MOTIVES FOR STANDING FORTH
AGAINST THE CONSTRAINT EXERCISED BY THE POPE IN MATTERS OF RELIGION.
The inducements which gradually brought my determination to maturity, and imposed the carrying out of it upon me as a duty, I here submit to the consideration of all men:
I stand forth against the Romish hierarchy, because it is the means of crushing my dignity as a man, and reducing me to a state of disgraceful servitude. The dignity of man is acknowledged to consist in his reason and his will, and in the unrestrained use of both, for the attainment of moral freedom,—"Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." As Romish priest I dare not freely exercise my reason and my will. As such I only dare to think, and speak, and write, what the Church decrees, or what my superiors may allow. If I think, or speak, or write, more or otherwise, I am declared to be a heretic, i.e. a most grievous criminal. God himself must only be conceived of and adored, according to dictation of the Romish Church; and even He dares to accept no other adoration at my hands, than that prescribed by the Romish Church, in which, forsooth, salvation only can be found. As Romish priest I have no freedom, either of thought or conscience. Neither can I boast, as such, of any of the other rights of man, in opposition to my superior,—him I must blindly obey. The Romish priest is not regarded as a being personally free, but as an automaton, employed to spread abroad the mist of superstition. To cast off this bondage, and become a free moral agent, is a holy duty and injunction of the Christian religion, which demands freedom in the exercise of virtue. In order, however, to convince all men more clearly of the urgent nature of this duty, I shall attempt a feeble portraiture of the paralyzing influence exerted on myself, by priestly oppression, while I held an office in the Church—a portraiture in which the chief features in the case of hundreds among my colleagues may, at the same time, be recognized.
I felt a morbid irritability in contemplating the consecrated barriers which cut me off from my fellow-men; my spirit, sympathy, and active impulse died away, and in their place, in spite of my endeavours, cold indifference, and emotions even of hatred crept upon me. I likewise felt a suspicion of my colleagues, inexplicable in its earlier stages, and, in particular, I shunned those friends in whose society I had passed the unfettered years of college life, in order that I might not unnecessarily open the wounds which the loss of my freedom had inflicted on my heart.*
* I have often heard the complaint made, that the younger
members of the Catholic priesthood keep aloof from former
friends; a moving cause is given above, which may lead us
rather to compassionate than to condemn them.
But most crushing of all was, the performance of certain ceremonies at the altar, by which, as I knew and could perceive, many of the community were misguided into superstition and hypocrisy. Was I not forced to be a party to dissimulation, in the performance of such ceremonies? Could I help feeling myself lowered in my own opinion? When I knelt at the altar, with the credulous people behind me, and cast a look within, I shuddered in my inmost soul, an unspeakable woe tormented me, and I uttered the despairing cry, "And hast thou so long suffered this humiliation?" Each morning I was awakened, as with a piercing shriek, by the thought that I was a slave, and that my life was not only useless but fraught with degradation to my fellow-men—that I had been robbed of a bright career of useful labour, and that not even time itself might put an end to all my ignominy! My fetters were indeed consecrated, and, according to the prejudices of the world, they seemed to be unremovable. The world appeared determined to bear patiently the hideous yoke—its course was still the same!
I saw before me the abyss of falsehood or an early grave! Should I succumb? Unworthy cowardice! My courage gradually rose; courage for the contest of life and death within me. I determined to burst my fetters, and to leave the enchanted circle,—a circle drawn amid the incantations and the curses of Romish tyranny in the middle ages; I resolved to assist in tearing off the mask of holiness from the hypocrisy of a thousand years. This my resolve was only strengthened by contemplating the fate of my colleagues, some of whom were greater sufferers than even I. A few were snatched away by early death; they sank mute, and cheated of their lives, into the grave. He cannot surely have a drop of blood within his veins, who would not feel it boil with indignation to witness such a sight. And yet their fate was envied by the others, who glided through the world like mummies, in the springtime of their days, and hourly, slowly faded into death. Some rush, to deaden feeling, into drunkenness and other vices, or sink into insensibility, and passively vegetate from one day to the next. Others still, of livelier character, seek to lose themselves in the hierarchical spirit of the middle ages, and because ours are other days, and they, although they know it not, belong to them, have originated that modern species of bigotry which rises ofttimes into madness. Such heroes then surround themselves with halos borrowed from the early Fathers, and affect the startling voice of the preacher of repentance.
At last I sought, in order quite to fix my resolution, the countenance of those among the priests esteemed of noblest character; but found little real manliness, good and amiable (?) as several of them might be,—-or from a certain vacuity of mind, effeminate inertness, or well-concealed ambition, might appear to be.
I stand forth against the tyrannical dominion of the Romish Hierarchy, because it prevents me from faithfully pursuing my avocation as teacher of the people.
I am bound, as teacher of the people, and as teacher of religion, at all hazards to guard, not only my own freedom and independence, but those also of my fellow-men. In accordance with the language of the New Testament,—-"we are all the children of one father, we are brethren," it is my duty, as teacher of the people and of religion, not only to proclaim freedom to all mankind, but to endeavour to realize the lesson, because it is the freeman who alone is virtuous. It is, in fact, my duty as a teacher, not only to strive after intellectual perfection for myself, and to keep pace with the gradual development of mind, but to carry before my parishioners, the banner of civilization and humanity. I am not only impeded by the tyrannical oppression of the Romish Hierarchy in the discharge of all these duties, but am even commanded to proclaim bondage for freedom, darkness for light, and for progress—intellectual stagnation! I must thereby call down upon myself the deserved hatred of the present age, and the curses of posterity.
I stand forth against the tyrannical dominion of the Romish Hierarchy, because I am convinced that what the Hierarchs call the Catholic religion is not the true Catholic doctrine,—is not a doctrine calculated to promote the happiness of nations; that the Romish, Hierarchy does not teach and act in accordance with the leading and fundamental doctrines of the religion of which Christ was the author,—but that it has introduced abuses, and framed ordinances which are calculated to undermine the intellectual and physical welfare of nations, and only to increase the power and riches of a privileged priesthood, of whom the Roman Bishop is the head.
It were superfluous here to attempt the proof of this position by a long-winded, learned treatise. The fruits of the Romish Hierarchy have been proving it for centuries, and it is in the power of every man to convince himself, who wishes to be convinced. Or is it perhaps in consequence of the blessings emanating from Rome, that a portion, and not a small one, of our people, languish in the most abject poverty?! while another portion, and within it many preachers of religion, especially the higher prelates, are rolling in superfluous wealth? Are these the fruits of a Church in which alone is salvation, that some should be kept by spiritual oppression and ignorance in superstition and insensibility, and even degraded to a level with the brutes, in order that others, and among them many consecrated servants of the Pope, may be the lords and drivers of the dishonoured horde! How then can the injunction of love to our neighbour find a place in such a Christian Church, in such a society of Christians? Where then is the succour of alone-saving Rome, amid so deep spiritual degradation, amid so great bodily want among our people? Where is the practical working of brotherly-love! where does she labour for the elevation and improvement of the people! Where is the right understanding of the Lord's Supper, the feet-washing! and where the living exemplification of so many others of the essential doctrines of the New Testament? Has it not all degenerated into form and pretence! Has not religion been degraded to a system of usury and hypocrisy, which aims alone at the enriching and aggrandizement of the Church of Rome! The Church, as the Romish Hierarchy exhibits and teaches, is but a phantom of falsehood and dissimulation, which floats unseen above the nations, keeping them in constant dread and blind obedience. Hence comes the alienation from the priests, the horror and bitterness of feeling unanimously entertained by the considerate and right-thinking portion of mankind, towards the so-called Romish Church! And the animosity is well deserved; for what efforts do the priesthood make for the temporal and spiritual amelioration of the suffering people? The greater number of them pass coldly by, as the priests and Levites passed by the poor Samaritan of old. We grant that hundreds of the priests are not aware, or are careful to avoid the knowledge of the game they play, and the Power they serve as blinded instruments. They speak, His true, of the spirit of reconciliation and the Church, but they halt by the dead letter. They know not, and they do not desire to know, that the Church means all mankind, and mankind here on earth! That the need of reconciliation is indeed most pressing, for mankind in its present condition—I mean a reconciliation and approximation of the educated and uneducated, the moral and immoral, portions of mankind. Yea, more, I mean a reconciliation between the rich and the needy portions of humanity. This reconciliation and approximation must be brought about preeminently by the teachers of the people; it must result, not in empty words—with them we have been surfeited—but in actual deeds. This is a vineyard of the Lord, where the ears are ripe for harvest, and where labourers are required. These labourers need no authority from Rome, no outward consecration—it must be in their spirits—they must have consecrated hearts! When they appear, the people will acknowledge them, although they bear no Roman symbols. But seeing that the Romish Hierarchy love no such labourers—the people's truest friends and guides,—seeing that she resolutely opposes the moral elevation of mankind, it is a duty to contend against her and her false system—and such is the duty I shall now endeavour to fulfil.
Lastly, I stand forth against the tyrannical dominion of the Romish Hierarchy\ because its statutes tend directly to the sundering and oppression of my native land.
The Roman Catholic priest is debarred by celibacy from the family tie, bound by his vow of blind obedience, by the tenets of his faith, as well as by external interest, to the Bishop of Rome, and thus withdrawn and estranged from the interests of his fatherland. Instead of awakening and strengthening patriotism and community of feeling, the Catholic priest, as teacher of the people, is engaged, by the statutes of his Church, to stifle both. History abounds with proofs of the truth of this assertion, with instances in which their fatherland, and the most sacred interests of their country have been betrayed, by bishops and priests, to the Roman Pontiff. But we dare not stop to consider the past; every day bears striking testimony that the priesthood strives with might and main, again to bring the German nation under the tyranny of the Pope and of the Jesuits. Hundreds, truly, of the priests are not aware of this; but what a load of guilt should I incur, were I to lend myself to the work of degrading and subjecting my fellow-countrymen,—of delivering my fatherland over to the Jesuits and the Pope! On the contrary, it is my bounden duty to contend against the despotism of Rome, and to lend a hand in working out the emancipation of my native country. These are the arguments which render it incumbent upon me—on all of us—to fight against the Hierarchy, and strive to bring about such an improvement and a reformation in the Church, as shall satisfy the requirement of the times.
A thorough reformation of the Church, it appeared to me, could only be brought about by General Councils,* in which laymen should bear their legitimate part; and I determined to lay down my views in writing on this subject, together with a sketch of the Romish abuses, which I expected to have ready by the autumn of 1843. The necessity for such a step was the more impressed upon my mind, the more I saw increasing the violence and lordliness of the High-Church and Jesuitical party throughout Germany, and particularly in Silesia, under Dr. Bitter, who was at that time Vicar of the Bishopric. Dr. Bitter disposed and managed all things to his own heart's content. Such curates and chaplains as did not please him were most unceremoniously deposed, translated, imprisoned, admonished in letters couched in Russian terms, and dealt with as suited his humour. Thus was Mr. Beer, the curate of Brieg, translated in defiance of his people's wish to retain him; Mr. Schotte was degraded to the lower office of chaplain, and Mr. Weiser, the chaplain, on a mere calumnious charge, without examination or opportunity of defence, ordered to the Seminary for punishment. These were men of unblemished reputation, their only fault being that they were not sufficiently abject and Romish. But Dr. Bitter rained and hailed on right and wrong, and enacted the part of Providence in the diocese of Breslau.
* Even in the Seminary I spoke to several of my quondam
friends, of the necessity of General Councils. Some of them
have probably forgotten now, what then they acknowledged to
be needed.
The inferior clergy, who besides had few or no privileges in comparison with their superiors, were really most arbitrarily dealt with. A feeling came over us at that time, as if the days of club-law were at hand. In some places, as in Brieg and Ziegenhals, it really came to violence. But Ritter's creatures rose, and managed in the spirit of their master. He, in the fulness of his power, issued an interdict against mixed marriages, at once dishonouring to us, and injurious to chastity; he commanded that the old Silesian ritual, which probably dates from the time of trials for witchcraft,* (it contains at least much of the same stuff,) should again be brought into universal use, because he learned that some curates no longer employed it.** Neither did the Seminary escape him; he ordered the pupils never to mix with their fellow-men except in clerical costume, (probably for the sake of exemplifying neighbourly and brotherly love,) and enjoined it with suitable earnestness. Bigotry and fanaticism increased still more and more among the young and newly-appointed chaplains, and the old experienced ministers saw themselves all at once outdone in piety.
* This expression is not too severe; for according to the
Silesian ritual, in baptism, for instance, the Devil is
three times driven ont of the innocent little child. At the
consecrating of Holy Water, and at other consecrations, in
like manner, a number of exorcisms are employed.
** At the same time, indeed, he promised a new one, which,
however, after a lapse of three years, has not yet appeared.
Numerous rosary associations and prayer-meetings were established. Schneeweiss, the professor of divinity, instituted such meetings in Neisse, and introduced rosary-books from Bavaria, which, pandering to the grossest materialism and sensuous worship, manifest the most horrible Jesuitism. The members paid weekly two silver groschen, which money, with that realized by the books, was reported to find its way into the coffers of the Jesuits in Bavaria. Herr Schneeweiss is generally considered in Neisse to be a Jesuit. The pupils at the High School were compelled to join these associations.
Similar reunions were established in other places, among which that under pastor Schaffraneck, at Beuthen, in Upper Silesia, was distinguished. Thus were we placed by Dr. Hitter, the quondam Hermesian,* quite on the ecclesiastical war establishment of the middle ages. Nothing now was wanting to Dr. Ritter, except monasteries and convents, for which pious mites were already beginning to be collected, and the bishop's mitre of Breslau. He lost his point, however; for Mr. Knauer, a mild and humane priest, was chosen. Now commenced a general intrigue among the High Church party. Mr. Knauer was complained of at Rome as incapable; Rome, therefore, hesitated for a year to confirm the appointment, during which time the agitation and disturbance in the diocese increased. Citizens and honest Churchmen in the province complained loudly of this bad state of matters; but neither the incorporation of burgesses, (who, to be sure, have no voice in matters affecting the good of their souls, or regarding their clergy,) nor a single pastor, deemed it incumbent on them to oppose the tide of disorder and of bigotry. Aroused by the disgrace of our increasingly gloomy prospects, and excited by the shamelessness of the creatures of Rome, as well as by the intrigues in regard to the bishopric of Breslau, which were daily coming to our ears, I resolved, although I had never yet written for publication, to attack the scandals which issued from the chapter of Breslau, and wrote the paper entitled, 'Rome and the Chapter of Breslau signed 'A Chaplain.'
* Disciples of Professor Hermes, formerly of Bonn.
[This article appeared in No; 135 of the "Vaterlands-blatter," of the year 1842, and runs thus:—
"ROME AND THE CHAPTER OF BRESLAU.
"Although a year has already elapsed since Prebend Knauer was chosen Bishop by the Chapter of Breslau, the appointment has not yet been confirmed at Rome, notwithstanding that the diocese has been two years without a bishop, and that other bishops, much more lately chosen, have been confirmed long ago. The circumstance excites, however, no surprise; for Knauer is a moderate, and humane, perhaps even a liberal-minded man. And yet it is somewhat strange that the Chapter of Breslau should submit so patiently to see its own and Knauer's honour so abused by Rome, and the rights of the diocese so disregarded! To object to this, that the Pope considers Knauer unfit for his office, were absurd. How should the Pope know aught about it, unless from informers, (his divine qualifications being now no longer admitted,) since the Chapter, by its choice, has declared him to be fit, and since it cannot be supposed that a college of venerable men would elect as bishop an unsuitable person, merely for the sake of appearances—not to advert to the influence of the Holy Spirit, whose efficacy would thus have been unrecognized in the election! But how can the Pope have more faith and confidence in a few pitiful informers, than in a whole college of men upon oath? How can he place these men in such an equivocal light before the eyes of the world, and so impede their usefulness in the diocese! Should this, however, happen, will not the Chapter incur a moral obligation, to vindicate its own and Knauer's honour, as well as to preserve the rights of the diocese? Hitherto the Chapter of Breslau has been silent. Is this from meekness? No one recognises in this silence an act of Christian forbearance, but somewhat very different! Of course, the people have learnt in the catechism, 'The Church is the community of all Christians, not the Pope.' People have strange notions in our day, especially about Church and State, freedom and the rights of man! All would fain have freedom and their rights, and, as they say, their warrant is in the Bible!
"It will here be objected, however, that the Pope, having the right of confirming, has, consequently, also the right to refuse confirmation. Let us cast all else aside, even reason and honour, and consider the matter from the point of view of historical right, acquired by force. The Pope, then, has the right to confirm the bishop, consequently also to refuse confirmation; but the Chapter, in like manner, has the right of choosing, and, consequently, of not choosing—perhaps even the right of refusing admission to a bishop not elected by themselves. It is not difficult to determine whether Rome or the Chapter of Breslau would fare the worst in such a contest.
"Or may not the informers, who throw suspicion on the sentiments and fitness of Knauer, perhaps be members of the Chapter; and the Italians, presuming on their want of unity, venture to enact in Germany a part they have not dared for long? The silence of the Chapter and the impudence of Rome are scarcely capable of any other explanation. Should it indeed be so, and should individual members of the Chapter have sacrificed the welfare, the rights and privileges of the diocese, to their private ambition, their jealousy, or to other interests, and thus have made a level road for the Italians again to enter Germany, then would we call upon these men, who bear rule in the diocese, and whose part it is to promote our welfare, and to protect our rights and liberties, to vindicate their trust, if they do not wish to incur the reproach of want of principle, and dereliction of their duty.
"Are those days to return, in which it was necessary to send gold-laden cavalcades to Rome, in order to become a bishop? If so, the Canons of Breslau would have but faint chance of a mitre. It is very remarkable what the Italians have of late demanded of us Germans. We are commanded to pray that the Spaniards may return to their old ecclesiastical bondage! Who have been the leaders of this bloody drama? Perhaps the disobedient people? Espartero, and such like! We know in Germany, and almost every school-boy knows it, that, next to the tyranny of royalty, the bloody slaughtering of this fine people has been for the most part occasioned by the licentious, lazy, Rome-subjected priesthood! We also know that the French Revolution was not occasioned by Danton, Camille Desmoulins, and others of their stamp; but by the tyranny of Louis XIV., the profligacy of Louis XV., aided by the shameless excesses of the court nobility, lay and clerical. No less are we aware that the Thirty Years' War was not caused by Luther and Melancthon, but had been hatching for centuries by Rome and the lay and clerical nobility of Germany. It is, indeed, most necessary that we pray for ourselves and for the Spaniards, but it shall be for the freedom and independence of ourselves and them—in union with which alone can true religion and morality exist—and not for slavery and dependence, which can at best engender dissimulation and hypocrisy.
"A Chaplain.">[
Well did I know that I was subscribing my own sentence; and yet, on closer consideration, I could not believe that the Hierarchy, or Church as it is called, would treat both truth and justice with such open scorn as I found that it could, through Dr. Ritter and the vicar-ship of Breslau.
About six weeks after the appearance of the article, I received a note from Dr. Ritter,* in which he called upon me to tell him, on my priestly word of honour, whether I were the author of the article, "Rome and the Chapter of Breslau," or had taken any part in the drawing up or despatching of it. Dr. Ritter, the vicar of the bishopric, a priest, nearly sixty years of age, with grey hair, dared to call me to account for speaking the truth!—me, who, as a priest and proclaimer of the truth, had lately been sent into the world with the commission, "to speak the truth without fear of man,"—Dr. Ritter, who himself had sent me forth, ventured to call me to account for doing so! And is religion thus to be turned to mockery and reproach! Should I not speak the truth? or had I not spoken the truth? I had written down that the Romish priesthood were preeminently the cause of the German Thirty Years' War, and of the Revolutions in France and Spain. Are these not facts of historical notoriety, contained in every manual, and should I not dare to write them? I had also asserted that the calumnies and want of unanimity among the candidates for the bishopric, were probably the reasons for the Pope daring so long to delay the confirmation of Bishop Knauer, and keeping the diocese in confusion. The divisions and quarrels of the candidates for the bishop's mitre were known to all the diocese, and also who had principally contributed to the retiring of the humane Bishop Sedlinitzky—much indignation was felt at the discord occasioned by clerical ambition; and I, forsooth, should not give utterance to the opinions of my fellow-citizens and colleagues! Dr. Ritter, then, placed falsehood and hypocrisy on the altar, and desired that I should honour them, in calling me to a reckoning for my truthfulness.
* DR. RITTER'S DECREE.
"Public opinion points to you as the author of the article
entitled "Rome and the Chapter of Breslau," and signed "A
Chaplain," in No. 135 of the Saxon Vaterlands-blatter. I
hereby require you, on your word of honour as a priest,
distinctly to declare, by return of post, whether you are
the author of the above-named article, or the sender of it,
or, in fact, whether you had any share in the drawing up or
despatching of the same.
"Ritter,
"Canonical Vicar and General Administrator of the
Diocese,
"Breslau, December 20, 1842."
Had I given vent in words to my first angry feelings,—had I not allowed some weight to the existing relations between the higher and inferior clergy,—had I not, in short, considered the situation of my orphan sisters—Dr. Ritter would indeed have received a very different reply from that, which, after the exercise of much self-control, I sent him. After calm reflection and consultation with a man of experience, I came to the resolution, that as I had written in the name of my fellow-citizens and colleagues, I ought not to make any concession prejudicial to their rights, and must rely for protection on the laws.
According to the laws of Prussia, the name of an author can only be required, and that by the courts of law, when his writings contain matter of a libellous or seditious nature. If this law be not applicable to one of the inferior clergy, it follows that he dares not give utterance to any assertion or opinion which may be distasteful to his superiors (were it the most undeniable truth,) without being deprived of his situation. But who would willingly at once give up his place? Were governments to proceed after the fashion of Dr. Ritter, or the Church, no commissioned-officer would dare to notice an abuse, without running the risk of being examined and cashiered by his superiors.
Dr. Ritter had no right to take me to task, since by so doing, he interfered with the privileges and the duties of the whole body of inferior clergy, in calling me to account, by his inquisitorial questions, for a simple expression of opinion. I dared not accede to his demands without injuring religion and my colleagues. Or has the so-called inferior priest, perhaps, no right to tell the truth? or to tell it without placing his situation in jeopardy! Is the so-called inferior priest not under the protection of the laws of his native country? and are the superior clergy perhaps the only, and the infallible pillars of the truth? With a due regard to my good cause, and my defenceless condition, compared with that of an unfettered opponent, I gave the short reply—"that my conscience forbade me to satisfy such queries." The Papists and priestlike blockheads always turn the darkest side, and so they did in my case. Dr. Ritter and his Popish allies would gladly have attributed to me falsehood and cowardice, and pointed triumphantly to these words, as well as to other disconnected passages, in order thereby to lower me in the eyes of my fellow-citizens, but in vain. That I desired to save my place, as was asserted, by cowardice and falsehood, I have practically refuted, by demitting my office, braving poverty and want, although it would have been very easy for me, by falsehood or retractation, to have escaped from the suspension.*
* See the Vicarial document of February 184 3. The letters
of Mr. Schneeweiss, and the conference with the Prebend F.
at the Episcopal audience.