Page:Essays on Catholicism, Liberalism, and Socialism.djvu/283

combat the divine word, is entirely impossible; because, in order to deny all things we must commence by denying our own existence, and he who annihilates himself can go no farther, nor can he subsequently deny any other thing. The Catholic word 1s then invincible and eternal. From the first day of creation it has continued to increase throughout all space, and resound throughout all time, with an infinite power of expansion and resonance. Nothing can diminish its sovereign virtue, and when time shall have run its course, and space shall lie folded in the hand of God, this word will perpetually reverberate throughout the profound depths of eternity. Everything passes away in this lower world—men and their sciences, which are but ignorance; empires and their glories, which are but illusions; all is silent, and this word alone resounds. All that exists bears witness that its affirmation is like itself, immutable and eternal.

If we consider the dogma of solidarity in its connection with the dogma of unity, we see that they are blended, and that under two different manifestations they are essentially one and the same dogma. If we afterward consider the dogma of solidarity in itself, we see 1t resolved into two dogmas which, like that of solidarity and unity, are one in essence but two In their manifestations. The solidarity and unity of all men involves the idea of a responsibility of all in common, and this responsibility supposes, in its turn, that the merits of some can be imputed to others, and that shame and penalty, the result of crime, can reach those who are not guilty. When the evil effect of crime is what is thus communicated, the dogma preserves its generic name of solidarity, and when an advantage is thus imparted the name is changed to that of reversi-