Of the 40 or more Roman Catholic church-edifices in New York City, there are others, besides the above-mentioned, which are large and costly; as the church of the Most Holy Redeemer, in 3d st., also belonging to the Redemptorists, which is very large, and richly decorated with marble columns and a magnificent altar; St. Stephen's, in E. 28th st., which has been called one of the grandest churches in the city; the present St. Patrick's cathedral, on the corner of Prince and Mott streets, &c.

On the 1st of January, 1871, a new Roman Catholic church was also dedicated in Trenton, N. J. This is of freestone, in the later Gothic style, 160 feet deep and 66 wide, with a roof 80 feet high and a spire to be 210 feet, the whole to cost, when completed, $140,000.

Of the 40 Roman Catholic churches in the city and county of Philadelphia, the cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul, built of red sandstone in the Roman style, and crowned with a dome 210 feet high, is one of the largest and most costly churches in Philadelphia; the church of the Assumption, also of sandstone, but Gothic, with 2 towers and spires, has much architectural interest, &c.

Baltimore has 16 Roman Catholic churches besides the cathedral, and many chapels. St. Alphonsus's church, St.

Vincent de Paul's, &c., are large and elegant.

Washington City has no less than 9 Roman Catholic churches, besides the "Chapel of Blessed Martin de Porras," for colored people.

In some cities the Roman Catholic churches both in size and in number surpass those of any other denomination. In New Orleans, they have 25 churches, besides the new one for the Redemptorists. The cathedral of St. Louis, erected in 1850, is a noble Gothic edifice with two lofty towers in front. In St. Louis, they have about the same number as in New Orleans, and here also St. Louis's cathedral is a very imposing structure, 136 feet by 84, with a polished freestone front and Doric portico, and a chime of bells in its tower. Chicago has

26 Roman Catholic churches, the cathedral of the Holy Name and St. Patrick's church being among the largest and most. elegant religious edifices in the city. In Cincinnati, the number is still larger, and includes St. Peter's cathedral, which is regarded as perhaps the finest building of its kind in the West. This cathedral is 200 feet long, 80 broad, and 60 high, with a spire 250 feet high, and cost, with the ground, $114,000. Its roof is principally supported by 18 Corinthian fluted pillars of freestone, each 3 feet in diameter and 35 in height. The ceiling is of stucco-work, rich and expensive; the roof is covered with iron plates; the organ is of immense size, having 2,700 pipes and 44 stops; the altar is of the purest Carrara marble, beautifully embellished; the painting of St. Peter is by the celebrated Spanish artist Murillo, and was presented by Cardinal Fesch, uncle of Napoleon. In San Francisco, which was owned and occupied for nearly 60 years (1776-1834) by the Roman, Catholic Mission of San Francisco de Assisi, there are now 10 or 12 churches of that denomination, including St. Mary's cathedral, on the corner of California and Dupont streets, and the church of St. Francis of Assisium on Vallejo street, which are among the principal churches of that flourishing city.

The "Catholic Chronology for the United States," in the Catholic Almanac for 1871, contains the names and dates of 26 corner-stones of Roman Catholic churches laid in the 12 months ending Sept. 1, 1870, and of 36 churches and chapels dedicated during the same period. The 26 corner-stones laid were in 14 different states, viz.: N. H., 1; Mass., 2; R. I., 1; Ct., 1; N. Y., 8; N. J., 3, including the cathedral at Newark; Pa., 2; Del., 1; Va., 1; Mich., 1; Wis., 1; Minn., 1; Mo., 2, including the cathedral at St. Joseph; Cal., 1, of the cathedral at San Francisco. The 36 dedications were also in 14 states, viz.: Me., 1 cathedral; Mass., 5 churches; Ct., 1; N. Y., 11, including 4 in New York city; N. J., 4, including the cathedral-chapel; Pa., 3; Md., 2; Ala., 2; La., 1; Ky., 1; O., 2; Ill., 1; Minn., 1; Cal., 1. 20 of the corner-stones were

laid on Sunday; 2 on Wednesday; and 4 on Thursday. 27 of the churches and chapels were dedicated on Sunday; 1 on Monday; 1 on Wednesday; 5 on Thursday; 2 on Saturday.

The Roman Catholics exercise great shrewdness in the location, erection, decoration and use of their church-edifices. They select the most eligible sites; build, often slowly, but of the choicest and most durable materials; and they not unfre quently, in cities, use the same edifice for 3 or 4 different congregations on Sundays. They lay every art and science under tribute to heighten the scenic effect-to please-to captivateto bring into complete subjection to their own religious and ecclesiastical system. In reference to their claim to have seized and subordinated to their religion all the fine arts in their highest possible perfection and splendor, Rev. John Cumming, D. D., of the Scotch Presbyterian Church in London, Eng., speaks thus:

"The Sistine chapel and the dome of St. Peter's are radiant with the magnificent creations of Raphael and Michael Angelo. The Flemish churches have in them all the masterpieces of Rubens, and many of the Spanish and Portuguese churches the chefs d'œuvre [= masterpieces] of Murillo. Moreover, the works of the artists are essentially Romish. They lavished their splendid powers, not on Christianity, but on Romanism. The gems of Raphael are Madonnas [= pictures of my Lady, i. e., the Virgin Mary]. Titian's best production is a Virgin and child, and Guido's great work is the Madonna della pieta [my Lady of Piety]. Mozart and Haydn lent their magnificent music to the Romish masses. To many this splendid outside has been sufficient evidence that all is pure within. If you look at its magnificent cathedrals, ... you see the very stone seeming to burst into blossom, and the interior presenting a magnificence so grand that the man has no taste who does not admire it. He only has no Christianity who thinks there is no salvation without it. But after all, if I wished to see the noblest cathedral in the world, and to worship in the grandest, I would ask you to come to the blue hills which I have trodden in my younger days, where the living rock is the only pulpit, the vast ravine the only cathedral aisle, where God's thunder celebrates his power, and lightning writes his glory in the sky, and the anthem peals from six

thousand voices worshiping the LORD of hosts-and all your magnificent cathedrals sink into paltriness in comparison with a sight so grand, a spectacle so august. After all, if I wanted pictures, let me have GOD's emphatic portrait of himself, the Bible. Let me read there an autograph of Deity. Let me take the true crucifix, the 53d chapter of Isaiah-that is the Protestant crucifix-and study it, instead of looking at a piece of inanimate wood. Then we shall act like Christians, because we shall be doing what Scripture tells us. If we have no splendid images and paintings in our churches, let our lives be living likenesses of CHRIST JESUS. If we have not many splendidly decorated churches, let our bodies be temples of the HOLY GHOST. If we have not swinging censers, and incense rising to the sky, let us lift up holy hands unto GOD. If we are not Roman Catholics, but Catholics, let us live like Christians, and see that there is Christianity beyond the horizon of the church, or sect, or party to which you belong."

CHAPTER XXI.

CHURCH-PROPERTY AND REVENUES.

THE Ownership of church-property is a matter in which many feel a deep and abiding interest; and it is certainly not a thing of trifling importance. Nor is it neglected in the attention of the ecclesiastical authorities to the multitudinous details of the Roman Catholic system.

It was formerly the case in this country that the Roman Catholic church-edifices and other church-property in any parish was usually held and controlled by trustees appointed by the donors or by the people for whose benefit the church, &c., existed; but the late bishop England of Charleston (John England, D. D., bishop 1820-42) complained that this "trustee-system" was one of the greatest obstacles in the way of the Roman Catholic church in this country, and since his time a great change has been effected in the tenure and control of Roman Catholic church-property in the United States.

The 2d plenary council of Baltimore, held in 1866, devotes 10 pages of its "Acts and Decrees" to the tenure and safekeeping of churches and ecclesiastical property, and recites various decrees passed by the provincial councils of Baltimore, &c., in respect to this matter. From this source are translated or epitomized the following particulars:

The first council of Baltimore say:

"... We greatly desire, that no church hereafter be erected or consecrated, unless it shall have been assigned by a written instrument, whenever possible, to the bishop in whose diocese it is to be erected, for divine worship and the use of the faithful, the privileges of Regulars being preserved unimpaired. ..."