ing St. Peter's chair. Look back a thousand or fourteen hundred years, and the members of the same order are seen cultivating the waste places of the earth and aiding in the civilization of desolated Europe.

And now, in the nineteenth century, and on a continent new to civilization, we see there is still work to be done by the Benedictines, and that still there are Benedictines to do it. They seem as imperishable as the Church itself.

WHY do Catholics, who are generally of the poorer class, build such fine and expensive churches? Is it not extravagance when there are so many poor? A very plain question this, and one which requires a very plain answer, as it may not have occurred to every one to consider the subject carefully.

In the first place, the very genius and essence of the Catholic religion requires it. The very centre of the Catholic faith is the belief that Jesus Christ is really present in our temples, as much so (although in a different manner) as he was in Judea and Galilee, eighteen hundred years ago. Consequently an ideal and perfect church edifice is nothing more nor less than a palace for a great King, a hymn of praise and adoration in stone, a petrified act of adoration, so to speak. This reason is of itself all-sufficient. Secondly, "a liberal soul deviseth liberal things." If liberality is cultivated as a habit of mind by the custom of giving liberally to churches, then equal liberality will be shown in other matters.

Find a country where there is no liberality in erecting churches, and you will find a country where there is no liberality to the poor. Show us a parish where there is carelessness about the church, and there will be found carelessness about the school. Observe a parish where faith is so dead that "anything will do for the church" (if there is such a parish); and it will be found, also, that anything will do for the poor, or the schools, or the Pope, or the people. The principle is the same even in Protestant countries. In England, for a century, faith was dead in every form of religion, the people spent no money on their own churches, and the poor lived, suffered, and died in unspeakable misery, sin, and degradation. What was saved from the church was spent in selfishness, not on the poor. This is a rule with no exceptions.

The third point is the building of churches, economically considered, employs a whole host of persons-architects, painters, sculp tors, builders, bricklayers, plasterers, carpenters, stonecutters, roofers, plumbers. It gives occasion for the exhibit of every va riety of talent, from the genius of a Michael Angelo, a Bramante, a Pugin, a Sir Chris

topher Wren, to the humbler forms of industry.

When Catholics were, heretofore, compelled to worship in small churches, in dingy corners, the fastidious were scornful. Now, when elegant and costly churches are erected, the croakers grumble. But there are, fortunately, few of them, and they of little influence.

THE Bishops of the Province of Quebec, in a recent pastoral, say: "Let us suppose a candidate or a party openly declaring an intention to destroy the Catholic Church, is it not evident that no Catholic may, without committing grave sin, vote in favor of such a candidate or such a party? And, in such a case, which we suppose here in order to make our thought more evident, in such case, we say, is it conformable with the most elementary notions of justice and reason that a priest should be condemned to keep silent, or only make himself understood by timid counsels, advice, recommendations or exhortations, instead of speaking out squarely what is the strict and religious duty of a child of the Catholic Church? This is, however, the consequence which appears to us to result from this passage of the judgment in question: I admit without the slightest hesitation, and with the sincerest conviction, the right of the Catholic priest to preach on the definition of religious dogma and every point of ecclesiastical discipline; I deny to him, in the present instance, as in every other analogous one, the right to indicate any individual or any political party, and to signalize or denote one or the other to public indignation in accusing them of Liberal Catholicism or any other religious error. And, above all, I deny to him the right of saying that he who contributes to the election of such a candidate commits a great sin.'"

This judgment lately given in a Canadian court touches very important issues, and to these we have before referred. The declaration of the Bishops of Quebec is plain and seems conclusive. Party lines seem broader in Canada than they do here, and perhaps that is why it seldom becomes necessary for such questions to be discussed here. But the day may not be far off when the issues will have to be met even in the United States.

THE Irish Land Bill was rejected by an overwhelming majority last month in the British Parliament. This is due partly to the fear of the landed proprietors that it would impair their rights, partly to the existing prejudice against all reforms, which is shown by the strength of the present Conservative Cabinet, and partly by the public attention being so exclusively fixed on affairs in the East.

MONSEIGNEUR NARDI deserves more than a passing notice. He is dead, but the influence of his exertions will be long felt in the Catholic press. He highly appreciated the importance of cultivating and increasing Catholic papers. He wrote for the Voce della Verita and other Catholic papers; he wrote also a number of plain religious tracts of great value in disabusing the minds of people in Italy who had been perverted by the revolutionists.

Catholic journalism is, nowadays, not merely a luxury but a necessity. Every one reads, every one is familiar with the events of the day, consequently if the Catholic side of these events is not placed before them, erroneous ideas and prejudices are confirmed. No ordinary talent is needed to make a good Catholic paper. It needs judgment, industry, perseverance, familiarity with, at least, English literature, loyalty to and acquaintance with Catholic faith and practice, a good share of brevity and good temper, and a capacity of stating old truths in a fresh manner. These qualities are not often found combined, and consequently we often see failures, and oftener still successes that ought to be failures. No doubt, however, the tone and style of Catholic periodical literature in this country is improving rapidly. It is in nearly every country, in Germany and Italy, as well as in America.

SINCE the happy death of the venerable Brother Philip, Superior-General of the Order, no Christian Brother has left, at his departure from this earthly scene, a greater void in its well-filled ranks than Brother Facile. He filled various offices of honor and trust in the Institute of the Christian Brothers during his long life in holy religion, amongst others that of Assistant Superior-General; but particularly Brother Visitor to the American Province, that is to say, the United States and British America.

Few persons really appreciate the sublime self-sacrifice of a Christian Brother. He gives up his name, his property, his freewill; he gives up all hope of enjoying the joys of domestic life; he devotes himself to a task irksome and full of trials, the teach

ing of wayward boys, who cannot appreciate his labors and trials, and who oftentimes vex his soul and try his temper. In some respects he has to give up more than a priest, for a priest retains his name, may acquire property, and is not under so much restraint. A priest may become a prelate, at all times he may have the consolation of having the affection and respect of a congregation. This, we suppose, is why vocations for the Christian Brothers is so rare. Too much respect cannot be paid to a Christian Brother; they are heroes greater than Alexander, Napoleon, or Cæsar.

BRITISH NORTH AMERICA extends from Newfoundland northwest to the Pacific at Vancouver's Island, and northward to the farthest region yet reached by the Arctic explorers. The Dominion, including Newfoundland, contains 3,524,182 square miles, exclusive of Newfoundland, which has 146,536 inhabitants; the population of the Dominion in 1871 was 3,485,761, of whom 1,492,029, or about 43 per cent. were Catholics. There are five archiepiscopal provinces, Quebec, Halifax, Toronto, Boniface, and Oregon, containing twenty-two dioceses, some of them vicariates apostolic. Newfoundland has two dioceses, a prefecture apostolic, and about 120,000 Catholics, and is immediately subject to the Holy See. The Archbishop of Oregon, in the Republic of the United States, has spiritual jurisdiction of the suffragan See of Vancouver's Island, within the Dominion of Canada, while the French Islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon, within Canadian waters, are under a prefecture apostolic. These twentyfive or more dioceses present the most divergent features as to physical position and extent, population, race, civilization, foundation, and relation to government.

THE protocol is signed, and the horizon shows the dawn of peace. The Turks have a year's grace. Turkey and Russia will disarm gradually. England, France, Germany, Austria, Italy, and Russia will have an eye on the Christians in Turkey, and hold the Turkish government responsible if outrages are perpetrated on them, and the Ottoman Parliament will apply itself to the settlement of the entangled affairs of the empire. Montenegro will get a seaport, and Servia remain a tributary of the Porte as formerly.

At least this was the case at first sight. But lo and behold, Turkey declines, according to later accounts, either to give a seaport to Montenegro, or to disarm, or to have anything to do with the protocol in any shape. The blood of the Ottomans is up, they have been buying enormous quantities of ammunition from America, and they seem determined to do and die sooner than surforeign interference. So everything looks render an inch of territory or submit to any cloudy again, and all eyes are once more turned on the Czar to see what Russia will do now.

THIS is the Pope's room in the " Palace," as described by a visitor: "The room is not very large, and is almost devoid of ornament; there are but few articles of furniture, and these are of such simplicity as would suit the cell of a Capuchin. The bed, which is narrow and low, is without curtains or other ornaments, and very nearly resembles the

bed of a student in a seminary; there is not even a carpet on the floor, which is of brick, so worn as to be hollowed in parts." The Holy Father, knowing that this priest's sight was not of the best, told him to be careful how he should walk on the broken floor. The fact is that a janitor occupying a small apartment near the door of the British Museum could be said with as much truth to occupy that new establishment, as the Pope to occupy the Vatican Palace.

The Holy Father lives in the simplest style, and the Vatican is at once a large museum and a small town, for the accommodation of the attendants and officials.

THE counties of Schuylkill, Carbon, Columbia, and Northumberland, all in Pennsylvania, have been dissevered from the Ancient Order of Hibernians, as places where the societies of this Order were infected with Molly Maguireism.

The board of directors of the Ancient Order, recently appointed at the convention in New York, has published an address repudiating the Mollies, and declaring they

condemn and renounce them, and desire to be in harmony with the rules of the Catholic Church.

Experience has, however, proved that no reliance is to be placed on these declarations. Bishop O'Hara declares that he was deceived, and his assertion is confirmed by

that of others. No doubt the Order num

bers many good and honest Irishmen in its ranks, but a cloud rests on it, and this cloud it will take a great deal more than mere assertion to dispel.

REV. E. MCQUIRK, of Wisconsin, Rev. Father Smith, S.J, of Philadelphia, and Father Titta, O.S.F., of St. Anthony's, New York, are among the good and holy priests lately deceased. The ordinations are, however, very numerous this year.

THE Catholic members of the British House of Commons met recently in the Conference Rooms of the Palace of the Legislature at Westminster, to take into consideration the most fitting way of commemorating the Golden Jubilee. The Chevalier O'Cleary moved a resolution, which was seconded by Mr. Owen Lewis, that a suitable address from the Irish Catholic members of Parliament should be presented to his Holiness Pope Pius IX, on the occasion of his approaching jubilee.

According to all appearances the forthcoming Golden Jubilee of the Episcopate of the Holy Father will be very appropriately celebrated. The celebration of the 21st of nation to the See of Spoleto, was gotten up May, which is the anniversary of his nomiby the Roman laity. That of the 3d of June, the anniversary of his consecration, is the proper ecclesiastical Jubilee, and the occa

sion on which the chief celebration will take place.

BISHOP-ELECT SPALDING will be consecrated in St. Patrick's Cathedral, by Cardinal McCloskey, on May 1st, the feast of the Apostles, SS. Philip and James. Bishop Rosecrans of Columbus, O., will preach. After his consecration Bishop Spalding will preach at the dedication of St. Agnes's Church, New York, and will subsequently deliver a farewell address in the Church of

St. Michael, Ninth Avenue and Thirty-first Street, previous to his departure for his

Western See.

THERE are some changes to be noted in the Catholic press. The Southern Cross of Savannah has suspended, but on the other hand a new Irish paper, called the Globe, has been started in New York, and the semi-monthly temperance paper has been turned into a weekly. Another attempt is being made to start a daily in Montreal in place of the defunct Sun.

THE VARIOUS CONTRIVANCES BY WHICH ORCHIDS ARE FERTILIZED BY INSECTS. By Charles Darwin, M.A., F.R.S., etc. Second Edition, revised. With Illustrations. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1877.

Charles Darwin is known far and wide as the great supporter of a theory of life which bears his name. Every one familiar with his writings must be satisfied that he is an

observer of the facts of material nature of no ordinary merit, that he is careful, honest, and sincere in his statements of the facts observed; but when it comes to the interpre tation of facts thus faithfully recorded, differences of opinion necessarily arise. And though the opinions of Mr. Darwin have enlisted in their support many persons of unquestionable ability and scientific attainments, yet other scientists of equal ability

earnestly oppose the conclusions of Mr. Darwin and his followers. It may be well here to say, that many of the ideas that are commonly attributed to him, and for which in the popular mind he has been made re. sponsible, are not really his, but are only inferences, often unwarranted and illogical, which others have deduced from his statements.

It is not of course our intention to attempt here a criticism, much less a discussion, either of Mr. Darwin's own views or of those that, rightly or wrongly, have been attributed to him. The limited space at our command renders this entirely impossible.

The book before us is a very clear exposition of ascertained facts of great interest to naturalists. It shows in a very conclusive manner, how, through the agency of insects, the propagation of certain species of Orchids is effected where self-propagation is impossible, and illustrates very beautifully the perfect adaptation of the organs of the flowers to the habits of the insects which visit them. The different species are visited by different insects, each species having peculiarities of structure which exactly adapt them to the peculiar habits of the particular insects which visit them. Thus some are fertilized by bees, others by flies, others by moths, etc.

While the subject of the work is of interest to scientists, the style in which it is written, and the manner in which its topics are treated, adapt it to the comprehension of intelligent readers generally.

TRANSFER OF ERIN: OR THE ACQUISITION OF IRELAND BY ENGLAND. By Thomas C. Amory. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippin

cott & Co., 1877.

This book has evidently cost its author much labor and reading. It contains a large amount of information that will be interesting to persons who are concerned in tracing out the feuds and contentions of native chieftains and English intruders into Ireland. But it starts with a false idea, which runs through it from beginning to end, and renders it valueless as a history.

The idea to which we refer may be gathered from the first few sentences of the preface:

"For a large portion of the period which elapsed from the Anglo-Norman invasion to the reign of Queen Anne, the history of Ireland was little else than a struggle to ac

quire or retain property and possession of the soil. Conflicts of race and creed.. modified or disguised the issues and the strife, but the root of Irish discontentment, resentment and resistance was the systematic spoliation which finally succeeded in divesting the descendants of the ancient proprietors of all interest in their native land."

The writer who can make this statement, and, in accordance with it, ignore and systematically omit all reference to the principles both of religion and of patriotism, which formed the very soul of the long and persistent struggle of the people of Ireland against England's aggressions and tyranny, is clearly unfitted, morally and intellectually, to give any fair and reliable account of that struggle. An examination of the work throughout fully bears us out in these remarks.

POPULAR LIFE OF OUR HOLY FATHER, POPE PIUS IX. Drawn from the most reliable Authorities. By the Rev. Richard Brennan, A.M, Pastor of "St. Rose's Church," New York. New York, Cincinnati, and St. Louis: Benziger Brothers, Printers for the Holy See, 1877.

We are habitually inclined to distrust "popular" histories and biographies; composed not for the highly educated, but for the "masses" of the people, they are too frequently superficial, inaccurate, and sen

sational. But the work before us is free from

all these faults. It is a popular biography of our Holy Father, not in the bad but in the good sense of the term. In other words it is a work which avoids all technicalities and questions of difficult comprehension, and is thus well adapted to the popular mind. At the same time persons of higher education and culture will read it with interest and profit. Its publication at the present juncture of affairs is timely. Among other wicked machinations of evil men to obscure and pervert truth, false representations of the facts and events in the life of our present Sovereign Pontiff have been resorted to; and since commencing to write this notice, we have seen a paragraph in a daily newspaper stating that a Liberalist, well known as a writer of sensational fictions, is engaged in "writing a life of Pope Pius IX." It needs no gift of prophecy to foretell that a biography of our Holy Father emanating from such a source, can be nothing else than a misrepresentation and a travesty from beginning to end.