Evangelical Church. The schemes manipulated by means of mixed marriages,
the long and pitiless persecutions of Frederick William III., followed
by the comparative peace during the reign of Frederick William IV. This
latter period had been prolific in examples of Christian life, in
pilgrimages to holy shrines, in a great increase of popular devotion, in
the spread of religious orders with their sane and vivifying
influences. The Catholic Church had been gradually arising out of a
state of torpor and subjection to a position of prominence that called
for consideration and respect from all non-Catholic sources.

The Protestants of Germany, however, were not altogether gratified at
these beautiful results, and indeed, it was not long before they began
to resent openly the evidences of Catholic progress. In their
determination to stem the tide of Catholic conversion and increase they
were not slow to use every means that opportunity placed at their
disposal. Among these was the spirit of the Prussian people to which the
name of Borussianism has been given, and which manifested itself as
early as 1848.

The two great powers of Germany then contending for supremacy among the
loosely confederated States were Prussia and Austria. In the Parliament
of Frankfort the presidency of that body was conferred upon an Austrian
archduke. The alarm was immediately sounded. If Germany were to become a
united empire, was it not possible that Austria, as an integral part,
might gain the ascendancy, and thus subject the whole German nation to
the rule of a Catholic sovereign? In 1848 the union of the German Empire
was set aside, and Frederick William IV. even refused to accept an
imperial crown that would have among its gems the great Austrian state.
Again in 1866, when the union of German States was being formed, Austria
was formally excluded, nor has she been invited to enter the
Confederation ever since. Her Catholic influences were the obstacles
that stood in her way toward Prussian favor.

_WAR UPON CATHOLIC STATES._

At the same time Prussia could not ignore the fact that many powerful
and influential States around her and even within her dominions were
almost entirely Catholic. Poland, Bavaria and the Rhenish Provinces were
too strongly Catholic to permit of any open aggression upon religious
lines, although in the secrecy of ministerial cabinets the way for such
aggressions was being constantly prepared. What was wanted was only an
evidence of political weakness in the Catholic States, and this
opportunity was offered only too soon.

Since 1860 the papal power had been slowly yielding in Italy to the
attacks of Liberalism, aided very much by the encouragement of German
cabinets. In 1866, Austria was stricken down by the hand of Prussia; in
1870, Catholic France felt its force at Sedan and at Paris; in the same
year, Rome fell into the hands of usurpers. Even among the Catholic
States of Germany the influence of Prussian intrigue had weakened the
governments and made them tools in the hands of the more powerful ally.
All these disasters in Catholic countries signified that Protestant
Prussia was now in a position to impose herself with her laws and her
religion upon the whole body of people coming within her sway. It is not
surprising, therefore, that when William I. felt the glory of the
imperial crown upon his brow, he should begin, like his predecessor,
Frederick William III., to dream of a universal German Church of which
he should be the Pope, and of which all his people should become willing
and faithful members.

[Illustration: THE EMPEROR WILLIAM I.]

Closely allied with this desire for a Protestant ascendancy was an
intense hatred of Rome and of Ultramontainism, especially as manifested
in the dogma of Papal Infallibility as declared in the Council of the
Vatican in 1870. This spirit had betrayed itself before 1870 especially
in the words and actions of Bismarck, who remarked during the course of
the French War: "As soon as the war with France is ended, I shall march
against the infallibility." To this end the populace was aroused and
Protestant fanaticism was given full swing. The tocsin of alarm was
sounded before the imaginary peril of a Roman invasion, and before the
pretended assaults of the Church upon the State.

_HATRED OF INFALLIBILITY._

For two years the secular press had echoed these fears and waved before
the eyes of Germany the effigy of "Infallibility." All sane notions were
cast aside, while defiance and hatred were sown in all hearts. All the
journals, with one accord, took up the ever new theme of the _Syllabus_
and of Infallibility to demonstrate to the German people that the
jurisdiction of the bishops was absorbed forever by the papal
jurisdiction, that the clergy were now slaves, and that every Roman
Catholic, at a sign from the Pope, was bound henceforth to betray his
king, his conscience, and the laws of the country. Feeling, under such
impulsion, ran high, to such an extent in fact that the fear of
Infallibility made many forget the part the Catholics had ever taken for
the defence of the King, the country, and social order.

Underlying all these causes was the true reason of the Kulturkampf, the
spirit of Caesarism, the desire to make the Church subservient in its
life, in its doctrines, and in its hierarchy, to the caprices of the
sovereign State. The forces to effect this had been growing steadily for
some time. There were especially three parties to which the idea of a
State controlled Church appealed. There were those who were hostile
radically to the idea of religion, and whose campaign was directed
against God; their leader was Bluntschl. Others, antagonistic to the
Christian idea, attacked all positive religion, and desired the
abolition of all Christian denominations; they were led on by Bennigsen.
Finally, the Prussian Evangelicals, jealous of the progress of
Catholicity, wished to create a great national Church in what they would
call the Evangelical Empire, a Church that would acknowledge no
interference from the outside, from Rome or elsewhere. Into this
national Church it was determined to absorb all the Catholics of the
Empire. This was the dream of Bismarck.

In 1870 these various elements of disorder seemed to unite into a
compact force directed against the common enemy, the Catholic Church.
Rancors, divisions, jealousies, all were forgotten in the common
impulse. It was the world banding together to exterminate the handiwork
of God. The years have passed by, the Kulturkampf is over, its leaders
are forgotten, its purposes have lapsed into history; but the Church in
Germany has not been exterminated; indeed, it enjoys at present the most
flourishing epoch in its history.

II.

_MEN OF THE CRISIS._

_BISMARCK._

Among the characters most prominent in the Kulturkampf, we shall confine
our more lengthy consideration to Bismarck, Windthorst, Malincrodt and
Ketteler.

In Prince Bismarck were concentrated all the forces of the various
parties uniting against the Church. He was born in the patrimonial
castle of Schoenhausen, April 1, 1815, and received the name of Otto
Edward Leopold von Bismarck. In 1832, when seventeen years of age, he
entered the University of Goettingen. Here he attracted attention by his
turbulent and fantastic character. A lively, boisterous companion, he
was known as a drinker, epicure, smoker, duellist, and eccentric. He
fought more than twenty duels. He became popular among his fellow
students for his feats of arms, and his reputation in that regard
extended to other universities. After leaving the University, he became
an assessor of the Tribunal of Berlin, then referendary at
Aix-la-Chapelle, and at Pottsdam, after which he enlisted as a
lieutenant in the Uhlan guards. Shortly after 1846 he married Johanna
von Puttkammer, a woman who was later to exercise a malevolent influence
over him during the troubles following 1870.

[Illustration: BISMARCK.]

In 1847 Bismarck entered actively into the political life of the
nation. It was at the time when King Frederick William IV., yielding to
the importunities of the Liberals, convoked a preliminary Diet, at which
Bismarck was present to supply the place of a member rendered incapable
of attending through sickness. Therein he showed himself an
indefatigable defender of the conservatives against the demands of the
Liberals, making himself soon the chief of his party.

This consultive Diet was forced to yield, the following year, 1848, to
the popular demand for a more representative assembly. Another Diet
accordingly met and voted for universal suffrage and the immediate
elaboration of a new constitution. Bismarck distinguished himself in
that Assembly, as in the preceding, by his unyielding opposition to
Liberal innovations, and by the violence and asperity which
characterized his utterances.

To propagate his ideas Bismarck founded a journal, which remains even
yet the organ of the Conservative party in Germany, the _Gazette of the
Cross_. As a result of Bismarck's many efforts, the King, urged on by
the nobility, dispersed the Parliament, assembled the troops in Berlin
and placed the city in a state of siege. The same year, 1848, the
national Diet, composed of Liberals and Conservatives, met at Frankfort,
and decided to re-establish the Empire, offering the imperial crown to
the King of Prussia. In this matter Bismarck strongly opposed the views
of the delegates and induced the King to refuse the proffered honor. The
same actions recurred in the following year, Bismarck taking the same
stand against German unity.

Thenceforth the new statesman began to be a power for the Kingdom of
Prussia. His hatred of Austria seems to have dictated all his policies
for the next twenty years. The war for the annexation of
Schleswig-Holstein in 1864, the war against Austria in 1866, the
question of the Duchy of Luxembourg, and even the Franco-Prussian war of
1870, were all inspired by the fear that Austria should become too
powerful, and deprive the Protestant State of Prussia of that ascendancy
which Bismarck more than any other determined that she should have.

It was in 1862 that Bismarck was called upon by the King to take up the
post of Premier, a position which was to make him in a few years the
most powerful statesman of Europe. At the ending of the Franco-Prussian
War, on January 18, 1871, in the Palace of Versailles, it was the power
of Bismarck that placed the imperial crown upon the head of the new
Emperor, William I. of Germany. The union of German States against which
the Chancellor had fought in years gone by, was now the creature of his
own making. The time was propitious, France, Austria and the Papacy were
all humbled. Prussia had become one of the Great Powers. If Bismarck had
rested there, his name would have been greeted with the accumulated
blessings of all the German people, even though all these triumphs had
been won by the way of deceit, brutality and an absolute disregard of
all the promptings of justice and humanity.

That Bismarck had been preparing for his persecution of the Catholics is
sufficiently proven from documentary evidence, although after 1888 he
spent much time and effort to disclaim his part in the Kulturkampf. The
Crown Prince of Germany in his diary of the date of October 24, 1870,
wrote: "Bismarck related to my brother-in-law that immediately after the
war he would enter upon the campaign against infallibility." Again, the
Abbe Majunke, the eminent historian of the Kulturkampf, published in the
_Historico Political Papers_ of Munich, a sensational article wherein he
proved from existing documents that Bismarck was meditating the
Kulturkampf before the opening of the Council: "The notes gathered
together by Poschinger demonstrate that as early as 1850 the adversary
of Windthorst has been the principal instigator of the Bavarian
Kulturkampf," a fact which argued that he was the real instigator of the
late Prussian persecution. Again Arnim, the former ambassador to Rome,
shows that the Chancellor was projecting the conflict against
infallibility at least while the Council was going on. Again, on
September 13, 1870, Bismarck remarked to the deputy Werle, Mayor of
Rheims: "When we have disposed of Catholicism, they (i. e. the Latin
nations) will not be long in disappearing." All these and other
evidences remain to show that the mind of Bismarck had been meditating
the extermination of the Catholic religion before the actual hostilities
began. His part in the conflict itself will be shown in discussing its
events. In 1887, he made his peace with Pope Leo XIII., from whom he
received the Grand Cross of the Order of Christ, and died in 1898, after
witnessing the final collapse of the Kulturkampf and acknowledging its
utter failure to accomplish the the end it had in view.

Directly opposed to Bismarck was another statesman in whom with all the
energy and determination of his adversary were found the qualities of
honor and justice united together in absolute loyalty to Catholic
principles. This man was Louis Joseph Windthorst, born January 17, 1812,
at Osterkapelln in the Kingdom of Hanover. After showing for some time
an inclination for the ecclesiastical state, he finally decided his
vocation in 1836 by entering the bar at Osnabrück. He was later made
syndic of the Equestrian Order of the Nobility, and then lay President
of the ecclesiastical tribunal. In 1838 he married and his union was
blessed not only by conjugal happiness, but more than all by the birth
of four children, the eldest of whom survived him.

[Illustration: WINDTHORST.]

In 1848 there were in Germany two political parties; one defending the
maintaining of Austria in the Confederation and desirous that she should
be at its head; the other demanding the exclusion of Austria, and the
preponderance of Prussia. Elected to the Diet from Hanover in 1849,
Windthorst declared himself for Austria, a Catholic power which promised
to permit the different States to retain their autonomy; and he
combatted openly the members of the German Parliament at Frankfort when
they offered the imperial crown to William IV. of Prussia. Windthorst
had just been nominated to the Presidency of the Hanoverian Chamber of
Deputies, in 1851, when upon the accession of George V. to the throne,
he received the portfolio of Justice. He served in that capacity until
1853 when the ministry of which he formed a part was overturned.

It was during the period of comparative quiet that followed, that
Windthorst rendered to his natal diocese a remarkable service. Both in
the Chamber and at Court he pleaded for the ancient principality of
Osnabrück, which had been in the hands of a lay administrator ever since
the great secularization. His efforts were crowned with success. In 1857
the diocese of Osnabrück was re-established and the Abbe Melchers, then
Vicar General of Münster, was made its bishop.

In 1862 Windthorst was again called to the ministry of Justice, and
again pleaded the cause of Austria. In a short time, however, he again
left the ministry and was made Procurator General of the Court of
Appeals at Celle. Hitherto Windthorst had been the principal adviser of
George V., the intrepid defender of his country's independence, and the
influential protector of Catholic interests in the midst of a Protestant
Court; when at length his powers in that direction were ended by the
action of Prussia in taking possession of Hanover.

The little kingdom thus blotted out, Windthorst turned his attention to
the larger interests of the whole country. In placing himself, however
unwillingly upon the platform of accomplished facts, and in taking the
oath of the Prussian Constitution, Windthorst accepted the ruling of the
Prussian Landtag, and was elected first to the Constituent Assembly, and
then to the Reichstag of the Confederation of Northern Germany, in
1871. He remained until his death the representative from Meppen, whence
his soubriquet, the Pearl of Meppen. He was also sometimes termed His
Little Excellency, from his slight stature, and also "the Guelph
Leader," from his indomitable attitude in defending the interests of the
weaker side against the aggressions of the unscrupulous majority.

In the Kulturkampf his position was the exact antithesis to that of
Bismarck. By his strict ideas of honor and justice, and his indomitable
courage in forcing the issues he had at stake, he gained his cause over
the brutal and unscrupulous strength of the Chancellor. The ideal which
he pursued was that of Christian society, the independence of the
Church, respect for authority, and the maintenance of liberty and of
civil equality. He was a contrast in every way to Bismarck. Windthorst
was the champion of right, Bismarck the representative of force; the one
was calm in his certainty of ultimate victory; the other fought with
animosity and fury. Windthorst strove to enlighten and convince his
adversary; the Chancellor was bent upon crushing and annihilating his
enemy. In seeking the triumph of a principle, the one recognized neither
menaces nor boastings; the other seeking his own personal aggrandisement
spoke in terms of haughtiness and contempt of all who dared to differ
from him. Windthorst was almost the only man who could not be cowed by
Bismarck, and thus, urged on by the hand of God, the Pearl of Meppen
crushed at last the Iron Chancellor. Windthorst was a man of men,
constant, faithful to his friends, and firm as a rock in his trust in
God. The words of Pope Leo XIII., at the time of his death in 1891, were
significant: "He so loved his country and respected his sovereign, that
he never separated his duties as a citizen from his zeal for religion.
So well did he encounter his adversaries by the weight of his
arguments and the force of his eloquence, that it was easy to see that
it was the love of truth which urged him on, and not any greedy desire
for personal advantages or honors."

[Illustration: MALINCRODT.]

Herrmann von Malincrodt, the great orator of the Centre during the
Kulturkampf, was a native of Minden in Westphalia, where he was born on
February 5, 1821. His father was a Protestant, yet of such natural
honesty, that he would not stand in the way of his son's education in
Catholic faith and doctrine. The mother of Herrmann was a pious
Catholic, a cultured lady, whose care for the religious bringing up of
her children was not satisfied with the religious teaching given them at
school, but called a priest to her house to supplement the training of
the school. The classical studies of young Malincrodt were made at
Aix-la-Chapelle, where his father had taken up his residence in 1823.
When, in 1838, the future deputy went to study law at Bonn, and later at
Berlin, his faith was still intact as his heart was pure. He passed
through the University with equal safety. The teachings of his good
mother, who died some years before, were his safeguard and preserved him
against the dangers so often fatal to youth. The anti-Christian
doctrines of his professors, and the shameless examples of his fellow
students had no effect upon his strong character. In his twentieth year
he left his studies as good a Catholic as he was a learned jurist.

After a short period at the tribunal of Paderborn, and having been
referendary successively at Münster and Erfurt, he retired for over a
year to study for his degree. When his thesis, entitled _Juridical
Relations between Church and State_ was presented, the judges marvelled
to find in so young a man such an evidence of solid learning, clear
reasoning, and originality of thought. They noted moreover the
uncompromising Catholic character of his essay, and accordingly, while
they accounted his endeavor a success, they added the remark: "A work
too favorable to the Church." In 1849 he was named Assessor for the
Regency of Minden, and two years later was sent to Erfurt to fulfil the
same functions. In the latter place he made so favorable an impression
upon the people that the government made him First Burgomaster of the
town. This choice was all the more significant that four-fifths of the
population were Protestants, while Malincrodt was known as an ultra
Catholic; they were won, indeed, by his characteristic integrity, his
tolerance and justice, and the nobility of deportment. So well satisfied
were the citizens with his administration that he was accorded the right
of the city.

The people of Westphalia were naturally proud of their fellow citizen,
and in the elections of 1852, the district of Münster-Coesfeld sent him
to the Prussian Landtag. He arrived at Parliament at a moment when a new
conflict was threatening between the State and the Church. The ministers
had just interdicted the missions of the Jesuits and forbade Prussian
students to pursue their theological studies at Rome. King Frederick
William IV. was animated with kindlier dispositions. He had witnessed
the bravery and loyalty of the Catholics during the stirring times of
1848, and in recognition of the same he had effected that a clause
should be inscribed in the Constitution guaranteeing the most essential
ecclesiastical liberties. Unfortunately his ministers did not share his
sentiments, and the court canonists found it too difficult to break with
the old Prussian traditions, and accordingly they gave their best
efforts to nullify the concessions of the sovereign. In the presence of
the hostile manifestations the Catholics felt it incumbent upon them to
organize for the better defence of their rights. In the elections of
1852, despite every ministerial pressure, they succeeded in sending
sixty-three Catholics to the Parliament, and the group thus elected
took the name of the Catholic Faction.

Malincrodt had his place in the ranks of these pleaders for the Church.
On March 11, 1853, after many months of silence, he made his maiden
speech and proved himself an orator of the first rank. During that
session he held the floor thirty-six times. In all the parliamentary
discussions, whenever it was necessary to defend the Holy See, the
rights of Catholics, or conservative principles, Malincrodt was always
to the fore. His talents increased year by year, and would have brought
him still higher distinction, had not the elections of 1864 sent him
back to private life.

During the following three years events in his country were fast
approaching a climax. The Danish and Austrian wars had demonstrated what
Bismarck meant by "moral conquests." Malincrodt was among those who
could foresee the coming storm. In 1867 the electors of Westphalia sent
him to the Federal Diet of Northern Germany. It was there that he met
for the first time that lilliputian of Hanover, already known as the
Meppen Pearl, the Little Excellency, Herr Windthorst. The two Catholic
statesmen recognized each other, and began a friendship which was to
continue, under the aegis of the Church, until death. The speeches of
Malincrodt in the Reichstag were a revelation to the assembly who
recognized in him a man with whom German statesmen would have to reckon.
He was as much opposed to German union as desired by the Prussians, as
was Windthorst, and that because he knew how Prussia with the power in
her hands would not fail to destroy the autonomy of the lesser States.

The Franco Prussian War followed, with its consequence of the
unification of Germany under the imperial domination of Prussia. The
Kulturkampf made necessary the formation of the Centre, of which
Malincrodt was at first the chief and spokesman. His eloquence
throughout that stormy period was terrific, and had his career lasted a
little longer, he could no doubt, in conjunction with Windthorst, have
ended the struggle much earlier. He died, however, in his sixty-third
year, in 1874, at Berlin after a burst of oratory that convinced even
Lasker, one of the most implacable of his adversaries.

William Emmanuel von Ketteler was born on December 25, 1811, at Münster
in Westphalia. He was thus, like his colleagues, Windthorst and
Malincrodt, a Saxon. His mother, the former Baroness von Wenge von Beck,
exercised a decisive influence over his heart and at an early age she
inspired him with that truly Christian love for the poor which was one
of his salient characteristics during life. He was remarkable even in
childhood for his air of reflection and gravity, significant of a mind
that was serious and inclined to a sense of conscientious duty. At the
age of thirteen, in 1824, he was sent to the Jesuit College of Brieg in
the Valais, where he finished his studies.

According to the German usage, his family sent him to many Universities,
and thus he spent a short period successively at Goettingen, Berlin,
Heidelberg, and Munich. He was everywhere an adept at athletic exercises
and an ardent worker. After his examinations in law he was appointed
referendary of the government of his natal city, Münster.

It seemed as if he had found his vocation in law and politics. It was
about this time, 1838, that he beheld the venerable Archbishop of
Cologne, Clement August von Droste Vischering, dragged a prisoner to the
fortress of Minden. Indignant at this act of barbarity, Ketteler threw
up his governmental position. On July 9, 1838, he wrote to his brother
Wilderich: "As I do not care to serve a State which demands the
sacrifice of my conscience, it seems to me that the priesthood is my
most certain refuge. But how far I am from such a determination! To make
me worthy of that sublime ministry would require a miracle greater than
raising the dead to life." In 1841, he overcame his scruples, and went
to seek counsel from Mgr. de Reisach, the Bishop of Eichstadt, who
assured him that his vocation was genuine.

[Illustration: BISHOP KETTELER.]

He entered the University of Munich, then at the zenith of its renown.
Under the patronage of King Louis of Bavaria it had become the
rendezvous of all that Catholic society esteemed as brilliant and
distinguished. Görres, the great philosopher, was there with Philipps,
the Professor of Law, and Doellinger, as yet orthodox in his teaching of
history.

After three years of study he was ordained to the priesthood on June 1,
1844, after which he was appointed assistant in the little town of
Beckum, in Westphalia, where he shared the labors of two young priests,
one of whom, Brinckmann, afterwards also became a bishop. After two
years he was sent as pastor to Hopsten on the confines of Hanover, where
he spent his time in those duties which had become so dear to his heart,
the care of the poor and the instruction of the young.

In 1848 he was sent as a deputy to the national Diet of Frankfort from a
district composed chiefly of Protestants. Out of the 600 members present
there, he found that forty were priests, while there were a few bishops
and many notable Catholic laymen. Ketteler appeared in the tribune, a
man with no political record and no literary glory. But his first speech
aroused enthusiasm and proclaimed him one of the orators of the day.
Ketteler demanded liberty of religious association for all creeds,
liberty of education, and autonomy in the commune in all that concerns
the public school and the interior administration. After the
assassination of Prince Lichnowsky and General von Auerwald by the
insurgents, the Abbe Ketteler was charged by the Assembly to pronounce
the funeral oration.

Fifteen days after this event the first great Catholic Congress was held
at Mentz, and instituted a programme in which Ketteler was for nearly
thirty years to have a leading part. This was the Catholic action in the
Social question.

In 1850 William Ketteler was consecrated Bishop of Mentz, and entered at
once into his role as the great social reformer of Germany. His
solicitude for the poor was constant and practical. For the sick poor he
called into his diocese the Franciscans of Aix-la-Chapelle; for the
orphans and abandoned children he founded establishments in 1856 and
1864. For the workingmen he founded, in 1851, a Geselleverein, or
Workingmen's Association, one of the first of its kind, besides bureaus
of aid, and circles and societies for procuring cheap lodging for the
needy. He had remarked that the numerous class of servant girls were
almost altogether without religious attendance, moral protection, or
material assistance. With the aid of the Countess Ida von Hahn-Hahn he
founded refuges for their kind, and looking then toward those others to
whom the allurements of the world had proved too fascinating, he
established a House of the Good Shepherd. His work in the direction of
the poor and of the laboring men went on without ceasing. His
Establishments of Hospitality for the Workers provided board and lodging
at the price of eighteen pennies a day. In 1856 the Association of Notre
Dame de Bon Secours came to the aid of those who, while out of a place
for a time, could find lodging until another situation were found for
them.

Nor was he content with the mere attention to the ordinary routine
implied by such works. The service of his brilliant and well stored mind
was also devoted to the cause, presenting some works that still remain
authoritative guides in the matter of social economics. His great work
in this regard was his _Christianity and the Labor Question_, written at
a time when the doctrines of Lasalle and his companions were beginning
to stir the workingmen into a campaign of violence and anarchy. The
voice of the great prelate was heard also in the various congresses held
every year in Germany to discuss questions of Catholic interest. In the
Meeting of the Bishops at Fulda, in 1869, Mgr. Ketteler spoke eloquently
upon the questions, "Does the Social Question Exist in Germany?" "Can
the Church Aid Therein, and What is Her Duty?" "What are the Remedies at
Her Disposal?" In the Catholic Congress of 1871, he delivered a masterly
discourse upon _Liberalism, Socialism, and Christianity_.

In the Council of the Vatican, the position held by Ketteler in regard
to the Definition of the Great Dogma, was that of many German bishops,
namely, that while admitting the doctrine of infallibility as true and
essentially Catholic, they were unwilling to admit that its definition
was just then opportune. On the eve of the last session Mgr. Ketteler
addressed to Pius IX. a letter full of submission, and during the rest
of his life he defended the doctrine with all the enthusiasm of his
heart and soul.

During the Kulturkampf until his death the great prelate proved a power
of resistance against the tyranny of Bismarck, and although he could not
live to behold the final failure of the enemy, he was rejoiced to know
that the persecution was already producing fruits of conversion and
edification everywhere. His great soul comprehended that the Church must
finally come forth from the contest crowned with the glory of triumph.
It was in the assurance of this hope that he died in the Capuchin
Convent of Bruchhausen in Bavaria, as he was returning from his last
visit to Pope Pius IX. His part in the Kulturkampf, we shall review in
the succeeding paragraphs.

Such then were the giants who came to the conflict of the Kulturkampf
armed cap-a-pie, one indeed, with the weapons forged by hate and selfish
ambition; the others with those emblems of Christian faith the lustre of
which called forth the admiration even of the adversaries, and finally
brought all opposition to a standstill.

III.

The Kulturkampf! The name was invented by Virchow, the atheistic
professor. He calls it a War for Civilization, though he of all men very
well knew that the reality could mean only a return to savagery and
barbarism. But as the Kulturkampf began in hypocrisy, was continued in
hypocrisy, and finished in cowardly hypocrisy, what matters it, if even
the name by which the mongrel is called is also born of hypocrisy!

The war was not the sudden ebullition of frenzied fear; it was a
carefully prepared campaign. It was launched only when every
circumstance seemed favorable to its success. France and Austria were
helpless to oppose it; England and Italy were full of encouragement; the
Protestants of Germany were excited by the spectre of infallibility; the
Liberals welcomed it as a rebuke against their old enemy, Conservatism;
the Holy Father himself was closed in behind the walls of the Vatican, a
prisoner, and therefore without the prestige of governmental influence.
At the beginning of 1871, the Catholic Church in Germany stood alone
without an influential friend in the world. It was then that cowardice
raised its hand to strike; it was the act of a ruffian felling with a
blow of his mailed fist the woman whom robbers had left half dead by the
roadside.

If the Catholics were to blame in any manner, it was only because they
had permitted themselves to be cajoled in advance by the smiles and
hypocritical advances of Bismarck and his henchman, though it is true,
they had every right to expect a grateful treatment from the new Empire.
In 1870, Peter Reichensperger, one of the most prudent leaders of the
Catholic party, advised the Bavarian Diet to join the Prussian alliance,
through the trust he had in that State at the moment. Even Bishop
Ketteler was deceived when he beheld the comparatively fair treatment of
Catholics in the Rhenish province, whose proximity to France rendered it
advisable that they should not be discomforted, though at the same time
the Polish subjects of Prussia, at the other end of the Kingdom were
complaining of political aggressions against their religious liberty.
Bishop Ketteler, however, was soon compelled to avow his mistake. "It
was a great fault on our part," he writes, "to have believed in the
stability of the Prussian Constitution, in the rights which it plainly
allowed us. We were culpable for having believed that, in Prussia,
justice could triumph over the inveterate prejudice against Catholics,
and over party feelings. We were deceived; but our fault is not of the
kind that should cause us to blush."

The Catholics had, indeed, just reason to expect favorable treatment.
They had been repeatedly assured that it would be accorded to them. In
1870 the Emperor, replying to an address from the Knights of Malta from
the Rhenish Provinces and Westphalia, had uttered the significant words:
"I regard the occupation of Rome by the Italians as an act of violence;
and when this war is ended, I shall not fail to take it into
consideration, in concert with other sovereigns."

Thus it was that the Catholic people of Germany, whose men fought
against the bullets of France for the Fatherland, whose priests and nuns
went about the battle fields succoring and comforting the wounded and
the dying, who, in a word, stood in every trial foremost among the
defenders of the King and of his Government, were unprepared to see the
hand that they had aided, raised in a moment to strike them down, and
the sword that they had supported, uplifted for their extermination. It
was again the conflict of the Church against a lying, hypocritical,
ungrateful world.

_THE CENTRE._

To the most farseeing Catholics of the country it had long been evident
that there was need of a strong organization of Catholic political
forces. Before the Franco Prussian war no such distinctive organization
existed. At the Reichstag of Northern Germany the Catholics were not
grouped together, and at the Prussian Landtag they formed only an
inconsiderable minority. There appeared to be no need of concerted
action in the political field since peace and security seemed fully
assured. The schools were Christian, the religious Orders performed
their benevolent actions freely and unimpeded, the clergy was respected
and honored. Nothing being attacked, there was nothing to defend. The
Catholic deputies could enroll their names in any party they chose to
favor. Thus it was that when the time of danger came they were scattered
on every side.

After the war, however, Malincrodt, with some of his friends, brought
the Catholic members together, and elaborated a manifesto which served
as a platform for the voters of the country, according to which
Catholics were asked to cast their votes only for such candidates as
would pledge themselves to enter the new Catholic party and support its
principles. In the elections of March 3, 1871, the advice of these
leaders brought sixty-seven Catholic representatives to the Chamber, a
number that increased as the Kulturkampf progressed.

The new party took the name of the "Centre," and on March 27 affirmed
its existence by publishing its programme. At the head of this document
was written its motto: "Justice, the basis of Governments." The chiefs
of the party, Savigny, Windthorst, Malincrodt, Peter Reichensperger,
Prince Loëwenstein, and Freitag, were appointed a committee of direction
for the party and empowered to act for the furtherance of its interests.
The party thus constituted took for its permanent devise the words: "For
truth, justice and liberty," and the Catholic deputies pledged
themselves to defend these three causes with all the energy of their
will and intelligence. They demanded, moreover, in the members of the
party qualities worthy of its great purposes; no candidate might place
his name on their list except such as were without fear and without
reproach. For the interests of religion were in danger; and could they
be defended efficaciously by men who were not themselves living in
conformity with that religion? Every inconsistency of behavior would
naturally be taken advantage of by the enemy and made the basis of
scandal, and hence, as it was necessary not to give an opportunity for
criticism, the party bound itself to a platform of moral integrity and
austerity. A Catholic deputy guilty of having engaged in a duel contrary
to the laws of the Church, could not be admitted. Even the stain of
imputation, however undeserved, provided it gained popular credence,
could debar one from its numbers. And thus for the thirty years of its
existence not one of its members, as far as is known, has cast dishonor
upon the standard thus raised by its leaders. It is because of this high
moral standard, this unflinching loyalty to the Church in all her
endeavors, that the Centre was enabled to stand uncowed and unconquered
throughout the long war that followed its inception.

The new Centre party was called into action almost from the day of its
birth. The first Reichstag of the German Empire met on March 21, 1871.
In his speech from the throne the Emperor solemnly declared that the new
Empire was to be "the citadel of the peace of Europe." The Reichstag
voted an address in answer to the Emperor's speech, which, while
containing a sentiment of greeting and congratulation to the sovereign,
was at the same time, to define the attitude of Germany with regard to
European questions of the day. The Catholic people still remembered the
promises formulated at Versailles on November 8, 1870, and confirmed at
the beginning of 1871, and accordingly had reason to hope that Germany
would make use of her diplomatic intervention in favor of Pope Pius IX.,
despoiled by his enemies and imprisoned in the Vatican. This hope was
expressed in a resolution formulated by the Centre and proposed for the
acceptation of the Reichstag. But the Liberal party, at the instigation
of Bennigsen, repulsed the proposal of the Centre as a clerical
intrigue, and voted that "Germany, without being influenced either by
sympathy or antipathy, would permit every nation to attain its unity in
its own way, and leave to each State the choice of the form of
government which that State might consider best." This attitude of the
new Government was thus a refusal to support the Holy See and an
official recognition of the claims of Victor Emmanuel and his followers.

It was an act, moreover, which placed the Centre party in a very
compromising position, for in refusing to vote the address containing
such an article they would lay themselves open to the charge of
disloyalty and disrespect toward the sovereign, while in case they
should vote for it, they would thereby approve of the iniquitous
spoliation of the Papal States and the indignities heaped upon the Holy
Father. There was no hesitation, however, in the action of the Centre.
While faithful to their religious principles, and at the same time
loyally devoted to their Fatherland, they refused to vote the obnoxious
article. As was expected, their action drew upon them the envenomed
hatred of all parties, in months they were greeted as traitors,
renegades, and the "ultramontaine party."

The resolution of Bennigsen was voted on March 30, 1871, by a majority
of 150. It was but the prelude of open hostilities. On April 1, 3 and 4,
a discussion upon the Constitution was in progress, and Peter
Reichensperger, of the Centre, endeavored to conserve in the new
document the religious liberties guaranteed by the Constitution of 1850,
with its consequences of freedom of worship and freedom of association.
Under the leadership of Lasker, Treitschke and Blankenberg, the Liberals
again repulsed the claims of the Catholic despite the fervid and logical
eloquence of Bishop Ketteler. By a vote of 223 to 59 these liberties
were expunged from the Constitution, and at its reading one of the
Liberals, Marquard, remarked: "We have declared war upon
Ultramontainism, and we will carry it to a finish."

The efforts of the Centre, however, although meeting with repulse in
their first appearances, were yet indicative of a power with which the
Liberal party would have to reckon. Hence it was considered necessary to
effect its ruin in order that the principles of State absolution should
acquire the domination to which it aspired. To effect this object,
Bismarck made use of a stratagem entirely in accord with his usual
dishonesty and lack of scruple. His plan was no other than to throw
discredit upon the Centre attack in the eyes of the Catholic people. He
had already misrepresented the Centre before the Holy See as a source of
trouble for the Church in the Empire, and he strove to induce the Holy
See to formally disavow the operations of the Centre. Not being able to
obtain such a disavowal, he pretended that he had actually obtained it.
One of the Catholic members, Count Frankenberg, was deceived by the
assurances of the Chancellor, and abandoned the party, on May 17, 1871,
without giving any apparent reason. Three days later Malincrodt, certain
of the trickery of Bismarck, published a formal protest against such an
unworthy manoeuvre. Frankenberg, beginning to doubt, asked of Bismarck
an explanation, and was assured that "the interview of which you have
spoken between Count Tauffkirchen and the Cardinal Secretary of State
will hardly be revoked. The Centre party has been disapproved. This
disapprobation does not surprise me after the evidences of satisfaction
and the expressions of entire confidence which His Majesty, the King,
has received from His Holiness, the Pope, on the occasion of the
re-establishment of the German Empire." So categorical an avowal at
first threw the Catholics into a state of consternation, but Bishop
Ketteler, of Mentz, feeling that something was wrong, wrote to Cardinal
Antonelli, who at once, on June 5, sent a solemn denial of the
interview, which was published as an answer to the declaration of
Bismarck.

The chagrin caused by this exposure found its vent in the non-Catholic
journals of the time, stigmatizing in the broadest terms the loyalty of
Catholics. Bismarck's own newspaper, the _Gazette of the Cross_, called
all Prussia to arms against the Centre and Ultramontainism, those
internal enemies who must be punished as were the Austrians and the
French "for it is time to take up again the work of the Reformation, and
to assure the supreme victory of Germanism over Romanism." In accordance
with these sentiments the friends of Bismarck set to work with open
aggressions. On July 8, 1871, a royal ordinance suppressed the Catholic
section of the Ministry of Worship, which had been founded by Frederick
William IV. in 1841, to give the Catholics an opportunity of presenting
their needs and claims before the Government. The Catholic population
was thus shut out from any officially favorable recognition.

At the same time Bismarck hastened to acts whereby the free action of
the German bishops were nullified at the caprice of the State. There was
at the time, in the Gymnasium of Brauensberg, a certain teacher of
Christian doctrine, named Wollmann, who had undertaken to speak openly
in opposition to the dogma of Papal Infallibility, and thus incurred the
imputation of heresy, together with a director of the Normal School, one
Freibel, a member of the Old Catholic sect. Bishop Krementz, of Ermland,
after vain endeavors to bring him to a sense of his errors,
excommunicated him and his companion, and then reported his action to
the Minister of Worship, von Muhler, claiming that an excommunicated
heretic should not be permitted to teach in a Catholic school. The
Minister refused to remove the objectionable teacher (June 29, 1871),
declaring that the dogma of Infallibility in no way affected the
relations of Church and State. When, on July 9, following, Bishop
Krementz protested in so just and logical a manner that none of the
official journals dared to report his words, the Ministry replied by
threatening to expel any student of the Gymnasium who should refuse to
attend the lessons of Wollmann.

The persecution proceeded from day to day. On November 23, 1871, the
Bavarian Minister, von Lutz, presented before the Reichstag a law
entitled "for abuse of the pulpit," the "Kanzel-paragraph," which went
into vigor on December 10, 1871, and which was expressed in the
following terms: "Any ecclesiastic or official of the Church, who during
the exercise, or on the occasion of the exercise of his ministry, be it
in the church in presence of the crowd, or in any place set apart for
religious gatherings, shall, before several persons take as the theme of
his discussions affairs relating to the domain of the State, in such a
manner as to jeopardize the public tranquility, shall be punished by
imprisonment the duration of which can be extended to two years."

The purport of this law was plainly perceived by the Catholic people. De
Lutz, who with Prince Hohenlohe of Bavaria, a Catholic in a Catholic
State, had elaborated the law, confessed openly, that "this was the
first buttress in the defence of the State against the Catholic Church,
and that still others would yet be erected." He admitted even more, that
the law's intent was to protect apostasy, the rebellion of disloyal
theologians against the dogmas and discipline of the Church. Hence he
declared: "The law is framed to give courage to 'good priests,' who
might suffer from the tyranny of the infalliblist bishops, who might
force them to acts which we would punish." In reply to this declaration
Herr Windthorst remarked: "Thus this law is an agreement between the new
Empire and the Protestantism of Doellinger."

On the 8th of the following February, 1872, another law was proposed,
giving to the Government all rights over the schools. It had been
suggested by Muhler, and was sustained by his worthy successor, Falk,
aided by Bismarck. To oppose it more than 500 petitions were placed
before the Landtag; those from Silesia alone contained more than 80,000
signatures.

In the discussions, Bismarck brought to sustain his cause the most
influential members of the ministerial group, such as Gneist, a Freemason,
Lasker, a hostile Jew, the apostate pastor, Richter-Mariendorf, and the
materialist professor, Virchow. He himself met with his usual brutal
cynicism the protests of Windthorst, and Malincrodt, and all the Polish
and Guelph orators who dared to take the stand for justice and honor. The
law was finally voted and passed with a majority of 42. Thus the
Government had the right to supervise all institutes of education both
public and private, the right to appoint the inspectors of schools, or to
deprive those exercising such posts of their office. It was a law in fact
which placed Catholic pastors under the direct and unreasoning
surveillance of the State in a matter most closely connected with
religion.

The tyrannical character of the law was recognized not by Catholics
alone, but by all fair-minded men. The _Kreutzeitung_, and the
_Germania_, differing in faith and thought, were in accord in this
matter and complained bitterly of a law which meant only "the loss of
that which had hitherto been the good fortune of Prussia, since it was
clear that the Government and the National Liberals desired only the
extinction of religion." The bishops protested with one voice, declaring
the law "offensive to the essential and inalienable rights of the
Church, and that grave perils and dangers were hovering over Church and
State." Then as their protests and petitions remained unheard, they sent
forth, on April 11, 1872, a collective letter informing their priests of
their resolution never to yield except to violence: "Since no power on
earth can dispense us from the obligation of watching over the Christian
education of the little children who have been confided to us by the
divine Savior, we are firmly resolved to continue to fulfil faithfully
the duties of our pastoral charge in that which touches the popular
schools which the law takes away, in principle, from the maternal action
of the Church, and that duty we shall fulfil to the end, as long as it
is not made absolutely impossible."

The Government, however, which at first pretended to respect the rights
of the Church, little by little removed many priests from the schools,
took away as far as possible the priestly supervision, and favored mixed
schools of Catholics and Protestants. The crucifix was then removed from
the school rooms, together with all biblical pictures and the statues of
the saints.

The Bishop of Ermland, who in July, 1871, had excommunicated the
apostate Wollmann, received from the Minister of Public Worship, Falk, a
notification to the effect that: "as the excommunication was not a
merely spiritual penalty, but had also a civil signification, so it
could not be admitted that it should be inflicted only by an
ecclesiastical superior, and that the latter in using it would violate
the prerogatives of citizens placed under the protection of the State,
and would commit an assault against the rights of the State, which can
and ought to oppose it; hence in his action against the two
excommunicated persons, he had gone beyond the limits of his
ecclesiastical powers; this act was therefore annulled, and the
Government would refuse any longer to recognize him who had so acted, as
the Bishop of Ermland."

Bishop Krementz answered, on March 30, exposing the absurdity of Falk's
doctrine, the justice of his own action in regard to Wollmann and
Michelis, and dissipating the many sophisms and garbled citations
contained in the letter of March 11. The Bishop declared, moreover, that
he could not and would not obey, and spurned the malicious action he was
commanded to do despite all right and all laws. The words of the
courageous Bishop only served to fan the flame of hatred, but had no
effect in lessening the injustice and violence of the Government.

When the bureaucrats of Berlin perceived that the bishops of the country
were holding firm to their principles, they again had recourse to the
dishonest methods of strategy. There was at the time a cardinal in
Germany, the brother of that Prince Hohenlohe who had been instrumental
in Bavaria in stirring up an agitation against the Papal authority.
Cardinal Hohenlohe was one of those ecclesiastics who at the Council of
the Vatican had held out most strongly against the definition of
infallibility, and though he had finally acquiesced with the other
bishops, he harbored in his heart something not at all in harmony with
the Catholic position of his native land. He was therefore looked upon
by the Government at Berlin as a most favorable subject to act as an
intermediary between Berlin and Rome to force the hands of the unwilling
bishops. Accordingly in the beginning of 1872, Bismarck caused it to be
reported abroad that the Cardinal was to be sent to Rome as the German
ambassador to the Holy See. A strange feature of this appointment was
that the Pope had received no official intimation of the Government's
intention, contrary to all diplomatic usages. The Cardinal accepted the
mission without having asked the consent of the Holy See. In fact, the
Papal Secretary, Cardinal Antonelli, soon received a laconic dispatch
from the Chancellor informing him of the approaching arrival of the new
ambassador. The plan of Bismarck was clearly to effect through the
offices of Cardinal Hohenlohe the suppression of the Centre party,
knowing well that in case the Holy See refused to accept the embassy, it
would arouse in Germany a storm of animosity which must prove invaluable
in aiding the anti-Catholic movement.

The Pope naturally refused to receive Cardinal Hohenlohe as an
ambassador. As a result the anti-Catholic press began at once to print
its most violent invectives against the Catholic Church. In the
Reichstag, the deputy Bennigsen, boiling with fury, demanded the final
suppression of the embassy to the Holy See. The embassy was,
nevertheless, continued, for Bismarck could not think of thus closing up
an avenue, which, he fondly thought, would finally lead to the
extinction of that Centre party which he hated as he hated the Catholic
Church itself. Moreover, official documents are existent which betray
the fact that Bismarck even at that early date was seriously considering
the project of directing the future Conclave towards a choice which
would favor the political ends he had in view.

On May 28, 1872, Von Roon, Minister of War, suspended Bishop
Namszanowski, the high military chaplain, from his office, because the
latter had refused to officiate in a place desecrated by the services of
the Old Catholics. It was an act of Caesarism which tended to reduce the
whole episcopate to the entire will of the State. It was remonstrated
that there were no laws to authorize the action of Von Roon; accordingly
it was proposed to make such laws.

While these were in preparation the persecution was for a time
concentrated upon the Jesuits. For two years, indeed, the more bitter
among the Protestants united at Darmstadt had demanded the banishment of
the members of this Order. It was a proposition most savory to the Old
Catholics, who would find it more easy to banish the Jesuits than to
conquer them, and it was through their efforts principally that the
question of their persecution was finally brought before the Reichstag.

In the meantime the Government began to be besieged with petitions, some
demanding the expulsion of the Jesuits, others defending them by greater
numbers and stronger arguments. By April 29, 1872, there were forty-one
such petitions against the Order, while its defenders presented as many
as four hundred and seventy-six. On May 16, the Reichstag consigned all
petitions to the Chancellor, Bismarck, as was proposed by the
Councillor, Wagener. Thus was left to the arbitration of one man a
matter which interested the whole Empire, to a man, moreover, who that
same day was charged with preparing a law regulating the legal
conditions of the religious Orders, congregations and associations, and
which "should establish penalties for their activity when hurtful to the
State."

While hardly ten thousand signatures demanded from the Reichstag the
banishment of the Jesuits, more than four hundred thousand more were
presented in their favor. On June 12, a law against the Jesuits was
proposed; Prince Hohenlohe and three others aggravated its hostile
measures by extending its effects to all Congregations bearing a
resemblance to the Society of Jesus. Wagener declared openly that its
purpose was to combat Rome, and hence that the law which was to strike
the Jesuits should be only the beginning of the war upon Catholics. To
give some semblance of plausibility to such a far-reaching design, he
spread abroad the rumor that there were Jesuits hidden under every kind
of habit. Malincrodt responded ably to the sensational clamorings of
Wagener, proving that the intentions of the proposed law were violations
of the rights of nature, of existing legislation, of the particular
Constitutions of the States, of that of the Empire, and of the primary
elements of justice and good sense. The battle that ensued called for
the loftiest eloquence of the Centre, from Windthorst, Ballestrem, the
two Reichenspergers, and from Ketteler. One of the Reichenspergers
declared that the enemies of the Jesuits "believe they must break every
law to create a new law of proscription in order to protect themselves
from two hundred Jesuits. Ah, gentlemen! confess that your law is but
the failure of Liberalism!" On June 19, the infamous law was passed.

A few days after Pius IX., addressing on June 25, 1872, some Germans at
Rome, gave them such advice as might be expected from the great Father
of Christendom. "Pray," he said, for prayer is the most powerful means
of restraining the persecutors of the Church. He bade them to oppose
their enemies by word and writing, with firmness, and yet with respect.
It was God's will that they should obey and respect their superiors, but
He wills also that we should speak out the truth and combat error. The
discourse of the holy Pontiff aroused evil feelings among the enemies of
the Church in Germany, who declared it an exhortation to rebellion, and
to civil war, that it was an intolerable usurpation, and that the Pope
ought not to meddle with such matters.

Meanwhile the sisters were banished from the public schools, and the
communes were ordered to break all contracts made with religious
Congregations. The young men in the gymnasiums and high schools were
forbidden to be members of Catholic societies, though Protestants were
permitted full liberty in such matters. Thus in Bavaria the Government
forbade the meetings of the great St. Boniface Association which looked
after the spiritual interests of Catholics in Protestant districts,
while at the same time it tolerated the Society of Gustavus Adolphus,
an association which pretended to care for Protestants in Catholic
States. Indeed, Falk boasted that his aim was to restrain the Catholic
propaganda.

The law against the Jesuits as printed in the decree of July 5, 1872,
reads as follows: "The Order of the Company of Jesus, being excluded
from the German Empire, it is no longer lawful for the members of that
Order to continue to exercise any office of the Order itself, above all
in the church and in the school; nor is it permitted to them to preach
missions; within six months at the most the houses of the Company of
Jesus must be closed."

Following the issue of this decree the Catholics everywhere were
subjected to a most humiliating espionage. Jesuits were discovered
everywhere and denounced to the authorities. Not only secular priests,
but laymen and officials of the army were accused. The decree gave the
Jesuits six months; but in many places their persecution began
immediately. Colleges, houses and churches were closed; the Jesuits were
forbidden to preach, to hear confessions and even to say Mass.

With the Jesuits were included also the Redemptorists, the Lazarists,
and the Brothers and Sisters of the Christian Schools; even the pious
congregations directed by these Orders were dispersed as being
affiliated with the Jesuits.

The Bishops of Germany assembled at Fulda on September 20, 1872, and
protested against the persecutions. They made use of the occasion to
defend the noble attitude of Bishop Krementz of Ermland, to reproach the
Government for its open favoritism in the case of the Old Catholics, to
declare that Bishop Namszanowski had fulfilled his duty. They deplored
this new offense against the Church through the persecution of the
Company of Jesus and of other Orders. In their summing up they declared
that "the principles herein expressed by us will always be the criterion
of our actions, and we are ready for that end to make the greatest
sacrifices, even that of our lives."

In the meantime the anti-Catholics were busily elaborating their plan of
campaign. A certain professor, Emile Friedberg of the University of
Leipzig, published a rabid attack upon the Church wherein he outlined
the policy to be pursued by his party in dealing with them. Among his
suggestions, nearly all of which were ultimately adopted, were the
following: The establishment of obligatory civil marriage; suppression
of obligatory baptism; separation of Church and State; secularization of
charitable works; a penal law against "abuse of the pulpit;" measures to
prevent ecclesiastics not in harmony with the Government from using the
pulpit; a rigorous surveillance of the education of the clergy; an order
forbidding the appointment of ecclesiastics who by their civil or
political relations could create difficulties for the Government;
suppression of the Order of Jesuits; an interdict striking all
Congregations not authorized by the Government; recourse to the State
against the decisions of ecclesiastical authority; punishment of "abuse
of power" by fines, and by suspension from exercise of jurisdiction;
measures compelling the State never to place its powers at the
discretion of the Church, never to punish an ecclesiastic resisting his
ecclesiastical superiors, never to confirm the penalties ordained by the
bishops; measures to abolish the sanctification of the holy days, etc.

All these measures and many more like them are worthy of note inasmuch
as they contained the program of the real hostilities now about to
begin. The separation of Church and State, being in the eyes of the
Radicals, the supreme end, it was proposed to proceed gradually,
destroying first the means of life in the German Church, stopping up its
veins and arteries, and finally strangling all its activities, until it
should at length have become so weak and inert that any measure for its
extinction should be easy and successful. It was the proposal of men;
God, Himself, however, was to show that the last word remained in His
divine power.

_MAY LAWS._

On January 9, 1873, Falk, the Minister of Worship, placed upon the desk
of the Chamber four resolutions, the object of which was to inaugurate a
certain Civil Constitution for the clergy, and to place the Church
entirely at the mercy of the State. After having proscribed the
religious Orders, these new resolutions aimed at the destruction of the
secular clergy.

The first of these laws, "on the appointment and education of
ecclesiastics," required that all ecclesiastics should be of German
birth, that they should have graduated from a German gymnasium, and have
spent three years in a State University, after which they should undergo
an examination directed by the prescriptions of the ministry of worship.
The State was to supervise all establishments of ecclesiastical
training, even the Grand Seminaries which alone were to remain, all the
lesser Seminaries being closed. The President of the Province had the
right to reject every appointment or transfer of ecclesiastics made by a
bishop, and the bishops should be obliged to notify the President of all
appointments and transfers; moreover, the President could impose a fine
of one thousand thallers upon any bishop who should not appoint a person
acceptable to the ministry, and this appointment should be made within
the space of a year; otherwise he could lay hands upon the property of
the bishop or of any other ecclesiastic refusing obedience, nor could
the bishop appeal from such judgment to the crown. This civil punishment
rendered the ecclesiastic unfit for the divine ministry. A fine was to
be imposed upon any priest who after being deposed by the Government
should dare to exercise his ecclesiastical functions.

A second law assigned the limits within which the bishops might judge in
ecclesiastical affairs, the penalties they were to pronounce, though
always with the consent of the civil authorities; an appeal was
instituted from the judgment of the bishop to the High Court of Justice
for Ecclesiastical Affairs, which Court could order the suspension of a
bishop who had unjustly condemned a subject. There was to be a penalty
for the bishop who should refuse to surrender to the State the records
of any ecclesiastical trial; moreover, the High Court could justify
itself for any deposition of a bishop by the plea that his continuance
could not be permitted for reasons of public utility.

A third law regarded those who should wish to abandon the Catholic
religion. It was a measure of encouragement to apostates whose defection
it surrounded with the most benevolent and watchful care. The only thing
necessary to legalize any act of apostasy was that the unfortunate
should appear before a civil official with a declaration written and
sealed, and the payment of five silver groschen (12 cents).

The fourth and last law, "on the limits of the use of means of
punishment and correction in the Church" was one hardly likely to have
any honest interest for the bishops, since it forbade, what they were
never likely to do, the physical punishment of lay people, and any
punishment attaining the fortune or the honor of the citizens. It was a
law which hoped that by formally forbidding any criminal act, would
lead an inflamed public opinion to believe such a criminal act had
really been perpetrated.

Such were the May laws which despite the pleading of the Centre orators,
and their innate and evident injustice passed the lower House on April
5, 1873. In the Landtag, however, the difficulty of pushing them through
was at once evident. To win his point at all hazards moved Bismarck to a
stratagem worthy of his evil genius. The Emperor was accordingly induced
to appoint twenty-four new members to the Landtag, all of whom were warm
partisans of the Chancellor. The best men of the Landtag pleaded
eloquently for justice and right, but their voices were drowned in the
chorus of hate swelled by these new accessions. On the 1st of May the
whole bill was passed, and by the middle of the month they received the
royal signature.

As soon as the discussion upon the new laws was begun the German bishops
addressed a memorial to the Government detailing with all precision and
clearness the injustice and the necessary consequences of the proposed
legislation. On February 5, they addressed a collective letter to the
Landtag containing the principal portions of the former memorial, and
declaring firmly: "For, if these projects, which are in direct
opposition to the prescriptions and very essence of the Church, are
adopted, not a Catholic, and still less a priest or a bishop, can
recognize them, or submit voluntarily to them without betraying his
faith." The petitions of the bishops had little effect with the Iron
Chancellor, who smiled at the thought that fifteen aged prelates could
turn him aside from his set purpose. On May 2, the bishops of Prussia
addressed a circular to the priests and faithful of their dioceses,
declaring: "The projects in question have not yet the force of law; if
that should happen, however, with God's grace, let us defend
unanimously and constantly the principles exposed in our memorials,
those principles not being our own, but those of Christianity itself and
of eternal justice. We shall thus accomplish our pastoral duty even
until death, and as we stand before the tribunal of the divine Pastor
Who has called us, and Who Himself gave His life for His sheep, we shall
not be rejected as hirelings."

On May 16, the day when the May Laws first appeared before the public,
the bishops of Prussia sent a collective declaration to Secretary of
State, again stating their claims to liberty of conscience and affirming
the utter impossibility of submitting to these persecuting laws. "The
Church cannot recognize the principle of a pagan State, according to
which the civil laws are the only source of right, so that the Church
can have only so much liberty as is conceded by legislation and the
Constitution of the State. She cannot recognize such pretensions without
denying the divinity of Christ, the heavenly Source of her doctrine and
institution, and without placing Christianity itself under the arbitrary
caprice of men."

The example of the bishops found an echo in the courageous behavior of
the priests and faithful. From all sides the priests of Germany joined
in collective protestations of their loyalty to the principles of the
Church, and gave the lie to the Liberal sheets which pretended that
defections had already begun in the ranks of the clergy. The faithful
were not less zealous in manifesting their sentiments of admiration for
the courage of their bishops and priests, and of a determined resolve to
start firm for all their God and their Church should demand of them.

An election for the Reichstag was approaching, and the influential
Catholics of the Empire bent all their energies to gain whatever might
lie in their power. On May 20, this election took place at Neustadt, a
place that in 1871 had sent Count Oppensdorf, a strong partisan of
Bismarck, to the Chamber with a majority of 5000 votes. The Catholics
took up the struggle for this district. Their candidate was Count
Frederic von Stolberg-Stolberg. Their efforts were successful and the
Catholic candidate was elected by a vote of 6427 against 2155. The glory
of this triumph was due principally to the work of the General
Association of German Catholics, which now took up the cause of Catholic
liberty as never before. As if in gratitude for this and some other
similar successes, the General Association, at once published an
official circular announcing that it had placed all Catholic committees
under the protection of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, and
declaring: "If we place our confidence in that Savior so bitterly
rejected by our times, we shall not be confounded."

The Government looked with astonishment upon these manifestations of
Catholic loyalty and zeal, and endeavored by subtle trickery to bring
them to nothing. To overcome the firm stand of the Catholic nobility,
Bismarck induced Prince Ratibor, a Catholic, whose honor was not
immaculate, to address the Emperor in the name of the Catholic people.
His memorial entitled "_Address of the Catholics of the State_,"
recognized in the imperial Government the right of placing the Church in
subjection; but nobody, even among the enemies of the Church, was
deceived by the ruse.

The High Court for Ecclesiastical Affairs now began its work. It was
composed at the time of nine Protestants and two Catholics, Dooc and
Forckenbeck, both being creatures of Bismarck. It immediately sent out
its police inspectors to spy upon all public meetings; every speech was
criticized, the audience disturbed, the names of all present at such
meetings set down in note books, and, if caprice so dictated, the
meetings might be dissolved by the police. While every sheet that
attacked the Catholics was protected and subsidized, the Catholic
newspapers were subjected to vexatious intermeddling and suppression.
Many Catholic editors, like Dr. Majunke, of the _Germania_, payed for
their zeal by imprisonment.

In the midst of these troubles, Pope Pius IX. wrote on August 7, 1873,
to the Emperor: "Every measure of the Government demonstrates that its
intention is to combat Catholicity; nor is there any apparent reason for
such deeds; His Majesty approves of them as is shown by his letters; how
then, can they continue? Does not the Emperor perceive that they are a
menace to his throne?" The answer of William was worthy of the injustice
of his Government; he defended himself by appealing to his rights and
casting the blame upon the Centre and the German bishops. This
correspondence between the Emperor and the Pope was spread throughout
all Germany, which in its inflamed state was willing to take every word
of the Pontiff as an insult and cause for further persecution. But the
holy Pontiff, in his Encyclical of November 21, 1873, exposed the
hypocritical sophisms of the Emperor, and upheld both the Centre and the
bishops in the magnificent work they were carrying on.

In the meantime a ministerial ordinance of Falk, dated September 2,
abolished all difference between the Old Catholics and the Catholics of
Rome, declaring that the name, Catholic, should be common to both. At
the same time, Reinkens of Breslau, who had been chosen by his
co-religionaries as the "German Bishop," and consecrated by the
Jansenists of Deventee and Harlem, was so highly recognized by the
Government, that the Emperor decided, by an official act, communicated
on September 19, to all the provincial governors, that "Bishop" Reinkens
constituted a part of the Catholic Church. The document is interesting:
"We, William, by the grace of God, King of Prussia, etc., announce by
these presents that we recognize and wish to have recognized as a
Catholic bishop Joseph Hubert Reinkens, ordinary professor in the
Faculty of theology of Breslau."

_WAR OF VIOLENCE._

The May Laws of 1873 were put into operation with hardly any delay. The
first to feel their force was Archbishop Melchers of Cologne, who had
excommunicated the apostates, Rabbers and Pasfrath, and who had
forbidden any ecclesiastic ordained by the Jansenists of Utrecht to
exercise the clerical offices. The Government closed the Grand
Seminaries of Posen and of Paderborn after the bishops of those Sees had
refused to submit to the Government, or to bend to its will even after
the sequestration of their salaries. At Treves, Cologne and Fulda also
the income of the Seminaries were confiscated.

The Archbishop of Gnesen-Posen, Mgr. Ledochowski, had named a pastor and
a vicar without consulting the Government. He was cited before the High
Court, and was condemned to a fine of two hundred thallers, while the
two priests he had appointed received notice that they could not
exercise any ecclesiastical office. The same courageous Archbishop had
ordered that the catechism in the Catholic school of Wongrowitz should
be taught in the Polish language, while the Government demanded that it
should be taught in German. As a result the teachers of the school were
deprived of their places, and an effort was made to forbid religious
instruction even in the churches.

Again in August the High Court condemned for the crime of appointing
pastors and assistants, the same Archbishop Ledochowski, together with
Bishops Förster of Breslau, Martin of Paderborn, Cardinal Schwartzemberg
of Prague, the Bishop of Olmutz and the Administrator of Freiberg in
Brisgovia. The two latter prelates were not even subjects of Prussia,
but were persecuted for having appointed pastors in Prussian territory
without the permission of Berlin. Bishop Koett of Fulda was actually
dying when the sentence of condemnation was launched against him; he saw
the closing of his Seminary just before he died on October 15, 1873. The
furniture of the dead prelate's house was taken to pay the fine imposed
upon him. Truly even the dead were pursued by the fanatics of hatred.

The bishops of Heldesheim, Osnabrück, Münster and Treves, were also
condemned by the High Court. Every day the priests of the Prussian
dioceses were punished for daring to prefer the jurisdiction of the
bishops to that of the bureaucrats. Religious and Sisters were hunted
and banished under the pretext that they were affiliated with the
Jesuits. Catholic teachers were driven from the schools, which were then
committed to Protestants, rationalists, anything but Catholics.

On November 24 the Government invited Mgr. Ledochowski to resign his
See; on the 30th of that month his palace was forced by agents of the
Government, and searched, and all his correspondence with Rome and with
his clergy was seized. In answer to the demand of the Government he had
declared that as he had been placed over his diocese by God, through the
means of His Vicar, the Government had no power to depose him; nor could
any Court deprive him of his jurisdiction; as to resigning his See,
that would never happen as long as his persecuted people were exposed to
such dangers.

On February 6, 1874, the Archbishop was arrested in his palace, and
without trial or sentence, was carried away to Ostrowo, where he was
cast into prison. On April 15 the High Court passed its sentence upon
the Archbishop, already in prison, as on March 31, Archbishop Mechers
had been sentenced and imprisoned. On March 6, Bishop Eberhard of Treves
received the same fate, and three days after soldiers and guards
surrounded his Grand Seminary, banished its directors and professors and
confiscated all its property.

In the meantime a dissension had arisen in the Camp of the enemy. Arnim,
who had served Bismarck during the Council of the Vatican, had come into
disfavor with his powerful employer, and began to show revolutionary
tendencies. One of the results of this discord between the Chancellor
and his former tool was the disclosure of certain shady operations of
Bismarck prior to 1870. Certain documents were brought forth showing
that, in 1869, Doellinger had influenced the Bavarian Prince Hohenlohe
to begin the war against Rome, and that at that time Bismarck was
laboring in every part of Europe to arouse the Governments against the
definition of papal infallibility. It was shown also that from June 18,
1870, this Arnim, whom Pius IX. called the "New Architofel," had
suggested against the Church all the measures of which Bismarck had made
use during the year that followed. These revelations coming thus in
1874, in the very heat of the persecution, gave additional evidence that
the Council and the infallibility were only pretexts, and not the real
causes of the Kulturkampf, an event which had been in preparation long
before the Council was convened.

The greater indignities perpetrated upon the heads of the Catholic
Church in Germany now followed each other with such rapidity and
violence as to overshadow the thousands of minor grievances. On July 27,
1874, Bishop Janiczewski, auxiliary of the See of Posen, was imprisoned
at Kosmin for fifteen months for having assumed the episcopal office
without the permission of the Government. The same day, Mgr.
Koryskowski, delegated by the Archbishop of Gnesen to administer the
affairs of that diocese, was sent into exile at Stargard. The Canon
Woiyewski was imprisoned for having continued in his capacity as
ecclesiastical judge after the imprisonment of his Archbishop. Bishop
Martin of Paderborn was deposed from his bishopric; he refused to read
the sentence which was nailed to the door of his prison cell; he was
liberated, however, but conducted to the frontiers at Wesel. On January
18, 1875, the Seminary of Fulda, the most ancient establishment of its
kind in Germany, was closed.

The record of persecution during the first five years of the Kulturkampf
is an appalling arraignment of its perpetrators. Five bishops
imprisoned, and all bishops fined and insulted, fourteen hundred priests
incarcerated, all the seminaries closed, it seemed little short of
miraculous that religion survived the merciless onslaught. Yet the end
had not arrived. On December 4, 1874, Bismarck suppressed the embassy to
the Vatican, an act which moved the Catholic people to send to the
Sovereign Pontiff an address signed by all the faithful of the Empire.
It was in answer to this address that Pius IX. published that eloquent
encyclical of February 5, 1875.

Strange to say, however, all the previous legislation had not begotten
the results that were expected. The clergy like the episcopate resisted
the anti-religious laws, preferring exile, imprisonment and fines to
defection, however tempting. The faithful stood loyally by their
afflicted pastors, refusing with one mind the ministrations of
ecclesiastics sent to them by governmental orders.

The Chancellor, therefore, was driven to a final resort to effect his
purpose of extinguishing Catholic faith in Germany. Accordingly a new
series of laws was elaborated, entitled the Sperrgesetz, or laws
suppressing the payments made to ecclesiastics by the State. One cannot
rightly term these payments "salaries," a word which indicates no other
claim than remuneration for services performed. The amounts annually
payed to the Church by the State were moneys which the State owed to the
Church since the beginning of the century on account of the wholesale
confiscation of ecclesiastical properties and revenues following upon
the Treaty of Luneville in 1803. As such they had been formally
recognized, and hence their payment to the officials of the Church was a
matter of justice which the State could not afford to refuse without
incurring the stigma of robbery.

This, however, was the object of the new laws which were as follows:

     Article 1. Beginning from the day on which the present law
     shall be published, the payment of all that the Government
     has hitherto allotted to dioceses, to institutions and to
     ecclesiastics who belong to such dioceses shall be
     suppressed. The same measure shall be extended to such
     ecclesiastical funds as the State administers permanently.

     Art. 2. The ecclesiastical salaries shall be re-established
     whenever the bishop, or the diocesan administrator shall
     pledge himself in writing to observe the laws of the State.

     Art. 3. In the dioceses of Posen-Gnesen and Paderborn the
     ecclesiastical salaries shall be re-established as soon as a
     new bishop shall be appointed in concert with the Government.

     Art. 5. If in any diocese, in which the ecclesiastical
     salaries shall have been re-established, any priest refuses
     obedience to the laws of the State despite the pledges given
     by his bishop, the Government is authorized to suppress anew
     any allowance in favor of such recalcitrants.

     Art. 6. The Government is authorized to re-establish the
     salaries of priests who by their acts manifest the intention
     of obeying the laws of the State. If after that they shall
     violate the law, the suppression of their salaries shall be
     enforced.

This was the law, variously called the Brodkorbgesetz, the Sperrgesetz
and the like, which was passed on April 22, 1875, with the hope thereby
of starving the priesthood of Germany into submission.

On May 13, 1875, the minister Falk brought forth another law placing
under the power of the State all sales and alienations of ecclesiastical
properties and of pious foundations. A law of June 20 gave to the State
the temporal administration of Catholic parishes; it was a law very much
like that of the present French regime which would impose associations
cultuelles upon the French churches. On July 4 came a still more
iniquitous ordinance, regulating "the rights of the Old Catholics to the
property of the churches." Thereby these sectaries were authorized to
claim a part of the usufruct of parochial properties, and to employ in
their services the use of Catholic churches and vestments.

If a pastor or curate should apostatize to this sect he might claim
possession of the rectory and church, which at his death would pass into
the hands of the Old Catholics, should they be in the majority. In fact,
in some places, such as Bochum and Wiesbaden, the Catholics were
expelled from their Church by a very small minority of the sectaries.

On February 18, 1876, the priest was deprived of the right of directing
Catholic instruction in the primary schools. On June 7, of the same
year, the State claimed formally the right of surveillance over the
administration of the property of the Catholic Church.

There was little more that the State could now do to subjugate Catholic
faith short of absolute murder. The Kulturkampf had reached its most
critical stage. It was, indeed, a moment when the human pride of the
persecutors impelled them to boast of their crimes, and promise, if it
were possible, greater exactitude in the future. The Chancellor could
declare, in 1877, that the Kulturkampf was then at its zenith. In
consequence it was time to look for that civilization which Virchow had
prophesied as its ultimate result. Its real fruits were not what
Bismarck or his Protestant clientele would have wished.

A new order had arisen in Germany, an order of unrest and anarchy which
manifested its existence in a manner not at all to the liking of the
ruling powers. Thus, on May 11, 1878, the Socialist Hoedel attempted the
life of the Emperor, and the crime was repeated by Nobiling a few weeks
after, on June 2. Even Protestantism felt the destructive force of the
blow aimed at Catholicity. There were hardly any more marriages
performed by Protestant ministers; their temples were deserted; their
pastors openly attacked the divinity of Christ, while everywhere like a
shadow of death a reign of crime and immorality rested upon the
population.

_TURN OF THE TIDE._

The country at length began to awaken to a sense of the criminality of
those laws which it had imposed upon an inoffensive people. Even the
_Gazette of the Cross_, the organ of the orthodox conservatives, could
say: "It is through the Kulturkampf that we have encountered our moral
and material miseries, miseries that are evident in every part of the
German Empire. It is only by renouncing the Kulturkampf, and the ideas
which brought it forth, that we can hope to escape from our
embarrassments. Such is our opinion, and it is becoming more general
every day. Where there is a will there is a way." The _Gazette_ but
echoed the sentiments of nearly all the German Protestants who had
retained anything of Christian faith, and in consequence a demand was
sounded throughout the Empire for a cessation of the persecution.

Bismarck, himself, though still wedded to his hope of dominating the
spiritual life of the Church, saw clearly that his methods had proven
abortive. Hence, from 1878 onward, the trend of governmental action
proceeded slowly but surely towards a reconciliation with the Catholic
elements in the nation. Moreover, it was becoming more and more evident
that the Government needed the co-operation of the Catholics in curbing
the spirit of revolution now making itself heard above the clamor of
intrigue and oppression.

It was not surprising, therefore, that Prince Bismarck should turn to
the Holy See for succor in his difficulty. Mgr. Masella, the papal
nuncio at Munich, afterwards Cardinal, was therefore invited to Berlin
to confer upon matters touching the relations of Church and State. Such
a visit, however, was entirely out of the question as long as the laws
against Catholics continued in vigor. The Chancellor contrived
nevertheless to arrange a meeting at the baths of Kissingen, but without
arriving at any satisfactory agreement. The Prince then sent his
representative, Count Hübner, to Vienna to confer with the papal nuncio
at that Court, Mgr. Jacobini. Again negotiations were opened at Gastein
in the duchy of Salzburg, but like the others came to naught, as the
papal representative refused conciliation as long as the May Laws should
continue.

It now became quite evident that the plans of Bismarck must require a
reversal of his former policy. Accordingly, in 1880, a beginning was
made by a slight modification of the obnoxious laws. The Government
thereby yielded its claim to the right of deposing ecclesiastics; in
1881, it recognized the vicars-general who had been appointed through
ecclesiastical channels to administer the dioceses of Paderborn,
Osnabrück and Breslau; nor were these prelates required to take the oath
of blind obedience to obnoxious laws. The bishoprics of Fulda and of
Treves had been filled by papal appointment, the former receiving as its
incumbent, Mgr. Kopp, and the latter, Mgr. Korum; strange to say, the
Chancellor recognized both prelates.

These victories of the Catholics, slight in themselves, were powerful as
evidencing the direction of governmental policies. The reversion,
however, of Bismarck, was not so quickly followed by the creatures whom
he had placed in the Chambers, and whose hostility to Catholic interests
continued as violent and bitter as ever. "Let us be patient for one or
two years," cried Bennigsen, the leader of the Liberals, "and we shall
see the fruits of our glorious policy; we shall have conquered the
Pope." In two years, 1882, the Pope remained unconquered, while in
Germany the Catholic party increased in numbers and in power.

On May 31, 1883, new concessions were made to the Catholics. Provision
was made for the pardoning of deposed bishops, the legal formalities
required by candidates for ecclesiastical offices could be dispensed
with at the option of the Minister of Worship, the State examinations
of ecclesiastical students were set aside. Still the May Laws remained
upon the statute books, and against them the Centre party, under the
leadership of Windthorst, continued to protest even though advised to
show some leniency by Mgr. Galimberti. The firmness of the great leader
was rewarded. The affair of the Caroline Islands, disputed between
Germany and Spain, gave Bismarck an opportunity of approaching the Holy
See with better grace than before. Accordingly the Chancellor arranged
that the Holy Father, Leo XIII., should be invited to arbitrate between
the contending nations. The Sovereign Pontiff could not help being
happily impressed by this diplomatic action on the part of the two
powers, which thereby recognized the Holy Father as a temporal sovereign
despite the Piedmontese occupation of Rome.

The successful result of the papal arbitration opened up new avenues
whereby reconciliation might be effected in Germany. The Sees of Cologne
and Fribourg were at once filled, and Mgr. Kopp, Bishop of Fulda, was
offered a seat in the Upper House of Prussia. In return for the many
evidences of good feeling thus betrayed by the Government, Cardinal
Ledochowski, who knew himself to be a persona non grata to the Prussian
State, resigned his diocese of Posen, which was immediately filled by a
new incumbent, Mgr. Dinder. On May 21, 1886, the theological schools
were re-established as they had been before the beginning of the
Kulturkampf. The High Court instituted for the adjudging of
ecclesiastical affairs was suppressed, and the Sovereign Pontiff was
hitherto to be recognized as the superior judge in such matters. The
elections of February, 1887, increased the numbers of the Centre party,
and Bismarck, thereupon, deemed the time fitting to end once for all the
supreme trial of the Kulturkampf. Certain modifications of the May Laws
were placed in the hands of the Centre; some were accepted, others
rejected. The concessions, however, were of such a nature that they
might be in a way accepted, inasmuch as they gave promise of other and
larger benefits. Through that diplomatic farsightedness which ever
distinguished the great Pope Leo XIII., affairs were gradually assuming
a condition satisfactory to the Catholics of Germany, although
Windthorst and the Centre Party still claimed many concessions due in
ordinary justice. The peace finally concluded, the Holy Father conferred
upon the Chancellor the Order of Christ. It was a complimentary
decoration that if it did not win the real convictions of Bismarck, at
least served to silence any open hostility on his part for the future.
The May Laws were finally revised in the Reichstag and abolished.
Thenceforth cordial relations were established between the Pope and the
Emperor William II. The Catholics of Germany began to taste the fruits
of peace; today they have become a power in the country.

CHAPTER VI.

The Third Republic.

The Second Empire, especially during its last ten years, had proven
itself no less hostile and treacherous to the Church than had many of
its predecessors. This was evident most of all in the unworthy treatment
of the Holy See during its trying conflict with the revolutionists of
Italy. France had encouraged the spoliation of the Papal States by the
forces of Garibaldi and Victor Emmanuel, and in 1870 it was forced to
abandon Rome to the Italian Unionists. Before this last act had been
consummated, however, a revolution broke out in France, September 4,
1870, and overturned the imperial Government.

[Illustration: FATHER OLIVAINT, S. J., and OTHER MARTYRS OF THE
COMMUNE.]

The new republic was born in the midst of war and confusion. The
Prussians were already displaying admirable vigor and activity, and the
cause of France was trembling in the balance. A provisory government was
established, entitled the Government of the National Defence. During the
five and a half months of its life the National Defence held its
sessions in Paris, then surrounded by the besieging forces of the enemy.
In the meantime the French armies met with one defeat after another.
Paris itself capitulated on Jan. 29, 1871. Preliminaries of peace were
signed that day at Versailles and confirmed by the Treaty of Frankfort
on May 10 of the same year. After the capitulation of Paris a general
election was held to provide representatives to a national Assembly.
This Assembly met at Bordeaux and named Adolph Thiers, Chief of the
Executive of the French Republic. On August 31 of the same year, 1871,
Thiers was elected President of the Republic. The presidents thence to
the present time were: Marshal MacMahon, from May 24, 1873 to 1879;
Jules Grévy, from January 30, 1879 to December, 1887; Sadi Carnot, from
December 3, 1887, to his assassination in June, 1894; Casimir Périer,
from June 27, 1894, to January, 1895; Felix Faure, from January 17,
1895, to his death, Feb. 16, 1899; Loubet, from Feb. 18, 1899, to
February, 1906; Fallières, at present holding that office.

_THE COMMUNE._

It was while the Prussian army was yet encamped near Paris, during the
months of March, April and May of 1871, that the Commune held its sway.
At the very moment when France was bleeding from a thousand wounds, the
International, taking advantage of the circumstances, and aided by
150,000 of the National Guard, took possession of Paris and ruled the
city with a high hand. On March 18 the Assembly fled to Versailles,
leaving the place in the hands of the insurgents. On the 26th a species
of election was held which surrendered the destinies of the Capital to
the Commune. It numbered among its members fifty-four Jacobins,
Blanquists and Hebertists, out of a total of seventy-nine. It was an
assembly of Internationalists indeed. During the two months that
followed, from March 18 to May 26, nothing was done without the
approbation or intervention of the International.

[Illustration: ABBE DEGUERRY. A Martyr of the Commune.]

Socialists of a later date, in their shame over the excesses of their
party, have endeavored to excuse their actions; but the cold facts of
history stand unshaken to condemn them, and to point out the sort of
destiny to which practical socialism must inevitably lead.

The Commune was an orgy of dissipation. Its officials, to compensate
themselves for their services, sat down to banquets worthy of
Sardanapalus, where there was no lack of the wines of Beaune and Màcon,
nor of litres of cognac, nor of routs unmentionable. The simple National
Guards gorged themselves with wine and alcohol, while the common people
looked on and howled their approbation and applause. There were women in
their ranks, dressed as men, who feared neither sword nor rifle, and to
whom in their unsexed condition the horrors of bloodshed and
conflagration acted as intoxicating draughts of burning absinthe.

The Commune was above all an explosion of rage against religion and the
middle classes. All who in any way represented religion or the social
order--priests, magistrates, soldiers, police--were arrested and cast
into prison as "hostages." The Archbishop of Paris, Mgr. Darboy; M.
Bonjean, President of the Tribunal; M. Deguerry, Pastor of the
Madeleine; the Jesuits; the Fathers of Picpus; the Dominicans; the
Sulpicians, and other priests, besides an entire convent of religious
women, were confined in the various jails of the city. The Commune
imprisoned about 5000 persons, both lay and clerical. At the same time
it laid hands upon the property of the churches, sacked the Archbishop's
palace, and turned the churches to sacrilegious and scandalous uses.

Feeling at length that its victory could only be short-lived, and that
Paris must soon fall before the army of MacMahon, surrounding it from
without, the Commune began its campaign of destruction of the city
itself. Vast quantities of petroleum were procured, and tons of
gun-powder were made the instruments for furthering this end. On the
night of May 21, the army of Versailles made a breach in the walls, the
savage instincts of the mob were loosened and the "bloody week" began.
Cluseret, the International, had already written: "It is we, or
nothing! Paris will be ours, or it will cease to exist." The Commune
accomplished as much as it could of this sinister programme.

[Illustration: ADOLF THIERS. First President of French Republic.]

As the army of Versailles advanced, the Communards applied the torch to
every monument of note that came in their way.

During the 23rd of May petroleum was poured upon the Tuileries, and all
along the Rue de Lille. Toward the end of the day the buildings on the
Rue Royale and the Rue Saint-Honoré were burning. The Court of Accounts,
the Legion of Honor, the Council of State, the Barracks, went down one
by one. The next day the flames attacked the Prefecture of Police, the
City Hall, the Custom House, the Archives and other buildings. How far
the fury of the Communards might have gone toward the complete
destruction of Paris cannot be said; it was a fortunate circumstance
which saved from their torches the Louvre with its treasures of art, and
the great Church of Notre Dame.

When it was not possible to employ fire, the artillery was called into
action. The batteries of Père-Lachaise poured shot and shell against the
dome of St. Augustine's, the bourse, the post-office, and other
prominent edifices. Murder accompanied the horrors of fire. Men were
shot down in the open street, or stabbed in the shadows of dark alleys.
Six hostages, among them Mgr. Darboy and M. Bonjean fell at La Roquette.
Fifteen priests and religious sustained on that day the agonies that
make martyrs, pierced with bullets, transfixed by bayonets, and beaten
to death by the blows of a savage mob. With them a number of laymen fell
victims to hatred on that fateful 25th of May, 1871.

[Illustration: JULES FERRY.]

While all Europe felt a thrill of horror at these cowardly and brutal
deeds, socialism seized the occasion to chant the praises of the
Commune. Its principal organ, the _Vorbote_, calls it a revolution
"which the socialist democracy of the whole world ought to hail with
enthusiasm," "which is only an episode in the social revolution." "The
Commune is dead," it cried, "Long live the Commune!"

_ANTI-CLERICALISM._

It is not surprising that a Government born under such auspices should
prove very unfavorable to the cause of religious and social freedom. The
first promptings of war against the Church had sounded in the very first
moments of the Third Republic. Its actual declaration and acts of
hostility required a preparation of several years. It was on May 4,
1877, that M. Gambetta terminated his vehement assault upon the Catholic
Church in the Chamber of Deputies with those words which have become
famous: "Our enemy is clericalism!" In spite of the protest uttered by
the Count de Mun, the Chamber acquiesced silently in the charge and
thereby betrayed its evident purpose of antagonizing the Church. The
administration of President MacMahon proving unfavorable to
anti-religious sectarianism, it was determined to compel the hero of so
many battles to resign--a consummation that was finally effected in
January, 1879.

_THE CAMPAIGN OF JULES FERRY._

The following election placed Jules Grévy in the chair, with Jules Ferry
as Minister of Public Instruction. The latter, one of the most acrobatic
and unscrupulous demagogues of the century, would have courted the favor
of the Catholic party had it been dominant at the time; but his
ambition for power and notoriety led him to the side he found most
opportune. His zeal against the Church was increased by the competition
of such rivals as Gambetta, Brisson and Paul Bert, all worthy apostles
in the cause of de-christianization. The law of laicisation constitutes
the culminating point in the life of Jules Ferry.

This law was not of recent origin; it had already been proposed in 1876,
by the extreme Left. Paul Bert was then one of its most enthusiastic
exponents. It is a law that denies to French Catholics the most
essential liberties.

It required the elimination of the religious element in the Superior
Council of Public Instruction, the reservation to the State of the
monopoly of degrees, the suppression of mixed juries,--established by
the law of 1875 in regard to higher education,--the suppression of
university rights for every Catholic establishment of superior
education, and, finally, it asserted that every member of a Congregation
not authorized should be held incapable of participating in any
instruction public or private. In a word, it made the Catholic an
outcast in the domain of education.

The discussion upon the law took place in the Chamber from June 16 to
July 9, 1879. During this time the high lodges of Masonry hoped to
diminish in the eyes of Catholics the importance of this law. But the
Catholic Press did its duty; the question was placed in its proper
light, public attention was awakened, and the contest promised to become
warm. It became especially bitter when the discussions touched upon the
Congregations. Jules Ferry had inserted in the bill, under Article VII.,
the words: "No one shall be permitted to participate in instruction,
whether public or private, or to direct an establishment of instruction,
of whatever order it may be, who belongs to a Congregation not
authorized."

These few lines awakened the Catholics of the country, and with them the
more honest republicans. To declare an immense category of French
citizens incapable of teaching, in spite of the fact that they held
diplomas, and that only because they pleased to live in community,
constituted the most evident violation of justice and equality.

A cry of protest went up from every side. Jules Ferry, realizing that he
was playing his highest stakes, and urged on by his brethren, struggled
desperately for his _Article_. Moreover, all the Masonic lodges had
entered into the contest; every morning the irreligious journals,
denounced the Congregations as the great peril of the nation. Political
questions, both foreign and domestic, seemed to have no more interest;
the military reorganization of Germany was forgotten; all attention was
concentrated upon the Congregations, the members of which were
themselves astonished at the importance given to them by their
adversaries; even in the tribune it was considered proper to discuss
cases of conscience selected from old volumes of Jesuit theologians.

Nevertheless, despite the mobilization of all the forces of irreligion,
despite the explosion of the most unbridled anger that was ever seen
since the Revolution, despite the personal intervention of De Freycinet
at the Luxembourg the Senate, influenced by more than 1,800,000 protests
from heads of families, vetoed _Article VII_. Jules Ferry was defeated,
and every one imagined his defeat to be definitive.

[Illustration: JULES GRÉVY.]

The worthy Minister of Public Instruction revised his tactics. Repulsed
in one method of action, he knew how to gain his end by other and more
decisive ways. On March 27, 1880, in concert with his friends of the
Cabinet, he induced the President to affix his signature to the famous
decrees of expulsion. In virtue of these decrees, which were launched
under the pretence of "existing laws," thousands of religious were
expelled from their convents--with what violence, and in the midst of
what protestations and tragic incidents, it would take too long to tell.

When the decrees were made known to the Pope Leo XIII., on March 31, the
Holy Father replied to M. Desprez, then ambassador of France to the Holy
See:

     The Church, which seeks the salvation of souls, has no more
     ardent desire than to preserve peace with those who govern
     public affairs, and to strengthen that peace among peoples.
     At the same time, the Church never changes. We are plunged in
     grief to learn that it is intended to adopt certain measures
     in regard to the religious Congregations. In the eyes of the
     Holy See the Congregations are all of equal value. Our heart
     is torn with the profoundest sorrow to learn that they have
     become the butt of a hostile power, and it is our duty to
     raise our voice to protest in their favor.

Still later, in writing to Cardinal Guibert, the Holy Father said:

     As soon as the expulsion of the Company of Jesus was ordered,
     we have directed our Nuncio in Paris to bear our
     remonstrances to the members of the government of the
     Republic, and to represent to them the injustice of this
     treatment accorded to men of virtue, of devotion, and of
     recognized and approved learning. But, as the remonstrances
     formulated by our Nuncio have been fruitless, we were on the
     point of raising our Apostolic voice, as it was our right and
     our duty to do, when it was represented to us that there was
     a chance of arresting the execution of the decrees.

This last resource, which M. de Freycinet proposed to the Holy Father,
was to obtain from the Congregations not yet stricken the written
declaration that they were not hostile to the political institutions of
France. Following the guidance of Cardinals Guibert and Bonnechose, and
counselled by the Holy Father, the Congregations appended their
signatures to the declaration. The action of M. Freycinet only aroused
the anger of the Masons, whose adherents in the Cabinet met the
declaration and destroyed it as soon as presented. Freycinet was not
long in meeting summary punishment from the sectaries. On the day
following the presentation of the declaration he was forced to resign
his portfolio.

_EXPULSION OF RELIGIOUS._

In October, 1880, the expulsions began. The residences and colleges of
the Jesuits and other Congregations were entered and their occupants
driven out. Very often the military were called upon to enforce the
decrees. It was to no purpose that the Catholics of the nation lifted up
their voices in angry protest, or that bishops--like Mgr. Gay and Mgr.
de Cabrieres--clothed in their pontifical vestments, uttered sentence of
excommunication against the despoilers. The rout went on with
ever-increasing ardor. It is to the credit of the French bar of the time
that it refused to concur in the shameful acts. M. Chesnelong, in 1891,
writes: "After the decrees of March 29, 1880, more than three hundred
magistrates abandoned their career rather than sacrifice the least
particle of their honor; these heroes of duty displayed a magnificent
spirit of sacrifice to the very end."

Against the Congregations not attainted by the decrees, recourse was had
to tactics slower but more perfidious. They were rounded up in a
pitiless circle of taxes and assessments to such an extent as to rob the
Congregations of one-fifth of their net revenues.

Once more the Holy Father sent forth his vigorous protestations. In an
open letter to Cardinal Guibert of Paris, dated October 22, 1880, after
reviewing the situation he writes: "But today, in the midst of these new
disasters, our emotion is great, our anguish is extreme; and we cannot
help but grieve and protest against the injury done to the Catholic
Church." The great Pope ended by declaring that "in the presence of this
license, the duties of his office commanded him to safeguard with
invincible constancy the institutions of the Church, and to defend her
rights with a courage that would not end at any peril." Following this
letter of the Sovereign Pontiff the Apostolic Nuncio, Mgr. Czacki,
proceeded in a few weeks, November 25, to the Minister of Foreign
Affairs, and placed before him a ministerial declaration of November 9,
which glorified in having dispersed two hundred and sixty-one
non-authorized establishments, together with a note protesting against
these avowed and cowardly persecutions.

The word, however, had gone forth to pursue the Church and her influence
wherever they should appear, in any form. During the ten following years
a veritable fury of laicisation and de-christianization was let loose.
Catholicity was hunted down in every section of the social organization.
The laws were penetrated more and more with an irreligious spirit. In
the army the chaplaincies were disorganized. (Law of July 8, 1880) the
military Mass was suppressed, and the troops were forbidden to take
part--as a body--in any religious ceremonies (Ministerial circulars of
December 7 and 29, 1883), nor were they permitted even to enter a
Catholic Church in a body (Decree October 23, 1883); moreover, numerous
Catholic military associations were closed upon the slightest pretext.
In the Courts the usual prayers at the opening of judicial proceedings
were either suppressed or declared optional (May 23, 1884); the
members of the bar were forbidden to assist in a body at religious
processions (May 23, 1880). In the matter of education the bishops and
clergy were excluded from the Superior Council of Public Instruction.
Before 1880 the episcopate had been represented in this Council by four
of its members. Since that date the representatives of private education
held four seats out of sixty; but a priest has never been admitted.

[Illustration: PRESIDENT SADI CARNOT.]

In the matter of higher education, the faculties of Catholic theology in
the Sorbonne were suppressed (Budget of 1885), while the Protestant
faculties have been maintained. In secondary education, religious
instruction was made optional (December 21, 1881). In primary education
a law of March 28, 1882, interdicted anyone from teaching the catechism
in the local schools. In the prisons the religious services were notably
reduced. In the hospitals of many cities the Sisters were driven out
despite protestations of all kinds; moreover, no priest was henceforth
to be placed upon the administrative commissions of the hospitals (April
5, 1879). The curés were also driven from the bureau of charity (April
5, 1879). The exterior ceremonies of religion were forbidden in the
streets and religious monuments proscribed. In the cemeteries
non-Catholics were to be admitted to burial side by side with Catholics
(November 15, 1881.) In the churches, the mayor of the town was to have
a key, could order the church bells to be rung, and exercise police
supervision within the church limits, in contradiction to Article XV.,
of the Concordat. In the workshops and factories the law of Sunday rest
was abrogated (1880.) In private houses, no private chapels might be
maintained. In the family, the law of divorce was felt (July 27, 1884.)
In May, 1893, this law was so transformed that a mere separation lasting
three years could then, on the demand of one of the parties, be
changed into absolute divorce. Civil contracts were elevated to a
position of honor. The laws stood at the bedside of the dying to prevent
the making of pious legacies; in the cemeteries civil funerals were
permitted with attendant anti-religious manifestations, and the new
practice of cremation.

[Illustration: CASIMER PÉRIER.]

The laws oppressed the consciences of the people by the pressure
constantly exercised and the menace held over the heads of functionaries
culpable of confiding their children to Christian teachers, of taking
part in Catholic works, or of simply performing their religious duties.
State officials were spied upon, denounced, reprimanded, and disgraced
because they endeavored to reconcile the accomplishment of their duties
to the State with the open practice of their religious obligations.

In the matter of schools the laws were especially unreasonable. In 1880,
lyceums were opened for young girls in order to transform their Catholic
spirit. In October 30, 1886, a law was voted declaring that thenceforth
all Congregation teachers, male and female, should be excluded from all
public schools, primary and maternal. In schools for boys the law was
executed promptly, and their personal administrations were completely
laicised before October, 1891. The schools for girls were subjected to
the change more gradually but none the less effectively. By the law of
March 28, 1882, priests were excluded from the schools. In November,
1882, it was forbidden to display any longer the crucifix, which was
thereupon taken down from the walls and cast, in many cases, into the
filth of the sewers.

Other laws attainted the salaries of the clergy. In 1886 that of the
bishops was reduced by one-third, and that of the archbishops by
one-fourth. The salaries of canons were gradually extinguished
altogether, as were also those of many curacies and assistants. The
same method of reduction was brought to bear upon the allowances for
seminaries; the towns were released from the obligation of repairing
churches and religious establishments of charity. From 1876 to 1893, the
budget for religious worship was reduced from 53,727,925 to 42,560,000
francs, or more than 11,000,000.

Still other laws affected the work of the bishops in the administration
of their dioceses. In 1892, the Archbishop of Rheims was condemned for
having taught the Catholic doctrine of marriage, and the Bishop of Lucon
for defending the rights of the Pope. Other bishops were prosecuted for
instructing the faithful in regard to their duty in the elections. In
1889, a law was framed imposing on all religious without exception the
obligation of serving three years in the army. Its object was evidently
to destroy the spirit of the priesthood in the hearts of young men, an
object, however, which happily failed of its realization.

[Illustration: PRESIDENT FELIX FAURE.]

In the midst of all these exasperating infractions of religious liberty,
the Catholic people of France were constantly consoled by the deep and
abiding interest manifested by the Holy Father. In 1884, he addressed to
them his celebrated encyclical _Nobilissima Gallorum gens_, an effusion
of fatherly tenderness towards a noble daughter of the Church. In a
magnificent word-picture he spoke of the past grandeur of France, he
deplored her present evils, and he pointed out, as an efficacious
remedy, a cordial understanding and necessary concord between Church and
State. This understanding the Concordat of 1801 had cemented for the
happiness and prosperity of a country which was then at the height of
its power. And it was still to the Concordat not mutilated and denatured
in its letter and spirit, but loyally interpreted and honestly executed
that recourse must be had for the re-establishment of union and peace.
At the same time he warned the bishops that they should give no occasion
for a suspicion of hostility to the Republic: "Nemo jure criminabitur
vos constitutae reipublicae adversari." The same sentiments, calling for
close union among Catholics in a Catholic State, were reiterated in his
letter to the Bishop of Perigueux, and in his encyclicals, _Immortale
Dei_ of November 19, 1885, in his _Libertas_, June 20, 1888, and still
more in the encyclical, _Sapientiae Christianae_, January 10, 1890, all
of which while defending the glory and rights of the French Catholics,
instructed them in the duties and methods of unity among themselves, and
of loyalty to the Republic.

_CATHOLICS AND THE REPUBLIC._

The enemies of the Church, who during former periods had rested the
defence of their persecutions upon the doctrines and internal life of
Catholics, began during the period of the Third Republic to have
recourse to tactics more effective among a people to whom republican
liberty appeared the consummation of all national well-being. The
Government no longer dared to touch upon the religion of the soul; it
perceived clearly that dogmas and the internal rules of morality were
beyond the scope of civil legislation. In its new war upon religion it
invoked against the Church reasons of State, and interests of a
political order. Comprehending as they did that the French people were
attached to republican institutions, the party of persecution endeavored
to represent the Catholics as the enemies of the republican Government
while they would identify their own cause with that of the established
power.

The Catholics were accused of political ends in all their actions, and
their zeal in defending the spiritual order was transformed into a
greedy desire for exclusive advancement in things temporal. Hence the
Government, menaced by the plots and schemes of Catholics, was obliged
to defend itself, and to adopt the most effective measures for
destroying Catholic conspiracy. These insinuations were constantly
injected into the masses by anti-Christian journals, orators, and
demagogues, whose perpetual cry was that the Church is the enemy of the
State, of civil authority, of modern society and of intellectual
progress, all of which were by them comprehended in the term "Republic."

[Illustration: PAUL BERT.]

The tactics in themselves are not historically new. You find them
mentioned in the Gospel as employed by the Jews in their false testimony
against Christ when they represented Him as a disturber of the people,
as one who would forbid the tribute to Caesar, as one who called
Himself a King. For whosoever maketh himself a king is an enemy to
Caesar. Later still, the pagans in their envy of the Christians, called
them "useless beings, dangerous and factious citizens, the enemies of
the Empire and of the Emperors."

     The same complaints and the same bitterness are renewed more
     or less in the succeeding centuries as often as there are
     governments unreasonably jealous of their power, and animated
     with intentions hostile to the Church. They always know how
     to put before the public the pretext of pretended usurpations
     of the Church over the State, in order to furnish the State
     with the appearance of right in its encroachments and
     violence toward the Catholic religion. (Encyclical of Leo
     XIII. to the Catholics of France, Feb. 16, 1892.)

There were not wanting apologists to place the true position of
Catholics before the nation. Thus Cardinal Guibert, Archbishop of Paris,
in his letter addressed to the President of the Republic, March 30,
1886, declared:

     No, the clergy never had, and has not today any spirit of
     hostility toward existing institutions.... If the Republic
     accepted the obligation, binding on all governments, of
     respecting the faith and worship of the vast majority of our
     country, it would find nothing in the doctrine of the Church,
     nor in her traditions, which would justify in a priest a
     sentiment of mistrust or opposition.... Monsieur le
     President, I appeal to your intelligence and your
     impartiality.... The Catholic clergy has made no opposition
     to the Government which rules France, but the Government for
     six years has not ceased to persecute the clergy, to weaken
     Christian institutions, and to prepare the abolition of
     religion itself.

So also spoke Mgr. Freppel, the bishop-deputy, in a discussion held in
the Chamber, December 12, 1891:

     It is evident that the President of the Council (M. de
     Freycinet) believes in a hostile attitude of the clergy
     towards the Republic. That hostile attitude I deny formally.
     Already, on a former occasion, I was not afraid, from the
     height of this tribune, to defy our adversaries to produce
     one single pastoral letter in which a member of the clergy
     shows himself in favor of the monarchy against the Republic.
     That challenge has remained unanswered. For, Monsieur
     President, to simply demand the modification of certain laws
     as unjust or anti-religious is not sufficient to merit even
     for an instant the epithet of an enemy to the Republic. We
     are certainly allowed to form a different conception of the
     Republic than yours; that is the right of every one. It is
     certainly permissible not to identify in principle the
     republican idea or form with atheism, anti-Christianism, or
     Freemasonry. One may combat these errors or these
     institutions without having thereby an attitude hostile to
     the Republic itself. All that you have the right to exact is
     that in no pastoral writing and by no pastoral act shall a
     member of the clergy pronounce against the actual form of the
     Government.

The French cardinals, January 16, 1892, presented the same ideas:

     To resume: respect for the laws of the country, where they do
     not conflict with the exigencies of conscience; respect for
     the representatives of power; the frank and loyal acceptation
     of political institutions; but, at the same time, a firm
     resistance to the encroachments of the secular power upon the
     spiritual domain ... such are the duties which, at the
     present hour, are imposed upon the conscience and patriotism
     of the French Catholics.

_POPE LEO XIII. AND THE REPUBLIC._

It is sufficiently evident that all these declarations were in perfect
conformity with the instructions of the Holy See; yet, that there might
be no doubt as to the authoritative teaching of the Church in that
matter, the Holy Father, Pope Leo XIII., addressed on February 16, 1892,
an encyclical letter to the Catholics of France, wherein he pointed out
the basis and conditions of a possible peace--provided it was sincerely
wished for--between Catholicism and the republican Government.

[Illustration: GAMBETTA.]

After denouncing the "vast plot which certain men have formed to
annihilate Christianity in France, and the animosity they display in
striving to realize their design," he proceeds:

     The Church, in her relations with the political powers,
     abstracts from the forms which differentiate them, in order
     to treat with them upon the great religious interests of
     peoples, knowing that to her belongs the duty of teaching
     them above every other interest. If each political form is
     good in itself, and can be applied to the government of
     peoples, the fact is that it does not encounter the political
     power under the same form among all peoples; each possesses
     its own. That form arises from the ensemble of circumstances,
     historical or national, but always human, which give rise in
     a nation to traditional or even fundamental laws, and through
     these is determined the particular form of government, the
     basis of transmission of supreme powers. It is useless to
     repeat that all individuals are bound to accept such
     governments, and to attempt in no way to overturn them or to
     change their form. Thence it is that the Church, the guardian
     of the truest and loftiest notion of political sovereignty,
     since she derives it from God, has always reproved the
     doctrines and condemned the men rebellious to legitimate
     authority. And that in times when the depositaries of power
     used it only to abuse her, thus depriving themselves of the
     most powerful support of their authority, and of the most
     efficacious means of popular obedience to their laws.

     But a difficulty presents itself: "This Republic," it may be
     said, "is animated by sentiments so anti-Christian that
     honest men, and above all Catholics, cannot conscientiously
     accept it." This it is which has given rise to dissensions
     and aggravated them. These unfortunate divergences would be
     avoided if one would only take into account the considerable
     distinction between Constituted powers and Legislation....
     Practically the quality of the laws depends more upon the
     quality of the men invested with power than upon the form of
     the power.... One can never approve of points of legislation
     which are hostile to Religion and to God; on the contrary it
     is a duty to reprove them.

[Illustration: CHARLES DE FREYCINET.]

The Holy Father thus makes it plain that the Church, and Catholics as
Catholics, are not opposed to existing governments, nor are they _in
principle_ opposed to the legislation of such governments, as long as
such legislation is not hostile to God and religion. When hostility of
this kind is found in legislation, it is the duty of Catholics to oppose
it and to strive to obtain a better law. The form of power remains the
same, and the Catholic people are held by their principles to support it
loyally.

These declarations coming from so many and such authoritative sources
had their effect upon the common sense of the French people. The spirit
of hostility to Catholicity and its institutions began to show a marked
diminution. This was evidenced most of all in the very abiding place of
former anti-Christianism, the French Chamber of Deputies. On March 3,
1894, M. Spuller, a disciple of Gambetta, and the man who had introduced
the famous Article VII. in 1879, made the following significant
declarations in the Chamber of that day:

     When the Republic had to struggle against the coalition of
     the old parties, when the Church served as a bond for all
     these old parties, I followed at that time the policy exacted
     by the circumstances, and which the supreme interest of the
     Republic commanded.... But does that mean that I ought to
     close my eyes to what is taking place today? Does it mean
     that those religious struggles which I once deplored and
     which I deplore still, which I proclaim a danger that ought
     to be avoided, a peril that it is to the interest of all of
     us to dissipate, does it mean that I did not deplore them
     even at the time I took so ardent a part in them? No,
     gentlemen, and if it were necessary for me today to summon
     what I consider the most precious of testimonies, because it
     is that of a conscience which has never weakened, I would
     address myself to my honorable and dear friend, M. Brisson; I
     would ask him to recall what he said to me himself in an
     intimate conversation, namely, that the struggle against
     clericalism, rendered necessary by the political action of
     the Church, is that which has done the most harm to the
     Republic, and has put back her triumph for ten or rather
     fifteen years.

     Very well, gentlemen, I believe with the profoundest
     conviction, that after twenty-five years of existence, after
     the proofs which the Republic has given of her resistance and
     vitality, this struggle ought, if not to cease altogether, at
     least to take on a different character.... I declare that now
     the Church, instead of serving as the support of the
     monarchical parties, has cast herself into the arms of the
     democracy. I declare that by this movement the Church will
     draw you perhaps, you republicans, further than you would
     wish to go, for if you do not take care she will regain over
     the masses the influence which you have lost. That is why I
     consider that we ought not to abandon any of our old