CORRESPONDENCE.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume I, Issue 2, 10 May 1873, Page 7

CORRESPONDENCE.

(COMHUHICATED.) w , Laß *s unda y the Feast of the Patronage of St. Joseph, at 11 a m., levl? %ZXX*? ted ' aaßißt f d by DeaJon ™««i« Cr^7' Sib-deacon; and Rev. J. Lenihan, Master of C«reSiX Ha~ fX f ead - the Gb§ P el and KPißtleK P iBtle Wanted for the itSch £»?*«£ f eded to nve a most lucid explanation of the Epistle, which was taken from 1 Peter ii M 11.19, dwelling particularly on that S°«ol WhlCh W the "T* spOßtle5 pOBtle defineß tho du^ of Bul >jecte to tern: revrfuE^ SS e f°° nfUted m the , moßt able man » CT th « doctrin e of tZ^SS^S K« 1 P T f cc ° meß J rom the P 6o^ 6 '' a« d P^ed from the words of the Apostle, and other passages of Holy Scripuure, that aU power and authority came from Godj and a. no^^man Td^ power SdStl " y f 0° himself, neither has any number oAndifinS ft . ? ? ° fcO& i femng ifc uPO»u PO» o^her. "A society or State, on its formation, ma/ select or accept a certain form of government W So*? uS** U^ th ° aU i. h ° rity COm °* frOm God ' and c the people SSS ™V g to overturn «uch government except in the case where it JJS «7^s£? y exceed the limits of justice and forbearance, and even SSi • a d b t. extremelv Perilous to attempt it, as man is never a good judge in his own ease ; therefere, even in such extreme cases, hhSn" d "te" BU BS e9 Vhat before Beekin S to alt « tue esta " SSuSf a SllS 11^ 8 ' P^ple should consult a superior and infallible sSviS'p aDd ff a W Chr i 8t ThaßT haB eßeaW ""« d in the person of , the Sovereign Pontiff. Here his Lordship referred to tbe conduct of the early Christians, who, though suffering for three centuries uncer the mostviolent persecution on the part of the temporal po*er, never pmnTJ Z TBT B - m r t belllon agai^t it even iv those parts of the empire where their numbers and their influence in the army afforded them every prospect of success. On the contrary, they were always the most obedient subjects of the State, and their patience and long suffering merited that our holy religion should at length triumph in the conversion of Constantine, and become the great teacher and SwU°lJ ♦"Sh nn p nd - Hi9 . Lordßhi P neit refuted the oft-repeated calumny that the Popes have unjustly absolved subjects from their alle2 and have beeu the encouragers of revolution and sedition, proving so as to defy contradiction that the Holy See has ever been the o?tK^ hfln^f T« P iT tiOD °,f, f ii h?lh ?l pointß haviQ g occupied more than an hour, his Lordship concluded by annoucing that he would reserve for a future occasion the commentaries which he intended making on the remainder of the Epistle and on the Gospel. ■n. she5 he Bißh °P Preached again |after Vespers, taking for his subject, Devotion to the great Patriarch, St. Joseph. After rfminding his^udience that St. Joseph a 9 Patron of the Church and Diocefe, has a SSSSSS 0 ? * e f. d sroti(m5 roti(m a ," d g^itude, his Lordship proceeded to explain the Catholic dogma of the Invocation of Saints, showing in n ZTv tt t gg ° U8 t0 in Which he treatod the object of Demotion to the 8. , V. Mary on the previous Sunday, that it, too, results from the great mystery of the Incarnation; for we honor and invoked 2?" th f e B f eCl , a J frle , nd ! and flerva nts of God, and the most faithful tZn^tl? 5? If Wl "fu our . D^ne Redeemer, the God-Man, led upon earth. Dr. Moran then pointed out the special manner in which St Josepu was connected with the Great Mysteiy. He was chosen to be the spouse and guardian of the Virgin- Mother ; fo be the earthly representative of the Eternal Father , tfie protector of the Divine rZ deemer during His mfancy ; to watch over Him in His flight into f£& \ IT t HlB . retu ™to Nazareth ; to be, as it were, the econome or Jwln^ Ward f°i Hl3 S° USeholdi Wmore, to exercise over Him S« tST y ft . *l X< T° e ' ° n findin S our Divine Redeemer in the lemple after the three days' loss, we hear the B. V. Mary say to 1 * .7 y 80D> Wh . y hast thou done 8O fco U8 » tb -v father and I have Bought the Borrowing." And the Holy Scriptures adds, "He went down to Nazareth, and was subject to them "-that is, to Joseph as well as to Mary, thus showing that our Divine Redeemer fully recognißEd the position that He himself had conferred on St. Joseph, and that He rendered him the submission of a most dutiful and loving son. Hew sublime must have been the holiness of Him with whom the Incarnate Word was pleased to hold such intimate relations! How great must not be the power of His intercession before the throne of 8t ILS? Lo ii d . Bbl P then urged his flock to hove great confidence in St. Joseph, and to prove their devotion to him by a faithful imitation 2JSS3S two^et w o^e StSoJ? life ' eßpecia!ly hiß pui>ity ' humility ' *h..^3SSSrISS^ aa ÜBUal oaSunday ' with Benediotion of

[PBOM AUOTHBB OOBBESFONDEKT.] the iS/of ß^'/ 16 V- v^ 00 * Maß8 ' Bish °P Moran Poached on ™ P of thf s Z f 7 ' rLIChr LlCh * egOD at the »"» and ended at the 18th verses of the 2nd chapter of St. Peter's Ist Epistle. Anyone who aneTtZS « ' '* once P ercei ™ that it ha, special reference to StStt lii;eßent1 i i;eßent layl ay mudl diBCUB Bed and little understood, nffirin™ Si- mi . £ I chiei9 ? U8 hcense and extravagance which prevail in alarm for t£f * ? in tU * *& Bo calculated to excite ™Z »l™ f 6 l tat ° ?f? f BOciety aB the difficulty which governments almost everywhere find in conciliating the respect and commanding the obedience of their subjects. As men broke away from religious authority at the time of the Reformation, so did they break VSt/SSS* T- r ity at . the time Of the French Evolution* The F^ench P Tat?o n fl«" ei<Ven ? d nt tO P Ve P are ' and to provide from the J! reach nation, fitting actors in that fearful drama: and from the SI?!? ZS h b °% a PP lt>ud f 8 and imitators. ItVS to^iffi should SSfd n ? therwxse ; ? was impossible that civil authority thrown Til respected when that of God had been overSftoJeih™ T bein S. lounded .. u Pon the other, both must stand or etersfretofitamn" 7 La ?,, lfcß P«°"^ent, and time is e*er sure to stamp its ineffaceable mark upon the events of history.

but we h*ve no record of a condemnation so just, or of a chastisement so fitting and so dreadful, as .the Reformation received when the French .Revolution amazed the world by its madness and' guilt. Nothing is so hard to correct as man when he once goes astray t nothing so hard to destroy as the spirit of error when it is once let loose. Were it not for this, the Revolutionists of Europe would haye 1 been taught wisdom by such a lesson. But they read in it, not the condemnation, but the triumph of their principles. The evil spirit which had sprung from extreme license of thought, and been recommended as much by novelty and excitement as by anything else, was ndw confirmed by success. Men were so lost to the instinct of moral feihng as to excuse the greatest crimes for the sake of a few benefits,' and so blinded in their judgments as to glory that society was freed fr6m certain evils by meat's which endangered its very existence. Since ihen, society in Europe has been disturbed, and Governments insecure. The convulsion which destroyed so many was powerful, and lasting enough in its effects to leave them in almost constant danger, even to the present day. Men are still so fascinated with a time when Government was so lowered and so stripped of its sacred character as to be made a mere subject of experiment, that they think they are now paying it high honor if they treat it as a matter of expediency. Things must thus remain, as long as it is believed that every one, despite his ignorance or inexperience, has a divine right to tmtk for himself on the most difficult and solemn subject ; as long as men look to the poor honor or pleasure of being their own instructors ratner than to the attainment of truth ; in a word, as long as they re* fuse to recognise the evidence of a teacher appointed by God to direct them on those most important matters, of which the greater number are not qualified to judge, and are guilty of rashness aud presumption in doing so. It was when the voice of this authority was contradicted, and not listened to that the dangers to modern society began. When mfeti refused to acknowledge the divine authority of the Church, they could not be expected to believe long in the divine origin of Government, winch was far more difficult to be discovered, and rested chiefly for its acceptance upon the Church's teaching. The moment they were called upon, and had determined to use the right of private ©pinion on religion, the highest of all subjects, they soon extended it ottlieir own accord to everything else. The result may be easily imagined. People who assume such a right as this are exposed especially m times of trouble and excitement, to every bad influence and delusion, and so it was not strange that : Government which men, at th« best, have eyer a tendency to dislike, should fare badly in the opinions, and at the hands of their subjects. The Catholic doctrine which Dr Moran stated and explained on Sunday is the only one that can be supported by conclusive arguments, as it is certainly the one best calculated to inspire men with that reverence for established authority which is so requiaite for the security of government and for the prosperity and peace of society. Jle began by sajmg how necessary it was, especially at present, to have clear ideas upon this subject, about which mistakes were so frequent, and often so pernicious. He then pointed out the sense in which the common assertion that all civil power proceeds from the people might to be understood. It had two meanings which were widely different. If it meant that the ihe people possessed this power oi tneir own, to bestow and to take away according to their pleasure or caprice, the statement was false, and opposed to the leaching of the Church, The Apostle declares that all power is from God. The Book of Proverbs says, "By me kings reign and princes rule. Daniel tells King Nebuchadnezzar' in the 2nd chapter of lm prophecy that God had given him a Kingdom, and again in the 4th chapter he says that the Most High rules over the kingdom of men and gives it to whomsoever He wills. But if it meant that men atter Having lormed themselves into society for which by nature they are destmea had received from God the powers necessary for its management and preservation, anJ that they were to transfer that power to whatever form of government they should select, the proposition was in perfect accordance with reason and revelation. The people could do nothing more, therefore, than choose the form or the person : they were only the instruments, as it were, to convey the authority wlucb. God alone possesses and confers. It was for this reason St. t-aul declared that he who resisteth the powers re»isteth the Ordinance of God. For the same reason St. Peter calls upon his brethren tobeeubject for God's sake to every human creature; by which is meant, as is clear from the context, that they should obey as the commands oi :God himself, the commands of the rulers who were set over tneai by Him. This doctrine therefore is the only one sanctioned in bcripture. It lB also the only one established by reason. Against every other theory that can be framed to prove the right of rulers to govern, and th» obligation of Bubjects to obey, there are fatal objec v°? SJS J Tif UnleßS fchis ri « ht is ctearl 7 <k fi ™d and firmly estabhOied, the peace of society i 3i 3 imperilled. In such a delicate matter a small mistake may be the cause of fatal results. The scheme of the social contract, for instance, which Rousseau imagined, and to which he ascribed the whole force of the obligaK.fiHs^ 8t between ,. governors and the governed was cerS f w, a 8 UOt dlrectly tended to produce the worst of consequences. When men were virtually told that their obedfence K?»inM OOa a i hlB cc WC-fW C - fc ' whicb was B«PP.o»ed to be entered into in<L fi g i l a i bUt llh^. nt8 ' we ™ made the sole arbiters and Zf f Ut Br M ? I " an pro7ed Lhe idea of BU <* * contract to be contrary to reason and as unsupported by fact as it wus dangerous to the best interests of society. He showed, in the first place, that there

was no record of such a contract either in history or in tradition. In the next, he proved that no man had power over his fellows given him by the natural law. All men in the natural state are pecfectly equal, and therefore, even though it were granted that men, after combining themselves into a society, could confer upon one of their members full authority over th«m, it must still be certain that the consent by whMi they did so was universal. But as there must have been persons to object, some to one, some to another part of the social arrangement, and as these could not be forced to agree against their will, the thought ot this universal consent becomes impossible. If one man has no power from natnre over another, a number together cannot have it. But in any case, the generation that entered into this agreement could not bind those that succeeded, so that it was necessary for ie to be constantly renewed. Finally, rulers have always- exercised certain powers, such as that of life and death, which neither man nor society, but God alone, can confer.

The consequences of this doctrine are as plain: as its adoption would be beneficial. If it is God confers authority on civil government, government must necessarily be respected and obeyed. To conspire against it or to attack it would not be considered, as it often is by only too many, an act of patriotism, but a crime as injurious to man as it is impious against Groa. Cases may occur, of course, in which it would be right to resist, but these cases must be extreme, and therefore must be rare. It is not for every case, even though it be grave and urgent, that the great Gtod can be called upon to confer a new power and a new sanction when men have become dissatisfied with the old. There is irreverance in the very idea. If men could be brought to see this, things would soon return to their proper state It was a forgetfulness of this doctrine which caused th* calamities of the past and the dangers of the present; it is only a new adoption of it that can repair the one and prevent the other.