# Der Lutheraner_St. Louis Missouri_1853 09 13_S9
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

Der Lutheraner.

"God's Word and Luther's doctrine shall pass away now and nevermore."

Published by the German Ev. Luth. Synod of Missouri, Ohio and other States.

Edited by C. F. W. Walther.

Year 10.  St. Louis, Mo., the 13th of September 1853.  No. 2.

Terms: Der Lutheraner appears once every two weeks at the annual subscription price of One Dollar for subscribers living elsewhere, who are to pay for it in advance and bear the postage. — In St. Louis each single number is sold for 5 cents.

Only those letters which contain communications for the paper are to be sent to the editor; all others, which contain business matters, orders, cancellations, money, etc., are to be sent here under the address Mr. F. W. Barthel, care of C. F. W. Walther, St. Louis, Mo.

The Bloodbath of Thorn.

A Picture from the History of the Jesuits, by K. F. Ledderhose.

(Continuation.)

It is easy to imagine that the Jesuits, who were so familiar with lying, depicted the course of the affair quite differently. In Posen a writing of this kind appeared, which partly exaggerated the circumstances and partly worked in outright falsehoods. The priests sent out letters to the Polish nobility, to inflame them to revenge. Publicly they preached against the desecrators of the saints and assured their hearers that the mutilated images had bled. They submitted a written complaint to the court at Warsaw. As early as the 29th of July King Augustus II, a descendant of the Saxon electors, of a Frederick the Wise, a John the Steadfast, and a John Frederick the Magnanimous, issued a writ of summons to the city of Thorn in the Latin language. He spoke entirely out of the mouth of the Jesuits. It states that a Dissident (non-Catholic) had looked on that procession in the St. James churchyard with his head covered and had mocked it. A Catholic student, out of godly zeal, had taken his hat off for him, but after the ceremony was over had been beaten bloody by a Lutheran citizen and handed over to the watch. Some Catholic students had made calm representations to the burgrave and the president, but without success. They had also asked the citizen who had caused his arrest to obtain his release, remarking that he would voluntarily present himself again. But he had not agreed to this, had even caused the arrest of one of those who asked. He had thereupon had two other petitioners scornfully turned away. The Catholic students had then, without the knowledge of their superiors, in their vexation led a Lutheran pupil into the school as a hostage, where he had been treated quite well. The authorities had then incited the mob, who then smashed everything in the school, broke a crucifix and two altars, dragged the images of the Blessed Virgin, of St. Francis and of other saints into the streets, defiled and mocked them, made a fire before the house, danced around it after the manner of the heathen, blasphemed God and the Blessed Virgin and cried, among other things: "Vivat Maria, little maid, help thyself and defend thyself!" They had then thrown some images into the fire and burned them. In the college they had smashed everything, pierced and shot through the images of the saints and trampled them underfoot, and damaged the oratory; the Most Holy had been rescued only by divine assistance, by some Jesuits at the risk of their lives. So it goes on. The summons charges both the president Rösner and the vice-president Zernecke with inactivity. The latter, indeed, had even ordered the soldiers from the window of his house to fire upon the Jesuit pupils. The summons declares with open prejudice: "This and the like was committed until midnight in an unheard-of, godless, cruel and church-robbing manner, and by your command, with your permission and co-operation, the school and the college have been turned into an Arabian desert."

On the 7th of August 1724 the royal command arrived in Thorn. The magistrate immediately had an account of what had happened sent off to Warsaw. The royal court of justice committed the investigation to a commission which was to assemble in Thorn. It consisted of 22 members, partly bishops, partly noble lords. Although the magistrate raised objections against the great number of the members and the considerable cost of their maintenance, it was of no avail. Already at the end of August they arrived, accompanied by Polish soldiers and a numerous retinue of servants. They first attended divine service in the church of St. John before betaking themselves to the court room of the old town hall. Scarcely had they sat down when two Bernardine monks appeared and demanded the Marien-