England, without giving up a principle, which the English will never consent to surrender-the right of free expression of sentiment and feeling on all matters, both of religion and politics-do otherwise than sustain Belgium in the exercise of the same right. Bismarck has thus been foiled in his effort to force Belgium into a position of subserviency. Thus it is that God has restrained the hands of the persecutor in this attempt, as in his own good time, he will in others. THE word "cardinal" is derived from the Latin cardo, meaning a hinge. From this "cardinal" derives its signification of "principal" or chief. After a time the title of "Cardinal" was used to designate the highest ecclesiastical dignity in Rome, next to that of the Papacy, but it was still given in certain churches to the titular functionaries. By a formal law, in 1567, Pius IV restricted the use of the title to Roman Cardinals; and from that time the Cardinals have been the body of Prelates who constitute the permanent Senate of the Sovereign Pontiff, and are his special advisers and assistants in the administration of the Church, and who, on his death, elect his successor. The number of the Sacred College of Cardinals was fixed by Sixtus V, in 1586, at 70, namely, six Cardinal Bishops, whose Dioceses are the six Roman "Suburban Sees;" fifty Cardinal Priests, who take their titles from certain churches, called titular churches, over which they have jurisdiction; and fourteen Cardinal Deacons, who are placed over churches called "Deaconries." These latter had their origin in the "Regionary Deacons," who, in the early centuries, had charge of the poor of Rome. The three orders of Cardinals are distinct from the orders of the Catholic Hierarchy. For many of the Cardinal Priests are Archbishops or Bishops, and the Cardinal Deacons are generally Priests. The number of Cardinals, as fixed by Sixtus V, is seldom complete, and for some years there have been many vacancies. The addition of the six recently created Cardinals brings the present number up to fifty-five; or, counting the five announced as created, but reserved in petto, to sixty. The creation of Cardinals belongs exclusively to the Sovereign Pontiff. It is usual to keep some nominations reserved in petto, that is, in pectore (in the Sovereign Pontiff's own breast), announcing the fact of the promotion, but withholding the names until such future time as his Holiness may see fit to publish them. Centennial of the battles of Lexington and At the same time the Catholic Indians of Maine joined the cause of the colonists. At the close of the War of Independence, there were only one hundred Catholics in Boston. Their priest was Father John Thayer, a convert, descended from one of the oldest it will be seen, a considerable flavor of the soil about the birth even of New England Catholicism. What a change from that day to this, from a little church in School Street from a handful of people to three hundred to the splendid Cathedral of the Holy Cross, thousand in one diocese, and that only half of the State, and from the solitary priest to the Most Reverend Archbishop of Boston, receiving on the first Sunday of May the pallium, emblem of Metropolitan jurisdiction from the hands of the first American Cardiover all New England, and six dioceses, nal, and in the presence of a special ablegate from the Holy See. Truly, a wonderful progress. settlers, and born in Boston. There is thus, It THE English Arctic Expedition, consisting of two steamships, specially strengthened and equipped for the purpose, will set sail about the end of June. A large quantity of beef-some 15,000 pounds-is being preserved at Deptford for the expedition. is entirely lean meat taken from the round, and stripped of all fat, and is cut into steaks, put over a fire, and dried. It is then packed in canisters holding about six pounds each, then hermetically sealed. covered in boiled suet, which is run in, and The two vessels of the expedition will carry eighteen boats and thirty-five sledges. NEW ENGLAND has been celebrating the There are also dog carriages for the offi cers. Each sledge has two cooking apparatus attached. A small quantity of rum will be carried in each sledge, but the principal burden will be pemmican or extract of meat. The two vessels are to push on towards the Pole as far as they possibly can. After two years' battling with the ice, it is supposed that they will have arrived at the furthest point which it is possible for a vessel to go. If the ships are very fortunate, this will be about 400 or 500 miles from the Pole. A party is then to leave the ship with sledges, and push over the frozen ocean straight for the Pole. Of course, if the ships are jammed in ice at a very considerable distance from the Pole, the march across the ice will probably fail in reaching the ultimate object of the expedition; but even in this case it will probably solve the still disputed question of whether or not there is an open Polar Sea, and will also throw light on other matters intimately connected with the progress of material science. THE controversy raised by Mr. Gladstone, on " Ultramontanism and Civil Allegiance," as it has been called, still interests British Protestants. In England, the British Quarterly Review, the leading organ of the English "Nonconformists" (as all Protestants not members of the established church are called), in its April number has a long article on the subject. Not content with this, in another long article on Mr. Gladstone, it devotes ten more pages to the same subject. The English Contemporary Review for April, under the title of a "Jesuit on Papal Infallibility," has a long article on the same subject. The Pall Mall Budget has an article on the "Landmarks of Religious Belief," in which it discusses the position of Catholics in England, admitting that the Church has made and is making considerable progress in that country. It affords a proof of its own assertion by giving also a two column description of the opening of the new church to St. Thomas a'Becket in Canterbury, where Cardinal Manning, four archbishops, a dozen bishops, besides abbots and provincials, and two hundred clergy, assembled to dedicate a church in honor of a saint whose shrine was demolished, whose bones were scattered to the winds, and whose memory has been sought to be rendered odious for three centuries. FROM the report of the National Bureau of Immigration, some very interesting statistics may be gleaned. During the year 1874, 313,339 came to our shores from one hundred and three different countries. Of these immigrants, 194,144, or more than half, arrived at the port of New York. Of the whole number 156,203 were males over fifteen years of age, and 93,588 were females over fifteen years of age. Under fifteen years, there were 33,022 males, and 30,566 females. The countries from which the greatest numbers come are, Germany, 87,291; Ireland, 53,707; England, 50,935; China, 13,776; Scotland, 10,429; Norway, 10,384; France, 9643; Italy, 7596; Sweden, 5712; Russia, 3960; Denmark, 3082; Poland, 1795. The remaining few come from Cuba, the Azore Islands, Australia, Turkey, the Sandwich Islands, Iceland, Morocco, and Algeria. The number of passengers not immigrants who arrived in the United States during the year was 62,240. Of this number, 14,610 were aliens, or foreigners visiting this country for pleasure or business, and intending to return to their native countries. The remaining 47,730 were American citizens, who returned to this country from foreign tours of pleasure or business. It is very amusing to read of some of the proceedings now taking place in England about Ritualism. Every inch of ground, in other words, every scrap of ceremonial usage is wrangled over and fought about as if the most vital principles of salvation were at stake. For example, we read in an exchange lately, that "the clergy of Kent had just elected, by a majority of twenty-two, a Proctor pledged to the eastward position." What this means, or what significance lies in it, we are informed by a letter from Malcolm MacColl, who ought to be a Scotch Orangeman by his name, who informs us that success in this eastward position battle is to decide whether the Church of Christ is a divine institution or not. To think of the whole world having to wait for a few English parsons to settle this question! Turning to the Convocation we find still more amusing scenes. The Bishop of Landaff says that eight hundred and eighteen persons, in nine years, in his diocese, wished for immersion, to be completely dipped, and that to satisfy these he had caused a "vault to be made in the church, with steps leading down to the water." The Bishop of St. David's, in a like case, had ordered an inquiring clergyman to use a bath "disguised as much as possible.' IN no country of the world has the Church such an opportunity of displaying the attribute of "Catholicity" as in the United States. Besides the great Irish, American, and German elements, which comprise its membership, we find special churches for the colored people in Baltimore, Washington, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Augusta, Ga., and many other places; churches for Bohemians in Baltimore, Chicago; French, in New Orleans and all Louisiana, New York, Chicago, the wedge to secure Catholic education in Toledo; Italians, in New York, Philadel- schools. phia, St. Louis; Spanish, in San Francisco and the Pacific States; Poles, in Chicago, Cleveland, Wisconsin, etc.; Hollanders, in Wisconsin; Flemish, in Wisconsin; Indians, in many Western States; Chinese, in Nevada. As regards the latter nationality, we fully believe that should the Chinese increase in the United States, that the Catholic religion will find more favor in their eyes than any of the multifarious sects. In China the Catholics number over a million. They have suffered more for the faith and furnished more martyrs than any other people. Thousands have been put to death, banished, or plundered sooner than deny their religion. SEVERAL interesting events have lately occurred in Canada. The Right Rev. John O'Brien, of Brockville, was consecrated Bishop of Kingston on April 18th, by Archbishop Lynch and the Bishops of Hamilton and London, in the presence of seven bishops and a large number of priests. He is the fifth Bishop of the See, which comprises fifteen counties in the province of Ontario and the archbishopric of Toronto. It contains fifty priests and fifty-five thousand Catholics. On April 23d, the Canadian Bishops sent an address of sympathy to the Archbishops and Bishops of Germany, and on April 27th they were represented in New York at the great celebration in St. Patrick's Cathedral, when the beretta was conferred on Cardinal McCloskey, by the Archbishops of Quebec, Halifax, and Toronto. Strenuous endeavors have also been made in Montreal, to establish a Catholic daily paper, ten gentlemen putting down their names for $5000 each. A MOST interesting congress, for Americans, will be held at Nancy, in France, on July 22d. It will consist of archæologists, who have made a special study of American antiquities and ancient history previous to the discovery of this continent by Columbus. It is well known that a vast number of facts relative to this period have been collected. Not only the civilizations of Mexico and Peru, and the forgotten cities of Yucatan, will be investigated, but also the mysterious mounds of Ohio and the relics of extinct Indian nations will be discussed and investigated. We anticipate a most interesting session and very able and exhaustive dissertations, from the assembled savants, fruitful, we hope, in adding much to our knowledge. RECENT explorations show that the great Australian trees exceed in height, though not in circumference, the giants of California; some of the Australian trees must be regard ed as very respectable in girth as well as in height, the hollow trunk of one of them being large enough to permit three horsemen to enter and turn without dismounting, while they led a fourth horse. A fallen tree, in the recesses of Dandenong, Victoria, was measured not long since, and found to be 420 feet long; another, on the Black Spur, ten miles from Halesville, measured 480 feet. The highest trees on the Sierra Nevada, Cal., yet discovered, reached only 450 feet, the average size being from 300 to 400 feet in height, and from 24 to 34 feet in diameter. THE question of religious liberty in State institutions, particularly as regards the rights of Catholics, have been under discussion in two Legislatures during the past month, but with different results. In Ohio, a bill securing such liberty has been passed; but a bill of like purport introduced into the New Jersey Legislature was defeated. We regret that our neighbors of New Jersey are not (as represented by the Senators) so just as the Ohio legislators, even defeating the Catholic Protectory Bill. But their action is not final, and we may hope to see it reviewed in a future session. CATHOLICITY, in New Jersey is making great strides under the supervision of its Bishop, Right Rev. M. A. Corrigan, the youngest Bishop in the United States. On April 25th_he dedicated a new Franciscan college at Trenton to our Lady of Lourdes, the first under that title in the United States. NEW PUBLICATIONS. RIGHT REV. HERBERT VAUGHAN, D.D., ON MR. GLADSTONE; Submission to a Divine Teacher neither Disloyalty nor the Surrender of Mental and Moral Freedom. A Pastoral Letter. By Herbert, Bishop of Salford. TRUE AND FALSE INFALLIBILITY. By the Right Rev. Bishop Fessler. These works, together with DR. NEWMAN'S and ARCHBISHOP MANNING'S REPLIES TO MR. GLADSTONE, have been republished by the Catholic Publication Society, and together form an invaluable collection of treatises upon the relation of the Spiritual and Secular Power. They are all for sale by P. F. Cunningham & Son, No. 29 South Tenth Street, Philadelphia. We cannot too earnestly recommend their perusal by all Catholic readers, who are now more than ever called upon to defend the so-called "pretensions" of the Church. The bold and firm stand which Pius IX has taken against that meanest of the enemies of Christianity, the world, has aroused the hatred and malice of its slaves and votaries to a degree almost unparalleled in the history of the human race. The contest, however, is not waged, as of old, with the sword; it is a battle of intellectuality. The enemies of the Church, provided by the world with copious resources of the wisdom of the infernal serpent, are encompassing the children of the Church everywhere with the meshes of their craftiness, which has been cultivated to the highest degree by means of the godless education which the world dignifies with the title of "progressive enlightenment." Some of the ablest champions of the Church, ever on the alert against evil, have happily provided all the faithful with the instruction necessary to counteract this dangerous influence. Indeed, so numerous and so able have been the repulsive attacks by the Church against the late premier of England, that even Protestants have begun to acknowledge that Mr. Gladstone has advanced the cause of Catholicity ten thousand times more by his malicious villifications than by his doublefaced policy of political "Liberalism." In his lame efforts to stand well with the world, he has committed not only political suicide on himself, but has likewise murdered his own cause, and developed the glory of truth by contrast with the meanness of his own falsehood. It is the old, old story: Iniquitas mentita est sibi. Of what avail, however, are the testimonies of the doctors of truth, if the children of the Church fail to profit by their labors and teachings? Where is the social circle where the Catholic is not some time called upon to enter the lists of argument and defend the faith that is in him? Shame of shames, that we should dare even to ask the question, is he always ready for the onset? With so much knowledge by which to profit, and so much carelessness in benefiting thereby, how truly cannot our divine Lord, in displaying the stigmas he receives when his cause is thus so negligently upheld, style them the wounds inflicted in the houses of his friends, for every one of which these his weak-hearted adherents will have to render an account at the bar of eternal justice. Mental inability will then be no plea in bar, since even the infused knowledge, which a Christian possesses by virtue of the Sacraments, is more than sufficient to confound the most intricate philosophy of earth and hell, if we do but develop the talents given. THE ORPHANS' FRIEND; a series of plain instructions for the use of orphans after leaving the asylum, and for persons of the same class living in the world. By Rev. A. A. Lambing, late Chaplain of St. Paul's Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum, Pittsburg, Pa. New York and Montreal: Sadlier & Co. 1875. The official position formerly held by the reverend author of this admirable little book ought to be a sufficient guarantee that he knows whereof he speaks, but how beautifully and how effectively he has spoken, must be learned from his own pages, which furnish a feast of instruction, which sometimes is rich enough to savor of the honeyed doctrine of even so great a writer as the lamented Faber. It is a frequent cause of complaint by those who receive into their families children of either sex, who have been bound to them from the orphan asylums, that they do not display in after-life, by their fidelity to duty, domestic or religious, the effects of the admirable training they must have received. This is not only an injustice to the good religious who have reared them, but a thoughtless reflection on the Catholic system of public charities. While in many cases the blame rests with the employers themselves, who by ill-regulated lives, or a lack of the proper ideas of the preoccupied minds, a great advantage over treatment of their servants, must bear a goodly the more ponderous works of Alban Butler, show of the blame; still it must be candidly whose cumbersome volumes would naturally confessed that the charge is sustainable to a defy a daily perusal, however valuable they far greater degree than is pleasant to admit. might be as works of reference. This series But there is much to be said in extenuation is issued in twelve numbers of about one of the abused side. In the first place, the hundred and fifty pages each, printed on natural propensities of vitiated blood are too very fine tinted paper, in large and beautiful often a hard resisting element in the asylum type, each number bound in flexible binding, education; but when after this has succumb- and containing a fine steel engraving as a ed to the superior tact, aided by the divine frontispiece. It is intended to issue the enhelps which the good religious bring to bear, tire work in two easily portable volumes, human nature is after all crushed, not killed; from which fact the reader can easily percrushed while it has no temptation, but every ceive how admirable a condensation in comspiritual and moral aid overwhelming it. In parison with similar works Father Weninger an instant the child thus gained to God and has succeeded in effecting. The first numwell-regulated society, is removed at a most ber is as yet the only one issued. It is susceptible age from all these heavenly sur- embellished with a fine frontispiece of the roundings. It is transported to the midst of nuptials of our Blessed Lady and St. Joseph. a host of hitherto unknown and terrible THE CATHOLIC NATIONAL SERIES, First temptations of the soul; and often to unand Second Reader. wonted trials of mind and body, while at By the Right Rev. the same time, the religious and spiritual assistance is rendered proportionately weaker. Even in many Catholic families there are scandals which cannot fail to be stumblingblocks to the weakened spirit. The asylum training has done what it can, but it cannot follow its proteges out into the world to see that the good work is carried on in daily life; and very often the harshness of the employer is the last stroke that aids in overthrowing the good, which otherwise might have been completed in the world as a monument to the benefits of the cloister. Like a gentle and revivifying sunbeam in winter, like a mighty hand stretched out to save, like a guardian angel's ceaseless whisper, like a sacramental charm carried about the person, Father Lambing's book will accompany through all the walks of life, the social waifs whose father and mother is God alone, and accompany them with a success commensurate with its exalted mission. THE LIVES OF THE SAINTS; compiled from authentic sources, with a practical instruction on the life of each Saint for every day in the year. By Rev. F. X. Weninger, D.D., S. J. New York: P. O'Shea, 1875. Received from C. A. Hennessy, 827 Arch St., Philadelphia. This latest production of the famous Jesuit missionary is an English translation from the original German, by the same gifted pen. The style, notwithstanding the brevity, is concise and entertaining, and the instructions short and admirably adapted to the Saints whose lives are exemplified. The lives of the Saints might naturally be considered a trite theme for the religious penman, but besides the attractive form in which they are here presented, the brevity of each chapter or daily division is such as to make them easily a subject of spiritual reading, even by the most Richard Gilmour, Bishop of Cleveland. Benziger Brothers, New York and Cincinnati, 1875. Bishop Gilmour, before attaining to the Episcopacy, had earned for himself a decided reputation as an opponent of the public school system of the United States. His opposition, however, was rather of the negative order, consisting less in futile denunciations than in practical attempts at raising the standard of our Catholic system, by the writing and publication of the Catholic National Series of Spellers and Readers. Since his elevation to the Episcopal See of Cleveland, Dr. Gilmour has, notwithstanding his many arduous and official labors, continued the humble work which he began as a priest-a work which is truly God's work, since there was little to be gained from it in the way of worldly applause. Thus, too, while endeavoring to build up the Catholic system of primary education, he has, in addition, turned his attention towards the godless system of public instruction. This double work of building the edifice of truth, and levelling that of error, has been so successfully carried on as to merit the concentrated spleen of the Harpers, whose discivilizing journal is generally, in a negative way, a barometer of Catholic progress. Had Bishop Gilmour failed, the Harper's Weekly would not have honored him with notice either by pencil or pen. When a prelate of the Church thus devotes his energies to the education of youth, how eagerly should not our Catholic teachers prove their gratitude, by generously responding to his efforts, especially when, by the adoption of such text-books as these, their school-rooms become not merely nurseries of mental instruction, but cradles of the spirit of our Holy Faith. |