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    LETTER FROM GERMANY.

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    defence of truth , and has discharged its ignoble quiver full of vituperations , without , perceiving that Ijy such conduct it dishonours the holy cause it ¦ w ishes to defend : but this book is not of such , a class , and had it been , auch I should not have given it my sanction . But even had the book bren such , Iask again why is such tenderness shown for a few schismatics who disagree with us and among themselves , while none whatever is shown . for the whole remaining population who agree in holding the doctrines of Catholicism ? Do you , perhaps , suppose that the conscience of the latter is tob callous to feel , and that their hearts are not bitterly hurt by those shameless articles and those unworthy caricatures ¦ which are allowed to pass freely from hand to hand ; by those impious treatises , which come from abroad , and which now that the last barrier has been removed by you inundate us without stint or pause ; by those tracts . which the new preachers busy themselves in circulating , selling them for next to nothing , or even giving them away , and which are full of poisonous calumnies and impudent falsehoods against the Pope , against the pr iests , against the saints , against the sacraments , against everything we hold most dear and love mosc reverently . By such books , fpr example , as * Impious Rome , ' the ' Cardinal's Cabal , ' * the Priest and the Woman , ' the ' Cock of Caiaphas / the ' Errors of the Romish Church exposed by the Word of God / ' the " Bible and the Prison , " and such-like productions ? Would that your Excellency knew what deep and cruel wounds these things inflict upon the hearts , not only of fervent believers , but even of those in whom the distractions of the world seemed to have deadened the faith implanted and cherished by the piety of their mothers ! Would , that you knew what indignation was arising and was ever swelling to inore formidable proportions on account of such intolerable licence , so that , in fact , greater indignation could not be created by open patronage of error ! I myself am so terrified at this . indignation , that I have thought it my duty , as a Bishop and a citizen , to bear with patience the imputation of pusillanimity , sopner than strike a spark which might be followed , by so vast an explosion j and , instead , as I was strongly urged on every side , of exhibiting this deep grief of mine to the public gaze ( with the certainty , that my voice would find a solemn echo in every heart ) , I prepared to turn myself to you alone , appealing to your religion , to your political wisdom , to your justice . Listen , 1 . beseech you , to my prayers , and even if that be true , which some friends of yours go trumpeting about , but what I hold to be a grievous calumny , namel y ^ that the desire orhope to w in over the ; support of . a great foreign Power , and thus to further your political schemes , causes tou to disregard your duty as . a Christian , and to offend the religious feeling of ypur ; fejlbw citizens—rOthehj I pray you ; still remember that the Jews too , having rejected the kingdom of God , in the interest of their country aiid their nationality , lost both one and the other 1 : As for what concerns myself , being appojuted by God and . by the Church guardian of the faith of this illustrious city and of this noble people , celebrated above all for its religious glories I am resolved to fulfil the whole of my duties ; and now that the gentle measures of prudence are exhausted without success , instead of that same charity which has made me gentle and submissive to the necessities of the time , and which as long as the faith was not in jeopardy my conscience approved of , I shall put on that fiery zeal which bents those . who fight the battles of the Lord . I am prepared for all , and I well know that when I was consecrated Bishop 1 devoted myself to tribulation , to toil , to persecution , and to martyrdom . And what I have sworn , that , by the grace of God , I will perform . May your Excellency excuse the frank freedom of my language ; but I believed that , by so speaking , I did you honour . May God give you good counsels , as the high gifts which adorn your mind render it an object of attachment to all , and to me especially , who hold you for my son in Christ Jesus , and who would be thankful to show myself in truth what I have now the pleasure of subscribing myself , Your moat devoted servant , Giovacchino , Archbishop of Florence . At the Archiepiscopal Palace , 9 th December , 1859 . Reply of Baron Jiicasoli . Your Most Illustrious and Most Reverend Grace;—Your revered letter of the 9 th instant has kept me in much perplexity , because on the pne hand it exhibits the most laudable anxiety for the Catholic faith , while on the other your " zeal for the Lord ' s house" drives you beyond the ordinary ¦ % limits which define the relations between a Bishop and the State . As , however , your Graqe has employed a frank freedom of speech solely for a gopd object , so I have . resolved to answer without official phraseology , as my desire too is loyally to appease your Grace ' s apprehensions , and to enter on certain public and private explanations . Whenever your Grace condescends to examine coolly the times in which we live , and the present political conditions of the State , which knows how to unite liberty with order , you will soon bo convinced that no religious creed , and least of all the Catholic creed ( being in our country that of the majority ) can henceforth even dream of " , and still less dread persecution of any description whatever , either from individuals or from Government . In consequence the " crown of mflrtydom" can only bo the object of unavailing aspirations , since oven if you could And anyhody ready to shed his blood , you could not Kind eny one who would qure to take if . In our days the question is not about the persecution or the protection of religion , but about liberty of conscience and freedom of worship , provided alwuys that public order i 8 not disturbed . This liberty , which belongs of right to every being responsible to God , which is a fuct acknowledged by the conscience of mankind , and which la a principle of public law in every civilized state , does not hinder the CuUiolic religion , though no longer the dominant creed , from being at once the prevailing faith , and the creed professed by the Government and honoured , in every , " maiyicr . , . , Tfi ' o only limits Imposed on tlris pre-eminence and those honours consist in the non-exclusion of other creeds and in non-interference with other forms of worship . All this without question is a novelty in our country , but the Catholic Church will not lose ground in face of this now fact , a ' s it has not lost ground in those Stutos where the fnot is already old and long established . I will support my caao by the words of n great Catholic and ft great statesman , whom Pius the Ninth chose mhh minister , ' and who , in truth , for Pius the Ninth sacrificed his life . .

    "Is it necessary , " so wrote Count Rossi , "to go through a course of history in order to prove that the Church , in- its external action , has always taken facts into account ; has always followed with admirable prudence and high sagacity , the different developments of society , and has known how to adapt thereto her action and her influence ? Such is the plain truth . Let no one , therefore , come and dare to describe the Church as persisting ' blindfold in a beaten track , taking no . account of outward facts , and considering mankind as beings condemned to absolute inaction . No ; the Church has read more wisely the laws of Providence . Providence which has made mankind and society , susceptible of improvement , has prescribed for them change and progress . In consequence , the conduct of the Church must inevitably be subject to change , unless she is to find herself in opposition to the laws of Providence . " Hence , your Grace ought not to consider the Catholic religion as opposed by the State , even if other religions are allowed to exist , and other forms of worship are carried on unmolested . This permission for all creeds to exist together , isi I repeat , an abstract right , and an unalterable fact . I can -with confidence affirm , that the Government never has permitted and never will permit the right in question to be abused or converted into a source of public danger or detriment . Proselytism is forbidden and punished ; any incitement . to mutual ill-will is forbidden too and punished . Any opportunity that might give rise to public disorders is forestalled pr removed . Even my recent proceedings on this subject are a proof , that though the Government acknowledges no authority in the State save its own , yet it knows how to stand firm in the faith of our forefathers without persecuting any oiie , and without . permitting any one to violate that libez-ty which of all is most sacred , the liberty of one ' s own conscience . The acts , however , of a lay Government , independent of all external authority , cannot be censured as directed against any creed , as long as they preserve that public Order which it is the duty of Government to maintain . What tends to promote or frustrate this object is a matter on . which Government alone , and none else , is competent to decide . If Government forbids the publication or the republication of any work , it is actuated by some pressing motive which may not be apparent to the public : This , however , is no obstacle to the publication of such senti * ments , for , as your Grace is well aware , in the perilous matter of the press , there are two courses established by our existing laws—publication namely , either with , Government permission , when the work has less than -a { certain number of pages ; or subject to the restraint of the . censorship when the work in question is too large tp be one of those pamphlets which pass at once from hand to hand , and which , sometimes , however unobjectionable in themselves , may be dangerous at the particular moment . To speak now of another matter to which your revered letter alludes , I have the honour to remark that if the State thinks fit , in these times , to remove the possibility of such embarrassment : as might occur if our pulpits were occupied by other than" Tuscan subjects , the State has no intention whatever of depriving Catholic believers of their religious -instruction , ( which certainly can be administered abundantly to them , and of sound quality by the Tuscan priesthood , ) but ra » her fulfils a duty , which the " Servants of the Sanctuary" themselves ought to recognise aa equally sacred a one with any other . It is difficult for a spectator to form a correct judgment of the acts of Government , more especially when his investigation is not altogether unbiassed by preconceived opinions . When ,, however , these acts are considered impartially , in their real aspect they will appear to be caused by sound reasons , and always directed with a view to the public good , never with the intention of giving offence to religion . The franker are the relations between the Bishops and the Government , the more certain is this object of being realized . I therefcre have the honour to beseech your Grace to apply to the Government in any scheme which it seems desirable to you tp carry put , assuring you at the same time that you will find amongst us a constant purpose of prompting what is good , and hindering what is evil . By this means too many illusions would disappear which create a belief in facts that have no existence , but which nevertheless may produce hurtful consequences . Meanwhile I count it the highest honour tp sign myself Your Grace ' s most devoted . Servant , RicASOLr . At the Ministry of the Interior , Florence . 14 th December , 1859 .

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    Hanover , January 23 rd , 1860 . AN" interesting 1 and important meeting—more especially interesting * as affording evidence of an ' active and self-sacrificing public Bpirit—has just been held at Bremen . On the 13 th inst . the Association of Political Economists for North-western Germany commenced their discussions . This is a brunch of the Association , whoso meetings at Frankfort I have already reported , formed with the view to enlighten the people upon tho best meana of developing the resources of the country . Tho patriotic efforts of those associations have , as I believe , had groat influence in bringing about tho alterations which hnvo lately been made in tho laws bearing upon tho handicrafts in Auatriu , and there is every reason to hope that similar results will follow in all par ta of Germany . The subjects discussed are so exclusively social and commercial as to leave no possible excuse for men of any party or country to hold aloof from them , or to give any cause for interference on tho part of tho authorities , who in Germany nre particularly jealous of public meetings for tho discussion of national aifiiirs , These associations , and . ' annual , .. or , as they nro lilcely to become * half-yearly meetings , are the " still small voioea " destined gradually to swell into the rallying , cry of a \ l Gornwmy . Tho aim of this north-woBtern branch association is to continuo the work of tho Frnnld ' ort Association by discussing the economical questions of tho day that especially affect the countries of Hanover , Oldenburg , and tho territory and city of JBromeii , which are ayclpsoly connected with ouch other , and in tho hope that their exemp li ) will induce other States to establish similar societies . At this mooting

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    94 The Leader and Saturday Analyst . [ Jan . 28 , 1 $ 60 .

    Letter From Germany.

    LETTER FROM GERMANY .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 28, 1860, page 94, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2331/page/18/