The morning star and Catholic messenger., 1872-08-25
liberal. ,in,uermany.

1t
;. - -, "'.a1hs Liberals In, Germany. i, Il '-'n1
That excellent Catholic paper, the Een-
don Tablet. has made Arrangements for !
weekly commpnications on German affairs.
wfitten by an eminent German Mean
while, says the Tablet, we publish an er-
tract from private letter, revealing some
Of those miserieso which the knife Of per-
secution may perhaps reach. and cure.
The extract referred tp.is as folIows liz
- You will perhaps be glad 70 hear some
thing shout the feeling Of our German
popnlstiom With respect to the conflict that
has broken out between tho civil Aud re-
1igi0us powers. e Tho great majority Of tire
inhabitfnts being Protestant Gil pon. Cath =
OF COURSE, so-cailed Liberal Catholics
are on the eide Of the German Dictator and
hia servants, the Liberal members OF Par
lament. This party thinks, 7sPeaks and
writes as II the Pope and the Uieramon-
tanes tho name Catholic seems un-
attack on the German Government, ana as
if it was to them . question Of life aad
death 10 resist the onslaught with atl the
physical means they have at their com
mand; and the late war has shown that
they are pretty strong, and perfectly able
do not know how many school broth
ers. Chese persecutiona, so worthy OF .
great Empire, and y u alton which bOastS0 Of
its cultare aud Intellectual freedom, are to
be followed by naeasafes-of course ds7sH :
sire measures-on D much gfaudcr ecaae.
That bosy yibody Mr. Falk, the Cultus7 MIN
ister, is 20 afraid Of the oserthFow of the
German Empire BY the maceinatioos Of t1s
Roman priesthood, that he dare not avail
iRsseif Of lis vScatiou, but buries himself
nn6er heap oSoew Bills, which he ts said
by his own organs In 9the preas to pEeparey
bat againss the whole Catholic Hierarchy
10 Gernaaoy. -As soon as Parliaaen MT uaeets
in October this Mr.! :Falk will introduce
zhis Bills, the acceptance Of which 10 al
sesdy announced by all Liberal papers, on
eoadition that they are eomprehensive
power and influence Of the Roman clergy,
not only ins schools and society, bat even
in the pulpit. Tue one great measure
which we need not to fear, l. suppose, bat
which the blind Liberals look upon as the
death-biow to the Catholic Church, is the
State, by which Bishops and priests, 6ecom-
ing deprived Of their State teemolaments,w will,
like the English Catholic priesthood, be
thrown for their support on tho voluntary
contributions Of their focks. The begin
ming of this new era in the life Of our Ger
man PfsestS WAu, no 0oGoI, 70 very ne.o
to them, but who can doubt that the
Church herself will gain by the change.
and that the lower clergy themselves will
| In time become more religious, moro pious,
| than they are nowf ! am very sorry to
make the remark, and hope you will not
consider It a want Of respect, IL simply
repeat here what every stranger nauae cay
cial mode Of life Of opr Catholic priests In
Middle Germany, viz, that GerEaR priests
do not, as a rule, follow the precepts oi
the Church as strictly as the Engiish priests
do, or, to tell the truth, as strictly "a they
ought. You will not think this statement a
libel IL tell you that drinking and smok-
ing, at home and in hotels; visiting places
of amusehaent, which they ought to prevent
laymen from attending; eating meat on
Fridays, will not exactly say In their oW =
houses, but certainly in hotele, and Wisnonl
any other excuse than that those houses are
hotels,-that' all this and more may os
daily seen in. Germany. and that 1t II
thoRght quito natural, and BOT ct all op
4 posed to good discipline. But this 10 be
side the question I,wished to write about
How do che Catholics of Germany recelFt
the shameful laws enacted by q Parliament
ary majority Of infidels2 I have visited {
great many Catholic towns, aud raveiiee
several hundred miles across Catholic
country by the mail coach, stopping mere
aud there for whole hours, aud Listening K
the talk of all kinds of people. l havt
also heard what is said in families by goo6
} and bad Catholics and after all my obser
vations can come 20 no other conciusiol
, than that there is q deplorable want Of in
terest, sympathy and moral courage among
the great bulk of our Catholic populations
, All those who are good Catholics will, o
! course, be found on the eide OF the priests
but the number Of really good, faithful Ca
} tholics among the educated classes ought +
\ be at least double of what it Is. Th