The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1894-08-26
DEATH OF A WARRIOR PRIEST.

There died at LuceTne, in Switzerland,
in the last week of July a priest rho came
of one OF the noble Polish families which
for centuries has supplied the armies Of
Europe with fighting leaders-the class
from which Sobieski, POniatowski and
KOsciusko sprsng. His ancestors were
feudal mobiles. holding by feudal tenure
vast wheat fields and pasture lands, which
they cultivated with servile labor. When
the Polish throne was vacated by death OF
successful insuTrection the custom was
that the vacancy could not be filed without
term of civil war. In these strIfes the
LedochOwskis took their part. Each gen.
GRAFTON witnessed the sacrifice of one or
more of its members to the popular love
of warfare. In the veins of the priest who
has just died the blood Of the born warrior
flowed.
He did not show it as ayoung man. He
went through the usual stages Of the HER
archy OK his church, and in 1866, when he
was A. he was Nuncio at Brussels.
Thence he was translated to the arch
bshopric of Posen, and there his active
lie began. His archdiocese was within
the Prussian dOminions and the war be-
tween Bismarck and the church was just
breaking out. The quarrel was over the
schools. In the archdiocese of Posen the
schools, which were called seminaries.
were in the hands of the church. Bis
marck's effort was to seculariZe them, as
had been done in France and Spain.
Ledochowski set himself like a rock
against any change. He even went so far
as to forbid the teaching of the German
language in the Polish seminaries. As
Posen is only a few miles east of Berlin
this was throwing down the gauntlet with
a vengeance. When the close Of the
French war gave the Chancellor time to
attend to domestic affairs be summoned
the recalcitrant priest to Berlin and babe
him choose between submission 20 the
Government or war. Without moments
hesitation LedochOwski set the con-
queror of Sedan at defiance. he was
promptly punished. He was seized by
Prussian soldiers. tried for high treason
and imprisoned in the fortress of Ostroma.
The man of blood and iron found that
his prisoner was more formidable in his
dungeon than be had been in his palace.
Bismarck had hoped that captivity would
weaken his spirit. But the naughty Pole
was as un bending as ever. and be had
sympathiZers in many countries who began
to clamor against the Imprisonment of
prelate whose personal character was uu-
assailable. After keeping him in jail for
two years Bismarck let his prisoner go
on condition that he would leave Poland.
Ledochowski departed for Rome, where
he was received as a martyr. The Pope
had created him a Cardinal while he was
in his dungeon. rs was now assigned
chambers in the Vatican, from which he
continued to foment hostility to the Prus-
sian authority in Poland and rslenled not
whit in his implacabe eDmity to the
Chancellor. In return the latter had him
tried par cOntumGce for each separate vio-
lation of German law. and sentences of
fine and imprisonment were constantly
pronounced against him. At these he
Knocked from the safe exclusion of his
Italian chambers; each sentence was fol-
lowed by a defiant epistle from the Cardi-
nal His triumph came when Bismarck
fell. He promptly offered q cordial sup
port to Won Caprivi and wrote 10 the
Emperor assuring him of his profound
loyalty to his person. William welcomed
the olive branch. Baron Won Bulow, Ger
man Minister to Rome, was directed to
invite the Cardinal TO an imperial lunch
con, and thus the warrior priest closed his
career in amity with his sovereign.