The Pope And The Emperor

The following is tho full text of tho recent important eorrespondence between the Pope and the Emperor of Germany : Vatican, Aug. 7, 1873. Your Majesty - The mensures which ïave been adopted by your Majesty's ovprnment f'or some time ast all aim more and more at the destruction of Catholieism. When I seriously ponder over the causes which may have led to these very hard nieasurea, 1 confess I am unable to discover any reasons for such a course. On the other hand 1 am informed your Majesty does not countenanoe the proceediugs of your governmeut, and does not approve tho harshness of the measures adopted against the Catholic religión. If it be, then, true that your Mnjesty doi?s not approve thereof, and letters which your august Majesty has addrossed to me formerly niight sufiiciently demónstrate that you cannot appruve that which is now occurring ; if, I say, your Majesty does not approve of your govornment continuing in the path it has ohosen, of further extending its rigorons measures against tho religión of Jesus Christ, whereby the latter is most injuriously affectod will your majesty uot becomo covinced that these measures have no other effect than that of undcrmining your Majesty's own thronei' I speak with frankness, tor my banner is truth. I speak in order to fulfill ono of my duties, which consists in telling the truth to all, even to those who are not Catholios, fer ovpry one who has been baptized belongs in sonie way or other - wüich, to define more precisoly would be here out of place - belongs, I say to the Pope. I cherish the couviction that your Majesty will roceive my observations with your usual goodncss and adopt the measuros necessary in the present case. Whilo offering to your Majesty an exprostiion of my devotion and esteem, I pray to God th&t he may enfold your Majesty and myi sel f in one and tho snmo bond of meroy. (Higned,) PIÓ NONO. The Kmperor roplied as follows : Berlín, Sept. 3, 1873. l am glad your Holiness has, as in fornier times, done me the honor to write to iue. I rejoice looro at this stnce an opportunity is thereby afforded me of correcting errors which. as appears from the conteuts of the letter of your Holiness of the "th of August, must have occurred in i a communication you have received rela tive to Germán affairs. If the reporta which aro made to your Holinesa respecting Germán questions only stated the truth it would not be possible for your Holiness to entertain theaupposition that my government onte'8 on a path which I do not approvo. According to the Con! stitutiou of my States, such a case cannot happen, sinco the laws and government moasures in Piussia require my consent as sovereign. To my sorrow a portion of my Catholic subjects have organized for the past two years a political party, which ndeavors to disturb by intrigues hostile to the State, the religious peace which lias exiated in Prussia for centuries. Lcading Catholio priests have nt only pproved ihis movenient, but joined in it to an extent to openly revolt against exLsting laws. If will not havo rscaped the observatiou of your Holiness, that similar indicatious manifest themselves at the present timo in several European and some trans-Atlantie nations. It is not my mission to investígate the causes by whioh the clergy and faithful of one of the Christian denoininations can be induced to assist the enemies of all law, but it certainly is rny mission to protect interual peace and preserve tho authority of the laws in the States whosogovernment has been intrusted to me by God. I aiu conscious that I owe hereafter au account of the accoiuplishuient of tbis, my kingly duty. I shall maintain order and law against all attacks as long as God gives me power. I ani in duty bound tf dn it as a Christian monarch, even when to my sorrow I have to fulfill this royal duty against servants of the church which I suppose acknowledges less than theevangelical church that the oommand of obelience to secular authority is an emananation of the revealed will of God. Many of the priosts in Pruesia, subject to your Holiness, disown, to my regret, Christian doctrine in this respect, and plftce my overnment under the necessity, supported by a great majoritj' of loyal Cathoics and evangelical subjects, of extorting obedienco to law by worldly means. I willingly entertain the hope that youv Holiness, upon being informed of the true position of affairs, will usu your authority to put an end to the agitation cnrried on amid the deplorable distorti on of truth and abuse of priestly authority. Tho religión of Jesus Christ haB, as I attest to your Holiuess before God, nothing to do with these intrigues any more than has truth, to whose banner, invoked by your Holincss.Iunreservedly subscribe. ' There is ono more expression in the letter of your Holiness which I cannot pass over without denial, although it is not based upon previous information, but in the belief of your Holiness, nainely, tho expression that every one that has received baptism belongs to tho Pope. The evangelical creed, as must bc known to your Holiness, I, liko my ancestors and the majority tï my subjeots, profess, does not pormit us to accept in our relation to God any other mediator than our Lord Jesus Christ. Difference of belief does not prevent me frora living in peace with those who do not share mine, and otferingyour Holiness the expression of my personal ievotion and est oom.