The Sun.
London, England, 1866-01-24 00:00:00

the religious ministrations of the chaplains had upon
the poor in the workhouses. The answer was, "No
effect at all. They can get no hold upon them."
The result of the evidence went to show that this
portion of the discipline in these 'workhouses was
perfectly ineffectual and of no use at all. (Hear,
hear.) Now let them turn to What the effect of reli-
gious ministrations and instructions would be and
must be in a Catholic establishment. Even Pro-
testants have admitted over and over again that the
services and ceremonies and• rites of the Catholic
Church had a great effect uponlhe human mind—
an effect which no other service or ceremony had.
They said, in the way of reproach, that the Catholic
religion appealed to the senses. If it did so, had
not Almighty God given us our senses as the avenues
by which we were to receive that which was true
and that which was beautiful ? Ile had enabled us
to see the beauties of nature, the beauties of the.
flowers and of the vegetation of this earth ; to see
the beauties of the stars of heaven and the beauties
of the works of man. Why had He enabled us
to see these things for our recreation and joy
if He intended our senses should be closed, and
not used to the fullest, in the exercise of reli-
gion ? If we were not to use our senses in the
service of God there was a great paradox and
a great difficulty, which no ingenuity could solve.
They Might, therefore, admit that religion did enlist
the senses as well as the reason of man in the wor-
ship of God. However that might be, there was no
doubt whatever of the fact that the worship of the
Catholic Roman Church had a great effect upon the
mind of man. The religion which had not an effect
upon the mind of man was probably not a true reli-
gion. One test of the true religion consisted of its
being fitted for man ;- and if they found a religion
bringing all that was good in human nature to its
proper use, for the glory and worship of God, that,
he thought, was a strong argument in favour of its
truth. And so they found that there was nothing
beautiful either in nature or in art which the Roman
Catholic Church did not bring to bear upon the
worship of God. Having the point admitted that
the religion of the Catholic Church had the greatest
effect upon the mind of man, then it followed that
that religion was the most likely to produce. the
reformation of criminals--it was a religion which
was the molt likely to lay hold upon the minds of
men who had been accustomed to criminal habits,
and by the lessons it inculcated turn their minds
from evil to good. The Catholic religion was the
religion likely to produce that result. (Applause.)
In a Protestant chapel there was nothing to arrest
the attention of the people ; on the contrary, in a.
Catholic chapel, however poor or humble it might be,
there something was found to arrest the attention
of the worshippers—they found there the blessed
sacrament, and the simple low mass, but neverthe-
less there was a solemnity and a truth in thatservice
which even those who did not believe in it were ob-
liged to bow down to. There was an influence ex-
ercised there which could only be exercised by the
rites and ceremonies of the true Church. The re-
formation of criminals was in the hands of the Catlic -
lie clergy, and it was for Catholics to produce that
great result. There was one point more which he must
mention, which was the great turning point of all,
and that was that the Catholic Church had the sac-
rament of penance. A chaplain of a Protestant gaol
could not get at the minds of the prisoners, because
he could not bring them to confession. But a Catholic
priest brought those persons to the confessional, and
there they stood in the presence of God, and even the
most hardened criminal would flinch before he would
tell a lie, and he would bring to bear on that man the
Divine power exercised in the tribunal of penance,
and that pointed out that it was the Catholic Church
which could reform prisoners. They had here disco-
vered the great power which was to reform criminals
—this was the solution of the problem, and he would
leave them to reflect upon it. (Loud applause.) He
next referred to the laws of punishment of the
ancient Jews, the Greeks, the Romans, and lastly
the obsolete laws of England, pointing out that ven-
geance was more the principle in former times, but
that now this principle was changed for one of refor-
mation of the criminal, and that reformation was
only to be accomplished in the manner he had
pointed out. (Applause.)
The Rev. Dr. M'CARTAN (of Wolverhampton)
next addressed the assembly on the proposition—
" The help which young men may receive in a reli-
gious point of view from being members of Young
Men's Associations." The .rev. gentleman strongly
insisted upon the necessity of union and co-opera-
tion, and concluded with the assertion, amidst loud
applause, that so long as the Catholics held together,
Como the three corners of the world in arms,
And we shall shock them.
Mr. POWELL (Liverpool) then briefly spoke upon
the subject—" Education, so far as it is promoted
by the existence of Young Men's Societies."

The Very Rev. Canon TO.OIE (of Manchester)
discoursed upon " The advantages of Young Men's
Societies to Catholics."

The Earl of DENBIGH then proposed a vote of
thanks to the chairman, and impressed upon the
young men present the desirability of storing their
minds with useful knowledge, so that in the event
of being thrown upon their own rosources they
might find profitable employment for their mental

faculties, and at the same time escape the tempta-
tions which beset youth and inexperience.

The Rev. Father ALMOND (St. Mary's, Liver-
pool), seconded the motion, which was carried by
acclamation.

The CHAIRMAN, in responding, directed attention
to tho languishing condition of the Catholic Hospi-
tal in London founded by Cardinal Wiseman, and

which, he said. must be closed in March if an effort

were not made to increase its funds. He appealed
to the members of the Catholic Young Men's Socie-
ties in Liverpool for assistance to preserve an insti-
tution which was intended by its founder to be an
example to all other similar institutions in the coun-
try, and in which not only the bodies but the souls
of the patients were cared for. (Applause.)
The major portion of the company had for some
time displayed a wandering restlessness which ren-
dered the speakers inaudible except to those imme-
diately around the platform, and, the oratory over,
all now entered with avidity into the dance, which
was kept up with spirit for several hours.
It should be stated that between the speeches a
party of vocalists, consisting of Mr. and Mrs. Bolton,
Miss Monkhouse, and Mr.Warne, with Miss Martin
at the piano, sang a number of songs, glees, &c., in
excellent style.

NEW STATION FOR THE WESTBOURNE-PARK AND
MENSAL-GREEN DISTRICT.—On the first of next
month a new station, now in the course of erection at tho
junction of the] Metropolitan and Hammersmith branch
of the main line of the Great Western Railway, near West-
bourne-park and Kensal-green, will be opened for the ac-
commodation of the inhabitants of that district,:who will
by this additional facility be put in direct communication
with the City, by means of the Great Western and Metro-
politan lines of railway.

AMERICAN COUNTERFEITERS.—Ono of the results
of the long absence of gold as a circulating medium in
America has been the excellent chance given to counter-
feiters to manufacture debased coin in large amounts
Tho principal counterfeit now made is a filled coin. Who
process is to split the gold piece, take from its centre ono
third to one half of the gold, which is carefully weighed,
and the space is filled with an equal weight of alloy of
platina. Tho sides of the coin are then joined, the edges
re-milled, and the whole work is so accurately done that
not only the weight of tha piece is unchanged, but its size
remains the same, and its metallic "ring" is perfectly
genuine. The only test yet known by which to detect
those pieces is the inaccuracy of the milling, which, under
a microscope, the settm of the two halves of the piece can
generally be seen. At the Now York Custom House those
filled pieces are almost daily found among the genuine coins
presented in the payment of duties ; and upon detection
they are cut in half with a chisel and politely returned to
their astonished owners. .

Edwin Booth, v the tragedian, brother of J.
Wilkes Booth, the mut derer of President Lincoln, recently
began an engagement at the Winter Garden Theatre,
New York. The house was filled to overflowing, and, in
spite of the efforts made in some quarters to create a dis
out of the recent war
turbance, the play passed off without trouble.
$60,000 stolen from its vaults by
Kel.nBt64lc.kyA. Among 3F;oll::actrts's‘
A strange case,h aadrising
Witherspoon, who, after
ill America, has occurred in
Bank of Kentucky
othffiec
6famous s Morgan oicrogna
Kentuckian
erkiiida
ni nnJa zeci
peace Was restored, returned to his home, and the bank
sued him, attached his landedfestate, and recovered judg-
ment against him in a Circuit Court for the entire sum
Witherspoon has appealed to, the Kentucky Court of
Appeals, the highest court in the State, and intends to
tight the bank there.