678 EOMAN" CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



RUSSIA. 



tions and habits, only make the appeal to our Chris- 

 tian charity and zeal, presented by their forlorn con- 

 dition, the more forcible and imperative. 



We urge upon the clergy and people of our charge 

 the most generous cooperation with the plans which 

 may be adopted by the bishops of the dioceses in 

 which they are, to extend to them that Christian 

 education and moral restraint which they so much 

 stand in need of. Our only regret in regard to this 

 matter is, that our means and opportunities of spread- 

 ing over them the protecting and salutary influences 

 of our holy religion are so restricted. 



In the "general conclusion" the work of the 

 Council is thus referred to : 



We have taken advantage of the opportunity of 

 the assembling of so large a number of bishops from 

 every part of our vast country, to enact such de- 

 crees as will tend to promote uniformity of disci- 

 pline and practice amongst us, and to do away 

 with such imperfect observance of the rites and ap- 

 proved ceremonies of the church, as may have been 

 made necessary by the circumstances of past times, 

 but which no length of prescription can ever conse- 

 crate, and thus to give the services of our religion 

 that beauty and dignity which belong to them, and 

 for which we should all be so zealous. For the further- 

 ance of these important objects we have caused to be 

 drawn up a clear and compendious series of state- 

 ments upon the most essential points of faith and 

 morals, with which we have embodied the decrees of 

 the seven Provincial Councils of Baltimore, and of 

 the first Plenary Council, together with the decrees 

 enacted by us in the present Council, which, when 

 they have been examined and approved by the Holy 

 See, will form a compendium of ecclesiastical law 

 for the guidance of our clergy in the exercise of their 

 holy ministry. We have also recommended to the 

 Holy See the erection of several additional episcopal 

 Bees, and vicariates apostolic, which are made neces- 

 eary by our rapidly-increasing Catholic population, 

 knd the great territorial extent of many of our pres- 

 ent dioceses. 



Soon after the opening of the Council, the 

 bishops sent to the Pope the following dis- 

 patch, through the Atlantic cable : 



Seven archbishops and forty bishops, met in coun- 

 cil, unanimously salute your holiness, wishing you 

 long life, with the preservation of all the ancient and 

 sacred rights of the Holy See. 



The dispatch was answered by the following 

 letter, written in the name of the Pope, by 

 Cardinal Barnabo : 



ROME, from the Propaganda, October 24, 1 866. 

 To the Most Reverend Martin John Spalding, Arch- 

 bishop of Baltimore : 



The telegram which the bishops of the States of 

 the American Union assembled in council had the 

 happy thought to address to the Holy Father proved 

 to be of great comfort and consolation to bis holi- 

 ness, and so highly did he appreciate its spirit that 

 he ordered it to be immediately published in the 

 official journals at Rome, for the edification of his 

 Koman people and the faithful at large. His holiness 

 looks with interest for the acts and decrees of the 

 Plenary Council, which he expects to receive in due 

 time, and from which he hopes a new impulse and 

 continued increase to religion in the United States 

 will result. He has, however, directed me to express 

 directly to your amplitude, and through you to all 

 your colleagues, his great pleasure, and to request 

 you to thank them for the interest they have taken 

 and still take in defending the Holy See and in vin- 

 dicating its contested rights. Moreover, his holiness 

 has learned with satisfaction that the Papal loan is 

 succeeding also, through the cooperation of the 



American Episcopate. He thanks them particularly 

 for this, and nourishes the hope that such coop^ra- 

 tion will not cease, and that thence a prosperous re- 

 sult may be obtained. In the mean time, I pray tlio 

 Lord that he long preserve and prosper you. 



ALEXANDER CARDINAL BARNABO, 



Secretary. 



ROSS, JOHK, or KOOWESKOWE, chief of the 

 Cherokee Indians, born in the Cherokee 

 Country, Georgia, about 1790; died in Wash- 

 ington. D. C., August 1, 1866. He was a half- 

 breed, and at an early age acquired a good 

 English education. In 181? and in 1819, when 

 the State of Georgia attempted to induce the 

 Indians to remove west of the Mississippi, a 

 liberal bribe was offered for the purpose to 

 Eoss by Mclntosh, a Creek half-breed Indian, 

 but it was refused. The proceedings of the 

 Georgia Legislature with reference to the 

 Cherokees, in 1829, led to an appeal on the 

 part of the Indians, Eoss acting as their agent, 

 to the Supreme Court of the United States, 

 which resulted in a decision in their favor. 

 Georgia, however, refused to obey, and aggres- 

 sions upon the Indians increased. In 1835 a 

 treaty was concluded between J. F. Scherraer- 

 horn, an agent of the United States, and Major 

 Eidge, his son John Eidge, Elias Boudinot, and 

 about six hundred other Cherokee Indians, in- 

 cluding men, women, and children, by which 

 the Indians agreed to surrender their lands and 

 remove West within two years. Against this, 

 known as the New Echota treaty, Ross, and 

 over 15,000 of his tribe protested, in an appeal 

 written by Eoss, and addressed to the President 

 of the United States, as having been fraudu- 

 lently obtained. The Government, however, 

 sent a force under General Scott to compel the 

 fulfilment of the treaty. The Cherokees yielded, 

 and with Eoss at their head, removed to their 

 new home. Moderate allowance was made 

 them for their losses by the Government, and 

 after years of suffering they became a prosper- 

 ous nation. Eoss continued to be the Chief of 

 the Cherokees for several years. In 1861, after 

 some hesitation, he entered into a treaty with 

 the Confederate authorities, but it has been 

 stated that he was at heart attached to the Gov- 

 ernment. 



EUSSIA, an Empire in Europe and Asia. 

 Present Emperor, Alexander II., born 1818; 

 succeeded his father in 1855. Heir- apparent, 

 Alexander, born in 1845. The area, in 1862, 

 was estimated at 7,770,882 English square miles, 

 but large additions have since been made to it 

 in Central Asia. The population was, according 

 to the latest data, as follows : 



