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THE UNIVERSITY LIRRApv I '^ ^ ^

LA JOLLA, CALIFORNIA ^^ ^C^^(^

A HISTORY

Catholic Church

WITHIN THE

LIMITS OF THE UNITED STATES,

FROM THE FIRST ATTEMPTED COLONIZATION TO THE
PRESENT TIME.

WITH PORTRAITS, VIEWS. MAPS, AND FAC-SIMTLES.

JOHN GILMARY SHEA.

NEW YORK:

JOHN G. S H EA.

1890.

The illustyations in this work are copyrighted^ and reproduction is forbidden.

HISTORY

CATHOLIC CHURCH

UNITED STATES

From the Division of the Diocese of Baltimore, 1808, and Death

OF Archbishop Carroll, 181 5, to the Fifth Provincial

Council of Baltimore, 1843.

JOHN GILMARY SHEA

NEW YORK

JOHN G. SHEA

1890

COPYKIGHT, iSgO, BY

JOHN GILMARY SHEA.

The illustrations in this zvork are copyrighted, and reproduction is forbidden.

THE MEKSHON COMPANY PRESS,
RAHWAV, N. J.

REV. P. A. TREACY, OF BURLINGTON, N. J.,

His Eminence James Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop of Balti-
more ; THEIR Graces, the Most Rev. Peter Richard Kenrick,
Archbishop of St. Louis : James J. Williams, Archbishop of
Boston ; Patrick J. Ryan, Archbishop of Philadelphia ; Francis
Janssess, Archbishop of New Orleans ; Most Rev. J. V. Cleary,
Archbishop of Kingston ; their Lordships, Rt. Rev. Louis de
Goesbriand, Bishop of Burlington ; Stephen V. Ryan, Bishop of
Buffalo ; Francis J. McNeirny, Bishop op Albany ; John J.
Keane, Bishop of Ajasso, and Rector of the Catholic Univer-
sity ; Thomas McGovern, Bishop of Harrisburg ; James Ryan,
Bishop of Alton ; Rt. Rev. Arthur J. Donnelly ; Very Rev. T,
J. Campbell, Provincial of the Maryland-New York Province ;
Very Rev. J. P. Frieden, Provincial of the Missouri Province ;
Very Rev. H. Gabriels, President of St. Joseph's Seminary ; the
Augustinian Fathers, Villanova : the Paulist Fathers, New
York ; Rev. William P. Treacy ; Rev. Laurence J. Morris ; Rev.
Patrick Hennessy ; Rev. J. Haa'ens Richards. S.J. ; Rev. John
Scully, S J. ; Rev. John Morgan, S.J. ; Rev. Robert Fulton,
S.J. ; Rev. E. A. Higgins, S.J ; Rev. D. A. Merrick, S.J. ; Rev.
M. A. O'Kane, S.J. ; Rev. H. A. Schaapman, S.J. ; Rev. Thomas
Taaffe ; Rev. E. V. McElhone ; Rev. James McKernan ; Rev. P.
Cassidy, S.J. ; Rev. John Conway ; Rev. J. T. Harrison ; Rev. C.
Corcoran ; Rev. Fr. Solnce ; Rev. James Gaughran ; George
W. Childs, Esq ; James McMahon, Esq. ; John Boyle O'Reilly,
Esq. ; the Proprietors op the Northwestern Chronicle ; Miss E.
L. Drexel ; Mrs. L. D. Morrell ; Mrs. James J. Treacy

THIS VOLUME IS RESPECTFULLY AND HUMBLY DEDICATED IN GRATITUDE

FOB THE Memorial proposed by Rev. P. A. Treacy.

CONTENTS.

BOOK I.

PROVINCE OF BALTIMORE.

CHAPTER I.

DIOCESE OF BALTIMORE.

Most Rev. Leonard Neale, Second Archbishop, 1815-1817.
Sketch of Archbishop Neale— Troubles at Norfolk— His firmness —
Visitation Convent canonically established — Death of Very
Rev. Mr. Nagot— The Pallium conferred — Charleston Troubles
— Rome deceived — Dr. Neale's firm Letter — The Barber Family
— Last illness— Death— Tomb 25

CHAPTER II.

DIOCESE OP BALTIMORE.

Most Rev. Ambrose Marechal, Third Archbishop, 1817-1830. _
Sketch — Prints the Synod — Visitations — Norfolk and a Jansen- '
ist Schism— Charleston — The Pallium — Resources — Father
Edeler's Controversy — The Cathedral completed and dedicated
— Death of Mrs. Seton — The old Jesuit Estate — Visits Rome —
Results 39

CHAPTER III.

DIOCESE OF RICHMOND.

Rt. Rev. Patrick Kelly, First Bishop, 1820-1832.
Protest of Archbishop Marechal — Bishop Kelly receives Carbry —
Excluded from the Church — Opens a School — Progress at
Wheeling — Transferred to Waterf ord 76

CHAPTER IV.

DIOCESES OF BALTIMORE AND RICHMOND.

Most Rev. Ambrose Marechal, Archbishop and Administrator,
1823-1828.
Church in Virginia — Cure of Mrs. Mattingly — Of others — Jesuit
novices remove to Missouri —Death of Rev. Mr. Moranville —
Theological faculty — Mount St. Mary's — Oblate Sisters of
Providence — Consecration of Bishops Fenwick and Du Bois —
Visitation Nuns— A Coadjutor — Death of Dr. Marechal 84

xii CONTENTS.

CHAPTER V.

DIOCESES OP BALTIMORE AND RICHMOND.

Most Rev. James Whitfield, Fourth Archbishop and Admin-
istrator, 1828-1829.
Sketch — Consecration — Visitation — First Provincial Council — Vir-
ginia 100

CHAPTER VI.

DIOCESE OF BOSTON.

Rt. Rev. John Cheverus, First Bishop, 1808-1823.
Sketch — Catholicity in New England — Consecration — Conversion of
Blythe — Visitation— French Testament — Dr. Matignou — Mr.
Walley — Beginnings of Ursuline Convent — The Barber Fami-
ly— Death of Rev. Dr. Matiguon — Of Rev. Mr. Romagne —
Father Lariscy and St. Augustine's Church — Rev. John
Thayer— Summoned to France 107

CHAPTER VII.

DIOCESE OP BOSTON.

V. Rev. William Taylor, Administrator, 1823-1825.
His previous Labors— Conversion of Dr. Bowen Greene 132

CHAPTER VIII.

DIOCESE OF BOSTON.

Rt. Rev. Benedict Fenwick, Second Bishop, 1825-1829.
Sketch — Consecration — State of Diocese— Convent at Charles-
town — Schools — Cathedral enlarged — Indian Missions — Visita-
tions— New Churches — Diocese in 1828 — The Jesuit 134

CHAPTER IX.

DIOCESE OP NEW YORK.

Rt. Rev. Richard Luke Concaueu, First Bishop, 1808-1801;
V. Rev. Anthony Kohlmann, Administrator, 1801-1815.
Sketch of Dr. Concanea — His Death — New York Literary In-
stitution — Ursuline Convent — St. Patrick's Cathedral — The
Confessional — Trappists and Trappist Nuns— Cathedral com-
pleted 160

CHAPTER X.

DIOCESE OF NEW YORK.

Rt. Rev. John Connolly, Second Bishop, 1815-1825.
Sketch — Consecration — Labors and Difficulties — Rev. Wm. Tay-
lor— Sisters of Charity — New Churches — Death of Bishop Con-
nolly 172

CONTENTS. XIU

CHAPTER XI.

DIOCESE OP NEW YORK.

Very Rev. John Power, Administrator, 1885-1826.
Lacty's Directory — Truth Teller— St. Mary's Church — Rev. Peter

Malou 188

CHAPTER XII.

DIOCESE OF NEW YORK.

Rt. Rev. John Du Bois, Third Bishop, 1826-1829.
Sketch — Consecration — Christ Church and Rev. F. Varela — Visita-
tion— New Churches — Attempt to introduce Brothers — Sum-
moned to Rome 193

CHAPTER XIII.

DIOCESE OP PHILADELPHIA.

Rt. Rev. Michael Egan, First Bisliop, 1808-1815.
Sketch — A Franciscan Province projected— Provision for Support —
Visitation— Troubles at St. Mary's— The Harolds— Death of
Bishop Egan , = 206

CHAPTER XIV.

DIOCESE OP PHILADELPHIA.

V. Rev. Adolphus Louis de Barth, Administrator, 1814-1820.
Sketch — Gallitzin's Defense of Catholic Principles — New Churches

— Rev. William Hogan — His last Days 219

CHAPTER XV.

DIOCESE OP PHILADELPHIA.

Rt. Rev. Henry Conwell, Second Bishop, 1819-1842.
The Hogan Troubles— Dr. England's Attempt — Dr. Conwell at St.
Joseph's — Trustees condemned by Pope Pius VII. — Inglesi —
O'Meally — A Cathedral projected — Progress in other parts of
Pennsylvania — Dr. Conwell makes Concessions — He is Con-
demned— Summoned to Rome 229

CHAPTER XVI.

DIOCESE OF PHILADELPHIA.

V. Rev. William Matthews, Vicar-General Apostolic 265

CHAPTER XVII.

DIOCESE OF BARDSTOWN.

• Rt. Rev. Benedict Joseph Flaget, First Bishop 1810-1829.
Early History — Biographical Sketch — At Bardstown — Rev. C. Ner-
inckx and the Sisters of Loretto — Dominicans — Visitation
— Illinois — Michigan — Cathedral — Bishop David, Coadjutor —
See proposed at Cincinnati — Sisters of Charity — Colleges — Vin-
cennes — Death of Nerinckx — Sistei's of St. Dominic 266

xiv CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XVIII.

DIOCESE OF CHARLESTON.

Rt. Rev. John England, First Bishop, 1820-1839.
Sketch — In Charleston — Visitation — Gallagher and Browne —
Trustees — Classical Seminary — Florida — His Constitution for
his Diocese— Intolerance — Sermon before Congress — Progress. 306

CHAPTER XIX.

DIOCESE OP CINCINNATI.

Rt. Rev. Edward Dominic Fenwick, First Bishop, 1821-1829.
Early history — First Ohio Churches — Michigan — Indians — Ques-
tions as to Marriage— At Rome — Death of F. Hill, O.S.D. —
Cathedral — Seminary and College— German Churches 330

BOOK II.

CHAPTER I.

DIOCESE OF LOUISIANA AND THE PLORIDAS.

Rt. Rev. Louis William Du Bourg, Second Bishop, 1815-1826.
Troubles — Ursuline Convent — The Lyons "Association for the
Propagation of the Faith"— Bishop Du Bburg returns — At
St. Louis — Ladies of the Sacred Heart — Death of V. Rev. Felix
de Andreis — Progress of Religion — Visitation — At New Orleans
— The Lazarists and their Labors — Florida restored to his Dio-
cese—The Church there — Different dispositions by Rome —
Bishop Rosati as Coadjutor — The Bishop secures the Jesuits
— Sisters of Loretto — Bishop Du Bourg at New Orleans — The
Ursulines — Difficulties at St. Louis — Arkansas — Bishop Du
Bourg resigns 351

CHAPTER II.

DIOCESES OP ST. LOOTS AND NEW ORLEANS.

Rt. Rev. Joseph Rosati, First Bishop of St. Louis, 1827-1843 ;

Administrator of New Orleans, 1827-1828.

Visitation — Churches — Trustees condemned by the Pope 395

CHAPTER III.

VICARIATE APOSTOLIC OF ALABAMA.

Rt. Rev. Michael Portier, Bishop of Olena, Vicar-Apostolic.
Consecration — Condition of Church — Visitation 403

BOOK III.

Chapter I— The First Provincial Council of Baltimore 407

" II— Growth of Anti-Catholic Feeling 419

CONTENTS. XV

BOOK ly.

CHAPTER I.

DIOCESB OF BALTIMORE AND RICHMOND.

Rt. Rev. James Whitfield, Fourth Archbishop, 1829-1834.
Visitation — Accident — Visitation Convent — F. John McElroy —
Mount St. Mary's College — Carmelites remove to Baltimore —
Publications — Diocesan Synod — Sister Rose White — Calvert
Hall — Georgetown College commemorates the Landing of the
Pilgrims — F. James Ryder — The Maryland Province — St.
James's Church — Second Provincial Council — New Dioceses —
A Coadjutor — Death of Archbishop Whitfield 423

CHAPTER II.

DIOCESES OF BALTIMORE AND RICHMOND.

Most Rev. Samuel Eccleston, Fifth Archbishop, 1834-1843.
Sketch — Visitations — Third Provincial Council — New Sees — Fred-
erick City and F. John McElroy — Washington City — The Car-
melites— Tract Society — Death of Rev. John Tessier — Fourth
Provincial Council — New Sees — A Bishop for Richmond —
Redemptorists — Fifth Provincial Council 441

CHAPTER III.

DIOCESE OF BOSTON.

Rt. Rev. Benedict J. Fenwick, Second Bishop, 1829-1843.
Cemetery on Bunker Hill — Opposition — Rev. Jeremiah O'Callaghan
in Vermont — Rebecca Reed and Lyman Beecher — Conversion
of T. A. Gough — Sisters of Charity — New Churches — Monu-
ment to F. Sebastian Rale — Benedicta — Riot and Destruction
of the Ursuline Convent — Trials and Acquittals — Compensation
refused — Ursulines fail to restore Academy — Mount St.
James — German Congregation — St. Mary's Church, Burling-
ton, set on fire and destroyed — New Churches — Trouble in
Boston — First Diocesan Synod — College of the Holy Cross — See
of Hartford 463

CHAPTER IV.

DIOCESE OF NEW YORK.

Rt. Rev. John DuBois, Third Bishop, 1839-1842.
Half-orphan Asylum — New Churches — St. Mary's Church set on
fire — Controversies— The Cholera — College at Nyack — Its De-
struction— St. Joseph's Church — The Weekly Register — Con-
versions — Trustee Troubles — German Congregation — St.
Nicholas Church — The Maria Monk Imposture — Col. Stone
exposes it — Col. Dodge's Conversion — A Coadjutor Solicited —
Rt. Rev. John Hughes — The Trustee Question — Triumph of
Bishop Hughes — Conversion of Rev. M. Oertel — Lafargeville
Seminarv and College 495

XVi CONTENTS.

CHAPTER V.

DIOCESE OF NEW YORK.

Rt. Rev. John Hughes, Administrator, 1839-1843 — Bishop of

New York, 1843-1843.

Bishop Hughes in Europe — Ladies of the Sacred Heart — The

School Question— The Great Debate— The Carroll Hall Ticket

— End of the Public School Society — St. John's College,

Fordham 533

CHAPTER VI.

DIOCESE OP PHILADELPHIA.

The Poor Clares — Rt. Rev. Francis P. Kenrick, Bishop of
Arath and Coadjutor, 1839-1843.
Visitation — St. Mary's and the end of the Schism Synod of 1833 —
The Cholera — St. John's Church — Hughes and Breckenridge
Controversy — Gallitzin's " Letters of Advice " — Death of Rev.
Chax'les B. Maguire — Seminary of St. Charles Borromeo — The
Jesuits return to St. Joset)h's — Proposed Division of Diocese —
Rev. Michael O'Connor, Superior of the Seminary — Fourth
Council of Baltimore — The Redemptorists and the Factory
Church at Pittsburgh — The School Question — Works issued
by Bishop Kenrick — Death of Bishop Con well 544

CHAPTER Vn.

DIOCESE OF PHILADELPHIA.

Rt. Rev. Francis Patrick Kenrick, Third Bishop, 1843-1843.
The Jubilee — Synod of 1843 — Churches — Erection of the See of

Pittsburgh 570

CHAPTER Vin.

DIOCESE OF RICHMOND.

Rt. Rev. Richard Vincent Whelan, Second Bishop, 1841-1843.
Sketch — Mission Work in Virginia— Consecration — Energy — Fe-
male Academy at Richmond — Churches — Liberty of Con-
science in the U. S. Army 575

CHAPTER IX.

DIOCESE OF CHARLESTON.

Rt. Rev. John England, First Bishop, 1839-1843 ; Rt. Rev.
William Clancy, Bishop of Orien, Coadjutor, 1834-1837.
Sisters of our Lady of Mercy founded — Visitations — Synod of 1831
— In Europe — Ursuline Nuns — The Haytian Mission — A Coad-
jutor— Rt. Rev. William Clancy — His Career — The Charleston
Conflagration — Appeals for Aid — New Constitution — Visit to
Europe — Illness — Death 580

Very Rev. Richard Swinton Baker, Administrator,

1841-1844.

Progress — Financial Management- -Death of Judge Gaston 595

CONTENTS. xvil

CHAPTER X.

DIOCESE OP BARDSTOWN.

Rt. Rev. Benedict Joseph Flaget, First Bishop, 1829-1832.
Consecration of Bishop Kenrick — Resignation of Bishop Flaget —
The Society of Jesus accept St. Mary's College — Death of Rev.
Mr. Byrne — Resignation accepted 594

Rt. Rev. John Baptist David, Second Bishop, 1832-1833.
Discontent in the Diocese — Bishop David resigns — Bishop Flaget
and Bishop Rosati write with him to Rome — Bishop David's
last Days 600

Rt. Rev. Benedict J. Flaget, Third Bishop, 1833-1843.
Bishop Flaget restored — Rt. Rev. Guy I. Chabrat, Coadjutor — A
Catholic Periodical — Tennessee — See erected at Vincennes —
. Long Absence in Europe — Bishop Chabrat administers the Dio-
cese— The Catholic Advocate— Bishop Chabrat at the Council
of Baltimore solicits erection of a See at Nashville — Death of
John Lancaster, Esq. — Of Rev. G. A. M. Elder — Bishop Flag
et's Return — Removes to Loui-sville — Sisters of Charity of the
Good Shepherd — Bishop Chabrat's ill Health and threatened
Blindness — He goes to Europe 603

CHAPTER XI.

DIOCESE OF CINCINNATI.

Rt. Rev. Edward Dominic Fenwick, First Bishop, 1829-1832.
Sisters of Charity — Indian Missions — Indian Students sent to
Propaganda — Death of Bishop Fenwick and Rev. Gabriel
Richard 618

V. Rev. Frederic Rese, Administrator, 1832-1833.
German Church, Cincinnati — Other Churches 617

CHAPTER XII.

DIOCESE OP CINCINNATI.

Rt. Rev. John Baptist Purcell, Second Bishop, 1834-1843.
Consecration — Redemptorists — New Churches — Seminary — Bishop
Purcell's Controversy with Campbell — Der Wahrheit's Freund
— Visit to Europe — Defends this Country against Bishop Clancy
— Book Society — At Cleveland — Death of Mother Angela — St.
Xavier's College — Sisters of Notre Dame 619

CHAPTER XIII.

DIOCESE OP DETROIT.

Rt. Rev. Frederic Rese, First Bishop, 1833-1837.
Rev. Gabriel Richard — Erection of See of Detroit — Previous His-
tory— Sketch of Rt. Rev. Frederic Rese — Consecration — His
Clergy — Visitation — Proposed College — The Poor Clares — Pro-
ceeds to the Council of Baltimore and resigns. ... 630

xviii CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XIV.

DIOCESE OF DETROIT. 1837-1843.

Rt. Rev. Peter Paul Lefevre, Bishop of Zela, Administrator,
1841-1843.
Sketch of Bishop Lefevre — Consecration — Destruction of Col-
lege— Progress 638

CHAPTER XV.

DIOCESE OP VENCENNES.

Rt. Rev. Simon Gabriel Brute, First Bishop, 1834-1839.
Erection of See — Biographical Sketch — Consecration — State oi
Diocese — Visitation — Rev. S. P. Lalumiere — Rev. J. M. St. Cyr
— Bishop Brute in Europe — Obtains I^iests — His Labors —
Health undermined — Laboring to the last — His Death 640

CHAPTER XVI.

DIOCESE OF VINCENNES.

Rt. Rev. Celestine A. L. Guvnemer de la Hailandi^re, Second

Bishop, 1839-1843.

Sketch — Condition of Diocese — Shameful Conspiracy against Rev.

R. Weinzoepflen — His Innocence established — Rev. Mr. Des-

seille — Rev. Edward Sorin begins his great Work at Notre

Dame — Discontent 650

CHAPTER XVII.

DIOCESE OF KASHVILLE.

Rt. Rev. Richard Pius Miles, First Bishop, 1838-1843.
Erection of See — Sketch of Rt. Rev. D. Miles — Consecration — At
Nashville — Visitation — Prostrated by Sickness — Seeks Aid in
Europe— Condition in 1843 656

CHAPTER XVIII.

DIOCESE OF NATCHEZ.

Rt. Rev. John J. Clanche, First Bishop, 1841-1843.
Vicariate Apostolic of Mississippi 1836— See of Natchez erected —
Sketch — Organizes Diocese 660

BOOK V.

CHAPTER I.

DIOCESE OP NEW ORLEANS.

Rt. Rev. Leo R. de Neckc^re, First Bishop, 1829-1833.
Sketch — Consecration— Synod— Sisters of Charity — Yellow Fever —

Death 666

CONTENTS. xix

CHAPTER II.

BIOCESE OF NEW ORLEANS.

Rt. Rev. Anthony Blanc, Second Bishop, 1835-1843.
Sketch — Consecration — The Jesuits return — Seminary under the
Lazarists St. Patrick's Church — St. Augustine's — Schismatic
Trustees — Pope and Courts against them 672

CHAPTER III.

DIOCESE OP ST. LOUIS.

Rt. Rev. Joseph Rosati, First Bishop, 1829-1843.
Progress in Diocese — Jesuit College in St. Louis — New Churches —
The Shepherd of the Valley — Visitation Nuns at Kaskaskia —
Arkansas — State of Diocese — Oregon Mission — John Mullan-
phy — Cathedral Dedicated — Threatened Withdrawal of the
Lazarists — Sisters of St. Joseph — Illinois — Death of F. C. Van
Quickenborne — Synod— A Coadjutor — Haytian Mission 681

CHAPTER IV.

DIOCESE OP MOBILE.

Rt. Rev. Michael Portier, First Bishop, 1829-1843.
Returns with Priests — St. Augustine — Absurd Decision — Visits
and dines at Mobile — Spring Hill College — Cathedral — Ladies
of the Retreat 697

CHAPTER V.

DIOCESE OF DUBUQUE.

Rt. Rev. Mathias Loras, First Bishop, 1837-1843.
Erection of See — Sketch — Ordination— Visits Europe — At Du-
buque— Visitation — Wisconsin. . 702

BOOK VI.

CHAPTER L

VICARIATE APOSTOLIC OF TEXAS.

Rt. Rev. John M. Odin, Bishop of Claudiopolis and Vicar-
Apostolic.
History from 1760 — San Antonio and the Missions — Bishop Marin
— The Imposter Mier — Irish Priests — Murder of Father An-
thony Dias de Leon, O.S.F. — Visit and Report of Very Rev.
John Timon — Appointed Prefect— Rev. J. M. Odin, Vice-Pre-
fect— Rev. Mr. Odin made Vicar- Apostolic — Churches — Old
Church Property Secured 706

ILLUSTRATIONS.

Portrait of Most Rev. Leonard
Neale, Archbishop of Balti-
more

Signature of Archbishop Neale.

Tomb of Archbishop Neale, in
the crypt of the Visitation
Church

Portrait of Most Rev. Ambrose
Marechal, Archbishop of Bal-
timore

Signature of Archbishop Mare-
chal

Signature of Bishop Kelly

Portrait of Rt. Rev. Patrick
Kelly, Bishop of Richmond. .

Portrait of Most Rev. James
Whitfield, Archbishop of Bal-
timore

Signature of Archbishop Whit-
field

Portrait of Rt. Rev. John Chev-
erus, Bishop of Boston. to face

Portrait of V. Rev. Francis
Matignon, D.D

Signature of Dr. Matignon

Signature of Very Rev. William
Taylor, Administrator

Signature of Rt. Rev. Benedict
J. Fenwick, Bishop of Boston.

Portrait of Rt. Rev. Benedict J.
Fenwick

View of St. Patrick's Cathedral,
New York

Signature of Rt. Rev. John
Connolly, Second Bishop of
New York

Portrait of Rt. Rev. John Con-
nolly

Portrait and Signature of V.
Rev. John Power, Adminis-
trator ...

Portrait of Rt. Rev. John Du
Bois, Third Bishop of New
York

PAGE PAGE

Signature of Rt. Rev. John Du
Bois 199

24 Seal of Rt. Rev. John Du

33 Bois 207

Signature of V. Rev. Louis de
Barth, Administrator 226

37 Seal of Rt. Rev. Henry Conwell,
Second Bishop of' Philadel-
phia 226

40 Portrait of Rt. Rev. Henry Con-
well 229

52 Signature of Rt. Rev. Henry

76 Conwell 258

Portrait of V. Rev. William

77 Matthews, Administrator 263

Portrait of Rt. Rev. Benedict J.

Flaget, Bishop of Bardstowu.

102 to face 270
Signature of Rt. Rev. John

103 B. David, Bishop of Mauri-
castro 288

112 Portrait of Rev. Stephen T.

Badin 296

122 Seal of Bishop England 319

122 Portrait of Rt. Rev. Edward D.
Fenwick, first Bishop of Cin-

131 cinnati 331

Signature of Bishop Fenwick . . 335

134 Church at Dungannon, O 337

Chri.st Church, Cincinnati 340

136 Cathedral, Seminary, and Athe-

neum, Cincinnati 351

169 Portrait of Rt. Rev. Louis Wil-
liam Du Bourg, Bishop of

Louisiana 357

173 Portrait of Very Rev. Felix de
Andreis, founder of the Laza-

173 rists in the U. S 368

Parish Church St. Augustine,
erected by Rev. Michael

189 O'Reilly 374

Tomb of Rev. Michael O'Reilly. 376

Signature of Bishop Du Bourg. 379

193 Signature of Bishop Rosati. . . . 381

xxi

XXll

ILL USTRA TIONS.

PAGE

New Ursuline Convent, New

Orleans 383

Seal of Bishop Rosati 392

Portrait of Rt. Rev. Joseph

Rosati, Bishop of St. Louis.. 394
Portrait of Rt. Rev. Michael
Portier, Bishop of Oleno. . . . 402

Signature of Bishop Portier 404

View of Visitation Convent,

Georgetown 424

Portrait of Most Rev. Samuel
Eccleston, fifth Archbishop of

Baltimore 440

Portrait of Father John Mc-

Elroy, S.J 446

Signature of Archbishop Eccles-
ton 450

Portrait of Father James Ryder,

S.J 458

View of Monument to Father
S. Rale, erected by Bishop

Fenwick 471

Ruins of the Ursuline Convent,

Mount St. Benedict 477

View of Mount St. James and

Holy Cross College 492

Seal of Bishop Fenwick 494

Portrait of V. Rev. Felix Varela 507

View of Carroll Hall 531

View of St. John's College,

Fordham 534

Signature of V. Rev. William

Matthews 544

View of St. John's Church. . . . 551
View of St. Augustine's Church 561
Seal of Bishop Francis P. Ken-
rick 562

Seal of Bishop Conwell 569

Portrait of Rt. Rev. Richard V.
Whelan, first Bishop of Rich-
mond 574

Portrait of Rt. Rev. John Eng-
land, Bishop of Charleston,

to face 582
Signature of Bishop England. . 585
Signature of Rt. Rev. John B.

David, Bishop of Bardstown. 600
Signature of Bishop Chabrat. . 604
Signature of V. Rev. Frederic
Rese 617

PAGE

Signature of Right Rev. John B.
Purcell, second Bishop of Cin-
cinnati 618

Portrait of Rt. Rev. Frederic
Rese, first Bishop of Detroit.. 629

Signature of Bishop Lef evre . . . 637

Portrait of Rev. J. M. J. St.
Cyr :.... 641

St. Xavier's Cathedral, Vin-
eennes, sketched by Bishop
Brute 643

Portrait of Rt. Rev. S. G. Brute,
First Bishop of Vincennes

to face 648

Signature of Bishop Brute 648

Portrait of Rt. Rev. Celestine de
la HailandiSre, Second Bishop
of Vincennes 651

Signature of Bishop de la Hailan-
di^re 655

Signature of Rt. Rev. R. P.
Miles, first Bishop of Nash-
ville 659

Portrait of Rt. Rev. John J.
Chanche, First Bishop of
Natchez 661

Signature of Bishop Chanche. . 665

Portrait of Rt. Rev. Leo. R. de
Neckere, First Bishop of New
Orleans 667

Portrait of Rt. Rev. Anthony
Blanc, Second Bishop of New
Orleans 673

View of St. Patrick's Church,
New Orleans 677

Signature of Bishop Blanc 678

Seal of Bishop Blanc 680

View of Cathedral, St. Louis,
Missouri 698

Signature of Rt. Rev. Mathias
Loras, Bishop of Dubuque. . . 703

Mission Church of La Con-
cepcion 708

Signature of Bishop Marin de
Boeras 710

Signature of Rev. F. Jose An-
tonio Dias de Leon 714

Mission Church of San Juan
Capistrano 720

MOST REV. LEONARD NEALE, SECOND ARCHBISHOP OF BALTIMORE.

BOOK I.

PROVINCE OF BALTIMORE.

CHAPTER I.

DIOCESE OF BALTIMORE.
MOST KEY. LEONARD NEALE, SECOND ARCHBISHOP, 1815-1817.

The Church emerging from the bondage and oppres-
sion of Colonial days, had at last, after difficulties
created at home and abroad, been organized in the
United States under a bishop, and for a quarter of a
century under the guidance of Archbishop Carroll had
been acquiring a solid and settled form and character.

For fifteen years the Right Rev. Leonard ISTeale,
Bishop of Gortyna, as coadjutor, had labored to main-
tain discipline, and develop institutions for the educa-
tion of youth of both sexes. Of Georgetown College
he was long actually President, and constantly the
guiding spirit ; of the community formed by Miss
Teresa Lalor, he was the director and spiritual guide.

Simple and austere in his habits, he sought no in-
fluence among persons in national or social circles, but
led a retired life, long occupying the small library room
in the south building of Georgetown College, opposite
the community chapel. His bed was folded up in the
form of a cupboard during the day, and spread out at
night by the colored man who attended the refectory.

This was his style as a Bishop even when infirmities
increased more rapidly than his years. His life was as

26 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

regular as that of a novice. Every morning he rose at
four o'clock, made his visit to the Blessed Sacrament,
and after an hour's meditation, offered the holy sac-
rifice.^ When subsequently he left the College he
occupied a small house near the Visitation Convent,
leading the same simple mortified life. On the death
of Archbishop Carroll in December, 1815, the whole
burthen of the diocese devolved upon him, and he
became Archbishop-elect of Baltimore. Though in
precarious health, suffering constantly from diseases
contracted in the deadly jungles of South America,
Dr. Neale was still firm, vigorous and active in his
mental powers. He continued to reside at George-
town, visiting Baltimore only when the business of the
diocese required it.

One of his first acts was to appoint to Norfolk,
which had been for some months without a priest, the
Rev. James Lucas. In his letter introducing the suc-
cessor of Rev. Mr. Lacy to the congregation the Arch-
bishop-elect said : "You have been informed how it
has pleased Heaven to deprive the See of Baltimore of
its Most Reverend and justly lamented Archbishop
Carroll, who, for many years had filled the sacred post
of Prelate with such dignity, prudence and integrity,
as to command the esteem, respect and veneration of
all who knew him. His labors are now at an end,
the happy commencement, I confide, of his eternal
rewards." ^

The trustees gave the new pastor a most uncouth
reception, claiming the right of patronage, and the

' Woodstock Letters, iii., p. 90. For the previous period of his life
see "Life and Times of Archbishop Carroll," pp. 206, etc.

* Archbishop Neale to Congregation of Norfolk, Baltimore, Dec. 13,
1815.

NORFOLK SCHISM. 27

power of choosing a priest for the congregation. Arch-
bishop Neale prepared to oppose the pernicious system
of lay trustees, in which he beheld manifold dangers.

"The pretended right of choosing their priest or
missionary pastor is perfectly unfounded, for they are
not patrons of the Church according to the language
of the Council of Trent, who alone have a right of
choosing their pastor. In the diocese of Baltimore
none but the Archbishop can place or remove a priest ;
and that he can do at will, as there are no parishes
established here, no benefices conferred, and no colla-
tions made, and no powers granted but what are merely
missionary, revocable at will. Hence the trustees can
claim no jurisdiction over their priest, nor prevent his
missionary functions."^

In a letter to the Trustees the Archbishop clearly
and distinctly maintained his position ; and he Avas
all the more firm as the validity of the election of
trustees and of the title to the property was very
doubtful.^

Led by Dr. John F. Oliveira Fernandez, Jasper
Moran, and a few like them, a party was formed
which excluded Rev. Mr. Lucas from the church, and
the priest lawfully appointed by the Archbishop was
compelled to hire a house on Bermuda Street, where
he officiated for the sound part of the congregation.
Archbishop Neale then placed the church under an
interdict, but the schismatics remained obstinate and
assailed the venerable and holy prelate in a series of
publications.^

' Archbisliop Neale to Rev. James Lucas, Georgetown, March 6, 1816.

- Same to Trustees of Norfolk, July 5, 1816.

* Moran, " A Vindicatory Address ; or an Appeal to the Calm Feel-
ings and unbiased Judgments of the Roman Catholics of Norfolk, Ports-

28 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

Messrs. Lynch and Stoughton in New York as Trus-
tees of St. Peter s Church had taken a similar stand
against Bishop Carroll, and the Trustees of St. Joim's
Church, Baltimore, had actually prevented his enter-
ing the church ; and in Charleston the Trustees showed
the same spirit. Against this usurpation, Archbishop
Neale arrayed himself hrmly. When trustees main-
tained that they were elected by pewholders and held
authority from them, the Archbishop replied that the
pews belonged to the Church, not the Church to the
pews.

Archbishop Marechal subsequently spoke of Dr.
Neale's hrmness on this point. "His venerable suc-
cessor. Archbishop Neale, fired by an all but immense
love of God and of the Church, maturely weighing
the evils which resulted from the Trustee system,
opposed it with all his manly courage and constantly
rejected it."^

The pious community of Sisters which Dr. Neale had
so long directed had never yet been canonically organ-
ized, although the Sisters had since 1813 made simple
vows and renewed them annually. Resisting all at-
tempts to blend their house with other communities.
Mother Teresa Lalor and her sisters sought to estab-
lish a convent of the Yisitation order. When their
founder succeeded to the see of Baltimore, they were
one of the first objects of his solicitude. Archbishop
Neale forwarded a petition to Rome soliciting an
Indult to erect the community into a Monastery of the

mouth, and their vicinity," etc. ; Oliveira, "To the Roman Catholics of
Norfolk," broadside ; "An Address to the Roman Catholic Congrega-
tion of Norfolk ; or a short Exposition of their Rights," etc., 10 pp.
" Letter addressed to the Most Rev. Leonard Neale, Archbishop of Bal-
timore," pp. 47.

' Letter to the Propaganda, 1818.

VISITATION NUNS. 29

Visitation order. The Sovereign PontiiJ readily
granted the prayer, and by his Brief of July 24,
1817, Archbishop Neale was enabled to establish can-
onical ly as a house of the Visitation order, founded
by the holy Doctor Saint Francis de Sales and by
Saint Jane Frances de Chantal, the community which
had so patiently labored for the good of religion in
Georgetown. Never were perseverance, piety, and
prayer more happily crowned than in the solemn act
so patiently awaited by Mother Teresa Lalor and her
spiritual daughters. The Archbishop of Baltimore
was empowered to admit them to the solemn profes-
sion of vows, with the indulgences and privileges
which that order enjoys.^

The indult arrived in November, and on the 28th of
December, the feast of the Holy Innocents, Mother
Teresa (Lalor), Sister Frances (McDermott), and Sister
Agnes (Brent), mistress of novices, took their solemn
vows before the Mass, which was celebrated by Arch-
bishop Neale, assisted by Father Grassi. The profes-
sions of the rest of the community were made on the
23d and 28th of January. The Sisters then numbered
thirty-three. Well might the holy Archbishop ex-
claim : " The Lord be praised ! "

The regular choir service had been instituted, and
all the members were exact in complying with the
rules of the order. ^

The community, endowed with new life, persevered
though threatened with such poverty that at one time
they wrote to the Ursulines in Canada and New
Orleans, asking them to receive some of their members

' Mgr. Quarautotti to Archbishop Neale, July 14, 1816. Annals of
the Visitation.

* Archbishop Neale to Rev. Mother Dickinson, Dec. 21, 1816. Aunals.

30 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

for a time. The Abbe Cloriviere, who subsequently
became their spiritual director, aided them greatly,
and the good nuns of 'New Orleans sent them provis-
ions, vestments, and altar linen. Mother Teresa Lalor,
having seen her community recognized by the Head of
the Church, resigned her office of superior on Ascension
Day, 1819.

As soon as they were recognized at Rome, Visitation
Convents at Chambery, Chaillot, and Shepton Mallet
began to correspond with them, furnishing valuable
books.

The Visitation Convent at Georgetown thus firmly
established by Archbishop Neale became a fruitful
mother, filiations from it arising in time at Baltimore,
Mobile, Kaskaskia, St. Louis, Brooklyn, and Park-
ville.i

In the spring of 1816 the venerable Mr. Nagot,
founder of St. Mary's Seminary, Baltimore, began to
fail rai)idly, having never fully recovered from a fall
some time before. On the 9th of April, Tuesday in
Holy AVeek, he gave up his soul to God, without agony
or convulsion, but like one who falls into a gentle sleep.
The illustrious founder of the Sulpitians in the United
States is one of the grand figures of our early Church,
the spiritual father of many who for a century have
ministered at the altar of God. His loss was especially
deplored by Archbishop Neale, who despite his infir-
mities came the next day to officiate at his funeral
rites. ^

On the 3d of April, 1816, the Archbishop by an agree-

' De Courcy, "Catholic Church in the United States," New York,
1856, pp. 79, 94.

^ Garnier, " Epoqucs du Seminaire." A tomb was subsequently con-
structed bearing a suitable inscription.

THE PALLIUM. 31

ment entered into with Rev. Father John Grassi, for-
mally restored to the Society of Jesus its old missions
and placed under their care the churches of St. Ini-
goe's, Newtown, St. Thomas, with their dependencies,
Whitemarsh, Deer Creek, Bohemia, St. Joseph's, Fred-
erick, Georgetown, Alexandria, St. Patrick's church
in Washington, Queen's Chapel and Rock Creek, which
they were to supply with priests of the order or
seculars approved by the Archbishop.^ The Very
Rev. Edmund Burke, whom we have seen laboring in
Michigan and Ohio, was about this time in Rome and
was appointed by the Holy See to solicit the pallium
for Archbishop Neale, and to deliver it to him on his
return.^

As the year was drawing to a close the pallium
arrived for the Archbishop elect, and Bishop Cheverus
came on from Boston to confer it. On reaching Balti-
more he found that Dr. Neale Avas too feeble to come to
that city. He accordingly proceeded to Georgetown,
and on the 19th day of November imposed the sacred
symbol of the archiepiscopal dignity.^ Archbishop
Neale felt the necessity of securing the appointment
of a coadjutor, and he desired especially to secure
Bishop Cheverus, whose merit he well knew. He
employed many arguments and entreaties, but finding
Dr. Cheverus determined not to leave Boston, he sub-
mitted several names to him, among which Bishop
Cheverus recommended especially the Rev. Ambrose
Marechal, who had already been proposed for the sees
of New York and Philadelphia, and was consequently

' Agreement Georgetown April 3, 1816.

"^ Mgr. Quarantotti to Archbishop Neale, July 14, 1816.

3 Tessier, " f^poques du Seminaire." Bishop Cheverus to Archbishop
Neale.

32 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

well known in Rome. The Archbishop acted on his
suggestion, and forwarded the name of the learned
and zealous Sulpitian to the Sovereign Pontiff.

On the 24th of January, 1817, to provide for a vacancy
of the see Archbishop Neale formally appointed the
Rev. Ambrose Marechal, Vicar-G-eneral, "to govern
and administer the diocese of Baltimore at my quit-
ting this see, either by death or otherwise, until a new
appointment be made," and also announced to him
his proposed appointment as Coadjutor.

Affairs in the Carolinas and Georgia needed a firm
hand. Archbishop Neale ordered Rev. Mr. Browne
under pain of suspension to return to his mission at
Augusta, which he had abandoned in order to act as
assistant to Rev. Mr. Gallagher at Charleston, but in-
stead of obeying, that priest proceeded to Rome. Gal-
lagher persevered for a time in spite of his sus23ension,
but at last touched with remorse he went to Arch-
bishop Neale, admitted his fault, and professed a
readiness to undergo any penance imposed. The
Archbishop required him to go to New York and
make a week's retreat under the direction of Bishop
Connolly, to whom the Archbishop gave power to ab-
solve him. Rev. Mr. Gallagher was then to receive
letters dismissory, the Archbishop declining to avail
himself in future of his services, or even permit him to
say mass at Charleston. To all this the clergyman
agreed, and after his censures were removed by Bishop
Connolly he proceeded to Philadelphia.

Meanwhile Rev. Mr. Browne had laid a mass of
false and garbled statements before the Propaganda,
and returned with a peremptory letter from Cardinal
Litta, in which Gallagher and Browne were repre-
sented as men of the most eminent piety and exem-
plary life whom the Archbishop had unjustly deprived

LETTER TO THE POPE. 33

of their charge in order to place there a French priest.
To prevent the Catholics of Charleston from all be-
coming Protestants he proceeds to say that the Pope
commanded the Archbishop to show cause why he had
removed those clergymen, and to reinstate them and
permit them to continue during the pendency of the
case at Rome : he was commanded to remove Rev.
Mr. Cloriviere from all cure of souls at Charleston, and
if the Archbishop refused, the orders were executed
ipso facto by the Sovereign Pontiff himself.'

This extraordinary communication was handed open
to Archbishop Neale by Gallagher in person.

The Archbishop at once addressed Pope Pius VII.,
stating that Gallagher had been suspended by his pre-

SIGNATURE OF ARCHBISHOP NEALE.

decessor for gross and notorious intemperance ; and
that he himself had been compelled to pursue the
same course by his continued misconduct ; that after
suspension he returned to Charleston, drove Rev. Mr.
Cloriviere from the church, and held it with Browne,
who had abandoned his own mission at Augusta and
gone to Charleston without any authority, and in de-
fiance of the Archbishop. That the chapel used by
Rev. Mr. Cloriviere was attended by all Catholics
attached to their religion, and who approached the
sacraments, while Gallagher had few, not one in ten
of whom ever received holy communion. He told of

' Cardinal Litta to Archbishop Neale, Oct. 5, 1816.

34 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

Gallagher's repentance and submission, and how when
scandal had at last been removed, Cardinal Litta's
letter arrived. "Most Holy Father," he continued,
" is it thus the faith is propagated ? Is this the way
to treat archbishops who in penurj^, amid countless
difficulties and miseries, labor for the faith and salva-
tion of souls even to decrepit age, and who sink under
the bitter burthen ? I can scarcely believe that such
an order emanated from the Holy See, or surely if it did
emanate, it must have been obtained surreptitiously :
for by this course, the door is opened to every rebellion
in this distant country, and means are given, as I think,
for the destruction of religion, for the children of this
world are more j)rudent than the children of light.
Before truth can reach Rome deceit and falsehood
have already occupied the ground, and because they
are supported by the testimony of faithless men, they
find credit and advocates, my declarations being neg-
lected because they are not upheld by the number and
seal of men without faith, or because my poverty does
not permit me to have a jDrocurator or a defender at
Rome, for I and my brethren, bishops of this country,
are much poorer than the rest of the clergy. Would
that your Holiness had leisure to examine my letters
and documents forwarded to the Sacred Congregation ;
I might hope for a prompt remedy to our evils." ^

This opened the eyes of the authorities in Rome,
and they saw how grossly they had been imposed
upon. When the zealous Archbishop had already
passed away, the Sovereign Pontiff replied that the
appeal was dismissed ; that he might proceed against
the refractory priests, confirming all he might do.^

' Archbishop Neale to Pope Pius VII., Georgetown, March 6, 1817.
2 Pope Pius VII. to Archbishop Neale, July 9, 1817.

LAST ILLNESS. 35

There were consolations, however. On the 13th of
April the procathedral of Baltimore w^as crowded with
a devout audience, as the Archbishop was to give the
Papal Benediction with plenary indulgence, faculty-
having been granted him to confer it four times a
year within the limits of his diocese. This was one of
the last appearances of Archbishop Neale in any
function at Baltimore.^

He still continued to exert himself actively for the
good of his diocese. Early in the year he had the
consolation of seeing a Catholic free school established
in Baltimore, which was soon incorporated by the
legislature of Maryland.^

He was greatly interested in the conversion of Rev.
Virgil H. Barber and his family, and agreed to make
provision for the maintenance of Mrs. Barber and her
daughters, but he did not live to carry out his pious
intentions.

On the 31st of May he performed his last episcopal
act, conferring the order of priesthood on Rev. Roger
Baxter and Rev. John McElroy of the Society of
Jesus, and Revs. John Franklin and Timothy Ryan
of the secular clergy.

Archbishop Neale seemed to have a premonition of
his approaching end. After offering the holy sacri-
fice in the Visitation chapel on the 16tli of June he
said to Mother Teresa : " I will not be with you long."
The same day he was taken suddenly ill ; medical aid
seemed unavailing, he grew rapidly worse, and Father
Grassi, who had attended Archbishop Carroll in his
dying hours, now administered the last sacraments to
his successor, whose case excited alarm. Father John

' Tessier, " fipoques du Seminaire."

2 Scharf, " Chronicles of Baltimore," Baltimore, 1874, p. 386.

86 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

McEIroy, with Brother Henry, were in constant
attendance. About one o'clock on the morning of
Wednesday the 18th the Archbishop grew much
worse, and he expired at ten minutes past one, while
Father McElroy, kneeling beside the bed, was reciting
the 23rayers for a departing soul. Mother Teresa
with five of her sisters, was in the chamber of death
and witnessed the holy death of their founder and
constant benefactor. His brother Charles arrived
before he expired, but Francis not till some time after.
Dr. Marechal had been summoned from Baltimore
when the venerable ArchbishoiD was stricken down,
but did not arrive till after he had expired in the
resignation to God's will which was characteristic on
him.

His remains were taken to Trinity Church, where
they lay in state, till the 19tli, Avhen the body was
transferred to the Visitation chapel followed by eigh-
teen priests in copes, dalmatics, or surplices, by twenty
scholastics in surplice, and a hundred college students
and many citizens. On the mahogany coffin lined
with lead was a silver plate bearing in Latin this in-
scription : "Died the 18th of June, 1817, at George-
town, Rt. Rev. Leonard Neale, second Archbishop
of Baltimore and founder of the Nuns of the A'isita-
tion B. M., aged 71 years." ^

Mass was celebrated in the chapel of the Visitation
by Rt. Rev. Dr. Marechal,^ and the body was then
placed in a vault beneath the chapel, where it still
remains.

Archbishop Neale, according to Brother Mobberly,

'F. McElroy, Diary, June 17-19, 1817. Annals of the Visitation.

2 Gamier, "Epoques du Seminaire''; Jenkins, in U. S. Cath. Mag., iii.,
pp. 505-512.

ESTIMATES OF ARCHBISHOP NEALE.

S. J., " was a sincere friend, and an upright, man. In
his transactions with the foolish world, he was too
candid to be agreeable. He never courted the ap-
plause of men, and never had much esteem for those
who did. In his manners he was plain and simple,
not elegant. He was polite without ceremony. He
was a great enemy to insinceritj^ and was extremely

TOMB OP AKCnBISHOP NEALE IN THE CRYPT OP THE
VISITATION CHAPEL.

rough toward those who, he believed, intended to
practice fraud. His candor rendered him unpopular.
It was a principle with him to weigh matters well be-
fore he resolved. When after mature deliberation he
had arranged his plans, no arguments could induce
him to change them. Hence he was very tenacious of
his own opinion. He was strictly pious but not rigid.

38 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

He always supported his authority with vigor and
enforced regularity of life in very strong terms."

"As an orator I always admired him. I never
heard a man that pleased me so well as he did. He
wrote nothing and prepared nothing, for it seems he
was always prej^ared. He always preaclied on tlie
gospel of the day except when a funeral occurred."

"He possessed a great flow of words and was
master of a great fund of choice expressions. I never
saw him embarrassed."

His spiritual daughters of the Visitation more
reverently described him as "remarkable for great
meekness, equanimity, and placidity of soul, of con-
duct, and of speech. Never did he betray irritation
or impatience, bitterness or resentment toward any
one, whatever provocation he may have had. Never
did eagerness, hurry, or precipitation appear in his
actions." ^

' Br. Joseph P. Mobberly, Memorandum Book. Annals of the Visita-
tion.

CHAPTER II.

DIOCESE OF BALTIMOEE.

MOST EEV. AMBROSE MARECHAL, THIRD ARCHBISHOP, 1817-1820.

The Most Reverend Ambrose Mareclial, wlio was
elected to succeed Archbishop Neale in the see of
Baltimore, was a Sulpitian, a priest of learning, who
as professor at Georgetown College and at St. Mary's
Seminary and College in Baltimore and in mission
work had acquired great experience. Few clergymen
in the country were more highly esteemed. He had
already more than once been recommended for epis-
copal honors by Archbishop Carroll and by Bishop
Concanen.

He was born at Ingres, near Orleans in France, in
1769, of a good family who gave him an excellent
college education to fit him for the legal profession.
But in the course of his studies, where he won dis-
tinction, he felt that his real vocation w^as to serve God
at his altar. His family yielded at last and Ambrose
entered the seminary at Orleans, directed by the priests
of St. Sulpice. His talents, modesty, and virtue made
the Directors yield to his desire to be received into their
congregation. He was ordained priest in 1792, but
before he had said his first mass was sent to Baltimore
by Rev. Mr. Emery, the Superior of the Sulpitians.
He arrived in this country in June, and after offering
the holy sacrifice for the first time was sent to Bohemia
as assistant to Rev. Mr. Beeston. Here he rapidly
acquired a knowledge of English, and when it was
determined to open a class of philosophy in George-

40 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

town College, he was selected for the professorship,
which he discharged with ability. While subsequently
attending the mission of Winchester, in Virginia, he
was in 1803 summoned back to France by his Superior.
He was appointed professor of theology in the Sulpitian
seminaries at Saint Fleur, Aix, and Lyons, acquiring
in all those institutions a high reiDutation for learning
and ability. The pupils whom he trained for the
I)riesthood, many of Avliom subsequently attained liigh
positions in the Church in France, retained the highest
attachment and regard for their old professor. During
this period he became known to Right Rev. Richard
Luke Concanen, the lirst bishop of New York, who
finding the ^possibility of his reaching his diocese to be
very slight, urged the Holy See to appoint Rev. Mr.
Marechal his coadjutor. The action of Napoleon in
breaking up the Sulpitian seminaries in France led to
Dr. Marechars return to the United States in 1812.
On the death of Bishop Egan he was strongly recom-
menden by Archbishop Carroll for the see of Phila-
delphia, and bulls were issued January 16, 181G,
electing him ; but when they arrived, July 3, Rev. Mr.
Marechal returned them, declining the mitre. He had
no ambition beyond the divinity chair in St. Marj^'s
Seminar}'" Avliich he filled with distinction. Arch-
bishoj) Neale relied greatly on his judgment, and at
the suggestion of Bishop Cheverus proposed his name
to the Pope as coadjutor of Baltimore. Overcoming
his reluctance Archbishop Neale appointed him Vicar
General of the diocese to act in case of his death or
absence. The bulls appointing Rev. Ambrose Mare-
chal, Bishop of Stauropolis and coadjutor of Balti-
more, or in case of the death of Dr. Neale, Archbishop
of Baltimore, were issued on the 4tli of July, 1817, but
did not reach the Seminary till the 10th of November.

DR. MARECHAL APPOINTED. 41

On the 4th of the following month Rev. Mr. Marechal,
having prepared for his arduous dignity by retreat and
prayer, was consecrated Archbishop of Baltimore in
St. Peter's procathedral by Bishop Cheverus of Boston,
Bishop Connolly of New York and Rev. Mr, De Barth,
Administrator of Philadelphia, acting as assistant pre-
lates. The sermon on the occasion was preached by
the eloquent Augustinian Father Hurley.^

One of the earliest acts of Archbishop Marechal
seems to have been to print for the first time the acts
of the Synod held by Archbishop Carroll in 1791, the
manuscript copies being nearly all lost at this time.
To these he appended the Regulations adopted by
Archbishop Carroll and his suffragans in 1810 and also
regulations of his own in regard to the conditional
baptism of converts in all cases ; directing priests to
use all endeavors to induce parties intending to marry
to prepare by a good confession ; and also to avoid
marrying persons belonging to other congregations.
He also prescribed rules for mixed marriages ; censured
severely the attendance by Catholics at Protestant ser-
vices ; directed that absolution should not be given too
hastily ; he forbade the erection of any church without
the consent of the Archbishop. He w^arned the clergy
and people against receiving strange priests, and gave
directions in regard to cemeteries and the mode of dis-
tributing the Holy Oils. He concludes by directing
that mass should be offered regularly in commemora-

' Tessier, " Epoques du Seminaire." Sketch in "Ami de la Religion."
Bishop Cheverus in a letter to Rome expressed his joy that Rev. Mr.
Marechal was to preside in the city of Baltimore, "where he and his
fellow priests of Saint Sulpice had been the models and preceptors of the
clergy." Hamon, " Vie du Cardinal de Cheverus," Paris, 1858, p. 143.
During the vacancy of the see Bishop Du Bourg while at Baltimore
ordained and performed other episcopal acts.

42 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

tion of deceased arclibisliops of Baltimore, the requiem
for Archbishop Neale to be offered on the 18th of
June in the following year/

In the summer of 1817 the novitiate of the Society
of Jesus at Whitemarsh received eight candidates
brought over from Belgium by the holy priest Rev.
Charles Nerinckx.^ This gave the Society in Mary-
land great hopes of reviving and extending the former
work of the Fathers in the ancient sphere of their
labors, but they were destined to be short-lived.
Questions had already arisen between the Archbishop
and the order.

On the 26th of July, 1817, Archbishop Marechal,
who had come from Baltimore for the purj^ose, gave
the white veil of the Visitation order to the recent
convert Mrs. Barber, who on that day entered the
community of the Visitation Monastery in George-
town. A discourse Avas delivered by the Jesuit Father
Baxter.^

The difficulty at Charleston begun in Archbishop
Carroll's time had not yet been fully settled, and the
little congregation at IS'orfolk was entering a similar
trial. Archbishop Marechal had intimated to the
Holy See his desire of having the Carolinas and Geor-
gia detached from his diocese and erected into a sep-

' This seems to fix the date of the pamphlet in 1817. It has no title
page, but begins with a circular of the Archbishop (pp. 1-3), Para-
graphus I. the Synod of 1791 (pp. 4-21); Paragraphus II. the Tlegula-
tions of 1810 (pp 23-26). Paragraphus III. liis own Regulations (pp.
27-34). The Archbishop alludes to the pamphlet in a letter to Bishop
England in 1821.

2 Bi-shop Maes, " The Life of Rev. Charles Nerinckx," Cincinnati, 1880,
pp. 340-7. De Smet, "Western Missions and Missionaries," New York,
1859, p. 499.

^ Father McElroy's Diary.

NORFOLK. 43

arate jurisdiction, and the Propaganda, pleased with
his proposal, prepared to act upon it.

Hoping by personal influence to quiet the trouble
at Norfolk, and encourage religion in all parts. Arch-
bishop Marechal set out on the 31st of March, 1818,
accompanied by Rev. James Whitfield to make a visi-
tation of his diocese. He proceeded first to George-
town, where the Visitation Nuns edified him by the
order and fervor of the community. After giving the
habit to a Sister, he visited Georgetown College, St.
Patrick's cliurch, and the Barry (;hapel in Washing-
ton and Alexandria. His next visit was to the Car-
melite Convent, where he presided at the election of
Mother Mary Aloysia of the Blessed Trinity. The
convent, then situated near Port Tobacco in Charles
County, consisted of seven separate small frame
houses connected by wooden enclosed passages. The
chapel was small and poor, but the Archbishop found
everything neat and orderh^, and the enclosure
strictly observed by the community.^ Visiting the
church at St. Tliomas' Manor erected in 1798 by
Father Sewall, Newport, the old wooden church at
Newtown with its brick sacristy and addition in
front ; the wooden chapel of St. Aloysius ; the old
brick church at Medley's, too ruinous for use, the
chapels of St. John and St. Nicholas, then stopping
at Plowden's chapel of the Sacred Heart, he crossed
the bay to Cob Neck. Thence he continued by
way of St. Thomas', Upper and Lower Zachia to
Washington.

Rev. Mr. Mathews had a great number prepared for
confirmation at St. Patrick's church, and on Whit-

' For this community see Father Charles W. Currier, " Carmel in
America," Baltimore, 1890, ch. xiv.

44 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

Sunday the Archbishop administered the sacrament to
800.^

After a brief stay in Washington the Archbishop
returned to Baltimore, having confirmed about 1600 in
this first portion of his visitation. During the course
of the year an impulse was given to the piety of the
Catholics of Baltimore by the establishment in the
Cathedral of the Archconf raternity of the Sacred Heart
of Jesus, the Superior of the Jesuits in Maryland,
Father Grassi, having obtained the necessary
diploma.^

On the 11th of June the Archbishop took the steam-
boat for Norfolk, which he reached next day, although
the malcontents had pretended at Rome that the dis-
tance was so great that the Archbishop of Baltimore
could not well superintend the Catholics in that city.
He found eighty prepared for the sacrament of con-
firmation by Rev. Mr. Lucas, and administered it to
tliem.^

A few claiming to be Trustees of the Catholic con-
gregation had refused to receive the Rev. Mr. Lucas,
who was sent to Norfolk by Archbishop Neale, in
December, 1815, and in spite of a letter addressed to
them by that successor of Dr. Carroll, they persisted
in their rebellion, and the duly appointed pastor,
unable to obtain possession of the Church, had opened
a temporary chapel, where all who really cared for
their religion heard mass. The pretended trustees
then issued a violent pamphlet to defend their assumed
rights, claiming a jus patronatus and denouncing the
ignorance and superstition of the Roman Curia, and

' Draft of a sermon in Archbishop Marechal's handwriting.
" From Rev. Aloysius Felici, S.J. Eome, 7 Idus Feb. 1818.
^ Diary of Archbishop Marechal.

MOST REV. AMBROSE MARECHAL, THIRD ARCHBISHOP
OF BALTIMORE.

NORFOLK SCHISM. 47

attacking Catholic doctrines, especially in regard to
confession.^

The Rev. Mr. Lucas replied showing his appoint-
ment by the proper authority, and his recognition by
the real trustees and congregation at the house of
E. Higgins, Esq., in December, 1815,^ but he was as-
sailed in a pamphlet by Jasper Moran, and in placards
of which the tenor may be judged from the fact that
they speak of ' ' the criminal obstinacy of the late Rev.
Archbishop L. Neale, as well as the stubbornness or
systematic contumacy of his Most Rev. Successor."

Finding that they could not overawe the Archbislioi>
or drive out the Rev. Mr. Lucas they drew up a grand-
iloquent memorial to the Pope, which was taken by
one of the malcontents to Rome. In this, regardless
of the truth, they represented that they were destitute
of a priest, and relying on the unacquaintance of
the Roman officials with American geography they
represented that Virginia was at such an immense
distance from Maryland that the Archbishop of Balti-
more could not take care of the Catholics there, and
in the name of the Norfolk congregation solicited the
erection of a new see at Norfolk, the people "being
ready to provide with munificence all that is necessary
for divine worship, the maintenance of the bishop and
other ministers of the Church, the erection of a seminary
and schools." They also asked that the Rev. Thomas
Carbry, O.S.D., of New York should be appointed
their pastor.

' " Letters addressed to the Most Reverend Leonard Neale, Archbishop
of Baltimore. By a member of the Roman Catholic Congregation of
Norfolk in Virginia. Printed by O'Connor Broughton, Norfolk, Va."

' " An Address to the Members of the Roman Catholic Congregation

of Norfolk By the Rev. J. Lucas Printed by Shields,

Charlton & Co., Norfolk."

48 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

Bishop Connolly deluded by the representations
supported them/ and Carbry jDroceeded to Rome. All
this was communicated to Arclibishop Marechal by
the Propaganda. When Carbry returned bearing a
letter from Cardinal Litta, recommending him to Dr.
Marechal, the Archbishop declined to receive him into
his diocese, or to appoint him to Norfolk where no
vacancy existed.

Archbishop Marechal' s visit to Norfolk was under-
taken in the hope that he would be able to recall the
obstinate to a sense of duty. He convened a meeting
of the pewholders, but of fifty-five, nearly one- fourth
refused to attend, while others protested and left the
xoom. As the legality of the last election of trustees
was questioned, he urged the holding of a new har-
monious election, but after a stay of ten days, finding
all his efforts useless, he left Norfolk.^

The misguided men, however, led by Dr. Fernandez
and others, seem to have placed little dependence on
their intrigue at Rome, for without awaiting the
result of their scheme they applied through Father
Carbry to the Rev. Richard Hayes, a jiriest who as

' Bishop Connolly to Arclibishop Marechal, April 9, 1818. He had
already in February urged the Prefect of the Propaganda to establish a
see at Norfolk and proposed Rev. Mr. Carbry as bishop, recommending
him as learned, zealous, exemplary and eloquent, and formerly his
pupil at the Minerva. By tliis time Moran, one of the leading malcon-
tents, had with his family openly gone over to the Protestants. — Bishop
Connolly to the Cardinal Prefect, Feb. 25, 1818.

. "^ Diary of Archbishop Marechal. In a letter to Rev. Mr. Lucas he
slates that he would be justiiied in excommunicating Fernandez, Reilly,
and Donahy for the impious principles they held and disseminated,
their usurpation of the church and their outrages against himself, but he
forbade that clergyman to admit them to the sacraments in life, or to
perform the funeral service after death unless they repented and repaired
the enormous scandals tliey had given. — Letter June 21, 1818.

NORTH CAROLINA. 49

agent of the Irish clergy had given offense to Papal
authority, and urged him to proceed Jo Utrecht and
induce the schismatical Archbishop of that city to
consecrate him Bishop of Norfolk. Rev. Mr. Hayes
was a faithful Catholic priest, and he immediately
exposed the whole plot to the Pope.^

Meanwhile Archbishop Marechal, to leave the per-
turbators no pretext for opx^osing a priest on national
grounds, on May, 1818, appointed Rev. Nicholas
Kerney, pastor of Norfolk and Portsmouth. The
trustees refused to acknowledge him, and adhered to
Carbry, who soon arrived and was aided by a roaming
Portuguese priest. Rev. Mr. Kerney found Ports-
mouth destitute of church, vestments, tabernacle, and
all provision for mass. The Catholics of the place,
chiefly men employed in the Navy Yard, could easily
attend service in Norfolk, as more than one hundred
of them actually did. He, however, secured a school-
room and fitted it up for use as a chapel, but the mal-
contents raised such a disturbance on Christmas day,
that for peace sake he abandoned the attempt to offici-
ate there. The next Sunday he had three hundred
and fifty attending mass in his Norfolk chapel, many
of them from Portsmouth. A general discharge of
men at the Navy Yard soon after made any attempt
to open or maintain a chapel there useless.^

He continued to labor zealously at Norfolk, though
unable to enter either church or cemetery, which was
held by Carbry, who paraded Cardinal Litta's letter
as a papal act, making him independent of the Arch-

' Pastoral Letter of Archbishop Carroll, etc., and of Archbishop Mare-
chal to the Congregation of Norfolk, Va., 1819. Baltimore, 1820, p. 67.

^ Rev. N". Kerney to Archbishop Marechal, May 31, June 38, Aug. 9,
Dec. 27, 1819. Trustee Notice, Herald, Sept. 27, 1819.

50 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

bishop of Baltimore. He took out a license from the
court as CatlioJic pastor of Norfolk and Portsmouth,
and officiated for the jDretended trustees and their ad-
herents. He even went to Richmond and said mass
there, hoping to gain i)ossession of some property be-
longing to the Church.^

While this wretched man was thus endeavoring to
w^eaken the faith of Catholics, the zealous Eev. Mr.
Kerney, hearing of neglected Catholics in North Caro-
lina, made visits in 1819 and 1820 to Washington and
New Berne in that State, officiating in both places,
offering the holy sacrifice, hearing confessions, and
baptizing children and adults.^

Events show that Carbry had long from New
York, where Bishop Connolly was completely deceived
by him, fomented the disturbances at Norfolk and
Charleston. In the latter city, the vestrymen refused
to recognize the Rev. J. P. de Cloriviere, and defied
the authority of the Archbishop, who addressed several
letters to them. They also applied to the Holy See,
and forwarded a petition to Pope Pius VII., in which
assuming to act not merely for the petty church in
Charleston, but for the Catholics of four States solic-
ited from the Sovereign Pontiff the erection of a diocese
embracing Virginia, North and South Carolina, and
Georgia, and even requested the appointment of Rev.
Thomas Carbry, as Bishop.^

Even after they were notified by Rev. Dr. Mare-

' Eugene Higgins to Archbishop Marechal, Feb. 2, 4, 1818 ; Rev. N.
Kerney to same, May 31, 1819.

2 U. S. Catholic Miscellany, ii., pp. 147, 163.

^ Documents relative to the present distressed state of the Roman
Catholic Church in the City of Charleston, State of South Carolina (Text
from Protestant Bible), Charleston, 1818.

VISITATIONS. 51

chal as administrator, of the Brief of Pius VII. reject-
ing the appeal of Gallagher and Browne, and subse-
quently of his own consecration as Archbishop of Bal-
timore, they refused to recognize Rev. Mr. Cloriviere
or admit him to the church on Hazell Street. That
priest accordingly continued to minister to the real
Catholics in the hired hall, consoled by having 130
make their Easter Communion.^

The i:)allium granted to Archbishop Marechal in
September, 1818, was forwarded through Bishop
Poynter, one of the English Vicars Apostolic, and
was conferred upon him in his pro-cathedral, Dec. 19,
1819, by Father Anthony Kohlmann.

After the summer of 1818 Archbishop Marechal
resumed his visitation, which he extended to Barnes-
town, Carrollton, Frederick, Hagarstown, Emmetts-
burg, Taneytown in Maryland, Martinsburg and Win-
chester in Virginia. The Sisterhood at Emmettsburg
afforded him great satisfaction. He found the vener-
able Mother Seton bearing the inroads of consumption
with pious cheerfulness. He gave the tonsure to live
seminarians at Mount St. Mary's. In this town he
confirmed 685, making the total number for the year
2506. Many of these were converts, esj^ecially at
Taneytown.

These visitations which his two predecessors in these
later years had been unable to make, brought him
into personal relations with his clergy and congrega-
tions in Maryland and Virginia.

After thus acquiring a thorough knowledge of the
condition of the Church in his diocese, Archbishop

' Cloriviere, " Further Documents showing tlie causes of the dis-
tressed state of the Roman Catholic Congregation in the City of Charles-
ton." Cliarleston, 1818. Letter to Matthew O'Driscoll, Oct. 21, 1818.
8vo, 4 pp.

52 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

Marechal made a long and interesting report to the
Cardinal Prefect of the Propaganda. He estimated
that his diocese, which then comprised Maryland,
Virginia, the Carolinas and Georgia, with the terri-
tory west of the
y» . A I '\ -h ^^^^ named State
-f c/' i^u^- -(/CiaA^ ^^^^S^ to the Mississippi,

and Avliich before
the Revolution did

SIGNATURE OF ARCHBISHOP MARECHAL. j^q^ COntaln mOrC

than 10,000 Catho-
lics, now numbered 100,000, chiefly in Maryland
and Virginia, having grown by natural increase,
conversions, and immigration. For the service of
his flock he had 52 priests, — 14 French, 12 Ameri-
cans, 11 Irish, 7 Belgians, 4 English, 3 Germans,
and 1 Italian. There were more churches than
priests, a clergyman being frequently required
to attend several churches in succession ; and no
fewer than ten new churches were actually in
progress.

In Baltimore St. Peter's could no longer hold a
tenth of the congregation, and a series of masses was
celebrated every Sunday to enable the people to ful-
fill their duty. The seminary chapel had a large con-
gregation also, the annual communions reaching ten
thousand. St. Patrick's and St. John's were also
well attended, and the number of Catholics in Balti-
more was estimated at ten thousand, having increased
from about 800 in 1792.

To keep up the supi^ly of clergy his diocese had St.
Mary's Seminary, Baltimore, admirably conducted
by the priests of St. Sulpice, who also had charge of
St. Mary's College. There was also the Petit Semi-
naire at Emmettsburg with eighty pupils, fifteen of

BALTIMORE DIOCESE. 53

them tonsured. On these mainly depended the future
of the diocese.

Besides this hive of future priests, there was at
Georgetown the College of the Society of Jesus, one
building devoted to secular pupils, the other contain-
ing thirty-three scholastics and novices. There were
thus three colleges for young men. For the educa-
tion of young ladies there was a flourishing academy
at Georgetown conducted by Visitation Nuns, the com-
munity numbering nearly fifty, rej)roducing in their
lives the spirit and virtues of Saint Francis de Sales.
Their academy sent out pupils trained to become in
life pious, well instructed, and accomplished women.
They were anxious to extend their usefulness, and
Archbishop Marechal petitioned the Holy See to per-
mit the Nuns to have ten or twelve lay or out-sisters,
who might under their direction conduct free schools
for girls in Georgetown and Washington.^

St. Joseph's Academy, at Emmettsburg, under
Mother Seton, her Sisters of Charity numbering thirty-
two, was admirably conducted. It had 80 pupils,
and also a number of orphan girls. The Archbishop
hoped soon toestablish a house of the Sisters in Bal-
timore.

In addition to these two communities devoted to
education and good works, the diocese contained the
Carmelite Convent at Port Tobacco with twenty-three
nuns, living mainly from the produce of their estate.
He spoke in the highest terras of their fervor and dis-
cipline.

Piety among the faithful was kept alive by Confra-
ternities of the Scapular, Rosary, Blessed Sacrament,
Sacred Heart, and the Sodality of the Blessed Virgin,

' Application of Archbishop Marechal to the Pope.

54 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

the last established in Georgetown College in 1810,
and in Baltimore in 1812.^

In 1819 the Rev, John Brady, Episcopal minister in
St. Mary's County, Maryland, hearing a report that
Rev. Leonard Edelen, of Newtown, had burned some
Protestant Bibles, addressed a very dictatorial note to
him. It was the first of a series of similar charges
against Catholic priests, all the more extraordinary
as Protestants themselves are conspicuously the great
Bible-burners in this country. Mr. Brady's ground
for the charge was that Jonathan B. Benson declared
"that Mr. Benjamin Edwards told me, that he heard
Mr. Thomas Tucker say (in a conversation concerning
the burning of the Bible), that Father Edelen would
have a roasting hot fire of them." The whole story
was false, but the Jesuit Father's re];)ly led to a con-
troversy of some length, which Avas subsequently
l^rinted in pamphlet form.^

The little skirmish seems to have quickened the
zeal of Catholics, as we find that new churches were
erected at Medley's Neck and St. John's, and liberal

' The diploma establishing the Confraternity of ^he Sacred Heart at
the Visitation Convent was dated April 30, 1818. " Rules of the Male
Confraternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, established in Baltimore,
April, 1812, with the approbation of the Most Rev. Archbishop Carroll."
Second Ed. Baltimore, 1823. Archbishop Marechal also encouraged the
formation of Catholic Beneficial Societies. The Charitable Relief Society
was established by Rev. R. Smith, Oct. 1, 1827, and the Tobias Society,
for colored people, Jan. 1, 1828, with his approval. See Constitutions.
Baltimore, 1828, 1836.

' " A correspondence between Rev. Mr. Brady and Rev. Mr. Edelen
of St. Mary's County, Maryland, which was commenced, in consequence
<)f a report in circulation that the latter had burned several Protestant
Piibles," etc. Washington ; Davis & Force, 1819, pp. 76. When the
Bible Society of New York stopped printing Catholic Bibles and Testa-
ments in French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese, the unsold stock was
burned, the fires being kept going for weeks.

SOUTH CAROLINA. 55

subscriptions made for the Church of the Sacred
Heart. ^

In Charleston, Gallagher by insidious and open
means still hampered the labors of Rev. Mr. Clori-
viere to such a degree that Dr. Marechal, finding that
the malcontents were asking for a bishop, and desired
Father Carbry,^ sent to that city two Jesuit Fathers,
whom the Superior of the Society in this country
reluctantly drew from Georgetown College to proceed
on the difficult errand of restoring discipline. These
were Father Benedict J. Fenwick, an American, and
Father James Wallace, a native of Ireland. Gallagher
meanwhile, by a pamphlet, exerted himself to maintain
discord, and yet he won such support in Europe, that
his word weighed more at Rome than that of Arch-
bishop Marechal.^ Dr. O' Driscoll was next to Rev. Mr.
Gallagher the great fomenter of trouble at Charleston.

When Father Fenwick arrived, November 10, 1818,
he put up at a Protestant house till he could obtain
possession of the presbytery, and he at once convened
the Yestry. O' Driscoll began to insist on the right of
13resentation, which he claimed for the Yestry ; but
Father Fenwick declared the claim utterly absurd and
unfounded. He insisted that the Yestry should
acknowledge certain principles as the only terms on
which he could continue to regard them as Catholics.
The pastor of the church was to be recognized as a
member of the Yestry ; he was to have exclusive
authority in regulating the interior of the church and

' Rev. F. Edelen to Archbishop Marechal, Nov. 13, 1820.

^ Bishop Connolly of New York had urged Archbishop Marechal in
his letter of April 9, 1818, to appoint Carbry to Norfolii. On the 30th
of October he wrote, urging the Archbishop to recommend Carbry for a
see to be erected at Charleston, recommending him in the highest terms.

3 Rev. B. J. Fenwick to Archbishop Marechal, Nov. 10, 16, 1818.

56 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

everything appertaining to divine worship, and finally
that he was to receive his salary as long as he was
authorized by the Archbishop of Baltimore to fill the
position. When Rev. Mr. Gallagher addressed Father
Fenwick to learn what powers he had, the firm envoy
replied in substance that he had none. The malcon-
tents learned, at once, that affairs had been committed
to a firm hand.

Gallagher submitted, at least openly, and the Vestry
yielded. Then the two Jesuits went to work to revive
religion. Sermons and instructions were given ; the
young were prepared to receive the sacraments.
Father Fenwick could at Easter count two hundred
communicants, twenty-three making their first com-
munion.^

Under this impulse religion advanced till in the
course of the following year letters came from Rome
in which Rev. Robert Browne, who had gone there, and
by a feigned submission obtained credence,^ boasted
that he had triumphed over the ecclesiastical authority
in America and asserted that he had been completely
restored. Tidings soon came of the erection of the
see of Charleston and of the appointment of Bishop
England. Browne arrived before the newly appointed
bishojD, and claimed full right to exercise the minis-
try, by virtue of Dr. England's grant, but as Father
Fenwick had no official notice of the erection of the
see or consecration of the bishop he declined to, recog-
nize him.

Father Fenwick continued to labor earnestly till
Bishop England arrived and was installed. The next
day he tendered his papers and asked permission to

^ Rev. B. J. Fenwick to Archbishop Marechal, June 9, Sept. 1, 1819.
* Cardinal Fontana to Archbishop Marechal, April 15, 1820.

DIOCESE OF CHARLESTON. ' 57

return immediately to the North. Bishop England
had, almost at a glance, recognized the true priest and
the false. He would not receive Father Fen wick's
papers and complained of his wishing so abruptly to
leave him, a perfect stranger in the country. Father
Fenwick yielded in order to give him the aid of his
experience.^

The Metropolitan of the United States had solicited
that the Carolinas and Georgia should be erected into
a Vicariate Apostolic, but this was rejected by the
Propaganda, which regarded the plan as unprece-
dented ; Archbishop Marechal then joroposed that
these States should be erected into a diocese with a
bishop's see at Charleston. Conscious of the prejudice
which had been created in Rome against the Bishops
and clergy in this country, and having no right in the
matter, he did not propose any clergyman for the new
see, but advised the appointment of some English
priest.^

It was a strange position of affairs, but the little
knots of malcontents in Norfolk and Charleston, men
destitute of religion, who seldom or never approached
the sacraments, actually through the Irish hierarchy,
whose good faith they abused, and through Browne
and his confederates at Rome, influenced the action of
the Propaganda, and, of course, not in the best inter-
ests of the Church in the United States. The V. Rev.
John Rice, O. S.A., who possessed great influence in
Rome, is said to have been the most active in this un-
justiflable interference in the affairs of the Church in
America. To gratify the men at Norfolk who had
been ready to establish the Jansenist schism, the

' Rev. J. Fenwick to Archbishop Marechal, Sept. 17, Oct. 19, Dec. 19,
1820; Feb. 19, 1821.
* Archbishop Marechal to the Prefect of the Propaganda, 1818.

58 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

plot was formed and actively pushed to create Vir-
ginia into a diocese with the see at Richmond, but
authorizing the new Bishop to reside at Norfolk. This
scheme, in which Browne was the prime mover, was
carried out by those- whom he succeeded in influencing
with all the secrecy and celerity of a conspiracy, every
precaution being taken to prevent the action from
becoming known ; the bulls were apparently prepared
out of the usual channel, and were sent to Ireland, to
the priests appointed with injunctions to obtain conse-
cration and proceed at once to America.^

The Sovereign Pontiff accordingly on the 11th of
July, 1820, signed the bulls dismembering the diocese
of Baltimore, erecting Virginia into a diocese with a
see at Richmond, and North and South Carolina with
Georgia into a diocese with a see at Charleston, ap-
pointing Rev. Patrick Kelly to the former and Rev.
John England to the latter see.

By this hasty and inconsiderate action the diocese
of Baltimore constituted two portions, a thousand
miles apart, Maryland and the District of Columbia on
the Atlantic, and Alabama and Mississippi in the
southwest.

' England, " A Brief Account of the Introduction of the Catholic
Religion into the State of North Carolina," etc., Dublin, 1832. Fitzpat-
rick. " Life, etc., of Rt. Rev. Dr. Doyle," Dublin, 1861, i.,p. 88. Let-
ters from V. Rev. J. Rice to Rev. P. Kelly.

'^ The bulls erecting these two sees are not in the Bullarium Magnum,
nor in the Bullarium de Propaganda Fide, but have been found in
the archives of the Propaganda. The Bishops of Cork and Ossory seem
to have been most active. They recommended for American sees. Revs.
John England, Patrick Kelly, Edward Nolan, parish priest of Gowran,
in the diocese of Ossory, Nicholas Carroll, parish priest of Rathdowney
in the same diocese, Father Charles B. Maguire, O.S.F., of Pittsburgh,
Pa. , the provincial of the Irish Franciscans, declining. List submitted
at Rome, June 5, 1820.

NEW SEES. 59

Unconscious of all these schemes and plots, Arch-
bishop Marechal had been exerting himself for the
good of religion. In 1819 he visited St. Ignatius
Church in Harford County, encouraged the erection
of St. Patrick's Church on the Susquehanna in Cecil
County, then visited Whitemarsh and proceeded to
Queenstown, St. Joseph's, and other places on the
Eastern shore, confirming in all about 473.

In July of the following year we find him at George-
town ordaining the Jesuit Fathers, Henry Verheyen,
Peter Joseph Timmerman, and John Murphy ; laying
the corner-stone of the Visitation chapel, and confirm-
ing 213 in Trinity Church.

Against the detachment of Virginia Archbishop
Marechal protested warmly, as a division of his dio-
cese without his knowledge or consent, and as creating
a new bishopric where it would be impossible to main-
tain the prelate appointed.

The step, however, was taken, and New York,
Philadelphia, Richmond, and Charleston were thus
assigned to Bishops sent, utter strangers, to this coun-
try, nominated by the influence of a foreign hierarchy,
and in some cases bound in the very act of their
consecration by an oath of allegiance to the British
government, the great enemy of the United States.

It was not till December 19, 1819, two years after
his succession to the see, that Archbishop-elect Mare-
chal received the pallium, which had been granted in
1818. It was forwarded through Bishop Poynter,
Vicar Aj^ostolic of London, and was conferred upon
him by the Rev. Father Anthony Kohlmann, the Rev.
Mr. Kenny preaching on the occasion.

Before the close of the year. Catholicity and Mary-
land lost a noble representative in the person of the
Hon. Thomas Sim Lee, the war governor of Maryland.

60 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

This noble patriot, born in 1744, was elected governor
November 8, 1779, and served till 1783, when he was
sent to represent the State in the Continental Con-
gress, where he sat two years. After being an active
member of the State Convention which ratified the
Constitution of the United States, he was again elected
governor, and served from 1792 to 1794. He had been
a personal friend of Archbishop Carroll, and enjoyed
the esteem of his successors, having been visited from
time to time by Archbishop Marechal. He died on
the 9th of November, and was buried near Marlbor-
ough. Georgetown College honored his memory by a
solemn mass of requiem, at which Father Baxter pro-
nounced a funeral discourse.^

Soon after his appointment Archbishop Marechal
took up earnestly the project of completing the Cathe-
dral, on which work had been suspended for several
years. To obtain the necessary funds with the diocese
already greatly reduced, and likely to be still further
restricted in extent, was not easy; but the old ceme-
tery and even part of the cathedral ground was sold,
and the work of construction was resumed in 1817.
Individual subscriptions aided the fund, but resort
-was had to another lottery, in 1819, from which $75,-
000 was to be applied to the Cathedral. The sale of
pews as the church approached completion aided con-
siderably, producing $40,000.^ The citizens of Balti-
more without distinction of creed felt a pride in the
completion of the edifice, which in grandeur exceeded

' Georgetown Records.

« Scharf, " The Chronicles of Baltimore," Baltimore, 1874, pp. 397-9.
There were 12,500 tickets at |40. The managers were David William-
son, L. Tiernan, W. Jenkins, Basil S. Elder, John Carrere, P. Laurens,
John Walsh, A. White, Jr., Dr. Chatard, M. Ridlemoser, John Hunter,
and Charles Carroll, Jr.

BALTIMORE CATHEDRAL. 61

any church then existing in the country. He ex-
pressed a wish in a communication to Rome that some
statues and jDaintings, wliich superabounded there,
could be contributed to decorate it.

Archbishop Marechal resigned himself to the ne-
cessity of completing the edifice with less grandeur
than had been originally proposed, and was often
penetrated with fear that he would never live to be-
hold it so far completed as to serve for the celebration
of divine worship. He persevered, however, encour-
aged even by old friends in Europe, and on the 10th
of May, 1821, was able to announce in a pastoral letter
that the Baltimore Cathedral would be dedicated on
the 31st of the same month, the eve being made a fast
day for the diocese.^

The rich marble altar for the new edifice was the
gift of priests at Marseilles, France, who had been his
pupils while he taught theology in the seminaries in
that country. An inscription records this tribute.^
This altar, with fine candelabra to go on either side of
the tabernacle, reached Marblehead, Massachusetts, in
the Cadmus, Capt. Williamson, March, 1821, and
were shipped thence to Baltimore.^

A number of fine large paintings were also received
as a gift of his Eminence Cardinal Fesch, uncle of the
great Napoleon.*

' " Pastoral Letter of the Archbishop of Baltimore to the Roman
Catholics of his Diocese ou the Consecration of the Cathedral," Balti-
more, 1821.

» Bishop Cheverus to Archbishop Marechal, March 26, 30, 31, 1821.

■* Cardinal Fesch to Archbishop Marechal.

62 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

The altar as set up was a beautiful and artistic
work of polished marbles, the tabernacle crowned
by a marble globe surmounted by cherubim and a
crucifix. The candelabra on either side harmonized
beautifully with the whole altar, which bore on its
front the monogram of Our Lady to whom the Cathe-
dral is dedicated.

Between the columns hung oil paintings of the Bap-
tism of Our Lord, and the Assumption of the Blessed
Virgin. On the walls between the windows hung
other oil paintings. The Vision of St. Nicholas, The
Vision of St. Augustine, The Agony in the Garden,
St. Simeon holding Our Lord, The Last Supper, The
Transfiguration, Our Lord Feeding the Multitude,
Our Lord apiDearing to St. Mary Magdalene, Our
Lord and the Samaritan Woman, Our Lord bearing
the Cross, St. Veronica, — the gifts of Cardinal Fesch.

The Cathedral is cruciform, 190 feet in length, and
at its greatest width 119 feet, the exterior walls of
dark granite, which, though sombre, have stood the
test of time and the elements better than the Ionic
portico. At the intersection of the cross rises the
noble dome, 207 feet in circumference within, and
lighted by an exterior dome that is not seen from the
interior of the edifice.

At the entrance of the Cathedral, on either side,
are paintings, one The Descent from the Cross, by
Paulin Guerin, a gift to Archbishop Marechal from
Louis XVIII., King of France; the other, St. Louis
burying the dead before Tunis, painted by Steuben,
the gift of Charles X., King of France.

The Cathedral was solemnly dedicated on the 31st
of May by Archbishop Marechal, assisted by the
Rt. Rev. Henry Conwell, Bishop of Philadelphia,
and Rt. Rev. John Cheverus, Bishop of Boston. The

DEATH OF MRS. SETON. 63

sanctuary was filled with the priests of the diocese
and of the seminary to the number of thirty-five, and
fifteen ecclesiastical students.

The pews had been sold some months before and
had been at once taken by the most prominent Cath-
olics of Baltimore. The occasion drew them all to
the sacred edifice, with a large gathering of the faith-
ful from all parts of the city, and numbers of distin-
guished Protestants, interested to see a Cathedral, in
which they had taken a local pride, devoted at last to
the worship of Almighty God.

The sermon of the day was delivered by Rev. Roger
Baxter, S. J., Professor of Philosophy in Georgetown
College, who took his text from 2 Paralip, vii., 16.^

The first ordination in the Cathedral was that of the
Jesuit Father, Stephen L. Dubuisson, who was raised
to the priesthood by Archbishop Marechal on the 7tli
of August.

The Church sustained a great loss early in 1821 by
the death of Mrs. Seton, foundress and first Superior
of the Sisters of Charity at Emmitsburg. After the
approval of the rule by Archbishop Carroll, eighteen
made the simple vows of poverty, chastity, and obe-
dience on the 19tli of July, 1813, and a regular novi-
tiate was opened. The community was then duly
organized, Mrs. Seton being elected Superior. Herself
a model of exactness in observing the rule, her instruc-
tions formed the Sisters in the way of Christian per-
fection. The little community increased and continued
the work of education at the Mountain. In 1814 an

' A sermon preached at the Opening and Consecration of the Cathe-
dral, in Baltimore, on the thirty-first day of May, 1821. By the Eev. R.
Baxter, S.J., Professor of Philosophy in the College of Georgetown, D.
C. Baltimore: Published by J. W. 1821. Scharf, " Chronicles of
Baltimore," p. 399.

64 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

application came from Philadelphia for Sisters to take
charge of the Ori)han Asylum near Trinity Church,
and Mother Seton sent three Sisters to found her first
mission abroad. The Sisters began in poverty and
difficulty, but their piety and devotedness soon made
their house the jiride of the Catholics of Philadelphia.
The next mission was of Sisters to manage the domes-
tic concerns at Mount St. Mary's College, and in 1817
three Sisters took charge of the OrxDhan Asylum in
New York. The Academy at St. Joseph's increased
under the personal care of Mother Seton, and the
school for the poor children soon required a separate
building, and a brick one, two stories high, was erected
in 1820. The second free school of the Sisters was that
at Trinity Church, Philadelphia. Mother Seton thus
beheld her work extending, and avenues open to em-
ploy the zeal of her spiritual children ; an act of
incorporation by the State of Maryland in January,
1817, secured a legal existence. Mrs. Seton' s health,
never rugged, had begun to decline, and she calmly
prepared for her departure from the world. When
asked what she considered the greatest blessing ever
bestowed upon her by the Almighty, she answered :
"'That of being brought into the Catholic Church."
Sustained by Rev. John Du Bois and Eev. S. Brute,
she received all the sacraments with the deepest faith
and piety, and repeating the prayer of St. Ignatius :
"' Soul of Christ, sanctify me," and the sacred names
of Jesus, Mary, Joseph, she exj)ired on the 4th of
January, 1821, in the 47th year of her age. An in-
scription in the room marks the spot. "Here, near
this door, by this fireplace, on a poor lowly couch,
died our cherished and saintly Mother Seton, on the
4th of January, 1821. She died in poverty, but rich
in faith and good works. May we, her children, walk

JESUIT ESTATES. 65

in her footsteps, and share one day in her happiness.
Amen."'

Sister Rose White, who had founded the houses in
Philadelphia and New York, was elected to continue
the work of the holy foundress as Superior of the
community, numbering at this time nearly fifty
members.

The Sisters of Charity soon assumed the direction
of the free school in Baltimore, which by this impulse
soon numbered 170 children, established an Orphan
Asylum with fourteen orphans, and opened the Bal-
timore infirmary."^

In that city confraternities and pious associations
continued their good work, leading the members to
approach the sacraments regularly, and to be earnest
in relieving the wants of the afflicted.

When Pope Clement XIV. suppressed the Society of
Jesus by his Brief " Dominus ac Redemptor " on the
21st day of July, 1773, the members who were in holy
orders were declared to be secular clergy, the rest
became simply laymen. No disposition was made of
the property of the various provinces, colleges, and
missions of the order, though professed Fathers were
forbidden to purchase or sell any house, goods, or
places. The property of the order had already been
confiscated by the crown in France, Spain, Portugal,
Naples, and the French, Spanish, and Portuguese colo-
nies in America and Asia.^

' SetOD, "Memoirs, Letter and Journal of Elizabeth Seton," New
York, 1869, ii., pp. 291-2. White, " Life of Mrs. Eliza A. Seton," New
York, 1853, pp. 437-442, 465 ; Barbery, " Elizabeth Seton," Paris, 1868,
pp. 690-1.

' U. S. Catholic Miscellany, vii., p. 110 ; viii., p. 205.

^Bullarium de Propaganda Fide, iv., p. 394. Cretineau Joly, " His-
toire de la Compagnie de Jesus," Paris, 1845, v., p. 369.

66 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

After the suppression, the property of the order
was similarly confiscated by the State in Austria,
the Netherlands, the smaller Italian states, includ-
ing the Territories of the Pope. The Encyclical
issued August 18, 1773, by the special Congrega-
tion " de Abolenda Societate Jesu," and addressed
to all Bishops, required each bishop in his diocese
to publish the brief to the members of the Society,
and then "in the name of the Holy See to take
and retain possession of the houses, colleges, and
their goods, rights, and appurtenances of what kind
soever."

Bishop Challoner notified the missioners in Mary-
land and Pennsylvania of the suppression, and obtained
the written adhesion of each one to the Brief of
Clement XIV.; but neither in England nor America
did he proceed further. The Jesuits as a body could
not possess property in the English dominions, and
had Bishop Challoner attempted to take possession of
property held in the names of Jesuits individually,
it would have led to its confiscation by government,
and imperiled all Catholic jDroperty in the kingdom.
There is no trace of the slightest endeavor on his part
to secure a conveyance of such property to him. The
war, which soon prevented intercourse between Eng-
land and the United States, made any attempt at a
later date impossible. The property in Maryland and
Pennsylvania remained in the hands of individual
priests till December 23, 1792, when the surviving
members of the Society in Maryland, who held prop-
erty in their individual names under secret trusts, and
a few whom they had aggregated to themselves, were
incorporated by an act of the Legislature of the State
of Maryland, and the corporation empowered to hold
and apply the property in conformity with the original

JESUIT ESTATES. 67

several trusts.^ The corporation was authorized to
adopt a name, and selected that of " The Corporation
of the Roman Catholic Clergymen." ^ To this body-
each holder of land conveyed the property, represent-
ing it as trust j)roperty.

An informal organization had already existed among
them, and this Rev. John Carroll after his return to
America joined, receiving an annual allowance, as did
Rev. Leonard Neale. When Doctor Carroll was made
Prefect Apostolic his allowance was increased, and
after he was made Bishop of Baltimore, the revenues
of the plantation of Bohemia were assigned to him and
were subsequently received by his successor Arch-
bishop ]N"eale, both having been members of the infor-
mal organization and of the Corporation. When Dr.
Marechal became Archbishop of Baltimore, in 1817,
the Corporation declined to continue the payment, as
he was not a member of their body like his predeces-
sors ; but they offered to pay |500 a year for four
years, till his Cathedral was dedicated and opened, and
able to give him a maintenance. Some payments were
made to him on this basis, but no formal agreement
was reached.

Although the see of Baltimore had been erected for
more than thirty years, no one of those who had oc-
cupied it had visited Rome. Many reasons impelled
the Most Rev. Dr. Marechal to fulfill at this time the
obligation of visiting the threshold of the Apostles.

He set out on October, 1821, and laid before the
Holy See a statement of the condition of religion in
his diocese and province. He obtained a promise that

' An Act for securing certain estates and property for the support and
uses of the Ministers of the Roman Catholic religion.

' Declaration of "Walton, Ashton, Leonard Neale. Molyneux, Sewall,
Oct. 15, 1793. Recorded Laws I. G., No. 1, folio 701.

68 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

Virginia should be placed under his care as adminis-
trator as soon as Dr. Kelly could be transferred to
another diocese. In regard to the question between
himself and the Society of Jesus, Archbishop Mare-
chal drew up a memorial, in Italian, which was printed
and laid before the sovereign Pontiff. In this he
claimed that the Bull erecting the see of Baltimore
vested in the Bishop of that see all the property
which had been held by the Jesuit Fathers in Mary-
land ; and in the next place that the Maryland act of
incorporation in 1793 granted all this property to the
Bishop and clergy of Maryland. He also claimed that
Father Robert Molyneux had, by a formal instrument,
dated September 20, 1805, covenanted to pay per-
petually to Rt. Rev. John Carroll the yearly sum
of $1000. He also claimed that certain estates, not-
ably Deer Creek and Whitemarsh, were given not to
the Society of Jesus, but to the Catholic Church.

The General of the Jesuits and the Fathers in Rome
were not prepared with documentary evidence or
legal opinions to meet the case thus presented. Yet
the case was a weak one, the expressions in the Bull
erecting the see of Baltimore could not be construed
to operate as conveying any special property abso-
lutely,^ and Bishop Carroll had distinctly renounced
any claim under it to the estates held by the Society of
Jesus.^ The Act of Incorporation was a mere change
of trustees, and created no new beneficiaries to enjoy
the estates. The agreement purporting to be made by

' The terms of the Bull are general, ' ' We commission the said Bishop-
elect" ... "to administer ecclesiastical incomes." "Life of Arch-
bishop Carroll," pp. 342-3. But the Sacred Congregation de Propaganda
Fide in 1832 spoke of the estates which Pope Pius VI. had decreed to
the Bishop of Baltimore in 1789.

' Note delivered to Trustees by Bishop Carroll, May 26, 1790.

JESUIT ESTATES. 69

Father Molyneux still exists, full of interlineations
and erasures, evidently a draft never satisfactorily
prepared or finally executed, and without seal or wit-
ness.^

The matter was referred by the Pope to a commis-
sion of Cardinals, Castiglione, Fesch, and della Genga,
who took the affair into consideration.

On their decision in favor of the claim of Arch-
bishop Marechal, Pope Pius VII. issued on the 23d
day of July, 1822, a Brief requiring Father Aloy-
sius Fortis, General of the Society of Jesus, and the
Jesuits of Maryland to put Archbishop Marechal in
possession of Whitemarsh, or as much thereof as did
not exceed two thousand acres, any mortgage on it to
be paid by the Jesuits. If, subsequently, they could
show that some other plantation could be conveyed
with less injury to them, they were allowed to make
representations. All other property was then secured
to the Jesuits.^

When this Brief was transmitted to Maryland,
Father Charles Neale, the Superior of the Jesuits,
drew up a protest declaring it surreptitious, and ob-
tained without allowing the Maryland Jesuits to pre-
sent their case before the commission. He maintained
that the Act of Incorporation gave no rights as bene-
ficiaries to any who had not such rights before ; cited
Bishop Carroll's disclaimer, and declared that no act
of Father Molyneux before the restoration of the So-
ciety could bind them, even if it had been properly
entered into by him, and that under no pretext could

' This document is now in Bishops' Memorial Hall, Notre Dame, Indi-
ana. It was never produced, except in the form of a copy, in the pro-
ceedings at Rome.

' Brief " Quum nobis relatum," BuUarium de Propaganda Fide, iv., p.
394.

70 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

his individual act bind a corporation created by the
laws of Maryland.^

This protest was after a time submitted by the Gen-
eral, and the Archbishop replied to it at length. But
the matter was still far from settlement, Dr. Marechal
asking that all the Maryland Jesuits who refused to
yield should be expelled from the Society, and pro-
hibited from leaving Maryland without his per-
mission.^

The General of the Society of Jesus in 1822 had de-
clined to sign papers of transfer prepared for him,^ and
the matter was frequently debated in sessions of the
Congregatio de Propaganda Fide. On the 10th of
June, 1824, Cardinals Castiglione, afterwards Pope
Pius VIII., and de Gregorio were appointed to confer
with the General in regard to the matter. The Gen-
eral showed that he had ordered the Maryland
Fathers to pay the Arclibishop $1000 a year. The
Propaganda, on the 26th of Jul}^, refused to allow the
matter to be settled in that way, and insisted that
within six months the Whitemarsh property should
be conveyed to Archbishop Marechal in compliance
with the brief.*

The whole affair had already been laid before the
President of the United States, and at this period
government expressed itself so strongly that the Sove-
reign Pontiff, after meetings of the Propaganda, May
29 and June 20, 1826, accepted a proposition made by
the General, in his name and that of his successors, to
pay Archbishop Marechal, during his natural life,

'Protest of Fr. Charles Neale, St. Thomas, Nov. 32, 1822.
« Archbishop Marechal to Cardinal Consalvi, Dec. 37, 1833 (?3).
^ C. M. Pedicini, Secy, of Propaganda, to Archbishop Marechal, May
35, 1823.
■* Cardinal de Somaglia to same, Aug. 14, 1824.

EPISCOPAL NOMINATIONS. 71

annually, 800 Roman crowns from November 1, 1826,
and Cardinal Somaglia wrote that the Pope and the
Sacred Congregation thought that the offer ought to
be accepted/

Cases which have since arisen make it evident that
the Holj^ See holds that by the suppression the prop-
erty of the Society vested in the Pope, to be disposed
of by him in the best interest of religion. This,
though not exjDressed in the documents, will explain
the action in the Maryland controversy.^

During his stay in Rome, Archbishop Marechal was
made a Domestic Prelate to his Holiness and received
from him an elegant gold chalice, which is preserved
in his Cathedral.

Among other important matters he induced the
Sacred Congregation de Propaganda Fide to lay down
clear and distinct rules as to the tenure of Church
property in the United States, and also to establish a
plan for the nomination of Bishops to future vacancies
occurring in the episcopate.

When he complained at Rome of the interference of
the hierarchy of another country in the affairs of the
Church in the United States, he was met with the
sneering remark that the Archbishop of Baltimore
and his suffragans had no right to nominate to vacant
sees. His reply was made in an appeal to the Pope.
" We freely confess that we have no right to present
Bishops for the province of Baltimore. ISTo such right
has ever been granted to us by the Holy See. There-
fore we do not possess it. Nay more, I and my suffra-
gans, who have occupied episcopal sees in America for

' Statement of Archbishop Marechal, " De mensa Episcopal! Prsesulis
Bait." Cardinal Somaglia to Archbishop Marechal, Aug. 5, 1826.

"^ The Pious Fund of California, and the Jesuit Estates in the Province
of Quebec.

72 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

many years, sincerely desire to be free from so for-
midable a burden Yet it is certain that tliey

must be nominated by some one ; but who, consider-
ing the distance of North America from the Roman
See, is to present capable and worthy subjects ? Surely

the Irish Bishops cannot do so to advantage The

Irish Bishops have only an imperfect knowledge of
our America, such as they glean from geographies and
books of travel. Unacquainted with the disposition
and customs of our Americans, it is utterly impossible
for them to nominate men who suit our States."

He exposed also to the Holy See the danger to the
whole Catholic body in the United States, if it could
be charged that the Bishops were nominated by the
Bishops of a foreign country. A decree was in prepa-
ration granting the Archbishop and his suffragans the
right to nominate, when the true character of Rev. Mr.
Inglesi, whom Bishop Du Bourg had recommended as
his coadjutor, was fully disclosed. In consequence,
the decree was so modified that only a right of recom-
mending suitable persons for vacancies in the episco-
pate was granted to the American hierarchy.^

During the absence of the Archbishop in Europe,
the Y. Rev. Mr. Tessier, on the Feast of All Saints,
November 1, 1821, blessed the Chapel of the Visita-
tion Convent at Georgetown, which had been com-
pleted. Y. Rev. Mr. Tessier also blessed St. Peter's
Church in Washington City on the 4th of Novem-
ber.^ This was not the only church added to the
diocese, for we find the Administrator, on May 19,
1822, blessing the church which had been erected at
Long Green by Mr. O'Brien.

' Archbishop Marechal to Bishops Flaget and David, March 24, 1826 ;
Decree, June 3, 1822.

* Tessier, fipoques du Seminaire.

THE CHURCH IN MARYLAND. 73

As we have seen, Northern Alabama and Mississippi
remained under the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of
Baltimore, but in 1822, to effect projects proposed
by Bishop Du Bourg, a bull was issued by which these
were detached from the diocese of Baltimore. This
seems to have elicited a protest from Archbishop
Marechal, and it was not carried out.

Florida was added to the Vicariate Apostolic thus
created, and on the 14th of July, 1823, Pius VII.,
by his Brief " Quum Superiori Anno," abrogated
the Letters Apostolic creating the Vicariate. Ala-
bama and Mississippi thus reverted to the diocese of
Baltimore.^

Archbishop Marechal then formally abdicated his
jurisdiction over the two States, which was accepted
by the Vo^e ; and by his Bull of August 19, 1825,
Mississippi was placed under the care of Bishop Du
Bourg of New Orleans as Vicar Apostolic,^ and on
August 26, 1825, Alabama and Florida were made a
Vicariate Apostolic, which Pius VIII., by his Letters
Apostolic, "Inter Multiplices," May 15, 1829, erected
into the diocese of Mobile.

The final action was taken in a session of the Con-
gregation de Propaganda Fide, held December 22,
1824, but it was not carried out by the issuing of
Bulls till the consent of Archbishop Marechal was
forwarded.^

By all these acts the diocese of Baltimore, well

' Bull "Quura Nos Hodie," Aug. 13, 1822. BuUarium de Propaganda
Fide, iv., pp. 399-407. Cardinal Somaglia to Archbishop Marechal,
May 15, 1824, announces that this part of his diocese had been restored
to him.

* "Quum Venerabilis," Bullarium de Propaganda Fide, v., pp. 14, 46.

^ Cardinal Somaglia to Archbishop Marechal, Jan. 29, 1825.

74 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

equipped with seminaries, colleges, and institutions,
was finally reduced from an extent equal to the Re-
public, to a single one of the smaller States with the
District of Columbia, and States which, had they re-
mained under the see of Baltimore, would have bene-
fited by these institutions, Avere left to struggle along
without resources to create them.

Archbishop Marechal, after accomplishing to some
extent the objects which he had in view in visiting
Rome, returned to Baltimore, reaching that city Nov-
ember 24, 1822.

Tlie next spring he resumed his visitation, conferring
the sacrament of confirmation, stimulating the zeal of
the faithful to improve old churches or erect new ones.
The increased number of confirmations showed the
good results of his appearing among the peo^^le. The
seminary at Emmitsburg showed encouraging prog-
ress, and here, in May, 1823, he tonsured John Purcell,
future Archbishop of Cincinnati, and conferred minor
orders on him and another seminarian ; and on the
24th ordained priests four members of the Society
of Jesus in St. Patrick's Church, GeorgetoAvn, — one.
Father James van de Yelde, destined to be Bishop of
Chicago and of Natchez.

The church at Carroll Manor and a parochial resi-
dence were to be conveyed to him ; the church at
Frederick had been improved ; at Maryland tract
Messrs. Jamison and Belt w^ere preparing to erect a
church on land given by the family of Governor Lee.
At Liberty, Mr. Cole, a convert, had erected a fine
stone church, and promised land for a cemetery and
parochial residence. Archbishop Marechal blessed
the church on the 28th of September ; a solemn pon-
tifical high mass, with deacon and sub-deacon, the
administration of the sacrament of confirmation, an

THE CHURCH IN MARYLAND. 75

eloquent sermon, and fine music attracted such crowds
from all the neighborhood, that the Methodist church
was deserted and no service took place.

Georgetown College had progressed under the im-
pulse given by the able Father John Grassi, who pre-
sided over it from 1812 to 1817. He introduced the
regular system observed in the colleges of the Society
in Europe, and the work of complete organization was
carried on by Very Rev. Father Kenney, who was sent
over as visitor. The good work was continued under
the presidency of Rev. Benedict Fenwick (1817-18),
Rev. Anthony Kohlmann (1818-20), and Rev. Enoch
Fenwick (1820-2). Degrees under the charter were
first conferred in 1817, when Charles and George Din-
nies received the degree of Bachelor of Arts. In 1822
Rev. Thomas C. Levins arrived from Europe to take
charge of the chairs of mathematics and natural phil-
osophy, for which he had remarkable ability. The
college at this time had its seven classes from rudi-
ments to philosophy, and had between fifty and sixty
pupils.

CHAPTER III.

DIOCESE OF RICHMOND.
RT. REV. PATRICK KELLY, FIRST BISHOP, 1820—1822.

The See of Riclimond was established by Pope Pius
VII., on the 11th day of July, 1820, by his Brief "Inter
Multiplices." The reason for the erection of the new
diocese is stated : "Whereas, we have been long since
been petitioned to erect the State of Virginia in North

SIGNATURE OF PATRICK KELLY, BISHOP OF RICHMOND.

America, which is included in the diocese of Balti-
more, into a new diocese separate therefrom ; and,
whereas, it seems highly expedient for the extinction
of schisms that have arisen there, that a Bishop should
be apxDointed specially for that State, more especially
as the State of Maryland, which is subject to the Arch-
bishop of Baltimore, and is filled with a great number
of Catholics, requires so much of the said Archbishop's
care, that he can with difficulty bestow any on other
States." The Pope then, by the advice of the Congre-
gation de Propaganda, detached Virginia, but not the
District of Columbia, from the diocese of Baltimore,
and erecting a new see at Richmond, assigned the
State of Virginia as the diocese dependent on it.^

The clergyman selected for the new see was the Rev.
Patrick Kelly, then about forty years of age and Presi-

' Bull erecting see of Richmond, July 11, 1820.

RT. REV. PATRICK KELLY, FIRST BISHOP OF RICHMOKD.

A PROTEST. 79

dent of St. John's Seminary, Birclifield, Kilkenny.
He was a learned priest, educated in the Irish College
at Lisbon, and is said to have taught theology in
Rome. After his return to Ireland he was curate at
Inistiogue, showing himself devoted and laborious
in his ministry, endearing himself to the poor by his
charity. He then taught mathematics, philosophy,
and theology at the seminary, and finally became
president. He was of great strength and colossal pro-
portions, but though iDious, prudent, and of great integ-
rity, he was rigid, unyielding, and haughty,^ He
received his bulls on the 12th of August, 1820, and
made immediate preparations for his consecration,
which took place on the 24th in St. James' Chai^el, the
Most Rev. Dr. Troy of Dublin being consecrator, with
Bishops Murray and Marum as assistants, and the
oath of allegiance to the King of England being-
administered. Bishop Kelly solicited means from the
Propaganda to make his voyage to Virginia,^ and after
taking part in the consecration of Bislioj) England,
he set sail.

He landed in New York, and proceeding to Balti-
more announced himself to Archbishop Marechal as
Bishop of the newly erected diocese of Richmond.
The Archbishop gave a Avritten statement in which,
after rehearsing his constant protests against the
turbulent men at Norfolk, protests transmitted to
Cardinal Litta and his successor Cardinal Fontana, he
continued: "Although it would be entirely lawful
for us to oppose the erection of the said see, whether
we consider the wicked means by which it was ob-
tained, or the scandals and calamities of every kind,

' Fitzpatrick, " Life of Rt. Rev. Dr Doyle," Dublin, 1861, pp. 14&-9.
«Rev. P. Kelly to Rev. John Rice, O.S.A., July 16, Aug. 13, 1820.

80 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

which will undoubtedly be the result ; yet fearing
that the said enemies of the Church of Christ will
take occasion even from our most justly founded
opposition, to inflict the most serious injury on the
Catholic religion, your Lordship may, as you judge
best, proceed or not to take possession of the new see
and diocese of Virginia according to the tenor of the
Bulls transmitted to you. But to assure the tran-
quillity of our conscience we hereby distinctly declare
to your Lordship, that we in no wise give or yield our
assent positively to this most unfortunate action of
the Sacred Congregation de Propaganda Fide. If
you carry it out, we are to be held free before God and
the Church now and hereafter from all the evils and
scandals which the Catholic religion suffers or may
suffer from it in these United States." ^

He also wrote to the Cardinal Prefect, expressing
his astonishment at such steps without the slightest
notice to him, and appealed to the Sovereign Pontiff.
"Therefore, Most Eminent Cardinal, two vagabund
friars, Browne and Carbry, concocting their schemes
with other Irish friars living in Rome, have prevailed ;
and the Sacred Congregation, deceived by the absurd
calumnies of such men, has made itself the instrument
to carry out their impious schemes." ^

Notwithstanding this action of Archbishop Marechal,
Bishop Kelly proceeded to Norfolk, the place assigned
as his I'esidence, which he reached the next day, Jan-
uary 19, 1821. It was a strange commentary on the
statement made at Rome, that Norfolk was at such an
immense distance from Baltimore that the Archbishop
of Baltimore could not possibly attend it, to find that

' Protest of Archbishop Marechal, January 18, 1831.
2 Letter Jan. 18, 1821.

CARBRY'S REVOLT. 81

even in those days of comparatively slow travel the dis-
tance could be traversed in less than twenty-four hours.
Deeply imbued with the prejudice so studiously
created in Rome, against the management of the church
at Norfolk by the venerable Carroll and his successors,
Bishop Kelly refused to give faculties to the excellent
Mr. Lucas/ and put himself in communication with
those who had promised, at Rome, to erect a cathedral
and maintain a bishop. He gave faculties to Father
Carbry, who, after planning a Jansenist diocese and
officiating without any authority, thus found himself
a priest in good standing in the diocese of Richmond.
Bishop Kelly was soon undeceived ; he saw that the
Catholics of iS"orfolk, even if harmonious, united, full
of zeal and a spirit of sacrifice, could not erect a suit-
able church, or give him any such maintenance as he
had a right to expect. In a very short time Father
Carbry was in full revolt against the new Bishop, and,
with his adherents, closed the door of the wretched
little church against Dr. Kelly, who now saw that the
national plea had been merely a pretext for insubordi-
nation. The very men who had clamored for an Irish
priest now turned against an Irish Bishop, selected
especially to see that their fancied wrongs were re-
dressed. The old feud continued. There was a Bish-
op's party and a trustees' party, each endeavoring to
secure possession of the church, till the civil authorities

' Bishop Kelly, June 23, 1821, to Mr. Joseph Magagnos, who had
written in belialf of the practical Catholics. "I lately informed Mr,
Lucas that his removal from Norfolk appeared to me likely to benefit
religion here, by promoting peace in this distracted congregation. That
opinion still gains ground in my mind. Of this, at all events, I am certain,
that much of the opposition and vexation I am every day encountering
is occasioned by his presence. I should deem it, therefore, a great favor
if your Grace were pleased to recall him to your own diocese." Letter
to Archbishop Marechal, April 26, 1821.

82 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

intervened and twenty-one were arrested.^ Cruelly
undeceived, Bishop Kelly opened a school, in order to
maintain himself till the Holy See could relieve him.
The diocese afforded little hor^e. Catholics being few in
the East, those in Richmond having merely a hired
building, though a generous devise of Mr. Gallego gave
them a site, and means to erect a church.^ Up to this
time, like their fellow believers in Martinsburgh,
Winchester, Wheeling, they depended on visits from
Maryland and Western Pennsylvania. Toward the
close of the year he sent to Richmond the Rev. James
Walsh, who had come from Ireland to his assistance.
This clergyman rented a room in the Southgate build-
ing on lltli Street and revived the labors of Rev.
Xavier Michel, after whose departure the Catholics
had only occasional service by the Jesuit Fathers.^

Up to the year 1817, Catholicity was practically
nnknown in and around Wheeling, but as the work
on the great Cumberland road extended to that part of
Virginia, many Irish Catholics Avho had been employed
in the work settled down. Bishop Kelly authorized
Rev. Mr. Maguire of Pittsburgh to erect a church in
this mission, which his predecessor. Rev. Mr. O'Brien,
had founded. Mr. Zane gave the Catholics a lot, and
though few in number, they began the erection of a
brick church in gothic style, seventy feet long by
forty-six in width, the most imposing Catholic edifice
yet erected on Virginian soil. The church formed a
point of attraction for Catholic settlers, and so many

' " Sacra Congregazione de Propaganda Fide," Restretto, Rome, 1823.
p. 54.

* After long litigation the will was set aside. "Weekly Register, i. , p. 23.

' Hon. A. M. Keiley, " Memoranda of the History of the Catholic
Church, Richmond, Va." Norfolk, 1874. Diary of Archbishop Mare-
chal.

BISHOP KELLY LEAVES VIRGINIA. 83

gathered that a flourishing congregation was soon
formed.

On the last day of June, 1821, Bishop Kelly M'as
cheered by the arrival of the Bishop of Charleston,
who had visited the Catholic congregations in Georgia
and South Carolina, and had traversed North Caro-
lina as far as Elizabeth. While in Norfolk, Bishop
England preached several times and exchanged facul-
ties of Vicar General with Bishop Kelly.^

The Sovereign Pontiff had promised to remove
Bishoj) Kelly when a suitable vacancy occurred, and
on the death of Bishop Walsh of Waterford and Lis-
more, transferred him to that united see. Bishop
Kelly, after confirming all children over eight or nine
years of age, accordingly left Virginia in July, 1822.^
Archbishop Marechal was appointed Administrator
of the diocese of Richmond, but as the arrangement
might be only a temporary one, it long prevented
active exertion for the good of religion in Virginia.

1 Bishop England's Diary : TJ. S. Cath. Miscellany, iii., p. 14.
« Bishop Kelly died suddenly, Oct. 8, 1829.

CHAPTER IV.
DIOCESES OF BALTIMORE AND EICHMOND.

MOST REV. AMBEOSE MARECHAL, 1822-1828, THIRD ARCHBISHOP
OF BALTIMORE.

Oi^ resuming jurisdiction over Virginia, Archbishop
Marechal i^laced at Norfolk two zealous priests, Rev.
Messrs. Christopher Delany and Hore, the unfortu-
nate Carbry withdrawing to a mountain district in
North Carolina. He provided for the Catholics at
Richmond, and was rejoiced to see the congregation
at Wheeling prosper ; and when a new town, Triadel-
phia, was founded, in 1823, Catholics settled there in
numbers sufficient to justify their erecting a church.
Twenty-five lots were secured and a stone church,
sixty-three feet long by twenty-eight wide, was erected.
The churches at Wheeling and Triadelphia, with a
congregation formed at Grave Creek, the Archbishop
confided to the care of the Rev. Anthony Myrthe.^
Dr. Marechal visited these churches in the summer
of 1824, administering confirmation, and praising the
zeal and liberality of the faithful.^

Stimulated by this example, the Catholics at Rich-
mond, under the impulse given by Mr. John Andrews,
a convert, resolved to leave the house which the
congregation had used, and to set to work earnestly
to erect a suitable church and make provision for the
support of a priest. But Rev. Mr. Delany regarded
the provision as very uncertain, the only person of

' U. S. Catholic Miscellany, iii., pp. 14-15.
2 Diary, Aug. 37-29, 1824.

MBS. MATTINGLY. 85

means, Mr. Chevallier, being about to return to France.
Rev. Mr. Hore attended Point Comfort, but the Cath-
olics were so few, that he withdrew before long. Yet
there were conversions to console the missioner, and
Rev. Mr. Delany reported, in 1825, that during the
preceding autumn he had baptized a family of four
at Smithfield, forty-five miles from Norfolk.^ At
Lynchburg the Catholic body had so increased, how-
ever, that they appealed for a resident clergyman.^

Thrown into the midst of a Protestant or unbeliev-
ing community, the faithful rarely sought from God
supernatural aid in their afflictions. A spirit of faith
was aroused, however, mainly through the ministry
of a worthy priest, Prince Alexander Hohenlohe of
Bamberg, who urged on all recourse to prayer in order
to obtain relief from God. He promised to offer the
holy sacrifice of the Mass in concert with any who
sought union with him in prayer. The results of this
united aj)peal to the Sacred Heart were so general and
so consoling that from all countries of Europe the
afflicted appealed to Prince Hohenlohe. A violent and
unphilosophical attack on the Prince in the Edinburgh
Review served to make the facts more generally
known, and Bishop England in the Catholic Miscel-
lany exposed the shallow reasoning of the Reviewer.
The complete and sudden cure of Mrs. Ann Mattingly,
sister of the Mayor of Washington City, came at this
juncture as a most complete justification of Catholic
confidence in the supernatural power of prayer.

' U. S. Catholic Miscellany, iii.. p. 223. Oct. 13, 1824, 29, Nov. 17.
Rev. C. Delany to Archbishop Marechal, March 6, 1823, July 7. 1824,
June 8, 1825.

' Wm. Duffy to Archbishop Marechal, March 6, 1823. Thej were
able to promise $400 a year for his support.

86 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

Mrs. Mattingiy had for years labored under a severe
malady, which was regarded by physicians as incura-
ble. She had not been able to leave her bed for a
year, and for months at a time could not even turn.
Father Anthony Kohlmann and Father S. L. Dubuia-
son urged the afflicted lady to prepare by a novena
in honor of the holy name of Jesus for the 10th of
March, on which day Prince Hohenlohe offered the
holy sacrifice in union with those residing out of
Europe. On the morning of the 10th, both priests
offered the holy sacrifice for her, and Father Dubuis-
son took the Blessed Sacrament to her. During the
novena she had grown worse, but her faith was un-
shaken. Father Dubuisson gave her holy communion,
and was still kneeling before the pix, which contained
consecrated hosts, when he saw Mrs. Mattingiy rise
slowly in the bed, stretch out her arms, join her hands
and exclaim, "Lord Jesus! what have I done to
deserve so great a favor?" While all present were
sobbing from emotion and alarm, Father Dubuisson
rose and took her hand. "Ghostly Father!" she
continued, "what can I do to acknowledge such a
blessing ? My first, my spontaneous expressions are :
' Glory be to God ! we may say so ! oh, what a day for
us.' " He asked her how she felt. She replied : " Not
the least pain left." " None there ? " he asked, point-
ing to her breast. "Not the least, only some weak-
ness." She insisted on arising, dressed, and walking
to the table on which the Blessed Sacrament lay knelt
down in adoration.

Father Dubuisson having another sick call to attend
left soon after, but returned with Rev. William
Matthews, and was received at the door by Mrs.
Mattingiy herself. A pamphlet, containing thirty-four
affidavits of the attending physicians and of persons

REMARKABLE CURE. 87

familiar with lier condition for months, and witnesses
of her sudden and complete restoration, was printed
by the authority of Archbishop Marechal, who said :
"I have read with considerable attention, the certifi-
cates relative both to the long and dangerous sickness
of Mrs. A. Mattingly, and to the instantaneous and
admirable cure which she has obtained from the
mercy of Almighty God. Such is the number of the
witnesses, their well-known integrity, candor, and
intelligence, that their testimonies are certainly en-
titled to the greatest respect and credibility, about
facts which were obvious to their senses, and which
they had frequent opportunities of observing." ^

The effect of Mrs. Mattingly' s cure was remarkable.
It seemed to revive the dormant faith of Catholics, and
was followed by an increase of piety and devotion.
Other cures, especially those of Sister Beatrix Myers
and Sister Apollonia Digges at the Visitation Convent,
Georgetown, and of L. Chevigne, professor of mathe-
matics at St. Mary's College, Baltimore, kept alive
the feeling produced, and by their far-reaching in-
fluence aroused a new spirit among the faithful.^

• United States Catholic Miscellany, ii., pp. 56, 70 ; "A Collection of
Affidavits and Certificates relative to the wonderful cure of Mrs. Ann
Mattingl}", which took place in the City of Washington, D. C, on the
tenth of March, 1824," Washington. 1824, 8vo, pp. 41. Bishop England
analyzed this pamphlet in the Miscellany, pp. 351-403, and subsequently
issued ' ' Examination of Evidence and Report to the Most Rev. James
Whitfield, D.D., Archbishop of Baltimore, etc., upon the Miraculous
Restoration of Mrs. Ann ]\Iattingly." Charleston, 1830, pp. 42, reprinted
in Works, iii., pp 393-447.

^ England's Works, iii., pp. 472-6 ; Guerison de Soeiir Marie Apollonie
Digges, Religieuse le 20 Janvier, 1831. Fribourg, pp. 16. An-
nals of the Visitation, ch. 21. Sister Apollonia, whose consumptive ten-
dencies alarmed Archbishop Neale in 1817, and who was at the point of
death in 1831, lived to the year 1889.

88 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

One of the subjects which engaged the attention of
Archbishop Marechal was that of holding a provincial
council. Bishop England had pressed it earnestly,
but the Archbishop was at first fearful that it would
not be attended by all his suffragans, and would be
productive of little good, yet he finally drew up the
plan of a Council, and proposed the matter to His
Holiness Pius YII., who, in his Brief " IN'on sine
magno " (August 3, 1823), approved the plan, as Pope
Leo XII. did at a later date.

During the claim of Archbishop Marechal for the
estate at Whitemarsh, the Superior of the Jesuits in
Maryland resolved to disband the novitiate at that
place, and send back the young men to Belgium,
whence many had come with Rev. Charles !N'erinckx,
in 1821. Among them were F. J. Van Assche, Peter
J. De Smet, P. J. Verhaegan, J. A. Elet, F. L. Ver-
reydt, and J. B Smedts. While the matter was still
pending, and some believed that by removing the no-
vitiate to St. Thomas's Manor means might be found
to maintain it. Bishop Du Bourg of Louisiana arrived
in Washington to see what aid could be obtained
from government for educating the Indians in his vast
diocese. When he learned that these zealous young
novices might be sent back to Europe, he resolved to
secure, if possible, this hopeful band of auxiliaries for
his diocese. He offered to transport Father Charles
Van Quickenborne, the Master of Novices, with his
whole establishment, to Missouri. When Archbishop
Marechal heard of this he protested against the depar-
ture of priests and ecclesiastics from his diocese ;
but Bishop Du Bourg would not yield. He maintained
that the Archbishop of Baltimore had no right to
detain the novices, young men who had come to
this country from Europe in order to become relig-

REV. J. F. MORANVILLE. 89

ious, and who had never entailed any cost on the
diocese.^

The affair was at last arranged, and the loss of Mary-
land proved the gain of the West. The zealous Father
Van Quickenborne, who had built a church at An-
napolis and one near Whitemarsh, attending both
faithfully, gathered his little company for their jour-
ney. They comprised his assistant, Father Peter J.
Timmermans, the novices already named, and J. De
Maillet, with three lay brothers. They set out from
Whitemarsh, April 11, 1823, and the caravan of wagons
reached Wheeling, where two liat-boats were pur-
chased, in which the whole party embarked with all
their effects. With daily mass, and all the exercises
of the novitiate, they floated down the Beautiful
River. They laid up at Louisville to visit Rev. Mr.
Nerinckx, and then kept on to Shawneetown, where,
putting their effects in a steamboat, the mission band,
in wagon and on foot, crossed the prairies, and came
in sight of St. Louis, May 31, 1823, after a six weeks'
journey.^

Before the close of 1823 the diocese of Baltimore
lost the devoted priest Rev. John F. Moranville, so
long pastor at Fell's Point, Baltimore. He had come
to Baltimore in 1794-i") from the deadly missions of
Cayenne ; received by Bishop Carroll, he began to
labor among the French residents, till, having become
familiar with English, he was appointed to St. Pat-
rick's congregation about 1805, He set to work with
energy to erect a becoming church, which was blessed
by Bishop Carroll, November 29, 1807. The thorough

1 Bishop Du Boui-iT to Archbishop Marechal, Marcii C, 21, 1823.

2 Walter H. Hill, " Historical Sketch of the St. Louis University."
St. Louis, 1879. pp. 10-20.

90 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

instruction of his flock, especially of the young, was
his great care. Pious associations, and the devotion
of the Rosary, were among his favorite means of keep-
ing piety alive. In 1815 he organized St. Patrick's
Benevolent Society, to support a parochial school which
he opened, and to relieve the suffering poor. He
greatly aided the Trappists, who for a time resided
opposite his church. Ever devoted to the poor, he
seemed to multiply his strength and resources during
the visitations of the yellow fever. It cannot be won-
dered that his health finally gave way. In 1823
physicians declared that only by rest and a voyage to
Europe could his life be saved. He sailed from New
York, on the 1st of October, with Bishoj) Cheverus, but
died in the following May.^ On the 25tli of January,
1824, Archbishop Marechal, who, looking forward to a
future University, had obtained from the Pope power
to create and establish a faculty of theology, conferred,
with solemnity, in his Cathedral, the degree of Doctor
of Sacred Theology on Rev. Messrs. Whitfield, Deluol,
and Damphoux, priests of St. Sulpice, and in August
of the following year organized the faculty of theology.
Rev. Mr. Du Bois, aided by Rev. Simon G. Brute,
had gone on at Mount St. Mary's, building up a literary
institution so successfully that the scholastic year,
1821, opened with seventy-nine pupils. He felt that the
time had come to replace the two rows of log structures
by a more enduring edifice. Rev, Mr. Du Bois, as
President, Procurator, and Treasurer, undertook to
erect a stone college. He gathered the material, dug
the foundation, and saw the walls rise steadily. The
night of the 6th of June, 1824, saw the building,

' B. U. Campbell, " Memoir of the Rev. John Francis Moranville,'
U. S. Cath. Mag., i., pp. 433, etc.

MOUNT ST. MARY'S. 91

which had cost $16,000, nearly ready for occupation ;
but while men slept, flames worked their way through
it till it became a vast furnace, and the morning sun
rose on blackened walls arid smoldering timbers. He
bowed submissively to the will of Providence, and be-
fore the ruins were cold began the work of reconstruc-
tion. Like others in distress he appealed to Canada
for aid, sending Rev. M. De Burgo Egan to collect
there, which he did successfully.^

AVhile superintending the building, Rev. Mr. Du
Bois directed the farm work, taught classes in Latin
and French, and when Rev. Mr. Brute was absent con-
tinued his theological course. The pupils increased
steadily in number, and trained by him and the great
Brute the young were imbued with solid piety.
Priests formed here began to labor zealously in all
parts of the country, somewhat to the jealousy of the
Archbishop, who sought to claim them for the diocese
of Baltimore.

At this time the Sulpitians in their General Assem-
bly decided that Mount St. Mary's must be reduced to
its original form and purpose, that of a Petit Semi-
naire, or Preparatory College, and that the classes of
philosophy and theology must be suppressed. Arch-
bishop Marechal urged Rev. Mr. Du Bois to submit,
and for his own part declared that he was opposed to
having two theological seminaries in his diocese.^

Rev. Mr. Du Bois, however, declared that it was im-
possible to maintain the institution, if it were confined
to a classical course, as he obtained his professors

' " The Jubilee of Mount St. Mary's," New York, 1859, pp. 46, 272 ;
U. S. Catholic Miscellany, vli., p. 46. Rev. John Du Bois to Bishop
Plessis, June 10, 1824.

' Rev. John Tessier to Archbishop Marechal, Nov. 25, 1824.

92 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

only by affording tliem instruction in i^hilosopliy and
theological studies in return for their services as teach-
ers. To the objection that his course of study was not
thorough enough for candidates for holy orders, he
showed that most of those sent out from the Mountain
were zealous and laborious priests. To jjrove the ser-
vices that the institution had rendered from 1809, Dr.
Brute drew up a list of the 109 who had studied there,
sixty-two Americans, thirty-two Irish, three Germans,
and fourteen French.^

Many Catholic colored people accompanied their old
masters to Baltimore at the time of the troubles in
Saint Domingo. Speaking French, they naturally
tarned for spiritual direction to the priests of Saint
Sulj)ice. For thirty-one years the Very Rev. Mr.
Tessier devoted himself to giving catechetical instruc-
tions to this flock, who not only preserved the faith
themselves but won others. Rev, James Hector Jou-
bert, who became his associate in this good work,
sought to make permanent jDrovision for the education
of colored girls, and finding three persons filled with
zeal to devote themselves to the work, Elizabeth
Lange, Frances Balis, and Miss Bogue, formed them
into a little community. After long trial, and seeing
their perseverance and success, their director requested
Archbishop Marechal to permit them to make simple
vows. His Grace approved their rule on the 5th of
June, 1825, and the community prospered so in union
and piety, as well as in the extent of its labors for the
good of souls, that the Holj^ See approved the rule
October 2d, 1831, endowing them with all the privi-
leges and indulgences granted to the Oblates at
Rome, founded by St. Frances of Rome. This

' Rev. Mr. Brute's list.

NOMINATION OF BISHOPS. 93

was the origin of the Oblate Sisters of Providence
at Baltimore.^

Two sees in the province became vacant ; that of
Boston by the departure of Bishop Cheverus of Bos-
ton, in October, 1823, and that of New York by the
death of Bishop Connolly, February 6, 1825. Arch-
bishop Marechal with his suffragans was permitted
by the regulations of the Propaganda to propose
clergymen to fill the vacancies. The voice of the
Metropolitan, and of Bishops Conwell, England,
Flaget and Fenwick, recommended for the see of Bos-
ton Rev. Benedict J. Fenwick of the Society of Jesus,
who had displayed great zeal and ability at New York,
Charleston, and as President of Georgetown College ;
and for the see of New York the Rev. John Du Bois,
who crowned years of mission life by establishing and
directing the Seminary and College at Mount St.
Mary's, Emmitsburg.

Bishop Fenwick was consecrated on the feast of All
Saints, 182o, in the Cathedral at Baltimore, by the
Most Rev. Archbishop Marechal, the assistant prelates
being Bishop Conwell of Philadelphia and Bishop
England of Charleston. The ceremonial was attended
by more than thirty priests, and attracted many pub-
lic men, -and even clergymen of other denominations.-

The publication of Cobbett's "History of the
Protestant Reformation," of which three different edi-
tions were issued almost simultaneously in the United

' De Courcy, " Catholic Church," 1856, pp. 114-5. One of the found-
res.ses, Sister Mary Elizabeth Lange, reached the age of 95, dying in
February, 1882.— Catholic Review, Nov. 3, 1883. Rev. Mr. Joubert
was born at St. Jean d'Augely, France, Sept. 6, 1777. and came to Balti-
more in Sept. 1804. He was ordained in the Seminary and remained
there most of his life.

»U. S. Catholic Miscellany, v., p. 304.

94 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

States, was a blow to Protestant fallacies which was
severely felt. To counteract to some extent the in-
fluence exerted by Cobbett's work, a book by Blanco
White, a Spanish priest who had lost all faith, en-
titled " Internal Evidences against Catholicism," was
printed in this country and widely circulated, with a
recommendation signed by a number of Protestant
clergymen of different denominations. It was ably
answered by an alumnus of St, Mary's Seminary,
Baltimore, and more elaborately by the distinguished
Bishop England of Charleston.^

Yellow fever desolated Norfolk and the adjacent
parts of Virginia in the summer of 1826 ; flight and
death greatly reduced the number of the faithful,
but Rev. Mr. Delany labored on heroically. His flock
in Norfolk numbered only 118 communicants. Point
Comfort had only eight Catholics, Portsmouth so few
that only fifteen approached the sacraments in the two
places.^

After laying the corner-stone of a church at Alex-
andria, June 26, 1826, Archbishop Marechal visited
Quebec in the interests of his diocese.

In October, 1826, the Cathedral of Baltimore was
once more thronged by the multitudes who came to
witness the imposing ceremonial of the consecration
of a Bishop. The Rev. John Du Bois, known for
mission labors in Virginia, at Frederick and Emmits-
burg in Maryland, founder of Mount St. Mary's
College, guide and director of Mother Seton and her
community of Sisters of Charity, was to be raised to

' " An Address to the flocks of the Reverend Approvers of Blanco
"White's Internal Evidences against Catholicism." Baltimore : Lucas,
1826, pp. 48. England's Works.

« Truth Teller, July 8, 1826.

JUBILEE 95

the episcopate as Bishop of New York. On the 29th
a procession of seminarians, jDriests and bishops
moved from the archiepiscopal residence on Charles
Street to the Cathedral. When they had assumed
their places in the sanctuary, the Archbishop vested
for the holy sacrifice. As assistants he had Bishop
Conwell of Philadelphia, and the Very Rev. John
Power, Administrator of New York, who took the
place of the Right Rev. Bishop of Boston, unable to
attend. The sermon of the occasion was delivered by
the Rev. William Taylor of New York, but showed
in its violent expressions the strong partisan feelings
prevailing in regard to the nomination of Bishops in
the United States.^

The Jubilee proclaimed in Rome on the feast of the
Nativity, 1825, was duly announced in the diocese of
Baltimore, and the exercises in the churches during
the year 1826 and 1827 were attended with the hap-
piest results. This was especially the case in the city
of Baltimore, with all the churches, the Cathedral,
old St. Peter's, St. John's, St. Patrick's and St.
Mary's; exercises were also given in St. Patrick's and
St. Peter's, Washington, and Trinity Church, George-
town, as well as at Frederick and in the churches in St.
Mary's and Prince George's counties. The Jesuits
and Sulpitians assisted in preaching and hearing con-
fessions, as well as in giving instructions to persons
wishing to enter the church.^

Archbishop Carroll soon after being made prefect,
and subsequently as Bishop of Baltimore, adopted

' Truth Teller, ii., pp. 350, Nov. 4, 1826. The U. S. Catholic Miscel-
lany gives no report, but expresses regret at the non-appointment of V.
Rev. Dr. Power. Tessier, " fipoques du Seminaire."

' U. S. Catholic Miscellany, vii , p. 14.

96 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

the little catechism, long used in England, and Avhich
had been prepared and carefully scrutinized by able
theologians, well versed in their own language. Dr.
Carroll simply replaced the prayer for the king by
one for the authorities. In this form the catechism
was used throughout the United States, wherever the
English language was spoken. In the German dis-
tricts and churches of Pennsylvania that of Blessed
Peter Canisius was employed ; and in the northwest
the catechism of Quebec was used by the French-
speaking faithful. The pious Bishop of Bardstown,
Rt. Rev. Benedict J. Flaget, was the first to break
the uniformity by introducing a new catechism. Its
English was criticised b}^ Archbishop Marechal, Rev.
Mr. Tessier, and others ; but the example he set was
followed by Bishop England and by Bishop Conwell.
The new Philadelphia catechism Avas so inexact in
language and doctrinal expression, that at the request
of the Archbishop, Bishop Conwell suppressed it.
Bishop England's was generally regarded as inferior
to that of Dr. Carroll.

Fearing that a multiplicity of discordant or mis-
leading catechisms might be introduced, Archbishop
Marechal called the attention of the authorities in
Rome to the subject.^

On the death of the Rev. J. Picot de Cloriviere,^ who

' xirchbishop Marechal to Cardinal Cappellari, Oct. 1. 1827.

' Joseph Peter Picot de Limoelan de Cloriviere was born at Brons, Brit-
tany, Nov. 4, 1768, and was an officer in the army when the Revolution
began. He adhered to the King, fought bravely in La Vendee, and was
a major-general under Cadoudal. Resolving to renounce the world, he
came to America and entering St. Mary's Seminary was ordained in 1812.
His long and painful service at Charleston under constant persecution
has been already told. Of the Visitation Convent at Georgetown he was
the guide, director and benefactor.

VISITATION NUNS. 97

was stricken down with paralysis just after offering
the holy sacrifice, and who expired on the 29th of
September, 1826, the Rev. Michael F. Wheeler be-
came the director and friend of the Visitation Nuns.
By his zeal, the Odeon, a fine additional building,
was erected. Being compelled to visit Europe for his
health, he strove in every way to advance tlie inter-
ests of that community. He obtained of his Holiness
Pox^e Pius VIII. a confirmation of the Brief of his
predecessor, and some modifications of the rule which
experience had shown to be necessary. In order to
give the Sisters in America the genuine spirit of the
Visitation communities he went to Annecy and ap-
pealed to Mother Magdalen Chanchy to send some
Visitation-nuns to America for a few years. In re-
sponse to the circular three, Sister Mary Agatha
Langlois of Nantes, Sister Marj^ Regis Mordant of
Valence, and Sister Magdalen Augustine of Friburg,
came over in 1829. They found that their American
Sisters had closely followed the rules and customs of
the houses in Europe, and were edified by the spirit
that pervaded the monastery. Sister Agatha as mis-
tress of novices trained the aspirants in the true si)irit,
and the stay of these generous ladies proved most
beneficial. The Academy at this time was in a flour-
ishing condition, having one hundred pupils, and the
free school founded by Rev. Mr. Cloriviere contained
150.1

During the year 1827 Archbishop Marechal con-
tinued his active supervision of his diocese, visiting
the Seminary and College at Emmitsburg, the Con-
vent at Georgetown, confirming and ordaining, but

> History of the Establishment of the Order of the Visitation in the
United States.

98 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

an attack of asthma increased and his health was
evidently failing.^ Before long he became unable
to officiate pontifically, though he continued to
confer the sacrament of Confirmation and Holy Or-
ders. He accordingly resolved to solicit the appoint-
ment of a Coadjutor, naming Rev. James Whitfield,
whom he had already recommended. Yet an ad-
ditional burthen was imposed upon him, when the
Sovereign Pontiff on the 5th of August appointed the
Most Rev. Ambrose Marechal, Administrator of the
diocese of Philadelphia. But his career was near its
close.

On the 12tli of December he received the holy viati-
cum in the presence of his clergy, and from that day
his health sank rapidly. On the 8th of January the
Rev. James Whitfield was elected Bishop of Apol-
lonia, and Coadjutor to the Archbishop of Baltimore,
but the bulls did not arrive in the lifetime of Dr.
Marechal. After being fortified with all the sacra-
ments of the dying, he expired without agonj^ or
struggle near midnight on the 29th of January, 1828.^

A well-trained theologian, versed in philosophy,
mathematics, history and general literature, he came
from scholarly retirement to his position to display
the greatest activity, earnestness, and energy. His
whole life was bound up in his diocese and his duties,
and if he did not accomplish all he proposed, it was
never due to indifference in the discharge of his

' Archbishop Marechal in a letter to Cardinal Cappellari, Oct. 1, 1827,
proposed Rev. Mr. Whitfield as qualified by his theological learning, his
sound judgment and eloquence and ten years' service in the diocese. The
diocese of Baltimore in 1827 contained 62 priests, 25 Americans, 12 Irish,
11 French, 5 Belgians, 2 Germans, 2 Italians, 1 Pole, 1 Mexican, 1 Bava-
rian, 1 English.

« U. S. Cath. Miscellany, June 9, Sept. 15, Oct. 6, 13, 1827.

DEATH OF ARCHBISHOP MARECHAL. 99

functions, but to circumstances that prevented Ms
forming an accurate judgment.^

The attendance at his funeral rites showed how
highly he was esteemed. The venerable Charles
Carroll of CarroUton followed the clergy as chief
mourner, and then came a long line of societies and
confraternities. After the solemn mass of requiem
and the burial service prescribed for archbishops,
he was laid in the vault where he had de^^osited the
remains of Archbishop Carroll.^

' Tessier, " fipoques du Seminairc "; Truth Teller, v., 399; Baltimore
American, cited in full in U. S. Catholic Miscellany, Feb. 9, 1828.

2 Id., Feb. 16, 1828 ; Truth Teller, iv.. p. 43.

CHAPTER Y.
DIOCESES OF BALTIMORE AND RICHMOND.

MOST KEV. JAMES WHITFIELD, D.D., FOURTH ARCHBISHOP OF
BALTIMORE.

By the unexpected demise of Archbishop Marechal,
the Rev, James Whitfield of St. Sulpice, who had
been apjDointed Bishop of Apollonia and Coadjutor
with tlie right of succession, became by special bull
Archbishop elect of Baltimore. He was a native of
Liverpool, England, born November 3, 1770. While
traveling on the continent with his widowed mother,
he was detained in France virtually a prisoner, in con-
sequence of one of Napoleon's arbitrary decrees. At
Lyons he became acquainted with Rev. Ambrose
Marechal, then professor of theology in the Seminary,
and a warm friendship was formed. Renouncing
mercantile life, in which he had been engaged,
young Whitfield resolved to devote himself to the
service of the altar. After a thorough course of study
he was ordained in 1809, Bishop William Gibson, vicar
apostolic of the Northern District in England, author-
izing his promotion to holy orders.^ On his mother's
death he returned to England in 1811, and was
stationed by Bishop Gibson at Netherton, Great
Crosby, where a church had existed from 1793. Here
he labored zealously till Dr. Marechal, who had be-
come Archbishop of Baltimore, urged him to come to
America. He arrived at Baltimore on the 8th of Sep-

' Authorization, Durham, April 29, 1809.

100

MOST REV. JAMES WHITFIEI-D, D.D., FOURTH ARCHBISHOP OF
BALTIMORE.

102

CONSECRATION. 103

tember, 1817, and was appointed one of the clergy of
the Cathedral. Here he won universal esteem, and on
the 24th of March, 1828, the bulls of the Sovereign
Pontiff appointing him Coadjutor to Archbishop
Marechal, or successor in case of death, reached Bal-
timore.

The ceremony of his consecration as Archbishop of
Baltimore, on the feast of Pentecost, May 25, was
solemn and imposing. Bishop Flaget of Bardstown,
the venerable dean of the hierarchy, was the conse-
crator, assisted by Rt. Rev. Henry Conwell, Bishop of
Philadelphia, and Rt. Rev, John Du Bois, Bishop of
New York. A number of seminarians and twenty-two
clergymen, among them Rev, Francis Neale, S. J., the

SIGNATURE OF ARCHBISHOP WHITFIELD.

oldest priest in the United States, preceded the Arch-
bishop elect and the consecrating prelates. The
solemn rite was carried out in strict conformity to
the Roman Ritual, and the sermon was delivered by
Rev. Samuel Eccleston, then Vice-President of St.
Mary's College.^

The Archbishop-elect, specially authorized to per-
form all his functions before receiving the pallium,
entered at once on the discharge of his duties. His
administration opened with a happy omen in the
action of Congress, which soon after incorporated the
Visitation Convent, Georgetown, and the Sisters of
Charity in the District of Columbia. His first con-
firmation was in the Cathedral on the day after his

' Tessier, " :6poques du Seminaire "; U. S. Catholic Miscellany, vii., p.
382, June 7, 1828.

104 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

consecration, followed up by the conferring of the
sacrament in other city churches ; and, after the sum-
mer heats, he began his first visitation in September.
He took his route through Frederick, Liberty, where
Father McElroy had nearly completed a new church,
Carroll's Manor; on the 5th of October he dedicated
the newly erected church at Hagerstown, a large, ele-
gant structure. Crossing the Potomac, he visited
Martinsburg, and Richmond which he had already
supplied with a new missionary, Rev. Mr. Hoerner, the
former pastor having returned to Ireland. About the
same time he laid the corner-stone of a new Orphan
Asylum in Baltimore, and saw a new free school, capa-
ble of holding three hundred jDupils, oj^ened in that
city, on land j^urchased for the purpose.^

The country was at the time excited over a Presi-
dential election. The friends of John Quincy Adams,
by putting some Catholics on the local tickets, en-
deavored to win the adherents of the Church in Mary-
land to his sui)port ; but the bitter and violent denun-
ciations of the Catholic Church, its clergy, religious,
and laity, which p'ullulated in almost everything
written by Mr. Adams, called forth "An Address to
the Catholic Voters of Baltimore," signed by William
Jenkins, William George Read, T. Parkin Scott, and
others.^ The scheme failed, and the anti-Catholic
bias of Mr. Adams was one of the elements which
contributed to his defeat.

The holding of a Provincial Council in the United
States had been an object of solicitude from the days
of Archbishop Carroll, who long entertained the hojDe

1 U. S. Catholic Miscellany, Sept, 20, Nov. 15, 1828. Jaa. 3, 1829;
Truth Teller, iv., p. 343.

■' Baltimore : Lucas & Deaver, 1828.

CONDITION OF DIOCESE. 105

of holding one. Soon after his arrival in the United
States, Bishop England urged Archbishop Marechal to
take the necessary steps for convening such an assem-
bly. There were difficulties at first, but as these were
removed, the Archbishop proposed the matter to the
Sovereign Pontiff. Pius VII., and his successor, Leo
XII., approved the project. Archbishop Marechal
accordingly drew up a scheme of the work to be accom-
plished, but died before he could perfect it. Arch-
bishop Whitfield submitted this plan to Pope Pius
VIII. , who gave it his full approval.^ AVhen the neces-
sary authorization arrived, letters were issued con-
voking the first Provincial Council of Baltimore, to be
held on the first day of October, 1829. Not only were
the suffragans of Baltimore invited, but also the other
Bishops in the United States, Bishop Rosati of St.
Louis, Administrator of the diocese of New Orleans,
and Bishop Portier from Mobile, representing the
ancient diocese of Louisiana and the Floridas.

When the first Council of Baltimore convened, Arch-
bishop Whitfield had, in Maryland, sixty to eighty
thousand Catholics out of a general population of
407,000 ; and six or seven thousand Catholics in the
District of Columbia, where the whole population was
estimated at 33,000. There were 52 priests in the dio-
cese to minister to them. Baltimore had its Cathe-
dral, with St. Peter's, St. John's, St. Patrick's, and
St. Mary's churches, and a chapel of the Sisters of
Charity. There were three churches in Washington,
and a church in Georgetown, Alexandria, Frederick-
town, Taney town, Emmitsburg, and Hagerstown, wdth
resident pastors, who attended smaller churches and
chapels, and several in St. Mary's and the neighboring

' Artaud, Histoire du Pape Pie VIII. Brussels, 1844, p. 116.

106 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

counties, attended by Jesuit Fathers from their resi-
dences ; churches in Harford and Talbot counties.
The Jesuits had their line college at Georgetown,
Father J. W. Beschter being President, with an in-
creasing number of pupils, and a scholasticate, where
the young members of the Society made their ecclesi-
astical studies ; St. Mary's College, Baltimore, and
the theological seminary conducted by the priests of
St. Sulpice ; Mount St. Mary's College and Seminary
at Emmitsburg ; there were also fervent convents of
Visitation and Carmelite nuns, and the Motherhouse
of the Sisters of Charity at Emmitsburg, with Sisters
laboring in Baltimore and Washington, their commu-
nity numbering in all 120.

The diocese of Richmond, of which he was Admin-
istrator, was far less prosperous. Richmond had a
wretched wooden church, with a petty congregation,
too poor to erect a better edifice ; Norfolk was more
prosperous ; it had a decent church, with two priests,
who attended also the Catholics of Portsmouth, The
Catholic population of the two cities was estimated at
six hundred. Martinsburg and Wheeling were also
stations regularly visited : but there were no Catholic
institutions of any kind in the State.^

We shall now trace the history of the suffragan
dioceses, and show their condition at this time.

' Archbishop Whitfield. June 27, 1829, Jan. 28, 1830, " Annales de la
Propagation de la Foi," iv., pp. 233-246.

CHAPTER VI.

DIOCESE OF BOSTON.

RT. REV. JOHN CHEVERUS, FIRST BISHOP OF BOSTON, 1810-1823.

Yielding to the rex)eated petitions of Bishop Car-
roll, the Sovereign Pontiff, Pope Pius VII., on the
8th of April, 1808, by liis Bull "Ex debito Pastoralis
Officii," divided the diocese of Baltimore, which had
embraced all the United States territory east of the
Mississippi. At the same time he erected the diocese
of Boston, embracing all the New England States, and
elected as Bishop of the new See, the Rev. John Lefe-
bvre Cheverus, who had for twelve years been a zeal-
ous missionary in that portion of the country.

Born at Mayenne, the capital of Lower Maine,
France, January 28, 1768. Trained by a pious
mother, he chose the ecclesiastical state, and made a
thorough course of study at the College of Mayenne,
and that of Louis-le-Grand at Paris. He then by
public competition obtained entrance to the Seminary
of St. Magloire. The Bishop of Mans, in view of
the increasing difficulties Avliich menaced religion in
France, obtained a dispensation, and Rev. Mr. Cheve-
rus was ordained priest at the last public ordination
in Paris, December 18, 1790. He immediately began
the exercise of the ministry as curate at Mayenne,
honored by his Bishop with the title of canon. But
on refusing to take schismatical oaths he was the next
year driven from his church, and could officiate only
in his father's house. On his appointment as parish
priest and vicar general in 1791, he was compelled
to leave Mayenne. After constant surveillance and
occasional imprisonment, he resolved to leave France.

107

108 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

He was in Paris, and actually passing the old Carmel-
ite Convent, when so many noble priests were butch-
ered there. Reaching England in September, 1792, he
began to learn English, and exercise the ministry, till
his friend. Rev. Dr. Matignon, in 1795, urged him to
come to Boston. Yielding to the invitation, he
landed in that city, October 3, 1796.

Catholicity was a plant of recent growth in New
England. The first priest was empowered only in
1788 to officiate in Boston, and gather the few Catho-
lics there into a congregation. The first Baptismal
Register was opened by the Abbe de la Poterie, April
11, 1789. There was little, however, done by that
priest or Rev. Louis Rousselot. The next year we see
Rev. John Thayer attending the Catholic poor in the
Almshouse ; in 1791, exercising the ministry from
Salem at the north to Newport in the south. The
zealous Dr. Matignon visited far and wide ; at Ports-
mouth he called back to the faith negligent Catho-
lics settled there ; Newburyport, Dedham, Wrentham
w^ere also visited. When Rev. Mr. Cheverus was
received into the diocese by Bishop Carroll he has-
tened to the Indians in Maine, who earnestly solic-
ited a priest, and we trace his ministry in 1797-8 not
only at the Indian town of Pleasant Point, but at
Portsmouth and Bedford, New Hampshire ; at New-
buryport, Salem, Plymouth, Scituate, and Carver,
Massachusetts, while Rev. John Thayer reappears in
1798, officiating at Newj^ort. Maine was traversed by
Cheverus, who said mass and administered the sacra-
ments at the Indian towns, at Maduncook and Copse-
cook, Nobleborough, Bristol, Portland, and at towns
in New Hampshire.^

' Parish Registers, Boston Cathedral.

CONSECRATION. 109

Learned, zealous, prudent Bishop Cheverus was
already endeared to the Catholics over whom he was
to rule, and by his amiable and gentle qualities, as
well as by his devotion to his priestly duties, he had
conquered the esteem and respect of the Protestant
community amid which he had labored. Owing to
the troubles which environed the Holy See, and the
difficulty of communication, the bulls erecting the See
of Boston did not reach Baltimore for more than two
years, two sets having miscarried/

Bishop Cheverus was consecrated by Archbishop
Carroll, assisted by Rt. Rev. Leonard Neale, Bishoj)
of Gortyma, and Rt. Rev. Michael Egan, O. S. F.,
Bishop of Philadelphia, as assistants. The ceremony
took place in St. Peters pro-cathedral, Baltimore, on
the feast of All Saints, 1810, the sermon on the oc-
casion being delivered by the Rev. Father William
Vincent Harold, O. S. D.^

A few days after, the Bishop of Boston preached at
the consecration of Rt. Rev. Benedict J. Flaget, Bishop
of Bardstown. Then, after joining with his Metropol-
itan and fellow suffragan bishops in drawing rules of
discipline, required by the condition of their flocks,
and issuing a pastoral letter in the name of all, Bishop
Cheverus returned to the scene of his future labors.

When the diocese of Boston was created, and the
Rev. John Cheverus made its first Bishop, it embraced
JS'ew Hampshire and Vermont, Massachusetts then

' Pius VII., " Ex debito Pastoralis Officii," April 8, 1808. Bullarium
Romanum, xiii., p. 282 ; Bullarium de Propaganda Fide, iv., p. 339.

' Harold, " Sermon preached in the Cathedral Church of St. Peter,
Baltimore, November 1, 1810, on occasion of the consecration of the Ht.
Rev. Dr. John Cheverus, Bishop of Boston," Baltimore, 1810. See Rt.
Rev. John Cheverus to Thomas Walley, Sept. 24, 1810, inFinotti, Biblio-
graphia Catholica, p. 40.

110 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

including the District of Maine, Rhode Island, and
Connecticut. Vast as the territory was, and zealously
as Rev. Messrs. Thayer, Matignon, and Cheverus had
labored to meet the wants of the faithful, the poverty
of priests and scattered Catholics was such that little
material progress appeared. In the whole diocese
there were but three churches, that of Holy Cross,
Boston, which Bishop Cheverus made his Cathedral,
and which he attended with Dr. Matignon ; St.
Patrick's at Newcastle, Maine, "the work of Irish
piety," which he had dedicated July 17, 1808 ; and
a log chapel at the Indian village of Pleasant Point,
attended by the Rev. James Romagne, missionary
of the Penobscot and Passamaquoddy Indians, who
made his winter quarters at the church in Newcastle.
The Catholics scattered throughout the diocese de-
pended entirely on the occasional visits of the
Bishop and Dr. Matignon, with the assistance at
times of Rev. Mr. Romagne. The Catholics of Boston
at this time were reckoned at 720 souls, there being,
in 1810, 93 baptisms, 17 marriages, and 18 deaths.

Not long before he set out for Baltimore, Dr.
Cheverus had the consolation of receiving into the
church, Stephen Cleveland Blythe and his family, the
convert finding in the bosom of the Catholic Church
the peace which he had vainly sought in the Congre-
gationalism implanted in him in childhood, or in
other sects to which he turned for light and strength.
Dr. Blythe at this time resided in Charlestown in order
to be near a Catholic place of worship. He made his
first communion with his family in the Church of the
Holy Cross, Boston, on the feast of Pentecost, 1809.^

' Blythe, " An Apology for the Conversion of Stephen Cleveland
Blythe," etc., New York, 1815, p. 19.

CHURCH IN MAINE. HI

The Catholic body in New England hailed with
delight their beloved priest returning with the episco-
pal dignity conferred upon him. Bishop Cheverus
celebrated pontitically in his Cathedral the great
feast of Christmas, once so odious to the people of
New England, and in spring that of Easter. He then
began to visit the scattered congregations. In May
he confirmed eight at Salem and Newburyport, and
on Whitsunday 178 in the Cathedral of the Holy
Cross, whom he had carefully instructed. Then he
proceeded to the district of Maine, and spent two
months ministering to the flock who attended St.
Patrick's Church, Newcastle. Then he resumed his
labors among the Indians at Pleasant Point, Avho
received their old missionary with great enthusiasm.
Here he confirmed 122, and the next week conferred
the same sacrament on 37 at Newcastle.

On his return to Boston he felt elated one Sunday
to see his sanctuary filled with priests ; there being
present four Capuchins driven from Spanish America
by the revolutions, and also aTrappist, Father Eugene,
the wandering community of Cistercians appearing in
his city the next year in the persons of three priests
who arrived from Bordeaux.^

Soon after his return from Baltimore, Bishop Cheve-
rus completed and issued an edition of the New
Testament in French, which he had carefully revised.
It was based on that of Le Maistre de Sacy, and ap-
peared in two neat volumes. It was an event in typo-
graphical no less than Catholic annals that such an
edition should have been issued by a body as poor

' Rev. James Romagne to Archbishop Carroll, Oct. 8, 1811, Bishop
Cheverus to same, Oct. 3, 1811 ; "Relation de ce qui est arrive a deux
Religieuse de la Trappe," Paris, 1824, p. 6 ; Parish Register, Boston.

112 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

in numbers and in wealth as the Catholics of New
England. Bibles and Testaments had already been
Xninted in English for the use of the faithful, and the
Epistles and Gospels in French and English soon
appeared at Detroit. He also x)repared and issued a
l^rayer book entitled "The Roman Catholic Manual ;
or Collection of Prayers, Anthems, Hymns, etc.," Bos-
ton, 1811, after endeavoring in vain to induce the Sul-
pitians to draw up a suitable book.^

In 1812 we trace the Bishop in his episcopal and
missionary character at Damariscotta and Portland
in Maine ; at Portsmouth, New Hampshire ; at Salem,
Massachusetts ; at Bristol, Rhode Island, and the next
year at Providence, and before long at Pawtucket.

He was constantly on laborious missionary excur-
sions of greater or less length, much of the parochial
work at Boston necessarily devolving on Rev. Dr.
Matignon. After these necessary visitations, Bishop
Cheverus resumed his life in his contracted domicile
in Boston. A single apartment was his sleeping and
reception room, or, as he called it pleasantly, his
"episcopal palace, open to all the world." His bed-
stead and a few plain chairs constituted the furniture,
the former serving as a seat when visitors were many.
His dress and his table were equally plain ; with no
attendant, he split his own firewood. Yet he was
assiduous in the confessional, in catechizing, and in
visiting the sick. To these he was not merely a
priest, but a kind and sympathetic friend. By day
or by night he would go miles to give consolation to
the afflicted, secret aid to the suffering poor, concord
to families rent by dissension. Milbert the traveler,

' Finotti, " Bibliographia Catholica Americana," pp. 39-43, 191.
O'Callaghan, " List of Editions of the Holy Scriptures," Albany, 1861,
p. 102.

CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

alth as the Catholics of ISew
' lid Testamt'iits had already boeii
■-'r ihe us(:; of the faithful, and the
in French and English soon
;. He also prepared and issued a
' d "The K.oman Cathoiic Manual ;
yers, Anthems, Hymns, etc.," Bos
i-avoring in vain to induce the SuJ-
.j^ a suitable book.*
race the Bishop in his episcopal and
racter at Damarisr id Portland

ortsmonth, New H.: ' "^^dptn,

at Bristol, Rhodt >:t

and before long at jpawii.
' ou laborious missionai\ • v *.-
ler.prth, much of the parochial
[evolving on Rev. Dr.
ary visitations, Bishop
iiis contracted domicile
inent was his sleeping and
, as lie called it pleasai '
open to all the world"
. plain eclairs constituted t\
\ ing as a seat when
ins table were equ;:.
^plit liis own firewoc
e cc/ufessional, in ' >«Md iii

^ '^''^ these he v .> .nr n

i sympathetic
'id go miles to

aid to the suf --i, ^Z ^.o c.

' (Mssension. ■'■»; hf» tr^veh^r,

Catholica Amcrictiii.
' I aious of the Holy Scriptut"*;. ''■

''^y

RIGHT REV JOHN CHEVERUS,

BISHOP OF BOSTON.

HIS CHARITY. 113

struck down by yellow fever, found Bishop Cheverus
ministering to him with all the affection of a brother.^
A sailor leaving port commended his wife to the Bish-
op's charity. Sickness and want came. Dr. Cheve-
rus attended her constantly, and the sailor return-
ing met the Bishop carrying wood upstairs to light a
lire in order to j)repare remedies she required. Find-
ing a sick negro deserted in a wretched shed, the
Bishop attended him constantly till his servant fol-
lowed him and discovered his secret. He once sent
some wood to a i^oor sick woman, but on visiting her
again a day or two afterward, beheld the wood lying
untouched on the street. Surprised at this neglect
on the part of her neighbors, he went for his buck
and saw, then set to work on it. A man, attracted by
the noise, came out, and seeing the Bishop wished to
do the work himself. "No!" said the Bishop, "I
never permit any one to interfere in my work. This
wood has been here some time, and, as no one put a
hand to it, I set to work lest it should be said that
there Avas not one Catholic in our flock to do a good
turn for a suffering Avoman."^

The faith spread slowly in New England. Catho-
lics, venturing to attempt to make homes there, gener-
ally found themselves surrounded by a hostile com-
munity, which regarded them with an evil eye. Few
accordingly Avere able to settle down and secure per-
manent homes. This condition of affairs rendered it
extremely difficult to build up congregations. But in
1813 we see some signs of progress. Bishop Cheverus
said mass for the first time in New Haven at a house

' Milbert, " Itineraire Pittoresque du Fleuve d'Hudson," Paris, pp.
xiv-xvi.

*[Hamon], " Viedu Cardinal de Clieverus," Paris, 1858, pp. 107-112.

114 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

on York Street, the residence of a teacher of French
at Yale College/ About the same time the Rev. Mr.
Matignon said mass in Providence, R. I., in a small
wooden building, once used for a school, that stood on
the north side of Sheldon Street; but this primitive
home of Catholic worship was swept away in the great
gale of 1815.2 In 1813, too, we hear that Rev. Dr.
Matignon, being detained in Hartford on Sundaj^,
travel being forbidden, preached in the Centre Church
at the invitation of the minister, Rev. Dr. Strong.^

The " Te Deums " that resounded throughout the
world in 1814, on the deliverance of the Sovereign Pon-
tiff, were an omen of better times. In July, Bishop
Cheverus could write of the reception into the church
of Mr. Thomas Walley of Brookline. He was a man
of extensive reading and very acute judgment; his wife
an amiable and pious Catholic lady from Martinique,
Avho brought up her children in the faith. Bislioj)
Cheverus had thus become acquainted with Mr. Wal-
ley, and esteemed him ; meanwhile his own study
and prayer led him to a decision, and soon after his
eldest daughter made her first communion at Easter,
1814, Mr. Walley embraced the faith, in time to join
in the Te Deum chanted by the Bishop in his Cathe-
dral, on the 5th of June.*

In the summer of the year 1815 Bishop Plessis, who
was making a visitation in New Brunswick, and who
was then to visit Boston and New York, was requested

' Rooney, "The Connecticut Catholic Year Book," Hartford, 1877,
p. 70.

■^ Fitton, "Sketches of the Estahlishment of the Church in Kew
England," Boston, 1872, p. 221.

* " Centennial Celebration of the first Mass in Connecticut," Hartford,
1881, p. 7.

* Bishop Cheverus to Archbishop Carroll, July 13, 1814.

MAINE. 115

by Bishop Clieverus to visit Pleasant Point, which he
did on the 29th of August. He found only motive for
praise in the mission managed by Rev. Mr. Romagne.
With his companions, two Canadian priests, the
Bishop of Quebec then embarked for Boston. He
found the Bishop and Mr. Matignon in a comfortable
two-story house, with a garden, near the Cathedral.
He remarks in his journal, " These two worthy ecclesi-
astics by their virtue, their talents, their hospitality,
and their politeness have overcome the prejudices of
Protestants, and have attracted many to their con-
gregation, which is, on the whole, very edifying, and
these new converts persevere fervently."

Bishop Cheverus, failing to retain his brother of
Quebec for the next Sunday, took him to visit the
Walley family at Brookline, and Bishop Plessis men-
tions the beautiful private chapel in the house, where
mass was occasionally offered for the family and the
neighboring Catholics. Here he met Rev. Mr. Bro-
sius, who lived near Harvard College in a house where
he had five or six boys as boarding scholars.

On his way to Canada, after visiting New York, he
was accompanied by Rev. Mr. Matignon. At Burling-
ton they found a number of Catholics, chiefly Cana-
dians, enough to form a congregation of one hundred
communicants. They besought the Bishop to send
them, from time to time, a Canadian priest; he ex-
plained to them that as Burlington was in the diocese
of Boston he had no power to do so, but recommended
them to Rev. Mr. Matignon, who promised to visit
them on his return. Some weeks later, on his way to
Boston, that clergyman gave them a mission, with great
fruit. ^

' Relation d'un voyage auxEtats-Unis, par Mgr. Joseph Octave Plessis,
Ev6que do Quebec, en 1815. I am indebted for this to the Abbe Sasseville.

116 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

The widowed church of New York, in 1815 appealed
to the charity of Bishop Cheverus, and he proceeded
in May to that city, where he dedicated the new
cathedral and conferred confirmation.^ Before the
close of the year came the melancholy tidings of the
death of the i^atriarch of the Church in America.
Bishop Cheverus at once offered the holy sacrifice for
the repose of his soul, and the priests then in Boston,
Rev. Dr. Matignon, the learned Brosius, and the
devoted Romagne, were equally mindful of the
lamented Archbishop. The Bishop, from the pulpit,
proj30sed the venerable prelate, whose loss all de-
plored, as a pattern for his fiock and himself. Amid
these mournful ceremonies he was summoned to New
York to take part in the installation of Bishop Con-
nolly.^ He was soon afterwards called away again
from his diocese to bear the j)allium to Archbishop
Neale, conferring it on him at Georgetown. During
the summer of 1816 he made a two months' mission
among the Catholics in Maine. ^ On the 4th of August
he baptized, confirmed, and administered holy com-
munion to Samuel Bishop, a lawyer, aged 46, in
St. Patrick's Church, Newcastle. Many Protestants,
including several members of the bar, attended the
services.* In this year the Rev. F. - X. Brosius, a
learned and amiable priest, who had come to the
United States with Prince Gallitzin in 1791, returned
to Europe. He had done missionary service in Balti-
more and in Pennsylvania, where for a time he con-
ducted an academy, but his health failed and he

' Bishop Cheverus to Archbishop Carroll, May 9, May 11, 1815.
* Same to Archbishop Neale, Dec. 11, 1815.
3 Same to same, Oct. 3, Nov. 5, 1816.
■• Same to Rev. S. G. Brute, Oct. 9, 1816.

THE URSULINES. 117

returned to Boston in 1814, where he remained some
years. He was a learned mathematician, as his pub-
lished writings attest. Though he did not join the
diocese of Boston he rendered occasional service to
Bishop Cheverus, who esteemed him highly,^

On the last day of Maj^, 1817, Bishop Cheverus
ordained Rev. Dennis Ryan, the first priest of his
diocese, and long a laborious missioner. The ordina-
tion took place at public mass, the Bishop giving a
full exj^lanation of the Catholic doctrine of Holy
Orders.'^

During the year, Rev. Mr. Matignon escorted to
Three Rivers the two young ladies of the Ryan family
from Limerick, who came to found the Ursuline Con-
vent projected by Rev. Mr. Thayer. There they
entered the novitiate, to form themselves to the life
established by Saint Angela de Merici.^

In September Bishoj) Cheverus set out for the Dis-
trict of Maine to afford the consolations of religion to
the Catholics in that remote part of the diocese. He
offered the holy sacrifice every other Sunday in the
church at Newcastle : and spent the interval at dif-
ferent points in the surrounding country. He cele-
brated mass on the 28tli of September at Hope, and

' Rev. Mr. Brosius published, " Reply of a Roman Catholic Priest,"
Lancaster, 1796 ; an edition of Cavallo's Natural Philosophy with Notes,
Philadelphia, 1813 ; "A new and concise Method of finding the Lati-
tude," Cambridge, 1815. See Finotti, Bibliotheca Catholica, New York,
1872 pp.54, 64. 295 : Bishop Cheverus to Rev. S. G. Brute, Oct. 9, 1816 :
Bishop Fenwick, " Memoirs to serve for the future Ecclesiastical His-
tory of the Diocese of Boston."

« Bishop Cheverus to Rev. S. G. Brute. March 24, 1817. Same to
Archbishop Marechal, April 15, 18, 1817 ; Register of Boston Cathedral,
Nov. 5, 1815, May 31, 1817 ; Bishop Fenwick, " Memoirs to serve," etc.

* Bishop Cheverus to Archbishop Marechal. June 25. 1817.

118 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

the next day in a x^i'ivate house, preaching in a
shed to fifty Catholics and more than two hundred
Protestants.

Later in the year, he set out for Baltimore by way
of Providence, New York, and Philadelphia, joined at
the last city by Bishop Connolly "of New York. On
the 14th of December, 1817, he consecrated Archbishop
Marechal in the Cathedral at Baltimore, assisted by the
Bishop of New York. To Bishop Cheverus the city
was full of pious associations, the memory of his own
consecration, the venerable father of the American
hierarchy, the cradle of the Sisters of Charity.^ He
returned by way of Providence and Bristol, where he
officiated for the Catholics. He had already, in May,
visited the Catholics emjjloyed in the coal mines at
Bristol. During his stay a child was brought to him
to be baptized, but when the father wished the name
Napoleon given his son, the stanch adherent of the
Bourbons demurred. The child was finally christ-
ened Nicholas. It is worth noting that Bishop Cheve-
rus mentions as among those present at the ceremony,
the Protestant Bishop Griswold.^

The next year (1818) he dispatched to the missions
in Maine the Rev. Dennis Ryan, who, to the joy of the
Catholics in that district, became their permanent
pastor. At Boston he had obtained the assistance of a
somewhat rough but earnest worker in the person of
the Irish Augustinian, Father Philip Lariscy. His
testimonials were correct and favorable. He came
from the British provinces, having labored three years
at St. John's, Newfoundland, and nearly a year at
Halifax. Restless in disposition, he appears on the

' Bishop Cheverus to Archbishop Marechal, 39 Sept., 3, 31 Dec, 1817.
2 Same to same, May, 1817.

THE BARBER FAMILY. 119

mission annals in other parts of tlie country. At this
time he was a man of thirty-four, strong and robust,
and his ways were as strange to the gentle Cheverus
as the Irish language in which he thundered, at the
first mass on Sundays, at his countrymen, many of
whom he brought back to the sacraments after years
of neglect.^

Salem, once the rival of Boston in trade, had gath-
ered a few Catholics whom Rev. John Thayer visited
in his turn, and whom Bishop Cheverus carefully
attended. Mass was celebrated every month at the
house, of Mr. Connolly, on Herbert Street. There
were about twenty-five Catholic families when Mr.
Newport, returning from an English prison at Dart-
mouth, began, in 1815, to collect from house to house
to obtain means to erect a church. The humble house
of God was reared in 1817, but remained for years
unfinished interiorly.^

The conversion of the Barber family and the subse-
quent devotion of all its members to the service of
God at this time, attracted great attention. Rev.
Daniel Barber, a native of Simsbnry, Connecticut,
served as a soldier in the State line during the Revo-
lution, but when i)eace came he revolted, as his father
had done before him, against the tyranny of the
Congregational Church, or " Standing Order," as it
was commonly termed. Seeing one of that denomina-
tion utterly discomfited in argument by an Episco-
palian, he sought refuge in the church of the victorious
disputant. There he resolved to devote himself to the
ministry, and after a course of study entered upon his

' Bishop Cheverus to Archbishop Marechal, June 25, 1818.

■^ Fitton, " Sketches of the Establishment of the Church in New
England," p. 156.

120 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

duties. In time, a Catliolic book tliat fell into liis
hands awakened some doubts in his mind as to the
soundness of his j^osition. He called, about 1812, on
Bishop Cheverus, to whom he proposed some of his
doubts, but whom he plied with questions as to points
of Catholic doctrine and discipline which seemed diffi-
cult to accept. Books lent by Dr. Cheverus were read
by him and his family, and even by some of his flock.
Toward the close of 1818 he was in a most undecided
position, when his son Virgil Horace, who had also
become an Episcopal clergyman, and who directed an
Academy about fifteen miles ffom Utica, in New York
State, called on him, accompanied by Rev. Charles D.
Ffrench, a priest of the order of St. Dominic, and a
convert to the faith. To his surprise he found that
his son, harassed like himself by doubts, had sought
the Rev. Benedict J. Fenwick at New York, in 1816,
and, renouncing all Avorldly prospects, had been re-
ceived by him into the Catholic Church. His wife
followed his example. Mr. Barber opened an Academy
in New York, which prospered ; but before long he and
his wife resolved, like Lord and Lady Warner in
England, to devote themselves to the service of God :
he entered the Society of Jesus and she the Monastery
of the Visitation at Georgetown. Virgil H. Barber
had made his novitiate at Rome, and had now returned
to enter on his theological studies. Father Ffrench
said mass in the house of the Episcopal clergyman, who
thereupon resigned his church, at Claremont, N. H.,
and prepared to yield obedience to the great grace
bestowed upon him. In a parting address to the
congregation he manifested the motives for his long
considered act. Father Ffrench passed a week at
Claremont, saying mass in the "New Brick Church,"
and preaching. Mrs. Barber and her daughter, Mrs.

DEATH OF REV. DR. MATIGNON. 121

Tyler, a sister of Mr. Barber, and her eldest daughter
openly professed the faith and were received into the
Church.^ In the providence of God his son was to
return after a few years to establish a Catholic church
in Claremont, and gather souls into the true fold.

Before the close of the year 1818 the Bishop and
diocese of Boston sustained an almost irremediable
loss in the death of the Rev. Francis A. Matignon,
who expired on the 19th of December. The earliest
priests had done little in Boston, Rev. Mr. Thayer had
been independently aggressive, the real j)rogress of the
faith began with the arrival of Dr. Matignon. Till
then "nothing of consequence had been effected
•toward gathering and directing a flock." "With
meekness and humility he disarmed the proud ; Avith
prudence, learning, and wisdom he met the cajjtious
and slanderous, and so gentle and so just Avas his
course, that even the censorious forgot to watch him,
and the malicious were too cunning to attack one
armed so strong in honesty. For four years he sus-
tained the weight of this charge alone, until Provi-
dence sent him a coadjutor in the person" of Rev. Mr.
Cheverus. For more than twentj^ years they labored
in unison. Rev. Francis A. Matignon was born in
Paris, November 10, 1753, and after taking his degree in
theology was ordained September 19, 1773. He was for
several years regius professor of divinity in the College
of Navarre, but Avhen the French revolutionary per-
secution of the Church demolished the temple and
sent so many of the devoted clergy to the scaffold, he

'Bishop Fenwick, "Memoirs to serve for the future Ecclesiastical
History of the Diocese of Boston." D. Barber, " History of my own
Times," Washington, 1827, part ii., pp. 15. 19. Bishop De Goesbriand,
" Catholic Memoirs of Vermont and New Hampshire," Burlington, 1886,
pp. 24-127.

122 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

withdrew to England ; then having resolved to labor
in America he arrived in Boston, August 20, 1792, to
labor there to the end of his days.

His death was a severe blow to Bishop Cheverus. " I
must be resigned to my loss, for I am confident that it
is the happiness of my worthy friend. He died as he

jy^auu/f-'/7, ^<z^i^j

■t/L>J^

had lived, a saint. He slept sweetly in the Lord, with-
out a struggle and without agony, at ten o'clock on the
morning of December 19. I had given him Holy Com-
munion at half -past five, as he had received twice a
week fasting, after he was unable to celebrate holy
mass. He did not seem to be worse, but at eight o' clock

REV. J. ROMAGNE. 123

lie suddenly changed. I administered extreme unc-
tion ; he soon lost his speech, his dear cold hand still
pressed mine. He pressed his crucifix to his lips. At
half -past nine he seemed almost asleep in my arms,
and ceased to breathe at ten. From that moment I
have been totadie moerens et non habens requiem."

His body was exposed in the church till Monday,
when he was carried to the grave, followed by the
Bishop in pontificals and fully a thousand people,
many wearing crape, the stores on the route of the
procession being generally closed. His eulogy was
pronounced from Protestant pulpits and in the press,
the most touching article being from the pen of S. L.
Kna]3p.^

The diocese soon sustained another loss. Rev. Mr.
Romagne, leading the life of a hermit in poverty and
privation among the Penobscots, had at last found
that his health was failing. He had repeatedly an-
nounced his intention of returning to France, but had
yielded to the entreaties of Bishop Cheverus. After
twenty years' service in the missions, he finally re-
signed and returned to France.^ He thoroughly

' Bishop Cheverus to Archbishop Marechal, Oct. 7, 1818. "Dr. Matig-
non was placed temporarily in a vault, and three months after was taken
to the cemetery and laid in a vault fronting the principal entrance of St.
Augustine's Church. The extension of the church to the street, brought
his vault in front of the high altar and about sixteen feet from it. The
marble slab covering the spot was set up as a tablet on the wall on the
epistle side opposite the sacristy door." — Bishop Fenwick, "Obituary
notice of the Rev. Francis Anthony Matignon, D.D., late pastor of the
church of the Holy Cross, Boston," Boston, 1818. New England
Galaxy, Sept. 25, 1818.

Little from the pen of Dr. Matignon has been printed, but there is in
the Jesuit, i., p. 202, his reply to an attack on the Catholic I'eligion, wiiicli
appeared in 1800 in the Telegraph.

* Greenleaf , "Sketches of the Ecclesiastical History of the State of
Maine," Portsmouth, 1821, p. 235.

124 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

mastered the language of his flock, and in 1804 pre-
pared a jorayer-book, which was printed in 1834 by
Bishop Fenwick, who says of this worthy priest : ' ' His
devotedness to these poor Indians, the happy fruits of
his apostolical labor, still visible, made me deeply
regret his departure, as his experience would have
been of the greatest service. '"^ He was succeeded for
a time by Rev. Stephen Cailleaux, who had come from
the diocese of Bordeaux to offer his services to Bishop
Cheverus, volunteering, if ordained by him, to devote
himself to the Indian missions. He did not, how-
ever, remain long at that mission or in the diocese.^

The next year Bishop Cheverus purchased a lot
adjoining the church, on which he began to erect a
convent for the Ursuline nuns, and also a plot in Dor-
chester street, for a Catholic cemetery. This he dedi-
cated December 21, 1818. In the centre, as a mauso-
leum for his friend Dr. Matignon, beside whom he
hoped to lie, he erected a pretty little brick chapel,
twenty feet wide and thirty feet long. "It is," he
writes, ' ' the fruit of the zeal of good Father Lariscy,
and I have given the church the name of the founder
of his order, St, Augustine." Father Lariscy col-

' " Annales de la Propagation de laFoi," v., p. 454, viii., p. 196. "His-
tory of the Catholic Missions among the Indian Tribes," New York,
1854, p. 157-8. " The Indian Prayer-book : compiled and arranged for
the benefit of the Penobscot and Passaniaquoddy Tribes. Printed by
order of the Right Rev. B. Fenwick, Bishop of Boston." Boston: Printed
by H. L. Devereux, 1834.

^ Greenleaf, p. 335 ; Maine Register for 1820, p. 14. Bishop Cheverus
to Archbishop Matignon, Jan. 7, July 6, 1819. Boston Cathedral Reg-
ister, June 5, 1819. Rev. Mr. Cailleaux sailed for the West Indies in
1823.

2 " 1818, December 21. The new Burying-ground in South Boston
■was consecrated by me. John, Bp. of Bu." Register of Boston Cathe-
dral.

REV. P. LARISCY. 125

lected some fifteen liundrecl dollars to meet the ex-
pense of building St. Augustine's Church, which, in-
tended originall}^ as a mortuary chapel, became from
time to time the church for Catholics, who increased
in that neighborhood. The growth of the faith in
Boston may be seen in the fact that there were eight
hundred communions at Easter time, 1819. St. Aug-
ustine's was subsequently enlarged by extending
the walls toward Dorchester Street, and it stands to
this day the oldest church edifice belonging to the
Catholics in Boston. A less pretentious church, as-
cribed to the same Augustinian Father, was a small
frame building among the rocks at New Bedford.

Father Lariscy was at this time the main reliance
of Bishop Cheverus, who kept sealed in a desk an
appointment constituting the Augustinian priest his
Vicar General to enable him to act in case of his own
sudden death ; but the bustling Augustinian soon
wearied of Boston, and withdrew to New York in the
summer of 1821.^

The Rev. John Thayer, after essaying mission work
in Boston, Kentucky, and elsewhere, retired to Eng-
land, and with the consent of Archbishop Carroll
settled about 1811 in Limerick. In that city, without
undertaking any parochial work, he rendered great
services to religion. He revived piety and led many
to frequent the sacraments and seek the ways of Chris-
tian perfection. One great object of his life was to
establish a religious community of women in Boston.

' Bishop Cheverus to Archbishop Marechal, July 16, 1819, Aug 17,
Sept. 26, 1821 ; Father T. C. Middleton, O. S. A., in A. C. Historical
Researches, iii., pp. 12-18 ; Fitton, " Sketches of the Church in New
England," pp. 160, 214; Milbert, " Itineraire Pittoresque," ii., p. 120.
Father Lariscy, a native of Tipperary, Ireland, died in Philadelphia,
April 6, 1824, aged about forty^.

126 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

For this he saved and collected means, slowly and
gradually. After applying in vain to convents in
London and Dublin he resolved to prepare candidates
himself. Among the pious families in Limerick that
listened to his counsels and admired his zeal was that
of James Ryan. Two of his daughters, Mary and
Catharine, who had been educated by the Ursulines of
Thurles, entered warmly into Rev. Mr. Thayer's j)lans,
and offered to go to America to begin the work. Cor-
respondence was opened with Bishop Cheverus and
Dr. Matignon, and it was arranged that they should
proceed to Boston, Bishop Cheverus having arranged
with the Ursulines of Three Rivers to receive them
and permit them to make their novitiate there. Be-
fore the brave young ladies could sail, the health of
Rev. Mr. Thayer began to decline, and he died at Mr.
Ryan's house of dropsy on the 5th of February, 1815,
attended to the last by his devoted daughters in
Christ.

By his will, Rev. John Thayer left to Dr. Matignon
the means he had acquired to be used in establishing
the convent. Mary and Catharine Ryan, true to their
vocation, sailed from Limerick for Boston on the ship
Victory, May 4, 1817. "No father ever received or
welcomed children with more paternal affection than
the tw^o holy seers. Dr. Matignon accomx)anied them
from Boston to Three Rivers, and at the expiration of
their novitiate went to their profession and conveyed
them back to their destination at Boston." ^

Meanwhile the legacy of Rev. Mr. Thayer had been
well invested and enabled Bishop Cheverus to pur-
chase a house near his own. It was unfortunately too
contracted and ill-suited for the purpose. Here the

' Letter of Mother M. Joseph U. Quirk to J. G. Slica, Sligo, Dec. 31,
1855.

URSULINES.

127

two Ursulines were installed. Margaret Ryan and
Catharine Ryan soon joined them from Ireland, and
two applied from Boston for admission as lay Sisters.
The two who came from Ireland made their solemn
vows on St. Ursula's day, 1820, in the Cathedral, which
was crowded, Bishop Cheverus preaching from the
text: ''As dying and behold we live," II. Cor. vi., 9.
Their academy was then attended by more than a
hundred girls, half in the morning, and half in the
afternoon. All were day scholars, there being no
accommodation for boarders. Thus the pious wish of
the famous American convert was carried out, and
Boston possessed a community of Ursuline Nuns en-
gaged in the holy cause of education.

Catholicity was prospering. There had been more
than 700 communions at Easter in Boston, and a large
class was preparing for first communion. The zealous
Father Lariscy attended a Catholic Irishman and some
pirates under sentence of death, with consoling re-
sults.^ Rev. Paul McQuade visited Salem once a
month, and the Rev. Patrick Byrne was ordained on
Passion Sunday. These with two priests in the mis-
sion comprised the whole clergy of Boston diocese.
" I have all the priests I can employ," he wrote, " and
perhaps a little more than our means permit."

Catholics began to experience a little relaxation of
the old oppressive laws. "Catholics, hitherto ex-
cluded from office in the State of Massachusetts, are
now eligible as well as Jews, Mohammedans, etc." ^

' Father Lariscy's Boston entries extend from Nov. 1, 1817, to July 21,

1821.

2 Bishop Cheverus to Rev. S. G. Brute, March 23, 1816 ; April 14.
Dec. 19, 1820. The Catholics in Boston in 1820 were estimated at 2120.
Baptisms 112, marriages 44, deaths 17 ; in the diocese, baptisms 207,
marriages 47, deaths 53. In 1821 the Catholics in Maine were estimated
at from 330 to 1000.— Greenleaf.

128 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

In 1821 the Rev. William Taylor, a brilliant and
able priest who had been on the mission in New
York, arrived in Boston. Though Bislio]:* Cheverus
could not approve all his views and ideas, he became
strongly attached to Rev. Mr. Taylor, and found him
of great service. He accordingly retained liim at
Boston, and Rev. Mr. McQuade proceeded to Ver-
gennes, Vermont.^ In December, 1822, Bishop Chev-
erus ordained the Rev. Virgil H. Barber, whom he
sent the next year to Claremont, to build a little
chapel. "This mission gives hopes," Avrote Bishop
Cheverus. "Last summer I found a number of well
disposed persons there." ^

Catholicity was gaining a foothold in Vermont and
New Hampshire.

Efforts had been made to remove Bishop Cheve-
rus from Boston. Archbishop Neale had earnestly
pressed him to become his coadjutor ; but he steadily
refused, and recommended Rev. Ambrose Marechal.
"The Church of Boston has become to me a beloved
spouse, and I have never entertained the thought of
deserting it," he wrote to the Sovereign Pontiff, and
when again addressing him to express his gratification
at the nomination of Rev. Mr. Marechal he said :
"My heart was in constant pain, lest the obedience
which I owe and always intend to pay to Your Holi-
ness might compel me to leave my beloved flock." ^
But in 1820 his health began to decline, and as time
went on he felt that he could no longer discharge his

' Register, Cathedral, Boston ; Bishop Fenwick's Memoirs.

'^ Bishop Cheverus to Archbishop Marechal, Jan. 27, 1823. Rev. P.
McQuade's entries in the Boston Register extend from March 12, 1821, to
Feb. 21, 1823.

^Hamon, " Vie du Cardinal de Cheverus," pp. 141-153.

BISHOP CHEVERUS DEPARTS. 129

usual duties. Seeing himself soon to be incapacita-
ted, he began to think of resigning and retiring to the
bosom of his familj^ in France to prepare for death.
The French minister at Washington, Hyde de Neu-
viile, seeing how evidently Bishop Cheverus required
change, wrote to the King of France and urged that
he should be recalled and nominated to some see in
his native country. The idea pleased the King, and
was advocated by the Prince de Croy, chief almoner
of France.

But he continued his laborious round of duty.
Between April and June we can trace him officiating
at Salem, jSTewburyport, Providence, and PaAvtucket,
Hartford and New London.^

Early in 1823 Bishop Cheverus received from
France the official announcement of his nomination to
the See of Montauban : but he still clung to Boston,
and wrote declining to acce^Dt the French bishopric. A
memorial signed by 222 members of his Hock was for-
Avarded in April to the Prince de Croy.^ Urgent let-
ters, almost commands followed, but his health be-
came so critical that the physicians declared that it
would be fatal to him to pass another winter in Bos-
ton, that only a residence in a warmer climate could
prolong his life. On this he yielded to the will of the
King and transmitted to Rome his consent. His next
care was to prepare everything for his departure,
which he styled making his will. The property which
he held as Bishop he transferred for the benefit of his
successor. His private library, of well-selected works,
he gave to the diocese : everything else he gave to his

' Register, Cathedral, Boston, April 13, June 6, 1823.

- " Life of Cardinal de Cheverus, Archbishop of Bordeaux," trans-
lated by Robert Walsh. Philadelphia, 1839, pp. 267-8.

130 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

clergy or the poor, resolved to leave Boston as lie
entered it twenty-seven years before, carrying his
wardrobe in the trunk he had then brought with him.
He would have left his chalice, cruets and cross, but
as they came from his family he was persuaded to take
them.

When it was known that he was really to leave
them the Catholics made a touching address to their
beloved Bishop ; ^ the secular journals extolled his
virtue and his devotedness. On the day of his de-
parture the vestry was filled at an early hour in the
morning with Protestants and Catholics moved to
tears at the thought they were never to see him again.
It required all his firmness to support himself in bid-
ding them farewell.^ A number of vehicles escorted
him for some distance on the road to New York. He
embarked from that city on the first of October in
company with Rev. Mr. Moranville and Mr. Milbert,
but after a, rough voyage the vessel was wrecked on
the coast of France, Bishop Cheverus and his com-
panions escaping death almost miraculously.^

' The address and the Bishop's reply are given by Walsh, pp. 269-271.

* "The Life of Cardinal Cheverus, Archbishop of Bordeaux." Trans-
lated by E. Stewart. Boston, 1839, pp. 388-9 ; Archbishop Cheverus to
Archbishop Marechal, March 26, April 21, May 9. 1823.

^ [Hamon] "Vie du Cardinal de Cheverus, Archevgque de Bor-
deaux," Paris, 1856, p. 167. U. S. Catholic Miscellany, ii., p. 41, 55. As
Bishop of Montauban he won all by his zeal and gentleness, but in 1826 he
was promoted to the arclnepiscopal see of Bordeaux, and soon after was
made by Charles X. a peer of France. On the 1st of February, 1836, he
was created Cardinal. Thus had honors sought the missionary who
once stood in the dock of a criminal court at Wiscasset. He died on
the 19th of July, 1836, at the moment of the Elevation in a mass
offered in his room. Besides his life by Rev. Mr. Hamon, published
under the name of Dubourg, there was a eulogy on him by the Abbe
Gaussens, which was crowned by the Academy of Sciences, Bordeaux.

HIS ATTACHMENT TO BOSTON. 131

After reaching his family home in Mayenne,
Bishop Cheverus replying to a letter of V. Rev. Mr.
Taylor said: " If I were permitted I would return to
dear Boston. There is still a feeble glimmering of
hope that I may return to Boston. The Pope's nun-
cio, a venerable prelate, wishes it much. It will be
seen, at least, that if I do not return, it is no fault of
mine. I quitted Paris and left everything in the
hands of the Nuncio.^

On the departure of Bishop Cheverus, notwith-
standing his zeal and that of Doctor Matignon, the
way had been prepared for the Church, rather than
much accomplished. Comparatively few Catholics
had settled in New England, the great emigration

SIGNATURE OP VERY REV. WILLIAM TAYLOR.

having scarcely given signs of what it was to be.
Boston had its Cathedral and St. Augustine's Church :
there were shrines of Catholicity at Salem and New
Bedford, Damariscotta and Whitefield and Pleasant
Point in Maine. New Hampshire had its church and
School at Claremont. The community at the Ursu-
line Convent consisted of the Prioress and six Sisters
with two novices.

Cardinal Cheverus republished the Statutes of the diocese of Bordeaux,
but wrote nothing of any extent in the United States. There was a
very interesting sketch of Bishop Cheverus in the Boston Monthly Mag-
azine after his departure. See New York Weekly Register, i., p. 164 :
Truth Teller, vi., p. 109.

' Bishop Cheverus to V. Rev. W. Taylor, Dec. 26, 1833. U. S.
Catholic Miscellany, ii., p. 173.

CHAPTER VII.

DIOCESE OF BOSTON.
VERY EEV. WILLIAM TAYLOR, ADMINISTRATOR, 1823-1825.

The Yery Rev. William Taylor was a son of James
Taylor, Esq., of Castle Martin, Ireland. After liberal
preparatory studies, lie entered Trinity College, Dublin.
Having become a Catholic, however, and feeling called
to the service of God, he obtained admission to the
Catholic Seminary at Maynooth. His intellectual
powers were great, and his mind was stored with
sacred and profane learning. Extremely affable and
winning in manner, he became extremely popular in
New York, where he was attached to St. Patrick's
Cathedral. He was soon esteemed as an eloquent
pulpit orator. He had many literary projects, and
issued, in 1818, a strange prayer-book, called "The
Christian's Monitor; or. Practical Guide to Future
Happiness," in which he endeavored to assimilate
Catholic to Protestant ideas and terms. He also an-
nounced an edition of the Douay Bible. ^ In Boston
he won the esteem and lasting regard of Bishop
Cheverus, who made him Administrator of the diocese
on his depai'ture, and recommended him to the Propa-
ganda as his successor.^ He remained in charge of the
diocese for two years, managing its affairs with zeal
and prudence. During this time he sent Rev. Dennis

' Truth Teller, May 7, 1825, 1826. U. S. Catholic Miscellany, viil.,
p. 111.

^ Cardinal Somaglia to Archbishop Marechal, May 15, 1824.

132

DR. GREENE'S CONVERSION. 133

Ryan back to Newcastle to resume liis duties as resi-
dent missionary in Maine.

During the administration of Rev. William Taylor,
the growth of the flock in Boston continued steadily,
the baptisms in 1825 being 385.

In November, 1824, the Very Rev. Mr. Taylor re-
ceived into the Church Doctor Henry Clarke Bowen
Greene, a distinguished physician of Saco, Maine, with
whom he had for some time been in corresjDondence.
Dr. Greene was born at South Berwick, Maine, April 3,
1800, and was graduated at Harvard College after a
successful course in 1819. Adopting the study of
medicine he was admitted to practice, and took up his
residence at Saco, where he married. He was a Con-
gregationalist, with a leaning toward Unitarianism,
alread}^ common in New England. During a serious
illness his mind was so absorbed with the thought of a
future state, that on his recovery he seriously studied
the Bible ; but he fiiiled to find a definite constitution
of the Christian Church or a definite body of doctrine.
The multiplicity of sects showed him how unsatisfac-
tory all attempts to supply these had been, and that
none of the systems devised by men met with general
acceptation, and all gradually fell away from the
original standards. His mind then turned toward the
old church, which alone seemed to undergo no change.
While in Boston he had heard Bishop Cheverus preach,
and felt the influence of his life as much as that of his
words. He had composed a poem on the Bishop's
departure. He soon after addressed Very Rev. Mr.
Taylor, and a long correspondence with the clergy-
man removed his doubts and directed his reading till
Dr. Greene was convinced and came to Boston, where
he was. happily received into the Church.

CHAPTER VIII.

DIOCESE OF BOSTON.

KT. EEV. BENEDICT JOSEPH FENWICK, SECOND BISHOP OF BOS-
TON, 1825-1829.

The choice of the Metropolitan and his suffragans
for a successor to Bishop Cheverus was an American
priest, who had disphiyed ability in parochial and
missionary work, in the conduct of educational insti-
tutions, and who had, as administrator, governed
two dioceses. New York and Charleston. This was
Father Benedict Joseph Fenwick of the Society of
Jesus. "He was born on the 3d of September, 1782,

^ /L?^^^ ^J^ V '^^

SIGNATURE OF BISHOP FENWICK OF BOSTON.

on his father's plantation at Beaverdam manor, in St.
Mary's County, Maryland ; and was lineally descended
from Cuthbert Fenwick, one of the proprietors who
originally came over from England under the charter
of Lord Baltimore," and settled in the Land of Mary.
He was one of the first pupils to enter Georgetown
College, where he made his course, displaying piety
and ability. After teaching the humanities in that
institution for three years, he entered St. Mary's
Seminary, Baltimore, to pursue his theological studies

134

ET. KEV. BENEDICT JOSEPH FENWICK, SECOND BISHOP OF BOSTON.

136

RT. REV. B. J. FENWICK. 137

Tinder the Sulpitians, then directed by the venerable
Nagot. When, however, in 1806 the former members
of the Society of Jesus in this country were permitted
to reorganize and unite with the Jesuits in Russia, a
novitiate was opened at Georgetown College, young
Fen wick presented himself for admission, and was one
of the first little band of six who entered on the 10th
of October. Here he continued his course of divinity,
and was ordained priest by the Rt. Rev. Leonard
Neale, Bishop of Gortyna, in the Church of the Holy
Trinity, June 11, 1808. In the autumn of that year
he was sent to New York as assistant to the Rev.
Father Anthony Kohlmann, whom Arclibishoj)
Carroll had with the consent of Bishop Concanen
appointed to administer the diocese till the arrival of
that prelate from Italy. Father Fenwick labored
earnestly at St. Peter's Church, and was at the head
of the college commenced under the name of "The
New York Literary Institution." After the death
of Bishop Concanen and till about the time of the
appointment of his successor, Father Kohlmann re-
mained as Administrator, but after Bishop Connolly's
consecration, he was recalled to Maryland,^ and Father
Fenwick, though holding no oiRcial position, remained
in the charge of the diocese laboring to preserve order
till the summer of 1816, after the arrival of Bishop
Connolly. Though he had evidently come with strong
prejudices, that prelate soon saw the value of such a
priest as Father Fenwick. He made him Vicar
General, and pleaded strongly with his superiors in
Maryland to retain him at New York.^ He was presi-

' Archbishop Carroll to Rev. John Grassi, March 31; 1815, complains
of his recall. F. McElroy's Diary mentions liis arrival at Georgetown
Jan. 17, 1815.

' Bishop Connolly to F. John Grassi, July 1, 1816.

138 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

dent of Georgetown College in 1817-8, but when Arch-
bishop Marechal appealed to the Superior of the
Society of Jesus for able priests to restore order in
Charleston, Fathers Fen wick and Wallace were
sent. Rev. Mr. Fenwick managed affairs with so
much ability and tact that he obtained complete con-
trol, reviving faith and piety in all wlio were not com-
pletely lost, so that when Bishop England arrived, that
clear-sighted Bishop laid aside the unfavorable j)re-
possessions which had been produced upon him. He
saw the merit and value of the Jesuit Father, and
would not allow him to depart. In 1822 Father Fen-
wick was recalled to Georgetown College, where he
became minister of the college and procurator of the
mission. From 1824 to September in the following
year he was actually president, to the great satisfac-
tion of parents and pupils.

When the bulls of Pope Leo XII., dated May 10,
1825, arrived, requiring him to accept the mitre of Bos-
ton, the unambitious Jesuit prepared by a retreat for
the sacrifice imperatively demanded of him. On the
feast of All Saints, 1825, just fifteen years after the con-
secration of his predecessor Bishop Cheverus, he was
consecrated in St. Mary's Cathedral, Baltimore, by
Archbishop Marechal, assisted by Bishops Conwell of
Philadelphia and England of Charleston. He was
accompanied to Boston by the Bishop of Charleston
and the Rev. Virgil H. Barber, and Avas received by
the Administrator, Very Rev. William Taylor, and
the clergy of the diocese who had gathered to welcome
him. He Ayas installed in the Cathedral of the Holy
Cross on Su;iday, the 4th, by Bishop England. V.
Rev. Mr. Taylor met him at his entrance, and exposed
to him in a brief manner the state of the diocese and
especiallj'' of the Catholic congregation of Boston.

INSTALLATION. 139

He concluded his discourse by tendering his resigna-
tion and making known his determination to return
to Europe. After the first gospel the Rt. Rev. Dr.
England ascended the pulpit, and addressed an able
discourse to the people, who were delighted with his
eloquence. After the mass the leading Catholics of
the diocese came to congratulate their new Bishop.
Very Rev. Mr. Taylor in a few days proceeded to
New York, intending to join Bishop Cheverus in
Europe, though in fact he remained about a year in
this country.

Bishop Fenwick took up the work of the episcopate
with courage and energy, thoroughly convinced of
the difficulties of his position with a handful of Cath-
olics lost, so to say, amid the most thoroughly Eng-
lish and anti-catholic portion of the population of the
United States.

"The diocese of Boston," Bishop Fenwick wrote at
the time, " comprehends all the New England States.
The Catholics reside principally in Boston. In other
parts of these States their number is comparatively
small, though latterly they are, from various circum-
stances, beginning to become somewhat more numer-
ous.". . . "At present there are in all the diocese but
eight churches ; all of which, with the exception of the
Cathedral, scarcely deserve the name. These churches
are in the following places : The Cathedral in Boston,
attended by the Bishop and one clergyman. Rev.
Mr. Byrne. The congregation is numerous, far too
much so for the present size of the church ; but it
will be one of the first objects of the Bishop to en-
large and extend it as far as the lot owned by the
church will admit of. 2. A small edifice intended for
a church in South Boston. No mass is celebrated
there for the want of a priest. Hereafter it is the

140 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

Bishop's intention to enlarge it also for the accommo-
dation of the Catholics living in its immediate neigh-
borhood, who are growing daily more and more num-
erous. 3. A small brick church in Claremont, New
Hampshire, erected by the strenuous exertions of the
Rev. Virgil H. Barber, who is now officiating in it. The
Catholics who attend it for divine worship are almost
entirely converts to the faith within these five or six
years past. They are to the number of about one
hundred and fifty individuals in all, scattered over a
district of ten or fifteen miles. 4. A neat and hand-
some frame church in Salem not quite finished. The
congregation consists of almost one hundred and fifty
or two hundred souls. They have no pastor, but the
Bishop or Rev. Mr. Byrne, to afford them an oppor-
tunity of frequenting the sacraments, pays them a
monthly visit. Tlie Catholics in this town are gener-
ally very poor, scarcely able to support a clergyman.
5. A small brick church at Damariscotta, in the State
of Maine. The congregation is extremely small, con-
sisting of five or six families only. It is served once
a month by the Rev. Mr. Ryan„ 6. A small frame
church at Whitefield, Maine, which is likewise served
by the Rev. Dennis Ryan, who divides his time be-
tween the two places. The congregation belonging to
this last-mentioned church is greatly scattered and is
far more numerous than the other. The church is
said to contain four or five hundred persons, and is
generally filled in good weather. 7. The church at
Oldtown, Maine. This church was erected exclu-
sively for the Penobscot tribe of Indians, who are all
Catholics. It is old and small. The tribe consists of
about four hundred souls. They are without pastor,
though they anxiously desire one. The. Bishop will
avail himself of the very first opportunity to satisfy

URSULINE CONVENT. 141

their wishes. 8. The church at Passamaquoddy,
Maine. This church was also erected exclusively for
the benefit of the Passamaquoddy tribe of Indians,
who like the other are entirely Catholics. Their
number is about three hundred ; the church though
small is tolerably decent. Adjoining to it is a house
for a clergyman ; but unfortunately, like their breth-
ren at Oldtown, they are at present destitute of a
pastor. The Bishop will make it his duty to procure
one, who may divide his time equally between the two
tribes.^

Bishop Fenwick was greatly surprised, on visiting
the Ursuline Convent, that such a situation should
have been selected for the establishment of a house of
religious women. It was in the immediate neighbor-
hood of a theatre, was confined and contracted, and
was exposed to the observation of those inhabiting the
houses opposite. There was scarcely a spot of ground
for the ladies to take any exercise or obtain a breath
of fresh air. They seemed in fact to drag out a linger-
ing existence. The Superior confirmed his impression
by declaring that health had long since taken leave of
the house. ^ He visited the vicinity of Boston to find
a situation which he could consider suited to the use
of a convent and academy, and was greatly impressed
by the advantages of a place on the Medford road,
Charlestown, lying beautifully on Ploughed Hill Avest
of the famous Bunker Hill. The soil was excellent ;
the prospect from it one of the finest on the neighbor-
hood of Boston. There was on it a convenient house,

•Fenwick, "Memoranda of the Diocese of Boston," Dec. 3, 1835.
" Memoirs to serve for the future history of the Diocese of Boston."

^ Bishop Fenwick, " Memoranda of the Diocese of Boston, " Feb. 13,
1826.

142 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

a good barn with necessary outbuildings. It could
be obtained for $8300. The Superior of the com-
munity readily adopted the Bishop's views: their
Boston house was valued by competent judges at eight
thousand dollars; this Dr. Fen wick agreed to pay, and
the Charlestown property was purchased. Two small
wings were added to the house, one to serve as a
chapel, the other for a kitchen, and the whole was
fenced in. The little community, consisting of four
choir nuns and two lay sisters, left Boston on the 31st
of July, having resided there six years and ^ix months,
and took possession of the new place, and gave it the
name of Mount Benedict. The delight of the nuns on
occupying their new home, so different from the close
and noisy situation in which they had been confined,
can be readily imagined. The Bishop soon visited
them, and from the 6th of August said mass for
them in their chapel on Sundays and Wednesdays,
returning to Boston on Sunday to say a seven o'clock
mass for the congregation in the Cathedral. On the
feast of the Assumption, Mary Barber was admitted
as a novice into the community.

Alive to the importance of securing the young, bj'^ a
thorough Catholic education, from the allurements and
seductions which the community around him would
employ by individual effort, church action, and the
prostitution of State power to pervert the young of
his flock, he established a day school in Boston and
gave special attention to the Sunday School, till
better provision could be made for affording all a
really Catholic education.^

Bishop Fenwick soon learned that the spirit of

'Bishop Fenwick, "Memoirs to serve," etc. ;" Memoranda of the
Diocese of Boston."

HIS LABORS. 143

trusteeism existed. Dr. Matignon had managed all
financial affairs liimself, having great aptitude for it ;
Bishop Cheverus, however, had selected seven mem-
bers of the congregation, to whom he committed the
temporalities. Soon after his arrival in Boston,
Bishop Fenwick was waited upon by a deputation
who complained of the management by these gentle-
men, and asked that others should be elected by the
congregation, to let the pews, collect tlie rents and
the contributions of the faithful, and expend the same.
"The Bishop having before his eyes, in other cities,
the deplorable consequences resulting from such a
state of things, determined and resolved, with the
blessing of divine grace, to resist every encroachment
of the kind." He deferred action for a time, but fin-
ally allowed such a selection for a single occasion only.
Bitter feeling was manifested, meetings held, and
when the matter came to a choice five of the managers
were displaced, and, as he subsequently learned, one
had rendered himself peculiarly obnoxious, though a
most worthy, upright, and honest man.

He devoted himself to the care of the faithful in
Boston ; having only one priest to aid him, with two
others a hundred miles off. The Cathedral had be-
come utterly inadequate to the wants of the congrega-
tion and needed to be enlarged. He soon planned an
addition seventy-two feet wide and forty long, which
would give a depth of one hundred and two feet,
and afford space for side altars and sacristies. He
issued Lenten regulations and labored earnestly to
rouse the faith and devotion of the people. A visit
to Salem, where few attended the mass which he
celebrated, showed him the work needed outside of
Boston.

His Sunday School was put on a new footing, and

144 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

he prepared for regular day-schools. By Pentecost
he had a class of ninety-nine on Avhom he conferred
the sacrament of confirmation, many making their first
communion.

At the close of May, with Father Virgil H. Barber
he visited Claremont. On the day after the arrival
he celebrated mass, the little chapel being thronged,
and the rooms above as well as all the space around
the church being occupied by Protestants whose
curiosity was excited. The Bishop on this occasion
confirmed twenty-one. The congregation was still
small, about 150 in all, consisting mainly of converts,
few of them residing near the church. Here Father
Virgil H, Barber had erected, opposite the old Episco-
pal church, a brick church twenty feet in width by
forty-eight in length, and employed part of the edifice
for an academy, from which he derived his mainten-
ance.

Bishop Fen wick was encouraged by the application
of two young men in July, James Fitton and William
Wiley, who wished to study for the priesthood, soon
followed by William Tyler, a nephew of Father Bar-
ber, and by the arrival of Rev. Mr. Mahony from
Maryland, and Father Charles D. Ffrench from New
Brunswick. He appointed Rev. Mr. Mahony to
Salem, and Father Ffrench to Eastport, Maine, with
the care of the neighboring Indians, instructing him
to erect a church as soon as possible at Eastport. He
despatched Father Barber to visit Dover, New Hamp-
shire, Bangor and Eastport in Maine, and the two
Indian towns. Then he called his people together to
organize collections for enlarging the Cathedral of the
Holy Cross, and, moving into the former convent of
the Ursulines, demolished the old residence and be-
gan the work, but found the contributions so meagre

CATHEDRAL ENLARGED. 145

that lie could do no more than raise the walls and put
on the roof, slating the dome.^

Though his labors were severe, he proclaimed the
Jubilee in December, and aided by Rev. Messrs.
Byrne and Mahony gave a regular mission to his
flock, with daily masses, sermons, instructions, and
devout exercises. He was consoled by beholding
twelve hundred approach the sacraments.

During the year the Bishop had scarcely a moment
to himself ; his lessons to his seminarians, his parochial
work, his duties as chaplain to the nuns, the work at
the convent and church, absorbed his whole time.

Early in 1827 he began the erection of a new edifice
on the convent grounds, adapted for tl]\ use of a com-
munity ; as well as to the general improvement of the
property. Then he sent Rev. Mr. Byrne to Newport,
to attend the men employed on the fortifications and
in the coal mines, numbering in all nearly two hun-
dred. Sending Rev. Mr. Mahony to Claremont, he
replaced him for the time at Salem, publishing the
Jubilee and giving a mission with happy results.

By the 27th of May the addition to the Cathedral
was completed, the wall removed, and the altar set up
at which he offered the holy sacrifice. The basement
was next prepared for his proposed schools. After
administering confirmation in his Cathedral on Whit-
sunday, he took the steamer for Portland on the 10th
of July, 1827, and then by a coaster reached Eastport,
where he found the Rev. Charles Ffrench. The next
day the Bishop and priest Avere escorted with pomp

' Bp. Fenwick, " Memoirs to §erve for the future History of the Dio-
cese of Baltimore"; " Memoranda of the Diocese of Boston"; Truth
Teller, Nov. 12, 1825 ; U. S. Cath. Miscellany, Dec. 21, 1824 ; D. Bar-
ber, " History of my Owu Times." part 2, p. 7 : Bishop De Goesbriaod,
"Memoirs," p. 62.

146 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

by the Indians to their village at Pleasant Point.
The governor of the Passamaquoddies addressed him
in French, and he took up his quarters in the house
formerly occupied by the Abbe Romagne. Father
Ffrench had for some months instructed the Indians,
and on Sunday Bishop Fenwick was taken in pro-
cession to the church where he said mass, and after a
high mass sung by Father Ffrench he gave an instruc-
tion in English for the Protestants whom his presence
had attracted, and another for the Indians which was
interpreted to them. The next day he again said
mass and confirmed some unable to arrive in season.
He found at this place an individual who was at
once a missionary sent by a Protestant proselytizing
Society and a teacher under the United States Indian
department. Although paid by both he neither
preached nor taught, and admitted that his reports
were fictitious. An examination at the school showed
that not a child could spell a word of two syllables.
The Bishop remained several days, saying mass, con-
firming, visiting the sick ; then convening the tribe he
urged them to persevere in the faith, promising them
a resident priest as soon as he was able to obtain one.

At Eastport he said mass at the house of Mr. Kelly,
selected a spot for a church, and started a subscrip-
tion for its erection. At the invitation of the Protes-
tants he preached in one of their churches. The
following days were devoted to instructions, and he
confirmed some eighteen or twenty at this place.
Leaving Eastport he made his way by boat and stage
to Bangor.

"At Belfast," says Bishop Fenwick, "I inquired
whether there were any Catliolics in the town. Was
informed there were none. Took a walk to the lower
part of the town to see whether I could discover any.

INCIDENT AT BELFAST. 147

Was unsuccessful : returned to the hotel and em-
ployed myself in reciting the divine office until din-
ner. After dinner took another walk to the upper
part of the town. Had not proceeded far when I met
an Irish woman coming into town from the country
with a child in her arms. Stopped her and inquired
whether she was not a Catholic. After surveying me
cautiously with her eyes for some moments, she
answered she was. I asked her whither she was going.
She said to Mr. McGann's. Would she conduct me
to his house ? She said : ' No, for what had the likes
of me to do at Mr. McGann's?' I stated to her that
I desired very much to see him as well as all the other
Catholics in the town. 'Surely,' she replied, 'you
were not going to his house when I first saw you.
Why, therefore, do you wish to go to it now ? ' 'In
order to give him and the other Catholics a little good
advice on the Sabbath daj%' said I. ' Maybe, then,
you are a minister? ' said she, looking archly at me.
'lam,' I replied. 'Then I can tell you,' said she,
turning abruptly off, ' neither he nor his family want
to see the likes of you.' At this time it began to rain.
I opened my umbrella and held it over her and the
child, following her as she walked on, determined
not to lose the opportunity of seeing as many of the
Catholics as possible before I left the town, and
of ascertaining their number. We had not proceeded
far in this way, when she stopped abruptly and
said : ' Surely it is not to McGann's I am going now ;
why, therefore, do you follow me ? ' ' Because you
told me a while ago it was thither you were going.'
'Well, then, lam going to another place now,' said
she. ' It is no matter, I shall follow you until you
show me where McGann lives.' 'Well, he lives down
there,' she replied, pointing to a house near one of the

148 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

wharves of the village. I immediately vrent thither.
On entering a room of this house, I beheld on every
side but objects of poverty and wretchedness, a sick
woman groaning in a corner of the room ; two other
women with very poor clothing, seated on the floor,
eight or ten sickly children bunched around, and only
one man, and he also poorly clad. I soon learned from
him that he and anoth-er had just arrived at Belfast
with their families, that they had been able to get but
little work since their arrival, that almost all of them
had been, and some of them were, still sick, and that
they were perishing for the want of the necessaries of
life. Seeing so much misery, I immediately informed
him who I was, gave him money, and directed him to
go out without delay and purchase tea, sugar, bread,
butter and milk, if he could find it at that hour of the
day, and that afterwards I should enable him to pro-
cure other provisions. As he went out I called to him
to purchase also some gingerbread for the children,
who appeared very hungry. After this I approached
the bed where the poor sick woman lay, and spoke to
her in a manner suited to her present circumstances,
and at the same time informed her that I should leave
her and return in a couple of hours, to hear her con-
fession as well as the confessions of all the others in
the house. The poor woman was greatly overjoyed,
and with abundance of tears expressed gratitude to
God for having sent her a priest at so critical a time in
a foreign land. In a short time the man returned with
the tea, sugar, and other things sent for. I caused the
tea to be immediately prepared and given to the sick
woman, I next distributed the gingerbread among
the children. A total change immediately ensued.
Gloom and almost despair were succeeded by joy and
hope. I then acquainted them with the nature of the

INCIDENT AT BELFAST. 149

country into which they had just arrived, the favor-
able prospects it held out to the sober and indus-
trious, and concluded by observing to them, that in
my opinion Whitefield would be a far more suitable
country for them, as a number of their countrymen
had already taken farms there and were doing well.
I requested them, as I was about to withdraw, to give
notice to other Catholics who might be in town, that
I should return in a couple of hours to this house for
the purpose of giving them an opx)ortunity of going
to their confessions, 'for,' added I, 'it is important
you should make a good beginning in this country of
your adoption ; and besides, you know not when you
may enjoy another opxDortunity of seeing a iDriest.'

"About this time the woman whom I had met in
the iipper part of the town came in. As soon as she
had entered and seated herself, staring all the time
wildly at me, 'There,' said I jokingly, ' is an Irish-
woman and a Catholic, who when asked by a stranger
to show the way to a friend's house, refused to do it.
She cannot be a true born Catholid.' ' And surely it
was because I thought it was no good you were after,'
she replied, continuing still to gaze around. ' Whist !
whist ! ' said one of the women present, ' mind it is to
the Bishop you are speaking all this while.' I could
not forbear laughing at the peculiar tone in which
this was expressed, in which they all joined. The
poor woman seemed much disconcerted for a while, but
when I assured her that I viewed her conduct on that
occasion as an act of prudence on her part, and that I
commended her for it, she soon recovered her spirits.
'No, no,' said she, 'it is not for the like of me to
behave amiss to my own Clergy when I know them.'
Upon this I left the room and returned to the hotel
greatly pleased with the discovery I had made. After

150 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

an interval of two hours or thereabouts, I returned
according to promise to McGann's, where I found a
pretty good number assembled. I gave them an ex-
hortation and afterwards heard all their confessions.
In conclusion I recommended to them to be particu-
larly careful of their conduct, attentive to the duty
which they owed to God and observant of His holy
law. At parting I gave them more money to supply
their more pressing necessities, and was particularly
happy to see the good effects the tea had already pro-
duced upon the sick woman, for she was soon able to
move about a little and exhibited in her appearance
a great alteration for the better. I gave them all my
blessing, took leave of them, and departed." ^

He then j^roceeded to Indian Old Town by way of
Bangor. As his canoe approached the island the
Indians hoisted their flag and saluted him with a volley
of musketry. On being escorted to the church he ex-
plained the object of his visit. The next day he sang
a high mass, the Indians forming a very fair choir.
He found that parents had carefully instructed their
children so that he was able to hear the confessions of
young and old. Other days was similarly spent ; then
he said a requiem mass for the dead and blessed their
graves. By Sunday he had given holy communion to
one hundred and twenty. Then after a solemn high
mass, at which many more approached the sacrament
of the altar, he administered confirmation to eighty-
two. On this occasion he was greatly annoyed by the
rude behavior of the whites, chiefly lumberers, and at
last expostulated with them, asking whether they or
the well-behaved Indians were the real savages. After
concluding his mission he crossed the river in a canoe,

' Bishop Fenwick, " Memoirs to serve, etc."

INCIDENT AT BELFAST. 161

amid the regrets of his Indians, and on landing was
received in a double line by the very men whom he
had so recently reproved.

On his homeward journey he visited Newcastle and
Whitelield, officiating and giving confirmation, al-
though he had become extremely ill. He felt it neces-
sary to return liome at once. At Portland, the Bishop
says: "In the course of the evening learned that a
Mr. O'Connor, a very decent man, resided in the town.
Called on him to make my arrival known, August 9.
Having understood that the Catholics were in the
habit of assembling every Sunday, in order to recite
their prayers together and read spiritual books, went
to visit the room hired by them for this purpose.
This was an upper chamber in a house adjoining the
Museum. It had a very jDoor appearance and bespoke
the poverty of the Catholics of this place ; reminded
me of the upper chamber spoken of in the Acts of the
Apostles. Nevertheless informed the two Catholics
who accompanied me, that I should celebrate mass
and give confirmation in it on tlie ensuing Sunday.
Requested them in the mean time to have it well swept
and the altar decently arranged by that day

"August 12 (Sunday). Went at an early hour to
the Upper Chamber, heard confessions till ten o'clock,
then began to prepare for the celebration of mass.
The room was soon filled, probably to the number of
160 persons. Celebrated mass, at the end of which
preached and gave confirmation to thirteen persons."
At the conclusion of the ceremony addressed the
Catholics again and recommended to them to make a
collection among themselves monthly, and to apply
the proceeds toward the purchase of a lot of ground ;
that when this was once obtained, it would be easy to
find funds to erect a church thereon. I also enjoined

152 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

them to continue to assemble every Sunday for the
purpose of devotion, and that as soon as possible I
should send them a priest to attend them."^

After waiting on the Governor of Maine, Mr, Lincoln,
to represent the actual condition of the two Indian
bands, and the necessity of state action. Bishop Fen-
wick proceeded to Saco, where he was cordially wel-
comed by Dr. Henry Greene who invited him to his
house. He and Mr. Tucker, another convert, were the
only Catholics in the place except three or four Irish
families, who had recently arrived. He celebrated
mass on the feast of the Assumption in Dr. Greene's
parlor, and confirmed him and three others. The
Bishop learned that this was the first time that the
holy sacrifice had ever been offered in Saco. Dr.
Greene expressed his joy that this event had taken
place in his house, and regretted that his brother con-
vert, Mr. Tucker, was absent on account of business.

The Bishop in the evening by invitation lectured on
the great truths of religion in the hall occupied by the
Episcopalians. At Dover, New Hampshire, he found
that the Catholics had hired a room where they met
on Sundays, but as it was not in a central position he
said mass at the house of Mr, Burns, which was at-
tended by about fifty. He heard several confessions,
but few received holy communion. The Bishop saw
that faith was dying out for want of a regular pastor.
He urged them to open a subscription to buy a lot for
a church, and promised them a j^riest at the earliest
possible moment.

On his return to Boston, Rev. Mr. Mahony resumed
his duties at Salem, the Bishop authorizing him to
attend Lowell where there were fifty Catholics, twenty-

• Bishop Fenwick, " Memoirs to serve, etc."

RHODE ISLAND. 153

one with families. This clergyman also extended his
care to the flock at Dover.

In the Ember days of December, 1827, Bishop Fen-
wick had the consolation of ordaining as priests Revs.
James Fitton, William Wiley, and John Smith, whom
he had trained for his missions.^ The southern part
of the diocese had not been neglected. In February,
1827, Rev. Patrick Byrne began his labors among the
Catholics employed at Fort Adams and in the coal
mines at Newport, and in the same year, V. Rev. Johnj
Power of New York is reported to have said mass ini.
an old building at Windsor Locks, Connecticut..
Early in January, 1828, Bishoj) Fenwick received into-
his diocese the Rev. Robert D. Woodley, and ap-
pointed him to Providence and Pawtucket, directing
him also to make occasional visits to Taunton, where
there were about fifty Catholics ; and to Fall River
and Newport, which could scarcely boast a score. At
this time Pawtucket had a Catholic population of one
hundred, and Providence about half that number.
Though poor, the devotion of these Catholics to their
religion excited respect in some noble hearts. David
Wilkinson at Pawtucket gave a fine site for a church,
where the corner-stone of the House of God was soon
laid. At Providence mass was said in Mechanics'
Hall.2

On every side Bishop Fenwick saw that priests were
needed : he had but few, yet one proved unworthy,
and was dismissed, another lost his reason, and to his
great regret the Superior of the Jesuits recalled his
friend Rev. Virgil H. Barber, who obeyed, but closed

' Bishop Fenwick, Sept. 6, 1831. " Memoirs to serve." " Memoranda.'*
Annales do I'Association de la Propagation de la Foi, n., p. 447.

* Truth Teller, Jan. 5, 1828.

154 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

his church at Chiremont most regretfully and delivered
the key to the Bishop in Boston. Bishop Fenwick
wrote a most touching letter to Y. Rev. Father Dzie-
rozinski, imploring that he might at least retain
Father Barber for his Indian Catholics, v^hose ancestry
had been converted by heroic Jesuits.

Sending Rev. James Fitton to Passamaquoddy,
Bishop Fenwick set out for Montreal with two boys
whom he intended to place in the college, and with
the hope that by explaining his necessities to the
Bishops and clergy of that Catholic province he might
secure, at least for a time, the services of some good
priests. He was cordially welcomed, and deeply im-
pressed with the character of the clergy and the zeal
of the people. He received some presents of chalices,
and other altar plate which he greatly needed and
could not easily obtain, but he failed to obtain any
clergymen for his missions. One Quebec incident is
worth noting.

' ' In passing and repassing the west side of the
market-place," says Bishop Fenwick, "in the upper
town, as I had frequent occasion, while visiting the
different religious establishments of this interesting
city, my eyes were frequently arrested by a splendid
I H 8 in gilt letters, inscribed over the main entrance
into a magnificent stone edifice surrounded by a high
and extensive wall. Inquired what building that was.
Was told that it was formerly the College of the
Jesuits, which was seized by order of government
some years back and converted into barracks for
soldiers, and which are still employed for that base
and unworthy purpose ! Poor, injured Society of
Jesus ! how hast thou been traduced ! how hast thou
been persecuted by the world in every clime ! But it
is a satisfaction to know that the disciple is not above

RHODE ISLAND. 155

the master, and that thus the Lord of all was himself
treated. This was then the house out of which so
many apostolic men issued in their day to carry the
gospel to all the savage tribes of North America, and
who by their enlightened zeal and their truly exem-
plary conduct brought so many of them into the one
f old'and under the one shepherd. This was the house
to which the martyred Rale was wont to resort annu-
ally for his spiritual renovation, and from which he
again and again returned with energy and vigor to
edify and to teach the Abenakis tribes of Maine how
to live as Christians, and how to endure their many
hardships and privations by his own example. Yes,
this house, the sacred edifice, to which Canada in par-
ticular owes so much— in which the highest and most
heroic virtues were daily inculcated and practiced— in
which the praises of God were so often sung, this
house is now converted by government into a common

receptacle for soldiers ! I would not enter it

I would not visit the interior of a house polluted by
sacrilege and crime."

The Bishop, on his return, found that the handsome
brick church at Portland was rising, and that at East-
port, 30 feet by 40, would soon be covered in by Father
Charles D. Ffrench, who could also report progress at
Dover, while Rev. R. D. Woodley gave encouraging
tidings from Providence and Newport. Soon after,
the Bishop called a meeting of the Catholics in Charles-
town and Craigie's Point, roused their zeal so that two
thousand dollars was soon subscribed, selected a site,
and signed the contracts for the erection of a church to
be dedicated to Our Lady. He laid the corner-stone
on the 3d of October, and before the close of the year
had the gratification of seeing it covered in. No part
of the diocese had shown such energetic zeal.

156 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

In Providence the Bishop when on a visitation was
rejoiced to find the lot generously given by David
Wilkinson, Esq., to be beautifully situated on the
Rhode Island and commanding a fine view. He en-
couraged the Catholics to begin a subscription at once
for the purpose of erecting a church, and to keep it
up steadily. At Newport the schoolhouse purchased
for a church disappointed him, for though in an eligi-
ble situation it was too small in view of future increase;
and he at once arranged to purchase an adjoining lot.
Here he confirmed eleven on All Souls' day.

At Lowell a hall used by the Catholics was already
too small. T]ie Bishop appealed to tlie great manu-
facturing company through their kindly agent, Mr.
Kirke Boott, for a site for a decent church for his
humble flock. His appeal Avas not disregarded, and
he had hopes of soon seeing a church there.

" The Bishoi3 having received information from Mr.
Deodat Taylor, a convert in Hartford, Connecticut,
that the Episcopalians, having nearly completed their
new church in that city, were anxious to dispose of
their old one, and required only the sum of $500 for
the same, on the express condition, however, that it
should be moved to some other lot, and that they were
willing also to dispose of their organ for the sum of
$400. As he had long had a desire to establish the
Catholic religion in this central city of Connecticut,
he resolved to set out immediately and learn in person
the exact situation of things there. He accordingly
left Boston on the 9th of July, at ten o'clock, in the
mail stage, and having traveled all night, arrived in
that city the following day at two o'clock p.m., and
took up his lodgings in the City Hotel. In the course
of the afternoon he called on Mr. Deodat Taylor and
his brother Francis, and with them went to examine

HARTFORD. 157

the premises, and after a thorough examination he
felt fully satisfied that the building proposed to be
sold was well worth the money ; and if a lot of land
could be purchased at no great distance from its
present site, it would prove a valuable acquisition to
the Catholics. He, therefore, instructed Mr. Taylor
to conclude the purchase on the above terms ; but
previously to ascertain fully whether the lot of land
nearly opposite on the brow of the hill could in like
manner be procured at a reasonable rate. In the
course of a few hours all was accomplished ; a hand-
some new site was obtained, and the church was pur-
chased to be delivered up in the month of November
ensuing.

'*0n the following Sunday the Bishop celebrated
mass in a private room, at which all the Catholics in
Hartford attended. These did not amount to more
than a couple of dozen. He gave them a short exhor-
tation on the gospel of the day, and recommended to
them in a particular manner to live in peace and union
among themselves, and on all occasions to edify the
people by whom they were surrounded, by their good
conduct." ^

Thus within a year Bishop Fenwick secured churches
in three cities, which after the middle of the century
were to be erected successively into episcopal sees,
Hartford, Portland, and Providence.

After lecturing in the State House and answering
many inquiries as to the doctrines of the Church,
Bishop Fenwick returned to Boston.

'Fenwick, "Memoirs to serve for the future Ecclesiastical History of
the Diocese of Boston." A good title could not be given for the lot first
selected and the church was moved to another desirable lot on Talcot
Street. Fitton, " Sketches," pp. 189, 314, 284 ; 130, 275 ; U. S. Catholic
Misc., vii., p. 358 ; viii., pp. 7, 22, 39, 54, 80 ; Truth Teller, iv., p. 325.

158 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

With the wants of his diocese before him, Bishop
Fenwick appealed in several letters to Bishop Conwell
to let him have one or two priests for a few years, to
meet his pressing need. He importuned the Superior
of the Jesuits in Maryland, on whom he felt he had
some claim ; he wrote to the Bishop of Quebec, asking
for Rev. Mr. Holmes as a native of his diocese, and
used efforts to induce clergymen whom he knew per-
sonally to come to the aid of souls in New England.

The faith was extending, in spite of the paucity of
priests. Mass was said in New Haven at the corner
of Chapel and Chestnut streets, and the Catholics in
Vermont were attended from Plattsburg.

The following will show the number and the stations
of the clergymen doing duty in the diocese at the
close of the year 1828 :

The Rt. Rev. Bishop Fenwick in Boston, assisted by
the Rev. Messrs. Byrne and Wiley.

Rev. Virgil H. Barber, Indian Old Town on the
Penobscot, charged also with the mission at Claremont,
N. H. Rev. James Fitton, Pleasant Point, Passama-
quoddy, Me. Rev. Charles Ffrench, Portland, Me.,
also charged with the missions of Dover, N. H., Saco,
Me., and Eastport, Me. Rev. Dennis Ryan, White-
field, Me., also charged with Newcastle and Gardi-
ner, Me. Rev. Robert D. Woodley, Providence, R.I.,
also charged with the mission at Newport, and Paw-
tucket, R. I.

There was thus activity in all parts of his diocese.
The impulse was given and was maintained, in the
early days of the year 1829, when we find Bishop Fen-
wick again ordaining, raising to the holy dignity of
the priesthood Rev. William Tyler, destined to be
in the designs of Providence first Bishop of Hartford,
and Rev. Dr. Thomas J. O' Flaherty, adding wings to

STATE OF DIOCESE. 159

the Convent, dedicating the brick church at Charles-
town, a fine edifice capable of holding a thousand
persons, and hiying the foundation of a church at
Pawtucket/ At this time he reckoned the Catholics
in Boston at 7040, the yearly baptisms being 536.
There were probably 14,000 Catholics, eight priests, and
sixteen cliurches in New England, public halls and un-
used buildings being employed in other places for the
holy sacrifice. Much had been already accomplished
for "the Christian education of the young. There were
two schools in Boston, a classical one for boys and an
academy for girls, tw^o in Charlestown, one at Lechmere
Point, one at Lowell, a classical sem.inary at Hartford,
and some smaller ones, and the Indian school at Ban-
gor, under Father Virgil H. Barber, while the Ursu-
lines afforded the highest education for young ladies.

The school at the Cathedral, Boston, was directed
by ecclesiastics whom Bishop Fenwick educated in
his ow^n house in philosophy and theology, till he
found means to place four others at the Sulpitian
Seminary, in Montreal.

On the 5th of September, 1829, appeared the first
number of the newspaper founded by Bishop Fenwick,
and which boldly took the name of " The Jesuit."

The progress of the Church had excited bitter feel-
ings among ignorant and misguided men. Houses of
Catholics on Broad Street, Boston, were attacked for
three successive nights, the windows broken, and the
inmates menaced by the stones hurled in upon them.^

Such was the condition of the diocese when Bishop
Fenwick set out to meet his Metropolitan and fellow-
suffragans in a provincial council.

' Bishop Fenwick, " Memoirs to serve," etc.

= Jesuit, i., p. 156 ; Annalesde la Prop, de la Foi, iv., p. 713.

CHAPTER IX.

DIOCESE OF NEW YORK.

EIGHT REV. RICHARD LUKE CONCANEN, O.S.D., FIRST BISHOP;
VERY REV. ANTHONY KOHLMANN, S.J., ADMINISTRATOR,

1808-1815.

The diocese of New York was erected on the 8th of
April, 1808, by his Holiness Pope Pius VII., ^ and com-
prised the State of New York, and the eastern i)art of
New Jersey contiguous to New York. For this newly
erected see the Sovereign Pontiff selected Father
Richard Luke Concanen of the Order of St. Dominic,
Archbishop Carroll having been unable to propose
any one whom he deemed fitted for the task of organ-
izing the church in the important State of New York.
Bishop Concanen was a native of Ireland, but Avas sent
early in life to the Dominican Convent of the Holy
Cross in Lorraine, where he made his novitiate : after
a thorough course of study at St. Mary's 'supra Mi-
nervam ' in Rome, he acquired distinction for his learn-
ing and ability. He filled successively the positions
of professor of theology at St. Clement's in Rome,
prior of the Corpo Santo convent, Lisbon, and prior
of St. Clement's. His selection as theologus Casana-
tensis and librarian at the Minerva, attests the solidity
of his learning, a place in the foundation created by
Cardinal Casanate being assigned only to the highest

> Bull " Ex Debito," April 8, 1808. Bullarium Romanum, xiii., p. 282.
BuUarium de Propaganda Fide, iv., p. 339.

160

DIFFICULTIES. 161

merit.^ Acting as agent for the Irish bishops he was
well known in 'his native island, and was appointed to
the See of Kilmacduagh, but declined the honor. He
was personally known to Pope Pius VII., who es-
teemed him highly. Soon after his appointment he
was stricken down by illness, and his death was re-
garded as certain. In fact another Dominican Father,
John Connolly, then in Rome, was notified that the
bulls would be issued for his consecration. Bishop
Concanen recovered, however, and, though reluctant
to accept the dignity, was consecrated Bishop of New
York, April 24, 1808, by his Eminence Cardinal di
Pietro with two archbishops as assistants. He at
once began to prepare for the work before him in his
diocese ; one of his plans was to found a house of
religious, Franciscan or Dominican, in New York, to
direct a college for young men, and he obtained from
zealous friends books, vestments, and other articles for
his future flock. After receiving from the Sovereign
Pontiif the pallium for Archbishop Carroll, with the
bulls erecting Baltimore into an archiepiscopal see,
and establishing the bishoprics of Boston, New York,
Philadelphia, and Bardstown, and other important
documents. Bishop Concanen set out for Leghorn,
Avhere he intended to embark for America. To his
disappointment he found all American vessels seques-
tered by the French authorities, to whom as a British
subject he was an object of suspicion. As the time
of his departure had become uncertain, he empowered
Archbishop Carroll to appoint an Administrator of
the diocese during his absence, and Dr. Carroll sent
to New York the learned and capable Jesuit Father

' Bayley. " A Brief Sketch of the History of the Catholic Church on
the Island of New York," New York, 1853, pp. 53-5 ; Treacy, " Irish
Scholars of the Penal Days," New York, p. 104.

162 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

Anthony Kolilmann, there being no priest attending
the Catholics there except Rev. John Byrne, who was
anxious to withdraw.^ Bishop Concanen, after four
months' stay at Leghorn and Locanda, returned to
Rome, where lie was actively engaged till 1810. He
then made another attempt to reach New York by
way of Naples. By the good offices of the American
Consul he secured passage on a vessel bound for
Salem ; his passports were obtained, and he was about
to embark, when the French police forbade him to
leave the city. The shock threw the aged bishop into
a fever : he expired on the 19th of June, 1810, and on
the following day was solemnly buried in the vaults
of the Church of San Domenico Maggiore.

The management of the diocese of New York de-
volved on Father Anthony Kohlmann, S.J., as Admin-
istrator sede vacante. His ajopointment and the j)res-
ence of several members of the Society of Jesus had
already given umbrage to Bishop Concanen, but un-
conscious of this and looking only to the good of the
Church, the Administrator had gone on zealously.
On his arrival in the latter part of the year 1808 he
had found the congregation of St. Peter's estimated
at 14,000 souls, chiefly Irish, with some hundreds of
French and Germans, but sadly neglected. With
Father Fenwick he set to work to revive a sense of
religion in their hearts. Sermons in English, French,
and German were given every Sunday ; three cate-
chism classes were established, the confessionals
were regularly attended. The improvement was at
once apparent. The deserted communion rail was
filled, pious confraternities were erected and zealously
entered.

' Archbishop Carroll to Rev. J. Byrne, Jan. 10, 1805 ; to Rev. F. A.
Kohlmann, Aug. 15, 1808.

A CATHEDRAL BEGUN. 163

The New York Literary Institution was soon opened
and frequented by the sons of the best families in New
York, Catholic and Protestant. Its success was so
manifest that it was soon removed to the site of the
present Cathedral on Fifth Avenue, where a mansion
with gardens and orchard was secured.^

About this time Fathers Kohlmann and Fenwick
were induced by a convert to call upon Thomas Paine,
and they went in the hope of leading him to acknowl-
edge his error in attacking the existence of God and
the truth of revelation. They could make no impres-
sion on the hardened mind and heart. A friend of
Paine, a fellow unbeliever, and a painter of some
ability, caricatured the zealous priests, in a most dis-
graceful manner.^

Finding a second church imperatively needed, the
Administrator induced the Trustees of St. Peter's
Church to purchase a large plot of ground between
Broadway and the Bowerj'- Road, in what was then the
outskirts of the city. Here on the 8tli of June, 1809,
he laid the corner-stone of a Cathedral for the ex-
pected Bishop. At the suggestion of Archbishop
Carroll he dedicated the new edifice to St. Patrick.
The Avork of building was at once commenced, but
languished after a time.

Having provided for the education of young men,
the next thought of the energetic administrator was to
secure like advantages for the other sex. He applied
through Father Betagh, a famous Irish Jesuit, for
Ursuline nuns of the Blackrock Convent, Cork, and

' Father A. Kohlmann to F. William Strickland, Nov. 7, 1808. Wood-
stock Letters, iv., p. 143; March 21, 1809. De Courcy, "Catholic
Church in the United States," p. 366.

' Bishop B. J. Fenwick to his brother. U. S. Catholic Magazine, v. , p.
558. Philobiblion, i., p. 206.

164 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

Aiml 7, 1812, Mother Mary Anne Fagan, Superior,
arrived at New York, with Sisters Frances de Chantal
Walsh and Mary Paul Baldwin. A pleasantly sit-
uated house was obtained for them, and they opened
an academy which soon had many pupils. A poor
school was also established. This establishment was
greatly aided by Mr. Stephen Jumel.^

An orphan asylum was the next project of Very Rev.
Father Kohlmann. Meanwhile he sent Father Fen-
wick from time to time to attend Albany and other
outlying missions, and in compliance with the request
of Archbishop Carroll endeavored to induce the trus-
tees to make a suitable provision for the coming
Bishop.

Amid all his plans came the tidings of the death of
Bishop Concanen at Naples. He at once caused a
solemn funeral service to be performed in St. Peter's
Church for the repose of his soul.^

In 1812 Fathers Malou, Wouters, and Paul Kohl-
mann came to his assistance.

It was generally expected that the Rev. Ambrose
Marechal, whom Bishop Concanen had recommended

' F. Anthony Kohlmann to F. William Strickland, Sept. 14, Nov. 28,
1810 ; the Convent was incorporated by the State, March 20, 1814.
The Sisters at first supposed the house to be a gift from Mr. Jumel, but
he required two-thirds of its value. As no novices joined them the
Community was unable to raise the $2000 required. Mother Mary Anne
Fagan to Archbishop Carroll, June 2, 1813.

- "The sanctuary, the whole altar, all the curtains were in black.
The bier elegantly fixed, covered and surrounded by all the badges of
the episcopal dignity, such as the mitre, crosier, etc.; a high mass with
deacon and sub-deacon, accompanied with musical instruments, cele-
brated and a funeral sermon on the episcopal dignity delivered by Rev.
Mr. Fenwick to an audience so numerous as has scarce ever been seen
before in any church." F. A. Kohlmann to Archbishop Carroll, Oct. 12,
1810.

V. REV. A. KOHLMANN, ADMR. 165

as his coadjutor, would be appointed to the see of
New York ; but it became known apparently to the
Superior of the Society of Jesus, that the appointment
and labors of Father Kohlmann had been distasteful
to the late Bishop, and when in 1814 it was announced
that the see of New York would be conferred on
Father John Connolly of the same order, and influ-
enced by the same feelings, it was decided by the
Society of Jesus, who found it very difficult to main-
tain the college, to withdraw from that diocese. The
New York Institution was closed ; the learned Mr.
Wallace, who had published a valuable astronomical
work,^ and Mr. Grace, a talented classical and general
scholar, returned to Maryland, soon to labor as i)riests
in the missions and colleges of their order.

Before this the Administrator was drawn into public
notice by a law case which, to the honor of American
jurisprudence, decided on the broad grounds of natural
justice and equity the rights of a Catholic priest in
regard to the confessional. A man and his wife were
indicted for receiving stolen goods, but before trial the
owner of the property acknowledged that he had
received his property back from the hands of Rev.
Anthony Kohlmann. The clergyman was subpoenaed
to appear at the trial as a witness against the supposed
thieves and these accused as receivers. When called
to the witness box Rev. Mr. Kohlmann asked to be
excused from answering, and said: "Were I sum-
moned to give evidence as a private individual (in
which capacity I declare most solemnly, I know noth-
ing relative to the case before the courts), and to testify

' " A New Treatise on the Use of the Globes, and Practical Astro n-
onty," by James Wallace, Member of the New York Literary Institu-
tion. New York, 1813, 512 pp.

166 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

from those ordinary sources of information from which
the witnesses present have derived theirs, I should
not for a moment hesitate, and should even deem it a
duty of conscience to declare whatever knowledge I

might have" " but if called upon to testify in

quality of a minister of a sacrament, in which my God
himself has enjoined on me a perpetual and inviolable
secresy, I must declare to this honorable court, that I
cannot, I must not answer any question that has a
bearing upon the restitution in question ; and that it
would be my duty to prefer instantaneous death or
any temporal misfortune, rather than disclose the
name of the penitent in question. For, were I to act
otherwise, I should become a traitor to my church, to
my sacred ministry, and to my God. In fine, I should
render myself guilty of eternal damnation." ....
" The question now before the court is this: Whether
a Roman Catholic priest can in any case be justifiable
in revealing the secrets of sacramental confession ? I
say he cannot ; the reason whereof must be obvious to
every one acquainted with the tenets of the Catholic
Church respecting the sacraments." He then pro-
ceeded to explain the tenets of the Church, and showed
to what disabilities a violation of its laws would sub-
ject him.

Mr. Riker, a Protestant lawyer, was allowed to argue
the case in behalf of Father Kohlmann. The district
attorney, Mr. Gardinier, relied mainly on the fact
that no such right as was claimed was recognized
by the constitution of the State. William Samp-
son, a brilliant advocate, reviewed at length the
English and Irish cases, and argued that they could
not be considered precedents for this country, where
freedom of worship Avas guaranteed. The court
through the Hon. DeWitt Clinton, who presided, care-

THE CONFESSIONAL IN COURT. 167

fully reviewed the whole case and decided that a
priest could not be called upon to testify as to matters
which he knew only through the confessional. " We
speak of this question," he said, " not in a theological
sense, but in its legal and constitutional bearings.
Although we differ from the witness and his brethren,
in our religious creed, yet we have no reason to ques-
tion the purity of their motives, or to impeach their
good Conduct as citizens. They are protected by the
laws and constitution of this country in the full and
free exercise of their religion, and this court can never
countenance or authorize the application of insult to
their faith, or of torture to their consciences." Samp-
son published a report of the case under the title :

"The Catholic Question in America Whether

a Roman Catholic clergyman be in any case compell-
able to disclose the secrets of Auricular Confession "
(New York : Edward Gillespy, 1813). To this Father
Kohlmann appended an elaborate treatise, "A True
Exposition of the Doctrine of the Catholic Church
touching the Sacrament of Penance, with the grounds
on which this doctrine is founded."

The novelty of the question caused the book to be
widely read, and the justice of the decision has been
universally admitted. The exposition of Father Kohl-
mann caused several Protestant writers to endeavor to
weaken its force. Among others the apostate Charles
H. Wharton issued a reply. Father Kohlmann would
not enter the arena of controversy ; he left his own
calm and learned treatise to exercise its influence ;
but the Rev. S. F, O' Gallagher of Charleston issued
a reply to Wharton.^

' S. F. O'Gallagher, " A Brief Reply to a Short Answer to a True Ex-
position of the Doctrine of the Catholic Cliurch touching the Sacrament
of Penance " ; New York, 1815.

168 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

About the beginning of tlie year 1815, Father
Anthony Kohlmann was ordered by the General of
the Society of Jesus to return to Maryland and assume
the position of master of novices. Archbishop Carroll
greatly regretted the step, but it seemed unavoidable.
Father Kohlmann left New York before the month of
April, virtually ceasing to be Administrator of the
diocese.^ Of the zealous members of the Society
who had at times shared his labors in New York only
Fathers Benedict Fenwick and Peter Malou re-
mained. The Ursuline nuns, having received no
novices, and seeing the diocese without a head, closed
their convent and academy in the spring of 1816, and
after long detention at Halifax reached Cork.^

Meanwhile Father Benedict Fenwick was left,
though without any authority, to manage the affairs
of the New York diocese till the arrival of Rt. Rev.
John Connolly, O.S.D., who was nominated in 1814
and consecrated at Rome on the 6tli of November, but
who did not land in New York for nearly a year, hold-
ing in the mean while no communication with his
Metropolitan or his diocese.^

Father Fenwick was aided for a time by the Trap-
pists, who took np their abode in the late residence of
the Jesuits ; they opened an asylum, where they soon
had thirty-three children, nearly all orphans. A
house of Trappist nuns was formed, and the Fathers
attended also the Ursuline Convent. All was so peace-
ful and encouraging that the Abbot Dom Augustine
de r Estrange even celebrated the feast of Corpus

' F. John Grassi to Archbishop Carroll, April 7, 1815 ; U. S. Catholic
Hist. Mag., iii., p> 321.

^ Bishop Cheverus to Archbishop Carroll, May 22, 1815.

^ " Life and Times of Arclibishop Carroll," p. 666.

DEDICATION.

169

Christi by an out-door procession and benediction ;
but the restless abbot would not remain anywhere.
He embarked in the autumn of 1814 with nearly all
the monks and the Avhole sisterhood, Father Vincent
de Paul following with the rest in May, 1815/

5'ather Fenwick urged on the completion of the
Cathedral, which had been delayed by a variety of

ST. PATRICK'S CATHEDRAL, NEW YORK, DEDICATED MAY 4, 1815.

circumstances, and succeeded so that Ascension day,
May 4, 1815, was fixed for its dedication. For this
interesting ceremony he invited the kindly Bishop of

1 " Relation de ce qui est arrive a deux Religieux de la Trappe," etc.,
Paris 1824, pp. 17-25; Gaillardin, " Les Trappistes ou I'Ordre de Citeaux
au xix. sificle," Paris, 1853, ii., p. 336. The first party sailed on the
Fingal, Oct. 20, 1814. Rev. A. Kolilmaun to Rev. S. G. Brute, Nov. 3,
1814.

170 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

JBoston. In the uncertainty prevailing as to the time
of the arrival of a newly appointed Bishop of New
York, Dr. Cheverus consented to officiate. The pro-
cession to the church included not only the Bishop
and such clergymen as could attend, but also the
Mayor and Aldermen of the city and the Trustees of
St. Peter's and St. Patrick's churches. Between three
and four thousand people filled the interior of what
was at the time the most imposing church in New
York city.^ " Besides the three Fathers here," wrote
Bishop Cheverus to Archbishop Carroll, ' ' we had
with us Father Maleve and the Rev. Mr. Pasquiet. I
dedicated the church in the same manner that you did
in Boston. We all did our best to make this a truly
imposing ceremony. The Fathers desire that all the
rites prescribed in the Pontifical may be performed.
I shall go through with them to-morrow, privatim et
januis clausis." *

The Bishop of Boston remained till Whitsunday in
order to confirm the large number of Catholics who
had been prepared for the reception of the sacrament.
While he was still in New York tidings arrived that
a bishop had actually been consecrated for that see.
Expecting, naturally, that Dr. Connolly would arrive
in a short time, Bishop Cheverus expressed his regret
at having yielded to the entreaties of Father Fenwick,
but as events proved the Bishop of New York did not
arrive till near the end of the year.^
• Bishop Plessis of Quebec, who was in New York in
September, 1815, speaks of the new cathedral as "at
the extremity of the city, towards the country. It
has already cost $90,000," he adds, "but has yet no

. ' New York Gazette, May 5, 1815.
* Bishop Cheverus to Archbishop Carroll, May 9, May 11, 1815.

DEDICATION. 171

steei)le, or sacristy, or enclosure, or annexed buildings.
Outside there is no rough-casting or penciled joints,
although the very ordinary stone of which it is built
requires both. To make up for this, the interior is
magnificent. Six tall clustered columns on each side
dividing the whole body of the church into three
naves, surmounted by gothic arches, form a sight all
the more imposing, as a painter has designed on the
flat rear wall terminating the edifice behind the altar
a continuation of these arches and columns, that form
a distant perspective and produce a vivid illusion on
strangers, not warned in advance, giving them at first
the impression that the altar stands midway in the
length of the church, when in reality it touches the
wall.

"The effect produced by this perspective makes
this church pass for the finest in the the United States.
It is also remarkable for the size of the windows, the
elegance of the two galleries, one above the other,
symmetrical staircases leading to the organ over the
main entrance. The pews occupying the nave leave
three spacious aisles, and are capped all around with
mahogany. It is intended to be the Bishop's cathe-
dral, but the sanctuary is not at all adapted for plac-
ing his throne, or for the performance of episcopal
functions." ^

A Catholic event of the year 1815 was the establish-
ment of " The Roman Catholic Benevolent Society,"
which was soon incorporated ; its object being to raise
means annually for the support of an orphan asylupi-
The Society still continues its good work.^

1 "Relation d'un Voyage aux Etats Unis, par Mgr. Joseph Octave
Plessis, Evgque de Quebec, en 1815," which I owe to Rev. J. Sasseville.

2 Truth Teller, v., p. 349.

CHAPTER X.

DIOCESE OF NEW YORK.
THE RIGHT REV. JOHN CONNOLLY, SECOND BISHOP, 1814-1825.

John Connolly was born in 1750 in the parish of
Monknewtown. After studying in his native place
and Drogheda, he sought admission into tlie Domini-
can order, and about 1766 was sent to Liege, where he
seems to have remained some years and to have won
the attachment of many. He was then sent to Rome
and completed his studies. After his ordination he

8IGKATUBE OP JOHN CONNOLLY, BISHOP OF NEVf YORK.

became the agent and corresi^ondent of the Irish
bishops. He was in Rome when the French, in 1798,
seized the Pope and declared the temporal power
abolished. Seeing the increasing difficulty of commu-
nicating with the Sovereign Pontiff, he obtained in
season an extension of the faculties of the Irish bishops
for a number of years. He labored earnestly to delay
the seizure of the English, Irish, and Scotch colleges,
and kept the matter in abeyance till the arrival of
Nelson's fleet at Naples made Rome untenable by the
French. Father Connolly had, by offering to serve

172

THE RIGHT REV. JOHN CONNOLLY, SECOND BISHOP OF NEW YORK.

173

BISHOP CONNOLLY'S DELAY, ' 175

gratuitously as chaplain and confessor, induced the
French authorities to spare the Dominican church and
convent, and at some outlay saved the library and
furniture.^

As already noted, he was thought of for the see of
New York when the death of Father Concanen seemed
imminent, and the seizure of the Sovereign Pontiff and
suspension of the work of the Propaganda alone pre-
vented his appointment as successor. Meanwhile he
had been appointed Theologus Casanatensis and Secre-
tary to the General.^ He was nominated Bishop of
New York in 1814, being at the time Prior of St.
Clement's, and was consecrated Bishop on the 6th of
November. He remained some time in Rome, and on
the first of February announced his departure about
the middle of that month, but added : "I am to delay
about a month in the diocese of Liege, where I am
pressingly requested by the Yicar of the Chapter of
that city, to arrive for Holy Week, in order to conse-
crate the holy oils and afterwards to administer the
sacrament of confirmation in different parts of that
vast diocese, now many years without a bishop. I
hope to have, before the middle of May, the happiness
of waiting on your lordship at Navan," he wrote to
Bishop Plunket.^ The United States and England

' Cogan, " The Diocese of Meath Ancient and Modern," Dublin, 1870,
iii., p. 543; F. John Connolly to Bishop Plunket, Feb. 24, Nov. 10,
1796 ; Feb. 17, March, 1798, Jan. 18, 1800, Feb. 28, 1801, Oct. 6, 1804,
Feb. 22, 1806. lb., pp. 205-357.

» F. John Connolly to Archbishop Carroll, April 12, 1810.

^ Cogan, iii., p. 411. The Bishop of Liege, Mgr. Zoepfel, died Oct.
17, 1808, and the see remained vacant till 1829. The Vicar Capitular
Barrett applied to the government, April 15, 27, 1815, for permission to
have Bishop Connolly perform episcopal acts. Letter of William S.
Preston, Consul at Liege.

176 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

had been at war, and until peace was signed, Bishop
Connolly did not venture to come to the United States
for fear of being treated as an alien enemy, being a
British subject. Had he been able to reach his diocese
at once after his consecration, valuable institutions
might have been retained.

After laboring in the diocese of Liege and visiting
Ireland, where he seems to have secured some priests
for his diocese, he embarked at Dublin on the ship
Sally, which was so delayed by storms that it did not
reach New York till about the 24th of November,
when in fact it was generally given up as lost,^ The
hardships of the voyage brought on a cough and cold
which prevented the Bishop from proceeding at once
to Baltimore, but the death of Archbishop Carroll,
about a week later, prevented his ever beholding the
founder of the American hierarchy.^ Bishop Cheverus
interrupted the funeral services for the Archbishop at
Boston to come to New York and install Bishop Con-
nolly in St. Patrick's Cathedral.^

On taking possession of his diocese, Bishop Connolly
found the estimated Catholic population to be thirteen
thousand, all but two thousand being of Irish birth
or descent. His whole body of clergy consisted of
Fathers Benedict Fenwick, Peter Malou and Maximil-
ian Rantzau of the Society of Jesus, and the Domini-
can Father Thomas Carbry, whom he knew as a
student at the Minerva. Not long before the coming
of the Bishop, the Rev. Micliael Carroll arrived, but

• Bishop Connolly to Cardinal Litta, Feb. 25, 1818 ; abstract of same
in Bay ley, p. 70-1.

^ Bishop Connolly to Archbishop Neale, Dec. 7, 1815. Shamrock, ii.,
p. 75.

^Bishop Cheverus to Archbishop Neale, Dec. 11, 1815.

STATE OF THE DIOCESE. 177

had not yet been assigned to duty. The Rev. Michael
O' Gorman, whom Bishop Connolly seems to have
ordained in Ireland, accompanied him or came soon
after. In a short time Father Rantzau returned to
Maryland, and early in the following year Rev. Mr.
Fenwick followed. Bishop Connolly beheld with no
little consternation the penury of the diocese and the
loss of institutions which encouragement might have
preserved. He appealed to Rev. Father John Grassi,
Superior of the Jesuits, to restore Father Fenwick to
him, and expressed his grief at the closing of the New
York Literary Institution.

He was obliged to be Bishop, parish priest and cur-
ate, labor in the confessional, and attend the sick at
all hours of the day and night. Accustomed for years
to the climate of Rome, the severe winter in America
proved very trying.

In the spring he visited Albany to revive religion
there, and instruct old and young for the reception of
the sacraments, the Rev. Paul McQuade having left
that charge some time before, so that the faithful
had been without a priest.^

Catholics were, however, pouring into New York,
most of them, indeed, to scatter through the country,
but enough remaining in the diocese to require con-
stant effort on the part of the Bishop to find priests.
At the instance of trustees in New York and Albany,
he wrote to clergymen in Ireland whom they desired,
but this plan failed. For a long time he had but two
priests with him to attend the Catholics in New York
city.^

He sent Rev. Mr. O' Gorman to Albany, charged also

' Shamrock, Dec. 2, 1815 ; Bishop Connolly to Cardinal Litta, Feb. 25,
1818 ; to F. John Grassi, July 1, 1816 ; to Bishop Plessis, June 7, 1816.
5 Bishop Connolly to Archbishop Marechal, Oct. 23, 1817.

178 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

with the outlying missions in the northern and central
parts of New York State ; and that kiborious priest
entered zealously on his duties. After visiting Balti-
more in 1817 to take part in the consecration of Arch-
bishop Marechal, the Bishop received into his diocese
the Rev. Arthur Langdill, who was appointed to the
missions outside of New York and Albany, and dur-
ing the winter he received also the Rev. William
Taylor, and early in the following year the Rev.
Father Charles D. Ffrench, a member of his own
Dominican order. These last accessions, however,
brouglit division, rather than strength, to the diocese.
The Trustees found themselves unable to meet the
expenses of the two churches, St, Peter's and St.
Patrick's, the annual interest was a heavy drain, and
there Avere times when they informed the Bishop that
there were no funds to pay him his salary. Discon-
tent followed ; and the Catholics of New York were
soon divided into parties ; one side favored the Bishop,
Fathers Ffrench and Carbry ; the other the Trustees
and the Rev. Messrs. Malou and Taylor. Acts giving
separate corporate existence to each of the two
churches were obtained in April, 1817, as well as a law
incorporating "The Roman Catholic Benevolent So-
ciety." ^ The first board of Trustees of the Cathedral
was elected by those who supported Bishop Connolly,
and this party next attempted to gain control of St.
Peter's Church. Great excitement was caused by the
divisions in the Catholic body, and Father Ffrench by
violent and turbulent appeals in the churches, and still
more in public meetings and circulars,^ gravely com-

' Laws of New York, April 11, 14, 15, 1817.

' See Ffrench, " To the Members of the Roman Catholic Communion of
the City of New York," 2 pp., 4to, a violent production. " Address of
the Trustees of St. Peter's Church to the Congregation," 3 pp., 4to,
m6re temperate.

TRIALS AND DIFFICULTIES. 179

promised the Bishop whom he sought to serve. On
their side the party siding with the Trustees of St.
Peter's brought charges against Father Ffrench of
unclerical conduct in Canada and New Brunswick.
They asked Dr. Connolly to remove him from his
position ; but the Bishop, not . crediting the accusa-
tions, refused to act on them. When the Trustees
proposed to appeal to Archbishop Marechal, as Metro-
politan, the Bishop entered formally on the minutes
his protest " against the Archbishop or any other Ec-
clesiastic interfering in the concerns of the Catholic
Congregation of New York, unless expressly being
empowered by the Holy Father, the Pojie." The
Trustees, however, addressed a long communication to
Archbishop Marechal, reviewing the whole contro-
versy.^ They refused to pay the salary of Father
Ffrench, and threatened to close the doors of the
church against him, and one of their body menaced
the Bishop with the withdrawal of his salary. Dr.
Marechal declined to interfere in the affairs of New
York, but reptesentations had been made at Rome,
and in September, 1819, Cardinal Fontana wrote to
the Archbishop in regard to Bishop Connolly's bishop-
ric.^ About the same time, Rev. William Taylor was
deputed to proceed to Rome and lay before the Pro-
paganda a statement of the condition of the diocese,
and he proceeded on his way. About this time also,
Bishop Connolly withdrew the faculties of the Rev.
Peter Malou.^ The whole affair was a sad comment-
ary on the introduction of national preferences into

■ Address in the archives at Baltimore.

'Archbishop Marechal to Bishop Connolly, Dec. 24, 1819; Bishop
Connolly to Archbishop Marechal, Dec. 30, 1819 ; Oct. 6, 1820.

3 Same to Rev. William Taylor, Dec. 24, 1819.

180 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

the affairs of the Church. Bishop Connolly had been
selected to appease the complaints made by unworthy
priests and pretentious laymen who had really lost the
faith ; he had drawn none but priests of his own
nationality to his diocese ; yet he found himself
denounced by his own to his Metropolitan, and to
the Propaganda, and a fellow-countryman aiming
to supersede him.^

In the autumn of 1820, Bishop Connolly made a
visitation of part of his diocese, extending to more
than a thousand miles. Notwithstanding his ad-
vanced age he returned without any serious incon-
venience.^

Meanwhile Bishop Connolly had been able to effect
some good. Sister Rose White, after receiving the
counsels of their i)ious foundress, came with two Sis-
ters of Charity, Cecilia O' Conway and Felicite Brady,
from Emmitsburg in 1817 to take charge of the Or-
phan Asylum, and made their first home in a small
wooden building on Prince Street near the Cathedral.
Only five orphans were at first confided to their care,
but the next year they had twenty-eight.^

The Catholics in Utica and western New York re-
solved to erect a church in that place, " On January
10, 1819, after mass said in the house of John C.
Devereux by Rev. M. O' Gorman, notice was given in
due form of the election of a Board of Trustees. On
the next two Sundays the Catholics met in the same

' Letters were written to Rome by the Bishop of Quebec, the Arch-
bishop of Baltimore, and other prelates, urging caution and circumspec-
tion before acting in regard to New York.

' Bishop Connolly to the Propaganda, March 4, 1823.

^ White, " Life of Mrs. Eliza A. Seton, Foundress and first Superior
of the Sisters or Daughters of Charity in the United States," etc., New
York, 1853, p. 390, 500.

CHURCH AT UTICA. 181

place without a priest, and after their usual service
notice was again given, and on the 25th a meeting was
held at which John O'Connor,^ John C. Devereux,
Nicholas Devereux, Morris Hogan of New Hartford,
Oliver Weston, Thomas McCarthy, James Lynch,
John McGuire of Rochester, Charles Carroll of Gene-
see River, were duly elected the first Board of Trus-
tees of the first Catholic church in the Western Dis-
trict of New York." Many of these gentlemen lived
from fifty to two hundred miles from Utica, but though
the Erie Canal works already employed many Irish
Catholics, only a single church seemed within the
means of the faithful. Morris S. Miller, Esq., gave
three lots for the proposed edifice, the Devereuxs sub-
scribed $1125, many others from $1 to $50. The
church was completed in 1820, and Milbert, a French
traveler, wrote : " On an isolated elevation rises a new
church. It is elegantly built of wood in gothic style.
I attended the ceremony of its dedication, which was
performed by the Catholic Bishop . of New York,
August 19, 1821." ^ A local publication bears out his
flattering account : " The chapel is a beautiful struc-
ture at the corner of Bleecker and John streets ; is of
wood, 45 by 60, with a cupola, and was erected in 1820.
.... The Society acknowledges with f)leasure a
liberal assistance from Protestants generally." ^

In the northern part of the State, Bishop Connolly
was called upon to dedicate another church. This was
at Carthage, where a French gentleman, Mr. Leray de

' John O'Connor was the first Catholic resident of Auburn, and his
daughter, Mrs. Ellen O'Connor Grant, died while this work was going
through the press, in her 76th year. Rev. J. J. Hickey of Waterloo
and Father Pius, C. P., are her nephews.

* Milbert, " Itineraire Pittoresque de Fleuve d'Hudson," i., p. 154.

3 Utica Directory, 1828.

182 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

Chaumont, had drawn settlers to develop liis large
j)roperty. As many were Catholics, he erected a
church for their use. Milbert, who witnessed its dedi-
cation by Bishop Connolly, writes: "On the most
striking eminence rises a little church surmounted by
its belfry. It was built of the expense of Mr. Leray
de Chaumont, and is erected for the use of the Irish
Catholics who, with a certain number of Germans and
Americans, constitute almost the entire population of
the town. Dr. Connolly, Catholic Bishop of New
York, dedicated it during my stay at Lerayville. It
is to serve the. double purpose of church and i^ublic
school, for in the United States every district, how
unimportant soever, is bound to have a school and
maintain at its expense a teacher to instruct the
children." ^

Both these churches were x)laced under the care of
Rev. John Farnan, who said mass at Utica in the
Court House, May 30, 1819, and who labored for sev-
eral years along the line of the Erie Canal, the first
great field of Catholic employment and avenue of
Catholic emigration westward.^

On the return of Rev. Mr. Taylor in 1821, Bishop
Connolly declined to receive him into his diocese, and
that priest issued an address to the Catholics. This
led to a public meeting in which the course of the

'Milbert, ii., p. 39.

2 Rev. F. P. McFarland to author, Feb. 12, 1856. Sermon of Rev. J.
S. M. Lynch, Sept. 18, 1887. No detailed account of Bishop Connolly's
visitation has been found. I am inclined to believe that he went as far
west as Buffalo, and that he, and not Bishop Conwell of Philadelphia,
baptized a child of Mr. Patrick O'Rourke, after Le Couteulx, one of the
pioneer Catholics of Buffalo (Timon, "Missions," 211 ; Lynch, "Re-
trospections," in Buffalo Cath. Union, Sept. 13, 1889), and that in con-
sequence of the visitation. Rev. Mr. Kelly, of Rochester, in 1821 said
mass for five Catholic families in St. Paul's Episcopal Church.

REV. JOHN POWER. 183

Bishop was sustained, and a memorial was adopted
expressing tlie adherence of his people to him. Rev.
Mr. Taylor then withdrew to Boston.^ Father Ffrench,
ordered from Rome to leave the diocese under pain of
suspension, sailed for New Brunswick to obtain evi-
dence refuting the charges brought against him ; he
published a vindication, and seems to have returned in
a more subdued spirit.^ Father Carbry had removed
to Norfolk to fan the troubles there. Father Malou
had been recalled by his Superior to Maryland. The
diocese of New York thus lost many of its i^riests, but
was at last favored with hopes of peace and harmony.

During the days of trouble the diocese received a
priest destined to a long and important ministry in
New York. This was the Rev. John Power, a native
of Roscarberry, Ireland ; born on the 19tli of June,
1792. Educated at Maynooth, he became professor in
the seminary of the diocese of Cork, and subsequently
curate at Youghal. He came to New York in 1819 at
the solicitation of the Trustees of St. Peter's Church.
His eloquence, ability, and prudence soon made him a
general favorite.

In 1820 and the following year, Bishop Connolly
ordained the Rev. Richard Bulger, a cheerful and
laborious missionary in Long Island and New Jersey,
and the Rev. Patrick Kelly.

'Ante, p. 125. Taylor, " An Address to the Roman Catholic Congre-
gation of New York" ; New York, Baldwin, 1821, pp. 8. "An Address
of the Roman Catholics of New York : to the Right Rev. Doctor John
Connolly ; together with the Resolutions that wei'e passed at three meet-
ings," New York, March, 1821, pp. 8. There is also a scurrilous pam-
phlet by Walter Cox.

* Ffrench, " A Short Memoir with some Documents in vindication of
the charges made by malicious persons against the character of Rev.
Charles Ffrench," etc. St. John, New Brunswick, 1822, pp. 16.

184 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

On the 11th of February, 1821, the Bishop sustained
a heavy loss, the Cathedral having been sacrilegiously
robbed of a monstrance, a ciborium, two crucifixes, and
a hundred dollars in money. ^

The Laity's Directory for 1822, prepared by Rev.
John Power, gives the following account of the diocese.
In the city of New York, E,t. Rev. John Connolly and
Rev. Michael O' Gorman at St. Patrick's Cathedral;
at St. Peter's Church, Rev. Charles Ffrench and Rev.
John Power. Rev. Richard Bulger at Paterson ; Al-
bany and its missions, Troy, Lansingburgh, Johns-
town, and Schnectady were attended by Rev. Michael
Carroll ; Utica and its missions, by Rev. John Farnan;
Auburn, Rochester, and other districts in the western
part of the State by the Rev. Patrick Kelly ; while
Staten Island and congregations along the North River
were attended regularly by the Augustinian Father
Philip Lariscy.^

New York had its two free schools, supported partly
by the funds of the State, and partly by moneys raised
twice a year by the two congregations. It had, too, as
we have seen, an orphan asylum.

At Rome a lot had been given for a church by Dom-
inic Lynch ; at Auburn a church was already projected,
Carthage church had no resident priest. In New
Jersey, St. John's Church at Paterson, a building
twenty-five feet by thirty, attended by Rev. Mr. Bul-

' Bishop Connolly to Bishop Plessis, Feb. 17, 1821,

^ "The Laity's Directory to the Church Service, for the year of our
Lord 1822," New York, Creagh, 1823, pp. 104-6. "History of the
Catholic Church in Paterson, N. J., with an account of the fifteenth
Anniversary of the establishment of St. John's Church." Paterson,
■ 1883. The first mass in Paterson was said at Michael Gillespie's house
on Market street by F. Lariscy, O.S.A. He was succeeded by Rev.
Mr. Lant^dill.

BROOKLYN. 185

ger, was the only church in that part of the State in-
cluded in the diocese of New York, and from it was
served the old chapel at Macopin, in the mining popu-
lation attended in the last century by Father Farmer.
Bottle Hill, now Madison, was attended from 1805.
Newark had then a very small Catholic population.

In New York city the annual interest on the heavy
debt of the Cathedral exhausted the resources and
prevented the support of more clergymen. The Bishop
all day and often at night discharged the duties of
parish priest and curate, that the dying might not be
deprived of the sacraments, or those in health of
penance and holy communion.^

During the early part of the century the Catholics
of Brooklyn had been compelled to cross the East
River in all weathers in order to attend mass at St.
Peter's Church, and the future Archbishop of New
York and Cardinal of Holy Church frequently made
the trip in his boyhood. In 1822, however, a zealous
and pious man, Peter Turner, addressed a circular to
his fellow Catholics to urge some movement for the
establishment of a church and school. When the
Catholics assembled it was found that there were only
seventy able to give money or their labor. Ground,
however, was bought on Jay Street in March, and
work on the church began, and mass was occasion-
ally said for the Catholics by Rev. Messrs. Bulger,
O' Gorman, Power, McAuley. The church was, at
last, solemnly dedicated to Almighty God under the
invocation of St. James, by Bishop Connolly on the
26th of August, 1823, the Rev. John Power preaching
on the occasion.^

1 Bishop Connolly to Propaganda, March 4, 1822.
2U. S. Catholic Historical Magazine, i., pp. 298-303. Rev. Thomas
C. Levins, who arrived in this country in July, 1822, says in his Diary,

186 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

The Sacred Congregation de Propaganda Fide about
this time suggested the transfer of Bishop Kelly to.
New York as coadjutor, but he had so openly con-
demned the State governments in this country for in-
corporating boards of trustees for Catholic churches,
that Bishop Connolly advised against the translation
as likely to cause trouble/

William Cobbett tells us, on the authority of Bishop
Connolly, that there were when he left America fifteen
thousand communicants in New York city.^

Before the year 1824 Catholics had not been mo-
lested in New York and its vicinity from the days of
the riot at St. Peter's Church ; but at this time a so-
ciety pledged by oath to uphold the King of England,
the Orangemen, were not only active in creating preju-
dice against Catholics but proceeded to open violence,
attacking them on the anniversary of the Battle of the
Boyne in Greenwich village, then a suburb of New
York, at Lockport, and at Paterson, New Jersey.
Several of them were indicted in New York for dis-
turbing the peace and for assault, and were convicted,
Thomas Addis Emmet and William Sampson, two well-
known Protestant lawyers, appearing against them.^

Though additional churches were greatly needed in
New York city, it seemed rash to undertake others,

" On the second day (July 16), I visited Brooklyn on Long Island, where
the Catholics had just prepared the foundations of a chapel or church,
as every place of worship is here termed. It is small, being only 60 feet
long, 40 wide." The oldest tombstone is that of John O'Connor, who
died Aug. 19, 1822. N. Y. Cath. News, March 9, 1870.

' Bishop Connolly to Propaganda, March 4, 1822.

* Cobbett's Letters to George IV. in U. S. Catholic Miscellany, Dec.
29, 1824. He speaks of Bishop Connolly's recent return from Rome, but
I find no allusion to it elsewhere.

^ U. S. Catholic Miscellany, iii., pp. 143. Wheeler's "Criminal Cases,"
iii., pp. 82-100.

DEATH OF BISHOP CONNOLLY. 187

while the two were so heavily burthened. In Octo-
ber, meetings of Catholics were held, in which Rev.
Michael O' Gorman took an active part, and an as-
sociation was organized to collect money throughout
the city to reduce and gradually extinguish the debts.
The resolutions paid a tribute of respect to Bishop
Connolly, "who most justly possesses the confidence
of all, and whose wisdom, piety, and zeal have excited
the admiration of our fellow-citizens — whose conduct,
manners, and example recall to our minds what we
have read of primitive simplicity in the history of the
Apostles of the earlier ages." ^

Change of climate, change from a quiet cloistered
life to one of care, anxiety, and constant labor as a
missionary priest, now began to tell on the Bishop.
He solicited the appointment of Rev. Michael
O' Gorman as his coadjutor, but in November, 1824,
that worthy priest was stricken down by a fatal dis-
ease, and within eight days Rev. Richard Bulger also
expired at the Bishop's house on Broadway. They
were buried near the south door of the Cathedral.
Bishop Connolly was deeply affected by this blow, but
struggled to fulfill the increased duties which devolved
upon him, although he was taken ill immediately after
attending Rev. Mr. O' Gorman's funeral. While offi-
ciating at another burial about the 1st of January,.
1825, he was prostrated, and departed this life on
Sunday evening, February 6, 1825, at seven o'clock.
His body was exposed in the central aisle of St. Peter's
Church till the solemn mass of requiem, after which
his remains were conveyed to St. Patrick's Cathedral
and interred near the altar. ^

' U. S. Catholic Miscellany, iii., pp. 300-3.

■^Bayley, "Brief Sketch," pp. 76-7; U. S. Catholic Miscellany, iv.,
pp. 128, 160.

CHAPTER XL

DIOCESE OF NEW YORK.

VERY REV. JOHN POWER, ADMINISTRATOR, 1825-1826.

By the death of Bishop Connolly the temporary
administration of the diocese devolved upon the Very
Rev. John Power, who had, as assistant and pastor of
St. Peters, evinced qualities that fitted him for the
position of Vicar General.

He took up the work earnestly, and having literary
tastes, shown by his translation of part of the Bible de
Roj^aumont, the publication of a Laity's Directory, and
an edition of the prayer-book known as "True Piety."
He also encouraged the establishment of a Catholic
paper, "The Truth Teller," which appeared on the
2d of April, 1825, under the management of George
Pardow and William Denman. He continued the
good work of the association for relieving the churches
from debt, and raised his eloquent voice to aid it. In
the Orphan Asylum and the Sisters of Charity who
directed it, he showed unflagging interest. Their
original home had become altogether too contracted,
and Very Rev. Mr. Power in October began the erec-
tion of a new three-story brick edifice that would give
accommodation to 160 orphans. To aid the work he
delivered a charity sermon, and enlisted Bishop Eng-
land, who about the time visited New York, to deliver
another, obtaining by these appeals more than a thou-
sand dollars. The asylum was completed and dedi-*
cated on the 23d of November, 1826, and was almost
immediately filled by the orphans whom the charita-

188

ORPHAN ASYLUM.

189

ble Sisters had gathered to the number of 150. The
Garcia Italian, troupe contributed also to the good
work by an Oratorio in the Cathedral, the finest musi-
cal entertainment ever heard in New York, the famous

VERY REV. JOHN POWER, V. G. ADMENISTBATOR.

Signorina Garcia (Madame Malibran) joining in the
exercises.^

The diocese soon lost another priest, Rev. Mr,
Brennan, ordained by the late Bishop, January, 1822,
and stationed at Paterson ; but his health failed and
he died at New York in March, 1825. About this

» U. S. Catholic Misc., v., p. 304. Truth Teller, May 8, Oct. 15, 1825 ;
June 24, Nov. 18, 1826. Goodrich, "Picture of New York," pp. 225,
342.

190 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

time St. James' Church, Brooklyn, obtained a perma-
nent priest, Rev. John Farnan.^

Dr. Power encouraged Catholics east of Broadway,
in the purchase of a Presbyterian church on Sheriff
Street, which was fitted up for the Catholic liturgy
and was formally opened by the pastor, Rev. Hat-
ton Walsh, May 14, 1826; this third Catholic
church in New York was dedicated to Our Lady, and
took the name of St. Mary's.^ The church soon proved
inadequate to accommodate the Catholics in that part
of New York city, and as early as 1829 it was found
necessary to enlarge it.'^

Soon after the death of Bishop Connolly orders were
received from Rome for the restoration of Rev. Peter
Malou, whose faculties had been withdrawn by the
late Bishop. He resumed his accustomed duties at
St. Peter's Church, but he did not survive long, dying
on the 10th of October, 1827.="

' U. S. Cath. Hist. Mag. i., p. 301.

■i Truth Teller, May 6-13, 1836; Sept. 26, 1839, v., p. 308. Walsh,
" A Discourse delivered at the opening of St. Mary's Church on Sunday,
the 14th day of May, 1836," New York, 1836, pp. 20.

2 Peter Anthony Malou was born at Ypres, October 9, 1758, and mar-
ried June 3, 1777, Marie Louise Riga. He took an active part in the
rising against the Austrians in 1786, both in the council and the field,
aiding materially as general to deliver his native Belgium. After being
envoy to Paris, where he endeavored to save his country from invasion,
he came to America. Returning soon after to Europe he lost his wife,
and in 1801 entered the Seminary at Wolsau ; but in 1805 applied for
admission as a lay brother in the Society of Jesus. He occupied this
humble position till he was recognized by one of his old officers. He
was then required to complete his theological course, and in 1811 was
sent to America. New York was the chief scene of his priestly labors.
His son, John Baptist, became Senator of Belgium ; his grandson of the
same name. Bishop of Bruges. " His zeal, his admirable charity to re-
lieve all distresses, the purity of his morals will cause his loss to be
deeply felt by all those who knew him, particularly by the poor, who

CONSECRA TION. 1 91

Early in the year 1826 Mr. Waddington, of New-
York, who owned large tracts of land in the northern
part of the State, gave a tract of fifty acres at Wad-
dington for the use of the Church. The Rev. James
Salmon, an aged priest who had lived there some years
ministering to the faithful, thereupon began the erec-
tion of a log church.'

When the Bulls arrived appointing to the see of
New York the founder of Mount St. Mary's College,
the Rev. John Du Bois, and the day was fixed for his
consecration, Very Rev. Mr. Power went to Baltimore,
and with Rt. Rev. Henry Conwell, Bishop of PhiLv
delphia, acted as assistant to Archbishop Marechal at
the consecration on the 29th of October, 1826. On
the 5th of November the Very Rev. Administrator
preached at the installation of Bishop Du Bois, and
relinquished the care of the diocese.''

will mingle their tears with those of his numerous friends," says a paper
of the time. Truth Teller, iii., p. 327 ; De Courcy, " Catholic Church
in the United States," pp. 387-9.

1 Truth Teller, July 1. 1836 ; J. Talbot Smith, " A History of the
Diocese of Ogdensburg," New York, p. 89.

' Truth Teller, Nov. 4, Nov. 11, 1826. Rev. Mr. Taylor embarked a
few days afterwards for France.

CHAPTER XII.

DIOCESE OF NEW YORK.

RT. KEY. JOHN DU BOIS, THIRD BISHOP, 1826-1829.

The clergyman selected to fill the see of New York
was one known far and wide through the country.
As a zealous missionary, as founder of a college and
seminary for the education of clergymen, he was
known and respected. Priests trained at Mount St.
Mary's were already laboring in the vineyard in many
dioceses. Young men whose training in the college
proved the stepping-stone to success maintained
through life their respect for Rev. John Du Bois. He
was born in Paris, August 24, 1764 ; trained by a pious
mother he received his education at the College of
Louis-le-Grand, Camille Desmoulins and Robespierre
being fellow-students. Entering the seminary dedi-
cated to the Irish Saint Magloire, he was ordained
priest September 22, 1787, and became assistant in the
parish of St. Sulpice, and chaplain to the Sisters of
Charity. In this sphere he labored zealously till 1791,
when the priest of God held his life in his hands, ex-
pecting death at any moment. John Du Bois was not
a man to flinch easily before any danger,, but at last
exile became his only choice. With the connivance
of his old schoolmates and strong letters from Lafay-
ette, he was able to reach Norfolk in August, 1791.
Bishop Carroll, a good judge of men, was favorably
impressed with the learning, zeal, and courage of the
young priest. He labored at Norfolk and Richmond,
and endeavored to erect a church at Alexandria.

192

RT. REV. JOHN DU BOIS, THIRD BISHOP OP NEW YORK.

193

CONSECRATION. 195

Transferred to Frederick and to Emmitsburg lie
built up a college, to which the Sulpitians removed
their preparatory seminary. He also aided Mother
Seton in her great work. His services in the cause
of religion can be traced in these pages. He brought
to the important duties of Bishop of New York
long experience in the ministry, skill in the train-
ing of clergymen, firmness perhaps too much like
obstinacy, energy and activity for creating necessary
institutions, and a knowledge of the country.

He was consecrated by Archbishop Marechal, Octo-
ber 29, 1826, in the Cathedral of Baltimore, the sanct-
uary being crowded with priests and ecclesiastics,
many of whom owed their education to his zeal and
care. His ring and cross were given to him by Charles
Carroll of Carrollton, the last of the signers of the
Declaration of Independence. Bishop Conwell of
Philadelphia, and Very Rev. John Power, Adminis-
trator of the diocese of New York, acted as assistants.
The Cathedral was crowded to its utmost capacity,
but, as a presage of coming trouble. Rev. William
Taylor, who preached on the occasion, gave vent to
expressions which foreboded the direst troubles to the
Church of God in New York.

His pupils of Mount St. Mary's College presented
him an address expressive of their sense of the loss
sustained by the college in being deprived of its
founder and President, and embodying their heart-
felt wishes for his success and hapj)iness in the new
field to which the Head of the Church summoned him.^

He was installed in St. Patrick's Cathedral, New
York, on the Sunday within the octave of All Saints,

' U. S. Catholic Miscellany, Nov. 25, 1826. Truth Teller, Nov. 11,
1826.

196 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

when tlie Very Rev. Administrator preached and re-
signed into his hands the office which he had held.
Bishop Du Bois then ascended the pulpit and ex-
pressed the wish "that there should be but one heart
and one soul between the Bishop, his clergy, and the
congregation. They should on every occasion act in
unison, and by adopting this course the Catholics of
New York might almost work miracles." '

When Bishop Du Bois began to study the condition
of his diocese, he found Catholics everywhere, far in
excess of tlie number that had been reported. He
estimated the faithful in the city of New York at 25,-
000, and in his whole jurisdiction at probably 150,000,
but soon was led to believe his estimate too low. For
this flock he had but nine churches and eighteen
priests.

The remarks of Rev. Mr. Taylor at Baltimore, and
indications but too evident in New York, left no room
for doubt in the mind of Bishop Du Bois, and he saw
that those who had opposed Bishop Connolly would
now oppose him, but make his nationality their pre-
text. Yet the first indications were favorable ; and
he wrote to Archbishop Marechal : "I have had noth-
ing but consokition since my arrival here. The fright-
ful prognostications of good Mr. Taylor have vanished
like smoke, and I see around me only good will and
union, but it will take time to form a decided
opinion." ^

' " I had learned there had been debates in New York, whether or not
Dr. Du Bois should be received or admitted into any church of the city.
The conclusion of this council was that they should admit him ; but
afterwards give him trouble, as a person intruded on them by undue in-
fluence." Bishop Conwell to Archbishop Marechal, Aug. 2, 1826.

* Bishop Du Bois to Archbishop Marechal, Nov. 24, 1826. Annales
de la Prop, de la Foi, iv., p. 417, etc.

FIRST PASTORAL. 197

In a pastoral letter lie exposed the great wants of
the diocese and the necessity of harmonious action ; he
thanked the clergy and laity in general for the recep-
tion which he had received. He then answered the
charge that his appointment was the work of a cabal.
His late ecclesiastical superior, Archbishop Marechal,
and the Sulpitians, "a society of humble, pious, dis-
interested, and unambitious ecclesiastics," were ar-
raigned as the instigators. He declared unequivocally
that Archbishop Marechal, so far from urging his
selection, made every representation against it, and

SIGNATURE OF BISHOP DU BOIS, OP KEW YORK.

that the priests of the Seminary in Baltimore were like
himself ignorant of his appointment till his Bulls
arrived.

His nationality was objected to ; "H we were not
long ago American by our oath of allegiance, our
habits, our gratitude and affection, thirty-five years
spent in America in the toils of the mission and of
public education, would surely give us the right to
exclaim : We too are American ! But we are all
Catholics. Are not all distinctions of birth and coun-
try lost in this common profession?" He met the
complaint that a priest of the diocese ought to have
been selected by showing that there was only one
priest who had been identified with it for any great
number of years.

He then entered upon the condition of the bishop-
ric ; he showed the great want of churches and priests,
and the necessity of opening Catholic schools. He
had brought- with him two young priests and one sem-

198 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

inarian who was soon to be ordained. These he pro-
posed to employ at first in catechetical instruction of
the young. He intended to introduce Sisters of
Charity to conduct academies and schools, but there
was urgent need for similar establishments for boys.
This need he hoped to supply and to complement the
system by a college on the plan of Mount St. Mary's.
Praising the clergy and faithful for the fine orphan
asylum recently erected, he called attention to the
want of a Society for protecting and aiding immigrants,
as well as of a home for the aged ; he urged the clergy
and faithful to unite in restoring the discipline of the
church, so that all marriages, baptisms, and funeral
services should take place in churches and not in
private houses.^

During the winter Bishop Du Bois visited Paterson
and Newark in New Jersey, and the Catholic soldiers
at Fort Diamond. His first ordination, that of Rev.
Luke Berry, took place in the Cathedral, January 1,
1827. In the summer he made a visitation of the
churches in New York State, returning in October.

Bishop Du Bois received important aid for his dio-
cese in the Rev. Felix Varela, a native of Cuba and
professor in the Royal College of San Carlos at Havana.
This learned priest had gone to Spain as one of the
deputies of his native island to the Cortes, but when
the constitution was overthrown he was proscribed
and came to the United States. In 1824 he began the
publication in Philadelphia of a little periodical called
"El Habanero," but the next year he removed to New
York. When Bishop Du Bois assumed control. Dr.
Yarela had mastered English and was apparently al-

' U. S. Catholic Miscellany, vii., pp. 17, 33, 49, July 21, etc.. 1827. It
indicates the feeling in New York that this pastoral did not appear in
the Truth Teller, the Catholic paper published in that city.

REV. FELIX VARELA. 199

ready received into the diocese, where his virtues and
his learning made him for many years a conspicuous
member of the clergy. Bishop Du Bois iDlaced him as
assistant at St. Peter's Church, but he was not long in
that position. A new church was needed, and finding
Christ Episcopal Church, in Ann Street, offered for
sale, Dr. Varela purchased it in March, 1827, with
his own funds and means lent to him by Spanish mer-
chants and friends. Here was a field where he soon
displayed his boundless charity, his zeal for souls, his
learning and devotion.' This church was solemnly
dedicated by Bishop Du Bois on the 15th of July,
1827.2

The condition of this diocese as revealed by Bishop
Du Bois's personal examination was not a cheering
one, and he felt how much was required to supply the
congregations already organized with suitable pastors,
and to gather into congregations the large numbers
scattered at various i^oints, who would cheerfully
maintain a priest. It had been his desire to proclaim
the jubilee officially, and make it instrumental in re-
viving faith and enkindling zeal, but he had no priests
whom he could employ to preach from place to place.
New York city, with its 30,000 Catholic souls, had the
Bishop and six priests ; the rest of his diocese con-
tained about as many souls, with only four priests.
Rev. Mr. Savage at Albany was so negligent in his
duties, that the Bishop soon found it necessary to re-
move him ; Rochester was without a resident clergy-
man, Carthage poorly supplied. There was no pro-

'- " El Habanero, Papel Politico, Cientiflco y Literario," Philadelphia
and New York, 1834^5. Eodriguez, Vida del Presbitero Don Felix
Varela. New York, 1878, pp. 226-254.

^ Truth Teller, July 21, 1827. Bishop Du Bois, Letter, Oct. 19, 1827.

200 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

vision for the future by college or seminary to which
he CO aid look for priests to undertake the increasing
work.^

Before his return to New York, placards were
posted up, attacking Bishop Du Bois for interfering in
elections of trustees, although he had done nothing of
the kind. He found, too, that prejudice had been ex-
cited against him for having the deed of Christ Church
made to him as Bishop, as though he proposed to
rob the flock confided to him. He answered the vile
insinuations by a pastoral to the congregation, and by
printing the accounts of the church. Trustees of the
churches evidently feared that the faithful would
contrast an economically managed church, with
those rushing to bankruptcy by their mismanage-
ment.^

Another able priest, whom untoward circumstances
prevented from rendering the Church all the services
that might have been expected, was Rev. Thomas C.
Levins, received into the diocese shortly before the
death of Bishop Connolly. Thoroughly versed in
mathematics and natural philosophy, having made
special studies in Europe under the soundest scholars,
he came to the United States to become a professor in
Georgetown College. His scientific acquirements were
soon recognized, and he was twice appointed to the
Board of Examiners of the cadets at the Military
Academy, West Point. Circumstances led to his with-
drawal from the Society, and Bishop Du Bois found
him in charge of the Cathedral. He had won reputa-
tion as a preacher, and a controversy with Bishop

' Bishop Du Bois to Archbishop Marechal, July 16, Oct. 19, 1827.
« Bishop Du Bois, Pastoral Letter, Oct. 14, 1827. U. S. Catholic Mis-
cellany, vii., p. 171. Bishop Du Bois to Caaon Mayet, March 1, 1828.

ROCHESTER, BUFFALO. 201

Hobart displayed theological learning and rare dialec-
tic ability.

In the summer of 1828 Bishoj) Du Bois, accompanied
by Very Rev. John Power, began a visitation of his
diocese, traversing the State of New York as far west
as Buffalo and northerly to St. Regis. ^

Rochester had been visited from 1818-9 by Rev.
Patrick McCormack and Francis Kelly. It now pos-
sessed a church, erected by Rev. Michael McNamara,
but already almost ruinous.^ Here Bishoj) Du Bois
administered confirmation, and gave a short mission.
At Buffalo he found seven or eight hundred Catholics,
French, Canadians, Swiss, Irish, and some Germans.
He ministered to all, hearing confessions of Germans
who could not speak English, by means of an inter-
preter. Here Louis Le Couteulx gave the Bishop a
fine site for a church, prompted to the act by Rev.
Stephen T. Badin, who had visited Buffalo.^ The pro-
ject of erecting a suitable edifice was heartily taken
up. The Bishop offered the holy sacrifice in the
Court House on Sunday, July 29, 1829, and baptized
thirty or forty. He then proceeded with the Catholics,
all saying the rosary, to the cemeter j^, which he blessed.
Soon after his visitation Bishop Du Bois was able to
send the Rev. Nicholas Mertz to Buffalo to carry on
the good work. That good priest arrived late in the
year 1829, and took up his abode in a small log house
on Pearl ^treet between Eagle and Court, officiating

'Truth Teller, iii., p. 230; U. S. Catholic Miscellany, vii., p. 39.
He set out July 18.

'Bishop Timon, "Missions in Western New York," Buffalo, 1862, p.
209-13. Truth Teller, v., p. 332.

'The deed dated January 1, 1829, to Rt. Rev. John Du Bois, is given
by Lynch in his " Retrospections," Buffalo Union, Sept. 20, 1888.

202 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

in a frame house near by, which he rented till he was
able to build a church.^

When Bishop Du Bois on his visitation reached
Saint Regis he found the little Indian village rent by-
factional animosities. He succeeded in reconciling
the American and British parties, and dissuaded the
former from attempting to have a separate church on
their own side of the line. Here he gave a mission,
preaching, instructing, and administering the sacra-
ments. Near the Indian village had grown up an Irish
settlement which also called for the exercise of his
zeal.

After visiting Montreal he returned to New York by
way of Plattsburg, where he met Rev. Mr. Mignaulfc
of Chambly, whose apostolical services among the
Catholics near the frontier should never be forgotten.*

Meanwhile Utica was thriving under its pastor. Rev.
Luke Berry. Sixty-six pews were filled every Sunday,
and eighty-six pupils regularly attended the instruc-
tions in catechism. Catholics had gathered at Salina
in numbers sufficient to justify in 1828 the project of
erecting a church.

At Albany the Catholics were endeavoring to build
a new and larger church, the primitive shrine of relig-
ion no longer sufficing to hold one-third of the faithful.
As some money had been allotted to Bishop Du Bois
by the Association for the Propagation of the Faith at
Lyons, he loaned part of this to the Albany congrega-
tion to enable them to prosecute the work. Not long
after land was generously given for a church at Sau-
gerties.

1 Lynch, " Retrospections," Buffalo Cath. Union, Sept. 27, 1888.

^Fenwick, " Memoirs to serve for the future Ecclesiastical History of
the Diocese of Boston."

NEW JERSEY. 203

In the New Jersey portion of his diocese Bishop Du
Bois found the Catholics at Newark increased so much
in numbers that in the summer they had undertaken
to build a church. This good work Bishop Du Bois
also aided with funds received from France.^

On the 6th of November, 1828, the corner-stone of
a new Catholic church was laid in Paterson, N. J., on
a site given by Roswell Colt to his Catholic fellow
citizens. Bishop Du Bois Avent in procession to the
site to bless the stone with the prescribed rites. The
next year the Rev. Mr. Schneller of Christ Church
was authorized to collect means to give the Catholics
at New Brunswick what they greatly needed, a church
and cemetery.^

The orphan asylum prospered ; but there was a want
of a refuge for children left with only one parent, who
was unable to care wholly for them. This led to the
formation of an assistant orphan asylum, or asylum
for the children of widows or widowers.

During the winter the health of Bishop Du Bois be-
gan to show the effect of his years of evangelical labor
and care.^ But his mind was still engaged on the great
work of establishing schools. In September, 1828,
Brother James D. Boylan arrived from Ireland with
some associates, and their plans for establishing a com-
munity of brothers were approved by the bishop, who

' Bishop Du Bois, Annales de la Propagation de laFoi, iv., pp. 4.'55-6,
etc. See Truth Teller, iii., p. 343, for a specimen of the misrepresen-
tations of Newark Catholics at that time. The Albany Catholics laid,
the corner-stone of the new church at the corner of Chapel and Pine,
Oct. 13, 1829, Alderman Cassidy, president of the board of trustees,
acting. Truth Teller, v., p. 333, 343, 309.

« Truth Teller, iv., p. 883 ; v., p. 308, 310.

^U. S. Catholic Miscellany, viii., p. 223 ; Truth Teller, v., p. 334,
343.

204 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

secured lots for the erection of a house and school for
them. They took temporary charge of two schools ;
meanwhile meetings were called, and ste]3S taken to
erect proper buildings, but opposition arose to the
Bishop and the plan, and the whole project was aban-
doned.'

When Catholic Emancipation was finally granted by
the British Parliament, Bishop Du Bois, who had
shown his sympathy with the movement to obtain
this happy result, issued a pastoral letter appointing
Sunday, June 21, for a solemn Te Deum in thanks-
giving in all the churches of his diocese. At the
masses on that day nearly fifteen hundred dollars were
collected for the orphans.

Although summoned to the first Provincial Council
of Baltimore, Bishop Du Bois sailed for Europe, as he
had for more than a year proposed to proceed to Pome.

His dej)arture was induced by a letter requesting
it, from the Cardinal Prefect of the Propaganda. He
had taken a great interest in the coming Provincial
Council, and discussed with Archbishop Whitfield the
matters of discipline which, in his opinion, ought to
be adopted and made uniform. He left New York on
the ship De Pham for Havre, September 20, V. Revs.
John Power and Felix Yarela governing as Vicars-
General in his absence.''

His diocese at this time contained in New York city
the Cathedral, St. Peter's, St. Mary's and Christ
Church, and steps were already made toward the
erection of another in what was known as Greenwich
village. There was a church, St. James', in Brooklyn ;
a church at Paterson, N. J., one in progress of erec-

1 Truth Teller, v., p. 103, 174, 213, 238, 261, 270, 301.
*Ib., v., p. 191, 207, 308.

STATE OF DIOCESE. 205

tion at Newark, and another at Macoupin ; Rev. Mr.
Schneller was collecting for a church at New Bruns-
wick, Albany was erecting a second church, Utica
and Carthage were already provided, Troy and Salina
were erecting churches, Auburn had its own ; Roches-
ter had its priest and church, and the Catholics in
Buffalo were actively pushing the erection of theirs.

The Bishop found himself hampered by the trustee
system, and met opposition to every project for church
or school that did not surrender the whole control to
the hands of the trustees.

For the 150,000 Catholics in his diocese he had only
eighteen priests, and some of those he felt ought to be
replaced by men of greater zeal and merit. To keep
up a supply of clergy, a seminary he felt to be abso-
lutely necessary, and the establishment of such an
institution was the great object of his solicitude ; he
earnestly appealed to the Propaganda for aid to found
an institution so vitally necessary.'

' Bishop Fenwick, " Memoirs to serve," etc. Bishop Du L "is to the
Propaganda, 1829.

SEAL, OF BISHOP DU BOIS.

CHAPTER XIII.

DIOCESE OF PHILADELPHIA.
RT. REV. MICHAEL EGAN, FIRST BISHOP, 1808-1815.

On the division of tlie original diocese of Baltimore,
which had embraced the whole United States j Penn-
sylvania and Delaware, into which the services of the
Church had been extended from Maryland, and which
had even in colonial days enjoyed a freedom and tol-
eration denied the faithful and their devoted priests
in the land which Sir George Calvert had made a sanc-
tuary, were erected into a bishopric with part of New
Jersey. Next to the diocese of Baltimore that of
Philadelphia seemed to promise most consoling re-
sults ; but in the course of time it suffered more than
the c^'/'7'tch in any other part of the country from ene-
mies vv. -hin and to a terrible extent from enemies
without.

As first Bishop of the new see, Archbishop Carroll
recommended the ax)pointment of the Rev. Father
Michael Egan, of the order of St. Francis, who had
been some years on the mission in Pennsylvania.' He
was not unknown at Rome, having been guardian of a
house of his order in the Eternal City. By his bull,
"Ex debito Pastoralis officii," Pope Pius VII. erected
the see of Philadelphia and appointed Father Egan as
first Bishop. On receiving intelligence of the election,
Archbishop Carroll made the Bishop-elect Yicar Gen-

' Bishop Carroll recommended Father Egan as a learned, modest,
humble priest, carefully practising in his whole life the rules of his holy
order. Letter to Cardinal Pietro, June 17, 1807.

206

AS VICAR GENERAL. 207

eral for the territory embraced in the new diocese of
Philadelphia.

Michael Egan, thus selected, with the general wel-
come of the Catholic body which he was to govern, is
said to have been born in Galway, and showing piety
and talent was sent to the continent after receiving
the gray habit of St. Francis of Assisium. He made
liis studies in the great convent of St. Isidore at Rome,
and in time became guardian of that famous house of
the Irish Franciscans, founded in 1 625 by the illustri-
ous Father Luke Wadding.

Father Egan felt, however, that he was called not to
learned rest in the capital of the Christian world, but
to labor as a missionary among his own countrymen
where the need was greatest. While toiling on hum-
bly and unostentatiously in Ireland, where he spent
seven years, he received a letter from Lancaster in
Pennsylvania, in which the Catholics of that town in-
vited him to come and minister to them. Naturally
surprised that he should be known at all in such a re-
mote spot, he felt impelled to respond to the call
which summoned him to a field where priests were
sorely needed. He accordingly came to the United
States in 1802 and began to labor as assistant to the
Rev. Louis de Barth de Walbach, then in charge of
the Lancaster church and the missions dependent on
it. It was a hard life in a wild country, riding to dis-
tant points to say mass and to visit the sick ; but the
good Franciscan roused the zeal of the peoj^le by his
fervor aijid piety. The congregation of St. Mary's,
Philadelphia, soon asked that he should be appointed
to their church, as a field where he could accomplish
much more good. He left the whole matter in the
hands of Bishop Carroll,^ who transferred him to Phil-

» F. Michael Egan to Bishop Carroll, Feb. 10, 1803.

208 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

adelpliia. After exercising the ministry for nearly a
year at St. Mary's, lie was convinced that a province
of the Seraphic order might be established in the
United States with great advantage to the Church, and
upon laying the matter before Bishop Carroll he ad-
dressed Cardinal Somaglia, in order to obtain through
his influence with the Pope and the General of the
Franciscans the necessary authority to erect a province
and hold lands. Offers of a large farm near Frank-
fort, Kentucky, inclined him to select that spot as the
cradle of the future Franciscan province.^

When the Sovereign Pontiff, Pius VII., made
Father Michael Egan a Bishop," his duties were en-
larged. The responsibility of looking after the wel-
fare of all the churches and the faithful in the
diocese thus, to some extent, devolved on him, with
the special charge of St. Mary's Church. There he
had no assistant except Father John Rosseter,
O.S.A., who was in such feeble health as to be able
to render but little aid. When Advent came he
detained the pious priest, Rev. Mr. Byrne, who was
on his way from New York to Georgetown, and re-
joiced to see the good he accomplished. On the 17th
of December, 1808, arrived a priest destined to occupy
an important place in the history of the Church. This
was the Rev. William Vincent Harold, O.S.D., who
came strongly recommended by Archbishop Troy of
Dublin and his provincial to Bishop Concanen, whom
he expected to find already installed in New York.

' Same to same, Jan. 8, 29, 1805. F. Michac4 Egan to Cardinal Soma-
glia, Philadelphia, Dec. 11, 1803. His first entry in the Lancaster Reg
ister is Jan. 17, 1803 ; Register of St. Joseph's is April 11, 1803. Wood-
stock Letters, ii., p. 176. S. M. Sener in U. S. Cath. Hist. Mag., i., p. 45.

« Bull, " Apostolatus Officium," April 8, 1808.

DIOCESE OF PHILADELPHIA. 209

Gifted with rare eloquence, based on ability and learn-
ing, Father Harold made so vivid an impression that
the Bishop-elect resolved to secure him for his diocese,
and solicited the necessary faculties from Archbishop
Carroll.^

When the see of Philadelphia was established, there
were in Philadelphia St. Joseph's and St. Mary's
churches, attended by Rev. Michael Egan, O.S.F., the
Bishop-elect, assisted by Rev. John Rosseter ; Holy
Trinity, attended by Rev. William Elling and F.
Adam Britt' ; St. Augustine's, by V. Rev. Matthew
Carr, O.S.A., and Rev. M. Hurley, O.S.A. Holy
Trinity had by a successful lottery in 1806 erected a
parsonage and St. Joseph's Orphan Asylum, the first
institution of its kind established by Catholics in the
United States.' Rev. Louis de Barth attended at Lan-
caster and Conewago ; Rev. Paul Erntsen had begun in
1793 his quarter century pastorship at Goshenhoppen ;
Rev. S. Y. Phelan had reared a log church at
Sugar Creek, and Father Peter Helbron, O. Min. Cap.,
another log chapel in Westmoreland county ; Rev.
Demetrius A. Gallitzin was laboring in the dis-
trict of which Loretto was the centre, and Rev. W.
F. O'Brien had just left Brownsville to restore to a
permanent footing Catholicity in Pittsburgh, where in
the days of the French the brave men Avho so gallantly
strove to hold that point knelt before the altar of

' Bishop-elect Egan to Archbishop Carroll, Dec. 19, 1808.

'^ Father Britt found the German catechism which had been in use out
of print. He issued a new edition extending the prayers for Confession
and Communion. F. Adam Britt to Archbishop Carroll, Nov. 9, 1809 ;
Finotti, Bibliotheca.

^Rev. E. O. Hilterman, " Kurze Geschichte der Allerheil. Dreifaltig-
keits Gemeinde."

210 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

Our Lady.' There were a few cliurclies without resi-
dent priests, as at Elizabethtown, Westchester," Car-
lisle, and not a few stations scattered far and wide.
Such was the diocese over which the mild and humble
Franciscan was called to exercise his pastoral care,
create resources to meet ever-increasing wants, and
instill into all the lessons of harmony and peace.

The expected Bulls did not arrive, but as early as
October 20, 1808, Archbishop Carroll addressed the
trustees of the several Catholic churches of Philadel-
phia, explaining that it had become indispensably
necessary to make provision, as well for the first ex-
penses of the consecration and installation of the new
prelate, as for his permanent support. He explained
that the Holy See required solid assurance, when new
bishoprics are instituted, that the Bishop shall be in-
dependent of the fluctuations of favor or public opin-
ion and free from all apprehension of being deprived
of his means of support. He accordingly called upon
them for a settlement of the Bisho^j's income on a
footing suitable and honorable to his station, and not
controllable by the influence of those over whose high-
est interest Divine Providence had appointed him.

The trustees of St. Mary's Church, Rev. Adam Britt
pastor, and the trustees of Holy Trinity Church, and
Rev. Michael Hurley for St. Augustine's Church,
bound themselves to make up a yearly amount of eight

' Rev. p. Helbron had visited Pittsburgh as early as 1805. Letter to
Archbisliop Carroll, Nov. 1, 1805.

^ Mr. Anthony Hearn by his will left a mortgage which he held on
church property at White Clay Creek to insure the attendance of a priest
at Westchester. Letter of Rev. J. P. Kenny, May 6, 1807. The corner-
stone of a church to be dedicated to tlie Blessed Virgin was laid at Le-
banon by Rev. F. J. W. Beschter, S J., July 23, 1810. Letter to Arch-
bishop Carroll, Lancaster, Aug. 6, 1810.

BISHOP EG AN CONSECRATED. 211

hundred dollars, St. Mary's paying four hundred dol-
lars, and each of the others two hundred.^ To meet
the accommodation required by the increasing body
of the faithful, an enlargement of St. Mary's Church
was begun in the spring of 1809 and completed in the
autumn of the following year.'^

During the long delay in the arrival of the Bulls
the Bishop-elect could act only as Vicar-General, but
they finally arrived in August, 1810, by the hands
of Bishop-elect Flaget. Arrangements were at once
made for the ceremony, and Rt. Rev. Michael Egan
was consecrated by Archbishop Carroll, with the
Bishop-elect of Bardstown and Boston as assistants,
in St. Peter's Church, the pro-cathedral of Baltimore,
on Sunday, October 28, 1810. Bishop Egan soon after
took i)art as assistant in the consecration of Bishops
Cheverus and Flaget.

He united with his Metropolitan and fellow-suf-
fragans in drawing up rules of discipline, and in a
pastoral letter, as well as in a letter to the Irish
hierarchy.^

Returning to Philadelj)hia, where he was formally
installed in St. Mary's Church, he soon found the
trustees assuming a high tone as owners and proprie-
tors of his cathedral. A very slight examination
showed Dr. Egan that the trustees were not the legal
owners of the church at all.* Before the close of

' Archbishop Carroll to Trustees, Oct. 20, 1808. Action of Trustees,
Nov. 1, 1808, in " Life and Times of Archbishop Carroll," pp. 637-9.

2 Woodstock Letters, ii., p. 78.

» lb., pp. 633-63.

"• Bishop Neale at Baltimore and Georgetown assured Bishop Egan that
there was in Philadelphia, among the papers, a deed of St. Mary's to Rev.
Robert Harding. This on his return he found, dated May 23, 1763.
The Hon. Thomas Fitz Simons was still alive, one of the witnesses of the

212 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

winter, Rev. James Harold, O. S. T>., uncle of the Do-
minican already at St. Mary's, reached Philadelphia,
by way of Rio Janeiro, having escaped from Australia,
to which he had been sent on suspicion of complicity
in the rebellion of 1798.^

Early in the year Father Charles Neale, superior of
the Maryland Jesuits, recalled Father Britt from the
Church of the Holy Trinity in Philadelphia, against
the wish of Archbishop Carroll and Bishop Egan, and
the latter was compelled to rely on Rev. Dr. Mat-
thew O'Brien and Rev. Mr. Kenny to say mass at the
German church.^

In July, though in ill health, he set out from Phila-
delphia, where he had visited the churches, to continue
his visitation through Pennsylvania. He suffered ex-
tremely on the journey from the excessive heat of
the weather and the jolting of the stage-coach on the
mountain roads. Of his visits east of the mountains
we have no record, but we trace him at Brownsville,
where he celebrated mass and administered confir-
mation at the house of Major Noble ; and at Loretto,
where Prince Gallitzin welcomed him heartily, he con-
firmed one hundred and eighty-five, many very young
children. The good effected by the Russian Prince

deed. Bishop Egaa put the deed on record Jan. 29. 1811. Letter to
Archbishop Carroll, Feb. 19, 1811, and deed in U. S. Catholic Hist.
Mag., ii., pp. 31-34.

' Bishop Egan to Archbishop Carroll, March, 1811 ; Hogan, " The
Irish in Australia," Dublin, 1888, pp. 226-230.

' Bishop Egan to Archbishop Carroll, June 5, Oct. 14, 1811. Rev. F.
Maximilian Rantzau was sent soon after, but did not succeed. When
Rev Mr. Kenny attempted to preach threats were made that he would be
dragged from the pulpit. He seems to have been stationed there for the
benefit of those who could no longer speak German. Rev. J. P. Kenny
to Archbishop Carroll, May 6, 1807.

VISITATION. 213

cheered the Bishop so that, on reaching Pittsburgh, he
recovered speedily not only from the fatigue but from
his illness. Here too he administered the sacrament
of confirmation for the first time. "The satisfaction
I experienced in beholding the great number of Catho-
lics throughout that widely extended country ; and
their ]3unctuality in observing their religious duties
v^^henever opportunity offers, more than compensated
for all that I could possibly suffer. I have been in-
deed highly gratified with the rapid increase of relig-
ion in the different congregations I have visited, and
this gratification would be greatly augmented had I
ten more zealous priests to send to their assistance.
The Rev. Mr. Gallitzin is scarcely any longer capable
of attending to the spiritual necessities of the very
numerous congregation committed to his care. I have
promised him an assistant when in my power. In
Pittsburgh also they are crying out for another priest
to assist the Rev. Mr. O'Brien, who has several other
stations to attend, and of course cannot be with them
as often as they would wish. The Rev. Mr. Helbron's
advanced age renders it necessary to provide for his
assistance. In a word, without some timely aid from
Europe, particularly from Ireland, I know not how to
provide for the necessities of this diocese."

During this tour of duty Bishop Egan confirmed
1460 persons ; but if he returned consoled and en-
couraged, he soon found himself involved in disagree-
able complications with the trustees of St. Mary's, and
a struggle began which proved destructive to many
souls, and which for years paralyzed the work of the
Church in Pennsylvania.

' Bishop Egan to Archbishop Carroll, Oct. 8, 1811 ; Lambing, " His-
tory of the Dioceses of Pittsburgh and Alleghany," pp. 40, 237, 306.

214 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

One of the results of the consecration of a Bishop
and his presence at the missions throughout Pennsyl-
vania is shown in the erection of a brick church at
York in 1810 to replace the old stone house that had
previously been in use from 1776, and of a stone
church at Chambersburg in 1812, where the faithful
had previously had only a primitive log chapel.^

When Archbishop Carroll wrote to the trustees of
the Philadelphia churches, one point was overlooked
or evaded in their reply, that relating to the expenses
of Bishop Egan's consecration. The time came, at
last, for him to proceed to Baltimore, and then the
trustees of St. Mary's refused to act in the matter ;
they subsequently demanded that one of the priests
should be dismissed from St. Mary's, and declared
that they had no funds to pay the salaries of the
Bishop and the priests who assisted him.

Bishop Egan then appealed to the pewholders and
called a meeting, against which the trustees issued
their protest, and a long document in which they
stigmatized the action of Bishop Egan in addressing
the faithful of his own cathedral as riotous, disorderly,
pernicious, and antichristian, and these men proceeded
to lecture the Bishop of the diocese on the "pacific,
harmonious, and Christian spirit which pastors should
cherish toward their flocks."^ This pamphlet, with ac-
counts arranged to suit their own purposes, they printed
and distributed widely. The gross misrepresentations
and injurious expressions used by the trustees in their
publication required, as the Bishop believed, a public

' Conewago, pp. 125, 129.

^ " Sundry Documents submitted to the consideration of the pew-
holders of St. Mary's Church by the Trustees of that Church." Phila-
delphia, 1812.

DAYS OF TRIAL. 215

answer, and another meeting of the Congregation was
called at St. Joseph's Chapel, Sept. 21, 1812, which
condemned the trustees and sustained the Bishop.'
The trustees then applied to the Legislature to amend
the charter of the church and exclude the clergy from
the board, but this Bishop Egan succeeded in prevent-
ing.^

Bishop Egan found in his trials that even his two
assistants would not cooperate with him. Father
William V. Harold refused to preach alternately with
his uncle, and when trouble had so undermined the
Bishop's nervous system and general health that he
could scarcely jjut pen to paper or hold the chalice
at mass, both priests refused to aid him in giving
communion to the faithful.^

The next year a new board of trustees was elected,
but they soon showed the same hostility. On the 4th
of May they held a meeting in the absence of the
Bishop and his assistants, and j)assed a resolution
cutting down the salary of Rt. Rev. Dr. Egan and his
two priests to $400 a year. The object in view was to
control the action of the Bishop and force him to
recall the elder Father Harold, whom he had removed.*
As he was firm, however, the younger Harold resigned
in February, 1813.^ When he admonished the majority
of the trustees, who adhered obstinately in their plan
of starving the Bishoj) into subjection to their will in

' Bishop Egan to Archbishop Carroll, Sept. 28, 1813. Proceedings of
meeting, Sept. 21, 1812.
2 Bishop Egan to Archbishop Carroll, Feb. 17, 29, 1812.

* Same to same, Jan. 14, Nov. 7, 1812. The Harolds treated Bishop
Egan with great disrespect, and Rev. James Harold is said even to have
struck him.

* Same to same, July 7, 1813.

^ He sailed from New York in 1813 for Europe by way of Madeira-

216 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

the spiritual management of his diocese, they retali-
a.ted by an Address to the Congregation, in which, af-
ter violent language against the Bishop, they gave a
financial account, including not only what had been
paid, but what they expected to pay, Avhat the Bishop
received from other churches, and what they sup-
posed he and his clergy received from baptisms, mar-
riages, etc.^

Not content with thus grossly assailing their own
Bishop they wrote to ArchbishojD Carroll in a domi-
neering tone that showed little respect for the aged
founder of the Catholic hierarchy in the United States.
His temperate reply, explaining that he had no au-
thority to interfere in the management of a diocese,
drew from them an abusive letter. In his reply to
this he said : "I have still less inclination to notice the
uncivil and unfounded insinuations leveled at me in
your letter. Correspondence should cease when it
is no longer mutually respectful." ^

The condition of the diocese in 1813 may be stated
briefly. Bishop Egan Avas at St. Mary's with Rev. T.
McGirr : Rev. M. Carr at St. Augustine's with Rev.
Michael Hurley ; Rev. Mr. Roloff at Holy Trinity ;
Rev. Michael T. Byrne at Lancaster ; Rev. Dr. A.
Gallitzin at Loretto ; Rev. Mr. O'Brien at Pittsburgh ;
Rev. L. de Barth at Conewago ; Rev. Paul Erntsen
was at Goshenhoppen ; Rev. Patrick Kenny was in
Delaware.

>"To the Congregation of St. Mary's Church," July 25, 1813.
Bisho^ Egan to Archbishop Carroll, July 26, 1813.

* Trustees to Archbisliop Carroll, Aug. 8, 1814 ; Archbishop Carroll's
reply, Aug. 16. Matthew Carey, who took part against Bishop Egan as
he did afterwards against Bishop Conwell, in his " Rejoinder to the Reply
of the Rev. Mr. Harold," Philadelphia, 1822, pp. 11-26, gives a very unfair
account of the troubles in Bishop Egan's time, full of misstatements and
suppressions.

THE TRAPPISTS. 217

The orphan asylum near Holy Trinity had been
maintained, Rev. Mr. Hurley constantly exerting him-
self in its behalf, and Mr. Cornelius Tiers being a gen-
erous benefactor. In 1814 tlie managers of the asylum
through Father Hurley apjDlied to Mother Seton for
Sisters of Charity to assume the direction of the insti-
tution. Three Sisters were at once a^Dpointed, Sister
Rose White being Sister servant. They did not arrive,
however, till after the death of Bishop Egan, leaving
Emmitsburg in September, and reaching PhiladeliDhia
by a tedious land journey, British cruisers holding
the Chesapeake.^

During the year 1813 the ubiquitous Trappists
made a brief attempt to establish a permanent monas-
tic home in Pennsylvania. Father Yincent de Paul
spent some days in August with Bishop Egan at St.
Joseph's residence, leaving his name on the parochial
registers, and then went up to Pike County to examine
some land near Milford, which had been offered to his
community. Finding the land uninviting and the
country wild and unsettled. Father Vincent and his
companions returned to Philadelphia, and in October
were enjoying once more the hospitality of Bislioj?
Egan.^

As the sxn-ing of 1814 advanced, Bishop Egan felt
that his end was not far off. With the nervous pros-
tration came now symptoms of pulmonary difficulties.
Isolated in a manner at Philadelphia, he yearned for
one wise in the ways of God and in spiritual direction.

' Catholic Herald, Sept. 30, 1852; White, "Life of Mrs. Eliza A.
Seton," New York, 1853, pp. 352, 495. The asylum was incorporated
Dec. 18, 1807, and the house purchased in 1811.

' Flick, " French Refugee Trappists." Records of the A. C. H. So-
ciety, i., pp. 111-113.

218 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

He invited Rev. Mr. Babad of St. Sulpice to Philadel-
phia ; but was more successful in liis appeal to the
Jesuit Father, Rev. John Grassi.' As summer came
on his condition became alarming. Drs. Mongez and
Wistar, physicians of admitted ability, were assidu-
ous in their care, and raised hopes of his recovery.
" Every attention, care, and tenderness, spiritual and
temporal, have been bestowed on him by the clergy and
his devoted friends, the true Catholics of the city,"
wrote Rev. P. Kenny to Archbishop Carroll. He
added: " That he has been the first victim of episco-
pal rights, there cannot be the least doubt, .... for
his end has been premature."" He expired on the
morning of July 22, 1814, about 11 o'clock, laid, we
are told, on the floor in the form of a cross, before the
picture of St. Francis of Assisi, in room No. 3 of the
pastoral residence adjoining St. Joseph's Church.

Rev. Michael Hurley spoke touchingly, at the sol-
emn requiem, of the virtues and sufferings of the
deceased Bishop.

Tlie elder Harold soon after wrote to Rome announc-
ing the Bishop's death, stating that Father William
-"V. Harold was Vicar-General, and recommending him
for the vacant see.'

'Bishop Egau to Rev. Mr. Babad, 1814; Woodstock Letters, ii., p.

182.

*Rev. P. Kenny to Archbishop Carroll, .July 22, 1814; Woodstock
Letters, ii., p. 182.

^ Letter, Oct. 7, 1814, cited in documents in. the Propaganda.

CHAPTER XIV.
DIOCESE OF PHILADELPHIA.

V. BEY. ADOLPHUS LOUIS DE BABTH, ADMINISTBATOR,

1814-1820.

Whet^ the see of Pliiladelpliia became vacant by the
death of Bishop Egan, the Y. Rev. Mr. De Earth of
Conewago, whom he had appointed Vicar-General, be-
came Administrator of the diocese. He was extremely
averse to accepting any position of dignity in the
diocese, and at first absolutely declined Bishop Egan's
appointment, but finally yielded.'

He was son of Joseph de Barth, Count de Wal-
bach and his wife, Maria Louisa de Rohme, and was
born at Miinster, Upper Rhine, Nov. 1, 1764. Having
determined to embrace the ecclesiastical state he made
his studies under the Premonstratensians at Bellay,
and the seminary at Strasburg. He was ordained
priest at Strasburg in 1790. The French Revolution
soon drove the titled father and his priestly son from
the land, and they came to the United States. Bishop
Carroll gladly received the young priest, who did good
service in the lower counties of Maryland and after-
wards at Bohemia. In 1800 he was appointed to the
Conewago mission, which he directed with slight inter-
ruption till 1828. His authority was recognized gen-
erally, but not by the lay trustees of St. Mary's
Church, who applied to Archbishop Carroll to restore
Rev. William V. Harold. The venerable Metropolitan
replied : " I find that no right is left with me to inter-

> F, Lud. de Barth to Archbishop Carroll, July 24, 1814.
219

220 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

fere in the government lately vested in Doctor Egan.
He nominated, several days before his death, the Rev.
Mr. Louis de Barth, pastor of Conewago, for his Vicar-
General ; and upon full examination by some of my
Reverend Brethren, and learned professors of divinity
here, as well as by myself, it is found to be expressly
ordained, that when a bishop dies in whose diocese
there is neither a cathedral chapter, nor a coadjutor
appointed with a right of succession, the Vicar-Gen-
eral not only may, but is commanded to exercise all
the authority of the deceased till the Holy See appoint
a new bishop. The Vicar-General enters on this office
immediately in virtue of the power of the Pope him-
self, and he holds it dependent] y on the Pope alone.
This is the provision made for the continuation of
episcopal authority during the vacancy of the bishop-
ric of Philadelphia." '

Archbishop Carroll and his suffragans were con-
vinced that the interests of religion required that the
bishopric should be filled with as little delay as possi-
ble. The Rev. John B. David, learned and pious, was
proposed, although Bishop Flaget showed great re-
luctance to allow him to leave Kentucky. Archbishop
Carroll expressed to Cardinal Litta his surprise on
hearing that Rev. AVilliam V. Harold had been sug-
gested to the Propaganda, and said that although he
was a distinguished preacher, he had conducted him-

' Archbishop Carroll to Trustees of St. Mary's, July 37, 1814. Mat-
thew Carey and the partisans of Hogan falsified this letter by reading
"cathedral, chapter," and cited Dr. Carroll as declaring that St. Mary's
was not a cathedral. Where there was a chapter of canons in a cathe-
dral, they chose a Vicar-Capitular, who acted as Administrator. See
[Carey] " Review of three Pamphlets," 1823, p. 34. "Address of the
Ti'ustees," Sept., 1823, p. 16. See letter correctly given in "A Post-
script to the Rev. Mr. Harold's Address to the Roman Catholics of Phil-
adelphia," pp. 16-17.

REV. D. A. GALLITZIN. 221

self so disrespectfully toward his Bishop (the late Rt.
Rev. Dr. Egan) that if he were to be appointed for
Philadelphia, serious dissensions and recessions from
the Church might justly be apprehended.' The Prop-
aganda yielded to the wishes of Bishop Flaget, and
the Rev. Ambrose Marechal was appointed. That
clergyman, however, declined the appointment and re-
turned the bulls, although Cardinal Litta urged him
to accept and to recognize the will of God in the judg-
ment of the Holy See ;' but as he persisted in his re-
fusal to undertake the onerous task, bulls appoint-
ing Y. Rev. Louis de Earth were dispatched in
1818.'

That experienced priest had meanwhile endeavored
to manage the affairs of the diocese without exciting
any fresh discontent. In Western Pennsylvania Rev.
Demetrius Gallitzin had continued his laborious min-
istry, and roused by the attacks made on Catholicity
by a Protestant minister, on a day appointed by govern-
ment for humiliation and prayer, wrote a series of
articles in reply which attracted general attention, and
which he collected and printed at Pittsburg in 1816,
under the title, "A Defence of Catholic Principles, in
a Letter to a Protestant Minister."* The little work
was widely read, and served to open the eyes of many
to Catholic truth. Indeed, it became a standard

' Archbishop Carroll to Cardinal Litta, Nov. 28, 1814. The lay trus-
tees of St. Mary's addressed the Sovereign Pontiff in favor of Harold,
but the Propaganda, Nov. 11, 1820. in reply stated that His Holiness had
not found in him the qualities necessary for a bishop,

2 Cardinal Litta to Archbishop Carroll, Dec. 23, 1815 ; to Archbishop
Neale, July 13, 1816.

3 Same to Archbishop Marechal, April 1, 1818.

4 144 pp., printed by S. Engles. Winchester, Va., 1818.

222 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

manual ; it was constantly reprinted, and is still
sold.

When notice of liis api3ointment arrived, Y. Rev.
Mr. De Bartli drew up a statement showing his de-
ficiency in the qualities required by a bishop, and
transmitting them to Archbishop Marechal, he said :
"I declare to you, Monseigneur, that if you do not
forward my objections to the Holy See, and His Holi-
ness sees and weighs them, I will not accept, but will
kneel down and devoutly put the bulls in the fire, as
we do with fragments of articles that have been
blessed. Then I will make out testimonials for my-
self, signed in my real name, as Vicar-General, and
give myself anotlier name in the body of the paper,
and then farewell, Monseigneur. Neither you nor
any one else shall ever know the corner of the globe
where I shall vegetate the few years still left me to
live."

On the 10th of October, 1816, the Catholics in a val-
ley ten miles west of G-ettysburg, who had for some
years possessed a cemetery of their own, encouraged
by the Jesuit Fathers who attended them, laid the
corner-stone of St Ignatius, or the Mountain Church, a
little structure, 40 by 70 feet. This same year the
pious Father De Andreis of the Congregation of the
Missions, on his way to St. Louis, reached Pittsburgh
at a moment Avhen Rev. Mr. O'Brien was off attending
one of his remote stations. Pittsburg could boast a
church. Its poverty did not alarm the good Lazarist,
but the pastor had the only chalice with him. At
last a pewter chalice was found in one place and a
XJaten in another, and the piety of priest and people
was gratified. The next year we find the earnest
Father Matthew Lekeu, S. J., at Conewago, and two
years later in December, 1819, York received its first

REV. C. B. MAGUIRE. 223

resident priest in the person of Rev. Lorenz Huber,
About the same time mass began to be said at Blairs-
ville and Cameron Bottom.^

The Rev. Peter Helbron, after years of devoted ser-
vice in Westmoreland County, went to Philadelphia
to obtain surgical treatment for a tumor on his neck,
but died at Carlisle on his homeward journey. He
was succeeded in his mission by Rev. Charles B.
Maguire.

This zealous Franciscan of the strict observance,
who was destined to labor fruitfully in western Penn-
sylvania, arrived in 1817, with faculties from Cardinal
Litta, which were indorsed by xVrchbishop Marechal.
He had taught theology at St. Isidore's in Rome, had
served eight years in Germany, and sjDoke the lan-
guage of that country fluently. Very Rev. Mr. De
Barth stationed him first at Ebensburg, but we shall
soon see him in charge at Pittsburgh.^

Philadelphia diocese needed good clergy, as some of
the able and zealous priests were sinking under their
labors. The Rev. Mr. Erntzen of Goshenhoppen
had died, and was soon followed by the Rev. Mr.
Byrne.

Prince Gallitzin's missions had increased beyond
the power of his devoted zeal to attend satisfactorily,
and Rev. Mr. De Barth stationed at Bedford Rev.
Mr. Kearns, who had been at Chambersburg.

The condition of these districts required the pres-
ence of the Administrator, and he spent some time

' Lambing, pp. 41, 254, 400, etc.

^ Very Rev. L. de Barth to Archbishop Marechal, Sept. 23, 1817.
His name was sent on to Rome in 1820, for an American See, by the Irisli
bishops. Few priests came more higlily recommended, with a letter
from Cardinal Litta, the approbation of his General and of his Bishop iu
Germany. Lambing, " History of the diocese of Pittsburg," p. 367.

224 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

at Goshenhoppen, then visited Conewago, Lancaster,
and Reading.^

Tlie Very Rev. Administrator had received into the
diocese, and placed at St. Mary's Seminary, Mr. G. D.
Hogan of Limerick, a candidate for holy orders, who
came furnished with commendatory letters. A cousin
of this gentleman, already a j^riest. Rev. William
Hogan, had taken up temporarily the exercise of the
ministry in the diocese of New York, and been sta-
tioned by Bishoj) Connolly at Albany. As he wished
to be in the same diocese with his kinsman, he ap-
plied to Archbishop Marechal, who had meanwhile
ordained his relative for admission into the diocese of
Baltimore, but meeting no encouragement came on to
Philadelphia, where V. Rev. Mr. De Barth received him
conditionally, apparently on tlie representations of his
relative, as he came without his credentials, although
he promised to return to New York for them, with an
exeat from Bishop Connolly.

The Very Rev. Administrator soon found that he
had acted precipitately. Rev. Mr. Hogan not only in-
stalled himself, but soon began to show a sense of his
own importance. The house which had been occupied
by the clergy, and the attendance there, did not meet
his ideas, and he took board in the city to make him-
self conspicuous, and he began to show a turbulent
disposition. News of Bishop ConwelFs appointment
had, however, arrived, and as he was soon expected
the Administrator left the whole affair to be settled by
liim, little dreaming of the misery his incautious act
was to entail on the diocese of Philadelphia. ^ The

'Very Rev. L. de Barth to Archbishop Marechal, May 27, July 5, Nov.
11. 1818, Nov. 22, 1819.

5 Rev. W. Hogan to Archbishop Marechal, Aug. 27, 31, 1820. Very
Rev. L. de Barth to same, May 15, 24, Sept. 20, 1820.

COMING TROUBLES. 225

news of the appointment of a bishop was received by
the Administrator with a sense of great relief.

Other troubles came toward the close of his admin-
istratorship. Two German priests at Conewago and
Little York gave scandal, and he was compelled to
withdraw their faculties. The wretched men soon
apostatized, one to become an Episcopal minister, and
leading Orangeman in Upper Canada.^

Acting with but limited powers, and without the
episcopal dignity, the Very Rev. Louis de Barth had
endeavored to manage the affairs of the large diocese.
His deep sense of the difficulties in prospect had
doubtless been one motive for his persistent refusal
of the episcopal dignity. He wrote to Archbishop
Marechal in February, 1820, "Bishop Con well will
have his hands full. Lancaster, Lebanon, Little York,
and Conewago in a state of confusion"; but he did
not foresee that still greater trials aAvaited him at
Philadelphia. Yet the conduct of the trustees of St.
Mary's was such that he wrote to the Metropolitan, as
early as March 27, 1818, "They will soon shut the
door on lawful pastors."

After being relieved of his position as Administra-
tor, Rev. Mr. De Barth continued his ministry at
Conewago till 1828, when he was received in Baltimore
diocese, and placed in charge of St. John's Church,
Baltimore, and directed the congregation for ten years.
Li 1838, age and increasing infirmities warned him to
I)repare for his departure, and he withdrew to George-
town College. Here he lived in quiet seclusion, de-
voting his life to meditation and prayer. In the last
days of 1843 he stumbled and fell while going up-
stairs, and though at first he showed no signs of injury,

' Very Rev. L. de Barth to Archbishop Marechal, May 18, 1820

226 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

the shock proved serious. He was soon unable to
leave his room, and to console the aged priest mass
was offered in an adjoining apartment. He expired
on the 13th of October about live o'clock, his brother

SIGNATURE OP BISUOP DE BARTH.

Colonel de Walbach and his nephew having come to
his dying bed. He was buried on the 15th, Bishop
Fenwick of Boston offering tlie holy sacrifice and
addressing those present on the services of the aged
servant of God.'

' U. S. Catli. Mag., iii., p. 745-6. Georgetown Record. Letter to
Archbishop Marechal, Sept, 28, 1826.

SEAL OP BISHOP CONWELL.

CHAPTER XY.

DIOCESE OF PHILADELPHIA.

RT, EEV. HENRY CON WELL, D.D., SECOND BISHOP,

1820-1842.

Henry Conwell was born in the year 1745 in the
County Derry, Ireland. His family had founded a
bourse in the Irish College at Paris, and here he made
his ecclesiastical studies. While a seminarian at this
famous seat of learning, which in the days of the
penal laws trained so many priests for the labors and
dangers of mission life in Ireland, yonng Conwell at-
tracted the attention of Benjamin Franklin.

After completing his divinity studies he was or-
dained in 1776, the year when the Continental Congress
proclaimed the former English Colonies to be Inde-
pendent States, and issued their Declaration in the
city where he was nearly half a century later to pre-
side as Bishop. The war of the American Revolution
had scarcely closed, however, before the priest, who
had been employed as a missionary in his native dio-
cese, formed the project of devoting himself to the
service of the Church in the United States. Learning
that the missions in this country had been organized
under a Prefect appointed by Pope Pius YI., he wrote
through a gentleman in Philadelphia to Father Farmer
to offer his services to Dr. Carroll. The venerable
Farmer sent his application to the Prefect, stating,
"He is said to be an excellent scholar and would not

228 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

refuse to be employed in teaching. " ^ A favorable open-
ing seems to have detained him in Ireland, and he be-
came parish priest of Diingarvan. In time his merit
raised him to the important position of Vicar- General
of the diocese of Armagh, and on the death of Arch-
bishop Richard O'Reilly, he was so strongly recom-
mended as a fit person to succeed to the primacy of
all Ireland, that when Dr. Curtis was finally ap-
pointed, the Very Rev, Henry Conwell received the
option of the sees of Philadelphia or Madras. True to
his earlier preference he chose that of Philadelphia.
He was elected to the see on the 26th of November,
1819, and soon received his bulls. He was much be-
loved, and the people of his parish, supported by the
clergy of the diocese, applied to the primate to jjeti-
tion the Pope not to charge the Rev. Dr. Conwell with
so heavy a burden at his advanced age. The authori-
ties in Rome, however, did not see fit to alter what
had already been decided.^

For reasons not evident Dr. Conwell forwarded his
bulls to Bishop Poynter, Vicar-Apostolic of the Lon-
don District, who advised him to come over to England,
offering to act as consecrator. St. Bartholomew's day,
August 24, 1820, was selected for the ceremony.

After receiving episcopal consecration, Bisho}) Con-
well made the necessary preparations for his voyage,
and sailed from Liverpool with Bernard Keenan, a
young ecclesiastic whom he accepted for his diocese.

' F. Farmer to V. Rev. John Carroll, Nov. 29, 1785 ; A. C. Hist. Re-
searches, v., pp. 41-3.

« Prefect of the Propaganda to Bishop Plunkett, Dec. 19, 1818; Peti-
tion from Dungarvan, Feb. 22, 1830. Bishop-elect Conwell to Cardinal
Fontana, in itinere, Aug. 1, 1830. Notizie, Rome, 1824, p. 313 ; Car-
dinal Consalvi to Bishop-elect Conwell, Nov. 86, 1819. Proceedings
published in Irish papers of the time.

RT. REV. HENRY CONWELL, SECOND BISHOP OF PHILADELPHIA.

HOGAN'S CASE. 229

They landed in Baltimore Nov. 21, 1820, and reached
Philadelphia on the 2d of December.^

After being installed in his see Bishop Conwell was
very unfavorably impressed by the conduct and lan-
guage of Rev. William Hogan, who from the very pul-
pit of the cathedral openly ridiculed the Bishop for his
simplicity and a slight hesitation in speech. Finding
that he was not actually a priest of the diocese of
Philadelphia, or regularly admitted to it even for
temporary service, since he had never presented his
credentials, Bishop Conwell on the 12th of December
revoked all faculties given by V. Rev. Louis de Barth
as Administrator.'^

Rev. William Hogan had, however, the trustees on
his side, and a public meeting was called which
adopted an address to the Bishop, asking the restora-
tion of Hogan, and concluding with a falsehood and a
veiled threat : "Perhaps you will not consider it irrel-
evant to state that St. Mary's Church is the property
of the laity, and the clergy are supported by them."^
The Bishop in a mild but firm reply declared that he
acted under a sense of duty. Another meeting was
held which talked of reconciliation as though the
action of the Bishop was merely a personal quarrel

' Vallette, " Catholicity in Eastern Pennsylvania," Catholic Record,
July, 1877.

'Bishop Conwell to Archbishop Marechal, Dec. 11, 1820 ; Archbishop
Marechal to Bishop Poynter, March 30, 1821.

^Address of committee and meeting, in Hogan, "An Address to
the Congregation of St. Mary's Church, Philadelphia," pp. 19-20. In
the address, as in most of the documents by the trustees and their
friends, the really Protestant ideas of the men appear. Instead of
calling Bishop Conwell, Bishop of Philadelphia, they call him, in the
style of the Protestant Episcopalians. Bishop of Pennsjivania. Even
Matthew Carey does this, and as a rule they quote the Protestant not
the Catholic Bible.

230 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

with a priest, Hogan then issued an address at-
tacking the character of the Administrator and every
priest in Pliikidelphia ; he began to cite extracts from
the " Corpus Juris Canonici," assuming to be a i)arish
priest, and maintaining that canon law was established
in this country, when in fact it never had been, but
the Popes expressly treated it as a missionary country.
No i^arish had ever been canonically established in the
original diocese of Baltimore or its divisions, and
there were consequently no parish priests.

Mr. Hogan also called upon Archbishop Marechal
to convene a provincial council of all the bishops to
examine his case. He also issued a forged pastoral
letter, ascribed to Bishop Conwell, full of absurdities,
and entitled in Protestant style, "A Charge." Inves-
tigation into the antecedents of Hogan showed that in
Ireland and America he had manifested a desire and
inclination to renounce the doctrines of the Catholic
Church and enter the Anglican or Protestant Episco-
pal body. Archbishop Marechal replied to Hogan :
" Rev. Sir. After the public appeal you made to the
congregation of St. Mary's, by the most abominable
pamphlet that has ever disgraced the Church of God
in this country, you have no longer anj^ right what-
ever to call on me as Metropolitan. No! not even
under the vulgar pretext of your being innocent and
persecuted." Bishop Connolly declared that Hogan' s
citations " were artfully calculated to lead into error
those who were ignorant of ecclesiastical censures, and
that the pompous quotations contained in his address
avail nothing, not being to the purpose as regards the
simple prohibition given to a clergyman to exercise
his clerical functions."

On the 11th of February, 1821, Bishop Conwell gave
notice to the congregation of his canonical steps,

THE TRUSTEES. 231

taken in the case of the refractory priest, and warning
them against employing his ministry or attending any
service that he might attempt while suspended.^

Matthew Carey, a well-known citizen, whose influence
in the cause of right would have been beneficial, insidi-
ously fanned the flames of discontent by publications
scattered far and wide, even after Bishop Conwell had
called upon him and assured him that the unworthy
character of Rev. Mr. Hogan was callable of absolute
proof. But Mr. Carey erected himself into an eccle-
siastical court and pronounced the susjDension of
Hogan, "a violent measure, not only unsupported by,
but contradictory to the canons of the Church," and
assuming the judicial powers of the Sovereign Pontiff
he declared that "it ought to be immediately with-
drawn." ^ Public meetings were held at which Bishoj)
Conwell was denounced in violent language, Hogan
appealed for the judgment of the Bishops of Boston
and Charleston, but when Bishop Cheverus, addressing
the Bishop of Philadelphia, after reading all the docu-
ments, wrote, "I am persuaded that you had more
than sufficient reasons for withdrawing his faculties,"
Hogan denied the genuineness of his letter, and then
his competency to give a judgment !

Unfortunately, bad as Hogan Avas, the men who
supported him were far worse. Bishoj) England justly
says of many that they "never discharged a single

' " Sundry Documents addressed to St. Mary's Congregation," Phila-
delphia, 1821. [Hogan], "A Brief Reply to a Ludicrous Pamphlet en-
titled Sundry Documents," 48 pp. The forged " Charge " was reprinted
■with a Review, and though the forgery was patent and undeniable,
Hogan's advocates constantly cited it as genuine.

'■^ [M. Carey], "Address to the Right Rev., the Bishop of Pennsyl-
vania and the Members of St. Mary's Congregation," 4 pp. " Address
to the Right Rev. Bishop Conwell and the Members of St. Mary's Con-
gregation," 4 pp.

2S2 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

duty of those principally obligatory on Catholics ;
they and the other members of their party were not
only negligent in the performance of positive duty,
but either from ignorance of the principles of the re-
ligion which they professed, or from an utter dislike
to them, were hostile to Catholic discipline."^ On
this point the evidence is overwhelming. The leaders
were not practical Catholics, and did not deny the
fact. Even Matthew Carey, who late in life edified all
by his piety, was at this time so indifferent that not
one of his children had ever been instructed or pre-
pared to receive holy communion.' Knowing and
appreciating but slightly the doctrines and consola-
tions of the Catholic religion, they were deeply imbued
witli Protestant ideas, and sought to force them on
practical Catholics.

On the withdrawal of Hogan's faculties, that head-
strong priest hired a Methodist meeting-house at S850
a year, and projiosed to establish an Independent
Catholic church.^ This, however, did not suit the
views of the trustees of St. Mary's, who were bent on
driving the Bishop and priests empowered by him
from that church and placing a tool of their own there.
They soon acquired complete control of the unfortu-
nate priest. Hogan himself declared to Bishop Eng-
land, "That he never intended opposing the Bishop,
but that the trustees urged and prevailed on him to
do so ; and that the dread of their vengeance and
exposure was what kept him in a place which was to
him the worst species of slavery, and from which he
was anxious to escape." *

' Works, v., p. 109.

^ Bishop Conwell, letter, Jan. 17, 1825.

^ Bishop Conwell to Archbishop Marechal. Jan. 31, Feb. 5, 1821.

^ Bishop England to same, Dec. 22, 1822.

HOGAN DISREGARDS MONITION. 233

The trustees then excluded the Bishop from the
"board on the ground that he was not a citizen of the
United States, and called public meetings, at which
great excitement prevailed and violent collisions took
place. Their great object was to carry the approach-
ing election and retain their power. Many real Catho-
lics protested against this violent and irreligious
course, and an address embodyingtheir views was pre-
sented to the Bishop on the 19th of April by Charles
Johnson, John Carrell, Cornelius Tiers, and others.

To give greater effect to their course the trustees
forwarded an appeal to Rome against the action of the
Bishop, though, as the sequel showed, they had no in-
tention of abiding by any decision of the Holy See.
The election was held on the 23d, and the matter was
so manipulated that the candidates opposed to the
Bishop Avere declared to be elected. Emboldened by
this success, the trustees, on the 10th of May, passed a
resolution inviting Rev. Mr. Hogan to resume his
functions in St. Mary's Church, though he declared
himself to belong to the diocese of Limerick and had
no longer any faculties in the diocese of Philadelphia.
Bishop Conwell, on the 15th, gave him written notice
that he would be excommunicated on his first attempt
to perform any function as pastor of St. Mary's.

In spite of this, Hogan officiated at a funeral on the
15th, and the next day, Sunday, said mass in St.
Mary's Church, which had been closed by the trus-
tees the previous Sunday, and the lawfully appointed
clergymen. Rev. Messrs. Cummiskey and Hayden, ex-
cluded/

A schism was thus inaugurated. The church was in
the hands of men who had expelled the Bishop and

' Bishop Conwell to Archbishop Marechal, May 16, 1821.

234 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

his clergy, and installed a priest without faculties, and
that pending an appeal on their side to Rome.

Bishop Conwell, after giving Hogan another moni-
tion, proceeded to the stej) of final excommunication.
It was ^formally pronounced in Saint Augustine's
Church, on the 27th of May, by the Bishop of Philadel-
phia in person, assisted by the Rev. Messrs. Hurley,
Roloff, Holland, Cummiskey, Hayden, and Doyle, ac-
cording to the form jDrescribed by the Roman Pontifi-
cal. The Rev. William Hogan was cut off from the
Church for his contumacy and j^erseverance in the
disregard of all authority, and for having usurped and
exercised priestly and pastoral functions in defiance
of the Bishop's prohibition, frequently repeated, and
made under XJain of excommunication. After reading
the j)rescribed Latin form, a free translation in English
was given to enable all j)resent to understand the
nature of the ceremony by which a disobedient mem-
ber of the Church was cut off from all communion
with it.^

Though thus driven from St. Mary's Church, which
Bishop Egan had made his cathedral, a sanctuary was
open to him, and the i^riests appointed to St. Mary's
who formally withdrew. "Thank God," he wrote,
"our little church here of St. Joseph, the cradle of
Catholicity through all these Middle and Northern
States, does not belong to lay trustees ; it still is the
property of the Society of Jesus, which planted relig-
ion in this country and should never be forgotten."

This became the pro-cathedral of Bishop Conwell,
but on Christmas night the rebellious part of his flock
made an attempt to destroy it. A piece of burning
wood, wrapped in paper, was placed at the door of the

' Bishop Conwe]! to Archbishop Marechal, June 15, 1823.

STRANGE AUTHORITIES. 235

church at midnight, but when the door actually began
to blaze it was fortunately discovered, the fire extin-
guished, and the church saved.

Such a malignant attempt aroused the zeal and piety
of the faithful. A subscription was opened to enlarge
the venerable church ; a thousand dollars was soon
contributed and work began on the addition, while
the increased piety and devotion were a consolation to
the Bishop.^ As the adherents of the excommunicated
priest could not always be recognized or excluded
from the churches, it would have been impossible to
offer the Holy Sacrifice had not Pope Pius VII. given
special permission to meet the case.^

The schismatics endeavored to justify their position
by obtaining the opinions of two Spanish priests then
in Philadelphia, whom they represented to their fol-
lowers as bishops, but who were men who had never
presented any credentials to any bishop in the United
States or pretended to officiate as priests. One of
these was a wandering Franciscan, who assumed to
have been Vicar-General of the armies of Spain. That
office was always held by bishops, often of the highest
rank, even Cardinals and Archbishops of Toledo. That
Friar John Rico ever held it is next to impossible.
He probably acted as chaplain to some insurgent
band which adopted the pompous title of "Armies
of Spain," for in Philadelphia he had simply been
a manufacturer and vender of cigars. Leamy and
Meade took down this friar's statement as to the law
of the Church, which the friar did not sign, and pub-
lished it in pamphlet form, as decisive on the question

' Bishop Conwell to Archbishop Marechal, Jan. 22, 1821, June 18,
1821.

' Decretum sacrae Congregationis de Propaganda Fide, July 18, 1822.

236 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

between the Bishop and the men elected by pew and
seat-holders.^

Another pretended bishop whose authority schis-
matics invoked was the Rev. Servandus A. Mier, one
of the strangest characters in the revolutionary history
of Mexico. Appointed to preach on the feast of Onr
Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of New Spain, he scan-
dalized his hearers by a tierce denunciation of all
devotion to the Blessed Virgin. Arrested for this
attack on the recognized doctrine and practice of the
Church, he was imprisoned by the court of the inqui-
sition, but, escaping during the political troubles, he
made his way to England. There he fell in with
Blanco White, and other Spaniards, imbued with the
prevailing infidel ideas : but did not openly renounce
the faith. AVlien General Mina was forming his
expedition against Mexico, Mier joined him, and after
the force reached the coast Mier was left with part of
the forces at Soto la Marina in Tamaulipas, south of
the Rio Grande. Here he j)assed himself off as Bishop
of Baltimore, performed episcopal functions, and
crowned his impiety by offering the holy sacrifice with
pulque, a liquor made from the magiiey plant, instead
of wine. His sacrilegious course drew from the gov-
ernors of the diocese of Linares a special address to
the faithful. Captured by Spanish troops at Soto la
Marina he was again incarcerated for his Irreligious
conduct, but finally reached Philadelphia. This
utterly worthless character was appealed to by Hogan
and his party as an authority. Like the Rev. John
Rico, Mier decided that Bishop Conwell was a repro-
bate, and that a priest coming from abroad with

' The opinion of tlie Rt. Rev. Dr. John Rico, of the order of St. Francis,
D.D., and Vicar-General of the " Armies of Spain," etc., 1821 ; Bishop
Conwell to Archbishop Marechal, June 20, 1821.

RE VOL UTIONAR Y IDEAS. 237

faculties from his own bisliop lias a perfect riglit to
act under them in a missionary country, without au-
thority from the local bishop. They indorsed all
Hogan's citations from the canons as being still the
law of the Church, applicable to the condition of affairs
in Philadelphia/

Aware that there were turbulent men in New York,
Norfolk, and Charleston, Leamy, Ashley, Meade, and
their confederates next endeavored to make a gen-
eral schism in the Church in the United States. They
issued, on the 18th of June, an address which stands
as a perpetual monument of their iniquity. It was
entitled, "Address of the Committee of St. Mary's
Church of Philadelphia, to their brethren of the Ro-
man Catholic Faith throughout the United States of
America, on the subject of a reform of certain abuses
in the administration of our Church Discipline."
These trustees of St. Mary's Church, elected by seat
hirers under a state law, a body not recognized by any
canons of the Church, men who admitted that they did
not approach the sacraments, say: "Owing to the
arbitrary and unjustifiable conduct of certain foreign-
ers, sent amongst us by the Junta or Commission,
directing the Fide Propaganda of Rome, imperiously
call on us to adopt some measures by which an uniform
system may be established for the future regulation of

' " Opinion of the Right Rev. Servandus A. Mier," etc., July 11, 1821,
pp. 16; Robinson, " Memoirs of the Mexican Revolution," p. 177 ;
Alaman, " Historia de Mejico," Mexico, 1850, iii., p. 64 ; iv., pp. 550-595 ;
Libro de Gobierno de San Antonio, Texas. The whole of Mier's
theories was demolished in a very clear pamphlet, "Remarks on the
Opinion of the Right Rev. Servandus A. Mier," etc., Philadelphia, 1821,
8 pp. The trustees tried to make people believe that Mier was a nuncio,
sent by the Pope to regulate the church in the United States, and to
sanction its independ'ince. Bishop Conwell to Archbishop Marechal,
June 20, 1821.

238 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

our churches ; the propagation of our holy Faith by
the nomination and selection of proper pastors from
our own citizens, from whom alone ought to be chosen
our bishops, without our being compelled to depend
on persons sent to us from abroad, who have uniformly
shown themselves hostile to our institutions." After
stigmatizing the bishops of the country, except Dr.
Carroll, as "a disgrace to our religion," who attempted
to introduce "superstition and ignorance," they had
the effrontery to speak for the Catholics of the United
States and assume to represent them. " We claim the
exclusive right, which always belonged to the Church,
of electing our own pastors and bishops." Their pur-
pose evidently was to elect laymen, for they proceeded
to claim that the bishop elected by the trustees and
congregation of each State shall be ordained in this
country, and receive the bull as a matter of course.
No priest in the church which these men proposed to
establish was to be suspended until tried by three or
more priests of distinct States. They proposed to send
a person to Rome "with full powers and authority
from the Catholics of the United States and enter into
a regular and written agreement with our holy father,
the Pox)e," to obtain these regulations of bishops and
clergy, but they did not recommend any obedience on
the part of the laity.

A calm and temperate reply to this audacious
address, after exposing the misstatements and impiety
of Ashley and his associates, well said, "We have
every reason to suppose that their present unhappy
state is owing to their former neglect in not attend-
ing to the duties of their religion ; let us tremble
for ourselves ; the same cause Avill have the same
effect on us if we act in the same manner." ^ It is

■ " Address to the Roman Catholics of tlie United States by a Lay-

HERETICAL CATECHISM. 239

needless to say that this anticatliolic and revolu-
tionary appeal met no encouraging response from any
part of the United States,

That the schismatics had absolutely lost the faith is
apparent from an edition of Butler's catechism issued
by them, revised by Rev. W. Hogan. In it the chap-
ter on Confession and Indulgences was suppressed,
and in the 10th lesson perfect contrition was declared
to be the only remedy for actual mortal sin. This
catechism the Bishop promptly condemned, warning
the faithful against its use.^

During this time the trustees paid a salary to Rev.
Mr. Hogan, but refused to make any payment to the
Bishop or the priests whom he had ajjpointed to St.
Mary's. Cut off in this way from the usual resources
of his x^i'sdecessor. Dr. Con well was crippled for
means in making visitations to the various parishes
of his diocese. Religion suffered not only in Phila-
delphia, but in all parts of Pennsylvania. Yet
Catholicity was making some gain. On January
1st, 1821, Bishop CouAvell ordained Rev. Bernard
Keenan, and on May 1st, Rev. Thomas Heyden,
both destined to labor long and well. Rev. Terence
McGirr became a missionary in Westmoreland County
and the next year erected a log church, which has
lasted to our times. This humble shrine he dedicated
to our Lady of Mount Carmel. The Rev. Cliarles
Ferry took up his residence in 1821 at St. Patrick's

man of St. Mary's Congregation," Philadelphia, July, 1821. "A
Republication of two Addresses," etc., New York, 121. In a violent
reply, " An Answer to the Address of a Catholic Layman," Phila-
delphia, July 27, 1821, the neglect of the trustees to approach the
sacraments was admitted, but was justified by the fact that there were no
suitable confessors in the city !

^ Bishop Conwell to Archbishop Marechal, June 18, 1821.

240 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

Church, Sugar Creek, and began to attend a liundred
and forty Catholic families, scattered over an area
of thirty miles square. Father Charles B. Maguire
found his Pittsburgh congregation so much increased
in numbers and in si)irit, many now coming forward
who had been ashamed of their faith, that he enlarged
his church, and in a few years added galleries.^

Bishop Conwell made some visitations near Phila-
delphia, as we find him in September, 1821, at Cone-
wago. At the suggestion of some persons, and
ignorant of his previous career in the diocese. Bishop
Conwell had invited from the Corjpo Santo Convent at
Lisbon, Father William V. Harold. He arrived on
the 2d of December and became Secretary, and sub-
sequently Vicar-General, but he failed to exercise the
influence anticipated in recalling the schismatics back
to the Catholic Church.

In the autumn of 1821 Bishop Conwell resolved to
visit Canada in order to appeal to the generosity of
the clergy at Quebec and Montreal to aid his little
faithful flock in the work they had undertaken. His
Canada visit had also another object. This was the
establishment of an Ursuline convent in Philadelphia,
three young ladies of means wishing to enter the
religious life under the rule of St. Angela. He hoped
to arrange with the convent at Quebec to receive them
as novices and send them back with some experienced
nuns to found the proposed house. ^

Before this. Bishop England of Charleston passed
through Philadelphia on his way to New York. He
was followed by Hogan, who offered to be guided by

' Bishop Conwell to Cardinal Fontana, Jan. 7, 1822. Lambing, p.
368, 415. Truth Teller, 1., p. 19.

* Bishop Conwell to Bishop Plessis, Quebec, Oct. 25, 1821 ; " Les
Ursulines de Quebec," iii., p. 508.

BISHOP ENGLAND. 241

the Bishop of Charleston. About the middle of Octo-
ber Dr. England saw Bishop Conwell in New York,
and obtained permission to absolve Hogan, if he
would leave Philadelphia, and enter the diocese of
Charleston, Further than this Bishop Conwell would
not go. Bishop England then went to Philadelphia
with the Rev. John Power as his secretary. Rev. Mr.
Hogan asked to be received into the diocese of Charles-
ton, was received by Bishop England, who, under the
power conferred by Bishop Conwell, absolved him
from his excommunication. Bishop England cau-
tioned him, as a priest of his diocese, not to attempt to
officiate in the diocese of Philadelphia. But Ashley,
Leamy, and Fagan reproached Hogan for deserting
them and persuaded the unfortunate priest to officiate
on Sunday once more in St. Mary's Church. Bishop
England had no alternative but to renew the sentence
of excommunication. His conduct was cruelly mis-
represented by the schismatics, and so prepossessed
was Bishoj) Conwell against him that it required a
series of letters to justify, in the eyes of the Bishop
of Philadelphia, the efforts made with the best inten-
tions, but which proved so futile.^

The legislature of Pennsylvania, whom the trustees

' Diary of Bishop England, Sept. 5— Oct. 21, 1821. Rev. J. Power to
Bishop Plessis, Nov. 6, 1831. Hogan, "An Answer to a Paragraph con-
tained in the U. S. Catholic Miscellany," Phila., 1822, p. 39 ; England,
" Letters to the Rt. Rev. Dr. Conwell," Works, v., pp. 118-168; Hogan,
" A Reply to Sundry Letters," 1822, again reprinting the forged
"Charge "of Bishop Conwell Bishop Conwell to Cardinal Fontana,
Feb. 8, 1822. Bishop England to same, Oct. 9, 1821, in " Sacra Congre-
gazione de Propaganda Fide . , . Ristretto," Rome, 1822. Bishop
England says well of these schismatics : " These men are not Roman
Catholics. Let the test of Catholicity be applied to them. Let them be
required to subscribe the authorized profession of Catholic faith, and
the infidel will soon stand openly confessed. In every age, in every
nation, the pretexts of error have been the same." v., p. 169.

242 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

petitioned for an amendment to the charter of St.
Mary's Church, by which the clergy of the church
were to be deprived of their seats as members of the
board, passed an act on the 20th of March, 1821,
which authorized the Supreme Court to allow amend-
ments to the charter. A meeting of Hogan's adherents
was soon after held at which amendments were pro-
posed, and in consequence an application was made
to the Supreme Court to effect this object.

In January, 1822, the Supreme Court of Pennsyl-
vania decided adversely to the proposed amendment
of the charter of St. Mary's Church. Bishop Con well,
and the priests appointed by him under this decision,
attemj)ted to officiate at the altar, but they were
ex]3elled forcibly by Hogan and his party. Rev. Mr.
Harold who ascended the pulpit barely escaping with
his life.^

After this the tide of public opinion was evidently
against the trustees, who saw many of their deluded
adherents fall away. They had now ground to fear
that the real Catholic members of St. Mary's Church
would at the next election put in a board in harmony
with the Bishop. To defeat this, they built twenty-
six new pews, deciding on this course at a meeting of
which the clergy were not notified. These pews they
let out in single seats, so that at the election they polled
one hundred and sixteen votes. This gave a majority
against the Catholic party. It was not pretended
that the men voting from these pews were Catholics,
or had ever attended the church.^ The provision in

' Archbishop Marechal to Mgr. Pedicini, Secretary of Propaganda, Mar.
29, 1822. Bishop Conwell lo Propaganda, Phila., Jan. 7, 1822. Same
to Bishop Plessis, Jan. 6, 1822.

■^ Matthew Carey states in his "Desultory Examination," 1822, p.
41-3, that by tliis trick 1200 votes were actually polled, when in fact
" the votes ought not to be more than 250 or 300."

'' NON SINE MAGNO:' 243

tlie charter of this church and similar charters else-
where, had this great injustice to which no Protestant
congregation would have submitted. With them the
power is vested in the Church members, persons of
both sexes, of correct life, who show themselves at-
tached to the doctrines and frequent the ordinances of
the denomination. This body, which can expel any
member who neglects his duties or becomes disedify-
ing, elect the managing board. Catholic congrega-
tions were at the mercy of men elected by those who
were required to give no proof of their being Catholics,
attendants at the church, or frequenters of the sacra-
ments, but who were men who could produce a receipt
for a quarter's rent of a single seat. Women, though
regular attendants, and even owners or hirers of whole
pews, had no voice as in Protestant churches, but
were excluded from all rights.

The schismatics felt their position insecure, and
soon after Hogan himself proposed to leave Philadel-
phia on being absolved from censure by Bishop Con-
well, but as in the case of Bishop England this step
was prevented by the trustees.^ At the time when
the unfortunate priest was thus throwing away his
last hope of being able to persevere in his vocation
and ministry, the Holy Father, Pope Pius VII., by
his Brief " Non sine magno," addressed to Arch-
bishop Marechal, his suffragans, all boards of trus-
tees, and the faithful in general, condemned Hogan
for his attacks on the Bishop, for withdrawing the
faithful from their lawful pastor, for calling a council
of bishops to depose his bishop, and hnally for
intruding himself into the cathedral church, from
which he had expelled the Bishop. The Sovereign

' A. C. Historical Researches, iii., pp. 34-5 ; i., p. 139.

244 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

Pontiff expressed astonishment and indignation that
"in so manifest a contempt of all law he could find
many followers, supporters, and defenders of his
pride and contumacy, who, neglecting and despising
the authority of the Bishop, would rather adhere to
him than to their lawful pastor, from whom thej^ have
not hesitated to withdraw even the means necessary
for the sustenance of life." The Pope declared all the
acts sacrilegiously and daringly performed by Hogan
to be null and void. He continues, "There is another
circumstance which affords continual cause of discord
and contention, not only in Philadelphia, but also
in many other places of the United States of America ;
the immoderate and unlimited right, which trustees
or the administrators of the temporal properties of
churches assume, independently of the diocesan
bishops. Indeed, unless this be circumscribed by cer-
tain regulations, it may prove an eternal source of
abuses and dissensions. Trustees then ought to bear
in mind, that the properties which have been conse-
crated to divine worship for the support of' the
Church and for the maintei.iance of its ministers, fall
under the i)Ower of the Church ; and since the bishops,
by divine appointment, preside over their respective
churches, they cannot by any means be excluded from
the care, superintendence, and administration of these
properties. Whence the holy Council of Trent, sess.
22, cap. 9 de Ref., after having established that the
administrators of the edifice of every church, even
of a cathedral, and of all pious institutions, were
bound every year to render to the ordinary an account
of their administration, expressly ordered that al-
though, according to the particular usages of some
countries, the account of the administration was to be
rendered to other persons appointed for that purpose,

PIUS VII. ON TRUSTEES. 245

nevertheless the ordinary must be called in, together
with them. If the trustees, in conformity to this
decree, were to administer the temporalities of the
Church in union of mind and heart with the bishop,
everything would be performed peaceably, and ac-
cording to order.

"But that trustees and laymen should arrogate to
themselves the right, as it has sometimes happened in
these countries, of establishing for pastors, priests
destitute of legal faculties, and even not unfrequently
bound by censures (as it appears was lately the case
with regard to Hogan), and also of removing them at
their pleasure, and of bestowing the revenues upon
whom they please, is a practice new and unheard of
in the Church. And if these things have been per-
formed in the manner in which it has been announced
to us, how could so great a subversion of laws, not
only ecclesiastical but divine also, be borne with (
For in that case the Church would be governed, not by
bishops, but by laymen ; the shepherd would be made
subject to his flock, and laymen would usurp that
power which was given by Almighty God to bishops.
But those who are desirous of remaining in the bosom
of their Mother, the Holy Catholic Church, and of
providing for their eternal salvation, are bound relig-
iously to observe the laws of the universal Church ;
and as the civil autliorities must be obeyed in those
things which are temporal, so also in those which are
spiritual must the faithful comply with the laws of
the Church, not confounding the spiritual with the
temporal. In order then to avoid the dissensions and
disturbances which frequently arise from the un-
bounded power of trustees, we have provided, vener-
able brothers, that certain regulations and instruc-
tions concerning the choice and direction of trustees

246 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

should be transmitted to you, to which, we are confi-
dent, the trustees Avill thoroughly conform them-
selves. If these be observed, all things, we trust, will
be settled rightly, and peace and tranquillity will
again flourish in these regions."^

It was the first time that the Sovereign Pontiff had
addressed a special brief to the hierarchy of the United
States, and to the faithful, with a direct reference in
the title to the boards of trustees throughout the
United States. It was to be expected that under
these circumstances the weighty words of the Head
of the Catholic Church would have been received by
the faithful with deference and submission, prompted
by their attachment to the religion of their ancestors.

Even Rev. Mr. Hogan when the Brief was made
known to him showed a disposition to submit and j)ut
an end to the schism, but the malign infiuence of the
trustees again j^revailed and his good intentions ended
in a personal wrangle with Rev. William Y. Harold.^
The trustees showed absolutely that they were utterly
beyond the pale of the Church, inasmuch as the
Bishop of the diocese, the whole hierarchy of the
United States, and finally the Sovereign Pontiff him-
self was against them ; but they would not yield, they
stood defiant, resolute to obey no authority whatever
in the Church, and to have no priest but one subject
to their beck and call.

At the election in the following spring the authori-
ties took measures to prevent a riot. The result was
indecisive ; both parties claimed to have elected a
board of trustees, but the adherents of the Bishop, on

' Bullarium de Propaganda Fide, Rome, 1841, iv.-, pp. 401-4. Eng-
land's Works, v., pp. 178-9.

^ Dec, 1822.

THE SCHISM CONTINUES. 247

attempting to enter the church, were again driven out
by force. ^ An appeal was made to the law, the lower
court decided against the Catholic party, and though
the case was carried up on appeal, the church was
still held by the schismatics, in utter disregard of
the decision of the Pope on the points of Catholic dis-
cipline.

Weary of the incessant strife and the scandalous
scenes which resulted from it, the aged Bishop retired
for a time after the Easter holidays to the seclusion of
Mount St. Mary's College at Emmitsburg, and then
visited Baltimore and Georgetown, hoping that the
sectarian rancor would be abated by his absence."

In June, 1823, the trustees, whom Hogan s friends
claimed to have elected, addressed Bishop Conwell.
Utterly ignoring and treating with contempt the points
defined in the Brief of Pope Pius VII., they pro-
ceeded to lay down their terms of settlement. They
would not recognize that St. Mary's Church was the
Bishop's cathedra] or that he was by his appointment
chief pastor ; they claimed the inherent right to nomi-
nate and present such priests as they might i^lease
to select for pastors of said church, who were to be
inducted and continue as pastors during good be-
havior ; they agreed to acknowledge Dr. Conwell as
Bishop of the diocese, but not as pastor of St. Mary's
Church, and asked to have Hogan and another priest
of their selection acknowledged as pastors. The
Bishop, of course, could not consent to any such prin-
ciples, and the correspondence led to no result, as the
trustees not only would not abandon a single one of
the uncatholic principles they advocated, but went so

' April, 1823.

2 Bishop Conwell to Bishop Plessis, July 4, 1822.

248 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

far as to say, ''If the United States are still to be
considered a missionary country, then bishops are
unnecessary, and the trustees will engage as their
pastors such missionaries as they may think proper."
They evidently considered faculties from a bishop as
utterly unnecessary.

Hogan finally wearied of the struggle and proposed
to resign.^ The trustees accepted his resignation and
proceeded, in the very face of the Brief of Pope Pius
Vil., to appoint as pastor of St. Mary's Church an
unworthy adventurer, Rev. A. Inglesi, who had im-
posed upon Bishop Du Bourg, and whose career had
been fully exposed at Rome. But he came to Phila-
delphia with means, and had many paintings and
other valuables, the fruit of his European collections
for Louisiana. He had secured the sui3port of the
Sardinian consul at Philadelphia, and pleased the
trustees. Ashley, Meade, Sullivan and their com-
rades did not even go through the form of presenting
him for the Bishop's approval, they assumed the right
to elect and institute.^

The hope of restoring the discipline of the Church
was, therefore, very slight, although Hogan, pretext
and mover, had withdrawn. Bishop Conwell accord-
ingly visited Canada, which had generously responded
to his appeal, to obtain aid in a project which he had

' Hogan's resignation was accepted Aug. 28, 1823; "Appendix to the
Address." Archbishop Marechal was in Rome when Inglesi's real cliar-
acter was discovered and he was expelled from Rome. See his letter in
" A Postscript to Rev. Mr. Harold's address," p. 25-6. The Propaganda
formally condemned Inglesi and requested Consul De Abbate not to pro-
tect him. Inglesi drew up a pamphlet assailing Bishop Du Bourg, but
suppressed it. Inglesi soon went to the West Indies and died at Port au
Prince, St. Domingo, June 13, 1825. Letter of Bishop Conwell.

2 Bishop Conwell to Bishop Plessis, Sept. 18, Oct. 13, 1823. "Ad-
dress of the Trustees of St. Mary's Church," Philadelphia, 1823.

A CATHEDRAL PROJECTED.

249

formed of erecting a Cathedral in Philadelphia. Re-
turning by way of Boston he found Bishop Cheverus
ready to leave the country, and accompanied him to
the vessel which sailed soon after from New York.
Before winter passed away we find Bishop Conwell at
Philadelphia in February, 1824, baptizing the infant
son of Prince Charles Julius Bonaparte and the Prin-
cess Zeriaide. Joseph Bonaparte, who had been King
of Naples and of Spain, was godfather, and the mother
of the great Napoleon, represented by proxy, was god-
mother. On this occasion Joseph Bonaparte presented
Bishop Conwell with a relic of great interest. It was
a ring set with diamonds which had been worn by the
great Cardinal Ximenes, founder of the University of
Alcala, editor of the Complutensian Polyglot, one of
the most famous editions of the Bible, and Regent of

Spain. ^

A plot of ground on Ninth and Walnut streets had
been secured for the erection of a Cathedral, and was
actually purchased in April, 1824, for forty thousand
dollars. Bishop Conwell began to feel encouraged by
the energy of the Catholics who had adhered to the
faith, and was full of hopes of rearing a suitable edi-
fice The Congregation de Propaganda Fide wrote in
his behalf to all the Bishops of the United States rec-
ommending to them to make collections to aid then-
brother in Philadelphia to erect a Cathedral where he
would be free. A new cemetery was also acquired,
and all seemed to indicate that the Bishop might soon
disregard the trustees of the one church, who had
done so much to overthrow Catholicity in Pennsyl-
vania.

1 Bishop Conwell to Archbishop Marechal, Oct. 16, 1823, Feb. 13.

1824.

250 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

St. Josepli's liad one liundred and fifteen pews, all
well rented, one of them to Josej)!! Bonaparte, ex-
King of Spain.

When Lafayette visited Philadelphia in October,
1824, the clergy of the city, in a body, went to meet
him and pay their respects. Bishop Conwell, with
Bishop White of the Protestant Episcopal Church,
headed the procession.

At St. Mary's the condition of affairs was becoming
critical. Tiiough without a priest, and obstinately
excluding the Bishop of Phihidelphia and the priests
appointed by him, the trustees opened the church
every Sunday, their congregation consisting of a few
deists and worthless characters off the streets.^ Had
they really held a legal title to the property they
would undoubtedly have sold it, but their very charter
prevented any attempt, and meanwhile Bishop Con-
well was taking steps to acquire title.

The trustees, although one of their number was
struck down by a sudden death, after finding Inglesi
not suited to their ]3urposes, through Hogan invited
from England a priest named Rev. Thadde.us J.
O'Meally. He arrived in Philadelphia, October 14,
1823, and though Bishop Conwell declined to receive
him as a priest of the diocese, the trustees sent to
the Bishop a note in which they x)resented him as
pastor, and on this, in spite of the Bishop's formal pro-
hibition, O'Meally began to officiate at St. Mary's and
23ersisted in his sacrilegious course for more than a
year, although excommunicated as soon as he began
his intrusive ministry.'^ The Rev. Gabriel Richard

' Bishop Conwell to Bishop Plessis, Oct. 13, 1823, Bishop Couwell to
Archbishop Marechal, April 19, Oct. 3, 5, 1824.

^ O'Meally, " An Address Explanatory and Vindicatory," Philadelphia,
1824.

DEED OF ST. MARY'S. 251

endeavored to put an end to the schism, but the trus-
tees would not abandon the absurd claim of a right to
appoint the clergy of the Church/ Bishop Con well
had by this time become better acquainted with his
diocese and with the temper of legislatures, courts, and
j)ublic opinion in regard to Catholics. He felt that
instinctively all would incline to adopt the course that
seemed most likely to cripple the action of the Catholic
Church. He was at last a citizen of the United States,
and he resolved to secure, if possible, to himself the
legal title of St. Mary's Church. He proceeded to St.
Thomas's Manor, Maryland, early in 1825, and without
difficulty obtained from Rev. Francis Neale a deed of
the property which had descended to him from Father
Harding. This deed bore date Nov. 7, 1825, and was
duly recorded in Philadelphia in the following May.^
Under the law of the Church and of the State, BishojD
Conwell was thus entitled to the possession of his
Cathedral.

There was, however, some progress in the diocese ;
the Rev. P. Rafferty, revived the faith and gathered
anew the Catholics in Washington, Greene, and Fay-
ette counties, and at several stations which he attended.
In the summer of 1825, the Catholics of Butler, avIio
had i)reviously attended Sugar Creek, erected a neat
church on an eminence southeast of the town, making
it a conspicuous object in the landscape. The site was
a gift of a pious Catholic widow, Mrs. Collins, The
body of the faithful was large and respectable, consti-
tuted to a great extent of farmers who owned their

' They called it a presentation, but they and Rev. Mr. O'Meally held that
the Bishop had no right to refuse, and was compelled to receive into his dio-
cese, and approve, any priest they might pick up. " A Series of Letters,"
Philadelphia, Jan., 1825.

^Jesuit Records. A. C. Historical Researches, iii., p. 63.

252 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

own prosperous lands. The Rev. Patrick Rafferty
laid the foundation of a church on a hill overlooking
Brownsville ; he also began and completed a church
in the town of Alexandria. He commenced another
church in Waynesborough. In most of these cases
the Catholics were successful in completing their
houses of worship, although surrounded by a deeply
prejudiced population. But, at Washington, the
faithful became discouraged, and the church site was
finally sold.^ The next spring Bishop Con well made a
visitation. At Conewago, he ordained in February
the Rev. Michael Curran, a priest who did good ser-
vice in the laborious missions of Pennsylvania, and
closed his priestly career in New York. We trace the
Bishop next at Chambersburg, where he found Rev.
John Hughes, a young clergyman of his diocese, al-
ready in deacon's orders, at his home on a visit from
Einrnitsburg. Accompanied by the future Arch-
bishop of New York, he proceeded to Path Valley,
Sinking Valley, Newry, and Bedford.

Dr. Conwell found much to encourage him in the
growth of the Catholic congregations in numbers and
fervor ; and in turn he inspired them where possible,
by his presence and by correspondence, to erect suitable
churches, as the only sure means of binding them
together and preserving the faith. Thus encouraged,
steps were taken at Harman's Bottom and Freeport to
build necessary churches.^ Rev. Mr. O'Meally finally
went to Rome to plead his own cause and that of the
schismatics. On his arrival there in the summer of
1825, the Sacred Congregation de Propaganda Fide

1 Truth Teller, ii., p. 19 ; pp. 43-3.

*U. S. Catholic Miscellany, ii., p. 305; Truth Teller, ii., pp. 19,43;
Lambing, pp. 230, 423. 440 ; Hassard, " Life of Archbishop Hughes,"
New York, 1866, p 48.

O'MEALLY'S SUBMISSION. 253

refused to liold any intercourse with him in regard to
the affairs in Philadelphia, and required him to sign
a declaration expressing his regret for acting as pastor
of St. Mary's Church, in defiance of the Bishop, re-
/louncing the faction and their schismatical proceed-
ings, conforming to the Brief of August 24, 1822, and
asking pardon of Bishop Conwell. Such a declaration
the Rev. Mr. O'Meally signed, and then returned to
his native country, where he led an exemplary life.^

Thus, for the second time, Rome had acted in the
matter, and rejected utterly the claim of the trustees,
a body unknown to canon law, to any right of patron-
age, and condemned their course as schismatical.
They and Matthew Carey had ceased to parade frag-
mentary passages from the " Corpus Juris Canonici,"
for even they began to see that it was absurd to cite
''obiter dicta" of Popes a thousand years ago as
authority, when they refused to obey the Pope \tho
actually occupied the see of Peter ; but they would
not submit to the Sovereign Pontiff or recognize any
authority at Rome.

Early in 1826, Bishop Conwell issued a mandate
I)ublishing the Jubilee and annexing a curiously
abridged translation of the Bull of Pope Leo XII.
The Jubilee was to begin on the 9tli of July, and con-
tinue to the end of the year. As St. Mary's Church
was still under an interdict, the prescribed visits,
under authority from the Pope, were dispensed with
in the city of Philadelphia.^

' Tlie Recantation reached Bishop Conwell while on a visitation at
Carlisle, and he printed it there. Bishop Conwell to Archbishop
Marechal. England's Works, v. , p. 201-2 ; U. S. Cath. Miscellany, v. ,
p. 320. O'Meally died in Dublin, January 2, 1877, aged 84, Chaplain to
the Presentation Convent.

'^ " The Brief of His Holiness, Pope Leo XII., to which is prefixed the
Mandate of the Bishop of Philadelphia," etc. Philadelphia, 1826, pp. 24.

254 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

Doriiig the year the trustees of St. Mary's Church
for the first time showed any inclination to abandon
their right to exchide the Bishop from the cliurch of
which he was the legal owner, and to appoint x^i'iests
of whose qualifications they were to be sole judges.
With Catholics throughout the United States, the
clergy, the hierarchy, the Cardinals of the Propa-
ganda Congregation, and the Sovereign Pontifl' himself
declaring them to be in error, they began to realize tlie
fact that they must yield. Once more they opened
negotiations with the Bishop, They actually agreed
to recognize him as Bishop of Philadelphia, to ac-
knowledge him as senior pastor of the Church, and
recognize his right to appoint priests to St. Mary's
Church ; but they proposed that in case they objected
to the Bishop's selection of clergymen, the matter was
to be decided by a committee composed of the Bishop,
two priests chosen by him, and three trustees selected
by the board. To this Bishop Conwell, for the sake
of peace, agreed Oct. 9, 1826, renouncing his claim
for salary from the time he was installed in the dio-
cese, and leaving his future salary and that of the
clergy to the good pleasure of the trustees. But the
latter, at the same time, entered on their minutes a
protest virtually nullifying the agreement, in which
they declared that they did not recognize the Bishop
as chief pastor of St. Mary's Church, or renounce their
right to apjDoint the clergy. This protest was entered,
as Bishop Conwell declared, without his knowledge
or consent, and certainly was not passed at any meet-
ing at which he presided. It was simply a treacher-
ous subterfuge.^

In pursuance of the agreement which had been

' U. S. Cath. Miscellany, vii., p. 30. England's Works, v., p. 208.

THE AGREEMENT CONDEMNED. 255

signed by liim and tlie trustees, Bishop Conwell, on
the 11th of October, removed the local and personal
interdicts from St. Mary's Church and formally
opened the church for divine worship, appointing
Rev. William Vincent Harold, and Rev. Thomas
Heyden, his assistant pastors. '^ The trustees are to
manage the temporalities according to the Act of
Incorporation, and the spiritual concerns shall remain
under the care and government of the Bishop to whom
the deposit of the faith, and the general discipline of
the Roman Catholic Church are entrusted in the dio-
cese of Philadelphia."

The church was accordingly opened by Bishop Con-
well with a "Te Deiim" on Sunday, November 6,
the sermon being preached by the Very Rev. William
V. Harold.^ One of the episcopal acts performed in
the interval was the ordination as priest of Rev. John
Hughes, who became the Bishop's secretary.

In April, 1827, Bishop Conwell roused new opposi-
tion by withdrawing the faculties of Very Rev. AV. V.
Harold. This act led to a public meeting at which
Matthew Carey presided, and resolutions were adopted
denouncing the arbitrary power and caprice of the
Bishop, and the determination on their part to obtain
a speedy and permanent remedy from Rome.^

When the agreement between Bishop Conwell and
the trustees, and their protest nullifying what they
had apparently recognized in the agreement, reached
Rome, the Propaganda to which the trustees trans-
mitted it made it the subject of a special meeting of
the Cardinals who composed the congregation, held

> Bishop Conwell's Notice, Oct. 11, 1836. U. S. Cath. Miscell., vi., p.
14, 143.
2 U. S. Cath. Miscell., vi., p. 343.

256 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

April 30, 1827. This body gave as its judgment,
" that the said agreement and declaration, which were
the subjects of debate, were to be altogether repro-
bated. Moreover, that it might Avell be understood
of how great importance is the subject matter, and
how much the interests of religion require the reproba-
tion of that agreement and declaration to be known to
all, especially in that country, the Sacred Congrega-
tion has to communicate to you, that in this matter
Peter has spoken through Leo. For our most holy
Lord Leo XIL, having maturely considered the affair,
did on the 6th of May confirm the aforesaid answer of
the Sacred Congregation ; and did expressly manifest
his desire to admonish all the Catholics dwelling in
those regions ; that he also decreed that the speci-
fied agreement and declaration were by all means to
be reprobated." ^

Thus for the third time Rome had spoken, and had
condemned the claim of Meade, Ashley, Randall, and
their associate trustees as utterly rej)ugnant to Catho-
lic discipline, and in this case condemned Bishop
Conwell for having, to some extent, yielded the in-
alienable rights of his See. This decision relieves the
Bishop from the charges of obstinacy brought against
him ; there was no obstinacy in his adhering to Catho-
lic discipline ; the only obstinacy was in those, who,
deeply imbued with Protestant ideas, strangers to
the sacraments and discipline of the Church, insisted
on maintaining an unheard-of claim against the de-
cision of every authority that Catholics had always
respected.

' Cardinal Capellari, Prefect of the Congregation de Propaganda
Fide, May 19, 1827, U. S. Cath. Misc., vii., p. 30. England's Works,
v., p. 209. It was unfortunate in this case that a clear, definite declara-
tion of principles had not at the outset been sent from Rome.

AN ADMINISTRATOR APPOINTED. 257

Bishop Conwell gave notice of the decision of the
Holy See in his Cathedral at the high mass on Sun-
day, July 22, 1827, and issued a notice to the faith-
ful. The aged Bishop expressed to the authorities in
Rome his desire to be relieved of the burden of the
diocese. On the 5th of August Archbishop Marechal
was appointed Apostolical Administrator of the dio-
cese of Philadelphia, and it was intimated to Bishop
Conwell that his retirement to Ireland would be grati-
fying.^ The Archbishop of Baltimore was, however,
too feeble and ill to undertake the reorganization of
another diocese ; he declined the onerous and difficult
task. The Rev. William Matthews, rector of St.
Patrick's Church, Washington City, D. C, was then
appointed Vicar-General Apostolic of Philadelphia.
This nomination was laid before the faithful of his
diocese by Bishop Conwell on the 22d of May." The
Propaganda had already, on the 8th of March, notified
Bishop Conwell that the Sovereign Pontiff requested
him to come to Rome without delay. It was there
believed that his absence would tend to produce a
calmer state of things, and that his report on the
condition of his diocese would enable the Pope to act
more prudently.^

Finding that his administration was soon to termi-
nate, Bishop Conwell gave confirmation to seven
hundred in St. Joseph's Church, Philadelphia, to

• Bishop England's Works, v., pp. 210-11. Cardinal Capellari to
Archbishop Marechal, August 11, 1827.

« Leo XII., " Quum Venerabilis Frater," Feb. 26, 1828. Bullarium de
Propaganda Fide, v., pp. 34-5 ; Cardinal Capellari to Bishop Conwell,
March 8, 1828. " A Continuation of References," pp. 11-13; U. S.
CathoHc Miscellany, viii., p. 383.

3 Cardinal Capellari to Archbishop Whitfield, July 18, 1829.

258 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

several Imndred in St. Augustine's Cliurcli, and dedi-
cated St. Patricia's Cliurcli at Harrisburg.^

V. Rev. William Matthews soon arrived in Phila-
delphia to arrange for tlie discharge of the new duties
which he most reluctantly assumed.^ On the 25th of
June the Bishop notified the trustees that PojDe Leo
XII. had made Dr. Matthews Apostolical Adminis-
trator, and that he had accordingly appointed him
eldest pastor and superior of the clergy of St. Mary's
Church in his own stead ; he had previously, on
October 17, 1827, appointed Rev. William V. Harold

^^^^^O-;^ V^'^^^^'^€-^^__^

SIGNATURE 0¥ BISHOP CONWELL, OF PHILADELPHIA.

and Rev. John Ryan pastors of the church. Bishop
Conwell tiien, by a formal act under the seal of the
diocese, surrendered the administration of the dio-
cese of Philadelphia to Dr. Matthews in the presence
of V. Rev. M. Hurley, V.G., Rev. John Hughes, and
Rev. T. J. Donoghue.^

The administration of the diocese by Bishop Conwell
was thus virtually closed, for he never resumed it.
He left Philadelphia, and on the 11th of July, 1828,
he embarked at New York for Havre.

' U. S. Cath. Miscellany, vii., pp. 135, 143, 150; Truth Teller, iii.,
pp. 350, 357.

* U. S. Cath. Miscellauy, vii., p. 374.

3 Bishop Conwell to A. Randall, Sec, June 25, 1838; U. S. Cath.
Miscellany, viii., p. 22.

STATE OF DIOCESE. 259

At the time of liis departure the clergy of the dio-
cese of Philadelphia comprised thirty-two priests :
twenty-five natives of Ireland, two Americans, two
Germans, a Belgian, a Russian, and a Pole.

When the Pope requested Bishop Conwell to visit
Rome, he directed the secretary of the Propaganda to
notify Fathers Harold and Ryan that it was his wish
that they should also leave the city of Philadelphia,
and proceed to Cincinnati, the Bishop of that city
being a member of their order, and there existing a
Dominican Convent in Ohio. In the letter of Cardi-
nal Capellari was inclosed one of the Y. Rev. Father
Velzi, General of the Dominican Order, to the same pur-
port. The two fathers, instead of obeying, apj^ealed
to the United States government, complaining that
their rights as citizens were infringed. A long corre-
sjDondence ensued, but the orders were not revoked,
and in 1829, V. Rev. William Matthews was directed to
notify the two priests that if they remained in Phila-
delphia fifteen days after the communication of the
letter to them, they would be immediately deprived
of all faculties, so as not to be able to say mass or j)er-
form any ecclesiastical function. On this they re-
turned to Ireland.^

On the 18th of April, 1829, Bishop Conwell, Avhose
explanations had not satisfied the Sovereign Pontifl",
left Rome, and though notified not to return to his

' Bishop England's Works, v., pp. 213-232; U. S. Catli. Miscellany,
Aug. 14, 1830 ; Rev. M. De B. Egan to Rev. S. G. Brute, Rome, Jan. 1.,
1829 ; Consul Felix Cicognani to Martin Van Buren, Sec. of State, May
8, 1829 ; Cardinal Capellari to Archbishop Whittield, April 21, 1829.
A meeting was called in which it was resolved to petition the Pope to re-
store Father Harold, ]Matthew Carey, his old bitter antagonist, extolling
him as a divine of transcendent talents and true piety. Truth Teller,
Sept. 26, 1829.

260 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

diocese under pain of being deprived of his faculties
as bishop, pursued his journey to Philadelphia, after
celebrating the Feast of the Assumption in the Irish
College at Paris. He subsequently repaired his fault,
and was allowed to perform certain episcopal functions
to confirm and ordain with the consent of the Admin-
istrator.^

The sin of the schismatics of St. Mary's Church, and
the terrible account they must have been called upon
to render before the judgment seat of God, will appear
by the condition of the diocese when Bishop Henry
Conwell thus resigned his authority to the Adminis-
trator appointed by the Holy See. It was the diocese
where from colonial days religion had been compara-
tively free, where Catholics were numerous and better
endowed with the goods of this world than in most
other dioceses. Yet by the unholy war waged by the
trustees of a single church against two successive
bishops it was in 1829 without a seminary, a college,
a convent academy for the education of young ladies,
with but a single asylum, few schools, and a disheart-
ened peoi^le. The loss of souls had been great.

■> Cardinal Capellari to Archbishop Whitfield, March 13, 1830 ; Truth
Teller, v., p. 356.

VERT REV. WILLIAM MATTHEWS V. G. APOSTOLIC.

262

CHAPTER XVI.

DIOCESE OF PHILADELPHIA.

VERY REV. WILLIAM MATTHEWS, VICAR-GENERAL APOSTOLIC.

The Very Rev. William Matthews on receiving from
Bislioj) Conwell the control of the diocese in June,

1828, did not remove his residence to Philadelphia,
but continued to live in Washington, making occa-
sional visits to different parts of the diocese. The
object of his appointment was, in the first place, to
restore peace. By a prudent policy he avoided all
contention, and did much to restore harmony and
discipline.

During the year Rev. Bernard Keenan, who had been
the zealous pastor of Lancaster, attending Elizabeth-
town and York, laid the corner-stone of another church
in his district, the future St. Peter's at Columbia, and
for years said mass there monthly.^ Luzerne received
its first regular visits about this time, being attended
by the Rev. John D. Flynn.^ On Sunday, May 24,

1829, a solemn Te Deum was generally sung in the
churches of the diocese to thank Almighty God for
lifting from the Catholics of Great Britain and Ireland
the penalties with which their fidelity to the true God
had been so long and so cruelly visited. Rev. John
Hughes preaching in St. Augustine's Church his first
o-reat sermon.^

' Catholic Standard, Aug. 18,
^ Pierce, " History of Luzerne County," p. 313.
' U. S. Catholic Miscell., viii., pp. 382, 398.

263

CHAPTER XVII.

DIOCESE OP BARDSTOWN.
BIGHT BEV. BENEDICT JOSEPH FLAGET, D.D., FIRST BISHOP, 1810.

Catholicity in Maryland was coeval with the set-
tlement of the ancient province, and the faithful clung
to the land they had made their own during long
years of injustice, oppression, and penal laws. They
had their priests and their unobtrusive chapels, at
times even schools. In Pennsylvania there was from
the first colonization a small body of Catholics who
grew in numbers under the fostering care of the Mary-
land clergy. In New England, New York, New Jer-
sey, Virginia, and the Carolinas, the Catholic body
arose after the peace of 1788, mainly by immigra-
tion ; and these incoming Catholics found no priest or
altar. In fact, to these pioneers, it became difficult to
meet the necessities which increased with each year.
This was the case with the dioceses of Boston, New
York, and Philadelj^hia. Catholics were few, poor,
lost amid an overwhelming majority belonging to the
dominant sects, ever at war with each other, but ever
ready to unite against Catholicity.

The diocese of Bardstown, the fourth of those cre-
ated by Pope Pius VII., in 1808, differed essentially
from these bishoprics on the coast. The State of Ken-
tucky began to be settled about the commencement of
the revolutionary troubles. Then men from Virginia
and Maryland made their way to the lands south of
the Ohio, and began to clear the forest and build up a
new commonwealth. Many of the emigrants were

264

EARLY MISSIONS. 265

Catholics ; some of tlie first to fall by the way, or, after
reaching Kentucky, by the hands of the Indian foe,
were Catholics. They helped to found and build up
the new State ; sturdy backwoodsmen, strong, brave,
earnest, they were the peers of those around them.
Life was plain and rude, comforts were few, luxuries
unknown. Priests struck into the wilderness to at-
tend these clustered bodies of the faithful, who in
God's providence selected generally the poorest, but
perhaps the healthiest situations. The Carmelite
Paul of St. Peter, the Capuchin Wlielan, Rev. Mr.
Rohan, effected little. It was not till Bishop Carroll
had ordained his first priest. Rev. Stephen T. Badin,
and sent him to Kentucky, that any real commence-
ment was made for the Church. Then came the day
of log churches, and long priestly journeys to the
Catholic settlements. Rev. John Thayer came and
went. Rev. Messrs. Salmon and Fournier came to
labor till death. Rev. Charles Nerinckx to toil like a
hero, form church after church, create a sisterhood,
draw recruits for the priesthood from his own Belgium,
as well as vestments, plate, paintings, and other re-
qnirements for the churches, which he divided un-
grudgingly. The Dominicans, guided by the advice
of Bishop Carroll, established a convent and college. "
Thus Kentucky had a life of its own.

Pope Pius VII., by his Bull " Ex Debito," April 8,
1808, erected Kentucky and Tennessee into a diocese,
with an episcopal see at Bardstown, and gave the
Bishop of the new see temporary administration of
the country northwest of the Ohio, now divided into
well-known States : Illinois with a small Catholic popu-
lation as Kaskaskia, Cahokia, Prairie du Rocher ;
Indiana with its Catholic settlement at Vincennes ;
Michigan with its Catholic population at Detroit,

266 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

Raisin River, Mackinac ; Wisconsin with feeble gath-
erings near Green Bay ; Ohio, with a few Catholic
immigrants, and the Sandusky Hurons who had lost
the faith, — in fact, all the territory from the banks of
the Ohio, westward to the Mississippi, and northward
to the great lakes. ^ For this diocesan charge, involv-
ing great labor on the very frontier of the country,
Providence selected the Rev, Benedict Joseph Flaget,
a member of the Society of St. Sulpice, who had been
a professor at Georgetown College and in St. Mary's
College, Baltimore, but who had years before been
stationed for a time at Vincennes. The gentle, pious,
learned, scholarly man bowed to the will of the Sove-
reign Pontiff, after going to Europe to escape the
honor and the burden. He was consecrated in St.
Patrick's Church, Fell's Point, on the 4th of Novem-
ber, 1810, by Archbishop Carroll, assisted by Bishop
Cheverus of Boston, and Bishop Egan of Philadel-
phia, the sermon of the saintly Cheverus moving all
to tears.

Bishop Flaget united with his Metropolitan and
fellow suffragans in drawing up regulations to insure
uniform discipline, in a pastoral letter, and in an
address to the hierarchy of Ireland, worthy of the
► early ages. But he was far from his diocese, and
atterly without means to reach it. A subscription
among his friends in Baltimore at last enabled him to
start from that city on the lltli of May, 1811, Rev.
Mr. Badin's attempt to collect means in Kentucky
having signally failed. He was accompanied by Rev.
Messrs. David and Savine and three seminarians.
Fortunate in meeting the Dominican Father Edward

' Bullarium Romanum, xiii., p. 282 ; Bullarium de Propaganda Fide,
iv., p. 339.

BISHOP FLAGET. 267

Fen wick at Pittsburgh, the Bishop and his party
descended tlie Ohio in a iiatboat, reacliing Lonisville
on the 4th of June, and Bardstown, a settlement
selected for his see, but utterly destitute of any
sign of Catholicity, even a log church, on the 9th.
His installation in his Cathedral was a fiction of
law.

The Right Rev. Benedict Joseph Flaget, who was
to preside over the Catholics of Kentucky for nearly
forty years, honored by their deepest reverence and
attachment, was born at Contournat, in Auvergne,
November 7, 1763, the year which saw the lilied flag
of his native land lowered throughout Canada and
Northwest Territory and replaced by the colors of her
ancient enemy. His father passed away before young
Benedict saw the light, his mother survived but two
years. Cared for by pious kindred the boy grew up
pious and dutiful, succeeded w^ell in his studies in the
College at Billom, and entered the Seminary at Cler-
mont to prepare for holy orders, having won a bourse
founded by Bishop de Bonald. His Sulpitian instruc-
tors in 1783 admitted him to their community, and he
went to Issy, the novitiate of St. Sulpice, of which
Rev. Gabriel Richard was then rector. After his ordi-
nation he became a professor of theology, and was in'
quiet seclusion, training seminarians for the priest-
hood, when the revolution, like a mighty cyclone,
struck the religious establishments of France. Semi-
naries, convents, churches were closed, the scaffold
reeked with the blood of the purest and holiest men
and women of France. Providentially the Sulpitians
had established a house at Baltimore, and in January,
1792, Rev. Mr. Flaget was sent to America. Sailing
from Bordeaux with two other priests. Rev. Messrs.
Chicoisneau and David, and a subdeacon from Orleans,

268 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

Stephen Badin, the young j)riest Flaget reached Balti-
more by way of Philadelphia.

The new auxiliaries for his diocese were cordially
welcomed by Bishop Carroll, who soon after appointed
Rev. Mr. Flaget to Vincennes, where the services of a
devoted French priest were needed to revive religion in
the hearts of the people. He set out with a letter of
introduction to General Wayne, whom he found at
Pittsburgh ; and there he began mission work, saying
mass, and j^reparing for death soldiers capitally sen-
tenced for desertion. Taking a llatboat, bound for
Louisville, he was overjoyed to find in one of the three
or four houses that then constituted the town his
friends Rev. Messrs. Levadoux and Richard, sent on
a mission like his own to Kaskaskia and Prairie du
Rocher. A letter of General Wayne won him the
friendship of General George Rogers Clark, who
escorted him in an armed bateau to Vincennes. The
good priest found the church of puncheons in a ruin-
ous state, the altar a few rough boards, the faith of
his future flock but too truly depicted by their church,
for out of nearly seven hundred souls he could induce
only twelve to approach, at Christmas, the Holy
Eucharist of which they had so long been deprived.
By gathering the children and teaching them he soon
effected a change. He stimulated improvements in
the cultivation of land and set up looms for weaving.
He was never idle, allowing himself little recreation,
and gathering strength in prayer. He visited the
Miami towns and endeavored to revive the faith
preached to them by their old missionaries, and when
small -pox desolated their cabins the Rev. Mr. Flaget
was consoled by many conversions. He was stricken
down by disease, but recovered to labor on till April,
1795, when his Superiors recalled him to Baltimore,
which he reached by way of New Orleans.

STATE OF DIOCESE. 269

He was next stationed at Georgetown College as one
of the professors, wliile Rev. William L. Dii Bourg
was president, and subsequently went with him to
Havana, where the Sulpitians hoped to found a col-
lege. Nearly a victim to the yellow fever there, he
recovered to spend a few years as tutor in an excellent
Spanish family. Then he returned to Baltimore to
discharge the duties assigned to him in St. Mary's
Seminary. When Rev. Mr. Badin visited Baltimore,
to impress on Bishop Carroll the necessity of having a
bishopric in Kentucky, he urged Bardstown as the
proper see, and Rev. Mr. Flaget as one specially fitted
to lill it. He was accordingly nominated by Bishop
Carroll, and the Sovereign Pontiff issued the Bulls
erecting the see of Bardstown, and appointing him the
first Bishop. He went to Europe to avoid, if possible,
the position, for which he deemed himself unfitted, but
was told by Rev. Mr. Emery, Superior of St. Sulpice,
that the Pope had sent a peremptory order requiring
him to accept. His visit to Europe was not useless ;
he obtained ecclesiastics to labor in his diocese, Rev.
Mr. Chabrat, a subdeacon, Messrs. Deydier, Derigaud,
and Romeuf.

When he reached Bardstown his diocese and the
annexed district, now divided into seven States, and
eighteen dioceses, presided over by three archbishops
and fifteen bishops, was poorly provided indeed.
There were ten churches, including St. Stephen's at
Priestland, the residence of Rev. Mr. Badin, not prop-
erly a church ; these were all but one built of logs,
and in the twenty-four stations visited by the liand-
f ul of priests there were six more humble structures
which zealous hands were rearing. The churches in
actual use were Holy Cross on Pottinger's Creek, built
by Rev. Mr. De Rohan, in 1792-3, St. Joseph's near

270 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

Bardstown, and St. Francis, erected about 1795, by
Rev. Mr. Badin ; St. Ann's, on Pottinger's Creek,
which dates about three years later, and St. Patrick's,
Danville, both due to the same energetic priest ; Holy
Mary's on Rolling Fork, established by Rev. Mr.
Fourmier in 1798 ; St. Charles's on Hardin's Creek, the
work of the holy Belgian priest. Rev. Charles Nerinckx,
and the church which the Dominicans dedicated to
St. Rose in 1806. The Catholic settlements had a
population of about six thousand, and were attended by
Rev. Stephen T. Badin, Rev. Charles Nerinckx, the
Capuchin Father M. O'Flynn, and the Dominican
Fathers, Fen wick, Wilson, and Tuite. All these clergy-
men were at St. Stephen's to receive the Bishop, who
came with Rev. John B. David, the director of his
proposed seminary. Rev. Mr. Savine, and Rev. Guy
I. Chabrat, not yet in priest's orders. The Bishop
found a number of the faithful gathered there, all
kneeling on the grass, the women dressed in white,
who, expecting him early enough to say mass, had been
fasting all day before the little altar set up between
four saplings. This reception, so different from that
at Vincennes some years before, filled his soul with
consolation. Assuming his episcopal robes he was
conducted to the chapel in procession, with the chant
of the Litany of Loretto. Then the prayers and hymn
prescribed in the Roman Pontifical were recited.^ For
the country beyond the Ohio, the report laid before the
Bishop was less encouraging. The French settlement
at Gallipolis, so prematurely erected into a Prefecture
Apostolic showed yet a few stragglers remaining, but

' Spalding,;" Sketches of the early Catholic Missions of Kentucky ," Louis-
ville. "Sketches of the Life, Time, and Character of the Right Rev.
Benedict Joseph Flaget," Louisville, 1852; Webb, "The Centenary of
Catholicity in Kentucky," Louisville, 1884.

'-. ii%

1 Ml '/ }^^

R^ REV BENEDICT JOSERH FLAGET,

BISHOP OF BARDSTOWN AND LOUISVILLE^
Copyright VJobm C- Shra 1890

EPISCOPAL PALACE. 271

no sign of religion. The good Bishop followed by the
Dominican Father Fenwick, soon penetrated into '
Ohio, and laid the foundation of a mission at the
house of the Dittoe family. Vincennes was without
a resident priest, the people being too indifferent to
give enough support to a pastor, and they depended
on occasional visits from Rev. Stephen T. Badin from
Kentucky, and Rev. Donatien Olivier, the priest sta-
tioned at Kaskaskia. Rev. Gabriel Richard was at
Detroit, the congregation meeting on the Spring Hill
Farm, old St. Anne's Church having perished in the
general conflagration of 1805, which laid the City of
the Strait in ashes. ^ The Catholics at Cahokia, de-
scendants of the old flock of the Quebec Seminary
Priests, asked for a missionary, and one of the first
acts of Bishop Flaget was to send to them the Rev.
Mr, Savine. The Kaskaskias, remnant of the several
Illinois bands, claimed his care and were still recog-
nized as Catholics by government.^

Till he could put up a home and a church for his
Cathedral Bishop Flaget made his temporary residence
at St. Stephen's. The Rev. Mr, Badin, though crip-
pled in means by a fire which swept away a building
erected for a religious community, put up two log
cabins sixteen feet square. The furniture corre-

' Registers of Vincennes, Detroit, Kaskaskia ; " Expose des faits et des
documents." Fanner, " The history of Detroit and Michigan," Detroit,
1884, p. 531.

^ " And whereas the greater part of the said tribe have been baptized
and received into the Catholic Church, to which they are much attached,
the United States will give, annually, for seven years, one hundred dol-
lars toward the support of a priest of that religion, who will engage to
perform for the said tribe the duties of his office and also to instruct as
many of their children as possible in the rudiments of literature. And
the United States will further give the sum of $300 to assist the said tribe
in the erection of a church." — Treaty with Kaskaskias, Aug. 13, 1803.

272 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

sponded to tlie whitewaslied palace. It consisted of
two tables, six cliairs, some boards to hold books.
The space was so limited that one of the priests sle^Dt
on a mattress on the garret floor. Such was the resi-
dence of Bishop Flaget for more than a year." A
pious Catholic, Mr. Thomas Howard, left a fine farm
near Bardstown to the Bishop, and in November, 1811,
Rev. Mr. David and his seminarians removed to this
place, which took the name of St. Thomas, and cour-
ageously set to work to erect the necessary buildings
and a brick church.

On Christmas day he officiated at St. Rose's Church
and conferred the priesthood on Rev. Guy I. Chabrat,
who was thus the first priest ordained west of the
Alleghanies.

On the 20th of February, 1812, aware of the neces-
sity of establishing uniform discipline, laying off mis-
sionary districts, and concerting harmonious action
among his little body of priests, Bishop Flaget con-
vened them at St. Stephen's in a diocesan conference.
The results were beneficial, and Bishop Flaget, who
had prepared for the meeting by a spiritual retreat,
felt some relief in the perplexities and cares which
now encompassed him.

Rev. Mr. Nerinckx, convinced of the necessity of a
religious training for the young, had been forming
some pious young women to found a Sisterhood. Rev.
John B. David, filled with the same spirit, besides the
care of his Seminary, which began with three students,
was preparing to establish a House of Sisters of Char-
ity. Thus Catholicity in Kentucky, nursed in poverty
and privation, inspired the foundation of two com-

3 Maes, "The Life of Rev. Charles Nerinckx," Cincinnati, 1880, p.
238.

SISTERS OF LORETTO. 273

munities of religious women, which continue to the
present day, leading many in the paths of perfection
and benefiting their fellow-men by numberless acts of
mercy.

The corner-stone of the Sisters of Loretto was Mary
Rhodes, a native of Maryland, who, after educating
her nieces for a time, offered her services to Rev.
Charles Nerinckx to instruct the little girls of the
neighborhood in their religion and the rudiments of
education. Her school, opened in a little hut near
Hardin's Creek, prospered so that a pious young lady,
Christina Stuart, joined her. After a time, wishing to
live undisturbed by the company at the house where
they resided, they made the little school-house their
home. Having been joined by Miss Nancy Havern,
they applied to their venerated pastor for some rules
which they might follow. Rev. Mr. Nerinckx be-
lieved that the good work was inspired by God, but
would not take any step without the full sanction of
Bishop Flaget. Obtaining his approval he gave the
little band of teachers a few rules intimating that when
their number reached five, he would draw up more ex-
tended regulations, and allow them to elect a superior.
The choice fell on Miss Nancy Rhodes, the youngest
member, who became the head of the house. With
their little means they purchased the place, put up a
neat home and poultry house, and persevered in their
good work. Rev, Mr. Nerinckx, seeing that the insti-
tution promised to be a permanent one, proposed to
send for some Sisters from Europe to train them ; but
they all opposed this plan. They wished to live under
a rule prepared by him. Yielding to their wish, he
drew up a rule for The Friends of Mary at the foot of
the Cross, which Bishop Flaget approved. After due
preparation the veil was given to Mary Rhodes, Chris-

274 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

tina Stuart, and Nancy Havern in St. Charles's Church
on the 25th of April, 1812. The unwonted ceremony-
drew a great crowd to the little church, and the Cath-
olics were deeply edihed and moved as they saw the
three foundresses, preceded by their school children,
move from the school-house to the church. At the
foot of the altar, in the presence of the whole congre-
gation, they made their solemn promise to renounce
the world. The coarse black veil was next blessed
and placed on the head of each ; then at the end of
the mass they returned in procession to their cabin to
begin their life as Sisters of Loretto, if we may use
the title by which they are generally known. ^

The Dominican Fathers had acquired a farm of six
hundred acres of a Mr. William Waller, Father Ed-
ward Fen wick's patrimony being used in the purchase,
and slaves he had inherited being sent from Maryland
to work it. The religious did not obtain possession
till the spring of 1806, boarding in the mean time at
different places and giving their services as mission-
aries. The two-story brick building on the farm be-
came the convent of Saint Rose of Lima, and the Order
of Preachers, which sent its pioneer priests to the
James River in 1526, and to Florida in 1549, had thus
a permanent home in the country. Here a college was
opened with nine students, Fathers Wilson and Tuite
acting as professors.^

On the 10th of October, 1808, a novitiate was for-
mally opened at St. Rose's, and the white habit of St.
Dominic was given solemnly to ISTicholas (Dominic)

' Maes, "Life of Rev. Charles Nerinckx," p. 239,' etc.

* Sketch by Very Rev. Stephen Byrne, O. P. Both bore marks of the
rough roads of those days. On their way to Kentucky a stage upset,
and Father Wilson had his arm broken and Father Tuite I'eceived a
gash on tlie face whicli marked him for life.

DIOCESAN SEMINARY. 275

Young, Richard (Pius) Miles, Samuel (Louis) and
Stephen (Hyacinth) Montgomery, William (Thomas)
Willett, and Christopher (Antoninus) Rudd. Four of
these made their vows in 1809 ; Nicholas D, Young,
being too young, was deferred to August 4, 1810.

St. Rose's Church was commenced in 1808 ; it was
for its time the finest church yet erected in Kentucky,
being of brick, forty feet by one hundred. It was
dedicated on St. Rose's Day, September 30, 1809.
Then a new building was erected the next year for a
convent, and in 1812 a suitable structure for a college.
This institution was in a flourishing condition when
Bishop Flaget reached his diocese.

Bishop Flaget soon had the consolation of seeing St.
Peter's Church dedicated at Lexington, and in a few
months transferred his residence to St. Thomas's, on
the 10th of August. Rev. Mr. David was already there
with his seminarians, laboring to train them to a true
ecclesiastical spirit, while they devoted the hours not
required by divinity studies to felling trees, making
brick, and preparing to erect a suitable seminary and
church.

At the close of summer he set out for Baltimore
to attend a proposed Provincial Council, the letter of
Archbishop Carroll, deferring its convocation, not hav-
ing reached him. The impossibility of communicating
with the Sovereign Pontiff and obtaining a regular
authorization for holding the first Council induced the
Metropolitan to lay aside the project. Unaw^are of
this resolve Bishop Flaget, after a visit to the Rev. Mr.
Nerinckx and his fervent little communitj^ of Sisters,
set out, visiting Lexington on his way and entering
Ohio, where he said mass at the house of Mr. Dittoe
on the 11th of October, probably the first episcopal
act in the State. It was not, in those days of slow and

276 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

tedious travel, till the third day of the following month
that Dr. Flaget was welcomed by his fellow Sulpitians
at his old home, St. Mary's Seminary, Baltimore.

While the Bishop was detained in the East till
spring his diocese was not neglected. The unwearied
laborer in the vineyard of the Lord, Rev. Charles
Nerinckx, built St. Anthony's Church at Long Creek,
and made a commencement of another church, St.
Bernard's, on Casey Creek. He sent out too an appeal,
quaint in its simplicity, in behalf of the little Sister-
hood which he had founded.^

Rev. Mr. David had frequently consulted Bishop
Flaget as to the establishment of a Sisterhood, under
the control of the diocesan authority, bound by simple
vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, with mem-
bers devoted to works of mercy and the instruction of
the young and the ignorant. He had already devout
souls who were impelled by the spirit of God to sacri-
fice their labors for the sake of Christ and their neigh-
bor. In JS'ovember, 1812, two ladies, Teresa Carico and
Elizabeth Wells, took up their residence in a log-house
adjoining the Church of St. Thomas. In January
another candidate joined them, and on the 21st Rev.
Mr. David presented to them the provisional rules,
embodying the objects and duties of the Sisters of
Charity of Nazareth. By the month of June, 1813,
their number having increased to six, they made a
spiritual retreat, after which they chose Sister Catha-
rine Spalding as their first Mother Superior. Bishop
Flaget had by this time returned to his diocese and he
made the little community a touching exhortation on
the duties and obligations of the religious life which
they had embraced. After living for two years under

' Maes," Life of Rev. C. Nerinckx." Tessier, " fepoques du, Seminaire."

VISITATION. 277

provisional regulations tliey adopted the rule of Saint
Vincent de Paul for the Sisters of Charity, adapting
the dress to their circiinistances.^

Bishop Flaget began a visitation of his diocese in
1813, and at every station insisted on a regular and
definite support for the priest. The precarious sus-
tenance had forced not a few priests, especially north
of the Ohio, to seek other fields of labor. Mild and
amiable as he was, confiding rather in prayer than in
human aid, the good Bishop was inflexible on this
point. At St. Charles's and St. Rose's some showed a
disposition to resist. Bishop Flaget put down the
incipient rebellion by declaring to them from the altar
that if they persisted in their refusal he would no
longer consider them as belonging to the Catholic
Church.^

Ere long Father Edward Fenwick, whom he had
sent to Ohio, began his missionary career in that State,
while the Bishop, to whom the Catholics of Vincennes
had appealed for a resident clergyman, proceeded to
that place on horseback and unattended. As he
approached the old French town a large cavalcade,
headed by Rev. Donatien Olivier, came out to meet
him, and conducted him to the church with some
pomp. He remained two weeks at this former scene
of his labors, visiting the cemetery and chanting the
"Libera" over the grave of the devoted Mr. Rivet.
He blessed and exhorted a company of rangers setting
out for the seat of war, to check the English on the
frontier. The condition of the people rent his heart;
ignorance and vice had nearly effaced all sense of

'Spalding, "Sketches of the Early Catholic Missions of Kentucky,"
pp. 229-233.

2 Spalding, " Life of Bishop Flaget," pp. 113-14.

278 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

religion in some minds, but he was assiduous in in-
structions and in the confessional, and by the help of
Rev. Mr. Olivier found eighty- six sufficiently prepared
for him to administer the sacrament of confirmation
on the 5th of June, when he preached in both French
and English, inveighing strongly against the abuses
which had grown up.

Travel in the West had been environed with dangers,
as the Indians, won by British pay, were all hostile to
the Americans, till the check received on the Maumee
and Sandusky, followed by Perry's victory on Lake
Erie and Harrison's on the Thames, broke the influ-
ence of the English in the West,

From Vincennes Bishop Flaget proceeded to Caho-
kia, where he found that the Rev. Mr. Savine, whom
he had sent to that ancient parish, had accomplished
much good. Everything was in fine order ; the con-
gregation was free from debt and had a surplus in the
treasury. What was still more consoling was the
spirit which animated the people, and the knowledge
of their religion and duties which they displayed.
Here, too, the Bishop became a missionary, assiduous
in the confessional, and on the 26tli of June, 1814, he
confirmed one hundred and eighteen persons.

As he had been requested by Bishop Du Bourg, he
then crossed the Mississippi, but found little to con-
sole him in St. Louis, Florissant, St. Charles, and
Portage aux Sioux, for the apathy and religious neg-
lect of the people grieved him sadly. By the close of
August he was again within the limits of his own
jurisdiction, with more to console him in Rev. Mr.
Olivier' s parish of Prairie du Rocher, where he con-

' Alerding, " A History of the Catholic Church iii the Diocese of
Vincennes," Indianapolis, 1883, pp. 83-4.

VISITATION. 279

:firmed sixty-five. Stricken down by fever the Bishop
was unable to reach Kaskaskia before the 14th of
September. That old post had a fine church, eighty
feet by forty, with a handsome steeple, and a bell
dating back to days of French rule. He confirmed
one hundred and ten here, and in a subsequent visit
thirty-six more. Kaskaskia had recently had notable
events. A cyclone swept through it in 1812 doing
great damage to houses and cattle ; the next year the
militia were called out to confront the Kickapoos and
other hostile Indians. Even when Bishop Flaget left
Kaskaskia for Vincennes, November 8, 1814, traveling
was so insecure that the news of his capture by Indians
reached Kentucky, and public x>rayers were offered
for his safety. He really met with an adventure near
Vincennes, a party of rangers being mistaken for
Indians and causing a general alarm. After adminis-
tering confirmation at Vincennes he returned to his
home at St. Thomas, having in this visitation con-
firmed one thousand two hundred and seventy-five.^

Writing to Archbishop Carroll from the American
Settlement in Missouri, he said: " My visit through
the French settlements has been very laborious, but a
hundred times more successful than I would have
expected; I have confirmed above twelve hundred
people, though I confirm none but those who have
made their first communion. At least eight or ten
priests are wanting in these immense countries, and if
some could be put among the Indians who would be
willing to receive them, ten more would scarcely do.
Pray that God may send me proper ministers to con-
vert or support so many souls that run to x)erdition for
want of assistance." ^

^ Spalding, " Life of Bishop Flaget," pp. 115-143.
« Bishop Flaget to Archbishop Carroll, Oct. 10, 1814.

280 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

In this visitation Detroit was the only considerable-
place not reached by the Bishoj). The Church there
had not been free from difficulties. After the confla-
gration of 1805, it was resolved to rebuild the city,
laying out the streets on a more advantageous plan.
Congress, on the 21st of April, 1806, passed an " Act
to provide for the adjustment of titles of land in the
town of Detroit." By this arrangement the site of
the former Church of St. Anne and of the cemetery
would have to be abandoned, a new street, Jefferson
Avenue, running through the land. A plot two hun-
dred feet square on East and West, now called Michi-
gan Avenue, was assigned to the Catholics. Meetings
of the parishioners were called, but they acted inde-
pendently of 'their pastor, and settled upon no plan.
First, in December, 1805, it was resolved to erect a
wooden church forty feet by one hundred ; but in
October, 1806, there was a desire to build one of brick
or stone.

On the 3d of April, 1807, they obtained of the terri-
torial legislature an act incorporating "The members
of the Church, usually denominated Catholic Apos-
tolic and Roman, within the territory of Michigan."
A majority were to adopt rules and elect trustees, but.
no rights of the clergy connected with the churches
were recognized. At a meeting held on the 12th of
April, they adopted the title of " The Catholic Apos-
tolic and Roman Church of St. Anne at Detroit." It-
was further declared that " the temporal goods of the-
said Catholic Church of St. Anne have been and shall
in future be administered, according to a custom
established from time immemorial, by the parish
priest and four trustees or marguilliers." It was fur-
ther established that " the Bishop alone or the parish
priest shall draw up the necessary regulations for the-

CHURCH IN MICHIGAN. 281

internal police of the church and schools. The latter
shall have the appointment of the schoolmasters and
mistresses."

But the removal of the bodies from the old cemetery
was strongly opposed, and no real progress had been
made toward erecting a new church when the war
with England broke out. Soon after the surrender of
Detroit to the English by Hull, Rev. Gabriel Richard,
whose loyalty to the American cause, made him very
obnoxious, was arrested and placed in confinement at
Sandwich, and his people were consequently long de-
prived of his ministry,^

The Bishop heard of four other Catholic congrega-
tions, which he was unable to visit on account of the
disturbed condition of the country. Chicago was one
of these, another on the Upper Mississipi^i, one on
the shores of Lake Michigan, and the fourth at the
head-waters of the Illinois River.

Bishop Flaget had thus visited much of his diocese
and of the annexed district placed under his care.
The State of Tennessee he had not yet been able to
embrace in his apostolical journeys, but it contained at
most twenty-five Catholic families, scattered over its
territory from the border of North Carolina to the
Mississippi River, who had received one or two visits
from priests in Kentucky.^

On the 11th of April, 1815, Bishop Flaget addressed
a touching letter to the Sovereign Pontiff, congratu-
lating him on his liberation from captivity, thanking
His Holiness for elevating him to the episcopate, and
rendering an account of the diocese and district com-
mitted to his care. He was able to report that he had

' " Expose des faits incontestables et des documents." Farmer, "The
History of Detroit and Michigan," p. 533.
2 Bishop Flaget to the Pope, April 11, 1815.

282 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

in Kentucky ten priests, six ecclesiastics in subdeacons,
and four in minor orders, and six who had received
the tonsure, a proof of the zeal and spirit of the priests
who had cultivated vocations in that backwoods State.
Of the subdeacons, five belonged to the Dominican
Order. He could number nineteen churches in Ken-
tucky, five of them brick, the rest of logs ; all decent,
but destitute of all ornaments or incentives to piety,
such as art, consecrated to religion, had placed on the
walls of European shrines. Seven of these churches
were under the care of Rev. Mr. Nerinckx. Owing to
the fluctuating character of the i^opulation it was not
easy to fix the number of Catholics in Kentucky, but
he estimated it at ten thousand. As for himself he
beheld much to be done, but he was utterly without
means. Before his consecration he had been assured
that the revenue of three farms would abundantly
supply an income to meet the maintenance of the
Bishop of Bardstown, but on arriving found that the
title of this property was held by others and would
not be conveyed to him, although he had used all
arguments that charity could prompt. He was thus
without resources either for his own support or for the
-erection of churches and institutions, the necessity
ior which was only too apparent.

The departure of Rev. Charles Nerinckx, by whom
lie forwarded the letter, was a great affliction, as he
could not feel certain of his return to the field in which
he had accomplished so much. The Sisterhood which
the Belgian priest had founded, now numbering eleven
members, shared his grief. That formed by Rev. Mr.
• David, whom he implored the Holy Father not to re-
move from his seminary to the see of Philadelphia,
was accomplishing much by its school, its care of
orphans, its visits to the sick and poor.

NERINCKX IN EUROPE. 283

He estimated the Catholics of Ohio at fifty families,
without priest or instruction, and menaced with a
gradual loss of faith. Vincennes had IBO families and,
had there been good will, might easily support one or
two priestsj but it depended on occasional visits from
Kentucky. In Illinois he estimated the population of
the three Catholic parishes, Kaskaskia, Cahokia, and
Prairie du Rocher, at 120 families. Detroit had 1500
souls in St. Anne's parish, and 500 on Raisin River
under Rev. Gabriel Richard, who was maintained by
the tithes still paid as in the old Canadian times.

There were Indian tribes among whom some traces
of the faith formerly preached by the Jesuit Fathers
still lingered, and stretching away to the Rocky
Mountains, beyond the Mississippi, were tribes who
asked for black gowns and afforded a field worthy of
the zeal of the Society of Jesus, restored by His Holi-
ness.^

The Rev. Mr. IS'erinckx had for more than three
years been anxious to visit Europe, one of his objects
being to obtain of the Sovereign Pontiff, Pius VII., a
recognition of the Sisterhood which he had estab-
lished ; Bishop Flaget at last, in September, 1815,
gave a reluctant consent, and kept his missionary
field open for him, taking on himself most of Rev.
Mr. Nerinckx's congregations and the chaplaincy of
the Sisters.'^ His visit to Rome gave him great conso-
lation. The Sacred Congregation " de Proj^aganda
Fide," in April, 1816, took under its special protec-
tion "The Little Society of the Friends of Mary at
the Foot of the Cross," and approved the rules and
xitatutes which he had prepared. These he printed in

» Bishop Flaget to Pope Pius VII., April 11, 1815.

« Maes, " Life of Rev. Charles Nerinckx," pp. 292-3, 330-343.

284 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

French in Belgium, and circulated to excite interest
in the missions of the Bardstown diocese. His moving
appeal had its effect ; two priests and eight semi-
narians volunteered to go to America with him,
churches and families gave church iDlate, vestments,
altar adornments, crucifixes, statues, paintings. He
embarked with his apostolic party at the Texel, in
May, 1817, but so stormy was the passage that he did
not reach Baltimore till the last days of July. The
priests and all the seminarians had resolved to apply
for admission to^the Society of Jesus ; so that Bishop
Flaget rebuked him wdien he arrived at St. Thomas
alone, though not empty-handed. The vestments,
paintings, bells, and other church goods were trans-
ported to Kentucky at great expense of time and
money, and liberally divided among the missions.
It may be declared that the services of the church
then, for the first time, could be celebrated with dig-
nity ; fine sets of vestments replacing those of coarse
fabric, trimmed with old bonnet ribbons, which had
hitherto done service. Many of the fruits of this
European visit of the venerable Nerinckx are still
preserved in Kentucky.'

Bishop Flaget had meanwhile visited Cincinnati
and Cliillicothe in Ohio. A substantial log church
v^as put up at Long Lick ; the Rev. Peter Schaeffer,
a newly ordained Belgian priest, whose physical
strength did not corresj)ond to his zeal, took charge of
the missions in Breckenridge and Grayson counties.'
Overburdened though he was with missionary and
«piscoj)al duties. Bishop Flaget entered the field of

'Maes, " Life of Rev. Charles Nerinckx," pp. 353-360 ; Le Sage Ten
Broek, " De Zegeprael van het Catholijk Geloof," Amsterdam, 1819.

* Webb, " Centenary of Catholicity in Kentucky," pp. 144-5.

BARDSTOWN CATHEDRAL. 285

controversy, to wliicli lie liacl a strong aversion. But
the coarse tirades and challenge of a preacher named
Tapscott required an answer. The discussion was
oral, and Tapscott flew from charge to charge, till
the Bishop declined to answer any more charges and
insisted on putting the minister under interrogation.
This was not to his fancy and he abruptly withdrew,
leaving the Bishop the victory ; but he, holy man,
returning to his poor apartments, knelt down to pray :
*' How happy shall I be, O Lord, if I cause thee to be
knowft and loved by all those unfortunate sectaries,
who are generally such, only because they had the
misfortune to be born in heresy."^

The erection of a Cathedral in the city which the
Head of the Church had selected as the see of his dio-
cese had engaged the attention of Bishop Flaget from
the time of his appointment, but he found himself
homeless and without resources. His own comfort
and the dignity of the episcopate were less important
in his eyes than the good of his flock. Time slipped
by and it was not till some years after his consecration
that he was able to purchase a plot of five acres in
Bardstown at a cost of seven hundred dollars. On
this site he proposed to erect his theological seminary
Bud a Cathedral. The corner-stone of the Cathedral,
which was to be dedicated to Saint Joseph, was laid
on the 16tliof July, 1816, four priests from St. Rose's
Convent and all the Seminarians taking part in the
ceremonial, the Rev. Mr. David preaching a luminous
discourse on the occasion. The next year the Bishop
authorized his clergy and friends to collect money and
subscriptions for erecting the edifice, the plans for
w^hich had been furnished by Mr. John Rogers, an

' Spalding, " Life of Bishop Flaget," p. 146.

286 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

architect from Maryland, who made his home in Bards-^
town, 1815. So i)oor was his flock, after the war with.
England, that only fourteen thousand dollars could
be raised, leaving what to the Bishop was an appalling
debt of $6000.^

Bishop Flaget was consoled to see that churches
were rising at different points, like St. Teresa's in
Meade County, St. Joseph's, under the care of the
Dominicans, and another church in Lebanon. His
Seminarians persevered, and he added gradually new
priests to his diocese by ordination, trained to the
work before them. In 1818, Rev. Charles Nerinckx
and Rev. Robert A. Abell, one of these young priests,
made a missionary tour through southern and south-
western Kentucky with consoling results ; and the
Dominican Father N. D. Young, with his Superior
Father Edward Fenwick, visited the Ohio missions.

Poor as Bishop Flaget was, and scanty as were his
accommodations at St. Thomas, he opened his house
and seminary to the priests of the congregation of the
mission under the saintly Father Felix de Andreis,
who had been secured by Bishoj) Du Bourg for the
mission of Louisiana, and who reached Kentucky in
November, 1816. They remained there for a year,
and meanwhile Bishop Flaget, — "who," to use the
words of Father De Andreis, " is continually on horse-
back, riding here and there like the youngest of his
missionaries ; he goes alone, without any distinction
of rank, save that of taking for himself the most dif-
ficult and laborious share of the ministry," — visited
St. Louis to induce the people in that city to make

' Benoit Joseph Flaget Evgque de Bardstown a ses

compatriotes," p. 3 •. translation in Webb, " Centenary," pp. 340-1, 269.
Deppen, "Louisville Catholic Family Guide," Louisville, 1887, p. 16.
Spalding, " Life of Bishop Flaget," p. 211.

BISHOP DAVID, COADJUTOR. 287

preparations for the reception of Bislioj) Du Bourg,
and when that i^relate reached Kentucky, accompanied
him to St. Louis to install him in the early days of
1818.1

Meanwhile Bishop Flaget, feeling the burden of
his diocese and its annexed district too heavy a weight
for himself to bear alone, apj^lied to the Holy See for
a coadjutor, and on July 4, 1817, Rev. John Baptist
David was appointed by the Sovereign Pontiff Bishop
of Mauricastro and coadjutor of Bardstown, with the
right of succession.^

Troubles in Michigan about this time called for
Bishop Flaget' s action. The Detroit Catholics were
without a church. There were differences of opinion.
Some wished the church nearer the Cote du Nord Est,
others wished a new i^arish formed. Many, opposed
to the removal of the dead, refused to contribute to
the erection of a new church. Rev. Mr. Richard used
all his influence to produce harmony, but to no pur-
pose, and when the Bishop sustained him, the inhabi-
tants of the northeast coast refused to submit to the
decision of the Bishop, and Dr. Flaget was compelled
to issue a pastoral letter (Feb. 24, 1817) and place the
temporary church under an interdict.^ The next year
he set out in May in hopes of effecting a restoration
of peace by his personal influence. At Cincinnati,

1 " Sketches of the Life of V. Rev. Felix de Andreis," Baltimore, 1861,
pp. 118-139 ; Spalding, " Life of Bishop Flaget," pp. 169-175.

* " Expose des faits incontestables et des documents."

» It is a significant fact that the men in power in this congregation of
St. Anne's had been so remiss in their duties, and so niggardly, that the
United States had to sue for the rent of the premises they were tem-
porarily occupying. Farmer's " Detroit," p. 531. In most of these
church troubles the noisiest people are those who contribute least, and
are seldom seen at the table of the Lord.

^88 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

then without priest or church, he made arrangements
for a lot and stimulated the few Catholics to begin
building a church. Here he visited several families
and baptized one child. After saying mass at Urbana
and baptizing an Indian girl at Fort Finley, he reached
Raisin River, but found the church there in such a
wretched condition that he could not offer the holy
sacrifice within its walls.

After reaching Detroit, it required only a personal con-
ference with the disaffected to obtain their submission.
They promised to remove the bodies from the old ceme-
tery, and to aid in erecting the new church. It was

SIGNATURE OF BISHOP DAVID.

also agreed to bury the past dissensions in oblivion.
The leaders signed the Pastoral in token of submission.

To render the removal of the interdict of the church
public and solemn. Bishop Flaget went in procession
to it on the 9th of June. Addresses were delivered in
French and English. An affectionate public recon-
ciliation took place between the schismatics and their
pastor, Rev. Gabriel Richard. A substantial collec-
tion taken up showed that the erection of the new
church was taken up in earnest.

A few days after, while returning from the house of
Gen. Macomb, the horses of his carriage took fright,
and the Bishop- was thrown down an embankment,
sustaining an injury from which he never entirely
recovered. After a visit to Quebec, returning by way
of Buffalo and Cleveland, he returned to Detroit in

A CHURCH IN CINCINNATI. 289

the latter part of August, and proceeded to Sault St.
Mary, in order to attend a great council to be held
there with the Indian tribes. Sickness prevented
much of the good he hojDed to effect there, but he
returned to Detroit only to labor as a missionary at
every station and administer the sacrament of con-
firmation. At Raisin River he spent six weeks, giving
a regular mission, excommunicating one man for an
unlawful marriage, and requiring two women to do
public penance.

Meanwhile work on the new church of St. Anne at
Detroit had been vigorously prosecuted. By means
of collections and paper money, which Rev. Mr.
Richard issued, the stone, timber, and lime were
brought to the spot and the work rapidly performed.
When the Bishop returned to the city on the 30th of
December the cross was already glittering on the
steeple. He continued his missionary labors at De-
troit, Cote du IN'ord Est, and Raisin River, till after
the close of Lent, and finally left Detroit on the 29th
of May, having aroused the faith in all that part of
his charge.^

Returning by way of Pittsburgh he found the
church which the five or six Catholic families of Cin-
cinnati had undertaken, about two miles outside the
city, roofed in and already hallowed by the offering
of the holy sacrifice. It was a frame structure, fifty-
five feet long by twenty-five wide. He wrote in his jour-
nal : " It is a great misfortune that no Catholics come
to settle in the neighborhood of this splendid city.
At present there are no other Catholics in Cincinnati
than laborers and clerks and — such as are to be con-

' Spalding, "Life of Bishop Flaget," pp. 182-200; Farmer, "De-
troit," p. 533.

290 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

verted. Yet I think that nothing should be neglected
to establish religion here ; for the mercy of God i»
great, and when He pleases He can multiply his
children." He reached St, Thomas's, Kentucky, on
the last day of June, 1819, to the great joy of his
coadjutor elect.

Though the bulls appointing Rev, Mr. David had
reached Kentucky, November 25, 1817, his consecra-
tion had been deferred in consequence of his reluc-
tance to assume the position by reason of his age and
his infirmity, and from a scruple because he had him-
self urged Bishop Fiaget to solicit a coadjutor. His
objections were finally overcome by a letter from Car-
dinal Litta. By this time the mission of Kentucky^
was attended by Bishop Fiaget, his coadjutor elect,
and eighteen priests.

Soon after his return Bishop Fiaget removed his
residence and his seminary to Bardstown. He left St,
Thomas with great regret, and took up his residence
near his cathedral on the 7th of August in apartments
which seemed to him too grand for a bishop to occupy.
The next day was that appointed for the dedication
of the Cathedral, From all parts of Kentucky parties
of the faithful came, full of honest pride in the com-
pletion of the Corinthian edifice. Many Protestants
interested in the Cathedral also attended. The Bishop
invested the ceremonial with all the j)omp his means
permitted. Bishop-elect David preaching during the
consecration service, and Rev, Robert A, Abell, dur-
ing the pontifical mass. It was the most imposing-
ceremony of the Church yet witnessed in the West.

The Cathedral of St. Josej^h at Bardstown has in.
later days been surpassed by many ecclesiastical
structures, but for the state and the period it wasi
deemed remarkable, A traveler in the West de-

BARDSTOWN CATHEDRAL 291

-scribes it thus : "The situation cliosen for the church
is truly admirable. . At the western extremity of this
liandsome little town, on the road to Elizabeth, is
erected this neat building, with which, in this western
country, none can vie in architecture, if we except the
University of Lexington and the Louisville Hospital.
It is very large and beautiful, comparatively with
most other buildings in these parts. On it is raised a
liandsome steeple, containing a large bell and clock,
having on its summit, as usual in our Catholic churches,
the glorious cross that silently announces, even to the
distant traveler, the love, the mercies, and the tri-
umphs of our Redeemer. The ceiling is vaulted and
four pillars on each side sej^arate the nave from the
■aisles. The sanctuary is very spacious, and in it, be-
sides the high altar, there are two others, and the
puli)it becomingly decorated. A beautiful painting
of the Crucifixion hangs over the high altar, and on
each side of the wall, which from the two side altars
near the railing takes the inclination of a bow, are
two paintings, one representing the Descent of the
Holy Ghost, the other the solemn reproof made by
Saint Bernard, with the consecrated host in his hand,
to William Duke of Aquitaine." '

A week later, on the feast of the Assumption of our
Lady, Bishop David was consecrated in the Cathedral
by Bishop Flaget, Rev. Charles Nerinckx and Father
Wilson, O.S.D., acting as assistants, and a future co-
adjutor, Rev. Guy I. Chabrat, delivering the sermon.

The next month the Seminarians removed to the
episcopal residence, which thus became the seminary.
On Sundays and holidays the Bishop and his coad-
jutor were surrounded in the sanctuary by these can-

• U. S. Cath. Miscellany, iv., p. 210, April 13, 1825.

292 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

didates for the priesthood, whose exactness in tha
ceremonial and gravity of deportment impressed all.

In November Bishop Flaget made visitations extend-
ing to Louisville, New Albany, Washington, and Vin-
cennes. He soon after addressed a pastoral to the
Catliolics of Michigan, laying off the territory where
the faithful were sufficiently numerous into parishes,
and fixing the points where he regarded the erection
of churches most feasible and most likely to be con-
venient/

The territory north of the Ohio had been tempo-
rarily placed nnder the care of Bishop Flaget, and he
felt that the time had come for the erection of ei)isco-
pal sees there. As Ohio was already the home of
many Catholic families of German speech, he urged
that a see should be erected at Cincinnati, and for its
first Bishop he recommended the Rev. Demetrius A.
Gallitzin, educated in Germany, and familiar with the
language and ideas of the people. In this selection
Archbishop Marechal and Bishop Du Bourg concurred,
but the good Russian priest, learning of the project,
peremptorily refused. For the see of Detroit the two
Bishops recommended Rev. Father John Grassi, Su-
perior of the Jesuit Mission in the United States.^ The
Congregation " de Propaganda Fide " regarded the
erection of a see at Detroit inexpedient, but it was
decided to erect the see of Cincinnati, the diocese ta
embrace the State of Ohio ; ^ Father Edward Fen wick,

' " Lettre pastorale k tons les Catholiques du Detroit et du Territoire-
Michigan."

' Bishop Flaget to a Cardinal, Nov. 5, 1820. He recommended F.
Grassi, or F. Benedict Fenwick, for Detroit, as he deemed that district a.
field that required regulars.

3 Pius VII , Bull, "Inter multiplices," June 19, 1831. Bullarium de
Propaganda Fide, iv. , p. 385.

EDUCATION. 29a

O. S. D., subsequently recommended, was appointed,
and he was soon after made Administrator Apostolic-
of Michigan and Northwest Territory.^

This was a great relief to the mind of Bishop Flaget
who remained responsible only for Indiana and Illinois
north of the Ohio, and Bishop Dii Boiirg, who owed
much to him, agreed to provide for several of the
missions in the latter State, easily reached from St.
Louis. But he was menaced with the loss of Bishop
David, who was proposed for the see of Philadelphia.
Against this Bishop Flaget i^rotested, as it involved
the destruction of his diocesan seminary.

Bishop Flaget had seen two religious communities of
women formed for works of charity and for primary
instruction of the young ; he beheld their progress,
and missions already established by both, and prepa-
rations on hand for the opening of female academies
of a higher grade.

The education of boys was the next thought. The
Dominicans had come to Kentucky expressly to open
an academy for boys, and they founded the first
Catholic school in the State, which was maintained
for several years. But the time of the Dominicans
was more especially needed for mission work as
priests. Their scholasticate for members of their
order preparing for holy orders was, however, main-
tained ; the young Dominican novices and students^
for want of lay brothers, doing much outdoor manual
labor.^

The holy priest Nerinckx had secured a farm before

'"Annales de la Propagation de la Foi," ii., p. 88. Bullarium de
Propaganda Fide, v., p. 89.

2F. Thomas Wilson, O.P., to F. Augustine Hill, O.P., July 23, 1820.
Appeal of F. Wilson in " Origine et Progres de la Mission du Kentucky,"
Paris, 1821, p. 31-2.

■294 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

he went to Europe, and returned with some young
Belgians whom he designed as the first members of a
community of Brothers who were to accomplish for
boys the same work that the Loretto Sisters were so
faithfully doing for the young of their own sex ; but
his farm was taken for other uses and the project
failed. The Rev. William Byrne, trained at Mount
St. Mary's and St. Mary's Seminary, Baltimore, where
he received subdeacon's orders, was received by Bishoj)
Flaget, and with Rev. G. A. M. Elder, were the first
priests ordained in Bardstown Cathedral, and the
first elevated to the priesthood by Bishop David.
Rev. Mr. Byrne was appointed to the care of the con-
gregations of St, Charles and Holy Mary. Seeing the
want of an academy for boys, he secured the farm
selected by Rev. C. Nerinckx, and paid for it. Here,
in the spring of 1821, he opened St. Mary's Seminary,
in an old distillery on the place ; his terms were char-
acteristic of the country. Parents were to pay for the
board of their sons in provisions ; for tuition, in work
or money. Though encumbered by his parochial du-
ties, often requiring long journeys on horseback, he
was sole prefect and teacher of his academy till he
had trained pupils to aid him. The school was so well
conducted that it became popular, and he had raised
an additional building, when he returned after a brief
absence to find it in ashes. But he was undaunted,
and persevered. The course of studies enlarged, his
institution was incorporated by the State as St. Mary's
College, and finding it beyond his ability to direct as
he desired, he transferred it in time to the Fathers of
■the Society of Jesus.

A fellow student of Rev. Mr. Byrne in Maryland,

' ]\Iaes, " Life of Rev. Charles Nerinckx," p. 386.

EDUCATION. 295

Kev. George A. M. Elder, in 1820, opened a school for
boys in the basement of the Theological Seminary at
Bardstown, but it increased to such an extent that a
separate building soon bore the name of St. Joseph's
College. The students of a Southern seat of learning
■swelled its numbers. For many years the college
prospered, guided by its founder, and for a time by
Hev. Mr. Reynolds, afterwards Bishop of Charleston.^
The diocese in the backwoods was thus better equipped
for Christian work than any other except Baltimore.
It had its secular and regular clergy, each with a house
of studies for supplying candidates for the priesthood ;
it had high schools for the young of both sexes, as
well as more rudimentary schools ; it had two commu-
nities of women created in the diocese and fitted for
instruction and works of mercy ; but it had its Fhiget
and its David, its Nerinckx, Badin, Fenwick, Wilson,
Byrne, and Elder, each a host in himself.

With the calls upon him. Bishop Flaget had as yet
been unable to visit the State of Tennessee, though
Rev. Mr. Badin had made four excursions into that
part of the diocese. IS'ow that he Avas relieved of part
of his charge and had clergy to attend the more
numerous congregations in Kentucky, he set out in
May, 1821, to visit the handful of Catholics in Ten-
nessee. Journeying by way of Breckenridge County,
Litchfield, and Bowling Green, he reached Nnshville
■on the 10th, accompanied by Rev. R. A. Abell. The
next day he offered the holy sacrifice in the house of
Mr. Montbrun, his host, who was deeply affected by
the honor conferred upon him. The Catholics in and
^around Nashville were estimated at sixty, and not
more than half as many more in all the rest of the

1 Spalding, " Sketches of Kentucky," pp. 264-284.

296 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

State. With such a scanty flock the establishment of
a church seemed a bold undertaking : but Bishop
Flaget resolved to make the attemjDt. Protestants
showed great liberality. Mr. Foster offered a lot
seventy feet by one hundred as a site for the church ;
courtesies were extended on all sides, and the holy
sacrifice was attended not only by the Catholics, but.

BEV. STEPHEN T. BADEN.

by many prominent persons of all denominations.-
Rev. Mr. Abell's sermons in the Court House were-
attentively followed. The Bishop and his companion
then visited Franklin and Columbia. At the latter
place a subscription was taken up and a purse of two
hundred dollars and a new suit of clothes were pre-
sented to Mr. Abell as the public appreciation of the
dressing he gave a ranting minister.

Soon after his return the Bishop welcomed back
from Europe Rev. Charles Nerinckx, and Rev. Mr.

VINCENNES. 297

Chabrat, who came with the fruits of their aj)-
peal.

In March, 1823, he stationed at Yincennes the Rev.
J. L. ChamiDauniier, whom lie had recently ordained.
He was the first priest whom Bishop Flaget had been
able to place permanently in Indiana. The Bishoj) in
the summer visited his old scene of parochial work to
arouse the people to support their pastor in his exer-
tions for their welfare.^ The young j^riest, however,
found himself in a very difficult position. Abandon-
ing the old system of marguilliers, the congregation
had obtained from the legislature a charter of incor-
poration. The men elected trustees were, as usual,
merely nominal Catholics who never approached the
sacraments. The church was tottering to ruin, and a
new one imperatively demanded, but these men would
do nothing. The zealous efforts of Rev. Mr. Cham-
paumier to revive religious feelings in the hearts of
those who were torjpid or indifferent aroused ojdido-
sition.

At the time of his visit these troubles had not cul-
minated, and as Rev. Mr. Cham]Daumier desired to
establish a school, the Bishop subsequently sent Sis-
ters of Charity to Indiana, who opened one near the
old church.^

While in Indiana Bishop Flaget visited Mount

' Spalding, " Life of Bishop Flaget," p. 235-8.

» lb., p. 238-9. Letter of Rev. J. L. Champaumier, Sept. , 13, 1825, in U.
S. Cath. Misc., v., p. 236. Bishop Flaget to Mr. Badolet, Jan. 18, 1825.
A writer in the Catholic Miscellany, v., p. 377 : " Were you to see this
edifice which I style a church, you would doubtless call in question its
right to that name, and rather denominate it a ruined hovel. But I give
it that appellation, notwithstanding its rough materials, unseemly form,
and ruinous condition, because it was erected by the Jesuit missionaries
to serve as such."

298 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

Pleasant, Washington, and two French settlements on
the Wabash, administering confirmation at several
points.^

The diocese was soon to receive a blow in the de-
parture and death of the venerable Charles Nerinckx.
His Order was extending, and when the election of
a superior general was held, on the feast of the
Annunciation, 1822, and Sister Juliana Wathen was
elected, the Loretto community had convents at
Loretto, Calvary, Gethsemane, and Bethania, besides
one at Mechlin, Belgium. The next year they opened
other houses at Mount Carmel and Mount Olivet.
They also sent a colony to Missouri where they
founded the Bethlehem convent, in poverty worthy of
the name.

Meanwhile the holy founder was engaged on his last
work in Kentucky, the erection of a brick church at
Holy Cross, when a trouble arose which deprived
Kentucky of his services and menaced the existence
of the Sisterhood. The Rev. Guy I. Chabrat, who
had been appointed by the Bishop, confessor of the
Bethania convent, attempted to alter the Rules which
had been confirmed by Pope Pius VII. He com-
plained to Bishop Flaget of Rev. Mr. Nerinckx as
visionary and excessively rigorous. The Bishop was
reluctant to act, but as Rev. Mr. Chabrat persisted,
Rev. Mr. Nerinckx resolved to leave Kentucky and
the Sisterhood. In the last days of May he addressed
his parting letters to the community which he had
founded. He left Loretto on the 16ch of June, in very
ill health, and on the feast of the Visitation surprised
the Loretto Sisters at Bethlehem, Missouri, by his
sudden appearance among them. After a brief rest

' Spalding, " Life of Bishop Flaget," p. 239.

DEATH OF REV. C. NERINCKX. 299

he proceeded to the Barrens, and was received into the
diocese by Bishop Rosati. Full of projects for the
Indian missions and the instruction of Indian girls at
the houses of the Loretto Sisters, he set out for the
Bethlehem convent, but could proceed no further than
St. Genevieve, where he expired August 12, 1824, as-
sisted in death by the Lazarist Father Dahmen.

His unexpected death was a terrible blow to the
Sisters in Kentucky and Missouri, which was felt
more keenly when Rev. Guy I. Chabrat, appointed
ecclesiastical superior of the community, burned all
the writings of the Rev. Mr. Nerinckx, and many of
tlie books which were the source of his meditations^
His last letter to the Sisters, though actually given to
the flames, was fortunately rescued.

Bishop Flaget felt deeply the loss of the holy pio-
neer priest, to whom Kentucky owed so much. In the
requiem mass offered for him in the Cathedral at
Bardstown, Bishop Flaget pronounced a glowing eulo-
gy on his virtues, and he addressed to Bishop England
an account of the great priest, which shows his admira-
tion and esteem. '' He lives amongst us in his works,
and the monuments of the zeal of my virtuous friend
are so multiplied in my diocese, and his generous self-
devotion so well appreciated, that his name and that
of his beneficent country are embalmed in the memory
of my flock. The legacy which my people value most
is that of ' The Friends of Mary at the Foot of the
Cross' ; this admirable institution is their delight.
The virtuous daughters of this Society are the edifica-
tion of all who know them ; their singular piety and
their penitential lives remind us of all that we have
read of the ancient monasteries of Palestine and of
Thebais. Their number is over one hundred ; they
have charge of six schools. They give education to

300 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

upwards of two hundred and fifty little girls yearly in
their houses, and take in some orphans gratis." . . .
"Mr. Nerinckx himself led an extremely austere and
mortified life ; his dress, his lodging, his food was
poor, and he has filled his monasteries with this holy
spirit." "But nothing could exceed the devotion of
Mr. Nerinckx to the Holy Sacrament of our altars ; in
this respect he was a model for every clergyman."
"A rule of his monasteries is to keep up during even
the night the Perpetual Adoration by a succession of
two Sisters to two Sisters before the Holy Sacrament
to pay their homage to the God who loved us so
dearly, as after suffering for us to give us under the
sacramental veil his flesh to eat ; to repair in some
degree the disres^Dect with which the sacrament is
treated by the ingratitude of the human race." " It
was to be expected that so holy a life should be ter-
minated by a holy death."

The remains of this great servant of God were car-
ried to Bethlehem, but in time were transferred to
Loretto in Kentucky, where they rest. His life has
been written by Right Rev. Camillus P. Maes, D.D.,
now Bishop of Covington.^

About 1822, another community of religious women
was formed near St Rose's Convent and under the
guidance of the Fathers Preachers. Father Wilson is
regarded as the founder. Several pious members of

• Bishop Flaget to Bishop England, in U. S. Cath. Miscellany, iii., pp.
358-361.

* The Life of Rev. Charles Nerinckx, with a chapter on the Early-
Missions of Kentucky, copious notes on the progress of Catholicity in
the United States of America from 1800 to 1825 ; an Account of the
Establishment of the Society of Jesus in Missouri ; and a Historical
Sketch of the Sisterhood of Loretto in Kentucky, Missouri, New
Mexico, etc. Cincinnati, Robert Clarke & Co., 1880, 8vo, 635 pp.

DEATH OF REV. C. NERINCKX. 301

his flock adopted the rule of the Third Order of St.
Dominic and making vows for life began the Convent
of St. Magdalen about a mile from St. Rose's. The
new house, w^ith its school, prosj^ered, and in 1828 a
colony of these Sisters founded St. Mary's Convent,
Somerset, Ohio.'

In a letter to the Holy See in January 1826, Bishop
Flaget describes his diocese. Rev. Mr. Mulholland, a
priest educated in his Seminary, had three congrega-
tions and attended four stations in Northern Ken-
tucky, and directed a house of Loretto Sisters in his
district. Rev. Mr. Coombs, another priest brought
up by him, had two congregations, several stations and
a house of Sisters of Charity. The Dominican con-
vent under Father Tuite as prior, with Fathers Miles,
Montgomery, and Paulinus, all educated in Kentucky,
and several students, attended a large congregation
and attended many stations. Sisters of the Third
Order of St. Dominic, devoted to the education of girls,
had a thriving academy and there was a flourishing
school for boys also in operation. Bardstown had its
seminary and college, which had already proved their
fruitfulness. The community of Brothers gave hopes
that were never realized.

Twelve miles south of Bardstown was Holy
Cross, the first church in Kentucky with two priests,
and a Loretto convent, with an orphan asylum nine
miles off attended by the Sisters. Rev. Guy I. Chabrat,
priest at St. Louis and its missions, being Superior of
the community founded by the lamented Nerinckx.
Very Rev. Mr. Byrne's college with its hundred pupils
was eight miles from Loretto, and at about the same

' Bishop Spalding, " Sketches of Kentucky," p. 161 ; " Breve Narra-
zione della Promulgazione del Giubileo .... nella Diocesi di Bards-
town."

302 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

distance Rev. Mr. Deparcq directed St. Mary's Churcli..
To tlie west, Rev. Mr. Butler liad three congregations,
several stations, and the Mount Carmel house of the
Lorettines. Further west, Rev, Mr, Durbin, destined
to labor to an advanced age, had three congregations
and several stations.

Kentucky could claim fourteen log-churches and
ten of brick. Rev, Mr. Kenrick, future Archbishop
of Baltimore, "excelling among the excellent," be-
sides his duties as professor to 18 students attended
St. Joseph's Church. St. Joseph's College had flour-
ished with two hundred pupils, ten seminarians acting
as tutors or prefects, while pursuing their theological
course. Kentucky thus had two bishops, twenty-twa
priests, and three houses to which the Church might
look for a future supply of priests.

In Indiana the church of Vincennes was directed
by Rev. Mr, Champaumier, struggling hard to put it
on a better footing, aided by the school of the Sistera
of Charity. Other stations in Indiana were visited
from Kentucky, especially from St, Michael's and.
Union County. While the priest in Breckenridge
County at least once a year, but as a rule more fre-
quently, pushed on a hundred and fifty miles to Nash-
ville, the only spot in Tennessee that could boast a.
Catholic congregation.^

The indulgence in the form of a Jubilee proclaimed
by Pope Leo XII., on ascending the Pontifical throne,
became for the Catholics of Kentucky a season of
great spiritual advantage. It was the first time that
the great season of thanksgiving and prayer was pro-
claimed among them. To prepare his clergy for the-

> Bishop Flaget to the Cardinal Prefect, Jan. 19, 1826. " Breve Nar-
razione della promulgazione del Giubileo."

THE JUBILEE. 303

great work which God and his Church expected at
their hands for the good of the faithful, Bishop Flaget
convened the priests of his diocese for a spiritual re-
treat in the first week of Se^Dtember, 1826. The retreat
was attended by fifteen priests, fifteen seminarians,
and seven applicants for tonsure, one of them Martin
John Spalding. On the 10th of September, the
Bishop promulgated the Jubilee in his Cathedral, and
began the exercises, which lasted a week. Bishop
Flaget then i)roi)osed to visit each congregation in his
diocese accompanied by one or two missionaries, and
give a similar series of exercises, instructions, and
exhortations in each, reaping a harvest of conversions
from sin and error. When Bisho]3 David took it up
at St. Thomas, Bishop Flaget i^roceeded, with Rev.
Francis P. Kenrick, to St. John Baptist's in Bullitt
County, where the neat wooden church was thronged ;
then to St, Michael's log chapel in Nelson County,
near which a community of the Loretto Sisters carried
on their pious work. Then tlie Jubilee missionaries
visited St. Michael's log chapel in Spencer County,
as well as Bloomfield, a town with few Catholics, but
where malignant attacks had been published which it
was deemed important to silence. Rev. Mr. Kenrick
was soon after stricken down by disease, and his evan-
gelical labors were suspended for a time."^

Bishop Flaget, with three priests, in November vis-
aed the tottering log chapel of St. Charles, in Wash-
ington County, Holy Mary's, the brick church in
Lebanon, where a family of eleven converts was re-
ceived into the Church. The fine convent and church

^ "Breve Narrazione della Promulgazione delGiubileo." U. S. Cath-
olic Miscall, vi. , pp. 103, 175. In the first part of this visitation as far
as St. Teresa's, Madison Co., there were 4250 communions, and the
Bishop confirmed 726. "Breve Narrazione."

304 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

of Loretto also enjoyed the honor of jubilee exercises
given by the Bishop.

When travel was practicable in the spring, the work
was resumed at St. Peter's Church near Lexington ;
Frankfort with its one Catholic family was next vis-
ited, and mass was offered in the pious home of a ven-
erable old man, about four miles distant, and also at
Flat Creek ; other small stations were visited on the
way to Ovvensville. After this the Jubilee was pro-
claimed in St. Rose's, one of the most numerous con-
gregations in the State. In Springfield, after the close
of a conference, a Rev. Mr. Sneed, the Presbyterian
minister, attempted to reply to the arguments of Rev.
Mr. Kenrick, but the skillful theologian soon demol-
ished his sophistries, exjjosed his ignorance, perver-
sion, and uncharitableness. The Protestants retired,
deeply impressed with the utter defeat of their advo-
cate. St. Hubert's neat little brick church next
received the Bishop, then Holy Cross, St. Vincent's
near New Haven, and Gethsemani.

In November the Bishop opened the Jubilee exer-
cises in the Church of the Sacred Heart, Union County,
then in a log house in Daviess County, in St. An-
thony's, St. Teresa's, and St. Mary's in Indiana, on the
banks of the Ohio. The aged Bishop traveled on
horseback by the roughest roads, often benighted in
woods or poor districts, where it was almost imj^os-
sible to find food or shelter.

The diffusion of Catholic doctrine by the confer-
ences given in all large towns, roused no little antago-
nism, but Catholicity was everywhere in the ascend-
ant and many Protestants were convinced and sought
admission to the Church. Almost all the Catholics of
Kentucky, we are assured, approached the sacraments
during this season of grace. In twenty-one congrega-

STATE OF THE DIOCESE. 305

tions 1216 were confirmed, and more than six thou-
sand approached holy communion.^

The religions excitement caused by the Jubilee
exercises led an impostor to attempt to profit by it.
Avoiding the route announced by the Bishop and his
missionaries, this man pretended to be a priest and
bishop-elect of Illinois, and preached in some parts of
Kentucky and Illinois, until his knavery was exposed
by Rev. John Timon and Rev. Francis P. Kenrick.^

Encouraged and consoled by the precious fruits of
the Jubilee, Bishop Flaget looked forward to peace
;and progress in his diocese. In 1828 he visited Balti-
more to consecrate Archbishop Whitfield, the third
successor of Archbishop Carroll, at whose hands he
had received the sacred unction. He visited St.
Mary's Seminary and Georgetown College, scenes of
his early labors as an instructor ; as well as Emmits-
burg with its college and academy.

The next year he begun his fifth visitation, and
after installing Rev. Mr. Abell in Louisville, gave the
Jubilee exercises in New Albany, and in the log chapel
at the Knobs, in Indiana ; then at Mount Pleasant,
Black Oak Ridge, and Vincennes.^

We have thus a picture of the progress and actual
condition of Catholicity in the diocese of Bardstown
xit the time appointed for the first Council of Balti-
more.

' "Breve Narrazione," etc ; U. S. Cath. Miscellany, vi., pp. 169, 327 ;
vii., pp. 31-378. Spalding, •' Life of Bishop Flaget," p. 260.

' U. S. Cath. Misc., vii., p. 22. Stato della Religione negli Stati
Uniti," 1827.

^ Spalding, " Life of Bishop Flaget," p. 265.

CHAPTER XVIIL

DIOCESE OF CHARLESTON.
KT. REV. JOHN ENGLAND, D.D., FIRST BISHOP, 1820-1829,

The steps which led to the hasty erection of the
sees of Richmond and Charleston need not be repeated.
The selection for the see of Charleston fell on a priest
of great merit and energy, who had already been
desirous of devoting himself to the missions of the
United States, The Rev. John England, residing at
Bandon, as parish priest of Killorgan and Bally-
moodan, received on the 10th of July, 1820, a letter
from Rev. Henry Hughes at Rome, notifying him of
his appointment to the see of Charleston. That see
was erected the next day, July 11, by a bull of his
Holiness, Pope Pius VII. Letters followed with his
bulls, forwarded by Cardinal Somagiia, Prefect of the
Propaganda, urging him to proceed as soon as possible
to America, and referring him for guidance to the
Rev. Robert Browne, avIio had defied the authority of
three successive Archbishops of Baltimore, abandoned
his Augusta mission, and intruded himself into the
church at Charleston.

Yielding to the urgent directions in these and other
letters tlie Rev. Mr. England resigned his 2:)arishes in
Ireland and prepared to accept the burden imposed
him.^ He was a priest of remarkable talents, of
experience in various departments of priestly labor
as professor in an ecclesiastical seminary, chaplain of

' Diary of Bishop England.
306

BISHOP ENGLAND. 307

prisons and refuges, rector of a large parish. He had
been thrown much among men, and was able to adapt
himself to circumstances. He was not in good stand-
ing with the English government, but it was consid-
ered that this could do no harm in the United States.
He was a native of Cork, born in that city on the 23d
of September, 1786, and in his early days showed great
piety, noble thoughts and aspirations, as well as a
deep sense of the sufferings of others. When in the
course of his studies he manifested a desire to become
a priest of the most high God, his parents encouraged
his pious thought and fostered his vocation. After
being prepared under the care of Rev. Dean McCarthy
he entered Carlow College in 1803. While studying
here the young ecclesiastic devoted his leisure to the
instruction of Catholics in a corps of militia stationed
at Carlow, and was instrumental in establishing a
reformatory for women, and poor schools for children
of both sexes. He was ordained priest by dispensa-
tion on the 10th of October, 1808, the Rev. Dr. Moy-
lan, Bishop of Cork, raising him to that holy order in
his cathedral. His earliest labors were as preacher in
Cork Cathedral, director of a Magdalen Asylum, and
founder of the "Religious Repertory," a Catholic
periodical. He urged the appointment of a Catholic
bhaplain at the prison, and till provision was made
offered his services. In 1812 this active and zealous
jmest was made President of the Diocesan College of
St. Mary, founded by Bishop Moylan. His active
zeal was displayed here also, and once on his way to
Dublin when the mail stage was stopped by a heavy
•snow, he attempted to push on afoot, till he sank
•exhausted in the snow, and Avould have perished had
3iot a countryman providentially discoved him. Rev.
llr. England was an active opponent of the proposed

308 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

grant to the English government of a power to prevent
by a veto the nominations of bishops in Ireland by
the bishops and clergy. He was thus known as a
vigorous and logical writer. In 1817 he was ai3pointed
by Bishop Murphy parish priest, and held tlie posi-
tion, as we have seen, when the announcement reached
him of his elevation to the episcopal rank. He had
yearned to j)roceed to the land of the free, for his
grandfather, desx)oiled of everything, had spent years
in prison ; his grandmother died of a fever caused
by the cruelty ; his own father, for teaching a few
scholars without taking a sacrilegious oath, was hunted
to the mountains.^ His active life had not ]3ermitted
him to acquire the fund of theological knowledge
which the cloistered religious obtain by years of
patient study. As he himself said: "Much of my
life has been spent in dungeons with convicts as their
chaplain — in prison Avith those who were to suffer
death, guilty and innocent ; in the prisons of the irre-
claimably depraved, in the care of Magdalen Asylums,
and in the superintendence of convents of nuns, Ursu-
lines and others, as to their discipline — under the
contemptuous frown of the persecutor and in the
councils of the public offices, with the best and worst
men of society, with the best informed and the most
ignorant. IS'ine years thus spent left me little leisure
for my books. I was then during part of my time
charged with the teaching of theology and the super-
intendence of a seminary, after which I was taken
again from my books to the charge of a large parish
and the vicarial inspection of ten others as Vicar
foraneus." ^

' Sketches in Works of Bishop England, i., pp. 1, etc.
2 Bishop England to Rev. S. G. Brute, Aug. 28, 1825.

CONSECRATION. 309

He prepared by a retreat for the great and responsi-
ble duty imposed upon him, and settling up his aifairs
he was consecrated Bishop of Charleston, in the Cathe-
dral of Saint Finnbar, by the Right Rev. John Mur-
phy, Bishop of Cork, assisted by the Right Rev.
Kieran Marum, Bishop of Ossory, and Right Rev.
Patrick Kelly, Bishop of Riciimond, on the 21st of
September, 1820, Archbishop Everard, Bishops Cop-
pinger, Sughrue, and Tuohy, being also present,^ The
other bishops consecrated for the United States had at
the time of consecration taken a special oath of alle-
giance to the King of England. But the Bishop-elect
of Charleston had declared that he would seek conse-
cration elsewhere rather than take such an oath, as he
went to the United States determined to become a
citizen of that Republic as soon as the laws would
permit him.^

The next day he gave minor orders and subdeacon-
ship to Denis Corkery and Timothy McCarthy, two
ecclesiastics whom he had accepted for his diocese.
His first episcopal function he performed in the chapel
of the Presentation Convent, of which his sister Mary
was Superior, and he conferred the order of priesthood
on the two candidates in the chapel of the Ursulines
on the 24th. After sending to the clergy of his diocese
a temporary renewal of their faculties, he set out for
Belfast, bidding adieu on the way to his widowed
mother. After a visit to Cariow College, where the
students presented an address to the first alumnus of
the institution raised to the episcopate, he embarked
on the 22d of October on the ship Thomas Gelston.
He was accompanied by his sister Johanna, who gave

' Certificate of Consecration, Bishop England's Works, iv., p. 232
'^ W. G. Read's sketch of Bishop England.

310 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

all her little fortune to his diocese, and by his newly-
ordained priest, Rev. Denis Corkery. After a stormy
voyage he landed at Charleston on the 30th day of
December,^ and presented his bulls and certificate of
consecration to Very Rev. Benedict J. Fenwick, who
thereupon resigned the diocese into his hands. Bishop
England at once appointed him Vicar-General and
gave faculties to Rev. Messrs. Gallagher, Browne, and
Corkery. The next day, being Sunday, he took pos-
session of the church and published his bulls. Learn-
ing that the church at Savannah had been abandoned,
and that of Augusta greatly injured by the apostacy
and marriage of an unworthy priest, he issued a jias-
toral letter to his flock and prepared to visit those
churches. In his pastoral he dwelt on the organiza-
tion of the Church by our Lord, and on the authority
established in it which all were required to obey.^ He
commissioned Father Fenwick to exercise authority in
his absence, to hire a building for a second temporary
church, and, if possible, to purchase a site for a
cathedral in a good part of the city. He then j^ro-
ceeded to Savannah with Rev. Robert Browne. The
church on Liberty Square he found fairly supplied
with vestments and plate, as well as p>ossessed of some
property giving a small income. After celebrating
mass, bajDtizing, and hearing confessions for several
days, he arranged with the trustees the salary to be
paid to the priest whom he promised them. He urged
the Catholics of Savannah to take steps to erect a new
and more worthy church. On Sunday he officiated
and preached, explaining his appointment to the new

' Bishop England's Diary. Bishop England to Archbishop Marechal,
Jan. 2, 1821.

« Pastoral, Jan. 21, 1821. Works, iv., p. 232.

VISITATION. 311

see, and apx)ointed Rev. Robert Browne their pastor.
He proceeded thence to Augusta, where Rev. Samuel
S. Cooper was temporarily laboring earnestly to re-
pair the mischiefs which had been done the Catholic
body. He found the church in order, renewed the
appointment of Rev. Mr. Cooper, and administered
confirmation to 49 persons. His next visit was to the
old Catholic settlement at Locust Grove, where the
Thompson family had kept the faith alive. The little
church, capable of containing sixty or seventy, was
decently supplied. Bishop England spent some days
at this interesting spot, administering the sacraments
and preaching.^

Leaving Georgia, after visiting Warren and Wilkes
Counties, Bishop England then jDroceeded to Columbia,
the capital of South Carolina. The Rev. Mr. Wallace
was professor of mathematics in the college, and
though without any charge officiated for the small
bodj^ of Catholics there. After conferring with him,
the Bishop met the principal members of the congre-
gation and urged them to undertake the erection of a
church. He officiated for them, appointed persons
here and elsewhere to read prayers in the absence of
the priest and teach catechism. At the request of the
college students he preached in their chapel, and sub-
sequently in the Court House. From his visitation he
estimated the communicants at 375.^

On his return to Charleston, weakened by a severe,
attack of rheumatism which had prostrated him dur-
ing this apostolic excursion. Bishop England resumed,
his duties. One of his first acts was to send Rev..

' Diary, Letter to Archbishop Marechal, Mar. 6, 1831.

* Annales de la Prop, de la Foi, iv., p. 300. Bishop England to EtoDk
W. Gaston, May 17, 1821.

312 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

Denis Corkeiy to reside at Columbia, organize the
church there, and attend Chester and Locust Grove.
He labored incessantly at Charleston, issued a Lenten
pastoral, gave a series of lectures on the Church, drew
up and issued a catechism, and prej^ared a class for
confirmation. When Easter arrived he had confirmed
180 in that city.

His visitation had shown him the dangers of the
mode in which the Church property was held, and he
felt the necessity of having a cathedral free from such
influences. He secured Vauxhall Gardens, on Broad
and Friend Streets, a very fine plot, eligibly situated
in one of the best parts of Charleston, on which he
purposed erecting a cathedral.

The Bishop could retain Rev, Father Fenwick only
temporarily, and Rev, Mr. Cooper wished to return to
the North, As the Catholics at Columbia showed no
inclination to support Rev, Mr, Corkery, Bishop Eng-
land sent him to Augusta. He then set out to ascer-
tain the condition of Catholicity in North Carolina,
the third of the States comprised in his diocese, afford
his flock an opportunity to receive the sacraments,
and organize them into congregations, so that even
when there Avas no clergyman, they might assemble
together on the Lord's day, have appropriate prayers
read by some j)erson duly appointed, who could also
teach catechism and read some book of instruction.
Stopping at the Santee River to minister to a few
Catholics, he baptized and confirmed. On the 15th of
May he was in Wilmington. No Catholic priest had
ever resided there, but the Bishop ascertained that a
Rev. Mr. Burke had spent a fortnight in the town
about twenty-five years before, and that a Jesuit
Father, going to some Spanish settlement, remained
two or three days in the town about the year 1815,

VISITATION. 313

and baptized some children there. ^ The Bishop col-
lected the faithful, began a series of instructions to
them, iDi-eached by invitation to Protestants, whose
good will he won. He animated the Catholics to
erect a church, promising to have them regularly vis-
ited. So effective was his appeal that $1160 was sub-
scribed for the proposed edihce. The faithful enjoj^ed
for a brief period the happiness of hearing mass and
being able to approach the sacraments. Instructions
were given, children baptized, many reclaimed, and
even converts received. But he found several Catho-
lics who had joined Protestant churches, and who had
apparently been irrecoverably lost to the Church.

After a short stay at Washington he reached
New Berne, to be welcomed by the zealous Catholic,
Hon. William Gaston. The high social and profes-
sional position of this gentleman, his remarkable
ability shown at the bar, in the halls of Congress, and
on the bench, gave him a great influence in his native
State. His very example was a support to his fellow-
believers. Between him and Bishop England a strong
friendship was formed, and the prelate always found
in Judge Gaston a wise and safe counsellor.

Bishop England found at New Berne about twenty
Catholics who had not seen a priest since the previous
November, when Rev. Nicholas Kerney of Norfolk
visited them. The Bishop entered on his usual
course of missionary duty, which lasted ten days.^
Washington, another station still bearing marks of
Rev. Mr. Kerney' s zeal, was his next station, and
gradually so many Catholics came forward that he
urged them to organize and build a church, hoping

* Bishop England's Diary.

2 Diary, May 24, June 4, 1821.

314 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

before long to have tliem regularly attended. A Rev.
Mr. Mason was misrepresenting Catholic doctrines,
and Bishop England lectured to present them truly.
At this place he began by treating of natural religion,
leading the way up to revealed religion and the doc-
trines of the Church. Here he received three con-
verts who had already been attracted toward Catho-
licity. At Plymouth he had heard of but one
Catholic, Dr. Picot, but when he arrived and began
his lectures, a young Scotchman declared that he had
always been a true son of the "auld" Church. After
visiting Elizabeth, he accepted an invitation from
Bishop Kelly, who had assisted at his consecration,
to visit him in Norfolk.

He then returned by Avay of Murfreesborough, Hali-
fax, and Warrenton to Raleigh, finding few Catholics
by the way. At the capital he baptized thirteen and
supplied the ceremonies for others who had been pri-
vately baptized. He confirmed eight, and gathered a
little flock of thirty-three, arranging, as usual, for
their meeting for prayer and instruction on Sundays.
It was a beginning which he trusted God Avould
enable him to follow up. Besides attending to the
Catholics, Bishop England preached in the Presby-
terian Church to a large congregation, the governor of
the State being among his audience. At Fayetteville
he went through the same course of missionarj^ duty.^

By this time his health was beginning to suffer, and
he resolved to visit the North, with several objects
in view. On reaching Norfolk again, August 18,
he was prostrated by a dangerous fever, and on his
recovery proceeded to Baltimore to visit his Metro-
politan, Most Rev. Dr. Marechal. He then made the

1 Diary : Letters to Hon. Wm. Gaston, June 6, 20, July 29, 1821
to Archbishop Marechal, July 6, 18 ; Aug. 9, 1821.

DANGEROUS ILLNESS. 315

attempt already described to draw Rev. William
Hogan from Philadelphia, but his charitable j)lan was
defeated by the trustees.

Amid all his missionary and episcojDal labors Bishop
England had worked diligently iDreparing a new edi-
tion of the missal in English with a very clear explana-
tion of the mass ; and his visit to the North was in
part to arrange for its publication.

He finally returned southward by way of Baltimore,
Washington, and Georgetown, warmly received by all.
Catholic and Protestant. He was, however, brought
to the verge of eternity at Georgetown, both the doc-
tor and himself several times regarding death as in-
evitable.^ Before he reached the northern part of his
diocese, however, he received the sad intelligence of
the death of the Rev. Denis Corkery. At Edenton,
on the lOtli of November, he resumed his labors, which
he renewed also at Washington, New Berne, and AVil-
mington, suffering greatly from fever on the way.
Fortunately, the Rev. A. O'Hannan, a priest whom
he had received for his diocese, joined him, and he
was thus able to reach Charleston on the 4th of
December.

Bishop England had traversed the three States form-
ing his diocese, visited every j)lace where a congrega-
tion had been formed, and some where no priest
apparently had ever labored. He had met his metro-
politan and three bishops of the province in their re-
spective sees, and could form a general idea of the
condition of the Church in the United States. The
wants of his own diocese were aj)parent. A few Catho-
lics in petty bodies, scattered over three large States,
many losing their faith by neglect and sinking into

1 Bishop England to Hon. W. Gaston, Dec. 8, 1821.

316 ♦ THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

indifference ; priests few, and no certain means of pro-
viding for a supply to the different stations, where
they were imperatively needed. The able Father Fen-
wick was about to be recalled ; ^ Rev. S. S. Cooper had
asked not to return ; Corkery was dead ;^ O'Hannan
and Tuomy, whom he had received into his diocese,
soon left him. Gallagher and Browne had succeeded
in their schemes at Rome, but they had not expected
a bishop of the stamp of Dr. England, who soon saw
their real character, but acted with singular prudence
and caution. Gallagher would do no real duty, but
was importunate in his demands for money, wringing
a large salary from the Bishop till he at last asked for
his Exeat ; ^ and Browne, wearied of laboring under
the eye of a vigilant bishop, asked to be relieved on
the score of illness, and calling his friends together
went off with a series of laudatory resolutions.*

To meet and remove the ignorance prevailing among
Catholics as to the doctrines of their religion and their
duties. Bishop England had organized a Book Society,
and endeavored to establish a branch of it in every
congregation. He found it difficult, however, to arouse
interest in the society or create a taste for Catholic
reading. He was not discouraged, and in December,
1822, obtained an act incorporating it. In order to
afford Catholics throughout the country a vehicle of

' He left Cliarleston, May 19, 1833. A meeting was held to express
the regret of the Catholic body, and a letter of the Bishop, dated May
23d, accompanied the resolutions. U. S. Cath. Miscell.

* The inscription on the monument to this good priest is given in U. S.
Cath. Mis.,iv.,p. 319.

3 Bishop England's Diary. "Your two old friends, Gallagher and
Browne, are the most useless pair that were ever upon a mission.'*
Bishop England to Archbishop Marechal, Dec. 22, 1832.

* Truth Teller, July 30, Oct. 8, 1825 ; U. S. Cath. Mis., v., p. 31.

U. S. CATHOLIC MISCELLANY. 317

communication, and a means of learning the state of
their brethren at home and abroad, as well as of remov-
ing false impressions and erroneous ideas from the
minds of their neighbors in regard to their faith and
practice, Bishop England founded on June 5, 1822,
"The United States Catholic Miscellany," the first
Catholic newspaper published in the United States.
"The princiiDles of the publication," says the prospec-
tus, issued in March, "will be candor, moderation,
fidelity, charity, and diligence." This periodical, of
course, small as it was, required money far beyond its
receipts, and before the end of the first year was sus-
pended. The Bishop was too courageous to be easily
disheartened : he revived it in a few months, and the
paper continued to render service to the cause of
Catholicity and truth till the Civil War.^

The original church in Hasell Street w^as held by a
vestry or board of trustees under a charter which
gave them powers utterly repugnant to the discipline
of the Church. Bishop England endeavored to per-
suade the congregation to apply for an amendment to
the act, which would remove this" difficulty. In this
he was opposed by men, born indeed of Catholic
parents, but who had utterly lost the faith, as well as
by some ignorant but not irreligious Catholics whom
they misled. Bishop England would enter into no
contest with them or yield a single point. It is folly,
he wrote, "to attempt raising the edifice of Catho-
licity upon Calvinistic foundations." ^ He saw, there-
fore, the necessity of establishing his cathedral at

' Prospectus. Bishop England to Hon. W. Gaston, Feb. 18, 1832.

' ' ' They have the worst charter that it was the misfortune of a church
to be cursed with, contradicting the' canon law in about twelve points
out of fifteen or sixteen which it embraces ; nor is it a dead letter."
Bishop England to Hon. W. Gaston, Jan. 9, 1823.

318 , THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

the earliest moment. On the Yauxhall proi^erty on
Broad Street was a building in which the Bishop, on
the SOtli of December, 1821, blessed the hall and one
room for a temporary chapel under the invocation of
the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, Saint
Matthew the Apostle, and Saint Finnbar. Mass was
celebrated by Rev. John Tuomy, and the Bishop
preached.

The rest of the building he adapted for a literary
institution, from the profits of which he hoped to pay
for the place, and aid in erecting a cathedral and dio-
cesan seminary. It was opened on the 8th of January,
1822, under the name of "The Philosophical and
Classical Seminary of Charleston." This institution
at once became popular, with about twelve Catholic
and fifty-one non- Catholic j^upils, there being at the
time no similar academy in the city, the college having
closed for want of support.

Bishop England was not only president, but teacher,
compelled frequently to attend to almost all the
classes, though gradually he was assisted by some
candidates for orders whom he found extremely well
qualified to communicate knowledge by teaching.
The progress of the pupils, as shown at their exami-
nations, gave the seminary a high and well deserved
rej)utation. Suddenly the Protestant denominational
papers began to attack the institution, and to urge
parents not to send their sons to a school where they
were likely to be weaned from their religion. A
movement was undertaken to revive the college ; the
State made a grant of lands, wealthy persons went
from door to door to collect means to erect the neces-
sary buildings. The result was disastrous to Bishop
England's seminary, which saw its roll of pupils
dwindle from one hundred and thirty to thirty. He

A PRO-CATHEDRAL.

319

maintained it, however, and its pupils took high
honors in the State College at Columbia.^

Soon after opening his seminar}^ he put up near it a
temporary wooden chaxDel, eighty feet long by forty-
eight wide. It was blessed on the 19th of Mux,
under the invocation of Saint Finnbar and under the
l^atronage of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the Holy
Apostles and Evangelists, Saint Matthew and Saint
John. This was the pro-cathedral of the diocese of
Charleston, where the Bishop was free from a con-
stant struggle with vestrymen and trustees to j)reserve

SEAL OF BISHOP ENGLAND, OF CHARLESTON.

inviolate the discipline of the Catholic Church.
Bishop England was strongly opj^osed to the system
of hiring out pews and seats in churches, and would
gladly have suppressed it entirely. The fraudulent
trustee system based upon it w^as in his eyes only one
of the many evils connected with the letting of pews.
As for churches to be subsequently established he for-
bade any priest to officiate therein unless a deed to
the Bishop of the diocese was first executed.

' England, " A Brief account of the Introduction of the Catholic Re-
ligion," etc., p. 301. Bishop England to Hon. William Gaston, Sept. 21,
1822, Dec. 18, 1824.

320 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

In September a hurricane swept over Charleston,
and among other edifices injured was the church in
Hasell Street. The vestry could oppose Bishop Eng-
land, as they had opposed every good priest sent there,
but their exchequer was empty, and not one of the loud-
mouthed gentlemen was able or willing to advance
money for the Church. Bishop England, from his
scanty income, partly arising from his labors in the
seminary, was com2:)elled to pay $400 to make the old
church suitable for the continuance of the services of
the Church.

In December he went to Columbia in order to set on
foot a movement for the erection of a church, but he
found a party formed against him by emissaries from
Charleston, and encountered such difficulty in secur-
ing a suitable site that he deferred the whole matter.
He found petitions before the Legislature against his
amendments of the charter of the old church in
Charleston, emanating from the same source.

In a visitation extending to South Carolina and
Georgia he was rejoiced to find a good and active
spirit at Locust Grove, where a new church had been
erected by the zeal of Rev. Mr. O'Donoghue.

Bishop England had already three States under his
jurisdiction, but in March, 1843, he was appealed to
by Bishop Dii Bourg of Louisiana and the Flori-
das to take charge of East Florida. Spain had in
1820 ceded her ancient' province to the United States,
giving possession the next year, and the Bishop of St.
Christopher of Havana had at an early day (July,
1822) written to the Bishop of Charleston, asking him
as the nearest bishop to take charge of East Florida.^
The Bishop of Havana, however, really had no juris-

' Bishop England to Archbishop Marechal, Feb. 5, 1823. April 11,
1824.

FLORIDA. 321

diction over Florida, which was part of the Diocese of
Louisiana and the Floridas, created in 1793, and of
which Rt. Rev. William L. Dii Bourg, successor of
Bishop Penalver, was now bishop. On receiving
powers of Vicar- General from Bishop Du Bourg, Dr.
England had canonical authority to act. The church
at St. Augustine was vacant, Rev. Michael Crosby,
parish priest, having died, and his curate, Rev. John
N. Gomez, who had remained after the cession, hav-
ing finally announced that his health compelled him
to withdraw.

From what information he could gather Bishop
England estimated the Catholics in west Florida at
1500 or 2000 ; and in the eastern part, three or four
hundred at St. Augustine, one hundred on St. John's
River ; with one or two hundred fishermen and Minor-
cans on Amelia Island. Pensacola had also a good
Catholic population.

Bishop England's visitations in the spring of 1823
extended to North Carolina, where we find him in May
obtaining a lot for a church as a gift from Mr. Leroy,
making plans for the building, starting a subscription,
and engaging a builder. At New Berne he found
reason for consolation, but at Washington almost all
trace of Catholicity had been obliterated.^ His plan
for this State was to send two priests, who would
co-operate in attending to all the missions, and could
thus be supported, at least by opening a school at
Washington or Fayetteville. Before the close of
the year he dispatched to North Carolina Rev. F.
O'Donoghue.

Bishop England regretted greatly that no Provincial
Council had ever been held in the United States, and

' Bishop England's Diary. Bishop England to Hon. W. Gaston, Oct.
12. Dec. 2, 1823.

322 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

that uniform action had not been adopted by meetings
of the bishops in an informal way. Each bishop Avas
left to devise and i^lan for his own diocese. His ex-
perience in the United States led him to regard it as
most important to effect such organizations as would
secure acts of incorporation from the State. After
long study and deliberation he drew up ' ' The Consti-
tution of the Roman Catholic Churches of the States of
North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia ; which
are comprised in the Diocese of Charleston, and
Province of Baltimore, U. S. A." ^ The object of its
formation was to lay down the general principles of
the law of the Catholic Church, "and to show their
special bearing in the most usual cases ; and then
upon the mode of raising, vesting, and managing
church property, to fix the special manner in which
the great principles that are recognized by the Church
should be carried into i)ractice. This was done by
consultation, discussion, and arrangement between the
Bishop, the clergy, and the laity in several meetings in
the several districts, and the outline of the entire con-
stitution, together with some of the most important of
its special x>i'0 visions, was laid before the Holy See,
after it had been adopted, on the 25th of September,
1822." This constitution, peculiar in itself, began by
a statement of doctrine, embracing the Creed of Pope
Pius IV. It recognized the Bishop, his authority to
make parishes or districts, and to aijpoint pastors ; and
the authority of a Vicar-General in his absence or dur-
ing the vacancy of the see. The faithful disavoAved and
disclaimed any right or power, under any pretext, in
the laity to subject the ministry of the Church to their
control, or to interfere in the regulation of its sacred

I 13mo. Charleston, 2d edition, 1840 ; Works, v., p. 91.

HIS CONSTITUTIONS. 323

duty. They acknowledged that the right and power
of appointing clergymen to the different districts be-
longed to the Bisliop ; that the power of suspending
or withdrawing faculties was vested in the Bishop,
and that no priest was to be recognized as such whose
powers were thus recalled. No vestry was to have
power to sell, encumber, build, or rebuild any church
without the consent of the Bishop, nor could church
rates or burial fees be fixed excej)t with similar ap-
proval. Money was to be raised specifically for the
support of priests in parochial districts and to be jDaid
to them. Every member was to pay fifty cents quar-
terly for the general fund of the diocese, which was
for the erection and maintenance of the cathedral, the
education of candidates for the priesthood, the sup-
port of missionaries and churches in poor portions of
the diocese, to create a fund for infirm priests and for
diocesan institutions. Diocesan proj)erty was to be
held by " The General Trustees of the Roman Catho-
lic Church of the Diocese of Charleston," the board
consisting of the Bishop, Vicar- General, with five
priests and twelve laymen, to be chosen by the lay-
men at an annual convention. Members lost their
rights by defection from the doctrines of the Church,
by opposition to its discipline, by encouraging any
unauthorized clergymen, by being canonically cen-
sured, or by refusing to pay regular contributions.

There was to be an annual convention of the Bishop
and clergy, with lay delegates from the districts,
chosen by the vestries ; the powers of the convention
were strictly limited to matters regarding the general
fund and its expenditures.

Bishop England evidently aimed to avoid troubles
such as had arisen in Philadelphia, and to a minor
degree elsewhere. With this constitution, recognized

324 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

by the State, points raised in other States could not
be put forward in South Carolina.

At the close of the year 1824 the Legislature of the
State incorporated "The General Trustees of the
Roman Catholic Church of South Carolina," "Tlie
Vestry and Members of the Roman Catholic Cathedral
Church of Saint Finnbar, in the City of Charleston,"
"The Vestry and Members of the Roman Catholic
Church of St. Peter in Columbia," " The Members of
the Roman Catholic Church of Georgetown." ^

The clergy of the diocese of Charleston at this
time comprised the Bishop, Right Rev. John Eng-
land, D.D., Rev. John McEncroe, Rev. Edward
Swiney, Avho had charge also of Augusta, Ga. ; Rev.
Timothy McCarthy and Rev. John Birmingham in
South Carolina ; Rev. Robert Browne at Savannah,
Ga.; Rev. Patrick 0' Sullivan at the Purification of
the Blessed Virgin, Locust Grove, Ga. ; Rev. Francis
O'Donoghue, who had just commenced a church at
AVashington, N. C, and Rev. Francis Boland, a priest
recently arrived, whom the Bishop sent to the deserted
church of St. Augustine, where he remained till the
early part of the year 1825.

The Bishop soon after, in February, 1824, organized
the congregations at Fayetteville and New Berne,
N. C. During the year, Charleston was again visited
by yellow fever, and Bishop England found his labors
so incessant and wearing that he wrote to Judge Gas-
ton.: "I have often through weariness fallen asleep
on the ground, in the midst of my office. Yet, thank
God, I never enjoyed better health."

A Constitution for the Roman Catholic Church of
South Carolina was also prepared, which was adopted

' U. S. Catholic Miscellany, ii., p. 16.

PROSELYTISM. 325

September 25, 1823, and a convention was held under
it on the 24th of November, in the Cathedral, Charles-
ton. During its sessions a solemn requiem was offered
for the repose of the soul of Pope Pius VII.

Bishop England then proceeded to Savannah, where
he met delegates of the Catholic body, and submitted
a similar constitution for the State of Georgia, which
was adopted on the 15th of March, His visitation
through that State kept alive the active zeal of the
Catholic body, as the enlarging of the church at
Augusta and an endowment at Locust Grove attested.'
At Georgetown, South Carolina, also, a large and
convenient lot was secured for a church ; the same
was done soon after at New Berne. ^

As we have seen, Bishoj) England, finding his flock
small, and scattered through a Protestant population,
made every effort to adapt what was possible to the
usages of the country. He celebrated the fourth of
March, 1825, by solemn services at Charleston, for
the successful administration of the incoming Presi-
dent, John Quincy Adams. How little influence all
this effort at co-nciliation on his part had, however,
was seen in the treatment of the Catholic inmates in
the Orphan House at Charleston. When the Bishop,
in June, 1825, in most courteous terms showed the
injustice of compelling these fatherless children to
receive religious instruction of a Protestant character
from Protestants, and asked the Commissions to
regulate that the children of Roman Catholic parents
should receive their religious instruction only from

' U. S. Cath. Miscellany, ii., pp. 16, 252 ; as to Rev. Mr. Boland at St.
Augustine, iv., pp. 112, 367 ; Bishop England to Hon. W. Gaston, Oct.
13, 1824.

^U. S. Cath. Miscellany, p. 335 ; iii., p. 43.

326 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

duly authorized Roman Catholics, his application
was rejected.^

Yet there Avere- some actuated by more generous
principles. The Rev. Mr. Stokes was encouraged to
begin a church at Camden, and pushed his missions
to the western frontiers of the State. The Council of
Cheraw appropriated a lot for the erection of a Cath-
olic church, and the same was done by the Land
Commissioners at Charlotte, in North Carolina. Two
churches Avere also projected in Laurens District,
S. C.^ As the priests of the diocese pushed their
journeys into the upper i)ortions of South Carolina
and the other States in the diocese, they found a far
larger number of scattered Catholics than had been
supposed.' Many desired to be organized, so as to
enjoy the consolations of religion, but Bishop Eng-
land had still too few priests to meet all the wants.

During the winter of 1825-6, Bishop England vis-
ited Baltimore, and at Washington was invited to
address the members of Congress in the hall of the
representatives. He complied, and preached on Sun-
day, January 8, a discourse which was subsequently
printed.* Writing to Judge Gaston, he said : " With-
out seeking the occasion, or feeling myself upon the
topics until I had gone too far to recede, and then,
and onlj^ then, my eye rested upon Mr. Adams, and
there came to my mind that Fourth of July oration in

' U. S. Cath. Miscellany, Iv., pp. 398-9.

^Ib., v., pp. 224, 271, 304.

^ At Lancaster, Rev. Mr. Stokes found a Catholic family who had not
seen a priest for forty years ; lb., vi., p. 302.

■• The substance of a discourse preached in tlie liall of the House of
Representatives, etc. 8vo, Baltimore, 1826 ; Bishop England's works,
iv., p. 172. Bisliop England to Hon. W. Ga.ston, Jan. 29, 1826.

THE JUBILEE. 327

which he so unkindly assailed ns four years since.
Then I, as coolly and as firmly as I could, did my
utmost."

He opened the exercises of the jubilee in his Cathe-
dral in November, 1826, and the same day ordained
two priests, and gave the tonsure to three candidates
for orders, one William Blain, the first Carolinian
aspirant to the priesthood/

The work on the canal between the Ogeechee and
Savannah drew many Catholic laborers for a time into
that part of Georgia, and Bishop England visited
Savannah to give the exercises of the Jubilee, in the
church at that city. It was in 1827 placed under the
charge of Rev. Patrick O' Sullivan, Rev. Mr. Boland
having left the diocese. The Bishop on his visits
reached St. Simon and other islands, where in the old
Spanish days the friars of St. Francis gathered their
Indian converts in well-ordered settlements. Yet
with all his struggles and efforts there were but three
organized congregations and as many resident Catho-
lic clergymen in Georgia in 1827.^^

The priest stationed at New Berne became discon-
tented and excited discontent. He solicited his exeat,
and Bishop England's only hope was in the students
whom he was preparing for holy orders. He wrote to
the faithful at New Berne : "You have borne much ;
wait now but a little, pray to God for his aid to you
and to me ; hold together in union and affection ;
meet in your little church for prayer, and write to me
occasionally, and you Avill have ere long your desires
and patience and exertions crowned w^ith success." ^

' U. S. Cath. Miscellany, vi., p. 134.

'^ lb., vi., pp. 230, 326.

3 Bishop England to vestry of New Berne, June 10, 1826.

328 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

The State became a source of great anxiety to him,
so difficult did he find it to obtain a clergyman who
would persevere in the arduous mission. South Caro-
lina gave him more consolation. " The Catholics are
more adhesive to their church, and more confiding in
their clergy. The number of practical Catholics has
more than doubled, and we have had and continue to
receive several converts." ^

Bishop England labored earnestly to endow his dio-
cese with a body of zealous clergy, but the severity of
the labors and the fatal fevers deprived him of worthy
priests. Rev. Godfrey Sheehan and Rev. Martin Duff
died. Rev. E. Swiney and Rev. Fr. O'Donoghue left
the diocese. The Bishop was called to mourn a per-
sonal loss in the death of his sister Joanna, who had
given much to the diocese, and labored earnestly to
afford him the care needed in his frequent fits of ill-
ness, as well as in all good works. The expressions
of sympathy at her death attested the general opinion
of her virtues.

In 1827 an association was formed to raise means for
the payment of the lot and the erection of the cathe-
dral, as well as for a fund to maintain the Bishop,
but the project was only languidly taken up.

The next year Rev. Andrew Byrne, a future Bishop
of Little Rock, pushed his missionary excursions to
Madison and other hitherto unvisited parts of Georgia,
and inspired a generous Catholic, Mr. Quigly, to give
land for a church at Washington. The convention in
South Carolina was attended by Rev. John McEncroe,
Rev. John Barry, Rev. John Magennis, Rev. J. F.
O'Neill, with Rev. M, T>. O'Reilly, whose mission was
mainly in Georgia. Rev. John Bermingham was de-

' Bishop England to Hon. W, Gaston, June 16, 1827.

RESULTS. 329

tained by illness ; Rev. Joseph Stokes was absent, but
soon returned to take charge at Savannah. The con-
vention at FayetteviJle, N. C, in March, 1829, like that
at Savannah in May, showed only priests laboring occa-
sionally in those States. Rev. Edward T. Mayne from
Mount St. Mary's College was sent to St. Augustine
and attended the missions from that ancient city
northward to St. Mary's, Georgia.

This, after his labors for years, was all the result
that cheered Bishop England ; eight churches, three
in South Carolina, three in Georgia, and two in North
Carolina. No help came in jDriests, religious, or
means from other lands. He had removed scandals,
aroused a spirit of faith, restored discipline, and a
few modest churches were rising in South Carolina,
and at Fayetteville and Washington in North Caro-
lina, houses for the worship of God were dedi-
cated. Few bishops except Bishop Flaget had made
such regular and constant visitations, but Dr. Eng-
land had no such zealous secular or religious coadju-
tors as Dr. Flaget found in Kentucky.

He had crushed almost entirely the vicious and
uncatholic spirit of trustees, though it still lingered
in Hasell Street, Charleston, and in Columbia had
allowed the church to be sold under a decree of
foreclosure, when the Bishop from his scanty means
redeemed it.^

' U. S. Cath. Miscell., vii., pp. 94-390, viii., pp. &-318 ; Annales de
la Prop, de la Foi, iv., pp. 301-2. In a report, " Stato della Religione
negli Stati Uniti," presented to the Propaganda, the labors of Bishop
England are very slightingly treated.

CHAPTER XIX.

DIOCESE OF CINCINNATI.

ET. REV. EDWARD DOMINIC FENWICK, O.S.D.,
FIRST BISHOP, 1821-1829.

The first shrine of catholicity within the limits of
the present State of Ohio was the missionary chapel
erected about the year 1751, by the Jesuit Father
Armand de la Richardie, at Ootsandooske (where the
water is pure), the Sandusky of more recent days. As
a dependence on the Huron mission near Detroit it
was maintained till hostilities between France and
England increased and the missionary was driven
away by chiefs in the British interest.

In 1749, Celoron de Blainville had traversed Ohio
with a party to take formal possession of the territory
in the name of the King of France, and to deposit
leaden plates in token of his official act. This expedi-
tion was attended by the Jesuit Father Joseph de
Bonnecamp, but took no steps to secure the terri-
tory by fort or settlement.^

At a later period when England had recognized the
independence of the United States, she continued
under frivolous pretexts to hold several western posts,
and even to erect new fortifications on soil which was
acknowledged to be American territory. One of these
was Fort Miami on the Maumee River. Near it, in
1795, the Rev. Edmund Burke, afterwards Vicar
Apostolic of Nova Scotia, began a mission among the

• Catholic Church in Colonial Days, pp. 631, 613.
830

RT. REV. EDWARD DOMINIC FENWICK, O.P.
FIRST BISHOP OF CINCINNATI,

331

GALLIPOLIS. 333

Ottawas, Cliippewas, and Pottowatomies, but liis term
of labor here was brief. ^

After his retirement we find no trace of Catholicity
in those parts. When the settlement of the future
State was began at Marietta in 1788, few Catholics seem
to have joined in the rapid emigration to the State,
which was admitted into the Union fourteen years
later.

The French settlement of Gallipolis, projected by a
number of titled and wealthy gentlemen in France in
1790, was the theme of conversation in all circles, and
a wondrous colony of French settlers was to rise in the
wilderness. So magnificent a picture did the projec-
tors draw at Rome of the future greatness of the Scioto
country that the Sovereign Pontiff established a Pre-
fecture Apostolic, the exact extent of which has not
been ascertained, but which must have included south-
ern Ohio. As prefect, subject to Archbishop Carroll,
was appointed Dom Peter Joseph Didier, a monk of
the Order of Saint Benedict, who had been procurator
of the great Abbey of St. Denis near Paris. He came
over apparently with a party of immigrants who landed
at Alexandria in 1790, but on reaching Ohio the poor
immigrants found themselves to be the victims of un-
principled land speculators, who did not even own the
land they pretended to sell.

Dom Didier established a church at Gallipolis, and
labored among the settlers for a few years, but irre-
ligion prevailed, all who could sought other homes,
and in time the prefect, disheartened and discouraged,
made his way to St. Louis, assuming the less preten-
tious title of parish pjriest. Rev. Stephen T. Badin
visited Gallipolis in 1796, but he found there only

' Life and Times of Archbishop Carroll, pp. 477-478.

334 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

eighty men, destitute of religion and morality, among
whom he could effect little good. In a few years nearly
all trace of settlement seems to have disappeared.
Bishop Flaget on his appointment found Gallipolis
little more than a name, without priest or faithful,
without church or altar. ^

One of the early known Catholic settlers in Ohio
was Michael Scott from Baltimore, who took up his
abode in Cincinnati in 1805. Finding himself cut off
from the consolations of religion he resolved to fulfill
his duties at Easter, and journeyed with his family to
Lexington, Kentucky, only to find that the resident
priest was at a distant mission.^

Though Pope Pius VII. erected a see at Bardstown
in 1808, the Right Rev. Dr. Flaget could not reach
his diocese till 1811. Ohio with all the territory
northwest of the river of that name was placed tem-
porarily under his charge. After visiting the st-ations
in. Kentucky he set out in the autumn of 1812 to
attend a proposed council at Baltimore. Accompa-
nied by Rev. Stephen T. Badin he entered the State
of Ohio on the 7th of October. The first Catholic
they met was William Cassell, whose children they
baptized ; at Chillicothe there were a few Catholics,
whose faith was nearly extinct ; Lancaster could
boast of three or four Catholic families, and here the
Bishop baptized live children. On his way to Somer-
set the missionaries stopped at the log hut of Fink, a
settler, who proved to be a Catholic. When he heard
that his guests were from Kentucky, he exclaimed :
*'From Kentucky! I have been for a long time
thinking of Kentucky, with my wife ! They say

' Life aad Times of Archbishop Carroll, pp. 481-2
2 U. S. Catholic Magazine, vi., p. 27

BISHOP FLAGET IN OHIO. 335

there are cliurches and priests there. Wife! we
must go thither ; it is thirteen years since we saw
either a church or a jjriest, and my poor children — "

Here Bishop Flaget, deeply moved, interrupted
him: "No, my children, stay where you are; lam
your Bishop. I will endeavor to send you a priest, at
least once a year, to console you. Are there any more
Catholics in this neighborhood?" The astonished
man could scarcely believe the reality of what was
told him ; but he contrived to tell the Bishop that
within three miles were two other Catholic families,
by name Dittoe. These too received a visit from the

SIGNATURE OF BISHOP FENWICK.

Bishop, who offered the holy sacrifice in one of their
houses on the 11th of October.

These good people were so delighted at the prospect
of being regularly attended, that they agreed to set
apart land for a priest's house and a temporary
chapel.^

It was apparently to carry out his promise to these
forlorn Catholics and to discharge his own conscience
that Bishop Flaget appealed to the Dominican Fath-
ers to take charge of the missions in the State of

' Sketch by Rev. Stephen Byrne, O.P. ; Hammer, " Der Apostel von
Ohio. Ein Lebensbild des hochw. Eduard Domiuik Fenwick," etc.,
Freiburg, 1890, pp. 29-30, 37. Spalding, "Life of Bishop Flaget," p. I(l9,
citing and following Bishop Flaget's Journal in 1812. Some have given
1810 (Aunales de la Prop, de la Foi, ii., p. 84) as the date of Father Fen-
wick's first visit to Ohio, but they seem to confound Bishop Flaget's visit
with his. Bishop Fenwick, writing in 1823 to Rev. S. T. Badin, says
that he first visited Ohio nine years before. U. S. Cath. Mag , vi., p. 29.

336 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

Ohio, and sent Father Edward Fenwick to begin the
apostolic labors there that ended onJy witli his heroic
death.

The little cluster of Catholic families thus visited
was the centre selected for his mission. Gladly re-
signing the office of provincial of his order to Father
Thomas Wilson, Father Fenwick proceeded to the
homes of the Dittoes and Fink. They welcomed him
with the deepest joy of their hearts, affording him
an interior consolation that was never effaced from
his memory. Taking up his abode among them, he
made it the centre of missions to all parts of the
State in search of Catholics, and leaving the way for
future organized work. In the spring of 1818 Father
Nicholas D. Young, nephew of Father Fenwick, vis-
ited Cincinnati, Chillicothe, Somerset, and Zanesville.

After four years' missionary work in Ohio, Father
Edward Fenwick took possession of the ground given
by the Dittoes for the use of religion and erected a log
church in honor of St. Joseph, which was dedicated
on the 6th of December, 1818. A two-story log house
near it became the first Dominican convent.' Catho-
licity had thus once more a shrine in the State of Ohio,
and Father Fenwick bound himself to keep uj) a house
of regulars or a succession of priests at St. Joseph's to
minister to the faithful in that district.

The Catholic body began to grow rapidly. A little
congregation was soon gathered at Zanesville, another
at Lancaster, and a third in Morgan Countj^, all en-
couraged and attended by the zealous friars of St.
Joseph's.^ Two other congregations were added in a

' Tliis original convent was destroyed by fire la 1853. Notes of Rev.
Stephen Byrne, O.P.

' U. S. Catholic Miscellany, ii., p. 165.

FIRST CHURCH, CINCINNATI.

337

few years, and in 1820 St. Paul's Church, Dungannon,
a small brick building, was erected.'

As early as December 11, 1811, a notice appeared
calling on Catholics to organize a congregation in Cin-
cinnati. The meeting was held two days afterwards
in the house of Jas. Fabler, but no definite action was
taken. The project was not revived till 1818, when a
lot was obtained at the corner of Vine and Liberty

ST. PAUL'S CHURCH, NEAR DUNGANKON, O., BUILT IN 1820.
FIRST CHURCH IN NORTHERN OHIO.

streets, in the Northern Liberties, for a city ordi-
nance prevented the erection of a church withm the

iHouck, "The Church ia Northern Ohio." New Yorli, 1887, pp.
16-17.

338 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

city limits. Here a plain barn-like structure of planks
lif ty-tive feet wide was put up, and blessed in 1819 by
Father N. D. Young. This church stood for some
years, unceiledand unplastered,^

Bishop Flaget had long desired to be relieved of t)ie
care of the States and Territories northwest of the
Ohio, which had been placed temporarily under iiis
administration. Seeing the progress already made by
the Church in Ohio, and the encouraging prospect, he
urged the authority in Rome to erect an episcopal see
in that State. As the immigration was largely Ger-
man he suggested the appointment of Prince Gallitzin,
who was brought up in Germany, and was accustomed
to direct Catholics from that country. His rank,
his zeal, his piety,, and his experience all seemed
to lit him for the position. His next choice was
Father Edward Dominic Fenwick, who had been the
apostle of the State.

Acting on the suggestion of Bishop Flaget, Pope
Pius VIII., by his bull " Inter Multiplices," June 19,
1821, addressed to Father Edward Fenwick, of the
order of Preachers, erected an episcopal see at Cincin-
nati, and assigned the State of Ohio as the diocese.^
Bishop Flaget had proposed also the establishment of
a see at Detroit, but this was deferred, and Michigan
with Northwest Territory, now Wisconsin, was jjlaced
temporarily under the care of the Bishop of Cincin-
nati.

Though reluctant to abandon the life of a simple
missionary under obedience to his order, Father Fen

' " Cincinnati, die Katolischen Kirchen, Kloster, Kapellen, und Insti-
tute," p. 8 ; Cincinnati Directory, 1819, p. 41 ; Dralic and Mansfield,
Cincinnati in 1826, pp. 55-6 ; Hammer, " Der Apostel von Oliio." p. 41.

* Bullarium de Propaganda Fide, iv., p. 385.

BISHOP E. D. FENWICK. . 339

wick yielded to the command of the Sovereign Pontiff
and accepted the ejjiscopal honor which he had never
sought. He had devoted his whole paternal estate,
and all he could obtain from friends, to found and
promote the establishment of St. Rose's Convent in
Kentucky. Now taken out of his order to be raised
to^he episcopate, he was obliged by his rule and
vows to render an account of all property, even of
books and furniture, that he had been allowed to use.
He was consecrated in St. Rose's Church on the
Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus, January 13, 1822,
by Rt. Rev. Bishop Flaget, Rev. Fathers Wilson and
Hill acting as assistants. The sermon on the occasion
was delivered by Rt. Rev. John B. David, Bishop of
Mauricastro.^ In the latter i)art of March he set out
for Cincinnati accompanied hj Fathers Wilson and
Hill, without whose aid he had declined to accept the
burden imposed upon him. His old friends, the
congregation of St. Rose's Church, made up a purse
of four or five hundred dollars for him, but it was in
Kentucky paper, on which he lost about one-half
when he crossed into Ohio. He was installed at the
close of March by Bishoi) Flaget, "with humble cere-
mony and silent panegyric," in the poor little chapel
in the Northern Liberties, two miles outside of the city
of Cincinnati. ' ' When I took possession of the dio-
cese," he wrote, " I had to rent a house to live in, and
to send to market for the first meal, no provision hav-
ing been made for the maintenance of the bishop."
This iiouse was really only two rooms, one for him-

' U. S. Catholic Magazine, vi., pp. 28-29. Cardinal Consalvi had
■written to the Superior of the Dominicans forbidding the alienation of
any property of his subjects in Kentucky without the approbation of
the local Bishop. Bishop E. Fenwick to Archbishop Marechal, Feb., 1823.
Hammer, " Dor Apostel von Ohio," p. 44.

340 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

self and the other for his two priests, but mass was
said there every day.^

Bishop Fenwick resolved to move the church, poor
as it was, into the city, and secured a small lot on
Sycamore above Sixth Street. The pro-cathedral was
drawn by oxen to its new site amid shouts of hatred
and derision. There is a tradition that on the irst
Sunday after the transfer, while the holy sacrifice was
proceeding, the building began to sway. Michael
Scott jumped over his pew and ran out followed by

CHRIST CHURCH, ORIGINALLY AT VINE AND LIBERTY STREETS.

another member of the congregation. Scott crept
under the building at the risk of his life, and steadied
one of the props till his companion made the supports
secure, and enabled Scott to emerge from his post of
danger.

' " Communicated. We congratulate the Roman Catholics of this
city and environs on the arrival of the Rt. Rev. Dr. Fenwick, lately
consecrated Bishop of Cincinnati and the State of Ohio. This circum-
stance interests not only the Catholics but all the friends of literature
and useful knowledge, as we understand that his intention is ultimately
to open a school, aided by the members of his order long distinguished
for their piety and learning." — " Liberty Hall and Cincinnati Gazette,"'
March 30, 1822.

MICHIGAN. 341

This primitive Cathedral of Cincinnati, soon proved
inadequate to hold the i^eople who gathered there.
When Father Hill i:>i"eached numbers of Protestants
attended, and not only were the seats all filled, but the
aisles were thronged and the window-sills turned to
account. The good Bishop had endeavored to collect
eno^igli to buy a lot and build, but he failed, and was
compelled to solicit credit. " I am beyond contradic-
tion," he wrote, "the poorest of all bishops in the
Catholic world, and my diocese more extended than
any other except those of Louisiana and Nova
Scotia." '

His missionary labors had been confined to the State
of Ohio, but the Sovereign Pontiff had annexed to his
diocese the old French districts of Michigan and North-
western Territory. In those j)arts the Jesuit Fathers
Jognes and Raimbault planted the cross at Sault
Ste. Marie in 1642. Father Rene Menard followed up
the work in 1660, and established his mission cabin
near L'Anse on Lake Superior, saying his first mass
on the feast of St. Teresa. When he had fallen under
an Indian tomahawk, a victim to his zeal and charity,
Father Allouez reared a chapel at Chagoimegon, and
stations were established at L'Anse and at Sault Ste.
Marie. Then in 1670 he founded a mission at Green
Bay : and the next year Father Marquette gathered at
Michilimakinac the wandering Ottawas and Hurons.
Then in 1701 Detroit, the first regular white settle-
ment, was founded, and a church was begun on the
feast of Saint Anne, which bears her name to this day.
Around this post other hamlets grew up, and the

' Annales de la Propagation de la Foi, ii., pp. 47-8, 89-90. " Stato
della Religione iiegli Stati Uniti." The incident relative to Mr. Michael
Scott I obtained from Miss Mary M. Meline, her informant being a
daughter of Scott's companion.

342 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

Huron mission became a kind of suburb. Near the
close of the French X3eriod, Father Dujaunai founded
a mission among the Ottawas at Arbre Croche.

All these points were still Catholic centres when the
district was placed under Bishop Fenwick's supervi-
sion. There was a cluster of some sixteen families,
chiefly French, at the mouth of the Maumee ; six or
eight miles north, in view of the scene of Perry's vic-
tory on Lake Erie, there were more than fifteen fam-
ilies, with another church, dedicated by Rev. Gabriel
Richard on Low Sunday, 1821. At Otter Creek
there were twenty-five Catholic families. Then on
Raisin River was the old mission station, near which
had grown up the town of Monroe, Here stood the
Church of St. Anthony of Padua, erected by Rev.
Edmund Burke. Beside the church was the presby-
tery, and full a hundred and fifty families formed
the congregation. But church and altar had been
terriblj^ neglected when Bishop Flaget visited it in
1818. He stationed Rev. Mr. Janvier here in Septem-
ber, and revisiting the church in April, 1819, adminis-
tered confirmation. Some steps were taken to erect a
solid church of stone, but no practical work was done
when Bishop Fenwick was installed.^ He appointed
to this church in April, 1822, Rev. Anthony Ganilh,
but that priest was almost forced to leave in July by
the reluctance of the people to give him a necessary
support. Ten families clustered together at Huron
River, thirty at Riviere aux Ecores, and as many
Catholic families at Riviere Rouge before you reached
Detroit, with its new stone church, dedicated to St.
Anne, of which Bishop Flaget laid the corner-stone in

' U. S. Catli. Miscellany, ii., pp. 8-9 ; Bishop Maes, "History of the
Catholic Church in Monroe." U, S. Cath. Hist. Mag., ii., pp. 144-9.

MICHIGAN CHURCHES. 343

1818, Above Detroit a hundred and fifty families
were scattered along Detroit River ; on Lake St. Clair
and Anchor Bay were a hundred more, with a church
under the invocation of Saint Francis de Sales. Then
further on some eighty Catholic families were settled
near the Church of Pointe St. Ignace, north of Macki-
nac Island ; twenty or thirty at Sault Ste. Marie ;
sixty families along the shores of Green Bay ; a hun-
dred and twenty to one hundred and fifty Catholic
families were estimated at Prairie du Cliien at the
mouth of the Wisconsin. In this extensive district
there were Indians of the Ottawa, Potto watomie and
Wyandot tribes, still attached to the Catholic faith,
whose numbers might be estimated at six thousand.
Arbre Croche was a favorite gathering place for these
Indians, and the Catholic Ottawas pointed out to Rev,
Gabriel Richard the river on whose banks Father
James Marquette expired while making his way
slowly and feebly to his chapel at Mackinac.^ These
Indians were recognized as Catholic by the govern-
ment of the United States, the Ottawa, Chij^pewa, and
Pottowatomie tribes ceding to the Church of St. Anne
and college at Detroit a square mile of land at Macon
on Raisin River, and three sections of land.^ The
French settlements had been visited from time to time,
but many required a regular pastor to save them.

Rev. Gabriel Richard, overburdened with labors at
and near Detroit, yet struggled manfully to visit from
time to time these poor Catholics. He was at Arbre
Croche in September, 1821, and of Marquette River he
says : "I was detained here a week by head winds,

' U. S. Catholic Miscellany, ii., pp. 8-9.

' Treaty with Wyandots, Senekas, Delawares, etc., Sept. 29, 1817.
" Treaties between U. S. and Indian Tribes," Washington, 1837, p. 223,

344 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

during which period I frequently visited the grave *
and prayed upon this interesting spot. I celebrated
mass upon the banks of the river on Sunday, and my
little flock went with me in procession to the cross
which I had erected, where I sung the ' Libera ' for
the soul of our brother. In all, Ottawas and others,
we were fifty members of the Church, and all appeared
greatly penetrated with the divine providence of the
Great Spirit, our Father who is in Heaven. I ad-
dressed them with considerable effect, but under such
circumstances it was impossible not to be eloquent."

In the autumn of 1822, Bishop Fenwick made a vis-
itation accompanied by Father Nicholas D. Young.
From St. Joseph's they visited Zanesville, Guernsey
Co., Canton, Wooster, where two or three were received
into the Church. Their route thence lay through
Mansfield, Portland or Upper Sandusky, Truceville,
where Father Young held a controversy with an in-
fidel. They next proceeded to Detroit, where the Rev.
Gabriel Richard received the Bishop with all honor,
and Governor Lewis Cass invited him to a public
dinner. Then he began his regular work, giving in-
structions, hearing confessions, preparing classes for
confirmation and first communion. He confirmed
three hundred in the two congregations at Detroit,
whose recently erected Church of Saint Anne he de-
scribed as an elegant structure of brick and stone, well
adapted for a cathedral. The presbytery was a two-
story frame house, and the church possessed five or
six acres within three miles of the town. There was
also another church, with three acres inclosed, and a
property of three hundred acres.^ A good beginning

' U. S. Cath. Miscellany, ii., p. 10.

« Bishop E. Fenwick to Archbishop Marechal, Feb. 9, 1833.

DECREE TAMETSI. 345

existed therefore for the iDrojected diocese, with a flock
essentially different from that in Ohio.

Bishop Fenwick was soon summoned back to Cin-
cinnati, where he had secured a small lot near his
church, giving him a plot a hundred and twenty feet
square for a cathedral and residence.

The extent and wants of his episcopal district were
now clearly before him, but he was utterly destitute
of means to undertake any important work.

Michigan and Northwest Territory had been included
in the diocese of Quebec, and the decrees of the Coun-
cil of Trent in regard to marriage had been duly pub-
lished there, and observed untiJ, at the close of the last
century, England ceased to occupy that portion of the
soil of the United States. After that, discipline be-
came more lax, and many marriages were contracted
which were not valid in the eyes of the Church. To
remedy this disorder. Bishop Fenwick applied to the
Sovereign Pontiff and obtained faculties to revalidate
these illicit unions.^ As to Ohio, which constituted
his diocese properly, it could not be considered as a
part where the decrees of the Council of Trent had been
regularly published, so that clandestine marriages were
valid, though contrary to the discipline of the church. ^

The Bishop's only resource was the Sunday collec-
tions in his chapel, which ranged from one dollar
to three, and this was to support a Bishop and two
priests.

He resolved to go at once to Rome to expose the
condition of affairs in his diocese and the annexed
district. Having obtained a loan of a few hundred

' Cardinal Caprano to Bishop Fenwick, June 24, 1827. Instructio ad
R. P. D. Edwardum Fenwick De NonnuUis matrimoniis.

* Same to same, May 15, 1828.

346 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

dollars lie proceeded to New York, where he em-
barked, and after a voyage of four weeks reached
Bordeaux ; the Archbishop and clergy showed him
every, attention, but he was anxious to reach Rome.
He obtained an audience with Pope Leo XII., who re-
ceived him with the greatest kindness. Bishop Fen-
wick wished to resign his diocese, that it might be
committed to abler hands, but the Pope smilingly
forbade him to si^eak of abdicating, and exhorted
liim to continue the work of which he was God's in-
strument. His Holiness promised all possible aid,
and assigned to the Bishop two priests from the
Propaganda, with a sum of nionej^, church plate, vest-
ments, books, etc. Bishoi:) Fenwick received aid also
from the Duke of Lucca. He then set out for Lyons,
ordaining and contirming at Savona, at the request of
the Bishop. On entering France he continued to wear
the white habit of St, Dominic, which had not been
seen in public there since the Reign of Terror. The
directors of the Association for the Propagation of
the Faith received the Bishop of Cincinnati as an
apostle and made him a grant of $1600, besides
recommending him to the chief almoner of France.

His exertions in Europe obtained for Bishop Fen-
wick about ten thousand dollars in all, little, indeed,
for his great wants, but sufficient to encourage him.
In the autumn of 1824 he sent over three priests
whom he had secured for his diocese, and followed
himself before spring. Tarrying awhile in his native
State he conferred the holy order of priesthood on
two candidates by permission of Archbishop Mare-
chal.^

During his absence Father Hill, whom he had left

'U. 8. Cath. Miscellany, lii , p. 319 ; iv., p. 175.

OHIO CHURCHES. 347

as Vicar-General, with the other Dominican Fathers,
had labored zealously. From St. Joseph's, in Ferry
County, Father N. D. Young and his associates,
Fathers Thomas Martin and Vincent de Raymacher,
extended their ministry in all directions, besides at-
tending the hundred and thirty families near the
church. At Zanesville the Catholics, though number-
ing only forty or fifty families, had courageously
begun to erect a brick church. Father Martin raised
a neat frame one, dedicated to St. Mary, at Lan-
caster, where he attended every month a congrega-
tion of twenty families ; St. Bernard's log; church, in
Morgan County, was also attended from St. Joseph's.
A fine brick church was begun at Canton, with a
steeple that was visible in all directions as people en-
tered the town ; but its completion was overshadowed
with gloom by the accidental death during the work
of the zealous and pious Mr. John Shorb, who had
aroused the faith of others and gave his services and
means freely for the great object. A brick church
was also begun near New Lisbon, on ground given by
Mr. Daniel McAllister, and a log church dedicated to
St. Luke in Knox County.^

About this time the Catholic Indians at Arbre
Croche appealed to the General Government by the
following petition :

We, the undersigned Chiefs, heads of families or other indi-
viduals of the tribe of the Ottawas residing at Waganakisi (The
Arbre Croche, or Crooked Tree), take this mode to communicate
our wants and wishes to our most respected Father, the Presi-
dent of the U. S. We return oiir best thanks to our Father and
to Congress for his and their exertions to bring us, your very

' Bishop E. Fenwick to Archbishop Marechal, Frederick, March 6,
1825 ; same to Rev. S. T. Badin. Hammer, p. 48. U. S. Cath. Miscel-
lany, ii , p. 165 ; ill., p. 319.

348 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

affectionate children, to civilization and to the knowledge of
Jesus, the Redeemer of the redskins as well as of the white
people.

Trusting on your paternal affection, we come forward, and
claiming the liberty of conscience, we most earnestly pray that
you may be pleased to let us have a- teacher or a minister of the
Gospel belonging to the same Denomination of the spiritual
fathers which were sent to our parents by the French govern-
ment and have long many years resided amongst us, occupied
and cultivated a field on our own ground. We are willing to be
taught religion, arts, and agriculture by ministers of the same
Religion, which is called the Catholic religion.

We further invite such teachers appointed by your paternal
affection to come and settle on the same spot, formei'ly occupied
by Fr. Lefranc, Fr. Dujaunais, and others, that is to say, on the
shore of Lake Michigan, near the lower end of our village at the
Arbre Croche.

For so doing and granting your children their humble peti-
tion, they will forever feel grateful and will pray the Great
Spirit to bless you and your white children. In witness thereof
we have made our Tautems (marks) on tliis day, the 12th
August, 1823.

Miquissanessa (Bear's Paw) ; Pandiguekawa (mouse) ;
Tete d'avial ; Kakijiquaame (aigle) ; Nibinici (pate
d'ours) ; Ogitichigami (une carpe) ; Chichaque (une
grue) ; Pechacigne (aigle) ; Omachcose ; Dapetagi-
jigo (ours); Chaguichi; Giniwigoine (barbue); Was-
egijigo (lievre) ; Cibojigane (une grue) ; Wakechema
(une carpe); Menginiwananl (ours) ; Naganache (un
canard) ; Peponahang (un dinde) ; Pitobeg (une
aigle) ; Sivvitagane (un poisson) ; Miteunice (un
eturgeon) ; Gagagegne (La grue).
Matthew McGulpin,

Witness.
J. V. Milpi pere.

Witness.

Bishop Fenwick arrived in Cincinnati in March,
1825. His little seminary at once lost its professor,
who belonged to the diocese of New Orleans, and was
only temporarily at Cincinnati. His Vicar-General,

V. REV. WILLIAM HILL, O.P. 349

appointed provincial of the new Dominican province
in Ohio, was engaged in organizing it and establish-
ing a novitiate. The Catholic congregation in Cincin-
nati increased rapidly, many Protestants seeking
guidance and explanation. Three heads of families
and a lady came to the Bishop in as many days.
With such priestly aid as he had, Bishoj) Fen wick
labored unremittingly, delivering four sermons every
Sunday besides a catechetical instruction.

Rev. Frederic Reze, whom he had sent over from
Europe, was fast acquiring English, and meanwhile
became the special missionary of his countrymen, dis-
covering no fewer than thirty-three Catholic families,
whom he recalled to their Christian duties.^

The corner-stone of a church to be dedicated to the
Holy Trinity w^as laid in Somerset, Ohio, on the 26tli
of May, 1822. It rose gradually, and on its comple-
tion was admitted to be, next to the cathedral, the
finest church in the State. It was a brick structure,
seventy-five feet by forty, and Mr. Peter Dittoe, of
the family of the Catholic pioneers of Ohio, was one
of its chief benefactors. The church was dedicated
on the 28th of October, 1827, by Father Hill, O.P.,
Vicar-General of the diocese, who delivered an elo-
quent discourse on the occasion.^

The diocese had soon to deplore the loss of that
eminent son of St. Dominic. He died at Canton,
Sept. 3, 1828. Born in England, he renounced the
doctrines of the Established Church at the age of
twenty-five. After a divinity course at St. Omer, and
in England, and after enduring two years' imprison-

' Bishop Penwick to P. Pallavicini, Cincinnati, March 29, 1825, in
Ave Maria. Catholic Mirror, Oct. 14, 1882.

*U. S. Cath. Miscellany, vii., p. 159.

350 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

ment at Yerdun, lie finally entered the Order of St.
Dominic in the convent of the Minerva at Rome. In-
duced by Father Wilson he came to the United States
to labor zealously and successfully in the missions of
Kentucky and Ohio. He died the death of a perfect
religious.^

One of Bishop Fenwick's first works on his return
was the erection of a suitable church in Cincinnati to
serve as a cathedral.

Tlie cathedral, designed by the architect Michael
Scott, was an edifice of modest dimensions, built of
brick. It was fifty feet wide by one hundred and ten
in depth, and thirty feet in height from base to cor-
nices. It had five windows on each side, fifteen feet
high. On the floor there were eighty-eight pews, and
a few more were in the gallery, on either side of the
organ. It was, for its time, one of the handsomest •
buildings in Cincinnati, and cost, including the organ,
ten or twelve thousand dollars. Bishop Fenwick
hoped to dedicate it to the service of God on the great
feast of the Resurrection, in 1826, but it was not till
the third Sunday of xVdvent that the Bishop and his
diocese could rejoice at the oi^ening of a fane worthy
of Catholicity. Paintings obtained during his visit
to Rome, from the generosity of Cardinal Fesch, who
had similarly enriched the cathedral of Baltimore,
adorned the spaces between the gotliic Avindows ; and
the sanctuary, on solemn occasions, displayed vest-
ments not unworthy the grand and consoling ceremo-
nial of the ancient Church. Over the altar was a fine
painting of our Lady of the Rosary, by the Flemish
painter Yerschoot.^

'U. S. Cath. Miscellany, viii., p. 111.

« Drake and Mansfield, " Cincinnati in 1826," pp. 35-6.

CATHEDRAL AND SEMINARY.

351

A seminary and a residence for himself were the
Bishop's next work. The Athenseum, built in the
same style as the cathedral, was on the further side
of the original church, which in time was replaced by
a brick residence for the Bishop and clergy. The
Athenffium was a seminary and college, while provi-
sion had already been made for the education of girls

THE CATHEDRAL, SEMINARY, AKD ATHEN.EUM.

by the arrival from Europe of a community of Poor
Clares, whom he had induced to cross the Atlantic,
At the opening of 1827 their select school numbered
seventy pupils.

The Athenseum, bearing on its front the inscription,
" Religioni et Artibus Sacrum," was, we are told, well

352 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

"organized with a sufficient number of teachers to
attend closely to all the pu^Dils, both in their hours of
study and recreation. This feature, in which most of
our prominent seminaries are defective, gave the
school a reputation and induced a number of Prot-
estants to prefer it to any of our other schools for the
education of their sons." ^

On Christmas Day Bishox) Fenwick published the
Jubilee in his cathedral, and assisted by Rev. James
MuUon and Father Nicholas D. Young, gave a series
of instructions to prepare his flock to profit by the
great spiritual graces offered them. Then they went
in succession to St. Mary's Church, Lancaster ; St.
Joseph's, Somerset; St. John's, Zanesville ; St. Paul's,
Columbiana County ; St. John's, Canton ; St. Luke's,
Knox County, and St. Dominic's, Guernsey County,
giving a mission of several days' duration in each ,
church, and in other places gathered the fnithful in
court-houses or other available buildings. The com-
munions during this missionary tour numbered about
7400.2

The field befoi^e the Dominican Fathers seemed so
promising that the members in Ohio were erected into
a separate i)rovince by the General of the Order and
Rev. Father Josex)h M. Velzi, O.P., January 11,
1824 (their community having been incorporated by
an act of the Ohio Legislature).^ Bishop Fenwick
found, however, that deeds had been made out to the
order, and not to the diocese, for the property in

' Foote, " Schools of Cincinnati and its Vicinity," Cincinnati, 1855.

"U. S. Cath. Magazine, vi., pp. 92, 93, 94. U. S. Cath. Miscellany,
vi., pp. 246, 390.

'Patent erecting province, now in Bishops' Memorial Hall, Notre
Dame.

SEMINARY OPENED. 353

Brown County, Zanesville, Canton, and other places.
Mild as he was, and strongly attached to the Order of
St. Dominic, he could not sanction these steps, which
had been taken without liis knowledge.^

When the whole matter was laid before the authori-
ties in Rome, an adjustment was made between Car-~
dinal Capellari, Prefect of the Congregation de Propa-
ganda Fide, and Father Joseph M. Yelzi, Vicar-
General of the Order of Preachers, in virtue of which
the new province of St. Louis Bertrand was sup-
pressed and its houses reunited to that of St. Josei)h.
Bishop Fenwick was appointed for life Commissary-
General of the province, and the Dominican Fathers
agreed to pay future Bishops of Cincinnati, not be-
longing to their order, $300 a year.^

Bishop Fenwick now applied to the Holy See for
the aj)pointment of a coadjutor, and urged the name
of Rev. Francis Patrick Kenrick, then in the semi-
nary at Bardstown ; but as Bishop Flaget x>rotested
against the removal from his diocese of so learned and
active a priest, Bishop Fenwick was requested to for-
ward other names.^

On the 11th of May, 1829, Bishop Fenwick was able
to open his seminary. After chanting the "Veni
Creator ' ' and offering the holy sacrifice, he read
the regulations and made an earnest address to the
seminarians. This new institution, dedicated to St,
Francis, was placed under the care of Father S. H.
Montgomery, and opened with ten pupils, four in
theology and six in the preparatory class.

' Bishop Fenwick to Arclibishop Marechal, May 26, 1826.

'BuUarium de Propaganda Fide, Rome, 1841, v., pp. 36-7.

3 Cardinal Somaglia to Bishop Fenwick, Aug. 6, 1825, July 15, 1826.
Bishop Fenwick to Archbishop Marechal, May 12, 1826.

354 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

Having thus provided for a future supply of priests
to meet, in part, the wants of his diocese. Bishop Fen-
wick set out for Green Bay, which lie reached on the
eve of Ascension Day. In 1825 Rev. Vincent Badin
had extended his labors to Mackinac, Drummond's
Island, Sault Ste. Marie, Green Bay, and Arbre Croclie.
But his mission was too short to produce much per-
manent fruit, and an impostor named Fauvel, pre-
tending to be a priest, misled many at Green Bay.
Bishop Fenwick drove the wolf from the fold. He
celebrated mass and gave a series of instructions to
increase the knowledge and revive the faith of the
people. Mackinac was the next field of his apostolic
labor, rewarded by sixty communions. At Arbre
Croclie, where the energetic Dejean had reared his
-church of jouncheons, lif ty-four feet by thirty, and a
house beside it, visible from afar. Bishop Fenwick was
received Avith great pomp and hearty welcome by Chief
Assakinac and his tribe. The piety of the Indians,
no less than the evidence of their industry and tem-
perance, with their progress in the ways of civilization,
delighted their spiritual Fatlier. About this time the
Catholic Indians at Grand River Rapids appealed to
the Governor against the decision to give land only
for the Protestant mission, and against the constant
payment of Protestant missions, while the band was
Catholic' After confirming 150 at Detroit the Bishop
sent his companion Rev. Mr. Mullon to Portland,
Sandusky, and Tiffin, while he himself visited St.
Paul's, Monroe, on Raisin River, and Port Clinton
before his return to Cincinnati.^ He took back with

' Letter of Louis Miukterje, Francis Migissinini, and others, Aug. 12,
1826.

^ U. S. Catholic Miscellany, vi., p. 76 ; viii, p. 382. U. S Catholic
Magazine, vi., 97-100 ; xVunales de la Propagation de la Foi, iv., p. 515,

GERMAN CONGREGATIONS. 355

him two Indian boys whom he proposed to send to the
College of the Propaganda.

Through the instrumentality of Rev. F. Reze,
Bishop Fenwick had secured two zealous German
priests, who began to make a list of their Catholic
countrymen in the State. They found them every-
where, at Cincinnati, Somerset, Lancaster, and the
ringing words of God's ministers in the accents
familiar to them from the cradle woke all the religion
implanted in these German hearts by pious parents at
home. One of these itinerant priests was Rev. John
Martin Henni, a name to be known in time as founder
of the first German Catholic paper, first Bishop in
Wisconsin, first Archbishop of Milwaukee. Then
busy with plans for a school and orphanage at Cincin-
nati ; for a convent of Dominican Sisters whom he
intended to establish at Somerset ; churches that he
purposed erecting at Hamilton, Urbana, Tiffin and
Clinton, forming a line of occupation from Cincinnati
to Lake Erie ; a college in his episcopal city, the Bishoi^
of Cincinnati set out for Baltimore to meet his metro-
politan and fellow suffragans, and concert measures
for giving solidity and strength to the fabric which
each diocese was rearing to God's glory. ^

486-490, 521. Fauvel had been refused ordination in Rome. Cardinal
Cappellari to Bishop Edward Fenwick, Aug. 8, 1829.

' lb., p. 532. Hammer, " Der Apostcl von Ohio," pp. 52-92.

BOOK II

FORMER PROVINCE OF SANTIAGO DE CUBA.

CHAPTER L
DIOCESE OF LOUISIANA AND THE FLORIDAS.

RT. REV. LOUIS WILLIAM DU BOURG,
SECOND BISHOP, 1815-1826.

The condition of religion in the diocese of Louisiana
and the Floridas was not encouraging in 1815 when
the V. Rev. Mr. Du Bourg resolved to proceed to
Rome to explain it to the Sovereign Pontiff. Al-
though Florida was really part of the diocese, Sx:)ain,
on the cession of Louisiana, directed the Bishop of
Havana to resume authority in that province, and
this was done without any express sanction from the
Pope. In the Louisiana portion of his diocese seven
out of fourteen parishes were vacant, the V. Rev.
Administrator having only ten priests, some far ad-
vanced in years, some utterly unfit to exercise the
ministry. Father Anthony Sedella in the Cathedral
of New Orleans, with two other scandalous priests,
defied or evaded authority and claimed to hold his
office by virtae of a popular election called by the
Common Council. Sedella had yielded a kind of
recognition of Dr. Du Bourg' s authority as Adminis-
trator, but when notice was given to him of his in-
tended departure for Rome and his appointment of
Rev. Mr. Sibourd as Vicar-General during his absence,
Sedella at once questioned the right of the Adminis-

356

RT. REV. LOUIS WILLIAM DU BOURG, BISHOP OF LOUISIANA
AKD THE FLORIDAS.

357

THE URSULINES. 359

trator to leave the diocese or appoint a Vicar-General.^
The Very Rev. Dr. Du Boiirg soon after sailed for
Bordeaux with misgivings as to the results which
might follow in Louisiana, but convinced of the im-
portance of having a Bishop at once appointed, who
could appeal to France and other parts of Europe for
aid in priests and means.

Sedella and his party soon resorted to a new line of
tactics : they resolved to petition Congress to incorpo-
rate the trustees, and make them free from any inter-
ference of a bishop in the appointment or removal
of priests or the management of the temporalities.
AVliile all this scheme was in progress an outward
deference to Very Rev. Mr. Sibourd was maintained,
though Sedella was careful to avoid addressing him in
writing, or in any way recognize his title.

The ancient Ursuline convent had prospered under
the care of the Abbe Olivier, Rev. Mr. Sibourd, and
the V. Rev. Administrator. After the retirement of
part of the community to Havana, the Sisters reor-
ganized with Mother Teresa Farjon as Superior. In
1810, the little community opened its doors to receive
a reinforcement from France, led by Mother St. Mi-
chael Gensoul, an Ursuline nun, who had been driven
by the French Revolution from her convent of Pont
St. Esprit, and had opened an academy at Montpelier.
Invited to New Orleans in 1804, and encouraged by a
letter of Pope Pius VII., she gathered a party of young
ladies, anxious to devote themselves to religion, and
embarked for Philadelphia. At Baltimore, Arch-
bishop Carroll detained the whole party to prevent
their being exposed to the summer heat in New Or-

'V. Rev. L. W. Du Bourg to Archbisliop Carroll, April 21, 1815;
Dec. 11, 1815 ; same to Rev. A. Sedella, May 3, 1815.

360 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

leans. They entered the convent on the last day of
December. Mother Gensoul was at once placed at the
head of the academy. Before long- she became Supe-
rior, and governed with great ability, animated by the
spirit of God, a fervent devotion to the Sacred Heart,
and confidence in Our Lady of Prompt Succor, a de-
votion which she zealously propagated. She was the
soul of the community till her death, March 19, 1822.

Several of the nuns at this time belonged to the rule
of the Presentation of Our Lady, and finding it better
adapted to the circumstances in which they were, tliis
rule, with the authority of V. Rev. Dr. Du Bourg, was
formally adopted, January 16, 1813.

Meanwhile V. Rev. Dr. Du Bourg had reached
Rome, and on his representing the state of the dio-
cese the Propaganda carried out the plan already
formed of appointing him Bishop. This was done on
the 18tli of September, 1815, and as all preparations
had been made he was consecrated on the 24th by
Cardinal Joseph Doria Pamfili, Bishop of Porto, in
the Church of St. Louis of the French. The conse-
crator was assisted by Rt. Rev. Gabriel de Pressigny,
Bishop of St. Malo, then Ambassador from France,
and Rt. Rev. Francis X. Pereira, Bishop of Ter-
racina.^

Now actually Bishop of Louisiana, successor of
Mgr. Penalver, Bishop Du Bourg could give his
representative at New Orleans indisputable powers.
He evidently at this time desired to return at once to
his diocese, as soon as he had made arrangements to
meet its w^ants. One great necessity was a religious
community to take charge of a theological seminary

' Rev. L. Sibourd to Archbishop Carroll, Dec. 10, 1815 ; Bishop Fen-
wick's " Memoirs."

THE LAZARISTS. 361

and supply missionaries. His old associates of the
Company of St. Siilpice, he knew, could spare no
members for Louisiana. There was, however, at Rome
a house of the Priests of the Mission, a congregation
founded in France by St. Vincent de Paul. Struck
by the saintly qualities of Father Felix de Andreis,
the Bishop of Louisiana resolved to secure him as the
superior of a band of missionaries of that congrega-
tion. After many difficulties he succeeded, and on
the 21st of October, Rev. John Baptist Acquaroni and
Joseph Rosati, Lazarists ; Rev. Joseph Pereira, ajniest
who had solicited admission into their community ;
Leo Beys, a Propaganda student, and a lay brothei-,
after an audience with the Pope, set out for Marseilles ;
Father Be Andreis, after obtaining books, vestments,
and church plate, followed on the 15tli of Becember
with one priest and two seminarians. At Bordeaux
they were joined in the following May by Bishop Bu
Bourg. The whole party of missionaries reached
Baltimore in the scorching days of July, and late in
November were in Bardstown there to await the com-
ing of Bishop Bu Bourg. ^

That prelate, meanwhile, w^as endeavoring to obtain
in France needed aid for his diocese, as well as
a religious community to open an academy of a
higher order at St. Louis. As Lyons he insiDired
Mme. Petit, a pious widow, Avho had once resided in
Baltimore, to form a little association in which a small
weekly payment would be made to aid his missions.
From this and a similar little association, founded by
Mademoiselle Pauline Marie Jaricot to give aid to
the laborers in Asia belonging to the Society of the

' Sketches of the Life of V. Rev. Felix de Andreis, Baltimore, 1861.
pp. 48-100, where the agreement between the Bishop and the Superior
of the Lazarists will be found.

362 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

Foreign Missions at Paris, grew the Association for
the Propagation of the Faith, finally organized in
Lyons, May 3, 1822, under V. Rev. Mr. Inglesi, then
Vicar- General of Bishop Du Bonrg, a priest in
whose strange career his part in establishing this
great association for the aid of the Catholic mis-
sions throughout the world is almost a redeeming
trait.

In his visits to different cities of France Bislioj) Du
Bourg sought postulants for his Ursuline community.
All that offered were directed to the convent of that
order in Bordeaux, where their vocation was tested.
Nine were deemed to have a real call to the religious
life and to possess health for the undertaking. These
reached the convent at New Orleans, January 3, 1817.
Three nuns of the ancient convent of Quebec subse-
quently joined the house in New Orleans to share
their life of poverty and labor.

The Superior of the Ursulines had laid before the
Sovereign Pontiff the condition of the convent, its
trials and vicissitudes, and had been encouraged to
l^ersevere by the successor of St. Peter. ^

Bishop Du Bourg had proposed a division of the
diocese and the erection of a see in Upper Louisiana,
but the report which reached him of Sedella's persis-
tent rebellion, the attempt of the trustees to obtain a
charter absolutely depriving the Bishop of his cathe-
dral, as well as open menaces of violence had so alarmed
him that he earnestly solicited the Propaganda to be
allowed to take up his residence at Saint Louis, and
establish his seminary and other educational institu-

' Letter of Rev. Mother Mary Olivier to Pope Pius VII. , May 2, 1815 ;
Pope Pius VII. to the Ursulines, Oct. 16, 1815 ; Circular letter sent
through V. Rev. Dr. Du Bourg. " Les Ursulines de Quebec," iii.,
p. 532.

BISHOP DU BOURG'S FEARS. 363

tions in that part of his diocese.^ Copies of his bulls
and of the certilicate of his consecration had been pre-
sented to Sedella to be filed in the archives of the
cathedral, but that wretched man declared that he
had nothing to do with the Pope or bishops of his
making, and handed the papers to one of the trustees,
who took them to a cafe, where he made them the sub-
ject of scoffs and insults to religion. Bishop Du Bourg
assured the Propaganda that "all who knew the con-
dition of affairs agreed in declaring that it would be
an inexcusable temerity on his part, and fatal to relig-
ion, to attempt to land at New Orleans. As for my-
self, knowing better than any other the place and the
men, I must declare that I do not feel the fortitude
to expose myself to the consequences of such a step."
As no provision had been made for a bishop at St.
Louis, he proposed to remain in France till Bishop
Flaget had prepared the way and ascertained the state
of feeling in regard to him.^ Pressed by the Propa-
ganda to proceed to his diocese he pleaded for delay
till he had definite knowledge on this point ; ' for even
there many abandoned and irreligious men had com-
bined against the zealous clergy, and by slander, by
exciting discontent and schisms, and even by open
violence had succeeded in driving priests away from
parishes confided to them ; clergymen were shut out
of their houses, and more than once put in dugouts
and sent adrift on the river.* Conscious of all this,
Bishop Du Bourg, who was naturally timid, wished

' Bishop Du Bourg to Cardinal Dugnani, April, 1816.

* Same to same, June 24, 1816.

* Same to same, Jan. or Feb., 1817.

•» " Relation de cequi est arrive a deux Religieux de la Trappe, pen-
dant leur sejour auprds des Sauvages." Paris, 1824, p. 129.

364 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

some assurance of the reception he was to meet. To
relieve his mind of responsibility he had solicited a
canonical transfer of Florida to the Bishop of Havana,
who was actually in control though without canonical
authority ; but the Holy See was reluctant to make
ecclesiastical jurisdictions depend on political changes.
Meanwhile he had collected in France and Belgium a
Tmw band of missionaries, comprising two priests from
Rome and more than twenty ecclesiastics, as well as
funds and necessaries for his diocese. The king of
France not only gave the Bishop of the old French
province aid and encouragement, but placed at his
disposal the frigate Caravane to transport him and his
l^arty to America.^ Bishop Du Bourg embarked on
this vessel at Bordeaux on the 28th of June, 1817,
accompanied by five priests, four sub-deacons, some
seminarians, three Brothers of the Christian schools,
and other volunteers. They landed at Annapolis on
the 4tli of September, after a voyage which he made a
mission for the officers and men of the vessel, but few
of whom ever reached France again.

After administering confirmation at the request of
the venerable Archbishop Neale, among others to a
woman more than a century old. Bishop Du Bourg set
out for his diocese by way of Pittsburgh, making much
of the journey on foot, the stages being unable to trav-
erse the wretched roads. At Pittsburgh they took a
flat-boat, on the 19tli of November, and stopping to
officiate at Gallipolis, reached Louisville and pro-
ceeded to Bardstown, where they were joined by Bishop
Flaget. A steamboat bore them thence more rapidly to
Saint Genevieve. There Bishop Du Bourg planted a

' Bishop Du Bourg to Cardinal Prefect, May 3, 1817. Nine ecclesias-
tics sailed in June, 1816, four others, with nine Sisters, in November,
1816. " Notice siir la Mission de la Louisiane," p. 13.

INSTALLED AT ST. LOUIS. 365

cross, chanted the " Vexilla," and was able to address
some of his own diocesan flock in French and English,
Stopping then at Cahokia, Bishop Du Boiirg, accom-
j)anied by Bishop Flaget, entered St. Lonis January
6, 1818, escorted by forty gentlemen on horseback,
and was received with hearty welcome. Four of tlie
chief citizens held the canopy under which he pro-
ceeded to the church. He took possession of the pro-
cathedral, a poor wooden structure in ruinous condi-
tion, being installed with the usual solemnities by
Bishop Flaget.^

Bishop Du Bourg was now in his diocese to carry
out the plans which he had formed. St. Louis was
to be the centre of the new sj)iritual life of the dio-
cese. For the seminary under the Lazarists he had
selected Bois Brule, or the Barrens, a Catholic settle-
ment about eighty miles from St. Louis, where the
peojjle showed zeal and faith, having already raised
a log church and priest's house, under the guidance
of the Trappist Father Joseph Dunand,^ and given
a large farm for his maintenance. Hither soon re-
paired the saintly De Andreis from Saint Genevieve,
and Father Rosati, with his seminarians, from Bards-
town. Rev, Mr. de la Croix, possessing some knowl-
edge of architecture, drew the j)lans for a seminary
and church ; Mrs. Hayden and others of the Catholic
settlers helping on the good work by donations and
service in clearing the ground and preparing the tim-

' "Notice sur I'f^tat Actuel de la Mission de la Louisiane," Paris,
1820, pp. 5-6, 13-14 ; Bishop Du Bourg to Cardinal Prefect, July 19,
1817: same to Rev. S. G. Brute, Pittsburgh, Nov. 13, 1817; Rev. Joseph
Rosati to Rome, Feb. 7, 1818 ; Annales de la Propagation de la Foi,
ii., p. 335.

*" Relation de ce qui est arrive a deux Religieux de la Trappe,"
p. 129.

366 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

ber needed.^ The seminary was sixty feet long by
thirty-five wide and four stories high. The study
hall was on the ground floor, on the second the
chapel, library, and infirmary, while the upjier floors
were laid off in rooms and dormitories.

The Brothers of the Christian Doctrine soon opened
a boys' school at St. Genevieve.^

Bishop De Bourg, anxious to secure a community
of Ladies of the Sacred Heart, a23plied to the Ven.
Madame Barat, the foundress, in January, 1817, but
when he returned to Paris he found that holj^ Supe-
rior undecided. She yielded, however, when Madame
Philippine Duchesne, who felt called to the American
mission, fell on her knees before the Superior and im-
plored her consent to go. With Mesdames Berthold
and Aude and two lay Sisters, Mother Duchesne em-
barked on the Rebecca in Marcli, 1818, and on tlie
30th of May reached the Ursuline convent at New
Orleans. After a short rest there they took a steam-
boat up the Mississippi, and in August were wel-
comed by Bishop Du Bourg, amid his poverty, at St.
Louis. The first academy was opened at St. Charles,
but they obtained no xiupils beyond the few who
accompanied them from St. Louis. The parochial
school, however, grew^ rapidly, but after a trial, at-
tended with much suffering and w^ant, the Bishop and
Mother Duchesne decided on their removal to Floris-
sant. Here a brick building for their use was erected
under the care of Father Josei)h Dunand, Trappist,
whose active zeal deserves especial memory. The new
academy prospered ; the work of zealous priests in

' " Sketches of the Life of Rev. Felix de Andreis," pp. 162-3.

'^ Annales de la Propagation de la Foi, i. , p. 21; Rosati, " Rcla-
zione,".May 4, 1821.

V. REV. FELIX DE ANDREIS. 367

the parishes impressed the young with the desire to
keep the laws of God and his Church, even to aspire
to perfection. The ladies had pupils for their acad-
emy and school, and before long Mary Lay ton applied
to become a lay Sister. This first vocation was soon
followed by others, so that Mother Duchesne and her
community felt a consoling reward for all they had
undergone in the prosj^ect of the i3ermanency of their
sisterhood devoted to the Sacred Heart. At early as
1821 the ladies prepared to found a second convent
at Grand Coteau, Louisiana, where a charitable con-
vert, Mrs. Smith, carrying out her husband's wishes,
gave land for their use.^ The convent, to which the
neighboring planters and the clergy generously con-
tributed, was a vast brick house, ninety-five feet long-
by sixty deep, near the church. It was built and
organized by Madame Aude.^

The zealous labors of the priests sent over by Bishop
Du Bourg while in Euroi^e began to revive the faith
along the western bank of the Mississippi, and to repair
the effect of a long privation of divine service and in-
struction on the word of God, caused by the scandals
and infidel opposition which had driven many priests
from their parishes, and made others abandon a field
that seemed hopelessly barren. Some few of the new
priests faltered before the obstacles and difficulties ;
others more bravely died, victims to their labors and
to the deadly fevers, like Rev. Mr. Bighi and Canon
Joseph Caretti, A severer blow even than these was

'Baunard, " The Life of Mother Duchesne, Religious of the Society
of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and foundress of the first houses of that
Society in America," 1879, pp. 124-221.

^ De Sennegy, " Une Paroisse Louisianaise," New Orleans, 1877, pp.
4&-7.

368 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

the death of the saintly Lazarist, Father Felix de
Andrei s, who after organizing the community of the
Priests of the Mission in Missouri, regulating the
seminary for the diocese, and founding a novitiate of
his order, expired at St. Louis on the 15th of October,
1820, in the odor of sanctity. His body was con-

'^■■^•

V. KEV. FELIX DE ANDREIS, CM., FOUNDER OF THE
LAZAKISTS UM THE UNITED STATES.

Teyed to the Barrens and reposes in the Church of the
Seminary.^

One of Bishop Du Bourg's first cares was to replace
the church at St. Louis by one worthy of the service

' Rev. J. Rosati, Letter, Feb. 7, 1818 ; " Sketches of the Life of the
V. Rev. Felix de Andreis, pp. 165, 168-179.

INDIAN MISSIONS. 369

of God. This and the erection of suitable residences
for bishop and clergy involved a cost of twenty-live
thousand dollars, but as only twenty thousand could
be raised there remained a debt which became a sore
trial to him.

The Bishop gave an impulse to all parts of the
diocese. New churches were begun at Assumption,
Thibodeaux, Fausse Riviere, Pointe Coupee, and
other points, either of brick or wood.^

St. Joseph's Church was erected in 1819 on land
given in 1816 by Baptiste Herbert. It is a wooden
building 30 feet by 80, and served the two parishes of
Lafourche and Terrebonne till 1848, when Rev. C. M.
Menard built another church of brick. The Church of
St. Michael was erected by the Acadian parishioners
in 1809, on a site given bj^ the Cantrelle family, and
dedicated on the 10th of October by Father Charles
Lusson, O.P., parish priest of the Ascension at La-
fourche, who also attended the new church. The
cemetery had been blessed the day before, and in a
few months a bell was solemnly baptized, Pierre
Michel, one of the deported Acadians of 1755, being
a sponsor.^

Bishop Du Bourg exerted himself to fill the vacancies,
and to rei^lace careless or unworthy pastors by priests
of zeal and courage. Even at New Orleans he suc-
ceeded at last in making some j)rogress. The popu-

' Pointe Coupee had been without a priest since the departure of the
Carmelite Father Brady in 1812. After the Bishop's visit in 1818 pro-
vision was made for a priest, and Rev. Anthony Blanc, who arrived Aug.
3, 1820, soon erected St. Mary's Church at Fausse Riviere on land given
by Mme. Olinde ; and also the new church at Pointe Coupee, the former
dedicated Oct. 19, 1822, the latter Nov. 1, 1823. Annales de la Prop,
de la Foi, ii., p. 858 ; Registres de Pointe Coupee.

* De Sennegy, " Cue Paroisse Louisianaise," pp. 28-31.

370 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

lation of that city began to see that in supinely
permitting- irreligious men to drive out the Bishop
^permanently, they had really injured New Orleans
and reduced it to a x^lace of minor consideration, the
important institutions of the diocese due to Bishop
Du Bourg being all clustered in and around St. Louis.
Even the contumacious Father Sedella showed signs
of yielding, some of his worthless associates with-
drew, and the two churches in New Orleans were re-
united, the congregation which had so long been
trained by good priests at the Ursuline chapel
swelling the pett}^ band that had controlled the
cathedral.^

The Indians scattered along the Mississippi had
long been an object of Bishop Du Bourg' s missionary
zeal, and incidentally Rev. Messrs. Rosati, De Andreis,
Father Josepli Dunand, and others, had labored to
convey to individaals some idea of religion, or revive
and enlarge tlie religious principles which had come
down by tradition from the days of the Jesuit missions.
But in 1820, the Osages made a formal ai)plication to
him by a delegation of seven chiefs to establish a mis-
sion in their tribe. He made preparations to visit
them and begin the good work himself, after com-
mending this Indian mission to the prayers of his
clergy in a pastoral letter. Rev. Mr. La Croix visited
the tribe twice and instructed them till prostrated by
sickness ; he baptized forty, and founded the Catholic
band which still exists in the tribe. ^

On the 19th of November, 1820. Bishop Du Bourg

' Bishop Du Bourg to Rev. S. G. Brute, Oct. 4, 1819.

" Pastoral Letter, Oct. lo, 1820, in " Notice sur I'Etat Actual dela Mis-
sion de la Louisiane," pp. 55-8 ; • 'Annates de la Propagation de la Foi,'
i. (ii.), pp 51-55.

THE BISHOP IN HIS CATHEDRAL. 371

set out for Lower Louisiana to make a visitation. He
was welcomed at the Assumption in Bayou La Fourche
by Rev. Messrs. Bigeschi and Ticliitoli in the new
brick church, due to their zeal. The Bishop dedicated
it to the Blessed Virgin, St. Francis Xavier, and St.
Vincent de Paul. The parish was a very large one,
but under the apostolic zeal of the Florentine priest,
Rev. Mr. Bigeschi, the communicants numbered
thousands. Then the Bishop stopped at Donaldson,
where Rev. Mr. Valezano could also point to a new
church as the result of the awakened faith of his flock.
Then he visited St. Jacques and St. Jean Baptiste,
(Bonnet Carre) meeting Rev. V. M. Mina, who guided
the church at that place for forty-seven years. At
most of these places he administered confirmation,
and in all gave a series of instructions. As he aj)-
proached New Orleans, Father Sedella and Mr.
Sibourd, with a great concourse of citizens, came to
meet him six miles from the city.

On the fourth Sunday of Advent, Christmas Eve,
he attended in pontifical attire the high mass which
was offered by Father Anthony, Messrs. Sibourd and
Martial acting as assistants at the throne, in rochet
and camail. On Christmas Day he said the midnight
and second mass at the convent, and then celebrated
pontifically in the cathedral, where the crowd was
greater than the preceding day.

Thus, after a long lapse of j^ears, the successor of
Bishop Penalver was able to officiate in his own cathe-
dral. The result was^due mainly to Rev. Mr. Martial
and his associate priests, who had by prudence and
mildness won many to hear mass regularly and ap-
proach the sacraments. Younger members of the
board of marguillers or trustees had yielded to his
influence and aided his work, while the college

372 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

which he had opened attained an extraordinary
i:)opularity/

While at New Orleans, Bishop Du Bourg held a
diocesan synod, and was greatly encouraged by the
zeal and deportment of the priests who attended it.
They agreed to make a yearly collection for the sup-
port of the seminary. This was absolutely necessary
in order to increase the number of ecclesiastics in that
institution so as to provide priests on vacant districts.
Bishop Du Bourg had accomplished much. Where
he found but ten priests, some superannuated, others
of little zeal or energy, he had now forty actively en-
gaged in the work of the ministry ; but still appeals for
clergymen came from all parts of his immense diocese,
and he received a letter from the banks of the Columbia
in Oregon, begging him to send a priest to minister to
the 1500 Catholics there who had never had any one
to attend them.-

The Ursuline nuns were more than once annoyed
by being summoned to attend court as witnesses in
matters with which they had no concern. To prevent
further vexatious acts of the kind, they applied to
the Legislature of Louisiana, claiming the privileges
which they had enjoyed under French and Spanish
rule. Their ancient rights were recognized, and a law
passed January 28, 1818, enacted that where the testi-
mony of an Ursuline nun was required it should be
taken at tlie convent by commission.

In 1821 the congregation attended immediately from
the Barrens by the Lazarists consisted of a hundred
and thirty or forty Catholic families of settlers, scat-

' Bishop Du Bourg, Jan. 1, 1821, in "Notice sur I'Etat Actuel,"
Turin, 1822, pp. 57-63.

= Rev. J. Rosati to , May 4, 1821.

CHURCH IN MISSOURI. 373

tered around the log-chnrch which stood a mile from
the seminary. The people were very exact in attend-
ing to their religions duties. Catechism and the
rosary preceded the mass, which was celebrated
with deacon and sub-deacon on all feasts of first
or second class, the Roman ceremonial being strictly
observed.

New Madrid, a hundred miles distant, with a Catholic
population of seventy families, who had had no parish
priest for twenty years, was attended from the Bar-
rens several times annually, the priest remaining
several weeks on each occasion. Father John Bap-
tist Acquaroni attended St. Charles, Portage des
Sioux, and Dardennes ; Father Dahmen of the same
Congregation had labored at Vincennes ; De Neckere
and Tichitoli had been employed in Ascension parish,
Louisiana.*

Spain by treaty ceded Florida to the United States
on the 22d of February, 1819, and that ancient prov-
ince was included within the limits of the republic.
Bishop Du Bourg was then able to extend his episco-
pal care to that part of his diocese. It had been
governed for about fifteen years by the Bishop of
Havana, and though Bishop Du Bourg endeavored to
make the administration canonical by imparting
powers, the Spanish prelate declined to recognize any
acts emanating from Rome, which were not communi-
cated through his own government and the Patriarch
of the Indies. Even when he recalled his jDriests and
withdrew his jurisdiction, he would not recognize

' " Anuales de la Propagation de la Foi," I. (li.), P- 52. Rosati, " Rc-
lazione," May 4, 1821. Rev. D. J. Doherty, " Address on the Ceutenary
of the Cathedral," p. 9. The chapel at Portage des Sioux was erected
by Father Joseph Dunand, Trappist. " Relation," p. 118.

374 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

Bishop Du Bourg, but wrote to Bishop Enghind of
Cliarleston asking him to take charge of the church
at St. Augustine/

That city when restored by EngUmd to Spain was
in a religious point of view in a sad condition. The
few Catholic inhabitants were mainly Minorcans, Avho

CHUKCH OF ST. AUGUSTINE.

had removed from New Smyrna, with a few scattered
Indians, the remnants of the once prosperous native
missions. Among the English speaking settlers there
were probably a few Catholics. There was no church ;
the chapel at Tolomato and that of Nuestra Senora de
la Leche were in rains : the Franciscan church had

Life and Times of Archbishop Carroll, pp. 555-563.

FLORIDA. 375

perished, the convent had been a barrack. Even the
chapel in the fort had been so defaced that its original
purpose was scarcely recognizable.

To meet the wants of a province where both Sj^anish
and English were required, the King of Spain sent out
Irish priests, Rev. Thomas Hassett in 1784, Rev.
Augustus McCaffrey, Michael Crosby, and the Calced
Carmelite Father Michael Wallis in 1791, these last to
erect and maintain chapels on the St. John's and St.
Mary's rivers. The Franciscans also reapi)eared.
Father Francisco Troconis of the strict observance
arriving in 1785 to teach the school, and Father Juan
to act as chaplain, the latter succeeded in 1791 by
Father Narcissus Font.

A house on the site of the Bishop's house, where
Bishops Tejada, Cyril, and Morel had resided, served
as a chapel for several years ; but when the king by a
decree directed the income of x^roperty in Havana
belonging to the Church at St. Augustine to be paid
to it, the Rev. Michael O'Reilly, who had become
assistant to Rev. Thomas Hassett, resolved to pro-
ceed with the erection of a church worthy of the
ancient city. A priest of zeal, energy, and devotion,
ready to make sacrifices, he obtained a site on the
northerly side of the Plaza de Armas, and in April,
1792, blessed the corner-stone of a large church.
Material from the ruined shrines at Tolomato and
Nuestra Sefiora de la Leche was employed in its con-
struction.

It rose steadily, a massive, solid structure of the
Spanish type, and w^as finally completed in the month
of August, 1797. The solemn dedication was, how-
ever, deferred to the great feast of the Immaculate
Conception, when it was celebrated Avith all possible
pomp. St. Augustine was thus at last possessed of a

376 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

parish church worthy of it, and destined to stand as a
monument of Catholic faith for a century, when it
yielded to the destroying flames. To this church in
1800 were transferred the remains of the venerable
Peter Camps and Father Narcissus Font.

Rev. Michael O' Reilly became parish priest in 1795,
and labored among his flock alone till 1802, when he
was joined by another Irish priest, Rev. Michael

TOMB OF KEY MICHAEL O REILLY, AT ST AUGUSTINE

Crosby. The regiment of Hibernia, belonging origi-
nally to the Irish brigade in the French service, Avas
stationed in St. Augustine during this period, and
names of Irish officers, 0' Donovan, Curtis, Delany,
Barron, O'Reilly appear, though the rank and file
included many from other countries. The States on
the coast from Connecticut to Georgia sent Catholics
by birth, or converts. Nor were Indians wanting,

REV. MICHAEL O'REILLY. 377

chiefly Uchees and Timiiquans, and in 1799 there died
in St, Augustine, at the age of eighty, Maria del Ro-
sario de la Cruz, an Indian of the old Tolomato
mission.

About 1795, and perhaps earlier, there was a Royal
Hospital with its auxiliary Church of Our Lady of
Guadalupe "extra muros," the attending physicians
being successively Dr. Fitzpatrick and Dr. Travers.
The chaplain was Rev. Francisco Troconis.

After a life of zealous devotion to duty Rev. Michael
O'Reilly, born in Longford about 1762, died at St.
Augustine in September, 1812, and by his will left a
house to the parish church and two others, which were
to be used to found and establish a convent of Sisters
on the plan of the Visitation.^ He was interred in the
cemetery at Tolomato, where his tomb is still to be
seen. On his death Rev. Michael Crosby became par-
ish priest, assisted from 1807 by the Rev. John Nepo-
mucene Gomez. Rev. Mr. Crosby's last entry in May
25, 1821, but Rev. Mr. Gomez remained till February,
1823, to minister to the Catholic flock in his native
city ; he was then recalled to Havana.^ From the time
the transfer became known the population increased
rapidly, the baptisms rising from 148 in 1818 to 348 in
1822. Pensacola, and its Church of St. Michael, were
attended from 1794 by Rev. James Colman, parish
priest and chaplain of the garrison, with occasional
aid from army or hospital chaplains, down to Febru-
ary, 1822, when he retired with the Spanish officials.
This parish was officially visited by Bishop Cyril of
Barcelona, April 3, 1791, and by Rt. Rev. Louis de
Pehalver y Cardenas, May 7, 1798. Spanish and

1 Will of the Rev. Michael O'Reilly, March 1, 1803.
^ De Courcy, " La Ville de St. Augustin."

378 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED ST A TES.

Frencli, Irish and Scotch names appear on the regis-
ters and in the cemetery showing the mixed character
of the population.^

At Mobile Rev. Constantine McKenna was parish
priest from 1792 to 1800, succeeded by Rev, John
Francis Vaugeois to 1807, and by Rev. Vincent Genin,
\\\\o retired when Spain gave up possession.

The vast extent of the diocese prompted Bishop Du
Bourg to form plans for erecting a new ecclesiastical
province with a metropolitan and suffragans Avest of
the Allegheny Mountains : but his j^lan did not
meet with the approval of the bishops of the
United States, and was abandoned. Another project
was to divide the diocese of Louisiana and the
Floridas, establish a see at New Orleans, with a
diocese embracing Lower Louisiana, Mississippi, Ala-
bama, and Florida.^

All these steps resulted at last in the erection by
Pope Pius VII. on the 13th of August, 1822, of the
Vicariate Apostolic of Mississippi and Alabama, over
which Rev. Joseph Rosati, elected Bishop of Tenagra,
was made Vicar-Apostolic. In establishing this Vica-
riate the Propaganda had again inadvertently invaded
the rights of the Archbishop of Baltimore, as the
whole of those States, except a small portion south of
the 31st degree, between the Perdido and Pearl rivers,
actually belonged to the diocese of Baltimore. Arch-
bishop Marechal seems to have remonstrated promptly
at this further slight of his ancient and primary
diocese.

On the other hand Father Rosati wrote immediately

' Register of Pensacola.

"^ Archbishop Marechal to Bishop Du Bourg, Sept. 3, 1821. " Rela-
zione delle Missioni degli Stati Uniti d'America," May 1, 1821.

NAMED VICAR APOSTOLIC. 379

on receiving the bull of his appointment to avoid the
new dignity.^

He strenuously represented to the Propaganda in
the first place the paucity and poverty of Catholics
in Mississippi and Alabama, the priest at Natchez,
unable to obtain even the necessaries of life, being
about to abandon the place ; Bay St. Louis too jooor
to erect the plainest kind of church or provide for a
priest ; Mobile alone, in the two States, jDossessing a
church, but there being no prospect of resources to
maintain a bishop. In the next place he showed the
importance of his remaining at the head of the semi-

SIGNATURE OF RT. REV. DR. DU BOURG.

nary, no one of his associates being old enough to
assume the direction. Confiding in the force of his
arguments he continued his labors as professor and
superior. At Rome, however, the plan of a vicariate
was still adhered to, and Pope Pius VII., by his brief of
January 21, 1823, added Florida to the newly erected
Vicariate. Finally the arguments of Rev. Mr. Rosati
and the protest of the Archbishop of Baltimore pre-
vailed. The Brief " Quum superiori anno," ad-
dressed to Bishop Du Bourg, July 14, 1823,^ revoked
the former acts and suppressed the vicariate. But

' Rt. Rev. Joseph Rosati to the Propaganda, Jan. 26, April 3, April 11,
1823 ; to his Superior, May 6, 1823.

* Bullarium de Propaganda Fide, iv., pp. 406, 409.

380 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

Rev. Mr. Rosati was not to escape the episcopal
dignity. He was appointed coadjutor of Bishop Du
Bourg, to reside at St. Louis and be transferred in
time either to New Orleans or St. Louis, which
were to be made episcopal sees.^ The Archbishop
of Baltimore had meanwhile consented to give up
the distant part of his diocese, and Mississij)pi with
Alabama was virtually annexed to the diocese of
Louisiana.

Letters from the Propaganda and a papal brief of
July 14, 1823, showed Rev. Mr. Rosati that he must
submit to the dignity he had sought to avoid. Bishop
Du Bourg was then in Louisiana and selected for
the consecration the Church of Ascension parish at
Donaldson ville, a central position, where many clergy
could assemble. After making a spiritual retreat
with his worthy fellow religious, Rev. Mr. Rosati
was solemnly consecrated by Bishop Du Bourg on
the 25th of March, 1824. Very Rev. Mr. Sibourd,
y. G., and Father Sedella, rector of the Cathedral of
]^ew Orleans, acted as assistants ; the Rev. Mr. An-
duze preached and many priests from neighboring
parishes, in rich vestments, filled the sanctuary and
gave dignity to the ceremonial.- He was thus made
Bishop of Tenagra and coadjutor of Bishop Du
Bourg. After visiting the members of his community
engaged in mission w^ork in Louisiana, he ascended
the river and was soon among his brethren at the

» Bishop Rosati to Cardinal Prefect, Dec. 6, 1823 ; March 31, 1824.
" Annales de la Propagation de la Foi," I. (v.), pp. 35-8. From this
time Bishop Du Bourg took the name of Bishop of New Orleans, and
was so styled, although in reality the see of New Orleans was not
erected till 1826.

* Rev. J; Rosati to Cardinal Prefect of the Propaganda, Jan. 26,
April 3, 11 ; May 6, 1823.

JESUITS FOR MISSOURI. 381

Barrens, where he hoped to be allowed to reside.
Here he began to make preparations for the mainte-
nance of the seminary during his necessary absences
and final departure. There were fourteen seminarians
besides three members of the order in the course of
theology. There were also some young men following
a classical course. The little church — for though a
new one had been proposed, nothing had been done —
was now much too small for pontifical ceremonies, but
Bishop Rosati began by administering confirmation
there, before proceeding to other churches in the
State which awaited his coming.

Meanwhile Bishop Du Bourg, taking up the subject
of the Indian missions, visited Washington early in

SIGNATURE OF RT. REV. JOSEPH ROSATI, BISHOP OF TENAGRA.

1823 and laid before government a plan for the civili-
zation and conversion of the Indians west of the Mis-
sissippi. His plan met with the favor of the President
and the head of the Indian department, and an allow-
ance of $200 a year was assigned for four or five
missionaries, to be increased if the project was carried
out successfully. Having reaped this success, he
heard that the Jesuit novitiate at Whitemarsh was to
be broken up and removed, perhaps disbanded. See-
ing in it a providential aid for his Indian work he
proposed to the superiors of the Society to take the
novices to Missouri. Father Van Quickenborne and
his novices accepted the proposal joyfully, and though

382 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

Archbishop Marechal protested, Bishop Du Bourg-
carried his point. The journey of the missionaries to
the West has been already tokl/ Bishop Du Bourg
had purchased a large farm near Florissant, and here
the Jesuit Fathers began their work in Missouri, by
erecting a log cabin for their future college. To the
Ladies of the Sacred Heart the proximity of a religious
community, securing them the holy sacrifice of the
mass and able directors, was a source of great conso-
lation, and a presage of the success of their work.

Missouri was to be endowed with another Sisterhood
also, ready for the severest labors. The pious Rev.
Charles Nerinckx had been implored to send some
Sisters of his community to St. Louis to take charge-
of a hospital and an orphanage : some were also
needed at the Barrens. On the 12th of May, 1828,
twelve Loretto Sisters, with Sister Joanna Miles as
Superior, set out with the blessing of Rev. Charles
Nerinckx, and nearly perished by the sinking of
the wretched steamboat Cincinnati, but fortunately
escaj)ed in boats. They took possession of their new
home near the Barrens on the 14th of June, and called
it Bethlehem : after undergoing many privations they
were consoled by having a school and orphanage in
their log house. They cut their own wood, worked
in the garden, spun and wove. A visit from their
saintly founder encouraged them greatly, and he at
once set to work to erect a large frame church near
the convent. Soon after he was stricken down by
disease and died at Saint Genevieve, leaving the
Bethlehem Sisters the consolation of having been the
last of their community to receive his admonitions.^'

> Ante, p. 87. " Stato della Religione degli Stati Uniti."
" Bishop Maes, " Life of Rev. C. Nerinckx," pp. 499-565.

NEW URSULINE CONVENT.

383

At New Orleans the Ursuline Nuns, finding the
city too dense around them, and a street about to be
opened through their grounds, determined to erect a
new convent outside of New Orleans on property which
they possessed, and where Rev. Mr, Martial had for
some time directed a college. The new building was
completed in 1824. Some sisters took up their abode
there at once in no little fear and alarm, but the com-
munity removed to it in September. One nun of 80,
who had not been outside the convent walls since she
took the veil in 1766, could scarcely be persuaded to
leave her home and enter a carriage. She made the

THE NEW URSULliiE CONVENT, NEW ORLEANS.

journey in tears. The old Ursuline Convent became-
the residence of Bishop Du Bourg, and, recently
restored, is still that of his successor. Here the Bishop
proposed to open a college.

The convent had from its foundation taken charge-
of thirty orphan girls who were a charge to the city,
but in 1824, induced by enemies of the Ursulines, the-
authorities resolved to remove them, and place them^
in the Poydras asylum. Before their separation the
Nuns prepared all who were old enough to make their

384 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

first communion, which they received at the midnight
mass on Christmas, Bishop Du Bourg making a touch-
ing address on the occasion.^

After his appointment as coadjutor, a part of the
original diocese of Louisiana and the Floridas was
sj)ecially confided to Bishop Rosati. It embraced the
State of Missouri with the territory of Arkansas, as
well as western Illinois, of which Bishop Flaget had in-
duced the Bishop of Louisiana to assume the direction.
The parishes or missions in Missouri were St, Louis,
where in November, 1825, there was but a single priest ;
the church begun by Bishop Du Bourg during his resi-
dence was still unfinished, financial troubles having
•driven away some and prevented others from meeting
their subscriptions. The trustees, sued personally for
the building debts, sought permission from the State
to sell the Bishop's house and other property to
indemnify themselves. The condition of the Church
in the city where Bishop Rosati was to reside was,
therefore, by no means encouraging.

The creditors in St. Louis finally, in 1822, sold a
large part of the church property, including the
Bishop's residence, the parochial house, and a build-
ing in course of construction for an academy ; the
purchasers gave Bishop Rosati a time in which to
redeem it, and to secure means he dispatched to
Europe the Rev. Francis Neil in the hope that gen-
erous Catholics there would enable him to save the
property. He scarcely dared hope that aid enough
would be given to secure property to support the
Bishop or prepare for the erection of a college. Car-
ondelet, or Vide Poche, with its hundred families of
French origin, was attended every Sunday from St.

' Bishop Rosati to Rev. Mr. Baccari, June 14, 1824.

STATE OF RELIGION. 385

liouis, when that city had several x^riests, but was now
■deprived of all priestly service. At Florissant Father
Yan Quickenborne, who had lost his associate priest
of the Society of Jesus, directed his five scholastics,
training them for the priesthood, taught his school of
Indian boys, and performed parochial duty. Beside
all this he acted as chaplain to the Ladies of the Sacred
Heart, who had a convent and academy erected by
him.^ St. Charles on the Missouri, Portage aux Sioux,
Dardennes, Cote sans Dessein, St. Michael's, and the
Lead Mines were all destitute of priests ; the church
at the last place was attended occasionally from St.
Genevieve, which had a resident pastor. The congre-
.gation around the Barrens consisted of about two
hundred families attended by one of the three priests
at St. Mary's Seminary. Here there were sixteen
students, eight in theology, some of whom occasion-
ally preached. A quarter of a mile from the Semi-
nary was the Lorettine Convent, now containing
seventeen Sisters, with some postulants. Though
struggling with great poverty, they maintained a free
school and supported twenty-four orphans.

New Madrid, with eighty French families, had
neither church nor priest.

In Illinois, Kaskaskia had 150 families ; Prairie on
Rocher, one hundred, the church there being under
the care of Rev. Donatien Olivier, now seventy-five
years old and almost blind, who expected soon to
retire to St. Mary's Seminary ; O'Hara's Settlement
liad a growing English-speaking flock, eager for a
priest, and Cahokia, an old French village, had a
church and an aged priest.

' De Smet, "Western Missions and Missionaries," New York, 1859,
p. 467.

386 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

Bishop Du Bourg, disheartened by his struggles in
Missouri, believed that little could be effected there,
and that more was to be hoped for in Louisiana, to
which he now urged Bishop Rosati to remove, but
the latter clung to the State where he had begun his
labors.^

In 1824 R,ev. John M. Odin, CM., accompanied by
Rev, John Timon, then in subdeacon's orders, set out
on a missionary journey by way of New Madrid, the
definitive point being Arkansas Post, where the Catho-
lics had long been without mass or sacraments. Near
Davidsonville and at Little Rock they found Catho-
lics who had never seen a priest. On the Arkansas
River was a cluster of sixteen Catholic families who-
reported that mass had twice been offered there. Ar-
kansas Post was the only place after leaving New
Madrid, where there were enough Catholics to main-
tain a priest. Everywhere the missionaries had to-
begin by teaching grown-up children to make the
sign of the cross and recite the Our Father, the
Hail Mary, and the Creed. The poor people had en-
deavored to keep up the faith and given private bap-
tism to their children, but unfortunately this was
seldom done in a valid form. The celebration of holy
mass was, for most of those they found, a wonderful
ceremony.^

During this same year, Bishox^ Rosati made visita-
tions and missionary excursions in Illinois and Mis-
souri, confirming sixty in St. Louis, forty in Cahokia,
and forty at Florissant, where he gave minor orders to-

' Bishop Rosati to Cardinal , Nov. 1, 1825.

* " Annales de la Propagation de la Foi," ii., pp. 374, etc.; Deuther,
"Life and Times of Rt. Rev. John Timon, D.D.," Buffalo, 1870, pp.
33, etc.

STATE OF RELIGION. 387

three members of the Society of Jesus, and baptized
two Indians.^

Bishop Du Bourg fitted up a few rooms in the old
Ursuline convent for his own occupation and that of
his Vicar- General and two priests. The rest he rented
to Rev. Mr. Portier, who aided by three other ecclesi-
astics opened a college, which soon had thirty-six
boarders and one hundred and forty day scholars.^

While in upper Louisiana he had seen the wants of
the Catholics in that part of his diocese, and placed
priests where needed ; but on taking up his residence
at New Orleans, Bishop Du Bourg found the desola-
tion of the sanctuary so much greater that he began
to summon priests from up the Mississippi, to the dis-
may of Bishop Rosati, who saw himself unable to fill
the vacancies. The burthen fell upon him and on the
little communities of Jesuits and Lazarists.

Bishop Du Bourg visited the Attakapas, Yermillion-
ville. Grand Coteau, and Opelousas. Then accom-
panied by Rev. Mr. Anduze he made his way to
Avoyelles, nearly drowned while crossing a bayou on
a tree. Here he found Rev. Mr. Martin zealously at
work organizing a parish ; he had no fixed home, and
a rude chapel whicli he had reared with nothing but
a few boards on trestles for an altar. The people had
never had a resident priest, and he had to rehabilitate
fifty couples married before a magistrate. The church
at Natchitoches had been destroyed by fire three years
before ; the people had not seen a priest for four years
or received any regular instruction for fifteen. The
nearest church was one in the old Spanish town of
-Adayes. It needed a stout mission worker to raise

'U. S. Cath. Miscellany, iii., p. 333.

' " Annales de la Propagation de la Foi," it., p. 407.

388 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

a cliurch here and another at the Spanish post of
Kempte. Bishop Du Bourg arrived at Natchitoches
just in time to give the last sacraments to Mile, de
Mezieres, grand-daughter of the Duke of Orleans.^ In
May he visited Mobile on the east ; but he was soon
relieved of this part of his charge. Pope Leo XII.
on the 26th of August, 1825, erected the State of Ala-
bama and the Floridas into a Vicariate Apostolic and
assigned to it Rev. Michael Portier, who was created
Bishop of Oleno.^

But Bishop Du Bourg had become discouraged and
convinced that another might accomplish more than
he possibly could. He transmitted his resignation ta
Rome, urging its acceptance with such earnestness,
and such apparently good reasons, that the Sovereign
Pontiff accepted it As this was an event not pro-
vided for in the arrangement already made, His Holi-
ness on the 18th of July, 1826, divided the diocese of
Louisiana, and established the See of New Orleans
with the State of Louisiana as its diocese, the Vicari-
ate Apostolic of Mississippi to be administered by the
Bishop of New Orleans. The country north of Louisi-
ana was made the diocese of St. Louis, Bishop Rosati
being transferred to that see from Tenagra, and ap-
pointed temporarily Administrator of New Orleans.^

Bishop Du Bourg thus laid down the charge which
as Administrator and Bishop he had held for eleven
years. It was not the state of his health which com-
pelled him to take this step, but because, as he him-
self declared, " it was evident my presence would be

' " Annales de la Propagation de la Foi," iii., p. 501.

^ Bullarium de Propaganda Fide, v., p. 46 : Bullarium Magnum,
XV., p. 593.

* Bullarium de Propaganda Fide, v. , pp. 19, 20.

STATE OF RELIGION. 389

more prejudicial than useful." A priest of judgment,
Rev. Mr, Borgna, wrote: "We have just received
intelligence of the resignation of Mgr. Du Bourg. No
one exj)ected this change. Yet all who know that
most worthy prelate praise his resolve and rejoice to
hear it. It was time to put an end to his sufferings,
and just, above all, that in the decline of his life he
may enjoy a little peace and repose. The prejudice
against him in this city is so strong, this sewer of all
vices and refuge of all that is worst on earth, that in
spite of all his sacrifices and all his exalted ability, he
could not have effected any good here. The very
name of Du Bourg has an irritating sound in the ears
of a great portion of the inhabitants of this new Baby-
lon. You cannot imagine all the abominations which
fill the newspapers of this city." ^

No such prejudice existed against his coadjj.itor, and
Bishoj) Du Bourg felt that in retiring he rendered an
essential service to the Church. He bade farewell to
New Orleans, for whose spiritual good he had labored,
and which beheld him depart without the slightest
sign of regret or repentance. On reaching St. Louis
he was received with the highest public honors.
Thence he proceeded to New York, where on the 1st
of June he took a steamer for Havre, before the fact
of his resignation was generally known. ^

Bishop Du Bourg was a man of vast projects and
rendered essential services to religion in the United
States ; but the task imposed upon him beyond the
Mississippi was far too great, and naturally timid,
little versed in business methods, he was discouraged
at the difficulties which arose to thwart him, and con-

1 Rev. Philip Borgna, C. M., New Orleans, Oct. 17, 1826.

2 U. S. Cath. Miscellany, vi., p. 87 ; Truth Teller, ii., p. 182.

390 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

fronted by bitter malevolence he at last lost all heart
and energy.'

He had found Louisiana in a most destitute cond-
tion. He left it with twenty parishes, nearly all
attended by good young priests, under whom piety
had been revived, churches and schools erected.
These were Terre aux BcEufs below New Orleans,
New Orleans with its cathedral, Ursuline chapel, and
mortuary chapel, and four priests ; St. Charles under
Rev. Mr. Savin ; St. James, opposite St. Michel with
its convent of the Sacred Heart ; Ascension, Iberville,
Baton Rouge under Rev. A. Blanc, who also attended
Pointe Coupee. Inland were Assumption with an
Ursuline convent and St. Joseph, and to the north-
east Opelousas, Attakapas, Vermillionville, and the
Grand Coteau with its Sacred Heart convent ; Avo-
yelles and Natchitoches under Rev. J. B. Blanc. In
all but two of these the priests were stationed by
Bishop Du Bourg.^

He had not imparted the fact of his resignation even
to Bishop Rosati, who heard the first rumors with in-
credulity. Even late in October, 1826, he had no cer-
tain knowledge of the new duties which had devolved
upon him or the complications created by the resigna-
tion.^ Yet at Rome he was regarded as Bishop of
Louisiana, and they were considering the necessity of
assigning him a coadjutor or dividing the diocese.

On the 4th of November, Bishop Rosati received
the bulls of Pope Leo XII. appointing him to the new
see of New Orleans. He wrote to the Pope, to the Pre-
fect and Secretary of the Propaganda, declining the

' " Annales de Propagation de la Foi," iii., p. 517.

''Mgr. J. Rosati, Bishop of Tenagra, to V. Rev. Francis Baccari, Oct.
.20, 1826 ; same to Mgr. Pietro Caprana, Nov. 11, 1826.

THE SEE OF NEW ORLEANS. 391

appointment, and explaining that since his appoint-
ment as coadjutor lie had labored in Missouri, Illinois,
and Arkansas, where he was known, and where from
his knowledge of English he could preach with some
iluency, while in Louisiana he was comparatively
unknown to the clergy and people, and by no means
sufficiently versed in French to address the inhabitants
with fruit. Moreover his health had always been
affected by the climate of Louisiana. He earnestly
Tequested to be allowed to decline the appointment.
He urged the selection of Rev. Leo de Neckere, a Bel-
gian Lazarist, as coadjutor, till it was deemed proper
to make him Bishop of New Orleans, and besought
the intervention of Bishop Du Bourg to have this
effected.^

Meanwhile Bishop Rosati resumed the erection of a
cathedral at St. Louis, ordained three priests educated
in his seminary, published the jubilee, and was grati-
fied at the rich harvest gathered, especially by the
instructions of Rev. Mr. Odin. He then made a
journey to Kentucky on horseback to consult Bishops
Flaget and David on the affairs of the Church. After
this excursion he proceeded to Louisiana, where much
was to be done. He found Rev. Mr. De Neckere in
liigh esteem with clergy and people, having been in-
cited by the Legislature to pronounce a discourse on
the anniversary of the battle of New Orleans.^ Bishop
Rosati made a canonical visitation at the Ursuline
convent, and gave confirmation in several parishes.
He was afflicted by the departure of one of the most
zealous priests in Louisiana, Rev. Mr. Bigeschi, who

1 Bishop Du Bourg to Cardinal Prefect, May 1, 1827.

' Bishop Rosati to V. Rev. Antonio Baccari, Vicar General of the
Congregation of the Mission, Jan. 6, March 18, 1827.

392 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

had revived the faith and piety in three different con-
gregations, successively confided to him, and estab-
lished a community of Sisters to open schools for
girls. ^

At length the letters apostolic of March 20, 1827,
arrived and Bishop Rosati, to his great relief, found
that he vs^as to remain at St. Louis as Bishop, although
charged for a time with the administration of New
Orleans. He then only awaited the return of Rev.
Mr. De Neckere from Europe to appoint him Vicar-
General at New Orleans.^

' Same, April 6, 1827.

* Bishop Kosati to Propaganda, July 14, 1837 ; Bullariuin de Propa-
ganda Fide, v., p. 25, " Quum post acceptas."

SEAL OF BISHOP ROSATI.

RT. REV. JOSEPH ROSATI, CM., FIRST BISHOP OF ST. LOUIS.

394

CHAPTER II.

DIOCESE OF ST. LOUIS.

ET. KEY. JOSEPH ROSATI, FIRST BISHOP, 1827-1829, ADMINISTRATOR
OF NEW ORLEANS, 1827-1830.

After the erection of the see of St. Louis, Pope
Leo XII., on the 20th of March, 1827, appointed
Bishop Rosati, who had been coadjutor of Louisiana,
to the new see, and made him at the same time Ad-
ministrator Apostolic of the newly erected diocese of
New Orleans, and of the Vicariate Apostolic of Miss-
issippi.^

Joseph Rosati, son of John Rosati and Vienna
Soresi, was born at Sora, Italy, January 13, 1789.
Feeling himself called to the ecclesiastical state, he
obtained admission after his classical course to the
College of the Propaganda in Rome, then directed by
the Priests of the Congregation of the Mission. His
virtues and abilities soon led to his being received into
their religious community by his directors, and he
was made a prefect in the College : but before he had
completed his intended course of ecclesiastical study,
the Lazarists were expelled from the College by the
French. The Sovereign Pontiff permitted him. al-
though he was under the canonical age, to receive the
holy order of j)riesthood in order to accompany the
Very Rev. Felix de Andreis as a missionary to
America.

After a farewell to his parents he set out with the

' " Quum post acceptas." Bullarium de Propaganda Fide, v., p. 25 ;
" Apostolatus OflBcium," lb., p. 47.

395

396 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

blessing of the Sovereign Pontiff. In Missouri he
evinced the ability and learning required to guide
young levites, as well as the courage and endurance of
a missionary. Once when going to attend a sick call,
Father Rosati's horse fell, and he rose with a broken
arm, but he kept on and attended the person who had
solicited his ministry, before he had his fracture
treated. On his deathbed the venerable Father de
Andreis selected him as Superior of the Lazarists in
the United States.^

The diocese of St. Louis, as created by Pope Leo
XII. July 14, 1826, contained at most 8000 Catholics.

In August, 1827, he visited the ancient town of Kas-
kaskia, where he was received with all honor by the
Catholic population. Here he confirmed fifty-five ;
and by his zealous preaching revived piety. On the
8tli of September the Rev. F, X. Dahmen, pastor of
St. Genevieve, received him in the church of that place,
where a class had been prepared for confirmation.
The next Sunday he was at Florissant, where he or-
dained to the priesthood Fathers Yerreydt, Van
Assche, P. J. De Smet and Elet of the Society of Jesus.
After administering confirmation here he j)roceeded
to St- Charles, Portage des Sioux, and Carondelet. On
his return he visited the new convent of the Sacred
Heart, founded near St. Louis by the munificence of
Mr. John Mullanphy, the religious undertaking to
maintain a free school and support twenty orphan
girls. He then crossed the Mississippi to extend
his visitation to Cahokia and Prairie du Rocher.
Returning to Missouri he proceeded to Old Mines
and Mine a Burton or Potosi. On the 4th of Nov-
ember he ordained Rev. A. Mascheroni at the Barrens.

' II Poliorama Pittoresco, March 9, 1844.

HIS VISITATION. 397

He was soon after summoned to New Orleans to
settle some difficulties and make a visitation. He left
the Seminary at the Barrens in November, and at St.
Genevieve embarked with Rev. A. Mascheroni on the
steamboat North America. Just below New Madrid
the boat struck a sawj-er and went down. Bishop
Rosati and his comjDanions were for five days on the
shore before another boat came along and enabled
them to continue the journey. After a short stay at
New Orleans he visited the Church of the Ascension
at Donaldsonville, under Rev. Mr. Tichitolo ; the brick
Church of the Assumption at Bayou La Fourche, Rev.
John Caretta ; St. Joseph's, then with Terre Bonne
under the spiritual care of Rev, Mr. Audizio. Then
he crossed the Mississippi to St. Gabriel's, where the
zealous priest Rev. Eugene Michaud was founding a
college for the education of his young men. Baton
Rouge, the churches of St. John and St. John the
Baptist at Bonnet Carre were next visited. His
confirmations at these different points numbered
about 300, and would have been greater had longer
notice been had of the welcome though unexpected
visit.'

On the 8tli of January, the anniversary of his great
victory, General Jackson was received with great honor
at New Orleans ; a Te Deum' was chanted in the Cath-
edral, and a patriotic sermon preached by Rev. Mr.
Ganilh.-^

Bishop Rosati stationed a priest at Natchez, which
had long been without one from the indifference of
the people.^

' U. S. Cath. Miscellany, vii., p. 222.

- lb., viii., p. 191. Register of St. Gabriel, Jan. 5, 1828.

2 U. S. Cath. Miscellany, vii., p. 252, 374.

398 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

Early in February he gladdened the Ursuline Nuns
and their hundred boarders by appearing among them.
He continued his apostolic journey to St. John's.
Church, Vermillion ville, St. Martin's, and Grand Co-
teau. Here he confirmed in the parish church and the^
fine convent of the Sacred Heart, where he baptized
three converts to the faith.

On the 4tli of March he dedicated the elegant and
spacious church of St. Landry, preaching in French
and English. By way of Donaldsonville he next x^ro-
ceeded to the Convent of the Sacred Heart at St.
Michael's, where he celebrated Palm Sunday. It was
a prosperous institution with seventeen religious and
sixty boarders. Here he gave the habit to four novices.

At New Orleans he twice administered confirmation
in the city, and also at the Ursuline Convent, where a
novice made her ^Drofession. Other labors then en-
gaged his attention, and it was not until the month of
June that he reached Missouri. He was not, however,
to rest, for we see him confirming at St. Genevieve
and St. Louis, ordaining a priest, then dedicating the
fine stone church erected by Y. Rev. Charles Yan
Quickenborne, at St. Charles, and blessing the ceme-
tery ; then he crossed the Mississippi once more ta
extend his visitation to Illinois.

St. Louis had now an- hospital, due to the gener-
osity of John Mullanphy, Esq., who gave houses and
lots for the purpose, and other property to afford it
some revenue. Four Sisters of Charity from Emmits-
burg, Maryland, were already in St. Louis to begin
their devoted labors.

Indian mission work was pushed by the Jesuit
Fathers, and by Rev. Mr. Lutz, who had started to
found a station among the Kansas.

Such was the condition of the Church in the two

TRUSTEEISM CONDEMNED. 399

dioceses and vicariate apostolic covering Missouri,
Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and part of Illinois,
whose wants Bishop Rosati was struggling to meet.^
The absence of a resident bishop at New Orleans
was soon felt. The trustees of St. Louis Cathedral
endeavored to secure the passage of a law, utterly sub-
versive of the discipline of the Catholic Church, vest-
ing in them the right to appoint and remove priests.
A similar claim made at Philadelphia had been con-
demned by Pope Pius VII. , and Bishop Con well had
been reproved for even indirectly admitting it. At
New Orleans the wardens, who claimed the cathedral
as representing the Catholics of New Orleans, had not
bought the ground or erected the church, the site
having been given by the King of Spain, and the
church put up by Sehor Almonaster under an agree-
ment with the King. Bishop Rosati laid the matter
before Pope Leo XII., who in his Brief " Quo longius "
confirmed the letters apostolic of Pope Pius VIL
against the trustees of St. Mary's Church. " This
being the state of the case," says the Sovereign Pontiff,
" what shall we say of the trustees of the church of
New Orleans, who endeavor to renew the audacious
misconduct of Philadelphia, and who obstinately op-
pose our apostolic decision, of which they are surely
not ignorant ? Did Christ give his Church to trustees
or to bishops to be ruled by them ? Shall sheep lead
the shepherd, and not the shepherd the sheep ? Are
not those who scheme to abolish episcopal rights and
rend asunder the universal discipline of the Church,
clearly liable to the infliction of canonical penalties ? "
The Pope expressed the hope that if the trustees per-

' U. S. Cath. Miscellany, viii., p. 191. Annales de la Propagation de la
Foi, iii., pp.539, 564.

400 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

^severed in their mad course, every legislative body
would reject their petition for subverting Catholic dis-
cipline, and not aid them to deprive a bishop of his
cathedral canonically established by the authority of
the Pope and the King of Spain, when ruler of the
country.^

The fomenter of the troubles in the Church of New
Orleans soon after passed away, though the evil spirit
did not perish with him. On the 19th of January,
1829, Father Anthony Sedella died apparently in full
•communion with the Church, but his funeral was a
grand civil parade, and the lodges of Freemasons
attended by a special order of the Grand Lodge of the
State. The secular papers extolled his virtues and
declared him a saint. He was the last survivor of the
old Capuchin mission of Louisiana, and it is to be
regretted that a faithful Catholic cannot share the
opinion as to his merit created by those strangers to
her discipline, spirit, and laws.^

' Bullarium de Propaganda Fide, v. p. 42.

2 Louisiana Advertiser, Jan. 24, 1829 ; U. S. Catholic Miscellany, viii.,
pp. 247, 261. The expressions of the remarkable order, and the mere
fact of its issue, leave little room for doubt that Father Sedella was, in
defiance of the laws of the Church, a Freemason, and one in high
standing.

RT. REV. MICHAEL PORTIER, V.A., AND BISHOP OP MOBILE.

402

CHAPTER III.

VICARIATE APOSTOLIC OF ALABAMA.

BIGHT REV, MICHAEL PORTIEE, BISHOP OP OLENO, VICAE
APOSTOLIC, 1826-1829.

When" the bulls appointing Rev. Michael Portier
Bishop of Oleno, and Vicar Apostolic of the newly
•created Vicariate of Alabama and the Floridas,
reached that clergyman, he was at the head of a pros-
perous college which he had organized in the old
Ursuline Convent at New Orleans. He had come to
this country a deacon in 1817 with Bishop Du Bourg.
Raised to the priesthood in the Cathedral of St. Louis,
he had been employed on the mission in New Orleans,
before he opened the college.

Aware of the difficult task required to organize the
Church in Alabama and Florida, he wrote at once to
Rome to decline the appointment. He was, however,
required to accept the burthen, and the bulls were
again forwarded. He accordingly i^roceeded to St.
Louis, and after making a month's retreat in the Semi-
nary, was consecrated in the Cathedral of St. Louis
Bishop of Oleno, by Bishop Rosati, on the 5tli of
November, 1826.

He set out at once for his vicariate, stopping at New
Orleans to settle up his affairs. He landed at Mobile
on the 20th of December.

Besides the ancient settlements of Mobile, Pensacola,
and St. Augustine, there were a few scattered Catholics
in Northern Alabama, at Huntsville, Florence, andTus-
cumbia, who had been visited three years before by Rev.

403

404 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

Mr. Abell from Kentucky.^ Bishop Portier proclaimed
the Jubilee at Mobile and Pensacola, and began the
exercises of amission to prepare the faithful to benefit
by the great advantage. There were but two priests
in his vicariate, and as they belonged to the diocese of
New Orleans, they might be recalled at any moment.
The priest in charge of the Church of the Immaculate
Conception at Mobile was the Rev. A. Ganilh, to
whom the trustees (for an act of incorporation was
promptly obtained after the change of flag) had voted
a salary of $800. The church was old and needed
repair. A record of the church shows that it possessed
a monstrance, two chalices and patens, a ciborium,
a pyx for the Viaticum, basin, cruets and bell, holy

^ ^^/h^J^cu^ e^^ ^>-/C^

SIGNATURE OF BISHOP PORTIER.

water pot, censer and incense boat, a tabernacle key,
oil stocks, baptismal shell, two vases, two candlesticks,
and a processional cross — in all eleven articles, all of
silver. There were six sets of vestments, one black
and two colored copes, all in poor condition. The
church owned some property, althougli part of it
seems to have been held adversely to its claims. The
income from the pews ranged from $120 to $190.

On the 27th of December, 1826, the trustees resolved
to lease the old grave-yard to Bishop Portier for $230
a year for twenty-one years, on condition that he

' Annales de la Propagation de la Foi, ii., pp. 417 ; U. S. Catholic
Miscellany, vi , pp. 286, 303,

DANGEROUS ILLNESS. 405

should build a church on it, and give a bond to trans-
fer it to his successor. It was certainly a strange
arrangement that a bishop should be expected to build
a church and yet pay ground rent to the trustees of
the congregation,^ for Bishop Portier estimated the-
Catholics of Mobile at ten thousand. ^

After a stay of some length at Pensacola, which had
declined greatly, and where Rev. Constantine Maen-
haut had been pastor from October, 1823, Bishop Por-
tier set out on horseback June 12, 1827, to make his
way to St. Augustine. After twelve days' solitary
travel, without a guide, he reached Tallahassee, where
he had the happiness of saying mass. The room was
soon filled with Protestants, who listened respectfully
to his discourse. The city was but four years old and
contained few Catholics, but a generous Irishman
offered his bishop a site for a church. After baptizing^
some children he pursued his journey to St. Augus-
tine. A few moments after his arrival there he was
waited upon by the trustees of the church, who offered
him a house and everything suitable to his character.
Charmed with this courteous reception he visited the
church the next day, and officiated pontifically on
Sunday. The church was filled, there being a general
anxiety to see the Catholic bishop. He delivered a.
sermon in English, and announced that every day
after his mass he would teach a class of those old
enough to make their first communion. The sick,
were all visited in turn. Bishop Portier, however,
had overtaxed his strength ; the long journey, and
constant application in the summer heats, brought on
a fever, which soon assumed a dangerous form. la

1 Proceedings of Trustees, Jan., 1823, to Dec. 27, 1826.
» Annales de la Prop, de la Foi, iv., p. 74.

406 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

his lucid intervals, when free from delirium, he read on
the countenances of those by him that no hope was
entertained. The thought of dying without the aid
of the sacraments oppressed him, but nature rallied,
he recovered, though excessive weakness remained.
It was the end of August before he was able to resume
his duties. Then for two weeks he preached a mission
in English and Spanish, with separate instructions
for the young, and closed with a general communion.
One hundred and twenty received the Holy Eucharist,
and there were fifty first communicants ; ninety-five
were confirmed. He baptized sixty children during
his stay at St. Augustine.

He left that city on the 22d of September, and on
his homeward journey found some Catholics to whom
he ministered. The priests at Mobile and Pensacola,
who had remained till this time, then returned to New
Orleans, and the Bishop was left alone in his vicari-
ate. To add to his trials the church at Mobile was
utterly destroyed by fire before the end of the month
of October.

At his earnest appeal, the Bishop of Charleston sent
to St. Augustine the Rev. Edward F. Mayne, an able
priest, trained at Mount St. Mary's Seminary, who
labored zealously in that city and in the scattered
stations on the coast as far as Amelia Island.

Without priests or resources of any kind, Bishop
Portier, who took up his residence at Mobile, labored
on till April, when he made his way to New Orleans in
order to embark for Europe, and see what aid he could
obtain.^

1 Annales de la Prop, de la Foi, iv., pp. 71-112 ; U. S. Cath. Miscel-
lany, viii., pp. 54, 95, 103, 374, 167 ; viii., pp. 166, 278.

BOOK III.

CHAPTER I.

THE FIRST PROVINCIAL COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE, 1829.

When the original diocese of Baltimore was divided
by the Sovereign Pontiff in 1808, and Archbishop Car-
roll two years later convened his newly consecrated
suffragans, it was the wish and intention of all to
assemble in a Provincial Council at an early day, and
a time was actually appointed. The political events
in Europe wdiich resulted in the seizure of the Sover-
eign Pontiff Pins VII., and his removal from Rome
wdth his cardinals as prisoners, prevented Archbishop
Carroll from obtaining the sanction of the Holy See
for the convocation of a council.

When the subject of holding a Provincial Council
was subsequently taken up, oi^nions differed. Bis-
hop Cheverus wrote: "I cannot see even now any nec-
essity of holding the council, and I cannot help even
doubting the expediency of it." ^

The death of Bishop Egan of Philadelphia, followed
by that of Archbishop Carroll, and the feeble health
of his successor Archbishop Neale, prevented any
further steps being taken. After Archbishop Mare-
chal received the pallium, new sees were established
at Richmond, Charleston, and Cincinnati, and the
vacant sees of New York and Philadelphia having
been already filled, the holding of a council became a,

' Bishop Cheverus to Archbishop Carroll, Jan. 5, 1813
407

408 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

subject of discussion between Arclibishoi) Mareclial
and his suffragans. The Metropolitan evidently con-
sidered it most j)rudent to wait till Bishops Conwell,
England, and Kelly should acquire some personal
knowledge of the actual condition of their dioceses,
and of the rules of discipline to be adopted which
could be practically enforced in this country.

Bishop Conwell during the Hogan trouble expressed
a desire for a provincial council ; and for several
years it was the constant burthen of the correspond-
ence addressed to the Metropolitan by Bishop Eng-
land. He wrote strongly in 1825 urging it especially,
in order to obtain, by the united action of the episco-
pate in a council, regulations in regard to nominations
to sees, which would prevent foreign interference in
the affairs of the Church in this country.

Archbishop Mareclial was fully alive to the impor-
tance of holding a Provincial Council, and as early as
1823, Pope Pius VII. addressed a brief to him in re-
gard to the convocation of such a synod in the United
States.^ The Archbishop then drew up the project of
a Provincial Council, but his declining health pre-
vented his gathering the suffragan bishops of the
province with their theologians in his cathedral. At
his death, however, the affair was so far advanced that
Archbishop Whitfield, finding the project prepared by
his predecessor, submitted it to the Holy See.* Leo
XII., by his Brief "Quo longius," August 16, 1828,
aj)proved the plan.

Several of the suffragans, among others Bishop
Fenwick and Bishop Du Bois, expressed to the Metro-

' Bishop Conwell to Archbishop Mareclial, Feb. 5, 1821.

*Pius VII.. " Non sine magno," Aug. 3, 1823.

^Artaud, Histoire du Pape Pie VIII. Paris, 1844, p. 116.

FIRST COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE. 409

politan at length their ideas as to the subjects which
required general legislation.^

The bishops belonging to the jjrovince of Baltimore
at this time were Rt. Rev. Benedict Fenwick, an
American, Bishop of Boston, of great experience as a
priest, as President of Georgetown College, and as
Bishop ; Rt, Rev. John Du Bois, a native of France,
Bishop of New York after nearly forty years in the
active discharge of the ministry, founder of Mount
St. Mary's College and Seminary, long Director of the
Sisters of Cliarity ; Rt. Rev, Henry Conwell of Phila-
delphia, who was represented by the able and expe-
rienced Administrator of the diocese, V. Rev. William
Matthews ; Bishop England of Charleston, with
several years' experience in the country ; Rt. Rev.
Benedict J. Flaget, Bishop of Bardstown, and his
coadjutor Rt. Rev. John David, whose experience in
the United States antedated the century ; and the Rt.
Rev. Edward Dominic Fenwick, Bishop of Cincinnati
and first missionary sent to Ohio. Besides these pre-
lates, there were also in the United States two others,
not suffragans of Baltimore, their dioceses have been
formed mainly out of the old diocese of Louisiana and
the Floridas. These were Rt. Rev. Joseph Rosati,
Bishop of St. Louis and Administrator of New Or-
leans, sede vacante, and Rt. Rev. Michael Portier,
Bishop of Mobile. It was proposed to invite both
these bishops to attend the council, saving all their
rights, in order to take part in the general consulta-
tation as to the best means of advancing religion in
the United States, though before the council met
Bishop Portier was made a suffragan of Baltimore.

' Bishop Fenwick to Arclibishop Whitfield, Sept. 10, 1828 ; Bishop
Du Bois to same, 1828.

410 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

Letters were also addressed to each one of the bish-
ops asking him to state the subjects which he deemed
most important to be treated in the council. The
notes of the Archbishop and his predecessors, with
these replies, and documents from Rome were sub-
mitted to a body of theologians to prepare the pre-
liminary work for the action of the council.

In pursuance of the letters issued by Archbishop
Whitfield in December, 1828, to his suffragan bishops
convoking a Provincial Council on the first day of Oc-
tober, 1829, the venerable members of the Catholic
hierarchy in the United States began to arrive in Bal-
timore toward the close of September.

The Right Rev. B. J. Flaget, last survivor of the
bishops consecrated by Archbishop Carroll, arrived
with Bishop Rosati on the 19th of September, and
took up his residence with his old associates of St.
Sulpice at their seminary. Then came Bishop Fen-
wick of Boston. Rt. Rev. Edward Dominic Penwick,
Bishop of Cincinnati, with Rev. William Matthews,
Vicar Creneral Apostolic of Philadelphia, soon came
by way of Washington. Rt. Rev. John England,
Bishop of Charleston, who now stood next in the
order of seniority, reached Baltimore Sept. 30, deeply
gratified to see the council he had so long desired,
convened at last. These constituted the Fathers of
this first important council. Bishop Du Bois of New
York and Bishop Portier of Mobile being absent in
Europe.^

At a preliminary meeting held September 30, in the
house of Archbishop Marechal, certain rules were
established, that no regulation should be adopted

' It was not known to the Fathers of tlie Council that Rev. Leo de
Neokerc had been appointed on August 4, 1839, to the See of New Or-
leans ; Buliaiium de Prop. Fide, v., pp. 46-7.

FIRST COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE. 411

that could not easily be enforced ; that no decree
should be printed till the api)roval of the council by
the Holy See was given ; that no matter should be
brought before the council except those already agreed
upon by the Archbishop with the consent of the
Fathers, unless by a two-thirds vote ; that a session
should be held every morning at ten in the Cathedral,
beginning on October 4.

Besides the Bishops and Administrators, the Very
Rev. Francis Dzierozinski, Superior of the Society
of Jesus in the United States, Very Rev. Joseph Car-
riere. Visitor of the Society of St. Sulpice, attended
as well as Very Rev. John Tessier, Rev. Louis Deluol,
iind John B. DamxDhoux, Doctors of the theological
faculty of St. Mary's, theologians of the Archbisho}),
Rev. Francis P. Kenrick, theologian of the Bishop of
Bardstown, Rev. Simon Gabriel Brute, theologian of
the Bishop of Charleston, Rev. Louis de Barth, theo-
logian of the Bishop of Cincinnati, Rev. Augustus
Jeanjean, theologian of the Bishop of St. Louis, Rev.
Anthony Blanc, theologian of the Bishop of Boston,
Rev. Michael Wheeler, theologian of the Vicar-Gen-
eral Apostolic of Philadelphia. Very Rev. John
Power, Vicar-General of New York, was subsequently
invited to attend the council as theologian. Bishop
Fenwick of Boston Avas appointed promoter of the
council ; Rev. Doctor Damphoux, Secretary, with Rev.
F. P. Kenrick as Secretary ; Rev. John J, Chanche,
Master of Ceremonies, who appointed Rev. Francis
Lhomme and John Randanne chanters. The tirst
public congregation Avas held on the 3d, the bishops
and doctors in rochet and cape, the priests in sur-
plice.^

1 Truth Teller, v., p. 350 ; Baltimore Gazette.

412 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

The next day witnessed the most imposing Catholic
ceremonial ever yet held in the city of Baltimore.
After the Bishops in mitre and cope, Very Rev.W.
Matthews in cope, forty priests in chasubles, — had
gone in procession to the Cathedral, and all had
entered the sanctuary, the Bishops were arranged
three on each side, and a pontifical high mass was
celebrated by His Grace the Archbishop of Balti-
more. At the conclusion of the mass, the Bishox? of
Charleston ascended the pulpit and delivered an elo-
quent discourse on the benefits which were likely to
arise from the council then assembled, and toward
the close gave a full explanation of the ceremony of
the pallium about to be conferred upon the Most
Rev. Dr. Whitfield. When the sermon was con-
cluded, the Bishop of Boston advanced to the high
altar, and having taken his seat in front of it,
delivered the pallium to the Archbishop, who knelt
before him to receive it, according to the Roman
Pontifical.

After this the psalm and usual prayers were chanted
for the opening of the council. Then the Archbishop
of Baltimore asked: "Reverend Fathers, Venerable
Brothers, does it please you, that for the glory and
honor of God, and the increase of Catholic faith, the
Council of Baltimore, lawfully convoked and here
assembled, shall this day be opened and commenced ? "
When each replied : "It pleases us, let it be opened,"
the Archbishop continued: "Invoking the name of
Christ, we declare the holy Provincial Council of Bal-
timore to be open, and so judge." The congregations
and sessions were then continued till the 18th of
October.

One of the incidents of the council was the admission
to the ninth public congregation of three lawyers of

FIRST COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE. 413

high standing, Roger B. Taney, John Scott, and Wil-
liam G. Read, whose oj^inion had been solicited by the
Fathers of the Council. All were men of note, who
had appeared before the solemn bodies and tribunals
of the country, but they averred that on no occasion
had they been more deej^ly impressed than when in-
vited to this first Catholic Council in the United States
to give expression to their legal opinion on the ques-
tions submitted, and give explanations then orally
requested/

The Bishop of Charleston was selected by the coun-
cil to draw up the Pastoral Letter, after the topics had
been agreed iipon by the bishops. Dr. Rosati was
appointed to prepare the letter to the Cardinal Secre-
tary wliicli was to accompany the decrees.

On the 18th of October mass was celebrated by the
Most Rev. Archbishoj) with the same ceremonies as at
the opening of the Provincial Council, At the end
of the mass the psalms and prayers were recited for
the closing of the council. The decrees were then
read and publicly signed by the bishops, a table hav-
ing been placed for the purpose in the middle of the
sanctuary. After the Archbishop's blessing the Dea-
con said, " Let us depart in peace," and all responded
" In the name of Christ, Amen," The bishops, who
had embraced one another as token of their unity in
faith and discipline, then retired ; and the faithful,
who had crowded every available spot in the cathedral,
and had remained during the long services, gradually
poured out of the edifice, having responded generously
to the aj)peal for the orphan asylum made from the
pulpit by Bishop England.

' Truth Teller, v., p. 343, 350 ; The Metropolitan, Baltimore, 1830, p.
34 ; .Jesuit, i., p. 61,

414 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

Before leaving Baltimore the bishops i^roceeded to
CaiTollton Manor to pay their respects to the last of
the Signers, Charles Carroll of Carrollton. " The aged
patriot, though in his 96th year, appeared to enjoy
perfect health and to be full of life. The bishops in
the course of their visit conversed severally with him,
and had full opi)ortunity of witnessing the surprising
retentiveness of his memory, and how perfectly he
retained his mental powers."

The decrees of the first Council of Baltimore were
thirty-eight in number. The iirst required priests to
accept any mission assigned them where a suitable
maintenance was afforded, till recalled by the Bishop.
This was not to refer to any j^arochial benefices, of
which, however, only one, in New Orleans,^ was known
to exist. Decree II, required priests to remain in the
diocese for which they were ordained or into which
they had been permanently received (coaptati). Decree
III. urged bishops not to receive XJriests coming with-
out full and ample papers from their former dioceses.
Decree IV. required that where more than one priest
was stationed, one was to be designated as pastor, the
other or others to be assistants. Decree V, required
in future, where possible, that tlie deeds for new
churches should be to the bishop. The churches of
regulars and those in the diocese of Charleston were ex-
cepted. Decree VI. declared that the jus patronatus
and right of instituting and dismissing j)astors claimed

' The King of Spain under the bull of Pope Julius II. had the right of
patronage in all his American possessions. On ceding Louisiana this
ceased, and there could be no pretext for making it devolve on mar-
guillers who had never enjoyed the right. By royal cedula, August,
1793, the King of Spain transferred the right of patronage in the Church
of New Orleans to Don Andres Almouaster. Carondelet to Alcudia,
Jan. 18, 1794.

FIRST COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE. 415

by some bodies of trustees was repugnant to the doc-
trine and discipline of the Cliurch, and that no riglit
of iDatronage, known to the sacred canons, was vested
in any person or congregation of the laitj^, in any
board of trustees or any other individuals in the
province. They further declared that no collection of
money for church purposes gave any riglit of patron-
.*ige recognized by canon law. Decree VII. urged
bishops to recall the faculties of any priest instigating
or encouraging such usurpation. Decree VIII. urged
bishops to interdict any churcli Avhere the congrega-
tion, trustees or others, retained any priest not
approved by the bishop, or whose faculties had been
revoked or who was suspended, or wliere the duly
ax^pointed priest was prevented from officiating or
deprived of his income. Bishops were advised fre-
quently to set before those who administered the
teuiporalities, the rules laid down by the Council of
Trent. Decree IX. charged bishops to warn their
flocks against corrupt translations of the Bible ; and
to urge the use of the Douay Bible, of which correct
editions were to be issued under the eye of some bishop.
Decree X. enjoined the uniform use of the Roman
ritual. Decree XI. determined the qualifications of
sponsors in baptism and confirmation. Decree XII.
regarded the giving of profane names in baptism and
urged those of saints to be adopted : and the next de-
cree concerned cases where several names were given.
Decree XIV. required registers to be kept for bap-
tisms, confirmations, marriages, and burials. Decree
XV. regarded the blessing of water on Holy Saturday
and baptismal fonts. Decree XVI. directed baptism to
be administered where possible in church, and not in
private houses, and XVII. regarded the baptism of
children of non-Catholic parents wliere there was a pro-

416 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

spect of tlie child being brought up a Catholic. Decree
XVIII. concerned the form to be used in the bajDtisra of
adults, and XIX. the churching of women. Decree
XX. enjoined the use of Latin in administering the
sacraments. By Decree XXI. confirmation was not to
be administered, except in special circumstances, to
children under seven years of age, and by XXII., where
a number were confirmed, cards giving the names were
to be used. Decree XXIII. forbid the celebration of
mass in private houses, not being regular stations or
places authorized by the bishop, unless on some occa-
sion when the priest was too far from any church or
station. Decree XXIV. regulated the decency of the
church for the offering of the holy sacrifice. Decree
XXV. required proper confessionals publicly in the
churches, and forbade priests to hear confessions,
especially of women, in private houses. Decree XXVI.
urged pastors to prepare the faithful for the due and
religious reception of the sacrament of matrimony.
Decree XXVII. prescribed the dress to be worn by
priests, and XXVIII. warned them against games or
sports that would give scandal. Decree XXIX. re-
quired every priest having care of souls to preach to
his flock on Sundays and holidays. Decree XXX.
urged bishops frequently to impress their clergy with
a sense of their duties by exhorting them to an annual
retreat, daily meditation, spiritual conferences, and
other pious exercises. The 31st decree directed the
preparation of a proper ceremonial in English. De-
cree XXXII. urged the use of the Roman biretta and
a suitable surplice. Decree XXXIII. forbade the use
of catechisms and prayer-books not approved by the
bishop of the diocese, and proposed an edition of a
catechism adapted. to this country, based on that of
Cardinal Bellarmine. Decree XXXIV. urged where

FIRST COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE. 417

possible the erection of Catholic schools to save chil-
dren, especially those of the poor, from perversion, and
decree XXXV. regarded the preparation of suitable
schoolbooks. The 86th decree urged the establishment
of a society for diffusing Catholic books. The remain-
ing decrees concerned the ai)i)robation of the Holy See
to the acts of the Council, and appointed another
Synod after a lapse of three years.

In a Congregation held October 13, the Fathers ex-
pressing their admiration for the acts of the Synod
held by Archbishop Carroll in 1791, directed it to be
reprinted with the acts of the Council.

The letter of the Council to the Sovereign Pontiff,
Pope Pius yill. recalled the growth of the Church
in the United States from its feeble commencement.
"Not two centuries have elapsed since, in a remote
and obscure corner of Maryland, a little band of
Catholics guided by a few missionaries, exiles from
their native land, flying from the cruel persecution
inflicted on them for adhering to the faith of their
forefathers, laid the foundations of this American
Church. It is scarcely forty years since this body of
the faithful in the United States of America was found
sufficient to demand in the opinion of the Sovereign
Pontiff the erection of the first episcopal see at Balti-
more. Not twenty years have rolled by since a decree
of the Holy Pontiff, Pius VII., exalted the Church of
Baltimore with the dignity and rights of a Metropoli-
tan, and like a joyful mother of children she has beheld
in recently erected suffragan dioceses, quickened by
a heaven-bestowed fruitfulness, an offspring in new
churches, which it has borne to Christ. Nevertheless
we see so many blessings bestowed by God on these
rising churches, such increase given to this vineyard,
that those who planted, and those who watered, and

418 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

those who harvested and tread the overflowing wine-
press, are compelled to confess and admire wholly "the
linger of God." The number of the faithful increases
daily, churches not unworthy of Divine worship are
everywhere erected, the word of God is preached
everywhere and not without fruit; the hatred and
prejudice spread against the Church and the faithful
vanish ; holy religion, once despised and held in con-
tempt, receives honor from her very enemies ; the
l)riests. of Christ are venerated even by those without ;
the truth and divinity of our faith is ^Droclaimed and
vindicated from tlie calumny of heresy and unbelief
not only in churches and from pulpits, but from the
press in widely scattered periodicals and books. Six
ecclesiastical seminaries, the hope of our churches, have
already been established, and are governed in holy
discipline by pious and learned priests ; nine colleges
under ecclesiastical control, the glory of the Catholic
name, have been erected in different States to train
boys and young men in piety, arts, and higher branches
of science ; three of these have been chartered as uni-
versities by the legislatures ; thirty-three monasteries
and houses of religious women of different orders
and congregations, Ursulines, Yisitandines, Carmelites,
Sacred Heart, Sisters of Charity, Loretto, etc., are
everywhere established in our dioceses, whence ema-
nate not only the observance of the evangelical coun-
sels, and the exercise of all other virtues, but " the good
odor of Christ" in the pious training of innumerable
girls ; houses of religious of the Order of Preachers
and the Society of Jesus, of secular priests of the Con-
gation of the Mission, and of St. Sulpice, from which
as centres priests are sent out to missions ; many
schools where' the poor of both sexes are taught
gratuitously ; hospitals where these examples of Chris-

FIRST COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE. 419

tian charity were formerly unknown, are now daily
given by religions women to the great benefit of souls
and of religion. These, Most Holy Father, are the sig-
nal benefits which God has bestowed upon us within
a few years."

The picture was not overdrawn, as the preceding-
pages narrating the gradual growth of the dioceses
attest, although the progress had been hampered in
some dioceses by the evil spirit of men already alien-
ated from the faith and discipline of their ancestors.

The acts of the Provincial Council were confirmed by
Pope Pius VIII. after careful examination by experi-
enced theologians, on the 80tli of September, 1830,
and his approval was embodied in a decree of the
Sacred Congregation de Propaganda Fide, October
16, 1830.1

CHAPTER II.
GROWTH OF ANTI-CATHOLIC FEELING.

Catholicity had prospered in the United States
for more than fifty years under the protection of the
more liberal principles embodied in the Declaration
of Independence, and the gradual removal of penal oi-
disabling laws. The freedom which Catholics had
enjoyed had never been abused ; they had borne their

' "Concilium Baltimorcnse, Provinciale Primuni : lialiitum Baltimori
Anno reparatse Salutis 1829, mense Octobri," Baltimore, 1831 ; " Concilia
Provincialia, Baltimori liabita ab anno 1829 usque ad annum 1840."
Baltimore, 1842. Smith, "Compendium Juris Canonici," New York,
1890, p. 56.

Letter of the Council to the Pope, October 24, 1829. The Catholic
population at this time was estimated by the Fathers of the Council at
half a million in a population of twelve millions. The Catholics of the
diocese of Charleston were reckoned at ten thousand. Bishop Rosati in
Ann. de la Prop., iv. , p. 599.

420 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

part with their fellow-citizens in developing the re-
sources of the country, increasing its wealth and pros-
perity ; they had marched shoulder to shoulder with
the bravest to meet the Indian foe or the foreign
enemy ; they had no share in the secession plans of
the Northeast or the revolutionary plans in the South-
west, They had erected churches, colleges, acade-
mies, and schools for the religious, moral, and intel-
lectual training of their members ; they were caring
for the orphans. There was nothing in their record
to afford a basis for any revival of the ancient
spirit of persecution and oppression. It is not to
be wondered at that Catholics lived in the feeling
of perfect security, relying on the protection of
the laws.

Yet there was a steadily increasing current of
thought hostile to them in the country, nurtured
mainly by publications from the British Isles, a strong
anti-catholic literature evoked by the agitation in
favor of Catholic Emancipation. Many of these
things were reprinted here and widely circulated ;
old prejudices were revived, and the unscrupulous
soon found that new contributions would be readilj^
welcomed without too close scrutiny. To meet these
constant misrepresentations and calumnies, it had been
found necessary to establish Catholic journals. The
earliest of these, "The United States Catholic Miscel-
lany," "The TruthTeller,"" The Jesuit," devotedmuch
of their space to the defense of Catholic doctrines and
the refutation of false and malicious charges ; contro-
versies increased, but produced little benefit, and the
converts Avho entered the Church were not won by
them ; in almost every case they were men and women
who found that the systems in which they had been
educated lacked a logical basis, and who came by

ANTI-CATHOLIC FEELING. 421

study, thought, and prayer to the portals of the
Catholic Church.

Meanwhile the anti-catholic feeling was gaining
ground steadily, and becoming, though no one seemed
to comprehend the fact, a menace to the peace and
harmony of the country, without one redeeming ele-
ment, but fraught with a dangerous disregard of the
rights of fellow-citizens to life and property. This
dangerous condition pervaded the whole country, en-
couraged and stimulated by men who professed the
most religious principles, but which needed only a
pretext to burst out into open violence.

This spirit, utterly at variance with the real genius
of our American institutions, contrasts sharply with
Catholic thought as expressed about this time by the
venerable Charles Carroll of Carrollton : "When I
signed the Declaration of Independence, I had in view
not only our independence of England, but the tolera-
tion of all sects professing the Christian religion and
communicating to them all equal rights. Happily
this wise and salutary measure has taken place for
eradicating religious feuds and persecution, and be-
come a useful lesson to all governments. Reflecting,
as you must, on the disabilities, I may truly say on
the proscription, of the Roman Catholics in Maryland,
you will not be surprised that I had much at heart
this grand design founded on mutual cliarity, the basis
of our holy religion." ^

' Charles Carroll to G. W. P. Ciistis, Feb. 20, 1829.

BOOK IV.

CHAPTER I.
DIOCESE OF BALTIMORE AND RICHMOND.

MOST llEV. JAMES WHITFIELD, ARCHBISHOP, 1829-1834.

In the spring of 1829 Arclibishop Whitfield made a
iive weeks' visitation of liis diocese, blessing a church
on the borders of Maryland and Virginia. He
stationed a priest at Martinsburg and another in the
Alleghany mountains.

After the close of the important Council of Balti-
more, Archbishop Whitfield resumed his ordinary
duties in the two dioceses confided to his care. The
exercises of the jubilee wliich had been proclaimed
were carried out earnestly b}^ tlie aid of the Jesuits
and Sulpitians, and produced great results. Balti-
more, wliich the venerable Charles Carroll of Carroll-
ton could remember as a single line of seven or eight
houses, now found five Catholic churches insufficient
to accommodate the faithful, and two new edifices
were rising on elevated sites at the noi'th and south.
St. Mary's College and the theological seminaries
were in full prosperity.

Soon after the Council the Archbishop accompanied
by his Vicar-General, V. Rev. Mr. Tessier, proceeded
to Richmond, where the two hundred poor Catholics
had but a small wooden church so mean that some
were ashamed to attend it. Here the Archbishop saw
how little could be accomplished till he could confide

A22

MEDLEY'S NECK. 423

the mission to an energetic priest there, able to rear a
church worthy of the faith. He visited Norfolk also,
where the church was attended by two priests, and
the Portsmouth mission. Here one hundred and
thirty-eight received confirmation/

St. Peter's Church, the first Catholic shrine in Balti-
more, had been after the dedication of the Cathedral
used only as a private chapel, but about this time it
became necessary to open it again to acconmiodate
those who could not find room in the great church.^
While the Jesuit Father Dubuisson and other Fathers
of the Society, who were giving the jubilee exercises
in St. Mary's County, Maryland, were engaged on the
24tli of January in the Church of Our Lady of Medley's
Neck, a serious accident occurred. The church had
been erected but ten years, yet the walls already
showed that the workmanship had been wretched.
The church was crowded, and just as the sermon was
about to commence, a loud noise Avas heard and the
floor began to settle. There was a general rush for
the doors and windows, and those on the galleries
rushed down, increasing the confusion. The priest
remained at the altar, till examination showed that
some supports had yielded ; fortunately no one was
seriously injured ; the Mass was resumed ; the most
of the congregation returned, and many received holy
communion.^

1 Archbishop Whitfield to Rome, June 12, 1829, Jan. 28, 1830.
Annales de la Propagation de laFoi, iv., p. 243. Rev. Nichola.s Kerney,
T\ho had done such good work at Norfolk and in North Carolina, was
then at St. Patrick's ; and the veteran Rev. Louis De Earth at St. John's.
Metropolitan, Baltimore, 1830, p. 31. U. S. Cath. Miscellany, x., p. 316.
Rev. Thomas Hore to Archbishop Whitfield, April 15, 1828 ; Rev. J.
Hoerner to same, June 11, 1828.

'■^ Archbishop Whitfield to Propaganda, Aug. 29, 1830.

^ Woodstock Letters, xi., p. 56.

424 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

The city of Washington at this time had three
chnrches, St. Patrick's, recently erected, witli a ];)ulpit
of costly woods presented by Mr. Rebello, the ambas-
sador of the Emj)eror of Brazil; St. Peter's, and St.
Mary's with a school and orphan asylum under the
Sisters of Charity. Georgetown had its ancient
Church of the Holy Trinity, the Visitation Convent
with its Church of the Sacred Heart, and Georgetown
College ; while across the river was a new church in
Alexandria, with a congregation of nine hundred.^

THE VISITATION CONVENT, GEOKGETOWN, FROM AN EARLY PRINT.

The Convent of the Visitation by the intelligent zeal
and liberality of Rev. J. P. de Cloriviere, carried out by
his successor Rev. Michael F. Wheeler, who completed
the Odeon, had become a handsome range of brick
buildings between two and three hundred feet in
length by about forty in depth, especially adapted
for the uses of an academy, with Avell lighted and
ventilated class-rooms, healthy dormitories and spa-
cious playgrounds. The community numbered fifty

Truth Teller, vi., p. 375.

ST. CHARLES' COLLEGE. 425

religious, and the academy contained 128 pupils, and
their free school 320 children. Rev. Mr. Wheeler,
when compelled to visit Europe for his health, obtained
from Pope Pius YIII. many spiritual favors and a
modification of the rule necessitated by their actual
position,^

While these institutions were advancing in pros-
perity and usefulness the Jesuit Father John McElroy
began a fine church at Frederick, Maryland, and near
It St. John's Literary Institution, which rendered
good service for many years.

As Mount St. Mary's was no longer a Petit Semi-
naire or preparatory school for St. Mary's Theological
Seminary, Baltimore, the Sulpitians felt the need of
a special school for training youth who showed a
vocation for the priesthood. The illustrious patriot
CJharles Carroll gave land at Doughoregan Manor
for such an institution, and it was duly incorporated
by the State of Maryland as St. Charles' College.
The corner-stone of a granite structure, eighty feet by
sixty was laid on the lltli of July, 1831, by Mr. Carroll,
and blessed by the Archbishop. The wolk was prose-
cuted actively, Mr. Carroll contributing $6500, and
this institution, once opened, rendered good service to
religion.^

The condition of Mount St. Mary's College Avas a
source of anxiety to Archbishop Whitfield. It was
not his diocesan seminary, and preferring to have
candidates for the j)riestliood trained by a full corps
of professors at St. Mary's Seminary, Baltimore, he

' Letter of Archbishop Whitfield to Rome, June 13, 1729. U. S.
■Cath. Miscellany, x., p. 60. Annals of the Visitation. An attempt was
again made about this time to introduce the Ursuline rule, but it failed.

2 Archbishop Whitfield to Propaganda, Aug. 29, 1830 ; U. S Cath.
Miscellany, xi., p. 30.

426 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

urged the clergymen in charge of Mount St. Mary's,
as his predecessor had urged them, to abandon the
courses of philosophy and theology, and make the
institution simply a college for young men. The
financial condition, however, made any change preca-
rious. The debt, already large when Rev. Dr. Du Bois
left, had steadily increased, and unless seminarians
Avere employed as professors, it would be impossible
to sustain the college. The Archbishop accordingly
yielded to the remonstrance of Rev. John B. Purcell
and his associates.

The College had by this time obtained a charter, the
General Assembly of Maryland having in February,
1830, created the institution an incorporated college,
"with full power and authority to hold public com-
mencements and admit any of its students or other
persons meriting the same to any degree or degrees in
any of the faculties, arts, sciences, and liberal pro-
fessions, except medicine, to which persons are
usually admitted in other colleges or universities in
America." The Seminary and College remained under
the direction of Rev. John B. Purcell as President
till his election to the See of Cincinnati in 1833, wdien
he was succeeded by Rev. Thomas R. Butler.^

About this time the Carmelite Nuns prepared to
remove from Port Tobacco, where a long and tedious
lawsuit had greatly imx)overislied them. Tliej^ lost
in March, 1830, their venerable Superior Mother Clare
Joseph Dickenson, and her successor Mother Angela
of St. Teresa. Under the advice of Archbishop Whit-
field they purchased a small house on Aisquith Street,
Baltimore, with about three-quarters of an acre of

' Rev. J. Purcell and others to Archbishop Whitfield, Dec. 29, 1831 ;
Rev. John McCaffrey to Archbishop Eccleston. April 1, 1835. Truth
Teller, xiv., pp. 151, 237. Catholic Almanac, 1835, p. 79.

THE CARMELITES. 427

ground. On this they prepared to erect a larger
building to enable them to open an academy as a
means of support. The corner-stone was laid by
Archbishop Whitfield on the 29th of September, 1830.
In August of the following year he gave formal per-
mission to the Nuns to leave their primitive home, to
which they bade a last farewell on the 13th of Sep-
tember, and were soon installed in their new house.
Their academy was opened early in the following
month. ^

Tlie publication of Catholic works centred at first
in Philadelphia, but Baltimore was becoming a home
for the Catholic press. Here in 1829 issued a History
of the Church by Rev. Charles Constantine Pise, the
most extended original work yet written in this
country, and in 1831 Fielding Lucas issued a quarto
Bible and a New Testament.

On the 26th of September, 1830, Pope Pius VIII., in
view of the great extent of the United States, and the
paucity of priests, extended the time for approaching
the Holy Eucharist, so that the faithful might fulfill
the precept at any time between the first Sunday in
Lent and Trinity Sunday.^

During the year new churches were completed at
Hagerstown and Merryland Tract, and a third nearly
so at Marlborough.

On the 13th of October, 1831, Archbishop Whitfield
issued a circular to his clergy convening a diocesan
synod to be held in order to publish solemnly the
decrees of the first Council of Baltimore. The synod

1 Currier, " Carmel in America," Baltimore, 1890, pp. 180-194. The
Sisters were incorporated by the Legislature in 1833. Archbishop Whit-
field to Propaganda, Aug. 29, 1830.

'•^ Decree of the Sac. Congregation de Propaganda Fide, Oct. 16,
1830.

428 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

met on the 8tli of November at the archiepiscopal
residence, and was attended by thirty-live priests.
Several of the decrees of the council were promulgated
to be put in force gradually, where a contrary custom
had prevailed, as in the use of English at baptisms,
marriages, and funerals. In regard to tlie enlargement
of churches, however, or the erection of new edihces,
the rule of the council was to be strictly followed, and
nothing of the kind was to be attempted without the
sanction of the Archbishop.

Among those who attended this synod was the ven-
erable Father Francis Neale, aged seventy-five ; he
was with Rev. Drs, Eccleston, Tessier, Deluol, and
Matthews, one of the preachers during the sessions.^

Though the Archbishop of Baltimore could find
consolation in the increase of churches and institu-
tions, he had difficulties. In the oldest parts of his
diocese, the counties of St. Mary and Charles, the
congregations were very poor and many churches in a
ruinous condition ; Prince George's County was some-
what better, but missionary after missionary sank
under the toils of the ministry among the scattered
Catholics on the unhealthy Eastern shore. For the
diocese of Richmond he had but four priests, two at
Norfolk, where Rev. F. Van Horsigh had completed
his new church and dedicated it in July ; one at Rich-

' Circular, Rev. E. Damphoux, Secy.; " Sjmodus Diojcesana Balti-
morensis II. habita ab Illustrissimo ac Reverendissimo Jacobo, Archi-
episcopo Baltimorensi," etc., Baltimore, 1831. U. S. Cath. Miscellany,
xi. p. 183. This venerable priest died at Port Tobacco, Dec. 20, 1837,.
aged eighty-two. He was a brother of Archbishop Neale, and was edu-
cated in Europe. He completed, if he did not found, Trinity Church,
Georgetown, and erected the first church in Alexandria. He was presi-
dent of Georgetown College from 1810 to 1812, and spiritual director of
the Visitation Sisters. His last years were spent in active mission work.
"History of Georgetown College." Catholic Almanac, 1889.

MARTYBS OF CHARITY. 429

mond and one at Martinsburg, the energetic Rev. F.
Roloff, who found little encouragement at Wheeling,
though there were many scattered Catholics.^ A line
bell for the Cathedral had been cast by Frerejean of
Lyons, and Archbishop AVhitlield erected a tower to
receive it : at the same time he issued a circular call-
ing on the clergy to aid in completing the sacred edi-
fice by erecting the corresponding tower, and the
noble portico which formed part of the original plan.^
He soon after made a visitation of the uj)per counties
of Maryland.^

All seemed full of fair promise, but amid these
plans of improvement came the first visitation of that
appalling disease, the Asiatic cholera. The Sisters of
Charity hastened to give their services in attending
the sick ; while the Archbishop offered his residence
for use as a hospital. Though others fled, the
Catholic priests and sisters multiplied their efforts
to meet the calls for assistance that came from
every side. Mary Francis and Mary George, Sisters
of Charity ; the Oblate Sister Antonina, Revs. Mi-
chael Wheeler and William O'Brien died amid
their labors of charity. The Pope, in view of the
want of priests in this country, sent a special
apostolic benediction to the faithful during the
visitation.*

When the ravages of the cholera had ceased, the

' Archbishop Whitfield to the Association de la Prop, de la Foi,
" Annales," v., p. 714; Rev. F. Roloflf to Archbishop Whitfield, April
2, 1829.

'■' Circular, March 1, 1832.

3 Father F. Grivel to F. Nicholas Sewall, May 30, 1832.

* The services of the Sisters elicited a public expression of gratitude
from the Baltimore authorities. Catholic Intelligencer, iii., p. 414 ;

430 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

Visitation Convent in Georgetown sent out on the 27tli
of November its first colony of nuns under Mother
Mary Augustine to found a. house of their rule at
Mobile, and in the following April another band of
these disciples of St. Jane Frances de Chantal i^ro-
ceeded under the direction of Mother Mary Agnes
Brent to the ancient i)ost of Kaskaskia to begin there
the work of education.' The Georgetown Academy at
this time had one hundred pupils, and the free school
founded by Rev. Mr. de Cloriviere was attended by
150 scholars.*

The Fathers of the Society of Jesus had begun their
labors in Maryland with its earliest settlement under
Leonard Calvert in 1633, and till the suppression of
the order by Pope Clement XIV. in 1773 the members
belonged to the English province. AVhen the sur-
viving members were permitted in 1806 to reorganize,
they became a mission dependent on the Father-General
in Russia and subsequently on Rome. The Maryland
mission had now a life of its own, and was evidently
self-subsisting, with a prosperous college at George-
town, now engaged in extending its buildings, a minor
educational establishment at Frederick, a novitiate, a
scholasticate. The General of the Society, Very Rev.
John Roothaan, deemed that the time had come to
erect the mission into a province of the order, and the
Province of Maryland Avas formally established Feb-
ruary 2, 1833. In pursuance of this Father William

Jesuit, iv. , p. 49. Catholic Telegraph, i., pp. 383-7: Scharf, "Chron-
icles of Baltimore," p. 460. Cardinal Prefect to Archbishop Whitfield,
Oct. 4, 1832.

' Annals of the Visitation.

. 2 Annals of the Visitation ; Mother Madeline de St. Augustin to Arch-
Inshop Whitfield, Jan. 5, 1833. The Sisters readied Mobile December
31, and were temporarily installed in a neat country house.

ST. JAMES' CHURCH. 431

McSlieny, a native of Virginia, was Installed as the
first Provincial, July 5, 1833.^

On the 9th of Jnne, 1833, Pope Gregory XVI. dis-
pensed the faithful in the United States from the
obligation of abstinence on St, Mark's Day and the
Rogation Days, and for a term of ten years from that
of abstinence on Saturdays which had hitherto been
in force.^

In his Lenten Circular the Archbishop, who had
during the cholera modified the rules of abstinence,
took precautions for a return of the disease, and
called on all for more earnest prayer and mortifi-
cation.^

It had long been the desire of the Most Reverend
Archbishop to devote a portion of his private means
to some permanent monument in the diocese ; and
having secured a suitable site in the city of Baltimore,
he solemrdy laid the corner-stone of a church to be
dedicated to Almighty God under the invocation of the
holy apostle St. James, selecting his festival, May 1,
for the ceremony. The site, one hundred feet by one
hundred and ninety, was a fine one in a growing part
of the city.*

He dedicated on the first Sunday in May the fine
church erected on one of the hills at Harper's Ferry ;

' Very Rev. John Rootbaan, " Decretum Erectionis Provincise Mary-
landiae"; Woodstock Letters, x., p. 252.

' Decree of the Sac. Congregation de Propaganda Fide, June 22, 1833.

3 Lenten Circular, 1833.

•* Archbishop Whitfield to Rev. N. Wiseman, June 6, 1833. The
stone bore this inscription: " Jacobus Whitfield, Archiepiscopus Bal-
timorensis, huncangularem lapidem Ecclesiaesubinvocationc Sti. Jacobi,
Dei Omnipotentis Max. cnltui consecrandse, clero comitante, posuit
A.R. S. MDCCCXXXIII. ipsis kal. mails, S.S. Apostolis Philippo et
Jacobo, sacris."

432 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

and was consoled to see those at Frederick, Richmond,
and Ellicott's Mills advancing toward completion.

On the 10th of June he proclaimed the Jubilee
granted by the Sovereign Pontiff Pope Gregory XVI.,
and urged the faithful to secure the blessing of God
and avert another visitation of the dread disease.^

The condition of Catholic negroes who had gone
from Maryland to Liberia in Africa was also a subject
of correspondence between the authority at Rome and
the Archbishop. This led in time to a mission from
the United States.'^

Some of the suffragan bishops expressed an earn-
est wish for another Provincial Council ; Archbishop
Whitfield believed that it would be wiser to carry out
gradually the recommendations of the first Council,
rather than multiply enactments. He seems, how-
ever, to have yielded to advice from Rome, and the
second Council was summoned to meet on the 20tli of
October.

This Council was more fully attended than the first,
and the new see of Detroit was represented. The
Fathers were Most Rev. James Whitfield, Archbishop
of Baltimore ; Rt. Rev. John B. David, Bishox) of
Mauricastro and Coadjutor of Bardstown ; Rt. Rev.
John England, Bishop of Charleston ; Rt. Rev. Joseph
Rosati, Bishop of St. Louis ; Rt. Rev. Benedict Fen-
wick, Bishop of Boston ; Rt. Rev. John Du Bois,
Bishop of New York ; Rt. Rev. Michael Portier,
Bishop of Mobile ; Rt. Rev. Francis Patrick Kenrick,
Administrator of Philadelphia ; Rt. Rev. Frederic
Rese, Bishop of Detroit ; Rt. Rev. John Purcell,

'The Universal Jubilee," etc., Baltimore, 1833; The U. S. Catholic
Almanac or Laity's Directory for the year 1833, Baltimore, 1833.

^ Cardinal Maio to Archbishop Whitfield, June 15, 1833.

SECOND PROVINCIAL COUNCIL. 433

Bishop of Cincinnati ; Bishop Flaget alone of the
bishops in actual charge of dioceses being absent.
Very Rev. William McSherry, Provincial of the Soci-
ety of Jesus, V. Rev. Nicholas Dominic Young, Pro-
vincial of the Dominicans, Very Rev. Louis R. Deluol,
V. G., Superior of the Sulpitians, also attended.

The Council asked the Sovereign Pontiff to erect a
see at Vincennes, the diocese to embrace Indiana and
eastern Illinois, and to reunite Virginia to the diocese
of Baltimore, suppressing the see of Richmond. It,
moreover, defined more exactly the limits of the sev-
eral dioceses. A plan for nominating to vacant sees
was proposed to the Sovereign Pontiff ; and the Holy
Father was asked to commit the care of the Indian
tribes and of the negroes in Liberia to the Society of
Jesus. The bishops were urged to establish in each
diocese where possible a theological seminary accord-
ing to the direction of the Council of Trent ; and the
authority exercised since 1810, by which each bishop
could empower priests to officiate in neighboring dio-
ceses, was finally abolished. The Bishops of St. Louis
and Boston were appointed to prejjare an edition of
the Rituale Romanum adapted to the wants of clergy
in this country, and the task of preparing suitable
class-books for Catholic colleges and schools was con-
fided to the presidents of St. Mary's College, Balti-
more, Mount St, Mary's, and Georgetown.^

When the acts of the Council reached Rome, it was
not deemed best to suppress the see of Richmond, but
the other suggestions of the Council were approved.

' Concilium Baltimorense Provinciale Secundum ; habitum Baltimori,
a die 20a ad diem usque 27am Octobris A. R. S. 1833. Reprinted at
Rome in the " Fasciculus," in the " Actaet Decreta," Rome 1841, in the
Bullariura de Propaganda Fide, and* in the collected Councils, Balti-
more, 1842, etc.

434 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

Pope Gregory XVI. by his Letters Apostolic, " Bene-
dictus Deus," June 17, 1834, fixed the limits of tlie
several dioceses, and the Congregation de Propaganda
Fide in a meeting held on the 18tli of March pre-
scribed the mode to be observed in nominating to
vacant sees. Each bisliox3 was to keep sealed and
directed to his Vicar General, to be opened on his
death, a duplicate list of three priests Avhom he re-
garded as best fitted to succeed him. On his death
the Vicar General was to transmit one list to the Arch-
bishop of Baltimore, and the other to the nearest or
senior of the nearest bishops. Tlie latter was then to
communicate his views to the Archbishop, who was
next to transmit the list, or, if he disapproved it,
another list of three names with it, to each bishop of
the province. The several bishops were then requested
to communicate their views to the Congregation de
Propaganda Fide. It was expressly noted, however,
that this action of the bishops did not constitute an
election, nomination, or postulation, but simply a
recommendation.^

In the pastoral letter issued by the Fathers of the
Council to the clergy and laity of the United States,
they deplored the want of a sufficient number of
priests and churches for the rapidly increasing body
of the faithful, and exhorted those unable to hear
mass every Sunday to meet for prayer and instruction
and so keep alive the faith, assuring them of the solici-
tude of the bishops to establish churches and schools,
and give them worthy and zealous priests. They ex-
horted the faithful to patience and forbearance under
the vituperation and calumnies of a hostile press, the

' Decretum S. Congregationis de Propaganda Fide, June 14, 1834.
Concilium Bait. II., pp. 11-18.

PASTORAL LETTER. 435

charges of disloyalty to tlie country, and the avowed
efforts to check the progress of the Catholic religion
and, if possible, extirpate it. "We advise you to
heed them not ; but to continue whilst you serve your
God with lidelity, to discharge honestly, faithfully,
and with affectionate attachment your duties to the
government under which you live, so that we may in
common with our fellow-citizens sustain that edifice
of rational liberty in which we find such excellent
protection.

" The education of the rising generation is, beloved
brethren, a subject of the first importance ; and we
have accordingly, at all times used our best efforts^ to
provide, as far as our means would permit, not only
ecclesiastical seminaries to insure a succession in our
priesthood and its extension ; but we have moreover
sought to create colleges and schools in which your
children, whether male or female, might have the best
opportunities of literature and science, united to a
strict protection of their morals and the best safe-
guards of their faith."

In view of the increasing virulence of attacks on the
Church, which were manifest, although they had not
yet reached their height, the Fathers of the Council
said : " We notice with regret, a spirit exhibited by
some of the conductors of the press engaged in the
interests of those brethren separated from our com-
munion, wdiich has within a few years become more
unkind and unjust in our regard. Not only do they
assail us and our institutions in a style of vituperation
and offense, misrepresent our tenets, vilify our prac-
tices, repeat the hundred times refuted calumnies of
days of angry and bitter contention in other lands,
but they have even denounced you and us as enemies
to the liberties of the republic, and have openly pro-

436 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

claimed the fancied necessity of not only obstructing
our progress, but of using their best efforts to extir-
pate our religion. It is neither our principles nor our
practice to render evil for evil, nor railing for railing,
and we exhort you rather to the contrary to render
blessing, for unto this are you called that you by
inheritance may obtain a blessing." ^

Archbishop Whitfield, though his health began to
fail, carried on the erection of St. James Church, and
had the satisfaction of consecrating it solemnly on
the anniversary of the laying of the corner-stone May
1, 1834, the Rev. Edward Damx)houx, rector of the
Cathedral, delivering an impressive discourse on the
occasion.^

Finding that, from his declining health, he would
soon be unable to take an active part in the care of
his diocese, Archbishop AVhitfield, in com2:)liance with
the regulations recently adoi^ted, petitioned the Holy
See for a coadjutor, loroposing the Rev. Samuel Eccle-
ston, President of St. Mary's College. That clergyman
was elected titular Bishop of Thermias, and on the
arrival of the bulls he was consecrated on the 14tli day
of September, the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy
Cross, by the Most Rev. James Whitfield, Archbishop
of Baltimore, then very infirm, assisted by Rt. Rev.
Benedict Fenwick, Bishop of Boston, and Rt. Rev,
Francis Patrick Kenrick, Bishop of Aratli. The Ca-
thedral where the ceremony took place was crowded
by the assembled clergy and the numbers of the laity,
who gathered to behold the high honor conferred on

' " Pastoral Letter of the Most Rev. Archbishop of Baltimore and the
Bishops of the Roman Catholic Church." Baltimore, 1833.

' " The Substance of a Discourse delivered at the Consecration of St.
James' Church in Baltimore," etc. Baltimore. N. Y. Weekly Reg-
ister, ii., p. 88.

A COADJUTOR CONSECRATED. 487

one so esteemed in Baltimore. The sermon on the oc-
casion was delivered by Rev. Thomas Mulledy, S.J.,
President of Georgetown College. His episcopal in-
signia were presented to him by the students of St.
Mary's College, over which he had so ably presided.^
After the consecration of his coadjutor Archbishop
Whitfield began to sink rapidly. His physicians had
already advised him to visit some medicinal springs
for the renovation of his health, but the progress of
disease soon became alarming. For months he had
felt the decay of a constitution, not naturally strong,
and further debilitated by the toil and anxiety insep-
arable from his weighty charge. After a few weeks'
illness which he bore with Christian fortitude, and
M'itli the tender piety of one who had been long fa-
miliar with the cross of his Blessed Master, he calmly
expired on the 19tli of October, 1834, in the sixty-
fourth year of his age, and the seventh of his episco-
pacy. On the 21st his remains were borne in proces-
sion from his late residence to the Cathedral, where a
solemn high mass was offered by the Most Rev. Dr.
Eccleston. A funeral discourse was pronounced by
Rev. L. R. Deluol of St. Sulpice, who took as his text
Psalm 81, V. 6, 7."^ Prudence and energy were the dis-
tinctive marks in the character of Archbishop Whit-
field. He avoided display and was somewhat austere,
but he was devoted to his duties, and extremely charit-
able. His whole proi3erty was bestowed on works of
religion and mercy.

'N. Y. Weekly Register, ii., pp. 303, 309 ; Jesuit, v., p. 310 ; Fen-
wick, " Memoranda."

2 Circular of Archbisbop-elect Eccleston, Oct. 23, 1834. N. Y. Weekly-
Register, iii., p. 54 ; Jesuit, v., pp. 350, 359 : U. S. Catholic Miscellany,
xiv. , p. 143. A poem by John Augustus Shea on tbe death of Arch-
bishop Whitfield appeared in N. Y. Weekly Register, iii., p. 120.

438 GEORGETOWN COLLEGE.

He encouraged the formation of societies among the
faithful for pious and charitable works, and the Maria
Marthian Society and the Female Mutual Relief So-
ciety of Baltimore date from his time.^ Under the
presidency of Rev. Thomas Mulled}^, Georgetown Col-
lege was attaining prosperity, and the highest officials
in the land were led by its fame to enroll their young
kinsmen among its students. Congress having made
a grant for the benefit of Columbian College, George-
town solicited the like encouragement, and her claim,
supported by the Hon. Daniel Webster of Massachu-
setts and Hon, John Tyler of Virginia, was recognized.^
Among the events in its history maybe noted the es-
tablishment of the Pliilodemic Society, which has since
continued its useful career, stimulating its members
to be faithful alike to Church and to country. On the
20th of March, 1833, Pope Gregory XVI. created it a
university, by empowering the Faculty to confer de-
grees in x)hilosophy and theology.

Before the death of Arclibishop Whitfield the Church
lost the venerable Charles Carroll of Carrollton, model
of the patriot and the Christian, revered for years by
all Americans as the last of the glorious band who
signed the Declaration of American Independence.
Born at Annapolis, September 20, 1737, and educated
at St. Omer's, he returned to his native land to devote
his talents and his means to the cause of freedom. His
defeat of the loyalist Dulany in argument brought
him into prominence. In Convention, in Congress, as
envoy to Canada, as Senator at Annapolis and Wash-
ington, he showed the highest qualities. As he had
lived he died, Nov. 14, 1832, esteeming his religion
dearer than earthly fame or earthly wealth,

' Jesuit, i., p. 324. N. Y. Weekly Register, iii., p. 84. Rules of Fe-
male Mutual Relief Society, April 27, 1824.

« February 26, 1833. AVoodstock Letters, xi., p. 63.

MOST REV. SAMUEL ECCLESTON, FIFTH ARCHBISHOP OF BALTIMORE.

440

CHAPTER II.

DIOCESE OF BALTIMORE.
MOST REV. SAMUEL ECCLESTON, FIFTH ARCHBISHOP, 1834-1843.

By the death of the Most Rev. Dr. Whitfield, the
Rt. Rev. Samuel Eccleston, who had been for about
a month Bishop of Thermias and coadjutor with
the right of succession, became Archbishop-elect of
Baltimore.

He was born June 27, 1801, a few miles from Chester-
town, in the County of Kent, on the eastern shore of
Maryland. His grandfather, John Eccleston, came
from the borough of Preston, and was heir to Priest
Hall in the hundred or parish of Eccleston of Eccle-
ton. He emigrated from England about the middle
of the eighteenth century and settled in Kent County,
where he was at first a merchant and subsequently a
planter. His name appears among the vestrymen of
Shrewsbury parish as early as 1762.^

The family adhered to the Church of England, but
Samuel lost his father at an early age, and his mother
married a Catholic gentleman named Stenson, and
became a Catholic. This led to his being jolaced as a
student as St. Mary's College when he had attained
his eleventh year. His amiable deportment, talents,,
and industry made him a general favorite. As he
grew up he not only embraced the faith and was re-
ceived into the Church, but manifested a decided

' J. B. Eccleston to Samuel Eccleston, Sept. 14, 1825 ; Hanson, ' ' Old
Kent," Baltimore, 1876, p. 361.

441

442 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

vocation for the priesthood. His mother, who had
hoped to see him a distinguished member of theMary-
hmd bar, yielded to his desire, and he passed from tlie
college to the theological seminary on the 23d of
July, 1819. Trained by the learned Sulpitians he made
a thorough course of study and was ordained priest,
April 24, 1825, although many connected with him
by ties of blood endeavored to divert him from his
purpose. Having expressed an earnest wish to con-
nect himself with the Society of St. Sulpice, he was
soon afterwards sent to France to make his novitiate
at Issy. After his probationary exercises here the
young American priest visited the British Isles and
returned to Baltimore to assume the duties of Vice-
President of St. Mary's College. He soon won the
esteem of the Archbishop, whom he frequently attended
on visitations, and in an equal degree that of the
clergy. In 1829, he was appointed President of the
College, which under his wise and able administration
prospered greatly. While filling this position he was
aj)pointed coadjutor to Archbishop Whitfield, and in
a few weeks became Archbishop elect of Baltimore
and Administrator of the diocese of Richmond. It
was not, however, till the feast of All Saints in the
following year that he was invested with the pallium
and entered fully on his rights as Metropolitan.^

The age and infirmities of his predecessor had for a
time prevented the exertion of long Journeys, so that
Archbishop Eccleston found much to be done in a visi-
tation of the two dioceses. The clergy under his care
numbered 68 ; five of them being stationed in Virginia
and six in the District of Columbia. To supply priests

> Weekly Register, ii., p. 303; Truth Teller, x., p. 302 ; Catholic
Diary, v., p. 71 ; Metropolitan Catholic Almanac, 1834, p. 65, 1853,
p. 58.

PROGRESS. 443

for his diocese he had St. Mary's Seminary, Baltimore,
directed by tlie Sulj^itians, Very Rev, Louis R, Deluol,
Superior ; Mount St. Mary's Seminary, Emmitsburg,
Rev. Thomas Butler, Director ; the Scholasticate of
the Society of Jesus, connected with Georgetown
College. Besides the institutions already mentioned,
the Sisters of Charity, of whom Mother Rose White
was Superior, conducted an academy and a free school
at Frederick, a school and an orphan asylum in Wash-
ington, an academy in Alexandria, an orphan asylum,
infirmary, and hospital in Baltimore. The Carmelites
recently removed to Baltimore had also a school, and
the colored Sisters of Providence had a school on Rich-
mond Street in a house which they had recently ac-
quired.^

The visitations of Archbishop Eccleston enabled him
to see the condition of the churches and institutions
and prepare to supply the wants that arose. The Cal-
vert Beneficial Society was established under his
auspices in Aj^ril, and in the autumn of 1835 we find
him ordaining at Mount St. Mary's candidates who had
completed their course. On the 29tli of October he as-
sembled the clergymen in an ecclesiastical retreat. The
next year showed the wavering of public opinion in
regard to Catholics. If a Protestant gentleman like
Pemberton Morris paid a spontaneous and eloquent
tribute to the merit and value of Catholic education
as he beheld it at Georgetown College ; if General
William H. Harrison visited Mount St. Mary's, a
violent anti-Catholic petition was soon after presented
to Congress.^

' Catholic Almanac, 1835 ; U. S. Catholic Miscellany, xiv., p. 53 ; xv.,
pp. 52, 101 ; N. Y. Weekly Register, ii., p. 288, 313 ; iii., pp. 167-271.

« Catholic Diary, v., p. 23— vi., p. 390 ; Catholic Herald, v., p. 43.

444 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

Under the impulse given by Archbishop Eccleston,
new churches were soon begun at Piscataway and at
St. Joseph's near Emmitsburg, and in November, 1837,
a colony of Visitation Nuns from Georgetown, under
Mother Juliana Matthews, established a convent and
academy on Mulberry Street, Baltimore.^

In his visitation of 1837, Archbishop Eccleston found
a recently erected school at Bryantown prospering,
and the frequentation of the sacraments increasing ;
Hagerstown also showed activity.^

Following the exami)le of his predecessor Archbishop
Eccleston convened a Provincial Council in 1837, which
met on the 16th of April. It was attended by Bishop
Rosati of St. Louis, Bishops Fenwick of Boston ;
Kenrick, Coadjutor and Administrator of Philadel-
phia ; Purcell of Cincinnati, Chabrat, Coadjutor of
Bardstown, Clancy, Coadjutor of Charleston, Brute,
Bishop of Vincennes, and Blanc, Bishop of New
Orleans. Bishop Du Bois of New York, though
urgently entreated by his Metropolitan, declined to
attend the Council, though he sent his views in regard
to its work.^

After a sermon by Rt. Rev. Francis Patrick Ken-
rick, Bishop of Arath, the Council opened. Bishops
Chabrat, Clancy, Brute, and Blanc, who had not at-
tended any previous council, making their profession
of faith.

Bishop Rese of Detroit, who was in Baltimore but
did not take part in the Council, on the 15th of April
sent to the Metropolitan and the assembled bishops a

' Catholic Almanac, 1839 ; Scharf , Chronicles of Baltimore, p. 497.

2 Rev. F. Roloflf to Archbishop Eccleston, April 6, 1837 ; Rev. H.
Myers to same.

3 Archbishop Eccleston to Bishop Du Bois, March 27, 1837.

THIRD PROVINCIAL COUNCIL. 445

letter expressing his wish to resign the see or commit
the administration of the diocese to a coadjutor. The
Fatliers of tlie Provincial Council accordingly peti-
tioned the Holy Father to accept the resignation and
to appoint a bishop to govern the diocese. A coad-
jutor for the Bishop of New York was also solicited.
The Fathers also resolved to petition the Pope to erect
episcopal sees at Pittsburg, Nashville, Natchez, and
Dubuque.

The decrees of this Council regarded ordinations, the
support of aged and infirm priests, the proper employ-
ment of money, etc., given for pious uses, the bringing
of lawsuits against clergy or religious, the collection
of money by priests from other parts without
authority, and ecclesiastical music. The use of the
ceremonial prepared by Bislioj)s Rosati and Fenwick
by direction of the Second Provincial Council, and of
the new edition of the Roman Ritual, were enjoined.
To make the observance more uniform and easy to be
carried out, the Fathers resolved to solicit the Sove-
reign Pontiff to dispense with the obligation of keeping
Easter Monday and Whitmonday as holidays, and
AVednesdays in Advent as fast days.

Pope Gregory XVI. acceded to the requests of the
Council in all respects except the case of Rt. Rev. Dr.
Rese of Detroit. Three new sees were established, the
decrees were confirmed, and the Ritual and Ceremonial
were approved.^

After the conclusion of the Council, the Archbishoji
of Baltimore with eight of the bishops proceeded to
Frederick, Md., where the Church of St. John, erected
by the venerable Father John McElroy, was solemnly

' "Concilium Baltimorense Provinciale III., habitum anno 1837,"
Baltimore, Bait. 1840 ; in " Concilia Provincialia Baltimori habita," Balti-
more, 1842, 1851 ; Fasciculus, Rome, 1840, 1841.

446 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

consecrated by the Most Rev. Archbishop Eccleston,
who subsequently offered a solemn pontifical mass.^
A solemn mass was offered next day by Bishop Rosati
of St. Louis, and sermons were delivered by Bishops
England and Purcell and Rev. John Hughes. Seldom

REV. JOHN MCELROY, S.J.

has any church in this country been consecrated with
greater pomp. Several of the Fathers of the Council

' The corner-stone was laid March 19, 1833 ; tlie consecration took
place April 26, 1887. The altar, crucifixes, and candlesticks were a gift
of Very Rev. John Roothaan, General of the Society of Jesus. . Wood-
stock Letters, v., p. 110 ; Truth Teller, xv., p. 861.

STATE OF THE DIOCESE. 447

with the Most Rev. Archbishop took part, May 8, in
the dedication of the new Carmelite Chapel.'

In a letter to the Association for the Propagation of
the Faith the Archbishop estimated the Catholics in
Maryland at 70,000 ; in the District of Columbia
at 10,000 ; and in Virginia at 9000. They had 61
churches or chapels, eight of them in the diocese of
Richmond. Twelve smaller congregations were yet
without churches. His clergy numbered 74. The
colored people were a field on which he desired to
enter, but he wrote: "Far from being able to do
what I could wish for the salvation of the unfortunate
negroes, I find myself unable to meet the wants of
thousands of whites, who, equally deprived of the help
of religion, feel their spiritual dereliction all the more
keenly." His petit seminaire of St. Charles was still
unfinished, lack of means having compelled him to
suspend work upon it. On this institution he built
many hopes as a means of supplying well-tested
students for St. Mary's Seminary. ^

He stimulated the opening of schools, and saw with
satisfaction St. Vincent's Female Benevolent School
begin at Martinsburg, and a free school at Norfolk,
both under Sisters of Charity. An infirmary under
their care was soon established at Richmond.

The churches in the capital of the United States
were already inadequate for the accommodation of
the faithful. Another was projected by Very Rev.
William Matthews, for thirty-five years pastor of St.
Patrick's. The Archbishop of Baltimore laid the
corner-stone of St. Matthews' Church on the 21st of
October, 1838. The new church was to be fifty-seven

' Currier, " Carmel in America," p. 205.
^ Annales de la Prop, de la Foi, x., p. 494.

448 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

feet by one hundred and two, and its erection was
aided by the liberal contributions of V. Rev. Mr.
Matthews. On its completion it was solemnly dedi-
cated by Archbishop Eccleston, September 21, 1840.
A church at Ellicott's Mills was dedicated in Decem-
ber, 1838.'

The debt on the Cathedral was a serious drawback
to the prosperity of the diocese, and early in 1839 the
Archbishop organized the Cathedral Fund Association
in the hope of being able, by appeals to the charitable
zeal of the faithful to lighten the burthen.

In August an event occurred, which in the condition
of the public mind, poisoned by the prejudices created
at Boston and New York, might have proved dis-
astrous to the lives and property of Catholics in
Baltimore. Miss Olivia Neale, of the ancient Mary-
land family which had given to the Church a holy
archbishop and so many jpriests and religious of both
sexes, entered the community in her youth, and as
Sister Isabella had for nearly twenty years worn the
garb of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. She had for
some time been subject to fits of melancholy, and
showed mental alienation. She was not, however,
placed under restraint, and went freely to all parts
of the house. On Sunday, August 18, she sprang
through the kitchen window and rushed out into the
street. She soon found refuge in the house of Mr.
Wilcox, who notified the Mayor and also the Arch-
bishop. By the time Most Rev. Dr. Eccleston reached
the convent the streets were thronged by excited
groups clamoring for the destruction of the convent.
A bigot named Breckenridge had by violent denunci-

' Truth Teller, xiv., p. 349 ; Catholic Herald, vi., p. 316, 413 ; Catho-
lic Advocate, iii., p. 385.

THE CARMELITES. 449

ations of Catholics from liis pulpit stirred up a spirit
of hostility which now menaced the public peace. The
Mayor caused the unfortunate lady to be conveyed to
Washington Medical College, and with Judge Worth-
ington made a thorough examination of the convent
and questioned each religious ; but his assurances did
not satisfy the mob. William George Read, an able
and eloquent lawyer, with a few brave gentlemen
repelled the attack of the rabble. When afterwards
questioned before the House of Delegates, "What
did you intend doing if the mob had broken into the
convent?" he startled them all by his calm reply:
"To have died on the threshold ! "

But a few men could not long withstand the in-
creasing mob ; the military were ordered out, and by
calm and patient ilrmness after three days' guard suc-
ceeded in restoring peace and calm. During these
terrible hours the Sisters in the Convent were in con-
stant terror. Not an eye closed in sleep : all night
they knelt before the altar beseeching Our Lord
to still the angry tempest and save the misguided
men from committing deeds of violence and blood.
The best physicians of Baltimore, examining Sister
Isabella, agreed that she was out of her mind and had
not suffered in any way from want of proper food or
care, and showed no sign of ill-treatment ; but un-
scrupulous men continued to excite odium against the
helpless ladies of the Convent.^

When the fierce passions had somewhat subsided,
Archbishop Eccleston on the 31st of August addressed

'Currier: " Carmel in America," Baltimore, 1890, pp. 213, etc.
Scharff, " Chronicles of Baltimore," p. 499. Catholic Herald, vii., pp.
277, 331 ; Cross, " Priests' Prisons for Women," Baltimore, 1854. Tlie
robbery of the Cathedral, February 10, 1840, is an indication of the evil
spirit of the times. Chronicle Bait., p. 501.

450 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

a letter to General S, C. Leakiii, Mayor of the city,
thanking him and those who cooperated with him for
the protection afforded to the Carmelite Convent.
"It is with the deepest grief that I have witnessed
those scenes of violence, which you were called on to
repel, — scenes but little in accordance with the spirit
of the Catholic pilgrims who first landed on our shores,
and offered the open hand of fellowship to the perse-
cuted of every creed and clime. In Baltimore, espec-
ially, I was not prepared to expect them, where the
very name of the city reminds us of the Catholic
founder of Maryland, one of the earliest and truest
friends of civil and religious liberty. Yet it is in this
city that we have witnessed a cruel and unmanly

SIGNATURE OF ARCHBISHOP ECCLESTON.

attack upon the reputations and peaceful abode of
inoffensive women, many of whom are descended from
the first colonists of Maryland, and who, holding still
the faith of their fathers, have chosen to enter into a
religious community, and divide their time between
the practice of p)rayer, self-denial, and the instruction
of youth."

On the 1st of September a numerous meeting of
Catholics Avas held in Baltimore to devise plans for
facilitating and generalizing the means of religious
instruction and placing before their fellow-citizens of
other creeds facts to remove the mists of prejudice
from their minds. Out of this grew the Catholic
Tract Society of Baltimore ; the constitution and by-

' Letter of Archbishop Eccleston, Catholic Herald, vii., p. 331.

THE BRECKENRIDGE CASE. 451

laws of which were approved by Archbishop Eccleston,
December 9, .and which organized with Rev. John B.
Gildea as President, William George Read as Vice
President, and Rev. John J. Chanche as head of the
Executive Committee. The society continued its work
for a time, but like all similar attempts among Cath-
olics never grew into a permanent institution.^

Rev. Mr. Breckenridge, in a magazine published
full of shameful attacks on the Catholics, charged
James L. Maguire, the keeper of the Almshouse, with
having at the instigation of a priest entrapped a Ger-
man into the institution and kept him conhned as a
lunatic. For this he and his publisher were indicted
and brought to trial. Although it was shown that the
charge was unfounded, that the man came of his own
accord and was admitted on a second application,
remaining for two days till removed by his family,
the court leaned strongly in favor of the minister and
the jury failed to agree. Rev. Mr. Breckenridge made
no attempt to show that a Catholic priest had taken
any part in the whole matter.^

On the 19th of April the Rev. Dr. John Tessier of
Saint Sulpice expired at the seminary in Baltimore.
Born at Chapelle Blanche, June 20, 1758, he received
priest's orders in 1782, and was a professor of theology
when the venerable Mr. Nagot prepared to establish
a Sulpitian seminary in Baltimore. Rev. Mr. Tessier
accompanied him in 1791, and after exercising the min-
istry on the eastern shore of Maryland became profes-
sor of theology in the seminary, and was active in
founding St. Mary's College. On the resignation of

1 " Address of the Editorial Committee of tlie Catholic Tract Society
of Baltimore to the Public." Baltimore, 1839.

2 " A Full Report of the Trial of the Rev. Robert J. Breckenridge, on
an indictment for libel on James L. Maguire," Baltimore, 1840.

452 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

Rev. Mr. Nagot he became Superior, and remained in
office till 1829. His profound learning aijd solid judg-
ment made him an invaluable counsellor of the Arch-
bishop of Baltimore. He died respected for his ser-
vices to religion, his piety, charity, and zeal.^

The fourth Provincial Council of Baltimore assem-
bled on the 16th of May, 1840, under the Most Rev.
Samuel Eccleston, Archbishop of Baltimore, and was
attended by Bishops Flaget of Bardstown, Rosati of
St. Louis, Fenwick of Boston, Portier of Mobile, Ken-
rick of Arath, Administrator of Philadelphia, Purcell
of Cincinnati, Blanc of New Orleans, Loras of Du-
buque, Miles of Nashville, De la Hailandiere of Vin-
cennes, and also by Mgr. Charles Augustus Joseph de
Forbin-Janson, Bishop of Nancy and Toul, Primate
of Lorraine, whose labors in America induced the
Archbishop to invite him to the Council. There were
present also Very Rev. Charles P. Montgomery, Pro-
vincial of the Dominicans, Very Rev. Joseph Prost,
Superior of the Redemptorists, Very Rev..L. R. De-
luol and Rev. John J. Chanche of St. Sulpice, theo-
gians of the Metropolitan Church.

The decrees adopted were eleven in number. They
exhorted the clergy to caution the faithful against the
danger of mixed marriages ; enacted that where there
were more than one priest attached to a church, only
the one named as rector had the power of administer-
ing the affairs of the church ; advised bishops by
diocesan statutes to regulate the equitable division of
perquisites for baptisms, marriages, masses, etc. The
fourth canon inculcated the sanctification of the Lord's
day, and enjoined preaching and catechism as well as

' N. Y. Catholic Register, i., p. 266 ; Moreau, " Les Prgtres Franpais
emigres aux Etats Unis." Paris, 1856, pp. 83-190.

FOURTH PROVINCIAL COUNCIL. 453

frequent warning by the clergy of their flocl^s against
places where liquor was sold. They w^ere to witlihokl
the sacraments from those who sold liquor on Sunday
or encouraged intoxication. Total abstinence societies
were to be encouraged, yet the faithful were to be
urged not to trust to human strength, but to seek God's
aid by prayer and by frequenting the sacraments.

The danger to Catholic youth of public schools
where they were designedly trained to accept the
Protestant Bible, and were imbued with Protestant
prayers, hymns, and prejudices, was pointed out, and
the clergy were exhorted to labor earnestly to secure
Catholic children a Christian and Catholic education.
The rule of the Church forbidding the faithful to enter
secret societies bound by oath was to be made known
from time to time and enforced. Regulations were
made in regard to ecclesiastical property held by
bishops. Registers of ordinations and acceptance into
the diocese of priests were to be regularly kept. The
clergy were exhorted to cultivate the virtues becoming
their state, and to avoid all that could give scandal or
prove an injury to souls.

Besides the letter to be sent to the Sovereign Pontiff,
the Council also drew up a letter of sympathy and
encouragement to Mgr. Droste de Vischering, Arch-
bishop of Cologne, and Mgr. Dunin, Archbishop of
Gnesen and Posen, then suffering persecution for their
fidelity to the laws of the Church. The Leopoldine
Association was thanked in another letter for its aid
to missions in the United States.

The decrees were transmitted to Rome and confirmed
by the Sovereign Pontiff on the 22d of November.^

' Concilium Provinciate Baltimorense IV. Letter of Cardinal Fran-
soni, Dec. 19, 1840. At this time the feast of St. Peter and St. Paul was
transferred to the following Sunday and ceased to be a holiday of obli-

454 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

The pastoral letter of the Council congratulated the
faithful on the progress of the Church. Seminaries
had increased in number and efRciency ; religious
houses, especially of females, had been multix^lied.
Churches and asylums were constantly arising ; the
sacraments were more generally respected and re-
ceived. The hope was exi:)ressed that Massachusetts
would yet compensate the victims of the riot in
Charlestown. Of the infamous anti-catholic literature
that had been poured on the country, the Pastoral
said : "The miserable libels have had their day ; their
compilers and the unfortunate and degraded instru-
ments of their guilt, if not already fallen to their
proper level, are fast sinking in the estimation of those
whom they sought to delude." But though dishonest
attacks were still made on Catholics and their faith,
Catholics were urged to bear the persecution patiently,
to pray for their enemies, and to avoid all temptation
to retaliate. The importance of religious education,
now more necessary than ever, was explained and
inculcated. The unerring authority of the Church
was made clear, while the followers of those who left
the Church cannot agree in specifying what they
allege to be erroneous, or pretend to be exempt from
error in declaring what is true. The questions in
regard to the Holy Scriptures were considered. The
increase of Catholic seminaries, colleges, and schools
was shown to be necessary. The topics of mixed mar-
riages and oath-bound secret societies were treated.
The Pastoral also entered upon the great elections
where calumny, fraud and violence were so freely used,

gation, and the fast on the vigil was also dispensed with. Abstinence
on Saturday was also dispensed with for twenty years. " Concilia Pro-
vincialia Baltimori habita ab anno 1829, usque ad annum 1840," Balti-
more, 1842. Rome, 1840, 1841.

A BISHOP FOR RICHMOND. 455

''and thus what was meant to be a blessing is turned
into a curse." The faithful were entreated to avoid
the contaminating influence of political strife, and
to keep aloof from tlie pestilential atmosphere in
which honor, virtue, patriotism and religion perish."
Fidelity to their religion and to the means of grace
wliich it afforded was commended with persuasive
words. ^

Archbishop Eccleston had felt that Virginia would
gain by having a bishop appointed to the see of Rich-
mond, and the Council recommended Rev. Richard
Vincent Whelan, a zealous missioner in that diocese,
for Bishop. They advised the erection of a see at
Natchez, and proposed Rev. John J. Chanche, Presi-
dent of St. Mary's College, for Bishop. As Right Rev.
Dr. Rese still remained suspended, Rev. John M.
Odin of the Congregation of the Missions was proposed
as Coadjutor and Administrator.

Relieved from the care of the Virginia missions.
Archbishop Eccleston could devote himself entirely to
fostering religion in his native State. The attendance
of the Superior of the Redemptorists, Very Rev.
Father Prost, at the Provincial Council, soon bore
fruit. Circumstances compelled him to visit Baltimore
soon afterwards, and the Archbishop immediately ex-
pressed to him a desire and intention of transferring
to his order the German congregation of St. John's
Church. The Redemptorist Superior had made all
preparations for a voyage to Europe on important
business, but he yielded to the entreaty of Most Rev.
Dr. Eccleston. To the joy of the Archbishop the
Redemptorists consented to accept the care of the
German Catholics in Baltimore. They took possession

' Pastoral of the Fourth Provincial Council, Baltimore, 1840. Catholic
Register, i., p 297.

456 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

in August, 1840, and soon found, as tlie last rector had
done, that a new church was imperatively required.
Land on Saratoga Street was purchased, and plans
drawn for a fine large church. The corner-stone was
laid on the 1st of May, 1842, by Rev. Joseph Salz-
bacher, Canon of St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna,
who, with the authority of his superiors in Rome and
Vienna, was making a tour of the United States in
order to study the actual condition of the German
Catholics. The procession moved from the old church
with the seminarians from St. Mary's, and soci-
eties displaying their banners, and the ceremony
was carried out hj the Canon in full accordance
with the Ritual. The noble church, 150 feet long
and 68 wide, rose steadily under the careful econ-
omy of Father Alexander Czwitkowicz, who soon
assumed the direction. The German Catholics of
Baltimore were reckoned at this time as five thou-
sand souls. ^

The Redemptorists thus began their labors in Mary-
land, and opened near St. James their house of studies
with six pupils.

During the year 1841 the Church of St. Vincent de
Paul on Front Street, Baltimore, was dedicated on the
14th of November by the Rt. Rev. John J. Chanche,
Bishop of Natchez, and was occupied by the congre-
gation which had worshiped in St. James' Church,
now transferred to the Germans, whose former church,
St. John's, had been abandoned.

In May Archbishop Eccleston had dedicated St.
Joseph's Church, Emmitsburg, Rt. Rev. Richard V.

' Salzbacher, " Meine Reise nach Nord-Amerika im Jahre, 1843,"
Vienna, 1845, ii., pp. 130-1 ; Berichte der Leopoldinen-Stiftung, parfc
xvi., p. 16-18 ; Berger, Life of Rt. Rev. John N. Neumann, New York,
1884, p. 245-251. U. S. Cath. Magazine, i., p. 356.

MOTHER ROSE WHITE. 467

AVhelan, Bishop of Richmond, offering a pontifical
high mass.

The Church was gaining, moreover, by conversions,
the very violence of her enemies leading many
thoughtful minds to study her doctrines and her
claims. Among others may be mentioned Dr. Ben-
jamin Franklin Bache, U. S. JN"., who had been pro-
fessor of chemistry in Kenyon College, He was re-
ceived into the fold at St. Matthew's Church, Wash-
ington, in May,

On the 25th of July expired, at St. John's Orphan
Asylum, Frederick, Mother Rose White, the first
associate of Mrs. Seton, and on her death elected
Superior of the Sisters of Charity. She presided over
the community with great ability, and was repeatedly
chosen to the high position. She had been active in
founding houses of the Sisters in Philadelphia and
]S"ew York, and on retiring from the office of Superior
in 1839 took charge of the Orphan Asylum and School
at Frederick, Avliere she crowned by a holy death a
life devoted in sweetness and charity to the good of
her neighbor. '

In the following year the corner-stone of Calvert
Hall, an academy for young men, was laid on the site
of St. Peter's Church, the pro-cathedral of Archbishop
Carroll, reopened years after for the accommodation of
the largely increased Catholic flock in the city. The
Archbishop officiated on the occasion, and the next
day laid the corner-stone of a new church in honor of
St. John, at the corner of Park and Saratoga streets.'^

Regretting that nothing was done to honor Leonard
Calvert and the pioneers of Maryland, Father James

' Catholic Herald, ix., p. 375 ; lb., p. 172 ; lb., p. 244 ; lb. p. 245.
^ Baltimore Sun, April 30, 1842 ; Catholic Advocate, vii., p. 122.

458 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

Ryder had roused the patriotic zeal of the members
of the Philodemic Society, which he had founded at
Georgetown College. The young men took the sub-
ject up zealously, and it was resolved to celebrate in
May on the site of the ancient city of St. Mary's, the
landing of the Catholic pilgrims of Marjdand. The
idea was caught up enthusiastically, and not only the
College society with many persons from Georgetown,
Washington, and Alexandria embarked on steamers

REV. JAMES RYDER.

for the cradle of Maryland, but from Baltimore and
other points on the Chesapeake came numerous dele-
gations, headed by the Calvert Beneficial Society.
George Washington Parke Custis, stepson of George
Washington, Hon. William Cost Johnson, Hon. John
P. Kennedy, the Mayor of Washington, and other
dignitaries came to witness the celebration on the lOtli
of May. The services began with a pontifical high
mass celebrated in the venerable church of St. Inigoe's

THE PILGRIMS OF MARYLAND. 459

by the Most Reverend Archbishop of Baltimore, after
which the Rt. Rev. Benedict J. Fenwick of Boston,
himself a descendant of the pilgrims, addressed them
in eloquent words inspired by the scene. Then the
Avhole assemblage proceeded to the site of the original
settlement and capital of Maryland. The shores of
the beautiful harbor, so long given over to silence
and neglect, were suddenly enlivened by a vast
concourse of thousands, many descendants of the
original settlers, gathered from St. Mary's and
Charles counties, filled with enthusiasm by the
glorious memories of the past. After a j)rayer by
Rev. James Ryder, President of Georgetown Col-
lege, William George Read, Esq., of Baltimore, pro-
nounced a discourse, which had been regarded as a
masterpiece.^

Enthusiasm was awakened. The next year the
Landing of the Pilgrims was celebrated in Baltimore,
in Emmitsburg, and even in Philadelphia. The anni-
versary was observed for several years, the Philodemic
Society on several occasions celebrating the day on the
venerated site of St. Mary's, near the old mulberry
tree and the ruined wall which alone recalled the
past.^

On the 14th of May, 1843, Baltimore again beheld
nearly the whole episcopate assemble within the ven-
erable w^alls of the Cathedral to hold the fifth Provin-

' " Oration delivered at the First Commemoration of the Landing of the
Pilgrims of Maryland, celebrated May 10, 1842, under the auspices of
the Philodemic Society of Georgetown College, by William George
Read." Baltimore. U. S. Catholic Magazine, i., p. 357; Notes of
Bishop Fenwick.

'^ Discourses by W. G. Read, Rev. P. Corry, Hon. John C. Legrand,
1843; James McSherry, George H. Miles, 1847; F. J. Nelson, 1848;
Z. Collins Lee, 1849 ; Joseph R. Chandler, 1855, and others.

460 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

cial Council. The gradually increasing number of
bishops, the jDresence of several heads of religious
orders, the grandeur of the ceremonial all combined to
impress beholders with the material and moral prog-
ress of the Catholic body in the United States.
Around the Archbishop of Baltimore now gathered
the Bishops of Boston, Mobile, Philadelphia, Cincin-
nati, New Orleans, Dubuque, New York, Nashville,
Vincennes, Natchez, and Richmond ; the Coadjutor
Bishops of Louisville, St. Louis, and Detroit, the
Administrator of Charleston and the Vicar Apostolic
of the neighboring republic of Texas. The venerable
form of Bishop Flaget of Louisville, now bending
under the weight of years," was no longer to be seen,
and the Bishop of St. Louis had been summoned to
Europe. The Superiors of the Sulpitians, Lazarists,
Jesuits, and Augustinians were in attendance. One
decree concerned the holding of ecclesiastical prop-
erty to suit the various and varying laws of the
States. Another prohibited the use of any church for
discourses by laymen; a third declared any person
divorced by state law, who remarried, excommunicated
ipso facto ; the fourth decided that the Decree
"Tametsi" of the Council of Trent was limited in
the diocese of Detroit to the city ; the decree of that
council as to residence of pastors was to be enforced.
The sixth forbid rash incurring of debt in building or
enlarging churches ; the seventh required keeping of
books in every church and forbid the mingling of
church and private funds. The Ritual as prepared by
Bishop Rosati was approved ; and the recently estab-
lished Tract Societies Avere commended. The ninth
made the erection and the use of confessionals obli-
gatory, and the eleventh urged on the clergy the
necessity of prompt and continual attendance on

FIFTH BALTIMORE COUNCIL. 461

the sick to afford them all the consolations of
religion. ^

The letter of the Council to the Sovereign Pontiff
mentioned as a sign of progress that forty-three
churches had been erected in a single diocese within
three or four years. The missions to the Indians in
the Rocky Mountains were extending, and a mission
had been undertaken in Liberia. The attacks on
Catholics and their doctrine, the misrepresentations
and constant effort to seduce the uneducated were
noted, as well as the attempt to hold them up as dis-
loyal to the republic. The Fathers of the Council
solicited the erection of sees at Hartford, Chicago,
Little Rock, Milwaukee, and Oregon. They also pro-
posed candidates for the see of Charleston and as
coadjutors of Boston and New York.

The decrees of the Council were confirmed by Pope
Gregory XVI. September 24, 1843. The pastoral let-
ter bore on the subjects discussed in the council.'^

Although St. John's Church had been succeeded by
a church dedicated to St. Al^ihonsus, and St. Peter's
by Calvert Hall, new churches, bearing names around
which so many pious associations clustered, were soon
erected.^

' Concilium Provinciale Baltimorense V. habitum anno 1843." Balti-
more, 1844. U. S. Catholic Magazine, ii., p. 376. Catholic Herald, xii.,
p. 76.

* " Pastoral Letter of the Most Rev. Archbishop. . . . and Bishops,
.... assembled in Provincial Council in May, 1843." Balti-
more.

^U. S. Catholic Magazine, ii., pp. 121-637 ; Scharf, Chronicle of Bal-
timore, p. 508.

CHAPTER III.

DIOCESE OF BOSTON.
. ET. REV. BENEDICT J. FENWICK, SECOND BISHOP, 1829-1843.

Returning from the first Provincial Council,
Bishop Fenwick, who had visited Georgetown and
Enimitsbiirg, was encouraged by the offer at Mount
St. Mary's of five seminarians, to labor in his diocese,
whom he had gladly accepted. By the 10th of Novem-
ber he was at Providence in his own diocese, and pro-
ceeded to Boston, after admiring tlie neat and attrac-
tive church at Pawtucket. It was dedicated on Christ-
mas day. When the year closed he had the consola-
tion of seeing that schools for Catholic children had
been established at Craigie's Point, Lowell, Hartford,
and Charlestown.

Early in the next year came tidings that notices had
been posted in Portland, Maine, calling on the Catho-
lic body to organize and elect trustees. This attempt
to create trouble the Bishop promptly suppressed,
through the exertions of Rev. T. O' Flaherty, whom
he soon after made his Vicar-General.

The little cemetery at St. Augustine's chapel no
longer sufficed for the Catholics of Boston. Bishop
Fenwick accordingly purchased three acres of ground
on Bunker Hill for the purpose. The latent hostility
to Catholicity was aroused, and before the close of
January the stable on the convent grounds, in Charles-
town, was set on fire and destroyed.^ The selectmen
of Charlestown, finding that this did not deter the

' Bishop Fenwick, " Memoranda"; Truth Teller, v., p. 390, vi., p. 5.

462

HOSTILE INDICATIONS. 463

Catliolics,^ raised obstacles to the use of the ground,
as a cemetery, and passed by-laws to prevent them
from using it for that i)urpose.

Bishop Fenwick disregarded their ordinance, in
order to bring the matter into the court, but the select-
men preferred to begin by petitioning the Legislature
to pass an act to prevent the Catholics from burying
their dead there. The incidents betoken only too
clearly the hostility of the authorities of Charlestown,
and help us to understand the fatal results w^liich
ensued. The case was ultimately decided by the
courts against the selectmen. The faith was spread-
ing, however ; the church at New Bedford was dedi-
cated ; a hundred and thirty Catholics at Wallingford
asked for a resident priest ; material was prepared for
a church at Sandwich; a new paper, ''The Catholic
Expostulator," appeared, edited by the bishop and
his clergy.

In March, Bishop Fenwick issued a pastoral letter
proclaiming the Jubilee granted by the Sovereign
Pontiff, and began a series of exercises in the Cathe-
dral to prepare his flock to profit by the means of
grace. He was consoled to see 2178 approach the
sacraments. After administering confirmation at
Pentecost to a large nnmber, he visited Hartford in
Jane, where Rev. Mr. Cavanagh had completed a
church, 60 feet by 48, with a fine organ and suitable
sacristies. It stood on a valuable lot, and with its
towering steeple was highly creditable to the priest
and his people. The church was dedicated to the
Holy Trinity on the 17th of June, Demonte's mass
being well executed, though the organist was a girl
only thirteen years of age.^ He then proceeded to

' Bishop Fenwick, " Memoranda"; Truth Teller, v., p. 229 ; Jesuit,
i., p. 348. The report of the case will be found in Jesuit, v., p. 350-

464 THE CHURCH IK THE UNITED STATES.

Dudley, a place that could then number only fifteen
Catholics, but he said mass for them in Mr. Price's
parlor, and on Sunday evening by invitation preached
to a Protestant congregation. Sandwich had seventy
Catholics, who had selected a site and were ready to
build a church. Visiting the town the Bishop was
pleased with the lot, and setting up an altar in the
house of Mr. Doyle, encouraged the little flock to
persevere in their pious undertaking. Stimulated by
the examples around them the faithful at Taunton
asked permission to undertake a church. Bishop Fen-
wick with great judgment permitting no rash or
improvident action, but examining the site proposed,
and weighing the resources of each congregation, lest
they should undertake anything beyond their means.

About this time Bishop Fenwick received into his
diocese a remarkable and eccentric priest, whose strict
ideas on the subject of usury had involved him in
difficulty with his bishop in Ireland, and whose case
had been considered at Rome. This was the Rev.
Jermiah O'Callaghan. After preaching in Irish in
the Cathedral, this clergyman proceeded in July, 1830,
to the Vermont missions to which he had been assigned.
He began his labors at Mr. Sherlock's in Wallingford.
He ministered zealously and efficiently for many years,
in Vermont, relieving the monotony of his severe duties
in that mountain State by occasionally issuing works
against usury, pew rents, or other points that seemed
to him abuses, with an occasional controversy with
some enemy of the church.

In the summer the Bishop was at Lowell, where a
great manufacturing company gave a site for a church,

' Bishop Fenwick, " Memoranda." O'Callaghan, " Usury, Funds, and
Banking. Monopoly Forestalling Trafflck. Gallican Liberties. Graves,
Anatomy" ; 5th edition, New York, 1856, pp. 88-91.

VERMONT. 465

and the four hundred Catholics employed in the thriv-
ing mills opened a subscription to erect one. Mean-
while each priest from his station was giving Jubilee
exercises, and thus calling the tepid around the altar.
From all sides came reports of increasing numbers,
and though the Bishop was receiving new candidates
and ordaining those who had completed their course,
he could not meet all the calls made on him. Rev.
Mr. O'Callaghan had canvassed Vermont and reported
that there were a thousand Catholics within its bor-
ders. He had already obtained a lot of land on which
to erect the first Catholic church. Bishop Fenwick, in
September, dedicated the new churches at Sandwich
and Dover, the latter a neat gothic structure, fifty feet
by thirty-six. He next visited Portland, Saco, and
Lowell, doing missionary duty and giving confirma-
tion. Then he crossed the mountains to Vermont.
At Vergennes, where Rev. J. O'Callaghan resided, he
offered the holy sacrifice at the house of Mrs. Nichols,
a convert, preached in French and English to a con-
gregation of seventy or eighty, and confirmed six.
Mrs. Nichols, full of zeal for God's glory, offered the
Bishop some proj)erty which she had inherited in
Connecticut, to provide means to erect a church. At
Burlington he officiated in Howard's long room, which
was filled to overflowing. Here he learned that Mr.
Archibald Hyde, a Protestant lawyer, had already sent
him a deed of five acres near the college as a donation
to the Catholic cause. This gentleman, though he
did not become a Catholic for several years, was the
steadfast and valuable friend of the church, testified
in many ways. Bishop Fenwick then set out for
Claremont, New Hampshire, where he officiated in the
little chapel, but found the rest of Rev. Virgil Barber's
buildings let out to tenants and in wretched condition.

466 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

On his way to Boston on the 20th of December the
stage was overturned, and he was extricated from a
back seat completely soaked, but had to travel all day
in his wet clothes.

The diocese, at the close- of 1830, showed progress.
At the Cathedral in Boston were the Bishop, Rev,
Messrs. O' Flaherty, Wiley, and Tyler. The baptisms
were 476, marriages 92, conversions 60. Charlestown
had been detached from the Cathedral and had its
resident pastor, Rev. Mr. Byrne. The Ursuline Con-
vent had 64 boarding pupils. The Church had its
advocates in "The Jesuit" and "The Catholic Press."
It was great gain in those days that of the six New
England States comprised in the diocese, there was
not one but had at least one Catholic church and one
priest.^

The conduct of a designing- girl named Rebecca
Reed, who had been received into the Church at
Charlestown, and affecting great piety applied to the
Ursuline Nuns, and was admitted for a six months
term as a probationer, added to the prejudice against
the Catholic Church, for, before the close of the term,
she abruptly left the convent on the 18th of January,
1832, and began to circulate stories against the ladies
who had opened their house to her.

Rev. Lyman Beecher, a Congregationalist clergy-
man of influence, but most unscrupulous, began to
lecture, furiously assailing the Catholic Church,
and highly inflaming the public mind. Bishop
Fenwick felt it necessary to reply in a series of
lectures, during the winter of 1830-31. Though
the streets were impeded by a heavy fall of snow,

'Bishop Fenwick, " Memoranda" ; Jesuit, i., p. 334, 348, 361 ; U. S.
Cath. Miscellany. Annales de la Propagation de la Foi, v., p. 437.

LECTURES IN DEFENSE. 467

rendering walking and travel difficult, the Cathe-
dral was thronged with Protestants. Bishop Fen-
wick's first lecture was devoted to the nature and
character of the Catholic Church, as a prelude to a
discussion of its principles and tendency. These lec-
tures, giving a true exposition of Catholic faith, and
ultimately exposing the fallacy of the Protestant
claim of founding their doctrines on the Scrij^tures
and private judgment, as well as on the character of
the Reformers as depicted by each other, comx)elled
Beecher to withdraw from the field. Unfortunately,
the lectures reached the intelligent and liberal minded
rather than the class steeped in ignorance and preju-
dice who most sorely needed light. ^ There is an indi-
cation that some, at least, rose above these follies
and superstitions in the fact that a fine vessel was
launched at Boston which was named "The Sove-
reign Pontiff," and bore at the bow a bust of Pope
Gregory XYI., the work of a carver named Beecher.^

The next year Bisliop Fenwick undertook to erect a
second church in Boston, and, after overcoming some
discontented feeling, interested his people thoroughly;
he also enlarged the little chapel of St. Augustine ;
dedicated the church at Waltham and St. Patrick's
Church at Lowell, the church at Salem, and stimulated
Rev. Jeremiah O'Callaghan to begin a church at Bur-
lington.

Among the conversions of the year was the remark-
able one of Theodore A. Gough of Bedford, New
Hampshire. A plain, intelligent man, prudent,
moral, and discreet, he had begun to read Catholic

' U. S. Cath. Miscellany, x., pp. 255^04. Truth Teller, vii., p. 38.
See U. S. Cath. Intelligencer, lii. , p. 303, in reply to the Christian Reg-
ister.

'Jesuit, iv., p. 45.

468 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

books, and the whole system seemed to him, guided by
grace, so consonant to reason and scripture, that he
continued till he was thoroughly instructed in the
doctrines of the Catholic Church. He imbued his wife
and children witli the faith which he had embraced,
and came to Bishop) Fen wick in Boston. He had
never been in a Catholic church till November 15,
1831, when he was baptized, with his family.^

At the close of 1831 Bishop Fenwick estimated the
Catholic population of Boston, on the basis of bap-
tisms, at from ten to thirteen thousand. The Congre-
gation de Propaganda Fide, which had requested a
report on the state of his diocese, expressed great
pleasure on receiving it.

One of his great desires had been to place a free
school in Boston under the care of the Sisters of
Charity from Emmitsburg. His application had been
favorably entertained, and Sister Ann Alexis, whose
life work was to be identified with Boston, Sister Blan-
dina, and Sister Loyola were selected, and reached the
city on the 2d of May, and were installed in a house on
Hamilton Street which had been hired and fitted up
for them. In a few days Boston witnessed 250 chil-
dren march in procession from the Sisters' house to
the Cathedral. The school thus opened soon increased
in the number of pupils.

In July the Bishop visited his flock in Maine, of-
ficiating at Newcastle, in the new church of the
Indians at Old Town, and in the old church at White-
field, which he urged the congregation to replace by a
becoming brick structure. Soon after his return from
a visitation to Hartford the Asiatic cholera appeared

'Bishop Fenwick, "Memoranda"; U. S. Cath. Miscellany, xi., pp. 6,
14, 31; X., pp. 38, 102, 119, etc.

BURLINGTON. 469

in Boston, on the 15th of August, and its ravages
taxed all the energies of the clergy. Bishop Fenwick
continued his visitations, acting the part of a mis-
sionary in many places ; he conhrmed at Salem, dedi-
cated the fine church at Burlington, due in a great
degree to the influence and taste of Col. Hyde, Cath-
olics coming from thirty and forty miles around to
witness the opening of St. Mary's Church on the feast
of her Holy Name. Here a great Canadian priest,
Very Rev. P. M. Migneault of Chambly, aided, as on
many other occasions, addressing his countrymen in
French. Bishop Fenwick soon after dedicated the
church which the Catholics of Taunton, though few
and poor, had erected.

The free school under the Sisters had increased so
that it became necessary to provide for them on Sun-
days, and to his great consolation the Bishop, on the
14th of October, dedicated a chapel for their use in the
Cathedral basement, to St.Aloysius, patron of scholars.^

Two projects occupied his mind before the close of
1832 ; one was the establishment of a Catholic Orphan
Asylum, absolutely required to shelter the many left
fatherless by the cholera ; the other was the erection
of a monument in honor of Father Sebastian Rale,
S. J., who was put to death near his chapel at the
Indian town of Norridgewock, Maine, August 28,
1724. To carry out his pious wish. Bishop Fenwick
purchased the site of the chapel and mission cross
beside which the undaunted missionary fell.^ In the

• Annales de la Propagation de la Foi, vi., p. 255. Catholic Intelli-
gencer, iii., pp. 197, 246, 308-349, 412. Telegraph, Cincinnati, i., p. 239.

2 Bishop Fenwick, " Memoranda." Catholic Intelligencer, iii., pp. 44,
197, 246, 287, 308, 342, 412 ; Cincinnati Telegraph, i., pp. 239, 407 ; ii., p.
135, 359, 374 ; U. S. Cath. Miscellany, x., p. 319 ; xi., pp. 14, 31 ; xii., p.
142.

470 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

course of the next year Bishop Fenwick heard that
tlie missionary's strong-box was preserved in the
Waldron family, and finally succeeded in being able
to see and examine it at Portsmouth, N. H. He
describes it as "a box of ordinary size, covered on
every side with copper, curiously wrought. There
was his ink-stand, sand-box, the place for his pens
and paper, and sundry other little apartments. But
what was remarkable in it, was a secret drawer in
which he kept his papers of a confidential nature, and
which no one could open who was not let into the
secret."

Bishop Fenwick had a monument prepared with a
suitable inscription, and on the 22d of August, 1833,
proceeded to the site of the ancient Abenaki village.
The plot acquired covered the site of the missionary's
chapel, sacristy, and house, and the monument Avas
to be erected on the anniversary of his death. The
Rev. C. D. Ffrench came from Portland, and Rev. Mr,
Conway from the Penobscot with a delegation from
the tribe. These soon reared a temporary altar,
shielded by a bower of branches, and a leafy sacristy
near. The Rev, Father Ffrench then proceeded to
offer the holy sacrifice for the repose of the souls of
the faithful who fell beside their devoted pastor, A
number of Catholics gathered to join in the pious
ceremony, but hosts came, to the number of more
than four thousand, led by curiosity. They gathered
around the celebrant so that it Avas almost impossible
to continue the mass. At the gospel Bishop Fenwick,
from a temporary platform, addressed those present
for about an hour, taking as his text : " The memory
of him shall not depart away and his name shall be in
request from generation to generation," Ecclus, xxxix,
13. He was heard with great attention, and at the

FATHER RALE'S MONUMENT.

471

close of his address he directed the Avorkmen to pro-
ceed to raise the shaft of the monument ; the base, two
massive blocks of granite, being already in position.
This was slowly effected, and the monument stood
forth over the very spot where the missionary was
buried, and which his altar had occupied. A cross of
wrought iron surmounted the obelisk, which, stand-

VIEW OP FATHER KALE'S MONUMENT, ERECTED BY BISHOP FENWICK.

ing near the winding river, was visible at a great dis-
tance. This monument did not remain long a con-
spicuous feature in the landscape ; it was thrown
down about two years afterwards, but, though replaced
in position by some citizens of Norridgewock, again
became the sport of long enduring hostility.^

^ Jesuit, iv., p. 143 ; letter of Rev. George Fenwick, S.J., Catholic

472 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

While in Maine Bishop Fenwick dedicated the
church in Portland, a creditable building, with a good
organ, erected by the little flock of 250 Catholics. He
also selected a site for a church at Bangor and visited
Indian Old Town. He had come to the conclusion
that it would be difficult to preserve the faith of this
Indian portion of his diocese, unless he could interest
some religious community to undertake the charge.
He had accordingly applied to the Picpus Fathers,
and early in September was able to announce to the
Penobscots and Passamaquoddies that Fathers Petit-
liomme and Demillier had arrived.

During the year the Bishop made visitations in the
southern part of his diocese, encouraged by the prog-
ress everywhere visible ; while, from Vermont, he
heard of increasing congregations at Swanton, Fair-
field, and St. Albans. In the autumn he was called
away to attend the second Provincial Council of
Baltimore.

One of BishoiD Fenwick' s plans was to secure a large
tract of land, and open it to Catholics, in hopes of
drawing many from the temptations of cities, and
enabling them to secure comparative independence as
farmers. Maine seemed to him to offer the greatest
advantages, and he was on the alert to secure a town-
ship for the purpose. He advertised in 1833 for per-
sons willing to take up lands, at not more than a
dollar and a half an acre. He finally secured Town-
ship No. 2, Fifth Range, sixty-nine miles from Bangor,
and made the attempt at Catholic colonization in
July, 1834.

In that year Bishop Fenwick purchased lots on

Telegraph, ii., p. 74. Allen, "The History of Norridgewock," Nor-
ridgewock, 1849, p. 47. It was overthrown, Aug. 6, 1836. Pilot, Aug.
20, Sept 10, 1836. Annales de la Propagation de la Foi, vi., p. 273.

URSULINE CONVENT. 473

Pond Street, Boston, and began the erection of another
church which was actively prosecuted. In May he
dedicated the beautifully located Gothic structure,
Christ's Church, New Haven, reared there through the
zeal of the Rev. Mr. McDermott, but the ceremony of
joy was turned into one of sadness by the sudden
giving way of a gallery, causing the death of two,
both converts, and wounding others. Calvin White,
once a minister, had embraced the faith and resided
on a little farm, helping to spread the faith by his
instructions and by his edifying life.^ Progress was
evident on all sides. The new church at White-
field, Maine, was nearly completed ; another was
begun at Newport ; while the Catholics at Bangor,
Point Pleasant, Worcester, and Newport were prepar-
ing to erect houses of worship.

While the church and the true faith were steadily
gaining ground in New England, giving just offense
to none, interfering with no rights of others, an inci-
dent occurred, which, though trifling in itself, led to
one of the greatest calamities in our history, the
destruction of the Ursuline Convent. One of the
ladies of tliis institution, Sister Mary John (Harrison),
holding a high position in the community as a teacher
of music, had been overworked, esj)ecially in preparing
pupils for the exhibition day of the academy. She
was finally prostrated, and in her delirium left her bed
and ran from the convent to the house of a neighbor,
Mr. Runey, on the 28th of July, and asked to be taken
to the residence of Mr. Cutter, whose daughters had
been her pupils. Word was sent to Bishop Fenwick,
who drove to Mr. Cutter's house and endeavored to

* Jesuit, v., p. 158. Weekly Register, ii., p. 79. As to White, see Fin-
otti, Bibliotheca Cath.. p. 261; Tuttle, Hist, of the Presbyterian Church,
Madison, N. J., 1855 ; Historical Collections of N. Jersey, 1844, p. 380.

474 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

persuade her to return to the convent. Failing to see
her, he called on her brother, Mr. Thomas Harrison,
who lived in Boston, and they found her evidently
deranged, but succeeded in persuading her to return
to the institution. A physician was summoned, and
under his treatment reason soon returned, and her
health began to recover. She was deeply afflicted on
learning all that she had done. Rumors were indus-
triously spread by malicious persons and even circu-
lated by the press, especially the " Mercantile Jour-
nal," that Miss Harrison was detained in the convent
against her will and even subjected to harsh treatment.
On the night of the 9th of August a number of evil-dis-
posed men of the dregs of society assembled around
the convent between nine and ten o'clock, led by two
of the Cutter family. After shouting: "Down with
the Convent ! Down with the nuns ! " they inquired
for the Superior and demanded to see Miss Harrison,
in order to learn from her own lips whether she was
detained against her consent in the house. The
Superior and Sister Mary John ajDpeared, and the
latter assured them that she was not detained but
could go when she liked. The Messrs. Cutter then,
perfectly satisfied, endeavored to undeceive the mob ;
Mr. Edward Cutter made a statement to that effect,
and even the selectmen of Charlestow^n made a similar
statement, both being printed in the public papers,
but they were given and printed too late to do any
good.^

In view of the menaces of a mob, and of the j)lacards
and means employed to excite the most depraved part
of the community, it may seem strange that the Bishop
and Catholics generally made no call on the authorities

' They are given in Jesuit, v., p. 262.

THE CONVENT ATTACKED. 475

to protect the nuns and their property from insult and
violence. But it should be remembered that though,
up to that time, Catholics had frequently seen and
heard themselves and their religion assailed with the
coarsest virulence, no actual violence had been offered
them, and they believed defenseless ladies as safe in
their home under the protection of the laws of the
great State of Massachusetts, as though they had been
surrounded by the serried ranks of the bravest soldiery.
They placed implicit reliance on the honor, the good
faith, and the power of the Commonwealth of Massa-
chusetts, to protect all within her limits. Even when
Bishop Fen wick received intelligence- that the convent
was to be attacked he could not credit it, but treated
it as an idle rumor. Boston gentlemen who had
daughters in the convent seemed lulled into similar
confidence, and left their loved children at the mercy
of a vile mob.

But bigotry was rousing the deej^est fanaticism
regardless of the lives of the religious ladies or of the
fifty-five young ladies under their care, chiefly of the
best families of the State. Inflammatory sermons
were preached in the neighboring towns and in some
churches in Boston, especially in the Baptist church
in Hanover Street. Lyman Beecher on the preceding
Sunday preached no fewer than three sermons denounc-
ing the Catholic church. Meetings were held in the
schoolhouse at Charlestown to organize the work of
destruction.

But when all had retired to rest the mob came,
unchecked by any authority. As it crossed Charles-
town bridge its roar of rage and hate reached the con-
vent. Nearer and nearer came the tramp of men till
another shout rose on their very grounds. Not an
officer, not a man was there to protect defenseless

476 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

women and children, who, roused from their beds,
dressed in haste. Musket shots, a pupil used after-
wards to tell, rang out, followed by cries to the Supe-
rior to bring out her jDrisoners. Then the door was
broken in, and the mob entered, bearing with them,
against their will as they declared, two of the selectmen
of Charlestown, Runey and Hooper.^ The Superior
had roused and sent oif her community and pupils.
She was endeavoring to reach her room and desk when
the ruffians burst in. She retreated up the stairs and
at the head of the staircase faced the mob. Musket
balls whistled by her, the same pupil avers. She was
drawn back by her sisters, and the rioters held all the
lower part of the house. The fences and outhouses
were soon used to light up vast bonfires with the aid
of tar barrels and combustibles brought in cars. These
by their blaze drew the firemen of Charlestown to the
scene, only to retire and leave the convent at the mercy
of the mob. Casks of liquor were then brought and
opened, and the frenzied mob proceeded to their work
of plunder and incendiarism. The Superior, Mother
St. George, at last seeing no hope of succor, gathered
her sisters and pupils and left the building, halting at
the tomb of the dead. There the Superior saw the
flames darting from every portion of the convent after
the work of destruction within had been completed.
Then, with those confided to her, she sought refuge in
neighboring houses.

Meanwhile the mob had ransacked every room in
the building, rifling every drawer, desk, and trunk,
breaking up and destroying the furniture and musical

' Runey's account in Bunker Hill Aurora, and Mother St. George's
reply; Jesuit, v., p. 367. These men saw and spoke to several of the
mob, were able to identify them, but neither was called as a witness at
any of the trials.

ITS DESTRUCTION.

All

instruments. Tlien they prepared for the conflagra-
tion, jjlacing in the centre of several rooms broken
furniture, books, and other combustible materials.
On the pile first kindled the Bible was cast with shouts
of exultation. All the chapel furniture was, with
similar derision, committed to the flames. When the
convent was a sheet of fire, the lodge where Bishop

BUINS OP THE UKSULINE CONTENT, CHARLESTOWN.

(From a print of the time.)

Fenwick was accustomed to stay was similarly de-
stroyed, with its library, after a mock auction had been
held on it. The farm-house shared the same fate.

When all that was destructible had yielded to their
violence, the mob drew up to behold the flames com-
plete the work, and as the fire died away they with-
drew exultant, unchecked, unhampered, unpursued.

A number of fire engines stood idle, the firemen

478 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

looking on, and, though the canal ran within a few-
hundred yards, not throwing a single drop on the
flaming buildings, "I was completely thunder-
struck," says one, who was attracted to the spot by
the noise and glare, "to see a building of brick as
large as Franklin building in front, with two wings in
rear, half the size of the front, an elegant chapel or
school, another large building, covered completely with
a running vine, large outbuildings, and about forty
cords of wood all on fire at once, and a dancing and
infuriated assembly of men throwing the furniture
into the flames. I confess it reminded me of the worst
days of revolutionary France. After I arrived they
fired several small buildings, which, I presume, were
wash-house, storehouse, wood-house, etc."^

To the Catholic heart the greatest grief was the
profanation attending the awful scene. So complete
was the confidence that the Blessed Sacrament had
been left in the chapel. The ciborium with the Body^
of our Lord was taken out of the tabernacle and after-
wards found, with a few of the hosts. It was asserted
at the time that Creasy, one of the ruffians, after boast-
ing that he had consecrated wafers in his possession,,
cut his throat in a low den in Boston.

The mob did not spare even the graves of the dead..
The coffins were torn open and the bodies exposed.

The work of destruction was accomplished by sixty
or seventy ruffians, whom a dozen resolute men could
have routed ; but the magistrates and engineers of tlie^
fire companies made no effort to check the rioters.
Mount St. Benedict was undoubtedly the finest aca-
demy for young ladies in the State, and with its.

' Benjamin Hawkes, Jr., to Mr. B. Hawkes, Jr., Aug. 12, 1834, noon;
Aug. 14 : I owe these letters to Rev. Thomas A. Reid, S.J.

THE BOSTON COMMITTEE. 47&

furniture, library, musical instruments, and the cloth-
ing of the inmates represented a value of at least fifty
thousand dollars, a large amount for those days.

Boston was startled in the morning by the report of
the destruction of the Charlestown convent. Bishop
Fenvvick, overwhelmed with grief and shame that such
a crime could have been jDerpetrated in an American
State, sent carriages to collect the religious and their
pupils, scattered in the houses of Charlestown. Even
then the rioters and their abettors held full sway, un-
checked by the legal authorities. The carriages and
stages were hooted by the ruffians carrying spoils
from the convent, and tauntingly offering the inmates
jewelry and trinkets which they had stolen. The
pupils were conveyed promptly to their homes ; the
Ursuline nuns, Mother St. Henry dying of consump-
tion, were taken to the house of the Sisters of Charity
in Hamilton Street, Boston. There they entered in
absolute destitution, having saved nothing but the
clothes they wore.^

In the first impulse of honest indignation and shame
a meeting was called at Faneuil Hall, at which Theo-
dore Lyman, Esq., Mayor of Boston, i)resided. Col.
Quincy and Hon. Harrison Gray Otis addressed the
citizens, and resolutions were adopted in which the
attack on the convent was declared to be a base and

' Bishop Fenwick, " Memoranda "; Annales de la Prop, de la Foi, viii.,
p. 182; Berichte der Leopoldinen-Stiftung, xi., p. 44. "Report of the
Committee Relating to the Destruction of the Ursuline Convent," Bos-
ton. 1834 ; " The Charlestown Convent : Its Destruction by a Mob," etc. ,.
Boston, 1870, p. 23; "The Burning of the Convent," Boston, 1877,
pp. 102-181. Jesuit, v., p. 262, etc. Account from Mrs. Hale's Maga-
zine, lb., p. 294; Letter of Miss Alden, p. 317. "Documents relat-
ing to the Imposture of Rebecca T. Reed and the burning of the Ursu-^
line Convent at Charlestown, Mass.," in Bishop England's works, v.^
pp. 232-347.

480 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

cowardly act, and all testified their abhorrence of " this
high-handed violation of the laws." The mayor was
requested to api^oint a committee to investigate the
whole affair, and to consider the expediency of pro-
viding funds to repair the damage done the convent.
A meeting held at Cambridge, on the 13th, expressed
similar feelings.^

As the news spread Irish Catholic laborers employed
on railroads came pouring into Boston, bent on aveng-
ing the insult, and Bishop Fenwick sent his clergy to
dissuade them from any attempt at retaliation. On
the other hand, crowds gathered menacing the cathe-
dral and other Catholic property in Boston, and the
house of the Sisters of Charity. This continued
for several days, though the Bishop addressed the
Catholics in the cathedral for half an hour, exhorting
them to leave all defensive action to the city authorities.

In view of the dangerous position of affairs, the
infantry of the Third Brigade, Col. Prescott, were
called out and kept under arms, supplied with ball-
cartridges, and respectable citizens prepared to support
the authorities. The mayor issued a notice requesting
parents and others to keep boys and young men out of
the streets at night. The excitement continued during
the week,- but on Sunday Bishop Fenwick preached
twice, showing his flock that all ideas of retaliating
the wrong done them were totally at variance with
their duty as Catholic Christians.

At the time of the destruction of the convent the
community consisted of Rev. Mother Mary Anne Ur-
sula St. George Moffatt, Superior, with five choir and

' The resolutions were transmitted to Bishop Fenwick by the venerable
Judge Joseph Story.

-Division order, John S. Tyler, Maj.-Gen., Aug. 12, 1834; O. H.
Sumner to Mayor, Aug. 15 ; Notices of Mayor, Aug. 13, 14.

ITS REPORT. 481

two lay Sisters and two novices. One of the choir nuns,
Sister St. Hemy, was sinking rapidly from the fright
and exposure. The first thought of the Bishop and
Superior was to find a house suitable for their use,
and in which the academy might be reopened. It was
found, however, to be impossible to hire a house in
or near Boston.

The committee appointed at Faneuil Hall made a
report, showing the groundlessness of the charges
spread against the nuns, by Avhich unscrupulous men
fomented the evil passions to accomplish the work of
destruction. This report was drawn up by Charles
G. Loring and signed by him as chairman. The names
and weight of the committee did something to disabuse
a few of those who had been misled, but many would
not yield to its testimony.^ Meanwhile Governor
Davis had issued a proclamation offering a reward
for the detection of the offenders ; a number were
arrested and committed, and preparations were made
to bi'ing them to trial, some on the capital charge of
arson.

It was October before the Ursulines could obtain a
house, but they finally secured the Brinley place at
Roxbury, put at their disposal by Gen. Dearborn, the
owner, and removing to it prepared to reopen their
academy. Here Sister St. Henry, the choir novice,
who had been rapidly sinking, expired on the 18th of
October, in her 20th year. Her death, though perhaps
not directly intended by the mob or its instigators, was
so clearly a result of their unchristian work that the
sympathy was general. The funeral was attended by
many Protestants, the numbers swelling to thousands.

' Report of the committee, relating to the destruction of the Ursuline
Convent. Boston, 1834; under "Documents relating to the Ursuline
Convent, Charlestown," Boston, 1842.

482 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

Waylen, an Episcopal minister, witnessed the funeral
and describes it toucliingly in his Ecclesiastical
Reminiscences of the United States.^

The trial of John R. Buzzell, Prescott P, Pond,
William Mason, Marvin Marcy, Sargeant Blaisdell,
Isaac Parker, and Alvah Kelly began in the Supreme
Judicial Court of East Cambridge on the 2d of Decem-
ber. It soon became apparent that the State took no
means to secure a conviction. The proof of arson was
entirely wanting. No witnesses were called to identify
any one of the persons with a conflagration witnessed
by at least a thousand. The evidence against Buzzell
was clear and distinct, but counsel for the defense
appealed to the prejudices of the jury by cross-examin-
ing Catholic witnesses as to their religion. The argu-
ment of the Attorney-General, James T. Austin, pre-
sented the evidence strongly, but Judge Shaw charged
that arson could not be sustained, as the inmates left
the building before the fire ; but submitted it to the
jury whether Buzzell committed burglary armed with
a dangerous weapon. The jury returned a verdict of
" Not Guilty," and the farce of a trial ended. It was
laid down as Massachusetts law that it was not arson
to set lire to a house after driving the occupants out,
and that a man could not be convicted of burglary
unless the State proved him to have had a dangerous,
weapon.^

A mob received Buzzell with cheers and carried him
in triumph through the city. The trial of Mason,

1 New York. 1846, pp. 19-22. Jesuit, v., p., 345; R. P. Fay to
Mayor Lyman, Oct. 4, 1834, inclosing Mother St. George's letter,
Oct. 3.

* "Trial of the persons charged with burning the convent in the town:
of Charlestown, Mass." Boston, 1834, pp. 1-34; " Argument of James
T. Austin, Atty. Genl., in the case of John R. Buzzell," Boston, 1834.

THE TRIALS. 483

Marcy, and Blaisdell, ended in the acquittal of all
but Marcy, wlio was again put upon trial with Pond,
Parker, and Kelley. He was convicted and Parker
acquitted. As to the others the jury disagreed, and on
a new trial they were acquitted. Marcy was sentenced
to imprisonment for life, but soon after pardoned.^

The destruction of the convent and the men who
■effected it were seen by hundreds ; the leaders in the
plot held almost public meetings. Newspapers fav-
ored them ; inflammatory placards were posted up in
and around Boston, — but no witnesses could be found
to identify any one but the poor-house boy Marcy.

The attempt of the Ursulines to restore their convent
academy in Roxbury proved unsuccessful. They were
constantly beset by gangs of men shouting and creat-
ing a disturbance around the building, employing the
vilest and most threatening language. Six of the
community soon proceeded td" convents in Canada to
await better times.^ The acquittal of the rioters em-
boldened the mob ; the churches in Boston and the
convent in Roxbury were both threatened. The
Bishop authorized the Catholics to prepare to defend
them, as there seemed to be no disposition to protect,
and the Navy Department instructed Commodore

1 "The Charlestown Convent, its Destruction by a Mob." Boston,
1870, pp. 59-79.

2 " The nuns traveled in a close carriage drawn by three horses, under
the conduct of a skillful and trusty coachman, passing through New
Hampshire to Burlington, Vermont, where they embarked upon Lake

Champlain for St. John's At a public house in New Hampshire,

the good religious were considered a phenomenon at least; for when
they entered, the people who were there before them not only rose, but
jumped up from the tables and beat a precipitate retreat. The Sisters,
though sorry on account of the consternation which they created, never-
theless indulged in a smile. Rev. B. F. De Costa, " In Memoriam, Sis-
ter Sainte Claire, Order of St. Ursula," Charlestown, 1876, p. 17.

484 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

Elliott not to interfere in case of a riot, but to leave
matters solely to the civil authorities. Well might
Bishop Fenwick write : "• We live in awful times.
All this movement on the j)'ii't of the lower classes of
people is occasioned by their jealousy of the Catholic
religion. Their object is evidently to put down if
they can." ^

Rebecca Reed, who had done much to create preju-
dice against the convent, and whose relative, Pond,
was generally regarded as the leader in the plot for its
destruction, early in the next year issued a book
entitled, " Six Months in a Convent." It caught the
popular taste and sold widely, although Mother St.
George published an answer exposing its malice and
untruthfulness.^

Mother St. George, who belonged to the diocese of
Quebec, was recalled in April by her bishop. The
community then dissolved, the household furniture
was sold, and nearly all the Sisters set out for Canada
in May. A few joined communities elsewhere. Under
existing circumstances. Bishop Fenwick saw no pros-
pect of the successful revival of the famous academy.

Application was almost immediately made to the
General Court or Legislature of Massachusetts for in-
demnity for the destruction of the convent ; but no
action was taken, although a committee reported in
favor of granting them a sum of money. It was again

' Bishop Fenwick, " Memoranda."

"Reed, "Six Months in a Convent," Boston, 1835; "An Answer to
Six Months in a Convent, exposing its falsehoods and manifold Absurd-
ities," Boston, 1835 ; "A Review of the Lady Superior's Reply," Bos-
ton, 1835 ; " Supplement to ' Six Months in a Convent,' " Boston, 1835.
The wretclied girl whose evil tongue did so much to create prejudice
against the Ursulines died in Boston, Feb. 28, 1838. Her book was
reprinted in England, as the London Athenaeum remarked, " for the
benefit of the curious and the edification of the gullible."

MOUNT ST. JAMES. 485

brought up in 1842 with a similar result, a favorable
report and justice withheld.^ Yet Judge Thacher, in
his charge to the grand jury of Sussex County (Dec.
1834) had said : "In the destruction of the Ursuline
Convent on Mount Benedict, it was seen that a i)or-
tion of the people could wage war equally against
political liberty, the sacred rights of property and
religious charity. The just and enlightened every-
where will look to the justice of the country and to its
liberality to the sufferers to efface the foul disgrace."

Meanwhile the Indian missions in Maine prospered
under the care of the devoted and laborious Father
Edmund Demilier, whose zeal held him to the unat-
tractive mission till his death. ^

During the following year Rev. James Fitton pur-
chased property near Worcester, Massachusetts, on
which he proposed to found a literary institution.
He soon had ten pupils under a competent teacher,
and Bishop Fenwick, visiting the spot where the new
academy was rising on the declivity of an extensive
hill, watered by streams of pure water, entertained
the hope that sooner or later something would grow
out of it useful to the Church, It was indeed the
nucleus of the future College of the Holy Cross.

In his visitations Bishop Fenwick found much
to cheer him. A church building was purchased at
Augusta, Maine ; in May, at Lowell a creditable church
was completed ; the church at Taunton was already

' R. S. Fay, "An Argument before the Committee of the House of
Representatives upon the petition of Benedict Fenwick and others," Bos-
ton, 1835 ; Report of the Select Committee to whom was referred the
petition of George Bradburn," House, Dec. 30, 1842 ; G. T. Curtis,
" The Rights of Conscience and Property, or the true Issue of the Con-
vent Question," Boston, 1842 ; B. F. Butler, Report of Committee
(House No. 75). March 19, 1853.

* Annales de la Prop, de la Foi, viii., p. 191 ; x., p. 147.

486 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

too small to accommodate the faithful ; churches were
in progress at Fall River and Newport; others were
begun at Bangor and Providence ; and the congrega-
tion at Hartford was increasing, and stations were
attended from it at Springfield, Portland, New Brit-
ain, and Tariffville. In December he dedicated St.
Patrick's Church at the South End, a neat brick edifice,
large enough to accommodate eight hundred people,
iind affording the faithful in that part of Boston and
Roxbury all the consolations of religion.

The population of the diocese at the end of 1836 had
so increased that the Easter communions numbered
8153, baptisms 1792, and the faithful in New England
had 35 priests and 30 churches.

We have already noted the conversion of Dr. Greene
■of Saco. At first little prejudice seemed evoked by
his conscientious change of faith, but when, some
years later, he sought a j)rofessorship in the Medical
Department of Bowdoin, a man of far less ability
was appointed, Dr. Greene's religion outweighing the
recommendations of able men and the abundant evi-
dence of his fitness. He removed to Boston in May,
1836, and soon acquired the influence his talents and
virtues merited.

By this time the German Catholic element in his
diocese required Bishop Fenwick's care, the largest
body of them being in and near Roxbury. Having no
priest in his diocese who could speak German fluently,
Bishop Fenwick applied to his fellow bishop in New
York and at the close of May, 1835. the Very Rev.
John Raffenier, apostle of his countrymen in the
East, arrived. On the last day of May that zealous
priest gathered three hundred in the chapel of St.
Aloysius, and addressed them with so much power
and unction that he spent the whole evening in the

PUBLIC INSULTS. 487

confessional. Quickened by his zeal they resolved to
collect means to support a priest, and in August, 1836,
they obtained Rev. Mr. Hoffmann as their pastor.
Boston could acquit convent burners and robbers,
but it hung i^irates. Several Si3aniards were under
sentence of death, and the devoted Very Rev. Felix
Varela came on from New York to afford them the
last consolations of religion.

Meanwhile the new church on Pond Street was
nearly completed, amid difficulties and threats.
Bishop Fenwick, who saw the lawless prevented from
celebrating the destruction of Mount Benedict by an
orgy on the grounds, learned that an effigy of himself
had been carried out of the most cultured city in
America to be shot at as a target. Unaffected by such
insults he visited his churches in Maine, and pushed
on the erection of his seminary ; he saw Pope Day
revived in September by the Washington Artillery,
who carried a figure of the Pope through the streets
and finally set it up as a target.

Before the close of the year he was gratified to see
the Pond Street Church so far completed that he was
able to have mass said in it.^ This church was dedi-
cated under the invocation of the Blessed Virgin,
May 22, 1836. Besides this, churches had been
erected at Fall River, Newport, and Benedicta, so
that even in the face of persecution the faith was
advancing. With the close of the year he had twen-
ty-five priests, four students in theology, and seven
in lower classes.

In 1837, Bishop Fenwick attended the Provincial
Council at Baltimore, and extended his visitations to
Rhode Island, Connecticut, Western Massachusetts,

' Annales de la Prop, de la Foi, viii., pp. 184^5.

488 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

and Vermont. He dedicated in August a line new
churcli in a favorable situation at Providence, and was
rejoiced to see the fruit of the zeal of the faithful at
Fall River, where the sacred edifice reflected credit on
priest and people. After the summer heats he pro-
ceeded to Maine, but was so badly injured on the
steamboat that his whole journey was one of pain.
His Catholic colony gave flattering promise. At Old
Town he offered the holy sacrifice for Rev, James
Rene Romagne who died at Sace, France, Nov, 19,
1836. Driven from France by the Revolution he long
ministered to the Indians in Maine, and at his death
made a bequest to the Bishop of Boston, mindful of
his Indian flock. ^

The German congregation in Boston, which had
assembled in the Cathedral chapel, gave the Bishop no
little anxiety, as led by designing men they would not
co-operate with the priests who were sent to minister
to them. Rev. Messrs. Hoffmann and Freygang
were both forced to retire, and a BenMictine named
Smolnikar became their choice. In a short time, how-
ever. Bishop Fenwick discovered in this priest unmis-
takable signs of insanity, and unable to obtain another
clergyman, became himself the chaplain of the Ger-
man congregation.

In April, 1838, Bishop Fenwick' s diocese was des-
tined to feel further effects of hostility against the
Church, St. Mary's Church, Burlington, Vermont,
became the object of destruction, A small number of
men, low shopkeepers, and even, it is said, some col-
lege students, at midnight set fire to the sacred edifice
which was soon reduced to ashes.^ Rev. Mr. O'Calla-

' Annales de la Prop, de la Foi, x., p. 149.

» Catholic Advocate, iii., p. 180. Truth Teller, xiv., p. 158.

THE URSULINES RETURN. 489

ghan^ not disheartened by this unexpected blow, at
once set to work to rebuild the church. He had to
contend at the same time with the proselytizing efforts
of the Protestant Episcopal Bishop, who opened a
school for children of Irish and French Catholics,
making attendance at his Sunday-school and church
obligatory.'

In July, 1838, Bishop Fenwick prepared to revive the
Ursuline Convent, all excitement having died away.
He secured a house on Quincy Place, and on the 29th
of August Sister Mary Benedicta and Sister Mary
Ursula arrived from Canada, and steps were at once
taken to open a select day school. Other Sisters soon
arrived and in October the Bishop appointed Mother
Mary Benedicta Superior. The community as reorgan-
ized consisted of live choir nuns, and two lay Sisters,
one, Sister Mary Clair, being the devoted Infirmarian.
The academy did not prove successful, and after strug-
gling on for nearly two years the nuns lost heart : and
in April, 1840, two of them returned to Canada. The rest
soon followed the example and sought homes in other
communities, and the Ursuline Convent in the diocese
of Boston ceased to exist. The pious project of Rev.
John Thayer, to which the devoted daughters of the
Ryan family consecrated their lives, though fostered
and encouraged by a Matignon, a Cheverus, and a
Fenwick, came to naught, though an academy such
as the Ursulines conduct was sorely needed.

In January, 1839, St. Mary's Church in Boston was
seriously injured by a conflagration which swept away
many houses. The restoration required time ; but the
congregation was active. During the year a church
was dedicated in honor of St. Michael the Archangel,

' Truth Teller, xiv., p. 297.

'490 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

at Bangor ; a church was begun at Middlebury, and
land purchased for one at Cabbotville.

The next year Bishop Fenwick received into the
church a Protestant clergyman, identified with charit-
able work, Rev. George F. Haskins, who ultimately
became a priest and founded the House of the Angel
Guardian for homeless boys.

In 1841 the German Catholics, who had long been
without a priest, depending on occasional visits from
Rev. J. Raffeiner, stimulated by the Bishop, purchased
a lot on Suffolk Street and prepared to erect a church,
laying the corner-stone on the 28th of June ; he had
already secured a zealous priest. Rev, F. Roloff, for
this congregation.

During the same year new churches were opened
at. Burlington, Cabotville, Lowell, Providence, and
Bridgeport : another was commenced at Quincy ; lots
were secured at Middletown and Machias, and a site
obtained in Boston for an orphan asylum.

The truth was spreading, and among the converts of
this time were Mrs. Sarah M. Jarvis, the wife of Rev.
Samuel Farmer Jarvis, a famous and learned Episco-
palian, and their daughter.

Great harmony had as a rule prevailed in the
Catholic congregations in New England, but with the
commencement of the year 1842 serious troubles arose
in St. Mary's Church, Boston. Public meetings were
called and a few malcontents labored, by the usual
wiles, to spread discontent and excite a spirit of resis-
tance to the Bishop. Some of the meetings were so
turbulent that the public authorities were compelled
to interfere. To allay the feeling Bishop Fenwick at
last removed Rev. Mr. O'Beirne, but on Sunday
Feb. 20, when Rev. Dr. O' Flaherty began vespers he
was interrupted with shouts, shuffling, and hisses.

DIOCESAN SYNOD. 491

Bishop Fenwick at once placed tlie church under an
interdict.

Almost simultaneously troubles, arose at Taunton
and Salem. Bishop Fenwick met the turbulent with
firm and decisive measures.

On the 24th of July, 1842, he dedicated St. James's
Church, Bridgeport, Connecticut, a handsome brick
building of Gothic architecture.

On the 12th of August the clergy of the diocese met
for an ecclesiastical retreat, and at its close Bishop
Fenwick held in the Cathedral of the Holy Cross the
first Diocesan Synod of Boston. It was attended by
thirty priests, two being absent. In itself the synod
was a token of the progress of the faith in New Eng-
land. The decrees of the Baltimore councils were
enforced, and the ritual recently issued was made
obligatory. In regard to the erection of new churches,
it was prescribed that none was to be undertaken with-
out the consent of the Bishop and without a deed for
the property being made to him. Any encouragement
of trustees by a priest was made a matter of suspen-
sion. Residence in the parish was enjoined, and
absence forbidden by which the faithful might suffer.
The administration of baptism was regulated ; and
rules formed as to confessions, and the administration
of holy viaticum. Midnight mass on Christmas,
owing to the dangers, was prohibited. Collecting of
money at the church door was forbidden, and rules
established as to the dress and life of priests,^

After proclaiming the Jubilee, which was followed
by exercises in the different churches to the great
benefit of religion, Bishop Fenwick dedicated the
church at Qnincy on the 18th of September, with John

' Sy nodus Dicecesana Bostoniensis I., habita anno 1843.

492 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

Quincy Adams in the audience; and on the 16th of the
next month the church at Lowell.^ Rev. Mr. Fitton
had offered the diocese his academy near AVoi'cester,
on certain conditions. The Bishop visited the j)lace,
and was convinced that it afforded the nucleus of a
future college. Satisfactory terms were soon arranged,
and early in the year 1843 he prepared to erect build-
ings for the future College of the Holy Cross. He also
purchased a large building at the north end of Boston
in order to transform it into a church, which was much
needed.

MOUNT ST. JAMES AND HOLY CROSS COLLEGE.

Another subject that engaged the Bishop's atten-
tion was the anti-Catholic character of Worcester's
History and other school-books which had been intro-
duced into the public schools of Boston, contrary to
law. He addressed the mayor and the school com-
mittee at considerable length ; but it is not creditable
to the State that nearly fifty years after Catholics are
again compelled to complain of this great and per-
sistent wrong.

He arranged with the Jesuit Fathers of Maryland to
assume the direction of his college, and obtained Rev.

' Catholic Advocate, vii., pp. 37, 235, 279.

HOLY CROSS COLLEGE. 493

Thomas F. Mulledy as president. The corner-stone
was laid June 21.^ The buildings were well advanced
in November and the college opened, Georgetown
aiding its library and other departments by generous
gifts. The pupils, at first, occupied the old academy.
With Father Mulledy as president, Father George
Fenwick as prefect of studies and professor of rhet-
oric, assisted by a corps of teachers, the first Catholic
college of New England opened under happy auspices
with seventeen pupils. During the year he dedicated
St. John's Church, East Cambridge, and St. Matthew's,
at Cabotville.

Bishop Fenwick began to feel the weight of his long
labors in the priesthood and episcopate. He saw the
need of a Coadjutor, and of a division of his diocese.
At the Provincial Council in Baltimore he laid these
matters before the bishops, and a petition was for-
warded to the Holy See requesting the erection of
Rhode Island and Connecticut into a diocese, with the
see at Hartford, and recommending Rev. William
Tyler as Bishop, and asking the appointment of Rev.
John B. Fitzpatrick as Coadjutor of Boston. When
the bulls arrived the bishops elect proceeded to Mary-
land to make a retreat, and Bishop Tyler was conse-
crated in the Cathedral of the Holy Cross by Bishop
Fenwick with Bishops Whelan and Byrne as assist-
ants ; and Dr. Fitzpatrick in the Chapel of the
Visitation, Georgetown, the assistant prelates being
Bishops Whelan and Tyler.

Early in the year 1844 Bishop Fenwick purchased a
Protestant church in East Boston, which he dedicated
on the 25th of February in honor of St. Nicholas. He
soon after installed Bishop Tyler in his see of Hartford.

1 Catholic Herald, xi., p. 217.

494 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

The diocese of Boston, thus reduced, contained 35
churches, seven of them yet without resident priests.
Boston had eight churches, the baptisms being about
1600 a year.

Within the last ten years much had been accom-
plished. In the face of opposition from without grow-
ing more intensely bitter, till it became the platform
of a political party, new churches and institutions were
rising, intelligent and learned persons were drawn to
the church by their own honest convictions. Twenty-
five churches had been erected, six in what had become
the new diocese of Hartford, most of them large and
capacious. Nine others were in progress. In the
same decade Bishop Fenwick had ordained nineteen
priests. The diocese possessed an incipient college and
orphan asylum and was already organizing parochial
schools.^

' Bishop Fenwick to the Propaganda, Jan. 10, 1845.

SEAL OF BISHOP FENWICK.

CHAPTER IV.

DIOCESE OF NEW YORK.
RT. REV. JOHN DU BOIS, THIRD BISHOP, 1829-1842.

Bishop Du Bois, in his rex)ort to the Congregation
de Propaganda Fide, when he reached the Eternal
City, after 38 days travel from New York, estimated
^he Catholic population of the New York diocese at
150,000, scattered among three millions of Protestants.
To attend this flock he had but eighteen priests : eight
of these had been received within two years, but not-
withstanding all his examination, he found himself
often deceived as to the real usefulness of applicants
from other parts. The faithful, as a rule, poor, were
struggling hard to build churches or free those erected
from debt. Yet the diocese could not prosper, or have
such a body of priests as it required, till a theological
seminary was established. As the diocese could not
supply means for the erection of such an institution,
he besought the Propaganda to advance him for a
certain number of years an annual sum on which he
could rely. He found the labor in the city so great
that he maintained two priests, to instruct the chil-
dren in the church schools, and jirepare them to
receive the sacraments, as well as to visit the City
Hospital and Almshouse, where many Catholics had
died without the consolations of religion.

Church extension and any increase of the clergy was
hampered by the general reluctance of Catholics pos-
sessed of means to contribute to any church, or to the
support of any priest, unless some of them as trustees

495

496 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

had entire control. A project for establishing a
French church fell through, for though money could
be raised the subscribers insisted on its being a joint
stock concern, so that they could sell their shares.
Priests were thus at the mercy of a few men, generally
more prominent than devoted. The Bishop's only
resource for his support and that of priests whom he
found it necessary to maintain with him was $1200,
out of which he had to pay house rent and all his
traveling expenses during visitations.^

During his absence Very Rev. John Power sought
with his limited resources to advance the cause of
religion. The Rev. Mr. O' Reilly visited the scattered
Catholics in Otsego, Chenango, and Schoharie counties ;
St. Mary's Church in New York was enlarged, and on
the 13th of December a new church was dedicated at
Macopin, now Echo Lake, among the descendants of
the pioneer Catholics, whom a Farmer, a Schneider,
and a Groessel had attended on the last century. It
was blessed by Rev. Charles D. Ffrench, O. P., at the
request of Rev. Francis O'Donoghue, pastor of St.
John's Church, Paterson, in whose district it stood. ^

The society formed to relieve widows and \vidowers
of the care of their helpless children had prospered so,
Mrs. Dupleix and Mrs. Pyne being especially active,
that a house was secured on Prince Street, and the
needed work of mercy began. This institution, known
as the Catholic Half-Orphan Asylum, was maintained
for a number of years, but finally merged in the general
asylum.^

' Bishop Dii Bois to Propaganda, 1829. Commentary presented to
Propaganda.

« Truth Teller, v., pp. 340, 390, 404 ; U. S. Cath. Miscellany, x., p.
109 ; U. S. Cath. Miscellany, x., p. 157 ; Catholic Telegraph, iii., p. 4.

3 Truth Teller, vi., p. 223.

NEW CHURCHES. 497

While Catholics were thus struggling amid difficul-
ties to obtain needed church accommodation, educate
their young, and minister to the unfortunate, signs of
a growing hostility to themselves and their church
became but too evident. One of the first indications
occurred at Lansingburgh, Avhere the monument in the
Catholic cemetery, erected by Keating Rawson, Esq.,
a convert, to the memory of his pious wife, was wan-
tonly broken in pieces.^

Meanwhile, the faithful went on. On the 8th of
July, the Catholics at New Brunswick saw the corner-
stone of their church laid by Y. Rev. Felix Varela,
to be dedicated in December by Rev. Joseph A.
Schneller, and at the other end of the diocese the
laborious and zealous priest, Nicholas Mertz, laid on
the 13th of the same month the corner-stone of a
church to be dedicated to the Lamb of God, on a lot
charitably given by Mr. Le Couteulx.^

In September the new church on Pine and Chapel
streets, Albany, which had been completed by the
Bishop's aid at a cost of fifteen thousand dollars, was
dedicated by the V. Rev. John Power.^

Salina had a church in 1829, erected mainly by the
exertions and liberality of two gentlemen, James
Lynch and Thomas McCarthy. About this time it

' U. S. Cath. Miscelliiny, x., p. 43 ; Jesuit, i., p. 379.

^ Truth Teller, vi., pp. 233, 270, 390 ; Jesuit, i., p. 419 ; Berger, " Life
of Rt. Rev. John N. Neumann, D.D., C.S.S.R.," New York, 1884, p. 160.
Rev. N. Mertz (born April 26, 1764, at Bendorf) ; ordained March 23, 1791;
labored from 1805 in the missions from Maryland to Western New York.
He never changed his dress, retaining the style worn in Europe in his
early days.

* U. S. Cath. Miscellany, x., pp. 109, 130. A secular paper at the
time declared that, though ten years before there were scarcely a hundred
Catholics in Albany, they were at this time estimated at 2000. Jesuit, i.,
p. 143.

498 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

received a resident priest, Rev. Francis O'Donogliuey
whose zeal was soon displayed in many remote stations.

Bishop Dii Bois had been anxious obtain Ladies of
the Sacred Heart to establish an academy of high
character ; but failing, he applied to the Mother House
at Emmitsburg, where his appeal was not disregarded.
The Sisters selected to found this first female academy
in the city arrived in July, and preparations were
made to open the classes at 261 Mulberry Street in
September. The Very Rev. Dr. Power made an
earnest appeal to Catholic parents to encourage and
support this institution, but it will scarcely be believed
that there was latent opposition from those who wished
to hold absolute control of everything Catholic. But
the Sisters of Charity had a firm hold on the hearts of
the faithful. If the Catholics had gained in numbers
in the city, it was admitted that the Sisters had con-
tributed largely to the increase. In a few months
they opened the female parochial school at St. Peter' s
Church. They soon extended their good work to
Albany, too.^

Toward the close of the year 1831 the diocese sus-
tained a loss in the destruction of St. Mary's Church,
Sheriff Street. Under any circumstances the loss to a
body so ill provided as the Catholics would have been
a blow. But in this case it resulted from the hatred
of the Church, at this time industriously fomented.

1 Truth Teller, vi., p. 223 ; vii., p. 86 ; viii., p. 205 ; U. S. Cath. Mis-
cellany, X., p. 302. The author's first school days were passed in the
first Academy of the Sisters. Bishop Du Bois at this time, speaking
of the Sisters, said: "The disinterested zeal of these religious, their
more than motherly kindness for the children confided to their care, the
neatness, I might almost say the elegant simplicity, they maintain in
their schools and asylum, have contributed, in no small degree, to
diminish the prejudice of Protestants." Annales de la Prop, de la Foi,
iv., p. 461.

ST. MARY'S BURNED. 499

The church was first robbed, then the bell secured to
prevent its being rung. After that fire was kindled in
three places, and when the alarm was given the Church
■of Our Lady was enveloped in flames, and was soon
but a mass of smoldering brands and ashes. With
the edifice perished the only church bell then possessed
by the Catholics in New York. A school under the
church, conducted by Thomas Harran, which trained
many Catholic boys, one of whom at least obtained
the honors of the episcopate, was also closed by this
•cruel act. Rev. Luke Berry collected his flock for a
few Sundays in temporary halls, but he never recovered
from the blow and died within a month. ^
' When Bishop Du Bois returned from Europe on the
^Oth of November, 1831, he thus found his episcopal
city poorer in churches than when he left it. His visit
to Rome had not been unprofitable. The Holy Father
encouraged him in his difficulties ; gave him hearty
.apx)robation and aid for the seminary and college
which he proposed to found. He had also exposed
his wants and his plans to the Association for the
Propagation of the Faith, and was encouraged by
them.^ He had obtained some donations in money
and books to form a nucleus of a library, but he was
unable to bring back with him a corps of zealous
priests, or any colony of a religious order to exercise
the ministry.

One of the first objects of the Bishop's care on his
Teturn was the restoration of the ruined shrine of Our

' History of St. Mary's Church, New York. 1826 to 1876. New
Tork, 1876, p. 19. Truth Teller, vii., p. 399 ; Catholic Intelligencer, iii.,
p. 94; Catholic Telegraph, ii., p. 376; U. S. Cath. Miscellany, xi.,
pp. 166, 397.

' Truth Teller, vii., p. 880. Annales de la Prop, de la Foi, iv., pp.
447-465.

500 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

Lady. A new and more advantageons site was
selected on the corner of Grand and Ridge streets.
Tliis was acquired, and the congregation began the
work of rebuilding, relying on Providence. Bishop
Du Bois, to assure them of a site for parochial resi-
dence, purchased an adjoining lot. The corner-stone
of the new church was laid by the Bishop on the 30th
of April, 1832, and it was solemnly dedicated on the
9th of June, 1833.

In February, 1832, the Catholic farmers near Greece
had the consolation of seeing the church which they
had zealously erected on an eminence overlooking the
Genesee, near its mouth, dedicated under the name of
St. Ambrose by the Rev. Francis O'Donoghue, pastor
of Salina.

By this time opposition to the Church had taken an
organized form, a "Protestant Association" held its
meetings, and its organ "The Protestant" gathered
all old calumnies and framed new ones against Catho-
lic truth. Very Rev. Dr. Power and Rev. Dr. Varela
allowed themselves to be drawn into oral discussions
and finally into a regular controversy with Dr. Brown-
lee and other leaders in the movement. Rt. Rev. Dr.
Du Bois, feeling that no good could result from such
encounters, which never remove prejudice, expressed
his regret that things had gone so far that contro-
versy was unavoidable.^

Bishop Du Bois set out after Easter to make a visi-
tation of the interior of the State. After examining
the condition of the missions on the banks of the
Hudson, encouraging the groups of faithful at several
points where churches were soon to rise, he ordained

I Truth Teller, vii., p. 380; viii., p. 79, 100; ix., p. 46. U.S. Cath. Mis-
cellany, xii., p. 270.

THE CHOLERA. 501

Rev. James Terwooren in tlie church at Albany, and
administered the sacrament of confirmation to more
than two hundred. In no fewer than eighteen places
in the northern and western parts of the State Bishop
Du Bois found Catholics numerous enough to establish
churches and maintain resident priests. He stationed
Rev. J. J. McGarry at Rochester, but the trustees re-
fused to receive him. While at Oswego the terrible
Asiatic cholera, broke out in New York. AVhen he
returned on the 12th of August he found the city
clergy worn out by their devoted labors in attending
the unfortunate people struck down by the cholera.
The regular masses on Sundays depended on the sick
calls made for the priest, and did not resume their
usual regular hours till September. During the prev-
alence of the disease the Catholic priests and sisters
vindicated more ably than by controversy the truth
and Christian spirit of their religion, and showed
Avhat it taught them to do for their fellow-men. When
the ravages of the cholera ceased Bishop Du Bois
caused the " Te Deum " to be solemnly sung in each
of the city churches to thank God for delivering them
from the scourge. He also directed it to be sung in
the other churches of the diocese on the Sunday after
his notification arrived. " At the same time," he con-
cluded, " let it be remembered, that it is only by a pure,
innocent, sober, and virtuous life, that we can hereaf-
ter best show our gratitude to God for our preservation.
and avert the recurrence of a similar chastisement.^

> Truth Teller, viii., p. 270 ; Bishop Timon, "Missions in Western
New York," Buffalo, 1862, pp. 213-14. Rev. Michael McNamara died at
Chili, Aug. 30, 1832, aged 39. He had recently been violently attacked
(as representing the €atholic Church) in the Rochester Observer. Cath.
Intelligencer, iii., p. 26, 408.

* Bishop Du Bois's circular, Truth Teller, viii., p. 382.

502 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

As his means were insufficient to obtain a suit-
able site for his proposed college and seminary in
or near the city,' he examined points easy of access,
and on the 13th of April, 1832, purchased a farm
of 160 acres at Nyack. Here on the 29th of May,
1833, he solemnly blessed the corner-stone, assisted
by Rev. Mr. Conroy and Rev. Mr. McGerry, for-
merly president of Mount St. Mary's College. The
ground was well watered and highly cultivated, with
a productive orchard, and a quarry of very fine build-
ing stone. The building proposed by the Bishop was
eighty feet square, to be crowned by a dome, and to be
flanked by two wings. The work was carried on
actively during the year, and before its close two
stories were raised.' Eighteen thousand dollars which
the Bishop had collected in Europe had by this time
been expended, and to complete the work he appealed
to the religion and charity of the faithful in a pas-
toral letter.'^

A neat chapel, forty feet by twenty-five, was erected
adjoining the college in the summer of 1834, and dedi-
cated by the Bishop.^ The seminary was already
opened with Rev. J. McGerry as president, and Rev.
John McCloskey as professor and five students in
theology, who occupied the old farm buildings await-
ing the completion of the main edifice. But before
that came, the whole building was destroyed by fire.*

1 Truth Teller, ix., p. 179, 395.

' Pastoral Letter of the Rt. Rev. John Du Bois, Catholic Bishop of
New York, to the Clergy and Laity of his Diocese, New York, Doyle,
1834; N. Y. Weekly Register, i., p. 321; Truth Teller, x., p. 57; Jesuit,
Iv., p. 194.

3 Truth Teller, i., p. 270.

* Weekly Register, ii. , p. 342. Dr. Varela in his Cartas a Elpidio speaks
of the fire as incendiary, but it was regarded by many as accidental.

ST. JOSEPH'S CHURCH. 503

In his pastoral letter issued at the close of January,
1836, Bishop Du Bois appealed to the faithful of his
diocese to aid in the important work, and requested
the pastors of congregations to obtain subscrij)tions
by calling on each member of their flocks. To insure
safety in the title of the x^i'operty, it was vested in
himself and the Bishops of Boston and Philadelphia
as joint tenants.^

In view of the wants of the Catholics in what was
then known as Greenwich Village, a hamlet on the
North River at some distance from the inhabited parts
of the city, Bishop Du Bois, before his visit to Rome,
had determined to establish a church there. At first
he was able only to hire a large room on Grove Street,
where mass was said for the faithful. After his
return a plot was purchased on the corner of Sixth
Avenue and Barrow Street, and plans were drawn for
a church 102 feet long and 66 Avide. The corner-stone
was laid in the summer of 1833, and the solid edifice
rose under the care of Rev. James Cummiskey. It
was completed so that its dedication by the Rt. Rev,
Bishop, assisted by Rev. William Quarter, Rev. John
McCloskey, and Others of the clergy, and the Rev. John
Hughes of St. John's, Philadelphia, took place on the
9th of March, 1831 ; two of his successors in the see of
New York, one to wear the purple of a Cardinal and
a Bishop of Chicago, being gathered around Bishop
Du Bois in the sanctuary. ^

The increasing number of orphans in the asylum or
seeking admittance induced Bishop Du Bois to estab-
lish, in 1833, a regulation wdiich has been in force to

' Catholic Diary, v., p. 198.

« N. Y. "Weekly Register, i., pp. 8, 287, 390 ; Truth Teller, x., p. 108 ;
Cath. Telegraph, iii., p. 4. The altar was a fine marble one, procured
by the Bishop in Italy.

504 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

this day, that all the collections in the churches on
Christmas Day shall be devoted to the maintenance of
the fatherless. The faithful have always responded
generously to the call.^

The want of a purely Catholic journal led to the
establishment of "The New York Weekly Register
and Catholic Diarj''," the first number of which ap-
peared on the 5th of October, 1833. The literary
department was under the care of a well-known scholar
and teacher, P. S. Casserly.

Though Catholicity was bitterly assailed and its
worship derided, the very efforts of its opponents led
many to examine for themselves. Such examination,
made without bias and with prayer for light, could
have but one result. In January, 1834, Mr. Gardner
Jones gave "My Reasons for becoming a Roman
Catholic," and the journal in which tliej^ appeared
announced the reception into the Church at Albany
of Dr. Coleman, a native of Massachusetts, who had
been brought up in the Society of Friends.^

In the course of the year 1834 Bislioj) Du Bois visited
the northern parts of the State. He was at Sandy Hill,
Ogdensburgh,^Keeseville; at Utica,Avhere he confirmed
one hundred and fifty ; and in September at Cold
Spring, where he dedicated the romantic Church of
Our Lady,^ which the earnest priest. Rev. Philip
O'Reilly, had erected, and which Weir, the painter,

' N. Y. Weekly Register, i., p. 181 ; Truth Teller, ix., p. 329; x., p.
407. The call was the more needed as some of the Asylum buildings
"were destroyed by a fire which menaced the Cathedral, x., p. 85.

*ISr. Y. Weekly Register, i., p. 261; U. S. Cath. Miscellany, xiii.,
pp. 262, 270 ; Smith, JHistory of Diocese of Ogdeusburgh, pp. 80, 194.

3 Truth Teller, x., pp. 231, 251, 367 ; U. S. Cath. Miscellany, xiv., p.
110 ; N. Y. Weekly Register, v., p. 6.

TRUSTEEISM. 605

•
portrayed. The same energetic priest soon undertook

to erect a church at Saugerties. '

The trustee power had always been strong in New-
York, and aimed to control all the institutions of the
diocese. A slight circumstance in 1834 brought on a
conflict which lasted as long as Dr. Du Bois was alone
in control of the see of New York. For some years
the relations between the Bishop and Rev. Thomas C.
Levins of the Cathedral had been strained. The clergy-
man, who had been in the diocese from March, 1825,
was a remarkable man, a well-read theologian, an able
controversialist, thoroughly versed in all branches of
mathematics and natural philosophj^ a mineralogist,
and a lapidary. He was very x^opular and was looked
up to by many as a champion of the Catholic cause.
Soon after the return of the Bishop from his visita-
tion in 1834, in consequence of a disrespectful reply to
an order of the Bishop, which he really obeyed. Rev.
Mr. Levins was suspended. The case might easily
have been settled, but unfortunately the trustees of
the Cathedral took up the cause of the priest and
so embittered the situation, that a removal of the
suspension became impossible without a recognition
of their assumed powers which Rt. Rev. Dr. Du
Bois would never make. A regular war ensued. The
trustees appointed the priest rector of the parochial
school, while they annoyed the Bishop in every possi-
ble way, and even sent a committee to threaten to take
away his salary. It was on this occasion that he i"e-
I)lied, "Gentlemen: I have seen the horrors of the
French revolution, and could meet them again. I am
an old man. I can live in a cellar or a garret ; but,

' Rev. Philip O'Reilly, died, pastor of St. Brigid's Church, New
York, Dec. 7, 1854.

506 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

gentlemen, whether I come up from my cellar or down
from my garret, you must remember, that I am still
your Bishop."^

The Rev. Mr. Levins took up his residence near the
Cathedral, and was employed as engineer on the C'ro-
ton aqueduct. The plans of the High Bridge are said
to have been mainly his work ; he also edited a x)aper
called " The Green Banner." At a later period he was
restored by Bishop Hughes, but found parochial duty
beyond his strength ; he resigned the church assigned
to him, and died in New York.

The hard-working priest, Rev. Francis O'Donoghue,
had so aroused a spirit of sacriiice in the Catholics at
Auburn, who had assembled in the house of the vener-
able Hugh Ward, that they erected in a beautiful
part of the village a neat church, with a cross crowning
its tall steeple. The interior, lit by stained glass
windows, was full of devotion. This church was dedi-
cated to the most Holy Trinity by Very Rev. John
Power, Oct. 23, 1834. To the same zealous priest was
due the fine brick church of St. Francis de Sales,
erected at Geneva, and dedicated on the 26th. A
charitable Catholic gave his farm for the maintenance
of a clergyman.^ By this time the German Catholics
in New York city had increased so that they organ-
ized a little congregation by themselves. Their first
pastor was the Rev. John Raffeiner of whom Arch-
bishop Hughes said : "Bishops, priests, and people
have reason to remember Father Raffeiner for many
years to come.'' He visited his countrymen far and
near, and was always ready to hasten to any point to

' Bishop Dii Bois to trustees of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Nov. 17,
1834 ; Same to Committee, same date ; same to the meeting of Catholics,
Nov. 30, 1834 ; Appeal of Rev. Mr. Levins.

* N. Y. Weekly Register, iii., p. 87 ; Jesuit, v., p. 173.

ST. NICHOLAS' CHURCH.

507

give them the consolations of religion. The German
Catholics in New York assembled for a time under his
care in an unused Baptist church at the corner of
Delancey and Pitt streets, and when the lease expired,
in St. Mary's Church; baton the 1st of September, 1834,

VERY REV. FELIX VARELA.

a plot of ground on Second Street was purchased.
The corner-stone of a church to be dedicated to St.
Nicholas, recognized even by the early Dutch colonists
as the patron of New York, was laid by Y. Rev. John
Power, April 20, 1835. By the sacrifices and exertions

608 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

of Rev. Mr. Raffeiner the church was completed, and
dedicated on Easter Sunday, 1836. Rev. Mr, Raffeiner
directed the church for several years and became
Vicar-General for the Germans in the diocese.

Christ Church in Ann Street had been so weakened
by the excavation for building operations near it,
that many regarded it as unsafe. Moreover the city
was growing northward and a different location
seemed desirable. The congregation did not agree as
to a site, that acquired on James Street being unac-
ceptable to many who preferred to remain further
down town. They purchased the Reformed Scotch
Presbyterian Church on Chambers Street, fronting the
Park, It was dedicated as Transfiguration Church,
on the 31st of March, 1836, the Very Rev. Felix Varela,
who had advanced the purchase money, remaining
pastor of the congregation to his death. ^

The other portion of the congregation erected the
solid new Christ Church, generally called St. James's
Church, which was not completed without difficulty,
but was finally dedicated by Bishop Du Bois in Sep-
tember, 1836, and confided to the pastoral care of Rev.
Andrew Byrne, who subsequently became Bishop of
Little Rock,

The upper part of New York island had a scattered
Catholic population, few in numbers. The occasional
service in the old Jesuit college had been their only
resource, but Bishop Du Bois resolved to establish a
church at Harlem, Lots were bought on 117tli Street,
and on the 29th of June, 1835, he laid the corner-stone
of a church, which was ere long dedicated in honor of

' " The Catholic Churches of New York City," New York, 1878, p.
636,687 ; Truth Teller, x., pp. 333-367, 287, 335 ; Weekly Register, v.,
pp. 103, 283. 191, 247 ; U. S. Cath. Miscellany, xiv., p. 355 ; Jesuit, v.,
p. 326. German pamphlet without title, New York, 1840.

MARIA MONK. 509

St. Paul and placed under the pastoral care of Rev.
Michael Currant

Outside tlie city St. John's Church, Paterson, was
erected on Oliver Street under the care of Rev. Patrick
Duffy, and dedicated by the Bishop, April 24, 1836.
It replaced the former church, no longer sufficing for
the wants of the faithful ; and on the 24th of May the
active missioner, Rev. F. O'Donoghue, added another
to the churches on his mission by opening one at the
village of Seneca Palls, erected on ground generously
given by G. Y. Sackett. The corner-stone of a new
cliurch in Utica was laid in June, and in New York
city, to the deep regret of many of the old residents, it
was decided to demolish St. Peter's Church, the
cradle of Catholicity in the city, and to erect a finer
edifice.2 The year was therefore one of great prog-
ress in the diocese.

Early in 1836 a work was published in New York,
which though not relating to the church in this coun-
try was a vile attack on Catholicity and created great
prejudice against the faith. The pecuniary success of
Miss Reed's "Six Months in a Convent," seems to
have stimulated some persons to undertake a work of
coarser and viler material, that would command even
greater circulation. A wretched girl named Maria
Monk, Avho, after leading a life of shame, had been
placed by her mother in a Magdalen Asylum at Mon-
treal, from which she was dismissed or escaped by the
aid of one of her old lovers, was the tool employed.
The unscrupulous plotters made her pretend that she

'"Catholic Churches," etc., pp. 390-534 ; Weekly Register, vi.,p.
247 ; iv., p. 315 ; U. S. Cath. Miscellany, xiv., p. 279.

« " History of the Catholic Church, Paterson," pp. 23-23 ; Weekly
Register, v., p. 391 ; vi., p. 33, 111, 135.

510 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

had been not a penitent in a Magdalen Asylum, but a
nun in the Hotel Dieu, and a narrative was drawn up
in her name charging the devoted nuns, one of them a
daughter of General Ethan Allen, with immorality,
harshness, cruelty, and murder. After stereotyping
the infamous book, the conspirators offered it to
Harper Brothers, well-known publishers in New York.
That house, lured by prospective profits, undertook to
issue it, but, ashamed of such a vile worl^, published
it under the name of Howe & Bates, two persons in
their employ. Circulated at a time when ministers
and newspapers were assailing the Catholic Church,
purporting to prove the priests and religious women
of that body to be monsters of vice, it was greedily
received and read perhaps more widely than any book
ever before published in the country. It was reprinted
day by day in the columns of a cheap paper and
was accepted as true by thousands. Several New
York ministers and zealous members of Protestant
churches took up the wretched woman, and main-
tained the truth of her story. The profits of the
fraud must have been very great, but the conspira-
tors could not agree. Maria Monk sued the Harper
Brothers for her share as author and holder of
the copyright in the Vice-Chancellor's Court, New
York, but they denied her authorship, her ownership
of the plates and of the copyright. Vice-Chancellor
McConn declared the case one for a jury, when "the
motives of those who have promoted and prompted
the publication will be duly considered." ^ William
K. Hoyt also sued Rev. J. J. Slocum and Maria Monk in
the United States Circuit Court for his share in getting
up the book, and the defendants were required to give

^ Edwards, " Chancery Reports," iii., p. 109.

STONE'S REFUTATION. 511

bail in SoOOO.^ Those who received the wretched woman
into their houses were soon disgusted with her vicious
manners and language ; she sank lower and lower, and
died in one of the city institutions. In Montreal her
wretched life was known to many ; tlie Superior of the
reformatory institution where she had been recognized
her pretended descriptions of tlie Hotel Dieu as really
incorrect ones of the asjdura. The names she gave
were almost all those of inmates of the same institu-
tion when she was there. Her descrij)tion of the Hotel
Dieu was pronounced utterly false by a committee of
Protestant clergymen and other gentlemen who visited
it with her book in hand. All this was given to the
public, but Rev. J. J. Slocum, one of the conspirators,
brought out a second book to defend the "Awful
Disclosures."^ William L, Stone, editor of the Com-
mercial Advertiser, a man through life strongly
prejudiced against the Catholic Church, went to
Montreal with the original book in his hand, and
obtained liberty to make a thorough and complete
examination of the interior of the Hotel Dieu.
After visiting every room and closet from the cellar
to the attic, Mr. Stone, as an upright man, wrote :
"The result is the most thorough conviction that
Maria Monk is an arrant impostor — that she was
never a nun, and was never within the cloister of
the Hotel Dieu — and consequently that her dis-
closures are wholly and unequivocally, from begin-
ning to end, untrue — either the vagaries of a distem-
pered brain, or a series of calumnies unequaled in

' Boston Pilot, ii. , Dec. 3, 1836.

^ "Awful Exposure of the Atrocious Plot formed by certain indi-
viduals against the clergy and nuns of Lower Canada, through the
inter%-ention of Maria Monk." New York, 1836.

512 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

the depravity of their invention, and unsurpassed
in their enormity/

If the Church in these days had trials, it had also con-
solations. At Christinas time, 1836, Rev. Walter J.
Quarter of Utica received a visit from Colonel Dodge, of
Pompey, and his wife, avIio came to ask admission to
the Catholic Church, and the benefit of its sacraments.
They were fully instructed, and the steps which led
them to the truth were remarkable. Early in the
spring, when the roads were difficult, a peddler's wagon
broke down near his house. Mr. Dodge invited the
owner in till repairs could be made, but when he en-
tered, Mrs. Dodge saw that he was an Irishman and
probably a Catholic. To harbor such a person seemed
in her eyes a fearful risk, and she imparted her fears
to her husband. The peddler promptly avowed his
faith, and when Mr. Dodge expressed astonishment
that a man of his good sense could belong to such a
religion, the man replied that if his host knew it
better, his ideas would change. Before leaving, as
some return for the kind hospitality, he left a book
which he said would give a better knowledge of the
Catholic faith. The gentleman took it up with some
curiosity, but when he found it a statement of Catho-
lic doctrine, supported by scripture, the writings of

' Stoae, "Maria Monk and the Nunnery of the Hotel Dieu, being an
Account of a Visit to the Convents of Montreal and Refutation of the
' Awful Disclosures,'" New York, 1836. Maria Monk's book was care-
fully analyzed and exposed in " A Review of the Awful Disclosures of
Maria Monk, in which the facts are fairly stated and candidly examined."
By G. Vale, New York, 1836. A large number of estimates and docu-
ments will be found in Bishop England's works, v., pp. 347-418 ; and in
the journals of the time. Col. Stone by his investigation in the cause
of truth drew upon himself a series of violent personal attacks (see
Quarterly New Haven Christian Spectator), and he was held up to
ridicule in the poem, "A Vision of Rubeta."

THE DODGE FAMILY. 513

the most eminent men of the primitive Church, and
by solid reason, he was utterly amazed. The proofs
seemed convincing. He obtained other books from the
peddler when he again passed his door, and ordered
more from New York. He imparted his convictions
to his wife, and she too became convinced that their
Presbyterian church was not that founded by the
apostles. He sought ministers to obtain proof of
their position, but their arguments were unsatisfac-
tory. A work by one of them j)laced in his hands as
decisive proved to be drawn mainly from the work on
the Apocalypse by the Catholic Bishop AValmesley.
Mr. Dodge, hitherto a deacon in the church, ceased with
his wife to attend it, and openly avowed to his neigh-
bors the change in his faith, with the solid grounds
which had induced him to renounce the doctrines in
which he had been brought up. The ministers and
elders resolved to arraign Mr. and Mrs. Dodge for here-
sy. The lady was first interrogated, but after a few
replies she stood up before the congregation and said :
" My belief, my whole belief is in whatever the Roman
Catholic Church teaches. All whatever that Church
teaches, I believe firmly ; all whatever that Church
condemns, I disbelieve and reject. Now this is my
faith and I bid you farewell." They both then retired.
Avowedly Catholics now, they continued to make
themselves more thoroughly informed as the doctrines
and worship of the Church. Their prayers for light
and perseverance were earnest and fervent. Others,
led by their books and explanations, followed their
course ; they met to recite the mass prayers and other
devotions together. Learning that there was a church
and priest at Utica, Mr. and Mrs. Dodge drove there
to receive baptism and hear mass on Christmas day.
After enjoying the great consolation to which they

514 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

head looked forward, they invited the clergyman to
visit them and receive the others into tlie cliurch who
were as v^^ell instructed and ardently desired holy
baptism. Mrs. Dodge's sister and brother-in-law
with their children and some neighbors were thus
soon admitted into the fold.^

Age and trials had begun to show their effect on
Bishop Du Bois, and he resolved to seek the appoint-
ment of a coadjutor. His first choice was the Rt. Rev.
Francis P. Kenrick, then coadjutor of Philadelphia,
but that distinguished prelate wrote to the Cardinal
Prefect, setting forth his objections, and the matter
was finally laid over to the coming Provincial Council.^
AVhen Bishop Du Bois was summoned to attend that
synod in April, 1837, he wrote to the Fathers asking to
be excused from attending its sessions, and his Vicar-
General, y. Rev. Felix Yarela, proceeded to Baltimore
to represent the diocese. Bishop Du Bois also inti-
mated to the assembled bishops his desire for the ap-
pointment of a coadjutor. The regulation proposed
in the second Provincial Council, under which the
Bishop desiring a coadjutor was to transmit three
names to the bishops in council, was api)arently
followed, and these names were forwarded to Rome in
compliance with the Decree of the Propaganda, March
18, 1834.^ From the names of clergymen sent, the

' Rt. Rev. John Hughes, " An Account of the Conversion of an Ameri-
cfin Family, in Onoqdaga Co., N. Y," Phihidelphia ; Annals of the
Propagation of the Faith, Dublin, 1840, iii., p. 223. Works of Arch-
bishop Hughes, ii., p. 454.

^ Bishop Kenrick to Rev. John Hughes, Jan. 19, 1837, in Hassard,
Jjfe of Archbishop Hughes, pp. 168-9.

^"Concilium Baltimorense Pi-ovinciale II habitum anno 1833," Balti-
more, pp. 17-18. Besides the name of Bishop Kenrick he proposed
Rev. Thomas Mulledy, S. J., and Rev. John Hughes.

RT. REV. JOHN HUGHES, COADJUTOR. 515

Sovereign Pontiff selected as Coadjutor the Rev. John
Hughes, pastor of St. John's Church, Phihidelphia,
who had received liis ecclesiastical education under
Dr. Du Bois at Emmitsburg. Bulls were issued creat-
ing him Bishop of Basileopolis in partibus infideliuni
and Coadjutor to the Bishop of New York.^ It was
not till November that the official announcement
reached Rev. Mr. Hughes.

In the summer of 1837, Bishop Du Bois made another
visitation to central New York, and on July 19, dedi-
cated the little church at Rome which through the in-
fluence of Rev. Walter Quarter of Utica had been put
up near the village by Thomas Harnetty. This gentle-
man had reserved a small rental, but he transferred
this to the Bishop as a contribution toward the sup-
port of a resident priest.

In November, assisted by Rev. Messrs. Quarter and
Duffy, he dedicated St. Peter's Church, Poughkeepsie.^

When Bishop Du Bois received from Rev. Mr.
Hughes the announcement of his appointment and ac-
ceptance, the aged prelate expressed the consolation it
afforded him, with the hope that his coadjutor would
find in it, as he did, the expression of the divine will.^

The feast of the Epiphany was fixed for his con-
secration, and on the 2d of January, 1837, Dr. Hughes
proceeded to New York, where he was no stranger,
having more than once preached and taken part in
ecclesiastical functions. The reputation acquired by
his controversy with Rev. Mr. Breckinridge had more-

' Cardinal Fransoni to Archbishop Eccleston, Sept. 2, 1837, in Fascis-
culus quo recensentur Acta ac Decreta Syuodorum Provincialiuni
Baltimori habitarum, etc., Rome, p. 88.

2 Catholic Herald, v., p. 275, 394.

3 Bishop Du Bois to Bishop-elect Hughes, Nov. 6, 1837.

516 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

over made him widely known. The consecration of
Rev. Dr. Hughes took place on the 7th of January,
Bishop Du Bois acting as consecrator, assisted by Rt.
Rev. Francis P. Kenrick, Coadjutor of Philadelphia,
and Rev. Benedict J. Fen wick, Bishop of Boston ; Rev.
Thomas Mulledy, S.J,, who had held high offices in
liis order, preached on the occasion. The Cathedral,
spacious as it was, could not hold the throngs from
New York, Brooklyn, and Jersey City, with the
delegations from Philadelphia.^

Before the close of the month of January, a stroke
of paralysis menaced the life of Bishop Du Bois, and
showed that his active career as head of the diocese
was drawing to a close. He rallied, however, and was
able to perform some episcoj^al functions not of a
laborious character, but a second and a third attack
made it necessary to provide for a possible condition
of entire disability on his part. The aged Bishop
showed great reluctance to resign the administration
of the diocese, or even, as Bishop Fenwick advised, in-
vest his coadjutor with the powers of a Vicar-General.
Bishop Hughes laid the whole condition of affairs before
the Propaganda, without recommending any action.

The Coadjutor officiated at the opening of the new
Church of St. Peter in Barclay Street, in February,
and visited many churches in New York and Brook-
lyn to administer confirmation and to address the
faithful.^ St. Paul's Church, Brooklyn, erected on the
site presented by the truly Catholic Cornelius Heeny
ill 1885, was completed early in 1838 and solemnly
dedicated by Bishop Du Bois on the 21st of January.

' Catholic Ilemld, vi., p. 2. Truth Teller, xiv., p. 14.

2 Truth Teller, xiv., p. 70; Catholic Herald, vi., p. 69; Catholic
Advocate, iii., p. 22.

ST. VINCENT'S SEMINARY. 517

After the destruction of the partially erected college
at Nyack, Bishop Dii Bois abandoned all idea of re-
building it or attempting to establish a college there.
His next thought was to select a site in Brooklyn, but
Bishop Hughes soon after his arrival in New York
was inclined to accept an offer made him at a reasonable
price of a farm with large and commodious buildings
at Lafargeville in Jefferson County. A visit decided
him to purchase it, and open a college and seminary
there. A prospectus was issued and the institution
opened in September 20, 1838, under the title of St.
Vincent de Paul's Seminary, with Eev. Francis Guth
as Superior, assisted by Rev. Messrs. Moran and Haes,
and some tutors. A small number of seminarians
here began their course, and a few pupils entered for
a collegiate course, but before the close of the ensuing
year it became evident that a thriving college could
never grow up there, and Bishop Hughes sought a
favorable site nearer the city of New York.

In December, 1838, the new church erected at Belle-
ville, N. J., by the Rev. F. Ferral, was dedicated by
Bishop Du Bois.^ Visits were made to other stations
in that State. By this time the Coadjutor was pretty
well informed from actual observation of the con-
dition of the Church in the diocese, the disposition of
clergy and people, their resources, and the need of
institutions. The trustee system had been a perpetual
clog on the progress of the Church, and with no real
power to direct the affairs of the diocese, Bisliop
Hughes could only devise plans for overcoming this
obstacle.'

The question was brought to a test sooner than he
anticipated, but a year's residence in New York had

' Catholic Advocate, iii., p. 261, 289; Truth Teller, xiv., p. 254, 390.

618 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

made him widely known, and lie Avas looked up to by
the faithful generally with respect and esteem.

Early in the year 1839 a case occurred which showed
Bishop Hughes that a struggle between the authorities
of the church and the trustees of churches could not
be avoided. A civil officer, by virtue of a written in-
strument from the trustees of the Cathedral, expelled
from the Sunday-school a teacher appointed by the
Bishop. After waiting for two weeks for some official
expression of regret or explanation, a pastoral address
to the congregation of the Cathedral was issued in the
name of Bishop Du Bois, but it bore the stamp of the
vigorous and determined character of Dr. Hughes.
"It is possible," says the Pastoral, " that the civil law
gives them the power to send the constable to the Sun-
day-school, and eject even the Bishop himself. But
if it does, it gives them, we have no doubt, the same
right to send him into the sanctuary and remove any
of these gentlemen from before the altar. And is it
your intention that such powers may be exercised by
your trustees ? If so, then it is almost time for the
ministers of the Lord to forsake your temple, and erect
an altar to their God, around which religion shall be
free, the Council of Trent fully recognized, and the
laws of the Church applied to the government and
regulation of the Church."^ It then took up other
invasions of ecclesiastical power by the trustees, who
made the right of tlie Bishop to appoint priests a
nullity by refusing them means of subsistence, who
assumed the right to appoint teachers to instruct the
children in their religion, to appoint and remove those
who attended the altar or chanted the divine service.

' " Pastoral Address of the Rt. Rev. Bisliop Du Bois to the congre-
gation of St. Patrick's Cathedral," New Yorii, Feb. 20, 1838.

TRUSTEEISM. 519

Expatiating, himself, from the pulpit, on this state
of things, Bishop Hughes distinguished between the
pew rents they had contracted to pay the trustees, and
the free will offerings of the people, made according to
the ancient custom of the church at the offertory for
the maintenance of the clergy and of divine Avorship.
As the trustees refused to apply these offerings accord-
ing to the intention of the faithful, he advised his
hearers to refuse all further contributions, not to put
a cent in the plate when it was carried around. AVhen
the Bishop and his clergy felt it necessary to appeal
to the faithful for means of support, he knew that the
response would be generous. After he left the pulpit
the trustees attempted to take up the usual collection,
but the plates went down the aisles empty and came
back empty.

The Bishop before leaving the sanctuary called a
meeting of the pewholders of the Cathedral the same
afternoon. There he addressed a large audience, ap-
pealing to all the sacrifices their ancestors had made
for the faith, and exhorting them not to sacrifice the
discipline of their church and the rights of their
families in the house of God to a power conferred by
the State with a view to their good, but which had
been perverted to interfere with the discipline and
spiritual authority of the Church established by
Christ. A preamble and resolutions introduced by
him were adopted, and he felt that he had won the
congregation.^

He followed up the subject by submitting a series
of questions to his assembled clergy, and they all sus-
tained the pastoral letter, declaring that its principles
could not be denied without heresy or schism. The

' Truth Teller, xv., p. 85.

520 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

trustees made an effort to oppose the will of the con-
gregation, but the Bishop was sustained. As the next
election for trustees would decide the matter, Bishop
Hughes began in April a series of lectures on the
connection between the Catholic religion and the
system of secular incorporation of lay trustees, which
had never realized the anticiiDations of Archbishop
Carroll, who had been by circumstances compelled to
tolerate it, but on the contrary had produced havoc in
many parts of the Catholic fold. He traced its history
in different States and convinced the faithful of its
dangerous character. When the election came off,
one of the old board resigned, and the three members
elected represented the wishes of the Bishop, the
clergy, and the faithful.^

Bishop Hughes was thus free, and the whole diocese
felt the influence of an active, masterful prelate, re-
solved to endow it with the churches and institutions
it so sorely needed. The effect was soon visible.
A new church was dedicated at Albany ; others were
begun at Watertown, Jamaica, and Buffalo. Be-
quests to churches showed an awakened spirit of
faith.

The coadjutor Bishop, in the summer of 1839, visited
the interior and northern part of the State, officiating
at Utica and other points. The little flock of converts
at Pompey, now numbering sixteen, was consoled by
the presence of their Bishop in the private chapel of
Col. Dodge.^

Bishop Du Bois had survived the paralytic strokes

' Truth Teller, xv., pp. 118-9.

2 Truth Teller, xiv., pp. 383-389 ; xv., pp. 31-189; Catholic Herald,
Tii., pp. 246 ; Catholic Register, 1., pp. 45-157. Auuals of the Propaga-
tion of the Faith, iii., p. 227.

OERTEL'S CONVERSION. 521

unci clung to the discharge of his duties. He oflBciated
not only in New York, but in Brooklyn, Albany, and
New Jersey ; and in May, 1839, visited his old college,
Mount St. Mary's, to receive the homage of all. The
whole j)opulation of the country around "poured
forth to welcome their benefactor and to ask a father's
blessing from him." His inability, however, to manage
the affairs of the diocese became only too clear, and
in August ArchbishojD Eccleston, in compliance with
orders from Rome, announced to him that the admin-
istration of the diocese was thenceforward to be con-
fided to his Coadjutor. The aged Bishop laid down
the authority he had so tenaciously retained, and
devoted the rest of his life to a devout preparation for
death. He survived till 1842, offering the holy sacri-
fice daily to the last. On the IStli of December he
was taken suddenly ill, and received extreme unction.
He bore his iiain without a murmur, and expired on
the 20th with the names of Jesus, Mary, and Josei)h on
his lips. At his own desire he was interred at the
door of his Cathedral. The services he had rendered
to the cause of religion in the United States were
not forgotten. His eulogy was pronounced by Rev.
William Quarter, soon to be Bishop of Chicago, and
by V. Rev. John McCaffrey, his successor at Mount
St. Mary's.

The reception into the church of a Lutheran clergy-
man, Rev. Maximilian Oertel, March 15, 1840, was a
notable event. He was a man of learning and piety,
born at Ansbach, Bavaria, in 1811, and highly com-
mended by the heads of his denomination. The course
of the King of Prussia, by which he endeavored to

' Catholic Expositor, iii., p. 308 : Jubilee of Mount St. Mary's, New
York, 1889, p. 235.

522 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

unite Lutherans and Calvinists in one state cliurcli,
caused many Lutherans to emigrate to this country.
Rev. Mr. Oertel was sent by a missionary society at
Barmen to attend the emigrants in the United States.
He hoped to find Lutheran doctrine followed here in
all its purity and fervor, but to his regret he saw
indifferentism and dissensions prevailing everywhere.
He began to doubt the solidity of Protestantism : a
study of the Fathers convinced him that it was not
the doctrine or worship of the primitive church ; when
he examined the claims of the Catholic Church his
mind received the light and peace it sought. . After a
course of preparation he was received by Rev. William
Quarter of St. Mary's Church. A few years after he
established a German Catholic paper, the Kirchen
Zeitung, which under his editorship rendered for
many years essential service to religion.^

The German Catholic body in New York city was
now increasing, so that another church was needed,
and in June the corner-stone of St. John Baptist's was
laid by the Y. Rev. Dr. Power, to be dedicated on the
13th of September, by Rt. Rev. Dr. Hughes.^

■ "The Reasons of John James Maximilian Oertel, late a Lutheran
minister, for becoming a Catholic," New York, 1840 ; Catholic Register,
i., pp. 204, 213.

^ Catholic Register, i., p. 293 ; Freeman's Journal, i., p. 108.

CHAPTER V.
DIOCESE OF NEW YOEK.

RT REV JOHN HUGHES, BISHOP OF BASILEOPOLIS, ADMINISTRA-
TOR, 1839-1842, BISHOP OF NEW YORK, 1842-1843.

By the action of the Holy See the responsibility of
guiding the diocese of New York devolved on the Rt.
Rev. John Hughes. It was a day of great men in the
civil order, the day of Clay, Webster, Calhoun, yet
few men of that era spoke so directly or so effectively
to the American people as Bishop Hughes. He was not
an ordinary man. It had been well said that in any
assemblage he would have been notable. He was full
of noble thoughts and aspirations, and devoted to the
Church ; every plan and every project of his mind
aimed at the greater good of the country.

When the charge was imposed upon him, Dr.
Hughes resolved to visit Europe, to study systems of
education and means for advancing the cause of re-
ligion. Fully convinced of the resources and good
will of his flock, he sought material aid far less than
the great ideas that should influence the action of the
Church. He was full of projects. Important ques-
tions were coming up. Early in 1839 an unfortunate
man was condemned to death in Lewis County. He
was a Catholic, but when Rev. Mr. Gilbride, the priest
in whose district the prison stood, sought admission
within its walls to give the doomed man the last con-
solations of religion, he found the doors barred against
him. In behalf of a penitent Christian soul about to
face eternity the priest of God appealed to the Gover-

523

524 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

nor of tlie State of New York. The moral influence,
rather than any legal power, of William H. Seward
enabled the Catholic jniest to exercise his ministry.^

When the Lafargeville project proved nnavailing.
Bishop Hughes sought a site nearer New York city
for his college and seminary and finally determined on
the property at Rose Hill, Fordham, which he pur-
chased in the summer of 1839 at a cost of about thirty
thousand dollars. To establish there a seminary and
institution of learning Bishop Hughes called upon his
flock for subscrii:»tions. The cli urches in the city of New
York showed their confidence in him by subscribing at
once more than ten thousand dollars. Leaving this
j)roject to be carried out more fully, he issued a pas-
toral, announcing the retirement of Bishop Du Bois,
and explaining to some extent his projects for the gen-
eral good. On the 16th of October he sailed for Eu-
rope, leaving the diocese in the hands of Very Rev.
John Power and Very Rev. Felix Varela.^

The influence he had already created was soon appa-
rent. There was activity everywhere. In September
the eloquent voice of Dr. Power pleaded for a church at
New Brighton ; the next month he dedicated the newly
erected church at Schenectady ; soon after, lectures by
Rev. Mr. Levins showed that science was no stranger
to the Catholic Church. During the absence of Bishop
Hughes in Europe a movement began, which, had it
been initiated by him, would have had a larger and
more general scope. The Catholic schools of New
York, with other denominational schools, under the
school act of 1812, received a ratable proportion of the
school fund, but had been for some years excluded

' Letter of Wm. H. Seward, in Truth Teller, xv., p. 242.

'^ Truth Teller, xv., p. 276, 301. Catholic RcgiHter, i., p. 33, 29.

PUBLIC SCHOOL SOCIETY. 526

from all participation in it, and the whole amount
was given to a j)rivate corporation, "The Public
School Society."

This body had succeeded in excluding, first the
Baptist Bethel Schools, and then all religious schools,
usurping the whole fund for itself. No complaint
had been made against the Catholic schools, and as
the schools of the Public School Society and their
school books were offensively Protestant, the Catholic
body, feeling that an injustice was done them, moved
to obtain a restoration of the old system. They asked
nothing new. The action of the Catholic body,
though merely local and conservative, brought into
the arena of public opinion a question that has not
been settled in half a century, that of secular and
religious education.^ Though the Baptists had been
the first to advocate religious instruction of the young
as against the secularism of the Public School Society,
yet as soon as Catholics advocated it, and asked a re-
turn to the old New York system, the Protestant
denominations, generally, arrayed themselves against
the religious education of the young. At this time
there were free schools attached to each of the eight
Catholic churches in the city, and more than five
thousand children were taught daily in them. The
State superintendent had called the attention of the

' Bourne, " History of the Public Scliool Society of the City of New
Yorli," etc., New Yorli, 1870, pp. 48-75, 98, 108. " It was discovered tliat
one congregation, or rather its pastor, had embarlied in the business of
school keeping as matter of speculation and had established three charity
schools. By deceptive returns he managed to draw from the fund a,

greater sum than was required for the payment of teachers He

then procured an enactment Under a liberal construction ....

he ventured to build a church." Petition of Public School Society, lb.,
p. 182. It is admitted that this was not a Catholic but a Baptist school ;
*' Remonstrance and Answer of the Bethel Free School," 1833.

526 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

Legislature to the fact, and to the apparent injustice
of excluding them from the benefit of a fund to which
they contributed.

The petition of the Catholic schools (Feb. 17, 1840)
to the Common Council was rejected ; and a general
meeting of Catholics was held on the 20th of March,
in which a memorial to the legislature was adopted
and circulated for signatures.^

Bishoj) Hughes, after reaching Paris and being pre-
sented to King Louis Philippe, proceeded to Pome,
where he spent nearly three months, laying before the
Head of the Church the condition and wants of his
diocese. After receiving valuable i^resents from the
Pope he continued his journey to Vienna, and exposed
the necessity of his church to the Leopoldine Society,
which gave him substantial aid for his new seminary
and college. Returning to Paris he induced the Supe-
rior of the Ladies of the Sacred Heart to found an
academy in New York city. He next visited London,
was introduced to Daniel O'Connell, and spent some
time in Ireland. He arrived in New York on the 18th
of July, 1840.

By this time the agitation of the school question
was drifting into the hands of politicians. On the 20th,
two days after his arrival. Bishop Hughes attended a
meeting that had been called, and in a careful speech
made himself the controlling spirit of the movement.
"An Address of the Roman Catholics to their fellow
citizens of the City and State," ^ from his pen, set
forth distinctly the grounds of the Catholic ax)peal,
and presented clearly the fact that the Society schools.

' "Catholic Register, i., p. 198, 212 ; " Report of the Committee oa
Arts and Sciences and Schools," New York, 1840.

« New York, Hugh Cassidy, 1840.

THE GREAT DEBATE. 527

AA'hile avowedly non-sectarian, were tlioronglily Prot-
estant and used books in class and library in which
Catholics and their religion were coarsely assailed.
" These passages were not considered as sectarian, in-
asmuch as they had been selected as mere reading
lessons, and were not in favor of any particular sect,
but merely against the Catholics. We feel it unjust
that such passages should be taught at all in our
schools, to the support of which we are contributors
as well as others. But that such books should be put
into the hands of our own children, and that in part
at our own expense, was in our opinion unjust, unnat-
ural, and at all events to us intolerable."

The address excited much attention, and a "Ke-
ply" to its arguments appeared, issued evidently by
the Public School Society.

On the 21st of September a, meeting of the
Catholics adopted a j^etition for relief, which was at
once i^resented to the Board of Aldermen then in
session. This i^etition showed the Society schools
not to be such as would permit Catholics to send their
children to them, and asked the Common Council
that eight Catholic schools should be put on an
equality with the Society's schools, and be designated
as "entitled to participate in the Common School
Fund, upon complying with the requirements of the
law, and the ordinances of the Corporation of the
City."

Besides this petition there was presented to the Com-
mon Council a remonstrance from the Public School
Society and a protest from the Methodist Episcopal
Church.

On the day appointed for the debate before the
Board of Aldermen on the Catholic petition, and the
opposing documents, October 29, 1840, Bishop Hughes

528 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

stood alone : two able lawyers, Theodore Sedgwick
and Hiram Ketchiim were arrayed against him, with
Rev. Drs. Bond, Reese, and Bangs of the Methodist
Church, Rev. Dr. Spring of the Presbyterian, and
Rev. Dr. Knox of the Reformed Dutch Church. The
Bishop began by explaining the Catholic petition, and
the grounds of the prayer for relief ; he then ana-
lyzed the counter documents and showed that they
avoided the real question and raised false issues. Mr.
Sedgwick then rose in defense of the Public School
Society, treating its history at length, and taking the
legal ground that the Common Council had no power
to grant the petition. He spoke with courtes}^, but
Mr. Ketchum followed in a strain of virulence and
personal invective, eying the Bishop as if he were some
degraded culprit at the bar. He charged the Catho-
lics with trying to drive the Bible from the schools.
Bishop Hughes in reply showed that the Catholics
asked no modification of the Public School Society or
its schools. He said and trul}^ : "I conceive the true
point has not been touched. Not one of our objec-
tions or scruples of conscience has he undertaken to
analyze, nor the grounds on which they exist. When
I gave those reasons for our objections, I thought some
argument would have been urged fairly against them,
but the only end the gentleman has in view is the
preservation of the School Society." Dr. Bond took
the floor next day, and argued that to grant the peti-
tion was to give money for sectarian teaching ; he then
launched into a general attack on the Catholic Church
as a persecuting church, citing from the shamelessly
fraudulent edition of the Rhemish Testament issued
by Protestants in New York. He was followed by
Rev. Mr. Reese in the same strain, treating the schools
of the Society as though government institutions and

THE DEBATE. 529

not those of a private association. "If individuals
among us choose to educate their own children, and
refuse to avail themselves of the public schools, the
act is their own, but in no wise furnishes them a pre-
text to complain." Rev. Dr. Knox of the Dutch
Reformed Church insisted that public schools were
Protestant institutions and held that Protestants
could not yield to any Catholic claim. " Can Protes-
tants, believing as they do believe, consent to be di-
rectly instrumental in elevating to strength and in
cherishing a system like this? I think not." Rev.
Dr. Spring, after citing Voltaire's assertion that if
there was no alternative between infidelity and the
dogmas of the Catholic Church, he w^ould choose infi-
delity, added: "I would choose, sir, in similar cir-
cumstances, to be an infidel to-morrow."

Bishop Hughes summed up for the petitioners. He
cited historical instances to show the tolerant action of
Catholics. In regard to the Bible, he said: "They
have represented us as contending to bring the Catho-
lic Scriptures into the public schools. This is not

true They have represented us as enemies to

the Protestant Scriptures." "Now if I had asked
this honorable board to exclude the Protestant Scrip-
tures from the schools, then there might have been
some coloring for the current calumny. But I have
not done so. I say, gentlemen of every denomination,
keep the Scriptures you reverence, but do not force on
me that which my conscience tells me is wrong." " I
see the question stand precisely where it did before
the gentlemen began to speak, and I see the same
false issue, and I challenge any gentleman to say that
it is not a false issue — persevered in to this very hour,
so that our argument has not been moved one iota ;
there must therefore be something powerful in our

530 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

plain, iinsopliisticated, simple statement, when all the
reasoning brought against it leaves it just where it
was before." In a speech lasting three hours and a
half Bishop Hughes reviewed and answered his oppo-
nents, defending the Church from their attacks, and
narrowing the subject down to the question at issue.
In regard to religious teaching in the parochial
schools, he was willing to have it after regular school
hours ; he even offered to conform the system of teach-
ing to that of the Public School Society, and make
the parochial schools subject to State supervision.
It Avas evident, however, that the question would be
decided by jDrejudice and not by reason. As Bishop
Hughes well said : "Eight or nine hours were wasted
in the discussion of a theological tenet, but not one
half-hour was given to the only questions which the
Common Council should have permitted to come
before them, namely : Are the rights of this portion
of the citizens violated or not ? If so, is there in our
hands the means to ajiply a remedy ? " '

The Committee of the Common Council on the 12tli
of January, 1841, reported against the claim of the
petitioners.

The Catliolics then forwarded to the Legislature
petitions representing their' grievances and asking
redress. The matter was referred to Hon. John C.
Spencer, Secretary of State, who reported against the
exclusive power given to the Public School Society in
New York City, and recommended that the State
system should be extended to that city. Alarmed for
its existence, that societ}^ sent a remonstrance to

' "The Important and Interesting Debate on the claim of the Catholics
to a portion of the Common School Fund," New York, 1840 ; " Report of
the Special Committee to whom was referred the petition of the Catholics
r.lative to the distribution of the School Fund," etc. [New York, 1841.]

IN THE LEGISLATURE.

631

the Legislature ; and Mr. Ketclmm again appeared
as their counsel; he was answered on behalf of
the petitioners by James W. McKeon and Wright

CARROLL HALL, NOW ST. ANDREW'S CHURCH.

Hawkes. Bishop Hughes also reviewed and refuted
Mr. Ketchum's arguments in a meeting of the Catholic
body.

The matter was thus in the hands of the State Legis-

582 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

lature, and as an election for Senators and Assembly-
men approached the friends of the Public School
Society, in their struggle now for very existence,
approached the candidates of both jDarties and secured
from most of them a pledge to vote against the Catho-
lic petition and the law proposed by Secretary Silencer,
Catholic voters were thus placed in a position where
to vote for either party was to vote for men pledged
against them ; but they did not. Enthusiastic meet-
ing were held at Carroll Hall to adopt a suitable course.
Four days before the election Bishop Hughes proposed
an independent ticket, taking the unx)ledged candi-
dates on both tickets and some others, A few Catho-
lic politicians attempted to cling to the old party lines,
but it was suicide ; they only lost the confidence of
their old friends. Catholics to the number of 2200
supported the independent ticket, and politicians took
alarm. A school bill introduced by William B.
Maclay extended to New York city the provisions of
the general act in relation to common schools. It
j)assed on the 9th of April, 1842: and the Public
School Society soon went out of existence.'

No substantial gain had been acquired by Catholics
in this struggle. Their schools were as far from relief
as ever ; but instead of a society absolutelj^ hostile to
them and controlled by their enemies, a system of
schools was created in which for a time they had at
least a voice in electing officers.

The improvements required to adapt the buildings

' Bourne, " History of the Public Scliool Society of the City of New
York," New York, 1870 ; Hassard, " Life of the Most Rev. John Hughes,
D.D., first Archbishop of New York" ; New York, 1866, ch. xiv. The
attitude of Protestant denominations in identifying themselves completely
with the Public School Society was a strong and fatal proof of its Protes-
tant and anti- Catholic character. A system that meets the full approval
of bitterly prejudiced religionists cannot be fair to all.

ST. JOHN'S COLLEGE, 533

at Rose Hill, Fordliam, which had been purchased for
a college and seminary, were carried on during the
year 1840, and in the autumn the seminary, which
took the name of St. Joseph, was removed to it from
Lafargeville. The new seminary opened with fourteen
seminarians, Rev. Felix Vilanis being Suj^erior, in a
small stone dwelling that stood west of the main
edifice.

To complete all the requirements for the college, the
Bishop appealed earnestly to the faithful at the outset
of 1841. It was opened for the reception of students
on the eve of St. John the Baptist's day, June 24, 1841,
with the Rev. John McCloskey as President and pro-
fessor of rhetoric ; Rev. Ambrose Manahan, Vice
President and x^rofessor of Greek ; Rev. Edward
O'Neill, professor of natural philosophy ; John J.
Conroy, professor of Latin ; John Harley, prefect of
discipline.^

The next year the seminary had thirty students,
nineteen pursuing their theological course, so that
Bishop Hughes could look forward to a supply of
l)riests for his diocese, trained under his own eye. St.
John's College had fifty pupils and Avas gradually
gaining the confidence of Catholic parents, which
became thorough when Rev. John Harley, a man of
singular ability, was placed in the chair of President. ^

A review of the state of religion in the diocese at
this time, by Bishop Hughes, resulting from his visita-
tion, dwells on the rapid progress of the temperance
cause throughout the State, leading many to seek in
the sacraments grace from God to avoid sin and the
occasions of sin. Albany had two large and commo-

' Card (Jan. 20, 1841) in Freeman's Journal, i., p. 230, 391 ; Hassard,
352.

- Rev. Ambrose Manahan to Cardinal Franzoni, Oct. 1, 1842.

634 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

dioiis cliurches, and the faithful of German origin,
numbering from one hundred to one hundred and
sixty families, were making an effort to erect a third
church. Troy too had two churches, but another was
needed at West Troy. Lansingburgh needed a church, •
and a site had been purchased at Watertown, the ven-
erable Mr. Rawson promising substantial aid. Schen-

|E B If S H

ST. JOHN S COLLEGE, ROSE HILL.

ectady, which a few years before had been a station
visited monthly from Albany, had now a neat brick
church and a flourishing congregation. A priest was
stationed at Little Falls. The German Catholics of
Utica had just bought a church. Rome had a beauti-
ful Greek church on an eminence, the site being the
gift of Jasper Lynch. ' The church at Salina was too
small for the congregation, and the jjortion living at
Syracuse were taking steps to erect a house of wor-

FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES. 535

ship of their own. At Geneva little progress was
made and mismanagement by trustees had entailed
heavy losses. Auburn and Seneca Falls, attended by
the same priest, showed no great prosperity. Roches-
ter cheered the Bishop by the prospect of a permanent
increase ; it had already two large and commodious
churches, yet two others, one for Germans under the
Redemptorist Fathers, were already projected. The
French and Canadians also desired a church. He sta-
tioned Rev. Dennis Kelly at Greece, which had been
for some time deprived of a priest.^

New York city gained also another church, dedi-
cated to St. John the Evangelist by the Bishop, May 9,
1841, and erected on Fifth Avenue and Fiftieth Street,
by the zealous priest Rev. John Maginniss, who took
up his residence in the old Jesuit College.

The financial condition of many of the churches of
the diocese had become a matter of serious thought
to Bishop Hughes. Churches already in existence
found it necessary to devote much of the income to
meet the interest on mortgages and diminish the float-
ing debt, leaving them helpless to establish schools or
care effectually for the poor and the orphan. New
churches could not be erected while others in the same
district required all possible resources. In the hope
of being able to remedy or alleviate this condition,
Bishop Hughes organized, in the spring of 1841, " The
New York Catholic Church Debt Association," and
also issued a Family Circular ; the plan was to divide
New York and Brooklyn into districts and collect
from each family a small monthly contribution. The
project was taken up at once with a good deal of spirit,

' Most Rev. John Hughes, "Complete Works," New York, 1864, ii.
pp. 437-443.

536 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

and $17,000 was collected the first year, but after that
interest flagged and the plan was abandoned. At a
subsequent period the Bishop endeavored to borrow
money at a low rate in Belgium to take up all the
mortgages on his churches, but this plan met no suc-
cess.^

The Ladies of the Sacred Heart, five in number,
arrived in New York in May, 1841, under Madame
Elizabeth Galitzin, who had come to the United States
in the month of August of the preceding year as
visitor of the houses of her order in this country. Re-
turning to New York May 6, 1841, she established the
convent of New York with five Ladies, who were soon
followed by seven others of the community. They
took possession of a large house at the corner of
Houston and Mulberry streets, which had been occu-
pied by a young ladies' academy of repute. Madame
Galitzin remained here six months superintending
the necessary modifications, and organizing the new
community. During her stay she executed three
paintings for the chapel.^ The educational advantages
afforded by this new academy made it extremely
popular among the more wealthy Catholic families.
The house soon proved too confined for the purj)ose.
Madame Bathilde, the Superior, purchased the Gibbs

' Freeman's Journal, i., pp. 357, 364. 355, 379 ; Hassard, pp. 254, 269.
•' The Catholic Churches of New York city," New York, 1878, p. 426.

' " Notice sur Madame Elizabeth Galitzin, religieuse du Sacre-Cceur,"
1795-1843, Tours, 1858, p. 30. Freeman's Journal, i., p. 372 ; Catholic
Herald ix., p. 172. Madame Galitzin, daughter of Prince Alexis Galit-
zin, was born in St. Petersburg, Feb. 22, 1795. Her mother became a
Catholic, but Elizabeth felt only hatred against the Church. In 1815,
however, she too yielded to divine grace, and in December, 1826, she be-
came a novice of the Sacred Heart. She returned to Europe in 1842,
but was again here as a visitor the next year, and died Dec. 8, 1843, at
Saint Michael, La., of yellow fever.

A FRENCH CHURCH. 637

property at Astoria in 1844 ; but two years afterwards
the Ladies of the Sacred Heart acquired the Lorillard
property at Manhattanville, where they still remain.
Two branches of the institution have been established
in New York city ; there is also a convent at Ken-
wood, near Albany, and one at Eden Hall, near Phila-
delphia.'

New York had long had a number of Catholics of
French birth or origin, many of whom seldom fre-
quented the churches, some even being drawn to the
French Protestant church. Monseigneur de Forbin
Janson, Bishop of Nancy in France, who had been for
some time in America, virtually an exile, and who
had preached missions in Canada and Louisiana, saw
with regret the condition of his countrymen in New
York. In February, 1841, he gave a mission at St.
Peter's Church to the French Catholics and roused
their zeal to establish a church for themselves. A-
meeting was at once held and steps taken to carry out
the project, to which Rt. Eev. Dr. Hughes gave
hearty encouragement. The site of a church in Canal
Street, recently destroyed by fire, was soon purchased,
Bishop Forbin Janson lending six thousand dollars to
aid in building. He never called for the loan, but
transferred his right to the diocese. The corner-stone
of the Church of St. Vincent de Paul was laid by Mr.
de la Foret, consul general of France, October 11, 1841.
The church was erected at a cost of $38,000, and was
dedicated by Bishop Hughes on the 21st of August,
1842. The Rev. Mr. Deydier was installed tempo-
rarily as rector, but as it proved difficult to obtain
zealous and devoted priests for the Church, the Bishop

■ Bayley, " A Brief Sketch of the History of the Catholic Church on
he Island of New York," New York. 1853, p. 107 ; Bishop Hughes to
the Cardinal Prefect, May 14, 1847.

538 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

of Nancy induced the Priests of the Society of Mercy,
a congregation founded by Rev. Mr. Rauzan, to as-
sume the direction. The Rev. Annet Lafont, S.P.M.,
accordingly arrived in 1852, and the church has since
been under the pastoral care of that society, which
has labored also, as we shall see, in Florida, Brooklyn
and Southern New Jersey.^ The new church did not
escape the malevolent spirit then rife in the country.
On the 1st of November, 1842, some persons gained
entrance to the church by night, destroyed the taber-
nacle, carried off many articles of value, and set fire to
the edifice in several x^laces.^

Neither Bishop Connolly nor Bishop Du Bois had
ever been able to hold a diocesan synod and frame
regulations, but the clergy had so increased in numbers
that in 1842 Bishop Hughes deemed it necessary to
hold one.^ After the clergy had devoted six days to
'a spiritual retreat at St. John's College, they, to the
number of fifty-four, met in St. Patrick's Cathedral
on the fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost, August 28,
1842. A discourse was delivered by Rev. John McEl-
roy, S. J., and the profession of faith was made by all.
The other sessions were held at the college, wliere the
statutes proposed by the Bishop were submitted to
them for any modification experience on the mission
might suggest. These statutes required a baptismal
font in every church with a fixed pastor, and the
administration of the sacrament there and not in
private houses, except in danger of death. The Roman

' De Courcy, " Catholic Church in the United States." p. 431 ; " The
Catholic Churches of New York city, "New York, 1878, p. 701 ; Free-
man's Journal, Feb. 1, March, 1841.

' Freeman's Journal, Nov. 5, 1843.

3 See circular Letter to the clergy, July 28, 1843. Works, i., p. 313.

SYNOD OF 1842. 539

Ritual was to be followed in all cases. The custom of
the diocese in not preparing the young for confirma-
tion till after their first communion was retained.
Rules were adopted for the reverent administration of
the Holy Eucharist to the sick and its proper reserva-
tion in the tabernacle. Suitable confessionals were
to be set up in all churches within three months.
Priests were not to officiate at marriages unless four
days' previous notice was given, in order to prevent
rash and sometimes forbidden unions, and the mar-
riage was to be celebrated in the parochial district to
which the parties or one of them belonged. The faith-
ful were to .be warned from time to time against con-
tracting marriage before a civil magistrate, or any but
a Catholic clergyman. The marriages of Germans
were to take place before a priest having charge of a
German congregation. No priest was to officiate at a
marriage where the parties had been or were to be
married by a Protestant clergyman. Catholics were
to be warned against mixed marriages, and no such
marriage was to be performed without a dispensation,
and a pledge of the non-Catholic party that the Catho-
lic one should enjoy full liberty of conscience to
practice her religion, and that the children should be
brought up Catholics.

The celebration of mass with proper and becoming
vestments and the altar neatly kept was prescribed :
and all churches were required to have a proper cope,
veil, monstrance, and censer for the office of the Bene-
diction of the Blessed Sacrament. No priest was to
be absent from his church on Sunday without permis-
sion. Funeral services were not to be held in houses,
or in English, and funeral orations were discounte-
nanced. Steps were to be taken to prevent the burial
in consecrated ground of those who had by their lives

540 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

and the neglect of the sacraments cut themselves off
from the body of the church.

In the important matter of church property it was
enacted that trustees should not expend, without leave
of the pastor of the church, money contributed by the
faithful for the maintenance of religion and the clergy.
Neither pastor nor trustees were to make any extra-
ordinary outlay exceeding $100 without the permission
of the Bishop. Priests were required, under j)ain of
suspension, to report infringements of this rule. They
were to prepare an inventory of all ecclesiastical j)rop-
erty, and to present to the Bishop at his visitation a
statement of the financial condition of the church, and
for this purpose were to have free access to the
minutes and account books of the trustees. No priest
was to hold the title of church, parochial residence, or
cemetery in his own name, but to have it vested in the
Bishop of the diocese. All persons engaged in taking
part in the public services of the Church and in teach-
ing were to be appointed by the priest in charge of the
parochial district. No meetings were to be held in
the church or basement without his leave. The letting
of pews by auction was discountenanced. Provision
was made for a cathedraticum or regular annual con-
tribution from each church for the maintenance of the
Bishop. The faithful were to be warned against secret
societies, or the taking of oaths to support factions,
and the sacraments were to be denied to those who
persisted in adhering to such organizations, which had
wrought greaiE evils among the laboring class, leading
to perjury and the sacrifice of human life.*

After the close of the synod Bishop Hughes made

' Synodus Diocesara Neo Eboracensis Prima habita anno 1843. New
York, 1842.

TRUSTEEISM. 541

known these statutes to the faithful in a pastoral
letter issued on the 8th of SeiDtember. He pictured
the condition of the Church under British rule during
the days of persecution, and the neglect of many salu-
tary laws of the Church resulting from the oppressed
state of the clergy and faithful ; but in a country like
this, where freedom was accorded to all, it became a
duty to return to the ordinary and uniform laws and
ordinances of the Church. In regard to ecclesiastical
property he said: " One of the most perplexing ques-
tions connected with the well-being of religion is the
tenure and administration of ecclesiastical j)roperty.
A system growing, perhaps, out of the circumstances
of the times, has prevailed in this country, which is
without a parallel in any other nation or in the whole
history of the Catholic Church. That system is the
leaving ecclesiastical property under the management
of laymen, who are commonly designated trustees.
We do not disguise that our conviction of this sys-
tem is, that it is altogether injurious to religion, and
not less injurious to the piety and religious character
of those who, from time to time, are called upon to
execute its offices." After explaining that the prop-
erty of the Church had always been regarded as that
of God, he explained the responsibility imposed by
the canons of the Church on the bishops and clergy to
preserve it intact. Under the trustee system, with
boards changing from year to year, debts incurred
by one set were neglected or repudiated by their suc-
cessors, contracts were made leaving the burden to be
met by others ; there was no supervision, no remedy,
and many churches drifted year by year to bank-
ruptcy. This made the yearly statement of the finan-
cial condition of each church absolutely necessary.
To enable the pastor to make this, access to the ac-

642 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

counts and minutes of the trustees became necessary.
The Bishop added, " Should it happen that any board
of trustees, or other lay persons managing the tem-
X)oral affairs of any church or congregation, should
refuse to let them see the treasurer's books, and the
minutes of official proceedings, they are required to
give us immediate notice of such refusal. We shall
then adopt such measures as the circumstances of each
case may require ; but in no case shall we tolerate the
presence of a clergyman in any church or congrega-
tion in which such refusal shall be persevered in."^

The statutes and the j)astoral letter we;;e received
with general respect by the Catholics of the diocese.
Several of the newspapers of the day, however, made
the pastoral the subject of virulent attack, and the
Bishop replied at some length. St. Louis's Church in
Buffalo alone showed a disposition to resist the stat-
utes of the synod. When the pastoral was read, a
meeting was called at Avliich resolutions Avere adopted
declining to submit, and expressing regret "not to be
able to comply with the Bishop's request." The
answer of the Bishop was, " Should you determine
that your church shall not be governed by the general
law of the diocese, then we shall claim the privilege
of retiring from its walls in peace, and leave you also
in peace to govern it as you will. Indeed we must
keep our peace at all events, and charity also." He
then directed the pastor Rev. Mr. Pax to enforce the
statutes, and if the trustees prevented his doing so, to
withdraw from the church, bringing the sacred vessels.
Finding them obstinate. Rev. Mr. Pax resigned and
left the country. After a time they asked the Bishop
for a clergyman, although they were constantly calum-

' Pastoral. Works of the Rt. Rev. John Hughes, i., p. 314.

ST. LOUIS'S CHURCH, BUFFALO. 543

mating him in the public paj)ers. His reply and his
action were decisive: "You shall not govern your
Bishop, but your Bishop shall govern you in all eccle-
siastical matters. When you are willing to walk in
the way of your holy faith, as your forefathers did,
and be numbered among the Catholic flock of the dio-
cese, precisely as all other trustees and congregations
are, then I shall send you a priest, if I should have
one." By this time he was Bishop of New York, and
as such he sent two priests avIio established a new
church. The trustees attempted to appeal to Rome,
but soon learned that they must be condemned. In
the summer of 1844 they submitted, made a public
acknowledgment of their errors in a card drawn up
by the Bishop himself. Then only were the services
resumed in St. Louis's Church.^

In the latter part of the year 1842, Bishop Hughes
visited congregations in the central and northern
parts of the State, confirming the young, dedicating
churches, and preaching constantlj'', although his
health began to yield to his labors.

He attended the fifth Council of Baltimore, in May,
1843, and there requested the Fathers to solicit from
the Holy See the appointment of a coadjutor. For
the position he recommended Rev. John McCloskey,
rector of St. Joseph's Church, and for a time Presi-
dent of St. John's College, Fordham. Soon after the
close of the council he sailed to Europe, one of his
main objects being to secure a loan for the diocese on
advantageous terms.^

' See further, " Letters of St. Louis's Church, Buffalo," Buffalo, 1853 ;
" Die Angelegenheiten der St. Louis Kirche zu Buffalo," Buffalo, 1853 ;
Hassard, p. 261.

^ Hassard, p. 268 ; Autobiography of Thurlow Weed, Boston, 1884,
i., p. 548, ii., p. 102.

CHAPTER VI.
DIOCESE OF PHILADELPHIA.

RT. REV. HENRY CONWELL, SECOND BISHOP, 1820-1842 : V. REV.

WILLIAM MA.TTHEWS, VICAR-APOSTOLIC, 1829-1830 ; RT. REV.

FRANCIS PATRICK KENRICK, BISHOP OF ARATH,

COADJUTOR AND ADMINISTRATOR, 1830-1812.

After the first Provincial Council the unfortunate
diocese of Philadelphia, although Rt. Rev. Dr. Con-
well retained the title of Bishop, continued to be
administered by the Very Rev. William Matthews.
Fathers Harold and Ryan withdrew from the country.*

Pittsburgh, at the extreme west of the diocese,
showed activity. In 1828 Sister Frances Van de Vogel,
of the second order of St. Francis, with another Poor

Clare, founded a convent and academy on the cliff over-
looking the Allegheny River. Encouraged by Father
Maguire they prospered so that they bought sixty
acres on a hill west of Allegheny and erected the con-
vent of Mount Alverno. In time, they had a chaplain.
Rev. A. F. Van de Wejer.^
Catholics increased so in numbers that in 1829

' Truth Teller, v., pp. 254, 309. It is a somewhat curious fact that
these two clergymen, after appealing to the United States government to
protect their right as citizens, left the country altogether rather than
go to Ohio.

2 Lambing. "History of the Dioceses of Pittsburgh and Allegheny,"
p. 48.

544

RT. REV. F. P. KENRICK. 645

Father Magiiire commenced the erection of a fine
gothic church, one of the largest yet seen in the
United States.

Aware of the recommendation of a clergyman as
Coadjutor of Philadelphia by the Fathers of the Pro-
vincial Council, tlie Vicar- Apostolic awaited his formal
election and consecration in order to lay down the
charge imposed upon him.

Rev. Francis Patrick Kenrick had been sent specially
to the diocese of Bardstown, from Rome, that his vast
theological learning and clear, vigorous intellect might
serve to train priests for the American missions. He
had shewn himself in Kentucky not only an able pro-
fessor but an eloquent and active priest, ready to
labor in the humblest capacity. Other dioceses had
sought to secure him, but Bishop Flaget's influence
retained him till this time. The Sovereign Pontiff
appointed him Bishop of Arath, and coadjutor to the
Bishop of Philadelphia confiding to him the adminis-
tration of the diocese.

Bishop Conwell received the tidings with resignation,
and though broken by years and trouble he set out for
Kentucky to assist in his consecration. On the 6th of
June, 1830, the feast of the Holy Trinity, Bishop Fla-
get, with Rt. Rev. Dr. Conwell and Rt. Rev. Dr. David
as assistants, consecrated Dr. Kenrick, in pursuance of
the bulls ; Bishop England of Charleston and Bishop
Fenwick of Cincinnati being also present.

On the 19th of May Bishop Kenrick issued an address
to the clergy of the diocese to which he was assigned,
and to the laity. He encouraged the priests in their
labors, commending the care of the poor, prayer, medi-
tation, and the reading of the Holy Scriptures. The
Sisters of Charity and Poor Clares, the communities
in the diocese, he encouraged to persevere in their holy

546 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

state and charitable labors. The laity he urged, in
words of Scripture, to unity, peace, charity, and the
pursuit of all virtue by obedience to the Church and
their j)astors.^

After receiving testimonials of the esteem and regard
which his labors in Kentucky had won,^ Bishop Ken-
rick set out for Philadelphia, accompanied by the
Right Rev. Dr. Con well.

In the latter part of June they reached Pittsburgh,
where the new Church of St. Paul was rising, the
Catholic population having increased to four thou-
sand, many by conversion, and the baptisms in ten
years numbering 1214. Dr. Kenrick confirmed and
preached in St. Patrick's Church and visited the Con-
vent of Poor Clares, where he gave the veil to two
candidates and administered conlirmation.

Rev. Patrick O'Neill had erected churches in Arm-
strong and Butler counties. Examining the churches
at Blairsville and Ebensburg, Bishoj) Con well and his
coadjutor reached Loretto, where they were welcomed
by Prince Gallitzin. On the 4th of July Bishop Con-
well dedicated the Church of the Holy Trinity in
Huntingdon. Then, by way of Lewistown, where a
neat frame church was ready for dedication, they ar-
rived at Harrisburg, tlie capital of the State. Here
Rev. Michael Curran had a fine. church and a school
under Sisters of Charity. Rev. Bernard Keenan next
welcomed them in the ancient town of Lancaster.

Bishop Conwell and the Rt. Rev. Coadjutor reached
Philadelphia on the 7tli of July. After receiving the
congratulations of clergy and laity, the two prelates

' Rev. F .P. Kenrick to Archbishop Whitfield, May 30, 1830 ; Truth
Teller, vi., p. 244 ; Jesuit, i., p. 343 ; U. S. Cath. Miscellany, x., p. 23.

* Jesuit, i., p. 355.

VISITATIONS. 547

visited the churches and the orjihan asylums, one
just erected by Rev. John Hughes.^ After acquaint-
ing himself with the condition of affairs in the city,
Rt. Rev. Bishop Kenrick assumed control as adminis-
trator of the diocese. Early in August he was at Wil-
mington, Delaware, giving confirmation and encour-
aging the Sisters of Charity, who had just gathered
forty orphans in their asylum. A few days later a
church was dedicated at Pleasant Mills, in the New
Jersey portion of the diocese. In September, Bishop
Kenrick not only confirmed but gave holy orders in
the ancient church of Conewago to five candidates,
led there by Rev. Dr. Brute ; he was soon after dedi-
cating the church erected by Rev. Mr. Keenan at
Columbia and administering confirmation. Next we
find him at Chambersbarg. Here, though prostrated
for a time by fever, he continued his work, assisted by
Rev. Mr. Hughes, who hearing of the Bishop's illness
had hastened to his relief,^ Bishop Kenrick felt that
there was too much work before him to spare himself.
He returned to Philadelphia to proclaim the Jubilee
in St. Mary's Church on the 14th of November, and
labor to make its spiritual favors accessible to his
fiock throughout the diocese.

It was only then that he began to arrange for his
own position in Philadelphia. The trustees of St.
Mary's had already officiously invited other churches
to unite with them in providing an income for the Rt.
Rev. Administrator of the diocese. This intermed-
dling in a delicate matter was extremely inappro-
priate. Bishop Conwell was still Bishop of Philadel-

' U. S. Cath. Miscellany, x., p. 30.

« U. S. Cath. Miscellany, x., p. 87, 126, 166, 182 ; Truth Teller, vi.,
p. 270 ; Jesuit, i., p. 419. Archbishop Whitfield to Cardinal Prefect,
Aug. 29, 1830.

548 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

phia and claimed the provision made for the incum-
bent before the consecration of Bishop Egan, and also
the revenues of a new cemetery of which he held the
title. After considering the whole condition of affairs
Bishop Kenrick resolved to assume the pastoral charge
of St. Mary's Church, and on the 27th of December
notified the trustees of that church, " that being duly
and exclusively invested by the Ax)ostolic See with
episcopal jurisdiction for the government of the dio-
cese of Philadelphia, he should himself henceforward
act as chief jDastor of the Church of St. Mary's," and
that he appointed Rev. Jeremiah Keily his assistant.
The trustees were unwilling to receive him as pas-
tor ; they asked him to reconsider his resolution,
threatening to maintain the rights of the congrega-
tion. As this was reviving the old claim of a right to
clioose their own pastors, Bishop Kenrick addressed
a circular to the pewholders on the 12th of April,
1831, in which he announced that it would be his duty,
in compliance with the x^rinciples of the Council of
Baltimore, to interdict the church "unless all opposi-
tion be forthwith withdrawn, and the Catholic princi-
ples of church government be unequivocally admitted,"
An evasive answer followed from the trustees, and
Bishop Kenrick ordered the cessation of all sacred
functions in St. Mary's Church or burial ground after,
12 o'clock on the 16th of April, unless the trustees
signed a distinct disclaimer of their pretensions. This
they explicitly declined to do, and the church was
interdicted formally in a pastoral address.

The trustees then endeavored to win Bishop Con-
well to their side and opened correspondence with him,
which led to his meeting them at St. Mary's. The
aged Bishop put forward his claims as Bishop and
beneficiary, yet he hesitated to trust himself to men

END OF THE SCHISM. 549

who were the cause of all his troubles.' "A small
and contemptible faction," Bishop Kenrick wrote,
" by intrigues and misrepresentations has succeeded in
resisting my pastoral rights, and has forced me to have
recourse to a measure of severity, to which no bishop
more than I can be averse. The gates of St. Mary's
open every Sunday morning to receive a few mur-
murers who amidst the tombs utter their plaints,
because the consolations of religion have been with-
drawn from those who in defiance of its authority
sought to establish a tribunal of eight laymen to
approve or reject at pleasure the episcopal appoint-
ments. This just measure, which was imperiously
demanded, has humbled and mortified the party, and
gratified the great body of Philadelphian Catholics,
who are sincerely attached to the doctrine and govern-
ment of the Church. There has hitherto been no
excitement, the Catholics worshiping peaceably in
the other churches." ' The trustees failing to entrap
Bishop Conwell, and destitute of a leader, soon sub-
mitted, and on the 28th of May Bishop Kenrick
reopened St. Mary's Church, and its long period of
schism and rebellion ended. ^

Meanwhile he had issued a fervent Lenten pastoral,
and preached four times every week during the peni-

' Secretary of the Propaganda to Archbisliop Eccleston, June 13, 1832,
directed the Archbishop of Baltimore to warn Bishop Conwell not to
interfere in the affairs of the diocese. A. Cath. Hist. R. iii., p. 88.

* Bishop Kenrick to Bishop E. Fenwick, same to Archbishop Eccleston,
May 17, 1831. " Address of the Trustees of St. Mary's Church to the
Congregation, April 16, 1831." Bishop Kenrick, Pastoral Address, April
22, 1831. Bishop England's Works, v., p. 211.

* Charge of the Rt. Rev. Francis P. Kenrick in the reopening of
St. Mary's Church, Philadelphia, 1821 ; U. S. Cath. Miscellany, xi..
p. 29.

550 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

tential season, thus addressing the flocks in the dif-
ferent churches in and near the city.

Seeing that the presence of the Bishop at St. Mary's
gave the petty board of trustees an exaggerated idea
of their own importance, he resolved to erect a church
which, being absolutely free from any sucli control,
would be a secure pro-cathedral for a bishop till God
in his providence enabled the diocese to x^ossess a
cathedral worthy of itself and of the Catholic religion.

The task of rearing such a church he committed to
the energetic priest. Rev, John Hughes, whom he had
made his secretary, and whose abilities he recognized.
Several new churches were needed, for with a Catholic
pojDulation in Philadelphia of twenty thousand, there
was sitting room in the churches for only about four
thousand. Rev. Mr. Hughes secured lots on Thir-
teenth Street and had plans for a church prepared by
William Rodrigue. He then called a meeting of
Catholics, at which Matthew Carey presided, and laid
before them his project of a church, free school, and
refuge for poor girls. The corner-stone was laid in
May, 1831, by Bishop Kenrick, and so actively was
the work conducted that it Avas solemnly dedicated by
Bishop Conwell in April, 1832, under the invocation
of St. John the Evangelist.^

Bishop Kenrick for a time thought of making St.
John's his pro-cathedral and restoring St. Mary's to
the Society of Jesus, but the project was not approved
at Rome.^

Early in 1832 Bishop Kenrick resolved, in compli-

' Pastoral in U. S. Catli. Miscellauy, x., p. 249.

«U. S. Cath. Miscellany, p. 310; Trnlli Teller, vii., p. 161; viii., p.
133 ; Hassard, " Life of Archbishop Hughes."
3 Cardinal Pedicini to Archbishop Whitfield, July 30, 1831.

SYNOD OF 1833.

551

ance with the recommendation of the Council of
Baltimore, to convene the clergy of the diocese in a

ST. John's church, Philadelphia.

synod. The notification, issued on the 29th of Feb-
ruary, appointed the 13th of May for the opening of
the sessions. A spiritual retreat preceded the delib-

552 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

erations. Thirty priests attended ; nine were absent
from age, ill-health, or other valid excuses. The
Right Reverend Bishop mentioned that, although
only priests exercising quasi-parochial functions were
entitled, as of right, to seats in the synod, he would
gladly hear any priest who wished to address him.

The statutes proposed by him, with some modifica-
tions suggested after a free discussion, were promul-
gated. When the question of the establishment of a
diocesan seminary was taken up, the proposal met
with the warmest support of the whole body, and the
report of a committee on a practical plan was adopted.

The statutes of this first Philadelphia synod, which
have been virtually maintained and frequently repub-
lished, put in force the decrees of the Council of Bal-
timore. The erection or enlargement of a church was
not to be begun without the consent of the Bishop,
and the title was to be in all cases in his name as
trustee for the congregation. The penalty of suspen-
sion was enacted against any priest who countenanced
or aided trustees in invading episcopal authority.
Regulations were adopted in regard to baptism and
confession. No charge was to be exacted for adminis-
tering any sacrament, though free-will offerings for
baptisms and marriages might be received ; but it was
peremptorily forbidden to ask or even receive any-
thing for confession, enforcing an ancient and univer-
sal rule. The use of the Baltimore catechism was
made general until one was adopted for the whole
country with the sanction of the Pope, Works for
circulation among the faithful were required to bear
episcopal approbation. Priests were required to re-
main in their parochial districts and not leave them,
much less officiate in the districts of others without
permission. The mode of keeping the Holy Eucharist

THE CHOLERA. 553

and carrying it to the sick was prescribed. Mid-
night mass on Christmas day, from the danger in-
volved, was forbidden. It was also prescribed that no
religious community of women should be introduced
into any district without the written consent of the
Bishop. The last statute regulated some of the do-
mestic economy of the clergy.^

Bishop Kenrick thus made a great step toward the
establishment of uniform discipline in the diocese and
the cultivation of a true ecclesiastical spirit. But
before much could be accomplished toward the estab-
lishment of the sorely needed diocesan seminary, the
cholera was bearing destruction through the land.
Bishop Kenrick, in a pastoral letter on the 12th of
July, exhorted his flock to endeavor, by prayer and
works of penance, to avert the anger of God and to
prepare, by the use of the sacraments, for a sudden
death. As vegetables and fish were regarded as dan-
gerous articles of food, the usual abstinence was
suspended. -

The Catholic clergy and Sisters of Charity devoted
themselves to the care of the cholera patients. Rev.
Michael Hurley giving the parochial residence of St,
Augustine's Church for use as a hospital, and the Sis-
ters exciting by their services feelings of gratitude,
which prompted offers of rich plate, but unfortunately
the feelings were short-liv^d. "If their exertions
have been useful to their suffering fellow-beings and
satisfactory to the public authorities," wrote the Sis-

' " Constitutiones Diocesanae in Synodis Philadelpliiensibus, annis 1833
et 1842, latae et promulgatse." Philadelphia, 1842 ; U. S. Cath. Miscel-
lany, xi., pp. 390, 398 ; Truth Teller, viii., p. 205 ; Boston Intelligen-
cer, iii., p. 279.

''Pastoral Letter, U. S. Cath. Miscellany, xii., p. 38 ; Truth Teller,
viii., p. 246.

554 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

ters, "they deem it a sufficient reward, and indeed
the only one wliich it would be consistent with their
vocation to receive." ^

No sooner had the ravages of the cholera ceased than
Bishop Kenrick resumed his visits to the churches
outside of Philadelphia, to administer confirmation
and examine the progress of religion. Thence he pro-
ceeded to Elizabethtown, Clearfield, where he dedi-
cated the Church of St. Francis of Assisi, Huntingdon,
Williamsburg, Newry, Harman's Bottom, Waynes-
burg, Chambersburg, and Path Valley.^

In thanking the Leopoldine Association for gener-
ous aid toward the Seminary, Bishop Kenrick estima-
ted the Catholic iDopulation of his diocese at 100,000,
one-fourth of them being in the city of Pliiladeli3liia.
He had only 88 priests, 29 seculars, the others Jesuits,
Augustinians, and Franciscans to attend fifty churches
and many stations. Several of the priests were yield-
ing to the influence of age and infirmities, so that it
was vitally important to train up young levites to
lighten their labors, and in time succeed them.^

Those were days of religious controversy, and the
Philadelphia diocese was aroused by them. The
Rev. John Hughes, who had been secretary to Bishop
Kenrick and had erected St. John's Church, though
busy with his parochial duties and the care of a school,
which he soon began, was drawn into a controversy

"Truth Teller, viii., pp. 254, 382. Sisters of Charity to the Mayor,
Oct. 26, 1832. Vote of thanks to Rev. M. Hurley, Sept. 6, 1832.
Catholic Herald, v., p. 397. The services of Augustinians and Sisters
were repaid with fire in 1844.

* On the 22d September he recalled the dispensation allowing the use of
flesh meat on Friday and Saturday, and the next day confirmed in Wil-
mington. U. S Cath. Miscellany, xii., pp. 142, 158, 206.

^ Berichte der Leopoldinen Stiftung, Vienna, 1833, v., p. 38 ; vi., p. 25.

REV. JOHN HUGHES. 555

with Rev. John Breckinridge, a Piesb.yterian minis-
ter of no little reputation. The controversy was to be
narrowed to the question : "Is the Protestant relig-
ion the religion of Christ," with a prelindnary discus-
sion : ' ' What is the infallible rule of faith \ ' ' Bishop
Kenrick, as well as many prudent and learned clergy-
men, regretted the whole affair, but it gave Rev. Mr,
Hughes a field where he was able to display great
ability and skill. The discussion lasted from Janu-
ary to October, and appeared in The Presbyterian
and a paper begun by Rev. Mr. Hughes, The Catholic
Herald. No discussion had ever attracted such gen-
eral attention, and thousands of Protestants became,
for the first time, aware of the strength and grounds
of the Catholic position on the rule of faith. To this
topic most of the arguments were devoted. Rev. Mr.
Breckinridge withdrawing before the main question
was reached. The discussion was subsequently
printed in a stout volume, and reached hosts of
readers.^

Just as the controversy ceased, a Presbyterian
Synod at Columbia, Pa., passed a series of resolutions
assailing the Catholic Church in no measured terms.
This drew from Prince Gallitzin a rej^ly entitled
"Six Letters of Advice.""

When the terrible cholera once more returned
to Philadelphia in 1833, the Board of Guardians
applied to the Bishop of Philadelphia for Sisters
of Charity to attend the patients at the almshouse.

' Controversy between Rev. Messrs. Hughes and Breckinridge on the
subject, " Is the Protestant Religion the Religion of Christ ? " Philadel-
phia, 1833. Hassard, " Life of the Most Rev. John Hughes," pp. 134-
145.

* Catholic Telegraph, iii., p. 172.

556 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED ST A TES.

Again did the spouses of Christ hasten to face the
danger from which others shrank.^

On the 17th of July, 1833, died Father Charles Bon-
aventure Maguire, O.S.F., who, after escaping the
guillotine at the commencement of the French Revo-
lution, and giving the wounded and dying on the bat-
tle-field of Waterloo all the consolations of religion,
came to the United States to labor with zeal and
ability in Western Pennsylvania. After enlarging
the primitive church on Liberty and Washington
streets, he begun in 1829 a noble church on Grant's
Hill, Pittsburgh, and, master of several languages,
reached Catholics of many lands in his extended mis-
sions. His assistant priest, Rev. Mr. Gegan, soon
followed him to the grave. ^

Encouraged by the Bishop Administrator, Rev. Mr.
Keily, of St. Mary's, an experienced i3riest, who had
directed a similar institution in Washington, opened
an academy for young men near his church, as did
also Rev. John Hughes at St. John's. Rev. Mr. Keily,
encouraged by the success of his academy, in time
withdrew from St. Mary's, and attempted to establish
Laurel Hill College in Penn Township, which opened
on the 1st of January, and for which he obtained an
act of incorporation on the 13tli of April, 1835.^

Bishop Kenrick had by this time taken a residence

' Correspondence, Jesuit, iv. ,p. 88.

* Catholic Telegraph, ii., p., 311 ; Lambing, " History of the Catholic
Church in the Dioceses of Pittsburgh and Allegheny," p. 43, etc.;
Jesuit, iv., p. 128; Catholic Telegraph, ii., p. 311 ; U. S. Cath. Mis-
cellany, xiii. , p. 393. Father Maguire published in 1825, "Defense of the
Divinity of Jesus Christ, and of the mystery of the Real Presence, in
reply to an anonymous letter on Unitarian Principles," 8vo, p. 62.

* Correspondence with trustees, Nov., 1834, N.Y. Weekly Register, iii.,
p. 215. " The Substance of the Farewell Sermon delivered at St. Mary's
Church, Philadelphia, Nov. 9, 1834," Philadelphia, 1835.

ST. CHARLES' SEMINARY. 557

for himself and there opened his little Theological
Seminiuy, while collecting resources and books for a
future edifice and library. In 1835 the Seminary
directed by the Rev. Peter R. Kenrick had ten semi-
narians, seven of them reading Liebermann's Dogmatic,
theology. Contributions for the library came liber-
ally. Very Rev. Dr. Cullen, rector of the Irish College
at Rome, gave 150 volumes of valuable works ; the
Congregation de Propaganda Fide, Bishop Trevern of
Strasburg, Rev, John Hughes and Rev. Mr. Foulhouze
were also benefactors.^

Bishop Kenrick especially commended the Seminary
to the clergy and faithful of his diocese in his pastoral
for the Lenten season of 1885, and instituted a Semi-
nary Fund Society which has been maintained with
good results.

An unfinished building on Eighteenth and Race
streets was soon obtained, and became the Semi-
nary of St. Charles Borromeo, which was incorporated
April 13, 1838.2

To increase the clergy of the diocese, and enable
secular j^riests to erect new churches in the northern
and southern districts of Philadelphia, Bishop Ken-
rick resolved to restore St. Joseph's Church and resi-
dence to the Society of Jesus, its original founders.
At Easter, 1833, Y. Rev. Father Kenney and F. Ste-
phen L. Dubuisson arrived and assumed charge of

' Charter and Reports of the Philadelphia Theological Seminary of
St. Charles Borromeo, dated April 13, 1838, Philadelphia, 1857, pp.
7-11 ; U. S. Oath. Miscellany, xiii., p. 86.; xiv., p. 186.

* N. Y. Weekly Register, iii., p. 344. Vallette, Brief Sketch of the
Seminary of St. Charles Borromeo, in U. S. Cath. Hist. Mag., i., p.
21. " Charter and Report," Philadelphia, 1856. Pastoral Letters of
Bishop Kenrick, Feb. 26, 1835 ; U. S. Cath. Miscellany, xiv., p. 300;
Sept. 21, 1838, Catholic Herald, vi., p. 305.

558 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

the cliurcli, the parochial residence being shared
with Bishop Conwell and his relatives. Later in the
year Fr. James Ryder arrived, and thus the Jesuit
Fathers resumed the work begun in the last century
.at St. Joseph's.

Rev. T. J. Donaghue leaving St. Joseph's began a
new church, St. Michael's, in the Northern Liberties,
laying the corner-stone on the 8th of April, 1833. It
was dedicated in September of the following year.
Churches were dedicated also at Newry, Johnstown,
Youngstown, Tamaqua, and at Pittsburgh, where St.
Paul's Church was finally opened for divine service.
Churches were starting up at severah places about the
same time. Father Dubuisson made excursions to
Silver Lake, Friendsville, Carbondale, and Honesdale
in Pennsylvania, and to points in New Jersey.^

In his visitation of 1834 Bishop Kenrick encouraged
Rev. B. Keenan of Lancaster, who had just erected a
church at Columbia. Then he proceeded to St. Pat-
rick's at Little York; the Sacred Heart, Conewago,
and the chapel at Paradise, known in earlier days as
Pigeon Hill ; his next stations were Gettysburg, Cham-
bersburg, and Pittsburg, officiating, instructing, and
confirming in all. His annual visitations, although he
devoted several months to them every year for three
years and a half, had not enabled Bishop Kenrick to
reach all the churches or stations in his diocese.
Accordingly, after discharging the duties which were
apparent to all, he proceeded to search less frequented

' Woodstock Letters, iii., p. 94 ; Annales de la Prop, de la Foi, viii.,
p. 215.

"Truth Teller, X., pp. 133, 159,311 ; Weekly Register, iii., p. 5 ; iv.,p.
263 ; ii., p. 104, 119 ; U. S. Cath. Miscellany, xiv., pp. 119, 250 ; Jesuit,
iv., p. 16; v., p. 274. "Mission du P. Dubuis.son de la C. de Jesus
dans le Nordde la Pennsylvania," etc., Rome, 1836.

BISHOP KENRICK'S WORKS. 559

districts. Tlius in 1835 we find him, after confirming
at Newcastle and Wilmington, traversing the State of
Delaware to discover any Catholic families who ought
to be organized so as to be reguLarly attended by the
nearest priest. He did the same in Western Pennsyl-
vania, stimulating the erection of a church and
gathering a little congregation at Bridgewater. In
Lycoming County he found several German Catholic
families who had not seen a jjriest for more than
eighteen years ; but he sought in vain at Towanda,
among the descendants of the French settlers, any
trace or memory of the religion of their ancestors.^
He was thus really a good shepherd seeking the sheep
that were lost.

These visitations, of which he had just completed
the fifth, proved to him that the diocese was far too
extensive for one bishop conscientiously to fulfill all
the duties of supervision and detail. Addressing the
Congregation de Propaganda Fide he explained the
immense labor required, and earnestly urged the erec-
tion of a see at Pittsburgh, a city with eight thousand
Catholics and two churches, St. Paul's, the finest in
the State. He was ready to assume the organization
of the new diocese, and recommended the appoint-
ment of Rev. John Hughes as Administrator of Phila-
delphia.^ The Congregation de Propaganda Fide
yielded to the views of Bishop Kenrick, but when the
matter was laid before the Pope, canonical objections
raised by Bishop England prevailed, and the whole
matter was deferred till action had been taken on it
at the next Provincial Council. Bishop Kenrick was

1 U. S. Cath. Miscellany, xv., pp. 61, 182 ; Annales de la Propagation
de la Foi, x., p. 154.

^ Bishop Kenrick to the Propaganda, July 25, 1835.

560 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

accordingl}^ left to bear alone, for nearly ten years
more, the immense and daily increasing burden.^ It
was, therefore, with earnestness that in a circular in
February, 1837, he solicited his clergy and people to
unite in prayer that God would guide the approaching
Council in its work.^ When the Metropolitan and his
suffragans met, there was a general wish to carry out
the plan of division proposed by Bishop Kenrick. "It
seemed expedient to the Father to petition the Sove-
reign Pontiff for the erection of a new episcopal see in
the city of Pittsburgh, to embrace in its diocese that
part of the State commonly called The Western Dis-
trict of Pennsylvania, following the civil division rec-
ognized in the laws of the State." Bishop England
arrived after the Council opened, and the letter of the
Fathers to the Pope contained no petition for a see at
Pittsburgh, though it solicited the erection of other
sees which were established.^

With his hopes thus shattered, Bishop Kenrick re-
turned to his diocese, and in June began a visitation
extending from Elizabethtown to Milton, which occu-
pied him till September. During this apostolic jour-
ney he dedicated, on the 29th of June, a little church
erected near Bridgewater. He also visited a colony
of Alsatians near Meadville, setting up an altar in an
unfinished house and offering the holy sacrifice for
them. Roused by his zeal they began at once the
erection of a frame church.* Returning by way of
Pottsville and Reading, he reached Philadelphia only

' Bishop Kenrick to Rev. John Hughes, Jan. 19, 1837 ; Bishop Eng-
land to same, Jan. 14, 1837. Hassard, pp. 168-171.

•^ Notice, Feb. 22, 1887. Catholic Herald, v., p. 63.

^ Concilia Provincialia Baltimori habita ab anno 1829 usque ad annum
1840. Baltimore, 1842, pp. 121, 133, 142.

* Catholic Herald, v., p. 150, 223, 253.

BISHOP KENRICK'S WORKS.

561

to labor to make the changes and meet the wants of
which his visitation had shown him the necessity.
Before the close of the year he visited the New Jer-
sey portion of his diocese. His diocesan seminary had
gained the interest of his people ; ^ the Rev. Mr. Reilly
had opened an academy at Wilmington, the orphan asy-

ST. AUGUSTINE'S CHURCH, PHILADELPHIA.

lums by means of associations were well maintained.
The promotion of two of the priests of his diocese to
episcopal sees would deprive him of zealous clergy-

' Rev. Edward Barron, Superior, Feb. 21, 1838, reported thirteen in
the seminary, eight having been ordained the preceding year. The in-
stitution cost about $2000, all collected, except $365 from the Associa-
tion for the Propagation of the Faith. Cath. Herald, vi., p. 70. The
Leopoldine Association had already generously aided.

562 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

men ; God called to the reward of their labors Hev.
Michael Hurley, O.S. A., a native ajoparently of Phila-
delphia, educated in Italy, and ordained in the early
years of tlie century. From 1804 he had labored in the
mission in St, Augustine's Church, Philadelphia, re-
spected for his learning and devotedness, especially in
times of contagious disease. He founded the mission
church of St. Denis, Haverford, and made visits to
many stations in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. He
took an active part in founding the Catholic Herald and
contributed ably to its columns. He died on Whit-
sunday, May 14, 1837.^
Bishop Kenrick in his Lenten pastoral commended

SEAL OF BISHOP KENRICK.

his seminary and the orj^han asylums to the charity
of the faithful, citing the words of the apostle, "On
the first day of the week, let every one of you put
apart with himself, laying up what it shall well please
him." ^

St. Joseph's Church, the cradle of religion in Phila-
delphia, was at this time a "lowly edifice, tottering
to decay," and early in 1838 a meeting of Catholics
was called to devise means for erecting a more spa-
cious and appropriate church. The corner-stone of the
new church was blessed by Father James Ryder on

' Westcott, Memoir of the V. Rev. Michael Hurley, O.S. A., A. Cath.
Hist. Record, i., p. 165.
■•' Pastoral, Feb. 24, 1838.

BISHOP KENRICK'S WORKS. 563

the 4th of June, in presence of the venerable Bishop
Conwell, the Rt. Rev. Administrator being at the time
engaged on his annual visitation, during which he
dedicated a church at Beechwood settlement to St.
Juliana Falconieri^ St. Basil's in Cherry Township,
and St. Hippolytus near Meadville, and a church at
Erie, Rev. Nicholas Balleis preaching in German.^
The churches of this diocese had in ten years risen
from 35 to 70.

At the commencement of the year 1839 the seminary
of St. Charles Borromeo removed from its confined
limits on Fourth Street to a fine building on Race
Street, fronting Logan Square. Rev. Michael O'Con-
nor became Superior, devoting to it his remarkable
talent as a guide for young ecclesiastics, his solid
theological learning, and exhaustive knowledge of the
Fathers. Almost at the time it was opened, the Theo-
logia Dogmatica, prepared by Bishop Kenrick for the
press, amid his cares and anxieties, was placed in the
hands of the seminarians. It was a work welcomed
not only in that seminary but in all others in the
country, as well as by the clergy.^

After issuing a pastoral to excite his flock to a spirit
of prayer, mortification, and penance during Lent
Bishop Kenrick made another visitation. The great
benefit of these annual appearances of the head of the
diocese were seen in the dedication of new churches
at Norristown, Waynesborough, Doe Run, and Potts-
ville and the erection of the Church of St. Francis
Xavier at Fairmount.^

' Proceedings of meeting, Jan. 29. Catholic Herald, vi. , p. 37, 181, 205,
231, 268, 277 ; Catholic Register, i., p. 124 ; Truth Teller, xiv., p. 191.

' Catholic Herald, vii., p. 29.

3 lb., pp. 172, 180. 260, 301, 317, 381; Catholic Advocate iv., pp.
148, 155.

564 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

The next year the diocese lost two priests who had
labored long and well. The Rev. Patrick Kenny died
at Coffee Run, near Wilmington, in his 79th year, and
on the 6th of May Rev. Demetrius Augustine Gallitzin,
the second priest ordained in the United States by
Bishop Carroll, exx)ired at Loretto, Cambria County,
amid the mountain missions which he had created and
loved so well.^

In May 1840 the Bishops of the United States met at
Baltimore in a fourth provincial council, and Bishop
Kenrick again pleaded for a division of the diocese
confided to him. In the first private congregation
action was taken on the erection of a new see at Pitts-
burgh, and it was declared "that it seemed to the
Fathers that it should be erected according to the
decree of the last council," but, as before, the letters
to Rome were silent on the point and no action was
taken. ^

The ecclesiastical learning and the exquisite latinity
of Bishop Kenrick had already been recognized, and
the acts of many councils were due to his pen.

In 1840 the Catholic population of the territory
embraced in the diocese of Philadelphia was estimated
at 120,000, with about seventy churches, all frequented
by numbers that showed increased piety and fervor.
Turbulent opposition to the discipline of the Church
had died away. Bishop Kenrick by a series of
instructions on points of doctrine and piety, delivered
every Sunday afternoon at St. John's, drew many
hearers, and led the way to similar instructions in
other churches. The debts on his seminary and
churches were the great obstacle to the progress of

' N. Y. Catholic Register, i., pp. 222, 278.

' " Concilia Provincialia Baltimori habita," Baltimore, 1842, p. 162.

REDEMPTORISTS AT PITTSBURGH. 565

the faith, but the increasing public spirit of his peo-
ple, with aid from Lyons and Vienna, gave hopes of
reducing the crushing burden/

Bishop Kenrick began his visitation in June, accom-
panied by Rev. Mr. O' Conner, at Lancaster, thence
taking his way to Elizabethtown, Harrisburg, Lewis-
town, with its poor wooden church ; Bellefonte, with a
line one of stone ; the French settlement, Clearfield,
where he aided the congregation in their struggle to
complete their church ; St. Nicholas at Red Bank ;
Mancolini, St. Hippolytus Church ; Erie, where the
Catholics had merely a hired hall but were earnestly
trying to build ; Mercer, Beaver ; Pittsburgh, where a
German church was in hand ; Blairsville, Johnstown,
Loretto, Harrisburg, Reading, Massillon, Goshen-
hoppen.^

As the German Catholics increased at Pittsburgh,
they assembled at St. Patrick's Church until they
hired a factory of Jacob Schneider. Unfortunately,
here too dissensions arose, and a series of priests, after
laboring in vain to restore harmony and zeal, succes-
sively abandoned the task. Upon the withdrawal of
the Benedictine Father Nicholas Balleis they were for
a time without a clergyman. Bishop Kenrick, ascer-
taining that the Redemptorists then in Ohio were
willing to take charge of the mission, in 1839 invited
the Superior Father Prost to do so. He began his
work zealously, and the first Sunday, after Vespers,
exhorted his hearers to make the Virgin Martyr St.
Philomena their patroness and to promise solemnly to

' V. Rev. Peter R. Kenrick, " Relazione dello Stato della Diocesi di
Piladelfia."

^ Bishop Kenrick to Leopoldine Association, Sept. 8, 1840, " Berichte"
xiv., p. 6.

666 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

dedicate the Factory Church to her, if she would
obtain the restoration of peace. Prayer triumphed.
The factory was purchased for fifteen thousand dol-
lars, and was soon transformed into the Church of St.
Philomena and a Redemptorist convent, the first
house of the congregation in the United States. Here
before long the Rev. John N. Neumann received the
habit and began his novitiate to become in time Bishop
of Philadelphia, and die in tlie odor of sanctity,
so that the process of his canonization has actually
begun. ^

On the 14tli of November, 1842, Bishop Kenrick ad-
dressed a letter to the Controllers of the Public Schools
in Philadelphia, embodying in the mildest form the
conscientious objections of Catholics to the existing
regulations, by which Catholic children were com-
pelled to take part in reading the King James Bible,
in hymns and j)rayers from Protestant sources, and
also against misrepresentation of Catholics in the
class books and Avorks on the library shelves. "The
school law," wrote the Bishop, "which provides 'that
the religious predilections of the parents shall be
resi^ected,' was evidently framed in the spirit of our
Constitution, which holds the rights of conscience to
be inviolable." He appealed to their justice under
the belief that his words would receive due considera-
tion.

On the lOth of January the Board adopted a reso-
lution "that no children be required to attend or
unite in the reading of the Bible in the public schools,

' Berger, " Life of Right Rev. John N. Neumann, D.D.," New York,
1884, pp. 238, 246 ; Beck, " Goldenesjubilaiim des Wirkens der Redemp-
toristenvater in der St. Philomena Kirche," Pittsburg, 1889, pp. 93-101.
Berichte der Leopoldinen-Stiftung, 1842, xv., p. 4.

SEE AT PITTSBURGH. 567

whose parents are conscientiously opposed there-
to." '

Bishop Kenrick attended the fiftli Provincial Coun-
cil of Baltimore in the month of Ma^^ and at this
synod besides the Bishops of the United States, Rt.
Rev, John M, Odin, Bishop of Clandiopolis and Vicar-
Apostolic of the new republic of Texas, was also
present. The division of the diocese of Philadelphia
and the erection of a see at Pittsburgh were again
solicited by the Fathers of the Council. ^ This time
the effort was not unsuccessful, and the name of V.
Rev. Michael O'Connor, whom he had made his Vicar-
General at Pittsburgh, was sent on as the i3riest pro-
posed for the new see. Dr. O'Connor hastened to
Rome to solicit permission to enter the Society of
Jesus, but Pope G-regory XVI. said, "You will be
Bishop first and Jesuit afterwards."

Bishop Kenrick saw churches begun and carried on
in different parts of his diocese. St. Philip Neri's
and St. Patrick's in his ei:>iscopal city ; a church com-
pleted at Nesquehoning and another begun at Beaver
Meadow by Rev. John Maloney ; new churches at
Trenton, New Jersey and Du Pout's Mills, Delaware.
Societies like the Dorcas Society were encouraged,
with those for the aid of the orphans and the support
of the Seminary.

His leisure was devoted to the studies so dear to
him. Besides his pastorals he issued a Letter on
Christian Union, a work on the Catholic Doctrine of
Justification, elicited by the Oxford movement in
England, and his Theologia Moralis for the use of

' Catholic Herald, xi., p. 23 ; U. S. Catholic Magazine, ii., p. 125.
' " Concilium Provinciale Baltimorense V, liabitum anno 1843," Balti-
more, 1844, p. 10.

568 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

Seminaries in this country. His grand work on The
Primacy of the Apostolic See was received with ap-
plause.

The mission to the Maryland settlement in Liberia,
where Rt, Rev. Edward Barron had been made bislioj),
was heartily seconded by Bishop Kenrick ; some of
liis clergy volunteered to serve there, and collections
were made to aid the good work.

When Rev, Michael O'Connor was sent to Pitts-
burgh as Vicar-General, Bishop Kenrick induced
the priests of the Congregation of the Mission to
assume the direction of the Seminary of St. Charles
Borromeo, and in the summer of 1841 four priests of
that community. Rev. Mariano Mailer, Superior, with
Revs. Anthony Penco, M. Frasi, and Thomas Burke,
arrived and entered on their duties. The Seminary
numbered then thirty students, more than half ad-
vancing in their theological course.^

Before the close of the year the Catholics of Phila-
delphia witnessed the consecration of two bishops,
Rt. Rev. Peter Paul Lefevre as Bishop of Zela and
Coadjutor of Detroit, in St. John's Church, on the
28th of November, and soon after of Rt. Rev. Peter R.
Kenrick as Bishop of Drasa and Coadjutor of St. Louis
in St. Mary's Church.

The venerable Bishox) Conwell had nearly reached
the age of a hundred. For some years his sight had
been entirely lost, and he could no longer officiate at
the altar. He bore this privation and all the ills of age
with Christian fortitude, retaining his cheerful and
gentle disposition. Bitter feelings had died away,
and his declining years were surrounded with the ven-

' Bishop Ryan in U. S. Cath. Hist. Mag., i. , p. 379 ; Annual Report
of the President of the Theological Seminary of St. Charles Borromeo,
Philadelphia, 1842.

DEATH OF BISHOP CONWELL. 569

eration and respect of the clergy and the faithful.
After a brief illness he expired on the morning of
Friday, April 22, 1842, prepared for his last end with
all the consolation of religion, and full of the faith
and piety that characterized him. A requiem mass
was celebrated in St. Joseph's for the repose of his
soul by Right Rev. Dr. Kenrick, with Canon Salz-
bacher as assistant priest. His body, followed by seve-
ral societies, tlie seminarians, and clergy, was then
borne to the cemetery at the south end of the city.^

' Catholic Herald, x. , p. 133 ; N. Y. Freeman's Journal.

CHAPTER yil.

DIOCE^SE OF PHILADELPHIA.
KT. EEV. FRANCIS PATRICK KENRICK, THIRD BISHOP, 1842-3.

By the death of the venerable Dr. Conwell, the Rt.
Rev. Francis P. Kenrick became Bishop of the diocese
which he had administered for several years to the
advantage of religion. The obscnre little body of
Catholics, scarcely noticed, had grown so as to excite
a revival of old prejudices and hatreds. The effort of
the Catholics in New York to recover a x^art of the
school fund once allowed their schools, had served as
a pretext for renewing the violent attacks on the doc-
trines and practices of Catliolics. Lecturers went from
town to tow^n and in a tissue of misrepresentations
excited the worst passions against the Church, while
they sought to provoke Catholics to violence by the
violence of their abuse.

One of Bishop's Kenrick' s first acts was to proclaim
the Jubilee granted by Pope Gregory XVI. in order
to obtain from God by the prayers of the faithful a
remedy for the evils which overwhelmed the Church
in Spain. ^ Exercises were given in the city churches,
and gradually throughout the diocese to enable all
by jDroper instructions to approach the sacraments
worthily, and, while obtaining spiritual advantages
for themselves, join their suffrages to the millions of
Catholics thus united in prayer. In May, 1842, Bishop
Kenriclv convened his clergy in a synod at the Church
of St. John the Evangelist, after they had made a

' Pastoral of Bishop Kenrick, May, 1842 ; Catholic Herald, x., p. 145.

570

SYNOD OF 1842. 571

spiritual retreat under the Very Rev. John Timon.
The decrees of the four Councils of Baltimore were
confirmed and the Ritual prepared under their direc-
tion was adopted. The abuses of choirs were cor-
rected ; the limits of parochial districts were to be
lixed and residence required. The Bishop declared
that the priest in charge of a church or district should
not be removed without grave cause. Rules were
adopted for the division of perquisites between the
priest in charge and his assistants. The erection and
use of confessionals was strictly enjoined. Regula-
tions as to faculties of priests of other dioceses were
13rescribed, and also as to matrimony, proper regis-
ters, and funerals. Regular conferences were to be
held quarterly at the Seminary and in Pittsburg. As
no catechism had yet been adopted by a jDrovincial
council, he adopted Butler's Catechism, and in Ger-
man that of Augsburg, already accepted in Cincin-
nati, with the little catechism of Canisius, so long in
use in the German congregations of Pennsylvania.

On the 19th of June he began at Doe Run a visita-
tion carried as far as Erie, and which lasted till the
beginning of September. He officiated not only in
churches, but gathered the faithful, where few, in
private houses. He dedicated new churches, encour-
aged the faithful to begin needed chapels, or replace
primitive and tottering buildings by more seemly
structures. He preached in the court-house at Erie,
vindicating Catholics from the charge of uncharitable-
ness, as he did in the court-house at Brookville on
temperance.^

' Constitiitiones Dioccesanse in Sj-nodis Philadelpliiensibus, annis 1832
et 1842, latis et promulgatis, Philadelphia, 1842. Catholic Herald, x., p.
165 ; Catholic Advocate, vii., p. 145.

« Catholic Herald, x., pp. 173-284.

572 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

After liis return lie gave new life to the organiza-
tions for the support of the Seminary.

The bulls erecting the new Diocese of Pittsburgh
were issued on the 7th of August, 1843, and Bishop
O'Connor was consecrated at Rome on the feast of the
Assumption. After the establishment of this see, the
Diocese of Philadelphia embraced the portion of the
State east of the first degree west of Washington,
Franklin County to the south and Potter to the north
being the limits. It also included the State of Dela-
ware and West Jersey.^

Bishop Kenrick could then devote himself to the
development of Catholicity within these limits.

* Catholic Herald, xi., p. 20.

RT. REV. RICHARD VINCENT WHELAN, FIRST BISHOP OF RICHMOND.

■ 574

CHAPTER VIII.

DIOCESE OF RICHMOND.
ET. REV. RICHARD VINCENT WHELAN, SECOND BISHOP, 1841-3.

Richard Vincent Whelan, selected to fill the
long vacant see of Riclimond, was born in Baltimore,
January 28, 1809, In his tenth year he entered
Mount St. Mary's, a very delicate lad, but strength
came as well as knowledge at the Mountain. With
classmates like John Hughes, Thomas R. Butler, John
Gildea, Francis X. Grartland, John McCloskey, John
McCaffrey he held his own, winning prizes in many
a contest. He terminated his course with honor in
1826, and after making two years' study of theology
under Rev. S. G. Brute, he spent four years more in
completing his course at St. Sulpice, Paris, and was
ordained at Versailles in 1831. After his return to
Maryland his merit and abilities induced Archbishop
Whitfield to propose him for President of Mount St.
Mary's, in 1834, as successor of Rev. John B. Purcell.
Circumstances, however, led him to decline the office,
and Archbishop Eccleston assigned him to the Vir-
ginia missions, where he was to labor to death. He
was stationed at Harper's Ferry, his care extending to
the Catholics in Winchester, Martinsburg, and Bath,
with occasional visits to Waterford, Shepherdtown, and
Romney. He took up work in his large parish with
spirit, visiting it on horseback at great self-sacrifice
and risk. He was soon building St. John's Church at
Martinsburg at a cost of $2000, and as that progressed
planned one to be dedicated to St. Vincent de Paul at

575

676 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

Bath. The Jesuits at Georgetown kindly gave paint-
ings to adorn these chapels. In 1838 Martinsburg had
" St. Vincent's Female Benevolent School," under the
Sisters of Charity, attracting many pupils by its com-
modious building and beautiful site, and excellent
instruction there given. As labor increased he ob-
tained an assistant and took up residence at Martins-
burg, where mass was said every Sunday, twice a
month at Harper's Ferry, and once at Winchester and
Waterford. He displayed not only energy, bat econ-
omy and prudence. He effected all without incurring
debt, and actually laying up a little fund which he
offered to the Archbishop of Baltimore.^

Such was the active missionary priest selected to
govern the diocese of Richmond. When the subject
was first broached to him he treated it as a joke,^ but
the bulls came, and he was required to accept the
burden. He was consecrated on the 21st of March,
1841, in the Cathedral of his native city, Baltimore,
by Archbishop Eccleston.

In a pastoral addressed to his flock from Baltimore
he sought their prayers to aid him in his great work ;
he suggested the necessity of definite plans to secure
more laborers in the vineyard. " Why is the solemn
chant of the ancient liturgy heard far beyond the
Alleghanies? Why are the prairies of the distant
West dotted with Catholic temples, while in Virginia
the very name is scarcely known, or known but to be
abused ? It may be that we have not sufficiently
appreciated the value of religious truth ; that we have
neither availed ourselves of such means as were within

' Early Virginia Sketches, by the venerable H. F. Parke, in Catholic
Mirror and letters.

" Letter to Rev. N. Zocchi, June 17, 1837.

ST. VINCENT'S SEMINARY. 577

our reach, nor lifted our voices in humble supplication
to Him who has promised to grant what is sought in
sincerity and with perseverance."'

Making Richmond his residence, St. Peter's Church,
on a wide street leading from Capitol Square, be-
came his pro-cathedral. He attended the liock there
with Rev. Timothy O'Brien, and from it he made
regular visits to Lynchburg and Petersburg. Rev.
J. O'Brien succeeded him at Martinsburg. Rev. A.
Hitselberger was soon erecting a new church at Nor-
folk. Portsmouth had its church and priest, and
Rev. J. Hoerner was stationed at St. Mary's, Wheel-
ing. The scattered Catholic population did not in his
estimation exceed six thousand. The Bishop's first
great object was a seminary ; he purchased a farm,
and the house on it became the Seminary and College
of St. Vincent de Paul, in which he soon had thirteen
students. This little institution, though he was not
able to maintain it long, gave Virginia several good
priests. Revs. Edward Fox, Francis Devlin, Austin
Grogan, Charles Farrell.'^

During his first year Bishop Whelan crossed the
mountains to visit Wheeling, the only place in West-
ern Virginia blessed with a Catholic church, attended
by Rev. James Hoerner. Here he preached, instructed,
and confirmed. The other Catholics west of the
mountains in Marion, Preston, and Hampshire coun-
ties depended on the charity of priests at Pittsburg
or Cumberland ; those further south appealing in
need to Cincinnati, and more than once Bishop Pur-
cell attended the sick and dying in the valley of the
great Kanawha.

1 Pastoral Letter, March 22, 1841, N. Y. Freeman's Journal, i., p. 326.
U. S. Catholic Magazine, iii., p. 610.
"U. S. Catholic Magazine, ii., p. 61.

578 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

A handsome building was soon erected at Rich-
mond for St. Joseph's Female Academy under five
Sisters of Charity, and here as well as at Martinsburg
and Norfolk the Sisters besides their school took care
of orphans.

On the 23d of January, 1842, Bishop Whelan dedi-
cated St. Joseph's Church at Petersburg, and on the
10th of July, St. Patriclv's Church, Norfolk. The
next month he visited Wytheville, Avhere he baptized
several converts, and where Shei-iff Matthews gave
land for a church and a contribution in money. He
fixed on Summerville as a spot for a priest to attend
the Kanawha region, and Kingwood as a center for
the northwest. Rev. Mr. Moriarty of Portsmouth
said mass for the soldiers at Old Point Comfort.

The next year the energetic Rev. Daniel Downey
reared a brick church at Lynchburg, and in his
laborious Journeys visited a large district. He found
but one or two families at Staunton, but in a few
years had such a spirited congregation that they
erected a church near which he took up his residence.

Bishop Whelan set an example to all his clergj^
laboring as earnestly in the ministry as when first
sent to Harper's Ferry. In 1843 he succeeded in
inducing the Redemptorists to rouse the faith of the
German Catholics near Wheeling and hoped soon to
gather them in a church of their own.^

The Rev. Mr. Moriarty stationed at Portsmouth

'Parke, " Some Notes on the Rise and Spread of the Catholic 3Iis-
sions in Virginia"; articles in the Catholic Mirror; Keiley, " Memoranda
of the History of the Catholic Church, Richmond, Va.," Norfolk, 1874 ;
Catholic Herald, x., pp. 244, 252, 269; Peyton, " History of Augusta
County," Staunton, 1882, p. 90. " Berichte der Leopoldincn-Stiftung,"
xvii., p. 16. The church at Norfolk received from Louis Philippe,
King of the French, a fine copy of Murillo's Assumption, and from Dr.
Higgins a large crucifix of great artistic value.

CATHOLICS IN THE ARMY. 579

numbered among his flock not only the Catholics at
the navy yard there, but also the officers and soldiers
of the ancient faith stationed at Fortress Monroe.
In his district about this time a case occurred involv-
ing the liberty of conscience and freedom of worship
guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States.
Lieutenant John O'Brien Avas ordered to march a cer-
tain number of regular soldiers to a Protestant church
on Sunday. Conceiving the order to be unconstitu-
tional, he determined to obey it only so far as to march
the men to the door of the church, leaving to the
choice of each man whether to take part in the ser-
vices or not. On his return he was deprived of his
sword, and placed under arrest. When it was j^ro-
posed to bring him before a court martial, the diffi-
culties of the case were evident. Lieutenant O'Brien
was known to be an able military lawyer and a
thorough officer, and his defense would be a powerful
one. The case would come up free from any suspicion
of rival religious feelings as the commandant Col. de
Barth de Walbach, like O'Brien, was a Catholic. The
War Department did not allow the case to proceed.
Lieutenant O'Brien's sword was restored. In a stan-
dard work, which he published a few years afterwards,
"A Treatise on American Military Law,'-^ Lieuten-
ant O'Brien treated at length the question of compul-
sory attendance on divine service.

' Philadelphia, 1846, ch. viii., pp. 57-66. U.S. Catholic Magazine, iii.,
p. 473.

CHAPTER IX.

DIOCESE OF CHARLESTON.

IIT. REV. JOHN ENGLAND, FIRST BISHOP, 1829-1842; RT. REV.
WILLIAM CLANCY, BISHOP OF ORIEN AND COAD-
JUTOR, 1834-1837.

Impressed with the want of a religious community
of women for the work of education and cliarity in
his diocese, Bishop England joyfully welcomed the
proposal of three ladies in Baltimore, who offered their
services for his diocese, being like himself natives of
Cork. They were Misses Mary and Honora O' Gor-
man, and Teresa Barry. Dr. England formed them
into a religious community, giving them the rule of
St. Vincent de Paul. These first Sisters took their
vows on the 8tli of December, 1830, adopting the name
of Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy. Sister Mary Joseph
O' Gorman was the first Superior. The little com-
munity began its labors in a small house on Baufain
Street, Charleston. An elderly maiden lady, Miss
Julia Datty, a native of St. Domingo, after aiding
them, was received into the order on account of her
great piety and ability. She died of cliolera, October
3, 1836, while Superior of the sisterhood. Under
God's blessing this order prospered and in time estab-
lished houses at Savannah, Wilmington, and Sumter.
"The object of their institution," wa-ote Bishop
England, " is to educate females of the middling classes
of society ; also to have a school for free colored girls,
and to give religious instruction to female slaves ;
they will also devote themselves to the service of the
sick." Visits to almshouses and prisons were also

580

SISTERS OF OUR LADY OF MERCY. 581

included in their work. The Bishop could declare
publicly, in 1833, that the Sisterhood had met his
most sanguine expectations, and he alluded to their
generous offer to give their services during the cholera
in any way the board of health might direct.^

During the year 1830, Dr. England took part in the
consecration of Bishop Kenrick at Bardstown and
visited New Orleans and Cincinnati. He was thus
able to confer with several of the newly consecrated
members of the hierarchy. On his return he set to
work to extend his cathedral, a rough, low frame build-
ing, originally thrown up merely as a temporary accom-
modation on the rear of the lot he had purchased as a
site for a proposed structure. He had never been
able, however, to take any steps toward erecting a
cathedral and there was little promise for the future.
Bishop England accordingly extended the sanctuary
and finished his temporary church in Gothic style with
decorations to make it less unworthy of the holy
sacrifice.

During his visitations in December he dedicated
St. Peter's Church, at Columbia, and subsequently
preached in the State House to a large audience.
Without resources to erect churches or institutions
he labored to keep the faith alive by conventions and
frequent visitations. Not only could he make little
progress, but he met with severe losses. In a confla-
gration which laid most of Fayetteville, N. C, in
ashes. May 29, 1831, the Catholic church was entirely

' Bishop England, " A Brief Account of the Introduction of the Catho-
lic Religion into the States of N. Carolina, S. Carolina, and Georgia,"
Dublin, 1832, p. 45; O'Connell, "Catholicity in the Carolinas and
Georgia," New York, 1879, pp. 64-5 ; Metropolitan, Baltimore, 1858,
p. 493, etc. ; Bishop England's Works, iv., pp. 335, 340, 361 ; Letters of
Mother Mary Teresa Barry.

582 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

destroyed. The Rev. John Magennis soon set to work
to rebuild St. Patrick's, and collections were taken up
throughout the diocese to aid him. Catholics in Balti-
more and Philadelphia also sent aid, Charles Carroll,
of Carroll ton, heading the Maryland list.

In his visitations Bishop England was received with
courtesy by the Protestants and often invited to
preach. No unjDleasant consequences followed except
on a single occasion at Sparta, in April, 1831, when, at
the close of a sermon delivered by him in a Methodist
church, Rev. Dr. Beman of Troy, a Presbyterian, rose
and announced that he would on a given day reply to
Bishop England. His discourse, however, so offended
the Protestant audience that he was hooted from the
church. Catholics had no i^art in the matter, as there
were only four Catholic families in the whole county.^

Bishop England was encouraged by a letter from
the Sovereign Pontiff, Gregory XVI. "It gives us
great concern," said the Pope, "that so small a
number of laborers, as you inform us, are to be found
in so large a harvest, and the more on this account,
that the difficulty of the times makes it impracticable
for us to relieve that necessity. But we have this
consolation, that so able a pastor as you are, who can
supply the place of many, has been by Divine Provi-
dence api^ointed to the charge of that flock ; and,
relying on the Prince of Pastors, we hope that he will
send laborers into his harvest. Your statement is
also a consolation to us, that a more bright prospect
presents itself to you, by reason of the trustees having
been impressed with a correct sense of their duties,
and that you enjoy peace and harmony, by the assis-

' U. S. Cath. Miscellany, x., pp. 158-398 ; xi., pp. 16-270 ; Bishop
England's Works, iv., p. 252.

'iyR.iudsiLsni^H.X.

IJAlu i - ■-> '

^^:r^2^m:MM.

-v^^^

IN EUROPE. 583

tance of God, as the consequence of your patience and
perseverance." ^

On the 21st of November, 1831, the Feast of the
Presentation of the Blessed Virgin, Bishop England
opened a synod of the clergy. The condition of his
diocesan seminary was a cause of great anxiety. The
debt of it, although relieved in part by the generous
aid from France, w^as still so oppressive that he could
not maintain suitable professors, and the labor of
teaching the. classes of philosophy and theology con-
sequently devolved on the Bishop himself.

At a meeting of the Catholics in Charleston, held
on the 3d of July, 1832, Bishop England explained
at length the serious difficulties which impeded the
establishment of the institutions of the diocese, and
announced his intention of going to Europe in the
hope of obtaining aid to overcome them. An address
from his flock showed how deeply they appreciated
his earnest labors and their gratitude for all the
advantages they had derived from them. He had
become identified with the States embraced in his
diocese, and strongly attached to the people. He
had revived a taste for classical studies, was an
active member of the Philosophical Literary Associa-
tion, and was prompt to join in any good work. Yet
he was no blind admirer, unable to see faults. In the
days of Nullification he spoke Avith calm wisdom, and
on several occasions his eloquent voice was raised to
prevent the practice of dueling. Encouraged by the
marks of the general esteem he had acquired, Bishop
England sailed for Liverpool, in the ship Belvidere,
July 10, 1832. After a warm welcome in Ireland,

' Pope Gregory XVI. to Bishop England, Aug. 2, 1831. U. S. Cath.
Miscellany, xi., p. 166.

684 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

especially at Carlo w College, he proceeded to Rome
and Vienna.^

He had followed one sister, Joanna, to the grave in
Charleston, after her years of unselfish devotion to
him and his diocese ; he had scarcely reached Ireland
before death deprived him of another, Mrs. Michael
Joseph Barry.

At Rome he presented to the Cardinal Prefect a
report on his diocese, and explained the object of his
visit to Europe. The schismatic course of O'Galla-
gher, and the laws of incor];)oration incompatible Avitli
Catholic discipline, had created a condition of affairs
not easily remedied. He found it imjjossible to ex-
pect from legislatures any amendment of the laws,
and had prepared constitutions which, accepted by
the congregations, settled many points, and would be
recognized in courts of law. He had from time to time
amended these, and earnestly desired from the Con-
gregation de Propaganda Fide instructions as to any
points that were at variance with Catholic discipline.
He explained also his want of priesfs and stated
that one object of his visit was, if possible, to secure
active and pious clergymen. His flock were poor, so
poor that not a few Catholics, ashamed of their fellow
believers, attended Protestant churches. Some of
these he had regained, and in the last twelve years
between five and six hundred Protestants had been
received into the Church. He estimated the Catholics
lost to the faith, and their descendants, at four times
his actual flock. His little seminary had given eleven
priests actually on the mission in his diocese, and he
had six preparing for holy orders. Vocations could

'Bishop England's Works, iv., pp. 333, 336,339 ; U. S. Cath. Miscel-
lany, xii., pp. 6, 14, 159.

AID FOR THE DIOCESE. 585

not be expected yet in his diocese, but in Ireland lie
had induced some of the bishops to send to him
young men who desired to become priests. He had,
however, little or no means to support and educate
them. A colony of Ursuline nuns to open a young
ladies' academy, he also sought, and had succeeded in
obtaining a promise of some religious from the Ursu-
line Convent at Blackrock, Cork. The Leopold Asso-
ciation in Vienna had made him an allowance which
w-ould cover their passage to Charleston, and pay in
part the purchase-money of a house he had secured
for the purpose. He gave an account of the Sister-
hood he had established and his hope of obtaining

SIGNATUKE OF BISHOP ENGLAND, OF CHARLESTON.

members for it, so that they might open an orphan
asylum. He hoped also to establish or obtain a com-
munity of teaching Brothers.

His congregations were the poorest in the whole
country, but he had been the lirst to establish a
Catholic newspaper, which in spite of all difficulties he
had carried on to its eleventh volume, regarding it as
absolutely necessary. He needed books especially for
a seminary library, the Fathers, Councils of the Church,
ecclesiastical history. Lives of the Popes, theologies,
and works necessary to meet constant attacks on the
Church. He appealed, therefore, to the Congregation
de Propaganda Fide for aid, resigned, however, to la-
bor on as he had done, if it could not be given. If it
could be afforded, he beheld a new and long career of
usefulness opened before him as long as God spared
his life, to the advantage of many souls.

586 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

In an account of the condition of the Church in the
United States, which he presented to the Leopold
Association, he estimated the Catholics in Charleston
at five out of forty thousand inhabitants, one fourth
of the number being slaves. In his whole diocese he
estimated the Catholics at eleven thousand in a popu-
lation of 1,836,432. Of these seventy-five hundred
were in South Carolina, three thousand in Georgia,
and five hundred in North Carolina.^ The earnest
labors of Bishop England had accomplished only this
in thirteen years. The priests and laymen who had
made such lavish promises of maintaining a bishop
and aiding his Christian work had proved not onJy
useless but detrimental to the progress of the Church.

Bishop England reached New York in the ship
Niagara, and was welcomed in Charleston on the 4th of
October, 1833. He returned encouraged. Lyons and
Vienna had given him assistance. The Sovereign
Pontiff and the Propaganda became his benefactors.
Lord Clifford and others helped him to acquire church
plate and needed books. He brought, too, the assur-
ance that the Ursuline nuns would before long estab-
lish a community in Charleston. Bishop England was
not permitted, at once, to devote himself to the affairs
of his diocese. The Council' about to convene at
Baltimore required his presence. On his way he was
rejoiced to be able to offer the holy sacrifice in St.
Patrick's Church, Fayetteville, which had risen from
the ashes. His sermon at the opening of the Council
on the subject and utility of such assemblies attracted
general attention. He was soon called upon while
there to refute Willis's misrepresentation of a lecture

' Bishop England, Report to Propaganda, 1833 ; Bericlite der Leopol-
dinen Stiftung, 1833, vi., pp. 33-37. Annales de la Prop., vi., p. 211.

SENT TO HAYTL 687

delivered by him at the house of Cardinal Weld in
Rome, on the ceremonies of Holy Week. It was a
rude return for Bishop England's courtesy in obtain-
ing for him an audience with the Pope.

After his return to the diocese he began his usual
visitations, dedicating, November 29, the Church of
St. Andrew, a small frame structure at Barnwell.
The next month he tonsured James A. Corcoran, of
Charleston, and Patrick N. Lynch, of Cheraw, two
talented young men who soon proceeded to Rome to
enter the College of the Propaganda. His diocese w^as
to be deprived again, for a time, of his services. In the
Island of St. Domingo had grown up the negro State
of Hayti, vacillating in government from republic to
empire, with religion almost extinct. The Holy See
appointed Bishop England Apostolic Delegate to visit
that country and arrange with the government for an
organization of the Church, which would revive relig-
ion and morality. Bishop England sailed December
18, 18B3, for the island, where an archbishop once pre-
sided with metropolitan jurisdiction over the West In-
dies and our southern coast. He had been requested
to visit that island and report its religious condition
to the Holy See, with his advice as to the best policy
to be pursued. He found about seventy X)riests in
Hayti, governed by vicars appointed by the last arch-
bishop. He presented to the President the brief of
Pope Gregory XVI., and was assured by him of his
veneration for the head of the Catholic Church. After
visiting Guadaloupe and St. Thomas, Bishop England
returned to his diocese.^ In April, 1834, Bishop Eng-
land set out again for Rome to give an account of his
Haytian mission, and reached that city in May. The

iJSr. Y. Cath. Miscellany, xiii., pp. 110-14, 198-310, 318.

588 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

Sovereign Pontiff was so well satisfied with the results
of Bishop England's labors that he reappointed him
Apostolic Delegate, with more ample powers to make
definite arrangements between the Holy See and the
President of Hayti for the proper organization of the
Church. As this would entail still further absence
from his diocese, Bishop England solicited the appoint-
ment of a Coadjutor. Among the names proposed by
him was Rev. Dr. Cullen, then Superior of the Irish
College. Failing to obtain the future cardinal, he
proposed Rev. AVilliam Clancy, a native of Cork, and
professor of theology in Carlo w College, who was
accordingly appointed. Meanwhile, Bishop England
returned to Ireland and completed the arrangements
for his Ursuline Convent. The colony, consisting of
Mother Mary Charles Molony, Sisters Marie Borgia
McCarthy and Antonia Hughes, and a j^stulant. Miss
H. Woulfe, left their convent on the 27th of Septem-
ber, and, embarking at Liverpool with Bishop Eng-
land, reached Philadelphia, and were in Charleston on
the 10th of December. A house adjoining the Cathe-
dral on Broad Street had been prepared for their
reception, and here the Ursuline Convent was estab-
lished.^

Bishop England then resumed his missionary visita-
tions, held conventions, and labored as of old. His
Coadjutor, Dr. Clancy, was consecrated Bishop of
Orien on the 21st of December, 1834, in the Cathe-
dral of Carlow, by the Rt. Rev. Edward Nolan, Bishop

' Bishop England, "A Brief Memoir of Mother Mary Charles Molony,"
1839; Works, iii., p. 263, etc. ; U. S. Cath. Miscellany, xiv., p. 190;
Weekly Register, iii., p. 116; Catholic Diary, v., p. 120, 134; O'Con-
nell, " Catholicity in the Carolinas and Georgia," p. 68. A community
of Ladies, ' ' Dames de la Retraite," under Mme. Hery, came to his diocese
and remained for a time, but he could not depend on their remaining.

BISHOP CLANCY. .^89

of Kildare and Leiglilin, Bishop Slattery, of Cashel,
and Bishop Kinsella, of Kilkenny, being assistants.
Dr. England hoped to benefit at once by his co-opera-
tion in the labors of tlie diocese, but Bishop Clancy
lingered in Ireland, and did not arrive in Charleston
till November, 1835. He was welcomed by Bishop
England, as well as by the convention of the diocese,
then in session. The hopes entertained by Bishop
England were never fulfilled. His Coadjutor came
a stranger to the country, and showed no inclination
to become American in feeling or sympathy. He
was moreover imprudently fond of censuring the insti-
tutions of the country. His temper was difficult, and
in less than a year after his arrival in the United
States he solicited his transfer to some other field of
labor.

During the spring of 1836 Bishop Clancy relieved
Dr. England by making visitations, which lasted sev-
eral months.^ He also directed the Seminary, being
fully qualified, by experience, to train candidates for
the iDriesthood.

Bishop England wrote to Bishop Brute, "I am
here endeavoring to put in order my churches, my
seminary, my convent, my Sisters of Mercy, and also
try whether Madame Hery can be aided to establish
her house. My two churches want great repairs, my
seminary is in debt, my convent struggling into exis-
tence, my missions wretchedly poor, and in want of
something like churches Add to this my unfit-
ness for the Haytian legation, from inability to speak
the language, or to write it even tolerably, and the
order of his Holiness, which I cannot disobey, that I
must try what can be done in this ruined island,

>U. S. Catb. Miscellany, xiv., pp. 262; xv., pp. 174, 326; Catholic
Diary, v., pp. 120, 134.

590 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

whilst all tilings here are left unsettled to a new hand,
Dr. Clancy, you may figure to yourself my situation."^

Relieved by the presence of his Coadjutor at Charles-
ton, Bishop England i:>roceeded once more to Port-au-
Prince in Hayti, and accomplishing the delicate and
important mission with which he was charged, returned
to Charleston, and after a few days' preparation
hastened to New York, in order to embark on the
packet ship United States for Europe. The Haytian
affairs required his i)resence in Rome, and he was
anxious to carry out in France and Ireland plans for
the good of his diocese.^

Bishop England had scarcely returned to his ac-
customed duties in his bishopric when the authorities
in Rome directed him to repair once more to Hayti, as
the negotiations had assumed a most critical character,
involving the future of Catholicity in the island. His
entreaties and remonstrances were unavailing, and
although he almost despaired of success he prepared
to set out, hoping to return in time to take part in the
deliberations of the Provincial Council, which was
to meet at Baltimore in April. ^ He was, however,
prevented by illness from proceeding in person to the
Haytian republic, so that Bishop Clancy undertook
the mission, and executed it in a manner that elicited
Bishop England's tlianks. He attended the Council
with Bishop Clancy, arriving in time to be present at
the first private session. Though thus taking part in the
deliberations, Bishop Clancy had already been trans-

' Alerding, "History of the Catholic Church la the Diocese of Vin-
cennes," Indiauapolis, 1883, p. 119.

' Bishop England to Hon. William Gaston, New York, June 23, 1836 ;
Catholic Diary, v., pp. Ill, 367.

» Bishop England to Hon. William Gaston, Jan. 30, 1837.

DEATH OF MOTHER MARY CHARLES. 591

ferred from the coadjutorship of Charleston and
been appointed Vicar-Apostolic of British Guiana.
He left Charleston during the summer, and returned to
his native country in order to make preparations for
his new duties/ In Ireland he s^Doke so disparagingly
of the United States as to elicit a reply from Bishoj)
Purcell, who happened to be in that country. ^

On the 28th of July, 1837, the Ursuline community
lost their venerated Superior Mother Mary Charles,
Avho had returned to Charleston from a visit to Ireland,
undertaken in spite of her failing health, to make
arrangement for the good of the order. Her excellent
uuderstanding, cultivated by thorough study and great
aptitude for business, made her a most capable su-
perior, while her generous and attractive disposition,
sanctified by her love of God, endeared her to all and
gave her wonderful influence. She was succeeded by
Mother Maria Borgia (Isabella) McCarthy, whose Ursu-
line Manual has been so widely used as a prayer-book.

Bishop England had, by his own labor and the
closest economy, created churches and institutions in
Charleston which he valued at $60,000, burdened with
a debt of $25,000, which he was steadily reducing.^

In a terrible conflagration ^vllich swept away a thou-
sand stores and dwellings in Charleston, St. Mary's
Church, Hasell Street, recently repaired at consider-

^ " Concilia Proviucialia Baltimori habita," Baltimore, 1842, p. 121.
The Letters Apostolic were issued April 12, 1836, Catholic Herald, v.,
pp. 220, 238. He was transferred April 12, 1837. He is remembered here
chiefly by his exposure of a gross misrepresentation of a document at
Newstead Abbey, by Washington Irving. His career in Guiana was
disastrous. He died in Ireland in 1847.

2 Truth Teller, xiv. , pp. 324, 358.

^ Bishop England to Hon. William Gaston, Feb. 34, 1838 ; same to
same, .Jan. 13, 1840.

592 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

able expense, was swept away, and the Catholics of ,
the city liad no place of worship except the wretched
wooden pro-cathedral, which was already filled to
overflowing every Sunday. St. Patrick's Church, on
Charleston Neck, was in course of erection, but the
frame of the new building perished in the general
destruction. ^Vitli many of liis flock utterly ruined,
and nearly all impoverished. Bishop England appealed,
on the 28th of May, 1838, to the charitable and benevo-
lent citizens of the United States, depicting the
struggles of the little Catholic body and their absolute
need of assistance. His appeal was not disregarded ;
many of his brother bishops ordered collections, and
on the feast of the Assumption he laid the corner-
stone of a new church in honor of the Blessed Virgin,
after a place had been cleared amid the surrounding
desolation. The new church was larger than the
former one, and better adapted to the wants of the
people. It was dedicated June 9, 1839, as the Church
of the Annunciation. On the llth of April, 1839, he
dedicated St. John Baptist's, a spacious brick church
just erected in Savannah ; a new church was opened
in Columbus, Georgia, but the dedication deferred till
its heavy debt was reduced to a safe limit. The neat
church at Sumter, on a site given by Col. Sumter near
the high hills of Santee, was dedicated in June.^

Early in 1840, measures were taken to erect a
church at Camden, S. C. At Washington, Ga.,
Thomas Semmes, Esq., gave a lot for a church, and a
subscription was begun to erect a solid stone edifice.
Catholics were gathering around the church at Sumter.
At Macon the faithful contemplated the purchase of a

' Catholic Herald, vi.,pp. 187, 376 ; Catholic Advocate, iii., pp. 153,
244.

SISTERS OF OUR LADY OF MERCY. 593

Presbyterian, meeting-house. The difficult mission of
North Carolina cost the Bishop much anxiety, and he
labored earnestly to erect a church at New Berne, and
secure priests who would persevere in that laborious
mission. He was greatly relieved when he laid the cor-
ner-stone of the long desired church in November, 1840.^
By this time the Bishop began to find his system of con-
ventions for each State cumbrous and expensive, and
by amending the constitutions the three were merged
into one annual diocesan convention, with a small
number of delegates.^

The Sisters of our Lady of Mercy were prospering,
though they lost one of their most valuable members.
On the feast of the Annunciation, in 1840, Bishojj Eng-
land had laid the corner-stone of their new convent on
Queen Street. On the 18th of February in the follow-
ing year the Bishop celebrated mass in the new con-
vent, and formally gave possession of the property to
the Sisters for themselves, their pupils, and the orphans
intrusted to their care.^

Bishop England set out once more for Europe on
the 6th of May, and after laboring in Ireland and
France to meet the wants of his diocese, returned at
the close of the year. His vigorous constitution was
broken, and disease was sapping his strength, but he
knew no rest. His homeward voyage was a long and
stormy one of fifty-two days. The Mother Superior
of the Ursulines, who was a fellow-passenger, fell dan-
gerously ill ; then sickness broke out among the

' Bishop England to Hon. William Gaston, July 8, 1839, Nov. 23, 1840 ;
Works, iv., pp. 425, 430. U. S. Cath. Miscellany.

* Bishop England to Hon. William Gaston, June 29, 1838.

^ Bishop England to Hon. William Gaston, Aug. 3, 1839 ; Metropolitan,
1858, p. 496 ; U. S. Cath. Miscellany.

594 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

steerage passengei-s. Bisliop England became the de-
voted chaplain, and was himself seized with the pre-
vailing malady. Yet when he landed in Philadelphia
he resx)onded to the calls made on him, and preached
continually for more than two weeks. He reached
Charleston in a state of great prostration, but would
not summon a physician until disease assumed a serious
asf)ect. Even then he continued to attend to his ordi-
nary duties till his strength yielded. On the 6tli of
April the physician saw that the case would terminate
fatally. Bishop England received the announcement
calmlj^, and requested the clergy of the city to be
summoned. He addressed them in words of touching
humility and resignation, and attempted to read the
profession of faith, but was unable to Jinisli it. After
giving directions as to the affairs of the diocese, he
received extreme unction, and, bidding farewell to the
Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy and his seminarians, pre-
pared for his final passage. Fortified with the sacra-
ments and comforts of religion he expired calmly about
sunrise of Monday, April 11, 1842.

Bishop England was one of the most remarkable
men in the history of the Church in America. Thor-
oughly devoted to his duties, he never spared himself ;
he seemed constantly traveling through his diocese or
abroad for its good. His general learning was great,
he was fond of literary and scientific studies, and his
mind seemed to retain and classify all it acquired.
With little leisure, he was a prolific writer, able and
cogent in controversy. He was an eloquent speaker,
ready to address an audience whether the Congress at
Washington, a learned society, the humblest of his
own flock, or a suspicious audience of those separated
from the Church, with such a tide of eloquence, such
powerful argument, such rich illustration that all

V. REV. R. S. BAKER, ADMINISTRATOR. 595

hearts were swayed. He was prudent and practical,
and in the councils of the Church, here and at Rome,
acquired an influence which could not be accorded to
one not really great.

His works, collected and published by his successor
Rt. Rev. Dr. Reynolds, remain one of the great trea-
sures of our literature.^

When he felt that the hand of death was upon him,
he appointed Very Rev. R. S. Baker to administer the
diocese till the Sovereign Pontiff named his successor.

VERY REV. RICHARD SWINTON BAKER.

ADMINISTRATOR OF THE DIOCESE OF CHARLESTON, 1842-1844.

The selection of one to succeed so gifted a bishop as
Dr. England was no easy task. Able and devoted
clergymen shrank from the responsibility. Even the
temporary administration was a formidable burden.
Very Rev. Mr. Baker Avas born of Protestant parents
at Kilkenny, June 24, 1806. Received with his mother
into the Church, he came to Charleston in 1827, strongly
recommended by Bishop Doyle of Kildare. He was
ordained in 1829, and after some experience on the
mission was made Superior of the seminary. He
became also Director of the Sisters of Our Lady of
Mercy, and Rector of the Cathedral. Strict almost to
severity, the seminarians were trained under him like
genuine monks of the desert. Archbishop Eccleston
confirmed his appointment as Administrator, and he
undertook the duties quietly and sj^stematically. He
obtained places for many of the seminarians in the
College of the Propaganda or theological institutions

' They appeared in five octavo volumes, Baltimore, 1849, etc.

596 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

elsewhere. He introduced into the affairs of the dio-
cese the most rigid economy, and showed great finan-
cial ability, paying off twenty thousand dollars of a
debt of thirty-four thousand in two years.

During this term Georgia entered on internal im-
provements, and many Catholics were employed on the
new roads, whose spiritual condition required care,
which Rev. Dr. Baker promptly afforded. He en-
couraged the establishment of an orphan asylum at
Savannah, and the corner-stone was laid in the last
days of December, 1842.

Judge Gaston, the most prominent Catholic in the
diocese, did not long survive his friend Bishop Eng-
land. He expired at Raleigh, North Carolina, Janu-
ary 23, 1844. Trained solidly in his religion by his
pious mother, he was the first student to enter the
walls of Georgetown College. Admitted to the bar, he
so impressed his fellow- citizens with his uprightness
and ability that he was sent to Congress, where his
speeches are still remembered as among the greatest
and most eloquent. He was the first Catholic to re-
ceive the title of Doctor of Laws from Harvard College,
and it was conferred at the instance of Judge Story.
Very Rev. Mr. Baker gladly resigned his authority to
Bishop Reynolds, and after a visit to his native land
became, till death, January 30, 1870, pastor of St.
Mary's Church, Charleston.^

' O'Connell, Catholicity in the Carolinas and Georgia, pp. 96, etc., 115.
U. S. Cath. Miscellany, 1843-4.

CHAPTER X.
DIOCESE OF BARDSTOWN.

BT REV. BENEDICT JOSEPH FLAGET, D.D., FIRST BISHOP,

1829-1832.

After the first Council of Baltimore, the diocese
soon lost its able theologian Rev. Francis P. Kenrick,
whom Bishop Flaget had so long struggled to retain.
Appointed to the see of Arath and the coadjutorship
of Philadelphia, he was consecrated in the Cathedral of
Bardstown by the venerable Bishop of that see. The
occasion drew to the sanctuary Bishop Conwell of
Philadelphia, Bishop England of Charleston, and
Bishop Fenwick of Cincinnati, twenty priests, and as
many ecclesiastics.

That brilliant ceremonial was followed by the laying
of the corner-stone of St. Michael's Church, Fairfield,
and a few days later that of the Church of St. Louis, at
Louisville, built by Rev. R. S. Abell, was dedicated by
Bishop Flaget, assisted by the Bishops of Charleston
and Arath. Later in the year Bishop Flaget, during a
visitation, dedicated the brick Church of Holy Mary.
During this year also Nazareth Academy was incor-
porated, and a church was built at Elizabethtown.
The Rev. Ignatius A. Reynolds, who had been Presi-
dent of St. Joseph's, resigned his position to aid the
Bishop in the direction of the Seminary of St. Joseph,
which had already sent forth thirty priests, and had at
this time about twenty students.^

"TxTsyC^uTMi^^dkiy^^^^ 83 ; Spalding, "Life of

Bishop Flaget," p. 367.

597

598 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

But Bishop Flaget believed that his period of active
usefulness was past, and in this spirit he wrote to the
Sovereign Pontiff asking to be relieved of the burden
of the diocese. In view of the age and infirmities of
his Coadjutor, Bishop David, which would prevent his
traveling in order to make visitations of the diocese.
Dr. Flaget proposed that Rev. Guy Ignatius Chabrat
should be made Administrator of the diocese, having a
high opinion of the virtues and ability of the first
priest who was ordained in Kentucky.^ His resigna-
tion was not deemed best for the good of religion,^
but his importunity finally prevailed. Meanwhile, he
labored actively on. Louisville was rising in impor-
tance. Not only was the church there dedicated, but
the Nazareth community established the Presenta-
tion Academy ; an orphan asylum, St. Vincent's, was
opened, and, as we shall see, a college was soon under-
taken. In 1831 St. Lawrence's Church in Daviess
Conjity was built, and in Indiana a church was dedi-
cated at the Forks of White River, where more than a
hundred families of Catholics had gathered from Ken-
tucky and Maryland, which the Bishop soon visited ;
and in Kentucky the original church of the Irish mar-
tyr, St. Rumold, Bishop of Antwerp, was rej)laced by a
finer structure, which has since taken the name of St.
Romuald.^

The veteran priest, Stephen T. Badin, was laboring
among the Pottowatomies, near South Bend, Indiana,
who hailed the advent of a black gown. The Baptists

' Jesuit, i., p. 169 ; U. S. Cath. Miscellany, x., p. 134.

^ Spalding, " Life of Bishop Flaget," pp. 269, 274. Bishop Flaget to
Cardinal Prefect, May 3, 1833. •

» Webb, " Centenary of Catholicity," pp. 303, 145 ; U. S. Cath. Mis-
cellany, xi., p. 70 ; xii., p. 262.

THE SOCIETY OF JESUS. 599

soon abandoned a mission attempted by them, and Rev.
Mr. Badin was encouraged in his efforts to revive the
teaching of the early missionaries, but was soon af-
flicted by the death of one of his best catechumens,
Nanankoy, killed by an intoxicated chief. His zeal
was soon rewarded by conversions, one of the first
being an intelligent man who, baptized a Catholic, had
been educated by the Baptists in one of their institu-
tions.'

Bishop Flaget had long desired to secure for his dio-
cese the services of the Fathers of the Society of Jesus ;
and had in 1828 solicited Very Rev. Father Gfodinot,
provincial of France, for members of his order. It w^as
not, however, till early in 1831, that Fathers Chazelle,
Ladaviere, and Petit reached New Orleans, and notified
the Bishoj) of Bardstown of their arrival. It had been
Dr. Flaget' s intention to place them in charge of St.
Joseph's College, but when the Fathers arrived unex-
pectedly, obstacles arose. The earnest, devoted mis-
sionary, Rev. William Byrne, at once offered the
Jesuit Fathers St. Mary's College, which he had
founded. The offer having been accepted by the Gen-
eral of the Society, the Fathers took possession in
the summer of 1832 ; a novitiate w^as soon opened, two
priests. Revs. Simon Fouche and Evremond Harrissart,
entering. Other Fathers of the Society soon arrived,
but the calls of charity during the prevalence of the
cholera called the Jesuits from their college to the care
of the dying. Rev. Mr. Byrne had remained at the
college, laboring for its good, though infirm in health,
and edifying all by his virtue. He, too, hastened to
the victims of the disease, but was stricken down, and
crowned his life of faithful priestly service by a pious

' lb., xii., p. 38 ; Jesuit, iv., p. 163 ; Catholic Telegraph, ii., p. 383.

600 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

death on the eve of Corpus Christi, June 5, 1833.
Several of the Jesuit Fathers were seized with cholera,
one Father Maguire sharing the crown of Rev. Mr.
Byrne.

When the cholera ceased in 1833 St. Mary's College
opened and was in the full tide of prosperity, but
just at nightfall, December 30, 1833, the main build-
ing burst into flames, and in a short time only the
blackened walls remained.^

Late in the year Bishop Flaget set out with Rev.
Mr. Abell for a visitation of Indiana and Illinois, and
then stopped at Saint Louis. During his absence in
the beginning of December arrived official informa-
tion from Rome that the Pope had accepted his resig-
nation of the see of Bardstown.^

RIGHT REV. JOHN BAPTIST DAVID.
SECOND BISHOP OF BAEDSTOWN, 1832-33.

The Holy See, in accepting the resignation of Bishop
Flaget, did not take any such action as Bishop Flaget

SIGNATURE OP RT. REV. JOHN B. DAVID, BISHOP OF BARDSTOWN.

proposed in regard to the administration of the dio-
cese. Rt. Rev. Dr. David became, by succession,

' Wcodstock Letters, ii., pp. 109-122 ; Spalding, " Life of Bishop
Flaget," p. 270; Webb, "Centenary of Catholicity," p. 385; U. S.
Cath. Miscellany, xiii., pp. 254, 334; Catholic Telegraph, ii., p. 399;
iii., p. 84.

» Letter from Louisville, Dec. 7, 1832, to Archbishop Whitfield.

RESIGNATION. 601

second Bishop of Bardstown. The necessary indults,
faculties, bulls appointing a Coadjutor arrived. He
was older, more inlirm than Rt. Rev. Dr. Flaget, and
had become so corpulent that it would be utterly
impossible for him to take the long journeys on horse-
back, necessary at that time in order to make visita-
tions of the churches. " I shed more tears during
three days than I have since I came to Kentucky. It
was a profound affliction, mixed with astonishment at
the step of that good Bishop." The first act of his
administration was to appoint Bishop Flaget Vicar-
General of the diocese, with the most ample powers
he could confer, and the next was to transmit to Rome
his resignation of the see of Bardstown, with a clear
statement of the causes which unfitted him for the
discharge of the duties required by the position. He
advised the reappointment of Bishop Flaget.' When
the resignation of Bishop Flaget became known it
created "a great sensation in the public mind." The
inability of Dr. David was well known, and the Coad-
jutor proposed for him, Rev. G. I. Chabrat, was re-
garded unfavorably as of a very arbitrary disposi-
tion. "These changes," says Archbishop Spalding,
"caused general dissatisfaction among both the clergy
and laity of Kentucky. The former Coadjutor loudly
protested against his unexpected promotion ; and the
whole diocese was seized with grief at the apprehended
loss of a bishop so universally esteemed and loved."
Bishop Flaget did not dare to face alone the storm he
had raised : he induced Bishop Rosati to accompany
him to Kentucky. Finding the discontent with his
action to be general, he was deeply grieved, and, as

' Bishop David to Sister Mary Magdalen, Visitation Convent, Jan. 16,
1833.

602 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

Bishop David persisted in resigning the see, the three
bishops, after offering the holy sacrifice "on St. John's
day, to obtain the light of God by the intercession of
that beloved disciple of our Lord," united in letters
to the Pope and the Propaganda, urging the accep-
tance of the resignation, and praying his Holiness to
dispose of Bishop Flaget and Rev. Mr. Chabrat as he
deemed best for the interest of the Church. In May,
1833, the documents arrived from Rome, by which
Bishop David's resignation of the see v^as accepted,
and Bishop Flaget was reappointed to the diocese of
Bardstown. Rt. Rev, Dr. David thus laid aside the
episcopal office, and remained in his seminary, bishop
neither of Mauricastro nor Bardstown. He was still
indeed the devoted friend, the counselor, and spiritual
director of Bishop Flaget. Toward the year 1841 his
health declined visibly, and the Sisters of Charity,
whom he had founded, besought him to come to
Nazareth, that his spiritual daughters might give him
all the attention he required. He accepted the invita-
tion ; but their devoted care could not stay the prog-
ress of disease. After receiving the last sacraments
from the hands of Bishop Flaget, he expired, in full
possession of his consciousness, on the 12th of July,
1841. ''A truer and more sincerely Christian heart
never beat in mortal bosom than that whose pulsations
ceased when Bishop David expired. He died as he
had lived. Regularity in all the actions of his life
had become with him a settled habit, a second nature.
Full of burning zeal for the salvation of souls, he
never spared himself. In season and out of season he
preached the word ; he persuaded, he besought,
he reproved, in all patience and doctrine." "His
remains repose in the cemetery of Nazareth, and
his spiritual daughters have erected a suitable monu-

RESIGNATION. 603

ment to Ms memory. He was in liis eighty-first
year." ^

RT. REV. BENEDICT J. FLAGET.
THIRD BISHOP OF BARDSTOWN, 1833^3.

CoisrvERSiONS to the faith have been mentioned in
these pages, but it would be impossible to chronicle
all, even of those marked by special signs of grace.
The conversion of Dr. James B. Dillon in Scott County,
Kentucky, in 1833 was peculiar from the fact that he
was drawn to the Church by the very feature which
prejudices many against her. This gentleman, weary
of the multitude of different doctrines put forward
around him, all based on human opinion and disclaim-
ing any absolute authority, asked himself whether
Christ must not have established a church to teach his
truth infallibly to the end of time. He turned to the
only body that claimed such a power, and soon recog-
nized the validity of the claim. ^

During the cholera of 1833, the Sisters of Charity,
the Lorettines, and the Dominican Sisters displayed
their devoted and heroic charity during the two months
the pestilence raged. Three of the Sisters of Charity,
returning to their home, were suddenly seized with the
disease and died. Others of the community were also

' Bishop Spalding, " Life of Bishop Flaget," pp. 274-5, 332-3 ; Catholic
Herald, ix., p. 237 ; Catholic Expositor, i., p. 275. Bishop David pre-
pared an excellent edition of " True Piety," and a Catholic Hymn Book.
Finotti, " Bibliographia," p. 97. John Baptist Mary David was born in
1761, near Nantes, France. After receiving his education under the
Oratorians and in the Seminary at Nantes, he was ordained in 1785.
Becoming a Sulpitian he held important chairs in their seminaries and
came to the United States in 1793.

'U. S. Cath. Miscellany, xii., p. 142.

604 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

attacked, as well as pupils in the Nazareth Academy.^
The bishop and his clergy were constantly by the bed-
side of the sick and dying, and Bishop Flaget notes
especially the devotion of a young Dominican Father
and two Brothers.

Rt. Rev. Dr. Flaget, on his reappointment, solicited
the Rev. G. I. Chabrat as Coadjutor, and the bulls
electing him arrived June 29, 1834. He had just re-
covered from a dangerous illness and was consecrated
Bishop of Bolina in partibus infidelium, on the 20th of
July, in Bardstown Cathedral, by the Bishop of Bards-
town, Bishop David and Rev. Richard Pius Miles,
O.P., acting as assistants.^ In September, 1834, a small
church was dedicated under the invocation of the

SIGNATURE OF RT. REV. G. I. CHABRAT, COADJUTOR.

Blessed Virgin at Covington, Kentucky, and an orphan
asylum opened near it, chiefly by the charity of G.
R. Springer of New Orleans. Thus began Catholic
work in the future see of Covington.^

Soon after the diocese obtained its first Catholic
periodical, "The St. Joseph's College Minerva, aRepos-
itory of National and Foreign Literature," issued at
the college in Bardstown, Rev. Martin J. Spalding,

' The Sisters were Joanna Lewis, Patricia Bamber, and Generose Buck-
man. Another martyr of charity was Sister Benedicta of Loretto. An-
nales de la Propagation de la Foi, vii., p. 90, etc. ; Spalding, Life of
Bishop Flaget, p. 275. Sister Mary Teresa Lynch, of the Order of St.
Dominic, was another martyr of charity, Webb, p. 268.

» Webb, p. 280.

^ " Catholic Telegraph," iii., p. 349 ; " Catholic Register," iii., p. 7.

RELIEVED OF INDIANA. 605

one of the faculty, being the founder and a valuable
contributor.

Tennessee as yet possessed no Catholic church, but
there were small congregations at Nashville, Gallatin,
and Murfreesboro, which were visited from time to
time by Rev. E. J. Durbin, his baptisms in that State
numbering ninety-four in a year.^

Bishop Flaget had long urged the erection of an
episcopal see at Vincennes, and his desire was grati-
hed when Pope Gregory XVI., on the 6th of May, 1834,
established the see of Vincennes, the diocese embrac-
ing the State of Indiana and the eastern portion of
Illinois, the rest of that part being formally attached
to the diocese of St. Louis.^ Bishop Flaget joyfully
took part in installing Bishop Brute in that ancient
French town. He was relieved of all the territory
northwest of the Ohio, which had been originally an-
nexed to his diocese, but was now committed to the
care of the three bishops of Cincinnati, Detroit, and
Vincennes. His diocese was advancing steadily, gain-
ing comparatively little by immigration, and compara-
tively well supplied with churches, priests, schools,
and asylums. With a coadjutor on whom he felt that
he could temporarily lay the burden of administra-
tion, he resolved to go to Europe in order to make the
required visit to the threshold of the apostles, as well
as to see his native land once more. He accordingly
set out early in the spring of 1835, only two or three
persons being aware of his intentions. His stay in

' It began October, 1834. About this time Mrs. Angeline Mallet died
at Vincennes, at the age of 110, older even than the old French post,
lb., p. 387.

" Catholic Telegraph, iv., p. 176. U. S. Cath. Miscellany, xv., p. 78.

^Bullarium de Propaganda Fide, v., p. 108 ; Catholic Telegraph, iii.,
p. 405.

606 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

Europe lasted four years, and he seems to have enter-
tained the hope that he would be allowed to end his
days in his native land. He was everywhere received
as an apostle and a saint ; his prayers were sought,
and miracles ascribed to him.^

In a memoir to Cardinal Fransoni the venerable
Bishop exposed the progress which religion had made
in his diocese since he entered it, as well as its actual
necessities. Among these were means to place at
least one priest permanently in Tennessee and erect
churches ; to introduce a religious community of Bro-
thers to take charge of schools for boys ; and also
an order to devote itself to the instruction of the deaf
and dumb, whose numbers were large in Kentucky
and Ohio.^

During the absence of Dr. Flaget in Europe, Bishop
Chabrat governed the diocese, discharging his duties
quietly and efficiently. He made regular visitations
throughout the State, acting at first in an arbitrary
manner, till he took counsel of experienced members
of the clergy. In November, 1835, he relieved Rev.
Ignatius A. Reynolds of the post of Superior of the
Nazareth Sisters, and in 1836 saw Lexington menaced
with dangers such as had dishonored the East. The
establishment of an academy by the Sisters of Charity
at Lexington, Kentucky, had excited much rancorous
feeling, which anti-catholic sectarian schools industri-
ously fomented. The pupils were alarmed one night
when retiring by loud knocking at the door and win-

» Spalding, " Life of Bishop Flaget," pp. 308-327 ; Georges, " Monsei-
gneur Flaget, Evgque de Bardstown et Louisville," Paris, 1855, pp.
103-140.

' " Memoire presente a son Eminence le Cardinal Fransoni Prefet de
la Propagande, par les ordres du Souverain Pontife, dans lequel j'expose
Tetat de mon diocfese en 1810 et celui oii il est en 1836."

THE CATHOLIC ADVOCATE. 607

dow. Ill their alarm they began to scream and run,
upsetting a lamp and endangering the building. For-
tunately no accident occurred and the panic was soon
allayed. Yet out of this trivial incident malicious
writers contrived to frame accusations against the Sis-
ters and the clergyman in charge of the Catholic church
at Lexington/

With the year 1836 the Minerva was succeeded by
the first Catholic weekly paper, issued in Kentucky,
"The Catholic Advocate," which had been projected
for some years by Hon. Ben. J. Webb, who lived to
write "The Centenary of Catholicity in Kentucky,"
after contributing much to the literature of the coun-
try. ^

During this year a preacher named Rice attempted
to rival the Maria Monk conspirators, and assailed the
character of a pure and exemplary priest. Rev. D. A.
Deparcq, Superior of the Lorelto Sisters, who was then
in Europe. Rev. Mr. Elder sued the libeler, and the
case was so clear that the jury gave its verdict against
Rice.^

Rev. Edward McMahon in 1836 undertook the
erection of a new church at Lexington and visited
other States to collect. He was thus enabled to com-
plete the edifice, so that it was dedicated by Bishop
Chabrat, Dec. 3, 1837, under the invocation of St.
Peter.* St. Jerome's Church, at Fancy Farm, was
erected, and the German congregation organized at

' Catholic Diary, vi., p. 241. See as to Sisters about this time, Cath.
Advocate, iii., p. 61.

' Webb, " Centenary," pp. 63, 319, 486.

» Webb, " Centenary," 244 ; G. A. M. Elder, " To the public," 1836 ;
Rice, " An Account of the Lawsuit," etc., Louisville, 1887.

* Webb. p. 331, 164, 172, 220.

608 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

Louisville soon erected St. Boniface's Church. In
April, 1837, Bishop Chabrat attended the third Pro-
vincial Council of Baltimore and explained to the
Fathers the desire of Bishop Flaget for the formation
of the State of Tennessee into a diocese. In the fifth
private congregation it was decided to petition the
Sovereign Pontiff to erect a see at Nashville, with
Tennessee as the diocese. Pope Gregory XVI., com-
plying with the desire of the episcopate, erected that
see on tlie 25th of July, 1837. The Dominican Father
Richard Pius Miles, elected to the new diocese, was
consecrated on the 16th of September, 1838, and pro-
ceeded to his ax^pointed station.^

The diocese of Bardstown was thus reduced to the
State of Kentucky.

In 1838 the Catholic body in Kentucky lost its patri-
arch, John Lancaster, Esq., who had emigrated to the
State in 1783, at the age of seventeen, and who had
gone through Indian wars and Indian captivity in his
early days. He lived to fill high offices, and sit in the
Senate and House of Representatives of the State.
Through his long and honored life he was a pious and
exemplary Catholic.

During his visitation in 1838 Bishop Chabrat dedi-
cated the brick church of St. John the Baptist on
Rude's Creek, recently erected by Rev. Mr. Chambige.
The Coadjutor Bishop was accompanied by Rev. Mar-
tin J. Spalding and the venerable priest Stephen T,
Badin, whose eloquent and forcible sermons produced
a remarkable effect.^ On the feast of All Saints he

' " Concilia Provincialia Baltimori habita ab anno 1829, usque ad
annum 1840," Baltimore, 1842, pp. 121, 127. " Bullarium de Propaganda
Fide," v., p. 163.

^ Catholic Advocate, iii., p. 94.

BISHOP FLAGET'S RETURN. 609

dedicated the Church of St. Boniface on Green Street,
Louisville, erected by the German congregation which
had been organized in 1836 by Rev. Joseph Stal-
schmidt. This churph, after its opening, was attended
for a time from Indiana and Ohio by Rev. Joseph Fer-
neding and Rev. John M. Henni.^

On the 25th of January, 1838, the main building of
St. Joseph's College was destroyed by lire. The foun-
der, Rev. G. A. M. Elder, was again President, and his
exertions on this occasion brought on an illness from
which he never recovered. He lingered till the 28tli of
September, when he expired at the college. Earnest,
laborious, of unvarying gentleness, he was beloved by
all, and his death was the pious complement of a well-
spent life.^ Rev. M. J. Spalding then became Presi-
dent of St. Joseph's College.

In July, 1839, Bishop Flaget. who had been preach-
ing in behalf of the Association for the Propagation in
France, sailed once more for the United States, and in
September was welcomed at Bardstown with the
utmost enthusiasm. The bells of cathedral and col-
lege were rung in sign of joy, and Protestants partici-
pated, with Catholics in the general gladness. To
gratify his flock, among whom there was a general
desire to see him, he soon began a visitation of his
diocese. His presence gave a new impulse to many
projects ; churches were improved, new ones erected at
Taylorsville and Portland.^

Louisville had by this time grown to be a city of
20,000 inhabitants, and its Catholic institutions had so

' Catliolic Advocate, iii., p. 334; "Webb, "Centenary," p. 515.

"^ Catholic Advocate, iii., pp. 292, 318 ; Freeman's Journal, i., p. 282 ;
Webb, 466.

3 Catholic Advocate, iii., pp. 317, 320 ; Truth Toller, xv., p. 217.

610 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

developed that Bishop Flaget felt that it was the
proper place for the head of the diocese. He was
reluctant to leave Bardstown, the cradle of Catholicity,
with the institutions which had -been so laboriously
created during thirty years of his episcopate. The
matter had been presented to the Holy See, and at
last a rescript of the Pope authorized him to remove
his residence to Louisville. The original see was not,
however, suppressed, but he became and styled him-
self Bishop of Louisville and Bardstown. It was pro-
posed to install Bishop Flaget at Louisville on Christ-
mas day, but he was prevented by illness.

Early in the next year the transfer was effected, and
he was received with cordial welcome. In June he
issued a pastoral to invite his flock to pray for the
necessities of the Church in Spain, and thus share in
the advantages of the jubilee granted by the Sovereign
Pontiff.^

On the 1st of December he was rejoiced to see the
arrival of a colony of Sisters of Charity of the Good
Shepherd, whom he had secured at Angers during his
stay in Europe. As the house was not ready for them
to begin their holy work of reforming women who had
strayed from the paths of virtue, they were placed
temporarily at Portland, near Cedar Grove Academy.
The erection of their convent was then pushed actively,
the whole expense falling on the Bishop, and the Sis-
ters entered it on the 4th of September, 1843.^

The Jesuit Fathers began an academy in Louisville.
St. Stephen's Church was dedicated at Owensboro,
and on the 30th of October, 1842, Bishop Chabrat dedi-

' Catholic Advocate, vii., p. 166.

" Spalding, " Life of Bishop Flaget," p. 336 ; U. S. Catholic Magazine,
ii., pp. 63, 123.

BISHOP CHABRAT. 611

cated St. Mary's Church, Covington, a fine brick struc-
ture, erected by tlie German Catliolics of that city. On
the 15th of January, 1843, Bishoj) Flaget issued a pas-
toral letter to his clergy, in which, after rejoicing at
the good effected by the jubilee, he said : " Being now
in the eightieth year of our life, and knowing that
the time of our dissolution cannot be far distant, our
prayers have been offered, in the commencement of
this year, with increased fervor, for you and for the
souls committed to your and our care." He estab-
lished in his diocese the Archconfraternity of the
Holy and Immaculate Heart of Mary, for the Conver-
sion of Sinners.^

About this time, a new trouble, of a weighty charac-
ter, afflicted the heart of the venerable Bishop. The
staff on which he leaned was yielding ; his Coadjutor,
Bishop Chabrat, showed an alarming decline of health,
and, once remarkable for his keen eyes, he was
threatened with the entire loss of sight. After sub-
mitting to a course of treatment under one of the most
eminent oculists in the country, without obtaining re-
lief, he went to Paris ; but the most skillful specialists
there could offer him no hope. Convinced that his
days of usefulness in the episcopate were ended, he
was anxious to resign his iDOsition as Coadjutor. His
petition to Rome was referred by the authorities there
to the consideration of the next Provincial Council.^

' Catholic Advocate, vii., p. 401 ; Catholic Herald, xi., p. 38.

^ Guy Ignatius Chabrat was born at Chambre, France, Dec. 28, 1787,
and came to the United States with Bishop Flage't in 1810. He was or-
dained Dec. 25, 1811. He did mission duty at St. Micliael's, St. Clare's
and Fairfield ; was Superior of the community of Brothers and of the
Sisters of Loretto. His resignation of the coadjutorship was accepted
in 1847. After leaving America he retired to the paternal roof in IMau-
riac, becoming completely blind, and died there Nov. 21, 1868, in liis
82d year.

612 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

For Bishop Flaget to be thus left alone in his extreme
old age, with infirmities fast growing upon him, was
indeed a severe trial even for one who had already
endured so much : but he bowed to the holy will of
God, and sought refuge in jprayer, constantly repeat-
ing : " May His holy will be done ! "

During these later years Rev. Napoleon B. Perclie,
future Archbishop of New Orleans, formed a congrega-
tion at Portland, and erected the Church of Our Lady ;
a church was dedicated at Raywick, and Cedar Grove
Academy established. At the close of the year 1843
the diocese contained forty churches and chapels,
twenty-six priests on the mission, and twenty-three
otherwise employed. The diocesan seminary was in
Marion County under the Lazarists ; the Jesuits and
Dominicans were laboring ; St, Joseph's College, duly
incorporated, was under the presidency of Rev. J. M.
Lancaster; St. Mary's College, also incorporated, was
jjresided over by Rev. William S. Murphy, S.J. ; St.
Ignatius Literary Institution, in Louisville, was di-
rected by Rev. John Larkin, S.J. ; Mount Merino
Seminary was near Hardinsburg; there were female
academies at Bardstown, Morganfield, Lexington,
under the Sisters of Charity ; near Springfield, under
the Dominican Sisters ; at Loretto, Bethlehem, Holy
Mary, Calvary, and Gethsemane, under the Sisters of
Loretto, who had also an Orphan Asylum and the
Loretto Deaf and Dumb Asylum.

CHAPTER XL

DIOCESE OF CINCINNATI.
RT. REV. EDWARD DOMINIC FENWICK, FIRST BISHOP, 1829-1832.

Returning from the Council of Baltimore, Bishop
Fenwick resumed his labors in his diocese. During
the year 1830 he was deprived by death of a Spanish
Dominican Father Rafael Munoz, who after being
confessor to the royal family in Spain came, in 1824,
to devote himself to the American missions. He had
labored earnestly, was Provincial in his order, and
Vicar-General of the diocese of Cincinnati. He died
on the 18th of July, universally regretted.

Early in this year Bishop Fenwick sent his Vicar-
G-eneral, Frederic Rese, to Europe, and addressed the
Emperor of Austria in behalf of his missions, receiving
a gracious answer.

The Sisters of Charity from Emmitsburg had opened
an orphan asylum in Cincinnati, but needed proper
accommodation. They were relieved in December by
the generous gift of a house near the Cathedral by M.
P. Cassely, Esq.^ The Pottawatomie Indians, on the
upper part of St. Joseph's River, were objects of the
Bishop's zeal. After a visit to the tribe by Rev.
Frederic Rese, he appointed Rev. Stephen Theodore
Badin to the mission, and the veteran priest soon had
seventy preparing for baptism. Rev. Mr. Rese visited
also Mackinac, Sault Ste. Marie, and Green Bay.
The old mission church at Mackinac, with Green Bay.

' Truth Teller, vi., pp. 274, 399 ; U. S. Cath. Miscellany, x., p. 55.

613

614 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

was soon assigned to the recently ordained Dominican
Father SamuGl Mazzuchelli. With Rev. Mr. Dejean
accomi)lishing much good at Arbre Croche, the Indian
missions of the diocese were thus assuming an en-
couraging appearance. Bishop Fenwick visited in
person several of the congregations in Ohio.^

As Catholic priests appeared in Ohio and Michigan
to officiate for the Catholic faithful, ministers of the
sects began to assail the doctrines of the Church, her
clergy, and her people. Father Mazzuchelli at Macki-
nac responded so ably to one of these assailants that
he converted three to the Catholic religion. The
Bishop felt that a journal was needed in his diocese
to meet these constant attacks, and during the year
1831 prepared to publish The Catholic Telegraph. It
made its first appearance on the 22d of October, the
day of Dr. Fenwick' s return from a visitation lasting
nearly five months. During that period he visited
nearly all the congregations in his diocese. Rev.
Frederic Baraga had by this time begun his mission
career at Arbre Croche. The venerable Badin, living
with the Indian chief Pokagan, not only attended his
Indians, but a French village, and two future sees.
Fort Wayne and Chicago. At Green Bay Bishop
Fenwick was gladly welcomed, a site of two acres was
given to him, and he made arrangements for the erec-
tion of a chapel. He did not leave until he had estab-
lished a Menominee Indian school. On his return to
Cincinnati, he was prostrated for several weeks at St.
Joseph's Convent with a violent fever, for his labors
in traveling, preaching, confirming, with hours in the

' U. S. Cath. Miscellany, x., pp. 79. 183 ; Mazzuchelli, " Memorie
istoriche ed edificante," Milan, 1844, pp. 28-33 ; Marty, " Dr. Joliann
Martin Henni, erster Bischof uud Erzbischof von Milwaukee," New
York, 1888, pp. 4G-7.

INDIANS AT THE PROPAGANDA. 615

confessional, had exhausted his strength/ On his
return he appealed, and not in vain, to the general
government to recognize the three Indian schools
which he had established.

The next year he made visitations, or rather mis-
sions, in many of the churches and stations, returning
to Cincinnati early in April. One result was the lay-
ing of the corner-stone of a church in Steubenville.
By this time the Academy of the Dominican Sisters at
Somerset was in a prosperous condition, with sixty
pupils.^

Bishop Fenwick, in a letter to Pope Gregory XVI.,
spoke of the missions among the Indians in his dio-
cese, and pro]3osed to send to the College de Propa-
ganda Fide two young men of the Ottawa tribe, who
seemed to have a decided vocation for the priesthood,
and whom he had instructed for two years in his
Seminary. Pope Gregory XVI., on the 14th of April,
1832, encouraged him by a consoling letter, and agreed
to receive the young Ottawas, William Maccodabinese
and Augustine Hamelin. They accordingly set out
for Rome in May, under the charge of V. Rev. Fred-
eric Rese, and were received with great kindness by
Cardinal Pedicini, Prefect of the Propaganda, who
addressed a flattering letter to Bishop Fenwick.^

That devoted pastor resumed his missionary journeys
in June and reached Green Bay and Arbre Croche,

1 Catholic Telegraph, i.. pp. 6, 14, 199, 306; U. S. Cath. Miscellany,
xi., pp. 50-159 ; Mazzuchelli, "Memorie," p. 51, etc.

» Catholic Telegraph, i., p. 247.

3 Pope Gregory XVI. to Bishop E. D. Fenwick, U. S. Cath. Mis-
cellany, xii., p. 23; xi., p. 357. Cardinal Pedicini to same, Cath. Tele-
graph, i., p. 403. William Maccodabinese died at Rome June 9, 1833 :
Hamelin returned and led an edifying life at Pointe St. Ignace. Catholic
Telegraph, iii., p. 71.

616 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

confirming many whites and Indians at both places.
On the 12th of August he wrote briefly from Mackinac.
Tlie cholera was already spreading through the
country, and Bishop Fenwick directed the collect pro-
vitanda mortalitate to be added in the daily mass.
He was himself soon to fall a victim to the disease.
Though suffering from dysentery he continued his
apostolic journeys, and after a short rest at Canton set
out for Cincinnati. When he reached the house of a
Catholic family in Wooster, he was seized with cholera.
The physicians summoned failed to check the disease :
and he soon became insensible to all around. Rev.
John M. Henni was summoned from Canton, but the
devoted Bishop, whose last words were, "Come, let
us go to Calvary ! " expired Wednesday, September
26, at noon. Eminently an untiring missionarj'-, he
died in the midst of his labors for the salvation of
souls.

The venerable pioneer priest Rev. Gabriel Richard
had preceded him to the tomb, dying also of cholera
on the 13th, at Detroit, fortified by all the sacraments
of the Church.^

The remains of Bishop Fenwick were brought from
Wooster by the charity of a convert, and after a
solemn mass of requiem they were deposited in the
vault under St. Peter's Cathedral, Cincinnati, on the
11th of February, 1833.^

' Catholic Telegraph, i.,pp. 391, 406, 414; ii., p. 85. U. S. Cath. Mis-
cellany, xii., p. 151 ; Mazzuchelli, pp. 81-3 ; Hammer, " Der Apostel von
Ohio," p. 142. Marty, "Dr. Johann Martin Henni," p. 57. Annales de
la Propagation de la Foi, vi., pp. 197, 133, 143.

Catholic Telegraph, i., p. 127.*

DIOCESE OF CINCINNATI. 617

V. REV. FREDERIC RESE.
ADMINISTRATOR, 1832-33.

Ox the death of Rt. Rev. Edward Dominic P^enwick,
the administration of the diocese of Cincinnati de-
volved on the active missionary priest, V. Rev. Edward
Rese, who had labored so earnestly among his coun-
trymen in the diocese, and been instrumental in the
establishment of the Leopoldine Association, whose
alms have fostered so many German missions. The
Sovereign Pontiff granted to him, though not a Vicar-
Capitular, all the faculties enjoyed by the late Bishop,
except those which required the episcopal character.

The church at Rehoboth was dedicated in Januaiy,

^^.

SIGNATURE OF V. KEV. FREDERIC RESE.

and about the same time Bishop Rosati visited Cin-
cinnati to administer confirmation and confer holy
orders.^

By the month of May intelligence arrived that the
Rev. John Baptist Purcell, president of Mount St.
Mary's College, had been elected Bishop of Cincinnati,
and that Michigan and Northwest Territory, which
had been temporarily placed under the care of Bishop
Fenwick, were erected into the diocese of Detroit, Very
Rev. Frederic Rese being elected to this new see.

Very Rev. Mr. Rese, acting by the advice of Bishop
Rosati, began to organize the German Catholics of
Cincinnati into a separate congregation, hojDing for a

' Cardinal Pedicini to V. Rev. F. Rese, Dec. 23, 1832. Catholic Tele-
graph, i., p. 406; ii., p. 222. U. S. Cath. Miscellany, xii., pp. 246-286.

618 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

time to be able to use the Cathedral for them, but, as
strong opposition was manifested, the German Catho-
lics prepared to erect at once a church for themselves,
and secured a site on Fifth Street, between Smith and
Park streets.

Daring this time Rev. Mr. McGrady completed the
brick church at Steubenville, and Rev. Edmund Quinn
a similar one at TifSn. A German and an English
school were opened in Cincinnati, under the direction
of seminarians.^

'Die Katholischen Kirchen, Kloster, etc., p. 11 ; Very Rev. F. Rese,
Dec. 24, 1833. Annales de la Prop, de la Foi, vi., p. 198, etc.

/^^^^^

Ct^p^^

SIGNATURE OF RT, REV. JOHN B. PURCELL, BISHOP OF CINCINNATI.

CHAPTER XII.

DIOCESE OF CINCINNATI.

RT. EEV. JOHN BAPTIST PURCELL, SECOND BISHOP, 1834-1843.

For the see of Cincinnati, as successor to Bishop
Fenwick, the Rev. Father Peter Kenney, S. J., Rev.
John B. Purcell, and Rev. John Hughes were recom-
mended. The choice fell on Rev. Mr. Purcell, then
president of Mount St. Mary's College, and this selec-
tion was announced in this country. His appointment
was delayed for a time, as it was represented that he
was too young to assume the burden. Bishop Eng-
land, whose advice was solicited, urged his appoint-
ment.^ His bulls were accordingly issued, and the day
for his consecration was fixed for the 13th of October,
1833, just before the assembling of the Provincial Coun-
cil. He was consecrated on that day by the Most Rev.
James Whitfield, Archbishop of Baltimore, in his
Cathedra], assisted by Bishops Du Bois of New York
and Kenrick of Arath, the recently consecrated Bishop
of Detroit, Dr. Rese being also present. The sermon
on the occasion was preached by Rev. Dr. Eccleston.
Bishop Purcell then took his place in the Council and
shared in its deliberations. At the close of the Coun-
cil he proceeded to Cincinnati, where he arrived on
the 14th of November, and was duly installed by the
venerable Bishop Flaget, who had consecrated and

'England, ' Osservazioni del Vescovo di Charleston intorno alia ele-
zione del Vescovo di Cincinnati." Houck, " The Church in Northern
Ohio," p. 17.

619

620 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

installed his predecessor. In his pastoral letter, Dr.
Purcell expatiated on the virtues of Bishoi:) Fenwick,
and on the good that he had accomplished in Ohio,
but he urged his flock in future to place little depen-
dence on aid from Europe, and to rely rather on
themselves. He exhorted Catholics where there was
no church to set to work to erect one, and meanwhile
to gather together and supply by prayer and pious
reading for the great sacrilice of which they were
deprived.^ The diocese of Cincinnati, embracing at
this time the State of Ohio, contained about thirty
thousand Catholics, who had nine brick and eight
wooden churches, attended by seventeen priests. *
After issuing a Lenten pastoral, in 1834 Bishop Pur-
cell began a visitation of his diocese. At Portsmouth
he found twenty Catholic families, visited occasionally
by a priest from Cincinnati ; but in and near it, and
in Franklin County, including men working on the
canal, there were about two hundred communicants,
Irish and Germans ; Columbus had about eighty
Catholics, similarly unprovided ; Lancaster had a
little wooden chapel, attended from Somerset. The
Dominican Fathers had labored zealously. Rev. Joseph
O'Learj', Avho had recently died, having erected two
churches within two years. Zanesville had a church,
and a priest who ministered to a flock of six hundred
in the town and missions. Canton, with its stations,
including Beechland, ready to build a church.
Moregg with its little chapel of St. Fidelis of Sig-
maringen, proto-martyr of the Propaganda, had about
two thousand communicants. Fulton had a small
wooden church. The Redemptorist Father F. X.

'Catholic Telegraph, ii., pp. 5-9; Concilia Proviucialia Baltimori
habita," Baltimore, 1842, p. 92.

REDEMPTORISTS. 621

Tsclienhens who had been laboring in Ohio with Fath-
ers Hatscher and Czakert of the same order, built
Blessed Alphonsns Church at Peru, and visited the
Catholics for thirty or forty miles around. It had
been the Bishop's plan that the Redemptorist Fathers
should take charge of a large district and meet the
wants of the faithful, as the population increased ; but
the spirit of the congregation at Peru was so bad that
the good priests received only insult and abuse. They
hnallv withdrew to Pittsburg, in 1839.

Rev. Edmund Quinn had charge for several years
of all the stations and missions in Northern Ohio, and
erected St. Mary's Church at Tiffin.

Bishop Purcell returned to find the cholera making
o-reat ravages among the Catholics in Cincinnati, and
especially the Germans, so that he summoned Rev.
John M. Henni to their assistance. After his return
the Bishop began his course of theology to the semi-
narians and assumed personal direction of the Athe-
naeum, as president, securing teachers to give it effic-
iency and influence on its opening.^ About this time
(1833) log churches rose at Glandorf, Bethlehem, and
New Rieo-el in Northern Ohio, sufficient to gather the
faithful together, and afford a place to instruct the
children. Bishop Purcell encouraged the German
Catholics in Cincinnati to persevere in their project
of erecting a separate church, and when their Church
of the Holy Trinity was ready for divine service, he
dedicated it on the 8th of October, 1834. It was sixty
feet wide by one hundred and twenty in depth, with a

' Henny, " Ein Blick in's Thai des Ohio," Munchen, 1836 pp 73-81
Bergcr, •' Life of Right Rev. John N. Newmann New ^oi-k 1884 p.
326 Catholic Telegraph, v., p. 60. Annales de la P-iy|e la Foi 8
p 336 " Berichte der Leopoldiaen-Stiftung," Vienna, 1834. yu., p. 25.
Ilouck. " The Church in Northern Ohio," pp. 11, 14, 152.

622 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

good, basement for a school. It was the first German
church west of the Alleghanies. The pastor of the
congregation was the Rev, Martin Kundig. German
Catholics preferring the rural districts and agricultural
employment to city life, had settled largely in the
interior of Pennsylvania, and were among the first
Catholic settlers in Ohio who welcomed Bishop Flaget
and Father Fenwick. As Rev. Mr. Kundig accom-
panied Bishop Rese to Detroit, Bishop Purcell called
Rev. John M. Henni, from Canton, to become pastor
of the Church of the Holy Trinity. The new church
stood near an ancient Indian mound, not improbably
the scene of many religious rites of aboriginal hea-
thendom. Bishop Flaget, who took part in the dedica-
tion ceremonies, in his address of congratulation to
the congregation, recalled the fact that when forty-
three years before he passed the spot where Cincinnati
was now so great and prosperous a city, there was not
a brick house erected.^

Immigration by this time was centering in Ohio,
and it needed constant effort to afford the Catholic
portion facilities for practicing their religious duties.
Bishop Purcell did not spare himself. He renewed
his visitations in 1834, amid snow and ice, and was
gratified by the zeal of the Rev. Mr. Horstmann on
the Anglaise in Putnam County and by the exertions
to endow Dayton with a church. In July, he dedi-
cated that founded at Steubenville by Rev. Mr. McGra-
dy ; visited the little chapel erected at Urbana by the

' Houck, "The Church in Northern Ohio," p. 17; Henny, " Ein
Blick in's Thai des Ohio," Miinchen, 1836, p. 72 ; Marty, " Dr. Johann
Martin Henni," p. 62 ; " Katolischen Kirchen, Kloster, Kapellen," p. 14.
Bishop Purcell, Aug. 30, 1834, in Annales de la Prop, de la Foi, viii., p.
335 ; same, Oct. 1, 1834, in " Berichte der Leopoldinen-Stiftung," ix ,
p. 9 ; Rev. J. M. Henni, lb., p. 14.

BIBLE QUESTION. 623

Piatt family, which was attended from Dayton. St.
Martin's, Brown County, was a church erected by Rev.
Martin Kundig, and the school was due to Rev. J.
Reid.^

Convinced of the importance and necessity of an
institution for training young men for the priesthood
in his own diocese. Bishop Purcell soon organized a
Seminary Fund Association, the members of which, by
a small annual subscription, would furnish the means
for maintaining the institution and educating semi-
narians.

He was thus building solidly on the foundations laid
by his predecessor, seminary and college, church and
school, as well as charitable institutions. Seeing the
necessity of using the press to diffuse a knowledge of
Catholic truth, he sought to improve the Catholic Tele-
graph and formed plans for a systematic diffusion of
good books.

In the early part of November, 1835, he descended
to New Orleans to assist at the consecration of Rt.
Rev. Anthony Blanc, Bishop of that see.^

In 1836, The Young Men's Bible Society of Cincin-
nati, with more zeal than regard for truth, accused
the Catholic Church with withholding the Scriptures
from the people. Bishop Purcell, in a card, not only
offered to contribute, if they would circulate among
Catholics the Douay Bible and Allioli's German Bible,
but pledged himself to go, if necessary, from door to
door and leave a copy with every Roman Catholic fam-

' Catholic Telegraph, iii.. pp. 81, 246-365 ; iv., pp. 316-375. Jesuit,
v., p. 335. Henny, " Eia Blick," pp. 81-4.

'■'Bishop Purcell in " Berichte der Leopoldinen-Stiftung," Jan. 31,
1836, X., p. 13 ; Catholic Telegraph, v., p. 60 ; U. S. Cath. Miscellany,
XV., pp. 78, 182.

624 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

ily destitute of a Bible. It is needless to say that
liis offer was not accepted.

The next year Rev. John Martin Henni established
"Der Wahrheit's Freund," "The Friend of Truth,"
a German paper which subsists to this day, after
advocating Catholicity for half a century and more.^

The same year the Ohio College of Teachers went
still further, as if the teachers felt it necessary, by their
attacks on the Catholic Church, to show that State
education was hostile to her. Bishop Purcell asked
leave to reply to their strictures, but as rules of the
college prevented this, he refuted their assertions in a
lecture delivered at a Protestant church. Such was
the effect of this, that Rev. Alexander Campbell,
founder of a sect, a division of Presbyterians, felt it
necessary to defend Protestantism, and challenged any
one in the Catholic ranks to meet him. Bishop Pur-
cell, though averse to controversj'', accepted the chal-
lenge. The Bishop and his antagonist met in a Bap-
tist church, January 11, 1837. The discussion lasted
eight days. The newspapers in Cincinnati conceded
that Mr. Campbell's effort was "a grand failure,"
that he failed to accomplish his " vain boast of being
able to demolish the Catholic religion." It was openly
stated that " Protestantism gained nothing in the con-
test, and that Catholicism suffered nothing," and that
the Catholic Cliurch gained by having thousands hear
the arguments in her favor.

The abilit}^ of Bishop Purcell as a controversialist
was fully recognized, and the controversy, which soon
appeared in book form, was widely circulated and,

' Boston Pilot, ii., June 4, 1836. A reduced copy of the front page of
the first number of the Wahrlieit's Freund is given in Marty's Henni, p.
119 ; Bishop Purcell, Letter, Jan. 31, 1836. Berichte der Leopoldinen-
Stiftung, X., p. 13 ; xii., p. 60.

IN EUROPE. 625

reaching many from whom every ray of Catholic truth
had been excluded, led to frequent conversions.

Bishop Purcell attended the third Council of Balti-
more in April, 1837, and soon after laid the corner-
stone of a church at Fayette ville, and was gratified to
see near that place little communities of German and
French Catholics erecting temporary chapels. Rev.
H. D. Juncker completed St. Mary's Church, Chilli-
cothe, which was dedicated by the Bishop. The next
year the same energetic priest completed a church
in Columbus, the capital of the State, and future
see of a bishop. It was dedicated by Rev. Stephen
T. Badin. About this time Rev. Mr. Henni formed
the German Catholic Orphan Society of St. Aloysius,
and an asylum was soon erected.

In May, 1838, Bishop Purcell resolved to visit Europe
for affairs of his diocese, and committed the adminis-
tration, during his absence, to his Vicar-General V.
Rev. John M. Henni and Edward T. Collins. He
arrived in Liverpool early in July, and extended his
visits to Ireland and Belgium. In the former country
he found that a strong prejudice had been created
against the United States by Bishop Clancy, who
denounced this republic in unmeasured terms at many
X)laces. In an address at Mallow, Bishop Purcell
answered his sweeping charges and showed that our
government and people at large were not responsible
for the acts of a few misled and misguided men at
Charlestown or Burlington.^

In a letter to the Leopold Association, which had
contributed generously to the advancement of the

> Catholic Telegraph, Jan. 26, 1837 ; Catholic Herald, v., p. 44, 247-
317 ; vi., p. 391 ; Catholic Advocate, iii., p. 118, 291 ; Truth Teller, xiv.,
p. 386. Dr. Clancy issued a reply to Bishop Purcell, Truth Teller, xiv.,
p, 358.

626 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

faith in Ohio, he states that he had thirty priests, ten
Germans, six Americans, the rest French and Irish.
He had thirteen students in philosophy and theology
at his seminary. His churches numbered thirty-five,
most of them poor and rough. He had parochial
schools at Cincinnati, Sisters of Charity teaching and
directing a girls' orphan asylum, but one for boys was
sorely needed.^

The necessity of circulating small Catholic works
among the faithful to keep alive the truths of religion
and her moral teachings induced Bishop Purcell to
establish, in 1840, the "Catholic Society for the
Diffusion of Knowledge." The objects of the society
are, "First, to sustain the Catholic Telegraph; and
secondly, to diffuse a correct and just knowledge of
Catholic doctrine, by printing and circulating approved
works of piety and controversy." It soon began to
issue publications, but did not long continue.^

Meanwhile the Catholic body grew and churches
were needed. Taylorsville soon had one, and in
1838 Rev. Patrick O'Dwyer, who had been sent to
Cleveland the year before, began the Church of Our
Lady of the Lake. On the 5th of June, 1840, Bishop
Purcell, accompanied by Bishop Forbin Janson of
Nancj^ and Toul, after attending the sessions of the
Fourth Provincial Council of Baltimore sailed in a
steamer from Buffalo for Cleveland, but encountered
a fearful storm, during which the Bishop of Nancy
was once in imminent peril. They finally reached

' Berichte der Leopoldinen-Stlftung, xii., p. 59.

' Catholic Register, 1., p. 141 ; Truth Teller, xvi., p. 78. Such a society
was all the more necessary, as after the publication of Miss Reed's and
the Maria Monk book the country was deluged with even more revolting
works, and newspapers like the " Downfall of Babylon " were issued to
propagate the grossest falsehoods.

MOTHER ANGELA SANSBURY. 627

Cleveland, and the church erected by Rev. Peter Mc-
Laughlin, on the "Flats," was dedicated by Mgr.
Forbin Janson, Bishop Purcell preaching. It stood
on Columbus Street, to accommodate the two congre-
gations of Cleveland and Ohio City, and was fifty-
three feet in width by eighty-one in depth ; the front,
with four Doric columns, presenting a fair appear-
ance. Such was the commencement of Catholicity in a
future see.^

On the 30th of November, 1839, died piously, at St.
Mary's Seminary, Somerset, Ohio, in her 44th year,
Mother Angela (Mary) Sansbury, who, with Miss Mary
Carrico, founded the community of Sisters of the Third
Order of St. Dominic, near Springfield, Kentucky,
under the direction of Father Thomas Wilson, O.P.
The little community grew slowly, but did much for
education and charity, and the Sisters displayed hero-
ism during the seasons of cholera. In January, 1830,
at the instance of Bishop Fenwick, a convent of this
order, St. Magdalen's, was founded at Somerset, Ohio.
Though not one of the original colony at St. Magda-
len's, Mother Angela soon joined them and, becoming
Superior, made it a prosperous community, sending
out vigorous branches and directing successful acade-
mies. She was a native of Maryland, but her parents,
emigrating to Kentucky, soon left her orphan. Her
mind at an early age turned to the religious state, and
her life was one devoted to God and her neighbor.
She was prudent and energetic, fitted for the guidance
of others, yet thoroughly humble and solidly pious.
Her death followed a short illness, borne with calm
resignation and peace. ^

' Catholic Register, i., p. 326 ; Houck, " Churches in Northern Ohio,"
pp. 14-15.

' Metropolitan, 1856, p. 534 ; Letter of Prioress of St. Mary's, Ohio,
July 25, 1856 ; Catholic Herald, vii., p. 405.

628 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

In 1840, Rev. Projectus J. Macheboeuf became the
first resident pastor of Sandusky ; and Rev, Araadeus
Rappe and Louis de Goesbriand reached Ohio as mis-
sionary priests, the former to labor at Chillicothe and
Toledo, the latter to begin his work at Louisville, and
all, in time, to take their place in the hierarchy/

The Bishop of Cincinnati felt that with the cares
resulting from the growth of the diocese, he could not
well himself sustain the Athenaeum and build up a
worthy college ; he therefore resolved to invite some
religious order to undertake the task. The Fathers
of the Missouri Mission of the Society of Jesus, to his
relief, accepted his offers. The Athengeum was trans-
ferred to them in 1840, and Rev. J. A. Elet came as
first iDresident, with a body of professors, and it re-
ojDened in October under the name of St. Xavier Col-
lege. It was chartered by the General Assembly oi
Ohio in 1869. "

In his visit to Belgium, Bishop Purcell had been
greatly impressed by the methods of teaching and
training employed by the Sisters of Notre Dame, a
community founded by Mother Julia Billiart, at
Namur, and applied for a colony of Sisters to found a
house in his diocese. Eight members, Sister Louise
Gonzague being Superior, accordingly embarked at
Antwerp in September, 1840, and, reaching Cincinnati,
were soon installed in a house opposite the Cathedral.
They at once began to prepare to open an academy,
and did so in January.^

' Houck, " Church in Northern Ohio," p. 14.

^ "Woodstock Letters, v., p. 115 ; Hill, " Historical Sketch of St. Louis
University," p. 61.

^Life of Rev. Mother Julia, Foundress and first Superior of the Sisters
of Notre Dame of Namur. New York, 1871, p. 292-300. The foundress
was born at Cuvilly, in Picardy, July 12, 1751. An attempt on her

CONDITION IN 1843. 629

Meanwhile, the Catholic x)opulation of the State
increased steadily, and the churches and institu-
tions were very inadequate. St. Mary's Church, for
the Germans in Cincinnati, was dedicated with jjomp
in July, 1842 ; another German church, about the
same time, at Zanesville, was erected by Rev. H. D.
Juncker.^

At the close of the year 1843 the diocese of Cincin-
nati contained fifty-five churches, some poor enough,
with fifteen others in course of erection ; it had forty-
two priests on the mission, and twelve otherwise en-
gaged. The diocesan seminary, removed to Brown
County, was directed by priests of the Congregation
of the Mission, and contained twelve students, and
several others were at St. Xavier's College. That
institution was prospering, as was the Dominican Con-
vent in Perry County. The Dominican Sisters had
their academy at Somerset, and the Sisters of Notre
Dame were prospering at Cincinnati. There were
schools in operation for children of both sexes there.
That city had by this time two orphan asylums. The
population of the diocese was estimated at fifty thou-
sand. There were 1156 Catholic baptisms in Cincin-
nati in 1843, 315 marriages, and 457 deaths.^

father's life in 1774 brought on a series of maladies which lasted thirty
years, and for twenty-two she was unable to leave her couch. During
the French Revolution she and M'lle Blin formed a Jit tie community and
began instructing women and children. When peace returned they
adopted a rule, under the guidance of Rev. Father Varin, which received
the approval of Pope Gregory XVI. Mother Julia miraculously recov-
ered her health in 1804, and died January 14, 1816.

' Catholic Herald, x., pp. 156, 204, 226.

'Bishop Purcell, in Berichte der Leopoldinen-Stiftung, xii.,p. 59, and
U. S. Catholic Magazine, iii., p. 134.

CHAPTER XIIL

DIOCESE OF DETROIT.

RT. REV. FREDERIC RESE, FIRST BISHOP, 1833-1837.

Before erecting tlie see of Detroit, the Congrega-
tion de Propaganda Fide addressed Bishop Fen wick,
ill order to ascertain what revenues there were that
would be applied to the maintenance of a bishop.
" The Sacred Congregation has constantly before its
eyes the evils which the Church suffers in those States
from the course of action pursued by trustees." ^

The first candidate proposed for the new see was the
venerable Rev. Gabriel Richard, who had done so
much to revive religion in Michigan. For denouncing
the bigamous conduct of a miserable wretch, who,
abandoning a wife in Canada, married another in De-
troit, Rev. Mr. Richard was sued and prosecuted.
Courts, ready to condemn a Catholic priest, decided
against Rev. Mr. Richard, and enemies whom his ad-
herence to the rules of the Church had raised up, made
his condemnation a ground why the authorities of the
Church should not appoint him Bishop of Detroit.
The arrest of Rev. Mr. Richard is one of his titles to
renown.

The selection for first Bishop of Detroit fell finally
on Rev Frederic Rese, whose active labors among the
German Catholics in the diocese of Cincinnati, and
whose part in prompting the establishment of the

' Cardinal Somaglia to Bishop Edward D. Fenwick, July 1, 1836

630

RT. REV. FREDERICK IlESE, BISHOP OF DETROIT.

631

THE LEOPOLD ASSOCIATION. 633

Leopoldinen-Stiftung, or Association for Aiding Mis-
sions, had brought into prominence.

Gregory XVI. erected the see of Detroit by his bull,
" Maximas inter gravissimasque curas," March 8, 1833,
making the Bishop a suffragan of the Archbishop of
Baltimore. The diocese embraced the State of Michi-
gan and Northwest Territory, which had liitherto been
administered by the Bishop of Cincinnati.^

Tlie district watered by tlie four great lakes, Supe-
rior, Michigan, Huron, and Erie, and in which Fathers
Jogues and Raymbault first planted the cross of Catho-
licity in 1642, in which Fathers Menard and Delhalle
died by the hands of the red men, where Allouez, and
Marquette, Lefranc and Dujaunay labored, was thus
erected into a diocese. The churches at Detroit,
Northeast and Raisin River, Mackinaw, Sault Ste.
Marie, and Green Bay, had their history. The diocese
embraced, next to Illinois, the oldest Catholic district
in the West. The faithful were still mainly of French
origin, few of other nationalities having settled per-
manently there.

This district had been placed under the care of
Bishop Flaget, of Bardstown, and subsequently of
Bishop Fenwick, both of whom had labored earnestly
for its good, so far as their means and other duties
permitted. Order had been introduced at Detroit,
Monroe, Mackinac, and missions revived for Indians
and half-breeds among the Ottawas, Chippewas, Pot-
tawatomies, Menominees and Winnebagoes. Rev.

' BuUarium de Propaganda Fide, xv. , pp. 89, 90. Cardinal Pedicini to
Eev. F. Rese, May 18, 1833. Cardinal Capellari to Rev. F. Rese, Feb.
14, 1839, expressing his gratification at the establishment of the Leopold-
inen-Stiftung, stating that Pope Leo XII. was highly pleased, and
granted the members of the Association many indulgences by his brief
of Jan. 30, 1829.

634 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

Frederic Rese had visited the whole district as Vicar-
Geuei-al and Administrator and was fully aware of its
condition.

He was born at Weinenburg, Hanover, in 1791, and
when just of age was drafted into the army and served
in the cavalry in the wars against the French. But
his inclinations were religious, and he obtained admis-
sion into the College of the Propaganda, and served
the lirst mass of the future x^ontiff Pius IX. After his
ordination he was sent on the African mission, but his
health failed and he returned to Rome. There he
offered his services to Bishop Fenwick, and was joy-
fully accepted. His labors in the diocese of Cincinnati,
especially among his fellow-countrymen and the In-
dians, his zeal and talents were soon recognized. On
receiving his bulls, he requested Bishop Rosati of St.
Louis to officiate, and he was duly consecrated by that
prelate in St. Peter's Cathedral, Cincinnati, on the 3d
of October, 1833. He proceeded immediately to Balti-
more to attend the second Provincial Council, the first
session of which was held on the 20th of that month.
After the council he was duly installed (January 7,
1834) in St. Anne's Church, Detroit, which became his
Cathedral.

He was assisted there by Rev. Messrs. Vincent Bad-
in, Kundig, and Bonduel : Rev. Mr. Carabin was at
Monroe ; Rev. Mr. Kelly at Ann Arbor ; Rev. Mr.
Lastrie at Mackinac, Rev. Mr. Viszosky on St. Clair
River ; Rev. Mr. Boheme at St. Paul. Rev. S. T. Badin
and Rev. Mr. Desseille attended the Pottawatomies
at St. Joseph's ; the Redemptorist Father Sand erl, the
Ottawas at Arbre Croche ; Rev. F. Baraga, those at
Grand River ; Rev. S. Mazzuchelli, O.P., was laboring
among the Winnebagoes in Wisconsin ; and the Rev.
F. Hatscher, C.SS.R., was at Green Bay, ministering

ACTIVE PROGRESS. 635

to whites and Menominees. There were no insti-
tutions in the diocese except an academy just opened
at Detroit by tlie Poor Clares from Belgium, over
whom, and those at Pittsburgh, Bishop Rese had re-
ceived the powers of Provincial ; there were also
schools for girls at the Indian missions.'

Bishop Rese completed and adorned the interior of
his cathedral and obtained vestments and plate from
Vienna. He continued to reside in the old parish
house, with his clergy, and soon began a little diocesan
seminary tliere, with four students. The female Acad-
emy of the Poor Clares could boasfc of a hundred
scholars, twenty of them boarders. They soon sent
Sisters to take charge of the school at Green Bay.
St. Anne's Church being insufficient for the Catholic
congregation, a frame church at Michigan Avenue and
Bates Street, erected by the First Protestant Society,
was purchased in August, 1834, and after necessary
alterations became,, by the Bislioj)'s dedication June
14, 1835, the German Church of the Holy Trinity.

The energetic Bishop proposed to establish, at once,
a seminary and college, as well as to provide better
accommodations for the cathedral clergy.

In July he set out to make his visitation of the
churches and stations in the north and west, and to ad-
minister confirmation. He was much encouraged by
the evident progress, but soon after there came an evi-
dence that the hostile spirit then pervading the country
had reached the old Catholic Northwest. The church
at Sault Ste. Marie was soon after robbed of all the
valuable plate and ornaments, the missal and other
books being torn to fragments. The church itself was
soon after set on fire.

' Clarke, " Lives of Deceased Bishops," New York, 1888, p. 266, etc.;
Catholic Almanac (Myers), 1834, pp. 56, 122.

636 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

Till lie could establish a college Bishop Rese opened
a high school in a suitable building near the Cathedral,
with Rev. Mr. O'Cavanagh as president. In the course
of the year 1836 he began a four-story building, adjoin-
ing St. Anne's Cathedral, to be used partly as a resi-
dence, and in part for the diocesan seminary.^

But by this time difficulties which had arisen took
a serious form. The Abbess of the Poor Clares, Mother
Frances Van de Voghel, and the Bishoi^ disagreed in
regard to the projDerty and management of the com-
munity and the case was carried to Rome, resulting at
last in the breaking up of all establishments of the
order at Pittsburgh, Detroit, and Green Bay, and the
departure of the Sisters from the country. Com-
plaints were sent also against the Bishop by priests,
and notably in regard to the Indian missions.^
About this time he established the College of St.
Philip ISTeri at the Cote du Nord-Est under the Rev..
Messrs. Vanderpoel and de Bruyn,

The horizon so lately full of promise was 'suddenly
clouded. Bishop Rese had apparently been arbitrary.
He was quick and impulsive. Seriously affected in
his health and comj^letely discouraged, he resolved to
resign. Leaving the diocese in charge of Very Rev.
John de Bruyn and Very Rev. S. T. Badin as his
Vicars-General, he left Detroit and the diocese early
in 1837. He reached Baltimore in time to take part
in the third provincial council; but from St." Marj^'s

' Berichte der Leopoldinen-Stiftung, viii., p. 10 ; ix., p. 26. Farmer,
" History of Detroit and Michigan," Detroit, 1884, p. 536 ; Truth Teller,
X., pp. 317, 418 ; Telegraph, iii., pp. 366, 399 ; Jesuit, v., p. 343 ; N. Y.
Weekly Register, iv., p. 213 ; iii., p. 199. Herald, v., p. 4 ; x., p., 251.

2 Rev. Mr. Deseille to Bishop Rese, Jan. 14, 1836 ; Rev. S. T. Badin
to Archbishop Etcleston ; Rev. Martin Kundig to same, Sept. 1833 ;
April 4, June 30, 1837.

DR. RESE RESIGNS. 637

Seminary lie addressed to the assembled Fathers a
letter in which, after declaring that he had accei^ted
the episcopate reluctantly, and had learned by experi-
ence that it was a burden beyond his strength, he men-
tioned his frequently entertained intention of resigning
his diocese into the hands of his Holiness, or at least
soliciting a suitable coadjutor. He stated that he
now desired to do so, having left his diocese in charge
of two Vicars-General till other measures were adopted.
The Fathers of the Council addressed a letter to the
Sovereign Pontiff, asking that the resignation be ac-
cepted, and proposing clergymen deemed fitted to suc-
ceed him. Dr. Rese was summoned to Rome, where
he was known and esteemed. He reached that city in
very feeble health, and it was soon found that soften-
ing of the brain had set in. The Pope, therefore,
decided to api^oint a coadjutor, with powers of admin-
istering the diocese. The unfortunate Bishop re-
mained in Rome, cared for in a religious community,
till the troubles of 1849. Soon after that he was taken
to a hospital at Lappenburg, amid his friends, and died
there December 29, 1871.^

The see w^as governed meanwhile by the Vicars-
General till the death of Yevj Rev. John de Bruyn, at
St. Philip's College, of which he was president, Sep-
tember 11, 1839, at the age of 41. Born at Lierre,
Belgium, he was ordained in 1832, and came the next
year to Detroit, laboring for a time at Arbre Croche.^

' " Concilia Provincialia Baltimori liabita," pp. 124, 147. Clarke,
"Lives of Deceased Bishops"; Rev. F. A. O'Brien, "The Diocese of
Detroit," Lansing, 1886, pp. 10-11. Bishop Rese was at the church of
San Lorenzo in Lucina, Rome, in 1841.

^ Catholic Advocate, iv., p. 276 ; Catholic Register, i., p. 29 ; Catholic
Herald, vii., p. 332 ; ix., pp. 229, 373, 388 ; U. S. Cath. Miscellany, xi..
p. 182.

CHAPTER XIV.

DIOCESE OF DETROIT.

RT. EEV. PETER PAUL LEFEVRE, BISHOP OF ZELA,
ADMINISTRATOR OF DETROIT, 1841-43.

It was not easy to find a capable clergyman willing
to assume the responsibility of directing the diocese.
The Rev. John M. Odin, CM., was appointed in De-
cember, 1840, but succeeded in escaping the burden.
In 1841 the Holy See elected to the position the Rev.
Peter Paul Lefevre, born at Roulers, in Belgium,
April 30, 1804, who, after brilliant studies at Paris,
came to Missouri, and was ordained by Bishop Rosati,
July 17, 1831. As a priest of the diocese of St. Louis,
in a large and difficult district, with several churches
to attend, he manifested untiring patience and un«
flagging zeal. He was in Europe, seeking rest and
health, when he was appointed. Compelled to accept,
he returned to the United States, and was consecrated
in St. John's Church, Philadelphia, November 21,
1841, by Right Rev. Francis Patrick Kenwick, assisted
by Right Rev. John England and Right Rev. John
Hughes. Issuing a pastoral address to the flock placed
under his care, he proceeded to Detroit.

Bishop Lefevre was ])]am and systematic. His
efforts to establish order and regularity in the affairs
of the diocese met some opposition, but he ultimately
prevailed. Some of the dangerous trustee element
existed, which he labored to remove. He repaired the
pro-cathedral, encouraged the improvements at the
Church of the Holy Trinity, undertaken by St. Mary's
Association, and by the impulse his x>resence gave

638

ST. PHILIP'S COLLEGE BURNED. 639

soon saw churches rising at Flint, Mount Clemens,
Dexter, and Upper and Lower Saginaw. Rev. P.
Kelly completed the church at Milwaukee, dedicated
March 15, 1841. Rev, A. Ravoux had nearly com-
pleted St. Gabriel's Church at Prairie du Chien, and
Rev. A. Viszogsky a fine one at Grand River. The
churches at Green Bay and Kakalin Rapids, with the
Indian missions, were still prosjoering.^

He made an extended visitation of his diocese in
1842, and found the temporal affairs dreadfully con-
fused. Turbulent men gave such trouble in Detroit
that he threatened to withdraw from St. Anne's en-
tirely.

The diocese sustained, moreover, a severe blow in

SIGNATURE OF BISHOP LEFEVRE.

January, 1842, in the complete destruction by fire of
the College of St. Philip Neri.^ The diocese contained
St. Anne's Cathedral, repaired and improved ; Holy
Trinity Church, enlarged, with twenty-three other
churches and chapels ; sixteen priests, ten schools, and
two charitable institutions, and new churches rising.
The Catholic population was estimated at 25,000.
Such was the condition of the Detroit diocese, with its
estimated Catholic population of sixty thousand, when
the Rt. Rev. Administrator in 1843 set out for the
Council of Baltimore.

' Catholic Herald, x., pp. 251, 259, 306, 330 ; Truth Teller, xvi., p. 119.

= Bishop Lefevre, Feb. 5, July 15, 19, Dec. 1, 1842 ; Berichte der
Leopoldinen-Stiftung, xvi., p. 27, 31 ; Salzbacher, Meine Reise nach
Nord America, ii., p. 242.

CHAPTER XV.

DIOCESE OF VINCENNES.

RT. REV. SIMON GABRIEL BRUTE, FIRST BISHOP, 1834-1839.

When Pope Gregory XVI. on the 6th of May, 1834,
resolved to relieve the Bishop of Bardstown of the
last portion of his annexed district, he erected the see
of Vincennes by his bull " Maximas inter,'' giving it
as its diocese the States of Indiana and Illinois east of a
line from Fort Massac along the eastern boundaries of
Johnson, Franklin, Jefferson, Marion, Fayette, Shelby
and Mann counties, to the Illinois River, eight miles
above Ottawa, and thence to the northern boundary of
the State. The Bishop of the see was to be a suffragan
of the Archbishop of Baltimore.^

Tlie selection for the throne of the newly created
bishopric fell on one of the most learned and saintly
priests in the United States. Simon William Gabriel
Brute de Remur was born March 20, 1779, at Rennes,
France, of a wealthy family, afterwards ruined by the
Revolution. His mother sup2:)orted her children by
establishing a book-store and printing office, and
Gabriel became an expert compositor. After an hon-
orable course in the college of his native city, he
spent two years at the Polytechnic school ; then study-
ing medicine, he took the highest prize in the college ;
he obtained his degree in 1803. But he renounced the
world and its x^i'ospects. The lessons of the Abbe
Carron, under whom he made his first communion in

' BuUarium de Propaganda Fide, v., pp. 108-109 ; Catholic Telegraph,
iii., p. 405.

640

BISHOP BRUTE. 641

1791, gave him an inclination for the Church, which he
followed. He entered the Seminary of St. Salpice,
and was ordained priest June 10, 1808. His learning,
scientific knowledge and virtues won him a circle of
illustrious friends, among them the famous Lamennais
and his brother, and late in life, from amid his labors
in America, he endeavored in vain to recall that erring-
priest back to the Church. He left a professor's
chair in the seminary at Rennes, two years later, to
accompany Bishop Flaget to America. After a short
mission career at St. Joseph's on the Eastern Shore,
this priest of a varied and solid learning was succes-
sively professor at Mount St. Mary's, and President of
St. Mary's College, Baltimore. The Seminary of
Mount St. Mary's, with which he identified himself
fully, owed him much of its success and influence.
When first appointed to the see of Vincennes, he
declined it, but yielded when the bulls were sent a
second time.^ He was consecrated in the Cathedral of
St. Louis, October 28, 1834, by Rt, Rev. Benedict J.
Flaget, Bishops Rosati and Purcell being assistants.
On the 5th of November, he reached the city which
was to be his future residence as Bishop. Some miles
in advance, he was met by Rev. Mr, Lalumiere and a
number of citizens on horseback, who escorted him
and his companions, the Bishops of Bardstown and
Cincinnati, to the Cathedral. The ceremony of his
installation took place the same evening, and thus he
took possession of St, Francis Xavier's Cathedral, a

' Autobiographical notes of Bishop Brute. Letters in Bayley , ' ' Memoirs
of Rt. Rev. 8. G. Brute," p. 75, and in Alerding, " History of tlie Catho-
lic Church in the diocese of Vincennes," Indianapolis, 1888, p. 124, etc.
Bishop Brute in vain endeavored to recall to his duties tlie aged Col.
Vigo, who had been so active in the Revolution, and had done mucli for
the Church, but he died without the sacraments.

642 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

" plain brick building, 115 feet long and 60 broad, con-
sisting of four walls and the roof, unplastered and not
even whitewashed, destitute even of a place for preserv-
ing the vestments and sacred vessels. Only a simple
altar of wood with a neatly gilded tabernacle, a cross
and six beautiful candlesticks, a gift from France,
which were much in contrast with the poverty and
destitution of the place." He issued a pastoral letter
to his flock, and began to study his position. The
Catholic population of Vincennes were poor, generally
ignorant, and requiring much instruction and rousing.
He found by experience that the pew rents and sub-
scriptions would amount in all to about $300 a year,
enough for a self-denying missionary, but affording
nothing for the expenses of a bishop and the constant
calls that he might expect. As he was alone, his first
duty was to this little flock. He prepared the con-
gregation for the great feast of Christmas, and was
consoled to see many receive holy communion at the
midnight and two other masses which he celebrated ;
and nineteen young people make their first com-
munion.

To form a definite idea of the scattered congrega-
tions of Catholics in Indiana and Illinois, he resolved
to visit the west and north of the diocese, while Rev.
S. P. Lalumiere made a similar tour through the
south and west. He visited that priest's Church of
St. Peter at Washington, dedicated St. Mary's
Church on Box's Creek, erected by the same clergy-
man, said mass and gave instruction to the French
families at Riviere au Chat, while Rev. Mr. Lalumiere
visited Columbus and Shelbyville. Meanwhile the
Bishop, often traveling over wet prairies till near mid-
night, had reached Chicago, to which he induced the
Bishop of St. Louis to send back Rev. J. M. J. St.

WANTS OF THE DIOCESE.

643

Cyr ; and where a residence had been erected for him.
Rev.' Mr. Desseille's mission and Rev. Mr. Badin's
vacant establishment at South Bend were next vis-
ited. He returned at last to his poor Cathedral. Yet
he made another excursion in February to Edgar
County, Illinois, where he found many Catholics near
Paris. ' He was appalled at the work before him.
"No priests, not one except those from other dioceses.
Having come alone, I reside alone, in a most depressing

KEV. J. M. J. ST. CYR.

situation ; but I am resigned and do not complain for
my wretched self." " I need a good priest to reside
here " " There are six or seven hundred Catholics at
Fort Wayne, and fifteen hundred to two thousand
including those employed on the canal." They had
not heard mass for seven months, and the Bishop ImcL
no one to send them.^ He set out again April ^y.

xiv p. 86 ; Jesuit, v., p. 391. Bishop Brute to Bishop Rese, Maich 4.
1835 ; same to Rev. J. Timon, March 3, May 28, 1835.

644 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

and visited Danville ; Chicago, where Rev. Mr. St,
Cyr had gathered a flock of four handred, and where
the Bishop was received with honor ; Michigan City,
Laporte ; Desseilles, a village of 650 Catholic Indians,
with its Catholic chief Pokegan. Then he inspected
the property near South Bend, transferred to him by
Rev. S. T. Badin, before he departed for Cincinnati,
and the vacant house of the Sisters. Then he i3ro-
ceeded to the village of Chickakos, also attended bj^
Rev. Mr. Deseille, sleeping on a bench in the chapel,
after officiating for the Indians, of whom the zealous
l^riest had bax)tized more than a hundred, and admin-
istering confirmation. His next visits were to Logans-
port and Terre Haute, saying mass at each place.

On his return he received Rev. Mr. Lalumiere's
report. He had found more Catholics than the Bishop
had done. In three i:)laces they had begun to build
churches. The hundred and fifty Catholic families at
Fort Wayne were finishing their little church, 30
feet by 60. To them the Bishop was now able to
send a j)riest just ordained, Rev. Mr. Ruff, able to
speak the three languages, English, French, and Ger-
man, used by his flock. The Bishop having thus
acquired a fairly accurate knowledge of his diocese,
prepared for his departure. He announced his purpose
to his flock in a j^astoral letter, and appointing Rev.
Mr. Lalumiere his Vicar-General, started on the 16th of
Julj^, 1835, for France, and in fifty-one days reached
his native land.

His visit to Europe proved not unavailing. In Aus-
tria, especially, he was befriended by the Empress and
b}^ Prince Metternich. " When in Rome," he wrote,
"asking Gregory XVI. for his blessing to be a good
bishop, I told him, that in 1804 I had knelt to Pius
VII. , in a private opportunity, and received his bless-

PROGRESS. 645

ing to be a good priest." Cheered and encouraged by
his reception he returned to America, landing in New
York, July 20, 1836, and reaching his cathedral a
month later. By the aid given him he established a
diocesan seminary, an orphan asylum, and a free school
at Vincennes, completed the Cathedral, and aided in
erecting several small churches. But he brought back
what w^as even more important than worldly means,
nineteen priests and seminarians, many of them Bre-
tons, resolute, enduring, full of faith and zeal.^ The
priests were soon stationed at points of greatest need,
and the Bishop, resuming his old life of professor,

ST. FRANCIS XAVIER'S CATHEDRAL, VINCENNES, 1834.

The former church stood in the same inclosure, at the side.

formed the seminarians to the ecclesiastical learning,
and especially to that spirit of zeal and sacrifice which
he could so well inspire. They, too, gradually entered
on the field of labor. Log churches rose to gather the
faithful, or, where Catholics were better endowed,
churches of frame or brick, at Evansville, Jaspers,
Lanesville, New Alsace, Oldenburg, in Yigo County.

With the beginning of 1837 the diocese showed the
awakening. Vincennes Cathedral had two priests,
one of them Rev. Celestine de la Hailandiere. An-

1 Bishop Brute, Catholic Telegraph, iv., pp. 317, 349, 437 ; in Berichte
der Leopoldinen-Stiftung ; Alerding, " History of the Catholic Church
in the Diocese of Vincennes," Indianapolis, 1883, pp. 124-145. Catholic
Diary, vi., p. 167 ; Pilot, Aug. 6, 1836. Rev. G. Richard, Aug. 17, 1830.

646 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

other future bishop, Rev, Maurice de St. Palais, was at
St. Mary's, and near him, at Black Oak Ridge, Vin-
cennes's first native priest, Lalumiere ; there were two
X^riests at Fort Wayne ; Rev. Joseph Ferneding at
Dover, Rev. Mr. Ruff at Peru, Rev. Messrs. St. Cyr
and Schaeffer at Chicago. Bishop Brute himself
felled the first tree for a church at Riviere au Chat.

Amid his labors the Bishop was summoned to at-
tend the Provincial Council to be held at Baltimore in
April, 1837. While crossing Ohio by stage he was
forced to ride outside, and, exposed to the bleak March
winds, took a heavy cold, which finally settled on his
lungs. He was too earnest and energetic to be de-
layed by this, but kept on and took part in the pro-
ceedings of the Council. As it was his first atten-
dance at any of these solemn gatherings of the episcopal
body, he pronounced his solemn profession of faith.
lie returned to resume his usual labors visiting the
northern part of his diocese during the summer ; but
he had to deplore losses. Rev. Mr. Desseilles, the de-
voted priest, died amid the hardships of his Indian
mission, leaving no one versed in their language to
succeed him ; and the amiable Rev. Bernard Schaeffer,
one of those who accompanied him from France, ex-
pired at Chicago.^

The next year, though his health and strength were
visibly waning, Bishop Brute, on the 27th of April, set
out on another visitation to Washington, where a
large brick church was under roof ; St. Peter's, Rev.
Mr. Neyron's new brick church at the Knobs, con-
firming three generations in one family ; Madison,
where Rev, Mr. Shaw was building a large stone

' Alerding, " History of the Diocese of Vincennes," pp. 366, 338, 846,
381, 444 ; Catholic Herald, v., pp. 319, 407.

FAILING HEALTH. 647

church ; New Albany, where Catholics were ready to
build, and where Sisters of Charity from Nazareth had
succeeded those of Loretto. After a short rest at Vin-
cennes, he was again devoting himself to his flock.
He dedicated St, Peter's Church in Franklin County,
churches at New Alsace and Blue Creek. He visited
St. Francisville, blessing the church on the bluff over-
looking the Wabash ; the little flock at Paris, and the
German congregation in Jasper County, Illinois. The
devoted priest. Rev. Vincent Bacquelin, welcomed him
at Shelby ville, but was killed by a fall from his horse
while attending a sick call some years later. At Terre
Haute he found a large brick church nearly completed
by Rev. S. Buteux, a priest of a family which gave a
martyr to Canada in the heroic days of the Jesuit
missions. Rev. Mr. Shaw was building St. Michael's
Church at Madison and St. Vincent's was advancing
at Prescott. His visitation extended over 1450 miles.

Bishop Brute's health was now failing very rap-
idly ; his strength yielded to the disease, but not his
will. After retiring for a time to Bardstown to re-
cuperate, he visited places where his presence or even
that of a priest was needed, often attending sick
calls, when feebler than those to whom he ministered.
Not long before his death, while in a distant part of his
diocese, he actually fainted on his way to the bedside
of a patient. On Trinity Sunday he celebrated the
thirty-first anniversary of his first mass, being assisted
on that occasion by two of his clergy, who supported
him at the altar.

When he was at last compelled to keep his bed, his
devotion increased, and he edified all by his piety
and by his patience. Conformity to the will of God,
devotion to our Lady were his chief themes. His cor-
respondence he continued, whenever he could sit up

648 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

writing, even on the day of his death. He received
the last sacraments w^ith the utmost humility and devo-
tion. He directed the prayers for the departing to be
recited, answering fervently and devoutly, and on the
26th of June, 1839, surrendered his soul into the hands
of his Creator. He was interred in the sanctuary of
the Cathedral, but the next year his remains were
placed behind the altar, a tablet on the wall recording
his life and labors.

His death was deplored by his immediate flock as
that of a benefactor and a father. Throughout the
churches in the United States there was a general
feeling that a great loss had been sustained. "The
glorious -life that he had led, for it was truly so, grew
brighter as it hastened to its close. The eminent
virtues he had practiced so long fortified his spirit, and
he departed amid the tears of the living, to be united
to Him whom he loved so purely from his youth."

The decline of life is generally that of rest and re-
tirement. Dr. Brute spent years in a seminary college
amid the mountains, known by his virtues, his piety,
his devotedness to the Church, and his zeal for souls,
but rarely mingling in the busy world. From this he
was drawn, at the age of fifty-five, to take charge of
two large States, more as a missionary, a steward, a
provider, than as a bishop). His unparalleled exertions
and toilsome journeys soon terminated his career.^

' Bishop Brute, Jan. 25, 1837, April 16, 1838 ; April 30, 1839. Truth
Teller, xiv., pp. 315, 317 ; Alerding, pp. 351, 382, 417. Catholic Advo-
cate, iii., p. 155, 286. Catholic Herald, vii. , p. 227. "Memoirs of Uie
Rt. Rev. Simon Wm. Gabriel Brute, D.D., first Bishop of Vincennes ;
with sketches describing his recollections of scenes connected with the
French Revolution," New York, 1860, 1876, Charles Brute de Remur,
" Vie de Mgr. Brute de Remur, premier Evgque de Vincennes," Rennes,
1887. McCaffrey, " Discourse on the Rt. Rev. Simon Gabriel Brute,
D.D., Bishop of Vincennes, pronounced in Mount St. Mary's Church,
August 19, 1839," Emmitsburg, 1839.

ytSEBJ-Ti fc^"'"

SIKSrHlT mmw. ^ . (Sr.lBlEMTm

imsT BissoT OF vnrcEmms ikdiaka

V. REV. S. P. LALUMIERE. 649

On the death of Bishop Brute the administration
devolved for a time on V. Rev. Simon P. Lalumiere,
of St. Simon's Churcli, who continued to reside at
Washington, governing tlie diocese wisely. He was
a native of Indiana, born at Vincennes in 1804, trained
in his seminary by Bishop David, and from an early
period connected with the Indiana missions. As early
as 1828 he visited the Catholics in Daviess County, and
built St. Mary's Church in 1834. He welcomed Bishop
Brute to Vincennes, and was his constant fellow-
laborer, visiting one part of the diocese when the
Bishop did another. He formed many congregations
and labored faithfully, seeking no fame or earthly
reward. He died June 9, 1857, while pastor of St.
Joseph's Church, Terre Haute. ^

Two of the pioneer priests, Rev. Messrs. Desseilles
and IN'eyron, repose at Notre Dame, which promises
to be our Westminster Abbey.

1 Alerding, p. 453 ; pp. 128, 253, 416, 490.

SIGNATURE OF BISHOP BRUTE.

CHAPTER XVI.

DIOCESE OF VINCENNES.

ET. REV. CELESTINE RENE LAWRENCE GUYNEMER DE LA
HAILANDIERE, SECOND BISHOP, 1839-1843.

At the time of the death of Bishop Brute, his Vicar-
General and proposed Coadjutor, Rev. Mr. Hail-
andiere, was laboring energetically in France in the
interest of the diocese, having been sent over by the
BishoiD, after some labors, on the mission in Indiana.
On the 17th of May bulls were issued electing him
Bishop of Axiern and Coadjutor of Vincennes. Al-
most at the same time he received tidings of the death
of the saintly Brute. Ax)palled at the responsibility
thus suddenly devolved upon him, he sought advice
and, yielding to the judgment of others, he was conse-
crated, August 18, 1839,. in the Chapel of the Sacred
Heart, Paris, by Rt. Rev. Forbin-Janson, assisted by
Mgr, Blanquart de Bailleul, Bishop of Versailles, and
Mgr. LeMercier, Bishop of Beauvais. He sent over
to Indiana a» number of clerical students and several
priests, with vestments, church plate, and books. He
induced the Eudists to undertake a college at Vin-
cennes, and the Society of the Holy Cross to send over
a colony of Brothers. The Sisters of Providence, at
Ruille, also agreed to send over six selected Sisters to
found an establishment of their community in his dio-
cese. Having effected all this, he set out for Vin-
cennes, where he arrived on the 14th of November.
He was solemnly installed in the Cathedral on the

650

RT. REV. CELESTINE DE LA HAILANDIERE,
SECOND BISHOP OF VINCENNES.

651

HIS LABORS. 653

next Sunday, by the Bishop of St. Louis, who preached
on the occasion.^

The second Bishop of Vincennes was born at Com-
bourg, France, May 2, 1798, and was ordained at
Paris in May, 1825. After ten years experience as
Vicar, he came to the United States with Bishop Brute
in 1836. One of his first cares was to aj)pease a scliism
at Chicago, and lie succeeded where others failed.
He gave an impulse to the college opened by the
Eudists, under Rev. Father Bellier, and stimulated
the erection of churches. In 1840 he dedicated the
church at Terre Haute, and, within two years, saw
others begun at MuUhausen and Indianapolis, Colum-
bus, Buenavista, Lawrenceburg, Ferdinand, and Jas-
per, as well as St. Wendel's and St. Joseph's, in Van-
denburgh County, and another dedicated under the
same saint's name in Dearborn County.^

Bishop de la Hailandiere was by consecration tlie
youngest of the prelates who attended the Baltimore
Council in May, 1840. There he imjDressed his fellow-
bishops by his ability, zeal, and personal merit.

In 1841 , in a letter to the Propaganda, he estimated
the popuhition of his diocese at twenty-five to thirty-
five 'thousand, attended by thirty-three priests, with
a steady growth by births, conversions, and immigra-
tion.

The next year those who believed hostility to the
Church dissipated in Indiana, were rudely awakened
from their delusion. Churches, convents, and colleges
had been burned down elsewhere, but hatred of the
priesthood had never yet gone so far as to form a suc-

' Notes of Bishop de la Hailandiere ; Alerding, p. 162, etc. ; Catholic
Advocate, iv., p. 354.

* Freeman's Journal, i., p. 110 ; Alerding ; Catholic Advocate, vii.,
pp. 210, 310.

654 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

cessf 111 conspiracy to send an innocent clergyman to
state prison on a fearful charge. In May, 1842, Rev.
Roman Weinzoeptlen, the priest stationed at Evans-
ville, was arrested on a cunningly devised accusation
of crime. The local editor, evidently a party to the
plot, fanned the flame and led an outcry. The Grand
Jury found an indictment, and, on the trial, legal
ability and clear evidence availed naught ; tlie court
and jury, prejudiced against the unfortunate priest,
found him guilty. When the prison doors closed
upon him, there came a revulsion ; the evidence of
the infamous character of the chief witness and of the
plot, as well the weakness of the whole case, became
so apparent that public opinion, shamed to a sense of
justice, spoke so loudly and openly for the relief of
this victim of perjury and conspiracy, that his prison
doors were flung open.'

When Pope Gregory XYI. granted a universal jub-
ilee to enlist the prayers of the faithful throughout
the world in behalf of unhappy Spain, Dr. Hailandiere
proclaimed it by his x>astoral, July 2, 1842. The ex-
ercises of the jubilee became a series of missions.

Bishop Brute, it will be remembered, visited the
tenantless establishments of Rev. Mr. Badin. The
neighboring Indian missions, continued by Rev. Mr.
Desseilles till his death, were taken up by Rev. B. Petit,
who accompanied his Indians when they were forcibly
removed by the United States government. The effort
was beyond his strength, and he died of hardship and

' Bishop de la Hailandiere to the Propaganda, September 29, 1841.
Catholic Advocate, vii., pp. 136-151, x., p. 38 ; Alerding, p. 171 ; Sten-
ographic Report of the Trial and Conviction of Priest Weinzoepflen,
Louisville, 1844 ; U. S. Cath. Magazine, iii., p. 263 ; Catholic Cabinet,
1i., pp. 61, 751 ; Catholic Herald, x., p. 173 ; xii., p. 98. Bishop de la
Hailandiere to Rev. J. Timon, June 25, 1844.

PERSECUTION OF A PRIEST. 055

grief. ^ The land was thus become a desert. Dr. de hi
Hailandiere offered the grounds at Sainte Marie des
Lacs to Rev. Edward Sorin, a young priest who had
just establislied St. Peter's community of Brothers of
the Holy Cross at Vincennes. Rev. Father Sorin
reached the lakes on the 26th of November, 1842.
The old log hut, the decaying fences, the snow-clad
prairie, the frozen lake, did not seem to promise success
for any attempt to establish a college there ; but that
was the condition under which he was to obtain it. He
resolutely undertook the work. In the month of Feb-
ruary he removed to Notre Dame du Lac, as it was
henceforward to be called. A log church was soon

SIGNATURE OF BISHOP DE LA HAILANDIERE.

erected, and contracts made for brick and lumber to
erect a college. In the summer three priests arrived,
and three Sisters of the Holy Cross came to found a
convent and academy. Thus began the wonderful
institutions at Notre Dame, Indiana.^

There was activity throughout the diocese, but it
was excessive. Though Bishop de la Hailandiere held
a synod, preceded by a retreat of his clergy, he found
that his efforts excited discontent. He proceeded to
Baltimore to attend the fifth Provincial Council dis-
heartened and discouraged.

» Catholic Advocate, iv., pp. 53, 354 ; Catholic Herald, vii., p. 93.

2 Lyons, " Silver Jubilee of the University of Notre Dame," Chicago,
1869 ; Catholic Cabinet, ii., p. 570 ; Salzbacher, " Meine Reise nach Nord
Anierika," p. 231.

CHAPTER Xyil.

DIOCESE OF NASHVILLE.

RT. REV. RICHARD PIUS MILES, FIRST BISHOP, 1838-1843.

The State of Tennessee liad been from the first divi-
sion of the diocese of Baltimore, included, witli Ken-
tucky, in the diocese of Bardstown. The j^rogress of
the faith in that State had, liowever, been slow ; Catho-
lics were few and widely scattered. Like North Caro-
lina, from which it sprang, Tennessee had a population
far removed from the truth and little disposed to wel-
come the Church. The conviction that a devoted resi-
dent bishop, ready to endure trials and hardships,
could ultimately build up Catholicity, led to the erec-
tion of the diocese of Nashville, embracing that State,
The establishment of the see was recommended by the
Provincial Council of Baltimore in April, 1837. It
was accordingly erected by Pope Gregory XVI. on the
28th of July, 1837, by his bull "Universi Dominici
Gregis."^

The choice for the arduous duty of organizing and
directing the diocese devolved on Father Richard
Pius Miles, of the Order of Preachers, a native of
Maryland, born in Prince George's County, May 17,
1791. Emigrating to Kentucky with his family in
youth, he there entered the order of St. Dominic in
1806. Ordained ten years afterwards, he became a
laborious missioner in Kentucky and Ohio. Under
his direction and guidance the Sisters of St. Dominic

' Bullarium de Propaganda Fide, v., p. 163.
656

CHURCH IN TENNESSEE. 657

were formed, and established houses in both States.
A priest of active energy, yet full of the religious
spirit, an experienced spiritual director, he was now
called to a new field.

Bishop Miles was consecrated on the 16th of Sep-
tember, 1838, in the Cathedral of Bardstown, Bishop
Rosati of St. Louis being Bishop consecrator, assisted
by Bishop Chabrat, Coadjutor of Louisville, and
Bishop Brute of Vincennes. Rt. Rev. Dr. David had
been invited to perform the consecration, but his age
and growing infirmities prevented his acceptance.
In the sermon preached by Very Rev. John Timon,
CM., the sacred orator alluded to the difficulties and
trials with which the Bishop of Nashville would have
to contend in his new diocese, and expressed the hope
that the same success might crown his labors as had
crowned those of Bishops Flaget and Rosati.^

Rev. E. J. Durbin, who had for some years regularly
visited the Catholics of Nashville, preceded the Bishop
to prepare for his reception. The church there, a
brick building forty-five by fifty-fivQ feet, was in
wretched condition, but Rev. Mr. Durbin, by his exer-
tions and liberality, repaired and renovated it.
Bishop Miles, after preaching at Franklin, readied
Nashville, and took possession of his little cathedral,
Oct. 18, 1838. The city contained then only about 130
Catholics. After oiRciating there he set out to explore
his diocese, learn where Catholics were, and what
prospect there might be of building up churches.'
Murfreesboro had but one Catholic family numbering
seven souls ; Bishop Miles on his way to Athens found

' Catholic Advocate, iii., p. 260 ; Catholic Herald, vi., p. 300 ; Truth
Teller, xiv., p. 335.

» Catholic Advocate, iii., pp. 316, 348, 404 ; Catholic Telegraph, iv.,
pp. 176, 340.

658 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

a single Catholic family on Walden's Ridge. At and
near Athens there were about a hundred Catholics,
chiefly men employed building a railroad. There
were a few at Fayetteville, Mount Pleasant, and
Columbia. After a journey of 460 miles on horseback
he reached Nashville, officiating by tlie way at Frank-
lin. He soon afterwards visited Gallatin. From his
personal acquaintance with the diocese he was led to
estimate the Catholic population. Including a few
families at Memphis and other places not yet visited,
at not much more than three hundred, and this little
body was poor and widely scattered.^

The next year he visited Memphis and installed Rev.
W. T. Clancy as pastor there with charge of the faith-
ful at Ashport, Jackson, Bolivar, and LaGrange.
While endeavoring to secure some clergymen for his
diocese, and devising plans for a seminary, he was pros-
trated by illness, and his life soon hung by a thread.
His mind was op]3ressed by the sense of his duties and
the calls made on him. Providentially the Rev.
Joseph Stokes arrived, and bestowing all care on the
Bishop saw him begin to recover. Then that priest
set out for some of the most urgent calls, and traveled
seven hundred miles through the State. He obtained
lots for a church at Ashport, and saw the erection of
the church taken in hand.

The Bishop on his recovery resumed his labors, and
was gratified to be able to celebrate Christmas in his
improved church with some little dignity.^

After visiting St. Rose's convent, where with the per-
mission of the Bishop of Bardstown he administered

' Truth Teller, xiv., p. 405 ; Cath. Herald, vii.. p. 205 ; Catholic Ad-
vocate, iv., pp. 303, 326, 388.

■^ Catholic Register, i., p. 227.

CONDITION OF DIOCESE. 659

confirmation and ordained Rev. Augustus Anderson,
O.P., Bishop Miles proceeded to Europe/

His visit was not without success. On his return a
church was erected in East Tennessee, another in Rob-
ertson County, dedicated to St. Michael ; while in
West Tennessee, Rev. Michael McAleer, of Memphis,
was building two churches in his district. A lot had
been purchased at Nashville for a diocesan seminary,

SIGNATURE OF BISHOP MILES.

and Sisters of Charity arrived in August to open a
school for girls in a fine large building on Campbell's

Hill.'

The diocese, which promised so little, was thus
slowly and gradually gaining in strength, with slight
immigration, a difficult mountain country, and a sur-
rounding population imbued with strong prejudices
against the truth.

' Catholic Register, i. , p. 290.

^Catholic Advocate, vii., pp. 3, 98, 346, 271; Salzbacher, "Meiae
Reise nach Nord Amerika," p. 318.

CHAPTER XVIII.
DIOCESE OF NATCHEZ.
EIGHT REV. JOHN J. CHANCHE, FIRST BISHOP, 1841-43.

On the 28th of July, 1837, his Holiness, Pope Gregory
XVI., at the instance of the Provincial Council of Bal-
timore, erected an episcopal see at Natchez, with the
State of Mississippi as the diocese dependent on it.
The clergyman first proposed for the new see, V.
Rev. Thomas Heyden, after some hesitation finally
declined the mitre, and it was not till December 15,
1840, that the Rev. John J. Chanche, president of St.
Mary's College, Baltimore, was selected, and accepted
the bulls.' He was consecrated in the Cathedral of
Baltimore on the 14th of March, 1841, by Archbishop
Eccleston, assisted by Bishops Fenwick, of Boston, and
Hughes, of New York. John Mary Joseph Chanche
was born in Baltimore, October 4, 1795, his i^arents
having fled from the horrors of the outbreak of the
negroes in Saint Domingo. Educated by the Sulpi-
tians, he was ordained by Archbishox) Marechal, June
6, 1819. Having become a Suli)itian, he was made a
professor in the seminary, and in 1834 succeeded Rev.
S. Eccleston as president of the college.

Nearly the whole State of Mississippi was included
in the original diocese of Baltimore, although it was
not till 1796 that Bishop Carroll obtained control of
Natchez. It was made a Vicariate Apostolic and
placed under the Bishop of New Orleans in 1825,

' Bull " Universi Dominici Gregis," Bullarium de Propaganda Fide,
v.. p. 161.

660

KT. REV. JOHN J. CHANCHE, BISHOP OF NATCHEZ.

661

IRISH PRIESTS. 663

Spanish expeditions accompanied by priests visited
the territory at an early day ; but it was not till Mgr.
de St. Vallier, second Bishop of Quebec, established
his Seminary missions on the Mississippi River, that a
priest. Rev. Mr. Davion, took up his residence among
the Taensas and visited a kindred tribe, the JS^atchez.
His successor. Rev. J. B. de St. Cosme, was killed by
Indians in 1706. In May, 1699, Le Moyne d' Iberville
began a settlement at Biloxi, now Ocean Springs, and
a little chapel was raised in which Rev. Mr. Bor-
denave said mass daily. Such was the beginning of
the Catholic Church in the present State of Missis-
sippi. Then we find the Abbe Juif at Yazoo, and the
Jesuit Father Souel laboring among the neighboring
Indians. At the time of the massacre in 1729, the
French settled at Natchez had a resident chaplain,
but he was absent, and Fathers Souel and Du Poisson,
S.J., were killed by the Indians on the soil of Missis-
sippi. Under the French rule there was generally a
priest at Natchez, and under the Spanish domination
a chapel, if not a resident priest, at Villa Gayoso.
About 1790 Rev. William Savage, Gregory White,
and Constantine McKenna were sent over to serve at
Natchez. When the United States obtained posses-
sion of the territory in 1796, the Church of the Holy
Family, a two story frame building, stood on Com-
merce Street, Natchez. Bishop Carroll requested the
Bishop of Louisiana to continue to supply a priest for
that town, but the population dwindled away and the
visits of a clergyman became rare.

When the Vicariate Apostolic was erected, Bishop
Du Bourg exerted himself to meet to some extent the
spiritual wants of the faithful ; but in 1833 the Church
of the Holy Family was without a priest, and until a
diocese Avas erected it so continued, though Ave are told

664 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

that the Catholics of Natchez were occasionally visited
by a clergyman from New Orleans. In 1838 a sus-
pended priest gave trouble there, but Bishop Blanc
sent the Jesuit Father Van de Velde, who effected
much good. The next year Rev. John Tinion, CM.,
gave a mission at Natchez, baptized several, heard
many confessions, and had thirty-six communicants.'
In 1839 we find Rev. M. D. 0' Reilly laboring at Vicks-
burg, and steps taken to rebuild on the old site of the
Temple of the Sun, the Catholic church which had
been destroyed by fire.'' In that year Rev. Mr. Bro-
gard took charge of the congregation at Natchez.

Bislioj) Chanche reached his appointed see on the
18tli of May, 1843, and the next day. Ascension Thurs-
day, officiated in Mechanics' Hall. As some difficulty
had already arisen about the tenure of Church prop-
erty there and at Yicksburg, the Bishop explained the
rules of the Church, which he was resolved to carry out.
He then visited the Northern States to solicit aid for
the district committed to his care. From the Bishop
of New Orleans came a fund destined for Natchez,
which had been sent from time to time by the Associa-
tion for the Propagation of the Faith, and which had
accumulated in his hands. Bishop Chanche returned
somewhat encouraged, and, on the 24th of February,
1842, assisted by Rev. John G. Frangois and P. P.
Desgaultier, laid the corner-stone of his cathedral at the
corner of Main and Union streets. The Gothic cathe-
dral to be dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of
Mary, was to be 60 feet wide and 130 deep. He began

' Archbishop Blanc to Archbishop Eccleston, January 39, 1838, Feb-
ruary 18, 1839.

« Catholic Almanacs, 1833-1840 ; Catholic Advocate, Iv., pp. 156, 269,
333 ; Catholic Herald, vii., p. 236 ; U. S. Cath. Miscellany, vli., p. 34 ;
Truth Teller, July 13, 1839.

CHURCH PROPERTY. 665

regular instructions for white and colored Catholics,
and Rev, Mr. Francois was gratified by seeing piety
revive. He conferred the sacrament of confirmation at
Pentecost, 1842, on more than thirty. He was encour-
aged by the success of an academy opened under his

A^d/h^.^o/^ ^

SIGNATURE OF BISHOP CHAN CHE.

auspices by some young ladies Avho accompanied him
from Maryland. Bishop Chanche sent Rev. Mr. B.,
Abbe to the gulf shore, and, in a visitation, he aroused
the faith of the old French settlements at Biloxi and
Pass Christian, and was soon able to give them a resi-
dent priest and see steps taken to erect churches.^

The property of the Church in Natchez had all, in
violation of treaty rights, been seized by the United
States or by the city. Bishop Chanche began to col-
lect documents in order to recover it, if possible.

After convening his little band of priests in a retreat
under the guidance of Rev. John Timon, CM., in
March, 1843, Bishop Chanche revisited Baltimore to
represent his diocese in the Provincial Council.^

' Propagateur Catholique, i., p. 166.

2 Catholic Advocate, vii., pp. 46, 137. Rt. Rev. J. B. Janssen,
" Sketch of the Catholic Church in the City of Natchez, Miss.," Natchez,
1886, pp. 1-23 ; Salzbacher, "Meine Raise nach Nord Amerika,"p. 316..

BOOK V.

CHAPTER I.

DIOCESE OF NEW ORLEANS.

RT. REV. LEO RAYMOND DE NECKERE, FIRST BISHOP, 1829-1833.

Whex Rt. Rev, Joseph Rosati was allowed to
decline the see of New Orleans, and became Bishop of
St. Louis, he strongly recommended for the vacant
bishopric the saintly and eloquent Rev. Leo Raymond
de Neckere, already known and esteemed in Louisiana.
That clergyman was then in Europe with the hope of
regaining health and strength. Summoned to Rome
he was, notwithstanding his protests, elected Bishop of
New Orleans, August 4, 1829. Deeply afflicted at this
elevation he returned to Belgium, and, after a danger-
ous illness, having regained his health somewhat, he
returned to the United States. After another fruitless
effort to escape the dignity, he prepared for his conse-
cration, but was again prostrated by a complication of
diseases at St. Genevieve. Rallying, however, he
reached New Orleans, and, overcome by the entreaties,
appeals, and arguments of Bishop Portier, consented
to accept the office he had firmly resolved to decline.
He was consecrated on May 16, 1830, in the Cathe-
dral, by Bishop Rosati of St. Louis, assisted by Bishop
Portier and Bishoj) England.

He was a native of Belgium, born at Wevelghem,
June 6, 1800, and while a seminarian at Ghent was ac-
cepted by Bishop Du Bourg for his diocese. Complet-
ing his studies at the Seminary at the Barrens, he was

666

RT. REV. LEO RAYMOND DE NECKERE, FIRST BISHOP OF NEW ORLEANS.

667

DIOCESAN SYNOD. 669

ordained October 13, 1822, and began his labors as
missionary and professor. Sent for a time to Louisiana,
he acquired the esteem and confidence of all.

Bishop de Neckere inspired his clergy with zeal
which soon bore fruit. The energetic priest Rev.
Anthony Blanc erected a neat and commodious church
at Baton Rouge and Rev. Mr. Lacroix was rivaling
him. And when Rev. Mr. Bernabe died, amid labors
at Pointe Coupee, Rev. Anthony Blanc visited that
parish also. At N^ew Orleans steps were talien to erect
a church on Rousseau Street at the Port.^

Unable to endure the fatigue of long journeys re-
quired by a regular visitation of his diocese, Bishop de
Neckere convoked his clergy in a diocesan synod.
They met at his church on the 23d of February, 1832,
and entered on the exercises of a spiritual retreat.
On Sunday, the 26th, after a high mass, twenty-one
priests attended the synod, which was opened accord-
ing to the form prescribed by the pontifical. The
Bishop took his seat on the platform of the altar, sup-
ported by his Vicars-General V. Rev. B. Richards and
Anthony Blanc. Rev. Augustine Jeanjean was secre-
tary. Regulations and statutes were promulgated for
the better discipline, and stejDS were taken to form an
association for the dissemination of good books. At

' Circular of Bishop Rosati to Clergy of New Orleans diocese, Jesuit,
i., p. 218 ; Annales de la Propagation de la Foi., iv., pp. 665, 677. U.
S. Cath. Miscellany, x., pp. 22, 238. While the Bishop elect was
slowly regaining strength at St. Genevieve, Bishops Rosati, Portier, and
England, who had reached New Orleans, wrote a joint letter to Rome,
May 6, 1830, urging that his resignation should not be accepted, but, in
case the Holy Father yielded, proposing Rev. A. Blanc and Rev. A.
Jeanjean. While awaiting the arrival of Dr. De Neckere, Bishop Rosati
performed his last official acts as administrator, laying the corner-stone of
a church at St. Michel, and consecrating the chapel of the Ursulines at
New Orleans. Annales, etc., iv., p. 666.

670 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

the close of tlie synod, Bishop de Neckere offered the
holy sacrifice for the repose of the souls of deceased
imests.^

The year was one of sickness. Cholera and fevers
swept many away, and the diocese lost its Vicar-Gen-
eral Richards, and Rev. Messrs. Martial and Tichitoli.
When winter set in the Bishop wrote : " New Orleans
has been severely visited by the scourging angel, but
thanks be to God, except a few cases, it has entirely
subsided. All our Sisters of Charity have been sick,
either with the cholera or the yellow fever ; none,
however, have sunk under the disease. The epidemic
seems now to be extending to the western district of
this State. "2

The next year the fatal disease which had been
lurking in the bayous and swamps of Louisiana again
began its ravages. Yellow fever pervaded New
Orleans. Bishop de Neckere had retired to Saint
Michel to gain some strength ; but, when he heard of
his people dying in his episcopal city, he returned
against all advice and entreaties. He gave himself
entirely to his ministry among the plague-stricken, and
to measures for their relief. His enfeebled frame soon
yielded, he was seized with the fever, and in ten days
from his arrival breathed his last, on the 5th of Sep-
tember, 1833.'

If Bishop de Neckere, from his infirm health, could

' U. S. Ciith. Miscellany, xi., pp. 343-3 ; Catholic Telegraph, i., p.
191 ; Jesuit, iv., p. 87 ; Salzbacher, " Meine Reise nach Nord Amerika,"
p. 310 ; Delia Chiesa Cattolica negli Stati Uniti d'America, Verona, 1835,
p. 39.

' Bishop de Neckere to Rev. John Timon, Nov. 30, 1833. Catholic
Telegraph, i., p. 367; ii., p. 179.

3 Cath. Miscellany, xiii., p. 84 ; Catholic Telegraph, ii., p. 375 ; Truth
Teller, ix., p. 309.

SEDE VACANTE. 671

not accomplish mnch for his diocese, he edified liis
flock by his holy life, and by the discharge of his
duties. In one of his last letters from Saint Michel,
speaking of the death of one of his priests, he said :
"One more vacancy added to the many already exist-
ing : no college, no seminary, no priest in the wliole
State of Mississippi."^ It was to meet such wants
that he felt to multiply himself beyond measure.

By his death the administration devolved on his
Vicar-General, Very Rev. Anthony Blanc, who had
already refused to become coadjutor to Bishop de
Neckere, and on Very Rev. V. Ladaviere, In Novem-
ber a colony of Sisters of Charity set out from Balti-
more to take charge of a hospital in New Orleans,
undeterred by any fear of pestilence. At the begin-
ning of 1834 the diocese contained twenty-two priests,
but seven churches and parishes were vacant, and
others depended on occasional visits. Seven Sisters
of Charity were in charge of thePoydras Asylum, and
ten of the Charity Hospital.

The priest first selected to fill the vacancy was the
Rev. Augustine Jeanjean, but he returned the bulls,
and left New Orleans.

1 Bishop de Neckere to Rev. John Timon, Oct. 17, 1830.

CHAPTER II.

DIOCESE OF NEW ORLEANS.

RT. BEV. ANTHONY BLANC, SECOND BISHOP, 1835-1843.

The Very Rev. Anthony Blanc, who was then ap-
pointed to the see of New Orleans and required to
accept the burden, was born at Sury, in southern
France, October 11, 1792. Entering a seminary after
his college course he was ordained priest in 1816, and,
having been accepted by Bishop Du Bourg for the
Louisiana mission, he landed at Annapolis in Septem-
ber, 1817. After some months labor at Vincennes he
was summoned to Louisiana, where he displayed zeal,
energy, and judgment. Bishop de Neckere, who
wished to resign, in vain endeavored to induce Rev,
Mr. Blanc to accept the bulls appointing him coad-
jutor in 1832.'

He was consecrated Bishop of New Orleans, in the
Cathedral of that city, on the 22d of November, 1835,
by Rt. Rev. Joseph Rosati, Bishop of St. Louis,
assisted by Rt. Rev. John B. Purcell, Bishop of Cin-
cinnati, and Rt. Rev. Michael Portier, Bishop of
Mobile. The sermon was delivered by Rt. Rev. Dr.
Portier.^

The newly consecrated bishop saw much to be done,
and yet beheld the ranks of the priests of Louisiana
gradually thinning by death. His brother died at
Natchitoches ; the next year Rev. Mr. Borella, who

' Very Rev. A. Blanc to Archbishop Eccleston, Sept. 8, 1834 ; Bishop
Portier to same, Oct. 30, 1834; Weekly Register, iii., p. 153.

* U. S. Cath. Miscellany, xv., p. 306 ; Catholic Telegraph, v., p. 33 ;
Catholic Diary, v., p. 71.

673

BT. KEV. ANTHONY BLANC, SECOND BISHOP OF
NEW ORLEANS.

673

REV. PIERRE CONNOLLY. 675

had for fifteen years directed the parish of St. Martin,
descended to the grave.

A remarkable conversion of this time, in the juris-
diction of Bishop Blanc, was that of Rev. Pierce Con-
nolly, an Episcopalian clergyman of Natchez, whose
studies led him to acknowledge the claims of the
Catholic Church. He was received into the Church
with his wife at New Orleans, but soon after pro-
ceeded to Europe, where he became a priest and
where she founded a community of Sisters which
effected much good in the cause of sound Catholic
education.^

To meet this want of priests and to provide the
sorely needed college for young men, Mgr. Blanc
resolved to call upon the Society of Jesus, whose
patent for the Louisiana mission was written in the
blood of its martyred sons, and sealed with the suffer-
ings of its confessors of the faith. He went to Europe
in the year 1836, and applying to V. Rev. 'Father
Guidee, the Provincial, obtained a colony of eight
members, with whom he reached New Orleans Feb-
ruary 22, 1837. The Superior was Rev. Father Peter
Ladaviere, who had already visited Louisiana. The
erection of a college at Grand Coteau was soon com-
menced, and its opening was fixed for January 5,
1838, but, that being Friday, it was regarded as un-
lucky and not a scholar appeared. Before the end of
the month, however, they had twentj^-four boarders,
and they closed the first scholastic term with fifty-six.
The Fathers not employed at the College aided the
diocese by doing missionary duty.^

' Weekly Register, ii., p. 231 ; Catholic Telegraph, v , p. 127.

' Catholic Telegraph, v., p. 30, etc.

^ Archives of the Mission. Bishop Blanc, like the other bishops in the

676 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

Having thus provided for a college, v^ith a perma-
nent body to supply professors and teachers, Bishop
Blanc applied to Yery Rev. John Timon, Visitor of
the Priests of the Mission, and on the 20th of Decem-
ber, 1838, the Lazarists agreed to assume the direction
of the Diocesan Seminary at a stipulated sum to be
paid for each ecclesiastic received.^

Relieved in mind from these two heavy responsi-
bilities, the Bishop next sought to make permanent
Catholic establishments in the Vicariate Apostolic
of Mississippi. Very Rev. Mr. Timon began the work
at Natchez and by his patient influence induced the
people to erect a house for the services of their relig-
ion. Visits vv^ere made by priests to Vicksburg, but
the people anxiously petitioned for a resident clergy-
man.^

Meanwhile the trustees of St. Louis Cathedral
obtained from the Legislature, on the 11th of March,
1837, permission to mortgage the Bishop's Cathedral
for two hundred thousand dollars to carry out projects
of their own. They sent an agent to Europe to effect
a loan, but he wasted two thousand dollars in his vain
effort. =■

While these men were thus squandering the prop-
erty of the Church, Bishop Blanc, sustained by his
clergy and faithful Catholics, was laboring in the
cause of religion and charity. The corner-stone of
St. Patrick's Church was laid July 1, 1838, and in No-
vember, 1839, the- Bishop laid the corner-stone of St.

country, responded to the appeal of Dr. England. Letter, Sept. 8, 1838,
Catholic Advocate, iii., p. 291.

' Agreement between Anthony, Bishop of New Orleans, and Very
Rev. John Timon, New Orleans, Dec. 20, 1838.

« Bishop Blanc to Rev. John Timon, July 11, 1839.

" Propagateur Catholique, i. , p. 23.

MARTYRS OF CHARITY.

677

Patrick's Orphan Asylum. In 1841 the city was
again desolated by fever. Bishop Blanc wrote in
September: "We have been already live or, rather,
fall six weeks fighting the
battle with the yellow fever,
which is still raging in our
city. Poor, unacclimated
strangers die very fast of it.
Our charity hospital is
crowded with four hundred
patients, and sometimes
above that number. We
have had the misfortune to
lose some of our Sisters of
Charity ; two are yet sick,
but I hope they will sur-
vive." '

Yet amid all this Bishop
Blanc began the erection of
another church in New Or-
leans, laying the corner-
stone in November and dedicating it to the service of
God in August of the following year, under the invo-
cation of St. Augustine.

The erection of new churches in different parts of
New Orleans diminished greatly the congregation of
the old Cathedral, and the trustees, or wardens, seeing
their influence wane, entered on a new war against
religion. On the death of Rev. John Aloysius Moni,
in 1842, the Bishop appointed Rev. C. Maenhaut rector

' Catholic Register, i., p. 101 ; Bishop Blanc to V. Rev. J. Timon,
Sept. 33, 1841. Death deprived the Church the same year of V.
Rev. Augustus Jeanjean, and Rev. John Anduzio, the faithful pastor
of St. Joseph's, Thibodeauxville ; Catholic Almanac, 1843. " A discourse
delivered at the ceremony of laying the corner-stone of St. Patrick's
Church in New Orleans, etc.," by Rev. J. J. Mullon, New Orleans, 1838.

ST. PATRICK S CHTJRCH, NEW
OULEANS.

678 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

of the Cathedral, but the trustees refused to recognize
him, claiming the right of patronage formerly enjoyed
by the King of Spain. They brought an action
against the Bishop of New Orleans in the parish court
of the city, presenting a petition full of misstatements.
Their only title to the property was based on a forci-
ble seizure in 1805 ; the right of patronage had never
been transferred to them by the Spanish monarch,
and could not be conferred by either Federal or State
government. Judge Maurian decided against the
trustees, and they appealed to the Supreme Court,
which confirmed the decision of the parish court.
Judge Bullard declared: "The right to nominate a
curate (parisli priest) or the juspatronatus of the

SIGNATURE OF BISHOP BLANC, OF NEW ORLEANS.

Spanish law is abrogated in this State. The war-
dens .... cannot compel the Bishop to institute a
curate (parish priest) of their appointment, nor is lie,
in any legal sense, subordinate to the wardens of any
one of the churches within his diocese in relation to
his clerical functions." A rehearing, claimed by the
wardens, was refused. The Supreme Court thus up-
held the decision of the Holy See.

But these trustees were still bent on annoyance.
They refused to recognize three of the curates or vicars,
and the chaplain of the hospital ; when the Bishop
appointed Rev. Mr. Jamey one of the curates, they
replied with terms of insult. They even attempted
to exclude the clergy from part of the parochial
residence. Bishop Blanc addressed the Board of War-
dens on the 21st of October, inclosing a letter to them
from Rev. Mr. Maenhaut. Receiving no reply he

TRUSTEEISM. 679

wrote them again on the 27th ; * but as they still
declined to recognize his authority, the clergy with-
drew t'roni the Cathedral and parochial residence on
the 2d of November, and the parishioners were
attended from the Bishop's house and St. Augustine's
Church.- One of the members of the board was also a
member of the council of one of the municipalities.
He obtained the passage of an ordinance punishing by
a fine of fifty dollars any Catholic priest who per-
formed the burial service over a dead body in any
church except the mortuary chapel, erected in 1826,
over which the wardens of the Cathedral claimed con-
trol. Under the strange ordinance aimed in terms at
Catholic priests only. Rev. Bernard Permoli was
prosecuted December 19th, 1842. Judge Preval held
the ordinance to be illegal ; but the case was carried
up to the City Court and finally to the Supreme Court
of the United States.'

The faithful Catholics of St. Patrick's Church met
to protest against these outrageous proceedings and
the insults offered to the Archbishop. The tide of
public opinion was setting strongly against the men
who defied all authority in the Church. In January,
1843, they submitted, and received as parish priest,
Rev. Mr. Bach, who had been regularly appointed by
the Bishop, but who died in September,

Bishop Blanc gave a retreat to his clergy in March,
followed by a mission for the faithful. Soon after, the
true Catholics of the city petitioned the Legislature to
amend the act incorporating the Cathedral and bring

' Letter, Rev. C. Maenhaut, etc., to Bishop Blanc, Oct. 19, 1842 ; Bishop
Blanc to Trustees, Oct. 21, 27, 1842, in Catholic Advocate, vii., p. 346.

' Bishop Blanc Archbishop Eccleston, Nov. 4, 1842.

3 Supreme Court of the United States, No 84, Permoli vs. Munici-
pality, No. 1.

680 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

it into harmony with the discipline of the Catholic
Church.

In April the Bishop, by a circular, directed prayers
for the Provincial Council of Baltimore, to which he
soon set out.'

' Propagateur Catliolique, i., pp. 71,151, 268, 308, 318; Catholic
Herald, xi., pp. 375, 390 ; xii., p. 222 ; U. S. Catholic Magazine, ii., pp.
253, 755 ; iii , pp. 154, 199 ; iv., p. 263 ; Salzbachcr, " Meine Reise nack
Nord Amerika," p. 310.

SEAL OF BISHOP
BLANC.

CHAPTER III.

DIOCESE OF ST. LOUIS.
RT. REV. JOSEPH R OS ATI, FIRST BISHOP, 1829-1843.

While the Bishop of St. Louis was attending the
Provincial Council of Baltimore six ecclesiastics
reached his episcopal city.' It was a strange effect of
the revolutions that had taken place throughout
Christendom that these gentlemen came from Mexico,
which had had its episcopate for three centuries and
had its provincial councils as early as 1555 ; but in
which, at this time, not a Catholic bishop was left.
They came from the dioceses of Mechoacan and Guada-
lajara to a see in the heart of the United States, not
ten years erected, in order to obtain ordination. Early
in 1830 Bishop Rosati could write with a sense of great
relief: "Our holy Father the Pope has benignantly
relieved me of the diocese of New Orleans, the adminis-
tration of which made it impossible for me to give the
necessary attention to my own diocese of St. Louis."
" Now I can begin to carry out my long-formed plans
for its improvement. " "In Arkansas Territory, where
there are more than two thousand scattered Catholics,
there is not a single priest, nor has any missionary
visited it since Rev. Mr. Odin did some years ago.
There is not a priest in the whole State of Illinois, and
visits to it are few ; yet there are far more Catholics
there than in Arkansas."

Bishop Rosati was enabled by the grants of the
Association for the Propagation of the Faith to pay off

1 Jesuit!., p. 188.
681

682 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

the creditors who had sold the church property in St.
Louis. ^ The Jesuit Fathers were advancing in their
work. They attended St. Charles, St. Ferdinand, Port-
age aux Sioux, and Dardennes. Their Indian school
Florissant began to attract white pupils, of whom,
in 1828-29, it had fifteen. A college attempted at
at St. Louis had been abandoned in 1826, and when the
Bishop offered the Society a site on Ninth Street and
Christy Avenue, given by Mr. Jeremiah Conners for a
college, they acquired some adjoining property, and in
the autumn of 1828 began the erection of a building
fifty feet by forty. It was then well out of town, sur-
rounded by farms and x>ontls- St. Louis College
opened with forty pupils, November 2, 1829, Rev. P. J.
Verhaegan being the first president. Rev. P. J.
De Smet and Rev. J. A. Elet were professors. In a
month the College numbered one hundred and fifty
pupils, and its success was so great that in less than
two years an additional building was undertaken.'^

Bishop Rosati was consoled in 1830 to see no fewer
than six churches rising in his diocese, a new cathedral
in St. Louis, the church Rev. John M. Odin was build-
ing near the Barrens, a fine church at St. Genevieve,
another at Old Mines, one at Apple River, due to the
generosity of Mr. Snowbush ; the church Rev. Mr.
Cellini was erecting at Fredericktown. During the
summer he visited many of the churches in Missouri
and Illinois, and was able to fill some vacancies with
zealous priests.

The church was spreading in the upper part of the
State on the Mississippi River, and places where five

* Bishop Rosati, Jan. 24, April 25, 1830, in Annales de la Propagation
delaFoi, iv., pp. 593, 595.

" Hill, " Historical Sketch of St. Louis University," St. Louis, 1879, pp.
37-41.

• CONVETAT KASKASKIA. 683

years before not half a dozen Catholics could be found,
now numbered hundreds. Seventy German Catholics
settled in one body on Apple River. At St. Louis
Bishop Rosati transformed an old college building
into St. Mary's church, destined especially for the
colored Catholics, of whom it could accommodate five
or six hundred.^

The College of the Jesuit Fathers was formally in-
corporated by the Missouri Legislature on the 28th of
December, 1832, under the title of St. Louis Univer-
sity, with ample powers.^

During the year the first Catholic newspaper west
of the Mississippi, "The Shepherd of the Valley,"
appeared.

Bishop Rosati was at this time able to ordain sev-
eral priests for his diocese, one of whom set out at
once for Arkansas Territory, November 31, to aid Rev.
Ed. Saulnier in his mission there. ^ The Illinois por-
tion of his diocese welcomed this same year a colony
of seven Visitation Nuns from Georgetown, who, under
Mother Agnes Brent, left their monastery on the Po-
tomac to establish May 3, 1833, an academy in the
ancient town of Kaskaskia. This first house of relig-
ious women in Illinois did not receive the support for
its academy which had been anticipated, much as it
was needed, and difiiculties impeded its progress.
Mother Seraphine Wickham, however, who became
Superior in 1839, raised the academy to a high degree
of efficiency ; but the floods of the Mississippi in 1844

' U. S. Cath. Miscellany, x., p. 174; xi., p. 14 ; Catholic Intelligencer,
iii., p. 373. Rev. John Timon to Bishop Rosati, Mar. 4, 1832 ; Bishop
Rosati to Rev. J. Timon, Feb. 26, 1832.

« Hill "Historical Sketch," p. 43 ; " Laws of Missouri," 1824-1836, ii.
p. 298.

^ Catholic Telegraph, i., p. 93-4.

684 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

drove the Visitation nuns from the convent and they
removed to St, Louis. '^

The Bishop had been able, by the arrival of some
clergymen from France, to station Rev. Mr. Paillasson
there, so that the nuns were enabled to have the con-
solation of mass offered in their convent.

His cathedral was at last rising, a church was dedi-
cated at Florissant, and the Catholics at Richwood,
English Settlement, Mine a la Motte, and Gravois
were exerting themselves to comj^lete theirs. At St.
Genevieve the church was nearly finished.

The diocese in 1831 comprised St. Louis with 4000
Catholics, the Bishop, and four priests ; a hospital
conducted by eight Sisters of Charity, and able to con-
tain eighty patients. Florissant, with 480 Catholics,
attended by two Jesuit Fathers ; an academy and free
school under the Ladies of the Sacred Heart, whose
novitiate was elsewhere. St. Charles with one thou-
sand Catholics, also under the Fathers of the Society,
a convent of the Sacred Heart, and free schools for
boys and girls ; one of the Fathers here was con-
stantly visiting the churches at Portage aux Sioux,
and Dardenne, as well as more distant stations. St.
Genevieve and Old Mines, each with a Catholic popu-
lation of two thousand, had resident priests. The
seminary at the Barrens had twenty-five students,
nine in theology ; and there were 100 j)upils in the
College. The Priests of the Mission attended the
church, with 1600 Catholics lying around. New Mad-
rid, with 640 Catholics, had no resident priest. Nor
was there one in Arkansas. In Illinois there were

' Annals of the Visitation. Mother Agnes Brent, daughter of William
Chandler Brent, after being Superior at Georgetown, Kaskaskia, St.
Louis, and Mobile, died ciously Sept. 15, 1877. Mother SeraphineWick-
haiQ was a native of Philadelphia ; she died just one week later.

• INDIAN MISSIONS. 685

three priests with flocks estimated at 4168. In Missouri
Territory there were reckoned two thousand Catholics,
among whom priests were laboring. Bishop Rosati
was soon able to send priests to Kaskaskia, New
Madrid, and Arkansas.

The Indian Mission among the Kansas was directed
by the Jesuit Fathers, and Rev. Messrs. Latz and Pail-
lasson had just begun an Indian Mission at Prairie du
Chien.i

During the summer of 1832 the cholera reached St.
Louis, and, when no one could be found to attend the
hospital opened by the city authorities for tliose at-
tacked, the Sisters of Charity received them all into
their hospital.^

The utmost harmony prevailed in the diocese, but
the spirit of falsehood, alarmed at the progress of the
truth, represented it as divided into two hostile par-
ties. Bishop Rosati promptly refuted the slander.^
Later in the year a Methodist clergyman attempted to
meet Rev. R. S, Abell in a controversy at St. Gene-
vieve, but was so utterly defeated that he Avithdrew,
announcing that he would reply to the priest four
weeks from that day.*

The cholera in 1833 was more deadly in its ravages ;
requiring the constant ministry of the clergy and the
devoted care of the Sisters of Charitj^ Two ladies of
the Sacred Heart died of it in September.^

During the summer the Catholic body sustained a
severe loss in the death of Mr. John Mullanphy, the
friend of the orphan and the poor, whose liberality to

' Annales de la Propagation de la Foi, v., p. 563.

* Annales de la Propagation de la Foi, iv., p. 663 ; vii., p. 113.
3 Letter, March 6, 1833 ; Truth Teller, viii., p. 140.

* Bishop Rosati to Rev. J. Timon, Dec. 18, 1832.

5 Baunard, " The Life of Mother Duchesne," 1879, p. 314.

686 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

the Church had been unbounded. He gave twenty-
five acres of land to the Ladies of the Sacred Heart,
on condition that they supported perpetually twenty
orphan girls. He founded and endowed the hospital
of the Sisters of Charity. A native of Youghal,
Ireland, he showed his energy in the West by build-
ing a ship on the Kentucky River, which he sent down
to the sea. He subsequently dealt extensively in
cotton, and owned the bales used by Gen. Jackson in
the Battle of New Orleans, These, at the peace, he
sold in England, accumulating a large fortune. His
well-spent life was closed by a happy death at St.
Louis, August 29, 1833.

Notwithstanding the cholera, the Jubilee exercises
appointed by the Bishop were attended by great
numbers of the faithful, producing much good.^

Conversions were constant ; the example of good
Catholics, the devoted lives of j>riests and religious all
combined to lead many to the faith. During the
cholera, many who held back in health called for the
ministry of the priest. In a Protestant family where
Rev. Mr. Odin was in the habit of stopping, a little
boy eight years old seemed drawn by remarkable grace
to the Church. He learned the catechism of his own
accord, and when the cholera broke out begged his
mother to have him baptized, but she put him ofi'.
He was one of the first to be attacked, and he con-
stantly asked to be baptized. None of the family
knew that they could administer the sacrament, and
he died with the baptism of desire. Influenced by
this the whole family sought instruction and became
Catholics.^

' Catholic Telegraph, iii., p. 54.

' Odin, " Breve Ragguaglio della Chiesa Catholica negli Stati Unlti di
America, oflferto alia Santita," etc.

CATHEDRAL OF ST. LOUIS. 687

As early as 1830 Bishop Rosati set about erecting a
cathedral worthy of his growing diocese, but, owing
to the difficulties which environed him, it was not
completed till 1834. At the time it was regarded as a
remarkable piece of architecture. It was 134 feet long
by 84 feet wide. The front was of finely polished
stone ; on either side was a tablet inscribed in French
or English : " My house shall be called the house of
prayer." Above the three doors, you read in Latin,
French, and English : "Behold the tabernacle of God
with men, and He will dwell with them." The facade
consisted of four Doric columns, with an inscription
on the friese above, " In honorem Sancti Ludovici,
Deo uni et trino dicatum, anno MDCCC XXXIV." A
tall spire rose from the front of the edifice. It was
solemnly consecrated on the 26tli of October, 1834.
Bishop Rosati invited for the occasion the Bishops of
Bardstown and Cincinnati, and the Bishop elect of
Vincennes, offering his new cathedral for the cere-
nio-ny of the consecration of Dr. Brute. The three
fine bells ordered for the belfry arrived in time and
were duly blessed. On the appointed day, amid such
a concourse as St. Louis had never seen, the procession
moved from the old cathedral. All the ceremonies
prescribed in the Roman Pontifical were followed
within and without. A solemn high mass was then
offered, with a dedication sermon preached by the
Bishop of Cincinnati.

On the 28th, feast of St. Simon and St. Jude, Rt.
Rev. Simon Gabriel Brute, Bishop of Vincennes, was
consecrated in this noble building by Rt. Rev. Dr.
Flaget, assisted by the Bishops of St. Louis and Cin-
cinnati. In a visitation soon after. Bishop Rosati re-
ceived the profession of Miss Jane Barber, the youngest

688 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

of the family, as a Visitation nun at Kaskaskia.^ He
had succeeded in j)lacing a priest, Rev, Mr. Doutreligne,
at Cahokia, but that clergyman encountered opposi-
tion, so that the Bishop wi'ote firmly that, " If they re-
sisted the authority of the Ciiurch he must remove the
priest to others who can appreciate his ministry bet-
ter." It was almost a solitary case of rebellion against
this gentle and devoted bisho^D.^

The diocese was soon after menaced with a serious
misfortune. The seminary and college at the Barrens
had been productive of vast good to souls, but the
Congregation of the Priests of the Mission had not suc-
ceeded in freeing their property from debts which be-
came so formidable that the Superior General resolved
to recall all his priests. He ordered the College to be
suppressed, and the Seminary also, unless the Bishop
paid a fixed sum for each seminarian, and he ordered
-all the priests of the Congregation, engaged in parochial
work, to resign their positions. The Bishop could not
enter into a contest with an order to which he was
himself endeared by so many ties. He forwarded his
observations to the Superior General and also to the
Sacred Congregation de Propaganda Fide, and to the
Pope himself. It was providential that at this very
time Rev. John Timon, whom he had solicited as
Coadjutor, was appointed Visitor of the Lazarists in

' Bishop Rosati to the Pope, Nov. 3, 1834, with description of Catlie-
dral and dedication. Annales de la Propagation de la Foi, viii., pp. 267-
287; Catliolic Telegraph, iv., p. 406; Jesuit, v., p. 388; U. S. Cath.
jVIiscellany, xiv., p. 182 ; Catholic Diary, v., p. 6, etc ; Doherty, "Ad-
dress on the Centenary of the Cathedral Church," St. Louis, 1876, p. 11 ;
Bishop Rosati to Archbishop Eccleston, Dec. 29, 1834, Weekly Register,
iii., p. 338. The Cathedral was the fifth church consecrated by Bishop
Rosati, the others being St. Charles and St. Ferdinand, St. Joachim at
Old Mines, and St. James, Potosi.

* Bishop Rosati to the Rev. Mr. Doutreligne, March 20, 1835.

PROGRESS. 689

the United States. That able and laborious priest
shrank from the position of Visitor, but finally
yielded. He urged a suspension of the orders sent,
restored community life at the Barrens, and by his
judgment, exertions, and economy placed their estab-
lishments in such a position that the Superior General
allowed the college to continue, and Bishop Rosati on
his side labored successfully to put the seminary in a
flourishing condition.^

Near his cathedral in May, 1855, the Bishop laid the
corner-stone of a new Ori3lian Asylum for girls, of
which he had given the site.^

In his visitations in the following year he found
that priests zealously attending to their flocks had
revived the faith and the practice of their duties
among the faithful. He saw this too strikingly mani-
fested in the churches and institutions of St. Louis at
Christmas. Cahokia, under an energetic priest, aided
by Sisters of St. Joseph, showed a new spirit when he
visited it in June.^ At Portage aux Sioux he found the
Church of St. Francis of Assisium nearly completed,
and at Carondelet Rev. Ed. Saulnier had replaced a
primitive log chapel by a stately stone church. At the
Barrens, Rev. John Timon had nearly completed a fine
new church. The novitiate of the Priests of the Mis-
sion contained several candidates for the Congregation,
and there were also six theologians for the diocese at
the Seminary.

On the first of August he visited the convent re-

' Bishop Rosati to V. Rev. John Timon, Nov. 8, 1835 ; Deuther, " Life
and Times of Rt. Rev. John Timon," Buffalo, 1870, pp. 55-7.

* U. S. Cath. Miscellany, xiv., p. 399 ; Weekly Register, iv., p. 145.

'Bishop Rosati to Rev. J. Timon, Jan. 6. 1837 ; Catholic Diary, vi.,
p. 23 ; Catholic Herald, v., p. 223 ; " Delia Chiesa Cattolica negli Stati
Uniti d' America," Verona, 1835, p. 49.

690 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

cently established by the Sisters of Loretto at St. Gene-
vieve.

In Illinois the roof of the ancient church of Kas-
kaskia menaced l*uin, so that the church could no
longer be safely used. But there was new blood in
the old State. The German Catholics around Quincy
had erected a house for a priest and as a temporary
chapel till their church was built. The little log
Church of St. Andrew at Belleville, under Rev. Charles
Meyer, was the first step to a future bishopric. Another
log church was going up at Columbia, and a congrega-
tion was formed at Crooked Creek. The Church of
St. Thomas was dedicated in November.

On the 21st of September the Bishop, with the
clergy at the Barrens, translated the remains of the
venerated Father Felix de Andreis from their humble
grave in the old log chapel to one of the six chapels
on the gospel side of the grand new church. After
offering the holy sacrifice for the last time in the old
log chapel, on the 22d, Bishop Rosati consecrated the
new church on the 29th of October, with Bishop Brute
and a long array of priests taking part in the cere-
monial and in the solemn pontifical mass. Among
them was the venerable priest of early days Rev.
Donatien Olivier, at this time in his ninety-first year.^

The diocese of St. Louis and the Society of Jesus
sustained a great loss by the death of Very Rev.
Charles Felix Van Quickenborne, who expired at the
Portage aux Sioux, October 17, 1837. He was the
founder of the Jesuit missions of this century in the
Valley of the Mississippi, which, as the Vice Province
of Missouri, has now its colleges and churches from
Cincinnati and Detroit westward. He was born at

' Catholic Herald, v., pp. 270, 388, 404.

REV. a F. VAN QUICKENBORNE. 691

Peteghem, Belgium, January 21, 1788, and after being
ordained priest was a professor and then a curate till
1815, when he entered the Society of Jesus upon its
restoration. Two years later he came to Maryland
and became master of novices, and an active mission-
ary as well, erecting two churches. His removal to
Missouri has been already told. In the new mission
he was daunted by no difficulty or obstacle. He built
a stone novitiate with the help of his novices. He
erected the church at St. Charles and the convent of
the Sacred Heart, and all the while was traversing his
large district to find Catholics and explain our misrep-
resented faith to Protestants. The ministers at-
tempted to destroy his influence, but one day he
entered one of their great gatherings and asked to be
allowed to propound a few questions. The first was
to know what test they had to distinguish true doc-
trine from false. Their answers were far from clear
and very contradictory. Leaving them to settle the
point among themselves he went outside and delivered
an address on the four points of the Catholic Church.
Though his labors among the white population were
more than enough for a man of utmost endurance, he
felt called to announce the gospel to the Indians.
He thus became the founder of our Catholic Indian
Missions in this century. The tribes which he first
reached were those among whom the Fathers of the
Society had labored. A Shawnee, with his Wyandot
wife, had both been baptized as Catholics, but for want
of a priest attended the Methodist mission. The Kas-
kaskias, Peoria, Weas, and Piankeshaws, feeble rem-
nants of the Illinois and Miamis, had lost nearly all
trace of Christian faith and were plunged in vice.
The Kickapoos obeyed a false prophet. The Potta-
watomies, Chippewas, and Ottawas, recently removed

692 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

to Missouri Territory from their homes, where they
had enjoyed the ministrations of Rev. Mr. Desseille
and Mr. Petit, offered a more encouraging field. His
first permanent mission was established in June, 1836,
among the Kickapoos ; the second in May, 1838, among
the Pottawatomies at Sugar Creek, near Council Bluff.
He died, after a brief illness, while returning to St.
Louis. ^

In 1838 Bishop Rosati could report nine stone
churches, ten of brick, twenty-five of wood, attended by
twenty-four Jesuits, twenty Lazarists, one Dominican,
twenty-three secular priests. His seminary had four-
teen students ; the Lazarists and Jesuits had twenty-
five preparing for holy orders. The colleges and acade-
mies were well attended, the orphan asylums sheltered
fifty children, the liosjDitals received annually between
five and six hundred patients. During the year 1837
six new congregations had been provided with priests.
The annual baptisms were about fifteen hundred.^

In 1839 Bishop Rosati summoned a Diocesan Sjmod,
which met at the Cathedral in St. Louis on the 26th
of April, and was attended by thirty-three priests.
The statutes put in force the decrees of the first three
Councils of Baltimore, and the Manual of Ceremonies ;
required the erection of confessionals in all churches ;
a becoming clerical dress ; regulated the administra-
tion of baptism, the celebration of mass, the honor of
the Blessed Sacrament ; the confessions of religious
women and of the young ; the proper custody of the

' De Smet, "Western Missions and Missionaries," New York, 1859,
p. 464 ; Van Quickenborne, Annales de la Prop, de la Foi, p. 88 ; " The
Indian Missions in the United States of America under the care of the
Missouri Province of the Society of Jesus," Pliiladelphia, 1841 ; Catholic
Herald, v., p. 295. F. Verhaegen to Bishop Rosati, June 16, 1838.

' " Notizie sullo Stato attuale della Diocesi di S. Luigi," Feb. 15, 1838.

SUGAR CREEK MISSION. 693

holy oils ; laid down rules for the celebration of mar-
riage ; forbade erecting churches without the consent of
the Bisho]3 ; required the blessing of the corner-stone ;
limited the exercises of faculties by priests to tlieir*^
own districts, and required them to offer the \io\j
sacrifice on Sundays and holidays ; treated of the four
feasts, alone made of obligation ; of patronal feasts ;
urged priests to select qualified persons to aid them
by instructing the young in the catechism, and made
the St. Louis catechism, published at Lyons in 1833,
obligatory for the French, Bishop Carroll's for Eng-
lish, and that adopted by Bishop Purcell and Bishop
Kenrick for the German. Collections for a new Semi-
nary in St. Louis were urged, the preparatory one to
remain at the Barrens. In conclusion, the faithful
were exhorted to liberality in affording the pastors of
souls a fitting support.^

The Pottawatomie Indians on their removal to Mis-
souri became one of the cares of the Bishop of St.
Louis. In the early part of the year 1839, Father
Christian Hoecken, S.J., took charge of the mission
at their new residence, Sugar Creek. Later in the
year a band of 250 Catholic Indians arrived from
Michigan. The change caused great depression and
disease among the Indians, and the missionary soon
aided by Father Aelen had a constant field for his
zeal. A rude log church put up on their arrival was
replaced by a better one dedicated on Christmas day,
1840. The next summer, Madame Lucille Mathevon,
with four Ladies of the Sacred Heart, arrived and
opened a school for Indian girls. ^

> Statuta Dioecesis S. Ludovici promulgata ab Illmo. ac Rmo. DD.
Joseph Rosati, C. M. Episcopo S. Ludovici in Synodo Dioecesana liabita
in Ecclesia Cathedrali Mense Aprili, MDCCCXXXIX. St. Louis, 1839 ;
Rome, 1839. Bishop Rosati to Archbishop Eccleston, May 16, 1839.

1 Woodstock Letters, iv., p. 50. Life of Mme. Duchesne, p. 366.

694 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED ST A TES.

In October, 1839, Bishop Rosati visited Westphalia
to dedicate the- church erected there, in the midst of
his Catholic settlement, by Father Helias d'Hudde.
ghem, S. J., the first of the many churches reared in
Missouri by this zealous priest.^

In 1840 Bishop Rosati laid the corner-stone of Trinity
Church in the Soulard addition, and proposed to erect
his new Seminary on ground secured near it.^ Not
only were churches in progress ready for dedication
at various jDoints, such as Springfield and Kicka-
poo, 111., Cape Girardeau, Mo., but the Bishop was
now able to send clergymen to give missions in many
congregations, which were productive of great good.^

The Flathead Mission grew out of the visit of four
Indians who came to St. Louis to obtain missionaries
for their tribe. Two fell sick and died, but showed
such a desire for baptism that the sacrament was con-
ferred on them. The others returned encouraged and
were followed in 1835 and 1839 by other delegations,
who besought the Jesuits to come to their aid.*

Father Peter J. De Smet, S.J,, was assigned to the
work. The Jesuit missionary set out in the spring of
1840, and reached the country of the FJatheads or
Selish Indians, by whom he had been long expected.
With a tribe naturally so innocent and well disposed,
instruction proceeded rapidly. Chiefs learned the
prayers and a short catechism to teach others. After

' Lebrocquy, " Vie du R. P. Helias d'Huddeghem, S.J., Gand, 1878,"
p. 204.

* Bishop Rosati to Archbishop Eccleston, Feb. 19, 1840.

^Catholic Herald, vii., pp. 134-404; Catholic Advocate, iv., p. 20-
116 ; Truth Teller, xv., p. 275.

■* Bishop Rosati to the editor of the Annals. " Annales," Dec. 31,
1831, v., p. 597. " The Indian Missions in the U. S. of America," Phila-
delphia, 1841, p. 7.

FLATHEAD MISSION, 695

baptizing six hundred, Father De Smet returned to
St, Louis, to bear witness to the great field open to
the Church. A regukir mission was decided upon,
and in 1841 he set out again with Fatliers Nicholas
Point and Gregory Mengarini and two lay brothers.
They were met on the 15th of August by an ad-
vanced party of the Flatheads, and on the 24th
founded the first regular mission on the Bitter Root
River. The Pends d'Oreilles and Coeurs d'Alenes
also appealed for instruction. Hearing of the Cana-
dian priests near the coast, Father De Smet descended
the Columbia River, and met Rev. F. N. Blanchet
and Rev. Modeste Demers, who had reached Oregon in
November, 1838, and were laboring among the Cana-
dians and the native tribes. ^^

Bishop Rosati had already solicited from the Holy
See the appointment of a coadjutor, and, when Rev.
JohnTimon declined, he proposed Rev. Peter Richard
Kenrick. It was not, however, till he visited Rome in
1840, after attending the Fourth Council of Baltimore,
that he obtained the appointment of that learned
clergyman. as Bishop of Drasis and Coadjutor of St.
Louis. But the Sovereign Pontiff laid a new burden
on his shoulders, by charging him with an important
mission to Hayti.^ On his return to the United States
he consecrated his Coadjutor in St. Mary's Church,
Philadelphia ; Bishop Kenrick, Administrator of
Philadelphia, and Bishop Lefevre, Administrator of
Detroit, acting as assistants. He then prepared to sail
to Hayti to fulfill the duties imposed upon him, address-
ing a touching pastoral to his flock whom he was never

' De Smet, "Letters and Sketches," Philadelphia, 1843: pp. 13,47,
132. " Oregon Missions," New York, 1847 : pp. 17, 18.

' BuUarium de Propaganda Fide, v., p. 229, 234, March 14, April 30,
1841.

696 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

again to see. His departure from St. Louis, April 25,
1840, was really his farewell to liis diocese. After suc-
cessfully arranging with President Boyer of Hayri
the terms of a concordat, and administering confirma-
tion to hundreds, he hastened to Rome. His report
gave great satisfaction, and he was deputed to return
to the island and make the final arrangements. At
Paris his condition became so critical that he returned
to Rome, where he died September 25, 1843, honored
for his virtues, his piety, zeal, learning, and the ability
displayed in governing his diocese, in the councils of
the Church, and in delicate negotiations.'

' Catholic Cabinet, i., p. 514; U. S. Catholic Magazine, ii., p. 758 ;
Salzbacher, " Meine Reise nach Nord Amerika," p. 213.

CATHEDRAL OF ST. LOUIS.

CHAPTER IV.

DIOCESE OF MOBILE.

BT. EEV. MICHAEL PORTIEB, FIRST BISHOP, 1829-1843.

Bishop Portier had not appealed in vain to the
missionary spirit and charity of Southern France.
Before the close of the year 1829, he reached New
Orleans in the ship Antioch, accompanied by two
priests, four subdeacons, and two clerics.' Soon after
he entered his episcopal city, to begin his work in
earnest. Mobile was then a city of ten thousand
inhabitants, with no church of any kind but the
Cathedral, a rough wooden structure, fifty feet by
twenty, and the people so indifferent and careless
that little could be hoped from them.

The next year he sent Rev. Mr. Loras and Rev. Mr.
Chalon to make a thorough visitation of Alabama.
In a seven months' tour they visited Montgomery, Tus-
caloosa, Huntsville, Washington, and other towns,
gathering Catholics together where they found any,
and enabling them to hear mass and approach the
sacraments. Bishop Portier ordained his first priest.
Rev. Mr. Poujade, soon to die of yellow fever, and
secured a beautiful site near Mobile, where he in time
erected Spring Hill College and Seminary, a brick
building one hundred feet by forty-four. It opened
under the care of Rev. Mr. Loras and Rev. Mr. Bazin,
and in its first year had fifty boarders. The prospect
was so encouraging that the Bishop laid the founda-
tions of a church near it.

•Jesuit, i., pp.152, 324.
697

698 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

Pensacola had no resident priest, but was visited
by the Bishop and priests from Mobile. Even the
church was gone, and though the congregation zeal-
ously set to work to erect a neat frame chapel, a hur-
ricane, Just as the carpenters were putting on the roof,
struck it and utterly demolished it.

St. Augustine was under the care of a good priest.
Rev. E. F. Mayne, whom Bishoj) England had sent
there at the request of Dr. Portier.^ The trustees of
the church in the ancient Catholic city drove him
from the sacred edifice in May, 1830, and, Avhen the
case came before the court, Judge Smith decided that
the right of presentation vested in the congregation
and not in the Bishop, and that the treaty ceding
Florida transferred to the congregation, through the
United States government, all the rights which the
king of Spain had possessed. Thus deprived of his
church, Rev. Mr. Mayne was compelled to officiate in
a small room which he hired. ^ Bishop Portier in Feb-

' Annales de la Propagation de la Foi, v. , pp. 621-631 ; Register of St.
Augustine, Register of Pensacpla.

- Few legal decisions against the Catholic religion bristled with more
errors and absurdities than this one. The king of Spain had the jus
patronatus, the right to tithes, and the right to nominate bishops under
the Bull of Pope Julius II. The judge must have held that all these
powers vested for a time in the Federal government, and by it were con-
veyed to the trustees of St. Augustine Church ; for all these powers
passed or none. If the United States government did not succeed to the
power to nominate a Bishop in Florida, and levy tithes to support clergy-
men, it did not succeed to the jus patronatus, and if it did not, could not
convey these powers to a congregation. Moreover, the United States
government could not exercise such a power except by establishing the
Catholic religion in Florida. The judge confounded pi'eseutation and
collation ; but the case before him was one neither of presentation nor
collation, but the right of a lay body to expel one duly in possession of
an ecclesiastical office. Bishop England went over the whole ground in
a letter to Judge Gaston, December 17, 1831. See U. S. Cath. Miscel-
lany, X., p. 398; xi., p. 214.

VISITATION NUNS. 699

ruary, 1832, proceeded to St. Augustine, to endeavor
to allay the schism which the judge had fomented ;
but the hostility of the trustees to the discipline of
the Church was long maintained.^

On the last day of the year 1833. Mobile received a
colony of five nuns from the Visitation Convent,
Georgetown, who, with Mother Margaret Marshall as
Superior, came to establish a house of their order and
an academy. They were installed provisionally in a
country house till their convent was erected. This
was soon completed, at a cost of nine thousand dol-
lars, and the academy opened at Summerville, three
miles from Mobile. It soon had twenty x^upils, with
every prospect of increase as its merits became known,
though, in a hurricane, part of the building was car-
ried away, the nuns escaping as by a miracle.

Pensacola had its church restored in 1833, and
solicited religious women to conduct a school. The
Bishop had established a school for boys there and
one at St. Augustine. Montgomery had a priest and
was erecting a church with hearty good will. Moul-
ton followed the example and soon had a church dedi-
cated. Spring Hill College Avas so well attended that
it could receive no more students. Two priests were
set apart for the various stations in Alabama.^

The number of his flock at this time was estimated
at eight thousand in a population of about 350,000.^

On the 19th of January, 1835, Bishop Portier assem-
bled his clergy in a diocesan synod at Spring Hill.

' U. S. Cath. Miscellany, xv., p. 70(1835).

* Mother Madeline Augustine to Archbishop Eccleston, January 15,
1833 ; Annals of the Visitation. Bishop Portier to Mgr . Castracani,
1833 ; Catholic Telegraph, iii., pp. 54, 334 ; Weekly Register, i., p. 119.

^ " Delia Chiesa Cattolica negli Stati Uuiti d'America," Verona, 1835,
pp. 52-3.

700 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

After accepting and promulgating the decrees of the
two Councils of Baltimore and the Manual of Cere-
monies, uniformity in the administration of baptism
was enjoined ; the soutane or, in traveling, a sober
dress was to be worn. Confessions of women were
never to be heard out of the confessionals, and in sta-
tions where there were no churches, they were to be
heard in a room with the door open. Records of
baptisms, marriages, and burials, as well as a list of
Catholics, with their residences, were to be kept. The
Bishop's secretary was to keep a record of ordinations,
letters dimissory, and dispensations. Faculties were
regulated. A priest on the mission was em]3owered to
authorize a priest of another diocese, passing through
his district, to officiate for ten days. The qualifica-
tions for entering the seminary were prescribed. The
Bishop's Council was to consist of the Vicar-General
and two priests. Faculties were to be valid only to
the next spiritual retreat. Baptism might be admin-
istered in private houses more than two miles from a
church.^

Bishop Portier had long desired to begin the erec-
tion of a suitable church in his ei)iscopal city, to serve
as his Cathedral. He had fixed on the feast of the
Assumption, in the year 1833, for the ceremony of
laying the corner-stone, but it was not till the 29th of
January, 1836, that, assisted by Rt. Rev. Drs. Rosati,
Purcell, and Blanc, he blessed the first stone of the
Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, a structure
designed to be 76 feet wide by 150 deep.^ It was not
completed till 1850.

In 1836, Bishop Portier took part in the consecra-

' Decreta Synodi Mobiliensis Primoe, Die 19* Januarii, 1835, congre-
gatse-Notre Dame, 1890.
'Catholic Diary, v., p. 248.

SPRING HILL COLLEGE. 701

tion of Bishop Blanc, at New Orleans, on which occa-
:sion he delivered a sermon of remarkable power and
eloquence/ By the year 1838 the troubles in St.
Augustine were so far appeased that Bishop Portier
appointed Rev. C. Rampon and Rev. P. Hackett to
that mission. The Ladies of the Retreat attempted to
establish an academy, but soon removed to Pensacola.
An orphan asylum was opened at Mobile. Spring
Hill College was prospering under the direction of the
Rev. Peter Mauvernay, but the diocese was soon to be
deprived of him by death. He was succeeded by Rev.
Mr. Bazin, under whom the college had seventy stu-
dents.
The States in the diocese of Mobile — Alabama and

SIGNATURE OF BISHOP PORTIER OF MOBILE.

Florida — gained very slowly by immigration, and the
Catholic body did not increase rapidly. Having met
the pressing wants, Rt. Rev. Dr. Portier could not go
much further.

In 1842, he proclaimed the Jubilee granted by the
Pope, and made it the occasion of missions, which he
gave with some of his clergy in the churches of his
diocese. The next year the work on his unfinished
cathedral was resumed, and the Eudist Fathers as-
sumed the direction of Spring Hill College.^

' Catholic Telegraph, v., pp. 22, 30.

-Catholic Almanacs, 1834 to 1843; Catholic Cabinet, ii., p. 571;
Salzbacher, " Mein Reise nach Nord Amerika," p. 308.

CHAPTER V.

DIOCESE OF DUBUQUE.
RT. REV. MATHIAS LORAS, FIRST BISHOP, 1837-1843.

On the 28th of July, 1837, Pope Gregory XVI., hj
his Bull " Universi Dominici Gregis," erected the see
of Dubuque, a city but four years old, assigning as the
diocese that part of Wisconsin Territory lying between
the Mississippi and Missouri rivers.^ The priest se-
lected as first bishop of the new see was the Rev.
Mathias Loras, who had labored for several years in
the diocese of Mobile. He was a native of France,
born at Lyons in 1792, of a pious family, his father
perishing soon after his birth by the revolutionary axe.
He was ordained priest about 1817, and while director
of the Seminary of Largentiere offered his services to
Rt. Rev. Dr. Portier. In 1830 he accompanied the
Bishop to Mobile, and for several years labored in
seminary, college, and mission.

On receiving his bulls he was consecrated in the
Cathedral at Mobile, by Bishop Portier, assisted by
Rt. Rev. Dr. Blanc, Bishop of New Orleans, on the
10th of December, 1837.^ In the diocese assigned to
him, the present States of Iowa and Minnesota, there
were but one priest and a half -finished church.^ He

* Bullarium de Propaganda Fide, v., pp. 162-3.

2 Catholic Herald, v., p. 404.

^ St. Raphael's stone church, began by Rev. S. Mazzuchelli, O.P., who
laid the corner-stone, Aug. 15, 1835. Cath. Telegraph, v., p. 22. Truth
Teller, xiv. , p. 148 ; Catholic Advocate, iii. , p. 62.

702

CONDITION OF DIOCESE. 703

therefore set out, at once, for France to obtain auxil-
iaries and means.

In October, 1838, Bishop Loras arrived from Havre,
on the Lyons, with two priests and four subdeacohs to
form the nucleus of his clergy. Meanwhile, Father
Mazzuchelli' had completed and erected a residence
for the Bishop, who reached Dubuque on the 18th of
April, 1839, and was duly installed on the third Sun-
day after Easter.^ He soon began a visitation and
found tliat Davenport, mainly by the liberality of Mr.
Anthony Leclaire, had already a fine brick church with
a school-room attached to it : and that at Burlington
the Catholics were already at work on a church. The

SIGNATUHE OF BISHOP LORAS, OF DUBUQUE.

town of St. Peter's, in the northern part of his diocese,
next claimed his care. There he was welcomed by
nearly two hundred Catholics ; at Prairie du Chien he
found seven hundred, and began a church which Father
Mazzuchelli undertook to build. Returning to Du-
buque he dedicated his Cathedral under the patron-
ao-e of'st. Raphael, Archangel, on the 22d of August,
1839. At the close of the year he even crossed to
Illinois to confirm and officiate at Galena."

About this time he succeeded in securing three acres

1 The first priest at Dubuque, Rev. Charles Fitzmaurice, began his
miuistry there in June, 1834, and while visiting the scattered Catholics
died of fever at Galena, in August. Freeman's Journal, i., p. 10.

^ Truth Teller, xiv., pp. 149, 326 ; xv., p. 253 ; Catholic Herald, vi.,
p 341 vii p. 205 ; Catholic Advocate, iv., p. 140.

'3 Catholic Herald, vii., pp. 244, 307, 332 ; Catholic Advocate, iv.. pp.
228, 252.

704 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

near the church, on which he proposed as soon as
possible to erect a building for a literary and another
for a charitable institution. He bought a house with
a large lot in which to install the Sisters of Charity to
conduct a school. In 1840, he could announce five
churches: his Cathedral, St. Patrick's at Makoquata,
St. Anthony's at Davenport, St. Paul's at Burlington,
and one in hand at St. Peter's. In another year there
was a brick church at Iowa City, a German church at
West Point, Catholics busy erecting churches at
Bloomington and Fort Madison.^ As Wisconsin was
temporarily placed under his care, he visited that ter-
ritory, establishing a mission among the Menomonees,
and organizing a congregation at Milwaukee to erect
a church on the lands given by Solomon Juneau.
Then we find him at Southport, baptizing, confirm-
ing, instructing. No contrast could be greater than
that between the diocese of Mobile, with its ancient
churches and a state of apathy, on the one hand, and
the busy, pushing, active Northwest to which he was
assigned, with immigration pouring in, largely Catho-
lic, all active, stirring, energetic, rearing houses, fac-
tories, schools, and churches. But Bishop Loras
showed himself eminently a man of work, ready even
to assume part of the burden of others.^

Thus it came that Green Bay and Milwaukee, as well
as stations at Van Buren and an Irish settlement that
had also erected a church, were placed under the active
Bishop of the West. Business required that Bishop
Loras should visit New Orleans in 1841 ; on his return
he made by request a visitation of Arkansas. Napo-
leon, Arkansas Post, Pine Blufl^, New Gascony, St.

1 Catholic Almanac, 1840, p. 104 ; 1841, p. 138 ; 1842, p. 110.
* Freeman's Journal, i., p. 110.

INDIAN MISSIONS. 705

Mary's, and Little Rock all enjoyed the presence and
ministrations of this active prelate.'

Returning to his diocese Bishop Loras took steps to
announce the faith to the Indians in his diocese. Rev.
Louis Ravoux began a mission among the Sioux, two
hundred and fifty miles above the Falls of St. Anthony,
Rev. Remigius Petiot among the Winnebagoes, oppo-
site Prairie du Chien ; Rev. Mr. Pelamourgues among
the Sacs and Foxes.

He proceeded in 1843 to Baltimore to attend the
Council with this good report of the youngest diocese
in the United States.

' Catholic Herald, ix., pp. 10, 139 ; Salzbacher, " Meine Reise," p. 320.

BOOK VL

CHAPTER I.

VICARIATE APOSTOLIC OF TEXAS.

RT. REV. JOHN MARY ODIN, VICAR APOSTOLIC, 1841-1843.

Under the Mexican rule, Coahuila and Texas formed
a state, but American settlers were invited into Texas.
They soon began to chafe under the oppressive Mexi-
can laws. A civil war ensued. On the defeat and
capture of Santa Anna at San Jacinto, Texas was recog-
nized as an independent republic. With a popula-
tion almost entirely from the United States, among
whom i^riests from this country had already visited
the Catholic portion, it seemed to the authorities of
the Church to require a separate organization. The
Republic was made a Prefecture Apostolic in 1840,
under Very Rev. John Timon as Prefect, and Pope
Gregory XVI. on the 16th of July, 1841, by his Bull
"Universi Dominici Gregis" erected the Vicariate
Apostolic of Texas, ^ and the Very Rev. John Mary
Odin was appointed Bishop of Claudiopolis and Vicar
Apostolic. He was consecrated at New Orleans, March
6, 1842, by Bishop Blanc, Bishops Portier and Chanche
assisting, and immediately returned to Texas Avhere he
had been Vice Prefect.

When Spain acquired Louisiana, Texas lost its
importance as a frontier province, and declined.

' Bullarium de Propaganda Fide, v., p. 265; Hernaez, ii., p. 795;
Catholic Advocate, vii., p. 306 ; Catholic Herald, x., p. 101.

706

CONFIRMATION. 707

Adayes which was once an important town, became
less imi^ortant than the neighboring Natchitoches.

The holy Bishop Tejada of Guadalajara continued
his care of Texas after his laborious visitation, endeav-
oring by correspondence to excite the clergy and faith-
ful to their duties. After his death, which occurred
December 20, 1760, Texas remained subject to his
successors in the see of Guadalajara, Rt. Rev. Diego
Rodriguez de Rivas de Velasco (1762) and Rt. Rev. Dr.
Frai Antonio Alcalde, O.S.D. (1772), till the erection
of the see of Nueva Leon, or Linares, December 15,
1777, when Texas was included in the new diocese.

Neither Bishop Rivas de Velasco nor Bishop Alcalde
visited Texas, but the latter in 1776 appointed Rev.
Jose Antonio Martinez de Benavides his Vicar-General
and Visitor of Texas and other remote parts of his
diocese ; but tliere is no record of any actual visitation.

The Indian missions continued under the care of the
Franciscans, and, in 1777, Father Pedro Ramirez, mis-
sionary at San Jose, was President of all the Texas
missions, and by an indult of Pope Clement XIV. was
empowered to administer confirmation, for ten years,
in all parts of Texas, He conferred the sacrament for
the first time at the mission of San Jose, May 10,
1778.^ The fine churches of the missions of San Jose,
San Antonio de Valero, the Immaculate Conception,
and San Juan Capistrano, which survived to our times,
were due in a great measure to Father Ramirez. The
Church of the Immaculate Conception was described by

' " Libro de Bautismos, Casamentos y Entierros pertenecientes S la
Mision de Sr. Sn. Josef," begim Sept. 1, 1777. There had been to that
time 831 baptisms. By 1823 they amounted to 1511. Instructions for
•confirmation by priests, and the faculties of Presidents of .Franciscan
Missions will be found in Hernaez, " Coleccion de Bulas," Brussels, i., pp.
446, 449.

708 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

Father Morfi as very handsome and worthy of a more
important place. That of St. Joseph was nearly com-
plete, with a fine nave and dome. The main entrance
was very ornate and surmounted by a balcony. The
Church of St. John Capistran was a solid structure,
also with a very ornate entrance. The mission and
Church of San Francisco de la Espada was the last

MISSION CHURCH OF LA CONCEPCION.

of the Indian missions near San Antonio, and the
churches, all the work of native hands, showed to what
efficiency in handiwork Indians could be trained. The
missions then directed by the zealous Fathers from
the colleges of Queretaro and Zacatecas were, how-
ever, all declining- under the constant inroads of
Lipans and Comanches.^

' Morfi, •' Descripcioii do algunas Misiones de Tejas eu el ano 1778."

BISHOPS OF LINARES. 709

At the Spanish town of San Fernando, now called
San Antonio, the church was attended by secular
priests, Rev. Casimir Lopez de Lara, Valdes, de la
Pena, and others, occasionally assisted by the Fran-
ciscan friars. The population seems to have gained
slowly, but the baptisms reached one hundred, only
during one year, till the close of the century.'

Besides this settlement there were others of less
importance at Bahia, Adayes, Nacogdoches, and a few
presidios or military posts. A company of soldiers
belonging to the force at San Carlos de Parras was
stationed at San Antonio de Yalero, or the Alamo, and
had its own chaplain, who was subject to the Bishop of
Durango as Vicar General of the Royal Armies.'

The first Bishop of the See of Linares, Rt. Rev.
Antonio de Sacedon, died soon after his appointment,
and neither of his successors, Rt. Rev. Raphael Jose
Verger (1782), and Andrew Ambrose de Llanos y
Valdes (1791), made any visitation to Texas. How-
ever, as the wars excited by the Revolution in France
required large bodies of troops to be kept under arms,
Bishop Llanos y Valdes, in February, 1795, issued a
circular, with the Brief of Pope Pius VL, "Cum in
exercitibus," October 6, 1775, in regard to the privi-
leges granted to soldiers in the Spanish service.^

On the suppression of the Jesuits, many Indian
missions fell into the hands of those who found hard-
ships and poverty where they expected wealth and
luxury. This led to much oppression of the Indians,

1 " Libro de Baptismos de la Villa de Sa. Fernando y Pres. de Sn.
Antonio de Vejar."

2 " Libro en que se asientan los Bautismos que se hacen en la Segunda
Compania Volante de Sn. Carlos de Parras."

3 Hernaez, " Coleccion de Bulas," i., p. 325 ; Bishop Llanos y \ aides,
Circular, February 19, 1795.

ff-

710 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

and induced Bishop Llanos y Yaldes to issue strict
orders in favor of the Indians.^

On the 20th of July, 1801, the energetic and vigilant
Bishop, Primo Feliciano Marin de Porras, was raised
to the see of Linares, and soon began a thorough visita-
tion of his diocese. As usual in every Spanish diocese,
he called for a presentation of all faculties held by the
clergy to be renewed, and appointed concursus for
vacant parishes. Troubles and dif-
r) Acuities had already begun in

^lidloo Mexico, and the Bishop ordered
— prayers to obtain God's mercy in
these times of i^ublic calamity.
His apostolic journej'^s extended,
in 1805, to Texas. He made his
visitation at San Fernando and
SIGNATURE OF RT. REV. tlie prcsidlo of Sau Antonio, with
PRIMO F. MARIN, BIS- ^^^^ adiaceut missions, in the month

HOP OP LINARES. o t tt • -^ t t -n i •

01 June. He visited La Bania
also, then attended by a secular priest ; Nacogdoches,
and the remnant of the Indian missions, still directed
by the Franciscan Fathers from the College of Zaca-
tecas ; Father Bernard Vallejo being president of the
missions.^

The revolutionary movements soon disturbed all the
provinces of Mexico, but Bishop Marin labored for the
spiritual good of his flock, especially in the remote

'Pastoral, May 31, 1797 ; March 26, 1798.

^ Register of San Fernando, June 23, 1805. Bishop Marin wrote an
account of his visitation, June 20, 1806, which is referred to by Jose
Miguel Ramos de Arizpe, parish priest of Borbon, in his " Memoria,"
Cadiz, 1812, p. 51 ; omitted in the translation, "Memorial," Philadel-
phia, 1814; and by Dr. Luis de Onis, "Memoria sobre las Negoci-
aciones," Mexico, 1826, p. 54; omitted in the translation, "Memoir
upon the Negotiations," "Washington, 1821, Baltimore, 1821. I have
failed to obtain the account by Bishop Marin.

REV. SERVANDUS MIER. 711

parts. In consequence of a terrible accident in a
churcli at Chiliualiua, where articles on the altar
taking fire led to a panic in which 125 lives were lost,
Bishop Marin, in 1808, prohibited an excessive number
of candles on the altars of churches, and all light
ornaments of paper, lace, or other combustible mate-
rials.^

As the revolution against Spanish authority ad-
vanced Bishop Marin was driven from his see, and
the governors of the diocese endeavored to counteract
the spread of irreligion and vice. The Bishop's death
in 1815 was a great loss. During the vacancy of the
see Gen. Mina landed near the coast of Texas, accom-
panied by Rev. Servandus Mier, who represented him-
self as Bishop of Baltimore, performed episcopal
functions, and impiously celebrated mass with a
native brandy called pulque. The administrators of
the diocese issued a letter to warn the faithful against
him.2 The Rt. Rev. Joseph Ignatius de Arancivia was
appointed bishop, April 4, 1817, but found that relig-
ion had suffered terribly during the civil war. The
charitable funds had at an early period been taken by
the Spanish authorities, who were to pay a regular
interest on each amount ; but this ceased with the
overthrow of the royal power. The republican govern-
ment, controlled to a great extent by masonic lodges,
entered on a regular war with the Church. The Indian
missions in Texas w^ere all secularized in 1825, the
churches stripped, the Indians scattered, and all avail-
able property carried off. The expulsion of all natives
of Spain deprived the Church of some of its best and
most devoted priests. The government of the State

' Circulars, Jan. 9, May 28, 1808.

» Libro de Gobierao, San Antonio. Ante, p. 238.

712 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

of Coahuila and Texas prohibited all religious endow-
ments for education and charity ; it reduced the tithes
of the clergy, and deprived them of all civil authority.
The Legislature finally prohibited bishops from issuing
pastoral letters or edicts. Against all this legislation
the few remaining bishops and administrators of dio-
ceses in Mexico protested.^

Though settlements grew up at Victoria and Refugio,
Texas lost greatly in population during the troubles.
Steps were accordingly taken to attract immigrants.
Irish settlers formed the town of San Patricio, and
were attended from 1829 to 1833 by Rev. Michael Mul-
doon, and from 1830 by Rev. Henry Doyle ; but the
settlement did not grow and the priests withdrew. ^
Numbers, however, from the United States settled in
Texas, many of them rough and turbulent frontiers-
men, and with them came itinerant ministers, ignorant
and prejudiced men, full of animosity against the
Catholic Church. Their tirades led to a fearful crime.
Father Jose Antonio Dias de Leon was a Franciscan
from the College of Zacatecas, known for his virtues
and merits. He had been on the mission for more
than ten years, and given offense to none. But he
found that these new-comers were hostile and at last
menacing. He felt that he was doomed, and that he
might be assassinated at any moment. He accordingly
prepared to meet his death. The following he left in
writing :

"House of Mr. Henry BoRDOisr Preisttiss.
" This Sunday, Nov. 4, 1834, 1 returned to this house,
and as it seems to me to be the last day of my life
(God knows why), I address my weak and anguishing

' Coleccion Eclesiastica Mejicana, 4 vols., Mexico, 1834.
' Yoakum, History of Texas, 1856, i., p. 268. Rev. Mr. Muldoon re-
mained some time in Texas, but did not officiate or edify.

MURDER OF FATHER BIAS. 713

words to my beloved parishioners of Nacogdoches, bid-
ding them from the bottom of my heart an earnest
farewell, A Dios, A Dios. Let them commend me to
His Majesty in the state that I am in ; saluting them
as I salute them, with my heart in my eyes and in my
tears ; especially to Mr. Roberts, Lt. Col. Elias Bean,
Mr. Adolfo, my friends Allen, Reque, and Chones,
and to all and every one who believes in Jesus Christ.
And let it be clear and notorious by this, that I beg,
as I do, pardon from each and all the j^ersons whom I
have offended, and likewise, prostrate in spirit on the
ground, I pardon, with all my heart, all and every per-
son who has offended me, be the offense what it may.
I press all, without exception, to my heart as my be-
loved children in the charity of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Also to the Alcade of the Ayuntamiento, Don Juan
Mora, etc. Farewell, farewell, farewell ; Amen, Ainen,
Amen. This letter with like expressions of affection
I address to my dear friend Dr. Manuel Santos to send
to his correspondents, when he can, to display my
heart to all my parishioners : whom I beseech in the
bowels of our Saviour Jesus Christ to persevere firmly
in keeping the law of God, and the sacred obligations
they contracted in baptism. And I beg him to hand
this to my nephew Santos Antonio Aviles, that he
may copy it and live in fear of the author of his being.
"Fr. Antonio Dias de Leon."

He left the house and was never again seen alive.
His death was concealed. No information of it was
forwarded to the authorities till February, and then a
rumor was started that he had committed suicide.
The Rt. Rev. Joseioh Mary Belaunzaran, Bishop of Li-
nares, endeavored in vain to have the matter investi-
gated.^ Texas was already ripe for revolt. Military

'Bishop Belaunzaran, " Representacion que dirige . . . . al Exmo.
Sr. Presidente," Mexico, 1836, pp. 27-53. Linn, " Reminiscences of
Fifty Years in Texas," New York, 1883, p. 65. Father Dias de Leon
before being stationed at Nacogdoches was at the San Jose Mission from
1820 to 1823, and acted also as chaplain to the troops.

714 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

operations soon began, and in about a year Mexico, at
the battle of San Jacinto, lost Texas, which became a
distinct republic. During the war the church at
Goliad or Baliia was destroyed, and the vestments and
the church i)late of many churches placed there for
safety perished. The church at San Patricio on the
Nueces was also left a ruin.

When the wretched state of religion in Texas was
made known to Pope Gregory XVI., a letter was ad-
dressed to the Bisliox) of New Orleans requesting him
to send a caj)able priest to examine and report on the
actual state of affairs. Bishop Blanc selected Very
Rev. John Timon, Visitor of the Congregation of the
Mission, to undertake the task. With the consent
of Bishop Rosati, Very Rev. Mr. Timon set out and
reached Galveston in December, 1838.

SIGNA.TUKE OP THE MTTRDERED PRIEST OF NACOGDOCHES.

Here he found a considerable number of Catholics,
well disposed and ready to erect a church. He ap-
pointed a committee and made application for a site.
While affording them the consolations of religion, he
learned that there Avere only two priests in Texas, who
lived at San Antonio de Bexar and were a disgrace to
their religion, and utterly neglected to restore the al-
most roofless church or to care for the flock of fifteen
hundred Mexicans and fifty American Catholics liv-
ing there, all shocked at the scandalous example.*

• Very Rev. John Timon to Bishop Blanc, Galveston, Dec. 20, 1838.

IRISH CATHOLICS. 715

At Refugio there were forty families, chiefly of Irish
origin, with a church capable of restoration. Property
was given to the Visitor for a Catholic institution.
San Patricio on the Nueces was deserted. There
were 200 Irish Catholics at Victoria with a little
wooden church fifty feet by twenty. Besides these
there were a few scattered Catholics. Rev. Mr. Timon
reached Houston on the 3d of January, but found it
impossible to secure a room to offer the holy sacrifice.
The few Catholics seemed ashamed of their faith : but
a good Irish girl, a servant on a boat, exerted herself
and obtained him a room where he offered the flrst
mass in Houston, on the octave of St. John. On
Sunday he preached before Congress, and won the
esteem of Vice President Burnett and others. He
took steps to secure a plot for a church. At Nacog-
doches he learned that there were 600 Catholics, with-
out priest or church, while ministers of the sects had
secured old church lands and wfere building. Return-
ing to Galveston he found the ground secured and the
church actually In hand. After enabling some to
approach the sacraments here as he had done at Hous-
ton, Rev. Mr. Timon, with a fair knowledge of Texas,
returned to New Orleans and submitted his report to
Bishop Blanc. ^

When his statement reached Rome, the Sovereign
Pontiff, by the advice of the Congregation de Propa-
ganda Fide, resolved to establish a distinct jurisdiction
in Texas, and documents were forwarded appointing
Very Rev. John Timon Prefect Apostolic, and invest-
ing him with power to administer confirmation.

Meanwhile the Bishop of New Orleans dispatched

' Very Rev. J. Timon, Report on the spiritual condition of Texas
(1839), inclosing statement by Juan A. Seguin, Jan. 5, 1839.

716 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

the Rev. N. B. Anduze to Texas to keep alive the good
dispositions ah-eady excited. He visited Galveston
and Houston, oflBciated for the faithful, stimulated
their exertions, and supported their j)etitions for sites
for churches. The corporation at Nacogdoches had
seized the ecclesiastical property in that town because
the Mexicans had used it for a barracks, but Rev. Mr.
Anduze entered a vigorous protest against this viola-
tion of all right. ^

In the tide of emigration to Texas there were many
Kentuckians, not a few of them Catholics. This in-
duced two good priests of the Bardstown diocese, Rev.
G. W. Hayden and E. Clark, to solicit faculties for
Texas, and set out for that rough mission. On their
arrival they found a hundred Catholics from Kentucky,
settled on the Brazos, and spent the Christmas holi-
days of 1839 there. Then they made tours through
the territory, visiting almost every settlement. They
organized congregations at Refugio, Victoria, and La
Vaca, and by June, Rev. Mr. Hayden had made a
second missionary tour of eight hundred miles, saying
mass, administering the sacraments, preaching, and
XJreparing the way for the needed Catholic schools.^

Yielding to the advice of several bishops. Very Rev.
Mr. Timon accepted the onerous charge, and appoint-
ing Rev. John M. Odin, CM., Vice Prefect sent him
to Texas with full authority to suspend the unworthy
priests at San Antonio. Rev. Mr. Odin, on reaching
Linnville, proceeded to Victoria, where he left his
companion. Rev. Mr. Estany. Thence he continued

' Rev. N. B. Anduze to Bishop Blanc, Houston, April 25, 1839.

« Rev. G. W. Hayden to Bishop Blanc, March 13, June 17, 1840.
Webb, "The Centenary of Catholicity in Kentucky," Louisville, 1884,
p. 55. Linn, " Reminiscences," pp. 65-334, citing sermon of Canon
Johnson, 1877.

THE REPUBLIC AND CHURCH RIGHTS. 717

his journey with an armed wagon train, to avoid In-
dian attack, to San Antonio, There he spent three
montlis laboring to revive religion,^

The fear of hostile Indians was not visionary. Vic-
toria was attacked twice by the Comanches, and the
house where Rev. Mr, Estany lived was plundered
and fired by them, the priest losing nearly all his
effects, glad to escape with life. He was without a
chapel, the municipal authorities having taken pos-
session of the Catholic church for a court house.

At San Antonio Rev. Mr. Odin with Rev. Mr. Calvo
put a stop to shameful exactions, attended the sick and
heard confessions, duties the pastors had neglected.
The church needed instant repair ; the truly beautiful
church of San Jose had been seized by an individual
who demanded $10,000 for it. The Church of the
Conception, almost as beautiful, could easily be made
available for a religious community.^

Then by way of Seguin, Gonzales, Victoria, and La-
vaca the Vice Prefect reached Austin, the capital,
and petitioned Congress to confirm to the Catholic
Church its churches and missions. His claim was
favorably received and was warmly supported by the
Minister of France. He visited other towns, not with-
out danger, as the Comanches were ravaging the
country. Rev. Mr. Odin estimated the Catholics in
Texas at 10,000, In seven months he and his fellow
priests heard 911 confessions and baptized 478.

In December the Prefect himself arrived in Galves-
ton and began a subscription for erecting a church.
At Houston he did the same. On reaching Austin he
presented to President Lamar letters from Cardinal

> Rev. J. M. Odin to Bishop Blanc, Linuville, July 14, 1840.
2 Same to same, Oct. 2, 1840.

718 THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

Fransoni, Prefect of the Propaganda, officially recog-
nizing the new Republic. Securing a place to say
mass, he started a subscription to erect a church.
The Congress, by a special act, confirmed to the Chief
pastor of the Roman Catholic Church in the Republic
of Texas the churches of San Antonio, Goliad, and
Victoria, Concepcion, San Jose, San Juan, Espada,
Refugio, the Alamo, with their lots not to exceed
fifteen acres, and the church lot at Nacogdoches.
The Prefect and Vice Prefect then traversed the
country to ascertain where the Catholics could be
most easily gathered into congregations. At Nacog-
doches after the murder of Father Dias de Leon all
vestige of Catholicity had been swept away, and the
V. Rev. Prefect was happy to find an old house in
which to .set up his altar. The erection of a new
church \A ns then undertaken. V. Rev. Mr. Timon was
soon compelled to return to Missouri, and when Rev.
Mr. Odin in May, 1841, reached New Orleans he found
bulls appointing him Coadjutor of Detroit. These he
returned, but V. Rev. Mr. Timon had urged his ap-
pointment as Vicar-Apostolic of Texas. ^

The bull erecting the Republic of Texas into a
Vicariate Apostolic was issued by Pope Gregory XVI.
on the 16th of July, 1841, and Rt. Rev. John M.
Odin, CM., was appointed Bishop of Claudiopolis,
and assigned to the newly constituted Vicariate.
Dr. Odin was born at Ambierle, France, February 25,
1801, and in his youth was enrolled in the Congre-
gation of the Mission. After receiving deacon's
orders, he came to the United States to labor in the

' Deuther, "Life and Times of the Rt. Rev. John Timon, D. D,"
Buffalo, 1870, pp. 66-68, 73-4, 80-5. Annals of the Propagation of the
Faith, v., p. 394. Catholic Herald, ix., pp. 115, 175.

A VICAR APOSTOLIC. 719

Seminary and on the mission, from Missouri to the
Eio Grande. Submitting to the burden imposed on
him, he prepared for the sacred rite and was conse-
crated. Returning immediately to Texas, he purchased,
in a quiet part of Galveston, a low building of four
rooms, with a kitchen and gallery. A large storehouse
on the rear of the lot was soon transformed into la
school, presided over by his Irish sexton, who had
some experience in teaching. The congregation in his
little chapel was increasing ; the church at Houston
was soon roofed in, the whole structure costing $1040,
of which the Bishop paid $900.

In June, 1842, he wrote : " The people of Galveston
appear very anxious to attend our church on Sundays.
It is entirely too small to receive all. I have been
obliged to have a little sacristy built, and I am get-
ting some benches." With but few priests and no
resources. Bishop Odin's own share of labor was im-
mense ; and he was soon stricken down with a dan-
gerous fever, from which he recovered, with no physi-
cian, no attendance. He stationed Rev. Mr. Estany at
Goliad ; Rev. Mr. Calvo, at San Antonio ; Rev. Mr.
Clarke, at Lavaca ; but Rev. Mr. Hayden, the zealous
priest, soon died on the San Jacinto.^

Such was the prospect in the new republic when the
Vicar-Apostolic, invited to attend the Council of
Baltimore, though not a suffragan, or in the United
States, set out for it ; but he was trained in the mis-
sions of this country, his flock was mainly from it,
and from the Fathers of the Council he expected sym-
pathy and aid.

' Bishop Odin to Bishop Blanc, May 22, July 4, 1842. Same to V.
Rev. John Timon, June 30, 1842. Annals of the Propagation of the
Faith, vi., p. 373.

MISSION CHUKCn OF SAN JUAN CAPISTKANO.

720

INDEX.

Abbe, Rev. B 665 Baldwin, Sister, M. P 164

Abell, Rev. R. A 286. 295, 305, Balis, Fiances 92

403, 597, 600, 687 Balleis, Rev. Nicholas 563, 565

Acquaroni, Rev. J. B 361, 371 Baltimore, Diocese of 25-103,

Adayes, La 387, 707 422, 461

Aelen, Rev. F 695 Baltimore, Md 52, 60

Alabama, Vicariate Aposto- Bangor, Me 159, 486, 489

Lie of 403-4 Bangs, Rev. Mr 528

Alabama and Mississippi, Vi- Baraga, Rev. Frederic 614, 634

cariate Apostolic of 73 Barber, Rev. D , 119 ; Rev. V.

Alabama 378, 697-701 H., 35, 119, 128, 138, 140, 144,

Albany, N. Y 179, 202 153, 159, 465; Mrs., 43; Jane. . 689

Alcalde, Rt. Rev. A 707 Bardstown, Diocese of. . .266-305

Alexandria, Va., 94, 194, 448; 579-612

Pa 254 Barrens, Mo 365, 370, 371, 396-7

Allonez, F. Claude 341 687

Anderson, Rev. Augustus 659 Barron, Rt. Rev. Edward 568

Anduze, Rev. N. B 387, 716 Barry, Rev. John 328

Apple River, Mo 682-3 Bath. Va 576

Arbre Croche, Mich. .342, 343, 347, Bache, B. F 457

354, 614 Baton Rouge, La 390, 669

Amelia Island, Fla 321 Baxter, Rev. Roger 35, 63

Arkansas 384, 681, 683, 686 Bazin, Rev 697

Ashley 240 Bedford, Pa 223

Ashport, Tenn 658 Beecher, Rev. Lyman 466

Assakinac 354 Belaunzarau, Rt. Rev. J.M. . . 713

Association for the Propagation Belfast, Me 146

of the Faith 361 Belleville, N. J., 517 ; 111 692

Athens, Tenn 658-9 Bellier, Rev. Mr 653

Arancivia, Rt. Rev. Joseph 711 Benavides, Rev. J. A. M. de. . . 707

Auburn, N. Y 184 Benedicta, Me 472, 487

Aude Mme 366 Bernabe, Rev. Mr 669

Augusta, Ga., 31, 325 ; Me. . . . 485 Berry, Rev. Luke.. 198, 202, 204, 499

Augustinians 118, 208, 210, 460 Berthold, Mme 366

Audizio, Rev 397 Beschter, Rev. J. W 106

Austin, Texas 717 Betagh, Father 163

Bigeschi, Rev. Mr 368, 391

Babad,Rev.Mr 218 Bighi, Rev. Mr 368

Bach, Rev. Mr 680 Biloxi, Miss 663

Bacquelin Rev. V 646 Birmingham, Rev. John ... 324, 328

Badin, Rev. S. T 203, 268, 271, Bishop, Samuel 113

273, 333-4,598, 614,632,634 Blainville, Celoron de 330

Badin, Rev. Vincent 632 Blaisdell, Sergeant 482

Bahia, or Goliad. Tex ..709, 710, 718 Blanc. Rt. Rev. A. . . .389, 411, 444,

Baker, V. Rev. R. S 595-6 452, 669, 671-680, 700, 702, 706, 719

721

722

INDEX.

PAGE

Blanc, Rev. J. B 389. 672

Blanquart de Bailleul, Mgr 650

Blythe, S. C 110

Rogue, Miss 93

Bohenie, Rev. Mr 632

Bois-Brule, Mo 3G5

Bolaii, Rev. Francis 324, 327

Bonaparte, Charles J., 249; Jo-
seph 249

Bond, Rev. Mr 528

Bonduel, Rev. F. J 632

Bonuecamp, F. Joseph 330

Bonnet Carre, La .368, 397

Boote, Kirke 156

Borella, Rev. Mr 672

Borgna. Rev. Mr 389

Boston, Diocese op. .106-159, 462-

494,

Boston 106, 462

Brady, Rev. Joun, 54 ; Sister

Felicite 180

Breckenridge, Rev. Mr.. 451 ;

Rev. J . .' 555

Brennan, Rev. Mr 188

Brent, Sister Agnes 29, 683

Bridgeport, Conn 491

Bristol, R. 1 115

Britt, Rev. Adam 209

Brogard, Rev. Mr 664

Brooklyn, N. Y 185, 191

Brosius, Rev. F. X 115

Brothers of the Christian doc-
trine, 366 ; of the Holy Cross. 655
Browne. Rev. R. . .32, 56, 78, 306, 321

Brownsville, Pa .209, 252

Brute, Rt.Rev. Simon G.. .90, 411,
654, 638, 646, 659, 689, 692.

Buffalo, N. Y 201, 497, 541

Bulger, Rev. Richard 183, 187

Burke, Rev. Edmund, 31, 330,

342 ; Rev. Thomas 568

Burlington, Vt., 112, 469, 488 ;

Iowa 704

Burnelt, Vice-President 715

Buteux. Rev. S 646

Butler, Rev. Thomas R., 426, 443;

Rev. Mr 302

Butler. Pa 251

Buzzell. John R 482

Byrne, Rev. Andrew, 328, 508 ;
Rev. Mr., 139, 145, 208 ; Rev.
M.T.,216 ; Rev. Patrick, 124,
127 ; Rev. William. . .299, 599, 600

Cabbotville, Conn 490

Cahokia, 111 370, 386, 691

Cailleau.x, Rev. S 124

Calvert Hall 457

Calvert, Leonard 457

Calvo, Rev. Mr 717, 719

Camden, H 324, 592

Campbell, Rev. Alexander 622

Camps, Rev. Peter 376

Canton, O 344,349

Capellari, Cardinal . 353

Carabin, Rev. Mr 632

Carbry, F. Thomas. . . . 47-50, 55, 78,
82, 176

Carey, Matthew 231, 353, 550

Carico, Teresa, 278; Mary.. .. 625

Caretti, Rev. Joseph 367, 397

Carlisle, Pa 310

Carmelites, Port Tobacco, Md.,
44, 53; Baltimore. 426, 443, 447, 448

Carondelet, Mo 384, 691

Carr, Rev. M 309

Carriere, V. Rev. Joseph 411

Carroll of Carrolton, Charles. . . 99,
181, 197, 414, 421,425

Carroll, Rev. Michael 176, 184

Carroll Hall 533

Carroll Manor 74, 101, 414

Cassell, William 334

Casserly, P. T 504

Castiiilione, Cardinal 69, 70

Catechisms 96,695

Catholic Advocate, 607; Expos-
tulator, 463 ; Press 466 ; Her-
ald, 555 ; Telegraph 614

Cavanagh, Rev. Mr 463

Cellini, Rev. Mr 683

CiiABRAT, Rt. Rev. Guy I... 870,

291, 598, 604, 659, 606

Challoner, Rt. Rev. Richard. 66

Chalon, Rev. Mr 697

Chambersburg, Pa 225

Chambige, Rev. Mr 608

Champaumier, Rev. Mr. . . 297, 302

Chanciie, Rt. Rev. John... 411,

452, 455, 456, 660, 665, 706

Charleston, Diocese op 57,

58, 306-329. 508-596

Charleston 31, 33. 43, 55, 591

Charlestown, Mass. 141, 155, 462, 473

Charlotte, N. C 324

Chazelte, Rev. Peter 599

Cheraw, S. C 324

INDEX.

723

PAGE

Ch:e\'^rus, Rt. Rev. John. . .31, 41,
62, 90, 107-131, 170, 211, 26(5

Chevallier, Mr 85

Chevigne, L 87

Chicago, 111 614. 641

Chillicothe, 0 284, 334, 625

Chickakos, Ind 643

Chicoisneau, Rev. Mr 269

Chihuahua 711

Cincinnati, Diocese of 330-355

613-629

Cincinnati, O. . . . 284, 337, 340, 349

Clancy, Rt. Rev. William. . . 444,

586-591, 625

Clancy, Rev. W. F 658

Claremont, N. H 120, 144, 465

Clark, Rev. Ed 7l6, 719

Clark, Gen. G. R 270

Cleveland, 0 626

Clinton, DeWitt 166

Clorivifire Rev. J. P. de. . . .30, 33,

50, 96, 424

Collins, V. Rev. E. T., 625; Mr. 253

Colman, Rev. James 375

Colt, Roswell 205

Columbia, Pa., 265; S. C, 320,

329, 581; 111 692

Columbus, Ga 592

Comanches 709, 717

Concanen, Rt. Rev. Richard

L 41, 160-164.

Conception Mission, Texas. 707, 718

Conewago, Pa 227

Connecticut. . . .109, 113, 151, 463,

473, 491

Connolly, Rt. Rev. John.. 42, 48,

115, 172-187, 226, 232

Connolly, Rev. Pierce 675

Connors, Jeremiah 682

Constitution of the R. C.
churches of the States of N.
Carolina, S. Carolina, and

Georgia 322

Conway, Rev. :Mr 470

Conwell, Rt. Rev. Henry. .62, 93,

95, 103, 138, 195, 227-260, 408, 545,

568-9

Cooper, Rev. Samuel 311, 312

Corcoran, Rev. James A 587

Corkery, Rev. Dennis 309-315

Corporation of the Roman Cath-
olic Clergymen 67

Councils of Baltimore. .407, 432, 444,
453, 460

Council of Trent 345

Covington, Ky 604-611

Crooked Creek. Ill 692

Crosby, Rev. :Michaol 321, 375

Croy, Prince de 129

Cullen. Cardinal 587

Cummiskev, Rev. James. . .235. 503

Currau, Rev. Michael 254, 546

Custis, G. W. P 459

Cutter, Mr 473

Czakert, Rev. F 621

Czwitkowicz, F. Alexander. . . . 456

Dahmen, Rev. Mr 299, 371, 396

Damariscotta. Me 136

Damphoux, Rev. J. B. . .90. 411, 436

Dardenne, Mo 385

Datty, Miss Julia 580

Davenport, Iowa 703

David. Rt. Rev. John B. .220, 266,

272, 287. 339. 409, 432, 545, 602-3

De Andreis, Rev. Felix. . . .224. 361,

368, 692

De Barth, V. Rev. A. L. . . .42. 207,

219-226

De Bruvn, V. Rev. John 636

Deer Creek, Md 68

De Goesbriand, Rev. Louis 627

De Gregorio. Cardinal 70

Deiean. Rev. Mr 3.54. 614

De la Croix, Rev. Mr 365, 368

De la Hailandiere. Rt. Rev.

Celestine 452, 644, 650-655

Delanv, Rev. Mr 84, 94

Delaware 216, 561

Delia Genga, Cardinal 69

Delnol, Rev. L. R..88, 411. 428. 433.
437. 443, 452

Dec Mezieres, Mile 388

Demillier, Rev. ]\Ir 472, 485

Denman, William 190

De Neckere.Rt. Rev. Leo R.. 391,

666-671

Deparcq. Rev. M 302, 607

Der Wahrheit's Freund 623

Desgaultier, Rev. P. P 664

Desmet, F. Peter J. 88, 396, 682, 696
Desseille, Rev. Mr 632, 643, 645,

654, 694

Detroit, Diocese of 628-637

Detroit, Mich 273, 284, 287, 341,

343, 633

Devereux, John C 180

Deydier, Rev. Mr 537

724

INDEX.

Deys, Leo 361

Dias de Leon, F. Jose Antonio... 713

Dickenson, Mother Clare J 426

Didier, Rev. P. J 333

Digges, Sister Apollonia 87

Di Pietro, Cardinal. . , 161

Dittoe family 371, 375. 335, 349

Dodge, Coi 512, 520

Dominicans. .. 130, 308-359, 272-301,

335

Dominican Sisters, 603, 615

Donaghue, Rev. T. J 558

Donaldson, La 368, 397

Dover, N.H 152, 465

Downey, Rev, Daniel 578

Doyle, Rev. Henry 712

Droste de Vischerung, Rt. Rev . . 453

Du Bois, Rt. Rev. John. .90, 93-4,

100,103,193-304, 358-390, 408, 433,

495-531, 619

Du BouKG, Rt. Rev. L. W. .73, 380,

321, 356-391

Du Buisson, F. S.L. .63,86, 423, 557,

Dubuque, Diocese of 702-705

Dubuque 703

Duchesne, Mme. Philippine. . . . 366

Dudley, Mass 464

Duff, Rev. Martin 328

Duffy, Rev. Patrick 509

Dujaundi, F 342

Dunand, F. Joseph 365

Dunin, Rt. Rev 453

Durbin, Rev. E. J. . . .302, 605, 659
Dzierozinski, V. Rev. Francis. . 411

Eastport, Me 146

Ebensburg, Pa 223

Eccleston, Most Rev. Samueu,

103, 428, 436, 441-461, 619, 660

Edelen, Rev. Leonard 54

Egan, Rev. M. Du Burgo . . 91

Egak, Rt. Rev. Michael 109,

208-218, 268
Elder, Rev. G. A. M. . 295, 607, 609

Elet, F. J. A 88, 396, 628, 682

Elizabethtown, Pa 212, 265

Ellicott's Mills 448

Elling, Rev. William 209

Emmitsburg, Md. .51, 53, 63, 74, 88
England, Rt. Rev. John. . .57, 58,
88, 93, 138, 231, 240-243, 306-339,
409, 433, 446, 636, 666
Erntzen, Rev. Paul. . . .309, 316, 233
Estany, Rev. Mr 716-719

Endists 650, 701

Fabler, James 337

Fagan, Mother Mary A 164

Fairfield, Ky 597

Fall River, Mass 486

Fancy Farm, Ky 607

Farjon, Mother Teresa 359

Farnan, Rev. John 182, 191

Fayetteville, O., 625; N. C. 334.

581. 586

Fenwick, Rt. Rev. B. J. .53-57, 75,

93, 120, 134. 159, 163-171, 310,408,

432, 436, 452, 458, 462-494, 516,

660
Fenwick, Rt. Rev. E. D. .370, 379,
386, 392, 330-355, 409, 613-615
Fenwick, F. Enoch, 75 ; F.

George 493

Fernandez, J. F. O 37, 48

Ferral, Rev. F 517

Ferry, Rev. Ciiarles 341

Fesch, Cardinal 61, 69

Ffrench, F. Charles D...130, 144,
178, 470, 496

Fink family 336

Fitton, Rev. James. .144, 153-4, 485

Fitzmaurice, Rev. Charles 703

Fitzpatrick, Rt. Rev. John

B -• 493

Flaget, Rt. Rev. B. J.. 103, 109,

211, 305, 335, 338, 409, 452, 545.
597-613, 619, 641, 689

Flathead Mission 696

Florissant, Mo. . . .380, 383, 386, 686

Florence, Ala 403

Florida 73, 330, 697-701

Flynn, Rev. J. D 265

Font, Rev. N 376

Fontana, Cardinal 78, 179

Fordham, N. Y 524

Fort Wayne. Ind 614, 642-3

Forbin-Janson, Rt. Rev. C. A.

J 452, 537, 628, 650

Fortis, V. Rev. Aloysius 69

Fouche, Rev. S 599

Frangois, Rev. J. G 664

Franklin, Rev. John ... 35

Franciscans 80, 207,-308. 333

Fransoni, Cardinal 660, 717

Frasi, Rev. M 568

Frederick, M.D. . . 74, 197, 443, 445
Freygang, Rev. Mr 488

INDEX. 725

PAGE PAGE

Galena, III 703 Hartford, Diocese op 493

Gallagher, Rev. S. P 31, 55 Hartford, Conn 156, 463

Gallego, Mr 82 Haskins, Rev. G. F 490

Gallipolis, 0 270, 383 Hassett, V. Rev. Thomas 375

Gallitzin, Rev. Prince D. A., 209, Hatscher, Rev. F 621, 632, 634

212, 213, 216, 221, 292, 338, Hawkes, Wright 530

555, 564 ; Mme. Elizabeth 536 Hayden, Rev. G. W 716, 719

Galveston, Texas 714, 717 Hayes, Rev. Richard 48, 49

Ganilh, Rev. Anthony.. 342, 397, 404 Hayti 587, 697

Gardinier, Mr. ! 166 Helbron, Rev. Peter. . 209, 213, 223

Gaston, Hon. William 313, 596 Helias, d' Huddeghem, Rev. F. 696

Genin, Rev. Vincent 378 Henni, Rt. Rev.' JohnM. 355, 616,

Gensoul, Mother St. Michael. . . 359 621, 625

Georgetown College. . 25, 44, 53, 75, Heyden, Rev. Thomas 235, 241,

106, 429 257, 660

Georgetown, S. C 325 Hill, F. W 339, 341, 346, 349

Georgia 306-329, 325 Hitselberger, Rev. A 577

Gettysburg. Pa 222 Hoecken, Rev. C 695

Gil bride. Rev. Mr 523 Hoerner, Rev. James 104, 577

Glandorf, 0 621 Hoffmann, Rev. Mr 487

Gomez, Rev. John N 321, 375 Hogan, Rev. G. D. , 224; Morris,

Goshenhoppen, Pa 209 181 ; Rev. William 224-250

Gouo-h, Theodore A 467 Hohenlohe, Prince Alexander. . 85

Grace, Rev. William... 165 Holland, Rev. M 234

Grand Coteau, La 675 Holy Cross, College of the 492

Grand River Rapids, Mich 354 Holy Marv, Ky 597

Grassi, F. John. . 29, 31, 35, 75, 179, Hooper, Mr 476

218, 292 Hore, Rev. Mr 84

Gravois, Mo 686 Horstmann, Rev. Mr 622

Green, Dr. H. C. B. . . .133, 152, 486 Hou.stou, Texas 715, 717

Green Banner, The 506 Howard, Thomas 274

Green Bay, Wis 343, 354 Huber, Rev. Lorenz 223

Gregory XVI..431, 434, 438, 445, Hughes, Rt. Rev. John. . 547, 550,

461, 587, 605, 608, 615, 631, 656, 554-7, 254, 257, 260, 265, 446, 515,

702, 706, 714, 718 523, 543, 686, 660

Guadalajara, See of 707 Huntsville. Ala 403

Guidee, V. Rev. A 675 Hurley, Rev. M. . . 42, 209-211, 216,

Guth, Rev. Mr 517 215, 236, 260, 553, 562

Huron River, Mich 342

Hackett, Rev. P 701 Hurons 341

Haes, Rev. Mr 517 Hyde, Archibald 465

Hagerstown, Md 427

Hailandiere, Rt. Rev. Celes- Illinois 384-5, 686

tine R. L. G., de la, Bishop of Indian, Old Town, Me. 136, 150, 468

Vincennes 650-655 Inglesi, Rev. A 248, 362

Hamelin. Augustine 615 Iowa City 704

Hailey, Rev. John 533

Harold, F. James 212, 215 Jackson, Gen. Andrew 397

Harold, F. W. V 106, 208-221, Janvier, Rev. Mr 342

242, 257, 260 Jaricot, Mile. Pauline M 361

Harper's Ferry, Va 431, 575 Jarvis, Mrs. Sarah M 490

Harrisburg, P"a 258 Jeanjean, Rev. Aug. . .411, 669, 671

Harrissart, Rev. E 599 Jenkins, William 104

Harrison, Sister Mary John 473 Jesuit, The 466

726

INDEX.

PAGE

Jesuits, Md., 52, 55, 65, etc. ;
Pa., 430, 557 ; Mo , 381, 681-2,
693; Kv., 671; La., 599;
Ohio, 626 ; Rocky Mouutains. 697

Jogues, F. Isaac 341

Johnson, W. C 458

Jones, Gardner 504

Joubert, Rev. James H 92

Juneau, Solomon 704

Juncktr, Rev. H. D 625, 629

Kansas Indians 398

Kaskaskia, 111. . . .270, 273, 281, 370,
385, 683, 687, 692

Kearus, Rev. Mr 223

Keenan, Rev. Bernard 230, 241 ,

265, 546, 558

Keily, Rev. Jeremiah 548, 556

Kei.ly, Rt. Rev. Patrick. .58, 76-
83, 314
Kelly, Alvah, 482 ; Rev. Dennis,
535 ; Rev. Francis, 301 ; Rev.

Mr., 632 ; Rev. Patrick 183-4

Kennedy, John P 458

Kenney, V. Rev. P 75, 567

Kenny, Rev. Patrick. .212, 214, 218,

220, 564

Kenkick, Rt. Rev. Francis

P. . . .303. 411, 432, 436, 444, 516,

545-572, 597, 619, 638, 697

Kenrick, Rt. Rev. Peter R . 557,

568, 691

Kentucky 265-305

Kerney, Rev. N 49, 50, 313

Ketchum, Hiram 528

Kickapoo Mission . 694

Kirchen Zeitung, Die . . . 522

Knox, Rev. Dr 528

Kohlmann, F. Anthony. .51, 59, 86,
134, 162-172

Kohlmann, F.Paul 164

Kundig, Rev. M 622

Lacroix, Rev. Mr 6(i9

Lacy, Rev. Mr 26

Ladaviere, Rev. Peter. .599, 671, 675
Ladies of the Sacred Heart, Mo.,

366; N.Y 536

Lafargeville, N. Y 517, 524

Lafont, Rev. Annet 538

Lafayette , Marquis de 250

Lalor, Teresa 25, 28, 29, 35

Lalumi^re, Rev. S. P 641-648

Lamar, President 717

Lancaster, Rev. J. M.,612; John, 608

Lancaster, Pa. 265; 0 336, 347

Langdill, Rev. A 178

Landing of the Pilgrims of

Maryland 458

Lange, Elizabeth 92

Laporte, lud 643

La Poterie, Rev. Mr 108

Lariscy, Rev. Piiilip 118-127

Larkin, Rev. John ()12

Lastrie, Rev. Mr 633

Laurel Hill College, Pa 556

Lazarists 361, 460, 568, 690

Leakin, S. C 450

Lcclaire, Anthonj' 703

Le Couteulx, Louis, 201; Mr. . . 497

Lee, Gov. Thomas Sim 59

Lefevre, Rt. Rev P. P...568, 638-
39, 697

Lekeu, F. Matthew 223

Le Mercier, Mgr 650

Leo XII. .88, 105, 138, 255, 346, 388
399, 408
Leopoldine Association, 554, 585,

625, 631

Le Ray de Chaumont, Mr 181

L'Estrange, Dom Augustine de 168

Levadoux, Rev. Mr 268

Levins. Rev. T. C. 75, 200, 505, 524

Lexington, Ky 304, 607

L'homme, Rev. Francis 411

Liberia 433, 461, 568

Linares, orNueva Leon, See of.

707, 709

Lipans 706

Litta, Cardinal 34, 48, 78, 230

Llanos y Valdes, Rt. Rev. A. A..

709, 710

Locust Grove, Ga 311, 320, 325

Long Creek, Ky 378

Long Lick, Ky 284

Loras, Rt. Rev. Mathias. 452, 697,
702, 705

Loretto, Pa., 211 ; Ky 300

Loring, Charles G 481

Louisiana and the Floridas,

Diocese of 356-391

Louisiana 358-390

Louisville and Bardstown,

Diocese op 610

Louisville, Ky 609, 610

Lowell, Mass. . . . 156. 464, 466, 485
Lucas, Fielding, 427 ; Rev.

James T 26, 46, 78.

Lucca, Duke of 346

INDEX. 727

PAGE PAGK

Liitz, Rev. Mr 398, 687 Marin, Rt. Rev. Primo F 710

Luzerne, Pa 268 Marlboro, ]\Id 427

Lyman Theodore 479 Marquette, F. James 341

Lynch, Rev. Patrick N., 587 ; Marquette River, Mich 343

James 181, 497 Marshall, Mother Margaret 699

Lynchburg, Va 85, 577 Martial, Rev. Mr 369, 383, 671

Martin, Rev. Mr. 387 ; Rev.

McAleer, Rev. Michael 659 Thomas 347

McAllister, Daniel 347 Martiusburg, Va. .103, 429, 447, 575

McAuley, Rev. A 185 Mascheroni, Rev. A 396

McCarthy, Sister M. Borgia, 588, Mason, William 482

591 ; f liomas, 181, 497; Rev. Mathevon, Madame L 695

Timothy 309, 324 Matiguon, Rev. F. A 108-123

3IcCloskey, Rt. Rev. John. Matthews, V. Rev. William, 44,

533, 543 84, 259, 409, 428, 447, 544 ;

McCormack, Rev. Patrick 201 Mother Juliana 444

McDermott, Sister F., 29; Rev. Mattingly, Mrs. Ann 85

Mr 473 Maurian, Judge 678-9

McElroy, F. John. . . 35, 104, 425, Mauvernay, Rev. Peter 701

445,538 Mayne, Rev. E. F. . . .329, 406, 698

McEncroe, Rev. John 324, 328 Mazzuchelli, F. Samuel. . . .614,

McGarry, Rev. J. J 501 632, 703

McGrady. Rev. Mr 618, 622 Meade, Mr 248

McGirr, Rev. T 216, 239 Medley's Neck, Md 44, 54, 423

McGuire, John 181 Memphis, Tenn 660

McKenna, Rev. Constantine. . . Menard, F. Rene 341

378, 663 Mengarini, Rev. Gregory 697

McKeou, James W 530 Meuominees 634, 705

McLaughlin, Rev. Peter 627 Merryland Tract, Md 427

McMahon, Rev. Edvrard 607 Mertz, Rev. Nicholas 201, 497

McNamara, Rev. Michael 201 Meyer, Rev. Charles 692

McQuade, Rev. Paul 127, 177 Michaud.Rev. Eugene 397

McSherrv, V. Rev. William. 430, 433 Michel, Rev. X 82

Maccodabine.se, William 615 Michigan 341, 354, 633

Macheboeuf, Rev. Projectus J . . .627 Michilimakinac 341, 354

Macopin, N. J 185 Mier, Rev. Servandus 236, 711

Madison, Ind., 646 ; N. J 185 Migneault, V. Rev. 202, 469

Maenhaut, Rev. C 405, 678 Milbert, Mr 112, 130, 182

Magennis, Rev. John 328 Miles, Rt. Rev. Richard P. . 277,

Maginnis, Rev. John 535 301, 452, 608, 656-659

Maguire, F. Charles B.. 80, 223, Milwaukee 637, 704

242, 544. 556 ; James L 451 Mina, Rev. V. M 368

Mahony, Rev. Mr 144, 152 Mine a la Motte, jMo 686

Maine 105, 109 Mississippi, State of 73, 660-665

Makoquata, Iowa 704 Mississippi, Vicariate Apostolic

Mailer, Rev. Malliano 568 of 73, 660

Maloney, Rev. John 567 Mobberlv. Brother J. P 36

Malou, Rev.P.,164, 171, 169, 176,192 Mobile,' Diocese of. . 73, 102,

Manahan, Rev. Ambrose 533 697-701

Marcy, Marvin 482 Mobile, Ala. . . . 378, 403-6, 697, 700

Marechal, Most Rev. Am- Moffatt, Mother St. George. 480, 484

bkose. .28, 31, 32-39, 75, 77, 85- Moloney, Mother Marv C. . . 588, 591

100, 118, 138, 193, 223, 225. 230, Molyneux, Rev. Robert 68

257, 660 Moni, Rev. John A 678

728

INDEX.

Monk, Maria, Awful Disclosures

of 509

Monroe, Mich 342, 354

Montgomery, Rev. Charles P.,
453 ; Rev. Stephen H., 275,
353 ; Rev. Samuel L. . . . 275, 301

Montgomery, Ala 699

Moran.Rev. Mr., 517 ; Jasper.. 47
Moranville. Rev. John F... 89, 127

Moregg, 0 620

Morti, Rev. F 708

Moriarty, Rev. Mr 578

]\lother St. Henry 478

Mount St. Benedict, 478 ; Mount
St. James. 491 ; Mount St.
Mary's. ..51, 90, 103, 197, 247, 425

Muldoon, Rev. Michael 712

Mulholland, Rev. Mr 301

Mullanphy, John 396, 398, 687

Mulledy, F. Thomas.. 437, 493, 516

Mullon, James 352, 354

Muiios, Rev. Rafael 613

Murfreesboro, Tenn 659

Murpiiy, Rev. W. S 612

Myers, Sister Beatrix 87

Myrthe, Rev. Anthony 84

Nacogdoches, 709, 710, 715,

716, 718

Nagot, Rev. Mr 30

Nashville, Diocese op. . 608,

656-664

Nashville, Tenn 302, 656-659

Natchez, Diocese of 660-665

Natchez 397, 660-665

Natchtoches, La 387-8,672

Neale, Most Rev. Leonard,
Bishop of Gortyna, Arch-
bishop of Baltimore. . . 25-38, 109,
116, 134, 364

Neale, Rev. Charles 36, 69,

212; Rev. Francis, 36, 103,

253, 428 ; Sister Olivia 448

Neil, Rev. Francis 384

Nerinckx, Rev. Charles 43, 88,

265, 270, 272, 276, 286, 291,

298-99, 382
Neumann, Rt. Rev. John N. . 566

Newark, N. J 198, 203

New Berne, N. C...50, 321, 324, 593

New Brunswick, N. J 205, 497

Newburvport Mass 105,108

Newcastle, Me 110-111, 151

New Hampshire 105, 109

PAGE

New Haven, Conn 113, 158, 473

New Madrid, Mo. 371, 385, 397, 687
New Orleans, Diocese of. 666, 681

New Orleans, La 367,397-98

Newport, R. I., 108, 145, 153,

15G. 486 ; Md 44

New Reigel, 0 621

New York, Diocese of, 161-

206, 495-543. Synod of 538

New York Literary Institution.

134, 164
New York Weekly Register... 504

Nichols, Mrs 465

Norfolk, Va. . ..2(i, 43, 46, 57, 78, 80,
92, 194, 423, 428, 447, 577-78

Norridgewock, Me 469

Notre Dame, Ind 655

Nyack, N. Y 517

O'Beirne, Rev. Mr 490

Oblate Sisters of Providence. . . . 90,
429, 443
O'Brien, Rev. J. 577 ; Lieut.

John, 579 ; Rev. Matthew,

212 ; Rev. Timothy, 577 ;

Rev. W.-F. X., 80, 209, 222;

Rev. W., 429 ; Rev. Mr 72

O'Callaghan, Rev. Jeremiah 464

Ocean Springs, Miss 663

O'Connor, Rt. Rev. Michael. 563,
567, 568, 572

O'Connor, Mr. 151; John 181

O'Conway, Sister Cecilia 180

O'Donoghue, Rev. F., 321, 324,

338, 496, 500. 506 ; Rev. T. J. ?60

Oertel, Rev. Maximilian 521

Odin, Rt. Rev. John M. . . 386, 391,

455, 567, 636, 681-82, 688, 706-719

O'Driscoll, Dr 55

O'Dwyer, Rev. Patrick 626

O'Flaherty, Rev. T. J. .158, 462, 490,

O'FIvnn, F. M 272

O'Gallagher, Rev. S. F 167

O'Gormnn. Rev. Michael, 177,

182, 187 ; Sister Mary Joseph. 580

O'Hannan, Rev. A 315

O'Hare's Settlement, 111 385

Old Mines, Mo 6S6

O'Leary, F. Joseph 620

Olivier* Rev. Donatien, 271, 277,

385 ; V. Rev. John 359

O'Meally, Rev. T.J 250-53

O'Neill, Rev. Edward. 533 ;

Rev. J. F. 328 ; Rev. Patrick. 546

INDEX 729

O'Reilly, Eev. M. D., 328, 664 ; Plessis, Rt. Rev. J. O. . . .114. 170

Rev. Michael, 374-5 ; Rev. Point, F. Nicholas 697

Philip 504 Point Comfort, Va 83

Osages 368 Pointe Coupee, La 390

O'SuUivan, Rev. Patrick. . .324, 327 Pointe St. Iguace, Mich 343

Otis, H. G 479 Poket-an, Ind 644

Ottawas 341-42, 347 PoucC Prescott P 482

Otter Creek, Mich 343 Poor Clares 544, 632

Owensboro, Ky 610 Portage aux Sioux, Mo 278, 370,

385, 686, 691-92, 694

Paillasson, Rev. Mr 686-87 Portier, Rt. Rev. Michael,

Pamphili, Cardinal Doria 360 388, 403-6, 409, 432, 452, 666, 672,

Parker, Isaac 482 697-701, 706

Pasquiet, Rev. Mr 170 Portland, Me., 105, 151, 155,

Passamaquoddies 110, 141, 472 ; Ky 609, 610, 612

146, 472 Portsmouth, Va 50, 577-78

Paterson, N. J 184, 198, 203 Poterie, Rev. Mr. de la 105

Puwtucket, R. I 153 Pottinger's Creek, Ky 271

Pax, Rev. Mr 542 Pottowatamies 598, 613, 694

Pensacola, Fla. . . .375, 403, 698, 699 Poughkeepsie, N. Y 515

Petiot, Rev. R 705 Poujade, Rev. Mr 697

Pedicini. Cardinal 615 Power, V. Rev. John. .95, 153, 183.

Pelamourgues. Rev. Mr 705 188-191, 201, 203, 204, 411, 496.

Penco, Rev. Mr 568 506, 524

Peuobscots 110, 140, 470, 472 Prairie du Chien 639, 703

Pensacola, Fla 375, 403 Prairie du Rocher, 111. .268, 280,

Perche, Most Rev. N. B. ..... . 612 370, 385

Pereira, Rt. Rev. F. X., 360 ; Prentiss, H. B 712

Rev. Joseph 361 Prescott, Col 480

Permoli, Rev. B 679 Pressigny. Rt. Rev. G 360

Peru, 0 621 Preval, Judge 679

Petersburg, Va 577-8 Priests of Mercy 538

Petit. Rev. B., 654, 694; Rev. F., Prost, V. Rev. Joseph. . . . 452, 565

593, 599 ; Mme 361 Providence, R. 1 114, 153,

Petithomme, Rev. M 472 155-56, 486

Phelan, Rev. S. V 209 Purcell, Rt. Rev. John. .74, 426,

PmLADELPniA, Diocese OF... 206- 432, 446, 452, 619-629, 639, 672.

263, 544 689, 701

Philodemic Society 438, 458

Picot, Dr 314 Quarter, Rt. Rev. William. 521

Piscataway, Md 444 Quarter, Rev. Walter J . . .512, 515

Pise, Rev. C. C 427 Quincy, Col 479

Pittsburgh, Pa. . 209, 223, 240, 544, Quincy. Mass 491

546, 565, 572 Quinn, Rev. Edmund 618. 621

Pius VI 709

Pius VII. . 50, 69. 88, 102, 105, 160, Raffelner, V. Rev. John. . . .486.

206, 243, 267, 306, 325, 334, 359, 490, 506

379. 399, 408 Rafferty, Rev. P 251

Pius VIII. . .70, 73, 97, 105, 338, Raimbault, F. Charles 341

417, 427 Raisin River, Mich 288, 342

Plattsburgh, N. Y 202 Rale. F. Sebastian 469

Pleasant Mills, N. J 547 Ramirez, F. Pedro 707

Pleasant Point, Me. . . . 108, 110, Rampon, Rev. C 701

115, 146 Randaune, Rev. John 411

730

INDEX.

PAGE

Rantzau, F. Max 178

Rappe, Rev. Amadeus 637

Ravoux, Rev. A., 639; Rev.

Louis 705

Rawson, K 497, 534

Raywick. Ky 612

Read, William G 104, 449, 459

Rederaptorists. . . .453, 455, 460, 578

Reed, Rebecca 466, 484

Reese, Rev 528

Refugio, Tex 712, 715, 718

Reid, Rev.J 623

Reilly, Rev. P. 561

Rese, Rt. Rev. Frederic .

349, 355, 482, 444, 455, 613, 617-

18, 638-635

Reynolds, Rt. Rev.I.A.596-97, 606

Rhode Island 105, 110, 111, 153

Rhodes, Mary 275

Rice, V. Rev. John 57

Richard, Rev. Gabriel 250, 268,

371, 287, 342-43, 616

Richaudie, F. A. de la 330

Richards, Very Rev. B .. .669, 670

Richmond, Diocese of.. 58, 76-83,

103, 194, 575-579

Richmond, Va 79, 438

Richwood, Mo 686

Rico, Rev. John 237

Riker, Mr 166

Riviere aux Ecores, Mich 342

Riviere Rouire, Mich 342

Rochester, N . Y 201, 501, 535

Rodrisjuez de Rivas de Velasco,

Rt. Rev. Diego 707

Rogers, John 285

Rollins Fork, Ky 273

Roloff'; Rev 216, 429, 490

Romague, Rev. J. R. .110, 115,

123, 488

Rome, N. Y 184, 515, 534

Roothaan, V. Rev. John. . .430, 446
RosATi, Rt. Rev. Joseph. .102, 361,

378, 409, 446, 452, 641, 659, 666,
672, 681-698, 700, 714

Rosseter, F. John 308, 310

Rousselot, Rev. L 108

Roxburv, Mass 483

Rude's Creek, Ky 608

Ruff,Rev. Mr 643

Runey, Mr 473

Ryan, Rev. Dennis. 117,133, 140;

Rev. John, 360: Rev.Timothy,

35; Ryaufamily 117, 136

PAGE

Ryder, F. James 458, 558

Rymacher, F. V. de. .• 347

Sacedon, Rt. Rev. A 709

Saco, Me 153

Sacs and Foxes 705

Salem, Mass. .105, 108, 116, 134, 136,
153, 466

Salina, N. Y 205, 497

Salmon, Rev. James 191

Salzbaclier, V. Rev. Joseph 456

Sampson, William 167, 186

San Antonio, Tex 710, 714, 718

San Antonio de Valero. . . . 707, 718

Sanderl, Rev. F 633

Sandusky, 0 330

Sandwich, Mass 465

San Francisco de la Espada,708, 718

San Jose, Texas 707, 718

San Juan Capistrano, Texas, 707, 718

San Patricio 713, 715

Sansbury, Mother Angela 625

Saulnier, Rev E 683, 691

Sault St. Mary, Mich 341, 343

Savage, Rev. Mr. 199 ; Rev.

William 663

Savannah, Ga 329, 592

Savin, Rev. Mr 390

Savine, Rev. Mr. .266, 270, 371, 280

Schaeflfer, Rev. Peter 384

Schism, St. Mary's, Phila-
delphia 331-259

Schueller, Rev. Mr 203, 205

School Question 534-532, 566

Scott, Michael, 334, 340, 349; T.

P 104

Sedella, F. Anthony 358-390

Sedgwick, Theodore 538

Seton, Mother Eliza 51, 53, 63

Shaw, Rev. Mr 646

Shepherd of the Valley 683

Sheehan, Rev. Godfrey 338

Shorb, John 347

Sibourd, V. Rev. . . 358-9, 368, 380

Sioux 707

Sister Ann Alexis, 468 ; St.

Henry 401-2

Sisters of Charitv (Emmitsburg)

51, 53, 65, 103; 182, 439, 468, 479,

498, 553. 603, 606, 613

Sisters of Charity of Nazareth. . 378

Sisters of Charity of the Good

Shepherd 610

INDEX. 731

PAGE PAGE

Sisters of Loretto, Ky., 275; St. Vincent ae Pauis Semi-
Mo 382, 603 nary, Lafargeville, N. Y 517

Sisters of Notre Dame of Kamur, 628 St. Xaviev College, Cincinnati. . 626

Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy . . . Sugar Creek 251, 675

580, 593 Sulpitians 52, 90, 460

Sisters of Providence 650 Summerville, Ala 699

Sisters of St. Dominic 300 Swiney, Rev. E 324, 328

Sisters of St. Joseph 691 Synods : Baltimore 427; Boston

Six Months in a Convent 484 491; New York, 538; Charles-

Smedts, F. J. B 86 ton, 583; Mobile, 699 ; Phila-

Sniith, Rev. John. 153 ; Judge. 698 delphia, 570 ; New Orleans,

Sodality of the Blessed Virgin . . 53 669 ; St. Louis 694

Somagiia, Cardinal. .71, 208, 210, 306

Somerset, 0 334, 349 'p^p^f-oTT 285

Sorin, Rev Edward 665 ^.^^j^^j^.^ ^f.^gg- ' ' ' ' ' ' " ^53 'l^l 435

SouthBendlnd ... ......... 642 r^^^^^^. Deodat, 156; V. Rev.

bpaldmg. Rev. Martui J. 604, William. 93,128,132-34,138,

608, 609 ; Mother Catherme.. 276 ' 178^184 196

Spring, llev G ..... .... 528 Tuylorsville, Ky .'609

bpnng Hdl College, Ala. . .69< Te]Ri\^, Rt. Rev. F. B 707

,. ^, _, o~, Vl^ Tennessee 295,302,605

St. Augustuie, Fla. . . .321 o<4 405 ^^^^.^.^ ^^^^^^^ j^^j 646^ ^53

c. n, 1 Ar o^Q '45? '-S- 'ifi Terwooven Rev. James 501

St. Charles, Mo.. 2. 8, .366, 38o 396 Messier, Rev. John.... 72, 92, 411,

,398, 686 42-2^ 428, 451

St. Charles Borromeo, Seunnary Texas, Prefecture Apostolic, 706-

o "r,,- • , • >r,V • • Vr 'i :?o- "14 ; Vicariate 714-719

St. Charles College, Md 42o ^,^.^^1^^^. j^^^i^.^ 4^5

St. Cyr, Rev. J M. J . . 643 t^ j^^v. John. . .108, 119,

Stenbenvdle, () 614,618 •' j^g 267

St. Genevieve, Mo 364, 370, 396 Theology, Faculty of ".'.. 88

^ ,. ,,, ^'^^' •?;:* Tichitoli,Rev.Mr.,368,371,397, 670

St. Inigoes Md 4.)8 r^^ Cornelius 217, 233

St. John's, Md 44, o4 ^.gjjj- Q gig

St John's College, Fordham, Timniermans, F. P. Joseph. . 59,89

N \ . >24, .533, .)38 r^^^^^^ ^Xt. Rev. John. . .386, 571.

St. .Joseph s Academy, Emmits- ^^g ^^^ ggg^ g^g^ mi)-^\.

burg, Md -i'i 706-718

St. Joseph's College. Minerva. . 604 ^^.^^^ Society, Catholic 4-50

St JoseiJhs Semmary, Ford- Trappists. . . 169, 365

ham,N.Y. o33 Triadelphia, Pa 84

St. Louis, Diocese OF 388 Troconis Rev F 375

St. Louis, Mo. . 87, 278, 36o-66 370 Trustee Troubles, 27, 26, 43, 46, 78,

^ ^, , ,, , 4*^'^' 5?2 214, 399, 518, 542, 548, 698
St. Mary s, Md .... 4.o8 ^^.^^^j^ ^^jj^j. ,^1^^ Igg

St. Mary s College, Baltimore .. 52 Tschenhens, Father F. X 620

■ ,,. , ,, ^, 10^'^^ Tucker, Mr 152

St. Michael s, Mo -585 Tuite F 270 301

St. Nicholas, Md. . . . . . . . . .44 Tuscumbia.Ala'. :.■.■.■.■ '403

Stokes, Rev. Joseph. . ,320. 329, fo8 tyler, Rt. Rev. William. . . .

Stone, William L 511 ^44 493

St. Philip's College 637, 639

St. Reuis, N. Y 203

St. Thomas's :\Ianor, Md 44 Urbana, O 622

732 INDEX.

PAGE PAGE

Ursulines, Boston. Mass. 123 ; Walsh, Rev. Hatton, 192 ; Rev.

Charlestown, 141, 473-485, James, 82 ; Sister F. de C. . . 164

489 ; New York, 164 ; New Or- Waltham, Mass 466

leans, y59, 362, 370, 383, 398 ; Washington, D. C, 44, 72, 424,

Charleston 585, 588, 593 N. C, 50, 321 ; Md., 641 ;

U. S. Catholic Miscellany 317 Ga 592

Utica, N. Y 180. 202, 534 Wathen, Sister Juliana 298

Wayne, Gen. Anthony .*. . 270

Valenzano, Rev. Mr 368 Waynesboro, Pa 254

Vallejo, F. Bernard 710 Webb, Ben. J 607

Van Assche, Rev. F. J 88, 396 Weinzoepflen, Rev. Mr 654

Van de Velde, F. James ... 74, 664 Wells, Elizabeth 276

Van de Vogel, Sister Francis . .544 Westchester, Pa 212

Van de Wejer, Rev. A. F 544 Weston, Oliver 181

Van Horsigh, Rev. F 428 Wharton, Charles H 168

Van Quickeuborne, F. Charles . .88, Wheeler, Rev. M. F. . . 97, 411,

89, 381, 398, 692 424, 429

Varela, V. Rev. Felix. . 198, 203, 204. Wheeling, Va 82, 577

487, 514, 524 Whelan, Rt. Rev. R. V. .455, 456

Vauseois, Rev. Francis . 378 White, Calvin, 473 ; Rev. Greg-

Velzi, V. Rev. F. J. M 259, 352 ory, 663 ; Sister Rose. . .65, 180,

Vergennes, Vt 465 219, 443

Verger, Rt. Rev. R. J 709 Whitefield, Me 136, 151

Verhaegan, Rev. P. J 88, 682 Whitemarsh, Md. . .43, 68, 59, 67, 88

Verheyen, Rev. Henry 59 Whitfield, Most Rev. James,

Vermont 109, 115, 128, 464-69 44, 88, 98, 100-106, 305, 410

Verreydt, F. T. L 88, 396 Wickham, Mother Seraphine 683

Vicksburg. Miss 664, 676 Wiley, Rev. William 144, 153

Victoria 712,715,718 Wilkinson, David 153

Vilanis, Rev. Felix 533 Wiiminaton, N. C, 312; Del. 561

Villa Gayoso. Miss 663 Wilson, F. Thomas. .270, 291, 300,

Vincennes, Diocese op. . 605, 336, 339

638-655 Winchester, Va 41, 79, 575-76

Vincennes 270, 281, 297, 605 Windsor Locks, Conn 153

Vincent de Paul, Father 170, 217 Winnebagoes 634

Viszogsky, Rev. A 639 Wisconsin 634, 639, 702

Visitation Nuns, Georgetown, Woodley, Rev. R. D .. 153

D. C, 26. 36, 43, 54, 72, 95, Wooster, 0 344, 616

100, 424, 430 ; Kaskaskia, 111., Worcester, Mass 485. 491

430, 683 ; Mobile, Ala. . 430, Wouters, Rev 164

699; Baltimore, 444; St. Louis. 686

Ximenes, Cardinal 249

Waddington, N. Y 193

Walden's Ridge 658 Young. F. D 275, 286

Wallace, Rev. James. .. 55, 135, 336, 344, 347, 352, 483

165, 311 „

Walley, Thomas 114 Zachia. Md 44

Wallingford, Conn 464 Zane, Mr 82

Wallis, Rev. Michael 375 Zanesville, O. .336, 344. 347, 620. 627

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