The Sun.
London, England, 1870-06-02 00:00:00

ANOTHER PROTEST AGAINST
INFALLIBILITY.

The Times Berlin correspondent forwards the full text
of the important confidential letter which Baron Arnim,
the Prussian Minister at Rome, has addressed to Cardi-
nal Antonelli, in support of the French memorandum on
the (Ecumenical Council. Baron Arnim says the Prus-
sian Government has been asked to co-operate with that
of France in this matter, and it does not hesitate to do
so. " Serious apprehensions, indeed, prevail in
Germany, and men are terrified at the thought that
certain votes of the Council, passed against the all but
G unanimous resistance of the erman Bishops, might pro-
duce painful consequences by causing endless struggles to
tender consciences." Baron Arnim proceeds :—" But this
is not all. It is well known that the German bishops,
who in our eyes and in those of the Holy See, are the
legitimate representatives of the German Catholics, as
well as the bishops of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, have
found it impossible to adopt the views which seem to be
prevalent in the Council. Through documents pub-
lished in the journals, and the authenticity of which has
never been contradicted, our bishops have acquitted them-
selves of the duty devolving upon them, and pointed out
the lamentable results to be apprehended were the
supreme authority of the Church and the majority of the
Council, heedless of a considerable minority, to enact
certain decrees, which, in the shape of dogmatic defini-
tions, would alter the extent of authority belonging to
each grade in the hierarchy respectively, and at the same
time affect the mutual position of the civil and eccle-
siastical powers. These decrees, far from being a vague
menace to be carried out at some indefinite time, seem
specially intended to revive and invest with a new dogma-
tic sanction certain ancient claims .of the Papacy, long
known to the world, and always repudiated by the secular
society of all ages and nations. To proclaim these prin-
ciples to-day from the Papal chair, and maintain them
with all the various means of persuasion at the disposal of
the Church, would, we fear, disturb the entire relations
between Church and State, and bring on a crisis
which the Papal Government, being less able to
judge the intellectual tone of our country than
ourselves, has, notwithstanding its traditional wis-
dom, perhaps omitted to take into account."
In Germany Catholic and non-Catholic Christians have
been able to live peaceably side by side, and even a ten-
dency has arisen to unite the forces of Christianity in a
struggle against common errors. " Now, it is
to be dreaded that this movement of approxi-
mation between the different creeds will be for-
cibly interrupted, were events to prove that the
principles combated by our bishops and public opinion
alike, with all the arguments suggested by the necessity
of vindicating our national existence against interference,
could obtain the victory . in the deliberations of the
Council to the extent of being imposed on the world as a
guide in matters religious, and, as a natural consequence,
in matters political also. In the triumph of these prin-
ciples our population—it is impossible to shut one's eyes
to this fact—would see the revival of the struggles of
the olden time. It would decline to have its
apprehensions allayed by the argument that there
is nothing to prevent its politics remaining independent of
what is taught and inculcated as a duty of religion. In
such a case the Federal Government, which has been
already reproached with improper delay in opposing
those which, rightly or wrongly, are called the projects of
Rome, might no longer have that liberty of action in reli-
gious matters of which it has so long availed itself for the
benefit of the Catholic Church." Baron Arnim concludes
by saying that the Prussian Government have no wish to
diminish the influence of the Pope, but on the contrary
every desire that the position of the Catholic Church in
Germany should be maintained.

An accident occurred a few nights back between
Saint-Claude and Morez (Jura). A waggon, containing
ten persons, while advancing in the dark, fell from the
road down a steep embankment fifty feet high. A man
named Bourgeois and his wife were killed, whilst one of
their sons and two young women belonging to the family.
received serious injuries. The other five travellers
escaped.