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American Catholic Tribune (Newspaper) - February 27, 1892, Cincinnati, Ohio / American41 *r«T*4 *f Bte FWm— Oartlaal I»»—. ArehMO«f •! Btdtlaan, U., Ika Boal Bn. «rokWshn* •« OaMnatt. aatf PkOaMvUa. lb* Bt. Bn. »tnn« «I OnlMtwa. «t„ (tolaaw», «., 8Man«w>, »«., blawmn. »*i.. •«* «««Mntw. •«, VOL VI.CINCINNATI SATURDAY. FEBRUARY 27 18S2 NO 52 THE O >LORCD AND INDAN MI88 I ON. Very Rev. end Rev. Brethren of the Ciergy and Beloved Cnildren of the V alty. Health and Bened iction: §|On ihc Firnt Su day in Lent the *Co¡!trt.*iioa for the Colored Per>ple an i iodi nv ordered by the Third Plt-narv Conncil of Biitimorr*, a*i!! be taken np in all the churche;» of the dioceflrc. Dear’y Beloved, i8 not only a work of genuine Catholic Charity, bul a aacre^l duty at well; for, if it M c^tQsidered praiaeworthy to subscribe annually for vast suma to cn^ courage m hat goee by the name of the conversion o^ the heathen in foreign lands, nurely Catholic-* will not lake it amite if they are asked to r^iise a few thousands to aid in bringing t e livht of faith to count-lee- mnltitudes of their fellow-coun*-trynaen. igaorani and dispiaed th'jugb th«y be ;—the more ao, as that igt orance is in aome seoae the coose*^aence of ao act of iniustico on our part,—the responsibility for it, an it hentaooe. Hardly leas responsible are we for long years of cruel injustice, wh ch. ro far as our c untry is concerned, bare ma*1e the ^ad fate of the Ked-man a by-word of reproach to U-* at home and abroad. There is D ) nee i of our going to foreign Undj in «earch of fit subjects for the distribuiioQ of our charitable alms. The misery is at our own d .rors, and t » borrow the words of a homely adage, well regulated charily begins at home. If thousands of these wretched being-* of whom we speak, are still as ignorant, a* destitute of the light cf A'hmiianity, as heathen, ao to say, as when the fir-t settler landed oi our shores, whose fault is »t? And if they are now f^st falling back into l e practice of their old heathen ritea, who are reS}>onsiblfe for abominatioris which disgrace the Christ anM name? C’hr si died for all: for the African a- well as the E ropean. Have we recogs nixed this fact? Have we come up the full measure of the dutv we owe to our less-favored brother"' and when we found him lying in belp-les- misery, brutsed and beaten,— have we taken him ur> and cAnied him to the inn, and, like the goo*l S.im.iritan, poured oil into bis Wounds? or have we not, rather, like the unfeeling priest and cold-hearted Levite, passeti him by and left bun lying by the way-side, as if A»* heavenly Father was n*jl ours al»»? These, Dearly Belove*!, are q ie-tions that we mu-t answer here or at the judgment seat. “I was hungry and y. u gave me not to eat; I wa- I irsty and you gave rue not U- drink ; naked and vuu clothed txif not ; sick and you did not visit m-r and the answ*er w ¡11 come to you, as dLtinct and definite a?> to the astiinlshed culprit who could not see Cnrist in the person- of the poor and nt-edy: “ Amen, I sav to yon, as li-rg as you did it n-»l to one f»f these lea-** ones, neither did you do it t*» tn - . ’ Yes, Dearly Beloved, He who died to r^-deem us ail, will surely hold us accountable unle&s we make such lardy* reparation as we are able, for the wro g-* *lone these neglected creatures, in whosebehilf the Church p>lea4Íi« so earnestly, and yet -o ten* derlv to'day. Now is the accept ftb’.e lime ; now is the dav of »a!va-ti.n” What the Church wi-he> you to do just now I* p-» strengthen the hands of those noble bands of mi**--ioraries—priest* of God and devoted Sisters of Mercy and Charity ; her-.ic Ursulinee and brave daughters of St. Benedict, now laboring among our Colored brethren in the S*>uth, and, in the far West, among the scanty remnants of a race that still clings (a*]d who can blame them?) with the tenacity of despair to their last foothold in a land they once proudly called their own. The Churcn, which to the Catholic, Is the voice of God, wishes you to put into the bauds of the self-deny mg workers in that rougher portion of the Lord’s vineyard, the funds they need to carry on the work they have in hand. Thca ; holy missionaries would carry the glad tidings of salvation to the benighted children of the forest. They would plant in their midst schools in whic i young Indian boys and girU may be trained in civil learning; and churches into which all may be gathered round the alur of God,and taught to know and worship in spirit and in truth Jesus Christ, their Redeemer, whose children they are, and, equally with U?, heirs of eternal life. “ Suffer little children to come unto me and forbid them not, for of such is the kin^om of heaven.” It is the humility and the meekw^ss of Jesus that is to win for us ihi great prize of eternal life for which each one, in his own way, is daily striving. ‘ Blessed are the meek, for they shall |K>sse86 the land.” It is the beauty of the soul not the color of our skin that will be the real test of our right to gaw upon the glory of God in |>aralise. “ Blessed are the clean of lesrt, for the^ shaB see God.” €xeh then, m brief, is the object for which ihi-i toilection is to be tiken up at all the Masses on the F'lr^l Sunday in Le* ■ -a noble and a blesseil work, and iUll of richest merit for all who approach it in the spirit of Christian char'ty, a d with kindly feelings towards those of heir brethren, who. as you know too well, are utterly unable to help themselves. The ben *c seli-abneeation of those prie;*tH and nuns who have gone forth into a sort of voluntary exi’c to -f*end themselves and be soent for Christ in the servic-i of the forsaken and despised Indian, whose 1 t, to some extent, they s* are, is worthy • f our highest admiration ; for this. Dearly Beloved, is not a field of labor which all would willingly select—this life of perj)€tnal self-sacrifice, ending only in death. The very nobility of the sacrifice they have máde is in itselt one of tli«ir strongest claims on your generous support; for (do not forget it), but for this their heroic self-den al, you would i.oiea-ily find a means of di charging the debt you ow*e a race which for two long centuries has been so cruelly dealt with;—a race, too, that has proved itself tinte and again, in c«iua-cil and on ihe battle field, as brave, as skillful, and as maguan moiis as your own. And yet, U> our shame be it .spoken, nearly all that are left of this si gruLar, and in some re--pectK, mysteriouf* peopD. arj now wandrrers upon the w'ild prairie, eking out, as best they can, a mi-erable existence on the paltry pittance that is doled out to them, —and are to-day, practically speaking, as destitute ot religious in-^truc* tioa.i as were Ceir pagan forefathers. Oh! Dearly Belovel, what a commentary is this sad spectacle on the boasted superiority of our Cbrl-tian c vilization ! Take heed lest Christ’s words on witnessing t^e faith of the centurion, and the want of it on the part of those to whom He was speaking, may one day ri^e up in judgement against you: “I say to you that many shall come from the Ea**t and the West, and sha I sit down with Abraham and Istac and J tcob in the kingdom of heaven; but the children of the kingdom shall be cast out int> exterior darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” C’ome, then, We entreat you in the b >weig of Christ’s mercy;—in the name nf Him who for your takes, and for the sake of those for whom We are pleading, hung naked on the cross, despising the shame; come to the aid of these devoted missionaries who are doing w’hat they can to save thii people w'ortby of a better fa e; remembering the rich graces poured out centuries ago o n your own anc st*irs in the faith; for what, after all, are these brave missionaries doing, but just what St. Patrick did for Ire and, St. Boniface for (Termany, St. F ancis Xavier for the savage tribes of India, and St* Francis of Sales, the gentle aposti® of the Swis.s, for the tens of thousand whom he sescued from the enemy of sOuls. Dearly Beloved, a glorious w*ork is going on ^ vour mid.st and you know it nov( íf, then, your hear the voice of God to-day, harden not your hear.s: turn not a deaf ear tor the voi(fe pleading within you fo your de-litute Col red and Indian brethren; but take in hand at once the blessed work which your generous hearts prompt you to do. Rise up like true men, and shake off the forgetfullne s of the past, and 1 t your ebarity respond in full measure to this earnest appeal to you for help. It comes to you with the sanction of g^ve and venerable prelates who in council have weighed the matter well, and now make known to vou the obligation you are under. Yhe rich results of your generosity vou may not live to see. Leave that to God. The j ist man l.ves by faith, and knows that if in loving kindness to the poor and destitute he casts his bread upon the waters, it will come back to him, not in the shape of human praise, but in the fulness of the divine mercy which will not be wanting to him in that supreme hour when he will stand most in need of it. Strive thus. Dearly Beloved, to make your vocation and election sure; that, for your kindness to the needy, you may one day hear those w ords so full of comfort and divine iov't: ‘ Come ye blessed of My Father, po8*ieses the kingdom prepared for you; for I was hungry and you gave me to eat; I was th’rsty and you gave me to drink; I was naked and you clothed me; sick and you visited me; for as Icng as you did it, to one of these my lea-t brethren, you did it to me.” Enter into tke jov of vour Lord. You w ill have the sweet consolai tion of know*ing that you have hearkened to the voice of the Bish-ofH whom the Holy Ghost has placed over the Church in this our beloved country—this favored land which is ours by so many pleasing associations;—discovered by a fearless Catholic navigater, aided, as he was in turn, by the royal munificence of that pearl of Christian Queens, “Isabella the Catholic;”—its early missionaries, devoted sons of St. Dominic, Su Francis and St. Ignatius, who were the first to plant tne croes and spread tke true faith on Ameri can soil, which they watered with their blood;—this ble'*sed land of ours now dedicated 11 the Sacred Heart of Jesus and tenderly guarded by our dear I^ady, the Immaculate Mother of our God, and sweet comforter of the afffioted. Dearly Beloved, may the joy of a good science, the peace of God, fhat peace that surpasseth all understanding, ever be yours. Given at L uisville this 22nd day of February, 1892. Wm. Geob<*e McCloskky, Bishop of Louisville. DEATH-BLOW TO AFRICAN BLAVC-TRADE. I The United States Ratifies the Bruxelles Agreement. BISHOP HOR8TMAN. The New Bishop of Cleveland Consecrated In Philadelphia Thursday. Philadelphia, Pa., February 2.5. —Never since the conferring of the pa'lium upon Arckbishop Ryan has there been such a gathering of Church dignitaries and distinguishe 1 guests as was assembled in the Cathedral of St. Peter and Su Paul this morning to witness the consecration of the Rt. Rev. Ignatius F. Horstman, Bishop-elect of Cleveland. Preparations for the ceremony had beea under way for some time, and the beautiful ritual of the Latin Charch was followed without a flaw, while the imposing vestments of the many high Church dignitaries helped to make the affair one of unasaal splendor and solemnity. Archbishop Elder, of Cincinnati, was the consecrator, assisted by Rev. John J. Elcock, rector of the cathedral, as assistant priest; Rev. Thomas Barry, of the Church of Visitation, as Deacon, and Rev. Dr. Kleran, of St. Patrick’s, as sub deacon. Bishop'elect Horstmann was Co u rant. The Senato on Monday, Jan. 17, ratified a commercial treaty between this country and the Kongo Free State. This treaty is the outcome of “ The Bruxelles Agreement,” signed eighteen months ago for the suppression of the slave trade in the Kongo Free State. That agreement was signed by seventeen great powers and by it forts were to be erected, railroads bnilt and every effort made to drive the sDve traders from the Kongo basin. This imposed great expeiis un the little State. Herciofore United States goods have been admitted free within her limits. Hereafter ao ad valorem duty not over 10 per cenf. on oar goods will be levied. T«e treaty fiassed by the Senate defines and imits the p ivilesea of the signing countries under tbs new order of things. The United States wa« the last of the seventeen coantr es to sign the treaty, and by its action on hlonday the Senate has made it imperative upon the nations ef the civilized world to ^ in with it to suppress this nefarious traffic. By it the slave trade in Africa has received its death blow. THK TREATY IS AS FOLLOWS. Article I. provides for full and reciprocal liberty of comaierce between the citizens and inhabitants of the coatracUn/ nations, and further provides that the inhabitants of the United States and of the Independent State of Kongo shall enjoy reciprocally the treatment of “ the most favore i nation ” in all thatr e* Xf X- ■ MOST REVEREND ARCHBISHOP ELDER, Consecrator of Bishop Hors .man. assisted Bishops O’Hara, of Scranton, and Chatard, of Vincennes. His Chaplains were Rev. Fntncis Quinn, of the Church of the Nativity, and Rev. George Barnenman, of St. Paul’s, Reading. Bishop O’Hara, Chaplains were Rev. P. J. Daily, of the Church of the Annunciation, and Rev. Henry Stommel, of St. Alphonsus. Bish >p Chatard’s Chaplains were Rev. Thomas Shannon, of St, Patrick’s, Norristown, and Rev. James McGeverin, of St. Bernard’s, Easton, Rev. Augustus Schulte, of St. Charles Seminary, was Master of Ceremonies. After ‘«aluting the consecrator. Bishop O’Hara seated himself on the right of the elect and Bishop Chatard on the left. After a pause they rose and uncovered, and Bishop O’Hara, addresiing the consecrator, said; “Most Reverend Father, our holy mother, the Catholic Church, requires of you to raise this priest here present to the burthensome office of a Bishop.” The A^stolic Commission was then called for and read, after which the oath was administered to the new Rishop on bended knees. Then foUoweJ the examination by the con* secrator in almost the very words prescribed by the Fourth Council of Carthage. At the conclusion of the examination the consecrator, laying off his mitre, began the mass as usual, the elect standing at his left. After the confession, Bishop-elect llorst* mann, with his assistants, went into the chapel, where he laid asi le his cope, and opening the stole, he put on the pectoral cross, girding on the stole without crossing it on his breast. He was also vested with the tunic, dalmatie and chasuble, and standing on the altar between his assistants, he received the mass. This afternoon Bishop Horstmann entertained his friends at a -fiarewell dinner at the Academy of Music. There were about three hundred present, including the visiting Church dignitaries and many of the priests of the Riocese. Bishop Horstmann will leave on March 7 to assume the duties of his new Bish' opnc. lates to privileges and immunities as to person or property, and in matters of commerce and industry. Article II. proviaes that in all concerns the acquisition, succession and alienation of property the inhabitants of the contracting parties shall enjoy in the territories of each other all the rights accorded ti the inhabitants of “ the most favored nation;” Article III. provides for mutual exemption from military or naval service and all official functions except jury duty, and grants the in* habitants of each free access to the courts of the other. LIBERTY OF CONSCIKííCE AND WORSHIP Article IV. assures reciprocal lib»» erty of conscience and freedom of worship, with the right to establish missions. Article V. provides for the appointment of oonsuls and the various grades of consular and commercial agents b^ each contracting nation in the territories of the other, and regulates the rights, immunities and duties ot such officials. ¡^Article VI. provides that the inhabitants of each nation shall have all the rights of “ the most favored nation ” in the matter of entering an4 navigating the ports and inland waters of the other. Article VII. extends to each con* traóting party the privilege of the most favored nation in the matter of tolls and transportation ovei' the railroads and waterways of the other. AS TO MANUFACTURED ARTICLES. Article VIII. forbids any prohibi. tion by one party of the importation, exportation or transit ofj^any article of commerce produced or manufactured in the other, unless the same prohibition is extended to all other nations. Article IX. regulates the matter of extradition, specifying fourteen classes of offenses for which extradi* tion may be had. Article X. regulates ao far as the United States is oonceraed the matter of import daties to be iinposed ^ the mdependent State ot the Kong^. MOST FAVORED COMMERCIAL RELATIONS. Articles XI. and XII. gaarant«‘e the United S ates the “ most favored nation ” treatment for commerce, and all the privileges of any nation signing the gen raf act of Bruxelles. A long extradition clan-e was strick en out on account of technical objections. Article XIII. provides that in case of differences as to the interpretation of the terms of the tre *ty the m*tt^r in dispute shall be submitted to a tribunal of arbitration, composed of three members, one elected by each of the contracting powers and the third by a friendly government. DEPENDENT ON ANTI-SLAVERY. Article XIV. provides that the present treaty be void in case the declaration of July 2, 1890, on the subjeet of imports, signed by the signatory powers of the act of Berlin. should not enter into force. Article XV. prori les that the treaty shall be snbject to ratification bj the King of ths Melgiaiis and by the Piesident and Senate of the United States, and shall go into effect at the same date as the general act of Bruxelle« of July 2, 1890. NO INTERFRRKNCE IN Pei^ITICS. In the resolnt'o" formerly rstify-iog the agree men t the Senate very carefully avoided any app^rance of t^ing part in African politics in the following words : Résolvedy Farther, as a part of this act of ratification, that the United States, not having in African territory any possessions or protectorates, hereby disclaims any intention in adhering to this treaty to declare any interest in snoh posses -sions and protecterates established by other Powers, or any approval ot the wisdom, expediency er lawful* ness thereof, and does not join i > any expressions in the treaty which might construed as such a declar* ation. SISTER CATHERINE*» CRUIT8. RE- Twalve Young Sisters Received Arohblshop Ryan Conducta the Solemn Sorvlooa at the Mother House, Near Torresdale. DIVORCE THE DESTROYER. At the mother house of the Order of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament. near Torresdale, which has been founded by Sister Katharine (Miss Kate Drexel), twelve young ladies on Friday, February 12th, took the religious habit and promised to renounce ihe world in the future and devote tneir lives to the moral and intellectual elevation of the Indian and Negro races, the ob> jeci for which Miss Drexel has consecrated her life and fortune. The ceremonies of Friday were of a most solemn and imposing character, and were witnessed by a number of clergymen and prominent Catholics. Early in the morning the young ladies assembled in tke com-mnnity room of the convent, and each one was asked the saint she desired to be named after, when Mother Katharine wrote the name on a slip of paper and pinned it on the habit which the young lady was to receive. At the close of the-e exercises the Sisters and postulants carrying lighted tapers in their hands marched into the pretty little chapel, which had been handsomely decorated for the occasion. The procession was met by the Archbishop in his robes and the other clergy in their cassocks and sorplices. MASS BY THE ARCHBISHOP. Solemn High Mass was celebrated by Archbishop Ryan, who wiw as-sisied by a number of other priests. At the close of the Mass the habits^ rosaries and other articles were blessed, after which Mother Katharine conducted the you^ ladies, two by two, to the altar. I^e Archbishop then asked them if it was their own free will that they desired to enter the religious life, to which they replied “Yes.” The young ladies then entered the sacristy, took off their bridal robes and were invested with the habit ot the order. At the conclusioQ of the exercises the Archbishop delivered an address to the yoang religeuses. ¡ _ THE YOUNG SISTERS. The young ladies who took the habit and their religions names are; Miss Mary Littlehaus, Sister Mary Dolores ; Miss Catharine Ryan, of Catasauqua, Sister Mary Ignatius ; Miss Sabina McTighe, Pittsburg, Sister Mary Elizabeth ; Miss Mary Kinery, Pittsburg, Sister St. Paul; Miss Mary Godsell, Philadelphia, Sister Mary Loretto; Miss Mary Fay, Pittsburg, Sister Mary Coles* tine; Miss Catharine Toban, Bristol, Sister Mary Francis de Sales; Miss Rose Burns, Torresdale, Sister Mary Clare; Miss Mary Connelly, Chester, Sister Mary Anthony; Miss Margaret Halpin, Philadelphia, Sister Mary Agatha. A Catholic Hierarchy In Egypt. Reports appear in several of the daily papers, both home and continental, to the effect thet negotias tions are going on between the Holy See and the British Governmeat with regard to the establishment of a Catholic Hierarchy in Egypt. Lecture by Rev. F. V. Nugent, • President of St. Vincent's College, Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Father F. V. N >gent of Cape Girar *eau, Missouri, President of St. Vincent’i* College, delivered a lecture on “ Marriage and Divorce ” to the congregation ot St. Leo’s Church, 23d and Mullanphy street-^, St. Louis, la»i week. The following is the 1 cture in part ; The very first record of human history on this earth of ours is the record of a marriage. When the lower creation was perfected by the hand of God, He called into existence a b-ing partaking both of the nature of the Divinity and of the lower creation, over which he was to {>reside. In his immortal sool he was ike to God; in his body he was like to the material kingdom where he was to live and rule.” The lecturer then recounted the creation of Eve as a helpmate for Adam, and continued : “When man fell the anger of God fell upon c eation, and marriage was not unaffected by the general misfortune. Yet, when corruption had advanced so far that man respec ed Hot this institution of God, when polygamy and d vorce defiled the sanctity of marriage, then the race forgot its origin and destiny, and men became as brutes without rea son. THE DEGRADATION OF WOMEN AND SLAVERY OF CHILDREN BEGAN W*ITH DIVORCE. Jast in proportion as divorces increased, so did the degradation of women and the slavery of children increase; so did the family become obliterated and civilization impossible. This, true of every Gentle nation of antiquity, is likewise true even of the Jewish nation, which, notwithstanding the revelation and the special protection of God, were led astray by the corruption of the nations around them. Pagan Rome dated her decline from the time when marriage began to be outraged among her people. The great Roman St i e crumbled and fell when marriage, its corner-stone, was destroyed. “ Christ appeared among men, and the very nature of Bis being typified notLi ig in Heaven or on earth so completely as human marriage. He was Himself, in His nature, as Godi Man, the most perfect type of the most perfect possible marriage. His public life for the regeneration of oar fallen r.ce was most appropriately be;¿un at the marriage feast at Cana. When Christ declared‘What God has joined together, let not man put asunder,’ He declares God to De the author of marriage, and warns man against attempting to do what he cannot do—rend the sacred tie of marriage, which God alone can 1 jOse. “ In re-estiblishing and sanctifying marriage Christ re-established and sanc.ified the familjq which divorce and polygamy had well nigh destroyed. Christ communicated His own zeal for the integrity and per. petuity of marriage to the Church, For no oth?r doctrine has the Church suffered such assaults as in defence of marriage. DIVORCE DESTROYS THE MOST SACRED RELATIONS GOD EVER ESTABLISHED. “ Among the problems that cons front the world to-day and demand a speedy solution is this problem of divorce. It has entered the homes of the rich and the poor, the learned and the simple, and destroyed, with more than vandal violence, the most sacred relations God ever established. It struts with brazen effrontery in the silks and satins of wealth, and skulks in despicable wretchedness in the rags and filth of poverty. It has put enmity between husband and and wife, magnified little faults into great offenses, laughed to scorn the virtues of patience and mutual fori bearance and banished domestic peace from the hearthstone. And this evil so destructive, this poison so deadly to all that good men and women hold most dear, is increasing so rapidly in this county that no thoughtful man can study the di* vorce statistics within the last few years without sorrow, disgust, and alarm. Its frightful increase, and the laxity of legislation in its favor show that here, above all the world, divorce finds congenial atmosphere. It is a living demonstration of one of the dangers to which our republi. can form of government is exposed. “ Whatever specific causes may appear, it is evident that the evil in its last analysis lies chiefly in the prevailing sentimentality about the very grave question of marriage. A large proportion of our marriages result from nothing more substantial than the sentimental love of the married pair. Y'oung people fall in love because they cannot help it; love with them is a blind passion and marriage a kind of fatality. Lovers are convinced that each is necessary to the happiness of the other, and to attempt to prevent their marriage is to war against manifest destiny. The thousands of trashy novels issuing daily from the press teach this story to the young, ruining their minds and poisoning their imaginations. Married life is painteii in bright and delusive color» as if it always contained mora real happiness than even love’s younff dream had pictured. They are, course, disastrously disappointed, and | when seutiinental love^ has died a \ natural death or had its* fragile life crushed out by the cold realities that married life has thrown upon it, then fol ow in quick succession uissppoint*. ment, coldness, bickerings, hatred» quarreling, divurce.” THE HIERARCHY IN JAPAN. AiQpnjgst the glories of the piesenS Pontificate posterity will reckon the establishment of the ecclesiastieal Hierarchy in several parts of ths world, with the effect of giving to tbe Catholic Church in those regions a firmer status and a n*ore complete organization than it enjoyed before. One of the first acts of the Pontificate of Leo XIII. was the signing of the decree instituting the hie archy in Scotland, which his ILustrions predecessor had left ready to issue. Later on, the same benefit was conferred on the small State of Montenegro, and ij 1886 lo India, Ceylon, and Malacca. Now is the turn of the Empire of Japan, wnich by brief of June 15, 1891, was erected into an ecclesiastical province, composed of a metropolitan charch with three suffragan sees. No one who has followed with any degree of interest the history of tfie struggles, conquests and reverses of the Catholic Church in Japan daring the three last centuries can but be filled with admiration and thanksgiving at the magnificent reenlt obtained at the present day by the misi-sionaries in that vast empire. At the commencement of this century, no vestiges were thought to be remíwn» ing of the once flonri^hing oburches / established by St. Francis Xavier / and his companions and successors \ in that part of the vineyard of the \ Lord. In no other country, perhaps, ' ‘ had the Gospel been received with so much readiness and docility as in Jai pan, nowhere had the conversions been so numerous and so thorough. At the end of the fourteenth century the Catholic flock in Japan numberea hundreds of thousands, under the jurisdiction of ths Bishop of Funay; Jesuits, Franciscans, Dominicans and Augustinians ininistered lO the spir% itual wants of this large cemmnnity and every day extended the limits of the kingdom of God. But suddenly the favor with which the Japanese rulers had received into their dominions the Christian religs ion, was changed into the bitterest hatred and prosecution. The profession of Christianity was prohibited; the European priests were either / banished or put to death; native Christians were massacred, exhibiting in the midst of the most cruel torments a courage and intrepidity worthy the admiration of all ages. This persecution lasted all through the seventeenth and eighteenth cen-tnrie#. and it is only in the present century, under the Pontificate of Gregory XVI., that it was possible to reorganize the CathoUc missions in Japan. At that time it had been found, at the applause of the whole Catholic world, that, despite the prohibitive laws of the country and the fearful penalties enacted by them, the Cathol c faith had been faithiully preserved, though without priests, in many Japanese families, and the missionaries in setting^ foot on the Japanese soil, after nearly three centuries of exile, found a compact and sound nucleus of 10,000 Catholics as a solid foundation for the Church they had come to rebuild. It was to the French missionaries of the foreign missions who had so much distinguished themselves in China, Indo-China, and India, that Gregory XVI. entrusted the aposto* late of the Japanese Empire, and they have proved worthy of that great mission. Mgr. Forcade having been appointed Vicar-Apostolic of Japan in 1846, sent thither an ar* -dent missionary. Father Giraud, who succeeded in building churches in. Yokohama and Nagasaki; he was soon joined by many co-workers, and, in short, such was the sucoesk of this mission and the readiness of the Japanese in responding to the efforts their missionaries that the Vicariate<^Apostolic had successively to be divided into four, and to-day the four vicariates have been transformed into one archdiocese and thr^ dioceses, namely; the Metro— ^litan See of Tokio, Archbishop Mgr, P. Osouf; Episcopal See of Nagasaki, Bishop Mgr. J. A. Cousin; the Episcopal See of Osaka, Bishop Mgr. F. Midon, and the Episcopal Sea of Hakodate, Bishop Mgr. A. Berlioz. May the Church of Japan, under its new constitution, continue to edify Christendom by the piety and faith, as it has done in past, and may it send its roots deeper into Japanese soil!—Ceyloti Catho^ lie Messenger, a V ‘I Georgetown University has three of its alumni in congress at present namely: Hon. E, D. Wnite, senai. tor from Louisiana; Hon. Joseph E* Washington, representative from Tennessee; and Hon. Joseph R.. Mallory, representative from Florida.

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