Untitled

Grey River Argus, Volume XIV, Issue 1691, 5 January 1874, Page 4

S hetS^ S nehSy Shtoffitton^ If Catholics inJJSU .-Jttßt cause *> complain df g laws, they enjoy liberty m compenai iaw * oppression . to , ,whvch CSrfsSeßuß3ected.|he laS sehied:tKem' at itinw to** && J™? sutdthemto their tomb; no profession or office was open to them 5.5 :-^. only, ducted by .the cWy ; they could not We even dorn%siic ; their S moments* were . spied by thepnests ; their goods were confiscated ; their bodies trained on a hurdle, and shot into the "eceptacles for 'filth- 'their life was. ai perpetual crime ; husbands were- sent to the hulks, wives and daughters to the prison?, after head^were^hared Louis XIV an his deathbed thanked God, there were no more Protestants m France, yet they were powerful enough to wring! from Louis XVI the recognition of their civil and religions rights Doctors and. apothecaries' were bound to apprize the clergy of every • moribund ; it was ■ prohibited to marry in a foreign land, and in the case of suspected, Catholics, the clergy had the right to .refuse to marry couples until after a probation of eight months, or of as many years ; hence it was Sau Desert that the' Protestants had to celebrate their marriage ceremonies, and worship like Christians in forests and caves: Yet at ! the same time the 'manners of the people were tpild^; it was the laws that were ferocious. When men were required for foreign wars, the Protestants were conciliated ; on the conclusion of peace, the persecutions ' recommenced. Pastors when .even suspected .were hanged, and officials were eye^urgeA.tp,, seek them out and execute them right or wrong for example> sake.. Yet it is to a priest, the Abbe "Roberf, that is due the commencement of toleration i,- by hip pro, posal to marry all who wished, without partaking of the sacrament. This civil contractwas approved by the magistracy, a liberal and. a separate class of society;. Turgot then came- to aid the cause of toleration by his writings aridhis : influence, as also Montesquieu, Malesherbes, and Voltaire, 'whose .philosophies may be cursed,' but whose defence of I toleration, , justice, and liberty, ought to put their contemporary Christians tb the blush. M. Leory Beaulieu,. in. his .interesting notes on "Russia and 'the Russians," concludes that a, flexible energy is the principal trait of a Russian's character, practical sense the dominant one in his,, mifld, resignation . and perseverance his two principal virtues. Montesquieu was the firs^ to found' a political theory on climate, :>and Buckle asserted high latitudes, like warm climates,' developed. no; j taste .for work. The severity ; of- the winters, and their length, numerous . petty industries t in Russia, which necessitate those numerous ! fairs to' dispose of i the products. Strange,' the" peasantry ; have, but little taste for physical exercise a see-saw and repose are their ideals of enjoyment. Rye bread is their principal food, and a made from fermented cabbage ; meat is only tasted at festivals, and fermented toast-water and iea are the chief beverages. - Alcohol is .not so much, drunk as ingulfed. . Strange :i too, Russia is a country where human life is of the shortest and of the longest duration. The infant mortality is very great, and contagious maladies are easy to contract but difficult- to- cure. - The rich, in winter, live in veritable, hot-houses, where tropical plants also flourish ; and the poor surround their oabintf with dung-hills/sleep in their clothing around a common stove, taking a vapor' bath i Weekly, ; hWinK tM ". body rubbed with elm-bark, .The ' Russian dies like. a. reounded .animal , op !captiye. Indian, but? with 1 a "'serenity' resulting l'trrim" re-' ligious conviction.- The ■worst evil now for the; empire is fire ?.». a house, is< viewed to be as certainly.burned .down, as that its owner must' die — hence small loves for homes. . . . ... . . T .- „ .i, r :•■•'