Current Topics

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXV, Issue 28, 12 November 1897, Page 1

Current Topics

AT HOME AXD ABROAD

The thirteenth centenary of the landing 1 of St. Augustine in England was celebrated by the Catholics of England by a remarkable and altogether unique demonstration. The celebration commenced on Sunday, September 12. The Benedictine Monastery on the West Cliff at Ramsgnte overlooks the traditional scene of the Saint's disembarkation, and this was made the centre of preliminary proceedings. Pontifical High Mass was celebrated, the Bishop of South wark officiating, and a sermon on the life of St. Augustine was preached by the Abbot of the monastery. Cardinal Vaughan and a number of bishops journeyed to Ramsgate to take part in the celebration, amongst the visitors being his Lordship the Right Rev. Dr. Grimes, Bishop of Christchurch. The annual conference of the Catholic Truth Society was, by special arrangement, made to form a part of the Ramsgate celebration. The conference was presided over by Cardinal Vaughan, and a number of most interesting papers were read, including " The mission of St. Augustine," by the Right Rev. Monsignor Canon Moy^s, D.D. ; " Catholic literature since the Reformation," by the Rev. William Barry, D D. ; " Catholic education bince the R; formation," by the Right Rev. Monsignor Ward ; and "St. Augustine and the conversion of England," by Cardinal Vaughan. TLo conference was opened on Monday, and in addition to a very larje number of cL rgy, the following distinguished members of the laity were also present : — Lady Mary Howard, Laly Margaret Howard, Lady Herbert of Lea, Mr. Brit'en, K.S.G-., the Duke of Norfolk, the Dowager-Duchess of Newcastle, and the Countess Denbigh. On Tuesday the great feature of the celebration, the Mass in the tent, took place at Ebbbfleet. Ebbbflcet i& about three miles from Ramsgate, on the shore of Pegwell Bay. and this was deemed the most fitting place in which to commemorate the arrival of St. Augustine thirteen centuries ago. A huge tent, flying the flags of England, Scotland, Ireland, the United States, and France, with the Papal flag over the altar end, was erected in one of the fields. The tent was filled with a dense crowd, and large numbers, hud to be content with standing rcom outbide the enclos-ure. The procession wa3 a very beautiful and striking one. It was headed, says a contemporary, by a chaplain carrying the cross of the regular clergy, and attended by two acolytes. Then came a great body of monks, representatives of the English branch of their respective Order?, Fathers of the Institute of Charity, Marist Fathers, Oblate Fathirs of Mary Immaculate, Passionist Fathers of St. Paul of the- Cross. Redemptori.st Fathers, CSS. It , Fathers of che Society of JVsus, Ser\ ite Fathers, Carmelite Fathers, Fathers of the Order of St. Francis Ca; uchin. Fathers of the Order of St Dominic, with their majestic white robes and dark cloak. The regular clergy in the robes of their different Orders formed a striking part of the procession. Following them came a chaplain carrying the cross of the Benedictines, and with him two acolytes. They headed a great train of Monks of the Order of St Benedict, bearing in their midst a banner recalling the " Vexillum" which was borne by the brethren in 597 when advancing to iniet King Ethelbert of Kent. Priors of the Order and heads of Benedictine monasteries in England, ■with the Very Rev. Prior of Monte Cassino, representing the Right Rev. Arch-abbot of the Order of St. Benedict, and two Fathers representing the rev. canons regular of the Lateran formed the rear of the procession of the religious Orders of priests. Next i">me a chaplain with the cross of the secular cleryy, and with (1 also two acolytes, and then representatives of the Cathedral .apters of England, a band who coming after the black-robed Benedictines, struck the eye with the vivid contrast of their blue and purple mozetas. Two only of these canons were in black cappas, being Benedictines from the Newport Chapter. After the prelates came a sub-deacon carrying the archiepiscopal cross the

sub-dea' on of the Mass, Canon O'Halloran, Greenwich ; the deacon, Cauon Kearns, of Chelsea ; the assistant priest, Canon Cahill, of Portsmouth ; and then came his Eminence Cardinal Vaughan. Archbishop of Y^estininstor. He wore his jewelled mitre and was magnificently robed. The London Tablet gives the following- description of the appearance of the procession :— " A little behind the Cardinal an<l M 3 attendants followed another group, composed of in black cassocks, and in their midst his Eminence the Cardinal-Bishop of Autun, in all the splendour of the red cuppa magna, the brightest patch of colour in all the long 1 line. Slowly the procession of seventy black monks, dignitaries and a double line of mitred heads, wound round the enclosure past the crowds who stood outside in reverent attention. The Miserere was soon finished, and then the monks took up the celebrated antiphon Dt'pri'caninr, which was chosen by St. Augustine for his procession on the same spot thirteen hundred years ago. The musical setting wa3 taken from a twelfth century j\I j ., and there is every reason to believe that it is substantially the same chant sung by St. Augustine's monks at their memorable landing in England. It is chiefly cast in the form of the Seconi Mode, and its plaintive drawn-out phrases are admirably adapted to the sense of the words, which are an adaptation from the Book of Daniel and wore in use liturgically in tae ancient Celtic Church. They are given as follows by Venerable Bede (E -clcaiastical History, Bk. i., c. 2,j) :: — • Deprecamur te, Domina, in omni misericordia tua, ut auferatur furor tuns et ira tua a civitate ista, et de domo sancta tua, quoniam pcocavimas, Alleluia.' 'We beseech Thee, 0 Lord, in all Thy mercy that Thy fury and Thine an,>er may bj ta\e.i aw.iy Irom this oi'ty and from Thy holy hou^e, becmse we have sinned. A leluia. 1 Then the Litany of the Saints was sung, the concluding versiules and prayers of ( which wore ch.mted at Ihj foot of the altar." High Mass was then celebrated in the tent. The binding was unaccompanied, and the chant way rendered throughout by a well-trained choir of monks. The Right Rev. Dr. Hedley, Bishop of Newport, preached an earnest and eloquent sermon, concluding with the following peroration: — "O country of onr birth — England that we love — generous land that drawest thy bous together by cords and sympathies so many and so btrong — would that Christ might give thee back that which Augustine brought ! By all thy saints, by all thy martyrs, by (.hat fragrant inconse of the Mas* that has hallowed thee through ttie centums. by M.try, Mother of God, by St. Peter, by thy first Apostle, may God paidou our sins, answer our prayers, and lead theo by gunfle might to perfect faith and Catholic unity." On Wednesday the pilgrims made their w.ty to the '• Protestant " Cathedral at Canterbury where they were received with every attention and very couiteout-ly shown over the building. The proceedings closed on Thursday when visits were made to various places in the district connected with St. Augustine's work in England. Altogether the celebration was a great success and it can hardly fail to have a la-ting educational effect on a largo section of the English people. It fumibhea an interesting object lesson in true continuity, in '•triking contrast to the s-purious continuity of the Anglican Church.

LEO XIII AND WOItKING MES.

There can be no doubt that Leo XII f. has fairly earned the honourable title of the " Workmen's Pope." He has always shown the warmest interest in the welfire of the toiling- masse?, and hia great encycli.al on the condition of Labour constitutes a splendid charter of the mutual rights and duties of Capital and Labour. It is characterised throughout by a spirit of warm sympathy with the workers. Where, for example, could be found a clearer vindication of the demand for ' a living wage" and of the principle of trade unionism than U contained in the following passage: — "We no »v approach a subject cf very great importance, and one on which, if extremes are to be avoided, right ideas are absolutely necessary. Wages, we are told, are fixed by free consent ; and therefore the e.nployer, when he pays what was agreed upon, has done his part and is not called upon for anythingfurther. . . . This mode of reasoning is by no means convincing to a fair-minded man, for theru aro important considerations

DM

which it leaves out of view altogether. To labour is to exert oneself for the sake of procuring 1 what is necessary for the purpose of life, and most of all for self-preeervation. 'In the sweat of thy brow thou shalt eat bread.' Therefore a man'B labour has two notes or characters. First of all, it is personal ; for the exertion of individual power belongs to the individual who puts 'it forth, employing this power for that .personal profit for which it was given. Secondly, man's labour is necessary ; for without tho results of labour a man cannot live ; and self -conservation is a law of Nature, which it is wrong to disobey. Now, iE we were to consider labour merely so far, as it is 2^rsonal, doubtless it would be within the workman's right to accept any rate of wages whatever ; for in the same way as he is free to work or not, so he is free to accept a small renumeration or even none at all. But this a mere abstract supposition ; the labour of the working-man is not only his personal attribute, but it is necessary ; and this makes all- the difference. The preservation of life is the bounden duty of each and all, and to fail therein is a crime. It follows that each one has a right to procure what is required in order to live ; and the poor can procure it in no other way than by work and wages. Let it be granted, then, that, as a rule, workman and employer should make free agreements, and in particular should freely agree as to wages ; nevertheless, there is a dictate of Nature more imperious and more ancient than any bargain . between man and man, that the remuneration must be enough, to support the. wago-earner in reasonable and frugal comfort. If through necessity or fear of a worse evil, the workman accepts b/irder conditions because an employer 0 • a contractor will give hi-n no better he is the victim of force and injustice. In these and similar questions, however — suuh asfor example, the hours of labour in different trades, the sanitary precautions to be observed in factories ard workshops, etc. — jn order to supersede undue interference on the part of the State, especially as circumstances, times, and localities differ so widely, it is advisable that recourse be had to Societies or Boards (Trades Unions) such as we shall mention presently, or to some other method of safe-guarding the interests of wage-earners ; the State to be asked for approval and protection." The Holy Father hao given a fresh proof of his affectionate interest in the working classes by the reception which he gave to the large body of French workmen who recently made a pilgrimage to Rome. This pilgrimage, which was promoted by M. Leon Harmel, was pne of the most successful and enthusiastic of the whole series organised by that great leader of Christian democracy in France. M. Harmel, in an address to the Pope, intimated that the pilgrimage was to be renewed every year, and begged t!i« Apostolic Bouedktion for the groups of the Christian democracy who were that day represented by the pilgrims to Rome. The Holy Father's reply showed how his heart warmed towards the toilers of the world. "It is with a lively tenderness," he said, " that we receive you, the repri sentatives of the working classes, so worthy of our interest and of our fatherly solicitude ; " and he proceeded to coaimend them for seeking the solution of the social problem on the lines laid down in the great encyclical, while at the same time he warned them agiiinst those dangerous men who seek the solution of that problem in the destruction of those inviolable laws by which society is held together. " Such men," he said, '• will do nothing but foment unceasing strife, heap ruin on ruin, and make the state of the workers harder and less c." durable than before." Finally, addresBing the priests who part : cipat"d in the pilgrimage, ho said :—": — " It is sweet to us to express our satisfaction at beholding the splendid and numerous gathering of French priests, which we ses around us, united with the workmen in this pilgrimage. Their presence is a Bouvce o£ pleasure to us, for we know that they are devoted in word and work to the promotion of the moral and material welfare of the workers, dispersing misconceptions, inculcating harmony, and spreading in all classes the rules of Christian life which are the most powerful means to solve the problem that engages their attention. We have the sweet confidence, that, under tho wise direction of their bishops, they will continue that beautiful and noble mission, showing themselves more charitable and zealous for the poorest, the weakest, and the most s ffering, who are the ones best loved by oul* Lord and by His Church, the heir of His Divine charity." These weighty words will infuse fresh courage and confidence into the party of Christian democracy — that party which is destined to play so important a part in the solution of the greatest problem of our time.

the Jews and .fcALEBTINE.

At the Zionist Congress, or Jewish. Conference, held recently at EafJe, a proposal to purchase Palestine by the voluntary contributions of the Jews of the world for the purpose of: reconstituting the Hebrew nation was carried by aculuroation> and Considerable public interest has be( n aroused b. tii in KnjjfLiiid &nd on the Continent as to the probabiliiy or otherwise of the pi-o* posal being oarried into effort, There appa-ir to bo two diaiiuot parties among the Jews, one strongly in favour, the other -aa Strongly opposed to the Bcheme. The attitude adopted by the

English Jews appears to be one of uncompromising hostility to tHe proposal. According to tho London Tablet Adler, who is the Chief Rabbi of the United Orthodox Congregations' of the British. Empire, has.- denounced the Basle Congress as an egregious blunder, and -regards the idea of establishing a Jewish State in Palestine as absolutely mischievous. " "It .is. contrary to; ( Jewish principles, the teaching of the .prophets, and "the' traditions "of Judaism. '■.Aw a movement that can be fraught with incalculable harm', whiclrean. be entirely perverted, and which might lead people to think that -we Jews are not fired with ardent loyalty for the country in which it is 'our lot to be placed." Dr. Adler believes that in speaking vthus he is only expressing the common opinion in ■ the Anglo- Jewish community. Mr. .Oswald Simon, .who -recently defended liis cb'religionists against the misrepresentations of ' ;the Lambeth, Conference, takes the same view and declares that Dr. Herzl, the leader of the movement", is not an orthodox Jew at all, but: an Agnostic. On the other hand there can be, no doubt that there^is a strong patriotic party among -the Jews who long to return to the land of their fathers and to make it once again a "land' flowing with m,ilk and honey." Humanly speaking the scheme is quite possible. There are plenty of enormously wealthy Jews who could command almost unlimited capital and could -easily make it worth the Sultan's while to part with that narrow strip of -his dominions which comprises the Holy Land. The points which render the success of the scheme doubtful are :— <l) The doubt whether the wealthy Jews will be willing to risk their capital in such an enterprise ; (2) The uncertainty whether a sufficient number of the Jews will be prepared to take advantage of the scheme; and (3) The entire absence of an agricultural class amongst the Jewish race. These difficulties, however, are • not insuperable, and if any large section of the Jews are really bent on. carrying out such an enterprise, there is. humanly speaking, very little to prevent them. Some imaginative anti-Catholic papers have managed to drag the Papacy into the question, and have taken advantage of the occasion to manufacture all sorts of rumours as to' the proposed action of the Holy See. The following press telegram, for example, appears in a leading London daily paper of September 8 : — "-The Pope, being uneasy at the extent of the Zionist movement for the return of the Jews to Palestine, and the statement that promises have already been made in their favour by the Sultan, haß called Mgr. Bonetti, Apostolic Delegate at Constantinople, to Rome, to devise means for opposing the Jewish plans, which are naturally regarded with horror by good Catholics. In fact, this project interferes with the Pope's own desire to collect the necessary money to redeem the Holy Land from the infidel. The Vatican has also made representations to France, which has the protection of Catholic interests in the East." The Catholic papers in Rome, and the Roman correspondents of English Catholic papers emphatically deny the truth of this telegram, and declare that the Pope has taken no actioa whatever in the matter. The Roman correspondent of the Catholic Times — a thoroughly well-informed and reliable authority — thus emphatically contradicts this rumour of a protest from the Pope : "To this lam in a position to oppose a complete denial. The Vatican has not occupied itself in the least degree with this Jewish project, for it knows full well that in fulfilment of a prophecy of our Saviour there is not the least likelihood, for the present at least, of the Jewish nation reconstituting itself. Besides, the insinuation that the Catholic Church has a tendency to persecute the Israelite is absolutely false, as is patent to all who are acquainted with history.

NEWMAN ANTD KEUAN.

Tub Itev. W. J. Barry, D.D., one of the most brilliant and luminous of living Catholic writers, has an interesting article in a recent number of the National Review in which the great French pervert and the greatest convert of the century are compared and contrasted. At almost the very time when Newman was making his way to the Church Renan slipped his hold of the Catholic faith, and this circumstance has led Dr. Barry to draw out the points of similarity and difference between the two men. Both were perfeot masters of literary style, and under this head Dr. Barry thus compares them :—": — " Newman has long been recognised as one of the crowned and sceptred kings of English prose literature, without a competitor save Ruskin ; but as a spiritual teacher, a light in the world of spiritual development, he is by far the greatest that has risen up during our century. On the other hand, whicn' among French writers has excelled Eenan ? I speak of the supreme French achievement, again of prose, not of poetry ; and I call to mind Chateaubriand, George Sand, Victor Hugo — these are the highest modern, names — but can we praise them beyond the choice, musicl breathing and exquisite and endlessly cunning artist who, by & seuret known to himself and none other, has combined the Celtio and the classic eloquence, stolen the hearts of friends and enemies, hidden the charm of his persuasiveness in words as simple as they are touching, and given to a phrase or an epithet power so strange that, once heard, it will never be forgotten ? What a specious miracle is here, and liqw slight a value do we set on Hugo's ohaotio

splendours when this enchantment has taken hold of us ! But such was Reuan. He has wrapped himself in the cloi\k of the wizard Prospero, borrowing for the nonce his staff and magic volume, not unsuccessfully. Now, if we should think of Newman as Ariel, a i spirit most delicate, detached, and filled with heavenly light the terms 'of our comparison would not be wanting." Still more important is the contrast between the mental habits of the two men and the fundamental difference between them in this respect furnishes to some extent an explanation of the diametrically opposite conclusions to which their religious speculations led them. " One is intent," j writes Dr. Barry, •• upon the human element, busy about evidence which would tell in a court of law, lynx-eyed to seize upon discrepancies in detail, minute, punctilious, microscopic ; and thus he is sure that the truth maybe ascertained or not at all. To Oriental narratives, written with child-like good faith and unsuspecting simplicity, our critic, just because not critic enough to know the deepest principles of his art or science, applies a ea^t-iron rule which not even Western writer-, though literal and exact, have always obeyed. If he takes into account the supernatural, it is only that by means of it he may dash the story in pieces ; an inspired volume must be perfect as a dictionary of dates, or a biographical memoir> drawn up with a view to the requirements of Gibbon or VoltaireThe first and last question is not moral, religious, personal ; nor has it any concern with conscience, except on the score of veracity. How much more in accordance with the laws of life is Newman's proceeding ? He does not look for this perfect and obvious agreement in writers so variously endowed, so little dependent upon one another, whose minds were dazzled with the great illumination, and possessed and overcome by the recent memory, of their unparalleled Master. The tone of prophecy is abrupt ; its words are dark sayings ; it is a collection of sibylline leaves, not rhetoric unfolding a theme to our leisurely comprehension. And the plainest seeming tale or narrative in the Bible must, from the nature of the case, be prophetic : 1 Thoughts beyond their thoughts to those high bards were given.' We are at Nazareth or Jerusalem, not on the Hill of Mars, or walking with Socrates on the road to the Piraeus."

EXCOMMUNICATION* OK A SPANISH MINIbTEK.

A few weeks ago a cable in the daily papers announced the excommunication of Senor NavarroReverter, the Spanish Minister of Finance, and his official'!, by Monsiynor Cerncra, Bishop of Majorca but no particulars were given as to the reason for the prelate's action. We learn from Home papers just to hand that the ground for the Bishop's proceeding- was the attempt made by the Minister's accredited officials to seize and sell the property belonging to the monastic church and shrine of our Lady of Luch. It appears that the Minister-, local delegate very foolishly presented himself at the monastery at the Lead of a j)ow of gendarmes on the feast day oi oar La 'y of Luch, when several hundreds of people \\ ere a c *cmbJ( <•! there. The Bi-hop dciiod the right of the Minister to make the >-e!/i:je and appealtd. in support of his contention, to the Concordat and the Canon Law. His Lordship, in declaring the excommunication, i-< stated to have b r-ed hi-, action on a passage in the eleventh section of the twentieth chapter of the decrees of the Council of Trent' and on the Bull A postal teat Sedts. Cardinal Saneha, Monsignor Cernera's metropolitan, with a view to preventing a conflict between the Church and State, wrote to his suffragan to withhold publication of the excommunication, but the letter had by that time been read in all the churches of the Balearic Isles. The effect of the excommunication will be to prevent Senor Navarro-Reveitfr from takLtg any part in the deliberations of the Cabinet. Since the publication of the excommunication the Bishop of Majorca has i->sued a reply to the mibstatements that ha^^e been made in connection with the matter. lie denies that the State is the administrator of the endowments of the Monastic Church and Shrine of our Lady of Luch, and declares that the Ordinance of May, IS.")"), quoted by the Minister, was superseded by the Concordat ot IS.VJ. It was the Minister's attempt, he &ays, to set aside the latter by a different order that gave rise to his excommunication. The Oovcrninent admit that their colleague was not altogether free from blame, and as the result of a conference between the Premier, the excommunicated Minister, and the Minister of Justice, the affair has been referred to the Nuncio Apostoli ;. who w ill lay all the circumstances before the Pope, who^e decision will be acctpted by all parties.

ODDS AND

Tiik Catholic paper (says the Mirror) does not appeal to Catholics on the same grounds as does the daily paper. The daily paper is> a civic and economic necessity, so that the poorest are compelled to take at least one. The Catholic pap«r is a necessity, but it is a necessity which is not felt so soon or urgently. It appeals for support, not on grounds of profit, politics or curiosity, but on grounds of principle only. It succeeds only when Catholics* take an interest in the progrets of the Church, and are therefore anxious to know the current history of the Church. It is read where Catholics take an interest in the doctrines of the Church, and are therefore desirous

to see these doctrines explained and defended. Experience shows that for this end a Catholic paper is an absolute necessity, for in the daily papers we will see only travesties of Church history and libelß on Church teaching. There is another and a more cogent reason why the need of a Catholic paper should be felt by the Catholic people. Catholics have never tried to remain aloof from the nonCatholics of this country. They have rot formed themselves into a people apart. They have striven to identify themselves with the various classes of citizens among whom they live, bearing the common burdens and sharing the common benefits. Yet it is true that the old prejudice against Catholics still exists. In a hundred ways the Catholic is made to feel that where religion is no difference to others his- religion is a distinguished characteristic in him. Moreover, charges which would not be imagined concerning other denominations are gravely uttered against the Church. The rights of Catholics are considered the wrongs of non-Catholics, and we are looked upon with \v onder if we are not supremely grateful that we are allowed to live. If wo insist on our rights we are charged with incivism. The attitude urged upon us is the deferential attitude of the poor relation who has been invited to the great man's table.

We learn, says the Dublin Ireeman, from a reliable source that in connection with the presentation of the address of the Orange Society to his Eoyal Highness the Duke of York the other day, a most remarkable incident transpired. The address, as it was originally drafted, contained a declaration that the Society was founded " for the maintenance of civil and religious liberty " in Ireland. It also contained an assertion that the members of the Society were staunch upholders of the Legislative Union between Great Britain and Ireland. All the addresses had to be submitted for approval before presentation, and upon the return of the Orange address it was discovered that the approved draft contained neither 1 the quasi-historical nor the political allusions above described, The address read at the Castle on Friday was merely an expression of welcome and loyalty. Commenting on this, the Tipperary Nationalmt says :: — '• The refusal of the Duke of York to receive an i address from the Orange Society proclaiming itself the defender of civil and religious liberty in Ireland and protesting its determination to maintain the Legislative Union is a significant new departure on the part of Royalty in connection with Irish politics. It proves that the advisers of the Crown no longer think it expedient to have the Sovereign and her representatives exploited in Ireland as the partisans of Orangeism and Unionism, and that the time has gone by when party politics could be preached from the Throne Room in Dublin Castle. The Duke of York has now confirmed by his adoption the admirable precedent set by Lord Crew r e, who refused to receive in his capacity as Viceioy addresses which were mer-'ly political fulminations, directed against the sane and statesmanlike policy of conciliation propounded by Mr. Gladstone. LordCicwo was- boycotted by the so-called '• loyalists'' for" his correct interpictation of the nature of Disposition. But now Royalty itself con linns Lord Crowe's action. The lesson will not be lost on the faction in Ireland that liab persistently degraded the Monarchy by the association of it with the meanest and most indefensible tactics of party warfare.

In an article on the London 7 mv i tinned '• Ex-Attache,'' whicll appears in the Xt/r York Tr'huiu. it i.< stated that the London 'J/i/ws is now no more or le^s than the per- >n il organ of the Rothschilds who use it to advance their own interests, .fay Gonld, it will bo remembered, got control of the J\ar Yoih World some years ago, and ran it on the same principle that the London Turn \ is run at present. When it was known thut Could was the owner of the Arm ) ork World the paper suffered to an <'\(e\t that the chief of the Wall street gambler-, found it to his advantage to gtt rid of it as soon as possible. Iho Roth-childs have not as yet been compelled to imitate the example pet them by Jay Gould, but the time will come when they w ill be {dad to unload themsehes of the London 'J'uiu x. How it came to be known that they were con. nected with the whilom '■ Thunderer" is thus told m the Ti ilnine article: — '-The legal proceedings between the late Mr. I'arnell and the Tnn<<t nine years ago laid bare the fact that the Walters, father and son, own but a sixteenth and a half of tho btock of the paper. It is asserted, and generally believed in London, that the greater part of the remainder of the shares ha\c passed into tho possession of the great banking- house of Rothtchild. This in itself is calculated to destroy much of the influence ot the papi r, since, rightly or wrongly, the suspicion must ah\ay-> pre\ail that the gnat banking house, in securing control of the stook, naturally counted on being- able to command the columns of the paper and to direct its policy."'

There seems to be a growing demand (says the Miwio/niry) fa' the cathechist, who. whether he be one of the laity or one consecrated in religion, can follow up the work tit the missionaiy and attend to the practical details of instruction. A missionary's ohoice&t work it>, by careful exposition and attractive pii'scntation,

to captivate the hearts and minds of his listeners. He forms into the inquiry class those who have been, as it were, half convinced that the Catholic Church is the Church of Christ. " Inquirers '' have come to that state of mind in which they say " I want to know more of the teachings of the Church." To learn the doctrines of the Church thoroughly requires both time and attention. The missionary's call to other fields cuts short his time, and his multifarious duties prevent him from giving the attention to the inquiry class that it demands ; and yet the work of the inquiry class is in a sense more important than platform preaching. Who is there, therefore, that will step into the breach and consecrate time and attention to this evangelical work ? In the economy of all divine work the Holy Spirit provides the supply or the demandMay we not hope, then, that devoted souls who are fitted by their special knowledge and earnest zeal will be inspired to offer themselves for this work ,' A convert thoroughly instructed in his religion often makes the best catechist. Such a one is generally very intelligent, and he is one who has been over the road and knows the landmarks, and, therefore, can ordinarily answer the difficulties and meet the objections o° his cathechumens. The ancient discipline of the Church provides for a class of lay helpers that took on themselves these special duties. Why in our modern work should not this urgent need be supplied ? We believe that it is only necessary to voice the want, and the ones adapted for this special want will volunteer for the service. Already we find a number of the very best young men and women giving their time in Sunday schools for the instruction of children. The art of the Sunday school teacher carried to a still greater perfection wil make the competent catechist.

In the course of his paper on - The Masses, and the Future of Religion," at the young Men's Societies Conference, Gla«gow, Mr. D. J. Quinn said that if such a subject were being treated at any but a Catholic conference, or by other than Catholic*, the treatment would be objective. Catholics need not approach the subject that way. They cannot change their doctrines to suit the changing whim of the religious public. Temporising as a religious policy is foredoomed to failure. But though Catholics were precluded from considering the subject this wny, there still remained the question which might be profitably discussed of how those outside the Catholic Church might be best disposed towards it. History gave a lesson on the subject, and current events also deserve cognisance There was at the moment the great danger of the Catholic Church becoming an object of antipathy to the labouring class, c numonly called the masses, b -cause of t'.ie attitude of certain Catholics towards certain economic change^ for which them:ip%s were clamouring. Reformer-, who ad \ocite many things permissible and some things not pernii^sil' 1 > wvre douomed indiscriminately, with tbe nsult that the nia^e- reg.mU'd the authors of such denunciation as enemies of the worker. lt\\(.uMho well to have subjects of this kind thoroughly di.^u^eJ at tlii Young Men's Society mocikigs wtere the chaplain would be pr ,vnt to reprehend auy unwarranted advocacy. The course of r\e:.t- in France, on tlie other hand, had also their lesson. Cath-hes should be careful not to allow the Chinch to be regarded by nou-Catl olios a^ a mere appanage of any political system or any form of go\ornment. They should notallcw it to be thought that the Catholic Church was or could become the c-eature of any cLi^ or natior. Piou-odi, g. the paper dKcus-el the prejudices of non-Catholics towards the Catholic Chur.h aii'i r. eomnunded that subjects like tho-e should be ntudied by the Young Men's [society, and that the truth ro-,ar.lin>r Lhom an-1 the Clmrcli should be du-scmlimtcl by meiKbers a>non_;t t those whom they daily come in contact with. The publications of the Catholic Truth Society i:i this connection were CMnnie.idtd. Finally, the paper considered whether the maves had at.y d. ci.leJ autagoni-ui to Catholicity as a ceremonial system of religion, an.] concluded thai this was not so, instancing the ceremonial dovtlopment-, in. the Anglican and Presbyterian Churches, which were ie_:irdul by the masses with no indifTerent or unfriendly eye.