I. The Sources of Mr. Gladstone's Inspiration.
The mixed universities forced upon their Catholic subjects by the policy of the German Governments have long been a source of troubles to the Church, and one remote result of these troubles has been to disturb the otherwise clear mind of the ex-Prime Minister. In those universities the chairs of Catholic philosophy and theology were placed under one roof with the chairs of professors who, in the name of philosophy, often sapped the foundations of reason; and, in the name of theology, not unfrequently denied the divinity of Christ, the authority of revelation, or even the nature of God. It is impossible for such opposite schools of thought and doctrine to consort together without some of the Catholic professors and pupils contracting a taint from their unbelieving associates. For the doctrines of schools are not confined to lecture-rooms, and pupils themselves become professors in their season. If, through the force of faith and piety, very many Catholics escaped from the contagion, others less faithful contracted a laxity of principle that led them, as professors or teachers, to devise erroneous theories affecting the foundations of reason, the constitution of the Church, certain doctrines bearing on faith, or the relations of the Church with civil society.
By persistence in such teaching they drew disciples after them. Not seldom the admonitions of their Bishops proved in vain, and consequently their errors were denounced to the Holy See. Then followed examinations, decrees of the Sacred Congregations, and apostolic letters or encyclics from the Pontiffs, Let it
