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VOL XXVEEL
PHILADELPHIA APRIL,
1900.
GRIPPING OGRIAL
: Pusiishep Monrary By
MARTIN I- J. GRIFFIN,
711 Sansom Street.
PHILADELPHIA.
: DEVOTED TO
~ CHURCH AND COUNTRY.
: TERMS
50 Cts. a Year in Advance.
| “This paper is mailed regularly to
its subseribers until an order
to discontinue is received and
allarrears are paid in fall.’
“OATHOLIO PROTES{S.”
The following from the Wine and
Spirit News ought provoke a protest
from the Women’s Christian Temperance
Union since Catholic protests against
of Manila the liquor business has reached
euterprising proportions, and is now eon-
sidered one of the leading, as well as one
of the respectable kinds of business,’”
Say one correspondent: “On
Escolta, the principal street, only a
quarter of a mile long, there were but
two places where intoxicating liquors
were sold when we entered the city,
whereas now there are eighteen. . There
liquors may be obtained, licenses costing
$3 per year. The income of the largest,
ity to be $700 per night. Already the
street cars are topped with large signs
detailing the exquisite qualities of cer-
tain whiskies, One quarter of the daily
issue of the principal English newspaper
published is devoted to extolling the per-
fection of a brand of. beer, while the
largest drug store in
whole column to advertising its fine line
of liquors.”’—Midlan i
Isn’t that a pretty spectacle—calling
on W.C. T. U., because Catholic pro-
tests have gone unheeded.
. No Catholic protest bas been made
against the condition reported.
None could could in honesty be made.
Catholic protests are needed at home
against the devastating traffic but they
are withheld. Why our Cardinal’s organ
is seeking in Catholic homes patrons for
the traffic !
The W. C. T. U., is doing more
against the Rum tratlic tending. to its
suppression than the whole Catholic
Hierarchy.
NOT INSTRUCTED,
“It is safe to say that if the Catholics
of America were properly instructed in
the things that appertain ©
Hi’ Holy Church, we shoald have been
spared ‘‘Americanism’’ and most of its
attendant evils ” :
So Arthur Preuss declares, It is a
fact that Catholics do not get enough
instruction... It is a fact also that
French, Irish or German have had
charge of the people.
So all the ‘evils” arise from
foreigners.
The condition these anti-Americanists
* lament is of their own making.
=
In his address to the Sovereign
Pontiff, Archbishop Riordan assured
His Holiness that he knew the Ameri-
can people as wellas any bishop in the
United States, and be could say before
God and his~Vicegerent that such a
thing as ‘Americanism’? was not known
in Americ: The Holy Father smiled
and said ‘Your words afford nie much
comfort.”"— Western Watchman.
If ‘Reman and Vatican circles”? made
the Pope believe it did exist how dare
the Archbishop tell him it didn’t.
If be could tell the Pope that after he
had officially declared it had been dis-
covered mav not all of us detest those
who brought a condemnation upon our
Faith and an odium on our Country by
having: us called to a right sense ofa
knowledge of the Trnth—when no error
prevailed. .
The First Catholic Celebration of the
Fourth of July.
° SERMON OF ABBE BANDOL, OHAPLAIN OF THE FRENOH
AMBASSADOR.
OBSERVATIONS ON THE CELEBRATION BY REV. JACOB DUCHE
THE TRAITOR--MINISTER
The first distinctively Catholic celebration of the Fourth of July, was
at St, Mary’s Church, Philadelphia, in 1779.
Gerard, the French Ambassador, issued the following invitation to
members of Congress, the President and Council of State of Pennsylvania,
and prominent gentlemen:
‘Vous etes prie de la part du Ministre Plenipotentiarie de France d’
assister au Te Deum quil fera chanter Di manche 4 de ce Mois a midi dang
la Chapelle Catholique neuve pour celebrer 1’? Anniversaire de 1’ Independ-
ance des Etats Unis de l’Amerique.
A Philadelphie, le 2 Juillet, 1779.
. (Pranstation.)
You are requested, on behaif of the Minister Plenipotentiary, to assist
at the Te\Deum which will be celebrated on Sunday, 4th of this month, at
noon, in the Catholic chapel, to commemorate the auniversary of the
Independence of the United States of America.
At Philadelphia, July 2d, 1779.
The original of this invitation can be seen at the Ridgway
Library, in the collection of papers belonging to Dr. Kush. It is No,
15,001. It is valuable as proof that St. Mary’s was the church where
special services of a public character took place as it was ‘‘the new chapel,”?
The Pennsylvania Packet of July 16th, 1779, and also the Pennsylvania
Journal had the following report:
At noon the President and members of Congress, with the President
and chief magistrates of this State, and a number of other gentlemen and
their ladies, went, by invitation from the honorable the Minister of France,
to the Catholic chapel, where the great event was celebrated by! a well-
adapted discourse, pronounced by the Minister's chaplain, and a Te Deum,
solemnly sung by a number of very good voices, accompanied by the organ
and other kinds of music. |
From the ‘United States Magazine,”’ of 1779, page 313, is extracted the
following:
“The address of the Chaplain of bis Excellency, the Minister of
France, on Sunday, the Fourth of July, the anniversary of our Independ-
ence, at the new Catholic chapel, just before the Te Deum was performed
on the oceasion, when were present, agreably to the invitation of the
Minister, His Excellency, the President of Congress, the Honorable
Congress, His Excellency, the President of the State, the Honorable, the
Council, officers, civil and military, and a number of the principal gentle-
men and ladies of the city,
(Translation from the French.)
““@entlemen:—We are assembled to celebrate the anniversary of that
day which Providence had marked in His eternal decrees, to become the
epoch of liberty and independence to the thirteen United States of America,
“That Being, whose almighty band holds all existence beneath its
dominion, undoubtedly produces in the depths of His wisdom ‘those great
events which astonish the universe and of which the most presumptuous,
though instrumental in accomplishing them, “are not attribute to themselves
the merit, But the finger of God is still more peculiarly evident in that
happy, that glorious revolution which calls for this day’s festivity. He
hath struck the oppressors of a free people—free and peaceful— with the spirit
of delusion which renders the wicked artificers of their own proper misfor-
tunes. Termit me, my dear brethern, citizens of the United States, to
address you do this occasion. It is tbat God, that all powerful God, who
hah directed your steps; when you were without arms tought for you the
sword of Justice; who, when you were in adversity, poured into your heart,
the spirit of courage, of wisdom and fortitude, and who hath, at length
raised up for your support a youthful sovereign whose virtues bless and
adorn a sensible, a fruitful and a generous nation.
“This nation has blended her interests with your interest and her
santiments with yours, She participates in all your joys, and this day
unites her voice to yours at the foot of the altars of the eternal God to cele-
brate that glorious revolution which has placed the sons of America among
the free and independent nations of the earth.
*We have nothing now to apprehend but the arger of heaven, or that
the measure of our guilt should exceed His mercy. Let us tuen prostrate
ourselves at the feet of the immortal God, who hold the fate of Empires in
His hands, and raises them up at His pleasure, or breaks them duwn to dust.
Let us conjure Him to enlighten our enemies, and to dispose their hearts to ~
enjoy that tranquility and happiness which the Revolution we now celebrate
has established for a great part of the hamanrace. Let us implore Him to
conduct us by that way which His Providence bas warked out for arriving
atso desirable an end. Let us offer unto Him hearts imbued with senti-
ments of respect, consecrated by religion, humanity and patriotism. Never
is the august ministry of His altars more acceptable to His Divine Majesty
than when it lays at His feet homages, offerings and vows, so pure, so
worthy the common offerings of mankind,
HO. 454
“God will not reject our joy, for He is the author of it; nor will he
forget our prayers, for they ask but the fulfillment of the decrees He has
manifested. Filled with this spirit, let us, ia concert with euch otber, raise
our hearts to the Eternal; let us implore His infinite merey to be pleased to
inspire the rulers of both nations with the wisdom and force necessary to
“perfect what IIe hath begun, Let us, in a word, unite our voices to beseech
Him to dispense His blessings upon the counsels and the arms of the allies,
and that we may soon enjoy the sweets of a peace which will soon cement
the Union and establish the prosperity of the two empires.
“It is with this view that we shall cause that canticle to be performed,
which the custom of the Catholie Church hath consecrated to be at once a
testimonial of public joy, a thanksgiving for benefits received from heaven,
and a prayer for the continuance of its mercies,”
This Discourse was delivered by Abbe Bandol, Chaplain to Gerard the
French Minister. -
Tho celebration was by order of Gerard. In his report to the French
Government he said:
“It ia the first ceremony of the kind in the thirteen States, and it is
thought that the éclat of it will have a beneficial effect on the Catholics,
many of whom are suspected of nut being much attached to the American
cause, My chaplain delivered a short address which has obtained general
- approbation, and which Congress has demanded for publication. ”—
[Durand’s Doc. of Rev. p. 189 |
A Copy printed in French is in the Ridgway Library, Philadelphia, It
gives the name of the Chaplain as Bandot —a typograpbieal error,
The attendance of the prominent patriots at this service was accepted
by Loyalists as proof of the Divine vengeance upon the cause of Independ-
ence, when the Frenct fleet under D’Estaing, owing toa storm, failed to
come up the Delaware but set sail for Newport. In Rivington’s New York
Loyal Gazette of Nov. 6, aud its su plement of Nov. 24, 1779, or in Loyal
Verses, a poem entitled The Congratulation by Dr. Jonathan Odell may be
found, He, and others like bim, were jubilant at the disaster, Here is one
verse referring to the Mass on July 4th. It represents one Patriot speaking
to another:
Oh brotber, things are ac a dreadful pass,
Brother, we sinned in going to the Mass
The Lord, who taught our fingers how to fight
For this denied to curb the tempest’s might.
But the members of Congress and other distinguished patriots did not
accept this view and were not terrified at being present at Mass. It may
have been for novelty as at their homes public Mass would not have been
permitted. So on May 7, 1780, the patriots again went to Mass at
St. Mary’s to attend the Requiem of Don Juan de Miralles, the Spanish
Agent, who died at the camp of Washington at Morristown, N. J., and was
there interred.
The Rev. Jacob Duché, the Episeopalian minis-er of Philadelphia,
delivered the first prayer in the Continental Congress, but ‘this beart
was black with treason” when the days of trial came. He wrote Washington
the well known letter advising him to abandon the Revolutionary struggle.
Duché went over to British allegiance, He, in 1779, at New York,
published Letters of Papinian in which he said of this celebration at
St. Mary’s,
“The Congress and Rebel Legislature of Pennsylvania have lately given
the most public and unequivocal proof of their countenance and good will to
Popery. They have set an example which they unquestionably wish others
to follow.”
Then follows the account from The Packet. We adds, “I shall leave
you to make your own reflections on this most edifying exhibition.
Charles I, was called a Papist for permitting his Queen, who was bred a
Roman Catholic, to attend Mass, What are we to think of the American
Rulers who not only permit their wives to attend Mass but attend it them-
selves'in person and offer up their devout orisons in the language, service
and worship of Rome, *** * Whatever may be the opinion of some to the
contrary it is absolutely certain that on the part of many the present is a
Religious War.” | Letters of Papinian. Fj 2420, Mercantile Library],
This Rev. Jacob Ducbé had in 1772, written “Observations on a Variety
of Subjects, Literary, Moral and Religious.” They were dated from
Philadelphia, and signed Casprrina. He thus speaks of Rev, Robert
Harding, Pastor of St, Mary’s, who died Sept. 1st, 1772,
1t is extracted from Duché’s owa copy which I possess,—
Speaking of fome reminds me of a visit I lately received from the
Rector cf the Rowan Catholic church In this city, in consequence of a letter
Isentto him trom Mr. Philips, the author of the life of Cardinal Pole, which
has lately revived much of the old controversy in England.—Mr, Harding,
(for this is the name of the Rector) appears to be a decent well-bred Gentle-
man; and I am told, he is much esteemed by all denominations of Christians
in this city, for his prudence, his moderation, his known attachment to
British liberty, and his unaffected pious labours among the pevple to whom
he officiates. | He corresponds with our old friend Abbe Gr——t at Rome. ”
He was so obliging as to invite my friend the Merchant and myself to spend
an hour with bim in his little Carthusian cell, ashe called it. The small
apartment joins an old Gothic Chapel, and together with another opposite
to it, (which is occupied by an assistant German Priest) forms a kind of
porch through which you enter the Chapel. Here the venerable man
entertained us very agreeably; and as I was particularly inquisitive about
* the settlement and labours of his brethern the Jesuits at Paraguay, he put
nto my hands, at parting, a very circumstantial narrative of the rise aod
progress of these settlements, written by one Muratori, which I have since
read with much pleasure,