But, if we do not speak
plainly, woe unto us, for we shall betray our trust and our Master.
There is a day coming, when they who have softened down the truth, or
have been silent, will have to give account. I had rather be thought
harsh than be conscious of hiding the light which has been mercifully
shown to me" (_Temp. Mission_, etc., p. 215).
It would be well if all Catholics took to heart these noble words of
the great English Cardinal, who was himself once an Archdeacon in the
Anglican Church. Real charity urges us to set forth the truth in all
its nakedness and beauty. This must be done, even though it may
sometimes give pain and cause irritation. If a man be walking in a
trance towards the crumbling edge of some ghastly precipice, who--let
me ask--acts with the greater charity, he who is afraid to interfere,
and will calmly allow the somnambulist to walk on, till he fall over
into the abyss; or he who will shout, and, if need be, roughly shake
him from his fatal sleep, and so, perhaps, save him from destruction?
Surely, to allow a fellow-creature to follow a path of extreme danger,
for fear of wounding his susceptibilities and incurring his anger, by
candidly pointing out his peril, is the mark, not of a lover of his
brethren, but rather of one who loves himself alone.
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