The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1872-05-05

tne Assembly, still causes much agitation.
The Unirers publishes letter from Comte
d'Abbadie de Barrau, in which he says the |
discussion was postponed on account of the |
news OF the close understanding which |
exists between Germany aud Italy aud by
the report that Prince Frederic Charles
had encouraged the Italians to claim the
restoration Of Nice and Savoy ON tire first
pretext which should offer.
GERMANY.
The Nationality Question in Alsace.-The
question respecting the rights Of residents
In Alsace and Lorraine to retain their
negative by q circular of the. Minister of
Justice, dated the Goth March. All persons
born in the coded provinces will be con
sidered as having become Germans by the
act of the cessiOD, whether they are domi-
ciled within the limits Of those provinces or
ing to preserve their French nationality,
which, in case they are domiciled in the
provinces, they will be able to do until the
lat of October. 1872, and, in case they are
domiciled elsewhere, until the LIST October
1873. From the wording of the I'd article
declaration, If made by those residing
within the ceded provinces, ia considered
simply as q preliminary to a transfer of
domicile to France.
Recommendation and tho Pyuss;ax Coo
esameat.-vIt is reported that the Prussian
peat his summona to the Archbishop Of
Cologne and the Bishops of Ermeland aud
Breslau, calling on them to explain the
alleged inconsistency between the major
accommodation and the law of the land,
aud that il q satisfactory answer was not
received by the 5th instant, the payment
Of their revenues would be suspended. The
law referred to is contained in the follow
ing article of the Prussian Code 3" No one
can be excluded from religions comma
nity) for simple difference of opinion about
the symbol of faith. In case of the justice
of the exclusion being disputed, the State
decides. And when such an exclusion en-
| tails consequences injurious to the civil
| honor of the person excluded, the sanction
of the State must be asked before the SEN
tence is pronounced" The first paragraph
| i'll that article is, of course, Inconsistent
with the very idea of the Catholic religion.
1t was framed by Frederic the Great, and
those who have now raked it out of oblivion
will have themselves to explain how it can
| be reconciled with that article of the Con-
stitution which leaves to the Catholic
Church the free government and control Of
it's own internal affairs. We alluded last
week to the absurdity of Protestant State
| treating exclusion from the Catholic Church
as an attack on "civil honor" We have
| now to record a more extraordinary iDcon-
sistency. The heretical priest at Inster-
burg, named Grunet, who is maintained by
the Government in the post of Catholic
Military chaplain, has been celebrating
his first Mass in the Lutheran church OF
that town, and all tue Catholic soldiers
have been obliged to attend. In the course
of the sermon this miserable man declared
the Pope to be hereto, and no longer q
member of the Church of which he was
supposed to be the head. The Prussiau
Government will not endure that II priest
should be accommodated by his own
natural hierarchical superior, his Bishop {;
| a hn rlu
communicates the Pope, and forces Catholic
soldiers to attend his ministrations. Tho
great meeting of the German Bishops was
to have been held on the 18th ult. at Fulda.
Election Tactics in Bohemia.-Curious
electioneering operations are going on just
now in Bohemia. Of the 240 members in
the Bohemian Diet, about 80 are separately
returned by special class of electors, the
''great landed proprietors;" the qualifica-
| ton for q voter of this class being the pay
ment of direct tax on land of Tot less
than $50 forms year. AS the rest of the
voters are very nearly balanced between
| the two great interests, the town voters
going with the German and the country
voters with the Czech party, it is of course
| great object to get majority among the
! great landed proprietors." Although the
electoral franchise is arranged in a manner
SO unfavorable to the Czechs, that in many
places so Germans are as we'll represented
as 1000 of the rival race, still, at the last
| election the Czechs had rather the better
of it in tho representation of the great
landed proprietors. Consequently, the
Germans have attempted to turn the scale,
aud the Czech have been retaliating with
the same weapons. The device adopted is
to create an immense number of votes by
sales, probably fictitious, of the very large
properties, so as to subdivide them into o
| number of smaller holdings paying the
minimum tax qualification. The Cgechs
are not SO rich as the Germans, and are
therefore at a disadvantage in the market,
aud their papers also accuse Prince Won
! Bismarck of having placed 4O,OOO, 600
florins at the disposal of the German
Electoral Committee. 1t will be interesting
to see whether, after the elections, these
sales are revoked or not.
SWITZERLAND.
| The Ne,c Constitutiom.--At Lausanne the
Grand Council of the Canton Naud has re:
jected the new Federal Constitution which
is decidedly and bitterly anti-Catholic, by
1856 votes to Q; and at Lucerne, the Grand
Council of that Canton has also thrown it