in every page of every branch of literature. A great number of influential writers are well-known champions of one or other form of naturalism; it is hardly too much to say that the greater number of eminent exponents of literature, science, and art depart in some measure from the orthodox path. It is usually said that women are the more reliable support of clericalism: we have at the present day in England an unusual number of brilliant women writers, but, though few of them (for reasons which may be left to the psycho-physiologist) profess extreme naturalism, few of them adhere strictly to the orthodox sacerdotal institutions. The issue of the struggle is, therefore, the object of much anxious speculation.
The place which the Church of Rome is destined to occupy in this struggle is a matter of much interest, and it is usually conceded that it will be a very prominent position. The Church itself, of course, with that buoyant confidence which is one of the undeniable symptoms of its ‘perennial youth,’ predicts the ultimate absorption of all other forms of Christianity into itself, and proclaims that the final conflict will be between Rome and Rationalism. And Roman Catholics boast, with much truth, that their prediction is confirmed by many independent observers; Macaulay’s vision of the undying glory of the Papacy rising through the mists of future ages over the ruins of England (and, presumably, Anglicanism) finds many sympathisers.
