A SIGN OF WHAT IS; A PROPHECY OF WHAT IS TO BE.
NEVER, perhaps, has there been such a scene witnessed in Congress as was seen in the closing debates and passage of the Wilson Tariff Bill in the House of Representatives, February 1, 1894. "There was not a vacant seat anywhere in the chamber," runs the report, and the great crowd overflowed on the floor of the House. The Diplomatic Corps, the representatives of the various nations, were present in their brilliant costumes. But the most striking thing of all is that set forth in the Examiner's report in the following words:— "In the Speaker's pew sat James Cardinal Gibbons, clad in a robe of black silk and wearing on his head the scarlet cap that betokens his rank." Such a thing as that would never have been tolerated when the spirit of liberty prevailed in this country. It shows how thoroughly under Rome's influence our government has fallen. Not only this: Leo XIII. has said:— What Rome has done for other countries, she will do for the United States. The right of rule belongs to her, is her claim. Kings rule by right only when they rule by her consent, is her doctrine. While she is not in the fullest sense the power behind the throne, the presence of Cardinal Gibbons, clothed with the insignia of his office, is the prophecy of what is to be when the Papacy shall dictate the legislation of the country. The sentence quoted above should startle every true Protestant.