GARCIA MORENO.
FROM THE CIVILTA CATTOLICA.
I.
The atrocious assassination of Garcia Moreno, the President of the republic of Ecuador, has filled the minds of all good people with the deepest grief and horror. The liberals are the only ones who have mentioned it in their journals with indifference. One of them headed his announcement of it, “A victim of the Sacred Heart”—alluding, with blasphemous irony, to the act of consecration of his people to the Adorable Heart of our Lord which this truly pious ruler had made. But with the exception of these reprobates—who, hating God, cannot love mankind—no one who has any admiration of moral greatness can help deploring the death of this extraordinary man—a death the more deplorable on account of its coming, not from a natural cause, but from a detestable conspiracy concocted by the enemies of all that is good, who abhorred equally the wisdom of his government and the soundness of his faith. The London Times has a despatch from Paris of October 5 with the following communication: “It appears, from authentic information which we have received, that Garcia Moreno, lately President of the republic of Ecuador, has been assassinated by a secret society which extends through all South America, as well as Europe. The assassin was selected by lot, and obtained admission to the palace at Quito. One of his accomplices, an official, who was arrested after the murder, was assured by the president of the court-martial, before his trial, that he would be pardoned if he turned state’s evidence. ‘Be pardoned?’ said he. ‘That would be of no use to me; if you pardon me, my comrades will not. I would rather be shot than stabbed.’” This decision of the society to kill him was known to Moreno, and he informed the Pope of it in a letter, which we will shortly give.
This illustrious man had governed the republic of Ecuador for about fifteen years—first as dictator, and afterwards, for two consecutive terms, as president; and to this office he had just been re-elected for a third term by an unanimous vote. He had taken charge of the state when it was in an exceedingly miserable condition, and by his lofty genius, practical tact, and perseverance, but above all by his piety and confidence in God, had completely renovated and restored not only the morals of the people, but also the whole political administration, and made the country a perfect model of a Christian nation. He was intending to complete the work which he had begun, and was able to rely confidently on the co-operation of his people, whose reverence and love for him were unbounded. But all this was intolerable to the liberals of our day; they could not bear that in a corner of the New World the problem should be solved, which they are trying to make so perplexing, of harmony between the state and the church; of the combination of temporal prosperity and Catholic piety; of obedience to the civil law and perfect submission to ecclesiastical authority. This was an insufferable scandal for modern liberalism,[248] especially because such a good example might do much to frustrate the plans of this perverse sect in other countries.
The Masons, therefore, resolved to murder this man, whom they had found to be too brave and determined to be checked in any other way; for all the attempts they had made to intimidate him or to diminish his popularity had been entirely without effect. Moreno anticipated the blow, but, far from fearing it, was only the more persuaded to persevere in his undertaking, regarding it as the greatest happiness to be able to give his life for so holy a cause. In the last letter which he wrote to the Supreme Pontiff before his assassination are these words: “I implore your apostolic benediction, Most Holy Father, having been re-elected (though I did not deserve it) to the office of president of this Catholic republic for another six years. Although the new term does not begin till the 30th of August, the day on which I take the oath required by the constitution, so that then only shall I need to give your Holiness an official notification of my re-election, nevertheless I wish not to delay in informing you of it, in order that I may obtain from Heaven the strength and light which I more than any other one shall need, to keep me a child of our Redeemer and loyal and obedient to his infallible Vicar. And now that the lodges of neighboring countries, inspired by Germany, vomit out against me all sorts of atrocious insults and horrible calumnies, and even secretly lay plans for my assassination, I require more than ever the divine assistance and protection to live and die in defence of our holy religion and of this beloved republic which God has given me to govern. How fortunate I am, Most Holy Father, to be hated and calumniated for the sake of our divine Saviour; and what unspeakable happiness would it be for me if your benediction should obtain for me the grace to shed my blood for him who, though he was God, yet shed his own on the cross for us!” This heroic desire of the fervent Christian was granted. He was murdered by the enemies of Christ, in hatred of his zeal for the restoration of the Christian state and of his fervent love for the church. He is truly a martyr of Christ. Are not S. Wenceslaus of Bohemia and S. Canute of Denmark numbered among the holy martyrs, for the same cause? Both of them were killed in the precincts of the temple of God; and Moreno was carried back to the church from which he had only just departed, to breathe out his noble soul into the bosom of his Creator.
II.
The object of Masonic civilization is society without God. The results which it has succeeded in achieving, and which it deems of such importance, are the separation of the state from the church, liberty of worship, the withdrawal of public charities from religious objects, the exclusion of the clergy from the work of education, the suppression of religious orders, the supremacy of the civil law, and the setting aside of the law of the Gospel. Only by these means, according to the Masons, can the happiness of the people, the prosperity of the state, and the increase of morality and learning be attained. These are their fundamental maxims. Now, the difficulty was that Moreno had practically shown, and was continuing to show more completely every day, that the peace, prosperity, and greatness of a nation will be in proportion to its devotion to God and its obedience to the church; that subjection to God and his church, far from diminishing, ensures and increases, the true liberty of man; that the influence of the clergy promotes not only the cause of morality, but also that of letters and science; that man’s temporal interests are never better cared for than when they are subordinated to those which are eternal; and that love of country is never so powerful as when it is consecrated by love of the church.
A man of the most distinguished talents, which had been most fully cultivated at the University of Paris, Moreno had in his own country occupied the most conspicuous positions. He had been a professor of the natural sciences, rector of the university, representative, senator, commander-in-chief of the army, dictator, and president of the republic. In this last office, in which he would probably have been retained by the nation through life, he showed what genius sanctified by religion can accomplish. His first care was to establish peace throughout the country, without which there can be no civil progress; and he succeeded in doing so, not by compromises, as is now the fashion—not by making a monstrous and abnormal amalgamation of parties and principles—but by the consistent and firm assertion of the principles of morality and justice, and by the open and unhesitating profession of Catholicity. His success was so marked that Ecuador very soon arrived at such a perfect state of tranquillity and concord as to seem a prodigy among the agitated and turbulent republics in its neighborhood.
With the exception of some local and ineffectual attempts at revolution during his first presidency, which were quelled by placing some of the southern provinces in a state of siege for fifty days, Ecuador was undisturbed by sedition during the whole of his long government. This was partly due to the splendor of his private and public virtues, which dissipated the clouds of envy and hatred, and gained for him the esteem even of his political opponents. He was chaste, magnanimous, just, impartial, and so well known for clearheadedness that the people often stopped him on the streets to decide their disputes on the spot, and accepted his opinion as final. His disinterestedness seems fabulous when we think of the immoderate cupidity prevailing among modern politicians. In his first six years he would not even draw his salary, being content to live on the income of his own moderate fortune. In his second term he accepted it, but spent it almost entirely in works of public utility. And in such works he employed the whole of his time. When any one endeavored to persuade him not to shorten his life by such continual labor, he used to say: “If God wants me to rest, he will send me illness or death.”
Owing to this unwearying assiduity and his ardent love for the good of his people, he was able to undertake and finish an amount of business that would appear incredible, were not the evidence too strong to admit of doubt. In No. 1,875 of the Univers there is a catalogue of the principal enterprises which he carried through in a brief period. They are as follows:
A revision of the constitution.
The paying of the customs to the national treasury, instead of to the provincial ones, as formerly.
National representation for the country as well as the cities.
The establishment of a fiscal court, and the organization of the courts of justice.
The foundation of a great polytechnic school, which was partially entrusted to the Jesuits.
The construction and equipment of an astronomical observatory, which was built and directed by the Jesuits. On account of the equatorial position of Quito, Garcia Moreno, who was well versed in the mathematical sciences, wished to make this observatory equal to any in the world. He bought most of the instruments with his own private funds.
Roads connecting different parts of the country. Garcia Moreno laid out and nearly completed five great national roads. The principal one, that from Guayaquil to Quito, is eighty leagues in length. It is paved, and has one hundred and twenty bridges. It is a solid and stupendous work, constructed in the face of almost insuperable difficulties.
The establishment of four new dioceses.
A concordat with the Holy See.
The reformation of the regular clergy; the restoration among them of a common and monastic life.
The reconstruction of the army. The army had been a mere horde, without organization, discipline, or uniform; the men hardly had shoes. Moreno organized them on the French system, clothed, shod, and disciplined them; now they are the model as well as the defence of the people.
The building of a light-house at Guayaquil. Previously there had been none on the whole coast.
Reforms in the collection of the customs. Frauds put an end to, and the revenues trebled.
Colleges in all the cities; schools in even the smallest villages—all conducted by the Christian Brothers.
Schools for girls; Sisters of Charity, Ladies of the Sacred Heart, Sisters of the Good Shepherd, of Providence, and Little Sisters of the Poor.
Public hospitals. During his first presidency Moreno turned out the director of the hospital at Quito, who had refused to receive a poor man and was very negligent of his duties, and made himself director in his stead. He visited the hospital every day, improved its arrangements, and put it in good working order. He performed in it many acts of heroic charity.
The maintenance and increase of lay congregations and orders. He was an active member of the Congregation of the Poor.
The establishment of four museums.
The Catholic Protectory, a vast and magnificent school of arts and trades, on the plan of S. Michele at Rome, and conducted by the Christian Brothers.
Postal conventions with various foreign states.
The embellishment and restoration of the cities. Guayaquil, and especially Quito, seemed as if they had been rebuilt.
And he accomplished all this, not only without increasing the taxes, but even diminishing some of them. This is the reason why he was so much beloved by the people; why they called him father of his country and saviour of the republic. But it was also this which was his unpardonable sin, which had to promptly receive a chastisement which should serve as a warning for his successors, that they might not dare to imitate his manner of government. For such a course as his was sure to ruin the credit of Masonry in the popular mind.
III.
Moreno loved his country, and worked so hard for its good, because he was truly and thoroughly religious. Every one who really loves God loves his neighbor also; and he who loves God intensely loves his neighbor in the same way, because he sees in him the image of God and the price of his blood.
When he was a student in Paris he was admired for his piety. In his own country, amid the continual cares and heavy responsibilities of his office, he always found time to hear Mass every morning and say the rosary every night. In his familiar conversation he spoke frequently of God, of religion, of virtue, and with such fervor that all who heard felt their hearts touched and moved by his words. Before beginning the business of the day, he always made a visit to the church to implore light from the Source of all wisdom; and he had just left it, as we have said, when he met the ambuscade which was prepared for him. This religious spirit produced in him a great zeal for the glory of God, and that devotion to the Vicar of Christ which in him so much resembled the affection of a child for his father. Let it suffice to say that when he had to arrange the concordat with the Holy See, he sent his ambassador to Rome with a blank sheet signed by himself, telling him to ask his Holiness to write on it whatever seemed to him right and conducive to the good of the church and the true welfare of the nation. Such was the confidence which he reposed in the Pope, with whom politicians are accustomed to treat as if he were an ambitious and designing foreign prince, instead of being the father of all the faithful. When the revolution entered Rome in triumph through the breach of Porta Pia, Garcia Moreno was the only ruler in the world who dared to enter a solemn protest against that sacrilegious invasion; and he obtained from his Congress a considerable sum as a monthly subsidy and tribute of affection to his Holiness.
But his piety toward God and his filial love to the church can best be seen from the message to Congress which he finished a few hours before his death, and which was found on his dead body, steeped in his blood. Although it is somewhat long for the limits of an article, we think that we ought to present it to our readers as an imperishable monument of true piety and enlightened policy, and as a lesson for the false politicians of the present day and of days to come.
The message is as follows:
“Senators and Deputies: I count among the greatest of the great blessings which God has, in the inexhaustible abundance of his mercy, granted to our republic, that of seeing you here assembled under his protection, in the shadow of his peace, which he has granted and still grants to us, while we are nothing and can do nothing, and only give in return for his paternal goodness inexcusable and shameful ingratitude.
“It is only a few years since Ecuador had to repeat daily these sad words which the liberator Bolivar addressed in his last message to the Congress of 1830: ‘I blush to have to acknowledge that independence is the only good which we have acquired, and that we have lost all the rest in acquiring it.’
“But since the time when, placing all our hope in God, we escaped from the torrent of impiety and apostasy which overwhelms the world in this age of blindness; since 1869, when we reformed ourselves into a truly Catholic nation, everything has been on a course of steady and daily improvement, and the prosperity of our dear country has been continually increasing.
“Ecuador was not long ago a body from which the life-blood was ebbing, and which was even, like a corpse, already a prey to a horrible swarm of vermin which the liberty of putrefaction engendered in the darkness of the tomb. But to-day, at the command of that sovereign voice which called Lazarus from the sepulchre, it has returned to life, though it still has not entirely cast off the winding-sheet and bandages—that is to say, the remains and effects of the misery and corruption in which it had been buried.
“To justify what I have said, it will suffice for me to give a short sketch of the progress which has been made in these last two years, referring you to the various departments of the government for documentary and detailed information. And that you may see exactly how far we have advanced in this period of regeneration, I shall compare our present condition with that from which we started; not for our own glory and self-gratulation, but to glorify Him to whom we owe everything, and whom we adore as our Redeemer and our Father, our Protector and our God.”
Here follows an enumeration of all the improvements which had been made. He continues:
“We owe to the perfect liberty which the church has among us, and to the apostolic zeal of its excellent prelates, the reformation of the clergy, the amendment of morals, and the reduction of crimes; which is so great that in our population of a million there are not enough criminals to fill the penitentiary.
“To the church also we owe those religious corporations which produce such an abundance of excellent results by the instruction of childhood and youth, and by the succor which they give so liberally to the sick and to the destitute. We are also debtors to these religious for the renewal of the spirit of piety in this year of jubilee and of sanctification, and for the conversion to Christianity and civilization of nine thousand savages in the eastern province, in which, on account of its vast extent, there are good reasons for establishing a second vicariate. If you authorize me to ask the Holy See for this foundation, we will then consult as to what measures to take to promote the commerce of this province, and to put an end to the selfish speculations and the violent exactions to which its poor inhabitants have been a prey by reason of the cruelty of inhuman merchants. The laborers, however, for this field are not now to be had; and that those which we shall have may be properly trained, it is right that you should give a yearly subsidy to our venerable and zealous archbishop, to assist him in building the great seminary which he has not hesitated to begin, trusting in the protection of Heaven and in our co-operation.
“Do not forget, legislators, that our little successes would be ephemeral and without fruit if we had not founded the social order of our republic upon the rock, always resisted and always victorious, of the Catholic Church. Its divine teaching, which neither men nor nations can neglect and be saved, is the rule of our institutions, the law of our laws. Docile and faithful children of our venerable, august, and infallible Pontiff, whom all the great ones of the earth are abandoning, and who is being oppressed by vile, cowardly, and impious men, we have continued to send him monthly the little contribution which you voted in 1873. Though our weakness obliges us to remain passive spectators of his slow martyrdom, let us hope that this poor gift may at least be a proof of our sympathy and affection, and a pledge of our obedience and fidelity.
“In a few days the term for which I was elected in 1869 will expire. The republic has enjoyed six years of peace, interrupted only by a revolt of a few days in 1872 at Riobamba, of the natives against the whites; and in these six years it has advanced rapidly on the path of true progress under the visible protection of divine Providence. The results achieved would certainly have been greater if I had possessed the abilities for government which unfortunately I lack, or if all that was needed to accomplish good was ardently to desire it.
“If I have committed faults, I ask pardon for them a thousand times, and beg it with tears from all my countrymen, feeling confident that they have been unintentional. If, on the contrary, you think that in any respect I have succeeded, give the honor of the success, in the first place, to God and to his Immaculate Mother, to whom are committed the inexhaustible treasures of his mercy; and, in the second place, to yourselves, to the people, to the army, and to all those who, in the different branches of the government, have assisted me with intelligence and fidelity in the fulfilment of my difficult duties.
“Gabriel Garcia Moreno.
“Quito, August, 1875.”
That is the way that a really Catholic ruler can speak, even in this XIXth century. It seems, while we read his words, as if we were listening to Ferdinand of Castile or some other one of the saintly kings of the most prosperous days of Christianity. With great justice, then, did the government of Ecuador, when it published this message—which was found, as we have said, on Moreno’s dead body—append to it the following note:
“The message which we have just given is the solemn voice of one who is dead; or, better, it is his last will and testament actually sealed with his own blood; for our noble president had just written it with his own hand when he was assailed by his murderers. Its last words are those of a dying father who, blessing his children, turns for the last time toward them his eyes, darkened by the shadow of death, and asks pardon of them, as if he had been doing anything during all their lives but loading them with benefits. Deeply moved and distressed by grief, we seek in vain for words adequate to express our love and veneration for him. Posterity no doubt will honor the undying memory of the great ruler, the wise politician, the noble patriot, and the saintly defender of the faith who has been so basely assassinated. His country, worthily represented by their present legislators, will shed tears over this tomb which contains such great virtues and such great hopes, and will gratefully record on imperishable tablets the glorious name of this her son, who, regardless of his own blood and life, lived and died only for her.”
This splendid eulogy is an echo of the eternal benediction and a reflection of the brilliant crown which we cannot doubt that God has given to this his latest martyr.
IV.
The reader will see that this message of Garcia Moreno contains a true and genuine scheme of Christian government which he applied in the republic of Ecuador, in direct opposition to the ideas and aspirations of modern liberalism. Every point of it is in most marked contrast to the liberalist programme. At some risk of repetition, we will here make a short comparison between the two, on account of the importance of the conclusions which all prudent men can draw from it.
Moreno begins with God, and puts him at the head of the government of his people; liberalism would have the state atheistic, and is ashamed even to mention the name of God in its public documents. Moreno desires an intimate union between the state and the Catholic Church, declaring that the social order must be founded on the church, and that her divine teaching must be the rule of human institutions and the law of civil laws; liberalism, on the other hand, not only separates the state from the church, but even raises it above her, and makes the civil laws the standard in harmony with which the ecclesiastical laws must be framed. It even would subject the most essential institutions of the church to the caprice of man. Moreno desires full liberty for the bishops, and ascribes to this liberty the reform of the clergy and the good morals of the people; liberalism wants to fetter episcopal action, excites the inferior clergy to rebellion against their prelates, and endeavors to withdraw the people from the influence of either. Moreno not only supports but multiplies religious communities; liberalism suppresses them. Moreno respects ecclesiastical property, and promotes by the resources of the state the foundation of new seminaries, saying that without them it will not be possible worthily to fill the ranks of the sacred ministry; liberalism confiscates the goods of the church, closes the seminaries, and sends the young Levites to the barracks, to be educated in the dissipation and license of military life. Moreno confides to the clergy and to the religious orders the training and instruction of youth; liberalism secularizes education, and insists on the entire exclusion of the religious element. Moreno removes from his Catholic nation the wiles and scandals of false religion; liberalism promulgates freedom of worship, and opens the door to every heresy in faith and to every corruption in morals. Moreno, finally, sees in himself the weakness inherent in man, and gives God credit for all the good which he accomplishes; while liberalism, full of satanic pride, believes itself capable of everything, and places all its confidence in the natural powers of man. The antagonism between the two systems is, in short, universal and absolute.
Now, what is the verdict of experience? It is that the application of Moreno’s system has resulted in peace, prosperity, the moral and material welfare of the people—in a word, social happiness. On the contrary, the application of the liberalist system has produced discord, general misery, enormous taxation, immorality among the people, and public scandals, and has driven society to the verge of destruction and dissolution. The liberty which it has given has been well defined by Moreno; it is the liberty of a corpse, the liberty to rot.
And at this juncture the infamous wickedness and the despicable logic of the liberalist party can no longer be concealed. It has laid it down as certain that the principles of the middle ages, as it calls them—which are the true Catholic principles, the principles affirmed by our Holy Father Pius IX. in his Syllabus—are not applicable to modern times, and can no longer give happiness to nations. But here is a ruler, Garcia Moreno by name, who gives the lie to this grovelling falsehood, and shows, by the irresistible evidence of facts, that the happiness of his people has actually come simply from the application of these principles. What is the answer of the liberalist sect to this manifest confutation of their theory? First, it endeavors to cry down its formidable adversary by invective and calumny; and then, finding that this does not suffice to remove him from public life, it murders him. This is the only means it has to prove its thesis; and, having made use of it, it begins to shriek louder than before that Catholic principles cannot be adapted to the progress of this age. No, we agree that they cannot, if you are going to kill every one who adapts them. What use is it to argue with a sect so malicious and perverse? O patience of God and of men, how basely are you abused!