A .^- IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) ¥4 A / 'ii" C<'^ :/ ..<^":#.%^ y. ^ C/j ^ fA 1.0 I.I 1.25 2f B^ M 12.0 111= 14. nil 1.6 % / c^: e-J oice together to defend him and to safeguard his rights ; it is their duty, in fine and a source ot happiness to them, to gather round his throne, in order thus to remain more close'y united to him and to each other, and thereby to be enabled to protect him more efhcaciously against the aggressions of his enemies. lastly, the twelfth decree of our Council relates to our noble Laval University. i In this truly roinarkable decree, the Bishops show us in the first i)Iacc, that the liitliers of tiio first provincial Council, considering the great eervicos which a catholic universily can render to letters, to society, and to religion, had i)lcdged tlicnieulves to do all in their power to procure to the catholics of this country the udvantago of having their own universities, as well as thoir own colleges and schools. They acknowledge in the second place, that it is at the reiterated request of the same Bishops also, that the Seminary of Quebec, at the price of immense hacrifices, has founded the Laval University. They next declare that they approve the Statutes of that Univ. isity, ami olFer up fervent prayers for its increase and prosperity : which uhmidaiitly proves that it answers their cxpextation perfectly, and that it is tlieir fond wish those catholic young men should flock thither,' who intend ti> fit themselves for the liberal professions, by the study of the higher branches of learning. In fine, considering that the nunber of students at the Laval University is far smaller than what it ought to be, and, no doubt, grieving to see that too many of our catholic young men persist in going to i)rotestant colleges and universities, to the in'uninent peril oi their faith and morals ; the fathers of our Council solemnly warn all the faithful of this Piovince, to watch over the salvation ofthoseinlrusled to their care : beseeching them in the name of the Lord, to provide first of all for the preservation of their faith and morals ; and, to this end, not to allow them to draw the waters of science but from the purest spring. 1 1 it Let us hope therefore that all catholic fathers and mothers, who have the salvation of their children at heart, will c.mprehend these grave admonitions of tlieir chief pastors, and that they will profit by them, for the honor of our Ileligion and the greater gloiy of God. _ Such are in substance, D. B. B., the principal decrees of our third provincial Council, which we this day publish. Such is in short the result of the labors oi the Bishops of the Province in their last reunion : labors undertaken for the interest of your salvation, and which they concluded with a fervent prayer addressed to Mary conceived without sin, the mother of God ; beseeching her. as the patroness of the Metropolis and of the whole Province, to take under her powerful protection their persons and their dioceses, your souls and theirs, and saying to her, with the whole Church of God : Begina sine laU concepta, ora pro nobis. Queen conceived without sin, pray for us. — 5 — This our pnstoml letter Bhall be read in all the churches and parochial <-mpo]8, where d.vuie service io publicly celebrated, and moreover in all the chapters ol the relii^nous comnnuiities, on the first Sunday after its reception Given at Quebec under our hand and seal, and the counter-sign of our .secretary, on Ash-Wednesday, the fourteenth day of February, one fhou and eight hundred and sixty six. ^» " uiuusana t C. F. BISHOP OF TLOA, Adminutraior. By His Lordship's command, Edmond Langevin, Priest, Secretary, I