WHAT NEXT? by W. E. Cornell

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Aug 28, 1898

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 19, No. 42.

WHAT NEXT?

By W. E. Cornell

BY W. E. CORNELL.

WE have had the identical straw on which the pope of Rome was compelled to lie while a prisoner in the Vatican some years ago, the veritable coat that Joseph wore on his memorable midnight journey down into Egypt to save the life of the infant Jesus, the seamless garment of the Saviour's over which lots were cast, sections of the cross on which he was crucified, and hundreds of other like relics, all of which have been exhibited to an ignorant and credulous people by the crafty priests that hold sway over them, and immense sums of money have been secured for the privilege of looking upon them. The latest is found in the telegraphic dispatches from New York of recent date, and is as follows:—

The Rev. Father Titreau, whose zeal in establishing the French Canadian church of St. Jean Baptiste, in this city, of which he is pastor, has made its altar a shrine sought by the afflicted, from near and far, who believe in the power of the saint to heal, is delighted to-day over the arrival of another well authenticated record. Mgr. Marquis, of Quebec, who has been to Rome and France, and who arrived to-day on the La Champagne, brought with him for St. Jean Baptiste the largest portion of the body of the saint which has yet been cut from the remains which are believed to repose in the basilica of Apt, in the province of Avignon.

Since Father Titreau obtained the tiny particle of the saint's body, which is in the altar of the church, he has been endeavoring to get a much larger piece. Mgr. Marquis and Father Titreau are great friends, and so it came about when the former came to Rome, the latter asked him to intercede with the archbishop of Avignon for a very considerable portion of the saint's body. The monsignor was successful in his mission, and there is great rejoicing at the church.

"I understand," said Father Titreau, "that the piece Mgr. Marquis has brought is eight or ten inches long. The piece we now have is a mere fragment, about two inches in length."

It seems almost marvelous how men can believe such a statement, but they do; it is just as marvelous to understand why Sunday-law advocates cannot see the logic of their course. The one follows blindly, but ignorantly, the leadings of the priestcraft, the other has willingly become drunk with the united Church and State idea. The end of each is alike fatal.