AN GAOḊAL.
569
shown in this letter. The mission of Elias accord¬
ing to the prophet Malachy, is to turn the hearts
of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of
the children to their fathers in order to save the
earth from the destructive curse of God's anathema,
I cannot reconcile this fact with the other dictum
that Christ is to come immediately after the death
of the said prophet, to desolate the earth and pre¬
cipitate perhaps a thousand millions of unbeliev¬
ing people into the everlasting flames of hell-
Nor can I understand how Christ, the gentle Lamb
of God and very emblem of meekness, kindness
and forbearance, could be transformed into a venge¬
ful, implacable destroyer by having floated, as it
were during eighteen centuries in an ocean of cel¬
estial grace and holiness; but my want of percept¬
ion may proceed from the obtuseness of my men¬
tal vision; and I vehemently protest that there is
nothing more foreign to my conscience
than to coquette with heresy, for God showed me
in the year 1844 in a dream or vision of sleep that
spiritually the heretics were goats in his sight
and this fact was impressed upon my mind by a
strong blow on the cheek which awoke me in a
fearful fright never to be forgotten through life. I
have kept this secret locked up in my breast for
more than forty years not wishing to offend the
religious susceptibilities of any class of Christians.
But I have recently become convinced that I should
not consult my own private predilections so much
as to be guided by the dictates of the holy angel
Raphael who declared to blessed Tobias that "It is
good to hide the secret of a king, but honorable to
reveal and confess the works of God." I have
therefore no desire to come into collision with the
doctrines of the Catholic Church of my heart, the
church of at least thirty generations of my ances¬
tors; for I have no higher desire than to assist her
with the humble meed of my limited wisdom, and
pray that she may soon escape from the labyrinth
of her difficulties, and walk forth in all the splend¬
or of untrammeled majesty, the star-crowned
queen and future arbitress of the destinies of the
world.
In conclusion, Mr. Editor, while reserving the
most important and curious portion of my subject
for future elucidation, Believe me in the interest
of God, Ireland, and humanity,
Yours, most sincerely,
GAEL GLAS.
As Gael Glas has finished his lucubrations on the
prophecies, Professor Rœhrig's essay on the Irish
Language, will be continued to the close, also inter¬
esting matter extracted from O'Brennan's Ancient
Ireland, and O'Curry's Manuscript Material of
Irish History. —
As the Rev, Father Mulcahy set the example, we
hope all the subscribers of the Gael will get an ad¬
ditional subscriber and thereby double its circula¬
tion.
SENATOR BLAINE'S DAUGHTERS CATHOL¬
ICS — The eldest daughter of Mr. James
G. Blaine became a Catholic upon the
occasion of her marriage to Colonel
Coppinger, of the army. It is now said
that the youngest daughter, Miss Mar¬
garet Blaine, has also been admitted
to the Church. A lady member of St.
Matthew's Catholic Church, of Wash¬
ington, states she saw and talked with
Miss Margaret Blaine last spring, and
that the latter said she was under in¬
strnctions and expected to be bapti¬
zed — CATHOLIC EXAMINER.
The Irish people seeking to regain their national
autonomy is like attempting to fill a barrel which
leaks at the bottom according as it is filled at the
top. If every Irishman spoke his native language
the country would be free long ago, for "The sheep
would then know the voice of their shepherd" — they
cannot know him by the voice of the Wolf, and
the poison of the language is so powerful that its an¬
tidote has not yet been discovered.
A writer in the Skibbereen Eagle recommends
the dissimination of the first Gaelic Book among
all families, it being so simple that it would create a
desire for an extended acquaintance with the lang¬
uage.
Mr. Jas. Regan of Fair Haven Conn., has sent us
a copy of the Skibbereen Eagle, Co. Cork, which
contains one of a series of very interesting articles on
the Celtic Race, also, letters urging the taking of en¬
ergetic steps to preserve the language.
One of our subscribers does not favor some of
Gael Glas's deductions on the "prophecies" — but
let him read his
Guiṫ na n-Éireannaċ,
addressed to Pope Leo XIII, in No. 11 of Vol. 4 of
the Gael, and he will there find his faith in, and sub¬
mission to the Catholic Church in words as strong as
language can convey them.
We hope The Tuam News will urge on its readers
the majority of whom must speak Irish, to cultivate
a written knowledge of it, which can be attained in
five or six months by reading over the 1, 2, & 3
Irish Books.
By a typographical error the pages of the Gael
are duplicated from 399 — the error is corrected in
this issue.
The Scranton Truth, had a very flattering editor¬
ial notice of the Gael, a few days ago — Thanks.
There is hardly a reader of the Gael that has not
some friend in the Old Country — send them a copy.
