Yet it is from this version, in which, in the mitigated language of Protestant divines, "the errors are frequent," and of which a revision was declared to be very desirable, that you Wesleyan Methodists, and the rest of the Protestants of England collect your religion.

Ninth-The persons who revised, and under whose sanction the present Protestant version was produced, were men whose character and strength of mind may be judged of by their having dedicated their new version of the Bible to James I., that slobbering and disgusting creature, who has been so justly described as the shame alike of royalty and of manhood! and in their dedication having called him "the Sun in his strength;" "whom the heavenly hand of the Lord hath enriched with many singular and extraordinary graces, that he may be the WONDER OF THE WORLD!!!”

Tenth The Catholic authorized version was published at Douay in the year 1609. It was the result of forty years toil and labor, and can fairly stand a comparison with any other version of the sacred Scriptures, published in any country, either Catholic or Protestant.

Eleventh-I close my statement of these interesting notices, with reminding you that the Catholic needs not, and does not rely upon any particular Catholic version of the sacred Scriptures. It has an ever-living and a speaking authority to resort to. It is the duty and it is the happiness of the Catholic that he should

"HER alone for his director take,

Whom God has promised never to forsake."

O'CONNELL.

DR. JOHNSON ON CATHOLICISM.

THE opinion of our great moralist, Johnson, a sound Tory, and ultra High Churchman, appears to have been the same as widow Woolfrey's. The following passage occurs in his life by Boswell, vol. 1st, page 154:

"That he, (Dr. Johnson,) in conformity with the opinion of many of the most able, learned, and pious Christians in all ages, supported that there was a middle state after death, previous to the time at which departed souls are finally received to eternal felicity, appears, I think, unquestionably from his devotions. In his prayers and meditations is the following passage: And, O Lord, so far as it may be lawful in me, I commend to thy fatherly goodness the soul of my departed wife: beseeching thee to grant her whatever is best in her present state, and finally to receive her to eternal happiness."

Again, in another part of the same life, the following dialogue occurs. Verily the good Doctor would astonish the Tory High-Church party of the present day.

"BOSWELL loquitur-I had hired a Bohemian as my servant while I remained in London, and being much pleased with him, I asked Dr. Johnson whether his being a Roman Catholic should prevent my taking him with me to Scotland.

JOHNSON

Why, no Sir; if he has no objection, you can have none. BOSWELL-So, Sir, you are no great enemy to the Roman Catholic reli

gion.

JOHNSON No more, Sir, than to the Presbyterian religion.
BOSWELL-You are joking.

JOHNSON - No, Sir, I really think so; nay, Sir, of the two, I prefer the Popish."

I proceeded - What do you think, Sir, of purgatory as believed by the Roman Catholics?

JOHNSON Why, Sir, it is a very harmless doctrine. They are of opinion that the generality of mankind are neither so obstinately wicked as to deserve everlasting punishment, nor so good as to merit being admitted into the society of blessed spirits; and that therefore God is graciously pleased to allow of a middle state, where they may be purified by certain degrees of suffering; you see, Sir, there is nothing unreasonable in this.

BOSWELL-But, then, Sir, their masses for the DEAD?

JOHNSON - Why, Sir, if it be once established that there are souls in purgatory, it is as proper to pray for THEM as for our brethren of mankind who are yet in this life.

BOSWELL-The idolatry of the mass?

JOHNSON - Sir, there is no idolatry in the mass; they believe God to be there, and they adore him.

The worship of saints?

JOHNSON Sir, they do not worship saints, they invoke them; they only ask their prayers.

Bosw WELL-Confession?

JOHNSON Why, I don't know but that is a good thing; the scripture says, 'Confess your faults one to another;' and the priests confess as well as the laity.-English paper.

CHURCHES.

HAIL! sacred tabernacles, where thou, O Lord, dost descend at the voice of a mortal! Hail! mysterious altar, where faith comes to receive its immortal food! When the last hour of the day has groaned in thy solemn towers when its last beam fades and dies away in the dome - when the widow, holding her child by the hand, has wept on the pavement, and retraced her steps like a silent ghost when the sigh of the distant organ seems lulled to rest with the day to awaken again with the morning - when the nave is deserted, and the Levite, attentive to the lamps of the holy place, with a slow step hardly recrosses it again;-then is the hour when I come to glide under thy obscure vault, and to seek, while nature sleeps, him who aye watches! Ye columns, who veil the sacred asylums where my eyes dare not penetrate! at the feet of your immoveable trunks I come to sigh. Cast over me your deep shades; render the darkness more obscure and the silence more profound! Forests of porphyry and marble, the air which the soul breathes under your arches is full of mystery and of peace! Let love and anxious cares seek shade and solitude under the green shelter of thy groves, to soothe their secret wounds! O darkness of the sanctuary! the eye of religion prefers thee to the wood which the breeze disturbs. Nothing changes thy foliage: thy still shade is the image of motionless eternity! Eternal pillars! where are the hands that formed ye? Quarries, answer! where are they? Dust, the sport of winds; our hands, which carved the stone, turn to dust before it, and man is not jealous! He dies, but his holy thought animates the cold stone, and rises to heaven with thee. Forums, palaces, crumble to ashes-time casts them away with scorn - the foot of the traveller who tramples upon them lays bare their ruins; but as soon as the block of stone leaves the side of the quarry, and is carved for thy temple, O Lord, it is thine - thy shadow

imprints upon our works the sublime seal of thine own immortality! Lord, I used to love to pour out my soul upon the summit of mountains, in the night of deserts, beneath rocks where roared the voice of mighty seas, in presence of heaven, and of the globes of flame whose pale fires sprinkle the fields of air methought that my soul, oppressed before immensity, enlarged itself within me, and on the winds and floods, or on the scattered fire, from thought to thought, would spring to lose itself in thee! I sought to mount, but thou vouchsafest to descend! Thou art near to hear us. Now I love the obscurity of thy temple-it is an island of peace in the ocean of the world—a beacon of immortality! Inhabited alone by thee and by death, one hears from afar the flood of time which roars upon this border of eternity! It seems as if our voice, which only is lost in the air, concentrated in these walls by this narrow space, resounds better to our soul, and that the holy echo of thy sonorous vault, bears along with it the sigh which seeks thee in its ascent to heaven, more fervent before it can evaporate! How can it signify in what words the soul exhales itself before its Author? Is there a tongue equal to the ecstacy of the heart? Whatever my lips may articulate, this pressed blood which circulates, this bosom which breathes in thee, this heart which beats and expands, these bathed eyes, this silence, all speak, all pray in me. So swell the waves at the rising of the king of day-so revolve the stars, mute with reverence and love—and thou comprehendest their silent hymn. Ah, Lord, in like manner comprehend me -hear what I pronounce not-silence is the highest voice of a heart that is overpowered with thy glory.-[Lamartine.

RELIGIOUS INTELIGENCE.

ST. LOUIS. The exercises of a Spiritual Retreat, preparatory to the Paschal solemnity, were given in the Cathedral during Passion Week, by Very Rev. J. Timon; which have been attended by the most consoling results. On Palm Sunday, the new and splendid church of St. Francis Xavier, erected by the Jesuits, was opened for divine service. The ceremony of consecration has been deferred until its final completion. In the Cathedral, the ceremonies during Holy Week were of a very impressive character. On Palm Sunday, after the distribution and benediction of the palms by the Co-adjutor Bishop, the usual procession, directed by the rubrics of the Missal, took place. High Mass was then sung by Rev. Joseph Renaud, assisted by Rev. Messrs. Roux and Murphy, as deacon and sub-deacon. The passion was sung by Rev. Messrs. Raho, Dahmen and Cercos, of the Congregation of the Mission. Very Rev. Mr. Timon preached. On the evenings of Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, the solemn office of Tenebrae was chaunted by a full choir. On Thursday morning the Holy Oils were blessed by the Co-adjutor Bishop, assisted by twelve priests, deacons and sub-deacons, according to the prescriptions of the Pontifical. After the termination of Vespers, recited immediately after Mass, the same Prelate washed the feet of thirteen orphan children, who, at the same time, received from him a sweet cake and a handsome bouquet of flowers. On Easter Sunday, the neat frame church erected by Father Helias, S. J., in the city of Jefferson, was dedicated to Divine worship under the invocation of St. Ignatius of Loyola. On Easter Monday, the first stone of a church to be built in Belleville, Illinois, was solemnly blessed by the Co-adjutor Bishop, assisted by Rev. Mr. Kunster, pastor of the district, Rev. Mr. Cercos, C. M., and several of the alumni of the Theological Seminary of St. Louis.

On Wednesday and Thursday in Easter Week, the same Prelate made the annual visit of the Convent of the Visitation, at Kaskaskia; on which occasion, he was accompanied by Rev. Mr. Heim. The new church of Kaskaskia, 100 feet long by 54 broad,-which, when finished, will be the largest and most beautiful in Illinois, is almost covered in, and will be ready for consecration this summer. On Low-Sunday, the first communion of children took place in the Cathedral at the early Mass; and immediately before High Mass, on the same day, the sacrament of Confirmation was administered to 145 persons, among whom were several recent converts. On the same day, the first communion of children took place at the chapel of St. Aloysius, attached to the University, and now used by the German congregation of that neighbourhood. On the same day, five Sisters of Charity, from Emmittsburg, Maryland, arrived in this city; who are to take charge of the Female Orphan Asylum, founded by the charity of Madame Biddle; as also of the Female Free School attached to the Church of St. Francis Xavier. The boys' free school attached to the same church was opened on Monday, the 25th ult.; on which occasion, 275 children attended. The school is capable of receiving 400, who will receive the inestimable blessing of a useful and Catholic education, at the hands of members of the Society of Jesus. On Tuesday, the 25th ult., Rev. Fathers De Smet and De Vos, S. J., together with three lay-brothers of the same society, left this city in the steamboat John Aull for Westport, whence Fathers De Vos and A. Hoecken, together with the three lay-brothers, will proceed to the mission of St. Mary, among the Flat-heads of the Rocky Mountains. Father De Smet will, in a few days, return to St. Louis, whence he will immediately proceed to Rome, via England, on important business connected with the permanent establishment of the aforesaid mission.

Le Propagateur Catholique, of New Orleans, announces the arrival of Right Rev. Dr. Odin, Apostolic Vicar of Texas, in that city. We regret to learn that this excellent Prelate was, for some days after his arrival, suffering from indisposition. The Right Rev. Bishop of Dubuque, accompanied by Very Rev. S. Mazzuchelli, Ö. S. D., arrived in this city on last Wednesday. The erection of St. Patrick's Church, in the northern part of this city, was commenced after Easter, and there is every probability that the work will be carried on with energy. The first stone of this Church was solemnly blessed by the Co-adjutor Bishop on Sunday, the 16th of October, 1842; and it was then hoped that the foundations of the building would be laid before the setting in of winter; but, this having been found impracticable, the work was necessarily deferred until the present season. St. Patrick's will be a free church. Contributions towards this truly Catholic undertaking will be thankfully received by Rev. Geo. A. Hamilton, at present Assistant at the Cathedral, who is to be the Pastor of the congregation; as also by any of the Catholic clergymen of the city. The lot on which this church is being built is the gift of Mrs. Anne Biddle; and the sum of one thousand dollars was generously contributed towards the new church by her excellent mother, the late Mrs. Mullanphy. In a few weeks, it is intended to commence the erection of another church on the northeastern corner of Mulberry and Third streets, to be dedicated to God in honor of the Blessed Virgin, and to be appropriated to the use of the German congregation at present worshipping in the Cathedral. The valuable lot on which the proposed church is to be erected, was generously given by Mrs. Anne Hunt. Mr. Jas. Lucas, brother of Mrs. Hunt, has also given a large lot, in the northwestern part of the city, for the purpose of a Catholic Church; in which, we have been informed, the German congregation that at present assembles in the chapel of St. Aloysius, attached to the University, will com

mence the erection of a church in the course of next year, under the direction of the Fathers of the Society of Jesus. On Thursday last, Bishop Loras and Very Rev. S. Mazzuchelli proceeded on their way to Baltimore. On Sunday last, the first communion of children took place at the eight o'clock Mass in the New Church of St. Francis Xavier. Before the late Mass, on the same day, the Co-adjutor Bishop confirmed 168 persons in the same Church, of whom about twenty were converts. On Tuesday, 2d inst., the Co-adjutor Bishop, accompanied by Rev. Mr. Heim, left this city for Baltimore, where the Provincial Council of the prelates is to commence its session on Sunday, the 14th inst. With him, also, were four boys from the Orphan Asylum of this city; who are on their way to the Preparatory Seminary, advertised to be commenced on the 1st inst., at St. Mary's College, Perry County. These four children have free places, on a foundation made by the late benevolent Bryan Mullanphy, Esq., who, by his will, left the sum of $5,000 to St. Mary's College, for the purpose of educating five orphans.

NEW ORLEANS.-A Spiritual Retreat was given by Rev. M. Bach, pastor of the Cathedral Church, during Passion Week; which, it is said, has been productive of the most consoling results. In the Bishop's Chapel, the sacrament of confirmation was conferred on 114 persons, by Bishop Blanc, on Wednesday, the 19th ult. On the following day, (Thursday,) Bishop Odin administered the same sacrament to sixty-four persons, the greater number of whom had, for the first time, been permitted to receive communion on that morning. Bishops Blanc and Odin left New Orleans on the 22d ult. for Baltimore, to assist at the fifth Provincial Council. The Propagateur announces a second edition of the six first months of that journal, in an 8vo. form. We are pleased to notice this indication of the support it has met with, and which it so well deserves; and we should be glad to hear that the proprietors had determined to continue the publication in the 8vo. form, which, from the greater facility it affords of having the journal preserved, would, we think, be a decided improve

ment.

TEXAS. From Le Propagateur Catholique, an excellent weekly paper in the French language, lately issued in New Orleans, we learn some interesting details of the actual condition of the mission in Texas. Bishop Odin, the Vicar Apostolic of that country, found, on his arrival there three years since, only two Mexican priests, who shortly afterwards ceased to exercise the ministry in those parts. He was then but a simple priest, and was accompanied but by two members of the congregation of missionary priests to which he belongs. These were sometime afterwards joined by two clergymen from Kentucky,Rev. Messrs. Heyden and Clarke;--one of whom fell a victim to the fatigues and privations of missionary life, and the other of whom continues to labor with no less perseverance than success. There are at present but three priests, besides Bishop Odin, employed in the missions of Texas; and although a much larger number is necessary, it is to be feared that the present great demand for missionaries in Asia, and the difficulty of finding means for their support in Texas, will not permit this want to be so soon supplied as the interests of religion would require. Notwithstanding this and the cther embarrassing difficulties of his situation, Bishop Odin has, within the last two years, succeeded in erecting several new churches, and in repairing others, which, built by the Mexicans, had been injured by the operation of various causes. Churches have been built at Galveston, Houston, on the river La Baca, and near the mouth of San Antonio. The number of Catholics in Texas is about 10,000; but, as they are scattered over a vast extent of territory, they cannot all have the same opportunities for the practice of their religious duties. The number