Oldalképek
PDF
ePub

This work has been done with very limited means, and there is much that could not be done for the want of means, and much more is now waiting for the help of charitable Catholics. Over 80,000 Catholic Indians, now forced to listen to Protestant teachings in church and school, must be saved from the danger threatening their faith; they must be provided with priests and schools. The 40,000 heathen Sioux who, in their last council, called so loudly and unanimously for our assistance, must be attended to. The 50,000 Indians of Alaska, who never saw any clergyman but the Roman Catholic and the Greek priest, stretch out their arms to us and call upon us for our spiritual help. If the Catholic women of the United States do not hear this appeal, and give the little material help that is asked of them, our helpless brethren will call in vain.

On the 8th of October, 1876, the Catholics of San Francisco celebrated the Centennial anniversary of the foundation of the Mission of San Dolores in the Bay of San Francisco, by Father Serra and his brothers of the Franciscan Order. The dignitaries of Church and State assisted at this grand celebration, and the addresses and poems delivered were of a high order of merit. There was a procession, solemn High Mass, at which the Archbishop of San Francisco preached, and other events.

Few histories are more romantic than that of California. Its first discovery is associated with the name of Sir Francis Drake, that buccaneer of the sixteenth century, who played such havoc with the galleons of the king of Spain. The peaceful settle

ment and earnest labors of the Franciscans show us prosperous settlements and a real and earnest effort made to turn the American Indian into a citizen and a Christian. Force, fraud, and cupidity bring about the ruin of the missions, and after awhile the Spanish settlements in Western America became a portion of the rapidly growing American Union. The discovery of gold in 1848 causes a rush to San Francisco, and a city springs up in a night, where wild and bloody deeds were wrought. The influx of Chinese brought a new element into the country, and the construction of the Overland Pacific Railroad furnished a way by which the products of China and Japan may reach New York, and the manufactures of New England penetrate into Pekin.

The English sea captain, the Franciscan missionary, the Catholic Indian, the hardy pioneer, the miner, the Chinese coolie, have each and all played parts in this strange drama, and the Golden Gate will perhaps witness even stranger scenes and characters in the future.

FEW things are more gratifying to note than the steady increase of churches in small country villages. In the first place, isolated Catholics scattered in the midst of a Protestant population, are extremely likely either to lose the faith, or, at best in the second generation, be absorbed into the general population. It is impossible to tell how many Catholics have thus been lost to the Church from this cause alone since the first settlement of America. A church and resident pastor established in a village or town where there appears to be but very few Catholics, seem to act as a magnet and attract Catholics from the most distant and obscure spots. They turn up in the most unexpected situations and where they would be least expected. Then again, in the country, people have more leisure and inclination to converse and compare notes about religion than in the city. They read more; we believe that a Catholic paper is read much more carefully in the country than in the city. City people glance at a paper, and throw it aside; residents in the country read it from end to end, advertisements and all. Any fairly intelligent Catholic, a Catholic of any piety and good sense, may in a country district find many opportunities for doing good and dispelling prejudices.

WHY has not the Pope denounced the Bulgarian atrocities, and why do not the Catholics of Turkey take an active part in the insurrection? These are questions that have been asked, and seem to require an explanation. Cardinal Manning has answered the first conclusively by saying that the Holy See does not wish a "pool to become a river." If the Pope were to denounce the government of the Sultan, the massacres of Bulgaria might be repeated in Syria, in Roumelia, in Armenia, in Trebisond, and in all other places where there happened to be defenceless Catholics in the midst of an armed mob of fanatical Mohammedans. As regards the participation of Catholics in the insurrection, it must be observed that the avowed object of the Servians and their Russian allies is to establish a Sclavic empire, and in case of success it is extremely doubtful if Catholics would benefit by the change; while, if Russia should conquer, or annex any of the provinces of Turkey, the suppression of the Catholic religion would almost follow as a matter of course. The case of Poland shows this conclusively.

THE birthday of Father Mathew was celebrated in England at Liverpool and London. Cardinal Manning and a large number of the English Catholic bishops are interesting themselves in the Temperance

movement, and the "League of the Cross and Crusade against Intemperance" is in a very prosperous condition, and receives large accessions of members every month.

The Bishop of Salford, of Liverpool, was very clear in stating that total abstinence men must not say that to break the pledge is a mortal sin. This is a theological and moral error, and one that Catholics must not fall into.

They must be equally careful to argue the question on Catholic principles. To take the pledge is an act of self-denial for the benefit of the example, or it is a means of "avoiding occasions of sin," viz., of the sin of drunkenness. It is not obligatory on any one. It does not take the place of any other virtue. It does not entitle the pledger to sneer at those who do not feel it a duty to take it. These errors being carefully avoided, and the movement regulated by the Church, the Catholic Temperance societies may do much good.

HIS Eminence Cardinal Antonelli is dead! The able statesman, the firm buttress and support of the interests of the Holy Roman See, the steadfast and intimate friend of the Holy Father, the one who for nearly a quarter of a century preserved and defended the Temporal States of the Church, the far-famed Cardinal Antonelli is no more. The intelligence although long expected was received with great sorrow by the Holy Father and the Church universal.

He was born at Sonnino in 1806, and therefore was over 70 years of age. He was created a Cardinal Deacon in 1847, and has been Secretary of State and Prime Minister to the Pope ever since 1849. He passed through the scenes of the Roman Revolution of 1848, of the French Protectorate, and saw the capture of Rome in 1870.

He has ever since been the adviser of the Pope, and the wisdom of his advice has been long evident. Full of years and honors he has now gone. May he rest in peace.

THE political contest being now over, it is to be confidently hoped and expected that all sectional and sectarian strife will be forever banished, and that the people of this country, irrespective of the antecedents of birth, and disregardful of appeals to partisan spirit, will hereafter advance in prosperity. A general improvement in business may be confidently expected. Good government, it is to be hoped, will secure the decrease of taxation, the removal of incompetent and dishonest officials, and a greater confidence in the administration of public affairs. Great as has been the national progress for the last century, it will be still greater in the

future, for as the resources of the country are illimitable, the sources of them need but to be touched, and the streams of wealth will flow out.

THE presence of the Holy Father in the Vatican draws to Rome an immense concourse of visitors, pilgrims, ecclesiastics, persons of distinction, artists, etc. All these persons spend money, some very large amounts. The advantages secured to Rome by this are so great that envy is excited among the other cities of Italy, and some citizens of Florence have proposed that the Reverend Pontiff and his entourage shall be transferred to their city. The cool impudence of this is refreshing. It shows, however, incidentally that when the Italians claim credit for not driving the Pope from Rome, the Catholic world can say: "Thank you for nothing!" Pius IX's presence in the Eternal City (although he is virtually imprisoned) is too profitable for its inhabitants for them ever to be willing to lose it.

AMONG the disadvantages Catholic papers have to struggle against, the love for "sensa

tionalism" and "scandals" is not the least. The whole extensive field of "blood and thunder" murders, suicides, robberies, assaults, and tragedies dire is closed to their enterprise. The rapidity with which affairs occur nowadays makes the daily papers formidable competitors; news becomes old in a week. The secular press may and does often pander to popular errors and prejudices, but the Catholic press cannot do this. Some persons feel no interest in the affairs of the Church in general, and of course they know what occurs in their own parish, so they do not read the paper. Others cannot afford to indulge in what they consider at best a luxury and not a necessity.

THERE was an awkward hitch as regards the presentation of the Irish address to the American people. It seems that it is a rule that addresses from persons in foreign countries should be presented to the President through the ambassador of the country they are subjects of. Ireland has no ambassador at Washington, and the British Minister declined to present the address because there was an allusion in it to the seven centuries of tyranny which Ireland had experienced. Accordingly Messrs. Par

nell and O'Conner Power were not allowed to present it formally to the President.

But the press has given it a wide circulation, and the American people, no doubt, appreciate it as much as they should.

THE Catholic Congress of Italy assembled

on the 9th of October at Bologna, under the presidency of the Cardinal Archbishop Morichini. It was attended by a large concourse of persons, five bishops, and the representatives of the leading Catholic papers of Europe. An address was delivered by Duke Salviati, the president. But the revolutionary party was not idle. An organized assault was made on the Congress, and the members were assaulted and beaten. All this was done with the connivance of the authorities, who afterwards, instead of punishing the rioters, ordered the Congress to disperse. This outrageous act was protested against by the President and Congress, who, however, obeyed the tyrannical command.

CHRISTIAN art is another subject which the Italian Congress is taking into consideration. Italy is the home and capital of Christian art; yet France, we believe, supplies most of the religious cards, etc., which we have in America. The designs of these are often beautiful and symbolical; but they are sometimes fanciful, and always have mottoes in French, which are lost to those unacquainted with that language. We need good religious paintings and engravings at

a low cost.

It is a beautiful and Catholic custom to have an oratory, with either statues, pictures, etc., and even if there cannot be an oratory, every family should have one or more objects of religious art. The whole subject is one which deserves attention.

THE discovery of a new route from Russia to China by water, may produce important consequences in the near future. While the frontiers of the great Northern Empire have been advanced towards India, they have been even still further advanced towards China. China would afford a greater field than even India for Russian ambition. Its population, although immense, is cowardly and unwarlike, and no European nation holds it in subjection already.

Even if annexation is not possible, the trade of China is very valuable.

THE progress of the Turks, their capture of Djunis, and the danger of Servia's subjugation, induced the Czar to dispatch his ultimatum to Turkey on October 31st, demanding an immediate cessation of hostilities and an armistice. The more danger there is of Servia's complete subjugation by Turkey, the more likelihood of Russian assistance. Turkey's victories are her real peril; should the prudence and moderation of the Porte be superior to the fanaticism of its Mohammedan subjects, war will be averted, at least for the present.

THE Celtic tongue is receiving great attention from scholars at the present time. Strange to say, the impulse did not originate in Ireland, but in Germany; some of whose scholars have devoted years to its study, animated thereunto by the discovery of ancient manuscripts (in Latin and Celtic) in German monasteries, written by the Irish monks in the seventh and eighth centuries. Several Gallic papers have been started in Scotland, and at Edinburgh University a Celtic chair is to be established, for the endowment of which $40,000 have been already raised, and $60,000 will be raised by November next.

CATHOLIC Colonies in the West should be formed, if at all, as speedily as possible. The same is to be said of the South. Both sections offer millions of unsettled and un

cultivated land to the industry of the toiler; in both the prelates and clergy are not only willing, but anxious, to co-operate in any way with the settlers; and as regards the West, the future seat and centre of American empire lies there, and it is important, indeed, that the Catholic Church should not only hold its own there, but increase, and this cannot be done by a policy of neglect, carelessness, and indifference.

THE unsuccessful attempt of the British Expedition to reach the North Pole (although they came within 400 miles of it) will probably act as a deterrent to similar attempts for some time, unless American enterprise should enter upon the task, and push the exploration.

The expedition was splendidly equipped and fully provided with everything necessary. It has discovered a good deal, still the feat has not been accomplished, and the North Pole still bids defiance to the courage and ingenuity of man.

CONVERTS to the Catholic Church, particularly if they are clergymen, are beset by many difficulties. Laymen, who have always been regarded as laymen, can adapt themselves to altered circumstances, but a Protestant minister finds it very awkward to embark in commercial or industrial pursuits. His whole previous mental training and habits unfit him for it. Sometimes they take to lecturing, and sometimes they succeed in obtaining situations in colleges, schools, and seminaries, but very many sink into obscurity, and their talents are lost to the church.

SHORT, plain tracts, written in an easy colloquial style, and dealing with popular misapprehensions on religious subjects, would be very convenient to send to friends. Such

99 66

exhibition. The British and Japanese Governments have presented their buildings to the City of Philadelphia.

a series exists in England, called the Clifton Tracts, and they have done an immense amount of good. They might be on such subjects as these: "Why Mass is said in Latin," "Why priests do not marry," Why THE Toronto Mail says, there are 1,150,000 the Pope is Head of the Church," "What Catholics now in the Dominion of Canada, is the Mass?" "What is Purgatory," "What and 243,016 in the maritime provinces, or is the use of Holy Water," "Why do Cath- nearly half of the total population. olics have so many ceremonies," go to Confession?" etc., etc.

"Do you

CHURCHES, chapels, and hospitals increase rapidly in number. In St. Louis the Church of the Holy Name was dedicated lately, and in Chicago the Church of the Nativity

had its corner-stone laid. In small towns churches are being erected all the time.

New St. Agnes's Hospital, Baltimore, has been completed. It cost $120,000.

The Cathedral of Dubuque has been improved, and the new Cathedrals of Erie and Hartford are being pushed forward rapidly. The great Cathedral of New York is being plastered.

THE Italian Catholic Congress, in session at Bologna, has a section devoted to the consideration of Catholic hospitals. This subject is equally important here. There are a large number of hospitals, but if more free beds were founded by charitable donors, the amount of good they could accomplish would be enhanced. The management is good, the nurses are excellent, but the liberality of Catholics does not, as it should, secure a sufficient endowment. This is because the majority of wealthy Catholics have not bestowed thought on the matter.

IT will be very difficult for the Catholics of America to establish a satisfactory condition of parochial education without normal schools for the training of teachers. The capability of imparting instruction is not one that comes by instinct, nor is it identical with the capacity or love for acquiring information. The English and Irish Catholics have such schools, and we believe that the

German Catholics have likewise one in America, but three or four at least are required.

THE Centennial Exhibition has been a surprising success. 7,000,000 of cash visitors have paid all expenses and left a handsome balance. The Main Building will be retained, and be the scene of a permanent

Catholicity in Canadn is in a flourishing condition. The University of Lowel has been raised to the rank and power of an established institution of the Holy See. It is chartered by the government, and an experience of a quarter of a century has established it on a firm basis.

WHILE Bismarck's minions are enforcing the anti-Catholic laws, the Catholics are at work. The great annual meeting of the Catholic Unions of Germany has just been concluded at Munich. The late president, Baron von Loe, is now in a Prussian gaol. Count Proschma, a Silesian nobleman, presided over the meeting. The meeting was attended by Mgr. Bianchi, the Papal nuncio, and by the Archbishop of Munich. Representatives of Catholic unions and associations attended from every part of Germany. A breve from the Pope, addressed to the assembly, insisted upon the duty of the Catholics of Germany to reject every compromise, as the present conflict between the Church and State was not on matters of detail or of

discipline, but touched on vital principles essential to the preservation of the Catholic faith.

THE question of establishing a Catholic national university has been ably discussed by Right Rev. Bishop Becker in the American Catholic Quarterly Review. In the current number the learned Doctor suggests a plan for the organization and management of the proposed university, which it would be well for all who are in sympathy with him in this noble movement to ponder carefully. No one doubts the usefulness, if not the necessity, of such an institution as Doctor Becker is so zealously striving for, though some question the possibility of its success at the present time. To this latter class, we doubt not, the action in question will prove a revelation.

As for ourselves we are of the opinion that no obstacles are too great to be overcome in the attainment of a legitimate object; and if the Catholics of the United States want a university, all they have to do is to say so, and go to work and build it.

NEW PUBLICATIONS.

COMMON SCHOOL LITERATURE, English and American. With Several Hundred Extracts for Literary Culture. By J. Willis Westlake, A. M., Professor of English Literature in the State Normal School, Millersville, Pa. Philadelphia: Sower, Potts & Co., 1876.

This work, as we learn from its preface, aims at fulfilling a very important purpose,— "to show the growth of our literature through its various eras, to present a concise view of the lives and characters of its representative authors, and to bring forth from the thought treasures of our language a variety of literary gems for the enrichment of the mind of the student." All this the author "aims" to accomplish, and evidently thinks he has accomplished in a small 16mo. work of 152 pages. This, of itself, in our opinion shows how utterly unacquainted he is with the nature and extent of the task he has undertaken. We were not surprised, therefore, on passing beyond the preface and looking into the body of the book, to find it mainly a catalogue of the names of writers, more or less well known in the English language, arranged according to the order of time. The remarks respecting the literary productions of these writers are necessarily brief, and by no means discriminating or critical. They frequently consist of the vaguest generalities, such as "one of the brightest ornaments of the age," ""one of the greatest men that ever lived," "the only great genius that flourished in this age," "one of a brilliant galaxy," "one of the most learned men of his day," etc., etc.

Taking the "Elizabethan Age" as a sample, we turn to Shakspeare. After a biographical sketch of eight lines, from which we learn that Shakspeare was born at Stratford-upon-Avon 1564, married, went to London, "obtained both fame and fortune," retired to Stratford in 1611, and died in 1616, we are told that "his greatest works are his dramas," that "these may be classified as to their nature into Tragedies and Comedies; as to their origin into Historical and Fictitious;" and that "the historical plays may be still further divided into Authentic and Legendary." With the exception of the titles of four of the tragedies, three of the comedies, and four of the historical plays, which Mr. Westlake selects as the best, this is absolutely all Mr. Westlake can say about Shakspeare. The selections appear to have been made with no other idea than that of brevity. There are two selections of three lines each; two of six lines, and one of eleven lines.

Of Sir Francis Bacon as a writer, we learn that "he is especially honored as the father of inductive philosophy; his most profound work is Novum Organum, but his most popular one is his essays;" only that, and nothing more. How much information is given respecting other writers of this age may be inferred from the following notices, which we give in full:

"THOMAS HOBBES (1588-1679), an eminent philosopher, author of the Leviathan.”

"SIR THOMAS BROWNE (1605-1682), a quaint and powerful writer, author of Religio Medici (Religion of a Physician),” etc.

These are fair examples of how much real information is given in the work respecting English literature in the different periods and subdivisions of periods into which the writer divides it.

His own literary ability may be inferred from the following sentences taken from page 9: "The literature produced in England from about 450 to 1050 A.D. were in Anglo-Saxon, now a dead language. Those produced between 1050 and 1350 were in a dialect which was neither Anglo-Saxon nor English," etc.

We have referred to the selections. They exhibit a lamentable want of discrimination, or rather want of ability to make the extract show the distinguishing character of the writer. Take, for example, John Ruskin, who, Dr. Westlake says, was "the greatest art critic of his time." Here are three out of the four selections Dr. Westlake makes to illustrate Ruskin's critical ability:

"I believe the first test of a truly great man is his humility.

"None can love God nor his human brother without loving all things which his Father loves.

[ocr errors]

Every great man is always being helped by everybody, for his gift is to get good out of all things and all persons."

If it were intended to exhibit Ruskin as a moral philosopher these extracts would answer quite well, but how they prove him to have been an eminent "art critic" it is difficult to understand.

The work is not less objectionable on account of its sectarian bias than it is faulty in other respects. It is expressly designed as a text-book to be used in the public schools, and we presume will be generally introduced into them. Dr. Westlake is Professor of English Literature in the State Normal School at Millersville, Pa., the leading State Normal School in Pennsylvania. Occupying that position he should endeavor, and we presume has endeavored to be what

« ElőzőTovább »