The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1869-10-09
Pere Hyaeinthe.

is the course of Father Hyacinthe the Car.
melite monk who has occupied a leading
| position in the religious world from his
great ability and devotion. His letter adj
dressed to the general of his order is pub
lshed and from it we make the following
extracts: After reciting the attacks which
have been made on him during the five
years of his ministry at Notre Dame end
the fact that his superiors now encourage
them he says: --.r- t-
| do not hesitate an instant. To use
language perverted by dctation or mutt
lated by reticency, could not ascend the
pulpit of NOtre Dame. l express my re-
| gret to the intelligent and courageous
| Archbishop who opened it to me and who
| has maintained me there in spite of the ill
will of the men to whom just now refer
| ed. express my regret to the imposing
AUDITORY which there enyironed me with
! its attention, with its sympathies, l was
| nearly adding with its friendship. l should
| be worthy neither of the audience, nor of
! the Bishop, nor of God, could consent to
| play such part before them.
At the same time quit the convent in
| habit, and which, under the new circum-
stances made for me, becomes to me a pri
! son of the soul. IE thus acting am not
unfaithfnl to my vows; IprOmised monas-
.to Ladienee, but within the limits of the
integrity of my v~..4Aisnce. of the dignity
| of my person and of my minIstry.+K pro-
| missed under the benefit of that superior
| law of justice and of royal liberty, which
| is, according to the Apostle st. James, tine
| proper law of the Christian. 1t was the
most perfect practice of this holy liberty
| that | came to ask of the clOister, now
| ,tto a frl, I,f,
| enthusiasm pnre from all human calcula-
tions. dare not add free from every youth
fu Illusion. If, in exchange for my sacri-
| fees, to-day l am offered chains, it is not
only my right but my duty to reject them.
l. ThepreseI hour is solemn. The Church
| is traversing one of the most violent. OBJ
| scuie, and decisive crises OF its existence
| here below. For the first time for 300
years, an Ecumeninal Council is not only
convoked, but declared necessary: that is
! ! the expression of the Holy Father. 1t is
| not at suoa u in iiiiasamsnt that preacher of
| the Gospel, We're he the iistte Of all, can
consent TO be silent, like those dumb dogsz
| of Israel. fathless guardians whom the
prophet reproachcs with not being able to
| bark-canes mutt, non ualenteS iatrare. The
| saints were never mute. | am not one of
| them, but yet am of their race Jill sane
| forum sunaaS-and my ambition has always
! been that my footsteps, my tears, and, If
necessary, my blood, should fall OH the
traces which theirs have left.
| Therefore do 1, before the Holy Father,
| and before the Council, protest, as a Chris
| tian and as priest. against those doctrines
| and practices which are called Roman, but
| which are not Christian, and which, by
| their encroachments, ever more audaciOus
and more fatal, tend to change the Consti-
| tuition of the Church, the substance as well
as the form of its teaching, and even the
spirit of its piety. l protest against the
divorce, as impiOus as it is senseless, it is
sought to bring about between the Church,
which is our mother according to eternity,
and the society of the 18th century, OF
which we are the sons in temporal sense,
and towards which we also have duties and
tendernesses.
protest against that still more radical
and alarming opposition with human ma
ture, wounded and revOted by those false
doctors in its most indestructible and holy
aspirations. l protest. above all, against
the sacrilegious perversion of the Gospel
of the Son of God himself whereof the
spirit and the letter are equally trampled
under foot by the pharisaism of the new
law. My deepest conviction is that il
France i'm particular, and the Latin races
in general, are given up to social, moral
and religious anarchy, the principal cause
is not, most assuredly, in Catholicism it
self, but in the manner in which Cath0li-
cism has long been understood and prac-
tlced. t
/ appeal to the council which is about to
meet to seek remedies for the excess of our
evils, and to apply them with as much
| force as gentleness. But if fears which
will not share came to be realized, if the
| august assembly had not more liberty In
| its deliberations than it now has in its
| preparation; if, IN a word, it were de-
| prived of the characters essential to an
Ecumenieal Council, / would cry out to
| God and to men to demand another, truly
brought together in the Holy Spirit-not
i'm the spirit of parties-really representing
| the Universal Church, and not the silence
of some and the oppression OF others. "For
| the hurt of the daughter of my people am
| | hurt; I am black; astonishment hath
| taken hold on me. Is there no balm in
| Gilead? is there no physician there? why
| then is not the health of the daughter of
nv people recovered?" Jeremiah, viii.)
| And, finally, appeal to yonr tribunal,
| oh. Lord Jesus! Ad tuuns, Domino Jesu,
tribunal appello. 1t is in your presence
| that write these lines; it is at your feet,
| after having prayed much, reflected much,
| suffered much, and waited long, 1t is at
| your feet that sign them. l have the
confidence that if men condemn them up
on earth you will approve them in Heaven.
| That suff1ces me both in life and in death.
| ...,.t..- -...t.s.. FIR. HYACINTHE.