General News.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume VI, Issue 275, 9 August 1878, Page 19

General News.

The Annals oftlie Propagation of the Faith for May, 1878, gave a letter from M. l'Abbd Lemarchal, A French missionary in Japan, describing the solemnity of the laying of the first stone of a new Catholic Church at Tokoi. The Vicar-Apostolic, Mgr. Ozouff, who presided on the occasion, alluded to a deplorable accident that would be remembered, he said, by many then present to have taken place f%pyears ago, and which had caused the death of the Vicomte Pierre EjJJJfcSccretary of the French Legation at Japan. "That young mau's rather and mother, the Comte and Comtess Daru, mourned the loss of their son, and prayed for the repose of his soul, and had formed the pious intention of raising a monument to his memory in the shape of the Church now to be erected, where prayers would still be offered for him and for themselves, and where the progress of the Christian religion in Japan would bo promoted. News has reached us that six persons on Saturday evening last, May 11th were struck dead by lightning in the outskirts of Trichoor towards the south. It would appear that the persons were quite snug in a hut on a paddy field when all of a sudden the hut was found in a blaze. On examining it was found that six Polayans were burnt to death. We hear that a Brahmin was also greatly injured on one side of his face by lightning.— S. of India Observer. The Unh-crs says that the late judgment of the Federal Tribunal has cast severe blame on the acts and principles of the Geneva Government in its attacks on the rights and liberties of the Catholics of that Canton, and has caused a lively emotion throughout the whole of Switzerland, and is held to form a striking commentary on the recent reply sent by the Federal Government to the letter of the Sovereign Pontiff, in which that Government chose to ignore the persecution still raging against the Catholics, and had the hardihood to assert, that equal liberty and toleration was enjoyed by all denominations in that country. Several of the Cantons, and even some of those — to their credit be it said — in which the Protestants are the majority, have put forward protests against the treatment which the Catholics are experiencing at the hands of M. Carteret and his subordinates. The Canton Valais has even proposed an appeal to the Catholic Governments of Europe. On the 6th of May, at the hour of 9 a m., the doors of the sacristy oC the Chiesa Nuova were closed and sealed by three agents of the Government, -with a view to convert the sacristy into another Court of Assize. This sacristy of the Church of St. Philip Ncri is a monument of art. It contains a colossal statue of St. Philip, the admiration of visitors. The carved presses are the work of Taddeo Landi, of Florence. The seats, more than a century old, cannot be removed without destroying them. In 1870 a Council of Ministers, including Signors Lanza, Sella, Venosta. Corrente, and Gadda arrived at the conclusion that it would be an act of Vandalism to turn the sacristy into a court-house, as thereby the artistic value of the chamber would be utterly destroyed. But the persons now In power seem determined to make war upon the Catholic Church, and have no respect for ecclesiastical antiquities. Nor are they moved from their purpose by the reflection that the Chiesa Nuova Is one of the most frequented of the Roman Churches, and that the sacristy is required for the use of the officiating clergy. The frescoes on the ceiling of the sacristy are by Pietro Berettini, of Cortona, and represent the Archangel St. Michael. There is some hope that this sacristy may bo restored to the use of the clergy, as the authorities are inclined to think it 100 damp to be used as an assize court. — Tablet. One effect of the great Exhibition at Paris has already been to raise the cost of living to an exorbitant figure. Meat in particular has reached a price that practically places it beyond the reach of many respectable families. The butchers say that the dearncss of meat is caused by a rise in the price of cattle, but this is denied to be the case. Everything, in fact, is dearer, and the real cause is the same all round. The other day, a gentleman in Paris found that he was charged 2 francs 75 centimes for a square of glass. " Why this augmentation I he enquired. " I paid only the other day 2 francs for a square of exactly the same size." The reply was unanswerable : — XiU'SfjJositioa. As it was natnral to expect, the Romans have taken the initiative in making the demand for the beatification of Pius IX. On Tuesday April 9, a deputation presented an address to the Cardinal- Vicar, signed by all the Court of the late Holy Father, ecclesiastical and secular, a number of the Roman nobility, and the middle classes It was most graciously received by His Eminence, and hailed with joy by the faithful. The example thus set in the Eternal City has already been followed by several dioceses in Italy, and the movement will, no doubt, extend over all the world. Addresses presented to each P Jfcop by their flocks expressing their ardent hope and desire to see Pf^j IX. raised on the altars of the Church, may be the means of expediting an event so earnestly longed for, and which would draw down blessings on the world at a time when it is in so dire a need of supernatural aid and consolation. The voice of the Catholic people every whsre unites in proclaiming the sanctity of their late Supreme Pontiif. At Rome, no one enters St. Peter's without kneeling at his tomb. Everyone longs to possess something he used in life or that touched his body after death. Each such memorial is prized as a relic. Many amongst us have experienced blessed results from the invocation of Pius IX., and American Catholics will not be the last to beseech their pastors to convey to the centre of Christendom their belief in his sanctity and their earnest desire for his canonization. Considerable surprise has been caused in England by the announcement that Professor Clifford, of Exeter, has joined the Catholic Church. He was educated at Cambridge, where he took high honours and was second wrangler of his year, and a short time ago became professor of applied mathematics and mechanics in University College, London. • An extraordinary occurrence is reported from the neighbourhood of Coachford, in this county. A ditch sank suddenly into the earth to a depth of some fifty or sixty iQQt.—Cork Herald,