“Oh! be aisy wid ye! There’s only one!”
“The religious bodies, then,” said Mr. Clare, “which is a much less convenient phrase, and strongly sepulchral in flavor. Don’t you think they would be not only inconsistent, but blind to their own interests, to be influenced by a consideration of that kind?”
“People generally is—the both of them.”
“In such cases as the present, yes. For—for whom does your Church hold in trust, all the property she possesses?”
“For the poor,” said Father McClosky.
“And, in case of the nationalization of property, to whom would she surrender it?”
“To heretics and infidels, me boy.”
“Ah! and with that razor will she cut her own throat. The present state of things, Bryan, cannot last: that, remember, is the strongest point in my argument; a revolution must come. It depends on the—religious bodies—what sort of a revolution it shall be. And, whereas, in the case of their opposing or even hanging back, they might find themselves exceedingly uncomfortable under the new régime, don’t you see that if Christianity were regarded as the friend and ally of Socialism (I don’t say the nursing mother, which is, however, true), there would be no difficulty at all in treating ecclesiastical property as belonging to the nation, but used, rent-free, for public purposes, like stores, art-galleries, museums, etc.?”
“I see; and if the Church could see, it would be all very well; but that day will never dawn, Ernest.”
“I confess that I have more hope of Protestantism,” said Mr. Clare; “and yet the Roman Church as a whole is in herself a magnificent Commune. She understands human nature better than any Protestant body; and her missionaries and religious orders have always steadily upheld the true worth of manual labor.”