Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1874-04-25

| rance OF the ln1S<lOnlStS VINO pfepdt'
ed and passed it, came far short %
their intentions, and kas not in It
self particularly bad measure, II
contained an element of mischief,
since it affirmed the right of Con
oress to issue irredeemable paper il
time of peace and make it legal-tend,
er, without providing in any way foI
lis redemption. The afirmance OF
this right as to s44,OOO,oO0 would
have been all the excuse wanted to
authorize the issue of any other sum
hereafter. This feature may be used
as the first step on a down-hill course.
The President is entitled to the
thanks of the country.
Tue PRUssIAN LAws.-our readers have
probably noticed thai the Prdssian Gov
ernmpnt aud the Pope and prelsies are
not in perfect harmony. This has been
shown on two or three occasions whrre
Bishops of that faith have been treated
with ignominious and penal punishment
for contnmacy in the disregard ofthe laws
of the Government. Under which they liv
ed. The grounds of difference have not been
und rstood, and the imposing OF thes
punishmrnrs, has looked a little like pers =
cntion. The following article, will, per
haps explain these grounds of difference
and show how far the Government ofPrus
sia is Justified in its course towards catho-
licism:
The true character of recent
Prussian legislation in relation to
the Church of Rome seems in many
quarters to be imperfectly appre-
hended, even by Protestants them
selves. The relations between
Church and State in Prussia not being
clearly understood, the policy of
Prince Bismarck towards the u
tramontanes appears to many to as
sumo a repressive, if not a persecu-
ting aspect. 1t is, in fact, policy
of ff-defance alone. By the de-
cree of Papal infallibility, and the
propositions of the Syllabus of 1864
the Church of Rome assumed to-
wards the States of Europe po-
sition incompatible with their indie
pendent and national existence. The
universal supremacy of that Church
was, in point of fact, asserted. Nor
was this audacious claim confined to
matters spiritual, or even to States
protesting the Roman Catholic re-
ligion. All laws and all Govern
ments were, in reality, to be subject
to the approval of the Pope. An
imperiuna ia i1nperio was set up be-
fore the authority of which rulers
and subjects were alike compelled
to bow Such pretentions might be
ingnored in countries where the Ro-
mish Clergy were but few, and the
Romish church unconnected with the
State. Very different from this, how
ever, is the condition of things in
Prussia, where the Romanists are
numerous, aud their clergy State
functionaries, possessing, III addition
to their spiritual influence, the pres
tige derived from an official and rec
ognized position. 1t soon became
manifest that if, under such circum-
stances, self government were per-
mitted to the Church of Rome, it
would Immediately come into vio-
lent collision with the civil power.
Hence the liberty accorded to it by
the Constitution-its power of self
developement and its freedom to
conduct its own affairs-was modi-
fed by an enactment providing that
the Church should remain subject to
the laws and the legally ordered
oversight of the State. Against this
the Romish Church rebelled, and
hence the conflict now raging with
such force in Prussia. The so-calIed
"Catholic" Church is not willing to
be subject to the civil law. She
claims superiority to all Govern
ments, and to be the Judge of what
laws she will, and what enactments
she will not obey. At the same
time. she claims to WELD absolute
power over the conscience and lives
of her own adherents, and to have
her spiritual anathemas enforced by
temporal authority. To this claim
the Falk laws present a determined
and effectual resistance. No tempo
raj consequences can result to persons
visited with Church censure or ex-
communication. For sp.ritnal of
fences spiritual penalties alone can
be imposed. Priests, especially in
cases wherein their obedience to the
law has exposed them to the dis
pleasure of their ecclesiastical supe-
riors, are protected from unjust
treatment at their hands by right
of appeal to the Royal Court of
Prussia, while the laity are protect
ed in their persons, property, and
honor from the tyranny of priests.
The principle which underlies these
laws, if recognized in medieval
times would have nipped all perse-
cution in the bud. Other laws to
which strong exception has been ta-
ken are those. regulating the educa-
tion and appointment of the clergy,
andproviding for the liberty of Che
people at any time to leave the
Church, and claim exemption from
the fiscal burdens of church taxes
raised forits support. As regards
the first OF. these, all priests to be
appointed must be German citizens,
and be trained in one of the Uni
yersities of Prussia. As regards the
second, all coeI cion is abolished, and
it is no longer obligatory las once it
was) on every citizen to be a mem
Der of one or other of the Establish
ed Churches of the land. But the
most violent hostility has been ex-
cited by the Civil Marriage Law
and the new laws for the civil regis
tration both of births and deaths.
1t is by these that the clergy will be
shorn or the power which, by their
intervention in every important af-
fair of social and domestic life, they
formerly possessed; and the future
emancipation of the Roman Catho-