J. P. L.
Mr. Philip A. Nolan, General Secretary of the Catholic Total Abstinence Union of America, writes: "Within a month we may expect the promulgation of the Decrees of the Baltimore Council, when it is the purpose of the Executive Council to inaugurate such a crusade in America that before long will sweep like the mighty armies of old across the entire continent and be felt in the remotest parishes." Mr. Nolan is an enthusiast in the cause of cold water, says The Catholic Columbian.
A Touching Custom prevails in many of the parishes of Normandy, where the adult male population are for the most part engaged in the vocation of fishing. When, as at certain seasons of the year, these poor fishermen are far away from their homes, and unable to assist at Mass on Sundays, each one's family has a candle burning in the church before the statue of Our Lady, Star of the Sea. These candles represent the husbands, sons, and fathers who at that moment are braving the terrors of the deep, and the flame of each burning offering is the hymn and prayer to Heaven on the part of the absent one.
Catholic Columbian:—It is something for us to be proud of that in this great State of Ohio, where we form so small a minority of the people, two of the members of the present Legislature chosen to receive its honors are Catholics and Irishmen. In the organization of the House, Hon. Daniel J. Ryan, of Scioto, was made President pro tem., and to the same position in the Senate Hon. John O'Neill, of Muskingum, was called by the voice of his party associates. May they both live to be Governors!
Little Company of Mary.—During his recent visit to Rome the Cardinal-Archbishop of Sydney made the acquaintance of the Rev. Mother-General of the Society of the Little Company of Mary, and also had numerous opportunities of witnessing the good done by the sisters in nursing the sick in their own homes; and his Eminence was so much impressed by their work, that he applied to the Superioress for some sisters to accompany him to Australia to carry on the work there, with the result that six sisters are now in the diocese of Sydney. The sisters have lost no time in commencing their good work, and they announce that they are now fully prepared to receive invitations to nurse the sick without distinction of creed, at their own residences in any part of the city or suburbs. It is the rule of the sisters to remain in constant charge of the patients in every kind of illness.
American Rent Payers.—The National Republican, Washington, D. C., of January 5, makes the following uncomfortable statement: "The generally prevalent impression is that the farming of this country is really carried on by farmers, who, in great measure, are the owners of the farms they till. On the contrary, Mr. Thomas P. Gill, in the North American Review, points out that at the census of 1880 there were found to be 1,024,601 farms rented by tenants in the United States, and he claims that in the five years since this census was taken the number of tenant holdings has increased 25 per cent. raising the number of tenant holdings at present in the United States to 1,250,000. In England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales at the present day the total number of tenant farmers is 1,069,127. So the United States contains 250,000 more tenant farmers to-day than the three kingdoms and the principality together. These statements are not radiantly cheerful. Our country is being Europeanized at an uncomfortably rapid rate."
The Church in the United States. Archbishops, 12; bishops, 62; priests, 7,296; ecclesiastical students, 1,621, of which the largest number, 335, belong to the archdiocese of Milwaukee; churches, 6,755; chapels, 1,071; stations, 1,733; diocesan seminaries and houses of study for regulars, 36; colleges, 85; Baltimore having the largest number, 8; academies, 618; New York having the largest number, 34; parochial schools, 2,621, attended by 492,949 pupils; charitable institutions, 449.
Good for an M. P.—The trustees of the fund subscribed to indemnify William O'Brien, M. P., editor of Dublin United Ireland, against the losses he sustained in the famous Bolton, French and Cornwall libel suits, have published a balance sheet, which shows that the total amount of the subscriptions received was £7,619. Of this £6,495 odd was expended directly in litigation, and £98 went for miscellaneous expenses and advertising. The balance of £1,025 was handed over by Mr. O'Brien, for distribution among the poor of Mallow.
His Holiness the Pope has conferred on Prince Bismarck the ancient Portuguese Order of Christ, which was founded by King Denis of Portugal in 1317, and adopted by King John XXII. three years later. The decoration, which is only conferred upon the most distinguished and exalted persons, was accompanied by an autograph letter from his Holiness.
Mr. Wilfrid Scawen Blunt, who, as a Conservative Catholic contested North Camberwell at the recent Parliamentary election, in a forcible letter to the London Times gives his views on the Irish question. He holds that there is no middle course now between Home Rule and martial law, between Mr. Parnell Prime Minister at Dublin and Mr. Parnell a traitor in the tower. And how long, he asks, would the country support a policy of blood and iron? Would even the Whigs go through with it for two sessions? I say no. One party or other would rebel, and we should in the end be forced to give in shame what we could now give in honor.