Southern cross. (Savannah, Ga.) 1875-1877, October 23, 1875, Image 1

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VOLUME I—NUMBER 7. ItU sotttl*o*tt €*ooo. WILLIAM RANKIN, Publisher. 135 Bay Street. :zw “SOUTHERN CROSS!” m w* j* OF EIGHT PAGES. - , DEVOTED TO HEtdSjMON, SCIENCE, GENERAL j LITERATURE, AND fm: INTERESTS ,0F TUB | south, is pußusailß every Saturday, IN THE CITY OF SAVANNAS, APPRO- I RATION OF RT. REV. BISHOP GlfeaS, BY ARI 1, CORPS OF WRIT . , ->C Wu-..Ri-. K. AMONG THE BEST SCHOLARS, .ABLEST STATES- ! MEN AND SOUNDEST SOUTH. 'The Editors of the SOUTHSfetI.. OfewArilD <•*- ] deuVor to acquaint their readers latent and most reliable news ofsko WdWorld, They are determined to make tliia new Southern | Weekly one oi the most mtereeting journals in the land, by the variety and of the eubjeota ! ' cbe oi™.va.nhah r St. charleston , Wilmington, Richmond, Nashville and Mobile, will welcome it as a God-seat messenger to do the wbrk of many priests among them, and to expose to their Protestant neighbors and friends the true claims and Doctrines of Catholicism, teacning all their duties towards God and their country. . The SOUTHERN CROSS is destined to an immense circulation throughout the Southern States. It will commence with an issue of no less than thre > thou sand copies. business men in Savannah an 1 oilier eentres of commerce will decide if they are interest ed in availing themselves of this new and powerful advertising medium. The price ot subscription is $3 per annum; six months, $1 50. Payable in advance. advertising rates are AS FOLLOWS ; Squares 1 Mo. 2 Mos. 3 Mos. 6 Mos. 12 Mos. 0ne.... $5 00 $9 00 sl2 00 S2O 00 $35 00 Two... 9 00 16 00 20 00 32 00 60 00 Three... 12 00 22 00 28 00 44 00 80 00 Four... 15 00 27 00 35 00 56 00 100 00 Five... 18 00 32 00 42 00 68 00 115 00 Ten .... 30 00 55 00 75 00 125 00 200 00 A square in the SOUTHERN CROSS will contain one sixth more matter than that of the principal dailies, as the columns are that much wider. Transient advertisements, $1.25 per square, each in sertion. Cuts inserted at regular rates. Death and marriage notices, $1 each. Editorial notices, 20 cents per line. Letters or communications in reference to the Liter ary department of the paper should be addressed to the Editors of the SOUTHERN CROSS. All letters of a business nature should be addressed to WM. RANKIN, Publisher, 135 Bay street, Savannah. Established in 1867. WILLIAM RANKIN, ADVERTISING AGENT, 135 BAY STREET, Sa/XToLnuoLii, Gr£b. 7 Receives Advertisements for Any Xewspaper IN THE 9^ ITmted States! AT THE LOWEST RATES. ESTIMATES FURNISHED. , Having had Eight Years’ experience in this business, lam familiar with the Rates of the different Papers throughout the Country; size of Type used In their Advertising Columns, number of Words to the Line, Mae of Square uaed, 4c., 4c. ,eplj “The Oross Stetncietli Whilst lue PassetL _A_aa^ay.” BEST. Mother, I see you with your nursery light Leading your babies, all in white, To their sweet rest; Christ, the Good Shepherd, carries mine to- # night, And that is best I I cahnot help tears when 1 see them twine Their fingers in yours, and their bright curls Bhlne On your warm breast; But the Saviour's is purer than yours or mine: He can love best! b You tremble e*ch hour because your arms Are weak; your heart is wrung with alarms, And sore oppressed; My darlings are safe, out of reach of harms, And that is best. You know over yours may hang even now Pain and disease, whose fulfilling slow Nought can arrest; Mint in God's gardens run to and fro, And that ia best. You know that of yours the fseblest one dearest may live long years alone, . f g Unloved, unblest; il-HP- cherished of saints around God s XfetQH*, And that is best. 'totS Yon mii*t dread for yours the cri9 sear*, . Dark guilt unwashed by rep*st*fitA*&ri/ And uiK’onfeased.; Mine entered spotless on.eternal years: Oh, how muck the best! .JsSb^< : BA gri.f i* Mlffsh, Mid I cMinot ••• ay,W M 7 o“tr.^t; k * nb# ' B “ tlkno ; o r^t“ forthem ' 22 Papal Infallibility and Confession. Editors Southern Cross: With the dogma of “Papal Infallibil ity” I had no difficulty, for my reading and experience had taught me, that in claiming that attribute for their chief Bishop, Catholics only did, but on • more sure grounds, that which every Protest ant clergyman asserted, and their con gregations assented to, whenever they announced from their pulpits views on questions of morals, or controversies of faith. With this difference, however, that the Pope spoke ex cathedra with the authority of the Church; but they, only expressed private interpretations, a right the individuals of their congre gations were at liberty to exercise with themselves, and in the exercise of which right, to change their teachers in their Churches, if the doctrines enunciated did not chime in with their own ideas of what they should believe, and practice. Catholics, I learned, believed their Pope to be, as a man, fallible as themselves; but that when he in his official capacity, as the chief Bishop, announced from his official seat a decision upon some con troverted question in the Church, of faith or morals, knowing as they do, for there are men in the Church as learned as the Pope, that he did not express his own private opinions or conjectures, but arrived at his conclusion of what was the faith delivered to the Saints by diligent search in the Bible, the traditions of the Church, and other Christian documents, earnestly praying for light, and aided, moreover, by the Divine influence that Christ had promised to His Church, “that he would be with it always,” they, I found, sensibly and obediently ac cepted the decision. As I have before intimated, what would be come of us in this country, if the principles laid down by the Supreme Court upon controverted questions of Constitutional Law, should be derided and disregarded, and every man in the pride of private interpretation, should be the law unto himself? The Govern ment could not go on for a day. Anar chy, confusion, and rebellion against authority would necessarily ensue. This is the case now with Protestanism, and there is not an earnest Protestant writer of any distinction, who, viewing the anarchy and confusion in the Protestant world, does not wish for a supreme au thority to decide, and check the licen tiousness and wildness of private inter pretation. There are more than one hundred Protestant sects, or churches, now in Christendom, besides those that have sprung up and died out; and new ones are in embryo. According to a SAVANNAH, G-A., SATjUITDAY, OCTOBER 23, 1875. learned Professor <m | ‘hurch History in the Union of New York City, there than fifty of these sects in tjjg apt-id States. 1 have listened to several private inter preters of the was frequent ly reminded of Ip: h-aptc interpretation of the Mormqggjb I’hSAier. who told his congregation,,'Jjfra-t mariner’s com pass was not ai’ic<em invention, as mention of it ■ in the Bible; for it was ther%|i| Paul “fetch ed a compa|pwj* wme to Rhegium,” and if there were i- > ,•••!• passes in those days, ho®iffiM|'KJ r uh one? While aHHHMwK are differing and piselves, quibbling about words, And i%i' Ving hairs on trifles, the (|ithbiic Clid(?i|kpjnsent to the world mbekutifel ,s v * of union, unity and order. .Every however, or otherwise, knows what i.he has to believe for ms soul’s health, ; and whet he hits to do in subjection to his belief. Many years ago, from inter ; course with thousands of poor Catholics, in the way of professional duty, and in domestic life, (“the ignorant Irish,” aS they are sneermgly called by some), I had been impressed with the fact, that however uneducated ignorant they might be in other things, that in the Life and Doctrine# of Christ they were better instructed/and 7 ' grounded, than most educated ithistrating poor.” ’ Human reason, tradition, and Divine teaching support‘the theory of a central authority to preserve, perpetuate, and declare the grand truths of'revelation; and but for the existence of such a sys tem during the dark ages, what would (niristianity have been now ? How could the Bible have been collected andcompiled into its present form? How could it have been preserved during the wars, insurrections and turbulences of the middle ages ? And hnw could it have been shaped for distribution to the world, when the art of printing was in vented, but for the Catholic Church? The Catholic Church has done all this by her unity centered around the chair of Peter; and now preserves the standard of Holy Scripture, by which the errors of Protestantism may be detected and corrected. This is the strong point of the Catholic Church, and she invites in telligent examination of her doctrine of Papal Infallibility. What she teaches is not what Protestantism represents it to be; and what she teaches, is consonant with reason and God’s revelation, a de signed purpose to a desired end, the pre servation of the Truth once delivered to the Saints, one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism. Confession. Confession was the greatest impedi ment to me. Self-love opposed it. I was aware of its Catholicity, and that confession and absolution had been re tained by the Church of England in her schism, though its use was by a weak inconsistency, confined to the visitation of the sick. Still, if aiji English clergy men had the power to say to a sick man, after his confession, in substance the same as a Catholic priest, “Our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath l4ft power to his Church to absolve all sinners who truly repent and believe in Him, of His great mercy forgive thee thine , offences; and by His authority committed to vie, / ab solve thee from all thy sins, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen,” (English book of Common Prayers, ) why could not he also say it to a well man, and why did he not do it ? But I knew it t<j> be one of those concealments of the faitll (hat the English Church did not dare )}o assert openly in the face of its Calvanif.tic leaders and supporters. My own Church I knew denied this power of absolution, as proved by its omission from our book of common prayers. For if not denied, the assertion of so vital an element of Chris tian Faith, would not hitfebeen left out. And yet in principle, myf Church invited to Confession on the saim ground as the Catholic Church. In exhorta tion, accompanying the Holy Communion, the says, after urging self-examination and preparation, “And becausqrii is required that no man should come writhe Holy Communion, but with a full trust in God’s mercy, and withjuguiet conscience; therefore, if there be of you, who by this means cannot quiethis own conscience hereijfe but requireth further comfort or counsel, let him come to me, or to some other Minister of God’s Word, and open his grief, that he mag receive such godly coun sel and pdvice as may tend to the, quieting of his Conscience, and the removing of all scruple (fed doubtfulness.” This is pre cisely thejprinciple oh which the Catho lic with this difference on ly, £hat knowing the weakness of human nature ir dealing with its own sins, she requires every penitent to open his griefs that she may strip his conscience of the veil of self-delusion; and exposing his sin to him, in the light of God’s require ment, enable him to go to the Commun ion with ns clean a heart as possible, and worthily—that is, as God d&mands, in true 'repentance, with an humble and contrite heart. While an Episcopalian, I maintained the power of our ministers to absolve, from sins on just repentance and confession, • believing them that they had an Apostolic commission; for I could not think that Christ used the language of empty compliment, when he sain, “Whatsoever thou shalt bind on Earth ;Lall,be. bound hi Heaven, and whafeio* us I attributed to two causes, the fear oj Dissent on the part of the clergy, and the distrust of. the gossip of married ministers, on the part of the laity; neith er of which are to be apprehended in the Catholic Church, as she has no fear of the first, and as her discipline and re ligion are so severe on this point, that the Secrets of the Confession have never been betrayed by the most unfortunate priest who has fallen into the hands of the Evil One; not even by Luther or Calvin, who would gladly have done so if they had dared. With all this, self love, however, triumphed*' until con science did its work. And now, speak ing from experience, I can bear testi mony to the wisdom, sacredness, and benefits of Confession. It is a prepara tion for the Holy Communion, such as I never knew or heard of in Protestant ism, putting one to a severe test of the examination of conscience by the light of God’s commandments, and of our deadly sins. It is, indeed, a great individual and public religious and moral agent. Why is it that Catholic servants are in so much demand in Protestant fami lies, who otherwise depreciate the Catho lic Church ? Here is the reason, the Confession. Protestants say, “It is the Priest who 'does it.” True; it is the Priest, as God’s minister, who, repre senting Him, enforces His Divine Laws. Let any one try Confession faithfully, and he will know of the doctrine by the proof. It is a wonderous help towards salvation, and in strengthening to bear the troubles, injuries, and contumelies, that may come upon us. It requires hu mility. Christ said we must oorne to Him as humble as a little child. If one is sincerely penitent, and earnestly de siring forgiveness, and grace to amend, there will be no lack of words to ex press our faults; and the words of sym pathy and advice received, cheer and encourage, while sin is condemned. I have heard persons say, “they would not know what to say.” Such an one has never been convicted of sin by con science, and knows not repentance. For, “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” Confession, absolu tion, penance, Communion, are enjoy ments and helps not known to Protest antism. “And Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the Lonl God of Israel, and make confession unto Him; and tell me now what thou hast done; hide it not from me. And Achan answered Joshua, and said, In deed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done.”—Josh. vii:l9, 20. [to be continued.] The conclusion of the “Life of Lord Palmerston” is promised for early publi cation in England. PRICE TEN CENTS. TRUTH. ippK- ' The simplicity of the dove is more to be desired in, our times, than the prudence of the serpent, the capacity of having and imagining evil motives, of guarding against them by double dealing and fake pretense, the habit of using language to oonceal thought, of saying not what is true, bbt what will put the listener in your power, is too common already. Parents practice it, when they smile wel come in the face of those whom the chil dren heard them say they hoped not to see that day. Children practice it,when they say “yes” or “no,” to suit the form and tone of the ease. Religious people praetioe it, when they say, we need not mention that to the spiritual director. , We, in America, have plenty of short sigltted prudence. We are almost in the condition of the Romans, • after the Empire became Christian, when men fled to the Egyptian deserts in order to save themselves from the universal corruption. So few acknowledged the supreme do minion of Jesus Christ over them! En gaged., in enterprises of .zeal and charity,' they qo not throw themselves on His care for the'outcome of them, but resort to and even uncharitable rival ries, to secure their ends, arid often ac cept, the world’s applause over their,suc cess, as a compensation for the sacrifice of pcaoe of mind and conscience they, JA -Wiii’ii ring! we learn tiit sinui mw you free?” All freedom that comes from self-conceit and passion and a vain glory is a mockery of the name. He alone is free who believes in Jesus Christ, and believing, has no aim but to shape his life according to the Redeemer’s teach ings.—Columbian. THI TUB iwn ITS FBIJITV Under the above heading “A Cheshire Man” writes to the Times to enquire if Cardinal Manning “has never heard that in nearly every instance of stabbing, brutality, or wilful murder in Liverpool, the guilty parties are members of his Church ?” And he goes into gaol statis tics to prove that it is the Tree of Catho licity which produces all this Fruit of crime. We emphatically state that it is not. Assuming his figures to be correct, what do they prove? Simply this—that when you remove our people from where they have free liberty to learn and prac tice the principles of their religion, and place them amongst an alien and hostile population who do all they can (and have, owing to local circum stances, to a great extent succeeded) to choke that religion out of all Catholics, both young and old, then you need not be surprised to find that their virtue disappears along with their freedom of teaching and of worship. A bad Catholic is far worse than a bad Prot estant, for he cannot lose the faith that is in him with the loss of the practice of it, and all restraints of his religion be ing withdrawn, his badness is apt to culminate into the recklessness of des- pair, and so he sins the worse, the more madly. The Protestant, on the other hand, is most often indifferent to either hope or despair, for the future, and he sins in cold blood, and after a careful cal culation of how far he can go without be ing caught by the hand of worldly law. Lucifer, the highest of the Angels, has fallen into a deeper hell than his fellows: The Apostle who, dip ping his finger into the Master’s dish, betrayed Him, is more punished than those who heard him not. The “Ches hire Man” takes the Cardinal to task for daring to condemn Rationalism; would it not be well if the former left the so-called Rationalism alone, and in dulged in a little ordinary reason ? Let him judge of the Fruits of the Tree on its own soil. Let him judge it in Ire land—where the judges declare there is almost an entire absence of crime—not in Liverpool, where it is without its proper gardening, without its appropri ate sustenance, but, instead, is circum vented on all sides by surroundings of evil the most abominable and the most poisonous. —Liverpool Catholic Timet.