The Washington herald., 1914-03-22

$4,000 were living on s-ffrance at home,
deprived OF all civic rights. He re-
stored the rights OF the latter and re-
called the former from their Punishment.
| Summoning to the -ileries the most
stubborn opponent Of the republic in re-
bcllious and Bourbon Vendee. village
priest, he won him over at a word and
made him a mediator between the state
and the church. While never much of
I a churchman himself. he was a Cath
| ole in his emotions and a reconciliation
ist in his policies. He had resisted the
fury OF the Directory against the Pope
in his first italian campaign and spared
Rome. After the Battle of Marengo he
| attended a TeDeum In the Milan Cathc-
dral, regardless Of what the atheists
OF Paris may say" As First Consul he
determined to make peace with the Pap
| acy and bind the church to the repub-
lie. He bade his ambassador at Rome
to treat the Pope as IL he had 10000
soldiers"
revolutionists. for the republic and the
Pope had been engaged for years in a
bitter warfare, and the Holy See had
leen active in the coalitions against
France. IT found 1t more difficult" Ma
poleOn said. Ito restore religion than TO
win battles
Already the church bells were heard
leon was walking with Councillor Thi-
baudeau in the garden of MAlmaison. he
stopped and said. Listen to me: last
Sunday I was walking here alone when
I heard the church bells of Reuil. I was
moved by the sound. so strong Is the
power of early association. l said to my
self. IL such a man as ! am can be af-
fected in this way. how deep must be the
impression on simple, believing souls.
- A nation must have a religion
j do not believe in any religion, but when
II comes to speaking of God-and he
pointed to the heavens-who made all
that
'All moral systems are fine he said
again: but the Gospel alone has shown
full and complete assemblage of the
principles Of m5rality, stripped of all
absurdity Do you wish to find the
really sublime? Repeat the Lords
prayer"
But it was. of course as a statesman
and not as an individual. that he sought
the reunion of the church with her "eld- |
est daughter, France" coldly arguing:
Society cannot exist without Unequal |
ity of fortunes and inequality of fortunes |
cannot exist without religion. When a
man is dying of hunger by the side of |
one who gormandizes. II is impossible for |
him to agree to the difference unless |
there be some authority to say to him. |
God wills II so; there must be poor and |
rich in this world: but afterward and |
during eternity the division will be made |
otherwise He reduced religion to the |
same base use and gave it the same |
earthly. economic motive when he said |
that it prevents the rich from destroy
ing the poor"
The Concordat.
After nc had brought the nations of !
continental Europe to recognize the re- |
public. Pope Plus VII adopted their ex-
ample, although when he was elected at |
Venice in succession to Plus VI. who died |
a captive of France. he had recognized \
Louis XVIII. the Bourbon pretender. as
the only true sovereign of the French.
At the invitation of the First Consul. the /
papai secretary of state, Cardinal Con-
sslvi. came to Paris. and the celebrated |
Concordat was drawn up. a treaty des-
tined 10 continue in force through all the
vicissitudes of a century. Once, when
the negotiations were threatened, Napo-
leon warned the cardinal: You know,
when one can't come to terms with the
Lord, he makes terms with the devil"
BY the terms of the Concordat the
Catholic religion was recognized as the
religion, not OF the State, but of a great
of the people and of the consuls.
On the other hand. the church consented
to reduce its sees in France by more than
one-half and permit the French govern
ment to nominate all bishops for the ap-
proval of the Pope, while the bishops in
turn were to nominate all priests for the
of the government. In return
for the church giving n Quitclaim deed to
the purchasers of the estates that had
been taken away from 1t in the Revolu-
ton. the government pledged itself to
give the bishops and priests a fitting
Bring Back sunday.
Another and generally welcome effect
Of the ConcorSat was the restora ton of
Sunday Sunday had been abolished by
the republican calendar. which provided
In its place a day of rest each tenth day.
Some wit had proved the folly of that
attempt to change the settled habits of
when he said the republican
calendar would have to fight two enc
mics who never yield. the beard and the 1
Shirt" for ten days was too long TO wait II
for the weekly shave and change of h
linen. II
While Napoleon was willing to bring l.
back Sunday. he objected to the revival 4
of the feast days of the church, and s
'ranatie Story Of Napoleoa's Sale Of an