ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



097 



The largest vote and the largest plurality were 

 obtained by Mr. Bennett, Republican candidate 

 for Secretary of State, his plurality being 9,629 

 and his total vote 30,231. This is the largest vote 

 ever cast for any elective officer in the State. 

 The total vote cast for Governor was 55,136. Com- 

 pared with last year, this total is 7,922 larger. 



The vote for Governor was as follows : Brown, 

 Republican, 29,179; Baker, Democrat, 22,924; 

 Metcalf, Prohibitionist, 2,217 ; Baylor, Socialist- 

 Labor, 593 ; and Burlingame, Populist, 223. 



The General Assembly elected was as follows : 

 Senate Republicans 32, Democrats 3, Independ- 

 ent 1 ; House Republicans 69, Democrats 3. 



A Republican convention was held in Provi- 

 dence on Oct. 11, when Melville Bull was named 

 as candidate for the First Congressional Dis- 

 trict and Warren 0. Arnold for the Second 

 Congressional District. 



A Democratic convention was held in Provi- 

 dence on Oct. 18, when Oscar Lapham was 

 chosen as candidate for the First Congressional 

 District and Charles H. Page for the Second 

 Congressional District. Mr. Page declined, and 

 Dr. Lucius C. F. Garvin was named. 



At the election held on Nov. 6, both. Republi- 

 can candidates were elected by large majorities, 

 in a reduced vote. Mr. Bull's plurality was 

 4,130 and Mr. Arnold's 4,912. The Labor party, 

 the Populists, and the Prohibitionists had can- 

 didates, each of whom received a few hundred 

 votes. At the municipal elections held later at 

 different places in the State the Republican can- 

 didates were for the most part successful. 



ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. The 

 eighty-fourth birthday and the sixteenth anniver- 

 sary of the coronation of Leo XIII, the celebration 

 of which took place March 2, was marked with 

 evidence of a better feeling between Vatican and 

 Quirinal than has been known for years. The 

 spirit of friendliness continued to grow through- 

 out the year. Premier Crispi's secretary visited 

 Cardinal Rampalla in September the first Ital- 

 ian official to enter the Pope's palace since 

 1870 an act that led to a series of negotiations 

 that settled many vexed questions, among 

 them the establishment of an apostolic prefec- 

 ture in Massowah and the approval by King 

 Humbert of the Pope's appointment of Cardinal 

 Sarto as Patriarch of Venice. The latter had 

 been the subject of a long-standing disagree- 

 ment. Premier Crispi, as if to emphasize the de- 

 sire for peace, publicly congratulated Cardinal 

 Sanfelice, Archbishop of Naples, who had consent- 

 ed to appear upon the same platform with him, 

 by permission of the Pope, and summoned the 

 aid of the Church in the effort to stamp out the 

 growing power of anarchy. 



The papal encyclical on the study of the Scrip- 

 tures contains special instructions, and urges the 

 preservation of all documentary evidences of 

 early Christianity, as well as the translation and 

 publication, in the widest but most prudent 

 form, of the inspired writings. The full text of 

 the encyclical, which was dated Nov. 18, 1893, 

 and was written by the Pope's own hand, was read 

 in the Catholic churches of the world on Jan. 

 1. Summarizing the instructions, Leo XIII says : 



In order that all these endeavors and exertions may 

 really prove advantageous to the cause of the Bible, 

 let scholars keep steadfastly to the principles which 



we have in this letter laid down. Let them loyally 

 hold that God, the Creator and Euler of all things, is 

 also the author of the Scriptures, and that therefore 

 nothing can be proved either by physical science or 

 archaeology which can really contradict the Scrip- 

 tures. If, then, apparent contradiction be met with, 

 everv etfort should be made to remove it. Judicious 

 theologians and commentators should be consulted as 

 to what is the true or most probable meaning of the 

 passage in discussion, and the hostile arguments 

 should be carefully weighed. Even if the difficulty 

 is after all not cleared wp and the discrepancy seems 

 to remain, the contest must not be abandoned ; truth 

 can not contradict truth, and we may be sure that 

 some mistake has been made either in the interpreta- 

 tion of the sacred words or in the polemical discus- 

 sion itself ; and if no such mistake can be detected, 

 we must then suspend judgment for the time being. 

 There have been objections without number perse- 

 veringly directed against the Scripture for many a 

 long year, which have been proved to be futile and 

 are now never heard of; and not unfrequently inter- 

 pretations have been placed on certain passages of 

 Scripture (not belonging to the rule of faith or morals) 

 which have been rectified by more careful investiga- 

 tions. As time goes on, mistaken views die and dis- 

 appear, but " truth remaineth and groweth stronger 

 for ever and ever." (1) Wherefore, as no one should 

 be so presumptuous as to think that he understands the 

 whole of the Scripture, in which St. Augustine him- 

 self confessed that there was more that he did not 

 know than that he knew, (2) so, if he should come 

 upon anything that seems incapable of solution he 

 must take to heart the cautions of the same holy doc- 

 tor : " It is better even to be oppressed by unknown 

 but useful signs than to interpret them uselessly, and 

 thus to throw oft' the yoke only to be caught 'in the 

 trap of error." 



New Cardinals. The following named prel- 

 ates were made cardinals at the public consis- 

 tory of May 21 : Mgr. Sancha y Pervas, Arch- 

 bishop of Valencia, Spain ; Mgr. Ferrari, the 

 new Archbishop of Milan ; Mgr. Loampa, the 

 new Archbishop of Bologna; Mgr. Mauri, Arch- 

 bishop of Ferrara ; Mgr. Segna, Assessor of the 

 Holy Office and cousin of the Pope ; Father 

 Steinhuber. the celebrated German Jesuit. 

 Twenty-four bishops were preconized at the se- 

 cret consistory which followed. 



New Heads of Orders. The Rev. P. Cap- 

 tier, brother of the celebrated Dominican Pere 

 Captier, killed in the Commune, 1870, was elected 

 Superior General of the Society of St. Sulpice, 

 and, like Rt. Rev. Hildebrand de Hemptinne, 0. 

 S. B., the First Abbot Primate of the Benedic- 

 tines, the Most Rev. Matthias Raus, C. SS. R., 

 Superior General of the Congregation of the 

 Most Holy Redeemer, and the new general of 

 the Trappists, starts out with the pontiff's direc- 

 tion to enlarge the scope of the order, bring it 

 up to contemporary needs, and make it an ag- 

 gressive factor in the coming struggle for the 

 assertion of religion in all affairs of life. 



Catholic journalists in Italy had a hard time 

 of it during the year, notwithstanding the Gov- 

 ernment bid for papal support. The follow- 

 ing papers suffered confiscation and fines : " La 

 Vera Roma," " L'Emancipazione," " L'Azino," 

 Rome; "La Discussione," "L'Urgano," Naples; 

 "iL'Osservatore Cattolico," " L'ltalia del Popolo," 

 Milan ; " 11 Resto del Carlino," Bologna ; and " II 

 Risveglio," Forli. 



The Roumanian Marriage controversy grow- 

 ing out of the baptism of the newborn Rou- 

 manian prince, was settled, so far as the Church 



