deep distress of his
brethren in Germany. He addressed an Encyclical letter, under date of 5th
February, 1875, to the Bishops of Prussia, lamenting the persecution which
tried them so severely, dwelling at great length on the evils of the _May
laws_, praising the constancy of the clergy, and exhorting them to
continued patience and perseverance. The whole doctrine of the Encyclical
may be said to be expressed in the following words:

"Let those who are your enemies know that you do no injury to the royal
authority, and that you have no prejudice against it when you refuse to
give to Caesar what belongs to God; for it is written, '_We must obey God
rather than men_.' "

This eloquent letter, like everything else that was done in order to
mitigate the most trying persecution of modern times, remained without any
other result than to afford some comfort to the clergy of the afflicted
Church of Germany.

Pius IX., in order to show still further his appreciation of the constancy
under persecution of the German clergy, conferred the dignity of Cardinal
on Archbishop Ledochowski, who courageously accepted the proffered honor.
The persecuting government prevented him from ever enjoying it in his
diocese, by condemning him to perpetual banishment. This was, at least, an
approach to the cruelty practised on Fisher, the illustrious English
Confessor, who was consigned to the Tower of London because he would not
sanction the divorce of Henry VIII., and acknowledge the Royal Supremacy
in questions of religion. The Pope of the time sent him a cardinal's hat.
But the enraged king took care that he should never wear it by cutting off
his head. The time was past when blood could be shed in hatred of the
truth, even by so hard a tyrant as the Prussian minister. In the
nineteenth century, however, as well as in the sixteenth, there would not
be wanting those who would resist unto blood for religion's sake.

It was comparatively an easy matter to deprive and banish the legitimate
pastors, but not quite so easy to find priests so unprincipled as to
become their successors. The politic chancellor, apparently, had not
thought of this beforehand. In the course of five years he could find only
two ecclesiastics who would consent to accept benefices at his hands. All
those on whom he might have counted for establishing a schism in the
Church had already joined, with all the encouragement which the minister
could bestow, the _alt-Catholic_ se