THE ARCHBISHOP OF SYDNEY ON THE SOURCE OF INFIDELITY.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XII, Issue 30, 14 November 1884, Page 27

THE ARCHBISHOP OF SYDNEY ON THE SOURCE OF INFIDELITY.

At the comxnomaration of St. John's College, held on October 25th. His Grace, as reported by the Sydney Herald, spoke as follows : —

For this, the first occasion it has been my privilege in an official capacity to visit this great college, I have thought it well to put in writing the few words which I will address to the fellows and students in reply to their addresses, and at the same time to embody in these few pages the address which the Visitor usually affords on an occasion such as the present. Very Rev. Rector, Fellows, and Students, — I beg to thank you for these addresses which you have been pleased to presant, and to assure you that it is to me a matter of sincerest gratification to be able to take part for the first time, in your annual celebration today. It is not, however, for any purpose of mere empty pageant or idle ceremony that I have come amongst you, but rather to give proof of the deep interest which, in common with all the Catholics of Australia, I take in this noble institution. Under the enlightened management of your council this college will, I trust, long continue, as it has hitherto been, an enduring monument of the public spirit and generosity and devotedness of our Catholic body, and it shall be a pleasing duty to me to aid by connsel and by every endeavour to foster its growth, and guide its development, and promote its best interests. Entering this magnificent pile of building, we ate struck by the imposing grandeur of the edifice — so harmonious in all its parts and so perfect in its architectural details. It is 30 years, I believe, since the Act of the Legislature was passed granting permission for the erection of this Catholic college in the University of Sydney. In the interval the city has grown with giant growth. The shores of its unrivalled harbour, overspread with fair villas and smiling gardens, have won the admiration of every visitor. Public and private buildings have been multiplied, and several - colleges and schools have been erected by the various State-favoured Protestant denominations. Nevertheless, St. John's College continues to bold its place of honour, and among all the structures which adorn this great city of Sydney it will be difficult to find even one to surpass in architectural merit the noble edifice in which we are assembled. And it is right that it should be so ; it is meet that the material edifice should in some measure at least correspond to the purposes of the institution, destined as it h for a great and noble work. Within these halls true religion and sound learning shall go hand in hand ; and whilst Knowledge shall unfold her ample page to enrich the mind, the practice of the Christian virtues will not farl to discipline the heart and prepare our Catholic youth for the struggles taat await them in the a ena bE public life. It is not to be wondered at that from the very outset threatening clouds should have gathered around your college, and difficulties have arisen on every side to obstruct your onward path. Such difficulties, instead of beiug an exception, are rather the rule wnenever there is question of an grjat work of religion or education destine 1 to be the source of lasting good. But as regards these difficulties, if some of them may appear to be inherent in the system on which the institution rests, there are others which we should not hesitate to grapple with, and which I have no doubt the manly spirit of our students and the energy and united action of the Australian Catholics shall quickly overcome. It is true, indeed, that the Legislative Act which incorporates this college with the Syduey University has been drawn upon Protestant, lines, and, as we know from experience, no matter how beneficent the intentions of a Protestant Legislature may be, it is particularly difficult for its educational enactments to be found conformable to Catholic ideas and Catholic principles. This is a primary defect which only time and the growing liberality of the State can remedy. It is to be regretted, moreover, that from the outset no ample permanent endowment was attached by the Government to this collegiate foundation. The student is necessarily hampered at every step in the higher pursuits of science, unless museums, labo atorius, and libraries be at hand to offer their educational helps for scientific research. We are told, to be sure, that if St. John's College was left thus unprovided for, the colleges of the various Protestant denominations were dealt with in like manner. But assuredly, when bearing the hardships of penury, it is only a small measure of cousolation to know that others, too, are subjected to the same misery. My venerated predecessor, Archbishop Vaughan, who was for so long a time intimately associated with you in prora ning the welfare of this institution, and whose name shall ever be honoured within these collegiate walls, endeavoured to remedy In part, at least, this grave defect. At considerable expense, and with the co-operation of intelligent friends, he made the commencement of a museum, to wbich 1 trust it may be my privilege to make additions from time to.tinoe, thus to give a helping tun i to our studious scholars in the paths of science. For some years too there were no scholarships or prizes, or other available resources, and but little could be done to attract students to your halls. Here, however the munificence of Sir Patrick Jennings, Mr. Justice Faucett, and other patrons of Catholic education has come to the rescue. It is no small pleasure tj me to be able to announce to you that an additional collegiate prize may henceforward be competed for. A sum of £1000 has been placed in my hands to found a, •' Dunue Scholarship," in accordance with the instructions of the late Very Rev. Dr. Dunne, a native of Odsory, who laboured for many years with unwearied zeal in diffusing the blessings of religion and education throughout Tasmania, and evinced at all times the siucercst interest in the success of St. John'd College. Should the college council so approve, this scholarship may be tenable for three years, and be open to competition to all Australian Catholic students who shall have attained their eighteenth year. Tnere is another serious difficulty which nowadays is repeatedly met with in some of the older universities in the home countries, and which at times may be felt perhaps in the Sydney University also, and you will bear with me if I speak of it at some length, since I regard it as a difficulty which, grave though it be, it depends mainly upon ourselves to remedy. It cannot be denied that on the part of

many excellent Catholics a prejudice exists against several universities on account of the spirit of infidelity and indiSerentism to religian which pervades those institutions, and the dangerous influences hostile to the faith to which inexperienced students are consequently exposed. But are we then to say that the development of the mind and the progress of human knowledge lead to such an indifferentism in matters of religion? alost certainly not. Infidelity proceeds from a far different source. To illustrate what I mean to say, let us take a lesson from the life of St. Augustine. That great doctor of the Church has for our instruction traced with his own hand the history of bow it was that unbelief gained the mastery over his mind, and of the means by which he was led back to the light of Divine faith. The champions of reason will not deny thit Angastine was a man. of genius of the highest order ; he was, indeed, the master mind of the first ages of the Church, and one of the most powerful intellects which the world has ever produced. Instructed in the Christian faith from his infancy, he at an early age ranked among the most brilliant students in the metropolis of Africa. How did it happen* that this master mind should fall a victim to the poisonous influence of infidelity ? He himself tells us that it was because he allowed his heart to be carried away by the whirlwind of the passions. la that gay capital he thought only of enjoyment, and amid the applause of false friends he became the slave of the pleasures of sense. The restraints of virtue and innocence being laid aside, every Christian idea was gradually cancelled from his soul. For 16 years his mind was filled with the most absurd prejudices against the Catholic, Church. Step by step he descended to the very lowest grade of intellectual misery, and the wings of his noble intellect being clogged with sensuality, he allowed himself to be ensnared in the meshes of Manicheeism. Whilst he was thus in the depths of the abyss, a pious mother unceasingly poured forth her prayers before God that the son whom she loved might be rescued from the errors by which he was enslaved. Her prayer was heard, but the^arkened intellect of Augustine had yet a long road to travel before it could re-attain the full light of divine truth. Plato's philosophy became to him the vestibule of faith, for it began to detach his heart from the pursuit of sensual pleasures. Fpznility, however, was the gate which opened to him the possession of divine truth when he felt the error* of his ways and aclnow- ' ledged his faults; so true are the Bedeemer's words, ''Thou hast hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to little ones." At length he resolved to break the bonds of his passions, and not till then the darkness of doubt was dispelled from his soul, and his heart regained its former light and peace. From this example of St. Augustine we learn that it U pride and sensuality that deprive the soul of the heavenly consolations and the true liberty of divine faith. A young man of bright intelligence, and trained to piety from infancy in the bosom ot a Christian family, enters the University, and becomes, after a time, indifferent in matters of religion. Is it that a new light has shone upon him— that new soarces of truth have proved to him how unfounded aie the claims "of that faith which for nineteen centuries has enlightened the loftiest intellects, and moulded to virtue the noblest and purest hearts ? No one who has had the slightest experience of men and things will say so. That self-indulgent youth who now sneers at religion has examined nothing for himself. He bas not read a single one of the great Christian apologists ; he has not, perhaps, even open?d a book that could bring the light of truth to his mind. But his morals have become corrupt, and hence every assault against the faith meets with a sympathetic echo in his depraved heart. The passions are fed with writings hostile ta religion. The wounds of the heart have prepared the way for the wounds of the intellect ; doubt has obtained the mastery of his soul ; and with the most servile credulity that can be imagined, he blindly rejects the truths which he once so joyfully believed. What -wonder is it that for such a soul Christian faith would be forfeited, and that sucb a man would be found plunged in the degrading depths of infidelity? La Bruyere, a distinguished French writer, says:— "l would fain see a man who is sober, temperate, chaste, and just declare that there is no G-od ; he would at least speak disinterestedly ; but such a man is not to be found." And Laforet adds : " I would fain see a student who is chaste, moie3t, humble, solidly instructed in Christian doctrine, declare that the faith which he received from his mother the Catholic Church is without foundation ; hitherto I have never met with such a young man. But what I have often, seen, what we see every day, is this : men of ripe intellect, after years of wandering, return to the faith and to the practices which it imposes, acknowledging and declaring in all humility that their unbelief was but-^fee fruit of vanity, igoorance, or passion." Let me take another example from an illnstrious leader of Catholic public opinion in our i own times. There is no brighter name in the literary annals of modern France than that of Montalembert. His eloquence and the greatness of his soul were on a level with his ancestral dignity among the peers of France, and throughout the ever- varying phases of the political struggles in bis afflicted country he was to be found for almost half a century in the foremost ranks of the champions of Christian liberty. In his youth it was his misfortune to have been caught up by the whirlwind of his passions, and to have adopted the fashionable tone of infidelity affected in the University of France. It was during a tour in Ireland that the gift of divine faith was again bestowed on him. Travelling through the most neglected parts of the country, he was again and again struck by the earnest piety and heroic spirit of sacrifice engrafted on the very heart of its Catholic people, and producing such abundant truits of virtue. G-radually the conviction grew upon him that the Christian faith was not a mere matter of theory, but rather a divine life, which, through God's mercy, is given to man, and which purity of conduct, the spirit of sacrifice and 6elf-denial, and the practice of the virtues which the Catholic Church commands, can alone preserve. Finding himself on a Sunday morning ia a retired rural district, whilst the season was particularly inclement, be resolved to test for himself whether the Irish Catholics bad foregone their traditional heroism of enduring hardships for the faith. In his carriage he accompanied the crowd ?s they streamed along the road to Mass. When they turned to the

' hill-side path, he followed them on fort. At length the chapel came in sight. It was a small thatched house, barely sheltering the aged priest and a few of the congregation. All the rest knelt in front of tbe little cuapal, under the broad canopy of heaven, with nought to shelter them from the inclemency of the weather. The wind and mud and rain, however, had no terrors for them. Bareheaded they knelt, whilst their minds and hearts were absorbed in God. The prophet Isaiah's lips were hallowed by an angel with a spark of heavenly fire from the golden altar before the throne of God. It was from the lowly hillside altar whilst the fervent crowd were bowed down in humble adoration, and a throb of piety vibrated through every heart, that a ray of heavenly light restored the almost spent gift of divine faith in the soul of Montalembert. rill his last breath he ever cherished tbe warmest affection for Ireland, and he loved to repeat that to the heroic spirit of sacrifice displayed by Ireland's sons he was indebted for tbe priceless treasure of the Catholic faith. But some of those devoted students whom I see before me, will perhaps ask, "What, then, are we to do? Are we to abandon the University College as a place of peril which endangers our faith ?" Quite the contrary. I will rather say to yon, apply yonrselves with all the earnestness and energy of yonr youthful hearts to uphold the principles of truth, and to follow in all sincerity the gentle guidance of divine faith. In a college institution such as this the rules are necessarily but light and few. The more strictly, therefore, should they be observed. But by yonr principles and by your life, you should be witnessess to Catholic truth. Be not ashamed of that faith which is the surest guarantee for tbe liberty of man's intellect, nor of that virtue which is the best security for the true freedom of the heart. At the same tiiue, pursue every highest branch of study that may adorn the life of a Christian gentleman or lend a charm to your future career. I would like to see organised amongst you, under the guidance of your worthy rector, those historical or 'scientific associations which in other countries hold so important a place is preparing young Catholics to faithfully and efficiently discharge their duties in public life. It is only a few days since at the General Assembly of the German Catholics, held at Am berg, in the Bavarian Upper Palatinate, the delegates of the Catholic students in the German Universities won the universal applause. It appears from the official report that there are in the German Universities no fewer than two-and-twenty Catholic associations of students who are pledged to observe faithfully the laws of the Church, and at the sam* time to pursue the higher paths of science, that thus they may be tbe better prepared to champion the Catholic interests of the nation* Were sbme such Catholic association formed among the alumni of St. John's College I have no doubt it would prove healthy discipline of the intellect, would promote earnestness in literary pursuits, and would exercise a salutary influence in the preparation of the students for their future career. Advance Australia is the motto of this great continent. I trust that it shall ever be the motto of this college also, and that the students of St. John's, whilst pursuing the paths of science and cultivating the discipline of Christian self-denial, will every day advance in their love and devotion to this onr adopted country. (Great applauxe.)