regulars, of both sexes, also those living perpetually in the cloister, and to all other persons, whether lay or ecclesiastic, who by imprisonment, infirmity, or any other just cause, are prevented from doing the above works, or some of them, we grant that a confessor may commute them into other works of piety; the power being also given of dispensing, as to communion in the case of children not yet admitted to first communion. Moreover, to each and every one of the faithful, whether laymen or ecclesiastics, secular and regular, of whatsoever order and institute, even those to be specially named, we grant the faculty of choosing any confessor, secular or regular, among those actually approved; which faculty may be used also by religious novices and other women living within the cloister, provided the confessor be one approved for religious. We also give to confessors, on this occasion, and during the time of this jubilee only, all those faculties which we bestowed in our Letters Apostolic Pontifices maxi mi, dated Feb. 15, 1879, all those things excepted which are excepted in the same letters.

"For the rest, let all take care to obtain merit with the great Mother of God by special homage and devotion during this time. For we wish this sacred jubilee to be under the patronage of the Holy Virgin of the rosary; and with her aid we trust that there shall be not a few whose souls shall obtain remission of sin and expiation, and be by faith, piety, justice, renewed not only to hope of eternal salvation, but also to presage of a more peaceful age.

"Auspicious of these heavenly benefits, and in witness of our paternal benevolence, we affectionately in the Lord impart to you, and the clergy and people intrusted to your fidelity and vigilance, the apostolic benediction."

Another notable act of the present Pontifical year was the successful mediation which, at the request of both Spain and Germany, the Holy Father made in

the matter of the Caroline Island disputes. It is hardly necessary to refer to the causes which led to this dispute, as they are of such recent happening that everybody who reads the newspapers is fully aware of them. Suffice it to say, that Germany's seizure of one of the Caroline Islands threatened to embroil her in a war with Spain, which country claimed the islands; but the happy mediation of Pope Leo averted such a calamity, and his decision satisfied both Berlin and Madrid.

When it was first announced in Continental journals, that Bismarck had proposed the Pope as mediator between Germany and Spain, the idea was scouted as ridiculous. Yet it proved to be true. No greater tribute could be paid to Leo XIII. than that the empire which, par excellence, represents material force, should ask the services of a dethroned monarch, the head of a spiritual kingdom. The fact speaks volumes in favor of the present Pope's talents, wisdom, and conciliatory spirit. There is not a crowned head in Europe whose decision or judgment carries the same weight. The infidel and revolutionary papers of Europe would have laughed to scorn, a year or two ago, the choice by Germany and Spain of the Holy Father as mediator in the Caroline-Islands dispute. The imprisoned chief of Christendom, living as he does in the city of the invader and despoiler, has not lost one shred of his vast influence over the

two hemispheres. In an age when might generally suppresses right, that which is, humanly speaking, weakest, survives victoriously. The Papal mediation is no whim of Prince Bismarck or of King Alphonso's government. Column after column has been written upon the subject in its general bearings, and many European statesmen believe that the great mission of temporal peace is to come from the Vatican. To Catholics, the remembrance that humanity can have no greater friend and benefactor than the Church, carries more weight than all the combinations of diplomacy. If any thing were wanted to show the efficacy of the arrangement, it would be supplied by the remarks of the foreign revolutionary press. Finding that a conspiracy of silence is impossible, they, one and all, try to discover a danger in the fact. The principle of the arbitration of the Pope has been revived. One print goes so far as to say that the German chancellor has restored the temporal power by implication. Whatever may be the motive of Prince Bismarck, his action will be commended by the Catholics of the universe, because it is a public testimony to the fact, that, even in the eyes of its most potent and most persistent adversary, the Holy See is still recognized as an immense force in the world; and it will be a consolation to Leo XIII., in the midst of his tribulations, that, at this portion of the nineteenth century, he has been requested to

exercise, as his distant predecessors exercised, one of the prerogatives attaching to the exalted position of the Vicar of the Prince of peace, the office of the arbitrator of the nations.

The Papacy, which revolutionary journals said was dead, is living and vigorous; and, as the "Corriere de Torino❞ says, “An aureole of justice and wisdom shines around it. The fact is so much the more remarkable, as the Pope has not at all sought this mediation, but it has been offered to him by both nations. It is a homage rendered by material force to moral supremacy; modern diplomacy recognizes the spirit of justice and wisdom of the great Pope who governs the Church." The "Echo" of Bergamo remarks that this news of the mediation suffices to demonstrate in what esteem the Sovereign Pontiff is held in Europe. At the present day the Papacy is once more the only institution which maintains, in a high degree, the glory of Italy. A commission of seven cardinals has been chosen by the Pope to examine the facts and weigh the reasons in this important case. The judgment, it is plain, whatever it may be, will be founded upon truth and right; and if either of the disputants should act contrary to this judgment, and despise the decision of the Pope, it is certain that such a one will be condemned by the public opinion and good sense of the world. The cardinals chosen for this commission are their Emi

nences Ludovico Jacobini, Secretary of State; Carlo Laurenzi, Wladimir Czaki, Micceslao Ledochouski, Angelo Bianchi, Lucido Parocchi, and Raffaelo Monaca La Valletta. They are all men of great learning, and have had, each in his own special way, vast experience in political and ecclesiastical questions. The secretary of the commission is Monsignor Mocenni, Substitute of the Cardinal Secretary of State. On the evening of the 28th of September, the Spanish Government despatched to Rome the documents, which, in its opinion, demonstrate the rights of Spain over the Caroline Islands. On the morning of that day, the Holy Father received in audience the Prussian minister to the Holy See, Baron von Schloezer.

In a letter to the Paris "Univers," M. de Brassier St. Simon reminds his readers that the high tribute just paid by Prince Bismarck to the Holy See in referring the Carolines dispute to the mediation of Leo XIII., was anticipated by another great Protestant minister in the sixteenth century. Sully, in his Memoirs, treating of the grand political scheme of Henry IV. for a re-constitution of Europe,

to the Pope the honor of serving as mediator between Christian princes, an office for which it cannot be denied that the Court of Rome is by its wisdom the most suitable of all." Thus, adds M. de Brassier St. Simon, “at an interval of nearly three centuries, the two most eminent statesmen, as it would appear, that