Reviews, Essays, and Lectures. PART III-MISCELLANEOUS. XXV. CATHOLIC AND PROTESTANT COUNTRIES.* ARTICLE I. ENGLAND AND FRANCE HOLLAND AND BELGIUM. Influence of Catholicity and Protestantism on material interests-Current theory-The argument wholly inconclusive-And the facts assumed, but not proved-England's prosperity-How explained —Rise and decline of Catholic powers-Why God permits the wicked to prosper-Masses of England's population-Catholic Ireland—England and France compared-In which is the bulk of the people more comfortable?-Laing's argument-French and English honesty and politeness-Holland and Belgium compared-Belgian railroads-Charity in Catholic and Protestant countriesCondition of the poor-Relative prosperity of the Catholic and Protestant population of PrussiaThe serf system--How long it lingered in Protestant countries-Who have been the best friends and champions of the poor and oppressed? We have heard it asserted, over and over again, that Protestant countries are much more free, more enlightened, more industrious, more enterprising, more prosperous, more moral, and more happy, than those which have remained faithful to the Catholic religion; and it has become fashionable to assume, that this alleged superiority is fairly ascribable to the self-styled reformation. This great religious revolution of the sixteenth century, say its friends, emancipated the human mind from a degrading thraldom, and thereby gave a new impulse to human activity, the results of which are seen in the social ameliorations above indicated. Catholic countries have remained stationary under the influence of a stationary religious system, Protestant countries, under the influence of one, the leading feature of which is progress, have advanced, and have shot immeasurably ahead of their neighbors. While Such is the current theory, which we propose briefly to examine in the present paper. The theory evidently consists of two parts: one, the assumption of the fact, that Protestant countries are superior to those which are Catholic; and the other, the inference, that the superiority in question is to be ascribed to the influence of the Protestant reformation. We propose to investigate each of these positions, in order to ascertain how far the assumed fact is to be relied on, and how far the inference *Notes of a Traveler on the Social and Political State of France, Prussia, Switzerland, Italy, and other parts of Europe, during the present century. By Samuel Laing, Esq., author of "A Journal of a Residence in Norway " and " A Tour in Sweden." From the second London edition. Philadelphia: Carey & Hart, 1846. 1 vol. 8 vo drawn from it is sound or logical. The subject opens before us a vast and most interesting field of investigation, which Mr. Laing has surveyed with great keen-sightedness and ability, making his observations with patience and accuracy, stating his facts with boldness and precision, and drawing his conclusions with his usual acuteness and candor.' Should any be disposed to question his authority, we beg to remind them, that he is a Scotchman, a Protestant, and, for aught we know, a Presbyterian; that he manifests his dislike of the Catholic Church throughout his work; and that he does not deal in declamation or mere assertion, but in sober facts and stringent arguments. Does it detract from his authority that he is candid? Should he be spurned, because he has the courage to state facts, and to publish truths new and unpalatable to his co-religionists? Should not every sensible man be rather inclined to view him with favor from the circumstance that he has had the independence to break the trammels of sect, and to fling to the winds the stale misrepresentations of centuries? Surely, one would think so. And we hail the recent appearance of this and of similar works among us, under Protestant auspices, as an omen of a better spirit and of better times; of a disposition to allow at least a portion of the truth to be told, in regard to those who profess that venerable religion, which was hallowed by the lives and deaths of thousands and millions eminent for their sanctity, for long centuries before the jarring discord of Protestantism broke on the world. We have been but too long the mere slaves of English prejudice, especially in religion; it is high time to assert our independence. The day is gone by, when the rusty lamp of English bigotry shall exercise over us the same despotic influence as did the lamp of Aladdin over its slaves: we should break our bonds, and be free. Such men precisely as Samuel Laing will act as the pioneers of this new revolution, destined to be more important in its results than was that which secured our political independence. We shall confine our remarks, as Mr. Laing does, to the more conspicuous countries of Europe; and we shall endeavor to be as succinct as the nature of the subject will allow. And, in the first place, suppose that we admit all that is asserted; would it thence follow that Protestantism is true or divine, and Catholicity false? Did Christ ever assign, as a distinctive characteristic of His religion, that it should be the best calculated to promote human comfort, and to insure temporal prosperity, whether to individuals or to nations? Were these merely temporal considerations among the primary, or even secondary objects He had in view in establishing His holy religion? If so, then why did He not originate some at least of the great inventions of which our moderns boast so much, as having changed the very face of society? Why did He not deliver lectures on commerce, navigation, manufactures, and 1 The Edinburg Review assigns to Mr. Laing a very high position among those recent travelers who have added to our stock of information in regard to foreign countries. political economy? Why did He not assume the state and pomp of a great king, or at least the garb of a great political philosopher, to renovate the social condition, by remodeling society itself, through His superior authority and wisdom? We do not read that He did any thing of all this; or that, in fact, He either directly or indirectly alluded in His discourses to any of those great improvements which distinguish modern from ancient society. We read, on the contrary, that He spoke continually in praise of poverty, of humility, of self-denial, of separation from the world in heart and affection, of leaving all things for His name's sake, of selling all things, and giving the proceeds to the poor, and of then taking up our cross and following Him, that we might have a reward in a better world. The poor, the miserable, the diseased, and the forsaken, were His favorites, and those who abounded in riches and reveled in luxury were the objects of His aversion. In a word, He taught, both by word and by example, an utter contempt for the things most prized in this world, and a constant aspiration after those of the world to come; and this is a distinctive feature of His holy religion, Therefore, if we even admit that Protestant countries are, in a worldly point of view, more prosperous than Catholic countries, and that this prosperity is owing to the Protestant religion, it would not thence follow that Protestantism is the religion of Christ, and that Catholicity is not. On the contrary, the presumption would be, that a religion, which thus tends primarily to promote mere worldly comforts, is of the earth, earthly; that it is not at least that sublime and supernatural system taught by Jesus Christ, and intended to raise mankind above this world. Thus the whole reasoning of Protestants upon the alleged superiority of Protestant countries is based upon false principles, and falls to the ground of itself; or, if it prove any thing, clearly leads to the inference, that Protestantism, in its ends, objects, and very nature, is a different thing altogether from original Christianity. In thus attempting to show the utter inconclusiveness of a popular argument against Catholicity and in favor of Protestantism, we do not mean to imply, that the temporal prosperity of a nation or of an individual is incompatible with the profession and practice of true Christianity; far from it. A people may be wealthy, and yet be composed of true Christians; but they will not necessarily be true Christians because they are wealthy, nor wealthy because they are true Christians. The two things are not incompatible, yet they are not necessarily associated together. On the contrary, from the very genius and nature of Christianity, we would be naturally led to infer, that they are oftener found apart than united. And this is all that the argument calls for. So much for the soundness of the principles, which lie at the foundation of this whole argument against Catholicity. We will now proceed to examine the two positions of modern Protestant writers, stated at the commencement of this paper; and we will begin with the one which ascribes the alleged superiority of Protestant over Catholic countries to the influence of the Protestant religion. |