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tress of novices, a mistress-general, and a sister to have charge of the gates and doors. Those six discreets form her council.

The constitution then proceeds to define the duties and powers of each officer; makes it the duty of the superioress to be extremely careful that the rule, constitutions, and regulations be exactly observed by herself and her community: gives to her a power of occasionally dispensing, for good cause, with the minor observances, when she sees such dispensation to be according to the spirit of the institute. The power of dispensing occasionally, for good cause, in the greater observances is given to her, provided that the superior and the council shall deem the cause sufficient. The strict

est impartiality is enjoined. The superioress is to preside at all assemblies, to inspect all places, to see all affairs properly managed, and assisted by her principal officers to examine accounts and regulate disbursements. She is to inspect the schools and to require from all the persons in charge frequent reports of their several duties, the manner of their performance, and to receive their other communications. Other details of her various duties are given at considerable length. The assistant aids the superioress in all her duties, and supplies her place when she cannot attend. She is specially to superintend the housekeeping and diet of the boarders, and the conduct of the lay-sisters. She will see also that no one of the commu

extent, and with great judgment directed by experience.

The duty of the mistress-general regards the schools, the method of instruction, the qualifications of those who desire to become pupils their progress in literature, morality, piety, and becoming accomplishments; her obligations are extensively pointed out. Sufficient directions are also given for the proper discharge of her duty to the sister who has charge of the keys. Her duties are also indicated to the sister who is secretary, as well for recording as for authenticating and preserving the acts of the council as of the chapter, and making the necessary communications to other monasteries.

The mode of examining applicants, by the various officers, the mode of their admission when approved, their remaining three or six months as postulants; the mode of their examination and reception as novices when approved; their duties during the two years of their noviciate; the mode in which novices are to petition the chapter, and to present themselves for examination to each of its members; their second petition; their third petition; their examination by the bishop, if the community consents to their if the bishop is satisfied of their perfect admission; their preparation for profession, freedom, earnest desire to discharge the duties of the institute and of their capacity, are set forth in detail. After profession, except where there are not twelve professed nuns in a monastery, the new sister remains four years without a vote, and is ineligible chapter amounts to twenty-five, no new sisto any office; and when the number in the ter shall have a vote until twelve years after her profession, unless to fill any vacancy The zelatrice is specially charged with that may occur. Lay sisters have no votes. the preservation of order and discipline, and Should any person entitled to vote be dethe procuring of provisions and clothing. tected canvassing either publicly or priShould the superioress neglect her more im-vately for votes upon any question, it shall portant duties; it is the duty of the zelatrice to bring it under the observation of the superior and the council. She also supplies the place of the assistant and that of the superioress, should the one or both be unable to attend.

nity wants what is necessary, and should she observe any such want, though the individual should have concealed it through delicacy, she shall inform the superioress, and procure that it be supplied.

The treasurer will receive and expend the money of the community, see that the buildings and fixtures be kept in repair, her duties and the time and mode of keeping her accounts are given in detail and with precision.

The duties of the mistress of novices in training up her charge to solid and tender piety, and discriminating between those who have truly the spirit of their state, and those who ought not to be permitted to make religious vows, are given in sufficient

be submitted to the discretion of the superior whether it is not fit to disqualify such person from voting upon that question. Members of the chapter publishing the manner in which individuals voted, are suspended from their place in that body, and from their own right of vote.

Thus it will be seen that the leading features of this constitution are manifestly of a republican character.

It is the boast of many of our writers, that the true spirit of republicanism was never fully developed until the formation of our state constitutions. They tell us that Greece never knew its influence; that it was a stranger to Rome: that the Italian republics were but aristocratical or oligarchical states, in which the supreme power was as

sumed either by privileged companies, or by powerful associations. They say that true republicanism requires a written and an intelligible constitution, which recognises no individual above the community, or not amenable to that community for his acts as they are connected with its interests; that the rule of government must be the expressed reasonable will of the body at large; that no one shall have either a vested or an hereditary right to office or to place; that the offices are created for the benefit of the body at large, and not for the decoration or the enrichment of the individuals chosen to perform their duties; that in order to prevent monopoly of power, there should be rotation in service; that to prevent abuse, caprice, and despotism, there should be accountability; and that to secure the general benefit by the correction of a mistake, there should exist a power in some discreet tribunal, of removing an ill-disposed or an incompetent officer, and of substituting one more honest and more efficient. This the compiler acknowledges to be the perfection of republicanism. And all this is provided for by the constitution of the Ursuline

order.

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tanburgh, as appears from ancient monuments and Belgic historians, produced by Archbishop Usher. Ursula and her companions, the exact number of whom is not ascertained, appear to have fled from Britain at this period, and to have endured a glorious martyrdom in defence of their purity, against the assaults of some savage Huns, belonging to an army that in the fifth century overran and plundered the Belgic territory, devastating it with fire and sword and indulging in every criminal excess. The number of Christians that perished on this occasion might have exceeded ten thousand, of whom Ursula and her band of virgins were the most conspicuous not only for their heroic virtue, but for their exhortations and the animating encouragement of their devotedness, thus giving a bright and useful example to the others. They are mentioned in the Roman martyrology; ancient calendars, copied by Usuard, mention Saula, Martha, and their companions, virgins and martyrs at Cologne, on the 20th of October, it is not very easy to determine whether they were of the same company. Geoffry of Monmouth, places the martyrdom of Ursula and her companions in the reign of Maximus, towards the close of the fourth century. Sigebert's chronicle fixes the date much later, in 453: the interpolator of this chronicle, and Archbishop Usher, fix it in the middle of the fifth century, or about 450.

They suffered near the lower Rhine, and were buried at Cologne, and according to the custom of that period, a church was soon built over their relics. In 643, when St. Cunibert was chosen archbishop of this See, the church was famous, and much visited. St. Hanno was archbishop in the eleventh century, and paid great devotion to the holy martyrs: he frequently remained whole nights at prayer in this church at their tomb, where many miracles had been wrought. Portions of their relics have been carried to very many places, and their memory has, during successive ages, been highly honoured by the devotion of the faithful.

St. Ursula, who was the model and the guide of so many holy virgins, whom she led through the contest of martyrdom to victory in Christ, has been long regarded as a model and patroness of those who undertake the Christian instruction of young females. Nor has she been overlooked by those who had to educate the other sex. The famous college of the Sorbonne in Paris is under her patronage, and its Church was dedicated to God under her invocation.

(B.)

ST. AUGUSTINE.

This great doctor of the church was born at Tagaste, a small town of Numidia, in Africa, on the 13th of November, in the year 354. His father was Patricius, a man of sufficient wealth, but who did not become a Christian until a little before his death in 371. His mother was the exemplary Monica, who from her tender years was educated in the belief and practice of our holy religion, and died in the odour of sanctity at Ostia, near Rome, on the thirty-third anniversary of her son's birth, November 13th,

387.

During his youth Augustine was made a catechumen, having been marked with the sign of the cross, and received the blessed salt. His extraordinary talents were manifest in his childhood, and his father spared no expense in obtaining for him the best instruction that could be procured at Tagaste, Madaura, and at Carthage. He unfortunately fell into bad company, and indulged in habits of vice. In the 19th year of his age he was drawn into the Manichean heresy. In his 20th year he opened a grammar school at Tagaste; but his mother was afflicted at his errors, over which she bitterly wept. Having lost a dear friend by death, he returned to Carthage, opened a school of rhetoric, and gained great applause. Disgusted with the rudeness of the scholars at Carthage, and shocked at the excesses of the students, he went to Rome, where he understood a better discipline prevailed. Here he continued, with great credit, in his profession of rhetorician: and was chosen by Symmachus, the prefect of the city, who was himself an excellent orator, to go to Milan, where the emperor Valentinian the Younger kept his court, in order to continue his profession, at the request of deputies from that city.

In Milan he received great applause, and was favoured with particular kindness by the holy Ambrose, bishop of that see, a man excelled by very few in sound judgment, dignified deportment, and rich, impressive eloquence. Augustine frequently went to hear the discourses of the sainted prelate, not that he valued his doctrine but that he admired his style. Gradually the misrepresentations of the Catholic tenets, which had fostered so many prejudices in his mind, were dissipated. He dreaded to trust himself farther, lest he should be convinced of the truth of a religion that he had determined to avoid embracing; and he sought after honours, wealth and an advantageous marriage. But a simple occurrence

taught him, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the folly of human ambition.

Honoured and admired he was chosen to deliver a public oration, at which the principal officers of the empire were to attend. Anxious for success, he feared for the result, and passing through the streets he saw a poor beggar, laughing and merry at having been rather fortunate in the quantity of alms that he obtained. He saw that happiness was not the result of wealth, nor of fame, nor of power, nor of their union.

Yet was he perplexed to discover truth where he wished to find it, and unwilling to seek it where it could be had. The works of the ancient masters of philosophy and the systems of the heretics, who surrounding the church, yet belonged not to it, were examined in vain. The sacred volume was conned over, but, though it exhibited much to gratify, yet still his understanding could not feel satisfied. He, even against his own feelings and to the mortification of his pride, sought a guide. He addressed himself to Simplician, a priest of Milan, sent formerly from Rome by Pope Damasus at the request of Ambrose, to be his instructor, when he was compelled by the general wish to relinquish the office of judge to undertake that of bishop. Simplician related to him the history of Victorinus, in whose conversion he had been instrumental, and who had a statue erected to him at Rome for his success as a rhetorician, previous to his embracing Christianity. United in friendship with Alipius, a young man nearly in the same circumstances, and living with St. Monica, who had followed him from Africa, after deep study, profound meditation, and a powerful struggle, Augustine declared himself a convert in the month of August, or September, 386. Retiring from the bustle of public life, with a few other associates, they gave themselves up to prayer and penitential exercises; and in the lent of 387, he had his name entered among the competent, and went through the usual ceremonies previous to baptism: and, together with his friend Alipius and some others, was baptized on Easter Eve of that year by St. Ambrose, for which occasion they had composed the hymn Te Deum laudamus.

He remained for a short time at Milan, during which period the relics of SS. Gervase and Protase were discovered; he was witness to some miracles, wrought on persons who touched them. He then determined to return to Africa and lead a life of religious retirement, and embarked for the purpose at Rome, but his mother dying at Ostia, he returned to the city and deferred his voyage to the next year. Landing in

Carthage in 388, he soon retired to his house in the country: and bestowing a considerable property on the church of Tagaste, and reserving a competency for his own purposes, he formed a religious community of men who lived together under a rule which he drew up.

He was, however, not permitted to remain in his loved retreat; he was sought after, ordained priest, and obliged to go to the city of Hippo, of which Valerius was bishop. There he founded a new monastery, out of which came some of the most eminent bishops. Valerius fearing that some other church would claim Augustine for its bishop, and himself sinking into years, procured to have him consecrated to aid and to succeed him: thus was he raised to the episcopacy in December, 395. Henceforth he was incessantly employed in preaching, in writing, and in the administration of the other duties of his charge. His works are considered the standard evidences of most of the doctrines of the church, and they are as voluminous as they are valuable. His disputes against the heretics, who corrupted the doctrine of the church, were incessant.

After he became bishop, he founded a nunnery, of which his sister, a widow who had renounced the world, became the first superioress; after her death, Felicitas, the oldest of the nuns, was chosen to succeed her: but several being discontented, desired to have substituted for her another, whom they preferred. St. Augustine addressed a letter to Felicitas, and to Rusticus, the priest, who was their superior, and to the nuns, by which he put an end to the unfortunate division. He then sent them another letter, containing the monastic rule which they received, and which has since been so extensively adopted.

When, in 425, the Vandals under Genseric passed from Spain into Africa, with an army of 80,000 men, desolation followed, as terror went before them; and on this occasion, St. Augustine exhibited as much of the true love of country, and generous devotion to his people, as he did of the other virtues of a Christian pastor. In May, 430, the Vandals laid siege to Hippo by sea and by land: and in the third month of the siege, Augustine was seized by fever. He made every preparation for that other world, where he had to undergo a judgment; but, faithful to divine grace, he was sustained by the hand of God, and rendered up his soul to the Lord in the seventy-sixth year of his age, on the 29th of August, 430.

(C.)

general, that the spirit of the Catholic religion is in favour of forcing persons to enter the monastic state; and that however they may be induced by deceit, or compelled by fear, to go through the form of a religious profession, they are thereby considered as irrevocably bound to the order.

Instead of spreading before the reader long extracts of canon law, and several decisions of the highest ecclesiastical tribunal, all scrupulously protecting the freedom of the individual, the following remarks and extract will perhaps suffice at present to correct this general error.

In the first place, no person can be received into a monastery, except after repeated application and minute examination. Secondly; having entered, the applicant does not receive the habit, makes no promise, is under no obligation, but is under continual observation, to discover whether her disposition and manner would make it probable that she might be received, consistently with the peace, the welfare, and the comfort of the inmates, which would not be secured by having in the community a person who had been deceived, or was not content.

Thirdly. No postulant can be admitted to receive the habit, and thus become a novice, except after repeated requests on her part, and acquiescence on the part of the community.

Fourthly. A novice makes no vow, is under no obligation of remaining an hour or a minute in the convent; and if she leaves it, she loses no church right or privilege thereby.

Fifthly. An Ursuline novice cannot be admitted to profession, that is, to make her vows, except by the votes of the community, the consent of the superior, and the approbation of the bishop, after he shall, in a private examination, have satisfied himself not only of her perfect freedom, but also of her anxiety upon reasonable grounds, and her qualification for the duties of the order nor can any of those steps be taken, until after she shall have at three different times made an urgent request for that purpose.

Sixthly. The law of the church provides, notwithstanding all these precautions, that even after the vows have been pronounced, a fully sufficient time shall be given to the person who pronounced them, to show to the bishop evidence of their invalidity; and upon such evidence being established, the bishop or other ecclesiastical judge, is bound to deliver her from the convent.

Seventhly. In the United States, whether the vows be valid or not, she can obtain

The impression is unfortunately very immediate liberation, by having applica

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tion made to any judge for a writ of Habeas the said plea be made within five years at Corpus, and afterwards have those who farthest, from the day of profession, and restrained her punished for false impri- then not otherwise, save by such person regularly bringing such plea and the allegations upon which it is to be sustained, before the superiors and the ordinary. But should such person, previous to such process, willingly have laid aside the habit, let not such person then be admitted to

Eighthly. The Council of Trent regulated that the time within which a person might plead compulsion, should be limited to five years after profession.

EXTRACT FROM THE ACTS OF THE COUNCIL OF plead or to allege any cause, but be required

TRENT.

Sess. xxv. cap. 19. de Reform. "Should any religious person assert that he (or she) entered the religious state under compulsion and fear, or say that he (or she) was professed before the lawful age, or urge any such plea, and desire to put off the habit of religion on any ground, or to go away with the religious habit, without the license of the superiors-let not such person be heard upon any such plea, unless

to return to the monastery, and be treated as an apostate, and in the mean time not be permitted to enjoy any privilege of the order."

The above was passed on the 4th of December, 1563.

In this country, the only punishment of apostates is excommunication and privation of church privileges, until they repent and return to observe their rule; neither is there any power to compel their return, unless the power of their conscience.

DISCOURSE,

PREACHED AT THE CATHEDRAL OF THE HOLY CROSS IN FRANKLIN STREET, BOSTON, ON FRIDAY, MAY 14TH, 1841, BEING THE DAY OF A GENERAL FAST THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES.

[It is certain, from the testimony of some of the best judges of eloquence, that the eulogiums which have been accorded to Dr. England as an orator, were merited. At the same time, it can scarcely be necessary to say, that the specimens of his discourses here given, afford no just idea of what they really were. Written essays and spoken orations are essentially different; and it is often impossible to transfer and perpetuate the highest efforts of eloquence upon paper. Hence, they are among the most evanescent of human works; and, for this reason, we must simply esti mate Dr. England as a writer from his published compositions, and derive our knowledge of his merits as an orator from those who heard him.]

46

From the Boston Pilot, May 22. "RIGHT REV. BISHOP ENGLAND.

The visit of this distinguished Catholic prelate to our city, has created an excitement honourable alike to the eminent divine, and to our Catholic community. Thus the community generally were on the qui vive, when it was announced that he would preach on Friday last, the national fast, proclaimed by the President. The church was filled, and all were impressed with his perspicuous and forcible style of oratory. It was indeed a discourse glowing with the purest and most enlightened spirit of a Christian citizen. He passed an eloquent eulogium upon the institutions of our country, and throughout evinced the most liberal and forgiving sentiments to wards a certain class in Massachusetts who have given us but little reason to entertain for them kindly feelings. He preached again on Sunday during forenoon service. His sermon occupied two hours and a quarter; it was the most brilliant discourse it has ever been our pleasure to listen to from any pulpit. None but those who listened to it can have the remotest conception of its surpassing eloquence and power; close,

logical, and perspicuous; abounding in allegorical pictures of thrilling and overpowering in. terest; at times hurrying on rapidly with the enumeration of the distinctive features of the Catholic faith; again calm, majestic, argumentative, convincing. He played not lightly with the common proofs of Catholicity; but grasped its great truths, the basis of the divine structure; and overthrew, with the clearness of a mind of transcendant power, the sophisms of those who have arrayed themselves against the Church of Rome. We will not attempt to give a sketch of the discourse; to do so would be a vain and futile undertaking;-its irrefutable positions, and the exalted powers of reasoning of the orator, may be reduced to paper; but the deep, impassioned earnestness-the majestic eloquencethe eye kindled with the fire of divine truththe form rising with the lofty conceptions of the mind, and the mute eloquence of the countenance, are characteristics of the sermon, that none but those who saw, can know. The church was filled to its utmost capacity, and we were pleased to see some of our most distinguished citizens present and listening with the most riveted attention to the Bishop, during his lengthy discourse. Indeed, it is impossible that

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