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REV. A. J. RYAN, Editor
AUGUSTA, GA„ SEPT'R 19, 1868.
THE CHURCH IN FLORIDA.
Asa most pleasing indication of the
growth of the Catholic Church in the
‘ Land of Flowers,” we note the fact,
that, on the 30th of August, the lit. Rev.
John Quinlan, D. D., Bishop of Mobile,
on the occasion of his official visit to the
city of Pensacola, administered the holy
Sacrament of Confirmation to eighty-one
persons, in the church of St. Nicholas, at
that place. Nine of this number were
recent converts to the faith. Perhaps the
most remarkable feature of the occasion,
however, was the large proportion of
blacks who composed the class for Con
firmation. Indeed, they nearly made
up one-half the number of the entire
class, the proportion standing thus :
whites, 45 ; blacks, 37. Sucli occurren
ces as these are cheering- signs for the
country. Let the blacks once embrace
and practice the doctrines and teachinings
of Holy Mother Church, and they will
soon acquire, not only that knowledge of
religious facts, but, also, that peculiar,
but unerring, sense of right and wrong,
which, thus far, as a class, they still need
to make them good Christians, and good
citizens at the same time
BE TRUE, AND DO NOT FORGET-
It is hard—yet the harder, the more
honorable—to be true to what is lost and
gone. It is easy to forget what it costs a
pang to remember. To many men—
when the Past is past—’tis dead, and they
bury it with genuine sorrow, perhaps ;
but they have no time nor taste to linger
at its grave. To repine, is mere useless
sentiment, they say ; there is work to
do, and it must be done ; so they turn
from the Past, and its memory is soon
forgotten amid the living interests of the
present.
And, yet, while we by no means under
rate the claims of the Present, while we
know that it is our duty to labor in its
service, we still feel that the Past has
not ceased to have claims upon us—
claims upon our memory, our fidelity, our
love ; claims upon our admiration
for all that was grand in it; upon our
veneration, for all that was holy in it;
upon our imitation, for all that was hon
orable in it ; upon our enthusiasm, for
all that was noble, and great, and pure in
it. True, we must live in the Present,
but the memories of our Past should
be a part of that life ; we must work
in the Present, but out of our Past should
we draw the inspirations that will nerve
us to our work.
We must be true to Truth in the Pre
sent, but not by becoming false to Truth
in the Past. II there were principles
that made our Past holy and sacred; and
if the Present demands their surrender,
we must sternly refuse. Cost what it
may, and come what will, we must cling
to our Past, as a soldier to his banner ;
we must never relax our grasp, destrt our
colors, nor abandon our post ; and, come
bribe or threat, come woe or wrong, we
must he too proud and too honorable to
betray our past convictions.
“We must be true—and uot forget.”
Wherefore, then, do so many among
us—political writers and speakers—tell
us to forget ? Wherefore do they say—
and without sorrow in their words—that
so many of our issues of the Past, (mean
ing rights,) are dead ? Dead are
they ? And do rights die ? Does wrong
Kill them, and the votaries of success
bury them ? Do the leaders of the peo
ple understand what they ssk ? They
tell us to forget the Past! Ah! we know
fidelity to the Past brings us no material
reward. It does not pay very well; it
does not lead to position. It is a senti
ment-only a sentiment—therefore value
less; and all the memories of the Con
federacy are not worthy to be compared
to a political position in the reconstructed
Union. And is this their code of honor ?
And our rights have we raally lost a
single one of them, though the war has
gone against us ? and, if we have not,
are they dead ? and, if they are not dead,
may we not at any time, when we have
the power, resume and reassert them ?
But no; the Southern people will be
true, and will not forget. They will
wait—and wait—and wait—till
“Each single wreck in the war-path of Might,
Shall yet be a rock in the temple of Right.”
SOUTHERN CHRISTIAN ADVOCATE-
At last he has come He has flour
ished his trumpets—reconnoitered the
position—sent forward a few light skir
mishers, and is about to bring up his
heavy aitillery, in the shape of tremen
dous arguments, to batter down the
very citadel of the Catholic Church.
Brave as a lion, filled with confidence, and
sure of victory, he is not going to subject
his forces to the hardships of a long
siege ; but, breaking through the out
posts, he is going to storm the very strong
hold of Catholicity. His name is “In
quirer”—a very equivocal name by the
way—it meaneth a searcher for some
thing which has not been found ; and, in
this connexion, we must suppose he is
searching for truth, or religion, and, though
a Methodist, has not yet discovered it.
He has issued his proclamation of war
in the Southern Christian Advocate , of
Macon. He is going to marshal his ar
guments, and make one last grand charge
against Infallibility. He is sure of vic
tory, “Romanists themselves being
judgeslie is going to prove that the
Church of Rome (we suppose he means
the Roman Catholic Church,) “is not only
fallible, but in utter antagonism to
Truth—the falling away—the man of
sin." He is sorry that he cannot finish
his work at once, and plant the banner of
Methodism upon the ruins of the Cathol
ic Church. “Let the reader,” says lie,
study thoroughly, and inwardly digest
each number, and he will be better pre
pared to relish and digest the next one.”
Now, verily, there w*as no need of study
ing—much less thoroughly studying—
the present number, as we saw nothing
in it deep enough or new enough to study;
and, for the life of us, we could not di
gest the present number; it was very
much like rc-heated cabbage—and in fact
it acted on us like an emetic We do
not, however, give up. We will try to
digest the next number; but, for mercy’s
sake, “Inquirer,” give us something fresh,
and savory, and spicy. Give us some
thing pungent, too, and tart, for we do
love pickles at dinner as well as in contro
versy, If you stick to your bill of fare,
we expect a rare banquet. But, for
goodness sake, give us nothing stale. We
do not relish the food which Protestant
ism cooked three hundred years ago. It
is musty. We know that there is still in
the cupboard of Protestantism a great
supply of that same food, but we do hope
that you, “Inquirer,” like a good French
cook, will give us something entirely new,
and, witli this hope, we await the next
number of the “ Southern Christian Ad
vocate•”
NASHVILLE ‘‘CHRISTIAN ADVOCATE.”
In the last received issue, of this organ
of the Southern Methodist denomination,
we find what we must consider barefaced,
deliberate, and malicious falsehoods
against our Church. It is mean and dis
honorable, and cowardly, to concoct and
publish what must be known to be false.
Attack us if you will—but like brave
men. We scorn subterfuge ; we despise
the calumniator more than the calumny.
Come out openly—challenge us to dis
cussion—deal in facts and not in fabrica
tions ; do not strike us, as a coward would
f
in the dark, hut confront us face to face,
and we will not shun the battle. The
falsehoods of this issue of the above
named journal, are too many' for us to
enumerate. On the editorial page we find
Simla bbi sesm."
a furious article against “Romish Schools.”
The writer of that article is a falsifier.
He assumes that our schools are prosely
tizing establishments. Do not judge us,
by yourselves. We know the animus of
your schools. We know the bigotry, the
ignorance, and the tyranny of Method
ism. But we are honorable. All know
the terms necessary to admission to our
schools. •We are not liars. We promise
and profess never to interfere with the
religious notions of any pupils, Jewish or
Protestant; and those who preside in our
schools are ladies and gentlemen. We
defy and dare the “ Christian Advocate f
of Nashville, to present one authenticated
instance wherein the religious opinions of
auy child have been interfered with by
Priests or Sisters who devote their lives
to the education of our children, irre
spective of creed. Give us names, and
places, and dates ; and do not contempti*
bly deal in the indefinite. In the same
paper there are other assertions and state
ments, which, had we time, we could
prove to be utterly false. But we pass
them over, in order to give our readers,
with a comment or so, the following dainty
sample of religious principle, taken from
this “ Christian Advocate
“A correspondent—evidently suffering
with dyspepsia, or some kindred disorder—
writes that she is tempted to despair of
acceptance with God, and wants counsel.
We counsel her to remember that, “like
as a father pitieth his children, so the
Lord pitieth them that fear him,” and she
knows very well that she is of that num
ber ; and, furthermore, that the Lord
Jesus is touched with the feeling of our
infirmities, and never breaks the bruised
reed or quenches the smoking flax. Her
distress does not affect the safety of her
state, though it docs its comfort. There
are certain abnormal states of the body
and mind, in which it is impossible to
realize the “consolation of the Spirit,”
which otherwise would be enjoyed. An
improved state of health, and a medita
tion upon the gracious Fatherhood of
God, and the Brotherhood of Christ, and
the freeness and fullness of the Spirit’s
grace, will result in a comfortable persua
sion of acceptance in the Beloved.”
So dyspepsia is a source of despair*
Well, there may be a sort of Methodist
dyspepsia causing such a spiritual effect;
but, we beg to say, that we have been a
Roman Catholic all our life, and though
we have mingled much with Methodists,
wc have never caught the disease. How
ever, it may not be contagious. But,
certainty, and we speak from experience,
the dyspepsia of a Roman Catholic must
be very different from that of a Methodist.
J % i
We beg of our Physicians to study this 1
matter. According to the writer of the !
above, “an improved state of health” is
one of the conditions necessary for a j
“comfortable persuasion of acceptance in j
the Beloved.” Sick people, then, cannot, !
with much comfort to themselves, be
Methodists. We advise all sick Metho- '
dists to become Catholics. We have a
Sacrament for our sick; and we never '
did hear of dyspepsia, in the Catholic
Church, leading to despair. Heaven help ■
the dyspeptic Methodists ! A good dose |
of Catholicity would, we are sure, cure!
them.
THE DECLINE OF PRINCIPLE.
In the wild whirl of politics, Principle
is going down, and with Principle, law ;
with law, order; with order, Govern
ment—for Principle, law, order, govern
ment, stand or fall together. Strike down
any Principle, and you have taken a rock
from the foundation of Government.—
Men and the times are shifting the
foundation of this Government from the
rock of Principle to the sands of policy ;
and, as surely as they do it, reason tells
them, and history thunders the same
in their ears, this Government shall fall.
Devise and attempt to carry out the wild
est schemes of policy, but so long as you
touch not Principle, so long as you re
spect their inviolability, there may be
danger, hut there still is hope. Violate,
purposely and deliberately, Principle,
and there is more than danger, without
any hope—there is destruction.
The war waged against the South dealt
terrible blows against the Principles upon
which the Lmion of .these sovereign States
was built ; and the force of each blow
has justly raeoiled upon the very ones who
struck them, and the whole fabric of
Government still reels with the shock.
Northern cannons were planted, and sent
their murderous balls, not only agaiust
forts, but against Principles ; Northern
soldiers lifted and leveled their muskets,
and fired, not only against freemen, but
against rights. The forts fell, and the
brave men died; but no cannon yet has
ever taken the range of Principle ; and
never a grave was yet dug deep enough
for right. We gave up our forts, and we
wept for our dead ; but deathless Princi
ple and right, we still proudly, though
powerlessly, represent. There is a cer
tain terrible logic in events The battle
against Principle did not close when the
greatest General of the age delivered the
purest sword ever wielded, to the man,
least heroic, from whose brow the future
will tear the ephemeral and unmerited
crown with which the generation of to
day has decked it.
That battle is still raging. When the
soldiers had done their work, the law
givers of the North began. With pen,
and speech, and pamphlet ; with fraud,
and bribery, and falsehood ; with threat
and threachery, and every vile appliance
they have been warring, bloodlessly, yet
not the less violently, against Constitu
tional Principles. They cannot go back;
tkev will not vield. Their war of legis
lation is as hitter against us, and as unre
lenting, as the war of their sword. Their
acts of Congress are as destructive to us
as the bullets of Grant’s soldiers. They
have planned our ruin, and they are re
solved to compass it. Their leader in the
battle-field is the leader in the field of
politics. It is appropriate—eminently
so ; for lie and they represent, in poli
tics, what they represented in war ; and,
fitly enough, they wish to complete, by the
ballot, the work of destruction left undone
by their bullets.
That battle against Principle, we re
peat, is still raging ; ’tis growing fiercer ;
the ranks of the combatants are closing.
©
One day or tiie other, for weal or for woe,
the contest will be decided. We care
not to forecast the future. We are
not prophets.
But who looks into that future without
misgiving? No one. Who feels secure ?
No one. Who now has the good old
faith in the stability of our institutions ?
Very few. And why ? Because Pas
sion rules the hour. But why does Pas
sion rule it ? Because Principle has left
the Government. But why and how has
Principle left the Government ? Because
it first left the hearts of the people. Ah!
there it is—the source of all our evils—
want of Principle in the hearts of the
people. Politics and politicians may
reach and remedy some of the evils that
oppress us, and darken the future ; but
nor politics nor politicians can reach the
hearts of the people. And they must he
reached and purified. If they are cor
rupt, how secure a pure Government ?
If the Government be not pure how can
it last ?
Rejoiced as we w ould he to see the
success of the Democratic party in the
approaching election, we, by no means,
consider that success a complete cure for
the evils which weigh so heavily on the
land, and which are daily on the increase.
The country needs a complete political
regeneration. The people have fallen
far away from political truth, and justice,
and integrity. They must he reformed ;
but how shall it be done ?
Works of Insects.— Great Britain
pays annually $1 000,000 for dried
bodies of that tiny insect, known as the
cochineal ; while another— also peculiar
to India—gum-shellac, or rather its pro
duction. is scarcely less valuable. More
than 1,500,000 human beings derive
their sole support from the culture, and
manufacture of the fiores spun by the
silkworm, of which the annual' circula
ting medium is said to he £40,000,000.
In England alone—to say nothing of the
other foreign parts of Europe—£loo,-
000 is spent every year in the purchase
of foreign honey, apart from the value
of that which is native, and 10,000 lbs.
of wax imported every year. Besides
all, these there are the gallnuts, used for
dyeing and making ink ; the cantharides,
or Spanish Fly, used in medicine. In fact,
every insect is contributing in some way
to swell the amount of commercial profits.
HOW FREE MASONS ARE ADMITTED
ALL THE CEREMONIES GIVEN BY
THE ARCHBISHOP OF PARIS,
The Most Rev. Archbishop of P
has written a small book on Free-Masons
which is exciting the greatest attention
in Europe. Its title, translated, h .
“What the Free-Masons are, what thev
do, and what they design.” The follow
ing epitomised extracts from it, on the
“initiation rites,” will be found to be
well worth perusal :
The aspirant for admittance to the
position of Apprentice, has some
and, to say the least of it, not unfareical
trials to undergo. On entering the Lod<r e
he is introduced into a solitary apart
ment, where lie is left alone to ruminate
on the step he is about to take, for several
minutes. He finds the Bible there, open
at the first chapter of John, the perusal
of which is intended to throw the first rav
of light on his darkened understanding
He is then stripped of his clothing, his
left side and right knee being naked ; he
is made to put on a shoe slip shod, his hat
is taken off, he is deprived of his sword
(a necessary appendage), and all hj s
metal, including, of' course, all his loose
cash. His eyes are then bandaged, and
he is led away to the Chamber of Re
flection. Before entering the apartment,
he is cautioned not to remove the bandage
until he lias heard three loud knocks.
After some moments of patient expecta
tion, he hears the third signal, and, re
moving the obstruction to his vision,
finds himself in a room hung all around
with black, on the walls of which he read;
inscriptions like the following :
If thou art capable of dissimulation,
tremble!—the depth of thy heart shall
read. If thy soul has felt alarm, go no
further. The greatest sacrifices may be
exacted of thee, even that of life; art thou
prepared to make them ?
In this chamber, the candidate is re
quired to make his will, aud to answer, in
writing, the three following questions :
What are the duties of man towards
God ? What are his duties towards his
fellows ? What are his duties towards
himself ?
The Brother who goes under the name
of “Terrible” then carries off the will, and
these answers, on the point of a sword.
In the fraternal slang, the place of meet
ing is styled a Temple; the President is
called the “Venerable.” “Brother Ter
rible” brings the will and the answers to
the ‘A enerable.” Be the replies what
they will, the candidate is never refused
admission on their account. A French
atheist, M. Prudhon, gave as his response
to the first query, “ Guer/e a Dieuf
without compromising his admissibility in
the least. “Brother Terrible” soon re
turns to the candidate, blindfolds him a
second time, and, passing- a cord around
his neck, one end of which he retains in
his hand, conducts him, as with a halter,
and directs him to knock three times
with violence.
The Temple is hung with blue, all
that is transacted therein being celestial.
A Brother, named First Superintendent,
gravely notifies to the Venerable these
knocks at the door. A few words pass
between the Venerable, the Chief Super
intendent, and Brother Terrible, after
which the postulant is introduced into the
Temple. There are two columns, be
tween which he is led, by means of the
cord, still around his neck. Brother Ter
rible rests the point of his sword frater
nally against the aspirant’s breast, and
the course of interrogation begins
The Venerable, placing his spectacle;
on his venerable nose, asks in a plaintive
voice : “What do you feel ?” “What and >
you see ?” Pertinent questions, no doubt,
to a man whose eyes are hlindf dded, and
against whose heart a sword is pointed.
The postulant replies, with candor —"1
see nothing, but I feel the point of a
weapon.” The Venerable continues—
“ Reflect well on the step which v*u are
about to take. You are about to experi
ence some awful trials. Do you fin 1
yourself sufficiently courageous to brave
all the dangers to which you max be ex
posed ?”
Postulant—“Yes, sir.”
A enerable, without disturbing a muscle
of his countenace—“Then l hav. u
further interrogation to mak< you
Brother Terrible, conduct this mm out
side the lernple, and bring him every
where a mortal who aspires to know 1 u:
secrets ought to pass.
forthwith, Brother Terrible take- hoM
of the cord, leads away the asp;raiu
whose eyes are still blindfolded, and
makes him promenade half a dozen tinted
up and down a room, called Lost Step-
A\ hen he becomes thoroughly bewildered,
he is conducted back again to the Lodge:
then commences the famous trials.
The first awful trial is less foruiidabl'
in reality than to anticipation. In the
centre oi the Lodge is prepared a large