The Portland daily press., 1899-11-07
paris Correspondence of tn. New York
Tribune,

paris Correspondence OF the New York
Tribuns.)
A glance at the attitude OF the Rom an
Catholis church In France during this
Drsfyus agitation may be of interest,". in
visw Of coming events. During the last
i've years ths religious Congregations,
which were dispersed In 1880. have re-
estabiishsd themselves and, adroitly
proLtine by their former experience.
have more than reeaiped their former
power. This Is especially 81 with the
Jesuits and the AssumptioEists OF Paris.
10 Is the Ass1mptionists who have their
headquarters In the hue Francois Pre-
mixer. and who began the fierce propaean-
da against Dreyfus. Under the lsaisr-
ship of Fathers Picard and Hailly, who
threw themselves into the movement
with an impassioned conviction worthy
Of Peter the Hermit, the Assumptionist
newspaper. the Croix, was converted Into
an effective instrument to attain their
ends
Rarely seen outside of France. 10 has an
enormous In fiuence with French Catho
lios. The subscription lists opened In Its
columns for the dome Of the church Of the
Sacred Heart at Montmsrtrs speedily
reached sum Of nearly 5000, 600 Its Paris
edition 10 estimated to have circulation
OF $4,000 There are over 60 subsidiary
Croix. Tasre lie tho Croix de Rennss. the
Croix d Anvsrgns, the Croix de Bordeaux.
and there are Croix in every department.
and i'm portant town Of France. AL these
Croix have the same general appearance.
In the left hand upper corner there Ia .
large figure Of the orucin xion. with the
motto, "Advenias Regnum, Tuum:"
There Is a prominent rubric, entitled lie
Courier Millltaire, In which pursly
military topics are treated, anu In which
answers arc given t) all sorts OF queries
from soldiers relating to th,ir oomfor
and welfare In barracks or elsewhere La
Croix has n large circulation IN the army,
and &c Is distributed TO soldiers sratui
| tously. The price Of tho pAper, which
usually consists Of eight pages, 10 one
cent. IL was In the CroiS that the sub
scription was started to commemorate the
memory Of the lats Col. Henry, the for
ger. The Croix on September contained
the following editorial refersnce to the
Rennes verdict: "Justice has been done,
Dreyfus has been oonuemnedf g. As
Frenchneu We rejoios over It'll As Oatho-
lics we praise God for iti''
When Dreyfus was psrd oned, the Croix
published the following exp'a- alton In
large characters 8: "fhe Dreyf usards were
themselves astonished at the hsste with
| which President Loubet signed the par
don. Msny OF them counted upon an
other trial, from which they anticipated
| an asquitta'. They were forced 20 aban-
| don this projsot under the threat Of the
drnt "a .f n nh NJ NJ "a iDl-
nal bordefesu, upon which was an an
notation In the German emperor's hand
| writing, Of which this following copy 10
certified - Absolutely authentic: Send
me as soon a. possible the documents
men tened. See to It thai that canaille
Drsyfps hurrles up. Wilhelm.
The Croix Of Septsmber % published
kilograms from Cannes announcing that
Drsyfus had "passsd through tins rail-
way station there on his way to Monaco,
where he would pass the winter" As It
Is a matter OF common notoriety that
Drsyfus Is with his family at Csrpentrns.
| the only inference 10 that this falss news
was published 70 prejudioe the public
against Drefyus. whom 1t usually refers
to as .'that traitor" 1t must be remem-
bered that the Croix Is thu most popular
and widely rsad religious organ In
France. 1t enjoys the highest ecole siasti-
cal patronage, and has done more than
| any other Instrument to poison the public
conscience In reaari to Drsfyus, as may
readily Re imagined fran the In stances
| already cited.
The violent rsprisals demanded against
| the Roman Catholic clergy by the Ia |.
| Gals and socialists, by men like Clenceau,
Jean Jauies, Yves Guyot and Presense
| may be here passed over In silence. But
/ IL Is now the moierats conservative re-
ppbliotns. who ara themselves liberal
Catholics, who accuse the leaders Of the
| Roman Catholic church Ia France with
| identifying the cause OF religion with
that of perjured generals and forgers. and
| who charge the accredited oraans and
| mouthpieees of the church with resortiDg
| to the most shamefaoed falsehood to at
tain their ends. NJ. Jonnats's letter to
N. Cornely, which appeared on the front
pages OF the Figaro, the Temps, the
Matin and other republican papers with
| strong editorial commendaticn. IL pro-
dueing an effect which REALS that OF
Gam betta's memorable declaration from
the tribune: ala CleriealisDe. VOLTA