during 1845, despite all political and hierarchal hindrances, the descendants of the ancient Hussites have heard, and many of them obeyed, the call," Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues." It cannot, therefore, excite wonder, though it must regret, that the Austrian government has now issued a regular manifesto against the German Catholics. The official document is addressed to all governors in Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, Galicia, Austria above and below the Inn, Styria, Illyria, and the sea coasts, and contains ten paragraphs, of which the following is a translation: "First. The so-called German Catholics being a sect no ways recognised in the Austrian dominions, are an illegal association, and have no claims to free residence within the same; and the members, according to the degree in which they contravene the various paragraphs (which are cited) of the criminal code, shall be treated either as criminals or offenders against police regulations. "Second. The Austrian ambassadors in foreign countries have received instructions on no account to give passports to any foreigners belonging to this sect, with the design of their entering the Austrian territory; and, should any such make good their entrance there without a passport, they are instantly to be sent out of the country, and intimation given of the occurrence to their government. "Third. Any Austrian who is a member of the said sect, living in another country, and desirous of returning to his native land, can only obtain permission to do so by forsaking the said sect, and entering into some other religious denomination tolerated in Austria. "Fourth. All foreigners belonging to this sect now residing in the Austrian dominions, to be immediately sent out of the country; and, "Fifth. Natives who have joined, or may desire to join this sect, have the choice of forsaking it or emigrating, and that without delay. "Sixth. In cases of death amongst these sectaries, no burial service can be allowed them, except the clergyman under whose pastoral care they formerly were, be pleased to perform the same; if not, the corpse must be committed to the grave by the police, in silence. "Seventh. As his imperial majesty will not tolerate any government officer or magistrate joining that sect, it is commanded that such as do so shall be dismissed, and, unless they abjure the sect, must leave the country. 66 Eighth. Although the police courts are entrusted with watching over all religious offences and disorders, and empowered to punish every contravention of the laws in these respects with prompt severity, still the clergy are peculiarly called, by their office, to guard against the rise as well as the progress of the sect in question; and the ordinaries are directed, by confidential communication of these regulations, to stir up their subordinate clergy to due zeal in this respect. "Ninth and tenth. These regulations are to be transmitted to all governors of districts, but with the express caution to avoid, in promulgating them, all unnecessary éclat, and only to communicate them fully to the magistracy of such frontier places as, from frequent contact with foreigners, are most likely to be infected by a sympathy for this heresy." This remarkable document is supposed to be the result of instructions received from Rome, the papal see having, it is said, resolved on making no direct and public manifestation against the dissidents; but, instead of the long-expected bull of excommunication, have sent private directions to all governments still faithful to its cause, to adopt vigorous police regulations in regard to these refractory children of Mother Church. But in several of the provinces named in the Vienna manifesto, late events have given the government a strong lesson, that it may have worse antagonists to contend with than Catholic dissidents; for it is a remarkable, and to them highly honourable fact, that no one belonging to the new sect has as yet been implicated in the insurrectionary movements which have been so rife in the Grand Duchy of Posen, Galicia, and Cracow, What will be the result of this strong measure in the Austrian dominions, time alone can tell; but, that it will not be taken quite patiently by other countries, seems probable, from the motion made on the 19th of March by Deputy Rewitzer, in the Dresden chamber, in which, after stating that the Austrian ambassador at the Saxon court had already acted on these instructions from his government, and refused a passport to a Dresden merchant to go into Austria, on the ground of his being a German Catholic, Deputy Rewitzer moved "that such measures should be immediately taken as should be found necessary to secure to all Saxon subjects the same freedom of intercourse with the allied and friendly power of Austria as had hitherto been enjoyed." The Saxon minister replied, that no official communication on the subject had yet been made by the Austrian to the Saxon government; but that he pledged himself to make the necessary inquiries, and to lay the reply before the chamber. Thus stands the matter at present; and it would be premature even to hazard a conjecture on what is likely to be the final decision. Yet, recent events in Galicia might teach even Austria that fidelity to an earthly sovereign does not now, any more than in days that are past, weigh a feather in the scale with the Roman Catholic priesthood, if the interests of the church are to be promoted by rebellion. In addition to this, it is to be remembered that, immensely extensive as is the Austrian empire, it partakes of the weakness inherent in all masses made up of heterogeneous and unamalgamable materials. "The iron and the miry clay" threaten its ruin, no less than that of the ancient Roman empire and when we consider that, especially in religious matters, Austria, Hungary, Bohemia, Moravia, and Galicia, not only differ in confession, but are bound by actually different ecclesiastical laws, so that what is legally admissible in the one, is not in the other, it must be evident to every reflective mind, that the empire contains within its own bosom sufficient elements of disunion, without stirring up and inflaming them by encroachment and persecution. Some very remarkable secessions from the Roman communion have occurred in Hungary during the past year; among which may be mentioned, Baroness Dercsensy, Count Haldeck, a Franciscan Monk, and another of the order of the Pious Schools, who had attained to the rank of Professor and Doctor of Moral Philosophy. Indeed, the accustomed order of affairs seems quite changed of late; formerly, 800 to 1000 Protestants went over annually to Romanism, but, in 1845, 35 only have turned Catholic, in return for 900 Catholics who have professed Protestantism, 401 LIBRA CAZINOTUNIS CHAPTER XX. RELIGIOUS ASPECT OF RUSSIA. Protestantism in the Russian Baltic Provinces-Persecutions of the Jews, and the Crafty Reasons for its Present Suspension—The Nuns of Minsk-The Russian Emperor's Visit to Rome-Interview with the Pope-Statement of the Polish Abbess-Mieczyslawska-Opposing Documents on this Subject-Probable Truth of the Original Statement-The Protestants of Livonia—Petition of the Landed Proprietors, praying the Russian Government to purchase their Estates-Persecuting Proselytism of the Greek Church-Probable Results to Russia, from its persecuting spirit. THE Protestant inhabitants of Courland, Livonia, Esthonia, and Lithuania, being all German colonists, who carried their religion with them into the regions of their adoption, it seems necessary to take some notice of them here, especially as the proselyting spirit of the Russian government under the Emperor Nicholas has, of late years, assumed a despotic and persecuting character towards all, whether Jews, Catholics, or Lutherans, who do not yield to the plainly-expressed wish, that they should join the Greek communion. With respect to Jews, the various ukases which have been issued during the three last years, extending even to the articles of female attire, which the Russian tyrant, not satisfied with controlling |