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Vol. XI,—
Whole Number 578
THE CATHOLIC, HERALD
IS PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY BY
M. IAN,
No. 61 North Second Street, Philadelphia.
Terms.—Two Dollars and Fifty Cents, if paid
n padoance, or Three Dollars, payable half yearly.
,No paper discontinued until all arrearages are
‘settled.
All Communications, except fiom “Agents or
Subscribers enclosing remittances, must be post
paid,and addressed **To the Editor of the Ca-
tholic Herald, Philadelphia, Pa.” 2.
By permission of the Post-Master General, any
Post-Mastercan frank a letter containing a remit-
tance, fora Subscriber.
vei Doctry.
For the Catholic Herald.
[MEDITATIONS AMONG THE RUINS—
), THE ABBEYS OF THE BRITISH ISLES.
BY FRANCIS Dimond,
G1 past et lor NORRISTOWN, PA.
en 4
Hail, mouldering remnants of the olden time!
How woot the vesper belly at twilight hour
To ring with mellowed soul-awakening chime
Vy from “ont. each gray and ;time-worn belfry
wer §
“Sendinge afar, with deep and solemn power,
~1 Its sweet tones borne by the light summer air,
Orer dale and glen and rustic hamlet bower,—
By peasant's cot, and baron’s castle faire
“Morne each listening soul to thankfulness and
er.
‘Ye homes of Peaceand Learning ! Hallowed
Piles
‘How in ine stormy past ye shone sublime,
L ‘When Je sent forth from. our Gree Western at
your Gospel: lights to each benighted slime ; ;
WN 1 gett Gosp the spirit of that iron-ti
, When the fierce North poured forth its warlike
‘des,
Marking their course with fire and blood and
wy How. vatayed these sons of ire their vengeful
“And Locke in penance Jow at Mercy’s soothing
{
Wn.
Your gentle children,—your alumni brave,—
Went forth to tame the nations wild and rude;
sword to conquer, but the Word to save,
T he Missal-book, and staff of Holy Rood :—
From wild iFyreonnel to where Danube’s flood
Watered the pastures of the warlike Hon,
) They bore to sinful men the tidings good —
How for theirsake God’s well-beloved
Had conquered Death and Hell, and their Re-
) “demption won.
‘The fiery Celt of proud "Milesius’ lines
ere Gael who curbed the haughty Romans’
‘apne ‘Saxons brave from Sevein to the 7s ne
"The founders of fair empires far and w
‘The German Goth, tall, valiant, fair, bluse eyed,
The dweller "neath the mists 0f Ttehla's sinoke,| ‘The faithful heart may surely draw thro’ thee,
From Beadsmen of our isles received Chris’s|
easy yo ke (0) { : }
\ a oa Noy herne
Patrieius bore the torch of Faith from Roar,
‘And shrined it in my own Green Islan
“< By many a rudely built, yet sacred ion
\ Sacred to Learning, Contemplation, Praye:
-And noble youth from sister- lands were there,
Who re illum’d their turches at these urns,
And home again the ble: essed Name did bear: —
heir amp is clouded now; their people
But ‘ines 0 Mother land! as ever brightly
s!
wa ,
.. Land of my love! ‘Dear Nurse of all my race,
Whose dust within thy bosom cherished be!
Thy hallowed earth aifords them resting place;
"Dis Justs— they kept their faith to. Heaven and
ae though transferred my ‘arm and fealty free
From thee, my mother, to my chosen bride,—
From her who nursed, ‘o ‘her who shelvers me—
Llove the twain, ands ever t by you
“With word and deed will aid, ‘hile “ite and
. strength sides
Land of my love! Thow well hast kept the
Fait
Through ages of fierce trial, war and wi
Thine is the martyr's and the conqueror’s
Teath 5
Avictin, yet victorious o'er thy foe 5
Thy valor and anbroken faith can show
A\ scutcheon that no blemishes
and of my love, we hail thy stainless rising va!
1-Columb-kill, frst orthe Hebrides !(b) '
How rang wil ous hymns thy rocky shore,
‘The blessed fire from Doire Calgeac poreste)
And shrined it on thy soil! Soon arching o'e
‘Phy narrow bounds arose there many a pile. 4
Long famed o'er all the North, for sacred lore +
As hails tha wave-tost bark the beacon’s smile,
So haved “f ‘aking North thy lights, O Holy
4,
"As froi'a fertile soil the fruitful vine,
Sending its tendrils far on every side, ‘
Enclasps the noble elm, and giant pine,
pride ;
‘To spread the vine which Columbplanted, wide
O’er Scotland’s noble hiils, and lovely vales,. ;
"Till from her thousand glans, at evening tide,
Arose the prayer of Faith which aye prevails, .
x. .
And he, the planter, when his work was” done,
pid gently. yield hit to his last repose,
Far from his birth-place where the setting son
In iis Tast field of toil his grave he chose,—
In his beloved Hy,—and near his shrine, :
‘The lingering peasant to the traveller shows
Where sepulehres of warlike monarchs shine;
Peaceful thy rest, O, “on of Niall’s royal fine!(d) } .
1-Columb-kill, Northumbria heard thy fame,
‘And from thy cells, obedient to the ca!l
Of pious Oswald. gentle Aidan came,
8 erstto Macedon came hol
here the Humber mingles with the sea, .
jeheld the altars of dark Odin fall,
And—blessed fruit of Aidan’s victorie—
High o'er their ruins rise the Cross of Calvarie.
, XI
To Lindisfarne—’twas thena desert lone—
The saint withdrew from Oswald’s courtly
throng,
And laid with mystic rites the corner-stone
Of that renowned abbey which, ere long, !
Arose to be a shining light among
The Saxon tribes. Within its cloisters gray
Religion sought and found a refuge strony,
Pill Norsemen swept the land in wild arroy,,
And miglin’ dropt her sword, to suffer and to
xm.
And Lindisfarne became a sacred Isle,
And from her bosom went those holy bands
Whose pious labors made the desert smile;
Woods felled, and marshes drained | with ' their
own hands, '
And barren wastes reclaimed to fertile lands,
Behold these old Monastic pi'es arise,
Where Jo! the Christian sign sublimely stands
With solemn index pointing to 0 the skies,
Re. -opened unto Man ‘arse that Great S: Sacrifice,
Mite teacher of our *Paith 1 Most Moly Sign!
Great Emblem of the Saving Mystery
What lofty Hope ! what Charity Dine! !
WwW hae Patience! what all conquering energy
_dide-opening gate.
‘ xv.
The humble fishermen of Galilee,
With thee their banner and their guiding star,
Went forth to conquer kingdoms, and to free
‘The bondman from his heavy chain;—to war
With the dread hosts of Darkness. ‘Ne'er 80 far
Flew earthly ensign. Ere the Apostles died,
‘The wor'd from ‘Tagus' mouth to Malabar,—
From Seythia’s snows to Nilus’ sacred tide,
Saw tribes and nations won for Christ the crucified.
XVE.
Pefore thee, conqueror of the Pagan world,
‘oman Eagle veiled his haughty crest
When Pome ‘rom her imperial throne was
hurled
'y the wild warriors of the North and West,—
A race, like that invoked from ‘Terra’s breast
y old Deucalion, fierce, invincible,
1 hese io their tarn were tamed; ja in yielding.
Tie "hirefal wars and tumulte hushed and
Before sat mightiest power to curb proud human |»
wil
And who, like theseould guide their valor! When
"Mid Clermont’s gorgeous throng Urbanus rose,
And preached to those high-hearted noble men
‘The touching story of the wrongs and woes,
When sainted Gelumb, through the stormy seas,
And wreathes their branches with its clustering | .
And chants and vespers sweet came inurmuring ou | -
His Jast ‘rays o'er the Foyle’s bright water
Though nations bend notat thy footstool low,'; | And burning insults foully heaped on those
Nor plundered millions groan beneath thy cary) |.
Who Ssted Christ's ‘sepulehre ; then rose
‘ As eager "round the holy man they close
+ God 1 God wills, that forth the Ensign
fiy!
|The’ land! our’ Saviour trod, “we liberate or
bes diel)
XVIII.
, O Heavens! It was a stirring sight to see
* The West take arms thus at her Pastor's call!—
< Iler generous Kings, her valiant Chivalrie
;- Abandon throne, domestic lovey and hall,
: To give their wealth, their fami g swords, their
‘all!
+ An offering, as they deemed ‘of gratitude,
\ Tosave from vile and ignominious thral
. _The Grave of their dear Lord, whose sacred
voy
Wes freely poured for them on the Redeeming
. Rood,
*T was no vain earnest Vo their gratitude,
Nor vainly poured they on the Peynim foe
Their might invincible. No doubtfal goo
Was reaped to mankind from that fearful ‘low,
Which turn'd the tide of conquest, slavery, wo,
And blighting fait pitas stern Mahound began;
nce more Was taught to fear and know,
From that fieree tral with her Christian van,
The roling heart and: arm of glorious Frankis-
3 )
“Oh! who may inde ‘he heroes a that age!
'' Theirs waa a piety of lofty '
a. Not stinted to the narrows ae
Ofbalanced power, state interests, trades and gold,
ate sought an aim more virtuous and bold;
To bind to concord sweet, and u.
‘The several States throughout the’ Christion fold
n federat brotherhood, restrict yet fr
Ww bat Peaceon earth to men, might such united be!
XX.
eit deeds of prowess live in deathless song,
‘Their works of wisdom late are justifies
~ From thet foul mass of obloquy and wrong
:% Heaped-onthem by the impiety. and pride”
J, Of bard, anfilial sae which derid
Their noble ancestry.
<+ Even from these ruins gray, doth taeekly chide
‘he ruthless desecration, avarice, crime
And cold ingratitude that stain our later time.
XI.
» Yenoble Ruins! yetagain Ieom
i 'To breathe your holy Stmosphere once more,
) And rest my tired limbs, as in the hon
"Your halle afforded in the days of yore,
‘o all whom want or travel wearied sore.
undred years or more,
Again within your ponte cloisters stand,
Amid’ the Past recalled, as if by magic wand.
XML.
A pilgrim bound, yet not from, Huly Land!
No, Reverend Brothers ! yet methinks it were
An easier task with war horse, lance and bfand.
And gallant friends mid’ Paynim hoets {0 bear
Unfrayed the sacred ensign, than to w:
Its sheen undimmed upon the unarmed | breast,
Amidst Yon world’s temptations, conflicts, care,
Absorbing Mammon, selfish love unblest :—
Where Pride a bold Success seem Virtue’s
worthiest test.—
Where Chnise ‘8 own sjoot are ‘from THis altars
Sheer a to make for Luxury and Pride :—
From freedom, sympathy, and sunlight riven,—
Fer life in darksome poor-house doomed to hide
Their sores and sorrows ;—without friend to
vide
Their croshed and thirsting spirits to that Fount
Of consolation, whose unceasin;
weth from Him who taught upon ‘the Mount,
That God doth hold his poor in high and blessed
When Christian rulers deem the souls of men
As sentient atoms, made to toil for gold ;
And weigh as nought the immortal spirits, when
‘The gains of Trade are in the balance told ;
And ‘when the working millions ¢ are * enrolled,
ris but, as n.ere machinery, to
Their powers productive; to be bought or sold
s suits the modern, 1, blood-cemented plan
Which deifies the State, yet recks not of the Man.
XXVE.
Where Christian hosts, beneath the Red Cross’
ee!
sl
In wat with Infidels right ifereel strive;
Not, as of old, for Holy ipl ween,
But, soothly, that tne rab less trade may
thrive ;—
Whate’er their merchant princes choose to drive,
In drugs, of poisons{dire—it matters not—
w hich (fom the sons of Ind the y wring and rive,
And force on weak Cathay, ‘per rbaleend lot,"(h)
‘Mid | blazing owns and fanes, with sword and
shell and s\
Ye marvel, freres ! An yet Ido bat bring
Some standing features of yon passi
Nor yet the worst of those which boldly fling
‘heir hideous shadows o'er the living stage,
‘The ever dubious confiiet,
From world like this 1 come on pilgrimage,
With these old shrines communion sweetto hold,
And fambly fearn the rede your ancient days un-
Where faithful hearts with sloth and error wage
id:
: XXVIM.
“The poor ye have always with you ;" them ye
With earthly food and heavenly nourishment;(i)
Not deeming them the vile and oute: eas st seed.
Of vice and idleness, on whom is
The frown of Law, with pampered loathing
Bat rather as the favor’ a most of all
To whom the Gospel re Sent j—
Whom our dear Master counselled us tocall,(&)
When we would feast, to share our joy in banquet
hall.
xx
fies wisely 3 je recruit: the hosts ot God,
m those m Mammon proudly casts away
Ae: all too raf to worship at his no
a
Remain to comber them in upward flight
To Him who is the Life, the Truth, the Way;—
Ww nore. yoke js sweet,—whose burthen is but
Whose spouse will soothe their woes, and ide
them on aright.
0 wisdom, fraught with ‘Tottiest charitie !
Not idly on the waves is cast your bread. .
The humble multitude of souls whom ye
tere Dearished thus, and taught, in, time will
hath =“
Man’a wriedom with God as foclishnesse 5 sé
_ Hence, oddly | men will deem your wis om.
vain ;— >
Your life of ‘ontemplation,—idleriesse, oo
Your life of self denial,—bootless pain;
‘Then will their ready reckoners count the gain |
Which to the nation’s riches might accroe
From your enfranehised Tahors, Babbling waint
Who, whilst old Mammon’s fields o'erstocked
the
To Heaven’ sown vineyard grudge of Taboness « 80
, They deem not of the ‘Galt the Earth doth need,
“Were't only but their life and wealth to keep
Safe from the evil will and daring dee:
Away their chartered comforts.
They in the lows or the dungeon deep
For safegu: hese. ‘Corruption most
Creep oer the saltless land and all its glories
ru ‘ 2 ‘
Vainly trust
thy Salt; each brotherhood a Spring
Within its little region shedding free
Refreshing streams which health and gladness
in
To every hamble hearth by town and lea;—.
A Mirror wherein Sloth and Pride may see
Rebuked their love of ease and fame and golds
By silent ¢ontrast of Humilitie,
And Charitie that waxeth never c
And hero- tabors stern by Herald never told,
Xxx) oe
And thus ye hallow and ‘snnable toil, .
Improving well the motive and the skill .
Of those who ply the crafts aed jit the soil,
{ndustry, with holy will,
‘. From your example copying farther still,"
Adopt. in ate Jour form: verni romenty
Fraternal destined we jelnt
ine son ‘social, mutual ai nt,
With noble works of Praise, s and omer Merey
bl
a
Yet upwards stills t we Taftier Eoits behold,
Wastrious in the nobles of th id 5
Meek to the humble ; to the en bold; a
Of ‘generous, pious heart; of valiant hand;
Their Co Country’ 8 and their People’s strength
Their Coon’ and their Shield in hour of need; .
And prompt. for these, to lift the spearand brand,
In holy Freedom's cause to win or ble
As witness bears the field of glovious Honey:
m t
5 a
we
But—Brethren d deannny ‘Vision groweth dim; 3
Ye fade away into your night of 3.
As sink the echoes. of the evening ‘yin tay
, And grateful yearnings leave in pious ears, ; >
mie