Restoration of the Papacy.
By J.
IN the course of the discussion of this subject we have stated once or twice that the Religious Amendment party is willing and even anxious to enlist the Catholic Church in behalf of the movement. Now we give the proof. Says Rev. Sylvester F. Scovel in the Christian Statesman of August 31, 1881:— "This common interest ['of all religious people in the sabbath'—Sunday] ought both to strengthen our determination to work and our readiness to co-operate in every way with our Roman Catholic fellow-citizens. We may be subjected to some rebuffs in our first proffers, and the time is not yet come when the Roman Church will consent to strike hands with other churches—as such; but the time has come to make repeated advances and gladly to accept co-operation in any form in which they may be willing to exhibit it. It is one of the necessities of the situation." And the Statesman itself, in an editorial, Dec. 11, 1884, said:— "Whenever they [the Roman Catholics] are willing to co-operate in resisting the progress of political atheism, we will gladly join hands with them." Notice, the advances are all on the side of the Protestants, all on the side of the Religious Amendmentists. They are not only willing to make the advances, but are willing to be subjected to "rebuffs," and to "make repeated advances" to overcome the coquetry, and to gain the favor, of the "mother of harlots." And why?—Because, "It is one of the necessities of the situation"—and the italics are his. Was there ever in the world a more humiliating, a more contemptible, surrender to the Papacy. But it is true as Mr. Scovel says, they do receive cool treatment and some rebuffs. The Catholic Church does not to any considerable extent directly aid in the movement. She is too crafty for that. She knows as well as they, that "it is one of the necessities of the situation," and she is determined to have the surrender come from Protestantism. Only a few days ago, one of our brethren riding on the railroad, fell into conversation with a Catholic priest, and finally said to him, "What is your church going to do with the Religious Amendment movement? are you going to help it forward? are you going to vote for it?" "Oh," said the priest, "we have nothing to do with that. We leave that to the Protestants, we let them do all that. They are all coming to us, and we only have to wait." Such is the attitude of the Catholic Church at present; and such it will to all appearances remain until the Protestants have done the work, till Protestantism, by repeated advances and in spite of repeated "rebuffs," has come to her and made the proper surrender. Because she knows that were she now to actively engage in the enterprise its success would be seriously compromised. But let Protestants do the work, as they are doing, and bring the matter to the point of being voted upon, then there will be found at the polls every Catholic voter in the United States, casting his ballot for the Religious Amendment which is to place Sunday where its observance can be enforced by law. This is what all Catholics are commanded to do, by the present Pope. In his Encyclical published only last year, Leo XIII, says:— "All Catholics should do all in their power to cause the Constitutions of States, and legislation, to be modeled on the principles of the true church, and all Catholic writers and journalists should never lose sight, for an instant, from the view of the above prescriptions." The work of the National Reform party is to cause the United States Constitution, and legislation under it, to be modeled upon the principles of the Catholic Church; and although that church apparently takes no active interest in the work itself, we may rest assured that there is not a single writer, nor a single official, of the Catholic Church, from the Pope to the lowest priest, who ever, "for an instant," loses sight of the movement, or of the "prescriptions" which the Pope has given in view of it. And therefore, by the authority of the Encyclical of Pope Leo XIII, when the matter comes to the vote, we repeat, every Catholic in the United States will be at the polls to do his duty to the Pope and to the Catholic Church, in the task of modeling our Constitution and legislation "upon the principles of the true church," and the consequent enforcement of the Catholic institution of Sunday upon all people, not only in honor of the Roman Church but by the Roman Church as well as by Protestants. For when the matter comes to the enforcement of the laws what is to hinder the Catholics from doing it, and that too in the Catholic way? Every priest in the United States is sworn to root out heresy. And Monsignor Capel, in our own cities and at our very doors, defends the "Holy Inquisition." And when, by Constitutional Amendment, the refusal to observe Sunday becomes heresy that can be reached by the law, what then is to hinder the Catholics from rooting out the heresy? Certainly when the Protestants shall have been compelled by the necessity of the situation to surrender to the Catholics, it would not be in their power, even were it in their disposition, to repeal the laws; so there would then be nothing left but the enforcement of the laws—by Catholics if by nobody else. This view of the case, alone, ought to be sufficient to arouse every Protestant and every American to the most uncompromising opposition to the National Reform party. We stated, a few lines above, that it would not be in the power of the Protestants, even were it in their disposition to repeal the laws to prevent persecution by the Catholics, but let no one suppose that by this we would imply that such a thing would be in their disposition or that the enforcement of the laws, even in the last extreme, will be left to the Catholics. And for positive proof that such will not be the case we refer the reader to the article, "The Sunday Law and the Sabbath Persecution," on page 5 of this paper, which shows that Protestants can be just as mean, just as petty, just as treacherous, and just as persistent, in the persecuting enforcement of the Sunday laws, as any Catholics could possibly be. This shows that we are not fighting a shadow, when in the interests of human right and human liberty we oppose the Religious Amendment movement. It shows that there is just cause for dread in the event of the success of that movement. Thus the result of enforcing religious observances by the civil powers can be nothing else than persecution and that of the meanest kind. Because, as George Bancroft well says (we quote from memory): "The humane always shrink from enforcing such laws, and consequently their enforcement falls to the fanatic or the savage." Nor is that all, for when the enforcement of such laws thus falls to the fanatic or the man of savage disposition, it becomes not only the meanest persecution but also the most severe and the most savage.520 We need to present no further evidence that the success of the Religious Amendment movement will be to form in this Nation the living image of the Papacy, with all that that involves. And all this is for the express and sole purpose of compelling all people here to keep Sunday, which is wholly a Catholic institution. Thus will the Papacy—the beast—be exalted to honor in this Government, and "the earth and them which dwell therein" will be compelled to worship the beast and his image, even to "the last extreme;" for "he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads; and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name." Rev. 13: 12, 15-17. And we make the distinct and direct charge that the work of the National Reform party will yet be to compel all people under this Government to receive their doctrine from a hierarchy inspired by the "Mystery of Iniquity;" to compel all, through the observance of the Sunday, to render homage to the "man of Sin;" and thus to cause all to worship the Papacy—"the beast which had the wound by the sword and did live." So much for our own Nation's part in the restoration of the Papacy. We must now revert for a moment to Europe. We have shown the reconciliation between Germany and the Papacy, and the proposed reconciliation between Italy and that power. We have also shown the cause—"the ever-spreading spirit of anarchy"—which impels these two nations to this step, and which in the very nature of the case must cause others to follow their lead. But all this is entirely political so far, with no religious element apparent in it anywhere; while the restoration of the Papacy which we are discussing and which the prophecy contemplates is preeminently to religious power—he made war with the saints till they possessed the kingdom, Dan. 7: 21; "and all that dwell on the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life." Rev. 13: 8. How then are we to expect its restoration to religious supremacy in Europe? Exactly as in this country, except that in Europe it will be the Papacy direct while here it is the Papacy under the guise of National Reform Protestantism. That is to say, the thing by which the Papacy is lifted to the place of honor in this country—the Sunday—that same thing it is by which the Papacy is to be restored to religious power in Europe. In Europe the Sunday question is fast assuming a place as the leading question, even as it is in the United States. In September, 1876, there was held at Geneva, Switzerland, the International Sabbath—Sunday—Congress. It consisted of the representative friends of Sunday, from different lands, who met "to report and confer as to the condition of things in their several localities, and to unite in one organization for the promotion of the observance of the Lord's day." At this congress there were represented "the Swiss Cantons, Germany, Austria, France, Belgium, Holland, Spain, Italy, Roumania, Scotland, England, and the United States." "The German Emperor delegated his ambassador to Switzerland—Count Roder—to sit as his representative. The king of Wurtemberg, and the Duke of Baden were also represented. The Vicomte de la Panous, Inspector-general of the Orleans Railway, M. L. Charlier, chairman of the Roumanian Railways, Messrs Andre and Arnaud of the Paris and Lyons Railway, represented their several companies. Various societies for Home Missions sent their directors or prominent members. Members of Chambers of Commerce, lawyers, bankers, editors, numerous physicians, commercial men, the consuls at Geneva, of Great Britain, the United States, Spain, Brazil, Denmark, Belgium, and the Netherlands, sat as members of the congress, to the number of four hundred. Many other prominent men of Europe, several of the leading railway companies, and various associations, sent communications expressing interest in the movement, among which was a letter of warm sympathy from the Archbishop of Canterbury." A permanent International Federation was organized. A committee was appointed to formulate a basis and plan of action for the Federation. The first paragraph of the "Declaration of Principles" reads:— "The Federation founded by the congress held at Geneva, at its meeting of the 29th of September, 1876, proposes, by the help of God, to labor to restore for the good of all, a better observance of the day of rest, known under the old covenant by the name of the Sabbath, and transferred by the primitive church, under the name of the Lord's Day, to the first day of the week, in remembrance of the resurrection of Christ." The Federation calls for laws to make Sunday a public holiday and for its protection as a day of rest; laws for the protection of public worship; laws that will insure a good example of the observance of the day in Government offices and in public works; and "finally that it shall be provided by law that every concession of special privileges to individuals or companies shall be accompanied by adequate guarantees in favor of Sunday rest for those employed in their respective enterprises." In active harmony with the International Federation are the Catholics of Europe, though they carry on their part of the work in an organization of their own. This organization is patterned after that of the Jesuits for the "Propagation of the Faith." The object as stated is, "To stop the scandal of the profanation of Sunday and the four feasts of obligation." The duties of the members of the Association are, "Not to buy on Sundays and feast days, nor to send others to buy; not to work and not to make others work; to give the preference to merchants, workmen, and manufacturers who neither sell nor work on Sundays; to propagate the Association with zeal and perseverance; to endeavor to secure the closing of stores, shops, and manufactories on Sunday and feast days; not to be contented with a low-mass on Sundays and feast days, but to be present at high-mass and at the services and instructions of the parish; to avoid travel and parties of pleasure which would occupy the larger part of Sunday or a great feast day, and to avoid such great efforts at ordering and cleaning as make a notable increase in the duties of the domestics; and to do each month some good work, such as hearing mass on a week-day, communing, reciting chaplets, offering one's labor, etc., in atonement for the profanation of Sunday." The Association publishes a monthly called "The Catholic Sunday." Besides their own publications the Association uses the Sunday publications of the International Federation. One member of the Association asked the Federation for a thousand of their publications. Another member asked for "several hundreds" saying, "They are Protestant in their origin, but essentially Catholic in their meaning." And then the representative of the Federation merely adds, "We are far from denying this since for us true Protestantism is the Catholicism of the primitive Christians." For a full account of this see the Christian Statesman referred to at the beginning of this article. It was the work of this Catholic Association, which stirred up Mr. Scovel of the National Reform party to recommend to that organization repeated advances and the suffering of rebuffs to gain the co-operation of their Roman Catholic fellow-citizens in this country in behalf of the Catholic Sunday and the enforcement of its observance. This European movement in behalf of Sunday-keeping has now been going on these ten years, and the latest report of its progress, which we have seen, is the following from the San Francisco Bulletin, August 14:— "The agitation in Central and Northern Europe in favor of better observance of the Lord's day is gaining in breadth and depth. In Alsace-Lorraine two petitions in favor of the reform have lately been circulated. The first one, originating in Roman Catholic circles, has already 140,845 names, but many on this monster petition are Protestants. The second petition was started by the Protestant Pastoral Conference at Strasburg, and has now 6,367 subscribers. In Paris the 'Society for the Better Observance of Sunday' recently offered prizes for the best popular discussion in pamphlet form of the Sunday question, the condition being that only workingmen were to send in their essays. No less than forty-one manuscripts were received; five of which took prizes." This is the report of but a single province, and from it may be gathered some idea of the "breadth and depth" of the movement when all the nations named above are considered. "The ever-spreading spirit of anarchy" is causing the restoration of the Papacy to political preference; the ever-spreading spirit of the Catholic Sunday is likewise causing its restoration to religious power enforced by the secular arm; and thus there stands at the very threshold of human events the complete RESTORATION OF THE PAPACY. And then what saith the Scripture? "I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom." Again, no one can fail to see that the one religious thing in the observance of which all nations agree is the Sunday. They all likewise agree that its observance shall be enforced by law. Switzerland, Germany, Austria, France, Belgium, Holland, Spain, Italy, Roumania, Scotland, England, the United States, Denmark, Brazil, Scandinavia, Australia, and even Japan—Catholic, heathen, and so-called Protestant alike—all agree in the exaltation of Sunday to the highest place in human affairs, and in compelling all to observe it so. But, we repeat, the Sunday is the institution par excellence of the Papacy—that which "the Church" sets forth as the sign of her authority; and when the nations exalt Sunday and compel its observance, they thereby cause men to honor, obey, and do homage to the Papacy; the "man of sin" is made once more the fountain of authority and the source of doctrine; all men are compelled, under pains and penalties, to recognize it as such, and so, "All that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." The worship of the beast and his image menaces the world to-day, and God says, "If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation." Rev. 14: 9, 10. What then shall we do? The Lord does not leave us in doubt, he tells us exactly what to do. And that we shall discuss in future numbers. J.