is the main use of history, and for this end-(the application of the experience of the past to the practice of the present) -I would have every young man delight in perusing the history of the empires of bygone ages. How often, in reading the records of the early frugality, and temperance, and manly virtue of the great nations of old, and contrasting these noble qualities with the luxury and effeminacy and viciousness of succeeding ages, how often shall we be tempted to exclaim with Goldsmith : "Oh! luxury, thou curst by Heaven's decree, How ill exchanged are things like these for thee! At every draught, more large and large they grow- A bloated mass of rank unwieldy woe-- Till sapped their strength, and every part unsound, Down, down, they sink, and spread a ruin round." Yes, young men, a country is seldom ruined by a foreign invader until its strength and vitality has been sapped and undermined by internal corruption. Then, as ever, the strong man cometh and despoils the weak. All history teaches this lesson. And who that loves his native land-" the emerald gem set in the silver sea,"--and wishes to see her happy and prosperous, and virtuous, can look without dread upon the hideous picture of crime, and immorality, and luxury presented to his view? Who can behold the general looseness of morals, laxity of principles, and daily increasing spirit of self-indulgence and self-aggrandisement, without dreading what the future may bring forth of national degradation and destruction? We are following rapidly in the same career down which so many great and renowned nations have rushed to destruction; and what shall save us? Nothing but the wiser and better education of the coming generation! My hopes are centred in the young-they are not yet corrupted -they have not bent the knee to Baal, nor worshipped before proud Mammon's throne--they are yet alive to noble thoughts, and grand ideas, and chivalrous sentiments, and it is to them I look to stem the torrent of iniquity, and save this Britain of ours from ruin. Let us, then, brothers, commence the good task by dispensing with every superfluity of food and dress, and return to the frugal natural life of our ancestorsgiving up our days to duty, to study, to manly exercises. It was the saying of a great Roman-"Nature is content with bread and water, and he who can rest satisfied with these may compete with Jupiter himself in happiness." Our bleak winds and changing atmosphere render some more substantial dinner necessary for health; but a student will despise the dainty fare and intemperate habits of the day. He will"eat to live, not live to eat ;" and a clear brain, a strong body, and a quiet conscience will repay him for his self-denial. When the great Napoleon left college he had few resources at his command; he dined at the rate of a franc-tenpence-a day, and lived retired, devoting himself to his studies. He was called unsociable, and the family where he lodged wished bim to join them, and spend less of his time alone; he courteously declined, and returned to his mathematics. A few years later, on one of his triumphant progresses, he saw his od landlord amongst the crowd; he approached him, and shaking hands with him, said: "My friend, you see the result of the studies you thought so absurd, had I followed your advice I should never have become general of the army of Italy!" Young Napoleon (in the language of his tutor) was one of Plutarch's men and if this country is to be saved, we must have a few of Plutarch's men ruling the destinies of the empire. Young men, then, in all charity, give offence to none, but determinately resolve to work out your own salvation; if fashion, if worldly progress, if friendship even stand in the way, they must be cast aside if they impede : the great object of man's existence-the cultivation and development of his higher life. As Emerson says: "It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own. But the truly great mau is he who, in the midst of the crowd, keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of his character." Let every young man add "The History of Greece and of Rome," Plutarch's Lives," and (that excellent work of reference) "Lemprière's Classical Dictionary" to his little stock of books; let him bend his mind to the earnest study of their contents, resolving to be a great and worthy man after the old model, and remembering, and every one of us, whatever our station in life may be, may 'Make our lives sublime; F. MORGAN FETHERSTON. CORK YOUNG MEN'S SOCIETY. [THE following most important letter was addressed to the president of the Cork Young Men's Society in reply to an invitation to attend the third anniversary soirée, by the Very Rev. Dr. O'Brien, of All-Hallows, founder of the Young Men's Societies. It was written some months ago, and addressed to only one Society, but the interest of this beautiful and truly edifying letter is limited neither by time nor place.-J. B.] My dear Sir,-As important duties prevent me from participating in your festivity, will you kindly present my congratulations to the Society, and tell them with what joy and admiration I have been watching their progress during the last two years. I have heard the Cork Young Men's Society named in many places and by many tongues as a beautiful illustration of Christian charity, and of the union which should subsist between Religion and Intellect; and I have reason to know that its influence has been very powerful in creating the public opinion which now so happily favours the growth of Catholic organization. All the Young Men's Societies in the three kingdoms are, therefore, debtors to the brotherhood of Cork; and I need not add, that I fully acknowledge a participation in their obligations. You are aware that by a rescript dated 27th of August, 1854, our Most Holy Father Pius IX. has sent his paternal benediction to ail the brothers, and to the work in which they are engaged. His Holiness, by the same rescript, most benignantly granted a plenary indulgence to each society on the festival of its patron saint. We have now to acknowledge the further benevolent solicitude of the Supreme Pontiff, in granting by a rescript of the 11th of February, this present year, a plenary indulgence to each guild, in every society, obtainable on the Sunday within the octave of the saint after whom the guild has been named. How is it possible for us to relax in our efforts, or how can our labours be vain? The mind which has conceived whatever is great, and given life to whatever is immortal in Christian history, takes our society and crowned it with Christ's merits and his own blessing. We must succeed. Our code has, thanks to Providence, worked most admirably. I have conversed with many intelligent men-I might say with hundreds-and I have not met one who would add an essential regulation, or who would subtract any fundamental rule. As an organization based upon religion, our ultimate governing power is the Spiritual Director, and as a body which "works by charity," every individual has an important duty to discharge. We are barred equally from the dangers of irritating topics and useless discussions by our constitutions and usages; while the amplest range and the most varied objects give employment to all our zeal and industry. Nearly seven years have now tried and confirmed our hopes of permanency. The parent society of Limerick, which commenced with twenty or thirty working-men, is far more vigorous and healthful to day than it was three years after its formation, and while under my humble direction. The success with which we have been favoured will, I hope, encourage a spirit of uniformity. Every deviation from the primary rules of our institution weakens the moral power of the Young Men's Societies, and renders a general organization more difficult, while, of course, it tends to change the character of the body which has been blessed by the sanction of the Holy Father, and enriched by the treasures of the Church. The noble earnestness which has hitherto distinguished our members will, I hope, continue and increase. We have associated to "put down sin and falsehood," as the greatest enemies of individual happiness and social advancement. The object of this is our practices and exercises, religious and intellectual, and I am sure no object can be more worthy of Christianity and patriotism. The man who intends to take his share in the labour, has his place and his work in our ranks; if he only intend to look on, and to take no part in the conflict, he has not understood our spirit, and he may be even in the way. In fact, the brother who really joined the Young Men's Society with a belief in its mission and powermust be "in earnest." The wardens of guilds are officers of great importance, as the spirit and operations of the guild must much depend upon them. The Cork wardens have wrought like men who felt their responsibilities; and you have the results in your flourishing condition. In the "guild meetings" the principles of "industry," "integrity," "love of home," "economy," &c. are propounded; and from the guild meetings those principles go forth to bear fruit. In the guild meetings ways and means are discussed and adopted, and agencies appointed to carry them into effect. In the guild meetings those sympathies grow up which make each man feel himself a portion of a great whole, whose success and honour are dear to his heart, and of whose power and dignity he is the representative. All societies have succeeded just in proportion to their attention to the meetings of their guilds. I hope every day to see our societies grow more and more into the character of Colleges for the Working Classes. We have now large and well-selected libraries, extensive readingrooms, and even successful schools. Many a young" brother" has changed the fortunes of his family as well as his own, by the refined education which he has acquired in our classes; and many a domestic circle has been improved by the new tastes which have been derived from our rooms. But we may extend the number and the resources of our schools, and very much increase the number of our pupils. Every man who loves the Church, and hopes for the country, will give us a helping hand. It is something for which to thank God and our Immaculate Lady, that the luxury of pure literature and a rich periodical press has been presented to the tens of thousands almost for nothing, and that thus a privilege once confined to wealth has been secured by the union of labour and charity, even to the poor. But with the assistance of our Holy Mother we shall do more. Of course, I need not say to you, who know our spirit so well, that our dear brotherhood is not exclusively for certain years, or for a certain class. On the contrary, we have endeavoured to combine all classes in our rooms, as they are in our Church, by a bond of "brotherhood." The rich have thus learned to know the virtues of the humble; and the poor have learned to love the humility and liberality of the rich. Affection and confidence have given place to isolation and distrust; and the rich and poor have gained new enjoyments in the presence of Catholic charity. I have known many cases where modest worth have been discovered in our rooms by commercial and professional men, who were proud to call them "brothers," and who gained considerable advantages to themselves by improving the condition of those men, whom but for having joined the Young Men's Society, they should never have met. And I confess that from the first day of the society's formation, the hope of such results has been in my mind. The new societies formed in Scotland and England are most active; and at home, Dingle, Tralee, Kingston, Clifden, Wexford, &c. &c. are worthy of their names. I wish that Cork or Limerick would take measures to produce us a general report. I cannot be with you,-but I need not say, my prayers and solicitudes always follow yourselves and your labours. I need not exhort you; for I have been edified by the progress which intertwined the rare intelligence of Cork with the beautiful virtues of the Gospel. Asking a share in your prayers, John George Mac Carthy, Esq. Cork. Poetry. R. B. O'BRIEN. THE WANDERER'S DEATH. A wanderer slowly traced Far over the snow-clad waste. Too thinly clad and with feet all bare, Sore, faint, and tired, she sat to rest, Of her childhood's home and the faces dear She woke no more to the cold night wind, The pale lips still wore their dreamy smile, Oh ye to whom our God has given Hinckley, Leicestershire. CHARLOTTE LAW. JACK BANNISTER, praising the hospitality of the Irish, after one of his trips to the sister kingdom, was asked if he had been in Cork. "No," replied the wit, "but I saw a great many drawings of it." CALENDAR OF FEASTS AND DIRECTORY. MARCH. 9. SUNDAY. Passion Sunday, sd. purple. Vespers of the Sunday, com. of the fol. Epistle, Hebrews, chap. ix. verses 11-15; Gospel, St. John, chap. viii. verses 46-59. 10. Mon. The Forty Martyrs, sd. red. 11. Tues. St. John of God, c. d. while. 12. Wed. St. Gregory the Great, p. c. D. d. II. cl. white. (Plenary Indulgence.) 13. Thurs. St. Thomas of Aquin, c. D. (March 7) d. white. 14. Fri. The Sorrows of the B. V. Mary, gr. d. white. (Plenary Indulgence.) 15. Sat. St. Frances, w. (March 9) d. white. IRISH SAINTS.-10th. St. Firsullus, Bishop.-11th. St. Engus, Abbot. THE BENEDICTINE DIRECTORY. 9. SUNDAY. Passion Sunday, 1 cl. gr. d. purple. 10. Mon. The Forty Martyrs, sd. red. 11. Tues. St. John of God, c. d. white. 12. Wed. St. Gregory the Great, O. S. B., P.C. D. d. 1 cl. with Oct. white. 13. Thurs. St. Ildephonsus, O. S. B., B. C. d. (15th Feb.), white. 14. Frid. The Dolours of our B. Lady, gr. d. white. 15. Sat. St. Chad, O. S. B., B. C. d. (2nd March), white. ALMANACK. 9. SUNDAY. Sun rises 30 min. past 6, and sets 52 min. past 5. 10. Mon. Schiller born, 1759. 11. Tues. Siege of Badajos, 1811. 12. Wed. 13. Thurs. 14. Frid. 15. Sat. ST. PATRICK'S DAY (as the 17th March occurs in Holy Week), will be observed in Ireland on Tuesday, 1st April; in England, on Tuesday, 8th April; and will not be kept in Scotland till Monday, 27th October. ST. JOSEPH'S DAY (as the 19th March occurs in Holy Week) will be observed in England and Scotland on Tuesday, 1st April, and in Ireland, on Thursday, 3rd April. THE ANNUNCIATION is this year removed from 25th March (Easter Tuesday), and will be observed in England, Ireland, and Scotland, on Monday, 31st March, as a day of devotion, but not as a Holiday of Obligation. Mr. THE Rev. Dr. O'Brien has kindly looked over the verses sent in, and considers the following as the two best. F. M. Fetherstone, wrote the first; and the gentleman, who only wishes to be known as P. I. wrote the second: "EVIL of tongue and eye, depart far hence; To taint the soul through eye or ear; "AN East End London Correspondent can procure the Lamp at O'Brien's, Catholic bookseller, 32, Church-lane, Whitechapel, who will also supply the back numbers required. "W. P."-To print lines on the same subject so soon again would expose us to the charge of negligent editorship. WE thank our friends for their liberal supply of most valuable contributions, and we hope that if we cannot insert all as rapidly as we wish, they will not consider us ungrateful. RECEIVED. A Lover of Catholic Literature. - P. G. Kildysart.-M. J. D. — P. C. Waterford (in our next). — A Dublin Man (there is not much difference between the climate of Dublin and that of London. The former is neither so cold in winter nor so warm in summer).-T. C. (we cannot yet find out the particulars respecting the ship, but to ease your mind we will try again at Lloyd's).-J. C. (the extract you kindly send will be published).-P. Castles.— A Correspondent (yes, if the lines be worthy of the subject).— J. A. L. Warrington (with thanks in our next).-J. C. with twelve stamps (the twelve Lamps will be sent to Father Woollett).-J. M.-Shawn Rhu (many thanks).-W. P.— Discipulus. Germanicus (the music of Moore's Melodies is copyright, as arranged by Moore and Stevenson).—Same (Bernay's is generally used).-Catholicity in Ballina. -- SEVERAL reviews, reports of societies, accounts of Catholic progress, interesting letters, and scientific answers, are unavoidably postponed. We have to request our correspondents to write briefly, as it is our wish to publish all suitable letters. The Lamp. CATHOLIC INTELLIGENCE FROM THE CRIMEA. (From the special correspondent of the Lamp.) Camp, Sebastopol, February 9th, 1856. ALL continues to progress satisfactorily here. The Rev. Mr. Duffy, S.J. has just arrived in the Crimea. He is likely to be attached to the 1st brigade of the 3rd division of the army, the Rev. Father Woollett, S.J. retaining the 2nd brigade. Should this arrangement take effect, the 3rd division will be under the charge of two brothers in religion. With the Rev. Father Strickland (4th division, whose hut is very near), Père Pacaberi, and Père de Damas, they may be said to constitute a religious community of the Society of Jesus" in the Crimea. On the Feast of the Purification of Our Blessed Lady, the ceremony of distributing candles was not forgotten; neither was that of the sprinkling of asbes on Ash Wednesday. On both days a great many communicants attended. I wish to make it known through your columns that at present there is a great want of religious books here. I hope this deficiency will soon be supplied by our friends at home. A colonel of a regiment in the 3rd division has twice asked the Catholic chaplain for books (New Testaments) for distribation amongst the Catholics of his regiment, as also for books for the reading-room of his regiment. A regularly organised plan for the transmission to the army of Catholic books and periodicals should be at once carried into active operation. The benefits of a free and general circulation of good sound Catholic literature amongst our brave soldiers would be incalculable. Many hearts might thereby be weaned from sin, and brought to know Christ. If the Catholics at home only bestir themselves to the matter, I have every hope that no obstacle would exist to thwart their efforts. There is the greatest facility for transmitting parcels of books, &c. to the Crimea. Healthy Catholic reading would serve as a powerful antidote to the mass of pernicious trashy cheap publications which every mail conveys to this camp. The subject is well worthy of the serious consideration of the Catholic philanthropist, involving as it does very closely the eternal interests of a very interesting class of our co-religionists,-the Catholic soldiers of the British army. The weather here continues variable: snow, rain, and frost alternate. The mud is still our great grievance. Fort Nicholas was blown up on the 5th of February. The Russians seemed to regard the explosion with contemptuous indifference. Some firing occurs occasionally. All here are on the tiptoe of expectation on the subject of Peace. The health of the troops continues extremely satisfactory, and the number of sick in hospital very moderate. There are, as you may imagine, an infinite number of reports (commonly called shaves") in camp, as to the destination of the army, &c. &c. The London Mail of the 27th of January arrived here yesterday. CATHOLICITY IN AMERICA. WHENCE now, it may be asked, has been the increase in the present members of the Catholic people? The increase has been from immigration, and I think upon that subject very erroneous ideas prevail, both among Catholics and Protestants. I think that immigration has been vastly overrated, and from an examination of the best authorities within my reach, both official and scientific on the English and American side, I have every reason to believe that immigration into this country has been much smaller than has been generally supposed, though necessarily large. It has not been possible for me to procure correct and accurate accounts of the immigration into this country, except from the British Empire, but we can easily understand and conjecture what it would be from the continent of Europe. In the first place, we know in regard to this immigration, that there is no distinction made, in the authorities upon this subject excepting in one or two instances, between the inhabi. tants of one country and those of another, so that the immigration from the British Empire has been described and considered in general terms, and we know farther that so far as Catholicity is concerned, neither Wales nor England, nor Scotland, which contributed much in the earlier stages of immigration to the population of the United States, furnished any addition to the Catholic body. It remained, therefore, for Ireland, as a part of the British Empire, to furnish Catholic immigrauts, and you will, perhaps, be surprised, when I mention that up to the year 1825 the immigration from the British Empire counts but little over 300,000. The statistics from which I derive my information appear to be exceedingly accurate, much more so than those which have been presented by the later authorities in this country. In the first place, after the establishment of peace, there was very little goodwill between the two countries; but, on the other hand, there was a remnant of raucour still remaining upon the one side, and self-congratulation upon the other. The immigration which began, or at least which was first noted, was in 1794, when it was 10,000. It goes on diminishing until the close of the war, but for four or five years previous to that time, the immigration was so slight that it is scarcely to be taken into the account. From the close of the war it increased, but still in a moderate degree, up to the year 1825, when it was found to have been a little more than 300,000. I may mention further, that during this period the greater portion of immigrants from Ireland were not Catholics but Protestants; that is to say, they were Presbyterians from the North of Ireland, who settled some in New Jersey, and in greater numbers in Western Pennsylvania. Many of their descendants are now found in Western Virginia, in Tennessee, and in Ohio. From that class of people, therefore, the great majority of immigrants came at that period, nor does the tide of Catholic immigration appear to have set in toward this country with any great force until after the close of the revolutionary war. It would be tedious and tiresome to go through the dry details of statistics, and repeat how many came in this or that year. However, it is enough for me to say that the immigration from Great Britain and Ireland, which up to 1825 was a little over 300,000, reached in the following twenty-five years 1,453,325, and since that period from 1850 to 1856, there have arrived at the city of New York alone 1,319,236 immigrants. During this period nine-tenths of the immigrants to this country landed in New York, and there is no account of those landing elsewhere. The statistics we have then upon this subject would authorise this conclusion, that the immigration from Great Britain and Ireland since 1790 until the present year has amounted to about 3,250,000. Now, if we are called upon to determine to which religious party these immigrants belonged this matter enters not into the account of the statistics of immigration- although for the last fifteen years perhaps four-fifths of the Irish immigrants were Catholics, still taking the whole period of time, the proportion would be much greater upon the other side the Protestant side. From the continent of Europe, from Sweden, Norway, and most of the German principalities and states, nearly all the immigrants were Protestants. There were very few Spanish and French immigrants. The object of these remarks is first to impress upon you a just conception of the amount of immigration, and how far it has contributed to the actual results of the Catholic religion, as it now exists in this country; and secondly, to meet the objection which has been urged on both the Catholic and Protestant side, to the effect that Catholicity wastes away under the full light and liberty of the United States. It is not long since a nobleman in the House of Parliament proclaimed on the authority of a letter written by a priest of Ireland, who was opposed to immigration, that the only way to convert the Irish would be to remove from them the pretence that they were persecuted by the State, and to make them equal before the law by sending them to America, and then, indeed, in a short time they would renounce their religion and become like other sensible men. The result of the immigration here I think will satisfy you, that though this has been the case to a lamentable degree, it does not in the least prove, that the Catholic religion is not fit and competent to hold her own, no matter how great the light and liberty may be. It is true, that hundreds of thousands of the descendants of the Catholic immigrants have fallen away from their religion. It is equally true, that they have hardly added anything to any other denomination of Christians. It is true, that they have fallen simply into a state of indifference, and, alas I sometimes into a state of infidelity. This is not, because they have examined their religion in the light of the age, or in the presence of equality. Not at all. Calamities of one kind and another, the death or ignorance of their parents it may be, or their remote situation from the opportunities of practising and learning their religion, account sufficiently for the falling away of those who are acknowledged to have been lost to the Catholic Church. Again, though the number of immigrants into this country alone might be equal to the whole number of the present population, still the slightest inspection will satisfy you as to the fallacy of the reasoning of those who misjudge this question, and will convince you that the immigration pouring into the country is like water cast into a vessel that is leaky, and that it will not retain any quantity it receives. According to the laws recognised in statistics, the very common laws of mortality, immigrants to this country are dying at the rate of one in three, and this is because they are especially exposed to the accidents of life, to sickness, hardship of every kind and toilsome poverty. They are especially exposed to epidemics, whether in the form of the cholera, yellow fever, or anything else which decimates them, and therefore the common allowance of mortality is not sufficient to express the proportion of the deaths in their case. Now, therefore, if it be true that the action of this age of light and of freedom is detrimental to the progress, or the existence of the Catholic religion in the presence of other free denominations, how are we to account for the progress of the Catholic religion actually made, according to the statistics published in this city, in the Catholic Almanac ? It must be that the original Catholic population of Maryland, and their descendants, have kept the faith and propagated it to a great extent, or, besides the living immigrants, a vast number have been preserved, and have not fallen away, but inherited the faith of their foreign born ancestors, and are perpetuating it. But the other element to which I have referred is conversion; and although I am quite satisfied that the number of converts does not 'equal one-third of the descendants of Catholics who have passed away from the faith, nevertheless, I consider it a great element, essential for explanation of the condition of the Catholic Church at this time. We find, by the census of 1850, that there were then in the United States nineteen millions five hundred and fiftythree thousand and sixty-five white inhabitants, of whom two millions two hundred and forty thousand five hundred and thirty-five were of foreign birth. Now, those of foreign birth were made up of all the nations I have mentioned; and the only two nations which contributed in any considerable degree to the augmentation of Catholics were Ireland and Germany; and in that year, 1850, the Irish, according to the census, numbered nine hundred and fifty thousand in the whole United States. Of this a very considerable portion were Protestants; and of the remainder, according to the laws of mortality, there would be a reduction of onesixth, up to the present time; so that, by the closest examination, and arranging the results according to the best ascertained authority within reach, it follows as an approximate calculation that at the present day there are in the United States, say, eleven hundred thousand Catholics born in foreign lands; over eight hundred thousand Irish and three hundred thousand Germans, because of the German immigation there are two Protestants for one Catholic. Though the number is not great, I wish it to be understood that I consider this a high estimate of the foreign born Catholics of the United States. And yet we find in the Catholic Almanac for the year 1856, that the Catholic population, by the enumeration, as reported by the different dioceses of the United States, is two millions three hundred and ninety-seven thousand five hundred; thus leaving eleven hundred thousand foreign-born Catholics, and the balance twelve hundred and ninety-seven thousand five hundred. We should take into the account, too, a great loss, owing to the majority of parents leaving their children unprotected-not receiving an education, and owing to their poverty, being compelled to select habitations distant from religion and its ministers. Although this loss is so great, it is impossible to explain these statistics without supposing that many fell in with the doctrines of their ancestry, who propagated their faith and hope to those born in this country. A third element is that of Conversion, and so far as it is a test question, here is a true test: whether or not Catholicity can compare with any other denomination of Christians, where there is neither popularity on one side nor prejudice on the other. It is the number of conversions; for while many speculate, and admit, with expressions of gratitude, that the Catholic religion is useful and beneficial to mankind, they say that, in her regions of despair and darkness, it never can bear the test of light in the presence of equal education. And here is the test: when I say Conversions, not in boastful terms, but which we ascribe to the Almighty, I mean those of American birth, freemen who love freedom, who would not sacrifice legitimate freedom while embracing Catholicismand who, understanding both sides of the question, have not hesitated to make sacrifices of worldly interests and advantages for what purpose? to bear testimony to the truth which they had examined and which came under their notice, and by an act of simple faith embraced. Not worldly motives. And here is the field and theatre, the sphere on which, it was said, it could not stand. We all know that from the time of Archbishop Carroll to the present day there have been numerous converts. In New England, east, west, south, everywhere, there is scarcely any congregation that does not number its converts; and those converts take better care to instil their faith into the minds of their children than those who receive their faith from Catholic parents. What, then, is the condition of the Catholic Church as compared with the time of Archbishop Carroll? Seventy years ago, not going out of this period, in the history of the United States of America, was the first occasion on which the Catholic Church was tried by such circumstances. What is the condition to-day of the Catholic Church, its population made up of three elements2,397,500 souls? Then, there were twenty-two or twentythree priests; now there are 1,761 priests. Then there was no bishop to ordain priests, if there were candidates; now there are seven archbishops and thirty-five bishops. There were but the four churches I have mentioned, and now there are 1,910 churches, besides other stations where divine worship is held, to the number of 895. Then in the Catholic Church there was not a Catholic seminary for the training of Levites for the sanctuary; now there are thirty-seven seminaries appropriated exclusively to the training of youth to serve both God and man. Then there were no colleges; now there are twenty-four, incorporated by the states in which they are placed. Then we had but one female academy; now we have 130. But it is unnecessary to go on, and give other evidences of progress; these are sufficient. Here, then, are circumstances which I adduce to refute the calumny expressed abroad as well as at home-a calumny against light and liberty, as if the Catholic Church were necessarily inimical to Protestant or any other liberty-a charge against the Catholic Church which, it is said, may thrive when protected and surrounded by the patronage of civil government, as in Catholic countries, and which, persecuted, flourish like certain weeds, growing and producing the |