Page 105 - La Société canadienne d'histoire de l'Église catholique - Rapport 1961

Iiarlis against ihc cspulsion of ihe religious orders. It ie important to
notiee t hat these papers okij ccied or counselled, eontinuing LO disapprove,
but always stopping short OF categorical ostracism of the French Rcpubli-
cans. Nonetheless, tlie resignation and li beral patience ol tlie Safurday
Retlieui and The Tinies was tased to the limit, and irom March 1880,
when ihe Ferry Bill \vas in the Senate, their pulse quickcned, their
coniirietitb beeame more irequent and more agitated.CM)
They asserted the right oI the Catholics to freedom of religion and
eonscience. Rut the)- elaimed that Catholic theology was inevitably being
overiaken by the new, fresh spirit wit1i which these papers themaelvee
were imbued, and that action was therefore uririeceseary. Aeeording to
Tlie Tirries, the "uiii~orthy f~ar" of the pi,iest and the Jesuit in dueatian
was a sigri "either of weakness or inloleranee" among the Republicans.
Even the Jesuit walj to be litlle fear~d, and the use of force against [hem
was ". . . the moot efleetive way oi ~treii~theiiiup their waning influ-
euee'r. 159 i
Roth [laperS. The Tirnt-s. in part irular, eeiisured the exeesses in
treatmeut of tlie religious ordeis, aud cauriidl y ex~iressed their disap-
proral ri1 ~he ruihlcss demoii~tration of intoleranee by the Third Repu-
Mie :
Whatever iiiay Ijt. said, ihib cainpaipn againçi ihe cltrgy ia a bad afiair,
and reflccis nli credii un ihc rcputaiion of thr Cov~rnrnent rhat hae eniered
upun it. II~P couniry nhich is lutikiog ai ii. ihc pariicnlar ordere ihat havc
provukrd it, cir tbr Iriidçr of ihr Irti. nhli gave the eignal for ii.1")
hIost of 311. tliese pùpcrs eiititletiitied the violeuee rvith whic:h the
Decrees were enfareed. al1 haugh they appeared to accept the pregeribed
meaeures. Their lilieralistie eiiu3eietiee repeatedly deplored the brutality
lieiri,~ ccimmitted in France, finditig ~he governnient to have usurped
privileges and suppreseed liliei t y. t5: The y eapressed the feas that such
depcirlment would popularize the Jesuits, the religious orders and Catho-
lieism iu geiieral, by making martyrs of them.lw)
In a notable anticipatiori of Juled Simou's attaek on Artiele Seven,
the Paris correspondent wrote in Tlie Tim.es of Julie 10, 1879, that no
amount of eloquerice on the part of its advoeates was ". . . able to make
the Bill anything but inopporlune, illiberal and iuapplieable . . ." and
proeeeded to euumerate several very similar reasons t o Sirnoii'a own.
Like Jules Sirnon, these papere did riot object streuuously to ihe
Ferry Laws, but they clcarly saw the arrière-pensée of Article Seven.
The Tim.es considered ~he article ". . . beyorid the sphere of the hipher
grades of iiistruction . . ." and ~hat it could ". . . orily be regardcd as an

(54) S.R. MW Imtn ~he beninninn thar ~he objeci 01 ibr Ferry meaaurr wari
". . . probably not LO irnprnvc Catholic edncation, bni io desiroy ii". XLVlI
(h,farch 22. 1879) D. 354.
(55) This nntl iiiorp in 'an' Editorial. The Times. March II. 1880,
- -. . - - - . . . . . . . . . . .
.
.
.
ififil Edi~orial, The Times, Jnne 29,' 1880.
(57) DescriLing the expulsion 01 ihe Jesuits, ihe Paris correeprindeni of The Timrs
laiiien~ed : "Suth are ihe victo~ies achieved by the Rcpulilic todiiy -
victories nver uuariiied. and. in many cases, a d men." July 1. 1880, -p. 7.
(581 Editurial, The Times, July i, 1880.