SPAIN'S DECAY.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXVI, Issue 7, 17 June 1898, Page 28

SPAIN'S DECAY.

CARDINAL MORAX 4>E\K^,

Tin. pain ot the slanderer of the Catholic Church in Sydncv is Ktnnv-,1 M,th thorn, and broken gla.s and tacks with" inverted divisors. And this is as it ought to be. The true union ot the Churches can never come about until the clerical scribbler or he pulpit demagogue who de'ames a Church of hundreds of millions of people will be made amenable to something hkc the sam™ JoSal or legal code winch pillories the foul-tougued wretch who dares to malign a single individual. We iage°and fume about thTl a w which condemns the pickpocket or petty pilferer to lon- terms o^ imprisonment and practically dismisses with a blessing the ™i™dler who gets away with hundreds of thousands. Yet thw is, in effect how law and custom deal with the retail slanderer and the whS^ -ale one. iho no- Popery slanderer usually either courts a little jioonety or endeavours to raise or fan an animus against the Catholic body. Calumny is his favourite weapon, and he will wax bod and bolder bo long as he gains his quorum of local notoriety ?£d£,l £!"* PUy he , JUSt P T aky of CX ? osurc and contempt Cardinal Moran is a sturdy watchman upon the towers of Israel Sydney no-Popery lecturers, etc., know this to their cost But occasionally a "tenderfoot" comes along, airs his no-Ponerv eloquence, and-gets " run in." This is what happened to the Melbourne Congregationalist minister, Dr. Bevan The Pone's position in Italy and the causes of Spain's decay were the subject of ill-tuned pleasantries by the worthy Doctor. After having disposed of the first-mentioned matter, in an interview with a representative of thvDiibf T, I >„r aj,h, the Cardinal made the following observations which, in view of recent events in Dunedin, will be of interest to many of our readers .-

• Another matter that this Melbourne visitor referred to was the decaying condition of Spain under the influence of the Catholic hierarchy He said repeatedly that all the trouble came from that As a matter of fact, the decay of that wonderful power of Suain dates from the decline of its religious spirit. The height of Spain's glory was in the clays of Charles V., when it was the most Catholic Power m the world, but from the year 1700 up to the present internal dissensions and warring against the r-huroh may be sue! to have been the distinctive feature of Spanish government. Whatever decay there is m Spain must be assigned to these political dissensions and to constant combat :ig unst the Catholic Church. For instance' all the Church property through Spain has been confiscated by diilerent political parties about half-dozen times o\er since the year I/DO. About the middle of last century a special Mar was directed against the religious bodies, when the Jesuits were all thrown into prison, and their property seized by the Government. As late as tho year IS.>-1 all the Catholic schools and semimuies were suppressed and out of a hierarchy of GO Bishops about .-><> were expelled from their Sees, and sent into banishment, while every penny of property belonging to the Church throughout Spain was appropriated for Government purposes. That does not seem to indicate that the Government ol Spain is controlled by the Catholic hierarchy '-To account for that spirit of hostility to the Church 'in the Government of Spam one has only to look to the Bourbon dynasty which occupied the Spanish throne in 1700 With this French influence in Spain, the irreligious principles of the French Court, obtained a mastery. The teaching, of Voltaire guided for .",() years the policy of the Spanish Government, Hence, though the people we-e intensely Citholi,-. and most fervent and devout in their Uuhohc evcrcises, tho Government waj in open hostility to the Churcn. lho wickedness and cruelty which prevailed then were not the result ot any action of the Church, but tho Voltairean priu-' c.plcs of hostility to tlw Church, which at that time became

An thcr Japanese diver has just died at Thursday Island, pro sumably from diving to an excessive depth. The American squadron under Captain Schley, which was to co-operate vwth Admiral Sampson against the Spanish fleet, returned to Charleston on Sunday, and has been ordered to Key West IT i M r r - £ h arlrs Wiishirc. an English gentleman, has presented tho Ho,y Father with a sculptured slab, found in the beginning of this century at Lclanum. near Benevento. It is a stone of much historical interest, and will be placed in the Vatican Museum The inscription on it speaks of the restoration of towers and of walls in tho ancient city where it *as found. The experts say that it date* of°Sylla c time th ° R ° inan Re P ublic > probably from the day*

iom? v - vnc ' ° f Dunedin ( sa ys Southland Time* of April lit i£m TV"w b . een ° n a Vißit t0 Inv ercarßrill to push business a mue. A ot that it wants much canvassing, for since he commenced the manufacture of his Worcestershire Sauce, the demand has kept pace with his capacity to supply it. He makes a really good thine indistinguishable from the famous Lea and Perrin's, which he places' upon one s table at a much lower price, and trusts to that to secure a steadily growing trade. Those who have not yet tried the colonial article should put their prejudice aside for a time and test the question with a bottle or two.— % *