We had just reached this point, when, looking up, we beheld Mr. C----

and George advancing and exclaiming: “Such a pity you did not come--such

a pity!” Breathlessly they told us that the distance had proved

trifling; they found horses, too, on the way, and everything had been

deeply interesting. The road had passed near “Bruder Klaus’” fields,

crossed the rushing stream mentioned by Von Waldheim; and not only had

they visited the chapel and cell of Blessed Nicholas, but also that of

Brother Ulrich, exactly as described by the two mediæval pilgrims. The

stone used by Blessed Nicholas as his pillow is there preserved; both

places, kept in excellent repair and attended by a priest who resides

on the spot, are much frequented and full of votive offerings of various

kinds. At once it became a question of our starting thither, even at

that advanced hour. Had Anna and I been alone, we should have upset all

previous arrangements for this purpose; but charity and forbearance

are the virtues most needed and most frequently brought into play when

travelling with a large party. Smothering our annoyance, therefore, a

second time, as best we could, and making a mental resolve to return

some future day and see with our own eyes what our friends so vividly

described, we adjourned to the Engel, and did full justice to the meal

which its pleasant-faced hostess had prepared for us. In another hour we

were on the road back to Stanz, but this time across the hills. Kerns,

now speaking to our minds of Von Waldheim and Père Bonstetten, was first

passed, succeeded before long by St. Jacob and its plain, the scene of

the terrible battle with the French in 1798; and in two and a half hours

the comfortable cottages of Nidwalden had gradually developed into, and

terminated in, the pretty houses of its capital, Stanz. Here we now

halted, in order to repair our omission of yesterday by a visit to the

Rathhaus. It was opened for us after some delay by a bluff Nidwaldener,

whose German was as unintelligible as that of the Sachslen clerk. But,

in like manner, he supplied the defect by pointing to two curious and

very ancient paintings which hung in the entrance lobby, one representing

Blessed Nicholas taking leave of his wife and family before he went to

Ranft, the other his appearance at the diet here. The deputies in the

painting have all risen, whilst the emaciated hermit is addressing them

boldly and earnestly. As we proceeded into the hall close by, it required

no stretch of imagination to fancy that the scene had but just occurred

in that spot, so exactly is the room of the same shape, the chairs and

table of the same pattern, and all placed in the same position as in the

old picture. Though not the same building, one may well believe that

the present is only a reproduction of the former town-hall, simple and

unpretending as it is, and yet invested with such deep interest. Three

sides of the hall are hung with portraits of the landammans since 1521,

and the fourth is decorated by various banners won on different patriotic

occasions. Of these, we notice one that was taken at the battle of

Kappel, where Zwingle met his death; another sent to the Unterwaldeners

by Pope Julius II.; and a third recently presented by Zschokke, a native

of these parts, representing William Tell shooting the apple off his

son’s head--thus giving the sanction of this grave and graphic historian

to the story we all so much love. Long did we linger in the hall, full

of the day’s impressions; but the light was waning, and it was necessary

to depart. Ere we reached Buochs the sun had set; it was dark when the

steamer came up to the quay; and night had closed when we arrived at

Brunnen and entered the brilliantly-lighted hall of the Walstätter Hof.

THE ASSUMPTION.

Crown her with flowers! She is the queen of flowers:

Roses for royalty and mignonette

For sweet humility, and lilies wet

With morning dew for holy purity.

Crown her with stars! She is the queen of stars:

They sparkle round her maiden path in showers

And stretch their beams of light in golden bars,

Making a pavement for her majesty.

Crown her with prayers! She is the queen of prayer:

With eager hands she gathers every one,

Wreathing them into garlands for her Son,

Holding them close with fond, maternal care:

Sweet flower--first planet in the realms above!

Crown her with love! She is the queen of love.

THE SCIENTIFIC GOBLIN.

By one of those freaks of fortune rare even in fairyland, the small

people known as the Odomites had, in order to escape being devoured by

a strolling giant named Googloom, made him their king. This ogre was of

so wonderful an ugliness that babes died at the sight of him, and men

and maids had gone into convulsions of merriment; but the majority of

the Odomites, blessed with a wholesome fear, dared no more than laugh

in their sleeves at bare memory of his face, avoiding as much as they

could to see him. However, to make sure that all his people were as

sober as himself, King Googloom issued an edict defining laughter as

treason, under any pretext to be punished with death by slow torture.

In cases of young and pretty maids this sentence was varied by the fact

that the giant himself ate them up. Yet, spite of the terrors of his

decree, hundreds of his subjects perished for want of self-control; and

one man, whose fate became renowned as that of a voluntary martyr to free

expression, died laughing involuntarily, notwithstanding his tortures,

the giant Googloom being a witness of his execution.

When the realm of Odom was thus rid of all rebellion in the shape

of quips, jokes, pranks, tricks, antics, capers, smiles, laughs,

caricatures, chuckles, grimaces, Googloom yawned and rolled his eyes in a

manner fearful to see, and, leaving his throne, made a tour through his

dominions. Not a soul dared so much as smile in obeisance to him. Though

he made his ugliest faces, to such a degree that the passing ravens were

scared, not a single Odomite lifted up his head to grin for a moment.

Over all the land reigned the shadow of funlessness. Googloom had become

a dreadful chimera, a nightmare. Hardly knowing it, his people grew lean

and pined away.

Googloom himself began to be weary of the prevailing dulness, even

while he boasted that the land was never so sober and its population so

orderly. “When will the old times return,” asked his sages of themselves,

“when the land laughed and grew fat?” Googloom eyed with contempt the

bones of the children that were served up at his banquets; and one day,

seeing that the leanness of his people had extended to their crops, and

yet unwilling to alter his decrees, mockingly proclaimed that anybody who

could make him laugh at his own expense, or make anybody else laugh on

the same terms, should have the privilege of laughing whenever he pleased.

There was at this time living in one of the mountains of Odom a famous

goblin named Gigag. His exceeding knowledge and invention, assisted

by good-nature, had made him famous in the country round about; and

notwithstanding the prejudices of some of the Od people, he was permitted

to benefit them in various ways. For instance, he made them a stove which

gave them both heat and light; an instrument that produced exquisite

melodies whether you could play it or not; an accordeon that invented

tunes of its own accord, for the help of composers; a portable bridge

to be flung over chasms at pleasure; a drink that gave men’s eyes the

power of microscopes, and another that inspired them with the capacity

of telescopes; a fertilizer that brought up crops in seven days with

care; a flying-machine to save all who laughed; and a pill to cure

headache, heartache, rheumatism, dropsy, palsy, dyspepsia, epilepsy,

consumption--everything short of death itself--and to cause lost hair,

eyes, teeth, legs, and arms to grow again. There was also rumor that the

goblin Gigag had tunnelled the whole kingdom through, and that goblin

steeds and people could now travel at will an underground thoroughfare.

But, for all these things, the Odomites were no better than before. Their

taste in music was bad; they were blind as bats to their interests;

they tumbled over precipices; they neglected their crops, and were too

stupid to fly, if not too dull to laugh; and headaches, heartaches,

and palsies were much the same as ever, because they disliked to take

a pill that was not sugar-coated. In the end the scientific Gigag was

thought to be a goblin of genius--one of those fine spirits who are

always doing magnificent things to no purpose. Had he relied upon the

effect of his mechanical or chemical exploits to make his way in the

world, the well-meaning goblin would certainly have made a mistake. What,

then, was the secret of that extraordinary power which the goblin Gigag

exercised over the minds of those who came in contact with him? It was

his expression.

All the variety of which the goblin countenance is susceptible seemed to

be concentrated in that of Gigag. But its peculiarity was this: that his

eyes grew piercing and dazzling at will, while his teeth enlarged, his

mouth curved, and his nose elongated and turned at pleasure. It may well

be supposed that no Odomite could resist a smile or survive the scorn of

a countenance so effective; and we can only ascribe it to Gigag’s known

forbearance that the so-called anticachination laws of Googloom were not

a thousand times violated. But patience has its bounds. The national

dulness which made Googloom yawn and sneer made Gigag almost swear. The

reigning condition must be put an end to, or science itself would be

powerless at length to amuse or to cure. Accordingly, he sped through his

underground road, and came up at court by a secret path. Wearing a long,

conical hat and a fanciful jacket, with doublet and hose, and elongating

his features while he stretched himself to his full height, he stepped

into the presence of the king, knocking down by the way a few insolent

attendants who had excited his gaze. Bristling the few hairs of his upper

lip, which resembled the mustache of Grimalkin, and bowing with the most

obsequious of smiles, the goblin Gigag stood before the giant Googloom.

Never had that ogre seen a figure at once so lean and long, and a face

so bright and cunning. He would have ordered it at once to his darkest

dungeons, were it not for an unaccountable fascination which forced him

to listen to Gigag while he proposed not only to make Googloom laugh at

his own expense, but to make everybody else laugh at him on the same

terms, and to solve the problem of perpetual motion by making the land

of Odom merry ever afterwards. “I presume,” said he, “you have heard the

story of the pig’s fiddle”; and he proceeded to tell a tale which for

wit and fun would have made a thousand unicorns die laughing. But on

the giant it had either no effect at all or had only raised his spirits

to the point of being serious. Gigag clearly saw that he had failed by

trusting to the merits of his story instead of using his great weapon of

expression. “This is no ordinary case,” said the goblin to himself. “The

problem is to make an immense creature laugh who has nothing of the sort

in him. Perhaps the best thing to do is to torture him till he laughs in

despair.” Spite of the giant’s disposition to put his visitor at once to

the torture, he agreed that the accomplished goblin should call next day,

and make him laugh, or else die by slow boiling. This the goblin heard

with a mixture of scorn and amusement, curling his nose and showing his

teeth in an aristocratic manner.

As the cunning Gigag left the king’s chamber to go to his quarters in

a corner of the great palace, he took good care to scatter about two

scientifically-prepared powders, one of which dissolved in the air,

producing sleep, and the other by a similar change entered the nostrils,

producing throughout the body tickling sensations and a disposition

to low chuckling. When Gigag again came before Googloom, it was seen

that none of the royal guards were fit for duty, and that throughout

the palace and its grounds the disposition among courtiers, retainers,

servants, pages, to laugh in their sleeves at the smallest incitement,

was unmistakable. Even the kitchen cats had caught the infection, and

mewed dispersedly.

“Now, O great Googloom!” said Gigag when all the court had assembled,

“let me in three acts essay to complete that transformation by which thy

people’s despair shall be turned to joy, and thy laughing face shall

behold its own merriment.” At this moment the giant shook like one

who is tickled all over, but cannot laugh, experiencing the greatest

tortures without knowing what to make of them. To divert him the goblin

related his favorite story of the merry owl, with such catcalls, crowing,

mincing, and mewing, and withal such unearthly jest, that a thousand

dogs would have died if they did not laugh. What wonder, then, that long

before the witty Gigag had concluded a favorite page was so wrought upon

by chuckling that, bursting his buttons, at length he laughed right out,

which had such an effect upon all assembled that they chuckled, and then

roared. “Ho, guards!” cried Googloom; but Gigag easily drew his attention

to the second part of the programme--for the goblin had actually brought

the giant to the point of complacency. “I propose now,” he said, “to show

you the most ridiculous countenance that was ever seen, except one.”

Hereupon he diminished and heightened his figure at intervals, while he

curved his nose by degrees, lengthened his teeth as he pleased, and put

upon his mouth such an expression of maddening humor that his spectators

gasped with laughing, to the vast confusion of the helpless giant, who

vowed with a feeble smile that the gifted Gigag was certainly the most

ingenious man he ever knew.

“Nothing will serve you, I perceive, O beautiful Googloom! except

the light of science; and now I will show you the face of the most

ridiculous man that ever was born.” Accordingly, by means of an

instrument which he had invented, Gigag reflected upon a large canvas

the features of Googloom! Unwittingly the giant smiled, for he had never

seen so preposterous a face before; and the more he smiled, the more

ridiculous it grew, till at last, after the giant himself had given way

to laughter, it was so horribly funny that the whole court shrieked and

shrieked again, and Googloom, losing all control, roared with such a

volume and power of merriment that he toppled off his throne, and was

crushed under its ruins. The people, seeing the faces of the courtiers

and of each other, caught an infectious laughter, which prevailed

throughout all Odom, and did not by any means cease when the goblin Gigag

was called to the throne, and the reign of science began.

THE HAPPY ISLANDS.

“Tell me, brother, dearest brother,

Why it is thou aye dost weep?

Why thus, ever listless, sittest

Looking forth across the deep?

“Thy impatient steed is wond’ring

Why his master doth not come,

On his perch thy hawk is sleeping,

E’en thy hound’s deep voice is dumb.

“Yesternight there came a minstrel

With a glee-maid young and fair,

If mayhap their merry voices

Would beguile thy weary care.”

“Hawk may sleep, and hound may slumber,

My impatient steed must wait,

Nor care I to hear the minstrel

Who is resting at the gate.

“E’en the keen breeze of the mountains

Would not cool my fevered brow,

E’en the shrill note of the trumpet

Would not serve to rouse me now.

“Dost remember, that our father

Told us how his wond’ring eyes

Once beheld the Happy Islands

Far off on the ocean rise?

“Those fair Islands where no mortal,

As ’tis said, has ever been,

Though at evening in the westward

They at sunset oft are seen.

“Those blest Islands that so often

Were our aged minstrel’s theme,

That surpass the fairest fancies

Of a poet’s wildest dream.

“Where the Holy Grail lies hidden

Far from mortal quest or claim,

And the Tree of Life stands, guarded

By the Seraph’s sword of flame:

“Where the Blessed Ones are dwelling

Till the dawning of the day

When this world and all upon it,

Like a dream, will pass away.

“And our sire sailed towards those Islands,

Till their shore he drew so near

That the strains of heavenly singing

Fell upon his raptured ear.

“And as that immortal music

O’er his ravished senses stole,

An intense and eager longing

Took possession of his soul.

“When, lo! as entranced he listened,

Suddenly the mists of night,

Gath’ring round the Happy Islands,

Hid them from his anxious sight.

“Then all through that weary midnight

Stayed he waiting for the dawn,

But when day broke, lo! the Islands

With the mists of night had gone.

“From that day thou know’st he languished,

And could take nor food nor rest,

For he aye was thinking, thinking

On those Islands of the Blest.

“When he died, dost thou remember

We heard music from the sea,

That enchained us with the weirdness

Of its mystic melody?

“Scarce three days ago at sunset

I was sitting, thinking here,

When I saw those Happy Islands

In the west there, bright and clear.

“Words would fail to tell their beauty,

They were wrapt in golden haze,

And they glowed with such a radiance

That on them I scarce could gaze.

“And since that resplendent vision

On my raptured senses fell,

It has haunted and enthralled me

With the magic of its spell.

“I must go and seek those Islands

That far to the westward lie.

I hear distant voices calling,

I must find those isles or die.”

At the early dawn next morning

Young Sir Brian sailed away,

Mournfully his brother watchèd

On the shore the livelong day.

Long kept guard the weary watchers,

’Mid the tempest and the rain,

But ah! nevermore Sir Brian

To his home came back again.

It is said by some he perished

In the wild and stormy wave,

Where the sea-birds wailed the requiem

O’er his mist-enshrouded grave.

If perchance he reached those Islands,

Be ye sure that he stayed there;

For what earthly joy or beauty

With those Islands can compare?

Where the sun is ever shining

And the blossom doth not fade,

Where from quest of mortal hidden

The most Holy Grail is laid.

Where with flaming swords the Seraphs

Stand around the Tree of Life,

Where the Blessed Ones are dwelling

Who have conquered in the strife.

NOTE.--This poem is founded on an ancient Irish legend, to the effect

that the Happy Islands, as they are called--that is, the temporal

resting-place of the blessed, where yet stands the Tree of Life guarded

by the cherubim--are situated in the ocean somewhere to the far westward

of Ireland.

It is said they are sometimes to be seen at sunset from the coast o’

Galway.

Many have sought to find them, and some even have come near them, but

just as they were approaching, either the night fell or a storm arose and

drove them from the enchanted shores.

NEW PUBLICATIONS.

LES DROITS DE DIEU ET LES IDEES MODERNES. Par l’Abbé François

Chesnel, Vicaire-Général de Quimper. Poitiers et Paris: Henri

Oudin. 1875.

Every age has its special errors and its special manifestations of the

truth precisely opposite to those errors. The special errors of the

present age may be well summed up under one formula, which we find on p.

335 of the Abbé Chesnel’s work bearing the title placed at the head of

this notice: “The pretended incompetence of God and his representatives

in the order of human things, whether scientific or social.” The system

which springs from this fundamental notion has received the name of

Liberalism. In contradiction to it, the authority of God and the church

over those matters which are included in the order of human things, is

the truth which in our day has been the special object of inculcation,

definition, explanation, and defence on the part of the Catholic Church

and her most enlightened advocates. A great number of the very finest

productions of our contemporary Catholic writers in books, pamphlets,

and periodicals, treat of themes and topics connected with this

branch of the great controversy between Catholic truth and universal

error. The volume just published by the Abbé Chesnel is particularly

remarkable among these for simplicity, lucidity, and moderation in its

statements, and for its adaptation to the understanding of the great

mass of intelligent and educated readers, who are unable to profit by

any treatises presupposing a great amount of knowledge and thought on

abstruse matters. The form of dialogue helps the author and the reader

very much in respect to the facility and simplicity of the work of

giving and receiving elementary instruction on the subjects contained

within the volume. The other topics besides the particular one we are

about to mention are handled very much in the same manner by M. Chesnel

as by other sound and able writers, and require no special remark.

Thank God! our instructed American Catholics are not inclined to bury

themselves in what the author happily styles “the fog of liberalism,”

in so far as this confuses the view of the rights of the church and

the Holy See in respect to the usurpations of the civil power and the

rebellions of private judgment. We have turned with a more particular

interest to that part of the volume which treats of the nature, origin,

acquisition, and loss of sovereign rights by the possessors of political

power in the state. This is one of the most difficult topics in the

department of ethics, and one seldom handled, in our opinion, so well

as by our author. To a certain extent sound Catholic writers agree,

and the principles maintained are proved with ease to the satisfaction

of right-minded students. That political power is from God, that human

rights are from God, that an authority certainly legitimate cannot

be resisted within its lawful domain without sin, are so many first

principles universally accepted and easily proved. But when the sources

and criteria of legitimacy are in question, there is far less agreement

even among those who reject liberalism, and much less facility of laying

down and proving propositions in a satisfactory manner. The ingenious and

learned Dr. Laing, in his little book entitled _Whence do Kings Derive

the Right to Rule?_ in our opinion sustains most extravagant theories

regarding the divine right of monarchs. On the other hand, we are not

entirely satisfied with the reasonings of the very able and brilliant

Dublin Reviewer on the principles of legitimacy. In fact, we have not

seen the subject handled in a perfectly thorough and satisfactory

manner by any author writing in the English language. M. Chesnel is not

exhaustive, but, so far as his scope in writing permits him to develop

his subject, he seems to us remarkably clear and judicious. The beginning

of sovereignty he traces to the parental expanding into the patriarchal

authority. Acquisition of lawful sovereignty he refers to inheritance,

election, and just conquest. The rehabilitation of a sovereignty unjustly

acquired he refers to the accession of the right of a nation to the

possession of the goods which have become dependent on the peaceable

maintenance of a _de facto_ sovereignty, sanctioned by a common consent.

The possessor who has been unjustly despoiled of his sovereignty _de

jure_ by one who has become sovereign _de facto_ evidently loses his

right as soon as it is transferred lawfully to this spoliator or his

heirs in the manner indicated. The author, as we think unnecessarily,

resorts to the supposition that he is supposed to cede it, because he

cannot reasonably maintain it. He adds, however, that if he does not

cede it he nevertheless loses it, which seems to us to make his cession

or non-cession wholly irrelevant and without effect. It is lost by the

prevalence of a higher right on the part of the nation. Nevertheless,

we think that until a permanent and stable union of the welfare of

the nation with the right of the new dynasty is effected, the former

sovereign right may in certain cases remain in abeyance, and therefore

revive again in the future. This appears to us to be exemplified in the

case of the rights of Don Carlos to the throne of Spain, and of the Comte

de Chambord to the throne of France. Strictly, in themselves, their

rights have been in abeyance, and remain imperfect, until the national

welfare, sustained by a sound and powerful part of the body politic,

demands their restitution and actually effects the same. In such cases

there is always more or less doubt about the real sense of the better and

sounder part of the nation, and about the best settlement of conflicting

claims for the common good. And hence it is that the best men may differ,

and conscientiously espouse opposite sides, when a nation is in an

unsettled and divided state respecting its sovereignty.

In respect to the relation of the state to the church, the author has

some very just and sagacious remarks on the peculiar condition of things

in our own republic, quite in accordance with the views which have been

expressed by our soundest American Catholic writers. We conclude our

criticism by quoting a few passages:

“The religious system existing in the United States does not resemble,

either in its origin or in its applications, that which the liberal sect

imposes on the Catholic peoples of Europe. The American population, the

progeny of colonists driven from England by persecution, never possessed

religious unity. When Presbyterians, Episcopalians, and Catholics, who

had all fought in common for independence, assembled in Congress and

formed their constitution, they recognized the variety of worships as an

antecedent fact, and endeavored to accommodate themselves to it in the

best way they could. No false political theory disturbed the good sense

of these legislators. Governed by a necessity manifestly invincible, and

which still continues, they secured to each worship a complete liberty;

proclaimed that which is a just consequence from this principle: that

the state should have only a very restricted agency--that is, no more

than what is necessary for reconciling the liberty of each one with that

of all others. In fact, when separated from the true church, the state

is reduced to pure naturalism, and in this condition the action of the

state, separated from the church, ought to be reduced to the minimum” (p.

179).

MEMOIRS OF GENERAL WILLIAM T. SHERMAN. By Himself. New York: D.

Appleton & Co. 1875.

This book marks an epoch in the literary history of the war. Ten years

of reconstruction and of political spoil-gathering, of slow and still

incomplete recuperation at the South, and of reluctant, painful

subsidence to the moderate profits and the quiet of peace at the North,

had dulled the excitement attending the events of the war, had corrected

many prejudices, had taken off many of the prominent actors of both sides

of the contest, and had added to the literary public many men and women

who were children when Sherman “marched to the sea.” And now comes one

of the great conquerors of the Rebellion, and tells almost every word

that an honorable man would dare to tell of all that he knows about the

soldiers and the generals, the fighting and the plotting, of the war,

and with infinite frankness--not stopping with facts, and dates, and

figures, but detailing his remembrance of conversations, frankly offering

his opinion of motives and his judgment of character, as well adverse as

favorable--as readily giving names of those deserving blame as of those

worthy of praise. No wonder, therefore, that these _Memoirs_ have set

the whole country to thinking about the war, and all the newspapers to

discussing it. We have already had scores of explanations and defences

of those attacked, or of friends in their behalf, and we are promised

the Memoirs, Recollections, and Narratives of many of the more prominent

generals; so that we shall shortly be supplied with testimony as to

all the events of the late war, given by the actors themselves or by

eye-witnesses.

The first six chapters are occupied with General Sherman’s life from

the beginning of the Mexican war till the outbreak of the civil war.

They are intensely interesting. Many of those who afterwards became

leaders of great armies are introduced to the reader as simple captains

or lieutenants in the old army. Little incidents illustrative of their

characters are continually related, and the writer’s own impressions,

with his unflinching candor, continually offered, every page glowing

with good-humor and sparkling with entertaining anecdotes. The domestic

archives of more than one household of Lancaster, Ohio, must have been

well ransacked to get the letters written home by the young artillery

lieutenant, in order to secure such exactness in date, and place, and

conversation. One learns from these chapters about all that was done in

California during the Mexican war, and who did it; graphic descriptions

of many of the natural wonders of that country, and a very interesting

account of the early gold excitement. Gen. Sherman was on the staff of

Col. Mason, commanding United States forces in California, when gold was

found in Sutter’s mill-race; was present when Sutter’s messenger showed

it to Col. Mason and asked for a patent to the land; went to Sutter’s

place, and saw the first miners at work there; wrote (August 17, 1848)

the official despatch of Col. Mason to the Adjutant-General which gave

the world the first authentic information that gold could be had in

California for the digging.

After peace was concluded with Mexico, the author of the _Memoirs_

returned to the States; but soon resigned his commission, went back to

California, and opened a banking office in San Francisco--a branch of a

well-known house in St. Louis. His statement of the events of the year

1856 in San Francisco is most interesting, throwing much light on the

history of the famous Vigilance Committee. He was Militia General at the

time, and, in conjunction with the Governor, treated with the leaders of

the Committee, whom he undertakes to convict of falsehood, positively

asserting that, had Gen. Wool given him the arms, he was prepared to

fight the Vigilantes with militia, and would have suppressed them.

Hard times induced him shortly after to wind up his banking business

and return to the States, and in the autumn of 1860, after trying and

giving up various undertakings, he had organized and was president of

a flourishing military school, under the patronage of the State of

Louisiana. When that State seceded, Sherman at once resigned and went

North, and when war broke out was commissioned colonel in the regular

army, rising gradually in rank till finally half the army and country was

subject to his command.

Now begins his story of the war. To the most timid civilian there is an

intense fascination in that war--a deep interest in every true narrative

of it. Gen. Sherman takes us through some of its most exciting scenes,

and so frankly and so familiarly that you feel as if you were some

invited stranger, sharing his mess, discussing his plans, participating

in his hopes and fears, and rejoicing with him in his nearly uniform

success. His first battle was Bull Run, in which he commanded a brigade.

Shortly after this he was transferred to the West, where he remained

until in the winter of 1864-5, when, having fought and conquered his way

from Chattanooga to Atlanta, then through Georgia and South Carolina,

he found himself in North Carolina, in command of a large army, and

upon the communications of Richmond. The General’s narrative of these

four years is intensely interesting. Every description of battle or

march is intelligible and vivid, every statement of plans is clear.

The battle of Shiloh is wonderfully well described; so are the battles

which were fought around Atlanta. The same may be said of the storming

of Fort McAllister--one of the most gallant deeds of the war. Thousands

of ex-soldiers will fight their battles over again with this book--will

lose themselves in the great mass of the army--will struggle once more

against that sickening sensation which their sense of honor overcame as

the first bullet whistled by, the first pale, senseless form was borne

to the rear on the bloody stretcher--will tingle again in every nerve

at the first sight of the Southerners--will feel the sudden thrill of

the fearful excitement of the rush, or of the stubborn defence, or the

ecstasy of victory. Many a one will once more feel the terrible fatigue

of the march, the pangs of hunger and thirst, the weariness of sleepless

nights on picket, the tedious, painful weeks spent in hospital. And every

soldier will once more feel sad as he reads of the places and scenes of

the death of his comrades, and will repeat for the thousandth time that

it was always the best men who were killed.

The charges of cruelty and barbarity made during and after the war

against Gen. Sherman are indignantly denied. The depopulation of the

town of Atlanta is justified in so far as the General clearly shows the

purity of his motives and can cite the approval of both the civil and

military authorities; yet the ugly fact remains that it was done not for

the instant safety of his army or the immediate injury of the enemy’s,

but thousands of women and children were driven among strangers and their

homes abandoned to the chances of a civil war to secure a temporary

convenience. As to the unauthorized foraging of the troops generally,

the General condemned and often reproved and condemned it; though his

correspondence shows a secret satisfaction at the devastation committed

in South Carolina, except where it might result in permanent injury to

private property. His defence against Secretary Stanton’s charges of

usurping civil powers in treating with Gen. Jos. Johnston is simply

complete. Gen. Sherman here had the honor to be the first after the war

to suffer abuse and persecution because a kind heart and chivalrous

sympathy with a gallant and beaten foe roused the hatred and fear of a

class of politicians as malicious and vindictive as they were ambitious.

The last chapter, “Military Lessons of the War,” is extremely

interesting, especially to military men. It contains some very important

conclusions; for example, that infantry must hereafter fight in

skirmishing order; that cavalry can no longer be used against organized

infantry; that every night’s camp in an enemy’s vicinity should be

covered by light works; and that good troops with the rifle can beat off

from trenches double their numbers. All this and nearly all the other

opinions advanced in this chapter had become truisms to even the common

soldier in our war, and the late Franco-German war has made them such for

the whole world. But Gen. Sherman’s modesty has hindered him from showing

that his own persistent adherence to this new science not only gained

him Atlanta, but left him an intact and veteran army with which to crush

through the heart of the South; and that Gen. Grant’s neglect of it,

and his adopting the “hammering-away” method instead, not only did not

conquer Lee and take Richmond, but positively buried the old gallant Army

of the Potomac between the Rapidan and the Appomattox.

It is a great injustice to the Army of the Cumberland and its General to

say so glibly that at Chickamauga “Bragg had completely driven Rosecrans’

army into Chattanooga”; it is notorious that at the battle itself the

key of the position was never given up, and that the whole army offered

battle defiantly at Rossville before retiring to Chattanooga. Such a

mistake as this throws discredit upon Gen. Sherman’s statements of

other events of which he was not an eye-witness. It is also much to be

regretted that in matters wholly private he should not have reserved the

names of persons whose conduct was reprehensible. Thus it adds nothing

to the interest of his narrative to give the _name_ of the officer of the

ship whose incorrect reckoning so inconvenienced the passengers on the

author’s first voyage to California; or to give the _name_ of the lawyer

who swindled him out of the proceeds of a note given him to collect; wife

and children and friends should not be made to share public disgrace for

private acts of which they themselves are entirely guiltless.

THE FIRST CHRISTMAS: A Mystery Play. By Albany James Christie,

S.J. London: Burns & Oates. 1875. (New York: Sold by The

Catholic Publication Society.)

We wish we could say that the contents of this small volume are worth its

elegant exterior.

A POLITICO-HISTORICAL ESSAY ON THE POPES, as the Protectors of

Popular Liberty. By Rev. Henry A. Brann, D.D. New York: D. & J.

Sadlier & Co. 1875.

In spite of the confident assurance which every loyal Catholic has that

the rule of Rome, both temporal and spiritual, is not, never has been,

nor ever will be, a despotism, it cannot be denied that but few are well

acquainted with the facts of history which prove that the Papal power

has been the only interpreter, defender, and protector of their rights

which the people ever had, and that all the liberties nations now enjoy

are the result of the preaching and defence of the doctrines which lie at

the basis of all civilization by the popes, bishops, and priests of the

Catholic Church.

Just new the old howl against Rome is being renewed--the howl of the

wolves against the shepherd; and the sheep now and again think it

necessary to apologize to the wolves for the care their ever-watchful

guardian keeps over them, and also try to make them understand that it

is both convenient and necessary that he should keep a dog and carry a

crook. It is little wonder that the wolves bark and snarl in reply to the

apologies, and see no force in our argument for either the dog or crook.

But the sheep of the true fold, and also the “other sheep” who are not

yet of it, need, rather, plain, straightforward instruction, which, by

the grace of God, they will receive to their profit. Such is the essay

before us, which we heartily welcome as most opportune, and, although

far from being exhaustive of the subject, is both pertinent and forcible.

We commend it as an excellent pamphlet to be freely distributed both

among Catholics and honest-minded American non-Catholics.

THE STORY OF S. STANISLAUS KOSTKA. Edited by Father Coleridge,

S.J. London: Burns & Oates. 1875. (New York: Sold by The

Catholic Publication Society.)

This is the thirteenth volume of the admirable Quarterly Series edited

by the Jesuit fathers in London. The “Story” is a brief one, but full

of interest. We confess that S. Stanislaus has always seemed to us more

charming than even S. Aloysius. Both “angelic youths” are among the

greatest glories of the Catholic Church and the Society of Jesus.

Father Coleridge tells us that the present work was at first intended to

be a simple translation from the Italian of Father Boero, but that he

has taken the pains to prepare an original narrative instead. All who

know his style will be grateful for the exchange. He has also confined

himself to a narration of facts, without digressing into “religious and

moral reflections.” We think this, too, makes the volume more attractive,

particularly to the young.

BIOGRAPHICAL READINGS. By Agnes M. Stewart. London: Burns

& Oates. 1875. (New York: Sold by The Catholic Publication

Society.)

It is somewhat aggravating to those familiar with the larger biographical

dictionaries to take up a compilation like this. One is reminded of

the poet who sent his MSS. to a learned editor to prepare them for

publication, and, after hearing the judgment passed by the critic,

insisted that he had thrown out the best pieces and retained the only

trash in the collection. The reader must try to put himself in the place

of the compiler who undertakes the invidious task of determining who

to speak of and what to say in a book of the kind. Almost inevitably,

each reader has to regret the absence of some subjects by him deemed

important. But, at least, the work will serve as an introduction to more

exhaustive ones, and Catholics have an assurance in the editor that the

stale assertions against cherished names, lay or cleric, which have

heretofore disfigured most non-Catholic biographical sketches, will not

be found here.

THE YOUNG LADIES’ ILLUSTRATED READER. New York: The Catholic

Publication Society, 9 Warren St. 1875.

This is the last volume of the Young Catholic’s Illustrated Series of

Readers. We have read it with considerable care, and are of the opinion

that it is the best book of the kind in the English language. The

selections, which embrace a wide range of subjects, all bearing more or

less directly upon the mission and work of woman, have been made with

discernment and taste. The most important lessons are here taught in the

most agreeable style and in the pleasantest manner. It is a treatise on

the duties of Christian women without any of the dulness of the moral

essay.

We admire especially the biographical sketches of the foundresses of

religious orders which are scattered here and there through the book.

Whatever the vocation of a young girl may be, she will be all the truer

and nobler woman for having been taught to reverence and love the

religious life.

The perusal of the several Readers of the Young Catholic’s Series has

shown us, in a light in which we have never seen it before, the great

educational value of such books. We are not surprised at the favorable

manner in which these Readers have been received, nor shall we be

astonished to hear of their superseding all others in our Catholic

Schools.

* * * * *

ANNOUNCEMENT.--In the October number of THE CATHOLIC WORLD we shall begin

a new serial story, entitled _Sir Thomas More: A Historical Romance_.

BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS RECEIVED.

From P. O’Shea, New York: Notes on the Rubrics of the Roman

Ritual. By the Rev. James O’Kane. 12mo, pp. xiv., 471.

--Lives of the Saints, with a Practical Instruction on the Life

of each Saint. By Rev. F. X. Weninger, D.D., S.J. Part III.

8vo, pp. 144.

--Recollections of the Last Four Popes and of Rome in their

Times. By His Eminence Cardinal Wiseman. 12mo, pp. 487.

From APPLETON & CO., New York: John Dorrien. By Julia Kavanagh.

12mo, pp. 500.

From the OFFICERS: Proceedings of the General Theological

Library for the year ending April 26, 1875. 8vo, pp. 49.

From K. TOMPKINS, New York: “Righteousness”: The

Divinely-Appointed Rule of Life. By Philalethes. Paper, 12mo,

pp. 75.

From J. S. WHITE & CO., Marshall, Mich.: Mass in C. with

Accompaniment for Piano or Organ. By Rev. H. T. Driessen.

From GEORGE WILLIG & CO., Baltimore: Peters’ Celebrated Mass in

D. Composed by W. C. Peters. Pp. 32.

From D’Augutin Cote et Cie., Quebec: Annuaire de l’Université

Laval pour l’Année Académique 1875-6. 8vo, pp. 97, xxviii.

From The Christian Brothers’ College, Memphis: Address to the

Graduates, June 25, 1875. By Hon. Jacob Thompson. 12mo, pp. 8.

FOOTNOTES

[1] For particulars see _Bulletin of the Catholic Union_, Jan., 1875,

which contains an admirably-prepared statement of the whole case.

[2] Italy! Italy!… Oh! that thou wert less fair or more powerful!

[3] “A slavish Italy! thou inn of grief!”--_Cary’s Dante._

[4] _Conf. of S. Aug._, b. x. ch. vi.

[5] A Sister’s Story.

[6] “Love that denial takes from none beloved.”--_Cary’s Dante, Inferno_,

canto v.

[7] Alexandrine de la Ferronnays.

[8] Madame Swetchine.

[9] We have the _eleventh_ edition of the English translation with the

title, _The Lady’s Travels into Spain_, 2 vols., London, 1808.

[10] See John Hay’s _Castilian Days_, p. 233.

[11] _Psiquis y Cupido_, two autos, refacciamento of the comedy of _Ni

Amor se libra de Amor_; _El Pintor de su Deshonra_, comedy of same name;

_El Arbol del Mejor Fruto_, _La Sibila del Oriente_; _La Vida es Sueño_,

comedy of same name; _Andromeda y Perseo_, comedy of same name; _El

Jardin de Falernia_, comedy of same name; _Los Encantos de la Culpa, el

mayor Encanto Amor_.

These, we believe, are all the _autos_ which duplicate comedies.

[12] A Mass, followed by the Benediction of the Most Holy Sacrament,

is celebrated with this intention the first Saturday of every month at

nine o’clock, in the chapel of the Barnabite Fathers at Paris, 64 Rue de

Monceau. The reader will find at the end of our second essay (_Le Pape de

Rome et les Popes de l’Eglise Orthodoxe d’Orient_. Paris: Plon) a notice

upon the “Association of prayers in honor of Mary Immaculate for the

return of the Greco-Russian Church to Catholic Unity,” with the documents

relating to it.

[13] “It is not for naught that the Russians have preserved among the

treasures of their faith the _cultus_ of Mary; it is not for naught that

they invoke her, that they believe in her Immaculate Conception, without,

perhaps, knowing it, and that they celebrate its festival.… Yes, Mary

will be the bond which shall unite the two churches, and which will make

of all those who love her a people of brethren, under the fraternity of

the Vicar of Jesus Christ” (_Ma Conversion et ma Vocation_, par le Père

Schouvaloff, Barnabite, II. part, §9, Paris, Douniol, 1859).

[14] She chose S. Rose of Lima for her patron, and took her name at

confirmation.

[15] The day of burial.

[16] See _Louis XVII., sa Vie, sa Mort, son Agonie_, par M. de

Beauchesne, published 1852.

[17] Materia quandoque est sub una forma, quandoque sub alia, per se

autem nunquam potest esse; quia, quum in ratione sua non habeat aliquam

formam, non potest esse in actu (quum esse in actu non sit nisi a forma),

sed solum in potentia; et ideo quidquid est in actu non potest dici

materia prima.--Opusc. _De Principiis Naturæ_.

[18] Quia materia est potentia tantum, ideo est una numero, non

per unam formam quam habeat, sed per remotionem omnium formarum

distinguentium.--In 1 sent., dist. 2, q. 1, a. 1, ad 3m.

[19] Forma accidentalis advenit subjecto jam præexistenti in actu; forma

autem substantialis non advenit subjecto jam præexistenti in actu, sed

existenti in potentia tantum, scilicet materiæ primæ.--In Arist. _De

Anima_, lib. 2, lect. 1.

[20] Hæc est vera natura materiæ, ut scilicet non habeat actu aliquam

formam, sed sit in potentia ad omnes.--In Arist. _Metaph._, 1, lect. 12.

[21] Materia prima est potentia pura, sicut Deus est actus purus.--_Sum.

Theol._, p. 1, q. 115, a. 1, ad 2m.

[22] Ut enim ad statuam æs, vel ad lecticam lignum, vel ad aliud quidpiam

corum quæ formam habent, materia et quod forma caret se habet priusquam

formam acceperit, sic ipsa ad substantiam se habet et ad id quod est hoc

aliquid, atque ens.--_Physic._, lib. 1.

[23] Materia prima est in omnibus corporibus.--_Sum. Theol._, p. 1, q. 8,

a. 4.

[24] Oportet ponere etiam materiam primam creatam ab universali causa

entium, … sed non quod sit creata sine forma.--_Ibid._, q. 44, a. 2.

[25] Quod autem materia prima remaneat actu post formam, non est nisi

secundum actum alterius formæ.--_Contra Gent._, lib. 2, c. 81.

[26] Id communiter materia prima nominatur, quod est in genere

substantiæ ut potentia quædam intellecta præter omnem speciem et formam,

et etiam præter privationem; quæ tamen est susceptiva formarum et

privationum.--_De Spirit. Creaturis_, art. 1. We can hardly conceive how

the matter thus abstracted from all forms can be understood to remain

“not under privations.” When we conceive the matter without any form, we

conceive it as _deprived_ of all forms. The thing is evident. Materia

absque forma intellecta cum privatione etiam intelligitur, says S. Thomas

himself, _De Potentia_, q. 4., a. 1.

[27] Terra autem ipsa quam feceras, informis materies erat, quia

invisibilis erat et incomposita … de qua terra invisibili et incomposita,

de qua informitate, de quo pene nihilo faceres hæc omnia quibus iste

mutabilis mundus constat.--_Confess._, lib. 12 c. 8.

[28] Augustinus accipit informitatem materiæ pro carentia omnis formæ; et

sic impossibile est dicere quod informitas materiæ tempore præcesserit

vel formationem ipsius vel distinctionem. Et de formatione quidem

manifestum est. Si enim materia informis præcessit duratione, hæc erat

jam in actu; hoc enim creatio importat. Creationis enim terminus est ens

actu; ipsum autem quod est actus, est forma. Dicere igitur, materiam

præcedere sine forma, est dicere ens actu sine actu, quod implicat

contradictionem.--_Sum. Theol._, p. 1, q. 66, a. 1.

[29] Informe appellabam non quod careret forma, sed quod talem haberet,

ut, si appareret, insolitum et incongruum aversaretur sensus meus,

et conturbaretur infirmitas hominis. Verum illud quod cogitabam, non

privatione omnis formæ, sed comparatione formosiorum erat informe:

et suadebat vera ratio ut omnis formæ qualescumque reliquias omnino

detraherem, si vellem prorsus informe cogitare; et non poteram. Citius

enim non esse censebam quod omni forma privaretur, quam cogitabam quiddam

inter formatum et nihil, nec formatum, nec nihil, informe prope nihil.

Et cessavit mens mea interrogare hinc spiritum meum plenum imaginibus

formatorum corporum et eas pro arbitrio mutantem atque variantem; et

intendi in ipsa corpora, eorumque mutabilitatem altius inspexi, qua

desinunt esse quod fuerant, et incipiunt esse quod non erant; eorumdemque

transitum de forma in formam per informe quiddam fieri suspicatus sum,

non per omnino nihil; sed nosse cupiebam, non suspicari. Et si totum

tibi confiteatur vox et stilus meus, quidquid de ista quæstione enodasti

mihi, quis legentium capere durabit? Nec ideo tamen cessabit cor meum

dare tibi honorem et canticum laudis de iis quæ dictare non sufficit.

Mutabilitas enim rerum mutabilium ipsa capax est formarum omnium in quas

mutantur res mutabiles. Et hæc quid est? Numquid animus? numquid corpus?

numquid species animi vel corporis? Si dici posset “Nihil aliquid,” et

“Est non est,” hoc eam dicerem; et tamen jam utcumque erat, ut species

caperet istas visibiles et compositas.--_Confess._, lib. 12, c. 6.

[30] Tu enim, Domine, fecisti mundum de materia informi, quam fecisti de

nulla re pene nullam rem.--_Confess._, lib. 12, c. 8.

[31] Licet essentia, qua res denominatur ens, non sit tantum forma,

nec tantum materia, tamen hujusmodi essentiæ sola forma suo modo est

causa.--_De Ente et Essentia_, c. 2.

[32] Etiam formæ non habent esse, sed composita habent esse per

eas--_Sum. Theol._, p. 1, q. 5, a. 4.

[33] Nec forma substantialis completam essentiam habet; quia in

definitione formæ substantialis oportet quod ponatur, id cujus est

forma.--_De Ente et Essentia_, c. 5.

[34] Creationis terminus est ens actu; ipsum autem quod est actus est

forma.--_Sum. Theol._, p. 1, q. 66, a. 1.

[35] This article is reprinted, with the author’s permission, from

advance sheets of a pamphlet published by Basil Montagu Pickering,

London.--ED. C. W.

[36] S. Matthew xviii. 8.

[37] Thomas à Kempis, book iii. c. 3.

[38] Genesis xvii. 1.

[39] Psalm xlv. 11.

[40] Psalm xxxiii. 9.

[41] 1 Corinth. iii. 16.

[42] Philip. ii. 13.

[43] Psalm ciii. 30.

[44] January 15, 1872. This, and the subsequent quotations of the words

of Pius IX. are taken from _Actes et Paroles de Pius IX._ Par Auguste

Roussel. Paris: Palmé. 1874.

[45] _Traite du S. Esprit_, par Mgr. Gaume, 1864.

[46] January 22, 1871.

[47] De Maistre, _Soirées de St. Petersburg_, Xe Soirée.

[48] S. Matt. xvi. 18.

[49] 1 Timothy iii. 15.

[50] Psalm lxvi. 5.

[51] S. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, xi. 23.

[52] Encyclical to the German bishops, 1854.

[53] January 24, 1872.

[54] _History of the Conflict between Religion and Science._ By John W.

Draper. New York: D. Appleton & Co. 1874.

[55] The metrical translations used in this article are substantially

those of Mr. D. F. MacCarthy, whose works have been noticed before.

We cannot refrain from again expressing our admiration and wonder at

the successful manner in which he has overcome difficulties almost

insuperable, and which no one can appreciate until he has himself

attempted to translate Spanish _asonantes_ into corresponding English

verse.

[56] We have already spoken of Spanish _asonante_ rhyme and the

difficulty of its translation into corresponding English verse.

For those who are unacquainted with Spanish prosody the following

explanation of what the _asonante_ is may not be amiss.

Assonance consists simply in the similarity of the final, or last two

vowels in the line, _e. g._, _luna_, _juzoa_, _culpas_, _gula_, _suma_.

These all are considered to rhyme because they have the same vowels,

_u-a_; _honor_, _sol_, _hoy_, _dió_, _cuatro_, are examples of single

_asonantes_ in _o_.

Dean Trench calls this the “ghost and shadow of a rhyme.” How well Mr.

MacCarthy has succeeded in reproducing it the reader can see in the

above extract. The _asonantes_ in the original are _u-a_, for which Mr.

MacCarthy has substituted _u-e_.

[57] See Daniel, chap. v. 10, 11.

[58] Dico ergo primo: Materia prima ex se, et non intrinsece a forma,

habet suam entitatem actualem essentiæ, quamvis non habeat illam nisi cum

intrinseca habitudine ad formam.--_Disp. Metaph._ 13, sect. 4, n. 9.

[59] Dico secundo: Materia prima etiam habet in se et per se entitatem,

seu actualitatem, existentiæ distinctam ab existentia formæ, quamvis

illam habeat dependenter a forma.--_Ibid._ n. 13.

[60] Subjectum secundum privationem.--Arist. 8. _Metaph._, n. 1.

[61] Si enim materia prima haberet aliquam formam propriam, per eam esset

aliquid actu; et sic, quum superinduceretur alia forma, non simpliciter

materia per eam esset, sed fieret hoc vel illud ens; et sic esset

generatio secundum quid, et non simpliciter. Unde omnes ponentes primum

subjectum esse aliquod corpus, ut aërem et aquam, posuerunt generationem

idem esse quod alterationem.--_In 8. Metaph._, lect. 1.

[62] Cardinal Tolomei, who was not only a well-read man, but also

a peripatetic at heart, candidly confesses that the peripatetic

view of generation has never been substantiated. “Depend upon it,”

says he, “either no sound argument can be adduced in proof of the

peripatetic system, and we must, accordingly, simply postulate it; or,

if any proof can be adduced, it consists in the sole argument from

authority.” Crede mihi; vel solidi nihil afferri potest pro systemate

peripatetico adstruendo, adeoque simpliciter erit postulandum; vel unico

a nobis allecto argumento (auctoritatis) satis est roboris ad ipsum

confirmandum.--_Phil. Mentis et Sensuum_, diss 8, phys. gen. concl. 2.

And speaking of the argument drawn from substantial changes, he declares

it to be a mere sophism: Est mera petitio principii, et æquivocatio inter

materiam primam ab omnibus philosophis admissam, et materiam primam

Aristotelicam.--_Ibid._ See Tongiorgi, _Cosmol._, lib. 1, c. 2, n. 42 et

seq.

[63] On the difference between substantial and essential forms, see THE

CATHOLIC WORLD, November, 1873, p. 190.

[64] _Summa Theol._, p. 1, q. 76, a. 4.

[65] Vera corpora, quæ nimirum substantiæ sunt, et non aggregata

substantiarum, componuntur quoad essentiam ex materia et forma

substantiali.--Liberatore, _Metaph. Special._, p. 1, n. 53.

[66] Hominis ergo compositio ex materia et forma substantiali ostendit,

esse in rebus naturalibus quoddam subjectum naturale natura sua aptum ut

informetur actu aliquo substantiali; ergo tale subjectum imperfectum et

incompletum est in genere substantiæ; petit ergo esse semper sub aliquo

actu substantiali.--Suarez, _Disp. Metaph._ 15, sect. 1, n. 7.

[67] This reason is given by Suarez: “Homo constat forma substantiali ut

intrinseca causa.… Nam anima rationalis substantia est et non accidens,

ut patet, quia per se manet separata a corpore, quum sit immortalis; est

ergo per se subsistens et independens a subjecto. Non ergo est accidens,

sed substantia”--_Disp. Metaph._ 15, sect. 1, n. 6.

[68] Hæc paritas est innumeris affecta disparitatibus, quantum

videlicet interest inter animam rationalem, spiritualem, per se

subsistentem, immortalem, et entitates quasdam corporeas, corruptibiles,

incompletas.--_Loc. cit._

[69] See Tongiorgi, _Cosmol._, lib. i. c. 2, n. 35.

[70] THE CATHOLIC WORLD, April, 1875.

[71] See THE CATHOLIC WORLD, February, 1874, p. 584.

[72] See “Le Courrier Russe,” by M. J. Martinov, from which the present

article is in great part an abridged translation, _Revue des Questions

Historiques_ for April, 1874.

[73] It was on the 19th of February, 1861, that the Emancipation of the

Serfs was proclaimed.

[74] _Rousskaïa Istoria v jizneopisaniakh ïeïa glavneïchikh

predstavitelaei._

[75] The _Væringer_, or Varangians, were a people of Scandinavian race

who had settled in Neustria, which owes to them its name of Normandy.

Many of these warriors were invited into Sclavonia by the Novogorodians

to defend their northern frontier against the incursions of the Finns;

but some years later, in 862, Rurik, their chief, took possession of

Novogorod, assuming the title of Grand Prince. Others of the same race

established themselves at Kiev, in the year 864.

[76] The Countess Boutourlin and her sister, the Countess Virenzov.

[77] _Drevniaïa russkaïa istoria do Mongolskago iga._ Moscow: 1871.

[78] Amongst these may be named the _Historic Papers of Arseniev_, those

of _Catherine II._, and the _Marquis de Chétardie_, French Ambassador at

the court of Elizabeth, and in particular the very interesting work on

_Learning and Literature in Russia under Peter II._

[79] _Prikhodsokoïe doukhovenstvo so vremeni reformy Petra I._ Kazan:

1873.

[80] See also _The Russian Clergy_. By Father Gagarin, S.J. London: 1872.

[81] See p. 610.

[82] The Ruthenians, or Ruthenes, are a people of Sclavonic race

inhabiting the province of Servia. The Ruthenian or Servian alphabet is

also called “the Alphabet of S. Cyril.”

[83] _Istoria vozsoïedineniïa zapadnorouskikh ouniatov starykh vremen._

Petersburg: 1873.

[84]

“E’en thus the Romans, when the year returns

Of Jubilee, with better speed to rid

The thronging multitudes, their means devise

For such as pass the bridge; that on one side

All front toward the castle, and approach

S. Peter’s fane, on the other towards the mount.”

--_Cary’s Translation._

[85]

“Like a wight,

Who haply from Croatia wends to see

Our Veronica and the while ’tis shown,

Hangs over it with never-sated gaze,

And, all that he hath heard revolving, saith

Unto himself in thought: ‘And didst thou look

E’en thus, O Jesus, my true Lord and God?

And was this semblance thine?’”

--_Cary’s Translation._

[86] _The Greville Memoirs._ A Journal of the Reigns of King George IV.

and King William IV. By Charles C. F. Greville, Clerk of the Council to

those Sovereigns. Edited by H. Reeve, Registrar of the Privy Council. New

York: Appleton & Co. 1875.

_Mémoires du Duc de Saint-Simon sur le siècle de Louis XIV. et la

Régence._ Paris: 1858.

[87] This notice is taken in part from the French of Henry Hoisnard and

other sources.

[88] “Preach the Word, be instant in season, out of season.”--2 Tim. iv.

ii.

[89] “And the dragon was angry against the woman.”--Apoc. xii. 17.

[90] The age of some of the “children” in this institution actually runs

up to twenty and even twenty-one.

[91] Possibly the superintendent, Mr. Israel C. Jones, and such as

he, have had much to do with bringing about this magnificent result.

Their course of treatment of the unfortunate children committed to

their care is sufficiently well known to many of our readers. Here is

a picture of Mr. Jones and his associate reformers, painted by his

own hand, and exhibited to the public gaze in a court of justice. It

occurred during the trial of Justus Dunn, an inmate of the Institution

for the Reformation of Juvenile Delinquents, for the killing of Samuel

Calvert, one of the keepers. In his cross-examination Mr Jones testified

respecting various modes of punishment used in the institution. One was

as follows: “I know of Ward being tied up by the thumbs. (The witness

described this mode of punishment.) In the tailor’s shop there is an

iron column five inches in diameter; around the top of that was placed a

small cord, and another small cord was run through it, and dropped down;

_the boys’ thumbs were put into the ends and drawn up until the arms were

extended_, but their feet were not moved.

“By Judge Bedford: How long were they kept in that position? A. From

three, perhaps to eight minutes. To Mr Howe: I tried the effect upon

myself; it was an idea that struck me to deal with that particular class

of boys. I think seven, not to exceed eight, boys were punished in this

way. I was present during the punishment of one of the boys part of the

time. I went out of the room.

“By Judge Bedford: You do not know of your own knowledge whether they

were raised from the ground? A. Not of my own knowledge.

“By Mr. Howe: You saw the boys put up by this small whip-cord? A. Yes,

sir.

“Q. And you would leave the room when they were spliced up? A. Yes, sir;

I stepped out of the room once or twice. I have seen boys beaten with

a rattan, but not so severely as to be able to count the welts by the

blood.”

There is much more of the same character, but the extract given is

enough to show the means adopted in this estimable institution and by

this eminently pious superintendent for the reformation of juvenile

delinquents. It is like reading again the pages of another but an earlier

Reformation.

[92] This answer was actually made not long ago to a Catholic priest by a

Protestant clergyman.

[93] How now!

[94] Light of the moon.

[95] Some codices have XXXV.

[96] During the residence of the popes at Avignon, and afterwards until

about the time of the Council of Trent, it was usual to call cardinals

by the name of their native places or of their dioceses, as the Cardinal

of Gaeta (Cajetan), the Cardinal of Toledo. This was the case at first

possibly because the cardinals were not very familiar with their titles

on the banks of the Tiber, which many of them never saw, and may have

been kept up afterwards when the popes returned to Rome, in some degree

by that love of grand nomenclature which characterized the age of the

revival of letters. It requires sometimes no little search to discover

the _real_ name of one who is called in history, for instance, the

Cardinal of S. Chrysogonus (Cardinalis Sancti Chrysogoni) or the Cardinal

of Pavia (Cardinalis Papiensis).

The present style has long been to call cardinals by their family names;

but if these be ancient or memorable ones, there is a recognized form of

Latinization not to be departed from. Thus, to give an example, the late

Cardinal Prince Altieri was in Latin Cardinalis de Alteriis.

[97] Those who use the Roman _Ordo_ in saying the Office will have

remarked how constantly the expression _Mense decembri_ occurs in the

lessons of the earlier pope-saints as the season at which they held one

or more ordinations. These ordinations thought worthy of being recorded

were only those of cardinals.

[98] Cenni gives it as here from a precious Veronese MS.; but Gratian,

in the _Decretum_ (dist. 79, can. 5), read _filiorum_; yet this does not

materially alter the text.

[99] Stand bravely.

[100]

Jesus, thou didst labor,

Aid us in our toil!

[101]

Jesus! thou art the Good Shepherd;

Thy flock, it is the sinner;

Guard it from the wolf infernal

And every kind of evil!

[102] _Vie du Frère Philippe._ Par M. Poujoulat. Tours: Mame et Fils.

[103] Letter of March 17, 1766.

[104] Ibid., April 1, 1766.

[105] Ibid., April 17, 1766.

[106] _Géométrie Pratique appliquée au dessin Linéaire._

[107] The article is as follows: “Primary instruction comprises moral

and religious teaching, reading, writing, the elements of the French

language, arithmetic, and the legal system of weights and measures; to

which may also be added arithmetic applied to practical operations,

the elements of history and geography, some acquaintance with physical

science and natural history applicable to the requirements of life,

elementary instruction in agriculture, manufactures and hygiene,

land-surveying, levelling, linear drawing, singing, and gymnastics.”

[108] From the MS. _Journey of the Lady Anne of Cleves_, in the State

Paper Office.

[109] The first was Catherine of Aragon; the second Jane Seymour; the

third Anne of Cleves. Between the first and second came Anne Boleyn, who

was never his _wife_; and after the third came two more queens, Catherine

Howard and Catherine Parr, neither of whom lays claim to the title of

wife, as Anne outlived him for many years.

[110] See Moreri and De Thou.

[111] State Papers.

[112] This essay, by the Rev. Henry Formby, published in England in

1849, has been many years out of print. We lay it before our readers

with the kind permission of the author, being assured that those who are

interested in the subject of which it treats will be glad to obtain an

opportunity to peruse it.--ED. C. W.

[113] Mgr. Parisis, Bishop of Langres, speaks thus of its importance:

“Far, then, from thinking that, in occupying ourselves with it, we

derogate from the sanctity of our ministry, we consider ourselves to be

performing an imperious duty and to be providing for an urgent necessity”

(_Instruction pastorale sur le Chant de l’Eglise_).

[114] The Roman chant exists in two principal collections: the _Gradual_,

which contains the Order of the Celebration of Mass throughout the year;

and the _Antiphonale_, which contains the chant for the canonical hours.

These usually form two large folio volumes. Besides these there are

smaller collections, the Rituale and Processionale, Hymnarium, etc.

[115] _Fundamental Philosophy_, lib. iii. c. 11.

[116] _De Divinis Perfectionibus_, lib. ii, c. 2.

[117] _Fundamental Philosophy_, lib. iii. c. 12, n. 82.

[118] _Ibid._, n. 83.

[119] THE CATHOLIC WORLD, January, 1875, p. 487.

[120] THE CATHOLIC WORLD, August, 1874, p. 583.

[121] This objection is taken from Dmowski’s _Cosmology_, n. 34.

[122] The phrase “space is mensurable” is common, but it is not strictly

correct; for it is not absolute space, but only the intervals or

distances (which are relations in space) that are really mensurable,

as we shall see in our next article. Yet, as the phrase was used in

the objection, we kept it in our answer, on the ground that, although

absolute space is not formally mensurable in itself, it is the reason

of the mensurability of all intervals arising from its extrinsic

terminations.

[123] Ipsa enim immensitas divinæ substantiæ et sibi et mundo sufficiens

est spatium, et intervallum capax omnis naturæ creabilis, tam corporalis,

quam spiritualis. Sicut enim essentia divina est primæva essentia, origo

et fundamentum omnis essentiæ et entis conceptibilis, ita immensitas

divina est primum et intimum intervallum, seu spatium, origo omnis

intervalli, et spatium omnium spatiorum, locus omnium locorum, sedes

et basis primordialis omnis loci et spatii.--_Lessius, De Divinis

Perfectionibus_, lib. ii., c. 2.

[124] _Philos. Fundament._, c. xvi. n. 113.

[125] _Ibid._, c. xvii. n. 119, 120.

[126] THE CATHOLIC WORLD, January, 1875, p. 487.

[127] Childishness.

[128] The Chevalier Gaetano Moroni is a gentleman of the bedchamber to

the present Pope. His farraginous work in one hundred and three volumes,

is an inexhaustible source of ecclesiastical erudition; but as Niebuhr

said of Cancellieri’s writings, these large octavos contain some things

that are important, many things that are useful, and everything that is

superfluous.

[129] _Relazione della corte di Roma._ The best edition is that published

at Rome in 1774, with notes by the learned Jesuit, F. A. Zaccaria.

[130] This strange proceeding of the belted custodian of the conclave

is confirmed by a document which was issued by the cardinals on the

8th of June--“In palatio discooperto episcopatus Viterbiensis” (Macri,

_Hierolexicon_).

[131] Our English distinction of Very, Right, and Most Reverend is

unknown in good Latin. _Admodum Reverendus_ is barbarous and repudiated

by the _stylus curiæ_.

[132] Betrayed his uncle Paul IV., was tried by eight of his peers and

condemned to death.

[133] Abused the confidence of Benedict XIII.; condemned by Clement XII.

to a fine of two hundred thousand crowns, to loss of all dignities, and

ten years’ imprisonment.

[134] He purged himself and was reinstated in the cardinalate; seems to

have been more of a dupe than a rogue.

[135] Deprived of his dignity by Pius VI. on Sept. 21, 1791, for taking

the schismatical civil oath of the French clergy.

[136] After the battle of Gravelotte, the Christian Brothers carried

eight thousand wounded from that sanguinary field.

[137] See _Les Frères des Ecoles chrétiennes pendant la Guerre de

1870-71_, par J. d’Arsac.

[138] See _Vie du Frère Philippe_, p. 296.

[139] “Forma erigendi seminarium clericorum:”--“Ut vero in eadem

disciplina ecclesiastica commodius instituantur, tonsura statim

atque habitu clericali semper utentur; grammatices, cantus computi

ecclesiastici, aliarumque bonarum artium disciplinam discent,”

etc.--_Concilium Tridentinum_: Sessio XXIII. de Reform, c. 18.

[In the letters of the Holy Father Pius IX. establishing the Seminario

Pio, he ordered that the students should be taught Gregorian Chant, and

no other. “Cantus Gregorianus, omni alio rejecto, tradetur.”--ED. C. W.]

[140] The approbation of the Missa Papæ Marcelli was based upon the fact

that the music most nearly approached in gravity to the ecclesiastical

song, not that it was better.

[141] It may not be unworthy of remark that the composers of modern

church music have uniformly thought a different style of composition

becoming, whenever occasion required the introduction of a _sham prayer_

into their operas; as may be seen in Mozart’s chorus of Egyptian priests

in the _Zauberflöte_, and many other similar instances. To real prayer,

and to the true adorable sacrifice, it is the operatic effects that are

exclusively dedicated, as in Mozart’s No. XII. and Haydn’s No. II.

[142] The following anecdote is told in the Breviary lections of S. Felix

of Valois, founder of the Congregation of the Most Holy Trinity for the

Redemption of Captives (his day occurs the 20th of November):

“S. Felix received a remarkable favor from the Blessed Virgin Mother.

All the brethren remaining asleep, and, by the disposition of God, not

rising for the celebration of Matins, which were to have been recited

at midnight on the Vigil of the Blessed Mother’s Nativity, Felix awoke,

as was his custom, and entering into the choir before the time, found

there the Blessed Virgin herself, clothed in a habit marked with the

cross of the order, and in company with a number of angels habited in

the same manner. Felix, taking his place amongst them, sang through and

finished the entire Office, the Blessed Mother herself acting the part of

precentor.”--_Breviarium Romanum._

This is but one specimen, among the many others which are to be found in

church history, of the light in which angels and saints regard the chant

of the Ritual.

[143] Mgr. Parisis continues: “My dear friends and brethren, we have

ourselves never precisely seen these sweet days of the faith; but in our

very early youth we seem to have caught, as it were, their last twilight;

we well remember that the sounds which first caught our ear were the

sweet melodies of the Liturgy, and during that Reign of Terror when they

were banished from the churches, we bless God with all our heart on

recollecting the holiday evenings when we were rewarded by being allowed

to sing with the family the touching mysteries of the Divine Son of Mary,

at one time in the language of the Church, at another in the well-known

tongue of our religious ancestors.”

[144] It is a fashion to despise _unison singing_; yet the highest

authorities in the church have given it their decided preference. The

Pontiffs John XXII. and Benedict XIV. have recommended unison singing

to the whole church as the fittest; Abbot Gerbert and Cardinal Bona

recognize its superiority; Mgr. Parisis says, “We speak here exclusively

of _unison singing, because it is this that best suits the church_.”

Conceit and fashion may be and most probably are at the bottom of such

a feeling of contempt; and of course where the singing is confined to

a limited number, individuals will naturally wish for an opportunity

of displaying their own little talent. “Omnium hominum,” is Guido of

Arezzi’s experience, “fatuissimi cantores.” S. Bernard says: “That new

canticle, which it will be given to virgins alone to sing in the kingdom

of God, there is no one who doubts but that the Queen of Virgins herself

will be the first to sing; and I think that, besides that song peculiar

to virgins, and which is common to her with others, she will delight

the city of God with some still sweeter and more beautiful song, the

exquisite melody of which no other virgin will be found worthy to sing,

save her only who may boast of having given birth, and that to God” (II.

Homily on _Missus est Gabriel_). Now the song here spoken of will be in

_unison_.

[145] The Empress Catherine of Russia, as well as the King of Denmark,

was in the habit of sending every year for a supply of these pears. They

are in less demand now, like many other things once valued.

[146] We were shown some of these curious boxes at S. Oren’s Priory.

The straw of different colors is woven in figures, giving the effect of

a kind of mosaic, or cloth of gold, according to the quality. The nuns

formerly made candlesticks for the altar in this way, which were both

unique and beautiful.

[147] There are in the canton 47,868 Catholics, of whom 25,000 are

foreigners; and 43,639 Protestants, of whom only 9,000 are foreigners. So

that the Protestant electors numbered 10,000 against 16,000.

[148] Waiter.

[149] On the relative modes see THE CATHOLIC WORLD for May, 1874, p. 179.

[150] This same subject has been developed under another form in THE

CATHOLIC WORLD for January, 1875, p. 495 _et seq._

[151] Which is still extant.

[152] The following is another interesting passage from a fragment of

Kirke White:

“Hark, how it falls! and now it steals along,

Like distant bells upon the lake at eve,

When all is still; and now it grows more strong,

As when the choral train their dirges weave,

Mellow and many-voic’d; where every close

O’er the old minster-roof in echoing waves reflows.

“Oh! I am rapt aloft. My spirit soars

Beyond the skies, and leaves the stars behind.

Lo! angels lead me to the happy shores,

And floating pæans fill the buoyant wind.

Farewell! base earth, farewell! my soul is freed;

Far from its clayey cell it springs.”

It is remarkable, also, that Goethe represents Faust as in the very act

of swallowing poison, to escape from the miseries of life, when the song

of an Easter hymn, sung in procession, falls upon his ear, and charms

away the thought of suicide.

[153] Vol i. p. 250.

[154] _Leaders of Public Opinion in Ireland_, p. 120.

[155]

Hac arte Pollux et vagus Hercules

Euisus arces attigit igneas.--_Hor._ Carm. iii. 3.

[156] We are indebted for the principal portion of the events mentioned

in this sketch to the beautiful narrative lately published by the Rev.

Giovanni Spillmann, S.J.

[157] The words _soulier_ and _savate_ mean _shoe_, and _old shoe_.

[158] The arms of Lourdes consist of three golden towers, the central

one bearing an eagle with a silver trout in its mouth, referring to the

legend of the fish brought by an eagle during the siege and dropped on

the highest point of the castle, still known as the _Pierre de l’Aigle_.

Mirat hastened to send it to Charlemagne as a proof his _vivier_ still

furnished good fish.

Bernard, Count of Bigorre, with his wife Clémence, went on a pilgrimage

to Notre Dame de Puy in the year 1062, and there consecrated himself and

his province to the Virgin, in presence of the chapter and many lords,

among whom was Arnaud Guillaume de Barbazan. Moreover, he agreed to pay

her a tribute of sixty sols annually.

[159] In the archives of the Tower of London we read: “No. 9 de

concedendo Joanni de Bearn armigero, custodiam castri de Lourdes et

patriæ de Bigorre, nec non officium senescalciæ; de Bigorre, teste Rege,

Westminster, 20 Januarii, 1383.”

[160] The poet Musset thus sings of the Artist-Princess:

“Ce naïf génie

Qui courait à sa mère au doux nom de Marie,

Sur son œuvre chéri, penchant son front rêveur

A la fille des champs qui sauva sa Patrie

Prête sa piété, sa grace et sa pudeur.”--

“This simple genius,

Who, at the sweet name of Marie, to her mother ran--

To the daughter of the fields, the deliverer of her country,

Lends her own piety, modesty, and grace.”

[161] The writer is indebted to M. l’Abbé Huot for portions of the

foregoing.

[162] By the help of God and S. Peter, I swear to be good and loyal to

the town; to seek its welfare and avert all evil; to take counsel in

doubt, do justice to the small as well as the great; as former mayors

have done, and better if I know. So help me God and S. Peter.

[163] Article--“Dominique de Gourgues.”

[164] This church was sacked and burned by the Huguenots. De Gourgues can

hardly have sympathized with the destroyers of his mother’s tomb, to say

nothing of several generations of ancestors.

[165] See Letters of Charles IX., Catherine de Médicis, and M. de

Fourquevaulx ambassador at Madrid, published by the Marquis Duprat.

[166] Evidently for ship provisions.

[167] “Letter of the Bishop of Orleans to the Catholic

Committee.”--_Univers_, January 7, 1872.

[168] See the number of February, 1875--“Education on the Radical Plan.”

[169] Laboulaye’s measure concerning higher instruction. The reporter

recognizes in it the right of families themselves to choose tutors for

their children, and also the right of associations formed with the view

of instruction.

[170] A recent speech delivered at Belleville by the leader of French

liberalism, M. Gambetta, gives a sufficiently exact idea of this kind of

civil constitution. See the political journals of April 26, 1875.

[171] _Ancienne et nouvelle discipline de l’Eglise touchant les bénéfices

et les bénéficiers_, 2ᵉ part., liv. ii. ch. 26, 27; 3ᵉ part., liv. ii.

ch. 18-23.

[172] _Conc. Trid._, sess. xxii. _de reform._, cap. 18.

[173] “Quæ omnia, atque alia ad hanc opportuna et necessaria, episcopi

singuli, cum consilio duorum canonicorum seniorum et graviorum, quos

ipsi elegerint, prout Spiritus Sanctus suggesserit, constituent; eaque

ut semper observentur, sæpius visitando, operam dabunt.”--_Conc. Trid._,

loc. cit.

[174] “Pietas ad omnia utilis est, pro missionem habens vitæ quæ nunc

est, et futuræ.”--1 Tim. iv. 8.

[175] _Summ. Theol._, 1. 2. q. xc., art. 3.

[176] We quote at length the remarkable passage from which these words

are quoted. It occurs in an allocution of the Holy Father to the

cardinals, delivered in the Secret Consistory, Sept. 5, 1851, in which

his Holiness announces the concordat which had recently been concluded

with the Spanish government “The great object of our solicitude was

to secure the integrity of our holy religion and to provide for the

spiritual wants of the church. Now, you will see, the concordat arranges

that the Catholic religion, with all the rights it enjoys by virtue of

its divine institution, and of rules established by the sacred canons,

should be exclusively dominant in that kingdom; every other religion

will be openly banished from it and forbidden. It is, consequently,

settled that the manner of educating and instructing the youth in all

the universities, colleges or seminaries, in all the public and private

schools, will be in full conformity with the doctrine of the Catholic

religion. The bishops and heads of dioceses, who, by virtue of their

office, are bound to labor with all their might to protect the purity

of Catholic teaching, to propagate it, to watch that the youth receive

a Christian education, will find no obstacle to the accomplishment of

those duties; they will be able, without meeting the least hindrance, to

exercise the most attentive superintendence over the schools, even the

public ones, and to discharge freely, in all its plenitude, their office

of pastor.” Is not this, in exact terms, the thesis here defended?

[177] The following proposition has been condemned by Pius IX. in his

Encyclical _Quanta cura_: “Optimam societatis publicæ rationem civilemque

progressum omnino requirere, ut humana societas constituatur et

gubernetur, nullo habito ad religionem respectu, ac si ea non existeret,

vel saltem nullo facto veram inter falsasque religiones discrimine.”

[178] Incredible as this may seem, it is nevertheless true.

[179] “Nomine loci videtur intelligi superficies realis corporis

circumdantis, non tamen secundum se solum, sed prout immobilis, hoc est,

prout est affixa tali spatio imaginario” (_De Sacr. Euch._, disp. 5,

sect. 4).

[180] Loc. cit., sect. 5, n. 123.

[181] Corpus Christi non est in hoc sacramento sicut in loco, sed per

modum substantiæ.… Unde nullo modo corpus Christi est in hoc sacramento

localiter.--_Summ. Theol._, p. 3, q. 76, a. 5.

[182] Sed contra: omnia duo loca distinguuntur ad invicem secundum

aliquam loci contrarietatem, qua sunt sursum et deorsum, ante, retro,

dextrum et sinistrum. Sed Deus non potest facere quod duo contraria sint

simul; hoc enim implicat contradictionem. Ergo Deus non potest facere

quod idem corpus localiter sit simul in duobus locis.--_Quodlib._ 3, q.

1, a. 2.

[183] A bird in hand, etc.

[184] Full title of the original publication: _Origine et Progrès de la

Mission du Kentucky_ (Etats-Unis d’Amérique). Par un Témoin Oculaire.

Prix, 1 fr. au profit de la Mission. A Paris: chez Adrien Le Clere,

Imprimeur de N. S. P. le Pape, et de S. E. Mgr. le Cardinal Archevêque de

Paris. Quai des Augustins, No. 35. 1821.

[185] And even now, for one or two dollars an acre, fertile land can

be purchased in the vast extent of country watered by the Mississippi,

the Missouri, the Arkansas, etc.--that land which Bonaparte sold to the

United States in 1801 for ten million dollars. Kentucky produces in

abundance all sorts of grain, especially corn, and also sweet potatoes,

tobacco, cotton, flax, hemp, and indigo. In the month of February the

inhabitants tap the maple tree, in order to procure a liquid which they

boil until it is reduced to syrup or sugar. The wild grape-vine grows to

the height of thirty or forty feet, but the grapes are small and the wine

acrid; moreover, Americans do not understand the culture of the vine.

[186] When it is necessary to cross a desert, or when the guide loses his

way in the forest--which is of frequent occurrence--then the missionaries

are obliged to spend the night in the woods, to sleep on the ground near

a large fire, by the light of which they read their Breviary.

[187] The city of Detroit and the church were accidentally burned

seventeen years ago. The city was afterwards rebuilt and captured by

the English, assisted by the savages, during the last war with the

United States. Since the conclusion of peace there has been a cathedral

built, to which the Sovereign Pontiff has attached an episcopal seat

in perpetuity. The missions of Michigan, Illinois, Missouri, and Post

Vincennes were then almost entirely formed of French Canadians. With

regard to all the territory mentioned in this narrative, one can consult

M. Arrowsmith, an American geographer, whose work can be found in Paris

at Dezauche’s, Rue des Noyers, No. 40.

[188] Several years previous M. Badin, after having received the vows of

a few pious persons, and having had donated to him a hundred acres of

land, had a monastery built for the same purpose; but as it was a frame

building, it was, through the carelessness of the workmen, burnt before

being completed.

[189] We here submit an extract from an English letter written the 15th

of March, 1820, by Father Fenwick to the author of this notice: “I hope

that this will find you in good health and on the point of returning

to America. It will be a great pleasure for me to see you again and to

hear from your lips the particulars of your trip. If possible, bring me

home some pictures. With gratitude would I receive some for the altars

of the Blessed Virgin and S. Joseph, as also any other church furniture

or books, such as the lives of the saints of the Order of S. Dominic

by Father Touron, the history of the miracles of the holy fathers, or

any other works on those subjects. If you saw my relative, M. J. F., I

flatter myself sufficiently to hope that you remembered me to him, and

that you laid before him the needs of my mission. We have built three

churches, and only for one of these three do we possess sufficient

ornaments and other articles necessary for divine service.”

[190] We have to-day in the United States five bishops of French origin:

Bishop Maréchal, born at Ingré, in the Diocese of Orleans, third

archbishop of Baltimore; Bishop Cheverus, of Paris, first bishop of

Boston; Bishop Flaget, born in Auvergne, bishop of Kentucky, and Bishop

David, of the Diocese of Nantes, his coadjutor; and, finally, Bishop

Dubourg, bishop of Louisiana and the Floridas, who resides in St. Louis

on the Mississippi, in the State of Missouri. The see of Philadelphia

became vacant by the death of Bishop Egan, and that of New York is

occupied by Bishop Connelly, an Irishman of the Order of S. Dominic. The

number of American bishops is continually increasing. New Orleans and

the Floridas are too far from St. Louis; the Dioceses of Baltimore and

Bardstown are too extensive; and, moreover, the number of Catholics is

daily increasing, in consequence of the immigrations from Europe and from

conversions.

[191] By his writings you can judge the man; and we can give you no

better idea of the mildness, humility, and modesty of the Bishop of

Bardstown than by inserting here extracts from several letters which he

wrote from Baltimore to his vicar-general in Kentucky. His zeal, his

disinterestedness, and his self-abnegation are equalled only by his

confidence in divine Providence: “God be my witness that I do not desire

riches; and I would a thousand times rather die than be attacked by this

craving. The less we possess, the less worried will we be with regard to

it; but there are some things necessary, and it is upon you that I depend

to procure them for me. I must rely upon the friendship which you have

for me to ask you, my dear M. Badin, henceforth to provide for my wants.

After all, you desired it; for if it had not been for you, I would never

have been made bishop. We will have eight or nine trunks filled with

books and other articles. The distance is great and transportation very

high; the trip and the transportation will cost more than 4,000 francs,

and we have not a cent. We can only wait until Providence comes to our

rescue. To lessen my expenses I will leave the servant who offers me his

services in Baltimore; and I would even leave my books there, did I not

consider them essential to our establishment. In order not to increase

your expenses I will only bring with me M. David, and we will both be but

too happy to share your mode of life, however humble it may be. If the

bishopric had only presented difficulties of this nature, I would not

have hesitated so long before accepting it. Providence calls me to it

despite myself, and it was useless for me to travel over land and sea in

order to evade this charge. All my trouble was lost. God seems to exact

it of me that I bow my head to this weighty yoke, even though it should

crush me. Alas! should I stop sufficiently long to consider my weakness

and my troubles, I would fall into despair, and hardly would I dare take

one step in the vast career that is opening before me. To reassure myself

it is necessary that I frequently recall to mind that I did not install

myself in this important post, and that all my earthly superiors in a

manner forced me to accept it.”

From Baltimore, where he had more than one hundred miles by land and

three hundred miles by water over which to travel to arrive at Bardstown,

he writes thus: “Remember that for the use of seven or eight we have

but one horse, which I destine for M. David, as he is the least active

among us. For myself and the other gentlemen, we will go on foot with

the greatest pleasure, if there is the least difficulty in travelling

otherwise. This pilgrimage will please me exceedingly, and I do not

think it derogatory to my dignity. I leave it all to your judgment, and

I would be very glad to have sufficient money to join you at Louisville;

the remainder of the journey will be entirely at your expense. That the

will of God be done, I would a thousand times prefer going on foot rather

than to cause the slightest murmur; and you did very well to recall the

subscription which had been started for my benefit, as it would only have

tended to alienate people from me. It was, however, but right that people

anxious to have a bishop among them should furnish him means to reach

them. There is nothing I would not do for the sanctification of my flock.

My time, my work, my life even, is consecrated to it; and, finally, it

will only remain for me to say that I am ‘an unprofitable servant, having

done only that which I ought to do.’”

Divine Providence, whose intervention he had merited by his zeal and his

resignation, supplied, as if by miracle, in some invisible way, the needs

of the prelate, who on the 11th of June, 1811, arrived at St. Etienne,

the residence of M. Badin, with two priests and four scholastics. There

he found the faithful on their knees singing holy canticles, the women

nearly all robed in white, and some of them still fasting, although it

was then four o’clock in the afternoon, as they hoped to assist at his

Mass and receive Holy Communion from his hands that very day. An altar

had been erected under some shrubbery to afford a shade where the bishop

might rest himself. After the Asperges he was conducted in procession to

the chapel, the Litany of the Blessed Virgin being sung meanwhile; and

then followed the ceremonies and prayers prescribed in the Pontifical

for such an occasion. M. Badin lived in a little frame house, and, in

consequence of the expenses incurred to rebuild the burned monastery

of which we have already spoken, he with difficulty was able to build

two miserable little huts, sixteen feet square, for his illustrious

friend and the ecclesiastics who accompanied him. Finally, one of the

missionaries slept on a mattress in the attic of this whitewashed

episcopal palace, whose sole furniture consisted of one bed, six chairs,

two tables, and the shelves for a library. The bishop resided here one

year, and he considered himself happy to live thus in the midst of

apostolic poverty.

[192] The Dominican Fathers, assisted by their novices, with their own

hands performed a great deal of the work on their monastery and the

beautiful church of S. Rose. Like them, the scholastics afterwards made

bricks and lime, cut the wood, etc., to build that of S. Thomas, the

seminary, and convent of Nazareth. The poverty of our establishment

forces them to devote their hours of recreation to this work. Every day

they spend three hours in gardening, in working in the fields or in the

woods. Nothing could be more frugal than their table, and that of the two

bishops is no better; pure water from a spring is their ordinary drink.

Neither could anything be more humble than their clothing--imagine fifty

poor scholastics who are obliged to cover themselves with rags, and to

borrow decent clothes with which to appear in the town.

Bishop Flaget hopes that pious and charitable persons who are not able to

send him money for his cathedral will endeavor to send clothes or books

necessary for the studies and the clothing of his beloved scholastics.

[193] Since the appointment of Bishop Dubourg to St. Louis, the too

distant mission of Illinois, which was part of the Diocese of Bardstown,

has been attended by this prelate, whose residence is in the vicinity.

[194] Eight of these buildings are brick and stone, and the others frame.

[195] Besides the bishops and the missionaries, the students and servants

in the seminaries and convents are included in this number.

[196] Here rest the bones of Blessed Brother Claus von der Flüe, placed

here when this church was built, anno 1679.