statesmen through the Queen, whether in the Privy Council or out of it, had sovereign authority over the Church both in the appointments of its bishops and in its teachings, or such a union as Bismarck desired to establish between Church and State in Germany, was essentially wrong. The State in its temporal concerns should not be the handmaid of the Church, but the State should be under the directive influence of the Church established by the Lord Jesus Christ himself. The so-called union of Church and State had often resulted in the enslaving of the Church.

There was said to be a certain union between Church and State in Quebec because the clergy could collect their dues from the Catholic inhabitants by the assistance of the courts of law. Protestants, however, had no grievances to complain of under this head, and the immense majority of Catholics were satisfied to contribute to the support of their Church in this way. Besides, Catholics were not forced to remain in the Church. They could give notice of withdrawal at any time and escape these obligations. This, however, was no concern of the people of Upper Canada, and had nothing whatever to do with the Protestant population of either province. There was no injustice inflicted, nor any grievances without a remedy. Protestants might show extreme kindness in pitying the Catholics who were satisfied with the law as it existed, but their sympathies might perhaps be

turned to better account. The Church enjoyed freedom in Canada, and the interest of religion was to maintain the authority of the State and to preach loyalty to our well-ordered government. There might be parties and difference of opinions, but all agreed in unbounded loyalty to the institutions of the country."

1 Lecture in St. Michael's Cathedral, June 25th, 1876.

B

CHAPTER XI

THE PRIEST IN POLITICS

YE-ELECTIONS in Charlevoix and in Chambly came very closely at the heels of the contest in Argenteuil, during which Mr. Huntington had made his appeal to the English-speaking electorate of Quebec to unite with the French-Canadian Liberals against undue clerical interference in political contests. Each election was marked by an extraordinary exhibition of clerical arrogance and a ruthless denunciation of the candidates of the Liberal party. M. Lussier, the curé of Boucherville, hesitated to read the joint letter of the bishops which declared the supremacy of the Church in civil affairs, for fear that it would excite dissent among his parishioners, but he was forced to submit by peremptory orders from the Bishop of Montreal. Dr. Fortier, the ministerial candidate in Chambly, announced himself a Rouge and a moderate Liberal; and the fact elicited this statement from Bishop Bourget: "Our Holy Father, the Pope, and after him the archbishop and bishops of this province, have declared that Catholic Liberalism is a thing to be regarded with the abhorrence with which one contemplates a pestilence; no Catholic is allowed to proclaim himself a moderate Liberal;

consequently this moderate Liberal cannot be elected a representative by Catholics.'

In Charlevoix, as in Chambly, the priests violently assailed the Liberal candidate and the Liberal party. Mr. Hector L. Langevin was the nominee of the Conservatives, and he was opposed by Mr. Tremblay in the Liberal interest. One priest denounced Catholic Liberals as "ravening wolves who come to raise a disturbance in the flock, who come to tell you that the Pope, the bishops, and the clergy have nothing to do with politics. Beware of their perverse teaching! they want to seclude the priests in the church and the vestry, in order to succeed better in their unchristian work, which is to scatter and divide the flock of Jesus Christ." He said to his people: "You greatly need to open your eyes, my brethren, on the abyss of evils into which the partisans of Catholic Liberalism would throw you." They should listen to the salutary teachings of the bishops in their pastoral letter upon the tendencies of the self-styled Catholic Liberal party. They should not allow themselves to be fascinated by the deceitful words of "the serpent Catholic Liberal." They knew in what manner the serpent found his way into the terrestrial paradise. In the same manner Catholic Liberalism wished to find its way into the paradise of the Church to lead its children to fall. "Be firm, my brethren. Our bishops tell us that it is no longer permitted to be conscientiously a Catholic