The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1854-09-17

present and past years, up to the l4sh Of the
present month -
1853. 1854. Isersass.
q, Reading railroad. :. l15s'sss 1,SIasss $50 go
From the Lshish region oea 7ss 5s4I74 leo,ss5
Total. ............ a,aoo sss 2s67, ios t6s,I4o
Here then we have an ipcrea tkas far this
season, from these three sources, sf upwards of
five hundred and iifty.six thousand tons, which
is more than twenty-five per cent on the ship
nents Of last year.
THE UNIVERSAL JrBfIEE-Pcpe Plus the
Ninth has proc aimed to the faithful through
out the world a three months jubilee or general
intelligence. The Holy Father has been moved
70 this solemn act in consider alton of the many
and grievous Affections unoer which the civil
| zed world is at this moment suffering Wars
end earthquakes, and pestilence and famine,
have been in all ages regarded as scourges with
which the crim,s Of mankind have been pun
ebcd; and pray er and sacrifice have been the
only recognized panacea for these evils. The
oisscnsioRs between potentates which have en-
broled Europe in sanguinary war, the pesti-
Il nce which stalks abroad in city and in hamlet
the earthquakes and other calamities which have
gone to make the present year one Of unusual
desruc tivepess to human life, are all by him
referred to that one great engendering cause
namely, the sins and transgressions of the sons
Of men. Ano therefore it is that, in his ency-
clical letter given at St Peters, in Rome, on
the Let of August, he calls upon the hierarchy
OF the Church to incite, through their clergy.
the faithful to join in supplicaton to the throne
Of grace, that the dssensions Of Christian
princes may be set at rest, that peace and tran
guilty may be accorded to the peoples, and
that the arrows Of divine wrath may be stayed.
But all these cslamities combined are in the
eyes of his Holiness less intolerable than the
heresies propagated ON all sides. Indifferent
ism and infdelity appear to him to have far
more terrors in their train than even war and
pestilence. The latter are, at worst, mere tenn
porary evils, Of comparatively ephemeral ex-
istence; but the former, if permitted to take
root and spread, may encompass the earth, and
in connection with the epirit Of revolt, may
crush and trample upon the thrones of mo.
narchs and the chair of apostles. And so to
guard against such dreadful contingency, the
Pope calls for the exercise of the greatest zeal
and the offering up Of the most fervent suppl
cations to prevent the growth Of these dreaded
demons of infdelity and sedition.
The time was when the successor Of Saint
Peter was the acknowledged arbiter between
warning kings, and when heresy and schism, if
they dared to lift their heads, were crushed out
by speedy process. Something like the same
spirit still lives at Rome the will is there, but
the power to enforce 1t is fled forever. Never
theless, if 1t Is believed that the prayers of the
Church will avail in the present crisis Of mum
dane affairs, we will be glad to see them brought
into service. A great deal can be done In three
months Besides, the season will be propi-
tious as the winter will probably enforce
truce in the operations of war and cholera;
and the prayers of the faithful will at all events
seem to have had favorable hearing.
In connection with this subject 1t is announc-
cd that special convocation of the hierarchy
Of the Church will be held at Rome, after the
termination Of the jubilee, to decide on the
doctrine which is hereafter to be deemed ortho-
dox in relation to the immaculate conception
Of the Virgin, and to promulgate the belief Of
the Church ON that point. There appears to
have been some unaccountable dilatoriness In
fixing this dogma, but of course 1t Is better late
than never. In the meantime we would seri-
ously commend to the perusal of our readers
the encyclical letter Of the Pore, translation
ofwhich we publish in our columns to-day. It
is document breathing fervent piety and
Christian humility, and is eminently adapted
for Sabbath reading.
The VINO PRIMARY ELEcTIoSs.--It was
pretty generally understood some time since
that the Seward wings would come of second
best at the elections which were held on Tues
day. But no one--except perhaps some Of the
long headed leaders Of the Know Nothing
had any idea that they would be 60 utterly