57 CHAPTER III. THE REFORMATION OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. Brief Retrospect of its immediate Causes-French Revolution Spread of French Principles and Politics-Jesuit Influence restored-Priestly Tyranny and Folly-Mixed Marriages—Archbishop of Cologne, and the King of Prussia-Anecdote-Rongé -His Birth and Education-Disgust at the Routine of the Breslaw Seminary-Settlement at Grottkau Suspension from his Chaplaincy-Retirement to Wald-dorf-Thence to Laurahütte -Lines Written on His Thirtieth Birthday-Bishop Arnoldi's Letter and the Holy Coat-Rongé's Letter to Bishop ArnoldiRongé's Degradation and Excommunication - Addresses and Presents to Rongé- Convulsion in the Roman Church-Rongé's Appeal to the Inferior Catholic Clergy-Its Rapid and Extensive Sale. No Bible Christian is unacquainted with the sure word of prophecy, by which the ultimate fall of the mystical Babylon, and the annihilation of her long tyranny over the nations, are held up to the faith and hope of believers; and every symptom of its approaching accomplishment must be hailed with delight, as one ray of that promised flood of gospel light, which shall one day "cover the earth as the waters do the channel of the sea." As such a symptom, and one, indeed, of no small promise, was regarded, by all who witnessed it, that new reformation in Germany whose dawn began to streak the horizon in the autumn of 1844, and which has progressed with a rapidity which we would fain hail as prognosticating a bright and glorious day of religious freedom, at no distant date. What though the views of some of those new claimants of liberty of conscience are crude and imperfect, what though, still worse, the sentiments of others are deeply tinged with rationalism, yet a total separation from the papacy, a public abjuration of Rome's supremacy and Rome's dictation, a renunciation of her distinguishing doctrinal errors and practical abuses, together with a bold assertion of the right of private judgment in religious matters, and, best of all, the Bible being proclaimed as the only rule of faith and morals, are great and important steps on the right road, which ought to ensure the pilgrims a deep feeling of sympathy in every Christian bosom. But as many of those whose minds are now to be directed to this recent revival of Luther's spirit among his countrymen, may not be familiar with the details of modern German history, it seems desirable to give a succinct sketch of the social and ecclesiastical position which has essentially contributed to bring on the present crisis. When, at the era of the French Revolution, the principles and the politics of that distracted and turbulent nation spread like a volcanic eruption over the rest of the Continent, they found prompt and eager disciples in most, if not in all, the states of Germany; and the infidelity which had long gnawed, as with secret canker, the vitals of society, lurking beneath the pompous ritual and orthodox formulas of Romanism, as commonly as in the more avowed Socinianism of the Lutheran pulpits, broke forth into an almost universally expressed contempt for the most sacred institutions, whether of church or But when the armies of France followed hard upon the promulgation of her principles, when, with liberty continually sounding from their lips, they brought oppression and enslavement in their hand, and sought to build up the independence of "the great nation" by the subjection of all others to its rule or its dictation, the eyes of all Germans were opened. state. The grace of God sanctified the endurance of national, domestic, and personal affliction to many a heart; and, while struggling powerfully to throw off the incubus of French oppression, thousands acknowledged the inefficacy of philosophy op or to sustain, and turned to "HIM who had smitten, and who alone could heal them." But still, amid this feeling after the God of their fathers, there was much ignorance, much superstition, much mere animal excitement; and, accordingly, when the beloved soil of their fatherland, under circumstances of such evident divine interposition as to arrest the attention of the most thoughtless, was at length rescued from the pressor's rod, the hearts of the faithful in the land had cause for grief as well as joy, for, while they beheld many "asking the way to Zion," they likewise saw the Catholic priesthood zealously employed in using this reaction for the recovery of their ancient ascendancy; the Jesuits, especially, fast regaining their lost influence, and successfully rebuilding the fallen superstitions, and re-rivetting the degrading, spiritual fetters which an infidel philosophy had loosened, but could not remove, because it had nothing either consolatory or satisfying to the mind of man, to offer in exchange. Aided, then, partly by the excitement springing from the attainment of hard-won civil freedom, partly by the mental exhaustion consequent on all violent efforts (which facilitates a return to old accustomed thoughts and habits), favoured, too, by some weak princes, who, having trembled for their thrones, fancied what had been threatened by infidelity might be strengthened by superstition, the Roman Catholic clergy resumed, with an almost incredible rapidity, their former place, and, with a blind infatuation, which seems inherent in absolute power, whether priestly or princely, forgetting the lessons of experience, forgetting, too, the large strides made by the human mind during the preceding quarter of a century, they soon began again to domineer and to anathematize, with a disregard to private feelings and private judgment, more suited to the sixteenth than to the nineteenth century. And all this was 66 borne for years (though with inward resentment) by thousands of Roman Catholics, who, however indignant and even disgusted with the incorrigibleness of their spiritual guides, feared to occasion worse evils by resisting and exposing them. But, as water hollows a stone, not by force, but by often falling," so the ceaseless foolhardy intermeddling of the priests, and their senseless obstinacy in upholding, and even reviving disused, if not abrogated, observances, gradually undermined the foundations of their authority to a dangerous degree; and, notwithstanding that the evil likely to arise was foreseen and striven against by some of the clearer-sighted among the hierarchy, their efforts were frustrated by the wrongheaded conscientiousness of some high in ecclesiastical office. was peculiarly evidenced in the question of "mixed marriages" (marriages of Catholics with Protestants), which was carried to such a height of animosity some years ago in the Prussian Rhine provinces, as to threaten very serious consequences. This The deposition of the archbishop of Cologne, by the late king of Prussia, was the result of his violent opposition to such marriages, and although the healing measures afterwards adopted by the papal see, and the moderation with which the Prussian monarch followed up this decisive step in vindication of his subjects' freedom of conscience, conspired to lull the question apparently to sleep, still the private persecution, by Romish priests, of such of their flocks as had committed this ecclesiastical offence, and refused to expiate it, not only by bringing up all their children in the Romish faith, but by tormenting the heretic partner into professing it, went on with undiminished rigour. As one specimen of the extent to which this system has been carried, may be adduced the following anecdote : Monsieur L. Böhm, of Pamay, a gentleman of landed estate, and a most estimable and highly-respected Catholic, who lives in the utmost concord and domestic happiness with his second wife, a professor of the Lutheran faith, attended the church in Liebenau, for the purpose of confession (in accordance with the Roman Catholic ritual) before partaking of the Lord's Supper on Ash Wednesday. Upon entering the confessional, his ears were saluted with this astounding address from the officiatory priest:-"As thou hast married a Lutheran, I must exprobate thee, in the name of the Holy Queen, for thou hast defiled the church, and must first prove thy regard for her, and thy willingness to ask pardon for thy sin. Besides which, thou must engage that any children thou mayst have shall be baptized, and brought up in the Roman Catholic faith, and must also try to persuade thy wife to profess the same; and, if it cannot be accomplished by fair means, it must by foul. Thirdly, thou must neither read political newspapers nor books; I will send thee the Kirchen Zeitung (church journal), and other books, which will bring thee to better thoughts. God himself, in his mercy, chastised thee when about to enter into this sinful marriage (alluding to M. Böhm having then had the misfortune to break his arm in several places by falling against his chaffcutter), and now thou mayest retire for the present; and, in order to save thee from public disgrace in the eyes of the congregation, I will make the usual sign of the cross after thee as thou art leaving the confessional." Cut to the heart, M. Böhm did indeed withdraw; but with the remark that, as he could not bring himself to yield obedience to such commands, he should be compelled to separate from the Roman Catholic communion; a resolution which he has already intimated to his friends, and is on the point of carrying into effect. It is evident that, in this instance, the priest had mistaken his man, and that the overbent bow sprung back, to the injury of the unskilled archer. But with hundreds the result has been far otherwise; and who can tell, indeed, how far M. Böhm's courage has been stimulated by recent events, and whether the same tyranny, even one year previous, would have sufficed to produce an open renunciation of Rome? * He has since done so. |