The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1869-11-18
Letter OF Pere uyacinthe.

To Reu. Leonard w. Bdcor. Brooklyn
REvKRESD SIR; am as much grained
as surprised at the honor you are disposed
to do to the few disc0urses have published
in Europe, Some of then-are actually the
product lonstf my TeR, but these are very
few aift; Teia te 10 circumstances of time ard
place which fear will have no interest ior
American readers. The others. more impor-
tant in their subject. since they are part OF
the course of conferences instituted at Notre
Dame by the Bishop Of Paris. are extant
only in detached parts, taken down hastily
in shorthand, and the gaps filled by An I'M
perfect summary. ! should have been glad.
| acknowledge. if l could have brought to
America something less unworthy OF the
sympathy with which have been received
here, and which shall always reckon among
the greatest honors aud the purest joys OF
my life. Such as they are. however, com
NIT these rude productions TO the indulgence
Of your readers. Frenchman and Catholic
as | am. i present them, through yuur hand /,
To that great American Republic of which
you are d citizen, TO those numerous and
tlourishing Protestant churches of which you
minister. / am proud OF my France,
but deem it one of its most solid glories To
have contributed to the independence OF this
>
love, and which il shall some day learn to
initiate people with whom liberty is some
thing else than barren theory or bloody
practice with whom the cause of labor is
never confounded with that Of revolution,
and never divorced from that Uf religion !;
and who. rearing under all forms and all de-
nominations its houses of prayer amid its
houses cf commerce and finance, crowns its
noisy and productive week with the sweet
ness and majesty of its Lords day. And
on the seventh day it eads the work which
it has done, and rests the seventh from all
its work which it has made" I remain
faithful to my church. AMI il have lifted up
my protest against the excesses which dis
honor it and seem bent on its ruin, you may
measure the intensity of my love for it by
the bitterness of my lamentation. When tie
who Is in all things our master and our ex-
ample armed Himself with the scourge of
cords against the profaneTs of the Temple.
His decipes remem bered that it was written
The zeal of Thy house hath eaten me
up" continue faithful to my church. but
am none the less sensible of the interest
which wilt be taken in other churches in
what | may say or do within the pale Of
Catholicism. FprthermoTe. have never de-
MED that the Christian communions separa-
ted from Rome were dsiHherited of the holy
Ghost, and without part in the immense
work of the preparation of the Kingdom OF
God. In my relatiops with some Of the pious
and the most learned OF their members have
experienced in those depths of the soul
whe reillusion is imposs bic the uEu te' abe
blessing of the communion Of saiuts- What
divides Us externally in space and time van
ishes like dream before that which unltes
US within--tLc grace of the same God, the
blood of the same Christ. the hopes of the
same eternity. Whatever our prejudice, our
alterations. or our irritations. under the eye
of God. who seeih what we cannot see. uu-
der His hand, which leadeth is whittier we
would not 60. we are all laboring in common
for the upbuilding Of that Church of the fu-
ture which shall be the Church of the past
in its original putty and beauty but shall
have. besides, the depth Of its analysis, the
breadth Of its syutbesis, the experience OF
its tolls, it's struggles. and its griefs through
all these centuries. Iu the sad days of 5chism
and captivity the word of the Lord came to
the Prophet Ezekiel, saying: Thou son of
man, take thee one stick and wlite upon it !:
- For Judah and for the children Of Israel
his companions , then. take another stick
and write upon it F: For Joseph. the stick
of Ephraim aud all the house of Saul. his
companions. and join them one to another
INTO one SLICK, ana tney snall oSCtihe Ouc
in thy hand, ,'-Ezekiel xxxvii., 1917. To
me likewise. who am the least of Cnristinnss
in those visions of the soul which are never
refused to our devout aspirations, the Lord
hath spoken. He has placed in my hand
these two beloved and withered branches
Rome aud the children OF Israel who follow
her the churches Of the Reformation and
the nations that are with them. l have
pressed them together on my heart. and
under the outpouring of my tears and pray
ers have 50 joined them that henceforth they
might make but one tree. But men havo
laughed to scorn my effort. seemingly SO
! mad, and have asked me. as of that ancient
seer. will thou not show US what thou
meanest by these things 3" ezekiel xkxvii
lS) And l. looking upon that tree. that
seems still barren and mutilated. even now
behold the brilliant flower and the savory
fruit. -a
lone God. ont ;faith, one baptism"
"And there shall be one flock and one shep-
herd
BROTHER HYACINTHE.