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Vol. IX.—No. 8.
THE CATHOLIC HERALD.
18 PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY BY
M..FITHIAN,
No. 61 North Second Street, Philadeipia.
—_
Terms.—Three Dollars per annum, payable half yearly
en advance. Five Dollars will be received for 2 copies, or 1
‘copy fortwo years. All arrearages must be settled prior to
ordering a paper to be discontinued. AJ] Communications,
except from Agents, or Subscribers ‘enclosing remittances,
must be post paid, and addressed ‘To the Editor of the
Catholie Herald, Philadelphia, Pa.”
Doetry,
ow the Beacon.
‘TO THE. MEMORY Sy. MA’ ¥Y REDEMPTA.
DELIVERED BY ONE OF HER PUPILS,
At the Exhibition of St, Mary's Institution,
‘The hour is one of fes‘ive joys to hearts,
O'er which, no shadow darkling yet has flown,
To dim the bright, fend visions which imparts
Our gladsome youth, in tenderness up grown,
Of parents’ qnenchiess love.
And sweet communion now, like purling streams,
Leaping from leafy founts, to hush their glee,
In deep companio t ip of waters, seems
"To still in placid breasts, the melody
Which youthful souls must move.
Oh! fain would we this eve rejoicing, where
“The loving and the loved to banquet come,
‘On hopes and memories, which true hearts endear,
In holiest union of our blessed home,
No shade of sorrow bring ;
But who will bid the tremulous bosom chords,
Impassive tril} not, to the ruthless blow,
‘Which crushes earth's aflections? who the words,
Which come unbidden with our tears not low
In sadness murmuring?
As darkness follows light, so grief twin-born
Pursues our fleeting joy ; and e’en this scene,
Radiant with childhood's smiles, as summer morn,
‘The mournful image gives, of what had been
‘Treasured—now torn away!
Gliding o'er waters in their noiseless flow,
In the dim vista of the days gone by,
‘We see a form once robed with life. and oh
* flow welcome-was its presence to the eye,
¥ Upon this happy day!
Ilow dear its beaming gentleness! its tone
Of fond, abiding love, which quickened can
Of ours drank gratefully! alas! now gone,
Save whispering echoes, which our hearts still hear,
Like music’s mellow straii
‘Oh! by the memory of departed ours;
‘By mystic lies which link us to the dead ;
By tearful homage which the bosom pours,
O’er the sepulchralforn, loved one! tho’ fled,
Come, come to us again!
‘Come to us from the spirit-land of dreams,
Whose bowers of loveliness, like captive bird,
‘Thou soughr'st and fluttering '0 be free; whose gleams
Of beauty charmed thee ; land, whieh thro’ thy word,
We too have yearned to see. ‘
Be with us now, thy children, e’er the same,
Av when we clustered round thee, felt thy love,’ »
In tenderest embrace, and accents came,
Persuasive e’er to truthful hearts, to prove
Thy winning ministry t
© Be still our guide! and mny thy lowly faith,
\/ "Thy generous, warm affiance in thy God,
And thy strong love, triumphant over death,
Shine on the upward path-way, thou hast trod,
‘\ That we ay follow thee: “
And oh! in that bright world, where spirits meet, :
To part | more, in sweet emotions blest,
May the young hearts here gathered, fondly greet
oyqd "Thee, dearest sister, clasp thee in thy rest, ° |
k Of deathtess charity! ‘
Macy's Schoul, Christmas.
Philadelphia,
The following sketch of the life of Princess: Gallitzin,
mother of the late venerable. missionary of Loretto, in this
State, is from the pen of an esteemed correspondent. We
tock the liberty of correcting an inaccuracy in the biography
of the Prince, given ina late number of the Jterald, from
the Biographical Annual for 1841; and to this mistake it
appears, from the following portion of our correspondent's
commuication, we are indebted for the present valuable con-
tribution. ‘
“ Anunlucky omission in the penultimate sentence of the
first paragraph, for which we must, of course, blame the
printer, brought to my mind a. table-talk between “ El
Familiar” of Tregeral, and dame Cecilia Cebellen, with re-
gard to the education of their son Bartolo, over which.“ El
Familiar” yielded toher the control, for a very important
reason: “al fin ta Jo pariste, y yo,no.”” ] have taken occa-
sion thence to furnish you with a biographical notice of the
mother of the prince, which will serve to illustrate several
portions of his life.”
We may take the present opportunity of correcting a typo-
graphical mistake, that is found inthe last sentence of the
Prince’s biography, in which it is said, that the name of the
venerated Gallitzin, will long be remembered in the annals,
not ‘ annuals,’ of the Church, as appears in our columns, It
is not necessary to say that the Church has not, as yet, com-
‘| menced the publication of « annuals.’
For the Catholic Herald.
PRINCESS GALLITZIN,
’ The memory of the late pastor of Loretto being de-
servedly revered, some notice of his mother may be
acceptable to the readers of the Herald, and may serve
to throw ‘light on some events of his valuable life.
Amelia, Countess of Schmettan, was born in Berlin
in the year 1748, her father being the Prussian Field
Marchal, Count of Schmettan, a Protestan}, and her
mother, the noble Lady Ruffert, a Catholic. -’The sons
were educated Protestants, the daughters followed the
religious faith of their mother, ‘The young Countess
passed 8 or 9 years ina Catholie boarding school in
Breslaw. She was married in 1768 to Prince Demetrius
de Galliizin IIL: Through him she became acquainted
with Voltaire and Diderot, who had secured his favor
by flattery. © The piety of her earlier years, and her
Catholic principles, soon yielded to the ' fashionable
philosophy of the day, Her first child was a daughter;
her second was ason born on the 22d December, 1770,
at the Hague, and styled Demetrins, after his father,
who was then Ambassador of the Czar to the Courtof
Holland. * The whole attention of the mother was
given to the education of .this ‘favourite child, who,
even in his cradle, was honored with a high commis-
sion in the Russian army, and’ wae destined to figure
in the CourtofSt, Petersburg, As he wasrather of deli-
cate frame, every means’ calculated to strengthen his
constitution was adopted; and at the same time he was
instructed in every exercise that might render him
graceful and active. He was placed in the company
of distinguished officers, to inspire him with a martial
spirit, and ’form him to the military profession. Too
prepare him for diplomatic functions, he was instructed
in political economy, and’ placed in the year 1790,
under the care of the celebrated Professor Basch, at
Hamburg, whither the Countess accompanied him.
Mathematics, Psychology, and Logic, were among the
studies that engaged his attention, The classics and
history were not negleeted. « ‘The - Countess ‘herself,
who was highly accomplished, gave her personal at-
tention to the education of her children, and being on
terms of intimacy with the noble family of Droste zu
Vischering, several of ‘their children were often’ par-
takers of her instructions, ' "The illustrious Archbishop
of Cologne, Clemens Augustus, and his brother, Gaspar
Maximilian, Bishop of Munster, were associates of the
young prince Demetrius, in these domestic scenes. ‘The
Countess, after long wanderings of ‘her mind throagh
the mazes of infidelity. returned to the faith of her
early years, and on the 27th August, }786, the eve of her
birth-day, she made a general ppnfession,' and subse-
quently received the holy communion, with great devo-
ton, She placed herself jy pie commencement of the
phe, ,
Thursday, February 25, 1841.
Whole Number 424
year 1789, under the direction of the worthy
Overberg. ,
In the commencement of August, 1792, the young
prince Demetrius set out on his.travels for America,
and was accompanied by his mother to Rotterdam.
‘The object of this journey, was to prepare him by some
knowledge of men and manners, for the station he was
expected to fill in society. ‘To preserve his morals she
entrusted. him to the care of a priest named Brosius,
who was about to set out for the American mission ;
and to secure him protection in a foreign land, she pro-
cured aletterof introduction from the Prince Bishop
of [ildesheim and Padesborn, to the Bishop of Balti-
more. She does not appear to have had the remotest
idea of diverting the views of this loved child from the
career of honor, for which his birth and military com-
mission prepared him. He, however, soon after his
arrival in Baltimore, retired to the seminary, then under
the direction of the venerated Nagot, and formed the
resolution of devoting himself to the humble duties of
the mission. It is usually believed that he, then, for
the first time, embraced the Catholic faith; but the
memoirs of the Countess speak of his former confessor,
Father Schnosenberg, to whom he communicated by
letter his resolution. It is certain that he himself, in
his writings and conversations, declared himself a
convert from the Greek schism, and: pointed out his
arrival in America, as the occasion of his conversion.
It may be, that he had taken some previous steps ; but
as his father, though infected with infidel principles,
nominally professed the Russian faith, and as he could
hope for no promotion, unless as_a professor of the
same creed, it is likely that his first public profession
of Catholicity was afier his arrival in America.
The terms in which the young prince communicated
to his ecclesiastical friend in Munster, . his design of
embracing a missionary life, shew the heroism of the
act. Ile states in his letter that “ he has resolved to
offer himself, soul and body, with all his wealth, to the
glory of God and’ salvation of his neighbour, in the
missions of America.” ‘The dearth of Missionaries, and
the desolate situation of the faithful scattered over an
immense surface, are the reasons which he assigns for
his resolve, and the proofs which he offers of the divine
priest
a
eS
‘The Countess was surprised and afflicted at intelli-
gence so unexpected, and wrote to remonstrate with
him against a measure so contrary to the wishes of his
father, and to the interests of his family, “She entered
at the same time into a correspondence with Rev, Mr.
Nagot, which continued fora whole year, and strongly
urged that the resolution was precipitate and ill-ad-
vised. ‘This venerable man gave her the’ most posi-
tive assurances that all the marks of a divine vocation
to the ministry were found in her son,
An order was issued from the Court of Petersburg,
commanding the young prince to present himself at
courton a stated day; which the Countess communi-
caied lo him without delay, ‘This, however, made no
change in his views.’ On the 21st November 1794,
feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin, he re-
ceived subdeaconship from the hands of Bishop Car-
roll, the prince being eager thus to bind himself irre-
vocably 10 God, and to a missionary life. The Rev.
Mr. Nagot communicated this fact to the Countess in
a letter dated 16th January 1795. In it he renews the
assurance of his conviction that the vocation of the
young prince is traly from God, and states that the
Bishop fully concurs in this conviction. For his own
part, he says, he never led a youth with more confi-
dence to the Altar. On the 19th of March of this year,
the prince celebrated his first Mass, having, in the in-
terval, received the sacred orders of deaconship and
priesthood. He had not omitted to seek his father’s
consent previously to. his final engagements, bat the
letter had unfortunately miscarried. In 1797 he again
addressed him, and succeeded in obtaining reconcilia-
tion. His mother was more easily gained over to his
views ; butshe urged him. to gratify his father and
herself, so far at least as tomake them a visit, Onthe
26th June, 1803, he wrote to her, and informed her, that
he had long delayed writing, in the hope of making the
promised visit, but that finding it impossible to have
his place filled by another priest during his absence,
he was obliged to foregy this gratificgtion, |The pious