Chapter LXX: Part I (2)

The numerous partisans of the latter, having succeeded in deceiving the vigilance of the constable, introduced the Burgundian troops into Paris in the middle of the night. The massacre of the principal royalists was the consequence, and the Count of Armagnac himself was slaughtered in the most frightful manner, on the 12th of June, 1418, in the fiftieth year of his age. He was concealed in the house of a mason. The Burgundians threatening the partisans of the Armagnacs with death and confiscation, the mason treacherously denounced his guest, who was immediately imprisoned in the _conciergerie_, amid the imprecations of a multitude of his enemies. Forcing themselves into the prison, they slew the count. In their fury they cut off a piece of his skin, two inches wide, from the right shoulder to the left side, in ridicule of the scarf which was the distinguishing badge of the Armagnacs. He was buried at St. Martin des Champs.

His successor, Count John IV., greatly aided Charles VII. against the English, but finally offended him by desiring to marry the daughter of the King of England, and by styling himself, "_by the grace of God_, Count of Armagnac," though his ancestors had used the expression for six centuries.

The haughty pretensions of the counts of Armagnac were the cause of their final ruin. King Louis XI., ever jealous of the claims of the nobility, decreed the downfall of their house. Count John V. was besieged at Lectoure, and obliged to capitulate. The soldiers entered the palace, ascended to the count's chamber, and slew him on the first Saturday in Lent, 1473. At the third blow he died, invoking the Virgin. All the people of Lectoure were massacred, and for two months wolves were the only inhabitants of the place. {844} The lands of Count John were united to the crown of France. His brother Charles, who had been kept prisoner for fifteen years, was finally restored to liberty, and to the possession of the Comté d'Armagnac in 1483. He married Jane of Foix, who had no children; but he left a natural son, the Baron de Caussade, whose only son, George d'Armagnac, embraced the ecclesiastical state, and became a cardinal. He was the last of the male line of the Armagnacs.

The Comté d'Armagnac was afterward given by Louis XII. as the dowry of his niece, Margaret of Valois, when she married Charles d'Alençon, the grandson of Marie d'Armagnac, daughter of Count John IV. Charles dying without children, Margaret married Henri d'Albret, King of Navarre, who descended from a daughter of Count Bernard VII. of Armagnac. Henri Quatre, King of France, was their grandson, and from his time the Comté d'Armagnac has been permanently united to the crown.

Louis XIV., after consummating his marriage at St. Jean de Luz, returned to Paris through this city, where he assisted at the divine office in St. Mary's Cathedral, and, in quality of Count of Armagnac, took his place in his exquisitely carved stall as _chanoine honoraire_.

The stronghold of the Armagnacs was long since laid low. Their very name and blood are lost in those of another race, and their lands given to another; but still in the green valley of the Algersius rise the gray walls of a remnant of St. Oren's abbey to propitiate the mercy of God in behalf of Count Bernard and his lady Emerina, and still for them and their posterity goes up from the nuns in choir the daily "_Oremus pro benefactoribus nostris!_"

Last evening I went to the cathedral to hear Hermann improvise upon the organ, or, I should say, Frère Augustin, for he is a barefooted Carmelite monk. He was the favorite pupil of Liszt, under whose instructions he became a celebrated musical artist and composer. He was miraculously converted at Paris some years since, by some particular emanation from the blessed sacrament, the full particulars of which he has never given. "_Secretun meum mihi_," he says, when speaking of it. He had gone to church, at the request of a Christian friend, to play on the organ. His conversion was succeeded by the desire of becoming a monk, that he might daily receive our Lord in the blessed sacrament, to which, from the first, he felt the most tender devotion. He now belongs to a monastery in Agen. You should have heard him last night, as I did, amid a crowd of all ranks. I do not enjoy music scientifically, but it gives expression to a thousand emotions and desires which are floating in the soul, and which the tongue knows not how to express. That of Hermann partakes of the enthusiasm and tenderness of his nature.

I stationed myself at the baptismal font, that I might see the frère as he came down from the tribune. He was dressed in the costume of his order, which is of the natural color of the wool. His cowl was thrown back. His head was shaven closely with the exception of a circlet of hair, as we see in pictures. He is an Israelite and his features are of the Jewish type, but not too strongly marked. His face was pale. In fact, he is out of health and on his way to a place of rest. His manner was refined but unpretending, and he seemed quite unconscious of the curiosity and interest displayed by the crowd. {845} He is a poet as well as musician, and some of his _cantiques_ in honor of the blessed sacrament are very beautiful, particularly the one entitled _Quam dilecta Tabernacula Tua!_ I quote two verses from it:

"Ils ne sont plus les jours de larmes:
J'ai retrouvé la paix du coeur
Depuis que j'ai goûté les charmes
Des tabernacles du Seigneur!

"Trop long-temps, brebis fugitive,
Je m'eloignai du Bon Pasteur.
Aujourd'hui, colombe plaintive,
Il l'appelle--il m'ouvre Son Coeur!"

A friend sent me this morning a pamphlet containing the dedication of a collection of his hymns, which is a flame of love. I give you an extract, which is only the echo of my own heart:

"O adorable Jesus! as for me, whom thou hast led into solitude
to speak to my heart--for me whose days and nights glide
deliciously away in heavenly communications with thy adorable
presence; between the remembrance of the communion of to-day
and the hope of the communion of to-morrow, I embrace with
transport the walls of my cherished cell, where nothing
distracts my only thought from thee; where I breathe only love
for thy divine sacrament. ... If the church did not teach me
that to contemplate thee in heaven is a still greater joy, I
should never believe there could be more happiness than I
experience in loving thee in the holy eucharist, and in
receiving thee in my heart, so poor by nature but so rich
through thy grace!"

To Be Concluded Next Month.

----------

The New Englander On
The Moral Aspects Of Romanism.

In _The Catholic World_ of April last, we vindicated the fair fame of the Catholic Church from some foul aspersions of a Protestant minister, the Rev. M. Hobart Seymour, contained in a book of his entitled, _Nights among the Romanists_.

The matter was a very simple one. This reverend gentleman, in the opening chapter of his book, gave us the "moral results of the Romish System," as he elegantly, in accordance with the exigencies of modern controversy, styles the Catholic Church. This "moral result" was, that Catholics are, everywhere, beyond comparison, more unchaste than Protestants--say from three or four to twelve times as much so. We do not exaggerate in the least. Every reader who reads this book will draw this conclusion. As _The New Englander_ says, "The effect of this exhibit on the mind of the reader is overwhelming. To the Protestant reader it serves to close the case, at the outset, against the pretensions of the Roman Catholic Church to be the institution ordained of Christ to destroy the works of the devil."

This conclusion was reached by a comparison of the statistics of many Roman Catholic countries of Europe with Protestant England, in regard to homicide.

Then by comparing the amount of illegitimacy in certain Catholic _cities_ with that in certain other Protestant _cities_ in Europe. Passing by the first branch of the subject for reasons which we assigned, and which prevent us from taking up the matter now, we considered the second very fully and completely. We examined, with the utmost care and fidelity, the statistics of illegitimacy of all the leading countries of Europe, including the whole population of both city and country, and found Mr. Seymour's conclusions, in this respect, were utterly and completely false. {846} The complete exhibit showed that, taking the number of illegitimate births as a standard of comparison, Catholic countries are not in any degree more unchaste than Protestant, but, on the contrary, the difference is in their favor quite decidedly, though not with that overwhelming preponderance claimed by Mr. Seymour in favor of Protestantism.

He states that he has taken his figures from official documents, (and we have not disputed this,) but these same documents give the account for the countries as well as for the cities, and Mr. Seymour cannot be allowed to plead ignorance in reference to them. He cannot, therefore, be excused from wilful and deliberate deception, when he suppresses these statistics so necessary to form a judgment in the case, and only gives such portions of them as shall seem to sustain a false conclusion. This is the true _suppressio veri_ and _suggestio falsi_, which is certainly one of the meanest and most cowardly forms of lying known.

We felt a natural indignation at being made the victims of such treatment, and denounced the Rev. Mr. Seymour as a calumniator, and called on the Rev. L. W. Bacon, who had warmly recommended him and his book, to withdraw his recommendation, and cease to abet the circulation of a vile calumny, even though the Catholic Church were the object of it.

Mr. Bacon, in reply to our article, comes out in _The New Englander_, endorsing not only the statements, but the unjust and wicked conclusions of Mr. Seymour, and claims to have refuted the statements of _The Catholic World_. We will now proceed to show in what fashion he has done this.

The conclusions of Mr. Seymour in regard to the "moral results of the Romish system," rest mainly in a comparison of the city of London with the capitals of four Catholic countries, showing that while the rate of illegitimacy is only 4 per cent in the former, it varies from 33 to 51 per cent in the latter. This is reinforced by tables of ten Prussian cities (of which, by the by, the best two are Catholic cities) with ten Austrian; another of five English cities with the same number of Italian, with similar, though by no means such striking results. Then, lest countries should seem to get the go-by, various Protestant countries are compared with provinces of the Austrian empire, which, it is needless to say, make a bad show in the comparison.

As we have said before, we did not impugn in _The Catholic World_ the accuracy of these figures, but we pointed out that we could not trust them as indicating the morality of London, Liverpool, and the English cities, because the rate of illegitimacy in them was lower than in the whole of England; and it is a most violent and incredible supposition, that cities acknowledged to be the hotbeds of vice should be purer than the countries in which they are situated. We suggested that other forms of impurity had probably replaced illegitimacy, and that, after all, London, Liverpool, etc., were not much, if any, better than the continental cities. We quoted some figures in reference to the amount of what is called the "social evil" in London, etc., from _The Church and the World_, a ritualistic journal. This, and this alone, Mr. Bacon attacks, of all that is contained in our article. Our other reasons in regard to the morality of London, etc., are left entirely unnoticed. We gave also some, as we conceived, very grave and strong reasons why the figures of illegitimacy should not be regarded as conclusive in regard to the continental cities. {847} We pointed out the existence of very large establishments in them for the reception of foundlings, receiving all infants deposited in them; and suggested that, for this reason alone, the illegitimacy of whole districts of country would all show itself in the city. This is obvious enough; for example, if a large hospital of this kind existed in New York City, no one doubts it would receive infants from New Jersey, Connecticut, and all the adjacent country, and the rate of illegitimacy would represent all this part of the country, rather than the city alone. Mr. Bacon has not vouchsafed to give one word of reply to all this, or to discuss the matter at all. Now, as it concerns the good name of a large class of his fellow-men, and is evidence in rebuttal of a very grave accusation against them, this really seems more like the conduct of a partisan determined on victory at any rate, rather than of a Christian gentleman seeking to vindicate a fellow-Christian from an imputation against his character.

But whatever might be said about the comparative morality of certain cities, we vindicated the Catholic Church from the charge of having produced a moral result incomparably worse than Protestantism, and completely destroyed the overwhelming effect calculated to be produced on the Protestant mind by Mr. Seymour's conclusions, by giving one complete table of the percentage of illegitimacy in all the chief countries of Europe, both Protestant and Catholic, as follows:

_Catholic Countries._
1825-37, Kingdom of Sardinia, 2.1
1859, Spain, 5.6
1853, Tuscany, 6.
1858, Catholic Prussia, 6.1
1859, Belgium, 7.4
1856, Sicily, 7.4
1858, France, 7.8
1851, Austria, 9.

_Protestant Countries._
1859, England and Wales, 6.5
1855, Norway, 9.3
1858, Protestant Prussia, 9.3
1855, Sweden, 9.5
1855, Hanover, 9.9
1866, Scotland, 10.1
1855, Denmark, 11.5
1838-47, Iceland, 14.
1858, Saxony, 16.
1857, Wurtemberg, 16.1

Every item of which was taken by ourselves, after a patient and minute examination, from the _Journals of the Statistical Society of London_, in the Astor Library, taking the latest accounts of each country in every case.

Here the whole question lies in a nut-shell. As Mr. Bacon says, "the criterion is in the number of illegitimate births." This table gives a complete view of this criterion, and therefore it requires to be refuted before it can be said that any refutation has been made of _The Catholic World_. How does Mr. Bacon meet it?

He does not meet it at all. He says that the figures of _The Catholic World_ are "outrageously false," and "that he shall presently prove it." We have looked in vain for the proof that any figure of this table is either "outrageously false" or false at all. We do not see that he has said one word to bring any of them under even the least shadow of suspicion. We will give the substance of his arguments against the truth of our statements:

1. Mr. Seymour's book appeared, and no answer was made to it for many years, and therefore it must be presumed to be truth, as to its facts and conclusions.

{848}

To this we reply, that it makes no difference what presumptions may exist when they are upset by positive proof. Whether Mr. Seymour has been answered or not, does not change the rate of illegitimacy in any country of Europe in the least. Catholics may not deem it more worth while to reply to Seymour than to the McGavins and the Brownlees. The obviously sinuous and unfair selection of Mr. Seymour's statistics is a sufficient reason for allowing them to slide along with a thousand other calumnies so obviously false as not to be worth the trouble of refuting. However that may be, we have given the refutation, and that ends all the presumptions.

2. Mr. Bacon tries to produce an impression on the minds of his readers that we shall add up and arrange the figures to suit our convenience, and are not to be trusted because we profess confidence, in the outset, of the result of the investigation, on account of our belief that the Catholic Church is the church of Christ.

We will give an extract, that our readers may judge:

"But _The Catholic World_ for April last crushes these
formidable allegations with one single stroke of _a
priori_ argument: 'We know that she (the Roman Church) is
Christ's church, and that just in proportion as she exerts her
influence, virtue and morality must prevail; and that it is
impossible to prove, unless through fraud and
misrepresentation, that the practical working of her system
produces a morality inferior to that of any other.' This, of
course, is 'the end of controversy.' To go into details of
argument would be superfluous, not to say ridiculous, after a
demonstration so sweeping. But scorning criticism and ridicule,
straightway down into details and figures marches _The
Catholic World_. Having at the start announced it as _de
fide_ that the figures must be so found and so added up as
to show a satisfactory balance in favor of his side, or else
the foundations of the faith were destroyed and the hope of
salvation cut off, he proceeds to the statistical business with
that eminently fair, candid, and philosophical spirit which
might be expected to result from such convictions."

The Christian, then, according to the reasoning of the Rev. Mr. Bacon, who, firmly believing in the divinity of the religion of Christ, expresses confidence in the result of any investigation as to the moral result of Christianity, is to be deemed a rascal who will not hesitate to employ any unworthy arts in selecting and adding up his figures so as to make the result come out in accordance with a foregone conclusion. We dismiss insinuations like this with the contempt they deserve. If we have done any thing of this kind let it be proved; if not, do not insinuate it to our prejudice.

3. Mr. Bacon says: "The gist of the article in _The Catholic World_ is taken from one in _The Church and the World_, an ultra-ritualist journal, London, 1867."

This is entirely untrue. The "criterion" of the "moral results of the Romish system" was illegitimacy, and the "gist of the article" is in the comparison embraced in the tabular statement of the Roman Catholic and Protestant countries of all Europe, of which nothing whatever has been taken from _The Church and the World_. We cited the statistics of Ireland from this journal, warning our readers of the fact that we could not verify it out of the statistical journals, and therefore we did not include it in our table, as can be seen by referring to the article itself.

Besides this, nothing is taken on the authority of _The Church and the World_, except some statistics in relation to a side issue, the amount of prostitution in London, and other English cities. Mr. J. D. Chambers, M.A., Recorder of Salisbury, the author of the article in _The Church and the World_, states that there are 28,100 bad women in London, known to the Metropolitan Police, while it should be, that number, in all England, known to the Metropolitan Police. {849} He also gives a table of the number of houses in other English cities _where abandoned women resort_, and this number does not correspond at all with the number of _brothels_ reported by the police. It seems to us that Mr. Chambers may have been misled by the term "Metropolitan Police," in setting down the number of abandoned women to London rather than to England, without attributing to him any wilful falsification. And if these women are so well known to the Metropolitan Police, it may be inferred that, wherever they belong, they must carry on their nefarious occupation in London a good part of the time, and thus Mr. Chambers be substantially correct in his statement, after all. Mr. Bacon roundly asserts that Mr. Chambers has given the number of _brothels_ in the leading English cities. This is incorrect, and, when the object is to fasten a brand of infamy on another's character, an inexcusable proceeding. Mr. Chambers has not given the number of _brothels_, but the number of _houses_ to which bad women resort. There are many such resorts in New York City, which would not be reported as _brothels_ in the police returns.

We wish the public to understand this fully. Mr. Bacon accuses Mr. Chambers of a gross exaggeration in the number of _brothels_ in the English cities. He gives the table as follows:

Brothels in According to CATHO. WORLD in Fact
Birmingham 966 183
Manchester 1111 410
Liverpool 1573 906
Leeds 313 63
Sheffield 433 84

and hence deduces that Mr. Chambers is a wilful liar, to be branded as such.

Now, Mr. Chambers never stated the above number of _brothels_ in those cities, but that number of _houses where prostitutes resort_, a very different thing.

We find in _Thom's Almanac_ of 1869 the following table, for England and Wales, of _houses of bad character:_

Receivers of stolen goods, 2230
Resorts of thieves and prostitutes, 5689
Brothels and houses of ill-fame, 6614
Tramps' lodging-houses, 5614

The last three figures may well be added up to give us the number of _houses where prostitutes resort;_ the tramps' lodging-houses, according to Mr. Kaye's description of them, (in his _Social State of England_,) being little better than brothels. The public may now form an intelligent judgment which is the most guilty of misrepresentation, Mr. Bacon or Mr. Chambers, and which most deserves to be branded as a calumniator of his neighbor.

He thus finishes up the unlucky Mr. Chambers:

"The witness is impeached and kicked out of court with a very
ugly letter burned too deep in his forehead to be rubbed out.
We are glad to acknowledge that _The Catholic World_ is
not the guilty author of these impostures, and to express our
unfeigned and most willing belief that that every way
respectable magazine would be incapable of contriving such
tricks."

Alas Mr. Bacon! we fear that in your inconsiderate haste to brand another, the ugly letter will be burned so deep in your own forehead that you will find it very hard to efface it.

4. Having finished up Mr. Chambers in this style, he considers that his refutation of _The Catholic World_ is complete. He says:

"The figures with which _The Catholic World_ attempts to
vindicate the superior morality of Romish over Protestant
countries, are taken from a discredited and refuted writer in
_The Church and the World_... We have given facts enough
now to discredit without any particular refutation whatever
else of assertion may be contained in the article on the
'comparative morality of Catholic and Protestant countries' in
_The Catholic World _ for April, 1869. We do not need to
rebut the testimony of this article point by point."

{850}

These facts given relate exclusively to Mr. Chambers and the statistics of prostitution, as we have shown above, and do not affect those relating to the "criterion" of illegitimacy.

The substance--as Mr. Bacon calls it, the gist--of the article of _The Catholic World_ remains as yet intact; it has not even been examined by the critic. Who gave Mr. Bacon the right to say, as he does, that the substance of our article was taken from _The Church and the World?_ There is an unblushing effrontery about this statement which is astonishing. There is nothing in the article to warrant it. Whenever we quoted _The Church and the World_, the reference is made at the foot of the page, and we distinctly state, there, that our figures on illegitimacy are taken from the _Journals of the Statistical Society of London_. Our readers can judge of this proceeding for themselves.

But Mr. Bacon criticises us in severe terms for using these _Journals_, and says:

"If we had been in search of truth, how much easier and better
to go to the census returns, and get facts that can be trusted.
But when the object is, as with _The Catholic World_, to
find figures which shall tally with a conclusion already
determined by theological considerations, doubtless it is well
to keep clear of authoritative documents, and take only such
figures as have been manipulated in a succession of magazine
articles, constructed to serve a purpose."

What better authority can we have in this country, on statistics, than the _Statistical Journals of London?_ It is all an idle pretence to speak of getting the governmental returns in any great public library. We hunted for them in the Astor Library, and could not find one of them. The Society of London is composed of Protestants. Mr. Lumley, the author of the principal article on statistics, is probably one too. He has taken his information, he tells us, in regard to Great Britain, from the Registrar's Reports; the others, from reports made to parliament, and from the _Annuaire de l'Economie et de la Statistique_, of Paris. We have not a shadow of reason to doubt either the accuracy or fairness of the returns, or that they have been taken from the best governmental census returns. It would have been more creditable if Mr. Bacon had favored us with a table taken from these same returns, which he says are so easy to be obtained, to show the "outrageous falsity" of our statements, rather than to attempt to refute us by the method of pure insinuation.

We challenge Mr. Bacon or any one else to produce a table of illegitimacy embracing all or nearly all the Protestant and Catholic countries of Europe, from the latest governmental returns, which shall differ essentially from ours, or from which any one may not draw precisely the conclusions we have drawn in respect to the moral results of Protestantism and Catholicity.

This is all we need say on the main issue in question.

We will now explain what was stated about the rate of illegitimacy in Ireland. Had we been inclined to proceed in the unscrupulous manner which Mr. Bacon insinuates in regard to us, we could have given this rate of three per cent from _The Church and the World_ without remark, as it is simply given there among the other figures; but as we could not verify it in the _Statistical Journals_, we said so, in order to warn the public, and we stated that probably Mr. Chambers had access to the Registrar's Report, which we had not. {851} For this, Mr. Bacon pitches into us in this style:

"What will be the amazement of the reader to be informed that
there are no 'Registrar's Reports' for Ireland; that the Romish
priests and the Romish party have constantly succeeded in
preventing, for reasons satisfactory to themselves, any act of
parliament for securing such returns from Ireland; and that the
supposed 'Registrar's Report' of three per cent of illegitimate
births is a mere fiction!"

Hold on, Mr. Bacon! do not go ahead quite so fast. There are Registrar's Reports for Ireland, plenty of them, to be seen in the _Statistical Journals_ in the Astor Library. In Thom's _Official Almanac and Directory_, Dublin, 1869, we read, "The act for the registration of births and deaths in Ireland came into operation on the 1st of January, 1864." Then follows registrar's returns of these for 1864, 1865, 1866, and 1867.

The first return of illegitimate births has just been published. Our supposition was, that these returns were in existence, though not perhaps complete enough to warrant publication, and that they were known in England to Mr. Chambers and others, and this seems to be the truth. The rate for Ireland is 3.8 per cent, not so different from the figure of _The Church and the World_. We take the following from the _Catholic Opinion_, London, June 19:

"Statistics Of Illegitimate Births.

"_The Scotsman_, one of the leading organs of Presbyterian
Scotland, gives the following:

"'We come next to a very painful and important point, and shall
get away from it as soon as possible. The proportion of
illegitimate births to the total number of births, is, in
Ireland, 3.8 per cent. In England, the proportion is 6.4; in
Scotland, 9.9. In other words, England is nearly twice, and
Scotland nearly thrice worse than Ireland. Something worse has
to be added, from which no consolation can be derived. The
proportion of illegitimacy is very unequally distributed over
Ireland, and the inequalities are such as are rather humbling
to us as Protestants, and still more as Presbyterians and as
Scotchmen. Takings Ireland according to registration divisions,
the proportion of illegitimate births varies from 6.2 to 1.9.
The division showing this lowest figure is the western, being
substantially the province of Connaught, where about
nineteen-twentieths of the population are Celtic and Roman
Catholic. The division showing the highest proportion of
illegitimacy is the north-eastern, which comprises or almost
consists of the province of Ulster, where the population is
almost equally divided between Protestant and Roman Catholic,
and where the great majority of the Protestants are of Scotch
blood and of the Presbyterian Church. The sum of the whole
matter is, that semi-Presbyterian and semi-Scotch Ulster is
fully three times more immoral than wholly Popish and wholly
Irish Connaught--which corresponds with wonderful accuracy to
the more general fact that Scotland, as a whole, is three times
more immoral than Ireland as a whole. There is a fact, whatever
may be the proper deduction. There is a text, whatever may be
the sermon; we only suggest that the sermon should have a good
deal about charity, self-examination, and humility."'

So that, after all, now that the truth is at last out, the "Romish priests and the Romish party" have no reason to be ashamed of it. Probably their reason is best known to themselves; for it would puzzle any one else to devise any earthly reasons why they should oppose the publication of the Registrar's Report, so honorable to the Catholic people of Ireland.

Mr. Bacon is "happy to announce" that, as a result of the attack of _The Catholic World_, a new edition of Seymour's book, with its opening chapter, is soon to appear. So, all the old calumnies and falsehoods are to be circulated with redoubled activity, and the commandment, "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor," conveniently be thrust aside. The statistics of London are to be reproduced, while those of England are kept in the dark. {852} Paris is to be compared with London, to produce, as Mr. Bacon says, "an overwhelming effect on the mind of the Protestant reader," while not a word is to be breathed of England and France. Five Italian cities are still to be compared with five English, to show that the Italian Catholics are four times as depraved as the English Protestants, while the rate of illegitimacy in all Italy is considerably less than that of England.

And the tell-tale official reports of the census of Scotland, of Catholic and Protestant Prussia, are to be passed over in complete silence. The countries of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, are to be offset by provinces of the Austrian empire in which, as we showed in _The Catholic World_, a grinding law of the government hinders us from getting any real knowledge of the statistics of illegitimacy, and while the whole empire shows a rate smaller than any of those different countries. But we are tired of this disgusting enumeration of the fraud and trickery of the Rev. M. Hobart Seymour. The republication of his book cannot hurt us, and only tends to increase the growing distrust on the part of the public of the thousand and one calumnies so unscrupulously circulated concerning Catholics.

We have only to add that _The New Englander_ very appropriately finishes its article against us by bringing out a very infamous falsehood of Mr. Seymour's about the morality of the city of Rome, which we shall not fail to pay our respects to in the next number of _The Catholic World_.

----------

Sick.

My brother, o my brother! how my heart,
Uncertain, sad, doth yearn for thee to-day!
And my deep soul her earnest prayer doth say,
That God not yet will loose the fearful dart;
Not yet, sweet mercy, call on thee to part,
Prepared so scantily for the long, long way;
Nor till his lamp lights with her blessed ray
The narrow line along the shadowy chart.
Dear Lord, a stranger, far away he lies,
Where fevered pestilence about him leers;
His breath the yellow death! And yet my cries
Are not for that loved body whose weak sighs
First warmed _her_ breast--'tis nine and twenty years--
The soul, poor soul 'tis needs these prayers and tears.

-------

{853}

Translated From The Spanish.

How Matanzas came to be called Matanzas.
[Footnote 200]

Or, Uncle Curro And His Club.

[Footnote 200: Matanzas signifies murders or slaughters.]

_Fernan Caballero._ Here I am, Aunt Sebastiana, with a fixed intention to make you tell me a story.

_Aunt Sebastiana_. Say that to my Juan, señor; he can tell no end of stories, and when he don't remember them, he makes them to suit himself.

_Fernan_. Here comes Uncle Romance, who, if he wants a cigar and desires to give me pleasure, will tell me the story you have promised me in his name.

_Uncle Romance_. You must know then, señor, that there was once a man who lived gayly, without thinking of to-morrow; and, since to spend, to owe, and not to pay, is the way to the poorhouse, our man soon found himself without _hacienda_, and with but thirty days to the month for possessions, and nothing to eat but his finger-nails. He grew so spiritless that his wife used to beat him, and his children insult him, and say impertinent things to him when he came home bringing no provisions for the house.

He got so desperate at last that he borrowed a rope of his gossip, and went away to a field to hang himself. He had fastened the rope to an olive-tree; but just as he was going to put it around his neck, a little fairy-man appeared to him, dressed like a friar. "What are you doing, man?" said the friar. "Hanging myself, as your worship sees." "So, then, Christian, you are going to do like Judas. Go away from there. It wouldn't be well for you. Take this purse, which is never empty, and mend your fortune."

Our man took the purse, and drew out a dollar, then another, then another, and saw that it was like a woman's mouth, that pours out to all eternity words, and words, and still words, and its words are never exhausted. Seeing this, he untied the rope, wound it up, and started for home. There was an inn on the road; he entered it and began to ask for whatever they had to eat and drink, paying when it was brought; for the innkeeper, seeing him so greedy, would not trust him for all he wanted. He ate so much and drank so much that he fell under the table, and lay there more sound asleep than the dead in Holyfield.

The innkeeper, who had perceived that the purse was none the lighter, told his wife to make one just like it, and while Uncle Curro slept, went and stole the enchanted purse out of his pocket and put the other in its place.

When Uncle Curro woke up, he took the road again, and reached his house more jolly than a sunshiny day.

"Hurrah!" he shouted to his wife and children, "here's money and to spare; our troubles are over."

He put his hand into the purse and drew it out empty; put it in again; but what was there to take out? When his wife saw that, she flew at him and beat him into a new shape.

{854}

More desperate than ever, he snatched the rope and went back to hang himself. He went to the same place, and tied the rope to a branch of the olive. "What are you going to do, Christian?" said the little fairy-man, appearing in the form of a cavalier, in the crotch of the tree. "Hang myself like a string of garlics from a kitchen ceiling," answered Uncle Curro quite composedly. "So you have lost patience, again?" "And if I have nothing to eat, señor?" "' It is your own fault, your fault; but--go away. Take this table-cloth, and while you keep it you will never find yourself without something to eat." Then the little fairy-man gave him a table-cloth, and disappeared among the branches.

Uncle Curro unfolded the cloth upon the ground. The minute it was spread out, it covered itself with dishes, some of them good and the rest better than the king's cook could have made them, if he had tried his best.

After Uncle Curro had stuffed himself till he could hold no more, he gathered up the cloth and set out for his house. When he got as far as the inn, he felt sleepy and lay down to take a nap. The innkeeper knew him, and guessed that he had something valuable; so, as cool as you please, he pulled the cloth away from him, and put another in its place.

Uncle Curro reached home, and shouted to his wife and children, "Come, come to dinner; I'll take it upon me to see that you get your fill this time." Thereupon he undid the cloth, but only to behold it covered with stains of all sorts and sizes.

At him she went. Mother and children all fell upon the poor man at once, and an object of charity they left him.

Uncle Curro seized the rope once more and went off to hang himself. He was determined to do it this time, and the fairy-man was determined he shouldn't. He gave Uncle Curro a little club, and told him that with it he would be able to possess his soul in comfort; for that he had nothing to do but say, "Bestir yourself, little club!" to make all the world run away and leave him in peace, with a wide berth.

Uncle Curro set out for home with the club, as happy as an alcalde with his stick. As soon as he saw the young ones coming toward him demanding bread with insults and impertinences, he said to the club, "Bestir yourself, little club!" and before the words were fairly out of his mouth, it began to deal about it in a way that speedily routed the children. Their mother ran out to help them, but, "_At her!_" cries Curro, "_at her with all your might!_" and with one rap the club killed her.

They gave notice to the magistrate, and presently the alcalde made his appearance with his officers. "Bestir yourself, little club!" ordered Curro, and the club came down on them as if it had been paid at the rate of a dollar a thump. It killed the alcalde, and the others ran away with such might that not one of them had a sole left to his foot. Then they sent a messenger to let the king know what was going on, and the king sent a regiment of grenadiers to take Uncle Curro of the little club.

But, "Bestir yourself, club!" bawled Uncle Curro, as soon as they came in sight, and threw the club in the midst of the files. The club begun its dance upon the ribs of the grenadiers, with a sound like a fulling-mill. It crippled this one's leg, and that one's arm; knocked out one of the captain's eyes, and, in short, the grenadiers threw away their muskets and knapsacks, and took to their heels, in the full belief that the devil was running loose.

{855}

Free from care, Uncle Curro lay down to sleep, with his club hidden in his bosom, for fear that somebody might steal it.

When he awoke, he found himself tied hand and foot, and on the way to prison. They sentenced him to ignominious death. The next morning they took him out of the dungeon, and, when they had caused him to ascend the scaffold, untied his hands. Out he drew his little club, and as he said, "Bestir yourself!" threw it at the executioner, who speedily yielded up the ghost under its blows. "Free that man," commanded the king, "or he'll finish with every one of our subjects. Tell him that he shall have an estate in America if he will leave the country."

Uncle Curro consented, and the king made him lord of lands in the island of Cuba, where he built himself a city, and killed so many people in it with his club that its name was called, and has remained, Matanzas.

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Correction Of A Mistake.

The writer of the article on "Spiritualism and Materialism," in the Magazine for August, page 627, says, "The Holy See says the _immateriality_, not _spirituality_, of the soul is to be proved by reason." This is a mistake. The language of the Holy See is, "Ratiocionatio Dei existentiam, animae _spiritualitatem_, hominis libertatem cum certitudine probare potest--Reasoning can prove with certainty the existence of God, the spirituality of the soul, and the liberty of man." The writer wishes us to say that he is wholly unable to account for his blunder; for in writing, he had the words of the Holy See before his eyes, and certainly thought he read _immaterialitatem_; but in re-reading the words since a friend called his attention to the mistake, he finds that the word is plainly printed _spiritualitatem_. Of course the misstatement was wholly unintentional, and whatever in the article rests on it must be withdrawn, and the writer fully and explicitly retracts it.

Yet the writer requests us to say that he thinks the doctrine maintained in the article is not affected by this mistake, blunder, or misstatement. The writer does not question the _spirituality_ of the soul, but maintains that the soul's spirituality, save in the sense of its immateriality, is not provable by reason without revelation. He thinks _immateriality_, in the sense he explains it, covers all that is really meant by _spiritualiy_ in the decision of the Holy See. We certainly do not, by reason alone, know what either spirit or matter is in its essence. We can prove by reason the substantiality, activity, unity, simplicity, indissolubility, and immateriality of the soul, or that it is not matter. Does the Holy See decide that we can do more, or go further? Does the spirituality of the soul, as provable by reason, mean any thing more? If not--and the writer, till better informed, must think it does not--he has erred only in using one word when he should have used another, and mistaking the word actually used by the Holy See. So much the writer of the article wishes us to say for him, which we do cheerfully; for we are well assured of his devotion to the Holy See and his loyalty to the Holy Father.

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{856}

New Publications.

Cantarium Romanum, Pars Prima, Ordinarium Missae.
Studio et sumptibus Monachorum Ord. S. Benedicti.
Conv. St. Meinradi, Ind. 1869.
Cincinnati and New York: Benziger Bros.

This publication purposes to give, in modern notation, the melodies of Gregorian Masses; that is, those portions which are common to all masses--the Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus Dei, with the Responses. We hail this as a step in the right direction, but are forced to find some fault with this volume.

In the first place, we do not find the notation at all in conformity with the Roman Gradual or Missal, and suppose that it is according to one of those numerous "propers" which, in course of time, have been patched up for the use of various particular dioceses and religious orders. The spirit of the church to-day is one which inspires a return to unity in even minor points of discipline, of which the unity of the chant is, in our judgment, not the least. Again, the division of the words, their adaptation to the notes, and the length of notes given, makes horrible work in some places with the accent of the Latin, and destroys the majestic march of the melody. The effeminate sharp reigns supreme, and fancy responses take the place of those given in the Missal.

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Meditations On The Sufferings, Life,
And Death Of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Translated from the French by a Sister of Mercy.
Part First.
Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co. 1869.

This is a very excellent book of meditations, well translated, and published in the best style; to be completed in thirteen numbers. The proceeds are to be devoted to the building of a church annexed to the Convent of the Sisters of Mercy, in Cincinnati, to be called "The Church of the Atonement," and to be devoted especially to the adoration of the Sacred Heart of our Lord, in reparation of the injuries and outrages which it suffers from the neglect of tepid Christians and the more open sins of the wicked. The book is one which will be very useful to those who desire to practise meditation, and the object to which the good sisters intend to devote the profits, which we hope they may receive from it abundantly, is one that must commend itself to the heart of every good Catholic. We give them our best wishes for their complete success, and recommend their book most heartily to general circulation.

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An American Woman In Europe.
By Mrs. S. R. Urbino.
Boston: Lee & Shepard.

A journal of two years and a half sojourn in Germany, Switzerland, France, and Italy, in only 338 duodecimo pages, is, as things go and as people write, really very moderate. It is a simple, straightforward story of what the authoress saw and heard, with a variety of practical information that many Americans on a first European tour might find useful.

There is no affectation of style or sentiment in the book, and the authoress may be said to belong to the realistic school of travellers, who keep a bright lookout for railroad fares, hotel bills, and the prices of things in general.

With disquisitions on art, Mrs. Urbino does not trouble us much, although she admires the works of that queen of Jarleys, Madame Tussaud, whose name she ungratefully prints Trousseau. At p. 228, the authoress indulges in this reflection: "How out of place crosses look in the Coliseum! {857} I cannot see why they were put there, since there are a sufficient number of churches in the city." The good lady does not appear to be aware of the fact that if the cross had not been placed in the Coliseum, we people of the nineteenth century would never have seen the noble ruin of that grand monument.

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Service Manual;
for the instruction of newly-appointed Officers, and the Rank
and File of the Army, as compiled from Army Regulations, the
Articles of War, and the Customs of the Service.
By Henry D. Wallen, Brevet Brigadier-General United States
Army, and Commander of the General Service Department, Fort
Columbus, New York Harbor.
1 vol. 8vo, pp. 166.
New York: D. Van Nostrand. 1869.

General Wallen has compiled this excellent manual from the authorized sources, and added to it the fruit of his mature experience and intimate practical knowledge of the subject. The work possesses value, not only as an authentic guide to the young officer in all the details of company, camp, and garrison duty, his relations of subordination and responsibility, and his duties and obligations to those above and below him in the military order, but also is mellowed and animated by a spirit of kindness and good-will, and that genuine characteristic of the good soldier and thorough gentleman to whom duty is honorable, and both command and obedience acceptable for their own sakes and the inherent virtue they imply. This spirit animates this work throughout, and gives to it a character far superior to ordinary dry regulations. General Wallen is well qualified for the task he has undertaken. He is an old and faithful officer, and intimately acquainted with the service in all its branches and ramifications. He served with credit in the war with Mexico, and was one of the pioneers of the settlement of Oregon. Owing to the fact of having been born in Georgia, General Wallen was distrusted during the late war by Mr. Stanton, and ordered to New Mexico. General Grant, who is his life-long friend, as soon as he came into power, ordered him to the East, and did what he could to repair the injury he had experienced from the suspicious disposition of the late secretary of war.

This work is of equal value to soldiers and officers, and will have a tendency to promote that mutual goodwill and cordial sympathy between the two classes growing out of the faithful performance of their respective duties, which we alone need to make our military system perfect, and absolutely invincible in war, as well as an example of honor and fidelity in peace.

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A Report On The Excisions Of The
Head Of The Femur For Gun Shot Wounds.
By George A. Otis, M.D.,
Assistant Surgeon and Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel U.S.A.
Being Circular No. 2 War Department,
Surgeon-General's Office.
Jan. 1869. 4to, pp. 141.
Washington: Government Printing Office.

It is not our purpose, in calling the attention of the readers of _The Catholic World_ to this work, to enter upon any discussion or details of a purely surgical character, which would be obviously out of place. _The Catholic World_ is essentially _Catholic_, and while strictly and purely so, aims to embrace within the scope of its critical observation every subject of interest and importance to society; and especially to award its cordial praise to those efforts which have for their object genuine science, true humanity, and national and individual honor and intellectual and moral advancement.

The work before us is of the character indicated. In reverting to the public calamities and private miseries of the late war, it is a matter of satisfaction to know that out of the eater has come forth some meat; out of the strong, some sweetness. {858} With the exception of the doubtful advantage of the knowledge which we have gained of our brute strength, some improvement in gunnery, and the familiarization of the public mind with battle, murder, and sudden death, we have reaped no substantial benefit excepting in the department of military surgery. The medical profession gave during the war an extraordinary example of courage, devotion to duty, labor, and self-sacrifice, which we fear is not fully appreciated either by the country or the government. They rose as a body above the political issues involved, and the personal passions evoked, and, acting on the great principle of charity underlying their vocation, saw, in many a sick and wounded man, a friend and brother.

This principle was acted upon on both sides, it was the most humanizing element which entered into the conflict, and aided and seconded the chivalric spirit which animated the graduates of West Point. These two qualities redeemed the late war from utter barbarism.

There was, on the part of the medical officers, an earnest, conscientious, and zealous determination to ascertain the best methods of treatment in all cases, and an ardent desire to relieve suffering, save life, and preserve limbs in the best possible condition for future usefulness. The publications of the Medical Department and the admirable museum collected at Washington bear testimony to the accuracy of this statement, and, while they are a terrible and sickening commentary on man's inhumanity to man, they are also a sublime and beautiful illustration of that power which turns temporary calamities into permanent benefits, and of that humanity and science which are both motives and objects of the profession of medicine.

The reports issued from time to time by the surgeon-general are the concentrated and distilled expression of multitudes of crude and detached observations, carefully elaborated, compared, analyzed, and corrected, till they come to express the precise knowledge and experience of the present day on a given subject.

The portion of this great work before us is prepared by Doctor George A. Otis, Assistant Surgeon and Lieutenant-Colonel U.S.A., and is a model of patient labor, exact knowledge, just discrimination, and acutely intelligent appreciation. It presents all that is known in regard to a class of terrible and exceedingly fatal injuries. The facts, evidence, and opinions are carefully and impartially weighed and estimated, and the conclusions are such as will be accepted by every discriminating surgeon throughout the world.

The voice of the medical profession will, we believe, endorse the opinion which we somewhat apodictically express.

Society and the country owe Doctor Otis a debt of gratitude for his great work, and also the medical bureau which aids and directs his labors. Such works belong to the class of benefits whose value cannot be expressed by human standards. They reflect honor upon the age and country which produce them, and are an invaluable legacy to the future.

We cannot conclude this imperfect notice without expressing the hope that Congress, influenced by the universal sentiment of the country, will give all the material aid required to the Surgeon-General's Department in prosecuting its great and most fruitful labors.

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