[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPEOTATOR."J SIR,—It would be
the opinion of many Frenchmen that in your article on "M. Combes and the Congregations" (Spectator, March 12th) one or two important considerations have not been sufficiently taken into account. Having spent the past winter in Paris inquiring into the conditions of French educa- tion, and having had opportunities of discussing the recent legislation with many Frenchmen of all shades of political and religious conviction, I may perhaps be allowed, not so much to give a personal opinion, as to represent the, point of view of a large number of the supporters of the Government. When it is remembered that out of a population of thirty- seven and a half millions, about thirty-five and a half millions of the French people declare themselves Catholics, the idea is no longer tenable that the majority, either in Parliament or in the country, oppose the teaching of the dogmas of Rome on religious grounds. Nor is there any more reason to hold that the Government is unfavourable to the principle of religions liberty. In its own secondary schools the State not only permits, but even pays for, whatever form of religious instruction the parents desire, provided it is given outside of class hours,—an example of a more complete tolerance than is, perhaps, to be found in any other country. There is no sign of any wish to disturb this arrangement; and besides, there is ample opportunity still for private schools to which parents who wish the lessons in literature and history to be given from a Catholic standpoint can elect to send their children. The distrust of the monastic Orders is due, not to their doctrinal beliefs, nor to their reactionary influence on thought in genera], but to the conviction, held by a large number of the most fair-minded and reasonable Frenchmen, that they make an unscrupulous use of their power in carrying on a definitely political propagandism. The extent of the danger may sometimes be exaggerated for party purposes, but its existence cannot be ignored. The fact has to be faced that not only are the Congregations hostile in feeling to the Republican form of government, but they work in secret for its overthrow. The Church accepts money from the State, and uses it to undermine the Constitution. It would be a happy thing for the French Republic if it were in a position to ignore this treachery, and kill the conspiracy by its generosity; but it is only one generation old, and the dis- closures in connection with the *ire Dreyfus clearly showed that its stability cannot yet be taken for granted. The power of the monastic Orders is not dying out; in certain important respects it has increased of late, so that it forms a real menace to the Constitution. Though the Church has been losing its hold on the working classes, it has been gaining from the ranks of the well-to-do bourgeoisie, and by its ascendency over the minds of the dying it is always adding to its wealth. Against
this evil the State is powerless ; but it is otherwise with the domination of the clergy over the minds of the young. The chief danger• is, of course, in connection with the Army. The military schools of St. Cyr and the Polytechnic are honey- combed with disaffection to the Republican form of govern- ment because such a large proportion of the youths are secretly ruled by the monastic Orders, whose agents aid their advancement, arrange advantageous marriages for• them, and ssrve their interests in many ways. Secure in our long- established Constitution, we may be inclined to laugh at the possibility of such a menace ; but a majority of the French nation has decided that the time has come to grapple with the secret enemy of the State, and probably they know their [We have no great love for the Orders, and realise that if the Regulars could have their way they would not only overthrow the Republic, but would forbid the right of teaching to their antagonists. But still, we cannot believe that obscurantism can ever be fought successfully except by light and liberty. Make out the most perfect case in theory for the persecution by the strong hand of the propa- gation of erroneous or dangerous ideas, and yet we hold that toleration unstinted and whole-hearted will remain the safer policy. Does not our correspondent really admit the inefficiency of persecution, mild as well as severe, when he points out how the power of the Church in France has grown and is growing ? The only effectual way of combating an injurious religious belief is to substitute a better. What France wants is not the putting down of the Orders, but a religious Reformation. Is there no hope that some French- man may arise capable of touching the hearts of his countrymen, and turning their feet, not into broad and barren ways of secularism, but along the path of a reformed Christian religion P—ED. Spectator.]
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