The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-11-19 00:00:00

MR. NORTHCOTE'S LECTURE.

Mr. J. Spencer Northcote delivered a lecture at the qa.
tholic Institute, Hope-street, at half-past seven o'clock last
evening, upon the "Miracle of La Salette," There was a
very crowded audience. Mr. Northcote prefaced his lecture
by observing upon the cautions manner in which every
Catholic spoke of the most authentic miracles in. thiS
try, and the prejudices which existed regaydiiag th.em. He
then proceeded to detail the circumstances attending the ap-
pearance of the miracle at La Salette, •6. small hamlet in the
French Alps, upon the 19th bf September, 1846. These
circumstances, which are probably in the recollection of
most readers, iMy be briefly recapitulated. A boy of 10 or
11 years ola, and a girl aged about 15, both grossly igno-
rant even of the simplest matters of religion, and up to Vie
previous day unacquainted with each other, saw on the 19th
of September, 1846, while engaged in tending cattle on a
mountain near the village, the apparition of a beautiful
lady, clothed in white, wearing a chaplet of pearls and gar-
land of roses, taller than mortal size, who was weeping ; she
spake to them, complaining of the immorality of the district,
their inattention to the holidays and feasts of the church,
and their profane words, and declaring that if they did not
alter their lives, she could no longer keep the heavy
.hand of
her Son from falling upon the place, and that all their crops
would be destroyed. This she told them, speaking first in
French, but subsequently adoptin.g
.the patois which the
children more easily understood, adding that they were to
tell the people what she had said. She also made a sepa-
rate communication to each of the children, which each was
to keep a secret. The lady then disappeared.
Near the place
where she stood was a spring, which was intermittent,
being dried up in summer, but which from that day flowed
perpetually. The lecturer then proceeded to describe how
the children told the tale, which was at first disbelieved,
and the variety of tests and harrassing examinations to
which the children were subjected, separately and together,
by the authorities of France, legal and ecclesiastical, to en-
deavour to shake the accuracy of the statements, but all of
which failed to succeed in making them swerve in the
slightest, or vary from their original tale. They also stated
that nothing could induce either of them to tell the secret

-
", tEIA

rA
which had been separately confided to tirec 4 ek 10tWAr
then supported the stet", by describirke* 4/.1 " ,;0;
raculous cures, which had been wrought!)
tiOah
fountain, near which the apparition too ir f-,;2414 hillett<cS
very minutely upon the evidence, and relxs
hia own minute inquiries, aided by au YAW
among the clergy and people of the village, a2ld-Imin' The
boy and girl, the latter, then a novice in a convent, on the
occasion of a visit he made to the spot iu the September of
last year. An additional argument which he adduced, was
the total change which had taken place in the morals and
religious habits of the people since the apparition. He com-
mented upon the impossibility of supposing that two ignorant
children could have concocted such a tale and withstood,
without any alterations in the circumstances, the lengthened
examinations to which they were subjected. He then replied
to a statement recently published -in the Times, alleging
that the miracle was concocted by an innkeeper, upon whose
property the fountain was, and who made money by
selling the water of it to pilgrims. He then stated
that there was no river within seven miles of the place.
That the fountain was a property belonging to the parish,
and that he had himself, upon the last anniversary of the
occurrence, seen three or four thousand people crowding
round the fountain, drinking and carrying away as much of
the water as they could, without paying any one for it.
Another statement put forward by the Times the preceding
year was, that it Was a concoction of the priests to get
money, to which the lecturer replied by stating that the
chapel which they were about to build upon the spot, and to
which the Times referred, could not be completed, owing to
the difficulties of conveying materials up the mountain, for
this generation ; and they would therefore be a very self-
denying clergy, who would risk their souls and their chars c-
ter, to enable some priest of the next generation to live in
almost utter solitude upon the top of a mountain, which for
four months in the year was covered with snow. The lec-
turer finally stated that upon a letter being sent by the Pope
to the Archbishop of Grenoble, enjoining the children to
communicate the secret in writing to him, they had con-
sented to obey the order of the Pope, and were brought into
a room in presence of some clergy, when paper was given to
them, and without hesitation, as if they were copying words
set before them, each child wrote as for a latex addrealed Lv
the Pope, which was sealed by them, and of which no one
saw the contents. Two priests went together to Rome, and
presented the letter to the Pope, who seemed greatly affectad
upon reading it, and was heard to observe—" These are
great evils for France, but it is not France alone which de-
serves them, but Italy, Germany, and other parts of
Europe." This, the lecturer observed was all which was
ever known, except to the Pope, of the secret imparted to
the children ; but it was sufficient to convince the clergy of
France that the secret was no idle tale. Since that time the
Pope, who had first enjoined great caution regarding the
publication of the miracle, had encouraged its promulgation
throughout the world. The lecturer concluded by express-
ing a hope that his audience would attentively consider the
question, and not dismiss it with the prejudice of which he
had spoken when commencing, and resumed his seat amid
loud and general applause.
The Rev. Mr. Nugent briefly expressed the thanks of the
meeting to the lecturer.
The proceedings then closed with a hymn in honor of the
Virgin Mary.

IRELAND

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)
DUBLIN, FRIDAY EVENING.

THE TRACT DISTRIBUTION CASE.—Yesterday,
Mr. Whiteside, Q.C., applied to the Queen's Bench
for a writ of certiorari, to remove the informations,
magistrate's order, &c., in the late case of O'Bren-
nan v. Smith, from the Capel-street Police Office,
into that court. The application was grounded on
an affidavit of Smith's reciting the facts of the case,
as they have already appeared, and concluding as
follows :—And this deponent is advised that, by
the laws of this country, no man can be imprisoned
without a crime committed or an intelligible
charge made against him, and submits it is his right
to be informed for what offence he has been so
dealt with, and against whom, and for what reason
he has been so bound by recognizance as afore-
said, and his money, which he could ill affbrd, ex-
torted from him. There was also an affidavit of
Mr. Nunn's, to the effect that he had applied to
Mr. O'Callaghan for the documents required, and
been refused. The court granted a conditional
order.

DREADFUL ACCIDENT.—A Colooney correspon-
dent of the Freeman, dating Nov. 17, writes : " A
dreadful accident, attended with loss of life, oc-
curred hero last night. An omnibus belonging
to Mr. Morrish, of the Earl c Hopi.
puui creatures wno escaped
- -
from the ill-fated Californian Packet. to Sligo, and
when turning out of this 'town, five miles from
Sligo, the two off-side wheels went to pieces; the
vehicle of course was upset in a moment, and the
unfortunate driver (O'Brien) was killed. Seven
others were more or less dangerously injured ; some
of them have been conveyed to the Sligo infirmary.
All the attention that humanity could suggest
paid them by the Rev. Mr. O'Rourke and his
curdte. .-r"Z' were quickly on the spot, and did
all that men could do u.L.,,a0, the circumstances to
alleviate the miseries of the sum,_ I, with
some others, examined the omnibus, and I
certain that a very heavy responsibility rests some-
where, but as an inquest will be held, I shall say
no more on this subject for the present. Poor
O'Brien's remains lie in the Catholic Church of
Colooney, pending the inquest."
MELANCHOLY OCCURRENCE.—An accident of a
very serious nature occurred from the explosion of
powder, in Bonmahon, county of Waterford, on
Monday evening, about eight o'clock. A miner,
employed by the company in the lead mine at the
cliffs, obtained a quantity of powder for his work.
After going home with his bag of powder, he tried
to open the knot on the cord that tied the mouth
of the bag; not succeeding, and being without a
knife, he attempted to burn it with the blaze of the
candle, when the powder exploded, blowing the
unfortunate man, his wife, and six children, in
every direction, all receiving such injuries that their
lives are in danger. The roof was torn completely
off the house and the two adjoining houses were
in flames.

THE BRIGANTINE VICTORIA.—This vessel, which,
on her way from Limerick to London was stranded
near Kilcredane lighthouse, on the coast of Clare,
has become a total wreck. Most of her cargo (oats)
is lost also.

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CLONMEL ELECTION :—The Freeman of to-day
gives the math of the meeting yesterday in Clon-
mel as a pronouncement in favour of the League.
But as the requisition calling the meeting was
only signed by twenty electors, and the assemblage
itself was mostly composed of those who had no
votes, this cannot be regarded as a very good cri-
terion of the constituency's will. Mr. John
O'Connell still continues his canvas.

The BRITISH NORTH AMERICAN MAIL STEAM-SHIP
" EUROPA" sails to-day with the usual mails and passenger
MANaIESTER AND SALFORD RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIE'i a.
—The annual meeting of this society was held on T iur ty.
evening last, the Rev. Canon Stowell in the chair. 4day
retort I,lWilug been read, the meetingwas
Rev. John Richardson, Rector of St. Anne's,
e. y the
-I,' Itanedv. the
addressedtheThe
A
various Christopherson,resolat of B
i nn s
having
and
e ,
hee a otherea
carried,
gn
i edetm
,
the
le
lon;hs old, died on
terminated after the usual vote of thankisroeete
u.
lige,Te
uchphiArsliaosihcTreAorneuenieris:
named
jr&nhsys
lIHNiI)ggER:IISS'ITS-I°l'ourinciF°.yrrears of age, who has
—DAE-cklaTilltd,"nalkmx
Thursday in a brothel-, •,at 13, D
tlENeyp9tsbisytflarle:vipsrdline Vwrli,thonhlyer,loofts.eisxen -or
eeven
years old, and
ernia's motti,-r. The mother
states that she is wife 0
I.lhre nieces tó il'ie ae4erd
Joi.iath,stu Iliggins, a sea-faring
man, who has been away frothher Tor five years, and that
deceased wit; ilcr illegitimate child by a sea caotaini
afterlOeyn
Thursday she had beenrotcois7,i ltn a longerepute vdfaaythageer: itt end Stanley
Dock, who is about peed
a rather stormy interview liau succeeded in extractit,'g three
pounds front him. Her statement further is that &he re-
turned to the house at four in the afternoon, and gal 'e the
child to a woman whose soubriquet is " Cockney Katy,"
who fed it; that it then became poorly, when they sent for
a druggist, and upon his arrival he advised that a doctor
should be sent for, but the child died immediately after.
Upon the customary inquiries being niade, Anne Elliott, the
woman known as ' Cockney Mary," said that tie mother
had returned not at four, but between one and two o'clock
in the afternoon. The druggist who saw the child, also,
stated that it was dead when he went in. Under these cir-
cumstances an inquest will be held this day.

331rtbo, frtarriaztO, anti ilkatbl.