Current Topics

New Zealand Tablet, Volume VII, Issue 379, 23 July 1880, Page 1

Current Topics

AT HOME AND ABROAD.

THE GnKAT TKNOB.

In thecharmiDg tale of "Poverina" published lately by the JRevve des Deux Mondcs the Princess O Cantacuzene-Altieri gives some account of Fat er ♦«~ j. „ r% GiovaDni ' the g feat tenor singer, who a month or two ago died at Eome. The family of the monk was humbly but closely connected with that of the Altieri, and the Princess has drawn from life. We translate the following passages, premising that the scene opens m the cathedral at Lucca during the Feast of the Volto banto.- The bishop came forward with statehness surrounded by the 81^^ eirei ; mine capes, the ceremony began, and suddenly the sounds of the orchestra burst out beneath the majestic arches with commanding sonorousness. Then a choir of human voices answered the instruments, rising, swelling like the tones of the organ and dying Z!L m a barmonious murmur. After this was heard a voice which E, a + SS ° rt of trembling through the crowd : every head was one nn V *"** "^ GVery g& ™> in <l uisiti ™ and greedy, devoured Pleadfn X f ll PP ° tin thG tribUUe - U WBS a tenor voice, fl-esh, pure, p eading but above all touching and tender, one of those voices that mak^f t P"' f f tion ' wonld disarm criticism because they Sul vSrlf p CellngthateXistsatthc bottom of evet 7 h ™*» Sha£?J osm i a ' wlth o«t Perceiving it, had fallen on her knees. She had forgotten all; the present had ceased to exist for her with its anguish, us misery, its unveiled deceits. She was in paradise?, she was swimming in light, a sunbeam bore her up, the air she breathed was embalmed with incense and with the delicate perfume shed by scattered rose leaves, bright angels soared around her singing, "We have had pity on you, you shall weep no longer, ceme with us, here there is always love, there never is deceit. Come with us we will bring you to the Madonna, who is seated on a golden throne clad in a robe woven of star-beams, and you shall become like one of us." mil? r / CYeS half ShUt> hCl> lipS 6ligMly a P art in the P ellsi ™ smile of ecstasy, to what the beautiful spirits of light were saying to her and the tears ran along her pallid cheeks and down upon her motionless hands. "Kosina," said Ncri, '< We must go away You see everyone is going out. Padre Boinano (Father Giovanni) has !Sn» TTf' n S 6 St T ted aS " She had been awakened fiom at sL M B e man °' Sbe murmured " the son of the inn-keeper nt Santa Maria ? Is it he who has been singing ? O Sinnorc ' and yC t a "aif2? bef °^ himl '' " And y° us^4 before many ;; t her 8 yet saidN en with a significant air." . . . She followed him, still lost m her dreaming, and never thought of questioning hini when she saw him stop at the door of a house. He rang, an d assuming an important tone, asked the servant who opened to him "Is the manager of the Musical Institute in ?" The servant looked at him contemptuously, « He is not in, and we only give alms on Saturdays." Go and tell him that it is the girl he heard sing at Viareg-- O » said W with supreme self-confidence. Just at this moment thomana-ex fTnl?^ 'TT? WCrC ° Oming int °g ether : were rcturnFng from the cathedral. "Ah 1 Here is my diva, raid the Frenchman You are well up in diplomacy, you promised me to undertake the negotiation. For my part lam expecting the monk." The manager brought Ken and Rosina into his room. She, not understanding what t was they wanted of her, replied with timid surpn Se to all the questions they put to her. Her reply was invariably the same. How old was she? Where had she been born 7 Could she read? Did she know the notes of the gamut ? Mm so, I don't know," she said Her thoughts were still in the cathedral, her imagination was buojed up amongst the clouds of incense and the floods of harmony. What did they want of her ? Neri and the manager went and talked together apart for a moment ; then Neri came over to her with his eyes bright and his face animated. " Rosina," said he, I did not deceive you by saying we should be rich one day, and thatyou should have a carria/e and as much gold as you liked : these gentlemen are so good as to take care of you. They will teach you to read and sing " "Thank you, ' said she simply. Then suddenly she turned red. « And you ? "

iJt^So^r?* 0 ? 1118^ make -^.thafsT you; nottmethe folly to refuse, I suppose?" She hesitated "When Iwentupthereto your father V she said, "you Sd me you were too unhappy without me ; that you could not continue to u/eZe that you would k.ll yourself if I did not stay with you, and I d» She smiled bitterly : «It appears that you have learned tdo w thoutmenow Neri/' He took her bands with all the less* g and demonstrative tenderness of the Italians : "But, CarZ you \™i am sacrificing myself for you. You don't understand that t 'is iTZ^iT 1 '' I"^™''**™1 "^™''**™ s£££ you Mill be as rich as a queen, as graceful as a fine lady, and we shall never part again; every one will envy up, and we shall te S" if Ut f y ° UknOW thatWS Shalldic ° f h-ger if you don't accept? I insist upon your saying yes: I wish it, do you hear ?" At this moment the door, set noiselessly ajar, B avo admittance to the he said without entering; «« * C u 8 i (pardon) if I distuib you. Tou arce ngaged? IJosiDa utlered a cry a _ d __ tQ J fell on her knees before him. « Padre Romano," cried she, « What am Ito do? Tell me and I will obey you." The monk looked Mound him with astonishment, understanding nothing of this scene. An I you do not recognise me," said Rosina. " I am the Ji'tle shepherd-girl you met at Santa-Maiia and brought to Vicopclago, a long time ago, a very long time." Padre Romano looked at her for a moment m silence, then he sighed : « And what are you doing here, figUa vnar "They want to take me away," she said excitedly! They want to teach me to sing." She pointed out by a gesture the impresario and the manager. "Just so, as I had foreseen," said Padre Romano And this ] ad here is your brother?" «Heis my And you ? < " I will do whatever you wish." Padre Romano took out his snuff-box, and turning to the impresario said : "It is you, sir who have done me the honour to send for me. is it not ? Will you take a pinch? I guess why; you heard me ring a while ago in the what of" h r 7tOt a VOiCC> Xt iS G ° d who *™ *t0 QC » what of that, sir! I am not accountable for it. You are going to "^ rr f mC + ; '' A ° USe me ' Sir ' how mucb d 0 y° u offer me?" tM ma U Tf r DCS at , fiMt '" Sald th ° im PP cs <™> taken aback by this matter-of-fact way of opening the business. " Sixty thousand. . . . bravo ! It is ten thousand more than the manager of San Carlo; that proves my voice is still losing nothing. I was a little afraid, nevertheless, for the upper B flat of the motet. But it seems it was not bad Do you hear, ragazza? this gentleman offers me sixty thousand francs to sing in his theatre. Sixty thousand franrs, do you hear ? You know my mother is old, and is not rich, bra, * woman! the shepherds do not pay so high, you know that better than I do. To gain this money it would be enough for nic to part from this old habit; sec how patched it is. The other day the brother dispenser had again to put this big square on the wfwi^V 1116 ; T' Sir ' rCCGive m >' thank *' tanti ringrazlamenti. gentlemen, tanti Hngraziamcnti ! tanti salvtL I havf only 2 get to the station to catch the train for Rome. VMH»L2£ And you, ragazza, when God sends you children, sing from moxoin'

till evening to put them asleep or to cheer them, but believe me, and stay with your husband."

HAVE WJB BEAL.LT ?

We are anxious to learn whether it is possible for apoplexy to occur in cases where there are no brains to be affected. If such be the case we arc in a very serious position with regard to certain minor editors of our acquaintance, for it is certain that we have driven them to that point at which men with brains would be in imminent danger of the illness in question. But if apoplexy can only take place when there are brains to be acted upon we have accomplished something very interesting, and that can have no ill effect! ; we have succeeded in teaching a wee body or two how to combine their piety which is extreme with the wildest fury imaginable according to their strength. And it is something to have been the means of introducing a little variety into the world ; to have caused a harmless combination of the pious and furious we boast to be quite a feather in our cap. All will go well with us, then, if only it torn out, as we expect it will, that apoplexy cannot possibly affect men who have no brains —not even a scrap.

DBtIKO VV thh sources.

The attack of the Italian Government upon the propaganda, reported by our Koman correspondent) must be regarded a 9 a direct attack upon Christianity generally throughout the world. It can now no longer be advanced, with any pretence of reason, by any of the advocates or defenders of the revolution that the Pope's temporal Sovereignty is not necessary for the welfare of Christendom, and the Spread of the Christian faith amongst heathen nations. The missionary power of the Church becomes crippled by this arbitrary act of Italian atheists, and the whole world in consequence feels the effects of the wicked whim of a clique of men too much despised in any other way to make their influence felt in any country beyond that whose Government has been usurped by them. United Ilaly, a cipher in Europe, by a strange paradox thus becomes the arbitrar of the universe. But Italy is not alone in her attack upon Christianity iv other countries In this France has joined her and has taken steps that will also largely tend to cripple Catholic missions everywhere. It is true this has been done secretly ; a pretence has been maintained of sup: orting French missions abroad, and it has been decided that even where these are conducted by members of the exiled Orders they are to be accorded the protection of the Republican flag. This, however, is a, mere pretence, and to all intents and purposes the expulsion of the unauthorised Orders from France has aimed a heavy blow at many Christian missions. We find this fact most clearly stated in a letter written by Mgr. Bonjean, Vicar Apostolic of Jaffna, to M. de Freycinct. The bishop writes to express his thanks for the promise of continued protection made by the French Government. For himself, indeed, he says, such protection is not necessary. " Happily," he writes, " we, oblate missionaries) whose missions are situated in countiics subject to the British sceptre enjoy a liberty so complete, our rights arc so religiously respected, our claims arc always so kindly listened to, and we are surrounded by such sympathy, confidence, and honour that, where we are concerned the hypothesis in question may be altogether abandoned,'' He then goes on to return thanks on the part ot his fellow-labourers who are not so favourably situated as he himself, with the missions under his care, is, but he, nevertheless, points out that the promise of protection is an illusion after all. " But," he writes, "to come to what appears to me in the decrees to affect the interests of all French missionaries, who are members of the unauthorised congregations, in every spot on iLe globe where they are to be found. I beg of you sir, kindly to consider that if your sympathies for a certain number of them are not destined to pass the sphere of laudable intentions, it is si ill by no means impossible that an ill-advised measure of your Government may result, though certainly against your desire, in placing them all in a position where they would no longer have any protection to ask from anyone. And such would be for me the inevitable result of the decrees of the 29th March, if they were to bring about in France the suppression of the Orders amongst which exclusively I recruit my priests, my brothers, and my nuns. My staff exhausted at its source could not be kept up, and the ruin of my flourishing mission would, iv the immediate future, be the consequence of these measure, and this sentence of death would equally smite the foreign missions of all the other religious bodies affected by the decree?. The bishop then goes on to beg for consideration, and he supports his plea by an appeal to the immense extent of the missions to be influenced and the honour that their existence is to France. " I beg of you, sir," he says. "to place before you a map of the world and follow our French missionaries, members of unauthorised congregations, through all the regions where they spend their sweat, their blood, their life, for the triumph of Jesus Christ, the happiness of nation?, and the honour of France ; from the ice of the pole to the burning sandi of the equator ; across the great Empires of India and China where the blood of our martyrs is still smoking ; from north to south, from east to west of that land of

Africa, still barely opened io the apostolic zeal of France ; in the numberless isles of the Pacific Ocean. You will recognise that everywhere the interests of the religious apostolate and those of France are identical ; that there everywhere exists a complete connection between them ; for everywhere you will find the honour of the French name nobly sustained, and in very many countries France represented only by the monks and nuns that these decrees attack at the very source whence they draw their life." We see then how the petty unsettled Government of a third rate power, and the atheistic clique that has in some strange manner attained to sway over a great and glorious Catholic nation can influence the whole world. We^ also once more see the absolute necessity that exists for the recovery of his temporal principality by the Holy Father.

CATHOLICISM AND CHABLKB DICKENS,

Is it possible that; in some instances the great dislike manifested against the Church is heightened by a secret and most unwelcome suspicion that after all with her is the truth ? Charles Dickens was greatly opposed to the Church. We find the most ample evidence of this in some of his writings, and Harriet Martineau has left it upon record that he refused to insert an article she had written in a periodical edited by him for the sole reason that a Jesuit Father was spoken approvingly of by it. Yet it is quite clear that sometimes in some degree there entered into Dickens' mind the suspicion to which we have referred. "We claim that such is proved by a certain dream he related concerning himself • He dreamt, he says, that his sister Mary who was dead appeared to him in the form of a Madonna : — " ' But answer me one other question,' I said in an agony of entreaty lest it should leave me. ' What is the truo xeligion V As it paused a moment without replying, I said — good God, in such an agony of haste lest it should go away !—! — ' You think, as I do, that the form of religion doe 3 not so greatly matter, if we try to do good ? or,' I said, observing that it still hesitated and was moved with the greatest compassion for me, * perhaps the Boman Catholic is the best ? perhaps it makes one think of God oftener and believe in Him more steadily ? ' ' For yov,' said the spirit, full of 6uch heavenly tenderness for me that I felt as if my heart would break, for you it is the best 1 ' Then I awoke, with the tears running down my face, and myself in exactly the condition of my dream. It was just dawn." There may be those who will conclude that a Divine warning was thus vouchsafed to the famous author alluded to ; this, however, we leave as an open question. Our own conclusion is that Dickens had in some manner or another attained to a deeper insight into the Catholic Faith than might be gathered from his works or his life, and that it had impressed him more than, perhaps, he dared acknowledge, even to himself.

PEBFECT CONVERSIONS.

A Russo-Greek nun in a Russian convent has been given a Bible, and has, we need not Bay. received it with delight. We have no doubt she is now a most enthusiastic " Evangelical," and ready, like all our friends of the kind to " spend and be spent" for the " Gospel." There is a certain Maori also somewhere up in the North Island to whom some one evidently once Rave the Bible, and he as well is ready to spend for the " Gospel." but not without judgment and discrimination. When Mr. Birch, the Sheriff, lately visited the Natives, and they wanted to know who would feed him the Maori in question " quoted Scripture, saying they were commanded to feed their enemy when hungry and give him drink when thirsty, but that did not apply to bailiffs, and they would not give him anything." It is pleasant to see how these converts profit by the Scriptures ; one might think almost they had been to the manner born. They recognise at once that there are enemies and enemies ; enemies whom they must feed and enemies whom they may starve, just as certain of their instructors teach, by their example, that there are neighbours and neighbours ; neighbours against whom they must not bear false witness, and neighbours whom they may never cease to calumniate, con* cerning whom it is even pious to tell lie 0 . Decidedly the " open Bible" is all that is needed to work the most wonderful conversions and form the most enlightened Christians, it instructs even the savage mind up to the level of that of godly ministers. Meantime this Russo-Greek nun will also, no doubt, receive that " distinction without a differeacc" to which we allude ; as an "Evangelical," for instance, we feel persuaded she will still continue to regard the Catholic Poles *s enemies who may be starved and neighbours lawfully to be calumniated. If it were otherwise she would prove a striking exception to the great body of the " Evangelical" world, and especially to those \ good Sisters of hers who received with rapture the Bibles distributed in her country fifty years ago.

WHAT IS HIS FAILING ?

What is there that may be especially remarked about a "Yankee clock-pedlar? 1 ' There must be something peculiar about him, b:cause, we fimil, a Wellington newspaper compares the Hon. Mr. Oliver to one, and some reason for the comparison must exist. We know nothing of such a pedlar, and are quite ignorant of his " tricks

and his manners." Never before, indeed, had we the least cause to speculate concerning him ; but we shall speculate at a distance from the object of our speculations. "We conclude this Wellington newspaper knows of what it writes, and, accordingly, we recommend our friends not to court the society of any Yankee clock-pedlar. He can hordly be a pleasant sort of an animal.

EVOLUTION TBIUMPHS.

Somebodt in Australia has caught a glimpse of another strange creature. It is wonderful all the curious things that exist on that continent, only to be seen at intervals and during the twinkle of an eye. We have not ourselves had personally much experience in this line, still we have met a German family who were ready to swear in every manner known to Fatherland, and, indeed, in some manners unknown to it as well, that every night they were roused up by a huge calf-like beast, that came out of a water-hole in front of their hut, and having exhibited itself on the bank for a while, returned again to its favourite element, where it lay hidden the greater part of its time. We have also seen a man who had known a man, who had stumbled in a particular part of the bush between New South Wales and Victoria on an enormous mass of gold. He had been unable to carry it away with him, or to break any of it off, and, having gone to seek for trusty aid, he had never again been able to find his treasure, though long and zealous was his search. But the following description, which we clip from a contemporary, about beggars anything we had hitherto come across : — " Several wellknown residents have seen an extraordinary creature in the bush, on the Serpentine River, near the Grafton and Armidale road. The creature is described as about three feet six inches in height, with a head like a diamond snake, hands like a kangaroo, and a body like a man's,<but dark and hairy. One man saw the creature on six different occasions, and on one occasion he was chased by it. Search is now being made for the creature, with a view to its capture/ Here is a conglomeration of species most fortunate for our evolutionists ; but don't they wish they may get it ?

" NOT AT ALL, TELL TOUB AUNT."

Is there any special reason why we should at once declare our disbelief of any evil reported concerning our "Evangelical" friends? We are under the impression that there is not. Some weeks ago we found certain details given by the Sydney Meriting Herald, a newspaper notably inspired by Methodist opinions aDd prejudices, concerning a Methodist missionary vessel ; we at once accepted them as true, and, having seen no denial of them, we transferred them to our columns, and added some comments on them, all of which we had a perfect right to do. It appears, however, that certain people are, or pretend to be, astonished that we did so : let us examine, then, on what grounds their astonishment, and, indeed, in at least one case, their state of suffocation by impotent fury, rest. There is no room for astonishment unless it can be shown that we had no reason whatever to suspect it possible for any of our " Evangelical " friends to be guilty of misconduct, and that we boldly affirm cannot by any means be shown. If we look abroad at their foreign mission fields, we find many questionable facts reported on undoubted authority concerning them. For instance, Mr. Trollope, a Protestant, has told us what the character is that their converts in South Africa bear. Mr. Archibald Forbes, a Protestant also, has given us some illustrations of the truthfulness of missionaries j in the came country, and Mr. W. Adams, of Adamshurst, another Protestant, has furnished the Natal Mercury, quoted by the London j Times, with information of the morality encouraged by even some of the local preachers of Christianity in his district. We republisked this, and it may be found in our issue of April 23rd, under the heading " Customs in Mission Land." There is, then, no reason whatever why we should decide at once that doubtful conduct reported concerning Methodist missionaries abroad by a newspaper of wellknown Methodist proclivities must needs be false ; on the contrary, vre hold there are good grounds why we should accept it as most probably true. Again, let us turn to our " Evangelical " friends on their home missions ; let us take those in America for example, and what do we find ? One crime, one immorality after another reported of them, so that it is no longer looked upon as m anything remarkable to find a minister of any sect criminal or grossly misconducted. A sectarian journal quoted by our contemporary the Nelson Colonitt believes 1 that we have been thrown into utter confusion concerning the matter in question by the following paragraph published by it : — " A Eev. Whisky Dealer.— The Catholic priest, Father Dufresne, near Boston, America, who achieved notoriety by breaking up the business of a livery»stable keeper for attending a Protestant service, has added to his fame by carrying on a sly-grog business within his church. A record at the freight office of the receipt of four barrels, and the testimony of the expressman who carted them to the church, enabled the deputy collector of the district to confront the priest. He denied both the selling and receiving of the liquor. But when informed of

the facts that were known, and his liability, he suddenly left toWb for Canada. It was found that he kept his stock in the basement of his church, where he held his parochial school, and bad carried on quite a business in the illegal sale of spirituous liquors. Will those editors of Australian Catholic papers who lately cut such a ridiculous figure by falsely charging Wesleyan missionaries with thit same wickedness, publish this paragraph ? They are welcome to it. — i\l Z. Wesleyan" We care nothing about it. If a priest has acted in thig way he has behaved ecandalously and is deserving of the heaviest censure, but we are not at all certain that this is the pure untarnished truth ; we are certain that no " sly-grog business" was ever conducted by any man in a room frequented by school childien ; under such circumstances the slyness of the matter would very speedily be put an end to, as any one may perceive, But if any priest has acted in so disgraceful a way, it is not necessary to seek a mutch for him as far away as the South Sea Islands ; let them take him to San Francisco and, if he be thought guilty enough, lodge him in the murderer's cell occupied by that young minister the Rev. Mr. Kallock junr., who the other day took leave of hid flock in the country in order that he might go to the city and shoot dead De Younge out of revenge* because he had revealed the former immoralities of the Rev. Mr. Kallock, senr. Or let them take him to New York and imprison him with the Rev. Mr. Cowley, in gaol for ill-using the orphans committed to his care. There are many places in which a fallen priest might find most congenial company in degraded ministers without being at the trouble of going to the South Seas to look in vain for them. There was not the slightest reason then why, prior to its contradiction being 6een by us, we should insist that the ship's manifest published by the Sydney Morning Herald was not that of the vessel it was asserted to belong to. When we saw the contradictions, that of the Rev. Mr. Baker and that of Captain Purdie, we at once inserted them in our columns ; and in doing so we has done far more than any one of our sectarian contemporaries ever have done, or, we believe, ever will do with regard to the gross and glaring calumnies they continually publish with regard to everything Catholic. — Something more than the calibre of the old-fashioned, second-rate village djminie is needful for that. And now, in conclusion, let us add, as apropos of our present subject, we do not see any prima facie reason either to dispute the assertion of a certain Victorian gentleman, recently returned from Africa to London, and who has brought most harßh accusations against sone Presbyterian missionaries in South Africa. We shall not, however, comment on the matter, as we find it has been taken up by authority, and is to be thoroughly inquired into. We have stated our grounds for holding it to be quite possible, and all we shall now do is quote the following paragraph from the London Eelie of 11th May : — " A pamphlet has just been issued, making the most extraordinary charges against certain Presbyterian missionaries in Central Africa, at Blantyre, near Lake Nyassa. The writer, Mr. Andrew Chirnside, F.R.G.S., says that the statements he makes can be attested on oath by eye-witnessee, and that, in point of fact, those immediately concerned never attempted the least denial when questioned on the subject by Mr. Chirnside himself. According to the pamphlet from which we quote, two men were actually sentenced to death by the missionaries for the supposed murder of a woman. One escaped, but as to the other, eight natives were told off to shoot him. Twice they fired a volley, and then, while he was not yet dead* he was flung into an open grave, and his brains were blown out by a merciful hand. The execution has produced a kind of guerilla warfare between the missionaries and some of the native chiefs. The writer also give 3an account of a deep pit sunk in the ground, used as a prison, in which men are kept three or four days together without food or water ; and he further gives a horrible story of a negro who was actually flogged to death for theft. He says — ' After receiving a good deal more than 200 lashes the three natives took the senseless form of their victim down, and dragging him into the store, chained him to a post and left him. Half an hour afterwards Bismarck ( negro) came to the whites and said he thought something was wrong and on going into the store they saw the mangled corpse of what had been that morning one of God's creatures. Flogging with the whip is an everyday occurrence— three lads in one day getting upwards of 100 lashes ; and it is a fact that, after being flogged on several occasions, salt has been rubbed on their bleeding backs.' "

A hitherto unknown fashion exists in the North of England which requires seeing into. Two militiamen, inhabitants of Wigau, displaying an inclination to fight each other a peroou named Patrick Gorman interposed, whereupon the militiamen kicked him in the face to such an extent as to nearly deprive him of sight and to almost kill him. Before the magistrates the chief constable explained that the militiamen were merely following the fashion in vogue at Wigan. In spite of the fashion of that part of England, however, the prisoners were sent to gaol for two months. It is to be hoped that the Wax* rington fashion of prison treatment is as severe as the Wigan fashion of brutality seems to be. Otherwise, the ruffians got off toe easily.— Universe.