The Sun.
London, England, 1868-07-15 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, JULY 15, 1868.

STATE OF RELIGION IN PRANCE UNDER

NAPOLEON 111.

Having shown in the preceding article how
the political interests of France were betrayed
by Napoleon, it is necessary now to examine
the state of religion since the proclamation of
the Empire. From the Revolution of 1848,
to the date of the coup d'acit, religion had been
more flourishing and respected, because, as no
oath of allegiance was required by the Repub-
lic, men of religious character were able to bold
office ; public instruction was free, and the re-
ligious orders had opened colleges which com-
peted successfully with the University. The
Emperor, knowing that the wish for peace and
public order had secured to him the majority
of the nation, at first protected religion, and
by that means gained over the clergy, who,
with the landed interest, have the greatest in-
fluence in the elections. In the summer of 1858,

he made a pilgrimage to St. Anne's of Auray,
and this made him so popular in that Catholic
province, that, in spite of the sanctity of the
place, he was greeted in the Church of St.
Brieux by about 400 priests with the cry of
" Vive I'Empereur !" Louis Napoleon had

preserved, even during his exile, a certain
regard for the precepts of religion. This was
exemplified during a stay he made in the town
of Bath, where he was seen one morning re-
ceiving Holy Communion. He had borrowed
of a bookseller a " Daily Companion ;" on
returninc, the book, he was seen in the shop
by a lady who had attended the same Mass,
and who, when she learnt who he was, pur-
chasedthe little volume, and wrote on the first
page what she had witnessed. This book was
presented to the Empress on her way to St.
Anne's, and increased the enthusiasm of the
clergy. Prior to this pilgrimage, a very high
eulogium had been publicly bestowed on the
Emperor and Empress at Amiens by the bishop,
and also by the late Cardinal Wiseman. This
happy impulse in favour of religion was kept
up until the secret societies and the English
press commenced attacking his policy in keep-
ing an army at Rome, which ended in the
conspiracy known by the name of the Orsini
bombs. The life of the Emperor was no longer
safe, and that fear was the cause of the first
mistake he made in a religious point of view.
To please the freethinkers and secret societies
he attacked the Society of St. Vincent of Paul,
placing that charitable institution under the
same ban as the Freemasons Society. He also
curtailed the liberty of the Catholic journals,
and at the same time allowed every kind of
license to the anti-Catholic newspapers. Pri-
mary instruction was no longer under the
charge of men of religious principles, and a
freethinker was appointed Minister of Public
Instruction. The fear of another Orsini and
the secret societies is the reason why the
Emperor betrayed General Lamoriciere at Cas-
telfidardo, and it was only the popular voice
that prevented the Pope being betrayed again
in 1867. The religion of the Emperor has
been weakened by fear, and also by the selfish
arguments of his flatterers. The embellish-
ments of Paris, and the decorations of the
Tuileries, have ended in producing a state of
luxury only to be compared with that of the
reign of Louis XIV. The corruption of the
Court has become proverbial. It requires no
comment. It suffices to say that the ideas of
equality and simplicity proclaimed by the
Republic of 1848 are now entirely forgotten ;
no luxury, no extravagant fashion, and no dis-
sipation, however fantastic and frivolous, is
now considered too great or too extravagant
for the Court, and for Parisian society, under
the Second Empire. In Paris the sanctity of
the Sunday is less respected. The churches
are abandoned by the working classes, who
work on Sundays as on a week day ; amuse-
ments are provided for those who wish to keep
a holiday, and nothing is done by Government
to provide for a day of rest. The reason of
this indifference is the consequence of the prin-
ciples of equality proclaimed in 1792. Equality
according to the new school, requires no " mas-
tership,' and, therefore, the commandments of
God and those of the Church are considered as
laws incompatible with those of equality. The
people have been taught to despise the Church
and the clergy, and to look upon both as the
supporters of despotism and slavery. The
original argument used in favour of working
on Sunday was that the people require their
food as much on that day as upon any other.
Later, it was found that a day's rest was re-
quired for the health of the body, but the free-
thinkers, whose only aim was to abolish the
Sunday, and prevent the people obtaining any
religious instruction, persuaded them to rest
on Sunday at noon after church hours, and
not to go to work on Monday. By that means
manual labour is only carried on about four
days in the week, but not an hour is given to
prayer, to attendance at Mass, or to the care
of the soul. When unlimited power was given
to the Emperor after the coup d'etill of 1852,
he might have changed this deplorable state
of immorality. A decree could have restored
the sanctity of the Sunday. But the free-
thinkers and secret societies, who formed the
heads of every Government department ever
since the oath of allegiance was required, were
adverse to this change. They were unwilling
to acknowledge the right of the Church to
enforce the respect due to Sundays ; such a
measure would have put a restraint upon their
own immorality. That is why the Catholic
Church is always at variance with Government,
and the reason why Government, to put down
the influence of the Church, is constantly at
work to degrade the religious feelings of the
nation. This is carried out by the godless
teachings of the University, by the instruction
given daily in every village school, where
everything is done to prejudice the minds
of the children. This has been brought out in
the late pamphlet of the Bishop of Orleans, in
which he shows that even the instruction of
the girls has been contaminated of late by in-
fidel teachers.
The fear of another Orsini and of the secret
societies is the reason why the Emperor is
unwilling to protect religion. His Govern-
ment can therefore no longer be respected
by honest men. This will no doubt be shown
in the next general election, when the flood
of iniquity will probably gain strength, as there
is great want of organization among the men
of order. We can see already signs of the Go-
vernment plan of demoralization in the riots
of the Charente, where the people have been
led to believe that the clergy were about to re-
establish the tithes ; every kind of prejudice
against the Catholic Church will, no doubt,
be called again into existence in the same way
as a No-Popery cry is got up in England against
the restoration of the ancient Church in Ireland.
In France religious liberty is only considered
as an argument in favour of licentiousness.
Those who argue in favour of religious liberty
ought to have some consideration and respect
for their neighbour ; but are not those feelings
hurt by works of every kind carried on on
Sunday ? In Paris it is impossible to enjoy a
day's rest, as the same noises are heard on
Sundays as upon week days. How different
in London, where even a barrel organ is not
allowed to disturb the rest of Sunday ? This
want of respect for the Catholic religion is
the reason of much in subordination ; servants
have no longer any respect for their masters,
and no kind of labour is performed except on
account of the lowest motives. In the Govern-
ment circle there is no other motive than that
of gaining the means of gratifying the plea-
sures of this world, so well exemplified by the
fetes given by the aides-de-camp of the Em-
peror, or again by the " dress-show " at the
Mass at the Tuileries on Sundays. Can such
scandalous exhibitions improve the morality of
a nation, which only the other day proclaimed
a Republic ? Does it not rather show that
the genius of France is not to be found in those
utopias of equality proclaimed in 1792, but
rather in a Monarchy capable of protecting
the honour of the country and making religion
respected ?
The present policy of the Empire is one that
must 012 a in disappointment. It does not re-

quire a diplomatist to see that it is on the
highway to a rapid dissolution. The finances
are strained beyond the limits of prudence and
the resources of he country, and no helping

hand. is left, as no help callbe expected from
The same disgust which brought
about the revolution of 1848 will soouer or

later bring about the downfall of the Empire.
The onlyremedy left is in a change of policy.
The majority in the departments is composed
of men of order. It is those men who have

been the support of Government. The depu-
ties of Paris have always been in the minority.
It is therefore upon the majority that the Em-
peror ought to rest to restore his popularity.
But that can only be done by restoring reli-
gion, by placing at the head of every depart-
ment men actuated more with the love of reli-
gion and truth, than with prejudices and pri-
vate interests. _ _ _

Although the influence of the secret socie-
ties was great in the mind of the Emperor, and
made him hesitate on his policy towards Rome,
this, however, did not prevent the salutary
progress of religion in France, especially in
those localities where the place-men had pre-
served some sense of religion. The fear of
seeing Rome again in the hands of the Gari-
baldians was general, and it was public opinion
that forced the Emperor to send an army to the
help of the Pope. Although in Paris a certain
class do not respect the sanctity of Sunday, and
work goes on in general in all the new
Boulevards on that day, and the majority of
the shops are opened, still a very large pro-
portion of the population abstain from work
and go to church. In Paris it is not as in
London, where the churches are only opened
at eleven o'clock and again at three and seven
in the evening. In Paris the obligation of
hearing Mass on Sunday can be kept from five
in the morning till noon, as in almost every
church Mass is said ; between those hours
every half hour, which makes about fourteen
services every Sunday morning. It is difficult
to say what per centage of the population ful-
fils the obligation, but it must be much greater
than in London. In Paris there are in all
the churches two High Masses, with music,
and a sermon at one of the two services, which
is always attended. The works going on in
every new street in Paris on Sunday is, no
doubt, a great subject of scandal, and is often
taken as a proof of the little regard for religion
in France. However, many shops are closed,
with these words painted on the shutters :
"This shop is closed on Sundays ;" and good
Catholic masters do not work their servants on
Sundays. In the departments of the Catholic
provinces, such as the Vendee, Brittany, &c.,
the Sunday is kept as in England, and in
almost every department an improvement is
perceptible. Even in the department of Seine
et Oire, which surrounds Paris, the people go
to church on the principal feast days, and
are glad to attend the procession through
the village on the feast of the Blessed Sacra-
ment. If these processions are prohibited in
Paris and in some of the large towns on ac-
count of a few dissenters, they only form a very
small exception, as Government allows every
liberty in that respect to the clergy. In Paris
on the last feast day, a reposoir was built under
the peristyle of the church of St. Sulpice, and
Benediction given to the people on the square.
There is therefore a certain progress in religion
in spite of the anti-religious journals and the
influence of the secret societies. These are
counterbalanced by many religious societies,
such as that of St. Vincent of Paul, which are
in general well received by the working classes.
It is superfluous to do more than to allude to
the Lenten Conferences at Notre Dame, at-
tended in such numbers by men of every class
and position, and the general Easter Com-
munion at the close of the Conference. This
public profession of faith indicates at least the
presence of a strong religious feeling among
those who, in Paris, had long been estranged
from the Church. The spread of the religious
orders, the activity of the Sisters of Charity,
so respected and beloved by the people, and
the growing aversion to the Government
system of education, are some evidence at least
of the progress which religion has been making
in France. Another proof of a different kind
of the progress of religion is to befound in the
enlargement of the churches all over the
country. A great improvement is perceptible
—many old churches have been pulled down
and rebuilt in a much better style of archi-
tecture ; those left standing have been much
improved both in decoration and neatness.
Most of the ancient cathedrals and churches,
largeeen cltobasesd kept
yt in repair by the localities,
Government as historical
havetoo
been
monuments, and are kept in repair out of
the general fund of the nation. The repairs
of the cathedral of Notre Dame of Paris have
cost more than a million and a half sterling.
As all the other churches are kept up by the
parishes, the money is voted by the vestries,
which is a proof that the people love their
Church, and even in those villages where the
people seldom go to church on Sunday, they
are unwilling to remain without a parish priest,
as all call in the priest on their death-bed. If
this move in favour of religion was better pro-
tected and patronized by Government, it would
do more to correct the anti-social feeling than
any other measure. But, as I have already
shown, men, devoted to religion, are kept out
of office by the oath of allegiance, and Govern-
ment is obliged to take its servants among those
men who have imbibed the anti-Catholic prin-
ciples of the revolution of 1792, and it is in
that way that many mistakes are made by the
Emperor, which must sooner or later lead to
another revolution or catastrophe.—Correspon-
dent of the Westminster Gazette.

or to the suspicion that they have different '
weights and measures in dealing with Ireland
and with Italy. To avoid such a suspicion,
it is necessary to speak plainly, even though
by so doing we incur the reproach of giving
offence. In discussing at the hustings and
elsewhere the union of Church and State, we
must never lose sight of the distinction be-
tween the Church and heretical Establish-
ments ; if Catholics do so, they will be liable
either to fall into error themselves, or to mis-
lead non-Catholics. In Italy or in Austria to
lay hand upon the Established Church is
to profane God's truth, and to jeopardize the
spiritual welfare of the nation. Yet, even when
violence is done by royal or revolutionary
tyranny to the rights or to the property of the
Church, the Church does not renounce the
connection with the State, but is patient and
long-suffering, and would rather sacrifice some
of its privileges, possessions, and rights than
give up its public guidance and control of the
nation. The Church is no step-mother ;it
waits for the return of the prodigal son ; bat
when children plunder their spiritual mother
and turn her adrift, because they no longer, in
their moral aberration, choose to listen to her
voice, they commit an outrage and a crime
against civil society, as well as against God.
For the stability of civil society is endangered
by the withdrawal of religion from public life.
Hence on no account can Catholics counte-
nance the divorce of religion from politics.
This truth is an axiom which in our times
the Popes have repeatedly and in the most
formal manner reaffirmed.

But, on the other hand, the disestablishment
of heresy is not to lay a profane hand on God's
truth or necessarily to jeopardize the spiritual
welfare of a nation. Heresy, established or
not, has no claim upon the conscience ; it is
not the mother of the nation which it has kid-
napped, but a thief in wrongful and harmful
possession. To dispossess heresy of its usurped
power is, if not to restore the nation to its
true mother, at least to give it liberty and
open the way for the country, which, for three
hundred years, has been nursed in error to
return to the Church of Rome—the mistress
and the mother of nations.

Catholics maintain, then, the union of the
Supernatural and Civil Powers, because it is
enjoined by the Church as the normal and
necessary condition for the civil and spiritual
welfare of Christian peoples, and they advocate
the separation of an heretical religion from the
State because it is an usurpation of the rights
of the Church, and conduces to the support
and spread of a soul-destroying error among
the people. Moreover, the union between
such a heresy as the English and Irish Church
and the State, does not in the least represent
the religious principle. On the contrary, the
Royal Supremacy signifies the subjection of
the Spiritual to the Temporal Power. This
subjection in itself is a most hateful and bane-
ful error, and disestablishment would, as a first
benefit, put an end to this unspiritual idea.
To disestablish Protestantism is, we readily
grant, the beginning of the end of the Tudor
religion. But this is no reason to Catholics to
stop their hand, unless, indeed, they fear that
something worse should follow after, and that
they are unprepared to meet and master the
successor of disestablished Protestantism. But
we have confidence in the future, and we be-
lieve the Church in the coming times will know
how to rescue the nations out of the shipwreck
of Protestantism.—West»iinster Gazette.