SOME ADVENTURES UNDER THE MAY LAWS.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume IV, Issue 176, 11 August 1876, Page 7

SOME ADVENTURES UNDER THE MAY LAWS.

fConcluded.) As soon as night fell the " commercial traveller" left N by footways and bye-paths through fields and gardens, leaving his friendly host to make known to the parishioners his intention of reappearing the following Sunday and saying Mass, this time as early as two o'clock in the morning. Meanwhile he returned to the tq^n, bent on making acquaintance with the Landrath, whom he had always heard mentioned as one of the stoutest champions of the war of culture. He found out the hotel, which did duty as casino, where the Landrath, spent an hour or two every evening, and took a seat at a table round which sat a party consisting, as he learnt afterwards, of the mayor, the doctor, and the lawyer of the place, besides the Landrath himself, and a tax-commissioner. There were two other guests in the room, who appeared strangers. The conversation at first turned on indifferent subjects, but gradually got round to the inevitable^ subject of the day — the " war of culture." It is worth quoting.

" ' The "bitter feelings of the people in these parts/ I said, ' strike me as remarkable. A man who travels as much as I do, has the best opportunity of getting to know the state of mind of the inhabitants. And it seems to me there is some fault to be found with the behaviour of officials in this business. The official is a man, and as a man he takes part eagerly for or against ; for in this struggle the dearest interests- of men are concerned, and so, unluckily, it often happens that the requisite composure and objectivity get lost sight of, and their place is taken by bitterness and subjective party feeling. This is the case, certainly, with persons who are, from want of education and the nature of their calling, without all delicacy .j For instance, it is impossible for the Goveru-

ment, or those "who make the laws, to intend to sanction the conduct of many of the gendarmes, which must be condemned by every right-thinking man.' " ' The Landrath, who had not lost one of my words, moved uneasily in his seat and stroked his huge moustache vigorously. " ' But what would be the result/ replied my vis-a-vis, 'if the laws of the Government should continue to be set at nought? Unless the insolence of the priests is checked, there will he an end of all respect for law and order among the people. What I say is, that the Government must step in, and where lenity and forbearance would be mere weakness, there cannot be any special delicacy ; in the choice of means. If the priests won't submit, they must be ' made to feel/ " ' Do you really think, then, that the gendarmerie, trials, and prisons are effectual weapons against men's consciences ? lam certainly no enemy of the State, and I love my country ; but just for that reason I cannot but.most deeply lament the whole contest with its miserable details. It has made a rent in the land which will not close easily, dealt/wounds to the hearts of the people which will not heal soon/ " 'And things will go further still, my good sir. lam a member of the Lodge, and tolerably au fait. If imprisonment and deprivation have no effect on the bishops, their stipends will be withdrawn, and their whole connection with the Pope dissolved. Then the ambassadorship at the Curia will be abolished, and should the . Pope do the least thing to give the Government a handle for further proceedings, the Bull of 1821, De salute a'nimarum, will simply be declared null. And if the people get troublesome, then the district or the province will be put in a state of siege, and the Ultramontane, papers, those plague-sores of Germany, suppressed/ " ' I quite believe that you may be right, and that the Government will shrink from no measures, however violent ; but Ido not believe that the bishops will sacrifice their convictions for the sake of a salary. I respect every sincere conscience/ "'" ' Fiddlesticks ! The priests are determined to keep the'people in ignorance, and they must do so in order to continue to exist and not feel the ground give way under their feet ; they lord it over the masses, and their dignity, enveloped in clouds of incense, will stoop to no accommodation with the laws. The Government, on the contrary, would enlighten and emancipate the people — get them out of leading-strings — that's the real point of the struggle. The priests mask their obstinacy to the eyes of the people by the phrase, "We must obey God rather than man;" but among themselves they laugh, like the Eoman augurs, over the stupidity of the mob.' " ' That accusation of the priests cheating and deceiving the people is so dashing a one that I seek in vain for a proof of it. Certainly the bishops and priests suffer for their principles ; and, after all, one must have religion, or there is an end of civil liberty; for never will the people be enlightened to such a pitch as to render a positive religion superfluous j never will people be so inoculated with so-called " moral principles" as to do good because it is good, and to shun evil because it is evil. Eob them of their God, of their faith in eternity and its retribution, and they will sink to the level of the brutes ; and their unbridled passions and impulses will break all bounds, and a peaceable social life become impossible. . . . Only a madman, or a man blinded by fanaticism, can be so hostile to Christianity and the bishops as to make that charge of deliberate falsehood and deception. You alluded just now to the Eoman augurs — let me allude to the national Liberals of our day. Was it not political hypocrisy, when persons calling themselves Liberals gave their sanction, in spite of knowing better, to laws which they condemned in their hearts ? Look at the military service law, at the Landstrum law, at the rejection or adjournnient of the motion for the direct right of election ! Is it real Liberalism for the majority of the representatives of the people to sanction laws which the people reject, merely out of deference to the Imperial Chancellor or the Government ? Is it not making a farce of constitutional rule ?' " ' I confess/ replied the Freemason, ' that I do not agree in all points \i ith the proceedings of the national Liberal party, but at the same time I am obliged to go with it because it is the only support of the Government, which, without it, would be unable to perform its civilising mission against the enemies of the Empire, whether red or black. That in so doing many concessions are made which the Liberals thjmselves do not approve is true, but inevitable ; but, believe me, the times will alter, and then we shall attack the Government in its position of absolutism.' " ' And so, merely from considerations of conscience, you now agree to laws which are to be upset at a later day. Well, populus vult decipi ! And people give their votes for anything. Government may carry on the war against the Ultramontane'party. Well, I call myself liberal, but for that very reason I condemn such line of conduct. And I condemn to the measures that are being taken against the refractory priests. . . . Only yesterday I saw what confirmed me in my views. I was at If , where the banished priest had returned, and had ' illegally,' said Mass. The police were on the alert in pursuit of him, but in vain ; the people defended their pastor. Are not such incidents a fiasco for the Government ? Do you think they tend to increase and strengthen, the love of the Fatherland ?' " ' You were at N yesterday ?' exclaimed the Landrath, suddenly, turning to me. '• ' Yes, I was. Does that interest you ?' " ' Certainly it does, for this is the first I have heard of the pastor's return and of his officiating. That man's defiance of the law goes too far/ < " • Why so ? Because he does not let the police get hold of him? I certainly would not; for if ,1 understand the priest's stand-point rightly, he considers himself bound in conscience to remain at the post assigned to him by bis Bishop till he is forcibly driven from it/

" The doctor, who sat next to the Landrath, muttered something that sounded like ' Jesuit in disguise.' " 'You are mistaken," I said, turning to him. with a smile, ' I am a travelling wine merchant of liberal views and friendly to the Empire.' "'And so'they did not catch the pastor? ' asked tie Landrath. " 'No : at least they had not done so when I left the place.' " ' If those peasants don't submit,' said the Landrath angrily,-' I shall just say the -word and send a body of soldiers into the place till they are tamed.' "The rest of the party nodded approval. " 'As this affair seems to be of importance to you,' I said to the Landrath, ' 1 should advise your having the church closely watched n»xt Sunday from as early as five or six o'clock, as doubtless the pastor will re-»ppear there on that day.' And thereupon I made my dow, leaving the gentlemen to puzzle their heads over my character and to revile the 'disguised Jesuit' to their heart's content." Our friend spent the remainder of the week in a village on the Luxembourg frontier, the Moselle beiDg the boundary. At this very time fell the fete patronale of the Church, and the pastor of the place, our Renitentus, and another priest — all three under the ban of the May laws, and all wearing thick beards — met by appointment to celabrftte High Mass at nine o'clock. Every precaution had been taken by the people. A boat was in readiness to take them across the river in case of need, all the rest of the boats being removed to as great a distance as possible and made fast to the shore, and sentinels were posted about the place to give warning of danger. Hardly was Mass over when a lad ran into the church to give the alarm. The priests hastily unvested, charged the people to keep perfectly quiet, and made the best of their way to the river. The gendarmes were not two hundred yards o4 ; but the boat was safely reached, and had pushed off some distance when they reached the bank, where they were greeted by much " chaff" from the fugitives, who regretted the trouble they had had and advised them to rest themselves a little and get cool. Th« river side was crowded by parishioners, cheering and waving hand* and handkerchiefs, and the three " recusants " landed safely, congratulating themselves on drinking their coffee in a Tillage inn instead of a Prussian prison. Renitentus had relations in a town not far off, for which he took his passage in one of the Moselle boats, the captain of which turned out to be a schoolfellow, who was much surprised to see him in such imclerical garb. When the story was told, the honest sailor *'oid him fear nothing while he was on his boat ; but an unexpected danger appeared in the shape of the gendarmes from whom the dark corner of the coach and the patriotic song had co lately saved him. These, however, were closer quarters, and recognition seemed certain. A few words put the captain au fait : he beckoned his old friend into his cabin, where, as he said, he might easily lie perdu till the end of the passage. " But that would be very dull in such fine weather, and we will do things more poetically. You seem to be going through a practical course of the JEneid and Odyssey; why not do the same with the ' Metamorphoses ?' "When once a reverend pastor ha 9 turned into a commercial traveller, he can surely change from that to a sailor." Accordingly he donned a red jacket and cap, went on deck again, and got safely to B . Saturday saw him again on his way to his faithful people, and an hour after midnight he was in the church. No lights could be ventured on, and in darkness and silence one after another stole in, after whispering a pass-word to the sacristan who stood at the door. Confessions were heard till two ; and then itwo candles were placed on the altar, screens arranged on each side, curtains drawn before the windows, and Mass was said. It must have been a night never to be forgotten by that hunted priest and his faithful people. The dark thronged church, the stillness scarcely broken by the low voices of the celebrant and his servei, and now and then by a stifled sob. When Mass was over, Holy Communion was given, then the priest blessed his children, and left jthe place as he had entered it, in silence and alone. The Landrath faithfully followed the friendly advice he had received, and the police watched the church with exemplary but unrewarded patience for some hours. In the course of the week the following letter was sent to the banished pastor ; and what must have been the consolation of such an assurance of fidelity and zeal in the, midst of persecution and hardship. " Honoured " Herr Pastor," — It seems that the police are on the scent : we must go to work very cautiously, and so we have put ourselves in communication with the parish priests of the neighbourhood, and receive their permission for you to offer the Holy Sacrifice at night on the three next Sundays, at P G , R , and M . Your parishioners will meet you at these villages. We have taken every precaution to prevent your arreßt, trustworthy sentinels will be posted ; a short sharp whistle is the signal of danger ; the cry of the cuckoo the token that all is right. Your people will keep true, in ■pite of every trial and sacrifice, to the priest sent by their bishop ; and nothing shall Jmake us waver in our devotion to the Church, Catholic and Roman, the Pope and the bishops. We thank you for shrinking from no trouble to be a faithful shepherd to your flock." All went well on the next three Sundays, on the fourth came a change. At midnight Eenitentus was crossing a field leading to the village of M , when a shrill, sharp whistle struck his ear, then another, this time close at hand, and now horses' hoofs were heard coming nearer and nearer. No one was to be seen, and not a house was in sight where he could take refuge. By-and-bye a gendarme's helmet glittered in the moonlight, and a voice called out, "What did that whistle mean?" A man jumped out of a ditch, and ran across the field, the gendarme was about to give chase, when he saw the priest, and asked what was his businessNo answer being given he was ordered to inarch, with a threat of being ridden down if he attempted to escape. He was taken before the authorities of the place, identified, and sentenced to a month's imprisonment, at the end of which he was banished from the Ger-

man Empire by command of the Government. This term of imprisonment was very hard, the diet so execrable that he fell sick in consequence, and his treatment rude and insulting to the last degree. On this subject he says he mentions it not for the sake of complaint, knowing well that far worse was endured by thousands of confessors of old, but to protest against the crying injustice of the Government in treating political prisoners, suffering for their adherence to a principle, in precisely the same way as the basest criminals. The four weary weeks came to an end. Forty-eight hours were given him before leaving his country, which he had simply and firmly declared he would not do voluntarily ; his conscience bs a Catholic priest forbade that; but he would wait quietly for what was coming. The poor young priest was to have a consolation before his exile, which, he says, made him forget all he had suffered. His mother was waiting for him. She had read the announcement of his banishment in the papers, and had come to bid him farewell. "It was one of the happiest hours of my life ; but how can I linger over this bright spot, this sunbeam that broke out of the clouds into my dark life ? Let the reader remember that lam the only son of an aged mother who spent her last heller and bore many privations for the sake of educating him, who thanked God with tears when she saw him a priest at the altar, and who now after long separation met him on the eve of his exile to bid him farewell, perhaps for ever. We sat together, hand in hand, late into the night. I told her all my story, and she laughed and wept by turns. I have never seen her since." And now we come to the closing scene of this pathetic drama. It was three days before Christmas, and the banished priest resolved to risk everything rather than leave his people without Mass on the feast. It was fearful weather ; snow had fallen heavily for a week and lay several feet deep ; not a trace of a, road was to be seen, but he had promised his people to be with them at midnight, and he started at three in the afternoon. At every step he sank two or three feet in the snow, heavy flakes, driven by a strong wind, almost blinded him, and he begun to fear that even if he did not lose his way, he should never reach N in time. Once he walked right into a stream, but on he went. The man who defies the mighty Prussian Government is not to be daunted by a snowstorm. It was half-past clever when the brave-hearted priest reached hi 3 journey's end. Neither his flock nor the police had thought his appearance possible in such weather, so all was quiet in the village, and a suppressed cry of joy greeted his entrance into the church, where one of the parishioners was saying the rosary with the congregation. "As the clock struck twelve I began Mass — never with such joy and devotion before — and very touching it was when one of the choir, in a low voice intoned the glorious hymn Seiligste Nacht ! Finsterniss weichet — ' Holiest night ! the darkness flies.' During the first Mass, I gave a short sermon on the text, • Glory be to God in the highest : peace to men of good will.' Never did the words come so entirely from my heart, never was I so entirely happy as then. Yes, happy. Let the man of ' culture ' and the unbeliever mock as they may; happy, in spite of trial and persecution: all weariness, all pain and care were gone, and tears of joy and sorrow filled my eyes as I thought of the circumstances under which I was keeping the holy Christmas feast, and of the faithful devotion of my people to their Church. It was a happiness such as the world cannot give. I said my three Masses, baptised three children, and gave my flock the general absolution. Then my good and faithful children pressed round me, clinging to my hand and weeping. I said a few parting words, and tearing myself from their entreaties to stay a little longer, passed once more into the darkness of the night. Next morning, when I reached the house of a priest, in the neighborhood, I broke down, and lay for many days in a violent fever. " Since then I have only been twice at N . To do so more frequently would have been running into the arms of the police, for my parish is desolate. The nearest church is an hour and a half's journey from N , and only a small number could get there on Sundays in that bitter winter to hear Mass. My people have no teaching — no priest to administer the sacraments, to console the sick, to bring the food of life to the dying . . . but their Father in heaven is merciful ! " I have related the manifestations and the results of the war of culture in Prussia merely as they exhibited themselves in my person: similar scenes are repeated every day in all directionjfc The whole country sits sorrowing, and the priests are prisoners, or f emigrants, or, like myself, homeless wanderers. And yet it is &* contest in which the State will not triumph ! Ifc may make new lans, and take the bread out of the mouths of the priests; but it will learn all the more plainly that it has to do with Catholic priests."