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nian offend “order and religion” by
asking, humbly, “ Tell me, Governor,
where is law for your command, and I
shall reverently obey it!”
Give us stable laws, and every true
man is safe ; but the moment you begin
to try men for supposed offenses, not ac
curately defined in law, that moment
Christian liberty fails, and petty tyrants
exert their power.
The true issue, Right Reverend and
Rear Sir, is not even about llitualism
f or you are yourself a Ritualist, as every
man may see by entering your Cathe
dral. It is the name of my Church that
offends you, as the name St. Lazarus
did. Had I named it St. Mary’s Church,
you would have tolerated me, notwith
standing my merry letters from Europe ;
hut that the people should be taught to
call the mother of our Lord “ Blessed,”
this you consider “going to' Home”
And I remember well our conversation
about the Immaculate Conception, but
you will allow me to tell you Right Rev
erend and Dear Sir, that the very Angels
called her “ blessed ” and her Divine
Lord will not be very far from those
who truly love and honor hie “ blessed ”
Mother!
As regards the minor question, wheth
er the consent of the clergy for me to
officiate here has been obtained, I have
only to repeat that a majority consented
beiore competent witnesses or in writ
ing. Yet one of them, I learn, falters,
under your influence, and declines to put
in writing what he said in words to Dr.
Rogers.
You may possibly on this ground de
feat me, as the canons require the con
sent to be in writing. But would it not
be more manly, Right Reverend and
Dear Sir, to let the true issue come up
'on its merits, instead of trying to get rid
of my Church by a technicality? If 1
have done anything wrong try me, but
oh, for the sake of the Church and the
Lord that bought us, leave this miser
able Jerrymandering to politicians.
Yet, if on account of a mere technicality,
I should be prohibited from preaching
here, where I have labored for twenty -
fivo years, where I have given thousands
of dollars to build “ nests' ’ for you all;
if I, in order to keep my vows and
preach the Gospel, must leave my home
aid friends and the dust of my dead in
Elmwood, or submit to arbitrary dicta
tion, then I would rather follow the
eagles over mountains and bearing
the cross, and singing the lofty chants of
the Catholic Church, in freedom and
poverty, than lick the hand of Caprice
and Power tor the richest benefice on
earth ?
Thus having answered you, Right
Reverend and Dear Sir, with that re
spect and dignity which is due yoursacred
office, I wish to say a single word as be
tween man and man.
I know full weil, Right Reverend and
Dear Sir, that such sentiments as I have
expressed above are not pleasing to you.
You would like me amazingly, and write
many letters to me, as you used to do,
iust before your election , (some of which
are now before me, in which you called
me your dear “ Jeemsf my “darling,”
and the like) ; if you could only use me]
but when, in our controversies, hitherto,
you fuund I would not bend against my
)wn race and people ; when, in the St.
Lazarus controversy, I persisted, through
long years against you, and carried my
Church into convention at last; when
in England, I exposed the circular which
stated that $505,000 had been expend
ed in the buildings and lands of the “Uni
versity of the South,” for which you
were begging money, and did it for the
truth, without consulting my Bishop ;
when, in the midst of tin's controversy,
you recommended me, in a private letter,
to Rev. Mr. May, Editor of the English
Church Chronicle, as a suit able person
to lead the mission from England, in
the Church of Gwd, to Venezuela ; when
[ surprised you in my card, last Sunday,
by showing that I knew of your being
‘cheek by jowl ” with Ritualists and
making speeches to them in “St Mary
Magdalene,” when it was to your in
terest ; when, in a word, I had seen so
many of your tracks in the dust about
my path, it does not surprise me in the
least that you wish to get rid of me ; but
1 intend to dispute every inch of ground,
with every weapon that honor supplies,
md will not be driven from my home and
3cuntry without a conflict which you, can
never forget . Respectful Iy,
J. W. Rogers.
Conversions. —The Daily News savs
Rut the Rev. Bnines Floyer, a clergy
man of the Church of England, and a
Magistrate for the County" of Stafford,
has just been received into the Church
of Rome. Mr. Floyer held no prefer
ment. This makes the third Anglican
clergyman received into the Catholic
( hurch within the last fortnight.—
Weekly Register.
[For the Banner of the South.]
Eventide.
When the shadows lie heavy upon the hill,
And Earth, 'neath the footsteps of Eve, grows still;
When the winds and the waters have sunk to rest,
And the wild bird hies to its leafy nest;
Then my heart, like the shadows, more heavy grows,
As Memory tells over her Rosary of woes.
The Past, with its sunshine, comes stealing back,
That has faded forever from Life’s dark track; ,
The sunshine of Gladness and Hope that was mine,
In the winsome days of the “Auld Lang Syne,”
Days that, departing, have left me forlorn,
Like a sea-bird whose pinion is lopped by the storm.
■ ~, 'in- ■
Out from the thresholds of Memory start
The young, the lovely, the true of heart—
Friends whom I loved in those earlier years
When my soul was a stranger to Grief or Tears,
And Hope stole the Pencil of Fancy to limn
A Future, to which even the bright Present was dim.
Alas! all that brightness has faded away 1
Life’s colors are mingled with sable and grey;
Its outlines all rigid, its angles all sharp—
The light falling dimly through shadows so dark—
That my heart crieth wildly, in passionate pain,
Oh! lost days, so beautiful! come back again !
H. M. LeGrange.
July‘list, 18G6.
For the Banner of the South.
ESSAYS,
11.
THE CONSTITUTION.
The Constitution of the United States
is, first, a collection of forms, and, second,
a collection of principles, the former
whereof tell in what manner, and the
latter in what spirit, the Government is to
be administered. It is one of the forms
of tile Constitution that the President
should hold office for four years, another
that a Representative must be seven
years a citizen, and still another that a
Senator must he thirty years of age.—
These things, as will be at once seen, are
mere matters of form, or convenience,
since the Presidential term might just as
well be made three years, or five years,
or the age of a Senator required to be at
least forty, instead of thirty years, and
yet, as a singular instance of the wisdom
presiding over the formation of this in
strument, but onb of its forms—that re
specting the manner of electing the
President—has ever been found to neces
sitate a change.
. o . >.
Turning to the nest ingredien'r of the
Constitution, or its principles, which are,
as it were, the very soul and animating
spark of that sacred instrument, it will
be found that there is hardly one of them
that is not red with the blood of many
martyrs to Liberty, and glittering, as
though with dew-drops, in the 1 tears of
the good and the true.
We all know how sacred to us is the
manner in which we may choose to wor
ship the Great Author of the Universe
and Fount of every good. In by-gone
days the Earth was run knec-decp in
blood from efforts on the part of those
who held one faith, to make all others be
lieve the same, and that now, in our time,
each man makes up his own account with
Infinity, is only because the Constitution
so ordains. Over all men’s faith it
throws its regis. If you are a Catholic,
so be it; born at the foot of the Cross,
and worship in the shrine of eighteen
centuries. If you are a Protestant, still
so be it ; it is competent for you to be a
Baptist, or Methodist, or Presbyterian,
or Episcopalian, or what you will. If a
Jew, no man shall harm you. Go to
your Synagogue, revere the name of Je
hovah Tiri, and bow at the tables of the
law. If even a heathen, a worshipper
of the pagan Joss, as are the many thou
sands of Chinese, in this country, it is
still your right ; no man shall touch you
—for your own faith and belief, you
must answer alone to Him who is the
Common Father of us all. But for the
Constitution, these things could not be.
Its all protecting aegis is written in the
words, “ Congress shall make no law re
specting an establishment of Religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof .”
But for this, strong Religions would op
press the weak. But for this, Quakers
would be whipped, and branded as in
Massachusetts once; but for this, Catho
lics could not hold political power as once
in New York ; but for this, convents
would be burned, and Sisters of Charity
pelted by the mob. He who stands by
the Constitution stands, therefore, for
the permitting of each man, without let
or hindrance, to go his own Religious
way. He who contravenes it would
mould the soul of Ins fellow man, by
force, to the exact proportions of his own.
A next thing, is the sanctity of the
household—the principle that each mail’s
home is his castle. There, he can caress
his children, there be soothed by the
fond endearments of his wife, there rest
from the toils of the past, and renew his
energies for the labors that are to come.
It has been beautifully" said of this prin
ciple in England, that the poor man’s
door might be only secured by a latch,
that the winds of Heaven, might blow
and whistle through the thatch, but, with
all his power, the King of England could
not enter. “ Home, sweet home,” is
sacred because the Constitution makes
it sacred. Outside of that instrument,
there is no law to restrain whomsoever
will, from intruding upon you or me.
He who cleaves to the Constitution is
fighting for the privacy of his fireside,
for the sanctity of the family, and the
inviolability of the roof-tree and the
hearth.
There is yet a third point—the Trial by
Jury—to be judged by twelve of one’s own
countrymen and neighbors, not to be at
the mercy of a single Judge, as under
the Roman Law, or with life and death
in the hands of some Vicegerent of a
despotic Power, as a Turkish Cadi, or
Arabic Sheik. Buc for the Constitution,
there would be no such bulwark and
strong defence of Life and Liberty as this.
The right was won in many bloody bat
tles by our ancestry. Our fathers brought
it to America in their day; and, when
their sons made the Constitution, they put
it in for us. lie who stands up now for
the Constitution, is battling, even as his
fathers fought, against the rule of the
sword—against the domination of anyone
man’s will—against the drum-head Court,
and that thrice cursed device of tyranny,
the Military Commission.
Habeas Corpus , free Press, the right
to bear and keep arms, no taxation with
out representation—in one word, all the
muniments and pendicles of Free Men
aie bound up in the Federal Constitu
tion. It is too much the fashion, at this
present day, to deride this sacred instru
ment; to hoot at its beneficent provisions
as time-worn and inefficient ; to hold that
it is a sort of antediluvian political plat
form, that was begotten by slave-holding
Jefferson, and must vanish before the
progressive and advanced ideas of the
day. But Jefferson never begat it.
Hampden, when he stood up against the
ship-money ; Sir Thomas More, when he
laid down his head on the block, rather
than yield his religious convictions to
Henry VIII; John Banyan, when he lan
guished for years in Bedford jail; King
John’s Barons, who wrenched Magna
Charta from his death-like grasp; our
own fathers, who stood up at Yorktown
and Saratoga, and at King’s Mountain,
and in the trenches of Savannah, where
brave Pulaski fell—these are its progeni
tors ; these the men who brought it forth
from their very loins, and sent it down to
us, their children, resonant with their in
termediate anguish, and all glorious, at
last, in their final shouts of triumph.
To give it up, to renounce it, to say
that its principles are not now applicable
to us, is to say" that human nature‘is not
what it was, and that the ultimate compo
sition of man has undergone a change.
It must not be given up. As long as we
cling to it, our hands are on the horns of
the Altar of Civil Liberty, and our grasp
on the cornice ends of the Ark of the
Covenant of Safety. The forms of the
Constitution it may, perhaps, be well, in
time to change, but not the principles.
These are no new thing. They were
not gotten up by Washington, Adams,
and Jefferson. Long.before those men
lived, they lived. They are the fruit of
long descended ages; the slow excogi
tation of centuries ; and the divine, im
mortal essence of eight hundred years of
ancestral valor, sagacity, and worth.
You, therefore, 0! Southern man, who
read this, see to it that you never part
from this life-buoy—the Constitution—
in the present whirling billows of the
wild, tempetuous sea. You, 0! Southern
mother, look to it, that the little ones are
taught to love this long descended heri
tage, and to love it so well that they shall
never play Esau’s bargain in surrender
ing it up. Let them know its tearful his
tory, and so will it be that when wo who
are now its defenders, shall be but the
old men that sit in the gates, the genera
tion now rising may stand forth as
mighty" men in Israel to its maintenance,
perpetuation, and support.
Tyrone Powers.
[From the Wilmiugtou, N. C. Journal., Nov. 2.]
INSTALLATION OF THE RIGHT REV.
JAMES GIBBONS, TITULAR BISHOP
OF NORTH CAROLINA.
The little Catholic Church of this City
was literally crammed on last Sunday
morning, at half past ten o’clock. The
notice that the Most Reverend Archbishop
Spalding, of Baltimore, attended by sev
eral Priests, would be there to introduce
a Bishop to the people, and to assist in
the inauguration of a ceremony- that has
never been hitherto performed in Wil
mington, was enough to light up the walls
of St. Thomas with many strange and
non-Catholic faces.
All were eager to witness the devel
opment of something new. At the first
ring of music from the organ, the door of
the vestry to the left opened, and a bevy
of children dressed in white, and young
ladies, with wreaths of white flowers the
emblem of the purity of the innocent
aroud their heads, was seen. Two by
two, to the inarch of the music, they
stepped into the aisle in becoming and
graceful order. Then came the cross
bearer, holdiug on high the gilded repre
sentative of the Saviour of mankind.
At each side of him, walked an acolyte,
bearing burning tapers Following these,
were Priests, three thurifers, carrying
thuribles filled with burning frankin
scence. Lastly, the Bishop, attended by
the Priest Assistant,Rev. Mr. McManus,
Parish Priest of St. John’s Baltimore,
Rev. H. P. Northrop, Deacon, and Rev,
M. S. Gross, Sub-Deacon. Arriving at
the Church door, the Bishop was in
censed, and certain prayers were read.
The children, in the meantime, were being
arranged around the railing, and the
Archbishop had taken his seat on the
right hand or Epistle side. Reaching
the foot of the Altar, the Bishop read an
invocation— benedictio, gratia, pax el
sanctitas —benediction, grace, peace, and
sanctity—was the blessing called down
upon the heads of those present. He
was then conducted by the Most Rev.
Archbishop to his throne, a neat struc
ture on the Gospel, or left hand side.
The ceremony of robing was then begun.
r lhe mitre was placed upon his head, and
the crosier—the staff of his Pastorship,
the shiboleh of his authority, put in his
hand. He then walked to the first step
of the Altar, and began-—first putting by
the mitre and crosier—the Introibo ad
alt are Dei —l will go up to the Altar of
my (tod—the first words of the Mass.
After the reading of the Gospel, the
Archbishop took his stand on the plat
form of the Altar, almost in front of the
tabernacle. He read his text from the
Douay edition of the Holy Bible, the
twenty-eighth chapter of St. Matthew,
beginning with the sixteenth verse :
“And the eleven disciples went into
Gallileee, unto the mountain where Jesus
had appointed them.
“And seeing him they adored: but
some doubted.
“And Jesus, coming, spoke to them,
saying : All power is given to me in
Heaven and Earth. Going, therefore,
teach ye all nations; baptizing them in
the name of the Father, and "of the Son,
and of the Holy Ghost;
‘ Teaching them to observe all things
whatsoever I have commanded you : and
behold I am with you all days, even to the
consummation of the world!”
He calmly surveyed the congregation,
lie saw that the pews in the centre of
the Church were filled with many of the
most intelligent of the city-, but not of his
Faith. Hi s mild look was on every coun
tenance.
The Journal here gives an abstract of
the Archbishop’s Sermon, which it char
acterizes as “eloquent, soul-stirring, and
earnest.”
’’ he Grand Sacred Concert at the
Catiioi.ic Church, —A notice of the
Grand Sacred Concert at the Catholic
Church in this City, for the New Organ
fund, was ommitted from our last week’s
issue. We append it here:
The Catholic Church was well filled
Tuesday night, Oct 20th, by a respectful
and appreciative audience, who attended
the Grand Sacred Concert given for the
benefit of the Organ of that Church.
The Organ was presided over by Prof.
Weigand, assisted in two or three pieces
by Mr. Jardine the builder. It will re
quire some little experience in handling
this instrument to enable the performer
to draw forth all its powers; but enough
was done, under the skillful manipulation
of the accomplished Professor, to satisfy
those present of his ability and the in
strument’s value. The Offertoire and
Priests’ March were very skillfully and
effectively played The Choir, composed
as it is, ot some of the best singers in the
city, did ample justice to the gems se
lected for this occasion, while the Quar
tette Club added much to the enjoyment
of the audience by the rendition of their
part of the programme.
We do not deem it necessary to partic
ularize as to the merits of particular per
sons, when all acquitted themselves so
handsomely. But it may not be out of
place to allude, in general terms, to two
members of the Choir. We refer to Mrs.
Joseph D. Kavanagh, and Mr. Charles
Spaeth. They have been connected
with the Choir for more than sixteen
years, and have devoted themselves to it
with zeal and energy. Mrs. Kavan
agh has a very sweet Soprano voice, while
that ot Mr. Spaeth is a Basso Profundo
of great power. Together,they have done
much to sustain the Choir, and the new
members will not, we hope, take it amiss
that we thus refer to the older ones; for,
as at present organized, it is an excellent
one, worthy of all praise, for its zeal,
and proficiency.
[For the Banner of the South.]
Sunset.
Sunset’s crimson stains the hill tops,
With a flush of rosy light;
Sunset tints of gold and purple
Usher in the coming night.
Sunset glories, fairy flitting,
How like dreams of youth ye are!
Fading Boonest when the cloudlets
Richest tints and beauties wear.
While I gaze, the gold and purple
Change to sombre dun and grey,
And the crimson, late so vivid,
Like a mist- wreath fades away.
So Youth’s dreams, the brigliest, fairest,
Change, or fade away with time,
And the joy that then was dearest,
Worthless is, in manhood’s prime.
11. 11. LeGrange.
August Glh, 18GG.
♦
[From the N. O. Picayune.]
Pass On.
BY PEARL RIVERS. 1
Ah, yes! we mingle, man with man,
We meet, then pass each other by,
Unconscious of the hidden strife,
Unguessiug of the smothered sigh;
Ah! so wc pass each other by.
For, who will be the first to break
The heart’s most sacred, secret seal,
And all its hidden wealth of love,
Or poverty of joy reveal ?
We meet, clasp hands, but mask our hearts,
And bide the sorrow that we feel,
When, by our side, perhaps, there beats
A heart that couid that sorrow heal.
Alas ! and often when we read
In some sad face the soul’s great need
Os human sympathy and care—
Or trace the lines of dark despair—
W T e coldly pass, when, it may be,
A tender word from thee or me
Would soothe that troubled heart, and win
That soul, perhaps, from some great sin.
Pass on! pass on ! in joy or pain,
Your care is not my care, we say;
Pass on! we may not meet again,
The way you go is not my way.
THE LOST CAUSE.
[Under this head, we propose to publish
weekly, Anecdotes and Reminiscences of
the struggle lor Southern Independence;
and earnestly solicit contributions con
taining such anecdotes and reminisenees.]
Anecdote of General Lee. —G. A,
Townsend, in one of his recent letters,
relates the following:
I was told by one of his aides-de-camp
yesterday, of a scene at Antietam. The
aide was ordered by Gen. Lee to take a
command, and while on the way he saw
Roddie Lee, the General’s stripling son,
riding the “lead” horse in the Rockbridge
Artillery. He told LA, on his return, of
his son’s position.
“They’ve made a driver of him, Major,
have they ?” he said with a twinkle.
“Well, I think he’ll do?”
“There’s Roddie, now, General,” cried
the aide.
The battery came by, horses sweaty,
men grimy, wagons shivered. The boy
said in a sort of undertone:
“Pa, are you going to send us in
again ?’’
“l T es, n»y son; go in!”
The battery went to the front at a
trot.
The Banner of the Sorni.—The
mere announcement that Father Ryan,
the Poet-Priest, the author of the “Con
quered Banner” was to edit a paper, was
enough to enlist the feelings of every
lover of the South.
We’ve received his paper in exchange.
And it’s glorious !
Let every true Southerner and South
er ness send for it.
Success to its Reverend Editor!
Long may his proud “Banner” wave,
after all the foes of his beloved South
“are in the dust !’’
j St. Joseph (.1 To.) Vindicator.
Banner of the South.— Wc have re
ceived several numbers of this paper, and
find it to be what the illustrious name of
its editor could not fail to make it. Father
Ryan’s Writings, in verse, are so favor
ably known to our readers that it would
be folly for us to endeavor to add a sin
gle word in commendation. His prose
writings are equally beautiful, and breathe
that nobility of spirit that has endeared
him to every Southern heart. It is pub
lished at Augusta, Georgia, by L. T.
Blome & Cos., at S3 per annum.
[Lagrange {Tex.,) States Rights De
mocrat.
It is said that as the twig is bent, the
tree’s inclined. Some of the young
ladies about town will grow’ queerly, if
the Grecian style prevails very long
Women have the advantage of men—
each moves in her own circle. To ascer
tain the point, consult the hoop skirt
manufacturer.
3