ory of the Church in the past that she labored
to civilize barbarians, to emancipate slaves, to elevate woman, to
preserve the classical writings, to foster music, painting, sculpture,
architecture, poetry, and eloquence, think it no part of her mission now
to encourage scientific research? To be Catholic is to be drawn not only
to the love of whatever is good and beautiful, but also to the love of
whatever is true; and to do the best work the Catholic Church must fit
herself to a constantly changing environment, to the character of every
people, and to the wants of each age. Has not Christ declared that
whoever is not against us is for us; and may we not therefore find
friends in all who work for worthy ends,--for liberty and knowledge, for
increase of power and love? This large sympathy, which true religion and
the best culture promote, is Catholic, and it is also American; for here
with us, I think, the whole world is for men of good-will who are not
fools. We who are the children of ancient Faith, who inherit the boon
from fathers who held it to be above all price, are saved, where there
is question of former times, from irreverent thoughts and shallow views.

For us the long past ages have not flown;
Like our own deeds they travel with us still;
Reviling them, we but ourselves disown;
We are the stream their many currents fill.
From their rich youth our manhood has upgrown,
And in our blood their hopes and loves yet thrill.

But if like the old, the Church can look to the past, like the young,
she can look to the future. If there are Catholics who linger regretful
amid glories that have vanished, there are also Catholics who in the
midst of their work feel a confidence which leaves no place for regret;
who well understand that the earthly environment in which the Church
lives is subject to change and decay, and that new surroundings imply
new tasks and impose new duties. The splendor of the medieval Church,
its worldly power, the pomp of its ceremonial, the glittering pageantry
in which its pontiffs and prelates vied with kings and emperors in
gorgeous display, are gone, or going; and were it given to man to recall
the past, the spirit whereby it lived would still be wanting. But it is
the mark of youthful and barbarous natures to have eyes chiefly for the
garb and circumstance of religion, to see the body only and not the
soul. At all events the course of life is onward, and enthusiasm