CORRESPONDENCE.

Marlborough Press, Volume XIII, Issue 823, 16 October 1872, Page 4

CORRESPONDENCE.

[While willing to afford correspondents of every shade of opinion an opportunity to discuss public matters in these columns, it must be distinctly understood that we do not in any way. hold ourselves responsible for the opinions of the writers.]

CONCLUSION of “OBSERVER’S” LETTER ON THE CONFLICT BETWEEN THE GERMAN GOVERNMENT AND THE PAPAL AUTHORITIES. To the Editor of the Marlborough Press. “ And all this has been caused by the excommunication of two Professors.” Not all, sir. It has been caused, and caused only, by the arbitrary and unjust interference of Bismarck into matters which are not of his province. The Catholic Church is not a national, but an universal society ; she is not a civil, but a spiritual society, and, as such, is complete and fully constituted, has her administration, her laws, her sanctions, her rulers, all that heartily accepted by all her children. In the case before us. the Pope and Bishops have only enforced the laws of their Church by punishing open- rebels, they could not help it, they were bound to do it, and, besides, Bismarck had made it an absolute and unavoidable necessity. Shall Bismarck continue to make himself ridiculous before the whole world by persisting obstinately to maintain that he cannot allow the pastors of the Church to excommunicate their subordinates, when they deserve it, under the laughable plea that the excommunication injures their character and interests ? No doubt it does ; it is certainly no credit to be excommunicated, it brings neither the blessing of God nor the esteem of men ; but those who are so punished have only themselves to blame for it. It depends on them alone to avoid the punishments or to be released from them. What right had Bismarck to meddle with matters that concern only the interior administration of the spiritual society ? Why does he not the courts of law, the police, the jails, the gallows, &o. ? For, when he claps malefactors into jail, when he fines them, when he hangs them for their misdeeds, does he think that he raises their character and promotes their interests ?

“ Surely, the Church of Rome must have forgotten the disastrous consequences that followed its attempt to crush Luther, and the excommunication of Henry VIII of England.” Sir, the Church does her duty, and leaves the consequences to God; just what every one ought to do. But here also you are mistaken. The spread of the doctrines of Luther in Germany and of Calvin in England was not caused by the attempt of the Church to crush them, but by the libertinism of the mind, which v'ould not any longer bring into captivity “ the understanding into the obedience of Christ by the corruption of the heart, the licentiousness and the love of plunder ; in one word, by the attractions of that smooth, broad, and easy way “ that leads to perdition, and many there are that go in thereat.” So says history, and no one can deny it. “ Both sides have gone too far to retreat, and the battle must now be fought out to the end.” Sir, neither, the Pope nor the German Bishops wish nor invitef’the contest, at the same time that they neither fear it nor shrink from it. Since it has been begun by the German Chancellor alone, it depends on him alone to continue or to close it, just as he pleases ; 1 hope that, on further consideration, he will cool down and do the latter. Perhaps it would have been wiser of him not to begin it, as he can gam nothing, whatever he may lose, by it, and perhaps he commences to see it ; but we must not be too hard upon an all-powerful despot. Might and pride blind men ; but sometimes insuperable obstacles force light and moderation even upon despots, and a day comes when they learn that there are boundaries w f hich they cannot safely overstep. “Bearing in mind the sort of men the Emperor William and Prince Bismarck are, there seems to be no room for doubt as to who will come off victorious.”

Don’t be too sure, sir, that it will be they, for fear of disappointment. For they have to deal, sir, with a power so much the stronger for its being a moral power ; a power utterly devoid of physical support, but manifestly endowed with an immense moral authority ; a power which has vanquished the princes supporters of heathenism, the princes supporters of heresy, the princes supporters of schism, the princes supporters of Mahomedan infidelity, the princes of barbarism, the princes of demoralisation, the princes of ambition ; a power winch has twice awed back Attiia, softened Alaric and Genseric, and. in our days, defeated two Napoleons. And how ? Only by its moral influence, and that peculiar sort of inert, but indomitable opposition aforesaid. Non possumus —we cannot. That short word has broken down all the assailing powers Peter and John, solemnly charged by the princes of the priests not to announce any more the name of Jesus, answered: “If it be just in the sight of God to hear you rather than God, judge ye ; for we cannot but speak.” And the princes of the priests conferred among themselves, saying, “ What shall we do to these men ?” Then they whipped them, but they could not silence them nor stay the progress of their mission. And also the Bishop of Ernieland, persecuted, fined, imprisoned, exiled, whipped perhaps, and the Pope, his superior, will say to Bismarck : “We ought to obey God rather than men ; we cannot but do what the rules of the Church and our duty prescribe.” And Bismarck and his councillors, thoroughly puzzled, will say, “ What shall we do to these men ?” The enemies of St. John Chrysostom, defeated by bis apostolic firmness, said also among themselves : “ What shall we do to this man ? for he fears neither imprisonment, nor fines, nor banishment, nor death: what then shall we do ?” It is so that the Catholic Church has defeated many other tyrants, as clever and powerful as the German Chancellor. '

“ It is carious, too, to note how this movement has strengthened the friendly relations between Germany and Italy,- The saint William and the sinner Victor Emmanuel arc now fighting the common foe, the priesthood.” Pretty much like the combination of Caiaphas and Judas against the High Priest according to the order of Melchisedeeh. And here we have again Liberals applauding unscrupulous might against right. And should might thus triumph, what a noble victory ! what bravery ! what magnanimity ! The sovereigns of two great nations, followed by powerful hosts, combining to despoil a poor old man, abandoned by the whole world, who has no other weapons but prayers, and no other defence but the justice of his cause ! At the same time, what must be the strength of that moral power, of that priesthood, which, having no human protection of any sort, still requires such a redoubtable combination to attempt its overthrow! And what a sight does Rome offer at present to the eyes of the world! The robber King, the King de facto , who occupies by the force of the sword, surrounded with all the pomp of royalty, nevertheless contemned, abhorred, and shunned as a venomous reptile by the bulk of those Romans whom he pretends to have delivered ; and, on the contrary, the poor, defenceless, and helpless old Pontiff, forsaken by the powers of the world, prisoner, as it were, in his palace, every day eagerly sought after by fervent adherents from all countries under the sun, the halls of his magnificent residence too narrow to receive the crowds of loyal subjects who flock every Snndaj’ to his venerable presence in order to pay him their hearty and profound homage, those august halls resounding witli their joyous acclamations, their loud shouts of love,.of ardent loyalty, veneration, and devotedness ; his sacred person all but worshipped, his blessing implored

and received as the sure earnest of God’s own blessing, his least words listened to as divine oracles, repeated by echoes innumerable and conveyed to the utmost extremities of the earth. But does not the aforesaid combination remind you, sir, of this text of the sacred Psalm : “The Icings of the earth stood up and the princes met together against the Lord and against His Christ. Let us break,” they said, “ their bands asunder ; and let us cast away their yoke from us.” But hear the end, sir : “He that dwelleth in the heavens shall laugh at them ; and the Lord shall deride thej».” God, in many other places of sacred WTfff'Solemnly declares that He will ne the protector of tliepoor, the weak, the oppressed, the helpless just, in general ; but there is one in particular to whom he. has promised a special protection. It is he to whom He said : “ Thou art Peter (that is, Rock) ; and upon that Rock I will build mv Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” And that solemn word He has kept so well during the last 1900 years, that there is not much fear that He will break it in this occurrence Pius IX, even now, is not in as great a distress as St. Peter was when the Lord delivered him from an imminent death by the assistance of an angel. His distress is not any greater than was that of Pius VI, when he was torn from his States, dragged a prisoner over Italy and France, and actually died at Valence, and six months afterwards he had a successor; nor is that distress greater either than was that of Pius VII, when he was also brought into France, kept there a close prisoner for more than five years, and lay dying for several weeks at Fontainebleau, and still he lived to be restored to his throne, and survived two years his persecutor, now, in his turn, a close prisoner over five years on the rock of St. Helena. How blind must be they who do not see the ordinances of protection of Providence in such wonderful events 1 Nor is the combination which we are now considering against the present Pope any more powerful than was that of the miscreants of the French Directory, or that of Napoleon. Sir, Rome, if anything ever belonged to any one, belongs to the Pope His temporal princedom is necessary to the independent exercise of his spiritual authority ; and therefore, sir, have no’ fear. In spite of all combinations towards the contrary, God, soon or late, that is, in His own good time, is sure to restore it to him.

Nor must you take scandal nor sneer at His slowness “He is slow, because he is eternal,” says Tertullian. Not liking to punish, especially as his punishments last for ever, and having plenty of time before Him, He grants plenty of it to the wicked for reform ; and plenty of it also for exerting all their power and skill in their attacks against Ilis Church ; He must even grant to them more of that priceless time, on purpose, in this age of steam power, of railways, electric telegraphs, and perfected means of destruction, to permit them to make a free, full, and unchecked use of everything at their disposal, for fear of their saying hereafter to the ■world that, had they had free scope and sufficient time allowed them to exert their whole power, they would doubtless have laid low that pretended heaven-protected fabric, the Catholic Church, this time, and showed that, if she had not fallen before, it ought not to have been attributed to any divine assistance, but to want of power, skill, and sufficient time on the part of the assailants. One can easily conceive that such a conduct of Divine Providence must, not improbably, form a part of His plan for the accomplishment of Ilis promise to His Church that “ the gates of hell shall not prevail against her and it may be that, in His wisdom, He will allow the enemies of His Church, who are His own also, to do their very worst against her. And then, when all human hope is nearly lost, when all the prospects are the gloomiest of the gloomy, then, on a sudden, as He generally did and does in such emergencies, Ilis patience being completely exhausted, He awakes, as it were, from a profound sleep, and, putting on His armour, He shows Himself at last, and unexpectedly interferes to punish His foes and protect His Church. All nature obeys Ilis command, all creatines serve Him as His instruments ; He makes use of those whatsoever He chooses ; all hearts He holds in His hands, and turns them whithersoever He pleases ; He withdraws power from, and gives it to, whomsoever He pleases ; lie directs all events as He pleases, and now He confuses the counsels of the proud and breaks their power as a vessel of clay : for, after all, what are before Him the mightiest potentates an«l their countless hosts in battle arrayed but earth worms ? And so, in spite of them, He, somehow, always manages to turn the scale, and to deliver His devoted and faithful servants, to crown His Church with glorious victories, to restore peace to her, and to put her enemies to ignominious shame. I have quoted some instances of this truth, which have occurred in this very century ; I could quote a great many more in this and past ages, were not this letter already too long. And so, by some inglorious, but sure, agency, the apparent defeats of the Catholic Church always always turn out to be real and magnificent triumphs ; and, on the reverse, the apparent victories invariably end in crushing opprobrium. It is with the Church as it was with her Divine Founder ; like Him, she is never nearer a glorious victory than when her circumstances seem most critical and all but hopeless. On Good Friday the Son of God was actually dying on the cross amidst the insults and jeers of Ilis enemies, and He was, too, actually buried that evening : who could not have thought all lost ? But, lo 1 on the third day afterwards came the resurrection, and all was reversed. His apostles were whipped, but the faith which they preached spread everywhere ; they and their successors and disciples were put to death, but their blood was the fertile seed of Christians ; and so it ever was since, is now, and ever will be till the consummation comes.

The priesthood, sir, is the institution of the Son of God himself. How can Protestants really succeed in not seeing sucli a simple truth, which bursts the eyes of every one who opens the sacred volume ? Is it not the priests who have been appointed by the Sovereign Lord of all to be His ambassadors and represent Him on the earth ? whom lie has sent to teach all nations and set up to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world ? Therefore, sir, the priests must be under His special protection, and so they are ; and, if you will only have a little patience, in this particular case, you shall see it. The world persecute them, oppress them, and treat them as outlaws, think no injustice bad if inflicted only on them ; it hates them. It is just as their Divine Master predicted to them : “The world will hate you, because it hates me ; in the world you shall have distress: hut” (ana hear this, sir) “ have confidence, I have overcome the world.” And so, dear sir, the future B’Aubigne, the expectant historian of future Protestant triumphs may have, after all, a not very pleasant task, or even, rather, no task at all to perform. Yours, &c., OIISRRVEIt.