Backsheesh . "

New Zealand Tablet, 13 September 1906, Page 10

Backsheesh . "

" <v < - ' He who serves queens ', says Darkush in Disraeli's • Tancred \ ' may expect backsheesh ' (gratuities). .And he who serves a royal ' reformer ' who believes in* reforming ' the other fellow ', \may as confidently : expect • plunder, whether the-1 reformer ' be a Henry VIII., or a Philip of Hesse,,-or a Victor Emmanuel, or the ruling clique in a French Republic. The Roundheads in their day sanctified plunder by the facile principle that dominion is founded on grace. They limited the,right of ~ ownership and authority -to ' the saints ' and. 'the elect '—that is, to themselves. ~ ■ ' Now saints themselves will sometimes lie,- ; Of gifts-that cost them nothing, free. And so were the Roundhead ones. When a man was deemed by -them to have fallen away from grace, he had

no longer any right to lands, goods, or chattels— the dominion -thereof passed, to 'the. saints.'- They pro-ceeded,-wherever the circumstances favored them, to put -in force ' the good old rule '_" " ' ' ' * -■" ' The simple plan 1 hat they should take who have the power," <-„. . And they should keep who can '.- • . In England the nobles, and in/ France , the proletariat were offered substantial bribes as the price of aoquiescence in the spoliation of the Church jind of the , patrimony of the poor,. But (says tiie Paris cdrre'spondentof the London 'Tablet') ' the- populace is still vainly seeking for the milliard of the religious congregation^ which M. Waldcck-Rousseau promised should go ~" to found the nucleus of = a fund for old-age pensions^-In-stead of the milliard,, law expenses are^ swallowing up the miserable returns from the "sale of "such property as the liquidators have been Table to get off "their . naiids by public sale, and.- the townspeople, are beginning to - realise, what a-' loss has been entailed upon them through t/he eviction and banishment of the reirgioiis; ' This^ last result has been well illustrated in a letter sent by' a. shopkeeper at Auxerrc to the "Bourgogne." The writer explains that during the -last four- years the following establishments in the town have been closed : the College of Saint-Germain, the. boarding-schools of the Holy Childhood and of the Augustinian nuns, and a house of the Sisters of Providence" and of the Ursulines. As these institutions spent at the very lowest • calculation at least 255,000 francs (£10,200) a~ year, it is clear what a loss their departure must have ; caused to the tradespeople of the town. - And the correspondent of the v Bourgogne" complains that, the Government -with one hand lays heavier taxes upon them, and with- the other deprives them of their" best customers V

Direct State aid to ministers of religion apparently tends to ossify lay generosity. France, however; despite -its aggressive atheism in high places, has-heen an example, to the world in the multitude, variety; and energising activity of the charities which depend for support upon voluntary gifts. The great-hearted Catholic population in the Republic follow the ' wisdom ' enunciated by ' Mr. Dooley '. They don't let: their generosity remain idle too long. ' Don't run it cvry hour at th' top iv its speed ', says the Philosopher of Archey -Road, * but fr'm. day to day give it a . little gin tie exercise to keep it supple an' hearty,, an' in due J time ye may. injye it '. The • Bloc ' papers forgot the history of French Catholic charity when they foretold that, after the abrogation of the Concordat, the people would decline to support the clergy, and that the -abomination of spiritual desolation, would settle down upon the land "" and leave it an easy prey to the propaganda of official atheism^ The wish was father to the thought. The prophecies have gone agley; 'The lections undertaken through the parishes ', says an English exchange," ' prove that the. parishioners recognise the duty of^ supporting their, pastors more" fully - than was expected. Not only professed and practising. Catholics! have contributed, bub even-men who are indifferent in matters of religion have appreciated the.; difficulties which _ have fallen upon the clergy, and have given/them "- assistance.' The collections being thus successful,, there would appearjto be no reason for 'anticipating '- that- the Church will find it hard to carry on her work in practi-ccally-all the country, parishes. And. should -she be able to do so the Separation Law. may prove to_ be %^.blessing in disguise. The" fervor of. the -Faith wiil^be stimu- . -latecj among the" people, who' will come. to value what , they pay to. support. After all, -France, gains- an independent. episcopate, absolutely free from State control, .and this ought to put new life into the dioceses whic^ hitherto had to be governed with an eye to the pleasure^ of the Minister of Worship in Paris. This freedom- of action may have been purchased cheaply by" the loss of " precarious stipends.' - -

It is an ill wind that blows no g00d. , . The Kingdom of God is not of one nation or people ot clime. The defections of the Reformation were balanced by gains '' to the faith among the peoples of the newly-discovered lands in west and east. , The French persecution furnishes another instance of the manner in which history repeats itself. A certain amount of Catholic charitable and missionary activity is merely being transferred from „ near the centre further out on the circumference,^ where it may reap a bigger harvest of souls. ' The oppression of the Church in one country ', remarks the VAve Maria ', ' always means its- expansion in another. History is thus constantly repeating itself.- When the Kulturkampf draws the religious Orders from Germany, foreign, missions were reinforced, and flourished as never before. And now in numerous parts of the world our holy religion is making wondrous- progress, .among unbelievers.' - _ - . _