this tyrannical manner of acting, other than a manifestation of that absolute supremacy which the Roman hierarchy claims to possess over the nations? Rome was formerly intoxicated with the blood of the saints, but at present it is with her own power. Every thing is permitted, every thing possible, every thing legitimate, when it is she who decides and executes. its priests to beat with joy, and the greatest enthusiasm to prevail in the Catholic countries that surround us. Permit me only to say that, thanks to measures of quite a political kind, the Catholic population has gone on increasing; that the different governments which have succeeded each other in the canton have shown favor to the new citizens, and thereby forwarded the attempts of Catholicism; that the new curé of Gene- III. These events have taken place in a va, a Genevese himself, but an Ultramon- little country; they are, nevertheless, of tane of the purest water, insinuating, affa- universal import. It is not only in our ble, ambitious, and good-looking, wrought towns and nation that men are indignant at underhand to get himself named bishop, the new intrigues of the Roman See. The and had not to deal with men either able echo of these facts has resounded in Enor firm enough resolutely to oppose his in- gland, Germany, France, and Italy. It has trigues; let me add, in fine, that our Gov-been borne back to our ears with strains of ernment only resolved to act on the day triumph in the clerical press, and with the when the Ultramontane intrigues were ex- accent of sympathy in the journals friendly hibited almost without concealment. Meas- to liberty. We have rejoiced both in the ures were then taken, but it was too late. sympathies expressed toward us, and in the What had passed at Rome? Had the curé insults which the Ultramontanism of the of Geneva, M. Mermillod, named successive- Veuillots has directed against us. In fact it ly Bishop of Hebron in partibus infidelium, is necessary to be on the watch. A solemn and then vicar-general to his ordinary the question is laid down. The Papacy has long Bishop of Freiburg, succeeded in having waged war with the Episcopacy for the purGeneva erected into a bishopric, and in get-pose of concentrating in itself the entire auting himself elected to the new see in despite of the brief of 1819, and without previous negotiations either with the Federal Government or the cantonal authorities? No answer can be obtained to this question. The Pope's nuncio knows nothing, the lawful Bishop of Geneva residing at Freiburg knows nothing, and the curé of Geneva, Bishop of Hebron, only gives evasive answers. But in the mean while the ordinary refuses to fulfill the functions of his episcopal charge, and even gave in his resignation, so far as concerns the Genevese Catholics. M. Mermillod acts as bishop. He is obeyed by his clergy, who treat him as bishop. To every demand of explanation he responds with the haughtiness of an authority who has no account to give to the State. One day, however, matters were cleared up. The Federal Council appears on the scene. It had expressly declared to the Pope that the creation of Geneva into a separate bishopric was absolutely impossible, and that negotiations relative to the establishment of an apostolic vicariate could only be opened on two conditions: 1st. That the Government of Geneva be first consulted; 2d. That the vicariate should not be conferred on the Bishop of Hebron. But Rome was decided. Without previous warning, without negotiations, without the consent, ever demanded on similar occasions, of either the confederation or the canton of Geneva, the Pope, on the 16th of January, 1873, issued a brief appointing the Bishop of Hebron vicar apostolic for the canton of Geneva. In the same document, with the stroke of a pen, he formally annuls all the conventions so solemnly concluded in 1819. Is it possible to see, in thority of Church and tradition. On the 18th of July, 1870, thanks to the serried ranks of the Jesuits, a decisive victory has despoiled the bishops of the last remains of independence. The Pope has been able to say, "Io sono la chiesa, io sono la tradizione ” -I am the Church, I am the tradition. But another war, formerly undertaken, then more or less abandoned, is about to recommence. It is a war against nationalities; a holy war, since the Roman hierarchy pretends to have all the rights of God on earth; a terrible war, threatening Europe with awful disasters, since the whole of modern civilization is up in arms against Rome. How shall these nations resist? What can and what should they do to avoid such perils? Such is the question. I wish to draw your attention to it for a moment. Had I only to answer the question in the abstract and theoretically, I would say the best means of combating the Papal theocracy is to place the Romish Church everywhere on a footing of perfect equality with all the other Christian communions of the same country. And should any one consider this a strange mode of warfare, I would endeavor to demonstrate its excellence in the following manner. One day the chief of a tribe that shall be nameless, composed of five or six families, was very much embarrassed on the following occasion. He was seated under his peaceful tent, and scarcely feeling the weight of his government, when the head of one of the families approached him haughtily, and spoke in almost the following terms: "Listen, illustrious chief of this tribe. I am come to warn you that I have received from on high supreme author It is ity and special revelations. Obey me, and in | ment, nor declare herself persecuted. just this she dreads above all things. At Besides, gentlemen, I must add that this equality in liberty can only, in my opinion, be established by a rigorous distinction between things civil and religious, by the separation of Church and State. Wherever there is a Church privileged by any title, or to any degree whatsoever, there will be inequality, and consequently a just cause for complaint to other communions as well as to Roman Catholics. I agree, therefore, with Bunsen and Vinet against Stahl, with the ecclesiastical system of America in opposition to that union of Church and State which secular tradition has caused to prevail everywhere in Europe. I believe the separation of Church and State to be one of the most powerful preservatives against the despotism of the Papal hierarchy. I believe that, if there is a country in a better position than another to free itself from this influence, it is the United States of America. Hold firm, then, your system of religious liberty, which seems destined to procure one day for the Churches of Old Europe an era of prosperity, and for her states that confessional peace vainly sought for in legislation on religious matters. This apologue requires no interpretation. Certainly, if an order of things could be established, either in a republic or a monarchy, so that the different sects would be on the same legal footing, while preserving in an absolute manner the free exercise of their respective worship, the desired solution of the problem would be effected. What could the Catholic Church say that would not be refuted by facts? Protected like all other communions, she would undoubtedly have no legal privilege over any of them; but what could she legitimately complain of? This equality would force her to silence. She could neither dictate her will to the govern Do not, however, think that I am laboring under delusions. To imagine that the principle of separation would solve all difficulties, no matter of what kind, between Church and State, would be to forget that such a thing as perfect peace does not exist in this world. To believe that this new social order of things could be established immediately would be to forget both that this principle is repudiated by a powerful public opinion, and that the States and Churches of Europe bow beneath the weight of burdensome traditions. Though I regret, I am not, therefore, astonished that the attacks of Rome have nowhere produced either the application of this principle, or even the measures fit for bringing it about. Time pressed. Nothing could be promptly done that was not more or less in accordance with the principles till then prevailing. To speak properly, these principles seemed to have received a new baptism in repulsing the attacks of Rome. In Switzerland, where the hierarchy placed itself boldly in presence of the State with the intention of dictating its will, the State felt itself insulted in its dignity, wounded in its sovereignty, and, arousing itself, has seen it to be its duty energetically to maintain its traditional rights. Representatives from the seven states forming the diocese of Basle met at Soleure on the 29th of January, 1873, and adopted | Council, a carriage accompanied by a police the following resolutions: 1st. The consent given the 30th of November, 1863, to the bishop, Eugene Lachat, of Mervelier, for the taking possession of the episcopal see of Basle, is withdrawn, and the diocese is thus declared vacant. 2d. M. Lachat is prohibited to exercise the episcopal functions in the cantons of the diocese. These will be invited no longer to pay into his hands the episcopal revenues; and in the cantons where the diocesan funds are not united to those of the State, they will, for the present, be sequestrated. 3d. The Government of Soleure will be invited to serve M. Eugene Lachat with a notice to quit the official episcopal residence in due time. It will also take care to claim the inventory of the bishopric of Basle. officer and his men presented themselves at his residence. The vicar was conducted across the frontier, there to remain till he should recognize the rights of the civil power. He is still there. Thus, to the authoritative acts emanating from the Roman See, the cantons of the Swiss Confederation replied by others equally authoritative. In this violent shock of the two powers the dioceses of Basle and Lausanne fell at the same time to pieces. These events have caused much discussion. Pius IX., from the Vatican, has not failed to reprimand Switzerland in the most violent terms. The enthusiasm of French Ultramontanism for the martyrs of the Church has only been exceeded by their insults and contempt for our country. In Switzerland the chargé d'affaires of the Holy See has protested. M. Lachat, having withdrawn to the territory of Lucerne, has prayed the Federal Council for redress against the States who have had the boldness to depose him. M. Mermillod, vicar apostolic, has protested against the police measures which exiled him, and, roaming around our Genevese frontier, performs his functions of vicar as best he may. The cantons, for their 4th. In conformity with Article III. of the Convention, agreed upon by the diocesan States the 28th of March, 1828, for the formation of the bishopric; in conformity with the Papal brief dated 15th of September, 1828, and the decisions taken by the diocesan Assembly the 24th of October, 1830, the Chapter will be invited to appoint, within fourteen days after the communication of this decision, an administrator ad interim ac-part, are endeavoring to restore to something ceptable to the cantonal authorities. like legal order the elements dispersed by the 5th. The five diocesan governments will revolutionary clergy; new ecclesiastical laws immediately commence negotiations for the are being voted; the organization of a Swiss revision of the diocesan Convention. They archbishopric is being discussed; the Federwill invite the governments of Zürich, Basle-al Council is looked to, and much is expectville, Schaffhausen, Tessin, and Geneva to take part in them for their Catholic population. 6th. The decision of the diocesan States will be communicated to the Federal Council, in prospect of negotiations with the Holy See. 7th. The Assembly adjourns to the 14th of February in order to know the decisions of the Chapter and attend to the settlement of current affairs. Zug and Lucerne, thinking the deposition of the bishop beyond the jurisdiction of the diocesan States, did not sign this decree. They alone still submit to the authority of M. Lachat. Almost at the same time, M. Mermillod, who no longer held a legal position at Geneva, caused the brief of the 16th of January, appointing him vicar apostolic, to be read by the curés from the pulpits, and that without any legal communication to the civil authority. The Pope's chargé d'affaires simply communicated the nomination to the President of the Confederation. Summoned to desist from fulfilling the functions of vicar out of respect for the Federal Government, that had not been consulted in the matter, M. Mermillod repelled haughtily this demand, and almost immediately after, in consequence of a decree of the Federal! ed from the new Federal constitution, the project of which, already known, is going to be submitted to our legislature. But till now this display of authority has been neither in favor of the Catholic Church nor of the States of the Confederation. As to the former, not only has it lost in this combat two of its official representatives, but it has seen, what is otherwise more serious, Old Catholicism taking a firm footing in Switzerland, which it would never have done but for the provocations of the Holy See. In the diocese of Basle a considerable number of parishes have openly declared against the new dogma. The Association of Liberal Catholics is actively engaged in organizing them. In Geneva, a man as highly respected for the nobility of his Christian character as for his oratorical powers, Father Hyacinthe, has given a number of public addresses which have been received with enthusiasm, and the practical result of which has been the formation of a congregation of Old Catholics, which in a short time may become the only Catholic Church officially recognized. Thus, as in the eleventh century, as in the sixteenth, and as in Germany at the present day, the exorbitant pretensions of Rome produce schism and convulse her dominion. As to the States whose patience has been exhausted by these clerical manœuvres, some are undertaking, as formerly, the management of ecclesiastical affairs. They are seen embarrassing themselves with questions which, if they are not dogmatic, are closely allied to what is. Thus the pretension of the Church to dominate over the State forces the latter on a dangerous position, where it advances with so much the less assurance as it professes with conviction the most entire respect for the liberty of conscience and worship. The claims of the theocracy produce the antagonistic assertion of the supreme authority of the State. nism, its antagonist, is still powerful. It has It What will be the result of all that? Is it to be the separation of Church and State? Some think so. The exaggeration of clerical power, they say, has provoked a crisis; but this exaggeration is such that the only possible issue is the sudden and violent rupture of all the bonds which till now have united Church to State in Switzerland. I too, gentlemen, hope that the system of the separation of Church and State will be adopted. Imperfect though it be, like all things here below, yet it seems to me no less one of the most peaceful of refuges in comparison with The future is, then, obscure, gentlemen; as that rock-bound coast on which the storm obscure as those cloudy and indistinct hois driving us. But I do not believe that we rizons toward which, when crossing the Atare ready to cast anchor in that harbor of lantic, I have sometimes seen the passengers safety. It is not more than three or four on deck casting uneasy glances. The mighty years since one might still augur well for ship was dashing through the trackless ocean; the future in this respect. How often have her prow was cleaving the foaming waves; not projects of laws in the French-speaking her sails were swelling in the wind, and the cantons of Geneva, Neuchâtel, and Vaud heavy sound of her working engines struck been brought before the constituted author- on the ear; thus, with the ever-increasing ities for the separation of Church and State! obscurity, did we sail into night and darkThese have been rejected. Have they any ness. So is it often with nations. What is more chance of being accepted to-day? Less in store for us I know not. Perhaps the futhan ever. True, the principle is accepted ture has in reserve for us strange surprises now almost without discussion. It is an ar- that will far exceed our hopes or fears. The ticle of faith with political liberalism; but horizon may perhaps clear when some kindthis party, though professing it openly, re- ly breeze springs up to drive away the thickcoils even before its partial application. In est of the fog. But be that as it may, be the German cantons it is much worse. There certain, gentlemen, that Switzerland will the principle is not even accepted by those never become the hot-bed of clerical fanatdirecting the movement. The State is all in icism. We are assured that God will never all for them; they see salvation, so to say, abandon that home of liberty, that theatre only in severe legislation for the recognized of religious events which, with the names communions; the churches are in their eyes of Zwingli and Calvin, have borne the blessonly a department of the State. Thus, with- ings of the Reformation to the most distant with-ings out speaking of the considerable practical coast of your distant land. He will rememdifficulties in each canton, and for the mo- ber the work of our fathers. He will inspire ment insurmountable in the Confederation the faithful preachers of his Word, the churchas a whole, I do not believe we should be jus-es and societies jealous of his glory, with an tified in expecting the separation of Church heroic and simple faith. He will destroy the and State. Shall a great national Church, Catholic but not Roman, rise out of the confusion in which we are at present plunged? Shall we have a primate or Swiss metropolitan, as the Baden Articles proposed? Is Old Catholicism strong enough in my native land to take its place as a church separated from Rome? I am afraid not yet. Ultramonta best-laid plans of the enemy. Therefore, gentlemen, let Switzerland hold a large place in your affections. Pray for her in this her day of crisis. Often does she direct her gaze toward you. Remember her also; and may a powerful current of sympathies traverse the seas like that submarine wire which enables us to maintain uninterrupted communication with each other! THIRD SECTION.-EVANGELIZATION OF ROMAN CATHOLIC COUNTRIES. EVANGELIZATION IN IRELAND. BY THE REV. LOWRY EDMONDS BERKELEY, LURGAN, IRELAND. I AM to speak of "Evangelization in Ire- | corporated the "Irish Society of London for land," and I desire that what I say may promoting the Education and Religious Inthrow light upon the subject of missions struction of the native Irish through the among Roman Catholics in other countries. medium of their own language," formed in Let us survey1818. The Field.-Ierne, the "Western," or, as some say, the "Sacred" Isle, the "Hibernia " of the Romans, the "Scotia" of later centuries, the "Emerald Isle" of the poets. It is about three hundred miles long by one hundred and seventy broad, with an area of 32,000 square miles—a piece of territory that would hardly be missed out of these United States, yet inhabited by races exercising at the present moment world-wide influence for good and evil. The population of Ireland in 1841 was 8,196,597. In 1871 it was only 5,402,759, a decrease of 2,793,838 in thirty years. Whither have these multitudes gone? Many of them to the grave, in the days of famine and pestilence; very many to seek homes in this and other lands. Owing to constant emigration, the missionary field in Ireland is becoming daily more manageable; but owing to the same cause the Protestant Churches of the country are in one respect, at least, becoming daily less equal to the task. They are constantly losing some of their best members, who take the deepest interest in evangelistic work in their native land, and are best qualified to take part in it. It is not generally known that there were in Ireland in 1861, the latest period of which we have yet received full information, 163,275 persons who could speak Irish only, and that 23,180 of these were resident in Ulster. There were besides in that year 942,261 persons who spoke Irish and English, and it is well known that as a rule these people prefer to speak in Irish, and love to hear the Gospel in that tongue. To give that Gospel to them in their native language is one of the aims of the leading Protestant Churches of the country. Means could easily be had to send it to them if they dwelt in Hindostan or Thibet; but, as they have their home in the British Islands, there is little of the romantic in the effort to reach them, and it is difficult to excite any enthusiasm on the subject. The object of the "Society for Irish Church Missions," says one of its recent publications, "is to promote the glory of God in the salvation of the souls of our Roman Catholic countrymen in Ireland.” "The means employed to this end are an open, plain, faithful, and affectionate exhibition of the Gospel from the pulpit; from house to house; in schools, day, night, Sunday, and ragged; by distribution of the Scriptures; by Irish teaching and Scripturetext teaching; by friendly disputation ('In meekness instructing those that oppose them texts on placards; by the distribution of tracts and handbills, and by every loving and faithful influence which can be brought to bear upon those who are in dangerous error, and whose salvation is earnestly sought." Religious Denominations. The adherents of the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland amounted in 1871 to 4,141,933 persons; Protestant Episcopalians numbered 683,295; Presbyterians, 503,461; Methodists, 41,815; Independents, 4485; Baptists, 4643; the Socie-selves'); by the publication of Scripture ty of Friends, 3834; and other Christian persuasions, including Moravians, etc., 19,035. Agencies at Work. The Protestant Episcopal Church, at the period of its disestablishment in 1869, had 1551 churches, and 2172 clergy. Its ministers are now about 1900. "The Society has raised within the last 22 Not a few of them are able, earnest, faithful years £553,255, or over half a million pounds men, who labor assiduously to spread the sterling. In addition to this sum, spent in Gospel and to bring sinners to Christ. In maintaining missionaries and teachers, it connection with this Church, the principal has been the means of erecting, with funds direct evangelistic agency is the "Society specially raised for the purpose, 19 churches, for Irish Church Missions to Roman Catho- 9 parsonages, 8 orphanages, and 23 schoollics," formed in 1849, with which is now in-houses." "It maintains at this date," says |