The Catholic World Volume Iii Part 61

A sword which had never been drawn except in a just and holy cause decorated the aged man's coffin, but that of the child cut down at the threshold of life was covered with the white flowers which she had so piously loved.

To-day the mansion of the Tour-d'Adams is inhabited by M. and Mme. de Mirefont, Mme. du Castellet, her nephew Gaston, and her niece, Louise.

A room hung with crowns and wreaths of artificial jasmine serves as the family oratory.

No one ever penetrates there except with recollection.

The servants call it the saints' chamber.

It is that whence rose toward heaven, as an agreeable perfume to G.o.d, the soul of a maiden dying in all the purity of first innocence; dead without knowing there existed a forbidden fruit; dead because she loved with that celestial love which belongs only to the angels in paradise.

From The Month.

BURY THE DEAD

"Give me a grave, that I made bury my dead out of my sight."--Genesis xxiii.

Enwrapt in fair white shroud.

With fragrant flowers strewn.

With loving tears and holy prayers, And wailing loud, Shut out the light!

Bury the Dead, bury the Dead, Out of my sight!

{380} Corruption's touch will wrong The sacred Dead too soon; Then wreath the brow, the eyelids kiss; Delay not long, Behold the blight!

Bury the Dead, bury the Dead, Out of our sight!

But there are other Dead That will not buried be, That walk about in glaring day With noiseless tread.

And stalk at night; Unburied Dead, unburied Dead, Ever in sight.

Dear friendships snapt in twain.

Sweet confidence betrayed, Old hopes forsworn, old loves worn out, Vows pledged in vain.

There is no flight, Ye living, unrelenting Dead, Out of your sight.

Oh! for a grave where I Might hide my Dead away!

That sacred bond, that holy trust, How could it die?

Out of my sight!

O mocking Dead, unburied Dead, Out of my sight!

O ever-living Dead, Who cannot buried be; In our heart's core your name is writ.

What though it bled?

The wound was slight To eyes that loved no more, in death's Remorseless night

O still beloved Dead, No grave is found for you; No friends weep with us o'er your bier.

No prayers are said; For out of sight We wail our Dead, our secret Dead, Alone at night.

Give me a grave so deep That they may rest with me; For they shall lie with my dead heart In healing sleep; Till out of night We shall all pa.s.s, O risen Dead, Into G.o.d's sight!

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[ORIGINAL.]

RELIGION IN NEW YORK.

The city of New York is supposed to contain about one million of inhabitants. Of these, from 300,000 to 400,000 are Catholics, probably 60,000 Jews, and from 550,000 to 650,000 Protestants, or Nothingarians.

We will first speak of the provision made for the religions instruction of the non-Catholic majority of our population.

There are 280 churches of all descriptions, excluding the Catholic churches. Of these, there are:

Episcopalian 61 Presbyterian 56 Methodist 48 Baptist 30 Jewish 25 Dutch Reformed 20 Lutheran 9 Congregational 4 Universalist 4 Unitarian 3 Friends 3 Miscellaneous 17 [Footnote 55]

[Footnote 55: These figures are taken from the last Directory. The "Walk about New York" gives the number at 318.]

The number of communicants in Protestant churches is estimated as 64,800. If the churches were all of ample size and equally distributed through the city, they would suffice tolerably well for the accommodation of the people, should they be generally disposed to attend public worship. A large proportion of them, however, are small, and only 80 churches are situated below First street. The lower and more populous portion of the city is therefore very dest.i.tute of church accommodation, while the great majority of the churches, especially the largest and finest, are in the upper part of the town, among the residences of the more well-to-do cla.s.ses of the community.

The Protestant population as a whole is, therefore, very poorly provided with church accommodation.

A pamphlet, ent.i.tled "Startling Facts: a Tract for the Times, by Philopsukon: Brinkerhoff, 48 Fulton street, 1864," gives a considerable amount of information on this point. The estimates of this gentleman are based on a supposed population of 950,000. For the section of the city below Ca.n.a.l and Grand streets, including the first seven wards, there are, according to him, 12 churches and 8 mission chapels, capable of accommodating about 15,000 persons. The population of this district is 185,000. Twenty Protestant congregations have within the last twenty-five years abandoned their churches in this district, and removed to new ones up town. One of the old churches (St. George's) is retained as a mission chapel, and another, a very fine one, the Rutgers street Presbyterian church, has been converted into a Catholic church. These removals have reduced the church accommodation from 18,000 to 20,000 sittings, while the population has meanwhile doubled.

For the section between Ca.n.a.l and Fourteenth streets, including also seven wards, there are 88 churches for a population of 262,000.

Fourteen churches have been abandoned within ten years. Of these 34 abandoned churches, 3 have been turned into livery stables, and the remainder into public offices or stores and factories.

The upper section, extending to Sixty-first street, includes eight wards, with a population of 418,000, and has 82 churches.

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This gentlemen has counted only what he calls "Evangelical" churches, in which he estimates the total sittings throughout the whole city at 126,600, but the actual attendance at only 84,400. A "Condensed Statement" which we have in our bands, estimates the total Protestant church accommodation at 200,000, and the number of communicants at 64,800. If we allow 150,000 for the ordinary or occasional attendants at Protestant worship, and 25,000 for the Jewish synagogues, we shall have then from 375,000 to 475,000 of the non-Catholic population who attend no place of religious worship or instruction at all. [Footnote 56] The author of the "Startling Facts," who summarily hands over all except the attendants at "Evangelical" churches to the devil, takes a very gloomy view of the state of things, and considers that "865,600 out of the 950,000 pa.s.s to the judgment-seat of Christ WITHOUT THE MEANS OF GRACE;" to be condemned, we are left to infer, because they did not enjoy those means; while those who did enjoy them and failed to provide for the wants of the remainder are to be rewarded.

[Footnote 56: "The Great Metropolis, a Condensed Statement," gives the Protestant church accommodation at 200,000. "Walks about New York, by the Secretary of the City Mission," estimates the number of attendants at "Evangelical churches" at 324,000. Allowing 10,000 more for other Protestant congregations, and 25,000 for the Jewish synagogues, this leaves 240,000 as the minimum number of the non-Catholic population who attend no place of public worship. It appears to us that it is a large calculation to allow 1,000 attendants to each church, which would give the total of 280,000 church-goers, leaving a remainder of 320,000. All the non-Catholic churches together are capable of accommodating less than 225,000 persons at one time, leaving 375,000 who have not sufficient church-room to accommodate them, if all were disposed to attend regularly. Nevertheless, it does not appear that the majority of the Protestant churches are over-crowded. The ma.s.s of the non-church-goers are quite apathetic on the subject. They do not wish to have churches, and probably would not frequent them if they were built for them free of expense.]

It must be allowed, however, that he berates them handsomely for their neglect of duty. He says:

"Nor is it intended in these few pages to canva.s.s the question as to the necessity or the expediency, etc., of what is called the _up-town removal_ of so many of the churches (in all 36), first from the lower, and now from the central section of the city. All that can be done is to note the following facts, and leave others to draw their own inference as to their practical effects.

"1. In every instance of such church removal, it has originated in _the change of residence of a few of the wealthier families_ of said church: this, of course, was followed by a diminution of the means of support to the said church. Hence the plea of _necessity_ for its removal; and, making no provision to retain the old church for _missionary_ purposes, the effect has been to scatter by far the larger portion both of the church members and of the congregation to the four winds. For,

"2. The old church property having been sold, the new location has been selected with a sole view to the accommodation of these families of wealth, who left it for an up-town palatial residence, and a costly church edifice has been erected (often largely beyond their means) compatible with their tastes. The _result_ of this has been,

3. To place the privileges of the church beyond the reach of the _mediocre_ and _lower_ cla.s.ses. And this has led to an _ignoring_ of that divinely appointed law of G.o.d, "_the rich and the poor meet together, the Lord being the maker of them all_" (Prov. xxiii. 12).

Hence the origin of _caste_ in the churches. _Money_ has been erected into _the standard of personal respectability_, by which every man is measured; and hence a courting of the favor of the rich, and a despising of the poor.

"Thus the way is prepared _to account for the paucity_ of attendance at many of these larger and wealthier churches. A consciousness of _self-respect_ operates largely to deter those who might otherwise repair to them. They shrink from an encounter, whether right or wrong, from that _invidiousness_ to which the above principle of the measurement of personal respectability subjects them; and taking human nature as it is, it cannot be otherwise. Hence, finding themselves thus "cut off" from the privileges of the churches, and that by the act of the churches themselves, {383} they relapse into a state of absolute "_neglect of the great salvation_." [Footnote 57]