, 1872-11-27

tal letter upon the Pere's marriage. Formerly
she had not loved him much. She had Q friend,
one Of the frst actresses upon the French stage,
whom the Pere had converted, and Nine. Sand
had found it hard to forgive him that deed. But
her friends impoFtuned her to give her impress
Bions upon the priests marriage, and cannot
Esfra from q4otaag aag3se se9 tbs oi hsF
Pope he battles against the Church officials;
he marries. I find him at once sincere. frank'
and brave love his courage, and am touched
by il. I read the declaration he has pub
lished; T recognize it as the language Of
wholesome and very beautiful n page Of the
religious history Of our day, The fury it has
rnised does not reach me. This vain wrath of
the sea, it's froth and foam, do not prevent me
from seeing the new isle which rises to the sur
face. and tie waves which roll around it cannot
submerge It. It is small bit Of land, o narrow
refuge, perilous, difficult to reach, and from
which retreat is impossible. It is Q new point
Of doctriue-a little church founded, which IN
one day will have it's own Importance; Who
knows, if this will not be hayen1n which Catnoi-
icism will take refuge in it's turn to o battle tSe
ments Of caves, and wonderful wa
ters the :: invasion of. politics
in the sanctuary, are its funeral knen Nhen
finished. It is no longer only question OF
time. But Catholicism cannot, neither ought 10,
disappear abruptly. Precipitated by the demon
strntlons Of LouIde and Of Salotte, 1t WILL % r.
tarded by some generous attempts, some truly
religious efforts. New heresies will be pro
claimed, and groups Of priests will proclaim
their right to marry. a new Pope Will ARISE VINO
will not without scruple allow himself to be in
vested with lnfalllblhtY- He will conyoke new
council, Serltabe council, which in in view OF the
imminent ruin OF the religious edlttce viii re,
solve to make large concessions It the Council
dares not lay its hand upon the dogma, it will
allow such tolerant interpretations thereof to
the priests, so that, Ike the decree or eternal
damnat1oh, IL WILL gfaoualy pecone only
metaphor. ..----,
church scandal, and the reHgious e press With ITS
ordinary cleyerness gives 1t al the retentssement
possible. The great criminal who is thus placed
before public opinion with the resigned assur-
ance of an honest man, ought not to be too an
gry because Of the noise. he has conviction
that We do not share. He believes to have
the power now as then to caH h1msen both
priest and Catholic.
hope ne Will have numerous aahefents
for, without being either FfolestanI OF Catnouc,
shameful consequence OF the ;cehbacy Of
priests. Let them marry, then, and confess no
moro! The Pere Hyacinthe; viii he still con-
fess2
That is the 9uestiqp: Is the secret ot u con con-
jugal love T we're Catholic I should not
torment myself with it enormously: Discretion
is easier than confluence and I would say
otherwise to my. children, Have no secrets too
delicate to reveal !; you will have no fear OF the
tittle-tattle Of the wife Of the cure But am
convinced that the pious women who will follow
Pere Hyacinthe in his new career can still open
to him their souls in all security, and hope he
may have sincere and faithful penitents.
4'This declaration Of Pere Hyacinthe is truly
very beautiful and touching. Is it simply from
talent ? one asks. No; talent is only truly
beautiful when in the service Of beautiful SEN
timent, There are in this letter some heart