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 was the  last  of  the  Caesars. We have  to-day  no reeking  amphitheatre  wet  with  the  blood  of  martyrs, no Christians  buried  alive  in  catacombs,  nor  edicts against the  preaching  of  Christ  crucified,  but  a  more subtle and  dangerous  warfare  is  being  waged  by science  and  agnosticism  against  Christ  and  His Church, against  the  Bible,  against  man's  immortality, and against  Christ's  divinity. Ah, God  does  not change; given  the  same  cause,  He  will  be  avenged  as in  the  past,  and  even  now  perhaps  He  is  arming  our conqueror. Judge of  the  nations,  spare  us  yet,  lest we forget — lest  we  forget.

Brethren, in  the  Rome  of  Nero  and  Vespasian there was  a  little  band  of  Catholics,  with  Peter  at their  head,  who,,  had  they  been  permitted,  could  have saved the  empire;  aye,  and  they  did  save  and  Christianize the  remnants  of  it  later  under  Constantine. In America  to-day  that  ancient  Church  carries  on her  heaven-appointed  work. Her detractors  regard her with  suspicion,  call  her  the  republic's  greatest enemy, and  seek  to  compass  her  destruction,  as  Nero did to  Peter  and  his  followers,  as  Herod  did  to Christ. She is  reproached  with  being  able  to  appeal to the  illiterate  only  and  the  poor — a  calumny  refuted by  every  page  of  history. Her especial  solicitude for  the  lower  strata  of  society  is  proof  of  her divinity, for  she  was  sent  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  the poor by  Him  who  resisteth  the  proud  and  giveth grace to  the  humble. Her sphere  of  activity  in  our land is  one  of  paramount  importance,  and  one  that she alone  can  fill. Our vast  domain  is  peopled  with