EODGEES, JOHN". 



ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 723 



Survey Expedition, under Commander Ring- 

 gold, and succeeded to the command when in 

 the China Seas. His surveys of the Ladrone 

 Islands, Loo-Choo, and other islands, added 

 much valuable knowledge and increased the 

 safety of navigation in those seas. In 1855 he 

 sailed from Kamchatka, in the Vincennes, 

 through Behring Strait into the Arctic 

 Ocean, for the purpose of verifying the posi- 

 tion of lands plotted by British officers on the 

 Admiralty charts. He then sailed westward 

 in search of the land plotted by Admiral 

 Wrangel, but was turned back by ice-barriers. 

 His return was occupied in marking his zig- 

 zag course by line of soundings on the chart of 

 "Behring Sea and the Arctic Ocean." This 

 chart was published by the Government, and 

 added to Rodgers's well-earned reputation. He 

 reached San Francisco in October, 1855, and 

 was gazetted with his officers by the Navy 

 Department. 



On the breaking out of the civil war, Com- 

 mander Rodgers was sent West to superintend 

 the construction of the Benton class of iron- 

 clads. Desiring more active duty, he was placed 

 in command of an expedition of gunboats, 

 which he led (May 15th) to the famous attack 

 on Fort Darling. His courage and skill were 

 shown on many occasions, on one especially, 

 when, in the monitor Weehawken, he cap- 

 tured, after a very brief engagement, the rebel 

 ironclad Atlanta, in Warsaw Sound, Georgia, 

 a vessel much his superior in tonnage and 

 force. His most famous voyage was in the 

 monitor Monadnock, which, under his command, 

 navigated the Atlantic and Pacific, passing 

 through the Straits of Magellan, and reaching 

 San Francisco in safety. 



Commodore Rodgers was particularly ser- 

 viceable in the harbor of Valparaiso, where he 

 succeeded in preventing a bombardment of the 

 city by the Spanish fleet. His tact, judgment, 

 firmness, good sense, all deserve praise, and 

 received high commendation from the Govern- 

 ment. In December, 1866, he was assigned to 

 the command of the Charlestown Navy Yard ; 

 he was made rear-admiral December 31, 1869 ; 

 and early in 1870 took command of the Asiatic 

 fleet. His expedition to Corea and his prompt 

 measures against the treachery of the natives 

 showed those savages very plainly that the 

 United States would never submit to outrage 

 on their part with impunity. 



On finishing his Asiatic cruise, Admiral 

 Rodgers was made commandant of Mare Island 

 Navy Yard, California, since which time he has 

 been in charge of the Naval Observatory. Hav- 

 ing received the thanks of Congress, his official 

 life was prolonged beyond the prescribed age. 

 He took an active interest in all that related to 

 the service in which the best years of his life 

 had been spent. He became a member of the 

 Light-House Board in May, 1878, and was 

 elected chairman to succeed Professor Henry. 

 He died full of years, and was honored and es- 

 teemed by all who came in contact with him, 



for his many noble and excellent qualities of 

 both head and heart. 



ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. The ear- 

 liest important official acts of Pope Leo XIII 

 in the year 1882 were a series of beatifications, 

 by which the public invocation and the expo- 

 sition of the pictures of personages whose lives 

 and miraculous powers had been duly investi- 

 gated, were permitted in certain districts or to 

 certain orders. These were, Blessed Alphon- 

 sus de Orosco, Hermit of the Order of St. Au- 

 gustine, born at Oropesa, Spain, October 15, 

 1500, preacher to Charles V, and a theologian 

 of high rank, beatified January 15th with sol- 

 emn ceremonies in the Aula of the Canoniza- 

 tion; Blessed Charles da Sezze, a Franciscan 

 lay brother, known in the world as John Charles 

 Marchione, born at Sezze, October 22, 1613, 

 died January 6, 1670, beatified January 22, 

 1882; and Blessed Humilis da Bisignano, also 

 a Franciscan lay brother, known in the world 

 as Luke Anthony, born at Bisignano, in Cala- 

 bria, August 25, 1582, died there October 26, 

 1637, beatified January 29, 1882. 



AN ENCYCLICAL. In an encyclical, dated 

 February 15, 1882, and addressed to the arch- 

 bishops and bishops of Italy, Pope Leo XIII, 

 after reviewing the increasing assaults on reli- 

 gion and the spread of antichristian ideas, urges 

 them to labor' to counteract them: "In order 

 to nourish and increase awakened virtue, it is 

 necessary to see and provide that societies may 

 be increased and flourish, in number, co-opera- 

 tion, and good accomplished; that the main 

 object of these societies should be to maintain 

 and arouse faith and other Christian duties. 

 To this class belong associations of youth, of 

 artisans, those intended for assembling Catho- 

 lics at stated times, societies for the relief of 

 the poor, for the observance of holy days, in- 

 struction of the children of the poor, and the 

 like. And as it imports in the highest degree 

 for the Catholic weal that the Roman Pontiff 

 should be, and be known to be, free from all 

 peril, annoyance, and difficulty, let these asso- 

 ciations strive, by remonstrances, and by every 

 form of action within the law, for the cause 

 of the Pope. Let them endeavor and do, nor 

 take rest till there is restored to us that lib- 

 erty in fact, and not in figure, with which, as 

 in a compulsory bond, is joined not only the 

 Church's good, but a favorable course of Italian 

 government and the tranquillity of Christian 

 nations." He urged the daily or most frequent 

 dissemination of sound principles and doctrines 

 to oppose the flood of irreligious and commu- 

 nistic theories constantly offered to the unwary. 

 Cardinal rules are given for writers. ^ The bish- 

 ops are urged also to renewed care in the due 

 training of candidates for the priesthood in 

 properly organized seminaries. 



A form long in use, by which certain ancient 

 sees in lands overrun by the Mohammedans 

 were designated as in partibus infidelium, was 

 suppressed by the Congregation "de Propa- 

 ganda Fide," and approved by Pope Leo XIII, 



