I'll no say men are villains a'; Wha hae nae check but human law, But, oh! mankind are unco weak, If self the wavering balance shake, "How common," says Fielding, "are such ejaculations as these,— 'O! it is impossible he should be guilty of any such thing; he must have done it by mistake. So good a man!' When in reality the mistake lies only in his character. Nor is there any more unjust and insufficient method of judging mankind, than by public estimation, which is oftener acquired by deceit, partiality, prejudice, and such like, than by real desert. I will venture to affirm, that I have known some of the best sort of men in the world (to use the vulgar phrase) who would not have scrupled cutting a friend's throat; and a fellow whom no man should be seen to speak to, capable of the highest acts of friendship and benevolence." "place Naturalism, after accusing Catholicity of indulgence to sinners, complains that the fathers, as Barbeyrac, says, too great a difference between the man and the Christian, and, by exaggerating this distinction, prescribe impracticable rules." It is probable that this expresses the fundamental thought of those who protest against the Catholic civilization; but in the first place, it is these very adversaries of the old banner who make the distinction between men widest, either as rationalists, by the difference which they make between the people and the philosophers, or as sectarians, by their exaggerated ideas of spiritualism, almost identical with those of Manes, and by the conventional rules with which they separate all but themselves from the profession of true Christianity. In the second place, the objection is founded on a false assumption, since Catholicity, which, as we have already seen, makes all due allowance for the compound formation of man, is not to be held responsible for every oratorical sentence that can be found in the holy fathers; and it is also to the last degree unfair, since all persons who profess any regard for virtue must make the very same distinction which Catholicism is blamed for making. "If this new preacher with the sword and feather, We should have a fine world." Does not reason itself, does not even the instinct of self-preservation, proclaim the necessity of rising in a certain way above nature? If nature is to be uncontrolled, it may not rest till it has obtained for its disciples the chain of the galley slave. Naturalism is a common soil, especially in the higher classes, where it is more concealed. St. Thomas of Villanova, alluding to it, remarks, that "in the gospel only a fourth part of the seed sown is represented as coming, in consequence, to fruit. From the hearts of those under its sole influence, the seed of the word of God recoils," he says, "like hail, exciting no devotion, no affection, no horror of vice, no fear of punishment, no desire of salvation; and this," he adds, "is the worst kind of hearers, on whose hardness no impression can be made. This is the sign of eternal reprobation, quia qui ex Deo est, verba Dei audit. These men can listen whole days together to the fables of the world, but to the word of God, or indeed to any theme that is elevated and beautiful, not an hour*." Naturalism produces the class of the faint-hearted, the languishing, the lukewarm, who have need of an angel of God to descend and agitate the waters; who are also the spiritually blind, having but one cry, "et ipse non est mecum." They have such a conformation of mind as is ascribed to a famous author-whatever is little seems to them great, and whatever is great seems to them little. Savonarola describing them, speaks as follows: "Incensa igni, et suffossa.-Who are these that are reduced to a smouldering state but the tepid, who externally, indeed, do not seem to be burning with the fire of lust or of pride, or of avarice? Yet within they are dried up because they are smouldering. They have no roots in the land of the living,—in the charity of Christ-in the grace of God +." "The arrogant within the Church," says St. Odo, “ answer against her, but not as the heretics placed without; for they do not contradict her by preaching error, but they do so by living perversely, thinking of themselves more highly than they ought to think. Their zeal is for the world; their tepidity for virtue, "Thro' ev'ry sign of vanity they run; Assemblies, parks, coarse feasts, in city halls, Taverns, exchanges, bride wells, drawing-rooms, * Dom. in Sex. + Med. in Ps. Qui Reg. 4. Mor. in Job xxiii. Oh, if we were to be as diligent in spiritual, as men of the world are in temporal things, how quickly," says St. Thomas of Villanova, "should we be great! Believe me, brethren," he added, “believe me again and again, admonishing you, and declaring, that unless you labour like men,-ultra communem vitam, you will receive no reward. You are workmen, and what reward, then, can you expect, if, instead of labouring, you spend your whole time in diversions * ?" Naturalism leaves the conscience unsatisfied,-sooner or later, discouraged and ready, perhaps, for any act of despair, prompting words like those of Hamlet, "What would such fellows as I do Crawling between earth and heaven ?" "Through the loose follies it draws on Thinking he goes right on still, swerves but one foot, When naturalism, therefore, in general, full of confidence and invested with an air of what is called respectability, proposes its claims to the regard of men, and seeks to obscure the sequel to the centre presented by the supernatural morality of the Catholic Church, which it very often leaves, as only fit for sinners and the vulgar, the first reply to it may be drawn from an observation of its imperfections, which will suggest words like those of St. Augustin, "stultum est in tali statu vivere in quo quis non audet mori." But this opposition of all ages to the supernatural principles of Catholicism, may be distinguished from truth, not merely by its negative qualities. It is characterized by many evils of a positive kind, which can hardly fail to strike attention, and cause some men to seek elsewhere for guidance. In the first place, its evident selfishness takes away all claim to love and respect. Observe the character of that man who would substitute naturalism for the supernatural morality, which the lowest of the vulgar can recognize as true. The very pagans, on seeing him, would have repeated what Cicero said of Hirrus, "O dii, quam ineptus! quam se ipse amans sine rivali!" "The only antidote In Dom. Sept. against egoism is tuism," says the Count de Maistre *." But where is the 'tu' that naturalism espouses? See what it makes of love. Its disciple can hardly be removed to that school. Ask any woman that; she will tell you so much; women cannot endure the sight of one of these adepts in philosophy. They hold all his wit for nothing. They address to him the words of our poet, saying, "O! you are sick of self-love, And taste with a distempered appetite." Here may be diligence, and, in a certain sense, great intellectual activity. "Of the four months I have spent in Rome," says a philosopher, who formally says that he would bring back man from Catholicism to a more natural state," not a moment has been lost. The boast may sound great, but it does not say too much." The motive, however, with these men, is clearly seen to be the selfish desire of glory. Each might say with the poet, this is all my aim,— "Quod monstror digito prætereuntium," Naturalism accepts the pagan definition of glory. It is content if the multitude love a man, if it has faith in him, and if, with a certain admiration, it deems him worthy of honour †. It admits, that to follow every vain rumour, and all the shadows of false glory, may argue a frivolous mind; but with Cicero, it thinks what it terms "the light and splendour of true glory to be the most excellent fruit of virtue ‡.” With this doctrine, it is clear that the esteem of the world is to be cultivated in the first place, let it demand what actions it may. Such a principle, however, as this, if examined closely, will turn out to be detestable. But in every form, and at every turn, this man, so constant in decrying the supernatural morals of Catholicism, will betray his selfishness. We shall hear from him, when off his guard at banquets, "What! have I twice said well? I pr'ythee tell me; cram us with praise and make us *Lettres, i. 112. +Cicero de Off. lib. ii. 9. In L. Pisonem. As fat as tame things: one good deed dying tongueless Our praises are our wages." The disciples of naturalism are so far perfect European grammarians, that they always begin with themselves, and that, unlike the Indian, who begins with the third person, they regard as most worthy the first-Ego. The bay-tree, if planted too near the walls of an edifice, will work its way with its roots underneath till it destroys the foundation. Such is the desire that besets the man who opposes Catholicism here. The selfish desire of praise leaves nothing sound within him: friends like himself will say, "A favoured being—'gainst the taint Of dissolute tongues, and jealousies, and hate, All but neglect." On that point the reserve is prudent; and that half-empty banqueting-hall at Frankfort, on the coronation-day, described by Goethe, when the bidden guests, each fearing to sanction some neglect of his own dignity, remained without, might serve to explain its necessity. Neglect is nature's horror, and so we hear each victim of his own selfishness complain, and say,— "My days, my friend, are almost gone, My life has been approved, And many love me; but by none Am I enough beloved." It requires but one step more to arrive, if not at suicide, which men so naturally good, as Plutarch, seem to sanction, at least at king Richard's dreadful state, exclaiming, "I love myself. Wherefore? For any good For hateful deeds committed by myself." Ægidius Gabrielis, contrasting the diabolic with the Christian morality, remarks especially the selfishness belonging to the former, from which naturalism can easily be traced, for it consists partly in the action of an external agent driving back from grace, which would restore and reinstate nature. "The master of this system," he says, "admits that respect is due to parents and relations-sed dicit amorem incipere à seipso, et se tantum teneri ad pietatem, quando sine suo incommodo ei satisfacere potest." The reverence for relations, for parents, and even for |