LXXXVII.—THE ROMAN PONTIFFS.ARCHBISHOP SPALDING.M. J. Spalding, D. D. Archbishop of Baltimore, is a native of Kentucky. He is a man of great learning and ability, and of untiring industry. He is the author of a very valuable “History of the Protestant Reformation,” and of several volumes of Essays and Lectures. The following is from his brilliant Introduction to the “History of the Church,” by Darras.
ARCHBISHOP SPALDING.
M. J. Spalding, D. D. Archbishop of Baltimore, is a native of Kentucky. He is a man of great learning and ability, and of untiring industry. He is the author of a very valuable “History of the Protestant Reformation,” and of several volumes of Essays and Lectures. The following is from his brilliant Introduction to the “History of the Church,” by Darras.
1. Take them all in all, the two hundred and fifty Popes and more, who have successively occupied the Chair of Peter, constitute the most respectable and venerable body of men whose deeds are recorded on the pages of history. Nearly all of them were highly respectable men, learned, enlightened, and pious, far beyond their age; very many of them were venerable for their personal sanctity. Seventy-nine of them—nearly a third of the entire number—were so remarkable for their holiness of character as to merit being inscribed on the Calendar of Saints; and this number includes thirty-three who willingly laid down their lives for Christ and His Church.
2. A very large proportion of the others were men of blameless life, and of indefatigable[585]zeal for the propagation[586]of the faith, while not a few of them were possessed of great learning and capacity. Such, for instance, were Innocent III., Innocent IV., Boniface VIII., and Benedict XIV.,—not to name a host of others in the earlier ages of the Church.
3. In this connection, it is a remarkable fact, and one which shows how effectually Christ has watched over His Church, in the person of His Vicars on earth; that during the last three centuries—since the so-called Reformation—not a single unworthy or immoral Popehas occupied the venerable Chair of Peter. While wickedness has abounded[587], and the very foundations of the faith have been boldly undermined by wicked men “lying in wait to deceive,” God has taken care of His own, and has spared scandals in the high places of His Church.
4. The Reformation, has, perhaps, been instrumental in involuntarily and indirectly rendering this signal service to the cause of the Church, which it so unblushingly maligned. By removing from the pale of Catholic Christendom the most turbulent[588]and unrestrained of its members, it has contributed to purify the atmosphere breathed by the great body of Christians, who remained faithful; while by its bitter opposition, it has quickened their zeal and nourished their vigilance. Thus God’s providence hath drawn good out of evil.
5. Compare the Popes with the sovereigns who have contemporaneously[589]filled the various thrones of Europe and the world; and mark the difference, or rather the contrast. While among the latter it is very difficult to discover even one just man, in a long line of incumbents;[590]in the former, it is almost as difficult to find one who is wicked. Among the latter, personal morality, self-restraint, and purity are the exception; among the former, they are the rule. Among the latter, a ruler now and then appears clad with the virtues which mark the saint, as if to show that sanctity is compatible with every condition in life; among the former so many blameless and saintly men appear, that we cease to wonder, and yield to no surprise on discovering a new Pope who is true to the traditions[591]of his order. When we find a solitary flower in the bleak and dreary desert, we are startled into unbounded admiration;when we behold whole clusters of them in a flower-garden, we look with calm pleasure on the beautiful spectacle, but take it as a matter of course, and are not at all astonished.
[585]In-de-fatˊ-i-ga-ble, unwearying; not yielding to fatigue.[586]Propˊ-a-gaˊ-tion, diffusion; increase.[587]A-boundˊ-ed, been prevalent or plentiful.[588]Turˊ-bu-lent, riotous; disorderly.[589]Con-temˊ-po-ra-neous, living or existing at the same time.[590]In-cumˊ-bent, one who holds an office.[591]Tra-ˊdi-tion, the history or account handed down from one to another.
[585]In-de-fatˊ-i-ga-ble, unwearying; not yielding to fatigue.
[585]In-de-fatˊ-i-ga-ble, unwearying; not yielding to fatigue.
[586]Propˊ-a-gaˊ-tion, diffusion; increase.
[586]Propˊ-a-gaˊ-tion, diffusion; increase.
[587]A-boundˊ-ed, been prevalent or plentiful.
[587]A-boundˊ-ed, been prevalent or plentiful.
[588]Turˊ-bu-lent, riotous; disorderly.
[588]Turˊ-bu-lent, riotous; disorderly.
[589]Con-temˊ-po-ra-neous, living or existing at the same time.
[589]Con-temˊ-po-ra-neous, living or existing at the same time.
[590]In-cumˊ-bent, one who holds an office.
[590]In-cumˊ-bent, one who holds an office.
[591]Tra-ˊdi-tion, the history or account handed down from one to another.
[591]Tra-ˊdi-tion, the history or account handed down from one to another.