Notes

New Zealand Tablet, 11 January 1912, Page 31

Notes

Thrives Best Under Liberty .-; 'A noteworthy fact in connection with the tremendous growth of the Catholic Church in the United States (remarks the Inter mountain) is that it has occurred under the freest institution, ,the best Republic in the world where Church and State have been separated from the beginning, and where it presents incontestable proof that her prosperity does not depend upon a combination of secular and ecclesiastical authority, such as formerly obtained in many of the European kingdoms, but that she thrives.best where, under the protection of religious liberty, she may exercise solely her spiritual powers in spreading the Gospel and upholding the principles of Christianity.'

Loss and Gain • * The experiences of the late Lady Herbert of Lea were much the same as those of many other converts : to the Catholic Church. .Their difficulties are not so much in accepting the teachings of the Church as in getting rid of prejudices, the result of their early train- - ing One of the firm beliefs of many outside the fold is that the Church prohibits the laity from reading the £. tfible. This was instilled into the mind of Lady Her- "> pert m her school days, and was the firm belief of numbers ; even among the educated classes in .England about the middle of the last.century. But one or two incidents (remarks the r London Tablet) enlarged and clarified her vision. One day the English Bible she always took with her in travelling was lost, and she went into a foreign bookseller's and found a Douay

Version,, prefixed by Pope Pius the Sixth's letter to the English; translator in 1778, with its declaration 5 that the Scriptures are the abundant sources which ought to be left open to everyone to draw from them purity of doctrine .and of morals, : and vto eradicate error,. followed ;by : a commendation of the publication of the sacred ; writings .' in, the language of your country/ suitable to everyone's capacity.':. In practical life Lady Herbert found illustrations of the Pontiff's words ■On her return from a visit to the East she shared her cabin with a Catholic girl, ? who probably little;guessed what scandal or what edification it was in her power to give Lady Herbert asked her companion if'her ; confessor were very severe with her.' Oh, no!' was the reply he only insists on one; thing-that I should read a passage of Scripture every day.' The Continuity Theory What is known as ■« The; Continuity Theory ' has received another severe shock. Mr. Ellis Griffith, K C M.P., chairman of the Welsh Parliamentary Party': addressing a large and enthusiastic audience at Holy' head, recently said: ' The endowments were originally given to the Church When it Was coterminous andfdenri fied with the nation, and were intended for the benefit of the people generally, and not for the special advance of one sect. The present Church did not represent the pre- 'Reformation" Church to which the prop was originally given. It was a case not of continual but of supersession. It was a ; case of survival after a bitter and hostile conflict. In belief, in doctrine in or^i^on m liturgy-the very essences of a spWtuS donment. The new Church regarded the old Church as heretic superstitious and idolatrous, condemned its creed despised its practices, and retailed its proper Act the Reformation" the; Crown freely diverted by prlertv to 5? fc and h l ecclesiastical DMr? ° WU USG ' and t 0 the USe of the nobility «. .■■ - ■;."..■ * ,-.- ..' -'. ,-'■' * ■ .' ':■! meerinrof n P g T UP ° n W tlie fore g° in g at the weekly Sfie Clas ft House young Mens Christian S lV sL - Now this ls strong Rev ' P - J- Hayden, D.J., said Now this is strong language but fa 'id Catholic, it contains nothing that is new § it is ony I recital of the bare facts of history repeated over and over again by non-Catholic as well as Catholic h'torians You have heard what Professor Gairdner has to sav on judgtnt K.C., an authoritative statistician, and the chosen leader of an important Parliamentary party, is it too SeHe, ° T that * "J 7 StSy a Htt " e those wild -d reckless waters in parish magazines, and other publications, who unblushingly falsify history, and dhonestly describe the .life and teaching of th e preReformation" and pest-Reformation Churches as if they were one and the same thing?' urcnes ' as