Page:The Great Encyclical Letters of Pope Leo XIII.djvu/161



HUMAN LIBERTY.. 155

bear the just and necessary restraint of laws by which, in the judgment of the Church and of Reason itself, human teaching has to be controlled. The Church, indeed â€” as facts have everywhere proved â€” looks chiefly and above all to the defence of the Christian faith, while careful at the same time to foster and promote every kind of human learning. For learning is in itself good, and praise- worthy, and desirable; and further, all erudition which is the outgrowi;h of sound reason, and in conformity with the truth of things, serves not a httle to confirm what we beUeve on the authority of God. The Church, truly, to our great benefit, has carefully preserved the monuments of ancient wdsdom; has opened everj^where homes of science, and has urged on intellectual progress by foster- ing most diligently the arts by which the culture of our age is so much advanced. Lastly, We must not forget that a vast field lies freely open to man's industry and genius, containing all those things which have no neces- sary connection with Christian faith and morals, or as to which the Church, exercising no authority, leaves the judgment of the learned free and unconstrained. From all this may be understood the nature and character of that hberty which the followers of Li beralism so eagerly advocate and proclaim. On the one hand, they demand for themselves and for the State a license which opens the way to every perversity of opinion; and on the other, they hamper the Church in divers ways, restricting her liberty within narrowest limits, although from her teaching not on ly is ther e not hing to be feared, but in every respect very much to be gained.

Another hberty is widely advocated, namely, lib erty ^l comdence^ If by this is meant that every one may, as he chooses, worship God or not, it is sufficiently refuted by the arguments already adduced. But it may also be taken to mean that every man in the State m.ay follow the will of God and, from a consciousness of duty and free from every obstacle, obey His commands. This, indeed,