"THE HEALING OF THE DEADLY WOUND."
We have not space in this to present the argument from prophecy; but the evidence is there, strong, masterful, overwhelming, that the beast power of Revelation 13 represents union of church and state, a system or condition of things operative under different forms from the days of Babylon to the present; that the various great organized forms, or dynasties, under which this system has existed are represented by the heads of the beast, beginning with Babylon; that this system and these heads are severally and singly opposed to the church and Gospel of Christ; and that the fifth of these forms is that of the beast under its fifth head, the Papacy, which held sway by consent of the state for 1,260 years, from A. D. 538 to 1798, as "head over all the churches and true and only corrector of heretics." By the influence of the Bible in the great Reformation the influence of the Papacy over the minds of men and kingdoms was mightily shattered; and when, at the close of the French Revolution in 1798, the pope was taken prisoner by the French, there was no power in Europe so poor as to recognize the papal mandate as to heresy and its due. The deadly wound was the deprivation of civil recognition, support, and authority. From that day the Papacy has been bemoaning her condition, and lamenting her widowhood—separation from the civil power. But the declaration of the prophecy concerning that head of the beast is, "His death-stroke was healed; and the whole world wondered after the beast." We are nearing the time of the complete healing. Protestant powers which once recognized the danger of Rome's friendship are now courting it. Outpost after outpost has been yielded in England, till now but one flimsy barrier lies between Catholicism and the throne. While Catholic France, "the eldest daughter of the church," is forcing restrictive measures against the teachings of the Catholic orders, Protestant Germany, alarmed at the spread of Socialism, is admitting the once-expelled Jesuits as part price of Catholic support in the government. The United States is rapidly going in the same direction. The Roman Catholic vote becomes a necessity, but as the Roman Catholic vote can not be secured, except at the price of Protestant and truly democratic principle, the compromise is effected and the price is paid, to the government's undoing and Rome's profit. The following from the Catholic Mirror, of March 26, the official organ of Cardinal Gibbons, thus expresses its satisfaction at the course of Germany and America:— On the 4th of July, 1872, Bismarck succeeded in passing his anti-Jesuit law, barring the members of the Society of Jesus from the German Empire. At that time, inflated, as he was, with the conceit of power, he little thought that but a few short years would pass, when yet the memory of the enactment was fresh in the minds of many, the feat would be pronounced bad, and accordingly abrogated. Fate was kinder to him than to many of his class. Thrown out after a sensational reign, and shunned and avoided by his former adherents in his enforced retirement, it was not his lot to witness the repeal of his "pet" legislation. . . . Nay, more, not only are they [the Jesuits] permitted to return, but gladly welcomed; the power that Bismarck raved against is now the hope of the empire. The Social party has been making rapid strides, and has attained such proportions that the established order trembles under its demoniacal influence. To stem this tide, and to counteract the baleful influence of such a vast spread of opinion, these brainy men, clear in their logic, and determined and steadfast in purpose, faithful followers of Ignatius of Loyola, have been allowed to return. It must be said that this early vindication is due, in a long measure, to the kaiser, who, from the very beginning of his reign, has shown his disapproval of the tactics of the indomitable Bismarck. Since he ascended to the throne he has availed himself of every opportunity to manifest his good-will toward the Holy See and her faithful children. The interest he took in the Golden Jubilee of Pope Leo XIII. of holy memory, and his subsequent anxiety during the venerable pontiff's last illness, will ever be remembered as a beautiful tribute worthy the distinguished recipient. How unlike will be the reception accorded President Loubet, when he makes his anticipated visit to Rome, to that given the Imperial William on the occasion of his last visit. And Loubet, too, from Catholic France. Shame on the name! This chapter of German history is complete; that of France is yet in the moulding. Will Combes close the chapter as ignominiously as did the prostrate Bismarck? While the process of abrogation has been in operation in the Bundesrath, our own Congress has not been idle. The ruling of Secretary Hitchcock, made some years ago, that the granting of rations to Indian children attending sectarian Catholic schools should be discontinued, as it constituted an appropriation to sectarian schools, and was for that reason against the policy of Congress, has been abrogated. The injustice of this position was never lost sight of from the very first. Ever since, a number of congressmen, notably Senator Jones and Mr. Sherman, loyal to the cause of justice, have been working for its repeal. Through the niceties of parliamentary distinctions the opposition succeeded in staving off the measure, only to meet with it again under an amended form, and, may it be added, to defeat it on the same point of order. Finally, through the ingenuity of Mr. Sherman, an amendment was drafted which met with the approval of the chair, and was accordingly carried. This unjust discrimination has been a source of much embarrassment to the Catholic institutions laboring among the Indians, and against which they could make comparatively slow progress. Now that this impediment has been removed, we can safely hope for much good work from our missionaries [supported in part by the state]. Along with the aforegoing proceedings might be mentioned the decision of Judge O'Brien in the Court of Appeals of New York State, in the case of James Sargent against St. Mary's and St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Orphan Asylums. The case was raised upon a temporary injunction granted to Sargent to restrain the Board of Education of Rochester from paying salaries to four sisters of St. Joseph's School, who were teaching secular branches. The decision does away with the wrangle that has been going on in New York about the municipality furnishing means for secular education of orphans in asylums. The opinion is based on the fact that the schooling is but an incidental feature of the asylum work, and the fact that the schooling is given does not change the character of the institution. Thus within the last few weeks Catholicism has triumphed over her unscrupulous adversaries, and the cause of justice upheld.9And thus the mightiest nations of earth are blindly, passively, supinely, permitting themselves to be led back to the captivity of that power which brought the Dark Ages, and ruined Italy, Spain, and other nations. It is not Roman Catholics, as individuals, of whom we speak, but Roman Catholicism—the Papacy—as a system. All who ignore God's Word and the free salvation of Christ Jesus will be found at last in her doomed captive train. Rev. 13:8.