Catholicity. Listen to them, all you who represent the papacy as the very nucleus of spiritual despotism.

But we must here advert to another very striking feature which existed in the social economy of Prussia up to the beginning of the present century, a peculiarity which, we believe, was also found until lately in Denmark, and in several other Protestant kingdoms or principalities in the north of Europe. We allude to the feudal or serf-system, which degraded the mass of the population into the veriest slaves that ever drew the breath of life, slaves who were mere fixtures on the soil, and were bought and sold with it according to the interest or caprice of their masters. This horrible system of thraldom does not, we think, now exist in any European country, except Russia, and Poland, the poor crushed victim of Russia, it certainly has not existed for centuries in any country where Catholicity was enabled to exercise its influence, untrammeled and uncontrolled. But the genial influence of the Catholic Church, to which society was indebted for the gradual removal of this evil, had been slow to penetrate into the cold regions of northern Europe; it had not penetrated at all into Russia, where the papacy was despised, and its declarations treated with contempt.

Such being the facts of history, be it ever remembered, that Prussia and other Protestant kingdoms of northern Europe actually riveted the bondage of the poor peasantry, and retained, or rather renewed, the degrading serf-system, from the first dawn of the reformation down to the beginning of the present century! At the commencement of the reformation, the German peasants had risen in mass, and had struck for their civil and political rights. The German princes, at the instigation of Luther himself, and of the other principal reformers, had crushed their revolt by main force, and had drowned their cries for liberty in their blood! For almost three centuries from that date, the condition of the peasants was worse than it had ever been before; and the reformation, which talked so much about its love of human liberty, and inveighed so loudly against the enslaving tyranny of Rome, actually kept the mass of its own followers, for almost three centuries, in the most galling and degrading of all servitudes! That such is the fact, will appear from the following testimony of Mr. Laing:

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If the serf deserted, he was brought back by the military, who patrolled the roads for the purpose of preventing the escape of the peasants into the free towns, their only secure asylum; and was imprisoned, fed on bread and water in the black hole, which existed on every baronial estate, and flogged. The condition of these born serfs was very similar to that of the negro slaves on the West India estates during the apprenticeship term, before their final emancipation. This system was in full vigor up to the beginning of the present century, and not merely in remote unfrequented corners of the continent, but in the center of her civilization, all around Hamburg and Lubeck, for instance, in Holstein, Schleswig, Hanover, Brunswick, and over all Prussia."

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Our readers may now perceive, who have been the real friends of the poor, and the true champions of human liberty, the Protestants or the Catholics. While the former have talked and boasted much, they have really effected little, or rather their actions have but too often sadly belied their professions. The latter, on the contrary, have said little, but have done much. And the result of these two opposite lines of conduct is plainly traceable in the present condition of the poor-the bulk of the population—in most Catholic and Protestant countries of Europe.

We have yet much more to say on this most interesting subject; we have still to speak of the social condition of Northern Europe, Switzerland, and Italy; and we have to institute a comparison between Catholic and Protestant countries in regard to the moral and religious conditions of their respective populations. But we must defer the treatment of these topics to our next paper.

XXVI. CATHOLIC AND PROTESTANT COUNTRIES.**

ARTICLE II.-GERMANY AND ITALY.

The Catholic and Protestant cantons of Switzerland-An "enlightened self-interest"-Why the Protestant cantons are more prosperous-Material condition of Catholic Italy-Italian and Scotch holy days-Mr. Laing's theory for explaining the alleged social inferiority of the Italians-Italy in ancient and modern times-Influence of climate on popular industry and activity-The Italian poor compared with those of England and Ireland-Mr. Laing's testimony-The garden-like culture of Italy-Comparative cheerfulness of Protestant and Catholic nations-Taste for the fine arts-Politeness-Temperance-Testimony of Robert Dale Owen-Comparative moralityMoral condition of Sweden-Popular education in Catholic and Protestant countries-The common school system in Austria-Liberal policy-Relative instruction of English and Belgian operativesThe Prussian common school system-Religious condition-State of religion at Geneva-Deplorable defection-Protestantism in other European countries-Mr. Laing's theory to account for the admitted religious superiority of Catholic nations examined-His honorable testimony to Catholic faith and piety.

THE twenty-two cantons, composing the Swiss confederation, are nearly equally divided between Catholics and Protestants. Mr. Laing gives us the following view of the comparative religious and social condition of these two classes of the population :

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The Swiss people present to the political philosopher the unexpected and most remarkable social phenomenon of a people eminently moral in conduct, yet eminently irreligious; at the head of the moral states of Europe, not merely for absence of numerous or great crimes, or of disregard of right, but for ready obedience to law, for honesty, fidelity to their engagements, for fair dealing, sobriety, and industry, orderly conduct, for good government, useful public institutions, general well-being and comfort-yet at the bottom of the scale for religious feelings, observances, or knowledge, especially in the Protestant cantons, in which prosperity, well-being, and morality, seem to be, as compared to the Catholic cantons, in an inverse ratio to the influence of religion on the people. How is this discordance between their religious and their moral and material state to be reconciled? It is so obvious, that every traveler in Switzerland is struck with the great contrast in the well-being and material condition of the Protestant and Catholic populations, and equally so with the difference in the influence of religion over each. This influence is at its minimum in Protestant, and at its maximum nearly, in Catholic Switzerland; and the prosperity and social well-being of the people are exactly the reverse."'

In attempting to explain this "remarkable social phenomenon," Mr. Laing suggests that, in the Protestant cantons, as among the ancient pagan

*Notes of a Traveler on the Social and Political State of France, Prussia, Switzerland Italy, and other parts of Europe, during the present century. By Samuel Laing, Esq. author of "A Journal of a Residence in Norway," and a "Tour in Sweden." From the second London edition. Philadelphia: Carey & Hart, 1846. vol. 8 vo.

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Romans, an enlightened self-interest" is made to supply the place of religious influence; and that the Protestant Swiss are moral, honest, and industrious, merely, or chiefly, because it is their interest to be so;' according to the old proverb honesty is the best policy. Be this as it may, we consider his testimony rather favorable than otherwise to the Catholic cantons. If less prosperous in the things of this world, they are, according to our author, much more religious than their Protestant neighbors. The greater prosperity and material well-being of the latter are certainly not the results of any influence of the Protestant religion; for they have little or no religion of any kind to boast of, and religious influence is for them weaker than any other. So also the comparative poverty and unthriftiness of the Catholic cantons cannot be fairly ascribed to the influence of their religion; for this has obviously no tendency whatever, either in its principles or its practices, to produce any such effects. Taking the facts as stated by Mr. Laing, and admitting the correctness of his own explanation of them, it would only follow that the Protestant cantons are more thrifty, because they are more alive to their own interest, and more thoroughly selfish, than the Catholic: a circumstance not at all to their credit. It amounts precisely to what we had occasion to observe in a previous paper; that the Protestant principle of private judgment tends to isolate from the rest of society those who profess it, and to foster in them a spirit of individualism, of pride, and of avarice. It may make them more wealthy and more devoted to this world; it will not render them more amiable, more charitable, or better members of society.

If Mr. Laing had written after the late disturbances in Switzerland, — disturbances originated and carried on by the lawless radicalism and turbulence of the Protestant cantons, we think he would have somewhat altered his opinion about the ready obedience to law, the honesty and fair dealing of the Protestant Swiss. At any rate, he might have found a much more plausible explanation for the alleged difference in material well-being of the Catholic and Protestant cantons. It surely could not have escaped his acute observation, that the latter embrace the valleys and the richest portion of Switzerland; while the former are principally confined to the mountainous, and more barren districts. This circumstance would alone explain the phenomenon alluded to, without having recourse to the difference in religious influence. Take two populations equally industrious and equally enterprising; place one in a mountainous country where the soil is thin and ungrateful, and the latter in rich and fertile valleys where nature is much more bountiful, and every one will readily understand that, in less than half a century, the former will become much more wealthy and prosperous than the latter. This is, to a great extent, the case with the Protestant and Catholic cantons. While the inhabitants of the mountainous region have remained steadfast in their allegiance to the faith of their forefathers, -to the faith of William 1 Pp. 304-5.

Tell, of Fürst, and of Melchtal,—those of the plains, more wealthy and more attached to this world, have abandoned Catholicity and embraced Protestantism. And not only have they the advantage of position in regard to agriculture, but they have superior commercial and manufac turing facilities. They have, in fact, almost monopolized the trade and the manufactures of Switzerland. Having all these advantages, and being moreover wholly devoted to the things of this world, — being, in reality, as Mr. Laing proves, practically infidels, can we wonder that they are more prosperous than their neighbors, the hardy Catholic mountaineers? They seek this world, and forget the world to come; Providence has punished them by awarding to them the things of this world; and THEY HAVE RECEIVED THEIR REWARD! Who envies them their condition? What generous Christian spirit is there that would not prefer the humbler state of the Catholic cantons ?

Come we next to Italy, the alleged social inferiority, poverty, and political degradation of which, notwithstanding the richness of its soil and the beauty of its climate, are ascribed, by most Protestant writers on political and social economy, to its bad governments and its profession of the Catholic religion. Mr. Laing, we are happy to perceive, is much more just to the Italians than the common herd of writers to whom we have alluded. He thinks, indeed, that the Italian population is far behind the English in social well-being and in the comforts of civilized life; but he ascribes the difference to the circumstances of climate, soil, fertility, commercial facilities, and to others of a similar character. Upon the fact itself, as stated, or rather assumed, we may have something to say in the sequel; for the present we will lay before our readers Mr. Laing's explanation of it. He writes:

"To what can this difference be ascribed? Italy was far advanced as far in many points as she is at this day before England had started in the course of civilization; and when Scotland was in a state of gross barbarism. The Englishman ascribes this to the want of constitutional government; the Scotchman to the want of pure religious doctrine. The government and religion of a foreign country are two very convenient packhorses for the travelers. They trot along the road with him, carrying all that he cannot otherwise conveniently dispose of, and the prejudices of his readers prevent any doubt of the burden being laid upon the right beast. But, in reality, no government of the present day, no matter what be its form, is so ignorant of sound principles, so blind to its own interests, and so impregnable to public opinion, as willfully to keep back, discourage, or attempt to put down industry and civilization. It is in the means they use, not in the end they propose, that modern governments, whether despotically or liberally constituted, differ from each other," &c.'

In answer to the charge, that the number of holydays kept in Italian and other Catholic countries greatly interferes with the industry, and thereby diminishes the wealth of the people, he maintains that, in England, and especially in Scotland, there are, in reality, more holydays than in Italy itself:

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