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own observations along the
lalK 1 endeavor to learn what sort of
route. a,J , to / in the second age.
a Church pi Cedric.
For the Banner of the South.
~c ncri INEAND FALL OF THE ROMAN
THE SII BY EDWARD GIBBON.
No. ‘2.
«. Gibbon affected to be a Protestant
V the words, “ our Protestant
i,n ' J >■ He even gives Protestantism
Sit of having taught the right of
V‘ jndonient, though he seems to
IT t it with contempt, because it
titbit out. He forgot that he,
,alk • :| o j to carry it out. But, in truth,
used to Christianity in any
„ r I,'rm. The bent of his feeling
Christianity, may be judged from
‘if,,, that, of all the men that occupied
n 1 rial tbP.no, either East or West.
e iSed Julian, the Apostate, for his
, , , Julian was the nephew of Constan
, t |, e first Christian Emperor of Rome.
H ■ 'tml his three cousins, Constantine,
i , HanS) and Constantins, who all suc
. j.,1 their father, seem not to have got
together. Perhaps there was
( .„w on one side and suspicion on the
' ( j. But there is no record of injustice
j„flj r tVd on him. He had the same op
t rtunities of religious and literary edu
ction they had, and like Elizabeth, in
the r eign of Queen Mary, he professed
to be a very good Catholic while they
lived. When Constantine and Constans
were dead, Constantius made him Caesar,
an! wave him the Government of the
\Ve.<. Having won some battle from
the Germans, and driven them across the
Rhine, he excited the jealousy or suspi
cion of the Emperor, who ordered him to
pend a portion of his forces to join the
Army ot the East against the 1 ersians.
Julian looked upon this order as intended
to deprive him of power, while the le
gions refused to obey, as they had been
enrolled on condition that they should not
be required to cross the Alps. They pro
claimed Julian Emperor, and he marched
for the East to contend for the Empire.
Before the main armies could meet, Con
staulius died offerer, and Julianenteied
Constantinople without opposition.
As soon as he was declared Emperor,
he showed his preference for the old
heathen Mythology, and, as soon as he
seemed the Empire, he commenced ac
tive operations against the Church. At
first, indeed, be proposed to extend tolera
tion to all by an edict which, Mr. Gibbon
says, was not unworthy of a statesman
and a philosopher. He admits, after
wards, that this was mere duplicity.
He wrote a very elaborate work jus
tifying his dissent from Christianity,
which, Mr. Gibbon admits, “ exhibits a
singular mixture of wit and learning, of
sophism and fanaticism;” a strange ad
mission from one who still affects to call
him a philosopher, it was not long’, how
ever, before Julian showed what his idea
of toleration was. lie removed Chris
tians from all public offices and put idola
ters or infidels in their places, lie de
prived the Bishops of the revenues grant
ed to them by the previous Government
for Church purposes, and gave them to
tli 1 Pagan Priests for the reorganization
aili; repair of their temples and the re
o veal of the sacrifices. The right of the
C'rrgy to inherit testamentary bequests
Wi s abui.shed, and they were deprived of
over y honor and privilege previously
conferred upon them by Constantius.
IPviiig excluded the Christians from all
1 *s ot honor, trust, and profit in the
bom, the Army, and Provinces; he
E"hJuted them from practising as phy
siCiaus, or from being Professors of any
ot the liberal arts; and, finally, from
teaching school. All the schools were
■q'potted at the public expense, and were
P ,aced UQ der idolatrous or infidel teach
witu the hope of educating the rising
generation to idolatry and extinguishing
/ ; :n f ,a % forever. His eulogist, also,
a j','“ LS I bug during his short reign, when
ll ; ! '! aU ' ous Governors of Provinces, and
; u " iJUrj us atobs, encouraged by his apos
y ‘.S 'Cgan to harass, persecute, and put
a g : ;! the Christians, he affected to rc-
li ‘ : lr injustice, while, privately, he
,‘T ri ' utl upon them substantial rewards.
* go chief objects ol Julian’s reign
p A '. lave Hecn the destruction of
p, 1 . 1 ' ' im b>’ a ud the conquest of' Persia.
;' 1 ’ Mc thought he would gratify
n ‘A ‘ lO tiic Church, and avenge
" 11 t!1(1 tvveniory of his cousins, who
I * ’; j ll o stood between him and the
, V*i.,i power; by the last, he thought
; ull f surpass, in military glory,'all
•p. accessors, and place his "name by
’ n ‘ v S l :' > Alexander the Great, hi
‘ re , t 0 accomplish the first, it oc
'p t 11111 that, by re building the
. ~ h ‘ i " l Jerusalem, he would falsify
P ro phecies of the Bible, and
f a j t " l,lu v; :iu overwhelming blow on the
• lV i / ; pi'istianity. A proclamation
' ure > issued, inviting the Jews
from all parts of the Empire to assemble
at Jerusalem, for the re-building of the
Holy Temple. They came in countless
numbers, some of the more wealthy
bringing silver spades and pickaxes to
dig, and mantles of silk and purple to
carry off the rubbish. Alypius, a learn
ed Pagan, and a special friend of Ju
lian’s, was appointed to superintend the
work. It commenced; but, Mr. Gibbon
says: “An earthquake, a whirldwind, and
a fiery eruption, which overturned the
new foundations of the temple, are at
tested, with some variations, by contem
porary and respectable evidence.” This
event is described by Ambrose, Bishop of
Milan, the eloquent Chrysostom, and
Gregory Naziangen—the last of whom
asserts that the occurrence was not dis
puted by the Infidels; and Mr. Gibbons
adds: “and his assertion, strange as it
may seem, is confirmed by the unexcep
tionable testimony of Ammiauus Marcelli
nus,” one of Julian’s chief military offi
cers, who, “ in his judicious and candid
history of his own times,” gives the fol
lowing account of it:
“ Whilst Alypius, assisted by the Gov
ernor of the Province, urged, with vigor
and diligence, the execution of the work,
horrible balls of fire breaking out near
the foundations, with frequent and reite
rated attacks, rendered the place, from
time to time, inaccessible to the scorched
and blasted workmen; and the victorious
element continuing in this manner, obsti
nately and resolutely bent, as it were, to
drive them to a distance, the undertaking
was abandoned.”
From the absence of all contradictory
testimony, Mr. Gibbon is compelled to
admit the fact, but endeavors to evade
the inference that may reasonably be
drawn from it. He says: “At this im
portant crisis any singular accident of
nature would assume the appearance and
produce the effect of a miracle;” and then
says, that such an occurrence improved
and magnified by the pious art of the
clergy, might, at the distance of twenty
years, pass into history as a specious
and splendid miracle. There is no re
cord of any such accident of Nature ever
happening there, cither before or since,
though the same ground was afterwards
dug up for the building of a Mosque by
Omar, which still occupies the site of the
old Temple. But that which seems to
lie accompanied by design cannot bo
called an accident. The fiery eruption
always ceased when the workmen re
treated, but was repeated every time they
attempted to renew the work, until they
had to desist altogether. But he is not
disposal to believe any preternatural
event, or Christian miracle, no matter
what the testimony, whether it be in or
out of the Bible. Had he been present
at the miracles of our Redeemer, like the
Pharisees, he would have disbelieved, and
would have accounted for them, if not
with more reason, at least with more phi
losophy.
Julian, who, his eulogist admits, was a
bigot and a persecutor, could not have
been a philosopher, unless, indeed, phi
losophy means the denial of every known
truth in Religion, and al) right to religious
freedom. The ruler, who enacted such
a penal code against his Christian sub
jects, as be did, could not have been a
statesman. I need hardly say that, with
an army twice as large as Alexander had,
and larger than any Roman Emperor, or
General, ever led into Persia, he hesitated
to attack Ctesiphon, its capital, which
had been thrice taken by his predecessors,
and instead of taking it, and making it
the base of bis further operations, he
burnt liis fleet in the Tigris, with all the
stores he could not carry with him, and
marched his army into the interior,
through a waste and desert country,
where, surrounded by the Persian forces,
with resources nearly exhausted, he fell
in one of the constant skirmishes in which
his army was engaged, without display
ing any of the qualities of a good General,
still less of a hero.
One cannot read the description of
Julian’s penal code against the Catholics
of the* fourth century, without being struck
with the resemblance between it and the
penal code established by the British
Government against the Catholics of Ire
land in the sixteenth, seventeenth and eigh
teenth centuries. So much alike are they
in general detail, in the object sought,
and the effect produced, that the latter
would seem to have been copied from the
former. There were anti-Christian riots
in the days of Julian, in which Bishops,
and Priests, and Monks, were murdered,
and property destroyed, and Churches
and Convents sacked and burned, as
well as in modern no-Popery days. But
Julian, bitter as his hatred of Christianity
was, was far more humane and more
honest than those who professed to be
Christians in modern times; he passed no
law banishing Priests from the Empire,
and hanging them if they returned;
■ neither did lie confiscate and take houses
or lands, or any other kind of property,
liom the Church; nor did he invent an
ingenious system of legislation by fines
and confiscations, to absorb all the indi
vidual property of his Catholic subjects.
What lie might have done, had he re
turned from Persia successful, and
reigned longer, it is impossible to say.
But, during liis short reign, he took no
thing from the Church that really belong
ed to her; he only withheld from her, and
transferred to his own religion, those reve
nues which the Government gave yearly
for her support. This, as Emperor, he
had a perfect right to do, and without
any violation of the rights of property.
Idolator as he was, he had some respect
for human rights, and some regard for
human life. He left it for modern times,
and men professing to be Christians, to
a free, enlightened, and Christian Gov
ernment, that boasts of having invented
the Magna Charta, the Trial by Jury,
and the Habeas Corpus, to proclaim to
the world that it was consistent with
Christian morality and the laws of God
to rob Churches and hang Priests. Is it
not singular that, in modern times, when
ever a revolution, religious or political,
takes place in any country where the
Church has property, the first act of the
successful revolutionists is to rob the
Church? It was done in Denmark, Nor
way and Sweden, in North Germany,
and in England, Ireland, and Scotland at
the time of the Reformation. It was
done in the fiist French Revolution. Vic
tor Emmanuel did it in the late Italian
Revolution; and there is no doubt that
the successful Spanish Revolutionists
will follow the virtuous example. And
men are to be found who, professing to be
Christians, and desirous of being looked
upon as honest men, openly approve of
the robber), and affect to look upon such
acts as an evidence of progress and ad
vance in civilization. Such sentiments,
however inconsistent with the principles
of Christian morality, might do very well
for a community of thieves.
In speaking of the effects that followed
the death of Julian, Mr. Gibbon uses the
| following language: “The triumph of
Christianity and the calamities of the
Empire, may, in some measure, be as
cribed to Julian himself, who had neg
lected to secure the execution ol his
designs, by the timely and judicious
nomination of an associate and a succes
sor.” Here he entirely ignores a Divine
| revelation as well as a Divine Provi-
dence, when the very facts he was re
cording should have led him to suspect
both. It would have been far wiser and
better for Julian bad he remembered
and followed the advice which Gamaliel
gave to the Chief Priests of the Jews:
“And now I say unto you, refraiu from
these men, and let them alone; for if
this counsel or this work be of men, it
will come .o nought; but if it be of
God, ye cannot overthrow it, but haply
ye be found even to fight against God.”
When Mr. Gibbon, amid the ruins of
the Eternal. City, surrounded by the
Churches dedicated to that God in whose
Divinity he did not believe, with the
monuments of the Saints everywhere in
view, whose wisdom lie did not under
stand, and whose piety he could not imi
tate, standing upon a soil almost com
posed of the dust of martyrs, whose he
roism he could neither appreciate nor
realize, undertook to write a work which,
by a cautious selection of authorities
and a judicious arrangement of facts, he
thought would affect the general senti
ment of Christendom so as to sap the
very foundations of the Christian Faith,
it would have been wiser and better if
he had remembered the counsel of Gama
liel. His statements, his inferences, his
insinuations, his critical and philosophical
so far as they affect reli
gion, have fallen still-born upon the
Christian world, and his work has ceased
to. be an authority in the literary world,
except for its historical facts, and are ac
cepted for the great names of the learned
men from whose laborious researches be
gleaned them The sword of the Pagan,
the legislative cunning of the Apostate,
| and the philosophic pen of Mr. Gibbon,
al! failed of their purpose —Christianity
still survives, and the wisdom of the coun
sel ot Gamaliel remains still unimpeaehed.
Though the matter legitimately em
braced in the su‘ jeet, the history of
which he undertook, was far too massive
Ito be condensed with the few volumes
I that he did write, yet he introduced much
extraneous matter that had no connection
with the history, as if his vanity‘made
him desirous of exhibiting the universa
i tility as well as the versatility of his in
! formation. Tin -re is another fault in the
i work far more objectionable. Scattered
| through bis notes may be found a num
! ber of low, course, indecent anecdotes, for
the introduction of which there is no jus
tification, as they really have no connec
tion with the history, They- are intro
duced so unnecessarily, and told with so
much apparent relish, that one is almost
| induced to believe that the main object,
’ if not the only one, in. introducing them
was the pleasure the writer enjoyed in
the recital. Some of them are so grossly
indecent that he was, as it were, com
pelled to partially conceal them under
the veil of the Latin and Greek lan
guages. Coming from a man claiming
to be a philosopher, and occupying the
literary position that he did, the least that
can be said of them is, that they are in
very bad taste. J. T. W.
Mobile , Nov. 186s.
COMPLIMENTARY DINNER.
RT. RF.V. BTSHOP RYAN THE GUEST OF THE
FACULTY OF THE SEMINARY OF OUR
LADY OF ANGELS.
Buffalo, Nov. 11th, ’6B.
Dear Danner :
Os the many circumstances connected
with the late consecration of the Rt. Rev.
S. V. Ryan, as Bishop of Buffalo, there
was none more pleasing or interesting,
than that which occurred in his honor on
Monday, the 9th inst. On the day of
Consecration the newly Consecrated an
nounced to the assembled Prelates and
Clergy, that a Complimentary Dinner
had been tendered him by the Faculty of
the Seminary of Our Lady of Angels,
Suspension Bridge, and he cordially in
vited all presebt to partake with him, on
the morrow, of the extended hospitality.
Not at all opposed to the acceptance of
so general an invitation, I found myself
at about 10 A. M., on the succeeding
morning, comfortably enjoying a ride
Rom Buffalo to Suspension Bridge, in
company with someone hundred and
silty others, in a train chartered for the
occasion by the Very Rev. Father Rice,
the affable and abl(\Superior of the Sem
inary. Glimpses ot the famed Niagara,
as it rolled majestically and peacefully
along, preparatory to the fierce confusion
into which it is shortly plunged, and an
unstinted indulgence in conversation with
those around, so dissipated all thoughts of
the length of time and the weather’s inclem
ency, that, unexpectedly, the rumbling
thunder of the mighty cataract and the
noisy clatter of a hundred tongues, in the
unmistakable Jehu accent, gave me the
first intimation that our destination was
near at hand. That somewhat thriving,
and, withal interesting town, known after
the wondrous fabric that called it into
existence, as Suspension Bridge, is soon
entered, soon passed, and we find our
selves gently gliding towards the summit
called Montcagle, upon which, in solitary
native grandeur, stands perched, and
prominent, the Seminary of Our Lady,
mounted with its golden emblems of sal
vation and of grace.
Through a deep embankment, suddenly
bursting in upon the wild torrent and
mountain scenery of the Niagara, and
we are at our journey’s cud; a fact which
the welcoming echoes of the College
Band plainly indicated. “What a grand
building!” was the expression on every
lip, as the noble structure came into full
and open view. “How splendid a posi
tion !” the exclamation on every side, as
river, whirlpool, banks of green, and en
tire landscape, unsurpassed, were coin
passed at a glance. Music along the Ni
agara ! Never did I imbibe so much the
soul of music as on that day, while I lis
tened to the melody of the College Band
coupled with the strange harmony of
Nature’s wildest and most beautiful
scenery. The Seminary of Our Lady of
Angels lias taken her stand among the
first literary and ecclesiastical institutions
of the land. “Spacious, commodious,
and beautiful,” as remarked the Most
Rev. Archbishop of Now York, who was
present on that day; possessing a com
plete course of studies, and conducted by
indefatigable, competent and learned offi
cers, it is an ornament to literature and
religion. About two hundred and fifty
young men claim it at present as their
Alma Mater ; and if they may well feel
proud of her, she may well feel proud of
them; for, if gentlemany deportment be
any* criterion, they are certainly to be
cherished as a credit Two hundred and
fifty feet in Irout, by one hundred and
thirty deep, and five stories high, as its
dimensions, you can partly- conjecture
the extent of its accommodations. Long,
lolty corridors ; rooms, large and beauti
fully furnished; elegant parlors; dor
mitories, three in number, well ventilated,
and kept in the neatest possible order;
an immense studying hall, capable of
bolding in the neighborhood of three
hundred students ; 1; braries for the inspec
tion of the students, and class halls of
the best order, together with a magnifi
cent play-hall, the equal of which we
have nowhere seen; all these go to con
stitute the beau ideal of a first class cler
ical institution. The new wing which is
now roofed and in process < f completion,
is to be occupied solely by the Theologi
cal and Philosophical students, whilst the
grand hall which spans it from end to
end, is to be devoted to Commencement
and other literary and religious exercises.
But I forget, as I did forget on that
day that complimentary dinner. After
an examination of the interior of the In
stitution, the result of which are the fore
going observations, the sound of the din
ner bell summoned us to the only apart
ment we had not yet seen—the spacious
and a petite-sharpening refectory. Grace
being said we seated ourselves to the
commencement of a most agreeable work.
VV ell, dear Editor, emphatically, it was
a dinner. Were lan epicure I could
certainly desire none better; and were I
a Pindai, the smoothest and most liquid
verses would alone suffice in which to
sing its praises. Why, the feast of Ho
mer’s heroes were but, to this a shadow,
a mere nothing; consider, if you will,
the dignity and the learning which
graced the festive, or the savory, deli
cious substantiality of the viands that
made the table literally crack beneath
this honest weight. I testify for myself,
and for others I can also testify, that the
faculty of the Seminary of Our Lady of
Angels, well understand how to give a
complimentary dinner; and on all such
luture occasions—as I trust there will be
many—should fortune favor me with an
invitation l faithfully promise to be a
most willing participant. Never, so far
as my knowledge extends, were there as
sembled so many dignitaries of the
Church in any Catholic Seminary of the
country. Together with the Most Rev.
Archbishop ot New York, there were
present at dinner, ten Rt. Rev. Bishops
and about eighty Very Rev. und Rev.
Fathers. The names of those present
as nearly as could be ascertained, were
the following: Most Rev. Archbishop
McCloskey, of New York; Rt. Rev.
Bishop Loughlin, of Brooklyn ; Rt. Rev.
Bishop Bailey, Newark, N. J. ; Rt. Rev.
Bishop de Goesbriand, Burlington, Vt.,
Rt. Rev. Bishop McFarland, Hartford,
Ct.; Rt. Rev. Bishop Wood, Philadel
phia, Pa.; Rt. Rev. Bishop Farrell, Ham
ilton, Ontario; Rt. Rev. Bishop Lynch,
Toronto, Ontario, Rt* Rev. Bishop
McQuaid, Rochester, N. Y. ; Rt. Rev.
Bishop Shanahan, Harrisburg, Pa.; Rt.
Rev. Bishop Ryan, Buffalo, N. Y.
Very Rev. W, Gleeson, Buffalo, N. Y.;
Very Rev. T. P. Rooney, Y. G, Toronto,
Ontario ; Very Rev. J. Early, V. G., Ro
chester, N. Y.; Very Rev. l\ J. Ryan, V,
G., St. Louis, M 0.,; Very Rev. P. A.
Stanton, O. S. A., Philadelphia, Pa. ;
Very Rev. J. Haydon, 0. M.; Very Rev.
—. Tortell, 0. M G ; Very Rev, F. Di
omedes, 0. S. L.; A ery Rev. F. Bur
lando, C. M. ; and A r ery Rev. J. J.
Quigley, C. M„ Brooklyn.
Revs. A. J. McConomy, Ch. & Sec.,
Philadelphia, Pa.; J.Giustamiani, C. M.;
J. A. O’Hara, Syracuse, N. Y.; E, J.
Meanan, Ch.; F. J. Mooney-, St. Brid
get’s Church N. Y. ; E. Quigley, Buffa
lo, N. Y.; S. O’Meara, Lockport, N. Y.;
P. Cannon, Niagara Falls; J. McManus,
Batavia; J. Castaldi, Albion; W. J.
MoNab, Iowa; J. Keenan, AVaterloo,
M. McDonald, Medina; P. Maloy, New
faine; P. N. O’Brien, St. Louis, Mo.;
J. Mackin, Boodentown, N. J , 11. Lane,
Pa. ; P. O’Farrell, Phceninvillr , E. J.
Briady, Newburg; D. Wvrands, Perkins
ville, N. J. ; B. Beck, 0. SS.R., Buffa-
lo ; AV. Quinn, St. Peter’s Church, N. Y ;
J. McNierney, Ch. Catli, N. Y.; M.
Stager, Westeagle, N. Y.; T. Treanor,
Transfiguration Church, N. Y.; 11. Mul
Lolland, Lockport; J. McGrath, Buffalo;
J. O’Donohue, Buffalo; I*. Barker, D.
D. Rochester ; T. Sullivan, V. G., Niaga
ra, Ontario; T. Burke, I). I)., C. S St.
Louis; T. Clark, Oswego; J. Tuoghey,
Lewiston; T. Tillmann, Black Rook; N.
J. Story, Brockport, N. Y.; AY Welsh,
St. Louis; J. Sorg, Buffalo; D. Moore,
Buffalo; i). English, Penyan, Pa.; J.
Carrol, Suspension Bridge ; J. Moyna
ban, Buffalo; T. M Mazuret, Black
Rock; F’ Hynes, Limestown ; M. O’Con
nor, Buffalo; J. Cahill, Jamestown, N.
Y.; J. Cunningham, Batavia ; P. Hop
kins, Elmira; J. Leddy, Greenwood ;
P. Byrnes, Rochester.
After sufficient justice had been ren
dered to the eatables, the learned and
elegant Rev. J. W. Hickey, C. M., one of
the Seminary Professors, arose, and in a
most simple and touching address, wel
comed, in the name of the Faculty, the
lit. llev. Bishop Ryan, lately confrere,
and the Most Rev. Archbishop, Bishops,
and Clergy to their midst. The address,
delivered with that soul-moving pathos,
which the Rev. gentleman so naturally
infused into it, was listened to in rapt si
lence and emotion and amid long con
tinued applause, was presented to Bishop
Ryan, it reads as follows:
'•'Jit . lied. Bishop Hyatt :
Permit me, on behalf of the Faculty of
the Seminary of our Lady of Angels, to
tender you our most joyful and heartfelt
congratulations, on occasion of your re
cent accession to the Episcopal dignity.
We consider it a privilege thus to unite
our feeble voices with those of thousands
throughout the length and breadth of this
vast Diocese, who have already testified
their satisfaction on your advent into their
midst. We feel confident that transferred
to a loftier sphere and a wider tield of ac
tion, your distinguished merits and emi-
5