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Beacon Lights of History: Modern European statesmen. [1891
Beacon Lights of History Modern European statesmen 1891 Author:John Lord Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: that men should be contented with the sphere in which they were born; that discontent was no better than rebellion against Providence; that any change would be f... more »or the worse. He had no liking for universities, iu which were fomented liberal ideas; and those professors who sought to disturb the order of things, 01 teach new ideas, — anything to make young scholars think upon anything but ordinary duties,—were silenced or discharged or banished. The word "rights" was an abomination to him; men, he thought, had no rights, — only duties. He disliked the Press more than he did the universities. It was his impression that it was antagonistic to all existing governments; hence he fettered the Press with restrictions, and confined it to details of little importance. He would allow no comments which unsettled the minds of readers. In no country was the censorship of the Press more inexorable than in Austria and its dependent States. All that spies and a secret police and priests could do to ferret out associations which had in view a greater liberty, was done; all that soldiers could do to suppress popular insurrection was effected, — and all in the name of religion, since he looked upon free inquiry as logically leading to scepticism, and scepticism to infidelity, and infidelity to revolution. In the Catholic sense Metternich was a religiousman, since he recognized in the Roman Catholic Church the conservation of all that is valuable in society, in government, and even in civilization. He brought Catholics to his aid in cementing political despotism, for " Absolutism and Catholicism," as Sir James Stephen so well said, " are but convertible terms." Accordingly, he brought back the Jesuits, and restored them to their ancient power and wealth. He formed the strictest union with the Pope....« less