TO THE CATHOLIC FAITH. The CONVERSION OF A GERMAN | Christ. (Geschichte on the religion of PRINCE, FROM LUTHERANISM Jesus Christ) fell into his hands, and this was the means employed by God to call him to his church. prince did not delay to make in SwitPrince Adolphus Frederick, young-zerland a public abjuration of his errors, est son of the grand duke of Mecklen- being then about thirty years of age. burg Schwerin, was born and educated a protestant. In his earliest youth doubts arose in his mind of the truth of his religion, which doubts his august parents remarked; to strengthen the young prince in his belief, they placed him in a Lutheran college at Bruns. wick, and gave him a preceptor, to accompany him to this house, to instruct him particularly on this subject. Although in this latter particular, he rigorously conformed to the injunction. tions he had received, he could not obtain the desired result. His pupil | no ill-will to the catholics, was not maintained these doubts, and secretly procured catechisms and other catholic -books. His studies being completed, the prince set out on his travels; he arrived at Rome in 1817, where the cardiuals received him in a manner conformably to his high birth. He had the honour to be presented to the holy father, who received him with paternal bounty. These proceedings affected the young traveller in the most lively manner, but the affability of the sovereign pontiff, towards a man who was not of the same communion, astonished him above every thing else, and he was not the only protestant who have experienced the same sentiments. God permitted the young prince, while he remained at Rome, to fall seriously ill; this indisposition furnished him with fresh matter for astonishment, at the kindness and solicitude of the pope in his regard. His holiness not only daily enquired after the health of the invalid, but made him with great delicacy an offer of a certain sum of money. Transported with admiration, the prince mistrusted on this occasion many of the unfortunate prejudices so common among protestants, He even examined, though but superficially, the foundation of the catholic religion. He left Rome without being converted, but doubting more than On his arrival in Switzerland, the works of the count de Stalberg. The History of the Religion of Jesus ever. He afterwards wrote to the grand duke, his father, to inform him of his change of religion, and also the motives which had determined him to it. He observed, among other things, that if his royal highness judged it not in his power to permit his son publicly to exercise his religion in his states, he should be obliged to pass his life in a foreign land, for the truth must influence him above every other considera The grand duke, who it appears bore displeased at the determination of his son. One thing however disturbed him; this son, who must sooner or later be called to the sovereignty of this part of Mecklenburgh, would exercise, in this estate, the catholic religion in the midst of his family, which, in the ancient state of things, was interdicted to the sovereigns of the country. In this embarassment the grand duke resolved to consult to diet of Frankfort on the subjeet, and gave his ministers instructions relative to the matter. The answer of the diet was this: After maturely examining the matter, it is not only permitted to a young duke to em• brace the catholic religion, which is but the exercise of a right which his royal highness had neither more nor less than all the subjects of the grand duchy; but still more, the change of religion could not in the least prevent his coming to the sovereignty of the country. In consequence, the grand duke returned a favourable answer to his son, which did not fail to bring him into the presence of his august father. He fixed himself a short time after in the country, at a seat occupied by the hereditary prince. However, as this was not favourable to catholicity, the grand duke invited the prince Adolphus to remove to Schwerin, assigning him an annual pension which rendered him entirely independent. Printed by W. E. Andrews, 8, Drake WH A WORD OF ADVICE TO THE CATHO- may furnish a model to our less LIC CLERGY OF GREAT BRITAIN, informed neighbours, and be a mean AND THE CATHOLIC ARISTOCRACY of exalting in their eyes the beauties OF THE UNITED KINGDOM. of that religion by which we govern and correct, or ought to govern HATEVER offence I may and correct, both our private and give, even to my best friends, public actions. With this view I for entering upon the discussion of to- enter upon the task, and whether pics which they may consider foreign | I excite the displeasure of the clergy to the purport of this Journal, but and aristocracy, to whom I shall diwhich I deem of the highest import-rect my remarks, or whether I obance to the interests of the catholic tain their approbation, is of no religion, I beseech them, as well as consequence to me; the satisfaction the catholic body at large, to weigh of an approving conscience, of having well the few observations I shall done my duty to God, to religion, here submit to their notice, and, and to my country, is a reward far when they have so done, form their sweeter, in my estimation, than the judgment on them with minds free favours and caresses of the great, from prejudice, and animated with and will bear me up against the a regard for truth and justice. We frowns of the selfish and narrowlive in no ordinary times; every day teems with the most important events; discontent pervades the whole of Europe; one revolution is succeeded by another, where a change was least expected; and the general opinion seems to be, that this country is sooner or later doom-teem for the nobility, when propered to sustain a shock, the result of which no man can foresee, and many are afraid to contemplate. In this state of inquietude and uncer. tainty, it is surely a matter of the first moment to ascertain, as far as human wisdom will permit us, the proper rule of conduct we catholics ought to pursue, that our example ORTHODOX JOUR. VOL.VIII minded courtier, whether decked with the coronet or dignified with the mitre. In this declaration, however, let me not be understood as despising the dignity of the one or the sacredness of the other; on the contrary, no man has a higher es ly supported, nor a greater veneration for the episcopal and priestly orders, when filled according to the design and institute of their Divine Founder. My objections are not against the rank and office, but against the abuses which are committed by those who are appointed to fill these high stations in society 2Q and maintain, and judge of them not by the constructions which corrupt and interested individuals put upon them, but by the facts which accompany them as vouchers, and they will come to a just conclusion, which is all I seek or desire. liberal sentiments of the present pontiff Pius VII, when bishop of Imola, inserted in the subsequent pages of this number. When the fate of war had destined his diocess to form an integral part of the Cisalpine republic, the good prelate inculcated the principles of religion with the duties of a citizen, in lan for the benefit and example of mankind in general. This is the legitimate prerogative of the liberty of the press, which has been exercised in all ages by the fathers and doctors of the church, by the impartial and faithful historian, and by the disinterested and unprejudiced po- Happy will it be for the interest litical writer; all of whom have of religion and our common country, praised were praise was due, and cen- when the guardians of our faith and sured were censure wasdue,not in-morals shall adopt the sublime and deed the man, but the action which was laudable or reprovable. By the use of this right, error has been detected and prevented in the church, and the public mind has been directed in the pursuit of national happiness and justice. If, therefore, I scan the measures pursued by the living, with a view to point out the dangerous tendency to religion and the pub-guage the most forcible and lofty, and lic good, I do not thereby attempt to bring the rank and dignity of the nobility, or the authority or character of the clergy, into disgrace, any more than the historian who points out the vices of deceased minis ters and statesmen to the detestation of his reader; or the great St. Bonaventure, who, speaking of the differences among the clergy in his time, writes, "Some of the clergy hate the religions more than they do the jews, the enemies of Christ, and are so exasperated against us, that they would sooner cast us out of their parishes, or cause us to be thrust out by others, than they would heretics and jews."-I make these remarks in order to guard the reader against the insinuations which I am aware will be thrown out against me, by my adversaries and others to whom I am opposed, because their deeds will not bear scrutiny, and therefore they endeavour, as far they can, to poison the minds of those within their reach against my works, by misrepresentation and calumny; but let me once more recommend the reader to examine well the opinions which I lay down in strains the most liberal and benign. Happy would it be, if, instead of supporting a corrupt faction, under a false notion of loyalty, some of our clergy listened to the voice of justice and of reason, and, imitating the conduct of the patriotic Chiaramonti, directed public opinion according to the maxims of the catholic faith, by which it would be restrained from licentiousness and error, and kept in the path of consistency and truth. What benefits, what glo. ry, what renown, would they heap on their sacred character, as well as on the religion of which they are the depositaries, even from the ene mies of the gospel, were they to follow the great and splendid example of the bishop of Imola ? And why should they not adopt a line of conduct so admirably calculated to win the good will of the people of this country in favour of our religious principles? Have we not the page of history in support of the determined opposition of the best ornaments of the clergy to the cor ruption and oppression of profligate monarchs and their advisers. Were not our canonized saints, Dunstan, Ethelwold, Oswald, Anselm, Tho- | gious soldiery were then overruning the catholic provinces of Italy, spreading wide the desolating evils of infidelity and deism, and forming on the ruins of the ancient governments a republican system of rule upon the modern notions of liberty and equality. In this state of things the holy prelate had not recourse to spiritual censures to intimidate his flock, nor did he intrigue with the ministers of the allied powers to restore, as far as he could, the ancient order of things. No, he sub mas à Becket, and Edmund, all reformers of abuses, and the firm supporters of the due administration of public justice? Was not the holy pope St. Gregory VII a steady and courageous reformer, as well as the resolute opposer of the unjust encroachments of the emperor Henry on the rights of the church and of the people? Was not cardinal Langton the principal instrument in obtaining a restoration of the liberties of the country from the tyrant John? And have not the indepen-mitted to the will of the Supreme dent and zealous clergy in catholic times invariably been the friends of the constitutional rights of the people, and enemies to the infringement of those rights? And why, I again ask, should not these examples be followed by their predecessors, since the principles of the catholic religion are immutable and unchangeable; ever in unison with charity and virtue, and always opposed to injustice and vice? It may be answered, because religion is surrounded with infidelity and deism, with the vain fantasies of modern philosophism, while the political institutions of states and governments are threatened with the wild and anarchial notions of liberty and equality and reform. But is religion in greater danger at the present moment in this country, from liberal principles, than it was in Italy at the time when the bishop of Imola delivered his memorable discourse for the instruction of his flock? I am not only bold enough to deny that it is, but I am prepared to shew that more danger is to be apprehended from an overweening fondness to the present policy of the European cabinets, than from the measures proposed by the advocates of civil and religious liberty. When Chiaramonti was bishop of Imola, the French revolution may be said to have been at the zenith of its career. An irreli Disposer of Events, and casting his solicitude for the good of religion, like the faithful pastor, like the good shepherd, he gathered his cler gy and people around him, and there, in accents of the purest piety and patriotism, he portrayed the superior excellency of the christian virtues over those which inspired the citizens of pagan Rome to raise the glory of that republic; he shewed to them that the maxims of the catholic religion were not opposed to the just principles of liberty and equality, but were rather the support. ers of these two relations, by connecting them not only as regarding man and mau, for the public good, but as powerful incentives to promote the glory of God; he proved the necessity of true religion to ensure the existence of virtue and general happiness; he enforced the obligation of practising the precepts of our religion to become good citizens of the new republic; and he pointed out to them the duties of fraternal charity towards those who had imbided the doctrines of error, that their works might be a mirror in which the misguided might read their duties. Oh! sublime sentiments! worthy the mind of Pius VII, the restorer of that order of the church, the missioners of which, in the woody and mountainous wilds of Paraguay, taught savages to go vern themselves, by making them hap-state as well as in the church. A by under a civil form of government strictly republican, and thereby established a convincing testimony of the soundness of Chiaramonti's theological and political doctrines. Let us now take a view of the situation of public affairs in this country, and see how far the policy pursued by the bishop of Imola, in 1797, might be adopted with advantage to religion, by the catholic clergy and aristocracy, as well as to their own public characters. History testifies that to a catholic king we owe the inestimable privilege of trial by jury. How far this privilege is now enjoyed, it will not be prudent to discuss; but we have seen it abused in more instances than one, since the introduction of what is misnamed the reformation, particularly in the reign of Elizabeth, when so many catholic priests suffered for what was called constructive treason, and in that of Charles II, when the perjuries of Titus Oates and his confederates were credited by packed juries and bigotted judges, and innocent victims pronounced guilty of crimes which their souls abhorred and detested. In catholic times too the fundamental principles of the British constitution were subscribed to by different sovereigns, and preserved by the nobles and people. They had then annual and independent parliaments, a high-minded and unbought nobility, and a hardy and contented peasantry. The church was not then subservient to the state, nor was the creed of the people subject to the control and alteration of the legislature. Under the las civious tyrant Henry VIII, a corrupt parliament subverted the independence of the church, and granted supremacy over it to the temporal monarch. Corruption and faction from that time began, and have con.. tinued ever since, to revel in the series of acts of oppression and injustice, towards those who adhered to the old and invariable faith, were commited by those who adopted the modern and changeable opinions of the day; while, at the same time, a system of profligacy and wasteful expenditure kept pace with the intolerance of the people, who were taught to clamour for penal laws and continental wars, to prevent the growth of popery and slavery. To hinder the truth from being known, laws were passed, in the early part of the reformation so called, making it punishable, by both fine and imprisonment, to print and publish any work in defence of the catholic religion, and thus each succeeding generation became more ignorant of its principles and more prejudiced against its followers, by the accumulating slanders and misrepresentations that were invented and circulated, without the means of contradiction. Hence it was no wonder, when the diffusion of liberal sentiments began to operate on the legislature of the country, and an amelioration of the condition of the catholics was meditated, that the populace of Scotland and England were found so base as to rise at the instigation of some bigotted fanatics, and commit lawless depredations on their unoffending neighbours, for no other cause than their profession of that faith which had humanized their savage ancestors, and taught them to revere the ends of justice and the rights of society. The natural consequences of the debasement of religion is too soon found in the demoralization of the people. When the conscience in unrestrained by the precepts of the gospel, man becomes the slave of his ungovernable passions, and the laws which are passed by the state to keep him within due bounds, too frequently, if not invariably, fail in the object they |