centres is enthusiastically attended, and is one of the great means of keeping up and increasing the good done by the devoted Ladies of the Christian Doctrine. ITALY. The Congress of Milan.-The seventh congress of the Catholic Association of the Province of Milan, held at Monza, is said to have been the most imposing demonstration of the Catholic movement hitherto held in Lombardy. The significance of the congress is all the greater as Monza is a stronghold of socialism. There was a procession composed of 10,000 persons. One of the important protests of the congress was that against the introduction of a Divorce Law, which, notwithstanding the national abhorrence of it, is now announced for debate at the opening of Parliament in November. The League of Public Morality, presided over by Professor Rodolfo Bettazzi, with headquarters in Turin, invited "all Italians of good will" to a meeting on the 9th, 10th and 11th of September, to consider what private or associated action should be taken to insist on the enforcement of existing or amended laws for the repression of public manifestations of immorality. The Osservatore Romano (Aug. 19) deplores the indifference to disgusting and degrading scenes, exhibitions and practices, which in other countries would be at once repelled by an outraged public sentiment. The Pope himself, some months ago, sadly spoke of the growing paganism of Rome, whose modern statues have a vile suggestiveness which the pagan artist. never or rarely expressed. The infamous trade of human brutes in the dance-halls and café concerts of Paris, lately revealed by the Revue des Deux Mondes, is not unknown below the Alps. And as for official corruption in the Italian peninsula, the history of Crispi, of the Notarbartolo murder, and of the almost inconceivable municipal scandals of Naples, any one who knows anything about these, knows the character of the official conscience, from the Premier to the clerks of the city councils. A municipal examination of the scandals in Naples was promoted by Senator Saredo at a public expense of 300,000 lire ($60,000); but it came to little, and appears not likely to come to anything more. A Senator (Cavasolo) maintained in the National Parliament that the investigation cost too much, and the rascals concerned sustained him in the press; the criminals were restored to their former posts, while the government deferred all serious action. No wonder the Osservatore should say that "the essence of public morality is wanting to the governing classes." ROME. The Apostolic Delegate to Manila.-Mgr. Guidi, who has already filled many important posts successfully, has been appointed by the Sovereign Pontiff. He was born in 1852 at Alatri in the province of Rome. In 1870 he had finished his studies in the famous Collegio Romano. Having taken degrees in the Pontifical Seminary, he was sent by Pio Nono to the University of Innsbruck. Here, in 1877, he took the degrees of theology and law. A year in the Sorbonne, Paris, brought him a degree in Oriental languages. He was attached as secretary to the nunciature at Madrid from 1879 to 1883. Then he went as secretary to the embassy sent for the coronation of the Czar. From 1883 to 1887 he was secretary of the nunciature at Lisbon. Later he was auditor, chargé d'affaires in Munich, secretary of extraordinary ecclesiastical affairs at the Vatican, on extraordinary diplomatic missions in Brazil and Ecuador, and again at his former post in the Vatican. He has been consecrated Archbishop, and will proceed immediately to Manila, with an English-speaking secretary. IRELAND. Cardinal Moran on Archbishop Croke.-Speaking at the Pontifical High Mass of Requiem (Month's Mind) for Archbishop Croke, in the Cathedral of Thurles, the Cardinal, after summing up the life of the great Archbishop, emphasized his great love and steadfast imitation of O'Connell. "He denounced as a misnomer and a sham the false patriotism that would lead his countrymen into a career of crime." The Archbishop loved his country fondly and wisely; and his fidelity to its best and truest interests merited "the enthusiastic affection and admiration of his fellow-countrymen at home and of the true sons of Erin in every land of their pilgrimage." "I have imbibed," he said, "the love of liberty from my earliest years, and have ever been in heart and fact a rebel against every species of tyranny, but thoroughly in sympathy with the poor, the afflicted and the oppressed." Another love he had, and a loyalty still greater-namely for the Sovereign Pontiff, "that great man who has the heart of a true Father for the faithful of the whole world." Cork City Honors Cardinal Moran.—“ Rebel" Cork has, through its Council, admitted Cardinal Moran to its freedom and privileges, making him an Honorary Burgess, "in recognition of his eminent services to the Church and to the nation, of his brilliant and successful labors in extending the influence of religion, in promoting the great work of Christian education, in vindicating Irish history, and in advancing the great principle of self-government, not only in Ireland, but in the commonwealth in which so many of our race and kindred have found a happy and prosperous home." In doing honor to this great man, said the high sheriff, they were doing honor to themselves. His eminence was invited to visit the city, to receive its homage, and personally sign the roll of Honorary Burgesses. SWITZERLAND. The Fifth International Marian Congress.-The public honor of the Mother of our Saviour is always greatly consoling for Catholics and full of promise. The Fifth International Congress in her honor was celebrated with great devotion and magnificence in the city of Fribourg, in Switzerland, the people of the city, as well as of the diocese and canton, doing their best to worthily celebrate the important event. Joy-bells and cannon announced the opening; and to receive strangers, even the barracks were vacated. There were ten bishops at the congress, while a large number of others, including the CardinalArchbishop of Vienna, sent congratulations. The Holy Father sent. his special blessing. The members of the congress were divided into German, French and Italian sections. The founder of the Sodality of Our Lady, really identical with the present one, was shown to be Blessed Canisius, who lived and labored in Fribourg. Prince Max, of Saxony, read a paper on the enduring and remarkable devotion to the Blessed Virgin in the Greek Church. The sodality was earnestly recommended for students. It has spread very widely in Hungary of late, five hundred societies, chiefly of the Blessed Virgin and of Young Men, having been founded in the last two years for the defence of the Catholic Faith. The participation of sodalists in works of zeal and charity, as for instance those of St. Vincent de Paul, was strongly urged. The following statement, adopted with unanimity and applause, should silence the foolish assertion, so often made by very many non-Catholics, that we worship the Blessed Virgin instead of God: "This assembly of sodalists in Fribourg lifts its voice aloud in order to protest solemnly against the calumny, three centuries old, that Catholics make the august Mother of God an object of adoration. The assembly, in the name of truth and justice, demands that this lie and calumny, systematically spread by official teachers and masters of religious communities separated from us, should at length cease. It calls attention to the irrefutable truth that the Catholic Church knows of no other adoration but that of the Triune God and of Jesus Christ our Lord; and that all love and confidence in the Blessed Virgin Mary is strictly limited to such love and veneration as, according to the words of the Archangel Gabriel, the eulogy of St. Elizabeth, and the requirements of reason itself, is owing to a creature who was elevated to the position of Mother of Jesus Christ and to whom even an Apostle was committed from the cross as a child to its mother." BELGIUM. The Death of the Queen.-The virtuous and beloved Queen Marie Henriette, although ailing for some time, died quite suddenly on the 19th of September. She had felt many sorrows, especially the death of her little son in 1869. She was an Austrian princess, daughter of the Archduke Joseph. Born in 1836, she was married in 1853, and in 1865 ascended the throne of Belgium. The Eucharistic Congress at Namur.-It was the fourteenth international congress of the Blessed Eucharist. It was remarkable that the people of Namur, where the Catholic parliamentary party was lately defeated, should take a week's holiday and decorate their houses with splendor in honor of the Eucharistic Congress. The Burgomaster officially welcomed the congressists, and in a speech pledged with great emotion the fidelity of a majority of the people to the Mystery of the Blessed Sacrament. He bitterly condemned the persecution in France and eulogized the heroic devotedness of the Bretons. The part taken by laymen in this and similar assemblies is very striking. The Cardinal Legate presided and the Papal Nuncio was present with the governor of Namur, and M. de Woeste, the great Catholic leader. There were several bishops and abbots. The five principal sections of the congress dealt in a most practical manner with sacerdotal training and work, the instruction of youth, public worship and devotion, social work and the co-operation of women. Earnest desires were expressed for spiritual work amongst seamen. CANADA. The French Canadian Catholics.-The Nouvelle France of Quebec (July, 1902), says that the religious census of the French-Canadians of Canada "forms a page of history as consoling as persuasive," and predicts--and no doubt with truth-that the race will become a great tree in the near future if it remains faithful to its religion and language. There are two hindrances to French-Canadian growth in Canadainfant mortality and the emigration to the States. "Emigration is still carrying away the flower of our youth.” : The total population of Canada in 1901, is given as 5,371,315. Of this number, 2,229,599 are given as Catholic; and of these, 1,666,667 are French-Canadian. The French-Canadian population is thus distributed Nova Scotia, 45,061; New Brunswick, 80,097; Prince Edward's Island, 13,852; Quebec, 1,322,513; Ontario, 161, 181; Manitoba, 21,357; British Columbia, 5, 103; North-West, 13,511; other places, 3,982. THE READER. The Death of Sir Launcelot. By Condé B. Pallen. Maynard & Co., Boston. Small, We congratulate Mr. Pallen on this new volume. Its title is "The Death of Sir Launcelot," but that is merely the opening poem, a curious custom generally adopted at the present time for books of this character. A better method of naming might be adopted, but that perhaps is a personal matter. The dedication, "To Theodora," is very graceful and doubtless deeply appreciated by the one to whom it is directed. Its opening lines are: "To thee, God's gift in whom all gifts unite Who feels that he receives unworthily, I offer up this sheaf of songs, though slight Their worth, and poorer still the singer be." The strain runs thus through the entire sonnet; in which particular kind of verse Mr. Pallen is particularly felicitous. "The Death of Sir Launcelot" is suggested, and, for a Catholic, we might almost say, insisted upon by the two lines from Tennyson, which are made to introduce the poem : "So groaned Sir Launcelot in remorseful pain, Not knowing he should die a holy man." It makes us happy to know that the wondrous knight became a saintly monk and atoned by fierce penance for his wild sins, thus verifying the prophecy that "he would die a holy man." The poem is written in the style of the Idyls of Tennyson, of whom Mr. Pallen has been from early youth an ardent admirer and successful imitator. Of his favorite bard, he says, later on in the book: "Who took the laurel from the brow Of purity? O! Master, thou. "Of virgin song, when round thee beat The lustful rhythm of a time That welds false passion with false rhyme, Like some fierce Titan in the heat Of unregenerate desire." |