San Francisco Mail News.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume VI, Issue 272, 19 July 1878, Page 17

San Francisco Mail News.

(From our ExcJianges.)

A despatch from Home to the London Standard says :: — '• The congregation convened to consider the question, have decided that under no circumstances can the Pope accept the provision made for him under the Italian law of guarantees." jQQ The Roman correspondent of the London Times writes as followri : — The scene in St. Peter's on Easter Sunday was the same witnessed on that day during the last eight years, with the addition of one entirely new element. In the front of the little door by the side of the chapel of the choir above which the body of Pius IX. is lying, were people kneeling in prayer. They were not praying in the quiet, unconscious, and yet evidently fervent manner in which I had just seen others around the tomb of the Apostles ; they w,ere lifting up and extending their clasped hands in supplication, towards the sarcophagus front, on which are the words " Pius IX,, P.M." His Eminence Cardinal Howard has, with all the customary formalities, taken possession of the English College at Rome, of which His Holiness has made him protector, vice Cardinal Capalti deceased.

Pope Leo XIII. is a poet. His verses, both in Latin and Italian, are being gathered together for publication after revision by His Holiness.

The attempt to make a Protestant out of the Pope has ended in complete failure. " I fear," telegraphs the correspondent of the London Standard at Rome, "I fear that the Jesuitical and violent party has definitely triumphed 'at the Vatican." This is slang, the meaning of which may be unintelligible to many of our readers. The plain English of it is that the Pope is discovered to be a Catholic, and that the good people who fancied he might be a Protestant have been undeceived. However, they are bound to have their revenge. Since Leo XIII. is altogether as bad as Pio Nono they are going to kill him. He is to die with " the liver complaint," " The Pope's liver affection," we are told, "is not alarming, but he ought to go away, and he desires to go to Perugia ; but he is unable to resist the pressure put upon him to remain in the Vatican." The wicked Jesuits have got hold of him, and they mean to keep him.

Nocturnal adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in Paris is arranged in such a manner that every night in one of the parish churches a number of the faithful unite to adore our Blessed Lord in the Sacrament of His Love. The most edifying examples are given by the workmen, who after labouring all day do not mind the fatigue of a night in the church. Not long ago a young man, who a few days previous had lost his wife by death, which left him the entire care of little boy six years old, took the child to the parish church, in the sacristy of which a little bed was prepared, where he slept whilst his father was praying before the Blessed Sacrament,

A great Catholic Congress, similar to that held at Poitiers in 1875, will, according to the Union, take place this year in a town near Paris. The spot will be chosen on a line of railway leading to the capital, so as to enable the Catholics who are so disposed, while visiting the Exhibition, to take part in that important meeting.

The Abb 6 Debaize, commissioned by the French Government to cross Africa, from Zanzibar to the Atlantic, expects to be absent three years. Nine missionaries from Algiers accompany him as far as Zanzibar, their main object being to establish Catholic missions at Lakes Victoria and Tanganyika. The sum of 20,000 dols. was voted by the

Chambers for this mission. The Abba Debaize, who intends to march in the steps of Livingstone, Cameron, and Stanley, has had no previous experience of African travel. The Paris Exhibition, though still far from being complete in its

arrangements, is unanimously acknowledged to be an unquestionable success. An idea of the influx of foreigners can be gathered from the fact that, according to the official report of the Ministry of the Interior, out of the 160,000 beds which had been prepared for strangers in the hotels of Paris, there were 1,700 unoccupied at the close of the first week. A subscription has been opened in Paris for the presentation of an offering to the Holy Father " on the joyful event of his accession." The list of subscriptions already published shows the object to be well supported. The largest French vessel ever built in a private yard was launched at Havre the other day. She is over 300 feet long at the

water line, has engines of 2,650 horse-power, and will be devoted to conveyance of troops between France and Cochin China. She is called the " Shamrock," in allusion to the Irish ancestry of Marshal MacMahon. Monsignor Patterson, President of St. Edward's College, Ware, England, has carefully revised and completed the popular and beautiful life of Pope Pius IX. by the late honoured John Francis Maguire, M.P., two editions of which have just been published in London. There is one incident related by Mgr. Patterson which is quite new to us, and which we are happy to see recorded. He states that one of the very last persons recognized by Pius IX. was His Eminence Cardinal Manning, to whom the dying Pontiff said affectionately, " Addio carissimo." In a journal published in a small town in Maine, we find recorded as an every-day event, seven divorces. One was granted because the husband was " jealous and suspicious" of the wife, and "refused to provide for her." Auother was given on the ground of " abuse" — the husband in this case being the abused ptvrty. The third was decreed because the husband "tried to alienate the wife from her father and mother ;" the fourth, because the wife threw a pistol at the husband and threatened to burn the barn : the fifth, because the wife went to balls without her husband's consent ; the sixth, because the husband treated his wife " with great contempt and disrespect, manifesting a jealous disposition ;" and the seventh was for " neglect to support." In four of the cases the wife was the complaining party ; in the other three the husband was the plaintiff.

Small-pox prevails to an alarming extent in London, and tends to increase, in spite of all attempts to suppress it. According to the official weekly return ending April 20th, 80 deaths were reported from small-pox. This is a higher number than has occurred since April, 1877, when the general belief prevailed that the visitation was merely temporary. Kis no longer regarded as an epidemic, but a chronic disease. The Pall Mall Gazette says : "It is evident that, unless some energetic action is taken in the matter, we shall have to deal with an adversary more deadly and persistent than any we have yet had to cope with." Mr. John Ross, of Bladenberg, England, of the Coldstream Guards, has become a convert to the Catholic faith. He was received into the Church a few days ago in London. Mr. Robert Ross, of Bladenberg, his eldest brother, is also a convert, and was nominated first on the list as High Sheriff of Down, for the present year, but as he is now a novice of the Jesuit Order, he declined to act.

The Pope, in the lats Encyclical, spoke of suicide as one of the prevalent evils of the day. His Holiness was not speaking at random. The extent of this fearful nvil in our own country is scarcely understood. In New York the suicides were 150 in 1876, or one in 194 of all the deaths ; in 1877 they were 148, or one in 176. In San Francisco the proportion of suicides to all other deaths was, in 1876, one in 80 ; and in 1877 it was in 81. The following table shows the terrible increase of self-destruction in San Francisco :—: — Fiscal year. Suicides, i Fiscal year. Suicides. 1860 31 1 1870 47 1861 30 I 1871 61 1862 13 i 1872 37 1863 18 j 1873 38 1864 20 i 1874 61 1865 17 i 1875 64 1866 24 i 1876 60 1867 29 I 1877 76 1868....; 28 i 1878 107 1869 29 S Taking a leaf out of the Catholic book, some of the Protestant Episcopalian Bishops are now warning their people against the evils of round dancing, and urging them to abstain from it. This, for instance, was what " Bishop " Whittle did the other day at the convention of his sect at Lynchburg, Virginia. He was anxious that no one should receive the " Holy Communion " or be presented for " confirmation " who indulged in this amusement. But he was compelled to confess that there was no power to punish the offenders. An attempt was made to pass a canon providing for such punishment, but it failed. The Episcopalian " Church "is not very virile. The Boston Fruit Dealers' Association now calls itself the AntiCommunistic Street Traffic Association of Boston, a name that is enough to make a, stand take wheels unto itself and flee away, and which would strike terror to the heart of any dangerons woman who ever supported her children by selling oranges at a. bleak street corner.

The JVew Orleans Star says — On Saturday, April 20, at too late an hour for notice in our last issue, our venerable and highly-esteemed fellow-citizen, Professor D. K. Whitaker, L.L.D., received conditional baptism in the chapel of St. Simeon's Academy, Annunciation street. This is quite a triumph for the Church, as the Professor, though always a man of spotless character, had entertained very strongly anti- Catholic views."

Canada is a knowing coon of a dependency, after all. Just to think — while the Canucks were spouting patiiotism to England, and talking of getting up an army to demolish the Bear, they were slily preparing " a Fenian invasion " as an excuse for keeping all their men and money at home. Isn't that it, Bluenose ? The San, Francisco Post and the Real Estate Circular declare that if the Chinese were compelled to leave that city real estate would rise, and trade and industry would revive. John Chinaman calls this " allee same heap stuff — no go " and as a Chinese company for the manufacture of boots and shoes, clothing, tinware, and cigars,has established itself in Nevada County, it looks as if " no go " were prophetic. The Apostolic Delegate, Bishop Conroy, speaking at the Cathedral, Omaha, Nebraska, on the 3rd May, in the presence of Bishop O'Connor, and a great number of the clergy and laity, said :—": — " The foul spirit of Revolution is now abroad in the modern world, setting class against class, and stirring up between labour and capital, between the rich and the poor, between the masses and the civil authority, dissensions, which, in their mad outbursts, will shake modern civilization to its centre, and endanger the very existence of society. No organization but that of the Church has shown itself possessed of strength sufficient to meet these mighty influences of disunion, and to repel from itself their destructive force. She alone panders not to the passions of the rich or of the poor, she alone condemns unjust acts, whether they be committed by the holders of capital or by labourers' organizations. She alone rebukes the excesses of rules, and teaches subjects to obey for conscience sake. She will not allow her children to belong to those secret societies which usurp to themselves over their wretched adepts the dread functions of supreme power ; and it is well for the world to-day, and it will be well for the world in the near future that her hold upon the consciences of two hundred millions of men, instead of being weakened, grows stronger in this period of social crisis." The Boston Watchman tells of a lady who lately tried to find a place in an hospital in that city for a poor woman suffering from an incurable disease, and who, after nine efforts, succeeded in placing her charge at St. Elizabeth's Hospital, in Waltham-street, conducted, we believe, by the Sisters of St. Joseph. "No one doubts," remarks the Watchman, " the beneficent character of all the hospitals and homes from which she was turned away. No one questions the validity of the reasons given for the refusal in each case. Out of ten provisions for the relief of the suffering, only one was found for the relief of the suffering, only one was found where the patient could be received upon the simple statement that she was sick and poor : and this was under Romish auspices. We need not enlarge upon the painful circumstances : the mere recital must convey its own lessons to our Protestant readers."

The Crown-Prince Rudolph of Austria arrived in Berlin on the 2nd of March and was received by the imperial Court with every mark of respect. Notwithstanding that in Berlin everything Catholic is looked upon with scorn, Prince Rudolph sent to the curate on the day of his arrival to inquire the time when Ma3s would be celebrated next day (Sunday). At the time designated, the Prince made his appearance, accompanied by his entire suite, and assisted at Divine service with the utmost reverence. He asked afterwards to be introduced to the priest, with whom he conversed for eomc time in a friendly manner. Tbe festivities in honour of the Crown-Prince, w l^^, lasted three days, were concluded by a grand ball on Shrove TuSs.iy night at the royal palace. Prince Rudolph took part in the festivities until midnight, when he retired to the parlour of the Empress Augusta. Being asked whether he would return to the ballroom, he answered : " No, your Majesty, Lent has commenced. It is now Ash- Wednesday : the carnival has ended for me." The Empress was much edified. Ncxfc morning he was present at an early Mass. The conduct of this noble Catholic youth puts to blush many nominal Catholics, who are ashamed of their faith and neglectful of its practices whenever they find themselves in places where it is derided.

A Protestant official of an Austrian railroad said one day to the editor of a Catholic journal in Vienna : " During my frequent visits to Cologne and Aix-la-Chapelle I witnessed among the Catholics at those places a vigour of faith and fervour of devotion such as never would be so much as thought of among us Protestants. In view of this, the Culturhamjif never can be successful in Prussia." The Catholics of Austria are not yet the victims of open persecution, but they have to encounter many petty annoyances especially in regard to Catholic associations. Of late the Catholic students of Vienna and Insprnck Universities have formed religious and literary associations Avhich have met with the approval of even irreligious professors. There are also associations organized among the working men, tbe master mechanics, and the mercantile classes of that country, which though only in their beginning, have opened up a very fair prospect for the revival of Catholicity in that empire, once the sword and shield of Christianity, both against heresy and Islamism. The time is not far distant when Austria will have to battle for her very existence ; may she not be found wanting in the eyes of the Lord, like the chosen people of the Old Law ! Perhaps the coming trials will, like a thundei'storm, sweep away the malaria of false liberalism and philosophy, and reawaken the old Catholic Faith which has for ages been the power and glory of the venerable house of Hapsburg, whose decline dates from the time when the false principles of modern state rights were first introduced by the degenerate son of the great Maria

Theresa.

A Labrador correspondent of the Journal de Quebec gives a heart-rending account of the condition of the people along the Labrador coast. The fisheries failed them last fall and the traders who give them provisions in barter for their fish and oil abandoned the territory not caring to let the wretched people have goods on credit. Thus before winter set in the whole population was left to starve or subsist until summer on fish offal, for crops are impossible on that sterile shore. Whole families have lived through the winter on rotten, halffrozen carcases of seals driven ashore by the ice-floes. Others have kept body and soul together by devouring the nauseous flesh of the black loup-marln, a species of seal which in prosperous times would be shunned even by tbe dogs. Many deaths have occurred from sheer starvation.. OJ! five families containing forty souls, in one settlement, only five survive. Scurvy is epidemic. The women haunt the shore like spectres, picking up the dead seal, while the men and boys gather sea-moss or shell-fish. The correspondent, a French missionary, says : — " I know several families who have eaten not only the salted seal flesh put away for the winter provender of their dogs, but even the dogs themselves. Those who happened to have a stock of provisions

have been compelled to go on short rations,, and share with their gaunt neighbours. The people have been cut off from the outside world since September. When they found death staring them in the face it was too late to make their wants known, for navigation had closed, and they were 200 leagues distant from Quebec, without any means of overland communication in winter." The Lieutenant-Governor of Quebec, in answer to this appeal, has ordered a quantity of provisions to be sent to the coast, and clothing, medicine, etc., will follow immediately. Certain bodies of men, variously described as " Socialists," " Communists," and " Revolutionists," are said to be drilling and

arming themselves in Chicago, St. Louis, and Cincinnati ; and to be

preparing for some general and organized attack upon the property -^fthe community. It is difficult to ascertain how much of truth H^ yev c is at the bottom of these strange reports ; even the übiquitous reporters and interviewers appear to be at a loss. The authorities of the three cities named, however, seam to consider the matter rather threatening, and they have taken what precautions are in their power to prevent an out-break, or to check it as soon as possible. A duel has occurred in the Prussian service under the authority of a court of honour, and according to accounts the wrong man was killed. These duels are officially permitted only after all efforts to bring about reconciliation have failed, and they are regarded as upon the whole favourable to the preservation of courteous and just relations between officers.