368 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



used for the burial of the dead, as apart 

 of its larger claim to control the destiny 

 of people in the future world. And, 

 for many centuries, this has been one of 

 the most potent means of its influence. 

 The case of Joseph Guibord, of Mont- 

 real, which has now perhaps reached 

 its close, affords an instructive illus- 

 tration both of the character of this 

 old churchly assumption, of the tenacity 

 with which it is still held, and of the 

 vigor with which it is maintained wher- 

 ever there is power to enforce it. The 

 circumstances have been widely pub- 

 lished, but it is desirable here briefly to 

 recall the leading facts : 



A literary society in Montreal, known 

 as the " Canadian Institute," some years 

 ago introduced into its library a num- 

 ber of works that came under the ban 

 of the Roman Catholic Church. The 

 Bishop of Montreal disapproved them 

 and commanded their exclusion, which 

 being refused by the Institute, the bish- 

 op appealed to Eome, and a papal de- 

 cree was fulminated. The society re- 

 maining contumacious, the bishop pro- 

 nounced a ban upon its members ex- 

 communicating them and forbidding 

 them the last oflBces of the Church in 

 "the article of death." The conse- 

 quences of this decree first fell upon 

 Guibord, Who died in 1869. His estate 

 owned a burial-lot in the Catholic cem- 

 etery of Notre-Dame, and the widow 

 applied for ecclesiastical burial for her 

 husband. This was refused : he could 

 not be buried in his own lot, and the 

 only place permitted for the remains 

 was the unconsecrated part of the ceme- 

 tery devoted to excommunicants, male- 

 factors, suicides, and unbaptized infants. 

 The case was then taken to civil trial 

 and a long lawsuit followed ; the Cana- 

 dian Superior Court, the tribunal of last 

 resort, deciding ultimately against the 

 priest and trustees of the cemetery. 

 This decision not being respected by the 

 Catholic authorities, an appeal was ta- 

 ken to the Privy Council, and a royal 

 decree issued commanding the priest 



and trustees of the cemetery to inter the 

 mortal remains of Guibord in conse- 

 crated ground. The priest replied that 

 he was forbidden to do this by the 

 bishop, and could not comply. An or- 

 der was then served on him under the 

 decree of the Privy Council, and the 

 funeral appointed for the 2d of Sep- 

 tember. The priest, however, refused 

 to be present. The members of the 

 " Canadian Institute " and their friends, 

 numbering about three hundred, ac- 

 companied Guibord's remains, from the 

 vault of the Protestant cemetery where 

 they had been placed, to the Catholic 

 cemetery, where they were met by a mob 

 of some five hundred French Canadians 

 who closed and barred the gates, and 

 refused entrance to the hearse, which 

 was attacked with stones by the mob 

 that had rapidly increased to about two 

 thousand. They drove back the pro- 

 cession with derisive shouts, filled up 

 the grave, and tore down the cross at 

 its head. 



The burial was thus defeated, and 

 riotous demonstrations were continued 

 for two or three days. Preparations 

 were then made by the civil authorities 

 for enforcing the burial, the military 

 were called out to maintain order, and 

 on the 16th of November, after six 

 years of contention and delay, the body 

 of Guibord was placed in his lot, the 

 coffin being bedded in cement as a 

 protection against the violation of the 

 grave. 



We do not refer to these facts mere- 

 ly as furnishing a new example of the 

 inevitable collision that arises between 

 the civil authority and the Roman Cath- 

 olic Church wherever that organization 

 feels able to assert its power of which 

 so much has recently been said. But 

 the case impressively illustrates a single 

 and most interesting phase of this an- 

 cient conflict. In the attempt to get 

 the bones of an old man, long since 

 dead, into their final and chosen rest- 

 ing-place, a city is convulsed with riot, 

 a whole province thrown into excite- 



i 



