Show THE POPES WAIL The dispatches the other day which brought to us the almost piteous wailof the Pope of Rome in respect to the conduct of the enemies of the flemish church remind I us of what a marvelous revolution has taken place in respect to the influence of the supposed successor of St PETER The I Pope complains that the enemies of tho church ruthlessly encompass it on every I side Not content with displaying hatred I I in words they proceed to acts of violence against peaceful foreigners who go to I I Rome actuated by filial piety and free from political aims He says the liberty of the I pontiff to communicate with the outer world is becoming more and more curtailed and the situation daily becoming be-coming more difficult He charges that by waging war on the papacy its enemies hoped to weaken and proscriba the name of Christianity hence ho appeals to the heads of states to give earnest consideration to the position of the churchof Rome of course and they would then understand it was to their interest in-terest to uphold the authority of the church us the greatest moral power in the world He concludes by saying that it behooves be-hooves all Catholics acting in unison with him to form a perpetual uo against the assaults of the impious Is this the man who once made tbejearth tremble That did shake empires This is he that is this is the Pope and the Pope once had power to shake kingdoms to place his proud foot upon the necks of princes and keep them waiting like lackeys at his door to hear his good pleasure the Pope who onco disposed of states and empires as his will determined and who shook the terrors of his excommiinina tions and anathemas over their rulers until thei were glad to yield to his dictation How have the mighty fallen I How has the haughty language of command been re duced to that of complaint and entreaty Where he once commanded he now entreats en-treats where he threatened he now beseeches be-seeches where he dictated he now counsels coun-sels There was a time when all was the church and the church was the Popes but that dav has Ionf nnrl rlnnhlocD v u tVUU forever Yet in swinging the pendulum from that extreme where the head of the church was all powerful the master of the world is there not danger that vje in what we call happier times shall go to the opposite oppo-site extreme and not reverence sufficiently where our fathers reverenced too much If the Pope would say that the heads of states would find it to their interest to up hold religion as the greatest moral power in the world instead of confining such a remark to the Catholic church I we would say a hearty amen for it would be true Whilst wo say the church ought to be independent unnoticed in the state that the state has nothing to do with her and the temporal power ought to take no notice of religious creeds should let them approximate or separate let them go on and govern themselves as they think best that it has no right nnd no occasion to interfere with their affairs yet rulers of states and empires will do well to foster religious sentiments for say that we will those sentiments are the true foundation of all righteousness and where they are fostered and encouraged the people will be nil tho easier governed or where permitted per-mitted will the more wisely and righteously righte-ously govern themselves Even in pagan Rome this fact was recognized While the eople believed all religions equally true and the philosophers believed them all equally false the magistrates with a wisdom of Romans worthy and of tho experience ex-perience of ages held all religions to be equally useful as the religious sentiment then as now and as it will be in all time to come was tho chief source of moral conduct and respect for constituted authority aud therefore they wisely fostered and encouraged all religions Our rulers of this age will do well to follow so far their examples Not that wo would see church and state united in our country No wo believe they live happier apart therefore let the decree of divorcement pronounced by our fathers bo perpetual but while they are distinct societies the church and the state may not religion and government be considered con-sidered close neighbors each interested in the welfare of the other though not permuted per-muted to cohabit together Religion will certainly give her aid to government buildup build-up the partition wall as high as you will between be-tween them should not government in return re-turn so far manifest her appreciation of that aid as to protect the devotees of re ligion in their religious rights and liberties liber-ties We think so and while that may be considered limited assistance it is as much as the state may safely give but that should bo given willingly and in such a spirit as to prove that the state is friendly to tho religious sentiment |