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LIEBER though he no longer took part in any important proceedings. He recognized clearly that the Centre might henceforth have a standing in the Prussian Landtag. But the Canal bill, by means of which he hoped to achieve this end, failed at the last moment; he himself prevented the financial reform which he had desired only as a means of cancelling debts, and not as a measure for regulating the financial relations of the Empire with the confederated states, that were at this time overburdened by their share of imperial taxation. In the Polish question, he went no further than to outline a positive programme, by no means committing his party to a policy of opposition. He endorsed, however, the completion of the navy, and emphasized the need of a united national spirit in Parliament by means of which such great results had been obtained in the former Reichstag. In a word, he was the Catholic parliamentarian who attained the most definite results for the nation in the Reichstag, a skilled tactician, a politician ripe in knowledge and experience, discreet, shrewd and cautious, inspired by lofty aims and an enthusiasm for high ideals. He was a brave German citizen, unselfish, yet eager for action, a true Catholic Christian both in principle and in conduct.

Stenographic Records of the Reichstag and Landtag;, Eulogium (delivered on 3 April, 1903), pp. 63; , Ernst Lieber, a biographical essay (1906).

 Lieber,, politician and publicist, b. at the castle of Blankenheim in the Eifel, 1 Oct., 1790, d. at Kamberg, in Hesse-Nassau, 29 Dec., 1860; a man of eminent ability, great learning, and the highest culture, from his youth to his death a true Christian and a faithful son of the Church, and an intrepid champion of her rights and interests. His earliest literary activity was the translation of prominent Catholic works from foreign tongues, seeking thus to combat the spirit of "enlightenment" and rationalism which had been rampant in Germany since the days of Joseph II. He first published under the title "Die Werke des Grafen Joseph von Maistre" (5 vols., Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1822-24), the three principal works of de Maistre: "Du pape", "De l'Eglise gallicane dans son rapport avec le souverain pontife, and "Les soirées de Saint-Pétersbourg". He also translated John Milner's "The End of Religous Controversy" under the title "Ziel und Ende religiöser Kontroversen" (Frankfort 1828; new ed., Paderborn, 1849), and Thomas Moore's "Travels of an Irish Gentleman in Search of a Religion": "Reisen eines Irländers um die wahre Religion zu suchen" (Aschaffenburg, 1834; 6th ed, 1852). In answer to the pamphlet "Bruchstück eines Gespräches über die Priesterehe" (Hadamar, 1831), in which an anonymous "friend of the clergy and of women" attacked the celibacy of the Catholic priesthood, Lieber wrote "Vom Cölibat" (Frankfort, 1831). As a member of the Lower Chamber of Nassau, he published "Blick auf die jüngste Session der Landesdeputierten zur Ständeversammlung des Herzogthums Nassau" (Franfort, 1832). Lieber's name became known, however, throughout Germany by his manly championship of the Archbishop of Cologne, Clemens August von Droste-Vischering, who had been imprisoned by the Prussian Government. In his defence he issued under the pseudonym of "A Practical Jurist" the powerful polemic, "Die Gefangennehmung des Erzbischofs von Köln und ihre Motive" (3 parts, Frankfort, 1837-38) Effective as were his published writings for the liberties and interests of the Church, even more valuable were his professional opinions and advice. Thus he was entrusted by the assembly of bishops at Würzburg in 1848 and by the first conference of the bishops of the ecclesiastical Province of the Upper Rhine held at Freiburg in 1851, with the commission to draw up a memorial to the Government. His greatest services, however, were rendered in the cause of Catholic association and the catholic press. He took a prominent part in the founding of "Der Katholische Verein Deutschlands". He presided at its sessions held in 1849 at Breslau, and in 1867 at Salzburg, the predecessors of the great Catholic congresses, and as president of the Breslau Congress he drew up the protest of the "Katholische Verein Deutschlands" against the proposals for reform made by the Freiburg professor, J.B. Hirscher, in his work "Erörterungen über die grossen religiösen Fragen der Gegenwart" (3 parts, Freiburg im Br., 1846-55). In the conflict between the ecclesiastical Province of the Upper Rhine and the Government, Lieber interposed with a second pamphlet, "In Sachen der oberrheinischen Kirchen-provinz" (Freiburg im Br., 1853); and, especially in his last years, as a member of the Upper Chamber of Nassau he was an energetic champion of the interests of the Church, for which he also used his personal influence with his duke, who had appointed him counsellor of legation. His philanthropy is evidenced by his erection of a hospital at Kamberg, towards the foundation of which his father had left a rich bequest.

, ''Geschichte der katholischen Kirche im 19. Jahrhundert'', 2nd. ed. prepared by, III, (Münster, 1905), passim; , Geschichte der Generalversammlungen der Katholiken Deutschlands (Cologne, 1903), 52 sq., 106 sq. and passim ; Historisch-politische Blatter XXIII (1849), 785 sq.; XXIV, 118 sq.; Der Katholik, XLI (1861), I, 127 sq.

 Lieber,. See.

 Liebermann,, Catholic theologian, b., at Molsheim in Alsace 12 Oct., 1759; 4. at Strasburg, 11 Nov., 1844. Having finished his humanities in the college at Molsheim, he studied theology from 1776 to 1780 in the seminary at Strasburg, after which, as he was too young for ordination, he was as subdeacon appointed teacher in the college at Molsheim. He became a deacon and a licentiate of theologv in 1782, and was ordained priest on 14 June, 1783 lie shortly afterwards became professor in the Strasburg seminary, in 1784 preacher at the cathedral, and in 1787 pastor at Ernolsheim near Molsheim. During the Revolution he was obliged to take refuge across the Rhine (1792), and the Bishop of Strasburg, Cardinal Rohan, appointed him rector of the seminary which had been transferred for the time to the Abbey of All saints, in the Black Forest. Here he taught dogmatic theology and canon law, and wrote his unpublished "Institutiones iuris canonici universalis." In 1795 he secretly returned to his parish at Ernolsheim, where he laboured in secret and in great Ianger for the cure of souls until 1801, holding at the same time the office of extraordinary episcopal commissary for this division of the diocese. In 1801 he was called to Strasburg as preacher at the cathedral and secretary of the diocese, but returned once more to Ernolsheim in 1802. On 12 March, 1804 he was there unexpectedly arrested, and, on the groundless suspicion that he was in secret communication with the royal family, was held a prisoner in Paris for eight months. When, through the intercession of Bishop Colmar of Mainz with Napoleon, he regained his freedom he was called by this bishop to Mainz in 1805 as rector of the newly founded seminary there and in 1806 became also a member of the cathedral chapter. In the seminary he lectured on canon law, church history, pastoral theology, and, after 1812, also on dogmatic theology.

Personally and through the clergy trained by him, Liebermann exerted a wholesome and long-continued influence upon the revival of the ecclesiastical spirit in Mainz and the adjoining dioceses. Among his pupils were the future bishops Räss, Weis, Geissel, and such other distinguished men as Klee, Lüft, Lennig, Remling, and Nickel. After he had declined in 1823 the appointment to the See of Metz, Bishop Tharin summoned him as his vicar-general to Strasburg, where he