The New York Herald Newspaper, August 21, 1870, Page 5

@ great Jaw. the same words refer. f marriage in the Garden of the Jews for their practice of poly- the pungent qgues.ion to their con- have ye deait treacherously with the your yoann Our tirst wife, the one with went to the bridal altar and swore before Righ heaven that ye would forsake all others, cleav- Ang unto her #0 long as ye both shall live?” Ah! and asks, “Why have ye dealt treacherously ‘with the wife of your youth and the wife of your co! ” “God hates this putting away,’ says the n refers to kden as the reason asou is purely mon ous, od created one woman for one lore than this; the Lord Jesus Christ, when e3 came io Him and propounded the question touching divorce, referred to the same grand idea taken up by the prophet Malacnt, ‘Have ye not read that in the beginning God created them male and female?” thus reiterating, as it were, the mw law; thus lifting marriage, which had been stained by polygamy, trom 13 degradation and re- establishing tin its monogamle purity; and then St. Paul, corroborating the words of Jesus, refers to the marriage m Eden and says that God created them male and female, ‘and they two shall be foe ‘This is the grand truth brougot out in the Bible, Dr. Newman's hour having expired, Dr. Sunder- land offered up a closing prayer, and the debate was adjourned tli to-morrow afternoon, at two o'clock, RELIGIOUS. Services To-Day. Rev. Charles B, Smyth preaches this morning ana evening at Masonic Yall, Thirteenth street, between ‘Third and Fourth avenues, Rev. R. Y, Wiison will preach this morning and afternoon in the First Reformed Presbyterian church, Twenty-cighth street, between Ninth and Tenth avenues, Rev. H. R. Nye will preach at Plimpton Building, Ninth street, tits morning. At Thirty-fourth street Reformed church Rev. Mr. Harlow, of Florida, is expected to preach this morn+ ing and evening. Divine service will be held in St. John’s chapel, Varick street. this morning and evening. Rev. J. B. C. Beaubien will preach this morning and evening at the Free Chapel of St. Augustine, 262 and 264 Bowery. Universalist services will ve eid this afternoon at four o’clock at Brevoort Hall, Fifty-fourth street, Rev. Charles binbrer wil] address the meeting. Professor W. H. Green, of Princeton, N. J., will preach this morning and evening in the Forty-second atreet Presbyterian church. The feast of St. Bernard will be celebrated to-day at St. Bernard’s church, West thirteenth street, near Tenth avenue, Solemn High Mass will commence at half-past ten o'clock A. M., and a panegyric of the Saint will be preached by Rev, Michael J, O'Farrell, of t. Peter's church, The Protestant General Counc. To rue Epirox.or tan Henaup:— Protestantism as a religious belief, in its various divisions and subdivisions, has representatively existed for nearly three hundred years, and now, at the end of that time, its votaries—that is, its leaders—think it necessary to assemble in coun- ofl, and if it has defects, I suppose, change them, and I suppose means will be attempted to make it more efficacious in the future than it has been in the past. As a spiritual power every sensible man knows Protestantism is a ridiculous failure. Germany, that was once Christian, is in a great measure infidel; England is partly heathen, and the United States of America are, to a lamentable extent, lost in irreligion, heathenism and infidelity. Protestantism has been always the leading reli- gion in these countries since its birth, and there- fore we see the result.—the rejection of an infal- lible Church, the Bible the only rule of faith and every man his own interpreter of it. These false rinciples have killed the religion of Luther and Jalvin ; have brought whole peoples back to the paganism of Greece and Rome. Admitting, then, that Protestantism as a religion is the most un- successful and foolish of all—worse in diffusing itself among the people than Brahmanism or Bhuddism in China and Japan and Fetishism in Africa—yet, as a moral and materia power, it has moulded and changed the whole face of the modern world. Dr. Ewer of New York (whose soul is in Rome, but whose form appears weekly before bankers and gay ladies in Christ church, Fifth avenue, in New York), says all this progress fs brought about by awakening mind. But does he tell us what caused this “awakening mind?’ Purope and all the then civilized world, from the fifth and sixth centuries to the protest of Luther in the fifteenth,was held by the spell,by the grasp of religion. There was moral corruption, no donbt—there was superstition—there were the bad and wicked men in those days, but, after all, there was reverence for God, there was wide- spread and humble faith, there was loyalty to truth and loyalty to God. Men placed then eternity above time and heaven above earth. Hence civilization or human progress, democratic liberty and the improvement of man’s temporal condition were plants of slow growth. But Luther came and said, Let us reconcile reason and revelation, time and eternity, heaven and earth, Christianity and civilization; let us have a religion with common sense in it, that will please men; and, therefore, from the day that Luther nailed his thesis on the door of that simple village church to this very hoar that simple, childlike faith In God has been on the decline in the civilized world, and never more, unless by a miricle, unless by a second advent, can that true faith in God be restored widespread throughont the earth. It is fone never to return. In the iron horse, puffing and blowing defiantly; in the steamer with her immense wheels plashing the sea in foam, in the telegraph sending news almost by miracle, in the igantic stores of commerce, in the huge printing ‘esses spreading news to millions, in all the tone and tenor of nineteenth century civilization Ican ace the worldly influence of the reformation and the aim and intention to make a paradise of earth. The Vaticau Council is a failure, because the worldly character and spirit of this age will not heed it. The coming Protestant council will be a still greater failure, becanse it will join with the age and, therefore, renounce the Christion life of Protestantism. The future is indeed gloomy. ‘The Christian, civilized and enlightened West is hardly better ina moral and religious condition than the idolatrous and semi-civilized East, civil- §zed beathenism being far worse than pagan idol- atry. To sum up, if the highest aim and destiny of man is to invent steam, lay telegraph wires, build huge commercial piles and establish mam- moth printing presses, to distribute doubtful news to eager millions, to build palaces and live like a modern Dives and centre one’s entire attention on the life that closes in the grave, Protestantisin fs, indeed, a success; but if, on the other hand, a simple, childlike faithin God, widespread through- out the earth, is necessary for a true life on earth and a blissful future in heaven; if faith, hope and charity, firmly rooted in the heart, are better than Intellectual power, wholly used for temporal ends; if the simple chapel is a more beautiful edifi than a bank of the Rothschilds; if a, pale Charity Sister is a more beautiful moman than a voluptu- ous harlot; if this life is only a probation, prepar- ing man for a life ‘eal happiness peyond the grave: if eternity should always eclipse in man’s mind time; if heaven is a far more desirable place than earth; if the poor, oppressed Christian man, like Lazarus, is really better in the eyes of God than Dives; if, in fine, the secular character of thisage is hurtfolto man’s soul, jeopardizing his eternal life, then, indeed, Protestantism is the greatest curse that man has seen on earth—de- stroying faith, hope and charity, enthroning Satan and disestablishing Obrist. WESTERN CATHOLIC. ‘The Fulton Street Prayer Meetings. “PRAY FOR ME''—-AN APPECTING APPBAL IN CHURCH, [From the Observer.] A won comes into the meeting with a veil over her face, walks up the middle aisle, ana de- posits a request upon the table while singing the second hymn, prayer baving been offered and the As soon as the sing- ases, the leader sand reads the little note. This is it, and th Pray for me, suid a clergyman, on rising to his fect ia last request has moved me How cau lL tell how much ia involved request! It is earnest. It is specific. mpted, we know not. Bat we know th Phere js in that “Pray for me” enough to be prayed for. Said the Romea Catholic lady, who was in this meeting the other day, in reply to the question, what made you weep {| through the requests having been read. > than all. in that By what ting? e thing that overwhelmed me am eres ie ay 2 viene t teamed goupray here for one another, and | wanted you to" Pray for me Earnest prayer wae offered that whatever the wants were, they wight ail be euppled through the infinite riches of God's grace in Christ Jesus, Then the following was read and very earnestly remembered in the prayer:— CARLINVILLE, Ill., Angust 1, 1870. Fuuron Srruer Prayer Muerino:— Dear Curistian Frienps—I read in last week's number of the New York Observer (July 28) of a “remarkable answer to prayer,’ made in the Fulton street prayer meeting in behalf of a brother who mares away from his family fifteen har ago,and they knew not where he was, ut who, in answer to prayer, has been brought back home to his friends a new manin Christ Jesus. Land my family connections are suffering great solicitude and anxiety of mind from a cir- cumstance similar to that related in the commu- nication referred to. My brother, formerly a resi- dent of this place, left home to attend to some business in New York city about the middle of last April. He left home under extraordinary cireum- stances of trial, discouragement and tempation, His family and friends, however, expectod he would return as soon as he had attended to the business which took him Snay They heard from him regularly down to the 22d of May, after which he ceased to write. We have used every meaus in our power to find where he has gone, but in vain. This brother has a family residing here. He is just forty-six years of age, and is the young- est of a large family of children, all of whom, him- self excepted, were converted to God early in life. His father was a mi of the Gospel for fifty years, and was in his lifetime instrumental, in the Lord’s hands, in the salvation of many souls. My father gave me a charge before he died that he wanted me to pray, every day of my life, as long as J lived, for this’ brother’s conver- sion to God. T have been obeying that request as faithfully as T could for the last thirteen years. As soon as we found he was gone his praying relatives and some friends of the mily agreed that we would pray for him, as we could not find him to help him in any other way. Tresolved that through grace [ would obey the slightest movements of the Spirit ot God on my mind regarding my duty to him. In consequence of this resolve, 1 am writing this communication. What makes me more uneasy than anything else is, that contrary to the habits of his former life, he has accustomed himself to the use of wine and other stimulating drinks for two or three years past. Now my request and that of other praying friends to the Falton Street Prayer Meeting is, that they will remember ths brother in very earnest supplication, again and again, as they did the brother about whom we read in the Observer. Please ask our Heavenly Father to save him from intemperance and all’ his sins; to break the power of the tampieeand that are keep ing bim from his home; make him a new man in Christ Jesus, and restore him again to his family and friends, for our great Redeemer’s sake. ‘This request to the Fulton Street Prayer Meeting 13 from Mra. N. H. R., and friends, Carlinville, Il. There had been offered some requests for praxet for those who hoped their sins had been orgiven, but still walked in darkness, and were bowed down under @ heavy yoke of bondage. An old Scotch clergyman arose and referred to these cases as illustrating the experience of some who receive the grace of God in vain, gr half accept- ing the Sorpel ot salvation, Th2y are always found in “Doubting Castle,’ and have got no further on thetr ale This same Fulton street prayer meeting has blessed many a poor soul to get out and goon eigomay to the Celestial hills and the blessed gates of the Heavenly City. Here doubts have been brought and laid at Jesus’ tect, to be indulged no more. TAKING 1 VEIL. Reception of a Novice at the Convent of the Sacred Heart—History of the Order—Facts and Fancies About the Cloister—Novel and Interesting Ceremony. {From the Chicago Tribune, August 16.] Yesterday in the chapel of the Sacred Heart, on ‘Taylor street, in this city, Miss Julia Thomas, a descendant of a wealthy and well known family of St. Louis, re- ceived the white veilfrom the hands of ber uncle, Father Chambers, S. J., of St. Xavier College, Cincinnati. There were also present Father DeBlieck, of the Holy Fawily church, and the great Indian missionary, Father DeSmet. Tho public were not, of course, present, but among those privileged to assist at the ceremony were a -number of ladies and gentlemen, including the relatives and friends of the young lady and a few others. So much is said in these days of ours about the rights, the powers and the capacities of weman in the world that we have taken pains to present herewith some of her rights, capacities and powers out of the world. In the religious order of which this bane 3 lady of wealth, talent and distinction has fa yecome an humble and undistinguished member can be found proof of the power of woman's mind, for which secular history cannot farnizh a parallel THE ORDER OF THE SACRED HEART was founded in Paris, in the year 1800, by Maric Louise Barrat, the only daughter of an eminent and wealthy French family. The aim of the society was the education of the daughters of the French nobility, aud around its foundress flocked ladies of the highest social rank, whose culture and accomplishments were only equalled by the spirit of contemplative piety and personal solf. sacrifice, which the dogma and discipline of the Infallible Church alone can inspire. Mada Barrat herself had been educated under Jesuit masters, her mggtal training being directed by her only brothér, who was a distinguished fol- lower of Ignatius. She read and wrote with fin- ency seven languages, and was notably skilled in the fine arta. At the age of twenty-one she found herself Mother General of an association the most distingue the world has ever known, with a char- ter from the reigning Pope, and its interests jeal- ously guarded at the Roman Court by a Cardinal Protector. From Paris the prestige of the socie- ty bore its influence throughout France, and its academies sprung into prosperous existence in all the leading cities, From France it spread over the civilized world, and the convents and schools of the order now flourish in ail parte of Europe, in Africa, the United States, the Dominion of Canada, Cuba and Sonth America. An idea of Mother Barrat’s endurance and perfection of phy- sical form may be well obtained by remembering that scarcely six years have elapsed since her | death. So highly are her works esteemed by her | co-religionists that the proces HER REATIFICATION is already begun. The documents bearing upon it were in the hands of the proper Papal authori- ties when the death of the Cardinal Protector, a few months ago, pen pcree ny suspended their ex amination, which will be resumed on the appoint ment of his successor. The ladies of the order have been engaged for three years in gathering the material for Mother Barrat’s life, which is now nearly complete and ready for press, the literary Jabor being performed exclusively by the society. THE FLOWER OF EUROPEAN MAIDENHOOD has always bloomed in the schools of the Sacred Heart, and princesses and countesses have filled its ranks and performed its offices. A Freueh countess, with hi the door of the ; Madame Bona parte st Napoleon, was one of its most edifying member: the Princess Elizabeth Gaililian, whose cousin. Demetrius, iike herself a convert from the Greek to the Roman side, still | honored as “The Apostle of the Alleghe- nies,’ died in New Orleans of yellow fever, not long after her profession, and one of the commu- nity who assisted at her death bed, is now in the couvent of this city. A daughter of the Count de Montalembert is to-day a nun of the order, and the houses De Charbonelle, De Boncour, Chan- garvier, and countless others eminent in European courts and leaders of the thrilling events now | transpiring on the continent, have given beanty, | grace and talent to {ts cloisters. | Among the pupils of the Sacred Heart was THE EMPRESS EUGEN who has always preserved her girlhood’s affection for her early home, and been its efficient and faith- ful friend. She called, during the lifetime of Mother Barrat, at the Convent of Paris, and, bid- ding her suite to remain without, entered alone. Learning from the sister at the door that the ladies were: dining, she forbade their being dis- turbed, and waited quietly antil the conclusion of their repast. She then requested the com any of Mother Barrat, whose surprise may well'be im- agined, and afterwards gave andience ina plea- sant, womanly manner, to all the ladies of the house. a THE ORGANIZATION OF THE ORDER is an admirable display of the power of woman's mind, directed by correct impulses. The entire society, counting thousands in its membership and governing wealth upwards of millions, is managed solely by women, no man having any control whatever of its houses, its resources or its discipline. The Mother General resides in Paris, and is constantly assisted by a council or cabinet, each member of which has her specific duties, which she performs under the supervision of the Mother Superior. There are as many for- ‘o secretaries—to borrow a term—as there are vinces, outside the immediate supervision of the Paris house, and each province communicates directly with its own cabinet officer, and through her with the Mother General, who is now Madame Goetz. We have on this continent FIVE PROVINCES. of which the Canadian is presided over by Madame PUSS ar 1, | or | all alike. Cometies, one Baperior of the convent in n Detrolt ; Cae J es the ith American, over which M: du Rousier is the Revered Provincial. In the United States, the Hastern, with residence at Manhattan- ville, is under Madame Hardy, who also directs the order in Cubn; the Southern has its capital in New Orleans, where Mother Shannon resides ; and Rev. Mother Gauthraux is charged with the West- ern Province, and has her residence in Chicago. The latest Catholic directory reports fifteen houses of the order in the United States, and the number of resident pupils reaches nearly 3,000. Thisdoes not include the children of the free schools, of which one or more are attached to each academy, aud supported by the revenue of the latter. ‘The free school in Chicago cost 000 for the building alone, and the only aid in its erec- tion was a gift of $3,000 from the Mother General in Paris, ‘The free schools are open to children of all denominations, but, as in the academies, all must be present at the religious exercise: THE ADMINISTRATION IS DEMOCRATIC, and the working details of the order lack nothing to insure security, internal good will and per- etuation. The Mother General, on assuming her lusies, prepares and signs a document naming a Superior ad interim in the event of her death. This she seals in the presence of witnesses, and it is only broken after her decease by ‘the Council, who suminon the ladies designated to the charge ofaffairs. Her first duty is to call the Rev. Pro- vincials from all parts of the world to Paris; and, after due deliberation, they elect one of their number to the vacant position, Every six years they visit Paris and hold a kind of ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, debating the Interests of the order in general, providing for its increase, improving its course of study, and reforming, if need be, its discipline. ‘This council occura next year; but whether the unpleasant condition of things in the French cap- ital will permit the assembling of the 1adies is a roblem yet to be solved. The Mother General is now absent in Rome, and it is feared she will find herself unpleasantly situated, with Italian brigands on the Roman frontier and Prussian needle-guns pointed to Paris, THE FINANCIAL AFFAIRS are entrusted in each province to the Reverend Provii . who is in constant communication with the superior of each house in her province. In nearly all the cities the association is incorpo- rated, the trustees being the ladies of the order, and, as each made at her profession THE VOW OF POVERTY, no one can claim or manipulate one dollar for herself. Thus the property of the order will never fall by accident of law to the family of a member, or be transferred to any individual or institution. The books of each house are kept by its econome, or treasurer, and receipts and expenditures recorded with the minutest de- tail. Every six months each econome for- wards. her report upon blanka prepared for the purpose to the econome of her province, and she, in turn, consolidates these and sends them to Paris, where they are examined and reported upon by the proper secre- tary. An annual report is also made, covering the entire affnirs of each house and province, and including not only finances, but also a complete literary history of every institution. This record includes the name and personal history of the whole number of religious in each house, narrat- ing in what duties she had been engaged and her status in the Order. Initare also given a gene- ral summary of the year’s administration, all note- worthy events, reception of postulants and the necrology of the province. In Paris the annual Bi tka are again consolidated and the entire volume lithographed, a Ga being furnished to each house all over the wor Ky The lithographing is done by the religions, and the report is not made public. THE MOTHER GENERAL has supreme direction of the entire association. She appoints all local superiors and provincials, the is consulted on every detail of business, and the solid unity of the Order is thus maintained throughout the limit of its extension. HOW DO LADIES ENTER THE ORDER? The Catholic Church recognizes predestination to the extent of believing that every human being is intended by the Creator to fill a certain state in life. This is called “vocation,” and the vocation for the virginal religious state is by no means con- sidered the common property of every pious young girl who contemns the world acd yearns for spiritual contemplation. It ia even held by the followers of the Roman faith that many per- son MISS THEIR VOCATION, many who are called to the religious state resist- ing the divine inspiration, while, in many years,a tender-hearted, but inconstant woman makes her first profession of renouncing the world, and, in the course of her novitiate, discov- ers the error, and abandons a life for whose soli- tude she is not destined. No gious, having passed through the novitiate of the Sacred Heart, #nd made her final vows, has ever returned to the world. When a young lady desires to enter con- veut life, and her intention meets the approval of her confessor, she makes known her wish to the Reverend Mother Superior, who immediately takes the subject under advisement. Two dis- tinct conditiony are to be considered, THE SPIRITUAL AND THE TEMPORAL. ‘The spiritual is decided by spiritual tests, fast- ing, contemplation, prayer, abstraction f earthly interests, aspiration for holier thoughts, capacity for obedience, docile humility, and, what is highly essential in the Sacred Heart, a proper degree of literary culture. The temporal condition is subjected to the most rigid scrutiny. If the young tady be not of legal age the full and expressed consent of her parents or guardian is absolutely essential. ‘To this rule there is no ex- Consent being proven, the bishop of the diocese subjects her to an examination for the ascertaining of her relations to her family, whether her withdrawal from them will not be productive of domestic misfortane, and her pre- sence, there be required at home. Both conditions being fulfilled the young lady enters the convent and BECOM which is not a re! he retains her own costume, wearing in addition to it in the chapel a simple black veil like that of all other young ladies resident in the house as pupils. She !s con stantly in the society of those who were once pos- tulauts, and who, by the takiyg of the white veil, hive become novices, The same rules which they obey she obeys, if if so please her, and she fol- lows all their spiritual exercises. Thus she is afforded full oppportunity of testing the strength of her resolution, the strength of her piety, her physical strength; and the superiors are, m while, making tp their minds. ABOUT HER VOCATION, The is free at any moment to retire from the >; but ahe rarely does so. When a judicious iod of trial has elapsed she ceases to be a pos and, by the ceremony which took place 3 In the convent yesterday, and as olsewhere given, SHE BECOMES & NoviCK. Still she has contracted no obligations. She has made no vow. The novitiate coutinues two years; her spiritual freedom is noimpared, and she can at any time return to her home without the viola tion of a promise. Bui she rarely returns. At the end of two vears, on the first great feast of the Church, she lemnly exch her white veil for 4 BLACK ONE, and,in the hearing of makes aloud this profestion, which constitates Ler first spiritual ob! a3 —, humbly prostrate at the feet of the mor ity, in the preseuce of the most Holy Virgin of the whole Leavenly court, and of sil who at witdesses, promise to Almighty God, and to you, my re erepd mother, , our Supertor Vicar, who represent here our Superior Gem ‘1 will lawtully #uc. the lawtul eee Tal Heart of Jeeus, BUT STILL ANOTHER PERIOD of five years must clopse before she receives | cross and the ring, and makes her tinal vows. A venerable member of the ¢ “Oh, we are ye consecrated ourselves to God in vn looked forward to the day when we would become postulants. Once fairly in th convent walls, our hearts thrilled with the thought of receiving the white veil; then we longed tor the black one ; having won it, our aspirations | reached over the years to the cross and the rin, after that we look to heaven.’ One feuture o! the temporal condition we retained for present mention. The postulant is obliged to bring with her a fronsseav, according to the rules of youth, and th the order, and to pay all her own expenses in the convent prior to the taking of the black veil, She deposits with the econome a eum which will be equal to tive dollars per week during. her postulancy and the two years of her novitiate. She is subject to no expenses aiter the taking of the black veil. Of course many of the ladies who enter the order, both in the United States and Europe, bring munificent doweries with them, but these are not transferred to the treasury or use of the order until after the final solemn profession. Should a postulant or novice retire from the order there is returned to her all that she brought into it, with the exception of the hapa stipend for the period of her residence in the house. When she makes her final vows she ceases to have any pone possessions; all her poperty, whatever he its form, becomes a part of the order of the Sacred Heart; any inheritance she may receive the entire community, | | in nomine Domini” (*:Our help is in the name of passes to the common treagury, and her vow of poverty is realized. THE DAILY LIFE of the religions is regular, simple and healthful. From repose ia @ common dormitory, they rise ot ~~. 7. et: ea” ae oN Wa feisty minutes for the purpose of their simple toilet, and each lady is her own waiting maid. Meditation renders quiet the hour of sunrise, and at @ quarterto seven office is finished in the chapel, and the priest robed upon the altar be- ginning mass. Breakfast at half-past seven ia a simple meal, such as ordinary persons in good health would take. Fifteen minutes of recreation follow, and all disperse, each to her particular duty—to the study hall, the classroom, the music book, the crgyon or palette, the laboratory, the direction of “domestic affairs, the reception of guests or whatever else is assigned to her charge. At half-past eleven religious exercises precede dinner. which is served at twelve, and is suc- ceeded by a short recreation and “office” util half after ove, when instruction is resumed and continued two hours. Various community, do- mestic or personal duties ocoupy the time until tea is taken at half-past six, and the early part of the evening is spent in the garden when the weather is favorable, in the community room if it be not, and general conversation and quiet gayet; prevails, Soon after eight o’clock office is said, and prayers follow; an hour later the whole house is in slumber, LIFE IN THE CLOISTER is very unlike that painted by the uncloistered im- agination. There is no gloom in the convent, no melancholy, no moroseness, no ennui, More gente ine vivacity cannct be found among a collection of ladies of any rank in “worldly” life than is en- foyer and can be seen among the ladies of the cred Heart in their times of *recreation.” Sparkling wit lights up countenances deeply grave in meditation moments, and on ihe prie Diew within the chapel; and many a bon mot is hear: in the summer twilight of a convent gar den that would immortalize less hidden lips. Sa- cred poems, anecdotes of sage and saint, and snatches of tender hymns, mingle with quiet but unrestrained conversation; while games that white hands play best, perhaps even mallet and ball, en- liven the group of white-veiled novices. When the vivacity of the religious at these times attracted the observation of one not initiated into the esprit of the discipline of the Catholic Church, one of the ladies replied, “Why, sir, we do not discard the whole of existence, but only ita follies! We think, with Madame Groetchine, that the one aim of life should be to make our reason pious and our piety reasonable.” But, in our brief outline of daily dnty, we have not even hinted at its most difficnlt part—the spiritual exercises. It is these which give the extraordinary charm to the faithfully kept vows of the vestal; itis these which make a coward of an ordinary worldly heart. How many persons can mediate, for instance, for an hour at a time, on the crucifixion? How the sublimity of the awful scene fills the fancy with holy awe, aud thus the mind receives most valuable aid; yet how natural to fly the scene for very terror of weak incapacity! But how much less are we not capa- ble of contemplating thoughts into which the stern happiness ot sublimity does not enter! The reli- gious is obliged to make every dogma of her creed the object of her continued and humble thinking. The resurrection may be her theme to- day; but the superiority of the despised, if he fear God, over the godless monarch, will soon follow. Bhe may revel for a moment in visions of heavenly splendor, but she kneels on an uncarpeted floor. er obedience, too, is constantly subjected to the severest trials. Her superiors command; she never question She may to-day give in- struction in painting, or run her taper fingers over harp strings or guide the young girl at the embroidery frame, to prove “women’s small finger tips have eyes;”” to-morrow she may have charge of the dormitory and bathe the little children before putting them to bed. Most of us like to know, at least, why we are told to do a thing even wheu we know we must do it; the re- ligious never thinks of why. Reason diminishes in faith. Her heart says, with that of an eminent woman of her church, “I love knowledge, I love intellect-—I love faith, simple faith, still more. 1 love God’s shadow better than man’s ligh’ To her the voice of her superior is the voice of God, and quod Deus vult the continuation of Fiat hex, While the old domestic ties are not wholly broke yet their gentle longings cannot be indulged; hh superior is her mother; God she humbly claims for futher; the members of the convent household are her sisters. A real mother lies dying in a | still home, miles and miles away; she does not think of flyiag to her side, though down her checks and sgonizing are scpt to heaven for beloved soul. prayers the welfare of the Ah! convent life ia not all comfort. 'The joy of it only the religious knows; the sorrow of it we can see and shrink from, She almost wholly casts away the pleasures of earth as worthless, and her enjoymients are such as we do not call by that name. The contemplation of a crucifix ivtoher exquisite bliss. When she realizes how Christ’s death is the pledge of her own immor- tality she teels all the pride ofa victor. She is like King Charles, who, when Titian had painted three portraits of him, conscious that the artist’s canvas} would live, exclaimed, “This is the third time | have triumphed over degth.” leaving her hardly distinguishable from sisters in re . She Tesumed her ing position before the altar, and mass we tinued and concluded. Throughout the ceremony of the rece} one present was in tears. We shoul exception, The novice herself, of assembly, was unmoved, No trace emotion was visible upon her face, calm, happy and undisturbed. While gospel was being read, she, accomp2' Sompania vee sopaaaied i ae Y the community, beginning wit! 0 revert 7 vedtteoge al of weleome, Mother, and received from all a ki Religious Notes. The Freeman's Journal does not wits wo be cheated among journals that Invoke Catholic syiapatiiles 1 behalf of France in the present struggle. {t asserts that Catholics are more fully respected and sue tained in their mghts tn Prussia than they are im France, PARIS FASHIONS, Style as It Is in the Epoch of War—Evening Revivals and Shelter for the Goddess—White Satin and Tricolor Shades—What the French Lady Leaders Wear—The Ton as It ia Seon in the Hospitals—An American Lady Nurse—General Turnout and Nationa! Toilet— Velvets, a New Bodice, Op- era Cloaks and Braiding. Panis, August 5, 1870. “No fashions to write about,’ do Paris writers snappishly observe, and as we are told ‘‘compari- sons are odorous’ I will liken these my contem- poraries to a pack of weary, draggled hounds when off the right scent. I am aware this 1s not complimentary as a preface; but we are all more or less lucky or unlucky dogs. On looking down the political column I find nations are exactly in the same canine position. For instance, there are the Luxemburgers, Their condition is completely piteous—obliged to give friendly beer to the Prus- sians for no pay at all, and friendly tobacco to the French for just as much. Let us consider these domesticated friends on the map of Europe as animals that have to come in for more kicks than ha’pence. Or, if I have offended, the lists are open for retaliation, and | authorize the brother- hood to liken me in return unto the ‘man at the wheel,” in Wagner's new opera, called “Olan- dese” —Olandese”'only means the ‘Flying Dutch- man”’—but being Wagner’s, I should say the most “demn’d” man of all. After this, spite will be worn out, and we shall each have had our say as | effectually as ces demoiselles les mitrailleuses, just now coming to a kind of misunderstanding on the other side of the Rhine. But seriously, what is to become of our styles if their prophets take to monologues in this desert, and stand through the dog-days on Paris asphalt, asking, ‘What have we come out for to se nothing buta flag here and there, quite unshaken by the wind.” Instead of indulging in this easy lit- era-ry form, they should follow the motion of the day and seck Fashion herself, they would find her every eveving at patriotic revivals, attired in white satin, relieved by the tricolored shades, and would see her working over funds for the wounded, by day,in all the pretty grays, bufs, lemons and blues. No fashions, indeed? with Mme, de Sesto in Diack grenadine and white lace; Mme. de Canrobert in fawn crepe de chine over blue; the Comtesse Walewski in ecru lawn, trimmed with Valenciennes; and Mmes. Adelon, Buffet, Kour- baki, &c., at the Palais de l'Industrie voting under the presidence of Comtesse Flayigny for more, more and ever more contribations of all sorts for the maimed in the army. No fashions? with the officers’ wives in transparent’ musling and silk paniers walking rouod the ambulance beds, tents and pretty blue painted carts in whi the wounded are to be taken care of and nursed, a But, accepting all the obligations and du a religious life,and at the shme tin the Catholic premises from which we have been | viewinyy it, if we consider woman in the world and | woman in the cloister, how infinitely better off in the material sense is not the latter? Worldly wo- man of to-day means gilded insignificance, empty pride, unlimited vanity, shallow pretension, mock | scholarship, manly womanliness, domestic fraud, and abuse and vice and sin; or, wealth lacking, base tool of baser uses, wretched drudge or un- converted Magdalen. How many Marthas would uot prefer to be Martha’s sister ? 0 RECEPTION. : minent feast of the Catho- the ‘Assumption of the Blessed Vir- ,” the chapel of the convent was beautifully decorated, and the altar sparkled with countless | tapers. A harp was placed in the choir gallery in addition to the organ, and both instruments were played by members of the order. music was classical and brilliantly formed, the choir being conducted by the reverend mother herself, who possesses a rich and powerful v young lady entered the chapel, accom- anied by the mistress of novices, who conducted her to a prie Dieu before the altar. She was robed in brocade white silk, gored aud cut en train, the trimmings being point lace and orange blossoms. The veil fell nearty to her feet, and her hands were enclosed in white kid gloves. Her abundant hair was dressed high, with a fall of curls over the chignon. As the Church considers the pmony, & spiritual marriag vostume was ninently appropriate, and rich in all re- spects. Father Chambers, robed in snowy sur- | piice and white stole, kuelt at the foot of the altar, | and intoned the Veni Creator Spiritus, which the | choir continued. At the close of the hymn a ver- sicle and response preceded a brief prayer, and the reverend gentleman, in accents © slightly touched by emotion, delivered the following in- struction: : { You bave invited ns, dear ebfid, to be present at your | taking of the vell, or, in other words, at your eapousala in re- | ligion. But who ie He, | would ask, who is the one lo whom this day you ple urself for ever? I krow fuil well, and I congratulate But who fs He? Me in a the sons of men, the son of her whore ex of liscarding ‘auion to heave celebrate. He ix th the t High God, the God of Infinite majesty a of the Watviareba, the M. ster of the Sher of th re id. But He al manner, and on ae rity humbled Hi obedient even to exalted Hira at His dof earth, at who the name of J ur love in a spe- untof which He claims your love. | {, taking the form of & serva: the cross, for which God hus thé greatest In heaven ‘arth and hell shall is the means by ere in the love of Him fy n wili deny biraself, let hit taice op bis cross and follow Me; my yoke ie aweet and my burden fa light.” Be assured, to those who enter the re- life, He will give them abundant grace to reach life the ¢ross be borne patiently in # heroic e 4 called to do great things, but lit- manner. You have jilted the world, and ‘ul love for one wise love ix eternal, In which love ad a place from alleternity, This love He will ent to you to @ special manver if you remain faithful Revect, my dear child, that in the presence of your | tions, in the presence of countless angeln fn ven ath nt hand, to rt, you have to-day offered yourself to Is one who Is also a witness of this cer . ‘There Is a dear parent in heaven, who is looking at thie moment, and who eays, “Well done, ast chosen the better part.” Ob, happy, in- ed, art’ thou, for thourbast found grace with God. Bieswed art thou more than they who remain to struggle wit world. Happy wilt thou bo at the death, when Almighty it ) be faithful to Him, will meet then and say, “Well done, thon good and faithfil servant, since thon bast be talthful ower few things I will place thee over many. Knier thou Jnto the joys of thy Lord.” The rev id gentleman, proceeding to the vestinents of the kneeling postulant, began the blessing by the usual verse, ‘ Adjutorium rostrum the Lord’), and prayed that mised eternal joy to those who faithful, would bless the habit typical of humility of heart and contempt of the world, and at last bestow apon her about to assume it a happy immortality. He prinkled the habi put the veil with holy water, in the form of a cross, and in the same manner incensed them, ‘The Mistress of the Novices removed the orange blossoms from the head of Miss Thomas and cast them upon the floor, whence they were borne away by two little girls. With the assistance of the reverend Mother he then placed the veil upon the head of the postulant, saying, ‘ Accipejugum Domini; jugum ejus suave est, et onus ejus leve” (‘Receive the yoke of the Lord, for His yoke is sweet and His burden is light”). « Making the a of the cross over the postulant, he gave the final blessing, “May the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost bless thee, and ex- alt thee in holiness and love.” Accompanied by sod, who has pro- | an American | this principle with, ob, such lots of dainties, preserved boxes! No fashions? and each ambulance cc sists of a captain, two lieutenants, four sub ‘ten- ants, and 120 men all in the new uniform—dark blue trousers, aloose jacket, having two rows of buttons down the front, a felt hat (wide-awake shape), and on their breasts a sqe cloth, with a red cross upon it their hats ! The officers of this noble corps wear their collars as distinctive signs; one cates the sub-lientenant, two stand for » tenant, three for a captain, tin the kame cross on | | indi- lien- Each ambulance is under the direction of a surgeon, assisted by ten | majors, on horseback. The officers and medi sistants are all volunteers, the men who heip are alone paid, Is this not a new and splendid fashion to set among patriots? The flag of the ety is white, with the red cross in the contre ; itis to wave over every tent and break in the service ; the former are covered with green can- vas, and the first ambulance, with its six tents and eight chariots, leave for the frontier to-day. o fashions! and there has been a fuss about volunteer lady nurses, who object to the apron strings and white capa they are to wear. Ag much fuss as if a soft white hand could not reveal the lady under any garment; as if a white cap ever did conceal stray locks comp! ay } as if the “Chocolate Maid’ (in the Dresden Gallery), with apron and cap on, were not the most fascinating of maids. Ah! vanity, how bling! To be truthful Imust fay the fuss began with dy, who went off ona white horse as nurse, dre: in a tight-fitting riding habi mousquetaire sleeves, hat, boots and spurs! ‘Sh a nurse !”’ cried all sister volunteer females ‘a nurse ina white feather and spurs, while we, urisians, are not to hand so muchas a cup of the ‘four blossoms’ tea to a fainting officer with- outa nightcap on our heads! Hideous! a cap. enough to make our patients faint all through their recovery! No; we can’t cure officers on al | AS it is & grave case for the Committee on Volun- teer management. No fashions? and there are all the little Alsa- tin boys and girls running about in their corn- | fields with shakos on their heads, shakos so wide that fall down to the nearly over their sunny faces fore this! Because the French soldiers | have long sad they have had enongh of the absurd shako, & heavy headpiec bri with sonitand no front to protect the eyes; a whic kept their brains hot and ig on their temples; therefore, as soon as they got in the railway cars, out of the train win- | dows the shakoes were flung, and all have had to be humored with the sensible kepi. No fashions? And the upper officers are allowed to fight without epaulettes—an encumbrance in the pressed rauks and a mark for the enemy to shoot at. What sirs, pO new fashions’ and liere we have the nobility at Chalons, young fellows from the | legations, ‘creves and ‘ambassadors in ge obliged to lay down fine broadcloth for the coarse coat and cap with a scarlet band, and thus equip. ped, by the side of their ex-valets de pied, their cooks and hairdressers, to sit down to the rare bits of meat they can fish out of the depths of some tmysterions pan before them! No novel fashions? do I again ask, when he i the Archbishop of Paris sending bora to the wounded and having money colle dat Notre Dame, not for the chaira peo- ple kneel on, but for good Christian priests to be sent on the field, there to minister unto those who, dying, have messages of love and eternal fare. Wells to send unto absent fathers and mothers. Novel, this, indeed. No new styles? and whole families of the aris- tocracy are seen driving to the Strasbourg station all among crowds of the pressing populace, ne heir has taken service, and while his flinkeys sj high, in fine livery, he, the pride of the line, yea, | the last of the race, sits by my tearful lady’ dow | ager, with a knapsack and pair of nail-soled shoes on hia back. Is this not novel, my friends? No new fashions? let me inquire still; and the impe- | rial Prince, under his tent, has a w aiting maid, | who is nothing less ladylike than a grim pioneer, ® voltigeur, with bushy black bear Nothing new in high life? and the 1 her mistress the young lady retired trom the chapel to @ dressing room, where her bountifal hair was shorn, and her head covered by the white cap, which nearly conceals the face. When she returned to the chapel the bridal dress and its accompaniments had wholly disappeared, Cherbourg on being saluted by double artillery last week said in her modest manner “T will have no more powder or ball wasted for salutes in this way; let us keep all our sit for the enemy.” And there are ahuvdred more such feminine | Wouble with hel | do they want? ee @ C @ baties at court Leaving aride ull these pr tational novelties, thareg iy are deseribe. Black vel eing worked with fine white wool to imitate cluny, and looks much nicer, is employed as trimming for the head of flounces and fs very tasteful on black faille. Then there are ladders of cla nd black velvet dows for the looping up of tunics, Notice-—-The new bodice must be described also, as it is in- tended to go through what remains of this season and all the next—that is, as far as low bodices can go. It is open down the front, heart shape, and is very wide apart from shoulder to shoulder, the width lessening towards the waist. It is fae tened at about two inches from the band by 4 brooch, and another brooch, though mach wider, on account of the wider dis- tance anwara, fastens the front. A stand-up raff or plisse trims the neck behind, and ii flat on the bosom Ia front, diminishing, of © in width as the opening diminishes, but at the widest part in front the edges of the lace, ruff or plisse must meet. A very rich passementeri¢ or gimp, @ bouillon or ruche trims the opening af! the way round, crosses on the waistband in front wad is continued on the tunic, which is worn, os welt as basques behind, of the same material. The sleeve is tight to the elbow, and a flounce faults over the arm of the same, with a plisae underneath, to match the drapery on the bosom. y A great deal of gold and yellow braiding is worked on white and scarlet opera cloaks. They are still made with short waisted backs and fronts, and with long, sweeping sleeves, either richly fringed with silver and gold or balls on fine gimp heading. The wide military braid, here called Hercules, is much used in white silk on white cashmere cloaks. The old lady who is known as the ‘‘mother of the life-savers” is very partial to this Hercules. She weare it braided round her stout, maternal figure, which, by the Way, was seen to advant atthe meeting held this week. She opened de- liberations with a florid face and great 1 '. beginning her short speech with a sturdy ive I'Imperatrice! Vive ’Empereur! Vive le Prince Imperial! Ladies and gentlemen, I have sent forty of my children (tried life-savers) to Dun- kirk, They will follow the fleet and dive for all who may drop overboard!’’ ‘Vive the mother of the life-saving institution!’ exclaimed all, and all eyes gliatened, quite dazzled by the brilliancy of the many gold, silver and hh orders and medals which constellate the bosom of the apa: cleo matron of whom so many glorious deeds ari related. WHAT DO WOMEN WANT? A Wife's Ideas, To THe EDITOR OF THE HERALD :— Will you be so kind as to answer a question that IT cannot get @ satisfactory answer to, though I have often asked it, “What is the matter witn the women nowadays, or what do they want?” Inevery paper there 1s an article on woman’s rights, and lately the saleswomen are getting discontented, In one of the papers there is an account of one of their meetings, headed “The White Slaves,” Now, pray, how are they slaves’ I’m sare I and plenty more like me envy them, for Ihave been a saleswoman myself, and I know whatitis, Are all the strong, healthy women dying out and a weakly race coming in their stead, or do they want to be paid only to be dressed as dolls or figures in a hairdressers’ window, to be jooked at, more for ornament than use; ordo they want their employers to give them soft seafs and supply them with bou bous and the latest novela— | In their different departments , and engage littie boys to fan them? There they are in nice cool stores, » bodily exertion, with cash boys to attend ever sO much a8 cooking & meal for them- selves, or don’t put a stitch in ther clothes or wash a pocket hondkerehief, What pretty wives they will make. | married a man earning twenty dollars a week, and I want to Know ts there one saleswo- man out of one hundred does betier, Well, some more of my acquaintances (saleswomen) got mar- ried also, bat With this difference, they wereeither too lazy or did got know how to do anything, employed others vo do It, and must of couse go to the country every summer, dress up beyona their means, instead of helping a sober, industrious man to lay up a little for a rainy day or to try to make @n 4tnaependance. God help half the working men going! Instead of wives they get dolls. No wonder there ave so many divorce es, for any one will find that the lastest women are ite fondest of dress and must have it. No wonder tiere are so many drunken husbands, so mach qua ing and bitterness, 1 am not speaking of all women; only those who make such a time Fook women’s rights and those lazy, discontented yomen. Far better for Count Joannes or any jer sensible nan to tarn their time and attention worthier cause—not to advocate the single female but the married one, to try to reform 1 help of our country. Just think of it—a respectable married Woman, living on One floor, with three or four itule ebildren, not only standing on her feet alt day, but working barder than many slaves were worked down South, and in such weather as this, When ten minutes rest would be such a boon to the aching limbs, No one knows but the trae woman @ wife's and mother’s work, and where it is utterly fm possible to get help, not having all the modern Im- provements for them. No wonder we should have , SO many prating aboutj* woman's ‘ay What is woman’s rights—what At this rate the day will come when there will be women presidents a4 well a8 ministers, lawyers and doctors; we will have no more need of Men, Wey can be dispe “ad with, JORGINA GOAHEAD. them, rights.” Again, ANNEXATION OF NEW GUINEA TO THE UNITED STATES. To THE Eprror or THE HERaLD:— Permit me to make use of your columns for the purpose of proposing the colonization of the island of Papua or New Guinea, as an object well worthy the attention of the American people. That island, lying immediately north of Australia, and only second In size to it, is desirable as possessing @ soll | of unsurpassed fertllity, and having no population with the exception of a few savages. Sago, rice, tapioca and all the products of the tropics appear to be indigenous to it, and several of the most valu- able, it seems, spring up without culture from the soil. Papua 18 sald not to be unknown to the Chinese, who obtain fronf it an edible sea slug reckoned among their delicacies, and 1s, especialiy on the shores of Torres Straits, pepe n it from North Australia, particularly well adap! mode of cuitivauon. No European power seems to have any well defined claim, if any clatm at ali, to this vast and fertile territory, and its occupation 0; the United States, or at least by a colony of Amert- cans, would develop its resources ana benefit man- . Unit for white, it is eminently suited for Chinese labor, and it would therefore utilize the labor of emigrants ‘from that people without ex- citing jealousy Or complaint. It would form an un- equaled Held for American capital and enterprise, aud its possession would have the happlest effect in promoting Amertcan interests in the Kast and awivancing American power in that portion of the world, Bismarck has sought Ouba for purposes of Prussian aggrandizement. The possession.of Papua by the Americans would defeat any European pro: Jeot in reference to it, and, masters of Papua, you would ensure to yourselves supremacy in the Pacific whenever the English shall lose or abandon i, The A an colony at Papua would have « marked effect on the minds of the Australians and Poiy- nesians of Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Ceitic race, and ultimately prepare them for the annexation to you of the British possessions im that portion of the world and of all the islands of the South Seas, Aa 4 Quebec annexationist, and believing as 1 do that Britain 1s about to lose, or rather retire from, all her American, Polynesian, Australian and South African colonies, i desire to see the Americans acquire them,’ and, apart from tts own intrinsic value, which should be suficient of itself to start a company of adven- turers (like the British East Indian and the North- West companies) for its colonization, Papua wonid form a foothold from which the acquisition of the above hamed colonies would be almost reduced w a question of time, without counting the benefit de- rivable from Papua’s comparative proximity w Hindostan, China, Japan and “the settlements of the straits,’ the great Indian tslands aud, iu fact, wil your future heritage in Asia. CANADIAN ANNEXATIONIST. ORGANIZED OPposiTioN To JOHN CHINAMAN Tt CALIFORNIA. —It_ 18 rumored that a gang of rowdies have organized a society on this side of the buy “to clean out the Chinamen’’ who are employed in the harvest flelds. This floating rumor has existed some time, and fears have been eatertaiie! for the grain fields that they would be set on fire, and casual discoveries of the grain belong on fire imu different places has caused @ careful watch to be kept. Last week the Onine. menu were — attacked and their dweilings and property injured tn Unton City and Alvarado. On Sunday evening @ party of horsemen vistted this place, broke Into @ China house, demoushed the doors and windows, destroyed and carried off the ediects and scattered the Chinamen in all directions, severely wounding on the head one, puttang the eye out of another, and breaking the arm of the boss with a blow from a piece of Iron. ‘They then pro- ceeded to wash a house near the depot, and there broke in the doors and windowa, returning vowards Dry Creek a little after midnight. The peopie gene- rally in this place are indignant at acts of robbery and croelty, and are endeavoring to colleet every information to obtain the conviction before the courts of all connected with the outrage, and it is believed the parties connected with tho acu arg KLOWD—San Frankia Bulletite Augus) ily to their _