The Catholic World.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXVIII, Issue 16, 19 April 1900, Page 24

The Catholic World.

BELGIUM-— Honouring a Catholic Scientist— A manifestation of unusual importance in honour of a Catholic savant of European reputation is about to take place in Belgium. A marble bust is to be offered to Professor Henry, the eminent chemist, of the Faculty of Sciences of the Louvain University, who has been teaching at that seat of learning since 1858, and is justly regarded as one of the founders of modern organic chemistry. Nearly all the most distinguished chemists of every country, headed by M. Bertholet, of Paris, and Sir Henry Roscoe, in England, have heartily joined in the project and become members of the committee. The Civic Cross for Aged Nuns-— Eight members of the Sisters of Charity of Ghent, Belgium, have just received the coveted distinction of the Civio Cross of the First Class. This unique event ocourred at the Ghent Asylum for Female Insane. The eight religious on whom the Civic Cross has been bestowed are members of the nursing staff. Each of these worthy Sisters has a record of fifty years of continuous and devoted service in the care of these unhappy sufferers, and it was in recognition of their zealous and unselfish labours during that long period the much coveted distinction was conferred upon them. It is not, of course, for earthly honours or reward these excellent Sisters have spent half a century in the discharge of duties so trying and ungrateful, but all the same it cannot but be gratifying and encouraging to them to see that their ministrations meet with high official approval. The ceremony of investiture was performed in one of the large halls of the asylum, suitably decorated for the occasion, in presence of the superintending committee, the medical officers of the house and a number of friends of the institution. Baron Kerchove, Governor of the province, presided, and in an address in Flemish congratulated the Sisters on the zeal and self-sacrifice with which they had devoted the greater part of their lives to such eminently humane and charitable work. After his Excellency had invested the eight nuns with the insignia of the decoration the interesting function was closed with a musical entertainment. It may be added that two other members of the community have previously received the same distinction. ENGLAND.— The late Father Bampfield-— The leading literary paper, the Athenceum, publishes a very warm and appreciative tribute to the late Father Bampfield, of Barnet, saying : 'In literature he would have made a distinguished figure had he not been devoted body and soul to his sacred calling.' The bells of the Protestant church at Barnet ware, by order of the rector, tolled out of respect to Father Bampfield's memory on the announcement of his death.

EGYPT— Omdlirman as it is-— Lord Braye, who has lately been in Egypt, writes thuß concerning Omdurman : — Bishop Roveggio is here with three fellow missionaries of the Austrian Congregation. Great was the difficulty to find the whereabouts of the ichapel yesterday morning (Sunday, January 13). However, with the help of a Nubian and a G-reek, we found the little cHy house, where Mass had just begun. The little clay house is only one of thousands of others — there is no large building, no garden, no palm tree, no beauty in Omdurman. Some say the population is 100,000 ; some say it is more. Before the conquest it numbered near half a million inhabitants — at a guess. The Bishop called in the morning, accompanied by five priests dressed like laymen — check suits, blue ties, etc. They think that a clerical garb would excite the population to fanatical hostility. I doubt if there is much ground for such an apprehension. Everything is tranquil and orderly under British military rule here now. The need of an English mission is as great here as in Egypt proper. At Cairo Bishop Sugario expressed to me his earnest desire that English priests, if only two or three living together, could be persuaded to reside in Cairo. Cairo is 1500 miles away from here, but the necessity is as great here as at Cairo. FRANCE.-A Memorial of the Charity Bazaar Fire--The memorial chapel erected on the scene of the Bazar de la Charite fire in Paris is approaching completion. The statue of Our Lady of Seven Dolors, which surmounts the dome, was unveiled recently. Jt is covered with an old gold patina, which harmonises with the gilt lead ornamentation of the exterior of the dome. The outside work is now completed, and it is reckoned that in a few weeks, at latest in the early days of May, the inside will also be, if not actually completed, yet in sufficient state of completion to allow of the chapel being opened for public worship. HAVANA— Consecration of a Bishop— The Eight Rev. Mgr. Sbarretti, Bishop-elect of Havana, was consecrated in St. Aloysius' Church, Washington, D.C., on Sunday, February 4. ROME.— A Gift for his Holiness from East Africa.— Mgr. Allgeyer has set out for Rome with a gift for the Holy Father from the Catholio communities of Zanzibar and Mombasa. The gift is a magnificent ivory walking-stick mounted in gold, with an inscription in Arabic denoting the source of the gift, and bearing on either end of the handle the Pecci arms, with the motto ' Lumen in coslo ' in Arabic, and the Papal tiara. The ivory, which is one piece, has been selected from a large number of specimens. It is free from blemishes and beautifully grained. Mgr. Allgeyer, who is Vicar- Apostolic of Zanzibar, will also present an address from the donors enolosed in a silver casket. The Pope and M< Brunetiere- — M. Brunetiere, whose recent lecture on the modernity of Bossuet created suoh a stir in Rome, has received from the Pope the rare distinction of Order of Commander of Pius IX. Shortly after his departure from the Eternal City he received a brief from his Holiness couched in the following terms : ' Beloved Son, health and benediction, — The vigor of your mind and the treasures of knowledge which you have amassed shine forth with such brilliance in your words and writings that your fellow-countrymen have given you a place in that assembly of illustrious men which is known as the French Academy. But this vigor and penetration of mind which many men are accustomed too often to consecrate to more, pleasing labors or to the allurements of what is corrupting, you employ in the illustration of the writings of men who have rendered signal services to religion and to the benefit of those around you. We therefore consider that you are worthy of being honored with a special token of our good will. 1 THE SANDWICH ISLANDS— Religious Statistics — The Rev. Father Wendelin Moellers, in the course of a letter, gives the following particulars regarding the Sandwich Islands :— At the present moment we number 27,000 Catholics ; Protestants reckon themselves as being 24,000, and Mormons 5000. There remain 50,000 heathens, infidels, freethinkers, with whom we can exercise but little influence, since to reach them we should be able to speak Chinese and Japanese, a no easy matter, as each of us on arriving here has to learn three tongues, viz., Canac, English, and Portuguese. Besides the chapel of the Convent of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart and that of the College of St. Louis, we have here in Honolulu a beautiful church — the Cathedral — which, large as it is, is no longer adequate to the number of the faithful in the capital. SCOTLAND— Death of a Venerable Priest— There passed away on January 20, at Portsoy, one of the oldest and most respected among the clergy in the North of Scotland. The Rev William Mann — who was born at Banff in 1819, and who, by a* strange coincidence, served in 1829 as altar-boy at the opening of Portsoy Chapel, which was to be his last charge — began his studies at Blairs College, but was soon afterwards Bent to Virgirard College, Paris, where amongst his friends and fellow-students he numbered the Comte de Montalembert, de Lammenais, and members of the highest families of France. Philosophy he studied at Issy, theology at St. Sulpice, and he was ordained in 1844 by the Right Rev. Mgr. Afire", who, only four years later, was shot at the barricades of Paris, a martyr to the cause of peace. On his return to Scotland Father Mann was sent by Bishop Kyle to assist Father Lachlan Mclntosh at Glengairn, but soon afterwards he was trans* ferred to Ballogie, on Deeside, where he labored for five years. In 1 853 he was appointed Professor at Blairs College, a position which he held until 1864. Tomitoul, .Wick, and Portsoy were afterwards each in turn the scene of his priestly ministrations, until finally, in 1895, his failing health compelled him to retire from public duty. His saoredotal jubilee, which fell in June, 1894, was made the occasion of a demonstration of affection on the part of his old Btudents of Blairs, of whom a great number, including the Archbishop of Edinburgh and St. Andrews, the Bishops of Aberdeen and of

Argyll and the Isles, and many priests from all parts of Scotland, met together and presented him with a testimonial of respect. As a priest Father Mann won the esteem of all by his earnestness and fidelity, his simple piety, and, above all, his love of prayer and placidity of manner which impressed all who knew him. His high ' intellectual gifts were in a great measure concealed by his unassuming disposition, and by a singular love of retirement. Yet in Bpite of this, he was known and loved in all parts of Scotland, by priests and people, Protestants as well as Catholics, who all did honor to the ' Saint of the North ' as he wbb called. His funeral showed the esteem in which Father Mann was held, for it was attended not only by the greater number of the priests of the Aberdeen diocese and many Catholics, but also by the ministers of the Established Church and of the U.P. Church, Portsoy, and by all the leading officials of the town. THE PHILIPPINES.-What the Jesuits did for Education* — A writer (Mr. W. A. Chester), in a recent issue of a nonCatholic paper in the United States, speaks at length of the prominence of the Jesuits in educational matters in the Philippines. Among other things he says : ' It may surprise some of our readers to learn that a college was founded in Manila before Harvard or Yale — earlier, indeed, than the common school of New England. St. Joseph's College was established in 1595 and graduated its firßt class in 1601. Prior to 1768 it was in charge and under the control of the Jesuits, who were made trustees of the institution by its donors at the time of its creation. When the Jesuits were expelled from Spain and its colonies, the Governor-general declared the property of the college forfeited, and converted the buildings into barracks for his soldiers. An appeal being taken to the Crown, the action of the Governor-general was reversed and the college placed under control of the Metropolitan Church of Manila.' UNITED STATES.— A Heroic Priest-— The people of Alvord, Lyon County, lowa, including many citizens who are not of the faith, have presented to Rev. Father Desmond a brief address and a substantial testimonial as evidence of their gratitude for his unflinohing courage and attention to duty during a recent smallpox scare. The address was signed by more than 70 citizens. When the terror-stricken people shrunk from contact with thoae who died of the dread disease the priest became the grave digger and undertaker, even preparing with his own hands the dead for interment. Learned Priests from Manila- — -A. San Francisco despatch of January 24 says : — Among the passengers on the transport Peking, whioh arrived from Manila to-day, were Father Algue, director of the Manila Observatory, and Father Jose Clohp, hia assistant. They are on their way to Washington, on the invitation of the American Government, with data on the Philippines and their people, sufficient to make twelve large volumes. This matter will be translated as soon as the agentß reach Washington, and printed at the expense of the Government. General Otis, Commissioner Schurman, and Senator Beveridge suggested to President MoKinley the advisability of having the work done. Father Algue also has with him the original map, by which the Americans opened their campaign in the Philippines, which he will present to Senator Beveridge. Fathers Algue and Close are considered the most learned men in the Philippines, and are eminent authorities on typhoons, earthquakes, and other terrestrial phenomena. A Sucoessor to Father Damien —It appears that Brother Joseph, assistant to the late Father Damien in the leper colony at Molokai, and still in charge of the leper settlements, was (says the Catholic Citizen) a former resident of Rock County, Wisconsin. He enlisted September 9, 1861, in Company B, Thirteenth Wisconsin Infantry, and was gradually promoted to quartermaster sergeant, to first lieutenant, Company I, same regiment, and finally, March 24, 1865, to assistant quartermaster, United Statps Volunteers. He filled all these positions with credit, and was highly esteemed by all his comrades. He continued in the military service for some time after the close of the war, serving as assistant quartermaster at New Orleans and other points. Later on he joined the Catholic Church, and was ordained as a ' lay brother,' and given the name of Father Joseph. He then determined to devote the remainder of his life to the service of his fellow-men. He finally decided to go to the leper settlement on Molokai, one of the Hawaiian Islands. There he became the assistant of the lite Father Damien. There for years he has given his entire time and labor to the amelioration of the condition of those unfortunate sufferers from the loathsome disease of leprosy. In his letters to his old comrades he displays a cheerful spirit, and expresses his contentment with the life he has voluntarily adopted.