LIBELLING A DEAD KING.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2471, 18 February 1881, Page 4

LIBELLING A DEAD KING.

(“Evening Standard,” Dec. 22.)

Preachers in Austria should be careful in their allusions to deceased sovereigns when in the pulpit, and should be prudent in their criticisms on historical events, for it appears bj r what has just occurred at Salzbourg that if they allow themselves too much latitude in this respect they are liable to be prosecuted for libel. 4 chaplain attached to a religious establishment at Salzbourg was requested to preach on behalf of some charitable mission, in a village church. In the course of his sermon he wandered from his subject and entered into a long dissertation upon the reign of the Emperor Joseph 11., who has been dead nearly a century, and after abusing him iu violent terms,ended his discourse by saying “ And now, my brethren, let us recite a pater for this monarch, who for the last hundred years has been enduring the tortures of lost souls in hell!” At these words a Governmentf unctionary present rose to his feet to protest, a hubbub ensued, 2 voces verbal was drawn up, the authorities were made acquainted with the affair, and the preacher who had outraged the memory of the Emperor Joseph II has been served with a summons, on the charge of libelling the sovereign in question. He has engaged an eminent counsel to defend him; but it strikes one that if the libel is supposed to be contained in the concluding passage of the reverend gentleman’s discourse, the latter will have some difficulty in substantiating his allegations by proofs.