Catholic Germany, “that the Council would establish no new or different dogmas from those already written by faith on the hearts and consciences of all German Catholics”? The faith and conscience of the German Catholics, both theologians and laity, have now spoken loudly and unequivocally enough. And it is utterly impossible for a German Bishop to return home from the Council with the new dogma ready-made in his hand, and say to his flock, like St. Paul, “Ye foolish Germans, who hath bewitched you?” “You don’t know yourselves what you have hitherto held in your faith and conscience. See, here is the true bread for your souls, just brought fresh from the bake-house of the Council. This is what you ought long ago to have believed; be converted, and confess that to be white which you have thought was black, and that to be a divine truth which you have taken for an invention of man.” It cannot be presumed that a Bishop would willingly contemplate exposing himself to the ridicule of all Germany. The rumour of a speedy prorogation of the Council is constantly growing more definite. As this depends on one capricious will, it is quite possible in itself. But some striking result would have first to be attained, some conspicuous act accomplished by the Council; or else the fraud would be too glaring, the nakedness of the land too strikingly exhibited to the whole world. To the question, why ten precious weeks had been idly wasted without a single decree being achieved, the only answer would be, that the desire to deprive the Council of all independent action had led to the machine being cramped and fettered till it was brought to a standstill altogether. In accordance with the advice of the Jesuits the whole Council had in fact been pre-arranged, and nothing was to be left to the Fathers on their arrival at Rome but to affirm the thoughts and formulate the decrees suggested by others. The _Schemata_ prepared shall be read one after the other, and the Fathers shall say _Placet_, and to prevent their having any temptation to criticise and mangle and curiously dissect and combat the motions laid before them, the Sessions shall be held in a Hall where the speeches cannot be heard, and all discussion is impossible. That was the programme; the result has proved that the Court had judged rightly of about 500 out of the 700 members, but had deceived itself as to the remaining 200. Veuillot, who communicates the correct views about the Council daily to the French, has declared that it was right to deprive the Bishops of the freedom of evil (_qu’il ne fallait pas laisser aux Évêques la liberté du mal_). This beneficent care for the health of the Bishops’ souls has however been extended a little too far. Many of them are so ungrateful as to think they are treated too much like automatons, and that with the “liberté du mal” they have also been deprived of the “liberté du bien.” The Roman lists of names from which the Commissions had to be chosen are not forgotten.