Address to the Liberty-Loving People of New England.
To the men and women of Boston and New England who love the cause of
Liberty: At a meeting held in Union Hall, Boston, on the evening of
February 16, the undersigned were appointed an executive committee and
empowered to issue an address to the liberty-loving men and women of New
England, in aid of the five-dollar parliamentary fund voted to be raised
at the above meeting to uphold the constitutional efforts of Charles
Stewart Parnell and his patriotic coadjutors in the British House of
Commons, and their grand struggle for home rule for Ireland.
To the native and adopted citizen alike we appeal, and earnestly request
that in every town and city of New England immediate action be taken to
make this fund a success, and that the proceeds be sent through one
common channel to Mr. Parnell. We hope the fund thus created will prove
worthy of New England, whose people are largely composed of the Celtic
race, and that free New England's tribute to struggling old Ireland will
be such that its example will be followed in other sections of the
country.
Let us make the five-dollar subscription list of New England to the
Irish parliamentary fund famous in the history of this struggle of the
Irish race.
We request that all who sympathize will add their names to the patriotic
list, and that committees similar to that of Boston be formed in every
town. Asa P. Potter, president of the Maverick National Bank, Col.
Charles H. Taylor, editor of the _Boston Globe_, and J. B. Hand, Esq.,
have been appointed trustees of the fund, and we request that all
moneys collected be sent to Mr. Parnell through them. We further ask
that all newspapers in New England in sympathy with this movement kindly
copy this address, and that those who wish to subscribe shall send their
five dollars to the trustees or to either of the undersigned.
HUGH O'BRIEN,
_Mayor of Boston_,
EDWARD RILEY,
JOHN E. FITZGERALD,
JOHN BOYLE O'REILLY,
DOMINICK TOY,
T. M. BRADLEY,
PATRICK MAGUIRE,
JOHN R. MURPHY,
JOHN MILLER,
W. W. DOHERTY,
_Executive Committee_.
T. J. MURPHY, } _Secretaries._
WILLIAM FERGUSON, }
* * * * *
GRADUALLY FALLING INTO OUR HANDS.--There is not a diocese in the Union
which has not profited by sheriff's sales of Protestant educational
property. The great seminary at Troy was once a Methodist college. Last
month Archbishop Ryan bought out a Protestant college building and gave
it over to the Sisters of the Good Shepherd. For thirty-five years it
had been the _Alma Mater_ of a local Protestant body. The Baptist
College at Chicago will soon have a cross upon it. So the story
goes--Protestantism receding and the Church making progress on every
side. Next? Many of the school houses.
The Misses Drexel, the three daughters of the late F. A. Drexel, the
Philadelphia banker, have purchased two hundred acres near Bristol upon
which they will establish an industrial home and school for orphan boys
to be placed under the care of the Christian Brothers.
Another proof has been given, if proof were wanting, of the influence
which the Freemasons possess in ministerial circles in Italy, by the
appointment of the Cavaliere Sisca to the post of Secretary of the
Commission for Ecclesiastical Property. This Sisca is an apostate
priest, who has gone through the form of a civil marriage. The
appointment, therefore, is one more deliberate insult to the bishops and
clergy of Italy, and is, in fact, one thoroughly worthy in all respects
of the usurping government which has made it.
The restriction as to the days of the week (Monday and Tuesday) on which
priests could heretofore celebrate the two weekly Requiem Masses allowed
them, has been abrogated, and they are now free to suit their
convenience as to the days they may prefer to select.
The charter of Brown University, Providence, R. I., requires that the
president of that institution "must forever be of the denomination
called Baptists." Forever! There won't be a live Baptist a hundred years
hence. Then what will become of that charter, asks the _Catholic Union_
and _Times_.
During the darkest hours of the Revolutionary War, when the finances of
the Colonies were at the lowest ebb--when the Continental troops were
actually suffering from the want of necessary food and clothing--the
merchants of Philadelphia displayed one of the noblest acts of
patriotism recorded in the annals of American history. In June, 1780,
ninety-three of them subscribed three hundred thousand pounds "to
support the credit of a bank to be established for furnishing a supply
of provisions for the armies of the United States," and of these
ninety-three subscribers, twenty-seven were members of the Friendly Sons
of St. Patrick, and these twenty-seven sons of Ireland contributed one
hundred and three thousand pounds--more than one-third of the total
amount. Among the records of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick (now in
possession of their successor, the Hibernian Society of Philadelphia),
is subscribed to its By-Laws the autograph signature of Geo. Washington,
an adopted member of the society.
THE ONLY MEN WANTED WEST.--Mr. F. A. Carle, the managing editor of the
St. Paul _Pioneer Press_, said of the prospects of a young man in the
West: "There is money for the young man who will go out there and
'hustle.' Those who don't want to do that can get along just as well in
the East. If you go West with energy and perseverance and make up your
mind to take what comes during the first few years without making a
face at it, you will do well--much better than here. Those are the only
kind of people that we want out here."
A NOBLE WORK.--The Catholics of Pittsburgh, Penn., have begun a good
work which should be taken up and developed all over the country. They
have instituted a "Catholic Prisoners' Reform Association," the objects
of which are to instruct the convicts during their imprisonment, provide
them with good books, and to assist them to a new start in life when
discharged. Bishop Phelan gives his countenance to the new society, and
promises it a chaplain.
The Catholic total abstinence societies are not only doing a good work
for the Irish in America, but they are not wanting in forwarding the
welfare of the Irish in Ireland. The Catholic total abstinence societies
of Philadelphia have just raised $8,500 for the Irish Parliamentary
fund.
* * * * *
A GREAT UNIVERSITY.--According to the annual statistics just issued, the
Catholic University of Louvain had a much higher number of students
during the academical year just closed (1884-85) than ever before--the
inscriptions reaching a total of 1,638, as against 1,555 in the
preceding year. Some idea of the rapid growth of the _Alma Mater_ may be
obtained from the following figures, showing the number of students
registered:
1834-35 (first year) 86
1844-45 " 777
1854-55 " 600
1864-65 " 764
1874-75 " 1,160
1884-85 " 1,638
Again, to show the influence which the University has had upon the
ecclesiastical and professional life of Belgium, we may remark that,
since its establishment in 1834, no less than 3,942 candidates have
passed through the faculty of theology; 10,746 through that of law;
9,563 through that of medicine; 7,406 through that of science; and 5,762
through that of philosophy and letters (our "arts"). Again, during last
year, the _Alma Mater_ gave to Belgium 49 _avocats_, 15 notaries, 44
medical practitioners, and 39 engineers. Nearly all civilized countries
are represented among the students; among the rest three English and one
Irish.
* * * * *
A Protestant Clergyman, formerly American Consul at Amsterdam, says:
"During the last thirty years the Roman Catholic Church has been
extending its influence in Holland, until to-day the Romanists command
nearly one-half of the population, and have, to a great extent, the
control of the public schools and of popular elections."
The Perils and sufferings of missionaries in Manitoba are probably not
greater anywhere else in the world. They undergo almost incredible
hardships in following the Indians from place to place (the only way of
gaining a lasting influence over them); travelling in dog-sleighs or on
foot, their food often consisting of only dried fish unsalted. In past
years two were drowned while crossing ice; their dog train also
perished. Another missionary was drowned by the upsetting of a skiff in
a squall whilst trying to save an Indian boy, who was his guide. Three
priests were also frozen to death in a blizzard on the prairies.
CATHOLIC CONGRESS.--An interesting Congress is to mark next year. The
recent Catholic Congress of Normandy appointed a section for Christian
Apologetics, and this section has just decided to summon for 1887 a
great "International Congress of Catholic Savants," to be held in Paris.
The organizing committee, nominated at Rouen, met for the first time in
Paris on December 28th, under the Presidency of Mgr. de Hulst, Rector of
the Catholic Faculty of that city. The committee now consists of
twenty-seven members resident in Paris, and twenty-eight in the
provinces or abroad. Among these we may mention the eminent Bollandist
and historian, Pere de Smedt, S. J.; Professors Gilbert and de Harlez,
of the University of Louvain; Kurth, of Liege; de Lapporent and
Duchesne, of Paris, de Margerie, of Lille; Valson, of Lyons; Duilhe de
St. Projet, of Toulouse; de Nadaillac, de Beaucourt, de l'Epinois, Paul
Allard, and many other names illustrious in science, history,
literature, and other departments of learning. The work of the Congress
will fall into three divisions: 1. Philosophical and Social Sciences; 2.
Exact and Natural Sciences; 3. Historical Sciences; and each division
will comprehend five sections. The President will shortly issue a
circular describing in detail the organization and plan of work, and
inviting all the Catholic savants of Europe to participate in the
preliminary labors, principally by the drawing up of memoirs, and fixing
the actual state of science in regard to the various questions affecting
Christian Faith.
HIGH AND LOW LICENSE.--City Collector Onahan, of Chicago, in connection
with his annual report to the city council, has prepared an analytical
table showing the amount of revenue derived from licenses of all
descriptions from 1879 to 1885 inclusive. The increase is something
extraordinary being over one and one-half million dollars for the six
years; the exact figures being, for 1879, $214,218; and for 1885,
$1,916,820. A careful examination of the table shows that this immense
increase is due entirely to the increase in the saloon license rate of
Chicago, which is now $500. In 1883, with low license, there were 3,777
saloons in the city, and the revenue derived from them amounted to only
$385,864; while with high license in 1885 there are only 3,075 saloons,
yielding $1,721,474 annually. This report of Collector Onahan's is one
of the most forcible arguments in favor of high license that it is
possible to make, and deserves the earnest attention of all thoughtful
citizens.
The Corsicans are not contented with the glory of having given the world
one great man, Napoleon; they are now claiming--and according to the
_Figaro_, have established their claim--no less a personage than
Christopher Columbus. Abate Casanova had already endeavored to prove
that the Father of the New World was born at Calvi, in the northwest
corner of the island; and only last year a hot controversy raged on the
subject. The Corsicans believe they have carried their point, and Calvi
intends to celebrate with unusual solemnity the fourth centenary of her
illustrious son's first voyage (1492).
TIGHT LACING.--The great naturalist, Cuvier, was walking one day with a
young lady, who was a victim of tight lacing, in a public garden in
Paris. A lovely blossom upon an elegant plant drew from her an
expression of admiration. Looking at her pale, thin face, Cuvier said:
"You were like this flower once: to-morrow it will be as you are now."
Next day he led her to the same spot and the beautiful flower was
dying. She asked the cause. "This plant," replied Cuvier, "is an image
of yourself. I will show you what is the matter with it." He pointed to
a cord bound tightly around the stem and said: "You are fading away
exactly in the same manner under the compression of your corsets, and
you are losing by degrees all your youthful charms, just because you
have not the courage to resist this dangerous fashion."
* * * * *
The Christian Brothers have opened a school at Portland, Oregon. The
Brothers are to take charge of St. Michael's College in that city.
Reverend Brother Aldrich of Mary, of Sacred Heart College, has been
appointed Director; Rev. Brother Bertram, of St. Joseph's Academy,
Oakland, Sub-Director; and Rev. Brother Yvasian Michael, of Martinez,
Assistant.
Thank God, the light of Christian education is spreading! The aggregate
number of pupils under direction of the Brothers on the Pacific coast,
including those at St. Mary's and the Sacred Heart colleges, and St.
Peter's Day School, in San Francisco, St. Joseph's Academy and three
parochial schools in Oakland, and the Sacramento Institute, at the
capital, is 1,965. The number at St. Michael's college will add nearly
two hundred more to this phalanx of Catholic youth.
* * * * *
O'GLADSTONE.--_Philadelphia Press_: If the Grand Old Man keeps on his
present course a little while longer, we shall insist upon being
permitted to call him Mr. O'Gladstone.
FATHER TOM.--The mother of the late Fr. Burke did not spare the rod in
the management of her son. Mrs. Burke, before applying her cane, recited
a particular prayer, and it is perhaps venial to recur to it, at least
once, in writing the life of a man who himself in after life continually
harped upon it. This collect--better known as "Prevent, O Lord"--entered
into some prayers which Dominicans repeat before Mass. Father Burke said
at Tallaght, with his usual humor, that he never heard it recited
without feeling a cold thrill between his shoulders. Mrs. Burke would
kneel down and command Nicholas to repeat after her the words of this
collect.... He would even smile through his tears like a sunbeam in
showers, and while Mrs. Burke sonorously repeated, "Prevent, O Lord, we
beseech Thee all our actions," he would pray in another sense, "Prevent,
O Lord;" but as he often told his brother priests, "it never did
prevent," and the lash continued to fall.
* * * * *
Parliamentary Fund.
A grand scheme was inaugurated at a recent meeting of the friends of
Ireland in Boston. It is to raise several hundred thousand dollars by a
popular subscription of five dollars each. This amount will not distress
any friend of the good cause, and it will enable Mr. Parnell to carry on
the work of the redemption of Ireland to final success. So far, the
fives are pouring into the committee. Several hundreds have already been
received. Mr. Donahoe will cheerfully hand in any subscriptions
intrusted to him to the treasurer. The subscription is not confined to
any part of the country, but friends of Ireland everywhere are asked to
contribute. Now is the time to strengthen the hands of Parnell and his
patriotic band of lieutenants.
* * * * *
THE JUBILEE FAST.--On account of the difficulty in preparing food in
accordance with the rules of the black fast prescribed by the Jubilee,
the Holy Father, by a decree of January 15th, 1886, empowers Ordinaries
to dispense the faithful in the aforesaid fast, so that they may use
eggs and white meats, though bound to observe in all else the laws of
fasting. When this dispensation is granted by the bishop of any diocese,
the use of flesh meat is forbidden; but butter, milk, eggs, cheese, may
be used on the days on which the fast is made to gain the indulgence of
the Jubilee.
* * * * *
Welsh Lying.
At Bangor County Court recently, the Judge, during the hearing of an
action, said:--"I must observe that there is hardly a single case heard
in this court in which there is not deliberate perjury committed. Look
at the last case--look at this frightful lying. I do not meet with such
a state of things out of Wales. Other people have said this thing
before, but hitherto I have kept quiet. During my whole life I have
heard nothing to approach what it is in this part of the world. There is
not a case heard in which people do not think it necessary to lie. It
is most demoralizing. I do not think it is in human nature to stand many
years of it. I have had my turn of it. I appeal to every disinterested
person to give his opinion as to what the feature of the country is. I
can try in Cheshire ten cases while I try one here, because in Cheshire
they do not lie." It is worth while to remark that Wales is the most
inveterately dissenting place in Great Britain, and the most difficult
to convert. Evidently history must be rewritten bit by bit. We always
thought it was only Papists and Irishmen who did not know there was any
obligation to speak the truth.
* * * * *
The High License Bill, now pending in the New York Legislature, provides
a fee of $1,000 for distilled spirits in cities of 200,000 people or
over, and a fee of $500 for beer.
The Total Population of Canada is 4,324,810. Of this 1,299,161 are
French, 957,403 Irish, making together 2,256,564, and there are of
English, Scotch and Welsh, 1,592,604. The whole purely English
population amounts to only about 882,894. Indians, Germans and other
nationalities make up 475,000. It is thus seen that the Irish and French
combined are in a clear majority over all other races. They are apt to
maintain this lead. The Catholic population of Canada is 2,168,748, or a
little more than a majority.
Some one once spoke of Col. Burke as Father Tom's cousin. "He is no
relation of mine," said the friar. "My people had no military title
beyond corporal. My father was a well 'bread' man and had the civil
title of 'master of the roll.'"
NO OLD MAIDS.--One never hears of "an old maid" in Mexico, and to remain
forever unmarried entails upon the luckless spinster no such stigma of
reproach as the epithet so common in our country; but if her lonely
condition is alluded to at all, they good-naturedly say of her that she
is "hard to please." The aged are universally treated with the greatest
respect and every mark of deference. It is considered more courteous to
address even elderly married ladies as Senorita (Miss) instead of Senora
(Mrs.) and the lady of the house is always affectionately called by her
servants _la nina_ (the little girl), though she may have attained the
mature age of 80. Beggars upon the streets and venders in the market
places address all ladies, young and old, as _ninas_--children; or, when
particularly importunate, by the more respectful and endearing term,
_ninita_--dear little girl.
THE MAN FOR GALWAY.--Capt. William O'Shea, selected by Mr. Parnell as
the Home Rule candidate for Galway City, was triumphantly elected.
O'Shea contested one of the Liverpool divisions as a Liberal at the
general election. He was supported by Gladstone and also by Parnell, but
was defeated by a majority of ninety. He has somewhat of a history. He
is said to be a strikingly handsome man. When an army captain he married
one of the daughters of Lord Hatherly, a former Lord Chancellor of
England. He made some indiscreet financial investments and lost his
fortune, and lately has figured as promoter of colonial and insurance
companies. It was he that negotiated the famous "Kilmainham treaty"
between Parnell and Gladstone. He is a very useful man at this time, no
doubt. His usefulness will be enhanced by his having a seat in
Parliament. He will be the diplomat of the Irish party.
* * * * *
Active Parnellites.
The Irish party will hold a meeting at the Cannon Street Hotel, London,
on St. Patrick's Day. Mr. Parnell will preside. The object of the
meeting will be to issue to England the ultimatum of the Irish
concerning Home Rule. As the date selected for this event precedes by
but five days the 22d of March, the date set by Mr. Gladstone for the
commencement of the government's work on Irish legislation, it is
believed that the Nationalist leader means to force a crisis on the Home
Rule question. Mr. Parnell has also arranged to have his party hold
fifty meetings throughout Ireland simultaneously with the one he will
preside over. The ultimatum will also be announced at these meetings.
* * * * *
Gen. W. T. McMahon, of New York City, will lecture in Tremont Temple on
the evening of St. Patrick's Day, for the benefit of Father Roche's
Working Boys' Home, now drawing to completion in Bennett Street.
WHAT TWO JUDGES SAY.--Worth noting at the present moment are the
addresses delivered by two County Court Judges, Judge Waters in
Waterford, and Judge Darley in Wexford. In the latter place Judge Darley
told the Grand Jury that Wexford was the last of six towns he had
presided in, and in every one of them the list of criminal cases was the
lightest he ever remembered; while Judge Waters stated that for the
entire county of Waterford there had been during the past six months
only seven criminal cases. He added:--I also administer the criminal law
in Cavan and in Leitrim. In Cavan, which is more populous than
Waterford, there was at the recent sessions only one case of rescue,
which should not have been sent forward at all. In all Leitrim I had
only three cases, two of petty larceny, and the third a trivial assault
arising out of a dispute between two boys over a game. That was the
amount of crime I had to dispose of in these counties in three different
provinces representing a population of about three hundred and thirty
thousand souls. On the face of the globe, I may safely say, I do not
think that there is any country that could show a record similar to that
I have just laid before you, which is, as I have said, in every way a
remarkable one.
THE KNIGHTS OF LABOR.--The Knights of Labor do themselves great credit
in refusing to draw the color line in their organizations. The negroes
in the employ of the Mallory Steamship Company, who were opposed by the
Texas knights, might, it would seem, have become knights if they had
wished. The only disqualifications for membership in the Knights of
Labor are those laid down in article I, section 3 of their
constitution--a clause which is so interesting that we give it
entire:--No person who either sells or makes a living, or any part of
it, by the sale of intoxicating drink, either as manufacturer, dealer or
agent, or through any member of his family, can be admitted to
membership in the order; and no lawyer, banker, professional gambler or
stock broker can be admitted.
A REBELLION INCIDENT.--During the Rebellion Major Burke of New Orleans
was in command of a detachment that captured a part of the Sixth
Massachusetts Regiment. He treated the prisoners as kindly as the
circumstances would permit, and parted from many of them with
expressions of courtesy and regret. Years passed and he heard not a word
from any of them. But at the time of the great flood, when the whole of
Southern Louisiana lay prostrate and helpless under the sweep of
turbulent waters, Major Burke, as chairman of the Relief Committee,
received one day a dispatch from Boston authorizing him to draw at sight
for $10,000. This was one of the earliest responses to the pitiful cry
that had gone up from a stricken community for help, and it touched and
encouraged the Major and his associates. Two hours later came another
dispatch from Boston authorizing the committee to draw for another
$10,000, and in a few hours came a third dispatch donating another
$10,000. With these dispatches, or in some way to connect the statement
with them, came the flash from Boston, "The Sixth Massachusetts
remembers the kindness of Major Burke."
OUR COLORED BRETHREN.--Congressman O'Hara, of North Carolina, is a
member of the coterie of educated colored men in Washington; but
singularly enough he and his wife are Catholics and attend St.
Augustine's Church. Mrs. O'Hara is one of the loveliest ladies in
Washington, and were it not for the slight trace of negro blood in her
veins she would be a leader in white society. Like Mrs. Bruce, who is
also beautiful, she is a highly educated and accomplished woman, speaks
French, plays Beethoven, paints pictures, and is up in art and
literature to a degree that would make some of her white sisters blush
for envy. Both Mrs. Bruce and Mrs. O'Hara are very nearly white, and it
would be difficult for a stranger to detect their relation to the
African race. Mrs. O'Hara has a white governess for her children, and
intends that they shall be as accomplished as herself. These people have
their own society, give balls, dinner parties, receptions and other
entertainments.
PARLIAMENTARY FUND.--At the meeting of the Irish Parliamentary
Association at the Hoffman House, New York, Banker Eugene Kelly stated
that the fund was in need of no more money at present. When the books
are all in, it is expected that the fund will amount to about seventy
thousand dollars. Mr. Kelly stated that while the association had all
the money it needed now, the time might come when its services would
again be required. The association, after winding up its present
affairs, will not be dissolved, but will simply adjourn to meet at the
call of the chairman.
THE CENTENARY OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.--Corsica is preparing to
celebrate on a grand scale the fourth centenary of the death of
Christopher Columbus. It was at Calvi, in Corsica, that the illustrious
navigator was born in 1441, as has been proved by the Abbe Cuzanova,
after considerable research. The Genoese governor at Calvi, he says,
struck with the precocious intellect of the child, sent him to Genoa. At
fourteen, he evinced a decided taste for a sea-faring life. He was
accordingly sent to the University of Pavia, where he learned geography,
cosmography, geometry, astronomy, and the nautical sciences. In 1470, we
find him at Lisbon; in 1477 in Iceland; five years later he embarked at
Palos, on the celebrated voyage which ended in the discovery of America.
The great navigator, we are told, spoke of Corsica, which he called his
native island, in the narratives of his adventures at sea, and to which
he made some touching allusions.
CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY.--Two-thirds of the money necessary to start the
Catholic University has already been raised.
SOCIALISM.--Mr. Hyndman, the guiding spirit of the Social Democratic
Federation, has hitherto had a considerable amount of public attention
paid to the theories he has advanced. No matter how jejune and
impracticable his views might have been when closely examined, he has
endeavored to explain them with some show of reason, and accordingly
influential politicians have treated him as a man who might be led by
the force of logic to abandon Utopian schemes. Mr. Hyndman, so far from
being convinced that he has been treading a dangerous path, has taken a
further stride in the direction to which it tends. Within the course of
some days past two meetings of the unemployed, largely promoted by the
Social Democratic Federation, have been held in London, and at each the
doctrine of force was freely spoken of as the only remedy for the
poverty-stricken. Mr. Hyndman, at the first gathering, gave the keynote
to his associates and followers. "All we see," said he, "is the
employer and the employed, the wealthy and the destitute, the robber and
the robbed." He openly proclaimed himself the advocate of a revolution,
for which he urged the unemployed to prepare quickly.
The bishops of Australia have petitioned the Holy See to declare St.
Patrick's Day a holyday of obligation.
* * * * *
The Orangemen in 1798.
The Orangemen were now on hand to follow up the vanquished, whom they
valiantly slaughtered without mercy--this being always their well chosen
avocation in war, for the grim fraternity were never soldiers to fight
on equal terms. A regiment of them raised from Bandon Orangemen, and
known as the North Cork, became notorious for the ingenious tortures
they inflicted on those who fell into their hands. This regiment was in
Castlebar when the few Frenchmen that landed under Gen. Humbert advanced
on that town. There were six thousand British troops in Castlebar at the
time, including the North Cork, when, according to the historian
Plowden, Humbert attacked it with nine hundred Frenchmen and fifteen
hundred of the Mayo peasantry, making twenty-four hundred in all; and
these, it is an historic fact, drove the six thousand out of the town
like so many sheep. The North Cork, true to their fighting qualities,
gallantly ran away, never halting till they reached Tuam, forty miles
from the scene of action, and yet, for further safety, started for
Athlone. This incident is still remembered as the "Castlebar races."
These runaways were part of the army that Gen. Abercrombie declared
"dangerous to everybody but an armed foe;" and well they proved the
truth of this saying.
* * * * *
PRESIDENT EGAN.--At the National Convention of the Irish National League
of America, in Boston, a resolution was unanimously passed directing
that a sum of $3,000 shall be annually appropriated out of the funds of
the League to indemnify the President of the League for his time and
services in the interest of the cause. Mr. Egan, when elected President,
informed the committee of his intention not to accept any compensation
for his services; but notwithstanding this the National Executive
Committee of the League, at their recent meeting in Chicago, insisted
on voting the $3,000 due under the resolution up to August last, and
directed the Treasurer to remit the same to the President. The check for
the amount reached Mr. Egan on the 12th inst., and he at once indorsed
it back to Rev. Dr. O'Reilly, the Treasurer, as his personal
contribution to the League funds.
* * * * *
Parnell and Healy.
_Milwaukee Catholic Citizen_:--The English press for some time has been
holding up T. M. Healy as a rival to Parnell. The English are quick to
sow seeds of dissension and to hammer in wedges of discord wherever
there is opportunity. This was done in Davitt's case, but it availed
nothing. The Irish ranks remained unbroken.
The Galway episode, where Messrs. Healy and Biggar, with the support of
a dozen Irish members, sought to defeat Capt. O'Shea, Parnell's nominee
for a vacant seat, indicates that the English scent for _divida et
impera_ has been keen. The episode ended happily by the withdrawal of
Mr. Lynch, the contra-Parnell candidate, but it leaves an unpleasant
impression.
The "old guard" are with Parnell, Biggar alone (and strangely) excepted.
Healy seems to have regretted his course when across the Rubicon. So far
as leadership goes, he merely furnished an occasion for Parnell to
demonstrate his superior qualities of management in a brilliant manner.
Healy is too serviceable a man to lose from the Irish ranks, yet his
retention at the price of disunion is not to be contemplated.
* * * * *
Great Temperance Gathering.
There was a great demonstration of the Catholic Total Abstinence
Societies of Suffolk County (Boston) at Tremont Temple, on the evening
of January 15, to hear the Rev. Joseph B. Cotter, of Minnesota, who has
been appointed Union lecturer by the Catholic Total Abstinence Union of
America. Mr. P. J. Guerin presented as the presiding officer of the
evening the Rev. E. V. Boursaud, S. J., President of Boston College, who
congratulated the societies represented upon the large numbers present
and the brilliant outlook for the temperance cause as thus indicated. He
spoke of the vice of intemperance as one to kill both body and soul. The
temperance cause was one of the highest that commanded the attention
and interest of men.
Father Cotter received an ovation of applause. He delivered an eloquent
address on temperance, and said that the great apostle of temperance in
America, Bishop Ireland, of St. Paul, was likely soon to speak in
Boston. The lecture was able and argumentative as well as pathetic, and
strongly patriotic. At the conclusion the pledge was given to a great
number of people.
Father Cotter is in excellent health and may well be styled the Apostle
of Temperance in America. Since September last Rev. J. B. Cotter has
administered the pledge to nine thousand persons. Bishop Ireland was
recently asked, "What was the Pope's action on the temperance decrees of
the Plenary Council?"--"They were indorsed entirely," replied the
bishop. "The Church from this time places itself on the highest ground
on the temperance question. The council took an extremely strong stand
on the closing of saloons on Sunday, indirectly putting the ban on the
whole liquor traffic by stating, in these words, that 'Catholics engaged
in it should seek a more honorable mode of gaining a livelihood.' It
condemned selling liquor to minors and habitual drunkards, and proclaims
against blasphemy and improper language in saloons. It forbids the sale
of liquor, beer, and wine in any connection with the interests of the
Church. It solemnly approves of total abstinence societies, and requests
pastors to encourage them."
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PAULISTS IN SOUTH AMERICA.--Rev. Edmund Hill, now associated with the
Rev. Father Fidelis (Dr. Kent Stone) in the Passionist monastery at
Buenos Ayres, had the happiness of seeing his brother, Percival G. Hill,
received into the Church in that city. Father Hill was formerly a member
of the Paulist community in New York city. Recently the Passionists
Fathers opened their new monastery in Calle Cariaod, Buenos Ayres. They
have now in South America a retreat which will stand comparison with the
houses of their North American province, and is worthy to be numbered
with those they possess in Italy, France, Spain, Belgium, England and
Ireland.
Rev. James Keegan, of St. Louis, Mo., in a late article in the _Western
Watchman_, says of the peasant dwellers among the hills of Connaught:
"They have a higher civilization than perhaps any Teutonic people can
ever attain. Yet they live in mud-wall, clay floor cabins, and many of
them even out of doors--being evicted. How is their civilization higher?
They live continually in the presence of God, realizing this fact as no
other people do; so they enjoy the best of company; they act up to the
spirit of Catholicity better than any other people, and so have the best
code of manners in the world; they are a most polite and chivalrous
people, never offending strangers by word or deed, if the strangers
behave properly. They have a most beautiful and refined national music
and poetry, which all know and thoroughly appreciate; they are all
poets, inasmuch as they perceive and enjoy the poetry of nature as no
other people but the old Athenians ever did."
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Mothers and Daughters.
The _London Tablet_ has a lengthy review of Most Rev. Archbishop
O'Brien's book, "After Weary Hours," from which we make the following
extract: After describing St. Agnes, and her short but brilliant career,
he sets her before us as a model worthy of our imitation, though he
expresses some doubt as to whether her example will be likely to excite
much emulation among young ladies of these days. Among modern young
ladies whose sense of womanly delicacy is not startled by being
frequently, and for long hours, alone with "that most useless and
uninteresting of the human species, a moon-struck lover.... Young ladies
who have had day dreams of matrimony while yet in short clothes." While
on this topic we may as well give the reader the benefit of the
following remarks, which the Archbishop makes a little further on, and
which, we regret to say, are almost as applicable in England as in
America. "How many young Catholic girls and boys hang entranced over a
filthy tale--love tale. They experience no sense of shame in reading
vile books, or in flaunting in a ball-room where youthful charms are as
really prostituted as in any den of iniquity, and where even aged women
expose their scraggy necks and freckled shoulders to the unspeakable
disgust of all right-thinking men.... It is true that custom may excuse
certain modes of dress not openly immodest; but no custom can excuse
certain ball-room toilets; and no girl ever appeared for the first time
in one of these diabolically suggested dresses without experiencing a
thrill of shame, and showing a conscious flush of outraged modesty." Let
Catholic mothers take these words to heart, and when bringing out their
daughters or chaperoning them to balls and parties, let them show an
example more worthy of that Virgin Immaculate whom they profess to
imitate then at present contains.
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Mgr. Healey, Bishop of Portland, Me., was received in private audience
by his Holiness the Pope, recently.
Padre Protasi, S. J., is dead. His name is well known in Piedmont. When
the Jesuits were attacked in 1848, and in 1860, he was cast into prison.
Cavour sought him, and asked him to reveal the secrets of Jesuitism. He
replied that the "Spiritual Exercises" contained all their secrets. In
1866 he was again arrested, and exiled to Elba. His end was tranquil,
and amidst his brethren he passed away.
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New Carpet Warehouse.
Messrs. Thomas O'Callaghan and Lucius Howard, both of whom were recently
connected with one of the largest carpet houses in the city, composing
the firm of Thomas O'Callaghan & Co., are showing a very fine line of
carpetings, rugs, mats, etc., at their store, 601 Washington Street.
Since their opening day, the store has been visited by a large crowd of
buyers, attracted by the bargains offered and the novelty of their
carpet designs. In moquettes and draperies they are carrying a large
line of entirely new patterns, designed expressly for them. Among the
things sought by the purchasers are a fine lot of Smyrna rugs, reduced
from $5 and $6 to $2.90. Several hundred of these were sold on the
opening day. Linoleum floor matting, manufactured from cork shavings and
other materials, and destined to be widely used when its merits become
more generally known, is kept in stock. It is very soft, and comfortable
for the feet, but very durable. The firm also shows a large and
desirable line of oil cloths. It is proposed by Mr. O'Callaghan to
extend his quarters to the store adjoining, now occupied by a crockery
firm, as soon as their lease expires, thus making very large and
convenient warerooms. Give the new firm an early call.
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Pope Leo XIII. celebrated the seventy-sixth anniversary of his birthday
and the eighth of his coronation on the 2d of March, by an address to
the members of the Sacred Congregation.
The late Dr. Hyndman left behind him the best mixture for coughs, colds,
and consumption, to be had in the country. Dr. P. Morris is the only
sure manufacturer of the article in this city. All others are spurious.
The doctor can be found opposite the Cathedral of the Holy Cross.
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Gen. Hancock and the Irish Brigade.
In our next issue we will give an article on the late Gen. Hancock and
his relations with the Irish Brigade.
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RIEL.--In his annual report on Indian affairs, Sir John Macdonald
asserts that the recent uprising in the Northwest was due to specious
inducements held out to the Indians by Riel, and argues that the
half-breed leader was responsible for the whole trouble. The
expenditures in the field and for transport services were nearly
$4,000,000.
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Montgomery Light Guard Veteran Association.
This spirited organization celebrated its twenty-first anniversary on
the 25th of February, at the Quincy House. It was one of the most
enjoyable banquets that we have attended for a long time. Capt. Thomas
F. Doherty presided, and performed the duties of the chair to the
satisfaction of all. The association numbers one hundred and fifty of as
fine fellows as ever handled a knife and fork. Speeches, songs, etc.,
occupied the attention of the evening to a late hour. A uniform is being
prepared for the members, and we may expect a parade of this Veteran
Association the coming season.
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RETURNS TO HIS FIRST LOVE.--The good tidings have been received of the
return to the faith of Professor Benedict Pollio, of Naples, who, for
the past thirteen years, has been one of the pillars of the Italian
Evangelical Methodist sect, and has become notorious as the author of a
blasphemous pamphlet against our Blessed Lady. He now publicly abjures
and retracts his errors and writings, and humbly craves re-admission
into the Church.
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