General News.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume V, Issue 265, 31 May 1878, Page 13

General News.

The Univers publishes the following telegram from Rome, dated March 28 :— ln the Allocution pronounced to-day Leo XIII. said that, having been called to govern the Church, he contemplated with dread his own unworthiness and weakness in presence of the heavy burden which had been bequeathed unto Mm by his immortal predecessor, and also in presence of the sad state of the Church, violently stripped of all her rights. He declared himself the scrupulous guardian of the treasures of the faith, and proclaimed that he put the temporal power of the Apostolic See under the inviolable protection of right and reason. The Pope concluded by saying that he was waiting for the advice of the Cardinals, and cited on this point the example of Moses, who assembled the 70 Elders of Israel.

Gentleness and manliness combined make men noble," writes a Naval officer to the Army anil JVavy Journal, " and when we add attainments above the average, we reveal the character of George P. Ryan, whose career ended with tlie ship he commanded. He was only a few months past fifteen years of age when he entered the Naval Academy, and from that time until his death, in the words of Rev. Father Fulton, who preached his funeral sermon 'bis career. was a successful one. 1 He was a Christian in faith and, a loving husband and an affectionate father. During his stay at the Desolation Islands, in charge of a party for the observation of the Transit of Venus, the evenness of his diposition and his justness, coupled with personal endurance, and a full knowledge of the work he was sent by the Govem•ment to perform, endeared him to every member of that isolated party. Ihe complete manner in which that work was performed, will live as a lustrous addition to the attainments of our Naval officers, and it reflects much credit upon the institution of which he was a graduate."

The 9,481 officers serving in the active array of Prussia it has been ascertained that 8,591 belong to the State Church, SBO are Catholics, 10 Protestant Dissenters, and 9 Jews. Of 830 military surgeons 682 are members of the Established Church, 130 Catholics and 17 Jews. Of the 241,802 men 164,982 are members of the Established Church, 75,268 Catholics, 229 Dissenters, and 1,305 Jews.

From the Germania, the leading organ of the German Catholics wo, Unieers, translate the following terse remarks on the death of Pio Nono ;— Over the grave of Pius IX. we Catholics sing neither hymns of praise nor songs of lamentations, but with a deeply moved heart we thank ahove all the King of heaven and earth for havin°given his Churcli such a governor for two and thirty years, and confidently pray to Him to Tbe f urtliermore alike gracious to Christendom. Since the first Christian emperors endowed the spiritual head o? all the baptized with a temporal possession for maintaining, his hi»h dignity and independence, the first Pope is now dead who was not only deprived of this dominion dc facto, but whose right to it is contested by most governments. His successor will probably be subject to still greater vexations and indignities, and the faithful children of the Church to greater trials than have been suffered hitherto ; but how are spoliation, ignominy, and physical pain to prevail against a power which the gates of hell itself are impotent to subdue ?

Two years ago, Ecuador was the most nourishing of the South American republics. Since then the Catholic president, Don Garcia Moreno, has been assassinated, and an iufidel government presided over by Senor Veintemille has usurped office and brought the country to the verge of ruin. Most of the bishops have been either exiled or imprisoned, and a national convention, the result of sham elections •and forged returns, has declared itself in. favour of the present government. The South American papers contain an account of the heroic attempt made in November last by the brave Catholic general Yepez at reinstating the national government wrongfully overthrown 18 months ago. He managed with 2000 picked troops to surprise the capital, Quito, and these brave men who had " Vita la religion ! " for_ their battle cry, would nearly have succeeded had they not been obliged in the end to desist for want of ammunition. A most dramatic incident happenpcl on that occasion. Polanco, the chief instigator of the murder of President Moreno, had been set free to assist in the defence of Quito against Yepez. At the very moment when he called out to his soldiers, " If you see a priest administering the sacraments to a wounded Conservative, fire on the Host," a ball struck his skull and he fell dead on the spot. A renewal of Yepez's enterprise may be looked for at any moment. — Unicer&e.

Where is persecution to end, and where is liberty to begin in Prussia ? It will soon be a criminal offence for a Catholic priest to preach the Catholic faith at all. There is a law in Germany that any ecclesiastic speaking against the government in the pulpit is liable to be fined and imprisoned. It appears that speakin«against the government means to say something that may not be quite palatable to the government. Father Philippi, a priest at Loukau, in Silesia, told Ms congregation some time ago that it is the duty of Catholic parents to have their children instructed in the Catholic religion. The government prosecutor is of a different opinion, so he lays a criminal information against the poor priest, and wants him to be put in prison for talking treason. The Court of Pless holds that a week's duresse will meet the case, aud so Father Philippi is sent to gaol for a week for saying that Catholic parents ought to bring their children tip as Catholics ! Once more, when and where is persecution to "end I—Universe.1 — Universe.

Conveesions are at this moment of quite frequent occurrence in England, especially from the ranks of the Protestant clergy. The Tablet gives the names of some who have just followed the two clergy of St. Batholoniew's into the Catholic Church. There is the wellknown High Church writer, Mr. Charles Walker, author of " The Ritual Eeason Why," " The Sarum Mass in English," and many other popular books. At Oxford seven members of the University have likewise just " gone to Rome." Amongst these are Mr. Oliver Vasal, of Balliol College, Mr. Westerman, of Oriel, and Mr. Johnson, of Keble. Lord Alexander Gordon Lennox has also been received into the Church, Examiner.