Tolerance and charity.

The Vérité of Lyon, of February 17, publishes the following letter, which Monsignor Lavigerie, bishop of Nancy, appointed archbishop of Algiers, wrote to the Prefect of that city, this past January 15:

“Mr. Prefect, “I have just learned, through the Moniteur, of the official notice of my promotion to the archbishopric of Algiers and, although I cannot exercise any act of my ministry in the diocese without first having received the mission and the institution from the Holy See, I cannot remain insensible to the sorrowful cries that echo throughout all of France and that reach us from the foot of the Atlas. The municipal administration of Algiers has taken the generous initiative of a public subscription for the victims of the recent earthquake. Permit me to send my mite through your intermediary. You will find enclosed the sum of one thousand francs: it is all that my poverty allows me to do, but this little I do at least with all my heart. “I desire that this sum be distributed equally and without distinction of races or of creeds, among all those who have been struck by the scourge. If, later on, not all should acknowledge me as a father, I claim the privilege of loving them equally as my children. I have taken as the motto of my episcopal arms a single word: charity! and charity knows neither Greeks, nor barbarians, nor infidels, nor Israelites; just as the apostle Saint Paul speaks, it sees in all men nothing but the living image of God! May I, if he calls me soon into your midst, give to all, by my acts and words, the example and the love of this virtue, which prepares all the others. “Deign to accept, Mr. Prefect, the expression of the sentiments of respectful devotion with which I have the honor of being your humble and obedient servant.”

Charles, n Bishop of Nancy, appointed archbishop of Algiers.

The new archbishop of Algiers announces himself by an act of beneficence that is a worthy introduction. But what is worth even more, what above all will be appreciated, are the principles of tolerance with which he inaugurates his administration. In place of the anathema, it is charity that unites all men in a single sentiment of love, without distinction of belief, because all are the living image of God. Here are true evangelical words. He does not speak of the Spiritists, against whom his predecessor had hurled all the thunderbolts of malediction (See the Review of November 1863). But it is probable that if his tolerance extends to the Jews and to the infidels, it cannot make an exception for those who, in conformity with the words of the Christ, inscribe upon their banner: Outside charity there is no salvation. [1] Publisher's Note: See “Explanatory Note,” p. 527.

[2] [i.e.

Charles Martial Lavigerie.]