The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1838-07-24
Eom the Boston Mercantile Journal.
LETTER FROM CUBA.

had an education in N England. | will, in this
letter, continue to follow the religious state of
society in this place, as it may prove somewhat
interesting. AT four o'clock in the morning the
bells announce mathis, but few Ibeleve, except
on feast day, pny their prisons at an hour so
iy. Mass is said in the course OF the morning,
three times. AT eleven the bells chime again,
which is repeated at sunset, when every good
Catholic is bound to stop in the street and say
his prayers-were this carried strictly into exc
cution, it might have good effect. The noise
of the bells at vespers before any feast day, is alb
solutely stunning as they are struck without any
regularity, with the sole object of making the
most noise. In the church there are no pews
OF seats, each female carrying her own chair and
carpeting to kneel on-the other sex are privi-
legged with standing. Every church has its con-
fessional chair; it is made high, more in the form
ola wardrobe of lattice work than any thing else
but it by no means conceals the person con-
Tossing, and even if it did, the person must be
known when he partukes of the host after ahso-
luton What criminal recorder must it be, if
oil the truth is made known at these confessions.
A priest is bound by his oath never to reveal
what information he receives from the confess
ional box, and as no priest is amenabe TO secu-
lar power, he can never he compelled to testify;
dangerous power for republican institutions!
BY the laws ftle church every person is obliged
to confess once n year. Another rite of the
The child must be provided with godfather
and mother, and after long preamble of read
ing and mumblng, the child is taken to large
font, where salt is put upon his tongue, cross
made upon the back of the neck and forehead
with oil, when it is baptized with wafer in the
usual manner, only the water is poured upon the
head with silver laver, most abundanty. The
forms used in the saying of mass il is unnecessa-
ry to describe, as it will he very imper.ectly un-
derstood by Protestant, and as it may be seen
at any time in any city OF the States.
The Catholic belief is in the Trinity, transub-
sanitation, purgatory, intercesslon of saints, es
pecay the Virgin praying for the dead. Beside
these, whatever command the church in lis wis
dom sees proper to propose. is TO be received
without hesitation, as originating from the Eter.
nal. The doctrine of Purgatory is thus described
in u Spanish catechism before me" The bells
are four dungeons i'm the middle Of the earth, be-
low all is the hell of the devils and The souls of
those who die with mortal sn-ths dungeon is
very large, in order 10 contain the bodies of all
mortal sinners, which at the day OF Judgment
will be Joined to their souls in hel-but although
it is so large they are so confined as not TO be
able to move or scratch the head. This dungeon
is filled with fire like to kiln, but in burning
they do not become ashes but like bricks. Above
this is another dungeon called Purgatorio, where
those 60 who die without mortal sin or having
been pardoned by God. Always the scar re-
u
for nothing impure enters heaven. Another
prison above this is called d" Limbo" Of Children
for there go the souls Of little children who die
unhaptized-these are not burned, but are never
permitted 10 see God. Yetanother, is the Linn
boz of the Holy Fathers, into which Christ de-
scended."
The priests have no regular salary, and many
are miserably poor, for here, as is apt to be the
case in all established religions, the lucre is but
badly shared as well as the honors of the church.
The revenue arising from n tenth of all incomes,
masses, marriages, &c, the archbishop takes and
parcels out as he pleases. An immense income
accrues from the masses said tor the dead, for
which are paid from one to & hundred dolars-a
fine sum is derived also from marriages aud funer-
ais hut the office of priest is by no means a
desirable one in the Catholic church ia Cuba.
1t is officiating to those who desire not your SER
vices, without even tie reverences that pagan
ism inspires for her ministers. If the commu-
Mon is to be administered TO one at Il distance,
the priest and chalice are both covered by splen-
did canopy, and attended by multitude of peo-
pie, soldiers, &c, while the ringing of the small
bell, carried in advance, announces to every one
to kueel before the approach OF his God. In the
night the scene is more striking, as the process
sion is accompanied with lanterns, and every
house is illuminated. The chalice conveyed in
the street is fine gold one, inlaid with precious
stones, and surrounded by II halo of glory, as al
ways accompanies Tue TepTeSSiltnliou Vi tHe DdF
Jour.
You may anticipate the character of the PEG
pie by their government and reverence FOR reli
gion.
CURE FOR THE DRoPsY.-The following arli-
Gle came to our hand from most respectable
source, and we strongly recommend it to the at
tention of our readers.-.SdLem Gazette.
Extract from letter written by very intelll-
gent and respectable man, dated in Maine, A
pri 9Th, 1888.
81 am knowing to two extremely Distressing
cases of dropsy being suddenly relieved by the |
means of the bark of the common elder. One,
a woman advanced in years, in the last stage of
the disease, who lost brother short time pre-
vIous, by the same disease. The other, young
wo man who had been confined to her he'd for
nearly twelve months, (tour of which previous TO
January last she was unable to lie DOWN. and
whose strength was nearly exhausted, is now
wholly free from dropsy and recovering strength
in manner surprising and unexpected. Other
cases less asgravating have been cured by the
I. - hopI c,,1S >fl