PROGRESS OF MADNESS AMONG THE BRITISH PEERAGE.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume II, Issue 91, 23 January 1875, Page 8

PROGRESS OF MADNESS AMONG THE BRITISH PEERAGE.

vIS^ cl Pated, the accession of Lord Eipon to the Church has SvS^iv?* 7 ° they among the English aristocracy, it ° i +2?r f m£my soon to f oUow - The London ' Times' and fmi nrfw f ! T1?T 1 ? d^ stressed beyond measure at these conversions, ana only attribute them to madness in the coronets. This is a good CniaJ: %F G^ J , ey ? sh cony and apostolic missionary to the Sw ?*i. himself > **» taxed with madness by the !SJ of * h< T + , cr ° ss in Ms time. Nay, a greater than St. Paul was charged witli the same thing when he taught Catholic doctrine. fh ppJt? v°^i el ' f ° r m:e reasons ' su <* distinguished converts to tlie Cathohc Church as the English noblemen who have just ioined it snouid be denounced as men who are beside themseves by the S™ nt 1 f emies . o f Holy Church ? Mr Gladstone has recently Twf among the enemies of the Church in o^ - ' X > als0) is a g° od si S*- He is a man wise in his f !a?w Ll +?' ne 7 er would have ce 0 ™ forward as he has done I against the 'Church .unless he had been conscious that she is adS2 formidable power. He has long been a religious I S *~^ m * olx s°> many strongly suspected that he was a *fS V i t.. no t actu ally a Jesuit, in disguise. He has now openly declared himself against the Church in unmistakable language. J±3 tells us "she is powerful for mischief." He knows she isf Her f-.n^ Ver " S ' 119,I 19 , must renounce their moral and intellectual txeedom, and. place their civil loyalty at the mercy of the Pope." tvtJ .m aI ,, VV ° n ' aixd others ** situation, read these words of 5f «™ • i t6 S ° ne c<rald f an °y a smile of compassion for the dis- j languished. ex-Prenuer playing on their countenances. There is no place tor indignation in such a case. Mr Gladstone is a sincere and nivr , . a ?" i Vei 7 same lan S u age which he now uses against the «£££ }? abee ? of * en employed against her in former times by some oi those who afterwords became most devout Catholics. The £S $<£°£ **? Uch Mr Glad^ne's heart, as it touched the i+l I r ?*" U i °f Tersus of old > I>rs - banning and Newman, and +£«? converts in our time. It is some consolation to toe bulk of mankind, who possess but a moderate share of talents, tell^^^ 8^ Disraeli, and the editors of the C?ihnhr Sf talk so iU ogicaUy on the subject of the oathoJac leligion— and such arrant nonsense, in fact. If their repreSS^nf A/pl*^*^^ c o«ect, they should agitate for a lepeal of the Penal Laws and Catholic Emancipation at once. If l^&r?**™ r ?= htl y' we are unworthy to hold or exercise the la KiS, ? A? 60 Cl -^ en " Haye the decision s of the Vatican Council so altcied the position of Catholics to non-Catholic Governments, to science and literature, as to necessitate their expulsion from the -butish and every free constitution, and from the republic of letters and science ? Let this question be fairly tried in the Parliament of the .tiess, the most powerful of all Parliaments in our time after tae Tarlmment of the Vatican. Messrs Gladstone, Disraeli, and J c more eminent of their adherents in the Press and anti-Catholic paitym England, are men who, in point of talent, learning, and scial influence, are worthy antagonists of the Catholic Church. It is well that their enmity, and the grounds of it, are openly declared. ?!£?? « £ f l^ aristocracy left the Church at the time of the so-?vnS*-Sf oraiat f n /' they did so obviously under the impulse of ha a.ice and worldly ambition ; they are now returning to it under Sffl-fY ry differen t feelings. As to the bulk of ths ±.nglish they could not be said to leave the Church; they were forced out of it against their wills by the operation of laws the most unjust and cruel. Once detached from the Church by such infamous Cleans, taey have remained separated from it till now. But tiey. ; 00, like their superiors, are now, thank God, returning to it in a continuous and steadily-increasing stream-not through the violence or heat of passion, but calmly conducted by their own intelligence and the grace of God. We haye many converts to the Church in this Colony, but most of them belong to the humbler ranks of society, and their conversion is unnoticed by the Press. As yet we have no converts among our colonial aristocracy, but they are coming. There are even now laint signs ot their advent, and our New Zealand Whalleys, Gladstones and Disraelis are are on the alert to sound the note of alarm and cite to resistance. Witness the proceedings of the last Diocesan Synod in Auckland. From what passed there, we learn that in Auckland there is one Anglican church where something very like the exposition and adoration of the Host is practised, and this is die best frequented church in town. This is so far satisfactory : it is the first streak of light which precedes the dawn. The light of Catholic truth « breaks the reluctant darkness " of Protestant error and heresy and prejudice. The salutary operations of nature aie usually silent and slow. The same with the operations of Divine grace, as a rule, though of course there are exceptions. "I am come, not to send peace, but a sword on earth," said the Divine preacher of Catholic truth. Truth and justice will ever meet with opposition— often violent opposition. Laic