IV.—Defense of the Encyclical.
That this is the main drift and real import of the weighty Encyclical which has so startled the world, will sufficiently appear to every reflecting and impartial man from its careful perusal. The howl of indignation with which the world has received the document only proves, that the healing shaft has reached the ulcer which has so long threatened the very life of modern society; while the pains taken by the English press—from which a great portion of the American has copied—to mutilate and disfigure its meaning through a faulty translation, seems to indicate an instinctive dread, lest, if faithfully rendered, it might bear too forcibly on evils, which are the more fondly cherished, because they are flattering to the pride of the human heart, and have already become well nigh inveterate. It was to be expected that the world would be indignant, when it was thus suddenly awakened from its dream of an earthly Elysium, amid the wonderful modern developments of material comforts and interests, by the voice of a venerable man who dared tell its votaries, in the name of God, whose chief minister he is on earth, that "all is vanity," that "the figure of this world passeth away," and that the great end of our creation is not to accumulate wealth, but to lay up treasures in heaven, and to labor for eternity; but the verdict of the world is evidently much too interested and self-seeking, to possess any real weight with those upon whose souls the blessed light of revelation has dawned, and who, through God's teaching, have happily learned to estimate at their real value the baubles which men prize most, and through the inordinate love of which they peril their immortal souls, selling their birth-right to heaven for a mess of earthly pottage! "What doth it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" "O sons of men, how long will ye be dull of heart? Why do ye love vanity, and seek after lying." (Psalm iv. 3.)
A few extracts from the Encyclical will establish the accuracy of Our interpretation of its real purport and meaning.
