“There is also a great office on Friday,” said Father Coleman to Lothair, “which perhaps you would not like to attend—the mass of the presanctified. We bring back the blessed sacrament to the desolate1 altar, and unveil the cross. It is one of our highest ceremonies, the adoration2 of the cross, which the Protestants persist in calling idolatry, though I presume they will give us leave to know the meaning of our own words and actions, and hope they will believe us when we tell them that our genuflexions and kissing of the cross are no more than exterior3 expressions of that love which we bear in our hearts to Jesus crucified; and that the words adoration and adore, as applied4 to the cross, only signify that respect and veneration5 due to things immediately relating to God and His service.”
“I see no idolatry in it,” said Lothair, musingly6.
“No impartial7 person could,” rejoined Father Coleman; “but unfortunately all these prejudices were imbibed8 when the world was not so well informed as at present. A good deal of mischief9 has been done, too, by the Protestant versions of the Holy Scriptures10; made in a hurry, and by men imperfectly acquainted with the Eastern tongues, and quite ignorant of Eastern manners. All the accumulated research and investigation11 of modern times have only illustrated12 and justified13 the offices of the Church.”
“That is very interesting,” said Lothair.
“Now, this question of idolatry,” said Father Coleman, “that is a fertile subject of misconception. The house of Israel was raised up to destroy idolatry because idolatry thou meant dark images of Moloch opening their arms by machinery14, and flinging the beauteous first-born of the land into their huge forms, which were furnaces of fire; or Ashtaroth, throned in moonlit groves16, and surrounded by orgies of ineffable17 demoralization. It required the declared will of God to redeem18 man from such fatal iniquity19, which would have sapped the human race. But to confound such deeds with the commemoration of God’s saints, who are only pictured because their lives are perpetual incentives20 to purity and holiness, and to declare that the Queen of Heaven and the Mother of God should be to human feeling only as a sister of charity or a gleaner21 in the fields, is to abuse reason and to outrage22 the heart.”
“We live in dark times,” said Lothair, with an air of distress23.
“Not darker than before the deluge,” exclaimed Father Coleman; “not darker than before the nativity; not darker even than when the saints became martyrs24. There is a Pharos in the world, and, its light will never be extinguished, however black the clouds and wild the waves. Man is on his trial now, not the Church; but in the service of the Church his highest energies may be developed, and his noblest qualities proved.”
Lothair seemed plunged25 in thought, and Father Coleman glided26 away as Lady St. Jerome entered the gallery, shawled and bonneted27, accompanied by another priest, Monsignore Catesby.
Catesby was a youthful member of an ancient English house, which for many generations had without a murmur28, rather in a spirit of triumph, made every worldly sacrifice for the Church and court of Rome. For that cause they had forfeited29 their lives, broad estates, and all the honors of a lofty station in their own land. Reginald Catesby, with considerable abilities, trained with consummate30 skill, inherited their determined31 will, and the traditionary beauty of their form and countenance32. His manners were winning, and, he was as well informed in the ways of the world as he was in the works of the great casuists.
“My lord has ordered the charbanc, and is going to drive us all to Chart, where we will lunch,” said Lady St. Jerome; “’tis a curious place, and was planted, only seventy years ago, by my lord’s grandfather, entirely33 with spruce-firs, but with so much care and skill, giving each plant and tree ample distance, that they have risen to the noblest proportions, with all their green branches far-spreading on the ground like huge fans.”
It was only a drive of three or four miles entirely in the park. This was a district that had been added to the ancient enclosure—a striking scene. It was a forest of firs, but quite unlike such as might be met with in the north of Europe or of America. Every tree was perfect—huge and complete, and full of massy grace. Nothing else was permitted to grow there except juniper, of which there were abounding34 and wondrous35 groups, green and spiral; the whole contrasting with the tall brown fern, of which there were quantities about, cut for the deer.
The turf was dry and mossy, and the air pleasant. It was a balmy day. They sat down by the great trees, the servants opened the luncheon-baskets, which were a present from Balmoral. Lady St. Jerome was seldom seen to greater advantage than distributing her viands36 under such circumstances. Never was such gay and graceful37 hospitality. Lothair was quite fascinated as she playfully thrust a paper of lobster-sandwiches into his hand, and enjoined38 Monsignore Catesby to fill his tumbler with Chablis.
“I wish Father Coleman were here,” said Lothair to Miss Arundel.
“Why?” said Miss Arundel.
“Because we were in the midst of a very interesting conversation on idolatry and on worship in groves, when Lady St. Jerome summoned us to our drive. This seems a grove15 where one might worship.”
“Father Coleman ought to be at Rome,” said Miss Arundel. “He was to have passed Holy Week there. I know not why he changed his plans.”
“Are you angry with him for it?”
“No, not angry, but surprised; surprised that any one might be at Rome, and yet be absent from it.”
“You like Rome?”
“I have never been there. It is the wish of my life.”
“May I say to you what you said to me just now—why?”
“Naturally, because I would wish to witness the ceremonies of the Church in their most perfect form.”
“But they are fulfilled in this country, I have heard, with much splendor39 and precision.”
Miss Arundel shook her head.
“Oh! no,” she said; “in this country we are only just emerging from the catacombs. If the ceremonies of the Church were adequately fulfilled in England, we should hear very little of English infidelity.”
“That is saying a great deal,” observed Lothair, inquiringly.
“Had I that command of wealth of which we hear so much in the present day, and with which the possessors seem to know so little what to do, I would purchase some of those squalid streets in Westminster, which are the shame of the metropolis40, and clear a great space and build a real cathedral, where the worship of heaven should be perpetually conducted in the full spirit of the ordinances41 of the Church. I believe, were this done, even this country might be saved.”
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1
desolate
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| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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adoration
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| n.爱慕，崇拜 | |
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exterior
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| adj.外部的，外在的；表面的 | |
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applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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veneration
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| n.尊敬，崇拜 | |
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6
musingly
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| adv.沉思地，冥想地 | |
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7
impartial
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| adj.(in,to)公正的，无偏见的 | |
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8
imbibed
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| v.吸收( imbibe的过去式和过去分词 )；喝；吸取；吸气 | |
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mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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10
scriptures
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| 经文，圣典( scripture的名词复数 )； 经典 | |
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investigation
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| n.调查，调查研究 | |
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illustrated
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| adj. 有插图的，列举的 动词illustrate的过去式和过去分词 | |
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justified
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| a.正当的，有理的 | |
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machinery
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| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
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15
grove
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| n.林子，小树林，园林 | |
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groves
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| 树丛，小树林( grove的名词复数 ) | |
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ineffable
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| adj.无法表达的，不可言喻的 | |
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18
redeem
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| v.买回，赎回，挽回，恢复，履行（诺言等） | |
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iniquity
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| n.邪恶；不公正 | |
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incentives
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| 激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 )； 刺激； 诱因； 动机 | |
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gleaner
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| n.拾穗的人；割捆机 | |
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outrage
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| n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒 | |
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distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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24
martyrs
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| n.martyr的复数形式；烈士( martyr的名词复数 )；殉道者；殉教者；乞怜者（向人诉苦以博取同情） | |
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plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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glided
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| v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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bonneted
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| 发动机前置的 | |
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murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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29
forfeited
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| （因违反协议、犯规、受罚等）丧失，失去( forfeit的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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consummate
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| adj.完美的；v.成婚；使完美 [反]baffle | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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abounding
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| adj.丰富的，大量的v.大量存在，充满，富于( abound的现在分词 ) | |
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35
wondrous
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| adj.令人惊奇的，奇妙的；adv.惊人地；异乎寻常地；令人惊叹地 | |
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viands
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| n.食品，食物 | |
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graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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enjoined
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| v.命令( enjoin的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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39
splendor
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| n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌 | |
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40
metropolis
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| n.首府；大城市 | |
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41
ordinances
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| n.条例，法令( ordinance的名词复数 ) | |
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