The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1903-07-11

ave. cnvie dc vouS faire casser In
petite iiolc sur la tcte." C''You would
like To have the holy vial emptied
over your hrad."p i.;lflyrttc WAS
not the only onr to chaif Honnlmrtc
on this subject, or To try to dis
suade him from signing Il treaty with
Pope Plus VII. Indeed. it was pretty
generally known that the country was
not concerned with the religious uues-
tonS. but waS ever hostile to the
Church. To such critics Ronaparte
made answer:
You may he certain that if | acted
as an enemy of religion the whole ma
tion would be on the Church's side.
And. as matter of fact, would turn
the inditlrrcntS into sincere believers"
The First Consul succeeded in con-
vincinY men like CamhaccrcS, Portal
is. etc. with the result that the Con-
cortlat WAS signed. Since then history
has acknowledged that by his wisdom
in closing the era of religious tiscoru
HonalG,rtr put an end to Il state OF
things which waS most injurious to
the practical interests of France
Whatever opinion one may hold con-
corning the policy which WAS follow
ed 10y l'onalmrtc ut that time, and
which he pursued thereafter when he
had come to he styled Napoleon. it
would be over bold to say that in the
circumstance lie did not prove himself
real statesman. The world-famcd
diplomatic document. signed and seal
ed Il century ago 10y Bornlpartc and
Pope Plus VII. is apparently on the
eve of being cancelled. and even now
il is possible tor Il lrcnchman to
pretty accurately anticipate The conSc.
uurnccS which such an act may have.
without entering int" amy religious
controversy Thus ! will examine the
question from Il purely practical point
OF view.
The nature of the tunror,at which
governs the rriatioilS between the
government and the French clergy is
interpreted over here i'm various and
sometimes erroneous ways. Each one
discusses the treaty according to his
own religious creed and not as an
ordinary treaty Signed by two parties
wishing to come to an ami,;,hlr under
standing, and to obtain certain guar
antrrS and advantages hy making
each other mutual concessions. The
mere exposition of tho question as il
WAS ut that time must convince all
honest people that the contracting
parties had an equal interest. either
political or religious. and that both
have derived advantages from the
treaty. In lSul there were in France
two sets of priests: one consisting of
those who had taken the oarl, rr-
uuircd 10y the l13l Constitution. and
whose members were elected: the
other. whose members have refused
to take the oath were considered out
laws.
II WAS. nevertheless. the latter
clergy that the people trusted. Tie
Catholic services. held either in barns
or in caves. were the cause of riots
inn,ll,rraIlr. Having this fact in
view, is il not evident that IN rarncs,
statesman. One responsible for the
moral as we'll rs the material welfare
ui Il l;ltiulI. ought moi to nIluw such Il
condition of affairs to exist any LONGER
than he could help. and that his duty
some means or other: SO much for
tn" moral sid" of til" question. If W"
consider the nationS financial inter
cStS the evil WAS greater still.
The continuance of religious quar-
rrS prevented I'll" purchasers of
church property from having any So
| curity. and in the desire for the rcSti-
tuition of this property they were nr-
tuatrh by religious StrnplrS. The um-
certainty which prevailed was an
| obstacle to transactions of any sort
concerning property. AMI caused gen
crnl ul.cnSinrSs. The Holy See on its
part desired to put an end to this di-
vision among the priests and to heal
the sclism. Tie First Consul and
Pope Plus VII made mutual concrS-
sionS. and BunHlnlrtr Obtained what
he really aimed at. namely. having the
French clergy under his personal con
troll. while Plus VII sanctioned the
sale OF church property and thus
quoted the purchasers cOnSriclccS
With regard to the Catholic priests
salaries. The toncur,lnt was II COPY of
the rules enforced by the "Asscmblir
Rationale" and by tlr "cunvcntion. y
Both these assemblies acknowledged
tn" States debt. and the latter put il
| under the heading "I'rnSionS" instead
of salary of the clergy. French re-
ligiouS history is now rrpc:ItiI. itself
We find that at all times the most
violent ATTACKS against the clergy
have been directed by men who have
AT some time of their lives worn the
ecclesiastical gnrh hut subsequently,
east il off. II was TaIlryrlld. Peri
| cord RiSIDoD of \utjlIl who :t tlr