John Ronge: The Holy Coat Of Treves Part 3

*** Curate Pech, a learned, accomplished, and distinguished man, wearied with the long-protracted contest, had taken a curate and retired.

**** From one dollar, which I received for reading the burial service, he deducted 10 silver groschen. May I ask whether an usurer takes so large a percentage, as such a curate from his chaplain?

These said crimes, as contained in the Decree of Deposition, are as follow:--1st, That I wore too short a coat, and unsuitably long hair. I could only treat this silliness with derision, gave therefore no reply to it, and direct my readers to the answer of my honoured defender, and to the testimony of the citizens and magistrates of Grottkau. I must, however, observe, that this accusation was only made as a pretence, the real ground of complaint being my conduct in the school and the church, as the following occurrence will disclose.* In the schools of which I was the director, I ordered the teaching of German history, caused the pupils to write exercises for the improvement of their style, commenced the formation of a juvenile library, and conducted the religious instruction not altogether according to the authorized Catechism, because I perceived that _it_ tended rather to prejudice the minds of the pupils against religion than to implant it in their hearts.

I visited, besides, the Sabbath-schools, and strove to rid them of superst.i.tion and hypocrisy. Kaspar Hoffmann, like many other suchlike _faithful_ ministers, had inst.i.tuted a regular system of espionage, and watched my doings. In his priestly zeal he slipped privately into one of my schools, put several bullying questions to the children, and when they, in terror, could not answer him a word, he beat the religion of love into them with a birch-rod. When I, enraged at his ill-treatment of the pupils, called him to account, he replied, that well-grounded doubts were entertained of my orthodoxy, that I did not proceed according to the accredited Catechism, _taught German history_, &c.! This betrayed the quarter whence his inspiration had descended. My answer had, however, this effect, that Mr. Hoffmann discontinued his visits to my schools.

* My dress was quite black, and was far outshone in elegance by that of the clergy of Breslau. Besides, I know full well, that Catholic priests may deck themselves most gaily, and yet retain their offices.

In the second place, Kaspar Hoffmann had reported that I conducted the ordinances of worship in an indecorous and undignified manner. This, in the sense in which he meant it, is a shameless lie; for, although I held, and still hold, many Church forms to be contrary to the exalted conception revealed to us of the G.o.dhead in the Christian religion, (can it, for instance, be supposed, that G.o.d is honoured or the community edified, by unintelligible mumbling of Latin and hypocritical up-turning of the eyes?) I have still too great respect for all religious conviction, in whatever form it may be manifested, to insult it, or endeavour to bring about a change, in such a manner as I am represented to have done. I submitted to the forms prescribed, without, indeed, hypocritical up-turning of the eyes, whining, or the like, by which it is easy to acquire extravagant metage,* and a character for sanct.i.ty (I saw this shameless game played almost daily.)

* The fee paid for the performance of ma.s.ses.--Trans.

It was, besides, a moral impossibility that I should have given offence by my remarkable behaviour, being so constantly galled and worn down by my bondage, and by my grief at being compelled to a.s.sist in disseminating superst.i.tion and hypocrisy, that I stood generally quite exhausted by the altar. Yes, the mental agony which I have endured on that spot, and which was manifested in my exterior, must have produced an exactly opposite impression than that for which he blamed me--and it did produce it. If Kaspar Hoffmann's piety took offence at this, then must it be equivalent to none, since he considered hypocrisy alone to be true decency and dignity. (What remains to be said on this subject will be found in my Defence before the Council.)

Lastly, It had been reported that no one would take me for a Catholic Clergyman who did not know me to be one. This, I must confess, sounded to me very like the language of praise, as I have endeavoured never to make any distinction between myself and my fellow-citizens, seeing that I desired to be neither more nor less than a man and a citizen. Does the narrow blue stripe const.i.tute the pastor and teacher? We know that lying and feigned words are uttered in spite of the clerical stripe, and that the glittering vestments of the priest cannot shut out dissimulation, but, on the contrary, that they promote it.

LETTERS OF PERSUASION.

DESIRES OF MY OFFICIAL COLLEAGUES.

In addition to this charge to Kaspar Hoffmann, Dr. Ritter had commissioned a zealous divine of the younger school,* to persuade me to retract. On the 1st and 15th of January 1843, I received letters from him, and from a narrow-minded priest in the College at Neisse, in which, under cover of the most high-flown expressions of Christian brotherly-love, I am required to become a contemptible liar. As these letters are written in ecclesiastical style, and reveal the character of Dr. Ritter--his artifices, and those of the men who permit themselves to be made his tools, I consider myself called upon to publish them: besides, the writer is no friend of mine, as the Decree of Suspension falsely intimates, but merely an acquaintance.

I had at first almost believed that the a.s.surances of friendship contained in the letters of Schneeweiss were true, in spite of their suspicious highflying; and although I had already, in like manner, been deceived by others of my colleagues, I was almost tempted to believe in their honesty. But after the epistle of the narrow-minded priest had betrayed to me that Dr. Ritter was in the game, I was forced to despise the letter-writer as a hypocrite. Schneeweiss feigned friendship, but he could have no respect, and therefore no friendship, for me, when he recommended me to commit an act of baseness, namely, the denial of well-known facts--the shameful recall of that which I had lately a.s.serted--and a cowardly and degrading submission to the despotism of Dr. Ritter. I suppose, also, that Schneeweiss had imagined that I was quite imbued with hierarchic views. He might in that case represent the blind and cowardly submission as an act of virtue on my part; but he could not expect that I should retract the blame I attributed to the quarrels and _informings_* of the candidates for the episcopate, and even my censure of the long delay on the part of the Pope--for they were injurious to the Church. Had he considered my station as a Catholic priest, as a teacher of the people, and of religion in the sense of Christ's teaching, and desired to be accounted such himself, he could not have advised me to a disgraceful retractation and denial of a truth which I had dared to avow. No; he would have encouraged me to bear unflinching testimony to the truth, and in the face of greater danger than the loss of office.

* Compare the Decree of Suspension of January 30th, 1843.

For that _is_ true, which I have written; the quarrels and intrigues of the candidates for the bishop's mitre, I repeat it, have been proved, and they were (I myself have heard it,) the theme of scandal and censure at once to priests and laymen. It was disgrace enough to the clergy, that no one of the elder ministers dared openly avow his censure--that they loved their livings more than truth and their fair name. But Schneeweiss does not seem to have thought of these things. It may be gathered from the mixture of a.s.sertions and contradictions in his letters, that he was not quite clear of the propriety of what he required of me, at the same time that he does not seem very well to know what he would be at. However, so it also happens with many others of my colleagues. They become inconsistent in their opinions; for, being called to fight in the front rank for truth and freedom, they, on the contrary, act in opposition to them, as the conscious or unconscious slaves and servants of the hierarchy. I fancied, when I knew Schneeweiss in earlier days, that he had a more enlightened zeal, but Gibbon's words, alas! are true--"The spirit of bigotry, at once so credulous and insinuating, when it has once taken root in a n.o.ble mind, overturns by degrees the living principles of virtue and of truth."

* I have received the most precise information in regard to them from trustworthy men, well acquainted with the episcopal candidates.

LETTERS OF SCHNEEWEISS AND GLCKNER.

"My Dearly Beloved Brother,--You will be surprised to receive a letter from me, but do not let your surprise induce you to forget that it is sincere affection which prompts me to address you.

"I have just learned in Neisse that a heavy storm is gathering over you. You are said to be the author of an article in the Saxon Vaterlands-blatter, in which language is employed very unlike what one would expect from any Catholic, not to speak of a Catholic priest. It is also said, as I am a.s.sured by an otherwise trustworthy and respectable man, that you have been questioned in regard to it by the right reverend Administrator of the Bishopric, and that you have returned a very evasive, answer. If it be really so, Oh, let me entreat that you will not neglect to say at once Pater, _peccavi!_ (Father, I have sinned!) Write immediately to the right reverend Vicar, and a.s.sure him, with a self-denial which would be highly honourable (?) to you, that you wrote in well-meant (?) precipitation. If you do not follow my brotherly counsel, you may expect, from the determined character of the right reverend Vicar, soon to be suspended (deposed), as I have also learned from respectable authority. And to what would this suspension lead! Oh, believe me, my dear brother, it would then be no longer in the power of your former friends to help you. So long as we are Catholics, Rome must always be to us the centre point of the visible Church; and so long as we wish to be Catholic Christians, and particularly priests--servants of the Catholic Church, we dare not speak and write of Rome in such a slighting manner,--I might say, with the hatred and contempt exhibited in the article, which I have also read. I a.s.sure you, that not even Protestants would take you under their protection, if you are really the author of that article. I will not speak of Catholics. In so far as I am concerned, I marvelled at the author's deficiency in historical and theological knowledge, who had subscribed himself 'A Chaplain.'

"Be not offended at my openness. A well-meaning brother must not hesitate to speak the truth even at the risk of the momentary loss of a brothers affection. I entreat you once again to do immediately what I advise. I know you to be an otherwise well-disposed person (_what honour!_); it would grieve me to see you brought into a position which cannot, now-a-days, be honourable (_do I not understand?_). It is great-minded to make amends for faults and for offence which one may have given! and little-minded to have the courage only to impugn time-honoured truths, without acknowledging the fact as soon as questioned by those who, in virtue of their station, have a right to demand the acknowledgment;* and so, dear friend, behave wisely and well, and turn away all evil from yourself. Make my respects to your Vicar.

* Great is the absurdity of this sentence; small the man and priest who can desire to see truth degraded to the condition of a venal slave.

"Now, dear friend, seek counsel of your G.o.d, and I know you will take decided steps in consequence. May peace be with us throughout the new year. With this invocation I conclude these hasty lines, which sincere brotherly love has dictated. Your true Brother,

"Schneeweiss."

The letter of the narrow-minded priest referred to above is as follows:--

"Neisse, January 12th 1843.

"Honoured Brother,--You will not surely take it ill that I speak my mind to you in regard to a matter which must be causing you embarra.s.sment at present--I mean the article in the Vaterlands-blatter. The paper had lain here unnoticed for several weeks, when it accidentally fell into my hands at the house of Baumgarten the merchant; and on account of its bitter, pa.s.sionate tone, not only in regard to the Pope himself, but the extent of his authority--on account of certain hints in regard to the narrowing of the power of the bishops and the want of the proper conduct of the cure of souls, which the people have a right to expect, as the grace of the Church, from the apostolic vicars and curates--in short, on account of all these circ.u.mstances, I hastened to submit it to Schneeweiss for inspection. But besides the Number which contained this article, there was another, and indeed the preceding one, which at the end gave a list of the contents of the letter box, and also mentioned a contribution from Grottkau. This it was which led to the suspicion that you were the author. Full scope was now given for violent discussion at the parsonage, and they wished at once to inform you of the suspicion under which you lay. An opportunity was found in candidate N., who, at the suggestion of Schneeweiss, was enjoined to call upon you on his homeward journey to Breslau, and disclose all to you,--but nothing farther. No application to Ritter was made from hence, and, according to the declaration of Schneeweiss, N., who is at present in the Seminary, must have blabbed there. Since your embarra.s.sment is now known, that is to say, Ritter's threat in case you should not confess--Schneeweiss has written to you at once, Ritter having expressed a wish that your friends and brethren in this quarter should come to an understanding with you, and try to move you to a retractation of the article. Schneeweiss, much puzzled at not hearing from you, has again applied to Ritter, through Peschke in Breslau, to endeavour to stave off the execution of the threat, and successfully, as we yesterday learned. Peschke advises him strongly to persuade you to confess, in which case nothing more would be demanded of you than that you should insert a modified article in the same paper, without signature, and adds, 'If you had not entreated for him, Ronge would already have been proceeded against--he would have been suspended.' I have already told a long tale, but not yet come plainly to the point which so much annoys me. It is this,--through _me_ it was that the article first became known to the clergy, and I should bitterly reproach myself were you to be brought into trouble on account of it.

You may judge from this what comfort it would afford me were you to relieve me from my unpleasant situation by a settlement of the affair.

Do it for my sake, (?) regard my peace of mind, should it cost ever so great a sacrifice! It involves no sacrifice of conscience--such a sacrifice no one has a right, _ex abrupto_, to demand. The Catholic Creed is not involved--otherwise, I apprehend, from your straightforward character, you would no longer be holding office in the Church. I beseech you, therefore, to relieve me from my painful situation, where I am tortured now, and may be incurably tortured at a future day, should you be overpowered. S. would gladly talk over with you this unpleasant affair, if it were agreeable to you to come here; and, if that be inconvenient, he will employ his acquaintance with Ritter to facilitate an adjustment. Ask N. also, who knows me,--and I think you will entertain no suspicion of my sincerity. Perhaps he may even accompany you, which would delight me. He also is among the shipwrecked ones. With all brotherly love, your friend,

"GLOCKNER."

On the 15th of January I received a second letter from Schneeweiss, which differs essentially from the former one. If the tone of the first is lordly and dictatorial, that of the second is gentle, more prudent, is addressed to me as an individual, and calls in my nationality to his a.s.sistance:--

"My Dear Brother,--Once more I write you a short letter, although I feel nearly persuaded that you will not thank me for it. My former hasty lines have remained quite unnoticed. Were I actuated by any other motive than affection, I might feel myself somewhat slighted, but love bears all, hopes all, and does all, that can promote the welfare of a brother (?!). Once more I beg of you to bring this unhappy affair in Breslau to a conclusion. I a.s.sure you that your character, supposing you to be the author of the article in question, shall not be compromised (_how forbearing is our mother Church!_), as I know from an authentic source.

Believe me, you have injured yourself by your evasive answer,--it will not bring you out of your sc.r.a.pe.

"Act resolutely! If you be the author of the article, answer, like a man, 'Yes I am,' and submit to reproof (_indeed!_). If you be not the author, answer also in that case like a German man (_even this chord the Church does not disdain to strike!_)--'No, I am not.' If your time permits, pray visit me for a few hours. Things are more easily explained when face to face. You have no time to lose, as I learn from a sincere and honest friend in Breslau.

"Only believe that I love you sincerely while giving you this advice.

Should you consider me mistaken or shortsighted, I cannot help it. You may, in time, be convinced that these lines are dictated by the purest and most anxious affection. G.o.d be with you, and with your sincere friend.

"SCHNEEWEISS.

"Neisse, January 12th, 1843."

THE SEVENTY CURATES

About the same time seventy Silesian curates inserted a most pathetic article in "The Sion," and, in an address to Dr. Ritter, implored him to call me to account, and, if I made any difficulty, to depose me. As I afterwards learned, this address was not peculiarly well received at the Chapter, but Dr. Ritter issued a letter of thanks.*

* "I thank you for the Declaration you have sent to me from seventy clergymen, in regard to the affair of Ronge, and request you hereby to express to them my acknowledgments and thanks. The diocese of Breslau may rejoice (if Ritter compose the diocese) that it possesses such a company (why not flock!) of worthy young men in the vineyard of the Lord.

Chaplain Ronge is already suspended, and has been summoned to the Seminary at Breslau. Should he offer any resistance, I shall commission the Right Reverend Vicarial Board to dismiss him, without further delay, from the service of the Church.--Ritter.

"Breslau, Feb. 8, 1843.

"It is requested that the foregoing be forwarded to the dear colleagues and subscribers of the Declaration against Ronge.--Strzynby.

"Ratibor, Feb. 16, 1843."

I have not replied to these seventy brethren, because I heard that the greater number had signed it from fear of Ritter; but I consider that I have atoned for the neglect, seeing that whilst they, according to promise, were probably praying for me, I worked industriously for them.