Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1869-10-22
9f(isttllanpp,
REMARKABLE F4N4TICISM
Religious kidnapping I'm the Nineteenth
Century.

From Mr.. Henry c. Lees article on
.Monks and Nuns in France" published
in Putnam's Monthly for September, we
take the following accouai of the case OF
Annabella Bohrsch
If the career of the Petites SGurs deS
Pauvres Little Sisters of the POOR shows
that Christianity has lost nothing OF its
beneticent and self-sscriicing lervor in
the lapse of ages, the ease of Annabclla
Kohrsch proves that the fanaticism which
kindled in the hearts Of 81, Dominic and
Conrad of Marburg, Is still a. active rs ot
old. Fortunately, the laws which some
centuries ago permitted this ianaticism to
find expression in the torture and the
stake, now force it To seek the salvation OF
souls in manner less decisive; but the
spirit is there, A. feryent a. ever. though
it NAV perforce be Gmitedin its manifesto
tions. From the official record of the
trial at Ghent, in July, 1860. aS printed by
NJ. Sauvestre, we condcn~e story that
might have served as groundwork for
Mrs. Radcliffe or Monk Lewis.
A family of LutheranS named Kohrsch,
consisting of a father, son and daughter,
moved from Pellau. in Prussia, and
settled in Antwerp. On his death bed the
father exacted OF the son, Richard, a
solemn promise to guard the faith OF his
sister steadftstly in the religion of her
ancestors. Richard WAS a young man
earning a livelihood aS clerk. Living
in rooms from which his duties kept him
absent the whole day, he had no proper
home for young girl of seventeen, and
as his Strengthened means imposed on him
the necessity Of economy, he finally placed
Annebella a, boarder with the Sisters OF
Charity ofMelsele Mindful of his promise
10 his diving father. however, he exacted :
condition that no attempt at proselytism
should be made, and in July. 1857, he
received from the superior of The convent
written declaration:
In regard TO the fears which you have
expressed to NE, assure you that tn,
young lady is not obliged TO observe any
religious ceremony, and enjoys perfec
| freedom in the practise of the injunctio n:
of her own faith.
Within month after this Annabella
was convert, secretly baptised in the
Catholic faith, and fortnight later Wa.
I admitted 10 communion. So little con
necton did these fervent propagandist:
recognize between religion and morality
that no resources OF falSehood were spareC
10 keep the truth from being known. Or
the very day Of the baptism, Annabella
received visit from her brother, and the
neophyte was trained to lie unblushingly
in order to avert his suspicious.
At length Richard grew uneasy, and il
MAY, 1853, he withdrew his sister from
the convent. Her spiritual director
Pierre Gerard Bogaerts, cure of St
Augustine in Antwerp, and the principa
! instrument in her conversion, dispensed
her from the observance of her religion
in order that she might continue its con
cealment. This necessary dissimulation
however, threatened too serious risk Il
her salvation, and. in company with
Jesuit father, Philippe jacques Schools
also deeply implicated in the matter, h
plotte her abduction. In three days afte
her return home-three days of apparent
" uninterrupted affection-Annabella dis
appeared, leaving behind her mos
loving letter. in winch she bewailed tn
necessity OF separation. Richard, suspect
ing that religious intrigue was at tn
bottom of the mystery, applied to tn
Prussian Consul, who set the authorize
actively to work in search of the missin:
girl, bat their efforts were vain, and 10
nine months all trace of her was lost.
Leaving her brothers lodging at
O'Clock, on the morning of the llth o
May, Annabelia went to the house o