Catholicism and Reason
Being an essay
BY

HON, HENRY C. DILLON
LOS ANGELES,

CAL.

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Catholicism and Reason
BEING AN ESSAY BY

HON. HENRY C. DILLON
LOS ANGELES, CAL.

I.

THE CHURCH AS THE SOLE WITNESS TO AND
DEFENDER OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION.

I am a Catholic because I believe the Holy Catholic Church was
founded by God, in the person of His Son, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus
Christ, upon the Rock, in the person of St. Peter, Chief of Apostles, and
its first visible head. Faith leads me to Her, and reason approves the
choice.

Man is a religious animal. He believes in himself as a moral
being. He clings to this belief as tenaciously as he clings to life.
He believes that in some mysterious way he came forth from God,
and the best thoughts and efforts of his life are employed in the
effort to bring himself into harmony with the Author of his being.
His faith has had its periods of exaltation and depression. At the
threshold of the twentieth century the signs point to another re­
vival of his faith. Rationalistic as well as theistic philosophers
see this, and tell us that man’s rising faith will culminate in a na­

2

CATHOLICISM AND REASON.

tural religion—that is to say, in a code of morals based upon our
natural relations, upon the rewards and punishments of this life,
and from which all creeds and revelations will be expunged. Man
is still the proper study of mankind. Whether he was fashioned
in the sea or on land, whether the first cell from which he began
to differentiate was protoplasm or dust, still
The hand that made him was Divine.

The moment we admit the Divine origin of man, we admit a
Divine purpose in his creation, and the necessity of ascertaining and
obeying the Divine Will. Religious man will not be satisfied that
this Will has not in some special and authoritative way been re­
vealed to mankind, in manner and form to be intellectually grasped
and understood, and in such abundance as to satisfy the cravings
of the human heart.
Natural religion does not satisfy this craving. It does not call
forth the soul’s affirmation, which is Emerson’s definition of truth.
Knowledge of our relationship to all created things and of the
benefits which arise from understanding nature’s laws, aids us in
the battle of life and maintains the survival of the fittest, but it
does not make the survivor happy, nor even satisfied with himself,
when he reflects upon the human wrecks which line the shores of
time. And what shall we say of the victims of this cruel law, who
fall and are trampled under the feet of the victorious survivor. Is
any mercy or pity found for them in natural law or natural re­
ligion. Faith, hope and charity are out of place in such a system.
To lend a helping hand is contrary to the doctrine of survival of
the fittest, and to love thy neighbor as thyself is to backslide into
Christianity. The teachers of this natural religion tell us, indeed,
that all vice is to be avoided, but in the same breath they tell us that
evil (vice), if any there is, is a schoolmaster bringing us to God.
Under such a schoolmaster vice loses its “ frightful mien,” and
young and old are lured to destruction before they discover the
awful falsehood of this modern serpent.
By refusing to see anything but the outside, the material, natural
religionists deny the inside, the spiritual nature of man, a more
stupendous fact than the outside, and thus deny that there is any
law in the spiritual world, in the face of all its manifestations.
In its final analysis natural religion is atheism. Its advocates
say in effect: “We are the only gods there are,” and generally
end by extolling and worshipping themselves. In politics we
find its adherents generally advocating the doctrines of state
socialism and anarchy. In ethics their name is legion. There is
no heresy that ever attained sufficient importance to merit the
condemnation of the Church that is not taught by one sect or an­

CATHOLICISM AND REASON.

3

other of these natural religionists. Strangely enough most of them
claim to be theists, but, when driven to a definition of their god,
we find they not only deny the Three Persons of the God-head, but
deny to their deity any personality whatever. Their theism, there­
fore, consists in name only. Indeed, such a thing as natural theism
is both an impossibility and a contradiction of terms. In his work
entitled: “Is Life Worth Living?’’ Mr. Mallock says: “A purely
natural theism, with no organs of human speech, and no machinery
for making its spirit articulate, never has ruled man, and, so far as
we can see, never possibly can rule him.”
But the experiment is going on. Protestantism has yielded the
citadel to the assaulting scientists. Unable to agree upon any in­
terpretation of the Bible among themselves, their learned theologians
have at length basely admitted that the Holy Book is not the
inspired Word of God, and that, consequently, there exists no
authoritative exponent of the Christian religion. The most promi­
nent among Protestant divines are found to contradict one another
about the very rudiments of the faith. To such a state of impo­
tence and intellectual bankruptcy has Protestantism come at last that
Professor Schurman, president of the Philippine Commission, tells
them plainly that it will be useless for Protestant Churches to·
send missionaries to the natives of these islands, unless they will
agree in advance upon some one branch of Protestantism, and pre­
sent that and that only. The learned professor knows that such
an agreement is impossible. It may have been only a clever and
unanswerable way of advising them to stay at home, and let the
Catholics work out what they have so well begun. It may have
been the expression of a belief, only too common now among
great men of the earth, that all religions are equally bad, and only
useful to the politicians as a means for controlling the people.
There is a belief also quite common now, that secular thought has
in our day gained a decisive victory over Christian theology, and that
the sacred writings have been forced to a level with fairy tales.
This, however, is but a superficial view. What has really happened
is this: Secular thought has annihilated Protestanism, not Christi­
anity.
The fundamental principle of the sixteenth century reformers
was, that the Bible contains in itself a clear indication of what the
Christian religion is, and contains in itself inherent proofs of its
verity. Its second principle was that the beliefs and practices of
Christ’s earliest followers proved the correctness of the new creed.
As Protestant sects, however, differentiated from the parent stem
and split into a thousand fragments, each with a new creed, it
destroyed the second principle and reduced it to an absurdity.

4

CATHOLICISM AND REASON.

Scientific study and criticism have destroyed the other, until at
last Protestant dogma has been rendered as Mr. Mallock well says:
“ Not only intenable but unthinkable.” Protestantism, as an in­
tellectual system, and in its higher walks, has practically abandoned
its former belief in a supernatural religion, and is gradually sub-stituting for it this so-called natural religion. Those who still insist
'«upon the Divine origin of man, without which they realize religion
of any kind is impossible, and who will seek for some revelation
of the Divine Will, claim a quasi revelation. They find it written
upon the rocks. They read it in the stars. They have expounded
it, written innumerable books about it, and from time to time, have
revised their scientific conclusions and adjusted their new creeds to
fit the new facts as they came to light. Indeed, they have not
scrupled, at times, to bend the facts to fit new theories.
Religious man is not and never can be satisfied with such revela­
tions. To command his belief and respect the revelation must be
infallible. If it is not infallible, it is no revelation at all. If the
revelation claimed is so written upon the rocks and in the stars
as to be difficult to distinguish, hard to understand—if it means
one thing to this reader and another to that, it might just as well
have never been made at all. Revelation, in order to be, in any
sense, infallible to us as intelligent beings, must be a testament
duly authenticated and interpreted by competent authority. Herein
lay both the error and the condemnation of Protestant Christianity.
Starting out as the purifier of a supernatural religion as taught by
the Roman Catholic Church, and protesting against the idea that any
authority was ever given to that Church by our Lord and Saviour
to declare the will of God, it first claimed the Bible, and the Bible
only, as interpreted by private opinion, to be the seat of authority in
religion. Now, after four hundred years of incessant war against
the Mother Church, in the dawn of the twentieth century, Protest­
antism ends this controversial war by using private opinion to de­
stroy the Bible itself. Doctor De Costa’s recent lectures on this
subject are sufficient to convince any one that I have not over­
stated the fact. What irony of Fate ! The Roman Catholic Church,
denounced by Protestants as the suppressor of the Holy Bible, is
now beheld as its sole defender against Protestant attacks. “ The
mills of God grind slowly, but they grind exceeding fine.” Protest­
antism was compelled to base its dogmatic teaching upon one of the
most fragmentary of books, containing, as its sacred writers them­
selves declare, but a small part of the Gospel delivered to the Church
by her Divine Head. “ If they were written,” says St. John (xxi 25),
“ the world itself, I think, would not be able to contain the books
that should be written.” Repudiating and protesting against an

CATHOLICISM AND REASON.

5

authoritative and divinely commissioned interpreter of the Sacred
Writings, they were warped and twisted by rival theologians to sus­
tain innumerable and contradictory doctrines, to the great scandal
of Christianity, and ending finally and logically in the disintegration
and destruction of Protestantism itself.
The New Testament could not prove itself, and the Holy Catholic
and Apostolic Church, the only witness by whom it could be proven,
was discredited and denounced by the proponents of the Divine
Will, as unworthy of belief. What happened when Protestant
Christianity presented this Will to the Court of Higher Criticism
and asked to have it admitted to probate? What was its reply in
answer to the question : “ Have you the Will of God in your pos­
session?” It presented its latest revised edition of the New Testa­
ment and said : “ We thought we had it, but, for all we know, it
may be a forgery. Take it and examine it for yourself. If it does
not prove itself there is no other evidence!” The case is closed.
The evidence of the only surviving witness is not heard. The book
it put upon the rack. It is tried in the fire. It is referred to the
critics. The referees report that the book does not contain within
itself sufficient evidence to establish either its Divine origin or
Protestant dogma. The Will is rejected. It is right here that the
Catholic Church comes to the rescue of the Holy Bible and the
Christian religion. In answer to the same question the Church testi­
fies with uplifted hand:
“ I am a living witness to this Will and testament. If there be
any ambiguity in the writing, I can explain it and am authorized
so to do. I was present when God Himself, in the person of the
Man Christ Jesus, walked the shores of Galilee preaching this Gos­
pel. I saw those miracles performed. I was with Him when He
was baptized by John in the Jordan, and I know the meaning which
He attached to that sacred rite. I sat with Him at the Last Supper
and partook of the Bread of Life, and know the meaning which
He attached to the words, ‘except ye eat the flesh of the Son of
Man and drink His blood, ye have no life in you.’ I wept with
Him in the garden of Gethsemane, stood with Him before Pilate,
was last at the cross and first at the sepulchre. I know that He
rose from the dead, appeared to His disciples, and instructed His
Church fully as to the true meaning of all He had said and done. I
saw Him give to Peter the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, heard
Him say ‘upon this rock I will build My Church and the gates of hell
shall never prevail against it.’ It was to me He said when He in­
stituted the Sacrament of Penance, ‘whosesoever sins ye remit, they
are remitted unto them, and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are
retained.’ Sacredly have I executed this awful power, and never

6

CATHOLICISM AND REASON.

has the confessional been betrayed. To me He made the promise
of God the Holy Ghost, Who should lead me into all truth and
enable me to teach it infallibly to the end of the world. I saw Him
ascend into heaven. Upon the day of Pentecost I received the
Holy Ghost, and from thence hitherto I have been Divinely as­
sisted in declaring the Will of God in all matters appertaining to
faith and morals to the children of men. Peter and Paul and all the
apostles and sacred writers who heard the word of God from the
Blessed Saviour’s lips were my sons. I witnessed their martyrdom
for testifying to the truth of this Holy Gospel. Their writings were
committed to my care, and here they are. I know they are not
forgeries.”
The Court of Higher Criticism hears with consternation this
startling and unexpected evidence. It is seen at once that it can not
be contradicted. There are not and never have been any witnesses
to the contrary. There is but one more question the court can ask,
viz. : “ How am I to know that you are telling me the truth ?”
The question is incompetent and irrelevant. The testimony is given.
The witness may be cross-examined, but, until contradicted and
overthrown, the testimony must be accepted and believed. The
witness, however, waives all objections and shows its credibility.
' Consider my age,” she says, “look into my eyes. Read the history
of my life, and you will know that I never told a lie. What I tell you
to-day I have borne witness to before Kings and Emperors and be­
fore all men for nineteen centuries. I have sealed it with the blood
of my martyrs. Neither fire nor sword, imprisonment nor torture
have ever caused me to tell a different tale. Roman Emperors
persecuted me in vain. The barbarians of the north, progenitors
of the learned critics of to-day, came down to destroy me, but re­
turned home to bless. They carried back with them the Glad Tid­
ings which has made of them the great nations of to-day. Does
it seem to you, O Critics, an incredible thing that God should thus
prolong my life? It was to this end that I was created. It was God
himself, in the person of our Blessed Lord, who commanded me to
preach this Gospel to all nations and to every living creature, and
promised to be with me to the end of the world. Do you know
that, for like reasons and purposes nations are born to carry out His
Divine Will, and live on from age to age, and are prospered, pun­
ished and destroyed in acordance with their faith and perseverance
in good works? Thus it hath pleased Almighty God from the be­
ginning to speak with the tongues of men and work with their
hands. Kings, Emperors, generations pass away, ‘ but My word
shall not pass away.’ It is handed down by word of mouth. The
continuity of my life has not been broken. Is it a surprising thing

CATHOLICISM AND REASON.

7

that our Heavenly Father, after creating man for a Divine purpose,
should make provision for retaining in the world a knowledge of
Himself and of His Will with respect to His creation? It is idle
to ask if He might not have chosen some other way, if He might
not have been content with what was written upon the rocks and in
the stars. The fact is (and it is with facts we are dealing) He has
seen fit to introduce such a power into the world, and has invested
it with the prerogative of infallibility in religious matters. Reason
approves the plan and we see at once that such a provision is a di­
rect, immediate, active and prompt means of withstanding every at­
tack which can be made upon the Christian religion; and we see
also that it is a weapon which Protestant Christianity is powerless
to wield in its defense.”
Is such testimony incompetent? Surely not. It is not to be ex­
cluded upon the ground that it is hearsay. “ The first degree of
moral evidence, and that which is most satisfactory to the mind,”
says Mr. Greenleaf in his work on Evidence (Chapter V, Sec. 98,
11th Ed.), “is afforded by our own senses; this being direct evi­
dence of the highest nature.” We are compelled to use such a testi­
mony, because it is the best obtainable, and our courts daily admit
evidence of a similar character, such as general reputation, reputed
ownership, public rumor, general notoriety: (‘1 Greenleaf’s evi­
dence § 101.’) The principle upon which such evidence is admitted
is “the concurrence of many voices to the same fact.” (Ibid).
Accordingly hearsay evidence as to pedigree from servants as well
as members of the family, neighbors and friends is received. Gen­
eral repute in the family, which is but another term for tradition,
may be proved in the same manner. Entries in the family Bible or
missal by a deceased parent are competent evidence as to births,
marriages and deaths. (Ibid. § 104). Particularly is this true, and
such evidence is considered greatly strengthened by the fact that
long publicity has been given to such traditions and long acquiescence
in their acceptance by large numbers of persons, which is preemiently true of the New Testament. (Ibid. §§ 104, 105, 108).
Again, this book is historical ; it has been kept and preserved by
proper authority, viz. : the Roman Catholic Church, and, when au­
thenticated by her, is admissable on that ground also. ( Ibid. § § 496,
497).
There is no living witness to-day by whom the Declaration of In­
dependence can be proven. The instrument has faded away and
become illegible, as I myself saw but a few days ago in Washington.
But a living body known as the Supreme Court of the United States
was created with power and authority to establish its identity.
It can declare what is the Constitution of these United States, and

8

CATHOLICISM AND REASON.

it alone can interpret its meaning, and when it does, that interpre­
tation must be accepted as final. Yet there is not one of the judges
by whom that august tribunal speaks who could personally testify
to the genuineness of the writings themselves. Such power and
authority exists, ex-necessitate, and must be obeyed or anarchy will
prevail. When that court of last resort says: This is the Consti­
tution and this is what it means, the decision must, be accepted
as final. It is easy to deny ; easy to create doubt, and difficult to have
proof always ready at hand. In this way clever writers have clouded
the fame of Shakespere, and cast doubt even upon the existence of
Jesus Christ. The assaults of such quibblers have little weight
and soon die away.
God, who in time past spoke by the mouths of His holy prophets,
now speaks to us by the mouth of our Sovereign Pontiff, Leo XIII.
His voice comes to us through the past, along the unbroken line of
his predecessors, and the Church knows and bears witness that
the voice at the other end of the line, is the Voice of our Lord and
Saviour, Jesus Christ, and “ that voice is none other than the Voice
of God.”
Is it an incredible thing that the Sacred Scriptures should not con­
tain the whole of God’s revelation to man? Do we not know that
the Divine Will respecting the creation and duty of man was de­
livered verbally to the patriarchs and prophets, to the Jewish Church,
long before a word of the Old Testament was written? In like man­
ner the Christian Church was founded by the Divine Master Who
never wrote a word upon anything more enduring than the sand
which the winds blew away. It is a disputed question to-day whether
there is extant even a copy of any part of the New Testament older
than the third century. You naturally ask whether fallible man can
be depended upon to faithfully and accurately hand down such a
message? We know that the Iliad of Homer was thus handed
down. Is it, therefore, impossible or improbable to human reason
that God’s Word should be thus handed down?
Protestantism fails as such a witness. Its age lacks fifteen hundred
years of reaching back to the Saviour’s birth. It has no conscious
memory, no memorabilia of those times. There is no tradition of
it in the family of her sects. It is an incompetent witness, and
utterly unreliable, because no two of its sects agree on what Christ
taught as His religion. It also fails as a defender of the faith, be­
cause it has no organization to hold it together, no dogmatic prin­
ciples to steady it, no authoritative moral teacher to guide it, and no
devotional life sufficiently attractive to hold its members together
and maintain its life. Both as witness and advocate it has failed in
its proof and defense of the Christian religion.

CATHOLICISM AND REASON.

II.

9

THE CHURCH AND SCIENCE.

The conflict between science and religion is imaginary. Secular thought
has not overthrown, and cannot overthrow the Christian religion.
The
Roman Catholic Church is the repository of the faith, and the gates of
hell cannot prevail against her.

Truth is the attribute of God. To Him error is impossible. God
cannot contradict Himself. The facts of creation, the revelations of
His boundless love for man, His power and majesty, His purposes
with respect to man concerning his creation and destiny, his fall and
redemption, whether gleaned from the indirect revelations of nature
or direct revelations to man, will never contradict each other, when
read aright and correctly understood. Science has been quick to
dogmatize. She has not hesitated to “ rush in where angels fear to
tread,” and teach theology to the Church. She has rushed to the
jury room and brought in verdicts before the evidence was all in.
She has been intolerant, bigoted, fierce in denunciation, and want­
ing in charity. The Church welcomes truth from whatsoever quarter
it may come, because it is the Voice of God, saying, ‘ Come, this is
the way; walk ye in it.” Take for example the well-worn tale about
Galileo. The astronomical system which prevailed down to the
seventeenth century, commonly called the geocentric or Ptolemaic,
was one which strongly appealed to the senses and was fortified by
all the wisdom of the Arabians, the Chinese, the Persians and
Europeans, and is taught by the Mohammedans of to-day. The
illusion is still kept up, and we daily repeat the error when we say
the sun rises and sets. Language must be understood, says the law,
according to its common acceptation, and it was in this sense that
revelation was addressed to man, not for the purpose of teaching
astronomy but the duty of man. It was not necessary to man’s
happiness that he should be taught how the world was made, but it
was of the utmost importance that he should be told whence he came,
why he fell from his once glorious estate, and how Paradise could
be regained. In order that we may rightly understand the attitude
of the Church towards scientific truth and Galileo, it must be re­
membered that Nicholas Cusa, an Archdeacon and member of the
Council of Basil in 1431, had taught that it was the earth and not the
sun that was in motion, and that the true system of astronomy was
the heliocentric and not the geocentric. In this he anticipated Galileo
by two hundred years. In that great Council of the Catholic Church
le maintained this doctrine and was supported by Cardinal Cesarini.
He was summoned to Rome, before Pope Nicholas V, and received
the highest honors. He was made a Cardinal. Nor must we forget

10

CATHOLICISM AND REASON.

Copernicus. In the year 1500 he was a professor in the Pope’s uni­
versity, lecturing on his new astronomical theory to more than two
thousand pupils. His great work was dedicated to the reigning
Pontiff, Paul III, who loaded him with honors, and finally caused
him to be retired on a pension for life. Now why was it that Galileo,
who long afterwards taught substantially the same theory, met a
different fate in 1632? It was because he was proud, wilful and
obstinate, like St. George Mivart of our own day, and insisted that
there was a conflict between science and religion, and that he was
right and the Church was wrong. He invaded the domain of
theology by insisting that he had fopnd a revelation in the stars that
contradicted the revelation to the Church. By the use of the tele­
scope he was simply convinced of the truth of the Corpernican
system. The Church had found no fault with that, and only wanted
the hot-headed Galileo to wait until all the facts were in evidence,
when he would surely find, as we have been finding every day
since, there would be and is no conflict in the revelations of God.
Cusa and Corpernicus advanced their theory modestly as a proba­
bility, and waited for further facts. Lord Bacon, the first teacher
of the inductive school of philosophy in England, rejected Galileo’s
theory with scorn, and so did Descartes. Even Martin Luther said
of him : “ This fool wishes to reverse the entire science of astron­
omy.” Neither Cardinal Bellarmine, nor Pope Paul V, denied his
theory, but when he undertook to interpret the Scriptures ; when he
went beyond the limits of physics and mathematics and invaded the
prerogative of the Church, he was called upon to halt, and it was
for this he was condemned. It was not his theory, but his keen sa­
tire and sarcasm which excited and inflamed his opponents. His
punishment has been greatly exaggerated. His prison was the pal­
ace of the Tuscan ambassador, where he roamed at will. In addi­
tion to this pleasant detention, he had the companionship of his two
daughters, who were nuns. In fact, the only part of his sentence
which ever occasioned him any inconvenience consisted in being re­
quired to recite the Seven Penitential Psalms once a week for three
years, and I doubt very much whether he did that.
We nnd no difficulty in our day in reconciling the Copernican
system with Holy Scriptures. They speak of the earth, sun, moon
and stars.as they appear to the human eye. They use the language
of common understanding, not to teach the natural sciences, but to
usher man upon the stage of life, to tell him the story of his fall
through disobedience and his redemption through righteousness.
The Church, moved and inspired as it is by God, is never in a hurry.
She will bide her time until all the evidence is in and weighed in the
balance. Confident that God is with her, that the gates of hell can

Λ

CATHOLICISM AND REASON.

(

11

no more prevail against her in the future than in the past, she will
pursue the even tenor of her way until it shall please her Divine
Head to demonstrate the harmony which exists between truth in the
natural world with like truth in the spiritual world. It is not true,
however, that the heliocentric system was ever denied by a Papal
Bull, in passing upon Galileo’s case. The judgment was pronounced
by the Court of Inquisition, and was in no sense a Papal document
Protestants, however, should not complain of the difficulties which
beset Galileo in convincing the world of his day of the truth of his
discoveries. A Protestant tribunal in 1596 had already set the ex­
ample by condemning the theories of Kepler, as well as the man him­
self. The Academical Senate of Tubingen, by its Theological Fac­
ulty, thirty-seven years before the judgment in Galileo’s case, unani­
mously decided that Kepler’s book, which affirmed the elliptical
form of the planetary orbits, and thus confirmed the theory of
Copernicus and Cusa, contained a deadly heresy. The book was
heretical, they said, because it contradicted that passage in the
Sacred Scriptures, where it is related that Joshua commanded the
sun to stand still. Kepler had contended that, as the Bible adddessed
itself to mankind in general, it spoke of things in the life of man,
as men in general are accustomed to speak of them; that the Bible
was in no respect a Manual of Optics or Astronomy, but had much
higher objects in view; that it was a blameable abuse to seek in it
for answers to worldly things; that Joshua had wished to have the
day prolonged, and God had responded to his wish in some miracu­
lous way, which was not a proper subject for scientific inquiry. With
a body of theologians whose central dogma was the right of private
interpretation of the Scriptures, such an argument should have some
weight. But instead, his bold attempt to fight the ministers of
Protestantism with their own weapons only increased their dis­
pleasure and his condemnation. Had it not been for the interven­
tion of the merciful Duke of Wurtemburg, who was personally at­
tached to Kepler, he would have suffered personal violence. His
book was suppressed, however, and he prudently submitted to the
injunction. To his friend Mastlin, he wrote : “ I hold it for the
best to imitate the disciples of Pythagoras, and keep silence on the
discoveries I have made, lest, like Apian, I lose my situation, and
be doomed to die of hunger.” In the end, he fled from Wurtem­
burg, but—shades of Luther! to whom did he fly for refuge?—to
the Jesuits of Gratz and Ingoldstat, who, Pretestant though he was,
to the last, honored his great talents and received him with open
arms, because of the great service he had rendered to science.
The conduct of these Jesuit Fathers is exemplified and followed

12

CATHOLICISM AND REASON.

in every Catholic school, college or university in the world. And
why? Because the Church is not opposed to science.
The Constitution of the Vatican Council contain these words:
“The Church, far from being opposed to the progress of human
arts and sciences, assists and encourages them.” The great univer­
sities of Europe are all Catholic in their origin, and most of them
were established before the so-called Reformation began. In these,
to quote the words of Carlyle, “ nearly all the inventions and civil
institutions whereby we yet live as civilized men, were originated
and perfected.”
Catholic savants are delving into every field of knowledge to-day,
hunting for the truth, welcoming it when found, but jealous with the
jealousy of God, that it shall be the truth, the whole truth and
nothing but the truth. In all the learned walks of life Catholics
are conspicuous. In peace and war their names are enrolled high
in the Temple of Fame. Her sculptors, painters and musicians
have given to the world their unrivalled works, breathing the very
atmosphere of heaven. Her architects and builders have covered
the earth with magnificent temples which Protestants have been
glad to appropriate, but could not equal. She also has her inven­
tors and discoverers. Not only is the world indebted to her for the
preservation of the Bible and the Christian faith, for the fine arts
and ancient learning, for schools, colleges, universities, hospitals
and asylums, but also for the material and worldly things of which
our Heavenly Father knoweth that we have need.
Gerbert, afterwards Pope Sylvester II., a. d. 920-1003, Albert
Magnus and his contemporary, Roger Bacon, of the thirteenth
century, taught the inductive system of philosophy hundreds of
years before Lord Bacon was born. Draper, that eminent Protestant
philosopher, writing of Leonardo da Vinci, that universal genius of
the fifteenth century, says: “ To him and not to Lord Bacon must
be attributed the renaissance of science.” Time and space forbid
me to mention the contributions of her children to the wealth of the
world through her travelers and navigators. The names of Marco
Polo, Columbus, Da Gama and Magellan recall them all. Need I
mention the long list of Benedictines, Jesuits and Augustinians who
gave the first impetus to the erection of observatories and the dis­
semination of astronomical knowledge among the masses, and as
well the knowledge of higher mathematics, and all branches of
mechanical science. True lovers of science will not hestitate to
acknowledge the indebtedness which the world owes to Mersenne,
the “ Father of Acoustics,” to Grimaldi and Descartes on light,
Fourier on heat, Galvani, Nolle, Volta and Ampere on electricity,
«JCasselli on the telegraph, to Archbishop Spalatro for the first true

CATHOLICISM AND REASON.

13

explanation of the rainbow, to Secchi in meteorology, to Schyrle
for the double telescope, field and opera glasses, to Roger Bacon,
Albertus Magnus and St. Thomas Aquinas in chemistry, to Father
Leurochon who anticipated Watt on steam by one hundred and
fifty years and showed its application to motors, to Belasco de Gary,
who, in 1543, anticipated Robert Fulton in steamboats, to the Abbe
Hautefeuille who anticipated the gas engine, to Fathers Galien and
Lana in aerial navigation, to Gutenberg and Caxton in printing and
printing presses, and to Agricola in metallurgy. And so I might
continue in every branch of science and give the names of illustrious
Catholic discoverers, both ancient and modern. Those who wish to
pursue this topic and find verification for my statements are referred
to that very interesting and instructive work by Father Zahm of
Notre Dame University, entitled Catholic Science and Scientists.
I must add, however, the words of the non-Catholic Gladstone upon
the same subject: “The Roman Catholic Church has marched for
fifteen hundred years at the head of human civilization, and has
driven harnessed to its chariot, as the horses of a triumphal car, the
chief intellectual and material forces of the world. Its art has been
the art of the world, its genius, the genius of the world, its greatness,
glory, grandeur and majesty have been almost, though not absolutely
all that, in these respects, the world has to boast of.”
I would gladly omit all references to Protestant opposition, not
only to science in particular, but to education in general, but justice
to my subject and to the cause of truth forbid. My authority will
be found in the writings of J. W. Draper and other non-Catholic
authors. Luther declared universities to be “ synagogues of per­
dition.” “All high schools,” he says, “ should be razed to the
ground.” He called Aristotle “ a beast,” and Galileo “ a fool.”
John Calvin admitted that “ so far as science is concerned, nothing
is owed to the Reformation.” By the year 1525, the great univer­
sities at Erfurt, Wittenberg, Leipsic, Rostock, Heidelberg, Freiburg
and Basle “ seemed dead and buried. The rostrums of the profes­
sors and the benches of the students were empty.” The same was
true of the great university of Vienna. From 7000 students it
dwindled to a dozen. The same blighting effect was seen in Swit­
zerland and Holland, and a prolonged period of scientific drouth fol­
lowed its introduction into England, Scotland and Scandinavia.
The spiiit of persecution which then dominated Protestantism ex­
tended to all matters social as well as religious, intellectual as well
as political. Hallam, in his “ Constitutional History of England,”
admits that “ persecution is the deadly original sin of the Reformed
Churches,” Lecky, in his “ Rationalism in Europe,” says : “ Among
the early Protestants, persecution was a distinct and definite doc­

14

CATHOLICISM AND REASON.

trine.” Tycho Brahe, the great Danish astronomer, like Kepler,
was a martyr of science. His costly observatory was razed to the
ground, and his astronomical instruments destroyed by Protestant
furies as the “ work of the devil.” Descartes was persecuted in
Holland lor advocating the most sublime of all modern proofs of
the existence of the Deity. The second Marquis of Worcester in
England, as Lord Macaulay says, in his “ History of England,”
“ was suspected of being a madman, and known to be a Papist
and, for such reasons, the honor and rights of discovering the steam
engine were stolen from him and given to Watt, whose patent from
Parliament is dated over a hundred years later.
But such persecutions have been constant in England and the
harvest is not yet ended. Honorable Andrew T. White, President
of Cornell University and Ambassador to Germany, has written:
“ Of all countries, England furnishes the most bitter opponents of
geology.” On the other hand, speaking of Cardinal Wiseman, he
says: “The conduct of this pillar of the Roman Catholic Church
contrasts nobly with that of timid Protestants, who were filling Eng­
land with shrieks and denunciations.” With this same bigotry,
Harvey, Jenner and Simpson were opposed in medicine. Quinine,
first introduced by the Jesuits, was denounced as a Papal device,
intended to poison the Protestants.
But they were not all enemies to science. Many had the true
Catholic spirit and welcomed truth for its own sake. “ The day
is near at hand,” wrote Kepler, “ when one shall know the truth
in the book of nature as in the Holy Scriptures, and, when one
shall rejoice in the harmany of both revelations.” Sir Isaac New­
ton, with all his knowledge, felt “ like a boy playing on the sea­
shore . . . while the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered ” be­
fore him. “ The true chemist,” says Sir Humphrey Davy, “sees God
in all the manifold forms of the eternal world.” Such, indeed,
has been the testimony of all lovers of truth. From Job, who
sang of the “ sweet influences of the Pleiades,” to Galileo, who
viewed them through the first telescope, to Linnaeus, “ who traced
God’s footprints in the works of his Creator,” to Humboldt, Herschell, Dana, Faraday, Edison, Marconi, like mountain peaks re­
flecting the glory of the sun, God handed down the torch of
science, and caused them to shed light on His revelations in the
rocks and stars;—and all these were distinguished for their belief
in God and the ardor of their religious convictions.
Ihe evolution of truth in the material and spiritual world pre­
sents a striking parallel. The history of creation as written upon
the rocks and in the stars was all recorded there, before man trod
the earth. Its development has been gradual. God’s method of

CATHOLICISM AND REASON.

15

unfolding it to our vision has been the same as that employed in
the development of infallible truth through the Church. “ I have
many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now,” was
a declaration of this Divine method of evolution by the Saviour
Himself. From time to time, as man became prepared for it and
the necessity existed, he was made acquainted with the science of
navigation, with steam and electricity. It was necessary for man’s
complete development that he should be encouraged, spurred on to
greater and nobler deeds. In order to be prepared for that an­
gelic state towards which he is advancing, he must know whence
he came and whither he is tending. This knowledge is not written
upon the rocks nor in the stars. It is the subject of direct revela­
tion. From time to time God has revealed this truth, and as
rapidly as man was prepared to receive it and profit by it. To the
patriarchs and prophets and priests of the Jewish Church, much
of this truth was revealed. The fact that paradise was lost and
must be regained was a revelation of truth ingrained into the
Jewish Church. They were taught to look forward to the birth
ci a new Adam, who would withstand all the temptations of the
devil, who would bruise the serpent’s head, who would be a per­
fect example of obedience to God’s Will, who would be Immanuel,
God with us, and save the people from the penalty incurred by
man’s first disobedience. The rulers of the Jews at the dawn of the
Christian era failed to comprehend this revelation. They wanted
a king who would command their army and deliver them from
the Romans. They were not over anxious to be delivered from
their sins. Not being prepared in their hearts to receive the
truth, they crucified their Lord and Saviour, and thus the great
truths surrounding His birth, developing His life, and made clear
by His death, were left to be revealed and taught through the
Church which He founded. God’s Will entire was thus delivered.
His Church became the repository of all truth concerning the faith
that should be believed, and the morals that should be practiced by
man. From time to time, as the occasion demanded it, and as man
became prepared to receive it, this faith has been declared by the
Church, evils have been denounced and men and nations held to
strict acountability.
That there is and should be such a power in the world follows
logically from a belief in God, the Creator and Preserver of man­
kind. In order to obey God, we must know His Will. There must
of necessity, therefore, be a medium through which that Will be­
comes articulate, and that medium must have power and authority
and wisdom from on high to infallibly declare that Will. The rest
is a matter of history. The Holy Roman Catholic and Apostolic

16

CATHOLICISM AND REASON.

Church needs no apologists. The continuity of her life from the
beginning has been demonstrated so often that denials have ceased,
and new methods of attack are now resorted to. Chiefest and
cheapest of these is the oft repeated prophecy that her race is run,
her career ended, that she has become corrupt, moribund and is
about to die. I hope it may not prove tiresome to here repeat what
Lord Macaulay, the Protestant historian, has written in reply to
such prophets in his day. “ There is not, and there never was on
this earth, a work of human policy so well deserving of examination
as the Roman Catholic Church. The history of that Church joins
together the two great ages of human civilization. No other insti­
tution is left standing which carries the mind back to the times
when the smoke of sacrifice rose from the Pantheon, and when
cameleopards and tigers bounded in the Flavian amphitheatre. The
proudesi royal houses are but as of yesterday when compared with
the line of Supreme Pontiffs. That line we trace back in unbroken
series from the Pope who crowned Napoleon in the 19th century,
to the Pope who crowned Pepin in the eighth; and far beyond the
time of Pepin the august dynasty extends till it is lost in the twilight
of fable. The republic of Venice comes next in antiquity. But
the republic of Venice was modern when compared to the Papacy;
and the republic of Venice is gone, and the Papacy remains. The
Papacy remains, not in decay, not a mere antique, but full of life
and youthiul vigor. The Catholic Church is still sending forth to
the farthest ends of the world missionaries as zealous as those who
landed in Kent with Augustine, and still confronting hostile kings
with the same spirit with which she confronted Attila. The num­
ber of her children is greater than in any former age. Her acqui­
sitions in the New World have more than compensated for what
she has lost in the old. Her spiritual ascendancy extends over the
vast countries which lie between the plains of the Missouri and
Cape Horn, countries which a century hence, may not improbably
contain a population as large as that which now inhabits Europe.
The members of her communion are certainly not fewer than a hun­
dred and fifty millions; and it will be difficult to show that all other
Christian sects united amount to a hundred and twenty millions.
Nor do we see any sign which indicates that the term of her long
dominion is approaching. She saw the commencement of all the
governments and of all the ecclesiastical establisments that now
exist in the world ; and we feel no assurance that she is not
destined to see the end of them all. She was great and respected
before the Saxon had set foot on Britain, before the Frank had
passed the Rhine, when Grecian eloquence still flourished at An­
tioch, when idols were still worshipped in the temple of Mecca.

CATHOLICISM AND REASON.

17

And she may still exist in undiminished vigor when some traveller
from New Zealand shall, in the midst of a vast solitude, take his
stand on a broken arch of London Bridge to sketch the ruins of
St. Paul's............ Four times since the authority of the Church of
Rome was established on Western Christendom has the human
intellect risen up against her yoke. Twice that Church remained
completely victorious. Twice she came forth from the conflict
bearing the marks of cruel wounds, but with the principle of life
still strong within her. When we reflect on the tremendous as­
saults she has survived, we find it difficult to conceive in what
way she is to perish.”

III.

THE CHURCH'S PRACTICAL LIFE.

The Catholic Church is not wanting in her daily bread or spiritual life.
Her doctrines and ritual are not contrary to reason. They satisfy the
cravings of the human heart. Why all men should be Catholics.

Thus far I have endeavored to show why Protestantism has
failed in its defense of the Christian religion; why it has been un­
able to meet the objections of secular thought, and why Catholicism
alone is able to give a reasonable and unassailable answer to these
objections. In the word Protestantism I include all forms of Chris­
tian belief which, although differing widely among themselves,
yet unite in rejecting the jurisdiction of the Pope and in denying
the doctrine of infallibility. Outside of all Protestant denomina­
tions, however, and gathered together in common centers of thought,
in societies, clubs, lodges and other organizations, are men and
women of earnest minds and sincere purposes, intent upon doing
the best there is in life, and admiring much they see in the work
which the Catholic Church is doing in the world, who hold aloof from
her communion, because they imagine her forms and ceremonies
are but empty sounds, vain repetitions, signifying nothing. To
them her doctrines are without meaning, her ceremonies are heathen­
ish superstitions, and her organization a slavish tyranny, dwarf­
ing the mind and impeding the growth of civilization.
They will not taste and see how glorious and satisfying is the bread
of life with which she feeds her children. They will not drink of
the water of life which she gives freely. They will not submit to the
restorative of penance which she administers, nor lead the life
which, in her wisdom and experience, has been found to be most
conducive to the growth of a better man and a better woman. In

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CATHOLICISM AND REASON.

politics such men are willing to be governed by experience. In law
they are willing to be controlled by precedents. In medicine they are
willing to take the doses prescribed by those who are skilled in the
diseases of the body. But when it comes to their immortal souls
and the life beyond the grave, they believe that every man should
be his own lawyer, his own doctor, his own priest, and intepret the
laws of God to suit himself. They are willing to admit that such
a course can only result in anarchy when applied to government,
and in death when applied to medicine ; and yet, will put up with any
old or new thing which offers a nostrum for the health and welfare
of the soul, provided only, it be not the one recommended by the
Catholic Church.
They can believe in one government, composed of three co-ordi­
nate powers, the President, the Congress and the Supreme Court.
They can see three leaves of clover growing upon the same stem,
and understand how they can be one shamrock. They can believe
with Democritus, that the world, including every creature in it, and
especially man, is God. They can believe in God the Father, God
the Son and God the Holy Ghost, and yet reject as the veriest non­
sense, the doctrine that these three persons can, in any reasonable
or mystical sense, be one God.
Thinkers of this class can readily believe, upon rational grounds,
how Almighty God could create man out of the dust of the earth,
but are unwilling to believe that He did, even when the revealed
word of God asserts it, the Church confirms it, and there is no evi­
dence to the contrary. They can understand how the same Omnip­
otent Being could take upon Himself the form of man and be born
of a Virgin, and present himself to the world, and live the life of a
perfect man for our example, and die upon a shameful cross for
our redemption, and yet, in the face of all the testimony, refuse to be­
lieve that He did. They assume it to be unreasonable and unjust,
that God should so love the world as to give His only Son to die
upon the cross for our redemption.
Others see no inconsistency in believing in God, and disbelieving
that He has revealed Himself to man ; in believing that He had a
purpose in creating man, and disbelieving that He has revealed what
that purpose was. All men recognize the necessity of a power to
finally and infallibly declare what the law is, and yet, how many
declare it to be rank tyranny to permit a church, founded and em­
powered by God Himself, to interpret His laws. They can readily
understand how God could found such a church and give it such
authority, and yet, in the face of all history, in the face of the fact
that she never made a mistake or told a lie, refuse to believe that
He did.

CATHOLICISM AND REASON.

19

It must be constantly borne in mind that this paper is dealing
with Catholicism and Reason. I am not speaking from the stand­
point of theology. In discussing the subject of the Sacraments,
I am not dealing with the theological aspects of them, nor with the
Divine command which established them. I am dealing with the fact
that they are all reasonable and beneficial from a material and prac­
tical standpoint. The Sacraments of Baptism, Penance, Holy Eu­
charist, Confirmation, Extreme Unction, Holy Orders and Matrimony
are designed to promote holy living and holy dying. They are parts
of the life of the Church, by means of which her children are
educated, sustained and fortified against the assaults of the devil,
and led from the cradle to the grave. They find their warrant in the
commands of the Saviour. They are necessary to salvation, and all
those who follow them most closely and devoutly will testify to their
helpfulness and restraining power in leading a good life.
Of all these, the one most stubbornly attacked is the Sacrament
of Penance. The confessional, to all such, is the great enemy of
personal liberty. It is a common belief that the priest gets hold
of secrets in this way, which enables him to get such a hold upon
his flock that his will becomes supreme in all matters where he
chooses to exercise it. We all know that when a child does wrong,
the best thing for that child to do is to confess the wrong. When a
man injures his neighbor we all admit that the right and manly
thing to do is to apologize, that is, confess the wrong and make
restitution. We only differ as to the person to whom the confession
should be made. Shall the child confess to the parent only? Shall
the man confess to his injured neighbor only? Our answer is that
such a confession is only partial. An injury has been done to God
as well as to man. The rights of the neighbor have been invaded,
but a law of God has also been broken. The Protestant remedy for
this latter infraction is to kneel down in our closet and pray God
for forgiveness. But this does not humble pride. It is too much
like keeping it to oneself. Besides, we miss thereby the wise and
fatherly counsel of the priest, who is experienced in all diseases of the
sin-sick soul. Moreover, we must do penance. It is not enough
to confess our sins, to apologize and to make restitution. We must
do something which will be a helpful restraint against committing
them again and this self-inflicted punishment is called penance. Let
anybody try it fairly and honestly and he will find, as I have, that
it makes him a better child, a better father, a better neighbor, a
better citizen and a more honest man.
And now, in answer to the sic semper tyrannis argument, which
is usually the last refuge of the assassin, let me warn all objectors
of the standing “ defi ” of the priesthood, that there never has been

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CATHOLICISM AND REASON.

a case of violation of the secrecy of the confessional. Even the ex­
priests and renegades, who have disgraced their sacred office by
entering the lecture field against it, refuse to divulge its secrets, and
concur in the declaration that the secrets of the confessional have
always fcund a safe depository in the faithful breast of the priest.
I have never heard of but one that approached a violation and that
was so unique that I must tell it, even at the cost of being charged
with dealing in old chestnuts. A little boy went with his mother
to confession. After she retired her little son asked if he might
go in. To this his mother consented and the little fellow went in,
well pleased because he knew and loved the priest. The good father
told him to kneel down and say a little prayer, and then tell him all
about it. The little man said the prayer, but when it came to con­
fession, he said he didn’t like to tell. The priest said : “ All right,
my son, if you have nothing to tell, you can go back to your mother.”
This made the lad all the more anxious to make his confession.
He had a well defined idea about the confession in his own mind,
but like many of our objectors, he was afraid the priest would give it
away. So he said: “ But will you ever tell if I do?” The priest
assured him that he would not. Still the little lawyer thought
it best to put the father under oath. “ Will you hope to die if you
do?” said the young inquisitor. “Yes,” solemnly replied the muchamused priest. “ Well, then, I’ll tell you. Up in that apple tree by
your barn there’s a bird’s nest with three eggs in it. Now don’t you
tell.” The boy was given some further instructions on the subject
of confessions in general and sent away with the priest’s blessing.
Not long afterwards this same priest was preaching on the sub­
ject of the confession, when this same boy was present. The father
was treating of many erroneous views of the Sacraments and illus­
trated his point by telling of the little boy’s confession, but, of course,
without mentioning any names. The little fellow, however, was too
much excited and indignant to keep his seat, and before his mother
could restrain him, he cried out: “ There, I knowed you’d tell it.”
It was a long time before he could be brought to see that he, and
not the priest, was the one who revealed the secrets of the con­
fessional. He didn’t know enough to keep still.
The ceremonies and ritual of the Catholic Church have long been
a great stumbling block to many good people. They are called
“ heathenish,” “ ludicrous,” “ trappings of the sanctuary,” and many
other things calculated to bring them into disrepute. Many learned
writers have thought they had dealt them both a death blow by show­
ing that similar vestments and ceremonies were in use among the
Egyptians, Persians, Greeks and Romans, long anterior to the Chris­
tian era. For the sake of the argument I shall not claim anything

CATHOLICISM AND REASON.

21

for Divine authority for such things in the Jewish Church, nor for
the fact that they were not abolished by the New Dispensation, any
moie than the sacrifice was abolished. Both were changed in kind.
New vestments, new ceremonials, a new ritual, a new priesthood,
a new and unbloody sacrifice were substituted for the old. The
Jewish Church borrowed from the Egyptians, but the laws of
Moses prescribed the use. All nations have partaken in the revela­
tions of God. All are His children. He does not desire the death
of any, but that all may inherit eternal life. Nevertheless, under
His Divine inspiration and direction. He saw fit to choose one
out of many nations to be His chosen people. Obedience was
God’s first command. For disobedience, Adam was rejected, and
the Jews lost their power and prestige. While they continued
God’s faithful servants they were heirs to all there was. They
might sip honey from every flower, gather wealth from all the
earth, profit by the discoveries and inventions of their neighbors,
take and use all things lawful for the greater glory of God and the
adornment of His sanctuary. And this is what they did. They ran­
sacked the earth to make of Solomon’s Temple a fit habitation for
the Great Jehovah.
There is development, according to scientific writers, which takes
place in organisms as they rise in the scale of existence, and this law,
they say, applies to social organisms as well as to individuals. This
process, they say, consists in changes from a condition of heter­
ogeneous homogeneity to one of homogeneous heterogeneity. These
great words being translated mean, when applied to a subject, that
the Holy Catholic Church, as an organism, did not spring like
Minerva, full grown and full armed from the brain of Jupiter, but
followed a process of natural selection and growth, called evolution.
Chosen as a bride of Christ the Catholic Church may lawfully take
for her adornment the wealth and beauty of the world. Architecture,
music, the fine arts and sciences have all contributed in their way,
and still contribute to the beauty of holiness and the glory of our
sanctuaries, that they may be fit habitations for Him that created
the heavens and the earth and all that therein is.
The power to appreciate the beauty and appropriateness of the
ritual of the Church is a matter of education. Many a wise person
has stood before some great painting and wondered at the praise be­
stowed upon it by the guide. I have seen visitors in a great art
gallery turn away in disgust from the classic statue of Apollo. I
know members of secret societies who take delight in all the robes
and paraphernalia of the lodge room, and yet laugh at the Bishop’s
mitre and the lace embroidered vestments of the priests. The ring­
ing of a bell sounds ridiculous to such persons at the altar, but all

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CATHOLICISM AND REASON.

right in the lodge room. Candles and incense are forms of super­
stition in the sanctuary, but when used at an initiation they have
a distinct and appropriate meaning. Holy water and the Sign of the
Cross are particularly obnoxious, but all sorts of signs, grips and
liquids pass unchallenged, provided only they are used outside of the
Catholic Church. Images of the men, who laid broad and deep the
Constitution of our beloved country and perished in her defense,
adorn our parks and public buildings. We stand before them, hats
off, and pay silent homage to their greatness. But when the images
of those who gave up their lives in defense of the Christian religion,
whose martyr blood became the seed of the Church of the whole
earth, are found in our churches, it becomes an act of idolatry.
We do not pray to these images; but, believing as we do, that our
heroic dead are as much alive as we, it is our custom to ask their in­
tercession in our behalf. We pray for the dead who have gone
hence, because we believe in prayer, and because it is an act of filial
piety.
I cannot pass the subject of the Sacraments without saying some­
thing upon the reasonableness of the Sacrament of Matrimony.
Under the Mosaic law divorces were permitted, but ever since our
Lord pronounced the words: “Whom God hath joined together let
no man put asunder,” marriage has been held by the Church to be a
Sacrament, and the bond of matrimony indissoluble. The reason for
it is found, not only in the unhappiness caused to the husband and
wife, but most especially in the misery inflicted upon the children.
The nation is founded upon the family unit. Anything, therefore,
which disrupts the family tends to disrupt the nation. Divorce
has been the prolific fruit of Protestantism. In the recent trial of
Mr. Roberts, Congressman-elect from Utah, it was shown that the
great founders of Protestantism winked at, if they did not favor
polygamy. The following letter, translated from the original Latin
of Luther’s collected works (pp. 119-123, Wurtemburg Edition),
addressed to Phillip, Landgrave of Hesse, speaks for itself :
“ But if your Highness be fully resolved to take another wife
we judge that it ought to be done secretly; that is, that none but
the lady herself and a few trustworthy persons obliged to secrecy
under the seal of confession, know anything of the matter. Hence it
will not be attended with any important contradiction or scandal. For
it is not unusual for princes to keep mistresses; and although the
vulgar should be scandalized, the more prudent would understand
this method of life and prefer it to adultery or other brutal and foul
actions. There is no need of being much concerned for what men
will say, provided all go right with conscience. Your Highness hath,
therefore, not only the approbation of us all in a case of necessity, but

CATHOLICISM AND REASON.

23

also the consideration we have made hereupon. We are most ready
to serve your Highness. Dated at Wittemberg, the Wednesday after
the Feast of St. Nicholas, 1539.
Martin Luther,
Adam,
Philip Melancthon,
John Leningue,
Martin Bucer,
Justice Winforte,
Anthony Corvin,
Dionysius Melentre."

Calvin also declared : “ It is not wise to prohibit the divorced
adulterer from marrying again,” (Am. Cyclop. Art. “ Divorce”).
Cranmer and Ridley, at the head of the Reformation in England,
sanctioned the lust of Henry VIII. for Anne Boleyn, in order to
advance their cause. The rapid growth of divorces in this country
gives j ist cause for alarm. Deducting Catholics, the per cent, of
divorces is rapidly approximating the number of marriages. As a
consequence of the ease with which divorce can be obtained, mar­
riage is entered into without due care, while the number of those who
live in that relation without any marriage at all would stagger be­
lief The maintenance of the Catholic position on this subject is
the only hope of the nation.
We honor the Blessed Virgin because she is the Mother of our
Lord, the second Person of the adorable Trinity; and, because He
is God, we call her Mater Dei, and ask her to intercede for us. It
was necessary that she should be immaculate, because she was de­
stined to be the Mother of our Lord. Believing Jesus of Nazareth
to be the Son of God, and that miracles can be performed and
natural laws suspended, it is neither difficult nor unreasonable to be­
lieve that a law of heredity could be and was suspended in her
case. Around the Holy Name of Mary clings a love and devotion
which has filled and thrilled the earth with poetry, art and song.
Protestants have vied with Catholics in paying homage to her name.
Can I better close this part of my discourse than by quoting the
words put by Longfellow in the mouth of Prince Henry on gaining
a view of Italy after passing the Alps:
O, had I the faith, as in the days gone by,
That knows no doubt and feared no mystery!
**********
This is indeed the Blessed Mary’s land,
Virgin and Mother of our Redeemçr !
All hearts are touched and softened at her name;
Alike the bandit with the blood-stained hand,
The priest, the prince, the scholar, and the peasant,
The man of deeds, the visionary dreamer,
Pay homage as one ever present !
And even as children, who have much offended
A too indulgent father, in great shame,

24

CATHOLICISM AND REASON.

Penitent, and yet not daring unattended
To go into his presence, at the gate
Speak with their sister, and confiding wait
’Til she goes in before and intercedes;
So men, repenting of their evil deeds,
And yet not venturing rashly to draw near
With their requests an angry Father’s ear,
Offer to her their prayers and their confession,
And she for them in Heaven makes intercession.
And, if our faith had given us nothing more
Than this example of all womanhood,
So mild, so merciful, so strong, so good,
So patient, peaceful, loyal, loving, pure,
This were enough to prove it higher and truer
Than all the creeds the world had known before.

To his Eminence, Cardinal Gibbons, both through his works and
in personal conversations, to Archbishop Keane and Father Chapuis
of the Catholic University in Washington, to Father Tabb of St.
Charles’ College, to the writings of Di Bruno, the non-Catholic Mallock, and Father Zahm, and to the kindly cirticism and wise sug­
gestions of Father Clifford of the Cathedral in Los Angeles, I owe
most that is good in this paper. I hope that what is bad and in­
different may be charged to the more pressing demands of my pro­
fession.

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