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eloquent effort, would be doing great in
justice to the speaker and iiis theme. He
spoke nearly an hour, and thrilled every
heart by Ins splendid elocution, the pow
er and lorce of his thoughts, the beauty'
of his imagery, the clear succinct state
ment of facts, and his touching pathos.
The eloquent orator did honor to. the
occasion, to his country, to the living
and the dead. The vast majority of his
audience were standing; yet such was
the spell of glowing thought and fancy
thrown over the soul by the speaker that
none felt the sense of weariness. lie
gloriously eulogized the lamented, chival
rous Semmcs, whom he had often seen in
battle, and whose new-made grave was
before him, and paid equally' as just a tri
bute to C. A. Bailey, one of the Colum
bus Guards, and afterwards an officer of
the 10th Georgia, Semmes’ Brigade,
whose remains had just been re-interred.
We would like to see this splendid ora
tion printed.
CLOSING EXERCISES.
Another anthem was sung; after
which Father Cullinan read a prayer.
Night had then almost begun, and all
wended their way slowly homeward,
leaving the graves of our honored dead
wreathed with the bright mementoes of
love and reverence, and the recollections
of the departed and their deeds glowing
in each Southern heart.
Oh! gallant heroes! ye who sleep
Beneath our banner bright ;
Who struggled with true bravery,
For freedom and the right,
What need of marble monuments
To tell thy deeds of glory,
When every humble soldier-grave
Has proudly told the story ?
A RIDE TO THE CONFEDERATE CEMETERY AT
VICKSBURG.
Yesterday evening we visited the Con
federate cemetery, and examined the labor
of love performed by our ladies of the
Confederate Cemetery Association. Upon
a gentle slope in a remote corner of the
city cemetery, repose twenty-five hundred
Southern heroes. No State is alone
represented in the humble cemetery of
the Gibraltar of the South—but to-day, in
far remote States, dim eyes of love picture
a fond form which is entombed in the
love of that being, and beneath the green
turf which wraps in quiet sadness, y'et
unspeakable glory', the pulseless bosoms
of his companions in death.
Our ride revealed to us the fact that an
almost superhuman amount of labor had
been performed in a very short time,
with scarcely any means, and without
ostentation, by Mrs. Wright, President of
the Confederate Cemetery Association,
and her lady coadjutors. We also learn
ed that a large amount of work is still
necessary to complete what the ladies
conceive necessary, and that they need
assistance which can be given by the
young gentlemen of the city. We there
fore request a number of young gentle
men to report to Mrs. Wright at the cem
etery early to-morrow morning. She
needs assistance. She has, with the as
sistance of the other ladies of the Associ
ation, performed wonders, yet there is
much yet to be done. She can find any
amount of employment for a number of
young gentlemen, if they will report to
her.
The City Council has made an appro
priation of three hundred dollars to aid
the ladies of this Cemetery Association in
beautifying the graves of our dead in this
cemetery Vicksburg Herald.
A communication in the Vicksburg
1 nncs, upon the same subject (the Con
federate dead), says :
“In your paper you ask, ‘Are the
graves where sleep the defenders of this
Saragossa to be uncared for ? Shall
those who perished in our defence have
no ilowers strewn upon their graves V
In reply, it is only necessary to point to
the ladies who are earnestly at work pre
paring to perform the annual rites over
the dead who rest on the southern slope
oi the Walnut llids. For some time our
devoted women have been engaged in
their task of love, and on the 25th of
April hundreds will repair to the sunny
spot where lie our dead, to place upon
the graves the floral offerings of their
own clime. Rest assured, sir, that our
dead heroes are never forgotten by our
mauls or matrons, but are as fondly
cherished now, as when they stood, a
living wall, between our homes and the
foe.’’
TUB CEMETERY OF THE CONFEDERATE DEAD
AT PETERSBURG.
i lie iOt of four acres in the Blanford
( e mete it, donated to the Association last
year by the Common Council for tiie in
terment of the Confederate dead, has
lately been laid off in artistic manner
IIU Bird, whom the ladies employed to
assist them. For several weeks he has
employed in laying off the grounds,
and he has prepared a beautiful design of
the work. The ground is divided into
sections of various sizes, separated from
each other by roads ten feet in width, at
tne intersections of which it is designed
to have plots for flowers and shrubbery.
On the highest eminence, overlooking the
whole, the general monument is to be
erected. Nearest to this monument is a
large space to be devoted to the ‘'unknown
dead,’’ which will probably form the most
numerous class. Next to these, in lots
of the smaller dimensions, are to be in
terred the dead from the distant States—
each State to itself. These occupy places
more or less remote from the monument,
according to their respective numbers.
But the dead of A irginia probabl v exceed
all the others combined, not counting the
‘‘unknown.” These are to have position
in the outside sections, on the frontier, as
it were, embracing the whole. This re
sults from numerical considerations; the
same attention is to be bestowed on all,
since all fell in the same cause. To carry
out this design will be the work of time.
In our present prostrate condition the
progress will necessarily be slow ; but
whenever it is perfected, as it must be one
day r or other, it will be one of the most
beautilul cemeteries in the South.
Those who have not been careful ob
servers ot the doings of the Ladies’ Memo
rial Association are not aware of what
they have accomplished during the last
twelve months. They' work in so unpre
tending a manner, and with so little
assistance from the stronger sex as almost
t° escape observation ; but theirs is a
labor ol love, which, though prosecuted
under many disadvantages and discour
agements, has never been lost sight of for
a moment.
DECORATION OF THE CONFEDERATE GRAVES
AT LOUISVILLE.
Ihe pelting rain and general forbidding
aspect of the weather yesterday afternoon
stayed not the maidens and matrons of
our city in the affectionate observance of
memorial day. * * The rain and
gloom served tint to render more vivid
the lecollection of the soldier s uncom
plaining submission to the hardships of
the camp, the march and the field, and to
deepen the sense of appreciation felt by
all their true hearted survivors. At the
appointed hour—four o’clock, P. M., and
soon after—the bivouac of the Confeder
ate dead, in the eastern portion of our
beautiful cemetery, was surrounded by
more than a thousand ladies, and their
escorts and attendants, who, laden with
choicest flowers and evergreens, had come
in carriages, on the cars, and in various
ways. Every grave received the
tribute of immortelles, fashioued in the
most expressive forms that loving hands
could weave. It was remarked that the
collection of flowers, both in variety and
luxuriance, excelled that of either last
year or the year before. In thus decora
ting these lowly graves with the emblems
of loving remembrances, the gentle ones
who engaged in it scarcely honored them
selves less than were the .sainted dead.
May the hallowed custom never fail to be
kept in this heaven-approved spirit.—
Louisville Journal, April 26.
WHO WILL CONTRIBUTE ?
The Oakwood Memorial Association
having finished the work of erecting
headboards, are now anxious to beautify
the grounds by planting shrubbery, and
earnestly beg persons having rosebushes
or shrubbery of any sort to spare, to aid
them in this design. Contributions can
be sent to the store of A. Y. Stokes &
Co. —Southern Opinion.
A LONG AND WEARY JOURNEY.
Major Head, formerly of the staff of
General M. J. \\ right, of the Confeder
ate army, has just got home from the war-
He started, alter the close of hostilities,
from Johnson’s Island, where he had
been a prisoner, for home, penniless, and
on foot. In Illinois, he found an ac
quaintance, through whose influence he
got a school, which he taught two years.
—Selma (Ala.) Messenger.
[From “Der Katholik.”
1867-68.
NUMBER ONE.
The terrible suspense into which the
whole Catholic world suddenly found it
self thrown, during the months of last
October and November, has passed away.
The universal fear and anxiety of all true
Catholics the world over, lest Rome might
fall into the hands of the Revolutionists,
and the Pope be driven from his See, lias
given way to glad shouts cf victory, and
made room for more than ordinary confi
dence in the hearts of all true believers.
And justly so ; for God has visibly aided
His Church, with His omnipotent arm.
He has broken and shattered the sword
of those who attempted to make a mock
ery of his Vicegerent on earth, and He
has covered those wicked scoffers with
confusion and shame, not only in the face
of Italy alone, but before the whole
world. After we, 200 millions of Catli-
olies, for the last seven years had seen
falsehood, deceit, and revolution, rushing
on from victory to victory—after we had
felt confused and troubled to see our way
through the labyrinth of difficulties which
beset the Holy Father on all sides—after
we had heard day by day from a thou
sand quarters, that Popery was coming to
an end—then, all of a sudden, a light
gleams amidst all this darkness, the
morning dawn of a better time appears
in the East, right prevails once more over
wrong, truth over falsehood, and the re
presentatives of revolution are met by
the champions of justice, who smite, dis
perse, annihilate them completely. And
we all, those millons of Catholics, breathe
more freely since then, and, while we
thank God for the unexpected victory, we,
at the same time, become aware of our
influence and our invisible power, so long
as we remain firmly united. Hence, we
behold Catholics, as never before, vieing
with each other in devising ways and
means to sustain the temporal power of the
Pope. And, this time especially, it is the
Catholic people, the true and the. whole
souled many, who are at the head of the
movement, and will insure its success,
not only for the immediate present, but,
probably, for all time to come. So far as
ice can see, the Church henceforth can
expect but very little, if anything, from
the Princes, the mighty ones of earth.
True, God has called the rulers of earth
to defend the right and to administer
justice, but their generation has fallen la
mentably' of late, and we see them
now, some obsequious in the service of
the revolution, others paralysed by
the influence of that salf-same spirit of
overthrow, while others still arc too cra
ven-hearted to stand up for and defend
even the most sacred rights of our com
mon humanity.
On the other hand, we have seen, during
the weeks of October and November,
just passed, what the Catholic people can
accomplish. Those soldiers of Pius IX,
who achieved such a glorious victory over
the Revolutionists of Italy, from the Ist
of October to the 4th of November—who
are they ? They are the sons of the
Catholic people in France, in Belgium,
in Holland, in Switzerland, Spain, Ger
many, and England. These volunteers
from among all classes of the people, from
the hut of the poor no less than the
palace of the rich, hurrying to Rome,
have formed the army of Pius IX, and are
now covered with the halo of immortal
glory. And these soldiers—who has
maintained them ? Again we answer :
the Catholic people. The diocese of
Cambray alone, maintained 330 Zouaves
in the Papal Army, and many, many
other dioceses, nay, even simple parishes
in France, but more especially in Paris,
have maintained from 10 to 30 Zouaves
in the service of the Holy Father. In
like manner, the good city of Aix-la-Cha
pcllc has, to-day, her eight Zouaves in
die field, and thus we find it all the
Catholic world over. But, who is it that
has made provision for the wounded ?
for those whom excess of labor and long
marches have stretched on a bed of sick
ness? Again, the Catholic people. A
single newspaper in France, the “ Union,' 1
has collected, up to the present day, no
less than 700,000 francs for the army of
Pius IX ; and other French papers, the
‘‘(hirers” and the “ Monde collected
also, within the space of from four to
eight weeks, the sum of 700,000 francs,
while the collections of some other fif
teen or twenty provincial newspapers,
which were hitherto barely deemed worthy
of notice, bad, up to Nov. 30th., already
reached the sum of upwards of 1,000.000
of francs. The Catholic press of Bel
gium and Holland has met with compara
tively the same success. Even from Ger
many, where the movement was started
last of all, there is already cheering
news all the way from A ienna to Aix-la
chapelle.. Where can you find a party,
which, in so short a time, lias brought
about such gigantic results ? Where
can a similar enthusiasm, a like spirit of
sacrifice be found ? By the united ex*
ertions of this Catholic people, and by
their countless and willing acts of self.
sacrifice, the plans, the labors, and the
exertions of all the secret societies in
the world, who were making tools of, sup
porting, and spurring on Garibaldi and
his hordes, have been frustrated and over
thrown at one fell swoop ; and now, what
is left to those poor, misguided, revolu
tionists save to look on and grind their
teeth in useless despair, and the know
ledge that they are fairly beaten ? Are
we saying too much ? Who, then, was
it that forced the Emperor of France,
compelled Napoleon 111, to take active
sides against the revolution in Italy, and
to come to the Pope’s rescue, even at the
eleventh hour ? It was the day' by day
louder and stronger-growing voice of the
Catholic people of France; it was the
clarion notes of warning, sounded from
his watchtower at Orleans, and thence re
verberating through all France, by tho
great-souled and mighty-worded Bishop
Dupanloup.
And, as in France, so, also, are now,
the Catholics of Germany at work. They
avail themselves of their political rights,
such as they can command, and are laying
their outspoken wishes at the feet of their
rulers’ thrones ; they are holding con
ventions at Cologne, Munich, Mayencc,
Coblenz, Minster, and other places of im
portance, where, by energetic and soul
stirring speeches, and by clear and well
defined resolutions, they give expression to
their thoughts and feelings, thus giving
the world at large to understand that the
Roman question must and can only be
solved in strict accordance with the prin
ciples of right and justice. Nor are we
alone in the defence of this point ; but
on our right and left we are supported by
conscientious Protestants, by all honest
men of thought, and by all true friends
of liberty. For they' arc all convinced,
to a man, that the Pope, in this, our other
wise so gloomy nnd portentous day, is
one of the few, if not the only represen
tative of right and justice on earth.
Nevertheless, the aid which Catholic
Germany will be able to extend to the
Pope, can hardly swell up to such refresh
ing figures as it has, for instance, already
done, and is still continuing to do in
France. The reasons for this may be
most clearly gathered from the pastoral
letter of the Rt. Rev. Bishop of Mayence
on “The present condition of the Apos
tolic See.’’ The Emperor of Austria is
no longer in a position which would ena
ble him to fulfil the grand mission that is
dedicated by bis title of “Apostolic Ma'
jesty.” For “not only the foreign ene
mies of Austria have lamed his imperial
arm ; it has been done also and even
worse by the home enemies of the realm,
who, at the present day, control the Aus
trian press, govern many of the larger
Austrian cities, anti sit in the highest
seats, even in the very legislative coun
cils of the nation itself. And these are
men who scoff at ami ridicule the
Church and her rights, who mock every
demonstration of Catholic belief and
Catholic practice, in a manner which ex
ceeds even the hatred of a Voltaire and
his associates, and who, if it were possi
ble, might reconcile a Catholic German
with the idea of living far away from a
land, where, at present, our religion and
our Church finds itself daily exposed to
such shameful treatment and such un
pardonable outrage.’’ But what will the
King of Prussia, who is to-day receiving
so many addresses from bis Catholic sub
jects, say in the matter ? Aye, what
will be be able to do ? After the Em
p°”or of Austria, he is evidently the only
one of whom we need speak in this mat
ter, for the other German princes may
be looked upon as in a great measure
deposed since the late turn of affairs in
Europe. Let us hear on this subject,
also, the memorable words of the Bishop
of Mayence. “It is true, the Xing of
Prussia, in his last speech before the as
sembled members of bis cabinet, took
occasion to express bis wish and desire
of upholding the honor and independence
of the Pope. He did this in considera
tion and for the love of his many Catholic
subjects. But, although we are certain
that his royal words were kindly and well
meant, we are, also, equally certain that
they will bring no aid to the Pope. For,
independent of the fact that the King is a
Protestant Prince, and there exists in his
kingdom, a no doubt strong and influen
tial Protestant party, whose highest aim
and whose dearest wish it is, to greet
Garibaldi or A ictor Emanuel as rulers of
Rome, there looms up this other diffi
culty , that Prussia, after the events of
ihe last year, clare no longer pretend to
the guardianship of those saving princi
ples of right and justice, of which we
speak, even though its Kings should have
the best of intentions, and make the most
solemn of promises. True, accomplished
facts, as such, may be easily defended
or smoothed over on some plea or another;
but the log'ic which lies within those
facts, brought about and accomplished
with our consent and assistance, that very
often is inexorable, invincible, and cannot
be explained away. The idea that any
of the other German governments, some
of which are known to be strongly and
directly opposed to the Church, should,
or could bring any aid to the Pope, is al
together out of the question.”
Therefore, it is our duty as Catholics,
yea, it is the bounden duty of the Catholic
people exclusively, to do that which the
necessities of the present demand from
every true son of the Church. If we
were but perfectly united in our ef
forts, if our endeavors were all but as
one, it each son of the Church would
but do his own duty in his own place—
yes 1 then indeed we would be invincible,
for there are two hundred millions of us,
and whatsoever two hundred millions of
stout hearts and strong hands wish and
work for, that is bound to be accom
plished. True, we Catholics of Germany
still want many things before, as a peo
ple, we shall be able to accomplish such
results as our brethren in France, or
even those in the little State of Belgium,
have already brought about. The out
side pressure of the State upon the
Church, which still continues to be felt
more severely with us than in other great
countries of the earth, the enmities and
contentions daily' growing out of this
pressure, the disintegration of the Catho
lic Church in Germany, that is, the many
and small separate territories—tiiese, and
many other things, need to be removed
before we can aspire to do great things.
That this comparative inactivity and
powerlessness which fetters us to-day, is
not an iimato characteristic of the Catho
lic German people, but must be chiefly,
if not altogether, attributed to our pecu
liar circumstances, such is clearly vouched
for and proven beyond a doubt, both to
ourselves and the world at large, by our
brothers, the Catholic Germans of Amer
ica, who are still, and have been for many
years past, a chief pillar of the so glo
riously growing Catholic American
Church, and who, although far inferior to
us in numbers, have exceeded us almost
beyond computation in the number and '
value of their pious offerings to the Holy
Father.
LITERARY AND ART ITEMS,
Ticknor Sc Fields are about to publish
a full edition of Saxe’s works.
The only book published in Florida
since the war, was called the Florida Al
manac.
Greenwood, the Amateur Casual, has
written a story called “The Soul Trap,”
for the Eastern Annual.
Miss Emily' Faithful makes he” ap
pearance as an author, with a love story
entitled, “Change upon Change.”
Lady' Wood, not Mrs. 11. Wood, with
whom she is sometimes confounded, is
about to publish anew novel called “True
as the Needle.”
Mrs. Lusia Gilbert Calhoun, has so far
recovered her health as to enable her to
resume her brilliant pen, lor some months
resigned.
Mrs. A. J. Riddle, the novelist, con
tributes the beginning of anew story,
“A Life’s Assize, to the April number of
Si. James' Magazine, of which she lug
become the editor.
Alexander Dumas offers further advan
tages to the new journal If Antaguan.
Each new subscriber receives a volume
containing his autograph. To subscribers
of large amounts, proportionately' in
creased advantages are given.
5