Year: 1872

In another place in this days HERALD win
be found some most interesting matter rela-
tive to the civil and religious questions which
now agitate the new German Empire.
letter from our correspondent in Germany will
enable our readers to understand what is the
actual position Of the Jesuit Brotherhood In
the reconstructed Fatherland 1t is known to
our readers that the Old Catholics of Ger
many are now in session at Cologne, under the
shadow of the great cathedral, around which
cluster so many sacred memories inseparably
associated with the history of Christianity in
Europe. To add to the interest of the general
question, the news which we publish this
morning informs us that serious rupture is
imminent between France and Germany the
German Minister at Versailles having resigned
his position, owing, it is said, to the treatment
he has been receiving in Partisan society. tits
added that if the German government is satis-
fed with the conduct of the Minister who has
thus Identified his charge no successor will be
appointed, and the duties of the Ambassador
will be left in the hands of the German Con-
sui. The Pope recently refused to receive as
Ambassador the Cardinal Hohenlohe. and now
Partisan society makes the position of the
German Ambassador to France so uncomfort-
able that he voluntarily retires All things
considered, the aspect of affairs is not promis-
ing, and somehow we are forced to the con-
clusion that the new German Empire is
neither comfortable herself nor making her
self agreeable to her neighbors.


We believe we express the sentiments of
thousands of our readers when we say that in
all this we find cause for disappointment TWAS
our opinion that the triumph of German arms
and the unifcation of the German peoples
would mark the commencement Of
new and noble era-an era the principal
characteristics of which would be intelli-
gence, prosperity and peace We saw
the evils of disunion, and we. knew how
earnestly for generations the divided German
race longed and prayed for the union Of the
Fatherland We rejoiced in the victory at
Sedan, because we believed that the one
victory and the other contributed to the
union of Germany, to the consolidation of
great empire and to the establishment Of
the worlds peace. 1t is unnecessary to say
that our expectations have not been realized,
that our hopes have been blasted. In the
conqueror we were entitled to expect magma
nimity; but in place of magnanimity we
have found selfshness of the meanest and
most sordid kind, carrying out its purposes
by most merciless means. In the unifcation
of great people and the consolidation of
great empire it was not unnatural to look for
fruit in the shape of contentment, peace and
prosperity. But the fruit which we had ex-
pected to be so pleasant is, alas bitter to the
taste Discontinued with their lot at home,
the German people are leaving the united
Fatherland in thousands; and so great
is the exodus that the government has
deemed it necessary to interfere. Among the
religious orders who did good and faithful
service to German soldiers on the field none
were more devoted or untiring in their efforts
than the followers of 1gnatius Loyola; and how
have they been rewarded? By a cruel lava
law which revives the memory of the bloody
Inquisition-they are not only robbed of their
property, but expelled the country. It was
natural to expect that after SO grand o series
of victories, and after SO glorious a national
triumph, the princes and potentates of Ger
many would live together in unity; but the
arrogance of Bismarck and the pretensions of
the House of Hohenzollern have done much to
mar the peace of what otherwise might have
been a happy family The Kings of Sa1ony
and Bavaria are no longer on the best of terms
with the Berlin government; and it is almost
safe to say that in the event of another Franco
German war their support to the cause of the
Emperor would be but reluctantly given.
There were thousands of intelligent men
in all lands who rejoiced in the
triumph of Germany, because they believed
that the permanent peace of Europe and
the world would thereby be effectually secured;
but the recent Imperial Congress at Berlin
has done much to dispel this pleasant dream
from the most hopeful minds. Never was the
condition of Europe so critical as it is at the
present moment and never since the days of
the First Napoleon have the nations been so
much at the mercy Of a daring and unprin-
cipled man. As yet the new German Empire
has not been peace


Many as have been the errors of the impe-
rial government, in nothing has it so much
sinned as in the treatment OF the Jesuits We
are willing to admit the truth and force Of
many of the arguments which have been used
by Bismarck in justification of his policy. It
was not unnatural for the authorities at Rome
to regret the fall of France and to view with
disfavor the rise Of great Protestant empire
in the heart of Europe. 1t was not unnatural
for the leaders of the Catholic Church in South
Germany to prefer the interests of the Church
to what seemed at Berlin the interests of the
Fatherland, and in view of the great influence