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144 ®!)c pacificator. -•—"" “ I J . WALSH, ) T , ... X-i. T. BJ.OMK,i' RdltorS - Office—JYo. 14 .Mclntosh 'St., near Uronrt. AUGUSTA,. GA., SATURDAY; JUNE 24,1865. TO OH It READERS. In October last, while our country was engaged in a terrible and desolating war—while blood was (lowing freely and lives were being offered up on numerous battle fields, we launched our little bark upon the waters of public favor, and unfurled to t’le breeze the banner of “peace on earth to men of good will." Communication with the North, and, indeed, with the whole world, was cut off ; and, while the interests of several religions de nominations in the South were ably advocated In flourishing journals, our. holy religion was alone unrepresented by a paper. To supply this want, to furnish an or?an for the dissemination of the true faith, the removal of unjust prejudices against our Church, and to advocate a speedy and honor able peace, we- commenced, with the approbation of the Bishop of Savannah, the publication of the Pacificator. Notwithstanding the dark “clouds which low ered o’er our houses,” the prospect seemed bright and encouraging. Words of good cheer came to us from the clergy and tlis laity, and we sped on ward with prospering breezes. But in May last the struggle for a Southern Confederacy culmi dated in the surrender of General Lee and the capitulation of General Johnson to the armies of the United States; and, as we came once more under the banner of tjiat Government, we found ourselves in an anomalous position. With no government in this section save that which .mili tary authority secured to us, with no mail facili ties save those which {lie kindness of General Molineux, now Coipmandant of this District, the Express Company, and the Post Office could fur nish us ; and with limited means, we resumed the publication of our paper, which had been but tem porarily'suspended, while passing from one Gov ernment to another. We believed that the Cath olic zeal, which had cheered us through the storm ' of war. would not forsake -us .in jn-ace, and that there would soon be a rallying to our support, that would place us once more upon a sure and safe foundation. In this' we have been sadly disap pointed. For six weeks we have published the Pacificator with little or no encouragement, pro bably because of the limited mail facilities, to which we have already alluded, and to the scar city of money in the country—causes which may operate for a long time to come yet. Under these circumstances, we have determined to make one more effort to sustain the enterprise, before sus pending its publication, and with this view one of the proprietors will visit in person; in a few days, some of the cities in this vicinity. If he meets with success, we shall continue the publication of our paper; if not, we shall, injustice to ourselves aud the young gentlemen who perform the me chanical labor for us, with so much credit to them selves and to the establishment of Mr. M. M. Hill (formerly J. T. Paterson & Co.’s), and who, like ourselves, have not yet become accustomed to live upon nothing and find themselves, be com pelled to suspend it. We look with no little pride and satisfaction to its conduct and appearance in the past—and the words ot praise and approval which we have received from clergy and laity will afford us some compensation for the labor and energy which we have expended in its publication. But it is important, and particularly so at the present time, that a Catholic paper in the South should be liberally sustained. Already upon the breezes that come from the North are borne.the hoarse murinurings of a fanatical warfare threat ening the Church of God. To meet tliis shock and destroy its force or turn aside its fury, Catho lic literature and Catholic doctrine should be widely and profusely disseminated ; and how can this be better done than by the support of such publications as the Pacificator ? If, then, our friends—the clergy and laity of the Catholic Church —desire to see this journal once more' and firmly established, they should go to work at once in its behalf. Let the Catholics in each city, town, or village where there are any number of members of this faith, send in to their pastor their names, what length of lime they wish to subscribe for—whether six months ($2), or twelve months ($4) —and whenever a respectable number of names is thus obtained, lot the pastor inform us of the number aud amount so subscribed, the money to be paid either to the pastor or near est clergyman, or forwarded directly to us, as soon THE PACIFICATOR —CATHOLIC * OTJIESLAiL. as practicable. The clergy can do much good in j this respect, as they did in the early days of . our | enterprise, by calling attention to it from the altar \ and the pulpit, and using their influence in behalf 1 of our cause. We point to our efforts in the past, as but a slight evidence t>f our intentions for the future; a§, with a double sheet, clear type, and good paper, we shall, we feel sure, he enabled to publish a journal worthy of the Church and of the patronage of the public. If our friends agree with us, then, they should go to work at once and in earnest, and then will there ho no necessity for suspending the publication of the Pacificator. If, however, they feel no interest in the enterprise, and make no efforts in its behalf, we shall be com pelled to close up the business, satisfied that we have done our duty to the best of our ability, and that the failure of the only Catholic journal in the States of the South is no fault of ours. Respectfully, PATRICK WALSH. L. T. BLOME. Augusta, Ga., June Id, 18(13. —X- • ——_____ THE PROGRESS CtF CATHO LICITY. • Whilst Christian societies of every denomina tion have been at variance on the great question!* of the day—some maintaining that slavery was a divine institution ; others, that it was a “cove nant with hell and a league with the devil"— the Catholic Church lias remained intact. Po ♦ litical convulsions, no matter how unexpected and radical, which rent in twain established customs, laws, and institutions, and which places our dissenting friends in antagonism on very essential doctrinal points, change not the eternal, immutable doctrines of the True Church, whose teachings and practices are the same now that they were in the beginning, and will be until time ceases. It is not to be wondered at then that the Catholic Church is growing, in favor with our people, and that many are being received into its fold. But the Puritans are exceedingly exor cised at the rapid progress of Catholicity, and, in order to counteract its growth and influence, they have organized another Know-Nothing cru sade of all the sects for its extermination. This new war against the Church will recoil on its intolerant originators with the odium which is sure to rfittend suet. O-.I uuuKarlltiLlo christian proceeding. The effect will bp bene ficial to the Church, for all such contests are sure to gain new converts to our side. lie who has said: “ Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it," will shield and protect the Church and her children from the attacks of the devil and. all his imps. Here is what a Protestant editor and a Pres byterian minister think of our Church and its conduct during the War, and if such be the opinions of our dissenting friends in the North, many, very many of them in the South, men of intelligence, entertain still more favorable opinions, and, were it not for false pride, woi Id renounce Protestantism and become members of the True Church: “The Advantage taken of the Prevailing Fanaticism bu the Church of Rome.—A pri vate letter received from the far interior, dated March, 1865, thus points out the effects of the prevailing spirit in the Protestant churciie.- in advancing the influence and interests of the Church of Rome. The author is a Presbyterian minister: “ The course of the Catholic Church in refer ence to the war, has gained it a degree of influ ence here far.surpassing that of any previous time. Its churches and schools have received unprecedented encouragement and support. Nor is Dhis result to be wondered at. If Rome be idolatrous (the people argueW>that idolatry is not so malignant and diabolifU as that manifested by Protestant churches. The Virgin Mary is more lovely than Mars. Ecclesi astical unity seems more needful and accordant with the Master’s command, than political union. Murder and theft for the abolition of African slavery does not seem to be consistent with the spirit and letter of the Gospel. For these and similar considerations, vast multitudes have come to the conclusion that if there are anv true Christians in ihe land, or any true Church, it must be that of Rome." “ This is, beyond doubt, a true picture of tbe outside sentiment all over the country, against which the missionary must struggle. Or in com munities where this is pot the outside opinion, there is the still worse state of feeling growing out of the carpings of infidelity and its trium phant pointing to the spirit of carnage that now rages in the Protestant Churches, and in fact leads the van of the crusade for extermination.. “ In Apostolic times it was held a sufficient mo tive with slaves under the yoke to he content w*itb their lot, lest otherwise “ the name of God and Uis doctrine should be blasphemed." But with the current Gospel, that will at all hazards break the yoke, “ tbe name and doctrine of God seem to be a matter of the very smallest consid eration." “ The consideration of the danger of driving a large portion of the country into Popery and in fidelity was urged upon the Protestant Church Courts at the beginning of the war, but only to be sneered at. Now that the damage hasAecri done irreparably, a cry of alarm comes occa sionally from some doctor or editor, but only.to be laughed at by the wily priests and infidels. Meanwhile, the pulpits and Church Courts, re sound with military and political rhetoric, still more disgusting and offensive in proportion as the prospect increases of having the objects of their cowardly vengeance brought within their power. —-o- . AN OLD MISREPRESENTATION REVIVED. Our attention having been called to the follow \ ing extract from an editorial in a city cotempora ! ry, we deem it due to our religion to controvert such false and groundless assertions : “The difference in tliis respect between the Northern ayd Southern States, strikes every intel ligent tourist from England and France. De 1 Tocqncville, more than twenty-five years ago, ob served that tbe transition from a slave to a free State ia Ameiica, was like the passage from a Catholic to a Protestant Canton in Switzerland. There was immediately the evidences of greater thrift and the appearance of a more abounding prosperity. — Chronicle (L Sentinel." There is a certain class in this and other coun tries who maintain that the destitution and pov erty of the Irish, the Italians, the Swiss and oth ers are mainly attributable to the influence of Catholicity, and such is the inference that we would draw from the extract above quoted did we not positively know that such assertions are false and generally emanate from prejudiced and intol eraij minds. That the Catholic religion has a tendency to operate against the prosperity and -jc ai c>£ it people is obviously untrue:, An- Catholicity, neither in its principles nor prac tices, produces shell results. “The evidences of greater thrift and the ap pearances of a more abounding prosperity,” of which the editdrof that paper so flippantly speaks, arc attributable to another and entirely different cause than the Catholic religion. The following extract gives tile true and only reason for the alleged difference in material well being of the Catholic and Protestant Cantons : “The latter (the Protestant. Cantons) embrace the valleys and the richest portion of Switzerland; while the , former are principally confined to the mountains and more barren districts. This cir cumstance would, alone explain the phenomenon alluded to, without having recourse to the differ ence in religious influence. Take two population; equally industrious and equally enterprising; place one in a mountainous country where the soil is thin and ungrateful, aud the latter in rich and fer tile valleys where nature-is much more bountiful, and evsjfry one will readily understand that, in lc.-s than half century, the former will become much more wealthy and prosperous than the latter. This is, to a great extent, the case with the Protestant and Catholic cantons. While the inhabitants ot the mountainous region have remained steadfast in their allegiance to the faith of their forefathers— to the faith of William Tell, of Furstenburg, and of Melchtal—those of the plains, more wealthy and more attached to this world,, have abandoned Catholicity and embraced Protestantism. And not only have they the advantage of position in regard to agriculture, but they have superior com mercial and manufacturing facilities. They have, in fact, almost monopolized the trade and the manufactures of Switzerland.” Northern Papers. —Our obliging friend, Mr. Charles Dodd, of the Southern Express Company, has our sincere thanks fur a copy of the Boston Pilot. We make our acknowledgments to M. M. Quinn & Brother, News Agents, Charleston, for a copy of the Courier. These gentlemen keep on hand all 'the latest foreign and domestic publications. Their energy and integrity commend them to the public; Mr. Edward O’Donnell has also favored us with some late Northern papers, for which we return our thanks. It is said that Prince Napoleon is suffering from the fatal disease of diabetes. [Fur t.Lc Pacificator.] The gaiety of Use Christian. When amid the most terrible struggle for the Holy Land, the Knights Templar, Under the sanc tion of the Church, unfurled their glorious battle flag, half white and half black, only marked by the red liars of the cross; the eyes of the cru saders caught and hailed the sacred sign, and the Infidel host shrunk back apalled, as their battle' cry arose on tlu> air of Palestine —“ God leilla it’. God-wills it !!” Happy will we be if the Church will catch again their Spirit, their zeal, their faith, and feel the only possible answer to the question : “If God be for ns, who can be against us ?” That grand challenge ‘ has pealed in the ears of the universe for eighteen hundred years, and men aud devils have trii 1 to reply, and failed. The simple proposition then is, that the troubh s and commotions of earth, its wars, its pestilence, its famine, cannot in thepsligh'.t degree impair the safety of the Christian. Consequently these things should not disturb his mind ; and to prove the premises, we have but to admit that the Bible is true,'for its sacred page s teem with the evidence. For instance, when the Noetic Church became utterly unbearable in the light that shines under the skies, God destroyed that then known world, by kindling his volcanic tires under the whole region around the Caspian sea, and after the prolonged rain Jiad driven man to all the petty shifts and devises of humanity, to avoid the flood that swept so far be yond the boundaries of lakes and rivers ; then the pulse of ,the'earthquake upheaved the pave ment of the, Mediteranean and the old fords of Ocean; “the fountains of the great deep were broken up,” and the known world was drowned. In the wildest fury of that hell of waters, float ed a vast unmanageable Ark. All around was horrible, and no human hope could surround that clumsiest ship that ever floated, as she attempted the maddest storm that ever darkened earth, while the assembled Oceans held their carnival around the grandest banquet Deathi ever spread. Should that Ark strike, upon some mountain cliff not yet buried, its frail timbers would be but straws amid the foam ; should some timber of the wrecked cities floating by, pierce the planking, the leak could riot be stopped; should she be over turned by tbe climbing seasjfhatoverleaped moun tains jit a bduifb what pH. ' could right her? should she be sucked in by the mncl tromS formed by whirling oceans among labyrinths of hills, who lift her again above the waves? Cities floated by with all their towers and pa 1 - aces, or tumbled in the flood with the splash’ of the grandest, unheard amid the roar. The wrecks of forests dashed against the sides of the Ark, the spray swept above it in blinding and stifling mist, and the waves came down in thunder shocks upon it. The last shrieks of the drowning millions, the last curses and last prayers were lost in the shout of the storm and the laugh of the fiends who then kept holiday. The fair daughters of Cain turned their beaut’- fnl dead faces to the black heayens, and their long hair floated oat npbn the remorseless surge. Old Ocean had a million brides thatday, and Neptune fed his fishes upon the mighty giants born of earth’s daughters who had sinned with God’s angels. ITithin the Ark, lions howled and tigers crouch ed in fear, snakes hissed in savage terror, and the elephant and the mammoth .learned for the first time to trembler and amid it all, Noah and his family, without a doulit and without a fear, knelt calmly for morning and evening prayer, and adored the great God who had done it all. Grand was the final scene when the King of two worlds, talked to the Lord from beside the new altar, and saw Jehovah answer him in Rain bows ; but grander still, the faith of the Patriarch when the sound of the closing doors of the Ark told of the doom of the earth’s generations. Thus also, when the three Hebrew Children were sent to die amid the hottest furnace that Chaldee rage could heat; the servants of the King who looked through the unapproachable heat to catch a glimpse of the consumed flesh shrivelling from the burning bones, saw the protegees of heaven calmly walking in the cool splendor of the new garden of God, while one, who looked to their heathen eyes, like a “son of the gods," conversed pleasantly with them, and interposed the atmos phere of Heaven between their very garments and the flames. Not far from the same time, the shaggy hide of a starved lioy was the safe pillow of Daniel; and in other days, the cruise of oil failed not in the home of the widow, and the hungry ravens in a land of famine, laid their food at the feet of the Prophet. To tell all the evidence of the protection of God toward those who love him) were to quote the Bible,