San Francisco Mail News.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume V, Issue 245, 11 January 1878, Page 17

San Francisco Mail News.

(Front our Exchanges,)

Paragraphs have appeared in numerous papers to the effect that Prince Amadeus was about to enter into holy orders and don the habit of the Trappists. It is true that the prince leads a life more in conformity with the glorious traditions of his noble and illustrious ancestors than do other members of his house, but it is time that the truth of the matter should be established. It is certain that, although the duke continued to lead a most edifying Christian life at Turin after the death of his pious wife, the Princes of Oi sterna, he has not manifested any intention of entering holy orders. The Holy Father, l^i|R interrogated on the subject at one of the public audiences, resp^mled in the following terms :—": — " lam well aware that the prince ■js a most pious and exemplary Catholic, that he frequents the churches, and habitually approaches the Sacraments. He also wrote me on the occasion of my jubilee, that he was disposed to renounce his privileges as a prince of the blood, if such a proceeding should be necessary to prove his entire devotion and allegiance to the Holy See ; but I am entirely ignorant of any intention he may have formed of entering holy orders, or of becoming a religious." An Italian archbishop and a cardinal have been interrogated on the same subject, and have both responded as did his Holiness. The correspondent of the Philadelphia Press writes from Rome, on October 24th as follows : — There is a curious case now proceeding here in which King Victor Emmanuel lignres rather unpleasantly. Some years ago his Majesty purchased the Villa Potcimani, to which he made additions which converted it into magnificent country palace. To increase 4ts pleasure grounds he also purchased the adjoining estate of the Irish College, and as much of the surrounding ground as he could obtain, and thus secured a large demesne. The grounds thus acquired were beautifully laidjoutwith new roads, artificial lakes, and plantations of choice trees. He had a neighbour, however, an Irish gentlemen, in the service of the Pope, and owner of some adjacent laud, who, declining to be bought off to make way for the royal improvements, also claims a right-of-way over an ancient road running through ( tha whole length of the royal grounds, but whic'i the King's ■workmen had' torn up. When this Irish .gentleman tried to make good his right-of-way he was summarily dealt with, and being prosecuted for trespass in the criminal courts, was sentenced to pay a fine. He has appealed, and the matter has now come before the Civil Court as a.question of property and long usage. If decided against the King it will destroy all the privacy of the royal demesne, which must greatly annoy the King, and would gratify a large number of his Roman subjects, who are dissatisfied with the large increase of taxation (partly to liquidate the Royal debts) since the Eternal City, sever years ago, became the official residence of the sovereign. The Unita Cattollca of Turin has proposed to petition the Holy Father to nominate a Patron Saint of Catholic journalism, and to choose as such the new Doctor of the Church, St. Francis do Sales, in the same manner as Benedict XIII appointed as the Patron Saint of students, St. Aloysius Gonzaga. The Voce/lella Yeritk supports this proposal as most salutary and opportune. Mr. Gladstone accepted the freedom of the city of Dublin, tendered to him by the Corporation, and the formal presentation was made in the City Hall, Dublin, on Wednesday, the 7th No /ember. The right honorable gentleman was entertained by the Lord Mayor at luncheon. v,A Priest of .the Diocese of Dublin " writes to the Freeman, saying :—": — " What Bacon wrote to his patron Essex, one of the head pacificators of Ireland, by the way, wa-> always the policy of English statesmen towards us. Ho suggests the ' toleration of Popery for a time not definite,', i.e., toleratc,it as long as you cannot help it, and to 'weaken the Irish by division and disunion among themselves,' which the future Chancellor calls ' the princely policie.' How long it has endured! One English Minister has had the honesty and the genius to rise above this wickedness, and to legislate for us on the basis of ' justice to Ireland. 1 That man is our guest to-day— William Ewart Gladstone."

Once more it is made to appear that Queen Victoria is an Irishwoman—a longivay after, it may be added, Eva, the daughter of King Dermot, was given in marriage to Strongbow.with the whole of Leinstcr for her dowry. Eva and Strongbow had but one child, Isabel ; she' was the sole heiress of Leinster and of her father's possessions in Wales. She was given in marriage by King Richard Ito William Marshal, Hereditary Earl Marshal ' of England. They had five sons, who nil died childless and live daughters", to each of whom was given a county for a dowry — Carlow, Kilkenny, Queen's County, Wexford, and Kildarc. Isabel, the second daughter, married the Earl of Gloueesteiyuud her giand-daughter was the mother of Kohcrt Brace, King of ScotlatuL ,«.The third danghter Eva, married Lord de Eroe^and from a-daugtoterofc hers, also named Eva, descended EdwarcMV, King ( of England. Through his grand-daughter, Margaret, Queeifof Scotland 'and daughter of Henry VII, Queen Victoria claims her right -to the throne: and through two lines she traces back her pedigree to Eva, the Irish princess. The wife of Robert Bruce was descended from the daughter of Roderick O'Connor, the last King of Ireland, who ended his life in the monastery of Cong, leaving no male heir. The granddaughter of Bruce married the Lord High Steward of Scotland, and through her the Stuarts claimed the crown . Queen Victoria claims to be a Stuart, and to be the lineal representative of the Royal Irish races of Eva and Roderick, It is a very pretty story ; and it may account for borne of the virtues of her majesty. Irish blood, even when thus mixed with baser fluid, is good blood. In Verviers, Belgium, there was recently formed an atheistic society whose object is to wage -war against God and religion. The candidates are initiated by a ceremony intendeu ;mimic and turn into ridicule Holy Baptism. Pa 3c i ili la, jin s * sors, and takes the fearfully blasphemous oath that he will wage war against God and His holy religion. The two sponsors arc to see that he fulfils this oath. We should not wonder much if this society spread rapidly anaoag th,osc of the Belgians who are iafidele. There are even worse

-societies; if possible, in Italy, where the infidels ..gojto such .extremes as to «hock even those who profess no religion, but who have still some little sense of propriety and regard for common decency. Until recently, Protestants have not blushed to assert that the ancient Church knew nothing of devotion to tho Mother of God, and that such " superstition" aud " idolatory," as they were pleased to call it, dated only from the fifth or ' sixth century of the Christian era Recent excavations in the Catacombs at Rome have brought to light, a number of representations in fresco and marble, showing the adoration of the three Oriental Kings or Magi, and the Blessed Virgin is represented as the Queen of Heaven, seated upon a throne, holding the Divine Child in her lap and receiving for him the gifts of the three kings. This has naturally confounded our non-Catholic brethren very much, since their gratuitous assertion is thus clearly refuted by a work of art made in the very first ages of Christianity, as early as the second or third century. But, as a drowning man will catch at a straw, the stiff-necked dissenters still maintained that in this representation of the adoration of the Magi it was impossible to omit the figure of the Blessed Virgin, since it necessarily belonged to the group, but that from the presence of such a figure devotion to the Blessed Virgin could in no sense ba inferred. Alas for them, even this slender argument has fallen to the ground. More recent excavations in the Catacombs of St. Sebastian have unearthed another group, a representation of the Nativity of Our Saviour, in which the Blessed Mother appears independently as an object of veneration and devotion. What will Protestants say now ? Will they have still the hardihood to assert that the Church of the Catacombs was a stranger to devotion towards the Blessed Virgin 1 \ An aged missionary from Buenos Ayres, attending the Catholic Congress at Bergamo, related, as well for the edification of his hearers as to prove to them that they had brothers in far-off America who esteemed it an honour to confess the faith, that the President of the Argentine Republic, M. Avcllaneda, had joined the Congregation of Mary, recently instituted in that country. He publicly attends the meetings and religious exercises of the Congregation ; and, as a result of his endeavours to induce others to follow his example, it may be stated that in a very short time three of the Ministers of State and two generals handed in their names for enrolment in the Congregation. ' _ j A rumour having been made current in France that London and all the large English towns are about to hold meetings to congratulate the Republicans on their victory, the Legitimist Gazette de France publishes a taunting article, ridiculing, th^s interference of the English in French affairs, telling them to look to the beam .in their own eye, reminding them of their rotten boroughs, of their cruel treatment of Irishmen who sought to get rid of their oppression, aud asking them what they would do to a Scottish Gambetta who summoned the Queen to submit or resign. It bids them proclaim the Republic at home if they really think it such a fine thing. A young alumnus of Trinity College, Dublin, Mr. Daniel Morris, has received from the Government the post of Director of the Botanic Garden, Ceylon, with a salary of £1,800 a year, a delightful residence, and a leading social and official position in the island. Mr. Morris owes his appointment purely and simply to his own merits. He obtained the first of the gold medals in Natural History, at the Mode'ratorship Examination, in October, 187 G. When the Ceylon post fell vacant, his college distinctions, and some papers he had written on Natural History, procured him letters of recommendation from Professor Huxley and Dr. Haughton, F.T.C.D. These letters, and the facts on which they were founded, were conclusive in his favour. He has not had long to wait for the reward of his college exertions. — Sa v n tiers Ncivx- Letter. The Soh'tf, which has the credit of being the organ of the Orleans Princes, has made the following remarkable declaration. " Our preference, which we have never concealed, and have no reason to conceal now, is for the Constitutional Monarchy. In short, we are at heart Royalists and Parliamentarians. Before being Royalists, however, we are Frenchmen. We will never be among those who get up crises, catastrophes, and adventures, in the hope of fishing in troubled waters. . . We still firmly believe in the future of Constitutional Monarchy, but we believe it because Frauce will spontaneously return to it. . . To-day the public is manifestly for the Republic We should hold ourselves culpable towards it if we took part in a policy of obstinate resistance to the legal expression of its present opinion. . . Be the country wrong or right, it certainly desires the Republic. The Republic should be given it, and given it without subterfuges." The Soleil goes on to say that the Republic will, of course, be an experiment, and that whether it succeed or not must depend on the conduct of the Republicans. If it should, that " would be the ruin of our Royalist preferences ; but the moment the Republic gave us, in return, the spectacle of national greatness and public tranquility, we should discover in our patriotism sentiments of a wise resignation. Under the Republic, as under the Monarchy, we remain Parliamentarians. We shall be asked, perhaps, why, being such, we adhered during the electoral struggle to the policy of the Marshal and the course adopted by the Ministry. From the 18th May to the 14th October, we gave proof of devotion and discipline ; but the majority of the country had not pronounced itself. Now that it has spoken we arc bound to respect its will." If these arc really the sentiments of the Orleanist Princes as well as of the Orleanist organ, they may at all events claim the credit of patriotic disinterestedness. The Irish Hi met publishes the following from Mr. Grattan, Tinnehineh, County Wicklow :—": — " Having read an account in the Court Journal, of September 15, of the New Zealand flax having lately blown in the gardens of Johnston Castle, Co. Wexford. I beg so say that that beautiful plant has been blowing in my garden here all the summer, and is now in full pod. The plants I have were produced from seed sent to me from New Zealand. The leaves are twelve feet in length, and the flower spike is nine feet high. A number of Jews living at Jerusalem have formed themselves into a volunteer company, and have offered themselves to the Sultan to fight against the Russians. The Duke of Norfolk is stated to be erecting, a3 a local memorial of his marriage, schools and a mission-room in Queen's Road Sheffield.

The notables and representatives of the Armenian Christians have presented to the Sullan an address expressing their loyalty to and affection for him and his government. ?"• The chief Rabbi of Salonica has addressed to the Jews of that city — and the Jews there are very numerous— an express permission to employ even the Sabbath, in labouring to provide the government of the Sultan with any of the necessaries of war. Mgr. Hassoun, the Roman Catholic patriarch at Pera, after performing the ceremony' of consecrating five newly appointed bishops m the church of St. Mary, in that city, in the presence of the ambassadors and envoys of the United States, Austria, Spain, France, and other countries, solemnly asked the prayers of the congregation for victory for the Sultan's arms, and at the mention of the Sultan's name, the entire congregation rose in royal reverence. Some new exploits of the heroes of the Culturkampf are coming to Aha surface, and they tend to exemplify the manner in which toleYltion is practiced toward the Catholics in Alsace, who form the great majority of the population. There are a number of the lowest class of malcontents who are paid to carry on an incessant war against Catholicity. They are distinguished by the violence of their attacks and the imprudence with which they put in practice the precepts of their masters. It is in vain that the Catholics demand permission from the government to establish a journal to defend them against the infamous accusations which are laid to their charge. The simple exercise of this- right has always been denied them, and they are condemned to suffer in silence the attacks which their enemies make on themselves and their religion with the utmost impunity. Notwithstanding all of which, the Jews of this province have recently obtained, without the slightest difficulty, permission to establish a special organ. At the same time a new Protestant sheet is announced to the public. The Catholics, believing the moment a favourable one for a renewed attempt, and thinking that what was granted to the Jews cannot be again denied to them — the more so as they com-, prise at least five times the number of all the sects, Jews included — have made the attempt, and M. Winterer, deputy to the Reichstag, is the proprietor of the new Catholic journal, The AUac'wn, the first number of which was issued on the 19th ult. The event was hailed with joy by all the Catholics, and highly commended by the French press ; but, unhappily, they " reckoned without their host," forgetting that they had to deal with a Masonic dictatorship, which governs Alsace-Lorraine, and for the sixth. time in seven years, the Catholics have been deprived of the privilege of having an organ to defend their interests. And this in a country, one might say, exclusively Catholic.

The Italian Government, not content with taxing to tne extremest bounds the living who are unhappily under their control, do not hesitate to make the dead, also, add to the revenue of the State, and cemeteries are to pay their tax for interments, &c. One of the employees of the city has appropriated 80,000 francs obtained from this source, and he may possibly be heard from in New York before long. Three other municipal clerks have committed defalcation, and practised frauds, which compel them to retire to their chateaux, in order to hide themselves from the too eager gaze of an enraged public. Another has discovered a gold mine in the exorbitant fees collected on marriage certificates ; and still another has been investigating and expounding the benefits of life insurance, at the expense, as it afterwards appeared, of the insured. Such things now excite little comment in the city, and occur as a matter of course ; still they are sometimes noticed in the public journals, when no other news is rife Of them the Italia says :— " The frauds and defalcations which every day brings to light at the capital are now a matter of public comment. Ihe enormity of the crimes committed in the administration of the affairs of the city arc no longer a mystery. It is now absolutely indispensable, and for the best interests of the community at large, that such iniquities should be known to the public." Certain officials of Naples are accused of granting certificates of good conduct to parties notoriously compromised in the gravest crimes, and many of them affiliated with the Camorra. The Wisconsin, one of the Guion Company's mail steamers, left Liverpool for New York, bearing a cargo of impurity. The cargo consisted of 200 Mormons, some of them adults, but many of them young and sprightly girls. All the Mormons— young, old, and middle-aged, males or females— were English, Scotch, or Welsh. Ihe elders who accompanied these unhappy creatures said that the • agents " at present working in England, Scotland, and Wales, as well as m Germany, were meeting with the greatest possible success, and that the death of Brigham Young had given a wonderful stimulas to the Mormon movement. But they made a complaint which every lrian and woman in Ireland will be glad at least to hear. They said that in Ireland "all their endeavours to procure converts had failed, and had in some instances been attended with danger." That is the way it should be. Our Irish girls and Irish youths are not of the Mormon brood. They are loving, but npt lascivious ; tender, but not pruritot. We all most gladly leave to the sister countries the fame of recmjjpg *" c most infamous community under heaven.