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decay, like the tender bud before the untimely frost, we have a fitting example to illustrate the assertion that the “free air of the Republic” is not charged with danger for the well-being of Catholicism. The growth of Catholicism, under the fostering flag of civil and religious liber ty, is simply marvellous in this country. Notwithstanding the injustices to which Catholics as a body are still subjected, we are well satisfied with the system of Government under which we live, and we would not change it if we could, although some say we are always conspiring against the liberties of our Republic. What we ask for first of all, is the eleva tion of religion to its proper place—such social order as the people in their wisdom may consider consistent with, and suited to their corporate temperament. If then the change put on foot in France favors religion and good order, favors the rights of the Supreme Rnler, favors conscientious convictions which iDr. Newman with much originality and force, styles the “aboriginal Vicar of Christ,” we can see no reason why we, as Catholics, would not salute the resus citated Republic with the warmest greet ings. But if, on the oontrary.it is to be sub servient to tlfe visionary and destructive schemes of those ideal Republicans who aby hd, in the leading centres of Euro pefc States; if it is to be the instrumen tality through which social rights are to be assailed, and the laws of the Higher Power conveniently ignored or irrever ently despised, then the sooner such a Government system comes to a close, having ceased its nefarious functions, the better it will be for France, and for hu man society in general. But as far as the Church is concerned, we repeat, that she is bound to the fortunes of no dynasty. She is above them all; for she rules the realms of the mind and heart in the name of the King of Kings. She is the friend of the peo ple, and the masses in the hour of their dire distress instinctively turn to her as the Israelites of old turned to the mighty Jehovah, that they might find solace when consolation no where else can be found. If the Republic which the Deputies of France, speaking in the name of the people have created, proves itself recreant to its trust; and seeks to subvert the cause to which, through good and ill, the popu lation of that glorious land have clung, we may rest assured that the first to ex pose the sham, reveal the hypocrisy, and to tear away the mask from the face of deception and guile, will be that same institution which has sung the funeral chant over the dissolving remains of kingdoms without number, and, States j&eyond any political classification. The [For the Southern Cross.) FAITH AND ITS MYSTERIES. We believe, every day, in the material world, a thousand things wMch we do not understand. Still more, in mattery of Religion must there be mysteries, if we consider the elevation of the subject. Truly," there would be no merit or virtue to believe, if all was made clear and manifest to us; the beauty of Faith is, that we bow down our understanding and reason before the infinite knowl edge of God, and accept His word on His own authority. Faith must needs have its mysteries. They are “above” reason but not “against” it, and this difference is immense. For what is an absurdity, a contradic tion ? It is that which presents at the same time, and in the same sense, the being and the non-being in the same object—it is that wMch contains an affirmative and a negative. The mysteries of Faith offer nothing of the kind. The “How” is inconceivable, but nothing is absolutely incompatible. . The “Trinity,” for instance, seems ob scure, but it does not contain contradic tor}'ideas. They do not tell us that, What is “one” is also “triple” in the same sense; or that three things of a Mnd make only one thing of the same kind; I they do not present to our Faith one j God and three Gods, which would be ab 'strd, but only three persons in God, I which are only one God. The Trinity afects the persons only and not the substance, in this, no limit, no division. Hie Christian adores one only Being, all 'powerful, eternal, immense, infinite; and His attributes are common and entire in each person in the unity, and perfect simplicity of a same essence. This mys tery was once beautifully illustrated to an Indian, by pointing to him a lake covered with ice, upon which snow had just fallen; there was snow above the ice and water under it, and still the three ■were all water. The Indian accepted at once the Trinity. But how to explain the divine fecundity, the union of three persons in one substance, and all the energy of this word “person” employed to express, says St. Augustine, what is above all expression, there is the mystery that Faith proposes to our belief; but it is sufficient to see that in the ideas it contains, there is nothing absurd. Also in the mystery of the Incarnation; Faith does not offer to us a God, who, in becoming man, altered in Himself this divine nature, wMch is by its essence “inalterable,” but a God, who, without ceasing, to be all that He is by Himself, has deigned to unite Himself to human nature. The variations, the humiliations and sufferings of the “word made flesh” fall upon his humanity; and in Jesus Christ, by the union of the two natures, the sufferings are of a man, the merits of a God. This union is astonishing, the idea is incomprehensible, but not contra dictory. In the Eucharist, it is the same body immolated on Calvary, which is at the same time in Heaven and on earth upon our altars; and, according to enlightened physicians and profound philosophers, it is not necessary that it should be every where, the same numerical quantity of matter, and in total the same number of particles,in order that is should be every where the same man, and, properly speak ing, the same body. In all these religions mysteries then, I see tilings that are obscure, but none that an upright reason and sane philoso phy might name absurd—since there is none that contain the principle of contraditlon, so called by “Luibeitz,” which is the essential rule of all that is truly absurd or impossible. Jacksonville, Florida. Cl. V. M. BIIRTIVIG ALIVE. Great efforts have been made by scien tific men to discover some rule by which death may be infallibly indicated. For years the French Government has held out a standing reward of a large amount of money to any one who would discover and communicate a satisfactory test, other than that of actual decomposition, indicated by the skin turning to be black and blue and green, which is conclusive on the subject; but in cold weather this may not take place in many weeks, and to “keep the body” so long would be in convenient and objectionable on several accounts. A method has recently been given to the French Government, which will probably take the prize. Hold a lighted candle to any portion of a body, a blister will soon rise; if, on puncture, it gives out a fluid substance, death has not taken place; if it emits air only, it is perfectly certain that life has become entirely extinct, for which we offer but one reason among others: In case of actual death, the blood is congealed—in asense, there is no moisture, simply a little air; this, being rarified under a flame, raises up the skin; if there is life, the flame causes an inflammation, and nature, in her alarm, sends increased material there for repairs, a kind of glairy fluid, and this, being sent there in excess, causes the skin to rise. Inability to feel the pulse or heart beat, cold skin, or dew on a bit of glass—none of these .are conclusive, there has been life, whan noncj' of 'these were observed.— Hall’s Journal of Health. TRUTH STRANGER THAN FICTION. The past history of the families o Louis Napoleon and of the Sultan o? Turkey is full of interesting and marvel lous incidents, some of.which are proba bly not generally known to our readers. These two monarchs, who a few years ago so cordially united in the struggle to maintain the integrity of the Ottoman Empire, were both the descendants of West Indian ladies—the one a grandson, the other a great-grandson. The ladies were born in the same neighborhood, on the island of Martinique, one of the Weßt Indies. They were Josephine de Taschreau and Miss & . The history of JosepMne is generally well known. She went over to France, and was married to M. de Beauhamais, by whom she had one son (Eugene) and a daughter (Hortense). Some time after the death of Beauharnais, Josephine was married to Napoleon Bonaparte, and be came Empress of France. Her only daughter, Hortense, was married to Louis Bonaparte, then King of Holland; and the late Emperor of France was her son by this marriage. But now for the romance of this affair. Josephine’s bosom friend left the Island of Martinique some time before she did. But the vessel that was carrying her to France was attacked and captured by Algerian corsairs, and the crew and pas sengers were made prisoners. But the corsair ship was in turn attacked and pillaged by Tunis pirates, and Miss S was taken by them to Constantino ple, and there offered for sale as a slave. Her extraordinary beauty and accom plishments found her a purchaser in the Sultan himself, and she soon became the chief lady in his seraglio, and Sultana of Turkey. Mahmoud 11. was her son; Ab dul Mejid was the son of Mahmoud; and the present Sultan, Abdul Aziz Kahn, is the grandson of Mahmoud. Thus these two sovereigns, who have occupied so large a space in the world’s eye, descended from two French Creole girls, who were playmates from their youth, and as remarkable for their beauty and excellent dispositions as for their varied and similar fortunes. Both of these women, in the height of their power, did not forget those who were the friends of their youth, but pro vided munificently for their welfare. Many of the relatives of the Sultana left the island of Martinique and settled at Constantinople, where their descendants still reside, and enjoy the favor of the Sultan. The Sultana died in 1811; and the Empress Josephine in the year 181.4. Pittsburg Catholic. THE SOU THE 1H CROSS. A TOUCHING STORY. Avery touching and beautiful story comes to us from the East concerning the Princess Marc line Czartoryska ! who reoently died in tfrUlicia. Her little grandson fell ill, and his life was de spaired of. The Dowager, in a sublime prayer, asked God to take her life i replace of that of her grandson. By a sort of miracle the child was saved; |but almost immediately the Princess was attacked by a malady of langor to which it was impossible to ascribe any natural cause. “It is a debt that I owe to Heaven,” she said, smiling faintly. A few days later, upon a radiant afternoon, she had herself rolled out in her easy chair <Cu the lawn and then gave orders to havk all the doors and gates of the gardens opened, so that everybody might ..mter. When the village heard of it, they, at once, left their tasks. Old men. and young women, young men and maidens and little children pressed about the dy ing Princess, who had long been a moth er to them, for she had the old fashion ed notion that the people are the family of the Sovereign. Then began a most touching cere mony. The children came first. Draw ing the youngest one into her aims, she embraced it, saying: “Let this fall upon you all, my dear friends,” Then she gave to each child a medallion bear ing the evangelical words, “Love one an other.” After the children, came the young girls and women. To each of them she gave a little case containing im plements for needle-work and a chaplet and an image of the Blessed Virgin. To the men she gave an ebony cross, and for each gift and recipient she had appro priate words. When she had extended her last pres ent, she was so exhausted that her son and daughter-in-law, who stood by her, wished to have her wheeled back into the house, but she said no. She then beg ged the people to recite, in a leafed voice, the dominical orison. Then at a sign from her hand they all knelt, and their voices in fervent tones broke out in the recital of the Lord’s Prayer. As the “Amen” still echoed in the air she felt death invading her heart, and whisper ing “Marcel,” the name of her grandson, the child was brought, and as he was being carried to her lips, her head drop ped upon her breast, and without a sigh she rendered up her soul to God. So much for a scene that seems to be taken from a poem, an ideal. state of society than one can hardly reconcile with the present.— Paris Cor. of New York Graphic. f v ■ CATHOLIC CONGRESS AT FREIBURG. The following general resolutions were carried with acclamation at the recent Congress of German Catholics at Frei burg in Baden: 1. The Church is a perfect empire, en dowed by God with special rights in the field of teaching, consecrating, and juris diction. According to divine and posi tive law it does not depend upon the State for the exercise of its functions, and entire liberty must be accorded to the Church for all its actions. 2. The State as well as the individ ual is subject to the law of God. Uncon ditional and unlimited obedience to the laws of the State is therefore an offense against the divine moral law, which stands above the Constitution and the law of the State. 3. It is an attack upon the existence of the Church to try and limit the Pope, the Supreme Head of the whole Church, in the execution of his unlimited power as to his teaching and as to his juris diction over the whole Christian world. 4. This Congress repeats its protest against the suppression of the temporal power of the Pope as a violation of the Apostolic See and of Christianit . 5. It is an offense against the laws of God and the rights of the Church for the State to undertake to decide ques tions in regard to the education, ap pointment, or removal of clergymen, or about the constitution and adminis tration of the Church. It is also an offense against the Catholic faith and against a notorious truth to recognize as Catholic persons who have separated themselves from the authority of the Church, and who, as a matter of fact, are simply Protestants. 6. The abolition of congregations and religious orders is a violation of the rights of the Church and of personal liberty. 7. The Catholic Church receives from God power and authority to teach its doctrines. It has, therefore, an inviolable right of establishing schools in which the Christian youth shall be taught and educated according to the principles of religion. Under no circumstance what ever could the Church grant to the secu lar power the right to make enactments for instruction in religious matters. Catholic teachers can give snch instruc tion only by authorization from the Church, and Christian parents can con fide their children only to such schools as are approved by the ecclesiastic'll authority. . ’7 8. All Catholics look with admiratiJn upon the sublime attitude of the Hd Father and the dutiful German dergj, undergoing now the most cruel suffer ings. Theirs is a struggle for the exist ence of the Catholic Church, for the con servation of religion, and the liberty of the Christian faith. The Catholic Church never can or will submit to a sys tem of laws which is in contradiction to its constitution founded by God. Peace can only be restored when the Catholic Church receives back its rights and pow ers, which it claims by virtue of divine and public law. THE GERMAN OCEAN ONCE DRY LAND. The German Ocean or the North Sea, like the English Channel is supposed to have been at one time an inland plain or valley, raised far above the sea level. The sea has only recently invaded this flooded plain, submerged its forests, and superceded its river courses. The buri ed trees of its sunken forests are still standing, rooted in their own vegetable soil, although beneath the waves. Cro mer Forest, which dips into the waters from the coast of Norfolk, is the most famous of the submerg ed forests of the German Ocean. This ancient woodland has been traced at low tide for a distance of more than forty miles. At certain seasons, and especially after great storms, the stumps of oak, alder, yew, and Scotch fir, are still to be seen stand ing upright in the water. The condition of the wood and fir cones, (some of the latter obviously bitten by animals) tell us that the sinking of the land here occurred at no distant period in the history of our country. The remains of land animals too, as well as the forest that they inhabited,are discovered in the bed of the German Ocean. In his “Physical Geography of Norfolk,” Mr. Woodward tells us that in less than fifteen years the fishermen of the village of Happisburg had dredged up from among their oyster bads as many as txvo thousand teeth of mam moths. Bones and tusks of mammoths have also been fished np from the watery depths. It takes us back to the time when the European mainland, instead of termina ting, as it does to-day, with the coasts of Norway and France, stretched far west ward in oue unbroken area, beyond the present coast of Ireland. These were flourishing days of the forests of oak, chestnut, alder, and yew, which are now submerged in the German Ocean and the English Channel BOOK NOTICES, John Dorrien, by Julia Kavanaugh, !author of Nathalie, etc. It is not often in these days of sensation literature that we read a novel with the pleasure given us in the perusal of John Dorrien. The story is well woven, never flagging in interest, and cultivates the good and honorable in our natures. The style is easy and flowing, exhibiting cultivation without pedantry, and principle without pharasaic rigidity. Some of the descrip tions are gems of word painting. For instance this, of an old Church at La Ruya: “John Dorrien followed the high road. It led him up a hill, with monotonous plantations of olive trees on either side, and here and there a lonely farm, until it brought him at length to a church, standing alone on the brow of the mountain, and overlooking the deep valley beneath. A carved oross and three huge ilex trees, gave the little piazza in front of the portico a calm, monastic look. This was no village church, with peasant dwellings clustering around it, as children gather r<.und their mother’s knee in love and reverance, but an austere and lonely teacher, raising her voice in the desert, as John the Baptist once raised his, calling on sin ners to repent and mend their ways. John pushed the door open and entered. As he passed from the southern bright ness of the day to the more than Gothic gloom within, he stood irresolute, for at first he saw little or nothing; but grad ually the darkness seemed to fade away, and he was aware of a brown old place, very quaint and very low, with heavy arches and stained-glass windows, and a few ancient pictures over its altars. The oaken benches were black with age, and here and there a gleam of tarnished gold shone through the perpetual twi light of the place, telling of the departed splendor and rich endowments of former ages. It was quite solitary, but a mur mer of chanting came from behind the high altar. The singers were invisible. Not one token of every day life was to be found here. No little child was say ing its prayers—one of the most beauti ful sights in the Catholic Churches of Catholic countries; no wearied woman knelt, resting herself in worship from the cares and toils of the day; no bare headed man was humbly seeking strength wherewith to bear the burden of his life; and yet, even when the ohant ing ceased, as it did suddenly, the pres ence of God filled this silent, lonely church, and made it beautiful and holy, and John Dorrien felt that it was home, for it was the Father’s house.” How simple the sketch, yet how beau tifully are the details filled in ! We can heartily commend this novel to our read ers. We have enjoyed the manliness of John Dorrien, the grim honesty of Mrs. Reginald, almost got angry, with the weaknesses of Mrs. John, pitied the entanglements of Antoinette, contemned the cold worldliness of George Dorrien, and despised the Sybarite philosophy of Oliver Black. Having enjoyed the fare, we would that others should also partake of it with us. The Woman of Honor; A Book far women, translated from the French of Louis Enault, by Mrs. Rebecca L. Tutt. T. B. Peterson &-Brothers, Philadelphia. We have A received from the publishers, the Brothers Peterson, a copy of this novel. It is thoroughly French in its conception and execution, and the trans lation well preserves its national traits and the peculiarities of French sentiment and its expression. Touching incidents excite smypathy, and beautiful descrip tions please the imagination. Its tone is good, and aims at elevating the honorable and the true in human nature. We en dorse the opinion of Gen. Strother (Porte Crayon), introducing it, that— “lt is a book which may be read with pleasure in the most refined family circle; and with profit by that large class of young women, who are, in this country, earnest ly and practically endeavoring to solve the question of woman’s rights and woman’s duties.” The Child. By Bishop Dupanloup: Patrick Donahoe, Boston, Publisher. Our space this week does not permit us to review this work as it merits. We reserve it for our next issue. Be Agreeable.— The beauty of a Chris tian life consists in the application of great principles to common relations of daily life. The duty to be agreeable is tire outcome and elaboration of Christ’s great law of love. If we love men, we shall seek to make ourselves a joy to them Any failure to do this is as real an infrac tion of the divine law, as to trample the Decalogue under foot. Not only has a man no right to kill his neighbor: he has no right to make himself a nuisance to him. It is little that you do not actually pilfer his purse, or rob Ms house, if your conduct deprive him of comfort or privi lege. Do not flatter yourself too much because you neither cheat, nor swear, nor indulge in other pet vices: your hot tempei, ycmr selfish indMefttnse to the happiness of others, your frigid, unsym pathetic reserve, put you in the rank of sinners. If you add to the discomfort and unpleasantness of the world, even in trifles, you are so far a traitor to the King dom of Heaven. Exposition of the Relics oe St. Vin cent de Paul in Philadelphia.— During the past week the daughters of St. Vin cent, the Sisters of Charity, have been paying increased honor and devotion to their holy founder. In St. Joseph’s Hospital, a portion of the relics of the great friend of the poor has been pub licly exposed, in a richly decorated case, to the worship of the Sisters, and of such of the patients as are able to at tend the chapel. The little altar impro vised for the occasion looks just like what might be expected from the skilled taste of the good Sisters. Several of the visitors to the chapel, during bene diction, could not refrain from express ing their delight at what they had seen. All the festivals of the Church are cele brated with splendor at the Hospital. The Sultan has at last awoke to the necessity of reforming the civil adminis tration of his Empire. Many years ago, at the instigation of the Christian Pow ers, a firman was promulgated, guaran teeing entire freedom to the Christians qf Turkey. This has, all along, been a dead letter. Now, the promise so long broken to the hope, is to be redeemed fully, wholly and entirely. The time is happily gone by, when the Christians of the Orient are left to the mercy of mus sulman faith. They will henceforward cease to be “dogs” for Turks to kick, and sheep for the followers of the pro phet to fleece. The latest news from the seat of insurrection indicate most hopefully for the success of the Christian cause. The new German periodical, DeuischM Rundschau, which has met with such success, announces among its forthcoming attractions not only letters and new communications concerning Henrioh Heine, but actually promises some hitherto unpublished poems. It wiß also give a life of Heine’s mother and some of her letters. Mrs. Herschel, wife of Captain Har schel, F. R. S. (grandson of the cele brated Sir William Herschel), is now engaged on a memoir of Miss Caroline Herschel, the accomplished sister and assistant of Sir William, compiled from her own journals. Several letters of the great astronomer, hitherto unpub lished, will be included in the volume. 5