PERILS. — ROMAXISM. 07 



lie "be a loyal eitizen? He can be such only until some 

 issue arises which compels him to choose between the 

 two masters. And as an eminent writer has said : ^ '' We 

 can scarce hope that the time will not come when our 

 Catholic fellow citizens will be put to the strain of elect- 

 ing between the allegiance due to the state and that due 

 to the church. " 



Cardinal Manning in his reply to Mr. Gladstone says : 

 "That the civil allegiance of no man is unlimited, and 

 therefore the civil allegiance of all men who believe in 

 God, or are governed by conscience, is in that sense 

 divided. In this sense, and in no other, can it be said 

 with truth that the civil allegiance of Catholics is 

 divided.""^ This is the best answer that can be made, 

 but it is not adequate. Of course the civil allegiance of 

 no man is absolutely unlimited. If divine and human 

 laws are in conflict, " we ought to obey God rather than 

 man." But just here appears the radical difference 

 between a Roman Catholic and a Protestant. The latter 

 accepts the will of God, revealed in the Bible and in his 

 own conscience, as interpreted by himself. If the 

 requirements of government are inconsistent with the 

 Word of God (which is scarcely possible Avith our consti- 

 tutional guarantees of religious liberty), or if he believes 

 that they are, his understanding may be informed, his 

 conscience may be enlightened, he is at liberty to change 

 his views. And even if he does not, he stands alone, 

 and cannot possibly be a menace to the peace of society. 



The Eomanist, on the other hand, accepts the will of 

 God, as interpreted by the Pope, who, as we have seen, 

 claims that his sphere of authority is "inseparably 

 bound up " with that of the civil government and who, 

 therefore, cannot be disinterested. If now, the require- 

 ments of government are inconsistent with the will of 

 the Pope, the Roman Catholic is not at liberty to weigh 

 the Pope's judgment, to try his commands by his own 



1 Henry Charles Lea, in The Forum, February, 1890. 



2 The Vatican Decrees, D. Appleton & Co., 1874, p. 7 



