GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume III, Issue 118, 30 July 1875, Page 8

GENERAL NEWS.

A most curious revelation has just been made by the ' North German Zeitung,' Prince Bismarck's organ. It seems that during the late "war, and while the German army was still surrounding Paris, the Prince endeavored to reduce the Pope, through the French bishops, to persuade the 'Trench govermnenfrr-that is, Gambetta — to male peace. The Holy Father did as he was requested, but failed. The incident happened before' the defeat of General Chanzy, and strengthens the conviction, that there was a time when the German tjhiefs were anything but sure of victory, and that, had Chanzy had a stroke of good luck, or Bazaine broken out of Metz with even half his army, the course of the war would have been different. Is it this knowledge, that victory over French arms is not so easy as some folks imagine, which makes Germany so sensitive to rumors of French preparations for war ? People in Italy are talking a great deal about the book of the prophecies and the lif e of the Blessed Catherine da Racconigi, a holy Florentine nun of the fifteenth century. Her letters andvisions were collected and published by no less a person-than the famous Pico della Mirandola, and have recently been republished. One of her prophecies were made to Pico himself," and predicted her death, by assassination of his cousin, and another predicts terrible disasters to take place in Italy through, the wicked conduct of the Piedmontese. On being asked when this should happen, the saint said " when the national flag is tricolor." It is so now, red, white and green, and' has never been so before. There can be no doubt that the prophecy is genuine, and not concocted since the Italian occupation of Rome. We saw a copy of it in 1857, and in it the mention of the tricolor flag is very distinct, and in no way disguised or described in an ambiguous manner. Lieutenant Conder has forwarded to the Palestine Exploration Fund a new identification of the town and cave of Adullswn. He points out that the site must satisfy certain conditions which neither the cave at Khureitum, the traditional site, nor that of Deir Dubbar appears to meet. Adullam was in the Shephelan ;it was near Jarmuth and Socoth, between Gath and Bethlehem, and was a natural stronghold. Its site must, therefore, show the usual indications of an ancient town with rock-cut tombs, good water supply and roads. It must have been an inhabitable cave, and the modern name ought to contain the essential letters in the Hebrew, especially the Aid. All r,hese conditions, says the explorer, are satisfied in the site now called Ayd-el-Mieh, the name of which was discovered by the French traveller, M. Clermont Gonneau, and' " communicated by him to Lieutenant Conder, who followed up the suggestions of the eminent Frenchman/ and presently discovered the new cave of Adullam, which it seems is not one large cavern, but an aggregation of small ones still used as habitations by the troglodyte peasantry of the country, who carefully avoid living in large caverns on account of the scorpions and snakes which are to be found in them attracted thither by the dampness, whereas the smaller caves are dry, and comparatively speaking, free of obnoxious reptiles. If the learned lieutenant's conjectures are correct, the adventures of David'assume a new consistency and clearness. The Catholic Union of Venice, has denied in the most formal manner, that his Eminence, .the Cardinal Patriarch of that city, delivered apolitical message from the Pope to the Emperor of Austria, during his recent visit to the Queen of the Adriatic. The Cardinal was invited to the State dh.ner, and accepted the invitation. King Victor Emmanuel sent the invitation himself, and ib was due to that sovereign as lawful King of Northern Italy, that his civility should be acknowledged. This was all the Patriarch did, and he is said to have assured his friends that, he never spo.ee upon political subjects at all. The Prussian journals and the reptile press generally, are greatly exercised over a recent pastoral of Cardinal Eauscher, Prince Archbishop of Vienna. They pretend that it is a tissue of indirect attacks upon the dignity and merits of Von Bismarck. We must confess, en parentliese, that if this be the case, considering that the dignity and merits of the personage in question appear to be exceedingly limited, the Cardinal's pastoral must have been of the shortest description. It seems, however, that the eminent ecclesiastic did not mention Von Bismarck at all, but devoted his attention to the defence of the Church in Austria, and to the condemnation of Old Catholicism in general. A letter from Jerusalem, dated April 13, which appears in the ' Univers/ thus describes a very interesting ceremony which took place on the previous day in the Holy City .— " Yesterday the Mount of Olives was the scene of a most interesting ceremony. It was the laying of the foundation stone of the Carmelite convent. You know that Madam la Princesse de la Tour d'Auvergue has purchased on this mountain, 'which is so rich in precious memories, the spot where Our Lord taught his apostles the Lord's prayer, and where, accordinjg to a popular tradition, these same- apostles composed the "Credo" before separating to evangelize the world The worthy Princess ceded this land to the French nation, but has determined to found upon it a magnificent nunnery whence the praises of God shall be constantly ascending to heaven. Already five Sisters have left Prance and a:o installed on the Holy Mountain. The new church is largo aad handsome, and will soon be' finished. The choir and sanctuary are "consecrated, and the nuns attend mass. every day. France has in her turn given over the land to the nuns, who will attend to the church and garden, and see that they are kept clean and jn good order. The convent will be commenced immediately, and it is sadly needed, for the nuns at present inhabit a very small house, which scarcely protects them from the ram and cold, and this year the winter has been very severe, lho cloister bus-been commenced within the past week and will be very large and commodious. „ The Princess is not wealthy enough to pay all. the expenses of this fine undertaking, and an appeal is hereby made to all Catholics to assist her by their j^ins ami prayers." "

Mr. Roebuck, M.P.., speaking at Sheffield on the subject of education, repudiated the idea of teaching working men that they could by education raise themselves' out of their sphere. That was idle and foolish talk. The fiat of God had gone forth — that they must earn their bread by the sweat of their brows. They were born to be laborers, and laborers they would die j but by cultivating their intellects they could make themselves happy in their sphere of life. .There was nothing to prevent the working men becoming gentlemen in thought, manners, and. behaviour. The " Smith method " of calculating the population of cities may be new to some of our readers. Chicago and St. Louis, those jealous rivals, have been trying it. • It is claimed that in~the United States there is one Smith to every 540 persons. The St. Louis directory shows 906 Smiths, and by applying the other factor in the calculation of the population is shown to be 489,240. This being published in a St. Louis paper, a Chicago editor rises to remark that the Smith family there materializes much better. He finds 1390 Smiths, 48 Smyths, Smits, Schmidts, etc., making in all 1438. He nrultiplies this by 540, and behold Chicago's population looms up to 776,520. We called the attention of our readers some weeks ago to the punishment which was inflicted upon Mgr. Cybichowski, Bishop of Cinna, in partibus, and suffragan of Cardinal Ledochowski, Archbishop of Gnesen and Posen. This eminent prelate was summoned befqre the Prussian Court .to answer the charge of having consecrated holy oils on Holy Thursday, which it was alleged was an act of great and criminal presumption on his part inasmuch as it was usurpation of the perogatives of the Cardinal Archbishop of Posen who, being in prison, could not enjoy them.. For this fearful crime he had been condemned to nine months' imprisonment, and two canons who assisted him in distributing the oils were also sentenced to pay heavy fines. The only wonder is that the oils themselves were not confiscated. Little by little Bismarck is becoming Episcopus episcoporum of Germany, and the Emperor who first addressed him as " Serene Highness," could now with propriety address him as " Monsignore" or " Very Reverend." Indeed, the Prussian persecution has become almost as ridiculous as if is cruel. The sacred oils are of the utmost importance in Catholic rites, but their consecration can in no way affect the political government of any country. They are absolutely necessary in the administration of the four sacraments of baptism, confirmation, orders and extreme unction, and without them these sacrements cannot be given. Moreover, they are employed in the consecration of churches and of altars, and also in the coronation of kings and queens. From this list of their uses, it is easy to see how many rites and ceremonies of our Church, Von Bismarck wished to see suppressed when he attacked Mgr. Cybichowski, and condemned him to nine months' imprisonment for performing' one of .the ordinary episcopal duties, and providing the necessary means, without which the people of Posen must have been deprived of several sacraments. This act of Bismarck's had its counterpart in Rome when, at the time Napoleon I. usurped the Quirinal, the oils were consecrated in the private chapel of the Marquis Pentini by Mgr. Bonaventura Carenzi, Bishop of Moldavia. The only witnesses of the ceremony were the members of Pentiui's famility. Owing to the fact that Pope Pius VII. was in prison, and that few of the Roman clergy would take an oath of obedience to Napoleon, during the year 1811, 1812, and 1813, the holy oils were not consecrated publicly. What happened under Pius VII. is happening again now that Pius IX. is imprisoned. We cannot help asking one question of all impartial persons. Which has fallen the lowest ? Bismarck at Posen in April 1875, or Napoleon 111. atSSedan in 1870 ? As to ourselves we would prefer the humiliation of Napoleon to the ridicule to which Bismarck's absurd act nuißt expose him. The pastoral letter which His Eminence the Cardinal Archbishop of Paris addressed to his clergy on the occasion of the proclamation of the Jubilee, is devoted to a consideration . of the home duties of Christians. Mgr. Guibert is well aware of the importance of family ties, and regrete with great sorrow the fact- that parental authority aud filial respect are so much diminished in. this century. "The father of a family," he observes, " should first of all pay his debts to' his God. The more united and well brought up families there are the for the nation, for such families constitute its strength." The Cardinal entreats his clergy to impress these facts- upon the minds of the^ flocks and to do all in their power to induce fathers to give an example of Christian morality to their children, and to inspire them with confidence and affection. His Eminence conclude! his letter by regretting that notwithstanding the misfortunes that France ha* endured, much of the frivolity and looseneis of morals which brought about her downfall still exist. . When Mgr. Stercks, the late Archbishop of Malines, was created a Cardinal in 1838, the Belgian government "and parliament decreed him a pension of 45,000 franei a year towards the expenses of .his new dignity. Cardinal Deschampi has addressed the Belgian government entreating it not to beitow this pension on him as he does not need it." The ' Japan Mail' informs jis that Buddhism is on the wane in Japan, and that the pi'esent minister has determined to abolish the ministry of public wonhip in the island, and to allow all persons complete liberty of conscience. The funds usually devoted to the main-" tenance of the popular religion are to be henceforth dedicated to educational purposes. The ' Mail' considers that this decree, if it be really carriecUnto effect will soon bring about the conversion of Japan to Christianity. If German influence is not paramount theie, with God's grace we may hope to sec the Catholic faith flourishing once more "in the fair land of the Camellia." Christian traditions arc many in Japan, and indeed we still possess churches and even large congregations of Catholics who hare never, even through so many years, of persecution, abandoned the faith taught to their ancestors by St. Francis Xavier. Our greatest enemy in Japlin is not the Mikado and his government, but the strong German and infidel influence which is endeavoring to implant tipon the islanders the most "advanced" theories.