MR. JAMES E. FITZGERALD.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4344, 20 February 1875, Page 2

MR. JAMES E. FITZGERALD.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —I trust that you will publish, at your convenience, the extract from the London Tablet, sent to you, which completely sets bare the bad faith and fallacious quotations of - Lord Acton, that recent nobility, crouching to Mr. Gladstone its creator Meanwhile, let me break, a lance with your new correspondent. Mr. Jas. Edward Fitz Gerald. Save all respect due to him, I must say that in the present case that gentleman does not recommend himself by sense and reason. We must, however, recognise in him one merit—that of, coming. out in a straightforward manner, and daring to impugn the letter of the illustrious convert from Protestantism, Archbishop Manning. Let me proceed against Mr. J. E. Fitz Gerald with principles, and not like him by the means of sophism. As there are on earth two distinct societies —religious and civil society—there must be necessarily two sorts of allegiance, we must render to Ciesar the things that are Csesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s. Each of, these societies must have a head ; —without a head no society is possible. Let that head be Pope or Queen, or any president recognised by religious society, that head must be obeyed conscientiously if conscience tells us that it has a divine authority over us. In case of conflict between the two powers, civil and religious, we must not remain blind slaves to civil masters ; but we must be necessarily guided by conscience, listening to those or to him who, we believe, has received the Divine mission of expounding the law of God and enlightening our conscience. But Mr. Fitz Gerald will say: There will be two national powers. The clear intellect of that gentleman is dimmed by national prejudices and his rooted notions that the spiritual head of a church must be also the civil ruler. Of course, according to his tenets, the Queen of England must be the head of the Church, hence he thinks the Pope also must lay claim to civil and religions allegiance as well as the Queen—a most erroneous prin ciple and pitiful consequence ! Accumulation or amalgamation of power over Church and State is ’against Christian teaching. The two authorities shall bo eternally distinct. Let us render to Ousar things that are Cmsar’s, and to God things that arc God’s Where there is an attempt at such monstrous alliance there is tyranny, and we return to those ages of shame and horror when Csesar was all—Conqueror, Supreme Pontiff, and oven God himself. In such state of society, man has lost his dignity, his conscience Ho has come to the lowest degree of degrt dation, and there is nobody to lift him up Moreover, Mr. J. E. Fitz Gerald being rivetted to his favorite scheme, that the chief of religion must be a national power, tells us that in case of the two national powers, being in conflict in the domain of religion, a citizen must transfer his allegiance and his person to another State. But. my good friend, when Ciesar has the universal empire, as it was in the time of Babylon and paganism, and as it will be in the days of Antichrist, when those worthies command to adore Jupiter, Venus Diana—perhaps to kiss devoutly their spurs and hoots. Then 1 ask, bow ran a man. lover of bis dignity, transport elsewhere bis allegiance and his person? Bat even now, in the present state of the division of land and sea among a multitude of nations, it would he quite impossible to millions of men to leave their conntry in search of religious liberty. There is one shelterleft to each man ;it is his conscience. From that impregnable stronghold he can throw the gauntlet of defiance to all the tyrants, and to vain sophists their abettors,—l am, &c., [The letter in the Tablet, referred a. Catholic,” is much too long for our columns and after all, is signed only with initials.—Ed. N.Z.T.J