by a train of from sixteen to twenty travelling carriages. Thousands upon thousands of people awaited his arrival before the gates of the city, and accompanied him with a ceaseless succession of vivas to the post-house, where he alighted. The rejoicings, shouts, and hurrahs of the multitude, became so deafening, that Rongé at length appeared at a window in the second story of an adjoining house, whence he gave a short address to the waiting mass of human beings, expressive of his heartfelt gratitude for the extraordinary reception he had met with; his regret that his necessarily short stay precluded his replying to it as he wished; and his intention of soon returning to Frankfort for a longer period. Soon after eleven o'clock, a.m., he drove off towards Stuttgardt, but such was the pressure of the crowd, as to compel passing through the streets at a funeral pace, and it was not without difficulty, that numbers were prevented actually stopping the carriage for the purpose of touching the reformer's person." Rongé's entrance into Stuttgardt itself, appears to have been modest enough. The Wirtemburg government had also decided on refusing the German Catholics the use of a church to hold their conference in, though one had been granted to them by the ecclesiastical authorities. The ground for this refusal is, that a public celebration of divine worship, in a building belonging to the established church, would be tantamount to their recognition as a religious body, for which, indeed, they have applied, but have not yet obtained it. They have been, therefore, directed to hold their proposed meetings, either in some private building, or in one of the churches belonging to the reformed (or Genevese) congregation. This denial has, however, so essentially served the German Catholic cause, that a respectable journal states:-"The interest hitherto felt for the new sect, by the public generally, was comparatively trifling; but now, all at once, an eager desire to aid them seems to have arisen, and petitions in favour of their toleration come in from all quarters; a fact which very evidently proves that a religious movement can, by no system of resistance, be so effectually rendered harmless, as by leaving it a free and unhindered course; for, so soon as, either with or without a foundation, the idea of arbitrary suppression is spread abroad, the German phlegm gives place to eager sympathy, and an almost expiring lamp of public interest is instantly re-fanned into a flame. A petition, to which two thousand signatures are already appended, has been presented by the Lutheran citizens of Stuttgardt, praying that one of their churches may be granted to the use of their German Catholic brethren." On the 15th, a considerable number of deputies to the German Catholic synod, assembled for divine worship in the reformed church, which was festively hung with flowers, and filled to overflowing, although cards of admission alone procured entrance. Kerbler presided. The communion plate, presented to the new congregation by some Lutheran well-wisher in the city, was used, for the first time, on this occasion. Private meetings had been held on the morning and afternoon of the 14th, as well as before service on the 15th, for the purpose of arranging the preliminary business (the election of a præses, and secretaries, &c.) preparatory to the public meeting, which assembled at three o'clock, p.m., in the hall of the Silberburg, granted by the directors of the Museum Society, which was most numerously attended by persons of both sexes, and all confessions. Twenty-four delegates, many of whom appeared as proxies for several congregations, were present, besides deputies from London and Rotterdam, who, as may be supposed, were there more as listeners than as actual participators in the proceedings. On the 16th, another business meeting took place, in which, however, no questions were discussed; but the time was chiefly occupied by a somewhat lengthy statement of the nature and importance of German Catholicism, and a reply to the often-put question, "What do the German Catholics aim at?" The next meeting is appointed to take place in Frankfort, where many points respecting church government, and a more extended organization, which were on this occa On sion merely suggested, will be more definitely settled. the 17th, the synod completed its sittings, and the solemnities were terminated by divine service, conducted by Rongé and Dowiat. On the 18th, Rongé and his travelling companions departed from Stuttgardt, after having received many testimonials of affection from his adherents. Poems, garlands, and still more valuable proofs of attachment, were bestowed upon him in the various companies to which he was invited, during his stay in the Wirtemburg capital. At ten o'clock in the morning, a great concourse of people was already assembled in the Dorothen square, who greeted Rongé and his companions as they issued from the dwelling (which was almost covered with garlands), with a joyful viva. A flower-wreathed carriage stood in waiting to receive the reformers, and drove off amid deafening shouts of "Long life to Rongé!" and escorted by several friends on horseback and in carriages. But, with all his popularity, Rongé, like all great men, must be content to pay the usual penalty of greatness, being both envied and hated. A curious anecdote, illustrative of this, may be adduced as forming an instructive contrast to the almost idolatrous worship, of which, during his tour, he was the object. A Frankfort paper, dated Sept. 19, states, "It is singular enough, that at both extremities of the Prussian dominions, at Tarnowitz and Saarlonis, attacks should have been made, or intended, against Rongé." There, on the borders of Galicia, the life of the real Rongé was attempted; here, on the frontiers of France, an unfortunate guitarist, whom the mob chose to identify with the antagonist of Bishop Arnoldi and the sacred tunic, although the poor fellow wore a moustache, and was wholly devoid of all clerical appearance, was so roughly handled as to escape actual danger only through the intervention of the police. Indeed, the ultramontane party in modern times sufficiently evidences its identity of sentiment with brethren of former days. During the high solemnities in Munster, the party pointed to the cage, yet hanging on the tower of St. Lambert's church, in which the unfortunate anabaptists, John of Leyden, Bockholt, &c., groaned out their earthly existence, with a meaning glance, which the Roman Catholic population would have no difficulty in interpreting. The "Elberfeld News" informs us, that "the late Roman Catholic priest, Breidenbach, of Strutt, a man of distinguished oratorical powers, and possessed not only of the love of his parishioners, but of the respect and esteem of his ghostly superiors, having very recently forsaken the Roman for the German Catholic church, has accepted a call to preside over that branch of it which exists here, and was received to-day in a really magnificent manner. The discharge of nearly thirty pieces of ordnance, and a cortége of above ten thousand persons, whose vivas rent the air, hailed his approach to the city. The German Catholic cause has obtained, by the acquisition of Breidenbach, a powerful support, not merely in Iserlohn, but through the surrounding district, where many congregations exist, and more are in contemplation. A new one was definitively organized on the 7th inst. in our neighbouring town, Hagen." The bishop of Mayence has also deemed it his duty to announce to his clergy the apostacy of one of their brethren, the late Dean Winter, in Alzei, from the Roman Catholic church. The exhortations and admonitions with which the notification is accompanied, are singularly mild; and, whilst they are exhorted to pray for the restoration of their erring brother to the bosom of the true church, the new Catholic sect, to which he has joined himself, is adverted to in much more moderate terms than in the ban lately published by the bishop of Fulda. Rhenish journals mention, that Rongé's writings, whether in French or German, have been seized on the borders of France, because they might assist in introducing one more religious sect into that country, which has too many already. Even those which were under cover to individual Protestants, were refused admission, and, every application to the minister proving fruitless, the writings were finally disposed of by committing them to the flames. 276 CHAPTER XIII. CHRONOLOGICAL SKETCH OF THE PROGRESS OF THE REFORM MOVEMENT, FROM THE COMMENCEMENT OF 1845 TO Attack on Rongé and his Friends at Gernsheim-Political Position of the Catholic Dissidents-Entertainment to Rongé at Darmstadt-Resolutions passed by the Dresden Deputies-The late Baron Giovanelli-Free Church Movements in various placesRongé's Reception at Constance-Meeting of the German Catholics at Offenbach-Leipsic Fair-Church at Breslaw-Meeting at Berlin-Counsellor Galli's Address-Romish Legends-Letter of Czerski-Death of the Archbishop of Cologne-Sketch of his Life and Character. ОСТОВЕР. While Czerski, in Western Prussia; Pribill, in Berlin; Theiner, in Silesia; and Licht, in the Rhenish provinces; with very many holding the same purely evangelical views, are devoting every energy to promote the true Bible prosperity of the Apostolic Catholic church, Rongé, accompanied by his brother, and Dowiat, are still engaged in what may justly be termed a triumphant procession through the south of Germany; and not without experiencing, as very recent accounts inform us, the dangers, as well as honours of greatness. From Worms, for example, where he received |