ENGLAND. Rev. Mr. Palmer.-A work has been lately published in London, written by a late member of the University of Oxford, and exhibiting the character of the Rev. Wm. Palmer, M. A. of Worcester College, as a controversialist. This Mr. Palmer is the polemical opponent of Dr. Wiseman. We hope that this work will soon be put into circulation in this country; on account of its concise mode of refuting the Oxford divine. In the meantime, we will quote from the Tablet the following specimen of the manner in which Mr. Palmer's tactics are exposed.

"The following passage gives first Mr. Palmer's accusation, and then the evidence in reply:

"1. The next three quotations (pp. 22, 23), are from a homily, 'In Annunciatione,' ascribed also to Damascenus. It appears from Ceillier, that Leo Allatius believes this homily to have been composed by Theodore Studites the younger. When this writer lived, I cannot at this moment discover, but the elder Theodore flourished in the ninth century, nearly a hundred years after the time of Damascenus. Ceillier observes, that there are passages in the homilies on the annunciation, which do not correspond with the modesty and gravity of this Father.'"

If Mr. Palmer had not been in so desperate a hurry to prove all Dr. Wiseman's citations spurious, he might have saved himself the disgrace of this exposure. Neither Ceillier or Leo Allatius say any thing that Mr. Palmer here attributes to them. If he will be kind enough to turn once more to Ceillier, he will find that this critic most distinctly acknowledges the genuineness of the homily cited by Dr. Wiseman. His words are these:

"The sixth (homily) is on the same mystery, (the Annunciation). St. Damascene, who never allows an opportunity to escape of showing his devotion to the Blessed Virgin, renders thanks to her in this sermon, because by means of her we have images representing Jesus Christ, the Roman empire enjoys a settled peace, and the arms of the Saracens have been defeated," &c. &c.

"The two next homilies are on the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin. Allatius ascribes the second to Theodore Studites the younger.

"It is in the first of these homilies on the Nativity that Ceillier absurdly says, that there are passages which do not correspond with the modesty and gravity of this Father;' but this homily Dr. Wiseman has no where quoted.

"The following condensed criticisin on Mr. Palmer is worth reading:

The Origines Liturgica, and the Treatise

on the Church, are Mr. Palmer's great works. The former of these, the only work of the kind ever written by a member of his communion (Brett wrote his after he had left the Church of England), owes every thing valuable in it to Renaudot, Assemani, and such writers. Wherever Mr. Palmer tries to be original, he falls into some disgraceful blunder. On the logic of this book I must say one or two words. It is writ ten to show the similarity between the Anglican and Primitive Liturgies. To prove his point, Mr. Palmer should have taken the Primitive Liturgies, and shown that the Anglican one contained the same things. He has, however reversed the plan, and proved nothing which any one would deny. Most heretics prove their perfect agreement with Scripture and antiquity in the same way. They show that Scripture and antiquity contain all the doctrines they believe. This, of course, no one denies. What we assert is, that Scripture and antiquity contain doctrines which they do not believe. And so with reference to the Liturgies. The Primitive Liturgies contain all that is contained in Protestant prayer-books, but they contain much more. The 'awful, unbloody, propitiatory sacrifice,' which is the very life and soul of all the Primitive Liturgies without exception, and to which every thing in them is made subservient, is cut out of the Anglican. To look in the latter for any sacrifice except that of praise and thanksgiving, which any layman is qualified (nay, bound) to offer, is like seeking for refreshing streams in that dry and thirsty land where no water is.' "The Treatise on the Church,' strange as it may appear, is neither more nor less than a castigated and Anglicanized version of such books as Tourneley, Bailly, and similar works, which every Catholic student is obliged to have at his finger's ends, before he is admitted to the priesthood. I think I might safely challenge Mr. Palmer to point out a single passage he has quoted from the Fathers, for which he is not indebted to our own theologians. No! if 'Ro manism' had really been neglectful of antiquity,' Mr. Palmer's work would never have been written, or at least would have been writ ten in a very different manner, both as to inatter and form."

Invocation of our Lady.-Traverse the whole of Europe, take your stand before its ancient monuments, interrogate them, ask who called them forth from the earth with all their wonders, and a voice will answer from the stones whereof they are built, from tradition, and from the annals of nations; Devotion to Mary. Fond devotion to her has adorned the Catholic world

with so many magnificent churches, so many rich abbeys, so many hospitals, so many poetic recollections. In France, once so Catholic, what churches, what chapels, what hospitals under the invocation of our lady, and what endearing titles are given to the divine Virgin. Here we have our lady of good help; there our lady of pity; a little farther on, our lady of universal joys; in another place, our lady of universal aid; near the hospitals, our lady of the seven dolours; there, where a victory has been gained, is our lady of victory; at the bottom of a valley is our lady of peace; on a mountain is our lady of grace; near the fleet is our lady of good port; and there our lady of deliverance, our lady of snow, our lady of the rocks, our lady of lilies, and our lady of angels.-Orthodox Mag.

Sisters of Mercy.-The Superioress of the House of Mercy in Baggot-street, Dublin, with seven other religious ladies of that convent, sailed from Kingstown, on Monday evening last, in order to take possession of the new establishment in Liverpool. The Superioress, it is expected, will return to the parent house after having laid the foundation of all things connected with the new and interesting branch, which it is expected will be fruitful of lasting benefits to religion and charity.—Tablet.

Conversion. We learn from the secular papers that Rev. Daniel Parkins, curate of Marden, Wiltz, an old Tractarian, has embraced the Catholic faith.-Catholic Herald.

GERMANY.-We quote the Univers :—

While, on the one side, the Rationalism of the day, engendered by the theory of individual interpretation in matters of faith and revelation, saps, with indefatigable effort, the German Protestantism, there is manifested, on the other hand, among the theologians of this communion (the German Lutheran), who would maintain the fundamental principles of Christianity, a tendency which has some analogy to the pri. mary notions which, in England, gave birth to Puseyism. Thus the Danish doctor, Claus Haums, a pastor at Kiel, has declared as the logical result of his reasoning on the relation between the Bible and the Church, that "the Church possesses and preserves the true understanding of the Scriptures." Speaking of the Protestant sects with which he comes in contact, and of their pastors, he says, I would undertake to write upon one of my nails all that at this day remains of their belief." Again, the Prussian pastor, Sintenis, of Magdeburg, preaching with indomitable zeal against the theory and practice, says, "Oh! it does little honor to our Protestant Church to enter on a controversy in this matter

with the Catholic Church, which, upon this point, does much more than ourselves maintain the original holiness of the conjugal tie; for, when the thing becomes inevitable, it pronounces the separation of the married, but it never permits the repetition of the sacrament of marriage to either. How can we Protestants, with any right or reason, demand for ourselves, and against the Catholic Church, the honor of adınitting the sacred Scriptures only as the measure of our faith and morals, since, in the matter of divorce at least, it is they, and not we, who hold fast by the written word of Jesus Christ and his disciples." This striking homage to the true evangelism of the Catholic faith was delivered in the ancient cathedral of Magdeburg, and opposite to the well-remembered inscription :

Expuls Antichristo 1567.

SANDWICH ISLANDS.-M. Huguenin, of Bordeaux, has received a letter from Father Tignac, procurator of the congregation of Picpus, dated Valparaiso, 28th October, 1842, in which it is stated that Father Maigret had informed him that eight thousand neophytes had already been made in the Sandwich Islands, notwithstanding the persecutions raised by the Protestant missionaries. The speedy conversion of all the inhabitants to the Catholic faith is likely to follow, if the Catholic missionaries be allowed to pursue their holy functions without molestation.-Catholic Herald.

CANADA.-Consecration of the Right Rev. Dr. Phelan as Coadjutor Bishop of Kingston.Agreeably to the announcements in the several papers, this important rite was performed at Montreal on the 20th of September, and occnpied the entire forenoon. An immense assemblage witnessed the grand and imposing scene, and we feel safe in affirming that when the newly consecrated prelate passed through the aisle of the church after his solemn inauguration, to administer his benediction to the thousands around him, never was a congregation more sensibly affected by the mingled feelings of devotion to God and reverence to a beloved pastor. Bishop Phelan proceeds forthwith to his Episcopal seat, whither he will be assuredly followed by the kindest wishes of all who were honored with his acquaintance, and who were witness of his useful labors in Canada East.Montreal Times.

DUELLING. In allusion to a deplorable affair of honor that recently took place in England, the London Times has the following sensible remarks. Were the conductors of the press generally to denounce, in the same terms, the bar

barous practice of duelling, they would contribute much towards advancing the civilization of the age:

"Let it be felt-and we trust to see the day when it will be felt-that the man who deliberately goes to Chalk Farm or elsewhere to shoot his fellow-man, and does shoot him, is a murderer. Whatever be his motive, whether absolute revenge, or the less atrocious but not less wholly inexcusable fear of being thought a coward, or an irrational habit of acquiescence in the demands of society, the law should have but one name for his act. He is subject to no physical necessity: it is a mere quibble to say he is defending his honor or his life. He does not disprove a slander or annul an injury by killing his slanderer. He cannot plead the necessity of defending a life which nothing but his own act has put in jeopardy. If the challenger, he is avenging, or affecting to avenge himself, and nothing more; if the challenged, he is defending himself by the death of his opponent, because he has not the independence or the courage to repair what he has done wrong, or to refuse "satisfaction" (as it is called) for what he has done right. But revenge, or frivolity, or pusillanimity, or habit, must not be allowed to impose their fantastic and unchristian notions on the law of England. They have too long done so, but we trust the time of their dominion is passing. Duelling has become generally ridiculous, when not ridiculous, hateful, and requires but a blow from authority to become the crime of a past age. Our day has plenty of its own to answer for let us at least get rid of this inherited stain, which is scarcely ours. It is upheld by a mere shadow, an opinion, an imagination. Men of sense despise it, men of religion hate it, men of determination rebel against it."

Those who would be better pleased with a more facetious, but equally lucid demonstration of the proposition, established by the Times, may read the following:

"The late eccentric mathematician, Professor Vince, of King's College, Cambridge, being once engaged in a conversation with a gentleman who advocated duelling, is said, to have thrown his adversary completely hors de combat, by the following acute and characteristic reply to his question :- But what could you do, sir, if a man told you to your very face 'you lie.'" "What cud I do? Why, I wudn't knock him down, but I'd tell him to pruv it. Pruv, sir, pruv, it,' I'd say. If he cudn't he'd be the liar, and there I shud have him; but if he did pruv that I'd lied, I must e'en pocket the affront, and there I expect the matter wud end.”—Tablet.

REV. MR. SIBTHORP.-The conversion of this able writer to the Catholic Church greatly annoys our Episcopalian brethren, who are endeavoring to show that it was no extraordinary event, if we consider the vague and ultra-Protestant notions of Mr. S. before his admission into the true fold. We are free to confess that we do not consider a conversion from Episcopalianism, more remarkable than one from any other sect of Christians, because, in the first place, the doctrine of the Church of England is by no means a settled point, and secondly, for this very reason, the Anglican Church is a most fruitful parent of religious doubt and perplexity, which the inquirer after truth finds it impossible to discard, until he enters the bosom of Catholicity. If Mr. Sibthorp passed from ultra-Protestant views to the faith of the Catholic Church, he did so, because the Anglican Church offered no rest to his mind. Even in this country, what is the Protestant Episcopal doctrine? Is it that propounded by Bishop Onderdonk of New York, or that which is upheld by Bishop McIlvaine of Ohio?

DOMESTIC.

ARCHDIOCESS OF BALTIMORE.-Ordination. An ordination was held by the Most Rev. Dr. Eccleston, in the chapel of St. Mary's Seminary, on the 2d Sept., on which occasion, Messrs. Timothy Reardon, John Norris, Edward McNerhany, Stephen Hubert and John Hayden received the holy tonsure; Mr. Win. D. Parsons received the four minor orders; and Messrs. O. L. Jenkins, Charles Brenan, Michael Slattery, and Thomas Foley were promoted to the order of subdeacon ship. On the next day, Sunday, Messrs. Joseph Maguire, Oliver L. Jenkins, and M. Slattery were advanced to the order of deaconship; and Rev. Wm. A. Blenkinsop, deacon, was promoted to the priesthood.

New Church and Fair.-A fair is to be opened in Calvert Hall, Baltimore, on the second of this month, for the benefit of St. Peter's church, the corner stone of which was laid on the 22d of May last, by Bishop Hughes of New York, assisted by Bishop Kenrick of St. Louis. This building has so far advanced as to be ready to receive the roof, which is now in progress. As soon as it is enclosed, the plastering will be commenced and every effort made to prepare the interior for service by Christmas day. Its size and design will render this building the greatest ornament of the western part of the city, and will entitle it to rank among the first class of ec clesiastical structures in this country. The following description of it may not prove unin

teresting to our subscribers. The building is designed in the Grecian style of architecture and in the Doric order. The front on Poppleton street measures sixty-eight feet, and the depth on Hollins street, one hundred and twenty-one feet. The chief characteristic of the design is the depth of the front portico, which, as seen from Baltimore street, will present a fine appearance. The portico will have six columns, behind which are an equal number of square pillars, four of which form the front of the open recessed vestibule; thus giving the richness of a double colonnade. The building is of brick, and is intended to be painted; the basement is of hammered granite, in courses; and the whole is constructed in a The whole enthoroughly substantial manner. tablature is executed in brick, moulded expressly to form its different parts, such as trygliphs, drops, &c. The interior will be finished with Corinthian pilasters, and an ornamental ceiling. A gallery is at the west end for the choir with large galleries above it for colored persons. There are to be no side galleries. The altar will present, for the first time in this city the ancient arrangement of a lofty canopy or ciborium, over the altar. In locating the Church due regard has been had in placing the axis east and west. The basement story, which is high and airy, is intended for school purposes, and is provided with an altar for its own service. A belfry will be erected over the sanctuary, preserving in its design, the Doric character of the edifice. The building is designed by R. C. Long, architect, and the work is executed under his superintendence by the following contractors, viz., for the granite work, Messrs. Emery & Gault, for the brickwork, Francis A. Gibbons, for the carpenter's work, McClaskey and Leakin, and for the plastering, Wilson and Griffen. Mr. Michael Warner, Jr. in the manufacture of the moulded bricks for the entablature, has succeeded admirably, and their introduction here will no doubt lead to a more extensive use of this material in an ornamental form. The roof is to be of metal and is to be executed by Mr. John Gross. A great part of the basement of this church was executed by gratuitous labor.

Immediately adjoining the church is the residence of the rector, the Rev. Edward McColgan, a neat and tasteful building in the Doric style, to correspond with the church to which it is attached. This property has been erected by and belongs to John McColgan, Esq., brother of the rector.

Official.-The Very Rev. James Ryder, S. J. has been appointed Provincial of the Society of Jesus, for the province of Maryland. .

NEW CHURCHES.-The corner stone of a new church (St. Peter's) was lately blessed in West Kensington, Philadelphia; also at Nicetown, Pa. On the 6th of August, Rev. Mr. Labbe performed the same ceremony at Biloxi, Mississippi.

NEW ORLEANS DISTURBANCES.- -Under this head the Catholic Advocate states the principal facts, connected with the late outrage perpetrated in the Catholic cemetery at New Orleans, by a set of Freemasons.

"It seems that the Freemasons desired to erect a masonic monument in the Catholic cemetery, as a common receptacle for the deceased members of their fraternity, and deputed one of their number to purchase the ground, without letting their intention be known.

The ground was purchased of the trustees of the Cathedral, and the masons, with much ceremony, took possession of it, laid the corner stone of their monument, delivered discourses in eulogy of their institution, &c. &c., and this too, in the consecrated city of the dead, which the Church by her laws protects from profane intrusion. The news of this strange and most uncatholic procedure, reached the bishop's ears, and as his duty required, he forthwith caused an investigation to be made. It turned out that the president of the board of trustees was also grand master of the lodge, and that the members of the board approved the desecration of the cemetery, being more solicitous for the honor of the secret society, of which the Catholic Church disapproves, than for the glory of the religion and the Church for which they pretend to feel interest as trustees of the New Orleans Cathedral. The bishop discharged the duty marked out for him by the laws and discipline of the Church, and they denounce him. They have the ridiculous effrontery to call themselves "Catholic Freemasons," as if such a thing were possible, and speak of their bishop and clergy in the most disrespectful manner.

The fact is evident that they have neither religion, respect for religion, nor perhaps even a correct knowledge of what the faith and discipline of the Catholic Church are. They know that they have it in their power to give trouble, and they are determined to do so.

These pretended Catholic Freemasons seem to make slight account of the fact that their institution, with its secret oath, is disapproved of by the Catholic Church; that the clergy cannot admit to the sacraments those who are members of such secret associations; that consequently those who die without withdrawing from such societies, are not buried with the rites of religion, nor their remains interred in consecrated ground;

of all these facts they make slight account, because they are Catholics, of a new sort; Catholics upon the conditions most agreeable to themselves; Catholics as far as suits their convenience; liberal, philosophical, free-thinking Catholics, who in the plenitude of their self-sufficiency, are superior to councils, popes, and bishops; Catholics who are determined to go to heaven their own way, and for whose salvation such paltry virtues, as faith, obedience, humility, a resort to the sacraments, and a respect for the prelates placed over them to advise, warn, instruct, reprove, encourage and govern them, are by no means required. They are Catholic freemasons, forsooth! who, in place of doing any good for religion, labor with zeal and warmth to prevent the good of religion, to excite prejudice against the bishop and clergy, to stir up the passions of the irreligious multitude, to break down those salutary spiritual sanctions which have been wisely designed by the Church to give efficacy and force to her discipline. Such persons would do much better, both for themselves and the Catholic community at large, to withdraw altogether from the household of faith, since the worst enemies of a man are those of his own household."

AMERICAN BOARD OF MISSIONS.-Report.The number who have joined the missions is nine less than have been removed by deaths and dismissions.

Of the Missionary Herald, twenty-one thousand copies, and of the Dayspring fifty-thousand copies have been published monthly.

The amount received into the treasury of the board during the year ending on the 31st of July last, was $244,224 43; and the amount of payments was $257,247 25; leaving the treasury indebted to the amount of $13,022 82.

The number of missions sustained during the year is twenty-six; connected with which are eighty-six stations, at which are laboring one hundred and thirty-one ordained missionaries, eight of whom are physicians, eight other physicians, fifteen teachers, ten printers and bookbinders, six other male and one hundred and seventy-eight female assistant missionaries, making the whole number of missionary laborers sent from this country and sustained by the board, three hundred and forty-eight, which is eight less than the number last year. If to these be added fourteen native preachers, and one hundred and sixteen other native helpers, the whole number of missionary laborers connected with the missions and sustained from the treasury of the board, will be four hundred and seventy-eight, which is ten less than were re

ported last year. Of these missionary laborers, four ordained missionaries, and two male and nine female assistant missionaries, in all fifteen, have been sent forth during the last year, being the least number of preachers, and the least number, including all classes of laborers, that has been sent forth during any year since 1831.

Organised by these missions, and under their pastoral care, are sixty-two churches, to which have been received during the last year, two thousand, six hundred and ninety; and which now embrace, in regular standing, twenty thousand, seven hundred and ninety-seven members. This number does not include some hundreds of hopeful converts among the Armenians, Nestorians, and other communities in Western Asia. The number of printing establishments connected with the missions is sixteen, with four type foundries, forty-three founts of type, and thirty presses. Printing has been executed for the missions in thirty-three languages, exclusive of the English, fifteen of which were first reduced to a written form by the missionaries of this board. The copies of works printed at the mission presses during the past year exceed six hundred thousand, and the number of pages about fifty-six millions, three hundred and eightythree thousand; making the total number of pages printed for the missions since they commenced, about four hundred and forty-two millions, fiftysix thousand, one hundred and eighty-five.

is

In the department of education the missionaries have under their care seven seminaries for educating preachers and teachers, in which are six hundred and ninety-nine pupils, more than four hundred of whom are girls. Of free schools the number is six hundred and ten, containing thirty thousand, seven hundred and seventyeight; making the whole number of pupils under the care of the missions, thirty-two thousand.

A Low EXPEDIENT.-The South. Churchman, an Episcopalian paper, has disgraced its pages by the introduction of a series of questions and answers called a Roman Catholic catechism with Bible answers, extracted from the Protestant Vindicator. The series commences as follows: Question.-Who made you? Answer.-God.

Q. Who is God?

A. He is the Son of the Blessed Virgin Mary. (See Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary.) Bible Answer. He is the Creator of heaven and earth. (See Genesis i, and John i.) Q. Who is the Virgin Mary? A. She is the queen of heaven, refuge of sinners, morning star, and gate of heaven. (See office of the Rosary in any Popish prayer book.)