The Increase of Bad Protestants
THE Christian Advocate is the leading one of the very few papers in the United States that see the dangerous trend of things noted in the following passage from the Advocate of April 5:— When a Roman Catholic protested to Pope Pius IX that too great favor had been shown to a certain Englishman who was a Protestant, Pope Pius is said to have replied: “It is true he is not a good Catholic, but he is a very bad Protestant.” This was witty, but it contained more philosophy even than wit. The number of very bad Protestants in this sense is increasing; they consist of the persons and papers who are continually commending the truths and virtues of Roman Catholicism, and denying, minifying, or ignoring its doctrinal errors, unwarranted claims, humanly made sacraments, and claims of jurisdiction over the state.