be acceptable. Many priests, more Christian than clerical, were of the same opinion; and the bishops were quite ready, after a demonstration against the secular spirit of the law, to adjust themselves to it. They thus established harmony between Roman dogma and their own consciences as Catholics and Frenchmen on the one side, and on the other the modus vivendi, which they perceived had the great merit of conciliating all parties. The Government, for its part, seemed disposed to make all concessions compatible with its dignity and with respect for the law.

The intransigeants, however, waited and watched. Their evil minds saw a way in which to foment an agitation which, except for them, would have been purely indifferent and arbitrary, concerning the question of inventories. For the Government had instituted these inventories as a guaranty to the Church of its own interests. Those of us who have talked on terms of intimacy with a large number of curés know how sorely they were distressed by the disorders excited in the churches, contrary to their wishes, by the fanatical enthusiasts inspired by reactionary politics alone. Religion was in no way menaced. Every one familiar with affairs knew that to be a fact. But if things had taken place in an orderly fashion reactionary politics would have suffered a severe check.

After protracted silence the Pope spoke. His words were an anathema worse than the first. No longer could the organization of the "associations cultuelles " be dreamed of, even though their character were disguised. Our Catholic fellow-citizens, who had learned to hope for a peaceful solution, were thunderstruck. The desire to avoid extreme measures was nevertheless so strong that ecclesiastics and laymen united in an attempt to remedy the absence of "associations cultuelles" in the strict sense of the term. By the exercise of their good will and their ingenuity they invented methods based upon the text of the law. For this text was the last sheet-anchor. Far from discouraging this zeal, our Government outdid itself in evidences of the most open and conciliatory spirit. Conditions still gave

hope that an amicable settlement would be reached. An entire year of respite was promised, in order that the Church might adjust itself as well as possible to the law. But had these arrangements been consummated, no difficulties, no scandals, no persecutions, would have resulted, and the clerical and monarchical opposition would have lost an opportunity to resume its old attacks upon the Republic. Our clericals obtained, therefore, from Rome a proclamation which was a veritable defiance of Republican France, and which necessitated a policy of aggression and rebellion against the laws of the country; so that all hope of terminating the conflict by peaceful means vanished. The 11th of December was, therefore, a notable landmark. After that day every day was characterized by events of historic moment.

Let us note day by day the salient events of which we were the sad witnesses. For it must be conceded that, except for the parties of the Extreme Right and Left, the entire country has regretted the turn affairs took.

December 10.-After the Pope had forbidden bishops and curés to submit to the law of 1881 concerning public assemblies, the Minister of Public Education and Worship and the Keeper of the Seals drew up two circulars, one to the prefects, the other to the attorney-generals. M. Briand, in his circular to the prefects, said: "Just because the Government evinces in the application of the laws of 1881 and 1905 the most liberal spirit, it intends that the laws as they now stand shall be obeyed. Their character is imperative. There are no French citizens who, under any pretext whatever, wish to place themselves above the French law and to rebel against it. It is important, therefore, that if, at the expiration of the reprieve granted December 11, public worship is performed without previous declaration, the offenses committed by the curés and officiating clergymen shall be amenable to the law. I beseech you, therefore, to give at once the instructions which are necessary, so that all offenses shall be authenticated in public reports which you will refer to the tribunals."

The circular of M. Guyot Vessaique,

Keeper of the Seals, thus admonishes the attorney-generals: "Upon examination of the public reports drawn up your deputies should give the instructions necessary for the immediate suppression of the offenses."

The infraction of the law of 1881 was made punishable by a fine of from two to five francs, and a temporary imprison

ment.

December 11.-This governmental measure evoked diverse criticisms. As a general thing the people were inclined to place the entire responsibility for the non-observance of the law upon the Pope. Opinion was not favorable to the imprisonment of refractory priests, for of course all priests would be refractory and all priests, therefore, would necessarily be sent to prison. Admitting that forty thousand delinquents mean forty thousand lawsuits, the results would be very complicated and would give to fanatical priests an opportunity to deliver innumerable harangues in which they would pose as martyrs.

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In the meantime three curés of Paris were prosecuted for exciting the people to revolt. These were Abbé Richard, Abbé Jouin, and Abbé Leclercs. These three priests delivered on Sunday, the 9th of December, addresses of an treme insolence while discussing the last Papal instructions. Monsignor Montagnini was implicated in these prosecutions. The Chamber of Deputies was much agitated by his expulsion. One of the Deputies, a member of the Right, interpellated the Government on the subject, and M. Clemenceau replied to him as follows:

"What did M. Montagnini do in Paris? We were in possession of documents from which it became evident that he received daily instructions from Monsignor Merry del Val, and transmitted them to the French bishops. We had known this for a long time, and we could have put an end sooner to this little international correspondence, but we all desired peace, conciliation, friendship.

"How have you responded to our conciliatory attitude? By a declaration of war. But do not entertain the delusion that you are going to continue this war on the same basis to which you have

become accustomed delivering your fire, that is, and receiving none. All is changed. We respect worship, but we shall fight without mercy the political action of Rome."

The Ministers, united in council at the Elysée, modified and adjusted a series of propositions presented by the Minister of Worship, and bearing on the four following points:

1. The suppression of board and allowance in the case of rebellious curés. 2. The immediate liquidation of the property of the public establishments of the Catholic religion.

3. The retaking by the State and the communes of presbyteries, bishoprics, and seminary buildings.

4. The rights of prosecution in behalf of the national safety.

On the other hand, the newspapers predicted that, the "associations cultuelles" not having been formed, all the young curés and seminarians, who have not been exactly amenable to military law, would be called into active service. Nearly five thousand five hundred of them were liable to this call.

December 12.-The people were for the most part calm and even indifferent. Everything seemed to go on as usual. Every one knew that religion itself is not in any manner threatened. Notifications having been given to the bishops and seminarists to evacuate the buildings occupied by them and belonging to the State and to the communes, there arose everywhere the stir and fracas of moving households. There was a rapid breaking up and moving out, carried on almost with ostentation. The streets were full of cabs packed with seminarists and their trunks. At the archbishopric of Paris archives and desks were cleared out. Cardinal Richard, who was ill, asked for a reprieve, and it was accorded him. He has, nevertheless, stated that he suffered military expulsion. At Nancy, the bishop, Monsignor Turinaz, always of a fiery temper, resorted to violence, and struck a policeman who was stationed in the street to preserve order.

Not much has been made public regarding the documents found in the apartments of Monsignor Montagnini,

But the Matin, generally well informed, declares on this subject: "We believe it to be a fact that certain of the articles seized are of great interest. They show conclusively that a very large majority of the French clergy had decided to submit to the law of 1881, and that only under imperative commands from the Pope did bishops and curés find themselves obliged to alter the intentions they had formed."

This we know; and we can cite the example of the Cardinal Archbishop of Bordeaux as illustrative of the small consideration paid by the Vatican to the sentiments and wishes of the French clergy. This Cardinal had adopted certain measures by means of which his diocese remained in harmony with the French law while yet obedient to the instructions received from the Pope. But the last interdiction in its succinct brutality destroyed the fruit of all his efforts.

What must intelligent prelates think at being thus disowned, when their methods were characterized by obvious wisdom and dictated by their sense of right as just men and good citizens?

December 13.-This morning mass was said in the seventy-one churches of Paris quite as usual and with no disturbance of the peace. The congregations were scarcely larger than on the preceding days, which is equivalent to saying that the churches were practically empty. Nevertheless, the services were considered as sixty-nine public meetings. Official reports of infractions were drawn up. It appears that in the two other churches declarations that a meeting for worship was to be held were made by two laymen of the parishes. This proceeding, executed, perhaps, without the curés' knowledge, was none the less valid. The friends of peace seized on this trifling occurrence as a last straw of hope. Might not laic intervention. furnish the desired solution?

Billboards designed to instigate rebellion were posted in the neighborhoods of the churches. They were green, red, and yellow, and bore this motto: sist to the death."

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It has been learned that the idea of having declarations made by the laity

was the invention of Abbé Moineau, vicar of Saint Germain de Charonne, a dense quarter situated near the immense cemetery of Père la Chaise. Questioned by newspaper men, this vicar gave the following explanation:

"I thought only of avoiding the annoyances and the difficulties which would inevitably ensue. According to the law, it is not absolutely necessary that the curé of the parish should make his own declaration. The approval of two citizens is sufficient to make the declaration valid. That is why I selected two licensed tradesmen, with whom I am in relations, to perform the service.

"The curé, M. Montiton, summoned me this morning; but as each of us was hurried by a service, the interview was postponed till this afternoon. I was, nevertheless, able to see that his feelings were of a contrary character. I do not see in what manner the act could antagonize the ecclesiastical authorities. If you knew how many priests think as I do! But they do not dare to show themselves. They are afraid."

December 14.-Six churches of Paris have followed the example of the first two, where the declarations conformable to the law of 1881 were made by laymen. The Archbishop of Paris, consulted on the question, caused to be drawn up a written opinion, of which this is approximately the text:

"Do the declarations made by laymen constitute an act of disobedience to the Pope? No, seeing that they were made with the just and honorable intention of avoiding the difficulties which might result from anarchistic issues in the midst of which we live. No other method presented itself by which the good results desired could be attained. This method has, therefore, been employed as the only expedient possible to obtain this good result."

This defense was followed by a command from the Archbishop expressed in the following terms: .

"The curés shall continue worship, abstaining from all new formalities."

Now this text applies only to curés, and the two citizens who made the declarations, not being amenable to ecclesiastical law, are left free.

Therefore there was no disobedience. Such a written judgment tells much concerning the effort made by men of intellect. It is to be hoped that a practical solution will suggest itself for the settlement of this question of public worship. Certainly it is essential that it should. The Government is elaborating a bill designed to terminate pending difficulties.

December 15.-M. Briand, Minister of Justice and Worship, has spoken to the Chamber upon the law announced. The bill is most moderate in character. Here is the article which will be of supreme interest to orthodox church

men:

"In default of associations cultuelles' to receive the estates and the interest accrued upon the edifices devoted to the exercise of worship, these edifices, as well as the furnishings and ornaments, shall continue to be leased, for the use of worshipers and ministers of worship for the exercise of their religion, until the time of the legalized disappropria-. tion.

"After the promulgation of the present law the State, the departments, and the communes will resume control of bishoprics, archbishoprics, presbyteries, and seminaries which are their property, and the taxes on which have not been laid claim to conformably with the laws of 1905.

"The properties of the ecclesiastical establishments which have not been laid claim to conformably with the laws of 1905 will be attached to the communal institutions of charity, subsequent to the promulgation of the present law." The reading of this bill was received with acclamation by the Republicans, but a dismal silence reigned on the Right. Sunday, December 16.-This is the first Sunday following the expiration of the respite accorded by the law. Except at Amiens, at Rennes, and at Perpignon, where Catholics and anti-clericals made a few harmless demonstrations, the first Sunday of the new régime passed in a comparative calm quite unhoped for. All the excitement consisted in drafting official reports concerning the law of 1881.

Monday, December 17.-Cardinal

Richard left his palace in the Rue de Grenelle. Four thousand Catholics accompanied him to the house of the deputy, Denys Cochin, who declared that he would shelter him as long as the Cardinal wished. "I am glad to be his porter," added M. Denys Cochin. The faithful unharnessed his equipage and then harnessed themselves to it.

The official residences of eight archbishops and twenty bishops, twenty-six seminaries, and sixteen small seminaries were evacuated. It was said that the palace of the Archbishop of Paris was to become the seat of the Minister of Labor, newly created, whose incumbent is M. Réné Viviani.

This, then, is the schedule of the first eight days.

In spite of the rallying and excitement of the clerical press, the country as a whole remained calm. A spirit of indifference was noticeable, which the intentional exaggerations of the reactionary journalists did not seem to dispel. The spirit of legislation has been so obviously liberal that it has broken up resistance. Neither the great mass of French Catholics, nor yet the clergy itself, understands the obduracy of the Pope.

If we wish to gain an understanding of the situation created for the Catholic Church by its head, poorly counseled and poorly inspired as he was, we shall be obliged to recognize the following points:

When the adjustment to Republican law took place, the Church, which had always been in possession of the buildings devoted to worship-the presbyteries, the seminaries, the episcopal palaces-lost them without hope of appeal, unless, indeed, she had an enormous capital to invest in their recovery. She lost the estates of churches and cathedrals, and retained use of them only through the tolerance of the government, which did not, however, leave her in absolute control. Her estates are to be turned over to philanthropical institutions. The Pope has inflicted upon the Church of France a terrible ignominy, whose consequences will long endure. The losses we have recorded, however, are only material losses.

There are deprivations of a more serious nature. Recent events have shown to what an extent the Church of France has sacrificed her individuality, her seal of independence; and to what a spirit of indifference she has lapsed. The old error made by Roman Catholicism in drawing all the sap and juice of the Church into the priesthood has led that Church step by step into a blind alley. The faithful among the laymen are no longer of account. The clergy fears the laity, by whom alone it could be renewed and rejuvenated. The "associations cultuelles," by recalling the laity to the active councils of the Church, would have rejuvenated the spirit of Catholicism. But that which would have accomplished a return to the normal was regarded as an abomination. Inevitably one error engenders another.

It is easy to understand that if the people are of no account, the clergy, taken as a whole, is of no more account. The bishops count no more than the abbés, the archbishops no more than the bishops. They are consulted only to be contradicted. Their habit of humbling themselves before the god of the Vatican is such that they obey without protest being made publicly. And yet they know how greatly recent events are opposed to the interests of the Church and to the fulfillment of their own duties. Their efficiency, their experience of local

conditions, their wisdom as shepherds of their flocks, combine to counsel an opposite course. It is, therefore, without conviction and without confidence that they follow their chief, and in the full knowledge that he has given them fatal orders, as he himself received fatal advice. What schism could be worse than this? A schism between the faithful and the clergy; a schism between the convictions of the episcopate and the orders given it; a schism between the supreme head of the Church and the leaders of the Church of France. And thus a system most massive and most logical has led to incoherence through the exaggeration of authority. In olden times a council would have been called and light would have arisen out of discussion. To-day there is one individual who thinks for all the rest. And, as he is badly informed, he stands in the position of a blind man leading those who see clearly with their own eyes. No, never have the enemies of the Catholic Church done it as much harm as have its own institutions at this present crisis. All friends of the Church-and we are its friends-perceive this fact with sorrow and distress.

And the prayer of these friends is that the sufferings which have resulted from all these errors of administration will lead at last to a change of attitude and habit.