ON HIS LAST LEGS.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume II, Issue 95, 20 February 1875, Page 9

ON HIS LAST LEGS.

SSEw^™ B*?^8 *?^ e P i^ ram as familial- to most of us as the r«mt «f d t, t ° them also lt sometimes happens that they are oSJL 88 * eh cn T as ? annot be condoned except by death. Mr. £ rt?2S U •! XaC ? : L ? UCh a man ' Like SolomonT in his youth and ifwrl.w^ 3 J. ears> Mr * Gladstone was discreet and wise; S^SSf"' 16 fc*"? evenin g of hi s age, he has fallen away SStaufi?? f ha * been brief ci » cc **• overgrown Ex~what W?^ 01 * 11 ' bU J aU calm obser ™rs already plainly see ™™ »??>? Obably Ca s not yet discern-that this bid for political IZt ?1 he c**? I**1 ** of truth, or civil amity, and of justice, is an error too gross to be retrieved. In hurling his bolt of wrath SSSSL? ? reat Britain to his Bide - has failed. British ftotestents have common sense in the same degree as the average SSSJiJm*'*^? the ™> tiv e underlying Mr. Gladstone's act was JXIS^? 6 } 0 } 6 mwt ? k e n » as weU as too keenly selfish to be otherwise looked upon than with scorn. Shrugs are given instead w»f^ cB \ an t. sne ll rr \ for the expected plaudits. His second idea 5S a , le £ ion of suddenly enlightened Catholics would leave their Church and follow him. If any such hope sus-T£™™\-?v??^ m^ d ' the has been grievous. ZH f th6l^ ta I ken^ or Catholi <*, or bearing at least the name, tfSJSS - 6 ft\ 1 if d } 7 £ V - Gladstone even a momentary want of accord with the doctrine and authority of the Church, may be £ ™ U &° n 2162 16 finfi StßS tB Of one hand ' The y are Lord Acton, Lord £^ y +^^ c^ PP f tre ' and Mr ' Martin Archer Shee. Lord t ShSS °^ cie i °- f c and the first *° a PP ear * the guise of SiPSS^ *w ' u /t ead y Bho^g signs of a tendency to retrace JhUiSS^ Wa T 1 ? d - by an e P isc °P a l Pastoral that iThe will not AoZ^rS hXa!Ghhe \\°^ of lt the fact of Ws refusal, Lord n« PnrS 68 a fiec ° nd i ett er, following up, indeed, his first attack ShST 8l ?£ d ? dd * n 4 & one ' ™ry disappointingly for some SSSSfi* %^v Pl£ t le ' he declares » simple terms that the S^SST* ° f t l 11 i8 to him than life. If this be so! V«SPE?"" CTe with it. Lord Camoys and Mr Petre, are mere nobodies, whose belief is no matter of interest or concern to anyone but themselves; and as for Mr. Shee, his prorX^TS T lt . d 2 es , from a man who tak es the name of a SwE*^*' tO ,. Ba * lßf y < Mr- Gladstone and still the disquiet of +^v i? Oh -° su & ects of Queen Victoria should submit once more «?tw ?e? c I^ su i t . m ? oath of abjuration, shows that the man is either a slave in his heart, or one whose intelligence is a matter of XS o^' BTh?8 T h ? t h % foUowin S attracted *o the amatS theSfcofegto^tttX WS extinction, and leaves «t™ ? certainl y be passing strange if a man like Mr. GladRtuf »Jwf ?e OWn Career ? a Bignal s Pectacle of unstable principle stLbmS b^ OUB , ove^craving, could make any impression on the fw JL^ a ?^ C ' tha t was founded t0 for ever. The one thing constant in his restless mind is change, and next vearmav W XpoStul l ating " ™ fch hia favorit e £ow£ge™£vZoZl %%£F«» cT ° n \ eulog7on our Church ' Hence his eiloits-marbe SnS»? v"? more as exercises in which he throws o/his S2 taSTrt? fener fy thana^ enuine emanations of conscience, men Know this, and they think accordingly; but in the present SEwS? V T?jf + deaJ more to Sn- d^W + ?? r * Tma ?«« n «'B letter, by precise allusion to facts proves that the expostulate: had in his sleeve four years age Tthe S?l mi°?!f th e Church the other day. But four years &o hi 3 now g ? y f^ miSte^ ruHng the cm P h ' e the hel P CathoUcs! Sall^ y aca c cmshmg stroke of a sternly adverse fortune, he is S/SKS;r,w Ch rfcr f e owes t0 that proud new birth SmnJhSn? t% S vhxch te™ Catholic followers from Z^ii' aB "^ ? ls t^st for power, and vi the bitterness of his heart, he writes this intemperate expostulation, hoping fondly by one XSSfcS re -hCOV6rh COV6r St - Way P° Utics ' *** to revenge himself ?n SSrt? TT h u6u 6 aUe f? ance^ *heir country proved° more potent in^L « ff^ to * lun ? 6 ?' Motives these, so weU exposed SStfc T c ? Gnt °t^ he member for Carlow ' Lewi?, are ?S3ffiri T worthiest cause ; but when they are found in a pohtiaan out of place, manoeuvring for public favor by playing S^S? 1 * theol ?P' as , a matter of course it follows that evSf Sv^ntior 86 S6ea throUgll the P° or devise ' and lau S hs at the weak ft «v ™Z Jp- Gladstone, let us add, so would it be with KnSS 1 Tft? a !ft. eßsa y ed a task 8O far exceeding mortal bohoChradlia no citadel of tissue paper It iLI-^ lufioeilt J fortr^ 8 ' not VnenM* human force. Many S!!i 1Z S6d °7 e / and aU have left unimpaired the wondrous SSErfS** , the Pf mal Twel^, and the superhuman JGS™^^/^w^i l 0V £ that - spran^ from the tl>ee of Pain on Calvary. Iq that Church's [quiet bosom, men tired of the world have rested, men fearful of the world have found inviolable y '.T e A with stealthy doubts and lion-like Lh f ™£i tlhat I hav f ta6ted P eace ' meu stricken with anguish have felt a subtle balm of consolation. The refuge of all the ao- es i a refuge now and it will be to the end of timl. Nor any pamphlet nor any politician— nor a library, nor a million of « expostulators" -can impede the sublime career of the one ambassador between pitying Heaven and man the heir of pain. The Chxu-ch holds on its way serenely, its grand soul heedless of the trivial chances of the i hour, its great heart stored with the infinite tenderness that tlVf^A^f l^^ ° f me - Jt holds ifcs ™y through the far-extending tracts of time— never wavering, never halting— and