THE BISHOP OF PADERBORN.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 3597, 21 October 1879, Page 3

THE BISHOP OF PADERBORN.

It may be that Prince Bismarck has heard of the death of the exiled Bishop of Paderborn with a dicided feeling of relief, for the' Bishop was one of those determined' martyrs who will not be let alone, and whom bo Goyernmont can undortako to bring into- subjection without great embarrassment, if. not with actual peril to itself. Dr Conrad Martin ■ was no common man. Well born and .well educated, he entered tho priesthood at Cologne in 1836, being then in his twent) -fourth-Tear, and shortly after became Professor of Iheology in tho Gymnasium of St. Mareellus, whore he produced a "Manual of Theology," that has been very widely used. Lafcir^ he was made Chaplain and Professor at the University of Bonn, and held that pos&ien until 1856, when he was consecrated Bishop of Paderborn. Ho immediately made his mark in tho administration of his diocoae, and at tho timo of the Vatican Council of -1370, in which ho held a distinguished part, ho Ifed been long recognised as one of the ablest of tlic German Bishop 3. It is not strange, therea>re, that he was one of the first to come ia contact with the system of State control over ecclesiastical uffaira formulated ia the F&Hi laws ; and early in 1874, having persistad in the appointment of a priest to a cur» of souls without the approval of the State, he was condemned to six weeks' imprisonment, On hia release, he continued his work as usual without regard to the civil magistrate, and in a few months he was again sentenced to pay a fine of 18,000 thalers or undergo three months detention in a fortress. Without his consent and against, his. protest the fine was paid, and the Bihop aeked the Court to refund the mancy to those who had paid it, Baying that it was contrary to all idea of puoiehment that au innocent party . B liould suffer it ogamst tho will of. ono for, whom it is deaUned and under protest fiona him. The Court refused the request and the Bishop carried the case to a highc-p.eburfc, where the decision was reversed. and. the payment of the fine having thus been nullified," Dr Martin in August, 1874, was sent to- prison. A number of noble ladies of Wistphalia, who presented him an address of -sympathy, were ar- . restedand fined for usii^saditious ]augiui»e,all of which, of course, onlyinereased the popular sympathy for the persecuted prelate. Finally tho Bishop wa*. susanaoned before the Ecclesiastical Court at Berlin for continued vLktion of, fell© laws, and on his . failing to appear ha- was tried in conlumaciam,: and was- formally deposed from* his see. This, sentence of a ciril Court the Bishop refused in anj way to recognise, andbo waa accordingly, arrested and confined* in the fortress of- Wcsel. Here he issued a, pastoral letter to. Ms flock, urging thorn to. persevere in the faith, and for this offencs. he received a fresh sentence of imprisonment After some monihs, during which he- was. j under arrest, though not in confinement, ho left Wesel without permission, asd v/ent to Holland, pursued by a Ministerial order-de-daring that ho had forfeited tho rights of citizenship. As ho continued in correspondence with his. diocese,, Ilia Prnssian Government demanded of the Government of Holland either liig. extradw tion oiv expulsion, and he thereupon sought an asylum in England. From ,tkaV timo very little has been heard of him' ia, the newspapers, and tho Berlin despatch.. oh yesterday simply says that ho " died abi-oad!" It is known, however, that he continued in oxilo the direction of the affairs os biskdioceso, in spite of the repeated arrest of,- his. agents and the seizure of his correspondence by the Prussian authorities, and that he- never abated in any way his activo protest against tho Prussian ecclesiastical laws. The brave old man is at rest at last, thongh ha> Jived long enough to see the virtual abandonment of the Falk laws by the G-jvernmenbi the retirement of Dr Falk and the establishment of more reasonable relations between tho Church and ■Instate. He had ia him the true spirit of raWnartyr3, and his leng. endurance has not Vem^without its fruits.