Current Topics AT HOME AND ABROAD.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXI, Issue 10, 6 July 1894, Page 3

Current Topics AT HOME AND ABROAD.

THR IND^X EXPDRGATOBIL T 3.

The placing of M. Zola's book on Lourdes on the Index Expurgatorius has evoked from several of our contemporaries very profound comments. Necessarily it has immensely extended M. Zola's popularity, and made his filth seem, in certain quarters, cleanliness itself. Had M. Zola some idea of what he might thue gain when he planned to write his book ? With the world that rejects Christianity he probably was already as popular as he need desire to be— but there was still the Christian public of the Reformation for him to win over, and probably he thought it worth his while to try. If 83 bis means were cunningly chosen. As usual the pundits who nndertake to champion M. Zola against the Congregation of the Index go rather too far, and supplement their knowledge, which is rather weak, by their imagination, which, as usual also, is excessively strong. They run amuck, in fact, and place almost every book they can think of or, at least, which they find it convenient to mention with some some regard for their valuable space, upon the Index — the Index that is as it exists in their inner consciousness. Tbe rules, nevertheless, sanctioned by the Council of Trent, point out the class of books with which the Congregation deals. The works of heresiarcha are forbidden, as are also tho c of h' retical authors that treat of religion — thtir o'her works to be allowed after examination L'nxico r s and other works of reference compiled by heretics are to be permitted afterexpurgaiioQ. Ob-cena booka are to be absolutely forbidden, with the exception of the ancient classic authors, due care being taken, as to the hands in which they a r e placed. Bx>ke of rmgic and judicial astrology are also forbidden— but " theories and natural observations, published for the sake of furthering navigation, agriculture, or the medical art, are permitted." That the Congregation is liberal in its judgmentP, meantime, may be gathered from the names of antiCatholic writers whose worka have not been pltced upon the Index. 8uc l i, for instance, are Bunyan, and Milton w^ose writings, notwithstanding, ha»e been quoted by one or other of tha imaginative pundits to whom we have referred as among thos; condemned. Rf tence also has been made to the condemnation of Dr St George Mivart'a theories regarding eternal punishment. Nothing, however, haß been said as to the manner in which Dr Mivart accepted tha condemnation — and the w .light attached to his acceptance as thit of a n)Ud man of Bcience, and one thoroughly versed in all tbe learning and philosophy of the Rge. Possibly what Dr St George Mivart accepted with humility may not be thought beneath the notice of M. Z <lrt. As to its forming a crown of laurels for his brow — as one of our good contemporaries declares it miy— tbe victor's crown is strangely merited by an excellence in ribaldry an i filth. M. Zila, nevertbelesp, as we have s^id, has redeemed his nabtiaess in certain nostrils by giving it particularly, rather than generally as had hitherto been the Cise. an anti-'Jathohc eavuur. Possibly, we say again, he had som; such intention in planoing bia woik,

SHALLOW rUNDITS.

Another subject about which some of our good contemporaries are showing their depth is the murder of President Carnot. The event has tnrown the minds of some of theße writers back some three or four hundred years and blottei out for them the gravity of the case by the thought of " medieval superstition " — of BavaiUao and the murderer of Henry 111, What was done of old, neverthelosp, by Oatholios, who outraged the teaching of their religion by their actionF, haa nothing whatever to say to the deeds of atheists whocarry out to-day the precepts of (h^ir balief — or of their want of a behaf. If a precedent be ueedei it may be found nearer at hand. There, for instance, is the asaa'siaati m of R ssi, the Minister of Pope Pius IX , at Rome ; thtre ia that of Garcia Moreoo, the President vt Ecuador, at Quite. Both of the3e mon were victims of the same sest to which the mm belong?, who has now killed President Oarnot — 'hat is, the inmost Masoaic Lodges, ia which all the mischief of the time is hitched. Those assassinations of old were

de j da that took plac-ei ia an aga of coat-otion — and w'len^man's minds were unbiogal by prevailing doubt 1 ? and fears. They were ommittei by isolated individuals, and in th-3 religion, whose teach* ing was outraged for the moment, there atill remained a''power to make itself heard and to prevent the spread or calmina*ion'of excess. But the asaassin of >he present day ia th« cold-blooded prodact of a tired Byatem and the inheritor of a doctrine. Maz^ini enounced it ; Antonio Gallenga professed himself ready to act on it. The'world has been warned of it, but the world has turned a deaf ear. What, nevertheless afewyetra ago aeemel hardly credible, is now manifest in the open daylight. When Monsignor Fava told us only a littl* time ago that the devil was worshipped in the secret Lodges we could hardly realise that he spoke the truth. When Lao Taxil, some time afterwards, confirmed the Bishop's words they atill seemed hardly credible. But now the secular press itself acknowledges the worship and declares it to be open'y ani regularly practised. In like manner the doctrine of assassination, of which we had long heard, has mads itself apparent in its fruits. Wabavi seen the beginning, bat the end we have not seen. And what, in fact, is there to aff ird as protection from these men? Tneir piinoiplea are those that may inspire them with any deed of desperation. The old Homeric thought tha^ since death must inevitably come, it may as well be encountered at first as at last, in their minda, may be expected to taki a sinister meaning. Taere is no Gol for them, no soul, no hell. What terror, then, is there in the guillotine more than in, perhaps, some painful lingering illness? We can fancy tbat to men likethesj, not a manly but a bestial, daring may become habitual. There is no likeneM whatever between these men and tbose who in other ages C3mmitted murdi r. lhere was, then, a violation of principle, an outrage oo restraining precept?. There is now a fidelity to principle, a carrying of prec-pt into prac'ice. The dep'b, therefore, of our "comparative " contemporaries seems, after all, somewhu shallow.

A. TIGHT PLACE KOK MR fcCOBIE MACKENZIE,

The American corre^pon lent of out contemporary the Otago Dally Times continues to nunifest a strong sympathy with the revival of Kaownotbingism now going ahead in the Umttd States. Ha again alludes, wi'h strorg approval, to the proceedings and program me of tne Americ in Protective Association, and with evidentsatisfaction, predicts font* long and prosperous career. Seeing, however, as we know through Mr Mark Cohen, that the correspondent in question— who by the way is b/mself again, and has overcome the passing amendment shown in hia last letter — had belonged to that agreeable clique who, un ter van ms pseudonyms, are wont to air their anti-Citholic fury in tbe c )!um is of our daily Press, there is no'hiug to astonish us ia his following th 3 example of certain beasti mentioned in one of the Epistlec, and which persist respectively in returning to their uncleauesi, ctelum noa animum mutant gui trans marc cur runt. The man who had bea a low bigot in Dunedin remains a low bigot in San Francisco. A revival of the doing! of the Kaownothiogs would m> an for him capital (un. Take, for example, the commemoration made by the braoch of the A.P.A. at Somerville, Mubs , on the eight of ThursUy, May 17. They met and planted a black banner on an eminence called Mount Benedict, where, in the time of the former X lownotbingi, another mob of ruffiin- 1 , sallying forth also at night, had diiven from their convent a community of defenceless women with tha children under their care and burned the building to the grooad — defiling the emblems of Christianity and desecrating graves. We can fancy this ex-Dunedin-ite dancing a rigadoon around tbe flag-staff— wher« he would be quite in bis proper place— and invoking the speedy re'ura of tbe joy. ful hour when he might have hia part in dteda like thjsa commemorated. Ab to the manner in which our contemporary the Otago Daily Times lends his columns to the abominable propaganda thai Bet up among us, and takes upon himself the responsibility of attempting t > awaken such a spirit in New Z aland, to ba marked no doubt by mmilar doings— it may bo urged in excuse that our contemporary is juat now in strait* and eager to fitizi on any expedient that may some to hand. Is there not the Tuapeka election at which, as we have said before, bis forlorn tnpe must bj the repetition of the coarse tactics employed by his party tor the retura of Mr No-Pjpe ry Allen for Bruce. What other hope, in fact, ia there for the retura of oar

pawkie friend Mr Scobie Mackenzie ? Protestations I He is ready to protest anything— from Pears' soap to a presentation at Court. He does not want to be returned to Parliament ; not he. He goes in for fun— as he stood the other day and was rejected to his great amusement at Waibemo. He an advocate of land grabbing ! He does not own a perch in all the world, and is ready, if required, to knock the very mud off his boots lest he Bhould seem desirouß of monopolising the soil. Bat we know the old tune, and we know the man. Quite as well too as the Daily 'flints, do we know that, unless the No-Popery dodgt can be made to work again, Mr Bcobie Mackenz : e has not the ghost of a chance And why, indeed, should electors be fools enough to return ft man directly opposed to their interests? Bat if Mr Scobie Mackenzie is defeated, he will have had the fun of the campaign, as he had at Waihemo — and, if he is returned, we, for our part, will have the satisfaction— albeit a spiteful one, of knowing that the Yotera who relumed him have bitten their nose to spite their face, as the Baying is. They will have sold their interests for a chance of mortifying the Pope. To return to our ex-Dunedinite. It is not true, as ha says in effect, that as a rule American non-Catholics have accepted with complacency the proposals of the A. P. A. Oa the contrary, it has been strongly condemned by many representative men of the non-Catholic body. The Rev Dr De Witt Talmage, for example, has recently condemned it. He denounces the sentiments indicated in the oath of the Association as inimical to the spirit of toleration. He declares that Catholics can make as good citizens as Protestatants, and are entitled to exactly the same privileges. "As ft Protestant clergyman," he says, " I distinctly repudiate anything whfoh would create such intolerant distinctioas as this oath of the A.P.A. indicates." The Rev Charles Parkhurst, of New York, president of tne Society for the Suppressioa of Vico, says : " Nothing but mischief could come of any each illiberal, archaic ideas as are set forth in the oath of the American Protective Association." The Rev J. W. Wallace, pastor of the Evangelist Baptist Church, says of the A P.A., that it could not exist excert as a secret society. And further :— " It is a pity that men of education— l can hardly call them men of intelligence— can be fonnd in this day who will subscribe to such a mischievous, unwarrantable and puerile feeliDg of bigotry as the ritual of the A.P.A, inculcates. lam not an alarmist, but I say that if associations of this kind have made any headway) it is time to put up the danger signal." The Rev W. H. Faunce, ftnother New Tork Baptist clergyman, declares that—" Any organieationjwhich imposeß such an oath as that of the A.P.A. on its members i», in essential principle, hostile to our American Constitution, and its spread is fraught with gravest peril to both civil and religious freedom," The Rev John Henry Barrows, of Chisago. and other ministers of varionß Protestant churches in that city, are equally outspoken in their condemnation. We do not suppose that our cot temporary the Otago Daily Times really desires to see our convents burned down, and onr nons and school children thrown at night naked and defenceless on the streets. But what can our contemporary do 1 The cnse is desperate, as we have said, and he mast seize on whatever comes to hand. As to our contemporary's correspondent he, on the contrary, we have little doubt, would rejoice to get a chance of play irq the part of " fire-the-faggot "—provided he could himself keep ou| of the reach of the Bparks. Is he not one of our old anonymous ■landerers of the Dunedin clique ? The interests of Mr Scobie Mackensie are in decent hands.

EMPTY COMPARISONS.

AMONG the learned journalists who have given us a deep thought or two about the murder of President Carnot are a leader-writer in the Wellington Press and our old and highly cherished acquaintance—it would be presumption on our part to say friend — •'Civia' 1 of the Otago Witness. « Civis," however, is better up in his hißtory than the Press man. He baa read a story which has made him aware of thi fact that Henry 111. the predecessor of Henry IV. — whom, he also tells us quite correctly, is known in France— and possibly elsewhere where people speak French, as " Henri Qaatre " was murdered by a Dominican monk. The Press man eeems to think that Charles IX was Henry lV'a immediate predecessor and never to hate heard of the murder of Henry 111. Possibly his ■tndies are of a deeper tone than those of our acqaan tance " Civis, 1 ' and do not include stories. At any rate he m ikes a profoand con. trait between the natnres or the Teutonic and the Latin races, in which it might be hazardous for us to follow him. The bigotry, nevertheless Of which he speaks as actuating Ravaillac was the bigotry of a madman. Rivaitlac had been a novice ia a religious order, that of the Fenillans, from which he had been expelled as a visionary. H s nnsonndneqs of mind had been afterwards aggravated by his failure in a lawsuit and his consequent imprisonment. Jacque3 Clement, the murderer of Henry 111. bad been similarly nnaccountab c. He also was a viiionary —a seer of heavenly visions and a hearer of heavenly voices— a palpable madman, who to-day would be safe in an asylum. The writer in the Press, moreover, is singularly unfortunate in bis claim that the assassination of Henry IV. and the immunity of

Charles IX. prove hi 3 argument that the assassins have chosen, as their victims, the wisest and best in'entioned of autocractic rulerß, Henry 111. could hardly be reckoned among the class in Question. Indeed, if such acts of revenge were lawful, the accountability with which he was charged for the assassination of the Duke de Guise by the Calvioist Poltrot de Meje might be adduced in Clement's excuse. A mad man, however, needs no apology. And, by the way, would the writer in the Press include as a "mediaeval superstition" the Calvinism by which the asaasflin of the Duke de Guise was influenced 7 It would appear then, that, with regard to the deep thought of thesa learned journalists and the comparisons instituted by them, we may politely quote the obsequious words, - Ob, very like a whale."

A NAUSEOUS BIGMABOLE.

The deceased wife's sister has been " popping up again." The Rev Dr Macgregor, a learned divine at Oamaru, has opened the box whence her head occasionally appears, and allowed her to spring into a local and momentary notice. We conclude that the learned and rev doctor is very profound ; we perceive that he is very long winded — much too much so, in fact for us closely to follow his line of reasoning, even were we particularly interested in his conclusions. And indeed, without some very pressing interest, we should scrupulously avoid following a rigmarole which, by a cursory glance, we perceive to be, in some passages at least, disreputable and diigusting. The learned divine, moreover, again betrays a vulgar mind by the character of his alludoos to the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church however, does cot regard marriage with a deceased wife's sister as unlawful— much leBS as incestuous, because, alihongh she evidently considers it as generally inexpedient, she permits of it, if there be a sufficient reason. The Rev Dr Macgregor, therefore, in quoting the precedent of what he vulgarly calls the " Romish Church, • talks, in more than one sense, of things he knows nothing about. We hare said that the reverend doctor was very profound ; we have alao said that he waß certainly very long-winded. We might add that he appear?, besides, to incur a charge of pruriency. At any rate, in the presence of a mixed congregation -a large one, we are told, such as may be reckoned on for such occaelons— he has coarsely and, in fact, somewhat foully, dealt with a subject requiring delicate treatment— to be treated with exceptional delicacy even by men possessed of the instincts of the gentleman.

ODDS AND ENDS.

Otjb contemporary, the Boston Pilot, speaka of M. Zola's " Loardes " as a "dull and nanseona serial now oozing through the colnmna of the New Y»rk Herald." We perceive, 100, from a notic* of the serial given elsewhere, that M. Zola betrayi an ignorance of Catholic matters which it is surprising to find even in him. It might be supposed, for example, that he had, at leant, read the reminiscences of ,M. Renao-a brother in literature with whom he must have been personally acqaainted-wbich alone would show him that thediscipline of a Catholic seminary was altogether different from whatha represents it to be. He describes a certain abbe as obliged t# deny his reason and forced to believe without inquiry. M Kenan nevertheless, testifies to the fullest permission for inquiry as existing at Saint-Sulpice, where, in fact, he himself freely developed bis scepticism, and made no secret of it. M. Zola, however, no doubt knew whom ha was writing for. This book we m*y take as intended especially for Protestants and cunningly devised by the writer to overcome their objections to his filth. Our contemporary, the Pilot's, expression "ocziog" is very significant and we doubt not, moat appropriate.

We are happy to find that our contemporary, the Southland Times, agrees with us in our belief that godlessness in the schools must, as our contemporary says, "tell most disastrously on the faith and morals of the nation." May our esteemed contemporary's ejes be fully opened so that he may see that the compromise he proposes, "the introduction of the Bible or some synopsis of its history and' precepts into the school syllabus," must prove but an imperfecff expedient. Our contemporary has certainly a right to his opinion that, notwithstanding a certain softening down and a passing acknow. ledgement of the " Higher Criticism," Presbyterianism is destined to preserve its pristine vigour. It would be presumption on our part to press a contrary conclusion on him- and time will tell. Finally <ye have to acknowledge the courtesy of our contemporary's tone and the breadth of spirit shown by him.

Apropos of the " Higher Criticism," Mi P. L. Connellan, Rome correspondent of the Boston Pilot, mentions that It has received a severe check from the discovery, first of an apocryphat Gospel and Apocalypse of St Peter, and more recently of certain paintings in one of the catacombs. Among the pictures, which were found by Mgr Wilpert beneath a covering of stalacite in the catacomb of St Priscilla, was one of the raising of Lazarus. The point is that the picture, which dates from before ad. 150, proves, in {contradiction of the 1 Higher Criticism," the antiquity of the Gospel of St John, in which alone the miracle is recorded. The testimony of the apocryphal writings alluded to— one found in Egypt, the other at Borne, each in a Christian tomb— is to a similar effect. They contain a harmony of

the Gospel in which that of St John has an equal part. The Higher Criticism, on the contrary, had insisted confidently on the comparatively Me date of the Goßpel ia qaestion. One of their principal arguments, therefore, receives a complete denial.

The election of M. Casitnir Perier as President in the room of the Ja'e M. Carnot, augurs no great good for religion in France. As Premier M. Perier had shown himself, if not 6trongly{biaßsed, at least resolved to consult his interests by playing into the hands of the party cf irrehgion. He, like M. Spullnr, the Minia'er of Public Worship, whose slight inclination towards justice proved but a passing weakness, bad declared that he would in all things be guided by the principles of the Revolution. It is easy, under the circumstance?, to explain the largeness of the majority by which the new President has been returned, and the enthusiasm shown by the irreconcilable^ at hia election. A course still downward for France, then, may be expected.

Tne following suggestive paragraph we take from the Rome corrf epondentof the Catholic limes of May 11 :— " The godless schools of Rome are already producing a mighty harvest of suicides and crimes. Not a day but brings ita lengthy and repulsive chronicle of domestic vice and tragedy in the once tranquil and God-fearing Eternal City. Here a list of treacherous stabs in the dark, there Bnicide and murder, through love they tell us— save the mark 1 Hate and rage would be the more appropriate terms. Again we are told of daily threats, of murder, of self-destruction. All this with perfect impnnity ; the tbreatß are known to the authorities, permitted, and accomplished ; the acts themselves go practically unpunished, and the tolerant Roman public look on with apathy, waiting for the next eenßation which will give their ever busy tongues more food for scandal. The unfortunate actors know that no control, either physical or moral, is exercised, and the expectant victims csn suggest no remedy."

Some little time ago we were taken to task for speaking disparagingly of the French Republic. The Pope we were tald in effect, had approved of it, and we were, therefore, wanting in respect towards his Holiness. We had, nevertheless, perceived the Holy Father's meaning, and were confident that wa had not erred. He has now

explained himßelf clearly. In a late interview with the cuio of the great Church of the Sacred Heart at Montmartre in Paris :— " I have asked no one," said the Pope, " tj give up his preference for a particular form of [government. Provider ce can change the state of things. How many times in this century have you not seen things overturned 1 What I did was, seiiog France Biaking intD abysses 1 , to ask for a truce of parties that all might unite t j defend the great principles, principles that are the foundation of all society." It will be seen, therefore, that outside France the exhortation of the Holy Father, addressed to all parties of French citizens, bad no forcr, and this we had perceived at the time.

A case relating to cremation, which has lately basn decided by the Holy See with regard to India, has some interest for us, since the question is of frequent discussion ia the secular Press and elsewhere. Tba practice is forbidden to Catholics by the Church, except in cases of war or pestilence, and a Catholic priest in any'given instance muit protest agaiDst it. la India, nevertheless where caste privileges are involved the missionaries are permittel to over-look it. We may add, for our par', that the utter pagaoiam of the custom, and its antiChristian significance were strikingly brought out in an ariicle reoently contributed to the Fortnightly Review by Mr Grant-AUea.

As significant also of the Pagaa tendencies of the age, our contemporary, the Catlwlic Times, quotes a passage from an ar'icle con. tribated to the Free Review by a Mr A. L. Lee, who had lately been a Poor Law Guardian iv L indon. Mr Lee deals with the relief of the hopelessly helpless and criminal, rejecting a proposal for relict colonies that had been made before the British Association : — ' Ilia own cool but terrible words are — 'So many of those poor creatures are co miserable already, y«t lack the means of putting aa end to their misery, that it seems as though it might be kindness to them to offer them, with due precautions, the alternative of a ' Lethal chamber 'in which those who are tjo wretched to live might, if they wish, sleep their last sleep in decency and comfort to themselves and for the benefit of mankind.' " " This," says the Catholic Tines, "is going back to paganism with a vengeance. Tha writer, apparently, has never beard of the existence of Christianity or of its power over the

human heart. Fortunately there is no probability that such a terribleb le remedy will ever be alopted, but the mere fact that each an article ia published in a magazine ia a significant eign of the times."

From a pamphlet republished from Hygiene, aad which contains an exposure of quack medicines, among them >hose advertised by a multitude of lecturers, each of whom is know an the only B"qir»h, w« H uoto tho following amusing paragraph :— " When Charles Dickens was in the height of his splendid career as a novelist, Hjlloway sent him a cheque for £1000, with an intimation that he might consider it as his property if he would insert in an early nnmb'ir of oie of hia works then coming out in a serial form, s >me riferenca to the Holloway patent medicines. Dickene, to hi» honour be it said, with equal promptitude and indignation, returned the proff jred bribe. Upon bearing of this incident, Thackeray remarked with the quiet sarcasm of which he was master, that if he dad been in Dickens'a place ho should have killed the villain of the novel with aa overdose of Holloway's Pills, and thus have secured the £1000.

With regard to a statement mada by one or o her of the learned journalists to whom we have referred, to the effect that Catholics as a rule, overlooked the Index Exvurgatoriw in thair reading, we do not think it at all likely to ba correct. The great body of Catholics have no attraction towards the books so condemned, and those of them who have any sufficient reaeoi to read such books, find no difficulty in obtaining permission to do so. Without such reason and without permission, the penalty ia excommunication. No penalty, however, should be needed to deter decent people from reading filth like that of M. Zola. Mr Oscar Wilde, we may add, haa graphically described the people of the period, while engaged in such reading, as *' Oalibtn looking at hia face in a glass." The study ib one from whit i hardly much good is to be expected.'

Another illustration of the spirit which the A.P.A. U stirring up, is probably to be found in the explanation given by a fellow who brutally murdered bis sweet-heart at Snake Hill, N. J. on Sunday, May 13 :—": — " I intended to kill her," be said, " I did not want to marry her because she was a Catholic and I a Protestant." That ie the kind of spirit which oar contemporary the Otago Daily Times',

by publishing hisAmencan correspondent's approval of the A.P. A., risks fostering in the colony. But all is f -ir ia love or war—including elections.