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own observations along the lalK 1 endeavor to learn what sort of route. a,J , to / in the second age. a Church pi Cedric. For the Banner of the South. ~c ncri INEAND FALL OF THE ROMAN THE SII BY EDWARD GIBBON. No. ‘2. «. Gibbon affected to be a Protestant V the words, “ our Protestant i,n ' J >■ He even gives Protestantism Sit of having taught the right of V‘ jndonient, though he seems to IT t it with contempt, because it titbit out. He forgot that he, ,alk • :| o j to carry it out. But, in truth, used to Christianity in any „ r I,'rm. The bent of his feeling Christianity, may be judged from ‘if,,, that, of all the men that occupied n 1 rial tbP.no, either East or West. e iSed Julian, the Apostate, for his , , , Julian was the nephew of Constan , t |, e first Christian Emperor of Rome. H ■ 'tml his three cousins, Constantine, i , HanS) and Constantins, who all suc . j.,1 their father, seem not to have got together. Perhaps there was ( .„w on one side and suspicion on the ' ( j. But there is no record of injustice j„flj r tVd on him. He had the same op t rtunities of religious and literary edu ction they had, and like Elizabeth, in the r eign of Queen Mary, he professed to be a very good Catholic while they lived. When Constantine and Constans were dead, Constantius made him Caesar, an! wave him the Government of the \Ve.<. Having won some battle from the Germans, and driven them across the Rhine, he excited the jealousy or suspi cion of the Emperor, who ordered him to pend a portion of his forces to join the Army ot the East against the 1 ersians. Julian looked upon this order as intended to deprive him of power, while the le gions refused to obey, as they had been enrolled on condition that they should not be required to cross the Alps. They pro claimed Julian Emperor, and he marched for the East to contend for the Empire. Before the main armies could meet, Con staulius died offerer, and Julianenteied Constantinople without opposition. As soon as he was declared Emperor, he showed his preference for the old heathen Mythology, and, as soon as he seemed the Empire, he commenced ac tive operations against the Church. At first, indeed, be proposed to extend tolera tion to all by an edict which, Mr. Gibbon says, was not unworthy of a statesman and a philosopher. He admits, after wards, that this was mere duplicity. He wrote a very elaborate work jus tifying his dissent from Christianity, which, Mr. Gibbon admits, “ exhibits a singular mixture of wit and learning, of sophism and fanaticism;” a strange ad mission from one who still affects to call him a philosopher, it was not long’, how ever, before Julian showed what his idea of toleration was. lie removed Chris tians from all public offices and put idola ters or infidels in their places, lie de prived the Bishops of the revenues grant ed to them by the previous Government for Church purposes, and gave them to tli 1 Pagan Priests for the reorganization aili; repair of their temples and the re o veal of the sacrifices. The right of the C'rrgy to inherit testamentary bequests Wi s abui.shed, and they were deprived of over y honor and privilege previously conferred upon them by Constantius. IPviiig excluded the Christians from all 1 *s ot honor, trust, and profit in the bom, the Army, and Provinces; he E"hJuted them from practising as phy siCiaus, or from being Professors of any ot the liberal arts; and, finally, from teaching school. All the schools were ■q'potted at the public expense, and were P ,aced UQ der idolatrous or infidel teach witu the hope of educating the rising generation to idolatry and extinguishing / ; :n f ,a % forever. His eulogist, also, a j','“ LS I bug during his short reign, when ll ; ! '! aU ' ous Governors of Provinces, and ; u " iJUrj us atobs, encouraged by his apos y ‘.S 'Cgan to harass, persecute, and put a g : ;! the Christians, he affected to rc- li ‘ : lr injustice, while, privately, he ,‘T ri ' utl upon them substantial rewards. * go chief objects ol Julian’s reign p A '. lave Hecn the destruction of p, 1 . 1 ' ' im b>’ a ud the conquest of' Persia. ;' 1 ’ Mc thought he would gratify n ‘A ‘ lO tiic Church, and avenge " 11 t!1(1 tvveniory of his cousins, who I * ’; j ll o stood between him and the , V*i.,i power; by the last, he thought ; ull f surpass, in military glory,'all •p. accessors, and place his "name by ’ n ‘ v S l :' > Alexander the Great, hi ‘ re , t 0 accomplish the first, it oc 'p t 11111 that, by re building the . ~ h ‘ i " l Jerusalem, he would falsify P ro phecies of the Bible, and f a j t " l,lu v; :iu overwhelming blow on the • lV i / ; pi'istianity. A proclamation ' ure > issued, inviting the Jews from all parts of the Empire to assemble at Jerusalem, for the re-building of the Holy Temple. They came in countless numbers, some of the more wealthy bringing silver spades and pickaxes to dig, and mantles of silk and purple to carry off the rubbish. Alypius, a learn ed Pagan, and a special friend of Ju lian’s, was appointed to superintend the work. It commenced; but, Mr. Gibbon says: “An earthquake, a whirldwind, and a fiery eruption, which overturned the new foundations of the temple, are at tested, with some variations, by contem porary and respectable evidence.” This event is described by Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, the eloquent Chrysostom, and Gregory Naziangen—the last of whom asserts that the occurrence was not dis puted by the Infidels; and Mr. Gibbons adds: “and his assertion, strange as it may seem, is confirmed by the unexcep tionable testimony of Ammiauus Marcelli nus,” one of Julian’s chief military offi cers, who, “ in his judicious and candid history of his own times,” gives the fol lowing account of it: “ Whilst Alypius, assisted by the Gov ernor of the Province, urged, with vigor and diligence, the execution of the work, horrible balls of fire breaking out near the foundations, with frequent and reite rated attacks, rendered the place, from time to time, inaccessible to the scorched and blasted workmen; and the victorious element continuing in this manner, obsti nately and resolutely bent, as it were, to drive them to a distance, the undertaking was abandoned.” From the absence of all contradictory testimony, Mr. Gibbon is compelled to admit the fact, but endeavors to evade the inference that may reasonably be drawn from it. He says: “At this im portant crisis any singular accident of nature would assume the appearance and produce the effect of a miracle;” and then says, that such an occurrence improved and magnified by the pious art of the clergy, might, at the distance of twenty years, pass into history as a specious and splendid miracle. There is no re cord of any such accident of Nature ever happening there, cither before or since, though the same ground was afterwards dug up for the building of a Mosque by Omar, which still occupies the site of the old Temple. But that which seems to lie accompanied by design cannot bo called an accident. The fiery eruption always ceased when the workmen re treated, but was repeated every time they attempted to renew the work, until they had to desist altogether. But he is not disposal to believe any preternatural event, or Christian miracle, no matter what the testimony, whether it be in or out of the Bible. Had he been present at the miracles of our Redeemer, like the Pharisees, he would have disbelieved, and would have accounted for them, if not with more reason, at least with more phi losophy. Julian, who, his eulogist admits, was a bigot and a persecutor, could not have been a philosopher, unless, indeed, phi losophy means the denial of every known truth in Religion, and al) right to religious freedom. The ruler, who enacted such a penal code against his Christian sub jects, as be did, could not have been a statesman. I need hardly say that, with an army twice as large as Alexander had, and larger than any Roman Emperor, or General, ever led into Persia, he hesitated to attack Ctesiphon, its capital, which had been thrice taken by his predecessors, and instead of taking it, and making it the base of bis further operations, he burnt liis fleet in the Tigris, with all the stores he could not carry with him, and marched his army into the interior, through a waste and desert country, where, surrounded by the Persian forces, with resources nearly exhausted, he fell in one of the constant skirmishes in which his army was engaged, without display ing any of the qualities of a good General, still less of a hero. One cannot read the description of Julian’s penal code against the Catholics of the* fourth century, without being struck with the resemblance between it and the penal code established by the British Government against the Catholics of Ire land in the sixteenth, seventeenth and eigh teenth centuries. So much alike are they in general detail, in the object sought, and the effect produced, that the latter would seem to have been copied from the former. There were anti-Christian riots in the days of Julian, in which Bishops, and Priests, and Monks, were murdered, and property destroyed, and Churches and Convents sacked and burned, as well as in modern no-Popery days. But Julian, bitter as his hatred of Christianity was, was far more humane and more honest than those who professed to be Christians in modern times; he passed no law banishing Priests from the Empire, and hanging them if they returned; ■ neither did lie confiscate and take houses or lands, or any other kind of property, liom the Church; nor did he invent an ingenious system of legislation by fines and confiscations, to absorb all the indi vidual property of his Catholic subjects. What lie might have done, had he re turned from Persia successful, and reigned longer, it is impossible to say. But, during liis short reign, he took no thing from the Church that really belong ed to her; he only withheld from her, and transferred to his own religion, those reve nues which the Government gave yearly for her support. This, as Emperor, he had a perfect right to do, and without any violation of the rights of property. Idolator as he was, he had some respect for human rights, and some regard for human life. He left it for modern times, and men professing to be Christians, to a free, enlightened, and Christian Gov ernment, that boasts of having invented the Magna Charta, the Trial by Jury, and the Habeas Corpus, to proclaim to the world that it was consistent with Christian morality and the laws of God to rob Churches and hang Priests. Is it not singular that, in modern times, when ever a revolution, religious or political, takes place in any country where the Church has property, the first act of the successful revolutionists is to rob the Church? It was done in Denmark, Nor way and Sweden, in North Germany, and in England, Ireland, and Scotland at the time of the Reformation. It was done in the fiist French Revolution. Vic tor Emmanuel did it in the late Italian Revolution; and there is no doubt that the successful Spanish Revolutionists will follow the virtuous example. And men are to be found who, professing to be Christians, and desirous of being looked upon as honest men, openly approve of the robber), and affect to look upon such acts as an evidence of progress and ad vance in civilization. Such sentiments, however inconsistent with the principles of Christian morality, might do very well for a community of thieves. In speaking of the effects that followed the death of Julian, Mr. Gibbon uses the | following language: “The triumph of Christianity and the calamities of the Empire, may, in some measure, be as cribed to Julian himself, who had neg lected to secure the execution ol his designs, by the timely and judicious nomination of an associate and a succes sor.” Here he entirely ignores a Divine | revelation as well as a Divine Provi- dence, when the very facts he was re cording should have led him to suspect both. It would have been far wiser and better for Julian bad he remembered and followed the advice which Gamaliel gave to the Chief Priests of the Jews: “And now I say unto you, refraiu from these men, and let them alone; for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come .o nought; but if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it, but haply ye be found even to fight against God.” When Mr. Gibbon, amid the ruins of the Eternal. City, surrounded by the Churches dedicated to that God in whose Divinity he did not believe, with the monuments of the Saints everywhere in view, whose wisdom lie did not under stand, and whose piety he could not imi tate, standing upon a soil almost com posed of the dust of martyrs, whose he roism he could neither appreciate nor realize, undertook to write a work which, by a cautious selection of authorities and a judicious arrangement of facts, he thought would affect the general senti ment of Christendom so as to sap the very foundations of the Christian Faith, it would have been wiser and better if he had remembered the counsel of Gama liel. His statements, his inferences, his insinuations, his critical and philosophical so far as they affect reli gion, have fallen still-born upon the Christian world, and his work has ceased to. be an authority in the literary world, except for its historical facts, and are ac cepted for the great names of the learned men from whose laborious researches be gleaned them The sword of the Pagan, the legislative cunning of the Apostate, | and the philosophic pen of Mr. Gibbon, al! failed of their purpose —Christianity still survives, and the wisdom of the coun sel ot Gamaliel remains still unimpeaehed. Though the matter legitimately em braced in the su‘ jeet, the history of which he undertook, was far too massive Ito be condensed with the few volumes I that he did write, yet he introduced much extraneous matter that had no connection with the history, as if his vanity‘made him desirous of exhibiting the universa i tility as well as the versatility of his in ! formation. Tin -re is another fault in the i work far more objectionable. Scattered | through bis notes may be found a num ! ber of low, course, indecent anecdotes, for the introduction of which there is no jus tification, as they really have no connec tion with the history, They- are intro duced so unnecessarily, and told with so much apparent relish, that one is almost | induced to believe that the main object, ’ if not the only one, in. introducing them was the pleasure the writer enjoyed in the recital. Some of them are so grossly indecent that he was, as it were, com pelled to partially conceal them under the veil of the Latin and Greek lan guages. Coming from a man claiming to be a philosopher, and occupying the literary position that he did, the least that can be said of them is, that they are in very bad taste. J. T. W. Mobile , Nov. 186s. COMPLIMENTARY DINNER. RT. RF.V. BTSHOP RYAN THE GUEST OF THE FACULTY OF THE SEMINARY OF OUR LADY OF ANGELS. Buffalo, Nov. 11th, ’6B. Dear Danner : Os the many circumstances connected with the late consecration of the Rt. Rev. S. V. Ryan, as Bishop of Buffalo, there was none more pleasing or interesting, than that which occurred in his honor on Monday, the 9th inst. On the day of Consecration the newly Consecrated an nounced to the assembled Prelates and Clergy, that a Complimentary Dinner had been tendered him by the Faculty of the Seminary of Our Lady of Angels, Suspension Bridge, and he cordially in vited all presebt to partake with him, on the morrow, of the extended hospitality. Not at all opposed to the acceptance of so general an invitation, I found myself at about 10 A. M., on the succeeding morning, comfortably enjoying a ride Rom Buffalo to Suspension Bridge, in company with someone hundred and silty others, in a train chartered for the occasion by the Very Rev. Father Rice, the affable and abl(\Superior of the Sem inary. Glimpses ot the famed Niagara, as it rolled majestically and peacefully along, preparatory to the fierce confusion into which it is shortly plunged, and an unstinted indulgence in conversation with those around, so dissipated all thoughts of the length of time and the weather’s inclem ency, that, unexpectedly, the rumbling thunder of the mighty cataract and the noisy clatter of a hundred tongues, in the unmistakable Jehu accent, gave me the first intimation that our destination was near at hand. That somewhat thriving, and, withal interesting town, known after the wondrous fabric that called it into existence, as Suspension Bridge, is soon entered, soon passed, and we find our selves gently gliding towards the summit called Montcagle, upon which, in solitary native grandeur, stands perched, and prominent, the Seminary of Our Lady, mounted with its golden emblems of sal vation and of grace. Through a deep embankment, suddenly bursting in upon the wild torrent and mountain scenery of the Niagara, and we are at our journey’s cud; a fact which the welcoming echoes of the College Band plainly indicated. “What a grand building!” was the expression on every lip, as the noble structure came into full and open view. “How splendid a posi tion !” the exclamation on every side, as river, whirlpool, banks of green, and en tire landscape, unsurpassed, were coin passed at a glance. Music along the Ni agara ! Never did I imbibe so much the soul of music as on that day, while I lis tened to the melody of the College Band coupled with the strange harmony of Nature’s wildest and most beautiful scenery. The Seminary of Our Lady of Angels lias taken her stand among the first literary and ecclesiastical institutions of the land. “Spacious, commodious, and beautiful,” as remarked the Most Rev. Archbishop of Now York, who was present on that day; possessing a com plete course of studies, and conducted by indefatigable, competent and learned offi cers, it is an ornament to literature and religion. About two hundred and fifty young men claim it at present as their Alma Mater ; and if they may well feel proud of her, she may well feel proud of them; for, if gentlemany deportment be any* criterion, they are certainly to be cherished as a credit Two hundred and fifty feet in Irout, by one hundred and thirty deep, and five stories high, as its dimensions, you can partly- conjecture the extent of its accommodations. Long, lolty corridors ; rooms, large and beauti fully furnished; elegant parlors; dor mitories, three in number, well ventilated, and kept in the neatest possible order; an immense studying hall, capable of bolding in the neighborhood of three hundred students ; 1; braries for the inspec tion of the students, and class halls of the best order, together with a magnifi cent play-hall, the equal of which we have nowhere seen; all these go to con stitute the beau ideal of a first class cler ical institution. The new wing which is now roofed and in process < f completion, is to be occupied solely by the Theologi cal and Philosophical students, whilst the grand hall which spans it from end to end, is to be devoted to Commencement and other literary and religious exercises. But I forget, as I did forget on that day that complimentary dinner. After an examination of the interior of the In stitution, the result of which are the fore going observations, the sound of the din ner bell summoned us to the only apart ment we had not yet seen—the spacious and a petite-sharpening refectory. Grace being said we seated ourselves to the commencement of a most agreeable work. VV ell, dear Editor, emphatically, it was a dinner. Were lan epicure I could certainly desire none better; and were I a Pindai, the smoothest and most liquid verses would alone suffice in which to sing its praises. Why, the feast of Ho mer’s heroes were but, to this a shadow, a mere nothing; consider, if you will, the dignity and the learning which graced the festive, or the savory, deli cious substantiality of the viands that made the table literally crack beneath this honest weight. I testify for myself, and for others I can also testify, that the faculty of the Seminary of Our Lady of Angels, well understand how to give a complimentary dinner; and on all such luture occasions—as I trust there will be many—should fortune favor me with an invitation l faithfully promise to be a most willing participant. Never, so far as my knowledge extends, were there as sembled so many dignitaries of the Church in any Catholic Seminary of the country. Together with the Most Rev. Archbishop ot New York, there were present at dinner, ten Rt. Rev. Bishops and about eighty Very Rev. und Rev. Fathers. The names of those present as nearly as could be ascertained, were the following: Most Rev. Archbishop McCloskey, of New York; Rt. Rev. Bishop Loughlin, of Brooklyn ; Rt. Rev. Bishop Bailey, Newark, N. J. ; Rt. Rev. Bishop de Goesbriand, Burlington, Vt., Rt. Rev. Bishop McFarland, Hartford, Ct.; Rt. Rev. Bishop Wood, Philadel phia, Pa.; Rt. Rev. Bishop Farrell, Ham ilton, Ontario; Rt. Rev. Bishop Lynch, Toronto, Ontario, Rt* Rev. Bishop McQuaid, Rochester, N. Y. ; Rt. Rev. Bishop Shanahan, Harrisburg, Pa.; Rt. Rev. Bishop Ryan, Buffalo, N. Y. Very Rev. W, Gleeson, Buffalo, N. Y.; Very Rev. T. P. Rooney, Y. G, Toronto, Ontario ; Very Rev. J. Early, V. G., Ro chester, N. Y.; Very Rev. l\ J. Ryan, V, G., St. Louis, M 0.,; Very Rev. P. A. Stanton, O. S. A., Philadelphia, Pa. ; Very Rev. J. Haydon, 0. M.; Very Rev. —. Tortell, 0. M G ; Very Rev, F. Di omedes, 0. S. L.; A ery Rev. F. Bur lando, C. M. ; and A r ery Rev. J. J. Quigley, C. M„ Brooklyn. Revs. A. J. McConomy, Ch. & Sec., Philadelphia, Pa.; J.Giustamiani, C. M.; J. A. O’Hara, Syracuse, N. Y.; E, J. Meanan, Ch.; F. J. Mooney-, St. Brid get’s Church N. Y. ; E. Quigley, Buffa lo, N. Y.; S. O’Meara, Lockport, N. Y.; P. Cannon, Niagara Falls; J. McManus, Batavia; J. Castaldi, Albion; W. J. MoNab, Iowa; J. Keenan, AVaterloo, M. McDonald, Medina; P. Maloy, New faine; P. N. O’Brien, St. Louis, Mo.; J. Mackin, Boodentown, N. J , 11. Lane, Pa. ; P. O’Farrell, Phceninvillr , E. J. Briady, Newburg; D. Wvrands, Perkins ville, N. J. ; B. Beck, 0. SS.R., Buffa- lo ; AV. Quinn, St. Peter’s Church, N. Y ; J. McNierney, Ch. Catli, N. Y.; M. Stager, Westeagle, N. Y.; T. Treanor, Transfiguration Church, N. Y.; 11. Mul Lolland, Lockport; J. McGrath, Buffalo; J. O’Donohue, Buffalo; I*. Barker, D. D. Rochester ; T. Sullivan, V. G., Niaga ra, Ontario; T. Burke, I). I)., C. S St. Louis; T. Clark, Oswego; J. Tuoghey, Lewiston; T. Tillmann, Black Rook; N. J. Story, Brockport, N. Y.; AY Welsh, St. Louis; J. Sorg, Buffalo; D. Moore, Buffalo; i). English, Penyan, Pa.; J. Carrol, Suspension Bridge ; J. Moyna ban, Buffalo; T. M Mazuret, Black Rock; F’ Hynes, Limestown ; M. O’Con nor, Buffalo; J. Cahill, Jamestown, N. Y.; J. Cunningham, Batavia ; P. Hop kins, Elmira; J. Leddy, Greenwood ; P. Byrnes, Rochester. After sufficient justice had been ren dered to the eatables, the learned and elegant Rev. J. W. Hickey, C. M., one of the Seminary Professors, arose, and in a most simple and touching address, wel comed, in the name of the Faculty, the lit. llev. Bishop Ryan, lately confrere, and the Most Rev. Archbishop, Bishops, and Clergy to their midst. The address, delivered with that soul-moving pathos, which the Rev. gentleman so naturally infused into it, was listened to in rapt si lence and emotion and amid long con tinued applause, was presented to Bishop Ryan, it reads as follows: '•'Jit . lied. Bishop Hyatt : Permit me, on behalf of the Faculty of the Seminary of our Lady of Angels, to tender you our most joyful and heartfelt congratulations, on occasion of your re cent accession to the Episcopal dignity. We consider it a privilege thus to unite our feeble voices with those of thousands throughout the length and breadth of this vast Diocese, who have already testified their satisfaction on your advent into their midst. We feel confident that transferred to a loftier sphere and a wider tield of ac tion, your distinguished merits and emi- 5