POLAND.

His Grace the Archbishop of Dublin has honoured us by addressing to us the following letter:—

To the Editors of the Irish Ecclesiastical Record.

55 Eccles Street, 22nd December, 1864.

Rev. Gentlemen,

The sad condition to which Russian despotism has reduced our Catholic brethren in Poland must be a source of grief and affliction to every Christian heart. Tens of thousands of the inhabitants of that generous country, so long the bulwark of Christendom against the encroachments of pagan or Mahometan hordes, have been condemned to pass their days in the deserts of Siberia, and to suffer an exile worse than death: noble families have been totally destroyed, and their children dispersed: even young ladies of the highest rank have been dragged from the convents where they were receiving a Christian education, and sent to pass their days among the Calmucks or the Tartars. The property of the Catholic nobility and gentry has been confiscated; many churches and colleges and almost all the convents and monasteries, have been stripped of their possessions, or suppressed. The scaffold has been purpled with the blood of innumerable victims, lay and clerical, and some bishops and hundreds of priests are now scattered over the continent of Europe, undergoing the sufferings of exile. "Crudelis ubique luctus, ubique pavor et plurima mortis imago". All these evils have been afflicted on Poland in the presence of Europe, and all the great powers have been silent, looking on with indifference. The Holy Father alone, acting with the usual spirit of the Apostolic See, has raised his voice in favour of suffering humanity; but heresy and schism shut their ears against the words of truth, and Sarmatia is left to her unhappy fate.

The scenes now enacted in Poland cannot but remind us of the calamities with which our own dear country was visited in the days of Cromwell and the Puritans, when the streets of our towns ran with the blood of massacred Catholics, and multitudes of Catholic children were torn from their homes and sent to drag out a miserable existence in the swamps of Georgia or on the scorching sands of the Antilles.

Ireland having suffered in the same cause and in the same way as Poland, must feel deep sympathy with her afflicted sister—"Haud ignara mali, miseris succurrere disco". Hence, I am confident that our charitable people, though severely tried themselves, will do everything in their power to assist the poor exiled Poles, who have been obliged to take refuge in France and other countries of Europe, in order to avoid the sword or the halter of the Russian despot.

The clergy of France, encouraged by the exhortations and example of our Holy Father, who has not only raised his voice in favour of the poor exiles, but has founded a college for them in Rome—the clergy of France, always active and zealous in the protection and propagation of the faith, have instituted a society, with the view not only of providing for the present wants of the Poles now scattered through Europe, but also of taking steps to secure in times to come the existence of our holy religion in that unhappy country, by educating young students to fill the ranks of the priesthood.

A most distinguished prelate, Monseigneur Segur, well known for his innumerable works of charity and religion, is at the head of the society just mentioned, and the Very Rev. Abbé Perraud, a learned priest of the Oratory, and author of an admirable work on the state of Ireland, is its secretary. The society is patronised by the bishops and nobles of France.

Wishing you, reverend gentlemen, every blessing and every success, I remain, your obedient servant,

Paul Cullen.

The president and secretary have addressed to me the two documents here annexed, which give a full and true account of the unhappy state of the Polish exiles, and of the sufferings of the clergy.

May I beg of you to publish them in the next number of the Record, a periodical which I hope will do good service to Irish ecclesiastical literature.

I will send £10 myself, to assist in relieving the persecuted Poles. If any of your readers wish to confide their contributions to me, I will be happy to remit them to that good friend, both of Ireland and Poland, the Abbé Perraud.

Letter addressed to their Lordships the Archbishops and Bishops of England and Ireland by the President of the Association.

The 30th of July, 1864, date of the circular of the Sovereign Pontiff, Pius IX., addressed to the Archbishops and Bishops of Poland, will ever be a memorable epoch for the martyred nation. From that day she may look with confidence to the future; Catholicism is saved in Poland, and with Catholicism the past history of the Polish nation.

In obedience to the voice of the Holy Father, who solemnly warns us not to follow prescriptions contrary to the laws of God and of His Church, and "placing, according to his word, everything else below religion and the Catholic doctrine", some of his sons assembled on the 24th of September, 1864, for the purpose of obtaining in behalf of Poland that which the Emperor of Russia refuses her.

Borrowing the very expressions of the Pontifical letter, the following are their engagements:

"The Czar wishes to extirpate Catholicism"; we will uphold it.—"He would drag the whole of his people into this wretched schism"; we will lend them our aid.—"He prohibits writings that are propitious to Catholicism"; we will print them.—"He impedes the communications with the Holy See"; we will free them from difficulty.—"He forbids showing, either by preaching or instructing, the difference that exists between truth and schism"; we will receive and propagate works that demonstrate this difference.

"Bishops are torn from their dioceses and sent into exile"; we should be proud to own them.—"The religious are expelled from their communities, and their monasteries are turned into barracks"; we are ready to offer them a refuge.—"Priests are cruelly persecuted, deprived of all they possess, reduced to poverty, exiled, thrown into prison or put to death"; we undertake to receive them with honour, to alleviate their sufferings, to create or to support houses of education, both elementary and of a higher order, so that the source of priesthood in Poland may not be dried up, and so as to disseminate the benefits of Christian education.—"Numbers of Catholics of every rank and age are removed to distant countries"; we will open our doors to them.

In a word, the nucleus of an exclusively religious association, under the denomination of "Work of Catholicism in Poland", has been formed in Paris, with the view of maintaining, "by all the means that charity can suggest", this generous nation in her fidelity to the Church.

Mgr. de Ségur, prelate of his Holiness' household and Canon of St. Denis, has consented to honour this most important work with his patronage.

The Rev. Father Pététot, superior-general of the Oratory, and the Rev. M. Deguerry, parish priest of the church of La Madeleine, at Paris, the Count Montalembert, and M. Cornudet, councillor of state, have also kindly accepted the vice-presidentship.

Our first duty is to receive with sympathy the representatives of Polish heroism, men who have not hesitated between tortures and apostacy. Many of them were in the enjoyment of affluence at home; and after having proved in the last struggle the vitality of their invincible nation, the spirit of faith and of sacrifice is now the sole treasure which they possess.

Amongst the Poles now in Paris, there are representatives of every profession; employment must be found for them, either in the capital or the provinces. A neighbouring country of two millions and a half of inhabitants, Switzerland, has harboured about two thousand. There, not one of the exiles but has found both assistance and means of gaining his livelihood. An asylum even is being founded for the reception of invalids; a residence is offered to them. Public opinion in Switzerland is so favourable to the Poles, that in their presence even religious differences are done away with. What the Helvetian republic has effected, the whole of France will not fail to accomplish. So much for the more immediate necessities.

Whenever there is question of works of the apostleship in foreign lands, we are always ready to assist the missionary. Have we not a short time ago signalized our zeal for the Christians of Syria and Lebanon, and still more recently for the Bulgarian nation, for whose return to unity we may safely hope? What we require at present, and what is easier to perform, and less uncertain, is to maintain in her attachment to the Church a Catholic nation of 25 millions of men. To accomplish this, we must provide for the religious education of those whom the misfortunes of the times prevent from entering into the seminaries of Poland. The Holy Father has himself given the initiative, by opening a Polish seminary at Rome. Why should we not follow his example? At the time of the persecutions in Ireland, we counted in the north of France alone, no less than four colleges for the use of young Irishmen: Saint-Omer, where the great O'Connell was formed: Douai, whence came in the time of Elizabeth, forty of England's early martyrs: Lille, and Paris.

Until such time as the extension of the work shall enable us to collect the necessary funds for the foundation and maintenance of these establishments, we would humbly request the bishops to admit into their large and small seminaries the young Poles who show signs of an ecclesiastical vocation. If, after preparatory studies, they could not all return to their mother country, their aid would be valuable for the conversion of different nations of the East.

As it is probable that this association of prayers and of alms will not be of long duration, the annual subscription is fixed at a minimum of 5 fr. Many of the faithful no doubt will not be satisfied with so small a contribution. Others, on the contrary, may group together to form it.

We would also request their Lordships the Bishops to be kind enough to appoint in each of their dioceses a member of their clergy who would have the charge of centralising the work and making it known, and who would enjoy the spiritual favours of the Sovereign Pontiff, who has ever been the protector and father of Poland. To every Catholic, to whatever country he may belong, this work is a question of honour, a protestation of the civilised world against barbarity.

Out of France we firmly hope our work will meet with deep sympathy, similar associations will be formed, and regular communications established between them.

May the blessed Virgin, Patroness of Poland, bless and second our efforts.

All communications and donations intended for the "Work of Catholicism in Poland" to be addressed to the Rev. Father Perraud, Priest of the Oratory, Director General of the Work, 44 Rue du Regard, Paris.

French and foreign newspapers favourable to Poland are requested to publish this act of foundation of the "Work of Catholicism in Poland".

Letter to the Archbishop of Dublin from the Director-General of the Association.

"Paris, 20th December, 1864,

"My Lord Archbishop,

"The work, the plan of which we lay before you to-day, is one which recommends itself to your zeal and your love for the Church.

"The touching words of the Sovereign Pontiff have stirred us to lend assistance to martyred Poland. May the Church of Ireland second the Church of France in this endeavour, which is so noble, and, at this moment, so necessary.

"I venture to unite my humble voice with that of the pious prelate and of the eminent men who are at the head of this work, in the hope that the bishops and priests of Ireland will listen with favour to an appeal on behalf of a persecuted church and nation. Accept, my Lord, the expression of profound respect and lively gratitude with which I am,

"Your most devoted humble Servant, "ADOLPHE PERRAUD, "Director-General of the Work".