the same fate. The conqueror of CanncB, who sent to Carthage three bushels of golden rings, taken from the fingers of the Roman knights, slaughtered in that battle, thought it best not to attempt to enter the city. And it were better for a military Falstatf not to rush in where Hannibal feared to tread. We shall in our next, resume our musings on these inter- esting subjects. CHAPTER XLV. BABYLON THE MYSTIC. Romulus, as stated in the last chapter, was the founder of the city of Rome. He also gave it a .name, and was recognized as its first king. By the word, little else need ALETHAURION. 197 V^e understood, beyond the fact that he was simply a ring- leader among a lot of rough, half -civilized brigands. If Tom Allen, Jem Mace, John Morrissey or the O' Baldwin had lived in the days of Romulus, either of them might have easily become his competitor, and, may be, outshone him. Physical strength and CQurage were admired in ancient times ; and, among savage tribes, are still held in as much esteem as intelligence and refinement are among civilized people. Even now we all admire a fine specimen of the physical man ; and it is just that we do so, for, whatever oomes near perfection in nature, God has intended for our instruction. Moreover, look for noble qualities of mind in the athlete rather than in the dwarf or cross-eyed sphinx. There is, however, a higher type than either. Physical per- fection, united with mental endowment, tempered with a moral sense, makes the highest type of manhood. The Saviour, the center figure of creation, is the only human being that was absolutely perfect. He possessed all of good, physically, intellectually and morally that human nature, as at present constituted, is capable of receiving. Hence, men become great or mean in proportion, as they approach to or recede from the model. Romulus, after having engaged in many encounters with neighboring tribes, finally succeeded in putting down all opposition in his immediate vicinity. Then his heart was exalted, and he became somewhat of a tyrant. Those who had fought by his side, and knew what he was, and where he had sprung from, did not wish to yield up all their rights and become simply his servants. The consequence of all this was, that, one day at a great celebration held in Campus Martins, some conspirators set upon him during a thunder storm, killed him, and in all probability, threw his body into the Tiber. These, in order to cover up their guilt and shield them- selves from the punishment it deserved, hired a man named 198 ALETHAUEION. PuocuLus Julius, to swear in public assembly that the late king had appeai-ed to him in a vision and declared that he had been taken up by the gods into heaven. No further inquires were made about Ro^hulus ; for few troubled themselves about a dead king, or temporal ruler of any kind when cashiered. He was succeeded by Nu^ia Pompilius, who, though not pugnacious and violent of temper, was not near so reliable a man as Ro3HULus. Pompilius was, in fact, a consummate hypocrite, and, like all others of his kind, succeeded well in his day ; but left after him the seeds of rottenness and sin. He knew from the beginning that he had to deal with a rough and dangerous set of people. Hence, he tried to gain, by cunning and trickery, the inliuence that he felt it would be impossible for him to have acquired by manly arts. Nu^iA gave out that he was favored with visits of a super- natural kind, from a nymph called Egekia, who taught him all that he should do in the way of introducing religion among the people. Up to this time those half civilized tribes of Italy were mostly, if not entirely, believers in one Supreme Being. NuMA, whose soul was as tortuous. as a labyrinth, for his own ao^orrandizement introduced an interminable number of gods and goddesses, all of whom were to be worshipped. But, the king himself was to be high priest. He thus suc- ceeded in making idolators of the people, rendering them, with all this show of religion, more blind, spiritually, than they had been before. After the death of Numa Pompilius, some five other kings,, one after another, succeeded to the throne. The last of these was Tarquin, suruamed the proud. He had only reigned a short time, when the people rose up in arms and sent him off, because of his arrogance and general worth- lessness. They then took the management of affairs into their own ALETHAUKION. 199 hands, and succeeded so well, that they made Rome mistress of the world. Shortly after the expulsion of King Tarquin, an idea appears to have grown up in the minds of the people, that the city itself was eternal; and that it was among the de- crees of fate that Rome wo*uld make laws for the world. We have not been able to discover the origin of this strange belief. Yet, the facts of history for the past two thousand ^ye hundred years, vrould seem to show that it was not all guess work ; or, at least, that there was a good deal of method in their guessing. Rome ruled the ancient world by arms, and, in modern times, she leads mankind by the gentle influence of religion. To the kingly period succeeded the republican era. During this time, which lasted from about the year 250 to the year 43 before Christ, Rome made most of her conquests in different quarters of the world. Her victorious soldiery, along with the spoils and captives of conquered provinces, brought back with them also their vices and superstitions. The gods of all nations were naturalized on the banks of the Tiber, and the vices of the conquered taking fresh root in the city, flourished like briars on a grass- widow's farm. The number of slaves had so increased that one could be bought for a trifle. Indeed, such men as Lucullus are said to have killed a dozen or so, occasionally, and thro^vn their bodies into artificial lakes to feed his eels. It was believed that fish fed on the flesh of slaves were more tender and palatable than if they had been brought up on common worms. With the acquisition of wealth and the removal of all fear of enemies from without, vice and immorality held high carnival in Rome, until finally a change of some kind had to come. This was brought about by Julius Cj.sar, a Roman by birth, a man of great natural ability, eloquent in the senate and courageous in the field. By way of preparation for upsetting the government of his native city, he led an army 200 ALETHAURION. into Gaul, and is said to have destroyed one million of the inhabitants. CiESAR succeeded in putting himself at the head of affairs in Rome, but his great merits as a commander and states- man, as well as the oppressiveness of genius triumphant, excited the envy and hatred of 'those who were his pretended friends, but, in reality, political rivals ; each one of v;hom would be a Caesar if he could. But it is a great deal easier to kill a man of genius, than to act as one ; a lesson which Brutus learned to his cost at Philippi. Shortly after the death of C^sar, his nephew, Augustus, became emperor. During his mild and peaceful reign, Rome grew apace. But he was succeeded by fcui* others of his blood, of whom it may be said, if history speaks aright, that they were little less than incarnations of the Devil. WTiile these reigned, Rome, already bad, became diabolical, until the Christains who lived there, called it, in the mystic sense, Babylon. In our next we will show from parallel passages of scrip- ture, and from the testimony of co-temporary, or almost co-temporary, writers that the Babylon spoken of by St. Peter is no other than Pagan Rome. CHAPTER XLYI. HUGO DE GROOT. In the last two chapters we spoke of Babylon in the literal as well as mystic sense of the word ; it remains that we see to which of these Peter alludes, in his first epistle. The question is altogether one of fact, and must be decided by extrinsic evidence. Let us see, then, what reasons have we for supposing that Peter had reference to Babylon on the Tiber, and not to that other on the Euphrates. Along with those arguments given already in previous ALETHAURION. 201 chapters, we may mention, that, at the time Peter wrote his epistle, and for many years after, it was customary among the Christians living in Rome, to call the city Baby- lon. In support of this assertion we would refer the reader to chapters xvii and xviii, of the book of Revelation ; where St. John, the Apostle, speaks, according to the opinion of the best commentators of Pagan Rome^ under the name of Babylon. Heretics freely admit this. But, like every thing else that comes from them, truth and error are hopelessly mixed. They do not deny that St. John, in the chapters alluded to, speaks of Rome ; but, by Rome, they do not mean as we do, and as the sense and facts of history require, that Pagan Empire which put to death millions of Catholics, our ancestors in the faith. The Mystic Babylon spoken of in chapters x\ii and xviii of Revelation, means, according to them, the Catholic Church itself. The idea is, of course, in perfect conformity with the character of their minds. It bears the imas^e and the superscription of Lucifer, whose system of atacking mankind consists in being entirely unsystematic. Satan does not care whether he gains his point logically or by a fallacy. He does not argue in regular form with mankind, when he desires to draw them on to destruction. He asserts, contradicts, distorts facts ; and, on those who tamper with him, he usually succeeds in producing a bewilderment of intellect that leads to infidelity ; and, once that he has drawn his victim into disbelief, he puts the finishing touch to his work by suggesting immorality. It is thus, also, but in a far less perfect manner, that men tainted with infidelity or heresy, write -{ind speak about religious matters. They do not study consistency, nor do they care about it. They choose rather to misrepresent the existing religion than attempt to give us any thing better instead of it. But, as religion is not so open to sarcasm as those who make profession of it, and may be said to r«pre- 202 ALETHAURION. sent, hence, it happens that men tainted with the spirit of heresy, expend their witticisms on the ministers themselves, instead of attacking what they preach. In dealing with such characters, the most effective weapon appears to be the sword of the flesh, which is the knuckles. Luther, at the beginning of the Protestant reformation, abused and ridiculed monks, and religious orders generally,, with such persistency, that many, by the mere force of hear- ing the same lie repeated so often, believed it at last. He was the j^erfection ; the ne plus ultra of an heresiarch and balked at nothing. Drunkenness, profanity and adultery were his pastimes. Consequently, it may be said that such a man as he, was impervious to any other than physical arguments. It was he who first called Christian Rorae^ or rather the Catholic Church, by the name of Babylon. But to attempt to define by what line of argument he arrived at such a con- clusion, would be the same as trying to fathom Satan, whose leadership Luther followed on all occasions, after his apos- tacy ; may be without being aware of the dreadful depth and designs of that arch enemy of the human race. The common run of preachers nowadays only repeat, on this sub- ject, those ideas which Luther got from Lucifer. The only difference in the case is this, that Satan, by his arts, had evidently produced a bewilderment in the mind of the heresiarch, just as hawks do, by flapping their wings in the eyes of those rabbits they desire to catch ; whereas he sim- ply drives along in a quiet way, the heterodox pf our times,, just as a man would a drove of cattle to tlie shambles. When we reflect on the fact that, of all those who have believed in Christ, from the days of the Apostles to our own, fully five-sixths, and probably a higher average, have been Catholics ; when we take into consideration that all the nations converted from Paganism, had the light of the gos- pel first pomted out to them by Catholic missionaries ; when we find that, in the Church of Rome alone, the three ALETHAUBIQN. 203 evangelical counsels, of voluntary poverty, perpetual chastity and entire obedience, are practiced, we certainly must con- clude that there must be a bewilderment of intellect in the man who calls Christian Rome by the name of Babylon. But, let us return again to the point. That Peter, in his epistle, means Pagan Mome^ receives further confirmation from what we read in the writings of Tertullian. In book iii, chapter 13, Against Marcion, and in chapter ix, of his tract Against the Jews, he bears testimony to the fact that in his time it was a very common practice among Christians, to speak of Pagan Rome under the title of Babylon. St. Jerome, also, in chapter viii, of his work on Illustri- ous Men, uses the following words : " Peter, in his first epistle, under the name of Babylon, figuratively means Kome." There have been many conjectures offered by learned men as the reason why Peter used the word Babylon instead of Rome. It is foreign to our purpose to take up and weigh these different opinions. But, we may by allowed to offer one of our own. We regard it as entirely probable that Peter had no other motive, when he put on parchment the word Babylon, beyond the desire to express his dissatisfac- tion with a city that represented an idea that he was com- missioned to combat. We have frequently, in this work, made use of the word heretic simply and solely to express our contempt and dis- like of religious error ; though, in our daily relations with heresy, in the concrete, it can scarcely be said that we have ever knowingly slighted any one on account of his belief. The Apostles, and, in fact, most, if not all the ancient Fathers of the Church, were very select in their words. That is, if a man was a heretic they called him so. There was no **separated brethren" in those days. So, when the Prince of the Apostles had occasion to speak of the city of the Ceesars, he fossilized his detestation of its vices and wickedness in the word '* Babylon." 204 ALETHAURION. , We bring the present chapter to a close with a quotation from a Dutchman, named Hugo de Groot. In Latin he is called Grotius, and, among men of ability in" his day, he held no mean place. De Groot was a Protestant, but wrote with a fairness that deserves commendation. His works are numerous, and on a variety of subjects. In his commentary on the first epistle of Peter, this wise Dutch- man thus sagely remarks : " Concerning Babylon, the ancient and modern commentators disa- gree. The ancients understand Rome, where no true Christian will deny that Peter lived. The modern Interpreters think that Babylon, in Chaldea, is meant. I am on the side of the ancients." In our next we will see what Cleihent has had to say on the subject. CHAPTER XLVIL clement. The name of Clement is a celebrated one in the annals of the Catholic Church. No fewer than fourteen popes have, up to the present time, been known by that title. It is of the first of these w^e intend to speak in the present chapter. He was born in Rome about the j^ear thirty of our era, lived to the ripe old age of seventy, and died e martyr for the faith. . This Clement of whom we are speaking, was for some time a companion of St. Paul ; and, it is of him the Apos- tle speaks in his epistle to the Philippians in the following words : ** I pray thee also, my sincere companion, help those women who have labored with me in the gospel with Clement, * ♦ * whose names are in the book of life." Let the reader, then, bear in mind what were the relations of Clement with St. Paul. He was the Apostle's compan- ion, and consequently had an excellent opportunity of know- ALETHAUKION. 205 inff somethino: about him. Primitive traditions assure us that this same Clement was ordained priest by St. Peter, whom he succeeded as fourth pope of Rome. These matters being well understood, we come to a fact in his life which has a bearing on that question of which we have been treating, viz : the coming of Peter to Rome. Towards the close of Clement's pontificate, or about the year 96, there rose quite a contention, about something or another, among the faithful of Corinth, in Greece. As is usual, in all Church disputes the contending factions han- dled one another without gloves. Finally, the wise counsels of some peace-makers prevailed, and the whole matter in dispute was referred for settlement to the Pope. Ancient writers do not tell us what the trouble among those Co- rinthians was about ; and, in all probability, it was not very clear to themselves. We know that there was a schism or a split in the Church, but the causes that gave rise to it, we have no means of discovering. However, it may not be uninteresting that we give vent ta some speculations on the subject. We have only to bear in mind that, at the period.of which we are speaking, that is, about one hundred years after the birth of Christ, Corinth was a very large and powerful city, its position being fa- vorable from a commercial point of view. Hence, its population was of that nondescript, which is found in all large cities of recent growth. We say recent, for though Corinth was one of the most ancient cities of Greece, yet, that of which we are now speaking only went back to the time of Julius C^sar, some fifty years before Christ. The Roman Consul, Mu3niius, had, about one hundred years before, entirely wiped out the historic Corinth, by butchering its adult male inhabitants and selling its women and children into slavery. The place remained desolate for the period of one hundred years, when it was again colonized by JLT.IUS Cesar. Its population, therefore, was made up 206 ALETHAURION. of the descendants of those old Romans, of Greeks who had ijeen drawn from the surroundingcountry,and of a medley of Western barbarians and Oriental slaves. The descendants of the Romans assumed an air of supe- riority over the others, and were fond of throwing into relief the relations their ancestors bore to so great a man as C^SAR. Nor would it have served any good purpose, at so late a day, to have intimated that C^sar got recruits for his band of colonists, principally from the prisons and work- houses of the great city. At the time of which we are speaking these different races had not as yet merged into one people. Each retained, in a great measure, its own peculiarities, and, as far as practic- able, a dislike and hatred of all who were not of their party. The very same may be observed even to-day, in many of the Oriental cities where Turks, Greeks, Armenians, Syrians, &c., live for years together, even for centuries, and still re- tain within. the same city walls, all their national peculiari- ties and antipathies. And the spirit may be found to some extent even here in America. With this explanation, it will not be difficult to make at least a prudent guess as to what the trouble was. St. Peter, St. Paul, and others of the early Evangelists, had made proselytes to Christianity from the various classes of which we have been speaking. But, though all these might have agreed in their belief, yet it is but fair to suppose that many still retained their national prejudices, and that each clan had its favorite pres- byters and ministers. Indeed we have some pretty strong evidence of this in Paul's first Epistle to the Corinthians, where he finds fault with them because some were for one minister and some for another. Those from Alexander, originally, who had settled in Corinth, lauded their own man, Apollo, most likely because he was their countryman. Though it must be said of ALETHAURION. • 207 Apollo, that he certainly deserved all the praise he got, having been a very learned and eloquent man. Those who came from the neighborhood of TIrsus, were of course, proud of the wisdom and genius of Paul him- self ; and in this their judgment succeeding generations have with singular unanimity concurred. Others again who might have come from Galilee, stood up for Cephas, because he was a Galilean. Such indeed, was the spirit in Corinth. Neither party would give in to the other. The Apostles, of course, disapproved of such doings. Yet like wise men, they did not undertake to uproot that feeling of partiality which each of these classes had for its own country and countrymen. They knew that the Saviour had sent them to uproot vice and not patriotism. They made presbyters in almost all the large towns they had passed through, and took these from the people in each place, giving Greek priests to Greek people, Syrian priests to Syrian people, &c. The Apostles were, themselves, as a matter of course, entirely unprejudiced on matters apper- taining to race and nationality ; but they knew at the same time that the various people they had to deal with were not so. Hence, when an Athenian gloried in the eloquence of DexMOSTHexes, the versatillity of Themistocles or the bravery of Miltiades, they did not snub him for his patriot- ism ; but showed him that there was one more deserving of his esteem and his love than any hero Greece had ever pro- duced. Such was the condition of affairs at Corinth in the days of St. Paul ; and that it was not much improved some forty or fifty years later, we learn from the letter of Pope Cle3iext to those same Corinthians. In the opening chapters he speaks of the evils of emula- tion and contention among brethren, and introduces various examples from the Old Testament. Then in chapter v, he 208 . ALETHAURION. tells of what the Apostles, especially Peter and Paul had suffered on account of envy and jealousy ; and in chapter vi, still speaking of those two Apostles, he used these words : *' They were in our midst ^ a most beautiful example." Here, then, we have Clement, the companion of St. Paul, the intimate friend of St. Peter, wTitingfrom Rome, only about thirty years after their death ; and declaring that both of them were examples among us, i. e., evidently among us Romans. Who then, after such testimony, can deny that Peter came to Rome ? In our next text we will see what Ignatius has to say on the subject. CHAPTER XLVIII. IGNATIUS. There are three of this name, celebrated in Church his- tory. The first was bishop of Antioch, and was devoured by wild beasts in the Flavian amphitheater at Rome, in the year 107 of our era. The second was patriarch of Constantinople at the time Photius drew the Greeks from the Latin Church. He died A. D. 8Y8. The third was Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits ; born in Spain in 1491, died in Rome in 1556. It is of the first of these we mean to speak. Ignatius was, after the Apostles, one of the most cele- brated bishops of antiquity. The first mention of him occurs in verse 2d, chapter xviii of Matthew's gospel. It is there stated that, when the Disciples had quarreled among themselves, as to which of them should be the greatest, the Saviour called a little child, and, placing him in the midst of them, said : " Unless you be converted and become as little children you shall not enter the kingdom of Heaven/' ALEIHAUKION. 209 This was to teach them not to be looking for the honors of this world, but rather to cultivate that simplicity of heart, by which one becomes truly great in the kingdom of Cheist here, and that of His Father hereafter. There is a sect somewhere *' down East," the members of which interpret in the literal sense the text we have given. Instead of going to the expense of putting up churches, paying preachers, sextons, singers, &c., as is done among other denominations, these primitive Christians buy a level lot, at a convenient distance from town, put up a high board fence around it, being careful to strip the joinings and other apertures. Here they meet on Sundays. The old men appear in knickerbockers and take exercise on broom- sticks, which they call horses, the women wear short dresses like children , and devote great attention to dolls and other infantile playthings. Little pools of water are made, here and there, through- out the inclosure, and the services are generally brought to an end by some one falling, either by accident or design, into one of these puddles. Word is then passed around that ** Billy Brown fell in the mud," and all rush to the spot and set up a laugh. Finally his little sister gets excit- ed and says . **I am going to tell on you !" Then Billy gets up, and, makes a race for home, to tell his own story tirst. This is one of the most interesting parts of the service, as only a corpulent brother, and a two hundred pound sister are considered fit to lead in it. Each must fall down, at least twice, before getting to the house. The rest follow, clapping their hands ; some shouting, *' run Billy" — others, " go it Sally — stick to it old lassy — go for him !" For the coming few days little else is talked of among those deluded people but Billy Brown's eloquent sermon. And thus the world wags. Into these and kindred vagaries do men run who have not the light of faith to direct their steps. 210 AT.ETHAUR ION . But let us return to Ignatius. Ancient tradition assures us that the little child placed in the midst of the Apostles was no other than he, of whom we are speaking. After having arrived at the years of discretion, he became the disciple of St. John the Evangelist, and was ordained by St. Peter ; to whom, after the death of EvoDius, he suc- ceeded as bishop of Antioch. So great had been his success in gaining souls to Christ that he excited the envy of the Pagans and Jews of Antioch ; who only awaited a favorable opportunity to call for his death, or banishment from the city. This was afforded them by a visit from the emperor, as he was on his way to make war on the Partheans and Armenians. The venerable old man was dragged before the Pagan tribunal, commanded to sacrifice to the gods, which he, of course, refused to do. Trajan, who was of a humane disposition of mind, desired to spare the life of his vener- ble prisoner, but the Pagan populace clamored for his blood, and he at length yielded. This was as might have been expected. For when was a Roman emperor ever known to sacrifice his popularity, or even risk it, for a Christian, however innocent. That standing up for right, and not allowing the innocent to suffer, is a characteristic of Chris- tian, not of Pagan Rome. Ignatius was condemned to be devoured by wild beasts in the Coliseum. Trajan, having thus quieted the Pagans of Antioch and gained their good will, thought no more of this old man. After sentence has been passed, Ignatius was taken in charge of by the authorities, and preparations made for sending him to the great city. A company, made up of the most abandoned and immoral troopers to be found in the whole army, was organized for this special purpose. It was feared that if ordinary soldiers were taken, Ignatius would convert them before they had reached Rome. The ALETHAURION. 211 consequence was that things were made as unpleasant as possible for him on his way to death. When he had arrived at Smyrna, where Polycaep, the disciple of St. John, was bishop, he wrote four letters: one to the faithful of Ephesus, another to the Chruch at Magnesia, a third to the Christians of Tralles, and a fourth to the Romans. After having left Smyrna, he wrote a let- ter to the faithful there ; another to the Philadelphians, and one to Polycaep himself. The genuinity of these epistles has always been admitted by Catholic writers, and by Protestants of any name ; nor was it until the seventeenth century that some scribblers began to question, even to deny they are his. St. Ignatius, in those epistles, speaks in a very clear and distinct way of the real presence; of the sacrament of matrimony ; of the divine institution of the ecclesiastical hierarchy, and of other matters which, to heretics, are diffi- cult of digestion. Hence, they thought it much easier to say the letters were spurious than to contend against the authority of such a man as Ignatius. We need not trouble ourselves to refute these, since the Anglican bishop, Pearson, has done it for us. When heretics contend with one another, we stand aside and enjoy the sport, as we would an encounter of rams. It must be said of Pearson, that he certainly succeeded in butting his adversaries outside the ropes, for which we give him credit and thanks. Isaac Voss, a Holland Dutchman, and for-a time profes- sor in the University of Oxford, was of opinion that there is sufficient intrinsic evidence to prove they are genuine. The best work, however, on the subject is that of Profes- sor Ne^t:, of the University of Louvain. In this, the learned doctor establishes, beyond all cavil, the genuinity of the letters. Since these things are so, let us bring all we have said to bear upon the point at which we are aiming, viz : that Peter 212 ALETHAURION. came to Rome. Towards the end of chapter iv, of his epistle to the Romans, Ignatius uses these words : ^'I do not give you precepts, as did Sts. Peter and Paul; they were Apostles of Jesus Christ. I am the least of all." From this it will be seen that, not only St. Paul, but also St. Peter taught the Romans, and we may justly infer that they came on the spot to do it. In our next we will continue about Ignatius, and give some facts about the Coliseum, where he was martyred, and of the Church of St. Clement, where his remains now are. CHAPTER XLIX. LET LOOSE THE LIONS. In the last chapter we spoke of the letter of Ignatius to the Romans, in which he refers to the fact that they had been instructed in the faith by the Apostles Peter and Paul. But he only alludes to it, just as any Catholic bishop of the present day, in writing a letter of congratula- tion, or of thanks for some favor received, to the faithful of Baltimore, for example, might speak of the circumstance that they had been blessed by the preaching and example of the sainted Archbishop Carroll. Ignatius refers to a fact that was well known to the Romans, but does not undertake to prove it, for it would have been as needless in him to have done so, as it would be in the writer to set to work and prove that U. S. Grant was elected President of the United States some eight years ago, and that when his term of office had expired, he was again returned to the White House. Cotemporary writers who are not professed chroniclers, scarcely ever more than allude to a fact which all are pre- sumed to know. Now, before passing on to give the testimony of Papias, ALETHAURION. 213 and of others, it may not be altogether devoid of interest, nor unacceptable, that we continue the history of that holy old soldier of the faith, of whom we have been speaking. On the way from Antioch to Rome, he complains in his letter, of the rough treatment he experienced at the hands of the soldiers who composed his guard. *'The more kindly I treat them," says he, *'the worse they get." This gloating over the sufferings of bishops, priests and other confessors of the faith, which is often observable in Pagans and heretics, cannot well be accounted for on any other hypothesis than by admitting the secret influence of the devil, who hates Christ, and, consequently his servants also. We, Catholics, do not abuse and malign heretics and infidels, in those places where we are in the majority. On the contrary, we accord them every liberty we claim for ourselves. We respect conscience, even in those cases where we may have good reason to suppose that it is simply seared, and does not act at all. We leave the judgment of our fellow-beings to God, to whom it rightly belongs. In Austria, where Catholics are vastly in the majority, the her- etics have their own schools, supported by the government, just as those of the faithful are. In France, the same way. Even in the Catholic parts of Canada the- heretics enjoy the same privileges that the others do. When a Catholic gentle- man has a servant who is a heretic, he does not abuse him, nor attempt to be witty by saying that only Infidels, Protest- ants and dogs eat meat on Friday. This charity of Catholics towards unbelievers is, to the mind of the writer, one of the best proofs that the spirit of Christ is in His Church. Now, take a brief view of the other side of the question. Look at Prussia, an Infidel, or Protestant government, it would be hard to say which, persecuting Catholics in every way that the spirit of the age can permit. Look at Russia whose career for the past one hundred and fifty years has been one of persecution. 214 ALETHAUBION. To come down to individuals : is there a Catholic, who has lived for a time among heretics, that does not know that they are continually harping on the Pope, on bishops, priests, nuns, etc. Moreover, it is a well known fact that, when a Catholic runs for office, the heterodox will not vote for him, simply and solely because he is a Catholic. We may look upon these facts as demonstrating that the spirit of the devil, which is that of hate, directs the head and heart of the unbeliever, when he has the true Church under consideration. This spirit burned in the breasts of the Pagans of old, and it bums in the breasts of the heretics now. **You shall be hated by all men, for my name sake," (Matt, x, 22), said the Saviour to His Apostles. After a long and painful voyage, Ignatius at last ar- rived at the mouth of the Tiber, where there was then a town called Ostia. He was not permitted to rest there long, but was hurried on to the city that very day. It was the 20th of December. News of his -arrival at the port had gone before him to Rome, and great numbers of the faithful came out to meet him, and get his blessing. This greeting is said to have taken place on, or near, the spot where the Church of St. Paul now stands. Ignatius besought those good people not to pray for his deliverance, but rather allow him to receive that crown of martyrdom for which he had sighed and prayed for years. As soon as he had passed within the walls, the Coliseum met his gaze, and the confused shouts of the multitude, mingled with the roaring of wild beasts, might have terrified any other than the true Catholic hero that he was. The last, but one, of a batch of gladiators had just fallen in the arena, and the shouts which he heard were the praises of the spectators given to the conqueror. A dead silence came over the multitude as the captain of the military company that had him in charge, led Ignatius ALETHAUEION. 215 through the eastern gate to the center of the arena, and thence, at right angles, to the imiDerial pavilion. The em- peror was absent ; but the prefect of the city held his place. Blood-thirsty monster as he was, the prefect was yet moved with pity on beholding so aged and venerable a man about to be made the food of ferocious beasts. He invited Igna- tius to sacrifice to the gods and save his life. But the old soldier of the cross answered with the independence and freedom that became a Catholic, insomuch that his frank- ness displeased the servant of his majesty, the emperor. The Pagan horde, accustomed to fawn upon those in power, seeing not only the prefect, but the gods of Rome set at defiance, cried out as with one voice, ** Let loose the lions !^^ Ignatius was again conducted to the center of the arena where he knelt in prayer. The grating of the heavy iron gates was heard, and two Numidian lions bounded from their den. A few moments more, and the soul of Ignatius had sped on its way to the realms of eternal bliss. With a sign from the prefect, the games were declared closed, and the multitude dispersed. That night, Tvhat re- mained of the martyr's bones were collected by a few faith- ful brethren and taken to the house of Cleiment, not far from the Coliseum. From thence thev were brouorht to o Antioch, and buried outside of Porta Daphnitica, or gate of Daphne. In the' days of the Emperor Heraclius they were again transferred back to Rome and placed in the Church of St. Clement. During the incursions of the barbarians this Church had gone to ruin, and remained so until the twelfth century, when a new one, which remains to this day, was erected on the site. Not many years ago, Father Mulooly, prior of the Irish Dominicans, who have charge of it, made excavations, and laid open to the eyes of men of the nineteenth century sotne 216 ALETHAUBION. of the practices of the Church in the fourth. The frescoes, or paintings on the old walls, show priests and deacons dressed as they are to-day when sa}ing mass. The inscrip- tions are also in accordance with our present belief. Many of the more intelligent Protestants have been converted by those painted sermons on the walls. During the excavations, the relics of Ignatius were also discovered, and were borne in solemn procession to the arena of the Coliseum, and placed, for a short time, on the spot where, nearly eighteen centuries ago, he gave testimony, and shed his blood for the faith. The writer had the honor of taking part in that procession. But time had wrought changes — the Coliseum in ruins — the cross in the center of its arena — C^sar only a name — the Galilean has conquered — and thus it will ever be. Our next will be about Papias. CHAPTER L. PAPIAS. In chapter xxix we had occasion to speak of Papias, and of the millennium, with which his name has become insepa- rably connected. We introduce him here again, as one of those cotemporary writers, who speak of the coming of St. Peter to Rome. Paplvs was bishop of Hierapolis, a city of Phrgyia, in Asia Minor, and having died at an advanced age, in the year 118, he may be regarded as coeval with the Apostles. It is highly probable, however, that he did not, himself, see nor converse with any of them. EusEBius, bishop of Cesarea, in Palestine, surnamed the Father of Church History , speaks, in a part of his works, in terms by no means flattering of the mental capacity of Papias. He calls him a man of very little head. ALETHAURION. 217 Such au expressiou does not comport very well with our ideas of a bishop, especiaUy in those primitive times, when the h)est and most intelligent were usually raised to that office. There was but little earthly fame or gain attached to the mitre in those days, and the unworthy, who, under more favorable circumstances, might have aspired to it, were will- ing then, that good apostolic little men, like Papias, should have all the glory as well as the troubles and dangers con- nected with it. Hence, the vast majority of the bishops of the early Church were, not only of great sanctity, but also of intel- lectual endowments far above the average. The system of electing bishops by the presbyters and people prevailed in those days ; and that also may account for the fact that the best that could be found were taken to preside over the Church. When we speak here of the election of bishops by the people, we must not be under- stood as using the word in the sense that the Campbellites and Baptists of the present day employ it. They elect their preachers it is true, but, in the Church of Christ something else must come after the election to office, in order that a man may be really a minister, in the apostolic sense of the word ; and, it is precisely this some- thing else, viz : orders and jurisdiction^ which neither the Baptists, Campbellites, nor any other heretical sect, is able to give. Seeing then that great care and vigilance were made use of, in the early days of the Church, in the matter of promoting men to bishoprics, we may well wonder, if the testimony of Eusebius be true, how such a man aS Papias got into a mitre. The writer is disposed to think, that the words of the historian, {ingenii quidem pertenuis) spoken of Papias, must not be taken in the strict and literal sense. In fact, EusEBius, in another part of his history, speaks of Papias in terms of the greatest praise. He calls him a very learned 218 ALETHAURION. man, and most skillful in the scriptures. (Book III, c. 36.) St. Jerome also, in his 71st Epistle, which is to Licixius, excuses himself for not translatinsr the works of Papias into Latin, by saying that he had not the time nor the ability to do justice, in a translation, to the original. Seeing then that our friend is .called, in one place, an imbecile, almost, and in another, a learned man and an ele- gant writer, that the reader may not conceive a wrong idea of St. elERO^iE, and Eusebius too, we propose giving our own opinion about Papias, and lettiiig it stand for what it is worth. To begin : let it be remembered that, to render a true judgment on the merits of another, is a most difficult under- taking. Most of the judgments that men make about each other are entirely wrong ; and if , in some cases, they turn out correct it is only after the fact that the judges become thoroughly persuaded of their own sharpness and foresight. Hence the highest Wisdom has said ^^ judge not.''' Not alone an intimate knowledge of a man's daily life is required when he is put in the balance, but also freedom from prejudice, and genius of the highest kind, in him who makes the estimate. Alexander Pope, the poet, said, that Shakspeare's writings were the finest specimens of the bombastic. If he had seen Haivilet, as punctuated by Barry Sullivan, or Edwin Booth, probably he would have changed his mind. Some of the writings of Goldsmith were frightfully cut up by critics, who could not have done as well. Byron was very roughly handled by Jeffrey, a man who U^ver wrote a line of poetry in his life, fit for any one to read. After the battle of Wagram, a former professor in a French military academy, a friend of the Bourbon dynasty, wrote a book in which he proved, to his own satisfaction, that Napoleon did not know much about the real science of ALETHAUBION. 219 war ; and that his victories were principally owing to chance. The pedagogue sent a copy of this book to the Archduke Charles, who was next to Bonaparte, one of the best gen- erals of those times. The Archduke read it with much sat- isfaction, and remarked to a friend, when through : " I can find no fault in the logic of this book, everthing appears well thought out, and the observations of the author seem to be entirely just and proper. Yet," said his grace, in conclusion. '' of one thing I am certain, that if the writer of this book had to lead an army against Xapo- LEOx as I did at Aspern, Esling and Wagram, he would very soon dis- cover a flaw in his logic, and confusion in his ranks." Thus are the judgments of men warped, sometimes by ignorance of those they have under consideration, oftener by the hatred, envy, jealousy or incapacity of the judge himself. With these 'observations, let us again return to Papias. He collected all the oral traditions that were afloat in his^ day concerning the Saviour and his Apostles. These he put in book form and called it '* An exposition of the discourses of our Lord." It is to be regretted that only a few frag- ments of this work remain, preserved in the writings of EUSEBIUS. Now, as Papias was, confessedly, a learned, pious and zealous bishop, a firm believer in the divinity of Christ, which he, no doubt, put forward in a very clear way in his book, does it not look natural enough that Eusebius, wha was tainted with Arianissm, should in his history, have at- tempted to set aside the testimony of such a man, by calling him a credulous blockhead. This looks natural. For men of schismatical or heretical proclivities have a great talent for covering up the truth ; or inserting in its stead, their own imaginings. Let us now listen to what our friend has to say. Eusebius, book II, chap. 15, thus introduces him : '•To whom also we may add Papias, the bishop of Hierapolis. He affirms that mention is made of Mark by Peter, in his first epistle, which epistle he contends was written in Rome, and that Peter himself insinuates as much by calling Rome, in a figurative sense, Babylon." 220 . ALETHAURION. Thus for Papias — and in justice to truth, it must be said that he is the only cotemporary writer that mentions, in ex- press words, that Peter was in Rome. Clemext and Igna- tius merely allude to the fact without stating it in so many words. Our next will contain the testimony of Caius. CHAPTER LI. CAIUS. Caius or. Guy, was one of the commonest names among the ancient Romans. It comports most nearly to Sandy among the Scotch, or Hans among the Dutch at the present day. As an illustration of this fact we may mention that, after the marriage ceremony in those times, it was customary for the lady, who then as well as now, is presumed to have the last word to say to her husband, ** ubi tu Caius, ego Caia." That is, where you are Caius, I will be Caia — where you are a good husband, I will be a good wife — where you are Hans, I will be Barbara. It must be confessed that, in a country like this we live in, where the young ladies are, generally speaking, all that ought to be expected, and the young men a trifling set, as a general rule, it would not be a bad idea, after the marriage contract, for the party of the feminine gender to say to her lord, ** now show yourself a man. a husband, and I will show myself a womauy a wife." The great trouble in our day, especially in the cities, is that men do not show them- selves husbands. They are in the saloons when they ought to be at home, and they spend for grog the money that ought to be used to buy clothes and shoes for their brats. But we started out to speak of things that occurred long AJLETHAURION. 221 ago, and here we are moralizing about the present. Let us begin anew. Caius, whose name stands at the head of this chapter, was an ancient Koman presbyter, or priest. As regards his personal history, we know but little, beyond the fact that he was a man of great zeal and a champion of the faith in his day and generation. Had it not been for the Church historian, Eusebius, in all probability, the memory of the good that he did, would long since have been interred with his bones. We may judge, however, from the notices of him that have came down to us, that he was considerable of a factor in the Church, and that he gave the heretics of his time many a vigorous blow. Caius was the father of To3i Maguire of Rome. He ap- pears to have been by nature a soldier, and the learning that he possessed was not in his library, but in his head. ** I fear a man of one book," is an old Spanish proverb, and it contains a great deal of wisdom ; but the man who has genuine individuality of character is a customer more difficult to handle. There are men, who if asked even a rea- sonably plain question, on a scientific subject, will tell you what this author, that one, and the other have said, but when requested to give their own judgment, they lack the ability to do so. Such men are like truncated cones ; they never come to the point, and consequently do, most gener- ally, fail in whatever they undertake. Of quite a contrary character was our friend Caius. He could, with great rapidity, look through a complicated mass of facts and theories, brush aside what was unimportant, and concentrate all the powers of his mind on the main issue. This faculty for sifting things, on short notice, is really a gift, and when possessed in an eminent degree, makes its owner approximate, in a manner, to the angelic nature. ' Now, at the time of which we are speaking, A. D. 200- 217, during the pontificate of Pope Zepherinus, there was 222 ALETHAURION. a set of heretics in Rome that went by the name of Cata- phrigians. They formed one of the branches of the Monta- nist heresy, and bore the same relation to Montanus, the founder of the sect, that the Baptists, Campbellites, Metho- dists or Mormons of the present day, dotoIMARXixLuTHEK, the founder of Protestantism. To this sect belonged Proculus, a person who had all the obstinacy of a heresiarch, along with the cunning, trickery, audacity and immorality peculiar to the same. He had, however, a ready tongue, and some learning. By gping around challenging, and disputing with other heretics, he had become quite notorious, and raised as much dust and noise as a playful pup in a poultry-yard. The Catholics of those times, as of our own, were not much given to such contentions. They were satisfied to learn, from the proper authorities, the truths of the faith, practice them, and bring up their children in the hope of immortality. Such mountebanks as Proculus, were not heeded, for they well knew that notoriety was what he mostly desired ; and it would only be adding fuel to the flame, to have noticed him. He kept on, until finally, he ran against our friend Caius, and that was just where he made his greatest mistake. Caius disputed with the heretic, and so thoroughly demolished him, that he took the gallop- ing consumption and shied off, in obscurity, to the Lethean shores. Though, as a general rule, the spirit of contention with heretics and infidels should not be introduced into, nor en- couraged in the Church ; yet, under proper auspices, good may, and frequently does, result from such passages at arms ; provided Christian charity is observed by the contending parties, and there be, on the side of error, good faith in him who champions it. Many of the ancient Fathers of the Church, such as Ori- GEN, Tertulliax, Augustine, and others, were controver- sialists, and, in modeni times, we have such men as Bossuet, ALETHAURION. 223 MiLNEK, Doyle, Hughes, und Purcell, who, both orally iind in writing, have drawn the sword of the spirit with success. As to the laity, in a country like this, where, like the rank and file of soldiers, on the field of battle, they have to go into the thick of the fight, their duty is clear enough, and may be expressed as follows : First of all, take in a supply of ammunition — by the word, we mean here a knowledge of the truths of the faith, history of the Church, etc. Fire and throw shells right and left into the enemy's ranks — keep cool — all must be done in Christian charity — we conquer but to save. Some of your balls will miss the mark, some of the shells will not explode at once, but they will after a time ; keep on using your ammunition ; it only costs you a trifle, and the supply at headquarters is immense. It may never, on earth, be granted you to see the amount of damage you have done the cause of error, nor the service you have rendered the cause of truth. This knowledge will come only after you have fought your last battle. The writer of this has had the pleasure of introducing into the true fold upwards of twenty persons, adults, and he can state it as his firm belief and conviction, that each and every one of these was first brought into the way of investigation by the words, or by the example, of a member of the laity. We have been led into the foregoing reflections by the character of the man under consideration. Now, in conclu- sion, we will see how he bears testimony to the fact that St. Peter came to Rome. Eusebius tells us, in book vi, chap- ter 20, that he had, himself, read the dispute between Caius and Proculus ; and in book ii, chapter 25, he makes use of the following words : "Caius, a certain Catholic man who lived at the time that Zepheri- Kus was bishop of Rome, in that book, which he \\Tote against Pro- culus, the patron of the sect called Cataphrigians, in disputing about the place where the bodies of the aforesaid Apostles, Peter and Paul # 224 ALETHAURION. are buried, says : 'I can, indeed, show you trophies, for whether you should be pleased to go to the Vatican hill, or along the re ad to Ostii, you will tind the trophies of them who founded that Chnich/ viz : tie Boman Ch.u-ch." The trophies spoken of in the quotation, mean the tombs of the Apostles, Peter and Paul. St. Peter was cruci- fied on the Janiculum, and St. Paul beheaded at a place called the Three Fountains. But their bodies were not interred where they had suffered. The one was taken to the foot of the Vatican, and buried w^here the Church of St. Peter now stands. The remains of the other were bi'ought from the Three Fountains, to a point about four miles closer to the city, and buried where St. Paul's may be seen at the present day This testimony of Caius is as explicit on the subject as need be desired. In disputing with an heretic he points to public monuments, and to facts that the heretics could not deny. DiONYSiUS will be our next. CHAPTER LIl. BACCHUS. Before the coming of Christ, idolatry was practiced by all the nations of the earth, except the Jews. This often took the shape of hero worship. Men, who had distin- guished themselves in war, or by the invention of some useful art, after having received the praises of their co- temporai-ies during life, came to be regarded, after some generations, as entirely superior beings, and worthy of di- vine homage. Had the coming of the Saviour been delayed by, say two thousand years, who knows but some of us might now be engaged in worshiping Ollam, Fodlah, or FuAN MacOuil, instead of the one true and living God. He, whose name stands at the head of this chapter, in all probability, belongs to the class of men of whom we ALETHAURION. 225 are speaking. As regards his real history, little or nothing is known. Some think he was the same as Sesostrius, (Rh^iasas II,) the celebrated Egvtian king, who flourished about thirteen hundred years before Christ, and conquered India, with a great part of the then known world. There are even not wanting those who think that the original Bacchus was no other than Noah himself. As to who Bacchus really was, is one of those deep questions, to the solution of which no one outside of an Indian Brahmin, or a Dutch philosopher, need approach. To conKne ourselves to probabilities, we would say that he was some man who lived about the beginning of the heroic age of Greece, and, having acquired skill in agricul- ture, and in. the treatment of the vine, he disclosed to his semi-barbarous countrymen what a power of fun and jollity there is in the juice of the grape. He thus rendered his name immortal, and in the estimation of his fellow barba- rians, secured a place among the gods. Bacchus was wor- shiped among the ancients with a devotion fully equal to the honor*^ he receives in modern times. His feasts, celebrated at Mounts Citharon, and Parnassus, in Greece, were for the women alone, who, on such occa- sions, ran wild through the mountains, dressed as they had come from the hands of their maker. Should any man attempt to intrude, his life paid the forfeit of his foolhardi- ness, or curiosity, as the case might be. This is, probably, the first example we have in history of a woman's rights party. The place, however, at which the rites of Bacchus were carried out fulh^ with all their developments and ramifica- tions, was the town of Nyssa, in Asia Minor, and, from this circumstance he received the name of Dionysius, or god of Nyssa. The excesses indulged in, during these Bacchanalia, are I 226 ALETHAUKION. said to have been ridiculous, even immoral beyond descrip- tion. People may talk, nowadays, of the irregularities of a Methodist camp-meeting, but Christianity, even in its lowest phases, has nothing to account f(5r, in comparison with the depravity of ancient Paganism. Kot only the slaves and debased portion of the community took part in these orgies, but even men, otherwise possessed of enlight- ened views, thought it no disgrace to throw themselves com- pletely away on such occasions. The historian of Alexander the great, relates how that renowned warrior, on his march back from India, had built an immense chariot, or rather platform on wheels, on top of which, in imitation of Bacchus, he caroused and drank, until many of his officers thought he had completely lost his senses. If some of those infidels of the present day, who affect to admire Paganism, could only get it back in its simon l^urity, for a time, may be we would hear no more of their whining about Christianity interfering with the progress and development of the race. In due time the rites of Bacchus were introduced into Rome ; and, of course, readily adopted. Like the Brook- lyn and Chicago sinners, who flocked to hear Moody and Sankey, and affected, hypocritically, a conversion from their evil w^ays, the Pagan Roman did not require much forcing to make him believe that Bacchus w^as a god deserving of honor. But like the preaching and singing of the two worthies alluded to, results did not justify expectations, and, consequently, in the year 146 B. C, the Roman sen- ate, by a solemn decree, which remains extant to this day, abolished the Bacchanalian rites and orgies. The Saturnalia;, or capers, in honor of the god Saturx, took their place ; and these, stripped of every objectionable feature by Christianity, remain, strange to say, even until now. They go under the name of the Carnival, during which, every one in Rome, who has a spark of life in him. ALETHAURION 227 is supposed to forget dull care, and enjoy himself hugely for a few days — within the precepts of the gospel, however. In the year 1724, an Englishman, named Middleton, visited Rome during the Carnival ; and while passing along the Corso, was pelted, like all the others, with confetti, until he looked like a miller's boy. Having had on at the time, a beaver hat and a black cut-away coat, and having had, moreover, some aspirations for the mitre, among the Anglicans, he did not relish such work at all. By way of reprisal, and to vindicate outraged dignity, he conceived the idea of writing a book against such abominations, and he wrote it. This he called a Letter from Rome. In it he proved, to his own satisfation, that the religion of Rome, in his day, was derived from Paganism. What a mystery human nature is, and how veiy few there are who speak or act from pure principle? Had we the means of examining the motives of men, which the Omniscient has, how often would we not find a dirty blotch where the uninitiated can see naught but the color of the rose ! If Middletox had not been pelted with the confetti, may be he would have seen Rome, and its religion, through differently colored glasses. We are all ruined by cheap Chinese labor, as the Califor- nia gambler said, when he was outwitted, and desired to recover, by main force, what he was unable to retain by his skill. No doubt, the animosity that men sometimes manifest towards those who differ with them, whether in politics or religion, may often, if not always, be traced up to considerations that are entirely personal. We knew a Scotchman who hated all Welshmen gener- ally — on principle — because they w^ere so mean. But the true reason for his dislike to the class alluded to, was the fact that, in an encounter with one, he had come out minus a thumb. On the same principle you will sometimes find lazy drones of men, tramps, complaining that they can get nothing to do because of their religion or nationality, when 228 ALETHAURION. it is their own lack of energy, or may be their disposition to be tricky and unreliable, that makes them failures. God surrounds virtue in the next life with glory ; energy with purple in this, and sloth with rags in both. Thus far we have spoken of Bacchus. In our next we will take his other name of Dionysius, make some com- ments on the theory of Mr. Middletox, and show how a Dionysius bears testimony to the fact that St. Peter came to Eome. CHAPTER LIII. DIONYSIUS. In the last chapter we spoke, incidentally, of a cockney preacher named Middleton, who visited Rome in 1724, and discovered that the Romans of that day had got their reli- gion from their pagan ancestors. Before giving the testi- mony of Dionysius to the fact that Peter came to the city of the Seven Hills, a word or two about this cockney. His book is leveled against the honor and veneration given to the saints by the Catholic Church. Hence, to get at him, we must clear away the weeds, then we can seize him and decapitate, at our leisure. Let us first consider what worship is. Worship may be defined as the honor which is given to God, or to a creature, with an eye to and out of respect for God. It is of two kinds, the first and hi<2:he.st called by writers on theology, Latvia, is that given to God alone. The second and inferior, is called Dulia, and is precisely that worship which, in the Catholic Church, is given to the saints and angels, this distinction is, or ought to be, clear enough for any one who is not a registered lunatic or born idiot. Yet, there are preachers, like Middleton, who get this matter, even to this day, hopelessly mixed. They will ALETHAURION. 229 have it that we honor the saints with the same worship we give the Almighty. We Catholics are sometimes astonished that heretics are so slow in comprehending things that are so plain to us. No doubt some of them speak and write in bad faith. That is, they make assertions they know to be untrue. But when we speak of the bulk of heretics, it would scarcely do to put them all under the heading of liars. There are many who though not professing the true faith, have yet some good qualities who are, according to our way of speaking, good citizens and acceptable acquaintances. A study of the cause of the religious obtuseness of such, requires that we go a little beyond the surface into what is called human nature. In the first place, let it be under- stood, that he who is the slave of any particular vice, has his intellect clouded to a corresponding degree, as regards the contrary virtue. The avaricious man can, with difficulty, find an object, worthy of his liberality ; and the miseries of the poor he attributes to their own laziness, lack of energy, or improvi- dence. His intellect is clouded, and his will is not moved to charitable deeds when the widow and the orphan hold forth their hands. The libertine hates priests, monks and nuns, because his intellect is befogged by sensual indul- gence. Thus, also, it is with heretics, as regards the truths of our holy faith. Though, in mere temporal matters they may be, and frequently are very acute ; in spiritual things, the profession or error to which they are accustomed, obnubi- lates the intellect and they become veritable blockheads. Hence, it happens, when we endeavor to explain things that are so clear to ourselves, we are surprised at their obtuseness. As regards the first kind of worship, which is given to God alone there can be no difference between us. But on the second, we are considerably at variance. The question 230 ALETHAURION. resolves itself into this : Is it lawful or useful to honor and invoke the saints ? ViGiLANTius, a heretic of the fifth century, was the first to deny it, and he was handsomely snuffed out by St. Je- rome. Faustus, another of the same breed, got his dose from the hands of Dr. Austin, bishop of Hippo. And our modern theologians have been doctoring Luther, Beausobore, Middleton, Gibbon and others, for some years past, with fair prospects of an early, and a splendid funeral. It is not wTong for men to honor the saints, because God himself has done and does so. John xiv, 23. It is useful to invoke their intercession, because St. Paul did so, even in the case of saints not yet confirmed in glory. Roman XV, 30. Our friend Middleton discovered durinsr his stav in the Eternal City, that the Pantheon, built by Marcus Agrippa, as a receptacle for all the gods, has lost its statues of Jupiter, Juno, Minerva, Mars, Venus, Priapus, and, in their stead, are those of our Lord, his blessed Mother, and the saints. Hence, he came to the conclusion that the Blessed Virgin and the saints are now worshipped in Rome, as Juno, Mars, Apollo, etc., were then honored and adored. Now there is some truth, if not in the theory, at least in the facts of Mr. Middleton. It is true that the Pantheon, which w^as formerly a pagan temple, is now a Christian Church. The niches where once stood the statues of the gods of Rome, are nov/ filled with those of Christian* heroes. On the spot where stood the temple of Minerva, in pagan times, there is now a church in honor of the Blessed Virgin. The Coliseum, where gladiators fought with wild beasts and stabbed one another for the amusement of the heathen, is now sacred to the memory of the Christian martyrs. On top of Monte Cavo where stood the celebrated temiDle of Jupiter, there is now a Passionist monastery. ALETHAURION. 231 The Catholic religion is not destructive except of evil. We storm the strongholds of Satan, drive him out, purify what he has defiled, and hold it as a trophy. It is in such ways, that Rome honors error. The house yet stands on Sycamore street, Cincinnati, where the illustrious Archbishop disputed with and van- quished the heresiarch Campbell. It was then a Camp- bellite meeting house, now it is a Christian Church. When the din of battle ceases, and the smoke is blown away, the Catholic Church is invariably found mistress of the situa- tion. Thus it ought to be, and it is thus. The Romans of the present day do certainly imitate their pagan ancestors in some particulars. For example : when Romulus, the founder of the city, was pressed in a battle, on the Palatine, he prayed to the unknown God for strength to overcome his foes. Pius IX, also prays that iniquity may not flourish and that the enemies of religion may not succeed. The ancient pagan Roman had a dread to call any of his gods to witness a lie ; and the modern Catholic Roman has the same awe of a false oath. Thus it will be found that, in some things, the religion of the modern Roman is de- rived from his pagan ancestors. Or rather let us put it in a clearer way for you, friend Middleton. The religion of the modern Roman, is the development Christ gave to that natural law inscribed upon the heart of man from the beginning. Another strong evidence of the fact that the Catholic religion is derived from paganism consists in this, that many saints in the calendar have names that originally belonged to the gods and goddesses, demigods, and the heroes of heathenism. Logic again. We have an illustration of this in the case of him whose name stands at the head of this chapter — Dionysius. Not- withstanding his bad name, however, he became a bishop, and a good one. We may now introduce him more fully, 232 ALETH AURION . as one of those ancient writers who bear testimony to the fact that Peter came to Rome. DiONYSius was made bishop of Corinth about the year 170, and he had the. reputation of being one of the most learned men of his day. He wrote eight epistles to differ- ent churches, all of which, with the exception of a few fragments, have been lost. The fragments we quote is found in book ii, c. 25, of Eusebius' Church History. It is from his letter to the Romans, and runs thus : "For both of them, SS. Peter and Paul, having entered our city of Corinth, and having scattered liere the seed of the gospel, tanght us. Then they ^vent togetlier to Italy, and having likewise instructed you, (Romans), both suffered martyrdom at the same time. These things have I mentioned, that the memory of the fact may become better and better established." This quotation expkiins itself. Dioxysius, who had an excellent opportunity of knowing the facts in the case, states that Peter and Paul, having passed through Corinth, went to Rome, where both were put to death. What Irexeus says will form the groundwork for our next. CHAPTER LIV irexeus. Irexeus was bishop of Lyons, and suffered martyrdom for the faith in the year 202. In youth, he was a disciple of PoLYCARP, who was a disciple of St. Joux the Evange- list. He was one of those grand old heroes of the early Church, worthy successor of the Apostles in zeal ; a sentinel on the watch towers of Zion, whose light still shines through the dim vista of ages, and whose written word is still a solace to the heart, even though the hand that penned it has Ions: sinc'c moldered to dust. Great was his reputation for piety and learning, among his cotemporaries ; but it is to be regretted that of his works ALETHAUKION. 233 only the treatise Against Heresies^ has come down to us. The rest of his writings did not keep up with Time, and are now undiscoverable in the mazes of the past. That good- natured Rotterdammer, Erasmus, who is said to have laid the Qgg out of which Luther hatched the reformation, in his preface to the works of Ireneus, says : '• They breathe the primitive vigor of the gospel. * The phases show a heart prepared for martyrdom, for the martyrs liave a certain strong, masculine and fearless way of speaking.'* Our Rotterdam friend expresses here an idea which he certainly did not carry out himself, for he had only the heart of a sparrow. All those who have ever done the Christian cause a real service, from the time of the Saviour to our own., have car- ried in their breasts hearts prepared for martyrdom. He who is ready to die for the faith is generally thinking about something else besides w^hat he shall eat, or wherewith he shall be clothed ; which is, unfortunately, getting to be one of the great problems of our day, and one of the main draw- backs to the spread of the gospel. It is true, as Erasmus say<, that the martyrs have a way of speaking, peculiar to themselves. liic Roman emperors often felt this, and their wrath was mure and more enkindled thereby. When the pagan gladia- tors appeared in the ampitheater, they marched before the emperor, waved their swords in the air, and saluted him with the words, Ave C^sar : Morituri te Salutamus. They hoped by this piece of flattery to gain his good will, even though they were not long to enjoy it. The Christian martyrs gave his majesty another kind of salutation , calculated to make him feel he was not as great a being as he imagined : . Tu quidem scelestissime in Presenti vita nosperdis: Sed Rex mundi, Cristus, defunctos nospro suis legihus in ceternce vitoe resurrectione suscitabit. It is thus, also, that the great men of every age of the Church spoke and acted towards those who opposed Christ 234 ALETHAURION. and His gospel. They expected no quarter from the world, and they asked for none. They did not flatter the powerful in order to gain their protection . There are few things more unbecomins^, and as fruitless withal, as to see a man who professes the true faith hob- nobbing with some infidel or heretical person in power, under pretence of benefiting the Church. The Church never has been benefited and never will be by men of that brand. The writer, some years ago, came across one of the kind. On being asked why he did not go to church regularly on Sundays, and above all, why he did not go to confession and communion, it being the paschal time, he replied : ''I believe the course 1 am pursuing is more advantageous to the Church in this place than if I should become a practical Catholic. For being half and half I gain the good will of the Protestants, by showing them we are not prejudiced ; and I shall continue to believe, of course, that the old way is the right one and the only one." *' Mr. Blaxk," we replied, "if you have spoken out your mind, you are laboring under a delusion, and you are moreover 'an enemy to every Protestant that gets acquainted with you." " How so," said he. "It is thus : As you circulate among unbelievers, they have an opportunity of studying you, and in doing so, they no doubt imagine they are gaining true notions concerning the Catholic Church. Now the truth is, you poison the atmos- phere in which you move, for you show yourself insincere. You make them believe that Catholics are like themselves, unsettled in their opinions. The laborer, who, though he has to work hard, will yet abstain from meat one day out of each week, and will ride several miles over bad roads to hear mass on Sundays in winter, is by that alone, giving a proof of his sincerity, and one word from him would weigh more with a dying heretic than a peck of sermons from such as you. Don't try to excuse the practices of the Catholic Church, for they need none. Explain them as far as you ALETHAUEION. 235 can, but do not for a moment imagine that you could remodel the Saviour's handiwork with any degree of profit to the human race. Moreover, even though you should succeed in converting all the heretics in creation, of what utility would that be to you, if you became a reprobate yourself.'* It cannot be said that we have in the Catholic Church, even at the present day, a great many of the class of men of which we are speaking, but, the few we have, do an injury to the cause they pretend to advocate. There is to be no compromise with error. Truth and falsehood will not form a chemical compound. It will be at best only a mechanical mixture. The success of some politicians, that are Catholics only in name, also hinders the propagation of sound principles among the youth of the rising generation. When one of the latter sees Mr. Brown falling down before the Beast, and getting office, on account of his liberal views, or apos- tacy, as you may please to call it, he thinks he must do the same thing in order to have the like success. ** All these things will I give thee, if falling down thou wilt adore me," said Satan to the Saviour. He does not promise the major- ity of politicians much, and even that little they do not always get. It is refreshing to turn away from such people to contem- plate a truly sincere man — Ireneus, who, as our Dutch friend says, spoke like a man who did not fear death. Let us see what he has had to say about the coming of Peter to Rome. In book iii, Against Heresies, he uses the follow- insr words : ''Since it would be very tedious, in a volume of this kind, to enumerate the successions in all the Church, we may contine ourselves to that of the Church of Rome, which is the most ancient and best known; it having been founded and constituted by the most glorious Apostles, Peter and Paul. That Church, by its succession of bishops to cur own times, pre- serves the tradition received from the Apostles, and the faith which thej^ announced to men. Through her we confound all our enemies." 236 AT.ETHAURION. Let it be observed here that Ireneus not only bears wit- ness to the fact that Peter and Paul founded the Church in Rome, and consequently came there ; but he also makes use of the very same argument that we do, even at this day, against the heretics. When we show them a line of Bishops going up without interruption from Pius IX to Peter, the conclusion is irri- sistibly forced on them that the Catholic Church of the present day is the one which Christ founded. This argu- ment is a clincher. It is an elephant that walks through all their spider-webs. In our next we will take a stroll about the city of Rome itself and examine the foot-prints that Peter has left there. CHAPTER LV. FOOTPRINTS. We are now approaching the close of that question we have been discussing for a time past — the coming of Peter to Rome. Let none of our readers imaghie we have given all, or even any considerable part, of what writers have said on the subject. Our oV)ject has not been to exhibit a chain of authors from the days of the Apostles to our own, which we could readily do, if there were any occasion or necessity. We desired rather to confine ourselves to the most ancient and reliable. Consequently, we do not deem it expedient to bring to notice the testimony of any who lived at a later period than the close of the second century. The Fathers of the Church, and others who flourished after, did nothing more than copy from those whose names we have given. Let the reader feel assured then, that on the coming of Peter to Rome he has received nothing at second hand, and that nothing else in the way of coeval, or quasi-coeval authority, can be produced on the subject. ALETHAURION. 237 Let us now turn attention to another line of argument : Footprints we may call them. Longfellow once said : <' Lives of great men all remind us We can make our lives sublime, And departing, leave behind us Footprints on the sands of time." Wherever there has been a real genius, you will find evi- dences of his existence. One cannot live long in Paris and remain ignorant that, at some former period, a man named Bonaparte honored the city with his presence. It would be difficult for a foreigner to live in this country for a great while, and not learn something about Wash- ington. He could not but notice the pictures on furniture wagons, and on postage stamps, before and after licking them. Thus it is that great men leave after them those footprints and head-marks of w^hich the poet speaks. With these observations let us proceed. Peter was not what one might call a born genius ; and had he not been called by the Saviour, it is not . likely we would know any more about him now, than we do of the grand-mother-in- law of Tecumseh. But from the time he got orders to feed the lambs and sheep of the flock, he also received those mental endowments that constitute srenius of the hischest order., After that, when he spoke, people listened, and when he put down his foot, he left a mark. One of the«e is visible in the liturgy of the Roman Church, where belief is expressed in the fact that he came to the city, in accord- ance with the maxim of St. Augustine, ''forma orandi est forma credendiy'' the manner of praying is the manner of believing. Let us see more particularly in what these proofs from the liturgy consist. First of all let it be remembered that we celebrate in the universal Church a feast in honor of the Chair of St. Peter. This is of very ancient date, so much so that no one knows when it began. Of its antiquity we have an excellent proof in the immense number of bowls 238 ALETHAURION. and vases found in the catacombs and bearing the images of Sts. Peter and Paul. The renowned archaeologist, De Rossi, says that the immense number of such vessels can- not be explained otherwise than by admitting that the Christians, while yet in the catacombs, instituted festiv^al days in honor of the Prince of the Apostles. As we keep the Fourth of July in honor of our deliverance from British tyranny, so did the Romans observe the twenty-ninth of June, as the day on which occurred the death of their great Apostle, who first preached to them the glad tidings of redemption, and of deliverance from the tyranny of Sa- tan. This theory receives further support from w^hat we read In epistle xxxi of St. Jerome, which is to Eustachius. It appears that abuses had crept into these celebrations, and St. Jerome, finds fault with the people for imagining they were honoring a martyr by gluttony, who did himself honor God by prayer and fa^^ting. St. Augustine, in his narrative on the 59th psalm, speaks of those same abuses on the feast day of St. Peter, in the followinoj words : '^ Drunkards now persecute the martyrs with flowing bowls as the furious Pagans and Jews furmerly did with stones.'" The other two feast days that prove St. Peter came to Rome, are those observed on the eighteenth of January and on the first of August. The festival of the Pasch, among the Jews, is not a more convincing proof of the truth of what we read in Exodus, than are those feast days, in honor of Peter, of the truth of all the Romans say about his visit and stay in their city. We will now take some proofs from archaeology. On the Aventine, one of the seven hills of Rome, there is a Church in honor of St. Prisca, Virgin Martyr, said to have been the first after St. Stephen. St. Peter baptized her, and the very urn in "which this was done is still kept in the crypt of the Church, and may ALETHAURION. 239 be seen to this day. What do you, Baptists and Campbell- ites, think of that? AVill you still continue to wade the creeks and horse ponds? Will you persist in endangering the lives of boys and old women, by cutting the ice and sticking them in ? If from the Aventine we go to the Viminal, we will find another of the fisherman's imprints. We speak of the Church of St. Prudextiaxa. When Peter came to Rome, about the year 44 of our era, he first remained in the Jew- ish quarter. But, having converted Pudexs, a senator, with his mother, two sons and two daughters, one of whom was called Prudextiaxa, he was invited after that to live with the senator himself, which he did. The Church we are speaking of stands now where stood the senatorial mansion in question. Kot only did Pudexs receive the Apostle into his house ; he went so far as to give up to him his own citrule, or senatorial chair — which identical chair has been preserved to this day, and is now kept in the bronze case back of the high altar in St. Peter's Church. Some few years ago it was taken out and exposed to the veneration of the faithful : on which occasion the •writer had the pleasure of gazing upon the interesting relic, an heirloom from Pudexs to Peter, and from Peter to Pius. The chair has about it all the marks of authenticity. It is of solid oak, light brown in color ; is an arm-chair, with a straight sfothic back. It mav have been at one time regarded as a fine piece of workmanship, but it would scarcely take the prize now. Around the sides are repre- sented, in gold and ivory, the twelve labors of Hercules, and these engravings are said by judges to be most excel- lent of their kind. All which show that the chair belongs to a period prior to the decline of art in the city. In our next we will pursue this same subject a little farther. 240 ALETHAURION. CHAPTER LVI. TRACKS. Chapter Iv found us examining some of the footprints left after him by St. Peter, in the city of the Csesars, which length of time is not likely to efface. Great and good men leave after them marks of their ex- istence that posterity hold dear, because they are flattering to our race. Fools and knaves make prints in the mud that succeeding generations do not try to preserve, for they are reminders of the lower and baser elements of human nature. It is for this reason that even the prison of an Apostle survives, while the palace of a Cfesar is allowed to crumble. Let us proceed. As one passes down the Capoline Hill to the Roman Forum, he sees at his left, v/here the first street intersects the one he is on, a two story house that, taken externally, does not appear to differ much from others in the noiijhborhood. But that corner lot has a history of its own ; the recital of which would make Captain Jack shudder, or Sitting Bull stand up and bellow. At this point, in fact, is to be found the far-famed Mamer- tine prison. It was the first ever built in Rome, and one might add, the best, if the object of a jail be to render the prisoners miserable, and cut off all hope of slipping out un- awares. The portion above ground is used as a chapel, but no stretch of the imagination can ever make out of the sub- terranean part anything other than what it is, and was in- tended to be — a dismal dungeon. It appears to be about twenty feet square at the bottom. The side walls are of massive stones, well dressed and bedded in cement. It has an arched ceiling also of cut rock. And ALETHAUKION. 241 it is said that, in ancient times, the only entrance to it vv-as by a round hole at the top, some three feet in diameter. Through this opening the prisoners were let down, some times with a rope ; more frequently by the force of gravity. Their food was also lowered through the aperture in ques- tion. Once that a prisoner was ii"! this dismal abode he was there for good, until his dead body was taken out to be thrown into the Tiber, or igiiominiously buried. There is now a stairway al(mu^ the side, by which one may enter. The Mamertine prison, during the palmy days of Rome, was a place of considerable importance, politically speaking. No mere co:ninon thieves nor cut-throats were allowed to experience its amenities, but only captive kings, princes and satraps. Prefects, also, of distant provinces who had abused their power, and through avarice or folly, had plundered, or allowed others to plunder, the people over whom they ruled, got their dose in the M.imertine. Those governors, accused of lesser offenses, on being called to Rome to answer for their conduct, were allowed to go at large through the city, and to even give entertainments to senators and other leading men whose intercession might be valuable. Their accusers also, sometimes sub-prefects or other small fry, had the run of the great metropolis ; though the officials kept an eye on the latter, and reported how they conducted themselves. The Mamertine was not for this class of offenders. Yet neither was their stay in the Eternal City one of delights. For the victim and his accusers awaited the trial day, with fear and trembling. And when, at last, it came, the usual result was that the prefect, after having received a solemn clouting, figuratively speaking, was warned to do better for the future, and sent back to his province. The accusers were also, in most cases, reinstated. But instead of cuffs they got kicks ; and, hav- ing been informed that obedience to authority was one of the fundamental laws of the Republic, were dismissed with some words of advice and contempt. 242 ALETHAURION. Thus did Pagan Rome teach its officials, not to quarrel with one another about trifles, but to govern according to justice and the law. It is true when a prefect, or governor, was found entire- ly incompetent to fill his position, or evidently avaricious and unjust, he was at once deposed, without further ado, and lodged in the Mamertine ; this the more readily, if his accuser was found to have had a clean record. The occasion when the Mamertine figured most conspicu- ously was on a triumphal day. The victorious general, his face painted with vermillion, and a crown of laurel on his brow, was borne in a chariot at the head of his soldiers, along the sacred way, which leads to the capitol. The kings and princes whom he had ov^ercome were dragged along in chains at his chariot wheels ; their wailings and sobs ren- dered inaudible by the shouts of the soldiery and the jeers of the rabble. '*' When the cavalcade had got to the foot of the hill, the captives were detached from the car and taken to the prison only a few paces distant to the right. Here they remained uncertain of their fate until the conquerer had ascended the hill and stood within the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus. Then, at his word, the wretches were either at once dis- patched or left to perish more miserably by starvation in the darkness and filth of the Mamertine. JuGURTHA, the valiant king of Numidia, who to gain a crown, murdered both his nephews, and to retain it warred .many years with the Romans, at last shuffled off the coil in this dreary prison, after a fast of six days duration, imposed not by himself, but by his merciless conquorers. 'Here, also, Lentulus and Cethegus, the accomplices of Cataline, were permanently cured of their ambition by the hansrman's knot. It was in this same Mamertine dungeon that both Peter and Paul were destined some time before their martyrdom for the faith. By their preaching and saintly lives they had ALETIIAURIOX. 243 drawn thousands from the worship of Vexus, of Merctey, and of Mars to venerate Christianity and to adore the Cru- cified. Hence, they were not looked upon as common mal- efactors, but rather as enemies of Rome, whose gods they had set at naught ; so that a little experience in the Mamer- tine was thought aftlvisable, in order to soften what the Pagans took for obstinancy, before proceeding to extreme measures. Here Peter converted the centurion or jailer, and that he might have water with which to baptize him, caused the ele- ment to spring up through the prison floor, and there the spring remains to this day. We have seen it, and drank of its waters. The marble column, to which the Apostles was chained, is also there, bridging over the gap of ages. Lonjr aofo the Mamertine w^ould have shared the fate of most of the other proud monuments of Pagan Rome, but the footprint of Peter has preserved it. And it, too, will remain a monument, to attest to future generations, as it does to us, the fact that he visited the great city. In our next we will continue the same subject. CHAPTER LVn. LANDMARKS. On the outskirts of Rome, to the southwest, stands the Janiculum. It is not one of the original seven hills, so famed in history, though it is higher than they ever were. The tourist who visits modern Rome, finds it a little diflacult to locate the latter, for the debris of ages has filled up the valleys. Even the Tarpeian Rock is now covered with houses, and a fall from it would be no more poetical than a drop from any garret window. But the Janiculum now, ^s in days gone by, still lifts its head above the grey old xiity. Virgil tells us that Jaxus, the first king of Italy, 244 ALETHAUEION. lived on top of it, and dying, left there his name and his bones. As it appears now, the hill has but little of its pristine severity. No trees nor undergrowth bar the way to its summit. On the contrary ; a beautiful road, due to the munificence of the present pontiff, gives easy access to where Janus formerly had his den, and a Church, in honor of St. Peter, now crowns the spot, and monks keep vigil where robbers made night hideous with their revelry. A few paces to the right is a small chapel, which the fin- ger of tradition points out as built over the spot where Peter, the Prince of the Apostles and first Pope, ended by a most glorious martyrdom, a life spent in the service of his Master. Like the Saviour, who was taken to the sum- mit of Calvary, in order that all might witness His sufferings, so the chief of His Apostles was made to ascend the rugged bights of the Janiculum, that Rome entire might see him die — the prelude, as was vainly thought, to the total extirpation of the Christian name. There, surrounded by his executioners, and by a chosen band of those warriors who had made the Roman eagles a terror to mankind, the J^ed Apostle had no favors to ask, and no tears to shed for the life he was soon to lose. The circumstances, however, recalled memories of other days. His own infidelity, in the house of Pilate, came to mind, with a vividness that caused the tears to flow in abundance. Even the stony hearts of those legionaries were moved to pity, and the opportunity was gladly embraced of asking him again to renounce Christ, and sacrifice to the gods of Rome. But his thoughts were on other things, and his silence only intensified expectation, for he did not heed the prof- fered clemency. It was not until he had professed his un worthiness to die, as his Master, with head ak)ft, that all hopes of release were abandoned. Then the spirit of the demon took possession of his executioners, and having ALETHAURION. 245 nailed his hands and feet to the cross, they raised him in the air with his head to the earth. A few more hours had passed — the labors of the fisher- man were ended, and his tears forever dried. His chair on earth became vacant, as he took his place with Stephen and others who had washed their robes white in the blood of the Lamb. With the present we bring to a conclusion the question of the coming of St. Peter to Rome. There are only a few, and indeed, as they appear to the writer, exceedingly weak objections that can be urged against what has be6n said. Thus, e. g., persons have attempted to show, from the Acts of the Apostles, that Peter could not have been in Rome, because it is stated that he was at Lydda, Joppa, Jerusalem, and some other places in Asia, at certain times, probably some six or eight altogether. Now, by the same kind of logic, it would be the easiest matter imaginable to prove that Archbishop Purcell was never in Cincinnati, or that Archbishop Spalding was never in Louisville. Another objection is found in the fact that Paul in his letter to the Romans, makes no mention of Peter. This is, at best, only a negative argument, and proves nothing. Many excellent reasons might be given why Paul made no mention of him ; one of which is that Peter might have been absent from the city at that particular time that Paul wrote to the Romans. Certainly, the fact that a man is bishop of a city does not oblige him to never stir outside of it. St. Paul will be our subject in the next chapter. 246 ALETHAURION. CHAPTER LVIII. SAUL. Saul, or St. Paul, as he is now called, was born of Jew- ish parents, in the city of Tarsus, in Cilicia, a province in the southeastern part of Asia Minor. ■ The exact date of his bii'th has not been handed down ; but, from the fact thathe/v^a^ a youth (adolescens) at the time of Stephen's death, in which he had a hand, we may conclude that his advent into the world must have been some ten or a dozen years after that of the Saviour. He was of the tribe of Bexjamin, and to him commenta- tors refer the prophecy of Jacob, where he says, when about to die ; ** Benjamin, a ravenous wolf in the morn- ing shall eat the prey, and in the evening shall divide the spoil." His mind, from early youth, took a religious turn, nor was he content with being a simple believer ; he sought after the highest perfection. There was at that time amono^ the Jews, a relis^ious order, the members of which were famous far and near for their learning and piety. They were called Pharisees ; and, what there was of sol- emn godliness not to be found among them, was thought scarcely worth looking after. The origin of this blessed sect is vailed in obscurity. Some authors date its beginning from the time of Esdras, others bring it down even to the time of Schammai and Hillel^ two celebrated doctors of the law, who lived in the days of Herod. But, if credit is to be given to Josephus, and we see no reason for refusing it, in a matter of this kind, certain it is that the origin of the Pharisees dates further back than the time of Herod. % ALETHAURION. 247 They were called Pharisees, frqm the Hebrew word pharez^ which signifies separation, because in dignity, in sanctity, in manners and customs they held themselves aloof from the common herd. They also affected to lead lives of celibacy, fasted twice in the week, gave tithes beyond what the law prescribed, prayed at the corners of the streets, helped the poor under circumstances where public attention would be called to the act, and were continually harping on unimportant observan- ces, and at the same time neglecting the weightier works of the law. These same Pharisees we know, from the New Testament, to have been a set of consummate scoundrels, rendered for- midable by their perfect organization, as well as secrecy in dealing with outsiders. We must not imagine, however, that every one who joined them, was bad or viciously inclined. On the con- trary, so far as outward looks were concerned, they were pinks of perfection ; and it may have been that they had more applicants for admission than they chose to receive. A learned and fiery zealot, however, like Saul of Tarsus, could readily gain admittance into a society managed by a pack of unscrupulous and ambitious men, such as were the leaders among the Pharisees. They could put him at whatever required tact and courage to execute, advance him if it suited their purposes ; and, in case he turned out honest and conscientious, they could ex- pel him from the society, as one not possessed of the spirit of mortification and obedience. On reaching Jerusalem, there was added to Saul's natural impetuosity of character a new ingredient. The Christian religion was then beginning to take root in the Holy City, and those veteran enemies of the Saviour, the Scribes and Pharisees, found no difficulty in turning to account Saul's restless energy. The effects were at once apparent. Stephen, one of the 248 ALETHAUPJON. seven deacons, innocent of soul, and of angelic appearance, was dragged outside of the walls and brutally murdered with stones. Saul was not yet satisfied ; he still ravaged the Church, and entering houses hauled away men and women and put them in prison. Not content with making things red hot in Jerusalem, he went to the high priest and asked for letters to the rulers of the synagogues in Damascus ; in order to capture as many there as possible and bring them back, bound hand and foot, to the holy Zion. The High Priest and Pharisees willingly gave the letters ; as much out of a desire to get rid of Saul himself as through hatred of the *' Nazarenes." They feared that his too great zeal might lead to mischief ; to an investigation by the civil authorities, and that their own rascalities might thereby be brought to the surface. Hence, they sent him off, with an open blessing, and a se- cret wish that he might break his neck or get drowned be- fore returning. On the way, near Damascus, the Saviour appeared to him and changed his heart ; from a persecutor he became an Apostle, and a great one — as we shall see in a future chapter. CHAPTER LTX. ST. PAUL. We saw, in the last chapter, how Saul, the Pharisee, the Jewish zealot and persecutor, was miraculously converted to the Catholic Church ; of which he became such a shining light. The spot where this change took place is stili pointed out to the wayfarer, as he approaches Damascus. The house of Judas, where he was visited by Ananias, is still to be seen in the same city ; though the apartment once ALETHAURION. 249 occupied by the Apostle, is now some ten or a dozen feet below the street. How wonderful, that a house, remark- able only for the fact, that it was the one in which Paul was baptized, should have been preserved to our day ; whereas, hundreds of others, then in the city, have, one after another, gone to ruin. *' The just man shall be in eternal remembrance," say the scriptures; and facts, like this, show that the prophecy is, to some extent, fulfilled even in this world. Damascus has, at the present day, a population of about one hundred and thirty thousand, and we may presume that it was equally as large, may be more so, in the days of St. Paul ; for where the Sultan's horse treads there grows no grass. There are no Protestants, of native growth, in it; nor, in fact, in any of the oriental cities. Missionary societies, both in this country and in England, send preachers out there, but they make no impression on the native Catholic population ; and as to the conversion of a Turk, the average English speaking preacher has too much sense to risk his life in such an undertaking:. Is it not astonishing, that heretics are not converted to the true faith, on visiting a city like Damascus? They read in the Acts of the Apostles, of how St. Paul, after his baptism, in the house of Judas, preached the gospel in the city, and, no doiibt, converted many ; they know, or ought to, that, in the early ages, the faith grew and increased there, as elsewhere throughout the east ; and that the pres- ■ent Christian inhabitants are the lineal descendants of those to whom the Apostles preached. Now, when a heretic goes there, and finds no difference in belief, between the native Catholics of Damascus and those he has met at home, does it not require the quintes- sence of stupidity not to see the point? How comes it that those Catholics of Damascus believe exactly as we do here in America? Did we teach them? 250 ALETHAURION. No ; but they and we have received the faith from the same truthful source — from the Apostles ; and they, as well as ourselves, have kept pure and undefiled, what was first taught ; therefore we believe alike. It is true, there are some of the natives in those ancient cities where the Apostles preached, who do not believe as we do, and still bear the name of Christians. Such are the Greek and Armenian schismatics, and others of kindred ilk. But we can tell the exact time when each took the " new departure ;" and we can name the men who were leaders in the movement. They have changed ; we still adhere to the old way pointed out by the Apostles and by apostolic men. These ideas have been suggested by the very name of that old city of which we are speaking. Let us return to our subject. We are told that, after he had seen our Saviour, he became physically blind, inso- much that he had to be led to the house already spoken of. There he remained three days, fasting and praying, but yet deprived of sight. At length Ananias, a disciple who lived in the city, having been forewarned in a vision, came,, and having placed his hands on the head of Paul the scales dropped from his eyes and he saw, and standing up was baptized. Here it may be well to observe that the baptism given must have been either by aspersion or effusion. All the cir- cumstances lead to the conclusion. Let us go there in imag- ination. Here we are in a room, some sixteen or eighteen feet square ; St. Paul lies on a bed, unable to see ; Ananl^s enters, lays his hands on Paul, tells him that Christ had sent him there ; the scales drop from Paul's eyes ; he sees, stands upon the floor and is baptized. We must remember that in the houses of the Jews there were at the doors one or more water vessels for purposes of purification, and it was out of these in all probability that Ananias took the water with which he administered ALETHAURION. 251 the sacrament. It does not appear that St. Paul left the house, and it would be stretching the imagination too far to suppose that this poor Jew kept a hogshead of water always ready for his guests to practice swimming in. Yet, this is not a question of great importance, because, in the true Church the three methods of conferring baptism, viz : by sprinkling or aspersion, by pouring or effusion, and by dipping or immersion, are all recognized as valid and have been in use from the earliest ages. If we compare baptism to the death of the "Old Man" in us, one can see that it makes little difference in w^hat way such a death is brought about as the effect is all the same. When a man is dead, it is af no further importance to him nor to the community whether it was by arsenic, strych- nine, or by prussic acid, or from the fang of a rattler he was taken off. Let it suffice for the present to say, that so far as those three methods are concerned the question hinges on the meaning to be given to the Greek word haptizo. By Pagan writers it is used to signify : I dip, I wash, I dye or color. Let us see in which of these senses the Saviour and the Apostles used it. Take the words of the great commission and make the proper substitutions. Christ says to the Apostles : "Going forth, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."— [Matt, xxviii, 19. Now, put the word dipping instead of baptizing and see whether there be any connection between the external act and the chanofe that is wrouo^ht in the soul. None what- ever. In the next place substitute for baptizing, the word wash- ing, and then the text reads thus : < 'Going forth, teach all nations, washing them (of their sins), in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost." Here there is a connection between the external ablution and the internal washing of the soul from the filth of s-in. 252 ALETHAURIOX. It would appear, then, that the Saviour and the Apostles used the ^^ovdhaptizo in the sense of to wash, and as washing can be done in any of the three ways, they are admitted as valid by the Catholic Church, provided no mistake is made in the/br?7z, and the minister has the proper intention. After Saul had thus got washed himself, he undertook, with his usual impetuosity and energy, to recommend the same to others. With what success we will see in a future chapter. CHAPTER LX. FLIGHT IX A BASKET. " The man that is in battle slain, Will never live to fight again ; But he that fights and runs away, May live to fight another day.'' Thus spoke some great poet of the past ; and it will be readily admitted there is a deal of truth in his verse. A man who has had his head taken off by a bomb-shell will certainly not do much fighting after that event. In the second place, it is no less clear that when one has succeeded in legging it off, safe, from a battle-field, he may at some future time get over his fright, and be induced to try the foe once more. The great moral lesson, however, which the poet teaches us is this : That when we happen to be in a house that is fall- ing, and the owner will not allow us to "prop it up, and make it wind proof for the future, it is better to leave, than stay and be crushed in the ruins. Such, also, must have been the sentiments of Paul, not many weeks after his baptism at Damascus. Having be- come convinced that Judaism had ceased to be the true re- ligion ; that its commission from above had expired ; and ALETHAURION. 253 that a new order of things had begun, he withdrew from the falling house, and devoted his energies to the spread of the gospel of CHFasT, and the building up of the Catholic Church. Just as soon as he had recovered strength enough, he ap- peared in the synagogues and openly maintained that Christ, whom the Jews had crucified, was the Son of God. Many at first, thought he had lost his reason ; but when these came to dispute with him on the subject they found their mistake — hatred took the place of pity ; and they re- solved to put out of the way, by foul means, a man, whose eloquence and genius they had despaired of being able to withstand. A conspiracy was formed, and some got orders to watch the gates of the city, lest they might escape. Matters were now becoming as warm for Saul himself as he, so short a time before had made them for others. But his day had not come ; he had yet to go before the Gentiles, and before kings, to suffer great things for the name of Christ. Hence, while the Jews kept watch, with bludgeons, at the gates, some faithful few had planned his escape. His flight from Damascus had not the pomp and circumstance of hi^ approach to the city, and but few of those who had known him previously would have even once thought, on seeing a basket descend from the wall at mid- night, that Saul was in it. But he was a changed man. That natural virtue of cour- age which he possessed in such an eminent degree, was now tempered with Christian prudence, and he felt he would not be justified in exposing to danger, from private malice, a life that might be of much public utility. ** When they persecute you in one city, fly ye into another," was the counsel of the Saviour to the Apostles, and we find them following the advice, whenever it was convenient to do so. It is true they had courage in the highest degree ; but they did not seek the danger, as the heroes of this world sometimes do, out of a spirit of vain-glory. They suffered 254 ■ ALETHAURION. with fortitude, where pain was unavoidable, but they did not seek death, except when it stood in the path to duty. What cahn and solemn grandeur do we not find in the sufferings of the Apostles, and the other martyrs and con- fessors of the Catholic Church, and how forcibly does it not contrast with the sullen impenitence of heretics when expiating their crimes. The life of Paul, after his conversion to the Catholic faith, may be likened to a beautiful heroic poem ; the first line of which is the key-note to what follows. His entire subsequent life was only a repetition of his first experience in Damascus. Great energy in advocating the gospel cause was met with corresponding obstinancy on the part of the Jews, and with lofty disdain by those who stood foremost amongst the Gentiles. Flight and apparent defeat gener- ally marked the close of his career, in those cities in which he labored. The enemies of the gospel sought to take his life wherever he went, because they felt the vigor of his blows, and knew there was not a white feather in his plumage. If Paul had been a putty-faced sort of a man, he \vould never have had so much opposition to encounter. He might, in that case, have settled downi quietly in Damas- cus, and dying, much thought of by Pagans, have left after him a little knot of timorous, pigeon-livered Catholics, thankful for being allowed to live, and afraid to say they had souls of their own. Those men whom we call the Apostles, were giants ; and they left as their immediate successors, a race of giants. By word, and especially by example, they taught men not only to love justice, but to hate iniquity. They infused into the parent the spirit of love for truth, and fe^ir of con- tamination from error. Thus, according to the order established by God, the pastor influenced the parent, and the parent influenced the child. Some good people of modern times, write, speak and act with a blindness and a ALETHAURION. 255 -subversion of first principles that is amazing. They at- tempt to reverse the order — to make Jack a good boy, and then firet him to convert his daddv. Instead of takins^ the bull by the horns, they get hold of him by the tail. The simplest lessons are sometimes the hardest to be learned ; and as we ought not to close our eyes to facts, so neither ought we refuse to have recourse to first principles, where facts are against an existing idea or system. As a rule, no authority on earth can, with success, take" the place of the parent's. Any tampering with it upsets the order established by God, and the results will not be, generally speaking, satisfactory. We have greater facilities now for the spread of knowl- edge than were in the days of the Apostles, and yet it may be doubted whether, taken by the average, the Catholics are any better instructed now, in matters appertaining to faith and morals, than they were at the end of the first century, when the Apostles had passed away. Preaching, and from a solid type, was then practiced ; and we can see from the homilies of some of the early Fathers that they addressed congregations that must have stood high in theological knowledge. We mean no disre- spect. But how is it now? It's all about the fair, and the pic-nic, and the promenade concert ; ending with an exhor- tation to be good people, and not fail to be on the grounds at the proper time. God is not honored by means that are questionable. Thus we do not save our bacon, because it is not salted with the word of life. After the sacrifice and the sacra- ments, next comes preaching, or a clear and easy exposition of some dogma or truth of our faith. Where this practice ends indifference begins ; and the schoolmaster, though a good man in his place, will not be able to supply the deficiency. Following up this line of thought, on the first principles, we would say that no Catholic family should be without a 256 AT.ETHAURION. Catholic newspaper, and no Catholic newspaper without hav- ing, at least, one column a week given to an explanation of some doctrine of the Church. The field is large, and there are abundance of flowers to make the nosegay. Thus we have rambled off a good ways from Damascus ; but, in our next we will return to the point. CHAPTER LXI. THE WANDERER. Having been compelled, by the force of circumstances, to leave Damascus, Paul next passed into Arabia. But we have no certain knowledge of what happened to him there, nor is it stated in the scriptures that he went to preach to the Arabs. Hence, we may at this point, give expression to some speculations, as to how he may have employed his time. Arabia is a country that then, as now, abounded in vast sandy solitudes, fit places where one might give himself up entirely to prayer and contemplation. What more natural, therefore, than that Paul, after his late experience at Damascus, should have felt more keenly, the magnitude, and the dangerous character of the work that lay before him ; and that he should have retired to the desert to give himself up for a time to prayer, as a prepara- tion, before commencing anew the work of an evangelist. To retire to the desert was a favorite practice with some of the holy men among the Jews, from Moses and Elias, down ; and Paul could not, at that time, have been ignor- ant of the fact that the Saviour himself, before having be- gun his public career, fasted and prayed forty days in the desert. Hence, it is at least highly probable that his life in Arabia was not that of an evangelist but rather of a hermit. ALETHAUKIOy. 257 After having remained away about three years, he again returned to Damascus, and from there proceeded to Jeru- salem. Before following him to his other fields of labor, we will touch on a question that may interest the reader. It is gen- erally believed that Paul received a knowledge of the truths and mysteries of the faith, not from any of the Apostles or disciples, but from the Saviour directly. Indeed he tells us himself, Galatians, i, 12, that he did not receive the gospel from man, nor did he even learn it, but had it by revelation of Jesus Christ. It becomes interesting to inquire at what period in his life this knowledge was communicated to him, in the extraordin- ary manner spoken of. Most persons imagine that it at once came with the Sav- iour's appearance to him on approaching Damascus. Yet a careful perusal of the narrative, as given in Acts ix, will convince any one that it was not then the mind of Saul was illuminated. When he asked what he should do on that occasion, he was told, that it w^ould be made known to him in the city. But we must not think that the instructions given by Ananias were complete, or, that a fuller revelation was not necessary ; taking into consideration the work that, in the designs of God, he was to perform. Paul, himself, tells us (ii Corinthians, xii,) that, above fourteen years previous, he was taken up to heaven, and that he heard secret words, which it is not granted to man to utter. It was on this occasion, we presume, that he received that plentitude of knowledge, w^hich fitted him for an Apostle. But, some one may ask : At what period of his life was he thus favored with the vision of the celestial kingdom ? We may say, first of all, that in regard to these apostolic rosebushes, the very best chronologists are not entirely reli- able, nor able to steer us clear of all thorns of uncertainty. 258 ALETHAURION. The epistle above named, in which mention is made of the vision, is said to have been written twenty-four years after the Saviour's death; and, as the conversion of St. Paul is said to have taken place about one year after that event, consequently it would not have been until the ninth year after his conversion that he was taken up to heaven. The writer does not wish to pass for an innovator in these pages, which are principally for the instruction of those who may not have time nor patience to wade through the original authorities. But there is a temptation here offered to propose a theory, on the subject, that certainly has souie probability about it and one that will differ with the generally accepted chro- nology in a matter of only six years. The assumptions may, it is true, be regarded as gratuitous, but what they lack in authority they will gain in symmetry. May we not say, that after Saul had left his basket, out- side the walls of Damascus, he was led by the spirit into the deserts of Arabia, and that he there, for the space of three years, gave himself up to fasting, to prayer, and to contemplation ; until, at the end of that time, when he had done penance for his sins, he was taken up to heaven, where, at the foot of the throne, he received from Christ himself, a knowledge of all those sublime truths of the Catholic faith, which he was, in after time, to preach to the Jew first, and then to the Greek and to the barbarian. That he was taught by the Saviour himself is a matter of certainty, and, that this instruction was given before he was commissioned to teach others, is certainly in consonance .with the ways of Divine Providence. That Paul, after having left Damascus, went into some place if retirement, receives further contirmation from the fact that when he returned to Jerusalem, the rest of the faithful, or a high percentage of them, w^ere still afraid of him, not being certain of his conversion. Had he, during those three years that elapsed between his ALETHAURION. 259 departure from Damascus and his return for the second time to that place, been engaged in preaching the gospel, there would have been no doubt in the minds of the brethren that he was a safe man to trust. But, as the matter stood, it required some explanations from Barnabas to quiet their nerves, and convince them that all was right. Scarcely had he rested in Jerusalem, after his journey, when the zeal, the same old mania for dis- putation took possession of him. This time it was with the Grecians that were in Jerusalem, and the result was the same as before. Unable to resist his loo:ic, thev sous^ht to kill him. So, in order to save his life, the brethren took him out of the city, first to Cesarea, and then to Tarsus, his native town. His deeds after leavinsr Tarsus will form the orround work of our next. CHAPTER LXn. SAUL S ORDINATION. After a stay of fifteen days, Saul was compelled to beat a hasty retreat from Jerusalem. He next went to Tarsus, his native city, but of his missionary life there we have no special mention. No doubt he displayed the -same zeal in the place of his birth, as elsewhere, though he possibly may not have made many converts to the Catholic faith, for no one is a prophet in his own country. Now, It so happened, that while Paul was at Damascus, * and in Arabia, apersecution raged in Jerusalem, and through- out Judea, against the Catholics. Many were compelled to fly from the province, and seek refuge in distant cities. Not a few found shelter in Antioch, the capital of Syria, and at the time, a place of great commerce and importance. Those fugitives were not idle, while in Antioch, but sought 260 ALETHAUEION. to advance the gospel cause in every way possible and legitimate. Hence, Avithin a short time, a good many of the citizens had either embraced, or were well disposed toward the new religion. When news of these things came to the Church in Jerusalem, Barnabas was sent to take observations. Having arrived in Antioch, he found that many had indeed embraced the faith, and that there was a splendid field open and ready for the sickle. Those who believed were principally from that class that usually goes under the name of the ''common people." Others, who pretended to be very learned, could not, of course, see any sense at all in the new doctrines. They were too full of conceit to think there was anything more for them to learn, and were more disposed to give than to take instruction of any kind. These self-styled philosophers played the part of the dog in the manger. They would not enter the Church them- selves, and their refusal to do so kept many others from even examining the grounds of Catholic doctrine. Barnabas saw at a glance that, in order to have good suc- cess in Antioch, the first thing necessary was to lessen the conceit of- those Pagan philosophers, who set themselves up as authorities on all manner of subjects, and were, in truth, a keen set of rascals. He had seen enough of Saul to know that he was precisely the man most needed at the front, to take the dust out of Paganism, and show how thread-bare, even moth-eaten, a ofarment it was. So he started at once to Tarsus, and having found Saul, they both returned to Antioch, where they spent one whole year teaching Catholic doctrine. Such was their success, that by reason of the multitude that believed, the disciples were there first called Christians. They did not, however, go into a committee of the whole and agree to call themselves Christians, as some of our neighbors do at the present day, but they '' were called ALETHAURION. 261 Christians " by the Pagan inhabitants of the city, and, most likely, the word was first used as a term of reproach. Up to this time Saul had not been ordained to the priest- hood of the new law. He had, indeed, done the Church valuable service as a teacher, but he had not the power to offer sacrifice to the Lord, nor to remit sin, nor to anoint the sick with oil, nor to ordain others to the ministry. He was, in fact, one of the laity. And his example shows us what services, in the matter of teaching, a learned and zeal- ous member of the laity may render in the Church. It is certainly not customary, at the present day, that laymen should preach publicly in the Churches, on matters apper- taining to faith and morals, nor is it necessary, since that, in a special rnanner, belongs to the ordained ministers. But there are many other questions, akin to the faith, that members of the laity might ventilate from the rostrum, or through the columns of a Catholic weekly, with much profit to the cause. In this way we would, to some extent, bring back again that fervor of apostolic times, when all had but one heart and one mind, and one idea uppermost, which was the propagation of the truth among men. In chapter xiii of Acts, we have an account given of the ordination of Saul and Barnabas. This was done, as it also now is, by tlie imposition of hands, and by prayer, of those in the Church who have power and authority to con- fer sacred orders. Some of our sectarian friends have, also, in their Churches, what they call ordination, or laying on of hands. Such ordination is, of course, null and void, where there is not real apostolic succession. Let us explain, briefly what we mean by this : Apostolic succession, in the matter of sacred orders, con- sists in the transmission, from one man to another, and from age to age, of the ordinary powers given by Christ to the Apostles. Foremost among these is the power to offer sacrifice, to 2Q2 ALETHAURION. remit sin, and in general, to dispense the mysteries of God ; in other words, to administer the sacrament. That such powers were given by Christ to them, is some- thing clearly taught in the scriptures, and also held by the Catholic Church from the time that Christ lived until now. That the Apostles had the power and authority of sending others, as they had themselves been sent, is equally clear. '* As the Father has sent Me," said Christ, *' so, also, I send you." Hence, the powers spoken of above, were given to indi- vidual men, and by them again, to individual men, and so on. Now, as the power to ordain is only in those who have the complement of the priesthood or eldership in the Church hence it follows, that, where hands are not laid on by a bishop, there is no ordination. Christ did not give the powers, spoken of, to all the members of his Church i)i globo, as the saying is. He gave them only to the Apostles, although he had, at the same time, seventy-two disciples. The Apostles in turn, did not ordain every one a bishop whom they had received into the Church ; they picked out faithful men, who would be fit to teach and transmit to others what they had themselves received ; and thus the suc- cession has been kept up to our own day. The election of a man to be a deacon or an elder in the Church amounts to nothing, unless some one lays hands on hhii who has had hands laid upon himself already, because no man can give what he does not possess. The citizens of Frogtown may )inanimously elect Major McMuddle postmaster, but, though the major may be a very good man, and may have dodged many a bullet, in his country's service, yet, without power and authority from the President, his election does not orive him the risrht to handle the United States mails at Frogtown, nor any where else. The frogs may bear testi- mony to his fitness for the office, but they cannot make him postmaster, unless they first succeed in making Frogtown a fr^e and independent republic or monarchy, bidding defiance ALETHAURION. 263 thereby, to the constitution and laws of the United States, It is thus, also, in the Church. After Saul's ordination be left Antioch, and entered new fields of labor, where we will meet him in a future chapter. CHAPTER LXIII. CONCEENING MAGIC. We read in the thirteenth chapter of the Acts of the Apos- tles, that when Paul and Barnabas, directed by the Holy Ghost, had begun to preach the gospel in the island of Cy- prus, they were opposed by a Jewish magician named Elymas. This man had, by false miracles, and great pretensions, acquired considerable influence with the pro-consul, or gover- nor. When the latter, whose name was Sergius Paulus, wished to hear the gospel preached, the magician made use of all his craftiness to dissuade him from listening to the Word, or believing in it. Then Paul, full of the Holy Ghost, and knowing by what spirit the magician was moved, looking upon him, said : '• O, thou, full of all guile and of all deceit, son of the devil, enemy of all justice, thou dost not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord. And now behold the hand of the Lord upon thee, and thou shalt beblmd, not seeing the sun for a time." After Paul had spoken these words, the magician was at once struck blind, and he went about seeking some one to lead him by the hand. This miracle was the occasion of converting the governor, and also affords the writer a pre- text for branching off into an episode on magic. Variety is the spice of life. Magic is the art of performing feats that appear superna- tural, without the divine agency, and a magician is a man who performs them. Frequent mention is made of this art 264 ALETHAURION. in the scriptures, and those given to the practice of it are represented as odious in the sight of God. The Catholic Church has also pronounced anathemas against them, and in times past they were, not unfrequently, punished by the civil law. It is well known that during the reign of Puritanism, in New England, scores of people were put to death for having been real or supposed witches. And if an old woman had a spite against a neighbor, which she could not in other ways gratify, a charge of witchcraft, with moderate proof, would do more towards gaining the desired end than a month's tongue-lashing. Infidels, who do not admit supernatural agencies, attempt to hold up to ridicule what has been handed down from remote ages on this subject. But facts are stubborn argu- ments Ev^en in our times, many things happen, which can scarcely be referred to the Supreme Being, and which yet transcend human power. Before dividing the subject into appropriate headings, we will examine, in general terms, into the origin of magic, and then give some of those things that the inspired writers and the Fathers of the Church, have had to say concerning it. There can scarcely be any doubt that magic is an offshoot of Polytheism, or the worship of many false gods. The passions attributed to those deities, the likes and dislikes which they were supposed to manifest, the influence un- regulated by the perfections of the true God, as known to us, which they were thought to exercise over the things of this world, naturally produced on weak human nature a pusillanimity, akin to that which the spaniel manifests on cominor in contact with a full-blown bull-doo^. There were among the Pagans, not only many superior gods, but also a variety of secondary spirits, capa])le of rendering service, if well disposed, or of afflicting pain, if angered. ALETHAURION. 265 The feeble-minded and superstitious dreaded their dis- pleasure, and were, as a consequence, desirous to know how their good will might be procured and retained. Hence, by the law of supply and demand, there were not wanting other crafty mortals, who, taking advantage of this general feeling, professed themselves on intimate terms with one or more of these malignant spirits. There can be no reasonable grounds for doubt, but that the enemy also took advantage of this state of affairs, and that many, who in the beginning, out of motives of gain or vain glory, falsely pretended to superior knowledge, found, in course of time, that there was indeed some super- natural agency working with them, and thus became magicians in the full sense of that word. Celsus, a Pagan philosopher, who wrote about the year 170 A. D., and who was himself a firm believer in magic, gives us another theory on the subject. He maintained that the inferior order of animals not only have souls, but that their's are of a nature far superior to man's, and that they have more intimate relations with the spirit world. It was from these, accordins^ to our philosopher, that man first learned the interesting science of magic. See Origen, Cont. Cels. lib. 4, 79, From this one, and others of the liagan writers, we learn that it was firmly believed among the people that a man might have intercourse with the demons of spirits, and that he might obtain of them superior knowledge, and by their aid, perform supernatural acts. The means employed to draw the attention and gain the good will of those spirits, gave names to the different species of magic. Sometimes it was by a short formula, called in Latin a carmen, in English a charm ; sometimes it was by singing and the sounds of musical instruments, and hence, called an enchantment. When the souls of the dead were called up by means of the spirits, it was called necromancy. Future events, foretold by means of the spirits, were called 266 ALETHAURION. divinations. When the spirits were invoked to afflict others with sickness, or a misfortune of any kind, it was iimalejice. Children were kej^t from growing by what was known as fascination, or the influence of the spirit's evil eye through his agent. The agency of the spirit, in the casting of lots, was called sorcery. To excite unlawful love in one of the opposite sex, by means of the spirits, was called ^ pJiiUrum. These are the different species of magic, about some of which we will have a word or two before having reached the end of this episode. It is quite probable that many oc- currences have, in times passed, been attributed to the in- fluence of the demon, which might have been explained on natural principles. But it is no less true that there are many other facts that are entirely above scientific analysis, and must be referred to where they belong — to the Old Serpent. As to our man Elyznias, the scriptures do not tell us in which of these different species he was most expert. But it is highly probable that he had graduated in them all. In our next we will take up and discuss some well known cases found in scripture. CgAPTEE LXIV. NECKOMANCY. This is a word of Greek origin, composed of nekros, a man, and manteia^ a prophecy. Taken altogether it means, first, a revelation made by a departed soul ; and secondly, the art of getting the dead to make such manifestations. Some twenty years ago, this art was quite extensively practiced here in the United States, under the name of ** Spiritualism." Many had almost lost their senses with joy at the thought that now, at least, a sure telegraphic com- munication had been established between this vale of tears ALETHAURION. 267 and the Elysian fields, the abode of the blessed. Those persons did not know, and were too wise in their own con- ceit to learn from authorized teachers, that spiritualism is an old trick, and that the Father of Lies is the patentee. The matter had to run its course, before its adherents could be persuaded that they were engaged in picking Dead Sea apples, and that they would have nothing in the end, but dust and worms for their pains. This sombre art goes back to quite a remote period in the world's history, and appears to have been practiced among very many peoples, tribes and tongues. It is well known that among the ancients, it was custom- ary to make great outward show of grief, when a member of a family was called off by death. The friends and neigh- bors of the deceased were called in to speak of his good qualities, and show their sorrow by tears and lamentations. In order that prostration might not follow, plenty of good cheer was provided by the dead man's relatives, and, no doubt, some beverages, akin to that which kept the faith alive in the Highlands, during the persecutions, was freely handed around by the chief mourners, and complimented by the sympathizing neighbors. This was, in all probability, the beginning of it ; but not the end. Under circumstances like these, it will not be wondered at, that some should see, or imagined they saw, the dead man's ghost, and learned from it many curious details of the spirit world. A sanctimonious old lady, " Down East," a firm believer in spiritualism, and a medium, while keeping watch by the bier of a departed son, a few years ago, saw her beloved boy enter the room, go through a series of antics, grin at his mother, look at his own dead body, and remark that he should never have thought that so beautiful a boy would have made such an ugly corpse. Whether her imagination was. rendered vivid on that occasion by a Highland stimulant, or whether it was a oroblin damned that took the form of C3 268 ALETHAURION. her child, is a very deep question, and ought not to be decided without a critical examination into ail the circum- stances of the case. Supposing the narrative true, we must admit the old kidy was favored in an extraordinary manner ; for the spirits do not generally deign to manifest themselves so openly. It happened otherwise in the case of an acquaintance of ours. He was a Catholic, and a pious one. Finding him- self , one evening, in company with some heretics, one of whom was a medium, it was agreed to have a spiritual seance. Our friend took no active part in the matter, but remained an observer. When all had seated themselves around the table, the spirit of a man who had been hanged for murder was called, and requested to tell where he was, and how he fared. He replied, through the medium, that there was one in the party w^hose presence w^as displeasing to himself, and to the other spirits, and that no answer would be given, as long as the obnoxious person remained in the room. As the spirit did not make known the name of the objectionable indi- vidual, it was agraed that, one at a time, should go into an adjoining room. When it had come to our friend's turn, the spirit got the use of his knuckles, and rapped a response, to the effect that he was then in the Elysian Fields, and had for companions and associates there, such men as Benjamin Fraxklix, George Washixgtox, Alexaxder Hamiltox, AxDREW Jacksox, and many others, distinguished in the history of this country.- This case, which is from a reliable source, recalls to mind what some of the ancient Fathers have handed down, con- cerning the refusal of the Pagan oracles to give responses, because the bones of some Christian martyrs were buried close by. And, it may be that the young man, to whom we refer, had, at the time, some devotional object about his person. Necromancy was strictly forbidden by the law of ^Ioses : ALFTHAURION. 269 •'Neither let there be found among j'ou/' said he addressing the people of Israel, '* any one that cousulteth the pythonic spirits, or for- tune-tellers, or that seeketh the tnith from the dead.''— [Deut. xviii. The prophet Isaias, also, condemns those who seek ta know of the dead what may be of advantage to the living. (Chapter viii. ) Indeed, all those kings of Israel, who were pious and feared God, were careful to proscribe necromancy, and punish all who practiced it. We learn, also, from the Theodocian code of laws. Lib. 9, tit. 38, leg. 3, that Coxstantixe, after having professed Christianity, was severe on necromancers ; and his son and successor, CoxsTAxcE, condemned them to death, as persons in league with the devil. In the Councils of Laodicea, and of IV Carthage, it was decreed that this crime should be punished by excommuni- cation. From these various evidences it is clear that both by Jews and Christians, spiritualism or necromancy, has ever been regarded as the work of the demon. We may now introduce the celebrated case of King Saul and the Witch of Endor ; it being the best authenticated ex- ample df necromancy to be found in either ancient or modern history. The circumstances are related in the first book of Kings, chapter xxviii, and are substantially as follows : Saul, when on the point of engaging in battle with the Philistines, was anxious to know what the result would be. Having, by his crimes, lost favor with God, he now sought information of a pythoness, or witch. Just as some Catho- lics, who do not wish to confess their sins nor really amend their lives, go seeking the means of sanctification outside the Church, when they have them within in such abundance. Saul desired the Witch to call up from the dead the soul of Samuel, and he having arisen, informed the king that his army would be defeated, and himself killed. 270 ALETHAURION. Here, then, we have a sure case of necromancy — a proph- ecy made by a dead man, and fulfilled soon after This fact suggests two other questions : First, Did Samuel really appear, or was it a piece of deception — ventriloquism — on the part of the pythoness? Second, Is the appearance of Samuel to be attributed to the demon, or to divine agency? Tertullian, Basil and Gregory, of Nyssa, were of opinion that it was an Evil Spirit that took the prophet's form on that occasion, and spoke in his name. EusTACHius of Antioch, Cyril of Alexandria, and others, maintained that the sorceress only pretended to have seen him, but spoke for him. The Jewish Rabbi, Levi-Bex-Gersox, referred the whole matter to Saul's disordered imagination. Those who contend that the apparition was real, may be divided into two classes. Justix, Origex, Axastasius of Antioch, Augustixe, and others, attribute the apparition to the power of the demon ; whereas St. Ambrose, Zexo of Verona, Thomas Aquixas, and more recent commentators, maintain that neither the Witch nor the Evil Spirit had power to evoke Samuel from the tomb, and hence, they attribute his appearance on that occasion to God. This last opinion appears more in conformity with reason, and the only one worthy of consideration. The next chapter will treat of charms. CHAPTER LXV, charms. Charms are subdivisions of the magical art, and though, as in common use, the word is interchangeable with en- chantment, yet strictly speaking, there is a difference. A charm consists in a set form of words, conveying to ALETHAURION. 271 the hearer sometimes a definite idea, and sometimes expres- sinor none at all intelliirible to man. Those that are the least intelligible are said to be the best, because of a nature more confidential between the spirit and the worshiper. In some charms, the words of the- formula must be accompanied by certain acts, and unless all the circum- stances of time, place, person and manner are strictly, even minutely observed, it will not work. Not only human beings may be affected in this way, but also, irrational creatures. Indian jugglers are said to have, by means of charms, a power over even the most venomous serpents to be found in that benighted land. So that, under magic influence, the deadly cobra becomes, for the time being, harmless, and even playful. But from such playthings, deliver us, O Lord. No doubt those jugglers know their business well, and have besides, the right kind of charms. It was not so with an adventurer who attempted to astonish the natives at a place some dozen or fifteen miles above Mt. Sterling, in this State. He gave out that he was a practical snake charmer, and as a consequence, was for some time held in high consideration among that class of people who have a gaping for the marvelous. His powers were tested on water snakes of different kinds, to the entire satisfaction of all concerned — the snakes included. Finally a wagoner brought to the place one day, from the mountains, a stalwart specimen of another breed, with twelve rattles and a button. The string that tied him to the coupling pole was not cut, until the charmer was sent for. He was to be manager, and show all who wished to learn, how a rattler might be ** coaxed," as he called the process of charming. A ring was soon formed, and the juggler began to mutter the sacred words, approaching the snake at the same time, with a steady eye, and motions of the hands, resembling those made by a poodle in the water. 272 AI.ETHAUEION. After having moved forward and backward several times » it became manifest to all that the charm had begun to work ; for the snake coiled himself, and showed evident sisfns of irritation ; the prelude to final victory. At length, before the charm had produced its full effect, the juggler ap- proached a little too close, increasing thereby, too suddenly the magical influence ; which became so strong that it burst those invisible tubes that led from his eye to the snake's. In this way the current was, for an instant, broken ; and before it could be re-established, the snake made a spring and bit the juggler's arm, below the elbow. He soon be- gan to swell ; and though plenty of that stuff that has kept alive the spirit of chivalry in the Kentucky mountains, was applied to the wound, inside and out, it w^as to no purpose — the juggler died within twenty-four hours. Any one that is at all acquainted with even the rudiments of magic, will readily see and admit, that the want of suc- cess in this case must not be ascribed to the charm itself, but to the fact that the conditions were not observed in making the application. Now, according to the best authorities, when there is ques- tion of charming a rattle-snake, or copper-head, the juggler ought not to go inside of a circle, having a radius of five feet from the serpent's head, without a hickory wand. Then, when he observes that the tubes, spoken of above, by which the magic influence is conveyed from his eyes to those of the serpent, are becoming irregular in their action, a few judi- cious taps of the wand on the snake's head will again restore the circulation and insure success. It was by the omission of this important feature that our magician lost his life. It is a mooted question whether charms are man's inven- tion or whether they were first taught him by the spirits of the nether world. So me Pagan writers, such as Porphy- Kius and other theurgists, maintain that the spirits first taught them to mankind. But a thoughtful consideration ALETHAURION. 273 of the following fact, would load us to suppose that they are of human invention, though afterwards endorsed and made negotiable by his Sable Majesty. A little upwards of a hundred years ago there lived in a small house, on the out-skirts of Dublin, an old hag who had the reputation of being in league with the devil ; and she lived by selling whisky on the sly. One day a couple of Trinity college students came to her to get some patent eye-water on *'tick," for they were broken, flat. The crone refused to listen to their pleadings unless they put down their silver first, which neither was able to do. When about to leave, in disgust at their want of success, one of them noticed that she had a sore eye, and a bright thought struck him at once. He pretended to be a young doctor, and told her that, if she would oblige them this time, he would cure her ; and, on the coming week, return and settle all back accounts. To this, the dame replied with a '* get out o' me house," and a motion toward the opposite corner, where there was a stout broom-handle. Seeing that an appeal to science did no good, the other now remembered that he had a charm to cure sore eyes, and that his own grand-father, and lately his step-mother, had been saved from total blindness by the use of it. The old hag was mollified by this piece of information, and she finally agreed to give the whisky for the charm, and the instructions how to use it. It was written in Latin, to the following effect : " May the Old Harry gouge out your eye, and put it in his museum, to scare away the rats. May every tooth in your head ache until your toes turn up. May you get the yellow jaundice and the measles again, and may you have the mumps along with them. You old witch, you. Amen.'* Twenty years after this event, the prodigal boy had be- come a judge ; and, while pronouncing sentence, according to law, against others, he remembered his own juvenile pranks, only to regret them. 274 ALETHAURION. One day there was brought before him an old woman, l)ent almost double with the miseries incident to poverty and old age. She had been accused of witchcraft, and the jury had found her guilty. Her crime consisted in curing sore eyes by magic, and there was the charm as evidence of it. The judge requested to see the document ; when, lo I and behold ! there was the identical paper he had* given her twenty years before. He explained the circumstances to the jury, the witch was discharged, and with her toes now turned up for joy, made good time home from the court-house, thanking God for her deliverance, and fully bent on having nothinsf more to do with charms in the future. It would appear from this case, that the demon sometimes takes advantage of things that are in themselves harmless, or at most jocose to spread abroad his venom and sap the faith of true believers. To say that charms have any power in themselves would, of course, be simple folly, for there is, evidently, none of the relationship of cause and effect between reading or wear- ing around the neck a piece of paper, and the cure of sore eyes. But, to affirm that the evil Spirit cannot take advantage of such things, would be equally silly. From Revelation we learn that the demons have an intelligence far superior to ours. The laws of nature, the relations of cause and effect, and many other matters are known to them in a manner far superior to any knowledge we can have. We learn, also, that with God's permission, the devil has power to afflict men with sickness. Witness Job, and many other cases in our Lord's time. If we admit he has power to afflict, why not also a curative power when it suits his designs ? The devil is the prince of gamblers, and he will risk a minnow at any time to catch a sturgeon. He only desires that men be drawn to put their confidence in him, instead of God, and charms are nothing more nor less than the prayers of ALETHAURION. 275 those who worship him. Some times the prayers are heard but oftenerthey are not. Our next will be about enchantments, especially those of the magicians of Egypt. CHAPTER LXVI. EXCHAXTMEXTS. Enchantments are parts of the magical art, and bear about the same relation to charms that music does to poetry. Were it not for the light which Revelation sheds upon the future state, our notions concerning what belongs to it would indeed be very gross and materialistic. Clear evi- dence of this is to be found among unchristianized nations, even at the present day. The North American Indian has no higher idea of the bliss of heaven than that it is a country beyond the setting sun, with a never fajling stock of game, and an everlasting summer. Hence, his bow and a well filled quiver, are placed by his side in the grave, and the life of a favorite dog is forfeited, that he may accompany the spirit of his master through shady valleys, and along the banks of dark, rolling streams in the happy hunting grounds. The Turk, though more civilized than the Indian, figures to himself a paradise in keeping with his swinish proclivities here on earth ; and the lords of Ashantee cannot imagine how a chief can rest in the other life, until his wives, and a percentage of his servants are dispatched straight to him. Thus, it was supposed also, among the Pagans of ancient time, that whatever gave pleasure here, would not be unac- ceptable hereafter. And as all men are more «r less susceptible to the charms of music, it was thought that spirits could not be insensible to melody or enchantment. Kow, as to Beelzebub realb^ taking delight in the sound of the banjo or flute is indeed 276 ALETUAURION. very questionable. But, if a man believes he does, and takes that means to secure his presence and aid, the writer would not ffo so far as to say that it is out of the demon's power to make the enchanter think he likes the music well. We are told in the book of Exodus, that when Aaron, the brother of Moses, came before Pharaoh, to request that the children of Israel be allowed to leave Egypt, the king de- manded a sign iu proof of his divine mission. Then Aaron threw down the rod which he held in his hand, and it instantly changed into a serpent. This was evidently a mira- cle, and ought to have been sufficient. But Pharoah had seen so many tricks done by the magicians of Egypt, that the foregoing did not move his heart, nor lessen his pride. By way of answer to what Aaron had done he sent for his own magicians, and true to his expectations, they by "Egyptian enchantments, and certain secrets, did in like manner ; they every one cast down their rods and they were turned into serpents, but Aaron's rod devoured their rods." We have here a pretty clear case of a Wonderful act done by the power of enchantment. But this was not the only specimen of their skill ; for they also turned water into blood, and brought forth frogs upon the land of Egypt, as Moses and Aaron had done. The question naturally arises here, as to whether they per- formed these false miracles by sleight of hand, or by the power of the Evil One. Those who may have witnessed the performances of Heller, Anderson, and others of our times, will not lie disposed to quarrel with us should we refer the miracles on this occasion to the same source. Though, we do not all deny that the great magician himself may have been there, ready to put the finishing touch, and, as far as lay in his power, give expression to the picture. The circumstances were indeed quite * favorable to the magicians, for, it is not to be presumed that King Pharaoh was in any way anxious to detect them in the fraud. He ALETHAURION. 277 was open to conviction from that side, while he would will- ingly close his eyes to the real miracles of Moses and Aaron. Now, Jannes and Mambees, (the names of those two worthies) no doubt had a great deal of influence and author- ity ; mountebanks and thieves like them always have, where vice and incompetence reign at headquarters. Hence, on learning what Aaron had done, in the presence of Pharaoh and his court, they might easily have given orders to some of their confederates to catch and bring them a couple of serpents ; and by skillful manipulation', a feat much similar to that performed by Aaron might have been executed. As regards the other two miracles, viz : the changing of the waters of the Nile, and other streams of Egypt, into blood, as also the plague of the frogs, both of which were imitated by the magicians, we may say of the iirst, that if they really changed the waters of the river, and of the other streams and pools, as Moses had done, such a feat cannot be attributed to mere lesrerdemain. But it is not at all probable that those tricksters did more than give the color of blood to a small portion of water, tdfken from pits dug near the Nile, during those seven daj^s through which the miracle lasted. As regards the frogs we may say in like manner. A tubful or two for Pharaoh to look at, was, in all probability, the extent of the damage on that occasion. • But Avhether we hold that it was mere sleight of hand, or maintain, as some do, that the demon aided them, we still fail to see that the king and his people had any good reason for denvins: the divine mission of Moses and Aaron. When a magician performs a false miracle, there is always sotnething connected with it by which it may be distinguished from the genuine. Thus, when Heller picks' a silver dollar out of a black man's eye, it is evident that he performs a mere piece of legerdemain. For, if each and every negro has in his optic 278 ALETHAURION. a Mexican, and Heller has the power of getting it out, why does he not go to Timbuctoo at once and get rich, instead of trying to replenish his purse by giving exhibitions here ? We may say the same of Pharaoh and his court. They need not have been deceived. The fact that Aaron's rod, when turned into a serpent, eat up those of the magicians, was proof of something unreal in their acts. Thus also, when Moses and Aaron produced the cimfs, the magicians were unable to do likewise. And when the land of Egypt was tried with boils^ the magicians and Pha- raoh himself, waxed wroth, but had to bear them. Our next will be about real miracles. CHAPTER LXVn. MIRACLES. A miracle may be defined as an event or occurrence, the production of which surpasses all created power. Hence, God alone can perform a real one. As such an event4s above the laws of nature, in so far as known to man, it excites astonishment, and is in consequence called a miracle^ or wonder-pile. Miracles may be divided into three grades or classes ; not as regards God, for one is as easy to him as another, but as respects our way of viewing them. Indeed, so far as the Creator is concerned, there is not, neither can there be, any such thing as a miracle. His knowledge is infinite and the cause of each event, no matter how surprising it may appear to us, is known to Him from eternity. Consequently, nothing can occasion wonder to the Omniscient ; except, may be, the stolid conceit of some men who take pleasure in being known among their fellow-worms as infidels or atheists. ALETH AURION . 279 An event which surpasses, in the highest degree, the pow- ers of nature, we call a miracle of the first class. Such would be that John Smith should be present in New York and San Francisco at one and the same time ; that the sun should stand still in the heavens ; that the human body should be glorified, as was that of the Saviour on Mount Tabor. A miracle of the second class is that which exceeds the powers of nature, not so much in the. thing done, as in the subject in which it is accomplished. Thus, nature has the power of giving life to man, at some period before his birth, most probably at the moment of his conception. But when life, given under the above circumstances, has been lost, nature has not the power to restore it. So, also, nature gives a man eyes, by which he may see, but if an optic is once knocked out, then art may indeed furnish a glass one ; but nature will not act in the premises a second time. Hence, to give life to a dead man, or sight to the blind, would cer- tainly be a miracle, because it would be an event transcend- ing the powers of nature under those particular circumstan- ces. But it would only be a miracle of the second class ; for nature, under other well-known -conditions, has the power of giving to man both sight and life. A miracle of the third class is had in the case of an event that surpasses the powers of nature, yet only in the order and mode of its accomplishment. Thus, if a child happens to catch the measles, nature will cure the brat, in due time, if he is properly cared for. Yet, if some holy man should restore him to health in an instant, it would be a real and true miracle, because nature does not work an instantaneous cure in the case of measles. It will, also, be readily understood that under each of these three heads there may be different grades of miracles, according as they approach to, or recede from the limits of all created power. We have said that God alone is able to perform a real 280 ALETHAURION. miracle. By this, however, we do not mean to exclude the agency of angels and of men. It is well known that, l)oth in the Old and New Dispensations, God has made use of men, and of material objects, to execute His wonders in the world. These are instruments in His hand, lil^e a pen in that of a scribe. Now, there arises here very naturally a question, to the solution of which we shall briefly turn our attention. Since we do not know what limits God has set to the powers of all created nature, how are we to distinguish a real miracle from a false one? How are we to know whether we must attribute a given wonderful event, say the restoration of sight to a blind man, to God, to an angel, or to some occult force of nature, or even to one of the fallen spirits or demons? In reply to this question, which is certainly a very deep one, we may observe, first of all, that it is the very same, in substance, that the Pharisees i)ut to our Lord himself, when they accused Him of working miracles, and casting out devils, by the power of Beelzebub, the Prince of Devils. — [Matt. xii. Jewish malice could not conceive a more specious or subtle argument against the Saviour's miracles. Hence, we may also conclude that He, then, gave the best answer possible : •' Knowing their thoughts," says the Scripture, he said to them: *' Every kingdom divided against itself shall be made desolate, and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand. And if I, by Satan, cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then shall his kingdom stand? " The Saviour does not deny that it is within the .power of Satan to do wonderful things, through his agents here on earth. And, in effect, we know that, toward the end of the world, he will, by means of Antichrist, work miracles capable of deceiving, if it were possible, even the elect. Yet, by the Saviour's answer, we are given to understand that the devil's miracles will be such as to never lead men ALETHAURION. 281 to glorify God, nor to seek their own sanctification. For, in that case, his kingdom would be divided. The Pharisees saw and knew that the miracles of Christ were true ones, and yet, because of their abominable sins of pride and lust, they shut their eyes against the light, and died in their obstinacy and blindness. By the fruit you may know the tree, and a bad tree, such as Satan is, will not yield w^holesome fruit. The foregoing is about the very best means one can have by which to distinguish between true and false miracles — though the writer is not unaware that theologians gave also other marks. Hence, fifrantins^ that we cannot define the exact limit of Satan's power, yet, there is no danger that a good and righteous man will ever be deceived by false mir- acles. It is onlv those whose hearts are wrons^ that will be drawn into the vortex. To illustrate this, take an example. A sound, upright Catholic may be living for years, surrounded by heretics and secret societies of every kind, and he will never be drawn away from the Faith. But let one of your hickory kind, who is a liar from habit and choice, and a fraud, be placed in similar circumstances, and you will see how quickly he will recognize the folly of praying, fasting, going to con- fession, and the like practices. Such a person will easily fall away, because his heart is not right in the sight of God. It will be thus, also, with the miracles of Satan, only those who love deception will be deceived. As regards the miracles performed by the good angels, w^e may say that, inasmuch as their wills are in harmony with that of the Almighty, good alone can result from them. In general terms we may state it as a solid and un- deniable principle, that any supernatural event which, either directly or indirectly, contradicts the teaching of the Catho- lic Church, has for its author no other than the devil, or one of his imps. Now, with respect to the third class, in which miracles 2S2 ALETHAURION. are referred to unknown powers of nature, we may say, that an experience of six thousand years has given us a sufficient knowledge of nature's hiws to be certain that it does not re- store a dead man to life, nor give sight to a blind man, nor feed five thousand with five loaves of bread. Infidels who are always snatching at straws, make use of the foregoing argument, in order to destroy, if possible, the motives for believing the Saviour's divine mission. He ai>i)ealed to the miracles which he performed, as a proof that he was sent to teach mankind. Infidels attribute them to the occult powers of nature, and attempt to make a liar of the Saviour, who referred those wonderful work& to the Eternal Father. Our next will be a continuation. CHAPTER LXVIII. MIRACLES. In the last chapter we spoke of the three different orders of miracles. We also took into consideration the means by which one may distinguish the wonders of which the powers of darkness are capable, from those of the blessed spirits, or of the Almighty. Satan has a power, whose limits we cannot, with any de- gree of accuracy, define. But we may state, with full confidence, that if he could only get full play at us, we would find ourselves checkmated by him in short order. Yet Ave must remember that there is a wiser and a more powerful Being than Satan — our Creator — who takes pity on our weakness and will not allow the demon to triumph, unless we first prove ourselves rebellious, and desert our colors. United to God, we are strong and we are wise. But separated from Him, the most intellectual man in existence ALETHAUEION. 283 is but a miserable, blind and helpless shoat, a prey easily captured aud devoured by the infernal wolves. Granting then, as may be done, that Satan has a discre- tionary power far more vast than that conceded to any tyrant in human shape, past, present, or to come, we need not dread his might nor his miracles, as long as we are in the House of God. For the Master of that house must first be bound before His servants can be injured, or His cjoods rifled. Let us now proceed a step farther, and briefly consider the possibility of miracles. Some modern infidels, making use of the objections proposed to themselves, and solved by the scholastic theo- logians of the Catholic Church, have sought notoriety by giving to these same objections a new setting, and then passing them off as gems of thought of their own discov- ery. These infidel gentlemen give the difficulties they find in Catholic theology against points of faith, but not the solu- tions, though, side by side on the same page. Now it is a well-known fact, that even a common simple- ton can ask a question th:it might take several weeks of very hard study from a brilliant scholar to answer — and for that matter, he might never answ^er it. There are some mysteries of our faith that are entirely beyond human understanding. Possibly the angels themselves do not comprehend the mysteries of creation, the Trinity, predesti- ■ nation, the providence of God in the government of this world, etc. But as the simpleton ought not to plume himself on his smartness, for asking a question which no one is capable of answering, so neither should our infidel friends glorv in their wit, when they do nothing more than plagiarize. One of the keenest objections to the possibity of miracles that the writer has ever come across, is the following : 284 ALETHAURION. God, in the beginning, with infinite knowledge and wis- dom, established the laws by which the universe is gov- erned. These are expressions of His will. Now, any change or suspension of such ordinances must come either from God Himself or from some other being. The change can- not be from a source independent of God, for His will is irresistible and almighty. The change or suspension of a law of nature, even in one particular case, cannot come from the Almighty, for that would imply a change in His will which cannot be, for his will is immutable. Hence, no •change or suspension of a law of nature, even in a particu- lar case, can happen, and in consequence such a thing as a miracle is impossible. Before proceeding to examine into the merits of this ob- jection we may observe that it would imply to many other things besides miracles. If true it would prove that God is not a free being ; it would upset the Catholic doctrine regarding the utility of prayer and reduce everything to a dead fatalism. But, to point out these consequences does not destroy the force of the objection. It is in the study of such questions as this that one must take the liberty of dif- fering with the poet, when he said, "The proper study of maGkind is man." To be entirely true the line should read thus : The proper study of mankind is GOD. Now, speaking about the Divine attributes unless care be taken, one is apt to get beyond his depth — up to both ears in difficulties. We shall attempt to avoid that, at present, by keeping close to tli^ shore. By way of answer, then, we may say : I grant that God, in the beginning, made laws for the government of the uni- verse and that no created power can change them. But, by that very act in which He willed the law. He willed also the exception. So that the exception is as much a part of God's act as the law itself and of equal date with it. Taking this view of the case it docs not appear to differ ALETHAURION. 285 much, as to species, from that of the late Widow Muggins. She made a law and had it properly promulgated in the family that the children should all l)e in bed, and covered up, precisely at eight o'clock at night — except when their Aunt Rickey came to see them, then they could stay up until nine. Now, the widow Muggins did not change hier mind in allowing the children to remain up an hour longer than usual under the circumstances, because this excep- tion was included in the first act by which the law was made. So, also, when God in the beginning established order in the universe. He determined that the earth should make a complete revolution on its axis once in every twenty -four hours, and should continue to do so up to a certain period, when, for once, it was to make the same revolution in thirty-six hours. This change in the earth's motion implies no change in the will of God, for it was included in the original act. This answer appears to meet the difficulty pretty well, says our friend Snipe. Not at all, not at all, says Nosey — Mr. Nosey is a metaphysician and knows what he is talking about — says he, when God, in the beginning, made the law that governs the universe, He also, at the same instant, made some exceptions, I grant, but as the act w£^s perfected in past time the number of exceptions to the law w\as also determined, and God cannot work a miracle except under circumstances already pre-determined. Thus the solution that you have given, says Nosey, is only a change from one difficulty into another. God's liberty is still im[)ugned. It must be confessed that Nosey is somewhat of a philoso- pher, very like a whale, so to speak. Hence, to give him chase, we must risk ourselves out some distance from the shore. The fallacy on which the objection is founded consists in saying that God in past time made a law. With God there is no pa^t and no future. All that we can say of Him, in 286 ALETHAUEION. this regard, inav be expressed in the words, He is. The act by which He created the universe, and regulates every- thing in it, was not one perfected in past time, but is the one same, abiding, eternal act. Hence, as regards us, it is correct to say, God created the universe but, as regards God, it is not correct, for the act of oreation was not a transient, but an abiding one. With this idea of God, as a being entirely of the pres- ent, it will not be difficult to see how exemption from the action of a law of nature, in a particular case, does not in- terfere with a pre-existing law. God lives in the ever pres- ent now, and His ever present act creates, conserv^es, changes and regulates existences. And since in the Divine Essence there is an infinitude of possibilities, the Divine will, can, when it chooses, reduce any of these to act, wliich plainly means that God can per- form a miracle when He pleases. Hence, also, when a man prays God to forgive him his sins, he does not change the will of God, but, by changing his own heart, with the aid of Divine ijrace, he fulfills a condition required by the eter- nal act for his justification. » Our next will be a continuation. CHAPTER LXIX. MIRACLES. David Hume, the infidel, in a certain part of his writings, says, in substance, that he never, in all his life, saw a mira- cle, but he saw and knew a great many men who were given to exaggeration and to lies. David was, no doubt, correct, when speaking of the great number of liars in his day. Their descendants, in our times, are neither few nor hard to find. But, the fact that there were, and still are, such people in ALETHAUBION. 287 the world, does not prove that miracles have not been, though Hume intended that it should. There were many, also, who told the truth, who shed their blood for it, and there are plenty who would mount the rack again, should circumstances call for that sort of evidence. It is by the testimony of such as these, and by none other, that miracles are proved. That the infidel, of whom we are speaking, never saw a miracle, is quite possible. But, there were many other facts that he never saw, and truths that he never dreamt of, that are held as undeniable, notwithstanding, by men far more profound than he. If Hume had seen a miracle, in all probability, he would not have believed it. By the profession of infidelity men become paralyzed in error, and no matter under what aspect truth is presented, the magnetic current of a depraved will, swings them around to unbelief. The only cure for infidelity is humiliation, and affliction in the flesh. God humbles the infidel here, by giving him over to his lusts ; and in eternity, by making him a thrall of Beelze- bub. If we are to put faith in the newspaper reports, it would appear that as late as the second of this month, (Febru- ary, 1878,) and no farther away than Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania, a real and true miracle was made manifest hi the person of Amelia Greth. The authorities will, no doubt thoroughly investigate the matter, and if there be no imposition found, this case will, or ought to be, a suflicient answer to those unbelievers who ask wliy it is that miracles always take place in some foreign country, or in days long since passed. Should the Church authorities discover an imposition, it should be at once publicly exposed, and the actors in it punished to the utmost limits of the law. 288 AT-ETHAURION. We have no need in the Catholic Church, of fraudulent miracles, since we have those of Christ, its author and finisher, and of the Apostles, its first Bishops, to refer to. Not to go back so far, we have in our own times, the mir- acles of Lourdes and Knock. No sane man now pretends to question the fact that supernatural cures have been affected at both those places. The circumstances, as given in the daily papers, are cer- tainly such as to induce one to believe that a miracle took place at Mauch Chunk. . The woman announced several days before hand, that she would die on the Feast of the Purification, and that she would remain dead one hour ; that then she would be recalled, not only to life, but to perfect health — cured completely of that consumption which had caused her death. Here, then, we have a case similar to that which Renan, the Infidel, requires. Hundreds flocked to the house to see her die, and they saw her give up the ghost. They waited an hour and saw her rise again, at the command of the priest who had anointed her. And not alone that, but they beheld her restored to health and vigor of body. Since this is an extraordinary case, even in the line of mir- acles, it is to be hoped that the Ecclesiastical authorities of the diocese, in which Mauch Chunk is, will not suffer it to pass without the closest scrutiny. Miracles are principally for the unbeliever, and as each and every one of these could not have been present at the time and place, it is eminently proper that the local Church authorities should investigate and publicly acknowledge, or deny, the miracle, without fear and without favor, as its truth or falsity may require. We Catholics do not need miracles to make us believe. Our faith is not only the substance of things we hope for, but also an argument to each one, of things that do not ap- pear to his ^senses. We believe without seeing. ALETHAURION. 289 When some one came running, in great haste, to Louis IX, usually called St. Louis, king of France, and told him that, in one of the churches in the city, Christ stood forth in His human form from the consecrated Host, he expressed no wonder, and even refused to go and see. He said that for himself, there "was no need of a miracle to make him believe the doctrine of the real presence. "God has not intended this manifestation for me," said the King, '' but for some others who do not believe." Let us again return to our friend Hu.me, and divesting his argument of all unnecessary flourishes, put it in as simple and clean a way as possible. We may state the case thus : A miracle is a fact, real or supposed. Its truth or falsity is proved by the evidence of one's own senses or by the testimony of others. If the weight of evidence is on the side of the miracle, then it is only reasonable that it should be admitted. If, on the contrary, the most credible wit- nesses give testimony in opposition to such a thing, common sense would teach us to reject it*. The case is parallel to that which happened yesterday a week ago, in Judge Bullhead's court, at Lawyerville. Ephren Evans, a colored gentleman of probity, swore he saw Abe Jones strike Jeff Anderson, in the melee, over the creek, at Wiggins' distillery. Whereas, Polk Hustin, another African swore it was not «Iones, but Tom Nelson that did the striking. Hence, his honor. Judge Bullhead, bad to decide which witness was the more worthy of belief. And, as a matter of course, their previous characters for truth entered largely into the case. So it must be done also in regard to miracles ; we must weigh well the character of the witnesses on both sides. We must decide, says the infidel, whether it is more rea- sonable to admit that one or even a dozen men have lied, or were deceived by their senses, as regards a supernatural oc- currence ; or that the laws governing the world have been suspended in a particular instance. We shall endeavor to answer this in the next chapter. 290 . ALETHAURION. CHAPTER LXX. MIRACLES. Which is it more reasonable to believe : that nature has deviated from a known law, in a given instance, or that the man, who pretends to have seen such deviation, has not been deluded, or has not lied about it? To this question, coming as it does, so soon after the Mauch Chunk fiasco^ one would be disposed to answer at once, that it was rather to be expected that the man had been deceived, or had sought to deceive others. The burden of proof lies with him who pretends to have performed, to have seen, or to believe in a miracle. In the Catholic Church great care is taken, and, in fact, great care is needed, that nothing fraudulent, of a super- natural character, be allowed to pass current. The prompt action of Archbishop Wood, in that Mauch Chunk affair, is proof of it. ^ Catholics have sometimes been accused of too much cre- dulity in religious matters. It is true we believe, without doubting, all that God has revealed, and the Church propo- ses for our acceptance. For this we have motives of cred- ibility that are excellent beyond all comparison. But, outside of that, we are most incredulous. More so than Tom Paixe and Bob Ingersoll welded together. We cannot, and w^e obstinately refuse even to try to believe, that the man who sees the wonderful order displayed in the material universe, and yet says there is no God, is anything else but a very insipid fool. " The Heavens show forth the glory of God ; and the firmament is the work of His hands.*' — Ps. xviii, 2. "The fool said in his heart there is no Gou."'— Ps. xiii, 1. Christ having affirmed that he was the Son of God, and having proved the same by rising from the dead ; we can- not believe that the man who disputes it deserves a higher title than that of ignoramus or knave. ALETHAURION. 291 Seeing a Catholic Church with members and not a few of them, in every country throughout the known world, with a line of Bishops from Pius IX, recently departed, to St. Peter, Prince of the Apostles, we cannot believe that the man who denies it to be the Church that Christ built, has ever read history with an eye to discover truth. We are very incredulous — we Catholics are. We even suspect a delusion or something worse, when one of our members goes around peddling strange stories about mir- acles ; and if filthy lucre happens to be connected, then our incredulity shoots up like a balloon on a rampage, and we demand an inquest. In spiritual things. Catholics believe precisely what they ought and no more. We maintain that miracles have been performed, and when the Supreme Being sees proper, we know He can at any time derogate from the general law. But as He is all-powerful, we believe that a close scrutiny into each reputed case, far from detracting from the good effect of a miracle, will only serve to place it in a clearer light, and make it redound the more to the glory of Him who can alone perform one. But, since miracles are of rare occurrence, the burden of proof lies with him who affirms. We can, however, charge ourselves with it, and run no risk of fainting by the way- side. That the reader may see how one may have the highest certitude attainable, in regard to miracles, we will take, at random, an example from the scriptures, and discuss the merits of the case. We will come to close quarters by pass- ing from abstract discussion to concrete analysis. The example is found in St. John's gospel, chapter v. It is stated that, in Jerusalem, there was a pond called Pro- batica. and that once a year an anael descended and moved its waters. After the movement, the first man that touched the element was cured of whatever infirmity he might have been laboring under. But the first was the only one served. 292 ALETHAURION. In the porches around the pond were persons afflicted with all manner of diseases. Each anxious to get the start of his neighbor and leap in after the movement of the waters. Among them was a wretched creature who had been paralyzed for thirty-eight years. During that time he had been waiting to see if he could not, by some lucky chance, take lead of all others. But he was ever and always distanced in the race, for he had not the use of himself — poor cripple. Finally, after nearly forty years of expectation the Saviour came along, and by His Almighty power cured him of the paralysis instantaneously. Such is the case in point. Now let us lay the matter before our Infidel friends in the form of a question. Which wasit more reasonable : for that paralytic to have believed jthat there was a suspension of a law of nature in his case, or to suppose that he was laboring under a delu- sion ; that he was still unable to walk, and that he was only dreaming? What proofs had he that he had ever ])een sick? He had the exjjerience of 38 years, the testimony of his senses, and especially of the sensus intimus^ which con- vinced him that his limbs during all that time would not obey the behests of his will. He had, moreover, the testi- mony of scores of others who daily visited the place and commiserated his pitiable condition. He had every proof that a man can have, that he was first sick, and after he was told to rise, take up his bed and walk, he had the same proofs that he got instantaneously well, and remained so. He might have as reasonably doubted his own existence as that a miracle had been wrought on him. In the second place, what proofs had this man that nature permits no exemption from the action of its laws? Had he the testimony of his senses? Just the contrary. The senses taught him that he was himself an exemption. Had he the testimony of others? By no means. On the contrary, for 38 years he had been accustomed to hear people speak of ALETHAURION. 293 how this one was cured of leprosy, that one of dropsy, another of the palsy, and possibly, a half dozen or more invet- erate lunatics related to him how they had been restored to sense. The weight of evidence in the case, as stated, was certainly on the side of the miracle. Let us now pass on a step, and take into consideration whether it was more reasonable for the by-standers to have believed that a miracle had been wrought, or to have still maintained that no exemption can take place. What proofs had they of the latter? Their own life-long observations, snarls out the Infidel. Very well, are we to believe nothing more than what our life-long observations have taught us ? If so, the writer of this may deny everything that hap- pened previous to the 12th of April, 1840. On the other hand, what proof had they that there was an exemption from nature's law? They had the testimony of their sen- ses — actual observation. They could not have been deceived in this matter any more than the paralytic himself. A de- lusion could not have taken place under the circumstances, as narrated in the Scriptures. The Pharisees, who would have been most exceedingly well pleased to have caught the Saviour in a fraud, did not deny its truth ; but found fault because the miracle was performed on the Sabbath. We may now consider this fact from a third stand point. Which is more reasonable, that we, of 'the present day, should deny what is said in the Scriptures about this mira- cle, or believe that nature jiermitted an exemption in that particular case? To answer this question fully, would require that we should discuss the motives of credibility for the authenticity and veracity of the Scriptures. To do so, at length, does not full within the limits of our present plan, but we may ply, in general terms, as follows : 294 ALETHAURION. Since the Gospel of St. John, in which mention is made of the miracle, has, from the time it was first written, been regarded as authentic and true by the best and wisest men that have lived on earth ; since the Catholic Church, which goes back, as an organized society to the day of Pente- cost, has ever borne testimony to the truth of what the same Gospel relates ; since, in a word, the civilized world, for upwards of eighteen centuries, has been of the same belief, let the Infidels bring forward real substantial motives for denying the truth of what is therein related. When there is question of a new miracle, the burden of proof lies with him who affirms ; but, when speaking of one that has been admitted for ages, then he w4io denies must furnish reasons for his mibelief . This is what Infidelity has never been able to do, and there is no likelihood that future efforts will be crowned with better success. In our next we will take up and discuss some well authen- ticated cases not found in scripture. CHAPTER LXXI. MIRACLES. In the last chapter, we took one of the many miracles per- formed by the Saviour, to show that a person may have the same certainty, as regards such a fact, that he has of his own existence. The reasons there given are also applicable to those super- natural works executed by the Apostles. The lame man that St. Peter cured at the gate of the temple, which was called "the beautiful," knew, by the testimony of his senses, that he had been a cripple for a number of years, and was equally sure that, with the words '*arise and walk," he got his footing instantaneously. ALETHAURION. 295 He had what philosophers call metaphysical certainty of a miracle. Those who stood by at the time Peter said the words, and saw the cripple straighten his limbs and walk, were physically certain that a supernatiin;] work had been done. We, of the present day, supported by the authority of the Roman Church, strengthened by the testimony of the millions of Martyrs, who shed their blood in attestation of the truth of all that is related in the scripture — we have moral certitude respecting the miracles of Christ and of the Apostles. The Infidel, who does not wish to admit the doctrine of miracles, must in order to be consistent, deny the authenti- city and veracity of the New Testament. To do so comes easy to him, but to sustain that denial, by solid arguments, is another thing. Thus far, in every encounter, the Christian philosopher Has sent the Infidel to the hospital for repairs. But, where so much remains to be done, we ought not to glory in what has been achieved. If Catholics devoted half as much time to the study of their religion as they do to reading lascivious stories, in some of the weekly papers, we would have fewer avowed Infidels in the land. Each well- instructed believer would be like a strong fortress, not only impregnable himself, but radiating a salutary influence for miles around, over-aw^ing error and its champions. But, un- fortunately, such is not the case, to any great extent. And w^hy is it not thus? We have many excellent colleges, in which first-class liter- ary, scientifical and classical courses are taught. There is, probably, a yearly average of 200 young men sent out from them into the great world, with their parchments signed, sealed and delivered. Do these young bachelors of art, ex- ercise, in religious matters, an influence commensurate with the money expended on them by their parents? Some, no doubt, do so, but the vast majority do not. 296 ' ALETHAURION. And the reason is plain. Theology is not taught, as a regu- lar study, in our colleges, and why it is not, has been a mys- tery to the writer ever since he was a boy. The average graduate, on exhibition day, sings off his speech and receives his diploma amidst the clapping of hands and general re- joicing of friends. The rector of the the college, without a smile on his face, or even a twinkle in his eye, gravely tells the assembled spectators that, not for years past, have they had a more promising class of graduates. Then, turning to the young hopefuls, he conjures them to make a judicious use of that great power which learning gives. Our bachelor of arts next leaves his alma mater, as full of conceit as an egg is of meat, lie is too much afraid of making an injudicious U!?e of his great learning to ever think of fooling with so dangerous an agent. People's heads might get turned, you know ! And thus inflated, he treads the streets of his native village, until he runs across the town blacksmith, who has, for a time past, been devoting his leisure hours to the study of Infidel tracts ; and the graduate «:ets floored. He then begins to tell his friends that the blacksmith is nothing but a shallow mechanic at best, and that he disdains to have another word with so ignorant a fellow. There ought to be in each and every one of our chartered colleges a chair of theology, taught in English. There is no need that we should here attempt to show wljat good results would follow from such a course. They are evident at a glance. In our seminaries, the science is taught reasonably well, though, in some places, none too well to boast of. If the same w^ere done in colleges, the graduate would become a powerful ally of the pastor in the dissemination of religious knowledge, whereas, he is now of little or no advantage, be- cause he has only been taught the shorter catechism, and that in a flimsy way. ALETIIAUEION. ' 297 At the suggestion of Archbishop Hughes, there was, at one time, added to the regular course,. in some of our con- vent schools, a branch of learning called domestic economy. The girls were taught to cook without burning their fingers, and to know by experience the difference between a griddle and a flat-iron. He judged well and wisely that young ladies would have need of that sort of knowledge in after life, and his suggestions were well received and acted upon. Should not boys also be taught in colleges a science they will, in after life, have so much need of, unless they wish to crawl through life as apostates or poltroons? Let us now again return to ourselves. We started out with the intention of showing that miracles have been per- formed since the time of the Apostles, and here we are moralizing on other matters. Such is the character of the human mind, full of wander- ings and vagaries. Yet the best stvle of writing may be that which most nearly corresponds to the unsystematic working of each individual mind. We like to hear others speak on the plan of our own thoughts. And the man or woman who thinks systematically, without effort, is as much of a rarity as an Indian brave who loves work. Protestantism, which borders on Infidelity, is willing to admit that Christ and the Apostles worked miracles. But since their time, our separated brethren maintain that such direct manifestations of the providence of God have ceased entirely. It is the same old case of the fox and the wild grapes. Neither Protestantism, nor any other false religion, has ever been able to produce a miracle, and for obvious rea- sons. Only God can work one, and He will not contradict His word by putting the seal of His aproval upon a false system. But in the true Church miracles have taken place, off and on, from the days of the Apostles. Let us take a few •^'ell attested examples. 298 ALETHAURION. St. Justin, martyr, Apol. 2 n. 6, Dial, with Tryph. n. 2^ bears witness to the fact that, by the name of Christ, evil spirits were expelled, and that the prophetic spirit has passed from the Jews to the Christians. Irexeus, Hceers, ii, 56-57, says that by the imposition of hands many infirm persons were cured in his day, and some dead restored to life. Origen, Cont. Cels. iii, n. 24, says he saw many sick persons cured by the invocation of the name of Christ, and by the sign of the Cross. St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, fifth century, tells us he was an eye witness of the miracles- at the tombs of the martyrs, Sts. Gervase and Protase. St. Augustine, City of God, xxii, c. 8, speaks of the mir- acles performed in his day by the relics of St. Stephen. These are enough for the early ages. As regards our own times, we may state that the miracles of Lourdes and Knock are too well-known and too well authenticated, to need insertion in this place. Finally,, what can the heretics of our times say about the liquifaction of the blood of St. tlANARius ; that perpetual miracle, that no one can deny nor call in doubt. We leave these crumbs for our separated brethren to pick at for the present, and in our next, we will introduce the reader to a chapter on apparitions. CHAPTER LXXII APPARITIONS. Of spirits there are two kinds, the created and the uncre- ated. The latter, which is identical with Gou, is not sub- divisible ; but, of the former, we have three principal classes — the good angels,, the demons, and the souls of men separa- ted from their bodies. Besides these, there may also be others, but no knowled2:e of them has been revealed to us. ALETHAUEIOX. 299^ It is possible God may have peopled the moon and the plan- ets that belong to the solar system, with rational creatures, having souls, more or less like ours ; but we have no proofs that he has done so ; and we may never be permitted ta know whether or not he has. The range of human knowledge is very far from being infinite, and, no doubt, there are many truths regarding the spirit world that will never be dreamt of in our philosophy as long as we are in the flesh. But, though our knowledge of the supernatural is limited, still, what we do possess, is true knowledge, never to be con- tradicted by any revelations that may be made in the future life. Our mental vision will then, in all probability, be ren- dered more telescopic, and truths we now see, as it were, by starlight, will appear under the full blaze of a noonday sun ; but the same truths still. There is the same stability in the moral that we find in the physical order ; and we may be very certain that no future event will ever contradict what God has once revealed. The subject of apparitions has, within the past twenty years, called forth some attention in these United States, on account of its connection with what its votaries take to be an entirely new system of religion — spiritualism. This is nothing more nor less than the theurgy of heathen nations, practiced both before and after the Saviour's coming. The gross ignorance in some cases, and the vicious lives led by its professors in others, prevent them from seeing and acknowledofino^ this fact. In the third and fourth centuries of our era, the science falsely so called, of theurgy, or spiritualism, was carried to a high state of perfection, more so than now. The apostates Julian, Poephyrius, Jamblicus, Maximus, and others, not only believed in it, but wrote books to show that, by certain observances and invocations, one misfht conciliate the ffood will of the spirits, and by their aid do wonderful works. It is needless to say that such teachings were condemned 300 ALETHAURIOX. by the Church. Porphyrius, indeed, maintained that it was not necessary to worship the Supreme God at all ; and that honor and veneration were to be given, in preference, to those lesser spirits, because they alone appeared to inter- est themselves in human affairs. It will not be difficult for a prudent man to see the cloven foot and several joints of the dragon's tail in all this. Such also appears to be the principle that animates, and gives a sombre interest to modern spiritualism. God, the Creator, is kept out of sight, and what are sup- posed to be the souls of departed friends come on the stage, and speak and act in a manner to leave the impression that what Christ and the Apostles have taught us respecting the future life, is all a mistake. According as Christianity progressed, in the early ages, theurgy declined ; a sure proof that the two principles were antagonistic. As stated before, theurgy has, within our own times, taken out a new lease for these United States. And were it not for the fact that the civil war called men's attention from the elysian fields, in the realm of shades, to tented fields beneath the moon, it is prol)al)le that many now professing a bastard Christianity, such as all heresy is, would be, at the present writing, full blown spiritualists. As happened in the first ages, spiritualism has also had among us a certain development of parts. The devil is too wary a captain to tell everything he knows all at once. He understands that the pleasures of hope are sometimes more savory than those from thiiigs actually possessed. Like the managers among the Freemasons, he makes his dupes be- lieve there is something greater yet behind the curtain ; and indeed, there is — it is himself. At the start, spiritualism in America consisted in little else besides mysterious rapping on the doors and furniture of rooms occupied by persons who. were, from that fact, supposed to be favorites of the spirits. Tables and other movables were next made to waltz ai'ound the floor, and this ALETHAURION. 301 was attributed to animal magnetism. The phrase was a convenient one to give name to» a force which no one then understood, nor understands now. The next step was to establish, by the rappings, a com- munication between the medium and the spirits, so that there might be an exchange of ideas. This was effected, and gave satisfaction for a while. After this, came for the medium, the states of coma and clairvoyance. In the for- mer, he or she, generally she, remained as if dead, utterly unconscious of all that was going on around her. But, in the latter state, her eyes were opened to things happening hundreds of miles away, which were described to those near by with fidelity and accuracy. The following narrative, as apropos to the matter in hand, will not be considered out of place in this connection. We suppress the names of persons for obvious reasons : Some twenty years ago there lived in, or near, the town of E , Maryland, a man who owned a negro girl that was a medium or pythoness. This girl had the reputation of being, moreover, a clairvoyant. But, unlike that other mentioned in the Scriptures, she was a source of bothera- tion lather than gain to her master. There were, as a mat- ter of course, persons who would not believe. So in or- der to have the case fairly tested, it was agreed to hold, on a certain day, a spiritual seance in town. Many were invited, and among others, according to my informant a certain Catholic gentleman who lives, at present, in the South, and on the left bank of the Father of Waters. W^hen the day came, the slavcsholder was on hand with his pythoness, an unmistakble African, presenting a rare con- trast of ebony and ivory, and somewhat elated withal, at her importance, in the estimation of white folks. The pythoness, having gone into the state of clairvoyance, was asked divers questions, concerning persons and things at a distance, to all of which she returned correct answers. She described places and public buildings in Baltimore, 302 ALETHAURION. where she was known to have never been, and gave a ver- batim report of part of a speech that was then being deliv- ered at a political meeting in the same city. She accurately described the interior of the Catholic Church, in the town, though she had never been inside of it. She spoke of the candlesticks on the altar, and the light burning before it. When asked what that light was for, she said it was to honor something kept on the altar, inside of a little door that was there. But, when requested to tell what that something really was, she became speechless, and, with foam on her lips, she went into a spasm, and heaved and kicked, like the Sibyl of Cupise, which brought the confer- ence to an abrupt end. After clairvoyance, in the spiritualistic order, came direct manifestations, that is, the forms and features of departed friends appeared to the mediums, and to other favored per- sons. The best example of this kind that now occurs to the writer, is that which happened in Virginia City, Nevada, some four years ago, which the reader, in all probability, recollects. The latest development consists in the materialization of the spirit. The departed friend not only appears, niitural as in life, but converses of old times, and makes himself quite agreeable and at home, in the company of his former associates. The spiritualists look forward to a still brighter era, when our departed kinsfolk will return and reside with us in a yet more permanent and satisfactory way. Thus developments will go on, until the delusion is dis- pelled by the rays of that Faith which alone sheds a true light on man's future destiny. In our next we will speak of the apparitions of God. ALETHAURION. 303 CHAPTER LXXIII. THEOPHAXIE. This word signifies the Divine apparition — the manifesta- tion to mortal eyes of no less a being than the Almighty. Theologians disagree as regards its reality, and the question is one not easily solved. Those who deny the theophanie, entrench themselves behind what we read in the book of Ex- odus, xxxii, 20. It is stated, that Moses, having asked God to show Him- self, received this answer : '"Thou canst not see my face, for man shall not see me and live.*' They who believe in the theophanie also bring forward texts of Scripture, in support of their position. It is evident, say they, from the Old Testament, that God appeared and spoke to Adam, under some sensible form, in the Garden of Eden. It is no less sure that he manifested himself to Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, to Moses, and to many of the prophets. Neither is it likely that a me.re angel would have said to a Jewish law giver, ** I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob," Exodus, iii, 6. Nor to the children of Israel, assembled at the foot of Mount Sinai, *' I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the hind of Egypt." From these texts it would appear that it was not an angel, but God himself, that spoke on those occasions. Yet, we are told, on the other hand, Acts vii, 37, that it was an angel spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, and in the same chapter verse 53, St. Stephen says to the Jews, <*You have received the law by the disposition of angels." Let us see if we cannot reconcile these belligerents. Some of the Fathers have maintained that the second person of the Blessed Trinity, viz : the Word of God, appeared at 304 AT-ETHAURIOX. I least on some occasions, to the patriarchs and prophets of the Old Law. This apparition of the Son of God to man, before having been born of the Virgin Mary, is precisely vvhat theologians understand by the theophanie. There are not wanting those who have even hazarded the opinion that the high priest Melchisedec, to whom Abraham paid tithes , was no other than the Word, who, before His incar- nation, had taken human form and lived here for a time among men, though His body was by no means real, but only such to outward appearance. St. Paul, Hebrews, vii, speakingof this mysterious man, who figures only once in sacred history, calls him the king of justice, the king of peace, titles which the ancient prophets gave to the future Messiah. He also says that Melchisedec w^as '' without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but likened into the Son of God, continueth a priest forever." Commentators explain away the force of this very singu- lar text by saying, that he is reputed to have had neither father nor mother, beginning of days nor end of life, be- cause mention is not made of these facts in Scripture. More- over, say those who are not willing to admit that sort of a theophanie, if Melchisedec and the Divine Word had been one and the same person, St. Paul could not have said that he was likened to the Son of God. A person who is likened to another is evidently not that other. We do not here wish to either affirm or deny in the case as stated, for one side looks as reasonable as the other. Since it is certain that God can manifest himself to man under whatever shape he pleases, it is likewise true, that he can, at pleasure, prolong such, for days, months or years. Let us return to that objection against the theophanie founded on what is said in Acts vii, that it was an angel spoke to Moses ; that the law was given by the disposition of angels, etc. There is really no difficulty here presented. ALETHAUBION. 305 if we remember that the word angel expresses, not the na- ture, but the office of those spirits. The expression means a messei^er, and is sometimes applied even to man in the Scriptures. The prophet Isaias, according to the Septuagint, ix, 6, calls the future Messiah the angel of the great council. Hence, the employment of that word in Acts is no proof against thet theophanie. The Second Person could, with propriety, have been called an angel, while making known to mankind what had been' decided in the great council — viz : by the most Holy Trinity. As regards what is said in Exodus, that man cannot see God and live, we may answer that the words evidently refer to the beatific vision which the just enjoy in the future life. As long as we live here, we cannot see God as he appears to the saints in heaven, because of the grossness of our in- tellects. Our entire being would have to undergo a trans- formation preparatory to such an event. With our present faculties we could not take in so much ; for, if we some- times find a difficulty in understanding earthly things, how much more those heavenly scenes. A teacher may instruct his pupils in sciences, because they are rational, and have minds capable of grasping and retain- ing such truths ; but it requires no argument to convince us that it would be a loss of time, should one attempt to teach poetry to a sow and pigs, or metaphysics to a cage of wild asses. Poetry is not farther above the comprehension of swine than are many heavenly truths beyond ours ; though Infidels would have us believe that men are now so wise as to be nearly on a level with the Deity. But the greatest theophanie of all was that which took place at the birth of the Son of God. As he is the center figure of creation, so his appearance in human shape, true God and true man, is the event, excellent beyond all others, 306 ALETHAUKION. in this world's history. It is a mysterious fact, that, some- thing upwards of eighteen centuries ago, there lived, on this earth, a man, who was the Almighty God, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, the creator and conserver of all things, visible and invisible. A being, who could, by one simple act of His will, anni- hilate time and space by putting a period to all co-existing and successive things, of which time and space are but the relations. Our next will be about the angels. CHAPTER LXXIV. THE ANGELS. All we know from scripture and tradition concerning angels, whether good or bad, may be placed under some one of the following heads : Their existence, their nature, their duties, their grace, the fall of many of them, their punishment, their attempts to lead men from the paths of rectitude. St. Thomas Aquinas, sometimes called the angelic doc- tor, on account of the clearness of his perceptions, has, in his Summa Theologica, many interesting speculations in their regard. SuAREZ, another renowned theologian, wrote an entire volume in folio about them. But, as big books are not much in vogue now, we shall endeavor to condense, putting on the stage only what may please and instruct. The existence of angels is so clearly taught in scripture that, to quote particular passages, would seem a superfluity. Not only the Jews, but even Pagan nations believed in them. The Sadducees, an unimportant sect, existing in our Saviour's time, along with denying the immortality of the soul, refused also to believe there were in existence any such being. ALETHAUKION. 307 But, as those sectarians were comparatively few and ex- tremely ignorant, their refusal to believe does not interfere with the chain of traditional evidence in proof of angelic existence, any more than the ravings of a few Infidels of our times can be said to contradict the universal belief of mankind in the existence of a Supreme Being. Concerning the nature of angels it may be said that they are complete immaterial substances. We say complete because not created for union with any other. Our souls, on the contrary, though spiritual, are not complete, because of a nature to inhabit and be united with our bodies. Hence, the resurrection of the body and its reunion with the spirit, may be regarded as necessary to the soul's entire perfection. Here, also, we may take notice of an error which we sometime find among the people. The fond mother who has lost her little infant tries to console herself by imagining that he is now metamorphosed into a cherub. She is mis- taken ; yet, it would not be prudent to tell her so, for fear of being thought invidious, and recorded an enemy of the family. Some of the ancient fathers of the Church, such as Ter- TULLIAN, Origen and Clement, of Alexandria, were of the opinion that the angels had bodies, but of a very subtle nature, such as that of our Saviour after His resurrection. This opinion, which, though not heretical, yet approaches thereto, is no longer tenable, as will appear from a decision of the fourth Council of Lateran, Cap. Firmiter. According to the common opinion of theologians, the angels are divided into three hierarchies, and each of these into three orders or choirs. The first comprises Ser- aphs, Cherubs and Thrones ; the second, Denominations, Virtues and Powers ; the third, Principalities, Archangels and Angels. As regards the duties of those blessed spirits, we can have but little to say since but little has been revealed to 308 ALETHAURION. US on the subject. We may presume that their primary duty is to praise God, and in general to execute His com- mands, according to the words of St. Paul, Heb. i, 14 : '•'■ They are all ministering spirits, sent to minister, on account of those who receive the inheritance of salvation." Catholics believe that each individual, born into this world, has, at the hour of his birth, appointed to him a guardian angel, w^io is his companion through life, and never abandons him until the soul is separated from the body by death. It is well, however, to bear in mind that^ though it is not of faith that the angels keep guard over mankind in general, yet, it is not of faith that each man and woman has a s^uardian ano:el of his own. Some very ancient writers, such as Hekmas, Methodius, Origen, Athenagoras, Epiphanius and Theodoret, were indeed more prodigal of angelic service. They spoke as if those blessed spirits guarded not only individual men, but also cattle, trees and plants. Such an opinion was never approved by the Church, and, in fact, it has the appearance of stretching matters to the snapping point. That angels are entrusted with the care of men, may easily be gathered from Matthew, xviii, 10. . '' See that you do not condemn one of these little ones; for I say to you, that their angels in Heaven always see the face of my father." Possibly some of our readers may now ask us to tell at what time were the angels first created, and how long Lucifer and his followers remained faithful, also the num- ber of those that fell, as compared with the others that did not. We answer according to the light given us. The period of their creation is unknown. If we descend to probabili- ties, it would appear reasonable to say their creation was coeval with that of the material universe. Neither would there be any great extravagance in holding that some of ALETHAURION. 309 those we now regard as angels, may have been the inhabi- tants of this earth before the creation of the present race of Adam. "When the day of final judgment shall have come for us, the Supreme Being may again people this orb with a dif- ferently shaped race of mortals, as profoundly ignorant of us as we now are of any other that may have existed here before us. As regards the length of time that passed from the creation of the angels to the fall of Lucifer, we have no means of arriving at a certain knowledge. Aquinas is of opinion, that the moment of his creation was that of his rebellion, which may be regarded as the most probable. For angels being by nature, simple intelligences, do not require length of time to arrive at full intellectual per- fection. The angels were all created in the grace and friendship of God, but in a state of probation. One act was to have brought them never ending glory or irretrievable ruin. The sin of those who fell was pride. We do not know, however, what was given them by the Almighty as a test of their love and obedience. Some say He proposed for their adoration the future sacred humanity of our Lord. But Lucifer, seeing his own great superiority to man, refused, and with a third of the heavenly host, who had looked up to him as a leader, was expelled from the presence of God and condemned to eternal misery. Since the angels are pure spirits, it troubles some of our Infidel friends to know how they can take bodies not subject to the ordinary laws of matter. Others persist in regarding all such apparitions as entirely subjective, that is, as having no reality outside the brain of him who pretends to have seen them — like the snakes seen by one who is in the hor- rors. But it will scarcely do to put the patriarchs and other 310 ALETHAURION. holy men, both of the Old and New Law, in the same category with confirmed drunkards. Moreover, how do we know that the toads and snakes seen by the inebriate have not an objective reality ? Why does he see dragons and horrible forms instead of things more pleasing to contemplate? Arise ye Infidels, and explain. Our next will be about the fallen angels and their deeds of darkness. CHAPTEK LXXV. • THE DEVIL. This distinguished character needs no lengthy introduction at our hands. He is well, though not favorably, known to all men. Some modern wretches have tried to lecture him out of office and existence. But he yet lives, and will get even some day with his mercenary persecutors. The subject of our remarks first saw light in heaven, and was such a beauty that he got the name of Lucifer. He was the most favored of all the angelic host, but proved ungrateful, as, from a creature and a subject, he sought to elevate himself to an equality with the Omnipotent. Men sometimes imitate Lucifer in this particular. Raised to positions, to which merit does not entitle them, they make war on their benefactors. Since man has not betimes the power to undo what he has done, nor to cast down the unworthy, whom he has elevated, it becomes of importance to him, when in power, to put forward only the virtuous and the just. Rulers suffer more through the short-comings of favorites than by the malice of their enemies. God can allow the wicked to rise and prosper for a time, because He has the power to set bounds to the evil they may ALETHAURION. 311 do. The impious He can permit to succeed, that their final discomforture mav be the more siner hud.DAXTE passed the gate, through which Virgil led him by the hand, than he heard the confused sounds of many voices. He was now in the vestibule of hell, where those who in life had been poltroons were pun- ished. And their condition was so wretched that they en- vied the lot of every one else. These poltroons, who were never alive, says the poet, and who, while on earth, were displeasing to God and to his enemies, appeared naked, and were continuously stung by horseflies and wasps that were there. Blood, and tears, and loathsome maggots streamed down their faces to the ground, and their weeping and cries made the darkness horrible. After this, the poet saw a vast con- course of people hurrying on pell-mell towards the banks of a gloomy river, at some distance off, and he asked his guide what all this meant. Virgil told him those were souls that had recently left their bodies, and, having been condemned, were on their way to Charon's boat to be ferried over the river Acheron. While Ciiarox was slashing away with his oar at those who were slow about getting into his boat, Dante and his guide approached the bank. But no sooner had the old ferryman set his eye on the poet than he recog- nized him at onfe as a person who had no right to be in his dominions, nor in such company. *' You must go back," said he, *' and try it over again — this is no way for you to come and attempt to smuggle yourself across. My boat is not of the requisite tonnage for such as you." While the old Commodore was thus trying to work himself up into a passion, Virgil gave him a nod, and told him not to take on so, that the affair was all right, and if not, that it would be made so. This calmed the old man's wrath, and the wrinkles between his eyebrows began to relax. Still ALKlllAl HION. 337 he did not say whether ho would or not, but Virgil, know- ing his customer, l(U)ked at the poet and bade hini cheer up. In the meantime, Daxtk, overcome by weariness of l)ody, and depressed in mind, on account of all he had seen, dropped down, exhausted, on the shores of Acheron and slept until awakened by a ruml)ling sound like thunder. He then discovered that, while asleep, he had been taken across the i'iver into Liml)o, which is the first and outermost of the nine circles of hell. Here were to be found the souls of infants who had died without baptism, and of those who, before the coming of Chkist, did not worship God in a proper manner. *'0f whom I am one myself," says Virgil to our poet. *' But tell me," ** I beseech you," said Dante, ** has any one ever escaped out of here within your time? " ** Yes," said Virgil, *' not long after my own arrival, there came one day an all powerful Being, wearing on His bi*ow the crown of victory, who took away with Him the spiiitof our first parent Adam, and those of Abel, Noah, Moses, Abra- ham, Jacob and many others. These he took with Him to paradise." Dante then goes on to state, that, having passed through a forest of these spirits, they entered a place of light, where they were met by Homer, Horace, Ovid and LucAN, all poets, who went with them to a castle, sur- rounded by seven walls, beyond which were the EI3 sian fields. Here all the great poets, orators, philosophers and warriors, of Paganism, cr)mmuned with one another. There were Hector and ^Eneas, the great Jllius Cesar, and Brutus, who expelled the Tarfjuins from Rome. Socrates, Plato and Aristotle were also of the numlier, enjoying the refreshing zephyrs of the Elysian fields ; and many others too numerous to mention. Dante, like a sensible man and a good poet, while not conceding to those heroes and sages, a place in heaven, yet avoids representing them as punished with the reprobate. Because those men had, in life, many noble qualities, which 338 AI.ETHAURION. we must admire ; and, rigorously speaking, we do not know whether they are in hell or not. Hence, in poetry, they may get the benefit of the doubt. In our next we will tell of the things Dante saw in the second and third circles. CHAPTER LXXXI. DANTE S POETICAL HELL THE ENTERTAINMENT GIVEN TO THE DIFFERENT BRANDS OF SINNERS. • After having explored the Elysian fields, where all the better sort of Pagans who lived before Christ, were allowed to run together and pass their da^^s in happiness, chatting about old times, Dante was next taken to the second circle. Here the music bes^an in earnest. «Just at the j^ate stood Minos, one of the infernal judges, who frowned and snapped at all who came there to be judged, and have their places assigned below. Turning aside, for a moment, from the vast throng of wretches that stood awaiting sentence, each in his turn, Minos cast a cold and contemptuous glance at the poet ; and simply bade him to mind himself-, that he was now on dan- gerous ground, and that he would have done better to have stayed away. "And could you not have said so, without growling at him in such a churlish way, said Virgil," as they passed inside the gate. In this circle the luxurious got what they deserved. Their punishment consisted in being exposed to bleak and cruel winds, by which they were eternally swept around, and dashed against the place and one another, like fence rails in a cyclone. Amongst these he recognizes Queen Semiramis, Dido, ALETIIALUION. 339 Cleopatra, and the beautiful Helen, on accouut of whom Troy was taken and sacked. The shade of the great Achilles, with that of Paris, and more than a thousand others, were borne on the wind before him. It is worthy of remark that Dante, whilst according to Hector a place in the Elysian fields, among the favored of the Pagan world, thinks fit to put his conqueror in company with the reprobrate, and a sharer of their woes. This will not surpj-ise any one who has read the Iliad. Hector is always the magnanimous and patriotic hero ; brave as a lion, encountering danger, not thi^)ugh personal motives, but for his country's sake, and for a cause that is to him just and righteous. Achilles, fearless and terrible in the fiirht, earrvinsr everything before him, by valor and prowess, not seeking to gain his point by trickery, is yet vindictive, bloodthirsty and lustful. A savage in his instincts, he would give no quarter in war ; still by nature a hero, he could never de- scend so low, as to attempt to advance himself by working on the sectional or religious prejudices of his countrymen. Achilles would have always left such a job to Thersites and to such as our own Des Moines orator, Ulysses. Here also, in the second circle, Dante recognizes Frax- CESCA DA RniANO, a celebrated belle in her day, who tells him, her greatest sorrow is the recollection of former joys, in her present misery. The poet then passes into the third circle, where gluttons are punished. These he found condemned to trudjje alonaid Boggs, ** and the next time the preacher comes out here, I'll tell him so. Anyhow, he appears to me to be trying to make too big a man of himself , and somebody ought to take him down." Thus far those rustics. Let us return to ourselves and to this subject. The Saviour has told us, in express terms, that the tor- ments of the reprobate will never end. ** Depart from me into everlasting fire," Matt, xxv, 41, is the sentence he will pronounce on them at the last day. ** And these shall go into everlasting punishment, but the just into life everlast- r."v, 46. 346 t ALETHAURION. It is worthy of remark, that the torments of the wickecJ are here pronounced everlasthig, in the same sense that the joys of the elect are declared eternal. The text alone ought to be sufficient to put to rest forever any controversy on the subject. But we will add a few more in confirmation of what it expresses : " If thy hand scandalize thee, cut it off; it is better for thee to enter into life, maimed, than, having two hands, to go into hell, into the lire that cannot be quenched.'' — Mark, ix, 42. "Amen. I say to you that all sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and the blasphemic where with the}' shall blaspheme, Init he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost, shall never have forgiveness, but shall be guilty of an everlasting sin.'" — Mark, iii, 28-29. These are the words of Christ Hhnself , as they are found in the writings of men inspired by the Holy Ghost. Not long ago, the writer saw, in one of the daily papers, a sermon or essay, in which the speaker alluding to those texts, had the assurance to tell his hearers that the Apostles and evangelists did not accurately report what the Saviour had said on this subject. And no doubt, if Christ Himself were to appear and say to the orator or preacher that they had given His words correctly, he would even then con- tradict. Such is the awful blasphemous stupidity of some men^ who have faith only in themselves, and in their own puny reason. They would argue with the Omnipotent, chide Him for allowing such a relic of barbarism to exist, in this enliiifhtened a^e. The Catholic Church bears testimony to the eternity of punishment, and in doing so, she only repeats, from age to age, what she had heard from the lips of her Divine Founder. When, centuries ago, the celebrated Origin, a man of im- mense intellect, began to surmise, out of the goodness of his heart, that the torments of the demons and of the reprobate might some time have an end, the Church in the general council, came to the front, and solemnly declared such a ALETHAURION. 347 t doctrine heretical, and in contradiction to the truth, as taught by Christ and the Apostles. Should any of our readers desire to see what the most an- cient Fathers have had to say on the eternity of punishment, they will find many and appropriate extracts from their works, in Petavius, concerning the angels, bookiii, chap. 8. Finally, let us conclude, by saying that eternal torment is a mystery. One that we are bound to believe, because the supreme Truth has revealed it. A punishment that is just, because inflicted by infinite justice. Let us not, however, tell our neighbors they do not reason, because unable ta under stand it. Eternal misery is above reason, altogether within the do- main of revelation. For its truth, we have only that faith which is the argument of things that appear not. Human reason and human justice might be content with giving a warm corner in purgatory for a century or so. But the justice of God is infinite. In our next we will take up and sift some popular objec- tions. CHAPTER LXXXIII. ANS^^'ERS TO SOME OF THE OBJECTIONS AGAINST THE ETER- NITY OF PUNISHMENT. The good as well as the wicked have very serious objec- tions to being tormented forever in the next life. And, of the two, the saints appear more opposed to it than the sin- ners. ^ But the former seek to destroy the effect by attacking the cause, which is sin ; whereas the latter wish to abolish the effect without attempting to remove that, for the pun- ishment of which hell was called into existence. The saints are here decidedly the wiser and better logicians. 348 ALETHAURION. But the entire depth of their wisdom will not appear until death shall have exposed all the fallacies that the world, the flesh and the devil have woven. Let us see what reasons are sometimes broufifht forward against the doctrine of eternal punishment. " God," said an acquaintance to the waiter, a few days ago, '* placed me in this world, without my knowledge or consent; He gave me a propensity to evil, almost from my birth, and, as I increased in years, my inclination to sin grew stronger. Now, as I made no contract with the Lord to keep His commandments, in consideration of happiness hereafter, is it not unjust that He should punish me eter- nally for not observing a law that I never accepted, and one, moreover, that I am continually tempted to violate, on account of a disposition and propensities that He has given me?" Our philosopher spoke this with such an air of assurance and earnestness as to leave no doubt that he imagined the Almighty entirely in the wTong, and he a much persecuted man indeed. Let us take up his case and examine his grounds of com- plaint ; because, though fallacious, they would appear specious enough to a man with some desperate project in <5ontemplation. Fii'st, oi all, we ask: Had God a right to create our philosophical wise-acre? This will not be denied by any one who admits that a potter is at liberty to make a crock out of clay that belongs entirely to himself. Second, Had God the right to impose upon him the ob- servance of a law without his consent? Right reason can give but one answer. Even human society claims the privi- lege. And the hangman would grin serenely at the sim- plicity of a culprit who should object to the rope, on the ground that he never oave his consent to the law that made murder a capital offense. God, though all powerful, could not create a being and ALETHAURION. 349 make it independent of Himself. He alone is self-existent and independent. All things else must bow before Him. LuriFEii fell when he said, ** I will not serve." And it is the same spirit that animates his followers. They would have God to conform to their notions, not they to His law. When, some live months ago, a notorious pulpit thumper, of Brooklyn, declared that he did not wish to go to heaven presided over by a demon, who swept people into hell like flies, without taking the trouble to kill them, he spoke out of the pride of his heart, and impiously took upon himself to judge the Omnipotent and to condemn Him. He made his own God, as did the Pagans of old. Or, rather, he imagined one, who should be a servant and factotum to his creatures, but without the privilege of finding fault with anything they chose to do. To criticise the providence of God is an attempt to defy one's self. It springs from pride, of a stolid and morose character, and is founded on ignorance of who God is and who we are. ** Almost from my birth I had evil inclinations," says our philosopher. Very true indeed, ''the imagination and thought of a man's heart are prone to evil from his youth." This is one of the effects of original sin, by which man was stripped of supernatural gifts, and wounded grievously in natural endowments. But what follows from it? Are we to admit that, because there is a propensity to evil in the human breast, no crime is imputable to the evil doer? Such a doctrine would upset all law. If the inclination to wickedness were of a nature that it could not be resisted, then, indeed, man would not be res- ponsible before God for his crimes. Let us put the case in this way : Can a man avoid giving to another the honor due to God ; can he avoid taking the holy name in vain ; doing servile work on Sunday ; dishonoring his parents ; murder, hatred and revenge ; adultery, fornication, theft, evil 350 ALETHAURION. thoughts and desire? We ask again, can a man avoid these things, if he wishes to do so? He who says ]ie cannot, is, by his own confession, a dan- gerous character, and ought to be put at once either with the convicts or the lunatics. From all we can learn, it would appear that the Supreme Being intended that man's life here on earth should be a warfare. And the Apostle says that " no one is crowned except he who has legitimately fought." Again, says this man who does not admit eternal punish- ment :^ *' I have at home a son, who has come to the age of rea- son, and he sometimes afflicts my heart sorely, by his rack- less manner of life. He steals from mq and robs me of everything he can lay his hands on, and spends the proceeds with companions as wayward as himself. He refuses to work or assist me in any way, and goes so far as to even threaten my life, unless I give iiim of my substance to waste upon harlots. Yet, notwithstanding all that, I could not see the boy go to the penitentiary, even for a year — not if it cost me three-fourths of what I am worth. Now God loves us more than a father can love his child, and we cannot do Him any injury, nor diminish His happiness, as my unfor- tunate son does mine. As I am not moi-e merciful than God, I cannot believe that He will punish His children for all eternity in flames ; when I could not reconcile myself to the idea of seeing my boy in the State's prison for only a very few months." We may reply : Very likely, you have precisely such a boy as the one you speak of. You are exactly the kind of a father to own a lad of his description. You teach him there is no hell, and he does all in his power to teach you that the Almighty made a mistake in not creating one. But let us come to a direct answer. The two cases are not parallel. God loves man, it is true, with more than an earthly parent's love. But His justice is commensurate ALETIIAUI{I(»N. 351 with His love. Destroy thiit — have Him to make no dis- tinction between the unjust aggressor and his victim, and you have a Deity altogether different from the one that now •deserves our adoration. Parental affection is, by a wis'j law of nature, very strong in the human breast ; so powerful as sometimes to smother all opposing considerations. Still, history gives us some examples of men in authority condemning to death their own offspring, for violation of law, and we praise the jus- tice that could make so great a sacrifice. Shall we expect less of a being infinitely perfect than can sometimes be found in man? The attributes of God do not clash, the one with the other, as do the passions and weak- nesses of His earthly images. Hence, this man's mode of acting towards his wayward son is by no means a safe criterion. If his justice were on a par with his love, the boy would long ago have been occu- pying a position in the institution that has sashes without "glasses. Another objection against the eternity of punishment is sometimes put in the following way : Man, inasmuch as he is a finite being, is incapable of an infinite act, either for good or for evil ; and, as the measure of punishment ought not to exceed the measure of guilt, so •an endless torture ought not to be inflicted on account of a deed done in a moment of time. We reply : Very true, man, regarded absolutely, is incapa- ble of anvthini? infinite, but his evil deeds, inasmuch as thev are directed against God, who is infinite, acquire thereby a corresponding malice, which calls for an endless retribution. Moreover, though the act which constitutes a mortal sin may l)e consummated in a moment of tim3, its formality. con- tinues until it is repented of. And, as man's time of probation is limited to this life, if he should die in mortal sin, having passed over the entire way to the end of the pilgrimage, where change, in his 352 ALETHAURION. moral conditian, is no longer possible, the sin in which he has died, becomes an everlasting one, deserving endless pun- ishment, according to its malice. Our next will be about the condition in the next life of infants who depart without baptism. CHAPTER LXXXIV. WHERE UNBAPTIZED INFANTS GO AFTER DEATH. In the future life there are three places to sojourn — heaven, purgatory and hell. All who die must pass into some one of these three states. Those who have never soiled the white robe of baptism ; those who had shed their blood for the faith, and those who have done adequate pen- ance for their sins, in this life, go at once to heaven. All who die in mortal sin are immediately swept into hell, while persons who depart with lesser sins, called venial, or have not satisfied the Divine justice for their transgressions, are quartered in purgatory. Thus far everything is clear. But where do the souls of infants who die without baptism, go? Answer: They go to hell. That much also is defined by the Church, and the logical consequence of what is taught in the Scriptures. Let us come to the proof. In the Fourteenth Ecumenical Council, held at Lyons, A. D., 1274, and in that of Florence, A. D., 1439, the follow- ing was defined to be part and parcel of the Catholic faith : *' We believe that the souls of those Avho die in mortal sin, or in original sin alone, go at once to hell, to be punished according as each deserves." \_Poe7iis tamen disparibus jpuniendas .~\ The Scriptures teach the same doctrine. From them we learn that men are born in sin, and that nothing defiled can enter heaven. ALETHAURION. 353 Hence, as infants cannot be freed from original guilt in any other way than by baptism, either of blood or water, it follows that if they die before having been baptized, they cannot be saved. ** Unless a man be born again of water and of the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter the kingdom of God." John iii, 5. Let us take a few texts of Scripture, and see how clearly the doctrine of original sin is laid down in our sacred writ- ings. Job xiv, 4, addressing God, says: ** Who can him clean that is conceived of unclean seed?" In Psalm 1, 7, King David, says: ** Behold I was conceived in iniquities, and in sins did my mother conceive me." St. Paul, Ro- mans v, 12, teaches the same doctrine. ** Wherefore," says he, ** as by one man sin entered into the world, and by sin death ; and so death passed . unto all men in whom all have sinned. Therefore, as by the offence of one, unto all men to condemnation, so also by the justice of one unto all men unto justification of life." Again, 1 Cor. xv, 21 : ** Death came by a man, and by a man the resurrection of the dead. And as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive." These various texts show that men are born in sin and can- not see the face of God until cleansed therefrom. Having now given all that is of faith on the subject, we may next go into some speculations. The idea most per- sons have of hell is, that it is a pool of fire in which all are huddled together and punished in the same manner, and to the same degree. This is false, and conflicts with the jus- tice of God, who will render to every man accordins? to his works. For, as in our Heavenly Father's house there are many mansions, each corresponding to the merits of its occupants, so in Hades, there are various grades of punish- ment, to correspond with the iniquities done in the flesh. Not long ago, while the writer was at a certain place, on missionary duty, a house was pointed out to him, where 354 AI.ETHAURION. lives a man whose ideas appear to be somewhat bemuddled on this point. << I know," says this desperate wretch, '* that after death I will go to hell, and what's the use in trying to be good, or to avoid doing evil, provided I keep out of the peniten- tiary, and away from the hangman?" Qaite correct, on the supposition that hell is the same for all. But there is where the mistake lies. The o:reater the iniquity, the more intense the retribution. This brings us to the aforesaid speculations on thie condition of infants, who have died without baptism. In a matter of this kind, before obtruding our own views, we prefer to give those of others. St. Augustine, whom nearly all the other Latin fathers have followed, was of opinion that the souls of unbaptized infants are punished with eternal fire, but with heat so mild, that one cannot determine whether existence is to them acceptable, or the reverse. Cardinal Norris, who wrote a commentary on the works of St. Augustine, goes more into particulars. Norris says their pain is of the lightest and mildest character, the fire Tvarming the little creatures, and giving some annoyance, but not so as to scorch them. The writer does not know where this most eminent Cardi- nal got his thermometer or how he managed to bring the matter down to such a fine point. Yet, he is entitled to his opinion, where the Church has not spoken. The Greek fathers amongst whom St. Gregory Nazian- ZEN, and St. Gregory, of Nyssa, differ with the Latins, in admitting only the plan of loss, and opining that those in- fants endure no pain of sense whatever. The schoolmen and theologians do not accord any better among themselves on this point than do the Fathers. Some have gone so far as to affirm it is of faith that unbaptized in- fants are punished with the pain of sense, whilst others, such as Vasquez hold the contrary opinion, maintaining, ALETHAURION. 355 with some of the schoolmen, that it is of faith that such in- fants suffer only the pain of loss. The latter opinion is the one now most generally held. Let the reader, however, bear in mind that it is by no means of faith, and consequently we cannot be abso- lutely certain about it. Respecting this pain or loss which unbaptized infants en- dure, in the future state, our theologians also dispute among themselves. Bellarmine, and some others are of opinion that they experience a certain feeling of sadness, on account of the loss of the beatific vision, whereas, St. Tho^ias denies it in toto. Ambrosius Catharinus not only exempts the little ones from all pain, but grants them in his generosity, a natural beatitude. And this opinion does not conflict with our holy faith. "We may hope Ambrosius is right, but he may be wrong. And this should be a warning to all Christian par- ents, who have at heart the eternal happiness of their child- ren, to see that so far as in them lies, they do not depart this life without the sacrament. There is no question about the happiness of baptized infants in the next life. They certainly enjoy the vision of God. But there is considerable diversity of opinion in regard to the unbaptized. Moreover, Christ commanded the Apostles to baptize all nations, and when a command has been given, there is a corresponding obligation to obey, St. Thomas Aquinas, qucest, v, de malo, goes on to show how infants, dying without baptism, though deprived of the beatific vision, still are not affected with sadness, on that account. Those souls know they were created for a certain happiness, but they are not aware that such bliss consists in the clear vision of God, and- that they are excluded from its enjoyment on account of original sin. Hence, they are free from all sorrow, but are excluded from that ineffable glory which the sacrament of baptism would have opened to them. 356 ALETHAURION. How sad to think that, even in a country like this, where the name of Christ is known, and where ignorant sects rant so much about baptism, yet thousands of little children are allowed to perish yearly without having had poured upon them the waters of recjeneration. Let us, in conclusion, admire the true Church, that grand old institution that speaks to man in the name and by the authority of God, and defines, with infallible clearness, his duty to his Maker, to his neighbor, to himself, and to his children from the cradle even to the coffin. Purgatory will next claim our attention. CHAPTER LXXXV. CONCERNTNG PURGATO^RY. Having finished our explorations of hell, we next come to purgatory. It may be defined as a middle state of souls sufferino; for a time on account of their sins. Let us begin with a statement of what the Church teaches on the subject, and what we are in consequence bound to be- lieve ; then, having finished our task, we can devote the re- mainder of the time to speculation. Rigorously speaking, there are only two things that we> as Catholics, must believe in regard to the place or state in question. First: That it exists. Second: That the souls therein detained are aided by our prayers and by the sacri- fice of the mass. Any one admitting those two points may then give full play to his imagination ; figure to himself a purgatory according to his fancy, and no one will have the right to call him a heretic for doing so. Such is the length of his tether, and such the circle within which he is allowed to prance and caper. There are as many different opinions in regard to the ALETHAURION. 357 location of purgatory as there are with respect to the site of Pluto's gloomy realm. Some imagine it to bo within the earth, and not far off from hell ; others, that it is on the surface of our globe, and that each one is punished in the very locality where he com- mitted the worst, or the greatest number of his sins. Neither do we know what kind of punishments those souls are compelled to endure, nor how long a time they have to stay. Fire is the safest word to use in this connection, and, as to the limit or term of imprisonment, it is better not to be too exact. Soto, a theologian of some reputation, thought ten of our years sufficient for all purgative purposes ; whereas, there are others who defer the time of grace and deliverance, for not a few, until the morning of doomsday. Purgatory will certainly continue until that period. But it does not appear reasonable to the writer to suppose that an individual man is detained there many centuries, nor even for any great number of years. Intense pain and short time would answer the purpose quite as well as the sting of a bee fifty times a day, with ten centuries to endure such annoy- ance. We might, also, at this point, raise the question as to whether the punishment of all are of the same intensity in purgatory. At first sight it would appear that they ought not to be, for the sins of men vary in malice and in number. But, on a second thought, when we recollect that God can so grade the time as to give each the salting he deserves, we will readily see that no absurdity would follow from saying that all now in purgatory suffer alike, or to the same degree of intensity. From this it does not, however, follow that the instrument of punishment must be the same for all. Two men here may suffer equally — the one from the tooth- ache and the other from cramp colic. We may now proceed 35 8 ALETHAURION . to establish the fact that there is a purgatory, and that the souls in it are helped by our prayers. The best argument on this, as on all other questions touching faith and morals, is the authority of the Church. And, in reasoning with heretics, that point ought to be par- ticularly insisted upon. It is the Church that teaches. To it was confided by the Saviour the task of preserving pure, and propagating through the ages, all that God has revealed as necessary to salvation. On occasion we make use of the Scriptures in arguing with heretics. But the most confounding argument of all is to establish the fact that Christ founded a Church, that He commissioned it to teach all nations, that He made it infallible and indefectible, and that the Church thus founded and endowed, is the very same as that of which Leo XHI, is to-day the acknowledged head. • These facts can be established with the greatest ease. Hence, even though we should grant that not even one word nor allusion to purgatory could be found in the Scriptures, the doctrine would still be credible, for the Church teaches it. And the Church has preserved a knowledge of all that Christ taught ; whereas, the Scriptures contain only a por- tion of what God has revealed to man. The first bishops of the Catholic Church, viz : the Apos- tles and Evangelists, wrote the New Testament ; but they did not reduce to writing all that Christ taught, as many important truths have been handed down by tradition. The Fathers of the Council of Trent, Session vi, canon 30, treating of justification, speak in the following unequivocal terms of purgatory. " If any one says that by the grace of justification the guilt and eternal punishment are so remitted to the penitent that no future temporal pun- ishment remains to be endured either in this world or in the next life in purgatory, before entering the kingdom of heaven, let him be anath, ema," Again, Session xxii, canon 3. ALETHAURION. 35^ *' If auy one says that the sacrllice of the mass is not propitiatory ; that it ought not be offered for the living and the dead, for sins, chastisements satisfactions, and other necessities, let him be anathema.'* From these canons we learn that when one has committed a mortal sin, he must suffer a temporal punishment either in this world or in purgatory ; even after the sin itself has been forgiven in the sacrament of penance. The heretics of our time deny this, and maintain that when God pardons a sin He also remits the punishment. Hence, according to their system, the robber who has spent his life in pillage, murder and iniquity of every sort,, if he repents the instant before death, will escape all pun- ishment for his crimes and go straight to glory. This does not look reasonable. It is not rendering to man according to his works. Our opponents point to the parable of the pro- digal son, who was received 'vvdth open arms on his return home by his father ; but the two cases are not parallel. The prodigal suffered for his evil deeds in this world, by having been compelled to herd with swine and endure hun- ger. The one under consideration is that of a successful rogue, who has cheated, robbed and killed, and yet escaped punishment in this life. Is he to get off free also in the next? Not if God is such as He has revealed Himself to be. When Ada3I sinned he was forgiven, on repentance, but he had to suffer temporal punishment. King David offended God mortally, by murder and adul- tery ; and though the guilt and eternal chastisement were here also condoned, yet he did not escape, for he had to- bear temporal woes, sent him because of his crimes. Having, therefore, once established the fact that God forgives the sin and eternal punishment due to it, upon repentance, without exempting the sinner from temporal chastisements, we have the strongest argument for the existence of a purgatory. For as the sinner who becomes reconciled on his death-bed 360 -vLh:THAURION. has not done penance in this life, he must do it in the future state. Not in hell, because he is made by repentance the friend of God ; not in heaven, for there is all happiness, consequently in purgatory. The custom from the earliest ages of offering up prayers and sacrifices for the purpose of the faithful departed, ap- proved by the same Tridentine Fathers, is also a proof of the belief in the existence of a middle state. We here give a few quotations from some very ancient writings, which show what was the belief in primitive times regarding purgatory. St. Dioxysius, the Areopagite, the man whom St. Paul. converted at Athens, in his tract on the Ecclesiastical Hier- archy, chapter 7, speaking of a portion of the public service, says : '' The venerable prelate, approachino:, goes on with a holy prayer for the dead ; he prays the Divine clemency to great pardon to the de- ceased for those sins committed through human frailty, and that he may receive a place in light and in the land of the living." This is as clear a case of praying a man out of purgatory as any one can ask for. And Dioxysius, who indorses it, was a convert of St. Paul. Again, Tertullian, De Corona, chapters 3 and 4, says : "We make oblations for the dead, on the anniversaries of their death. {Pro natalitiis annua die.) If you seek a Scriptural precept for this, you will not find any : tradition is the author of it, custom confirms it, and the faith observes it." A splendid proof of the belief in a purgatory among the primitive Christians, may also be found in the acts of St. Perpetua. To quote the entire passage would take up too much space. But we give the substance. She relates how she saw, in a vision, her brother Dixoc- RATES, seven years of age, suffering in purgatory, and that after she had prayed for him, his pains entirely ceased. TVe do not think it worth while to give quotations from any of those Fathers that lived after the second century ; and to quote a modern writer would of course be unneces- ALETHAURION. 361 sary. Even heretics admit that the belief in purgatory goes back to the second century. We know it does, and beyond that period. There are also many passages of scripture that confirm us in this constant belief, which may be used in disputing with heretics. In Matthew xii, 32, Christ says : *' AVbosoever shall speak a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him ; but he that sliall speak against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven, neither in this world nor in the world to come. A pretty clear proof we should think, that there is a pur- gatory. For in heaven there is no sin to be forgiven, and out of hell there is no redemption. In Acts ii, 24, St. Luke speaks of Christ as having -* 'loosed the sorrows of hell." What more natural inter- pretation can be given to this than the liberation of those souls who died in venial sins before His coming. No one went to heaven before Christ. The good were all in an intermediate state. Let the heretics tell us when that ceased to exist? Again, i Cor. iii, 13, St. Paul says: *• The Are shall tr\- ever}- man's work : .... if any man's work burn, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire.'''' Hasn't this being saved by fire something of the smell of purgatory about it? W^e might also cite many more passages of scripture in which allusions are made to a middle state, but let one other suffice. Machabees ii, chap, xii, 46. The inspired writer says : *' It is a holy and a wholesome thought to praj' for the dead, that they may be loosed from their sins.'" • This shows that the Jews before Christ believed in pur- gatory, and they were taught by prophets sent directly by God to lead them in the true way. We will speak in the next chapter of the resurrection of the body. 362 ALETHAURION. CHAPTER LXXXVl. THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY. That the bodies of all men will, on the last day, be re- united with their souls, and arise from the dead, is an article of faith taught by the Church, and believecj by the faithful from the beginning. The heretics of the present day also believe this truth, but Infidels, out of a spirit of contradiction, like the man who used to button his coat behind, will not admit, nor lis- ten to a doctrine. We will therefore, in the first place, show that the resur- rection of the body is a part of Revelation, in the second, that it is comformable to right reason ; in the third, we will answer some objections ; and in the fourth, indulge in spec- ulations concerning the qualities of the body after the reunion. Centuries before the birth of Christ, Job, inspired by the Holy Ghost, gave expression to his belief, in the follow- ing words ; ** I know," said he, " that my Redeemer liveth; and on the last day I shall rise out of the earth ; and I shall be clothed again with my skin, and in my flesh. I shall see my God ; whom I myself shall see, and my eyes^ shall behold, and not another; this, my hope, is laid up in my bosom.*^ Job, IX, 25, 27. Job was a cotemporary of Moses, as is generally sup- posed, and lived about fifteen hundred years before Christ. We may presume that in the above quotation he expresses- not only his own belief, but also that of his time, in a resur- rection. That the Jews, who lived a century and a half before the Saviour's birth, were in a like manner possessed of the same ALETHAURION. 363 hope, we have proof in the .second book Machabees, xii, 43, where it is stated that Judas Macilabees, after one of his battles with the army of King Antiochus, sent money to the temple at Jerusalem, to have sacrifices offered for the sins of those who had fallen in defense of their faith and country, **thinking well and religiously,'' says the scripture, •'concerning the resurrection." We may here observe, however, that about one hundred years before the period in question, there sprang into exis- tence, among the Jews, a sect called the Sadducees, who denied the immortality of the soul, the existence of angels, and also the resurrection of the body. The Sadducees were never very numerous, but they were rich, and for the most part office holders. They maintained that God rewards men for their good deeds, and punishes them for their vices, in this world. And as things went v^W with them here, they esteemed them- selves the pickVnd choice fruit in the Lord's vineyard — his own especial pets and favorites. These modern writers and speakers, who measure a nation's sanctity by its temporal prosperity, are all Saddu- cees in principle. Occasionally they may come in contact with the Saviour. And it was they who proposed that well-known puzzle of the woman who had been married con- secutively to the seven brothers. They asked whose shall she be in the resurrection ? He had but little patience with such malicious blockheads. Hence he cut them off short, by saying that the mistake was due to their ignorance of scripture and the power of God. Then he quoted a passage from the Penteteuch, the only books admitted by the Sadducees, to show that there would be a resurrection : *'Have you not read," said he, '' that which was spoken by God, say- ing to you : I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. He is not the God of the dead, but of the living.*' 364 ALETHAURION. The Saviour, in arguing with his opponents, did not waste words, but often confounded them by a single question. The Apostle Paul teaches the same doctrine in all those places where he introduces an antithesis between the sin and death we inherit from Adaivi, and the justification and life we gain through Christ. Now, his argument would not be complete without the resurrection of the body. Consult Eomans v, 12-21; Hebrews, ix, 27-28; 1 Cor., xv, 20. He also warns his Disciple Timothy, w^hom he had made Bishop of Ephesus, to beware of those who deny the future resurrection, by maintaining that it has already taken place, n Tim., 2, 16. The same is also clearl}^ laid down in John, v, 28 : " Wonder not at this,** saj'S the Saviour, "for the hour cometh wherein all that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God." It is quite evident that reference is here made not to a spiritual, but to a corporal resurrection i for the spirit is pre- sumed not to be in the grave, but only the body. Thus we have seen that the resurrection of the body is a revealed truth. It cannot, therefore, contradict reason, though it may be above it. Three of the most ancient Fathers of the Church — Athexagorus, Ireneus and Tertullian — have spoken of this subject in such a way that but little more remains to be said. We shall here only give the reasoning of Tertullian, as it includes that of the other two. In his book {de Resurrec- tione Carnis) he treats the subject in the following masterly way. We, of course, do not pretend to give anything more than a synopsis. His first argument is this: The flesh or body is v^orthy of a resurrection, therefore it will arise. He proves its worthiness. Firsts because the body was created by God to the image of His Son, who was to come ALETHAURION. 365 iSecoiid, the body is worthy, because it is the casket of the soul created to the image of God. Thinly the body is the companion and partner of the soul, whether in virtue or in sin, hence it ought to be a sharer of its glory or pain. Fourth^ the body is worthy, because through it the soul receives the graces of the Sacraments, practices the Christian, virtues, and gains the crown of martyrdom. Tertullian's second argument may be expressed as fol- lows : God can cause the body to rise again, and as it is worthy, therefore He will raise it to life. That God can cause the body to rise, will not be questioned, since he cre- ated it; and it is no more difficult to resurrect than to create. His third argument is that the whole man ought to appear before God to be judged, as it was the whole man that lived here on earth. In the fourth and last place he argues that, inasmuch as Christ died for man, he will save not only his soul, but also his body. For Christ came to restore all that Ada3I had lost. And, as in the first Ada3i, we lose the life of the body, so in the second we regain it. These form the principal arguments, dra^vn from reason, for the resurrection of the body, and certainly no better ones are known to the wi'iter. Let us now take up a few objections. They may be reduced to two principal ones. First : Take the case of a cannibal, or man-eating savage, who has fed for a dozen years on **long pig." At the resurrection, how will those w^ho were eaten get back the substance of their bodies from the Cannibal, since, by a pro- cess of nature, it has become a part of his body? In other words, which of them will rise with the flesh that was eaten ? Secondly: It has ])een demonstrated that there is a total change in the human system every seven years, so that there 366 ALETHAURION. is not, except by accident, one particle now in our composi- tion that was there seven years ago. Take then a man w^ho has dei^arted this life at the age of foi"ty-nine. Such a one evidently had in this life seven dif- ferent bodies. Which of these will he have at the resurrec- tion? Or will he arise with all seven, and so j^resent before the judgment seat the appearance of a man who had been brought up on beer and w^hale-blubber ? These are tart questions, but we shall attempt to answ^er them. Let us suppose the Cannibal spoken of ate his man just seven years ago ; it is then evident that Mr. Loxgpig could now arise with the same body he had wiien eaten, as not a particle of it is to be found in the savage. Again, suppose the cannibal had died one month after ha\dng eaten Loxgpig, then he (Loxgpig) could arise with the body he had seven years previous to his capture, and still it would be the same body he had in this life. A little more difficult case is the following: Suppose a young cannibal, six years of age, should eat Loxgpig'ssou, also of six years, and die of the meal; it is evident, in this case, that neither could take the body he had seven years before. This case, how^ever, w^hen looked closely into, does not present as much difficulty as at first sight. If the essence of the human body consisted in its retaining always the same molecules or particles of matter, then indeed there w^ould be a difficulty, for the same molecules have evidently formed part of tw^o distinct human beings; but, change of substance in the human body no more destroys its essence, than change of w^ater does that of a pond. Hence, God could supply extraneous particles w^here there was a deficiency, without in the least affecting the identity of a given body. The reader will not admit that he has lost his identity within the past seven years, even though there has in that time taken place a total change in the particles that make up his body. ALETHAURION. 367 The stamen originale^ as philosophers call it, is still tho •same. Moreover, personal identity principally consists in the interior sentiment, which renders testimony to us that we are the same persons now we were seven years ago, or from infancy. We defer until the next chapter some speculations on the qualities the body will possess after it has risen. CHAPTER LXXXVII. TBT tHARACTER AND QUALITIES OF THE BODY AFTER HAVING ARISEN FROM THE DEAD. Having shown that the body will surely arise on the last day, we now come to examine into its character, and to specu- late on the qualities it will possess. First of all, it may be laid down as certain that men will rise immortal. The necessity of dying came by the sin of Adam. But Christ, by His passion, restores to us all that we lost through the first man. Hence, at the resurrection of the just, it will be as if Adam had never sinned. The defects in nature, caused by his fall, will be repaired. The death of Christ destroys death ; at present in its cause, and hereafter in act. **0 death*, I will be thy death," Osee, xiii, 14. **And the enemy death shall be destroyed last." I Cor., x^^ 26. <*Christ, rising again from the dead, dieth now no more." Romans, vi, 9. His resurrection is the type of what ours will be. If men died again after the resurrection, it could not be said with truth that Christ conquered death. But he has triumphed •over it. At the resurrection men will rise with the proper proportions. And the Great Sculptor, who chiseled to perfection the first 368 ALETH AURION . man, will remedy the defects of nature in His descendants. What a consolation this to the decrepid and time-worn of our race, who have outlived youth and its charms, to know that they will again be made as good as new ; that long lo.t have been familiar. He had evidently changed. I 370 ALETH AURION . for the time being, His appearance, yet retained His identity. Let not those who are homely, therefore, murmur at their lot ; nor those who have had the small-pox bewail with too many tears the loss of their beauty. Time will make all things even. It will be all the same one hundred years from now. But let those who love beauty of form so live as to deserve it. Now it is a gift, then it will be the reward of merit. Goodness and beauty, which are here separable, will be there combined, and the extent of the one will be the measure of the other. Another quality that the just will possess, after the resur- rection, will be that of agility, by which the body will be entirely under the control of the spirit. At present we possess it to a limited extent, for the body here obeys the soul, and walks or lies at rest as the spirit directs. Nevertheless, all our actions now are accompanied with fatigue. After the reunion we will have the power of pass- ing from place to place with the quickness of thought. Our bodies, as St. Paul says, will be spiritual, that is, entirely under the control of the spirit, and obedient to its behests. From what has been said thus far, it will not be difficult to surmise at what age men will rise from the tomb. It will be at that period of life when there is the greatest vigor of mind and body. Christ in this, as in all things else that are good and glorious, is the model. His resurrection is the pattern of what ours will be. And as He arose about the age of thirty- three years, so shall the just. The aged will leave discreptitude in the grave, and appear again hi the prime of manhood. Infants, snatched by death from the arms of weeping mothers, will present themselves once more in the flesh, not the helpless things they were, but in the bloom and vigor of youth, with bodies and minds such as they would have had if length of days had been granted. ALETHAURION. 371 There are many useless, vain and idle questions that here present themselves. As, for example, what will be the length of the hair, beard and nails, at the resurrection; whether the heart will beat, and the blood continue to circu- late as now; whether our knowledge of surrounding things will be gained through the senses, or in some other way. To such questions we may answer, in general terms, that men will rise with the same bodies, and with all their essen- tial parts and actions. • Hence, that the heart will beat ; that the blood will circu- late through the veins and arteries ; that the eyes will see, the ears hear, etc., appear credible. As to the length of the hair, beard and nails, we may answer that the sacred human- ity of our Lord furnishes us the example l)y which to form a judgment. We are not to presume that Mynheer Stehrexfluter will take his seventy-five inches of beard with him to Para- dise, for his was an abnormal growth. Neither should we suppose that he will appear shaved and powdered amidst the Cherub ims. The reunion of the soul and body will be instantaneous, and vriW take place here on the surface of the earth. No sooner vdW the archangel have pronounced the words, **arise ye dead, and come to judgment," than by the almighty power of God the elements that have composed the bodies of all men since Adam, will be drawn together from the four winds, and each soul will repossess its earthly mansion. Christ will then appear in the heavens, seated on the throne of His Majesty, and all the angels with Him. The just will rise to meet Him in the air, and will be placed at His right hand. • Then at the words, **come, ye blessed of My Father, pos- sess the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world," their ])odies will be glorified, and they will shine like stars around His tbrone. 372 ALETHAURION. The reprobate, with bodies also immortal and incor- ruptible, but not changed, will remain below at His left, surrounded by demons. And at the words, *' depart from me, accursed," a mighty whirlwind will come from the north and sweep them, body and soul, into the dreary abode of the damned; and the separation will be final. When we meditate on the things that will take place on that awful day, how vain is the* greatness of this world, and how insufficient and unsatisfactory any success that is not eternal. *