1. ARCHDIOCESE OF BALTIMORE-The Dedication of St. John's Church.-This beautiful church, which was commenced little more than a year ago, was solemnly dedicated to the service of Almighty God, on Sunday, the 15th inst., under the patronage of St. John the Evangelist. The Very Rev. Mr. Coskery performed the ceremony of dedication and celebrated High Mass, assisted by the Revs. Messrs. McColgan and Hinchy; several other clergymen were present on the occasion. The Rev. Mr. Hewitt, of St. Alphonsus Church, preached the dedicatory sermon, an eloquent and impressive discourse.

This church, built as it has been chiefly by the offerings of the poor, is an honor to the Catholics of St. John's congregation, and is a monument worthy of the zeal and energy of their beloved pastor, the Rev. Father McManus. To provide a place of worship suitable for his numerous flock, has been the great object of his ambition since he came among them. On the 15th inst. he had the satisfaction of witnessing the realization of his most ardent wishes. On that occasion, as we beheld him for the first time kneeling before that beautiful altar, the great ornament of the edifice, we heard him in imagination raising his voice to the throne of Omnipotence, and saying from the inmost recesses of his soul:

"Oh! thou Omniscient-Omnipresent God!

Whom angels worship, and whom men revere;
This sacred pile we consecrate to thee,

Oh Lord of hosts-thy humble suppliants hear.

If sinners bow the penitent knee

And low in dust thy sovereign power adore;
May listening angels waft the atoning prayer,
And breathe responsive, 'go and sin no more.'

If seared in soul, despairing spirits come,

By earth forsaken and by friends betrayed;
If from these walls their plaintive cries ascend,
Hear thou in heaven and grant them present aid.

If deep affliction emanate from thee,

And budding hopes are prostrate in the dust;
If near the shrine the stricken mourner bow,
And own in tears thy chastening hand was just,

Then hear thou Father from thy throne on high,
Breathé resignation to the broken heart;
And for his sake who bled on Calvary's Mount,
The balm of Gilead to their wounds impart.

Father of light, our supplications hear!

Thou covenant God! thy promises we claim!
We plead no merit, yet we fearless come,

And ask redemption through a Saviour's name!

Long shall the cross, symbolic of our creed,
Majestic stand this sacred place above;
A beacon light! the pious Christian's guide,
Undying emblem of a Saviour's love.

And he, thy delegate to erring man,
Who daily bows before this holy shrine,
Endow him, Father, with persuasive power,
With pathos deep, and eloquence divine!

To bring conviction to the retrograde,
Convince the doubtful, the desponding cheer:
And let his life of purity attest

'Tis theory reduced to practice here."

May he long live to enjoy the fruits of the fatigues and labors he endured in the erec tion of the noble edifice.

Religious Reception.-On the morning of the 11th, at the Convent of the Visitation, Mount de Sales, near Baltimore, Sister Mary de Chantal Dunlevy made her solemn profession of the three religious vows, in the rank of Choir Sister.

Confirmation. The Most Rev. Archbishop administered Confirmation recently in the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception, Convent of the Visitation, Washington, to twenty-seven persons, seven of whom were converts.

At the request of our Most Rev. Archbishop, collections were taken up in the several Catholic churches of this city, on the 8th inst., for the sufferers of the Cape Verde Islands. The sum collected amounted to $757 37.

2. ARCHDIOCESE OF CINCINNATI.-A very handsome and substantially built church was recently dedicated at Urbana to the service of Almighty God, under the patronage of Mary the Immaculate. The Most Rev. Archbishop preached on the occasion, and confirmed thirty persons.-The Right Rev. Bishop Baraga was lately in Cincinnati, and preached in favor of his destitute Indian Mission.

3. ARCHDIOCESE OF NEW YORK.-The Most Rev. Archbishop Hughes, on the 12th inst., delivered a lecture at the Academy of Music, in the city of New York, on the "Life and Services of Daniel O'Connell." Of this grateful tribute to the memory of Ireland's greatest son, we will not speak at present. The illustrious Archbishop concludes his lecture in these words: "Such, but very poorly presented, was Mr. Daniel O'Connell. I do not say that he had not his faults. I do not say that he was infallible, either as a politician or as a statesman; but I do say, that 'take him for all in all,' Ireland never produced his equal before, and, I fear, never will again. And I say further that, be they few in number or be they many, I, at least shall ever claim to be one of those who cherish a profound respect, under every point of view, for the illustrious memory of the great "Liberator of Ireland.”

4. ARCHDIOCESE OF NEW ORLEANS.-From the Lafourche Union, we learn that the Most Rev. Archbishop Blanc, on Sunday, the 1st of June, administered Confirmation to one hundred and thirty-one persons, in St. Joseph's Church, Abbe Menard, Pastor. The sermon of the Archbishop, delivered in French, was characterized by the usual fervor and eloquence of this beloved Prelate of the Catholic Church. He exhorted the congregation to continue in the holy practice of faith and virtue, and gave encouraging words to those who were about to be confirmed, that they might be fortified by the sacrament which he was about to administer and faithfully contend against sin and error. When the ceremonies of confirmation were concluded, the St. Mary and St. Joseph's societies formed in procession and marched to the residence of the pastor, where the Archbishop addressed a few words to them, inculcating the principles of our faith, encouraging them in their noble object—the sanctification of members, and the necessity of union. On the feast of Pentecost, the Archbishop confirmed 509 persons at the Cathedral at New Orleans, of whom several were converts. On the feast of Corpus Christi, the same Most Rev. Prelate received the final vows of three ladies of the Sacred Heart Convent, and gave the habit to two postulants.

5. DIOCESE OF CHICAGO.-We regret to learn that the Cathedral at Chicago was recently entered by some miscreant, and robbed of the sacred vessels. The sacred elements were strewed upon the floor of the sanctuary.

6. DIOCESE OF DETROIT.-The corner-stone of a new church, under the patronage of St. John, was laid at Jackson, on the 15th inst. The Rt. Rev. Bishop officiated at the solemnity.

7. DIOCESE OF LOUISVILLE.-From the Catholic Telegraph we learn that the Right Rev. Bishop of Louisville on his visitation to the church of St. Stephen, at Owensborough, delivered a lecture on the evening of the 24th of May to a large audience, composed in great part of Protestants, on the current charges against the Catholic Church, especially those affecting the loyalty of Catholics to our free government. Next day after having administered Confirmation in the church he opened a new subscription for completing the interior of the edifice and paying the debt already contracted. The amount subscribed on the spot was about $700; and there is every reason to believe that the balance required will be promptly contributed through the zealous exertions of the Pastor, Rev. E. O'Callaghan.

On the 27th the Bishop administered the sacrament of Confirmation in the church of St. Alphonsus, Davies county, beyond Panther Creek. This church is not yet plastered, but the people promptly subscribed considerably more than the Bishop asked as requisite for completing the building. Forty-two were here confirmed, and the Bishop preached an encouraging sermon to the Catholics. The Catholic settlement on Panther Creek is fast increasing; there are already two churches where but a few years ago there was scarcely a Catholic family, and the Rev. Mr. Boale has been appointed Pastor of the district. This colony was founded by the Haydens, descendants of the first Catholic settlers in Kentucky, and it is already in a highly flourishing condition. The Bishop was much edified with the primitive fervor and piety of the people. On the 21st of May the same Right Rev. Prelate visited the church of St. Colomba, Hancock county, and confirmed eleven persons. He subsequently visited the church of St. Laurence, Davies county, and confirmed forty persons.

8. DIOCESE OF HARTFORD.-A solemn requiem for the lamented Bishop O'Reilly, who was on board the lost steamship Pacific, was celebrated at Providence on Tuesday last, all the Bishops of the province being in attendance, to testify by their presence their respect for the memory of the deceased. The Archbishop of New York preached a touching and eloquent sermon on the occasion. Subsequently, a meeting of the Bishops of the province of New York was convened, in that city, for the purpose of nominating a successor to the lamented Bishop.

OBITUARY.-Died, on the 20th instant, at Loyola College, the Rev. George King, S. J., in the 61st year of his age.

The Rev. Father, whose departure we notice, had been for several years Treasurer of Georgetown College, D. C., until the wants of the missions determined his superiors to send him to the Eastern Shore of our State. In the various missions both in that part of the State and in the adjoining counties of Delaware he labored as an active and zealous missionary for nearly twenty years. Weakened by his toils in the Apostleship, he was entrusted with the care of the house and missions of Newtown, in St. Mary's county, where with more assistance he would not be exposed to so much fatigue as in the lonely and scattered missions of the Eastern Shore. But his Master was satisfied with his labors for the advancement of his glory, and after a few months in his new charge he has been called, we trust, to the reward of eternal bliss. He departed this life, fortified by all the rites of our holy religion, and sustained in the moment of departure by the presence and prayers of his Religious brethren. The Society of Jesus, to which he belonged, has lost in him a strenuous and diligent laborer in the vineyard of the Lord. R. I. P.

SECULAR AFFAIRS.

1. Nominations.-The first and perhaps the most important of the events that have taken place at home during the last month, are the nominations of candidates for the Presidency and Vice-Presidency of the United States. The various political parties have their candidates now fairly in the field. The American or Know-Nothing party met in convention in Philadelphia and nominated Millard Fillmore, of New York, for President, and Andrew Jackson Donelson, of Tennessee, for Vice-President. The Democratic National Convention met at Cincinnati, and nominated James Buchanan, of Pa., for President, and John C. Breckinridge, of Ky., for Vice-President. The seceders from the American Convention that nominated Mr. Fillmore, met in New York, and nominated Mr. Banks, of Mass., for President, and ex-Gov. Johnson, of Pa., for Vice-President. The seceders from the seceders from the American party, have nominated Commodore Stockton, of N. J., for President, and Kenneth Rayner, of N. C., for Vice-President. And lastly, the Republican party met in convention at Philadelphia and nominated Col. John C. Fremont, of California, for President, and Wm. L. Dayton, of N. J., for Vice-President. The platform of the American party, while it retains all its hostility to foreigners, has been modified somewhat in its opposition to Catholics. The Democratic platform, adopted at the Cincinnati Convention, thus speaks on the subject of toleration:

"Resolved, That the foundation of this union of States having been laid in, and its prosperity and pre-eminent example in Free Government built upon, entire freedom in matters of religious concernment, and no respect of person in regard to rank or place. of birth; no party can justly be deemed national, constitutional, or in accordance with American principles, which bases its exclusive organization upon religious opinions and accidental birth-place. And hence a political crusade in the nineteenth century, and in the United States of America, against Catholics, and foreign-born, is neither justified by the past history or the future prospects of the country, nor in unison with the spirit of toleration and enlarged freedom which peculiarly distinguishes the American system of popular government.'

The platform of the Republican party, which nominated Col. Fremont, is mainly distinguished by its opposition to slavery. What may be its views in reference to foreigners and Catholics, is difficult to determine; the concluding resolution is the only one that makes any allusion to the subject, and runs in the following words:

"Resolved, That we invite the affiliation and coöperation of the men of all parties— however differing from us in other respects—in support of the principles herein declared, and believing that the spirit of our institutions, as well as the constitution of our country, guarantees liberty of conscience and equality of rights among citizens-we oppose all legislation implicating their security."

It does not appear that the seceders have any platform particularly different from the Republican party; opposition to certain nominations seems to have been the cause of their separation.

2. Dismissal of the British Minister and Consuls.—Mr. Crampton, the British Minister at Washington, was officially notified, on the evening of the 28th of May, of the discontinuance of all intercourse with him as the representative of Her Britannic Majesty's government, and his passport put in his possession. The following is a copy of the letter informing him of his dismissal:

"DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, May 28, 1856. "Sir:-The President of the United States has directed me to announce to you his determination to discontinue further intercourse with you as Her Majesty's diplomatic representative to the Government of the United States. The reasons which have compelled him to take this step at this time, have been communicated to your Government. I avail myself of this occasion to add, that due attention will be cheerfully given to any communications addressed to this department from Her Majesty's Government affecting the relations between Great Britain and the United States which may be forwarded to this Government through any other channel. Should it be your pleasure to retire from the United States, the President directs me to furnish you with the usual facilities for that purpose. I consequently enclose the passport in such cases. I avail myself of this opportunity to renew to you, sir, the assurance of my respectful consideration. WILLIAM L. MARCY.

"John F. Crampton, Esq., &c., &c., &c."