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Show The "Catholic Universe," in a review of Bishop Spalding's latest book,, "Religion and Art and Other Essays," is in error when it observes that the distinguished author is in a new role as an art j critic. The principal essay alluded to first ap- j peared in one of Bishop Spalding's earliest works, "Eassays and Reviews," published, we think, more than fifteen years ago. Excellent as are all of the j illustrious essayist's literary productions, "Religion j and Art" -is scarcely equalled by any of his later j works in beautiful flights of a soaring imagination and charm of diction. Indeed, it may be reasonably reason-ably questioned whether there is aught in prose m the language that surpasses this superb essay in loftiness of poetic sentiment and charm. Sacrifice is the very essence of all true religion. Why God has so ordained surpasses man's understanding. under-standing. That such is His inscrutable law, however how-ever becomes unmistakably clear as wc study the lives of II is Saints or observe the careers of His devoted servants with whom we come in daily contact. con-tact. Had we not IF Li own assurance that He is, j j in all the verity, the God of infinite love, this divine decree would seem harsh and -cruel. But as we prayerfully and painfully journey through this vale of tears, do not our hearts receive re-ceive frequent and sweetly consoling confirmations confirma-tions of this divine and holy truth? Hoes it not. indeed, as time passes and our experiences multiply, multi-ply, become clearly evident to us that there can be no intimate communion between the spirit of sinful man and the all-holy God without the purifying puri-fying influence of pain and sorrow of tribulation of heart patiently endured for the love of God? Ah! the mystery of pain: how incomprehensible, and yet how manifestly real and therefore unutterably unut-terably heart-consoling are its sanctifying influences! in-fluences! 4 The wisdom of making a radical change in the methods of conducting the life insurance business, busi-ness, as suggested by one of our exchanges in connection con-nection with the discussion of the public-owner- shin Dronatranda. is bv no means annarent. Tins i business is now, in the main, being conducted on a purely mutual or co-operative basis. The Equitable, Equit-able, as a stock concern, is one of the notable exceptions ex-ceptions to the general rule, and there can be but liUle doubt that it will be compelled to yield to tho demands of its policy-holders, and "mutual-ize" "mutual-ize" its business. All that is necessary to secure for the life policy-holders of the country exact justice is to educate the public how to intelligently discriminate between the economically and the recklessly managed concerns. Only "The privileges requiring the permanent use of public property should be owned and exercised by the public." Many other enterprises of a quasi-public character and exercising a public trust prominent among which are the life insurance companies should no doubt be strigently supervised by our political authorities. --- : As might have been expected, our Catholic exchanges ex-changes are almost unanimous in lending their voice to the support of the movement for the public pub-lic ownership of public utilities. Some of,them express ex-press the fear that under the new regime there will be much looting of the public funds by the officials in charge of the various enterprises. That this dsnger is not a merely imaginary one unfortunately admits of no reasonable doubt. The situation sim ply presents a choice of evils. Just as long as men regard the flesh pots of life as of paramount importance, import-ance, there cannot possibly be devised a system that Avill entirely preclude theft and'eorruption. But that the justly apprehended evils under the proposed pro-posed new system will be insignificant as compared com-pared to the heaven-crying evils that obtain under un-der present conditions is a self-evident fact. It is probable, too, that the people will henceforth exercise ex-ercise a greater and more efficacious vigilance over j their public servants than has heretofore been the j case, and that the inherent evils of public-ownership will thus be reduced to a minimum. At all events, as the Western Watchman observes, the experiment ex-periment is certainly worth making. - There are those, endowed with a wealth of abiding abid-ing faith in the saving truths of Holy Church, who have rashly abandoned the sweetness of the ineffable ineffa-ble hope for themselves that she would so freely dispense. How strange that this should be ! What a living hell, in God's glad sunlight, must be theirs ! To those who feel themselves utterly and irrevocably irrevoca-bly abandoned of God because of their recklessly sinful lives what a glad inspiration should not they find in contemplating the Magdalen at the feet of the tenderly loving Christ, or the thief drawing the last breath of sin-abandoned life on ! the cross. One loving impulse of unselfish love in their sin-defiled hearts for the God of infinite love and holiness, and they are instantly reborn with a divine radiance far surpassing even that of the first radiant glow of their shildhood innocence ! In the infinitely, in-finitely, tenderly loving dispensation of the incomprehensibly in-comprehensibly loving God, there is but one state, in the life of man that is hopeless that in which the wayward child of God fatuously and stubbornly stubborn-ly refuses a reconciliation with Heaven. And thus it is that there is no irrevocable enmity between God and man saveHhat of wilful self-abandonment on the part of the.latter. Ah! why will any child of God abandon himself to such a unspeakably hopeless, to so unutterably wretched a lot, when the blessedness of Heaven is his for the asking? |
