* Mr. Witke, the former superior of the Seminary, named Ebel
(the brother-in-law of a canon, and a converted proselyte,)
as my calumniator, and I can prove him to have been so. Such
persons, who can consciously assume religion as a cloak for
their false-heartedness, should be denounced by name to all
the world. Our Saviour tells us that hypocrisy is the most
heinous crime, and that murderers and adulterers may be
saved, but not hypocrites!
From Grottkau I travelled to Valtorf, near Neisse, where my friend the Count von Reichenbach offered me the shelter of his roof. Although I had relinquished certain competence, which the office of a Catholic clergyman secures, and knew not how long I might be a wanderer, yet the feeling that at length I had escaped from the cursed and ignominious yoke of Rome, under which I had groaned for three years, was indescribably delightful, and confiding in my righteous cause, and in my youthful strength, it seemed as if I had but just emerged from some dark, dismal prison, into the lovely light of heaven. New energy glowed in my veins; a new and beauteous world bloomed before me, in which I was to labour and to live as the free teacher, and the pastor of my own, the German people!
MY SISTERS.
My joy was damped, however, and turned to sadness, when I thought upon the annoyances which my family, especially my four sisters, (our parents were dead) endured, owing to the numerous and often ill-natured reports that were spread regarding me. Homely country people, reared in the Catholic religion, young and inexperienced, they did not think the motives were sufficient, which led me to throw up my office. Although they placed unbounded confidence in me, it was doubtless somewhat shaken, when they found themselves disappointed in the prospect they had very properly indulged of future aid from me. They endeavoured, time after time, to prevail on me to resume my office, in consideration of the calumnies they had to bear. This has caused me hours of bitter sorrow.
THE ANSWER OF THE COUNCIL.
About three weeks after the despatch of my Defence, and the testimonials from the magistrates, I received a negative reply from the right reverend Board.* In this reply no farther weight is given to the testimony of the magistrates of Grottkau, and the declaration of the inhabitants, than that they silenced the false accusations of Kaspar Hoffmann; and the representatives of Christian love and justice in the diocese of Breslau do not condescend to offer satisfaction for the annoyances to which I and mine had thereby been subjected. Although they might not consider themselves called upon to pay me a just debt, yet surely the united voice of an entire town was worthy of some little deference. But here we touch upon the second curse by which the hierarchy overlays the people. Even as the thraldom of the inferior clergy, in regard to their superiors, annihilates their manliness of character and self-respect, so the thraldom of the congregation in their relation to the clergy, keeps the great mass of the Catholic people in darkness and insensibility. That neither the congregations nor the inferior clergy have always been in this state of thraldom, is well known. It has been induced by their torpidity and ignorance. But had they never before enjoyed a state of greater freedom, the present times imperiously demand it.
* "In reply to your remonstrances of the 5th and 10th of the
month, you are hereby informed, that as you do not
distinctly deny the authorship of the the article 'Rome and
the Chapter of Breslau,' our judgment of the 30th of January
remains unaltered.—Latussek, v. Ploto, Elsler, Freis,
Canons.
"Breslau, February 18th, 1843."
With my convictions, to have remained one moment longer in my office, after receiving the answer of the right reverend Board, would have dishonoured me. How could I have met my fellow-citizens, and spoken to them of the unfettered moral dignity of man, while I myself had sacrificed religious conviction in a pitiful and cowardly manner, for a bit of bread, secured to me by my condition as a Romish priest? This was my fixed determination:—rather the grave than dishonouring punishment—rather starvation than self-degradation, and injury of the rights of my fellow-citizens and colleagues! In order, however, that I might leave no method untried of obtaining justice, I wrote to the Council, stating that 1 should appeal to the still unappointed bishop.