S H ALL
ROM E
R E C O N Q UE R E N
G L A ND &
F i rst E d t tz o n
e e
p
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S pt m b
r I , 1 9 10
R pr i n t d
Re
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R eprmted
No v m b
10,
1910
30,
1 9 10
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1 9 IO
RO M E
S HA L L
EN G LAN D
R E C O N Q UE R
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.
&
F
O RE WO RD
s
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i
ll
b
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t
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i
s een fro m t h e title p a ge
T
l ittle boo k i s the w ork of two a uthor s T h e
&
contributions o f e a c h a re indicat e d on t he
page o f content s Usu a l l y es peci a lly wh en
de a ling w ith a controvers i a l s ub j ect a dual
authorshi p pres ents g re a t di ffi culties I n the
present c a s e h ow ever thos e di ffi cult ie s h a v e
not existed a s there w a s pr a ct ic a l ly no di ff er
ence o f o pinion in rel a tion to the m ain is sue s
w
as
under
dis
cu
ss
ion
until
the
last
chapter
g
T he autho r o f th a t chapter there
reached
:1
deal
s
w
it
h
the
duty
an
d
o f P rotest a nt s
8
&
s peci a lly ment ion s what h e thinks shoul d
be o u r a ttitude t ow a rds t h e K ing s D e clara
t ion an d the inspection of mon a st ic i n s t i tu
H is
t ions
o pinion s concerning thes e
quest ion s are n ot altoget h er share d by h i s
é fe l l o w worke r who wou l d r a ther urge th e
following
F irst th a t a strong P rotest a nt dec la r a
&a
As
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E
S
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R
A
R
B
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Fo re wo rd
t ion on the p a rt of the S overeign i s ess enti a l
a n d that w hile no o ff ens ive t erms shoul d be
u s ed it is neces s a r y b y legal enactment s to
s ecure the Protest a nt succes s ion to th e
t hrone
I f the pres ent safeguards such a s
t he K ing s D eclaration the B i ll o f Rights
a n d the A c t of S ettle ment w ere removed
o r s o weakened that a Rom a n Catholi c coul d
o ccu p y the B ritish throne it woul d not onl y
m e a n that w e might h a ve a S overeign who
w oul d pa y a llegian ce to a foreign power
a power that has ever been a n enem y t o the
l ibert ies of the people but woul d probabl y
m ean that our nation woul d b e plunged int o
al l th e horrors o f a c ivil w a r H owever we
have been latel y as sure d that the Protestant
s uc ces s ion i s safel y gu a rded an d s o w e p ro
fo u n dl y hop e that while there ha s been mu ch
a pprehens ion o n a ccount of the action which
th e Government ha s taken in rel a tion to th e
K ing s D eclarat ion it will never b e po ss ibl e
fo r a Pap ist whet h er he b e o n e in s ecret
l ike Charles I I o r one op enl y a vowed lik e
J a m es I I w il l ever a g a in s i t on the B ritis h
throne
With reg a r d to the quest ion of the i n
s p e c t i o n of m on a s ti c institutions
while bot h
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vi
Fo re wo rd
believe in th e ne ce ss ity for such i n
their reason s for u rging it are
s p e c ti o n
di ff erent
Th e author of th e chapter under
dis cuss ion urges that monasti c institut ions
shoul d b e inspe cte d for their own sakes H i s
c o worker would urge ins p ect ion not onl y fo r
their o w n sakes but for the sake o f the
communit y at l a rge At the present m oment
there are a ccording to the b est informa
t ion obtainab le m ore monast ic institutions
in England than existe d in the t ime o f
H enr y V I I I
moreover ever y convent and
mon a ster y i s pract icall y a s eale d hous e O n e
Euro p ean nation after another has expelle d
them as homes o f treason and a s dangerous to
the w ell b eing o f the stat e
M Yves G u y ot
sa y s concerning them
The religious c o n
g re g a t i o n s are a S T A T E W IT H IN A STAT E
B ut the y are n o t merely that The y po sses s
a t errible solvent force and l ik e the strong
v inega r that burst s granite ro cks are capable
o f undermining the most solid edifi ce rais e d
”
b y the most united people
B ut more than this : thes e institutions
shoul d be open to G overn ment ins pection fo r
the sak e o f the in m ates
I n this connection
it ma y n o t b e ami s s t o quote the following
writers
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v ii
Fo re wo rd
C onvent s a re s eale d hous es
I n the m a re
t h ous a nds of our fellow creatures
M o st o f
the m enter in y outh when their natures a re
They a re
most s us ceptible t o influence
stri ct ly gu a rded
O b edience i s o n e o f th e
A ghastly curs e rest s
great law s o f life
on
thos e who d a re to es c a pe
The y are
ta u ght t o destro y all hu man a ffe ction
Do
th ey w ish t o come into the worl d a gain &
We do not know c a nnot know ex cept o n
s o m e r a re o ccas ion o n e happen s t o e s c a pe
They a re under the do m inion o f a confess or
who m to disob e y is regarded a s s in
I
ma ke no ch a rge of cruelty im mor a lity o r
c rime
B ut I a ssert that an y thing c a n b e
done children c a n b e born a n d women c a n
die th ere c a n b e cruelt y crime outrage
a n d y et no one h a s the right to know a ny
th ing about it
An d y et i s it not a f a ct that b es ides
these practic a ll y ever y publ ic inst itution o f
—
e v er y sort as y lum prison refor mator y —i s
O pen to pub li c inspect ion & Wh y is it th a t
Rome shoul d s o rule o u r lan d th a t convents
m on a steries an d th e industri a l institut ion s
a s so ci a te d w ith that Church shoul d b e
exe mpt & Th e publ ic ha s a right t o know
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viii
F o re wo rd
t ha t a l l i s wel l within thes e prison h ous e s
e specially in view of their history a ncient
”
a nd mo dern
Ap a rt fro m t h es e two quest ions h ow e ver
the a uthors hol d pr a ct ic al ly t h e same o pinion
o n the m ain issues w it h whic h this boo k
deals
B oth have fo r man y ye a rs b een
intereste d in t h e s ub j ect s under di s cus s ion
an d have in o n e fo rm and another p l a ce d
A s a co u s e
their views b efore the pub l ic
u
n
m
m
e
c
e
they
have
receive
d
no
s
a
l
l
a
ount
q
w hile
o f abus e fro m the Romanist pres s
n a mes o f the most op probrious nature h a ve
b een hurle d at th e m
O f these t he y have
taken no notice neither h a ve they in any
fashion con des cended to us e the m etho ds o f
controvers ialist s whos e a im h a s a pp a rent ly
b een n o t to arrive at truth b ut to t a rnish the
name s o f thos e who h a ve not a gree d w ith
them
B ut the y feel it w is e and necessar y t o
reissue in a more compact form the fact s
and a rgument s wh i ch lead them t o o ff er an
unflinching res ist a nce to the attempt which
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F ro m
a
p p
a
er o n
the
“
Ro ma i s m , re a d a t the N a t i o
w a se a , M a rc h 1 0 , 1 90 9
S n
n
”
.
IX
v l p m nt f
C h u h C un i l
Al a rmi n g D e
n l
a
F re e
e o
e
rc
o
s o
c
,
Fo re wo rd
R o m e is m a king to re capture B rit a in The y
know that the su cces s o f that a ttempt woul d
b e th e ruin o f o u r countr y ; th ey know that
su ch s ucces s is only pos s ible if o u r p eopl e
los e their B ible an d their cont a ct with C hrist
Their contention therefore is for a l iving
a nd
working fa i th i n th e verities of the
C hr istian gos pel an d in the P erson of
Lord J esus Christ
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A ug us t,
1 91 0
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C O NT E NT S
C HA R
I
.
WH &
E N A N BE O E A R OT E STA N T
N AT I O N &
1 H
D ID
GL
D
13v
II
.
III
.
W H&
R
THE
D
.
IV
.
R OM E
W
U
RM
S
AN
.
T HE
V II
P
A
N T R Y BY R F H
.
OF
S UC C E S S
U L D BE
T HE
R ES T
P T UR E
E NG
DU
AL
TY
TO
OF
C
.
50
.
R E O N QU E R
TO
C
72
LA
ND
.
&
J
P R OT E sT A N T s
.
.
By
.
UL
F A TS BY
C
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.
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P
C
PP E
M
OF
R OS E TS
H AT WO
A
.
A CO U
E T E I N AT I O N R O E
B R I TA I N BY J H
TO
VI
P
.
O MA N I SM R I N S
G R E AT
’
M
C
P AG E
IF
BY
n
J
H
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9
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R O M E WE R E
R
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F H
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r rg
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1
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BY
4
R
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F H
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4
4
1 68
I
C H AP TE R
WH &
D ID E N
G L A ND
NA
BE
COM E
A P RO
T E STA N T
T I ON &
question which is here s e t down is on e
o f supreme i m po rt a nc e
I t l a rgely help s to
a corre ct underst a nding o f the funda menta l
di ff erences wh ich exist b etween P ro
te s ta n ti s m an d Rom a nism
F o r more than
three centuries Englan d h a s b een a P ro
testant country
U p t o the e a rl y part o f
the sixteenth centur y it wa s Rom a nist
it
w a s l a rgel y ruled from Rome it b elieve d
in the doctrines o f the Roman C hurch a n d
it wa s ob edient t o Roman mandates
Up
to
1 5 2 0 Englan d was far more a Roman
Catholic countr y than S pain i s to d ay An d
yet w ithin a few y ears from that date
Englan d ceased to o wn her allegiance to
that Church a nd she learne d to s corn her
most
cherishe d tr a ditions
I nstitutions
hoary with age tottered to their very base ;
TH E
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B
S ha ll Ro m e Re c o n qu e r Engl a n d
t ha t w h ich h a d stoo d fo r ce nturies w a s s wept
a w a y a s if b y a whirlwind T he who l e
n a tion was sh ak en to its very foun da tion
a n ew a t mosphere w a s breat h ed a n d a new
s pirit p rev a ile d everywhere
S uch a ch a nge does not t ak e p la ce wi th
out weight y a nd ins istent re a sons A c ha nge
which finds its w ay into the very w a rp a n d
woof o f a nation s life does not co me b e
caus e of so m e whims or f a ncies of a few
indi v iduals
I t has its caus e in deep se a te d
a nd su ffi cient forces an d it is in a correct
underst a nding of thos e forces that t h e right s
and wrongs of the whole question c a n b e
largely settled
I n this chapter I propos e to give a plain
straightforw a rd a lthough neces s a ri ly a bb re
a nd insu fficient s ketch o f why
v i a te d
Englan d claimed freedo m from an a uthorit y
which had been exercised over her fo r man y
hundreds of y ears a n d became a P rotestant
nation
We must underst a n d a t t h e very outset
th a t at the beginning o f the s ixteenth cen
tury t h e Ro man C hurc h practic a ll y rule d
Engl a n d a n d a gre a t p a rt of E uro pe
T he
great b ulk of the people were illiter a te a nd
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2
Wh y Engl a n d b e c a m e Pro te s ta nt
the Church w a s the repository of m uch o f
the le a rning that existed As a cons e quen ce
the Church h a d obt a ine d a p ower w h i ch w e
to day c a n b a rel y comprehen d T h e clergy
were not a menable to the l a ws un der w h ic h
l aym en lived T he y governe d t h e la ity but
th e lait y had no power over them
Their
power was felt in pr a ctic a ll y every phas e
o f life
The throne o f a country w a s the
gift o f the Church and no king w a s l aw
fully the sovereign o f hi s l a n d unles s the
Church cro wned him
The dispos ition o f
propert y was als o in the h a nds o f the
Church and if a man made a will that will
was n o t valid if h e died o u t o f c o mmunion
with th e C hurch
A priest w a s a sacred
person and no matter what crime he c o m
m i tte d the ordinar y laws o f the l a n d could
n o t touch him
O nl y the Church coul d dea l
with him
O n the other han d the C hurch
court s claimed the right to de a l with lay
men to reward o r to punish as the c a s e
might b e in almost ever y relation o f life
As o n e historian sa y s :
I f an i mpatient
la y man s poke a disres pectful word o f the
clergy h e w a s cited b efore t h e b ishop s c o m
missar y and fined
I f he refused t o p a y h e
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3
S h a l l Ro me Re c o n qu e r Engl a n d
w a s exco mmunic a te d a n d exco mm un ic a tion
was a poisonou s dis e a se
W hen a poo r
wretc h wa s under the ba n o f the C hurc h
no tr a des ma n might s ell hi m clothes or foo d
no friend m ight reliev e h im —no human
voice m ight a ddres s hi m un der pain o f the
sa m e sentence ; if he died unre conciled h e
died l ike a dog without the S acr a ments a n d
”
w a s refus ed a C hrist i a n buri a l
W hen we reflect th a t the peo p l e b elieved
a n d without a shadow of doubt th a t the
prie st s pos s es se d the keys o f the future th a t
the y coul d pro v ide a p a ss port into heaven
or condemn them to a gh a stly m a teria l
hell a nd when w e realis e their b elief th a t
an excom municate d person went without
dou b t to everl a sting d a mnation we c a n
underst a n d so m ething o f their power
We m ust understand a lso that the pos ses
s ion of such power on the p a rt of the c lergy
led to the poss ess ion of great wealth
M en
in order to obt a in the smile of Go d a nd an
entr a nce into he a ven m a de v a st be quests
H a ll a m the historian s a ys
to the Church
“
The Church f a iled not ab ove a l l t o i n
u po n the we al thy sinner t ha t no
c u l c a te
a tone ment cou l d b e so a c c ept a b l e to he a ven
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,
S h a ll Ro m e Re c o n qu e r Engl a n d
lock of ha ir —were pre s erved
Person s
insp ired b y their l ive s des ired to follo w their
ex a mple a nd a s a conse quence fraternities
a ros e At the b eginning t h ey were doubtles s
p l a ce s of s elf sa c ri fi c e a n d pr a yer ; m ore
over the monks were at one t ime the
gre a t friends of the poor a n d distres s ed
P re sently however corruption s e t in
T hes e a b b e y s an d mon a steries became the
own ers of v a st tr a ct s of la n d history proves
the m t o h a ve b ecome hot b eds of vice o f
drun k ennes s a nd of s elf indulgenc e o f a ll
s orts whil e their in ma tes b ec am e proud
im perious a n d c orru p t
I n proof of thi s I c a nnot pe r h aps do
b etter th a n quote fro m the letters o f
E r a smus the gre a t s c h ol a r a n d wit of the
s ixteenth century
M oreover in quoting
E ras mu s I a m quoting o n e who live d a n d
die d a Ro ma n C a tho lic a frien d of kings
a n d po pe s a n d o n e who m ight h a ve b een
a C a rdinal of the C h urch of Ro m e ha d he
E r a s mu s w a s a ls o looke d upon
s o des ired
b y the Roman C hurch a s the o n e m a n who
b y his great intellect an d le a rning o oul d
s tem the t i de of the Reformation
”
O b e dience he says
is so t a ug h t a s to
a
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6
Wh y Engl a n d be c a m e Pro te s ta n t
h ide t ha t there i s a ny obedienc e due t o Go d
K ings a re to o b ey the P op e
Priests are
to ob ey their b ishop s
M onks a re to o b ey
their a b b ot s
I t ma y h a p pen it often
does happen th a t a n a b b ot is a fool or a
H e iss ues a n order to the
drun ka rd
b rotherhoo d in the n a me of hol y obe dience
An d wh a t will such a n order b e & An o rder
to ob serve ch a stit y & a n order to b e sob er &
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an order to tell no lies & N ot one o f thes e
things
I t wi ll be t ha t a brother i s not
to l earn Greek he i s not to instruct him
H e ma y b e a s o t
H e m a y go with
s e lf
H e ma y b e full of h a tred a n d
prostitutes
H e m a y never look ins ide the
ma lice
S cripture s N o matter H e h a s not b roken
a n y o a th H e is a n excellent m ember o f
the co mmunity While if he dis obeys s uc h
a co mm a nd as this from a n insolent superio r
there is the st a ke or dungeon fo r him
”
inst a ntly
Again in his N otes on t h e N e w Test a
”
ment the condition o f the priesthood an d
mon a stic hous es is m a de ap p a rent H e s a ys
in comment of Matt x ix 1 2 :
“
M en a re thre a tened o r tempted into
vows of ce l ib a cy
They c a n ha ve licence
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7
,
S h a ll Ro me Re c o n qu e r Engl a n d
to go with h a r l ots b ut they must not ma rry
wives
They ma y keep concub ines a n d
re ma in priests
I f they t ak e wives t h ey a re
”
thrown to t h e fl am es
O n M a tt xxiii h e s a ys :
“
You m ay find a b is h op h ere a n d t h ere
w h o te a ches the go spel thoug h life and
te a ching h a ve smal l agree m ent
B ut wh a t
s hall we sa y of thos e who d estroy the gos pe l
its elf ma ke l a ws a t their w i l l t yr a nnis e over
the la ity a nd m e a sure right a n d wrong wit h
rules constructe d by the m s elves &
W h a t woul d J ero m e s a y coul d h e s e e the
Virgin s m ilk exhib ite d for m oney with a s
m uch honour p a id to it a s to the c o n s e
cr a te d bo dy o f C hrist ; t h e mir a cu l ous o il ;
th e portions o f the true cros s enough i f
they were collected to freight a l a rge ship &
H ere we h a ve the hoo d of S t Fr a ncis there
O ur L a d y s petticoat o r S t Anne s co mb
o r St
Thom a s o f Canterbury s shoes ; not
presente d as innocent a ids to religion but
a s the sub st a nce of religion its elf — an d all
through the a v a rice o f priest s a n d the
h y pocri sy of the monks pla y ing o n the
credulity o f the people E ven bishops pl ay
their p a rt in the s e fant a stic shows an d
”
a pprov e an d dwel l on the m in their receipt s
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8
Wh y Engl a n d be ca m e Pro te s ta nt
O ne cou ld quote
m a ny. p a ges o f s i mi l ar
writings fro m the work s of E r a smus a l l
goin g to show the corru pt st a te of the
Churc h a l l over E urope
D e a n Co l et again wa s j u s t a s pronounce d
”
a s E r a smu s
Wo u ld th a t for once said
Colet to the clergy
y ou woul d rememb er
your n am e a n d profess ion a n d t a ke t h o ught
for the refor mation o f the Church
N ever
was it more neces s a ry a nd never did the
state o f the C hurch need more vigorous e n
d e a v o u rs
We a re troub led with heretics
but no heresy o f theirs is s o f a t a l to us a n d
to the people a t large a s the v icious an d
depraved lives of the c lergy
T h a t i s the
”
worst heres y o f all
Alt h ough ma ny of the docu ment s re la ting
to the condition o f m on a steries in Englan d
were destroyed in the t i me of M a r y some
a re stil l to b e s een and they reveal a state
o f things which c a nnot b e s e t forth in thes e
pages s o utterl y revolting are they to the
most elementary sanctities o f life
I ndeed ever y respons ible h istorian a dmits
that th e condition o f the C hurch a t the
beginning o f the s ixteenth c entury was
not
m ere l y o u t of ha rmony with the
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9
S ha l l Ro me Re c o n que r Engl a n d
t eac h ing of it s F oun d er b ut a m en a ce to
the b est life o f t h e na tion s
I n s a ying
this
howe ver
it mu s t not b e s u p
a
o
se
d
t
h
t t h e Cl ergy were all e qu a l l y
p
bad M a ny were dou b tles s good pure
me n who did t h eir duty f a it hfu ll y a c cording
to t h eir lights ; b ut the con d it ion of the
C h urc h a s a whole a s a tteste d to b y f iends
a nd foes of Ro manis m a like c a l l e d out for
very dr a s tic a n d v ital reform s
Another forc e wa s al so at wo rk w h ic h
needs a p a s s ing word
W h a t wa s called
the N ew L e a rning pre p a red the w a y for the
co m ing c ha nge
The dis cove ries o f C o per
n i c u s reve al e d to m a n m any of the s ecret s
of t h e univers e
The d a ring of the Portu
g u e s e ma riners t h e voyages of Co l u m b u s
a n d o f S eb a sti a n C abot h a d b roug h t E urope
into cont a ct wit h men of new f a iths a n d
n ew r a ces an d h a d quic k ened the s l um b er
ing i nt elligence of the n a tions
Exile d
Greek s cho l a rs were we l co med into I t al y
an d F lorence b ec a m e not onl y the home o f
a rt but of a n intellectual reviv a l M erchants
b rought precious m anus cript s thither a nd
crowds of foreign s tudent s flocke d over t h e
A lp s to l e a rn Greek I ndeed E r a s mus a nd
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to
Wh y Engl a n d b e c a m e Pro te sta n t
S ir Thom a s M ore a n d C o l et were t h e
children of thi s N e w L earning whi ch they
popul a rise d a l l over C hristendom
M ore
over it w a s bec a us e E rasmus a dvo c a t ed i n
te l l e c tu a l a dv a nce th a t h e w a s m a ligned a n d
a bus ed b y monk s a n d a b bot s an d priest s
who were a lw a ys ene mies t o t h e a dv a nce
H enry V I I I
however
m ent o f light
fa v oure d the N ew L e a rning ; h e a dm ired
the wr itings o f S ir Thomas M ore especi a lly
his Utopi a ; he made a person a l frien d
a nd pr a ised the pre a ching o f
o f E r a s mus
Colet
Thus as Green the historian s a ys
“
The a w a kening of r a t ional C h ristian it y
whether in Engl a n d o r in the T eutonic
worl d a t l a rge begins with the E l o re n tin e
”
studies o f J ohn C olet
The wr itings o f
thes e m e n made the people s e e th a t the
C hurc h w a s not the onl y storehous e o f truth
a nd they prepared the m inds of m e n every
where fo r the reception o f new i deas
w e m u st n o t forget that
M oreover
while wh a t w a s c a ll ed L ollardis m wa s
seemingl y dead the l ife an d work o f
J ohn Wycli ffe were still bearing fruit
”
“
L oll a rdis m a s an i s m was practically
un kn own
b ut the trut h s which J ohn
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11
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S h a ll Ro m e Re c o n qu e r Engl a n d
Wy c l i ff e t a ught were s o m a ny s eeds
whic h h a d ger m in a ted in the hearts and
Every ide al is a n un b orn
m ind s of ma ny
event a n d J ohn W y cli ff e s ide al s a lthough
not yet tr a nsl a ted into re a lities formed a
kin d of intel lectu a l a n d s piritual depos it in
the life o f the people
T hey constitute d a
forc e which prep a re d the w a y for the
Refo rm a tion
H ere then a re cert a in bro a d f a ct s whic h
we must b e a r in m in d : The C hurch wa s
ful l of ab us es b oth in life and doctrine ;
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th e clergy were in large nu m bers corrupt
the y ab use d their power a lthough m a ny in
t ha t fr a ternity l onge d for b etter things t h ey
w ielded tre m endous power
a nd tried to
crush a ll desire for a dv a nce ment
I n s pite
of t h is op pos ing force s were a t work The
influenc e o f Wy cli ffe w a s not de a d ; a nd
t h rough the influence of the N e w B e a m ing
E r a s mus S ir Thom a s M ore and others the
intelligence o f million s w a s b eing aw a kened
N o t th a t there s eeme d a ny gre a t hope o f
a reform a t ion
I n sp ite o f E r a s mus s
s c a thing exposures of the corrupt clergy an d
the terrible condition of the mon a steries a nd
even al t h oug h the peo p l e gro a ne d un d er t h e
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12
Sh a ll Ro me Re c o n qu e r Engl a n d
ros e wit h s u ffi cient might o r power to
fig h t t h e ene m y th a t ha d con quere d I t was
n o t the ene m y fro m without th a t the p eople
n ee d ed to fe a r ;
it was the ene my w h ic h
n estle d in the very b o s om of t h e Church
t h e ene m y of m a m monism of corruption of
su perstition of lies o f mor al cow a rdice The
c o mm on peop l e were i g nor a nt of the rea l
i s sues a t st ak e a n d they were the s l aves
of th e c l ergy ; the no b les m a ny of them
r a i l ed at the c l e rgy b ut were powerles s The
s chol a rs foun d th a t the evils o f the time
coul d not b e c a st out b y s chol a rshi p an d
yet they cou l d thin k of nothing whereb y the
sadly neede d reform s could b e brought
a b out E rasmus hims e l f did not s ee m to
ha ve much hO p e of reform
”
The stupid m onks h e writes s a y M a s s
a s a cobb ler m akes a shoe the y co m e to
the a lt a r reeking from their filthy ple a sures
Confession with the m onks is a c l o a k to
steal the peo ple s m one y to rob gir l s o f
their v irtue a n d to comm it other crimes too
horrible to name I Y et thes e people are the
t yrant s of E urope
T h e Pope hi m self i s
a fr a i d of
Ag a in he writes con cern ing t h em :
o ne
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4
Wh y Engl a n d be c a m e Pro te s ta nt
Wha t fungus coul d b e more
t h e s e a re the Atl a s es w h o
tupi d & Y et
upho ld t h e
s
.
tottering C hurch I
Wh en one re al ise s t ha t t h e C h ur c h o wn e d
a third a h a lf a nd somet imes two thirds of
t h e l an d in a l m ost every country in E urope
an d remembers t h e pow er whic h a ttaches
itself to such ownership it plainly a ppears
that all probability o f refor m w a s very small
The g reat bulk o f the clerg y w a s content
w ith things a s the y were
an d while th e
p eople w ere ever y where askin g quest ions
n o pros p e ct o f reform appe a red
Th e R eform a tion be g a n in a most u n
expected way a nd in a most unexpected
place
N o one woul d have dreamed that a
s l eepy G erm a n village woul d becom e the
centre o f a m ovement th a t was destined to
sh a ke Euro pe to its foundation s an d alter
the history o f the world
Yet s o it was
N o o n e would have expected that an u n
k nown monk would become the centre o f
this m ovement but this was what came to
p a ss
“
T h e h our a nd the ma n I
Th is phr a s e ha s b ecome a co mmonpl a ce
in o u r voc ab ul a ry an d it express es correctly
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5
.
S h a ll Ro me Re c o n qu e r Engl a n d
one of t h e mo s t d r ama ti c event s in t h e
history of t h e wor ld
I n the ye a r 1 5 1 7 a n e w c a t h e d r al wa s
being built in Ro m e
M ich a e l Angelo
ha d pre p a re d the pl a ns fo r this m ighty
b uilding a n d Pope L eo X w h o m Th o mas
”
Car l yle calle d a n eleg a nt P a g a n was de
t e rm i n e d t o co m p l et e w ha t shou l d b e t h e
gran dest structure ever ere cted b y ma n
The gre a t di ffi cult y w it h which the P ope wa s
m e t wa s w a nt of m oney
Untold millions
w ere needed a n d the P ope a m a n who love d
luxury and had la v ished the we a lth of the
nation freely found himself in a di fficult y
H e deter m ined to resort to the s a le of
—
indulgences p a rdon s for s ins
I ha ve not
s pace to det a il how this custo m grew u p
in the C hurch
Enough to s a y that b y
variou s decrees the C hurch c l a i med the
power a nd Po pe Leo decided to s end out
through C hristendom, by dist inguishe d
persons letters o f indulgences o r p a rdons
which coul d b e bought b y the people
A
regular tari ff w a s fixed
A pardon for
pol y gamy coul d b e obt a ined for s i x duc a ts
that for s a crilege a n d perj ury cost nine
f orgivenes s for murder co s t eig h t while
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16
Wh y Engl a n d be ca me Pro te sta n t
ab s o l ution for s ins o f a l e s s c rim in a l n a ture
could b e o b t a ined for s mal l er s u m s I n p a s t
years people ha d t o m ak e pilgri ma ges in
order to obtain p a rdon s ; of cours e they
ha d to pay a s well but t h ey ha d t o go to
so m e p a rticul a r shrine
B y P o pe L eo s
s cheme however thes e p a rdons were to b e
hawked throughout the town a n d vill a ge s
o f Christendom
a s a ped la r h a w k e d h i s
wares
I n the c a s e of S a xo n y in which province
W ittenberg w a s s itu a ted the Pop e had
a rr a nged wit h the Arch b ishop o f M a yenc e
to sh a re the proceeds o f thes e s al e s o f
pardons a n d the busines s co mmen ce d T h e
s a les man a p pointed to S a xony wa s a c ert a in
D r J ohn Tetzel a D o minic a n m onk who
w a s fo r a t i me e m inent l y succes sful a n d
t h ings went well
Thes e s a les m oreover were exceedingly
popul a r a n d the co ming o f the salesman
to th e town o r village m e a nt a genera l
holida y B rom al l we c a n g a ther moreover
D r Tetzel entered each p lace in state The
o ffici a ls o f the town went forth to m eet him
cl a d in their o ffi cial robes while D r Tetzel
was s e a ted in a gaud y c a rriage drawn b y a
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17
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C
S h a ll Ro me Re c o n qu e r Engl a n d
fine p a i r of h or s es As the c a rri a ge entere d
he t own a person in a ut h orit y s a id in a
l ou d voice
“
The Gr a c e of Go d a n d of t h e H o l y
”
E a the r i s a t your g a tes
P resent l y the peop l e entere d t h e Ch urch
a s trong b ox to contain the money wa s
pl a ce d near t h e a lt a r a n d Tetzel mounted
t h e pu l pit a n d b eg a n to pre a c h
R epo rt s of T e tz e l s s er m on s a re sti ll ex
t a nt whi l e the a ctu a l box in which the
p eople s money w a s put c a n b e s een to d a y
in the c a thedra l a t M a g de b e rg
O f cours e
the who l e a ff a ir w a s a m a tter of money
ma kin g
P eop l e were urge d to g a in forgive
nes s for their s in s for trifling sums ; they
w ere b esoug h t to get their friend s o u t o f
purg a tory in t h e s a me wa y
“
The m o m ent the m oney touches the
”
b otto m of th a t box crie d Tetzel thumping
“
the gre a t cas ket ostent a tious l y
the soul
es capes purg a tory a n d flies s tr a ig h t to
p a r a dis e l
Acolyt es went a mong the people an d b e
s ought the m to buy the Pop e s letters
If
a n y o n e expressed a ny doubt s a bout the
v a lidity o f thes e letters he w a s thre a tene d
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18
Why Engl a n d be c a m e Pro te s ta nt
wit h exco mm uni ca t ion
An d the people
la rge nu mb ers of the m bought the letters
p a i d the m oney a nd the P ope s coffers
fi lled
C once rn ing the condition of the C hurch
which cou l d c a rry o n such a bus ines s I
nee d s a y nothing
The thing commonly
obtained a n d no voice was r a is ed o r if
raise d it was quickl y sti fled
I n an y cas e
thes e sales men o f the Po pe went from
town to town and no effective p rotest was
h eard until Tetzel c a me to a v illage near
W itten b erg
The hour fo r R efor mation h a d co m e b ut
w h ere was the Man & F o r a s c a n b e eas il y
s een the ma n who coul d attack abuses whic h
were f a voure d b y the Pope m ust b rave the
mightiest power in the world
M oreover
a s all the worl d knows those who in the
past like J ohn H us s o f B ohem ia and J erome
o f P rague
had dare d t o tr y an d reform the
Church ha d b een burned fo r their pains
E ras mus decline d to tak e an y decis i v e
step
“
”
A s fo r me
he wrote to Archbisho p
W a reham
I h a ve n o inclination to ris k
my li f e fo r the truth
We h a ve n o t al l
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9
S h a ll Ro me Re c o n qu e r Engl a n d
strength fo r m a rtyrdo m a n d if trou bl e
co mes I s h all i m it a te S t P eter
Pope s a n d
emperors mu s t s ett l e t h e cree d s
I f t hey
s ettle the m we ll s o m uc h t h e b ette r ; i f
”
i l l I sh a l l k e e p on t h e s a fe s ide
T h us m uc h a s t h e R eform a tion owe d to
E r a smus it wa s not b roug h t ab out b y him
b ut b y a ma n o f a d i ffe rent order
There i s but l ittle nee d to give a l engt h y
H i s portr a it
s ket ch of Martin Luther here
h a s b een drawn m any t i me s b y a bler h a nd s
than mine a nd the story of his l ife h a s b een
tol d b y so m e of the m ost s kilfu l wr iters
An d such a s tory & P erh a p s a mong the
writ ings of our m ost v ivi d rom a ncers there
is nothing t o comp a re with the ro mance of
Luther s l ife
C ert a inl y neither S ir W a lter
S cott nor Alex a ndre D umas has ever even
in the highest flight s o f his imagin a tio n
written a nything s o thrilling a s the story of
the G erman miner s s o n
N e a rly four hundre d ye a rs ha ve p a s s e d
a way s ince the C hief events of h is life too k
place but the char a cter o f the man is stil l
—
remembere d A plain m a n rough perhaps
as wa s n a tur a l cons i d ering his origin —but
a n honest ma n a true ma n a t h orough ma n
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20
,
S h a ll Ro me Re c o n qu e r Engl a n d
of p a g a nis m
L et all w h o wou ld l e ad t h e
”
holy life a vo i d Ro me h e s a id
H e ha d not the bril l i a nc e of E r a s mu s
but he wa s not an ignor a nt ma n
R a t h er
h e wa s a l earne d man a n d a thin k er H i s
disput a tions with D r E c k a t Leips i c revea l
him not only a s a s chol a r but a s a clos e
reasoner a keen deb a ter H e s a w into th e
he a rt of a thing in a mo m ent a n d h a d a
He
gift fo r f a stening upon es s enti al s
s corn e d lies a n d subterfuges
O f cours e
he w a s a chil d of his a ge ; h e w a s super
h e b elieve d in witches
a nd
s t i ti o u s ;
c h ar m s a nd the pers on a l a ppe a r a nc e of
the devil
B ut there w a s nothing l i ttl e
about M a rtin Luther
R a ther he was a
gre a t m a n in the truest sens e of t h e word
Great not s o m uc h be c a us e o f h is inte l
l ectu a l s uperiorit y to other men but great
b ec a us e he wa s large of mind a n d h eart
and purpo s e B ehind all he di d w a s s ingle
and
m indednes s and s ingle heart ednes s
above a ll h e was a man o f G o d
What i s
t h e life of M a rtin Luther or of a hun dre d
M a rtin Luthers co mpare d with the truth o f
G o d & he cried
L et G o d s trut h prev a i l ,
”
wh a tever b e c o m es o f individu al s
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,
Wh y Engl a n d be c a me Pro te s ta nt
c a red l itt l e ab o ut tri fl e s b ut laid hol d
on e s s enti al s
C a r l yle t el l s a s tory a b out
him w h ic h il l ustr a tes this
W hen the
R eform a tion b ec a me a powe r s ome of the
pre a c h ers c am e t o Huther c omplaining th a t
c ert a in of t h eir b rethren ins isted o n we a ring
c a ssocks
They as ked L ut h er t o prohib it
”
thi s P opish practice
Wh a t do c a s sock s
matter & cried Luther
l et the m we a r fi ve
c a ssoc k s if t h ey wish I
A
hum a n k in dl y m a n h e w a s too
“
”
N ever b e ha rd to children
h e u sed t o
sa y
Man y a fine C hara cter h a s b een
ruine d b y t h e stupi d brut a lity o f ped a gogues
Punis h if you will but b e kin d too an d let
the sugarp l um go with th e ro d
P ersonally
I kno w o f no letter written t o a chil d su perior
to t ha t whic h Luther wrot e t o h is l ittle b o y
H ans
M oreover he h ad a s ens e o f h u mour H e
loved a quic k rep a rtee a j oke a laugh a n d
no one c a n read his Life without b eing struc k
b y this phas e o f his char a cter B ut bene a t h
it a l l h e was a m a n o f great purpos e o f
a determined will o n e wh o sco rn ed m ean
nes s a n d subterfuge an d lies
A great
rugged ma n so metime s co a r s e b ut ever
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23
S h a ll Ro me Re c o n qu e r Engl a n d
h onest a
t erri bl e fi g h te r a n d a true frien d
This then wa s the man who b ec a me the
centr al figure in the Refor ma tion
H e h ad b een a p po inte d a s profes sor in
the new U nivers ity at W itten b erg and a
prea cher in o n e of the two churche s whic h
rem a in in th a t town to day
S hort l y a fter Tetzel h a d visite d a vi l l a ge
ne a r Wittenb erg a wo ma n c am e to Luther
for confess ion
Luther tol d her t ha t in
orde r fo r her s ins to b e forgiven s he
mu st repent o f the m a n d she must h ave
fait h in her S av iour The wom a n sai d th a t
there w a s no nee d of this a n d s he tol d him
o f the letter of p a rdon whic h s he h a d b ou g ht
fro m Tetzel
”
Let m e s e e it s a i d L uther
The wo man gave it t o him
“
An e m p a rc hm e n te d lie I exc la i me d t h e
monk as he rea d
This was the beginning o f th e whole
move m ent which w a s destined to s h ak e the
wor ld
H e wrot e to the A rc hb is h op o f M a yence
prot esting again s t w ha t he d ec la red to be
a b l a s phem y a gainst Go d
Th e A rc hb is h op cons igne d the l etter to
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2
4
Wh y Engl a n d be c a me Pro te sta nt
the ru b b is h h e a p Thereu p on L uther n a ile d
h is n inety fi v e theses a g a inst in d ulgences on
the door o f the c a stle church a t W ittenberg
T he door ha s s ince been b urnt b ut the f a ther
Of the present Emperor of G e rm a ny repl a ce d
it a few ye a rs a go with a bronze d oor on
whic h thos e theses a re en g raved
I t is one
o f the sights of W ittenb erg to day
The nailing of thos e thes es o r p ro po s i
t ions althoug h they s eem commonplace an d
m ild to day a rous ed Saxon y ; the news o f
the d eed t r a velle d around G er many a nd fo r
the first time the na m e of M a rtin Luther
began t o b e kno wn a mong the G er man
peop l e
D r Tetze l thun dere d b ac k his rep l y an d
th en L uther mounted the step s o f the pulpit
o f the churc h in the mar k et plac e in Witten
berg a nd gave his ans wer t o Tetzel
The
churc h and pulpit remain to day prett y m uch
as the y existed then Wh en v is iting W itten
b erg i n 1 9 0 8 I c l imbe d the pul pit an d
loo k ed o u t o n the great building I was able
to people the pews a nd to hear the voice
that was soon ringing over a ll Ger man y
T h is s erm on o f Luther s was followed by
a rgument , reto rt a n d wordy w a rfa re
B ut
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25
S h a ll Ro me Re c o n qu e r Engl a n d
thi s f a ct a ppe a rs : Hut h er expressed w ha t
the people felt a nd thous a nds rej oiced th a t
a pro phet h a d a risen in Germ a ny N ot th a t
Luther h a d a ny ide a of reform ing t h e C hurc h
a s a whole H e never dre am ed of the fires
he was kindling H e was onl y an unknown
m onk w h ile the Pope w a s master o f the
H e onl y did what seeme d rig h t to
world
do a nd in s pit e of the warnings of fe a rfu l
ones h e m aint a ine d his ground
Thes e
“
p a rdon s for s ins were merel y
e m p a rc h
”
me n te d lies
They w ere n ot worth the
paper o n whic h they were written
they
were dragging s ouls deeper int o hell ins tead
o f s a ving the m a nd he could not b e quiet
W hen at length the n ews re a che d Rome
th e P o pe l aughed
Tis onl y a German
”
mon k who ha s drun k too m uch beer
he
s a id
When he gets so b er h e ll al ter his
”
stor y
B ut the Pope foun d o u t his
m ist a ke
’
D oubt l es s L ut h er woul d ha ve b een ki lle d
b ut fo r t wo f a ct s
t h e E l ector
E i rs t
F rederic k o f S a xony wa s a n honest ma n who
while a dhering t o the C hurch s a w the need
for L uther s work
S econd the reviv a l o f
l e a rning ha d h a d its e ff ect a n d h a d pre
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,
Wh y Engl a n d b e c a me Pro te s ta nt
p a re d the peop l e s m inds for the rece ption
of wh a t L uther t a ught
T h e Pope to l d th e E lector to do h i s d ut y
b y Luther b ut t h i s w a ry S a xon had re ad
h is propos itions a n d h ad a ls o read the N ew
“
Test am ent
There i s a gre a t deal in the
B ible a bout C hrist b ut very l ittle a b out
”
Rome
he sai d
P res ent ly h e s ent for
E r a s mus and a s ked h is op inion
T he wit s
repl y wa s ch a r a cteristic
”
Luther has comm itted two s ins
said
“
H e has touched the Pop e s
E ras mus
crown a n d t h e m onks s tomac h s
E x a ct l y I
B ut the war of words went on
The
print ing pres s h a d recently b e co m e a po wer
in E uro pe an d the writing s o f b oth s ides
were printed r a pidly
N aturally L uther in rep ly ing to Tetze l
h a d b een le d t o stu dy variou s question s
whic h ha d n e v er s erious l y trouble d him
b efore with the r e sult th a t he foun d that
the whol e Church was riddled with error
and that it bore but little resembl a nc e t o
the teach ings o f its Founder
I t i s impos s ib l e to follo w the b attle ste p
b y step but presently Luther wa s summone d
to A ugsburg to a n s w er the ch a rges brought
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27
S h a ll Ro me Re c o n qu e r Engl a n d
A t length the Pope b eg a n to
against him
see that the Reform a t ion was n o t a matter
b eer es peci a lly a s the b est life o f
of
G ermany sided with the Wittenberg monk
I h a v e often wished that s o m e gre a t
p a inter w o u l d take L uther s j ourney to
Augsburg a s the s ub j ect fo r a p a inting H e
tr a velle d the whole distance on foot s ome
where I think b etween tw o a nd three
hun dred miles
& o u c a n fan cy him clad in
his bro wn frock his feet sho d in san dals
a sta ff in hi s hand while his great rugge d
f a c e wore a loo k o f resolve if not defiance
“
Luther for ever I crie d t h e people a s
h e l eft the E lster G a te
”
N o m y children he a n s were d
C h rist
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,
fo r
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e ve r
”
l
C a rdin al C a j e ta n was s ent fro m R o m e to
deal with Luther a nd as he s a id he c a m e
n o t t o argue
b ut to co mma n d
Re v o c a & was his co mma n d
”
“
“
replie d Luther
I wi ll rec a nt
&e s
everything I h a ve written a n d s a id a g a inst
”
the B ible
“
”
The P ope is s upre me
rep l ie d t h e
Cardin al
“
”
N o t over the S cripture s rep l ied L uther
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28
.
S h a ll Ro m e Re c o n qu e r Engl a n d
the beginning only des ired to de a l wit h the
a bus e calle d indulgence s n o w s a w that the
v ery foun dations o f the P a pacy were a l ie
a n d that the system which w a s built upon it
rested u pon falsehoo d
At le a st th a t wa s wh a t h e mainta ined
what he proclaimed b y tongue a nd b y pen
a n d the people b elieve d him
O f cours e the bishop s a n d the priests
were against him
The m onks howled
He
against him from a thous a n d pulpits
was curs ed b y ever y curs e known an d new
ones were in v ented I f mas ses could n o t get
souls o u t o f purgator y their trade was gone
I f Luther s doctrines were believed their
power was gone an d the y determined to
fi ght him to the death — but the people
b elieve d him
At length L uther w a s curse d from Rome
and a B ull c a me condemning both him a nd
his works
This reache d Wittenberg in
D ecember 1 5 2 0 and then Luther caus ed
a placar d to b e nailed o n the gates o f the
U nivers it y and o n other public pla ces i n
v i t i n g the p eople to m eet him at the eastern
gate o f the town o n the ninth day o f the
m onth
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30
Wh y Engl a n d be c a me Pro te s ta n t
An d the people c a m e A fire wa s l it a nd
L uther threw the Pop e s B ull into the fi re
”
“
There
he s a i d i n e ff ect
t ha t is what
”
An d
I thin k of the P op e a n d h is po wer
a s the people h e a r d they g a ve a gre a t s hout
which not only swept a cros s the plains o f
S axon y but e choed a mong the Swi s s moun
t a ins among the m ount a ins of N orway an d
the N etherlands an d acros s t h e s e a s to
E ngl a nd A s Tho ma s C a rlyle sa y s
it w a s
”
the shout o f the a wakening n a tions
Then Luther returne d to the mon a stery
a n d went o n w ith h is work
I n I 5 2 1 he w a s s u mm oned to t h e D iet of
Wo rm s t o answer for what he h a d b een
saying a n d doing
Luther went
M a ny
tried to dis su a de him b ut he did not heed
“
”
them
G o d hath nee d of m e
h e s a id
“
an d I g o f
H e travelle d fro m Witten b erg to W or m s
so m e t wo hundred m iles in a n o x cart which
h a d been fitte d u p for h i s j ourne y and
during most o f the way it was l ike the
triumphal m a rch o f a great king
”
D o n o t fors a ke u s D r Luther
wa s
the c ry ever y where and Luther s re pl y wa s
that G o d helping him he would not fail
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31
.
S ha ll Ro m e Re c o n qu e r Engl a n d
I
will not a ttempt t o des cri b e that j ourney
here es p eci a lly as I have written o f it a t
lengt h els ewhere & S u ffi ce to s a y that he
reache d the city in s p ite o f many entre a t ies t o
turn b a c k an d in spite o f plot s to kee p hi m
awa y
I t w a s during this j ourney that he
uttere d those historic words which h av e rung
down through the ages :
We n /z s o vi e t
,
.
T e ufe l
Wo rms
wd re n ,
a ls
al
de n
f
”
“
D d c he m n o c h wo l l t &c h hi n e i rz
Were
there a s m any devils in Worms as there are
”
t i l es on the hous etops I woul d go
H e w a s arraigned before the gre a test
j udg ment s e a t ever known in history up to
th a t t ime
Repres entat ives from almost
every Court o f E urop e were there an d the
E m peror Ch a rles V who reigned over a
great p a rt of the Continent s a t a s c h ief
a mong the j udges
B efore this mig h ty tri b un al L ut h e r stoo d
al one
The q ue s tions put before him wer e
two : F irst were the pile o f b oo k s before
him h is pro duction & S econd woul d he
recant what he h a d written &
H e a cknowledged the authorship o f the
”
“
T he S wo rd o f the L o rd
zu
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Ze e g
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32
au
Wh y Engl a n d b e c a me Pro te s ta nt
b oo k s a n d wit h reg a r d to t h e s econ d qu e s
tion he w a s w illing to rec a nt anything th a t
was oppos ed to the W ord of Go d H e s po k e
for hours a nd the excite m ent w a s intens e
H e prove d th a t the B ible m ust b e the fi n al
authorit y a n d not Councils a n d there h e
must leave the matter
The C hancellor o f Tr eves crie d o ut :
& o u h a ve not a n swere d the questions put
Y ou were not summone d h ither to cal l
yo u
&o u
in question the decis ion s o f Councils
a re re quired to give a cle a r a n d precise
a nswer Will y o u o r w ill you n o t retr a ct &
A gre a t s ilence hung upon the a s sembl y
fo r as it s eeme d to all n o t onl y did Luther s
life hang upon a thre a d b ut al l th a t he had
b een struggling for would stan d o r fall b y
his repl y
S ince your M a j est y d e ma nds a Cl e a r an d
”
h e s aid
I w ill
s i mple an d prec is e a n swer
g i ve y o u o n e a n d it is th is I c a n n o t s u bmi t
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m y fa i th to P o p e
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'
or
C o un c i l s , b e ca us e i t i s
th e da y tha t th e y ha v e fre q u e n tl y
Un l e s s
e rre d a n d c o n tra di c te d e a c h o the r
a s cl e a r a s
'
.
'
1
o
a
f
m
S
c o n vi n ce d,
cri p ture ,
un l e s s
I
e
a
s
s
a
s
g
p
a
m
or
the re fo re , b y the te s ti mo n y
b y the c l e a re s t re a s o n i n g
d e d b y me a n s o f the
t
h
e
n
e
s
s
t
h
e
n
u
d
n
d
l
u
o
t
e
a
,
y
q
u
a
e
s
r
p
l ha v e
33
.
D
S h a ll Ro m e Re c o n qu e r Engl a n d
b o un d by the Wo rd
G o d, I ca n n o t a n d I wi l l n o t re tra c t, fo r
my
re n de r
o
f
it is
hi s
c o n s ci e n c e
f f
u ns a e
or a
c o n s ci e n c e
sp e a k a g a ins t
C hri s ti a n to
”
.
words fell l ike a shoc k u pon the
a s se m b l y a nd m e n looked a t e a ch ot h er
wondering what would h a ppen n ext
An d
L ut h er realising the pur po rt o f what he h a d
said uttered thos e m e m or a b le words :
H E R E I STA N D
I CA N D O N O O T H E R
H is
&
,
,
.
,
,
*
.
.
M A & G OD
HE LP
AM E N
C helsea s ay s
ME
'
.
&
I
I
r
The S a ge o f
this was the
greatest s cene in m o dern history
To us e
his exact words :
English puritanis m
E ngl a nd an d its p a rliaments Am ericas an d
the vast work o f two centuries the French
Revolution E urope a n d its work everyw here
at present —
the germ of it a ll lay here I
I nee d not follow the stor y f a rther
Luther w a s conve y e d t o Wartburg C a stle
where he tr a nslate d the S criptures ; an d
from th a t time the Reformation was an
established fact as far as Germany was c o n
cerned The people embra ced the doctrines
o f Luther a nd the P a p al throne w a s denu d ed
o f its power
“
”
D
Li n d y i hi
H i t y f th R f m ti n
ot
d e
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‘
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,
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sa
r.
re c o rd
eu
hz lf
thi s
”
.
He
G od
n
.
sa ys
co
me
s
s or
o
e
e or
a
o
,
o
s n
tha t L uthe r s la s t w o rds w e re , “ Go t kum mi r
’
to
my he l p
4
3
Vo l i p
.
.
.
291
.
Wh y Engl a n d be c a m e Pro te sta nt
Th is is not t h e p la ce to s pe ak of the wor k
t ha t othe rs did in t h e Refo rm a t ion on the
C ontinent
Luther w a s the centre of the
move m ent a lt h oug h it cou l d never have
w rought the ch a nge it did b ut for men l ike
M elanchthon a n d Reuchlin a n d Z wingli
They in their way were as imp ortant a s he
but in thi s s ket ch I have given the m a in
fe a tures o f the great S piritual Revolution
which took p l ace between I 5 1 7 a n d I 5 2 1
At l east t h e gist of the matter c a n b e
.
,
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,
.
stated in a fe w words an d perhaps I c a n
do no better here than to quote from J ames
Anthony Froude the histori a n R eferring to
Luther s answer b efore the D iet he says :
There as you underst a n d t h e h eart o f
t h e w h o l e m a tter indeed reste d
I n t h os e
wor d s l ay th e w h ole m e a ning o f the
Re form ation
Were m e n to go o n for ever
s ay ing t h at this or that was true b ec a us e the
Po p e a ffi rmed it & o r were the Po p e s decrees
thenceforw a rd to b e trie d l ike the words o f
—
o f
m e n b y t h e ordinary l aws
Other
evidence &
T he peop l e de ma nde d th e rig h t to thin k
fo r them se l ves an d the Pop e s power w a s
broken for ever
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35
S h a ll Ro m e Re c o nqu e r Engl a n d
O f cour s e t h e move m ent whic h swept
over Germa ny l i k e wildfire als o a ffecte d
other countries
I t inv a de d S witzer l an d
a n d l a rgely con quere d it I t marche d to
N orway Sweden an d D en ma r k a n d b ecame
triumph a nt
I t entere d the N etherl an ds
and in spit e o f the most terrib l e deeds ever
done bec a me the great power o f H o lla nd
I t c am e to E nglan d a n d a new life b eg a n
to puls e in the veins of th e n a tion
I nee d s c a rcely s a y th a t the Reform a tion
h a d a di fferent histor y in Engl a n d from what
it ha d in Germ a n y but the fin al is sues were
the sa m e
I t is not my purpos e here to dis cu s s t h e
allegation th a t Protest a ntism in Englan d won
s imply becaus e o f the f a ct t ha t the Pope
r efuse d to listen to the a ppea l s o f
H enr y V I I I
a n d conde mne d his unbridled
passions
I have no brief for H enry V I I I
neither do I deny that H enr y s a ctions h ad
m uch political i m po rt a nce
B ut I d o not
wish to deal w it h Protestant ism a s a politica l
m a tter but as a great religiou s m ove m ent
The truth is no real Refor ma t ion took pl a ce
in th e time of H enry V I I I
P rotest a ntis m
real Protestantis m di d not beco me a vit al
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36
,
S h a ll Ro me Re c o n qu e r Engl a n d
Ro m e wi th te a rs o f j oy a nd there was
genera l rej o ic ing
I t m us t not be understood however that
there were not a large nu mber who ha d
embr a ced the Protestant f a ith B ot h among
the clergy and the l a ity there were a num b er
to who m the s i m ple gos pel of Christ ha d
b eco me the gre a t truth o f l ife The right
to re a d the S criptures a n d the influence o f
th e move m ent on the Continent h a d h a d
their e ffect so that while the n a tion h ad
in no re a l sens e b eco me P rote s t ant during
the reign of H enry V I I I
of
and
E dward V I
there w ere nu mbers of the
m
eople
to
who
P
rotest
ntis
a
v
ita
l
a
s
a
m
w
p
reality
N one fe l t this more k een l y th a n M a ry
an d her a dvisers a n d directl y a fter recon
ciliation with Rome persecutions c o m
me n c e d
S p a ce wil l n o t per m it me to de al
with the m at length yet t hey must b e me n
ti o n e d here because it was l a rgely throug h
t h e m th a t England threw off the Papal yoke
I mmediately followi ng the remo v al o f the
P ope s curs e the clerg y a nd the laity h ad
”
to b e individua lly recon ciled
A d a y wa s
a p po inted w h en the C ler g y s h ou l d a ppe a r
,
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,
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38
Wh y Engl a n d be c a me Pro te sta n t
wit h t h eir confess ion ; a n d when they h ad
m a de it they h a d to exhort the lait y t o
a ccept the grace o ffered t o the m To this
en d a register wa s t o b e kept in every
dioces e w h ere the n ame s o f all who s u b
mitte d were registere d
E videntl y C a rdin a l P ole im a gine d th a t
there m ight b e m a ny who wou l d refus e to
“
s ub m it for he declared that
b efore
heretics were punishe d b y death m il d m eans
shoul d fi rst b e tried with them
Wh a t thes e
”
“
were history ha s recorded
mil d m eans
P o ssib l y two C lergymen o f e minent piety
named R ogers a n d H ooper were in his
mind at the t ime he expressed this
H ooper
determination
w a s B isho p o f
G loucester
B oth o f thes e men were
th ro wn into prison an d it w a s w ith the m
that the persecutions co mm ence d
When
the y a ppeare d before the court they were
tol d to m a ke their subm is s ion a nd o n
a ttempting to give reasons fo r n o t doing s o
were s ilenced and t ol d that the y h a d twent y
four hours in which t o make u p their m inds
A s the y left the church o n their wa y t o
“
pri son H oo per w a s heard t o s ay
Come
brother Rogers must we tw o take this ma tter
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39
,
S h a ll Ro m e Re c o n que r Engl a n d
fi rst in h a n d an d fry t h es e faggots &
”
Ye a s ir with Go d s gr a c e
replied
Rogers
D oubt not b ut th a t Go d wi l l give
”
u s s trength s a i d H ooper
The next m orning they were re ma n ded
ag a in a n d the Q ueen s m erc y w a s o ffered
the m if the y woul d rec a nt
The y refused
an d were sentence d t o die
Rogers re
queste d th a t he might b e allowe d t o s e e hi s
wife
Stephen G a rdiner who stoo d high in
the Counci l s o f h er M a j esty refuse d w ith
”
a savage t a unt
Roger s a s the illustrious
B radford said
wa s t o b re a k the ice and he
was le d to the fire a t S m i thfi e l d ami d the
sneers o f the C a tholic s who believe d a s
“
C a rdin a l Pole said that
the Protestant s
”
had no doctrine to stan d the fi re
It is
recorded o f him th a t when on his wa y to the
st a ke his wife an d famil y who had not b een
a llo we d to s e e hi m in private met him
there were nine children o n e o f the m b eing
a b a b e a t the breast — and the y welcome d
him with cries o f j o y
a s though he were o n
”
his wa y to a festival
At the last moment
he w a s o ffered pardon if he woul d rec a nt
but he refused
The fire w a s lighted a n d
S i r Robert R oc h est er w h o w a s a t the st a ke
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0
Wh y Engl a n d be c a me Pro te s ta n t
to report his b e ha v iour s a ys th a t hi s s u ffer
ings s ee m ed but a s nothing H e b a thed his
h a nds in the fl am e as if it were cold w a t er
rais ed his eyes t o he a ven a nd died
H ooper su ff ere d de a t h a t Gloucester H i s
agonies were t errible yet he re mained ste a d
H ooper went to h e a ven in a c ha riot
fast
o f fire
O n the s a m e day Row la n d Ta y l or w a s
burnt o n Aldha m Common in S u ff o lk
La urenc e S a n da rs h a d been burned the
day before at C oventr y kiss ing the st a ke
“
a n d crying Wel co m e the cro s s o f C h rist &
Welco m e ever l asting life I
Thes e were the fi rs tfru i ts o f t h e recon ci l i a
“
tion o f Englan d wi th the
H ol y Ro m an
”
S ee
Present l y it b ec a me ru moure d t ha t the
fond hopes o f the Q ueen to give a n heir to
th e t h rone were a delus ion an d then M ary
hoping t o o btain the fa v our of G o d b y
stam ping o ut heres y took steps to com m ence
a thorough crusade a gainst thos e who de
c l a re d that the y could n o t believe th a t w a ter
and flour coul d become G o d
M en and
women o f all sorts an d conditions were t ri e d
c onde m ned
an d burnt ; a nd a s the people
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4
1
S h a ll Ro me Re c o n qu e r Engl a n d
witne s se d th e t erri b le s cenes which too k
pl a ce they began to as k themse l ve s whether
the y who died s o j oyfully a n d s o full o f
faith cou l d indee d b e heret ics and whet h er
the C h urc h in whos e n a m e they were roaste d
to de a th cou l d in deed expres s the m ind o f
H i m who wept at the gr a ve o f L a z a rus a n d
whos e love led H i m to die fo r the world
P resentl y it wa s whispere d ab ro a d th a t
for every m a rtyr b urnt there were twenty
thous a n d who l eft the Ro ma n C h urc h a nd
e m braced the Protestant f a ith
T hese Protest a nt s m ight not kn ow h ow
“
”
to g overn wisely
b ut they
s a ys Green
”
k new h ow to die
Th is w a s true and t h e story o f thos e who
s u ff ere d unn a me ab le horrors rather than be
untrue to the te a ching o f the S criptures a n d
the pro m ptings o f G o d in their s ouls is
a mong the most soul moving a n d the m ost
pathetic in histor y
E ngl a nd bec a me a l a nd of wailing M en
a n d wo men went a roun d with h aunting fe a r
in their he a rts lest any chance word the y had
s poken shou l d bring them before the j udges
A great b l a ck terro r rested upon the nation
N0 m a n w a s s a fe
I f a n evil m inde d person
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4
2
Wh y Engl a n d b e ca me Pro te s ta nt
ha d a gru dge a g a in s t so m e one he a c cus ed
t ha t per so n of heres y a n d thu s wr eake d hi s
venge an ce
Thous a nds were a frai d to utter
the most inno cent t h ought s f or f e a r of b eing
s uspecte d
I n s p ite of a ll this ho wever the N ew
T est a ment wa s b eing re a d a n d dis cus sed
P eople me t in s ecret a n d convers e d on the
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deep things o f life ; and in s pite o f the
a lmost dail y burnings what wa s c a lle d
h eres y s prea d from town to town fro m
village to v illage a nd h am let to hamlet
T he fires o f pers ecution led the inh a b it a nt s
to
o f o u r la n d fro m m ere for m al things
realities
T he s eeds o f l ibert y a nd truth
which had b een sown ye a rs b efore ha d
s prung u p a nd instea d o f persecut ion
destroying the fruits it nourished the m
M ary might pers is t a s s he a nd many
others did in believing th a t it was fo r
the good of the
C hurch
to
burn
thos e wh o c ould n o t b elieve in the
M a ss b ut what s he c a lle d heres y s pread
rapidl y
B lood y B onner might inc ite her
to deeds o f the most terrible nature but
he coul d n o t st a m p o ut the truth
What
wa s true o f H olla nd w a s a lso true o f
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4
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S h a ll Ro me Re c o n qu e r Engl a n d
Eng la n d —e d ict s an d bl oo d s h e d a n d t h e
fla m es of t h e f a ggot s drove the peop l e t o
Go d
Th us the deed s w h ic h the Rom a n
C hurc h b l ess ed a n d a t which the c h i l dren of
E ngl a n d ha ve shuddere d for three h un d re d
ye a rs he l pe d t h e n a tion t o s ee t ha t Ro m e
w a s the ene m y of freedo m t h e power th a t
was a s crue l a s death
P erh a p s the event whic h h e l pe d on t h i s
b elief m ore th a n a ny ot h er w a s the ma rtyr
do m o f Rid l ey and L a ti mer ne a r B al lio l
C o ll ege in O xford
Th a t thes e two ol d
m e n known a nd loved everyw here for t h eir
learning their goo d work s an d their piet y
shoul d su ff er the most cruel o f de a ths under
the tyr a nny o f the Rom a n Church c a use d a
s hu d der o f revolt throughout the l a nd
”
“
The Church guilty o f this
s a i d the
“
”
people
c a nnot b e the C hurch o f J esus
An d in sp ite of e dicts in s pite o f fire and
tor m ents they read the N ew Testa m ent s
which yet re ma ine d to them
T hus it c a me to p a s s th a t the nat ion whic h
had a c cepted the Rom a n f a ith a t the begin
ning of M a ry s reign w a s l a rgely P rotest a nt
when t ha t rei g n drew to a n end —P ro
test a nt not b ec a us e o f votes in P ar l ia ment
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4
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S h a ll Ro m e Re c o n qu e r Engl a nd
wit h the d efe a t of t h e S p a nis h
A rmad a the overthro w o f t h e P a p a cy in
E ngl a n d for n e a rly a c entury w a s c o m
the l e s s ,
p l e te
.
O nly a few word s dealing wit h su b s e quen t
history a re needed
After E liza b eth c a me
J a m es I a m a n who M a caulay says unite d
in hi s o wn C har a ct er ped a ntry bu ffoonery
l ow curios it y and the mos t contempt i bl e p e r
—
son al cowardice one of t h os e k ings who m
Go d s ee m s t o s end for t h e purpos e of hasten
ing revo l utions
B ut there is o n e t h ing fo r
which J ames s reign is noted
I t gave u s
o u r B ible
a nd th a t B ible b eca m e t h e one
book of t h e Purit a ns a nd under Go d one
o f the gre a test factors in for m ing the nation s
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life
D uring t h e reign of Ch a r l e s I un d er A rc h
b ishop Laud t h e ch a ins of s la v ery were a g a in
”
forged
Th e ini quitous Star C ha mber
threa tene d th e people s l i b ert ies a nd th e
da y s of M a ry came ba c k a gain in a milder
form
Then c a me t h e C ommonwe a lth a n d
the Purit a nis m of O liver C ro m well
I t was
then th a t our country rose to t h e zenith of
it s power ; b ut wit h t h e de a th of Cro mwe ll
came t wo C a t h ol i c kings during whos e reign
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6
4
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Wh y Engl a n d be c a m e Pro te s ta n t
the country b egan to drift b ac k to it s o ld
terrorism
E s peciall y was this tru e during
the t ime o f J am es I I w h en B ritain was
a kind of p a id v a ss a l of L ouis XIV of
F r a nce B ut this did not l ong continue
The people who ha d inherited their P ro
t estant liberties an d deter mine d to m a int a in
them muc h a s they h a te d revolt a t l engt h
determine d t o b e free from t h e dom inion
o f a king who was f a ls e to h i s C oron a tion
oaths an d an ene m y t o the best life of the
n a tion Thus it came a bout th a t in s pit e o f
the terrible failure o f the D u k e o f M o n
mouth s rebellion a n d the b loo d y deeds
which followed W illia m o f O r a nge was
a sked to b eco me th e k ing o f t h es e re al ms
The story o f his coming is wel l known N 0
ba ttle was fought for J ames I I h a d es caped
l ike a thief in th e nig h t an d the D utchman
beca m e king a lmost without a word o f
dissent
W illi a m promised to maint a in the
Protest a nt C onstitution o f the l an d a n d the
people re j oiced The t h reatened Po pery o f the
last few years had m a de Eng l an d determine
that never a gain shoul d a Cathol ic king s i t
o n Englan d s throne
The sh a dow o f the
Papal power had rested o n the m fo r ye a rs ,
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4
7
S h a ll Ro m e Re c o n qu e r En g l a n d
a n d it wa s so terrible th a t t h e n a t ion reso l ve d
th a t never a gain woul d it ha ve the re a lity
T hu s E ngl a n d b ec a me P rotest a nt
It
threw o ff the P a p a l ch a ins ; a n d fro m th a t
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ti m e u p to the middle of the n ineteenth c e n
tury no one in hi s wi ldest dre am s ever
imagine d that the h a n d of Ro m e would ever
b e laid in power on Eng la n d a gain
This is not the pl a ce t o tell of the p a rt
played b y wh a t is c a lled D is sent in the Pro
t e s ta n ti s i n g of the country
I t ought to b e
told for it was the life b loo d of the move
ment
All through the reign of the Stu a rt s
it wa s the rock against which the b a r qu e
an d to this
o f Rome dashed its elf in v a in ;
da y it is admitted that the F ree Churches
are the great bulwark against the inv a s ion
of Ro me
N either is t h ere an y need to te ll the story
o f S cotlan d a nd her heroes
The memor y
of J ohn K nox a n d the Covenanters who
s i g ned the ch a rter o f l ibert y with their blood
lives to da y in thos e domains north o f the
Tweed Their b attle was the s a me a s ours
b ut fought in a di ff erent w a y ; a n d in no
p a rt of these fa ir islands is the determ in a t ion
n ever a g a in to all ow the yo k e of R o me to
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4
Wh y Engl a n d b e c a m e Pro te s ta nt
b e p l aced upon the people a s s trong as in
that lan d where the Refor ma tion w a s n o t
a compromis e but a re a lity
I n this s ketch I h a ve trie d to suggest the
gre a t ba ttle th a t w a s fought
I t w a s no
l ight m a tter it went down to the very root s
o f life
I t w a s a battle for a free an d open
B ible ; it w a s a b a tt l e for lib erty —l ibert y
o f mind a n d libert y o f s oul
That battle
was w o n b y thos e who were willing to sacri
fi c e their l ives but who woul d never sacrifi ce
libert y a nd t ruth ; and b ecaus e the y wo n
the b a ttle much of the lies the corrupt ion
the slavery ag a ins t which the y strove have
b een s wept away from o u r island home
Shall Ro me ever c ome back t o reign &
That is the question t o b e cons idered in
this volu me
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4
9
E
II
C H A P TE R
WH &
R
O M A N IS M
I S
RU N
C OUN T R&
A
WE have b efore u s a curious prob le m
.
It
i s n o t disputed th a t our Western c ivilisation
is the pro duct of Christianit y and o u r
Western civilisation i s the model an d the
te a cher o f the world
Progres s in an y
worth y s ens e o f the word is c losely identified
with the C hrist ian religion
B ut the largest and oldest C hurch of
C hristendo m the Papal Church exercises on
ever y country in which it is predo m in a nt a n
extr a ordinar y blig h t O nc e the P a pal coun
tries were in the van o f Christendom ; now
the y are in the re a r
There is n o longer a
fi rs t clas s Power in E urope wh ich renders
O bedience to the Pap a c y France the eldest
daughter o f the C hurch h a s thro wn o ff her
a llegiance I tal y as a kingdom repudiates
the Papal authorit y though as a country s he
still harbours the Pa pal C ourt
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50
Wh y Ro ma n i s m Rui n s
Co u n try
a
Th e
only two countries in E urop e whic h
h a v e never b ro k en a w ay fro m the Papac y
b ut have volunt a rily s u b mitte d to the yo k e
a re S p a in a nd B elgiu m Austri a cannot be
in c l uded for p a rt s of th a t co mpl ex e mp ire
ha ve b een in t h e past an d s til l a re the
the a tre of vigorou s P rotest a nt m ove ment s
B elgium i s the brightest gem in the P a p al
crown
I t is pro sperous com m ercially an d
it i s devoutly C a tholic ex cept s o f a r a s it
is infi del a n d soc ialist ic
I t is unfortun a te
tha t this genuinely Catholic St a t e s hould be
res ponsib le for t he C ongo an d fo r what i s
“
rightly cal l e d
the gre a test cri me in
”
histor y
S pain i s the other Catholic Power in
E urope
O nce s he was the a d mitte d le a der
a n d the con queror o f the
o f C hristendom
T o da y notwithst a nding her
N ew Worl d
s ize s he hardl y count s in the coun cils o f
E urope while S panish A m erica the mos t
completel y Catho lic part of the worl d o u t
side Europe is incap a ble o f pol iti cal stab ility
o r o f moral progres s
The contr a s t between
the northern p a rt of th a t continent whic h
was colonised b y Purit a n E ngl a nd and the
southern p a rt which was con quered and
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S h a ll Ro m e Re c o n qu e r Engl a n d
ettle d by Catholic S p a in is one o f t h e m ost
striking o b j ect les sons in the world a n d
illustrates the paradox that while C hristen
d o m is the leader of the worl d s progres s
within the borders of C hristendo m C a tho l i
c i s m i s retrogress ive and retards
Thus the broad fact wh a tever m a y b e the
explanation of it is too plain to es c a pe the
notice o f a ny candid in qu irer
There is in
Romanis m s ome subtle an d irres istible ten
dene y t o ret a rd an d even t o ruin every
countr y whi ch it domin a tes
W hat emphas ises the p a radox is that the
Roman Church alwa y s retains an extra
ordinary hol d over the p eople
I t builds
an d maintains great churches colleges
monasteries
I t carries on its statel y a nd
often b eautiful ceremonial
I ts alt a rs are
thronged ; its a dherent s a re t aught a n d
shepherded a nd completel y under contro l
I n this res pect Romanism is like M oh a m
m e da n i s m o r H induis m — i t reall y grip s
people and nations
The Rom a n Church
dominat es I rel a nd an d the I rish as c o m
l
e
t
l
a
s
I
s
lam
dominates
M
oroc
co
I
re
e
y
p
land wit h the e x ception o f U lster is the
I sl a n d of t h e Saint s an d exhibit s mor e per
s
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52
S h a l l Ro m e Re c o n qu e r Engl a n d
the result b ut t a ken together l e a ve u s wit h
out a stonishment that where the P a pacy
prevails nations wi ther a n d dec a y
Thes e four things are :
I
T he sacerdota l s yste m o f R o m e
2
The intellectual bondage a n d the c o n
s e quent growt h o f s uperst ition
which the
system dem a nds
3 The subtle e ff ect o f t h e s yste m on t h e
te a ching a n d pr a ct ice of truth
The po sition c l a i med by a n d concede d
to the Pope
I will ende a vou r t o show h ow a ny o n e o f
thes e c a uses woul d a ccount for the kind of
degener a tion an d retrogres s ion w h ich is
ob s erva b le in Catholic co mmunitie s
—
1
Th e S a c e rdo ta l S y s te m
In the fi rst
p la ce the Catholi c priest is a celibate under
co m pulsion ; in the s econ d pl a ce he c l a i m s
t o disch a rge functions which invest him wit h
a superhuman dignit y an d authority ; in the
t h ird place he exercises in the confes s iona l
a power over his fellow men b y methods
w h ic h a re e qually de mor a lis ing to him a n d
to t h e m
N o w it ma y s ee m st a rt l ing to connect
t h e dec a y of C a t h oli c countries wit h t h e celi
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4
Wh y Ro m a n i s m Ru i n s
a
Co u n try
bacy o f the priesthoo d B ut h ere i s a plain
f a ct : I n our D ict ion a ry of N ational B io
graphy the larger W estminster Abb ey in
which a re recorded the l ives o f a l l who h a ve
s erved and made their country the pro por
tion of t h e sons of the ma ns e is a lmost
incredi bl e
The c l erg y an d m inisters a re
a sm a l l p a rt of our popul a tion but they c o n
tribute I think it is m ore th a n a third
o f the gre a t m e n a n d wo men o f o u r English
r a ce
The s imple l ife fil le d with s pir itual ideal s
ordere d a n d disciplined by the duties o f the
pa stor t h e life of the rectory o r o f the ma ns e
is s peaking b ro a dl y the b est t raining we
h a ve in Englan d for bo y s an d girls who are
t o s erve their countr y we l l
I f o u r clergy
ha d b een celib a te for thes e four centuries
o f the Reform a tion Englan d would h a ve lost
at le a st a third o f her greatest an d noblest
sons
There woul d have been n o N elson ;
there woul d ha v e b een n o Tenn y son ; there
would h a ve been no Matthew Arnold The
D ict ion a ry o f N ational B iogr a phy woul d
shrin k to t w o thirds
of its
pres ent
dimens ions
T he D ict ion a ry of S p a nis h B iography if
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S h a ll Ro m e Re c o n qu e r Engl a n d
there i s one m ust b e pro port ionately re
du c e d
B y the celi ba cy o f the priest h oo d
an d b y the conventual syste m, in w h ic h
Rome places the highest express ion of her
religion the best an d noblest p ersons o f the
communit y are sterilis ed ; the y c a n give no
legitimate ch il dren to their countr y
A
Catholi c community is thereb y deprived of
one
o f the wholesomest
most intellectu a l
an d most strenuous elements of popul a tion
An d when this sterilis ing proces s i s carried
o n fo r s ome gener a tions the Roman C a tholic
countr y fa l ls far b ehind a country in w h ic h
thousands o f vicarages a n d m ans es a re train
ing up children in the b est of a ll dis cipl ine
”
pl a in living an d high thinking
B ut the Catholic priest is led to cl a i m
a chara cter a nd to exercise funct ion s whic h
rais e him o u t o f the categor y o f hu ma nit y
At the altar he ch a nges brea d a nd wine into
the b od y and bloo d o f Christ a n d o ffers
them as the sacrifi ce fo r s in the foo d of the
soul G o d manifested in the flesh ; s o that
in the express ive language of S t Alfons o de
Ligu ori the priest is T H E C R E A T O R O F HIS
C R E A T O R Furthermore he is t a ught to b e
b e l ieve th a t h e ca n forgive or retain s in s
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56
Wh y Ro m a n i s m Rui n s
Co u n try
a
thu s holds the k eys of he a ven for his
fellow men a n d c a n a d m it or ex clude w h o m
h e will
Natura ll y b efore o n e c l a iming s uc h
p o wers thos e who b e l ieve in the m b o w
down prostr a te a n d o b edient
G od H i m s elf
coul d hardly do more th a n t h e priest pro
fess es t o do
An d therefore t h e devout
Catholic submit s to his prie s t a s he wou ld
H e believes wh a t hi s priest te ll s
to G o d
him he does what his priest re quires ; h e
disposes o f his pro pert y a t t h e b idding of
the priests s o th a t in Eng la n d b efore the
Refo rm a tion a third o f t h e la nd ha d p a ss ed
H e c a nnot
into the han ds of the priests
—
call his s oul h is own i t i s the priest s ; h e
cannot co m e to God o r receive t h e gr a c e
o f G od
but b y the priest
I ndividualit y
independence
manlines s decl ines
The
Catholic is hel d under the most s ubtle t h e
most ab so l ute domination o f a fello w mortal
H e is l ike o n e h y pnot ise d
I f priest s were the bes t a n d h olies t o f
men this woul d still b e in j uriou s t o char
acter We m ust le a rn by indepen den ce To
poss es s our o wn s ouls and to come str a ight
to G o d wi t h out a ny intermedi a r y i s the c o n
He
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57
S h a ll Ro m e Re c o n qu e r Engl a n d
d ition
s p iritu a l d eve l o pm ent
A popul a tion therefore under t h e do m in a
tion of t h e b est priests in the wor l d woul d
still b e only chil d ren utter l y un abl e to ma ke
real progres s in m ora l life a n d in S piritu al
know l edge
S uch a popul a tion woul d
a l ways b e in s w a ddling clot h es a n d woul d
fall b ehin d t h e m a nly r a ce s w h ic h m a ke
s
s
rogre
s
ive
ountrie
c
p
B ut t h e priests a re not a s a w h o l e the
bes t a n d h oliest of me n
A F renchm a n
who h ad b een a pries t to l d me that
in Fr a nce it i s k nown t h at a thir d
of the priests a re re a l believers c o n
s c i e n ti o u s pastor s
a n d m or a lly goo d ; that
a nother third a re s cepti cs not b elieving the
rites or the doctrines of the C h urch t o whic h
the y a re b oun d ; and another t h ird a re
immoral an d often s candalou s
B ut goo d C a t h olics a re e qua l l y s ub j ect
t o the priest whether he b e good b a d or
unb elieving ; a n d a Cathol ic popul a tion i s
un d er a domination w h ich at its best
dwa rfi n g
not inf re quent l y b eco mes v icious
a n d corruptin g
The corrupt ion o f t h e priest h oo d i s in
e v it abl e i n the C a thol i c s yste m
P rie s ts a s
o
f mor al
an d
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58
,
Wh y Ro ma n i s m Rui n s
a
a
Co u ntry
ru l e a re onl y o b t a ine d b y tr a ining boy s
in the se m in a ries an d co mm itt ing them t o
the vocation b efore they h a ve a chan ce o f
kn owing w h et h er they a re ca ll e d t o it
Man y therefore must n e ces s a ri l y b e u n c o n
t h eir wor k
B ut
v i n c e d a nd he a rtles s i n
priests who a re to s i t in the confes s ion al
are sub j ecte d t o s u ch a training in t h e depths
and v a g a rie s o f ini quity th a t none b ut t h e
most ex a lted m inds ca n co m e t h roug h un
conta minated
”
“
When
The P riest in A b so l ution
the
manu a l use d b y confes sors w a s brought by
Lord R edes d a le to the a ttention of t h e H ous e
o f Lor d s h e declare d that no one could read
it without inj ury to h is m or a l n a ture E very
priest who receives confes s ions m ust study
books o f this kin d An d t h e de moral is a t ion
s pre ad s through the m in d o f the priest a n d
t h e co mmunity t o whi ch he m inisters
The
confess ion a l a lone es peciall y w h en w e take
into a ccount t h e de mor a l ising e ffe ct o f pur
c h asing ab solut ion b y m oney paym ents i s
quite enough t o a c count fo r t h e d ec a y o f
Catholic countries
The mor a l n a ture is e a s i l y b enu mb e d o r
pe rvert ed To s in , t o p a y t h e pen a nce a n d
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59
S h a ll Ro m e Re c o n que r Engl a n d
then to sin a g a in a n d t o p a s s one s life in
that kin d of tr a ffic wit h evil deadens t h e
mor a l sens e
Wh en Go d ab solves H e
b reaks t h e power o f s i n and the pe nitent
in H i s confess ional means b y hi s penance
“
”
he a rt s orro w and a c le a n life ensuing
The priestl y confes s ion a l hide s this trut h
fro m a C a tholic po pulation
’
,
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2
.
Th e
In te l l e c tu a l
B o n da g
a nd
e
the
—A
s y stem like
f S up e rs ti ti o n
Romanism depends ent irel y on the i g n o r
a nce a n d su b j ec tion o f the people
Of
the
o f Catholi cs
a re illiterate
I n thoroughl y Catholic
countries l ike S p a in an d Portugal three
fourt h s of the people c a nnot rea d
I f the peop l e can re a d they may re ad the
N ew Testa m ent o r they ma y re a d the e riti
c i s m s of the C hurch which are made w h e r
ever thought is free Therefore C atholicism
b y choice le a ves the peopl e in ignoranc e
F urthermore it denies the right o f private
j udgm ent
The recent tre a t m ent O f the
Mo d ernists in the E n c y clical
P a s c e n di
”
G re g i s
of
1 90 7
illustrates the es sentia l
principle o f Rome M o dernists l ike George
G ro wth
o
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S e e M c Ca b e
’
s
“
De ca
y
of
60
the Ro ma
n Chu
rc h
”
.
S h a ll Ro me Re c o n qu e r Engl a n d
writers o f t h e C hurc h t ha t e very one who
worship s M a ry worship s sti l l more t h e P a p al
C hurc h whic h cre a ted M a ry
W hen we t a ke the Lord s S upper we
depen d on the N ew T est a ment a s o u r
a uthority B ut C a t h o l icis m i s not content
with this The S upper m ust b e tr a n s form ed
into a C a tholi c cre a tion tot al ly dis conne cted
fro m the N ew Test am ent
T hu s C orneliu s
F o r a s often a s w e eat
a L a p ide says :
the flesh of Christ in the E ucharis t s o often
do we in it really eat the flesh o f the B l ess ed
Virgin
A s then we d a ily hunger a fter
the fles h of C hrist in the E uch a rist s o to o
we hunge r for that s a me flesh o f the B les sed
Virgin th a t we m a y drink her virgin endow
ment s a nd ways and incor po rate the m in
A n d this do not onl y priest s
ourselves
a n d re ligious b ut al l C hristians ; for the
B les sed Virgin feeds a ll with her o wn flesh
e qually w ith the fl esh o f Christ in the
”
E ucharist
n
E
cclus
xxiv
The
o
(
late P ope L eo XM L in his E n c y clic al o f
S eptemb er 1 89 1 st a ted
A s no m a n goeth
to the Father b ut b y the S o n s o s c a rce any
ma n goeth t o C hrist but by hi s M other
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M a ri a n itry
”
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E xp o s i to ry Ti me s ,
62
i
xx
.
Why Ro ma n i s m Rui n s
a
Co u n try
Th is w h o l e gig a ntic cult of Mary is impo s e d
on C a tho l ic s w ithout a ny evidence b y the
ab so l ute co mma n d of the Churc h T he
ob j ect of it is to fetter t h e intelligenc e o f
b eliever s a nd t o forc e the m into dependen ce
on the a uthorit y w h ic h t h u s cre a t es t h ei r
.
ob j ects of wors hi p
The Papacy a nd M a rio la try a re i n s e p a r
a b le B ut a populat ion whic h directs it s
d e v ot ion to the B les s ed Virgin i s brought
into a pecul i a r b ondage
An d a s P eter
R o s e g g e r says o n e reason for the p O p u
while
l a ri ty o f the M a ry cult i s th a t
C hrist i s J udge a s w el l a s S a viour
Mar y i s human and indulgent to hum a n
M a riol a try therefore b rings
in fi rm i tie s
with it a de m or a lis ing s ub j ection of
the m ind a nd a weakening of the m o r a l
fib re
Let the re a der loo k at P eter
R o s e g g e r s a ccount o f M a ry worship among
the p ious B avarian pe a sant s in h is book
”
M ein H immelreich and ver y little d i ffi
culty w il l b e found in s eeing how the
whole superstition weaken s and inj ures n o t
onl y the religious s ense but intellectual
int egrit y
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3
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T he
E ffe c t
o
f
63
the
S y s te m
,
on
the
S h a ll Ro me Re c o n qu e r Engl a n d
a nd
T e a c hi n g
P ra c ti c e
Truth
—The
f
P a p a l s yste m w a s built u p on the False
D ecret a ls o f I s idore —a col l ect ion o f e ccle
s i a s ti c a l
canons purporting t o come fro m
the e a rliest times forged a t the end o f th e
eighth century
U pon thes e s purious D e
”
”
“
c re ta l s
says H a lla m ( M iddle Ages
“
vo l
ii p
was built the great
fabri c of papal suprema cy over the different
nat ion a l C hurches a fabri c which h a s stoo d
a fter it s foundat ion s crumb led bene a th it ;
fo r no o n e has pretended to den y for the
last two centurie s that the imposture is to o
p a lpabl e for an y but the most ignorant a ges
”
to credit ( cf Professor B artoli E xp o s i to ry
T i m e s xxii I
Whether this building o n
fo rgeries has introduced the fals e element
into the Church of Rome cannot b e dec ided
P robab l y a more operative caus e has b een
the casuistr y wh ich was de ma nded b y the
work of the confes sional The priest might
declare and even swe a r with an oath that
he did not know wh a t he had learned in
the confes s ional because he knew it a t D e us
( as G o d ) but s poke a mong men u t ho me;
as
man
Thus
a
priest
was
a
lways
at
(
)
l ib erty t o tell a f a ls ehood fo r this purpos e
o
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6
4
Why
Ro m a n i s m
Rui n s
a
C o u n try
P robab ly fro m this grew up the do ctrine o f
res er v e which Pas cal s o pitiless l y expo sed
a doctrine which retains its place in all b ooks
of
mor a l theology written b y C a tholics
There a re a c cording t o this t eaching
circumstances in which we are at li b erty to
withhold the truth An d as Willi a m George
Ward that most ardent an d logi cal o f
Catholic converts put it :
Make yourself
clear that y o u are j ust ified in deception and
”
then lie like a trooper
I t i s impos sible t o e stim a t e the de
moralisation introduced into Catholi c coun
t ries b y th i s fatal doctrine
I f there are
cas es in which we are at liberty t o lie o u r
li ps lie an d lose their v irginal purit y When
on ce we ha v e l ied in a goo d cause we shall
ha v e l ittle di ffi cult y in pers uading ours elve s
th a t whenever a l ie would b e us eful the
cause i s good
B en j amin J owe tt on h earing the Catholic
plea that there were cases in whi ch he must
“
lie said :
I f that b e s o I should like t o
thi n k as l ittle as possible o f it b eforehand
”
and rememb er it as l itt l e a s pos sible after
B ut Catholi c casu ist r y has thought a s
m uch as possible o f it beforehand an d h a s
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65
F
S h a l l Ro m e Re c o n qu e r Engl a n d
thus st a ined the pure ide a of truth with this
dis a strous conse quence that in Catholic
countries the st a ndard of truth is di fferent
an d a s s oon as people turn towards the
Roman Church though the y m ay h a ve been
truthful a s Ward they quickl y a ccept the
ch a nged standard
An d a s t ruth s peaking
and trustworthines s are the very foundation
o f C haracter and o f wellb eing in this world
it i s likely enough that this derogation fro m
the ab solutenes s o f truth demanded appa
re n t l y b y the histor y a nd claims o f the Papal
C hurch largel y explains the blight which
falls upon C a tholic populat ions
,
,
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,
4Th
e
.
c e de d
to
.
P o s i ti o n
the P o p e
C l a i me d
by
a nd
'
Con
—H e is the Vicegerent
God a nd a s such he i s removed o ut of
H i s place is not
the category of humanit y
b ut o n the altar H i s utter
a t the alt a r
au ces e x c a the dra are reg a rded as the actual
dec is ions of God infallib le and final
”
“
Co rpu s J uris Canonici
he is
In the
”
called o u r Lord G o d the Pop e
Catholi c
apologist s in England a ssert th a t the t itle
i s due t o a s lip o f the pen ; the writer in
tending t o s a y O ur Lord the Pope slipped
”
in the word G od
B ut the s lip was quit e
o
f
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66
Wh y Ro ma n i s m R ui n s
a
C o u n try
logic a l
An d s ince 1 87 0 a nd the dec la r a
tion of infallib ility it must b e full y a dmitte d
that the P ope s peaking e x c a the drd is the
exact e quivalent of God a nd Catholics a re
bound to pa y him the s a m e reverence a s
they p a y to G o d
“
H ere is a tract
D e la D evot ion a u
”
Pape b y Ars ene P ierre M ilet dedicated t o
P ius X
pub l ished b y Paul Salmon of
1 90 4
Tours
Q uot ing the words o f
“
Mark xi i 3 0
Thou shalt lo v e Go d with
all thy m ind w ith all th y will with all th y
”
heart a nd with all th y strength the writer
“
s a ys :
S in ce the Pope repres ent s G o d o n
earth w e ought t o love him a lthough in
a s ubordinate degree a s G o d H i mself o u r
Father w ho is in he a ven with all o u r m ind
and al l o u r w ill a n d a l l o u r heart and al l
o u r strength
F o r except the m y ster y o f
the real P resence nothing makes u s feel
s o well o r touch s o C lo sel y the presence o f
G o d a s d o e s the S ight o r e v en the thought
O f the Vicar o f Christ H e i s the Father
o f al l H umanity
the Father o f the s imple
f a ithful a s a l so o f the priest s and bishop s
themse l ves Although there i s n o t an a b s o
l ute parity yet in a certain sense w e ma y
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67
S h a ll Ro m e Re c o n qu e r Engl a n d
that a s the T ab ernacle is the home of
J esu s the Vict im s o the Palace o f th e Vati c a n
at Rome is the home of J esus the Teacher ;
th a t it i s from this Palace o r rather
San ctu a r y that s ince H i s Ascension o u r
Lord J esu s Christ the D ivine Word speaks
t o the world b y the mouth o f H i s Vicar
whether h e b e called Peter o r Leo XM L
o r P ius X
When we f a ll a t the Pope s
feet t o o ffer him the hom a ge o f o u r mind
an d t o ac cept his teachings it i s in a certain
w ay J esu s C hrist whom we adore in H i s
do ctrinal Presen ce
Whence it follows b y
rigorous con se quence that it is as impos sible
t o b e a good C hrist ian without devot ion to
the Pop e a s without de v ot ion to the
Eu charist
I f therefore we trul y love the
Po pe not h ing will b e dearer t o us th a n
the Po pe s will ; and even when ob edience
to the Pope means sacri fi ces we shall never
hes itat e to follow any direct ion whatsoever
eman a t ing from Ro m e
E very ob j ection
will b e s ilen ced e v er y reasoning will go fo r
nothing every hes itat ion will y ield before
this unan swer a b le argu ment :
Go d wills
and commands i t becaus e the Po pe wills
and co mm ands it
Let us enter into t h e
sa y
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68
S h a ll Ro me Re c o n que r Engl a n d
the a uthor expre s sing the Pope s s a ti s fa c
tion with the tract a s a wor k o f intelligent
“
”
p iet y worthy o f a devout priest
This is not the Rom a nis m o f the M iddle
Ages b ut the Romanis m of the pres ent Pope
in the twent ieth century
T h e d e i fi c a t i o n of the Pope is a uthorised
b y the Pope hims elf
The Pope s prede
ces sor a s Pont ifex M a xi mu s the E m peror
Ves p a sian said gri m ly a s he died in refer
e nc e t o the adulation which deified dece a sed
emp erors :
I a m b eco m ing
D e us fi o
”
a G od
The Pop e us es the s am e words
while h e l ives
B ut this de ifi c a ti o n o f a ma n invo lves
ever y countr y th a t accepts it in degr a d a tion
and ruin
I t is the falling a way foretold
“
in the b eginning ( 2 Thes s i i
th e
man O f s i n the s o n o f perdition re v ealed
he t hat opposeth a nd exalteth himself aga inst
all that is called G o d o r that is worshipped
that he s itteth in the te mple o f God
so
”
s ett ing h imself forth a s G o d
I f a devout Catholic like George Tyrrel l
protest s a gainst the blasphem y h e is ex
com m uni c a ted and refus ed even C hristian
buri a l
Ro m e crushes not on l y freedo m
’
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70
Wh y Ro ma n i s m Rui n s
Co u n try
a
of thought but a ny refus a l t o fall down
a nd worship the i mage which s he has
s e t up
N ow o b serve t h at all thes e thing s whic h
s u ffi ciently expla in the inevitabl e deca y o f
C a tholi c countries are no part of C hris
The y are the pagan excres cences
t i a n i ty
wh ich have grown upon the l iving tree in
the cours e o f ages and are maintaine d only
b y the corrupt and interested Govern m ent
O f the Vatican
N othing in the words o f our Lord o r in
the w rit ings o f the Apostles a uthorise s
p riest s o r M a ri o latry o r the c a suistry o f
the J esuit s o r the claims o f the Pop e The
Refo rmation recovered C hrist i a nity b y re
d
t
i
ng
thes
e
an
d
s
i
m
ilar
corruptions
a
u
i
p
The vital and progres s ive powers o f C hris
t i a n i t y es c a ped from Rome a nd pushed o u t
Ro me i s
t o con quer a nd le a d the world
irreformable
O ur hope as C hristians a nd
as nat ion s is to shake o ff the bondage o f
her t y rann y her s uperstit ion her duplicity
a nd her blasphemy
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C H AP TE R I I I
THE
DE
T E RM I N A T I O N O F RO M E
C ON QUE R G R E A T B R I T A I N
To
RE w
Ro me shou l d des ire to recover the
power which s he h a d but lost is n a tur a l
N 0 gre a t hier a rchy l ike Rome could s ust a in
such a defeat a s s he s ustained in the s i x
t e e n th centur y without des iring to make
good the defeat and recover her influence
Thus no sooner did the Reformation b e
come a power than a might y endeavour wa s
made to destro y that power
The S ociety
o f J esus was formed
and became o n e o f
the greatest fighting forces in the C hurch
T o t ell the stor y o f that S ociety o r place
o n paper the s chemes formed under its d i re c
tion and ins pired b y its teach ing would need
man y volumes
B ut this must be born e in
mind : The a d v ancement o f the C hurch o f
Rome was alwa y s the ob j ect aimed at
Thrones were attacked kingdoms were
TH AT
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: 2
The D e te rmi n a t i o n
o
f Ro m e
sh a ken w a r s were w a ge d a l w a y s wit h this
one end in view
The indivi du al counte d
b ut little ; the Church w a s everything
In
Germ a n y in F ranc e in H oll a nd in E ng
land — ever y where it wa s the s a me story
The co mm a n d of the Vicegerent of C hrist
ha d gone forth and heres y m us t be stampe d
o ut
M erc y pit y the commonest l a ws o f
hum a n kindnes s were forgotten ; a n d the
gha stlies t deeds in histor y were done in the
name o f H i m who took little children in H i s
arms and b les se d the m
Time a fter t ime the Church o f Rome
sought to con quer England without succes s
the bloo d y deeds o f M ar y the p e rfi dy o f
the Stuarts failed and Protestantis m became
more firml y seate d than e v er in o u r i sland
home
About the middle o f the last centur y how
ever a new endea v our was commenced t o
d o what past effort s had faile d to do
Po pe
Pius IX sent Cardinal W iseman and a
number o f b ishops t o take ec cles iastical
pos session o f o u r countr y
The reason fo r this i s n o t fa r to s eek
The Pope and his ad v isers s a w that power
wa s s lipping fro m their gra s p in nearl y ever y
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73
S h a ll Ro me Re c o n qu e r Engl a n d
countr y in E urop e
E ven in I taly itself
the home of the Va tican both the libert y
a nd life of the Pope were in d a nger I n
1 84
8 P ius IX had to fl y fro m hi s palace
like a thief in the n ight an d fo r nearly
two years he remained under the p ro te c
tion o f a man whose name was a b y word
in his o wn country I t a l y was s lip ping from
his gras p an d then with an audacity whic h
o n e cannot help a dmiring he determined on
the con quest o f the nation which fo r c e n
t u ri e s h a d despis e d the pretens ion s of the
P a p a l S ee
I f might y Engl a nd coul d b e
w o n b a ck he coul d a ff ord to los e I t a ly ;
if the coffers o f Gre a t B ritain could be open
to him it woul d more th a n atone for his
defeat in a l a n d that his Church h a d i m
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ri s h e d
o
v
e
p
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S o Cardinal Wisem a n w a s sent to take
e ccles iastical pos sess ion o f o u r land who
is sued a bomb a st ic letter to th a t effe ct whic h
letter Lord J ohn Russell regarded as a piece
of impertinence
O f course there was a
great deal o f anger and resentment in Eng
land ; but we had passe d liberal l a ws and
t h e Rom an Church went o n its w ay un
U ndoubtedl y too it made pro
molested
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7
4
,
The D e te rmi n a ti o n
o
f Ro m e
He
gres s under W is em a n s guidance
gathered together the s cattered m em b ers o f
his floc k and united t h e m O f the Cardinal s
aims and intentions there i s n o manner o f
doubt
I t wa s t o recon quer Eng la nd fo r
Ro m e
Wh a t Wise ma n c ommenced Manning a n
eager con v e rt to the Rom a n f a ith cont inued
S pe a king to hi s clerg y he uttered words
the purport o f which cannot b e m istaken
H e said :
I t i s good for u s reverend
b rothers t o b e here in Englan d I f ever
t h ere w a s a country in which there is m uch
to do a n d perhaps much to s u ffer it is here
I sh a ll not s a y too much if I s a y that it is
fo r u s to s ub j ugate a n d s ub due t o con que r
an d to rule a n imperial race
W e h a ve t o
do with a will which reigns throughout the
world a s the wil l o f O l d Rome reigned onc e
and it i s fo r u s to bend o r break th a t wi ll
which n a t ions an d kingdoms have foun d i n
vincible an d in flex ible
Were heres y c o n
quered in England it woul d b e con quered
throughout the world
All its lines m eet
here and therefore in England the Churc h
o f G o d must be gathered in all its strength
& o u h a ve a great comm iss ion to fulfi l ,
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75
S h a ll Ro me Re c o n qu e r Engl a n d
an d
great is the prize for which you strive
S urely a soldier s life a nd a sol dier s h e a rt
would choose b y intuition this fiel d o f Eng
”
l a n d for the warfare o f the faith
O ne is te m pted to examine thes e well
known words
H i s purpose is to con quer
England N ot th a t s he ma y h a ve a gre a ter
libert y or a larger f a it h The purpose is to
s u bj ug a te an d to s u b d u e
to con quer an d to
rule
I t is to bend or bre a k the will th a t
nations h a ve foun d invinc i b le a nd i n
”
flexible
S urel y it will b e goo d for us a l l
if we tr y an d understan d the inwardnes s o f
Manning s words
When M a nning died Vaughan too k up
his work
The gre a t cathedr a l at W est
minster owes its existence largel y to the pre
l a te who ne v er tired of urging his disciples
t o spare no effort to win England an d who
a pp a rently n ever gave u p the hope that his
purpo s e w oul d b e a ccomplished
I t is an a dmitted f a ct that Rome has lost
not only numbers b ut power in every
C a tholic country o n the C ontinent
F r a nce
has s lipped fro m her gras p and b ecome an
a theist country N orthern I t a l y h a s followe d
in the tr a in o f F r a nce
There o n e he a rs
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76
,
S h a ll Ro m e Re c o n que r Engl a n d
t h e n a tions a re c a sting h er o ff a s the a rc h
ene m y of their welf a re that her dist inct ive
doctrines are regarded a s old wi v es fables
Thus it is vital to her to gain power in
Englan d As M a nning s ay s
Were h e res y
con quere d in Eng l a nd it woul d be c o n
quered ever y where All its lines m eet here
a nd thu s it i s here in England that the
C hurch of G o d m ust b e gathere d in a ll he r
”
strength
B ut if it f a ils & I f Englan d spurns the
Roman claims as s he s purned them three
centuries ago I
I t is no wonder then th a t Ro me b ends
all her energies to est a b lis h hers elf in this
land of freedom
That Rome s methods are s peciou s a nd
often p l ausibl e we c a nnot deny
S he does
n o t come t o us a s she came to H ollan d in
—
the da y s o f Willia m the S ilent with sword
and faggot
S he comes with no curses no
thunders o f excommunic a tion no threats o f
an eternal hell a s s he did then
Rather
S he tells us that a s a nation
s he fl a t te rs u s
we have been cha m pions o f liberty a n d that
we are the home of a free people
She
d oes not te l l u s t h at it i s her p urpos e to
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7
8
T he
D e te rmi n a ti o n
o
f Ro m e
us o f our freedom S he cl a i ms freedo m
in order to a dvanc e Romanism in England
but s he does n o t tell us th a t if s he had
the power she woul d forbi d a n y P rotest a nt
worship in our land
S he does not tell us
t hat as long a s the Pop e reigned in Rome
no o n e was allowe d to con duct Protestant
worship w ithin the walls o f that a ncient cit y
I f she tol d u s o f thes e things which are
un dou b tedl y true she would frustr a te her
o wn purposes
I n this res pect I c a nnot hel p b eing re
minded o f a conversat ion I on ce ha d wit h
a monsignor o f the Po pish Church in Rome
who has s ince been made a b isho p I a s ked
him what the C hurch would do with m e if
it had its ancient power an d I w ere to pre a c h
P rotesta n tism which he regarded as heres y
H i s repl y was ver y clear ver y definite
We
woul d quickl y put a sto p t o y our heres y
”
young man he sai d
E xactl y but Rom e does n o t proclaim
thes e things here in England
Sh e wears
the vel v et glove over th e hand o f steel and
hopes that peopl e who have short m emories
in r elation to the great facts o f histor y wil l
—
s
e
e
not
the steel but it i s there
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79
S ha l l Ro m e
Re c o n qu e r E n gl a n d
Thu s the first ende a vour of Rome is e v i
de n tl y to remove the o n e time fear an d hatred
o f the P a p a cy b ec a us e s he knows that until
that is done her t a s k is hopeles s
I t is true
that the people s e y es are from time to time
O pened b y s uch a ctions as those o f the Arch
b isho p o f Malta who made it impos s ible
fo r the Rev J ohn M c N e i l l to preach th e
gospe l in that island
and threatened
every Catholic with excommunication who
should t a ke p a rt in the building o f a Protes
tant church there but thes e facts are being
glossed over an d Rome appears in England
with a smiling face
N a y more s he a p
pears as the a d v ocate o f a broad charit y
and accus es o f bi g otry thos e who expos e
her real nature
H e r organisations a nd plans are carefull y
thought o u t a nd h a ve a t their b ac k millions
of
workers a n d gre a t wealth
Roughl y
s peaking her me a ns for con quering Englan d
ma y b e s umm ed u p as follows :
First the Apostolate o f P ra y er
F rom
what I can gath er millions are pr ay ing
dail y fo r th e con v ers ion o f Englan d to the
Roman faith
When I was in Rome some
years ago I saw while visitin g a Roman
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80
De te rm i n a ti o n
The
f
o
Ro m e
C a tholic church a pra y er printed and
pl a ced o n the doors of the church
I t was
fo r the convers ion o f England
There were
English I t a lia n a nd French cop ies o f this
prayer a n d a priest to ld me that it was
offered b y millions o f people all over
E uro pe Wh a t e v er els e ma y be the res ult of
this it will at least tend to fan into a flame
the fer v our o f thos e who o ffer the p ra y er
and incite the m to deeds o f s ervice
I n addition to this their power in the Press
o f England is ver y gre a t
S ome time a go
when reading a Paper at th e Annual M eet ing
o f the E vangelical Free Church C ouncil at
S wansea I gave expres sion t o the O pinion
that cons idering the numbers o f Roman
Catholics in England an inordinate amount
o f s pace was given to their doings
For
thi s th e P res s severel y too k m e t o tas k an d
stated th a t m y remarks were utterl y without
foundation
I do n o t hint n o w as I had
n o thought o f suggesting then that there was
an y collus ion between the e d itors o f o u r
great dail y papers and the Roman C atholic
C hurch aut h orities
N o such thought ever
entered m y mind
Yet I did n o t s peak
w ithou t due c a re
F o r m onths in reading
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81
0
S h a ll Ro m e Re c o n qu e r Engl a n d
the d a il y p a pers whic h c a me under m y notic e
this f a ct w a s pres s ed upon me
The s pac e
given to Catholic doing s w a s a ltogether o u t
of
proportion to their numb ers in this
countr y while the news in nearl y every cas e
repres ented Romanism in the most favour
a b le light Whether I wa s right o r wrong
in this it w a s a nd is m y deliberat e c o n v i c
t ion and the convict ion wa s forced u pon
m e b y a careful obs ervance o f su ch dail y
p a p ers as I saw Then this fact also shines
o u t : This Paper fo r which I recei v e d man y
hundreds o f letters o f thanks from all C las se s
an d conditions of people w a s des cribed b y
the most o pprobrious epithets O ne L ondon
“
daily paper des cribed it a s an
orgie o f
”
bigotr y
while another pilloried me a s
though I were a criminal
O f cours e it is urged that a n ews p a per
naturall y prints what will make goo d cop y
and doubtles s there ma y be much truth in
this assertion O n the other hand however
could not help being s truck with the
o ne
nature o f the articles which a ppeare d de
s cript ive of the E ucharisti c Conferenc e in
L ondon M a n y o f them were fulsomel y
B ut a s far as I c a n re m e mber
a du l a t i v e
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82
,
T he D e te rmi n a ti o n
o
f Ro m e
one article s p oke of the bloo d y battles
which were fought in this and other lands
in order t o break the power which that Con
gres s repres ente d The Mas s stoo d for som e
o f the cruellest and bl a ckest deeds in histor y
a nd y et in this a Protestant country when
we were told th a t C hrist who had been
bani s hed from the countr y for centuries w a s
to b e brought back to u s b y an I talian priest
onl y o n e of o u r dail y papers as far a s I
am aware told i ts readers the truth concern
ing thes e m a tters O n the other hand there
w ere poetical word pictures about the mystic
light s o n the f a ces o f the priests the t inkling
th e s winging o f censers a n d th e
o f bells
s olemn musical v oices o f the foreign priests
Again I repeat I do n o t h int o r suggest
I n e v er have hinted o r suggeste d — that there
is the s lightest collus ion between th e editors
o f o u r d a il y p a pers and the Roman C hurch
b ut I do n o t think th a t any sane person can
den y that the Roman Church th e great
enem y in ever y countr y where she has power
t o the dissemination o f light uses the Pres s
a s o n e O f her means o f propaganda I ndeed
“
in the D ail y Mail Year B ook fo r 1 9 0 9
it i s suggested that R ome is a dominant
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33
,
S h a ll Ro m e Re c o n qu e r Engl a n d
power in the B ritish Pres s
O f cours e
I do n o t bl a me Rome for this — rather I
admire her astutenes s in utilis ing what Pro
t e s ta n ti s m h a s m a de pos sible
N evertheless
many feel that there is much truth in a
letter which the Archde a con of L ondon ( D r
S inclair ) wrote to the C h urc hma n in August
1 89 6
N ever were the Roman Catholic s
mor e a cti v e
Their influence on the
L ondon Pres s is immens e ; i t wo u l d b e v e ry
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di ffi c ul t, i f
no t
i mp o s s i bl e ,
b e i n s e rte d i n the L o n d o n
wo ul d d a ma g e o r
I do not think ,
e xp o s e
f
or
a n y thi n g
n e ws p a p e rs
the i r p o l i c y
to
whi ch
”
.
however that this is a lto
gether true
The wa y that s uch a paper as
the D a i l y N e ws dealt with the murder o f
Ferrer s hows that a t leas t o n e news p a per
dares to s pe a k the truth O n the other h and
howe v er a publication which a d v ertis es i t self
a s the most widel y circulated penn y news
paper in Englan d described F errer s trial as
ha v ing been c onducted with perfect honour
and honest y 1
Another m eans b y which the y s eek to
recon quer Engl a nd i s through their nun
h eries and mon a steries
I t is a fact little
known b u t i t is a s s ert ed b y those wh o hav e
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8
S h a ll Ro m e Re c o n qu e r Engl a n d
P racticall y no other country in E urope
admits thes e O rders without inspection and
the strictes t regulations while in countries
like I tal y the S tate will have none o f them
B ut driven from other nations as the homes
o f treason and d a nger a nd a men a ce t o the
b est life in the S tate they h a ve come t o
Engl a nd they have bought s o m e o f o u r
fairest lands and established thems elves in
our m idst
C ertain it is that the y h a ve i n
creas ed enormous l y during the last few years
as statistics show
I n 1 8 5 1 there were 7 0
monasteries and nunneries while in 1 9 0 8
there were
and a ccording to report
the y are incre a s ing month b y month
I t must be remembered moreover that
these houses are n o t all o f the contemplati v e
“
”
c losed nature
The y a re utilised a s
or
a means o f s preading the Roman faith
Attached t o man y o f the m are s chools t o
which Protestant parents a ttracted b y the
smallnes s o f the fees and the promise o f a
goo d French ac cent s end their children B y
th is means the y g a in influence in Protest a nt
homes a nd win converts
C losel y a l lied t o thes e are institutions for
tr a ini n g governess es nurs es & c
B y this
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86
.
The D e te rm i n a ti o n
m e a ns Protest a nt ho mes
o
f Ro m e
a re
entered and
D uring the
in man y cases perverts made
last few ye a rs I h a ve been tol d of cas es
where C a tholic y oung women pretending to
b e P rotest a nts h a ve O btained s itu a tions in
Protestant homes as governes s es an d the
like an d h a ve s ucceeded in instilling their
faith into the minds of their pupils
D r Robertson o f Venic e gives the follow
“
ing instanc e in his n ew work
The Papa l
”
C on quest
A lad y in London who having
oc c a sion t o leave her C hildren for a time
engage d a governes s who was strongly re
c ommended a s a goo d Protestant
When
she returned she a ccording to her custo m
called h e r children t o her b efore th eir retire
ment t o hear them s a y their pra y ers
The y
a t once cro ss ed themselves an d beg a n to
pra y to the M adonna
O n this she called
the governes s to ex plain w ho confess ed that
and hel d a dis
s he was a Roman Catholic
n
s
a
t
i
n
to
preten
d
to
b
e
a
Prot
estant
O
f
e
o
p
”
“
c ours e this
Protest a nt
governes s was
quickl y sent about her b us ines s
Whether this goes o n to a very large ex
tent i t i s impossible t o say but in t hes e da y s
an d when peo pl e a re
o f lax religious beliefs
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87
S h a ll Ro m e Re c o n qu e r Engl a n d
t
too
bro a d m in d ed
a n d c ha rit a ble to
care whether the instru ctors of their children
are Romani sts o r Protes tants it is u n
dou b tedly a fact th a t governess es c o m
p a n ions and t eachers t rained in C a tholi c
institutions fin d their way into P rotestant
homes a n d pervert th e minds o f the
children
I n short the Church of Rome
is daily training a n d s ending out a great
b a n d of miss ioners whos e work is t o undo
the work o f the Reformation a n d to win
bac k Englan d t o Rome
I n addition to this there can b e no doubt
that O rders like that o f the J esuits exercis e
a great influence H o w much it i s i mp o s
s ible t o s a y
J o seph M c C a b e sa y s in hi s
stor y of Ferrer the S panish mart y r which
has j ust b een publ ished that th e J esuits
practicall y rule S pain H e asserts that the y
have ent ered the very warp and woof o f the
nation s life with the result that the peopl e
are cursed with a great curs e
That the
S ociety of J esus has influen ced the l ife of
nation s an d in m a ny cases h a s dictated
their polic y is a matter of history I t i s als o
a matter o f history th a t nat ion after nation
h a s a gain an d ag a in expelled that S ociet y
”
“
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88
S ha ll Ro m e Re c o n q u e r Engl a n d
C h urc h of Ro m e wa s consulted but no
Free C h urc h l e a der o f a n y sort was called
into c onsultation
I ndeed it was after
C a rdin a l Vaughan was a sked to repres ent
the Catholic s in connection with the E duca
tion A c t o f 1 9 0 2 th a t he was led to bo a s t
”
th a t the y h a d dished the N o n c o n fo rm i s ts
F e w will disput e the fact th a t but for the
R oman Catholics a nd the s o c a lle d English
Catholic s the education di ffi culty woul d long
since h a ve been s ettled o n an e quitable bas is
Their power is felt too in election t imes
A gain a n d again it is urged a mong parlia
“
ment a ry c a ndidates that the
Catholic
”
vote
mu st b e c a pture d
I n this res pect
I cannot hel p a gain referring t o the Paper I
re a d a t the Free C hurch C ouncil at Swanse a
I there stated th a t when M r C orbett s
B ill fo r the ins pection of convents came
b efore Parliament a large number of F ree
C hurch M embers voted a gainst it The n ext
da y a Free Church M ember of Parliament
who has cons istent l y vote d for convent i n
H e said th a t thes e
s p e c t i o n ex plaine d wh y
m en were t h inking of the next election an d
knew that if the y vote d for M r Corbett s
m easure the y woul d lose the Catholi c vote
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90
The D e te rm i n a ti o n
f Ro m e
o
I d a re not let m yself expres s m y o pinion
”
des cendant s o f the P uritans who
o f thes e
in o rder t o catch votes a re said to have
refrained from vot ing fo r a neces s a ry re
fo rm ; b ut I would sugge s t th a t the fact
indic a tes the power of the Romanist s in th e
count r y N ot only do they hold the b a lance
o f power
in the new Government in the
H ouse o f Com mons
b ut they a e often
s uppose d t o control individu a l elect ion s
Pers onall y I think we have too long
“
”
pandered t o the
Catholi c vote
a nd it
would be wel l fo r both parties to t reat i t
a s a negligible quantit y I t is never to b e
depended o n an d wh a t i s more it will
a l ways b e a hindran ce to neces sar y reform
Fo r here i s the fact : the Cathol ic vot e is
in the main ruled b y the priest and th e
priest i s ever and always a Ro man ist fi rst
a nd a n E n gl ishman if he is an E n glishm a n
a fte r wards
A friend o f mine who is a large em ployer
o f labour in Lancash ire
a sked o n e o f his
me n in the 1 9 0 6 elect ion whether he had
made u p his m ind which way he was go ing
“
”
t o vote
I don t know yet s i r repl ied
the man ;
we shan t know till S unday
wi ll tell u s then l
F ather
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91
S h a ll Ro m e Re c o nqu e r Engl a n d
I f Fre e C hurch men o r P rotestant s of a ny
sort will c onsent to go c a p in hand to the
priest in o rder t o obtain votes a n d will
refr a in from voting on the s ide of libert y
an d hu ma nit y for fear of losing the m w e
h a ve indee d f a llen upon evil t i mes &
I n a ddit ion to al l thes e forces a n d
O rganis a tions there is the l a rge ar m y o f
p riests the numbers of which a re d a ily
swelling in our midst
I n 1 9 0 8 there were
a s co mpared with 9 5 8 in 1 8 5 1
O f course thes e cannot a ll b e re quired t o
l ook a fter ex isting Ro manists a n d thus m a n y
o f the m must b e mis s ioners whos e bus ines s
i s t o t r y and make converts O n every hand
too C a tholic churches are s pringing u p
R om a n C a tholic s doubtles s believing th a t
the m one y will have been well s pent o n
thes e buildings if eventuall y the coffers of
Englan d are open to them
Roughl y s peaking then this is the p l an
and thes e a re the force s at
o f c a m paign
work I n the main the great army is work
ing quiet ly secretl y subtl y in o u r m idst
I ts vot a r ies and advo cates a re ever y where
They s eek a dmiss ion into the homes of rich
a nd poor T h ey endeavour to explain awa y
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92
IV
C H A P TE R
RO
M E S P R O SP E C TS
’
OF
S UCC E SS
I N dealing w ith Ro m e s pros pects o f succes s
we are natur a ll y led to cons ider two f a cts
fi rs t the strength of th e inva ding a rm y ;
and second the resist ing power o f the la nd
which is invaded
Referring fo r a moment to the first we
cannot den y th a t the invading arm y is in
the main eager enthus iast ic determined
This means a great deal
Whatever other
power the Roman Church h a s it has the
power t o ins p ire her followers with zeal
M oreover it is outwardly an united bo dy
The Roman s y stem favours this
L ike a ll
other s ystems which depend in the main on
su pe rstition and emotionalism it c a n c o m
m an d o bedience from the unthinking an d
the uneduc a ted
R ome a llows o f no free
do m o f invest ig a tion a nd dis cuss ion o n
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9
4
Ro m e
’
s
Pro s p e c ts
o
f Suc c e s s
H e r mandates a re final
religious m a tters
an d a uthoritat ive
The Pop e in h i s l ate
enc y clical pra cticall y prohib it s though t in
the domain o f faith The Church cl a i m s i n
fallibility the P op e C laims infall ib ility there
fore to doubt the C hurch s decrees is s i n
Pro v ision is made for ne a rl y e ver y other c o n
dition o f life ; but doubt i s a deadly monster
which must b e destro y ed
O f cours e th is
has h a d the effect o f driving enlight ene d
people from her
O ut o f the 1 80 millions
which compose her fo llowers 1 2 0 m illion s
are among the most illiterate
E ducate d
and advancing nations such a s France an d
I tal y throw o ff her y oke
Vast numb ers
w ho call thems elve s Cathol ics b ecaus e they
were born in the faith shrug their shoulders
with a laugh o f de ris ion at th e C hurch s
cl a i ms
N e v ertheles s those who c a n place
themselves in the attitude o f mind t o ac cept
w ithout reason and to give a b lind obedience
to
authorit y w ithout asking questions
become a strong fighting force A fanat ic al
force it m a y b e b ut st ill p owerful
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Th
Th
e i rs
no t
to ma ke
e i rs
no t
to
T h e i rs
b ut
to do
95
re a so n
re
pl y
,
why ,
&
a nd die
.
S h a ll Ro me Re c o n qu e r Engl a n d
re m e mb er re a ding in a Catholic paper
He
s ome y ears a go a s peech o f a priest
was s peaking about the di ffi cult y which som e
h a d about believing the sto r y o f the whale
”
swallowing J onah
Personall y he said
“
if the C hurch t a ught me that J onah
swallowed the whale I should believe it
bec a us e I should know that whatever the
”
C hurch taught w a s true
Also when vis it
ing I reland some y ears a g o a J es uit priest
the head o f a c ollege fo r training y oung
priests said to m e :
I b elieve that ever y
thing the Church has done is right and that
”
everyt hing S he w ill do will be right
“
”
“
What
I queried
do y o u believe
that the ghastl y terrors o f the S panish I n
qu i s i ti o n were right & D O y ou believe th a t
t h e blood y massacres in the N etherlands
were ac cording to the mind and spirit o f
C hrist &
”
M ost a ssuredl y was his repl y
We l l when a communit y c a n become
filled with a sp irit like this y ou are bound
to h a ve an eager aggressi v e a rm y An d this
is the s pirit of e a rnest Romanists
They
a s k no quest ions ; they do not think t h ei r
own thought s on religion ; but they obe y
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96
S h a ll Ro me Re c o n que r Engl a n d
no bl est of her son s for the c a u s e o f free d o m
go b a c k t o the yoke o f bondage & W ill
G re a t B ritain forget h er history & forget the
struggles of her heroes who fought an d died
that the shackles which Ro m e place d on the
hands on the necks on the souls o f its
people might be broken & S hal l the candle
which Ridley a nd L a timer l it outs ide B allio l
C ollege be put out & S hall thos e glorious
truths which were given us by the Reforma
tion b e forgotten while a nu mbing para
l y sing superstition creep s a long the nerves
o f a great people &
D irectl y these quest ions a ppea l to us
our n at ural a nswer is
N o never 1
An d
m ore than this s o great is our ha tre d o f
s lavery s o sure are we of o u r own strength
that we feel like l a ughing at the ver y sug
gest ion that there i s any pos s ibility o f Ro m e
coming back
B ut there is another s ide to this :
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“
Vice is
a
ma s t e r
T h a t to b e
T his
a nd
n
B ut
se e
We
fi rs t
is true
Roman
h a te d
to o
e
ndu
of s
u
c
n d
h d re a d ful
mi e
n
n
b u t to b e s e e ,
o ft, f a mi l i a r to th e f a c e ,
”
i t , th e
re , th e
e m ra c e
ee
s
n p y
n
b
.
an y error a n y s uperstition
a dvoc a tes doubtles s re mem be r
of
,
98
,
Ro m e
’
s
Pro s p e c ts
o
f
Suc c e s s
this in s eeking to come b a ck t o our la n d
And more th a n this they re m e m ber th a t
there i s a tendency for every new generation
to forget the history of the past ; an d even
if they do not forget th a t h istor y they kno w
that the m eaning o f the struggles of tho se
long de a d b ecomes more and m ore hard to
realis e
This being s o their diffi culties a re not s o
great a s at fi rst appe a rs C orning as they do
s killed b y th e training of long centuries the y
a ppeal t o the young people of the land in
whom their hop e is centred As I h av e b efore
said the C hurch does not show the cloven
hoof a s it h a s shown it in S pain in s uch
a c a s e a s that o f S e ri o r Ferrer an d a s it
h a s shown it in ever y countr y where it h a s
rei gn e d su preme
Rath er it i s plaus ible
”
“
sa y
sm ili n g benign
Loo k at u s
its
a d v ocates
We l ive in y our midst ; we
a re y our neighbours y our friends D o we
bear an y resembl a nce to th e people des cribed
in y o u r P rotestant histories & C o m e to o u r
ser v ices l isten to o u r beaut iful m usi c pa y
hee d t o o u r teaching and remember that
ours is the C hurch the great historic C hurch
w h i ch h a s continued the s ame r i ght d own
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99
S n a ll Ro m e
Re c o n qu e r Engl a n d
throug h t h e a ge s
Re me m b er too th a t we
a re the Church the on l y C hurch th a t c a n
c lai m direct des cent from the a postles
D o not listen to what historians s a y
about u s ; listen to what we s a y about
ourse l ves
B esides in a very re a l s ens e Ro ma nis m
is a very eas y religion
Thes e a re d a ys of
religious unrest d a ys when m e n are c o n
s ta n tl y
testing the foun dation of things
Ro manis m s a ys :
Com e and rest
I t is
not fo r y ou to fight these battles o f faith
o n the solitar y battlefiel d o f y our o wn s oul
The Church has fought th e m for you
The
C hurch has found the truth
All you have
to do is to rest y our hea d on her great
”
bosom a nd ob e y her
I t is eas y t o o in
other respects
I t does n o t deman d that
s a me stern purit y and righteousnes s which
Protestantis m dem a nds The pries t to whom
the C a tholic confes se s has power according
to their teaching to ab sol v e the sinner fro m
his s ins a n d thus the way o f the s inner
beco mes eas y
O f cours e it does n o t bear five m inutes
critical thought ; but to a certain clas s o f
mind it i s easy and pleasant ; and thus
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1 00
S h a ll Ro m e Re c o n qu e r Engl a n d
the results of the move m ent in a ugurate d
m ore than h a lf a c entury a go b y Pope
Pius IX ma y b e s een in three f a cts a n d it
is thes e facts which give Romanists hope th a t
they will again l ay their h a n d in power on
the l a nd we love
The fi rst is the ch a nge o f a t mos phere
Time w a s when England knowing fro m ex
p e ri e n c e what Ro m e reall y meant feared an d
hated her There wa s a feeling of antagonism
to Rome
There was no h a tre d of Roman
i s t s individuall y but there wa s antagonis m
to the s y s te m The p eople knew th a t Rome
meant s la v ery o f the mind the y knew that
it ha d been a s sociated with ever y form o f
oppres sion the y knew that P ius IX refus ed
to a llow the Authorise d Vers ion of our B ible
t o b e taken into Rome they rememb ered the
histor y o f their land and a s a cons e quence
an y suggestion o f Rom a nism wa s feared and
hated
Al l th a t has been ch a nged an d in many
respect s the C h a nge i s goo d
I t i s surely
a goo d S ign when Christ ian s of all s orts
can althoug h holding differences o f op inion
still dwell together in unit y
Let u s res pect
”
every ma n s faith is the s pirit of our a ge
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1 02
Ro me
’
Pro s p e c ts
s
a nd it
o
f
Suc c e s s
i s a goo d s pirit Rome h a s m a de good
u se of this changed tone a n d atmo sphere
S he h a s gloss e d over the fact that had s he
the power s he would allow none of thes e
things that a s the ver y e ss enc e o f her
creed she m ust b e intoler a nt bec a us e s he
cl a ims infallib ility a n d a bsolute ob edience
N evertheless sh e h a s fostered the s entiment
o f a broa d liber a l ism a s far a s s h e is c o n
cerned I n effect she h a s said
You Pro
t e s ta n t s
who bo a st o f a large ch a rit y and
o f a n open mind
y o u cannot a ccording to
the v er y fund a mental s o f y our creed refus e
a large toleration t o ours the ol dest f a it h
”
in C hristendom
A n d we have snapped at the bait she h a s
thrown t o u s
We l ive in an age when a
lac k o f charit y towards those holding views
di fferent from o u r o wn is s o mething to b e
desp ised ; an d s o when we have s een the
ea rn est devoted work that many Cathol ic
priests an d nuns are undoubtedl y doing we
have l earned t o forget that what Rome was
Rome i s and mu st always b e and have been
led t o look u pon thei r presenc e in o u r m idst
w ith a kind o f e a sy toleration
N ay more
s o much does this s pirit prev a il th a t if a ny
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10 3
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,
S h a ll Ro me Re c o n que r Engl a n d
man d a res to s tate wh a t the very he a rt of
the Rom a n syste m means he is s poken o f
“
”
“
”
a s narrow minded
bigot ed
a n d the
like
N o ma n believes more in l a rge m inded
nes s a n d toleration th a n I ; but toleration
with a Church which is ess entiall y intoler a nt
a vowedl y intoler a nt which declares in a
thousand ways th a t if s he h a d the power s he
would crush a n d persecut e to d ay a s s he
did in the p a st is a question to be care
fully c onsidered
If for ex a mple a bo dy
s ought t o inst itute a s y ste m of s l a ver y in
Engl a nd such a s wa s known in so me o f the
States o f Am eric a before 1 86
we should
not b e tolerant with that bod y W e should
“
H uman libert y
c a ll t oleration a crime
i s sacred and must b e m a intained a t a ll
”
cost
would be o u r cr y
And we should
b e right L ibert y lies a t the ver y roots o f
the b est life o f a people and to tamper w ith
it would b e to poison the ver y life b loo d
B ecause o f this we shoul d
o f o u r land
fight t o o u r last b reath t o maintain the
watchword o f o u r people
B ritons sl a ves &
N o t while o u r strong right hand c a n keep
t h e m free I B ut
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10
4
S h a ll Ro me Re c o n qu e r Engl a nd
Alw ay s the s a me
To
maintain its supremac y over the minds a nd
cons ciences of the nat ions it h a s del uged
Europe in blood ; it ha s C lai med victim s
b y s core s o f thousands
I t h a s frightened
ignorant nat ions into su b mis sion ; it has
cursed a ll who dare t o den y wh a t they know
t o be lies and it s a im an d hope and ob j ect
is t o sub jug a t e a nd t o sub due to con quer
”
a n d t o rule a n imperial r a c e ; it i s de
“
t e rm i n e d
to b en d o r bre a k the wi l l that
k ingdo m s have foun d invincible a nd i n
”
flexib le
I n short its purpos e is to make u s
a nation of intellectual s laves
O ne d ay I wa s din ing wit h a Catholic
doctor in Ro me
I asked h i m if he had
s een the famou s window p a inted b y B urne
J ones in the American E pis cop a l Church in
that C ity H e repl ied th a t he was a Catholic
I a s ked him what th a t had t o do with it
H e replied
& o u must underst a nd th a t in
Engl a n d a n d other Protestant countries
C a tholic s a re a llowed to enter a Protestant
C hurch o n co n dit ion th a t they w ill not
worship there but in C at h olic countries we
a re n o t allowed to enter a Pr otest a nt C hurch
”
un de r any pretext whatever
H e als o told
is
S e mp e r
e a de
”
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Ro m e
’
Pro s p e c ts
s
o
f
Suc c e s s
me of b ook s he would like to re a d but dared
not b ecaus e the C hurch h a d place d them o n
the I ndex
E x a ctly B ut if Rome g a ined the power
s he woul d govern
s he des ires in England
s he would
o u r lives from every standpo int
dec ide o u r education our l a ws our books
and she would pers ecute thos e
o u r thoughts
w ho dared t o di sob ey
All o u r o l d free
inst it u tions would g o and we s hould b ecome
another S pain
Thus the question c omes C a n w e b e
t olerant tow a rds s uch a s yst em & T o this
I repl y that we cannot b e otherwise than
t olerant As P rotestants we must give them
what they woul d refuse us
We mus t gr a nt
them th e same religious freedom we o u r
selves demand
This lies at the ver y heart
I t is t rue the Roman
o f Protest a nt is m
Church will n o t adopt this attitude towards
Protestants
I n a pam phlet o n Libert y o f
”
C ons ci en ce
M ons ignor C roke Rob inson
“
sa y s :
I f t o morrow th e S panish G overn
ment a s ad v is ed b y the Catholic C hurc h
were t o see that a greater evil woul d ens ue
from granting Religiou s L ibert y than fro m
refusing it then it would have a perfect
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10 7
S h a ll Ro me Re c o n qu e r Engl a nd
right t o refus e it
O f cour s e the Protestant
press would teem with ch a rges of In to l e r
ance and we should repl y
Toler a tion to
P rotestants is intoler a tion to C a thol ics
In
deed even while I write t h e att itude o f the
Catholic C hurch in S pain i s ex a ctl y what
M onsignor Robins on s uggests it should b e
The S pani sh Government is s eeking to gr a nt
slight concessions t o Protest a nts s uch as
a llowing the m to announce the t ime s and
nature of their s ervic es but ag a inst even this
the Vat ican is protesting
Romanist s clai m
ever y libert y in P rotest a nt countries but t he y
an a th emat is e S e ri o r Canale j as for suggesting
e v en this tard y j ustice t o P rotest a nts The y
are straining every nerve t o make the bre ath
o f religious liberty impos s ib le in S p a in
And
what they are doing there they woul d do in
England if they had the power an d it would
be in ac cordance with the essenti a ls o f their
creed
Are we then to tolerate this i n
t olerant Church i n o u r l a nd & Yes we must
O ur P rotestant ism de ma nds th a t we should
I t de mands that we must treat Ro man
Catholics w ith kindnes s a nd j ustice N ever
we should b e a cting crimin a lly if
th e l e s s
we did not s eek t o ma ke kno wn what
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108
S ha ll Ro m e Re c o n qu e r Engl a n d
The book c a me a s a b o mb
shell to m a ny
I t showed that o ur n a tional
C hurch w a s riddled with Ro ma nist so cieties
I t declared that thousands of Church of
Engl a nd m inisters who h a d taken vows
to u phold the Protestant f a ith a nd whilst
t a king the p a y of a P rotest a nt people
were seeking to unprotest a ntis e the nation
I t revealed a n amount o f duplicit y o f
sh a meful dec eit that st a rt l ed thousands
o f people ;
and what is more it is M r
W a lsh s bo a st that not one of his statement s
has ever been denied
I n spite o f M r
Gl a dstone s Vat ican D ecrees however in
s pite o f S ir William H arcourt s nob le de
fen ce o f Protestantism in the H ous e o f
C ommons an d in his letter to the Ti me s in
s pite o f M r Wal sh s and hundreds o f other
books in s p ite o f thousands o f protest s
com ing from an aggrieved and indignant
community the work goes on
More and
m ore among c lerg ym en o f the Church of
England the word Protest a nt is b eco m ing
a stig ma an d a reproach m ore a n d m ore
the y are adopting Roman for mul ae Ro man
l iturg y Roman vest ments Rom a n doctrine
O f course they h ave a perfect right to do
M ove m ent
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1 10
.
Ro me
’
s
Pro s p e c t s
o
f S uc c e s s
this if the y wish but the y h a ve no right
to do it while they are ministers o f the
E stab lished
and
Reformed
Protest a nt
C hurch o f England
This however augurs f a vourab ly fo r the
s uc ces s
Roman Church a nd the
o f the
l e a ders in th a t Church know it I ndeed m e n
l ike F a ther B ernard Vaughan throw s corn
a n d ridicu l e u pon thes e Romanisers in the
E nglish Church and taunt them w ith having
onl y a bastard Cathol ic ism and at the same
t ime he beseeches the p eople to come where
”
the y c a n have the
real thing
I ndeed
from that standpoint the Roman Cathol ic
o c cupies the logi cal position
I f you once
a dmit the sacerdotal claims o f thes e s o
called E n glis h C athol ics there is n o s topping
place between them and Rome
This i s seen b y b oth Ro manists and
earnest E vangelic al c l ergym en
Father
H ugh
B enson w h en s peaking o f the
Romanis ing in fluenc e o f s u ch Church o f
England institution s a s the C ommunit y o f
the R esurrection at M i rfi e l d said
On
practicall y ever y point except the su pre mac y
o f the Pope we b el ie v ed the t eaching o f the
Catholic Church
taught most o f Its
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S h a ll Ro me Re c o n qu e r Engl a n d
do ct rines a s thous an ds of Anglic a n c lergy
are doing to day a n d it is thi s teaching that
is bu ilding the b ridge over which Anglic a n s
”
will co m e o v er t o the true fold
The late Cardinal Vaughan als o bo a sted
that the whole tone of the C hurch o f
Engl a n d was ch a nged an d that in thous a nds
s ervices were s carcely dis
o f c a ses their
t i n g u i s ha b l e fro m that of the Roman Church
and that the Romanist move m ent w a s
s preading d a y b y d a y
Archdeacon S incl a ir too test ifie d the
same thing ten ye a rs ago and a l a s l h e
has stronger re a sons for doing s o now H e
said
R om a n Catholics are influencing the
C hurch of Engl a n d fro m within ma n y o f o u r
clergy a re in their s ervice and openl y pray
fo r the Pop e ; m a n y others are in constant
communic a tion with them adopt their dres s
sustain thems el v es o n their literature a re
ins pired b y their po licy a nd teach their doc
”
trines
B ut there i s still another thing wh ich gives
great hop e to the Romanist a nd th a t is the
apparent indi fference o f a large number o f
N onconfor m ists
P erson a lly I h a ve but
littl e doubt th a t the Free C hurch m en of
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1 12
S h a ll Ro m e Re c o n qu e r Engl a n d
but they exist
And this not b ecause the y
h ave a ny predilection towards Rome but
b ecaus e the y have i mb ibed the s pirit of
e a sy toleration which makes a ggress ive Pro
There
t e s ta n t i s m s eem to the m unch a ritab le
is a l a rger numb er however —I hope it is n o t
—
very l a rge who a re not ins pired with that
pas sion for religious li b erty which c a used
our Free C hurches to s pring into being
S ome time ago a m inister whos e name is
known and a s far a s I am a ware res pected
throughout the Free Churches of England
w a s in v ited b y a n u m ber o f leading ministers
to s peak on Protestantism in o n e o f the
fashionable town s of England
I t wa s wit h
great di ffi cult y th a t a church could b e found
fo r him to speak in
The de a cons and elders
o f one C hurch after another refused to open
their doors for a n addres s o n this question
an d finall y the m eeting was held in a c o m
r
t
l
v
a
a
i
e
y unimportant building
p
S uch a fact a s this wi ll doubt l es s b e re a d
with a stonish m ent alt h ough I do not b elieve
it is in the s lightest degree representative
o f the general feeling o f the Free Churc h es
N e v erthe l es s i t does su g gest a state o f
things that must give j o y to R om a nist s
If
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Ro m e
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s
Pro s p e c ts
o
f
Suc c e s s
the N o n c o n fo rmi s ts of E ngland have gro wn
col d o n this question then there is little
doubt that the C hurch of Rome h a s m ade
great headwa y
For if there is a clas s o f
the community th a t ought to hate the Roman
s ystem it is the N o n c o n fo rm i s t s o f Engl a nd
an d Wales
The priest is ever the de a dly
enem y o f the libert y loving life of o u r F ree
C hurches and w o e b e t o u s if ever the
Roman s y stem holds s way in o u r land I
This coldnes s if coldnes s there is and I
—
am v er y loath to confes s i t is largel y becaus e
o f ignor a nc e o f the is sues at stake
There
is an appall ing amount o f ignorance among
b oth o l d a nd y oung in o u r Free Churches
n o t onl y concerning the essent ial principles
o f Rome
but concerning th e e ffe ct o f Rom e
wh ere v er it has had dominion
Ever y
Roman Cathol ic child is w el l instructe d in
the principles o f his faith I wonder whether
the same can b e said w ith regard t o the
y oung peo pl e in o u r Free C hurches & I n this
I am n o t sure that the ministers are free
from blame S urel y it is fo r u s t o te a ch o u r
people the principles and histor y o f the faith
t o which nationall y and in dividuall y we o w e
al l that is best in o u r life
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1 15
S h a ll Ro m e R e c o n que r Engl a n d
Another re a son for the s eeming i n di ffe r
ence of N onconfor mists is the belief that
Protestantism is too st rong in England for
R ome ever to come back I think it wa s the
Ti m e s which stated during the E u c ha ri s t Ic
C ongres s in London that the Protestant is m
of En g land was s o strong that it coul d a fford
to s mile at all the endeavours which Roman
i s t s w ere making
That IS the feeling o f
a large number of N o n c o n fo rm i s ts an d it is
a feeling th a t the Roman Catholics a re
taking full advantage o f
An d n o w as I look back o v er what I
have w ritten I ask again : What are the
pros pect s o f Rome e v er coming bac k to
Englan d in power & There i s much in their
favour An eas y s purious toleration which
is n o t alwa y s the result o f a great charity
but want o f con v iction the Romanis ing ten
den e y in o u r E stab lished Church and a
lack o f e a rnestnes s in man y o f o u r Free
C hurches
Thes e are facts to which we
cannot C los e o u r e y es
There is als o the
fact that there i s a great arm y determined
and that great army i s backed
o n con quest
b y a m ighty org a nis a tion
Perhaps too
t h ere i s a nother thing which will m ake
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1 16
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S h a ll Ro me Re c o n qu e r Engl a n d
R eformers fought an d died s h a ll :be p ro
claimed to them L et the people know thes e
things and I h a ve no fear but if Ro m e finds
Englan d ignor a nt concerning wh a t i s m ost
vital to her it m
b e th a t s he will find her
e a s y prey
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1 18
C H A P TE R
W H AT
WOUL D
W E RE
TO
BE
THE
C A PTUR E
V
S U L T I F R OM E
E NG L A ND &
RE
THE
result woul d b e the destruction o f
Protestant principles
All Romanists re
nounce an d detest thes e principles
Whil e
R omanists are in a dec is i v e m inority the y
onl y s uffer thems elves from the los s o f thes e
principles
B ut when the y are in a decis ive
—
ma j ority they will i f the y are candid the y
confe ss that they will — ruthles s l y stam p o u t
thes e princ iples in the whol e countr y
It
cannot b e to o plainl y asserted that Rome
c laim s the right o f coercion I f in Cardinal
Manni n g s phras e this proud countr y should
b o w her n ec k t o the Pa pac y l ibert y wil l
b e crushed the libert y o f P rotestants a s
a matter o f cours e but als o the libert y o f
the Papists thems elves
The pretence o f libert y m a de b y the
R oman C hurch in England i s onl y a show
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1 19
S h a ll Ro me Re c o n qu e r Engl a n d
for prosel ytis ing purpos es ; when the en d
is gained it will be t h ro wn a s ide j ust as it i s
in every c omp l etel y Rom a nised countr y
E very R o manist every convert to Ro me
throws his whole weigh t into the s cale t o
destroy P rotestant principles
and that
m a ster principle of a ll l iberty
Strictly s peaking Protestant is m w a s a n d
is s impl y the demand for liberty li b erty from
a galling cru shing de moralis ing t y r a nny
The right to s eek truth a nd to a ccept it the
right to exerc is e private j udgment the right
t o obey cons cience the right t o differ from
others o n matters of religion ; the right t o
a pproach Go d directl y the right to worship
in the way which conscience directs ; the
right to read and stud y the B ible a nd t o
interpret it according to the pl a in rules o f
philolog y of general knowledge o f com mon
s ens e the right to li v e and to let l ive — thes e
right s the elementar y rights o n which all
s piritual de v elop ment depends were forfeit
before the R efor ma tion and they are forfeit
again where v er Ro m e prevails
L iberty is
—
the fi rst of Protestant principles the hardest
to a chieve the easies t t o los e
There are
ba s e s pirits which do not cr av e liberty ;
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1 20
S h a ll Ro me Re c o n qu e r Engl a n d
s ee m t o h a ve l ost every ele ment a ry s ens e o f
res pons i b ilit y a nd person a l dignity I nstea d
o f being m e t with a s ervic e of re a sonab le
a nd therefore discerning obedience the a cts
o f their supre m e ru l ers a re received with the
uncons cious a c quies cence of irres pons i b le
b eings This react s unf a vour a b ly on the
exercis e of a uthorit y its elf whic h loses s ight
o f its proper l imit s a n d i t s true funct ions
a n d tr a nsfor ms itsel f into a n a bsolutis m i n
c ons istent w ith that re a son a b le s piritual
govern m ent institute d b y Christ i n who m
we h a ve p a sse d from s ervitude to free
”
dom
They a re C a t h olic s a n d not ignor a nt
—
Protestants who des cribe the C uri o that is
the supreme authorit y of the Rom a n Church
which wields the terrifi c engine of the Papal
—
infallibilit y i n thes e words
We a re weary
s eeing t he Church reduced for a ll
of
practical purposes to a b ureaucrac y j ealous
o f i t s survi v ing s craps o f politi cal power a nd
hungering t o get back a ll it once had to a
group o f idle men who h a ving dedicate d
the m sel v es to a priestl y and a postolic c a ll
ing a n d having a fterwards attaine d the
”
“
T he P ro g ra mme o f M o d e rn i s m p 9
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122
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the
Wh a t wo uld be
Re s ult
highest ec clesi a stic a l gr a de en j oy the m ost
fabulousl y wealthy b e n e fi c e s a s a bs entee i n
c u mb e n t s
We a re weary o f s eeing her
reduced to a sterilised force which n o t wi th
standing a n app a rent gr a ndeur th a t wins th e
facile a nd unintelligent adul a tion of the
multitude a ct s a s a br a ke o n s oci al pro
gress t o a n institution which s qu a nders its
v ital energ y in idl y dre a ming o f wh a t it u sed
”
t o b e in age s gone b y
This is the picture o f the governing
a uthorit y t o wh ich Catholic s bow down in
s ervile O bedien ce
This is the authorit y
which the y reverenc e a s God and obe y with
an ardou r and unrestraint which is only
found in the basest kin d o f e a rth l y t y rannies
The y worship the G overnment wh ich
denies them their libert y
The y emb race
their bon dage I ntellectuall y a nd s pirituall y
the y become a n egligible qu a ntit y in the
l ife o f nat ion s Their influence is onl y that
which i s in harmon y with the Authorit y
the y have dei fied the influenc e o f mone y
o f intrigue o f s uppres s ing truth and malign
ing where the y c a nnot destro y all w ho lift
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1
“
T he P ro g
ra
mme
o
f M o d e r i s m,
1 23
n
”
p
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15 L
S h a ll Ro m e Re c o n qu e r Engl a n d
u p their voices a gainst th e corrupt t yr a nny
which i s t o them a religion
“
B ut it m a y b e said
S urel y the b rave
words j ust quoted from Catholics show that
l ibert y i s not de a d in the Roman Church
The num b er an d a ctivit y and courage of the
M odernists a re a n evidenc e of life and a
pro mise o f freedo m & N o the Papal Enc y
c l i c a l of 1 9 0 7 forb ids th a t line of defence
I t t ramples down ins ults excommunicates
thes e writers and te a chers for even breath
ing a word about lib ert y
I t would b e well
for Protestants to read this inf a llibl e utter
anc e of o u r most hol y Lord P ius X b y
D ivin e Pro v idenc e Pope o n the doctrines o f
”
the M odern ists
This i s infallibilit y in
b eing an d in action and we c a nnot note
t o o c a refull y what it means
The nob le t ruth s eeking of m e n l ike
George Tyrrell is treated b y this authority
“
as pride :
Venerable brethren it will b e
y our first dut y t o res ist su ch v ictims o f
pride t o emplo y them onl y in the lowest
an d ob s cure st o ffi ces
The higher the y try
t o rise the lower let the m b e placed s o
th a t the lowlines s of their pos ition ma y
li m it their power o f caus in g
damage
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12
4
S h a ll Ro m e Re c o n qu e r Engl a n d
vives its o l d warfare ag a inst b ook s :
In
a ll case s it w ill b e O bligatory on Catholi c
booksellers not t o put on sale b ooks c o n
”
de m n e d b y the b ishop
As if th is were not enough even meet
ing s o f priests are forb idden lest the y should
provoke one a nother to thought and e rit i
“
c i sm
of the a uthorities
I n the future
b ishop s shall n o t perm it congresses o f
priest s except o n very r a re o ccas ion s
When the y do permit the m it S hal l onl y b e
on condit ion th a t matters appertaining to the
b ishop s o r the Apostol i c S ee b e n o t treated
in them and that no resolutions or petitions
b e a llowed that would impl y a usurpat ion
of s acred authority and that ab solute l y
nothing b e said in the m wh ich s a vours o f
”
M odern ism P resb y terianism o r L a icis m
This i s Rome the Rome of to day This
is the way in which it meet s the faint est
attempt o n the part o f her s cholars teachers
o r priest s t o exerc is e the elementary right s
We
o f t he intellect o r o f the cons c ience
h a ve to b e thankful that in England a t
pres ent the Roman C hurch has only the
power which a free countr y a llows
B ut it
i s o ur duty to re m ember th a t if s he h ad
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126
Wh a t wo ul d b e
the
Re s ult
the power s he d e ma n d s s he woul d e x e r
c is e her t yrann ical c oercion not over the
priest s a lone but over k ings a nd govern
ments and o f cours e over the individual
laym an
S he c laims the right not onl y t o
censure to excom m unic a te to bully b ut
actuall y to k i l l al l who res ist her authorit y
I ndividual Romanists in England a t least
ma y have no inclin a tion to a ss ert that right
B ut the y all su pport a s t h e supreme a u tho
rit y in religion a power which cl a ims th e
right has exerc ised it an d w ill exercis e it
again whenever it ma y b e thought expedient
in the interest s of the Church
E ver y o n e
should read D r Wright s pam ph l et on The
”
Pe rs ecution o f H eret ics containing extracts
from the Profes sor o f the D ecretals in
the G regorian Un i v ersit y o f Rome Pat ir
Marianus d e Lu ca There i s n o den y ing that
thi s is the real doctrine o f th e Roman
Church
An d there is n o t the slightest
hes itation o n the part o f th e Professor in
c laiming fo r the Church th e right t o k ill
us i f we do n o t submit
Let m e quote a
s ingle passage
The as sum pt ion i s m ade
that the Church a s a perfect pol ity
pos sesses th e right s wh ich are concede d to
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1 27
S h a ll Ro me Re c o n que r Engl a n d
a s ecular G overn m ent
I s a id the C hurch
i s a perfect s ociety and that we a s sume is
proved
Then the right o f the sword is a
neces sar y and e ffect ive means to the a tt a in
ment o f i ts end if obstinate reb els ag a inst
the C hurch and disturbers of eccles iastical
peac e an d unit y an d e s peciall y stubb orn
heretic s and heres iarch s c a nnot b e pre
vented b y a ny other pen a lty fro m continu ing
to distur b the order of the Churc h a nd fro m
stirring u p o thers who a re a lw a ys ready t o
do wrong and especi a lly t o s in against the
Church
I n a ctual f a ct the Church at first
dealt m ore lenientl y w ith heretic s b y ex
communic a t ing the m c o n fi s c a ti n g their pro
perty t ill a t l a s t s he w a s compelled t o
infl ict t h e s upre m e pen a lt y
The
C hurch tried every m e a ns
F irst e x c o m
m u n i c a t i o n alone then a pecuniar y fine was
added then exile ; F I N A L L & S H E W A S C O M
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E L L E D T O F A L L B A C K UP ON D E AT H
T H E ON L & R E M E D & Is T o S E N D T H E M S O O N
T O TH E IR OWN P L A C E
C atholics in a P rotestant country try t o
l a ugh this k ind of te a ching out of c ourt
B ut they c a nnot show t ha t it i s n o t the
They d a re n o t
t e a ching o f the C hurc h
F
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1 28
S h a ll Ro m e Re c o n qu e r Engl a n d
des crib e it a s a direct and cons cious rel a
t ion o f the soul with God in which the soul
knows that it is pas sed from death un t o life
a nd rej oices in the cons ciousness o f pardon
recon cili a tion and peace
This leads to a
victory over s in an indwelling o f the S pirit
a nd a growth in the grace a nd knowledge
Lord J esu s C hrist
O n this ex
o f our
r
n
i
e
e
c
n
of
God
and
l
the Church
e
s
a
l
v
t
o
a
p
rests
The C hurch a s a company of the
redeemed in whom the Redeemer dwells
—
becomes the redeeming force in s ociet y a s
H e put it the communit y which is the s a lt
o f the earth and the light o f the world
S trange t o sa y thi s s piritual real it y which
it s eems t o b e the m a in O b j ect o f the N ew
Testament to portray is not only unknown
to the Roman theology b ut is dis credited
a nd anathemat is ed b y t he Ro man Church
T he onl y regeneration known to Rome is
the sacr a mental regeneration o f baptism a n
a nd often i s
o p us O p e ra tu m which ma y be
devoid o f moral a nd s p iritu a l result
The
f a ith in Christ cruci fied as the c a us e of the
new b irth and a s the guarantee o f a present
holds no place in the Roman
s a lvat ion
s y stem , w h ich de mands in s tead o f it o b e d i
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3
o
Wh a t wo uld b e
the
Re s ul t
en ce to the Church a nd faith in the amalgam
o f doctrine a nd tr a dition religion a nd super
s ti ti o n
which the Church enj oins
Faith
as
understoo d b y S t P a u l is completel y
extruded b y f a ith a s a forced a s sent to a
series o f dogm a s a nd t o a coercive
a uthority
The as sur a nce o f s a lvation which to u s
ha s become the de a rest pos sess ion an d the
s urest guarantee o f s piritual progress is b y
Rome t reated as presumption o r delus ion
S he re quires her children t o trust her fo r
S he tre a t s the inward
s a lv a t ion n o t C hrist
witnes s o f the S p irit
the S pirit its elf
beareth w itnes s with o u r s pirit that we are
—
the ch ildren o f G o d
a s a mere emotion
All that we wit h the N e w Testament in
h a ve co m e t o know as the di s
o u r hands
t in ctively Christian experience is denied and
bru s hed aside I n its p lace comes a religion
o f ab j ect dependence o n the priest external
s a craments pres cribed rites which cannot
b ring a n y assured peace because the y do n o t
a llow the de v otee ever to b e assured o f his
The Catholic can n ever s a with
s alvation
F o r me t o li v e i s C hrist a n d to di e
P a ul
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1 31
,
S h a ll Ro me Re c o n qu e r Engl a n d
M a nning l eft t h e E nglish C hurc h and
threw hi s w h ole he a rt into the Church of
H e w a s a great power a t
his adoption
the Va tic a n C ouncil of 1 87 0 a nd did more
perh a ps than a ny s ingl e person t o carry the
terri fi c dogma o f P a pal I nfallib ilit y O n th e
de a th of the P ope when he was frustrated in
his des ire to su cceed to the Pap a l chair he
returned to England to b e a gre a t a n d nobl e
worker for the people N 0 Catholi c in recent
y ears c a me s o near to winning the heart o f
H i s a s cetic life and a s cetic f a ce
Engl a nd
the povert y in which he died the i n n u m e r
able converts whom he recei v ed into
the
”
C hurch
raised him t o an altitude which
might b e called san ctit y
Certainl y he died
in the odour o f sanctit y
I t is not rash
therefore t o assume that whate v er comfort
and assurance o f sal v ation Catholic ism c a n
gi v e Mann ing had S uch hope and bless ing
as the s y stem o ffers must have come to this
protagonist who had sacrificed everything
fo r the Church and lived in absolute c o n
formit y to the Church s ideal a n d the
Church s demands
I remember reading at
th e t ime o f his death in 1 89 5 a remarkable
utterance th a t he was reported to have made
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32
S h a ll Ro me Re co n qu e r E n g l a nd
vehemently maintains B ut the traditio n ha s
s o overlaid it
so s u btly changed and trans
—
i
formed t and according to Rome it is tradi
t i on or the voice of the teaching Ch u rch
—
wh i ch alone inte rprets the S criptures that i n
practice the New Testament has no authority
whatever If yo u bring the faith and p ra c
tice of Rome into a candid comparison with
the faith and practice of the New Testament
w i th the faith and practice of Christ
—
and H is apostles yo u find that the difference
amounts to a pos i tive contrast A lmost all
t h e J ewish and pagan ideas which the New
Testament rep u d i ated have crept back again
The pract i ces w h ich form now the very bone
and sinew of Catholicism are not found in
the N ew Testament at all For example
the key to the whole Roman system is the
supremacy a n d a u tocracy of the Pope But
B i shop S tro s s ma y e r s great protest at the
Vatican Co u ncil has never been answered
Reading he said the sacred boo k s with
that attent i on with which the Lord has made
me capable I do not find one s i ngle chapte r
or one l i ttle verse in which J es u s Christ gives
to S t Peter the mastery over the A postles
his fellow wor k ers I f S imon s on of J onas
I 34
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Wh a t
the
w o uld be
Re sul t
had been what we believe his H oliness
P i us IX to be to day it is wonderful that
H e had not said to h i m
When I have
ascended to M y Father you shall obey
S i mon Peter as yo u obey Me I establish
h i m My Vicar u pon earth
Th i s i s only one instance though it is a
cruc i al instance The legend which raised
Mary from the tomb to cro wn her as the
Q ueen of heaven and make her the inter
cessor w i th h er S on for s i nners c u l m i n a t
i ng i n P i us IX s dogma of 1 8 5 4wh i ch
declared t h at she was l i ke her S on con
ce i e d
without s i n has not a shred of
evidence not even a remote suggestion of
probabil i t y i n the N ew Testament T h e
whole secular process wh i ch subst i tuted t h e
sa i nts for t h e de i t ies of Pol y t h e i sm and made
the i r tombs and re l i e s objects of venerat i on
i s absolutel y opposed to e v er y book c h apter
n d verse of t h e New Testament
i n which
t h e G d n d F t h er of our Lord J esus Christ
i s t h e sole object of worship and H e i s
i mmed i tel y accessible to us all b y f i t h i n
C h r i st J esus and b y the g i ft of the H ol y
S pi rit
The Mass wh i ch is t h e central c t of
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x3 S
S h a ll Ro m e Re co nq ue r E n g l a nd
Catholic worship is totally disti n ct from the
S upper of the New Testament writings
This was a meal ; that is a sacrificial offer
ing
This was solemnised without any
priestly operator ; that dep e nds entirely on
the miraculo u s power of the pr i est to change
t h e bread into flesh and the wine into blood
This was a sacrament of mutual love and
serv i ce in which the body of Christ was
formed by the love which serves one
another ; that i s an o ff ering made for the
people in which the c u p is never given to the
lait y but reserved entirely for the priests
I f a Catholic took a New Testame n t to
Mass i nstead of the Mass B ook if his mind
pa i d any attention to the words of the Lord
and t h e teaching of the a p ostles he wo u ld
be ent i rely bewildered and would either
declare the Mass a blasphemous invent i on
or throw away the New Testament as a
heretical book N o earthly ingen u ity can
reconcile t h e two
A n d so i t is with the whole circle of
Cathol i c devotions and practices The con
fe s s i o n a l the pilgrimages the cult of the
S acred H eart the endless repet i tions of
—
Paternosters the very prayer which o u r
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1 36
S ha ll R o me Re co n q ue r E n g l a nd
P eter R o s e g g e r has told us in M ein
H immelreich
the amaz i ng discovery he
made of J esus C hrist when in a three weeks
illness he read the Gospels through and
through H e found J esus a s the Church
had never presented H im W ith the dis
c o v e ry
of the l i ving Lord the s u p e rs ti
t i ons and u surped authority of the Roman
Church fell away The Roman Ch u rch can
no more stand with a free and general use
of the B i ble among the laity than the moths
can proceed with their work of demol i tion
in the wardrobe if the air and sunlight are
freely adm i tted I n self prese rvation Rome
withholds t h e B i ble The domination of
Rome i n E ngland therefore would involve
negat i vely the loss of libert y and pos i tively
t h e loss o f the religion of the New Te sta
ment What that wo u ld mean for E ngland
every one can see w h o beg i ns to reckon up
how all our l i bert i es pol i t i cal and rel i gious
all our progress all our philant h ropies are
bound up w i t h the gospel of grace as i t
i s found in t h e New Testament
J ohn
Bun y an J ohn Wesley J ohn H oward Wi l
b e fo rc e
L i v i ngstone B right the great
E ngl i s h men who h ave made our country
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1 38
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Wh a t
w oul d be
the
Re sul t
what it is are almost witho u t exception the
product of that personal spiritual and
script u ral religion which Rome would
sweep away in the interests of her us u rpe d
a u thority
Rome wo u ld if she once gained the
power coerce us into obedience and that
obed i ence would mean the loss of our
S aviour as the immediate redeemer from
s i n as the gu ide and companion of our life
as the h ope of glory in the hour of death and
i n t h e day of judgment The system which
she would enforce in place of this free and
ever l i ving gospel taught by the L o rd and
H is apostles in the N ew Testament i s a
corrupt and obscurantist religion only
nominall y Christian the main object of
wh i ch is to br i ng the individual soul i nto
subj ection to a human pr i est and the world
as a whole under the domination of an auto
c ra t w h o claims to be God upon earth
Pol i tical ruin and spiritual death are the
doom wh i ch awaits the triumph of Rome i n
E ngland
I s there any fear of this result &
Certainly there i s
The s y stem i s so
specious so s k ilful in hiding its real nature
a n d in using its pieties and saints as t h e lever
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1 39
S h a ll Ro me Re co n qu e r E n g l a nd
to br i ng the mind into s u bjection ; it is so
completely free from moral scruple in its
des i gns it has such boundless wealth at its
d i sposal and such skill in capturin g the
nob i l i ty the landlords t h e leaders of society
i t grips the Press with so firm a hand and
has so many ways of assassinating i n c o n
v e n i e n t crit i cs
that it is blind pres u mption
to rest at ease i n t h e assurance that E ngland
is necessarily and finally Protestant
The price of liberty i s eternal vigilance ;
the price of keeping the gospel is to l i ve
i t A n d some are so busy with other things
and many are so cold and dead in their
spir i tual life that Rome has stolen many
marches upon us and holds a power in
E ngland to day s u ch as she has never done
before since the Reformation
& o u may be s u re that she will not rela x
h er efforts for her one hope of survival is
in the E nglish speaking race We have
spr ung to the head of t h e world s progress
by escaping her bondage N ow as her
power deca y s in the countries which she has
ruined she m u st spare no e ffort no sacr i
The stream of
fi c e to recapture E ngland
converts who blinded and del u ded are
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S h a ll Ro me Re co nq ue r E n g l a nd
I take a broader view and see how s u rely
and inevitably the Roman system is hasten
ing to its ruin In the fine image of the
Rev A K a n l ke s
The P apacy is a n d wi ll be for long
a force in politics It can comma n d votes
it ca n e ffect combinations ; it impresses the
imagination it b u lks large before the world
The stars i n
B u t it is a declining power
their courses fight against it ; the forces
which are making history are on the other
side S ilently and ceaselessly they work
Like a majestic iceberg detached from some
arctic continent it moves so u thward from
the polar ocean a fragme n t of a dead world
Ghostlike a peril to mariners it towers ove r
the waters that wash its base ; its peaks
glitter in the s u nlight ; its cli ffs reflect the
blue of sky and sea A n d all the while the
process of undermin in g is going on ; the
frozen mass enco u nters kindl i er c u rre n ts ;
the temperature rises ; a little soo n er a
little later maybe there ca n be b u t one
end
I cannot ser i o u sly believe that this effete
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in H i bb t y m l
Ar t i l
Mo d r ni m
O t b r 9 9
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4
1 2
er
ou
a ,
Wh a t
w o uld b e
the
Re sul t
and tyrannical power decaying in the eye s
of the world will ever con qu er the land
I love E ngland s great traditio n s are of
Liberty and Rel i gion
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h u gh t f th t th fl d
p n
O f Br i t i h f r d m wh i h t th
p r i f r m d r k n t i qui ty
O f th w r ld
f w t r
un w i th t d
H th fl w d
w i th p mp
d t h u gh i t b full ft n t m d
R
Wh i h p u r n th h k f lu t ry b nd
T h t t hi m t f m u t r m i n b g d nd
Sh uld p r i h ; d t v il d t g d
l t f v r I
h ll i h un g
B
k ni ght
f ld ;
A r m u ry f th i n v in i b l
di w h
p k th t n g
W mu t b f r
Th t S h k p
p k th f i t h d m r l h ld
Th t M l t n h ld I v ryt hin g w
p r un g
”
rth fi r t b l d h v t i t l m ni f ld
Of
“I
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not
to b e t
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C H A PT E R
AN
'
A
PP E A L
'
TO
VI
FA
CTS
the previous chapter a pict u re is drawn
of what the results would be if Rome were
to capture E ngland N o careful and candid
reader can deny that according to the prin
c ipl e s
laid down those res u lts wo u ld be
calamitous — terrible Our liberty would be
destroyed
liberty intellectual political
moral S piritual That is the truth that stares
us i n the face as we read the chapter A n d
when liberty is gone manhood is gone
strength is gone enterprise is gone A
nation enslaved is a nation dead Rome
destro y s l i berty therefore Rome kills
Th i s
B u t some one w ill perhaps say :
i s the reasoning of one who loves Protes
t a n ti s m and does not love Popery and b e
cause of it h e sees through the eyes of a
Protestant and draws h i s conclusions
accordingly A e we sure that Roman i sm
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S h a ll R o m e Re co n q ue r E n g l a nd
other hand has grown from strength to
strength
This is surely a fact which should be
e x amined and pressed home for in spite
of o u r vaunted ed u cation it is but little
realised
I don t care a fig what kind of
religion the people believe in said a com
m e rc i a l man to me once ;
rel i gion does
not a ffect b u siness
The man was blind
to the tr u th or he would not have made
such a foolish statement Relig i on goes
down to the roots of life Religion a ff ects
every phase of our manifold life
Let us begin with the consideration of our
o wn land Naturally we are proud of it
To day I was looking at a large globe o n
which was traced the map of the world It
took me some little time to find the B ritish
I sles so small a space do t h ey occupy A n d
y et these l i ttle isles control at least a fo u rth
of the whole world O ur commerce has
practically gone to every land our sh i ps sail
on every sea our language is more and more
prevailing o u r power is felt everywhere I t
seemed as I looked at the map abs u rd that
o u r little islands sho u ld dominate s u ch a
B ut when did
la rge portio n of the world
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6
4
A n App e a l to Fa cts
this mighty power begin to be & A n y his
torian will tell yo u U p to the time of
H enry V I I I we were practically a stagnant
nation and co u nted but little in the counc i ls
of the world O ur population had gro wn
but little in a thousand years The people
were in t h e main boorish and unlettered
We were ruled by priests we were governed
from Rome But the life blood of God s
truth which began to be known in the t i me
of Wycliff e began more and more to fill the
ve i ns of the nation at the Reformation and
when towards the end of the sixteenth cen
tury we threw o ff the yoke of Rome we
sprung into power No sooner was the great
A rmada destroyed than we breathed a new
atmosphere and marched onward to a
greater and st i ll greater l i fe
I t is true t h ere was a check to that onward
march towards the close of the seventeenth
centur y But wh y & E ngland was governed
by C h arles I I and J ames I I who tr i ed to
drag the country back to Rome I t was t h en
t h at w pr ctically became a vassal S tate
govern d in the main by Lo uis XIV ; i t
was t h en that our liberties were slipping from
us The seven bishops who stood for free
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x
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S h a ll Ro m e Re co n q ue r E n g l a nd
dom were imprisoned in the Tower of
London Claverho u se did his bloody deeds in
S cotland while a reign of terror under J udge
J e ffreys blackened the life of the S outh
of E ngland B ut no sooner did William of
Orange pledged to maintain o u r P rotestant
liberties become o u r king than o u r u pward
march was resumed
While E ngland was u nder Rome she was
little and unknown i n the great life of the
world ; but when she had cast o ff Rome
her greatness commenced
B ut there is another fact we m u st con
sider What is the one part of our B rit i sh
I sles that cannot record progress but rather
tells o f depopulation discontent decay &
I reland & e t why sho u ld it be so & The
I rish are nat u rally a kind sunny hearted
w i tty people They live in a bea u tif u l fertile
country Why then sho u ld I reland alone
tell of depopulation chronic poverty i g n o r
ance and want of progress & Why should
I reland be the open sore of B ritish politics &
I n Michael M c C a rthy s book Priests and
People in I relan d we learn the reason
H ere was an educated Roman Catholic h ere
was a ma n who loved his country who ex
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S h a ll Ro m e Re co n q ue r E n g l a nd
It was P hilip I I who sought by his
Invincible A rmada to drive Protestant i sm out
of E ngland It was largely through S pa i n s
influence that E ngland became a great
charnel house d u ring the reign o f M ary
S pain I say was and is largely Roman
Catholic S he held fast to t h e s u perstitions
of Rome she abhorred every form of
religious liberty she shut her eyes to the
light of God she obeyed the Ch u rch
Well what has been the result & & ear
by year decade by decade cent u ry by cen
tury S pain has decayed S he wo u ld n ot
have the tr u th that belonged to her peace
and 10 her house is left u nto her desolate
There is nothing i n the whole of E urope to
day sadder t h an t h e condition o f S pain
S he is on the verge of bankruptcy H er
people are i gnorant corr u ption oozes from
every pore of that once great people Cities
whic h were once great and mighty have
be come s qu alid villages Cordova which in
t h e time o f Ferdinand had h u ndreds of
thousands of people is now practically de
pop u lated Instead of being a great city
having more than half a million pop u lation
she ha s only
p e ople of whom 6 0 0
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An App e a l to Fa cts
are priests and she is on the verge o f bank
,
ru p t c y
.
But S pa i n is Catholic S ome years ago
a calculation was made as to the va l ue of
the wa x and incense burned in the S panish
churches in the course of a y ear I t reac h ed
the sum o f
or very little less
than is spent in education & A s a c o n s e
u
e
n
c
e
while
priests
abound
many
o
f
whom
q
live in luxury the schoolmaster h as to be
content with £ 2 0 a year E ducation laws
are not enforced by a corrupt Government
Commerce is practicall y at a standst i ll while
justice is a far o ff dream A n d more there
is no candid student of S pain but w i ll
ad mit that l y ing at the very heart of S pain
ca u sing all her ignorance her decay her
r u in are a corrup t priest h ood a corrupt
Church & Let such a Refor m at i on come to
S pain as came to German y in the t h i rd
decade of the sixteenth century and S pain
would be born anew
I f one w i s h es proof of this he can do
no better th n r d J oseph M c C a b e s l i ttle
book on t h e Martyrdom of Ferrer
It
is written in a c reful impartial sp i rit ; it is
written b y a man who knows t h e Roman
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15:
S h a ll Ro me Re co nq ue r E n g l a nd
Church thoro u ghly and was for years a
pr i est within h er borders and it shows with
merc i less logic the e ffect of the Roman
Church in S pai n
It is decadent nay
almost a ruined nation and the Roman
Church lies at the heart of its r u in
Then consider Italy the home o f the
Vatican U p to the middle of the last
cent u ry Italy was u nder the dominion o f
the P apacy a n d u p to that time Italy was
weak disorganised invertebrate
It was
divided into a n u mber of l i ttle kingdoms
which were the prey of the invader Rome
was the centre of one of these kingdoms
over w h ich t h e Pope ruled and Rome was
one of the most corrupt S tates i n E urope
Patriots and poets dreamed of a noble I taly
a freer I taly an u nited I taly The i r great
enemy was the Ch u rch
The Pope would
have n one of Mazzini s cry of a Free Church
in a Free S tate The n at last the dreams of
the patriots and the poets took practical
shape Garibaldi made his appeal to young
Italy and Italy became free I taly became
un ited For years liberty loving Italians
fought for the freedom of their land their
great enemy be i ng t h e Papacy U nt i l 1 87 0
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S h a ll R o m e Re co nq ue r E n g l a nd
who k now this little co u ntry thoro u ghly and
who have studied its life caref u lly tell us
that one could almost draw a l i ne without the
aid of a map where the Protestant cantons
end and where the Roman Catholic cantons
begi n I n the former yo u have cleanliness
contentment prosperity and godliness while
in the latter you have dirt s qu alor and
poverty
A n d this o n a small scale s u ggests the
relative conditions of North and S outh
A merica
A s all the world knows the North
of A merica was in the main colon i sed by
E ngland a Protestant country wh i le the
S outh was colonised by S pain A l l the
world k nows too how great the North of
A merica has become so great that every
visitor is amazed at her m i ghty cities her
vast ind u stries her almost countless i n
habitants B u t the progress of the North
has not e x tended to the S o u th There yo u
have corr u ption of the worst nat u re ; yo u
have i n stability of government ; yo u have
an i g norant stagnant oppressed degraded
population
Repeatedly in talking with
those who have travelled and lived in those
so u thern rep u blic s I have heard the same
54
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An App e a l to Fa cts
story the priest the Ch u rch is the e n emy
of the people
I need not dwell on the conditio n of
Po rtugal and Poland and s i milar countri e s
ne i ther need I dwell on the contrast between
Germany and A ustria for the description
I have given of other co u ntries applies to
them Protestantism the breath of l i bert y
means intellectual commerc i al moral and
spiritual advancement while Roman i sm
means decay and death
The only country dominated by Cathol i c
influence and whic h yet is mater i all y pros
p e ro u s and progress i ve is B elg i um but even
there you have a l i fe altoget h er infer i or to
t h at of H olland ; neither can we forget that
under the late K i ng and Government of
Belgium the great crime of the Congo has
been comm i tted A n d t h i s also we must
remember Wh i le every Protestant Church
condemned the Congo atrocities and exerted
i ts i nfluence on behalf of those w h o were
so de v ilishl y treated t h e Roman Catholic
Church as a C h urch was s i lent shamefully
silent crim i nall y s i l nt
What in ference t h en are we to draw from
these things & I n the previous chapter i t is
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S h a ll Ro m e Re co n q ue r E n g l a nd
u rged that if Rome s u cceeded in con qu ering
E ngland it wo u ld mean the destr u ction of
Protestant principles the principles of intel
lect u al and political and spiritual liberty
An d
f u rthermore it would mean as a
natural result of this the decay and r u in of
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la n d
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This is not mere s u pposition It is not
a flight of the imagi n ation The facts of
history s u pport it u p to the very hilt Let
Rome con qu er o u r co u ntry a n d we may write
I c ha b o d upon nearly all that is best i n o u r
n ational life
In a report of a speech u nder the
a u spices of The Ransom Guild for the
Conversion of E ngland by M r G E
A nstr u ther the S ecretary of the G u ild an d
reported in the C a tho l i c Ti me s Febr u ary I 7
Pro
1 9 0 5 I find the following sentence
t e s ta n ti s m against rational i sm is powerless
Catholicism against rat i onalism is all
powerful
This statement was followed by
loud cheers on the part of t h e audience
I r u bbed my eyes as I read it It evidently
appealed to this Roman Catholic a u dience ;
but how far is it tr u e & A gain one has to
appeal to facts
H ow far is Romanism
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1 56
S h a ll Ro m e R e co n q ue r E n g l a nd
Romanism all powerf u l against ra t ional
ism & France teaches that Rome has
driven the nation to atheism O u t of a
pop u lat i on of less than
more
than
are professed atheists
I ndeed during the last few years France h as
by A c t of Parl i ament thrown o ff the last
vestige of Roman power
Belgium although in a less degree tells
the same story wh i le I taly the home of
the Vat i can h as not onl y robbed the Ch u rch
of almost every s h red of her former power
b u t she is ceasing to be a bel i eving people
I t h as been sa i d again and again that
the most Cat h ol i c nation in E urope to day
is S pa i n and it is the most moribund the
most degraded with t h e exce ptions perhaps
of Turkey and Russia But what e ffect has
the Roman Church h ad on S pa i n & In t h e
main t h e e ffect may be seen in two wa y s
A part of the people are bel i eving they obey
the Churc h they are the slaves of the priest
and they are t h e most backward of the
c i vilised peoples of the world These are
the faithf u l of S pain They are not tinged
with heresy they obey the mandates of the
C h u rch w i thout q u estion and as a co u se
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1 58
A n Appe a l to Fa cts
the hand of death is u pon them
there is another class in S pain which
is rapidly increasing In this class are t h e
rational i sts the anti clericals of S pain Mr
I saacson in his Rome in Many Lands
q uotes an orthodo x S panish paper ent i tled
E l C o rre s E s p a fz o l
Th i s paper states t h at
only
men and
women
obe y the clergy of S pa i n The populat i on
of S pa i n i s about
and the e
ma i ning adult portion of the populat i on is
in t h e ma i n rational i st although many of
them outwardly conform to the Churches
What and who h as made t h em ant i clericals
and often unbelievers & T h e Church which
has o ppressed them
It is true that vast numbers of them dare
not a v ow the i r atheism because the Church
controls by its wealth and i ts influence pra e
tically all the publ i c o ffices of S pa i n but
the at h e i sm exists M r M c C a b e sa y s t h at
of forty books that t h e educated Cathol i c
reads to day thirty fi v e of t h em a
rat i onal i st i c
Rome has k i lled and is k i lling fait h by
u rging the nations to believe what the first
gleam of in telligence shows them to be mere
qu e n c e
B ut
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I 59
.
S h a ll Ro m e Re co nq ue r E n g l a nd
idle tales and childish s u perstition
H ow
can the i ntelligent S paniard believe in a
religion which offers pardons of s i ns for sale
even as they were o ff ered by Tetzel i n the
time of Luther & H ow can he regard Chris
t i a n i ty as a relig i on of p u rity when the
Church of the nat i on which represents that
religion is corrupt to the core & H ow can
the Catholic Church hold men to faith when
i t is for ever struggling to kee p the people
i n darkness & The Census of 1 9 0 3 i n S pain
ret u rned 1
1 as entirely ill i terate out
of a populat i on of
W h y d i d the Church use its influence to
m u rder Ferrer & Was i t for any cr i me he
committed & Was it because he was cruel
or base & D i d he hate his country & The
sum and substance of his crime as all the
world knows was that he hated the darkness
in which the Church caused the poor
S pan i ards to live and that he sought by
his schools to let the light of knowledge
and truth shine i nto their l i ves
What wonder that the people are learn
in g to hate t h e Church & What wonder too
that they believing that the Ch u rch is the
representative of religion have t u rn ed their
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60
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S h a ll Ro m e Re co nq ue r E n g l a nd
do better than qu ote from M r M c C a b e s
M artyrdom of Ferrer
to which I have
referred H e says
I need not linger over the morality of
the S panish clergy A s an ex priest I h ave
always refused to create prejudice against
my late c o religionists by discussing this side
of the i r a ff airs
There is immoralit y
enough even among priests i n this country
S ordid cases came to my personal know
ledge In B elgium the condition a condi
tion that any candid person will expect from
an enforced celibacy and good living — is far
worse In S pain and the S o u th of Italy
it is flagrant nor is it confined to t h e lower
clergy and the monks A writer in the
C h urc h Q u a rte rl y ( October 1 9 0 2 ) relates
how an I tal i an prelate calmly discussed with
h i m the fact which he neither resented nor
denied t h at one of the candidates for the
papal t h rone one of t h e most d i stinguished
cardinals i n the Church was a man of con
The cardinal in q ues
s p i c u o u s i mmorality
tion whose life was described to me in
Rome kept a mistress in a villa not many
miles from the Vatican
From time i m
memor i al i n the Latin countries t h e clergy
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162
m
An
Appe a l
Fa cts
to
ha ve withheld their strictures on the cond u ct
of their followers and the greatest laxity pre
vails
It is a foolish superstition e n
c o u ra g e d by Catholics that the la x ity of the
Lat i n races is a matter of temperature The
Northern races were just as bad before the
Reform ation The notorious laxity is due
solely to the fact that an i mmoral clergy
never dared to press on the people their
theoretic gospel of chastity
What would be t he res u lt if Rome were
to capture E ngland
S urel y the facts a d
d u c e d bear out the p i cture drawn in the
prev i ous chapter I t is not a matter of
t h eory it is a matter of fact as the story of
the nations testifies
For it must be admitted that in t h e final
anal y sis rel i g i on i s the great work i ng force
of l i fe N o people no nation can lo n g li v e
without a religion I t i s deep seated in t h e
very l i fe of man A n d more in a deep
vital sense a people a nat i on is governed
by i ts relig i on U n c o n s c i o u l v the thoughts
t h e i deals t h e a spirations of y ommun i t y
coloure d s h aped and moul d ed b y t h e
ar
preva i ling r lig i on A f lse concept i on of
God a fal s e concep t i on f man s re lat i ons
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S h a ll Ro me Re co n q ue r E n g l a nd
to God means a false life a false character
A tr u e religion means true men a n u plifted
commu nity A religion impreg n ated with
lies is bo u nd to prod u ce disastro u s res u lts
Only the truth fi n ally u plifts life If the
Ch u rch of R ome has through the ages u p
lifted men i t is beca u se of the eternal truth
wh i ch is embedded in it I f the Ch u rch has
done harm it is beca u se of the lies which
fester at its heart No lie can pro duce good
only the tr u th ca n do that and perhaps one
of the great reaso n s that the Church of Rome
has prod u ced s u ch fearful res u lts i n every
land where she has reigned s u preme is
beca u se a lie nestles in its very heart
There are two terms wh i ch are often con
f u sed
the Papacy and the Roman
Catholic Ch u rch
In a sense they are one
i n another sense they are t wo The Rom a n
Church is the visible organised body see n
throughout Christendom The Papacy is the
force which governs and controls the Ch u rch
I t is centred i n the Vatican ; it claims to be
t h e Word of God life of God E very Roman
Church in every land obe y s the Papacy I t
i s from the Vatican it receives its orders it
is to the Vatican that it looks for guidan ce
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16
4
S h a ll Ro me Re co nq ue r E n g l a nd
s u ggests that these decretals were probably
forged by some bis h op in j ealo u sy or resent
me n t B e that as it may these forgeries
were accepted b y a s o called infallible
Church and not only accepted but acted
upon H allam says vol ii p 1 6 7
U pon
t h ese spurious decretals was b ui lt the great
fabric of Papal s u premacy over the different
national Churche s a fabric wh i ch has stood
after its foundations cr u mbled beneath it
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or
no
ha s p re te n de d to de n y fo r the
c e n turi e s tha t the i mp o s ture i s to o
o
u
t
t
h
e
m
n
t
a
s
r
a
n
b
o
s
t
i
ra
e
n
o
f
g
y
g
o ne
l a s t two
l
a
a
p p
to
bl e
c re di t
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”
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T h us t h e boasted authority of the Papacy
has no other support than a forgery A
l i e l i es at the very heart of the system and
w h at is more educated Catholics know t hat
i t lies there From this lie ca n be trace d
man y others W hen one great falsehoo d
nestles at the heart of a rel i g i on it be comes
the father of other lies until the religion is
po i soned
N o lie is of the truth no lie can pro
d u ce good no lie can help a people
To say that the Roman Catholic religion
does not contain m u ch that is tr u e wo u ld
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1 66
An A pp e a l to Fa cts
be false It has m u ch that is common to
our common Christianity It is this which
has kept i t alive
It is this which has
nurtured its sa i nts and inspired its noblest
wor k ers In order to r i d the system of lies
reformers have struggled and died but the
l i es live on and thus in many things t h e
system has ceased even to resemble the
gospel of the Fo u nder of Christianity
The work of the Reformat i on was to purge
the l i es from the truth Protestantism exists
that t h e truth as it is revealed in the gospel
may be given to the world
The message
of our Lord to men was & e shall know the
tr u th and the tr u th shall set yo u free
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167
C H A P TE R
T
THE
DU &
OF
V II
P R O T E STA N TS
WH E N we t u rn from a st u dy of Romanism
and contemplate the bare possibility of
E ngland relapsing into the bondage and
dar kn ess which any candid st u dy reveals
we are tempted in indign ation and a p p re
he n s i o n to u se any and every means to resist
the encroachme nts of the dreaded power
A n d especially the e x amination of the tor
t u o u s and unscr u pulous means which Rome
employs to achieve her ends tempts u s to
borro w her methods to resist her advance
B ut to repel force with force inj u stice with
injustice cruelty with cruelty c u nnin g with
c u nning persecution with persecution is for
E ngl i shmen impossible
O u r whole genius
as a nat i on arises from the repudiatio n o f
these very methods There would b e no
ga i n at all as experience has abundantly
i n va n q uishing Rome by Roman
s hown
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16 8
S h a ll Ro me Re co nq u e r E n g l a nd
taught to rely i n his defence of the Roma n
posit i o n was a f o rg e ry &
O n e day i n 1 89 6 fresh from his st u dies
and a n ewly made D octor of Theology he
was ind u ced to attempt a reply to an
A nglican arg u ment for the validity of the
A nglican Church and Orders
H e felt that
his task was easy ; he q uoted a famous pas
sage from Cyprian s D e Un i ta te E c cl e s i ce
which demonstrated the claims of t h e
P a pacy from the Father of the third
century W he n this work was done he
h appened to be in Germany and showed it
to a German J esuit who said to him
I s it
poss i ble that yo u do not know that this
passage is an i n terpolation & The shoc k to
th i s tr u th seeking mind was terri fi c H e had
actually been led to b u ild the s u preme dogma
of Roman authority not on the third cen
tury Father who indeed distinctly repu
but o n a forged
d i a te d tha t a u thority
interpolation inserted into the treatise by
that authority itself in order to prove its
cla i ms by that cha racteristic way
D r Bartoli bega n to in q uire
H e found
that the whole system of the P apacy and
the method of its defence were typified by
this experien ce
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17 0
T he
Dut y of P rote st a n ts
has left the Ch u rch of Rome and is
becoming a leader in the Protestant Ch u rch
of Italy Rome s inveterate tr u st in for
k
n
s
h
r
o
d
w
i
n
i
duplicities
a
n
d
o
is
e
i
s
e
g
g
ultimately her betrayal I t is in this way
that she prod u ces P ro testa n tism ever afresh
If she got rid of a l l P rotestants to day she
wo u ld have another batch on her hands to
morrow ; truth loving souls in her o wn fold
would come out choked by the stifl i ng
atmosphere of fraud and violence deter
m in ed to breat h e t h e fresh air
The methods of Rome must therefore
be repudiated deliberately and consistently
rep u diated
I ntrig u e backstair workings
tr i mming hiding inconvenient facts giving
a false emphas i s to convenient facts the
employment of t h e civil Government to pro
mote the interests of a religi ous belief th
u njust dis qualification or persecution of
rel i gious opponents the use of positions of
trust to insinuate a prosel ytising agent sur
r e p ti ti o u s l y — all these approved methods of
the Roman propaganda are for u s out o f
court We ca n not fight Rome with h er o wn
weapons We can only use the weapons of
truth we ca nnot even in our warfare ih
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17 1
e
S ha ll Ro me Re co n q ue r E n g l a nd
fringe the principles of liberty a n d of even
handed j u stness
D irectly men t u rn their eyes Romeward
they begin the practice of deceit N ewm an
even in 1 83 3 could write to a friend
I
expect to be called a P apist when my
op i nions are known but please God I s hall
lead persons on a little way while they fancy
t h ey are only taking the mean and deno u nce
me as the extreme
S i nce I have bee n
at home writes H urrell Fro u de
I have
been doing w h at I can to proselytise in an
underhand way
Gu i le deception under
h and ways are prec i sely w h at we as Pro
We turn to the l i ght
t e s ta n t s cannot use
we stand for trut h B etter Rome should win
the day than that we s h ould resist her by
lying
B etter the liberties of E ngla n d
should be lost than that the sovereignty of
justice toleration and love sho u ld be i m
paired
Then are o u r weapons against Rome wea k
and few & N o ; they are mighty before
God to the casting down of strongholds
2
They are not of the flesh
( Cor x
”
N wm n
L tt r
l i p 4
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F r nd
R m in
l i p 3
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vo
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vo
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e
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17 2
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22
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S ha ll Ro me Re co n que r E n g l a nd
of S ervet u s exhibits the s u rvival of the
bad Roman doctrine as is not astonishing in
one who was trained in the Roman Church
and it is wit h d i fficulty that we throw o ff the
under garments of early training even when
our outer garments are c h anged But Pro
te s t a n ti s m as i t has come to realise its own
pr i nciples unhesitatingly condemns Calvin
T h e d i fference is v i tal Rom e can only cease
to pe rsecute by surrendering her fundamental
principles Protestantism must surrender its
fundamental principles in order to persec u te
B ut i n what sense are we to u se truth as
o u r weapon aga i nst Rome & In this sense :
We must ac q u i nt our people with the for
gotten facts of t h e Roman Church and with
the unknown underl y i ng principles which are
so skilfully conc aled in the modern p ro p a
ganda as it i s carried on i n E ngland
Further we must support the Modernists i n
t h eir cla i m to let in the l i ght of sc i ence
and criticism to search the assumptions and
dogmas of t h e C h urc h
A n d i n t h is God given task we must set
trut h i n t h e forefront and follow i t as a
guide
I The trut h must be told about Rome
We may acknowledge with sorro w n d
c u ti o n
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4
a
The D ut y of Prote sta n ts
shame that Protestant controversial i sts have
often been led i n to extravagance and
violence B u t is that a reason fo r not tell
i ng the truth about Rome & S urely not We
want our wisest best instructed and most
charitable minds to place before the Church
and the country the exact tr u th We know
only too well what the Catholic Truth S ociety
says ; i ts subtle way of representing
Rome as if it were Protestant in order to
commend it to Protestants I t publ i s h es a
tract What do Roman Catholics B elieve &
A n d the answer to the q uestion is a summary
of the things which Catholics bel i eve in
common with Protestants
I t leaves t h e
careless reader to conclude that the belief
of Catholics i s the same as that of Pro
t e s ta n t s
Truth has to answer t h e q uest i on :
What else do Cathol i cs b e l i e v e P N For
the whole di fference is made by t h e super
added bel i efs —t h e belief i n tra dit i on w h i ch
n utral i ses the B i ble i n t h e Pope and the
pr i est w h o intervene i n t h e soul s approac h
to God in t h e Mariolatr y and saint
wors h i p whi h reduces the meaning and
value of the soul s d irect relat i on w i th Christ
Truth means in th i s connectio n the w h ole
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S ha ll Ro m e Re co n que r E n g l a nd
tr u th and nothing b u t the truth It is o u r
d u ty to inform o u rselves and our fellow
co u ntrymen of this whole tr u th concern ing
Rome
The truth can be fo u nd ; it is open to
us What Rome teaches in the E ncyclicals
of her infallible Popes can be known just
as what she teaches in the writings of her
a u thorised doctors is O pen to the student
William George Ward in his infat u ated love
of the Papacy wished that he mi ght have
B u lls and E ncyclicals of the infallible Pope
laid on his breakfast table every morning
with the Ti me s The Church is an E c cl e s i a
—
O o c e n s t h at is she i s a l i v i ng voice pro
fe s s e dl y teaching the truth of God
S he
told the world in 1 8 5 4that the Virgin was
conceived wit h o u t sin S he told it again i n
1 8 7 0 that the Pope is infall i ble
S he has
recently in the E ncyclical
P a s c e n di
G e g is
told us how she meets the search
for truth how she deals with Catholics who
surrender themselves to that search
A l l this should be known i n E ngland
If
in the full l i ght of what Romanism is and
what i t teaches and how it works E ngland
submits to Rome well and good Who shall
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17 6
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S h a ll Ro m e Re co nq u e r E n g l a nd
J es u it
morality J es ui t teaching J es u it wi re
pulling a re Roman Catholicism A n d for
E nglishmen to u n derstand the J es u its is to
rep u diate them The spirit of E ngland is
as far removed from the spirit of the J esuits
as human nature can be div i ded part from
part E verything that E nglishmen love a n d
bel i eve in the J es ui ts repudiate E veryt hi n g
that E ngl i shmen hate and loathe the J es u it s
bel i eve and practise
For example there has not in recent years
been a more unanimous O pinion in E ngland
than the condemnation of K ing Leopold of
B elg i um H e was a man whose private life
was the scandal of E urope he was re s p o n
sible for that hideo u s reg im e on the Congo
which E nglan d rightly described as the
greatest cr i me in histor y S ir A rth u r Conan
D o y le a convert from Romanism roused the
whole country to the horror of that ini qu ity
I t i s safe to say t h at there is n ot a gen u in e
E nglis hman breathing who does not con
de m n Leopold and feel that a faith in future
—
punishment is demanded by the necessity
if there is any moral order at all in the
u n i verse —for such a life of l u st and greed
an d cr u elty to su ffer in a fut u re world the
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7
17 8
The
Du ty of Prote s ta n ts
penalty which it has el u ded here That is
the sentiment of E ngland the sentiment of
morality the sentiment of a p u re and un
sophistica ted human nature
Now how does the J esuit and the Ch u rch
led by the J esuit regard the same p h eno
menon & H ere is t h e newspaper acco u nt of
the sermon preached by t h e most prominent
Catholic preacher on the S u nday even i ng
after L eopold s death :
P reaching last
evening at S t M a ry s
Father B ernard
Vaughan said that w h ile drawing a ve i l over
the private life of the late K i ng Leopold
they might look with admirat i on upon much
t h at he had done publicl y for t h e lasting
good of h i s people B e l g i um wa s a n o bj e c t
l e s s o n to E ur o p e
H e was glad t h at the
late K ing had i n the hour of h i s extremity
expresse d his sincere sorrow for the bad
example he had given his subjects and he
died publicly confessing h i s bel i ef i n the
Catholic Church
That is Cat h ol i cism all
o v er Bel i ef in t h e Catholic C h urc h covers
all sins No immorality cruelty brutal i t y
matters in the least as long as men believe
in that C h urch that mother of sins
& o u draw a veil over the private life
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I79
S h a ll Ro m e Re co n qu e r E n g l a nd
It is an irrelevant detail that the ma n re
i
u
d
a te d his wife and his children and took
p
to himself another woman to whom he left
his bloodstained millions It is not worth
mentioning that the man ruined more
i nnocent girls than any man ever did since
the worst of the Roman E mperors The
whole horror of that Congo r égime the
m i llions of lives sacrificed to the man s
greed under the hypocritical pretence of
civilising and protecting the helpless natives
is qu ietly passed over I n the J esuit breast
i t excites no condemnation no censure The
simple narrative of w h at was done by
Leopold is so blood curdling that even
strong men h ave nearly swooned in the vain
attempt to read it through B ut the J esuit
passes it with placid ac qu i escence Leopold
died p u blicly professing h i s belief in the
Catholic Church That is enough There is
nothing in L eopold s life i nconsistent with
that belief nothing in the Catholic system
which could restra i n a man from such a life
A l l this he could be and do and be a good
Catholic There is no crime or vice which
is not tolerated as long as the a u thority o f
If Leopold had
the Ch u rch is admitted
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1 80
S h a ll Ro m e R e co nq ue r E n g l a nd
this can be conceived A religion which
ma k es belief in itself the one thing needf u l
and allows that belief to be not the motive
to goodness b u t the sub s titute for it is a
curse to mankind This is the religion of
the J esu i ts The whole soul and conscience
of this co u ntry are against i t O ur d u ty is
to show what this religion is and the fr u it
it bears that the country may judge
2
H ardly less vital is it to vindicate the
truth of science and of criticism H ere w e
jo i n h ands with t h e Modernists We do
not believe that the i r conclusions are correct
We claim the same right to judge thei r
O p i n i ons that we do to judge t h e opinions
of our own s cholars We no more accept
Loisy and Tyrrell than we do Che y ne and
But we are sure that t h e onl y
T ro e l s c h
guarantee for truth and progress is t h at men
s h ould be at l i berty to in qu ire and to state
t h eir conclusions freely as L oisy and Tyrrell
have done I f eccles i astical censure e x
communication and practical ru i n are to fa l l
on every one w h o dares to thin k and to
u tter the trut h that is in him we relapse
into the darkness of the Middle A ges It
—
is qu ite certain and t h e fact should be
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1 82
The D u ty of P rote sta n ts
—
ngland that if the
brought home to
Church secured the a u thority she i s cla i ming
if she controlled the ed u cation of t h e
country as she seeks to do the same mental
bl i ght would fall on E ngland that has gone
near to destroy the Latin countries E very
Protestant who goes over to Rome promotes
that appalling result E ven if he retains his
own freedom and dares to speak as Tyrrell
did ; even if he crit i cises Rome as Lord
A cton did — no P rotestant controversialist
ever passed such appall i ng judgments on
Rome as A cton the historian and t h e
Catholic did —and in some way vindicates
his own conscience by such freedom of utter
ance yet he throws h i s weight into the scale
aga i nst truth and freedom he helps to lead
in the subjugators of h i s country
I s there a sight in t h e world more pitiable
than that of those noblemen and commoners
of prominence who i n order as t h ey think to
save their own little souls do what t h ey can
to bring our country under the y oke & They
would destroy t h e libert i es t h e hard won
l i bert i es of E ngland and bring back the
Papal t y ranny in t h e face of t h e w i tness of
h i story and the actual facts of the Catholic
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1 83
S h a ll Ro m e Re co n q ue r E n g l a nd
world in their craven desire for personal
ease and deliverance from the burden o f
truth U nder the Roman domination science
cannot flourish critic i sm becomes a bl u nt
and futile weapon Galileo will always be
forced to his humiliating rep u diation A n
E ncyclical
P a s c e n di G re g i s
will always
be hurled at those who dare to th i nk a n d
to express the i r thoughts We m u st induce
men to realise the intellectual death which
the Ch u rch broug h t upon E urope in the
M iddle A ges the intellect u al torpor which
she brings to day wherever she is not
corrected by an overwhelming P rotestant
majority ; we must burn into the brain of
out
E ngland the one fact t h at
of the
Catholics i n this world
are illiterate We must teach the yo u ng
to see how civilisations decay where the
rights of science and criticism are denied
T h e facts are so patent the C h u rch is so
unchangeable the actual leaders of C a tho
l i c i s m are so obscurantist that the task
is not imposs i ble di ffic u lt though it con
fe s s e dl y is
Tr
u
th
is
the
first
weapon
in
the
war
3
fare o i P ro t e stantism One of the liberating
1 84
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S h a ll Ro m e Re co n q u e r E n g l a nd
infallible Pope said at the
that he wi s he d o f c o urs e
s h o ul d
E
ng
be
the
ha v e
b e n e fi t
Vatican
Council
tha t C a tho l i c i s m
o
to l e ra ti o n
f
in
Rus s i a , b u t the p ri n c i p l e mus t
b y a C h urc h h o l d i n g
th e
re p udi a te d
la nd
a nd
'
'
we ought
to know ; E ngland ought to know it The
Roman Church is in favour of intolerance
For my own part I take my stand wholly
on what Rome herself teaches and does
I lay no stress on her abuses or her failures
A l l Churches h ave their fa u lts
B u t it is
her avowed doctrine her closely organised
system and her admitted mode of working
it facts i ndisputable facts which are s u ffi
cient if known to save E ngland from
yielding to h er blandishments
No instr u cted Catholic can deny I ) that
his Church repud i ates the principle of tolera
t i on ; ( 2 ) that h is Church places the Pope
in a pos i ti on which re quires the absolute
and un qualified s u rrender of the mind and
even of the conscience to his a u thor i ty ;
A
d
e
that
S
t
lfonso
L
i
guori
a
D
octor
(3)
of the Church whose writings were declared
by t h e Pope to be free from error taug h t
”
H i t ry f F r d m p 5
A t n
d o c tri n e
o
f
e x c l us i v e
s a l va ti o n ,
”
1
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c o
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s o
o
1 86
ee
o
,
.
20
.
The D u ty of P rote s ta n ts
that the priest is the creator of his Creator
and that the so u l can get to heaven by M ary
more readily than it ca n by Christ
I f the Pope could p u blicly deny these
things if Catholics were entitled to
deny them it would be qu ite di fferent
They do not ; they cannot Their only
weapon of evasion is to leave these t hings
in silence and to fi x on some trifling error
of lang u age o r q uotation and to s u ggest
that o n e who states these facts is u ntrust
worthy
It is the C atholic method of co n troversy
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8
G l r i f M ry p 4
O i mm ul t
d n t i r l y p u r V i r g in M r y M th r f G d Qu n
f th uni v r
t hr g h t h w h v b n r n
”
il d w i th
G d
T h u t th n l t i n f
th
l v ti n f th wh l w r ld
th w r ld
und r thy p r t t i n d
0 i mm ul t V i r g in w
th r f r w h v r u r t th
l n ; d w
b
h t h t p r v n t thy b l v d S w h i
i
i rr i t t d b y
f r m b nd nin g t th p w r
”
“
f th d v l
i
M
r
y
pp
0
O
g
5
5
ll
t h u t mni p t n t t v i nn r
W
”
If
G d d bt r b t H i d b t r t th
y
C t h li in u t h r i ty w uld
ld p udi t th
pp llin g t r v g
f S t Al f
d
Li gu ri w
h uld h v h p f r f r m t i n B t
v yg d
C t h l i i b lu t l y b und t th t hin g f t hi
d
D t r
n ni d in t f th C hu r h
“
S ee
an
e
o
e
c
e
o ur
ac
a e
e
e
a
ee
o
’
i
e
s
o
a
o
oc o
c
an
a
r
o
o
e
s,
u
a
o
a
e
o
e o
s
o
a
a
sa
s
a nces
s
e
a
a
so
e
ca
o
se
o
o
a
o
1 87
e
an
o n,
co u
an
,
e
s
o
e
2 :
e
a
ee
a re
,
a
an
.
re
a e
e
o n so
c
o
e
u
no
.
e
o
o
or
o
o
e
o
o
o
s
e
o
so a
o
e
1, 2
e
.
o
sa
2
e co
o ec
us
.
ee
,
o
a o
ee
o
a n, o n
o
co
a e
ee
o e
e o
o
e
e
e
e
e
a
o
e
o
a
e
o
se
e
ex
a
o
e
.
c
a
a
eco
e
o
ar
e a re
,
o
ar
o
s
e
e
o
o
a
sa
o ur s n ,
a e
o
.
e
o
e se e c
a
o
e
ee
“
ac
.
o
,
ou
e se
e e o
o
a
“
2
.
,
e
e
e
a
o
es
o
”
e
eac
c
.
,
e
er
o
,
oo
s
S h a ll Ro me Re co n que r E n g l a nd
which when it is u n derstood is the most
damning evidence against the Roman
Church S he knows that what she calls
tr u th is no longer tr u e to the enl i ghtened
m i nd and must be rep u diated by all who
love truth for truth s sake S he is engaged
in an endless e ffort to divert men s minds
from the subject of tr u th and to force them
into s u bmission to authority B u t j u st in
proportion as we see the high white star
of truth we repudiate that Ch u rch which
has dimmed it and so far as possible
hidden it
B u t while this is the g e n e ra l principle
of our resistance to Rome a demand for
truth and a belief in truth practical qu es
tions emerge Ought we to maintain the
Oath whi ch the S overeign is bo u nd to take
at the Coronation & O ught we to insist on
the inspection of convents & O u ght we to
allo w public money to g o to the maintenance
of Catholic schools &
When Protestants are called to action to
day i t is on these issues that the appeal
turns and we cannot be too careful in dis
criminating I t injures our ca u se if in the
defence of it we are tempted to advocate
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1 88
S ha ll R o m e Re co n que r E n g l a nd
Catholic as the later S tuarts showed I f
the sovereign were a Catholic he wo u ld get
a dispensat ion from the Pope to take the
Oath which rep u d i ates Catholicism
The
Oath therefore is no sec u r i ty and little i s
gained by preserving an anti quated and
unreal safegu ard O r if while the estab
l i s hme n t of a Ch u rch cont i n u es in this
co u ntry it is necessary to secure by a formal
enactment that the sovereign is a Pro
testant the Oath can at any rate be modi
fi e d in its terms so that the language wh i ch
is u nnecessaril y o ff ensive may not wound
the Catholic subj ects of the C rown If t h e
Oath itself is an anti q uated and useless
defence still more is the lang u age in which
it is co u ched an unnecessary and mis
c hi e v o u s irritat i on
To co u nterva i l Romanism the best a n d
only method is to give Roman Catholics
absol u te e qu al i t y with Protestants to remove
all d i sabilit i es and apply the uniform pr i n
The country
c i p l e s of libert y and justice
qu ickly finds t h at Cathol i cs dis q ualify t h em
selves for the higher a n d the more i m
portant post s If we ever had one Catholic
C h a ncellor there wo u ld be l i ttle fear of
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1 90
T he
Du ty of Prote st a n ts
hav in g another The Catholic training and
the Catholic principles the complete sub
e
c
i
n
of
the
Catholic
mind
to
priest
and
t
o
j
Pope make it impossible for a Catholic to
hold the highest place in the j u diciary of
a free people H e would bring the whole
system of law into s u spicion No jud g e can
be impartial whose conscience and intellect
are in the keep i ng of an alien authority
The security for Protestantism in the high
o ffices of t h e S tate is intrinsic rather than
statutory We can if o u r principles are
r i ght fearlessl y tr u st that security W e
have onl y to remember that every gen u ine
Cathol i c firmly believes that the govern m ent
of the land o ug ht to suppress heresy and
that t h e canon law overrides civil law to
see that good Catholics cannot be trusted
in the high places of the S tate
Of course if the country became Catholic
the K ing the Lord C h ancellor and the
j udges m i g h t safely be Catholic as they are
i n S pa i n or Belgium ; but that is a s i tua
tion which need not be disc u ssed for
E ngland wo u ld have ceased to be E ngland
The inspection of convents is qu ite dif
fe re n t
There is no inj u stice and no
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19 1
S h a ll Ro m e Re co n qu e r E n g l a nd
u nworthy interference with liberty if the
coun try demands the inspection of these as
of other instit u t i ons The demand o f the
Roman Church for exemption from the con
trol and sec u rities which a wise Government
o ff ers may be granted as a favour but
cannot be conceded as a right
I f la u ndries and in d u strial schools are i n
s p e c te d
in order to avoid the ab u ses and
cr u elties which easily spring u p i n such
institutions there is no reason why these
instit u tions should not be inspected when
they are connected with convents A n d
with the enormous increase of convents in
this co u ntry espec i ally when many of them
are those F rench communities which fled
from their own country i n order to el u de the
salutary inspection of the Government it
would be wise and perfectly j ust to ins i st
on suc h inspect i ons here B ut it is to be
remembered that the inspect i on is entirel y
in the in terests of the i nstitutions them
selves ; and if they decline the guarantee
which such inspection gives they must take
the conse q ue n ces Give them t i me and con
e n tu a l institutions always perish by their
own i ntrinsi c corruptions An u nnatural a n d
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19 2
S h a ll Ro me Re co n qu e r E n g l a nd
W e sho u ld therefore probably be wise if
we limited o u r demand for convent i n s p e c
tion to the perfectly reasonable re qu irement
tha t i n d u strial and ed u cational instit u tions
m u st s u bmit to inspection whether they be
in connection wit h convents or not
The qu estio n of Catholic ed u cation raises
a more di ffi c u lt and complicated problem
Ther e is no do u bt that if the Catholics b e
come a powerf u l body a n d threaten in any
way to master the community we m u st
defe n d o u rselves from the infl u ence of the
priests i n the schools The r u in of I reland
has bee n j u stly traced by M r H u gh O D o n
n ell to the priestly domination of the I rish
schools An d Rath e r Crowley s book The
Parochial S chool a C u rse to the Ch u rch a
M enace to the Nation
shows how mis
c h i e v o u s the Catholic schools are even in
A merica
No free co u ntry could maintain
its freedom or even its intelligence if the
schools and u niversities were left in the
ha nds of Rome P robably nin e o u t of te n
E nglishmen are aware of this ;
and the
co u ntry would be j u stified in insisting o n
sec u lar education if there were eve n a fear
o f priestly dominat i on in the schools
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I9
4
.
The Du ty of Prote sta n ts
it may be fairly u rg e d tha t the
Catholics are a very small section o f o ur
E nglish people
Of the
Catholics
in this co u ntry
are I rish or
foreigners ; only
are ge n u inely
E ngl i sh
These Catholics li k e the J ews
pay rates
Considering the necessity o f
Catholic educat i on for the s u pport of
Catholicism a great and generous country
may justl y consent to the principle that
Catholics may pay their rates to the Catholic
S chools The more complete we can make
our system of public schools with the
common religious teaching and atmosphere
which meet the needs of all Protestants the
more safely we may grant to sections like
Catholics and J ews schools of their own
Inevitably the public schools will draw away
from and supersede the sectarian i n s ti tu
tions E nlightened Catholics will in their
c h ildren s interest prefer the p u blic schools
as they do in A merica W e need not there
fore make the educatio n qu estion the first
line of our defence against Rome L eave
Rome to educate her own children and yo u
only hasten her decay H i s to ry science
literature ta u ght with a Roman bias put
B ut
‘
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y
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'
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l
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I QS
S h a ll Ro m e Re co nq ue r E n g l a nd
the children and the y ouths at a hopeless
disadvantage in compet i tion wit h the
scholars of free and enlightened schools
Light is the great boon ; Rome perishes
because she loves darkness rather than
light
W hat then is the method for resistin g
Rome beyond the bold statement of the
facts and speaking the tr u th in the love of
i t & I f we are not to depend on the m e thods
which savour of political dis q ualification or
political repression if we are to gi ve the
Catholics advantages and liberty s u ch as
they wo u ld never dream of giving to us when
they have the power on what can we rely
in the str u ggle for freedom from the Roman
domin ation &
O n what did o u r fathers rely whe n they
were called u pon to oppose Rome with her
as yet unbroken prestige and power & For
a tho u sand years she had ruled with all the
appearance of H eaven given authority ; her
organisation absolute and crushing was
ubi q uitous she had kings and governments
as her obedient tools she had prisons and
th u mbscrews racks and fa g gots at her dis
posal B ut o u r fathers overthrew her by the
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196
S h a ll Ro me Re co n que r E n g l a nd
and o u r Criteri u m The spirit u al life which
comes to u s in this fai th and experienc e
enables u s to resist the Roman e rror and
despotism with the power of God The R e
formers were irresistible by virtue o f this
power ; we by the same means can be
irresistible too
We must grasp our real weapons ; we
must occupy our proper strategic positions
God is with us Christ is our captain within
us works the H oly S pirit that brought
cosmos out of chaos and light out of dark
ness N 0 one who has once looked into the
law of liberty and understood the forces
which came in J esus Christ to redeem and
regenerate mankind can have any doubt
that the gospel is the power of God u nto
salvation A n d with this certainty o u r way
becomes plain and all doubt and misgiving
vanish I t is the gospel which shatters the
Roman system as it shattered the heathenism
of wh i ch the Roman Church is so close an
imitat i on The tradition perishes before an
open B ible
The V i rgin and the saints
recede before the living Christ Priests and
Popes are superseded by the Church which
i s itself a kingdom of priests
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1 98
The D u ty of Prote sta n ts
Finally let u s not be dismayed beca u se
Rome perishing all over the world finds a
temporary shelter and a n apparent success
in these Protestant co u ntries where her
methods and prin ciples are u nknown I f
E ngland in her mighty yo u th was able to
res i st and to rep u diate the Rope we may
be s u re that in her maturity she will no t
succumb If the cycles of the past should
be repeated if another B loody Mary should
seize t h e throne and light the fires of S mith
field the spirit o f E ngland would find a n
other E lizabeth another Cromwell W hat
we have been we yet shall be
I f our
fathers rejected Rome on acco u n t of its
practica l corruption and O ppression we are
not l i kely to submit to it when we u nder
stand how t h ose corr u ptions and o p p re s
sions are inherent in the system when we
behold with open and p u rged eyes the theo
re t i c a l errors and the dogm atic fictions which
lead inevitably to these practical results
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B y H E LV E T L E W I S M A
5 T he R is e o f the Q u a ke r s
B y T E D M UN D H A R V E & M A M P
6 C omm o n w e a lth E n g lan d
B y J O IIN B R O WN D D f B d f r d
7 F rom the R e storat i on to the Re vol u tion
B y J O H N B R O WN D D f B d f r d
8 S cotland s S tru g g l e for R e l i g io u s L i be rty
B y W G RI NTO N B E RR & M A
10 M ode rn De v e lopm e nts i n M e t hodi s m
B y W ILLI A M R E D F E R N
11 N onco nfo rmity i n the 19th C e nt u ry
B y C S ILV E S TE R H O R N E M A M B
12 F ore i g n M i ss i on s
B y G C U RRI E M A RTI N M A B D
N AT I O N A L C O UN C IL O F E V A N G E LI C A L F R E E
C H UR C H E S M OR A Il E C
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Little Books on the Devo ut Life
V l m
by r pr t tiv w it r f h F r C h r h f rm i g
c m p l t L ibr ry f D v ti S i 7 by
D i ty
d
c l t h g i l t b c k d i d P i c 116 c h
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O bs cu r e
Li v e s
B y A L F R E D R O WLA N D B A L L B DD
2 L e s s o n s f rom the C ro s s
B y C H A RL E S B R O WN
3 T he Life o f the C hristia n
B y G C A M P B E LL M O R G A N D D
4A s a K ing Re ady to the B attle
B y W J T O WN S E N D DD
6 T he S ou l s Wre s tl e w ith Do ubt
B y F B M E &E R B A
7 T he Whole A rmo u r o f G o d
B y G E O R G E S B A RR E TT D D
9 T he Dev ot i o n al Us e o f the H ol y S cri p t u re s
B y J M O N R O G I BS O N M A D D
10 T he G u i di n g H an d of G o d
B y J R E N D E L H A RRI S M A D L i t
11 T he O p e n S e cr e t
B y R F H O RTO N M A D D
Sp i l v l m
L t h r d iti
4
/
1/
C h p di t i
12 F rom N atu ral to S pi ri t u al
B y J B M E H A RR& DD
13 A C ha i n o f G ra ces
By G E O RGE H A NS O N M A D D
N AT I O N A L C O U N C IL O F E V A N G E LI C A L F R E E
C H URC H E S M ORI AL H A L E C
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I R I T&
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